King Midas Prelude
Characters; Garvin (and others), Fintan, Vaidilas, and Hari. Yari, Panu, Viik, Jinx, and some nameless people are mentioned to varying degrees.
Word Count; 2369.
TWs; Swearing, varying levels of dissociation, self-esteem issues, insecurities, self worth issues, self-hatred, implied past abuse/neglect, underage drinking, mentioned past underage drinking, drinking, smoking, manipulation, grooming, heavily implied pedophilia, non-consensual drug use, restraints, csa, lots of terrible vague hints and implications, and messy writing/ending. Maybe more? Hard to say.
Notes; For some reference, in case this collection ends up getting confusing, while he was in the sketchy gang/mafia, there were different lengths of times where no one would see or hear from Garvin. By the time of the main AFCS storyline, Garvin believes those times to just be times he was stuck on the streets, lost or something. That is not true. Anyways, Garvin is freshly 15 in this. Fintan is 26. Hari is 33. Vaidilas is 45.
*~*~*~*
Garvin had been in the city of crime for a little over a month and a half, maybe, given that he was fairly certain that it was the first day of August and he was officially a year older. However old that was. He didn’t really care all that much about that. It wasn’t all that important. What was important, was that he’d figured out a lot in that month and a half he’d been in the city of crime. Two of which things were probably more important than the rest. First was that he really didn’t want to be on the streets when night fell. Second was that Spark didn’t mind him crashing on his couch at all.
-
The others did, he hadn’t been able to convince Gold or Hound at all. He hadn’t even tried to convince Chough. Which he thought was fair, they didn’t seem like the type that would let him in their house at all. But Fin was nothing but welcoming to him. He offered food and drinks and he’d made it clear that his door was always open to him. He’d talk to him too. Like, actually talk to him. As in, they had actual conversations instead of him just talking about anything that came to his mind and hoping it got a reply. As in, Tanny wasn’t just talking to him in order to tell him to shut up or go away or… Anything else like that. They were having real conversations. Just the other day he’d asked him how much he knew about his birthday— And then took him to get something to eat when he found out that it was in July! It was probably the closest he’d ever gotten to celebrating. It’d felt so good, someone seeming proud of him just for being alive.
-
All that to say, Garvin was hanging out at Sparky’s house a lot more than when he’d first met the guy. A lot more. Part of him wanted to push it, see how annoying he could be until Fin kicked him out. He didn’t want to lose the first person to celebrate his fucking existence though. Not when it felt as nice as it did. Not when he was as sure as he was that Spark really did care about him. Not when he seemed to trust him enough to tell him things that he was sure no one else had ever gotten to know about. It made him feel important for once. Like he’d finally found somewhere he wouldn’t ever have to leave.
-
That night was no different, at least when it came to him showing up to Tanny’s house and opening the door to enter without a second thought to it. He did pause after he closed it though, shifting back at the sound of voices he couldn’t quite make out but that he knew meant there were more people than just Fin and him inside. He considered leaving and showing up later, but the sun had already set and he’d never been told that he couldn’t crash on Spark’s couch while there were other people there.
-
Even so, it was Tanny rounding the corner to the entryway to see who’d come in that ended up getting his feet moving again. “Garvin? That you? Why’re ya standing by the door?”
-
Garvin blinked up at him, and then shrugged. “…Ya got friends ov’r?” It sounded dumb when he said it out loud.
-
The look on Fin’s face told him that he agreed, eyes crinkling in clear confusion. “I mean, yeah? What, you don’t wanna join us? You’re just as much a friend as any of them are.”
-
He stared at him for a moment, trying to figure out how true that was. If Tanny sincerely thought that. It made him feel warm. It felt nice. He still wasn’t that good at reading people yet though, even with knowing what to look for. He was getting better at it, at least. He decided to just ask. “You mean that?” He paused, cocked his head towards where he could still hear the other people there talking. “An’ what ‘bout them? Ya sure they won’t mind me joinin’ y’all?”
-
“‘Course I do.” Sparky smiled, almost amused, and started walking over to him. “And I’m sure that they’ll love having you hang out with us.”
-
That made him feel warm too, and he let Fin begin to lead him to where the other people were with a hand on his back. He glanced up at him anyway though, trying to read him. “You think so?”
-
Spark’s smile grew, and that was really all he could tell. “Trust me, I fucking know it. I mean, come on. You? They’ll love having you around.”
-
It was a nice idea, people actually enjoying his company. He still bit the inside of his cheek though. He’d never been lucky enough for people to enjoy his company before, Tanny was really the first one. He didn’t voice his doubt though, not when Sparky had already tried to ease them. Instead, he just let himself be led to where Fin’s other friends were sitting in the living room, drinking and smoking and laughing.
-
It died down when they entered, with them all slowly looking over. He smiled, grinning as brightly as he could manage to with the eyes on him. Tanny’s voice spoke above him, “This’s Garvin. I told you guys about Garvin, didn’t I?”
-
Garvin glanced up at Spark to see him smiling. He hadn’t known that Fin was talking about him without him there. It made him feel good, the idea that someone remembered him well enough to be talking about him while he wasn’t there.
-
“This’s him? Thought you said he’d be a good fit with us?” The warmth shifted, and he only realized his smile had grown when it started to drop. He stopped it when he noticed. He looked over at the group again to see them smiling. The same voice continued, a man that looked older than Tanny with brown hair and pearly eyes. “Seems more to me like he’ll be a fuckin’ perfect fit.”
-
His smile grew again at the relief that came from hearing that. Which probably meant that he really needed to work on his poker face again. But it was just… It was nice. Sparky’s voice seemed amused, “Yeah, well Vaidilas, I also said that you’d have to meet him to understand how great he is. So. You know.”
-
The woman sitting next to whoever Vaid-whatever smiled at him next, her voice warm. “Well, you certainly didn’t tell us he’s as cute as he is.” Her blue eyes found him, and he couldn’t help the way his smile grew. “I’m sure you must break a lot of hearts, don’t you, sweetpea?”
-
He grinned, trying his damnedest not to beam at the name. It felt warm, familiar. He’d missed being called something other than his name. “Well, y’know, only the ones tha’ get close ‘nough to break.”
-
She did seem to beam at that, practically cooing. “Oh, you are so adorable, I’d love for you to break my heart and add it to the list. Come sit over here, won’t you?” She patted the empty cushion beside her.
-
Fin laughed, shifting his arm to be around his shoulders. A moment later he was ruffling his hair. “Well, would you look at that, you’ve been in here a good three minutes and Hari already wants to replace me with you.”
-
It didn’t seem as bad when Sparky said it, it almost seemed like a joke. He grinned, letting him start to lead him to the couch. She spoke again, “Oh, that’s true, we don’t have quite enough seats, do we? Hm, well. I don’t suppose you’d mind sitting on Sparky’s lap, would you, sweetpea?”
-
She used nicknames for everyone too then, it seemed. He beamed, and then tried to push it down into a grin. “‘Course not, it wouldn’t be the first time.”
-
Her smile deepened at that, and he didn’t think he’d ever met someone so excited about sitting next to him. “What about my lap? Would you sit on my lap?”
-
He knew for a fact that he’d never met someone so excited about the idea of him sitting on their lap. He didn’t think he’d ever met someone so excited about being close to him at all. He stalled for a moment, trying to figure out what the best answer was. The fact someone wanted to be near him was a nice one. The fact that someone was this excited for the chance of him sitting on their lap made him feel warm. So he grinned. “Well, I don’t see why not.”
-
He found himself on her lap in seconds after that, with her reaching out and taking him from Tanny basically as soon as the words had left his mouth. She cooed in his ear, wrapping one arm around his shoulder and another around his torso, her head rested on his other shoulder. It was nice, it made him feel even warmer. “Oh, you’re so cute. Look at you, you’re like a life sized doll, absolutely perfect.”
-
Fin sat down next to them, grabbing a bottle from the table and laughing as he did. “If I knew how much you’d like him, I would’ve brought him along to meet you guys sooner.”
-
There were two other men in the room drinking quietly, their eyes on him. He wasn’t sure why they weren’t talking. He didn’t think about it for long, shifting when the hand around his torso moved to rest on his thigh. He glanced over at her, shifting his head to better see her face. She looked at him for a moment and then placed a kiss against his cheek. He blinked. She smiled, eyes softening. Something shifted, his throat closing up. He wondered, if only for a moment, if his mom would’ve done that if she’d kept him. If Jinx would’ve done that if they hadn’t kicked him out. He turned his head towards her more.
-
A glass being handed to him by Spark made him stop and look over though. “You ever had alcohol before?”
-
He blinked, looked at the glass and took it with a grin. “Yeah. Plen’y of times, actually.” Tanny grinned at that, and it almost looked like he was proud. So he didn’t waste time to start drinking whatever alcohol was in the glass and watching as it was taken from him after he’d finished it.
-
There was a hand on his knee that made him force his eyes over to see Vaid crouched in front of him as he spoke up again, “Well, I have to agree with Hare. You are certainly nice to look at.”
-
The hand resting on his thigh tightened. “Of course he is, Silas, he’s an absolute gem.”
-
He blinked at what he assumed was a nickname, and then tried to focus as Silas’ thumb traced his knee for a moment. “That he is…” Vaid’s pearly eyes looked up at him, holding his knee tightly.
-
Hare hummed in his ear. “You know… I bet you’d do great starring in videos. That’d be a fun way to earn money, wouldn’t it? So many people would want your pictures too. You’d be adored by so many people, just like you should be.”
-
He didn’t even really need to think about it before he nodded. It would be nice to earn money in a way that would leave people wanting him around. Or at least wanting a way to remember him. Being adored sounded nice. Earning money and being wanted sounded nice. The hand on his thigh slipped closer to the rim of his pants. He couldn’t quite figure out if that was worrying. She continued, practically a purr in his ear. “Those videos would be circling forever. You’d be so well known, nobody would be able to forget you. Doesn’t that sound perfect?”
-
He nodded again, because it did. It really did. Her thumb slipped into the rim of his pants, trailed along the inside of it. She pressed a kiss against his neck. He felt like crying with how warm he felt. How nice the attention was. He blinked, slowly. He couldn’t seem to move his arms or legs. He didn’t really want to. Everything seemed off kilter, slanted. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth. He blinked, watching as Vaid pushed his knees and legs apart. He blinked, trying to ignore the spots in his vision. Silas’ mouth moved. He couldn’t hear what he said. He was tired. He wasn’t sure why. He closed his eyes to try and figure it out without having any lights blinding him.
---
When he woke up, he wasn’t actually sure if he had or not. He only assumed he had because it felt like something was covering his eyes. He couldn’t tell what. His open mouth felt dry. He breathed in, and found that he couldn’t close his mouth. He blinked, he thought he blinked. He couldn’t tell if he did or not. He went to pull off whatever was blocking his sight and stopped at the feeling of cold metal around his wrists.
-
He shifted, trying to figure out what he could do, and then shivered at the feeling of a cold floor underneath him. He kicked out with one of his feet and then realized he wasn’t wearing anything. He kicked out again, trying to move. He wasn’t wearing anything. His arms were bound behind his back, he couldn’t close his mouth, and he was cold. He didn’t know where he was. He kicked again, pushed his bare foot against the floor to try and get himself to sit up. He thought he was trying to sit up. He couldn’t see anything. The room was quiet.
-
His head hit a wall. Or, really, something tangled in his hair hit the wall. It sounded like metal hitting metal. He kicked his foot out again. He heard himself whine. He didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t sure if his eyes were closed or open. He waited. There wasn’t much else he could do.
Fall Month: 1 
Day 
Heavy Rain
