HIGHSCHOOL // AU

[birdsbirdsbirds]

This shit has practically become its own canon so here's a post pulling it all together.


1) Robin and Tek meet at a party, get drunk, play gay-chicken in a closet, get kicked out of said party, and then have a weird sleepover at Robin's house.
2) They wake up in the middle of the night because Tek has to puke, but Robin is nice about it and the two of them fall back asleep.
3) They meet up again after school, and Robin "invites" Tek out to go eat at Danny's and see a movie.
3) At the movies, hilarity ensues.

ALSO THIS STUFF (not in chronological order yet):
https://psychoshenanigans.dreamwidth.org/13202.html?thread=947346#cmt947346
https://psychoshenanigans.dreamwidth.org/17522.html#cutid1

Also notes for the canon:

Robin's parents are divorced; his biological dad is not brought up much. His step-father is doing work abroad and has brought many of Robin's step-siblings with him. Robin was left behind to finish his education and he's been bitter about it ever since. His aunt swings by to take care of him, feed him, make sure he's doing okay, etc., and his mom Skypes with him at least a couple of times a week.

Also his teenage name is "Robin Redmond", lol.

Comments

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[Robin doesn't actually respond, because even he knows not to text and drive!

when he pulls into the DQ parking lot a little while later, he cannot imagine what Tek has to show him. he hopes that it's something stupid, like maybe he fished some old VHS tape out of a used junk store and wants to drag Robin into reliving a bit of that late 80s childhood--but he knows that it's probably something way more likely to get them into trouble.

still, here's there, isn't he? he closes the car door and saunters on up to where his friend is hiding from the sun.]

How's it going, Dracula? [he slides into the seat across from Tek, smirking lazily.] What'cha got?

[heresyandlace]

[not that he hurries to finish off the fries before Robin can get to them or anything, but the last few just happen to be stuffed into his face as the other boy walks up.

brushing salt off of his fingers, he tsk-tsks at Robin.]

Ooo, you were close, but Dracula is not quite right.

[and as if this is directly related and explains anything at all, he reaches down to the bag at his feet, retrieves a sizable, featureless, brown cardboad mailing box, and proudly plunks it down on the table.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[he did eye the basket of fries, to be fair--and is a little disappointed that Tek didn't save any for him. alas.

the box is a little more distracting, though. Robin sits up from where he'd been naturally slouching forward, looking it over for any clues. no mailing address, no obvious labels...]

Whoa, what is it? [and what does that have to do with Dracula? he fidgets with his earlobe, thinking.] A really small coffin, or something?

[heresyandlace]

[there are a few broken, overcooked scraps left in the basket if Robin really wants, but all of the respectable, proper fries have been dispatched. and there don't seem to be many clues on the outside of the box... but it also seems like Tek may have gone through the extra trouble of ripping off whatever mailing address label had been on the outside, just in case.]

I said not Dracula. Any other guesses?

[eyes bright, leaning forward with shoulders hunched up in eager excitement, he is clearly immensely proud of whatever treasure he has acquired.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[...after giving it a couple seconds of actual thought, Robin leans backwards, crossing his arms and frowning in vague disdain.]

This is a weird sex thing, isn't it.

[heresyandlace]

[his shoulders and smile both drop flat with a sigh of disgust. and trying not to let all of the wind immediately leave his sails, he pushes forward with unfolding the flaps of the box and reaching inside.

there's no tape in the way, so he had obviously opened it up at home and repacked the whole thing to bring out here and show Robin. he rustles around, pulls out a wad of crumpled packing paper and puts it on the table, rummages through a few layers of bubble wrap...

and then there it is.

shiny, tangled brown hair, rumpled green velvet... Tek stands a weird porcelain doll up on the table, and grins proudly, ear-to-ear.]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[hearing the sigh of disgust is enough to get Robin to chuckle; as much as he whines about Tek always being an asshole, he loves irritating the moody teenager almost as much as Tek likes irritating him back.

but that said, it all flies out the window once he finally sees what was in the box. eyes wide, he slams his hands down on the table in disbelief, yelling just a little too loud for a public space:]

You got a haunted doll??

[heresyandlace]

[god, he just looks so happy. Robin will be hard-pressed to think of a time that Tek has ever looked so positively gleeful over something that wasn't outright chaotic or malevolent.

no, this is the creeping, stupid sort of chaos, and Tek is beside himself with joy. leaning forward, excited all over again, he just nods!!]

[birdsbirdsbirds]

You got--!

[he cuts himself off, also leaning forward--now hushing his voice down, as some other innocent bystanders are looking over at them in annoyance.]

You got a haunted doll--why? Why did you buy--

[to Tek's credit, Robin doesn't know whether to be exited or completely put-out. it mostly manifests as a general confusion.]

Tek, why did you buy a haunted doll.

[heresyandlace]

What do you mean, why? [what a stupid question, honestly.]

She was found in Texas by this guy who was helping his friend move his mom's stuff out of her house when she died, and this doll showed up on top of the boxes to be taken out to the truck, okay. And the guy thought his friend was the one who put her there, but when the friend saw it, he just told the guy to throw it out. He said he hated it. But the guy kept her instead. He took her home... creepy things started happening...

[he trails off, waving his hand to indicate that there's more to the story.]

And now she's mine.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Oh my god. This is so you.

[he... smiles? though it could also be likened to a cringe as he looks at this weird porcelain doll, with her ratty hair and her cold, unblinking eyes...]

What are you going to do, put it up in your room and hope it tries to murder you?

[heresyandlace]

I don't know! [--he chirps happily, and turns her to face him so he can pull the worst of the wrinkles out of her skirt and start to push her nasty hair out of her face. he hasn't gotten to dote on her at all yet, but now that her arrival has officially been announced, he can finaly dive in.]

I haven't decided yet. Do you have any ideas? Have you ever used a ouija board before?

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[oh, that's an easy answer.]

I have not and will not use a ouija board, thank you.

[he reaches past the doll, going for one of those crunchy, brown french-fry remains and popping it into his mouth.]

I mean, I'm pretty sure nothing's going to happen. [a beat.] Did that really ship to you from Texas?

[heresyandlace]

Yeah. You can get mail from all over, you know.

[he starts with the most smartass point and works backwards.]

And yeah, normally, I would never touch a ouija board either. That's how you get demons. [everyone knows that.] ...But maybe it would be really fun with a doll. We could turn it into a cute, spooky, sleepover party.

[he turns her back around to aim her big, dead eyes right at Robin.]

How else am I supposed to find out what her name is?

[birdsbirdsbirds]

... [he's quiet as he contemplates the idea of a "cute, spooky, sleepover party". he may have been more on board, had it not been for the fact that this is starting to sound like something thirteen-year-old girls do.]

Pamela. [he crosses his arms again.] She looks like a Pamela.

[heresyandlace]

You can't-- [he takes a moment to sigh.] Do you want to make the haunted doll mad? You can't just... say what her name is. You have to ask her.

[Tek pointedly thumps her porcelain feet down on the table.]

What about seances. Do you know anything about seances? How many candles do you own?

[birdsbirdsbirds]

What do I look like, a witch?

[he watches Tek puppet this doll; the sight of it should be stupid, even laughable, but something about his goth-adjacent friend makes it seem natural. the doll is so matching his vibe, it's kind of creepy.]

We're not gonna hold a seance in my house. That's how you get Paranormal Activity movies.

[--he suddenly snaps his fingers, an idea forming.]

Buuuut, that's not to say we can't train a camera on it for twelve consecutive hours and see if it moves or some shit.

[heresyandlace]

Well, yeah. [obviously they are going to do that. obviously!] But we really should try to make contact first, you know? To be polite. Say hello. Find out what her name is.

[back to doting on her--trying to make her dress look presentable and gazing into her flat, unblinking eyes like he's falling in love with the god-forsaken thing.]

...I think a Ouija board will be fine. Just this once.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Pamela, [Robin insists.] And no, that's stupid, and it's gonna be a boring waste of twenty dollars.

[he waves his hand before reaching for another sub-par french-fry scrap.] Or however much Ouija boards cost.

[heresyandlace]

Calling a Ouija board boring is the quickest way to die first in a horror movie. [and he pushes the stupid basket of fry scraps over so Robin doesn't have to keep reaching.]

It's not going to be boring. We're going to hang out in the dark with a bunch of candles, be all snuggly and shit because it's spooky, and it's going to be fun. [a pause.] ...It's also going to look great on Instagram.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Okay, to your point, I think playing with a Ouiji board in the first place is the quickest way to die in a horror movie.

[he makes short work of the rest of the fries. they are unsatisfying. he slumps forward on the table again, weighing the appeal of a snuggly night against literally everything else that has been presented to him in the last twenty minutes.]

I can see the status update now... 'Just trying to contact the dead, lol.'

[but the corner of his mouth quirks up into a little smile, the smile he gets when he's trying not to like something obnoxious that Tek is doing, and failing.]

[heresyandlace]

[oops! Tek sees that look, which means he now has the flicker of smile that means he's trying not to let on to the fact that he's already gloating over something he knows he's going to win.]

Absolutely. People eat that shit up. [himself occasionally included.] We'll take some moody shots with the candles, record some videos for the sake of science, and gorge on ice cream and pizza.

[he turns the doll around and holds her up next to his face so the two of them can both stare pleadingly at Robin.]

C'mon... it can't possibly be more boring than whatever else you were planning to do with your night.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

[see, that's the first sensible thing he's heard come out of Tek's mouth all afternoon.]

Ah, well... You got me there, I guess. It's either this or Netflix.

[his sly little smile turns into a grin.]

But I am not going to reach across the veil of death to an angry lady ghost from Texas, or whatever. You get to do all the dumb talking.

[heresyandlace]

Sure. [said as if he's actually going to stick to that later. and then, while his eyes are still down on the doll that he's fussing with, he casually corrects Robin.]

...And the lady who owned the doll isn't what is haunting it. There was something already wrong with it when she was alive. So... who knows what's in there.

[birdsbirdsbirds]

Oh, I see.

[said with a bit of a mocking tone, of course, because it would be impossible for him to take this 100% seriously. 50%, as he's giving it now, is a stretch. he leans forward, propping his chin on his hand.]

My money's on an old-timey prostitute who practiced Wicca in her basement. When are you thinking of coming over?