[ writing dump??? ]

[emoji movie]

aw thanks so much <33
that means a lot to me :D

[sammmy]

Your one shots are so well written! Oh my goodness! I love your description of things! <3

[Woogwoo Wren]

Dude! These are amazing.
Imma mark this.
You have an amazing way with words!

[emoji movie]

oml thank you all so much ;V;
i didn't expect people to come and reply after my post???
thank omg :'-]

[Conwolf]

did i know you as angelpal?? your writing is amazing ;u;!! i love all of it <3 especially your descriptions~

[emoji movie]

you did!! thank you so much ;-]

[emoji movie]

Her name was 4256, a string of numbers jammed together like random chords in an otherwise beautiful piece. The numbers were hung loosely above the door to her cell and clung onto her uniform, barely readable against the harsh blacks and orange. Her name, instead of sounding smooth on the tongue, was rough and ragged, like pieces of a puzzle that didn't match but ended up stuck together out of frustration.

And that was what she was.

Pieces of a puzzle that didn't fit, but were slammed together either too loose or too tight and left that way. Perhaps the original image the puzzle was supposed to display was beautiful, but now, with all the edges and curves forcibly fixed together, the image was distorted.

This world was a cruel place: it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, or what you haven’t done, you don't get second chances.

She was a built puzzle and that was the end. She'd remain wrongly clasped together till her last breath.


----


"This is wrong," 4256 whispers under the cloak of midnight. The cellmates were given an hour of free time every night, and there were no rules to direct them on 'where' to go, so they wandered around aimlessly. The only rule that existed during this period of time, was the single most important: 'no interactions between prisoners were allowed'.

"This world is wrong, darling. Everything around you is either deteriorating or corrupt, and you and I aren't an exception." His face is marred with a grin that makes 4256 shiver subconsciously. As they stand together under the spell of the night, staring up at the boundless night sky through the glass dome encasing them inside, a strange feeling boils inside her.

"But sweetie- oh darling, they lied. They lied about our death- our life- our everything. And sweetie-- my mama lied too: two wrongs can make a right, and we can show 'em right here."

His voice drops into a low and husky whisper, and he whips around to face her. He's standing on the stairs that lead upwards and out the glass dome, and into the fields that are labelled 'Do Not Go Beyond This Point'. He reaches a hand out to welcome her up, and she scrunches her face up before stalking away, hesitation brimming in each step.


----


At the facility, you meet a lot of people throughout the day; there were guards that drove you from class to class, but they chose not to speak and kept their puzzle pieces hidden behind a stoic facade. There were people in her classes and in the mess hall and the cells beside hers, but they refused to speak, remaining grayed faces in the crowd she just passed by.

But then there was him.

4212 was- for lack of a better word- different. He wasn't a grayed face in the crowd, and he refused to let himself be one. In the facility, there were two ways to live: one was to be a nobody, to follow the rules blindly and never question anything so no one picks you out. The second was to be what 4212 was to the facility: an annoyance. He was a bother: he acted out, he talked to people and kept an optimistic outlook, and the worst-- he didn't mind the punishments they enforced on him because, if they were punishing him, that meant that was one less person being beaten.

She never understood why he did all these things: why he'd challenge the guards and the lunch ladies and the authorities, or why he chose to fight against them when he should know that it was useless, but she supposed it was better than doing nothing, like everyone else was- like she was.


----


4212 teeters close to her as they stare out at the night sky, a routine they happened to fall into so many weeks ago. It was completely unintentional on 4256's part, but 4212 seemed to be intent on seeking her out as much as he possibly could. He'd jump out when he saw her in the hallway, or in the mess hall, or in classes, and he'd wear a brilliant grin.

Turning slightly as to subtly glance in his direction, she watches him stare up at the night sky with wide eyes, and she cocks her head. His hands reach over and grab her wrists as he swirls around from her side to in front of her, tugging her slightly in his direction; in the direction of the door.

"Isn't the night sky beautiful?" 4212 asks, eyes scrunched slightly as a grin pinches his cheeks. She remains in his grip for a moment, tempted to reply but knowing that'd only further his insistence on escape. Escape was a common word in the facility, but they'd always been fleeting thoughts from the colourful shells of people: when it came from 4212, she knew he was serious.

Gulping, 4256 broke away from his grip and simply stepped up to be beside him, resting her head on his shoulder.


----


As much as 4212 was different, he was a puzzle. A beautiful array of building blocks piecing themselves together.

It had taken a while for her to notice, but, while most of the people in the facility were built and completed jumbles of pieces, he was still building himself. Every day, there seemed to be a new piece slotted in between the other pieces, placed there slowly and carefully and for a reason. For every single piece 4212 slotted into himself, there seemed to be a very specific reason for its placing. Whether it was based on another person or a memory, every piece was important.

He was a complex weave of thousands of pieces spread out in front of her, far too wide and far too long. Even with the excessive lengths, he never seemed to be ending anytime soon.

Sometimes when she passed him in the hall, lead by a guard bringing her to her next class, she found herself staring up at him in awe and wonder, amazed someone would take such time to actually compose something so delicate and precise.

Sometimes, when she passed him in the hall, lead by a guard bringing her to her next class, she found herself wondering which beautiful piece was inspired by her.


----


"So, how've you been?" He starts one day, as if this were a normal conversation taking place in a normal place between normal people. Her uniform crinkles as she crosses her arms as raises her eyebrows, and the oversized and bulky material over her small frame makes 4212 let out a breathy laugh.

"As well as I can be," she replies with the click of her tongue. His eyes soften when they trace her figure and notice almost how fragile and close to caving in she seems to be.

He steps down and reaches a hand out for her, and she hesitantly takes it. His hand is warm and brittle, pulsating with his heartbeat as he lugs her up the stairs, and she follows obediently with her mouth agape because the touch of another human that is soft and loving rather than harsh and painful stuns her. Of course, he is not without his imperfections. Along the palm of his hand, there are blisters that crowd the lines carved into his flesh, and his hands are calloused and rough, but she has never felt a warmer and more ginger touch.

Her lingering thoughts fade as she flinches away when the door comes into sight, and she wants to run, but his smile make her legs tremble with a foreign tingling. Swallowing down the confusion, she opens her mouth to say something, but 4212 simply lowers himself until he stands in a bow and thrusts a hand out in an awkward invitation.

Feeling her lips quirk upwards very slightly, she reaches out and takes it, doing a mock bow as well. The moonlight that streams in from outside the facility ignites them in a pale flame and it feels almost as if the two are the only one existing for a moment.

"Would you care for a dance?"


----


He was a beautiful work of art, and she was the crisp white canvas shrouded and hidden behind the bold strokes of his paintbrush. In the facility, everyone knew him. From the prisoners to the captors to the guards and to the authorities-- he was infamous, a force to be reckon with or a figure to be acknowledged, sometimes even both.

If you spoke his name, you'd be hushed immediately. Everyone told stories of his antics despite their lack of communication with one another, as if he was the ghost story being told around a campfire. He inspired both hope and confusion in the prisoners, and he was both a sign and a curse.

She, on the other hand, was nobody. The name 4256 was nonexistent, and she was both thankful and conflicted.


----


"The greatest thing, is you, believe it or not." She tells him during one of their meetups. His eyes widen and brim with confusion, but she continues on: "This entire facility is cruel. They ripped us from our homes under pathetic excuses, keep us captive, put us through classes to teach us stupid stuff, and they don't even let us talk to one another," She lists, voice flickering between rough and breathy but still heard with vivid clarity.

"And the people-- no one here talks. They don't- can't- talk, and the only time they do is when a new story comes up. That's stupid. Everything here is stupid."

He cocks his head.

"But you're-- you're a breath of fresh air. I was so used to the quiet and the hostility that when I met you here, I was convinced you were going to kill me--"

"That's why you stayed as far away from me as possible?"

"And then you showed me magic. You showed me that it was possible to be happy, that it was possible to be everything and nothing at the same time. And you showed me that the world doesn't give second chances, but people do." She clicks her tongue. "And maybe that's enough."


----


Sometimes she found herself envious of how damned perfect 4212 was. He was kind and smart and beautiful, and he was a beacon of hope among a thousand lost boats drifting through the ocean of life. The facility was cruel and white, but he was a splash of colours that filled the areas around him and inspired others.

Often people wonder what was the greatest power: to fly, or to breathe under water, or to bend metal, or to have x-ray vision, the list goes on. So many powers are out there, existing as fiction and a figment of immagination. She'd used to beg for these powers to exist, so that she'd be able to finally do something amazing and beat down the bullies, but now, she realized the most powerful power was already in existence: the power to inspire.

And 4212 was the domain.


----


"Sweetie? You alright?" He asks, his hands brush aside a stray strand of hair that hides her eyes.

"Let's go." And that was all he needed.


----


4212 deconstructed the weaves of her edges and the rounds of her curves, and fit her all back together. She was a 1000 piece puzzle, and he was going to fix her.

They were not allowed to talk to one another, or talk to anyone about anything. They were not given proper names-- referred to as numbers printed on their clothes and hanging loosely by their cell. They were shoved together in small cages, held away from the public who had been misinformed about their life, and assumed dead.

In every single sense, they were nothing.

But somehow, he made her feel like everything


-----


She takes his hand this time, the door whips open to reveal a lush field of grass that reaches up to her waist. 4212 turns back to stare at her for a moment and a grin breaks out. She's bemused for a moment, but he turns ahead and his grip tightens before he shoots forward, dragging her along. She doesn't make him stop, and they run, and they run, and they don't stop running.

There's a shout of a security guard, but they don't stop running. There's a numbing screech of an alarm, but they don't stop running. There's a pitter-patter of footsteps behind them, but they don't stop running.

When their legs are weak from the race, and their hands are sweaty in the grip of one another, they fall forwards and roll through the grass, the tendrils licking at their limbs and tickling her neck when they lie beside one another, staring up at the sky.

"Different, huh, darling?" He breathes out between pants.

"Different," 4256 repeats, a smile breaks out on her face as she bursts into short giggles and 4212 soon follows.

The lights of a security guard's flashlight finds them in the field, and a pang of sadness rings when she knows that they didn't outrun them. Still, the fresh air that sucks into her lungs fills her head with air makes her feel light and elated despite their inevitable doom.

"Different." The two turn to one another and smile.


----


And that's where it ended.

4212 and 4256 never did tell one another that they loved each other- never developed past hand-holding and cheerful laughs, never shared a happy or long life with one another-- but that doesn't matter, does it? Some stories don't have endings, but the story of 4212 and 4256 never did have a beginning.
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woot finished this one at a reasonable time of 8 minutes before mid night with 9 projects still waiting!!
i hope you guys can understand what's going on during this one-shot xD
it's supposed to be a little mysterious but also not??
anyways, hope you guys enjoy :>

[blackbird.]

oh my poor heart
it's crying for 4256 and 4212
but at the same it's happy
idk it's just so bittersweet that they were able to experience love
but in the end it wasn't able to triumph
i adore your use of the pieces of a puzzle as a metaphor
it's just so poetic and beautiful c:

[Ranger of the North]

aah
I love how you used puzzles to describe them
and how it kinda goes from despair, to happiness, to bittersweet acceptance
poor, poor 4212 and 4256 :c:
I love these characters so much already cri <3

[emoji movie]

the thought to use puzzle actually popped up randomly, but i'm glad you guys like it!!
it's supposed to be kinda bittersweet too so glad i achieved that xD

i might consider doing another one-shot for 4256 and 4212, but i may change the numbers
into actual names next time so it's easier to work with. do you know how weird it is to
write with numbers as names??? :>