Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Elliot sighed as he glanced around the place. Mr. Robot had just retreated, and he was the only one not busy. Magda was so unimpressed, but she had business to do, and Big Elliot was busy too, along with Mastermind. Mr. Robot had been talking to him for a bit, but then he dipped, and now Elliot, in his too-big body, was sitting on the subways waiting benches. Someone was next to him - Tyrell - the one Mr. Robot like liked. Which was gross, because that meant they kissed and kissing was gross.

Elliot fidgeted in his seat, twisting his body this way and that. Too big, too long, he hated it. He hated their body, it was too lanky and wild and whenever Elliot did front, he never knew what to do with his limbs. Sometimes he got scared of the body, because it was so much bigger than how he felt, and it felt weird to be in such a weird body and everything was odd and weird and Elliot hated it.

“Elliot?” Tyrell, the one with the blue eyes and the ‘funny accent’ as Magda had once put it, which made him laugh for a minute straight, spoke up from next to him. He must’ve noticed the shifting “You Alright?”

Elliot didn’t have an opinion of Tyrell, mainly because he hadn’t fronted in front of him before (which made this experience twice as scary) and Mr. Robot didn’t talk about him all the time. Magda had told him about their relationship, telling him to be careful if he ever did front and Tyrell was there. And now he was being careful, your welcome Magda.

Elliot shrugged “Where we goin’?” He asked, fidgeting his hands that laid in front of his chest. Long, slender fingers that surely couldn’t be his own

“Oh,” Tyrell must’ve realised, because he smiled that soft smile Magda gave on the occasion, showing his perfectly straight and shiny teeth “We were going to go to the movies, down town, not too far”

“Oh..” Elliot nodded slightly, looking back down at the ground. Long legs, that didn’t dangle to the ground, which wasn’t as exciting as he thought it would’ve been “Are you still gonna go?”

“I don’t mind either way,” Tyrell was still smiling, he could hear it in his tone “But you can decide, if you want”

“What movie?” He asked tentatively, because the last time he went to the movies it wasn’t really the movies, it was to get the real Elliot back, to settle everything that had happened, and they had been, because they were free now with the full system and they knew what they were and who they were and everything was okay.

“Back to the future-“

Elliot grinned brightly, shooting up like he had just powered on, and nodded his head enthusiastically. They loved that movie.

The movie was the second one, and Elliot almost cried when he realised that fact. He favourite movie, their favourite movie. They waited in line for their tickets and popcorn, and Elliot couldn’t’v been happier. The carpets had that same brown, red, gold colour to it, the same universal pattern that either screamed bowling ally or space nerd wallpaper. The walls, painted their bright reds, and their dim lights, that made the posters pop and make everyone feel more excited.

Tyrell was nice, letting him choose the seats and the popcorn flavour. But when Tyrell suggested the M&M trick, Elliot suddenly wasn’t happy anymore. He taught them that trick. Elliot suddenly didn’t want to watch it anymore.

Elliot gave a small whimper, backing up slightly from Tyrell, who held out the popcorn so happily just seconds before, the M&M’s brown packet stuck in his other hand at an awkward angle. His smile fell, and Elliot felt twice as sick. He didn’t like this anymore.

“Oh bud, I-I’m sorry, we don’t have to do it, let’s not do it, okay? Yeah? Is that better, if we don’t?” A settle of panic flushed through Tyrell’s voice, and Elliot gripped the tips of his pointy ears into a fist, pulling gently as he shook his head quick and quirt. No. Nonono.

Elliot shook his head, mouth turning to sand paper as waves of nausea flushed through his stomach, to his throat, and almost spewing out on their own. Elliot gave a gag, and Tyrell dropped the popcorn quick, along with the M&Ms, and tickets. Elliot shut his eyes as he gagged again, tears stinging his eyes as if they were needles trying to go through skin, and he gave a sob as his whole body quivered in fear.

There was a hand around his wrist, and Elliot panicked, squeaking and going to scream, but he was rushed somewhere, the lights changing from their nice dimmed atmosphere to a bright, hot white behind his eyelids. He was dipped forwards slightly, and soon enough, he started spewing.

It went on for a while, yet the soft hand that went from being clamped around his wrist to rubbing soft circles on his back to help its quivering didn’t let up. It had to had been Tyrell, who else could it be? It could’ve been one of the others, Mr. Robot, Magda, maybe even Big Elliot or Mastermind, But Elliot had a sense that it wasn’t them. The hands were too big to be Magda’s, there was no soft yet grumbly voice above him to be Mr. Robot, and the hand felt too sure of itself to be either Big Elliot or Mastermind. So, Tyrell.

He stopped after a hot minute, and he coughed a few times before getting the courage to pull backwards and only open his eyes when the wipe of harsh toilet paper stopped working its way to clear Elliot’s mouth of his sick.

“You okay now?” Tyrell, with his bright blue eyes and that conceded little mark between his brows when he frowned, was putting the tissue in the bin, yet keeping direct eye contact with Elliot. Grounding, Elliot liked it.

Elliot gave a small nod, and he shivered in shame as it overtook him. Guilt was the sea, and Elliot couldn’t swim.

“M’sorry” He practically whispered, shutting his eyes tight shut. Waiting for something. A hit. A blow. A spit. Maybe even a cigarette mark.

But he got a soft embrace instead. Warm, comforting arms wrapped around him, and he melted into the touch. He went from the bodies normal, stiff-board back, shoulders scrunched posture, to a salute jelly in Tyrell’s arms. He was strong enough to keep him standing up without Elliots help, and he felt himself gripping the adults shirt tight. It felt so nice to be held.

So nice, he allowed the next person to come and take Elliot’s place in the body for the moment. With everything that just went on, could you blame him? He was eight, and emotions were too high for him at the moment, so the next person took over.

But it just had to Magda who woke up to Tyrell fucking Wellick holding her.

Chapter Text

Magda, surprisingly, and annoyingly, awoke to her Elliot being gone, and soon enough, she had the body. And she was being hugged. By that Tyrell guy Mr. Robot was with. How...

She didn’t know how to feel. Her instinct was to push away, slap him on the face, and get the body in some decent clothes because these were just horrid. Why mastermind liked the horrid jumper and skinny black pants was something Magda couldn’t fathom, no matter how hard she tried. But back to the task at hand. She was being hugged, by Tyrell Wellick, Mr. Robots boyfriend or whatever they called each other. She didn’t have a problem with it, had better things to be worrying about than two men or two women kissing, and one of those problems being the urge to get Tyrell the fuck off of her. A woman who got what she wanted, when she wanted it, she decided to do just that.

With a quick push to his chest and flick of her wrist that landed her palm on his cheek, Tyrell was off her, and he was groaning in pain as he held his now slowly growing bright tinged cheek. A deep sadistic part of her made her wish for it to bruise.

“Elliot... what-“ Tyrell started, sounding hurt, but Magda wasn’t staying around to hear his sob story. She simply turned to the mirror of the men’s- Men’s. Ew. - toilets and she grimaced. The body was so off. She didn’t have that strong jaw, or those eyes, or god forbid she had those, well, ‘parts’. But to the outside world, she did. And although she liked to make others think she didn’t care, it hurt to know that the body was how she was seen by others. It made her sick just thinking about the body, sometimes, and she wondered if the others (the others meaning the ones who didn’t have the face of the body, that is) felt it too. The disproportions, The ‘no angle good enough’, and the displacement.

She sucked in a breath, the stench of sick stuck in her mouth, which, ew, she needed to brush her teeth as soon as she got them all home, and turned back to Tyrell, who was still cradling his face. Honestly, it’s not as if she shot him, and that the slap was hard, he was just weak.

“Did we take the car, or the tube?” She asked, not bothering to remind Tyrell of the switch. If he picked it up, he picked it up. If he didn’t, that was his fault. She silently hoped he wouldn’t notice, then she could pretend to be Elliot with a swift leave and have Elliot or Mr. Robot explain to Tyrell the truth. She just wanted to get the boys and herself home, and if that meant not explaining who she was then so be it.

“Oh, Magda” Fucking great, Of course he saw the change. Maybe it was the slap that gave it away. “I didn’t know you would turn up, we’re at the movies, about to watch-“ She didn’t have time for this.

She held up a hand to signal him to shut his mouth. “Shush now.” She said almost condescendingly, and she couldn’t care less if it hurt his feelings. “Car or tube?”

“Er-tube, we came here by tube” Tyrell replied, and Magda smiled. Good, she didn’t like driving all that much anyway. Elliot didn’t either, and you would think they could’ve at least try to bond over that fact, but they didn’t, because ‘bonding’ wasn’t really her job.

Magda swooped straight past the taller, slicked hair prat, and out of the door. The sound of Tyrell following after her - prick - with his urgent tone in his voice, made her pick up the pace of their black and boring shoes. They probably looked quite a sceptical, Tyrell chasing the body’s appearance as he got caught up in the crowd behind Magda. It almost hurt to think that it would’ve been funnier if Magda had her body, because Tyrell would probably get done for chasing after a ‘damsel in distress’.

She was walking so fast, so caught up in her head like the twins, Elliot and Mastermind, so often became, she almost walked out the door when a sight out of the corner of her eye caught her attention with a vice grip that she had to stop to observe properly.

Back to the future, I, II and III, all playing today. It must’ve been that date, the one it mentioned in the movie, the day Mastermind was going to-

‘I’m sorry’ Elliot, Little Elliot, their Little, sounded from wherever he retreated too, deep in their cluster-fuck of a head, and he sounded sad. Ashamed, guilty, and sad.

‘It’s okay, you did your best’ Magda replied, not batting an eyelash in the present universe as she stared at the poster. And stared. And stared some more. It was hard not to, not because of its contents, but because of the date and it’s true meaning to them. Not some odd date in a silly movie about time travel, but what Mastermind almost did on this exact date. Had it already been a year?

Tyrell came up behind her a while later and panting, (or it felt like a while later, it could’ve been just a second or a few days, Magda had lost track of time), and the alter with the body sighed, turning to him for a moment before turning back. From her glance, his cheeks were red and he was panting, his slicked-back hair flopped forwards slightly in a disarray. It wasn’t even that far of a run.

“You’ve got tickets?” She asked, and in response, the tickets were handed to her. Middle section, middle centre, yet towards the edge. Smart move, an easy escape.

Tyrell huffed some air up to cool his face, and he nodded as he watched her observe the tickets in her hand. “Mr. Robot helped me chose where to sit. He thought that it would be easier being near the end. Just, well, it’s nicer on the end anyway.” He shrugged, and Magda looked back up at him to search his face.

She found no tricks, no games or lies, and couldn’t help but smile slightly as a few others appeared closer to the front at the hope of seeing the movie.

“Well, lets not make them go to waste” She told herself, as they went into the cinema, that this was all for Elliot.

Everything she did was for Elliot.

If she was honest, she didn’t get the hype about the movie. It was good, yes, and she could see why Elliot likes it, but her personal opinion was that it wasn’t as good as Elliot hyped it out to be. Simple plot that got repeated but differently in each film, almost annoying characters, shitty editing, it wasn’t her thing. However, she didn’t watch films, ever, so it wasn’t like she had a genre or had any idea how to start criticising a film ‘professionally’.

But this was for Elliot. Magda knew he liked this film, which was the biggest understatement of the year, so his liking to the film was more of a rather passionate love, and knew that anything he loved, he loved with every inch that his damaged heart could allow.

Tyrell seemed to not like it, glancing over at Magda every few seconds, from what she could see out of the corner of her eye. But she wondered if he was doing it for some other reason.

Oh please, don’t act as if she wasn’t smart enough to realise what he was actually doing. He was on edge, gripping the armrest of his seat so tight his knuckles went white (although they only became visible when the movie screen became light enough itself, it being so dark in the cinema). It irritated her, his unease, and although she knew the basic logistics of a movie theatre, she really wanted to just grab him by the front of his ridiculously expensive shirt and shake him vigorously as she screamed at him to fucking stop with the worry and rapid thoughts she could practically hear flying past his tiny fucking brain cells.

She knew she shouldn’t swear, especially about Tyrell. Little Elliot might still be around, or maybe Mr. Robot would hear and get angry about her shit-talking his lover or whatever they were, but she honestly couldn’t care at that moment. She didn’t need his worry, or his pity, and it annoyed her to no end.

‘Would you just watch the film?’ Ah, there he was. ‘Instead of shit talking my ‘lover’?’

Magda let out a slight smirk at that. ‘You admit it? Your his one and only? His lovey-love?’

‘Don’t say it like that, weirdo.’ He snarked back in that way they always conversed, never a Cecil conversation between the two.

‘You want to front?’ She asked with a change of the subject like it was the weather, and she almost felt Mr. Robot shrug.

‘I’m with Elli. He’s alright, don’t worry, but didn’t like being sick. I could said M if you need a break.’ Okay, maybe she lied. The only time they were civil with each other was when they spoke of fronting, and any of the Elliot’s. Which still included M, no matter what name he would go by.

Either way, Magda gave a subtle nod, and felt herself be replaced in the body for the time being. M came in as if he awoke from a long nap, and Magda went to go find Little Elliot.