Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ok so hi! waves! Im gonna list some boundaries, what im good at, what im ass at, stuff like that. 

Things I will not write;

- Smut (soz im just not. comfy w writing it)

- Anything like? Weird? No like incest or anything yk, things anybody with common sense would be uncomfortable with

Things I will write;

- Fluff, decent at it

- Angst, good at it I think?

- Romance n the like, half decent?

- Hurt/Comfort, probably good at? 

-  homophobia/ableism/etc, obviously none of it is good but its america, shits gonna happen, but anybody in the comments like *being* homophobic or anything can explode thanks. not that i think any of you will this game is like actively queer as hell

will add more things if i think of any ! requests might take a while but i'll get around to all of them

Chapter Text

    Gingi is, really, not troubled by all that much.

    They live a very carefree life. Carefree in the sense they typically just don't give a shit about anything bad happening unless it's to a person or thing they care about.

    Of course, some things will still get through their patchwork head and stick with them. They hate it when this happens, it tends to be incredibly inconvenient. 

    The Zoo, namely their time stuck there, is one of the main things.

    When Oliver asked to go there in his good route, Gingi half considered ditching it just because they didn't want to be near that place again. They almost had a breakdown when they jumped into the emu cage, but Oliver was talking to them through it.

    Now, though, they sit curled up in the corner of Norms shack. Far from the zoo. Still, still, they bury their face in their knees, which are piled tight to their chest, and cover their head with their hands. 

    Nobody will think to look for them here, right? Nobody ever comes out all the way to this old shack, they have more important places to be! Nobody will look for them and find them and then drag them back to the zoo. This time Theoroar wouldn't be as lenient, would he? He'd do something to keep Gingi there.

    They can't help a quiet whimper. What would happen to their kids? Oh, oh, no, they can't go back, that place was horrible, they can't go back.

    There's a firm knock on the door. Shit, shit, they scramble up and rush to shove themself under the makeshift bed in here, tail catching momentarily on the frame before they shove it under and curl up, staring out as the door opens. Black– brown boots, tan pants, Theoroar, Theoroar found them, they're going to get put back in the zoo–

    “Gingi? Are ya here?” They cower further under the bed. They don't want to go back, they can't, they can't. That isn't allowed. 

    “I heard yer scrambling, ya goblin, come on out.” The boots come closer to the bed, eventually stopping in front of it. The springs squeak loudly and the boards push against their back when a hand presses down on the bed, and they notice the other starting to kneel down.

    Absolutely not, no, no, they hide their face behind their hands and just hope their bright green skin is hidden well enough by the shadows. Still, they peek through their fingers, watching a paper bagged face come into view, the drawn on face looking worried.

    “Gingi, I won't hurt ya. What's wrong?” They push themself further against the wall, squishing more against the ground. The other sighs, standing back up, and they can see him go sit down on the lonely chair in the shack.

    “A’right, well, Gingi, I'll wait fer ya here.” No, don't, they have to get out at some point– “Everyones a bit worried, y’know, ya kinda just ran off. Usually ya tend to at least screech ‘bout whatever ye’re runnin’ off to.” The person leans forward in his seat, tapping his fingers against something.

    “So, what's botherin’ ya?”

    They blink, moving their hands from their phone face and tilting their head– or, they try to, but it hits the boards above them. 

    Slowly, they drag themself a bit further towards the edge, blinking again. The boots are black and the pants are white. It's– it's Norm, here, not Theoroar.

    “...You won't bring me to him, will you? I'm not going back to the Zoo?” They mumble, crawling further out to look up at Norm. He pauses, looking confused, before reaching out a hand.

    “O’ course not, Gingi. We were headed to demolish what's left o’ th’ place.” They crawl out further, taking Norms hand, and now that they're out from under the bed, he sits down on the mattress instead of the chair. They sit down beside him.

    “Oh…” They mumble, shifting awkwardly. They… kind of forgot about that. They aren't sure why they panicked, really. Now that they think of it, that was completely unnecessary, they literally watched the zoo explode. They remember being incredibly happy when it exploded.

    Gingi nervously fluffs the fur around their neck, mumbling an apology. Norm sighs, leaning back and seemingly thinking. Very intensely, if his scrawled on expression is anything to go by.

    “Ya don't gotta apologize, it‘s not yer fault.” They're about to protest, because who's fault could it be but theirs, when Norm cuts in again, “It‘s called PTSD, er, that's what my doctor told me. When ya go through somethin’ real scary, an’ it sticks with ya, an’ sometimes yer gonna get flashbacks t’ it an’ might think yer back there. An’ yer prob’ly gonna go into flight or freeze. Ya picked flight.”

    Huh. That sounds… about right. Hm. Hm…

    “Hit th’ nail on th’ head there, did I?” Norm asks, and Gingi slowly nods, a slight frown on their phone-face. That was worryingly accurate. Why does Norm know what that is, anyways..? 

    They can't ask before Norm puts a hand on their shoulder, standing up.

    “We should head back. Like I said, th’ rest o’ ‘em are worried ‘bout ya. We won't make ya get near the zoo.” They nod, standing up and following after Norm. Time to go back to ensuring one Randal Jade doesn't bash his head in with a hammer on accident (again) and return Oliver's second adoptive dad to him. They're hogging Norm all to themself right now! How rude of them!