normal life au meme

[elementalherodragonlord]

the normal life AU meme

you wake up in the morning, and something has changed:

Maybe you're a super villain, a superhero, a magician, a knight, a space explorer -- but today, when you pad down the stairs (still half-asleep, still unfocused), you do not walk into your secret lair, your spaceship, your headquarters.

You're now just an average Joe, and you're standing barefoot on a worn wooden floor, smelling fresh coffee.

To boot, there's someone else in this kitchen, leaning on the counter, wearing pajama bottoms and an old t-shirt.

The setting might be new, but hell, you know eactly who they are...

so...why is your worst enemy/co-commander/partner/captain/etc. currently pouring you a second cup of coffee and asking you for pointers on the crossword?

WHAT EVEN?

Comments

Vash the Stampede

[fulltimeproblem]

 

Sephiroth

[specialexistence]

 

Kaworu

[rinseandrepeat]

 

[komm süsser tod playing from another room]

[getoutoftherobot]

[If he needed to build out a timeline, Shinji would probably put the beginning of his uneasy grasp on reality around the destruction of Unit 03. The muddled, sharp-numb slurry of grief and blood that made up the following months hadn't helped, but if you'd actually asked him for a date, handed him a pen and a calendar? He'd put that shaky line of ink around the moment he'd felt the shell of an entry plug break under his fingers.]

[He doesn't think he could have killed Kaworu, no matter the stakes, if some part of him wasn't always stuck there, powerless as warm LCL dripped to the ground, like smashing an egg left in the sun.]

[Shinji Ikari hurts his friends. Toji lost a leg, and it was Shinji who crushed him. He remembers Asuka's fluttering pulse and windpipe under his hands. The give of bones and flesh as Kaworu's body broke into two pieces.]

[The last thing he remembers is a beach, grim silhouettes against blood-red water.]

[It is, understandably, extremely jarring to wake up in an unfamiliar bed, warm and comfortable. His eyes don't even ache, as if he hasn't been crying.]

[There is a framed painting on the wall above the bed, the bed which is for two people and smells like fabric softener and not stale teenager, which is just as confusing as the painting, god, the painting, where would he have gotten a painting of two men playing the piano? There are flowers in a vase on the wardrobe. Somewhere, a teakettle is whistling, and there is no blood under Shinji's fingernails.]

[He feels outside of his body as he gets out of bed, startling at the slippers waiting for him. They're plush and fluffy, with little bunny ears, the sort of thing that's sold to girls who associate cute things with pampering. Distantly, he wonders how he's survived owning them around Asuka-- and where is Asuka? Weren't they on a beach at the end of the world? Wasn't she dead? Was that real? Is this real?]

[He puts on the slippers.]

[The bedroom leads into a living room, open to the kitchen. Someone else is here, and his brain stops entirely when he recognizes them. His voice comes out small, uncomprehending.]

Kaworu?

[rinseandrepeat]

[The mundanity of Kaworu's life is more comforting than it is boring or a thing to resent. Within every crevasse in his daily routine of living with Shinji, he finds nothing but joy. Their younger years were more tumultuous; he dodged thyroid cancer and has an obvious scar on his throat from its removal, Shinji's living situation was wrought with conflict and uncertainty, friendships strained, cello strings snapped, the piano had to be tuned, eggs were overcooked in rusting pans from poor caretaking. Everything that could go wrong seemed to do so.]

[Now, however, Kaworu can make a perfectly over-medium fried egg, they both learned how to replace cello strings without the anxiety of turning the pegs too much, Asuka visits, Shinji's dad texts him once a year, Rei hasn't had a hospital bill in months, the sun shines through the windows of Kaworu and Shinji's condo to warm the fur of their eldery tabby cat.]

[Asuka asks if Kaworu is tired of living such a normal, quiet life. Kaworu always smiles, tells her there's nothing more fulfilling than making grocery lists with Shinji because it's true; Shinji is his heart.]

[Kaworu looks up from pouring water from the kettle into the first mug he and Shinji bought for their new home, the one he likes to use for preparing Shinji's tea. It's plain and white, a perfect cylinder with an ordinary handle, but it represents the beginning of their lives together. He sees Shinji, love of his life, his grace from God, and he smiles with the same warmth Miss Kitty basks in.]

Ah, Shinji.

[Shinji's name is a dreamy sigh passing through Kaworu's upturned lips.]

You're awake. I was about check in, this is late for you.

[getoutoftherobot]

[This. This isn't real. This can't be real. He remembers the feeling of betrayal and sick, nauseous anger, the severing of flesh and spine, the grief and horror and--]

[And Kaworu has a scar on his throat.]

[As if in sympathy, Shinji's throat closes, tight around tears. He can't breathe. The attempt is a gasp and he ducks his head, closes his eyes. He can't look, he'll open his eyes and this will be over, some twisted amalgamation of nightmare and desire.]

Kaworu...

[rinseandrepeat]

[Worry shocks through Kaworu like lightning. He sets down the kettle and rushes over to Shinji. He puts a hand on his shoulder and the other cupping Shinji's cheek.]

Shinji? Are you alright?

[His thumb strokes Shinji's cheekbone, his hand on his shoulder gives a gentle squeeze.]

Did you have a bad dream?

Shinji Ikari

[getoutoftherobot]

running with what vague idea i have left of this boy

[rinseandrepeat]

[Kaworu dies.]

[When Kaworu opens his eyes, he's surprised to find himself laying down on a plush surface while a TV is on in front of him. A remote sits on an ottoman. He reaches for it, just to see if it's real, and in doing so pushes aside a woven blanket he then realizes is draped over him.]

[He's maybe encountered a couch once or twice, but he's never laid down on one. The sort of comfort he's feeling is unusual and almost unsettling; what sort of meaning is there in this?]

[Kaworu takes the remote into his hand. He turns the volume down. The pillow smells like Shinji.]

[getoutoftherobot]

[Shinji lifts the lid off one of the pots, giving the sauce inside a stir. He pauses to taste the sauce off the spoon, considering, before he sets the lid back down gently, trying not to make too much noise. Salty enough. Good.]

[He's just gone to the fridge to take out the fish when he hears the TV go quiet. He steps out of the kitchen, smiling.]

Oh, you're up!

[God, Kaworu with bedhead is still so cute, no matter how many times he sees it. He crosses the room to stand by the couch.]

You can sleep a little longer, if you'd like. Dinner's not quite ready yet.

[He reaches out, then, to run his fingers gently through Kaworu's hair. It's affectionate and familiar.]

[rinseandrepeat]

[This is...strange. Kaworu is confused, isn't matching Shinji's energy at all. It can be excused by just waking up, but Kaworu knows better, suspects something is afoot. This is wrong, but Shinji's fingers in his hair feel so right.]

[Kaworu reaches up to take Shinji's hand in his, and he slides it down to his face, holding it in place against his cheek.]

No...it's alright.

[He hesitates, then presses a kiss to Shinji's palm, reverent. He sighs, wonders how he's doomed to die in this place. Is it on this couch, crushed by the weight of the affection he wants from Shinji so badly? There are worse ways to go.]

I'm awake.

Eddie

[vampirefratboy]

i forgot that ryou would be 17 when writing this tag, so maybe high school sleepover...?

[ringaroundyourneck]

[At first, nothing seems too out of the ordinary, or at least nothing Ryou catches onto immediately in his groggy state of having just woken up. He barely remembers crawling into bed at all; whether or not that means the spirt of the Millennium Ring took control before having the rare courtesy to put Ryou's body to bed is uncertain, but Ryou realizes it's unusual to wake up under the covers rather than tangled up on top.]

[Ryou stares up at the ceiling. There's a bumpy texture where he's used to seeing smooth. The weight usually on his chest is gone. He feels through his shirt; there's nothing there, nothing around his neck and nothing sitting on top of him. He bolts up, scrambling into a sitting position. The Ring--it's gone.]

[Ryou clutches his shirt, which is now noticeably no longer a worn t-shirt but a button-down fleece pajama shirt. He stares ahead at him and instead of a Monster World poster on the wall there's a calendar--in English.]

Where...am I?

[As he shifts in bed to get up, he bumps into something...or, once Ryou apprehensively looks down to see, someone.]

[Ryou yelps and rushes so quickly to get out of bed with a stranger he falls to the floor, taking the first layer of sheets with him in his crash to the floor.]

sleepover!!!

[vampirefratboy]

[Eddie can sleep through a lot, especially as a teenager, but a loud crash and the sheets getting yanked, not so much. He jolts awake, momentarily convinced that one of the neighbors is having a shouting match with her boyfriend at 2am again--]

[Wait, no, this is Ryou's apartment. The bed's too nice-- Eddie sleeps on a pullout couch in his grandma's one bedroom, normally. He rolls over towards the source of the noise, squinting in the dark for his friend. He isn't in the bed.]

Dude, did you fall off the bed?

[He leans over the side of the bed, and, yep, there he is.]

Shit, you okay?

[ringaroundyourneck]

[The voice speaking to him is unfamiliar and definitely American. Ryou's English is good, sure, but he struggles to translate in his head immediately, for example he's familiar with the curse words but not "dude" immediately.]

[He stays on his back on the floor, looking up in the darkness at a face he doesn't recognize in the slightest. He blinks a few times to try to get his eyes to focus more clearly.]

What's going on? Who are you?

[Ryou glances around the room, takes in how almost recognizable it is. It's definitely the sort of decor he would pick for himself, but things are arranged differently, there are different posters.]

Is this...my room?

Taashath Fisher

[quietgardens]

[ash_elvhen]

[The last thing Oren remembers is a wall of fire. What he can't remember is any pain or what happened to the dragon. Did he die? Is that why he can't remember how he got in this warm bed? If this is what comes after death it's really not too bad, but...his family...his friends...Taashath...maybe the whole dragon tooth thing was a bad idea. It seemed safe enough, especially with support from Alice, who has trained in nearly as many weapons as he has, and his dad, a seasoned dragon hunter in his own right, but now he might be dead. Shit.

Oren sits up in bed to take in his surroundings. There are bookshelves lining almost every wall and the rare spaces that don't have books piled into them have images of people in frames. Is this some kind of new magic? Or maybe paintings by an incredibly talented artist? Oren pushes off the covers to get a closer look and finds that they look like...his friends? Only...who's the tall human in the pictures? Oren picks up one of the small images with a frown. Now that he looks closer, everyone looks just a little strange. Maybe it's just their clothes...?

Starting to turn towards the door, Oren finds himself face to face with the tall human man from the images in the frames. He drops the frame he's holding, startled. The man drops a matching frame in matching surprise and that's when Oren realizes that he's looking in a mirror. What the fuck is going on???]

[quietgardens]

[Taashath doesn't usually get up much earlier than Oren does, but he's bad at sleeping in on weekends unless they go out the night before. He expects Oren will be up soon, but he always hates to wake him when he doesn't have to, so he goes to get started the coffee in the kitchen. He leaves his creamer and syrups on the counter and decides to brush his teeth and shave while it brews.]

[He's rubbing in aftershave when he hears a thump and something break from their bedroom. He pokes his head in, and oh, it isn't the cats, this time.]

Starshine? Are you alright?

[ash_elvhen]

[Taashath walks in to Oren standing close to the mirror with a distressed expression. He's touching his face, running his hands through his hair where horns should be. The interruption makes him jump.]

Taashath--!

[Hearing his pet name puts Oren a little at ease, it shows on his face. This is a piece of normalcy he can cling to in this strange place. He moves closer to Taashath and hesitantly places his hands on Taashath's face, examining him carefully. Everything seems to be normal for Taashath, except--]

Oh...you're ears...

[Oren tucks Taashath's braids behind his ears with a concerned frown then lets his hands go to Taashath's shoulders to hold him gently. His expression is so serious.]

Are we dead....

Oren Lavellan

[ash_elvhen]

Aerith Gainsborough

[a_flower_girl]

Evelyn Trevelyan

[cutitout]

lmao, hey

[inthistryingtime]

[Sleeping in is not something that Egg is used to. Even before the Inquisition she's never been a particularly heavy sleeper. Most of her best memories start with her waking with the dawn streaming in through cracks in the wood of her family's aravel. These days she's so busy she doesn't even have the time to sleep. Thank the creators that she doesn't need it.

Today, though, is a strange day. Finding the man she's been pining after for months waiting in her bedroom was...unexpected, to say the least. After what felt like hours together, Egg was spent, and that's the last thing she can remember as she opens her eyes.

When did she put clothes back on? Or did Bull do that? When did she get on a couch? Egg scoots up into a sitting position. She must have been sleeping for a long time to not be feeling sore at all. Why didn't anyone wake her up? That's when Egg realizes very suddenly that this isn't her bedroom at all.

This might just be the strangest room Egg has ever been in. Immediately in front of her, there's a strange, large black box and a similar, smaller black rectangle on a table in front of her. The rectangle suddenly shakes, makes a sound, and lights up with Bull's name. Egg jumps off the couch entirely.]

Fenedhis--!

[What is going on??]

[cutitout]

[Last night had been something of a mess, but a very manageable mess, by Evelyn's standards. Egg's apartment is on the other side of the city, so when the two of them ended up staying at the office until 9pm to meet a deadline, Evelyn had offered her couch. What she hadn't counted on was coming home to her boyfriend in the middle of the migraine from hell, curled up in the bathroom with the lights off because he'd already thrown up twice. She hadn't exactly been the best host for the rest of the evening, but, hey. Sometimes you need to keep the apartment absolutely silent for medical reasons.]

[Cullen sleeps through whatever the noise in the living room was, thankfully, because he still looks pale. She should probably go remind Egg that they need to keep quiet.]

[She gets up, careful not to disturb her miserable lump, and walks out into the hallway. She's not wearing much, just underwear and an oversized, poorly printed beige t-shirt with "A WOMAN'S PLACE IS IN THE BARN" written over a picture of an off-model cartoon horse.]

Hey. Cullen's still out, keep it down, please.

[Wait. Why is Egg so distressed.]

...Are you alright?

[inthistryingtime]

[The rectangle stops moving almost as quickly as it starts, just in time for Evelyn to walk in the room. Egg looks up. What is she wearing? She doesn't really get the chance to take all of that in because Evelyn is talking about Cullen? That's weird. Well, it's weird that Evelyn is here, too, honestly, but it's pretty clear that this is not where she last remembers being. Something strange is happening. When Egg speaks next her voice is quieter. She may not understand what is going on but she can still respect a direct request.]

Where are we?