• the skeletons that follow,

[WYATT OLIVER WEST]

the wailing infant in wyatt's arms couldn't have been more irritating. he badly wanted to drop it on the side walk, and kick it to the side; it wouldn't have done any real damage. it was a plastic child, after all. and yet, it seemed to be even more high maintenance than if it actually had a pulse. he peered at the small thing, no more than a pain to his existence, and let out a shudder. of course they would be assigned this project. of course they would. because wyatt didn't get enough of a screaming children dose in a home of two screaming children as it was, so there had to be a plastic baby doll that yelled its head off in the equations as well. not that he was complaining. oh, no. he had an incredibly patience with children, but after working with them day in and day out, the last thing he wanted to do was lose sleep over one, as well. the only peace and quiet he had in his life was when his kid sisters were finally put to bed, and that only spared him about three hours of silence. infants were an entirely different story. they would scream in the middle of the night, waking up their unlucky parent. and, of course, they lacked an input of their own, so you had to guess at what exactly they were screaming about. hunger? exhaustion? nightmares? even if the child wasn't real, it was meant to be lifelike, with the same lovely details as a real infant. he was pretty sure that the same little benefits would apply.. unless by some miracle, they found an "off," switch.

poor brenden. if only he knew what a cynic his partner could really be. the boy didn't try to be so pessimistic. he couldn't even pass it off as "realistic," anymore. it was just a constant state of unhappiness. ever since the split of his parents, wyatt's duties as a son had taken quite a toll on him. he once handled his self assigned chores silently, taking on the responsibilities of his siblings as his mother grieved over her loss. but, it became tiring after years and years of raising what might as well have been his own children. the girls became a part of his every day routine; he knew them better then their own mother did. now, he didn't consider his mother to be a bad one. she was caring enough. just, busy, and emotionally weighed down. but, wyatt had just about had enough. his mother and father were talking again; her moods were uplifting. could she not spare a few moments to take care of her own children? finals would be coming up soon, and he was in desperate need of a good night sleep. of course, with this new baby project, that would be next to impossible. there wouldn't even be a point in trying.

there was a slight glimmer of hope that the project wouldn't be as horrible as originally portrayed. at least he would become a little closer to brenden in the process. the boy was a grade below him, but they still had potential to get along. he seemed like a friendly kid, nevertheless. he just hoped that the boy wouldn't go and spread rumors about his incredibly dysfunctional family; especially because wyatt was about to open up and show him just how simply insane his life really was, screaming sisters and all. he didn't seem to be a judgmental person, and wyatt sincerely hoped that he wasn't, so it was more than likely not going to be as dreadful as he was making it up in his mind to be. and, besides; it wasn't like he had much control over it. if he didn't want his grade to suffer, he would have to work cooperatively. if he acted as if the surroundings didn't bother him in the least bit, he might send the impression that he was even remotely normal. as fool proof as that plan seemed in his head, wyatt somehow doubted that he would be able to get through the evening without complaining.

struggling with the screaming doll in the nook of one arm, and his keys tangled in the fingers of his free arm, wyatt finally managed to jam the right one into the lock, and push open the door. he sighed slightly at his own stupidity, before turning and giving his partner a bit of an apologetic grin. "this damned door," he shook his head as he said so, though he was smiling as if he were sharing an inside joke with himself. "it can be such a pain in the arse." he pushed it open, gesturing for brenden to enter the household. "you shan't be bothered with introductions, unless we happen across one of the brats." wyatt grinned at the irony in his promise, wondering if either of his sisters would dare to approach a complete stranger. he never had company over, so the reactions of both his family members, and his companion would be quite interesting. he wouldn't be as bold as to say they would go through the evening unbothered; that would be too good to be true. it was obvious that the two couldn't put off the project any longer; the drive home from school had taken long enough as it was, and the plastic infant hadn't stopped its bickering since they had entered the car. with a sigh, he stepped aside so brenden could enter the house that had the potential to ruin his reputation.

• words, nine hundred and thirty one • tags, brenden tear, and dan • muse, amazing, of course; it's wyatt • credits, text banner to bittersweetworldxo at caution, template to me • notes, this took me a while; i was getting side tracked.