DOUBLE UPDATE!!!!!

1 CONTROL CHAPTER AND 1 MASTER CHAPTER SINCE I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

ENJOY!!!!!

—————

Nikola’s P.O.V

“So why don’t you tell me about Nikola?”

I hear my name, but I don’t look up, too focused on scratching my red crayon over my paper.

I didn’t know the lady Mama and Papa were talking to, but I liked her because of the paper she’d given me with the coins underneath.

It made nice shapes and patterns for my circles. It also gave the paper bumps I could touch.

“He’s amazing,” Mama says from behind me, “he’s incredibly intelligent. He understands things very quickly, from new words to new places, and he doesn’t forget, like anything. Nik’s also very obedient-”

“More than obedient,” Papa adds, “he doesn’t give any trouble. He follows the rules we set for him, to the point that if we don’t enforce them, he gets upset. He’s literally the perfect kid.”

The lady laughs a little, the sound making my ears hurt.

I tap my crayons against the paper five times to drown her out.

Grown-ups talked a lot, too much. Everyone talked too much.

“That’s wonderful, truly. But I want you to tell me about Nikola’s characteristics, his personality, how he responds to change, perhaps.”

I didn’t know what they were all talking about, but I didn’t mind. I had my paper to focus on.

I’d made red circles, green ones, pink ones and yellow ones with the coins, and they were all in a perfect line. I liked the line because it made all their talking fall into a line too.

It made all the fuzzy noises grow quiet which didn’t happen a lot. Papa said my ears were sharp because I was a werewolf, but he didn’t seem to hear all the little things I did. Nobody else seemed to hate the sharp noises when they came.

But it was quiet now with my perfect line.

I liked when it got quiet in my head.

“Well, he’s a bit particular about certain things,” Mama answers. She sounded a little different when he said that.

“Like what?”

“If something is out of order in his room, he gets upset. He’ll start screaming and crying until it’s fixed, even if it’s just a tilted pillow,” Papa says slowly, “but it’s not just his room, its the same with books in the living room, picture frames on the walls, if anything is out of order or shifted from its normal place, it sets him off.”

I switch over to my blue crayon wanting to see what would happen with this one.

“Whenever his food touches, he refuses to eat it,” he continues, “it could be a single grain of rice, and he’ll see it.”

“Has this affected his magic?” The lady asks, “that is if he’s shown any signs of having magic.”

“He hasn’t,” Mama answers.

“Is he talkative, or rather reserved?”

This time both Mama and Papa make a sound; that sad sound that made the fuzzy stuff return loudly, making me whine as I drop my crayons and cover my ears.

Mama comes over and picks me up, softly humming while she takes me back to the couch. When we’re next to Papa, he gently touches my back, rubbing only the right spots, the ones only he knew until it’s not so loud.

“Nikola doesn’t talk,” Papa eventually says. He sounded sad, which makes me whine again as I cling to Mama. “He knows how to; his written words are beyond any five-year-old I’ve ever seen. He responds to every question or comment as best as he can without vocalizing those words, but he doesn’t talk.”

“He used to, when he was just finding his words,” Mama fills in quickly, “but then it just stopped.”

“Was there a change in your home when he stopped?” The last asks, her pen scribbling against her paper.

“No, nothing we could find,” Papa replies sadly, “he just stopped, as if something turned off inside of him.”

“He still calls us mama and papa,” Mama says, her hand finding Papa’s lap and squeezing, “when he wants us or wants to say he loves us, but he doesn’t… say it. He doesn’t say anything.”

I play with Mama’s charms. I slip my fingers through the chain loops and trace all the stones and chains, feeling the way they were warm like her.

Mama and Papa talked to the lady for a long time, too long because my skin was getting itchy from being in one place, but every time I got upset, the lady gave me something new.

She gave me blocks, and she gave me puzzles, she gave me lines to trace and much more. They all made it quiet.

I liked the lady.

The tower I was making was almost done when I heard a new word, “Autism.”

“Autism?” Mama asks, saying the new word again. She sounded surprised; maybe she didn’t know the word too. “He’s autistic?”

“He’s on the spectrum,” the lady answers, still sounding nice. “It’s a very complex disability that can vary for a lot of individuals, supernatural or not, but oftentimes, the disorder develops in more complicated ways for the supernatural.”

“Wait,” Papa breathes out, sounding surprised too, “I know what autism is, but I’ve never- can you explain it?”

“Certainly. It can be quite overwhelming, so try to take it in slowly,” the lady says; she didn’t sound surprised at all. “Those with ASD carry a developmental disability due to neurological differences within the brain…”

The rest of the lady’s words go away when my tower gets so tall I have to stand. I build it carefully, not wanting it to fall.

When the final level is complete, I leave the tower alone and go back to Mama who’s eyes are a little wet now as she and Papa hug me to them, holding me tighter than before.

I squirm out of their hold, not liking their skin rubbing against mine, and they let me go.

Without their arms, I climbed up on the couch, sitting between them so I can watch the lady who made my Mama upset.

I didn’t like the lady anymore.

“We can carry out a series of tests in our next session so I can determine where exactly Nikola falls on the spectrum, and then we can go from there.”

I didn’t like when she said my name. She was bad.

“Okay, that sounds good,” Papa agrees quickly, “what do we do in the meantime? Obviously, we’ll learn as much as we can, but how do we… help or understand?” He makes a heavy sound, “I just want to do right by my son.”

The lady smiles a little while Papa rests his hand on my shoulder.

I take it down, not liking it there. But I keep my hand in his, so I could trace the lines on his palm.

“You’re doing amazing already. You’re patient with him, communicative and present,” she replies quickly, “the fact that he is so receptive of your touch, your presence, speaks volumes. I can help you learn how to reach him better, to work with him and his quirks, but whatever you’re doing, keep it up because he trusts you.”

The lady looks at me, smiling. I narrow my eyes, but she just smiles even more.

I keep tracing Papa’s lines.

“This is new terrain for us all because he’s a hybrid, and I have never had a hybrid patient, but we can all take this one step at a time. But at least, now, you can understand Nikola a little better,” she continues, her voice sounding a little fuzzy now.

She was talking too much.

“It may change with time, perhaps his magic may have an effect one day, but for now, we can expect that Nikola won’t be the most social child because he lacks basic social skills. He will likely stick within his patterns; people with ASD usually prefer to have things their way, in a particular order or fashion. Both things you’ve seen already and worked with instead of against.”

“What about talking?” Mama asks; she sounded sad again. I drop Papa’s hand and take hers instead so I can trace her lines. “Will he ever talk to us more than he does now?”

“I can’t answer that with any certainty,” the lady says, sounding sad for the first time. “But it’s a possibility. It will probably require a lot of effort on Nikola’s part. His brain isn’t wired to be communicative in the way it should, so he is more than likely crowded by all that goes on in his mind. Some persons with ACD only see the things that take their interests; others collect a lot of detail and simply don’t know what to do with it.”

“Nik’s a bit of both, I think,” Papa says as he passes his large hand over my head, putting the lines on his hands on my hair. I didn’t like that. “He seems to notice everything that’s going on but only acknowledges what he cares about.”

“I can see that,” the lady replies with a laugh, “I’m willing to bet my practice that he has developed hatred towards me because he senses your distress and thinks I’m the cause.”

Whatever the lady just said made Mama and Papa laugh a little, so I stopped staring at her.

“From what I’ve observed today, I think Nikola will likely be able to function relatively well within social situations, even if he doesn’t necessarily understand them. He demonstrates very strong signs of adaptability and self-awareness.” She continues, voice fuzzy, “I think where he might struggle greatly is expressing what he’s feeling. Words are already hard for him, so sharing his misaligned emotions in said words are likely going to be a task.”

I knew that word. Task. I liked tasks; they got ticks in my mind when they were done well.

“We’ll do whatever we can to make it easier on him,” Mama declares firmly, her hands wrapping around mine and squeezing.

I didn’t mind that.

“Anything at all,” Papa adds, his hand coming over mamas and me.

This was nice. I liked this.

I wanted to say it, but the fuzziness got bigger when I tried to use my words.

I frown, groaning before I say the ones I can. “Mama. Papa.”

Mama and Papa both hug me, pressing kisses to my head while they hold me the way they liked to. “We know, Nikki,” Mama promises softly. “We love you too.”

I settle down. I heard the love word, which meant they understood.

It was quiet now.

I smile.

————

NIKOLAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don’t know why, but this shit made me really fucking emotional!!!!

Thoughts?????????

I wanted to bring up Nikola’s autism later in the book, but after the last chapter, I figured it made sense to show why he was so bad with communicating with Hagen. Of course, it was the bond, link, his wavering control, but it was also his autism, so yeah.

Hopefully, you guys can learn more about ASD throughout this book, and if you are on the spectrum, please don’t be afraid to be vocal. I’ve been researching it a lot to be as accurate as I can (outside of the supernatural bits), but I would love to learn more!

I hope you guys enjoyed this update nevertheless, and the double update if you’re also a Master reader. I’ll be updating Patreon next!

Until next time,
Byeeeee Humansssssss