Pigment (Millard Nullings X Reader)

*Flips Victor Off*

Yes, that's the title; I thought it was funny at first. It doesn't really apply to the story, but that's how life is, I guess. Oh, and Part One of this story is almost over. Pigment was originally created to be in two parts, with this sort of being like a really long prologue or origin story to what happens. When all of that's over, we actually start narrowing down on (y/n) and Millard. See you all in the next chapter!

I was sitting back in Miss Peregrine's classroom, writing down notes on everything she talked about. It was yet another private tutoring, but today we just reviewed the history of the loop. We talked about why Peculiars are kept hidden, and about the hollows and wights, who will do whatever it takes to find us. I learned basic procedures, just in case a Wight where to somehow find us, and where the back door to the loop was, just in case. I already knew about it all, since my best friend was a history nerd, after all, but I pretended that it was all new to me.

"If you have any questions, you can always come to me for anything," Miss Peregrine said. She checked her pocket watch quickly, then turned back to me. "That's all the time we have for today. I will be seeing you during dinner, Miss (L/N)."

I walked out of the room, only to find that Claire was waiting to be invited into the classroom. Normally, she would have class an hour after me, but today was scheduled differently for some odd reason. I patted her on the back, and wished her luck.

Briskly, I began to walk back to my room, when I bumped into Bronwyn. I only knew her by name, and hardly ever talked to her, since she was always so busy playing with the younger kids. From what I could tell, she seemed like a very kind person; not the brightest, but could lift anyone up when they needed it (both literally and figuratively).

"Sorry about that," I apologized, and began to walk away, when Bronwyn asked me a question.

"Have you seen Victor anywhere?" She asked, sounding a bit worried.

I thought back through my day, and couldn't remember seeing Victor at all that day. I shook my head.

"I haven't, sorry," I told her. "But I'm not doing anything right now. I could help look for him, if you'd like."

Bronwyn smiled happily at me. "Oh, thank you so much, Miss (Y/N). I'd greatly appreciate the help right now, especially since I have something very important I need to tell him."

"No problem!" I answered back. "I personally hate it when I need to tell Heather something, and she just disappears. Oh, and calling me by my first name is fine. No need to put Miss."

"Noted," Bronwyn said.

We looked in Victor's room first, obviously. Bronwyn knocked politely, but I just opened the door immediately. This was a search and rescue, after all, which meant etiquette wasn't needed. Plus, apparently it wasn't healthy to keep yourself locked up in your room. (Not like I was having to be told this multiple times by my extroverted friends, hehe.) He wasn't in there anyway, so we decided to check downstairs as well.

"Hey, have any of you guys seen Victor, lately?" I asked a group of people playing board games in the living room.

Most of them shook their heads, and some said they haven't seen him at all that day. Which was suspiciously strange, seeing how one couldn't just live with a small number of people for years on end and just go missing like Victor did.

So I put my invisible deerstalker on, and tried to think outside of the box. Bronwyn said she already checked for him outside, as well as most of the rooms. So what would a great detective do in this situation? Lick the floor for footprints? Play Good Cop/Bad Cop? I honestly didn't have a clue. Sure, I've read a good number of mystery books, but usually they're about figuring out who murdered who, not searching for a bloke in a condensed area.

"Have you checked the town?" I asked my companion.

"No, actually," Bronwyn said. "Let's go."

We began to make our way to Cairnholm's streets, but I made a quick pit stop at the tree just outside of the marshy area. Due to me never actually getting breakfast because I was with Miss P, I was pretty much famished. I grabbed an apple for both Bronwyn and me, then we trekked to the town.

"So, how are you, today?" I asked Bronwyn between bites of my apple.

"I've been good," Bronwyn said. "I haven't necessarily done much, other than look for Victor, but I was in a good mood while doing it, so that's nice. And you?"

I shrugged, and said, "I've been better. It's nice to finally do something productive with someone I don't know too much about."

Bronwyn smiled. "Yes, me too."

We mostly just walked the streets, looking through shop windows for any signs that Victor might have been there. I let my inner Sherlock Holmes take over, and I scanned the streets for abnormal signs that didn't always happen during the normal loop day.

"Look, there's an apple core on the ground!" I pointed out, as we looped back around the street.

"I threw it there, after I finished," Bronwyn said sheepishly.

Oh. I was still holding on to my apple, and was going to wait to throw it away later.

I still scanned the town, and then it hit me that he might be in the Priest Hole. I told this to Bronwyn, and we walked inside.

"Bronwyn? What are you doing here?"

My hypothesis was correct; Victor was in the pub. This time, luckily, he was just drinking a glass of water, and eating the crappy pub food. In fact, he must have been really thirsty, since he had three cups of water with him. That was just pathetic at its finest. Or maybe he just finished exercising, so he needed to hydrate again. In that case, good for him.

Man, I was a great detective.

I turned to Bronwyn, and she threw herself at him. It was like she was trying to bear hug him, but at the same time, trying to keep him in place. And this was exactly why I wouldn't want to be in a loop with siblings. Heather was annoying enough.

"You're It, now, Victor. And no tag-backs, either!" Bronwyn said proudly.

We trekked through town just for Bronwyn to win a game of Tag; that was something that I could relate to. I laughed at this, but then saw a familiar face in the corner of my eye. As I turned to make sure it was who I thought it was, I heard the two Bruntley siblings talk.

"So, why are you here?" Bronwyn asked.

"I'm making sure Heather doesn't do anything dumb," Victor remarked. "She already stole, like, twelve sweaters that she wasn't even planning on wearing."

Because that was who I saw, standing at the other end of the pub, once again. It was like a case of deja vu, except Heather and Victor weren't drunk, and I wasn't expecting either of them to be there. But there Heather stood, talking to Cordelia (was that her name?) holding her hand and smiling brightly. 

"Say," Victor said. "Heather and I were planning on leaving the loop once and for all, through the loop's back entrance. Do you want to join us?"

Heather saw me, and she seemed shocked. I just stood there, watching, but neither Victor or Bronwyn noticed what was happening. Instead, they were still chatting happily to each other. Heather opened her mouth, as if about to say something, but then I just shook my head. I didn't know what I was feeling. Betrayal? Why?

It didn't matter, anyways. I knew what I needed to do afterwards, so I took action.