Pigment (Millard Nullings X Reader)

Miss Peregrine

Emma led me to a cute Victorian house tucked behind the deep woods of Cairnholm. Inside the building I could hear music playing lazily, as kids and teens alike ran around. The whole place in general felt like it should have been in a little suburban area where kids sang and danced, with birds whistling a Disney tune. Yet there it was, right at the edge of smelly old Cairnholm, with shining windows and a pleasant aroma. The place felt so familiar, and then I realized that this was where that strange dream took place. Although how I could have dreamt about it, I still didn't know.

"Wow," I said, honestly very surprised.

"Overwhelmed yet?" Emma asked me. 

"Maybe a little bit," I said with a smile. "Man, if only Heather could see it all!"

Emma raised her eyebrow, signalling that she didn't know who I was talking about. She knew about me, but not my cousin? I mean, back at home, Heather was the star of her own little show, and I was just in the background. Nothing against Heather, of course, since she obviously wasn't aware, but.... But now I had all of this right in front of me to myself. No Heather, just me.

At the porch stood a woman in her good fifties with wise eyes and graying hair pulled back and out of her face. She held a glossy black pipe in her hands, which had white smoke trailing out of it slowly. She looked off into the distance, as if she was deep in thought, but quickly snapped her head towards us as we approached.

The women took the pipe out of her mouth, and smiled. "Miss (L/N), it's nice to finally meet you. My name is Alma LeFay Peregrine, and while I truly am sorry to be pushing you directly into this, it is important that I have done so in a quick matter."

She took a long drag from her pipe, and exhaled a perfectly shaped smoke ring, which then floated lazily in the air. She kind of reminded me of Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, although obviously better with people. Sure Gandalf was cool and all, but he just loved to pop in and out of the story! Some odd feeling inside me felt like I could trust Alma Peregrine.

"As I understand, you have a lot of questions, and came here hoping that I can answer them. And the answer to that is yes. You have a strange ability that no one else can explain, especially not you, correct?"

I nodded dumbly. How was it that this woman seemed to know more about me than I did?

"Yeah," I said. "I don't know why, but I'm easily able to-" While I did try to start my explanation, Peregrine shook her head.

"There's no need to go on," she said. "Why don't you come inside?"

Peregrine took a sharp turn to her right, and marched off into the house. I looked at Emma, and she easily followed. Of course, I then did the same thing, to suddenly become engulfed in children's laughter.

A young teen was happily chasing a little girl down the hall teasingly. The older one seemed to have been dressed messily to hide her femininity, and had short brown hair that reached her jaw. Her arms were out wide, and she happily chased the younger girl, who was wearing a beautiful silver tiara, a boxy cream dress, and peculiar metal shoes.

The two didn't even notice us as we passed them. In fact, no one really looked at us as we walked by the different rooms. From what I could see, there was a library, a kitchen with a door leading outside, a dining area, and a grand staircase. Everyone we passed seemed to be young, or at least younger than the legal adult age.

We would see some young kids with youthful expressions, but I also remembered seeing some teens like Emma. In fact, we even passed a boy with a bizarre pair of goggles on his head cuddling with a girl covered in dirt with thick dreadlocks. They were the only ones who noticed us, and quickly stood up at the sight of Alma Peregrine, and pretended that nothing was wrong.

Finally, we arrived in a small classroom, where Peregrine took a seat in a desk at the front of the room. Emma made herself comfortable in a wooden chair and desk, and I copied the movement. Peregrine took another long drag on her pipe, and looked at me kindly.

"Before you start asking questions, let me explain where you are and what this is all about," the older woman stated.

I nodded at this, and had a great urge to grab a pencil and paper to take notes. However, I just sat straight in my seat and tried my best not to look like an idiot. Personally, I felt as if I had mastered this in school, with pretending that I knew what I was doing. That's what growing up was all about, right?

"First thing's first, you are what is known as a peculiar. A peculiar is just like any normal human being, but has extra abilities or quirks that not many other people have...."

She then explained that she had a very rare ability to manipulate time, as well as change her form to become a bird, which only is given to Ymbrynes. Apparently, her and her wards lived in a time loop she created on the third of September, 1940 due to them being close to death. (Not her exact words, of course, but it didn't necessarily matter.)

She also talked about how the children called her Miss Peregrine, and how she kept them safe from invisible monsters called Hollowgasts.

It was a lot to take in, especially since I just arrived there. Miss Peregrine wanted me to live their with her and her wards, so she could teach me how to use my powers and to protect me from the Hollows as well.

"What about my cousin?" I asked. "She's peculiar too, but you didn't seem to have brought her along."

"I tried, but she didn't follow my path," Miss Peregrine said. "You can invite her to stay if need be, but her power is not as strong as yours. When I first met you, I knew that you would be talented. But that doesn't matter. Do what you mus, although I highly recommend staying to live with us."

I asked some follow up questions about how long I would stay (for as long as I'd like) and how often they got new peculiars (not very often). After becoming satisfied with the answers, Miss Peregrine turned to face Emma.

"Miss Bloom, would you mind showing Miss (L/N) around so she could meet people before dinner? That way, she won't be too overwhelmed when we start to eat."

Emma nodded, and stood up. She gestured for me to do the same, and then we started our tour of Miss Peregrine's home for peculiar children.