Please, I beg of you; READ THE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END.
"I want you to choose people to have dinner with you. Dead or alive, real or imaginary. It's up to you."
I don't question it. Who would? I do have one question, though, "Can I make a list, or do I need to answer now?"
The spirit...entity...whatever it was, paused, "I suppose you could make a list," a pen and paper appeared before me, "Take as much time as you need." The look it gave me told me the opposite. "Make it snappy," was clearly what it meant. I could do that.
I grabbed the pen and paper, but then looked around for a place to sit. We were in a white space of nothingness. The entity took this as its chance to chance the scenery with a wave of its hand. In a mere moment, we were in a candle-lit room with a wide, mahogany table and cushioned chairs. I assumed this was where we would be having dinner, but there was no sign the table was set for such an event. Still, it did have the power to change that at a second's notice.
"You may also choose the seating arrangement," he said, "but you must remain at the head of the table. Choose wisely," and without another word, it was gone.
I stared at the empty space it previously occupied, but soon found my attention diverted to the paper before me. Time to make a list. Before that, I looked at the table. Ten chairs. Ten people. I can meet ten of my favorite people. I sighed.
I listed as many as I could, just trying to see who came to mind. I figured if I really had to think about it, then they weren't someone I really considered important enough. Before I knew it, the paper was full of names. Most fictional, but the few real ones were celebrities I wouldn't have had a chance of meeting otherwise.
The absolute first person I had written down was Sirius Black. I hadn't read any fanfictions in the Harry Potter fandom for quite a while, so I couldn't quite justify why he came first. Really, the only reason I felt any attachment towards Sirius was because of fanfiction.
Would I really want to meet the real deal, or would I be disappointed?
I shook the thought from my head, knowing it would only lead to regretful decisions.
I filtered through the Harry Potter characters faster than I expected. Harry was clueless, Ron was obnoxious, and Hermione was a know-it-all. Not to mention the fact that I wanted to tear the head off a few of the villains (*cough*Umbridge*cough*).
This really got me thinking about the true personalities of these characters. These people. In books, we idolized them, but would we really be okay with them in real life? Sure they had good characteristics, but it was only in my best interest to consider the bad sides to them in a situation such as mine.
Percy Jackson fandom was next. I had been a big fan, at one point, but now I sort of lost interest. That immediately eliminated all of them.
Sherlock, Doctor Who, Supernatural. Ah, yes, the big three, forming the SuperWhoLock fandom. Sherlock? His habits would only prove to be destructive in a group situation. The Doctor Who characters...Did I really know them that well? The fandom was too deep for me to fully explore, similar to the ocean, and I had already been drowning in all the other fandoms I had been in. For Supernatural... Sam and Dean were pretty great, but would they freak out if they magically appeared in a room like this? I had to consider their reactions, and how it would affect the entire group, though I had yet to decide who the group was comprised of.
I filtered through a few small book fandoms. One called The Grey Wolves Series was pretty good, but now that I thought about it, the characters were pretty annoying. The main girls were bossy, rude, and didn't know what respect meant. The males were all possessive D-bags.
Others, like The Family Blood Ties Series, I eliminated due to the fact that I didn't exactly like the choices they were making (*cough*Tessa*cough*).
Before I knew it, I had gone through all the book series. Of all the books I've ever read (which were a lot, by the way), I had only gotten one, and I wasn't even 100 percent sure about him.
I kept thinking. I just knew there were more characters I wanted to spend time with. But... what book were they from?
Ah, of course.
Fanfiction.
There were no criteria listed as to what type of fictional characters would be acceptable. That meant OCs were perfectly fine to list. I just needed to remember their names. We all know that time when we've run out of fanfiction to read. That's usually when the names begin to blur. And, most of the time, the character goes by a nickname, not their real name.
I thought as hard as I could, but could only pull up a few names.
Zoey
Akane
That one girl from the AOT fanfic whose name I can't remember.
I rested my head in my hands, massaging my temples and closing my eyes as tightly as possible. This was harder than I thought it would be. I thought I would have too many to choose from, but now I was just...
I don't know.
Well, we still had the animes, movies, and boy bands to go through. That was something to look forward to. Perhaps I'd be able to remember a name of an OC for one of that fandom's fics. I could only hope.
Speaking of hope...J-Hope. BTS. I wanted to invite them all, but seven people was a lot. Seven. GOT7. Seven more people. I groaned. Here came the troubles. I expected there to be maybe 15 finalists, whom I would then narrow down to 10.
I thought as realistically and practically as possible. I needed someone who could communicate. That meant they had to speak English. Fluently enough to hold a proper conversation without a translator. That meant 6 of the 7 BTS members were eliminated, and 5 of the 7 GOT7 members. Rap Monster, Mark, and Jackson were the ones left.
I couldn't choose between them, so I placed them all on the finalist list, next to Sirius Black.
Those were the two main Kpop groups I listened two. Sure, I listened to EXO and Monsta X, as well as several others, but I didn't idolize the members (yet, anyways).
Now was anime.
Attack on Titan? Eren was always angry, Mikasa needed Eren, Armin was smart, but a bit prissy, and Levi...he was scary. Erwin? Could I take him seriously with his eyebrows? I decided to put him on the list anyways. He was smart, strong, composed, and I respected him.
Death Note. L. Near. Mello. Matt. Light.
Mello was too angry. Matt was careless (as shown with his death), Light was a serial killer. That left Near and L. For some reason, I couldn't choose between the two. There had been countless people in the fandom showing their dislike for Near, L's replacement, but I couldn't find it in me to do the same.
They both made it on the list.
I went through several more, Howl's moving castle, The Irregular at Magic High School, Hetalia, Red Data Girl, and more. To be honest, I had a sort of crush on Miyuki Sagara of Red Data Girl, but I knew his heart was already taken.
Jesus, I was making it sound like I wanted to bang everyone I put on the list. It's not that way, I promise, I just...
Whatever.
I debated putting Tatsuya Shiba from The Irregular at Magic High School on the list, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. He was too cold. I was aiming for a warm, casual, dinner, if you couldn't already tell (let's not mention L and Near's awkwardness...).
Soon, the anime category was done with. My heart broke once I saw that lack of my favorite characters. But they were too emotionless to invite...
A certain character hit me like a ton of bricks. My epiphany resulted in my writing his name down immediately.
Ciel Phantomhive of Black Butler.
Once I finally calmed down, I moved on to movies. Nothing came to mind. Sure, I liked Marvel, but my like for it was nowhere near my attachment towards the fandoms I had been loyal to for as long as I could remember. At least, that's what it seemed like to me.
I looked at the list below me.
8 names.
Sirius Black
Rap Monster (Namjoon)
Mark (Tuan)
Jackson (Wang)
L (Lawliet)
Near
Ciel Phantomhive
Erwin Smith
All males.
We could make a band out of this.
This was when I nearly bawled. Did I want to add more names? Were these people even going to get along? Their personalities were so different, their backgrounds so different. Did I really make the right choice?
There were three more people I could invite. I looked at my list. There were two names I had doubted myself on leaving behind. Suga (BTS) and Zoey (The Great Reclamation- a fanfiction).
That's when it really hit me.
I am never going to get this chance again. I get to spend time with the people I idolize, the people I've only dreamed about meeting. I had to write their names down.
I placed them in the final list, then moved on to seating arrangements. Fictional characters nearest to me. Ciel Phantomhive at my direct left, and Erwin Smith at my right. They had a wide age gap, but I could see them getting along once they realized they were similar in more ways than one. Next to Erwin, going all the way down the four side seats of the table-
The four side seats of the table
The four side seats of the table
4+4=8 + the 2 chairs at the ends =10. My seat was taken. 10-1=9.
I had 10 people to sit with, but only nine chairs for them to sit at.
At that brief moment, I considered making them sit on each other's laps but soon thought against it. No way the spirit would let that fly. He was way too grumpy, which automatically meant he was strict.
I nearly died. I had to choose from my favorites?
Mark, Jackson, L, Near, Ciel, Suga, and Erwin were definitely staying.
Rap Monster, Zoey, and Sirius.
I considered each individually, then thought of who wouldn't fit in as well with the group. In that aspect, Rap Monster was sure to fit in best since there were three other kpop idols at the table. Zoey was probably the deepest character, even though she was fan-made. Sirius was someone I was loyal to since childhood.
I couldn't get Zoey and Sirius off my mind. Their stories were over. Everyone else's stories seemed to be living within me, but their stories seemed to have settled within. They were calm. Wrapped up and tied with a bow. I couldn't bear the feeling of ripping that piece to bits. I'd be disturbing that little peace withing me just to see them.
And that was when my decision was made. Both Sirius and Zoey were booted. Rap Monster, too. If I even questioned my decision this close to the end, it obviously wasn't worth it.
Now that I thought about it, I just added Erwin for the numbers,
Quality over quantity. He was crossed off with a surprising ease.
From there, the seating arrangement was made with ease. There was none. I had realized they were people, too. Sure, some of them might have been fictional to me, but they were as real as could be in their world.
I'd like to say I was the best person I could be, and I left them all at peace in their own world, but I can't say that. I'm selfish, and I don't feel as if I could give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
I smiled to myself.
"I believe you have chosen," the spirit said.
With a nod, "I have," I took a deep breath, "and I have some things I need to run by you."
With that, It told it of my decision to leave three seats empty. In exchange, I would get something. Up until then, I had considered a lack of seating chart appropriate, but I announce something entirely different, "I don't want dinner," I paused, "Or breakfast, or lunch, or any meal, for that matter."
"I want to truly interact with them, get to know them. Perhaps I could just... live with them for a while?" The way I said it was phrased as more of a question. I awaited the abrupt refusal, but it didn't come.
"Sorry, no can do, Miss. I'm not the one running this," It shook its head, "and what kind of trade-off was that, anyways? Psh... two empty seats at a dinner table doesn't buy living with 7 handsome males for a while, missy."
My face reddened, "Yeah..."
The spirit seemed to glow, a way of smiling, it seemed, "But I guess anything is possible if you dream hard enough."
My mouth was so dry. A dark head of hair was laying at my bedside.
I seemed to be in a hospital. What was I stupid enough to do this time?
"Wa-ter" My voice cracked mid-way through the rough croak. I tried to jostle my arms so the figure, a male, from what I could tell, could wake up, but he hardly budged.
After a few more tries, he groaned, turning his head to nuzzle my arm. The male suddenly stopped. His head lifted, eyes opening dramatically.
"You're awake."
I froze. It was him.
"Whaaaa?"
I heard from the other side of the bed. Sure enough, there was another male figure curled up on the couch. Several young men young men were sprawled out along the couches of the hospital room.
At the male's loud exclamation, they began to squirm, looking up to see what the commotion was all about.
That was the most precious moment; when I met their eyes for the first time. Each and every one of them was their own person. Their own real person.
This was surprisingly easy to write.
For those of you who didn't really understand the ending, don't worry; I've got you covered.
The idea is that she was given the choice to choose the people she idolized the most. She was able to choose those six people, in the end. Then, she woke up and saw all six people, she saw everyone she idolized. They aren't famous in her mind, they're not fictional, that was just for the purpose of the first part of the story. They're real people she's spent her entire life with. Those are the people she admires most; the people that she loves. She's living in a metaphorical dream.