the current project

So for a few days I've been staring down a long-ish fic I'm writing. It's quite fun to work on, when I can get the momentum going, but. It's my first time writing for the Captive Prince fandom and the longest fic I've ever knowingly tackled (this babe will be 5k at the most minimal, conservative estimate) which means I just feel very uncertain about it all the time. I'm not helped by the fact that I don't have any story beats at all, or any knowledge of where this plot is headed beyond the vaguest 'it's kinky'. hell, Damen hasn't even made an appearance yet, 2k in - I've just been focusing on building up and establishing Laurent's relationship to Nicaise. So anyway, this is me talking about this fic in the hope of shaking something lose. Laurent's sexual abuse, and Nicaise's, is pretty much my main focus. there's lots of trauma (fun to write) and bad coping mechanisms (also fun to write). I don't have the details of it worked out yet, but I know that the beginning of Nicaise's abuse overlapped with the end of Laurent's, and that they were used against each other. at the beginning of the fic itself, Laurent has managed to take himself and Nicaise far away from his uncle, and is trying to make them both a life while being twenty years old and pretty fucking poor. Laurent has a job now though, which is better than it was at the start. Cons: his boss is a tiny, abusive old lady who may or may not be relevant later on. At this point I'm just squinting at my screen and trying to plot a route, but since I don't have a plot right now, suggestions for story moments are welcome. Here's a shoddy summary to help you along.

Laurent had been sixteen the first time he saw Nicaise, and he had hated him on sight. Four years later, though, Nicaise is the first thing he grabs while escaping from his predatory uncle. But building a better life isn't as easy as it was supposed to be, not with all the memories still fresh in their mind, and Laurent's uncle at their heels.