remrom-trickrtreat

[remrom-trickrtreat]

Trick or treat for remrom

Thank you for your unprecedented patience here! Please enjoy it as my blood, sweat, tears, and other bodily fluids went into the making of this fic. I also threw some mulch in there because we ended up with an abundance of it due to unforseen circumstances.

The Hummingbird and the Vine

Words: 6,476

Prince Roman of Escheri rang in the Harvest Ball with the toll of a great, gleaming brass bell that sat in the castle's square. Thunderous cheers erupted and jaunty music began to play, filling the early evening air with merriment and covering the sounds of rioting just outside the palace wall. Strings of paper lanterns and festive pennants lined the cobblestone streets, flickering over happy faces. Sheaves of plucked cornstalks and sunflowers were tied around every lamppost. Smartly dressed people laughed and danced and played and crafted dolls out of corn husks and carved gourds, and yet every year, Roman was forced to walk up the steps of the raised dais and sit on his throne in the royal palanquin.

"Simply perfect, my dear," his mother praised. She said that every time he did this. He gave the same speech each year, did the same movements and scripts like clockwork that the King and Queen expected of him.

"Thank you, mother," Roman replied politely, remembering to sit up straight and prim.

The queen turned to gossip with her courtiers outside and as usual, the King stayed silent and still. Sometimes Roman wondered if the man was still alive.

Nothing ever changed here. Do the speech. Ring the bell. Watch while the world lived and he rotted on his throne. Toast to the country and his lineage and the friends and neighbors who made it possible. Do the harvest ritual. Light the bonfire. Go home surrounded by a parade of party goers and guards carrying festival lanterns. Gods, it was times like this where he missed Remus the most.

Their parents had sent Remus off when the twins were 8 to be a page under one of their most esteemed knights, a vainglorious warmonger under the Weston crest. Both twins had begged and pleaded for their parents to reconsider, that they'd be on their best behavior from here on out, but they fell on deaf ears. The twins were too much trouble together. Of course, they always meant Remus was too much trouble.

"Time spent training the mind and body will make you a strong, valiant general one day, one that Escheri can count on," the King chided. "Your future, the kingdom's future, depends on you turning this misguided and destructive energy into something productive."

Though the boys were equally mischievous in nature, their parents usually pinned the blame on Remus. Roman knew it was unfair and tried to do what he could to spare his younger brother the harsh punishments, but the King and Queen were nothing if not strict. Their parents never said anything about it, but instinctually, the twins knew it was because Remus, though a near mirror image of Roman, had been born with his left leg tightly folded in on itself, which caused him to have a pronounced limp.

That night, they laid together in Roman's bed, sharing tears and clinging to each other, covering each other's cheeks and foreheads and noses with chaste kisses over and over again until their jaws ached. Under the pale light of a crescent moon, they made a pact to never let a week go by without a letter, and that once they met again, they'd never again separate.

That was far more than a decade ago now. Roman thumbed over his heart, making like he was brushing off an imperfection to his crisp, white regalia. What his parents would never, could never know about was that he always stowed the latest letter from Remus in a pocket he'd sewn into his shift. This particular letter had promised surprises, though Remus had neglected to mention what it was. He didn't even mention when, only that it would be "soon."

A sharp rap from the Queen yanked him out of his head. He sat up straighter. "My apologies," Roman said, not sorry in the least.

"Good," she praised, then got back to her gossiping.

Roman sighed quietly. He hoped whatever surprise Remus had in store was actually coming soon.

It wasn't long after that thought that Roman felt eyes boring into him. As a Prince, he was used to all eyes being on him all the time, but this felt... different. His impassive face scanned the crowd. Nothing looked amiss, but the feeling remained, crawling beneath his skin and beading sweat at his brow. A glance toward his parents showed that neither of them were paying much attention to him. One more scan across the crowd and he finally saw him.

A cloaked figure in green, one who wore a jackal's mask, stood in the stretching shadows of a nearby alley to the right, eyes trained on the Prince.

A single blink took the figure and the scrutiny away, but Roman kept focusing on where the figure had been. There was no way anyone could've simply vanished into thin air. Had he imagined the whole thing? Though the stranger had certainly unnerved him, nothing else out of the ordinary happened while Roman was tucked away in the royal palanquin. It did little to assuage him though; assassination attempts were becoming relatively commonplace in his daily life.

His father had become wildly unpopular with their people, thanks to being a rather flippant man who cared little for politics and lacked opinions of his own. Even his mother was despised by those outside their circle for being haughty and stingy. It reached a head when a blight struck many parts of the country the previous year. His parents had been reluctant to part with their more than ample reserves, no matter how Roman protested. He tried to sneak help out, but it was never enough. By the end of it, the people turned him away when they saw him coming. Nary a week went by without some barely thwarted poisoning or stabbing or bludgeoning on both his parents and himself. Maybe that's what this was about.

The thought plagued him as the feast began. He never let it show as he ate the meager meal in front of him, always served at the palanquin and never at the long, boisterous tables set up for everyone else. Too soon, it came time for him to deliver the toast after his father gave his small speech.

He descended from his throne and stood on the ground just outside it, untouched wineglass in hand. After steeling himself and plastering a pleasant smile on his face, he spoke. "My people, it is a great honor to stand before you all today. As we celebrate the bounty of the harvest, let's take time to be thankful for not only the goodwill of the Gods, but in the goodwill of our kingdom, our friends, our neighbors, and those who protect us—" He caught sight of the jackal-masked stranger leaning against a lamppost no more than 20 feet away from him, arms crossed nonchalantly. Roman's stomach dropped. From here, he could see the cocky smile on the man's face peeking from under the mask.

The Queen cleared her throat loudly. Murmurs passed between the people at the tables.

Roman forcibly turned his attention away from the cloaked figure, though the man remained planted in place. "Um. Yes, uh... I'd like to toast not only to my family and our glorious kingdom, but to all of you as well. Cheers," Roman said, faltering at the last word but still raising his glass. Everyone carried on as if he hadn't just royally blundered.

As he climbed back into the silken cage, his mother glared coldly. "When we return to the palace, you will be reciting the proper toast until the sun comes up," she bit.

Though Roman's body felt fiery, he took a breath before saying, "My apologies, my Queen. It seems I was momentarily distracted by a... most unusual attendant. I feel that there may be another assassination attempt in the works."

The Queen shook her head. "Enough excuses, Roman," she said sharply.

"We have more than enough guards to ensure our safety," the King grunted.

Roman bit his tongue, turning away from his parents. He suddenly wasn't very hungry anymore.

As the feast wound down, Roman's already tight chest filled with icy dread. He hated the ritual. His fingers brushed the scar on his palm; it always brought back the memory of his first ritual when he was 9. More heavily, he couldn't banish the smirking image of the masked man. Roman knew he was around here somewhere, but no one else seemed to notice or if they did, they didn't care. Why did no one else seem to care?

The royal sanctuary's clock tower chimed the hour. Each of the nine bells rattled through Roman's skull. His knuckles turned as white as his tunic as he grasped the thick fabric of his pants. Regardless of his wishes, the tolling bell was his signal to begin the ritual. The crowd fell silent, the music stopped, the discord outside the walls became a murky din. The king and queen rose from their thrones, cuing Roman to do the same right after them. As a group, they strode straight down the aisle made by the tables toward the unlit burning pile. Torch bearers fell into step behind them, clad in brown and orange ceremonial robes. Just one step behind them came the bearers of the offerings in brown and deep red, carrying one gourd and one calf, and at the back of the party strode the bearer of the ceremonial dagger in brown and somber plum.

All eyes locked on him as the pile neared. None of them mattered. At the back of the crowd stood the man in the jackal mask. Roman steeled his composure as best he could, but the quickening pace of his heartbeat thundered in his ears. He forced himself to look away, to just look forward and get through this horrid ritual. His parents split in front of the pile, leaving space between them for him. He turned back toward the crowd when he'd taken his place and frantically scanned the crowd with just his eyes, but the man was nowhere to be seen.

The man... he had to be a figment of Roman's imagination. There was no way anyone could move that fast. He took a deep breath and expelled all the unrest in his belly. Of course the man was nothing more than something his mind conjured! The ceremonial procession came into their first position, two out of the three torch bearers standing at either side of the pile and everyone else kneeling in front of them. In the middle knelt the bearer of the dagger and the last torch bearer.

"My people," Roman said confidently, "the time has come to pay our dues for such an excellent harvest this year and ensure our future bounty and prosperity. Through these sacrifices, we give thanks to the Gods who so graciously provided for us. We offer our praise and benediction for the fruits of the earth, so lovingly provided by the Gods and those that move them." He took the dagger and the gourd, carving a perfect hole in the top and setting the seed-laden cap aside. One torch bearer set their flame to the unlit pile, holding it steadily in place.

Roman gulped at the next part. The bearers brought forth the calf and wrangled it to where its neck was splayed right over the opened gourd. He knelt in front of it, licked his dry, dry lips, and placed the blade against the animal's throat. "We offer praise and benediction for the noble beasts that give their lives, so carefully tended by the herders, hunters, and flock keepers," he boomed with false confidence. With a remorseful look to the poor calf, he quickly slid the blade across it's throat, not watching as it's blood pumped into the open gourd. The baby bellowed out, thrashing and kicking to try to get away, but it was held too firmly. It was always held too firmly.

The calf stilled, and the second bearer set their torch to the pile and held it steady.

Roman stood taller than he felt was natural. No one noticed. He set the bloodied blade to his own palm, the sharp metal taunting him. "We give praise and benediction for the children of man, who enact the will of the Gods piously in all they do," he said.

Before he could make the cut, however, a voice cut through from behind him, "I think the Gods want more than blood."

Roman whirled, suddenly coming face to face with the jackal-masked man. Smoothly, the man seized the knife from Roman's hands and slashed his parents' throats before Roman had time to flinch. As blood came pouring from their necks, the man pushed them into the growing bonfire. Without breaking momentum, he lobbed the bloody gourd into the fire at them. Before Roman had even registered them disappearing into the growing flames, the man had already hefted Roman over his shoulder. Before Roman realized hundreds of armored, armed men had flooded the square, they were already far down the alley, hundreds of bloodcurdling screams ringing in his ears.

Roman tried to flail against his captor, to do any kind of damage at all, but everything bounced off the man like he was throwing pebbles at a wall. "Unhand me!" Roman cried. "Put me down!" The man didn't listen, jostling him roughly as he ran far too quickly for any human. It was like being on a horse and going nearly as fast.

Roman's captor brought him all the way to the carriage house of the castle using back alleys and shadowy corridors.

"Ugh, I'm gonna be feeling that one tomorrow," grumbled the man under his breath. He regained his composure to say, "Now then my little Prince, you are not to move or shout when I put you down and you'll let me explain."

Roman offered no response, but the man put him down anyway. He didn't have it in him to fight. Hand-to-hand combat never was his strong suit, and even his own people would sooner see him hanged for the sins of his father than assume the throne after their murder, no matter how hard he tried to make up for it and no matter the help he tried to send. His parents were dead and he was likely to follow in the next few minutes, without ever getting to see Remus again.What else was he to do but graciously bear his throat and go out with dignity? "I only ask that you make it quick," he said, closing his eyes.

"Uh, what are you doing?" the man asked him.

Roman's eyes shot open, staring at the man. "You mean... you're not going to kill me...?"

He chuckled. "I'm not about to kill my own brother," Remus said, peeling his mask off with a grin. "Surprise!"

Tears sprang to Roman's eyes and his hand covered his mouth. "It- It's really you," he breathlessly said.

Remus offered him a hand up. Roman gladly took it, and Remus tugged him up and into a strong, loving embrace. They smothered each other in kisses as fervently as starving men devour food. The brothers held each other for a long while, crying and laughing and kissing and rocking back and forth on their heels before Roman pulled back to drink the sight of his brother in. Their faces were still nearly identical, same strong chin and glittering brown eyes, but Remus now sported a curling mustache, a lock of silver hair on the front of his head, and several healed scars over his impecable visage.

"I can't believe it!" Roman gushed, holding Remus' face in his hands and running his fingers over the now tear-soaked scars. "I— I've missed you so terribly all these years! Ma petite feuille!"

"You're not the only one, hummingbird. I dreamed of you every night," Remus replied, gently stroking Roman's cheek and wiping his tears away.

Roman's heart leapt at the nickname, but his smile quickly faltered. "You... killed our parents."

Remus' smile widened. "Heh, yeah, I did! I don't suppose you'll be locking me in the dungeons, will you?" he purred.

Roman shook his head. "Of course not. I knew one of these days the attempts people were taking would succeed. And you know how mother and father were! They sent you away and kept us from being together all these years."

"I guess that's what one awkward kiss in the stables will do, huh?" Remus said, faltering a moment. "Well that and them hating me for coming out wrong."

"We kept trying to tell them we just wanted to know what it was like and that we wouldn't do it again, but they were never fair," Roman recalled.

"It's not like that was the truth anyway, and it's not like it matters now!" Remus said brightly with a shrug.

Once again, Roman shook his head. "They don't matter anymore, but... what about the kingdom? No one likes our family and I can't even blame them for it."

"Oh believe me, I know. Knights and commoners talk about that a lot. Buuuuuuut I also know how we can redeem you in the eyes of the people," Remus said, kissing Roman's nose, "and even better, we can finally do what we promised to when we parted!"

Roman's heart skipped a beat. "You mean..."

Remus nodded. "Yeah, I mean," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a simple golden ring. "I hope you like getting dirty, little birdy."

"I don't care what we have to do, I just want to be with you," Roman said, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. "No one can stop us now."

Remus laughed. "I know!" he exclaimed, not holding back his own jubilation as he slid the weighty wedding band onto Roman's ring finger. "No one will get in the way of us again."

"No one," Roman repeated. He hugged Remus tightly. His other half was back, and for the first time in over a decade, he finally felt whole again.

That night, the two got to work enacting their illusion: Roman, the Prince of Escheri, played the captive of the man who had deposed the king and queen. Iron manacles hung heavy from his wrists, and Remus had smeared some mud and blood from the knife on his face to make it seem like there had been a real struggle. Remus had even retrieved the crown from the castle. With a final tender kiss behind closed doors, the show began.

Remus led Roman to the top of the palace walls with guards trailing behind them. The sound of chaos crept closer the higher up they went, reaching a crescendo once they'd crested the wall. Upon seeing the two of them, one of the guards sounded a warhorn, and the crowd grew quiet. That was their cue. Remus stepped forward, tugging Roman forward with him until they could see the masses of people below.

"People of Escheri," Remus boomed in his most official voice, "you were promised much and given little by these paltry royals. While you starved and ailed and toiled for them, they left you hungry, sick, and weary. But their time is over. The tyrants have fallen!" He held the crown over his head in triumph and put it on his own head. Cheers erupted through the crowd, nearly deafening. "And as a final humiliation to the royal family I betrayed, I will claim the crown prince as my bride!" He raised Roman's shackled hands.

The crowd got even more boisterous at that, and Roman tried his best to look ashamed and tearful.

"Today," Remus continued, "we celebrate not only the harvest, but the dawn of a new era of prosperity for all!"

Remus led Roman away to thunderous jubilation behind them. Once they were out of sight and back on solid ground, Remus suddenly stumbled. Roman caught him as best he could, but the pair still came tumbling down with Roman landing on top of Remus.

"Ree, are you okay? What happened?" Roman asked frantically.

Remus just laid there beneath him and chuckled. "The potions wore off," he said, sighing.

"Potions? What potions?"

"The ones that help me move?" Remus replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Roman just furrowed his brow, but moved to get up. Before he made it far, Remus pulled him back down into a kiss. "Let's stay here awhile."

"On the ground...?"

Remus just kissed him again. And again. They were the world's most persuasive lips if Roman had to guess, because 30 minutes later they were still there making up for lost time as they gazed at the stars. They shared stories of their time apart, everything that wouldn't fit in their letters, like how Roman had been thrown off a horse the first time he'd ridden one on his own at 10, how he'd pulled off his final prank, and of the time Remus bested his begrudging mentor when he was 19.

"The man actually believed me when I told him there was a damsel in distress near the boar's cave!" Remus guffawed. "I didn't finish him off, but it's a funny thing about boars, they don't care as long as they smell blood. So I ripped the crest from his tunic and left him there when I heard the snuffling. Never saw him again and no one ever asked for details, but he had a damn fine horse!"

"That's impressive," Roman said, smiling. "You managed to deprive the old loon of the glory he ached for in death. Serves him right, really, a tyrant knight for tyrant masters."

Out of the corner of his eye, Roman saw Remus move. He turned his head to see that lovely mirrored image reflected back at him, confused and delighted. "Since when did you become so vengeful?" asked Remus.

Roman laughed and rolled onto his side to face his brother. "You already know the answer to that."

Remus, in turn, answered back, "Heh, yeah," and rolled with some effort onto his side. "I... might need you to carry me back to the palace. I really overdid it and I don't think my legs will do the job. Well, maybe the right one will if it's not going to be a traitorous bastard."

"Fine, but you need to take these chains off me first," he said, sitting up and reaching over to help Remus do the same. Remus pulled the key from his pocket and slid it into the locks. The cuffs fell to the ground with a light clang. "Ah, thank you." Getting up, Roman picked them up and draped them around his neck and grabbed his fiancee's hands, tugging him up with more difficulty than he would've anticipated. "Gods, Remus, you're heavy!"

Remus cackled as he came up, collapsing against Roman with a sudden, "Fuck!" as his left foot made contact with the ground. A still moment passed, then Remus continued like nothing had happened, "Yeah, that's what hard combat will do to you."

As they started making their way toward the castle, Remus hobbling while Roman supported his left side, Roman asked, "You mentioned taking potions earlier?"

"Nothing too fancy, just strength and dexterity potions. Let's me move without my leg tightening back up too much."

"That's why you were so fast!" Roman concluded.

"Of course! It's rougher to do it on my own, but I could if I needed to for a short time."

"What did wicked Weston have you doing anyway?"

Remus shrugged. "Usual page stuff. Then typical squire things, followed by basic knighting. Lots more conflict than I anticipated."

"Conflict? When did you encounter that? We aren't at war."

"Ah, you've not been out in the streets lately, have you?"

Roman sighed sadly as the chains around his neck clanked in time with his footsteps. "Not with the leash our parents kept on me. I may as well have been a prisoner. Said it was 'too dangerous' since last year. That's when the assassination attempts started in earnest," he said.

"Probably for the best for you. I don't know what I would've done if something happened to you, hummingbird." Remus paused a moment, then said, "I mean, I would tear whoever hurt you apart and make their families watch, but regardless. I took care of mercenaries, mostly. The occasional bandit. Once when I was 18, the beast sent me after the leader of a local thieves guild alone. He never told me I'd be coming face to face with 30 of them."

"That many?? What happened?"

"You tell me. Only one of us came out alive."

"Ree."

Remus snorted. "Okay fine. It took hours, but I managed to pluck them out one by one until only the leader remained. Then after a fearsome battle to the death, I alone remained. That's how I got this neat scar!" he said, pointing to a jagged line beneath his eye. "After that, I guess I kind of became something of a folk hero? Everyone got real candid with me. I heard everyone's distaste for our parents. And..." Remus looked away, "for you, too. I really tried to dissuade them from that. I'm sorry to say I couldn't with most of them. But they rallied behind me and soon enough, I had a plan to get everyone back on our side and get this country built back up."

Roman smiled. "You've really been out there doing a lot of good. It makes me so proud that you're my brother and now my betrothed. You deserve to be the one to lead the kingdom after all that," he praised.

"Without you by my side? I don't think so."

"Of course I'll be by your side but, honestly, what do I know of our actual kingdom? I've seen so little of it, experienced almost nothing of it outside the doors of the noble families, and frankly, I... I don't have any claim to be in charge of it."

Remus stopped abruptly, nearly causing them both to topple again. "You don't seriously believe that." A gentle breeze rustled dead leaves against the cobblestone street as thundering silence stretched between them. Roman couldn't meet Remus' eyes. "Roman, please tell me you don't think that."

After what seemed like ages, he solemnly replied, "I do. At least... that's how it is now. What has a life in an ivory tower taught me about running a country?"

"Did our parents really teach you nothing about— never mind. Because you know what? It doesn't matter. Roman, do you know why I did what I did? I mean, do you really know?"

"So we could be free?" Roman answered. "So we'd be able to wed like we promised?"

Remus chuckled. "That was a pretty big reason," he said. "But I had to do this because I knew that without us ruling together as a team, it would be for nothing. You forget that we get to make the rules now! And what we don't know, we can learn together or just make up."

Roman couldn't help how his heart swelled at that. "That's true," he said. "We have our whole lives to figure this out!"

Remus grinned brightly at Roman. "Exactly! Sometimes you gotta turn your mind off to see what's really there. Works for me all the time!" He knocked on his own head, then motioned them forward. "Now let's get going, I've got about, I'd say, 5 minutes until I can't move anymore."

"What??" Roman cried. "Why didn't you say that earlier??" 

"Eh, some things are worth it," Remus said casually. Giving Roman a lovestruck look, he added, "And you're worth everything."

"You're worth everything to me too, but this is important! Ahhhhh we're not going to make it in time!"

Remus shrugged. "You can just drag me back- Oh!" Roman hefted his brother up over his shoulder like Remus had done with him earlier. "Oh, okay, that works too."

Roman set off at a labored, wheezing trot, clanking wildly down the wide road to the castle. By the time the pair had made it to Roman's chambers up all of those damnable stairs, Roman's legs wobbled as he fell forward onto his canopied bed with Remus still over his shoulder.

"Wow, who knew you had it in you to carry me all this way unenhanced?" Remus delighted.

Roman only weakly groaned.

"Okay, okay, come here, I'll take it from here." Remus pulled himself out from under Roman and dragged him the rest of the way on the bed. He took Roman's boots off, tossed them on the ground, then rolled Roman over onto his back.

Though Roman still felt like he was breathing in fire, he gave Remus a weak smile. "Thanks," he wheezed.

"Tomorrow, let's stay in bed all day," Remus said, smoothing Roman's hair. He took off his own boots, then peeled off his leather armor and leg brace. "Ah, that's the good shit," he moaned, stretching his left leg out as much as he could.

"Bed all day with you sounds amazing," Roman replied, starting to undress himself shakily.

"Your room is different," Remus noted.

As Roman doffed his tunic, he said, "Yes, just a little. I like red, and mother made me earn it." The room, with its Rococo flair, ornate woodwork, and luxuriously upholstered furniture, had all been Roman's own preference. He hated the stoic, sterile Gothic style of his parents, down to the dreary colorlessness of the decor.

"What do you mean 'earn it?'" Remus asked, throwing his own tangled tunic to the floor.

"Oh, well. They made me stay awake and standing for the entire renovation. It was only three days, but..." Roman trailed off. "I wish I could say that was the worst of it after you left."

"Why not tell me about it in your letters?"

"They monitored them, you know. Withheld a few of them, tried to stop so many from going out, but I stole them back. For the past few years now, I've sent them in secret. They never knew I was still writing to you."

"The true faces of evil, huh. It's a good thing they got what they deserved," Remus said.

"Yeah," Roman said. The relief of that reality washed over him warmly. He tugged his pants off and let them fall to the floor, followed by his stockings. Suddenly, Remus' finger was resting over his heart.

"What's this?"

Roman hummed, then delicately retrieved the letter from its resting place at his heart and opened it for Remus. "I keep all the letters you send me, but your most recent letters stay here so they'll always be close to me," he explained wistfully. "It really helped me feel closer to you with all this space between us, y'know?"

"I guess we had the same idea then," Remus said. Roman's gaze drifted to his brother. In his hand was Roman's last letter to him, the crisp white parchment still as pristine as the day he'd written it. "I kept the others too."

"How? I must've sent hundreds by this point! Surely they couldn't have all fit in your saddlebags," Roman said, resting his hand on Remus' thigh.

"They did at one point. The others are somewhere safe, and I intend to retrieve them soon, all 792 of them."

"Where are they? We can ride out together and get them once we've rested."

"So long as we can move tomorrow," Remus laughed, taking the crown off and putting it on the bedside table. "And don't forget, we have a wedding to plan!" He leaned back onto the goose down mattress, making grabby hands at Roman.

"I can't wait to be your proper husband," Roman breathed, settling into the plush bed in Remus' arms.

"That makes two of us," Remus mumbled. "I love you, Roman." He held Roman just a touch tighter.

Roman leaned into it, snuggling closer to his brother. "I love you too." Without anything more than another kiss between them, the pair drifted off into the most comfortable sleep either of them had had in years.

A week came and went in the fanfare of planning the twins' wedding. They'd rehearsed the ceremony by themselves over and over, making sure every line and motion was expertly calculated. Remus directed castle staff in how the event was going to go down, what decorations they wanted, where everything needed to be for the big day. Roman wrote out more than 500 invitations and took care of making what decorations he could from his room. The twins had both agreed that in the spirit of a new era, their guest list would extend far beyond the usual list of attendants. Now that the noble population had been pared down, there wasn't much point to keeping such an arbitrary standard anyway.

Another week passed and finally, the big day arrived. Guests from all over their island nation had been steadily pouring in since the invitations had gone out, and the castle was nearing its capacity. The twins spent the morning with their tailor as the reedy man fussed over the finer details of their attire. He had to admit it was impressive how the man had accounted for Remus' leg brace into the design.

"I must say, my liege," the tailor said, "it is rather... avant garde for you to be wearing this suit instead of your brother's."

Remus just shrugged. "Nothing to say I can't. I feel like the role of the nurturer fits better since it's going to take someone, how did you say, avant garde? To lead our people. A nurturer is also a protector, you know."

The tailor hummed uncomfortably, but got to work closely examining his emerald green waistcoat's red hummingbird embroidery at the cuffs and split crew collar, making sure they were perfect.  Roman tried to stifle a giggle and examined his own outfit in the tall, gilded mirror.

His suit coat matched Remus' in all but color and accoutrement; green vines, flowers, and leaves adorned his flushed red coat, expertly graded into the soft, thick silk. The symbol of the provider. Ten elegant gold clasps fastened the finery together in the front. A delicate gossamer cape attached to the garment at the highest clasp, draped tacitly over his shoulders and spilled to the floor in a cascade of translucent cream. He turned and looked at how the loose, gathered pants bunched at his mid-calf and ended in an embroidered, widely-ruffled cuff. Simple cream stockings and dazzling wedding slippers that matched his suit tied the whole ensemble together.

Roman's heart caught in his chest. He looked over to Remus, who looked back at him quizzically. "This is really happening," Roman muttered.

"Of course it is!" Remus brimmed. "What do you take me for, a cheat?"

"No, never! I just mean... it's all becoming real now, you know?"

Remus pursed his lips and scrunched his brow. He clapped and said, "Malchior, this is truly exquisite work you've done, but I need to speak to my groom alone for a moment." Remus waved his hand. With a grumble about tucking a stray thread, the tailor exited the room with his supplies in hand, bumping past Roman as he left. Roman didn't miss the malicious twinkle in the man's eye as he passed.

"Now with that out of the way," Remus said, dropping his tone to a hush, "there's no need to worry. We've practiced hundreds of times together! What could go wrong?"

Roman shook his head, keeping his eyes glued to the floor. "It's not that I'm worried about messing it up, I'm not worried at all really." He turned his gaze back up, looking Remus in the eye with a watery grin. "I'm simply awestruck by all of this. We've waited decades to see this through, ma petite feuille, and now it's finally coming true," he uttered. He couldn't help the tears that welled and spilled over his cheeks, nor the smile that made his face ache from its power.

Remus came over and cupped Roman's face in his hand, wiping the tears away with a pleased grin. "Every day with you is magic, hummingbird, and I can't wait to spend every day with you as your husband." He kissed Roman then, soft and sweet and gentle and it filled him with the fire of a thousand suns. "We're going to bring this country back from the ashes our parents left them in." Remus wiped the tears from his face gently and kissed him again before going to the door.

The tailor followed him back in the room, the spiteful man sneering at Roman proudly. Roman, however, didn't care. How could he, the happiest man in the whole world, care about such a trivial thing as a tailor's opinion of him? Before long though, the reedy man busied himself tucking in a stray thread on one of the red hummingbirds in flight on Remus' collar.

Before long, they were alone again in preparation for the ceremony. They each grabbed a small container housing the ceremonial lip paints and brushes. "Shall I?" Roman asked, uncapping the tiny vessel.

"I'd be utterly wounded if you didn't! Literally, I'd have a knife in my heart, gooshing all over the place," Remus replied, miming the action overzealously.

Roman laughed, dabbing the brush into the ruby red makeup. "Well we can't have that, not on our wedding day." Remus offered his face forward and Roman, before applying the cream to his upper lip, kissed him once more for good measure. "I love you."

"I love you, too, more than you can ever know," Remus replied, bringing Roman in for a kiss once more. Roman quickly finished applying the makeup and Remus did the same with the emerald green makeup on Roman's bottom lip. "There, now you look like a true groom."

They looked at each other and themselves in the mirror. "This is always how I'd imagined it growing up," Roman said.

Remus smiled brightly at Roman, hand in hand. "Well then what are we waiting for?Let's step into our future."

Roman squeezed his hand tightly and smiled once more. "Yeah."

The two were quickly wed and Remus coronated right after in front of a huge crowd of common folk and gentry alike. As the years passed, the twins made good on every promise they'd made to their people and to each other. And though it took quite a long time, the people of Escheri warmed back up to Roman as King-Consort once they realized he really wasnt anything like his parents. Roman and Remus led their country into an unprecedented era of internal peace and prosperity out of the shadow of their parents and lived happily ever after.

[remrom-trickrtreat]

remrom trick or treat!!!!

Hi thanks for coming around and for being patient with me! Have some silly idea!

Roman really likes deer. He thinks they're majestic and regal and he wants to be a deer elf prince this Halloween.

Remus knows this and gives Roman antlers and soft, fuzzy ears

Like, literal antlers and ears

They're now growing out of his head

Now he'll definitely win the 2nd annual Mindscape Costume Contest!

Which he does

And then it comes time to take them off

Remus tries to poof them away

They're permanent

Oops

Antler-like horns forever!

Cue tiny freak out!

Roman is running around screaming for like, a solid minute

Remus joins in but he's having a great time with it

Roman wears himself out from that and realizes that he digs the style

He's also very grateful that 1. He's imaginary and can poof into different outfits and 2. He now has things to threaten others with that aren't his sword

He tries to bedazzle them but quits after the first one.

After applying a band-aid to where he tried to gem his antlers, he gets Patton to help him glue sequins on (courtesy of my lovely husband, Sonny~)

He also frequently wears tiny little clip on crowns on each of the points of his antler horns (courtesy of my lovely husband, Sonny~)

"No, it's NOT too excessive, a Prince has got to slay!"

Patton hangs little ornaments from them around Christmas

Remus supplies the mistletoe during seasonally appropriate times

Birds will perch on his antlers

And when he's with Remus, bats will perch there too!

And Remus knows exactly where to scratch behind Roman's soft ears and the base of his antler horns (he's the only one allowed to touch there)

Roman also knows exactly how to scratch Remus with his antorns. Why? Remus insisted that it felt nicer to be nearly eviscerated by pointy antorns

Roman thinks it's a little odd but so is Remus, and he's madly in love with him, so he guesses that makes it even out pretty well

[remrom-trickrtreat]

remrom trick or treat!!!

Happy Halloween! Have.

[remrom-trickrtreat]

remrom trick or treat!!!!!

Heyaaaa bookie! (Hope you don’t mind that nickname ahah) I’m so happy you stopped by! Thanks for trick or treating! Hope you’re having an amazing Halloween that I can make it even better! I spun the wheel and… Another treat! Wow, this wheel really loves its treats. Not that I can blame it ahah. And for you I have a fic from another universe, with Frankenstein and his monster, and familiarity. Pairing: Remrom/ Roman Sanders/Remus Word count: 728 A/N: Man, I guess I’m just giving out treats this year! Maybe if we do this again next year, I’ll actually get a trick XD Well, this is actually an AU fic, and I had a lot of fun figuring out what exactly I wanted to do, and how I wanted to make the creature actually seem like Remus. I’m a pretty big fan of the original Frankenstein, (also Victor was totally in the wrong—) and so I decided to basically make it the story if things went well! Tws: Monster, Dead Body, Roman Does Kiss The Creature

Created From My Mind, Memories That Aren’t Mine

Summary: Roman makes a monster. He finds himself feeling as if it’s surprisingly familiar.

Cold drags across Roman’s skin, thick fingers with scars slicing through the tissue, the rotting flesh that makes it up being held together by sinew and human-god crafted bones, and he has to suppress the shiver by leaning into it, masking it as a shiver of want. He supposes that perhaps it kind of is.

Though this monster isn’t what he envisioned— and it certainly isn’t something he can use to show his professors how wrong they were about his studies and their supposedly old fashioned dangerous ways— he cannot deny a certain… draw to it. He cannot explain the why, but some of it is familiar, in an abstract and yet very concrete way. Some of it not so much. Such as the cold. When the cold of it presses against his own skin, he has the vaguest thought, the strongest feeling that it should be warm, and not just because other humans are warm, but because this monster is meant to be furnace warm. Like it’s something innate that has been robbed from it. And he finds himself running his hands back over his to apologize, gentle as he gives his own warmth.

Perhaps if it was just that, he would just chalk it up to every other person being warm, to the idea that of course it feels weird to touch a person-like creature who is as cold as a corpse. But this is not the only way or time he finds himself staring and thinking, wondering why this monster is so very familiar.

His eyes are green, and that isn’t something that Roman did on purpose— it had been hard enough to even get eyes that are fully functional— but when he looks into them, he finds himself stuck, his hands itching to close the lids or to string them open. The urge changes by the minute as he feels the stings of a thousand emotions they give him. But it feels right, it feels familiar, as if green is just the perfect color for him. And he doesn’t know why.

There's an intelligence behind the sheen of his eyes, and it tells him that the creature knows what’s going on, and with the way he leans into Roman’s touch and seeks him out to just sit with him, he knows he’s not just imagining that either. He thinks the creature would be creative, just like him. When he picks up his paintbrush or starts penning his letters to his family, the creature will sit by his side and watch, head tilting back and forth, scarred fingers tap tap tapping against his own mangled skin as if the electricity he’d been zapped to life with is still tingling under his skin, and he’ll imitate, his own hands flicking or curling around a pen of air, his eyes curious and wide as he moves it back and forth, looking between the two and grinning.

Roman thinks he knows this creature, or knew this creature, and he thinks that he would have wanted outlets, and hobbies to explore that let him interact with the world, or at least with his close people. Roman is the only close person he has, but it’s more than nothing, and he doesn’t seem to mind at all.

The creature takes a liking to crafts and art, and it feels almost ironic to watch. Roman’s creation folding origami penguins and paper planes. But even when they hit the back of his head while he’s hunched over working, he finds he can only crack a smile and throw his own designed one back.

The creatures lips are cold but chapped, and when they curl their hands together they fit perfectly, Roman’s hand being swallowed by the creatures, who is somehow, despite the chill of his skin, warming him up, his chest and face burning with the sense of beforeness, and hot breath echoed back at himself.

Roman leans a shoulder on the creature's shoulder, and hums to himself, staring at the night sky.

Something about this creature is familiar, Roman cannot deny that, and even though he isn’t sure why, he decides that it doesn’t really matter,

Whatever he lost, whatever he was searching for, whatever was driving him down this unsure path—

It’s gone now, and in its place, the warmth that the creature gives shields Roman from the cruel world.

@remrom-trickrtreat

[remrom-trickrtreat]

Remrom Trick or Treat! :DDD

Howdy! Happy (early) Halloween!

Witch costume for RoRo (I just realised- I should have made him a dragon witch ;-;), devil costume for ReRe

Remus is, ofc, bothering Roman. They’re in love, your honor 😔🙏

(As always, reblog (not repost) if you like this (and want to). Supporting artists, ect, ect)

[remrom-trickrtreat]

remrom trick or treat!!!!

TREAT

Tattoo artist Remus, and Roman getting his first tattoo, *of course* he's going to Remus for it, who else is he supposed to trust with his artistic vision??? Anyway roman smiling dopily at Remus who is tattooing him. Bonus points if the tattoo is somewhere on Roman's back so he needs help applying the ointment lotion stuff to help it heal, and Remus teasing him about getting special treatment in his off hours only because he has such a pretty face (oh my god they were roommates)

[remrom-trickrtreat]

Remrom Trick or Treat!! :D

Hello! I'm unsure if this is a trick or a treat, you get to decide : D

Remus & Roman's logo combined. My theory is after they got together, imagination merged into one and has it's own door(no longer separate ones in their rooms). This is actually how the other sides find out about their relationship

@remrom-trickrtreat

[remrom-trickrtreat]

remrom trick or treat!!!

So as my first trick or treater, you get a treat! I got a little carried away and hope you enjoy!

Remus was mad. Ok, he was just irritated, stuck in traffic and going to be late for his and Roman's weekly Halloween movie marathon. He was helping Janus and Patton move into their new apartment across town and he was oh so excited for them especially since they were the last pair of the couples to be living together, Virgil and Logan had been living together for 2 years, and Roman and him never lived apart. 

Although it was just his luck there was a minor car cash a little before he left. So, while sadly everything had been cleaned up, (sue him, he wanted to see the damage and maybe gore as payment for making him late), it resulted in an almost 45 minute delay to the normal afternoon traffic. He had already texted Roman, who replied that he'd wait to order the pizza and would continue to work on his plays. 

Remus' thinks back on how the tradition had started. They both loved Halloween growing up although for different reasons and their parents would allow one movie on weekend nights but that's not how this tradition started. This one started in college, even though they went to the same one and had similar majors that first semester their schedules hadn't aligned. They had already been a couple publicly, hence the moving across the country to go to college and both working jobs plus applying to any scholarship they could. 

So, by October, they just missed each other and decided to pick a day that week to bring back some happy childhood feelings. The perfect way was watch Halloween movies(at least one scary/gorey and one Disney) while bingeing on pizza and Halloween themes cookies cuddled up on the couch. This turned into a weekly thing that month which they continued every year in October. Logan and Janus had both asked why just that month each saying a different answer with Remus getting weirder each time knowing that the other wouldn't reveal the real reason that October was when a lot of their first happened usually cuddle together in a blanket on the couch with a movie in the background. 

With that last happy…explicit…thought Remus finds himself pulling into the driveway. Walking to the door purple and orange light is cast on him, Roman and he went all out on the decorations(Remus gets Halloween decoration control and Roman gets Christmas). 

Roman opens the front door dressed in purple with candy corn pj pants

"Oh, you're not the pizza man," he says smiling while shutting the door before Remus can get inside.

"Rude, I just had to sit in hours of traffic, least you could do is slam the door on me." Remus deadpans as he comes inside. "So how long till the pizza gets here?"

"Should be here in the next few minutes, according to the app" Roman responds.

"Perfect, I'm going to go change," Remus says walking past the living room noting that everything has been set up including their king size soft black blanket covered in bloody bats(an anniversary gift). 

While changing into his white with bloody hand prints pj pants, which he made himself, he hears Roman paying for the pizza. 

Coming back to the living room Roman has the pizza set out. 

"Have I mentioned that I love you?" Remus asks kissing Roman.

"Almost every day and I love you too but I am picking the first movie as an apology for you being late," Roman responds grabbing the remote

"You've picked the first movie since we were kids," Remus replies laughing cuddling up against Roman

"You're right. Now let's enjoy the movie," Roman presses start and This Is Halloween can be heard.

@remrom-trickrtreat

[remrom-trickrtreat]

remrom trick or treat!!!!!

It's so funny that you came to me for trick or treating cause my next reverse one was going to be for you! So I'll just give it to you here!!

Under the cut cause it got a little lengthy.

"Why did I go along with this?" Roman bemoans.

"Cause you looooove me" Remus says with a bounce making the chains that are connecting them jingle together.

Roman holds up his shackled wrist and shakes it about, "when you said you wanted to chain us together and do a couples costume as runaway convicts I didn't think you'd put us in real shackles and then loose the key while we were at the party!"

Remus rolls her eyes at him, "pshhh I didn't loose the key!"

"Oh? where are they then?"

"I never had them to begin with silly!" she says brightly like that didn't just make the situation worse.

"You never had them?! why did you do this then?"

"I thought it would be fine, and it will" she flails her free hand at him, "you just need to chill Bromeo."

"I love ya Rem but I might just strangle you with this chain."

She wiggles her eyebrows at him, "oooooh, kinky."

"You're impossible" he deadpans.

She gasps dramatically and pats herself down hurriedly, "I don't know, I seem to be here pretty well."

Roman tries not to smile at his twins antics but like she said: he loves her and that includes all of her hijinks.

"Do you even have a plan to get us out of this?"

"Do you?" she asks right back.

Roman splutters, "I'm not the one with the keyless shackles!"

She shrugs, "eh, worth a try."

"So that's a no then?"

"We can bash a rock against them."

"I don't trust that."

Remus hums and haws in thought, "we can lock pick em."

"Do you know how to do that?" he asks hopefully.

"Yes!"

Roman brightens.

"But not really."

He sags, "then why did you say yes..."

"I'm still learning! everyone's gotta start somewhere! besides, your hopeful face is just so cute!"

"Don't play with me like that" Roman whines.

She rakes a nail down his cheek, "then how should I play with you?"

He flutters her hand away from him, his cheeks flare with blush.

Her crooked smile turns toothy, she leans in nose to nose with her twin, "oh did I fluster you brother?"

"Shut up, you know I blush easily..." he pouts.

"Oh I do know" she purrs, leans in more and then licks his nose and bounces backwards away to continue their walk home.

Roman stumbles after her when the chains get taut - he splutters, "what the hell was that?"

"Haven't the foggiest bro-toy" she smirks.

"Bull" a playful smile replaces Roman's pout.

Remus turns to face him -walking backwards now- putting her fingers up to the sides of her head to mimic horns and snorts at him.

He laughs at the silliness of it but the laughter quickly turns to concern when she trips and starts to fall backwards.

Moving as quickly as he can, his hands snatch on tight to the chain linking them together, moving it towards him while taking a hopping step to catch her before she hits the ground.

They end up in a low dip, Remus' hair splaying on the ground around her - Roman wide eyed and panting stares into her eyes.

Her big, shining, filled with wonder eyes.

The blush is back but Roman can't seem to bring himself to care.

And then Remus laughs with that hyena laugh of hers which in turn makes Roman burst out laughing as well at the situation.

"Holy shit, my fuckin hero" she swoons dramatically - head thrown back, hand to forehead, leg cocked up and all.

Roman chuckles at the theatrics and plays along, "of course, what sort of prince would I be to my fair dutchess if I were not to save her in her time of peril?"

"You really know how to woo a lady my dashing sexy prince of sexiness."

Roman snorts, "and you sure have a way with words."

Before Remus can respond, Roman starts shaking and a second later their heads bonk together as they crumple to the concrete.

Remus howls with laughter while Roman groans in pain.

They lay there for a few minutes recovering before Remus shivers, "I love laying on the dirty ground with your head in my bosoms and all -and you know I do- but it's fucking cold out here."

"You're on my arms" Roman mumbles.

"That sounds like a you problem."

"Sounds like you'll just have to freeze then."

Remus scoffs, "what happend to your chivalry Princey?"

"Stuck under your voluptuousness... with my arms."

Remus snorts, "fine fine I'll move."

She wiggles side to side to let Roman pry his hands free, he gets to his feet and helps Remus up as well.

"That was fun" Remus remarks.

They once again start to walk.

"You haven't thought of how to unlock us yet have you?" Roman asks.

"The key" she nonchalantly responds.

Roman stops - Remus does not, the chain yanks and she stumbles backwards a little.

"What?" she asks when she sees Roman's incredulous expression.

"You have the key?"

"Oh, yeah I was fucking with you."

"Remus!"

She shrugs.

Roman playfully lunges at her, she screeches with laughter and tries to run from him but of course, she can't.

"Ha ha! you've been betrayed by your own japes!"

"Who could have seen this coming!? whoooo?!" she laments.

"Face the consequences of your actions!"

"Never!"

The chain wraps around them bringing them once more fave to face as Remus tries to get away from Roman's 'punishments'.

"We're never going to get home if we keep this up" Roman chuckles, kisses Remus' nose and tries to unfurl them.

"I blame you" Remus says matter of factly.

"This whole thing was literally your fault."

"I don't think you can prove that in a court of law."

"I wouldn't have to they would take one glance at your record and belive every word I say, not to mention it is literally all your doing."

"Hey! I was let go free of all charges, innocent as a freshly birthed then eaten kitten."

Roman's face scrunches, "gross..."

"It's the way of life man, get used to it."

"You're ridiculous, let's go home."

"Ugh finally" she groans.

"Don't even" Roman holds his chuckles but not his smile.

Remus smiles back, all teeth and snark - she takes his hand so they can finally make their way home with no missteps.

[remrom-trickrtreat]

Trick or treat for remrom

Heya, jewels! So nice to have another trick or treater! I spun the wheel and… Another treat it is! And for you I have a fic about reincarnation, with an established relationship, codependency, spells, mind melding, and a happy ending! Pairing: Remrom/ Roman Sanders/Remus Sanders Wordcount: 1,580 A/N: I swear I am spinning a wheel and just got treat again ahah, I’m not sure what I would do for trick but I’m sure it’d be fun, either way, this one is kinda different from what I normally do, because at first Remus and Roman aren’t as connected as they usually are. Which was just as strange to write for me, as it was for them to experience. Luckily I fixed that for them (and for myself ahah) Tws: Codependency, Isolation, Reincarnation and Loss, Mind Melding and Mind Reading, No Privacy

Mending Our Broken Mind Into One

Summary: Roman and Remus got a spell from a witch that will allow them meld their minds into one like they used to be.

“No, c’mon, Ro— the witches pretty website says you gotta put the candles like—” Remus shoves the candle about two inches to the side and grins when Roman merely sighs and agrees, fixing the others, and leaning back over the laptop’s glowing screen with Remus, trying to read the words as they swim across the page.

But Roman looks up at the time and almost jumps, only stopping himself because he knows it would hit his brother, and instead turning around. Which Remus easily allows, arms encircling his waist and chest pulling away from his to look down at him with a curious expression. “We need this done in about two minutes or we’ll have to try for another night. It says three thirty on the dot, and it is already three twenty eight, so—”

Remus grins and pulls away fully, and Roman tries to ignore the shiver that runs over his skin at the separation. “No problemo, bro! All we need now is the incantation and we’re all good! Lets just settle down— you can sit on my lap if you wanna,” He wiggles his brows and Roman flushes, but they both know that the spell says they have to specifically sit opposite each other. Even if they don’t like it. “Read the incantation. Make our dreams come true, then boom! Have Halloween sex and go to dreamland!”

“How is Halloween sex any different than normal?” Roman asks in amusement.

“Ro,” He hums. “It’s getting closer to thirty.”

Roman jolts, letting out a quick, “Yes right,” and quickly scrambling to close down the laptop, open up to the correct incantation in the witches book, and sit down at the right spot on the circle, as Remus follows behind with a grin and a laugh in his throat.

Roman tries to ignore the burn of his cheeks, and clears his throat, as he starts to read. The words seem to leap off the page, echoing across the space, something heavy growing in the middle of the circle the farther down he reads until the book almost slips out his hands, grip turning sweaty and shaking, mind trying to spin away with him. He braces it with his other hand, and his knees as well as he can without moving out of the position it gives them, and blinks rapidly, painfully, through the way the pages start to light up, as if a miniature sun is erupting from it and trying to dig into his eyes. 

It grows brighter and brighter, so hard to look at his eyes water, brighter and brighter and brighter and—

The lights shut off and Roman has to swallow around a lump in his throat to continue the chant, his voice shaking but still going, still the words tumble off his tongue. He can still feel Remus in the room, right in front of him, eyes sharp as they watch him, green flashing in the dark, hopeful and strong and his, and it calms him just enough to finish.

Roman pauses his movements, hands holding the books finally lowering, stomach twisting, and looks around. Nothing has changed so far, but… something has shifted in the atmosphere,

The silence is unsettling, as it always is this early in the morning, but neither of them move or speak to break it. They both wait with baited breath, eyes darting around the room and trying to see if anything has changed, if anything will pop up, if it worked.

Nothing immediately jumps out at them, but after a few minutes the lights flicker back on and the weight in Roman’s chest lifts, as if it inherently knows that they no longer have a reason to worry, and when he looks over at Remus he feels the echoing of his emotions— disbelief, excitement, something so all encompassing and too familiar to describe— and he can tell that Remus wants to finally break the circle and rush over to him and curl around him forever, and it’s well, Roman has always just wanted, so— 

Roman nods his head, letting the book thunk to the ground as Remus does just that, scrambling over and pressing them together, and Roman digs himself into his brother, mind jumbled and yet clearer than ever, the press of Remus against his feels different, more natural and yet more alien, but he loves it so much that he slides his hand across Remus’ neck and cups his face, a giddiness that he’s never experienced before bubbling under his skin as he looks at Remus and can practically hear his thoughts in his own mind, as welcome and as natural as breathing; and it’s the thing they’ve been missing for their twenty years on this planet.

“Oh Aphrodite,” Roman whispers, something like tears burning behind his eyes when a flicker of amusement and awe slides through his mind in response, not his own but still his because that’s— “This feels exactly like— Re, you can feel it too—”

“Yeah,” Remus agrees, leaning into his hand, his own coming to sit on top, another grabbing at the back of his shirt before sliding underneath, “Yeah, it feels exactly like back then. Like we’re—”

“In each other's minds. Two halves of one hole.” Roman finishes easy, almost absentmindedly, and yet it has his entire focus, just like the hand on his and on his back has his full attention. Scars and calluses and something else sliding across; he shivers; he wonders what kissing would feel like like this. “It’s exactly what we were hoping for.” 

Because he knows that for sure now, no more doubt can exist. Roman knows exactly what his brother’s feelings are— awe, excitement, a bit of shock at it working, a little bit of horniness at the way their skin is pressed together, warmth warmth warmth happy happy happy— what he’s thinking— he’s happy and wanting, just like Roman, and he wants to touch everywhere, and to stare at him, to create with him forever, to talk and laugh and have— and he knows that Remus can feel him too. They know each other inside and out now— just like they used to, just like they always should have been able to.

Roman never thought they’d get this again— when they’d woken up in another world, in seperate bodies and separate minds, no Thomas anywhere, no other Sides there to greet them, forced to live new lives in a way that felt so very foreign— and it has always ached, like the Split but even deeper, like a cleaver had been taken to his very essence. But this— this is a sewing together, a melding, to fix them, to get them back to being… one.

His hands curl around his brother and he laughs; it’s watery and amused but something almost angry rises under it, and Remus notices, pressing a kiss to his cheek before sliding a hand higher underneath his shirt, and whispering into the night, “It’s alright, Ro, we’re back now. The witch said this is permanent, remember? As long as we stay up through Halloween, then…” Remus prompts him, and Roman huffs a laugh, and lets himself press his nose against his collarbone, eyes fluttering shut.

“Then we’ll be able to be really connected. Yes, yes. I know.” A poke to the head and he peeks out of his half shut eyelids, a small smile twitching his lips. “I’m not falling asleep,” He yanks at his brother's shirt until Remus leans closer, and smiles, the warmth of his chest spreading to his fingertips as he says wryly, “I am merely resting because of how long you kept me awake last night. Despite how much I reminded you that we would need the energy today.”

“I did say that Halloween sex is different.”

Roman laughs, “That wasn’t Halloween. It is Halloween now.” But he cannot deny he doesn’t really mind. Remus knows this, of course, but he doesn’t bring it up, only shrugging and scooting closer, legs tangling with Roman, hands clasping.

Remus grins and Roman has to squeeze his hand and feel the flair of warm happy amused just because he has to. “No, it was all Hallows Eve.”

“That’s,” Roman snorts and giggles, leaning his forehead against his brother’s, and he’s sure he’s projecting the same feelings right back, tangling in both of their chests just like their limbs are, heating the air around them despite the chill outside, “That is not what that phrase means and you know it.”

“Yeah,” Remus agrees easily, “I do.”

They both giggle this time and pull closer, closing their eyes, not sleeping, but their chests going warm enough that they cannot help it. That it feels natural, obvious. Roman thinks that if he tries enough he might even be able to look through his brother’s eyes, that he could shut his own and open up to see his own face staring at him in naked adoration.

He doesn’t try it yet, but he does press a kiss to his brother's lips and sigh with a small smile.

Yes, despite Roman’s doubt of this, he is glad that he allowed Remus full reign this week, because when he reaches out and feels him— content, shimmying in place, wondering what he might let him do now, in love love love in need need need— Roman feels something old, ancient, something primal, that used to ache fiercely dull to warmth.

Remus echoes it back, and Roman finally relaxes.

@remrom-trickrtreat

[remrom-trickrtreat]

Remrom Trick or Treat!

TRICK!

Get memed!

Remrom fics be like.

[remrom-trickrtreat]

Remrom Trick or Treat!!

Hello, anon! I’m so glad to have a trick or treater, so I spun the wheel I’m using and… Treat it is! And for you I have a fic, filled with pining, supernatural creatures, found out secrets, and a happy ending! Pairing: Remrom/ Roman Sanders/Remus Sanders Wordcount: 2,848 A/N: This was supposed to be short. O-o What happened??? I think I just really lovedddd writing Fae Roman and doing world building and so… this happened. I hope you guys like this too, since I had way too much fun with it ahah Tws: Possessiveness, Codependency, Worry about being Abandoned or Hated, Implied and or Referenced Supernatural Bigotry and Hatred

Hidden Underneath

Summary: Roman gets turned in a fae, and struggles with the way this has changed him while trying to keep it from his brother who who he is in love with and who makes his fae instincts go feral.

“Okay,” Roman whispers to himself, staring at the mirror and taking a deep breath, “I’ve got this. Everything will be fine. Remus has always been fine with the strange and absurd, and I’m his brother, it is not as if he will think me some kind of monster.”

Roman’s reflection shimmers as if covered in water or as if the mirror is mesmerized, something otherworldly peeking out from behind his eyes as he runs a hand over his skin and notices how any blemishes or scars or roughness that were there before have simply vanished, leaving him soft and kind of warm, as if he’s never even set foot in danger or as if he effortlessly glided through life without so much as a scratch. He remembers enough ridiculous dares to counter that though, and it just makes him panic even more, wondering how he’s going to explain this to anyone. And— 

Oh Hera, how is he even supposed to ever look away from the mirror when he looks like this? 

Truly, staring at himself is almost hypnotic now. His skin shines and his eyes seem to glow a stunning red. And he can almost hear music rising in his head. If he just presses his hand against the mirror, it would go through, he knows, the other fae would be there, and they could dance for years, they could shimmer and shine and play so many tricks on the humans nearby, he could be everything for millennium—

“Ro! I know you’re vain, but you’ve been ‘getting ready’ for like two hours, and if you don’t hurry, I’m throwing a molotov cocktail at the church!” 

Roman jolts, curses falling from his lips as he stumbles backwards— he only barely registers that they aren’t English curses as he turns to the door and glares at it. He quickly turns his words to English again to yell back, “I’m almost done! Remus, you promised no more fires this year! Don’t dishonor yourself, keep to your word and wait a minute!”

He takes another glimpse of himself in the mirror, and swallows as the call of the otherworld swells into something almost too much to resist— a Siren song that promises everlasting desires and excitement abounds, anything and everything and nothing and he wants it, he wants— But he rips himself away, dropping his eyes to the ground and swinging the door open.

Remus is standing outside, hand already curled around a bottle— though, Roman does note with relief, it is not a molotov— as he looks Roman up and down and his lips twist into a grin, “Looking good, Ro! Guess all that time wasn’t a total waste.” 

A glamor covers all his less human extremities and aura, and though it itches, Roman leaves it on, only letting some of the more just uncanny valley vibes be felt, just enough that he feels a bit off.

That sure is one way to explain this transformation, and all of the ways that it has affected him.

Roman sighs, and cocks his hip out, letting his hand sit there as he looks pointedly at the bottle, “We weren’t supposed to be drinking tonight.” 

Remus doesn’t know that Roman made that rule because he thinks it’ll be hard to explain his new found ability to drink five entire glasses of hard whiskey without as much as becoming tipsy or gaining one wobbly leg. But Roman has really been hoping he wouldn’t question it, since Roman has never been much of a drinker anyway— he was always quite the lightweight— He should have known that was a foolish hope.

“C’mon, Ro,” Remus whines, throwing an arm around Roman’s shoulder, “Don’t be such a stick in the mud! It’s Halloween, don’t we deserve to let loose? It’s basically the supernatural’s holiday! Their fucking— their spooky type of fucking Christmas!” 

Roman tenses, but he doesn’t push him off, if anything he finds himself leaning into it, the scent of ocean and fire engulfing him at the same time that feelings of amusement excitement and something almost warm hot bubbling need want need slam into him, sliding under his skin and making him shiver.

He tries to ignore it, and to ignore the way that the touch feels different in a way that Roman cannot quite classify, in a way that’s hard to explain, in a way that’s inexplicably more.

Roman shakes himself and lets out a sigh, though it feels forced, “Even if that was true, that means nothing for you. You are not supernatural, Remus. And we still have school tomorrow. You will regret it when you are confused— yet again— about how you ended up face first in the forest with a pack of werewolves, and haven’t finished your homework.”

“Now I know you’re full of it,” Remus grins, “I don’t regret anything about that. Those guys— and the Enby one, oh fuck that one fucked fun— were my best lays of this decade, Ro-Bro!”

Roman swallows down the flash bang of anger that bursts across his skin, having to yank Remus closer— he starts walking to make up for it— to stop Remus from noticing the way his eyes flare, his teeth baring themselves as if to bite him into shutting up about them. The pull also has the added benefit of getting Remus closer to him— so everyone knows they’re together, he thinks sharply— though he didn’t do it with that in mind, and it’s ridiculous really. Roman has never been the jealous type; especially not with Remus. He didn’t have a need to be; ever.

But oh he feels it now, and he’s sure he’s projecting it as strong as the smell of Remus’ faux cologne.

If anyone nearby has a sense for supernatural elements then they definitely felt that sharp spike, and will probably still be able to sense the angry type of biting look away stay away mine mine mine that he can feel surrounding them as they make their way outside, and for once since the disaster that started this, Roman is glad that Remus hadn’t been involved; he isn’t sure how he would explain this strong urge to him without outing himself as having feelings that he knows he should not. Though he may have been drumming up the courage for that talk before, now… Now Roman is not quite so sure that is a good idea.

“Yes, they may have been good,” The growl in his throat is hard to talk around, and he suddenly has quite the admiration for other supernaturals who he knows from experience have learned to work around these limitations and use them to their advantage. “But it was not a good situation, do not kid yourself. One of their claws slashed through your sternum like tissue. I do not want to spend another after Halloween morning in the hospital, or urgent care.” It had been excruciating, terrifying, and of course the first thing that Remus had said when he’d woken up, cotton mouthed and stitched up:

“So, who cleaned me out? Cause I know there was a lot of cum, and I don’t feel it anymore, kinda a shame—” Roman’s pillow hit his face before he could say more and Remus laughed, coughing as doctors and nurses rushed in and glared at Roman.

He’d dropped the pillow, but he had never apologized. And Remus never asked him to either.

“Okay maybe it wasn’t a good night,” Remus finally concedes, his grin not faltering for a minute as he curls an arm around Roman’s waist and the night air hits their faces. The cold openness of the air tastes like salt and dry ice, and it’s strange, because he doesn’t exactly feel cold, nor does he start to shiver, or gain goosebumps, but he does feel the chill settle over his skin, forcing him to seek warmth in his brother's side, his skin a light warmth against Roman’s, his eyes a burning sensation against the chill. “But this is just some wine! No claws will be near my dick— or ribs— tonight!”

A vampire— one that looks kind of familiar but he finds that they’re too slippery to recognize, as if all of their colors and limbs are curling around themselves, their scent and look not distinguishable between the rest of the world, and that’s alarming, because he should know them, he should, the feeling of it is right on his tongue, but he cannot—  does a double take at them, and Roman narrows his eyes— panic and protective instincts surging in his chest and into his aura, until the supernatural ducks away, clearly deciding that whatever they want or need simply isn’t worth the risk of setting him off.

His breathing shutters, something terrifyingly satisfied rising in his chest that he tries to ignore as Remus continues to ramble at his side, “— If anything I’ll have some flippers around me if you know what I mean,” He wiggles his brows and Roman blinks, brows furrowing as he looks over at his brother.

“No, actually. I do not know what you mean.”

“Ro,” Remus practically deadpans, “That mermaid I’ve been flirting with for months now? You know the one that was in my Interpersonal Comm Class, and did that whole speech at the supernatural rights rally talking about how the school needed to have better ways for them to get around in water if they wanted or had some type of emergency; the one that you specifically called: A Cutiepie? You know, that one?”

Patton Hart, Roman remembers, his stomach twisting, because— yes, he had called him that, and he doesn’t even disagree now— Patton is objectively the sweetest creature on campus, and has light brown hair that matches his eyes, and a face that’s soft and round like mermaids often have, and he has seemingly never so much as had an argument with anyone about anything— but something about Patton is now unsettling, as if something underneath his skin is rebelling against the idea of Patton being just sweet without something wrong going on. As if he’s now inherently more suspicious than he was just a few days before.

The idea of Remus anywhere near Patton makes Roman’s blood boil, and he has to violently push away the urge that tells him to curl around Remus tight enough that he cannot move, that he cannot leave and go see a mermaid—

“Are you sure that is a good idea?” Roman chokes out instead, reeling from the intrusive, strange, out of character, borderline hateful bigoted thought that has jumped from his mind. “Don’t mermaids have a curfew? I thought they were supposed to be back in the water by twilight? Are you saying,” Don’t, don’t, don’t. “You’ll be going back into the water with a dro— Patton?” He stares wide eyed at the ground at that slip, because that’s something he would never say, not in a normal situation, not even if the mermaid was cruel, he would never be so cruel back himself, but oh he really cannot stand the idea of Remus with a mermaid, with another supernatural that is not himself— And it feels like ants under his skin; denying himself the ability to tell Remus as such and make sure he stays with him, to make sure that everyone knows he’s taken—

And surely, he would be better company, he can do so much more than Patton, he knows Remus so much more than Patton

He can give Remus so much more; the Earth, the Land, the Sky. He can show him the highest peaks of the world and shield him from all harm. He can immortalize him in the most beautiful of ways. He—

Remus pokes Roman in the arm and he jolts, eyes swinging over to catch his brothers, who looks vaguely concerned, hand looping around his elbow as he leans against him and asks, “Bro, are you okay? You’ve been kinda… spacey tonight.” He pauses, “And yesterday too, actually.”

“I—” He doesn’t know how to say it. How does one tell their twin brother that they were tricked into becoming a fae? A fae that has so little control over their powers and instincts that even a slight look in their direction makes his aura scream to look away from them. A supernatural that many of the world despises. A creature that is known for being immoral and tricking people into sinning for amusement or pure boredom. How can he say such a thing, to admit to such a thing, to such power. Will Remus think he’s horrible for having it? Will Remus be scared of him? It makes his hands shake.

Roman is, it seems, at a crossroads. Though this one is more complex than two different paths to take, and all of them seem to run right to Hell. 

Perhaps finding a crossroads demon would be easier than this. … Not that Roman believes in those— he knows the history of those myths and how stereotypical they are— but he now understands why so many, humans and supernaturals alike, have seeked them out.

Roman curls his fingers around his brother's arms, savoring the warmth as his resolve wavers and then hardens. This may be the last time they ever touch, after all, and so he wants to remember it, to imprint it in his skin, for as long and as well as he can.

“Something happened,” Roman starts with, both of the brothers stopping in the alley they had been cutting through to get to the house party, “A couple days ago. On Wednesday, I believe?” He shakes his head. “That doesn’t really matter, but yes, I was approached by a, by—” His face flushes in embarrassment, and he takes a breath to try again.

“A fae?” Remus offers, brow quirked in amusement.

“Yes, thank you,” Roman rolls his eyes, “I was approached by a fae and—” 

Roman freezes, stomach plummeting as his heart jumps, rounding on Remus and staring as his brother laughs, leaning into him. The flush of his face burns up his skin and he hisses when he asks, “How long have you known? Why didn’t you say anything! I’ve been fretting about talking about this for days, struggling with what to do daily and how, and if I would lose you, and you—” His voice cracks and Remus finally stops laughing slowly, sighing as he pulls Roman closer and they tumble to the ground of the alley way. Roman’s nose scrunches but he shifts closer to Remus, and clutches at him hard, almost desperate in the way he has to stamp down the urge to bite and press them so close their ribs knock together, to get the reassurance he wants and bind him in some way he cannot escape—

“Sorry, Ro,” Remus mumbles, “I didn’t really know how to bring it up either. Thought you would eventually, and hey you did!” Roman sends him a withering glare and he giggles awkwardly. “Right, but uh, yeah, I kinda was gonna drop some hints tonight at the party, and see how you reacted but uh,” He glances around the alleyway, “I don’t… think I’m gonna be doing that anymore.”

“And you’re not gonna be going home with Patton either.” Roman growls, finding that now that that secret is out, his lips feel loser, the glamor shimmering away just enough that Remus is hit with the overwhelming aura that now surrounds Roman. 

It also lets Roman smell him more thoroughly.

Excitement. Curiosity… Desire.

Remus curls his own hand around Roman’s neck and leans closer, his eyes shiny and dark at the same time. The smell of fire rises with the tide and Roman’s chest feels warm warm warm and his fingers itch to touch, and with the way Remus is looking at him, he knows he can. 

He scrambles to press his fingers to his brother's stomach and feel the way it moves underneath. Mortal and alive and right here with him. Not gone, not angry, because Remus knew the whole time, and still invited him out; he hadn’t treated him any differently, he hadn’t had any problem with it whatsoever. Roman falls a little more in love, and kisses Remus right on the lips, swallowing the surprised but excited noise he makes and threading their fingers together beside them, as he breaks out into a giddy grin, canines flashing.

This is going to be confusing and frustrating, surely. Roman still needs to learn how to control his powers and himself, and he still needs to actually get information about how Remus knew about him, to know if anyone else is privy to that information. But for now, Roman is more than happy to just let himself indulge in Remus, and just be fae.

Roman does end up binding Remus to him for eternity— he doesn’t even need to ask. 

Remus stays, and he comforts, and Roman… Roman presses kisses to his skin and thanks him for it for eternity, forever grateful to have someone so understanding and so very his.

@remrom-trickrtreat

[remrom-trickrtreat]

Remroms tricks or treats :3c

TREAT

Roman has been up for nearly forty hours on an inspiration kick, and is stumbling around in a state of paint streaked exhaustion when Remus finally talks him into taking a short break to "at least rest his eyes." It takes less than three minutes for Roman to be asleep, too worn out to keep awake once he's lost his momentum.

Remus tucks him into their bed with an exasperated huff at the effort it took to corral him there, and Roman mumbles while snuggling tighter into his cacoon of covers.

"What was that?" Remus checks, and with a contented smile Roman repeats himself in his mostly already asleep state.

"Love you, Re. You're the best," he slurs. Remus adjusts the blanket again to ignore the warmth blooming in his chest at the declaration. No matter how many times he hears Roman say it, he'll never grow tired of being told he's loved and appreciated.

Maybe he should join Roman in bed for a nap. Cuddling sounds nice right about now.

[remrom-trickrtreat]

Hi hello! Yes it is October and I am late in posting The Doors that have already signed up (never too late to sign up) but I feel the current circumstances let that slide.

So here are The Doors!

@shut-up-its-funny

@anxious-mess19

@author-chan06

@the-bisexual-bitch

@lemony-ship-it

@pumpkin-padparadscha

@jewel9887

More Doors would be appreciated but no pressure!!

Remeber to say you're there for our boys if you're trick or treating!!

[remrom-trickrtreat]

Trick or treat for remrom

TRICK

There is a quote that goes something like "simply put, a trumpet is a device in which air is blown and divorce comes out"

I think that Remus should get to play the trumpet, and play the trumpet badly. Imagine if you will, a world where the only song Remus has bothered to master on the trumpet is hot cross buns.

This is not a world in which Remus has a sense of tact, or courtesy, or timing. It is, plainly put, a world where Remus has a trumpet.

It is also a world where roman is very close to clobbering Remus with his own mace, or at the very least inventing new and interesting ways to destroy musical instruments beyond all use or repair.

[remrom-trickrtreat]

The tags don't seem to be working well when I look for new remrom stuff so please if you're a door and you post something can you @ me? Thank you!

[remrom-trickrtreat]

Trick or treat for remrom

Heyo! Our boys are being cutie patooties in their lil candy bag!

I tried a sorta chibi style (because I do NOT have the energy to make a bunch of these in my normal, fully fleshed art style), and I think I like it and hope you do too!

Happy RemRom Halloween!