#And i know Roman would buy every single one of them because he thinks it's funny too

[cyellolemon]

Player 3 has entered the game... This was Roman's idea

[veddira]

I just imagined the Sides playing Stardew Valley, and I have no regrets for what I say.

————————————

Here’s what I think each of them would do:

Logan would probably be playing the game either like a speed run, or just think of profit. He would avoid the dateable NPCs like the plague and barely grow relationships with anyone. He would be only thinking about the tasks and nothing more. Oh, he’s also definitely finish the community center the quickest out of the other sides. He also has the most organized farm, and he’d only go to the festivals where he knows he can get something out of it, like the strawberry seeds from the egg hunt festival. He also would either sleep too early, or pass out at 2:00 AM. No in between.

Patton would be friends with everyone, have full hearts with them all, and would either marry Harvey or Elliott, mostly cus they fit his type. (Cough cough Janus/Logan) The kids would love him, he’d be full hearts with all the animals in the pen, and it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to not see him without the golden retriever dog. Or the white cat because this is the only game where he can have a car and not be allergic to them. Also, he would avoid the mines like a plague and do all the help wanted requests even if he didn’t have the items right away. I can also see him having a not too organized farm, where 90% of that farm will be saved for animals or be a hot mess, and the 10% just having farmland that’s decently neat after Logan taught him what it could look like for maximum efficiency.

Roman would DEFINITELY have 6 saves with each of the dateable men married on each one. His farm would be AESTHETIC AS HELL with either a shed or a cabin decorated like crazy. He would be in the skull caverns or mines just killing monsters, and he’d be besties with all the female NPCs. He’d be gravitated towards Elliott or Sebastian, and probably join the save with Shane less but would still go because he’d be like “I can FIX HIM!!” Even tho after marriage he goes RIGHT BACK TO SQUARE ONE WITH THIS MAN. After all of that, he’d probably finish the community center after like… maybe year 3 or 4?? And I’m being generous here.

Virgil would choose the Spooky farm, and would ONLY start actively socializing in fall. Only because of the Halloween season. He would avoid all of the NPCs like the plague, and barely want to go to Pierre’s because of social interaction to buy seeds. He’d probably be friends with Abigail and Sebastian, and would definitely develop a crush on either Sam or Alex after maybe year 2- He would also be SUPER anxious about the tasks, sometimes to the point he’d never do them. He’d only go outside to either be in the mines, or on a rainy day. He may also call Elliott a knock off version of Roman, and definitely would say Harvey is Logan. And he would choose any of the cats, but definitely the black one.

Janus would probably say he wouldn’t bother, but would secretly play it for hours after everyone’s gone asleep. His farm would be a mix of Roman’s and Logan’s, with it leaning more towards the Logan side. He would probably call very NPC a knockoff of each of the sides, saying Linus is the closest to Remus but would more so compare him to any hostile mob instead like a slime. He would probably marry either Elliott or Alex, and would probably try to divorce them soon after marriage. He DEFINITELY would cheat his way through occasionally, only to get a loved gift by an NPC, or would get himself extra buffs if he was too lazy. Shit, he’d probably start with the cheats just cus he’d say something like “The start of the game is too slow” or something like that.

Remus…. Oh boy. He would use cheats but use it to get bombs, and explode everything. He also would drink mayo infront of all the NPCs, and gift each of them trash cus he can. He would dig in the trash every single day, and would chop down all the trees. He’d constantly pass out at 2:00 AM, pretty sure he’d be at the Saloon 60% of the time, and would probably romance Sebastian and would make Elliott hate him cus yknow.. he reminds him of Roman.

Y’all can pick the farms they’d most likely pick, but I know Logan would choose the standard farm, Patton would choose the group farm so he could play with the other sides, Roman would maybe choose the meadowlands for the aesthetic, Virgil would choose the Spooky farm, as well as Remus, and Janus would prolly pick the hilltop or forest farm just to say he can be away from everyone.

[secondhand-snow]

What do you imagine Lukas is like as a girl dad? 😭

lukas is totally girl dad in my head. ik we’ve talked about him having like 10 kids but i still just know he would love it having only girls. i see him as having like 5 girls and just fully committing to the girl dad role, never ever complaining about wanting sons or trying for a boy.

as a dad he’s the exact opposite of mencken. super soft and supportive and extremely involved in all his kids lives. they’re still absolutely going to be attending an insanely prestigious private school and enrolled in a ton of different activities, but the difference is that he lets his kids choose what they want to do instead of forcing them. one of his girls wants to play rugby? absolutely they’re getting signed up. another one wants to learn to play the electric guitar? he’s already ordered the best one money can buy.

and you better bet he’s going to every single event of theirs. he will never miss a sports game, a recital, a graduation, or anything else. lukas will put his entire company on pause just to see his 3 year old daughter clumsily twirl around on stage in a tutu. if two events are going on at the same time and he can only make it to one, he will absolutely bribe the person in charge to push one activity back a few hours so he can get to both.

when his girls grow up, he’s definitely a little overprotective of them but in a goofy way. like if his daughter brings home her boyfriend, he’s intimidating him but doing so with bizarre jokes and references. lukas just love playing into that unhinged genius billionaire stereotype that the media portrays him as.

i think he also weirdly takes some pride in only having girls? with the roys the men of the family were always always always put before the women and seen as superior. like shiv was never seriously considered for ceo because of the fact that she is a woman. and lukas just despises that because his wife is the most intelligent person he’s ever known and she was always seen as less than in her family because of her gender. so at every family reunion he absolutely talks about how amazing his girls are going to be when they take over the company as they grow up. if kendall or roman ever ask if they’re going to try again for a boy he’s like “why would we do that? if we try again, it’ll be for a healthy baby, not a boy.”

[pencilpat]

Misc tidbits about the college AU! I'm working on the first part of the fic, but I want to share something about them

Roman and Remus's parents are rich. Like "my brother lives in the five room west wing of our mansion and I have the whole six room east wing" rich. They pay for Roman's house where they all stay and give him a monthly allowance that's a ridiculous amount. Remus, however, has been mostly cut off from funds and is treated like an outcast and disappointment. He was staying with Roman behind their parents' backs before being kicked out.

Virgil is pretty much the only one with a happy home life. His mums are genuinely so supportive and kind to him. He haaaates it though, he's definitely an angsty teen about their love, "get out of my room" and "ugh I don't want a hug" are common phrases. One of his mums is a trans woman, and he's their biological child.

Janus is a tea drinker and Remus is a coffee drinker, and yes, they fight about it often.

Logan was an alcoholic through her entire teenagehood and for a year of college, too. She's currently on five months of no drinking, though! They keep most of it a secret from everyone but Roman. Roman is also completely sober in solidarity.

Janus and Logan have one law class that's the same time slot, and they find themselves sitting next to each other and chatting most days. It's strange, with the strife in their friend group you'd think they would avoid each other, but since Lo talks to Remus sometimes to check up on him, they sort of see Janus as a friend by proxy. 'Proxemity friends', if you know what I mean.

Lo is sort of Roman's unwilling sugar baby. Roman constantly offers to pay for every single expense she has from rent on her apartment to a candy bar. They promptly remind him, "I am an adult with my own damn job," to which he pouts exaggeratedly. Logan has occasional moments of anger and annoyance when Roman shows that he was raised rich, such as not cleaning up around his house because "the maid will get it" or buying hundreds of dollars worth of clothes in one shopping trip.

Patton has sworn one (1) time in a life-threatening situation. No I will not elaborate.

Roman is the only cis person in the group and he never hears the end of it.

Janus was alone through most of her early school life until she met Roman and Remus by chance. At first, they bonded over similar appearing skin conditions, which quickly developed into friendships. When she and Virgil met through the twins, they hit it off instantly. They genuinely got along and related on a lot, at least the things Jan would share. Her lack of sharing any details of her personal life was concerning to all three of the others. Whenever they'd ask to hang out at her house, she'd drive them to a random place instead and say there was a change of plans. Virgil definitely noticed the sleeping bag and clothes in the back of the car. He never brought it up.

Patton and Virgil are so different, it shocks most people that they're dating. But they love each other and love just watching each other engage in their hobbies. Patton will be knitting on the couch while Virgil cuddles them and just watches how good they are at their craft, admiring them. Patton goes to every show Virgil and Roman manage to book, and they cheer so loud they lose their voice! They may be different, but their love is built on watching each other create and grow. And cuddles. Plenty of cuddles.

[fangirlwriting-stories]

Protector

Chapter One

Chapter Seven:

Virgil had just about had it with Roman.  He understood that he didn’t like him.  He didn’t like Roman either.  But at least he didn’t try to police every single thing that Roman did with his time.  He got that sometimes, it just wasn’t his fucking business, a lesson that Roman was apparently still working on.

“So now that you can’t manipulate Patton you’ve moved on to Logan,” came a sudden voice, and Virgil had to stop himself from yelping in surprise as he whirled around.

“Would you knock on my—” Virgil stopped and took a deep breath, clenching his hands into fists behind his back.  “Hi Roman, can I help you?”

“I’d like you to stop trying to invade my family,” Roman snapped, crossing his arms.  “Maybe Patton and Logan buy your new nice act, but I don’t.  And I’m not going to let you do whatever the hell you’re thinking about doing to them.”

“Roman,” Virgil said, trying to get across that on this matter, at least, he was serious.  “I have absolutely no intentions of hurting any of you.”

“And I’m supposed to just believe that?” Roman asked, throwing his hands wide.

Virgil clenched his jaw.  Don’t flinch, don’t flinch, don’t flinch—

“It’s the truth,” he said.  “I don’t know what else you want me to tell you.”

“How about why you suddenly had a complete personality 180?” Roman snapped, narrowing his eyes.  Virgil tried to breathe deeply.  “Why were you not okay with staying here at first but then changed your mind?  Why are you trying so hard to get along with Patton and Logan when you didn’t care at all before?  What are you up to?”

“I told you already,” Virgil said, trying to think ahead as he was talking.  “It was just an overwhelming offer, I had to think about it for a bit.  I am Anxiety, I get overwhelmed pretty easily.”

Roman narrowed his eyes, and Virgil appreciated the fact that he didn’t have an immediate rebuttal.

Keep breathing, you can do this.  You just have to keep both of you talking long enough to make Roman forget about the first question.  The others you have answers for.

“And I’m trying to get along with Patton and Logan because we live together now.  Anything else would kind of just make us all miserable, wouldn’t it?  I don’t know about you, but I kind of prefer not being miserable.”

Dammit, that would make Roman think he was goading him on.

Sure enough, Roman narrowed his eyes.  “I do too,” Roman said.  “Except the thing is, we were all perfectly fine before you showed up.”

Virgil thought of Logan’s face when Virgil asked him what he was working on, and wondered for the first time if that was true.

“You asked me to come here,” Virgil said, clenching his hands tighter and trying to keep from snapping.

“Well I don’t think we were expecting you to start trying to manipulate your way through everyone,” Roman snapped, having no preexisting qualms about doing so.

“I’m not manipulating anything,” Virgil lied, managing to calm his voice down.  “Is it so hard to believe that maybe I’m trying to turn over a new leaf?”

“Yes,” Roman said.  “Why would you do that?  Why would any of you—” Roman gestured wildly at Virgil, meaning he was probably referring to the others too— “do that?”

Virgil dug his nails into his hands.  Don’t piss him off don’t piss him off do not piss him off—

“Well maybe I’d prefer not to be one of them anymore,” Virgil said, feeling like he was dragging the words out over sandpaper.

Roman did not look at all convinced, and Virgil felt like he was running out of things to say.  For now, though, Roman just kept glaring at him through narrowed eyes, looking for something in his face.

Finally, he didn’t seem to find it, and stepped back and threw his arms up.

Virgil flinched, managing not to bring his hands up to cover his face.

“Why do I ever bother?” Roman said to the ceiling.  “You’re just a villain.  I’m trying to ask a villain what his evil plan is like he’s going to tell me.”

“I don’t have an evil plan,” Virgil said.  His voice shook a little bit, and he wanted to kick himself.

“Well, I’m definitely not going to believe that,” Roman said.  “Look, just watch yourself.  And if you hurt any of my family you’re going to have me to deal with.”

Before Virgil could protest again, Roman sank out, because apparently he got to come and go from Virgil’s room as he pleased.

Virgil grumbled to himself and glanced over at his door.  He needed a new lock.  He hadn’t brought his old one with him because it was clunky and obvious and would key the core sides in that something was up.  But if Roman was going to be sinking into his room like this without permission, maybe he could get a smaller, weaker one that could stop the likes of smaller, weaker sides like him.

…And maybe he was feeling just a tad unsafe after Roman threw his hands up like that.

Virgil sank out to the kitchen to grab some food, and after doing so he sank out to Remus’ room, which he had permission to do, thank you very much.

“I brought you shit,” Virgil said, dropping the apple and plate with slices of cheese that he’d decided would go unnoticed onto Remus’ desk.  Remus leapt up from his bed and spun around in one move, already grinning.

“Food!” he cried happily, running for the desk and making guilt swell in Virgil’s chest for not showing up sooner.

Remus attacked the food on the plate and finished it all in less than a minute, grinning at Virgil as he did so.  “What news do you bring to entertain me?”

“Well, I was kind of hoping you could make me a smaller lock.  Not as elaborate as the ones I had here, just one that could keep people from sinking into my room uninvited.”

Remus went still and looked at Virgil.  “Who’s bothering you?” he asked lowly.

“It’s not a big deal,” Virgil said.  “Just an irritation, really.”

Remus gave Virgil a once over and grabbed his hands, which he held up in between them to reveal their slight shaking.  “Who’s bothering you?” he asked again.

Virgil winced.  “Roman’s just… loud,” he said finally.  “And angry.”

Remus narrowed his eyes.  “Want me to kill him for you?” he asked, sounding a little too serious for Virgil’s liking.

“No, I do not want you to kill him for me,” Virgil said, crossing his arms.  “I’m trying to get them to like me, Remus.  Remember, the whole plan you came up with?”

“Yeah, but now Roman’s bothering you, so I can change the plan and kill him if you want.”

“Roman’s not bothering me that much,” Virgil said, shoving his hands in his pocket and out of both of their sights.  “I really just want to lock him out.”

Remus didn’t look happy, but after a second he summoned a simple lock, much smaller than the ones Virgil was used to.  “There.  That’ll keep him out.”  He passed it over to Virgil.

“Thanks,” Virgil said, taking it.

Remus narrowed his eyes dangerously.  “If he hurts you, tell me.”

“Okay,” Virgil said with a nod, while thinking that he definitely wouldn’t.

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Remus.  He just didn’t trust him to back off, and if Roman really did hurt him, there wasn’t much Virgil could do about it.  At least, there wasn’t anything he could do that would forward his goal that wasn’t “sit there and take it.”  It’s nothing he hadn’t done for Remus before.  It would be fine.

For now, he sat down on Remus’ bed and explained the progress he’d made with Logan.  He’d put the lock on his door later, and that would solve his Roman problem, for now.

…

“So you’re locking me out now?”

“Jesus Christ,” Virgil said, putting his hand to his chest as he spun around in his chair.

Roman was standing over the chair now, crossing his arms and glaring down at him.

“So you’re sneaking up on me in the commons too now?” Virgil didn’t say, because he wasn’t an idiot.

“I just prefer it if people knock,” he said instead.  “You weren’t knocking.”

“So you lock me out?” Roman asked, scowling.  “What are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding anything,” Virgil said, getting really tired of this conversation, even if there were in fact many things that he was hiding.

“Why lock me out then?”

“Because I appreciate privacy,” Virgil said, leaning his head back against the chair.  “I just… I prefer it when people knock.”

Roman didn’t seem to like that answer, but before he could say anything else, Logan walked past him from the hallway.

“Good morning Anxiety,” he said.  “I apologize for my tardiness, I’m feeling a little under the weather today.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to rest?” Virgil asked, glad to be focusing on something other than Roman.

“Ah, so you’re trying to get him to neglect his job!” Roman exclaimed, and both Virgil and Logan turned to face him.

“Roman, don’t be absurd,” Logan said, crossing his arms and taking a step closer to Roman.  “That is an intentional misreading of what just happened.”

“Logan, how do you just trust him?” Roman exclaimed.  “You have noticed his sudden personality change too, haven’t you?”

“I think it makes far more sense to attribute that to Anxiety not wanting to fight with the people he’s living with all the time,” Logan said, giving Roman a look.  “You’re certainly being very antagonistic towards him, and he doesn’t seem to be responding in kind.”

“Yes, and how interesting is that,” came Janus’ voice, and they all turned to see him now walking into the room, giving Virgil a suspicious look.

Oh great.  They were all ganging up on him again.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Virgil managed.

“We’ve known you to start fights,” Janus said, crossing his arms.  “You’ve been starting them since you first met Thomas.  You suddenly decide to change just because you’re living over here now?”

“I don’t see why you think that’s so unreasonable,” Logan said.  He seemed to pick up on Virgil’s nerves, because he moved to sit on the couch instead of remaining standing with the other two, which helped Virgil’s chest loosen just a little.

“Logan, come on,” Roman said.  “You’re telling me you buy his non-confrontational act?”

“As a matter of fact, I do,” Logan said.  “Because I have been spending quite a bit of time talking with Anxiety and getting to know him.  You two, meanwhile, are treating him poorly based on previous assumptions and a lack of data.  It is a scientifically unsound way to behave.”

“Logan, it’s okay,” Virgil said, because the last thing he wanted was to start getting in between the core sides.  “I’m not mad about it.  It’s alright.”

Logan didn’t look exactly satisfied with that statement, but thankfully he didn’t talk over Virgil, and just sat back with his notebook.  Roman gave Virgil one more glare, and then headed out of the room with Janus.

“You should really rest if you’re not feeling well,” Virgil said once they were alone.

Logan sighed.  “I am fine, Anxiety.  I plan to take it easy today.  I am more concerned with your lack of standing up for yourself.  You do not have to put up with the others being unfair to you.”

Well, that might have been true, if Logan was the main person he had to win over.  Unfortunately for Virgil, though, he had to win over Janus.  And standing up to him would not help in the slightest.

There was also the fact that Virgil couldn’t really be mad at Roman and Janus for thinking he was trying to manipulate them, not when he totally was.  It wasn’t their fault that Patton and Logan were more easily duped.

Virgil winced.  A large part of him didn’t like the idea of manipulating Patton or Logan any more.  But it’s not like he could stop.  Not when it was them or Remus.

“It doesn’t bother me,” Virgil lied, picking up his headphones to cut off any further conversation.  It would still take a long while for his nerves to calm down.

...

Chapter Eight

[jaclyntan]

The Free Gift

Thinking about the nature of gifts, and how we give and receive them especially with Christmas coming up, is something I have been thinking about a lot lately.

When we give gifts, we rely on the notion that the more expensive or rare it is, the more treasured it will be by the person who receives it. So if we were to buy a present for someone we love, we are inclined to spend more, because we expect to receive more from them.

Everything is transactional in this world, and the act of giving is no exception. Even though the act of giving implies that the gift is made out of genuine love and charity without expecting anything in return, deep down I think we all still expect some sort of recompense or validation for our effort.

I suppose it is why so many people in this world believe in "karma", because we expect to reap what we sow.

This is so profound when we contrast how we give to the free gift God offers us through His Son, Jesus.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (emphasis added by me)

Paul writes 'free gift' in Romans six times in the space of two chapters. A gift implies that it is free to begin with, so why does He repeatedly emphasise the free-ness of the gift?

I think it is because the validation we get from God is entirely different to how we receive gifts from the world.

When we give a gift that we buy with money, we measure the value of the gift by how much we spend on it, whether that is by money or time.

Similarly, when we go against our conscience and sin, we realise that we expect judgment for our moral actions. That is our wages; what we are due.

This is what is so incredible about what Jesus offers us.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.  John 14:27  

The free gift of God is truly for every single one of us, no matter how awful we are. No matter how righteous we think we are. We simply trust in His Word and receive it with joy, knowing that the only gift we can offer Him in return is our love.

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:7-8

God's free gift to us is not rare or unobtainable but near each one of us through our words. And it's not just cheap, it is free.

By the world's standards God's love is given so abundantly that we may be inclined to put material possessions or experiences above what Jesus offers. Yet, Jesus is the greatest gift we could ever receive.

His free gift to us is summed up in a word- love. Not the worldly, fleshly love that we measure based on material goods or acts of service.

But the true, everlasting love that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things. The love that never ends.

Because God is love, and it was only through His love for us that death and evil could be defeated forever.

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (334): Mon 13th Feb 2023

One more shift until I get three days off. I love this job but I don’t know if I could do this if it was a 9-5. I need a full three days to recover from the strain and boredom of backing hundreds if not thousands of items into boxes for 40 hours a week while shitty music is forced into my ear canals. If I only had two days to recover from this shit then I’d be in a bad mood all the time. Interestingly enough when I worked at TSB they surveyed us and asked whether we’d be interested in switching to a four day work week and I said absolutely fucking not. 10 hours (minus two 30 minute breaks) of standing in one spot and silently packing items into boxes I could definitely do but 10 hours (minus one hour lunch and two fifteen minute breaks) of talking to shitheads on the phone, go fuck your Dad! Even though it would be less work the type of work in the TSB job is WAY worse than in the factory (also those fifteen minute breaks felt more like fifteen second breaks). I can’t believe it’s almost been a year since I left that shithole and frankly I’m not sure how I lasted six months there without ramming my head through a computer screen. Since I did a month of training, two weeks on holiday, a week off with COVID and ten days off the phones because their systems stopped working because the tech team are really incompetent, this means that I only really spent four months talking to dickheads on the phone but it was still way too much. I still regret not writing down the names and numbers of the arsehole callers I got so that when I go on trips away I could use public telephones to prank call them in the middle of the night to get back at them for talking to me like a piece of shit.

Six weeks until WrestleMania! Man I’m so fucking excited. For a while it seemed like I would never get there and now it’s so close. Next week I’ll go to the town and get my money changed over to dollars (or whatever currency Biden changes it to in the time between now and the trip. Hell the guy’s so senile he may pass a law ruling that people have to pay for stuff with underpants…although that would make buying underpants tricky). I might prepare for WrestleMania 39 by watching every single WrestleMania to get myself in the spirit of things. It also means that I’m going to have to start watching Raw and Smackdown again so that I’ll be up to speed on the storylines going into the show…urgh. I know that the Rumble and Mania still deliver but the stuff on Raw and Smackdown that isn’t Roman Reigns and Sami Zayn is just abysmal. Personally I think WWE are making a big mistake by going with Cody Rhodes being the guy to face Roman at Mania (unless he loses which he should in which case I’m fine with it). Rhodes did a good job last year of garnering fan support and establishing himself as a top babyface but it hasn’t been enough to warrant him being the one to dethrone Reigns. The person to take the belt off of Reigns should do so as the culmination of a lengthy storyline, not just because they won the Rumble. Sami Zayn is far and away the more logical choice to face Reigns at Mania, though I don’t think he should win either as it will be much more effective if they have him lose this year, have Reigns title run go over the 1000 day mark and then have Sami defeat him at Mania 40. Speaking of WWE pay per views I think next year I’m going to pull the trigger on the Royal Rumble too, although the location for the show hasn’t been decided yet. The great thing about my Mania trip is that i will be able to cross this item as well as visiting California and seeing the LA Lakers off my bucket list. Therefore I’m hoping that the Rumble will be located in a state that will allow me to cross off additional items. I’ve always wanted to visit New Orleans so having the Rumble there would be handy. I also want to see Edgar Allan Poe’s grave and the house he lived in which are both in Baltimore so hopefully they might announce this as the site of the show.

[togansweep]

hello vi, can u say how each succ character would behave at Disneyland/ any theme park of choice?

okay so I've never been to disneyland but I've been to legoland twice so I'm using that as a reference.

greg would absolutely love it. I don't know if you've ever been in legoland but I feel like greg would THRIVE there (that man has 100% seen lego batman). he's like an overexcited child and wants to try every single attraction.

tom pretends to be annoyed at this, "greg, you're a 6ft7 man, this should be like a normal tuesday because everyone is like a lego figurine to you." but he secretly really enjoys greg's enthusiasm.

up until the moment greg asks tom to join him on a rollercoaster, because if there's one thing tom's afraid of it's rollercoasters. "I'm in my 40s greg, if I get on a rollercoaster at this age I will probably get a heart attack. you don't want to be responsible for that, now do you, gregory?" "lots of old people go on rollercoasters, tom." "did you just call me old, greg?" "technically you like, did that yourself? but I think you're just scared." "now I'm old AND scared?? these accusations are really getting out of hand, greg, what are we going to do about this? do you want me to push you in the adventure land pond? the one with the lego crocodile? because I will, gregory! make the crocodile nibble on your long bambi legs." "if you really weren't old and scared you would just go on the rollercoaster with me." "you know what greg, why not. I'll prove you wrong once and for all."

tom spends the whole ride screaming with his eyes closed and he's holding greg's hand way too tightly. "if you breath a word of this to anyone I will feed you to a real crocodile."

roman would have WAY too much fun on the pirate splash battle:

you can also splash people who are eating because there's a cafeteria next to this attraction, and roman would definitely try to ruin as many people's french fries as possible.

tabitha joins roman and they make an excellent splashing team, they're SO good that at some point they're being told to leave the attraction because they keep ruining everyone's food. roman bribes them with a hundred dollar bill so they can continue.

kendall is having a mental breakdown in one of the bathrooms so connor takes his kids to all the miniature landmarks:

he tells them way too detailed history lessons about all of them, but kendall's kids keep running away because they don't care and just wanna see the lego ninjago attraction.

shiv and willa are on the laser game temple attraction gossiping about their cringe men. when they get out they sneek off to the lego hotel and cheat on them with each other.

meanwhile logan is trying to buy legoland.

[kngcrms]

La Squadra on a road trip

(GN! Reader, SFW)

Risotto

The one who has to drive all night.

Falls asleep most of the ride then at night he's wide awake.

Probably looks at the trees if he's awake.

Q u I e t.

Makes sure everyone is hydrated.

Sarcasm awakens in him if he's really tired.

When he's not tired he's holding your hand.

Forehead kisses.

"Keep sticking your head out the window and maybe you'll see the world from a bug's perspective, Melone."

Prosciutto

He's always in the passenger's seat.

Drives during the day.

Has a huge map for every single city and place.

Brings snacks, mainly for you, Pesci, Risotto, and himself.

Yells at the others.

Emporio Armani sunglasses.

Pays for everyone at the gas station because "the cashier looks suspicious".

Makes sure everyone is still alive every one hour.

Please massage his shoulders he'll love you forever.

"I'm never going on road trips with Formaggio ever again I swear on my life."

"Y/N do you want those snacks? I'll get them for you."

Formaggio

Gets yelled at by Prosciutto.

Spilled soda on himself.

Makes deez nuts jokes every 3 seconds.

Binge eating everything he bought then complaints.

"Are we there yet?""How much more?" type of guy.

Hyperactive.

A blessing when he falls asleep or gets knocked out for a few hours (by Ghiaccio).

Hugs you whilst sleeping.

"Y/N?Do you think Prosciutto will make Risotto take wrong turns?"

Illuso

He's smug everywhere.

Teases Ghiaccio and Prosciutto.

And you.

Let's you play with his hair.

Lays his head on your shoulder when sleeping.

Refuses to use the bathroom at the gas station.

Opens the window wide open when you're sleeping so the air hits you right in the face.

Occasionally holds you close to him.

"What is it Y/N?Is the air bothering you?"

Pesci

Minds his business and plays games on his phone or draws.

Chats with you about random topics.

You two are the only people in the minivan that don't get yelled at by Prosciutto.

Shares gummies with you.

The best shoulder to sleep on 10/10.

For the first time, you see him annoyed by Formaggio and it's hilarious.

Tells you how much he loves you when Prosciutto happens to drive too fast because he's quite scared when someone drives too fast.

"I think I'm going to listen to some music, do you want to listen too?"

Melone

Surprisingly doesn't wear his everyday outfit but looks like he came straight out of Jumanji.

Prepared to spit some random facts at 2 am, even though Risotto is so tired of everything.

You got bitten by a snake? He's got just the right thing for you.

Walking pharmacy.

Sings road trip songs at the worst moments.

Sticks his head out of the window like a dog.

Also, a good shoulder to sleep on.

Tickles you.

"Did you guys know that back in the Roman empire, people used to use piss as mouthwash?"

"Dude shut the hell up already IT'S 1 AM!"

Ghiaccio

Headphones at full volume with white noises because he doesn't want to hear anyone say something dumb.

Sleeping mask because he doesn't want to see someone do something dumb.

Only you are allowed next to him.

Play with his hands please they're so cold.

Once 8 pm strikes he takes a dose of melatonin and he's knocked out cold.

Doesn't really talk, but occasionally has small conversations with you.

If he hears Formaggio say something dumb he'll snap right there and then.

Sleeps in your lap.

"Y/N, can you please pass me a bottle of water?"

"ILLUSO YOU BUFFOON HOW CAN YOU SAY A POUND OF LEAD IS HEAVIER THAN A POUND OF FEATHERS HAVE YOU BEEN TO SCHOOL, YOU IDIOT?!?"

Sorlato

In the very back of the car, where the three seats are.

You're between them for safety measures.

They both tease you but not as much as Illuso.

Play a movie and they shut up instantly.

Gelato munches on his snacks meanwhile Sorbet munches on yours.

Buys you more once the minivan stops at a gas station.

They think the cashier is a mafia member so they act tough.

Both sleep on your shoulders.

"Hey, what would happen if we jumped out of the car right now?"

"Well, you'd die first of all."

[poisonedapples]

Patton’s Home for Traumatized Kids - Chapter 2

Craft Projects and Failed Bonding

Chapter Summary: Roman plots against Patton in a way he thinks is threatening.

Previous Chapter Story Masterlist

Chapter Warnings: Panic, anxiety, implied past abuse, food mentions, and anxiety over being watched by cameras.

Word Count: 4,533

Taglist: @shade-romeo, @grayson-22

Notes: Thanks to cornybird on Ao3 for helping me beta this one!

“Virgil, wake up, it’s time for breakfast!”

Roman cracked open his eyes to stare at the door. His security bar was still under the doorknob, and it sounded like Patton walked away to knock on the next kid's door, so Roman slowly lifted himself out of Virgil’s bed once the coast was clear. He hadn’t been asleep for the last two hours, so there was no point to continue lying down and risk Patton trying to get into the room to wake him up. So Roman rubbed his tired eyes to undo the security bar and put it in his backpack.

Though, speaking of his backpack…he had no idea where to put it. It wasn’t safe in Virgil’s room, but Virgil was still sleeping in Roman’s bedroom. He could take it downstairs with him, but that’s a strange thing to do during breakfast, and he didn’t want that to be the conversation opener of the day. Especially if they asked him what was inside. They weren’t allowed to know that.

Eventually, Roman settled on hiding the backpack underneath Virgil’s bed. It wasn’t the best hiding spot, but it’d work until Roman could come back and take it. He opened the door and headed downstairs, praying that he wouldn’t be the first kid to arrive.

The prayer wasn’t enough, because Roman looked around the kitchen and only saw Patton at the stove. Patton looked over at him and seemed confused, trying to hide it behind a chipper smile. “Morning, kiddo! How’d you get dressed so fast? I only knocked on your door a second ago!”

Don’t let him find out you weren’t in your room. “Oh, these are my pajamas, I haven’t gotten dressed yet. And I was already awake, so I just came right downstairs.”

Patton looked Roman up and down, and Roman shivered. “…Do you not have real pajamas, kiddo?”

“No. I like sweatpants better.”

Patton didn’t seem pleased, but he didn’t question it further. Roman sat down at the table and anxiously drummed his fingers while he waited. Eventually, Logan came downstairs fully dressed with his hair brushed, and Virgil followed not long after. His hair was a mess, and his pajamas were twisted like he just fell out of bed and rolled down the stairs to make it in time. 

Patton took one look at him and almost gasped. “Virgil, did you sleep last night? You look…a bit rough, to put it lightly.”

Virgil grunted. “I had to clean.”

Patton sighed. “Kiddo, save cleaning for the morning, okay?”

Virgil shrugged, groggily making his way to the coffee machine to try and steal some Patton already made for himself. “Virgil,” Patton chastised, “No coffee. You can go back to sleep after breakfast if you want, but you’re too young for coffee.”

Logan raised his hand. “May I have some?”

“No.”

“Darn.”

“What kinda drink do you want, Roman?” Patton asked. “And don’t say coffee.”

Coffee sounded really nice, actually, but there was no use arguing. “I’ll take milk, then.”

Patton finished emptying the contents of his pan onto some plates before grabbing three cups from the cupboard and filling them up. Two had milk while one had orange juice, and he passed them to each seat at the table. He then passed everybody their plates, with scrambled eggs and a bagel with cream cheese. Roman took his fork and tasted a bite of the eggs.

Holy fuck, Roman hadn’t had something that tasty since his grandma last cooked for him. The eggs were so soft and cheesy, and Roman could barely contain his excitement for it. He put as many eggs as he could fit onto his fork and stuffed it all in his mouth.

Patton laughed when he noticed Roman’s reaction. “Taste good, kiddo?”

Roman hummed, and Patton smiled. “Good! I learned how to make them from my roommate in college, and I haven’t looked back since!”

Roman hoped that roommate taught him how to make a lot more things then, because this was heavenly. He’d finished his entire plate of eggs so fast it was concerning, forgetting all ability to savor his food. Maybe Roman could find the recipe and steal it when Patton wasn’t looking.

Until then, Roman moved on to eating his bagel while everyone else wasn’t even close to finishing breakfast. He guessed that was a good thing. If he finished before everyone else, he could run to Virgil’s room and grab his backpack without anyone noticing. Roman chewed faster at the possibility.

Once again, the table went very silent as everyone ate and Roman tried to make a swift escape. Patton was the one to break the silence this time. “So, Roman,” he said, “How about you and I go to the store today?”

Roman froze. “…Why?”

“I’m sure there’s some stuff you need. School starts again in two days, so we need to get you some school supplies, and maybe we can get some stuff to decorate your room with too!”

“Wait, school starts in two days? I thought it started in two weeks!”

Patton seemed apologetic. “In this district, the first day is this Wednesday. Usually I’d let you stay at home a little longer to get comfortable before school, but I think it’d be easier for you to start the first day when you have the chance. Besides, I don’t feel comfortable leaving you home alone for another week.”

You should leave me here alone, Roman thought. He was a little disappointed he had to go to school sooner than usual, but school was also the best excuse to leave home early and come back late. If he could get involved again in theater, he could hide out and blame his late return times on rehearsals. So maybe it was a blessing in disguise.

Patton interrupted Roman’s internal scheming. “Do you know what kinda supplies you might need, kiddo?”

Roman twirled his cup in his hand and watched the milk spin. “Binders, pencils, folders, notebooks…I only have a backpack, really.”

“We definitely need to stop by the store then! And while we’re there, we can look at all the bedroom stuff too!”

Everything in Roman made him want to decline, to tell Patton to buy him whatever and he’ll make do with what he has. His heart started to pound again, his hand gripping hard on his cup and thinking about his escape options. Then it dawned on him.

They would be going to a store. A store, full of cashiers and moms with kids and plenty of parents who might also need school supplies. If there was anywhere he could be safe while alone with Patton, it was there. And maybe if he agreed, Patton would leave him alone for a while…

“…We can go.” Roman said. Patton’s grin widened and his eyes lit up.

“Great! So, just get ready once you finish breakfast, and we can head out! Logan, you’ll be in charge while Virgil takes a nap.”

Logan nodded, and Virgil almost fell asleep on top of his plate.

Eventually, everyone finished breakfast and put their dishes away, Virgil dragging himself back upstairs and falling into bed without even closing his door. Roman carefully entered his bedroom, darting his eyes between where he hid his backpack and where Virgil was lying.

“What.” Virgil snapped, mumbling it into his pillow. Roman stopped in his tracks.

“I only need to grab my bag, then I’ll leave you alone.”

“Fuggin’ take it.” Virgil snapped.

Roman grabbed his backpack and scurried out of there, closing the door behind him. It uneased Roman to try to sleep with the door open, so he assumed someone as secluded as Virgil might be the same. It was a little way to show his gratitude for last night.

Roman walked back to his own bedroom after grabbing his backpack. However, once Roman opened the door, he finally understood what Virgil meant by “cleaning”.

The mess Roman made last night was completely gone. The bed was made, the hangers were placed back in the closet, the lightbulb was back in the lamp and the nightstand had been set back up. It was almost like last night was a bad dream that never happened, Roman’s only evidence that it had being the fact that he woke up in Virgil’s room that morning. He looked around the room again to process the change, when he noticed a piece of paper on the nightstand.

Roman picked up the piece of paper and unraveled it.

There’s no cameras in here, I checked. I also fixed your mental breakdown for you. You owe me one.

Virgil

Roman looked around the room, holding the paper tight to his chest as he examined every corner. There wasn’t a single camera in here? Not one? No, no that wasn’t possible. The camera was around here somewhere. Roman knew it.

He looked around again, three times, looking under objects and in the closet, feeling the pit in his stomach grow when all his searches came back futile. He knew it was here somewhere, and he refused to let Patton win. Roman would find it.

He’d just…have to find some other place to sleep until then.

Roman shook his head as a way to erase his thoughts. He could worry about the camera later, but for now, he needed to please Patton’s attempt at getting to know him and get out of this cursed room. Roman still wrapped a blanket around himself as he got dressed, not quite able to shake his anxiety long enough to not take precautions. He changed from his pajamas to a red shirt and baggy jeans, and ran out to the bathroom to brush his teeth.

Camera or not, he’d have to find a way to pay Virgil back.

***

“Roman, what’s your favorite color?”

Roman snapped out of his distant stare to look at Patton. He was looking at a display of school binders, pausing for a moment to glance at Roman and wait for an answer. The stare was so much for Roman to process that he took a step back. “Uh…red.”

“Perfect! They’ve got lots of reds!” Patton grabbed a red binder before stopping himself with a thinking expression on his face. “Though, wait, let me check the supplies website…I don’t wanna get a wrong size, or only get one when you need multiple…”

Roman went back to staring at the floor under him. He shouldn’t have agreed to this. It seemed like a great idea at first, but now Roman was here holding himself tight and trying not to cry, feeling the exhaustion set in while his anxiety made him restless. He wanted to go home and sleep, but there was nowhere to sleep. Nowhere to hide.

He’d have to search the house for hiding spots later.

“So,” Patton eventually said, “It doesn’t say exactly, so I’ll just grab a zipper binder and one two inch just in case. If you need more, I can always stop by again and buy some. What’s your second favorite color?”

Roman swallowed to fight back the tears. “Purple.”

Patton smiled. “That’s Virgil’s favorite color! So, one red zipper binder and a purple two inch. So let’s look at the pencil cases now!” Patton caught a glimpse of Roman’s pale face and his smile dropped. “…Are you okay, kiddo?”

Roman nodded. He didn’t trust himself to talk, but it seemed like Patton didn’t trust his answer. He took a step toward Roman, and Roman took two steps back. Patton frowned. “Are you sure?”

Roman nodded again. Patton ran a hand through his hair and looked around the store. Please, let’s just get this over with already.

Patton’s head stopped as his eye caught sight of a specific aisle, and he smiled in Roman’s direction. “Say, kiddo, how about you go check out the fish? I’ll be over here getting the boring stuff if you need me!”

Roman glanced at Patton’s eyes. They were soft and forgiving, but all Roman could feel when looking at them was fear. He took this as his moment, spinning around on his heel and almost sprinting toward the fish aisle. Anywhere was better than being near Patton.

Roman looked at the walls of fish tanks with fish of all kinds of colors, watching them swim around as the filter’s bubbles reached the roof. There were some that were swimming around each other, and others that stopped in place for long periods of time. Roman held himself and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

It was more peaceful away from Patton, at least. Roman felt a little less sick and his hands weren’t shaking as badly, focusing on the fish to calm himself down. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but it worked. That’s all Roman could really ask for.

He watched the fish swim around and read their species facts for a while, until he couldn’t feel tears in his eyes anymore and the nausea was tamed. Roman walked through the aisle to look at the fish tank decorations and other pet toys. He picked up a chew toy for a dog and squeaked it, awkwardly messing with the toys and trying to keep Patton in his peripheral vision. It felt odd to be standing around in a pet aisle with no plans of buying anything.

Well, Roman thought, Patton never told me I had to stay in this aisle. It was only a suggestion. I could move on to another part of the store.

Roman looked at where Patton was one more time so he could remember his spot. It seemed like he was checking the supply list on his phone and thinking hard about colored pencils, and Roman hoped he would be occupied with that for a while more. He walked out of the aisle and looked above him for ideas on where he should go next.

Bathroom, no. The bakery would be wonderful if I could buy a donut myself. Clothes, baby items, plants…wait! Roman’s eyes lit up as he read another one of the signs. Hardware!

Roman always loved searching through hardware. He was a craft person at heart, and the aisles always gave him ideas for new things to try and make. Besides, Patton told him they were going to look for decorations for his room, maybe he could get inspiration there!

Roman entered the hardware aisle and began to look around. Because this wasn’t a hardware store there wasn’t much, mostly small items like door hinges and hook sets. There was also a doorknob you could only open with a code that Roman wanted, but there was no way Patton would let him install that. But maybe he could find something else to make his room safer.

Roman passed some other items, including some lightbulbs and a security camera displaying the screen that made Roman shiver when he passed by, but eventually Roman saw it. Ideas swarmed in his head and a big grin bloomed onto his face. It was perfect!

“There you are, kiddo!” Roman jumped at the sound of Patton approaching, looking up to see him with a basket full of school supplies. Patton smiled to hide the worry in his eyes. “I noticed you left the other aisle and I didn’t know where to find you.”

Roman gripped harder onto the box he was holding. “Sorry, I got bored…but I found something I want for my room!”

“You did? What is it, kiddo?”

Roman held up the box to Patton. Patton raised an eyebrow at him. “…Curtain rods?”

“Yes! Sounds strange, I know, but I was thinking that I could make my own canopy bed with them! We could get some curtains and I could hang them up around the bed, and I could decorate the curtains to look beautiful! Please?”

Patton rubbed at the back of his neck. “I don’t know, kiddo…it sounds like a cool project! But you’d have to install them into the roof, and I’m not very good with a drill!”

“I can do it!” Roman begged, “I’ve installed lots of home stuff before, and I’m really good with tools! And if I mess up I promise I’ll fix any holes, or I’ll do some babysitting jobs to pay back anything that’s broken, just…please? Can I try?”

Patton seemed conflicted. He saw the desperate look in Roman’s eyes and sighed. “…You can try, kiddo. Just…don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t work, okay?”

“I won’t be! Promise!” Roman grabbed three boxes of the largest curtain rods they had and tried to hold them under his arms. “Now, I just need some red curtains, and maybe some glittery star stickers, or some other craft supplies! And a hot glue gun, you can make beautiful raindrop decorations out of hot glue!”

Patton seemed like his head was spinning. “I’ll go get an actual cart for this, kiddo.”

And then, the hunt for supplies was on. Patton got a cart for Roman to pile the curtain rods on the bottom, failing to keep up with him as he ran from aisle to aisle searching for supplies for his ideas. All the curtains were too transparent for Roman’s liking, so he instead settled for a pack of red, flat sheets meant for a queen bed and a small pack of sewing supplies. Patton mentioned he had a glue gun at home, so Roman skipped that section of the crafts aisle and instead focused on some birthday decorations with crowns and stars as well as some stickers. The more Roman’s vision came into action, the more excited and bouncy he got.

With the opaque curtains, Roman thought, it doesn’t matter if he has a camera in my room or not. He won’t be able to see me sleep. And how cute, he won’t realize his mistake in letting me do this until it’s too late.

Roman was jumping on his heels at the thought. I’m a genius.

The checkout was long and the car ride was full of anticipation, but once Patton pulled into the driveway of the house, Roman opened the trunk and ran inside with all his items in tow. He didn’t even say hello as he ran past Virgil and Logan on the couch to head upstairs.

“Kiddo, do you want to organize supplies too?” Patton yelled once he entered the house.

“I will later!” Roman answered. He had work to do.

The first step was an experiment of patience. Roman took out all the flat sheets and folded them at the top, sewing the fold with a needle and red thread to make its own custom loop for the curtain rod. It was annoying and tedious, but necessary. Also a test on Roman’s skill of how fast he could hand sew.

He was almost done with the last sheet when a knock came to his door. “Who is it?” Roman asked.

“It’s lunch time, kiddo,” Patton answered, “I called you down a while ago. How about you take a break for some food?”

No. There was no time for breaks. Roman needed this to be done by tonight so he could finally get some sleep. “In a minute.”

“Roman, it’s been a while already. A little break won’t hurt.”

“I will in a minute!” It was a lie, but Roman had the door locked, so there was nothing Patton could do about it. Roman finished his final seam, so now it was onto installing the rods.

Roman was measuring where to put the hooks on the roof when another knock came to the door. Roman groaned like a spoiled brat. “I’m coming!”

“Roman, can you open the door?”

Roman froze. He just yelled at Patton, pushed his luck, now he had to open the door. Roman dropped the screw he was holding as his hands shaked. Shit, shit! “…Why?”

“I’ve got your lunch for you.”

Roman felt his throat close, but ignoring Patton would only make the situation worse. Roman dropped his hook and screws to open the door.

Patton was on the other side, smiling softly with a burrito on a plate and a glass of juice in his hands. “I had to reheat it, but maybe you can eat while you’re working.”

Roman dug his nails into his palm before taking the plate. “Thank you.”

“Can I come in?”

No. No, you can’t. You never can, ever. “…Sure.”

Roman scurried away from Patton to sit on his bed, drinking some of the juice and looking at what’s inside the burrito. Black beans, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, sour cream, onions, and green peppers. Roman took a bite and tried to calm himself by focusing on the taste.

“You like it?”

Roman nodded. “Never had this before.”

“It’s a black bean burrito. I found the recipe a few years ago, and I make them pretty often. Especially for growing kiddos.” Patton sat on the floor next to the mess Roman had laid out. “What are you doing now for your canopy bed?”

“I was gonna screw in the curtain hooks to the roof. I’ve just been sewing the sheets for now, which is the hardest part. I might have to sew them again though, since the sheets are so big I might have to cut them. Especially since I want to do two curtains on each end to make it look pretty.”

“Sounds cool! Do you need any help?”

Roman seemed to be thinking. Maybe if I satisfy him, he won’t be angry. “Do you know how to sew?”

“I know how to repair tears. That’s it.”

Roman took another bite of his burrito and jumped off the bed, picking up one of the sheets to examine the size. He jumped on his bed and held it up to the roof, seeing how far it would stretch. The sheet was much longer than his bed, so it would be perfect. “Take the sheets, measure them, and cut them in half right down the middle. Then I can show you how to do a catch stitch to hem the seam. That will save me some time.”

“You’re very good at hand stuff!” Patton complimented. A shiver went up Roman’s spine.

“…Yes.”

From then on, the environment was very tense. The only sound between either of them was the  drill going through the roof and the sound of scissors cutting. When Patton finished cutting, Roman showed him how to hem the seam, but it was quiet again after that. Roman kept his distance and made sure his front was always facing Patton just in case.

“I hope you don’t mind if this is a very messy sewing job, kiddo.” Patton joked.

Roman shrugged. “You won’t be able to see it anyway, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Are you gonna decorate the sheets once you’ve hung them up?”

“Yes, it’s easier that way. And I can plan it out.”

“Any reason why you chose crowns and stars?”

Roman paused long enough to drill another hook into the roof before setting the drill down to grab another hook. “I like crowns. And stars.”

“Logan loves stars.” Patton really hated silence, apparently. “I don’t know if the other kiddos showed you their rooms, but Logan’s is covered in space stuff. It was really fun to do, actually! Though, I made Logan paint the stars onto his own wall because he kept talking about how it should be accurate constellations, and I don’t know anything about stuff like that.”

“I’ve only seen Virgil’s room.”

“Oh, well, if Logan ever invites you in, know that he did lots of work for his constellation wall!”

Roman hummed and drilled the last hook into the roof. He took a curtain rod and placed it on the two hooks near the foot of his bed. “How many of the sheets have you finished?”

“Oh, I’m still on the first one. I’m learning though!”

Roman jumped off the bed to sit on the floor next to Patton, grabbing his own needle and thread to begin hemming the seam. Once he started sewing, Patton watched him with wide eyes. “You’re doing that very fast, kiddo!”

Roman shrugged. “I’ve done it a lot.”

“What do you usually sew for?”

“Clothes. To fix rips, mostly. My mom also taught me when I was younger.”

Patton seemed taken aback by his explanation. “Did…did you enjoy that time with your mom?”

“I enjoyed all my time with her.” Roman paused. “Well. Most times.”

Patton swallowed. “Most times?”

“Her and I were really close, if that’s what you're asking.” Roman’s hands sped up as he sewed. “She would take me to movies and theaters, and she taught me how to bake as good as her.”

Patton’s voice grew serious. “Well…I’m sorry for your loss, kiddo.”

“She’s not dead.”

“I’m still sorry you lost her.” Patton shook his head and focused more intently on his sewing. “But you said you can bake?”

Roman nodded. “I bake a lot, especially cake. I know how to make red velvet cake from scratch and it is lovely.”

“We should make some tomorrow, then!”

Roman tensed. “Maybe.”

Roman finished off the hem of his side and moved to cut another sheet, hemming both of their sides once he did so. The rest of the time was quiet, with Roman purposely refusing to spark conversation and Patton processing the little information Roman gave him. By the time Patton finished one end and half of another, Roman had finished all the rest and took Patton’s to quickly finish off. Roman laid them all across the floor and opened the packs of crafts he got.

“Well, kiddo, I gotta see about making dinner now.” Patton eventually said, “Tell me how the end project turns out, ‘kay?”

Roman nodded. Finally, he’s leaving. “Close the door when you leave.”

Patton smiled and closed the door on his way out. Roman focused entirely on decorating his new curtains, placing glittery stars and plastic crowns and using the hot glue gun to make crystals draping down the curtains. He repeated a similar pattern for each one, eventually hanging two on each side of the bed so they could open and close down the middle. Once the final project was finished, and the floor of his room was scattered in materials, Roman smiled wide in awe.

“Yes! I did it! I did it!” Roman jumped up and down from excitement, flopping onto his bed and closing the curtains from every side. The curtains were a bit too long and dragged too much along the floor, but he could fix that another day. For now, he’d been at it for hours, and his bed was finally a safe space.

Roman buried his face into his pillow, feeling himself relax as the exhaustion of a whole day with no sleep and debilitating anxiety finally caught up to him. He groggily checked for any cameras on the roof, but that was the only place he had to check for a camera that could see him. He was safe.

 Roman crawled under the comforter and closed his eyes. It wasn’t more than five minutes of lying there before he fell asleep, curling into himself and relaxing. Finally, he slept peacefully.

 Finally.

[antiloreolympus]

11 Anti LO Asks

1. I'm all for people wanting to embrace Greek culture, but there's something so off about Rachel posting about her drinking Greek wine and (claiming) she's learning the language when LO is nothing like Greece, its culture, and she refuses to listen to actual Greeks who want to help her salvage it to something a little accurate. Even her main "sources" are Romans and British people over the actual Greeks. No amount of eating their food makes her an expert, but it seems she thinks that's good enough

2. Hera, Hestia, and Demeter look more similar to each other with a "creator" who also shares a stark similar look to them yet aren't sisters, meanwhile we're supposed to buy a black and white and dark mageneta couple created brothers who are purple, green, and blue? like seriously? i get not every family member will end up the same color and all, but shouldn't there be some similarities? like even hephaestus has the same color at metis, yet hera isnt her daughter?? cmon.

3. I would have killed for LO to have actually been the romcom it was set out to be but also Hades was a single dad to Makaria (who seems to be his only actual myth canon kid) and he has to go parent with idk Leuce and her girlfriend Minthe but NOOOO that would just be too good of an idea.

4. I don't even get why the "modern" aspect of LO is just them being business owners, and not even specific ones? Like what goods do they sell? What services? Because i've seen other modern retelling where Hades is a funeral director, Hera is a marriage counselor, Demeter runs a farm, etc etc, so why isn't the modern aspect that? Because as it stands right now the world makes no sense and Hades run what, an dead version of Amazon with actual slave labor?

5. LMAO Hades in myth is more of a fertility goddess by LO's logic than Persephone is. According to Hesiod and Plato Hades "releasing" Persephone back to the land of the living and Demeter is what causes spring to happen and for plants to come alive again, not actually Persephone. IDK why Rachel had to gender something as universal as fertility (which she can't even pin down what that means in LO) but Hades and other gods like Zeus and Hermes are more fertility based than even most goddesses.

6. Technically having Persephone connected to Elysium isn't wrong, but this cultural worship was via ... Demeter, and a ton of other deities. It was Demeter's cult in Eleusis (Eleusinian Mysteries) that gave it's cult members access to it, though later poets made it more accessible to other great souls. Regardless, it was always seen as an ancient place, long before even Hades began ruling the Underworld. The fact LO is claiming it's actually Persephone's recent invention is wrong on many levels.

7. LO isn't the only one who does this but it does it most prominently in framing the Olympians as overrated, weak, fickle beings while the Underworld is ~cool~ and has the REAL power in it and HxP are actually are the real powerful ones and the Underworld is so much better. It's a "Not like the Other Girls" take but it's comparing the Underworld/HxP  to Olympus/Olympians. It's a super immature & juvenile look at mythology and I'm shocked RS being someone in her mid/late 30s buys right into it.

8. What I find so frustrating is with RS herself whining on Twitter about how she wishes she could write LO with "less drama and more simple" like?? Then do that?? No one forced her to overcomplicate the comic, that was entirely herself and it's now biting her back because she didn't plan ahead and the task is too daunting for her to handle. She acts as if she's being forced to do it when we know that's not the case. Seriously, RS, take some responsibility for yourself and stop blaming others.

9. LO Persephone can never be yass-ified bc that would require her to actually look somewhat like an adult and Rachel would never allow that.

10. i still do NOT get why the heads in LO have just massive chins jutting out while the backs of their heads are so small? even accounting for their necks the skull still juts out a lot from where the neck meets and its just?? not in the LO designs at all?? like do they not have brains? which actually now that i say that that explains why they all act so stupid 🤔

11. How can LO be feminist when it makes so much big deal of fertility than actual Greek myths do? What's up with RS with fertility mindset? Why does she make so much big deal about Hades can't making babies? Why does RS keep saying adoption is not family? Hera, Hestia, Demeter are "friends" despite raised together by same mother. The fact that RS changed sisters to friends is so insulting. What exactly is Thanatos to Hades even though Hades "took care" of him since he was young? Longtime Employee?

[officialgritty]

Sometimes I ask myself

How much could the NHL handle? What would they do if I, Zoe, had the opportunity to become a GM of my own team?

Another short essay by officialgritty. Here is the masterlist, it would be best to read them in order!

The Drafting Process

First of all, I’ll only accept picks for even numbers besides 7, 13 and 69. Odd numbers can choke. 

I hate public speaking so I would nominate my assistant (still have not decided on one so feel free to send your applications into my DMs) to call out our picks. It’s probably the smartest decision considering I mumble a lot and have an accent so no ones names would be pronounced correctly anyway. 

Personally I would like to draft one (1) beer league player. I think they could really get the team riled up, maybe even rack up some decent penalties for other teams by instigating. 

“The Vermont Villains would like to select... big boy INSERT NAME.” - Assistant

“The Vermont Villains would like to select... string bean INSERT NAME.” - Assistant

“The Vermont Villains would like to select... sorry the mic cut out, after this can we have an intermission? I’m starving. Oh, we pick twinkle toes INSERT NAME.” - Me 

General Rules / Other

There are no Capricorn’s to be allowed within management or on the team besides me. I was going to say, “I’m sorry I don’t make the rules,” but I quite literally do. 

I am banning Crosby and MacKinnon from ever joining the team. In fact, when they visit for games the staff will ‘decorate’ a stall for them in particular. 

I will be starting a petition for teams to be allowed 5 non-forfeit forfeits, meaning you get 5 chances to say, “No I don’t want to play that team today.” Both teams get no points though. It’s almost like a mental health day and I think that's neat. 

The Team

(art via @chaos-hockey, please check out their account!)

The Vermont Villains are based in Vermont obviously, because there’s not a whole lot happening there. What even is Vermont for?

The team slogan is one everyone should be familiar with:

“No whole body, no murder.”

Our team intro song as players step out onto the ice is Be Prepared from The Lion King.

Our goal horn is someone sneezing, the audience will be sprayed with a light mist of sea water for effect. 

Our team song played when we win will be Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked by Cage the Elephant.

As for team rivals, we have @chaos-hockey​‘s creation the Insert Team Heres. They seem so sweet, I think the Villains would have a great time messing with them. I also believe we would have some beef with the Penguins, I don’t really have a reason for it, I just feel it deep in my gut. Maybe they get their knickers in a twist because we keep stealing their good stuff idk.

Mascot

The mascot wears a neon ski mask that changes based on the team’s choice in jersey. His name is Monday, because he’s always creeping up on you and causing mayhem through the grandstands. He has a water pistol attached to a tool belt, what's the tool belt for? No one ever truly knows until it’s too late. 

Gritty and Monday would get along like a house on fire.

Uniform

(art via @chaos-hockey, please check out their account!)

You may notice the presence of three jersey’s and think to yourself, “Oh there's a home, away and an alternate.” Wrong. We have two home jerseys and an alternate. 

On Wednesday’s we wear pink. Seriously. This jersey is only to be worn on Wednesday games.

All of the jerseys have players names written on the back but it’s only in a script font so it’s hard to read. Announcers will be confused, players will be confused but fans won’t be because they are used to it by now.

All of their numbers are written out in Roman numerals.

Each season the team colours change (besides pink Wednesdays). Why? Because I don’t like commitment. We would make hella money on limited time merch too.

Speaking of merch, every player will need to design a pair of crocs for fans to purchase as merch. This is not limited to the players, management must also participate. Yes, you can buy the George from Statistics crocs. I really just want my own crocs and to not be judged for it.

“I’ll take one of the Zoe crocs please!” - A fan

Now we can’t limit the uniform just to the team, I’ll show up to games rocking a power suit Michelle Obama inauguration style. Always in the same colour as the team jersey for that night. Yes, we are implying that I am Gritty.

“I want them to fear me but also want to fuck me.” - Me

(art via @chaos-hockey, please check out their account!)

For all working, team socks must be worn when entering the practise and game facilities. A sock check will be conducted at security. We will not let anyone in if they are not wearing Team Socks™️

(art via @chaos-hockey, please check out their account!)

You may be wondering about the away jersey still but don’t fret. We get to the arena early and steal the other team’s clothes. Some end up in their suits, some in their away jerseys and some are left shirtless. Whatever we can or cannot find before puck drop. 

Arena

The arena won’t be boring that's for sure. 

Out the front we have a massive V sign, just like how you see a McDonald’s sign from so far away, you’ll know when you get close to the arena.

Instead of stairs, each seating section has a harness that you get hooked up to for when you want to change levels. And each time that you want to get down, there’s a swirly slide.

Music played will be my favourite mashups from the YouTube account William Maranci to psych out competitors. Here is a link to one of my personal favourites:

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Obviously the team will need to listen to these before they are played for the first time to desensitise them. This will be done at the monthly team Disco.

During the intermission, all the lights in the main area will be turned off. Unofficial nap time my friends.

The menu consists of mutton, bagels on a stick, your choice of charcuterie board, fairy bread and fairy floss. For drinks you can either have carrot juice, Corona beer (we have a brand deal with them) or black tea with no milk.

In conclusion, it’s a good thing that I don’t have a lot of money and/or power, the NHL would hate me because they ain’t me and I have too many good ideas in my brain.

Thank you so sticking through it for this long, here’s all my love and affection 😘🥰❤️

Once again a big thank you to @chaos-hockey for bringing my ideas to fruition. Also thank you to Mik for encouraging this whole concept in our messages ❤️

Here is a part 2!

Tagging some of my mutuals/favourite accounts (please don't feel pressured to interact with this if it isn't your thing, I won't be offended): 

@scheifefe @nikolajehlers @kempe @bowenbyram @d00dlebob @travisgermy @ifiwasshawnmendesidslapmyself @dmonchld @kiedhara @sortagaysortahigh @matthewthotchuk @babytkachuks @bricksatlandyswindow @canadianheaters @youngbeezersmixtape @pitoftrash @perpetually-anxious @kspitehockey

Sorry if I’ve forgotten anyone, I didn’t want to tag every single person I follow 💀

[remuscore]

Baby Shopping

Summary: Remus and Patton go shopping after Remus and Roman move in with little to no supplies left. They run into a bit of Judgmental Judies along the way and Patton and Remus have a talk.

Warnings: Swearing, some mention of bad parenting, Remus being Remus.

———

“I really think we should wait until Halloween to buy Roman some new baby clothes,” Remus gently flicked at his son’s hands as he reached out to grab at his fingers, smiling when that excited a giggle out of Roman. “People already think I’ve stolen him, I want to make him look scary back so that people mind their fucking business.”

“What did I say about language around the kids, Remus?” Patton scolded from the front seat of the car. He looked back at Remus through the back mirror.

“Roman is three months old. He can’t understand a word I’m saying.”

“Still, if you make a habit of swearing, then your munchkin over there’s first would be something awful!”

“I would love that!”

Patton sighed, smiling fondly as he shook his head. He parked the car in front of their destination and got out to help Remus unload all of Roman’s things while he focused on the baby.

With all that done, Patton held the bag while Remus held Roman on his hip. They didn’t have a basket for him at this age and Remus’ old stroller was busted, so the teen had to carry Roman around. He didn’t mind very much and neither did his clingy little baby.

“You still don’t have to do this,” Remus said as they walked towards the store. Patton was in the middle of double checking that they had everything before entering. He looked up. “My old clothes fit fine. We just need some small things.”

“Kiddo, Roman is gonna be able to wear your old clothes much longer,” Remus fiddled with the missing button on Roman’s shirt. He had busted through that just by wiggling. “And a baby needs the proper gear. If not for his comfort, then for yours.”

“It’s not my fault that Roman’s such a fatty. I probably wasn’t this chunky as a baby and that’s why my clothes don’t fit.”

“A chunky baby is a baby that is well taken care of and loved.”

“Oh, so I definitely wasn’t a fat baby.” Remus snickers and pokes at his baby’s belly. Patton frowned at him as Roman giggled and bounced on his dad’s hip. Every time Remus mentioned his parents, Patton gets closer and closer to risking everything to deal with them. He would never risk his kids and Remus’ and Roman’s safety like that, but everything Remus says about them fuels his anger more.

They enter the store and Remus was already pushing past people to get to the baby section, leaving Patton to rush to grab a cart and throw the bag in.

“Remus!”

When he caught up with the teen, he found him already gushing over the tiny clothes and holding them up to Roman. Right now, he was holding one of those bowtie and suspender outfits.

“Look! Pat, this is fucking adorable as shit!” If people weren’t giving him looks before, they certainly were now.

“Remus, swearing,” Patton laughed nervously as he looked at all the mom’s glaring at them, voice high and squeaky. “It is a very cute outfit, but it’s for more formal settings. We should focus on getting him clothes for winter and everyday clothes.”

“Roman’s a Prince! They’re always dressing formal.” He tossed the outfit into the cart and then went off to the other adorable tiny outfits.

“Honey, you’re wearing tights as a shirt and pajama pants right now.”

“This is my Sunday best, Papa Bear.”

“I’m glad you’re having fun, kiddo, but we have more necessities to get too,” Patton watched helplessly as Remus threw more baby clothes into the cart, barely even looking at the age on the tag. “We still need to stock up on diapers, formula, a new blanket, and we should probably get a stroller and a car seat that we can carry while we’re at it.”

“But I want to hold my happy little accident.” Remus used his baby talk voice as he whined, poking Roman’s belly again and giggling along with him as he wiggled.

“Sweetie, soon he’s going to be too heavy for you to hold and you’re already so skinny.”

He groaned. “Fine! We’ll look at some. I still think he should just stay this size forever.”

“Every parent wishes that.” Patton smiled and pulled the cart back around away from the tempting baby clothes. Remus followed, still happily bouncing his baby.

By the time they had finished their shopping, Patton was piling things on the conveyor belt for the cashier to scan. Remus was busy shaking Roman’s new Simba plushie in front of the baby. The cashier smiled at the baby.

“You have an adorable kid.” She said towards Patton. Remus’ smile twitched and Patton felt his mood dampen.

“Oh… thank—”

“He’s mine actually!” Remus interrupts. He grins at the cashier, unabashedly in all his chains, fishnets, and pierced glory. The cashier smiled uncomfortably.

“Oh…” she whispered. She cleared her throat, looking back down at their supplies. “I just thought you were his brother. You look a little… young… to have a kid.”

“I am, yeah. I’m going into my senior year of high school in a few weeks!” Remus tilted his head as Roman grabbed at and pulled his gauges. She shared a look with Patton, who really didn’t appreciate the judgemental look in her eyes.

“I’m sorry to rush, but can you just ring up our things so we can head home?” He smiled even though he really didn’t want to be polite to someone that looked down on Remus like that. She nodded and the rest of their time together was spent in silence, besides Remus’ “ow” and “hey” as Roman continued to tug in his piercings.

As they left the store, Patton was still thinking about that cashier.

“She had no right to treat you like that, Remus,” he said as they headed to his car. Remus looked up. “She doesn’t know you! You’re an amazing father and she shouldn’t be judging you because of your choices and mistakes. Especially since it gave you your son!”

“Patton, you need to chill,” Remus opened the door to the back seat and started strapping Roman in. “I’m used to all this negative attention. Being a single, goth, teen dad that’s also disowned and homeless, doesn’t really bring a lot of sympathy. I’m not gonna bother with what other people think, I’m just gonna worry about being Roman’s hot and sexy dad.”

He buckled Roman in and bopped his small pink nose. “I still can’t believe something this precious and adorable came out of my loins.”

Patton smiled and closed the trunk. “That’s not how it works, kiddo.”

[algumaideia]

Chapter 1

Michael would have let him kill himself. His friend. Octavian should have imagined that. He was an amazing fighter, while Octavian couldn't stand an afternoon of training. He should've know he would do something like that, he wouldn't let such weak person survive and be in a position of power. No roman would.

Michael was the only person Octavian starred doing the trial. The son of Venus looked uncomfortable and a lot of times would stop making eye contact. Octavian wasn't even paying attention on what was going on that much, he was to busy thinking about the conversation he had with Michael during the battle with Gaea.

A good friend to the last.

Humpt. He couldn't believe he thought that. He said that.

When the trial finished he was invited to leave Camp Jupiter for a non especif amount of time. He was banned. Why? He couldn't understand. He did everything he could to help his Camp, he did what Apollo asked him to do. He was actually surprised with the fact the god didn't appear to help him.

Frank and Reyna decided to focus in all other things besides it. Besides that the Second Cohort tried the hardest they could to paint him as the villain of the story, like Gaea wasn't the one causing that mess.

Banned.

His parents didn't come to talk to him after the end of the trial, they didn't even looked to him. Octavian wanted to cry, his head hurting because of it. But he wouldn't let any of them see him crying. It was difficult, but he was used to do it. He was also freezing. No one seemes to feel cold, but Octavian was feeling like he was in a refrigerator. But he wouldn't let any of the romans see this weak part of him. What if after that they decided to kill him instead of just banning him?

Some soldiers walked with him to his place so he could grab his things and go away. He was kind of expecting the soldiers to stab him the back, just end this weak fighter for all. But they didn't, however Octavian was ready in case they tried anything.

The worst thing was to go to the place where he kept his stuffed animals. He was basically panicking, he could not take all of them. And he didn't know how he could choose. In the end, he just grabbed the ones that seemed to be more vengeful.

He walked to the entrance of the Camp, going away to never come back. It seemed all the demigods went there to see him, he felt like the eyes upon him could make him explode.

Octavian felt so angry. He wanted to scream, cry, destroy something, punch every single demigod that was there. He did so much for this camp. He tried so hard to fit in, be helpful, be useful, be liked. And now they were compasating him by banning him.

Where was Apollo? He said they would be in that journey together.

Octavian get out of Camp Jupiter, his home for so many years. He didn't look back. He wanted, especially because he felt like Frank or some archer could just shoot an arrow on him.

After some steps Octavian already wanted to lie on the floor and sleep, the day had been tiring and his stuff were heavy.

- Octavian!

For one moment he thought it was Apollo, but them he realized it was Jason Grace. That only made him angrier. What that traitor wanted with him? Show off his girlfriend again? How in love he was with her? How he was happy with her and the greeks? How he completely forgot him and because of that he didn't mean anything to him?

Octavian turned back and looked to Grace. How much he wanted to give the traitor another scar...

- I... I'm sorry Octavian. I didn't remember. And I just, I was only seeing things from the Greeks perspective. I'm sorry. I completely ignored you and I missed your trial. I wasn't even there to defend you.

Jason wasn't looking to him. His voice was cracking. He was showing sings of guilty. But Octavian didn't buy any of this. The way he suffered when Jason was gone. How everyone, including Reyna, was mean to him. How no one believed he wanted Jason back. How when he came back he didn't even talked to him and then let his girlfriend charmspeak him and high-fived Percy when he suggested to shut him up.

He just turned his back to him and continued walking. He didn't have time to this bullshit. He needed to get out of the city and rest. And maybe if the gods were merciful he would just forget that one day he cared about this people. That he still cared...

...

@pjo-hoo-toa-freakazoid and @thegodswereneveronourside you both are always complimenting my prompts and this means a lot for me. It is because of your compliments I got confident enough for writing more prompts. If it wasn't it I doubt I would be writing it. Thank you so much!!🧡🧡

So this one if for you, I hope you liked it!!!

[purpleivy12]

Misunderstandings

Pairing: Romantic Logince, Platonic Logicality, Background Mociet (Can be interpreted as platonic or romantic)

Word Count: 1887

Summary: Logan has been in love with Roman for ages. Roman couldn’t like him back... right? 

Warnings: Cursing, Crying, Fighting, Misunderstandings

Logan had a problem. It was a bit of a big problem too. The issue wasn’t the problem itself, no- Logan loved problems, loved coming up with solutions for them, loved thinking up new ways to solve them, loved being able to come at things from an analytical and logical standpoint to figure it out. But… this problem was more abstract than that…

It was, purely emotional- to put it simply. And of course it had to be the most confusing, strange, convoluted emotion of all. Love. Even saying it made Logan’s head spin. Who would have thought that the one thing that distracted Logan and kept him from working would be- Roman. 

Roman, who Logan once saw his outbursts and fits of passion as annoying, now saw that they were Roman expressing his love for things- going on about the things he cared about, talking about his dreams and what he loved, his eyes lighting up, his voice getting excited. How Logan longed to be the subject of one of those rambles.

Roman, who’s optimism and brightness and joy had once frustrated Logan, now made the corner of his mouth twitch up into a smile whenever he ever thought about it- he saw how Roman’s outlook on life let him be who he was.

Logan saw how Roman put his entire soul, his whole being, into the things that he created, saw how he put his soul into all of his creations, saw how he would stay up until ungodly hours of the morning just to put finishing touches onto a project, making sure that it was perfect, just how he wanted.

Oh, how could Logan ever measure up?

Logan could frequently be found in the memory archives- looking back at Roman, looking at the things he did- his smile, his laugh, him talking about his ideas… and most of the time, Logan would leave happy- would leave with a  smile on his face.

But not today.  Today, Logan felt his throat close up as he looked at the first memory, he felt his eyes sting as he watched- and as he set the memory away he felt tears roll down his cheeks. Because why, why in the world would Roman ever love him? Why would he ever love Logan, who couldn’t even find the courage to tell him how he felt, couldn’t even get out his feelings? Logan, who did his best to try not to show emotion, when Roman did the opposite, displaying how he felt with pride. 

And of course, it was Logan’s luck that Patton happened to be in the archives that day. Patton’s cheery voice could be heard as he walked through the archives.

“Logan? Are you in here? Roman and I were working on something and we wanted help finding the memory of-” but then Patton abruptly cut himself off when he saw Logan, leaning against the bookshelf nearest to him, a hand clapped over his mouth, trying to stop crying and breathe normally. “Logan? What’s wrong?” he asks worriedly, moving closer to the other.

Logan’s eyes widened because, shit- no one was supposed to know that he had feelings or that he could cry.

 “I-I’m quite alright, P-Patton, really.” Logan says shakily, sniffling. Patton doesn’t buy it for a second, and he quickly moves forwards, wrapping Logan in his arms. 

“You clearly aren’t, Lo.” he tells the logical side, wrapping him in his arms. And then Logan is done. He collapses into Patton’s arms and he’s openly sobbing now, too far gone to care about try to stifle his cries. Patton gently shushes him, sinking to the floor, sitting there and holding Logan in his arms. Patton gently rubbed his back, letting Logan cry against him. 

After Logan calms, Patton keeps his arms around him, not moving away from him just yet. “Lo… what got you so upset?” he asks him, his forehead creased in worry. 

“I…” Logan doesn’t know how to answer that. How to say that he was constantly in a state of emotional torment, full of longing for something, someone, that he obviously cannot have. “I love him.” he decides is the best way to start. “And every time I see his smile I want to kiss him until the sun explodes and consumes the Earth- and every time he sings I want to listen to him for hours, and every time his stupid optimism overtakes him it makes me want to shelter him from whatever could possibly dim it. But it… hurts. Because I know that this is one sided, I know that he’d never love me the same. And… this pain… I’m okay with it. Because I’m dull and plain and everything that he isn’t. I’ve decided that this hurt… that’s what love is. Not the glittery fantasies that he wants, and I know I will never be able to give that to him.  And even though he’ll never love me the same, I’ve decided to hold onto this little glimmer of hope that he will.” Logan says, and he takes a breath in, and somewhere during his monologue Logan had started crying- he didn’t know when- but he slips off his glasses, wiping the tears with his sleeve. 

Patton is silent for a long moment, before he speaks softly. 

“Logan- first off, you might want to look into a future in poetry, that was a beautiful monologue- and second, please, don’t take this in the wrong way- you’ve got to be incredibly dense if you believe a single word you just said.” he tells him firmly. “You’re not bland, or boring, or anything else that you said- and if anything else- you two are like the sun and the moon- Roman is the sun, and you are the moon, reflecting back the best parts of him. And sure, you two may technically be opposites- but you compliment each other perfectly- and in the end, you belong together.” he tells him. 

Logan doesn’t believe him. It’s apparent from the look on his face that he doesn’t. “Thank you Patton, for calming me.” he tells him, before he moves to stand, getting up and off of the floor where he and Patton had been sitting, leaving Patton frowning on the floor. “I’m afraid that I’ve used up time supposed to be spent working for… this. I have much to do. Good day.” he bids, before turning to go, leaving Patton on the floor to watch as he went. 

------------

It was a few days after everything had happened- Patton slowly was growing more and more worried about the logical side, and it had gotten to the point where he had decided to enlist Janus’ help- telling him what had happened with Logan, and with his help- the two decided that they would attempt to get the two of them together- as Roman and Logan seemed content to ignore their feelings like one would ignore weird noises in the night in hope that they would go away. 

Over these days- they had tried to force the two to talk about their feelings- to no avail and much to Logan’s annoyance, because he’d rather ignore these feelings until they went away, thank you very much. 

Because of Janus and Patton’s constant trying to get Logan to speak to Roman, it was only natural that Logan constantly had Roman on his mind. It was quite annoying- and while Logan sometimes enjoyed entertaining the thoughts of a relationship with Roman, it was becoming all-consuming to the point where he wouldn’t be able to get any work done, and if Logan hated anything, it was functioning suboptimally. 

It didn’t help that said creative facet had just currently walked straight (or gay, depending on how you look at it), into Logan’s room, causing the other to let out a groan of annoyance, shuting his laptop as Roman flopped down onto the bed. 

“Do you need something, Roman?” Logan asks, his voice coming out a little harsher than he intended for it to. 

“Yeah, actually- I was wondering what was up with you? Did I do something wrong?” he asks, frowning a bit as he looked at Logan, his tone not the best as well- going off of Logan’s. 

“No- you didn’t do anything.” Logan says, his tone clearly dismissive. 

“Oh- really? Because you’ve been glaring at me for a few days now, and avoiding me as well.” he tells him, getting a bit upset with him. Bad enough that Logan didn’t like him- he was ignoring him too- any hope that Roman may have had was now thoroughly squashed. 

“Yeah, like you know what it’s like to be ignored.” Logan mutters, sending a glare Roman’s way. Roman’s mouth opens and closes at that- not sure how to respond, but with-

“What the fuck is your problem!?” he asks, wincing at that, because of course Roman messed this up, of course he insults Logan, shit, he can’t do anything right can he?

“You’re the problem!” Logan shouts suddenly, because Roman /is/ the problem, and the problem is that he can’t just stop thinking about him, whipping around  and looking at Roman, causing Roman to sit up, blinking.

Roman flinches at the shout. …oh. He’s the problem. /He’s/ the /problem/. Because Roman is always nothing more than a problem, isn’t he? Nothing more than an obstacle, constantly in people’s way, constantly in Logan’s way, making it harder to do his job, messing up everything that he had to do. Roman had ignored him, just like Logan had said- and now Logan hated him and Roman would never have a chance- and oh no, Roman was selfish too because here he was, only thinking about how this meant that he didn’t have a chance and- 

“Roman- stop-” Logan says, abruptly breaking Roman out of his thoughts. The room had begun to blur around the edges- everything becoming just a little bit fuzzy- Roman’s spiral affecting the room. “That’s not what I meant I-” 

Roman looks over at Logan. “Then what did you mean?” he asks, confused.

“Damnit- Roman, I’m in love with you!” Logan says, looking over at him. “You- what?” Roman asks, too stunning to even speak properly. He couldn’t believe that Logan- Logan- actually liked him. “You- you’re serious?” he asks.

“Yes! You’re amazing and wonderful and god, you’re practically my entire world at this point but I couldn’t tell you because you wouldn’t like me and holy shit I told you and you don’t like me-” he says, realizing that he’d confessed about ¾ way through his confession. 

“I wouldn’t like you? Logan you’re the one who wouldn’t like me!” Roman tells him, and he gets closer to Logan, moving closer, and gently reaches out a hand, extending it to Logan. 

“You- you like me?” Logan asks hesitantly, and when he gets a nod of confirmation, instead of taking the hand, he leans down, grabbing Roman by the sash and pulling him up for a kiss, crashing their lips together. Roman lets Logan pull him up, absolutely melting into it, his eyes closing as he let Logan lead it- after a moment, the two of them pulling away. 

“Seems we were both wrong, weren’t we Specs?” Roman asks with a little smile. 

“It seems we were.” Logan agrees, before kissing him again. 

[readyplayerhobi]

Flower | 32

; Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Fluff

; Word Count: 4k

; Synopsis: You finally decide to take a dip into the world of online dating and find the Flower dating app. One of the top matches for you proves to be a guy who looks to be your complete opposite; tattooed, pierced, a metalhead and oh…incredibly handsome. What happens when you throw caution to the wind and reach out to him?

; A/N: A light chapter that I hope you’ll all enjoy! It’s fluffy and fun...but there’s also something significant that happens in it. So PLEASE let me know your thoughts and what you liked about it! The feedback has been decreasing as we’re getting to the end, which is a little disheartening :)

; Flower Masterpost

-

“Hobi! Oh my god, try this. It’s so delicious.” You practically moaned out, almost wiggling with delight on the aluminium seat. It wasn’t too hot thankfully, the clouds a little overcast but the hoodie you wore combat any chill. Still, you couldn’t bring yourself to care.

Because you were on vacation. And not the kind of vacations you were used to, which were usually a little weekend break here and there at the closest beach or some nature park. You didn’t have any kind of issue with those places of course but you’d always yearned to be able to travel even further. Explore other countries.

Which is what you were doing right now. 

For your second anniversary, Hoseok had surprised you with two weeks in Italy. Two things about that had shocked you. Firstly, the very fact that you’d now been with Hoseok for two years. Secondly, that he’d saved up some of his much higher salary and chosen to take you to one of the countries you’d always wanted to visit.

You hadn’t even known that he’d managed to subtly arrange it with your manager, a woman that you liked and enjoyed working for now. Two weeks of vacation time had been booked for you quietly and he’d organised the hotel, flights and even buying new suitcases. Stuff like this only happened in fiction, or so you’d thought.

But here you were, in the heart of Rome. It had already been a week and you’d eagerly taken in the magnificent sites of the Colosseum, the imposing Pantheon and the ancient Forum. As a lover of history, every part of it had excited you and you’d happily dragged Hoseok around to read every single information stand available while begging him to agree to go inside them all.

Not that he’d taken much begging really, he was just as eager to see things as you were. The only difference was that he was excited because of all the fantastic photo opportunities he was discovering. He’d brought his top of the line camera with him and was going wild with it, finding all the best angles and lighting to bring Rome’s important buildings to life.

For once, you’d been more than happy to pose for his photos. Each picture had you smiling so brightly, happiness evident in every part of you as you just relaxed and enjoyed yourself.

Hoseok leans forward, mouth open and waiting as you scoop up a good amount of pasta onto your fork. Carefully, a hand underneath to avoid any fallout, you fed it to him and watched his reaction eagerly. He chewed for a moment, expression thoughtful before letting out a quiet hum of appreciation.

While Hoseok had opted to go for a pizza bianca, you’d instead chosen the intriguing-sounding pasta alla gricia. It was better than you’d thought it would be, given you’d been a little unsure over the ingredients at first and your boyfriend agreed with your thought process as he nodded with a smile.

“It is good. Do you want a slice of this? It’s also better than it looks. Never considered having a pizza without tomato sauce anymore but...when in Rome, right?” Rolling your eyes at him, you sighed playfully. That was his favourite line to say at the moment, he seemed to take great pleasure out of it.

Instead of responding, you just opened your mouth up as well and let him feed you a piece of the pizza. For a moment, you let the flavours simply roll over your tongue as you chew. It was slightly salty, with hints of the olive oil it was cooked with and layered with delicious parmesan that gave it a lovely cheesy kick.

“Urgh, why doesn’t Italian food taste like this at home?” You moan softly, wiping at your mouth with the napkin before taking a sip of water. Laughing softly, Hoseok continues to eat as he shrugs and you marvel at how easily he travels.

Even though he quite clearly doesn’t fit into the little family-run restaurant you’d both stopped at, he seemed to feel at ease no matter where he was. While you understand feeling at ease with him at home, it was strange to see that he was just as comfortable no matter where he was.

“Probably because the food at home has been filtered through like...a million non-Italian mouths or something. The same way Indian food is nothing like what it is actually in India, you know? This is...this is the real shit.” Pointing towards his plate, he grins and you sigh affectionately before reaching out and brushing away some crumbs from his mouth.

He was like a child sometimes when he ate. Constantly get it everywhere except his mouth it seems. It was cute.

“Do you think they’d give me the recipe if I asked? I’d love to try and make this at home. Authentically.” Murmuring to him, you glance over to the older lady who had come out of the kitchen. This seemed to be a truly family-run place in that she’d only gone in there to cook your food.

“Err, I don’t know. Do you speak Italian? Aren’t Italian grandma’s like...feisty or something?” 

“Now you’re stereotyping.” Pointing the fork at him, he just grins and shrugs with amusement. You don’t argue any further with him though, instead focusing on cleaning up your plate with enthusiastic gusto. The two of you were planning to head over to the Trevi Fountain and walk around for a little while, enjoy some gelato and what remains of whatever good weather there will be today.

You were going to throw a Euro into the fountain to guarantee that you’d come back one day before kissing Hoseok silly in some alcove. Enjoy a little of Rome at night before finally heading back to the hotel. Maybe even some more kissing, who knows? You liked it with him.

Once you’d both finished, you went and paid. Unfortunately, you became far too shy to ask about any recipes once there, so instead, you just complimented the old lady in your broken Italian before smiling brightly and leaving quickly. Hoseok’s laughter at your inability to ask caused you to gently poke his ribs until he was asking you to stop.

The walk to the Trevi Fountain was long, but you found that you enjoyed every moment of it. Even though you’d only been here a week, you had fallen truly in love with Rome. An ancient city that has captured your young heart with its delicious food, stunning architecture and rich culture.

Even just a stroll in the evening like now, you felt like you were in some kind of romance film. From the subtle, warm filter Rome seems to have to its colour scheme to the old building’s, the cobbled streets in some areas and the way ancient ruins seemed to pepper the city liberally. You loved every inch of it. Including the graffiti and the not-so-tourist friendly areas. It was proof to you that the city was lived in, and had been lived in continuously for over two millennia.

Surprisingly, you didn’t talk much on the way there. Instead, you were too busy just admiring everything and simply enjoying the moment. If you were this in love with Rome already then you had the itch to not only get to explore more of Italy but also explore the world. And you certainly couldn’t think of anyone better to do that with than the wonderful man by your side.

“Where do you wanna go on vacation next? What about...Greece? Or maybe Japan? New Zealand and Chile are definitely on my list but I’d also like to go to at least one country in each continent. What about you?” Peppering him with questions, Hoseok looks at you with wide eyes before laughing.

“Woman! We’re not even through two weeks in Italy! And you’re already planning our next trip?” Snorting, he rolls his eyes before kissing your temple with more affection than his pseudo-outraged words. “I don’t know, I’m pretty open to anywhere I think. Maybe India? Try that real food like we’ve talked about? Egypt? We could try and visit all the super ancient places. What’s that place with the big, building thing carved into a mountain or somet? It’s all orange?”

“Petra? That’s in Jordan. I want to go there too!” He just smiles at you, squeezing your hand before squinting at the signpost just ahead. You’re finally approaching your destination and you grin as the two of you move through some of the little alleys that make up Roman streets before finally coming upon the world-famous monument.

“Oooh, it’s pretty,” You whisper, simply staring at it with awe. “The water is so...blue. How do they do that?”

The soft click of Hoseok’s camera distracts you, causing you to look over to him before raising a brow. He just smiles and shrugs, looking down at his screen and you presume he’s just taken another photo of you seeing something for the first time. It would seem he’s gaining a collection of your reactions.

“I know something prettier,” Hoseok whispers into your ear. Almost immediately you cringe, pulling away from him to scowl while your lips pull away from your teeth almost automatically.

“Oh don’t. Don’t be that cheesy guy.” You whine, half-heartedly fighting as he wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you closer. He’s laughing though, so you know he’s not offended by what you’ve said. 

“I’ll tell your mom that you don’t think she’s prettier than the Trevi Fountain then. What kind of daught-oof.” Bending over slightly, he holds a hand to his stomach from where you’d elbowed him. It doesn’t stop him from laughing though and you find yourself following along despite how annoying he can be.

“Here.” Handing you a Euro coin, Hoseok takes a deep breath before letting it out slowly. Standing upright again, he gives you that brilliant and beautiful smile that you’ve come to love so dearly over the last two years.

“I read about this, you gotta stand with your back to it and throw it over your left shoulder with your right hand. That means we’ll come to Rome one day.” Giving him a satisfied look, you do as exactly as you told him to and throw the coin with gusto. He takes a moment to watch the coin fly through the air before doing the same with his own Euro, sealing the promise of a future trip.

“How many coins do you think are in here? There are hundreds.” Hoseok whispers, wrapping his arms around your waist and cuddling you closely from behind. The two of you stand there for a moment and watch as others crowd around the Fountain, some throwing coins of their own in while others simply take pictures.

There’s plenty of tourists here, but thankfully your anniversary isn’t near the true tourist season. So while there’s a lot, it’s manageable in your view. Still, you wouldn’t want to be the municipal workers cleaning up after all this.

“Come on, I want some gelato now.” Pulling out of his embrace, you head towards one of the side streets that lead away from the Fountain, positive that you’ll find a gelato shop hidden away this close to a tourist trap. It’s what you’d do if you wanted quick money.

It takes no time at all to find a nice looking shop and you soon have a cone in your hand with three large scoops of delicious looking gelato topping it. One is just plain vanilla, another is pineapple while the last is strawberry. Nothing too outrageous, but just a combination that makes your taste buds dance.

There’s not much in the way of public seating, unfortunately, so the two of you just sit down on the curbside of one of the streets. It’s pretty deserted with only the odd parked car every now and then. A few more mopeds are parked a little haphazardly but you’re not too worried about them really, they’re small enough that neither of you would be a nuisance if they wanted to get by.

“Mm, this is good.” Hoseok hums and you look over, catching him at the very moment that he licks at his mint chocolate flavoured gelato. It’s a pretty innocent movement, but the way his tongue curls into the soft, frozen cream reminds you of how he uses that tongue for something and you shiver softly. Thankfully, he doesn’t notice and you quickly glance away. It doesn’t help that you’re now considering how cold his tongue piercing might be from eating that.

Quietly, the two of you simply enjoy your cold treat while the gentle buzzing of the tourists only a few streets away filters through the alleyways. It’s getting close to sunrise and even though you wouldn’t say it was cold, the air certainly felt cool enough to warrant you cuddling a little closer into the warmth of your hoodie.

“So, now that we’re just chilling for a little bit. I have something important that I’ve been wanting to talk to you about.” Shifting slightly until he’s facing you more, you look up slowly to find him giving you a serious look. He’s got one of those ‘I’m about to ask you something life-changing’ looks. You’re not sure why you know that, but you can just tell instinctively.

“Are you about to ask me to marry you?” Blurting out the words, you slap your hand over your mouth as your eyes widen. Well, you certainly hoped he wasn’t now. If he was, you’d just ruined the whole moment.

Sure enough, Hoseok’s eyes widen at your words and he recoils a little, confusion mixed with shock painted onto his face.

“What? No! Why would you think that?” You’d laugh under any other circumstances if Hoseok had this kind of reaction to anything else. But he looks concerned as to why you thought he might be proposing, a hand resting on his chest almost like he’s trying to protect himself or something.

“Well...I don’t know! You whisk me away to Rome for a romantic holiday for our second anniversary? Then, after having a good time, you tell that you have something important to talk to me about and you look so serious! It was an educated guess!” Folding your arms over your chest, you hunch your shoulders over to make yourself a little smaller.

“I wasn’t going to propose. Did you want me to?” He sounds a little unsure then and you see the way his lips purse in thought like he’s wondering if maybe he should have been proposing or something. “And anyway, if I was going to propose then you’ve totally ruined the moment! It’s meant to be romantic and shit.”

Yeah, now he looks put out. His lower lip jutting out over how his non-proposal has been interrupted and you can’t help the laugh that leaves you at the sight. He’s too cute for his own good, honestly.

“I’m sorry. I’ll make sure to not interrupt any romantic moment in the future. I promise.” There’s only the tiniest hint of sarcasm in your voice as you tell him that. Just a teeny, tiny bit. It’s enough to make him give you a droll stare though, reaching out to gently poke at your cheek with his index finger.

Grabbing his hand, you smile at him innocently before pressing a kiss to the soft flesh of his palm. For a moment, he lets you before shifting until he’s holding your hand in his own. Tilting your head at him, you wonder what he had been about to tell you and he understands the silent question with a small smirk.

“So, anyway. As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted. Just before we flew out here, and I mean literally just before. Like...only two hours before we went to the airport, so don’t get too mad at me if you’re going to get mad. But that’s beside the point. Anyway, our landlady called me.” Hoseok pauses for a moment, letting you compute that information before carrying on.

Given he was far more comfortable talking on the phone, you’d elected to have him be the point of contact for anything related to the house. You figured he’d be able to sort out any of the non-important stuff by himself and anything important would be discussed by you both. Like right now.

“Oh...have we done something wrong? We signed the new lease properly and on time, right?” The two of you had signed a lease for another year just the other month. You liked the house and felt fully settled in it now, not wanting the hassle of having to move anywhere when you’d made it feel like a home. Thankfully, your landlady, Elsie, was lovely and had dealt with any issues quickly and efficiently.

“No, we’ve done nothing wrong. It’s just...she told that she’s going to sell the house. She’s moving across the country to be closer to her family as they’ve all moved away. So she’s selling up everything here to fund her move to a retirement home over there. We’ve got a few months until it’ll probably be sold and will need to move out.” He goes to carry on talking but you’re gripping his hand tightly, worry flickering to life inside you and anxiety following quickly after.

“What! She’s selling? But...but what about us? What do we do? Oh god, we need to find somewhere that’ll let us take Kasumi and-” You’re quieted by Hoseok’s finger on your lips, a gentle smile on his own that seems oddly calm for the bombshell he’s just dropped.

“If you’d let me finish...I thought you weren’t going to interrupt anymore?” Teasing you lightly, he taps your lips before sighing and shuffling on the hard curb. Looking in both directions, he takes the opportunity to stretch his legs out, the black Converse on his feet looking just as dirty as ever.

“What I was about to tell you, was that she told me that we’d been some of her best tenants even though we haven’t been there too long. Because she wants to sell quickly and get moving, she then asked if maybe we’d like to buy the house. First dibs on it. It’s going to go up for a reasonable price and I know we’ve both been putting money into our individual savings accounts for the last year. I mean, I can afford the deposit if necessary and I’m pretty sure we can get a nice mortgage.” Staring at him with wide eyes, you don’t quite realise that your jaw has dropped until he’s affectionately closing it with bemusement.

“Also, before you say anything. Let me just...say my piece here. It’s a good price and well, I’d like to do it. We’ve been together two years now, I love you and I can’t imagine my future without you. So...it’s not a marriage proposal but it is a ‘would you like to take a leap of faith and purchase a physical house with me that will require a mortgage for many years?’. As I said, I’ve got enough saved up to cover the deposit and...well...I know my parents will put money in. What should’ve been my sister’s college fund instead got turned into a ‘whenever you buy a house fund’, despite me telling them to donate it. So...we can get a small mortgage. Easily manageable.” There’s no need for you to ask if he’s thought about this because it’s incredibly obvious that he has. 

So instead, you simply watch him in stunned silence. He wanted to buy a house with you. The house you currently lived in, that had become your home for over a year. Not just your home, but the safest place you’ve ever felt outside of your parents home. And he wanted to make that permanent.

Or at least, as permanent as you can get it without having to pay out lots of legal bills to get it all sold. This was a big move. A huge step in your relationship. Hell, in your life. A house. Buying a house. And you weren’t even thirty yet!

“I have some saved up,” Whispering, you cast your eyes down to instead focus on his hand as you gently trail along the veins and tendons along the back. “Probably not as much as you but enough to help.”

“Okay...what if you keep that money. And if we buy it, then we can use that money to start doing some of those home improvements we’ve always wished we could do? Like a new fence.” Gasping softly, you’re suddenly taken away from the fact that you were being faced with a big decision because your excited mind started to run away with you. While you weren’t a big fan of change, you were surprisingly a huge fan of causing planned change.

Which meant you loved decorating or building things. Moving the furniture around in a room and decorating everything into something entirely new was so incredibly satisfying. Plus, Hoseok was right. You’d spent the last year fantasising to him about all the stuff you would improve or change in the house if you could.

Because that’s what adult life was about. Getting excited at the prospect of new fencing.

“Oh my god, yes! And a new roof! Finally, get rid of those ugly tiles. And we can pave over the driveway so it doesn’t have that annoying gravel that gets everywhere. Can we redo the backyard entirely? I want a porch from the back door and then it leads down-” Laughing in amusement, Hoseok gently squeezes your hand before kissing your cheek when you look down in embarrassment.

“Okay, we can make a plan of all the DIY things we want to do. But I just need to know for the moment...would you agree to buy it? With me? We can sort everything properly when we get home, plan out the money and apply for the mortgage and all that. I just want to know for now.” 

You don’t respond for probably half a minute, causing Hoseok to frown slightly. But then you almost burst in excitement, jumping up and dancing on the spot in uncontrollable excitement. Hoseok wasn’t expecting it, his eyes widening in shock while his hands are reaching out to you as if he was worried you were going to fall.

“Oh my god! Buying a house! This is...oh my god. Hoseok! You want to buy a house with me?” Reaching for his hands, you half tug him up and he snorts while catching his balance. Resting his palms on your hips, he brings you to a halt before grinning down at you.

“Yes, I want to buy a house with you. I mean, that’s why I asked. So is this a yes? You're an impossible woman, you know that? It’s not a marriage proposal but I’d still quite like a yes from you…” Trailing off, he pouts slightly and you reach up to gently flick at his lip ring.

“Yes. I mean, we need to talk more seriously about it and sort out the finances but...yes. As long as we can do all the things I want to. Like new doors inside. I hate the doors we have now, they’re so annoying.” Hoseok sighs like he’s got the weight of the world on his back before dropping his forehead to your shoulders, arms wrapping around your waist and hugging you tightly.

“Okay, okay. I give in, we’ll make a list of all the things we want to change later. But you realise we have to buy the place first, right? And then save up again to make all these home improvement changes? It’s not going to be cheap.” You don’t hear him though, giving him a quick kiss before humming to yourself as you visualise your house as it is and your house as you want it to be.

Watching you closely, Hoseok lets out another breath before smiling and shaking his head. Well, at least you’d said yes.