#Think of this outfit as the thing Logan wore in the war

[feelin-lo]

"End of an era, Start of an age"

The tale of the eternal Snowstorm.

As loyal as a dog but as strong as a dragon. As graceful as a falling feather but as deadly as an avalanche. Before the terror of the Tsaritsa, a more mellow archon fought, from the highest peaks of their snowy home.

Their most loyal, a blue haired boy with a great sword.

His skills unrivalled by any mortal hand, Osial struck the mighty boy down, his once great sword, shattered like glass, lost in the infinite abyss of the ocean. His body, torn and broken by the great lord of the vortex, with his final warm breath, he froze himself and the beast with an unknown power.

The god of geo finished the beast, carrying the frozen soldier to the foot of his home. When the harsh flames of war extinguished, he was freed from his self inflicted prison.

His will carved in stone he remained, protecting his icy lands, reluctance in his frozen soul.

[inactiive-shit]

Burning

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Warnings: allusions to rough past

Pairing: platonic dukexiety

Words: 1,988

Summary: Virgil needs a goddamn hug.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Virgil came from a rough and tumble kind of place. There wasn’t much physical contact with each other and what there was usually wasn’t affectionate. Virgil was used to not being touched or being hurt with almost no in-between. Hugs were rarer than a blue moon and cuddling? It’s safe to say that was an entirely alien concept.

But Virgil’s twenty-six now. He’s had plenty of time to outgrow his aversion to touch, plenty of time to get over it, plenty of time to make friends that wouldn’t punch him before they patted his shoulder. And, well, he had. Sort of.

Enter Patton and Roman, who were soft and kind and the touchiest of touchy-feely people that Virgil had ever met. They were always trying to dispense hugs and pleased smiles and pats and gifts and, if Virgil were being honest, he could not even imagine either of them throwing a punch. Then, enter Logan. He wasn’t the same kind of overbearingly physical person. He rarely initiated hugs, although he equally rarely turned them down when they were offered. He was much more reserved than Virgil’s other friends, much more like Virgil, and Virgil could imagine Logan getting into a scrape or two.

But nobody touched Virgil. That was by Virgil’s own design, had nothing to do with any particular feelings he held about his three friends. Hugs were just...a lot. And especially for someone with as little experience with them as Virgil had. He’d tried to explain it once, tried to put into words the expectations he had whenever someone moved toward him. He tried to make them understand that it wasn’t them, it was just that Virgil was used to a different kind of living where hugs had never been the norm. But Patton had looked ready to cry and Roman was affronted and even Logan, Logan who wanted almost just as much alone time as Virgil, had looked horrified. How was it possible, they wanted to know, that Virgil had gone so long without being treated with care?

He hated to see those looks on the others’ faces, hated a fraction more the looks they sent at him after that were barely to the left of pitying, so he took it back as best he could. It really hadn’t been that bad, don’t worry about it, all the usual phrases and eventually he persuaded them to drop it. So they stopped trying to touch Virgil all that much, and Virgil convinced himself that he wasn’t jealous of the casual affection they threw around like confetti. Virgil did his best to pretend his feigned indifference was real, and that he didn’t want touch just as much as he loathed the thought of it.

And then, one day, he met someone new. This person was a lot like him, rough around the edges like a ripped newspaper, but soft enough that he wouldn’t cut your fingers. He showed affection by punching others’ shoulders or throwing himself full-body on top of them. He wore the most ridiculous outfits that Virgil had ever seen, and he never seemed to care that he was the weirdest person in the room.

His name was Remus. He was Roman’s twin brother, although the similarities between them were almost impossible to find. He had a white streak in his hair that he denied ever putting there himself and, truthfully, nobody had ever seen it happen. He had no qualms about treating Virgil just the same as he treated every other person he came into contact with, and that’s about the time Virgil really started to realize he had a problem.

His skin burned whenever anyone touched it and he could feel an imprint of them on him long after they had left. There was an ache in his chest when he thought about getting a hug and despite having as many good, caring friends as he had now, Virgil felt more lonely than ever.

Remus, despite Roman’s misgivings about his brother, ended becoming an integral part of their group, and he continued to unknowingly supply Virgil with physical contact at their every interaction. It was equally wanted and unwanted, equally loved and hated, and Virgil kept coming back for more. And as much as the ache in Virgil’s chest intensified, as much as the burning on his skin kept him awake at night, Virgil never said a word about it to anyone.

Touch starved. It didn’t sound real, like something that could actually affect people. More than that, though, it was embarrassing. How could he even broach the subject? Hey, guys. So there’s this thing I found out about called touch starvation and it turns out I have it. And I could really use some pats on the back right about now, I swear I’m not making this up for attention. Yeah, that would go over great. Instead, Virgil took whatever he got when he bumped against a stranger on accident and mind his own business.

It was working out for him as well as you’d expect when something he had never planned on happened. He’d been having a panic attack, an occurrence that had been more common than Virgil liked, and he’d been entirely content to suffer through on his own and pretend everything was fine after, but then Remus walked into the room like a wrecking ball, all loud noises and erratic movement, and Virgil flinched. He flinched and tried not to cry because crying was the best way to make someone mad at you and also maybe the best way to expose yourself.

Remus, though? He stopped being loud and bouncing and sat down slowly in front of Virgil. Virgil couldn’t seem him too clearly through the tears in his eyes, but Remus might have been concerned. There was some movement, like he might have been talking, but Virgil could hear the static in his head and nothing else, could hear impending doom and forever alone like a war drum coming at him, could feel the vibrations running through his hands and shaking his very bones.

Suddenly, clear as day, he could hear Remus’s voice like a bell ringing, “Can I hug you?” Virgil gasped and hesitated. A hug? Would a hug just make things worse? It always seemed to but maybe not, can things even get worse from here? He nodded and Remus’s arms wrapped around him and held him so securely it almost felt like there were eight limbs keeping him safe.

The static changed frequency, changed color, changed channels and instead of the cold, impersonal, overwhelming static in his head like before it turned warm and encompassing but not altogether bad. Virgil choked on a sob and buried his face in Remus’s shoulder, shuddering, trying to figure out why he wanted to keep burning like this.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay,” Remus said. “I’ll skin whatever hurt you.” He kept a tight hold on Virgil, kept holding him until he stopped crying and pulled away. Virgil wiped his face off with a sleeve, thoroughly embarrassed. That was unnecessary and stupid and he really should be in better control of himself so that things like that didn’t happen.

“I’m sorry,” he said, sniffling.

“Nothing to be sorry for, Stormcloud. Are you hurt?” Virgil shook his head, unable to force himself to make eye contact with Remus after such an episode. Remus’s hand ghosted over Virgil’s cheek and he flinched away, feeling the streak of a burn where their skin had barely come into contact. Remus withdrew his hand quickly. Virgil was almost sad to see it go.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I just have panic attacks sometimes,” Virgil said, and that was true enough. In fact, he couldn’t even remember what the catalyst for this attack had been or if there was something he needed to go do now that he was back to functional. Virgil was totally spent and more than ready for a nap.

“Yikes,” said Remus. There was a few minutes of silence while Virgil swiped the last of the tears from his face and destroyed his eyeliner and steadied his breathing so that he wouldn’t be a total mess when he finally left whatever room his panic had holed him up in. What he wanted to do more than anything right then was gather himself, make his excuses, and go back to his own room where he could hold onto his body pillow and bury himself in enough blankets that it felt like another person was laying on top of him.

“Are you touch starved?” Remus asked, voice sudden and surprising and observational skills much better than Virgil had anticipated they would be. He jolted, glancing quickly to Remus’s face before looking away and fighting the urge to cower behind his hands. “You flinch whenever anybody reaches toward you and I’ve never seen anyone touch you and you’re freezing. Do you need another hug?”

“No,” Virgil said, shrinking away from the prospect. He was still burning like a star ready to implode but more than that no one was supposed to know because it was Virgil’s problem to figure out, Virgil’s issue to work out without having to involve other people like this.

“No to which?” Remus asked, but then he gently laid his hand on the ground between them, palm up, and hummed. “We can just hold hands if you want.” Hesitantly, Virgil reached out and took Remus’s hand. It was rough and warm and alive and human. Virgil felt a shiver run through his body at the contact but he forced himself to keep it. If Remus was offering, if Remus understood the situation, then as awkward as Virgil felt, this was okay. There was nothing wrong with this and Virgil...Virgil really didn’t think Remus was going to hurt him.

“How did you know?” Virgil whispered, voice cracking over the syllables. He might cry again if they weren’t careful.

“Been there, done that,” Remus said, squeezing Virgil’s hand. “Everything kinda sucks though, so I made myself start touching other people and then they started touching me back. Not great at it all the time, but,” he shrugged, “I’m not so cold anymore.” Virgil couldn’t look at him, couldn’t face whatever was happening right now, so he sat quietly and did his best to take it in. God knew when the next time he’d get something like this would be.

“If you want,” Remus said slowly, “I could help you. We could hold hands and slowly work up to bigger things like hugs until you’re not so skin-hungry anymore.” Virgil internally winced at the term, but externally he was finally looking at Remus, staring in total shock that he would offer something like that.

“Why?” Virgil blurted, confusion swirling and making him feel almost nauseous.

“Because you’re my friend,” Remus said, and he sounded just as confused as Virgil felt. “And I love you. And I may or may not have developed a squish on you. I want to help because I care.” He smiled slightly, and to Virgil it looked kind of sad but not in a way that made him feel bad.

“I...I…” Virgil didn’t know what to say, how to say yes to what Remus was offering or how to make sense of it all in his head.

“It’s okay,” Remus said, running his thumb over the back of Virgil’s hand and causing an involuntary shiver. “We can talk about it later. For now let’s just hang out. Do you want me to talk?” Virgil nodded, figuring that at least with some kind of non-touch stimulation he might be able to refocus. Remus started talking about something, Virgil couldn’t recall what later, and Virgil realized that maybe tackling this with Remus wouldn’t be so bad after all. Maybe he didn’t have to suffer through on his own like he thought.

Maybe, just maybe, Virgil could finally stop burning.

[lala-the-rebel]

for the prompt thing, "are you drunk?" (the numbers are a bit messed up)

(This went through pretty much a year of editing and idea changing and all that jazz, so here it is in all it’s glory lmao)

Summary: It’s the Sides’ annual Halloween party, and Patton one can hope everything goes off without a hitch, like it does every year. That’s why you plan things ahead of time, right? Unfortunately for him and pretty much everyone else, it does quite the opposite of that.

Word Count: 6,575 (yes there’s a read more since i’m on desktop for once)

Warnings: drinking mentions all throughout, Deceit (he’s a pretty relevant character in this so don’t read if you’re uncomfy with him), lots of cursing from multiple characters (lemme know please if I missed anything)

Writing taglist: @fandersunite

—

As appropriate for the spooky season, the sides decided to host a Halloween party. Well, really, Patton was the one who decided and made everyone go along with it. It was a yearly tradition that they were nowhere near prepared for this year.

The outdoor decorations weren’t even put up yet, which was a shock in itself. It was well-known around the neighborhood that they always went all out on decorating. If they didn’t, there would be a lot of disappointment. So, after much debate, the responsibility was given to Roman and Logan to do that morning. Patton had been in the kitchen, working at double-speed to prepare the refreshments. Virgil had been dreading the party, as he did every year. Yeah, he loved the Halloween aspect of it, but he did not love the social interaction part of it, especially when he had no way of escape. He kept telling himself that things went better than he expected every year, so he shouldn’t have too much to worry about.

He had no idea what to expect this year, though. 

Despite that, he helped out as best as he could, all to hopefully make things easier on Patton. While he went with Roman to get things from the store, Deceit and Logan stayed home to finish decorating. Things almost went smoothly until Patton dropped a bomb on them.

Not only was he leaving to go on the other side of town, but he was leaving Logan in charge of something he had no idea how to run. Even with written instructions, he was still unsure he could do it.

What made him even more unsure was that Patton told him he couldn’t drink. The reason was that he wanted Logan to be aware of anything and everything at all times. Logan understood, but at the same time knew he was gonna be miserable. It was one of the things he enjoyed from the party, and not being able to do it just meant to him that he wasn’t going to have fun.

And when Virgil heard about all of this, he swore that he would make sure Logan would be completely fine. He even got Roman in on it, despite his protests. They knew what would be in store from Patton if they didn’t stop Logan, and there was no way they could hide it from him if they tried. Even if there was, they weren’t going to try it.

They had rushed from the store back home, finding Deceit outside on his own. “Where’s Logan?” Virgil asked as he got out of the car. 

Before the other could answer, Logan bolted out of the front door. “There you guys are! We need to get to work quickly! We have a lot to do and not enough time to do it.”

“So where do we come in?” Virgil retorted. 

“Roman, you’re on refreshments. Finish what’s left and display them. When you’re done, change into your costume.” Roman ran off. “Virgil, you’re on finishing interior decorations. When you’re done, go change.”

“Got it.” He went inside.

“Deceit, you’re on finishing up the lights and then going inside to change. When you’re done, help the other two if they need it.”

“And what will you be doing?” he inquired.

“Finishing up stuff out here. Don’t worry.”

“Shouldn’t I be doing that?”

“It’s what Patton wrote on the paper, so you tell me. Now go!”

Deceit rolled his eyes but complied. He climbed back up on the ladder and got back to work. Logan did the same. Inside, the other two were working on their individual jobs. They couldn’t help but run into each other along the way. Quite literally. 

Virgil was standing on a chair, decorating above the window. “Roman, I swear, if you walk under me one more time I’m gonna choke you with this garland!”

“It’s not my fault! You’re in my working space!”

“Well, can’t you wait until I’m done?! That table isn’t even set up yet. You’re gonna have to take everything off it now.”

Roman sighed. “Damn it.” He started moving things around again, bumping into Virgil. A couple seconds later, something hit the back of his neck. He quickly turned around, frowning. “What was that?!”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Virgil answered with a shrug, hiding a smirk.

Roman looked at the ground. There was a candy beside his foot. He picked it up. “A Rolo? Really?”

“I’m telling you, wasn’t me.”

“Oh, so who was it then? Deceit?” He threw the Rolo back at him. Virgil caught it, which pissed Roman off so much that he stomped back to the kitchen. Virgil had to hide a snicker. He ate the Rolo that was fired at him while throwing another. It landed on the counter, unfortunately missing Roman. He tried again, this time hitting Roman in the eye.

“Virgil!”

It became a full blown war between the two of them in a few minutes. It didn’t stop until Logan came in and got hit by one right on the face.

“Logan, I am so, so sorry-”

“It’s fine,” Logan huffed. “Clearly, I’ve seemed to interrupt some important business going on in here.”

“You didn’t interrupt anything,” Virgil assured him. “We were, just, uh, finishing up.”

“Doesn’t look like you’re finished to me,” he said with a glance around the room.

“At least I am,” Roman boasted. He got a Rolo thrown at him as a result. Before he could retaliate, Logan intervened.

“Enough with the throwing the damn Rolos! This isn’t doing what I told you to do, now is it?!” They shook their heads. “I didn’t think so. Now get your asses back to work!”

They did. Logan supervised them along the way, filling in for Virgil when he had to go help Deceit with his costume. Everything was completely ready about ten minutes before the party was supposed to start. Logan was waiting downstairs for all of them to arrive. His costume, if you could call it that, was as minimal as he could make it. He wore a headband with a fake axe attached to it to look like it was stuck in his head and a plain black shirt with the phrase “This is my Halloween costume” on it in white lettering. Patton, of course, chastised him for it, but Logan assured him he had an actual costume prepared that he wouldn’t show off until the day of.

The first of the other three to arrive was Virgil, dressed as Jack Skellington with scarily accurate detail. He slid down the banister, landing on the ground gracefully. Deceit, dressed up as none other than Patton, arrived right after him. He also slid down the banister, landing not so gracefully on the floor face first. Virgil had to sidestep out of the way to avoid being knocked over. He got up almost right away, acting nonchalant. “That didn’t hurt at all.”

“Well, whether it hurt or not, it was a very Patton thing to do.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Too bad he couldn’t have fallen down harder.”

“Well, not everyone is the perfect embodiment of grace like you,” Deceit retorted, “Although, I did happen to see you stumble on a shoe in the living room just a few days ago, so maybe that’s an incorrect statement.”

“That was only because Roman never puts his stupid boots away! He leaves them out so much that all of us trip on them, even Logan!”

They continued bickering until Logan finally had enough and scolded them. “Could you two get along for once in your life?”

“No.”

“The free trial for that just expired.”

The nerd let out a long sigh. “Whatever, that is not the issue here. Where, in the name of Newton, is Roman?”

“Right here!” his voice boomed. All three of them quickly turned their heads to find him at the top of the stairs, showing off his extravagant costume. He was dressed as the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. The suggestion from Virgil was intended as a joke, but Roman took it very seriously. 

“I thought you weren’t going for the heels because you couldn’t walk in them?” Virgil asked, having noticed them from the way Roman had been posed.

“Practice, emo nightmare,” Roman remarked. “Besides, the outfit isn’t complete without them.” He spun around, making the dress poof out even more than before.

“Stop showboating and get down here,” Logan demanded. Roman scoffed but obliged. “We have more important things to focus on here.”

“More like you do. We’re not the ones Patton put in charge.”

“Well, then I’m dragging you down with me.”

“What?!”

“You- you can’t do that! Can he do that, Virgil?”

“I mean, I don’t think there was anything saying he couldn’t.”

“Hah! Then that proves it!” Logan grinned.

“Oh, no!” Roman protested. “You’re not gonna get away with it that easily!”

“And how do you propose you’re going to stop me?”

Roman thought for a second. “A bet.”

“A bet?”

“Roman, no, you’re not making a bet-”

“I’m in.”

Virgil threw his hands in the air. “Why do I even bother? Tell me, Deceit, should I use my invisibility for good or for evil?”

“Great,” Roman beamed. “So, the bet is that if you don’t drink, let’s say, until Patton gets back, we’ll do whatever you want us to for a whole day.”

“We?” Deceit blurted.

“Oh, no, you’re not getting us in on your little shenanigans, Roman,” Virgil complained. Roman ignored him.

“What else?” Logan asked.

“And if you do drink, then you have to do what we want you to do for a whole day.”

He considered it. “While that is tempting, I feel like we need to, say, up the stakes more.”

“Okay, fine. Throw in twenty bucks.”

“Roman-”

“Fifty.”

“Seventy-five.”

“Roman!” Virgil barked.

“What?”

“You understand that we each have to pay him that?”

“You mean it’s not split up?” Virgil shook his head. “Oh. Fifty it is, then.”

“That’s still not any better!”

“Deal.”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. I did not agree to any of this!”

“Virgil, please, calm down. Guests are arriving,” Logan stated. He turned away to answer the door. As soon as he did, Virgil gave Roman the dirtiest glare.

“What’d I do?”

“What haven’t you fucking done?” Virgil retorted. “What was the whole point of that shit?”

“Dude, relax. It was a little motivator, if you will, to get him to do what he’s supposed to do so that we don’t have to intervene.”

“So, taking the lazy way out?”

Roman thought for a second. “Well, I guess when you put it that way, yeah.”

Virgil sighed. “Whatever. Let’s just get this stupid party over with.”

“Why, so you can go back to ignoring all of us?” Deceit piped up.

“Not everyone, just you,” Virgil remarked before walking off with a smirk. Roman stifled a laugh while Deceit let out an offended gasp. He then smacked Roman on the arm for laughing, which didn’t phase him much. He continued to giggle as Deceit walked off.

About an hour passed after that. Patton still wasn’t back yet. Virgil was slightly worried, but he didn’t let it get his mood down. He kept to himself in a corner until Deceit came up to him. “Virgil.“

He sighed. "I hid out to escape you guys. Lot of good that did me. What do you want?”

“I, um, have some news. Logan’s kinda drunk.”

“Oh, yeah, funny joke there, Dee. I can tell you’re lying,” he said as he took a swig of his punch.

“I’m not lying.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“Nope. You can ask Roman yourself,” Deceit defended.

“Fine.” He looked around, finding Roman not too far away. “Roman!” The prince turned his head. “Get your ass over here.”

He quickly walked over, or as quickly as one could walk in heels. “Yeah?”

“You’ve seen Logan recently, haven’t you?” Deceit asked.

“Is that what you called me over here for? Of course I’ve seen him. Who do you think told you he was drunk, dipstick?” Roman then realized what he said. His eyes widened as he looked at Virgil. “Oh shit. Virgil didn’t know about that, did he?”

“Not until now. That motherfucker.”

“Woah, hey, calm down, dude. There’s no need to get worked up about it.”

“Yes there is! Logan was told by Patton exactly what rules to follow. We all know the same Logan, don’t we? There’s no reason why he wouldn’t follow them, and if there was, it would have to be something really fucking big.”

“I’ll give you that.”

“But besides that,” Deceit piped in, “why are you so obsessed with the idea anyway?”

Virgil paused. He had a big reason, but he wasn’t going to let them two know what it was. Not anytime soon. “Because, I’m pretty sure none of us want to see Logan get Patton’s wrath, right?” They nodded. “And if he knows that we knew, we would get it too. And we don’t want that, do we?”

“Fair point.”

“But what if, like I said earlier, we just act like we didn’t know about it?” Roman blurted.

“And what if he finds out we faked it?” Virgil countered. “We’ll get it even worse because we were lying about it.”

“But what if he doesn’t find out?” Deceit inquired. “What would he do then?”

Virgil stared coldly at him. “I’m sure he’ll find out eventually. We can’t lie about it forever.”

“Maybe you can’t.”

“Whatever. I just know it’s gonna be bad if we don’t get Logan acting kinda normal before Patton gets back.”

“It won’t be if we provide distraction,“ Roman suggested. Virgil gave him a judgmental glare. "I’ll explain. While you deal with Logan, we’ll keep Patton away from you by any means necessary until everything is okay.”

The emo sighed. “While I may not have the greatest trust in you two, this is the only plan we got. Unless you have something, Dee.”

A pause. “Yes.”

“I’m taking that as a no. Roman’s plan it is then. Now, we’ve gotta find Logan. Hopefully, he isn’t that out of it.”

“Where do you suggest we look?” Roman asked. Before Virgil could answer, Logan’s voice rang loudly throughout the house. “Never mind. I think he answered that for us.”

“Okay, great. We know where he is, but how are we going to deal with him?” Virgil retorted.

“I don’t know. Maybe just sit him down and try to tell him what’s going on and hopefully persuade him to get back to acting normal?”

“Okay. Deceit?”

“We could just try hiding him away from Patton and then lying about why he isn’t out here.”

“And what if he doesn’t believe that?”

Deceit thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I didn’t think I’d get that far.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Roman, once again, that was a good suggestion.”

“What was a good suggestion?”

“Oh, nothing, Logan,” Roman replied casually. He then jumped about a foot then and there out of fright. “Logan! Where have you been?”

“I’ve been out having a good time. What about you?” he asked in return, slightly swaying in place. He took a drink out of the cup he was holding. “Roman, you made the punch, didn’t you? It’s really good. You should try it.”

Virgil stared straight at him. “Logan.”

“Yeah?” He wobbled a bit, latching onto Roman to keep his balance.

“Are you drunk?”

“Are you?”

“Son of a bitch.”

“Well, at least now we know for sure,” Roman said in an attempt to lighten the situation.

“I’m not as think as you drunk I am.”

“Yeah, right,” Deceit said with an eyeroll. “I know a lie when I hear one.”

“Here,” Logan blurted, sticking his arm out with the cup in hand. “Taste it. It’s the regular punch, I swear. I’ve only had one cup, no, one sip of the other one.”

Deceit looked at Virgil, then back at the cup. He grabbed it and took a sip. “He’s right,” he lied. He handed the cup back to Logan.

One look from him was all Virgil needed. “Hey, Lo, why don’t we go sit down, okay? We’ll get you something else to drink, if you want.”

“That sounds fun,” he replied, slurring his words. He almost dropped his cup, which would have spilled all over Roman had he not caught it in time. He took the cup from him before leading him over to a chair. As soon as Logan sat down, he stole it back. Roman didn’t even bother with it.

“He is completely wasted,” he said, turning to the other two. Lucky for him, Logan hadn’t been listening. 

“Yeah, no shit,” Virgil barked. He looked at Logan, who was about to drop the cup again. He rushed to take it from him. “I’ll take that. Roman, do you mind getting something else for him?”

“Do I have to? You’ve got legs too, y'know.”

“Roman, really?”

“Fine, I’ll go do it. Sheesh.”

“Don’t even bother now.” Virgil sauntered off to the kitchen. He got a water bottle from the fridge before throwing Logan’s cup away. Except it was actually his own cup, and he didn’t notice until he went to go take a drink. He rolled his eyes at his own stupidity, then glanced down at the other cup. He chugged the rest of the spiked punch in one shot, then threw it away.

When he made his way back to the group, he handed Roman the bottle to give to Logan. He faced away from them to inspect the crowd, which led to Deceit swooping in to stand beside him. Virgil side-eyed him but didn’t say anything.

“You know, I saw you earlier.”

“You see me all the time. Next question.”

Deceit furrowed his brows. “I meant in the kitchen, dumbass.”

Virgil shrugged. “I’m sure everyone else did, dipshit. You’re not special.”

Deceit huffed. “Oh, yeah, well, did they see you drinking?”

“Probably. They also probably saw a lot of other people doing the same thing. Hydration is important.”

The other snarled. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. I’m not letting your stupid intimidation tactics get to me. So, you can kindly fuck off now if you’d like.”

Deceit’s mouth hung open in shock. Well, more like offense than shock. “You don’t need to be an asshole about it, damn.”

Virgil finally turned and faced him. “You don’t need to be snitching on me for stupid shit! We’re all on the same side here! There’s no point in it!”

“Am I interrupting something?” Roman piped in. He stood on the other side of Deceit, looking directly at Virgil.

“No, why?”

“Oh, I just came in to report on Logan. He’s doing fine, actually.”

“Is he now?” Virgil asked, glancing behind him. “Damn it, Roman!”

“What’d I do now?” He turned around. “Oh shit!”

“This is just fucking great! We lost him, again!”

“I think he’s just trying to escape,” Deceit suggested.

“No shit. I highly doubt he isn’t aware of the consequences of what he’s doing. He just likes to test fate. And our patience.”

“You got that right,” Roman sighed.

“You two go look for him. I’ll stay here,” Virgil ordered. They nodded and ran off.

At that moment, his phone buzzed in his jacket pocket. It couldn’t have been a worse time.

“This better be good,” he muttered. He turned his phone on, looking at the notification on his lockscreen. A text message. From Patton.

He hesitated to open it. He did it anyways, knowing if he didn’t open it sooner than later, he was in for it.

Patton: Hey there kiddo! I’m about 10 mins away from home now. Everything good? Haven’t heard anything from Logan. 

“Shit.” He had to lie. He had to. And he had to let the other two know, wherever the fuck they were.

Virgil: hey pat. yup things are running smoother than ever. Logan got distracted with some stuff i think but will let him know

Instant reply.

Patton: Good to hear! See ya soon

Virgil: see ya

He quickly shut his phone off and shoved it into his pocket. “Fucking hell.”

Just then, Roman ran up to him, slightly panting. “How can anyone move around in these things? I take one step, and not only am I tired, but I’ve managed to knock three people over in the process.”

“I think they just fake it the whole time,” Virgil remarked. He then noticed Roman’s sudden change in height. “What happened to the heels?”

“I ditched those fuckers. Even with practice, I still can’t walk with them. Much less run.” He got a nod from Virgil. “You okay, Virge? You look more worried than usual.”

“Glad you noticed. Ten minutes and ticking until Patton gets here.”

Roman’s jaw dropped. “You’re joking.”

“Not one fucking bit.”

“Well, hate to make things worse, but we can’t find him.”

“What?! What do you mean you can’t find him?!”

“We searched everywhere we know, and he’s nowhere to be found! Deceit is still looking, but I don’t think he’s gonna have much luck.”

Virgil rubbed his temples and sighed. “You know what this means, don’t you?”

“I do, and I don’t want to.”

“We’re fucking dead meat.”

Just then, Deceit decided to make himself present. He noticed the worried looks on Roman and Virgil’s faces and questioned it. “What happened? Who died?”

“We’re going to if we can’t find Logan in less than ten minutes,” Virgil complained.

“Let me guess, Patton is gonna be back by then.”

“How’d you know?”

“Kinda the obvious answer, don’t you think?” He got a nod from both of them. “Well, you can clearly see I’ve had success with finding Logan. What is your next suggestion, oh wise and humble leader?” he sarcastically aimed at Virgil.

Virgil acknowledged the dig at him with an eyeroll. “Just keep doing what we have been doing. Whoever is closest to the front of the house by the time Patton gets here has to text the other two and tell them, then be a distraction until we find Logan again.”

“I don’t have my phone on me,” Roman announced.

Virgil huffed, “And why the hell is that?”

“Does this dress look like it has pockets on it?” Virgil shook his head. “Yeah, didn’t think so.”

“Then why didn’t you just hold it?”

Deceit sighed, being just loud enough to make them turn their heads to him. “You two are wasting time arguing here!”

“He’s right,” Virgil agreed. “Roman, just keep close to Dee then, since you can’t get your phone.”

“I mean, I could-”

“We don’t have the time! Just go find Logan and stick to the plan!” he demanded. They headed off towards the front of the house while Virgil planned on going towards the back. As he passed by the stairs, a familiar voice sung out his name.

“Virgil!”

He turned his head sharply. “Logan?! What the hell are you doing up there?”

“What the hell are you doing down there?” Logan creatively replied back. He was sitting on the top step.

“You know why. Get down here!”

“No.”

“Logan!”

“Here, catch!” He launched the water bottle given to him earlier down the stairs.

Virgil caught it in his right hand without even flinching. He gritted his teeth as he stared Logan down. “Get your ass down here now, Logan!”

“Make me, bitch!”

“That’s it!” Virgil started stomping up the stairs. As a result, Logan bolted the other way into one of the rooms before Virgil could see him. “Damn it, Logan! We don’t have the time for this!” He threw the water bottle to the floor in his fit of frustration. “Patton is gonna be here any minute now, and if he sees you like this, he’s gonna kill you!”

“I am more sober than I have ever been in my life,” Logan called. Virgil had noticed the sound came from his room. He walked over to the door and stood by it as he talked to Logan on the other side.

“Dude, you’re acting like a complete buffoon. You only do that if you’re drunk or if you’ve met some freaking deadline earlier than planned. I think we both know what the situation is here.”

A pause. Logan answered, sounding serious. “Have I really?”

Virgil laughed. “Were you not aware that you threw a water bottle at me just now? You are so out of it, dude.”

“I didn’t throw it, I handed it to you,” Logan insisted. “Clearly I’m not that out of it.”

“If you insist,” Virgil said with a smirk. More commotion erupted from the crowd below, so he turned to look. Sure enough, Patton had walked through the door.

“Shit!” he muttered to himself. “Logan, let me in!”

“Why?”

“It’s my room, fucker, I’m allowed in there if I want to be.”

“Don’t you have a party to be at, or something?” Logan slurred as he reluctantly opened the door.

“So do you.” Virgil entered and closed the door. His phone went off in his pocket shortly after. As he predicted, it was Deceit telling him what he already knew. He leaned against the door as he pulled it out of his pocket.

Deceit: Our man of the hour is here

Virgil: yeah no shit i could see him

Deceit: Where tf are you

Virgil: take a wild fucking guess

Deceit: Obviously down here next to me

Virgil: yeah we’ll go with that

is the idiot with you

Deceit: Which one

Virgil: lmao you know who

Deceit: I finally got rid of him

We’re all free at last

Virgil: hah I’ll believe it when i see it

Deceit: Fair enough

Any luck on finding Logan

“Who you texting?” Logan asked in a sing-song voice. He was on Virgil’s bed laying upside down with his head hanging over the edge. His headband ended up falling off without him noticing.

Virgil instantly fired back a sarcastic comment. “Your mom.”

“How can you text what doesn’t exist?”

He had to resist laughing. “I was joking, Logan.”

Virgil: possibly 

Deceit: He’s with you isn’t he

Virgil: perhaps

Deceit: Hey giving vague answers is my thing stop that

Virgil: maybe

“I knew that,” Logan insisted. He then decided to roll off the bed, landing hard onto the floor. 

Deceit: Bitch 

Virgil read the message, then looked up from his screen when he heard Logan fall. “You good, Lo?”

His face was smashed into the carpet, muffling his answer. “Absolutely. Hey, did you know your carpet smells nice?”

“Not until now, but thank you for telling me.”

Virgil: you know it

how is roman doing

Deceit: Looks like so far he’s been talking Patton’s ear off

Oh shit they’re coming over by me

Wish me luck

Virgil: nah I’m good

Deceit: Oh fuck off 

He sent that last message and looked up. Patton and Roman had walked up to him, still finishing their own conversation. Roman caught a glance at Deceit looking at him and quickly addressed him. “Hey, Dee, look who’s back!” He noticed the forced smile on Roman’s face. One look at Patton and he would have been a dead giveaway.

He acknowledged Patton with a small wave. “Hey.” He glanced at the other’s costume. “Nice attention to detail. I like it.”

“Oh really? Thank you so much!” Patton said with a grin. He was dressed as Fix-It Felix. “I do have to say you make a very convincing me.”

“It wasn’t that hard,” Deceit admitted. “Virgil helped me with most of it.”

“Oh, wow! Speaking of Virgil, where is he, by the way? And Logan? Aren’t they usually out here with you guys?”

Deceit looked over at Roman, whose eyes went wide with fright. Neither of them had thought of an excuse. If Patton caught onto their bullshitting, the whole plan was fucked.

“I’m sure they’re around here somewhere.”

“Have you tried looking?”

“Hey, Patton, how about you go set your stuff down in your room?” Roman interrupted. “You won’t have to carry your things around with you while you go have fun!”

“Roman, I’m sure that’s not necessary-”

“Well, kiddo, if you insist, then I’ll go. Care to join me?” Patton asked.

“Yeah, sure.” Roman had just turned to walk off with Patton when Deceit called him back. He told Patton to wait for him by the stairs, then walked back over. “What?”

Deceit promptly smacked him on the back of the head. “What are you doing?”

“First of all, ow! Second of all, what do you mean what am I doing? What’s wrong with going up there?”

“Did you forget that Logan and Virgil are up there?”

Roman looked at Deceit with the most offended glare he could muster before smacking him back. “Did you forget that you didn’t tell me shit about that?”

“Oh, well then my bad. You had every right to hit me. But that’s not the point here. You have got to keep Patton distracted until they get down here.”

“Well how long is that gonna be?”

Deceit shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t even know if Virgil has actually found him yet, much less got him convinced to act normal.”

“Okay, how about when he does? How are you gonna let me know?”

“I’ll go up there and get you or something. I don’t know yet. Just go before Patton starts suspecting something.” He ushered Roman away with his hands, then quickly got back to texting Virgil.

Deceit: Dude Patton and Roman are heading up your way

Virgil: what

are you joking

fuck me

Deceit: How is Logan doing

Virgil: not much better. what do you suggest I do

Deceit: Continue doing what you can do. Only come down if you know he’s capable of acting normal. Otherwise it’ll be too suspicious 

Virgil: yeah no shit 

Deceit: Moving on. Find me when you get down here because I have to get Roman afterwards

Virgil: why

Deceit: I sacrificed him

Virgil: hallelujah

The emo looked up from his phone at Logan, who was bouncing all over the place in his room. He sighed. “Logan.”

The other was startled at the call of his name and bumped into Virgil’s shelf of CDs as a result. They all fell noisily to the floor.

“Damn it, those were alphabetized,” Virgil whined. “Can you sit still for one minute?”

“Nope.” He walked over to the vanity Virgil had on the other side of his room. It was still littered with the items used for his costume’s make-up. Logan took the chance to start fiddling with them.

Virgil almost didn’t notice it. “Logan, no!”

While he continued dealing with Logan, Patton dealt with Roman. He was acting highly suspicious, insisting that he stayed in his room way longer than what he needed to. Patton had enough of it.

“Roman, what is the matter with you? What’s wrong with leaving?”

“Oh, nothing’s wrong,” Roman lied.

“I don’t believe you. Tell me what’s going on. You’ve been acting suspicious the whole time we have been up here!”

Roman looked down, then back up at Patton. The look on his face made him feel even more guilty for keeping it from him. He had to tell the truth. The sneaking around wasn’t getting him anywhere now. “Okay, fine. I wasn’t gonna say anything, but I can’t keep this stupid charade up anymore. Virgil is hiding out with Logan because Logan’s drunk as hell. We’re trying to hide him from you because we know how much trouble he was gonna be in for it. He keeps running off on us, and now you’re here so it’s adding to the confusion of what to do and where to go and I’m just so damn tired of it-”

“Roman, slow down. Slow down. I know you’re probably stressed out, but it’s okay. You’re fine.”

“They’re gonna get mad over the fact that I ratted them out, Patton, and then what’s gonna happen?” Roman countered.

“I will make sure they don’t,” Patton said sternly. “Now, do you know for sure where Virgil and Logan are at?”

“Deceit just told me they were somewhere up here.”

Patton nodded. “Alright. Come with me, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.”

Patton opened the door to find Deceit on the other side. He immediately gave him a dirty look. “What are you doing?”

“Just making sure everything is okay, you know?” Deceit attempted to assure him.

“I don’t believe you one bit.” Patton pushed past him. “Which room are they in?”

“I don’t know who you’re talking about-”

“I’m not going to ask you again,” Patton demanded, his voice lowering for effect.

“Virgil’s room, I think.”

Patton sped over to the other end of the hallway. He opened the door and walked in without hesitation. The other two followed close behind him.

Virgil was in the middle of lecturing Logan again, stopping once he heard the door open. He turned around and looked at the other three, shock clearly on his face. He failed to come up with an excuse as Patton stared him down.

Logan tried breaking the tension, but just made it worse. “I must be drunk, because I am totally seeing double right now.” He pointed at Patton and Deceit.

Virgil shot a quick glare at him before looking apologetically at Patton. “Patton, I swear I can explain-”

“In the hallway. Now.”

“But-”

“Now, Virgil!”

Virgil gave a reluctant sigh and got up. He skittered past Patton, avoiding eye contact. As soon as he left, Patton turned to Logan. “Hey, Logan, can you stay here for just a couple minutes and not do anything? This is Virgil’s room, and I’m sure he doesn’t want you to mess it up.”

Logan enthusiastically nodded, grinning like a dork. “Sure thing, Patton,” he slurred.

“Good, good.” He feigned a smile until he had latched the door, then gave the other three the dirtiest glare as he turned around.

“Whatever it was we did, we didn’t do it!” Roman blurted.

“Bullshit!” Patton retorted. “I asked you three to do one thing. One thing! And what do you idiots do?! This!” He pointed at the door for emphasis before continuing. “You better have an explanation for this besides being lazy.”

“We weren’t being lazy, Patton,” Virgil defended. “We really did try keeping track of Logan. He kept escaping every chance he got!”

Roman nodded. “That is true. He did it before we even found out he was drunk.” He then laughed to himself. “You’d think he wouldn’t have wanted to lose the bet after acting cocky about it.” He realized what he said right after he said it and slapped a hand over his mouth.

“A bet?” Patton inquired. “What bet? I was never informed of a bet.”

“We didn’t make an actual bet. It was a figure of speech,” Virgil said in an attempt at backpedaling.

Patton raised an eyebrow. “Deceit, was an actual bet made?”

“It was indeed made.”

The stern glare returned to Patton’s face, added with the crossing of his arms.

“Shit,” Roman muttered. “Sorry, Virge.”

“Roman, what was the bet?”

The prince sighed in defeat. “If he didn’t drink, we would each pay him fifty bucks on top of doing whatever he wanted us to do for a day. If he did, he would pay us each that much and do whatever we wanted him to do. But we only made the bet because he was wanting to drag us down with the stupid no drinking rule!”

Virgil glared at Roman before he spoke. “Stop trying to pull the ‘we’ shit! You made the bet all on your own and dragged us two into it! You’re a hypocrite if you’re calling Logan cocky!”

“I did not!”

“Did too!”

“Enough!” Patton scolded yet again. “You’re bickering like children. I want nothing more from you two unless you are spoken to directly. Is that clear?” They nodded. “Deceit, is what Virgil said true?”

“Every bit. Virgil did try his best to stop Roman from making the bet in general, I can confirm that,” he answered.

“I don’t doubt that. Roman, what was your excuse?” Patton asked.

“I…I don’t know,” Roman said with a shrug. “No, wait, I do. It was because Virgil dragged me down with him first!”

“When did I do that?!”

“At the store! When we were talking to Logan!”

Virgil recalled the memory, then instantly scoffed. “Really?! You started all of this shit over that?! Now you’re just being petty!”

Roman was going to answer, but he looked at Patton, keeping in mind what he said before. Patton gave him the nod to continue. “No. I wasn’t. I wasn’t trying to be petty or anything. I was genuinely trying to help in the best way I knew how. I know how much this thing stresses you out, Virgil, so I was only trying to, you know, not make that happen. Lot of good that did me. I’m…sorry about that, Virge. And, Patton, I’m sorry that we didn’t do exactly what we told you to, even though we tried our best otherwise.”

Patton softened his gaze. “I can’t get mad at you guys for trying to fix everything. But I can get mad at you for lying and trying to hide things from me. And for that, at least one of you three will have to sacrifice the rest of your night to take care of Logan. Who’s it gonna be?”

“Not it!” Roman and Deceit blurted at the same time. 

Virgil rolled his eyes and sighed. “Of course.”

“You’ll be fine, kiddo. Besides that, we’ll finish this discussion later,” Patton declared. Not even a second later and he was scolding the other two. “Do not slide down the banister! What have I told you about doing that?!” He gave Virgil a quick wave before rushing down after them.

Virgil had to chuckle. After everything that just went down, he needed it. He turned towards his bedroom door, took a deep breath, and opened it.

Logan was now sitting on the floor. He threw his arms up in the air as he saw Virgil arrive. “You’re back!" 

He smirked to keep from laughing. "Yeah, I am. How’d you get down there?”

“How’d you get up there?” Logan said with a giggle.

“I’m standing up, Lo,” Virgil said with a chuckle. “You haven’t forgotten how that works, have you?”

“Psh, no!”

“If you say so.” Virgil went and sat down next to him. “I’m gonna stay here with you, okay?” Logan only responded with a hum of approval before leaning his head on Virgil’s shoulder. Virgil smiled softly at the gesture.

He didn’t mind staying like that for the rest of the night. He didn’t mind missing out on the party. He didn’t mind being with Logan, secretly because it was what he wanted. Sure, he wasn’t completely aware of everything, but that didn’t mean Virgil wasn’t willing to take care of him.

Maybe he was falling for Logan. It was a weird time to realize that, he would admit, but he figured being there for him at his worst wasn’t a bad thing. If anything, it should have meant something important, right?

That’s what he kept telling himself. It felt right. It was right.

He just hoped Logan felt that same way.

[dragonsaphirareads]

The Selfish Protector - Disney and Deceit (Chapter 1)

Crossposted to AO3

Link to Masterlist

Deceit joins the other sides for Friday movie night for a new game Roman creates, but Virgil and Patton aren't exactly thrilled with his presence.

“I’m so glad you two have come around! This is going to be so much fun, I’ve even devised a new game for us to play so we can get to know Deceit a little more!” Roman was smiling widely as Virgil and Patton told him they’d decided to come to family movie night like normal.

Virgil shrugged, and Patton felt a pang of guilt in his heart. Roman was so happy, happier than Patton had seen him in a while, now that he thought about it. Even now he had a spring in his step, bouncing between the kitchen and the living room, preparing food and drinks and changing around the common room to seat everyone comfortably.

It was for the best, he reassured himself. Roman was just blind with the praise Deceit always laid on him. They would save him before the snake could turn on him like Virgil told him he would.

“Of course! Is there anything I can help with, kiddo?” Patton offered, and Roman shook his head.

“Nope! I’ve got everything under control! You and Virgil can just hang out in the living room while I go get Logan!” The prince practically skipped past them and down the hall towards Logan’s room. Virgil and Patton sat down on the sectional, glancing at each other for a moment to reassure themselves.

“Virgil... this is... good, right?” Patton whispered, his throat tight. Virgil put his hand on top of Patton’s, squeezing it softly.

“You’re not sure?” The anxious side tried to hide his surprise - since when did Patton not know? He was Morality, that was his purpose.

“I mean... I just...what if they get angry at us for this?”

Virgil sighed. That thought had crossed his mind too, and it didn’t make him feel good. “As long as they’re safe, it doesn’t matter, right? It’s that, or they get sucked into whatever game Deceit is playing and we lose them completely.”

Patton nodded slowly. “Right... we won’t let that happen.”

The emotional side didn’t know if he would be able to handle Logan or Roman being angry at him, but Virgil was right - they had to keep them safe from Deceit.

“I’ve got him!” Roman called out as he entered the room, dragging Logan behind him. “Our resident nerd was once again planning on skipping on movie night!”

Logan rolled his eyes, pulling his arm from Roman’s grip. “I was planning no such thing, I simply lost track of the time. I’d appreciate you not implying otherwise.”

“Aww, so you do like spending time with us! I thought you thought Disney movies were annoying and childish?” Roman teased.

“They are overly optimistic and fanciful, not to mention unrealistic. However, they are a suitable way to pass the time if you enjoy not having to think for two hours.” It was both a compliment and an insult, but Roman took it in stride.

“Sure, whatever, you know you love it! Anyways, let’s get comfortable!” Roman waved his hand and his clothes shifted from his normal princely attire to his Christmas sweater and red sweatpants. Logan followed suit as he took a seat on the other side of the sectional, curling up in his sweater and pants and opening the book that he’d taken from his room.

Patton grinned and shifted as well, but instead of the Christmas sweater he shifted into his cat onesie, he had very few chances to wear it anymore and it was just so warm and cuddly!

Virgil on the other hand didn’t change. When Roman came into the room and set the snacks down he pouted, but Virgil shrugged.

“I’m already comfy enough, Princey.”

“But...”

Virgil raised his eyebrows, but Roman didn’t finish the thought, instead rolling his eyes at Logan. “Really, Matilda? Did you take that with you so you could ignore us?”

Logan didn’t look up. “No, I’m only reading until all of us are here. There’s no point in starting any activity you have planned until Deceit arrives.”

“If that’s the case, let’s get the party started.” The four of them looked up at Deceit, who’d entered the room while Roman and Logan were squabbling. The snakelike side took a look at the four of them and smirked slightly. “Looks like I didn’t get the memo about the dress code.” Deceit teased. Roman gasped.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I totally forgot to tell you! Ah, if you like, I can design a sweater for you too!”

Deceit’s mouth twitched for a moment into a genuine smile. “Really? You’d do that for me? Well, I suppose I can accept, on one condition.” He purred, and Roman nodded heartily.

“What’s that?”

“You design a sweater, but I get to change the rest. I’m rather creative too, you know~” Deceit winked, and Virgil could feel his chest burning when he heard the flattered giggle that came from Roman. The creative side thought for a moment before flourishing his hand towards Deceit, who snapped at the same time.

The result was a yellow and black sweater divided right down the middle. There were two snakes curled back and forth across the color divide, one black and one yellow. The yellow half was on the left and had black lines indicating scales all down the half of his chest and left arm. The collar, bottom edge and arm cuffs were the opposite color of the main sweater. The way the sweater was cut, it hung lower on his neck than Deceit’s normal outfit, and the others could see how his scales trailed down his neck, disappearing into his collar.

Aside from Roman’s very fitting sweater design, Deceit now wore black sweatpants, thick fuzzy yellow socks, and a yellow beanie with black stitching. He had, however, kept his signature yellow gloves.

Patton couldn’t help but admire the sweater design - Roman had clearly put just as much thought into this one as he had into the others, which either meant he was incredibly good at thinking up designs on the fly, or that when he designed the sweaters, he’d designed them for all of the sides.

Virgil on the other hand was not impressed. “Do you two always have to be so extra?”

Roman spun to spit some retort at him but Deceit stepped forward and patted Roman’s shoulder, grinning. “He’s just jealous that my sweater looks better than his. Incredible work as always, Roman.”

The prince glowed at the praise. “Why thank you! I was hoping you’d like it!”

Deceit nodded, then turned to the side and noticed Logan was watching him with curious eyes. The lying side smirked and put a hand on his hip, striking a natural pose. “Like what you see, Logan?”

“I’m certainly curious about your scales. Do they extend down the entirety of your body?”

Deceit could physically feel the anger coming from the other side of the couch and decided this was too good an opportunity to pass up. He licked his lips and wiggled his eyebrows. “I’d be happy to show you sometime, Logan~” Deceit purred low, and Virgil slammed his hands down hard on the coffee table, rattling everything.

“That’s enough of that! Roman, can we just start now? Deceit’s here now, unfortunately.” Virgil sneered as Deceit snickered at his outburst and sat down in the corner of the sectional. Patton cast a sideways glance at him, watching him with careful consideration as Deceit turned his attention to Roman, standing in front of them all, ready to explain his game.

“Ok! So, I was thinking about it, and I realized that we may all ‘know’ Deceit, but we don’t really ‘know’ him! So I’ve created a brilliant game, Disney themed of course, to help us get to know each other!” Roman waved his hand and conjured five patches, each a side’s logo. He shuffled them around like cards in his hands while he talked.

“I’ll hand out these badges blindly and once you have one, we’ll go around and you have to pick a Disney character that you think represents the person best!”

“What if we pick ourselves?” Patton asked.

“Then you choose someone to compare yourself to! Oh, and this is just Disney! No Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, nothing like that! We’re staying classic!”

“Sounds fun~” Deceit hummed. Roman beamed.

“We’ll do a couple rounds. Once we finish one, we’ll pass to our right and go again! Now close your eyes and pick a logo!” Roman fanned them out and Logan humored him, closing his eyes and picking blindly. He drew a purple storm cloud which he fiddled with absently as Roman moved on.

Deceit drew a red and gold crest, Patton drew a brain with glasses, and Virgil drew a two headed snake. It left Roman with a heart with glasses, and he grinned.

“Alright, everyone’s got one, who wants to start?”

They were quiet for a moment as everyone thought, and Roman fidgeted as he started to worry that maybe the others wouldn’t play along with this game, wouldn’t enjoy it as much as he thought they would. Was this a bad idea?

Deceit saw the distress building on Roman’s face out of the corner of his eye and opened his mouth to start, but Virgil beat him to it.

“Easy. Deceit is the villain from Princess and the Frog.”

The lying side in question raised an eyebrow. “Dr. Facilier? Wow, Virgil, I’m so surprised you chose a villain to compare me to.”

“You’ve got a stupid hat, weird glowing powers and a look that puts everyone on edge. I think it fits you perfectly.” Virgil snarled, but to his annoyance Deceit just grinned.

“Aww, I’m honored you think so highly of me! However, it does give my suggestion an unwanted connotation. I was going to suggest that you, Roman, were just like Prince Naveen.”

Roman blinked. “Oh yeah?”

“A dashing prince who gets in a little over his head, who falls in love and spends his time trying to woo the person he’s been on the journey with, not to mention willing to sacrifice being with the person he loves to make sure that they’re happy? Oh, and fluent in a love language as well~” Deceit counted off on his fingers as Roman grew more and more red. Hearing Deceit explain his choice made his heart nearly burst from the praise, but he cleared his throat and tried to hide just how good it felt to hear his words.

“You make a compelling argument...”

“Oh, and his singing voice is rather divine as well, we can’t forget that!” Deceit added, and Roman nearly burst into flames. He coughed awkwardly, taking the opportunity to hide his wide grin behind his hand.

“Well, I, uh... I think Patton’s just like Cinderella’s fairy godmother.” He sputtered, moving the focus away from him. The side in question lit up, bouncing slightly in his seat.

“Ah, that’s sweet Roman!”

“W-Well, you’re sweet and you’d do anything to help someone like Cinderella achieve her dream, and you would totally make a pumpkin into a carriage!”

Patton giggled. “True! Bibbity boopity boop!” He sung, tapping Virgil’s nose to the other’s confusion. “Well, I got Logan and I thought of Mary Poppins!”

Logan pursed his lips. “Really?”

“Yes! She’s organized, and knows exactly what to do to make sure the kids get their work done!”

“She’s also calculated enough to realize when she needs to leave and detach from the situation to move on to the next problem.” Deceit added, and Logan blinked, considering it.

“I... suppose. Although I cannot imagine singing the songs in that movie, they’re somehow more ridiculous than any other Disney film.”

“Says the guy who spent almost ten minutes singing about a jelly brand...” Deceit muttered and Roman snickered. Logan kept his face neutral, though the tips of his ears did turn pink. He cleared his throat.

Logan looked at Virgil. “Well then, I believe that just leaves me. I believe Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas is a good fit for you.”

“Is this just because I’ve got a poster of the movie in my room?” Virgil asked.

“Partially, yes. I know you enjoy the movie. However, I believe you do share some traits with the protagonist.”

Roman tilted his head. “Really? I would have put him as Sally, if I had to pick someone from that one.”

“Yes, well, I find it an accurate metaphor for your joining our little group.” Everyone’s attention was on Virgil, so nobody caught how Deceit’s jaw tightened ever so slightly at Logan’s words. “You were stuck in your own world, feeling isolated until you came across something new and exciting. However, your entry into this new world was... rocky, one might say. The details of the movie muddle the metaphor, and perhaps the ending isn’t truly reflective of our truth, but regardless, I feel it’s suitable.”

“Wow Logan, that was a... detailed analysis...” Virgil said slowly, glancing quickly at Deceit but seeing only his trademark grin on his face.

“I thought that was the point of this game?” Logan asked, confused.

“You did wonderfully, Logan. In fact, I think your choice was the most accurate out of all of us.” Deceit complimented him, and the logical side adjusted his glasses quickly.

“That’s kind of you, Deceit.”

Beside him, Patton could feel Virgil tense up, and he subtly nudged his leg up against the anxious side’s, trying to convey some encouragement through the touch.

“Well then, let’s pass to the right! This time, let’s put a new rule in place! You have to name a princess that the person is like! Or a female main character, even if they don’t have the title of princess technically. For this, characters like Pocahontas and Moana are princesses, even if that’s not technically their title.” Roman explained eagerly. That hadn’t gone horribly! And forcing them into a narrower focus, hopefully he could avoid a spat between Virgil and Deceit.

The sides all passed their badges to the right, and Deceit immediately smirked and held up his brain logo, leaning forward. “Well, this one is just too easy. Belle, Beauty and the Beast.”

Logan narrowed his eyes. “Too easy?”

“She’s the only one in town who reads, and also seems to be the only one with a smidge of common sense.”

The logical side groaned. “Yes, but she also fell in love with a monster who essentially kidnapped her and held her captive.”

Roman threw his head back and rubbed at his eyes. “We’re not starting the Stockholm Syndrome argument again! Not tonight!”

Logan shut his mouth, clearly he’d been about to argue that very point. “Fine then. Regardless of that, the very fact that she fell in love with him--”

“Oh, that’s right, I forgot you’re an emotionless robot who doesn’t feel anything. Unfortunately, there’s not many Disney princesses who are like that, so I had to make due with the princess who forces the prince to respect her as a person before she starts falling for him.” Deceit’s tone was more forceful than the others expected, and it startled them a bit. Logan especially leaned back, unsure to why he sounded so frustrated.

“I didn’t mean-- Belle is fine, I just...” Deceit waited, but Logan trailed off. “Nevermind.”

“Anyways, I have myself this round, and I just have one thing to say - Merida. That is all!”

The others rolled their eyes but let it be. It was a pretty decent fit.

“I’ve got myself too, but how am I supposed to pick a princess? They’re all way too... fluffy for my taste.” Virgil mumbled, flipping the patch over and over between his fingers.

“What’s wrong with being fluffy?” Patton asked, pouting.

“Nothing, it’s just not me.”

“Megara!” Roman exclaimed.

“Ooh, that’s a good one Roman.” Deceit hummed, and Virgil considered it as Roman explained.

“She’s smart, sassy, doesn’t take any crap from Hades, and she only does what she does because she made a deal with Hades to save and protect the one she loved. It maybe didn’t turn out well... but she got a happy ending!”

Virgil considered it, and seemed to accept it with a shrug. “Sure, whatever.”

“Patton, I have you, and I think Princess Jasmine from Aladdin fits you rather nicely.” Logan spoke, and Patton turned to him.

“Really? I love her, she’s so pretty!”

“Yes, well, one of her defining characteristics is her intense hatred for being lied to and treated like an object rather than a person.” Patton tensed up at the mention of lying, and he intentionally avoided looking at Deceit, who he could feel was staring at him. “Considering your own moral compass, it seemed like an accurate fit.”

“A-Ah, well, I guess so... I don’t know if I could be as brave as she is though...” Patton tried to deflect, then he looked down at the patch in his hands and realized he was the last one in this round. “Um, I’m sorry, I tried but I couldn’t really think of a princess for you, Deceit...”

Deceit’s slitted eye twitched.

“That’s alright, Patton! Let’s all think of something together!” Roman was quick to reassure him, then tapped his chin as he thought. “What about... Mulan? She lied about her gender so that she could join the army and protect her father. And even when she was revealed, she still did everything she could to fulfill her duty!” Roman looked down and saw Deceit was smiling softly at him, and felt heat rush to his cheeks. The lying side quickly schooled his features into a more neutral expression as the others looked to him.

“That works for me. ‘Hero of China’ is a title I would be more than willing to hold.” Deceit leaned back, throwing his arm across the back of the couch.

Roman sighed in relief - he’d felt the tension in the room rise when Patton didn’t have an answer, but thankfully he’d resolved it. “OK! Let’s go again! This time - Disney princes!”

They all passed and thought for a moment. Roman spoke up first, showing Logan his badge. “I’ve got one! You, Logan, are the spitting image of Milo Thatch from Atlantis!”

Logan adjusted his glasses. “Explain your thought process, please.”

“Easy! You’re a nerd, awkward and obsessed with learning! Plus, he has glasses!”

“You’re underselling him a bit, Roman. Milo is the hero of the story, all because he studied dead languages and a civilization that most people considered unimportant. If he hadn’t dedicated his life to it despite people telling him his study was pointless, Atlantis’ entire culture would have died out without anyone knowing.” Deceit added, and the other sides all stared at him in surprise. “What? I agree with Roman, but he wasn’t hitting on the important parts of his character.” He explained nonchalantly.

Logan blinked. Did Deceit just indirectly call him important for the work he does? “I, er, well... thank you.” He stuttered, cursing himself for his lack of coherency.

Virgil watched this exchange with clenched teeth. It made his blood boil, how smoothly Deceit could wrap the two of them around his little finger. One word that could remotely be construed as praise and they were practically falling all over him.

He wouldn’t fall for it. He could only hope Patton wouldn’t either.

“Well, Roman, I have you this round, and I know how much would you love to be compared to a strong, daring prince, so I’m not going to do that.” Roman gasped, a hand over his heart in mock surprise, and Logan smirked. “Instead, I’m going to say Roger from 101 Dalmations.”

Roman tilted his head. “Really? Wouldn’t Patton fit that better? He loves dogs!”

“You’re musical and you would absolutely compose a song about a villain, and if you were given the chance you would completely change the course of your life to take care of dogs.” Logan explained.

The creative side let out a huff. “Ok, I can’t argue on the song thing, but Patton would do the same thing if he had a hundred dogs suddenly show up on his doorstep.”

Logan rolled his eyes. “I’m just playing by the rules of the game you created. I don’t have Patton this round, I have you. And that’s my choice.”

“Fine! Virgil, go, you’ve got Patton!”

“Prince Eric.”

Roman gasped for real this time. “What?!” He screeched.

Virgil shrugged. “Patton’s the kind of person who would pick up some random stranger off the beach and invite her to stay in his castle as an honored guest. And then fall in love with her in three days.”

Patton squealed and tackled Virgil in a side hug. “Aww, you think so? Virgil, that’s so sweet!”

Deceit raised an eyebrow - that was an interesting way to react to that explanation. Beside him, Roman was huffing in annoyance.

“I could be Prince Eric! Patton, can’t we switch?”

Patton just giggled. “I don’t think that’s part of the game, kiddo! Anyways, this is funny, I have Virgil this round! And I’ve got the perfect one. Bambi!”

Deceit stifled a laugh, not attempting to hide how widely he was grinning. Virgil whipped around and stared daggers at him. “What’re you laughing at, snakeface?”

“Absolutely nothing. Go ahead, I’m dying to hear your reasoning, Patton!”

Virgil sneered but Deceit stayed quiet as Patton explained, putting his hand over Virgil’s to draw his attention back to him. “When you first started really joining us in videos, you didn’t exactly know what you were doing. A lot of stuff was new and you didn’t know how to deal with it so you didn’t at first. Not until you made friends who could help you!”

“I mean I guess...” It felt wrong, but he just wanted to move on rather than argue against it. “Alright, well, that’s it then, let’s pass and go again.”

“Hold on just a moment Virgil, Deceit hasn’t given his answer yet. This game won’t be as effective unless everyone takes part.” Logan pointed out, and Virgil inwardly cursed Logan a thousand different ways.

“I can understand your mistake, Virgil, we all know how forgettable I am.” The anxious side resisted the urge to hiss at him. He was trying to piss him off - Virgil wouldn’t fall for it.

“Aladdin.” Deceit answered.

“Ah right, the prince who lies and steals to get what he wants.” Virgil rolled his eyes.

Deceit turned to him, eyes narrowed. “A ‘street rat’ who’s been looked down on his whole life for who he is, something he was born as and has no control over, who was forced to steal and lie to stay alive in a society that treats him like dirt. Someone who is given a chance of a lifetime to turn himself around, but is forced to hide a big part of himself in order to integrate into that society and finally be accepted by someone who will love him regardless of his past or who he is.” Deceit met Virgil’s eyes evenly, his face a mask. Beside him, Patton was shifting uncomfortably, staring at his feet. It was an unexpectedly candid answer and he could feel the guilt stirring in his chest. The room slowly got colder as they stared at each other, the tension hanging like a thick fog in the air.

“How is it that you manage to be even more edgy than me?” Virgil quipped, and the room’s temperature rose again as Deceit laughed, a sharp noise breaking the awkward silence.

“I can only dream of being as edgy as you, my dear Virgil.” Deceit purred, and Virgil was glad Patton was between them because otherwise he would take a swing and knock that smug look right off his face.

“Ok, let’s move on!” Roman broke in, passing his badge over. They all swapped, though Virgil was grumbling the whole way that this whole idea was stupid.

“This time let’s do side characters! Comic relief, background characters, anyone but the main characters!”

Deceit smirked and held up the badge he’d received, and Virgil braved himself. Great, what horrible character would Deceit compare him to to piss him off now?

“Eeyore.” What? Virgil glanced at him - that was tame. What was he playing at?

“Why?” The anxious side ventured cautiously.

The lying side smirked. “Always looks on the dark side and brings up the negatives to every decision--”

“And he’s still loved by his friends despite that!” Patton interrupted Deceit, putting his arm around Virgil and pulling him into a tight hug.

“And he’s still loved by his friends despite that.” Deceit parroted quietly, and while Virgil and Patton missed it as Virgil struggled to get out of Patton’s grip, Logan and Roman caught it and shared a look.

If Deceit was upset or angry, he didn’t show it as he looked over to Roman and grinned widely. “Your turn~”

Roman, who’d been debating, hit his fist against his palm and grinned. “That’s it! The Cheshire cat!”

“That’s a rather surface observation, Roman. Are you just referring to his smile?” Logan asked, and Roman shook his head.

“No! Well, yes, that’s part of it, you have a very unique smile, but it’s more than that! In the movie, the cat appears just to confuse Alice and say things that make sense to him, but nobody else.” Roman grinned a little like a cheshire himself. “You always keep things to yourself and get us to run around in circles trying to understand you!”

“Oh but it’s much more fun that way!” Deceit snickered.

“See? That’s what I mean!” Roman gestured, and Deceit took it in stride.

“You’ve got me all figured out, don’t you~” The lying side humored him, and Roman shrugged, happy with himself.

“Tinkerbell.”

The three of them turned to look at Virgil, who was staring at Roman intently. “I beg your pardon?” Logan asked.

“Roman. I choose Tinkerbell.”

“Because I’m magical and wonderous? Why thank you Virgil!”

“Because you’re only pleased with yourself when someone pays attention to you. Otherwise you sulk or throw a tantrum.” Roman’s eyes widened, and he leaned back, trying to play it off with a laugh.

“I only wish for the world to recognize my talents!”

Deceit’s eye twitched again.

“Yeah right princey.”

“I have myself this round! And I think I’m like Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast!” Patton broke in, holding up his heart patch joyfully. “She’s kind and a mother and she always looks on the bright side and tries to cheer up Belle when she stays in the castle!” He said all in one breath, and the others nodded along. If any of them would be able to comfort someone in the situation Belle found herself in, it would be him. The irony wasn’t lost on Deceit that he’d compared Logan to Belle not half an hour earlier.

“That leaves you, Logan! You have yourself, right?” Patton asked, and Logan nodded, holding up the brain patch.

“Yes. I think I’ll choose Sebastian, from The Little Mermaid. He’s organized, task-oriented, and his plans are always ruined by someone who decides to go running of on an adventure.” He glared pointedly at Roman, who just rolled his eyes.

“Life is so boring the way you live it! I have to keep you on your toes!”

“I could certainly do without it.” The logical side grumbled.

Roman glanced around and realized they’d all gone. “Well, that went faster than I thought! We can start a movie now, if you want--”

“Just a moment, Roman. We still have one more rotation. And I have the perfect idea~” Deceit interrupted him, and his tone put Virgil immediately on edge.

“Oh, yeah? What’s... what’s that?”

“Well, we’ve done princesses, princes and side characters. But we have one more rotation, and one more group. Why don’t we do one last round and pick from Disney villains?”

Roman chewed his lip, looking over at Virgil nervously. “Ah, well, I... I wasn’t going to... I mean, Virgil...”

“Right, right, I understand. You don’t want to compare dear Virgil to a villain, given his history. But if we all do it, then it’s fair, right? We won’t single anyone out.” Deceit’s voice was smooth, convincing, and Roman would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about the villains in this game.

“W-Well, what do you guys think? We don’t have to if you don’t want to...” Roman turned the question on the rest of them, unsure what result he himself wanted.

“I for one believe it would be a good exercise. Disney villains especially have a wide range of characteristics and motivations, exploring those darker themes could be interesting.” Logan put in, shifting in his seat to get more comfortable.

“And it’s just a thought exercise, after all. We’re not saying anyone in this room is actually a villain, right?” Deceit added, watching Patton’s reactions carefully. He knew Virgil wouldn’t agree with him just on principle, but Roman and Logan were both for the idea. It would be majority vote...

But Roman wouldn’t dare go against his beloved fatherly side. If Patton said no, Roman would change his mind to please him. It made Deceit crazy.

Patton knew he was being watched from all sides, and he bit his lip. On the one hand, he wanted to push Deceit away and just start watching a movie - at least then, he wouldn’t have to talk to him anymore. He could lean against Virgil and try to forget he was there at all, and try to ignore the butterflies in his stomach that just wouldn’t go away.

On the other hand, Roman was looking at him with such raw hope in his eyes that he couldn’t bear to say no. “Well... I guess it is just a game we’re playing.”

Roman lit up - he hadn’t realized that he’d been holding his breath until he felt his lungs burning. “Uh, ok then, let’s do it!”

They passed their badges, and Patton realized as soon as Deceit took hold of his badge what he’d gotten himself into. He felt his heart stop. How had he forgotten who exactly Deceit would be answering for!?

“I suppose I’ll start then.” Logan said after the room fell into a tense silence. “Deceit, I believe you fit Tamatoa from Moana well.”

That actually caught Deceit off guard, though he hid it well enough. “Really? Please, elaborate on that Logan.”

“Certainly. To begin, while Tamatoa is certainly an antagonist in the movie and his actions towards the protagonists aren’t exactly excusable, upon many viewings,” Logan cast a glance at Roman, “I can conclude that the main motivation for his actions is selfish desire. He gathers shiny things and keeps them in his cave, and doesn’t let anyone touch them.”

Deceit resisted the urge to rub at the scratches that were slowly healing on his face. None of them had mentioned it until now, and it wasn’t for lack of noticing, he was sure. He narrowed his eyes curiously. “Interesting. Are you calling me selfish for how I keep my room, Logan?”

Logan wasn’t intimidated, and merely shrugged. “It’s simply a comparison. Am I incorrect?”

There was a pause.

“Not entirely.” Deceit answered, tugging at his hat that had begun to slip down on his head.

“Alright then. Virgil, would you like to go next? You have my badge.”

Virgil shrunk in on himself. “C’mon Teach, I don’t wanna compare you to a villain--”

Logan gave him a soft, rare smile. “It’s quite alright. This is just a thought exercise, Virgil.”

The anxious side took a breath. He damned Logan - if only he could have kept his mouth shut, he wouldn’t need to deal with this! “Uhh... I guess... maybe... Frolo?”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “From Hunchback of Notre Dame? Interesting... why?”

Virgil stared at his shoes. “I dunno... he’s smart, and he doesn’t show his emotions easily.”

“Hmm... Well, I don’t believe I’ve ever displayed the... lust he does, but aside from that I understand where you’re coming from.”

“Yeah.” Virgil shrugged, uncomfortable. Patton nudged him subtly with his elbow, and Virgil turned up a corner of his mouth to show him he was alright.

“Roman, why don’t you go next?” Logan encouraged, taking over the activity since Roman was sitting still, staring at the small storm cloud badge in his hand.

“I, uh... I mean, Virgil...” He’d lost any and all bravado he’d had before, and now he just stared across the sectional with apologetic eyes.

“Just get it over with, princey.”

“Uh... Maleficent. Technically, yes, she’s the villain, but if you look at the original story, it was actually the king and queen who insulted her first. And she even gave them a chance to fix their mistake, and only cursed them when they did it again. Not to mention she gave the princess an out for her curse!” Roman explained quickly, like the very words burned him as he spoke. Virgil shrugged, though inwardly he felt a small prick of warmth. He did everything he could to make his choice a good one for him, and to not offend or scare him.

When had Roman gotten so careful about not offending him?

“Oh, does that make it my turn then?” Deceit hummed as Roman fell silent. The lying side grinned widely, leaning forward into Patton’s personal bubble and twirled the heart patch between his fingers.

“I thought of the perfect one for you, Patton. How about Hans, from Frozen?”

“W-What?!” Patton exclaimed, jerking away from Deceit. “But... he’s horrible! He lies to Anna and tries to kill her!”

“He tells her everything she wants to hear, encourages her to go after her sister, her only living family, and that he can manage her kingdom by himself while she’s gone. All. By. Himself.”

Patton shrunk slightly under the intense gaze from Deceit’s golden eye. “I... don’t understand...”

“What’re you playing at?!” Virgil growled, his voice low. Deceit didn’t spare him a glance.

“He took over, and he did it all under the radar. Nobody ever suspected what a horrible person he was inside. He kept up the facade as long as he needed to to get what he wanted.”

“That’s it you piece of shit!” The anxious side exploded, pushing Patton to the side as he stood up and grabbed Deceit’s collar, pulling him to stand face to face. “You’re not allowed to insult him! You’re saying all this stupid shit about Patton when really, you’re the one you’re talking about!”

“Virgil, please calm down! Violence will not solve anything!” Logan stood as well, trying to step forward but Deceit held up a hand.

“Don’t worry, Logan. Virgil’s just a little too into this game, that’s all. Isn’t that right? Come now Virgil, it’s just an exercise - I already said we aren’t the villains we name. Don’t you think you’re overreacting?”

Virgil hissed, but was suddenly acutely aware that the rest of the sides were staring at him with bated breath, waiting to see if he would really take a swing. Against all his instincts, he didn’t run away nor did he punch the daylights out of Deceit. He forced his hand open and let Deceit fall back into the couch.

“Now then, we only have one more to go, don’t we? Patton, you’re the big finale~”

Patton shied away from Deceit, holding the red and gold badge against his chest. “I... I can’t compare Roman to a villain! He’s a prince, that’s just... wrong!”

“Yeah, why don’t we just call the game here?” Virgil jumped in, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Roman deflate just a little.

Deceit caught it too. “Well that’s not fair, we can’t leave Roman out of this round! But I’ve got an idea, if you need help Patton.” The deceitful side offered sincerely.

“We don’t need--”

“How about Gaston?”

Roman turned his head. “You think-- I mean, I--”

“You’re strong, handsome, and loved by all.”

The prince sucked in a breath. “I... Those aren’t really... what make him a villain...”

“We never said you had to relate to the characteristics that make them a villain, Roman. Are you so upset by that arbitrary label that you don’t want to associate at all with any of the things that make him the character he is?”

Roman stared at him, confused. Where did that come from? “I...”

Deceit smiled. “There’s a bit more to life than pure good and pure evil, Roman.”

Then Deceit stood and stretched, ignoring how the rest of the sides were staring at him. “I’ll be right back, why don’t you all start the movie without me?”

He walked out, into the bathroom down the hall. The four of them sat in stunned silence.

“So, uh... what movie should we watch tonight?”

[alsoyouremischievous]

Sides Carry On

Summary: Roman Prince will do anything to protect the life he’s found through magic. This includes enduring lectures from his best friends Logan and Patton, overcoming his evil roommate Virgil, working for the Mage, and defeating the Insidious Humdrum. His life seems to be set out for him - but things can never be easy, can they?

AO3 Link

Ch. 1 Ch. 2 Ch. 3 Ch. 4 Ch. 5 

Chapter Six

Roman

The door creaks open in the morning far too early for my taste. The bed is colder than it has any right to be which means that Logan got up and left at his usual ungodly hour. He’s probably back to pester me into joining him. “Go away,” I moan into my pillow, fully expecting to be reprimanded anyway. Logan has a special way of causing me to forget entirely that I ever missed him at all.

A throat clears.

I finally lift my head to see that it absolutely isn’t Logan. The Mage is standing near to the door, a quirk in his grin suggesting he finds the whole situation entertaining. His eyes aren’t quite as light as the rest of his demeanor though - and they never really are.

“Oh!” I flail, getting myself upright. “Sir, I’m so sorry.”

“No use apologizing Roman, I’m sure you just didn’t hear me knocking.”

“No, um… Should I get dressed?”

“Don’t bother,” He says, strutting across the room to the window. He takes care to avoid coming close to Virgil’s bed. Even he’s afraid of vampires. Of course, The Mage would use a much more palatable word like ‘cautious’ or ‘prudent’- never afraid.

“I wasn’t available to welcome you back yesterday, my apologies,” he says. “I trust your journey was fine?”

I leverage myself out from under the covers to sit with my legs over the side of the bed. I may be in my pajamas but I can still act like I have my dignity. “Yes,” I say, “although, fine might not be the best word. My taxi driver was a goblin.”

He sighs. “Another one?” he turns to face me again, clasping his hands behind his back. “They’re relentless. Alone, I imagine.”

There’s no question in his tone but I confirm anyway. “Yes, sir.”

He gives a jerk of his head, “They aren’t smart enough to consider pairing up. What spell did you use?”

Oh. I bite my lip. “I used my blade, sir.”

“Hmm.”

“And Into thin air to clean it up,” I rush to add.

His expression flickers, not really pleased but placated at least. “Splendid, Roman.” He looks me over, scrutinizing my pajamas and my bare feet.

He meets my eyes again, his stare hard. “And this summer? Nothing out of the ordinary?”

“I would’ve reported anything to you, sir.” Because I could contact him. If I really needed to, but only then. I have his number (and I know how to send a bird).

He gives a nod and then turns his gaze from me to focus on the window again as though he’s already managed to suss out everything he needs to observe about me. The light coming in catches his hair nicely and for a moment he appears all the more like a swashbuckler.

His uniform is… interesting. His leggings are an emerald canvas disappearing into tall leather boots and his tunic which has all sorts of pockets and straps. His sword hangs from his side, entirely visible unlike mine.

Professor Bunce, Logan’s mum, told us that previous mages wore ceremonial outfits consisting of a cowl and cape whereas other headmasters wore robes. The Mage created his own uniform, I guess. She calls it a costume.

I’m pretty sure that Professor Bunce detests the Mage almost as much as his actual enemies do. Logan’s dad is a quiet fellow, so the only times I’ve heard him speak were when his mum started on a tangent against the Mage. His voice is always soft and soothing when he say’s “Now, Mitali…” which is when she’ll take a deep breath and say  “I’m sorry Roman, I know you’re his foster son.”

He isn’t my foster father though, not in the real way. He’s never put himself forward in that way. As my family. I’m treated more like an ally of his and I have been since the start. At eleven years old he’d sat me down in his office and told me every detail. The Insidious Humdrum, the missing magic, the holes in the atmosphere like dead spots. All while I was still trying to comprehend the existence of magic at all, he was telling me that there was something out there devouring it. And he told me I was the only one who could help.

“You are far too young to hear this, Roman. However, the Insidious Humdrum is a threat that doesn’t wait for maturity. He’s powerful and pervasive. Our resistance to him is futile.

“The fight is a necessary one nonetheless. We want to protect you, Roman, and I vow to do so with my life. But it is vital you learn, as soon as possible, how to keep yourself safe.

“He is our greatest threat. You are our greatest hope.”

I didn’t ask any questions that day. I was in shock. All I wanted was for the Mage to do something cool again, like when he’d opened a window with just his words.

The first year was spent convincing myself it wasn’t real, the next convincing myself that it was.

It was only after I’d been attacked by ogres, shattered a circle of standing stones, and grown five inches that I asked the important question.

Why me?

Why did it have to be me to fight the Humdrum?

I’ve received a litany of answers over the years. I was chosen. I was prophesied. The Humdrum won’t leave me alone.

None of which are actual answers. Trust Logan to be the only one who can give me a workable reason. He’s the one who told me, “Because you are capable, Roman, and someone must.”

The Mage is still staring intently out the window. I consider briefly offering him a seat but I’m honestly fairly sure that standing is his default state.

I clear my throat. “Sir?”

“Roman.”

He seems put out today.

“Did we find the Insidious Humdrum?” I ask despite my hesitation.

He shakes his head and crosses his arms, his movements sharp and quick. “There have been no new developments. In fact, I have had to attend to more pressing concerns as of late.”

My jaw drops.

“Concerns more important than the Insidious Humdrum?” I ask, incredulity drenching my words.

He doesn’t even blink. “Not more important, Roman, just needing more immediate attention. The old families are testing me. Financial support is ceasing and the Pitches are paying certain members to stay away from Coven meetings. Not to mention the multitude of skirmishes that have been popping up.”

Skirmishes? I haven’t heard anything about this before. “Sir?” I press.

“They’ll do anything to test me, Roman. Anything to chip away at my control so that they can work their way into power. Ruining everything I’ve accomplished as they go”

“And they really think that they’re capable of handling the Insidious Humdrum on their own?”

“They’re not thinking of the end game, simply the moves directly in front of them. Right now it isn’t their problem and so they don’t care.”

“Well forget the idiots then! If the Humdrum wins there won’t even be anything to fight over. He should be the one we’re focused on.” I say.

“And so we shall. At the right time,” He says, peering at me sternly. “When we’ve the knowledge to win. Until then my major concern is you.”

He pauses.

“Roman. I’ve talked it through with some trusted members of the Coven. So far, our attempts to keep you safe have failed. In spite of how well protected we are here the Humdrum seems to do the most damage to you when you are within Watford grounds. Like last June, when you were taken away with no one the wiser.”

I flush at this. He’s talking about himself and the protections on the castle but I’m the one who’s a failure. I’m meant to defeat the Humdrum but during my first direct confrontation with him the most I could manage was running away. Without Logan, I may have even failed at that.

The Mage continues, slowly. “We’ve decided that you would be safer somewhere other than Watford.”

That’s... “Sir?”

“A place has already been set up for you and an adequate tutor has been contacted. Of course, I can’t tell you the details but we’re leaving soon so you’ll get to see for yourself.”

Everything in me grinds to a halt. That or the world around me starts going too fast.

“You’re asking me to leave Watford?”

He bristles. “Yes. You needn’t pack too much, just your boots and your cloak. Anything you don’t want to lose.”

“Sir.” I pause, reeling. “I can’t leave Watford. Classes start this week.”

He sighs, “Roman, you aren’t a kid anymore. There’s nothing left for you to learn here anyway.”

He could be right, I’m a terrible student. This year won’t make much of a difference in the grand scheme of things. And yet… “I can’t leave. It’s my last year at Watford.”

I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Mage’s eyes narrow so harshly.

“It’s impossible,” I try again. I’m trying to think of reasons, an argument. All I come up with is no. I won’t leave. My whole life is Watford, the times I’m not here don’t even feel like living. Next year that will have to change but not yet. Not yet. “No. I can’t leave.”

“Roman,” His voice is sharp enough to cut. “Don’t pretend this is a suggestion. Your life is under threat. Considering the entire World of Mages is counting on you that is not something I’m willing to compromise.”

His last point feels like one I could argue. Virgil doesn’t count on me for anything, nor do any of the house of Pitch.

I try to swallow but my throat is too dry. My head whips back and forth.

The Mage scowls at me like I’m a tantrum throwing child. “You must realize Roman, that the Humdrum only attacks when you are here. At Watford.”

“Have you just realized this now?” I blurt out, tagging on a belated “Sir.”

“What has gotten into you?” he shouts, now looming over me. “You’ve never questioned me like this before.”

“Well, you’ve never asked me to leave before!” I shout back.

His face shutters. “When we are at war we all make sacrifices.”

“We’ve been at war as long as I’ve been coming to Watford. War doesn’t mean life just stops.”

“Doesn’t it?” he spits. He’s finally lost his temper. I’m all too aware of his hand which is resting on the hilt of his sword. “Where is my normal life, Roman? Do you see my wife and children anywhere? Have you ever known me to take holidays? No. I've focused entirely on the battle ahead. We don’t have the luxury of shirking our responsibilities because we’re bored with them.”

I jerk at the insinuation. “I’m not bored,” I mutter.

“Speak. Up.”

I lift my chin and meet his eyes. “I’m not bored, sir.”

His teeth grind for a moment. “Get dressed and start packing.”

I’m rooted to the spot. “No.”

It’s not happening. I’ve just arrived. I suffered through this summer because of the promise of Watford at the end but this was the worst one yet. I’ve nothing left in me. I don’t have what it takes to leave again right now. I wouldn’t survive it. And what about Logan and Patton?

I’m shaking my head again but the Mage’s gasp makes me look to him. Or look as best I can through the red haze that’s now between us.

Fuck. Fuck.

He staggers back, his wand out. “Roman, Stay cool!”

I grab for my own wand, chanting any spell that might work but it only draws my magic more to the surface, the redness thickening. I slam my eyes shut and think about disappearing like the taxi car and the fence and the road. Try and empty my brain out so there’s nothing to fuel my broken magic. I collapse back onto the bed, distantly noting my wand clattering to the floor.

When the world swims back into view the Mage is leaning over me, his hand pressed to my forehead. I smell smoke and realize the sheets must be charred.

“Sorry,” I slur, “M’sorry. I didn’t-”

“Of course not,” he says quickly. He’s still afraid though.

“Please, please don’t make me go,” I beg.

The Mage is looking straight through me right now with his piercing gaze. I can see his mind turning and I can see the moment he gives in.

“I’ll see what can be done, perhaps work out some more time…”

He focuses on me again. “Roman, we aren’t concerned for your safety alone, you must know.”

He’s still leaning over me. Only smoke is between us and I struggle to breathe.

He finally stands again, stepping away. “Do you need to see the nurse?”

“No, sir.”

The Mage whirls out of the room, the door slamming behind him.

I wince and then check to be sure the sheets aren’t actively burning before falling quickly back into a dead sleep.

Linda

And the fog is so thick.

[aj-draws]

Future Sanders Sides Teacher AU Fic Ideas (Pt 1)

Just a little something I’ve been thinking about writing for a long time now??

 These are just ideas!! I might make oneshots here and there, but I want to try and make this into an actual story on Wattpad or something during summer vacation.

[[Thank you so very much for getting me to post this @royallyanxious you’re amazing :) Oh and btw I was that anon that said they liked your Logicality FBI agent AU fanfic. I’m super anxious but I hope you like this anyway!]]

[[Tag list: @izzynuggets, @diadrip]] 

Summary: The sides are teachers in a highschool that Thomas and his friends go to. 

-It’s also sort of a human AU as well. The sides will naturally have different last names, which I have not entirely decided yet. (+Afterschool they all have part time jobs across the street from each other but there’ll be more about that in a part two or three I’ll try getting to in the future)

[[Characters]]

Logan:

-Science teacher (Living Environment honors and/or Chemistry)  

-Part time job as a librarian

-Wants to keep being a teacher

-Speaks fluently in salty

-His choice of wear is a mix between casual and formal. Slicked back hair (with hair gel), tightly fitted polo shirts, leather belts, jeans and his signature blue and black tie 

-Definitely wears different ties with a theme fitted for each and every holiday 

-Can accurately quote books off the top of his head

-When he's too tired to do anything, he just binges Doctor Who and Sherlock with his classes

-(Based on this one Logan skit on Thomas’ insta I think y’all know what I’m talking about) He brought an entire toaster that he keeps in his classroom just so he could eat toast with Crofter’s 24/7.

-He eats Crofter’s with everything he eats and it scares everyone sometimes. Like he’ll just be casually teaching as he spreads the jam onto a slice of pizza and everyone’s a little concerned 

-Once during a test he sees one of his students struggling and suddenly their stomach rumbles loudly and as everyone laughs he just makes them a sandwich and tells them that they could take the test tomorrow

-Whenever a student doodles on one of their assignments, he finishes the picture with a crayon and he loves it when they see it and smile it makes his day

-He’s that teacher that you’re terrified of at first but then you realize they’re awesome (He has a resting bitchface that scares the heck out of everyone on the first day of school)

-Him being a sort of psychologist toward his students and they come to him (and Patton) with problems and mental breakdowns. He’s terrible at the comforting part of what to do when a person’s crying, but he’s excellent at figuring out the students’ problem or problems at helping them change their schedule/bad habits to fix it

-Him reassuring his students that-no matter what society says-just because they aren't good at math or science doesn't mean that they're useless and stupid+grades are not everything

-His students adoring him for being so realistic and understanding that school can be stressful sometimes

-His students calling him mom

-Him being so sleep deprived one day that as he was writing something on the board, he used incorrect grammar and once he got corrected, he just slowly walks over to his desk and sits under it for a solid minute 

-He hardly ever loses his cool. Ever. He handles those few immature kids in his class with ease, threatening them firmly or just completely roasting them so that they’re too busy laughing/being stunned to disrupt class. 

-But once he just gave up. He silently turns around and s n a p s. 

-He lets out this unholy screech that echoes throughout the school and shakes the nearby classrooms and scares away the birds perched on a tree outside and the chalk in his hand breaks in half the students are terrified they’ve never heard a sound of that volume from Logan’s mouth and they’re wondering if this is is what they’ll hear when the pits of hell breaks open at their feet-

-And then Logan just pauses. He takes a long drink from the water bottle on his desk, sets it down, adjusts his tie, clears his throat, then continues on with the lesson like nothing happened. Everyone agrees that that’s the scariest thing they’ve ever seen and heard in their lives. 

Patton:

-Art and home economics teacher (He has one homeroom art class in the morning, then a home ec class after lunch where he teaches stuff like cooking/baking, time management, money management, food, etc...)

-Part time job as a barista

-Wants to own his own bakery (or just be a stay at home dad)

-Speaks fluently in puns

-Whenever he has a student that he thinks is in a bad mood, he personally tapes some sort of dessert he baked to their locker on a plate with a nice post-it note taped to it

-His students call him dad

-During a rainy day, he sees some kid waiting for their late parent to pick them up outside at dismissal and he walks up to them and covers their head with his cardigan and invites them inside his classroom instead of waiting in the rain

-He frequently gets into pun/prank wars with his students

-Depending on how he’s feeling, when he sees a student sleeping in class, he’ll either blast an airhorn into their ear or lay a blanket on their back there’s no in between

-Once his class was so loud and rambunctious and he got so stressed out because he didn’t know how to deal with it that he just started crying and his students had to comfort him and no one dared to make him cry ever again

-He once forgot where he lost his glasses while he was cooking something and he asked his students to help him find them and they looked for them the entire period and no one could find it

-No one told him his glasses were right atop his head.

Roman:

-Drama teacher (Sometimes subs for the Chorus teacher, who is always absent because she's very sickly)  

-Part time job as a florist/works at a flower shop

-Wants to be a future actor on broadway

-Speaks fluently in Disney songs/musical references

-The most fashionable out of the four. He has a bunch of different outfits depending on the season. For winter and fall, he wears lots of sweaters, leather jackets, dress pants, scarves and sometimes flannel around the waist. For summer and spring, he’ll be wearing button downs, sunglasses, loose t-shirts, and jeans/shorts. 

-During play rehearsal, he puts on a red sash (and his Princey clothing basically) because he claims he needs to get ‘in the play spirit’ (when in reality he just likes wearing his old prince costume from a play he was in in the past)

-Not all of his students like him (he can be vv loud and extravagant), but his theater kids honestly adore him. They love his passion for singing, acting and musicals.

-They cheer Roman on and completely support his dream of performing on broadway one day. They secretly (and shamelessly) support him every chance they can get on social media.

-That teacher that, when he sees an artsy student, will catch them drawing during class and instead of telling them to pay attention will fanboy over their art and tell them how amazing it looks so usually art students also love him

-Knows the latest gossip about a lot of the students in the school

-Purposely casts the two students he knows has a crush on each other as the two main characters that have to stage kiss 

-One of his students gave him a Burger King crown and he cried and wore it for the rest of the week and attacked any other teacher that tried to take it off his head (*cough cough* Virgil *cough*)

Virgil:

-English teacher

-Part time job as a tattoo artist/works at a tattoo shop

-Wants to be a YouTuber/blogger (and write stories online)

-Speaks fluently in sarcasm/memes

-On the first day of school he wears normal teacher like clothing, but then the rest of the year he wears hoodies and casual t-shirts and sweatpants that he hides under a long jacket (he’s technically supposed to be all formal and whatever, but he ain’t got time for that)

-He dreams to get this original story he's been working on for years published one day. This story is basically a fantasy AU involving characters based off him, Logan, Patton and Roman.

-When he reads excerpts from books, his kids go wild because he can do Thomas' narrator/storyteller voice (the one where his voice drops a million octaves) 

-Whenever a woman/girl speaks, his voice jumps up a million octaves and he purposely squeaks/sounds like someone on helium and it gets his classes cracking up

-The kind of guy that uses the dankest of memes on worksheets/in presentations

-A lot of students really love him. The ones who like ELA are in love with his writing and storytelling. The one who don't even like ELA still like his class because he's good at keeping them engaged.

-Just like Logan, he has a natural talent for mercilessly roasting those immature kids that fool around in his class

-He'll randomly ramble away and sink into a hole of existential crisis but his students still like that side of him because it's just relatable.

-He's incredibly flexible and he can be found sitting/lying on places that probably shouldn't be sat/laid on. Once he was just casually reading a book sitting in one of those pretzels on his desk and a student screeched.

-He constantly gets compared to a cat. He hisses at Roman when he's frustrated with him, the students find him on top of furniture that isn't meant to be sat on, he says perfect as 'purrfect' and his noise twitches a lot. He used to be like nahh whatcha talking about until Roman gifted him with a cat plushie one day and he finally admitted that cats were his favorite animal (Bonus-His students joke about him being a furry a lot)

-His artsy students draw him fanart all the time and he loves it sooo much. (Bonus-Someone drew him, Pat, Roman and Lo as cats and he almost cried)

((There’s part one! Part two will either be about their part time jobs, or their interactions with each other as teachers. Feedback is greatly appreciated, thank you!!))

[olehistorian]

Almost unrecognisable from her role as the dowdy housekeeper in Downton Abbey, Phyllis Logan is starring in an exotic new medical drama. She talks to Judith Woods about seizing the day and those Downton movie rumours… 'Obviously I never had a career to speak of before Downton Abbey,’ says Phyllis Logan drily, raising an eyebrow for further effect. ‘I sometimes wonder how on earth did I fill my time?’ It’s not true, of course, but we all know what she means: sometimes a jobbing actress is swept away by a juggernaut of a role that takes her a very long way from where she used to be. The Downton effect has had an impact on the career of every member of its award-winning ensemble cast. Lily James has starred in the BBC’s War & Peace and the movie Cinderella, Michelle Dockery landed a role as a criminal in the gritty US show Good Behavior, Joanne Froggatt played a serial killer in the ITV series Dark Angel – and now Phyllis is set to star in a new ITV drama series, The Good Karma Hospital. But it’s her years in service to the Crawley family that have made her a poster girl for ladies of a certain age who refuse to accept that life holds no more adventure. When her doughty but warm-hearted character Mrs Hughes finally found love with the pompous but kindly butler Mr Carson, it struck a blow for midlife love. In those days ‘Mrs’ was an honorific title bestowed on senior female staff, regardless of whether they had ever wed, so Mrs Hughes’s comical angst about whether he would be expecting ‘a full marriage’ struck a chord with any woman over 40 who has ever fretted about going to bed with a new partner. ‘Mrs Hughes was aerated about the sex thing because she probably hadn’t had much experience, but that turned out to be the least of her bloomin’ worries,’ acknowledges Phyllis. ‘God preserve us all from nitpicking middle-aged men who can’t abide change.’ In the phenomenally successful series, which ran for six seasons, Mr Carson (played by Jim Carter) turned out to be irrevocably stuck in his ways – the routines of the big house where he had been serving for many years. Ironically, it was his new wife’s performance in the couple’s kitchen (as opposed to the bedroom) that proved his greatest source of disappointment. Eventually, with affectionate pragmatism, the pair decided he should eat his meals at the Downton kitchen, cooked by Mrs Patmore, as before. ‘It’s a very identifiable scenario,’ says Phyllis, 61. ‘When a more mature couple makes a life together, each brings certain expectations and baggage and of course there’s always need for compromise, which some men in particular find difficult. Phyllis, once best known for playing posh totty Lady Jane Felsham in the 1980s and 90s series Lovejoy, was a late starter herself when it came to settling down. She met her husband, Pirates of the Caribbean actor Kevin McNally, in the 1993 miniseries Love and Reason when she was in her late 30s, but they didn’t get round to tying the knot until she was 55. ‘I had always sworn I would never have an actor in the house because they are so much trouble and so vain, but you can’t legislate for Cupid’s bow,’ she says. When she got together with Kevin, theirs was not a series of careful compromises but a classic coup de foudre. ‘I never thought real love – the sort where your blood tingles and your world explodes with joy – would happen to me at my time of life. I believed I had missed out. But I’m ever so glad it happened.’ A couple of years later, aged 40, she had their son David. He is now 20 and studying music and music production at university in Leeds. Once upon a time, reaching six decades was a milestone to be dreaded rather than celebrated, but, in well-cut jeans and a flattering floaty top, her burnished hair hanging loose, Phyllis provides incontrovertible proof that though life may not begin at 60, it sure as heck continues at a rip-roaring pace – as long as you have the right attitude towards the rollercoaster. ‘We packed David off to university not so long ago and as we drove back to our house in West London we were listening to the Elaine Paige show on Radio 2,’ recalls Phyllis. ‘She played Peggy Lee singing “The Folks Who Live on the Hill” and as soon as I heard the line “and when the kids grow up and leave us” I burst into absolute floods of tears and spent the rest of the journey splashing about in the passenger seat. But since then I’ve thought a lot about empty nest syndrome and how once your chick flies the coop it gives women the freedom to stretch their own wings once more, too.’ And as fate would have it, Phyllis’s new role in The Good Karma Hospital has allowed her to do just that and will doubtless prove a source of inspiration to a great many female viewers in a similar position. Set in India, the series features another estimable actress, Amanda Redman, 59, who plays an eccentric expat running a ramshackle cottage hospital, which is short on resources and long on compassion. ‘It’s a cross between Holby City and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel but with dark secrets, so it should be right up everybody’s street,’ says Phyllis. ‘I play Maggie Smart, who has come to India for her daughter’s wedding and becomes unwell, so ends up in hospital and falls deeply in love. Not with a man – she already has a husband – but rather with the community, the culture and the way of life. She’s a fascinating character who has such humour and joie de vivre and it was great to play a woman finding herself and connecting with a wider spirituality.’ Phyllis spent months filming the six-part series on location in Sri Lanka. She, too, found herself smitten with the place and the people and at one point Kevin flew over from the US where he is in the cast of the US television series Turn: Washington’s Spies and they managed a 12-day break together. ‘We stayed in a hotel on the beach and it was bliss. The majority of the population are Buddhists and seemed so calm, open and thankful for whatever life gave them; I think we could all learn from them.’ All the same, Phyllis isn’t entirely convinced she believes in karma as a concept. ‘It would be nice to think that if you are a decent human being then eventually things will turn out right,’ she says. ‘But fate can intervene and pull the rug out from under you without warning and there might be nothing you can do.’ It is something she and Kevin can speak of from personal experience. Phyllis’s mother died from a dementia-related illness aged 90, but it was the agonisingly slow decline of Kevin’s mother over many years that proved more devastating. ‘Kev’s mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in her early 60s and from then on his father became her carer and it was so hard for him. She reached the point where she didn’t recognise her own son and was agitated and upset because she had no idea where she was or who she was; that was heartbreaking to witness.’ Phyllis is an ambassador for Dementia UK and does what she can to support the charity’s work. ‘It’s such a cruel disease. I am aware there’s a genetic component so I do brain-training on my phone every day. Will that help stave it off? I have no idea; I think of Iris Murdoch – such a clever woman who dealt with words and complex memories all her life, and yet all those things that made her so creative and unique were taken while she was still alive. Ultimately, all you can do is cross your fingers and make the most of every day.’ Phyllis is certainly doing that. Last year was a veritable Air Miles bonanza; as well as her sojourn in Sri Lanka she went to Sydney for a Downton DVD launch, Los Angeles where the ensemble cast of Downton won yet another Screen Actors Guild Award, and then to New York to receive the prestigious Great Scot Award from the US branch of the National Trust for Scotland (previous recipients include comedian Billy Connolly and actor Alan Cumming). She wore a dress bought in John Lewis embellished for the occasion with a tartan sash and matching ribbon. ‘I’m not interested in fashion,’ Phyllis confides. ‘It’s just not on my radar. Whenever I’m doing a contemporary role, the wardrobe mistress will usually say, “Let’s go to Selfridges and get a personal shopper.” Most women would probably love it, but my face falls because I absolutely hate trying on clothes. One of the things I loved about Downton was the fact I had two outfits and maybe a coat if I got to go into the village; the girls in the Crawley family kept having to go for fittings every time there was a big dinner, which would have driven me mad.’ Logan loves… Reading Alan Bennett’s Keeping On Keeping On. I love him; my husband Kev played him in the stage version of The Lady in the Van. Listening to The Today programme on Radio 4 and Classic FM. Watching I do enjoy a good nature documentary. Planet Earth II was spectacularly good. Guilty pleasure A whole bag of Kettle Chips with a crisp glass of Picpoul de Pinet. Beauty product Boots No7 moisturiser; it’s not fancy but it does the job. Desert island luxury A karaoke machine, stage, lights and all the songs from the 70s. I’ll make a row of coconuts for an audience and there’ll be no stopping me. The ongoing international popularity of Downton means Phyllis and various other cast members are still asked to appear at events to meet the fans and launch DVDs. She’s often asked about her wigs and whether she kept one; she had three identical hairpieces all of which she affectionately dubbed Elsie. ‘People ask me if I was tempted to take a wig or that big bunch of keys I carried, but that would be theft, because these things aren’t my property,’ says Phyllis emphatically. ‘Besides, if there’s a Downton movie, which I hope will happen, all the props and costumes will be needed.’ Ah yes, the Downton film; rumours still swirl but so far there’s been no confirmation. According to Phyllis it may yet happen if – and it’s a huge if – the cast members can ever be gathered in one place long enough. ‘It’s like herding cats!’ she laughs. ‘We’re all so busy and in different countries, but it would be such fun to get together again. The camaraderie on set was extraordinary.’ Phyllis was in every episode of the family saga. Her husband even appeared in a handful of episodes as Horace Bryant, the stern father of an army major who fraternised with housemaid Ethel (Amy Nuttall), getting her pregnant before he died in action. Horace persuaded her to hand over his grandchild to him, which was brutal but necessary as she had been sacked from Downton in disgrace and had taken to prostitution in order to survive. ‘I was quite miffed that the producer had offered Kev a job without even consulting me,’ laughs Phyllis. ‘I wouldn’t dream of queering his pitch – although I do think I’d be great as Johnny Depp’s mother in a Pirates of the Caribbean film [in which Kevin plays Joshamee Gibbs]. And every lad needs a cuddle from his mother now, doesn’t he?’ Her eyes glitter with the sort of mischief Mrs Hughes would most certainly not approve of, but now Phyllis has emerged from the shadow of her fictional alter ego, she is keen to push boundaries. Last summer she resolved to challenge herself by taking on a theatre role in a dazzling touring production of Noël Coward’s Present Laughter, alongside Samuel West. ‘The prospect of going back on stage was a bit frightening, but that is exactly why I embraced it,’ she says. ‘I can be a bit of a scaredy-cat so I have to push myself and I was so very glad I did. It took me right back to my early days as an actress: booking my own digs, sitting on the seafront on my day off eating fish and chips. I also got to see fascinating places such as Canterbury, Cambridge and Brighton.’ Seeing the world – be it near or far – is something she gently urges all women to do once the kids have left. ‘Travel does broaden the mind and fill the senses,’ she says. ‘It gives you a new perspective and there are so many beautiful regions in Britain that I can think of no better way to spend time than exploring them because you’re a long time dead – so carpe diem, ladies!’ The Good Karma Hospital will be on ITV next month. Phyllis is an ambassador for Dementia UK and is supporting its campaign timeforacuppa.org Styling: Natalie Read. Hair: Alex Price at Frank Agency. Make-up: Lucy Gibson at Frank Agency using Clinique. Table and vase, both Habitat Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/you/article-4128572/Interview-Downton-star-Phyllis-Logan.html#ixzz4WSbvI2CF Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

[inactiive-shit]

A Hero’s Death

A Hero's Death

This is a Sander's Sides fanfiction! It's...heavy, so watch out. The writing isn't stellar or anything, but it's pretty decent.

Words: 3,013

TW: death, battle, loss, swearing, unhappy ending (this whole thing is just really bad, so seriously, be careful when reading.)

Pairings: implied/pre-established romantic and qp LAMP (it's a strange mix and not really expanded upon,) focuses on romantic Moxiety.

Message me or send an ask with any other tws or tags or anything I need!

That's all I guess. Here we go:

The bridge had collapsed.

Or, was collapsing?

Patton didn't know which term would be more correct-phrasing and language was far more Logan's area of expertise, and right now Patton did not have time to call Logan and ask. The point was, the most massive battle between people with powers was happening right now, and Virgil-Patton's Virgil, one of the loves of Patton's life-was caught in the middle of it.

Rather, he was caught under it. Virgil had thrown himself under the bridge when another Superhuman had knocked out the supports. His strength and resilience and pure stubborn will was allowing him to hold it up, but even that had a limit and Patton knew, he knew, that that limit was going to be reached soon.

Too soon. God, Patton knew if he could just get there before the inevitable, then he could help, they could fix this-

Patton, the only Normal Human present, went scrambling over the rubble of once-standing buildings. (Already, four different Superhumans, heroes and civilians, had tried to usher Patton out of the war-zone. But they didn’t have the time to argue with some idiot, rushing headlong into death. All Patton had to do was insist he wasn’t leaving, and in some cases rush away when they grabbed at him. He was lucky, he supposed, that no villains had spotted him, but they weren’t really looking for civilians anymore. No, they seemed to be intent on destroying as much of the city as possible, everything-and everyone-else be damned.) Rocks and debris scittered down the mountains he crossed as his reckless, clumsy feet dislodged them. He twisted his ankle and then twisted it again and kept running. He was so close, so close to his love. Not his first, not his last, but the one in the middle. The man who taught Patton acceptance of his own flaws and problems. The man who taught Patton that just because something is different does not mean it is bad or makes you worth less.

Patton ducked a bright green thing flying for his head and fell. His glasses hit the ground, and one side shattered. The frames were still intact, so Patton shoved them back on his face and kept running. He wouldn't have stopped even for the glasses, but he couldn't see anything without them. His sight was worse than Logan's, and that was saying something.

Now half-blind and bleeding, Patton was stumbling through a veritable war-zone. The projectiles were coming faster now, and buildings were still slamming into the ground. How were there still buildings left to fall? How hadn't all the Superhumans killed each other? How could this all still be happening when Virgil, Patton's sweet and sour shadowling, was being crushed? How could the world still be moving when they needed to stop and help him?

Patton tripped down the last rubble hill and there, not twenty feet away, was Virgil. Sweat and what looked like blood-please don't be blood- soaked through the long sleeved maroon shirt he wore. (Roman had bought him that two years ago for Valentine's Day. I know our love is not romantic, but I love you all the same, and Valentine's Day is celebrating all love, Roman had told his qpp with his usual flare. And look! It's even in our colors! Virgil had played it off like it was nothing, but it was the shirt he wore whenever he felt bad, or when he needed to feel braver.) You couldn't tell how absolutely stick-thin Virgil was under the huge shirt. He was the last person you would think had super-strength.

(Patton remembered the day he'd found out. They'd been dating for almost a year and in typical Virgil fashion, he'd become too anxious to simply tell Patton that he was Superhuman. (He was scared of rejection, or that Patton would be angry that Virgil hadn't said anything sooner. Like a disclaimer, ya'know? Patton, in typical Patton fashion, had only been delighted.) Instead, he came back from a week of radio silence. Patton rushed him for a hug, and Virgil had wrapped his arms around Patton, lifted, and spun. Patton was stunned. Rare was the person who could lift Patton. (He wasn't tall, but he had a particular affinity for cookies, and he was a baker.) Virgil smiled sheepishly and ran a shaking hand through is hair. After his initial shock, Patton had squealed and demanded to know everything. Virgil was kind enough to comply. Now, Virgil's hugs and spins were some of Patton's favorites.)

"Virgil!"

"Patton?" There wasn't even enough space for Virgil to lift his head from how he was squatting an entire bridge, but the shock in his voice was obvious enough. "What are you doing here? Go! You need to get out!"

"Virge, honey, you need to come out. Alright? You have to drop the bridge."

"There's still people under it, Patton! I can't let it go. But you need to leave. It's not safe here." Virgil twisted his head to look up to Patton. (Virgil had never looked up at Patton before in his life. Patton was five foot nine, but Virgil was six foot four.) Virgil was shaking as he did it, like he could barely stand to move his head at all.

Patton took a second to glance to the side. Virgil was right; other Superhumans were running and flying and leaping and crawling under the soon-to-be-wreckage, pulling out civilians and animals and other Superhumans alike. He jerked back to Virgil.

"I'm not leaving without you, Virge. And if you don't let the bridge down, you'll die. You can save so many more of them if you keep living, Virgil. So many more people will need your help, and you can help them, but you have to live to do it. Please, Virge. You need to get out from under there." Patton dropped to his knees in front of Virgil. Virgil's head dropped down with him, like a puppet who's master lost the strings. Patton cupped his face, and felt the trembling-in his cheeks, his arms, his legs. Like Virgil was experiencing his own personal earthquake. "Honey, if you don't let it go, let this go now, you won't be able to. Please, Virgil. Please, I need you. Roman and Logan need you. Virgil, you'll die if you don't get on top of this now." Patton tried to smile at the word-play, but it was too much.

"Patton, I can't." Virgil looked stricken, and Patton could tell he was an inch closer to the ground now than he had been.

"Virgil, please. I-I can't leave you here, a-and I-"

"No. Patton, I can't. It's-it's too late." Virgil smiled, watery and brave. "It was too late before you got here. I-I can't lift it, my angel. So you need to leave. Because-because I can't protect you, and I don't want you to see this. Okay, my angel?" The expression of Virgil's face crumpled like paper, and Patton stared, horror and denial turning him to a punching bag.

"Virgil, you have to. Please, I need you, Virgil. You-you have to try. For me. Try for me, Virge. Please try." Patton was gasping, tears running down his face. Virgil looked at Patton, and he forced a heavy breath out. Then in. Out again.

"Okay, Pat. For you. I'll try for you." Then, Virgil's face twisted up into a feral snarl, and he shook and he shook as he pushed against the weight of everything. In that moment, Patton saw the man who was locked at a crossroads in the public eye; the man who stood between a dozen debates. Half the population thought him to be a villain, and the other half thought he was a hero. The dark choice in clothes, secret identity, avoiding the press, and ever present snarl was more than enough to put a doubt in the masses. Was Purple Shadow good? Was he really a villain? (Patton remembered Virgil picking the outfit, when he'd decided to be a hero. (I'm not a hero. I'm just going to help people.) He'd nervously fingered the stiff black fabric, and muttered what if it's too dark? What if they think I'm going to hurt them? What if they hate me? Patton had patted his back. Kiddo, what you wear won't matter. They'll see that you want to help. But Virgil had been antsy, so Patton had learned to sew. He sewed swirls of dark and iridescent and bright purple into the cloth. Not so dark now, but still dark. Do you like it? Virgil had loved it. And Patton had even made him a royal purple cape that could function sort of like a hoodie, but ripped off easily so that it wouldn't hinder him in battle. It's perfect, my angel. I adore it.)

The bridge lifted a centimeter at a time. Patton kept mumbling praises and pleas, and begging every god Logan had ever mentioned from school or that Roman had ever mentioned from his plays to please, let Virgil live, take Patton instead, switch their places, let Virgil have a life damnit, he deserves one.

Except, the bridge stopped moving upward. And Virgil let out a shuddering breath. And then slowly he began to fold again, stone bridge pressing and pressing and gravity stomping Virgil lower and lower and fuck Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein whoever else made gravity so goddamn irreversible.

"Virgil, honey, please. Just, keep trying. Keep trying, Virge. You were almost there. You were so close, Virge. Just-"

"Patton, I can't. I can't do it. It's too much. It's too heavy and I can't get out, and I'm sorry I'm so sorry this is all my fault I shouldn't have-"

"Virgil, listen. It's alright. It's alright. This isn't your fault. None of this is your fault." Patton forced a smile, tears streaking his dirty face. Virgil was terrified, and having a panic attack, and Patton could never let his Virge hurt like that. He could smile through this pain for Virgil. He would grin and bear it if that's what Virgil needed to be okay. To not be scared.

"I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm so sorry, my angel. I-I don't want to die. I don't-"

"I know, Virge. I know. You'll be okay. Somebody will help. You just have to last a little longer. Deep breaths, honey, okay? Just keep breathing." Patton looked wildly around, trying to find someone who could lift the bridge. Just a for a second, just long enough to pull Virgil out, but the fight was still raging around them. Not one Superhuman spared a glance for the man holding up the world.

"Pat-Patton, I'm scared. I'm scared. Please, Pat. I-I don't want to die alone. I don't want to be alone. Please, don't leave. It's selfish, I know I'm being selfish, but please Patton. Please don't leave me. I-I don't want to die. I'm scared-" Virgil broke off. He was shaking even more, barely a foot above the ground, and he was crying. Virgil was bawling right where everyone could see, and Virgil would never do that. Virgil hated crying.

"Virgil, honey, don't worry. I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to be right here. I will stay right here, okay Virgil? Can you hear me? I'm going to be with you. It's not a selfish thing at all Virgil, and I love you, and it's not your fault, and nothing could move me from this spot. Alright, Virge? I am staying with you. I chose you and I choose you and I am staying right here." Patton scooted forward and pressed a kiss to Virgil's lips. He reached under the bridge and wrapped his hand around Virgil's wrist, rubbing his hand soothingly. "I love you, Virgil. Nothing could move me from this spot. Nothing."

Selfish? Virgil thought that not wanting to die alone was selfish? That was the least selfish thing that Patton had ever heard of. Virgil, of all the people Patton had met through charity work and non-profit organizations, was the least selfish person Patton had ever met. He was amazing and kind and didn't ask for help because he didn't want to inconvenience others. Patton had begged to do the stitching on Virgil's costume. And Virgil had barely agreed. He did everything for everyone and asked for nothing back. And now he was scared and thought asking for any comfort was selfish? He was beautiful and perfect and he never saw that and he was never selfish.

"Patton, I-I can't hold it. I'm gonna fall. I'm gonna fall. I-It's-" Virgil stuttered off again, and Patton looked around desperately before tensing. There was no help coming, no one who cared enough about a lesser known Vigiliante-hero combination. Not one single other person was going to stop and help, and that alone made Virgil worth a thousand of them.

Patton forced back tears. He knew what he had to do.

"Virgil, it's okay. If you can't hold it, you don't have to. You can just let it go, okay? Nobody will be mad, nobody will be disappointed. You tried your best and you saved so many lives, and everybody knows that. Okay, honey? I-I want you to keep trying, but I understand if you can't. I-" Patton let out one sob. "If you need to let go, you can. I will be right here with you Virgil. You will never be alone, okay? I will be here, and if you need to let go, then it's okay. I understand. You can let go." Tears ran down Patton's face, but he refused to sob. Virgil needed him to he strong. For once, Virgil was asking that Patton help. He wanted Patton to help him, and Patton wouldn't fail him. Not now. Not when it mattered most.

"I-I love you, my angel. I love you so much." (Patton remembered the first time Virgil had called him my angel. They had been together for three years. (Roman was already in the picture by then. He had completed their happy quartet.) In all their time together-three years of friendship, one year of something more, three years of dating-Virgil had never used a pet name. He had never called Patton anything other than Patton or Pat. (Patton didn't mind. He was a little sad at first, but he got over it. It was just another piece of Virgil to learn to love.) It hadn't been a particularly special day, but they had been at the house alone, Logan and Roman both busy with other things at the time, and Patton had been sad. There wasn't a reason, just the chemicals in his head acting up again. (They did that sometimes. Virgil assured him it was nothing that needed fixing. He wasn't broken. He just needed a little help.) And Virgil had come up and whispered, what's the matter, my angel? What do you need? Patton's brain had malfunctioned a moment, not feeling sad or numb or anything but shocked. Virgil went red and began apologizing, trying to take it back. But Patton's brain caught up, and the sadness came back, and he grabbed Virgil's wrist-like he was now-and burst into tears. They stung his eyes, but that didn't matter. The name didn't magically clear up the sadness and it didn't make the chemicals work right, but it did make Patton's heart flutter. It did make Patton feel a little warmer. It did make the tears in his eyes feel not so bad as before. I need you to say it again. Please, Virge. And Virgil had been kind enough to comply yet again. Virgil sat next to him, held him close, laid them both down on their too-small couch, and whispered my angel over and over. He whispered it until Patton closed his eyes, he whispered until the tears dried up, he whispered until the sun set and Patton slept, and Patton's pretty sure he heard him whispering still while he slept. Virgil never said it around others, and Patton never mentioned it to anyone else. It was Patton's name. His title. Patton was Virgil's angel, and that was among his greatest prides.)

The bridge fell.

Patton screamed as Virgil was shattered and smashed under an impossible weight, and Patton screamed as his own hand went with his second love. Patton screamed as the blood began seeping out from under the bridge, and Patton screamed as the blood soaked the knees of his pants. Patton screamed as his world fell apart, and Patton screamed as everything else did too. Patton screamed as everything kept moving and fighting, and Patton screamed as it all became too much.

Finally, hours or days or weeks later, Patton went quiet. He had no sound left. And then he noticed a shimmer of purple. The detachable cape Virgil had worn. Torn off in the battle, or dropped from Virgil's bag when he rushed to help? Patton didn't know. Logan probably would, he thought quietly. Logan would know what was going on and why it was happening. And Roman would make a joke to let Patton know it was alright.

Patton reached for the sooty material, and he felt with immaculate clarity the agonizing pain as his wrist moved from where it was smashed, made to be one with his love. The pain didn't make Patton pause. He just kept reaching and shifting until he could grab the cape. He pulled the material into his lap and sat, hand smashed and a third of his world gone. He sat and he toyed with the material. He sat and he cried because Virgil did not deserve this. He cried because he didn't deserve this. He cried because Roman and Logan didn't even know yet, and they didn't deserve this, and who would have to tell them? Patton thought he should. He was in love with them both-different kinds of love, but still love. He owed them the news himself. They should hear it from him.

Patton sat in the debris and blood in the midst of the largest battle in a century, and he cried because he had lost. They had all lost.

So, so much.