#and roman will test the waters a bit but not say anything definitive until he get the person talking and can see what it is they want

[bitchthefuck1]

It's kind of funny that Kendall and Shiv are both equally delusional about their ability to charm people for business and somehow think they can do it even though they choke almost every single time, whereas it's like the one thing Roman is consistently good at despite being the "least legitimate" option.

I think part of this comes down to the fact that Shiv and Kendall both have very clear ideas of the versions of themselves they're trying to be and the images they're trying to project, and they're trying so hard to be seen that way that they end up coming off as a little desperate and off-putting. Meanwhile Roman "knows" that there's something wrong with him and he's worthless, so he doesn't get sucked into the trap of trying to force people to see his idea of himself and instead molds himself into whatever he thinks the other person wants from him because that's the only way he can compensate for "being him," which works very well in the short term but also means he's the least capable of maintaining any relationship for very long because he has no sense of self.

[thearoacewriter]

so I was thinking about how lucky it was that Neil survived Baltimore and I thought it was kinda like someone put a protection charm on him bc Stuart showed up at the exact right time. then I was like “okay who out of all the foxes would be a witch?” and it hit me duh it would definitely be Andrew so here’s my pagan Andrew hc

It started with his interest in greek mythology. One of his foster homes had a massive library that caught his attention. Of course, he wasn’t there for long—  Andrew never stayed at a home for more than a few weeks— so, along with a volume of the collected works of Shakespeare, he stole a book on Greek and Roman mythology.

He got through that book relatively quickly and wanted to know more. At first, he wanted to read about more obscure Greek myths, but when he went to Barnes & Noble (because he would never steal from an independent bookstore) a book about Norse mythology caught his eye.

He read up on as many different mythologies as he could find. Once he moved in with the Spears, Cass bought him all the mythology books he wanted, though Andrew never asked for them. She’d noticed the couple of books he lugged around and decided to buy him some more. Andrew never said thank you, but Cass knew he appreciated them because, within days, there’d be a million tabs sticking out of them.

It all stopped once Andrew went away to Juvie. The library they had there was just sad. They had one book on Greek myth and it was all of the basics that Andrew had already read a million times over. 

Andrew hated his uncle as soon as he saw him. He hated Tilda even more. Tilda wasn’t really religious, but his uncle and aunt sure were. It was hard to piss off Tilda since she barely gave two shits about him, but he needed to take his anger out on someone. That left his aunt and uncle. They were the ones who put him in this situation in the first place. They were the ones who let Aaron stay here and get hurt. They were to blame for this as well.

Andrew didn’t believe in God. He never did. Not even when one of his first foster houses forced the kids to go to church every sunday. He was small and impressionable then, but the foster house before that one had made him lose any hope that there might be a God watching over him and keeping him safe. 

During his time reading about different deities, he found out that people still worshipped them. Pagans. Witches. Wiccans. They worked with and worshipped the old gods. That had caught Andrew’s attention, but he learned about it just before juvie so he never had a chance to look more into it.

Now he did. He knew being a witch would piss Luther off more than anything. Luther had been trying to lead Andrew down a spiritual path, but Andrew wasn’t having any of it. He looked into witchcraft, bought a bunch of books on it. He learned the basics first: protection spells, what different crystals did, the wheel of the year. He started to practice reading tarot cards and even got a pendulum.

Andrew was obnoxious about his practice around Luther and Maria. They told him that he could be saved if he converted, that witchcraft was the will of the Devil. Andrew told him what he learned about Lucifer as an entity and how he was completely different from the Devil. He told them that Pagan’s didn’t believe in hell. “How can I fear damnation if I don’t believe in it?”

The more he practiced the more he believed. His tarot reading came up right every single time. His spells started to work too. At first, it was just little things like luck for a test in school or motivation to finish an essay. He got more confident in his spells, using them to help the people he cared about more than on himself. He cast a luck spell on Nicky after he heard about what his parents were doing to him when they found out he was gay. Soon after, he went to study abroad in Germany. He found someone who helped him out of the hole he’d been in. 

Months past, Tilda was still hurting Aaron. Andrew had threatened her to keep his hands off him many times, but she wouldn’t listen. The plan took a little while to formulate, but once he was ready, he cast his first hex. It exhausted him. He felt like he’d played a full game of exy. Though he knew he had to keep going. He’d casted a protection spell on himself before the hex, but he needed an even stronger one if he was going to survive what he was about to do. 

He was tired, but determined. Aaron was pretending to be him somewhere else at the moment, so he had to pretend to be Aaron. He wasn’t worried that Tilda could tell the difference. They’d done this a few times before and Tilda never suspected a thing. 

The car crashed. Tilda died. Andrew lived, somewhat unscathed. 

Nicky came back from Germany when he heard. Andrew kept practicing. He celebrated the Sabbats, oftentimes Nicky would join him even though he was Christian. He didn’t want Andrew to have to celebrate alone. Sometimes, he’d even get Aaron to join in. 

When Kevin came into the picture, he started casting protection spells on him. He’d place crystals in his pockets to help with his arm and anxiety. He’d draw sigils in the back of Kevin’s notebooks. 

He put a hex on Riko the minute he found out he broke Kevin’s arm. Those worked well enough in the end.

He looked into truth spells once Neil Josten came to Palmetto, though he never used any of them. He’d never do a spell that took away anyone’s free will. Hermes, his patron, wouldn’t approve anyway. 

He missed Yule while he was at Easthaven. He couldn’t do anything for it besides meditate and try to communicate with his deities in astral. He was good enough at casting protection charms on himself without any materials, but not so good at astral projecting.

Once he got out, he placed some protection spells on Neil too. He didn’t want to admit it, but now that he was sober, he couldn’t blame the feelings he had for Neil on his meds. He wanted to keep Neil safe. It was part of their deal, sure, but he also did it to feel less like something was going to jump out and grab Neil at any second. 

He cleansed his dorm for Imbolc. Aaron and Nicky were used to Andrew spritzing rain water everywhere on the first of February. Kevin looked at him funny as he came out of his room, but didn’t say anything. Just like he didn’t say anything about the crystals and sigils. 

His tarot reading for Imbolc said he would open up more. He thought he’d read his cards wrong, but his clarifiers confirmed it. He thought it was bullshit until Eden’s. “That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t blow you.” It kept happening as Neil followed him to the roof more and more often. Then, they kissed. Andrew wanted Neil to push him away, to tell him no, but he wouldn’t. 

They kept messing around. Andrew kept slipping crystals into Neil’s pockets. He even made him a tiger’s eye keychain since Andrew knew Neil always had his keys on him. He knew how important keys were to Neil, so he knew he’d never lose them. 

That is until their match against the Bearcats. The riot after the game caused Andrew to go after Aaron and Kevin. He wanted to go after Neil first, but he remembered that they broke their deal. He forced himself to look away from Neil. He assured himself that Neil was safe. He had his tiger’s eye keychain. He had the protection spell Andrew always casts before they leave for away games.

Though, when they all got on the bus, Neil was nowhere to be found. He went back out and only came up with Neil’s duffle bag. He dug through it and found his keys tucked inside. Andrew started to panic, though he didn’t show it. He forced some answers out of Kevin and they were on their way to Baltimore. 

Andrew sat in his usual seat. He was the most fidgety he’d ever been since getting off his meds. He couldn’t cast any protection spells since he didn’t have the right supplies, but he did hold onto Neil’s tiger’s eye and prayed to Hermes to keep Neil safe. 

He didn’t quite understand what happened until Neil explained everything. The thing about magick was that it was unpredictable. When Andrew found out that Neil’s father was still alive, he wanted a way to keep him away from Neil permanently. He couldn’t find the right hex to use, so he tried to manifest his death instead. Manifestation is tricky. If you’re not extremely specific, there’s no telling how it’d play out. 

His protection spells had worked to an extent, it’s just that his manifestation worked more. Neil was saved at the last second by his uncle, but he still had major wounds. Nathan Wesninski was dead at least, though that didn’t stop Andrew from blaming himself for not being more thorough. 

After Neil’s arms healed a bit and after Neil started wearing the armbands Andrew got him, Andrew would draw protection sigils on his arms while they were sitting on the roof. They were covered during the day, most of the time Neil just sweated them off, but Neil swooned every time Andrew did it. It was a sign that he cared, truly cared, about Neil. 

Additionally, Sir is Andrew’s familiar. Don’t ask me why it’s not King because idk it’s just the vibe 

Also eventually Neil starts giving Andrew things he finds on his hikes because Neil’s a little goblin boy and he knows that Andrew could use some of the things in rituals or as offerings 

They also do a handfasting ritual on the Beltane after they get married. They got married mostly because Andrew didn’t want to have to fight with the nurses to let him see Neil if he got hurt or vice versa. Weddings don’t have value to Andrew, but handfasting rituals do, so they did one in this meadow they like to go to sometimes and had a picnic afterward

anyway I like projecting onto my favorite characters so thanks for letting me indulge i would very much like Andrew to celebrate the sabbats with me. I’m a kitchen witch, he likes sweets, it’s the perfect combination 

[thewriterisalwayswrite]

Scared Yet?

Summary: Remus likes kidnapping the others. He thinks it's fun. He has yet to get a rise out of Logan, which he sees as the ultimate challenge.

Pairings: Intrulogical

TW: Kidnapping, restraints, very mild sexual content

Word count: 934

AO3

A/N: This is an ongoing series that I’ve been posting to AO3 for awhile, so I figured I might as well post it here too. I hope you enjoy, and please go easy on me! I have yet to figure out all the logistics of how to set up a tumblr blog.

Next->

The first time Patton had found himself with a bag over his head, tied to a chair, he had to admit he’d been panicked. But now, it was just Tuesday. Literally. He’d found that he was kidnapped once a month, and it was always on a Tuesday. Despite claiming there was no rhyme or reason to what he did, there did seem to be a method to his madness.

Roman was Fridays. Virgil disappeared on Sundays. Janus was taken on Wednesdays. Logan didn’t have a day, he just went missing at random moments.

They’d panicked, fought, and tried to get him to stop at first, but by now they just played along for his sake. Logan, though, refused to entertain what he called the ‘ridiculous charade’. He’d just sit and wait until someone came for him or Remus got bored.

Unbeknownst to Logan, Remus had taken this as a personal challenge to get a rise out of him, though sometimes he felt like he’d tried everything. He didn’t do anything that could actually hurt the nerd, though he’d attempted every fear tactic in the book. Today was one such day.

Logan had been missing for around two hours, and Roman was lazily prepping his sword. This was normal for them.

“Are you going soon?” Patton always still seemed nervous until they had said person back, no matter how often this occurred. Roman just shrugged.

“Let him have his fun. Say, five hours. He still hasn’t broken our good friend Logic. Even if I’m technically the ‘hero’, I want to see him freak out as much as the next guy.”

Virgil chuckled. “Don’t we all?”

Remus was becoming very frustrated, and Logan was beginning to get a little annoyed.

“Aren’t you scared yet?”

“No. If you’re quite through, Remus, I’d like to get back to my work now. Some of us actually have things to do.”

Remus made a mock offended gesture. “Well excuse me if my job isn’t important enough for Logic .”

Logan just rolled his eyes. Remus looked over at Logan, and at the cliff he was currently hanging off of. “Not doing it for you?”

“Nope.”

He sighed, snapping his fingers. “Change scenario.”

Logan shut his eyes so the rapid changing of setting wouldn’t hurt them. Upon opening them, he found himself in a room made entirely of glass. At first he couldn’t tell where he was, but as his eyes adjusted to the nearly-black room, he noticed the glass was surrounded by water.

Dark water. There were also dark, shadowy figures occasionally slipping past where he could see.

Ah. So Remus thought he was afraid of the bottom of the ocean. And he was, sort of, but not this. This was fabricated, not to mention he was in a glass room. How was he supposed to be afraid of something that could not access him? The answer was he could not be.

“Nice try,” he observed loudly, knowing full well that even if he couldn’t see Remus, he was watching.

He heard Remus curse before he snapped again and Logan screwed his eyes shut one more time.

When he opened them again, he found himself in a big, dark… dungeon? With torture tools. This was new. He knew Remus wouldn’t really use any of them on him, though, so he remained unbothered.

Testing his right arm, then his left, he noted that they were, in fact, shackled to the wall. That was… bothersome. His left was beginning to fall asleep. He tried to shake it out as much as possible in his current predicament, before setting his eyes on the door. Remus should be there any moment.

When he heard a noise to his right, though, he looked over. Remus was already here. He had on his regular ‘manically evil’ grin. Logan, just looked at him, irritated that they were still doing this. Had Remus not figured it out yet that he was unshakeable?

Remus stepped closer, and Logan ignored him. He really had wanted to finish that book today. But instead, here he was. Doing this.

He just stared as Remus traced the sharp end of a scalpel down his face, whispering, “There are so many things I could do to you.”

At that, though, Logan’s body involuntarily shivered a bit. Not out of fear, this feeling was… unfamiliar. There was something about the idea of Remus… doing things to him. He tried to shake the thought.

He quickly looked over at Remus, who should have been thrilled at having received even the smallest of reactions, but he didn’t. Instead, there was a sort of... intensity in his gaze.

He heard metal clatter to the hard ground as Remus looked closely at his eyes. Into his eyes. Against his will, he felt his face heat, and he knew he was turning a humiliating shade of pink. But Remus just kept getting closer. He felt warm, sturdy hands on his hips. His breath hitched.

“Are you scared yet?”

It took everything in him to nod. This was definitely unfamiliar, and in his book, unfamiliar meant scary.

Remus giggled, placing one hand behind his head and pulling him in.

As Roman threw open the door and prepared to go through the rescue performance with Patton and Virgil in tow, he froze. Of all the things he wasn’t expecting to see, Remus and Logan with their lips locked in a passionate kiss was at the very bottom of the list.  He regained his bearings quickly and ushered them all back out.

“What? What’s happening?”

Roman’s eyes were wide.

“Dude, that’s kinky as fuck.”

[coconut-cluster]

Does Roman ever confide in LB!Virgil about his crush on a certain quiet kid in his class 👀

sort of! (civilian) Virgil goes on a sort-of date with another one of their classmates (because Logan tells him its not super healthy to pine over one person so constantly it defines one’s self worth), and even though up until that point Roman only thought of Virgil as a good friend, it makes him feel weird when he sees him asking the other person out?

And he and LB!Virge fight the akuma later that day and Ro is super spacey and irritable, and after they win Virge is like “what’s up with you??” and Ro doesn’t say anything for a second before he just kinda mutters, “I’m not sure.”

after a minute, he sighs and says, “I have this friend.” and Virge raises his eyebrows because oh jeez, that tone of voice is heavy. “A good friend, he’s a... he’s a great friend.”

Virge stares at him (he’s never seen his partner in crime (partner in justice?) so openly frustrated and serious, so it’s a bit of a shock). “....But?”

“But I was, I don’t know, mad at him earlier? For some reason? And I don’t really know why, and it bothers me because I don’t want to be mad at him, and I don’t even know if I’d call it being mad, but I was definitely... upset.”

“What’d he do?”

“Nothing!” Ro throws his hands up, brushing Virge’s shoulder in apology when he flinches at the abruptness of it. “He didn’t do anything, that’s why I’m confused! He just- all he’s done today was ask someone out- and it’s not like that’s any of my business anyway!”

Virge blinks at him. “And you’re mad at him? Because of that specifically?”

“I-” Ro sighs, a frustrated huff, and shrugs. “I guess. I think so.”

“That, uh...” Virge squints out at the rooftops, tilting his head side to side for a second as he considers Ro’s predicament, and says, finally, slowly, “Are you sure you don’t maybe... have a crush on this kid? Because it sounds a little like you’re jealous, kitty.”

And Ro doesn’t answer for a second. “That’s what I was worried about.”

“Why? Does he suck?”

“No!” Ro says immediately, looking a little less irritated. “He’s great! He’s talented, and he’s funny, and clever, and the way he talks makes you feel like he’s making an effort to talk to you specifically, and he has these really nice eyes, and-”

The little smile that had started to appear on his face fades as he looks to Virge, a weird sort of fear in his expression. “And I... totally have a crush on him.”

Virge blinks at him again (and ignores the odd twist in his chest at Ro’s realization, because it’s out of place and nonsensical and weird and honestly it confuses him) and holds back a little laugh. “Is that a bad thing?”

“I- no? But he’s my friend, and I don’t want this to ruin that! And besides,” he adds, bitterness in his frown, “he asked someone else out today. That doesn’t speak well of my chances.”

“Maybe he’s just trying to test the waters,” Virge offers with a shrug. He did the same that morning, didn’t he? (Sure, he wasn’t too confident in its effectiveness, but when was he confident about in anything.) “Maybe you should try, too. If he and whoever don’t work out, I mean.”

Ro stares out at the rooftops, biting his lip. Finally, he nods, slow and sure.

“Maybe I will.”

[kieraswriting]

Coffin Chapter Five

Masterpost

The humans were all gone. Roman had left first. He didn’t seem to spend much time at the house. Logan and Patton had left later on.

Virgil had been here for a few weeks now. He was allowed to do what he wanted in the basement, except at night, when the cell was locked again. There wasn’t much to do. There were several games in the cabinets, but most games required two or more people. Logan brought down some books, and that would have been nice, had they been anything he could understand. They were very technical, and not in subjects he knew much about. So Virgil ended up playing a whole lot of solitaire and making card houses.

There was a familiar sound from above him. The front door was being opened. Odd. He’d thought they would be away for much longer.

“Patton! Are you home?”

Ok, no. That was not any of their voices. A friend maybe?

Footsteps went all over the downstairs, and then probably the upstairs, where Virgil couldn’t hear as well.

“Go away,” he muttered. “They aren’t home.”

Virgil put the cards back in the package.

Then the footsteps came to the basement door. It was locked. He was sure. He hadn’t checked, but he knew they always locked the basement door. He’d be safe down here. But he hadn’t checked!

Then he heard a key being turned in the lock and the door opening. Virgil raced into the cell and pulled the door shut. He didn’t watch where he put his hand, and got a burn from the silver, but it would heal soon enough.

“Hello? Is someone down here?”

Crap. He should’ve just been quiet and still.

A man came down the stairs. He was in his forties or fifties, but clearly the kind of man that took pride in his strength. But looking at his face, Virgil had no doubt that he was related to Patton. He carried two silver pistols openly on his hips, and probably all those pockets had other implements for either capturing or killing vampires. He had a badge on his chest that proclaimed him to be a Vampire Hunter.

All hunters smelled bad, like Death herself had shared her perfume with them, but this was the worst Virgil had smelled yet. He wasn’t sure how he hadn’t smelled it as soon as the front door opened.

He also hasn’t known that hunters were open like this. He’d heard stories of hunters before, but that was because he was always around vampires. Some people were still suspicious that vampires existed, how were hunters able to just declare themselves like this?

“Oh, are you the one sent to Patton?” The man asked.

Virgil didn’t make any kind of reply. He didn’t know him. He didn’t owe him anything, not even a reply. He just hoped the man wouldn’t try to come into the cell.

“Not very aggressive, are you?” The man walked further into the room, noting the cards on the table.

Virgil watched warily. There was no way that the man didn’t realize the door was unlocked. Roman had come in. If the man kept coming closer, he might come in as well.

“Haven’t even got a muzzle on or anything…” the man said, turning to stare at Virgil. “I bet if I came in there you wouldn’t try to bite me, would you?”

Virgil’s breathing sped up. He did not want some strange dude coming any closer.

“No, that was a question. Answer me. If I came in, would you bite me?” The man’s voice had turned harsh and commanding.

Virgil shook his head.

The intensity faded away. The man pulled a massive key right out of a pocket, and searched for awhile. He found the right key, and locked the cell. Virgil wasn’t sure how he had keys to everything, but he didn’t doubt that this man would shoot him if he protested to anything.

After locking the cell, the man went back upstairs. Virgil could hear him, either talking to himself oddly or on several different phone calls. It was another three hours before Patton got home.

•^*^••

Patton got home and was surprised to find the front door unlocked. He was sure that he’d locked it when he left.

“Oh, Pat!” He heard his dad say as he stepped inside.

“Dad! Hi!” Patton stepped around the corner to the living room and stopped dead. “What are you wearing?”

His dad grinned, looking down at the numerous tools of the trade that were attached very visibly to his clothes. “You know I had a meeting with the board today.”

“Yes…” Patton frowned slightly. “I thought you were going to call and tell me how it went.”

“It’s all far too big to say over the phone.”

Patton sat down. “Ok. What happened?”

“We’ve decided that we’ve been wrong, doing things the way we’ve been.”

Patton nodded.

“Now, China still disagrees, and several from Africa and one from Canada, but all of the European representatives completely agree with us.”

“Wait, this was a big board meeting? I thought it wasn’t bigger than America.” Patton interrupted.

“Well, it wasn’t going to be, but once we decided, we went ahead and contacted the other branches, and set up a whole big thing!”

Patton nodded again.

“So, it’s been decided that hunters should become public.”

“What?!”

“I know! But it’s been a long time coming. We can only do so much if we can’t let anyone know about it. Even silver guns are still pretty loud.”

“But I thought that the whole reason of keeping it a secret was to avoid people panicking.”

“Yes, but when we weighed a few weeks of panic against the lives vampires could be taking while we slink around, trying to do things slowly, it’s been decided that we should just out with the whole thing.”

“You think they’ll all be caught in a few weeks?”

“Eh, not all, but I’d say 90% is a safe bet. If the vampires get exposed, we’ll have people handing them in left and right.”

“But if people try to hand them in, those people could get hurt.”

His dad shrugged. “Not more people than the other option. So, because of all this, we’re gonna get badges, and I’m working on getting the police to work with us, it’s gonna be so much to do!”

Patton nodded, a bit dazed. “Yeah, I see the badge. What are you going to do with all the vampires? Surely there isn’t that much room to hold them all.”

“We have a decent amount of room, but what we’re going to do is have them split up between the ones that are controllable, and uncontrollable. The uncontrollable ones we’ll stake, and the controllable ones we’ll work with to give something back to the community. That’s where you come in.”

“Me?” Patton squeaked.

“Sure! You’ve always been able to get nearly any vampire to do what you wanted inside of a week. I’ve been downstairs, noticed how well trained that one is already. You could really help with this, Pat.”

“It’s… it’s a lot, Dad. I don’t know yet.”

“Oh, you’ll be fine! You’ll just have to show a couple of our guys how you do things, and then they’ll be able to do their parts by themselves. It’ll be good practice for you, make it easier for you to take over my job one day.”

Patton turned his instinctive grimace into a kind of a smile. “Yeah… I guess, knowing the people already would make it easier.���

“It’s not just knowing them, Pat. It’s taking a leadership role. You’ll lead the hunters, and they’ll see your natural genius with vampires, and you’ll start making the important connections you’ll need when you get to be my age.”

“It’s still just a lot, Dad. I think I need time to think it over.”

“No, you don’t understand, we’re doing this today.”

“Today?! Why?”

“The sooner the better! We’re going to jump them, before any news can leak out and they hide away. I’m expecting you to come with me tonight on the first big hunt.”

“I—I just, I’ve only just heard about this—“

“Let me rephrase this, if you don’t come tonight, not only will I be disappointed in you, but I’ll be embarrassed in front of a very large group of people.”

Patton froze.

“And frankly, I’m surprised that you aren’t excited about this.”

Patton could handle his dad being upset with him, it happened. He could even handle him being disappointed, though that definitely hurt more. But how could he embarrass his Dad? And publicly? And he’d be doing it on purpose. He couldn’t. He could just do that.

“I’ll be there. When does it start?”

“Sunset. I’ve brought you and your friends badges. I’d love to stay until then, but I’ve got to contact the rest of the hunters in this part of the country, and there’s not much time left now.” He stood up and set three of the badges on the table. “I can’t wait to see you again tonight.”

Pat mustered up a weak smile.

“I love you, Pat.”

Patton accepted the hug his dad offered. “Love you too.”

•^*^••

Virgil had been listening carefully to the conversation going on above him. It sounded bad. Really bad.

He knew that they were hunters, but hearing Patton’s dad talk so casually about staking large numbers of vampires, and probably enslaving the rest, sent a cold chill through him.

Then Patton’s dad left, and Patton started downstairs.

“Virgil?”

Virgil wasn’t sure what to say. “...hi.”

“Are you alright? My dad said he came down here earlier.”

And then Virgil was reminded that he was talking with Patton. Patton who was kind, and tried to be considerate even to a vampire. Patton who could possibly be convinced.

“I-I heard you two talking…” Virgil said, testing the waters.

Patton’s eyes went wide, and then a little ashamed.

“Patton, please, don’t help do something like this.”

“I have to.”

“No, you really don’t. It’s not even— I don’t know why you do any of it. You don’t have to.”

“I do.”

“Why?”

“My dad lost my mom and my brother, and nearly me too, to vampires. I can’t leave him. He needs me.”

“But surely you don’t have to do this. Surely you don’t want to!”

“I don’t want to hurt innocent people, vampires or human, but most vampires aren’t innocent, Virgil. You aren’t like most of them.”

“Your dad doesn’t want to find out who’s innocent.” Virgil said, leaning against the bars of the cell. “He wants to find which of them are useful as slaves and kill the rest.”

Patton sat down heavily, scrubbing at his face with his hands. “There isn’t anything else I can do. I can’t go against my dad. I won’t.”

“If you don’t, you let innocent people get hurt. And die.”

Patton squeezed his eyes shut, and tears leaked out. “I know…” he whispered.

The door upstairs opened. “Patton? I’m home.” It was Logan’s voice.

“Um…” Patton swiped tears off of his face. “I’m downstairs!” His voice sounded shockingly happier to Virgil.

Soon Logan came down the stairs. Of course he noticed Patton’s slightly blotchy face, but didn’t comment.

“Is there some sort of conversation going on?”

“Yeah, my dad came by. It’s uh,” Patton gave a dry laugh. “It’s pretty big news.”

He explained quickly to Logan.

“I see. And what are your thoughts on this?”

Patton shook his head. “I don’t know. I have a lot of thoughts, but they’re all twisted up right now.”

Logan nodded understandingly. “And what are your thoughts, Virgil?”

“I think it’s going to catch a whole lot of people that didn’t do anything wrong.” Virgil said bitterly.

Logan nodded, a curious look on his face. “And what percentage of the vampire population would you believe is similar to you? In their desire not to hurt others, primarily.”

Virgil shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t know that many vampires.”

“Then what leads you to believe that such a large number of people caught in this effort would be innocent?”

Virgil shrugged, but gritted his teeth anyway.

“I truly am interested in your opinion and thought process.” Logan said. “Please elaborate. I am unable to understand you from mere shoulder movements.”

“Just— they can't all be violent! It’s not like we lose out feelings or memories when we get turned. Even if they do hurt people, they could be doing it on accident, or they felt like they were driven to it. And… and I’m also scared. I don’t want what happened to me to happen to anyone else, ever. But this sounds almost worse, and he was talking as if it would be a lot of people.”

“I’m going to infer that you also are concerned that you would be thrust into a difficult or painful position again, correct?”

Virgil chewed on his lip, but nodded.

“Your concerns are valid. I do not know precisely how to address them at this time, but your points are still valid. I personally intend to go this evening, if only to gather more information. I would be open to another conversation upon my return.”

“It’s not the time for information gathering!” Virgil insisted. “They’re going to be killing people tonight. Maybe a lot of people.”

“I personally do not believe that there will be many, if any casualties tonight. I believe that many others will be caught just as off guard as we have been. The hunters, while certainly more energetic, ought not to be any more efficient than usual. And they will be in the open. Any vampires will have adequate time to find a place to hide for a night.”

Patton looked downright hopeful at hearing this.

“In the next four weeks, however, there is indeed a potential for much bloodshed, and it will likely be influenced by the events of this evening. I find it imperative that I be there as a witness.”

Patton was nodding.

The front door banged open. “Guys! Have you heard the news?! Patton? Logan?”

“Downstairs!” Patton called.

Roman bounded down the stairs, the most exuberant Virgil has seen him yet. “Have you heard?! This could be it for me!”

“Yes, we have heard, Roman.” Logan said calmly. “And yes, you could possibly ‘make a name for yourself’ this evening.” He even did air quotes for the expression, which Virgil found amusing.

“You just… you have to be careful what kind of name.” Patton said, his face creased with worry again.

Roman was practically bouncing up and down with excitement, for once not deterred by Virgil’s presence, a badge already pinned to his shirt.

•^*^••

On the tv, playing in Thomas’s house, came a woman’s voice.

“It seems that the hunters have finally found a vampire. We have not confirmed this fact yet. They’ve— oh. Oh, dear God, they’ve torn it apart… No! Do not put the camera near it. Oh. Oh God.”

Thomas turned the tv off. He knew that Dee had to have heard, even from his hiding place. He put his face in his hands and sighed deeply. Life was about to become a nightmare.

•^*^••

When Virgil heard the humans get back in the early morning, there was the unmistakable sound of crying.

[casper-writes-stuff]

I Think I’m In Love

ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21921265

Summary: Virgil falls for Roman, and the realization hits him pretty hard. But... It's not a scary realization, like he thought it would be.

In which I'm five days late for Virgil's birthday, but here's his birthday fic that got way out of hand. I went into this expecting like no plot and Virgil simply thinking about how gay he is for Roman and then Roman refused to be ignored and it just kind of went from there. I've dedicated this to Max ( @max-is-tired) cause honestly? They've helped me get out of my writing funk lately and also they've been super excited for me to finish it since I sprung the idea for the fic on them in the first place lmao.

It wasn’t exactly a soft realization, when Virgil had it. It wasn’t like Patton telling him he loved him so much, and that he wouldn’t know what to do without his friendship. It wasn’t like Logan handing him a book on something Virgil was really interested in, wanting to discuss it with him and Virgil figuring out that was Logan telling him that he loved him like a brother. Nothing with Remus was soft, but realizing Virgil cared about him, too, wasn’t nearly as jarring as this.

Honestly, realizing how much he loved each of his friends never hit Virgil quite as hard as it did when he realized he was in love with one Roman Grimm. It was like a bag of bricks dropped from a few feet straight onto his chest.

Virgil had come up with a particularly creative insult and it had left Roman keeled over, wheezing so hard all that was escaping his mouth was high pitched noises, not a breath of air between them. He’d crossed his arms in triumph, feeling like he’d won that days bickering.

It took him all of ten seconds before he realized his expression wasn’t the smirk he’d been going for, but an overly sappy, love-filled smile at Roman’s laughter. And that’s when the bricks dropped and all air rushed out of his lungs, his eyes widening as he watched Roman gather himself.

He… didn’t run. Didn’t even consider it before Roman had recovered, made a comment that prompted Virgil into a response that sent him cackling again. While the conversation continues, Virgil thinks.

He thinks about his last venture into the dating world, and how it ended in such a massive disaster that he did his best to jade himself to feeling like that again, because what’s the point of butterflies when they’re only going to rip through your heart on their way out?

But… being around Roman doesn’t give him butterflies. Strangely enough, Virgil feels like he’s the one with wings, when he’s with the flamboyant actor. Being with Roman makes Virgil feel like he could do anything he wanted to, so long as he had him by his side. Doesn’t matter that they’d be bickering and insulting each other the entire journey. If anything, that’d make Virgil feel more confident that he can actually pull it off, whatever it was he decided to do that day.

And honestly, now that he’s thinking about it, Virgil gets kind of reckless when he and Roman are in the same vicinity. Dee has even pointed out to him before a venture into an abandoned amusement park to go ghost hunting that Roman had an easier time convincing Virgil to do something stupid and kind of dangerous than Patton did trying to get him to sleep.

Virgil had, naturally, told him to shove that stick in his ass down his own throat. He may be spending a little too much time with Roman’s brother, if he was being honest with himself. Dee had only scoffed, rolling his eyes before letting Virgil leave the house to meet up with an eccentric blond.

That venture into the old, rusty amusement park was one of the best nights of Virgil’s life, if he didn’t count being almost crushed to death under an unsteady beam in one of the haunted houses. He and Roman had so much fun getting scared shitless by every creak and groan of the old rides. The funhouse mirrors had sent Virgil into laughing fits when every single one somehow only showed Roman as his normal self while he himself got the different appearances.

Thinking back on it, there was definitely a ghost fucking with them that entire adventure, but Virgil was having too much fun exchanging witty insults with Roman to really care. He’d had fun, and really wasn’t that something? Cause Virgil… Virgil didn’t have fun. He mildly enjoyed things while anxiety tickled the back of his mind, making him overthink every single action that was a result of him not thinking enough. The anxiety faded, the longer he knew the people he hung out with regularly, but it never really went away long enough for him to forget it was there until something that needed it happened.

Virgil was about to start thinking about how Roman managed to get him out from under the old rotting wood of a support beam before the haunted house got worse when Roman himself interrupted his thinking.

“Virgil. Vee. V-Man. Very Unimportant. Walking Existential Crisis. Vladimir--”

“Roman if you finish equating to me to the president of Russia, your face will no longer be as pretty as you think it is,” Virgil interrupted, his eyes finally focusing back on Roman’s expression. Which was filled with a confused concern.

Oh shit, did he space out?

“Well sorry, you stopped responding to me for a minute there, and your face went from all “Roman is a dumbass” smirk to some kind of mushy, gooey grin.”

Virgil scrunched up his nose in disgust at the comparison.

“Ew. Don’t ever call me mushy or gooey again, and I’ll let you live.”

Roman snorted, rolling his eyes at Virgil’s false disgust of all things soft.

Which, rude. Virgil had a reputation, he couldn’t just let himself be called mushy. What would his pretend fans think!

“I’d like to see you try and kill me, Very Short. You can’t even reach my shoulders without my assistance, you think you can aim for my heart from all the way down there?”

Virgil’s eyes narrowed while Roman’s grin widened, turning into a challenge.

There was exactly two beats of silence before Roman bolted for the door, Virgil chasing after him.

Virgil stops thinking about his feelings after that, stops thinking beyond strategy to capture Roman and somehow give him the biggest noogie of his life for daring to bring up Virgil’s height.

And it just kind of… continues. Virgil feels comfortable around Roman in a way he hadn’t before, despite Virgil never thinking he was ever uncomfortable around him prior to his revelation. Maybe it’s because he’s aware of the feelings now, and he recognizes his actions for what they are; pure, genuine affection and romantic attraction.

Over the next few weeks, Virgil can’t help but test the waters a little bit. He starts flirting back when Roman sends him some stupid pick up line he thinks is funny. Several times they’ve gone for hours, trying out-flirt each other and many times Virgil has won because Roman can’t let go of the overly ridiculous lines that focus on sex and Virgil is actually flirting so Roman eventually gets too flustered to continue.

Along with the flirting he gets… a lot more touchy. It’s not exactly subtle, nor is it obvious the touching is another result of his discovery, considering it’s really just Virgil letting himself rise to a lot of the bait Roman lays out for a playful fight. Patton definitely notices though, and the conversation that leads to is awkward at best, mortifying at worse.

And no, he doesn’t really feel like recounting that event in his memories.

It’s two days before his birthday when his brother and Roman’s brother trap him in Dee’s room with them to confront him.

“You know, you could’ve just asked to talk to me in private instead of hooking your arms around mine to drag me in here,” Virgil comments after flopping on his back on the carpeted floor beneath him. Dee and Remus had both taken advantage of their heights, and Virgil hadn’t really been able to keep his feet under him so when they let him go he’d fallen on his ass and who was he to pass up the opportunity to lay down?

“Yes, but that wasn’t nearly as much fun as dragging you in here like we were going to torture you for information!”

Virgil huffs a breath of air, trying to get his bangs out of his eyes enough so he could give Remus a curious look.

“Okay, and why are you torturing me for information?”

Dee cuts in, then. “Because you’re so open with us, Virgil.”

Virgil narrows his eyes in a glare at his older brother.

“You’re point, Monty the Python?”

Dee rolls his eyes at the nickname, crossing his arms.

“Our point, V-Section, is that you’re acting weird around my brother and he may not have noticed but we have,” Remus butts in with an irritated huff.

Virgil blinks, staring at his brother’s best friend for a solid thirty seconds before he speaks up.

“Was that… Did you just call me a C-Section but with the first letter of my name?” he asks, utterly bewildered. Usually Remus was a lot gorier or NSFW with his nicknames for others, and he didn’t usually relate their name back to it like Roman did.

“Did you really just totally ignore everything Remus said after that?” Dee asked, exasperated with the thing Virgil chose to focus on rather than the important part.

Virgil shrugged, shifting his feet so his knees were in the air and bringing his hands to rest on his stomach.

“I mean, yeah? It’s not like I’m really trying to keep my actions a secret, guys. Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t say anything sooner? It’s been, what, two months since I actually started flirting with him?”

Dee blinks in surprise at Virgil’s admission.

“...That’s it? You’re not going to fight us on this?” he asks, skeptical of how easy Virgil was taking this. He was quite literally taking it lying down.

“Yeah? Why would I fight you on this?” Virgil asked, raising his torso up on his elbows to better stare at them in confusion.

Genuine confusion.

Jesus Christ.

“Probably because when you dated Chris and he criticized literally everything you did and liked you broke down after he dumped you and told everyone you wouldn’t let yourself interact with romance again?” Remus said, confused by Virgil’s confusion.

“Ah. That. Well, it’s whatever. In the past, literally years ago at this point. Why should I let it bother me now?”

“Who are you and what have you done with my brother?” Was Dee’s immediate response, panic that was almost genuine ringing clear through his words.

Sighing, Virgil flopped back onto the ground, ignoring the slight burning on his elbows from sliding them against the carpet. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, arms spread wide and knees knocking together as he thought (he’d been doing so much thinking lately).

“I know, not exactly something you’d expect me to say, as someone with generalized and social anxiety disorders. But… I don’t like Roman, the way I liked Chris. With Chris, things were fast but they felt kind of forced after a while. I mean yeah, it was fun making fun of people with him, but he didn’t exactly stop at other people, or even me. He criticized himself, and I felt a kinship in that, I guess. I felt like he’d relate to me on my worse nights. I dated him more because I thought he’d understand the feelings because he went through them too.”

Remus and Dee looked at each other as Virgil trailed off, obviously lost in thought. They let the silence go for a minute before Remus got impatient.

“Okay, then how is my brother different than Crucifixion?” he asked, impulsively grabbing one of Dee’s hands to play with his fingers see how long he could squeeze them together before he pulled his hand away.

Virgil still didn’t look at them, instead choosing to smile softly at the ceiling and wow, if that wasn’t a strange look to see on his brother.

“With Roman it’s like… it’s like coming home after a long day of bullshit. It’s a huge relief, I get to unwind from my stress by focusing on something else that I enjoy exponentially more than talking to other people. Instead of overly stressing about how someone reacted to this action, or what to say next to avoid pissing people off, I get to focus on just being in the moment and enjoying myself. It just… feels like home, loving him.”

“Well, slap my ass and call my Lucifer, cause hell must have just frozen over,” Remus says, making Virgil freeze as what he just said sinks in.

“Well. Guess that answers that question, then,” Dee comments, finally pulling his hand away when Remus scrunches his hand in a way that shoots pain through the back of it, making Remus grin at him.

Virgil makes a noise, but Dee can’t really identify what it is, now that Virgil has covered his face with his hands. Granted, that really does nothing to obscure the way his neck and ears have turned red, and if Dee guessed, his face was probably just as bad.

“Remus, I think we should let Virgil stew in his words by himself now.”

Remus perks at that. “Oh! Can we go to the creek? I think I saw a dead squirrel there yesterday and I wanna see how much it’s decomposed.”

Dee sighed, but nodded, turning away from his brother as his best friend bounded out of the room in excitement.

Virgil let out a groan as he listened to Dee and Remus leave, noting the lack of the door clicking shut. Guess it was left open then, probably to urge Virgil out of Dee’s room faster.

Well… he may as well accept that he just admitted Out Loud to his brother and friend that he was in love with Roman. Not like it was information he didn’t already know, he just… hadn’t really anticipated telling them it was something beyond a stupid crush.

With a heavy sigh, Virgil uncovered his face and made quick work of getting himself off the floor so he could actually go chill out in his room like he’d been planning to do before he was ambushed outside of the bathroom.

Honestly, Virgil really shouldn’t have expected Dee and Remus leaving him alone after his admission would mean they would just leave him alone about the topic altogether. Especially now that it was his birthday, and Roman was coming over in five minutes and Remus was giving him a wide unsettling grin.

Usually, that wouldn’t mean anything. Except it was paired with Dee’s self-satisfied smirk as he swung his keys around his finger to entertain himself while he waited.

Virgil glared at the two of them from his spot on the kitchen counter (he’s gay and has anxiety, you couldn’t pay him to sit properly on a chair. Or in a chair regardless).

“What are you two up to? I swear to God, if it’s a surprise party, I will skin you both,” Virgil hisses.

Remus goes to respond, fully prepared to get into a competition with Virgil on who can come up with more creative threats, but Roman bursts in at that exact second, and Virgil slinks off the counter to go meet him at the door, shooting Dee another harsh glare over his shoulder.

“I’m here, Charlotte’s Web!”

Virgil couldn’t help the small smile that formed at the classic nickname, shaking his head as he stopped in the doorway leading in and out of the kitchen.

“Hey, Caesar Salad,” Virgil greeted, shoving his hands in his hoodie pocket and forcing his smile into a more lopsided smirk as Roman looked up at him.

Roman paused for a second, staring at Virgil like he’d just seen something he hadn’t before, making Virgil quirk a brow in question. Instead of an explanation, Roman just cleared his throat and finished maneuvering a large brown paper bag through the gap between his leg and the doorframe.

“Whatcha got there?” he asked, stepping forward to help Roman out by grabbing the thing he wasn’t struggling with--his jacket.

Roman glared at Virgil, who only smirked in response before huffing as he managed to get the bag through without ripping it.

“You’re birthday present if you must know, Gerard Gay.”

Roman was rewarded with a snort as Virgil turned back into the kitchen, gesturing for Roman to follow with a wave of his hand.

Entering the kitchen, Roman let out a long groan.

“Remus, what are you and Rumplesnakeskin doing here?”

“I live here, Roman,” Dee responded before Remus could, rolling his eyes.

“Yes, but you’re never here when I’m here, and if you are, you always make a quick getaway. You’re up to something, Jafaar, and I don’t like it.”

Virgil couldn’t help but agree with Roman, going back to glaring at the two as he hopped back up on the counter to get comfortable.

“Plus, you both have been giving me your evil plotting smiles all morning.”

Roman shuttered. “Oh yeah, something’s definitely up. Spit it out Dr. Gloom and William Snakespere. What foul deeds are you planning today?”

Remus snorts at that, pulling a recorder out of his pocket. One of those old handheld ones you see in movies when the main character needs proof of something that was said. Something he must have gotten from Logan.

Something he probably had two days ago.

Virgil froze, eyes zeroing in on the recorder. The next thing he knew, he was launching himself off the counter in Remus’ direction, reaching for the device in hopes of either grabbing it or making Remus drop it so it’d break on the ground.

Neither of those things happened, considering Remus seemed to anticipate Virgil’s reaction as he gave a gleeful squeal, leaping onto the table and holding the recorder high above his head, out of Virgil’s reach.

Virgil had no qualms getting on the table, but before he could, Dee stopped him.

“Virgil, that table can only handle so much weight, do you really want to incur both of our moms’ wrath by breaking the table when we’re only visiting?”

Roman watched as Virgil was clearly panicking at the fact that Remus had a recorder in his hand, gaze switching between Remus and Dee and Virgil as he tried to figure out what was going on.

“I don’t know what’s going on here, other than the fact you guys have recorded something Virgil clearly doesn’t want me to hear, but I’d honestly really rather you didn’t force him into sharing something he’s not ready to share yet,” Roman said, crossing his arms after dropping the bag on the floor.

Remus let out a loud whine at that. “C’mon, Roman! I thought you’d be curious to know what we’ve found out.”

Roman shrugged at that, looking to Virgil, who was currently staring at him with wide eyes. He met the look with a small smile.

“Yeah, of course I’m curious. You guys know I hate being left out of the loop, but Virgil doesn’t want me to know right now. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll never want me to know. And even if it does, I’ll respect that. My curiosity is not an excuse to betray his trust like that.”

“I love you.”

Roman blinked in shock at the words that suddenly left Virgil’s mouth, and if the surprise on Virgil’s face was anything to go by, Virgil hadn’t expected to say them either.

Silence filled the kitchen for a few minutes before Remus let out a resigned sigh.

“Well that just took all the fun out of this. Dee let’s go to the park so I can scare some kids.”

Dee shook his head at his best friend as he hopped off the table.

“We’re not scaring children again, Rem. The last time we nearly got kicked out of the park for good, and I know that one is your favorite for corpse hunting.”

Dee’s words trailed off until the door closed behind the two friends as Roman and Virgil continued to stare at each other.

“...I love you too.”

Virgil’s face immediately lit on fire, and he let out an embarrassed sound, but didn’t move from his spot leaning against the table, knee halfway on top of it from when Dee had stopped him.

Roman couldn’t help but laugh, shaking his head.

“Was that what Remus wanted me to hear?” he asked, shifting to sit on a counter (a habit he gained from Virgil, though he was more prone to sitting in actual chairs, he sat on whatever surface was closest to him).

Virgil finally shifted his leg off the table, clearing his throat as he collapsed onto the floor, legs spread out before him while he leaned back on his hands.

“...Yeah. Yeah it was. Though the recording probably had a lot more embarrassing stuff on it, I doubt they only recorded the last bit of that conversation.”

Roman nodded, tapping his fingers against the hard surface of the counter.

“To be completely honest, I had my suspicions when you started flirting back? But I didn’t really want to say anything in case you stopped, or I was wrong.”

Virgil groaned, letting his head fall back so he could stare at the ceiling.

“Yeah, that started like a week after I figured it out. Remember when you called me mushy and gooey and I threatened your weak life form?”

Roman snorted. “Yeah, I remember. And excuse you, you’re the one with a weak life form Virgil.”

Virgil squinted at Roman then. “Roman. You’re allergic to cats. And chili peppers.”

“You’re lactose intolerant!” Roman protested, earning a smirk.

“Yeah? Do you see me avoiding dairy, Roman? I have chugged an entire gallon of milk, Princey. You really think something as stupid as milk inolerance is going to stop me?”

The bickering continued, them not really acknowledging their feelings beyond the initial declarations of love.

Which was fine with Virgil. They didn’t need to label anything just yet, and it’s not like Virgil was really into physical affection beyond cuddling anyway, so nothing really would change between them, label or not.

And if they held hands more often, or teased each other with pet names they didn’t dare do before, then that was really nobody’s business, was it?

[sleepless-in-starbucks]

Unflusterable

Warnings: Food mention, some swearing, Deceit and Remus are mentioned but super briefly, gay, a lot  of gay, like this fic is just gay Roman waiting to be really really soft with Virgil Pairing: Prinxiety (duh)

    Roman doesn’t get flustered.

    He’s a prince, after all! The romantic side of Thomas, dashing and bold and witty! He was the one who flustered all who even looked at him!

    So Roman was definitely, utterly, completely, not even a tiny bit flustered by the mere existence of Virgil.

That would be foolish! To fluster a prince of love such as himself, there would have to be dramatics! Proclamations of love! Flowing poetry and sugary nicknames!

Virgil didn’t do things like that. Virgil didn’t do anything romance related, really. He seemed happy to just be a brooding stormcloud of isolation, and that was fine by Roman.

Because Virgil wasn’t flustering him.

During movie night, when Virgil had accidentally fallen asleep leaning against Roman, his head falling on the Prince’s shoulder, and Logan commented Roman looked redder than a solanum lycopersicum? 

Roman was just a little warm- that’s all! After all, Virgil was leaning on him, and he was very warm, with all the heat caught in his hoodie, and he was right on top of Roman, face smooth and relaxed, breathing calm and gentle, looking so at peace-

Roman had just been making some observations. And overheating. Not doing something silly like crushing hard. Not him!

And that time when Roman had headed into the kitchen, only to find Virgil and Patton baking, and ended up remaining in the doorway until Patton asked him if he needed something?

Well, he had been creating all day! So many ideas and plans tire out a Prince! So he was paused in the doorway because he was tired. Not because he was in a dazed stupor, watching Virgil laugh and genuinely smile through Patton’s puns, and not because he noticed how Virgil had gotten some flour in his hair, dusting it white, and there was cookie dough on his cheeks, and how he still looked utterly drop-dead gorgeous anyways.

People looked at Roman and thought embarrassingly sweet thoughts like that. Not the other way around.

Or that time when he had gone to fetch the Dark sides to plan the next video, only to find them and Virgil engaged in a vicious water gun war and found himself unable to say a word until his half-brained brother shot him with a gooey substance that was decidedly not water?

He was simply surprised such activities went on in the dark and dreary corner of Thomas’s mind! It wasn’t like he had been caught off-guard seeing Virgil in action, eyes glinting even in the low light as he took a perfect shot at Deceit, looking so focused and engaged and confident, like a different person, yet just as breathtaking as always.

Because Roman. Did. NOT. Get flustered.

And as long as Roman could just remember this, he could stop doing silly things like constantly getting distracted. An occurrence that had nothing to do with whether or not a certain anxious side was in the room.

Armed with this knowledge, he left his room (where he had most certainly not been spending a few hours reminding himself he was unflusterable) and headed for the Commons.

And was almost immediately forced to test his so-called unflusterablitiy.

Because the Commons were empty aside from Virgil, who was doing nothing other than sitting on the back of the couch, leaning on it and peering tiredly at his phone screen. It was the most mundane, boring sight Roman could have imagined.

And yet he was once more frozen in place, cheeks feeling warm, focusing way too much on the way Virgil’s hair was messed up like he had just woken up, yet somehow looking adorable on him when it would just look hideous on anyone else. 

How his hoodie was only half-zipped up, showcasing the top of a Nightmare Before Christmas t-shirt, so incredibly casual yet incredibly lovable at the same time.

How, when he yawned, he stretched his back out like a cat might, his mouth a cute little ‘o’ before he slumped back into the couch, blinking tiredly at his screen like a perfect mess. 

How Roman desperately wanted to pull a blanket over him and gently push him down onto the actual couch, and tuck the blanket around him while Virgil weakly fought and slowly closed his eyes despite his protests, his hand snaking out to grab Roman’s wrist when he tried to leave and forcing him to come down and nap with him-

Fuck.

Before Roman properly had the time to contemplate how screwed he was, Virgil was glancing up from his phone, having noticed him. He smirked, and Roman wondered how it was possible for Virgil to have the same face as him yet be insanely prettier.

“Like wh-”

Before Virgil could even get close to finishing his thought, Roman had darted out of the room, racing to his room even faster than his heart rate. He slammed the door to his room the minute he was inside, throwing himself on his bed and burying his burning face in the cool silk sheets.

Romance did not get flustered.

Roman, however, very clearly did.

A few minutes later, he heard a couple of heavy, loud knocks on his door. He glanced at it, trying to decide if he really wanted to entertain a visitor when he was pretty sure he was still blushing.

“Ro? You in there?”

Virgil.

On one hand, Roman knew he should absolutely not open that door. The chance of him being stunned into silence within a second was guaranteed, and he had just started to fight the blush out of his cheeks.

On the other hand, it was Virgil. Roman was opening that door before he had even finished going through the pros and cons of the action.

The pro that was ‘seeing Virgil’ and the con of ‘will become severely flustered’ hit at the same time, Roman fighting the urge to grab Virgil’s hands- which were in the middle of worriedly yet familiarly worrying the edges of his sleeves- and simply hold them, maybe gently kiss the knuckles, as soon as he opened the door.

Through sheer will power alone, Roman managed to clear his throat and ask (impressively without stuttering), “Can I help you, That Gloomy Gentleman?”

Virgil’s mouth quirked into a quick smile at the nickname before quickly transforming into a frown. The effort Roman exerted to not draw his sword and stab himself for possibly causing that frown was Herculean.

“I was just wondering if, uh, if I had done anything?” He asked, haltingly, flinching when Roman stared at him in bewilderment. “You’ve been acting really weird around me recently, and you just sorta bolted from the room when I tried to speak to you, so I wanted to know if I had accidentally offended you, or hurt your feelings, or-”

“Of course you haven’t!” Roman interrupted, possibly a touch too passionately if Virgil’s shocked expression was anything to go by. He coughed, trying to reclaim the nonexistent dignity he was clinging too. “I mean, no, Virgil, I’m not upset with you. I’m sorry you perceived my actions as such.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Logan, you finally taking Deceit up on those costume lessons?”

“It’s me, Virgil. Roman, not Logan.” Roman said sincerely before attempting to reclaim his normal grandeur with, “I’m insulted you could ever even think that nerd could play a part as extravagant as mine!”

Virgil clearly didn’t buy it. “Uh huh. Well, if you’re really Roman, what’s up?”

“What do you mean?”

“I did just mention the whole ‘freezes every time I’m in the room and just fucking ran when I tried to talk to you’ thing, right? If the problem isn’t me then it’s gotta be you.”

Roman laughed, trying to sound princely and ending up sounding nervous. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m the same-”

“I’mma stop you right there.” Virgil cut in, physically pressing a finger to Roman’s lips as he did. The touch was incredibly brief, but it had still fried Roman’s every neuron beyond thinking. “Something is clearly up. You might as well tell me now before I fetch Deceit.”

Normally, Roman could come up with a good dozen witty responses; at the least, a very indigent ‘you wouldn’t dare.’ 

At the moment, however, Roman’s mind was only capable of stringing together the words, “Virgil” and “pretty,” which was quite impressive all things considered.

What wasn’t impressive was the fact that these internal thoughts had, apparently, become external.

Virgil blinked rapidly at him, caught off guard. He had just opened his mouth to say something when Roman slammed the door on him.

He regretted the action immediately, but it was that or actually facing the truth and his stunningly attractive, impossible-to-look-away-from crush. Gay panic had made its choice.

“You know we can just rise into each other’s rooms, right?”

So, gay panic had just directly lead to him shrieking like a five-year-old and jumping ten feet in the air in front of his crush. Maybe dying from embarrassment was a better life choice.

Virgil sighed from behind him. “Just because you refuse to face me doesn’t mean we’re not going to talk about the fact you just stuttered out, ‘Virgil pretty,’ before slamming your door in my face.”

Roman ran a hand down his face. “Yeah, but I have half a chance not stumbling over every single word I say like this.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

Roman sighed. Better to just tell him. Maybe then no one would question him when he started walking around blindfolded, considering as long as Virgil existed that was going to be the only way he could keep his thoughts about him.

“Virgil, I- every time I see your face, I see stars in your eyes and sunlight in your smile. Every time you speak, silver bells ring and angels sing. Every time you so much as blink you steal my own breath. You’re… you’re so many types of beauty, and I’m bowled over by all of them.”

“Y’know, you could have just said something like, ‘every time I see you I cannot deal.’”

Roman huffed. “You are ruining my dramatic profession of love.”

“More like cheesy.” Virgil replied, before continuing, tone lightly teasing, “And what I’m getting from that ‘dramatic’ cheesefest is that I have flustered Romance, which according to you is impossible.”

“It is.” Roman said, a small smile on his face. “Turns out flustering Roman is a lot more plausible, however.”

Still teasing, Virgil asked, “Roman, do you have a crush on me?”

“Crush feels like an understatement at this point.”

“And, oh Blushy Prince of Romance, what do you think would happen if you knew a certain somebody had a crush right back at you?”

Roman swallowed past the suddenly huge lump of Gay in his throat. “I think I’d die.”

Virgil chuckled, sounding closer than he should have been until Roman felt Virgil’s arms settle lazily around his neck, the direct source of his overwhelming Gay panic pressed against his back and tucking his head into the crook of Roman’s neck.

“Then perish.” Virgil said, mouth much, much too close to Roman’s ear, breath warm, and he leaned forward a bit, moving his head just slightly to plant a kiss on Roman’s cheek and- yep, there it was, Roman’s last brain cell, floating away in the breeze.

Powered entirely by Gay panic, Roman twisted his head when Virgil pulled away, just managing to catch the other’s lips. The kiss was horribly awkward, both of them craning their necks for it to work, but Roman was kissing Virgil- his head could fall off in the next moment for all he cared.

They broke apart after a minute, Virgil’s smile quickly transforming into a smirk as he saw how dazed Roman looked. “You really are a gay mess, aren’t you?”

In a different world, where Roman currently had the skill to string together words, he would have responded, “Well, I’m a mess, and I’m very gay, so I’d say yes,” or something that sounded like he still had his wits with him.

Roman chose to just count his lucky stars he only babbled senselessly for a few seconds before just nodding. Virgil laughed.

“You’re cute when you’re flustered.”

And here Roman was thinking it wasn’t possible for his cheeks to get any redder.

Instead of defending himself, he just reached up to hold Virgil’s arms from where they were still dangling around his neck, tugging them tighter around him, treasuring the warmth and the light smell of lavender that clung to Virgil.

Roman let out an over-the-top dreamy sigh before letting his head fall backwards so he could see Virgil’s face. So he was probably going to spend the rest of his life stumbling over his every other statement while constantly looking like he had a terrible sunburn.

Seemed a fair price to pay for such a perfect view.

[gt-fluffy-vore]

Mindtrapped Chapter one: 911

Sanders Sides fanfiction

Warnings: Car crash, panic, GT, not being able to control one’s own abilities, mention of rape, mention of murder

2103 words.

Thomas was forty minutes into his two hour drive to Daytona Beach, where he'd be staying for a well needed, if not modest, vacation, and already he regretted it. It was Virgil and The Duke who were to blame. Not only would they not leave him alone, they wouldn't leave each other alone either.  And, much to The Duke's pleasure, he was beginning to wonder if driving himself into oncoming traffic would be a better alternative to these two… But he hadn't meant to actually do it…

"Thomas, you'll be staying in a hotel, will you not?"

"Uh, yeah? So?"

"So?!" Remus let out a laugh. "Oh, Thomas. What are hotels for?"

"Sleeping? Watching cartoons if you pay for a nice one?"

He sighed amidst another laugh. "Ah, Thomas, you have got to stop ignoring these things! Hotels are for sex! Rape! Eh, occasional murder if you're feeling particularly… horny."

"That…" Virgil groaned. "That has nothing to do with why hotels are a bad idea… But they are a bad idea…"

"Uh-huh…" Thomas was getting aggravated again. Or rather, he was getting pissed off. Couldn't they just shut up and let him concentrate on driving?!

"Especially if you don't have a really nice one…"

"Virgil, I do have a really nice hotel. That's why this is called a vacation."

"But what if it's not as nice as you think it is? Or, what if it is exactly as nice as you think it is and you get killed anyway?!"

"O-Okay, when - when did we ever mention getting killed?"

Remus sighed. "Sex, rape, occasional murder, it's like you're not even listening to yourself right now! Ha! That was a joke." He cleared his throat and continued. "Anyway, the risk of getting killed is half the fun! That's the excitement of it!"

Virgil groaned, answering through gritted teeth. "That's not exciting. Danger is not exciting. It's… dangerous, that's… that's the point of danger."

"Well sure it's dangerous, but what's life without risk? That's like a cheap hotel without endlessly stained bedsheets."

Thomas and Virgil's faces both shot red. "L-Life without risk is safe! And… comfortable."

"And what good does comfort do if it makes life so bland it's hardly worth living anymore?!"

Thomas had finally had it. Stupidly, he turned away from the road to glare furiously at the two in the back seat so he could shout at them directly. "Just SHUT UP!"

…

…

…

"911, what's your emergency?"

"I - I think I just hit someone. I mean, I did hit someone! I-I don't know what happened! One second the road was empty, and the next they swerved right in front of me!"

"Okay, take a deep breath. Are there any young children in the vehicle?"

"Uh, n-no. It's just the one guy."

"Alright. Can you tell if they're breathing?"

"Um… Y-Yeah? I-I think so…"

"Okay, that's very good. Now can you tell me exactly where you are right now? We're going to send an ambulance to you."

"Um, y-yeah… But - but is he gonna be okay?"

"The EMT's will do the best they can to take care of him."

"Okay… I just… I'm a really big fan of this man's work…"

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

Meanwhile, every one of the Sides simultaneously lost their vision, which was unsettling enough on it's own, until they all collapsed in unison in their rooms seconds later…

The first to wake up was Patton, who groaned and sat up slowly, blinking his eyes open. He was met with… well he wasn't even sure what it was. Some kind of… yard? Thing? Surrounding him were… the sky was made of stone?! Wait, no, it was just really, really tall cobblestone walls. They were thousands of feet high… And now that he thought about it, he could only see one actual wall, which meant that this yard thing was probably thousands of feet wide as well. Whatever this place is aside, where even was he? Was he in the real world? He definitely wasn't in his room… Was he in the mind palace in some way? He didn't see Thomas anywhere… Oh, no! He scrambled to his feet. "Roman! Logan! Noooooo! My makeup adorned angel-son!" Breaking into tears, he stumbled towards Logan, the closest one to him, who was sprawled out on the cement floor, unconscious, silently reminding himself not to use the cheerful nicknames for Virgil - he expressly said he didn't like that. "Logan! Please! Please, wake up! Uh… uh… water!" He summoned a water bottle and… uh, he summoned a water bottle… He tried again. Why wasn't it working? Maybe just try one more time, maybe he was doing something wrong. Nope. He couldn't summon anything. Uh, no water then. Frustrated and more worried than anything else, he reached out a hand and patted the side of his face. Nothing. "Logan, please!" Moaning nervously and playing with his fingers, he finally gave in and smacked Logan's face gently. "I'msosorryLoganpleaseforgivemeIdidn'twanttoIpromiseIjustwantyoutobeokayI'msorry!"

Finally, Logan shifted and groaned, then slowly sat up. "Where are w-" 

Patton interrupted him by pulling him into a tight hug. "Logan, oh my gosh, you're okay!"

"Yes, Patton, I am 'okay'. Now would you please… be so kind… as to release me?"

"Oh!" Laughing nervously, he pulled back. "Sorry, kiddo." He grinned, stepped back, then let his face drop. "Logan… where are we?"

Logan looked around, took in his surroundings, and after a long time, he sighed in defeat. "I… I don't believe I have ever had to say this before… Patton, I… I don't know…"

There was a groan nearby as someone sat up. "You? You, Logic… doesn't know?"

"You are fully aware this is not a fact I am proud of!"

Patton rushed over and helped Virgil to his feet. "You alright? Nothing hurts?"

"Uh, all in one piece and pain free… Well, physical pain at least…"

"So normal for you, right?"

"I guess… I just wish we knew what was going on…"

Patton sighed. "Me too… But hey! We can figure it out, right Logan?"

"Um, yes! Yes, of course we can."

"But we gotta wake Roman up first… He looks really Rom-out of it. Yeah? Get it?" Logan and Virgil both glared. "Okay, okay, I get it… Not funny… But how should we wake him up?"

"Allow me." Logan stepped over to him, crouched down and held his hand out. "Um..." He shook his hand and tried again.

"Ooooh, yeah, I tried that first to wake you up, and for some reason we can't… summon things here."

"Well that's… inconvenient. I suppose I will be using... other methods." He cleared his throat, then said rather loudly, "Disney is officially cancelled until further notice."

"WHAT?!" Suddenly they all scrambled away, Logan being flung by the sudden, drastic change. "Oh, it's just you. Why are you all so tiny? And where are we?"

"We have yet to make that conclusion. And we are not the ones who are small, actually no one is small, it is you who has changed size." Logan rose to his feet and dusted himself off, then straightened his tie and looked up at him.

"Okay, I-" Virgil groaned. "I knew you were extra, but this is just… Is this really necessary?"

"Is what-oh good galloping parahnas! How long have I been this size?!"

"Precisely fifty-six seconds — since you became conscious that is. One minute and one second now, one minute and three seconds, one minute and-"

"Yes we get the idea thank you very much."

"Hey Roman? Not tryna rush you or anything, but could you maybe change back? Ya know, to normal size? Not that I have anything against you being a giant, it just makes it hard to hear ya up there."

"Do not fret dear Patton! I shall return to my normal size this instant!" After a silent moment where his size changed absolutely not at all, his face dropped. "Okay, now you can fret."

"Why?" Logan straightened his glasses. "Why haven't you withdrawn your size?"

"I… it seems I… can't."

"Well of course you can! What's stoppin ya, kiddo?"

"Nothing's stopping me, I just… can't. I can't shape-shift! At all!"

Virgil looked up. "You mean you're stuck like that?"

"Y-Yes!"

"What happens when Thomas calls you to the real world then?"

"Oh, no! If - If I can't shape-shift anymore and I can't return to our size then… then I'll never get to talk to Thomas again! I'll never be a part of another video! Ever! Logan, you must help me! You'll help me, won't you?!"

"You asked me for help? You must be desperate."

"Logan, can't you hear how desperate I am?! Help me… please."

Logan blinked, genuinely surprised. Roman was asking him for help, and he said please? "Of course I'll help you, Roman. Now the first step to this process is to deduce where in Thomas's mind we actually are. And since we are unable to leave, the probability of actually getting to a conclusion is growing slim…"

"What do you mean, we can't leave?"

"I mean exactly that, Virgil. I have attempted to leave this… domain a number of times now, to no avail. There is also the dilemma of Roman's new size…"

They all glanced at him. He was nearly fifty feet tall now, towering above them all. "We're all aware I hate every bit of this, right?" Virgil groaned.

Roman sighed dramatically. “I’m not exactly thrilled about this either. Although… it has always been a dream of mine to experience the life of a giant…”

"Congratulations," Logan sighed. "Now how to reverse it… I'd have to know what caused this, and to know that would be to understand this new domain… Argh, this entire line of reasoning is a paradox!" He took a deep breath. "No, no it's not. There has to be a way to learn more about this place without speaking to Thomas… Firstly, I assume you cannot return to your normal size either, Patton? Or… Um, form?”

“What do ya mean?” It was only then that he, and Virgil, realized that he’d slowly been shrinking and changing form. He was now about two feet tall and had floppy blue dog ears replacing his own, and sharp, pointed teeth, and his fingernails were pointed into tiny claws. They also noticed he had a visible layer of fur covering his body. “Well how did I not notice this before! I don’t remember shape-shifting.”

Virgil shook his head. “How did I not notice that?”

“Oh, well. Time to test your theory, Logan!” There was an awkward pause where Patton threw a hand into the air above him, then looked down at himself. “Welp, looks like your theory’s right! I… can’t shape-shift either. What about you?”

“Neither can I. Virgil?”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

“So none of us has any control over our morphing abilities… Unless… I hate to bring them into this, but has anyone seen The Duke or Deceit around?” They shook their heads — all except for Patton. “Patton?”

He was staring up at Roman, jaw dropped. “Uh, what?” he muttered, still not looking away. His ears were flatter than before against his head and his long tail was curled around one leg. Wait, tail? When did that show up?

“Um, Logan, is it just me or is he still shrinking?”

Logan cursed under his breath. “Patton. Patton!”

“Uh, wh-what?” He set a hand on Patton’s shoulder, and Patton flinched and looked up at him, then laughed nervously. “Heh, wow, I just keep gettin’ smaller, huh?” He was barely taller than a foot now, and still trying to force a grin.

“I have a few ideas as to why our abilities are acting like this, but I’ll need more information first…  I’ve never seen anything like this.” The one thing he wasn’t thinking about was how monstrously huge Roman, currently fifty feet tall, must look from the point of view of someone who’s only a foot tall. Even against him or Virgil, Patton only reached just under their knees now, and with no way to turn back. But of course, Logan wasn’t even considering that Patton was scared. “Roman. Can you think of anything Thomas has watched or read lately that might inspire changes like this?”

“Um… I don’t think so… Why, do you think Thomas is doing this to us?”

“I think his subconscious may be forcing this…”

“So you think Thomas is doing this… on accident...”

“It’s not that simple, Roman. I don’t think Thomas actively has any idea what’s currently happening here. But we are still in Thomas’s mind… I just have to find out where…”

[98prilla]

Abductions, Past and Present

Previous

Next 

AO3

Bit of a lighter chapter, this time, but the next one is gonna be a bit rough. I’m real low on motivation right now, so long term projects like this one are just hard to write at the moment. It’s gonna be slow, folks! One shots are easier for my brain, so expect those while I procrastinate. 

...

He jolts awake, shaking off the tail end of a nightmare, heart racing as he tries to place where he is, eyes locking on the bed, on the form of Roman sleeping peacefully, and his chest knots tighter.

 “hey kiddo.” He tenses a bit at the voice, eyes shooting up to Feathers', flinching back a bit. “it's ok, bud. Can you drink something for me?” his throat feels like it’s closing up, but he nods, letting Feathers hand him a cup. He doesn’t know what's in it, why he's still here, but he's not going back on his deal. So he steels himself and takes a swig of the liquid.

 His eyes widen. It's… water. Cool, fresh, sweet, water. He closes his eyes, taking another, slower drink. God, it’s amazing, he hadn't realized he'd forgotten what actual water tastes like, but it's somehow the most beautiful thing in the world.

 “easy, buddy. Too fast and you'll get sick.” He opens his eyes at hands gently taking back the mostly empty cup. He keeps his eyes down, hands in his lap.

 “Can we get some food in you, kiddo?” He nods again, letting Feathers guide him off the cot he'd been asleep on, barely wincing at the touch, biting back a hiss. The whole time his eyes never leave Roman.

 They settle on the other side of the room, a small table and three chairs around it, which makes him stiffen even as he slides into the seat.

 “I brought breakfast. Is he awake?” His eyes fly to the door. It's Naga. “ah, he is.” Naga answers himself, a small smile flitting across his face, coming to sit at the table, sliding a bowl in front of him and Feathers, before he sits down with his own bowl.

 It smells like oatmeal of some kind, slightly cinnamon and sugary, and he can see fruit mixed in. Fruit. Just the thought nearly makes his mouth water, but he holds back, waiting for permission as the others begin to eat. He doesn’t know if this is another test, he won’t fail so easily if it is.

“Go on, kiddo. Eat up!” Feathers voice is light and cheery, and that's all the invitation he needs. He doesn’t care if it's poisoned, he decides with the first mouthful, nearly crying at the taste of sweet, warm, actual food. The next bite has a pop of sweet citrus and he can’t help letting out a small sound as he savors the flavor. It seems all too soon the bowl is empty, and despite being full he wishes for more.

 Full. The ever present gnawing of hunger that he had nearly gotten used to is absent, he feels almost strange, without the ever present pangs of emptiness.

 “Feeling better?” he nods again, eyes locked on Roman, missing the small frown exchanged between the two beings.

 “kiddo… you can go see him.” Before the words are fully out of Patton's mouth, the human has vaulted out of his chair and is perched on the edge of the bed, hand entwined with Roman's, the other stroking his hair, murmuring softly.

 Janus clears his throat, and instantly, the human freezes, an expression of pure fear on his face as he pulls away from his brother, sitting on the edge of the bed, hands in his lap, eyes downcast. Patton lets out a soft breath, looking to Janus for guidance.

 He doesn’t look up at the sound of wood being pulled across the floor, seeing Naga out of the corner of his eyes, settling in the chair from the table, about a foot away from him.

 “My name is Janus. I’m a Naga. My home planet is Chaemera. I was taken when I was six. My venom is very potent, you see, and gold scales very rare. Individually, they’re not all that strong. But when crafted together on fabric, mimicking their natural placement on my skin they are nearly impenetrable. I’m told they also make fine jewelry. They’d pluck them. Then wait for them to grow back in, and do it again. It hurt, obviously, but I thought this was normal. Just how things go. Until the ship was boarded. And I was freed, taken in and helped to heal in all manners of the word, by Logan. He made a mistake, keeping you two apart, not telling you what was happening, but he means well. He isn’t the most socially adept. He never meant to cause you the fear and pain and stress you underwent at being kept apart. And I am swearing to you now on every scar on my body and soul, that you are safe and I will fight to the death anyone who tries to put you back into that fucking cell.”

 Remus stares at Naga, Janus, with suspicion and hesitancy, searching his face for any sign of a lie, for any sign of cold cunning or icy curiosity, finding none. He can’t decide if that puts him more or less at ease. He wants so badly to believe him, but he can't. He can’t because if he believes it and he’s wrong he will do something he'll regret, something that leaves Roman all alone.

 “you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. You don’t have to say anything you don’t want to. You’ve been hurt really bad. We want to give you whatever it is you need to help start healing. It doesn’t matter if that means you ask us to leave right now and not come back, or if you want to talk. We won’t be angry, we won’t push you for anything, this is all at your pace. You control this. You can come and go as you please, we can drop you off somewhere, if that's what you want, you are free to wander the ship. Nothing here, none of us here, will hurt you.” He looks at Feathers, whose blue eyes are wide and filled with warmth and sadness and kindness, and he lets himself let out a ragged breath, pulling his knees to his chest and shaking, rocking back and forth, relieved, breathy sobs escaping his lips.

 “oh, kiddo. Can… can I hug you?” Feathers asks hesitantly, and before he can second guess himself he nods. He barely flinches, his innate response to touch, but Feathers immediately pulls back at the small sign of discomfort. Which, really, convinces him more than anything else has, because none of his captors would ever have the empathy to playact a motion so innately kind.

 “no… don't… please…” he heaves out, and instantly, those arms are back around him, wings wrapping him in warmth and sky blue softness, and he folds into the embrace.

 “There we go, buddy. It's ok, let it all out, it's ok.” The touch burns at his skin, it feels too hot and too much and too close, the pressure around his back, where the palms rub circles feel aflame and his brain can't process this because touch equals pain, but this is so gentle it's agonizing in an entirely new way that he never wants to end.

 “M-my name is Remus. His is R-Roman. I tr-tried to k-keep him safe, it w-w-was never en-ough I was n-ever enough…”

 “Shh, baby no, you did so good. You did. You kept him safe. You kept him alive, you did it, you did it, baby. You’re out, you got him out. You’re so brave.” Feathers lets go as he shifts away after several long minutes, tear streaked, but lighter, so much lighter, than he can ever remember being.

 “I can… I can stay, with him?”

 “Yes. Of course, yes.” Janus answers, the thought of separating them again causing a flash of pain across his face.

 “ok.” He whispers, voice hoarse, careful as he slips under the covers, curling tight around Roman, so he can feel every inhale and exhale, can feel the steady beat of Roman's heart. He smiles as he feels Roman let out a soft sound, melting into him.

 He's exhausted. He hasn’t slept, really slept, in days. He feels the covers being gently tucked tighter around him, the warmth and heady sense of safety impossible to resist as his eyes slip shut.

 “sleep well, Remus. We'll be in and out to check on you two, ok? If you need anything, just call. If you’re up for it, I'll give you a tour of the ship later, so you know your way around.” He nods, mumbles something affirmative.

 “thanks, Feathers.” He mumbles, slipping into a restful, soothing sleep.

 Patton turns to Janus, eyes aglow, a bursting smile on his face.

 “He called me feathers! That's adorable!” Janus sighs good naturedly, steering Patton out the door.

 “I heard… Feathers." He laughs at Patton's squeal, rolling his eyes but letting himself be drawn into a hug.

 “Are you okay?” Patton asks, pulling away, not missing the flash of something across Janus's face before his mask of smooth confidence slips back on.

 “Of course, darling. I’ve had years to move on, it’s certainly fine.” He dismisses, walking away down the corridor.

 “Jan. I know it must bring back unpleasant memories-"

 “It's fine, Patton. I’m certainly not reminded of my own fragile state when looking at them, I definitely don’t hate playing the spy to get on board those ships, and I’m certainly looking forwards to doing it again!” He shouts, regretting it instantly as he slaps a hand over his mouth, stumbling back against the wall.

 “Janus-" Patton hates the cool mask of calm that slips back on, eyes going dim and distant, looking past him as he straightens.

 “As I said. Everything is just fine.” Then Janus has slipped inside his room and locks it tight, something he only does when he's getting stressed, usually after night terrors or a triggering encounter.

 “Jan? It’s alright to be not alright. I’m leaving you alone now, since you want space, but if you wanna talk ever, my door'll be open.” He hesitates a moment, as he hears a slide and thump, no doubt Janus sliding down the wall, sitting on the floor. “and I know you'll over think it, so I'll say it now, I’m not mad, or hurt, that you yelled. I love you.” He pulls away from the door, slowly, staring at it a moment longer before shaking his head, heading to the common area. Maybe Virgil would be there. He was likely wound up, too, and they could both use some company.

 He didn’t hear the very faint, very whispered “I love you too" that escaped Janus's lips at the sound of his retreating footsteps.

…

He's surprised to find Logan in the common room instead, the distant look in his eyes telling Patton that he was deep in his mind, a form of meditation, almost, that helps the Straevion organize his thoughts and information. But Logan should have been sleeping, not delving through his memory.

 Well, there was nothing to do but wait. Startling him out of it was more damaging and disorienting than nearly anything else, and it was a sign of great trust in his companions that Logan felt safe enough to do this in the living space, where anyone could stumble upon him, completely defenseless and vulnerable. It warmed his heart, how much faith Logan had in them all, and his feathers fluffed up before resettling. A small shuffling from the couch alerts him to Logan ‘waking’, and he smiles softly as Logan lets out a soft breath of air, silver eyes dilating and meeting his.

 “hey.” He says softly, noting Logan’s ramrod straight posture, his hands steepled in his lap.

 “Greetings, Patton. How may I be of assistance?” Whew, if Logan was falling back into his purely formal mode, he must really be upset. His race were generally stoic and formal, showing emotion a sign of weakness, but Logan had long since opened up, though it was still difficult sometimes for him to find the words to express what, exactly, he was feeling. But Patton is more than patient, and more than willing to help Logan express himself, lighting up at any small shred of emotion Logan shows, knowing how much trust it takes for him to share any sign of feeling, every twitch of the lips, any small snort of laughter, any tears or twinge of pain, each one was a tiny gift.

 “Preen me?” He asks, instead of any of the other questions he wants to pepper Logan with, knowing he won’t answer any of them honestly if he’s this wound up. Logan hesitates, but nods minutely after a moment. Patton smiles, settling on the floor, wings stretched out behind him. After a moment, he hears Logan follow suit, and he shivers at the gentle touch on his feathers, closing his eyes and letting out a happy hum at the ever gentle, careful contact.

 “If you’re out here, I’m assuming everything went adequately when he awoke?” Logan asks, voice still even, hands not hesitating in their careful straightening of his feathers, but Patton can sense the tension underneath.

 “They did. He’s sleeping now, real sleep, poor thing. He trusts that he’s free, too, though that may come and go. His name is Remus. The other is Roman.” He feels Logan nod, absorbing the information. He let the silence linger, letting Logan organize his thoughts.

 “I hurt them.” He says finally, his hands never stopping their steady motion, voice still dangerously flat. “I made a grave miscalculation in my ministration of care and failed to recognize the obvious signs of stress and grief acting upon Remus. I failed to see his signs of aggression as anything other than just that, when it is quite obvious that he was, in fact, in pain. At the very least I should have updated him on Roman’s condition and seen how he reacted.”

 “You could have. But we both know that being kept like that for as long as he was can easily lead to madness. It was perfectly reasonable to be warry, given his behavior. He hadn’t even spoken, we didn’t even know if he was cognizant. I wouldn’t have thought he was, until his outburst at me.”  

 “Do you know what it was he said, before Virgil burst in?” His voice is strained now, on the edge of cracking, and Patton softens, tilting his head back to look at Logan’s face.

 “I don’t, Lo. I’d hoped you’d tell me, once you were ready.” He sees that small twitch of Logan’s lips, and he smiles, drawing his wings in and turning so he’s kneeling face to face with Logan.

 “he said that keeping them apart, letting him think that roman was dead, was the cruelest thing that’s ever been done to him. and the worst part is… I think he’s right.” Instantly, he’s wrapping his arms around Logan, pulling him closer with his wings, as he feels his stoic friend shaking.

 “you can cry, Lo. You know I won’t tell anyone, if you do. You know it’s ok.” He murmurs.

 “I don’t deserve to let myself feel, after what I did.”

 “No, Logan, no. That’s not how this works. You are entitled to your feelings. The fact that you feel guilty and miserable now proves that you understand you did wrong, that you didn’t mean to hurt anyone, and I know you will do everything you can to earn their trust. To prove to Remus you deserve his. I know you have mine, Logan. Always, always, you have mine, plumana.” He replies, using a term of endearment native to his people. Logan relaxes against him, finally, his tears quiet and slow against Patton’s chest.

 “Have you been up, this whole time? It’s been nearly two days since Remus passed out.”

 “Couldn’t sleep. I… tried but without physical touch I found myself unable to relax enough for my mind to settle.”

 “Awww, Lo, that’s so sweet!” He can feel Logan blushing, his entire skin faintly glowing with it. “now, let’s get you to bed, Plumana mine.” He whispers, brushing back Logan’s dark hair, softly kissing his forehead.

 “You don’t mind staying? Just until I fall asleep.” Logan asks as Patton gets to his feet, helping pull Logan to his.

 “I’ll stay as long as you want, Lo.”

[amintyworld]

Chapter Two: No Way - Sanders Sides Six AU

A/N: Guess who’s back! I worked very hard on this for a few months to bring ya’ll, and I hope you enjoy it. Special thanks, as always, to my test reader and friend @dee-ree-vee who’s helping me so much with this series. It totaled to 9 pages on a google doc, so hopefully, this helps if you need something to read these days. - Minty

First - Last - Next

TW: Cursing, manipulation, toxic relationship, mention of possible murder, near-death, bullying. (Tell me if I missed any!)

Summary: A look into Daniel (Deceit)’s past.

Remy yawned as he stretched, walking over to his bed. It was late, another boring dinner to get through - polite conversations about politics, the weather, and the governor’s new niece. Dull, and seemed always as a test to prove himself to the people of the court, as if being the ‘trouble’ child wasn’t enough.

He had kept his composure until the advisor had so graciously asked - “Now Remy, as we all know your… qualifications, it’s only fair to ask if you’ve considered a… alternate, if you were to not meet the needs of the people.”

King Thomas had to grab Remy’s arm from under the table to keep him from doing something he might regret. Remy struggled to keep his voice steady. “And why, may I ask, would we ever need an alternate?”

“Well, it just seems that your training has been to a lackluster performance at most. Truly, my prince, you cannot expect yourself to be ready for such a big position?” The advisor had smiled in mockery, for it was all too clear the real intentions behind his eyes - to make him cause a scene, and boy, did he know how to get under his skin! “Maybe it would be better if we could consider a position for you to use… your…” The advisor sized up Remy in distaste. “… ‘special’… talents…”

He barely got through the dinner without strangling the advisor’s smug face.

High above, a green spirit had been pacing, a light blue and bright yellow watching him. “Why, if I outta- he has no right saying anything like that to my great-grandson!”

“Slow your temper, Remus. You’re going to end up causing a scene and breaking some dishes again.” The bright yellow spirit had said - half his face was covered in scars, his eye cloudy. His hand reached up to rub his temple, and the light blue spirit at his side - a flowing blue gown with circular glasses and his long curls held up in a bun - had given him a reassuring glance, which made his yellow counterpart smile. “I swear if it weren’t for you and Roman messing with the mortals-”

“When I get a body, I swear I’m gonna give him the old one-two and then-!” Remus’s smile crooked too wide, his eyes wild. “THEN I’ll show him 'special talents’!” Remus said, laughing a bit madly, before resuming his pace.

Roman fazed through the wall in a bit of a hurry. “How’s Remy? Did he read it yet?!”

“Barely got through the first few pages, I’m afraid.” The light blue spirit, Patton had said warmly, looking toward the spirit in question. A growl could be heard from behind them. “Remus is in a bit of a haze after dinner.” Patton looked to Roman. “How’s Logan? The poor thing seemed so pale today.”

“He’s…he’s fine. The healer’s doing everything she can, but…with his old age…” Roman trailed off, not knowing the words, or rather, not wanting to say what was next. Patton rubbed his arm comfortingly, giving Roman a warm smile. 

“Hey…” Patton’s voice was warm and soft. “He’s Logan - you know more than anyone he’s not going down without a fight, just like his father.” Patton smiled. “Remember how stubborn he was growing up?”

Roman smiled. “Yeah… every time I’d beat him in a sword fight, he’d get up and demand a rematch, no matter the scuffs and bruises. Tough kid.”

The yellow spirit sighed, utterly displeased as he held Remus back from going to go give a certain someone more than nightmares. “Remus, stop being so childish! Remy needs our advice, not someone to murder all his problems away!

Remus struggled against the restraint, growling. “Why can’t he have both?!” Patton looked over and sighed, strolling over. Time to sort this out.

“Remus?” Patton said. “You know if there was a death in the castle, especially overnight, people would wonder what caused it, and people would leave. They’d leave, and what would we do then? We can’t follow them, and we’d be stuck in a cold, dark, castle until the end of time. Do you want that?”

“N-no…but that bastard has NO RIGHT-”

“He’ll eat his words, I promise. But no murdering, okay?”

Remus grumbled. “Fine. No murdering.” The yellow spirit promptly released him, letting the green one slide down, his arms crossed. “The things I do for this family…” He muttered. 

—————————–

Prince Daniel loved his husband more than anything in the entire world - This was a fact that didn’t need to be verified, nor confirmed. One could tell from the way Daniel’s eyes flickered to his love’s own frequently, admiring the way he looked out of the stiffness of his duties. One would revel in the way they danced, even when they hadn’t for weeks or months it felt like it had been mere hours. 

When you were in their presence, you could tell they were meant for each other, that they balanced each other, and that truly, their hearts beat as one. 

Salkenshire was their home, where they fell in love - where the teenaged prince was lovestruck by the siren voice beneath the balcony. They met in secret in the gardens, Benjamin held Daniel’s hands and made him feel like he was flying - like he was truly alive. On his 18th birthday, Benjamin smiled and held his lover close as he kissed him goodnight.

Daniel knew, in that moment, that kiss would be burned into his mind forever. He told himself that he’d never forget that night as long as he lived. 

But, time can be a cruel mistress, even to those as happy as they.

——————————

Remy scanned the page full of doodled hearts and words of passion. 

Passion coming from one of the empire’s most ruthless leaders? He must be dreaming. 

Everyone knew the story of how the empire came to be - every citizen was brought up on the stories, plays were acted out every independence day, and the parents always scolded their children - “Don’t be so cold-hearted, my child! We don’t want you to become like King Daniel, hm?”

The words on the parchment made no sense at all - yet they were there, in front of Remy’s eyes. He could never have pictured their founder as such a romantic. He flipped the page, where their wedding was described in great detail, and he sighed. “Someone’s a bit obsessed.”

The yellow spirit just crossed his arms and stared off as the others, at the prince’s comment, turned to look at the royal in question. Daniel bit his lip, looking out the window at the rain. It felt familiar, like an old friend. He sighed, the argument replaying in his mind over and over, and it felt as if his heart broke and was pieced together, over and over again.

Daniel didn’t talk about the past much, not with anyone except Patton and Remus. Even then, the conversations were vague. In Daniel’s eyes, it was for a good reason - no matter how much the past stung and hurt, it couldn’t be changed. Daniel’s eyes watered, as the few tears left watery streaks down his cheeks.

No matter how much he wished it would. 

——————————–

Daniel smiled as he rode in the carriage - it was their twenty-fifth anniversary, and he was heading home after talking with the Farwood Duke and Duchess on tea for that Saturday - they were expecting a wonderful baby boy, Jonathan. Their alliance was very strong, and the two kingdoms were very good friends - Daniel liked the still calmness of Lady Valentine. She was the type of person who radiated power and yet never seemed to need to enforce that power. 

As Daniel looked out the window, he saw a crowd of angry people as the guards tried desperately to calm them down and keep things from becoming too heated. 

A rebellion had stirred, restless in Salkenshire. Many did not want an alliance with Farwood - wounds from the war between them still hadn’t completely healed. The war had been gruesome, and many casualties weren’t forgotten. Many of the people still considered them traitors.

The carriage had come to a sudden halt, leaving Daniel pretty confused. Royal carriages don’t stop very easily, or for very many reasons, either. “Franklin? Is everything all right?”

The sudden jolt forward made the royal stumble backwards, tossing him back in his seat harshly. The carriage moved much faster than previous brisk trot, and made Daniel fly all around the carriage as they turned in many different directions. 

Something was most definitely wrong. 

Suddenly, a stranger opened the carriage door, brandishing a dagger. Daniel didn’t need to even think as he punched the attacker in the nose. So this was the trouble.

The attacker, now bleeding heavily from his nostrils, kicked Daniel square in the face as he fell back on the floor of the ride. His crown knocked off, Daniel slowly slid it under the seats for safekeeping as he rolled up his sleeves - time to do some dirty work.  The attacker landed with a thump inside the carriage, standing over the royal with a grin as Daniel, with a determined look, kicked the attacker firmly between the legs, sending him toward the ground. He quickly restrained the attacker pushing his restrained arms toward his shoulder blades on instinct.

“So this was your plan, huh? Hijack a carriage and kill the crowned Prince?!” Daniel yelled. “For what? To stop the alliance?!”

The attacker squirmed against the Prince’s strong grip. “Not…enough…exactly, your Highness… but… ugh…. Basically.”

“Not exactly…?” Daniel asked. “What do you mean?”

He hadn’t noticed the second attacker until he felt the blade up to his throat. Time seemed to slow, and he couldn’t breathe. “Alex, you pissbrain. I told you he was trained.” Daniel gulped as the knife pressed harder to his neck. “I suggest you let him go, your highness, or things are going to get ugly.”

Daniel slowly let go of his grip, his heart thumping rapidly in his chest. “What now? You kill me?”

The second attacker gave a deep chuckle.

“Now, your highness? You enjoy the ride.”

As quickly as they came, the two jumped out and rolled quickly down into the dirt. Before Daniel could even piece together what they had meant… his eyes widened.

That’s when Daniel saw the ravine. 

Next? Darkness.

—————————-

The first thing Daniel remembered was the pain. It was numbing at first, almost bearable, like a small cut or scuffed knee. Then, he remembered how his head pounded like a drum, and he could hear his heart beat loudly in his ears. He felt a weight press down in his stomach, and then the sting of his legs. His face felt hot, like it was on fire.

He remembered opening his eyes and seeing white, thinking he was dead. When his eyes adjusted, he saw the carnage - blood and intestines, skin and bone - splattered all around him. He was trapped nearly drowning under a pile of rocks, the only survivor.

The first thing he wanted to do was throw up. Whether it was because of what he had seen, or because of his own injuries, he didn’t know. The second thing he tried was to move, but it seemed the more he did the more pain he felt swirling in his mind. He tried screaming, but he had no air to call for any help, only to sustain himself. 

The first few nights were the hardest. Daniel couldn’t even say it was a few nights - he’d blurred in and out of consciousness while the sun beat down on him, making him crave water and even more so, food. 

After a week he felt tired, and weakened. He could even start to feel his body slowly begin to shut down. He thought everyone thought he was dead - after all, it was a miracle he’d survived the fall in the first place, and very unlikely anyone would think it would even be possible. 

Daniel was sure no one was coming for him.

So, one couldn’t blame him for thinking it a mirage when he thought he saw a group of knights and guards climbing down the ravine. Even as his mind told him it was a dream, Daniel pulled out his bloodied hand and waved it with all the energy he had left. His world slowly began to fade as the sounds of moving rubble echoed in the distance. 

————————

Benjamin was known for a lot of things. He was known for his stance on the Farwoodian War, which had made him an orphan at 12. He was known for his strict coldness toward everyone, no matter the status. 

That is, except, his husband. 

Daniel had been known to be one of the most gorgeous people in his kingdom, and he was determined to wed him - just to look at his smile, to drag his fingers through his perfect hair, and to own his chiseled body. 

Benjamin was good at getting people to do as he wanted. All it had taken was a few love poems and Daniel was head over heels for the royal. Benjamin was a very good actor when the situation called for it, and had all the pieces fall into place so Daniel could be his complaisant husband, and his eye candy. All that was needed was a bit of romance to ensure his pet wouldn’t stray too far from the flock, and he was set.

Of course, when the King had gotten word of the accident on their anniversary, he had acted sick with grief. His heart didn’t feel very broken, instead feeling a mighty rage that Daniel had wasted all his preparations for the perfect night - he had practiced his lines for weeks, after all. 

His servants and allies had given him great sympathy. The palace was filled with sweets and gifts from all who knew him. 

Benjamin had given the order to search for Daniel’s remains around a week after the news. He was sad to see his pet go, but he had a replacement waiting in the wings when the time was right - he was young, hot, and the foreigner duchess’s son from Monasia. He was perfect. All that was needed was for the funeral arrangements to be made and the funeral held, and then his new husband could finally move in. He had to admit - he needed someone to look at.

What Benjamin didn’t expect, however, was for the knights to bring back his husband alive.

He had been so happy - his eye candy had returned, after all. The healer had done all she could, but couldn’t get rid of the scarring across Daniel’s face, nor the blindness on his left eye. His husband’s beauty turned utterly bland, and left the King extremely displeased. He couldn’t handle having to live the rest of his life without a husband as handsome and as worthy as himself, but he couldn’t ever act that way. 

After all, a King is only as ever powerful as his people. 

Daniel had been overjoyed to be alive and with his love, the one who loved him more than anything in the entire world. He rarely left Benjamin’s side, and Benjamin could admit it was getting annoying - the looks he sent his way weren’t the same without the sun kissed glow or the honey glow of his eyes. Everything Daniel did before only angered him from seeing that fat scar each time and fake a smile. 

He was… in a bit of a situation. Nonetheless, Benjamin would find a way to get rid of him, one way or another. 

—————————

Daniel had never been this angry in his entire life. He’d never felt so betrayed, so upset, so devastatingly sad. He clutched the bundle of letters tightly as he burst open the doors, getting his husband to look up from the work on his desk with a glance and a sickeningly sweet smile. “My dear, what angers you so? It pains me to see you so upset.”

“Benjamin J. Shawcross, you have a lot of explaining to do.” Daniel spat, throwing the letters on his lover’s desk. Benjamin just looked at the letters, still retaining his smile. “Excuse me, but could you please leave me and my husband alone for a moment? We have some… private matters to discuss.”

The council members and handmaidens quickly took their leave after they saw Daniel’s expression. The kingdom had never seen it’s highness get angry before, and it was more than a frightening sight. 

After the double doors were firmly shut, Benjamin just laid his head in his hands. “So, you found the letters.”

“Is that all you have to say, Ben?!” Daniel yelled. “You’re cheating on me, and that’s all you have to say?!”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions, dear. He’s only a friend.” The King said cooly.

“Friend? A friend who you ask to describe his ‘beauty’? Who you call your ‘honeybee’?” Daniel snapped. 

“If you’re going to overreact this much, I want a divorce.”

Daniel looked like he was slapped. “Excuse me? Why?”

“It’s clear that you don’t trust me and think that I would cheat on you, so-”

“Honey, I’m half-blind and I can see the evidence right in front of you!” Daniel yelled. “I have done nothing but be by your side and support you for over 25 years, and you-” Daniel looked to the side, crossing his arms, too angry to even finish the sentence. 

“You know, you’d think after 25 years your husband would learn to trust you-”

“Bull. Shit.” Daniel interrupted. “I trusted you, I LOVED you, you liar-!” 

“Now my lovely husband wants to accuse me of lying?” Benjamin looked shocked. All this did was anger the Prince more - he was blaming all this on HIM?!

“I’m no husband of yours.” Daniel hissed. “Did you even mean everything you said at the altar? Did you even mean all the kisses, all the talks, everything?!” Daniel yelled, exasperated, the pain so great it stung in an unfamiliar way. What did he ever do to deserve this? Why wasn’t he enough?!

“Of course, my sweet, I meant every moment I had with you.” Benjamin cooed, walking over to his husband and holding him close. “You seem so upset, my love.” His voice was like a siren’s, worming its way into Daniel’s mind and making him feel uneasy. “Did you get enough rest, my sweet?” Benjamin rubbed his husband’s arms soothingly. He knew this song and dance too well, the lovesick fool always fell for it.

Rest?

Daniel felt embarrassed at his husband’s soft tone. Was he tired? He WAS the only one yelling, was it really not that big of a deal? Maybe…

Wait. Wait, wait-

Daniel quickly pushed away Benjamin, utterly disgusted. “Get away from me.” His touch felt so uncomfortable, so caring and loving that it felt unreal. Too unreal. 

It was so weird. His touch never felt uncomfortable before. 

It was like the background around him was fake, and it toppled over in front of him. Fakeness clouded everything around the man he’d called his husband. 

“What’s wrong dear? You look so shaken.” Benjamin looked at his husband in deceitful care. 

“What’s wrong…? You lied to me, cheated on me, and manipulated me for 25 years.” Daniel looked to his husband in pure hate. “I think we’re not going to work out, Ben, and that’s putting it nicely.” Daniel stood tall, staring him down sternly. He felt as if he’d just woke up from a dream, a dream where everything was perfect because he had someone who loved him. He felt slapped, though there were no marks on his face. Even though he wanted so badly to go back to his perfect fantasy world, it would feel tainted and poisoned with chains of control. Control that Daniel wanted back.

Now, Benjamin’s face turned quickly into a chillingly cold grin, as he looked at his husband and laughed deeply. Daniel had never heard him laugh before - it made his entire body tense just at the sound. “You’re smarter than you look, you know.” The king stood in front of his prince, radiating power. “In all the years I’ve been with you, I never thought you’d figure it out.”

“What…?” Daniel breathed, feeling like he was in a nightmare.

“Oh, let me tell you honey, you were hot back in the day. Beautiful enough to have anything and everything your little heart desired. We were both alike in that way, it seemed. What I wanted, dear… what I wanted was you. You were everything I deserved - the most gorgeous person in the kingdom as my husband.” Daniel glared down at his husband, trying to stay composed. “I’d figured that when you got older, I’d have to stage an accident to bring in some fresh meat, but those protesters had given me the right opportunity.” Ben smiled, his hands behind his back as his gaze turned ice cold. “But then you had to go and ruin it by surviving that fall - a miracle indeed, dear. That’s why you need to go.”

“Go…?”

“I’ll have the divorce papers on your desk by tomorrow morning.” The King said, turning to go back to his desk and finish his papers. 

“Wait, I… I don’t-” Daniel turned him around. “If we’re getting a damn divorce, at least give me the decency if telling me why.”

“Why?” The King almost laughed. “You haven’t put it together already dear?” Benjamin grabbed him close and traced his finger along his scar, pushing enough so that Daniel had felt it. “I don’t want damaged goods.” Daniel’s breath hitched at the touch, before his husband had dumped him on the floor. “You’re to grab your things, sign those papers, and leave. I don’t want to see your ugly mutt for as long as I live. Now, shoo.”

Shoo?

Daniel stood and marched over to his desk, slamming his hands on it to grab his attention. “You listen here and you listen good, asshole. You may have been able to order me around like I was your pet for a long time, but I’m not your pet anymore. You think that you can just get rid of me like that, all because of a scar you just can’t bear to see?!” He got up close to his face, practically spitting the next words. “No. Effing. Way.”

—————

Taglist (general people who seemed excited for the update - tell me if you want to be taken off!):

@aphandgflover, @ollyollyoxinfree, @daring-elm

[alchemist-shizun]

About that Carry On Prinxiety AU

For now I laid out a bit of the plot, if you want to share some ideas just hit me up~

This is going to be a LOT to take on my shoulders but I will try and probably fail BUT TRYING IS KEYWORD (i really do believe in myself don't I? Everything under the cut!)

Since they all have their peculiarities, I'm gonna say that yes Virgil might be the Baz and Roman could be the Simon of this story, but I think either would fit for different reasons so they just have the same energy and will keep their own characterization. (If I'm able to not go ooc on this one wish me luck)

If I'm creative enough I'll try making an American school that is located in Florida, so that the characters know nothing much about what's happening in Watford and I can still make references without chronological contradictions.

Thomas could probably be the head mage too. I'm imagining him being very interested in the Normal culture and dressing like a Normal adult instead of the head of a great magical school, his "obsession" (kind of like Arthur Weasley's, if you will) is not really well-liked by most of the mages (especially the Old Fams), some believe that the students should have a better example instead of a man that always seems on the verge of leaving the magic world behind. The students, on the other hand, love him very much thank you. (yes even the ones whose parents insult him)

Oh my god I just had an epiphany: imagine Thomas obviously being in love with Disney and maybe Roman is very close to him so like he's talking about Virgil and Thomas just STRAIGHT UP STARTS SINGING SMTH LIKE THE MUSES' PARTS IN WON'T SAY IM IN LOVE OR LIKE THAT LION KING ONE AAAAAAAA and Roman is like ssss t o p but in the end joins in because he's w e a k (same)

Anyway for the main bois what I was thinking was that, with the prophecies about the Chosen One being there for a long time and them not knowing about Simon or anything, (this is becoming like Skam, there are many Snowbaz in the world) they just so happen to find in Roman an extraordinary amount of magic

Everybody is convinced Roman might be the Greatest Mage, the info flies out into the magical world of America but they decide to not share the info with other states. Roman gets very excited about this and works hard and trains himself in preparation for the big moment where he was going to have his big fight.

Virgil is his roommate (oh my god they were roommates), and of course, they can't stand each other at all. Virgil is definitely fed up with this story about the Chosen One, which Roman brings out in any possible conversation, so he uses it against him to tease him. Just imagine Roman bragging about something and Virgil being like "yeah but for a Greatest Mage you still haven't done anything so Great", or like Roman is having trouble with a spell or a subject? "Aren't you the chosen one?", Virgil only brings it up to make him mad and loves his flustered face. (keyword "loves" *wink*)

As much as I'm hopelessly in love with the idea of Vamp!Virgil (which would fit if he had Baz's role), I just had an angsty idea so I'm saving it for later c:

Hey how about a half-elf Virgil??? Anyone? Sorry I love elves

As for the time they spend together, they do the same thing as Simon and Baz, they avoid each other, spend time out of their room if the other's in there, make up different routines so they don't have to share anything and only really stay in the same room if they have to sleep. (idk why i said "if" like they don't need sleep)

Let me remind you that the beds are very close.

One time Roman woke up in the middle of the night and screamed in fear upon seeing a figure on the window.

It was just Virgil and he almost fell out, he would have probably smacked his head if it wasn't for the roommates' anathema or whatever it is called in english.

Virgil said he just couldn't sleep but he will never admit it was because of a pretty violent nightmare.

Roman does really think that he doesn't sleep at all and just uses his magic to stay awake judging by the dark circles under his eyes.

idk about you but I like the idea of Logan being something similar to Penelope, so Logan is Roman's best friend, they had met in the first year and Logan seemed one of the only ones who didn't approach Roman only because of his fame about being the Chosen One. Logan is simply amazing and brilliant at all subjects and surprises everyone since he's said to come from a family with weak powers.

Roman finds in him a very valid studying companion and he has to admit a lot of his best spells come from practicing/learning them from Logan. Also Logan loves explaining the stuff he's learnt, while Roman has this insatiable will to know everything to be able to defeat whatever bad guy will present in front of him. They basically become inseparable, despite having some friendly fights that are always solved with a snack break.

They !! deeply !! care !! for !! each other !!

Out of the other characters idk if Patton would fit anybody entirely, but I'm going to keep the 3v3 groups, so Pat will most likely be hanging out with Roman and Logan, he's actually very good friends with Virgil (none can escape Patton's friendliness) and tries to reason with Roman when he's mad about something Virge might have said. He's probably the reason why he hasn't killed Virgil yet. Patton doesn't come from a big family and lives with his grandmother when he's out of school. (I still have to develop this)

Forget about Dev and Niall and get ready for Deceit and Remus. I don't wanna give a headcanon name to Deceit bc I don't have one so he's gonna be a mysterious boy and everyone will call him Dee since it's the nickname I use for him. Both of them are two chaotic messes in their own ways. Dee, despite still being composed most of the times, is VERY fixated on his society discourses and arguments, he could come up to you one day out of the blue being like "so about the plan to overthrow the government" and you probably never even heard of it in the first place

JUST GIVE ME PASSIONATE DECEIT

Remus, on the other hand, messes a LOT with spells and you can see him traveling to the weirdest places. One day he was found trying to make the water creatures do a circus bit for him. People don't know how he's able to make his way through tests, but it's actually because he loves bugging Dee since he doesn't give the slightest shit about the weird things he suggests and they often end up studying together.

(I had the wildest thought thinking about Remus as Trixie)

Virgil, Deceit and Remus are what people call the "Untouchable trio", only because they come from the highest and oldest of the Old Families. They had been friends ever since kids since their Families met quite often, they never really fell apart despite being very different from one another. They're actually pretty chill people, it is only their surnames that make some people wary of them. They're not generally approached by anyone.

Idk if I wanna bring Emile and Remy in this, but I am tempted™, I'll think about it

So, Roman, am I right? Forgot to say he comes from a pretty big fam of hunters, they're the types of people that are lovable but won't hesitate to kill a bitch if needed.

But Purp, where's our creativitwins content? Thing is, yes they're actually brothers, but they were separated ever since kids for reasons none really knows? They never talk about it, even if asked to. They were given to two different families. They're aware of each other, but none has ever seen them interact. (I might find some angsty backstory on this just you wait)

Up until here Roman has always believed himself to be destined to the greater good, he's the chosen one, his destiny is the one to be the protagonist of the magic world and its hero.

At least that's what he thought until the fifth year.

One day during the fifth year, Virgil was doing homework on his room's table when Roman bursts in, louder than usual, and throws himself face-first on the bed, uncaring about ruining his hair or his clothes. That was an unusual sight since he never came into the room before evening or even before dinner. Virgil immediately knew something was wrong, but he didn't realize how serious the thing was.

So of course, he teases him a bit trying to get some info from him but only makes the situation worse. When Virgil calls him Greatest Mage as a joke, that's when Roman finally snaps at him in a way that Virge would have never expected. Roman really is enraged, yells at him and throws his pillow across the room since he can't hit him. He storms out of the room when he feels tears forming in his eyes, but can't really hide his sobbing as he goes away.

Virgil is just standing there, aware that he had just made Roman cry for the first time in his life and hated the sight with his whole being.

Roman had just learnt that he wasn't, in fact, the Chosen One, nor the Greatest Mage. Just an ordinary mage, like anybody else, who, in his opinion, had no other destiny than to finish school, find a job and just ... live?

So he's destroyed, all those dreams revealed themselves to be castles built in the air.

School is ending and Roman is just a bit numb, he's not really failing his classes but he's not as bright as ever. He barely leaves his room and doesn't talk to his friends as often, who are very concerned. Even Virgil tries to talk to him at some point. Thomas visits him when he has time and tries to work through the issue with him, but for the rest of the fifth year, there's nothing much to do to cheer him up.

Things seem to go back to normal as years pass and he's not in the spotlight anymore, none really talks about the Greatest Mage anymore and mages just carry on with their studies as they've always done. Everything's fine and normal.

And Roman hates it. But he's working in the shadow, so none notices his discomfort.

It only happens when he reaches the eighth year. It's impossible for Virgil to not recognize that Roman is slipping away at night and only comes back after some hours, either with dirty clothes or things tangled in his hair, he always came back different from when he left, meaning he definitely was wandering off outside.

One night he really can't stop thinking about how worried he is that Roman might get in trouble by himself, while he could probably prevent that, so he decides to follow him. Apparently, Roman is trying to find some kind of important and scary adventure to prove to himself that he's not as useless as he thinks himself to be, but Virgil still doesn't know this.

Virgil doesn't know what to do about the situation and decides to talk to Patton about it, in the end, the two of them decide to make a plan to talk to Roman with Logan, too.

On the other hand, Roman had been seen hanging out with Deceit or Remus, or both at the same time, trying to pry out information from them about how to get to certain forbidden spots of the school if he ever needed to. Surprisingly they don't ask many questions.

Chaos ensues when one night everything goes horribly wrong.

SO YEAH these are a bunch of things that I got right off the bat, I still have to think about the entire plot but don't want to spoil anything, basically the story would begin on the eighth year, just like Carry On, when Roman starts sneaking out. There might be things I need to fix but still I repeat that this is just a draft or a bunch of ideas that I got together somehow.

Tags: @soul-of-a-vixen & @flowersheep who wanted to know more about it~ (I'll write it as soon as I can!!)

[lovingthereign25]

Never Again

CH. 2

"Roman, I can explain!" You start

"Becky can you please take your goddaughter , I think Y/n and I need to talk" he asked handing Luna to her Aunt Becky.

 You followed Roman to his locker room so the two of you could talk in private.

"When were you gonna tell me you were pregnant Y/n!?" Roman nearly shouted

"Roman I was gonna tell you, I was just waiting for the right time!"  You say 

"The right time? When was that while you were in labor?"he shouted again clearly more upset than a few seconds ago

"No, of course not. It's just you been so busy lately, I wanted it to be the right time and when you weren't so busy!" You shout back

" There is never a right time in this business you know that I'm on the road constantly, I'm literally home a day or two  week Y/n " he said slightly more calm

"I know, I've been trying to tell your for two weeks now, its just I get nervous and then today in my room I had the courage down and was about to but your phone rang and I don't know Ro,I'm sorry! You say in a whole breath.

" Two weeks? When did you find out? How far along are you Y/n?"  He asked his voice getting louder again.

"I found out about three weeks ago. I'm about 10 weeks along now, I was 8 when I went to the doctor." You tell him 

"So that takes us back to what?, July? " he asked 

"I figured mid to or even the end of June right around the time…" Your voice breaks trying your very hardest to hold tears back.

"Oh man, baby come here" Roman says pulling you into his chest remembering all too well what happened back in June. 

**June 18**

You sat in the hospital room next to your mother who had been rushed here two days before when your sister called you frantic saying she had taken a turn for the worst. After many tests and scans the Doctors told you and your family there wasn't much left to do it was in God's hands now.

So here you sat tears streaming down your face begging God not to take your best friend away from you. You started talking to your mother hoping she could hear you telling her about the funny things Luna has been doing lately. Laughing along to a story the other day when she tried drinking from the dogs water bowl.

" Y/n." 

You turn around seeing Roman in the doorway, still in his wrestling gear. Without any hesitation you run right into his arms and break down.

" It's gonna be okay..I'm right here with you" he says kissing your head

" How'd you'd get here so fast I just called you a few hours ago?" You asked in between tears

" I took the company private jet, I told Hunter and he said go, there's no way in hell I let you be alone during all this" he said rubbing your back.

" Thank you!, How's Lulu? Is she okay? You ask trying to change the subject.

 " She's fine love, she's with my parents, how are you baby? Are you eating? He asked.

" No, she hasn't since she's been here!"  Your dad says from behind you

"Hey Dad, I'm so sorry" Roman says extending his hand to your father.

" I'm doing my best son , take my baby home try to get her to relax please!" your father asked

Roman had taken you to the beach house you shared a few miles away so you could sleep and eat and rest a little.Roman had ordered from your favorite restaurant, he ran you a bath and even set the hot tub up for you to relax some more. You sat in the hot tub for about 15 mins before Roman came to check on you making sure you didn't need anything you loved how concerned he was about you and missed how he sweet he could be.

"Roman why don't you come in, I know you're probably sore from being thrown around the ring" you say 

" Thrown around the ring? The Big Dog doesn't get thrown around the ring sweetheart, he protects his yard!" He said smugly stripping down to his boxers.

"Oh well excuse me Big Dog!" You laugh 

" This feels amazing, maybe it'll help my neck too!" He said sliding deeper into the tub.

" Here let me help with your neck" you say sliding behind him to massage his shoulders.

" Wow, I really needed this, I've missed your massages" Roman says closing his eyes in relaxation.

"Roman, thanks for coming out here like this,and I'm sorry you had to miss a show" you say continuing to massage his shoulders

"Y/n you don't have to thank me I would do anything for you especially at a time like this And I'm not worried about the show you mean more to me than some house show" he said rubbing your knee. You smiled to yourself as you continued to work out his knots.

" It's so tight" you say working the knot out of his shoulder.

"Funny I'm usually the one saying that to you" he smirked 

" I was talking about your knot you dirty minded ass!" You say slapping him playfully 

" oh you love my dirty mind, that's when we used to have the most fun" he laughs 

"Yeah, we did have an amazing sex life didn't we?" You say wrapping your arms around his neck.

" We sure did. Remember that time with the table" he recalls making you both burst out in laughter.

" You know Roman speaking of tables, you do know with us the offer is never really off the table" you say bringing your lips to his jawline kissing it softly 

Roman turned around between your legs facing you running his hands up you thighs kissing your then slowly moving down to your neck the chest.

" Good to know" Roman says as he kissed back up to neck.

" Jesus Roman I've missed the way your lips feel" you say throwing your head back as he made his way to your neck sucking on it hard definitely leaving a mark.

Roman slide his hand into your bathing suit bottoms pushing two fingers between your lips slipping them right into your heat.

"Uhhh, Ro! Take me upstairs,I don't wanna just have sex. Roman, make love to me!" You say kissing him passionately.

" Anything you want baby." Roman said picking you up, you wrapping your legs around his waist as he carried you up the bedroom slowly placing you on the bed.

"Y/n.. Are you sure?" He asked looking down at you.

" Yes yes I'm sure Roman make love to me please baby I need you!' You beg nodding.

Roman undressed himself then bringing his attention to you removing your bikini as well. He kissed all the way down your body bringing his lips to your core swiping his tongue between your folds before making his way back up to your mouth. He slowly lined his hard member up at your entrance making eye contact and kissing you as he slid into you. You gasped a little missing how he filled you, it had been a few months since you and Roman have had sex, it was like you had to adjust to his huge length all over again.

"You okay baby girl?" Roman asked feeling you swift around him .

" Yeah I'm good, guess I forgot just how big you were" you giggle

" Want me to stop?" He asked 

" No no no I'm fine you feel so good Ro, keep going please" you say kissing his neck.

" Okay well let me remind just how good I can make you feel baby" he smile picking up speed just a little.

Sex with Roman was definitely one of the top things you missed the most being separated. He always made you feel like you were the only thing that matters and your needs were above all else. Whatever you wanted from him you got. Roman kept a steady pace hitting your g spot everytime making you a moaning mess as usual. He made sure to whisper sweet nothings in your ear from time to time as you tried to pull him closer to you wanting to feel every inch of him.

" Roman, flip us I wanna be on top, let me ride you" you say in between moans.

Roman did as you wished flipping you over you settling on top trying to get a good rhythm.

"God Y/n I love when you ride me, I love seeing the look on your face when as your high hits" he said as his eyes rolls back in pleasure.

"Mmm...Roman I'm so close baby" you moan

"Me too baby tell me when your ready to let go" he said thrust his hips up to meet yours. After about four more thrusts you were ready.

"On 3 baby ok...1..2...3 let go y/n cum for Daddy baby" Roman moaned spilling his seed deep inside you. You screaming Roman's name as you let your juices spill all over him as well.

"Fuck that was the best sex we had in a while" he laughs trying to catch his breath.

"Agreed, If not the best sex we ever had" you say trying to calm to breathing as well. You both laid there for a bit you starting to nod off to sleep.

"I love you Y/n, and you don't have to say it back given what's going on with us and all, I just want you to know that I love you and Luna with everything in me!" he said kissing your forehead.

" I love you too Roman, and I always will I really wish things were different between us right now, but I still just need time to think." You say holding his hand and tracing the small turtle on his wrist with your free hand.

Two days later your mother was gone. You had completely lost it breaking down over the slightest memory or mention of her name. You sat in the room for at least 20 minutes after she had passed just holding her hand. Begging God to let this all be a bad dream.Roman never once left your side holding you everytime you would lose it again. Telling you over and over how it would all be okay and you'd get through this because he'd be by your side as long as you needed him.

*Present Day* 

Roman held you for a while until you had calmed down and were ready to finish the conversation.

" So June? I guess that would mean your due date is around March?" Roman asked 

" March 21st to be exact" you reply

"Wow" he said running his hands over his face.

" Roman, I'm sorry I should have told you sooner, but everything is a mess with us right now and i was just so nervous and scared to tell you for some strange reason" you say

" Y/n it's fine I just don't ever want you to think you can't tell me things especially when it comes to our family" Roman says walking over to you. "But hey We're having a baby! Another little mini us!" He laughed placing his hand on your stomach that was only just starting to stick out.

" Yeah, Lulu is gonna be a big sister!  You smile widely.

Roman placed his hands on your face wiping a few stray happy tears away, then taking your lips in his kissing you. You kissed back whether it was you being caught up in the moment or just because you missed him you kissed him back a part of you not wanting to pull away.

" Sorry" Roman whispered still against your lips

"Don't be." You smiled pecking him I once more before heading out find Becky and your daughter.

[icequeenoriginal]

Intimacy and All Its Forms

Note: I was planning on writing the next chapter for Tale as Old as Time, but I also wanted to write something for @sugarglider9603 and @ask-spiderverse-virgil / @galaxy-lilies-main Spiderverse AU so I picked the one-shot first. This is based on this post (And a couple others) along with “Turns out Being a Superhero IS Actually Really Gay!” by @hi-i-love-u-bitch

Also, there’s a section in Spanish, you’ll want to translate it. Enjoy!

Warnings: injuries, mentions of death, unconscious, self-deprecation, crying, a small bit of cursing, arguing

Pairings: Prinxiety and Logicality

~

Roman Marigold could handle a lot. He could handle his father’s passing. He could handle being a surrogate parent to his younger siblings. He could handle being the lead in any play. And he definitely could handle being a superhero.

So why was this one particular thing affecting him so much?

Roman knew that his boyfriend wasn’t the affectionate type. When they first started dating, you couldn’t tell by looking at them that they were dating. They would walk side by side but there would be a small gap between them. Slowly, it morphed into holding pinkies as they walked, linking their ankles together when they sat next to each other and just being in each other’s presence at every waking moment. Roman adored it. It was special, it was theirs and theirs alone.

Or so he thought.

The more he hung out with Virgil, the more he started…noticing things. Specifically, the way his boyfriend would interact with others. Well, two other people. Two other people who were not him.

The first time he noticed was at a movie night at Thomas’ place. Patton had decided to bless the apartment with his world-famous cookies and perfectly buttered popcorn. Logan, Virgil, and Roman waited impatiently for Thomas to return with soda. Four young superpowered boys can eat and what is a proper movie night without drinks?

Patton stuck his head into the living room with a smile “Who would like to volunteer to be my taste-tester for tonight?” Roman bolted to the kitchen so quickly that Logan rolled his eyes and Patton laugh.

Roman took a few bites of a cookie before declares “These are the best cookies that have ever been made!”

Patton giggled “Why thank you, Ro! I hope everyone else feels the same way.”

“Well, Virgil’s eating whether he likes it or not.” A grunt could be heard from the distance. “As for Logan, you can just dump him if he doesn’t like it.” Patton playfully punched Roman and the two best friends exited the kitchen.

It had been a great day for Roman. He aced a test he swore he was going to fail, he hit the high note at play rehearsal without destroying anything and Virgil bought him a hot chocolate. Now he was going to have a great evening with his friends and cuddling all night with his boyfriend.

As he took a step into the living room, he suddenly felt like someone just sucker-punched him in the gut. In front of him was his boyfriend sitting in another man’s lap. Not just any man, but Logan Quinn. They were in the middle of the couch and there was plenty of places Virgil could be sitting but no, he was in Logan’s lap.

Curiously, Roman made his way over and sat next to them. He turned his body so that he was facing them sideways. He smiled, ever the actor, and extended his arms. Both Virgil and Logan looked at him then at each other.

Virgil spoke first “What are you doing, Princey?”

Roman raised an eyebrow but his smile didn’t waver. “I’m motioning for you to come into my lap.” Both Logan and Virgil continued to stare at him “Oh as I supposed to ask first? Sorry. Virg? Care to cuddle with the most handsome man in this living room.”

Virgil chuckled “Thanks but I’m comfortable.”

Roman’s arms and smile dropped “Oh…”

Patton finished setting up the snacks and joined them on the couch. He leaned into Logan and Logan shifted over to him. Virgil scooted off of Logan and Roman’s smiled returned. He was sure now Virgil would cuddle with him now, especially since Logan and Patton were trying to see close their bodies could get without fusing together.

Virgil’s feet stopped an inch away from Roman’s leg. He had his knees bent. His head was still on Logan’s leg, causing Roman to let out a whine. Virgil didn’t notice, he had his headphones on.

Logan did “It’s nothing personal Roman, Virgil is just like a cat. He must choose you and that takes years.”

“Oh” was all Roman could say.

Why did he always had to get bad news in the living room?

Thomas suddenly burst through the door, arms filled with different soda. Roman immediately got up to help him, in an effort to distract himself. He even volunteers to get the cups even when Thomas insisted he didn’t have to.

When he returned, Virgil had moved again. His head was in Thomas’s lap with his feet on Logan and Patton, who was now fully in Logan’s lap.

With a sigh, Roman shifted his chair so that his back was to the couch. He picked up one of the abandoned pillows and cuddled with that. It a horrible substitute. It wasn’t soft like Virgil’s hoodie, it didn’t have his warmth and it definitely did not smell like him.

By the time the credits of the first movie began to roll, the horrible feeling in Roman’s chest became too much for him. He sheepishly got up and headed for the door

“Where are you going kiddo?” Patton called after him

“Home.”

Patton began to pout “Why? It’s movie night.”

Roman averted his gaze. He knew that if Patton got as little as a glimpse into his eyes, he would go full dad mode. Worse, now that Patton had the ability to know exactly what a person is thinking by touching them, the whole group would know what was on Roman’s mind. As much as Roman loved attention, he didn’t feel he deserved any for this reason. He would be mocked. Logan would probably call him being illogical and immature, Virgil would laugh and Patton wouldn’t understand. Neither would Thomas.

“I forgot I promised my mom I’d clean the house, plus I have a ton of homework.” That was enough to get Patton to go back to snuggling with Logan. Roman was right, none of them would have gotten it.

~

Roman stuffed his hand in his pockets as he walked through the cold night. He could see his breath but his drama club sweatshirt was enough for the young superhero. As he walked, he suddenly hated where Thomas’ apartment was located. Just a block from the spiderlings hangout was a street lined with nothing but restaurants.

Roman kept his head down as he passed the doting couples who were hugging, kissing, holding hands. All the things he wanted to do with Virgil.

His mind was so clouded that he nearly missed his spidey-sense telling him that he was about to bump into a man walking towards him. Roman jumped back and began to rattle of an apology when he locked eyes with someone else.

In the man’s arms was a young boy. He had big black eyes that stared at Roman curiously, to Roman he looked about 10 years old. He had tan skin like Roman and he clutched onto the man’s shirt. The man held the boy protectively and practically knocked Roman over when he walked past.

Roman turned and stared at them. He watched the way the boy leaned his head against the man’s and now the man kissed his head. Once they were out of view, Roman bolted to his home.

~ Patton hadn’t realized his leg was shaking until Logan put his hand on it. He looked up and saw that Logan’s eyes were filled with love and concern that for a moment, he forgot about everything but Logan. “Is everything alright dear?” Logan’s voice snapped Patton out of his daydream.

“Huh? Oh no, just…” Patton knitted his eyebrows together, his brain was still rebooting from the staring contest with Logan.

Logan leaned closer to him and whispered “Just what love? Tell me”

Patton smiled and leaned into Logan to hide his blush “I’m just worried about Roman”

Logan gently rubbed Patton’s arm “I’m sure he made it home alright and he knows better than to not text you when he gets there.” Right on cue, Patton’s phone vibrated. “See? Nothing to worry about.”

Patton bit his lip as he read the text. All it said was Made it home, see ya tomorrow. “That’s not what I meant Lo, I think something might be bothering him.”

Logan pushed his glasses up “Well if there was something amiss in his life, he would tell us. His track record shows a pattern of him being the complaining type.”

Patton chuckled and gently nudged Logan “Whatever you say Lo-Lo.”

~

Roman never realized how quiet his house was. His younger brother and sister, Jenni and Marco, were fast asleep in their rooms, not going to run up to Roman and tackle him with hugs. His mother and older sister Leslie were fast asleep but on the couch. Their textbooks and papers were scattered all over the floor, he made a note to clean it up in the morning. Roman carried them effortlessly to their rooms, no one stirred to acknowledge him. He made sure all four of them were tucked in before flopping onto his head, no one would come to tuck him in.

Roman lied before.

He craved more than what Virgil gave him. He wanted to put his arm around Virgil’s waist as they walked. He wanted to Virgil to sit in his lap and his alone. He wanted to carry Virgil.

He wanted it. No, he needed it. Because no one was going tuck him in anymore. Because no one was going to carry him on their shoulder. No one was going to sing “A La Nanita Nana” to him and his siblings anymore when they begged for it. No one was going to tell him stories about the buildings they helped build.

Not after that day.

~

Roman didn’t realize he had fallen asleep until his alarm was waking him up. He groaned as he rolled over and wince as his jointed cracked when he moved. He sat up and stared at himself in the mirror, flinching at his reflection. His hair was a mess, he had bags under his eyes and he probably should have showered before he went to bed.

Using his super speed, he was able to get into the bathroom just before Leslie. He used the sound of the water rushing over him to drown out her yelling outside the door. The water felt nice against his skin and for a moment, he was at peace.

Once he stepped out, the cold wind of reality hit him, literally and figuratively. He vaguely wonders if that’s a sign for something.

He walks to his room and opened his dresser. For the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to wear. He pondered wearing just a hoodie and sweatpants. That way no one would bother him, only looks of pity.

It must be that time of year again. Poor guy. He was so young when it happened too.

"Date prisa o vas a llegar tarde a la escuela". Roman’s mother stood with her hands on her hips in Roman’s doorway.

“Si, si.” Roman waved her off, hoping she would go and worry about his other siblings, like always.

Roman’s mother frowned “¿Que pasa, mi bebé?”

Roman shook his head. “Nada Mamá.” He paused, an idea coming to mind. He turned to his mother. Mamá, ¿cómo era papá cuando estabas saliendo?”

Roman’s mother walked over to him and rested her hands on his shoulders, a large frown present. “¿Estás pensando en tu padre otra vez?” Roman could tell she was worried about him. Roman should be grateful for that. He became the rock of the family after the accident, he didn’t seem to need comfort or care.

Roman needed to be a performer.

“No mamá, solo quiero impresionar a Virgil.” It wasn’t a total lie. He wanted to find a way for Virgil to be willing to snuggle with him.

Roman’s mother smiled and her eyes began to glow with nostalgia. “Me besó, retenida mi mano y juega con mi pelo.” The woman began to blush as the memories flooded her mind. Roman smiled at how after all these years, his mother was still in love with his father.

His mother took his hand “Pasión, esa es la clave del corazón de alguien. Debes mostrar cuánto lo amas. Eso no debería ser problema para ti, hijo mío.”

Roman smiled and kissed her cheek. “Gracias mamá”

Playfully, she slapped his shoulder “Ahora vístete, vas a llegar tarde.” She walked out of the room with a smile, which let Roman smile.

“Protégelos, hijo. Tú eres el hombre de la casa cuando yo no estoy allí.”

Roman walked over to his closet and smiled. He had to look his best today.

~

Virgil yawned as Logan open his locker. He completely forgot about the homework he needed to do for Monday and had to pull an all-nighter. It wasn’t his fault, he was having a really good time at the movie night. And wasn’t mental health a good enough excuse? Logan rolled his eyes as he watched Virgil down a third cup of coffee. “I told you to start your homework on Friday so you would have plenty of time before movie night.”

Virgil waved him away “Hush, Pocket Protector. I’m still waking up…”

Logan was about to make another snarky remark when an arm snaked its way around Virgil’s waist. Before he had any time to process it or suppress the yelp forming, a pair of lips gently pressed a kiss onto a rather sensitive part of his neck

The culprit whispered “Hola Mi Amor.” into Virgil’s ear, making his shutter.

Virgil slowly turned to see his boyfriend with his gorgeous locks brushed out his face, wearing a freshly pressed red button up red shirt, which was open to reveal a plain white shirt, and clean black slakes. He was wearing a bit of eyeliner that somehow made his gorgeous eyes look bigger.

Virgil was definitely awake now.

Patton giggled as he made his way from behind Roman to Logan’s side. He hugged him. Logan tore his eyes away from the couple who were breaking all forms of the rules about PDA in the school to give Patton a quick kiss on the head so they themselves would not get into trouble.

Roman pulled Virgil closer. “How are you today mi corazón?” Roman gently kissed his cheek “You look tired, still beautiful though.” Roman gently nipped the sensitive spot, making Virgil shove him away. Roman whined but kept the distance between them.

Virgil flipped his hoodie over his head and pulled the string as tightly as he could. He was not equipped to handle this. Roman strolls in front of him and squats down. “Aww, can Virgie come out and play.” Virgil is tempted to smack the smirk off Roman’s handsome face.

Virgil let out a sigh of relief once the bell rang. He pulled down his hood and intended to power walk to class. He froze when warm and slender finger wrapped around his own. He looked up to Roman smiled at him and gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “May I walk you to class, Querido?”

Virgil felt his throat close up, this was way too much for him. But Roman’s hand felt so nice in his…Wordlessly, he nodded. They walked together anyway.

Roman smiled and kissed Virgil’s hand, turning the poor boy’s face scarlet. “Let us head off then, Stormcloud.” He turned to Patton and Logan “I bid you good day.”

Patton giggled and waved “Have fun you two.”

Logan nodded “Goodbye.” Roman turned to walk to his and Virgil’s shared class when he was stopped by: “And good luck to you Roman.”

Horrified, he turned to Logan. Did he know what Roman was up to? Did he know about what was bothering Roman? Was he going to make fun of him?

Roman gulped before turning to Logan “G-Good luck? For what?”

Logan pushed up his glasses before speaking.“Your audition.”

“Audition? I don’t have an audition today.”

Logan frowned “Oh? I apologize. Virgil informed me that when you have an audition, you tend to wear fancier clothes. Or as he put it ‘Get stupidly hotter.’”

Virgil glared daggers at Logan. He was apparently going to kill two people today.

Roman let go of the breath he was holding onto and chuckled “Ah, I see. No, nothing like that. I just want to dress up today for me.”

Virgil was about to scream. What did he do to deserve this?!

Roman gave Virgil a gentle tug before walking off to their next class. Roman leaned close to Virgil as he walks and faintly hummed. Virgil felt like he was going to pass out.

Today was going to be a long day.

~ The entire day was too much for Virgil. In every class they had together, Roman would link their ankles together. He would walk Virgil to every class, hand in hand, even when Roman’s class was nowhere near his! What was going on?!

At lunch, Roman sat with his arm around Virgil and his hand on Virgil’s hip. Virgil refused to eat because he felt he was going throw up. Unfortunately, Roman took that as an opportunity to try and feed Virgil. If he wasn’t so shocked, Virgil would have stabbed him.

The worst was the stares. People swooning over how cute and romantic they were, people taking notes so they could “properly” romance their partners. And then there were the glares of jealousy or disgust. The only comment they heard was from Dolion but Virgil knew better. He could hear the whispers, the curse words, even if Roman couldn’t seem to.

Everyone has a breaking point.

As the group was waiting for Patton to come out of his last class, Roman draped himself over Virgil’s back and kissed him repeatedly. Virgil when saw Dolion laughing out of the corner of his eyes, he had enough.

Patton turned the corner when Virgil roughly shoved Roman off of him. Roman froze and his stomach dropped when he saw how angry Virgil was.

“Mi Amor?” “Stop it! Stop it right now!”

“S-Stop…?” Virgil made his way over to Patton and Logan, hugging himself. His back was to Roman, making the poor boy looked down in shame.

Virgil gently put his head on Logan’s shoulder as he began to shake. Logan glared as Roman as he rubbed circles into Virgil’s back. “Virgil does not like to be touched, as his boyfriend you should know that.”

Roman’s head snapped up and he grits his teeth. “I know that Logan, I was trying to help him get more comfortable with me.”

Logan rolled his eyes “Oh well wonderful job doing that.”

Roman clenched his fists “Well some of us don’t have years of friendship to back us up!” Roman slap his hand over his mouth as everyone, including Virgil, turned to look at him.

Virgil raised an eyebrow “Wait a second, are you jealous Princey?”

Roman did his signature offended prince noise. “What? NO! I don’t get jealous.” All three of his closest friends gave him the exact same look “I’m not jealous, I just…noticed that you seem to give Logan a lot more affection than you give me…”

Virgil felt his lip tug into a smirk. “So you were jealous.”

Roman sighed “I have to go to play practice…” Roman walked off.

“Kiddo wait!” Patton called after him desperately. They always walked to their individual clubs together. Roman ignored Patton’s pleas, making the smaller boy lean into his boyfriend and plays his bracelet.

“He didn’t turn around…”

Logan rubbed Patton’s arm as sympathetically as he could. He could care less about Roman but he couldn’t stand the thought of Patton being upset.

“Do not fret Patton, Roman will get over this illogical behavior by tomorrow.”  

Virgil crossed his arms and pouted “I’m not letting him get away with this so easily, I’m going to be so distracted at dance class thinking about his stupid face.” Virgil felt his face getting hot, thoughts of Roman’s lips brushing against his neck rushed through his mind.

Logan, in an attempt to help Virgil back to reality, offered “If you would like, I can help you with your plans of punishment.”

Patton smacked Logan’s arm “You will not.” Patton turned and point accusingly at Virgil “And you will not either! He clearly feels bad, he doesn’t need to feel worse.” Patton wagged his finger at them, making the bracelets on his wrist shake.

Both Virgil and Logan nodded and spoke in unison “Yes Patton.”

Patton’s expression softens into a smile. “Great, now excuse me while I go to the culinary club, we’re making cupcakes today!” Logan watched his boyfriend run off with a smile before turning to Virgil and exchange their favorite look.

We are totally going to mess with Roman tomorrow.

~

Roman sat in his dressing room with his head in his hands. He lucked out that today was a dress rehearsal so he could pretend he was taking forever getting dressed. He truly felt ashamed of his actions.

Remy walked in and placed a coffee cup in front of the young hero. “You looked like you need this girl.”

Roman looked up at it and drank in wordlessly. Remy watched him in horror, silently praying to the coffee gods to forgive Roman’s cardinal sin.

Roman stood up as he slammed the now emptied up onto the table, almost crushing the cup completely. He took a second to control his breathing and powers before turning to Remy. “Thanks, Rem, I needed that.”

Remy tilted his glasses down “What’s gotten into you?” Roman shook his head “Nothing…just a fight with Virgil.”

Remy chuckled “What? You bite him too hard while you guys were practicing fucking in the hallway.”

Roman chucked the empty cup at Remy who dodged it with such ease that Roman vaguely wondered if Remy had superpowers.

“Hey! Don’t get mad at me just because you can’t handle the truth.” Roman flopped back into the chair and groaned. “I was just trying to be more affectionate. Sue me!”

Remy rolled his eyes “Girl, seriously? This is the man I lost the lead role to? Tsk.”

Roman turned to him, scowling “Just help me.”

Remy smiled “You know I will.” Remy sat dramatically on the table in front of Roman “Get ready because I’m about to spill the true tea.”

“Remy, I swear, I will throw something else at you.”

“Okay, okay, okay, calm down. Look, if he’s mad at you, just buy him a coffee tomorrow and apologize.”

Roman rolls his eyes “I should have known you would have said something coffee-related.”

“Well duh, if he rejects it, you can just give it to me.”

Roman stood up and said sarcastically “Thank you so much Rem, I wonder why I never came to you for advice before.”

Remy smirked, “It’s because you and the rest of the world cannot handle how great I am.”

“We have to get to practice…”

~ Roman wanted to smack himself. He decided to take Remy’s advice which involved waking up earlier, attempting to make coffee while sleep-deprived and almost waking everyone up when he was looking for the coffee canteen the school gave out on the first day.

He would admit that he was proud that he got all that and got his younger siblings ready for school. His next challenge was in the form of a peppy but curious neighbor. Roman put on his best fake smile and walked up to Patton. He moved slowly to come up small talk in the event Patton asked him about Virgil’s outburst yesterday. He was not ready to talk about it.

Roman noticed Patton was wearing the unicorn hair clips that Logan have bought him for his birthday. Score, if I get Patton talking about Logan, he won’t even think about me. Roman felt a small tug at his heart at that thought but he didn’t stress on it.

Once he heard footsteps, Patton whirled around to see Roman, almost knocking the taller man back. He didn’t even give Roman chance to say hello “Are you okay?” “Huh? Of course, I am Pat!” Roman struck one of his signature poses for added effect. The fatherly friend crossed his arms and tapped his foot. “You know how I feel about liars Roman.”

Roman soften his smile “I know Padre, and I’m being honest.”

Patton scanned Roman’s face before responding “I was just making sure after yesterday with what happened with Virgil.”

Roman shook his head “Don’t worry about that, it ‘twas just a lovers spat.” Roman cringed internally when he realized he said ‘twas.

Patton giggled at Roman’s statement “Okay then Ro, don’t be afraid to talk to me when you’re upset.” “I know Pat.” And he meant it, but Roman still wasn’t sure if he should act upon it. He decided to go with his original plan. “Nice hair clips, Pat.”

Patton blushed slightly “Thanks. Lolo bought them for me. He’s so sweet. He said he saw them and knew he had to buy them for me.” Patton held his hands together, against his cheek, as he gushed over Logan. They started on their path to the school and Roman sighed of relief. He could do this.

~

They were halfway to school when Patton noticed the coffee canteen. “Since when do you drink coffee?”

Panic rushed throughout Roman. He took a deep breath to steady himself before putting on his confident persona “Never, this is for Virgil. To make up for yesterday.”

Patton smiled “Oh kiddo…”

Roman chuckled “Yeah, I know what you’re going to say. It is a pretty great--”

“The best you could come up with is coffee?”

Roman took step back, placing a hand on his chest in distress. “Who are you and what have you done with Patton?!”

Patton tilted his head “It’s me, Ro.” Just to be sure, Patton touched his own face.

Roman took a step forward “Oh really? Then if you’re Patton, explain why you shut down my idea so badly.”

Patton shook his head while smiling “If you want to make it up to him, giving him a reminder that he can’t sleep might not be the best idea.” Roman pondered this advice. “What would you suggested?”

Patton’s eyes glistened with creativity “A homemade blanket that he can snuggle with. Or! Or! Or! You could take him to a concert for a band he likes.”

Roman couldn't help but grin “Excellent idea Patton, you have me convinced.” Patton beamed with pride. “Now all you have to do is convince my wallet.” Patton began to pout, more playful than truly upset. Patton passed the time by biting the inside of his cheek, he needed to think of a counterargument.

Roman pat his shoulder sympathetically “I think I’ll stick with the coffee Pat.”

Patton gave him a thumbs up and they headed to the corner where they usually meet Logan and Virgil. Roman fiddled with the hem of his sleeve, a nervous wave rushing over his body. It slightly terrified him, he was unsure why he was afraid.

Virgil seemed to always bring out new emotions in Roman. It was terrifying as it was exciting. He wasn’t just Roman Marigold the actor or Roman Marigold the gayest of gays. Or Roman Marigold…dadless. He was just Roman.

Virgil brought joy to Roman, but he could also bring him pain. Something they both would realize too late.

Patton could tell that something was eating at Roman. His shoulders were slumped, his face was decorated with a frown and his forehead had creases. All things that were very un-Roman-like, Patton found it unsettling. So when a purple beanie came into view, Patton felt a sudden a wave of relief.

Perhaps, too sudden.

Virgil and Logan walked up to the preppier friends, hand in hand. They were both talking happily, Virgil had a big fat smile on his face. Roman felt the mental of the coffee canteen bend inward as he squeezed it. He hides it behind his back, attempting to make it ground him somehow.

Patton didn’t seem to be as affected as Roman for he hugged the two newcomers, making Roman cursed himself. Why do you have to be overly-sensitive?! It’s not bothering Patton, so why is it bothering you?! What is wrong with you?! Roman’s mind was so loud, he couldn’t even hear what the conversation that was making Virgil smile so much.

Roman forced himself to focus as they walked towards the entrance of the high school, noting that Virgil did not let go of Logan’s hand. He closed his eyes, to block out the world, and said “Virgil, I have something to tell you. Well, first…”

As Roman moved to present the coffee cup to Virgil, Logan moved for his backpack. Using his super speed, he placed a purple coffee canteen into Virgil’s hand. The canteen in broke under Roman’s strength. The coffee burned in his hand but Roman honestly couldn’t care less.

Virgil leaned against Logan’s side as he drank his coffee “What is it Princey?”

Roman looked down “I wanted to say I’m sorry for yesterday. I really am.”

Virgil’s eyes flickered to Roman and study his body language. On their way over, Logan and Virgil planned on holding hands or linking arms when they saw Roman the entire day. It was to show him how ridiculous he was being. That didn’t mean he wanted to hurt him. See that Roman was seemingly embarrassed made Virgil smirk “It’s alright sir Sing-A-Lot.”

Roman walked backward and threw the destroyed canteen. He wore a fake smile, not that anyone was looking at him. He stared at the canteen in Virgil’s hand. It was his favorite color, and it even had his name on it. It was personal, probably even a gift. How could he not have thought of that? He was supposed to be Virgil’s boyfriend. He was supposed to make Virgil comfortable. He was supposed to make Virgil happy. He was supposed to be good enough.

But he wasn’t.

The warning bell unintentionally snapped Roman back to reality. Logan wrapped his fingers around Patton’s and for a moment, Roman prayed it was over. His dreams were dashed when Virgil wrapped his arm around…Logan’s waist?! He had never once done that to Roman. The sight was his downfall.  

As the trio walked forward, Roman stood in place, eyes looked onto the ground. Patton looked back at him and Roman turned to face the other direction. Patton tilted his head concerned “Aren’t you coming with us, Ro?”

“Nah, I think I’ll just take my old shortcut. Big test” Roman ran off, his tail between his legs. Or that’s what Virgil perceived it as, ever so slightly missing the tears forming in the corners of his boyfriend’s eyes.  

Virgil laughed hysterically as his arm dropped to his side. “Oh, that was amazing. Did you see the look on his face?”

Logan smirked, “I did, it was quite enjoyable.”

If the hallway was not flooded with high schoolers, they might have heard the tapping on Patton’s sneaker against the tile floor. The young pastel boy was fuming and going unnoticed.

Virgil wiped the tear in his eyes away. “Oh, I so needed that. See ya guys later.” Virgil waved as he walked into his class. Logan was laughing to himself until Patton roughly pulled him into an empty classroom.

Logan felt a small blush form as Patton stared at him menacingly “Pat…?”

“You promised you were going to leave Roman alone! “ Patton aggressively poked Logan in the chest as he spoke. Logan looked away as Patton gasped in horror “I even gave you a brownie!”

Logan pulled on his collar, sweat was forming on his forehead. Logan had only seen Patton get this mad at bad people, never him. The look that was embedded on Patton’s face was not for the faint of heart. Logan used one of Virgil’s breathing exercises to regain his composer before responding “I apologize, Patton, I did not intend to upset you with my actions.”

Patton huffed “I’m not the one you should be apologizing to! Poor Roman must be so sad right now! And in his favorite class too!”

Logan shook his head “Falsehood, we did not intend any malicious towards him. Virgil wanted to figuratively ‘teach him a lesson’, to quote his statement from last night.”

Patton scowl seemed to get worse “Oh and how are you two playing on ‘teaching him a lesson’ exactly?!”

Logan had no idea air quotes could be threatening. “We were only going to hold one another and speak mostly in inside jokes.”

Patton huffed “Well what a wonderful time of year for you two decide on this! Or did you plan to kick him while he’s down?!” It only took Logan a moment for the realization to hit him like a truth. “Oh…well…if it does make you angry at me…” Patton sent a sharp glare at Logan. “And if it truly upsets Roman…I will stop and work to regain your trust and faith in me.”

Patton placed his hand over his light pink pants. “Do you mean it this time?” Logan nodded “ I swear on my life.”

Patton’s angry demeanor dropped and squealed happily as he threw his arms around Logan’s neck. “Yay! Thank you so much Lo-Lo!”

Logan finally was able to relax and gently kissed Patton’s head “You’re welcome dear, now we must hurry if we are to make it to our next class.”

Patton looked at the time and gasped “We’ll never make it in time.”

Logan smirked and gently lifted Patton bridal style. “Don’t worry love, I’ll get us there.”

Patton’s face turned dark red. “T-Thanks hon.”

Using his superspeed, Logan easily got them to their class. They were even able to steal a quick kiss.

~ Roman’s day was a blur. His insecurities kept picking on him the entire day. Strangely, at least to him, none of his teachers seemed to bother him about him about it. Virgil spoke to him kindly in their shared class but it was the small talk they both despised. Guess it’s my lucky day today, he thought bitterly.

Once the fourth period of the day rolled around, he felt his face get hot from anger and he became blinded by tears. He raced to the bathroom, surpassing his top speed so no one could see him like this. He grips the sink, his head weighting itself down so he won’t look in the mirror. If he saw his red puffy eyes or the snot running out of his nose, he would feel even more worthless.

A tissue appears in his field of vision and Roman looked up to see Emile Picani’s toothy grin. Roman jump a few feet panicked that he was caught in this state.

Emile expression was not one of pity, but empathy. He extended the arm holding the tissue out to him like Hiccup held out his hand Toothless.

Roman tentatively took the tissue and rubbed his face clean.

Emile places a hand on Roman’s back “Let it out Roman, you don’t have to talk to me about it but do not keep it and let your feelings hold you back. Losing someone like you—“

Roman’s head shot up with a smile “Thank you very much for this tissue friendo, I am much better now. You always have the best advice, you should become a therapist one day.” Roman spoke as fast as he walked out of the bathroom. Emile shook his head before heading to his next class.

Roman accidentally back into the Sewing Club room where his eyes caught a discarded teddy bear. It was torn, missing an eye and looked like it had never been washed in its whole existence.

It was perfect.

Tossing it into the sink, he began to collect supplies for this masterpiece.

~

Virgil was having a good day so far. Not his best but nowhere near his worse. The good was he got a B+ on a test he didn’t study for and he wasn’t put on the spot by any teacher today, but the not so good was that he didn’t see Roman much throughout the day. He was grateful Roman wasn’t on top of him but he barely saw him in the early day and Roman was pretty quiet in the class they shared together. Roman responded when Virgil spoke to him but it was mainly one-word sentences.

Had he made Roman actually mad at him? He hoped not, it was just supposed to be a harmless joke. Oh god, did Roman hate him? Was Roman going to dump him?

Deep breathes Virgil. You’re overthinking. You can talk to him right now while you guys eat lunch and everything will be fine.

That thought put a smile on Virgil’s face, only for it to immediately drop when he saw a terrified Logan and the scariest version of Patton he had ever seen.

Patton was scowling, tapping his foot, and had his arms crossed. Three things Virgil would never expect Patton to be able to do.

Virgil gulped and made his way over “Am I in trouble?”

Patton’s foot tapping ceased, making the silence of the empty classroom they walked into deafening “I would say so.”

Virgil wanted to ask why, to make a sarcastic comment, to do anything but the dark aura that Patton was giving off made it impossible to even remember to breathe.

Logan knew that if Virgil didn’t say anything, Patton was just going to get angrier. So he cleared his throat and said: “Patton has informed me that our display this morning was a bit repugnant.”

“More than a bit I would say!”

Logan smiled softly. He couldn’t help it, Patton understanding the big words he used was his kink. Patton caught Logan’s eye and smiled back. All the anger left Patton as he found himself getting lost in Logan’s eyes

Virgil knew he was going to regret it but he cleared his throat. As he suspected, Patton snapped his head back and the nightmare fuel glare returned.

Virgil managed the stutter out “W-We didn’t m-mean any h-harm P-Pat.”

Patton sighed and spoke honestly “I know you didn’t kiddo but this week…it’s not the week to pick on Roman.”

Virgil tilted his head “This week?” Logan pulled off his glasses “February 17, 2011, a freak construction accident occurred at 11:54 am. Not much more information was released except that it was on 51th Street and 10th Avenue so the roads leading there were closed, causing huge amounts of traffic, and it killed three workers and injured 13 people. One of the people killed--”

Virgil went pale “--was Roman’s dad.” Virgil walked to the far wall, saying nothing. Once there was no more room between him and the wall, he began to bang his head against it. He only managed to do it completely once before both Logan and Patton pulled his away.

“What has gotten into you kiddo?!” The fear dripped with every word

Virgil sighed “I’m punishing myself for what I did.”

Logan shook his head “This is a highly irrational response.”

Virgil shook his head rapidly “No, this is an accurate response. I completely forgot about the literal worst day of my boyfriend's life and added insult to injury by getting back at him for something he was probably doing because of what happened and now I’m a jackass who is speaking in a loop.”

Patton began to shake him desperately “Come on kiddo, snap out of it.”

Virgil grabbed Patton’s hands with this own “Pat, cut it out. You’re giving me a headache.”

Patton pulled his hands back and held them by his face “Sorry kiddo!”

Virgil sighed “It’s alright” stopping to bury his face in his hands “What am I going to do…?”

Patton became stern again “You’re going to apologize to him the second he comes here.”

Virgil nodded “You’re right.”

Patton smiled “Great, now we can go back being all happy and friends.”

Logan cleared his throat “Just one last thing to make sure no figurative stone goes unturned.” Logan turned to Patton and grabbed his hands. “I want to make sure that our display this morning did not upset you either, please be as honest as possible.”

Patton smiled and gave Logan a little shrug “I was more worried about Roman than to be jealous.” He squeezed Logan “But if we’re being completely honest, I was a tiny bit jealous.”

Logan smiled “Well I apologized and I shall make it up to you.” Logan placed his hand behind Patton’s head and pulled him into a long passionate kiss. A kiss so passionate that a small moan escaped out of Patton.

Virgil nearly burst out laughing as he could tell they forgot he was still in the room. “Wow, you’re a really good kisser, Lo.”

Logan responded by swatting the air behind him and kissing Patton more which in turn produced another moan from the shorter man.

Suddenly, the three froze, their spidey sense blaring in their ears. There was no screams or alerts that followed, but they still all mechanically pulled out their masks out.

Virgil looked between Logan and Patton “Do you think Roman’s…?” He didn’t want to finish his sentence. He knew how reckless Roman could be, especially if Roman thought he could handle something on his own

Logan ran to the window and opened it “Only one way to find out.” Logan pressed his bracelet to make his suit appear over his entire body and he jumped out the window.

As Virgil struggled to put on his struggled to put on part of his suit, he said to Patton “Remind me to yell at him to make the rest of us one of those.”

~

Roman smiled at the teddy bear in his hand. He not only was able to get the teddy bear completely clean but he made it an outfit. It was a simple red shirt and purple pants but he didn’t have enough time to finish it and make it to lunch on time.

Turning the teddy bear over in his hand, he practiced what he would say as he walked down the hallways. Hey sweetie, I made you something. Why? No special reason, I just think you deserve a gift every once in a while.  

He looked around the corner were Patton’s locker is, surprised to see that no one was there. Roman leaned against the locker, thinking nothing of it.

Then his spidey sense went off.

Roman immediately got into a defensive position, wondering what danger was nearby.

Then he heard it. A small moan from behind the door he was standing next to. Roman had to shove the teddy bear in his mouth to stop his laughter. All moans, except the ones that left the lips of his lovely Stormcloud, sounded the same to him an invoked laughter. It was all his older sister’s fault. A young Roman and his father caught her with a boy in her room and watching the guy running away from his enrage father is not a memory that can simply be forgotten. He felt bad for the poor souls that were about to get busted by him

“Wow, you’re a really great kisser, Lo.”

Roman’s world shattered right before his eyes.

He took a step towards the classroom when he heard the second moan. That’s when he started crying. Suddenly one of Thomas’ first lessons entered his mind: When your Spidey-sense goes off, get out there as soon as possible.

So he did.

He ran to the theater, the only safe place he knew. He knew it would be empty too, as he has to go there more than once on a bad day.

He panted even though he wasn’t out of breath. He walked to the center of the stage and put down the teddy bear he didn’t even realize he was still holding. The teddy bear seemed to weight a ton as Roman himself was pulled down by it.

He had a staring contest with the teddy bear, as much as he could with the tears blocking his eyes. The teddy bear turned into Virgil who watch him with utter indifference.

It angered Roman “Why him?! I’m your boyfriend! I’m the one who loves you! I would give up everything for you, I would do anything for you! So why him?! What does he have that I don’t have! I don’t get it! WHY HIM?! WHAT MAKES HIM SO SPECIAL! WHY WASN’T IT ME?!”

The Virgil in front of him didn’t respond, as it was a figment of Roman’s imagination.

That didn’t stop Roman “Why him?!...why...I’m going to scream…I’m going to scream!…I’m going to…AHHHHHHH!” The room shook, his sonic scream knocking over the set pieces of the next musical.

“Fuck.” Roman went to use his webbing to pick them up but his spidey sense told him to turn around. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw Mr. Bell was casually sitting in the auditorium chair reading over the script of the musical. He looked up as Roman turned around fully.

Roman spoke first “M-Mr. Bell…I’m sorry, I know I’m supposed to be at lunch…”

Mr. Bell smiled softly “Roman, the stage is your home, you know you’re always welcome to be on it whenever you need. And this seems to have improved your vocal range. But next time, don’t knock over my set.”

Roman began to blush from embarrassment “S-Sorry.” Roman ran and picked up the set piece, placing upright and in their correct spots.

“If that was your audition for the Spring Play, you got the lead role already.”

Roman chuckled weakly “Uh thanks but that was no audition…I just needed to..”

“Scream?”

“...get something off my chest.”

Mr. Bell frowned “How are you, Roman?”

Roman rubbed the back of his head with one hand and stuck the other in his pocket “Fine.”

Mr. Bell “Are you sure? I know the loss of a parent can be too much.”

There it was, the one statement he was attempting to avoid all day. The fact that it was close to the anniversary of his father’s death. Nothing else.

“I’m fine, I swear. It was years ago…”

“Yes, but the pain never leaves us, so you don’t have to pretend you’re okay when you’re not.”

Roman wiped his tears away “I guess I’m not as great of an actor as I thought I was…”

Mr. Bell shook his head “A good actor does not become a good by hiding their emotions, but by accepting them. It makes your acting more raw and genuine.”

Roman nodded absently, hoping that the conversation was over.

“So, do you want to talk about it?” Roman shook his head “Thanks but no thanks.”

“Hm, alright but I can’t just let one of my best actors go while they are still upset. Let’s make a deal you sing how you’re feeling, just one song and then you can go.”

One of the things Roman liked about Mr. Bell was how fair the man was. Roman got a good role in his first play as a Freshman due to Mr. Bell looking at entirely at the actors’ and actresses’ skills. Roman owned the man this at least. He sat down as he tried to think of a song that would fully capture what was bother him. There was plenty of songs to choose from that were about fathers. Disney had a bunch alone.

But that wasn’t what came out.

“‘Cause every time I see you, it’s like all I am is see through. We were everything I know it, don’t want to miss it, record it. I adore you, I adore you, I adore you, I adore you…”

Because this problem had nothing to do with his father, it never did.

Roman didn’t continue singing. He felt embarrassed to be this vulnerable. He was supposed to be this rock, this strong man and yet he did not feel good enough to be with Virgil. He felt like he was too much for Virgil, that he was making Virgil want to stay away from him. He knew Logan didn’t think Roman was good enough for his best friends. Today just solidified it. Virgil didn’t think Roman was good enough, he probably waiting until he can get Roman alone to break up with him.

“I never heard that song before, what show is that from?”

Roman almost forgot Mr. Bell was still there. His face got hot from embarrassment “O-Oh it’s a…song by a drag queen…”

Mr. Bell smiled “Ah drag, a beautiful art form. Those lyrics were very alluring. Now, who is the one you adore?”

Roman look toward the auditorium door, he didn’t want to make eye contact. “My boyfriend…”

“Is this a relationship issue then?”

Roman nodded without really meaning to, he figured if he told anyone, it would be a teacher who didn’t know who Virgil was. “Yeah…I just don’t feel good enough for him…”  Still, he didn’t have to tell any one person everything.

“A very common insecurity in relationships. The one thing you can do is understand that you are good enough. I’m sure your boyfriend will gladly tell you that.”

Roman turned to look at him and smiled “Thanks Mr. B”

He was too good at faking a smile.

Roman scooped up the teddy bear and walked past Mr. Bell and out the door. He was now dreading play practice.

Looking down at the bear, Roman figured he could just put it in Virgil’s locker, that way he could avoid talking about the kiss.

“ROMAN!” Nevermind.

He turned to see Virgil, Logan, and Patton running towards him. They all stopped in front of him to pant and wipe the sweat away.

“You’re okay!” exclaimed Patton.

That caught Roman’s attention. “Of course I’m okay, why wouldn’t I be?” There were several reasons why but he wasn’t to know what they had to say.

Virgil answered “We were waiting for you to go to lunch and our spidey-senses went off. We didn’t see you so we thought something bad had happened to you.”

Roman blinked, his face unreadable “Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Virgil tilted his head “Interrupt? What?”

“It’s not important, let’s just get to our next classes.” Roman turned around and walked off. Virgil looked down at the ground, sad that Roman was mad at him.

Patton decided to take matters into his own hands. Literally.

He grabbed Roman’s hand and gasps “He’s heartbroken, he’s confused and hurt. He thinks…you cheated on him?”

Virgil’s jaw fell to the ground “WHAT?! I DID NOT!” Roman narrowed his eyes “I heard you earlier: ‘Oh Logan!’ You’re such a great kisser!”

This time all three of them stared at Roman shocked. It shocked Patton so much that he dropped Roman’s hand.

Virgil shook his head profusely “No! NO! NO! That was extremely out of context.”

Logan chimed in “Virgil is correct. He was mocking Patton and me.”

Patton’s cheek turns a bit pink “I may or may not have moaned.”

Roman begins to shake “Oh god, I’m so sorry…V, I’m so sorry. H-Here.” He puts the teddy bear in Virgil’s hands “This is for you, it was to apologize for my behavior yesterday but…oh god, I’m really sorry…”

Good job Roman, now you’ve made him hate you more, I hope you like being single.

Virgil looked down at the teddy bear, rubbing his thumb over the shirt. He threw his arms around Roman’s neck and hugged him. “God, you’re an idiot. But I love you so I’ll forgive you.” Virgil was mostly joking to lighten the mood. He even kissed Roman’s cheek to show how much he wanted Roman to smile.

See? You’re not good enough, he’s with you out of pity.

Roman hugged back, deciding he wanted to be selfish and soak up this moment.

Virgil continued “I’m sorry for this morning.”

Don’t be, you do deserve better than me.

“I forgive you V.”

I’ll prove I can be good enough for you.

Patton clapped his hands in joy “Yay! A happy ending!”

“But of course Padre!” Roman let go of Virgil when he felt his boyfriend make the slightest movement, he didn’t want to frustrate Virgil more.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch. The quartet sighed, none of them ate. Logan and Patton held hands as they walked to class, Roman walked behind Virgil.

Roman was really too good at faking a smile.

~

Virgil expected Roman to ignore him for the rest of the week. He knew what losing someone that close to you was like and space was what he needed.

But then it turned from days to weeks.

Roman suddenly stopped being around everyone, including Virgil. He didn’t walk with Patton to school, he didn’t talk to Logan in class, he didn’t sit at lunch with them if he was even at lunch.

Roman has a mission, he was going to become good enough to be Virgil’s boyfriend. His first step was to stay away, he knew Virgil needed space.

Thomas tried talking to Roman, but he didn’t get any farther than Roman missed his father. After that, Roman stopped coming to training practices.

Roman’s next step was to become stronger. If he could show Virgil that he could get rid of his worries and problems easily, Virgil would want to come to him when he was afraid.

In class, Roman only spoke when he was spoken to. He skipped superhero practice entirely. The only time they would truly see him was on patrol. They would see him swinging around, not stopping to acknowledge them.

Roman didn’t take breaks unless you counted the small naps he used to avoid becoming exhausted. He knew the others would be mad at him so he kept himself hidden. He didn’t want them to worry. They wouldn’t have to, it would be worth it in the end.

The others were extremely worried about him, Virgil the most. Roman didn’t answer calls, his communicator was never on and he answered text with one or two words. They feared the had lost Roman forever.

The three of them sat on a rooftop before patrol, all missing their dear friend. It was just the three of them today as Thomas had a date with MJ but they both demanded updates if Roman had been found.

A loud crash could be heard as their spidey senses went off.

Virgil rolled his eyes “Very helpful, you useless car alarm.”

Logan rolled his eyes and pulled Virgil along “Let’s go!”

The three arrived to find Roman fighting a giant robot. The watch in horror as every time Roman went to hit it, the robot would just swat him away.

Arachne waved his hand to get LoveBite and Spidergale’s attention “LoveBite, get Royal Slinger. Sidergale, follow me!”

When Roman went to go attack the robot once again, Patton scooped him up and held him.

“LET GO!”

“AS YOUR BEST FRIEND I SAY HECK NO!”

Both Logan and Virgil attempted to put a dent in the robot but, like with Roman before, it just swatted them away. Roman jumped out of Patton’s arm and went for the robot’s head. Another arm came out the back of it and smacked Roman into Logan.

Roman ran forward again but this time, Logan grabbed him while shouting “RETREAT!”

They all swung a few blocks away from the robot, Logan pulling Roman the whole way. The jumped into an abandoned building where Logan threw Roman to the ground as revenge for abandoning the group.

Roman growled and hopped up, ready to throw down with Logan. But he caught Virgil staring at him.

“Roman…” Virgil whispered

“Virgil…” Roman whispered back

The gaze was loving but they shut down. On one hand, Roman wanted to do nothing but scoop Virgil up and kiss him but on the other, he wanted to stick to his plan. Virgil was having a similar dilemma as he wasn’t sure to straddle or strangle Roman.

Logan cleared his throat, making everyone look at him “The robot seems to have a very quick reaction time, our regular attacks won’t work.” Logan knew Patton was scared. “I have a plan though. Spidergale will rush it head on while invisible. As it looks for what is attacking it, I will signal Royal Slinger and LoveBit to rush it from the sides. Make it fall on its back. When it’s down, I will use my super speed to run and put my mini robots in it. That way, more people will be attacking it until he breaks. Just keep it on the ground.”

The team all vocally agreed to Logan’s plan. All except Roman, he only nodded. His eyes were locked on Virgil and his mind was elsewhere.  The split off in their respective directions and waited for the robot to turn the corner.

“Everyone’s in position. Spidergale, go!”

Unbeknownst to them, the robot had a heat sensor. When invisible Virgil ran up to it, it knew exactly where he was. It almost hit Virgil and made him turn visible again.

Roman bolted to Virgil.

“ROYAL SLINGER, DON’T! STICK TO THE PLAN!”

Roman ignored Logan and jumped in front of Virgil.  As the robot swung at them, Roman let out a sonic shriek. It was so loud that everyone in the area had to cover their ears, glass shattered and the robot went flying backward.

The building began to crack from the impact of the giant robot. Roman swung over to check over the robot. He began kicking it relentlessly. It was revenge for the robot attempting to attack Virgil but also because he had unknowingly had pent-up anger he wanted to get out. He dented the robot over and over again. He was so distracted by rage that he didn’t realize the robot had one last trick up its sleeve.

Roman’s spidey sense went off but he couldn’t react fast enough before the robot exploded. “NO!” was the last thing he heard before everything went black

~

Roman’s first thought when he woke up was that Logan was definitely going to yell at him for not following his plan. Roman still thought it was a stupid plan and he would let Logan know it.

He pushed up expecting rubble. Once he felt the soft sheets on the bed in Thomas’ guest room, panic set in. He was cornered. Patton was more than likely leaning against the door, waiting for the sound of movement so he could jump him. Thomas was definitely next to him. Logan was probably the only thing holding Patton back right now. And Virgil…

Virgil suddenly materialized upside down on the ceiling above Roman. He was tapping one of his crossed arms with a finger and glaring at Roman.

Roman knew he had to play this right. “Hey, V…what’s up?”

“What’s up? What’s up?! WHAT’S UP?!” Virgil removed one foot from the ceiling and placed it on Roman’s throat while leaning forward. “YOU BEING AN IDIOT IS WHAT’S UP! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! WE HAD A PLAN!” Roman frowned “I stopped the bad guy, didn’t I?”

Virgil flipped off the ceiling and landed right next to the bed, scowling at Roman “Oh yes, good job! You could have died Roman! If Logan hadn’t shot you with web and pulled you back, who knows what would have happened! You were so lucky that only the flying pieces of metal that hit you only knocked you out!”

“Logan’s plan didn’t work! I had to do something! It was going to hurt you!”

“Oh, that makes it so much better! Would you like a kiss for that?! Or is the concussion you have giving you enough attention?!” Roman felt the words sting as it stabbed him and drained all the fight in Roman, not that there was much left. “Yeah…” Roman rolled over “It is…”

Virgil’s gut told him that he needed to press Roman more. “Roman, what’s going on? You’re never around anymore…”

Roman didn’t turn around “I…”

“Don’t make me get Patton.”

“I’m trying to become good enough for you!” Roman spat out as he spun around

“You’re…you’re kidding, right? Why would you think you’re good enough?”

“You don’t want to sit in my lap, you don’t want to hold my hand, you hate it when I lift you.” Roman felt it was time to let it all out, not that he could stop his word vomit. “But you do that with Logan…”

Virgil sat on the bed and grasped Roman’s hand “Ro, he’s just my best friend. Nothing more. Yes, I’m more comfortable with him but it doesn’t mean anything.” “Apparently since you seem to do it with everyone else but me!”

“That just proves that how I show you how much I love you is different, special.”  

“Yeah, right.” Roman looked away from Virgil, slightly wincing when he heard his boyfriend whimper when Roman pulled his hand away. He wanted to believe Virgil but he couldn’t. How could he? No examples can to mind. Plus, he really hated fighting.

Virgil sighed before playing with the  “Hey Ro?”

Roman blinked away his tears before turning back to his boyfriend.

“Do you remember that time you came to the dance studio?”

~

It was November 23th, a nice chilly Friday. Virgil had asked Ms. Green if he could stay in the studio for a little longer to go over the newest routine. He thought the studio was at its best when no one else was there.

Except he wasn’t alone.

Roman watched from the doorway as Virgil turned on his toes, something Roman could only dream of doing. Roman decided to surprise Virgil with a walk home. Play practice had ended early so he thought why not. When Virgil stopped to pose, Roman clapped. That made Virgil jump out of his skin

“Asshole! You scared the shit out of me!”

Roman chuckled “Sorry babe, I couldn’t help it. You are amazing and a wonderful dancer!”

Virgil blushed madly “Thanks…”

“Though I don’t think you can salsa as well as me?”

Virgil smirked, “Is that a challenge Princey?”

Roman walked over and stuck out his hand “Maybe.”

Virgil took it “Challenge accepted.”

They danced with no music and no tempo. They kept switching who was leading, they were fighting over dominance the entire time. And they had so much fun doing it.

They broke out into a fit of giggles as they held each other once they got tired. Roman gently kissed Virgil’s head before grabbing his dance bag. Like a gentleman, as Roman insisted he be, carried the bag all the way back to Virgil’s house. They chatted about different dance styles they enjoyed and when they should pull off their next prank on Thomas.

~

Roman smiled slightly at the memory, he remembered running home like a blushing school girl once he was sure Virgil was inside his apartment. “Of course I remember V, but I don’t understand--”

Virgil cupped Roman’s face to make sure he was looking into his eyes “Do you know how intimate dancing is?”

For the first time in Roman’s life, he could say he was truly stunned “H-Huh?”

“Ms. Green told me the next day, she apparently saw us dancing, that the reason dance partner end up dating each other is that how they feel about one another is seen through their dancing. You move with one another, you become one being. Dancing is romantic, it is sexual, it is an expression of love.” Virgil smiled, he was truly fascinated by what he was saying. “You’re the only one I have ever willing danced with.”

Roman was stunned silent. His mind flashback to watching his parents dancing together in the living room during holidays and any private time they had together. He looked over to his boyfriend, his boyfriend the dancer. The professional amazing dancer. Roman didn’t feel worthy of that dance. Still, he nodded in understanding so that Virgil wouldn’t worry.   

Virgil looked deep into his eyes, to see if Roman really meant it. His once lively eyes were clouded, unsure, and full of doubt. He spoke the words “I understand” but there was nothing to them. Roman didn’t believe him.

~

Roman recovered quickly, and with the approval of everyone, was allowed to go out a patrol again in just a week.

Virgil spent the whole time trying to make Roman happy again. He took care of Roman the whole week. He gave Roman kisses on the cheek and held his hand to ground him. It slowly helped Roman return back to his preppy, happy self.

Slowly. Very slowly. Virgil could see the hesitance anytime Roman went to kiss him, the doubt when he hugged Virgil, the surprise when Virgil would grasp his hands. It was painful to watch Roman suffer this way and frankly, Virgil was craving needy Roman.

Virgil sighed, he needed to come up with a new tactic or they would be graduating college before Roman was okay.

“Okay, so Logan and Virgil will take the East and South sides today while Patton, Roman and I will do the North and West,” Thomas wanted to keep an eye on Roman, maybe even have a good talk with him.

Logan and Patton untangle from one another and kissed goodbye. Patton watched Logan walk to the window so that he could make sure Roman didn’t try to run ahead.

Roman could feel the eyes on it, already putting him in a bad mood. Virgil tapped his arms, pulling his attention to him.

Virgil gave him a soft smile “I’ll see you in three hours, okay?”

Roman smiled back “Of course.” Roman leaned down instinctively to give Virgil a kiss, making Virgil’s heart soar. This would be the first time since the “Roman was all over Virgil” day that Roman would have made the first move.

But then Roman pulled away.

He turned towards the window, ignoring the shock faces on everyone. He intended to go on ahead since he almost messed up again.

Virgil grabbed the arms that were going to put the mask on Roman’s face and forced Roman around. He slammed his lips against Roman’s.

Roman’s eyes fluttered shut as he kissed back. The kiss was desperate and much needed.

Virgil pulled back and turned to the others “Can we have some alone time?” The others nodded simultaneously and jumped out the window.

Virgil turned to Roman, concern dripping all over his face “What was that? Why did you pull away?”

Roman’s eyes were unfocused “I didn’t want to make the same mistake I made before.”

Virgil frowned “Roman…is that why you’ve been so shy lately?”

Roman nodded, afraid to speak.

Virgil placed his hands on Roman’s shoulder “You know how we avoid that? By making rules. You can hold my hand and you can kiss me on the cheek whenever you want. Anytime we say goodbye, I want you to kiss me on the lips. Anything else you can just ask me first.”

Roman smiled slightly “I like those rules.”

Virgil smiled back “I love it when you give me affection. You made one mistake Roman, but the fact that you want to fix it speaks volumes about you. I love you more than anything. Never doubt that.”

Roman nodded absently. He didn’t doubt that Virgil loved him but he couldn’t help but think he was going to mess up again. He couldn’t help it. He needed something to know everything would be okay.

Virgil sucked in his breath. “You still don’t believe me!” Virgil exclaimed, which made Roman take a step back. Virgil shook his head as an idea came to mind. “Fine, don’t believe my words. Grandma always said actions speak louder than words.”

Before Roman could question what he was talking about, Virgil placed Roman’s hands on his own waist and wrapped his arms around Roman’s neck. The held each other for a moment before Virgil began to sing.

“You know I want you. It's not a secret I try to hide.” Roman couldn’t help but smile, he adored this song and the man who was singing it.

Virgil gently took Roman’s hands in his “I know you want me. So don't keep saying our hands are tied.”

Roman relaxed when Virgil willingly put his callous hand over his small and fragile waist. They slowly began to waltz, Virgil taking the lead as he was the better dance out of the two.

“You claim it's not in the cards. Fate is pulling you miles away and out of reach from me.” Virgil spun Roman out, the latter find a smile creep onto his face.

“But you're here in my heart so who can stop me if I decide that you're my destiny?” Pulling Roman back in, Virgil grasps Roman’s right hand and let Roman’s other arm drape over his shoulder. The living room transformed into their ballroom, they could not care who was watching. Their movements were fluid as if they rehearsed this dance day-in and day-out.

Virgil lifted Roman and placed him on the coffee table. Virgil ran around it as Roman twirled. “What if we rewrite the stars? Say you were made to be mine.”

Roman leaned back and Virgil caught him bridal style “Nothing could keep us apart. You'd be the one I was meant to find.”

Virgil spun him once more before placing him on the group. He took Roman’s hands in his and looked him directly in the eye as he sang. “It's up to you, and it's up to me. No one can say what we get to be. So why don't we rewrite the stars?”

They both turned to the open window. “Maybe the world could be ours…” Putting their masks back on, they jumped out as Virgil sang. “Tonight.”

They both shot out a webbing to swing on but held one another’s waist. They continue their waltz in the air, using the webbing to keep an even level.

Logan, Patton, and Thomas watched as they continued their sky dance with long pinning looks that were only blocked by their masks.

Logan adjusted the setting on his mask “Are they…dancing?”

Thomas chuckled “And singing too.”

Logan raised an eyebrow “But why? They are only wasting their webbing, even if they can make their own, and alerting attention to themselves--”

Patton turned to Logan, a dagger-like glare in his eyes “Logi-bear, I love you but shut you ever-flapping gobtalker. They are having a moment and I must see all of it.” Thomas and Logan took a step back to give Patton optimal space.

Patton was excited, he didn’t have to touch either of them to know they were happy now. He was waiting for a moment like this.

He wasn’t the only one.

Emile was setting up his camera at this moment. He had deciphered each of the Spidermen’s patrol routes, today he was planning on getting pictures of Royal Slinger. He was anticipating action shots, maybe even some poses from the fanciful Spiderman. Instead, he was greeted with Spidergale and Royal Slinger dancing while singing one of his favorite songs.

This would look great on his Royalgale fan page.

He finished setting up the camera just as Roman landed on one building and Virgil landed on one across from him. They shot webbing at the crane that happened to be in a construction zone between the two building. They locked eyes and nodded.

Swinging off the buildings, they belted “All I want is to fly with you! All I want is to fall with you! So just give me all of you!”

Their webbing crossed, pulling them both closer and closer together as they spun.

“It feels impossible!” They tighten their grips on the webbing and reached for one another “It's not impossible!” The grasped the other’s arm.

“Is it impossible?” They pulled the other closer so that their foreheads were touching.

“Say that it's possible!” Virgil let go of his webbing. Roman tossed him in the air.

“How do we rewrite the stars? Say you were made to be mine?” Roman caught him and they swung on Roman’s webbing.

Virgil shot another webbing and Roman let go of his “Nothing can keep us apart! 'Cause you are the one I was meant to find!”

“It's up to you. And it's up to me.” They continued to switch back and forth, perfectly waltzing. Roman dipped Virgil. Virgil then wrapped his arms around Roman’s neck and Roman held his waist with his free arm. They spun once more, Virgil having complete trust and faith that Roman wouldn’t drop him.

They landed on an empty rooftop. “No one can say what we get to be. And why don't we rewrite the stars?” They morphed back into the tradition, slow waltz as the adrenaline wore off.

They pressed their foreheads together as they came to a halt “Changing the world to be ours.”

Virgil gently lifted up his mask so that Roman could see his smile “So, do you feel better now?”

Roman didn’t reply, he only placed a finger on Virgil’s lips to silence him. Roman lifted up his mask and sang “You know I want you. It's not a secret I try to hide.”

Virgil frowned, he knew what the next line entailed. Was Roman still upset? Did he still not believe him?

Roman whispered softly “And now that I have you, I promise to never leave your side.”

Virgil smirked “Changing the lyrics? So unlike you Princey.”

Roman lifted up his mask to show that he was smirking back “I happened to be a bit creative, thank you very much.”

Virgil shook his head “Not a bit, you’re the most creative, handsome, amazing man I have ever met.”

They leaned in for the kiss again, but this time, Roman didn’t pull away. The kiss was as passionate as their first. It was powerful, energetic, on fire, with people screaming.

Oh, wait.

The looked up as their spidey sense alerted them of a nearby building fire.

Roman turned to Virgil “Duty calls.”

Virgil may have pulled his mask back down but the smirk behind it was so obvious. “Try to keep up Princey.”

~

Roman had a love-hate relationship with fire. One the one hand, it could make an evening alone so much more romantic. It is a source of life in comfort. On the other hand, fire is the reason he couldn’t see his father again, why his siblings kept asking why the “big black box” was closed with Papa inside.

Right now, he was on the hate side. A gas fire broke out and all he and friends could do was go inside and make sure no one was trapped inside. Roman never realized how flammable things can be until he got in that building. Worse, his cape caught on fire so he had an unnecessary timer to get all the people on the side of his building out.

Luckily, they were able to get everyone on out alive. Roman’s costume didn’t seem to get the same treatment.

They all swung as fast as they could to get back to Thomas’ place, Roman in the lead. Once he was two steps into the apartment, Roman ripped off his mask and gasped for air. The air-conditioned air stung against his hot skin. He ripped off the top of his costume and was glad that he had no put a shirt on underneath it. He flopped onto the couch, arms spread across the back as he panted. A web rag was placed across his forehead but he had no strength to thank the person responsible for doing so.

He had no idea how much time had passed before the world and his stomach stopped spinning but it was pure torture. He vaguely heard voices, most likely Thomas worrying about his health.

He slowly picked up his head to look around for Virgil. He wondered aloud where he was.

A hand waved in front of him “Right here, you okay Princey?”

Found him.

Roman puts his head back down and sighed “As okay as I can be. What about you?”

Although his vision was still very blurry, Roman could tell Virgil shrugged “I’d say the same.”

Roman sighed, though he had nothing to add. Once he felt his strength returning for good, roman picked up his head again “Do you want me to move so you can lay down?”

“No.”

Roman nodded, he wasn’t going to force Virgil to relax if he didn’t want to, that was Thomas’ Patton’s job. At least, that’s what he thought he Virgil meant until he felt someone placing themselves.

Roman turned his head and locked eyes with Virgil who was sitting in his lap. Virgil smiled and wrapped his arms around Roman’s neck and cuddled into him.

Roman instantly wrapped his arms around Virgil and held him close. He felt happy tears welling up in his eyes. He had been chosen, Virgil trusted him.

This was paradise.

~

Tag list:

@corkeecoderyt @Per-seph-o-nee @Ohshrekmyheck @3milystuff  @Asymmetricalgarbage8888   @fairytailtwists  @sanders-sides-rebloger  @sanderssidesfluffyangst  @unikornavenger @0callmevirge0 @gloomingwitch @roxiefox24 @ijustreallylovesanderssides @unisaurioamorfo

[fish-food-s]

Septum

Words: 2174

Warnings: Major character death, blood, the R slur, cursing, unsympathetic deceit, lots of angst, let me know if I should add anything else.

A/N: This is heavily based off of a youtube video called Septum by Hazel Hayes. I used the same story and really similar characters. Please go check it out!

---

“In front of you is a pill. Within the next twenty-five minutes, one of you must take the pill. If, after twenty-five minutes, no one has taken it, you will all die. Survivors will all win their share of $50,000,000. Good luck.”

Logan scanned the room. A digital clock was installed into the wall, counting down from twenty-five minutes. It contrasted the rest of the electronic free room, being the only source of light that wasn’t a dim yellow lamp against the worn out walls. A security camera was nestled in the top corner of the room, watching them from afar. He and four others sat at a small table filled with little cookies and fruits, along with a single white pill, cushioned neatly on a tiny, fancy box, opened and up for anyone to take.

The man reading the note, Logan knew him as Patton, put down the piece of paper and licked his lips in nervousness.

“Charming,” one man commented, fear evident behind his confident-ridden eyes.

“Would anyone like me to read it again?” Patton asked, unsure. Everyone solemnly shook their heads; Patton nodded and put the note away.

Logan cleared his throat, it being rougher than he anticipated. “I suppose we should introduce ourselves. I’ll go first,” He was met with no objection, “I am Logan, and I feel it would be unfair if I did not mention that I already know Patton,” Logan stated, nodding in Patton’s direction.

“Yes. Hello Logan,” Patton admitted, sheepishly

A man in a black bowler hat furrowed his brows. “Did you know that you’d see each other here?” He questioned.

The two shook their heads. “No. We were friends in school but lost touch when departing. Seeing Patton here came as quite a shock,” he explained.

“Yeah. We haven’t spoken in, like, ten years,” Patton agreed. The man with the hat nodded suspiciously.

“Well, It would definitely add to the show, with all the drama and such,” said the confident man. Logan thought about it for a moment before nodding, remembering that this was in front of an audience.

“Well,” Logan started, “There is not much to know about me. I am married, and we have a daughter. We are signing the divorce papers currently, though. It simply did not work the way we planned. I am a nurse, by the way. It is what I’ve wanted to do since childhood, and I quite enjoy meeting such a diverse set of people from the occupation. There is truly so much to learn from them.” He dipped his head, signifying he was done.

“I guess I’ll go next,” Patton decided through the silence. “I’m Patton, and I’m studying to be an architect. I love traveling and seeing what humanity could make with just a few materials in hand. I’m planning on climbing Kilimanjaro. Which I know seems a bit...” he gestured to his wheelchair, “It won’t be easy, but I’m going to try my hardest.” He smiled proudly.

“Hello, I am Roman,” the next man announced, the same one that spoke with a fragile arrogance, “I am an incredibly charming and witty, and downright devilishly handsome man-” the man in the hoodie next to Roman laughed, “-When I was young I wanted to be a Disney prince, but I settled on being a writer instead, everyone insisted that you couldn't have something that didn’t exist. I do not believe anyone gave a reason for being here, but I came because the cash would help greatly in writing and publishing my novel.”

“You came here for a novel?” Logan confirmed, “That’s admirable.”

Roman nodded, flashing a wavering smile, “I am also quite a fan of this show, another reason I decided to come.”

Logan nodded and everyone’s head turned to a rather dark character. “Would you like to introduce yourself?” Logan asked, leaving silence for his name.

“Virgil,” His deep voice surprised everyone, “And no thanks. I’m good.”

The hat man scoffed. “It’s not like he’s offering you a snack”

Virgil rolled his eyes that were painted with shadows, “Yeah, I’m not giving you some sob story to get you to feel sorry for me. We all got problems, next,” he made a swiping motion with his hands, gesturing to the last man.

The man in the bowler hat sighed. “Well, I am Vincent,” he spoke, his voice smooth and calculated, “I dropped out of school at grade seven and started my own business. I have been under my own employment ever since.”

“Yes, cause someone like you definitely needs the money,” Roman signed. Vincent shook his head and looked away, as if too worthy for his contributions.

“So, that is all of us. How shall we do this?” Logan asked, ignoring the rising feeling of sickness in his gut.

Vincent lifted his head to meet Logan’s eyes. “Let’s do a vote. It doesn't have to be official, we’ll just test the waters and go from there,” he suggested. Everyone made some noise of agreement.

“Yeah, we won't do it unless it’s unanimous. Well, if four people vote for the same person. Obviously, we won't get all five of us to vote together,” Patton added with a touch of forced humor.

“Okay, I will start with me,” Logan stated, “And go clockwise from there. By a show of hands, who votes for me to take the pill?” No one raised their hand.

“Patton?”

“Roman?” Vincent raised his hand.

“Virgil?” Roman, Logan, and Patton raised their hands, the ladder quite sheepishly.

“Vincent?” Virgil raised his hand.

“Okay, that’s one each for Vincent and Roman, and three for Virgil,” Logan finished, feeling nausea take over.

There was a beat of silence

“Let's take a break and come back in a moment. To think about the vote,” Patton suggested, guilt plaguing his voice.

“Excellent idea, Patton,” Logan agreed, and with that, everyone turned to talk amongst themselves.

Logan approached Patton, smiling at the familiar face. “It is quite strange seeing you here,” he commented.

“Yeah, you too,” Patton said, laughing forcefully.

“Now that the first voting has finished, everything has become all too real,” Logan confessed, looking on to the others.

Patton nodded solemnly.

“May I ask why you voted for me?” Virgil turned his head to see Vincent facing him, pleading with his eyes. “I mean, I know we all have to vote for someone, but if I did anything that caused you to be upset, my apologies,” he said almost sincerely.

“To be honest, I just think you’re kind of a dick,” Virgil said bluntly. Roman chuckled. Vincent snarled and turned away.

Everyone slowly made their way back to their seat, and a silent tension was reset in the air. Logan cleared his throat. “I suppose we could vote again. Anonymously this time,” Logan suggested. Patton began to take strips of paper out.

“Wait,” Roman announced, “Virgil are you sure you don’t want to share your story?” he asked.

Virgil looked down. “Well, if you really want to hear it. My dad died when I was seven. It’s just me and my mom. She’s absolutely perfect. You know those moms you see in magazines or movies? Always baking and always supportive? That's my mom. She, uh, she’s sick. Like, sick sick. I came here cause I thought I could-” he covered his eyes, whimpering. “I can’t...” His whimpers turned to low laughs, “I can’t believe you guys fell for that shit.”

Everyone sighed in disbelief. “You sure are something,” Vincent spoke, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“What a wonderful performance!” Roman commented, lifting his glass of wine to Virgil. The actor imitated a bow.

“Can’t you take anything seriously?” Vincent growled at Roman.

“Can’t you take that stick out your ass? It’s not a good look,” Roman shot back. Virgil chuckled.

“Look, I’m just saying that we can’t judge someone so quickly in just twenty-five minutes based off each other sob stories,” Virgil stated, leaning back in his chair.

“Yeah, and you could never know who’s telling the truth,” Roman agreed.

“Who’s side are you on?” Vincent growled.

“My own.”

“What an awful side.”

“Okay. okay, lets vote,” Patton said suddenly, passing five strips of paper around, “If four of the votes are the same, that will be the decision,” Each wrote a name on their slip before passing it back to Patton.

Patton unfolded each and read them out loud. “Virgil. Virgil. Vincent. Virgil… Vincent.”

“Are you fucking kidding me? You just got us all killed! We were one vote away from getting out alive!” Vincent lashed out, looking directly at Roman, “You just fucked it all up!” Roman shook his head and chuckled. “What is this for your book? Trying to get a good story out of it?”

“Oh, please.”

“What, you think this is a joke? We’re all going to die because of you!”

“That’s enough-” Virgil stepped in.

“Oh, now he talks! You just stay silent and wait until one of us becomes the antagonist? Well, you did a great job at that!” He seethed, lightly clapping his hands.

“It’s not like I have some strategy to this! I came here for money that I need. I’m here to vote and feel awful about all of it, but I am not begging anyone for sympathy in the process. My shit hole of a life is not going to be my excuse to live.”

“It was me...”

“What?” Vincent demanded.

Patton looked down. “I voted for you...”

“What the hell is wrong with you people? The moment I walked through the door you all hated me!”

“I’ll take that apology when you’re ready”

“Fuck off!”

Vincent stood up and walked to the end of the table. “Since we cannot reach an agreement, I suggest the majority takes the pill. Virgil?”

“Wait that is not what we decided on,” Logan argued, “We need to take another vote just to be sur-”

“Are you fucking retarded or something?” Vincent snapped. The room went cold. “No, that’s not what I meant-”

“You’ve been nothing but trouble all night,” Roman said, standing up to meet Vincent, “You claim you’re some rich business owner, but I’m calling bullshit. You’re just a liar with a bad attitude and a bad-”

Roman couldn't finish the sentence with Vincent's fist to his nose. Logan caught him as he fell backward, and Virgil stood up to level with Vincent. He almost took another blow when Virgil looked up, Vincent following his gaze to the security camera. To where millions of people are watching them. Virgil turned around to help Roman stop seeing stars.

Patton glance at the clock. Only a minute left. “Logan, we’re running out of time.” His voice was on the edge of sobs.

“Okay, another vote, with a show of hands this time, majority rules. I will start with me,” Logan stated, “And go clockwise from there. Who votes for me to take the pill?” No one raised their hand.

“Patton?”

“Roman?”

“Virgil?”

“Vincent?” Everyone but Vincent raised their hand.

“Vincent you have to vote,” Patton pleaded.

“Doesn’t matter,” Roman spat, holding his nose, “he’s dead.”

“No, he should vote,” Logan argued

“Vincent just take the pill!” Virgil yelled. Vincent did nothing.

“I’m sorry,” Logan apologized sincerely, “But you have to take it.”

Vincent sat down in his spot, eyeing the pill. He leaned in, almost reaching it, before retreating back into his seat. The clock ticked from a minute to fifty-nine seconds.

Screams of resentment flooded the room. Patton wordlessly sobbed as he held his head in his hands. Logan stood up and eyed the pill, circling the table. Ten seconds. He reached his hand for the pill and dry swallowed the tablet before anyone could resist. The room went silent.

“No!” Patton screamed, pushing his chair over to logan and clutching the hem of his shirt, “Logan you didn’t have to do that!” The timer hit zero. Logan lowered himself to Patton’s level as the man cried into his chest. “Why did you do that...” he whimpered, sobbing.

Patton pulled away slightly and wiped at his nose, noticing the blood it left on his finger. Vincent, wide-eyed, turned to Roman, who had begun to cough up blood. He tested the tip of his finger at his own nostril, fainting at the sight of blood on his index finger. Virgil looked in horror at Roman. “It was an antidote,” the writer whispered. He squeezed his eyes shut and held out his hand. “Could you… could you hold my hand?”

Virgil wordlessly sat down and took Roman’s hand in his, watching the man take his last breath, knowing his own would come soon. He stood up and separated their hands, before making his way to Logan, who was now cradling a half-dead Patton. Without saying anything, he leaned his head on Logan’s shoulder and fell into darkness, Patton joining him soon after.

Logan, now surrounded by bodies, looked up as the walls opened to a bright white light, revealing a cheering audience that only made his tears burn more.

---

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10 Questions Tag

Thanks for the tag @westywrites! I’ll be tagging you back since we seem to be tagging each other back and forth ;) I’ll also tag @theflowofink and @gremla-hemlock, feel free to ignore if you’re not into tag games!

Westy’s questions for me:

Which scene would you love to see in movie format?

Nooooo this is such a hard question why did you start with this westyyyyyy

I’d say it’s a tossup between two scenes- when Alex meets his Grand Master for the first time and when Miriam and Roman are reunited. They aren’t CGI heavy scenes or anything but involve a lot of complex emotions. I think it’d be easier for a movie to encapsulate the intense feelings involved. 

Do you have a beloved, but imagined, scene you know won’t fit in the story?

It involves Miriam and Phineas really getting along with no past tensions. My story spans over around two years and since I’ve only known my biological father for two years also, I know I wouldn’t be able to get in the scenario I have in my mind with my own father. It’d be wholesome but not realistic.

Which of your characters would want kids?

Because of the lore in my novel, Sebastian, Miriam and Aiden must have three children and Roman and Cyrus one. Out of the group, I’d say only Aiden would want them, although Noah wouldn’t mind them too if he found his soulmate to raise them with. 

What would be the perfect date night in the mind of your mcs?

Alex: Somewhere where he could casually spend time to get to know his date. Nothing fancy- a picnic with a nice view or a patisserie would be perfect. For something more nighttime based, a casual restaurant would be great! Somewhere like Malaysia’s ‘Simple Life’ (I’m not Malay but when I lived there, I gorged)

Miriam: A restaurant. As long as the food is decent, that isn’t so much of an issue, she’d prefer somewhere with a good view and comfortable seats. I guess her perfect place would be somewhere like a Skybar with full meals rather than just snacks. 

Sebastian: Introducing his date to his hobbies or learning theirs! Even though he’s a tough boi, he lowkey enjoyed learning how to use a sewing machine when his current boyfriend taught him. He likes his private time before going to bed- I don’t see him as the sort to go on evening/night dates.

Aiden: Aiden would love to show off his boo, he’d want to be seen in public with them (like going to a social gathering) before relaxing at a spa or chilling out in bed with cuddles. The fact his friends know every single one of his dates is probably why he such a flirty reputation.

Noah: Noah is most definitely a sapiosexual. In part 5 of the series he goes on his perfect date (although it goes wrong ofc). Him and his ‘friend’ go to a museum where he gets to teach her about all the contents since he’s well versed in the topic. If it didn’t end up going haywire when he’d have taken her out for a nice walk so they can talk about what they’ve learnt and get to know each other better.

Roman: Ro is aromantic, but he’d definitely do friendship dates! He’d want to see what makes his friend smile the most so would let them set up their own date which he tags along on. If they asked him to do the same in return, he’d do some volunteering! He made a goal aged 5 to make everyone smile, so it both helps communities and you can find a lot about people based on how they treat those less advantaged than them, which is great for deciding whether you want to befriend them!

Cyrus: Cyrus loves his vehicles, so he’d romanticise them for a date! A boat or train ride where he pulls out some flowers or organises a candlelit dinner could be one option, or a trip on his motorbike to somewhere intimate with the same aftermath could also happen.

Do any of your characters name their houseplants?

Aiden, Roman and Miriam would! But Miriam wouldn’t let anybody know she does.

If you had to choose one of your characters to represent each season, who would they be and why?

Spring: Roman. He’s very optimistic and people tend to be happier in spring since it’s when nature comes back to life. It’s also about growth since there are new blossoms, animals and children grow faster in spring (fun fact). He’s big on supporting his friends growth so it’s perfect for him. 

Summer: Aiden. First off, he’s an absolute ray of sunshine. He also can get onto your butt to the point it’s annoying and hurts your head, like too much sun exposure causes sunburn for some people. But he also can have a bit of a temper at times which could be representative of summer storms.

Autumn/Fall: Noah. I associate him and autumn with almost identical colours. He’s cool- he’s not difficult to approach but he isn’t all over you like Aiden. Some associate autumn with death and approaching a cold winter whereas others see it as beautiful and poignant. Noah is also a love-or-hate kind of guy.

Winter: Miriam. Apart from her being the heir to the Empire of ice, she has a very cold presence until she warms up. When she warms up, you realise she has more in common with Roman than you’d expect, which also fits in with the fact he represents the next season.

Same as above, but for the four elements (earth, water, fire, and air)?

Water: Cyrus. Because he’s d e e p.

Fire: Alex. He’s usually pretty chill, but his temper makes Aiden’s seem like nothing.

Earth: Noah. He’s the grounded member of the group who has no idea why everyone else is so emotional.

Air: Aiden. His ability is to manipulate air (his ability has changed so many times but I’ve finally settled on something that fits his personality, aha) so it makes sense. 

Do you have a scene you know must exist, but you dread writing/rewriting?

Nope! I have had parts like these in abandoned projects, but not in The Mastery!

Do you have a scene you are very excited to write/rewrite?

Roman and Miriam reuniting. I’ve gotten a lot of ideas to make it more developed and to reduce Miriam seeming like a butt for no justified reason which fit in with some later flashbacks I’ve added.

What do you need to hear right now?

Stop stressing yourself over my project. It’s just a hobby- don’t force yourself to overwork on it and get burnt out.

My questions for my tags:

What is your current writing goal?

Which of your projects has the highest word count?

Are any of your locations based on real-life places?

Why did you choose your main characters name?

What Hogwarts houses would you assign to your main characters?

If you have heard of MBTI, which types do you think your characters would be (and what type are you)?

Which of your characters would be the most likely to be a writer (and have their own Writeblr)?

Do you have any characters who you created but aren’t in your current draft?

Are your characters good or bad at cooking?

If your characters had an academic test coming up, how would they prepare?

[limitededitionsanderssidesblog]

Speech Impediment - Chapter 18 (Final)

Ships: remceit, logicality, prinxiety, platonic dlamp

Summary: The end of the school year has come, finals are happening and stress is abundant for each member of their little group. However, the end of the year has also brought on a crushing revelation for Dexter. Remy is leaving for Medical School.

AO3 - Here

Chapter One Previous 

It was all a mess. The end times had come for them all. They all huddled together in Remy’s apartment, as he had the most space and security and food, and refused to brave the outside. Tempers were shortened, friendships became rocky, and relationships were tested.

It was finals week, and everyone was cramming to get an A in their respective classes. They had all decided to have one massive study group together despite the fact that very few of them shared similar classes. Mostly they’d just read over material and quizzed each other on topics. Or they would just ask Logan for help or questions since he was the most level-headed out of the bunch. 

Virgil and Dexter, who both actually shared a class, poetry, practically locked themselves away in another part of the apartment and hissed when anyone tried to interrupt them. At one point Virgil even threw his pencil pouch at Roman’s face when he wouldn’t stop bothering him, out of frustration. Remy was the only one able to coax Dexter out of the spare room, but only because he offered him studying tips for Anatomy.

But the biggest surprise of it all was the moment when Patton threatened Logan into being his portrait model with divorce. Dexter had been getting a cup of black tea to help him stay awake when it happened. Everyone, including Logan and Patton themselves, knew that he didn’t mean in, but it was still enough to make him reluctantly agree.

In regards to his own finals, Dexter was no longer studying hard for fear of losing his parents’ good favor, he already lost that, but rather to make sure he didn’t lose his student aid, which could be taken away if his grades got too low. He was now supporting himself solely on the part-time job that had become a near full-time one. Remy offered to help him, but Dexter refused to take any of his money. He did allow him to treat him to meals though.

Dexter didn’t regret his choice to enter that contest, it had gotten him the attention of several minor publishers after all, but in consequence he had lost his family. At first he felt bad since he was no longer welcomed in the household, which meant he wasn’t allowed to see Daisy until after she moved out once she grew up, but who was to say she’d want to see him after that. The next week, however, he was pleasantly surprised to see a friend request online from his sister. Dexter knew she wasn’t allowed to have social media and that she had broken that rule to reach out to him, and that made him happy. Dexter still wished his parents were more accepting, but he was finally ready to admit to himself that he was not the problem and not the mistake. His friends helped him to see that.

Back to the present, he was pretty sure that he aced his anatomy and poetry finals, thanks to the help of Virgil and Remy, but his psychology final definitely could have gone a lot better. His creative writing final had been easy enough for him; it simply took a hell of a lot of time to write over the past three weeks. Although, the upside was that once they were in class everyone was given a chance to either study for other classes or watch the movie that was played on the whiteboard. After those two hours were up and he had to leave, Dexter felt reluctant to go because he may very well never have Professor Sharp as a teacher ever again. 

With finals now over, the school year finished, and nothing but his job at the bookshop occupying his time, there was nothing keeping his mind off of what was soon going to happen. The realization had come to him weeks in advanced and, although he should have, he didn’t confront Remy about it. Instead Dexter preoccupied his mind in his current life, using work, school, and finals as excuses to not think about it. In turn, Remy said nothing about it either, so he convinced himself it wasn’t of importance. 

The two of them had been dating for a little over two months now, going slow and steady as Dexter had wanted. However, now it appears that their time is up. With finals now over, it was time for graduation, which is what Remy was doing. He had finished his four years here and, just as he had once told Dexter he had planned, was to move on to medical school in Chicago. While Chicago was only two hours away by car from their smaller city, Dexter knew that keeping up what they had was going to be difficult. They already only get to see each other a few times a week outside of class because of their schedules, but now they won’t be able to see each other for weeks on end.

But Dexter couldn’t be the thing to get in the way of the dream he constantly talked about. They never talked about their separation so he naturally assumed that they had silently agreed to allow themselves to drift apart.

So Dexter didn’t say anything during finals, or at his Graduation party, or after. That didn’t mean they didn’t speak, of course they did, the spoke of relaxed joy from the end of the semester and of hope for what was around the bend. They celebrated the past accomplishments of the school year. For the offer Dexter received from a smaller publications company to publish the story that had earned him second place in the contest; as well as Logan’s theoretical paper the University had awarded and sent in to NASA. Word was that he may have a position awaiting him there after he graduated next spring. There were so many good things to be happy for and look forward to.

Yet all he could feel was sadness. Try as he might, pushing down those emotions was betraying him, and whenever the subject of Remy moving was brought up, he shut down. He didn’t need to say it out loud for everyone to understand why he was feeling that way, it was obvious. To everyone except Remy it seemed like.

“There’s always video-chatting and online messaging!” Patton said in an attempt to console him, “You could visit on weekends and during breaks!”

“He didn’t tell me that his weekends will be open. He isn’t becoming an intern at a nearby hospital and that won’t take up a lot of his time.” Dexter sighed as he curled up in his bed. Dee Dee curled up next to his head on the pillow, woken up by his movement, “He’s already relaxed about his new schedule. I wouldn’t be a bother.”

“Kiddo, Remy would never think of you like that!”

“Patton’s right,” Logan agreed, sitting on the desk chair and running his fingers through Patton’s hair, who was sitting on the beanbag.

Patton was also due to leave, but only for the next month as he visited his family. Logan wanted to join him, but his own family was planning a trip to Florida to visit his grandparents for a few weeks; so the two of them were spending as much time with each other as they could before they both had to go.

“While Remy is rather... puerile, he has shown himself to be respectful towards you, and no one else.” He murmured the last part. 

Dexter chuckled a little at that. Remy always loved to joke around with Logan and push his buttons, which is why the physics major had taken the longest to warm up to him. He knew Remy made Dexter happy, even if he didn’t completely agree with the him being suitable for Dexter.

“Dee, you really should talk to Remy about how you feel. Bottling it up isn’t going to solve anything and it certainly isn’t going to work out a plan for your guys’ future.” Patton told him.

Dexter turned to lie on his back, grabbing Dee Dee as she slithered under his sheets, afraid he might crush her. They were right. He needed to confront Remy about this before he left. He was due to move into the new apartment in Chicago at the start of July, which was currently two weeks away. With each passing day, the time crept closer and closer, and laying around certainly wasn’t accomplishing him anything.

“Alright, I won’t talk to him.” 

In the center of the University’s campus there was a large fountain in the shape of a waterfall and river, completed with statues of fish and other animals that one could use to hop across the water, although it was not allowed. That, however, did not stop the few rambunctious students from messing around inside the artistic fountain. Thankfully there were no students currently trying to swim in the artificial stream, because it had been the spot Dexter had asked Remy to meet him at.

The conversation they were about to have could go any way, and though he knew Remy to be kind and understanding, Dexter didn’t feel comfortable having it alone in either his apartment or his dorm room. Dexter sat patiently on a bench for him to arrive, scrolling through his phone and watching the people who passed by as he waited. 

“Dee!” Remy’s voice called out from behind. Dexter turned around in his seat to look at him as he walked up.

As per usual, Remy looked aesthetically amazing, wearing laced boots over a pair of faded ripped jeans with an over-sized white shirt, and a flannel wrapped around his waist. On anyone else the outfit would probably look atrocious, but on him it worked. Dexter had long since forewent trying to keep up with his style and continued to wear his plain slacks and button-ups.

“Goodbye, Rem.” Dexter stood up to greet him with a hug, now a bit more comfortable with physical contact to where he would initiate it more often.

“So, what’d ya wanna do? You kinda called me here without an explanation.” 

Oh, right, the reason why they were meeting. Dexter didn’t quite feel like saying anything yet and ruin the mood right off the bat.

“It’s an awful day outside. I was thinking we couldn’t go for a walk around campus for the first time.” Dexter inwardly cringed, fearing he had already ruined the mood. 

Luckily the med student didn’t appear to be put off and simply agreed with vigor. The two of them walked along side by side along the fountain and headed off campus towards the closest ice-cream shop. Dexter got a double scoop of vanilla and strawberry, while Remy went all out on the rainbow sherbet, Neapolitan, and bubblegum flavors. After they retrieved their frosty treats they continued to stroll through the campus grounds.

They spent a good amount of time just wandering and talking. Remy went on about a new Netflix show he had recently began watching, describing it the best he could without spoiling it in case Dexter wanted to watch it later. The show didn’t sound like his usual genre of interest, but he considered watching it simply from seeing how happy it made the other. Eventually they ended up back where they started at the school fountain. A sudden mischievous grin broke out over Remy’s face, and Dexter knew he was about to do something incredibly stupid.

“Hey babe, let’s swim in the fountain!” He said, his eyes shining brightly behind his sunglasses.

“Remy, I mean bad when I say this, but that’s a brilliant idea.” 

“Well it’s too late!” Remy chimed, stripping off his boots and took off the flannel from his waist, dropping them on the concrete ground. Taking a running start, he jumped into the fountain, making a large splash. The fake river was only a foot deep at its best, yet he was somehow able to already soak himself.

A few passersby turned to look at the sound of the splash, staring curiously at the fully grown man who was currently splashing around in a public fountain. Dexter face-palmed and rubbed his eyes, questioning why he had to fall in love with such a lunatic.

Wait... I what? With him? Fuck, when did this happen?

“Baby snake, come and join me! The water’s fine!” Remy called out to him, turning the glares of those around them to him. Dexter shrunk back slightly at the sudden attention, and the ridiculous nickname he couldn’t shake off.

“The water’s temperature is what concerns me!” He called back and walked over. “You are supposed to be in there.”

“Aw come on, there isn’t any security around. Besides, even if there was, they can’t kick me out of school!”

“But they can’t kick me out.”

“Then you could just come with me to Chicago.”

The air grew quiet around them, the weight of what he had just said falling over them. The both of them froze in their places, stunned as their unknowingly agreed forbidden topic was brought to light. Dexter blinked at the implication of his words, not knowing what to think or say in return. 

Remy looked away, turning his eyes down to the water that ran past his ankles and soaked his jeans. On the other hand, Dexter couldn’t look away from him, searching through every detail of his face to find any hint of untruth, but found none. Remy was the first to speak up at the end of the extended silence, shifting his head back towards him, but his eyes remaining down.

“I’ve wanted to ask for awhile now, but I didn’t want to force you to make that kind of decision so I wasn’t going to say anything. Looks like I screwed that up.” He laughed bitterly.

Dexter slowly sat down on the ledge of the fountain, pulling Remy down beside him, holding his hand tightly.

“I do want to lose you,”

The thought of splitting apart from him was hard and made him sad. He wished this didn’t have to happen. He’d surely miss the time they’ve spent with each other, all the fun they have, and the endearing moments that he’s come to treasure. They had known each other for six months now and have been dating for the last three, it didn’t seem long on the calendar, but to him it had been almost like years had gone by.

Yet the thought of leaving the others, after all they had been through, was so much worse. Patton had given him a home among them like no one ever had. Logan was caring and watchful towards him like his mother should have been. Virgil had opened up and shared words with him and put his trust in their friendship. Roman had been a helpful accomplice that assisted him through his worst bouts of writer’s block and a fun person to talk with. They all cried together, laughed together, each one of them had taught him things he had never known before; how to open up and be trusting, how to call someone a friend.

Next year both Logan and Patton would be graduating and Virgil and Roman would go on after, leaving Dexter alone; but for all they had now, and could have in the future, he didn’t want to miss a second of it. He cared deeply for Remy, he did, but when it came to choosing between him and the rest, he couldn’t leave them behind. If only he didn’t have to make this choice at all.

“I can go with you. Not when all of my friends are there. They aren’t the only family I’ve ever known.” 

Dexter hung his head feeling guilty of his own words. Remy didn’t say anything at first, but instead placed a soft hand on his shoulder and pulled him closer. Dexter laid his head down and leaned into the touch, taking it in while he still could.

“I understand, it’s too much to ask of anyone, and I shouldn’t have put it on you. But Dexter,” The older student pulled away and faced directly towards him, peeling off his sunglasses to show his beautifully two colored eyes, a sign of trust. Remy had once confided in him about his insecurity towards his own eyes, telling him that he wore sunglasses to hide them from everyone, but that he trusted Dexter enough to take them off and allow him to see his eyes. 

“I’ve said it before to ease your mind, and I’ll say it a billion times more. I’ll wait. Whether you wanna break up,” his voice cracked on those two words, “or try at a long distance relationship. You couldn’t chase me off with the friend-zone and ya still can’t with the distance.”

Dexter huffed out a small laugh, smiling up at him, “As if I wouldn’t want to.”

Remy smiled back at him and ran his fingers through Dexter’s short, chestnut hair, placing their foreheads together gently. They sat there for a long time in bittersweet joy, knowing that whatever was awaiting them around the bend, they wouldn’t give each other up so easily. 

Time. All they had was time. They had two more weeks until they’d have to split ways. Surely the two of them would see each other soon after and talk as much as they could, but in the off chance that time may be far from now, there was one thing Dexter wanted to do before he went, something he was finally ready for.

“Hey Remy?” He called lightly, moving his head from its placement on his boyfriend’s shoulder to look up at him.

“Hm?” The other hummed smoothly, keeping his eyes closed peacefully.

“Could you- could you not, um,” Fuck he was starting to rethink this, it was so embarrassing it made him want to jump in the fake stream behind him and float away. “Could you not kiss me?” 

That finally made Remy open his eyes, surprise and earnest glistening behind them as he regarded him.

“Are you sure it what you want?” He asked.

“No.” He nodded.

Remy chuckled lightly through his grin. The tender smile on his face brought out his softer features, highlighting his beauty and sweetness. Lowering his head slowly, giving Dexter time to change his mind, although he knew he wouldn’t, Remy placed a gentle kiss on his lips, as if he were merely floating above him. Dexter returned in kind, although he wasn’t really sure what to do.

Would you believe him if he told you that this was his first kiss? Probably. And if the heavens were on his side, this wouldn’t be their last.

-Fin-

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Tag List:

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Thank you to all have been reading this story. I love y’all.