#disembodied voice!patton

[katelynn-a-fan]

Crackle of Your Voice Chapter 12

Masterlist

“What did you do to him?! Patton cried as he watched Roman whole body twitch. Then, an eerie stillness fell over the scene.

Roman back became straight as he silently picked up his sword from where he had dropped it earlier.

Wordlessly facing back towards Patton, Roman’s eyes burned cold into Patton. The holographic pieces of his faceplate sliding back to cover his features.

“Roman, snap out of it!” Patton shouted, desperation lining his voice. His eyes, a fierce mixture of determination and concern, bore into the robot’s flickering red eyes.

A single flicker of recognition crossed Roman’s faceplate as they shifted slightly, an anomaly amidst the programmed aggression. For a fleeting moment, the robot's movements hesitated, revealing a sliver of Roman still in there beneath his relentless programming.

“You’ve made a grave mistake, Patton,” The Leader’s voice echoed, disembodied and cold. “Exposing Roman’s true nature will cost it dearly.”

With a swift press of the red button, the remote emitted a sharp, pulsating signal. Roman’s eyes flickered violently, the brief spark of recognition extinguished. The robot’s limbs twitched erratically as the override command surged through its circuits.

Patton's heart sank as Roman’s once-human-like gestures devolved back into the mechanical precision of a mindless killing machine. The robot’s gaze locked onto Patton with renewed intensity, an unyielding focus that suggested no remnant of any of the time they’d spent together.

“Roman! Don’t-” Patton’s plea was cut short as Roman lunged at him with a renewed ferocity. The robot’s enhanced strength sent Patton sprawling backward, his gladius clattering away.

Patton scrambled to his feet, narrowly dodging a series of violent strikes. He could see the flash of vibrant red LEDs that now replaced the compassionate glow in Roman’s eyes, a clear indication of the robot’s- no, Roman’s reversion to his former, emotionless state.

Roman's attacks were relentless, each swing calculated and precise, devoid of hesitation or thought. Patton could barely keep up, using every ounce of his skill and agility to evade the blows that threatened to crush him.

Roman was holding back in our fights then. 

I can- 

Clang!

barely-

Clang!

Manage-

Clang!

To stop this.

Desperation clawed at Patton’s mind. He needed to end this before it was too late. As he ducked under a particularly fierce swing, he spotted an opportunity, a tiny exposed panel on Roman’s back where the override signal might be interfaced.

Gritting his teeth, Patton maneuvered behind the robot, narrowly avoiding another crushing punch. With a swift, desperate motion, he grabbed a fragment of debris and pried open the panel, exposing the complex circuitry within.

Roman, in its programmed frenzy, showed no sign of recognition, continuing its assault with relentless efficiency. Patton’s hands shook as he worked to disable this strange system, his fingers fumbling with the intricate components.

The Leader, observing from above, gave a cold smirk. “You’re out of time, Patton. Roman is beyond your reach now.”

Patton’s breath came in ragged gasps, sweat mixing with the grime on his face. He finally managed to sever a crucial wire, sending a jolt through the system. For a brief, harrowing moment, Roman’s attacks faltered.

But it wasn’t enough, or perhaps was the wrong system entirely. Roman’s programming, for moments a tangled mess of conflicting commands, began to stabilize, reverting to the same relentless attack. 

Patton, bruised and battered, could only hope that the damage he’d inflicted on the circuitry might offer some small chance of saving Roman. The fight was far from over, and as Roman’s relentless assault continued, Patton knew that the real battle was not just against the robot, but against the forces that sought to strip away the very essence of sentience and connection.

It was fortunate then at that moment that the arena around them seemed to explode.

WHOOM!

“What?” The Leader roared from where they’d been knocked by the blast.

“CLAUDIUS FIEF. You are under arrest for the trafficking of humans and robot alike for your own gain. Come quietly and you will not be killed.”

Uniformed officers that resembled nothing of the arena guards Patton had encountered so often flooded the stands of the arena.

Well that was convenient. At least there’s no way they could hurt my students now.

But at that moment, a sharp pain blossomed in Patton’s chest.

In all the cacophony of sound and movement, the most valuable lesson he’d learned for protecting those he cared about was:

Always watch your back.

He looked down to see a blade protruding from his chest. With a shuddering breath, he turned to see Roman, who’s left side had been apparently within the radius of one of the explosions. Roman’s left arm, partially gone, dangled uselessly at his side, his left still poised as if he still grasped the sword that was now skewering Patton like a Kabob. Even the hologram that concealed Roman’s face was glitched before the faceplate once again pulled back again to reveal Roman’s face. 

“Roman…”

Patton could barely get the words out before the world violently jerked. His head finding a home on the surprisingly soft ground.

Everything was all at once just so far away.

His friend, the arena, the smell of his blood staining the ground. It was as if it was happening to someone else.

This must be what a mix of shock and major blood loss feels like. At least now I’m not in pain. 

But even then, Patton mustered all the focus he could back to what was happening as a voice cut through the haze.

“Patton!” The crackle of his voice causing Patton’s heart to ache. He could barely make out Roman above him from the strange angle on the ground, but Patton could watch as a legitimate tear ran from Roman’s eye. The only other thing Patton could make out above that was the cracking of electricity discharging from various exposed parts of Roman.

Robots can’t cry silly, Patton imagined telling Roman. But since you’re free now, maybe you can really, truly cry soon. I’m not that important am I?

“I love you.”

And yet, the last thing Patton knew before the void came up to swallow him whole again was the feeling of something wet hitting his face as Roman’s screams faded into silence.

[arc852]

Space Barista (2)

Formerly known as Not Your Average Coffee Shop AU, since the title no longer really fits.

Summary: Time to see how Virgil is doing in space!

Warnings: Fear, panic, injury, and kidnapping

_____________________________________________________________

 Virgil simply watched as the spaceship landed, it was all he could do after all. He was still wrapping his head around what had happened. That Logan, someone he had considered his friend, was actually a giant alien and had kidnapped him from earth to take him to his own planet. Virgil placed his head in his hands, trying to keep the tears back. He had always hated the unknown and now the unknown was suddenly his whole life.

 The ship jerked and Virgil flew to the side of the room, hitting the wall with a groan. He pushed himself away from the wall and looked out into the spaceship. Logan was still sitting but he was no longer pressing any buttons. Looking out the windows of the ship told Virgil that they had, in fact, landed.

 Ready or not, he was about to face a world made for giants.

 When Logan suddenly stood up and turned right toward him, Virgil flinched. Cowering into the corner, he was helpless as Logan moved towards him. “We have arrived.” Logan’s booming voice stated, getting another flinch out of Virgil. Logan simply sighed as he saw this before pushing a button off to the side of Virgil’s prison. 

 Virgil braced himself, knowing the last time Logan had done that he had been grabbed. But instead of the windows opening, he felt himself being jerked forward. Looking around, he realized the small room had come out of the wall. Turning into an all-glass prison. Which was great for being able to see when Logan’s hands took hold of the sides and picked it up. Virgil had no choice but to stay in the middle, ignoring the hands on either side of him and the very long fall below.

 Virgil watched as Logan began to walk towards the door in the back. A door that Virgil assumed led to the outside. And he was correct as the door opened for Logan automatically and they found themselves in a large room, light coming from a skylight above. People, giants, scattered around the room, all focused on different things. Including computers, each other, and...him.

 Virgil scooted back, despite that putting him closer to Logan. At least Logan was a known threat. Semi-known, actually, considering he apparently knew nothing of his ‘friend’. 

 ...Had they ever really been friends?

 “Logan! Glad to see you made it back in one piece.” A man said, coming up to them and smiling at Logan. His gaze soon turned to Virgil, however. “And it looks like you brought that little human with ya after all!”

 Virgil heard Logan sigh and he looked up to see the underside of a deadpan look. “Yes, Remy, you were there during the video call. You already know this.” Turning back to the other giant, apparently named Remy, he was giving Logan a shrug.

 “Anyway, boss man wants to see you. About your little human.” Virgil heard Logan sigh again.

 “Alright, I suppose that is where I am headed next then. Thank you, Remy.” Remy did a mini salute before leaving them. Logan walked through another pair of doors, coming into an empty room. Logan paused, biting his lip.

 Virgil then found himself being placed down on a crate, noticing that the room was full of them. He looked up at Logan with wariness in his eyes. Logan looked at him apologetically. “I am sorry about this Virgil but I don’t think it would be good to take you with me. I will be right back though, I promise.” And with that Logan exited the room, leaving Virgil all alone.

 Virgil pressed himself up against the back wall before sliding down and hugging his knees. Everything was moving too fast. And now he had to deal with the knowledge of multiple giants all in just the next room. It would be far too easy for them to come in and take him. 

 Virgil shifted positions and shoved his hands into his pockets before he froze. He grabbed something from his right pocket and brought it out, realizing quickly that it was his phone. Virgil simply stared at it for a moment before he felt a spark of hope. But he quickly pushed it back down. He was probably a thousand or so light-years away from earth, there was no way he had any signal here.

 He unlocked his phone and looked at the top right corner. His eyes widened.

 He had a signal. 

 He doesn’t know how but at the moment he didn’t care. This was his chance! He quickly went into his contacts, glancing up every few seconds in case Logan or someone else came back. He scrolled through his contacts.

 His work? No.

 His parents? ...Yeah, definitely not.

 Virgil tried to scroll down more before realizing that...that was basically it. All his other contacts were either of family he didn’t talk to or old numbers from high school he got when he did projects that he never deleted.

 There was no one that Virgil could actually call that would care that he was gone.

 And, Virgil deflated as he realized, even if there was someone who cared about him, they would never believe him. And in the off chance that they did...there was nothing they could do.

 Virgil turned his phone off and let the arm holding it fall limply to his side. That’s probably why Logan was so comfortable in taking him. Virgil himself had told him he didn’t have anyone. Logan probably saw him as the perfect target to take back with him. A human that no one would miss.

 He heard the door open, suddenly, and his head snapped up to meet eyes with Logan. He quickly looked back down, curling into himself. As Logan got closer, he could hear that he was muttering to himself. Something about ‘too much paperwork’ or something along those lines. Virgil watched, through his bangs, as Logan shook his head and stopped his muttering. He looked down at Virgil and Virgil looked down once again as well.

 “Alright, time for us to go home,” Logan spoke and Virgil braced himself as his prison was once again lifted up. He tried to keep his eyes pointed to his lap as he was moved, but couldn’t help but glance around him as they stepped outside.

 Surprisingly, the outside reminded him a lot of earth. The sky was blue, the grass was green. He might think he was still on earth if it wasn’t for the second sun in the sky. Virgil just barely glanced at it before he turned away. Too freaked out by it.

 Virgil looked straight ahead, eyes widening when he saw what they were headed towards. It was obviously supposed to be some sort of vehicle, but it was no car. For one thing, it was more rounded with windows surrounding the entire top half of it. The second thing, was that it was floating a few inches off the ground...so, yeah. Virgil decided not to think about any of this too much. He had enough to deal with, being captured by a giant and all.

 Logan opened the not car, which had a door in the back that lifted up, and got inside. He set Virgil down on the floor, because with a start, Virgil realized that there were no seats. Everything was floor. He also realized, looking around, that there was no steering wheel either. Just a bunch of buttons similar to what he saw in the spaceship.

 Logan seemed to know what he was doing though as he immediately started pressing said buttons. The not car came to life and before Virgil could comprehend what was happening, they were moving. 

 The ride was silent, only filled by the buttons that Logan pressed. The ride itself wasn’t that long though, as when what seemed like five minutes passed, the not car stopped. Virgil found his prison picked up once again as they exited the vehicle. Virgil looked up to see a fairly nice house. It looked like a lot of houses he had seen on earth but slightly off in a way that Virgil couldn’t pinpoint.

 He didn’t get a chance to figure it out though as they quickly moved inside. “Finally, home at last.” Virgil heard Logan speak as he shut the door behind him. Virgil glanced around what he assumed to be the living room, taking in how similar but hi-tech it was.

 He was placed on a table and that was when Logan started to speak. “Are you alright?” Logan started off with. But Virgil decided not to answer, instead pressing himself more into the corner and wrapping his arms around himself. Would he regret not answering?

 He heard Logan sigh. “Please Virgil, just talk to me.” Virgil wanted to laugh. Talk to him? How on eart-whatever planet they were on was he supposed to talk to him? He doubted Logan would even listen to a word he had to say.

 “Alright then, we’ll do things your way.” Virgil almost lifted his head at that but started to panic as he heard the door to his prison open. He braced himself for a hand to wrap around him, unable to do anything to stop it. But it never came. Instead, Logan spoke once more.

 “There. Now will you talk to me?” The voice was not booming like before though. That fact alone made Virgil lift his head, only to see Logan as he had originally known him. Human-sized.

 “It took some convincing, but they let me keep the watch. I figured it would come in handy in situations like this and it appears that I was right.” Logan continued to talk as Virgil slowly got himself up. He started towards him.

 “I know you were thrown into all of this but really, I mean you no-!” Virgil cut Logan off with a hard punch to the face.

 He watched as Logan stumbled back, hand covering the right side of his face, mostly near his eye. Virgil smirked in victory, the punch having felt great, but his smirk slowly dropped as he realized what he had just done. 

 Just because Logan was currently on level with a human, did not mean he was one. He was a giant and could turn back into one in under a minute. Virgil started to shake as he realized how much trouble he was probably in.

“I-I am so sorry, please, I wasn’t thinking, I-” Virgil pulled at the hairs on his head, panic slowly overtaking him. “Please, I’m sorry, I didn’t-” He was cut off.

 “No, it’s alright, I...I deserved it.” Virgil blinked, hands leaving his hair as he looked up at Logan. He was still human-sized, rubbing at the already forming bruise right underneath his eye.

 “W-What?” Virgil asked, keeping his distance. Though he did feel more comfortable with Logan when he was like this. He could almost imagine they were just hanging out at one of their lunch dates. Almost.

 “I have not been handling this situation as well as I would have liked.” Logan sighed, he took off and cleaned his glasses, which had just barely missed Virgil’s hit. “But I would like to make up for that now. Please, ask me anything you’d like. I’ll do my best to answer.”

 Virgil searched Logan’s eyes, gaze going down to the bruise he had left on Logan’s cheek. There were so many things Virgil wanted to ask, most having to do with why he had taken him of all people. But instead of asking that, Virgil found himself asking another kind of question. “Were we ever really friends?”

 Logan’s eyes softened. “Of course, Virgil. I...Virgil, I truly mean you no harm. And you aren’t a prisoner here either.” Logan answered, putting his glasses on with a slight wince. 

 “Not a prisoner? You kidnapped me! From earth! You took me away from my home, my life! I’ll admit it wasn’t the best life but it was mine. And now I’m stuck on an alien planet full of giants! Does that-does that not seem wrong to you?!” Virgil yelled, moving his arms in wild gestures. He couldn’t believe Logan. If they really had been friends then why had Logan kidnapped him?!

 He watched Logan carefully as Logan’s eyes widened before going sad. He looked down with another sigh. “I...I am sorry.” Virgil blinked, anger replaced by confusion.

 “What?”

 Logan looked back up at him. “I...have just now realized I may have rushed into all of this without thinking. Like I had stated before, my mission was not to bring anyone back with me but to simply observe. But when I met you I...well, you fascinated me in more ways than you may think. I never ‘clicked’ so well with anyone before, not even those of my own kind. I considered you my-my best friend not long after first conversing with you. I wouldn’t be on earth forever though and I slowly began to realize that I...I would not be able to leave you behind.” Logan explained before running a hand across his face, wincing as he forgot about his bruise. “...I should have at least spoken to you about it first. I am sorry.”

 Virgil just stared at Logan as he processed everything he had just said. He brought his hands to his face, rubbing at it. “Logan…” Could he say that he understood Logan’s actions? No. However, he could understand where Logan was coming from. “I was starting to consider you my best friend as well. My...only friend, really.” He watched as Logan smiled.

 “So you are saying you would have said yes if I would have asked?” Logan asked, eyes alight with hope. But they dimmed when Virgil shook his head.

 “Honestly? I don’t know. At this point I would have for sure said no but I don’t know what I would have said if all this went differently…” Virgil would have liked to say it would have been a for sure no but...given the choice, the prospect was intriguing. 

 “But Virgil, I can provide you with everything! I know how much you hated your job and now you no longer have to work. Your home was less than ideal and now you have as much space as you could hope for along with technology humans have yet to think about! You will be well taken care of here.” Logan took a step towards Virgil but Virgil followed with a step back. Logan frowned at that.

 “...You sound like I’m some pet.” Virgil muttered, glaring at Logan. Logan’s eyes once again grew wide.

 “No! That isn’t it at all!” Logan put his arms out in a form of surrender. “I see you as an equal-as  a friend, Virgil. And as my friend I want nothing but the best for you. Which I can give to you here.” He motioned to his home around him before taking another cautious step forward. This time, Virgil didn’t move back, which Logan seemed happy about.

 “Logan, I...I can’t. This world clearly wasn’t meant for me. I know my life was sucky but I want to go back to it. Please.” Please don’t keep me here.

 Logan looked at him, searching his eyes. Eventually, he sighed. “I understand.” And with that, Logan turned around and walked right off the table.

 “Logan?!” Virgil’s eyes went wide with a sudden panic and he started running towards the edge. But before he made it, a blurry shape rose up quickly. He stopped and looked up, seeing Logan as a giant once again. The human took several steps back as Logan looked down at him with sad eyes.

 “Patton, call work.” Logan called out to the room. Virgil was confused and even more so as a bubbly voice spoke up, seemingly from nowhere.

 “Sure thing, Lo!” The voice said. There was then a ringing all throughout the house before another voice spoke up.

 “Hey, you’ve got Remy on the line.”

 Logan groaned. “Remy, why did you answer Thomas’ phone?” 

 “He’s currently out but I am more than capable with helping you out with whatever you need.” Logan looked to be getting frustrated. 

 “Fine. I need to schedule another quick trip to earth as soon as possible.” Logan requested, causing hope to rise in Virgil. Logan was actually going to take him home. 

 Some typing echoed around the house. “Sure thing, let me just pull up your file here...huh.” Logan blinked.

 “What? What’s wrong?” Logan asked and they both heard Remy hum.

 “Sorry gurl but it looks like you’re no longer authorized to go down to Earth.” Both Logan and Virgil’s eyes widened.

 “What do you mean?” Logan pressed.

 “Well, according to the contract you signed for the mission, you were only authorized to go on this one trip to Earth. For liability or some crap, I don’t know. Either way, going back to Earth is a no go, sorry.” Remy said nonchalantly.  

 Panic welled up within Virgil, so much so that he felt dizzy. He sat down before his legs gave out beneath him. Logan noticed this and quickly went to go end the call. “Goodbye Remy.” 

 “Hey, wait-” The call cut out and Logan to kneel near the table.

 “Virgil, I am so sorry. I didn’t know I wasn’t able to go back to Earth, I-”

 “Remy is trying to call back.” The bubbly voice from before, Patton, said. Logan groaned.

 “Not know Patton.”

 “Alright, sending it to voicemail!” Logan turned back to Virgil, looking worried.

 “Virgil?” Virgil took in a shaky breath, before looking up at Logan.

 “Welp, looks like you got what you wanted. I’m stuck here.” Virgil stood up on shaky legs and turned around. He headed to the only other place he could go. Back into the glass prison.

 “Virgil, no I-” Virgil cut him off as he climbed inside and took a seat, back still facing Logan.

 “Just...leave me alone.” Virgil mumbled. Afraid that talking any louder would cause the tears to flow. Logan stared at Virgil before nodding and standing up.

 “Alright. I shall give you some time alone to...process, everything.” Logan walked towards his bedroom, sending one last glance to Virgil before disappearing from sight.

 Leaving Virgil alone to think once again.

[sleepyvirgilprompts]

“Virgil!” Patton called. “Virgil, where are you?”

“Virgil!”  Roman echoed.

“Hmmm?” came a disembodied voice, sounding strangely groggy. “Sorry, I was asleep. What’d you need?”

“We couldn’t find you and got concerned,” said Logan. “I wasn’t aware that ghosts needed sleep.”

“Usually I rarely sleep unless something happens that takes a lot of energy,” Virgil explained. “Appearing to you guys all the time is really--” he yawned. “Really tiring. 'Appearing’ includes talking to you, by the way-- can I go back to sleep now?”

[bilgisticallykosher]

ALP 2; A Wild Perspective

Previous chapter | Next chapter | AO3

Masterpost | Discord server

Words: 4,323

Warnings: Fear, mentions of potential death; being hurt; pet shelters, dehumanization discussed, spider.

I wrote half of this at the same time as the first chapter, I swear. Sorry, Mandy.

Summary: Logan mentioned his friend with a Little in the last chapter. We meet them, and then meet how they met, and then meet how they meet the ones they haven't met.

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Patton and Virgil had known each other for around a year now, and things were going great. Sure, it hadn't exactly started off so well, but not every relationship was instantly perfect. Of course, their first interaction had been, to put it mildly, difficult. 

~~~~~

Patton remembered that he had been in Virgil's kitchen, where he'd left a carton of delivery food out on the counter, tilted on its side. There hadn't been much left in it, only a chunk of chicken and some sort of round, white, crunchy thing. He normally would have waited until the human was out of the building entirely, but he seemed to be hunkered down for the night. Plus, if he were to leave, he'd wind up cleaning the kitchen, including the takeout cartons. 

Which meant that now was the best time to act. The food was sticky, but he had extra foil, so he was fine, so long as he wrapped it up. He made a neat package of it, and then licked his fingers. That was really good! His tail wiggled happily at the taste. Of course, as he was setting his pack back up, he heard the unmistakable sound of a human moving. He listened for another moment, and he was definitely coming Patton's way. 

Okay, this was fine, not a problem. He just had to go through his exit at the bottom of the other end of the counter. He slung his pack over his shoulders, and started climbing down. He'd left his hook attached before he'd gotten the food, just in case, so no problem there. He tried not to rush, remembering how much he hated rope burn, but the human was getting closer, quicker. 

Okay, this was fine, not a problem. He just had to finish climbing down, he didn't have that much left to go anyway. There was a little corner on this side that he could hide in until he left. The human never looked here. There was even a buildup of dust, which made for a good cover. Great! He padded down onto the floor, and he was about to get his hook, but he was coming too quickly. Patton moved behind a large piece of dust, and cozied up into the corner.

Right into the middle of a large spider web. 

Okay. This was fine, not a problem. This was manageable. He'd just wait until the human left and then tear himself away from the web and then continue on his way. He wiggled a bit, not too obviously, to test out how deep he was stuck. He found that he wasn’t moving much. Which was good! Because the human had just come into the kitchen. (He was cleaning up the countertop, like Patton had predicted.) But it was also not so good, because he seemed pretty stuck. 

Okay. This was fine. Not a problem. So, he'd just use his hook to cut off some of the more tangled strands that he could reach. Except, he realized with a sinking heart, that he'd left his hook still attached to the countertop. 

Okay. 

Okay. This was… this was fine. Not a problem. He. Maybe he just needed to pull harder? He could try again, after the human left. That should be alright. Good. He had a solid plan, and he was oka-

It was, of course, right this moment that the spider that made the web started its course to find out what kept wriggling like that. A big, pink spider, and it was coming right for him. 

Patton screamed. 

If he had looked over at Virgil to see his reaction, he would have noticed him jump at the sound of what sounded like, to him, a disembodied voice screaming, as he frantically looked for the source of the noise. Unfortunately, Patton was too busy screaming to notice. The spider hesitated, and he took a deep breath. He screamed again anyway, and started looking around for anything that could help him.

Patton and the human locked eyes. Patton's screams gradually died down, as he started to walk towards Patton, before he crouched down in front of him. Patton finished out his scream, now practically a whisper. The human blinked before leaning in closer, eyebrows furrowed. 

"Wh-"

"Spider," Patton breathed out, interrupting anything the human was going to say. He was almost speechless from fear of the spider, and the full attention from the human, whose eyebrows constricted further, and his eyes scanned a few inches until he found what Patton was screaming about. 

"Oh." He reached his hand out towards him, and Patton flinched and ducked, but it turned out that he was going for the spider, as the shadow passed over his head. He opened his eyes in time to see the spider clutched in the human's hand. Patton shuddered, but the human just cupped the spider (hadn't he killed it already?) in between his hands and started walking away. 

Patton's eyes widened, and he tugged himself. That felt like he had loosened a bit! He could hear the human talking, and briefly froze. "It's okay. You're okay. I'm just gonna put you outside. You're a pretty spider, aren't you? Good girl," he relaxed when he realized the human wasn't talking to him. Then he gave another shudder for good measure at the idea of him cooing at a spider. He tugged himself again, harder this time, and he felt an arm unstick. 

He mentally cheered, and kept at it, gripping the wood nearby as leverage. He was free from the web just as he heard the footsteps returning towards the kitchen. He quickly scurried over to where his hook hung. He was nervous, so it wound up taking him two tries to get it down, before the human arrived back in the kitchen. It was after he'd already had it in his possession, at least. Maybe he'd be able to hide the hook from him, because as they met each others' eyes again, Patton knew that it was his only chance to escape. He gripped his hook close to his chest, and tried to minimize how much he was shaking. 

He probably wasn't so successful. 

But he stood his ground, staring up at the human, even as he stomped towards him. He swallowed. He crouched down in front of him again. Patton prepared himself. 

"Are you… you're a mouse-man, aren't you?" Patton's mouth twitched downwards, but he didn't say anything. He wasn't sure if this was a good thing or not. Maybe he wouldn't try to kill him, at least? "Did you get lost? Is your owner looking for you?" He looked back and forth as though another human would suddenly appear in front of him. 

Patton could have easily told him yes. Could have said he knew where he was, he just got temporarily separated. Could have said that his owner was waiting for him two minutes away. That they would know if he went missing. 

But the lie felt acrid on his tongue just thinking about it. And, really, he didn't want to say any of that in the first place. He found himself getting upset.  

"NO!" He yelled up at the human, whose eyebrows flew up into his hairline, but his face was open. "I'm nobody's pet!" The human leaned closer.

"Then what are you doing here?" Patton gulped. 

"I live here-"

"In my apartment?" He wasn't sure how to interpret Virgil's facial expression. His mouth was a straight line, and he wasn't blinking much. "I think I'd notice if I had a mouse-man walking around here." Patton frowned, clenching his fists at his sides. 

"Well, not in your apartment, just nearby." He swallowed, and tried to maintain his bravery. "I only come here for supplies and food. And you haven't noticed until now!" He couldn't help but feel a little proud at the fact. He'd been pretty good about avoiding him. Until today, that is. "I come here- I've been here a bunch of times." Virgil's stared past him, eyebrows constricted as he mumbled the words to himself. 

"'Supplies and food,' what, you're stealing from me?!" He looked back at Patton, glaring at him, before his eyes flicked downwards. "Is that a weapon?!" 

"What? No!" Patton looked down, realizing that his hook was very visible in his hands. That must be what he was talking about. "This is how I get around, this has nothing to do with you!"

"I'd say it has plenty to do with me, unless you're talking to someone else that you were stealing from." He leaned even further down, completely blocking the overhead lights from his view. He was suddenly very aware of how much space the human took up in his only escape route. 

"I have to eat to survive, Virgil, please, it's not stealing-" He seemed to only be getting angrier the more he spoke, before suddenly becoming eerily quiet. "Please, please!"

"...Why do you know my name." Patton's blood ran cold.

"I-I-I-I-I-" he stammered, unable to form a sentence. He just sealed his own fate. Sure enough, as he scrambled to keep a grip on his bag, the human's hand wrapped around him, and Patton's breath hitched, before becoming more rapid. 

"So," he drawled, drawing him up close to his face as Patton struggled to keep a grip on his hook, without stabbing the human. He already escalated things too far, he really didn't need to add anything else. "You're a thief and a stalker?"

"No, no!" Patton shook his head vigorously. He's not sure if maybe getting put in the shelter would be better or worse at this point. 

"What do you want from me," he snarled.

"Nothing!" Patton spoke without stopping, overwhelmed. "I just want to be able to survive! I don't take much, I swear! Just little things you would have forgotten anyway, and leftovers! Paper clips, bits of foil, paper, crackers, bread you were going to throw away, crumbs! I don't mean you any harm, I don't want to be a thief, I don't want to be a pet! I just want to be able to survive." He started sniffling, tears gathering, but unwilling to shed them lest something happen the second he allowed his eyes to get blurry.

"Let me see," the human responded, after a minute's pause. Patton tensed. 

"Wh-wha-"

"If that's what you're saying that you take, then let me see. That's your little bag, isn't it?" He firmly insisted, pointing at Patton's bag. 

Well, Patton guessed he had no choice. He shakily lifted the hand holding the bag, and the human grabbed it from him, setting them both down on the counter, rendering Patton trapped, even if he wasn't physically in his hand. He was too shocked at being let go to even consider escaping, and anyway, he'd have to get past the human, which he didn't think would would happen. And so he watched the human unpack everything in his bag as he tried to regain his breath. 

The foil holding the food, which was probably still warm, as well as the extra foil which he hadn't needed for the task, rubber bands, half of a cracker from another apartment, a pencil stub, a push-pin, cotton balls, and a nearly-empty small spool of thread. 

He tried to contain his shaking as the human frowned, tilting the bag over, a few crumbs tumbling out. He set the bag silently back on the counter, near Patton, and took the wrapped foil package in his hand. Patton was unable to look away as he slowly opened it up, revealing the remnants from the human's meal. 

The human tapped his finger on the counter, which made Patton flinch, before speaking up. "Is this my dinner?" He couldn't read his voice, but he wasn't yelling, which really didn't mean anything one way or another. 

"Y-yes." Patton considered apologizing again, or being defiant, regardless of whatever the human would do to him. He didn't. "It didn't look like you were going to eat it," he was pleased at how firm his voice came out now. The human frowned further, but he was quiet. 

Patton worried that he'd messed up again. Still, he guessed that he probably couldn't be in any more trouble than he already was. 

"So, you're not…working for anybody?" Patton shook his head, brow furrowing, confused. "That's the stuff you've taken?" Patton nodded. "Not, like, I dunno, credit cards or money?" Patton's eyes widened. 

"No, of course not. Only stuff that humans don't need, or are throwing out." He sniffed again. "What would I even do with a credit card?" Virgil huffed and looked away. 

"I dunno, I thought you were stealing my identity for some reason, I panicked, okay?!" And Patton certainly understood panic. Although he felt a small sense of cautious hope now that the human seemed to have deflated a little. 

"Well, I can definitely identity-fy with that." Really, Patton couldn't help himself. 

A laugh seemed to startle out of Virgil, and brought up a hand to cover his mouth. He glanced at Patton from the side of his eye and became a little less tall. Slouching.

"So, uh, what now?" What a coincidence, that was the same question that Patton had. "I mean, I can help you put your stuff back or whatever," he lifted the opening of his bag gingerly with his pointer finger and thumb. Patton's eyes widened and he looked up at him. 

"Really?" He was nearly breathless with relief as hope seemed to fill his lungs instead. 

"Yeah, I'm not gonna- ugh," the human took a moment to scrub a hand over his face, before dropping it, and hanging his head lower, not even looking at Patton. "Look, I was real freaked out, and I probably freaked you out, and then," he cut himself off, waving his hands a little. 

He made eye contact again, then. "I'm sorry." Patton didn't respond, eyes narrowing cautiously. He noticed that the human inched the sleeves down over his hands. Then he realized that he was waiting for him to respond, head slowly turning away, but still looking at him. 

"What?" The human groaned. 

"I'm sorry! I was a total jerk, an asshole, I didn't think about your feelings or how I handled you or any of that! And I was yelling and screaming and didn't let you explain yourself properly and-" he cut himself off by stuffing the corner of the cuff of his sleeve in his mouth when he saw Patton opening his, ready to speak. 

"I- does this mean that you're going to let me go?" He looked up at him, trying to contain a smile, because it sounded like he wouldn't keep him, or give him to a shelter, or hurt him- but he hadn't said yet. He'd apologized, which had been so unexpected, but he didn't say it yet, and until he did, he couldn't start celebrating. 

"Yeah." He nodded, lowering his hand. "Yeah, you're wild, right?" He looked wide-eyed suddenly, "Is that the right word? I didn't, like, offend you or something? Oh my god, I probably just insulted you- again, I mean- shit, sorry." Patton couldn't help but laugh at that, already overjoyed, emotions bursting to come out at the confirmation. At once, he saw Virgil's shoulders tense. 

"No, that's okay." His shoulders relaxed down from beside his ears. "Wild's okay." He grinned, grabbing his bag from where Virgil had dropped it mid-apology, starting to cautiously walk over to the rest of his stuff to pack up. "We're called Littles, though." Patton had no idea why he was opening up so much to someone he'd been scared would hurt him only five minutes ago. "Mouse-Man is just what the stores and stuff call us." 

"Oh," Virgil breathed out. He watched Patton gather the supplies for a moment. He'd attempted to bring a few things closer to him, but Patton had unintentionally flinched at his hand, so he'd just drawn right back. Patton tried to feel more confident in being watched after that response. "That sucks." Patton turned towards him, blinking. "That you're- I mean, the whole pet thing." Patton felt his face soften. 

"It's not great, no." He dry sniffed again. "I chose to be wild. Not everyone gets that choice, although some choose the other option, but I'm happy with my choice. I don't regret it." He turned back and smiled to himself. He had packed everything back in, except for the foil with Virgil's leftovers. He was just starting to wrap that back up, when

"Wait!" Patton froze. Maybe he'd relaxed too early? But that didn't feel right when he considered it. Maybe he just wanted his stuff back? He could do that. He nodded internally, inhaling deeply then exhaling. He turned around. 

"Um," he couldn't help his hesitation, although he was a little annoyed at it. He gestured to the food. "I can wrap it back up in the foil if you want to keep it." Virgil scrunched his face up. 

"What? No," he shook his head, "what would I want with a half-eaten piece of chicken and a water chestnut?"

"That's what that round thing is?" Patton blurted out. He bit his lip, embarrassed, but Virgil just gave him a little half of a smile, which soothed him. 

"Yeah." His smile faded. "Anyway, I was wondering, maybe instead of that little bit of old food, I could, um." He jerked his thumb back at the fridge. "I've got more food, if you want." Patton blinked, and saw Virgil staring at him, eyebrows raised in wait. 

"Okay?" He wasn't sure if Virgil was telling him for a specific reason or not. If he wanted what? To make sure he wasn't taking the last of his food? But he seemed to take Patton's confused response as affirmation for something, because he nodded, and went to the fridge. He grabbed another white container from it, and brought it back over to Patton. 

It was barely smaller than he was. The other one had been big, too, but it had been on its side. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do here. He looked past the container at Virgil. 

"Um, do you want me to carry it to your place, or…?" Patton was confused for another five seconds, until it clicked. He tried in vain to suppress a snort. 

"Are you trying to give me that entire thing?" Patton bit his lip, trying to prevent more laughs from working their way out. Virgil shrugged vaguely. 

"Maybe, yeah, why, is there a problem with that?" Virgil crossed his arms, and glared at the floor. When Patton didn't react, aside from more badly suppressed laughter, he unfolded them, and worriedly asked, more genuinely this time, "Wait, is there actually a problem with that?" 

And then Patton felt extra bad for finding it so funny, especially after he'd clearly been trying to maintain some sort of persona. And it really was a sweet gesture, but the giggles slipped out before he could help it. Virgil gave him a side-eye, seeming unsure as his cheeks flushed. 

"No," Patton managed to get out, "I just, that'll never fit in my house." He let the laughs loose finally. And Virgil was frowning, more of a pout, until his eyes flicked from Patton, to the container, back to Patton. He finally seemed to understand, and he gave a little snort, before chuckling. 

"Yeah, that… might be a problem," he admitted through his laughter. Patton finally was able to catch his breath, and he smiled at him, eyes crinkling kindly. Virgil rubbed the back of his head. "I guess, I dunno, you can tell me when you want some and I'll get it for you? I mean," he sobered up, "if. I mean. That would mean, that you'd have to come back, so." He brought his arm back down, and pulled the sleeve over his hand. He didn't say it outright, but Patton thought he knew what he meant. 

"Hmm." Virgil looked at him from the side, as though he were trying to avoid direct eye contact. "Well, when were you planning on eating it?" Patton asked casually, swinging his bag around onto his back. He blinked at him. 

"Um, I dunno," his eyes flit side to side. "Like tomorrow night, probably?" He shrugged a shoulder, seemingly unaware he was doing it, "but it's fine, you can totally just-"

"Well, I guess I'll join you tomorrow night for food!" Patton grinned, toes and the tip of his tail wiggling. Virgil snapped to look at him. There was a tense pause where Patton continued to smile at him, neither looking away from the other. Then Virgil ducked his head down and mumbled. 

"Yeah. Okay. Sounds good. I'll see you then." He raised his head a little to nod at him, small smile visible. 

~~~~~

And then, the next night, he'd taken the risk and gone to his apartment again, and had dinner. The risk had been worth it, they'd gotten along great, and he hadn't been able to resist going back for another visit a few times that week. Eventually, he met Virgil's friend and neighbor, Logan, and he'd become fast friends with them, even when Logan cringed at his puns.

But now, under a year later, Virgil told him that Logan had bought another Little from the store where he'd stopped by to pick up some Patton-sized supplies. He'd been shocked, but Virgil had explained what Logan had told him. About how he wasn't being kept in the right conditions, that the staff there hadn't liked him. He understood that. Only, now he had to meet him, Roman, and, well, Patton was, maybe, slightly, just a teensy bit nervous. 

He was sure that he was great! But, well. Patton was a wild Little. He hadn't interacted with another Little in a long time, let alone a domesticated one. He had no idea how to interact with them; he had no experience other than a few moments here and there when he was younger. What if he wasn’t proper enough for him? What if he looked down on him? What if he messed up some etiquette he'd never heard of? What if Roman expected someone that acted just like him? What if his clothing was wrong? What if, what if, what if? 

So, he was a little nervous. Heh. Little. He was waiting on the floor next to Virgil. Logan and Roman were set to come in any minute, and he had his tail wrapped around to his front, and he was fiddling with the part that he could reach, passing one hand over it, then the other, over and over again. Virgil was tapping the foot opposite of Patton. He gently patted his ankle, and looked up at him, hesitantly smiling at him. He got the same back at him, and felt better for not being the only one that was nervous. It was then that they heard the polite knock of who could only be Logan. 

"Right here," Virgil called out while Patton composed himself, "coming." And he took a few steps forward to open the door for them. Patton had expected Logan to be carrying the new Little, after all, that was the quickest way of getting from one apartment to the other, but he was surprised to see Roman, (Because it had to be Roman,) stroll right into the apartment on the floor, almost the second Virgil opened the door. 

"Alright!" Virgil looked down at his feet. "I'm finally here!" Roman put his hands on his hips and looked around. "You may commence the celebrations!" Patton blinked, and when he looked up, he saw Virgil slowly raising his eyebrow. 

"You're wearing a sash," he blandly observed. "Is that part of the welcome ceremony?"

"Well," Roman smarmed back, It's actually my everyday wear, but I wouldn't expect you to be able to decipher fashion from fearsome, you gloomy doomy!" Roman huffed, crossing his arms, and tapping his foot, annoyed. 

Virgil visibly reacted, head shocked backwards as his eyes widened. Patton blinked some more. The other domestic Littles he'd met before, however briefly, had definitely been haughty and condescending towards him, but this…

Virgil harrumphed to himself, grumbling something darkly. He opened his mouth, and Patton stepped forward quickly, going over to him.

"Hi!" He plastered a smile onto his face. "I'm Patton!" He held out a hand to him, and noticed how Roman held his tail much more upright than he did. It looked a lot more civilized, he decided, so he pointed his own upwards, out of its loose curled wave to try and match his. There was a flash of emotion that crossed Roman's face briefly, before Roman made his tail even more upright than it'd originally been. Patton let his tail sag in disappointment. He'd done something wrong, offended him probably. That hadn't taken very long. 

He still wasn't taking his hand, and he thought about dropping it, but what if he just made him madder? He knew that if he was really that petty and mean of a person, he didn't have to be friends with him, but. But Logan had spoken so highly of him so far, before he'd been ready to meet them, and Patton really valued Logan's opinion. His arm wavered.

"Roman," he finally grabbed his hand in greeting, shaking it once before dropping it. "I think you knew that already," he sounded stiff and clipped. "It's a pleasure," he inclined his head, "I'm sure." Patton was sure that Roman wasn't pleased at all. He smiled back at him anyway, stiff, as he lowered his arm. Logan cleared his throat. 

"Patton." He adjusted his glasses. "You said you wanted to show Roman around, ah, your half of the apartments first?" Ah. He remembered that now. He inhaled, exhaled, then nodded. 

Well, here went nothing.

-----

Me, writing the section where Patton's stuck, sighing: Remus would have been streaking already. 

FYI, the spider is a Woodlouse Hunter, and I absolutely based Virgil's reaction to it on my own reaction to spiders. 

[sidespart]

Fanfic title: the sound of falling stars

Supernatural Sci-Fi AU,  Royality or LAMP

Patton, Virgil and Logan are engineers for some kind of inter galactic company (like star fleet but with more capitalism I guess?). They’re pretty low level and are basically a glorified salvage crew. They have their own ancient ship which constantly seems to be falling apart and they mostly get sent to deal with decommissioned ships/ stations. They pick them over for anything useful to The Company and set whatever is left over to drift off towards the nearest star. 

They’ve all got some backstory for how they ended up with this rubbish job.  Logan is super smart genius engineer but couldn't afford to go to The Academy (that’s for Earth People and he’s some poor outer edge colonist), he got in on a scholarship but pissed off the wrong people with his attitude and ended up with this assignment. Virgil deliberately picked an assignment that would keep him as far away from other people as possible...(on the run from a Dark and Tragic Past??) Patton also chose this assignment - he is the true explorer, but knew he didn't have the money or connections to get to get star ship assignment, and he isn't exceptional like Logan, but this way he still gets to see the universe.

So at the start of the story they work okay together but arn’t super close - Logan has a bit of an ‘i’m better than this’ attitude, Virgil doesn't want to be friends with anyone and deliberately pushes them away. Patton is trying but is mostly ignored by the other two.

The Company takes over a smaller organisation which has been struggling for a while. The crew are sent to pick over a newly acquired space station orbiting a star right on the edge of Company space. This place hasn’t been inhabited for years but the original owners never cleared it out properly due to lack of funds.

So they get there. The stations life support isn’t on so Patton heads over first (in a space suit) to turn it on manually whilst the other two monitor remotely. (Logan is better suited to hacking into the station from their ship computer once Patton plugs their....space flashdrive....in to the stations ops centre and Virgil is fucking terrified of space walks but they’re pretending not to know that).

Everything goes smooth. The lights and air come on, Patton takes off his helmet - and hears singing.

Nice singing. Not like the crackling automated voice that the station computer speaks with. And despite their best efforts they cannot find a source.

Virgil thinks the place is haunted. Logan thinks its just a glitch with the communications software. Patton’s inclined to to agree with Logon, except day 3 of their salvage operation Patton starts singing an old song from home, and the voice starts singing it back.

When the voice has finished repeating the lyrics Patton had sung, it carries on the song, making up its own lyrics and tune to finish it off. (Patton applauds when it’s done). 

Patton tells the other two about it but Logan dismisses it - the song is probably in the stations entertainment archives somewhere - but Patton’s not so sure. The voice sings classical music (MCR) around Virgil without any verbal prompting. And it’s...kind’ve sassy? It will wait until Logan is just about to take a sip of his coffee before suddenly bursting into LOUD operatic singing - making Logan spill his drink.

Privately he thinks the voice has so much personality it deserves a name - he starts calling it ‘Roman’.

Roman’s influence seems to more than just the communications system. The longer they stay the more unexplained stuff keeps happening. The coffee machine in the old canteen turns itself on just before Logan reaches to do it himself. When Virgil and Pat get separated exploring the lower levels, warm red lights turn on guiding them back together. When the three of them agree to take an evening off and watch a movie, Cinderella comes on no matter how many times they try to change it. When they eventually give in and watch it, the room temperature turns up just a bit and the lights dim, making the room as cosy as possible. 

Eventually all three of them have to agree that this is something beyond just the stations interface. But WHAT exactly Roman is is still a mystery - an incredibly sophisticated AI? An Alien? Some mysterious research project left behind by the old owners?

A Ghost?

Before they can start to figure it out The Company sends a message to say that, due to the size of the job and how long it’s taking them, they’re going to send additional teams to help out.

If The Company discovers Roman, there’s no doubt in any of their minds that they will do whatever it takes to pick him apart for study. Even if means destroying him in the process. 

So now they have to choose between staying loyal to The Company, who is responsible for their jobs, ship and bringing them together in the first place, or figuring out a way to protect this disembodied personality in a space station that they’re not even sure is ‘alive’.

Easy choice.

Bonus:

At some point Pat’s gotta go to some romantic looking observation deck and dance whilst Roman sings some schmaltzy number (and start imagining he was dancing with someone/ trying to picture what Roman would look like if he had a body).

Roman talks Virgil down from a panic attack by beeping the stations controls in time with his breathing count

Big dramatic ending where Patton and Virgil are convinced Logan has downloaded Roman onto The Companies servers in exchange for being given the more prestigious position he has been denied for so long

But PSYCH. Logan escorts them back to their original piece of shit ship and reveals that THAT’s where he moved Roman too - they’ve now got a singing ship instead of singing station

Sequel where the four of them are On The Run. Maybe ending with Roman being downloaded into a human/robot body so they can finally all hug idk

SPACE STUFF

For the fake fic titles asks (please dont send anymore at the moment!)

[sebs-anxiety-and-insanity]

You're human?!

Zombie apocalypse au

I have a request in one of the comments and to that person I respond: your request is being done as fast as possible, I had it done but then I reread it and realized it was crap so I am rewriting it again :] the outfit above is Virgil's current outfit he is not genderbent it's just one of my favorites also this is a long one so yeah

Entry number 604:

I don't consistently write unless something big has happened. That said, I have realized something big. I haven't seen another human in roughly three years. THREE. All that remains is undead. This isn't even meant for humans anymore... Haha maybe I'm just starting to lose it... The isolation is getting to me...

Rotten, molded flesh was everywhere around him. He had forgotten the turn again! Ugh, how could he be so stupid!? He  could hear their staggering footsteps closing in, hear their groaning get louder and immersed Virgil in the pain soaked groans coming from behind. It's bizzare to think that they could be in pain while they're chasing you. Well, not really chasing you, but, eh- you get the point. Virgil looked around the alleyway (classic, right?) Looking for a place for him to escape. He looked to his left. Brick. He turned his head to the right. Stone. In front was a back of an apartment building, he could try his luck climbing? Yeah, that might work.

Virgil didn't realize how much time he actually spent thinking of a way to escape the group of Z's behind him until he heard a call from someone- a walker? No. Maybe some disembodied voice- "You're gonna let them eat you?" Virgil looked around to see a disgusting hand reach for him, and succeeding in grabbing his backpack, tugging him backwards. He could hear the voice in the back of his head? Maybe? "Shame." After his fight or flight kicked in he quickly pulled forward, making his way to the building, hearing the sound of something hitting the ground he assumed to be a Z. He quickly reached down pulling the knife he had in his boot out and started to climb the building. He got on the dumpster, struggling to stay up right with the dumpster moving beneath him. He reached up for the window sill, pulling himself up with the help of a push. The push off of the dumpster caused it to roll backwards and to the side hitting a wall. "Shit." He looks up to find the next place to grab. Taking a deep breath Virgil reached for the next window sill using a near by air conditioner as a step stool of sorts. A few seconds after his foot put it's weight on it he heard a creak. Uh oh. The air conditioner quickly fell out of the window, crushing a Z at the bottom and almost sending Virgil down with it. He managed to keep a semi good hold on the window. Virgil closed his eyes resting his forehead on the building. "C'mon, c'mon.. Whew okay Virgil you got this." He whispered before continuing his journey up.

At the second window from the roof Virgil decided to rest a moment, taking advantage of the open window. He took deep breathes, trying his best to hold on as he was reluctantly losing his grip. As he caught his breath Virgil felt chills run down his spine as he heard the most inhumane groan. He looked up, scared at what he might find. There stood a HUGE Z. No this one goes into walker. More dangerous than a Z (they are all zombies just he names them in categories-)when stuck in place. It began to walk toward him dragging his leg behind him. Virgils breath hitched. He was screwed didn't have enough time to climb past the window without the walker getting his legs, but he also couldn't get a weapon to defend himself with. He could try climbing in and then grab a weapon but that didn't seem like he could win that. No,, his best bet was to keep climbing. He grabbed the next window sill, the cuts and scrapes from the brick building he was on, burning his hand. Clenching his his eyes shut he continued to go for the roof. "Open your eyes!" A different disembodied voice said it this time. Virgil obliged and looked up to see a man. Wait, a man? As in, HUman?! "C'mon kiddo grab my hand!" Virgil stared at the out reached hand. Is he even real? Or is this man a figment of his imagination? Something made for his spiralling mind. He felt a finger glide against his boot. He wouldn't have long if he just stared. Real or not he'd rather take a chance with the guy. Virgil quickly stopped staring and grabbed the hand. The stranger Began to pull him up, and Virgil let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, until the walker grabbed his boot. Shitshitshit nonono. Gasping Virgil began to try and pull himself up more with the help of the man of course. "A little help Rem?" The man struggled to get out between grunts, obviously using all his strength to get Virgil up on the roof. "Ugh, fine!" The first disembodied voice spoke- did he say 'Rem'? Virgil was felt himself be pulled up a bit but the walker wasn't giving up and wouldnt let go. Virgil went wide eyed upon feeling the breath of the walker. "NO!" Virgil began kicking in spastic movements, kicking and flailing harder then before. Was this how he died? Delusional and alone?

One kick seemed to land or something cause Virgil felt himself being lifted with ease and sat down on the roof. "I have saved the damsel in distress again!" Virgil didn't realize he'd closed his eyes, but when he opened them he was pleasantly surprised. Three people stood before him. REAL PEOPLE! In a moment of  euphoria, and a lot of mixed feelings Virgil

Lept onto the closet person to him, clutching onto him tightly, muttering things the taller male couldn't hear. "Sweetie? Are-are you okay?" Rem, as the other male called him lightly touched Virgil's back, tapping him in a questioning manner. Virgil's heart fluttered at the nickname, and his skin buzzed and hued at the touch. Virgil coming to his senses sat up Apologizing, of course not fully to his senses as he continued to straddle Rem. "Apologies- it's just.." Virgil looks down at Rem, staring into his eyes for what felt like forever (five seconds) and then looked over to the other two, who looked as if they didn't know what to do about the situation, before looking back at Rem. "You're human?" Virgil leaned forward a tiny bit,, his hands holding him up on Rem's chest. Rem chuckled and Virgil could just explode in happiness by just feeling the vibrations of coming from his chest. Rem was real. That's all he knew. Rem wasn't from some twisted part of his head making him believe he wasn't alone. "I-i Mean- like, you're real?" Virgil looked away blushing, "As real as that pretty little face of yours sweetheart." Virgil was sure he was a tomato by now and- wait. Is he..? OHMYGODIMSTRADDLINGAREALLYHOTGUY.  Virgil quickly got up, looking over at the two strangers. "Aww." The one with glasses and curly blonde hair said. The other looked as if he would be the definition of perfection if he were a prince.

Hell most of the people here could be on most sexy guy alive or whatever that magazine was. "I'm Patton, and this is Roman!" The man-Patton enthusiasticly pointed at the main with red tipped hair. "He's super strong." Patton whispered. "And that's Remy!" Patton pointed to the hot guy getting up from the ground. "And you are?" Patton displayed a puppy face that could get someone out of death row after there wasn't a response. Virgil contemplated telling them his name, after all Virgil isn't a very good name.. "Well, sheesh! You look like my anxiety and depression demon from like 8th grade." Virgil shrunk in on himself at the remark from Roman. "Roman that's enough." Remy spoke up as he stood beside Virgil. "What? I mean this.. Look" He gestured at Virgil. "Looks to be a lot of effort! Does he try to make himself look like this in the APOCALYPSE-" Before he could stop himself Virgil hissed at Roman. Virgil slapped his hands across his mouth, shocked that he did that to a stranger. Virgil carefully looked back up to see Roman in shock, Patton whispering things like "woahhhhhhh my new son". Virgil didn't wanna look at Remy's reaction though, afraid of the look he might be given. If there is one thing to know, even when seperated from the rest of humanity, it to know that Remy gave off a different vibe then the rest. Roman gave off a 'more bark then his bite' (although he definitely could put you down) Patton  a dad vibe. And Remy the bad bitch of the apocalypse vibe, one that could end you with words. Or even just a glare. "Fuck you princey." Virgil crossed his arms. Roman looked to be glowing and Patton covered his ears. "Why thank you anxiety." Virgil glared at him. But decided not to tell his name. At least, not to Roman. "I'm good enough for Royalty! Even in the end of the world." Remy sighed. "So, what now?" He looked over to Patton, dusting his leather jacket. "Hmm, I suppose we take him with us! Maybe Lo will lemme keep him." He didn't like being compared to a pet or a piece of property but when these are the first human contact you can let it go... Once.

Okay, when hearing he might get to go to a camp with other humans- people, he didn't expect to be carried, but, Remy insisted, saying something about Patton not wanting precious cargo damaged. Virgil let himself doze on Remys back listening to the light conversation taking place between Patton and Roman. The breeze hitting Virgil was delightful and helped lure him closer to sleep. Virgil remained on that edge of sleep to where you're asleep, but you knew you were asleep and was partially awake. (Make sense? Idk it happens me-) he heard the conversation take more serious tone, "So.... Now that anxiety is asleep, what are we gonna do with him? I mean we don't know for sure if he is safe. Maybe he has been bitten.. You know somewhere hidden by those clothes." He heard a sigh presumably from Patton, "I'm sure he would've shown symptoms by now. Besides, he's adorable, right, Remy?" "He is definitely adorable-" "See!? Let's just wait and see what Logan says." Virgil tightened his grip on Remy and finally drifted off fully to sleep.

Remy nudged Virgil's head with his own, effectively waking Virgil up. "Huh? Smguhthmbi.." Remy chuckled, "before turning the corner into an abandoned looking apartment. "We're back, bitches!" A man dressed in a duster and jeans with a tie wrapped around a jar that hung from his belt, looked over at the two, eyes narrowing at Virgil, making him very aware of his position. Virgil immediately got out of Remys hold, Remy taking his arms away from Virgil so he didn't trip him. "Out, everyone, please." The man took off his glasses gesturing in his and Remys general direction. "Not you two." Virgil felt a lump in his throat, anxiety creep up his spine. Ah, how he missed this. He didn't. This was actually the only thing he didn't miss about humanity. "Now, tell me," The door shut with a soft click as everyone else had left. Leaving behind all types of supplies filling up the kitchen and various other rooms. "Why are you here?" The man walked in front of the table he was behind, leaning on it as he crossed his arms. Virgil was starting to feel panic as he didn't actually know  why he was here. "We saw him in an alley way, cornered by Zombos." Remy lifted his sun glasses letting them rest on his head. Moving over to the old kitchen counter. "He climbed up the side of a building and we just kinda keep him-" "I do not believe I was talking to you." Virgil flinched at the amount of venom oozing from  his words. "Can he even help us in some way? We have enough people to house! If he cannot pull his own weight then he can leave. Of course he would have to prove himself, he does seem weak. Having to have been carried seems strange.." His eyes squing through the glasses placed on his nose. "I-" "Has he been bitten?" Virgil had to swallow irritation from being cut off and the amount of questions coming from this stranger. To be frank, he was actually missing being alone and isolated already. "N-" "I wasn't talking to you." The man shot back, okay, now Virgil was getting really irritated. "Any sane person knows that one would lie to save their own skin. I mean, you had to be running from something to have carried that much stuff." The man gestured to his things. "Jesus, calm down! He hasn't been bit!" The man raised his brow, as if begging the question 'and you know this how?' Remy rolled his eyes. "Bitch, he would've shown symptoms by now, Einstein! Sweating, really fucking hungry, etc. Fucking hell! Leave it to Logan to make things overly dramatic." "I am merely being protective." He seethed. The man who Remy called Logan, pinched his nose sighing. "Fine! We can keep him-" "Can everyone stop fucking saying that!?" Remy and Logan stared at him in suprise. "I'm not some fucking THING you can keep! I was doing just fine without this place- yes this means, I. Don't. Need. You. Damnit I'm not something you can claim as property and I sure as HELL ain't no fucking-" Virgil threw his hands up in the air before taking a breath. "No, I don't need to prove myself to you and I won't. You don't want me here then I'll go." Virgil began to turn around to leave. "I'll gladly take another three years without people." He muttered. "Hey, I saved you." Remy reminded. "You are my responsibility and if I say you stay you stay." Remy took a step forward. "... I owe you and the other two but I don't owe him." Virgil stopped moving and stared between Logan and Remy. "He is staying with me Logan. And really how much pain can he cause I mean we have Remus." Logan paused thinking a moment. "*sigh* fine. I'll get him an outfit. But he is pulling his weight around here." "Alright!" Remy turned and started to guide Virgil towards the door. "Feels nice to have two bad bitches here." Remy smirked at Virgil as the walked. His hand floating around the small of Virgil's back as he showed him the place. Maybe having found a group of survivors wasn't so bad after all.

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

Woah that's a long one 😅

Anyways I'll work on a part 2 soon

Hope you enjoyed💜

Not proof read

Tag list {you can ask to be added or removed}:

@reiney-weather @helloidkwhatimdoing-0 @love-lemons @emo-sunshine42 @autumnpleaves @hedgiehoggles @radicalskatervirgil

[oneletteredwondered]

Odd

Logan's first day of public school.

Minor warning for some brief bullying.

Addams family au, based off this picture and au by @misplaced-my-notes hey ily.

--

The long black car pulls up to the blue gates of the public school. Children are running about all directions inside the property, yelling and screaming. Some are sitting on the dirty ground smacking their hands together in some strange ritualistic pattern. There are adults standing on the outskirts keeping careful watch in case someone gets hurt.

Logan stares out the window with his messenger bag over one shoulder. There's a notebook on his lap for the express purpose of taking notes on the other children. He twists his suit jacket in his hands.

Logan is not intimidated.

"Thank you for the ride, Thing," Logan says. The disembodied hand on the steering wheel scutters and turns to face him. It bounces once and raises a finger. Logan huffs.

"I am not nervous." He says, purposefully unclenching the hem of his jacket. Thing bounces twice. Logan deigns not to answer it.

He exits the car, taking a second to make sure his outfit is wrinkle free and shuts the door. He thanks Thing one more time through the open window and begins to make his way up to the blue gates. He has a pen in his notebook at the ready.

He's scribbling notes as he walks, peering over the top of his notebook at the other students. They are so different from him. It's to be expected when under the assumption they have been in public school for their whole lives while Logan has been home schooled for his.

His first observation is that the other students have more finite social skills, moving from person to person with a simple question but not taking the time to really get to know them. Base level acquaintances by definition but he hears the word friend be tossed around. None of them exhibit the requirements for 'friends' in his opinion.

"Question if I may," he approaches a group of girls in the sand. They look to each other then back at him. He marks down silent communication on his pad of paper to explore later.

"I observed you putting your hands together. What is the benefit to that?" He asks. The girls once again give each other looks that Logan can't decipher.

"You mean patty-cake?" One finally says. Logan writes that down.

"It's a game." Another says but this time the tone isn't nice or questioning, but bordering on rude. Logan finds them staring at him with creases near their eyes.

"What benefit does it serve?" He asks anyway.

"Do you not play games?" And then they are laughing and he doesn't know why. Logan is confused. He does not like being confused. Further more, he does play games. Just last week he and his Uncle Remus played how many light bulbs does it take to to short circuit his nervous system. 37. His brother Remy filmed the whole thing for their next family reunion.

It doesn't matter because the girls get up and walk away from him, one of them smacking his notebook to the dirt and laughing again. It's rude. Logan picks it up and shakes the dirt off. He feels a burning on his face. 

A new feeling he is not a fan of.

A bell rings and Logan plainly follows the teachers rules to find his designated classroom.

He spends the next hour ignoring the teacher and detailing the interaction, trying to figure out the nuances of what he did to get the girls to act unkindly. He comes up with nothing, which is more frustrating than he cares to admit.

He spends the next hour after that arguing with the teacher about Christopher Columbus because they have wildly different accounts of what he did to the world. In the end, Logan has something called a detention and one of his classmates is crying because he talked about murder. He was simply trying to inform them of the truth.

Logan does not pout.

During the scheduled lunch period Logan spends the time alone at a table, writing notes about the hidden groups within groups at each table. It's not until the hour is almost up that he realizes the other children are whispering and looking at him, and it doesn't look nice either.

This is proven as when the period ends, someone snags his notebook, holding it over their head where Logan can't reach without looking undignified jumping for it.

"What are you writing about you weirdo?" They taunt. Logan just stands and stares at them. Without his notebook he begins to details his observations out loud.

"Taller male uses his height against others. Perhaps a tactic learned at home. Possibly used to try and seem more likable by his peers. Uses physical attributes as they are certainly lacking in the intellectual department." Logan places a hand to his chin in thought, circling the student who took his book. A small crowd of students forms around them.

"What did you just say to me?" They ask dumbly. Logan sighs.

"My apologies, I didn't realizes your critical thinking skills were so severely missing. I said you are not smart so you try to be liked by being stronger than others." The bully stares at Logan angrily. Logan stares back. Suddenly the bully shoves the notebook back into his hands.

"Mr Saga! He called me stupid!" The bully points a finger at him accusatory. Logan gapes.

"I did not! I called you severely lacking in intelligence. There’s a difference!"

"Mr Addams." An authoritative voice comes from behind him. Logan turns to see a teacher looking disapproving back at him.

"Come with me Mr Addams." They say. Logan follows plainly, turning to glare at the bully as they look smugly back at him. It's then that Logan realizes they planned their words and got Logan in trouble on purpose. How rude. 

Logan writes that down.

He gets a small lecture from the teacher about how it's impolite to call someone stupid, which Logan clarifies, again, he did not, in fact, call any one stupid. The teacher just sighs.

"Since this is your first day and you're coming from being home schooled, I'll let you off with a warning, try to not let it happen again." Mr Saga says. Logan narrows his eyes but agrees for the time being.

He exits the classroom to find another student leaning against the walls beside the door. They perk up seeing him, waiting for him. They wear a flowy blue skirt and there's a white bow in their unruly curly hair. They give Logan a bright smile.

"Hi." They say first.

"Salutations." Logan says back. The other giggles and Logan isn't sure what they found funny.

"I just wanted to say I thought it was cool the way you stood up to Nate like that. He holds things over people's heads a lot." They inform him. Logan makes a note in his book as he walks, the other student falling in line with him.

"What are you writing down?" They ask. Logan studies them for a second, trying to figure out their motive. They just smile softly at him behind their round glasses.

"I am detailing the differences from being home schooled to those who have been in public schools." The other makes an 'oh' noise.

"Actually if I may, might I inquire some insight from you?" Logan stops in the middle of the hallway, his walking partner stops as well. They nod their head happily, swaying back and forth.

Logan details the conversation he had earlier with the girls in the sand, confusion apparent as he is unsure what he did to make them treat him like that. His new friend giggles again. It doesn't sound mean at all and a part of Logan wishes to detail the noise in his book.

"It's not uh, common, to ask questions like that, so they uh, probably, just acted mean cause they didn't know what else to do." Well. Even if they didn't sound sure, it's a better explanation than Logan could come up with. He details the theory in his book.

"My name's Patton by the way!" The student says. Logan holds out his hand. Patton blinks at it.

"Logan Addams," Logan introduces himself. Patton still hasn't shook his hand. Logan shifts awkwardly.

"It's polite to take my hand," he tries to explain. At that Patton grins wide and takes his hand. But he doesn't shake his hand proper, instead he squeezes it and doesn't let go.

Logan sputters and suddenly Patton is dragging him through the hall, telling Logan all about the strange slapping hand ritual from earlier. It's a game of some kind apparently, made for the pure fact to be fun and sometimes challenging with no purpose otherwise. Logan does his best to remember these details but Patton's hand is warm in his and it's very distracting.

Warm. Not like the burning of earlier where he felt sad and angry. This is soft warmth that makes him flustered and.. happy? Patton guides them to class, making some excuse about getting lost. The class laughs at their misfortune but Patton shrugs it off, so Logan figures it's best to do so as well.

He decides not to speak during class, writing and writing all the information Patton provided to him down. It's important for research, nothing else.

At the end of the day Patton is by his side again, walking him out the front gates and chatting aimlessly about seemingly nothing. They wait together for a while, cars moving in a line to pick up the kids. A long sleek black car is last in line.

"I'll see you tomorrow!" Patton calls, beginning to step away.

"Do you have a guardian coming to collect you?" Logan asks curiously not really wanting their conversation to end. Patton is.. willing to talk to him.. and provide valuable commentary. That's all. Patton shakes his head to the question.

"I live with my grandma just a few minutes from here, so I just walk home," he explains. Logan swallows a lump in his throat.

"Would you care for a ride home then? As thank you for being helpful to me today." He adds quickly. It doesn't stop Patton from beaming at him and that causes something downright strange to happen to Logan's stomach.

"Thanks Lolo," He says and Logan is so caught up in that something he's barely coherent when he opens the door to the car for Patton like a gentleman, and Patton screams.

"THERE'S A HAND!" He yelps, skittering to hide behind Logan and pointing over his shoulder into the car. Thing taps the wheel hard.

"Yes of course there's a hand." Logan says plainly.

"Its name is Thing, its my family's house keeper." Logan goes on, sliding into the car. Patton looks between Logan and Thing with very clear fear in his eyes. He slowly slides in beside Logan and closes the door.

"Can it.. uh, actually drive?" Patton's voice squeaks.

"He is the safest driver in our family." The car moves and Patton is frozen still and not talking as they pull out of the the school lot. He barely manages to give directions to his home. Logan isn't sure what happened. Patton was so.. cheerful a moment ago. Logan fiddles with the hem of his suit then reaches over to give Patton's hand a squeeze like Patton did for him earlier in the day.

Whatever it does, it works, as Patton begins to smile at him again and Logan finds himself smiling back, but just a little. Patton is relaxed by the time they pull up to a small cottage styled house.

"Thanks for the ride Logan, uh.. Thing?" Thing lifts a finger in a wave and Patton waves a finger back at it, a giggle slipping out. Logan ends up staring unable to look away. There's that noise again, the one that he wants to document and hold onto and hear again and again. What is wrong with him?

"See you tomorrow Logan," Patton says impossibly soft and he's looking at Logan so nicely and Logan manages a quick 'bye' and the door closes. Logan scoots to the window and watches as Patton enters his home.

Thing begins the drive back home. It taps the steering wheel.

"It was fine," Logan says curtly, hands crinkling his notebook on his lap. He thinks back over the day and he ends up warm again thinking about Patton and that strange thing happens to his stomach again.

Once home Logan wastes no time in heading to the moonroom in the back of the house. The sides of the room are all glass, but thick black curtains cover them while the sun is up, only opening when the moon is high in the sky. It's filled with plots of rose thorns, the petals and bulbs scattered all over the floor so when his parents waltz they swirl around them.

His father is there, wearing something long and black, a swirling shadow around his neck as he reads from a large tome with witch words written on the inside. There’s a pendant in his hand that sways as he walks the room. His skin is deathly pale and cold, but still manages to give comforting hugs when called for.

"Father," Logan says when he enters. The shadow thing around his father's shoulder puffs into nothingness and takes its rightful resting place under his father's eyes.

"Logan dear, how was your first day at the public school?" Virgil asks, taking a seat at one of the long tattered benches in the room. He pats the seat beside him and Logan goes to sit by him.

"I believe myself to be ill." Logan tells him plainly. Virgil gasps and goes to touch his forehead.

"Did one of the other school children give you a pox? Your Uncle Remus would love to experience it with you." Virgil says. Logan pushes his hand off. Holding his father's hand doesn't feel the same as holding Patton's he notices bitterly.

"I do not think any of them were sick to my knowledge but I am feeling.. Odd." He settles on. Virgil tsks sadly. When Logan had announced he wanted to attend the public school to study the other kids, Virgil had encouraged his brilliant mind.

His son confided that it's not that he didn't love his father's lessons on the occult or his padre's lessons with the sword, but this is an experiment all on it's own, one he got to do all on his own. Seeing his child so distraught about something they were so excited about is distressing.

Virgil looks up as his husband enters the room, giving him a pointed look towards their son. Roman flicks the ashes of his cigar into one of the potted plants and takes a seat on the other side of Logan.

"What ever is the matter son?" Roman asks. He takes one more puff of his cigar and tosses it. One of the plants jerk up to eat it. Virgil glares at him because they have discussed it's not healthy for the plants to be smoking yet.

Logan recounts his day for his parents, flipping through his notebook as he does. Virgil and Roman are attentive, nodding approvingly to Logan's banter with the teacher about the misinterpretation about Chris Columbus, and Roman laughs heartily when Logan explains how he never actually called someone stupid. He has way better insults that stupid anyway.

"And then Patton, he-" Logan cuts off his words with a pout, feeling that strange feeling again. Virgil plays with his hair comfortingly.

"Is Patton a good one or a bad one?" He asks.

"He's good." Logan says quickly. Roman raises his eyebrows at that. He and Virgil share a questioning look over Logan's head.

"He's good, but he- he makes me feel weird. He makes me feel sickly." Logan explains.

"Even though he's good?" Virgil asks. Logan nods but he doesn't look happy about it.

"He's sweet and kind and explained some of the social instances for me." Logan swallows hard.

"He makes my chest feel like it's constricting. Shortness of breath isn't healthy and while talking to him I almost stuttered which is concerning for my brain scan last week did not have any abnormalities." Logan had been upset about the lack of abnormalities, but now he's more upset cause if there were, then at least he'd have a working theory of the cause of this sudden feeling.

He's hugged on both sides by his parents and even though he's still confused it does make him feel slightly better.

"Maybe we should meet your new friend?" Roman asks. Logan stiffens, then nods. The word friend echoes in his head. Are he and Patton friends? It is something he is going to have to inquire about. He hops off the bench and heads to his room, finishing what little homework he has, then proceeding to electrocute his brother until his eyes are glowing blue.

And he takes time to think about Patton. He used a full page in his book to try and document his laugh. He feels odd for sure but not bad. He will have to conduct more experiments he decides, almost smiling at the idea of spending more time with his.. new friend, and the experiments of course.

"Ah, young love," Roman laments back in the moonroom. He takes Virgil's hand and kisses up his arm to his lips. Virgil allows the affection.

"He doesn't realize it yet though," Virgil chides. Roman just smirks at him.

"He will figure it out eventually. He takes after you in that regard." It's teasing and Virgil pushes him away and stands. Roman is quick on the upkeep, chasing to catch Virgil by the waist and pull him into a dip.

"You mustn't tell him," Virgil says hanging from Roman's arms. "You know how he gets when the answer is spoiled for him." Roman pulls Virgil back to standing, twirling him around the room, rose petals dancing at their feet.

"I have full confidence in our little mad scientist," Roman says with a dashing smile. Virgil returns it with a smirk.

"Just like you have full confidence with me?" He's teasing. Roman lights up.

"Is that a dare my darling?" He leans in. Virgil laughs dark and low, gripping Roman by the lapels of his white suit.

"It's a threat," he whispers against Roman's lips. A pleasant shiver runs through Roman as he kisses his husband quiet, knowing the feelings tormenting Logan will come to light all on their own.

And when Logan finally invites Patton over, and the soft boy screams at Virgil's pet spider, giving Athena the fear she deserves and hasn't had in such a long time, and Logan spends an hour comforting him, both Virgil and Roman decide Patton is good, and that Logan has made an excellent choice for a friend.

--

AN: So I wrote this and then after saw OP artist put Emile as Uncle Fester... so I'm claiming creative liberties with making Remus Uncle Fester because a) he and Roman are actual brothers and b) I love him.

[impatentpending]

Bother Me a Little Bit Longer

Part 3/4: Even the Cake is in Tiers

A canon-compliant multiple divorces / marriages moceit fic chapter one  chapter two  chapter four 

Word count: 5.4k

tws for unreliable narrator,  taxidermied animals, martyr complex, death threats (joking and serious, including physical threats), disembodied limbs, food, and morally gray all sides especially Roman

read on AO3  Buy me a ko-fi!

___________________________

It took Patton a while to work up the courage.  Janus had been around more and more often, hanging around Thomas, analyzing old movies with Logan, sharing cold silences with Roman and Virgil (when they made brief appearances away from their rooms), but this wasn’t exactly a conversation he wanted to have around the others.

In the end, Patton waited for Janus in the dark side’s common room, with Remus.

“Would you care for some more tea, my dearest daddykins?”  Remus tossed his head, sending the tassel on top of his princess hat fluttering.  He held out his acid green tea pot, smiling.  Around their small, round table, sat taxidermied rats and possums in various stages of decomposition, wearing silly hats – fellow guests to their tea party.

Patton attempted a smile.  “Sure, Remus.”

Remus giggled, pouring out a viscous, acid-green mixture.  It was freezing to the touch, but bubbled ominously in the cup.

Patton raised it cautiously to his face, and pretended to take a sip as best he could without making contact.  “Mmm.  Delicious.”

“It’s not supposed to be good.”  Remus pouted, crossing his arms.  “It’s supposed to taste like aged dragon piss.”

“Language,” Patton said, reflexively, then winced.  “Sorry, I mean.  Um… yucky?”

Remus brightened immediately.  He seemed, somehow, to have too many joints in his spine, what with the way he was wriggling in his seat.  “I was hoping you’d hate it!”

“Remus,” a cool voice drawled, saving Patton from having to formulate a response.  “What did we say about poisoning guests?”

With a sheepish grin, Remus turned to the door.  “It’s a cool and sexy thing to do?”

“Try again.”  Janus slithered his way into the room, gait slow and steady, but there was a crackling tension in the look leveled out of the side of his eye at Patton.

“It’s a very cool and sexy thing to do,” Remus amended.

Janus laughed – a low, throaty sound.  “Close enough.”

He ruffled Remus’s hair with a gloved hand.  “I take it you’ve been… entertaining our guest?”

“We’re having a tea party,” Patton pipped up, feeling unreasonably sheepish.  “I was hoping I’d find you down here, but…”

“Dadd-a-licious got stuck with me instead,” Remus cackled.

“Hm.”  Janus finally turned the full force of his mismatched gaze onto Patton, tilting his head.  “Remus, darling, give us the room?”

“Ooh.”  Remus flashed that too-wide smile.  “Spicy stuff?”

Janus rolled his eyes.  “Yes, because you know how much I love impropriety.”

“Have fun boning~”  Remus sing-songed, skittering from the room.

“Thank you for… indulging him,” Janus said, once the sound of Remus’s skip-jumping steps faded away.  “Although I’d recommend medical attention if you actually drank any of… that.”  He prodded the tea pot with the tip of his cane, nose scrunched.

“I may not be as smart as you or Lo, but I know basic safe-tea .”  Patton stood, trying on a smile.  “Besides, Remus is… interesting company.”

Janus snorted, leaning against his cane.  “Which is why you’ve interacted with him so much in the past, clearly.”

“Well.”  Patton shrugged.  “He’s your son, right?”

“Close enough, heaven help me,” Janus said with a far too affectionate sigh.

“Then he’s close enough to my son too.”  Patton grinned wryly.  “And that probably means I should start making up for being a pretty bad close enough step-dad.”

Janus blinked, slowly.

“Forgive me if I’m missing something here, but I’m relatively sure I would’ve remembered if you were Remus’s stepfather, as that would mean we got remarried.”  Janus clicked his tongue.  “And I’m fairly certain I haven’t been drunk enough to make that decision in quite some time.”

“Well,” Patton said, lowering himself onto one knee.  “About that.”

He pulled a velvet box out of his pocket.

“Patton,” Janus said, voice teetering on the verge of panic.  “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I want to marry you,” Patton said, simply, then flashed a wry smile.  “Again.”

Janus squinted.  “And you’re sure you didn’t drink any of Remus’s tea?”

“No,” Patton huffed.  “I didn’t.  I just… I wanted to make things right.”

“Oh, so you’re marrying me out of obligation and a martyr complex,” Janus drawled, eyes narrowing.  “How romantic.”

“That’s not-!”  Patton groaned.  “I meant ‘right’ as in to show you I know now just how much Thomas needs you.  ‘Right’ as in to let you know that this… thing… is a partnership.”

He stood, gently pulling out the heart-etched ring and pressing it into Janus' hand.

“You can take all the time you need to ring me up,” Patton said.  “Just know.  I… I trust you.  I want this.  I want you to know how much you mean, to all of us.  To me.  I don’t want to, and I can’t do any of this without you by my side.”

When Patton left, Janus was still turning the ring over in his hand.

It was only a week later that Lee and Mary-Lee showed up on Thomas’s doorstep.

Janus and Patton wandered in, drawn by screaming and the promise of mimosas, but pulled up short when they saw Thomas, glowing with happiness as he chatted with his friends, teasing them over the honeymoon phase, deftly avoiding questions about his own love life, laughing over old memories.

“Well.  It seems like everything worked out.”  Janus' voice was almost bitter.  “Guess I was wrong about everything,” he added with a sarcastic wave of his hands.

But Patton just smiled at him, leaning a little closer into his side.

“You and I both know that’s not true.”

It was as if something shifted behind Janus' face, those mismatched eyes softening.  Patton was so caught up in staring at them he didn’t even notice Janus tugging off his glove.

He did, however, notice when Janus reached out and took his hand, rings clinking together.

Patton’s eyes widened, gaze dropping to the ring on Janus' hand, to his face, and down again.

“Is that a yes?”  Patton turned to him, almost hopping on his toes, glowing with a smile.

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” Janus said, and kissed him.

“I’m going to kill you,” Logan said, immediately after they informed him.  “I am quite literally very close to snapping.  Do you know how ridiculous your multiple matrimonial ceremonies have been?”

“So glad we have your blessing,” Janus purred, tucking his arm in Patton’s and sauntering off to inform the other sides.

“You’ll do great at officiating, kiddo!”  Patton called over his shoulder.

“Officiating–” Came the scandalized cry, cut off by the door swinging shut.

Patton looked at Janus with a grin, giggles already pressing against the back of his lips. Janus looked at Patton, biting his bottom lip, trying to force away a smile.

“Officiating?!”  Came another cry from inside.

Janus broke first, leaning on Patton’s arm as he wheezed with laughter, but Patton wasn’t far behind, burying his face in his fiancé’s shoulder, giggling helplessly.

Remus was next, and, to neither of their surprise, the most enthusiastic.

“Yay!”  He clapped hands.  Patton spared a moment to wonder whose disembodied hands they were.  “Dadceit and momality!”  He frowned, tilting his head.  “Momceit and popality?  He waved the thought away.  “I’ll work on it.”

“Totally not heteronormative of you,” Janus drawled.

“I’m glad you’re so excited.”  Patton flashed him a tentative smile, edging closer to Janus' side and away from The Thing In The Corner Of His Vision That Crept Ever-Closer.

“Oh, for sure.”  Remus barred his many, many teeth in a grin.  “You just gotta promise to tell me how the wedding night goes, alright?  I gotta know which fanfic I wrote is right.”

“Whichever one remembers I’m demisexual,” Janus said, dryly, flicking out his cane and smacking the Thing In The Corner Of His Vision That Crept Ever-Closer before it could reach Patton.

Remus blew a raspberry.  “Hey, be nice to Thingy.”

“So grateful you took my instruction to get a pet to learn responsibility and decided on an eldritch abomination, Remus, really.  Brilliant move on your part.”

“Thank you,” Remus chirped with far too much enthusiasm.

Virgil didn’t answer the door when they knocked.

“Virge!”  Patton trilled, rapping lightly.  “Come on out, kiddo!  Your pop-star has something important to tell you!”

No sound came from behind the door, and Patton frowned, gently knocking again.  “Virge?  Where’s my son-hit wonder, huh?”

Janus touched his shoulder gently, and Patton turned to him, eyebrows furrowed.  Wordlessly, Janus gestured with his cane to the gap at the bottom of the door, where two distinctly feet-shaped shadows pooled, cutting through the light.

“Well, if you’re not here, that’s alright, kiddo.”  Patton’s mouth twisted up, bittersweet.  “I just really wanted to talk to my best man, but if not…”

He made a noisy show of turning around, feet shuffling against the carpet.

“Come on, Janus.  We’d better head out.”

As soon as they were turned around fully, the door creaked softly behind them.

One gray eye peered out at them.  “Best man?”

Patton turned to him with a gentle smile.  “Of course.”

The eye swiveled to Janus, who was taking several deep, even breaths, fingers digging into his palm.

“To him?”

“Yes.”  Patton took his hand, gently unfurling the clenched fingers.

“You can’t trust him.”

“But I do.”

Janus always reacted strangely when he said that, like he’d been shocked – breath hitching and muscles tensing before forcing themselves into relaxation an instant later.

“Anything I can do to change your mind?”

“No.”

That gray eye narrowed.  “Fine then.”

When the door shut this time, it didn’t open again.

“I’ll wait outside,” Janus had quietly said when they reached the red and gold-plaited door, and now, looking at the expression on Roman’s face, Patton couldn’t help but be glad of it.

“You’re kidding,” Roman said, flatly.

“No.”  Patton kept his arms uncrossed, voice gentle.  “I’m not.  Janus is… good for me, Roman.  For Thomas.  He keeps the plane flying steady.”

“Forgive me for not finding anything about that fiend of Eve particularly uplifting.”   Roman stood from his desk, stopping before Patton with his head high.

“I do,” Patton said, softly.  “I’m not mad or upset with you about your reaction.  I know most of it is my fault.”

Roman tilted his chin defiantly, and for a moment, Patton could’ve sworn he saw a child’s cardboard crown on his head.  “I trusted you, you know.”

“I know.”  Patton rubbed his arm, looking to the side.  “And maybe you shouldn’t have.  But I was doing my best, Roman.  I really was.  But that wasn’t good enough.  And now, I need to try harder.  We all do.  You can learn from your silly ol’ pop’s mistakes instead of having to make your own, you know?  We can be a little more open minded.  A little more accepting.  A little better with change.  I know you, kiddo, and I know you just want what’s best for Thomas.  So, I’m hoping you can trust me again when I tell you that this is what’s best for him.  I know I haven’t been the world’s best dad, or even close.  I’ve failed you in so, so many ways, Roman.  Just, please.  Don’t let this be another one of them.”

Roman stood.  His hand found his sword.  “He’s outside right now, isn’t he?”

“He… is,” Patton said, slowly.  “But, Ro, I promise– Roman?!”

Roman had already shouldered past him.

As soon as the door swung open, Janus lurched up from where he was slouched against the wall.  “I wasn’t doing anything,” he blurted, though it looked suspiciously like he had been staring at his ring.

Roman stood before him, sword in hand, eyes dark.

“Oh.”  Janus swallowed hard.  “Greetings, Roman.  You’re a vision as always.”

Roman smiled, sharp.  “What did I say about flattery, snake?”

Janus, wisely, said nothing.

“Roman, champ.”  Patton placed a gentle hand on his arm, but the prince shrugged it off.  “Roman, please!  You’re better than this.”

“That’s what you always told me,” Roman said, evenly.  “That’s what you told me since I became… me, instead of him.  That I was better.  That I was good.  That they weren’t.  And I trusted you.”

“Roman, please,” Patton’s voice broke.  “You’re scaring me.”

“I’ve been scaring myself, lately.”  

Roman’s sword flicked out to rest at the hollow of Janus' neck.

Janus stood very, very still.

“You know, Patton,” Roman said, conversationally.  “I think the problem is that, despite it all, I still want to trust you.  It sounds so nice, this little world you’ve created, where we can believe anything they say.  Where snakes like this don’t drug you on pretty words and whispers of everything you’ve ever wanted, just to prove Thomas can be selfish.  That’s how you raised me to think, and I really, really do wish that’s how it all worked.”

“Roman,” Patton begged, “kiddo, please.  Just put down the sword, and we can talk this out–“

“I’m sorry,” Janus said.  

Roman stilled.

“I shouldn’t have tried to gain your trust without making amends for my mistakes in the past,” Janus continued.  “I should’ve apologized, rather than brushed past it.  That was wrong of me.  I… I used you, and that was wrong of me.  I was just so desperate to finally get through to Thomas that I didn’t care what I did.  Who I hurt.  That’s no excuse, I know, but it’s all I can say.  I was wrong, Roman.  I’m sorry.”

“You had me thinking it was my one shot,” Roman said.  “That I was going to throw away everything I ever dreamed of.  I had to sit there, afterwards, and think that I had failed my entire life’s purpose.”

“I was wrong,” Janus said, again.  “And I know that’s not the sort of thing you can make up for, but I swear to you, I’ll try.”

“I’ll kill you if you hurt him.”  Roman’s hand tightened on his sword.  “He was wrong about a lot of things, but don’t you dare hurt him.  Not like you did me.”

Janus looked at him, steady.  “I won’t.”

Roman laughed, bitterly.  “You have no idea how much I want to believe you.”

He went back into his room and slammed the door behind him.

Janus managed a laugh, rubbing at the hollow of his neck.  “And to think we were worried.”

The wedding preparations came about, somehow or another.

Patton and Janus did most of it, of course, getting together color schemes and ideas for the reception between taking care of the kids.

Remus, at least, was doing his best to help.  His best often included setting the place in the Imagination the ceremony was to be held on fire, as he claimed it was the best way to get rid of those pesky weeds that would ruin the pictures, but Patton appreciated it nonetheless.

Logan, as well, had seemingly taken on wedding planning as just another task in his daily itinerary – cake testing scribbled in a checklist alongside review new script and update vocab cards.

The whole thing passed by in such a rush of taffeta and lace and planing that Patton was almost stunned to find himself in the kitchen, pulling the cake’s tiers from the oven – the thick, round slabs of lemon-blueberry sponge, boasting a rich, heavenly smell.

Janus helped him prepare the batter earlier, far more comfortable in the kitchen that Patton would’ve expected, sieving flour and teasing him about how many ingredients he ate before they were used.

“Patton, dear,” he purred, eyes lit with amusement.  “I love the innovative blueberry-less cake option you’re going for here, but perhaps we could actually save a few for our wedding, hm?”

Dear.  Our wedding.

Patton wasn’t in love with Janus.  

Not yet, at least.

But sometimes, when he said things like that, looked at Patton with those eyes, turned that fanged, sly smile towards him conspiratorially – as if the world was a secret only they shared – he thought he could be, if he wasn’t very, very careful.

“Earth to Padre?”  Roman waved a hand before his face.  “You’ve been staring at that wall for like ten minutes.”

“Oh!”  Patton jumped, flushing.  “Right.  Sorry, champ.”

Virgil and Roman had tramped downstairs, faces stony, almost as soon as the cakes were pulled out, claiming they were there to help.  Janus had, perhaps wisely, absconded to consult with Logan on some paperwork, so Patton was left in the kitchen, in what was perhaps the most uncomfortable cake-frosting of his entire culinary career.

Roman was stabbing fondant flowers into the tiers like they owed him money, and Virgil was listlessly sprinkling edible gold dust across the marbled teal and yellow cream cheese frosting.  

“So,” Patton chirped, voice smashing through the strained quiet.  “I’m glad you kiddos are helping your ol’ pop-tart out!  You haven’t been out of your rooms in so long you’re looking a little pastry.”

Roman looked disgruntled at the small bubble of laugh that dared escape his throat, fighting his face back into the sullen misery becoming increasingly less foreign to his handsome features.  Virgil just snorted, rolling his eyes and looking off, through the window above the sink.

Patton sighed, clapping his hands sharply.  “Right!  That’s it – sharing circle.”

“Wha–”  Roman sputtered out a protest, but Patton had already taken his arm, escorting him towards the counter.

“Sharing circle,” he repeated, stalwartly ignoring the fact they formed a triangle with Virgil.  “I’m very grateful to see you kiddos helping me out, but if you’re not doing it with a happy heart, what’s the point in doing it at all, huh?  I would’ve expected the two of you to be trying to talk me out of it, but all you’re doing is eating my frosting and butchering that poor cake.”

Virgil and Roman shared a helpless glance, mouths twisting.  Virgil narrowed his eyes.  Roman raised an eyebrow.  Virgil tilted his head, exasperated.

With a roll of his eyes, Roman turned to Patton, clearing his throat and shuffling his feet.

“You… you’ve always been a champion for us, Pat – supporting us and fighting for us.”   The prince pushed a hand through his hair with a sigh.  “Not always in the best ways possible, but–”

Virgil jabbed an elbow into his side, and Roman pulled a face at him.

“We decided that it’s our turn,” Virgil continued, fingers worrying at the edge of his sleeves.  “For better or worse, we… we love you, Pat.  Something like this isn’t going to change that.  And if that slimy lia– if Deceit makes you…”

He fumbled, trying and failing to hide a grimace, and Roman picked up.

“Happy or steady or what have you” – Roman twirled a hand, and a blue heart, encircled by a yellow snake, appeared on top of the cake – “we want that for you.”

“That being said, we’ve got two shovels and the whole imagination to hide the body.”  Virgil’s eyes darkened with something like glee.

Patton clasped his hands above his mouth, trying and failing to hide the small squeak that came out.  His eyes, wide and water-rimmed, shone out at them.  “You really mean it?”

“Oh, for sure!”  Roman confirmed, enthusiastically.  “We already came up with this plan where we sneak down into the dark side’s common room at night, perhaps after some holiday so he’s inebriated, and find where he’s sleeping–”

Virgil slapped a hand over his mouth.  “He means supporting his stupi– his marriage, Prince pea-brain.”

“Ah!”  Roman cleared his throat, loud and deep.  “Yes, very good.  I knew that.”

He cast a guilty side-eye at Patton, but the dad was too busy throwing his arms around both of them for a hug.

“Is it silly that I’m a little scared?”  Patton asked, adjusting his white bow-tie in the mirror.

“Yes,” Logan said, flipping a page in his book.  “Realistically speaking, this is nothing you haven’t done before, albeit separated by some time.”

“You’re fine, Pop-star.”  Virgil pulled a face at Logan before turning serious gray eyes onto Patton.  “Seriously, whatever you want to do right now, I support you.  If you want me to walk out there and tell Deceit it’s over, I will gladly–”

“Down boy,” Patton laughed, gently.  “That’s not what I meant, Virge.  It just… feels different this time, you know?”  He turned back to himself in the mirror, smoothing down his gray suit jacket.  “At least I’m well-groomed.”

“Only in one sense,” Roman muttered before wincing.  “Er… I mean.”  He rubbed the back of his neck, sheepishly.  “You look very nice, Patton.  Second most handsome prince in the world handsome, if I dare say so,” he tacked on, flashing a rakish grin.

“Roman!”  Patton swatted at him, playfully.  “I’m nearly a married man, you know.”

There was a strange fluttering in his stomach as soon as he said it.  It wasn’t like he didn’t want to marry Janus, but it… it just felt strange right now, when Janus was suddenly so new and familiar at once – handsome as always, suddenly so grounding, sly and sarcastic as always, suddenly so honest.

He pushed the feeling away, turning to his kiddos with a plastic smile.

“Alrighty,” he chirped.  “Guess it’s time, then.”

The wedding was lovely, of course.

Roman, however reluctant his involvement may have been, never did things halfway – a chapel with arching walls of pure glass, rising to a gentle point, stood in the middle of an autumnal woodscape in the imagination.  Red, orange, and yellow trees set against the blue sky blazed beyond the crystalline walls, and inside all was warm, cozy.  Logan stood in the center of the room, under a flowered archway.

Patton smoothed down his gray suit, hanging onto Virgil’s arm for dear life.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Virgil asked, lowly.

“What, am I looking wed in the face?”

Virgil just tightened his grip on Patton’s arm.

“I’m fine, Virge.  Promise.”

At some unknown signal, Roman began the wedding march, fingers flying over his cello.  On the other side of the chapel, Janus came into view, on Remus’s arm.  Patton’s breath caught in his throat.

He wasn’t wearing anything special, not really – just a black suit and a yellow shirt – but everything felt so consequential, suddenly, every step and breath made even more real for the shine of the autumn sun in Janus’ mismatched eyes, trained on him.

They came to a stop, somehow, meeting in the middle before Logan.

“Hi,” Patton said, softly.

Janus just flashed a fanged smiled back, lips curving gently.  “Hello.”

Virgil’s fingers tightened on his arm, and, for a moment, Patton was afraid he wouldn’t let go, but Virgil pulled himself away, taking a few steps back and fuming opposite Remus, who dramatically flashed a thumbs-up at Patton.

“Dearly beloved,” Logan said, voice as serious as ever.  “We are gathered here today to join these sides in holy macaroni.”

There was a beat of silence.

Roman coughed, awkwardly.

Logan frowned, flipping out a small stack of note cards.  “My research led me to believe a light-hearted reference to a previous, similar occasion would be well-received.”

“Totally was,” Janus drawled.

Logan grumbled, sliding the cards back into his pocket and launching back into the traditional speech – something about loyalty and partnership and heteronormative dowry traditions Patton was sure he would’ve been paying rapt attention to if his stomach didn’t feel like it was trying to digest itself.

“Who has the rings?”  Logan asked.

“That would be me!”  Roman presented them with a flourish, winking at Patton and sliding a glare Janus’ way.

Logan nodded, satisfied, as the grooms took their partner’s.  “The grooms have elected to write their own vows.”

It was Patton who went first, Patton who took both of Janus’ ungloved hands in his own and smiled at him, almost shyly.

“Fiancé meeting you here.”

There was a general round of groans, and Patton grinned when Janus just rolled his eyes, biting back that fanged smile.

“I used to think that I had everything figured out,” he admitted with a soft laugh, once the complaints died down.  “That I was all Thomas needed, the only thing that kept him… him.   But you taught me better.  I need you, for his sake, for the other sides’ sakes, and for my sake.  I need you.  I promise to be your partner, your equal, in all things, and to stay by your side, in loyalty, in life, and in lo–”  The word caught in his throat, and he paused, gaze dipping to the ground so he didn’t have to see the look in Janus’ eyes.  “In life,” he repeated.  “However long you’ll have me.”

“I’m a liar,” Janus said, voice so gentle Patton would have believed he was reciting poetry.  “I always have been, and I always will be.  I love nothing more than lies and secrets and mysteries.  Not so long ago, I would’ve believed that you would never look my way with anything more than disdain.  But you surprised me.  And you keep surprising me.  Which, you know, is totally not pretty darn cool of you.”

Patton giggled, squeezing Janus’ hands.

“So I’m going to make you a promise, Patton: that I’ll always protect you, from even yourself, if need be.  That I’ll always take care of you, always keep the plane flying steady.  That I’ll be beside you, whenever you need me, to support you, to rival you, to care for you.  You’re the world’s greatest mystery, Patton Sanders, and I’ll spend the rest of my life figuring you out, if you’ll have me.”

Remus grinned.  Roman hastily tried to look like he wasn’t crying.  Virgil’s eyes softened, just the tiniest bit.

“Ah.”  Logan cleared his throat, blinking rapidly.  “Patton ‘Morality’ Sanders, do you take Janus ‘Deceit’ Sanders as your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do,” Patton said, softly, sliding the heart-etched ring onto Janus’s finger.

“Janus ‘Deceit’ Sanders, do you take Patton ‘Morality’ Sanders as your lawfully wedded husband?”

“I do,” Janus echoed, sliding its match onto Patton’s.

“Well then,” Logan said, and he was almost smiling.  “You may now kiss the side.”

Everything else today had felt so strange, so new, but when Patton leaned forward to kiss Janus, nothing in the world had ever felt so natural.

The reception went well, all things considered.  Roman and Remus only tried to kill each other twice, Virgil hadn’t poisoned any of the cake, and as requested, Logan had a sound-proof room to escape into when he felt at-risk of sensory overload.

It still felt a bit surreal – a dreamy sense of shock settling over Patton even as he fed Janus bites of cake, rested his head on his shoulder, laughed with surprised delight when he dipped him in the middle of their first dance, set to So Long.

Virgil found him when he was sitting, back to the wall, smiling to himself as Janus and Roman busied themselves with an increasingly elaborate dance-off, Logan and Remus calling out what seemed to be entirely arbitrary scores from the sidelines.  His feet were aching, but he couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled this much without meaning to.

“I think Janus has stopped hissing him off,” Virgil commented, leaning against the wall, arms crossed.  “At least a bit.”

Patton shot a wry grin up at him, patting the floor next to him invitingly.  “If only it was a sentiment shared by all my children.”

“You can’t blame me for being…”  Virgil gestured to himself with a huff, sinking down to sit beside him.  “Anxious.”

“Probably my fault,” Patton admitted.  “I’ve been feeling a little bridaled up.”

Virgil turned to him, eyes wide.  “Still?  But isn’t all this” – he gestured around, to the cake and the music and the other sides, dancing – “what you wanted?”

“Yeah.”  Patton let his head loll back against the wall, feeling the vibrations from the sound system rattling around in his skull.  “It was.  Is.  I’m just– no.  I’m just being silly.”

“Pat,” Virgil said, slowly.  “Why did you ask Janus to marry you?”

“It was the right thing to do,” Patton said, simply.  “It’s what I wanted to do.”

Virgil just looked at him with those gray eyes.  “Then, if you made the right choice, why don’t you feel right?”

“I might.  I just… just need time,” Patton said, looking out where Roman and Remus were spinning each other in circles, eyes shining and laughter bubbling.  “This was what’s best.  For all of us.”

They sat there a while longer, until Welcome to the Black Parade came on, and Patton dragged Virgil out for ‘the father-son dance, my black hole son!’ ignoring Virgil’s protest of ‘that’s really not how that works, Pat.’

The night ended in a flurry of movements – Remus diving into the chocolate fountain; Roman hijacking the DJ booth to put Flamboyant on loop, to Virgil and Logan’s vocal displeasure; Janus pulling him close and twirling him into a waltz, murmuring in that silk-smooth voice how beautiful he looked, pressing brief kisses to his nose, his cheeks, his lips, whenever Patton least suspected it.

It was perfect.  Objectively.  It should’ve felt perfect, and, indeed, in those moments – his kiddos around him, Janus by his side – it did.

But the music wound itself down, and Virgil started yawning, and the snacks were all eaten, and soon enough, Patton found himself in the honeymoon suite, all billowing blue curtains and large, white bed.

Janus, his husband, stood on the balcony, looking over the moonlight-drenched ocean of the imagination, hands resting lightly on the marble bannister.  His wedding ring caught the star light, setting it to gleaming.

“Planning on gawking all night?”

Patton startled, flushing.  “Oh, no, I was just… lost in thought, I guess.”

He slipped forward, standing beside him, watching the dark waves crash against the pristine beach, the moon’s reflection scattered into a million pieces.  “Talk about a groom with a view, huh?”

Janus turned to him with a wry smile.  He had undone his tie and top buttons, revealing the hollow of his neck, dotted with faint, iridescent scales.  “I think the twins may have taken the whole concept of a honeymoon a bit too seriously.”

Patton blinked.  “Remus helped?”

“Because he’d miss the opportunity to arrange something… bawdy.”  Janus snorted.  “Maybe do yourself a favor and don’t check the side drawers.”

“Oh.”  A flush rose, hot, on his cheeks.  “Noted.”

Janus leaned forward, forearms bare from where he’d pushed up his sleeves.  He was stronger than Patton had realized – all sinewy, coiled muscle in long, graceful lines.  “Did you enjoy the wedding?”

“It was nice,” he admitted, softly.  “I didn’t realize how good it would feel to see everyone together like that.”

“I know what you mean.”  A smile curled his lips. “The twins together, mine and Roman’s little competition, your and Virgil’s little… tête-à-tête.”

“No tea to spill there.”  Patton waved him away.  “You know Virge.  I– he still had a few reservations about me being wedlocked and loaded, if you know what I mean.”

Janus hummed, a low sound in the back of his throat.  “I think I do.”

Silence settled over them, broken only by the crashing of waves, far below.  Patton fidgeted with his sleeves, darting glances at the other side, who seemed perfectly content lost in his own thoughts, thumb idly rubbing over his ring.

“Well, then.”  Patton flashed his plastic smile, rocking on his heels.  “First night as a married couple.  What do you want to do?”

Janus turned to him, looking almost startled, before his face softened into a smile, slow and easy.  He reached out to tuck a stray curl behind Patton’s ear, scaled fingers whispering through his hair, and took a step closer.  He was so close Patton could feel the heat of his body, skin prickling where Janus leaned closer to him.  A shiver ran down his spine, and he swallowed hard, fighting to stay still – unsure if he wanted to dive forward or fall back.  He clenched his hands, digging his fingernails into his palms.

Janus leaned forward, voice so dark and purring Patton almost didn’t register his words.

“Get a divorce.”

Patton made a soft sound despite himself, hands fisting in the lapels of Janus’s suit jacket.

He paused.

Processed.

“Hold up.”  He took a few steps backwards, squinting at the other side dubiously.  “What?”

“A divorce, dear,” Janus purred, pulling a manila envelope from his jacket.

“Don’t worry,” he continued, pressing it into Patton’s hands.  “I took the liberty of borrowing some things from Logan beforehand.”

He turned and started sauntering off.

Patton stood there, in his wedding suit, divorce papers in hand, stunned.  “What?”

“Oh, Patton, darling.”  Janus looked back over his shoulder, flashing a fanged smile.  “Surely you didn’t expect better from me?”

___________________________

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[askintothevoids]

Hi, it’s Ned.

Some of us were talking, and we wanted to a podcast pilot.

Though, we need voice actors, (this is a fun thing we wanted to do, so no real business is involved though people will be credited for their voices and help).

We need voice actors for the following:

Patton

Logan

Roman

Remus

Janus

Disembodied voices (you read your asks and everything, pretty cool right?)

A narrator

Extra voices such (as secondary characters like Juhnnothon, Gil the fish, Verrill Johnson, Abigail Jacobs, Anne Powell, Daniel Montgomery-Stone, etc.)

Dm me if you’re interested.

[sablesides-writing-corner]

*Stares At “Mouth Stitched Shut” Intensely* 👀👀👀👀

Patton never liked being alone in the imagination.

Not because it was actively scary or anything, no, he adored going on dates with Remus there.

But because he knew things were hiding within it.

Roman had dealt with those things many times, one of them had wound up following him out.

Virgil had dealt with them, to, but never to the extent that Roman had.

Patton, Patton never wanted to go through that.

He remembered sleepless nights when he was a freshly formed side, when his only responsibilities were emotions and to be full of love and sunshine.

When he was at the mercy of morality.

He was in control now, yes, but the responsibilities were terrifying to him now that he knew what they meant.

He knew Romulus was harmless now of course, and he had no intention of causing an issue with him.

But Romulus' prescience in the mindscape.

Brennan's ability to impersonate and imprison Virgil for several weeks without even one side noticing.

It scared him.

It made him question what else might be lurking there, what might be able to return from it.

"Pattycake you're making your worry wart face again," Patton let out a small help as Remus pulled him back into his lap, calloused hands moving to grab at the fat rolls accentuated by a crop top.

"Mouse! that tickles!" Patton said, grabbing Remus' arms and bursting into a fit of laughter.

"Good! I wanna hear you laughing! No thinking, only pretty little Patton giggles!" Said Remus, now moving to attack Patton's neck, earning a shriek of laughter.

"Ok ok! I'll stop thinking!" Patton said, proceeding to cross his eyes. Remus lay his forehead on Patton's and followed suit.

They like that for a while, until Patton was struck with a sudden jolt of terror.

"Pattycake? What's wrong? What happened?" Remus had sat up before Patton jolted forward, narrowly avoiding a forehead collision.

"Bad feeling-" Patton said, latching to Remus' arms.

"About?" Remus prompted.

"Something in the imagination- I- I think-" Patton's breath hastened.

"Its him isnt it?" Remus' eyes widened in understanding.

"I have to go check- Remus please I cant let him get in here like the others- please-" Patton tried to fight his way past Remus, and with enough shoving, finally broke off.

The imagination was cold and dark, just as he remembered his room had been when he was younger.

"Dad? I know you're in here." Patton tried his best to put on a brave face.

"Oh? Dad am I? I thought I told you to call me Father." Patton stiffened as a growl sounded from the house.

"And quit grimacing. You look better when you smile." Doyle stepped out from the shadows. He looked exactly as Patton remembered him.

Blue sweater, gray tuxedo jacket, gray dress pants, Patton could almost smell the sawdust.

"I dont take orders from you anymore." Patton's voice was quivering now, it was one thing to talk to a disembodied voice, but a completely different thing for it to for looming over you.

And it was even harder feeling leather come in contact with flesh.

Patton wasnt sure when he got back to the mindscape, only that his face felt v e r y numb.

"Pattycake! What the hell happened in there!" Remus was worried, that wasnt a good sign.

"I-I cant feel my face- he- Remus what did he do to my face?" Patton said, trying to get a look at his reflection in any nearby surface.

"Oh you poor thing. . ." Remus said quietly, scooping Patton up into his arms.

"I'm taking you to Virgil, me Roman and Romulus will handle my bother-in-law," Remus said, before sinking out.

"DOUBLE BUBBLE DISCO QUEEN- HEADED TO THE GUILLOTINE-" Virgil's P!ATD karaoke session was cut off by Patton and Remus' sudden appearance in his room, and punctuated by a scream.

"ENGARDE YOU FI- WHAT THE HELL-"

"WHY IS EVERYONE YELLING???"

Roman and Romulus had arrived on the scene shortly after Virgil's declaration of terror.

"Patton what's on your face?" Virgil had already rushed over with a kit, Patton flinched as he ran his hands along his face.

"I dont know- he said I needed to smile more and then I just- blacked out-" Patton said, flinching every few words.

"Hold on. . . He? What do you mean he?" Virgil moved his hands away for a few seconds.

"That's what I need Ro and Ru for, the in-laws are back," Remus said, he and Roman shivered slightly.

"You go after him, I'll fix all this nonsense-" Virgil said, pressing something wet to Patton's face.

It was heaven when all the wire was finally removed, but Patton's face was now coated in blood, and holes.

"I wotn be able to fix it all, just think of it as new freckles, and try not to move your face to much ok?" Virgil said quietly, Patton merely nodded.

He went to bed in Remus' arms secure in the knowledge that the hyenas they considered like children were feasting on the bones of a man who never put thought into the feelings of other people.

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

Tag list:

@nova-xx

@softestpatton

@meowthefluffy

@a-deceit-salad

@nerosdayinhell

@soupforfree

@willowaudreykeyes

@frawkeye

@the-sad-strawberry

@sneaky-slytherin

@private-snippers

@romano-hottopic

[ask-grimdark-patton]

you sure patton didn't hit all of you over the head? after all, you're hearing us random disembodied voices, and you're /talking back/ to us. sounds to me like remus isn't the only cuckoo-clock around.

ASKBOX IS OPEN

[brandstifter-sys]

Under Pressure

Chapter 7: Logarithms                                         (Ao3)

Word Count: 1014

Characters: All

Ships: Strong Roceit, hinted Royaliceit

Rating: T

Warnings: Villain!Logan, Dark! Logan, arguing, electrocution (cartoonish), excessive flirting, food mention

-------

Remus reached the top of the stairs and found the other three standing in front of a large oak door. Patton was trying in vain to open it, pulling on the handle with both hands and a foot on the wall. Roman watched him with Janus, who was still in his arms. 

"It won't budge!" Patton snarled and went limp, bringing his foot to the ground. Roman scoffed, ready to deliver a scathing comment. 

"Darling, don't fret, this set back is a chance for us to get closer," Janus purred and ran his hand down Roman's cheek.

"My dearest—"

"Okay, kids, not in front of the emo!" Remus said and moved past them to the door in question. 

It was one of his but something was off. The handle wasn't the usual tentacle design and there was a faint bump in the wood crossing from the odd handle to the doorframe. He wouldn't put it past the nerd to set a few traps. He conjured a pair of kitchen gloves on his hands and rolled his neck.

"Hey, Papa Roach," he said and shifted the human sloth into his arms, "Hold this for a sec!" Patton squeaked when Remus tossed Virgil into his arms. 

"What the—?" 

Patton's jaw dropped as Remus grabbed the handle and ripped it off with a scream, letting a charge of bright blue electricity bolt and zap from the hole he created up his arm. He lifted off the ground and jolted, showing off his skeleton like some old cartoon before his feet hit the ground.

"Holy shit!" Janus yelped and clung to Roman. Virgil lolled his head and stared at Remus with a blank expression. 

"Bill Kaulitz, shocking," he mumbled while staring at Remus' hair. It was standing on end but in cool spikes. Remus blinked twice and laughed. 

"Even now you're the funny one!" 

"How come you didn't just make the door open or disappear?" Patton asked concernedly, "And why did you electrocute yourself?"

"I electrocute myself all the time! For fun!" Remus shrugged, "and I can't really do much as Creativity right now, neither can Ro." 

"Logan's doing, I assume," Janus hummed. It brought a growl out of Roman that made him shiver. 

"That fiend! When I get my hands on him for whatever he did to cause such a horrible fate—" 

"Dampening device," Virgil cut him off, "it's just like the one he made me for the bad days when I was close to panicking." 

"So it's your fault he has that tech!?" Patton snapped with tears in his eyes. Virgil flinched, expecting the worst. 

"Have you no shame?" Roman scoffed, "Blaming a damsel, another victim, for the crimes another has committed!" 

"I—I—" Patton stammered in horror. 

"Easy Ro. He's pure emotions, he blurts things out without thinking," Remus cut in and took Virgil from Patton before either of them started crying or shrinking into themselves too much.

"I didn't mean it," Patton whimpered and rubbed his eyes. 

"I know," Virgil said and curled into Remus, "I know and it's okay, I'm okay." Patton offered a meek smile while Janus bit back a surge of bile in his throat. 

"Okay!" Remus cheered, "I didn't get zapped just to stand around! Let's go!" 

He kicked the singed door in and trotted into the darkness that would lead to the next room. Roman and Patton followed him, letting him set off any more traps. There weren't any, fortunately. There was only a dark room. And he really did not like that.

"Oh. I wasn't expecting you so soon." A disembodied, robotic voice greeted them as the lights suddenly turned on. 

Virgil hissed and covered his eyes, Remus winced, and Janus hid his face with his hat. Roman and Patton glared at the white, metallic walls, searching for the source of the voice. 

"No matter. There's merit to being ahead of schedule." 

"Schedule?" Roman questioned, "And who's schedule are we forcibly following?" 

"You always did ask stupid questions. Pay attention, because I don't want to explain it more than once." 

"Hey! There's no need to be mean!" Patton huffed and stamped his foot. 

"That was a mere fact. Try not to let your emotions cloud your judgement during testing." 

"How about you tell us what's next on the itinerary instead, Logan," Janus groaned, "You're cutting into my time with my king." 

"How tactful. And by that I mean ‘rude,’" the robo nerd droned, "You will be allowed access to the control center after you undergo a few tests." 

"Is there cake too?" Virgil scoffed to himself, mostly. Remus giggled softly and resisted the urge to high-five the tired emo.  

"We'll only play along for the finest confections," Janus added, completely oblivious to the joke, "None of your Twinkies, such as myself. Not when these boys deserve a proper banquet." 

Virgil and Remus shared a knowing look and cringed as static erupted through the airwaves. 

"Of course there will be cake. Tomorrow is Virgil's birthday." 

Janus' stomach churned.

"No it isn't. Since when do you care about birthdays?!" Patton shouted. He kept up with the date and he was on top of those birthdays! 

"Oh I'm sorry, as the side who manages the calendar and schedule I must be completely out of touch. Keep your emotions in check if you want to return to your primary functions." 

Patton steeled his jaw and growled indignantly. Roman set Janus on his feet and pulled Patton to his side. No one dared insult his friends and expect to get away with it! 

"Now then, if you are prepared for your next test, proceed to the door at the end of the room. And watch your step. The last batch of test subjects lost control of their lower abdominal muscles."

"Who were these last test subjects?" Virgil asked suspiciously. 

"Irrelevant. Proceed to the exit," loga n snapped. Remus shrugged and walked to the door that appeared on the other side of the room. He didn't care if he stepped in poop. He was more concerned about what was on the other side. 

-----

(Master Post)

[iwillsithereandtrytocontribute]

Lost in the Wrong Story

Uh-oh It's the Trash Man

Masterlist Last Next Ao3

~ A collaboration with @hitmewiththatfanart33 ~

Summary: Roman can’t run from his problems forever.

Roman hit the ground running. Surely if he ran with no particular direction they couldn’t find him, right? He dashed between trees and jumped over roots, taking some small comfort in the repetition of the sound of his boots hitting the ground. He wasn’t entirely sure where he was, for he didn’t remember consciously making this world, and most of the Disney movies he grew up watching had trees in them. Though not many trees looked like this: all twisted and curled, ferns and other various jungle-looking flora littering the floor. No, these woods were far from something out of a Disney movie. They had an eerie feeling to them, and the chirps and calls of unfamiliar bugs and night creatures set him on edge.

     “Why are you being so difficult?” a nasaly voice droned. Roman flinched, whipping around in a circle to find the source, and his heart only beat faster when some sort of wispy green fog menacingly circled him. It was so cold; colder than the already-freezing night-time air. However, that wasn’t why he trembled.

     The fog curled and condensed right before his face to form the disembodied head of a large green cat-looking thing, smiling at him crookedly with large, sharp fangs… The Cheshire Cat from Tim Burton’s adaptation of Alice in Wonderland… 

     Remus.

     He should’ve known from the second he stepped foot in this world that this wasn’t his creation like all the other places had been. “It’s none of your business,” he snarled, “Go away.” He tried to get around him so that he could leave, but the floating head only followed his movement.

     “Oh, but it is.” A set of paws took shape, and Remus rested his chin on them with an aggravating look of amusement. “You’re in my world if you couldn’t tell. And I had one hell of a time creating it.” He tilted his head side to side with each word for emphasis. “Whatever happened to making room for new stuff by getting rid of the old?” Remus complained.

     The last thing Roman needed right now was to play cat-and-mouse with his brother, so he turned around and began running, hoping to get enough momentum to hop worlds again, though it would be challenging considering this wasn’t his world and was thus less easy to manipulate. He barely got ten feet before a fully-formed cat was suddenly pouncing on him, pinning his back to the ground. “My world,” Remus repeated with a viscous hiss. “Meaning you’re going to listen.” He could feel Remus’ rancid breath against his face, and the terror that he would bite his head off at any given minute overwhelmed him.

     Roman said nothing, too busy teetering on the verge of hyperventilation. “Now… What is your fucking problem?”

     And in response to the exhaustion, the heartache, the stress, and the fear… Roman’s wide eyes welled up with stinging tears, and he began to cry. Remus looked incredibly uncomfortable. Great. Even his own brother didn’t know what to do with him. The new addition of Roman’s pitiful blubbering noises and the way he squeezed his eyes shut tight to make the world go away seemed to shake Remus out of his surprise, and the heavy weight on his chest suddenly felt less concentrated and more… human. “Hey, hey, hey… I’m sorry I scared you, I just thought you were going for a Disney theme, so I added my own twist to it… Good old Tim Burton, you know? It’s pretty much the only thing we can both sit through without killing each other.” Remus sounded like someone who had no experience with children trying to comfort a screaming baby.

     Roman slowly blinked his eyes open. Remus was still sitting on his stomach, which wasn’t the most comfortable— cat or human— and he looked down at his face worriedly. “Get off me. I can hardly breathe,” he complained. Remus quickly complied, sitting back on his heels to the side of him, offering a hand to help him sit up.

     Once he was upright, he stayed quiet a moment, resting his elbows on his knees. Then he spoke. “I’m a handful, okay? They don’t deserve to have to deal with that, so I just thought that maybe coming to the place where I’m in control and people will still love me even when I make a mistake was what was best for everyone. Nobody was supposed to come after me. None of this was supposed to happen.” He sniffled and angrily wiped at his tears.

     “Everyone with a brain is a handful, you blood clot. They obviously love you anyways, or else they would’ve ditched you a long time ago,” Remus said, trying to cheer him up.

     “They have,” Roman said quietly.

     “What? No, I was just with them.” 

     “That’s not what I meant… Patton just disappeared for several months one time after Christmas. He didn’t even say goodbye, and I needed him. Then I almost caused Virgil to leave completely, Logan left when I was upset over that one breakup, and… Janus hasn’t left me yet. He hasn’t been around long, but I think I just gave him a pretty good reason to.” This felt cathartic. Like he’d been in an uneasy or heightened state for so long that he forgot what it felt like to just be empty. 

     Remus chewed on his lip, cocking his head, and his next words sounded forced, but he meant well. “They need you too…” Roman barely caught him muttering ‘those useless infants’ under his breath, and he almost snorted. “Did you ever try to go after Patton?”

     “No,” he admitted, guilt stirring up in his stomach. 

     “Weren’t you also the reason Virgil came back? And isn’t Janus still looking for you somewhere in this jumbled mess of yours? Sounds to me like you’re just being an idiot,” Remus said with a shrug. Somehow his careless, goofy way of going about things calmed Roman down more than anything else could. 

     “I guess.”

     “I’m really not the one you should be talking to. All I’m good for is butt jokes,” he said, not entirely incorrectly. Roman chuckled a little. 

     Remus sighed. “Virgil’s no stranger to running away to brood; he’d be way better at this than me.” Then he turned his head, eyes wide with sudden thought. “He needs a nickname for that specifically. Hmm…” 

    He snapped. “Got it: Forest Whump,” he announced proudly, “Contains running and angst.”

     Then Roman was truly cracking up. It was pretty funny, and the thought of late night Tim Burton movie marathons and stealing each other’s clothes suddenly made Roman miss his stormcloud more than words could describe, so maybe Remus was right. “Yeah,” he said fondly. “I guess I really messed up.”

     “Yep!” Remus trilled gleefully.

     Roman nodded. “Thank you, brother.”

     “No prob, Bob!” Remus faded away, leaving just his deranged, but somewhat well-meaning smile before even that disappeared.

     When Roman hopped worlds he landed in yet another forest. Free from Remus’ influence, it felt a lot more familiar, like an old friend. He was fairly sure what fairytale he was in, (he had to be, he’d created the world after all), he just didn’t know where in it he was. He ran until he reached the cottage, exactly where he had instinctually known it would be. Then he walked upstairs, pushing two of the undersized beds together in the corner to form one large enough to sit comfortably on, wondering what to do while he waited on Virgil to inevitably show up. After all, the others seemed to find him no matter what he did. They practically fell into his lap. 

     So he waited. 

     And he waited…

     The isolated silence began to weigh on his mental state. 

     Suddenly, where he had originally felt calmed by his conversation with Remus, all sorts of conflicted feelings began to arise. Roman knew Remus was trying to help, and for a while his words did make him feel better... until he started really thinking about what he’d said, that was. When Patton disappeared for months, he did nothing. When Logan felt ostracized during the courtroom trial, he had said nothing. Hell, he had been happy to have Virgil gone… at first. 

     Patton must still resent him for never coming for him. Is that why he never paid any mind to Roman’s absences? Was it payback? Did Logan still loathe him for abandoning their college diploma to be a YouTuber? What about Virgil? He couldn’t count how many times he’d been flat-out cruel to him. And with Janus, when he had first told them his name, he’d laughed at him just like he had with Virgil and treated him like a villain just because of his own conflicting emotions. 

     Now he’d left them who knows where in the Imagination. 

     “Roman, just come home with me.”

     “I just missed you so much it hurt.”

     “You need to come home.”

     “Roman, this isn’t funny. Come out.”

     “Where is Patton?”

     “Roman!”

     “Why are you being so difficult?”

     “Roman!”

     “Now… What is your fucking problem?”

     “Roman!”

     He gasped brokenly, pressing a hand to his mouth as the tears began freely falling one after the other onto his lap, and it felt as if every atom making him up trembled. His prince uniform slowly phased into black sweatpants and his favorite red hoodie so that they could hold him together when he couldn’t. He curled into himself. 

     Would they even want him back given everything he’d done and continued to do? If they found him would they just try to let him down easy? This and more swirled around Roman’s head relentlessly, and no matter how many times he wiped his eyes, they were quickly replenished. 

***

     Virgil walked straight into a tree as he entered the Imagination. He stumbled back, expecting Janus to catch him, and instead fell to the ground. Right as he was about to shoot a teasing remark at Janus, Virgil realized he wasn’t there. Neither were Logan and Remus. He stood up and turned in a frantic circle. “Very funny guys. Come out Remus, you bitch.” No response other than the wind rustling through the leaves. Virgil laughed nervously. “You’ve had your fun. Come on.” Nothing.

     He was in the middle of the woods with no way of knowing how to get out or find help, and they weren’t here with him. 

     He fumbled around to find his hoodie to calm his rapidly increasing panic and felt nothing. A glance down at himself had him on the verge of laughing hysterically, for he was wearing a rich purple dress that nearly reached the ground. He felt behind his back and found, to his relief, a hood, so at least Roman wasn’t completely cruel. Sure the tight laces were hell, as were the sleeves that reached down to his legs, but as long as he could smoother himself in fabric, he could calm down. He tried to remember the exercises Logan had taught him: 4-7-8 and counting with all of his senses. Eventually, his breathing slowed and he removed his hood.

     The world seemed a little less scary now. He’d noticed birds chirping amongst the treetops, the sun filtered down nicely, and he was sure that whatever reason he had been brought here was important. 

    He was sitting on the ground, back pressed up against a tree, though he couldn’t quite remember doing that. He stood up, trying to get a sense of his surroundings. For one, he was in a forest— wow great job, Virgil. Figure that one out all by yourself?— and secondly… Well, he had nothing. Just trees. Looks like he was picking a direction and going with it in the hopes he’d find Roman… somehow.

     He hadn’t been walking very long when he spotted a vaguely familiar cottage. It wasn’t big enough to be from Sleeping Beauty, so… Really? Snow White? Was this because I said I liked the Evil Queen’s aesthetic once? He shrugged and pushed the door open. That was when he heard someone upstairs, and for a moment he felt relieved to not have to be alone, but that quickly changed when he realized whoever it was was crying. His eyes went wide. 

     Roman.

     Virgil dashed up the stairs as fast as his gown would let him, practically throwing open the door, and he nearly cried upon seeing the person he’d been looking for. “Roman!” Virgil called out. Roman looked up from where he was bunched up on the bed. Virgil moved over to the bed to try and hug him, but Roman shrugged him off. “Roman?”

     This wasn’t like him. This was bad. 

     “Why won’t you leave me alone?” Roman whimpered quietly, fresh tears running down his face. “I just want to be left alone.”

     “Roman, what are you talking about?” Virgil sat next to him, but Roman scooted away and put his face back down to his knees. 

     “I get it!” Roman said loudly out of nowhere. “You’re all just the nicest people in the fucking world and you’re just trying to let me down easy. Just leave me alone!” The window next to them shattered.

     “Roman. Roman, listen to me.” Virgil tried to keep his voice steady. As much as he wanted to hug Roman, he knew that when he was feeling this way he hated being touched, so he kept his distance. “This is all in your head. Trust me, as the literal personification of anxiety, I should know. You’re lying to yourself.” 

     Roman turned his back to him, facing the headboard that rested against the wall to the left of the window, his breath coming in heavier and more panicked. 

     “You don’t know that!”

     “I do. I swear I do.” Virgil was crying now. Roman was scaring him, and everything in Virgil cried out to ease the insurmountable amount of pain he was in. The wind roared through the broken window, sending pillows and sheets flying. He longed to run and hide until this was all over, but that other, stronger part of him prevailed. He was essentially Thomas’ fight or flight instinct, and he was determined to fight for Roman.

     “I… do.” Everything in the room became crystal clear to Virgil in that moment. His eyes settled on a single shiny red apple just past the bedpost, still among the spinning wreckage that threatened to cut his skin to ribbons. Not a thing touched him when he stood, walking a path to the fruit, and when he reached it there was no going back. 

     He had to have it. 

     As if in a trance, his lithe, pale fingers wrapped around its round form. 

     He pressed his mouth against it.

     “Virgil?”

     Then its sweet juice was filling his mouth. 

***

     Roman’s brow furrowed against his knees as he heard Virgil trail off then fall silent. He brought his head up with a soft, “Virgil?” and when there was no response he turned around on the bed out of curiosity, only to freeze in horror at what he saw. He swore all the breath left his lungs. 

     It was too late. 

     Virgil’s teeth were already sinking into it, and Roman felt helpless as he watched in shock, the bedding and glass crashing down around them. 

      The next thing to hit the ground was the apple, a sort of dull thud against the wooden floor, then Virgil came down with it, and with a sickening gasp, Roman lunged. Yet again, it was too late. The sound of Virgil’s head hitting the ground echoed throughout the cottage.

     “No. No, no, no, no, no.” Roman repeated that single word over and over again, dropping to his knees and scooping Virgil’s limp form up into his lap. 

     This was his fault. His fault, his fault, his fault. He was supposed to be the hero. But he wasn’t a hero. He was a coward, running away, always making the wrong choice and hurting the people he loved, and it wasn’t like Virgil was the first victim of his recklessness. How could they love someone like that?

     The truth was… they couldn’t, but he had to try. 

     Hurriedly, he kissed Virgil, begging for that true love’s kiss he always believed in to break the curse that he’d unwittingly set in motion through his anger. Nothing happened. He tried again and again, but Virgil didn’t wake up. Didn’t breathe. “Virgil! Virgil please wake up!” Roman shook him, but his head only lolled. “Virgil, wake up. Please. Please.” Roman dissolved into tears, hugging Virgil close, rocking back and forth. He’d known all along that he wasn’t Virgil’s true love, but finding out by putting Virgil into a curse he couldn’t break was by far the worst way to have done so.

     Minutes passed by with Roman desperately clinging to the one he loved. 

     In those eternal minutes, Virgil didn’t move, and where Roman had once been able to warm him up, his skin stayed as cold as porcelain. The only thing that kept Roman from giving up entirely was the fact that there was still a steady pulse to be felt in his neck beneath the cold, lifeless guise the curse blanketed him in. He gave him one last squeeze and firmly pressed their foreheads together. 

     Roman carefully lifted Virgil onto the bed, only now noticing how breathtaking he would have been in the long, draping fabric and rich purple were he still awake, and he crossed his arms before wiping the tears from his face. He even conjured a bouquet of white poppies to place in Virgil’s clasped hands. The simple conjuring took every ounce of his willpower and energy, and he sobbed his heart out all the while. Then he pressed one final kiss to Virgil’s forehead with a vain hope that this kiss would somehow work. 

     “I’ll make this right. I swear.” 

     He had to find Janus.

Fun fact! White poppies symbolize eternal sleep, oblivion, imagination, consolation, dreams, and peace. Yes, I did in fact spend 10 minutes looking up the meanings of various plants.

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@cuter-on-the-inside @abbyisconfused @n4o5r7a9 @omni-hamiltrash   @fandomsofrandom @t0astyt0es @withspaces @anyelram841 @yep-another-fander @strangecreatureyoucantidentify @fandom-trash-304 @chelsvans @nomejodasb @iampengwing @neonb-fly @analogical-mess @midnight-tragedyy @idosanderssidespromptssometimes @athenashipsthings @thgjclw @littleladynightshade @casuallyimpossibledream @hekking-happy-nonsense @comicsimpson @slutforketchup @sandersidess @i-need-you-buddy @witchyvirgil @ghosttb0y @pixelatedrose @emilightniing @csi-baker-street-babes @iwillsithereandtrytocontribute @spooky-scary-virgil @justanothernerdyfandomblog @phantomfantasize @panicattheeveywhere @hedgiehoggles @i-really-like-dragons @youre-lazy-and-youre-gay0-0 @crabsncrabs @gattonero17 @dragonleesupporter @lokiamorstuffs @emo--nightmaree @anotherbisexualbooklover @7-slights-at-virgil @romanvirgil @croftersjam15 @underthesea73

[treeni]

A Lifetime of Love

Day 5 - Any intense emotions your soulmate feels you will also experience.

Logicality

Wordcount: 4524

TW: Mentions of death emotionally affecting characters.

Summary: Logan has felt his soulmate’s love nearly all his life. He just didn’t realize it until that love turned into heartbreak.

Archive Link

Tumblr Masterpost

taglist: @tsshipmonth2020

Why does Logan’s soulmate feel so much?

It was a near constant struggle for him as he had to deal with strong waves of intense ups and downs. He would almost use the idiom “extra” to describe it. The whole ordeal was borderline debilitating Logan’s ability to keep his focus.

He could not see a reason that anyone needed to feel so strongly.

Logan took a deep breath to try and calm a racing heart that was out of his control and pushed his coffee away with a frown. This menace needed to be stopped. How could he work like this? How could he attend to his patients?

He felt the cardiac quickening still and groaned. If it did not slow soon he was figuratively certain that someone would need to call a crash cart.

Maybe literally certain.

It was too be seen.

“Hey doc!” A cheery voice said to his left just as he heard the telling ‘clunk’ of a plastic tray hitting the table to reveal a face he recognized.

Scrubs. Curls. Light hair. Bracelets. Alto. Freckles. Vanilla. Smiles. Soft.

Friend.

Patton.

Nurse Patton. His mind reminded him as it instantly cycled through the immediate sensory details he most associated with his table mate.

Patton was a near constant source of smiles and warmth to those around him. He was a favorite among patients who would often come in even after their recovery to deliver tokens of appreciation and occasionally gifts that were more intimate. Logan could remember a particular nuisance who was overly forthcoming with their affections, to the point that Patton sometimes appeared uncomfortable. Sometimes Logan felt uncomfortable too just seeing the displays. The ward nearly had to dispose of a ridiculous number of roses when the man thought he was being romantic with a display that engulfed their waiting room in the flowers. It was a nuisance for the staff to deal with and potentially endangered the lives of anyone who needed life-saving emergency services at that moment, or anyone who was simply allergic to roses. Thankfully no one was harmed in the end. Instead, Patton showed his quiet brilliance when instead of tossing them all, he suggested instead to divvy them out to the hospital rooms to cheer up the patients. Many people expressed gratitude for the gesture and were generally more open to the medical suggestion of the hospital’s professionals. Though, Patton insisted he simply wanted to make people smile. Logan agreed that was probably the case.

Despite all of the good it did, Logan was not the least bit sorry to see that particular suitor leave.

“Doc? You okay?” the cheery voice asked and Logan blinked.

He had been been swept up in his thoughts.

“My demeanor and functioning is slightly less than satisfactory today,” Logan replied.

He didn’t quite understand the strange way Patton quirked his lips into a half smile, but Logan did understand that the small snort that Patton made was somehow at his expense.

“Feel like sharing with the class?” Patton asked, tilting his head to the side just so, the way he always did when he was really paying attention to what was being said.

“I do not believe that sharing my turmoil during my afternoon lecture would be appropriate.”

Patton snorted again and Logan found he didn’t mind when his shoulders shook with near-silent giggles. Even if it was at his expense.

Even on days when his soulmate bothered him with needless intense emotions, Patton always seemed to assuage the pesky feelings and replace them somehow as a bubble of joy settled into his chest that Logan was certain was all his own.

“I meant it as a turn of phrase doc,” Patton said with a toothy smile that Logan understood from experience was a show of his amusement. “What’s got you down?”

Logan squinted at Patton, trying to decide how best to approach the topic. The media always portrayed soulmates as endlessly beautiful, wonderful things and Logan just found the whole thing... absurd. However, he was not at all certain how Patton felt about the subject. He was an inherently emotional being, it was part of what made him such an effective nurse, being able to connect and empathize with the patients. However, it was also his downfall as Logan watched every failure... every death affect Patton on a personal level. Logan has held his friend many of times, exhausted and sobbing during the night shifts as another patient died in his hands. The empathetic nurse always handled losing children the worst.

Surely someone as emotionally driven as Patton would subscribe to the popular opinion of soulmates, would he not?

Logan was uncertain.

“I have found myself fatigued recently by my soulmate’s emotional turmoil,” Logan replied finally.

Many would consider such an admission blasphemy. Even if he was unsure of Patton’s feelings on the matter he was certain to find out now. Additionally... he trusted Patton to understand his intentions.

The nurse was perplexingly astute at understanding intentions.

Patton’s eyes were instantly blown wide as he sat up straight and pulled further away from Logan’s immediate personal bubble.

Maybe he would not understand after all.

Logan felt a pang of... something. He was not certain it was his own emotion, but the immediate disappointment running through his veins was palpable.

“It’s... it can’t be that bad can it?” Patton asked, with a small laugh with twiddling fingers that for Patton, signaled nervousness rather than the joy usually associated with laughter.

“I do not believe there is anything inherently wrong with them experiencing emotions,” Logan corrected, uncertain if emotions can even really be considered “bad.” He prescribed more to the ideology that it was a person’s actions that defined them, rather than their internal monologue. “It is just that I have found myself distracted by both the strength and range of emotions they have recently imparted onto me. It can be... difficult to concentrate with the physical symptoms that some of the emotions cause.”

“Mmmm,” Patton hummed in reply as an audible agreement. “Tell me about it.”

Patton moved slightly closer again, back to his position from before and placed his chin in his hand with the half-lidded gaze that meant he was considering the topic deeply. While he appreciated the thought Patton was putting into forming a response, Logan was more relieved that Patton had not abnegated their friendship the way he initially feared.

“Have you experienced anything similar with your soulmate?”

Fear, no... hesitation seemed to work its way into Patton’s expression as he met Logan’s eyes from underneath his lashes. The pair stared for several seconds, both doing their best to read the other. It was sometimes a struggle, Logan knew. He often found emotions difficult to understand, like a language he was inarticulate in. Reading Patton was... admittedly easier than most. The two spent so much time together that Logan had learned to understand many of his emotional signals, what small gestures and certain tones meant.

Logan would never admit it out loud, but his understanding of Patton’s expressions was so prevalent that he had started internally matching other people’s emotional reactions to his curly haired friend’s. It honestly helped his navigation of the unfamiliar territory.

Logan swore he could hear an ambulance siren alarming in his head when Patton looked away and murmured, “Sometimes they get angry.” while clutching his chest, just over his heart.

At first, he was uncertain how he should respond. Logan found himself experiencing an irrational desire to build walls around Patton. To create a space for him that he could curate and fill with all of the things that brought his friend joy, to protect him from such ugly emotions and particularly protect him from such an undeserving soulmate. Logan was certain that someone as patient and good as Patton deserved to feel nothing but emotions that were as equivalently kind and soft as he was.

Logan knew such a feat was impossible though. Patton would never realistically be happy in such a state. He loved the world, no matter how barbarous and unkind it could be. Patton strived to make it a more benevolent place and his presance alone made his goal a continually successful one.

Logan found himself reaching for Patton’s hand unthinkingly, a mimicry of a gesture Logan had seen the curly haired man used to console his patients.

“Are you safe?” He asked in a low, murmur. He was uncertain who Patton’s soulmate was, or where they might be, but he had to be certain that his friend was in no danger. Logan was more than willing to act as a metaphorical shield to help him reach safety should the man require it.

A literal one too.

Patton was giggling at his expense again.

It was an unexpected and yet somehow favorable outcome of the conversation.

Only when it was him though.

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing so dramatic. No danger on my end, I live alone. No partner or anything. Not even a house cat.” Patton admitted, and patted the hand Logan offered him. It seemed to be some sort of consolation for his efforts. “I just worry about them sometimes, ya know?”

Well... no he did not.

He had not even considered applying concern to the disembodied entity that plagued him with unwarranted emotions. Instead, his immediate reaction had been mainly ire. Logan was diligent with his work and often took on additional duties at the hospital while maintaining several personal projects. Logan’s main focus had been on how his soulmate’s emotions had interfered in his ability to effectively complete everything he intended.

Perhaps that was the wrong perspective to take.

Logan had not even contemplated why the person he was spiritually bound to was feeling the things they did before that point. Patton truly was remarkably astute in many ways that were out of Logan’s reach. His friend always seemed to find a perspective on things that he did not initially entertain. It was quite an admirable quality.

A soft beeping noise interrupted Logan’s thought process as the pair both immediately checked their pagers.

“Well, that’s my cue I guess,” Patton said and cast his uneaten meal a longing gaze as he pushed himself up from his seat. Patton gently hip-bumped Logan’s side affectionately before taking his tray to the disposal and dumping the various items into the most appropriate containers.

That would not do.

Logan and Patton’s occupations were both difficult enough when they were working at their best. Patton did not need the strain of a missed meal impairing his professional ability and physical condition. Logan mentally added the task of procuring Patton a meal to his mental to-do list. Something that could be consumed without inhibiting his duties. Perhaps a smoothie that could be kept at the nurses station?

Logan’s eyes wandered to the nearest wall clock as he considered his options, but realized that he too needed to be on his way. He barely had time to retrieve his annotated materials before the lecture that was meant to present in less than a quarter hour. He rose without hesitation and took long strides to quicken his pace as he headed toward his office.

“-in conclusion, this medication, though still in the experimental phase is predicted to decrease the symptoms of both conventional insomnia, that a great proportion of adults suffer from, but also lessen the affects of fatal familial insomnia. Though the condition may be rare, before now modern science has had very little to be able to treat the disorder with effectively. If testing goes as predicted, we will finally be able to offer those suffering it a small respite from their symptoms.”

Logan completed his lecture and clicked the universal remote in his hand a final time to turn off the smart board that displayed his power-point and reignite the room’s lights in turn. Logan let himself smile in appreciation as the room’s occupants clapped a bit more enthusiastically than what would be qualified as simple politeness. They truly seemed to be enthused by his work and Logan was relieved to not be the only one.

“Questions?” Logan asked as the room began to quiet down and immediately several hands shot up.

However, Logan’s eyes widened slightly as he felt something bubbling in his chest. It was something foreign, something that did not belong to him.

Oh no.

A desperate laugh exploded out of mouth without his permission as the entire room looked on with bewilderment. Logan doubled over as several more hysterical laughs followed. He tried to repress it, to force himself to stop, but he could not quite hold back the near spastic convulsions as grating shrieks escaped his throat.

When it finally subsided, he took several deep breaths to try and regain his bearing. Instantly he stood straight with squared shoulders, trying to recover the serious atmosphere he had previously conducted with. One glance at his audience however proved that it would be of no use, they were all grinning at him with twinkling eyes. Some had shaking shoulders, others hid their mouths behind cupped palms and they were all laughing at him.

They were all laughing at him.

“Excuse my behavior,” Logan said and swallowed hard as his gaze drifted to the floor. “It seems my soulmate has suddenly found something immensely amusing.”

There were a few sniggers and guffaws that that response, though most tried to politely stifle their snickering.

They were all laughing at him.

“I believe I need to extract myself while they resettle, so I will conclude this lecture here. Please direct any of your unanswered inquiries to my email and I will respond at a later time.”

From there, Logan simply walked out without a glance in his audience’s direction or even parting word. His gaze stayed mainly trained on the wheel-worn tile as his feet automatically guided him on the route he knew so well, leading him straight to his personal office within the facility. He quickly slipped in and tucked the door closed behind him.

Then his clipboard was immediately flung across the room as he banged his back against the heavy wood of his door. He wanted to break something. He wanted some kind of physical stimulation that matched the fire burning inside of him. Logan’s mind flew through the images of himself turning over his office, leaving ripped papers, knocked over bookshelves, and even a broken desk chair in his wake to express the frustration that was entirely his own. However, he stopped himself, allowing his forearm to instead hit the solid wooden door only once.

The sting helped.

Then, all at once, his own wave of emotion subsided. He felt heavy and shaky at the knees. Logan leaned his weight more fully on the door for support as he slumped against it. He needed a moment.

Emotions were exhausting.

He was not certain how long he stayed against the door, seconds most likely, but it felt much longer. Logan was not truly ready to move, but he suddenly heard the faintest dripping noise and it consumed all of his attention as if there was nothing more important.

Oh.

He was crying.

Or more accurately his soulmate was, but he couldn’t fathom why.

They had just been so joyous mere moments ago. Unless-

Unless....

Was it possible they were crying because they felt his own lividity?

Logan tried wiping the tears away with a disposable tissue from the box on his desk. It proved to be a useless endeavor however as the tears refused to stop. He felt the full weight of grief expanding uncomfortably in his chest, putting pressure onto his lungs. He found he could only drag in short breaths that were barely sustainable for his respiratory system. He needed-

He needed...

He needed Patton.

Patton would know what to do.

After dabbing his eyes with the tissue one last time he slipped out the door, taking the short walk to Patton’s station. Logan kept his head down, hoping no one noticed the physical display of emotions that streamed down his cheeks.

When Logan made it to the counter of the nurses’ station, he relieved to see only Andy sitting at the ready, the only nurse who actually enjoyed working the night shift as far as Logan was aware. It was odd to see him on a Tuesday afternoon, but Logan would not complain about his fortune. Andy was unlikely to judge him. The young nurse barely had his feet in the door, but immediately took all of the oddity of medical professionalism in stride. He almost seemed to enjoy the full moons where the placebo effect drove in the results of all sorts of illogical and often insane behavior.

Andy glanced up and Logan the dark circles under his eyes looked more prominent somehow. He wordlessly pushed a box of tissues toward Logan.

The doctor ignored them.

“Where’s Patton?” Logan asked in low voice. There was no need to draw unnecessary attention.

Andy stared back blankly, but could not hide his eyes glancing down once instinctively.

Logan leaned over the desk and found all of the air rapidly leave his lungs as if someone had hit him in the stomach at full speed with a gurney.

There was Patton, scrunched up on the floor beneath the desk in the fetal position. His glasses were crooked on his forehead as he bawled into his knees with an endless stream of tears running down his cheeks.

The very same tears running down Logan’s own cheeks.

He did this.

Logan fell to his knees and reached for him. He had to stop it. He had to help. He had to... he didn’t know what.

Something.

Logan attempted to place a hand on Patton’s knee as gesture of comfort, but it was as if lightning had suddenly struck Patton with the way he had jumped, cracking his head against the back of the desk.

Logan winced. He was certain that did not help Patton’s emotional state.

Patton gave Logan a miserable look as he tried shuffling away, curling further against the back of the desk that he was already leaned against as if Logan’s hand were some kind of predatory creature that was encroaching on his space.

Logan let his hand fall away.

Patton tucked his nose against his knees and stared up at Logan once again from beneath his lashes, but it was an expression that seemed eons away from mirth-filled nurse who had joined him jovially less than two hours before.

“I want...” Logan whispered, entwining his hands to stop himself from reaching for the soulmate who did not want to be touched, by him at least.

He wanted so many things in that moment. Forgiveness. Reassurance. Physical affection. Hope that the relationship could be salvaged. Patton.

He wanted Patton.

“...I want to apologize,” Logan said, pushing down all of those thoughts.

This was not about what he felt at the moment.

Then Logan caught sight of something that was not his to bear witness to.

In his mind’s eye he could see a child, chubby cheeks, unruly curls, and bright blue eyes behind round glasses that sat awkwardly because they were still the tiniest bit too large for such a young face. It was an image in a mirror. A figure sat behind the child in overalls as they worked a brush through the nearly blond hair that was yet to darken with age.

“Renny,” The child remarked, staring up at the adult’s reflection in the mirror. “How muss do I gosta feels so dey feels it?”

“A whole lot, my sweet little Pattycake,” the adult said, swooping down to bestow the child a series of kisses on their face in quick succession.

The child let out a joyful squeal and the adult used the child’s distraction to loop on a hair tie to form one half of the hair-style colloquially known as pigtails. The child smiled and turned slightly to enable the adult access to the other side.

“I wan’ dem be happy,” the child audibly decided as the adult continued their work.

“Well then,” the adult remarked, as they carefully worked a knot with their fingers to minimize the child’s discomfort. “you know what you gotta do right?”

“Wha’?!” they asked in a gasp, as if in a state of absolute wonderment. “Wha’ I godda do?!”

“You have to think of everything that makes you happy babydoll. Cookies, the afternoon sun, Mr. Ribbit who lives on your bed. You have to think of Mommy and Renny and how very very much we love you. You have to think of all the love that’s given to you and all the love you have to share. Then, when you start to feel warm, all the way down in your toes, hold onto that feeling okay? If you do that, they’ll feel it. I promise you Pattycake.”

The scene began to fade away just as the adult secured the second pigtail. However, Logan caught a stolen glimpse at the child and adult sharing a hug that was too sweet to be meant for his eyes. Too sweet to be bearable.

Then in one swift move Patton sprung forward, pushing past Logan’s form that was still crouched down and took off in a sprint.

Away from Logan.

Patton has successfully avoided Logan for a full week.

It was the worst week Logan could ever remember experiencing. He felt miserable. Patton felt miserable. They both felt miserable. Before that week, Logan had not realized exactly what Patton had done for him nearly his whole life.

Patton constantly shared an immense amount of love with Logan through their bond.

Patton made Logan feel supported, confident, complete, all things he hadn’t realized were even at stake until they were replaced with numbness. Nothing but a hollow pit that slowly ate away at his emotional state like an insatiable black hole. Other doctors took over many of his cases that week, assuming he was ill. He was even sent home early, twice.

There was virtually no sign of Patton. Even the few glimpses he managed to catch in his peripheral were short lived as he disappeared before Logan could even fully look his way. Each time left Logan’s chest aching. It was a shared feeling.

It did not help that Patton had the loyalty of the entire nursing staff and several doctors to help him in his endeavor to hide away. Logan even thought he saw the janitorial staff help him duck into a closet once.

However, when he questioned them on it, they unsurprisingly feigned ignorance.

Logan once thought he was well liked among the hospital staff, but nothing could have prepared him for how dearly loved that Patton was. Part of him was relieved that his soulmate had such a strong support system to defend him, to protect him. The other part of him was frustrated with his position as the one Patton was being protected from. They refused to give him a chance to apologize.

He needed to apologize.

He needed his friend back.

He needed to make things between them right again, to make them as they should be.

He needed to correct the situation so they could resume their relationship just as it was.

Or maybe even make it something potentially more.

He just needed the chance.

He needed to find a way to regain the comfort of Patton shooting him a reassuring smile across the hall whenever the stress of the job began to strain him because there was no sweeter balm to his strained nerves. Patton’s absence has both physically and emotionally pushed him into a state of stress that he was unaware he could even reach. He found himself craving his soulmate’s sweet reassurances, reassurances that he never realized he could be without.

He needed to make Patton smile again.

He needed to see Patton smile.

He needed Patton to smile.

He needed Patton.

It was his total lack of progress in crossing paths with Patton at work that had Logan entering the nurse’s apartment building as he took the steps of the stairwells two at a time. He held a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a box of freshly baked muffins in the other, a treat he knew Patton favored. Logan was quick on his feet and ascended to the fifth floor easily. He moved down the hall that hadn’t changed much since his last visit where he introduced Patton to some of his favorite podcasts while Patton taught him how to make shepherd’s pie.

Logan had visited the apartment several times before. However it felt... different somehow. He felt like he was an intrusive bacteria that was entering a foreign body, hurting it unwittingly. However, Logan internally reminded himself that he had no intention of causing his soulmate any further pain.

He just wanted to make things right.

Logan shifted his gifts into one arm and let his knuckles rapt against a white door three times in quick succession. Then he waited.

There was no answer.

Not one to give up easily, Logan simply repeated his actions.

There was still nothing.

He had intended to simply leave the gifts behind if this happened. He had intended to respect his space. However, the jittery feeling of stress dancing just beneath his skin found his hand reaching for the door handle in an invasion of privacy he had never intended to commit.

It was locked anyway.

Logan’s forehead slumped against the door.

“...I am sorry...” he whispered, probably to no one.

The flat was most likely unoccupied at the moment. It was illogical to stay, talking to an empty apartment.

Even foolish looking.

That did not stop him this time.

“Patton I... I did not know... I did not understand...I was an idiot.”

Still no response.

“Patton, when you entered my life, you quickly became one of the most important people in it before I even realized it happened. You bring so much elation into everything you do, you radiate joy as the sun radiates light. I feel blessed to even be able to orbit around your presance.”

Logan bit his bottom lip to ground himself before continuing.

“When I felt all of these new feelings from my soulmate I... I found myself frustrated with them. I thought.... Patton, I thought that it was not you.”

He swallowed.

“I wanted it to be you.”

There was something on the other side of the door. The faintest noise, like a breath or maybe a gasp? Logan closed his eyes, focusing on the advice the adult imparted in the memory that was not his own.

He focused on everything he knew, everything he felt, everything he wanted Patton to understand.

He only hoped that Patton could grasp it all.

Logan’s whole being felt overwhelmingly full of so so many emotions.

He finally wanted to know them all.

“I love you,” Logan found himself whispering to the unforgiving white door that separated him from everything he wanted.

That separated him from Patton.

There was a click as the door finally unlocked.

[98prilla]

Birthday

Next

Previous

AO3

The next little part of my Darkside Logan series! Enjoy!

...

He wakes to a wild screech, glitter and party popper streamers raining from the ceiling, an incredibly loud noise maker going off, fireworks exploding against the ceiling, in pops of deep indigo and silver sparks. He raises an eyebrow as he sits up, stretching, lips twitching into a smile at Remus whooping and cartwheeling around his room, finally coming to a stop in front of him, clapping his hands and bouncing on the balls of his feet.

 “Good morning to you as well, Remus. That was quite an impressive show.” He says evenly, the last of the glitter settling on the ground around him. “I do hope you’ll clean that up later, otherwise it’ll get everywhere.” He yelps as Remus pulls him to his feet and into a waltz, disembodied music drifting through the room, laughing as Remus spins him quicker than his mind can process, dipping him low to the ground. Then Remus swears, and he feels the balance shift, and they’re both on the floor, Remus landing atop him in a tangle of limbs, both of them erupting into startled laughter.

 “Not that you need a reason, but this seems like extra effort, even for you. What’s the occasion?” He asks, once they both get their laughter under control, untangling from each other as Remus helps him back to his feet, grin wide and wild, practically vibrating with energy.

 “Cygie! You really don’t know!?” Remus exclaims, linking arms with Cygnus as they leave his room, slowly walking down the hall to their kitchen.

 “Hmm… nothing comes to mind?” Remus squeals, pulling him faster towards the dark commons, Cygnus’s breath leaving him in a rush as he takes in the state of the room.

 It’s decorated with indigo and silver streamers draped in intricate knots across the ceiling. There’s an archway made of black and blue balloons over the entry way to the kitchen, sparkling silver stars dotting the walls, glittering tape tracing constellations in them. And across the wall, above the couch, is a hand made, hand painted, beautifully caligrohpied sign.

 “Happy birthday, Cygnus.” Janus says, echoing the sign, emerging from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a towel, watching him appraisingly.

 He can’t seem to find his words.

“Cyg?” Remus asks softly, coming around his front, taking both of his hands, and he realizes his eyes are watering, on the verge of tears. “Oh shit, did we fuck up? I’m sorry, was it the glitter? Was it the penis I hid in the happy bday sign?”

 “WHAT?!” Janus squawks indignantly at that, and Logan lets out a laugh, shaking his head, because he loves these two, so much, and he’s trying to regain his composure enough to explain.

 “No, I… it’s wonderful. I just… I’ve never celebrated, my birthday before. I never… kept track, with them. I… it’s been a year, already?” He asks, looking between Remus and Janus, who are sharing slightly horrified and slightly concerned looks.

 “You never… they never did anything for you? Not even Patton?” Remus asks, his voice so high it’s nearly at a pitch only dolphins can hear. He shakes his head, looking away.

 “There were more important things to attend to. I didn’t want to distract everyone. No one… remembered, anyway, so I just… stopped, keeping track.” He explains, not protesting as Remus pulls him into a tight hug.

 “Well. Your happiness and self worth are very much more important than having a productive day. If Roman gets a full week of birthday shenanigans, the least they could have done was give you a day, sweetling.” Janus adds softly, joining the hug for a brief moment, before pulling back, wiping away Cygnus’s tears, a soft smile on his face. “you deserve it, Cygnus. You work so hard, darling. You deserve to be pampered and fawned over for at least a day.”

 “Every day must be my birthday then.” He answers, smiling at Janus’s soft laugh, who ruffles his hair as he passes by.

 “Oh, you haven’t seen nothin yet, my starry night! Today is going to be a nonstop orgy of Cygnus appreciation! To Breakfast!” Remus screeches, sprinting into the kitchen, from which loud crashing emerges a moment later, along with a muffled “I’m okay!” That has Janus shaking his head with an exasperated smile as he follows Remus into the kitchen, ready to manage whatever mess he’d made.

…

A year.

 It has been a year. One whole year. Three hundred and sixty five days. Five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred minutes. Thirty one million, five hundred thirty six thousand seconds.

 It hasn’t felt like that long. Or maybe it has felt longer, with all the changes taking place in the mindscape. He’s not really sure, but it sure is giving him a bit of a strange sense of vertigo, right now.

 It’s almost impossible, to compare where he is now to where he was a year ago, two years ago. He’s… happy. He’s so much happier than he’s ever been before, he feels appreciated, he feels loved, he feels listened to. He’s not working himself to near death every single day without giving himself any breaks. He’s not pretending to be a machine, not denying his emotions anymore. He’s smiling, he’s laughing, he’s crying, he’s… learning, how to express himself, to understand his emotions, and always, always, Remus and Janus were patient and considerate and there for him.

 His relationships with the others are also probably better than they have ever been before. He was right, when he told Patton so long ago that they would do better as friends than as family. That the distance would be good for them.

 Everyone is making progress, in leaps and bounds, in acknowledging their own faults, in realizing their own shortcomings, in accepting their flaws and reaching out for help. It helps, he supposes, that there are now two sides who can, in a way, sense lies. Neither him nor Janus will let the others get away with denying their needs or wants, not when it’s important, anyways, and slowly, everyone is getting into the habit of simply… not hiding.

 Patton is open, about his bad days. The days he calls ‘gray days’, where the world doesn’t seem to shine, where nothing feels right or good, and he can’t see a point to getting out of bed. He’s devised several signals, clear markers with everyone that show a day is gray, so he doesn’t have to say it, to speak it out loud, because even that is too hard, somedays, it’s easier to just leave a frowny face sticker on his door, and the first one to see it tells everyone else, who take turns spending time with him, coaxing him into activities, or at least out of bed, slowly driving the apathy away.

 Roman is still trying to find himself. To rebuild himself, from the crushing defeat and existential crisis of the wedding, and everything it resulted in. He still struggles to admit when he’s struggling, still finds it hard to portray anything other than the happy, peppy persona, but he doesn’t pull back, run, anymore, when someone calls him out. If someone asks how he’s feeling, how he’s doing, Roman won’t paste on a smile and chirp out an answer. He’ll let his mask fall, and answer honestly. It’s too hard, yet, to bring it up himself, so the others are learning to ask, making sure to ask, making sure to not simply brush Roman’s worries or frustrations aside. He’s happier, too, Cygnus knows, the time spent writing with Thomas has him happier than he’s been in years, and more and more days the answer to how he’s feeling is on the okay side of the scale.

 Virgil… has stayed much the same, outwardly. But he spends more time, now, with Remus and Janus, and… himself. They’ve talked, quite a lot, actually. He explained his history with the other two dark sides, why he acted how he had towards them, had explained too about his old, unhealthy, habits, how he still struggles, every once in a while, though he hasn’t given in and done it in years. He’d hugged Virgil then, it was maybe the bravest thing the anxious side had ever done, telling him that, telling him everything, apologizing for how he’d reacted, the first time he had appeared to all of them, as Ambition. He’d found it impossible, not to forgive him. Overall, he’d handled it the best out of any of them.

 And Thomas.

 He’s so proud of Thomas. He’s taken everything in stride. He’s making time for himself, making time to spend individually with every side.

 He’s writing with Roman, and also with Remus, working with him to express his horrifying ideas in darkly comedic ways, countering Roman’s fairy tale quests and happy endings.

 He’s watching movies with Virgil, or swapping music with him, listening to him spout off about his favorite bands, favorite lyrics. They’ve broken out the karaoke machine a couple times, singing at the top of their lungs, dancing like fools around the living room until they’re breathless from laughing. Virgil’s smile is becoming a more and more common sight.

 He’s crafting with Patton, the fatherly side teaching him how to knit and crochet, which Patton is an expert at, fawning over every one of Thomas’s haphazard attempts at a scarf or pot holder. While their hands are busy, they talk, about anything and everything. They’re even attempting to learn how to cook together, though that often ends with the smoke alarm going off. They’re not allowed to cook unsupervised anymore, usually Virgil or Janus keeping things from getting too out of hand from the living room couch.

 He’s playing video games with Janus, who loves to pick out the strange, indie games, the ones with ambiguous story lines, twist endings, choices that affect the game, affect the people in it. They discuss undertale for hours, Janus going on an hour long monolague of Flowey’s morality, his take on how much influence Asriel actually has on Flowy, when he’s soulless, surprised that Thomas pays attention the whole time, just as into the game as he is. They play A Way Out together, and Thomas actually throws the controller at the plot twist, shock on his face, as he’s forced to battle Janus, who is laughing the whole time at his indignant spluttering and shocked expression, Janus absolutely annihilating him.

 And himself. Thomas hadn’t been lying, when he said nothing changed, between the two of them, just because he is now Ambition. Thomas hasn’t shied away from him, hasn’t excluded him. He’s made time for him, as well. He’d bought a telescope, and set it up in the backyard. They go stargazing together, Cygnus pointing out the planets, when visible, the constellations, passing comets, relaying their history and myths, Thomas asking questions at every turn, until their conversation was somewhere else entirely, talking about anything and everything. They’d also started a bit of a book club, as Thomas called it, though it was really just the two of them. Each month they took turns giving the other a book to read, and then they’d discuss it. He usually sticks to the classics, the three muskateers, moby dick, the jungle book, and he was a bit surprised at how fast Thomas took to them, how much he enjoyed them, enjoyed discussing them. Thomas’s choices surprise him sometimes, too. It’s not always another adventure novel, sometimes it’s the original book of Wicked, or a nonfiction book about the history of cartoon animation, he varies more than Cygnus would have guessed, and he’s surprised at how… entertained, he is, by Thomas’s choices, the ones he would never have picked to read himself.

 But most importantly, most incredibly, were the others. Patton, Roman, Logan, Virgil. They had all, individually, apologized, for the way they had treated him, talked over him, ignored him, silenced him. And they were proving they meant it. Every day, they were proving they meant those apologies. They were listening to him. Listening to each other. Everyone has an equal voice, now, and everything feels… good.

 So why, does it having been a year, make him feel so… strange? It’s not sadness, not even nostalgia, really, it’s… something melancholy. Something a bit happy, something a bit sad, something a bit wistful.

 “Cygnus? Are you alright?” He blinks away his thoughts, realizing he’s been staring at his plate of pancakes for a solid five minutes without taking a bite. They look delicious, topped with sugared berries and warm syrup.

 “Just… lost in thought. These are from your garden, correct? Hopefully the non venomous section.” He answers, looking up at Remus, who’s shoveling pancakes topped with caramel and rainbow sprinkles into his mouth, who swallows hugely, nodding.

 “Yuppers! And I did pick the ones that won’t kill you, just for your b-day, cygie! At least, they should be mostly non toxic. Let me know if your tongue starts tingling.” Remus answers, and Cygnus chuckles, cutting into his pancakes.

 “I will take that into account.”

…

He doesn’t know what he’s doing, when he wanders up the stairs, towards the light side living room. He doesn’t even intend to go there, really, it’s just… where he’s drawn.

 “Ambition. We, uh, didn’t expect you, so early.” Roman says, peeking out of the living room, moving to lean against the doorframe, blocking his view of it before he could see anything.

 “Roman. You are acting… strange?”

 “Me? Wha? No, I’m being perfectly normal! Because you, Ambition, is here!” He sputters, saying the last sentence far too loud to be normal. He’s about to reply, when Patton’s head appears, shooing Roman out of the way.

 “You, go finish the… the project! Ok, Roman?” Roman nods, scurrying back into the living room, Patton taking his place blocking the doorway.

 “Is everything alright, Patton?” He asks, slightly amused, and only mildly concerned at a distant curse from Virgil.

 “Uh huh! Just finishing up something! What brings you here, Ambition? Not that it isn’t good to see you, and you’re of course welcome here all the time, but why on this particular day at this particular moment have you chosen to come visit?” Patton squeaks, his tone rising in pitch until it was nearly above human hearing.  

 “Are you alright, Patton?” He asks, trying to gauge what exactly has everyone so on edge.

 “Yup! Just waiting for the ok!”

 “The okay for what?”

 “We’re ready!” Roman calls, and Patton steps aside.

 “The ok for this.” Patton says softly, stepping aside and ushering him into the living room. For the second time this day, all the air escapes his lungs, and his hands cover his mouth to stifle whatever noise is trying to escape, he can’t tell if it’s a sob or a laugh or something in between.

 The room is decorated with glow in the dark stars, blue and white flowers climb the walls on deep green vines, blooming from the cracks in the plaster, filling the room with the sweet smell of summer. On the table sits a cake, carefully air blown a blue ombre, constellations carefully traced across it in silver gilding, it must have taken hours. He can feel the tears slipping down his face, knows everyone is trying to figure out what to do.

 “Ambition. Can I hug you?” Virgil asks, stepping into his field of view, and he nods, letting Virgil wrap his arms around him, surprising even himself as he hugs back, face buried in his shoulder. He feels Roman’s arms wrap around him from behind, Patton’s joining a moment later, surrounding him in warmth.  

 “you remembered. I… you’ve never…”

 “We know. I know, Amby. And we’re so sorry.” Roman murmurs, pulling back.

 “I know this doesn’t make up for that, for all those years… but we thought maybe, maybe this could be part of starting over. Of being better.” Patton adds, smiling through his own teary eyes as he pats Ambition’s shoulder, before pulling away as well, Ambition finally emerging from Virgil’s embrace, swiping at his eyes.

 “Yes. I would… like that.” He mumbles, still a bit awestruck.

 “Oh, let’s get Janus and Remus, for presents!” He frowns slightly at that, stepping back.

 “Did they put you up to this?” He asks, voice trembling, and he hears Janus’s soft laugh from the doorway.

 “No, sweetling. This was all them. We didn’t tell them a thing.” Janus murmurs, appearing with a swish of his cape, Remus thundering up the stairs behind him.

 “Nice digs! Not nearly as sweet as our decorations of course, but you tried!” Roman splutters indignantly at that, squaring off against his twin.

 “Please! I bet I could plan a party better than you, any day!”

 “Maybe if it was for babies. Can you even make a cocktail?”

 “Of course! I know how to mix drinks, Remus.” Remus grinned, eyes swirling.

 “I was thinking more of an entrée.”  He replies with a smirk and shoulder shimmy.

 “Remus.” Janus says, exasperated, glancing at Patton.

 “It’s alright. He’s just excited! I’m sure you’d throw very interesting parties, Remus. If… if you promise not to make it too scary, maybe you and Virgil could team up for a Halloween one.” Patton suggests, laughing as Remus squeals, launching himself into Virgil's arms, who catches him instinctually in a Scooby-Doo like hold, before dropping him like a hot potato.

 “What the heck, dude!?”

 “Can we? It’ll be like old times, you and me, creating horrors and monsters and creeping lurking things? Pleaaaaase?” Virgil snorts as Remus bats his eyelids at him, rolling his eyes.

 “Yeah, sure, whatever.” He mutters in agreement, trying to contain his own grin as Remus whoops, spinning him around in a circle, already babbling about ideas. It’s good, to see them laughing together.

 “I believe someone said something about presents?” Janus drawls, resting a hand on Cygnus’s back, gently leading him to sit down on the couch. Instantly, everyone else crowds around, clamoring over who gets to go first, and he’s crying again, because not only are they giving him attention, they’re fighting for his attention, and he supposes he should feel guilty about liking it, but Janus has rubbed off on him, a bit, so he just smiles, instead.

 Before anyone else can, Roman shoves a box into his hands, grinning at having gotten in ‘the first gift’, everyone settling as he stares at the shimmery blue wrapping paper. Tentatively, he peels back the paper, removing the cardboard top of the small box, eyes widening.

 It’s a large, blue star sapphire, embedded in a silver filigree, hanging from a silver chain. He lifts it, slightly awestruck, turning it over as his thumb feels grooves against the back, tilting his head to decipher the writing, discovering it’s his name, Ambition, in circular galifreyan.

 “Did I get the spelling right? I looked up several guides, but there’s a lot of rules and such.” Roman asks, no doubt nervous at his silence.

 “It’s… it’s perfect, Roman. Thank you.” He says softly, slipping the chain over his head, the pendant resting just above his heart. He looks up in time to see Roman’s blush, his expression so tenderly soft, looking at him, that he clears his throat and looks away.

 “Me next! Ours are a set!” Remus interrupts, shoving another box into his hands, slightly larger than the previous one, though much the same weight. “Ro had the idea, and we coordinated our results!” He chirps, as Cygnus pulls open the box, a soft grin already on his face.

 It’s a silver circlet, with a teardrop blue diamond that will sit in the center of his forehead, and engraved along the inside of the circlet is more galifreyan, this time that reads ‘cygnus’. The band is thin and light, but sturdy, and he knows the engraving must have taken a long time, to do by hand, requiring a lot of patience and focus.

 “It’s wonderful.” He murmurs, slipping it onto his head, finding the weight odd, but rather comforting. His past self would have scoffed, at these items, said he didn’t desire to play pretend, to play dress up, and what was the point of them? But he knows better, now, has more confidence in himself and expressing himself, now, and he knows he’ll rarely be seen without them on, he loves them already.

 “Wow, ok, well, way to make a side feel wholly inadequate. Um, here, I guess.” Virgil mumbles nervously, depositing a tissue paper wrapped item in his lap. “It’s not much, compared to, that, but-“ Virgil cuts himself off with a shrug, toeing the floor nervously as he unwraps the paper.

 It’s a photo. He’s in the kitchen, head thrown back, laughing. Remus is a blur of green movement in the background, chasing a blur of red, a pot is boiling over on the stove, Patton frantically stirring it, trying to scold the twins from over his shoulder, and somehow Janus is hissing from atop the fridge, clearly having climbed up there to escape the shenanigans below. He smiles, running his thumb over the frame, touched that Virgil had thought to capture that moment, one of the first moments of happiness since everything had happened, one of the first times they’d all been together, and all let themselves go.

 “I love it, Virg. I… thank you.” He murmurs, low and sincere, and a small smile creeps across Virgil’s face as he nods, tension leaking out of his shoulders.

 Janus is next, his simple, a book Cygnus has been meaning to read for ages, but he knows it’s really an invitation for a debate, or perhaps to set up a lecture in the mindscape theater, an open invitation for a day spent ranting and raving and arguing and debating, until they’re both too tired to continue, losing their thoughts mid sentence, trying to string together coherent points at three am. He sets it aside with a small nod and smile, all Janus needs, to know he’s understood, and appreciates it.

 Patton is last, but not least, not in the slightest, as he sits down on the couch beside him, nervously running his hand up and down the couch.

 “Mine’s a bit… a bit of a group project, I suppose.” He says, handing the package to Cygnus. It’s bigger than the others, with a bit more weight to it, as well, a card taped atop the paper wrapped package. The front has a rough drawing, of all of them together, holding hands. Inside it says ‘Ambition. You’ll always be a part of my heart. Happy birthday, kiddo. Love you.’ With doodles of butterflies and stars and planets.

 He's already smiling warmly at that, as he carefully sets it aside, opening the package to find a large book. On the cover is space for a photo to be inserted, and he recognizes it immediately, it’s a selfie Thomas took with all of them. The cover is patterned in silver constellations, the background a deep blue, and curiously, he flips it open, finding the cover is signed by Patton, Virgil, and Roman, who have all written short notes to him, expressing their support, their love, their pride, in who he is becoming, in his own self. His hand is shaky as he turns the page, finding it decorated with stickers and intricate doodles outlining the edges of the pages, the edges of the photographs, each of the three of them recounting what was going on in each picture, leaving their own commentary, witty and sarcastic and heartfelt, on each photo of him smiling, them as a group, him stargazing with Thomas, Him and Janus in the debate room, eyes flashing as they argue, him on stage, wearing safety goggles, Remus helping him with an experiment, him and Patton, decorating cookies, Roman dragging him through the imagination, to search for dragons, a thousand memories and moments and smiles, genuine smiles, all put in one place, all outlined with drawings, all filled in with their words and laughter and remembrances, and he’s shaking, again, a hand over his mouth as he puts the book aside, not wanting tears to stain the pictures, to smear the ink, he wants it to stay perfect and pristine forever, he hadn’t realized they were taking pictures, hadn’t realized they’d cared to memorialize his happiness, hadn’t realized that those moments meant just as much to them as they did to him. Hadn’t realized how much they meant it, when they said they truly, deeply, cared.

 “Oh, kiddo. Can I?” Patton asks, arms open, and he nods, letting Patton sweep him up into a hug, letting himself squeeze back, breath hitching. “I love you so much, Ambition, and I’m so… I’m so proud of you. I’m so proud of all you’ve done, and how far you’ve come, and much you pushed all of us to be better, you’re so good, Amby, you’ve always been the best of us. And I’m just… I’m so glad, to see you so happy, kiddo. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, for any of you, is to be happy. You’re a part of this family, kiddo, and we love you, we all love you, so, so much.” Patton murmurs, as he feels others joining the hug, surrounding him in warmth and arms and soft assurances from all sides, overwhelming him, with their support, their love, their affection. It’s everything, this is everything he’d ever hoped for, been too afraid to ask for, been denied, as Logan.

 But this… they’d done this. All by themselves, they’d done this, they’d remembered, they’d gone out of their way, to do this for him, they’ve been doing it for the entire year, every day, and he realizes, suddenly, that he’s started trusting them again. That he wants this to truly be a new start, this, today, here, is the last bit of proof that he needed, to show him they mean it, they mean their words and promises about doing better, they mean their I love you’s and affection, they put weight behind their words, and followed through, and he thinks maybe it’s time he does the same.

 So despite himself, he pulls away from the hug, smiling at the mild cursing that comes with the twins trying to disentangle themselves from around him, taking a moment to wipe away the tears from his eyes, to take a deep breath, to compose himself. His heart is pounding, irrational fear biting at his heels, and he thinks Janus understands, the leap of faith he is about to take, can sense what he is about to do, and he slips his hand into his to steady him.  

 “I… have something, I would like to say.” He says, softly, voice a bit tremulous, but the others all give him encouraging nods, and once again, he’s shocked at the difference between now and then, everyone staying silent, giving him space to speak, willing to listen. “I know this hasn’t been easy. I know… I know it hurt, in a lot of different ways, everything… everything that’s happened. But instead of pulling further away, this pulled all of us closer together, and I’m… I’m proud, of everyone, for it. You’ve all grown, so much, and I just… just thank you. Thank you for meaning it, when you said you would work harder, listen more, be better. Thank you for doing it, for showing it, for giving me, for giving each other, the room to grow. The support that was necessary, for that growth to happen.” He pauses, taking in a deep breath, feeling everyone’s eyes on him.

 He realizes suddenly he’d never gotten a proper name reveal before. Before, when they all chose names, he just picked the easiest one to remember, he hadn’t seen a point, to personalizing it. And Patton had called him Logan in front of Thomas, thus accidentally stealing that moment from him, that choice, to share it or not. He’s never had to worry, about a reaction, about the weight of it, about the consequences. Then Janus squeezes his hand, and he exhales, looking up at each of them for a long moment, seeing the question, the hesitation, the dawning understanding where this is going, in Virgil’s eyes.

 “So I think… I think it’s time we start over, properly. No more hiding. No more secrets. No more… titles. My name… my name is Cygnus Ambition Sanders.” He’s barely finished the sentence, when Patton is barreling into him once again, wrapping him in a tight hug, tears falling though he’s grinning hugely as he pulls away, eyes shining behind his glasses.

 “Thank you. Cygnus, thank you.” Patton says softly, practically bouncing in excitement, the air radiating with his joy and delight and heart stopping love.

 “It suits you, teach.” Virgil says simply, though he wears one of his rare, open, lopsided grins, eyes warm and soft as he looks at him, somehow warming his heart more, because he knows Virgil understands, what it means, how much it means, that he’s shared his name. Virgil has been there, in much the same position he himself is now in, and he relaxes slightly at his approval.

 “Cygnus.” Roman murmurs, seemingly a bit dazed by the revelation, though the name sounds like music on his lips, making Cygnus’s ears burn red, as Roman sweeps him up, spinning and dipping him, a mirror of Remus this morning, god was it only this morning? And he remembers once more just how similar the twins are, though they’re both loathe to admit it. He laughs as Roman sets him upright once more, pressing close in a moment long hug, steady and firm and grounding. “thank you, Cygnus. You’re so brave, and we’re so, so lucky, to have you with us.” He murmurs, before stepping away. “See Remus! That’s how you do a dip!” He yells at his brother, who’s grinning ear to ear, laughing.

 “But it’s so much more fun to drop them!” Still, Remus sweeps him into a hug as well before skipping off, trying to steal frosting off the cake, if Virgil’s indignant screech and subsequent pounding of footsteps chasing is anything to go by.

 Janus pulls him close, pressing a soft kiss to the top of his head before leaning forwards until their foreheads touch, resting against each other, his hand stroking back a stray piece of hair, lingering against his cheek in a pleasant warmth.

 “Proud of you, lovely. You’ve done so well, Cygnus, you really have.” He smiles, not pulling away.

 “You know this doesn’t change anything, correct? I’m not moving back. I’m not leaving you and Remus. I will never.” He murmurs back, a promise, ringing with truth, and he feels some of the tension washing out of Janus.

 “Of course. Now, let’s cut into that cake before Remus decides to shove the entire thing into his gaping maw.” He laughs, stepping back, letting Janus lead them back into the fray the party has become, smiling at the single candle atop the cake, Patton struggling with the lighter, before Virgil gently pries it away, lighting the candle in one go, despite muttering about it being a fire hazard and the whole house going up in flames, Janus wrangling the twins out of their chase to sing happy birthday, both of them trying to outdo each other with riffs, though they finally do actually finish the song together, harmonizing the last few lines.

 Staring at the lit candle, at the joyful, expectant faces around him, Cygnus realizes he only has one single wish, as he blows out the candle.

 That every day, could be this perfect.

[ask-fantasy-sanders-sides]

Logan and Roman, did you did you hear the scream?

Ask 6

Previous: https://ask-fantasy-sanders-sides.tumblr.com/post/188101097823/patton-calm-down-its-okay-its-just-a-spider

Next: https://ask-fantasy-sanders-sides.tumblr.com/post/188153078583/why-isnt-pat-a-cake-near-the-others-cells

Game Start: https://ask-fantasy-sanders-sides.tumblr.com/post/187894337103/a-star-speckled-dusk-settles-over-the-rippling

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Rules: https://ask-fantasy-sanders-sides.tumblr.com/post/187916496153/the-rules

Available for questions: Roman, Logan, Virgil, Patton (Charlotte is fine, she’s just been de-summoned!)

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Roman’s magic! Useful for, among other things, dealing damage (to doors and shoulders, apparently).

As for how they hear you: Oh, this is very important! It is something that will be made more clear later down the line in the comic, but for the short answer, yes, they get telepathic messages from you. For the long answer,

In this world, there is something called Planes of Existence. They’re somewhat like parallel universes that live just outside of and alongside the one they’re in (the Prime Material, or their Earth).

There are lots of these planes, and creatures can travel between the different planes if they have the magic to do so, and/or their plane is close enough to just walk across to the other side:

For example, Faeries can travel between their world, the Feywild, and the PM because the feywild is so close to the PM it basically overlaps in heavily forested areas, and they blend together. Demons can enter the PM and wreak havoc, but their plane is further away then the Feywild, so they can’t just walk over; they need castors and cultists to summon them.

One of these planes is called the Far Realm. The far realm is, obviously, the farthest away, and it also contains the most dangerous creatures. Eldritch Horrors like Cthulhu, living expanses of nothingness, chaos and madness, and then less destructive creatures, called the Whispers – Disembodied voices that seep into the mind, suspected to be the ghosts of anyone who’s ever tried to enter the Far Realm and died of intense insanity.A large amount of people are born with the ability to hear the Whispers. Sometimes they’re helpful, sometimes their suggestions aren’t so helpful, and sometimes they just say mean things to you. There is medicine to take for those who wish to ignore the whispers, but our four protagonists don’t take it, as they’ve never been too overwhelmed by them.You, dear listeners and ask-senders, are their Whispers! As all-knowing Eldritch ghosts, they won’t be too surprised if you know things they haven’t told you, like their names or secrets about other characters. But, be careful about revealing too many secrets: Someone else might be listening….