#gt!janus

[just-some-gt-trash]

Blessed, cursed, or both?

AN: I am alive, shoutout to that one anon who worried about me.

This is my gift for @glacierruler for the @sanderssidesgiftxchange

I am so sorry for the delay, my school's stupid platform registered a bunch of mine and other classmates grades incorrectly and we spent the holidays making sure it was fixed, but here it is! Hope you like it c:

Summary: After his first day in a new school sucked as much as expected, Virgil is sure his day can't get any worse, until it does. At least there were two very weird but familiar individuals to keep him from dying, even if it meant they dragged him to a confusing investigation afterwards.

CW: explosions, near death experiences, swearing.

WC: 2866

————————————————————————————————————————————

The walk home was longer than Virgil imagined. Yet again, any walk would seem to last an eternity to anyone on a new town.

Virgil's old school was perfect, as perfect as a high school could be, but at least it was perfect for him. A robotics and chemistry lab left practically all for himself was clearly the biggest appeal, but his classmates and teachers were nice too. The cafeteria food was the only thing Virgil could actually complain about.

Here, at one of the biggest cities in his country, one would believe the public schools would be quite well funded and have a lot of resources. It sounded like such a stupid mindset now that Virgil went to his earlier thoughts again.

His new school was a nightmare, almost an abandoned building. The chemistry lab, which also worked as a computer lab, was occupied by boxes full with old participation trophies and books that probably still had slurs written on their pages.

And if that wasn't ad enough already, his classmates were all dicks. No one cared enough about anyone but themselves to mind if they bumped with someone in the hallway or made them drop their books on the way to their locker.

"They're just surviving, you'll learn to do it too... eventually"

Those words kept repeating on Virgil's head, he didn't even know the name of the person decent enough to help him. Surviving... that shouldn't be an excuse for being an asshole.

Lost in his thoughts, Virgil almost didn't hear the giggles and laughs coming from the other side of the street.

Virgil looked back, spotting what appeared to be a fucking mansion, no, it was more like one of those rich neighborhoods with the clean white houses. Only it wasn't that, it was a school.

Oh great, he had fallen into the falling to crumbs public school and Olympus worthy private school stereotype hadn't he?

Virgil could actually feel the sun shinning bright above the fancy campus, despite the rest of the city being covered by storm clouds.

Moving on, back to going home... wait.

Taking a couple of steps back, Virgil realized the clouds actually did seem to part above the school.

Virgil looked over at the buildings surrounding it, grey sky, then back at the school, blue sky.

Well that was definitely not norm-

BOOM

An explosion.

Sure, add an explosion almost fucking KILLING him to te worst day of his life, why not?

Almost killing him... why wasn't he dead?

As Virgil opened his eyes, he could once again see that blue sky that filled his head with so many questions, and then he looked down only to e greeted with a set of perfect white teeth.

"Do not worry innocent citizen, the great Starbolt has saved you from disaster!"

Virgil could barely see this man's, Starbolt he said? Face with the sun shining behind him and the breeze blown his hair to his eyes.

Breeze?

Looking down, way down, Virgil could barely see the floor.

"HOLLY SHIT!" Virgil could only scream. He was flying! Actually flying! Well, Starbolt was, while carrying him. This man was making Virgil fucking fly with him.

boom

Another explosion, further into the city.

"Well, have to take this one." Was the only warning Virgil got from Starbolt before being dropped who knew how many feet off the air.

This time he couldn't even scream. Virgil was really screwed up now, and the sun had once again disappeared so there weren't any shadows where he could-

And then the floor stopped getting closer, Virgil felt a new pair of arms holding him and sure enough, someone caught him.

Seriously could death stop taunting him for only five minutes?

"Hey, you're the emo kid."

Virgil looked up, at this man's face, meeting a pair of bright red eyes. He's seen those eyes before... this person was at school earlier today.

"Um... hi?"

A smile Virgil could only describe as unsettling replied to him. "Welcome to the city, you won't die if you're lucky enough to have me around, not so much if you bump into those assholes over there though." He pointed to the sky, not before slapping a fucking boulder away with his bare hand, making it break around them.

Virgil looked to where his classmate was pointing. Another person floated alongside Starbolt as they lifted people away from the explosions.

It was then when he really took a look at both of them. Starbolt wore a mainly white suit with red and golden accents. A golden "S" resembling a lightning decorated his chest, and a red cape blew with the wind as the superhero flew. The look was tied together with a red mask only covering his green eyes.

The other one, whose name Virgil didn't know, somehow matched with Starbolt while still standing out as his own person. He wore a baby blue suit with white swirls decorating it, a pink scarf acted as a mask that covered his face lower half while the ends blew behind him like Starbolt's cape, and a pair of pink ballet shoes. Taking a better look at him made Virgil realize he wasn't actually flying, but jumping higher up than humanly possible.

Virgil's thoughts were interrupted once again by his classmate's voice

"Aaand, up you go"

"Wait wha-" Virgil couldn't finish his sentence before his classmate tossed him back up in the air, only to be caught again by Starbolt.

Virgil held tightly onto the man's shoulders as they landed, a crowd formed around them as the people clapped and cheered.

"Thank you, thank you. No need to clap really." Starbolt landed and let Virgil down on the ground safely, "I can't take all the credit, right Blaze?"

Blaze landed right next to them, Virgil couldn't see his face but could still tell he was smiling. "We did a great job!" Blaze eagerly mentioned as he highfived Starbolt, "You don't need to be modest about it"

Virgil was left standing between the two heroes. There were a million questions in his head and he couldn't even get a word out. So many things happened all at once and his mind was still trying to process it.

A buzzing sound and... a voice? Came out from an earphone both heroes were wearing, but Virgil wasn't close enough to understand the words.

Without even looking at each other, as if they were connected telepatically or something, both heroes bowed to the crowd around them and took off. Virgil watched as they flew and jumped away respectively.

Great, now what?

"You survived, awesome"

"Ah!" Was the only noise Virgil could let out after his classmate surprised him once again. "Not thanks to you and your friends"

"Pff, those guys? Nah we're not together. I just make sure they don't kill half the city's population with their neglect. Starbolt thinks he was quick enough to drop you, go and save more emo teenagers and come back before you splatted on the concrete and became a puddle of blood and broken bones."

Virgil rolled his eyes, "Thanks for that image."

His classmate smiled, "Don't mention it."

"Shouldn't you be like, all dressed up and protecting your identity or whatever?" Virgil asked, as he made his way back to the sidewalk.

"It's not like anybody pays attention to us, we're invisible. The only reason you recognized me it's because we go to the same school, but you clearly don't even know my name"

Virgil stopped and turned around to look at his classmate eye to eye, deciding to ignore the fact that he had to look up to actually do that. "Can you blame me? I just moved in and your school is full of douchebags who don't care about anyone but themselves. Do you know my name?"

He shrugged, "maybe I know, maybe I don't. I'll find out, we have our ways."

"Who's we?" Asked Virgil, "you keep saying that"

His classmate grinned and pointed towards the top of a nearby building with his eyes.

Virgil followed the teen's gaze, spotting another masked figure, a much darker one. This... hero? Was wearing all black, had a bowler hat a cape that matched, only his green half phantom of the opera style mask stood out from the darkness surrounding him.

Virgil could swear they made eye contact before the figure disappeared between the clouds.

"Welp, gotta run Virge." The teen announced, causing Virgil to shift his attention back to him. "Nice keeping you from becoming a resident in hell!"

"Wait so you did..." Aaand he was gone, "...know"

Whatever, it's not like Virgil cared that much, he had other stuff to worry about.

Stuff that kept Virgil's superhero encounter in the back of his mind the rest of the day, the next morning, and even halfway through the school day. And it would have stayed that way if it wasn't for-

"Hey VV!"

That.

Virgil gripped the sides of his lunch tray as he turned around and sure enough, there he was, same guy from yesterday.

He tried to ignore him, but it was hard considering the school's cafeteria was hardly double the size of a regular classroom. Even being at opposite sides of the room, they were still close enough to clearly notice each other.

Virgil sighed, it couldn't be worse than eating by himself. He walked over the table where his classmate was sitting, squeezing through a crowd of teenagers trying not to ruin his food.

His classmate smiled, "glad to know you haven't died since we last saw each other."

"Could tell you the same thing." Virgil replied wit a sarcastic tone, "are you going to tell me your name now or am I going to be kept in the dark forever?"

"Mmm, I don't know. I like the mystery surrounding me"

"Please, there's nothing mysterious about you Remus"

Virgil turned around as another voice interrupted them.

"Whyyy do you haaave to ruin my fuuun?" Remus complained as the third person sat next to him.

"Telling the truth is not ruining your fun dear."

That voice... "It's you, the guy who helped me yesterday."

Virgil managed to catch his attention, "I am. No need to thank me or anything."

"And don't call them a guy," Remus chimed in, "they them pronouns for this handsome please."

"Or just Janus, some people are too stubborn to care about anyones identity."

"Right, sorry." Virgil apologized.

Remus wrapped his arms around Janus, kissing his cheek multiple times in an almost aggressive way. That's when Virgil caught on, they were dating. "I can... go and leave you two alone if you want."

"Please don't" Janus put their hand between their cheek and Remus' lips. "Maybe with you here this scumbag will have some shame and stop being so publicly affectionate."

Remus grinned, "not a chance."

Janus rolled their eyes, "I'll keep him in line. Take a seat Virgil."

Virgil did as instructed, "for people who just care about surviving, it seems like everyone around him knows my name."

"I said other people don't care," Janus corrected. "We're the exception that makes the rule."

"Right, and do you know your boyfriend is going around the city showing everyone his inhuman strength?"

Remus snickered, "boyfriend is a strong word. We're barely friends with benefits"

Virgil almost chocked on his food as he swallowed, "I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to assume I just-"

"He's joking." Janus interrupted, slapping Remus' hand as if they were reprimanding a little kid.

"You know you love me"

"And to answer your question," Janus looked back at Virgil, "I know. This idiot doesn't even try to cover his identity when cleaning those so called heroes' mess"

Remus groaned, "what's the point? It's not like they ever give credit or even say thank you."

"What is up with them anyway? Starbolt and Blaze?" Virgil's curiosity couldn't be ignored anymore, he had a million questions and couldn't figure out how to even begin asking them. "I didn't realized I was moving to Gotham."

That comment got a chuckle out of Janus. "At least Batman does his job right, those bastards are faker than-"

"My virginity!" Remus interrupted.

"Sure, that works." Janus sighed and took a bite out of an apple they had grabbed earlier. "We're pretty sure it's all staged, doesn't mean they're not putting innocent people's lives at risk."

"I think the clouds hide their wires" Remus said before slurping the last of his carton juice.

Virgil couldn't help but shake his head, "that would be true if they didn't open up around them."

Janus raised an eyebrow and glanced over at Remus. "What are you talking about?"

Virgil looked up rom his food, "haven't you noticed? They attract the sun beams or something."

"Maybe because yesterday was sunny?" Remus asked, his tone made Virgil think they thought he was joking.

"No... the only moment I've seen the sun since I got him was when I was in Starbolt's arms."

The couple looked at each other, confused.

Janus stood up and walked around the table, grabbing Virgil's hand without warning and pulling him up.

"W-wait wha-"

"Shh, just come with me."

Virgil pulled his hand out of Janus' grip, "I'm not going to be dragged away by someone I barely know without an explanation."

"Fine, you don't want to be dragged." Remus spoke from behind him.

Virgil turned around in time for Remus to grab him and carry him over his shoulder.

"P-Put me down!" Virgil struggled in Remus' grip to no avail. This guy really had superhuman strength.

Virgil's demands were ignored as Remus carried him around school. He gave up by the time they arrived to the main entrance.

Janus opened one of the schools front doors, "how's the climate today?"

"I would gladly tell you if Remus would let me down so I could look outside."

"No need!" Remus turned around so Virgil could answer without having to put him down.

Virgil sighed, he might as well answer and get this over with.

He looked up, a bunch of dark storm clouds made it impossible to actually look at the sky. Thunder and lightning accompanied the heavy rain, how come they coulnd't hear all this nose from inside?

"There's a storm" Virgil answered, plain and simple. "Will you let me down now?"

Janus looked up at the sky, "you're seriously not messing with me?"

Virgil groaned, "why would I be messing with you? It's right there."

Janus looked back at Virgil, then at their partner, making a sign to step out of the school.

Remus did as Janus signed, taking Virgil out in the storm with him.

"W-w-wait no! You don't know how bad my hair gets with humidity! The last thing I need is people making fun of..."

Virgil looked over at Remus, who remained completely dry under the rain. Virgil on the other hand, was already soaking wet after just a few seconds of being carried under the rain, "what?"

"Huh" Janus' face couldn't hide their surprise. They pulled Remus and Virgil back into the building.

Remus finally let Virgil down.

"What was that about? He's not only super strong but also waterproof?" Virgil squeezed the water from his sleeves and tried to fix his hair as he complained.

"He's not. There wasn't any storm outside, I thought you were joking but looking at you now... something else is going on here."

"No shit Sherlock" Virgil rubbed his face, accidentally smearing his eyeshadow.

Remus sighed, "you treat this like joke, but it's something serious. If sunbeams were following those assholes around that means they have something to do with this!"

Virgil shrugged, "why does that concern me? You and your mr. Black cape friend are the ones cleaning their mess, not me."

The three teens were getting annoyed at this point.

"It concerns you because you're the only one who can see what's happening" Janus explained.

"And that is not my fault. Go and ask anybody else if they can see the fucking storm becase I'm not getting myself involved in this craziness!" The lights flickered as Virgil lost control. He took a deep breath, he needed to calm down and just let everything go before anything suspicious happened and he had to flee again.

Janus looked up at the lights, then back as Virgil. This guy was nervous about something. "Look, we're not going to deep dive into why you have this ability if you don't want us to but we need your help."

Virgil crossed his arms, looking at his classmates as he analyzed his situation.

"It's up to you, but remember I can keep carrying you anywhere we want" Remus shrugged.

Virgil sighed, "and then you'll leave me alone?"

Janus nodded, "we will."

"Fine then," Virgil caved in. "What do you want me to do?"

[ask-gt-roceit]

Tiny!Snake!Janus: *coils around Roman's finger*

Roman: Now I have you around my finger, does it mean you'll do as I say?

Tiny!Snake!Janus: *nips*

Roman: Rude!

-

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[ashs-random-writing]

Building Up Burned Bridges

Chapter 13

Ao3

—

Humans are widely regarded as myths. Myths of Giant monstrous beings whose only goal is to destroy magic and all magical beings. That was a stereotype.

Janus is a human who's been in hiding, alone for seven years. He was always careful, he always protected himself, and now there was a fairy in his cave.

—

Janus bounced his child. The magicals were still there. Blocking the door.

He needed to go hunting, but it was too dangerous to take Roman with him, and it was too dangerous to leave him here with the magicals

They hadn’t hurt them yet, but he wasn’t going to give them a chance

He growled, watching their reactions carefully. They flinched. The unknown walked slightly closer, softly saying something to the other two. Janus clutched Roman to his chest. They turned to him and said something

They were asking if he was okay, he was fairly certain. The feelings being sent out felt concerned, questioning, and like they were attempting to comfort him

He stared, wondering why they would ask that, and almost without realising it, he shook his head.

He couldn’t decipher the face they were making and he turned away from them, whispering reassurances to Roman (and maybe to himself as well)

Roman mimicked him, though not getting every sound correct

Janus smiled, a tired smile, one that wouldn’t be hard to knock off of his face.

“I’m sorry you were born into a world as messed up as this, but I’m so glad I found you” He whispered, stroking hair from Roman’s face.

He was aware of the magicals’ eyes on him as he spoke, but he simply ignored them. He hoped they’d show him the same mercy as he showed them and not hurt him or Roman

They were still staring, still sending out comforting emotions that had to be a trap. They walked closer, and closer still. Janus held Roman closer, bearing his teeth at the intruding magicals. They stopped, and Janus shuffled backwards.

They backed away too, strangely calm. He hated this. At least last time he was in an enclosed space with magicals, he’d been the one pulling the strings, so to speak.

He gave another glare to the intruders.

They didn’t leave. He was so frustrated. His mind was in pieces, and he was trying to concentrate on keeping Roman safe, keeping Roman happy, keeping the magicals away, finding out what they wanted, figuring out why they hadn’t attacked yet.

They were still sending out emotional signals. They were trying to trick him, he knew that, but it felt so real that he couldn’t figure out why.

He bounced his child. He had done plenty of bad things to keep himself safe. He had done several things that he really regretted, that he definitely shouldn’t have done. He was barely grown, himself.

Roman was supposed to be away from all that shit.

He found that he really didn’t like that they’d dragged his son into this.

He and the magicals were at a standstill for several tense (minutes? Hours?) but they backed out of the room, whispering to each other

This did nothing to quell his suspicions. He put Roman to bed and watched the doorway. He didn’t fall asleep, despite his tiredness. He knew a trick when he saw one; they were trying to lower his guard and then they’d attack.

They were back after a few hours, more emotional signals being released, and more comforting words.

They were back every day for weeks. Janus had let his guard down ever so slightly. Roman liked them being around. Janus didn’t

He was starting to understand their language. Not much, but more than he used to. He had never really tried before.

—

Virgil felt bad for the human.

They were sat in the same room for hours, and not once did their emotions change from suspicious, upset, fear and anger. The child was not scared, but Virgil thought it should’ve been. For all the humans knew, Virgil and his friends were there for bad reasons

They had started sleeping in one of the other giant houses. Every day they came back to their human’s house, the human seemed to lower their guard ever so slightly.

Of course, no one was allowed near the child, still.

They were able to share names, eventually. The adult human was named Janus, the child named Roman. He, Patton and Logan shared their own names. Patton reported on different emotions they were feeling during their visits, and they were very slowly shifting from scared to wary.

Virgil was scared as well. He had a not-very-good experience with this particular human, and (while he understood that it had been an act of desperation) he couldn’t help but think of his imprisonment

It had been several months of his life spent in a dark cave, living in fear (he realised rather suddenly that that was Janus’s whole life before they made the treacherous journey up north)

He felt so sorry for them, and yet, he couldn’t help but feel some kind of resentment for the months taken from him. Their entire life had been taken from them. It was a conflicting feeling. He wanted to be fine with them (he knew that everything they did was an act of desperation, he knew that they had been through worse than he’d ever been. But what he had been through was at their hands)

The child was curious, playful. Virgil would be lying to say he wasn’t somewhat scared of a baby that was bigger than him. Babies grabbed anything in sight. It was good that Janus kept Roman away. Virgil didn’t have very positive experiences with being grabbed

He waited for a while, watching out of the giant window of the house he and his friends were staying in as Janus started hunting for food. Roman had been left in the house the humans were staying in, as usual, likely asleep.

Virgil didn’t know what to feel about anything anymore.

X—X

@a-chilly-pepper

[nonbinary-octopus]

sometimes I just write my characters too nice

Like. I like a good fearplay scene in gt! I would like the tiny to be frightened, and a lot of scenarios just get resolved so quickly if the giant isn't a bit of a dick! Yes there's the great kind where there's misunderstandings and the giant doesn't mean to scare the tiny, yeah, those are fabulous, but I keep setting up scenarios for a good scare, but it's just. SO obvious the tiny is scared, there's no way giant wouldn't notice, and if you notice you're terrifying someone who doesn't deserve it, the reasonable thing to do is to stop! Especially if the giant is currently level-headed, which they usually are, because I don't want the tiny in actual danger.

And so my giants keep going "oops I didn't mean to scare you, do you want me to stop," and de-escalating the situation, and then it's no longer the scene I wanted to write! I wanted that tiny to be thoroughly manhandled and examined while praying to come out of the experience with minimal injury, damnit! But nooo, the giant realized he was scared and asked if he was okay and should they stop? Where's the disregard for the tiny's fear? Or at the very least the not noticing it I had planned.

all of this would be solved if my giants were just dicks sometimes

[halfhissandwich]

I just think GT Janus is neat

[ivycryptid]

Logan Sanders' totally, 100%, surely, completely, absolutely normal Halloween

…except for that part where everyone but him and Remus were turned into mythical creatures. That was, maybe, possibly, a bit out of the ordinary.

A fic of chaos, candy, and one out-of-the ordinary Halloween celebration. Word Count: 2385 [AO3]

This is a for @just-some-gt-trash, written as part of the @tss-october-ghostwriters gift exchange. Sorry for posting it late! I've been really unexpectedly busy. I really hope you enjoy it.

I used the prompts: Witch, Midnight, Costume, Magic, Transformation, and Potion

October thirty-first, a day of (as Roman would describe it) costumes, candy, and chaos.

There were many ways that the sides celebrated the holiday. Costumes, for one, and often some elaborate scare-age on the dark side’s parts, though in the past few years, with the conflict having mostly settled down, persuading the lights to join in wasn’t very hard. Patton quite enjoyed the parts of the holiday where he got to spend time with friends (and bake themed cookies), Virgil loved the well, everything, Janus quite enjoyed the costumes, Remus had always loved the opportunity to be allowed to be a bit more unhinged than usual, Roman had always enjoyed making and designing costumes and decorations and all sorts of things (although I would be remiss in not mentioning both twin’s interest in the subject) and Logan? Well, the holiday was certainly not his favourite, but it was certainly interesting.

And if this particular occurrence of the day wasn’t just that then this particular narrator would be very surprised to hear it.

But enough waffling on about this particular day of spooks. You were here for a story, correct?

——————

Logan Sanders, awake, for some ungodly reason that not even he could really explain, seeing as it went against the majority of his advice on sleep schedules, at six am on the particular date our story occurs, looked down at two perfectly timed schedules for the day.

One, the page of a pink notebook covered in sticky notes of various colours and sizes, perfectly laid out in a (fruitless) attempt to keep Thomas organised, was the one containing his centre’s schedule. In the case of today, Thomas really didn’t have a ton planned. Just a few halloween movies with some friends and then, if Logan got his way, adequate sleep.

The other schedule was contained within a well-decorated indigo journal, covered in all manner of scientific stickers and wonderful drawings, courtesy of Roman, Virgil, and Patton. It had been gifted as a birthday present some time ago, and whilst he wouldn't let anyone know it, Logan used it incredibly regularly. Definitely not for any sentimental reason though, surely not. But, if we may return to the topic of that peskily busy schedule. As, contrarily enough, Logan’s was much more hectic and packed than Thomas’. He had to help Patton finish the baking in preparation for the Mindscape’s “first annual Halloween celebration bonanza of fear” to quote Remus, and then he had to prepare his costume for the holiday’s event. Which he totally wasn’t doing because it was fun. Just to fit in, for that exact reason, definitely no other, and he had most surely not had any fun at all putting it together.

Of course, the giant (practically blinding honestly) smile Logan had sported last time he worked on it might have given his lies away… if he had let anyone see it.

Either way, he very much had to get ready if he was going to be done with all of this preparing before three pm (the ordained ‘start time’ for the party). So it was down the stairs (and off to breakfast), he went.

He looked at the time. Six fifteen am. Forty-five more minutes of sleep certainly wouldn’t hurt.

——————

At seven o’ five am, Logan had made his way down to the kitchen and eaten some Patton-prepared breakfast to the sound of the other sides’ excitement around him.

“So you see padre, you have to swing the sword like this,” explained an incredibly awake Roman, gesturing wildly across the table and narrowly missing the other sides, “and have you checked the balance? If the balance is wrong it could swing weirdly and-”

“Being on fire is a very interesting experience and very hard to get right.” Remus illustrated his words with a handy illusion.

Roman yelled some unintelligible reply from halfway in his conversation with Patton. But Remus seemed to understand its meaning in some twinly secret codex as he instantly replied. “Of course you need to-”

“I’m pretty sure every character you’ve ever been has committed some form of tax evasion,” laughed Virgil from his position near Janus, “which certainly isn’t- well- oh come on Jan! Unfair conduct!”

Logan sunk into his chair comfortably. He might have been tired and a little silent, but he had always been like that in the mornings if he was honest, and he quite enjoyed the others’ enthusiasm for the rest of the day they were going to have.

But he’d finished his breakfast, and getting ready was of utmost priority, so he stood up and brought his plate to the sink, washing it off and waving goodbye to the other sides.

——————

By nine-thirty, Logan had prepared the remaining elements of the costume. Some stitching on the skirt, the last ‘potion bottle’ to slip into the belt, the final pieces of decoration being placed on the hat. Mostly small details and things, but vitally important nonetheless. And he’d finished! He was done! Able to actually wear the thing! Well, later, when he wasn’t liable to get it dirty while baking.

——————

For the second time that day, Logan made his way down the stairs. As he finished his journey to the kitchen, Logan was hit by the sound and smell of, if he was correct (which he obviously was) candy apples. And also Patton, barreling towards him at an incredibly fast pace.

Logan yelped. “Patton! Please detach yourself!”

With that, the fatherly side untangled himself from the impromptu hug, hanging his head.

“Sorry-” he began.

“Don’t be, I was just- surprised, that’s all.” Logan replied. “Now, what are you making?”

“Candy apples!” Virgil yelled from the couches.

“We’re all gonna get cavities!” exclaimed Remus.

Logan smiled a little, he had been right.

And that was when Patton burned himself on hot sugar.

"God dammit- it was still hot- fuckin-"

“Patton are you okay-”

——————

After that incident, which luckily hadn’t resulted in a large injury, and only a tiny burn, and the pun-filled few hours following, Logan stood in front of the mirror.

He now (finally) wore the costume he’d prepared. That of a witch. The skirt was a navy blue and covered in embroidered stars in different colours and arranged as constellations, the shirt was plain and white, though it also had hidden embroidery around the collar and sleeves, the hat also confirmed (check for word later) to the star theming, having its own stars perched in the brim.

Logan had also decided to wear a messenger bag, modified to have places in which to store ‘potions’ around the bag strap. Other than the potions, Logan had backed a giant book of astronomy and constellations he had found rather useful (and quite pretty). As well as a small telescope, which hopefully wasn’t going to be destroyed.

Either way, with his pair of very sensible shoes, he was ready to help transport the baked and candied goods over to the place Roman and Remus had prepared for the party in the imagination.

So,for the third time that day, Logan made the trip between his room and the kitchen.

——————

Patton had instructed him in which boxes to carry, and thus, at four pm on a Tuesday afternoon, Logan wandered into the imagination, following behind the other side.

Pat was dressed as an adventurer of some sort, sporting a large glowing sword with a blue gem in the hilt, some simple adventurer’s clothes, and a flowing blue cloak. In Logan's opinion, it looked quite nice.

As they neared the clearing, Logan began to spot Roman, Virgil, and Janus. Roman sported clothes that seemed like they’d come from the nineties, and also was on fire. That at least explained the twin’s conversation from that morning.

Virgil was wearing a leather coat, there seemed to be fake burns across his hands as well. Interesting.

Janus was the oddest of them all, he wore a waistcoat, fedora, and long flowy pants adorned with snakes. He also held a tax form? Odd.

Logan continued into the decorated clearing, continuously attempting to puzzle out the meaning and/or origin of the outfits. Just as he’d given up and decided to just ask them himself, beginning a beeline over to the trio. His ‘sensible footwear’ failed at their job, and Logan tripped.

Dear reader, I have something to confess. The imagination is not the most, let’s say, stable, in terms of reality, and on a day such as this? The ability for an idea to become just a bit more real was as strong as it ever was. Logan, of course, did not know this. The idea for a piece of costume, a fakery, to become suddenly real was barely a murmur in his mind. Which, in this case, was unfortunate for him, as that truth was going to be revealed in a slightly explosive way.

Now, back to that fall.

Logan fell downwards, grabbing his bag and pulling it away from the ground so as to save the telescope from certain destruction.

Of course, he’d forgotten about the half-open potion pouch, and as Logan fell towards the ground, a teal, glittery concoction was launched towards the three sides on the rock, and Patton, who had come to stand near them.

“Watch out!” Logan warned, just a second too late, as it exploded onto them with an almighty splash.

And then, the sides weren’t human anymore.

Well, depending on the semantics they never technically were. But they sure looked human!

But now, standing in place of Patton, Roman, Virgil, and Janus, were four giant beasts straight out of mythology.

What had happened to his friends, and why?

As Logan sat there, confused and worried, the one other side unaffected by the sudden change appeared behind him.

“Where are the others? And how did those get here?” Remus said abruptly, swinging a… giant test tube around? That was new. So was the scientist’s coat. And that incredibly prevalent slime.

Logan did not want to know where it came from.

Whilst he had reflected on the state of Remus’ costume, the other side had continued talking.

“-the mythical creatures are kept on the other side of the imagination. Why bring them here?”

Logan paused. The silence was only about a minute long, but from an internal viewpoint, as subjective as that was, it felt as if it had taken hours. How was he going to explain this?

“What, cat got your tongue?” Remus asked impatiently, holding up a cat eating a tongue as if to illustrate his point.

The logical side remained startlingly silent at the metaphor.

Until, finally, he spoke.

“Neither I, nor Roman, Virgil, Patton, or Janus brought the ‘creatures’ from the imagination. In fact, if I am correct in my observations, they are, in fact, Roman, Virgil, Patton, and Janus”

Remus looked at the conglomeration of chaotic creatures again.

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Silence (save for whatever the mythical being buds had been doing in the meantime, that was making quite a bit of noise) ensued.

“So, how do we make sure our friends and family aren’t mythical beings forever?” Logan began.

“Wait till midnight. They’ll be back.” Remus replied calmly

“It’s that easy?” the other side said mistifiedly.

Remus raised an eyebrow. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I’d appreciate an explanation”

“An explanation? Really? Life might be infinitely stranger than anything which the mind of man could invent, but it doesn’t mean it’ll always be consistent enough for someone of your tastes. Plus, ‘till midnight’ gives us plenty of time to-”

“We won’t have any time at all, seeing as they’ve already got themselves in trouble.”

One of the four creatures, a particularly colourful eagle and deer hybrid of some sort, had gotten his antlers stuck in a tree. The incident seemed to have been the cause of some of the noise from earlier, and it didn’t seem to be getting any easier for the being (which Logan had a hunch was Patton), or anyone else, to extricate him from the tangle. As Logan and Remus walked up to the quartet, they found a purple-scaled, winged figure flying near the branch worriedly. The other two transformed sides, one a wingless combination of lion and eagle, the other also possessing a leonine body, horns (for some reason) and a snake tail ending in a cluster of spikes. Soon, all four of the non-winged of the group stood around the tree, concerned for their friend.

At some point possibly-Patton had somehow flipped himself completely upside down in a doomed attempt at freedom. The purple one (who was probably Virgil) had nestled himself in a higher part of the tree, curling into himself like a charging cable left in a bag too long.

Suddenly, the tree perching figure unfurled himself. He let out a hacking cough, once, twice, thrice, then, finally, expelled a putrid smelling (and looking) liquid, which hit the branch, but thankfully not the peryton tangled in it.

The branch disintegrated, freeing the creature that, seeing as his immediate response was to drag the anxious wyvern to the ground for a hug, was most definitely Patton.

Two sides figured out.

The griffin, opinicus if Logan was being specific, bounded over to the other two dramatically, joining in on the hug, whilst the probable manticore, walked there at a slower pace.

Make that all of them figured out.

And then Patton startled Janus, causing him to let out a volley of dangerous spines.

“Why can't you all be calm for once?”

——————

After six straight hours of cleaning up and stopping the others’ chaos, with intermittent Remus-led breaks for unethical science, the chaos was finally over, ten minutes left till midnight, Roman, Janus, Patton, and Virgil were sleeping soundly.

A giant clump of limbs and wings draped over it like blankets sat in front of a frankly tired Remus and Logan.

“Are we-” Logan fought a yawn, “Are we going to wait for them to-”

Remus snored from his perch on Logan’s shoulder.

“It seems we are not,” Logan said to empty air.

He picked up Remus, walking past the rest of the sides, to a large tree with a sizable patch of moss underneath.

“Goodnight everyone,” he murmured, finding a place for him and Remus to settle down till morning, “goodnight.”

[itty-bitty-writes]

Bitty's WIPs

(posted stories masterpost)

Surrounded by His Loved One - Chapter 2: Copulation (Shrinky Sanders Sides Smut Series, aka 5S)

summary:

Remus is up Virgil's butt, and Virgil and Logan are heading to Logan's room to… copulate.

status: intro written. vague ideas for what's after that

Prinxiety cock vore [actual title pending] (5S)

summary:

Remus told Roman that Virgil enjoyed their shrinky sex, and now Roman's got a similar proposition for Virgil

(from a prompt)

status: probably half written

LAMP cock vore + sex [actual title pending] (5S)

summary:

Virgil liked Roman in his dick so much that this time he gets to cock vore two boyfriends. And then fuck Patton with them inside.

(from a prompt)

status: outlined

Dark Sides in Balls (5S)

summary:

Remus cock vored the other two dark sides, and then… forgot.

Oops

status: outlined

I Know You Know I'm Here (5S)

summary:

Janus totally didn't see Remus, shrunken and naked, on the bed. Totally. It's absolutely a complete coincidence that Janus, also naked, sat down directly on top of him. Unfortunate positioning, is all.

(pretend unaware)

(Remus is having the time of his life)

status: concept exists. Intro written

Ritual Sacrifice (5S)

summary:

The dragon witch (Janus, wearing cloth wings) has demanded a sacrifice. The unfortunate Roman has been chosen by lot, and now Logan and Virgil must tie him to a tree (Patton's dick) for the dragon witch to claim.

or

The sides do a fun little roleplay

(Janus has a vagina in this one)

status: outlined

A Game of Cock Vore (Sizeshifter Trio)

summary:

Elliott is often the voice of reason and impulse control for the trio.

This fic does not involve Elliott.

status: opening written

Awkward First Time

summary:

A gt couple decide to try sex for the first time. They're not sure what they're doing, but they find a way to make it good for both of them.

status: outlined, opening written

Insomnia (Josh's Tiny Harem)

summary:

Josh can't sleep. His solution? shove a tiny in his pants, see if that helps

status: barely started

Forgotten Tiny Third

summary:

A couple have been trying out various kinks to see how much they like them, and are trying micro/macro.

They forget there's a tiny involved.

status: outlined

Dick Apartments

summary:

So it turns out that the reason the rent is so low for Gus's new apartment is that the building doubles as a giant dildo.

He really should have read the lease document more thoroughly.

status: barely started

Surprise! Shrunken and Trapped - Part 2 (Poll Story)

summary:

Simon has unexpectedly shrunk, and somehow ended up in an unaware giant's underwear, just before he put it on!

~

Simon's stuck under the giant's junk, and he's causing an unfortunate itch.

status: about a paragraph written

Tournament

summary:

Several contestants in a large maze, each equipped with a device which will shrink someone to only a few inches tall.

The last person full sized wins.

Everyone else gets fucked.

status: outlined

[not-exactly-laborious]

Hey, I just wanted to say I’ve loved your art for such a long time now. You have so many fricking awesome art styles—from chibi to Disney, you do it all. Your drawings are so charming and they capture the characters perfectly. And you always pick the best style to go with the mood of what you made.

But I mainly wanted to say how much I LOVED Guilty Tears. I can tell you have a gift and a passion for horror, knowing exactly what to show the viewer and what to leave to the imagination. I can honestly say that Roman’s video was the scariest video I’ve ever seen in my life, and goddamnit, I would watch it again. I watched it three times that first day I saw it, even though it was ten o’clock at night and I had to sleep soon and I knew I’d be terrified all over again. That last frame, put into context, was the perfect terror to pile on top of the horror you’d already served. As the events get worse, you show less and less and god, was that effective. Such cute art contrasted with such a horrifying tale. You know you found a good horror when even through the fear you’re dissecting the events and quality of the work.

And that little jumpscare in Patton’s video where chibi-Patton briefly turns into the scariest thing known to mankind was so terrifying I was glad I could only see it for a millisecond, so my brain didn’t even have time to process what it saw. Which in a way, made it even scarier. So many things I saw that were mildly creepy at first and then came back to haunt me after I saw the other horrors that awaited me. So many rewatches through my fingers. And I could tell how dedicated you were to the stories and the interweaving and the little bits of Janus woven throughout. How you could take a lighthearted comedy and turn it into the most frightening thing I’ve ever seen astounds me in the best way. It’s 11:45 at night right now and I’m fighting the urge to watch it again now that I remember it. It was absolutely worth the hype I saw. Your art is an absolute gift to this fandom. I’m very glad to have found it!

that's such a sweet message my dude! a lot of people recently have been rewatching GT for some reason and I think that's awesome.. i had plans to do more horror stuff but sanders sides is dead and sadly for y'all I have a sonic hyperfixation now... :( though I feel like we should all rewatch GT, bc it's fun and quick and still a project that I love very much. Also, the series' 1 year anniversary was Halloween and I forgot to say anything about it, so let's celebrate!! here's a video I made for my portfolio! SPOILERS FOR GUILTY TEARS! (TW GORE)

here's the playlist if you feel like watching it again!

[pricechecktranslations]

Oh yes, it is all very clear and VERY enlightening, thank you very much! I never would have gotten the connotation of Yufina liking it rough to be fair (but I haven't finished reading the novel, so maybe it makes me sense when you gt the whole character), and yeah, it is true that the line "which was not to be outdone", does suggests that Janus is actually bigger than his brother - and not both of the same size. I guess because Mothy is always sparse in his physical descriptions, people tend to hyper-focus on the few lines they are given when it comes to characters' appearances.

Speaking of old translations and old novels, I have another question, concerning Prim this time (in fact I have a LOT of questions, about almost everything but I'll try to send them drop by drop). Before Prim died... Now that we have decades of new content... Do we actually know what she was trying to do by summoning the power of the Clockwork Doll? I mean, it is kind of insisted upon and seems like some very big, threatening thing, but... what would the Doll have done? I don't think it has been explained or brought up in any way, and all we have are theories I think? So what would be your opinion, what kind of "power" Prim wanted to use?

I think in general there's a tendency for the fanbase to over-extrapolate when it comes to mothy's work, although I tend to be a very literal-minded person so perhaps I under-extrapolate? Anyway. Feel free to send in questions, I don't mind answering them (helps to see how the novels are being read, too).

Well, looking over the scene again, Prim seemed to think that the Clockworker's Doll/Demon of Sloth was capable of controlling the other demons. That is, she wanted to have the demon of Lust possess Kyle again, in the hopes that it would control him and make him more subservient to her wishes. She claims that she is able to do this using the doll's powers (and that its powers are amplified by being in Heartbeat Clocktower somehow?).

Now, I don't know if she's correct on that point or not. In the Judgment novel Ma implies something similar, that the doll and Adam are able to manipulate or attract the other Demons of Sin in some way, but I'm not sure if it's to the extent that Prim believed. Ney kills her before we can see her do it (and I've always personally thought that the doll was using the hypnosis ability to make Prim not notice Ney, or something like that).

[giant-sketches]

Hello everyone and welcome back to another chapter of Mass Emotions after such a long wait. I worked very hard to make it worth that time of course, but please do be patient with me as I find more time to write and draw for this side blog of mine. :9

To find rest of the chapters you can follow this link!

If you would like to be added to the taglist please DM or send an ask. :3

Disclaimer: Crying/Shouting/Cursing/Anxiety Attack/Pain/Slight Physical Harm

Side-note: The main ship in this series is fluff LAMP. Janus is seen as a guardian figure to the other sides and is therefore not shipped with any of them. All sides are the same age, but their maturity varied in the past. 

It was night when Virgil started making his way out of the window from his room, sneaking past Logan’s surveillance drones, and into the surrounding woods. Two weeks had gone by of them discussing, or more like arguing over which of the remaining destabilized giants to go after. Obviously, Roman wanted to save his brother as soon as possible! On top of that Logan supported his wishes based purely on the fact that Remus was closest to breaking apart.

However, Virgil wanted to go for Janus instead. He was the first to destabilize so Virgil thought it only fair and Patton agreed with him. Saying he’d suffered enough of not being able to remember his family for the past years. Yet, there was another reason the anxious side wanted to save him first...Janus’s destabilization had been Virgil’s fault. He was the one who started it and He had to be the first to end it!

A surprise was waiting for Virgil though, a note stuck to the outside window instructing him to come to the cave on the West side, signed Janus. The timing was uncanny as he stuffed it into his hoodie pocket. Virgil was now alone in the woods making haste towards the obvious trap awaiting him.

Unfortunately, Patton’s sixth sense for tomfoolery kicked in as he suddenly woke up. Roman was snoring, Logan listening to his recorded tapes on scientific studies, and Virgil...nothing. Okay, that’s weird. Usually his Stormcloud liked to fall asleep to the sound of rain or ocean waves. Pat turned the knob to find it unlocked and then to find no Virgil sleeping within. “Oh kiddo.” He whispered, full of disappointment. He flew to the alarm and pressed the button to wake up the others.

“Holy! What, what is it?!”

“Ah! What time is it? Who hit the alarm?”

Patton stood in the hall with his arms crossed in full Dad mode. 

“Virgil’s gone.”

“He’s WHAT?!”

“You have got to be kidding me. H-he didn’t...you know?”

Patton nodded. There was no way it could be anything else. “He’s gone to meet with Janus.”

“Are you sure?”

Just then Pat held up a crinkled note. It was the one Virgil thought he stuffed into his pocket, but it fell out while he climbed out the window. Pretty much Virge had made a lot of mistakes despite thinking he was being careful.

“Shit. I’ll get my gear on.” Roman ran back into his room and Logan followed suit. There was no telling how long it’d been since Virgil had left. They needed to hurry.

---------------- Many Years Ago in the Mindscape

“Big bro Jan Jan!” Janus turned around to find himself being tackled by a slightly shorter side.

“Woah! Hey Virgil!” He smiled sweetly. “Be careful running around like that. What if you got hurt?” Virgie only giggled, “You’re such a worrywart Big bro Janus!”

“Well, that is true, I am Protectiveness after-all. I’m here to make sure we stay safe and can protect Thomas when he needs us.” He said as he took Virgil’s hand. “I’m also here as your all’s caretaker my little ball of Curiosity!”

The two used to be so close, just like brothers. Janus was always kind and stoic as he taught and cared for Virgil. He did the same for the other sides as well, since he was the most developed. Morality and Creativity being a little more mature than Virgil, as they all played together. To all of them Janus was like a guardian, despite all being the same age, and they loved him as such, but that did put a lot of pressure on the protective side.

One night, that pressure finally caused him to break. It was late when a strange sound caught his ear. “What was that?” He wondered, getting up from his bed to look down the hall. No one; still there was a slight breeze lingering below his feet. Is a window open or something? A sense of panic started setting in as he ran out to check on the others. Morality? He was sleeping while hugging one of many plushies. Then was Creativity okay? Yep, mumbling to himself about some dream. The last to check on was Curiosity...gone.

The window on the back wall was wide open as the cool night air taunted Janus’s paled face. “Virgil! Virgil, where are you? Please, please come here if you can hear me!” Where had he gone? Jan was trying hard to listen to any odd sounds around him, but the heart beat in his chest kept pounding. His eyes watery, ears ringing, why was this happening? Why did Virgil go outside when he’d been told to never leave the house without him? The stress had been building inside Janus for a while now.

His natural need to protect was eating away at him as the pressure grew. The pressure to be the perfect big brother Virgil idolized him for. The pressure to protect his family, protect Thomas, always be there, listen to their problems, and on and on! What about him? Didn’t he matter just as much? When was someone going to protect him, listen to HIM!

“No one ever really listens.” He grumbled. 

*SNAP*

Quickly, Janus turned his head around in the direction of the sound. Running at full speed until he saw Virgil on his knees on the cliffside. What was he doing? “Virgil!” He shouted.

Virgil turned to look at his panicked friend and smiled as he started to get up. Waving his hand around like he hadn’t a care in the world...and that’s when it happened. A strong gust of wind hit, causing the curious side to topple over and begin rolling off the cliff. “NO!”

Without any hesitation Janus jumped down and curled himself around Virgil to protect him as they both fell off the side. This was it; Janus was going to break apart any minute now. He was going to disappear forever. It wasn’t fair...he didn’t deserve this! It was all Virgil’s fault for going out at night, for not listening to his warnings about staying out of trouble. He’d given up so much to care for him, for ALL of them. At that moment something snapped inside of Janus as his body started to grow in size.

He easily filled the space below of the ravine he had moments ago been falling into. The heat and pain was so intense that he fainted, with a tiny Virgil still lying safely under his hand. An hour rolled by, before Virgil stirred awake and began taking in his surroundings. Yellow, warm, and soft? What had he landed on exactly and how was he perfectly okay? From what he could remember he had found a big hole in the Earth and was curious as to what was inside it. Then...he fell into it somehow? The now very confused side held his head as a distant, but familiar voice rang out in his head. Only to then be cut-off by the ground underneath him beginning to move.

“What the…”

He trailed off as his eyes wondered upwards to see a giant with hazy eyes looking down at him. OH SHIT! In a panic, Virgil slid down the side of the giant to hide behind some of the fallen rocks.

 He clasped his hands over his mouth and started counting down in his head to control his breathing. While the giant rubbed his eyes, none the wiser to Virgil’s stealthy escape.

“Where am I?” He groaned, working his way up to look around. “Some kind of ravine? Whatever, for now all I have is myself and that’s all I need.” Janus smirked as he walked away with a hum. Curiosity, now not so curious making sure the giant was gone before he made his way out and back home. All the while thinking how familiar the giant’s voice was.

--------------- Back to Current Time

Finally, he was here. The West side caves that Janus was hiding out in and enjoying his freedom ever since he destabilized. Virgil’s nerves started to wear on him as to what this slippery snake had planned for him. Had Jan started to remember his past now that the others' memories were coming back? Or was something else completely different going on?

“Aaaaaahhhhhh” A long groan came from inside, followed by a hiss of pain. The ground shook violently, but Virgil managed to make his way inside. The sounds of discomfort vibrating off the walls until he reached a large opening covered in lights. The interior was quite cozy for a cave. Leave it to Janus to make any location a perfect hide away. “You’re here!”

The greeting snapped Virgil out of his daze and back to the situation at hand. He’d refrained from increasing his size because he hadn’t come for a fight. “Deceit. Why did you call me here?” Virgil lacked information. He needed to see what Jan knew...what he remembered.

Janus bared his fangs with a toothy grin as he picked up his little guest. Luckily, no squeezing this time around. “Oh my dear little Virgil. Why do you think I called you here? I know you’re the one doing this to me.” This? What was he on about? “What do you mean?”

The smile vanished as his grip tightened around Virgil making it hard to breath. “Ah...stop please...Janus.” Suddenly, relief as the hand holding him relaxed. “That! Why are you calling me that?”

Virgil was still dazed from the lack of oxygen. He began wiggling his way out of the giant’s hand and rapidly began increasing his own size to match Jan’s. “You mean Janus. That’s your name.”

“No, no, no! My name is Deceit!” He banged his hand against the cavern wall as tiny items on shelves fell to the floor with a crash. “I don’t know who you think I am, but this is who I am!”

“No, that’s not true. Your name is Janus and you’re one of us. A side...a light side. There is no dark side Jan. Just you and me, and…and your family.”

“Family? Hahaha, what family? You LEFT ME! Remus left me. Everyone’s left...me.” The now sobbing Janus fell to his knees and wailed at the pain of past and present memories colliding inside his broken mind. “I don’t want to be alone anymore.” “And you don’t have to be Jan Jan.” Warm hands, familiar hands embraced him in a welcoming hug as he continued to weep.

“I’ve been having these dreams. Where, we’re all together in one house. I’m looking after you all as your big brother. Are these memories?” “Yeah, they are.” “Why didn’t I remember before then?” “It’s my fault. I’m so sorry Jan Jan. I-I was too curious and you got hurt trying to save me. You destabilized and turned into this monster in order to protect me!”

Virgil softly cried into Janus’s shoulder as he held onto him tightly. Fearing he may disappear at any moment. “I remember now. Oh Virgil, it’s alright. I forgave you a long time ago somewhere deep in my heart.” “R-really?!” Janus smiled and helped wipe away Virgil’s tears as they both stood back up. “I think it’s time I go back home to my family.”

Right as the two of them started to leave the caves the trio of fashionably late heroes appears on the scene. “Virgil! Oh my gosh Sweetpea are you okay?”

The exhausted giant waved down to his friends to show he was well and good. “Stand back from that scaly fiend!” “Roman, it’s okay. He’s started to remember.” “Remember? Do you mean to say he’s begun restabilizing?” Logan perked up curiously. “Yeah, though he’s not running a fever yet so I’m not sure when the process will st-”

Just then a hot wave started to bubble up inside of Virgil as he toppled over in pain. His face sweaty and pale. Janus was confused until he noticed himself shrinking. “What is this?!”

Between gritted teeth, “You all need to get away from here. I’m not completely sure what’s happening but I know it’s dangerous to be near me right now!” The group didn’t ask questions, they trusted Virgil’s judgement as they made their way quickly down the mountain. Meanwhile, Janus was shrinking fast and Virgil was crying out in extreme pain as his body grew rapidly. Soon he had reached his maximum height of 1000 feet, but he continued to grow. What was happening to him?

Once Janus had returned to the normal size of a human he too quickly got to somewhere safer than right next to a constantly growing giant. “Janus! How is Virgil? What’s going on?” “I’m sorry, I don’t know. I suppose if I had to guess he’s stolen my height and added it on to his own.” “He’s adding it on?” “Yes, but not in an exact manner. He’s already grown past 1000 feet, but adding mine on he would have stopped at 1070, but he hasn’t.” “How big is he going to get then?” Janus gulped as he looked back over to the mountain that Virgil’s new size was slowly consuming, “I have no idea.”

Virgil’s body now laid on top of the mountain as he could finally feel himself cooling off. More memories returning to him as his eyes focused onto his surroundings. He had grown to a whopping 5000 feet, nearly a mile high! Virgil quickly spotted the others not too far away as he reached down to grab them up. They were so small he needed to be extremely careful with them. Virgil then laid back against the mountain and smiled. He loved seeing more of his family together again.

The others were mesmerized by his tremendous size. Roman and Patton were definitely blushing as they called out to him. “Are you feeling alright now Darling?” “Yeah, I feel amazing honestly. Usually, I’m really scared and anxious when I’m so big, but this just feels so right.”

They all knew how much Virgil enjoyed being big and they were happy to see him comfortable, still they had to wonder why this happened. 

“Do you have any idea why this happened to you Stormcloud?” Virgil shook his head. He had no clue. “All I can say is that it was similar to the fever I had before, but it happened a lot quicker, so the pain was more intense.” “Then perhaps Janus’s restabilization was a catalyst of sorts.” “A catalyst?” “A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change.” “Seriously Logan, not really the time for a chemistry lesson.” “True, but I think a secondary definition is in order. A catalyst can be a person or thing that precipitates an event. The person being Janus and the event being the increased growth of Virgil.” “Well, besides all the science talk...what does that actually help us understand?” “I’d need to do some tests and get more data, but my starting hypothesis is that somehow Virgil and his new stable form is linked to those who remain destabilized. That chaotic energy inside the body of someone unstable needs to go somewhere and I believe Virgil’s body has adapted in a way that allows him to absorb it. Thus his increase in stature.” “So he eats crazy energy?” “....yes Patton, Virgil now eats crazy energy.”

That was cool! Either way, that was one giant down and one to go. Although, for now it was time to head on home. There Virgil and Janus could both rest and in the morning he’d get an earful from Logan and Patton on protocol and house rules for him running away after finding a note from a crazy giant serpent man. Still, a good ending for now.

To be continued...

@crystalk17 @paranoidgurl @gentlegiantdreamer @suckedinfandoms @craz-ewaters @rainbowbowtie @pattonvirglsanders @enby-phoenix @sanders-sides-virgil @just-some-gt-trash @notkolaidoscop @bluegreeninbtwn @lgbtqiaemo @avenirunknown @ncanspeak @maryann-draws @himeperson @perfectly-princely-emo-nightmare @daydreamburritoworld @im-a-creepy-cookie  @radicalskatervirgil

[just-some-gt-trash]

Big crush, small lover

I keep being lateeeeeee but here. At this rate I'm going to finish in April ;-;

This is for day 12 of @sanders-spring Moceit

I don't think there's any content warnings, but let me know if you find any!

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

Janus rang the doorbell of Patton's house, waiting patiently for them to open.

It had been a long time since he saw his childhood friend, college kept both of them very busy and there was hardly any time to visit each other. But Janus knew he had to be there as soon as possible when he heard Patton had been in some kind of accident while helping their aunt at work.

Patton swore they were okay and there had only been a few side effects from the substances they were exposed to, how could Janus not worry about that?! Patton did ask him to let them know when he arrived… but Janus forgot to do it.

The door opened and Janus smiled at his friend. Patton stood speechless for a moment before smiling widely, their whole face lighting up. God, Janus really loved that smile.

Patton sqealed and threw himself to Janus’ arms before he could say anything else. “I can’t believe you're really here! I’ve missed you!”

Janus chuckled and hugged Patton back, “I’ve missed you too.” With his arms wrapped around Patton, he could noticed it was getting harded to hold them? Janus thought they were pulling apart but no, and Patton's grip on his body felt tighter too.

Patton seemed to notice too, “oh shoot.” With a quick movement they grabbed Janus’ hand and pulled him inside, closing the door behind them. “I forgot, I forgot, I forgot,” they mumbled to themselves.

Janus was quite confused now, specially looking around Patton's house. All the curtains were closed, which was weird considering how much Patton loved natural light. There were a bunch of stuff on the floor or in places where they didn't belong, like they’ve been poorly rearranged after bumping on them. And there were several stools and makeshift ladders to reach high and low places, like a kid was living here.

“You forgot about whaaaa?” Janus turned around to see Patton now on his knees, back against the ceiling, and at least twenty feet tall!

Patton chuckled awkwardly and looked down at Janus, “I uh… this is why I wanted you to know when you were here.”

Janus had to back up to actually get a full look on Patton. Something was going to get into his mouth if he didn't close it soon. “Wha… this… how?!”

“The accident at my aunt’s? This is the side effect...” Luckily, Patton's embarrassment was already making them shrink… who knew how much though… “Please don't be scared, we’re still working to understand this.”

Janus noticed the change this time, he stepped closer to Patton. “So… you just grow randomly?"

Patton shrugged, “not really. We know the change is linked to my emotions but it’s not very… consistent. The first explanation the people on the lab gave me was that I grow with positive emotions and shrink with negative ones, but I’ve shrank while being happy too.”

“So it goes the other way around too?” That would be interesting to see, Patton was always the tall one.

Patton nodded, glad his head wasn't reaching the ceiling anymore. The shrinking also stopped for now, but at least he wouldn't be as intimidating.

Janus looked up at Patton “I think this is too tall even for you”

Patton giggled, “but I’ve been dealing with short problems too… sorry I used to make fun of you for that.”

Janus shrugged, “I’d say it's your karma.” He looked at Patton’s hand… just their hand was huge! A couple of feet more and he could sit on it comfortably.

Patton shifted slightly, dropping an inch or two. They knew Janus would be confused and all… but people have been staring at them for days and they were getting tired of it, “you're not… scared, right?”

Janus looked back up, did he stare for too long? “No! Of course not Patt! You're just big and it's shocking but, you're still my Patton.”

Patton blinked and blushed. They didn't know why but Janus calling him “his” made them all shy and flustered.

Janus’ eyes shot open and he blushed darkly, he said that out loud right? He cleared his throat, “well uh… is there anything I could do to help shrink you down?”

“I don't think so…” Apparently being flustered made them shrink too. Patton should write it down somewhere for their next checkup, “Could you move closer so I can stretch my legs? I don't want to hurt you or anything.”

“Sure.” Janus got closer to Patton’s body, he felt like a child on his mother's lap.

Patton extended their legs, instinctively holding Janus against him so he could get comfortable.

Janus couldn't help but blush even darker as Patton pressed him against their body. It was weird being held like this by a giant hand… but Patton was so warm.

Patton's legs were taller than Janus on their own! He used to feel small around them but this was a whole new level! He didn't mind, sure being on the smaller side was annoying, but with Patton… he always felt so protected and cared for.

Patton noticed, “oh I-I’m sorry I didn't mean to hold you like that.” They pulled their hand away, resting it on their thigh.

Janus looked up, he couldn't see Patton's face being this close to their body though. “It's okay Patt, I uh… actually like being this close to you.”

Patton's face turned red again and they started shrinking again, at a much higher pace.

Janus let out a small yelp as he felt Patton's body practically disappear from behind him. He turned around, finding a shrunken Patton sitting on the floor. They were definitely smaller than their normal size, “d-did I cause that?”

Patton looked up, seeing Janus from this angle wasn't helping them at all. He looked so tall and handsome, those thoughts only kept Patton shrinking.

Yeah Janus was getting worried now. Could Patton shrink to nothing? What if they did? How would he grow them back?! Janus kneeled down in front of his dwindling friend, “w-what do I do to stop it?”

Patton looked down at themselves. Okay they had to calm down before they got stuck too small… again, at least Janus would be here to help this time. “I- no, this is on me I’m just being weird about stuff.”

Janus raised an eyebrow. Too weird? About what?

Patton stood up, they weren't shrinking as much as before but they were definitely still getting smaller. Ugh! They weren't prepared to deal with all his fuzzy feelings! They weren't prepared before the accident and now there was no running away from them.

Janus let out a soft sigh as Patton's shrinking seemed to stop. “Is me being here making you… uncomfortable? I could leave if you don't want me to see you like this.”

“No!” Patton didn't want him to leave! Not only because moving around at barely two feet tall wasn't the easiest thing to do, but they didn't want to be alone. “I’m not uncomfortable, not around you. It's been days since they let me be back at home, and technically I can't interact with anyone… But I want you here.”

Janus had a slight blush on his cheeks, “Patt.. ugh I don't know. I don't want you to keep changing because of me.”

Patton shook his head, “I don't care. This size thing has been a pain to deal with, I don't want it to take you away from me.”

Okay, now Janus didn't know how to feel about that. Patton has been a big crush for, Janus even forgot for how long! He kept leaving flirty comments here and yhete to grab Patton's attention but it never worked. Janus thought they didn't have any effect on them but… he could literally see they did now. Has Patton liked him back for all these years.

Patton was getting desperate at not getting a response. Janus was spacing out on his own thoughts, as if they didn't have their own to deal with already. Patton was now closer to one foot but they didn't care, they walked closer to Janus and climbed his legs.

Janus felt Patton’s small body on him and instinctively cupped his hands around them. “Here, I don't want you to hurt yourself.” He helped Patton up his lap and let them sit there.

Was this what Janus felt being against them before? Patton didn't know if he could deal with it much longer. “You do have an effect on me Jan, but not a bad one. At least I think it's not bad.”

Janus was sure Patton was now smaller than he had been to them. “Uh… I affect you? How?”

“Well, it's hard to explain but I… mmm something attracts me to you. I feel safe and loved with you, and I feel like I want to make you feel the same thing.”

“Yeah… I think that's a great way to explain it.” Janus scratched the back of his head, “listen I didn't want it to come out this way. I never imagined it would come out this way, but if it makes you feel better.” Janus took a deep breath, “I feel like that too, I’ve felt like that for so long. Being away from you has been so hard, I just want to stay by your side.”

That stopped Patton’s shrinking, it actually gave them a small growth spurt. “You really mean it?”

Janus smiled at Patton, who was now at eye level with him. “I do, and I promise I’ll be here for you.”

Patton smiled and cupped Janus’ cheek. Their hand looked so small, it only made Patton a lot more flustered. “Can I?”

Janus chuckled a bit and held the back of Patton's head, “go ahead.” This was it, it was really happening! At least if he really understood what Patton meant.

They didn't wait any longer and closed the space between them with a kiss. Patton felt like a hundred butterflies were dancing on their stomach. They could feel the heat coming from Janus’ face merge with their own heat.

Janus felt Patton getting heavier as they leaned on him. He laid down on the floor, letting them lay on top of him. Janus kept going with the kiss, only stopping once Patton grew out of reach.

Patton frowned and looked down at Janus with a chuckle, “guess I got a bit excited.”

Janus chuckled back and nodded, “that's what it looks like.”

“You look adorable when I’m bigger than you.” Patton stroked Janus’ hair as they got off of him to lay on the floor.

Janus blushed, he felt a tingling sensation running through his body but assumed it was just him being flustered. Janus watched Patton as they started growing again… only to find a confused look on his face.

Looking around, Janus realized it wasn't Patton growing. He was shrinking.

Patton sat up and picked Janus up to try and comfort him, “uh… I guess it's contagious after all. I’m so sorry Jan.”

Janus was pretty sure he wasn't even a foot tall now, confusion and fear mixed together weren't good for his situation. He sat on Patton's hand and looked up, shaking his head. “You didn't know, it's not your fault Patt… but, you did say an antidote is being made right?”

[ask-gt-roceit]

I can't believe it's been a while since I've done something with those two.

I don't exactly have excuses besides life and motivation ig...

-

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[ashs-random-writing]

Building up Burned Bridges

Chapter 1

Ao3 

REBLOGS>>LIKES

--

Humans are widely regarded as myths. Myths of Giant monstrous beings whose only goal is to destroy magic and all magical beings. That was a stereotype.

Janus is a human who's been in hiding, alone for seven years. He was always careful, he always protected himself, and now there was a fairy in his cave.

--

In a world filled with magic, humans were not very common, very well-respected, or even very believed in. Most people believed that humans were myths, designed to tell children.

To scare children, mostly. Most myths painted them as giant beings, half as tall as a tree, dead set on destroying magic. They were partially correct.

Humans were large compared to most beings, very large, but they certainly weren't half the size of a tree. And, while a lot of humans weren't the most tolerant of differences, not every single human wanted to destroy magic, that was a stereotype.

Overall, humans were fearful of the tiny mages and small creatures that populated the world. They were scared of the sharp teeth on most of them, scared of the mages' curses, scared of the claws of the werewolves

They turned into the tiniest of dogs, and yet were so fierce. The fairies were probably the least harmless, but they could do some painful hexes

Janus, like all of the few other humans, had designated to stay in hiding. And, with that decision came the isolation. Janus had been alone since he was ten years old, and it was deemed too risky for him to stay with his mother.

He remembered stories his mother used to tell him, ones that countered what non-humans thought. His mother said that there was a time when humans weren’t in hiding, and they lived happy lives. Until, one day, more and more magical creatures arrived, pushing humans out of their homes and attacking.

When humans retaliated, they were painted as monsters and forced into hiding. Janus wasn’t sure if that was the full truth, he knew that the magical creatures probably were told other things about what happened.

He just found it hard to see their side of the story when he was the one living in a cave, far from any civilisation. He stubbornly glared at the boulder hiding his cave from view, as if that was the source of his problems. He would have to go hunting soon, as soon as night fell. He still had to be extra careful, there were a lot of creatures that were nocturnal

He moved the boulder, sneaking towards where he knew some animals lived, away from where magical civilisations were situated. He swiftly killed one of the smaller animals and started taking it back to the firepit in his cave. When he got back and placed the boulder in place once again, he realised that there was someone else in there with him

It was a fairy, if he was correct, and now, someone knew where he was. He narrowed his eyes, glaring at the tiny, glowing figure. He obviously couldn’t let them out of his sight... One fairy wasn’t that bad, but if they brought an army? That would be bad

He walked over to them, grabbing them from the air. He wouldn’t hurt them; he didn’t want to keep up stereotypes of humans being violent monsters, but he wouldn’t let them go. They tried stinging him with a hex, but he had already prepared for that. He looked over them in his hand (they had purple skin and a dark outfit) and growled, setting them on a ledge within his sight.

They could fly off of the ledge, he knew, but he also knew that there were no exits large enough for a fairy to fit through without moving the boulder. They stiffened, staring at him. Janus simply started a fire to cook his meat.

The fairy could try to escape all they wanted, but they wouldn’t be able to. Janus had made sure long ago that there were no entry or exit points that people could use to attack him

He made his food, giving a small piece to his captive. Janus couldn’t care less whether they actually ate or not, but he would be slightly disappointed at losing his only company. He started setting up his ‘bed’ for the night.

Or, at least, it would’ve been a bed if he had one, but it was actually just a pile of grass and leaves.

He knew it probably wasn’t morally correct to keep someone captive, whether he hurt them or not, but he didn’t care. It kept himself safe, and that was important.

Self-preservation was one of the only instincts he could rely on by now. It seemed the fairy didn’t have self-preservation, he noted, as they didn’t eat what they were given

Janus rolled his eyes, looking at the fairy, who was still on the ledge

“Are you not eating?” It was sarcastic, a rhetorical question that he knew would gain no real answer

He knew that they wouldn’t understand him, humans and magicals were raised very separated, from humans' doing, and there was practically no possibility of them speaking the same language. As expected, they didn’t understand him.

While he knew how loud his voice would sound to them, he kept his voice quiet for a different reason. He didn’t know how many fairies were lurking around his home; if one found him, who knew how many were nearby

When he fell asleep, he was almost scared. Scared of them finding something that could end his life, scared of them finding an escape, scared of them bringing other people to kill him. He was scared that keeping them there would make him the monster he swore he was not

When he woke up, the fairy was still on the ledge, as if scared of even leaving the small space. Janus wondered if they maybe had looked for an escape before going back to the ledge

Whatever happened, Janus was just glad that they hadn’t left. That would mean anything but good for him. He got up, walking to the still (mostly) fresh meat from the night before. That would make a good breakfast, he supposed. It did every morning, anyway.

He noted that the fairy had, in fact, eaten the meat provided. He gave them another piece as he ate his own. The fairy wasn’t the most trusting of him, he could tell, but that pretty much made it even, he reasoned

Neither of them had any reason to trust the other, and that mistrust kept gaining more mistrust. His mistrust of magicals as a whole led to this whole kidnapping situation, which led to them mistrusting him more, which gave them more reason to snitch, which gave him more reason to keep them there, which gained more mistrust, and so on and so forth

He talked to them (or, more accurately, at them) quietly as he went about his day, and occasionally they talked back, their own strange language almost making Janus pause

It sounded closer to squeaking than it did language, but it was unmistakably words of some kind. Janus didn’t much care what they meant. He had made some paint out of berries and he wanted to draw on the cave. It was one of his only pastimes

He drew a snake first, making the head out of his thumbprint and trailing the paint down in a squiggle for the body. They were always his favourite animal

His captive was staring, and he just let them. He gave a small sigh, starting to draw a stick-figure.

He felt his face for scars he had earned whilst hunting, and added his best approximation of them to the drawing. He rested his head on the wall

Why couldn’t Janus have been born as anything but human? Maybe then he could be still with his family, maybe he could have friends. But no, because some random magicals decided that humans were dangerous, that they were monsters, he wasn’t even able to see any other humans. He wasn’t even sure if his family was still alive

The fairy was speaking, obviously at him, but Janus didn’t want to listen to a fairy at the moment, didn’t want to think about fairies. He growled, shooting a side glance to the creature on the ledge, who froze under his gaze. He sharply turned away

His thoughts raced with what that fairy would do to him if they managed to escape. He had to protect himself, and that came with holding them there, whether either of them liked it or not.

-------

Virgil had always loved monster stories. Humans were a particular favourite of his, of which he knew all of the myths.

And all the myths painted humans as mindless monsters, whose only goal was to destroy and kill.

Virgil found it fascinating.

But now, trapped in a cave with an actual human, he found it more terrifying than interesting. He had just been looking for shelter after it got dark and he strayed too far from the village

He had found the cave with a boulder next to it. Once he got in, he realised that something must’ve lived there; there was art on the walls, a firepit in a corner, and it was all larger than any creature Virgil could think of.

He heard the rock being moved and he noticed the human. It looked how the stories portrayed them, and Virgil froze in place, staring at the monster that hadn’t yet noticed him.

It turned, after it had moved the boulder and completely trapped Virgil, and its eyes locked onto him. It stalked closer, and Virgil flew backwards slightly as it grabbed him. He struggled, trying to sting its hand, seemingly only succeeding in making it angrier.

It growled, and Virgil screwed his eyes shut, hoping his death was quick. Except, the monster didn’t kill him. It dropped him on a ledge, and started making food.

Virgil stared, trying to determine what the human was doing. The firepit soon served a purpose, and Virgil could see a little better. It was large, with some scars on its face and some primitive-looking clothing, obviously made with warmth in mind more than any fashion.

It kept looking up at him, making Virgil stiffen and wonder whether he’d be the first course, or second. Or, possibly, dessert. Somehow, that felt insulting to think, though

It finished cooking the meat, and started ripping into it, giving a bit of it to him. It devoured the meat as if it hadn’t eaten in days, which he supposed it might not have done. Virgil didn’t touch his meat for a while, and the human had finished its own

It had retreated to a different corner of the cave, almost curling in on itself. It looked up at him and started making noise. The noises it made were strange

They were a strange combination of low groans, strange chirps and clicks. He almost compared it to language, but none of the myths had said anything about them having language or a culture

Virgil didn’t respond to... whatever it was doing. It fell asleep soon enough, and Virgil, while he was previously too scared to leave where the human had placed him, started flying around, looking for an exit

The fire was still unextinguished, so he could see, but he couldn’t see a single exit, beyond the currently blocked opening he had entered by. He hit the wall in frustration, looking down at the slumbering monster

The myths claimed humans were mindless killing machines, but... this seemed colder, calculating. It was keeping him there, and, more importantly, keeping him there alive. He shivered, though he was unsure whether it was due to the coldness of the cave or his thoughts

He flew back to his ledge, not wanting to incur the human’s wrath if he wasn’t there. He started eating, feeling hungry after his expedition for an escape. When the human awoke, it briefly looked at him, and otherwise started eating again, placing more meat on the ledge

Virgil watched it for hours, as it paced the cave, making more of its strange noises, some of which Virgil responded to. What was shocking was when it had started painting on the walls. He had seen the art on the walls; low detail pictures of animals and what he assumed was meant to be other humans, but somehow he hadn’t expected to see the human making more

Virgil watched as it made what he could only assume was a self portrait, based on the scars. He stared as it rested its head below the picture. Virgil didn’t know what was going on

“Are you... okay?” He knew it wouldn’t understand him, but it felt rude not to ask

It was clear him making noise at this moment in time was unwelcome, as it growled, looking up at him.

Virgil froze, and the creature turned away. Neither of them moved for what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes. Here he was, thinking the monster would be as docile as it was all day, but no, it was suddenly terrifying once again

He quietly groaned, pushing his head into his hands. This sucked, why’d he ever come into this cave to begin with? The human was staring at him the rest of the day, almost serving to make Virgil more uncomfortable

Virgil was aware that at some point, the human would kill him. He didn’t know whether he preferred the option of sooner, rather than later. Maybe if it killed him later on, he would have chance to tame it or something first. Or, he’d be able to escape...

Virgil tried his hardest not to fall asleep again at night, not wanting to be vulnerable when there was a literal monster still staring at him, but his tiredness won out.

When he woke up again, the human was no longer in the cave, but the boulder was back in place. Virgil realised that he obviously hadn’t been sleeping for that long

He stood up, looking around. The cave was dark again, and Virgil wondered, not for the first time, why he was stuck there

The human came back soon enough, blocking the exit with the boulder faster than Virgil could even get off of the ledge. And, there went his chance to escape. Great.

The human started making more food, and Virgil grumbled to himself. The food wasn’t even that good, it was so bland; hadn’t the monster ever heard of spices?

Actually... yeah, that was a dumb question

--

Taglist: @a-chilly-pepper

[callboxkat]

Banished (part 11)

Author’s note: Surprise! There’s a new chapter! 

Summary: Janus has been banished from his pod for crimes that he did not commit. However, this merman’s bad luck is far from over. A mer is not meant to live on their own in the open ocean, and as one would expect, things do not go well. Enter: Florida Man.

Chapter Warnings: censored swearing, injury mentions (burn, cuts), banishment mention, murder mention, fainting, Remus being his chaotic self, weapon mention, arguing

Word count: 4126

Banished Masterpost!

Writing Masterpost!

...

Sadly, Logan was the sort of driver who obeyed all the traffic laws. He didn’t even speed. Not even a little! So, Remus’s drive took a little longer than usual, since he wanted to at least keep Logan’s car in sight in his rearview mirror.

Was that strictly necessary, given that Logan already knew where he lived? No. But also yes.

Thankfully, even with Logan’s tragically legal driving style, they made it back to Remus’s house before Remus’s anticipation made him buzz right out of his skin. Remus pulled to a stop on the curb, suddenly enough that the new buckets of sea water he’d collected sloshed dangerously. He hopped out and bounced towards Logan’s approaching car, barely remembering to actually close his own car door. While Remus waited, Logan carefully lined his car up on the street, turned it off, and finally stepped out, apprehensive.

A neighbor stood on the other side of the street, watering their plants and watching the pair. Remus jauntily waved, drawing Logan’s attention to the neighbor as well.

The neighbor scoffed, turning off their hose. They tossed it on the grass and crossed the street.

“You’re not planning on making more of those obscene costumes of yours out here, are you? Those things are disgusting. Just last week you covered half the street in glitter and rotten sea weed!”

Remus frowned for a second, then gasped and put his hands on either side of his head. “OH! I completely forgot, my swamp monster costume!” He sighed dramatically. “Damn, that party was supposed to be tonight.” Maybe he could still make the costume? There would be future parties to crash. And it would be fun to just wander around town, dressed up like the lost city of Atlantis’s worst nightmares. Maybe he’d accidentally dress up as someone Janus knew!

The neighbor was still scowling, looking between Remus and Logan while Remus’s imagination threatened to run away from him. “Who is this? One of your weirdo friends?”

Remus put away thoughts of terrorizing the town and put an arm around Logan’s shoulders. “Oh this? This is my friend with benefits.” Remus winked.

Logan’s brow furrowed. “What?”

The neighbor’s expression was overcome by revulsion. “Why the hell would I want to know about that? Ugh! You’re disgusting. Do I even want to know what you wanted that old aquarium for? And why did you leave so much sand in my mailbox?”

Remus smiled innocently, his arm still around Logan’s shoulders. “I put a 20 in there, too!”

“I didn’t ask you for that.”

“It’s for the tank.”

“It was covered in sand!”

“You don’t like your money crunchy?”

“…Crunchy?”

“Yeah, crunchy.” To illustrate, Remus took a sandy dollar from his pocket and popped it in his mouth with no hesitation, chewing on the salt-soaked paper. The sand grains crunched audibly in his teeth.

At that, the neighbor took several steps back. “What—just—what the hell are you two doing in there? I know you’re up to no good.”

“None of your business, dork!” Remus said, his voice slightly muffled by the dollar. “Now go away before I sick my new fish on you!

The neighbor looked confused and disgruntled, but they threw up their hands and walked away with another loud scoff, stomping across the street. Their front door slammed shut. The hose was still lying on their lawn, forgotten.

Remus leaned over to stage whisper to Logan, shoving the sandy dollar to one side of his mouth. “Logan. Logan. I called them a whale p*nis.”

“I am aware.”

Remus spat out the soggy, sandy dollar, cackled, and grinned like the Cheshire Cat. “Anyway… onward!” he announced, pretending to brandish a weapon. Swords were overused, so he liked to picture a huge, jet black morningstar instead, covered in jagged spikes longer than his thumb. Maybe not practical, but it sure would have that intimidation factor.

“That would be preferable to remaining outdoors,” Logan commented, looking at Remus’s brandished arm with a furrowed brow. Unfortunately, he could not see Remus’s objectively bad*ss morningstar. “I was under the impression that that was why we were here.”

“Don’t want to admire my curb appeal?” Remus joked, putting away his imaginary weapon and turning to the other man.

Logan squinted up at the lime green house. “I’m not sure you know what curb appeal is.”

“Fair enough!” Remus said, marching up to his house. He unlocked the door and swung it dramatically open, his fun-hating neighbor instantly forgotten. “Jan!” he called. “I brought Logey to see you!”

Remus entered the living room first, Logan following behind more slowly. He paused in the doorway, while Remus trotted right up to the tank.

Janus was awake—if he hadn’t been before, yelling someone’s name was usually a good way to wake them up—and was now leaning on the edge of the aquarium, watching them.

“Hey Mr. Taser Fish—feeling chatty today?” Remus asked. Janus had still been asleep when he left earlier, so he hadn���t gotten to ask.

Janus, his eyes still on Logan, slowly reached up a hand and tapped twice on the aquarium glass.

Remus’s shoulders dropped. “Aw. Oh well. I guess we’ll get to play charades a bit longer—that’s fun, right?”

Janus shot him a skeptical glance before returning his gaze to Logan.

Logan was watching their interaction with a conflicting mixture of fascination and apprehension. Remus could practically hear the rapid spinning of gears in his head. He stepped back, gesturing between them. “So, Janus, meet Logan. Logan, this is Janus.”

Despite his clear interest, Logan didn’t seem inclined to come any closer than the doorway where he currently hovered, keeping Remus solidly between himself and Janus.

When Logan finally spoke, his voice was an oddly high pitch. Remus graciously decided not to call him out on it, even if it was amusing. “You, uh, look improved,” he said.

It was true. Janus still looked tired, and maybe a little feverish; but the only other time Logan had seen him, Janus had been visibly sicker, and pretty out of it. The swelling in his face had gone down noticeably, and his neck also looked less red. The injury to his arm was hidden by his capelet, but Remus knew that it already looked much better, too.

The capelet, of course, had not escaped Logan’s notice.

“Did you give that to him?” Logan asked, looking to Remus.

“It’s his,” Remus said. “Found it on the beach, with some other stuff. I did give him the pillow though—it’s my raincoat!” he added proudly

“Oh.” Logan looked back to the tank, seeming to notice the other items as well. He swallowed, turning to address Janus again. “Ah… do you remember me? I know you were rather… unwell, when we first met.”

Janus seemed to consider, then slowly tapped on the glass, with clear hesitation.

“He does,” Remus supplied. “Kind of, I think he means.”

Janus’s nail tapped again on the glass in confirmation.

“That’s what that means?” Logan clarified, his eyes flicking to Remus.

“Yeah. One tap is yes, two is no.”

Logan nodded. Another long moment passed. Logan had a look on his face like he couldn’t quite believe what was happening. And he still hadn’t ventured past the entrance to the room.

Remus smirked a little. “Jeez, Logey, no need to be such a scaredy cat. He’s just a fish man.”

Logan shot him an irritated look. “I’m not afraid,” he argued, even as his gaze drifted to Remus’s bandaged arms. Obviously in an attempt to prove it, he straightened his back and approached, walking right up past Remus and up to the edge of the tank.

He stuck out a hand, and Remus did not miss the way his other one was clenched in a fist, or how he set his jaw. Remus scratched at the edge of one of the bandages on his arms, waiting to see what would happen.

Janus looked warily at his hand, then back up at Logan’s face.

“You shake it,” Logan blurted out. “You take my hand in yours, and shake it. It’s a hand shake.”

Behind them, Remus danced from side to side. “Shake, shake, shake,” he sing-songed to himself.

“It’s a gesture meant to be part of a greeting,” Logan continued, ignoring him.

Janus frowned, but then he deliberately fastened his small hand around Logan’s. Logan jumped slightly despite expecting the touch; but Janus didn’t shock him, and didn’t try to scratch him with those nails that were just a little too sharp to be human. He shook Logan’s hand, from side to side.

A little smile of delight appeared on Logan’s face, his mouth twitching up to reveal very white teeth. He quickly recovered, though, smothering his expression into something more neutral. Remus resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Logey took himself too seriously. It wouldn’t kill him to let himself smile.

“Generally, you, um, shake hands up and down,” Logan said. He still sounded nervous. “Like this.” He carefully shook their hands properly.

Janus furrowed his brow, then retracted his hand.

“So, are we all best buds now?” Remus asked, grinning.

“That seems premature,” Logan commented, sounding a little breathless. Based on Janus’s expression, he shared a similar thought. Now that Logan’s handshake of bravery was done, he took a few steps back.

Remus pointed at Logan. “It’s only premature with that attitude,” he said, accentuating his words with his pointed finger. He turned back to Janus. “You want some lunch, new best bud?”

Janus tapped once on the glass.

“Great!” Remus left the room, heading towards the kitchen.

He only made it about five steps, when there was a loud thump from behind him, followed by a splash of water.

Remus stopped, frowned, and spun around on his heel, going back into the room.

Janus had pushed himself up so that his whole torso was above water. He looked like he regretted the sudden motion, but still his hands gripped the edge of the tank, his eyes wide with surprise. Water dripped down the sides of the glass.

Logan, meanwhile, was not standing where Remus expected to see him. A beat passed in which Remus stared at the empty space where his friend was supposed to be, and then he looked down.

Logan was sprawled out on the floor, unconscious.

“Huh.” Remus looked at him for a second, then back up at Janus. “Well, sh*t.”

…

Remus walked into the living room with Janus’s lunch in one hand, and a glass of water in the other. “Alright, Jan Jan, I actually got your food this time! This is for you,” he told the merman, handing over the fish with a flourish.

Janus accepted the food and sank to the bottom of the tank, where he started eating, never taking his gaze off of the humans for long.

“Aaand this is for you,” Remus said as he handed the water to Logan, who sat on the couch, his face still flushed red in mortification. The fact that Janus kept looking at Logan was not helping him feel any less flustered.

Logan took the glass with a small nod. Janus had started to pick his meal apart, tearing off scraps of fish and eating them one at a time. Logan slowly sipped from the glass of water. He’d insisted he must have been dehydrated or something, from work, but he got the sense that Remus did not believe him.

Remus plopped down beside Logan. “So, you sure you’re good? How’s the head?”

Logan took another sip of water. “I’m fine.”

“Really? I mean, I took one step out of the room and you conked right out on the floor.” Remus cackled. “Is Janus really that scary? I know he’s got fangs and stuff, but he’s the size of a little kid.”

Logan’s mouth thinned, his hands tightening on the glass. “W-well, in my defense, it’s not every day that I am pressured into meeting someone whose existence is so improbable, especially one with fangs and the ability to electrocute me—”

Remus put his hands up, interrupting Logan’s justifications. His expression had fallen, and he had the grace to look sheepish. “Hey, hey, I’m sorry. Not judging. But your head’s okay? I don’t want any cracked eggshells. This is a whole eggshell household.”

Logan put a hand to the back of his head subconsciously, even though he had already carefully checked for an injury. “It’s fine.”

Remus looked him up and down, squinting, before he  seemed to accept that he was telling the truth. He clapped his hands together. “Excellent! In that case, I’m going to go grab those buckets from my car.”

He started out of the room, only to pause and point a stern finger back at Logan. “No more fainting,” he said.

Logan sighed.

…

“So, how do you want to do this?” Remus asked, pacing back and forth with a hand to his chin. All of the buckets of sea water were lined up along the wall, and the remains of Janus’s meal had been taken away. Now they just had to clean the tank and switch out the water, but Janus was still in there, and he probably wouldn’t want to be in there for the whole time. Plus, they should probably check his injuries.

“Your arms are still burned,” Logan reminded him from the couch. “You shouldn’t pick him up. Your bandages will get wet, at the very least.”

“I’ve done it before,” Remus shrugged. “He’s not heavy.”

“It would be better if I did it,” Logan said.

Remus turned, giving him a disbelieving look, and tilted his head. “Ah…”

“I’m fine now,” Logan insisted.

Remus wasn’t convinced. He glanced at Janus, who looked uncertain about the whole idea of being picked up at all. Remus doubted he wanted to be picked up by someone who very well might faint again and drop him.

He considered. “I could cover up my arms. Like for the shower, but less naked.”

Logan let out a frustrated sigh, shaking his head, but he seemed to realize that neither Remus nor Janus were going to let him pick up the merman that day. “…Fine.”

Five minutes later, freshly adorned with two large plastic trash bags, which were taped in place around his arms with duct tape, Remus walked back into the room. He swung his arms as he walked so the wrinkles in the plastic caught the air and made them puff out slightly.

“Like my new digs?” he asked. “How do I look?”

Logan set his empty glass on the table. “You look like you taped a pair of 13 gallon trash can bags to your own arms. With… is that zebra print duct tape?”

“I’m a trendsetter; you can just say it.”

Logan frowned his confused frown, and Remus grinned before he turned to Janus. “Alright, Mr. Taser Fish, ready to go?”

Janus looked reluctant, but didn’t fight Remus as he lifted the small merman from the tank, dripping water. Remus carried him out into the kitchen, setting him down in the kitchen sink, which was half-filled with saltwater. He’d grabbed some towels to pad the side of it and make a pillow.

Janus looked around uncertainly as he shifted to get more comfortable. He looked up at Remus, who could tell he wanted to ask a question. Remus could guess what it was.

“This is where we fixed you up,” Remus explained. “Is it comfy enough?”

Janus took a moment to assess his surroundings, before carefully tapping once on the counter.

“Great—I’ll just take care of the tank. Just yell if you need something. Or drop a plate on the floor. I got the whole set at a yard sale just for promising I’d leave, so it’s no loss! Maybe I’ll actually go buy those ones I’ve had my eye on. They’ve got this octopus on them, and he’s got a top hat and a bunch of knives. Which is just top tier design.”

Janus stared at him. Remus grinned, saluted, and bounced back to the other room.

…

Cleaning the tank took a while, but it wasn’t too long before Remus had finished pouring the last bucket of seawater in, tossing the empty plastic container into the haphazard pile of other buckets, to be taken back to the beach the next day. He returned to the kitchen for Janus, who wasn’t pleased about being woken from his nap; but he let Remus pick him up and carry him back to the tank readily enough.

“Oookay,” Remus said once Janus was back in the tank. “Logey, you ready to go?”

“Ah… yes, I suppose I ought to return home,” Logan said. He got to his feet. “I’ll see myself out.”

“I could drive you.”

“I require my car. I’ll be fine on my own.”

“No, no, no, congrats on your new stalker, buddy. If you won’t let me drive you, I’m going to follow you home, to make sure you get there okay.”

Logan frowned. “That is unnecessary.”

“Well, what if we stop somewhere for some food? Then I’m not just following you, we’re going to hang out. You have to eat lunch at some point, right?”

“…That would be acceptable, I suppose.”

“It’s a date!” Remus turned to Janus. “Butt—” he waggled his “—before we go, do you need anything? More food? My offer of a bedtime story is still open, even if it’s noon.”

Janus had seemed to be attempting to follow Logan’s and Remus’s conversation, with limited success. At being addressed, he straightened slightly, then mulled over the question for a long moment.

He glanced down, steeled himself, and stuck out one of his hands.

Remus blinked, confused. Did he want a handshake? Maybe he wanted one from Remus and Logan.

But when he reached to shake the merman’s hand, Janus yanked it back with a look of frustration, only to hold it out again. Remus realized he was actually offering the metal cuff on his wrist, the one with the bandage wrapped underneath.

“Are you giving that to me?” Remus asked with a frown. “The cuff?” It was pretty, sure, shiny metal despite being from underwater, and etched with symbols, but it was a little small for Remus’s wrist.

The merman hesitated, frowned, then tapped on the tank.

“Oh. You don’t want it?” Remus wasn’t sure what he’d do with it, but if the merman really wanted to give it away, he wouldn’t refuse.

The merman tapped what seemed an overly adamant no. Remus got the idea he was missing something.

“Okay. Does it… do you know how to take it off?” The cuff didn’t appear to fit over his hand, and neither Logan nor Remus had noticed any way to release it. The cuff seemed featureless, other than some symbols that decorated it, symbols that resembled Janus’s writing the day before, but which might as well have been gibberish to Remus.

Looking frustrated, Janus tapped twice again, another firm no.

Ohhh. “So… you want help getting that off? Like the garbage, the other day?”

The merman tapped loudly on the glass. There was a desperate, yet utterly hopeless look growing in his eyes, one that alarmed Remus. It was just a bracelet! A thick bracelet, sure, but it couldn’t be that bad, right? Maybe it had been stuck on him for a really long time or something.

Remus hesitantly took his wrist, which Janus allowed. He turned it this way and that, inspecting it. He thought of the bruised skin around the cuff, currently hidden by bandages, and realized that that was probably the result of the merman’s own attempts to remove it. “How did you even get this on?” he wondered aloud.

Remus heard shuffling steps as Logan came over to see. “He doesn’t have it on by choice? I thought it was decorative.”

“I guess not?” Or if it had been, it wasn’t anymore.

Janus let out a frustrated sigh through his nose. Remus considered trying their pizza box alphabet again, but then the merman took one of his fingers and traced a line along the cuff, from one side to the other. Remus leaned in closer, making Janus twitch uncomfortably, and finally saw a near perfect seam in the metal, which followed along some of the symbols—letters?—etched there.

“I see,” Remus said, and Janus relaxed imperceptibly at the small amount of progress. So, it did open somehow. Or had, at some point. He considered, inspecting the cuff further.

“Does it unlock?” Logan asked. “Is there somewhere a key goes in?”

Janus reached out with his free hand and motioned to a portion of the cuff. Remus squinted, and realized that he could in fact see a small hole there. But it was so small, there was no way his lockpicking tools could fit inside.

“Hmm. That’s way too small for a paper clip.”

“You don’t have the key, do you?” Logan asked.

Janus sighed and didn’t bother answering. His body language, and perhaps the fact that the cuff was still on his wrist, were answer enough.

“How’d you get this on here in the first place?” Remus asked.

Janus, of course, said nothing.

“I guess I could try my lockpicking kit—”

“You have a lockpicking kit?”

“—but I really doubt it’ll work on this.”

Logan held out a hand. “May I see?”

Remus glanced at him with an exaggerated amount of skepticism. “Only if you pinkie promise to stay conscious.”

“Shut up.” Logan brushed away Remus’s proffered pinkie, and very carefully took Janus’s wrist from the other man, at first touching it only with his fingertips. The merman looked uncomfortable, but there was a faint, guarded hope in his eyes.

A silent moment passed as Logan examined the cuff. He ran his thumb over the symbols. “Are these letters?” he asked. “What do they mean?”

Janus’s hands clenched suddenly, and Logan quickly let go of his wrist, practically scrambling away.

Nothing else happened, so Logan shakily cleared his throat. “W-well, It… it looks like it is made of rather strong metal, and as… as Remus said, there is no obvious mechanism by which we can remove it.”

Janus wilted in bitter resignation.

“So… the only option may be to cut it off.”

Janus lifted his head, eyes wary. He put his free hand over the cuffed one protectively. Logan didn’t seem to notice.

“He means the cuff, not your hand,” Remus interjected, before that misunderstanding could become disastrous.

“I—yes, of course I meant the cuff. I know someone who can do it safely. If-if you’ll let him.”

Janus stared between them, disbelief written across his features. He opened his mouth, closed it, then tried again.

“You can remove it?”

The words were very quiet, hoarse, and clearly painful to get out, but they were understandable. Logan’s eyes widened. Remus managed to keep his scream internal—barely.

“I believe my friend can,” Logan said slowly. “Will you allow me to contact him?”

“Only if my lockpick doesn’t work!” Remus assured. He was 99% sure it wouldn’t, but he’d still try.

Janus’s hand wrapped around his wrist. He still looked incredibly doubtful, and the silence went on long enough that Remus almost thought that that was their answer; but then he reached forward, and tapped once on the glass.

…

This was a terrible idea.

Janus knew it. He knew he should be absolutely against any more humans finding out about him. More humans meant more unpredictability, meant more danger.

But if it meant the end of this f*cking cuff on his wrist, he’d do almost anything.

Remus’s ‘lockpick’ hadn’t worked—sharp metal tools that he struggled to fit in the near-perfect seam in the metal, with the only effect a sore hand and a new scratch in the cuff’s surface that didn’t do anything towards weakening its structural integrity.

So, now he and Logan were gone doing whatever they were doing, and Logan was going to reach out to this ‘friend’ of his.

Maybe he actually didn’t know anyone who could get the cuff off. Maybe he’d hit his head when he fainted, and wasn’t thinking clearly. Maybe this was a waste of time.

At least Logan didn’t seem nearly so scary anymore, after what had happened.

Janus leaned his head on the cool glass, letting his eyelids close.

Maybe it was a waste of time to even try to get this cuff off, but undeniably, there was still a part of him that desperately wanted to go home. If not back to his own pod, who would know of his conviction with or without the marker of his banishment, then to another pod. One who had never heard of Janus, the vicious attempted murderer who got off easy.

[darkmagic-sweetheart]

Happy Birthday @midnightsdarkangel!!!! I’ve posted this art, along with the story on my side account @giant-sketches, but I wanted to share it on my main as well since I’m so proud of how it came out. Also you guys should check out my friends stuff cause it’s great!!! Go wish them a happy birthday!

@thatsthat24

P.S. Happy birthday to Roman too. I couldn’t make anything because I took 3 days just to do this piece. XP  Maybe later?

[kieraelieson]

Ooooh I didn’t know how much I needed nice Big Janus! Janus who grumbles about getting an exterminator in but never follows through. Janus who definitely never catches sight of a trembling too hard to sneak Virgil. Janus who accidentally buys the wrong brand candy (Patton’s fav) again he’ll just have to leave them out for guests or something. Janus who leaves the tv on Discovery or Disney when he’s out of the room because he ‘likes having background noise’ it makes the house feel alive.

Continued from This Ask

Virgil had seen Janus’s eyes pass over him. He knew he had. And he was just too terrified to sneak properly, bolting behind the first cover and trembling the whole rest of the way into the wall. But never again did Janus look his way, and he took not one step towards him.

••^*^••

“Oh, no!” Janus said loudly, nearly startling Patton, hidden behind the bag of sugar. “I’ve gone and bought strawberry candy instead of cherry. And I hate strawberry! It must be how similar the colors are.”

He pulled out a plate and poured the whole bag of candy onto. “Sit here and rot, accursed candy.”

He shoved the plate across the counter, until it bumped against the wall. And then he left.

Patton’s eyes had been wide open ever since Janus had said ‘strawberry candy’, and he couldn’t resist darting forward and grabbing just one before slipping back into the walls.

••^*^••

“I’m bored,” Janus announced, just as Logan was passing beneath the couch. He flipped through channels rapidly, and stopped on the Discovery channel. “I guess I’ll just leave this for background noise. Makes the house more alive. Almost as if it isn’t strange for me to be talking to thin air, cause I’m talking to the house.”

And then Janus just left the room.

Logan was skeptical that this was true, but he was very happy to pause his borrowing until Janus returned or changed the channel.

••^*^••

“Psst, Janny!”

Janus smiled and leaned down near Remus. “Yes?”

“Roman‘s gonna come out in a bit, wanna watch some Disney?”

“I’d love to. Would spilling some popcorn be appropriate?”

“As long as you give me some too!”

••^*^••

They’d all gathered together. It was a group decision, though some were more supportive than others.

The door opened and shut, and Virgil grabbed Patton’s hand.

Janus entered the room, blinked, and looked away immediately. There was a half a second of silence.

“I assume by the lack of screams and scrambling that I’m supposed to have seen you?”

“Yes,” Logan said. “Though we appreciate your consideration, both now and in the past.”

“Happy Birthday!” Remus burst out, jumping up and down. He was echoed, though less enthusiastically, by Roman and Patton.

Janus carefully approached, sitting down on the floor just out of arm's reach of the coffee table they were standing on. “Thank you. Though I assure you, this was not necessary merely because it was my birthday.”

“We didn’t feel obligated,” Virgil said, though he was half hiding behind Patton. “It just made for a good time.”

“You’re a good bean.” Patton said firmly.

“And you’ve been beyond kind to us,” Roman said.

“Now get over here and pick me up!” Remus demanded. “They said they won’t fuss at me for it anymore and now you’re stuck being my jungle gym forever.”

Janus smiled softly, leaning forward enough to put his hand on the edge of the table, and Remus jumped on immediately.

“We hope to make this a mutually enjoyable relationship,” Logan said. “And to that end you may pick any of us up except for Virgil.”

Janus shook his head slightly. “I wouldn’t do that unless you were completely comfortable.”

Virgil and Logan relaxed considerably, and Roman raised a hand. “I’d actually like to try.”

Janus smiled and held his hand out.

Though not with the same energy as his twin, Roman stepped into the hand, only letting out a small sound as it started to move back towards Janus.

Maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as Virgil had thought.