#i wanna ration these out but also lmk if you guys have more prompts

[artbymintcookies]

Prompt: Murdock bros w Big Himbo Energy, possibly competing for the affections of one or more of Matt’s friends/coworkers/vigilante buddies

Idk what you expected but here they are

[kitchenangst]

Love in space? It’s more likely than you think.

Summary: (Bakugou Katsuki x gender neutral!reader) Fuck space, that shit ain’t easy. Also, listen to the Among Us menu music. 

Warnings: swearing, mutual pining?, dialogue heavy, characters’ deaths (including yours), mild gore, maybe ooc Bakusquad and deku team, last names only, Among Us terms used ((listen, i only played on skeld LOL) and very bad writing in 2nd POV -- lmk if I need more any specific warnings!

Word Count: 4401

Prompts: “I don’t mind if it’s you” + Among Us!BNHA (no quirks)

a/n: hi!! it’s my first time writing for BNHA, second POV, head cannons, angst AND gore,,, No like, I kid you not when I say there’s mild gore . Anyway, this is for @fromthewatertribe ’s 1k event!!!! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I wrote it!! happy reading :))  

Hey just because you’re on the botanical team does not mean you get to skip out on team workouts with the rest of the crew!! For a plant nerd, you sure love making everything in the gym a competition and Kirishima, Mina, Iida, Uraraka, and Deku very much live for it 

(Bakugou says it’s stupid, but joins anyway. He says it’s because he likes to watch everyone’s despair when he wins first place again. 

Kaminari surprisingly gets top 3, while Todoroki, Sero, and Tsuyu join just to humor you and maybe add more fire to the competition; they absolutely don’t care about winning but they love making the others struggle) 

Anyway, you guys have been preparing for Mission Polus for a LONG time now, and the playful tension between the crews on Ships UA, ShKs (Shiketsu), and LoV (League of Villains) was only making you guys more fired up than usual in your workouts and preparation

UA, being the biggest team, was going to launch last--only because Kaminari confidently lost in rock, paper, scissors,,, but no biggie! That just meant when ShKs and LOV land, everything should be prepped for you guys when you arrive!

Except, you find out things don’t come out as planned when UA arrives at the second checkpoint 

“I just got word that Ships ShKs and LoV’s crew is cut in half,” you start off grimly

“Hold on--like, the lower or upper half of their body?” 

You decided against your better judgement about throwing the closest thing at Sero until Kaminari added in, “Left half? Or right half?”

Y’know what? Maybe you’ll just throw him out of the ship. 

Apparently, it was initially thought to be some space flu

“If it’s that bad, then… Why are they still continuing the mission? Shouldn’t they handle it back at base?”

It’s probably the smartest question you’ve ever heard from Kaminari. “If it is some contagious space virus, they don’t want it to spread on Earth.”

“Whatever it is, it must be evolving fast. LoV is halfway to the 5th checkpoint, and ShKs is a quarter way to the 4th checkpoint. If they both received it around checkpoint 3 and they’re down to half their people… I just hope they’re quarantining.”

“Good thing you mention that, Deku. LoV and ShKs are changing course to go straight to Polus, and they’re going through the safety measures and cleaning procedures. Meanwhile, we’ll be skipping the 3rd and 4th checkpoints; we’ll pick up all the supplies and materials at the 5th checkpoint. 

“If the other ships’ flu or whatever started around the 3rd checkpoint, we don’t want to be infected. We’re probably setting everything up ourselves when we get to Polus.” 

Everyone is staring at you as they process this new information and you’d be surprised that Bakugou hasn’t said a word all meeting if it weren’t for the grave news this brought. 

“Which means we’ll have to ration our food supply…” Uraraka is the first to break the silence, and you pass a guilty look as you see the realization fall on the rest

The meeting wouldn’t have ended well if it weren’t for Midoriya reassuring everyone that the growing fruit should last them (assuming it was being rationed as well).

By heading straight to the 5th checkpoint, you’d be saving a lot more time as well

Theoretically, things should have gone smooth sailing if Ship UA was changing course. And it would have if all the information was correct. 

Uraraka found you frozen still near the corner of a bedroom when you didn’t return to the meeting. Having never seen you so shaken up before, all she could do was check whatever you were pointing at. 

You watched with bated breath, hoping Uraraka wouldn’t have the same reaction as you, that this was all a bad dream, that this was a prank; because whatever it was, it wasn’t fucking funny considering that deaths on a ship were now a thing.

A month hasn’t even passed since the terrible news. Ship UA was nowhere near the third checkpoint; there’s no way anyone could have been infected

it was all you could repeatedly think to not spiral 

You didn’t even notice when everyone else had arrive in the bedroom, only focusing on the screams and whispers and curses that continued to echo throughout the room and ring in your ear as everything suddenly turned dark; your hands instinctively grabbing onto whatever was around you

“Hey, it’s okay,” you heard, the familiar scent of pine not quite registering yet. “it’s alright, they’re taking care of it.”

You moved your head back to look at Bakugou, his face masking his fear well if it weren’t for the slight trembling in his hands holding you up. “‘It’?”

“The body. Mina’s body.” He took your hands still clutching onto the front of his suit, his gloved ones briefly squeezing yours to ground you. “C’mon, we’re discussing it in the meeting room.” 

God, you felt your body run cold at the thought of Mina’s corpse being called it, but figured maybe you were looking a little too into details at the moment

You focused on your breathing as he dragged you to the meeting room, where no one knew what had gone wrong. 

The only absurd detail was the hole that covered her palms, which left the rest of her body a sick, wrinkly grey. 

Deku was worried if this was what the space flu was about and Iida suggested a 2 week quarantine where one person goes on deck at a scheduled time, while Uraraka was rubbing circles on your back despite being quite shaken herself. 

“The only person who holds her hand is Kirishima” 

“Whoa, whoa whoa--what does that have to do with-”

“Everything!” and now suddenly Kaminari thinks he’s a detective.

A space flu so dangerous that it could kill you overnight was less threatening compared to what kaminari was suggesting

“Not only that, you’re the only one who goes into her room at night!”

“TMI, but… that’s unusual, isn’t it? Kaminari makes a good point.” and it’s another thing to have Sero agreeing 

“Are you suggesting we lock Kirishima in his room until he confesses his crime?” (What kind of fucking suggestion is that todoroki)

“No, I’m saying we just throw him off ship.” 

Okay, now that fucking took you out of your shock...into a different shock… and it seems everyone had the same reaction at how serious Kaminari was. 

“What the fuck are you suggesting, dunce face? We just lost a crewmate, and now you wanna toss someone out?” 

“I’m being smart for once! What if Kirishima did that to Mina instead of some space slug?”

“First off, what about me suggests that I can even do something like that? To my girlfriend, no less! Do I have to repeat that there was a hole in her hand?” 

Everyone waited for Kaminari’s response, to which he sighed and admitted that he was just thinking irrationally from this panic. 

Iida and Bakugou agreed to install cameras in the hallway with a security room while everyone returned to fulfilling their duties

The mood on the ship went downhill from there with Mina’s passing on everyone’s mind. Especially yours and Kirishima’s. 

Kirishima admitted that while he was hurt at Kaminari’s absurd suggestion, he still couldn’t hold it against him for panicking at the first death on the ship. Didn’t mean he had to talk to him though. 

On the other hand, Bakugou often visited you in the plant room, the plant lab, just… you. Anywhere he could find you. 

He told himself that he was just checking up on you, seeing if you were doing fine since Mina was one of the closest members to you 

Maybe if he had known her death would cause such hurting to you, maybe he would have… no, he shakes his head and reminds himself it’s pointless to cry over spilled milk

You didn’t need to look to know he had brought you lunch; judging from the smell, he picked your favorite too 

“You know we’re not supposed to eat in the plant room, right?”

“You know you’re not supposed to be skipping your stupid meal, right?”

“You know we’re supposed to be rationing our food, right?”

“Whatever, guess you don’t want my portion.” 

Banter like this is what always made you break the rules to eat in peace with Bakugou the last few weeks, like how he pretended to seethe at your obnoxious munching

just the simple act of giving his portion to you was touching enough, and it made you relieved how he never touched on the topic of Mina’s death; only listening whenever you brought it up 

You did, however, become concerned when he started giving you his full portion of lunch. 

“No, I’m not hungry,” he’d say after you left him half his lunch, which, normally, you wouldn’t do! you always ate more than half! 

He didn’t have an appetite, he’d insist. And he seemed uncomfortable talking about it, so you dropped the subject. 

It didn’t stop you from guiltily eating his portions, though. 

Motivation and optimism only went up when Uraraka and Tsuyu came out with decorations and stickers on their suits one day

(Sero had taped the tape roll to his head; Deku and Todoroki both carried a fake flower pot in their chest pocket; 

Iida said his pen was decorative enough but put a car sticker on the side of his arm; Kirishima wore Mina’s bracelet on his ankle; and Kaminari took up bringing a toilet plunger with him everywhere.)

You brought up the cute headband with bear ears for Bakugou, and he gave you a paper crown he “spent 5 seconds making” 

(it was just slightly bigger than your head, but it was in your favorite color)

Everything was fine, everyone was better, nothing bad has happened the past 2 months, and everything was going back to normal!

Until Tsuyu found blood in the drainage 

(no one was on their period at the time either!!)

Bakugou stayed back with you in your restroom while everyone else prepped Sero’s body for discarding 

He heard the heaving from his door, similar to the ones he had after his first meal. He recalls the stench of his being so awful, he could almost taste it bubbling at the back of his throat 

So why did yours smell so sweet? 

He continued rubbing and patting your back, the same way you had done for him awhile back. He kept telling himself it was because he didn’t want you to choke, but he knew it was to distract him from the smell

you slept in his arms the following few months when everyone agreed Sero’s death was done in cold blood, and no one knew who it was 

The irony, he learned to love, was how you were the one who suggested the curfew, the placement of the cameras to be in the bedroom hallway and other places, and the idea that no one should go to each other’s rooms 

yet you still wanted to be in his with him late into the night, to “take your mind off things” as you said, and you two would talk until the other fell asleep first 

he loved that you broke your own rule to be with him 

and he found it oddly comforting to feel the pressure of your head on his chest 

and it was fascinating to him... that he could practically taste your fear when you had a nightmare, how you sought comfort in his arms first before anything else

he was probably enjoying it way more than he should when you trusted him this much to comfort you at night, to hold you, to not break you in more ways than one

his favorite part was having a routine with you

joining you in the lab at x o’clock to watch you take care of the plants, to make observations of you as you made yours on plants, hearing you talk about the progress of growing plants in space, kissing you-

wait, kissing you? that was new. 

The forehead kisses when he left you to do his duties and before either of you fell asleep

the cheek kisses when he brought you lunch (you’re convinced that’s the payment for bringing you food)

the cute little peck you do on the corner of his mouth to stop him messing up the files in the lab 

They were so tiny and often he hadn’t even noticed when they integrated themselves into this routine 

it’s also why he wasn’t surprised when he leaned in to kiss you to stop your rambling 

“there. as long as that’s there,” he gestured vaguely at whatever that was, “you aren’t going to die. not on my watch.” 

“So that’s a thing now?” you raised an eyebrow in amusement 

“What.”

“That.” 

Oh don’t do that, don’t do that fucking grin of yours when you’re mocking his dismissive attitude 

“Y’know. Seal of protection.” 

He is not going to give in-

“You’ll do that when-”

God, who he is to resist when you’re practically asking him to shut you up 

It’s been another few months since Sero’s death, and he had been cautious in taking advantage? of your emotional state? in taking a step further? --either way, he didn’t know what held him back in the first place and he wasn’t sure how to put it in words

He also didn’t know how to explain it to you that he couldn’t kiss you more than the simple peck anymore

not when he felt the sudden surge to take more of you and definitely not when his jaw was starting to hurt 

And he didn’t know why he felt so relieved to have you be so understanding 

Of course, everyone was still on their toes about a possible murderer on ship, but no one expected a sudden electrical outage 

The nice thing about the lab was that it had a backup generator for lights, but it didn’t cover for the use of equipment 

This wouldn’t normally be a problem, not when you still have months to go before reaching the 5th checkpoint, but you weren’t going to be a sitting duck waiting to look a plant cell

With a sigh, you began to make your way to electrical, hand sliding against the walls to make sure you wouldn’t trip over anyth-

honestly what the fuck, you swear you’re going to get Kaminari for leaving a puddle of water around with that plunger of his. 

whatever, it’ll dry eventually. still a hazard though. 

and honestly what the fuck, it’s been ten minutes and no one still hasn’t gotten the lights. the bystander effect is starting to make the crew lazy. 

But no surprises here, only two people had gathered there, and stupidly, no one bothered to use a light to adjust the right switches. 

When the lights got back on, Kirishima jumped at the sight of you. 

“Relax, I just came here to fix the li-”

“No, not-”

“Why do you have blood on you?” 

You turned to Deku, and fuck you haven’t seen him this scared since Mina and Sero’s passing 

You’re about to ask what he means when you feel it

the crunch your gloves give, the stiffness of your suit, and you should’ve known the stickiness from your boots wasn’t from water 

“What the-” it nearly sends you in a panic, to see your suit covered nearly everywhere-

“Whoa, hey, hey, stop!” Kirishima and Deku have to physically restrain you from trying to take your suit off with the way you’re digging at it 

And it’s not too long before Kaminari and Bakugou come rushing in, panting from their sprint 

There’s another four dead bodies. 

And oh, oh, oh shit it looks so bad-

“It wasn’t Y/N.” 

“And how are you so sure?”

��Just ask engine over here. We were watching security together, and there was still light coming from the lab. I only left when Y/N left, and there’s no way 4 fucking bodies could have been killed during that time.”

“Bakugou is, indeed, correct. The infrared cameras seem to have been shut down for some time now, so it’s hard to make out who was in the locations.” 

Right, right. This was no fucking flu--you all confirmed that with Sero’s body. 

It didn’t stop you from feeling sick to your stomach, though: seeing the scratches and marks on your 2 crew mates to the point of no recognition 

even worse when you saw the same sickly grey skin on the other two with holes in their palms as well

Mina’s had happened over night... there was no way a slug or flu killed them within 10 minutes

Kaminari points out Deku’s locations before the lights went out

Iida vouches for Bakugou and you (Bakugou vouches for him, too, of course)

and Deku, Iida, and Bakugou vouch for you

....why couldn’t anyone vouch for Kaminari, Deku, or Kirishima? 

Did it make sense for Deku to immediately leave the lab to fix lights?

Did it make sense for Kirishima to avenge Mina’s death? 

You’re not even sure where to begin thinking of Kaminari-- like with his sudden claim of throwing Kirishima off the ship earlier on

Iida, with the grace of angels and levelheadedness of lions, suggested the best plan to find the killer. 

A group of three, a pairing, and lone wolf 

Of course everyone agreed. 

it was no brainer that you and bakugou would stick together--you two were practically stuck at the hips 

Kaminari was grouped with Deku and Kirishima while Iida volunteered to work on his own. 

Everyone was tense: keeping distances away from each other, keeping tabs on the other... 

whether there was one or two killers, it had to be within the group of 3, and you were bound to catch him at some point. 

And while they stressed on who the murderer was, you and Bakugou... well, you felt a bit bad for enjoying the alone time you two got 

“Hmm,” you drawled out one night. 

Oh yeah, don’t think Bakugou didn’t know where this was going

But, oh, don’t think he’ll play along. 

You pushed the pen and notepad away from his face when he ignored you and flopped onto his chest. 

it was nearing curfew, and you still hadn’t gone back to sleep in your own room after all these months 

(only Kaminari had the balls to call you out for leaving his bedroom early to sneak into yours, and honestly that’s good enough reason for you to suspect him)

“Hmmm...” 

okay how dare Bakugou go back to writing on a tiny notepad the size of his ego 

Even after you cover his eyes, he still continues to write on the notepad 

“C’mon, you know I hate it when I have to ask” 

Big mistake, you should’ve uncovered his eyes and attacked him with your own deathly cute look 

He pauses his writing to jab the pen into the back of your head. 

“Weren’t you the one who said consent was everything?” 

“I also said it was very sexy of you to not swear.” 

“What the fuck am I swearing on?”

He finally drops the pen and notebook to hold onto your back

He loved feeling your breathy laugh sweep over his skin, to feel your body come to life at something he said

and like all those months ago, he removes your loose hands from his eyes 

(”They’re sweaty whenever you leave them there too long,” he once complained, yet he’s always the one holding onto you longer)

and this time you’re able to look into his eyes with clarity, to see all the smiles in the crinkles at the corner of his eyes, to see a spark light up in the reflection of you 

and maybe bad experiences in space brought you closer than the misfortunes on earth did

“Kiss?” 

Who is he to deny you one when you look at him so expectantly and full of love at the moment 

“That’s the bye I’ll see you in two minutes kiss!” you cried when he kissed your forehead. “Neither of us are leaving anytime soon!”

“That’s the I got you lunch kiss...” from the cheek. You giggled stupidly when he kissed your nose. The stop being cute kiss. 

“You’re alllllmost there” 

“Almost where? You just asked for one kiss, and I gave you three.” 

Seriously, he made it so easy, so easy to get mad at him and then you made it so very easy for him to tell you, you weren’t being specific 

“Where’s the wittle shweal of pwotection?” 

and it isn’t the first time you see him roll his eyes this hard 

and yeah, that’s right, you’re going to make him do all the work now as you keep your face in place, your eyes closing in trust 

the only way you knew he was leaning in was when you felt his lips brush yours with the most featherlight touch, making you smile instantly

“you don’t need it when I’m constantly with you though.” 

and the bastard has the audacity to tease you like this!!! are you the only one pulling the weight in this dumb relationship? because you put all that shit into the kiss, including your feelings, frustration, worries, and you both press deeper when Bakugou reciprocates with the same enthusiasm

obviously you punch him when you see him with that dumb smirk after pulling back 

“That’s what you get.” He shrugged. “You’re not going to die on my watch. Stop fucking worrying.” 

You don’t laugh like you usually do, at how he throws in a swear when his voice becomes rough and soft and gentle at the same time

it’s how he knows you’re worried with the unchanging look on your face and yet your eyes continue to search for the answer in his 

“What about you?”

“I’m not going to die.” when you don’t press further, he says, “We’re not going to die.”

“How’re you so sure?”

“Was the shweal of pwotection not enough?” He’s relieved when a grin breaks on your face. 

“You’re right. We didn’t get this far without it, after all.”

It was so silly how a kiss started with a hopeful promise, had made you believe in Bakugou’s words 

But it wasn’t enough

Kirishima had intercepted you two on the way to fix the communications room, panicking and barely able to get his words out

all you made out was “reactor” and “suit”; and the way he said Deku’s name made you latch onto Bakugou’s hand to run in that direction

You gripped his hand to the point of bruising, not even noticing you’d been digging your gloved fingers into your own palm

Honestly, you had no idea what was wrong, but the fact that Kirishima needed to leave the Kaminari with Deku to find someone, anyone, was already concerning

“What’s wrong with-” nothing prepared you for what you saw. 

Kaminari looked up from his spot, surprise defensively taking over his face. “I know it looks bad-”

“Kaminari-” you gasped, taking a step back as he neared you like one would to an animal

“-because it is! Please, Midoriya just looked so vulnerable! How could you resist that?”

God how can he say that as if he was talking about a puppy

He laughed when you backed into a wall; laughed because the way your eyes expressed so much disgust at his admittance would be much more delightful at the big reveal; laughed because he wasn’t even close enough to harm you and yet you still looked so frightened of him

Laughed even more when you cringed upon seeing his gnarly set of teeth

Kaminari started licking the blood off his teeth and lips once he calmed down, and when he stared at you with the most predatory eyes, you nearly mistook the pounding rush of footsteps as the blood in your ears 

“Bakugou!” Kaminari didn’t need to take his eyes off you to know it was him. “Did you tell Kirishima the news?”

You’re a little too relieved at having Bakugou here to comprehend Kaminari’s words. 

“Back off, dunce face.” 

"Where’s Kirishima?” you ask when you notice his absence

“He ran off. Or tried to.”

everything is too still for your liking 

“Then the-the blood on your suit?” 

“His body exploded.” 

And fear washes over your body as you try to comprehend that Kirishima exploded? 

Everything starts to blue as you try to piece everything. 

No, no, no-

“That’s a terrible lie, even coming from you, Bakugou. Off your game?”

-it can’t be-

“It would’ve been cleaner if I weren’t in a rush to cover your ass.”

-you don’t have time-

“Feeling betrayed yet, Y/N? That your boyfriend-”

-there’s nowhere to run-

“Don’t fucking do it, dunce face.”

-what about Iida-

“I promise you, it won’t hurt one bit.”

And honestly, you’re wondering if the other ships had made it past this point.

Iida had heard Kirishima’s distressed panic before making it to the communications room, understanding he would go on his own to fix it 

The Bystander Effect, as you once called it, made him believe you and Bakugou would handle Kirishima’s situation. He wouldn’t be of any help if the radio signal wasn’t up on time to solve this emergency!

He recalled Kirishima mentioned the reactor, and hastily made his way there once he finished fixing 

Some noble class person would call the splatter of deep red across the floors and wall “art”, with how the bits of black and gray nearly bring it to life. 

How ironic that it had cost a life. 

He had to force himself to look away from the mess in the lower engine when he heard Bakugou’s almost feral growl. 

“I don’t mind if it’s you.”

 By the time he arrived, Iida found the reactor in the same mess as the lower engine. 

He couldn’t help but think what an art critic would have to say about this, were it to be a painting. 

Green liquid streaked the room with a pattern similar to the red

The same green dripping from Bakugou’s hands as he cradled what was left of your head

the same green that oozed out of Kaminari’s grayed body that was in equal parts unrecognizable 

He wonders what the art critics would say about the four bodies surrounding the only one alive 

a/n: wow u made it to the end huh,,,,,,,,thank you so much for reading!! I hope the music really set up the mood I was going for. Also, I didn’t want to spoil anything, but I read somewhere that it can be very triggering to write about the reader’s death esp if it was in 2nd pov!! Ik i said it’d be gory but I figured I could skim over it! anyway i love u nina this one was dedicated to all our among us plays 

I dont think i conveyed it very well but bakugou was basically gonna eat u for dinner. But kaminari got to u first and bakugou figured u had to taste as good even tho kaminari already digested u, right?

[rainbow-sides]

Nuances of Necessity: Chapter One

Summary: While studying the changes that took place after Virgil became accepted into the family, Logan makes a startling discovery about himself.

Pairings: platonic LAMP/CALM

Word Count: 1,022

Warnings: Touch starvation, panic attacks, anxiety, food, ~science experiment~.

Notes: So this is the beginning of the touch-starved Logan fic that I’ve been talking about literally for a month. Hope you enjoy it! <3 ~Martin

It had started a couple months after Virgil had been accepted fully into the family. It was slow, gradual, but Logan noticed these kinds of things and paid close attention to them. The overall levels of anxiety in the mindscape and in Thomas's life started to go down. That wasn't fully unexpected, of course. Accepting one’s anxiety and learning to work with it instead of constantly fighting it did generally lead to an improved mood.

And after the initial shock and distrust of the situation, Virgil seemed to have a better mood as well. He wasn't as unpredictable in his panic attacks, he didn't butt heads with Roman quite as much, and he even sometimes laughed at Patton’s jokes without covering his mouth. It was interesting to watch the transformation, and Logan began to get curious about the direct causational factors.

Instead of asking Virgil (he might not know, anyway, it was better to look at it objectively), Logan set up an observation notebook to write down everything he noticed that happened differently than before the transition:

Day One: Virgil came out of his room for breakfast with us. He sat next to Patton, who leaned closer so their shoulders were touching the whole time. Virgil did not pull away like he would have previously. He then offered to help clean up, but Roman used his control over the mindscape so that the dishes washed themselves, picked Virgil up and carried him to the couch, teasing him about something. Virgil stayed to watch a few episodes of a TV show with him before going back to his room. He didn’t emerge again until dinner, though Patton brought him some lunch. Dinner was uneventful save for Roman deciding to play show tunes the whole time, which was irritating.

Day Two: Virgil and Patton baked sugar cookies together (note: slightly dry, but went excellently with a few spoonfuls of Crofter’s) all morning. Roman is off on a quest and may not return for a few days. After lunch, Virgil put on his headphones and sat on the couch listening to music while I read. Patton claimed to be cleaning his room for a few hours (probably cleaned for five minutes before becoming distracted and just looking through memories, but that is what he counts as cleaning) and then came back downstairs to sit on the couch. Virgil put his head in Patton’s lap without prompting.

Day Three: Roman is still on his quest. Virgil seems slightly on edge. I will see if I can help ease his anxieties...He says he is alright. Probably just worried for Roman, though that is not rational. Roman’s injuries in his realm always heal very quickly once he is back in the commons of the mindscape, and it is impossible for us to die. Patton seemed to know more than I do (which I do not appreciate) and took Virgil outside to go for a walk around the park that Roman constructed for us years ago. Virgil seemed calmer when they returned and fell asleep on Patton’s shoulder while they watched a movie after dinner.

Day Four: Uneventful. Virgil stayed in his room for the most part and Patton did not seem very concerned. He seemed to think that I was worried when I asked him about Virgil, and offered to hug me, which I declined. (Really, he should know better by now. Physical contact is not something I require, nor was I worried or in need of any reassurance.) Virgil came down for dinner and seemed tired. He went right to bed afterwards.

Day Five: Roman still has not returned from his quest, which is odd. He is usually back by the third day. Hopefully, he will return soon, because I think his absence might be causing Virgil distress. He has been quiet all day and only reluctantly lets Patton sit beside him and hold his hand while his headphones are on. Roman is still gone. It is nearly midnight.

Day Six: I was the only one who came to the kitchen for breakfast. When I went looking for Patton and Virgil, I found them in the hallway between their rooms. Virgil was having a fairly severe panic attack and Patton was attempting to soothe him. My hypothesis was correct, and Virgil is extremely upset that Roman has not returned. He tried to flee back to his room to deal with the attack by himself like he must have before he was accepted, but Patton did not let him. He said something I am not sure I understood-- “Remember what we talked about, Virgil, come here.” And Virgil sat down with him, allowing him to stroke his back while I counted the breathing exercise. When Virgil had calmed down, Patton helped him downstairs and held him on the couch. Roman finally came back late this afternoon. Virgil hugged him for a long time, though he sounded angry when he told Roman to never be gone that long again.

Day Seven: I think I may have discovered the factor. Apart from just general kindness and companionship that Virgil is now experiencing, he is also receiving regular physical affection--particularly from Patton (and in hindsight, I can recall how Virgil gradually stopped flinching away from every touch and started leaning into and then initiating it first with Patton and then slowly with Roman as well). He barely let go of Roman today, sitting very close together on the couch as they watched movies and Roman napped, tired from his quest. I think that tomorrow, if I have a chance, I may ask Patton if he knows anything about this, and what he meant yesterday. What exactly did he want Virgil to remember that they had talked about? If my hypothesis is confirmed, I will have even more questions. How and why does frequent physical touch improve Virgil’s mood so much, and why is it that having one of the two people with whom he engages in this touch gone for only a few days so drastically disquiet him again? Even though Patton was still there? I will ask him tomorrow.

The chapters for this fic are short (much shorter than my usual chapters), but I think I might do a chapter a day? At least for a while? Who knows, honestly. I’ll figure it out. I’m still exhausted af from VidCon, and probably not making the best decisions. Love you guys, stay safe! *hugs* <3 ~Martin

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