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sanderssides-springfling · 4 years

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This is my gift for @lovelycatdraws ! I hope you enjoy it.

Summary: a Mer!Sides AU fic in which Patton attempts to gather his friends to hang out and Virgil goes missing.

Warnings: none, unless you count it being based in the ocean.

The world around him started to wake up, causing the merman to stir from his rest as well. He smiled as he stretched his arms to the world, reaching for the sky. The fins on his forearms drifted lazily in the calm waters around him.

“Good morning, world!” Patton greeted cheerfully, pushing himself out of the rather large clamshell he had claimed as his own. The world seemed to greet him back, a few friendly fish swimming up to say hello. Patton wondered if his friends were awake yet. If they were, then they could all hang out together!

Deciding to go and see if his friends were awake, Patton used his powerful tail to propel himself forwarding the cool waters. He paused in a patch of particularly bright sea to admire his glowing tail. Patton had always thought the sunlight complimented the lighter blue tones covering it, and subsequently, him.

Patton continued on his way to go see his friends after another moment in the sun. The first friend Patton was going to go see was Logan! Logan was usually awake at this time anyway, plus he lived closest. The furthest away was Janus.

As he approached Logan’s cave, Patton saw Logan’s darker blue tail disappear around a particularly large rock. Patton grinned and swam faster to catch up with his faster friend.

“Logan! Good morning!” the cheerful merman called out, catching Logan’s attention.

“Good morning, Patton. It is good to see you out and about on this winsome day. How are you?” Logan had a slight smile on his face as he turned to meet Patton. The calm waters and bright sun were definitely factors in his good mood.

“I’m wonderful, Logan! Thank you for asking! How are you?” Patton smiled brightly at the slightly older merman.

“I am…sublime today,” Logan chose a word after a moment of thought, feeling it fit his mood for the day.

“I was going to go get the others and maybe just hang out or something today, you wanna come with?” Patton suggested. He used his hands to try to help convey his point across.

“Since I have nothing else to do today, I shall accompany you,” Logan nodded, then added “Shall we be off then?”

Patton nodded and started to swim towards Virgil’s home. Virgil had chosen to take residence in a cozy cave, smaller than Logan’s. Logan followed after, his longer, darker blue tail aiding him in keeping up with Patton’s more powerful one.

As they approached Virgil’s house, the two didn’t see the purple merman anywhere. Normally he was up by now. Even if it took some coaxing to get him out of bed.

Logan frowned. “Where do you suppose Virgil went?”

“…Maybe to someone else’s house? That’s all I can think of..” Patton trailed off. He was worried for Virgil even though he knew the emo could handle himself.

“The most probable outcome is Virgil went to Roman’s not too long ago.. Would you like to check there first?” Logan suggested, gently waving his tail to stay afloat in the water.

“I guess.. I hope nothing fishy happened.” Patton wiggled his tail excitedly and grinned. “Sea what I did there?”

Logan stared at the younger, lighter blue merman for a moment before turning and swimming towards Roman’s giant clamshell house.

“Aw, Lo, wait up for me!” Frowning, Patton hurried to catch up to Logan.

Logan said nothing. He did change his speed just the slightest though to make it easier for Patton to catch up to him.

As the two moved to Roman’s house, Patton started making comments about the colourful fish and calm waters, but he could tell Logan wasn’t listening. Logan seemed to be spaced out. Patton guessed that Logan had tuned him out in favor of thinking about where Virgil had gone. After all Virgil wouldn’t just leave without being asked somewhere, would he?

Pat saw Roman’s clamshell up ahead, and started to alert Logan, when he realized his friend wasn’t responding. So Patton tried again.

“Logan?” Patton spoke a little louder, putting his hand on Logan’s shoulder.

The concern in Patton’s voice and his cool hand on Logan’s shoulder brought him back.

“Ah- my apologies, Patton, I was… lost in my thoughts.” Logan paused swimming and turned slightly to face the aforementioned merman.

“Oh! No problem, Lo. I just saw you looking a little spacey there and got kinda worried. I’m glad you’re okay!” Patton smiled brightly at Logan, removing his hand from Logan’s shoulder. “We’re also here at Roman’s clamshell, so I thought I should let you know.”

“Well, I appreciate it, Patton. I apologize for zoning out.” Logan responded. He moved a little closer to Roman’s clamshell, knocking curtly on the top of it.

An annoyed groan was heard from inside, then a minute later, the calm opened up to reveal their red scaled friend. “Whaaat? I was have my beauty sleep! Not that I need anymore, if I get anymore beautiful no one will be able to stand it!” Roman mused aloud, propping himself up on the edge of his clamshell.

“Oh, we’re sorry to wake you up, Ro! Good morning though.” Patton tried to be polite, smiling a little.

“Have you seen Virgil?” Logan ignored all the usual formalities in search of Virgil.

“What? No, I haven’t, I’ve been sleeping. Why? Did something happen?” Roman seemed more awake at this.

“Well… kinda. We went to go ask Virgil if he wanted to hang out with all of us today but he wasn’t there. We thought maybe he’d gone to your place. I guess not though.” Patton summarized.

“…Maybe he went to Remus's…? Or Janus’s?” Roman suggested.

“…It’s unlikely, but it’s one of the most plausible theories right now.” Logan frowned a bit. “Its also one of the most pleasant.”

Patton made a mild sound of worry at that. “Well, then, let’s go to Remus’s first, and if Virgil’s there, then that’s good! Do you wanna come with us, Ro?” Patton turned to the red merman as he asked.

Roman stretched and grinned. “But of course! A dashing Prince is always willing to go on an adventure, especially if there is someone in need of saving!”

Patton giggled a little bit, watching as Roman swam out of his shell and closed it behind him. Roman had lot more fins, and while Patton wasn’t sure what they were all for, he knew one thing: they looked really cool!

Logan sighed at Roman’s antics, turning away and starting to swim in the direction of Remus’s house, an anemone he had claimed for his own. But as Logan turned, Patton spotted a fond smile on his face. That put Patton in a slightly better mood. His worry for Virgil still remained.

As the duo turned trio made their way to Remus’s house, Logan suddenly stopped them all.

“What’s up, Pocket Protector?” Roman was the first to speak up.

“A preposition.” Logan replied without thinking, his gaze focused on something ahead.

Patton’s face lit up like an electric eel. “Was that a-“

“No.”

“I think it wa-“

“Shush! Both of you!” Logan spun around suddenly. “There’s something up ahead, on that cluster of rocks there. I don’t think that it is alive, but it may be a trap.” He whisper-hissed.

Worry blossomed across Patton’s face, his eyebrows crinkling in fear. He stayed silent though just as Logan had asked. Roman did as well though his expression displayed more confusion than worry or fear.

Logan crept forward, taking care to distance himself from the shining object. He paused then suddenly dived down, grabbing it off of the rocks and sending smaller pebbles down through the water.

“Logan!” Patton rushed forward and accidentally whacked Roman in the face with his tail.

Logan turned around and held up the shiny object.

It was one of Virgil’s scales.

Patton let put an alarmed gasp and moved back a little bit, giving Roman room to see. Roman’s expression changed to determination. “We must find Coral-line soon!”

Logan nodded in agreement. “Yes, now time may truly be of the essence. I suggest we all hurry to Remus’s anemone.”

The three colourful mermen did hurry, but they found nothing but another concerning issue. Although less concerning than Virgil’s disappearance, it was still concerning.

Remus was not at his home either. And his mace was sitting outside, left behind.

Patton was getting very worried at this point. What if something truly terrible had happened to Virgil, and now Remus? And they just hadn’t gotten there in time to help their friends?

Even Roman was showing his concern now. “It isn’t unlike Remus to leave, but the fact he didn’t take his mace is concerning. And the same time Virgil went missing, too!”

Logan’s reaction was a little more calm and analytical, but even his worry was showing through his tone a little. “It is troubling… there is one place left to check, hopefully they are all with Janus, or Janus at least isn’t missing and can help us search.”

The red and lighter blue mermen nodded in agreement.

“Shall we go to Janus’s, then?” Logan spoke again, his face grim.

“Yeah…” Patton mumbled while he nervously fidgeted with his hands. Roman nodded again.

As they swam away and towards Janus’s home, Roman cast one last worried glance towards his missing brother’s house. If Remus wasn’t with Janus and neither was Virgil, Roman didn’t know where else to look for the three.

The journey there was uneventful, and they quickly arrived at Janus’s mostly hidden cave. Logan had been the first to spot the entrance among the sea plants covering the mouth and had pointed it out to his two companions. Despite having been there a few times, spotting the entrance was always a little tricky.

Patton had immediately gone up and knocked on the wall next to the cave mouth. It was clear that he was tense and worried. His actions were fast and stiff and during the swim to Janus’s cave he had swam a little faster than usual.

A few tense seconds passed before Janus’s voice hissed out a nearly inaudible “Who isn’t it?”

“Good morning, Janus. We apologize if we woke you. Roman, Patton, and myself are here.” Logan responded, folding his arms behind his back.

Roman made a noise of affirmation and Patton gave a quiet “Hi-!” as well.

“…What don’t you want?” Janus’s voice was closer now.

“We were wondering if you’d seen Remus and Virgil-? We couldn’t find them this morning and Remus left his mace at his house.” Patton spoke up this time, wringing his hands together. His tail flipped nervously below him.

“I totally haven’t seen them.” Janus commented wryly. “And I definitely don’t know where they are.”

“Well then, where are they? I cannot think of a clever nickname for you or them right now!” Roman exclaimed. He did dramatic gestures with his hands to help prove his point even though Janus couldn’t see them.

Janus was silent for a few seconds before finally speaking up. “They definitely aren’t right here with me.”

Patton looked like he was about to burst through Janus’s vine like cave cover, but before he could Janus poked his head through. He saw the three waiting there then went back into his dark home. The sea plants then opened all the way as Remus and Virgil came out.

Patton gasped and beamed, throwing himself at Virgil in a hug. “We were so worried about you, you never leave your house!!”

Roman grinned at Remus, his relief plain to see on his face. “Why’d you leave your mace behind?? You always take it!”

Logan just smiled slightly at the smallest yellow merman and nodded politely, saying thank you in his own way.

“So why’d you two run off? And Remus! Why did you leave your mace behind??” Patton stopped hugging the slightly embarrassed purple merman in favor of putting his hands on his hips and looking between Remus and Virgil.

Virgil shrugged. “I hadn’t seen Janus in a while. I decided to go visit him. Also there was a loud noise outside my house and it sounded like a merman eating beast.”

“I was here because Janus sent me a messenger fishy and told me to come to his house!! So I went there really fast and that’s why my mace was there, because it would’ve weighed me down more than my-“

“ALRight, we’ve heard enough. I’m just glad you two aren’t dead in a chasm somewhere.” Roman interrupted quickly.

“You know… now that we’re all together… you guys know what we should do?” An excited grim broke out on Patton’s face as he got an idea. “We should all hang out!!”

Logan realized something. “Isn’t that what you came to me originally for?”

“Yup! But then we couldn’t find Virgil or Remus and those plans got put on hold. Although now that we’ve found them we should!!” Patton nodded enthusiastically.

“I’m down.” Virgil smiled slightly, moving a little closer to the excited blue merman. “You’re worth the risk of a merman eating beast.”

Patton just lit up like an electric eel.

“If sea-winner is hanging out with our sweet Patton, then I shall too!” Roman exclaimed dramatically, posing then moving to Patton’s side.

Remus shrugged. “I can’t just let my brother hog all the fun! Why not?” He then moved to be next to Roman.

Logan said nothing but nodded and moved over as well.

Patton looked hopefully at Janus, not saying anything.

Janus sighed. “I can just stay home my whole life. I might as well not hang out you all today.” Then smiled just a little bit as he moved close as well.

“Yes!! Thank you guys, this is gonna be great!!” Patton cheered, hugging all his friends close.

End

#platonic drlamp #mermaid!au #spring fling 2020 #submission

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