#minor analogince

[subtlereferencetomyinterests]

Complexities Unknowable Chapter 3

Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23274334/chapters/57175900

Chapter Two link: https://tha-best-url-evar.tumblr.com/post/614327945408987136/complexities-unknowable-chapter-two

MasterPost

Relationships: Established Relationship Dukeceit, eventual intrualiceit, background analogince.

Warnings: Remus says some things (mentions of biblically accurate angels, gore art description), food mention, mild sleep deprivation, cursing. As always everyone is sympathetic. Roast me if I forgot something. 

Word Count: 1,851

Remus was, once again, sitting on the counter in the light side kitchen. It was an ungodly early hour of morning, so the Commons were deserted. He was supposed to be waiting for Morality, according to the  spiteful little plot Dee had offered him that he hadn’t listened to all that well, but he surmised it meant he was supposed to fuck with a light side, so… Duh. Of course he was in.

Truth be told, three out of four of the self-proclaimed ‘light sides’ hardly bothered him! They were stuffy prudes, sure, but their insults slid off his back like blood off of steel. As long as he was doing his own thing with Deceit alongside him, everything was fine (he was still pointedly ignoring the existence of another Creativity). But looks like what Deceit wanted to do was torment Patton into, like, repenting? Or something? Like he said, he wasn’t listening.

Anyway! Waiting and watching was what he was doing! And doodling, because sitting still was literally impossible in Remus’ experience. Thankfully, he soon saw the paternal trait springing down the stairs. Straightening his back, The Duke put on his best intimidating face (which he thought looked rather silly, but Deceit assured him was very unsettling). He set down his sketchbook and blurred his edges. It didn’t work very well up here, but it was a little trick that they’d all- Virgil included- learned years ago. Honestly, he just used it to get cheap scares every now and then.

Patton strolled into the kitchen, whistling some jaunty tune and holy shit , Remus had figured it was some shtick, but was he just a cartoon character all of the time ? That was- sure, very adorable- but mostly all the more entertaining to scare!

“What’s up, Dilf!?”

Patton shrieked, nearly dropping a mug. With wide, startled eyes, he found the source of the noise. Said source watched the emotional trait force his expression into something amicable, laughing loudly.  

“Um- good morning, Remus! I, uh, didn’t see you there.”

“That was the point, MoMo,” Remus replied, dragging his claws screechingly down the side of a cabinet; Patton winced at the sound.

“Can I help you with anything?” Read: Why are you still here? Sometimes Remus wondered if he was too good at his job!

“Nope! Just enjoying the atmosphere, sketching, terrorizing…” He flipped onto his back, throwing his arm out and presenting his open notebook.

“You draw?” Patton seemed weirdly happy about that fact, managing a more natural smile. Seemed he thought he’d found something to work with, but that was likely to change.

“Of course I do, I am Creativity, after all! Here .” He handed over the sketchbook with a Cheshire smile. The creative trait had ensured it was flipped open to a detailed depiction of a being composed of several flaming rings, all of which absolutely covered with bloodshot eyes. It had an indiscernible amount of wings that could only be counted as ‘too many’. In the center of the rings was a swirling black void (a type of ink that took Remus weeks to conjure properly, thank you very much).

He watched carefully as Patton studied the image, looking bemused.

“It’s an angel!”

That seemed to only confuse the moral side more, making him tilt his head to a few different angles to look at the drawing. But he still didn’t seem upset by it, oddly enough.

“It certainly is an interesting interpretation,” He responded at last, “and all of these little lines must have taken you forever, that’s so impressive!”

Truth be told, they had taken a while, and Remus was very happy that the effort had been noticed- but that wasn’t the point!

“That’s nothing,” he took the sketchbook back from Patton and flipped through more pages. Aha! This would fuck him up, for sure! A full-color illustration of someone hung up on a meat hook, rib cage pried open like a spike trap to reveal very painstakingly rendered organs. He was actually quite proud of this one.

The only response that Patton gave, however, was a slight wrinkling of his nose when he first saw it, followed by more quiet observation.

“What do you think?” Remus prompted, watching as Patton set the drawing back down on the counter and began to assemble things for breakfast, seemingly unaffected.

“I wish I could draw that well, but I’m still not super good at it,” he said admiringly.

“I had to crack open my own ribs to make sure it was accurate, you know!”

Morality yelped at that one- score one for Remus! Finally!

“You wanna see my re-imaginings of my favorite Final Destination deaths? I’ve painted some with real- well, conjured- but real enough blood!”

But Patton didn’t even flinch this time; he looked more determined even!

“Art is a healthy outlet for expressing yourself,” he was almost certainly parroting Logan there, and he even seemed to believe the statement. Perhaps Remus would have to be a little more creative to get more reactions.

. “I agree! I didn’t expect you to have such an open-minded point of view. I’ll be sure you’re the first side to know when I make my next amateur taxidermy sculpture! Emphasis on the amateur!”

“Great!” Patton practically shouted, very stubbornly staring at the stove.

Before Remus had the chance to continue, the distinct sounds of Logan and Roman arguing their way downstairs met his ears, and he cut himself off. That was enough for one day, he decided. And anyhow, he looked forward to trying new ways to bother Patton next morning.

Deceit rose into the shadows of the Light Side commons with a smirk. It was an awful hour of the night, which was part of the plan. Not only was Patton the first awake in the morning, he was also often the last to sleep. Deceit supposed that Logan was looking after Roman and Virgil’s sleep schedules nowadays, which made it much easier to catch the artificial patriarch alone. That isn’t to imply that Dee had been tracking their schedules or anything, but the overwhelming lie that Morality surrounded himself with made him easy to track- especially in the night, when he had to pretend even harder that he was fine without the presence of his little family. Deceit entertained the idea that he should feel bad for the side, and maybe he did somewhere deep down. Deep, deep down. No, further than that.

Regardless of any such feelings, he was here to mess with Patton. Still unnoticed, he watched quietly as his target scrolled through Netflix, illuminated only by the dim glow of the television. The side looked so tired that he could’ve passed as a corpse, but gave a tiny smile after finally selecting whatever it was he was going to watch.

Wait. Wait. He was watching that ?

Deceit stared at the unmistakable green text that was the intro to The Good Place playing across the screen. If there was one thing he was expecting Patton to watch (Cartoons? Friends reruns? Slime videos?), it wasn't his own favorite show.

“Hm.” Deceit hummed.

In response, Patton shrieked and fell halfway off the couch. His head darted around until he finally spotted Deceit, who had slid down to sit on the sofa as well.

“Oh- um- good evening, Deceit! Wow, today is just full of surprises!”

“ Surely you won’t mind if I join you? This is one of my favorite shows, after all.”

Patton fixed his position so that he was no longer partially on the floor and looked the snake up and down. He paused the episode.

“ Really ?”

“Really,” and then, after some trepidation, “Honestly.”

Suddenly, Patton lit up dramatically, a happy smile stretching across his face. Fuck, wrong direction, Deceit wasn’t supposed to be cheering him up!

“I’m surprised that someone like you would like it,” Deceit continued hastily. Patton’s smile fell a little and he tipped his head in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean ,” He lounged back against the couch, “I didn’t think you’d approve of a show where all of the characters are such bad people .”

“What?! The whole point is that they aren’t bad!” Good, Back on track .

“Oh? Then what are they? Last I checked, the main character was very selfish .”

“I- okay, I see what you’re trying to do,” Patton turned to face Deceit entirely, “But they’re- they also-”

“Also what ?” Deceit was also sitting sideways on the couch now, his eyes glinting. He was certain that he’d talked the trait into a corner, which was why he was so utterly unprepared for Patton’s response.

“It’s, like, they all start off not great, but that’s because they were all set up for failure before the afterlife! They had it hard before dying, but when they were finally given the chance to actually get better, then they got better! They aren’t perfect , but they care about each other! And I think it really shows that sometimes, somebody can be wrong over and over and over again, but that doesn’t mean that they’re hopeless, or that they’re a bad friend, or…” He trailed off, looking down at his lap and blinking very quickly. “Or that they’re a bad person.”

Suddenly, Deceit wasn’t that sure that he wanted to see Patton upset anymore.

After a very uncomfortable silence that lasted far too long for his liking, the scaled side realized that he should probably be the one to say something.

“That’s…  a very in depth analysis, Morality. I’m inclined to agree with you.”

“Thanks,” Patton replied. When he looked up, his eyes held an odd recognition. It was a look that no Light Side had ever given Deceit, but they gave it to each other plenty of times. The side in question wasn’t sure if he liked it, but he sure knew that he was uncomfortable.

“So… The show…” He prompted.

“Oh, right!”

Patton pressed play.

Deceit had planned on doing some more provoking of Patton as they watched, but he found himself rather caught up in the program. The conversation he did end up making with the other incidentally slipped into chatting about their shared views on the show. It was almost nice. Maybe. Whatever.

After a few episodes, Deceit elected to return home for the night. As he was sinking out, he heard a sleepy voice bidding him farewell.

“G’night, Kiddo.”

He popped up in his bedroom after that, eyes quickly landing on a half-asleep Remus half-watching Saw 4 . The lights were dimmed to a glow, and the TV’s volume was so low that it might have been inaudible to anyone other than the more animalistic sides.

“You didn’t have to wait up for me,” Deceit murmured warmly, sitting beside his fellow Dark side. The trait yawned and rubbed his eyes, instinctively leaning into him.

“Wanted to,” he responded, voice groggy, “How’d it go?”

Deceit snapped his fingers to change into sleep clothes, reaching across Remus to flick off the lamp. As he settled in to semi-watch the movie, fingers automatically moving to card through his partner’s hair, he carefully considered the question.

“Fucking. Weird.”

Chapter 4

Tags: @deceits-left-glove​ @princemesscharming

[authorized-trash]

The Passage of Identity and Time

2116 Words

Analogince

Virgil escapes to a better family, one that’s much more accepting.

Warnings: Anxiety disorder, depression, homophobia, transphobia, dysphoria, cussing, panic attacks, heavy crying, misgendering, use of deadname

       Virgil didn’t start out his life as Virgil.

       He started it out as Amber.

          Born in small town USA in the year 1998, a baby named Amber was born. Her parents were ecstatic. The gender of the child did not matter to them, only that they had one. They had been trying for a child for months before the news of Amber arrived.

        The baby was small and wrinkly, as most are. Her father called her a raisin, earning a swat on the arm from the mother.

        Amber grew to a healthy height and weight for a two-year-old. She could talk and walk by now and was quite the rowdy child. Her hair was growing in curly and that odd almost-black brown her mother was known for. Her eyes were a deep brown, with little specks of amber around the iris. Long lashes surrounded the round eyes, making her quite the lovely child.

        (“Oh, she’ll grow up to be quite the lovely child.”)

        Amber continued to grow, and by the time she turned seven, she had shot up to four foot seven, a good head taller than all of her peers. She had cut her hair by now, a cute bob all the teachers loved. Her young idea of fashion was mud stained shorts and tank-tops.

        By the time Amber hit ten, she could tell something was wrong. She didn’t understand why she suddenly couldn’t play football with the boys, and why she couldn’t just go to grandma’s Easter party in pants and a shirt.

        (“That’s not a very feminine look Amber, you are a young lady, and you’re old enough now to act like it.”)

        For now she could ignore the growing feeling of discomfort in her skin. Amber could pretend nothing was wrong. And when the other girls commented on her odd nature, she dubbed herself a tomboy.

        That’s right, a tomboy. The totally normal option, and the only correct one.

        The only socially correct one.

        … But then puberty hit.

        Amber hated how her thirteen-year-old body changed so quickly. She was five foot eight and had been dubbed ‘giraffe’ by the nasty boys in school. Her height didn’t bother her, however. No, it was the hips that thickened, and the chest. She hated it, hated that she hated it. She didn’t think she was bad looking, per say, just… She didn’t look herself. She didn’t see a future in the person she saw in the mirror.

        With the self-loathing came the depression, and with the depression came the anxiety. There was so much of it. By the time she turned fourteen, Amber couldn’t do anything more than stare at her wall for hours, too anxious to move, anxious because she wasn’t getting done, anxious for what this could mean for her. Anxious for the grades, but too anxious to get up and do something about them.

        Around this time is when she started looking at her family at an outside point of few. Picket fence, white, Christian people. Extremely conservative, and right winged. She started finding flaws in their logic, started resenting every word that came out of their mouth.

        Amber was a sheltered child, and only received a device with access to social media at fifteen. There, she found an escape, making friends.

        She discovered the term ‘Transgender’ online.

        Everything clicked in that moment. The more research the more tears. Amber outright sobbed as she read, this was it. This had to be. She tested it out.

        (“He found what he was looking for, and he knew in his heart it was the right choice.”)

        She loved the way the pronouns sounded, beaming, she ran downstairs to her- his parents. His, him, he. God, did that sound so nice.

        Amber ran downstairs to his parents, but stopped. They were talking again. About the people who pretended to be a different gender. It hit Amber like a ton of bricks.

        They were talking about people like him.

        He walked right back into his room and cried.

        The anxiety worsened to nearly unbearable amounts.

        Amber continued to research and found that he wanted to save up for a binder. He began a savings account, saving every penny he got his hands on.

        It took ages, but he finally, finally, convinced his mother to cut his hair.

        (“You look like a guy now Amber.”)

        God did that comment fill him with joy.

        (“You look like a butch.”)

       Don’t say that like it’s a bad thing, lesbians are lit af.

        (“Do you really like it cut that short?”)

        No shit.

        Amber had never felt more confident, but there was one thing missing.

        A proper name.

        He scoured every male baby name he could find. Scrolled through every writer’s website. Hell, he even looked at the girls names to find one.

        It wasn’t until he was studying old literature when he found it.

        Virgil.

        He loved the way it sounded. Virgil. Such a nice name, genuinely extremely aesthetic in his opinion.

        Amber no longer fit, it didn’t feel right. It never felt right. Virgil.

        Virgil.

        Virgil.

        Virgil.

        He was now a junior in highschool, owned a binder, had short hair, wore baggier clothes, and went by Virgil openly at school. By now the hate had long since died down, and he was decently happy. Still ridiculously and ludicrously anxious all the tie, but that was something to look into at a later date.

        Right now, however, he had to get away from his home.

        He loved his parents, but they were just so… hateful towards any kind of minorities. POC, LGBT, and anyone who wasn’t a white Christian were seen as sinful in their eyes. Virgil was tired of being forced to attend a church about a religion he didn’t know if he believed. He was tired of listening to their bullshit.

        So when the time came that he went to college, he moved into a apartment He had gotten scholarships due to grades he had been careful to keep up and didn’t have to rely on his parents money.

        His roommate, an agender person by the name of Logan Thomasson, was one of the nicest people he had ever met. Supportive too. Logan and him hit it off. Logan was a bit hesitant at first, but eventually told Virgil that xe used xe/xyr. Virgil smiled and told them he’d accept xyr no matter what.

        Virgil’s parents didn’t notice his efforts to distance himself at first. Not until the second semester of his second year, when they had heard nothing from him. By now Virgil had long since started testosterone, and his voice had dropped significantly. It was almost time for summer break, and Virgil was making plans to stay at Logan’s for the break again, when he got the call.

        -

        “Amber, honey, are you there?” His mother called into her phone with that sickeningly sweet voice she used when she wanted to sound nice. Virgil gulped audibly, staring across the room at Logan, who was sitting with him to keep his nerves down.

        “Yes mother?”

        “Are you sick dear? What’s wrong?”

        “No mom, I’m not sick.”

        “Then why is your voice so deep, Amber? You know I hate it when you lie.”

        Virgil bit his lower lip and closed his eyes, feeling the tears fall. He couldn’t delay the inevitable. Sure, maybe it was a shitty thing to say to his mother over the phone and not in person, but he wouldn’t be able to stand her face.

        “I’m not.. I’m not Amber, mother.”

        “… What? Sweetheart of course you’re Amber, what has gotten into you?” By now Logan had gotten and moved across the room, and xe was sitting on xyr knees in front of Virgil’s hand, putting a hand on his knee.

        “No mom, I go by- I go by Virgil now. I’ve been taking testosterone treatment for a year and a half now.”

        “Amber.”

        “No- Mom it’s not-“ Virgil choked up, “It’s not Amber, I’m sorry, I’m-“

        “Amber I’m coming to pick you up. That college isn’t good for you. I knew we shouldn’t have sent you to a damn liberal school,” his mother could be heard shuffling around, presumably covering the phone with her hand, “Adam, your daughter believes she’s a boy, a boy Adam.”

        Virgil started sobbing now, sliding off his seat. Logan was quick to scoop him up in xyr arms, holding him tightly. Virgil rested his forehead on xyr shoulder, looking at the phone in his trembling hand.

        “Mama please,” he mumbled wetly, watching the screen fill with tears. The world becoming a blur. His heart pounded in his chest. He couldn’t take this, he was going to have an anxiety attack.

        “No, Amber, your father and I will be there shortly. Goodbye.”

        The phone beeped, and Virgil threw it.

        He cumbled in on himself, crying hysterically. He wanted that to go better, damnit. Maybe a little acceptance. Anything. God, it hurt so bad.

        Logan shifted him around so that xe could pet his hair, mumbling xyr stupid math equations in his ear the way xe did, in that stupidly endearing way that Virgil loved so much.

        His parents, true to their word, arrived that night.

        They didn’t bother to knock. Virgil didn’t even know how they knew where he lived.

        Logan was the one to see them when they arrived, Virgil had locked himself in his room. Logan had suggested it actually, god Virgil loved xem so much.

        “I do not believe you are supposed to be here.”

        “Amber lives here, yes? Where is she, we’re leaving. You would not believe how this place has contorted her mind.”

        “Ma’am, you need to leave. Both you and your husband.”

        “Now who do you think you ar-“

        “I’ve already contacted security. The officer is a good friend of mine, they will see you out,” Logan smiled over the couple’s heads, at the officer who was standing in the door.

        The couple spun around, spotting the officer. By now Virgil had poked his head around the door. He might as well watch his parents leave, this may very well be the last time he says them this close, or not through a picture.

        This was a mistake on his part however, because when his mother flipped around to confront Logan again, she spotted him.

        “Amber! Sweetheart! You have to come with us! I’m not letting my baby go to Hell!”

        Virgil crept out from behind the door, looking levelly at his mother, “No mum, I’m not leaving. Now I believe Logan asked you to leave. This is his-“

        “Our, Virgil, how many times to I have to tell you it’s our apar-“

        “This is Logan’s home as much as mine, and xe wants you to leave.”

        By now the security officer had already gotten Virgil’s dad out the door, and had walked up behind the mother.

        “Ma’am, these two have asked you to leave multi-“

        “Xe? XE?! Amber! These are demons! You are possessed, please baby, come with us- please!”

        “Ma’am! Either you leave or I arrest you, that is a direct order! Out, now!” The officer shouted, furious. They escorted the woman to the door, Virgil’s mother throwing a fit all the while.

        “You’re all evil in the eyes of god! You will repent one day! You will!!”

        And with that the door shut.

        Virgil gave a small, defeated smile, looking at Logan. Logan breathed heavily out of xyr mouth, before walking up to the dark haired young male. Xe gave him a small kiss at the top of his head, ruffling his hair.

        “I’m so, so proud of you.” Xe said softly. Virgil snorted softly.

        “You think they’ll still let me go to Thanksgiving?” He joked.

        Logan laughed.

        -

        A week past and Virgil had done nothing but delete the nonstop flow of messages from his old friends and family. He had no reason to talk to them. Not anymore.

        He and Logan had started dating since then, and both were extremely happy. Hell, they had even been debating the pros and cons of inviting the cute security guard, who was named Roman, into their relationship. The guard had been flirting nonstop with the two of them, and honestly, they were smitten by the non-binary officer.

        A few months later found them all happily watching movies on the couch with Logan’s ball python Dee.

        A year later found them all happily married, with Roman’s brother Remus as best man.

        Months after that found them adopting an adorable baby named Patton. The child was a spring loaded ball of red curls and freckles.

        Virgil didn’t start out life as Virgil.

        But he sure as hell didn’t end it as Amber.

-

A little fic a did as a sort of vent

I wrote all in an hour and a half, and I honestly don’t think I have it in me to go back through and fix it if there’s mistakes.

[candied-peach]

peach’s masterlist pt 2 📚

the other one is ridiculously long, so here we go, starting from february 2020 ♡

i will try to keep it up to date, but no promises

multi-chapters will be on my ao3, with few exceptions

(masterpost pt 1)

gen:

“scared of me”:  gen, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending. warnings: self harm, eating disorders, panic attacks, touch starvation, emetophobia. it was easy when they didn’t care.      -chapter one -chapter two -chapter three -chapter four -chapter five

“i am not as fine as i seem”: gen, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: emetophobia?, food, migraines. patton has a migraine.

prinxiety:

“waging my wars”: prinxiety, fluff, sympathetic remus. warnings: migraines, emetophobia mention, food. virgil has a migraine. his boyfriend knows what to do about that.

“under the lights”: prinxiety, fluff, sympathetic remus. warnings: food/alcohol mention. virgil arranges a date in the imagination.

“musical chairs”: prinxiety, fluff, sympathetic remus, sympathetic deceit. warnings: food. roman’s concerned about his soulmate. if only he knew who he was...

logicality:

“burnt pancakes”: logicality, fluff. warnings: food. logan attempts a thing. it doesn’t quite work out the way he planned.

logince:

“in the bright lights”: logince, fluff. warnings: ear piercing/needles. this is probably a bad idea.

“jammed”: logince, fluff. warnings: food. logan doesn’t like much food. until he’s introduced to a certain jam.

“good night sweet prince”: logince, fluff. roman’s overworking himself, until logan comes in.

moxiety:

“under the covers”: moxiety, fluff. warnings: scary movies, anxiety, food mention, age regression. perhaps this wasn’t the best idea...but how was he supposed to know he’d regress?

“rock a bye”: platonic moxiety, fluff. virgil can’t sleep. patton helps him out.

“the cradle will rock”: platonic moxiety, fluff. warnings: age regression, shapeshifting. patton helps virgil fall asleep.

analogical:

“beneath the stars”: analogical, fluff. logan takes virgil on a date.

“wish i may, wish i might”: analogical, fluff. logan and virgil wish upon a star.

royality:

“sun dappled”: royality, fluff. roman and patton go on a walk.

loceit:

“how the tables turn”: loceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit. warnings: sleep deprivation. logan has a word of advice for deceit.

“skip all”: loceit, hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit. warnings: mild injuries. janus helps his boyfriend out.

“wish it all away”: loceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit. janus persuades logan to take a break.

roceit:

“april showers”: roceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit. deceit asks roman for some help.

“a morning to remember”: roceit, creativitwins, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: food mention. happy birthday, roman!

moceit:

“in love with happiness”: moceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit. deceit and patton cuddle.

anxceit:

“beauty mark”: anxceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit. deceit hates his scales. virgil disagrees.

“mascara tears”: anxceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit. warnings: near car accident, age regression. when thomas is nearly hurt, virgil knows exactly where to go.

“morning cartoons”: anxceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit. warnings: food, age regression. virgil made a promise.

“boy in a bubble”: anxceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit. warnings: coronavirus, asthma, anxiety, human au. how can dee care about his own well-being when he finds virgil in the grips of a panic attack?

“i won’t cry”: anxceit, hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit. warnings: emetophobia mention. virgil finds deceit a little differently than normal.

“here for you”: platonic anxceit, hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit. virgil sees deceit after the new video’s done.

“frozen fears”: anxceit, hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit. warnings: anxiety attacks. virgil’s panicking until janus helps him out.

dukexiety:

“colored pictures”: dukexiety, fluff, sympathetic remus. warnings: intrusive thoughts. coloring books aren’t just for kids.

“secrets i keep from showing”: dukexiety, hurt/comfort, sympathetic remus. warnings: intrusive thoughts, self harm. virgil knows better than anyone when remus isn’t doing well.

“soul portrait”: dukexiety, fluff, sympathetic remus. remus has fun with watercolors.

“jeepers creepers”: dukexiety, fluff, sympathetic remus, sympathetic deceit. remus invites virgil on a date. if it means getting out of showing up after the wedding, he’ll do anything.

“what’s the point”: platonic dukexiety, hurt/comfort. warnings: school, self harm?. remus hates online school.

“ready for the worst”: dukexiety, hurt/comfort, sympathetic remus. warnings: anxiety attacks. virgil’s having a bad day.

“trash confessions”: dukexiety, fluff, sympathetic remus. remus and virgil hang out together.

dukeceit:

“heart shaped”: dukeceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: mild gore, snakes. deceit and remus have their own way of celebrating valentine’s day.

“faerie lights”: dukeceit, angst with a happy ending, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: fae au, suicidal thoughts, self harm, child abuse. dee knows that he shouldn’t go into the forest. he doesn’t care. 

“fade to black”: dukeceit, hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: chronic illness. deceit’s not having a good day. that’s an understatement.

“fears”: dukeceit, hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. remus is afraid he’s gone too far.

“deadly nightshade”: dukeceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. deceit helps remus with his garden.

“a mouthful of thorns”: dukeceit, hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. deceit regrets what he said. it’s not because of the effect on roman.

“paint it black”: dukeceit, hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: intrusive thoughts. remus is happy for janus. really. he is. why does he feel so much like crying?

“in the garden of eden”: platonic dukeceit, hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. deceit finds the green creativity in a garden.

“my mind shipwrecked”: dukeceit, hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: migraines, emetophobia mention. remus discovers deceit having his first migraine.

“the sound of the chase”: dukeceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. janus runs. someone follows.

intrulogical:

“putting yourself together”: intrulogical, hurt/comfort, sympathetic remus. warnings: eating disorders, food, emetophobia mention, self harm. remus has a secret.

“as you were”: intrulogical, fluff, sympathetic remus. warnings: food. logan and remus go on a date.

intruality:

“black holes”: intruality, fluff, sympathetic remus. remus takes patton to the imagination.

“toy trucks”: platonic intruality, fluff, sympathetic remus, sympathetic deceit. warnings: food, mild gore, age regression. patton didn’t know what he was getting into when he volunteered to watch remus.

“apple blossom”: intruality, fluff, sympathetic remus, sympathetic deceit. warnings: food mention. remus needs his hair washed. patton is up for the job.

remile:

“pastel dreams”: remile, fluff. warnings: food. remy and emile watch steven universe.

“toffee flavored”: remile, fluff. warnings: food. remy gives emile candy.

rosleep:

“soft at the edges”: rosleep, fluff. warnings: food. roman and remy celebrate aromantic awareness week.

emceit:

“cotton candy lullaby”: emceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit. emile’s had a long day. deceit’s here to help.

wrathality:

“i don’t wanna be alone”: wrathality, fluff. warnings: depression. wrath’s and patton’s first valentine’s day.

intruloceit:

“way down by morning”: intruloceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: snakes, food. happy birthday, deceit!

“words left unsaid”: intruloceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: food. it’s movie night for a certain trio.

“bedtime”: intruloceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: food, age regression. remus doesn’t want to go to bed.

“i just want to be free”: intruloceit, hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. logan is fed up.

“little stars”: platonic intruloceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: age regression. logan regresses while thomas is out and about.

“squid ink through the stars”: intruloceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. logan shares an afternoon with his boyfriends.

“soft in the quiet”: intruloceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: sensory overload. remus gets easily overloaded. his boyfriends are here to help.

“the game is not played alone”: intruloceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: migraines, emetophobia mention. remus doesn’t get migraines. ...does he?

“discord symphony”: intruloceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. remus writes a song.

“insatiable habits”: intruloceit, fluffy hurt/comfort, sympathetic remus, sympathetic deceit. warnings: minor injuries. the immediate aftermath of remus’s introduction.

“breath taking”: intruloceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. deceit, remus, and logan have a quiet day in bed.

“two faced”: intruloceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. deceit reveals his name.

“get through me”: intruloceit, hurt/comfort, sympathetic remus, sympathetic deceit. deceit returns. his boyfriends comfort him.

“that kind of day”: intruloceit, fluff sympathetic remus, sympathetic deceit. logan feels better with his boyfriends.

“promise i’m not lying”: intruloceit, fluff, sympathetic remus, sympathetic deceit. warnings: murder mention. logan tells virgil about his boyfriends.

“quite a show”: intruloceit, fluff, sympathetic remus, sympathetic deceit. logan is bad at feelings. but he knows he has them. especially when it pertains to deceit and remus...

“kiss me with a smile”: intruloceit, fluff, sympathetic remus, sympathetic deceit. warnings: food. happy birthday, remus!

anxceitmus:

“in the dead of night”: anxceitmus, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. virgil can’t sleep.

“paint it red”: anxceitmus, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. virgil paints everyone’s nails.

“postmortem”: anxceitmus, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. janus catches his boyfriends playing just dance after the video.

royaliceit:

“sun bathing”: royaliceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit. roman takes his boyfriends to the imagination.

analoceit:

“snakes go hiss”: analoceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit. warnings: age regression. deceit age regresses. luckily his boyfriends don’t mind.

“out of my mind”: analoceit, hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit. virgil is there for his boyfriends.

“the mirror is a lie”: analoceit, hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit. warnings: eating disorders, food, self harm. logan has an eating disorder.

“star speckles”: analoceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit. warnings: age regression, food mention. logan regresses and dreams of the stars.

“won’t you hold me”: analoceit, hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit. janus needs help with a little problem.

“never let go”: analoceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit. warnings: skin picking, nail biting. janus, virgil, and logan bond over nail polish.

anaroceit:

“sleepy noodle”: anaroceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit. deceit steals all the blankets.

“the dead of night”: anaroceit, fluff, sympathetic deceit. roman loves virgil and janus, but how could he ever be so lucky?

analogince:

“the tremble in my fingertips”: analogince, fluff. warnings: touch starvation. roman is touch starved.

analodemus:

“purple haze”: analodemus, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: food. virgil re-dyes his hair.

“curtains drawn”: analodemus, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: coronavirus, anxiety. virgil’s anxious. his boyfriends help him out.

“with my eyes closed”: analodemus, hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: panic attacks. janus has a panic attack.

LAMP:

“outside, looking in”: LAMP, fluff. virgil has a wish.

“icing infinity”: LAMP, fluff. warnings: food. patton makes cookies for autism acceptance month. his boyfriends help.

DLAMP:

“your true colors”: DLAMP, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. deceit has a wish.

DRLAMP:

“ugly like me”: DRLAMP, fluffy hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: food mention, intrusive thoughts. remus has a wish.

“i will not break”: platonic DRLAMP,  hurt/comfort, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: touch starvation. roman’s touch starved.

“tendrils of ivy”: platonic DRLAMP, fluff, sympathetic deceit, sympathetic remus. warnings: food. virgil has a hard time at a restaurant.

creativitwins:

“how bad can i be?”: creativitwins, fluff, sympathetic remus, sympathetic deceit. warnings: food, age regression. roman ends up with babysitting duty.

“the sound of the birdsong”: creativitwins, fluffy hurt/comfort, sympathetic remus, sympathetic deceit. warnings: blood, mild injuries. roman gets hurt in the imagination. his brother finds him.

“through a funhouse mirror”: creativitwins, hurt/comfort, angst with a happy ending, sympathetic remus. warnings: suicidal thoughts. remus accidentally confesses something to his brother.

[not-safeforsanders]

D4 with intruloceit maybe?? Bottom Remus if you're comfortable with that, if not, analogince?

Explicit Content; 18+ ONLY. Minors do not interact with this post or my blog. 

Ship: Intruloceit

Prompt: Pegging/Strap-on

Notes: Trans!Logan, Deceit is called Damian or Dee for short.

Remus bites his lip a little as he sits on the bed cross-legged, waiting to see what the other two have in store for him. Logan stands over him, almost a whole head taller than Remus is even when standing, his cobalt eyes practically undressing his partner without so much as reaching over to help him out of his coat. 

Damian pushes the bedroom door open and closes it behind him, sliding the lock shut and resting his head against the grey wood and rolling his eyes “Sorry I’m late, Patton would not stop talking about...I think he was telling me how to cook but I was clearly so very thrilled that I stopped listening,” He leans over to kiss Logan softly and then Remus. “Have you told him yet?” He addresses Logan, who shakes his head, gesturing for Dee to do so “Logan’s dick came in the post,”

The younger scoffs and shoves his partner playfully, whilst Remus’ eyes widen, practically bouncing on the bed as he looks up with excitement. “How big is it? Are you going to fuck me? Are you both going to fuck me? At once? Or one after another that’s also fine, or...?”

“Re, calm down,” Logan orders, and immediately the brunet calms, looking up at his partners as though waiting for permission. Logan picks up his bag and pulls out a box, handing it to Remus to open, as predicted his eyes practically shine with excitement, inhaling sharply and biting his own lip. Logan and Dee can’t help but share a small smile and how easily excited their boyfriend is. “Good?”

“Wonderful,” His tone of voice suggests it truly is too, he places the box to the side and jumps up to drag Logan into a heated kiss, making Dee tut a little as he gestures loosely towards his own person, right before he, too is dragged into a warm and desperate kiss. “So are you both going to fuck me? I can take it I promise!”

“Maybe not today,” Damian chuckles gently “One step a time,” he pushes Remus towards the bed “I’ve just got to prep you and watch, both equally enjoyable Re,” The younger falls back onto the bed, his brown eyes looking up into Damian’s bright green ones, letting careful hands slide his shirt over his head, and soft lips press kisses to each inch of exposed skin that he can get his hands on. 

Dee loves to tease Remus, sucking on his nipple, teeth grazing the pert bud as he pushes the other’s jeans off his thin hips. Remus is the smallest out of all of them, in height, stature, weight, and now also in other things. Dee can life him up as though he weighs nothing, and Logan can...well he can lift him up just about. 

Damian finishes undressing Remus and manhandles him onto his hands and knees by simply lifting him up and flipping him over. Logan bites his bottom lip slightly as he watches the muscles in the other’s back tense with the albeit, very little, weight. 

He runs his tongue over Remus’ entrance with a small hum before grabbing the lube, watching as the younger spreads his legs. Logan works on undressing down to his binder before sliding on the harness and fastening it. He watches Dee’s fingers stretching Remus open, watches the other roll his hips back and demand more, harder, faster. Poor little slut is constantly desperate for release.

“Do you think he’s ready?” Logan asked.

“Well he is Remus,” Dee snorts “He’d be ready without prep if you asked him nice enough,”

“Remus is right here and can hear you, you know,” The man on his hands and knees scoffs “You’re right but that’s not the point,” Dee chuckles and pulls his fingers out, wiping them off on the towel and moving to lie down on the other side of the bed, one arm braced behind his head. 

“Let me know if you need to stop or slow down,” Logan mutters, giving an option that he always offers and Remus very rarely takes. Usually Dee and Logan have to time out before the energetic man does. He eases into Remus slowly, teasing the head into the other man’s entrance in slow, circular motions, inching inside of him slowly. 

Like he’s been offered some sort of pill, Remus relaxes, his eyes falling half-lidded, lips parted in bliss as Logan bottoms out, pressing deep inside him. The blue-eyed man had every intention of waiting for his partner to adjust but, per usual, Remus has other ideas and starts moving his hips slowly, leaning his weight on his forearms as he urges the other to go faster.

Soon Logan’s hands grip Remus’ hips a little tighter, both of them building up a pace together, their hips meeting as soft moans come from the smaller man, his hands gripping the bedsheet tightly. 

Dee watches them both with a small smirk, hand wrapping around his own cock as he strokes himself, eyeing the way Logan’s pace becomes much more brutal, harder, making Remus jerk with the thrusts, the sounds of his moans filling the quiet room. 

Remus came without his cock even being touched, spilling over the bedsheets with a loud gasp of Logan’s name, followed by a whimper as Logan keeps moving, a little slower, just to watch him squirm from the overstimulation. “Go take care of Dee,” Logan orders, easing out of his partner and undoing the harness. Remus obeys, drawing over to the other man and eagerly taking his cock into his mouth, taking him down his throat. 

Logan admires the amount of stamina his partner has, barely pausing to recover from his own orgasm before he’s eagerly taking Dee’s cock down his throat, bobbing his head quickly and messily until the elder is grip[ping the back of his head and humming down his throat. Remus wipes off his mouth on the back of his hand before sitting up, a happy glint in his eyes, before crawling to kneel in front of Logan, waiting. “You are insatiable,” He sighs, flopping back on the bed, resting his head on Dee’s thigh and spreading his legs “Go on then,”

Remus does as he’s told, with a grin, before his head sinks between Logan’s thighs to repay the favour.

[dirtycreekwater]

Three Hours Behind, Five Hours Ahead

description: Logan Roman and Virgil are in a long distance relationship and trying their best to deal with that. having separation anxiety, Virgil struggles the most.

genre: fluff & hurt/comfort. human au.

word count: 1,109

ship: romantic analogince

warnings: some implied nsfw stuff. not graphic at all. don’t think theres anything else but hey lemme know if you need something tagged

a/n: this isn’t really gonna be a chaptered series?? i don’t really know what it’s gonna be tbh but it’s something. also Remus might be a minor background character at some point so remrom/incest shippers please do not interact thank you

——

Sunlight was slowly starting to filter into the room; not that Virgil had even noticed. His eyes were glued to his phone screen, the blue light emanating from it putting a strain on his eyes. He was sure they were bloodshot, having stayed up all night staring at said screen in the total darkness. He could hear his boyfriends’ voices scolding him already.

As if on cue a quiet ping brought his attention to the top of his screen. It was Logan, his Logan, in the group chat he and his boyfriends had created when they first met online. He already knew exactly what that nerd had said. He didn’t even have to read the preview.

Logan 🐝🖤 6:04am

Why are you on tumblr at 6 in the morning, Virgil?

Surprised he took this long to message me, Virgil thought.

Virgil 6:05am

bc i love torturing myself apparently idk

Logan 🐝🖤 6:05am

Please stop doing this to yourself, love.

Virgil 6:07am

but babe i need the memes

Logan 🐝🖤 6:08am

What you need is sleep. Try to now, please?

Roman 👑❤️ 6:08am

Ugh Virge wtf go to sleep 🙄

Virgil couldn’t help but smile at that. Roman cared in his own way, he was quite different from Logan. And Virgil himself was pretty different as well. They were certainly a strange trio, but it worked so well.

Virgil 6:10am

i don’t wanna sleep

Virgil 6:10am

also shut up Ro you should be asleep rn too it’s 3am for you

Logan 🐝🖤 6:11am

Why don’t you want to sleep? And yes I agree. Go to sleep, Ro.

Roman ❤️👑 6:12am

Aw but guys I don’t wanna either :(

Virgil 6:13am

sleeping alone sucks

Virgil 6:13am

i miss you guys

Roman 👑❤️ 6:13am

Same 😭

Logan 🐝🖤 6:15am

Oh, loves. I miss you both too.

Roman 👑❤️ 6:15am

😭😭💔💔

Logan 🐝🖤 6:16am

But you can’t keep doing this to yourselves.

Virgil 6:17am

you cant stop me

Logan 🐝🖤 6:17am

Virgil, please.

Virgil bit his lip, maybe a bit too hard, and set his phone down. He hadn’t realized he started crying until his vision completely blurred. He felt silly really, crying just because he was alone. He wasn’t really. He had his boyfriends, he did. He had group chats, and facetime, and other video calls, and tumblr blogs. He had them. It just didn’t feel like enough. He recalled the first time they all met in person. They stayed in Roman’s house in Los Angeles, California. Logan flew in from London, England and he himself flew in from his small Pennsylvania town. It was truly the best week of his life. Roman had a huge bed, too big for just one person. It was perfect for all three of them, and god he felt so lucky. He remembered the way Logan’s Quasi-British accent sounded in person, and the way Roman’s boisterous voice seemed to fill an entire room. He especially remembered the way Roman’s sheets, and their skin felt against his own; the way their hands tangled in his hair, and lips moved over his. All he wanted was that week back.

Logan 🐝🖤 6:22am

Virgil? Roman?

Virgil took in a shaky breath, and picked his phone back up. He was just going to let himself be vulnerable, completely honest. He could do that.

Virgil 6:23am

i just hate being long distance so fucking much,, i can’t handle it,,, i just wanna be held again,,,

The next five minutes were the most nerve wracking minutes in Virgil’s whole life. Okay, maybe less nerve wracking than the time he waited for their responses to his crush confession. That was quite horrifying, but honestly this felt pretty similar. Like swallowing knives. The typing bubble had disappeared, and reappeared many times. He almost wanted to turn his phone off, and never turn it back on again.

Then finally a message appeared.

Logan 🐝🖤 6:28am

We’re not going to be long distance forever, my love. I promised you both that a while ago did I not? And I always keep promises, yes? Come on, it’s been two years. You should know that by now. Don’t lose sleep over this. Everything will be okay soon, very soon.

Virgil almost hated how good Logan was at comforting him, and Roman. He was always saying emotions were gross, and they just weren’t his thing, but yet somehow he always seemed to handle them perfectly.

Virgil 6:30am

damn it L how dare you make me cry more

Roman 👑❤️ 6:31am

How dare you make me cry as well!

Logan 🐝🖤 6:32am

My intention was only to reassure, and comfort. I apologize.

Virgil 6:33am

yeah well you did exactly that you stupid nerd

Virgil 6:34am

but um can we start facetiming more often? like at night? hearing your voices and seeing your faces really does help me sleep

Roman 👑❤️ 6:35am

Yes!!!

Logan 🐝🖤 6:36am

Well, being a few hours ahead of the both of you makes that quite difficult, sweetheart. I’m sure we can work something out though.

Virgil 6:37am

man fuck timezones

Virgil 6:38am

im gonna fight time

Logan 🐝🖤 6:38am

Maybe do that after you sleep.

Virgil 6:39am

no right now

Virgil 6:39am

im gonna do it

Roman 👑❤️ 6:40am

I’ll help 🗡🛡

Virgil 6:40am

sick 🔪💣

Logan 🐝🖤 6:41am

No fighting the abstract concept of time. Sleep now. Both of you.

Roman 👑❤️ 6:42am

But Looooooo

Virgil 6:42 am

:(

Logan 🐝🖤 6:42am

No. Sleep.

“God, we’re dorks,” Virgil said aloud to himself. He then took a deep breath to calm himself before he typed out a new message. “Quit being a little bitch, Virgil.”

Virgil 6:43am

ok but can we facetime first? pls?

Roman 👑❤️ 6:44am

Yeah!!! You free rn Lo?

Logan 🐝🖤 6:44am

I’m always free for my loves.

Virgil 6:44am

thats gay

Logan 🐝🖤 6:45am

Excellent observation skills, Virgil. You never fail to impress me.

Virgil 6:45am

shut up

Logan 🐝🖤 6:45am

Why don’t you make me?

Virgil started to respond but the facetime screen, and obnoxious ringtone cut him off. Of course Roman would purposefully interrupt his and Logan’s bickering. Logan always did the same to them. Rolling his eyes he hesitantly accepted the call, and rolled over onto his side so he could hold his phone more comfortably. He broke out into a wide grin once he saw his beautiful boyfriends smirking back at him.

“Hey, guys.”

——

tag list: @royallyroman @crazyfangirls-stuff @easy-meta-knight @shyanonarchives

[queercode-my-minecraft]

Writing Masterpost | 5/9/19

Outlines

Mamma Mia! | Logince, minor Loceit and Moxiety

Down with the Fallen | Logince

Percy Jackson | Moxiety, Logince

Home is Where the Heart is | Logicality

One Shots

Fluff

Sunsets for the Halloween Sanders Sides Spook event

Nicknames (to Your Heart) | lamp/calm

(One) Shot Throught the Heart | Logince

Of Basements and Cockroaches | platonic Prinxiety and minor Logince

Tales of Flowers and Boys | Soulmark art | lamp/calm

The One Where Patton is a Villain

Dress as Red as Blood | spy Roman, Logince

Real | Logince

The Galaxy that Sorrounds Us | Analogical, minor Royality

(Winter) Wonderland | Royality

Everything will be Alright | Analogince

Fireworks | Prinxiety, minor Logicality

We’re Both Hopeless(ly Gay) | Sleeplogical

Together | Roceit, Analogicality

Smile (because there’s an angel in your arms) | Moxiety

Angst

1) minor Analogical and Royality, focus on Roman, modern setting

2) platonic Logince and lamp/calm, focus on Roman, Hogwarts au

Path of Lies | Pride Roman

Bottle of Tears | minor romantic Moceit, platonic lamp/calm

Finding You (Before the End) | brotherly! Prinxiety, medieval au

Bathroom Spilt Tears | Analogical, ace! Virgil

Blink of an Eye | Roman, past Logince

Chaptered Fics

Lost in Your Eyes | 1 (hiatus)

Perfection | 1 2

Stranded | 1 2 3

You can find more writings in the tag Sam writes

[storytellerofuntoldlegends]

Stars in Our Eyes and Hearts on Fire

A/N: So @sanderssidesfanfiction organized a Reverse Big Bang, and I’m so excited to finally unveil my fic based on @incubchii​‘s wonderful fanart! Huge huge thanks to my beta, @bangthekobrakid​, who I couldn’t have done this without! Anyway, without further ado, enjoy the fic (it’s a wild ride, and is probably both the angstiest and the fluffiest thing I’ve written)!

Pairings: endgame Romantic Analogince, Familial Moxiety, Romantic Remile

Wordcount: 10,922

Summary: Logan was a witch of great power- but also of great regret. One night, while flying over the city on his broom, he notices that his former flame was in trouble. Logan swoops in to save the day, and things only get more complicated from there. Can he and his newfound friends, a pair of twin brothers, save his once lost love from being hunted?

Warnings: breakups, feelings of regret, violence, injury, torture, attempted murder, death mention, passing out, kissing, anxious thoughts, food mention, distrust, magical exhaustion, crying, pain delirium, mild jealousy, thoughts of guilt, implied rough childhood, attempted stabbing, minor villain Deceit (he’s only in one scene), blood, relationship negotiations, soft makeouts, implied NSFW, mild insomnia, embarrassment, playful teasing, nearly getting crushed, cursing (lmk if anything should be added!)

The wind ruffled Logan’s hair, threatening to blow away his pointed hat, while the stars twinkled above him and filled his very being with magic. It wasn’t the most logical thing to be doing, flying on his broomstick over the city, but Logan didn’t care. Being up there, it felt right. Even if the people below him could potentially see him up there, thus exposing the regulars to magic, Logan felt it was worth it. He was feeling particularly reckless tonight… if only Roman could see him now.

Logan huffed, shifting so that he was leaning back on his broom, idly twirling his staff between his fingers while his other hand adjusted his hat. Why did his train of thought always shift to the hot-headed magma-witch? Was there nothing that didn’t make Logan’s heart twist painfully with the memory of Roman? He was supposed to be glad that he was rid of that unfairly gorgeous idiot. Yet, all he felt was regret.

Logan and Roman had studied magic together under the same master witch. Roman was a witch bound to two elements: fire and earth. Meanwhile, Logan was one of the rarest witch types: an astro-witch, bound to the celestial. The two of them had bonded over their oddities, making quite the unlikely pair. Logan had always studied hard, desperately wanting to live up to his title of astro-witch, meanwhile Roman was quite the show-off, flaunting both his earth and fire skills with no uncertainty. Such differences… it tore the two of them apart. And after their training was finished, things didn’t end well, and Logan hadn’t talked to or seen Roman since.

A sudden spark of red magic burst past Logan, nearly throwing him off of his broom. He quickly righted himself, turning to glare up at the spark that was shooting higher in the sky. It burst into a fiery explosion of reds and golds, and Logan’s heart clenched with fear. That was undoubtedly Roman’s magic. His gaze shot down to where the spark came from, and a horrified gasp choked its way out of his throat. Down below, in an alleyway, a swirling mass of shadow lashed at a beacon of red and gold. The bright beacon of light was flickering in and out, the shadows threatening to overtake it.

“Roman,” Logan gasped, eyes narrowing as he zoomed back towards the beacon of light and the shadows surrounding it.

The shadowy figures crept closer. Roman held his side with one hand, while the other was outstretched, magical flames dancing in his palm. He wasn’t sure how, but an entire band of shadow-witches had managed to jump him while he was on the way to visit two of his closest friends. Now Roman found himself cornered in an alleyway, his magic dangerously close to being depleted.

A sudden wave of shadows flew at Roman, and he desperately tried to summon a wall of flames to shield himself, but he was too late. The mass of shadows hit him square in the chest, and he was flung against the alleyway wall. Pain flared through his body, and the air was knocked from his lungs. He fell to the ground, dazed for a moment or two before desperately scrambling to his feet. His vision blurred and he stumbled to one side, eliciting cruel laughter from the shadow-witches.

“What’s the matter, sweet Prince?” one of them sneered. Tendrils of shadows shot out, wrapping around Roman and pinning his arms to his sides. He squirmed, trying to break free, but the shadows clenched tightly around him, causing the magma-witch to cry out in pain and fall to his knees. One of the witches came closer to Roman, summoning a sword made of shadows as they walked. The point was put beneath Roman’s chin, forcing him to meet the figure’s dark eyes.

“Roman Prince. You will pay for what you’ve done,” they snarled.

“Which would be what, exactly?” he asked, brows furrowed in confusion. The figure growled, making a clenching motion with their free hand. Roman let out a pained yelp as the shadows cinched around him tighter.

“Don’t play innocent. You deserve this,” the figure hissed, and they raised the sword above their head, preparing to strike.

Suddenly, a bright bolt of light threw the figure to the side. Roman’s head whipped to the side, and his breath caught in his throat. Logan hovered just above the ground on his broom, staff brandished in front of him. He had a powerful aura about him, starlight twinkling dangerously in his eyes. He was more gorgeous than Roman remembered.

“Take care of Prince! I will deal with this interruption,” the figure snarled, jumping to their feet and summoning another shadow-sword. One of the figures flanking Roman nodded curtly, and in two brisk strides, they were in front of Roman, their hands pulsing with some sort of dark energy. He desperately tried to squirm away, but the shadows held him fast. The figure placed one hand on either side of Roman’s head, and the magma-witch screamed in pain. The dark energy pulsed through his skull, and Roman’s world was narrowed to the pure pain radiating through him.

In an instant, the pain was gone, as well as the shadowy tendrils keeping him bound, and Roman felt himself falling forward. A set of arms caught him, and Roman blearily tried to scramble away until he heard a soft and painstakingly familiar voice murmuring words of comfort. Through the pain-induced haze, Roman looked up and saw Logan, instinctively reaching out to caress the astro-witch’s cheek.

“Starshine?” he gasped weakly. A flush overcame Logan’s cheeks, and he covered Roman’s hand on his face with his own.

“Roman, you’re hurt- I need to heal you… but I’m not sure-”

“I have friends nearby… Patton and Virgil, a pair of twins- healers,” Roman hurriedly tried to explain, feeling his grip on consciousness fading fast.

“Patton and Virgil who? Where do they live?” Logan pressed, eyes wide and his expression becoming fearful.

“Picani,” Roman gasped out, the world around him and Logan’s face- his almost painfully beautiful face- fading in and out of focus. The astro-witch was pleading with him, possibly begging him to stay awake, but Roman couldn’t quite catch Logan’s words. With one last burst of strength, and before he could truly think about what he was doing, Roman leaned up to press a kiss to the corner of Logan’s mouth. The astro-witch’s face flushed deeper, and Roman smiled softly, glad that he at least got him flustered one last time. And with that wistful thought, the magma-witch’s eyes fluttered shut, and he fell limp in Logan’s arms.

Virgil Picani sat on the roof of the joint apartment and tea shop he shared with his brother, Patton, and stared up at the stars. Shadows curled around him restlessly, and he sighed in frustration. Being a shadow-witch had its disadvantages, he supposed. One of them being that the shadows tended to darken around him because of his emotions.

“Need some tea, kiddo?” a voice piped up from behind him. Virgil jumped at the sound but looked over his shoulder to see his brother Patton, a solar-witch, standing behind him. He held two mugs of steaming tea, offering one of them to Virgil. He took the offered cup with a smile, and the shadows cleared slightly as he took a sip.

“Chamomile and lavender? You’re turning into Dad,” Virgil joked.

“Aw, Virge! Don’t tea-se me like that!” Patton replied, grinning from ear to ear as he sat down beside him.

“Ugh. You really are becoming Dad,” Virgil groaned, rolling his eyes.

“Is that such a bad thing?” Patton retorted with a giggle.

“Nah. But if you start wearing colorful ties and cardigans, I’m staging an intervention.”

“But Virgil… I already wear cardigans!” Virgil let out a dramatic gasp at that, grabbing Patton’s shoulder.

“Patton, it may be too late for you! You’re turning into Dad!” he said with a laugh.

“Don’t you mean I’m evolving into a dad?” Patton grinned.

“Cartoon references! It may be too late!” Virgil cried, dramatically placing a hand over his chest.

“Technically Pokemon is a video game.”

“There was a cartoon too, I’m counting it,” Virgil scoffed. A comfortable silence settled between the brothers, and Virgil idly sipped at his tea. The shadows had finally calmed behind him.

“So. What’s got ya so restless?” Patton asked.

“I’m not restless,” Virgil protested. Patton raised an eyebrow, and the shadows twitched defensively behind him.

“You’re sitting on the rooftop, and the shadows were just swirling around you. Something’s got you worried,” he pointed out. Virgil let out a sigh, and took another sip of his tea.

“It’s Roman. He should have been here an hour ago.” Roman Prince was a good friend of theirs and often met up with the Picani brothers to hang out or discuss magic. It was also no secret that Virgil was harboring a bit of a crush on the magma-witch, but Roman was either clueless or didn’t care. Virgil tended to believe the latter, but Patton was pretty confident in the former of the two.

“Aw, well you know Roman! Probably got distracted, and he’ll tell us about his adventure when he gets here!” Patton exclaimed. Virgil’s lips quirked up into half a smirk, and he took another sip of his tea.

Suddenly, a burst of red magic shot up into the sky, just a few blocks away from Patton and Virgil’s apartment. Virgil’s heart clenched in his chest. That was Roman’s magic, no doubt. A flash of blue shot down towards where the magic originated from, and the shadows around Virgil pulsed with fear.

“Patton-”

“It’ll be okay, don’t panic, Virge,”  Patton soothed.

“Don’t panic?! This a perfect time to panic! Roman must be in trouble,” Virgil exclaimed as he shot up to his feet. He stormed over to the door that led to their apartment, flinging it open before descending down the stairs. He practically flew through their apartment, grabbing his cloak off the hook before going down another set of stairs that led to the tea shop that Virgil and Patton owned. The brothers had named it Quali-tea Time, although the name was more Patton’s idea than Virgil’s. But Virgil didn’t have time to think about their adorable tea shop. Roman was in trouble.

“Virgil, wait!” Patton exclaimed. Virgil halted in his steps, having just affixed his cloak around his shoulders. He cast a glance back at his brother, who had his pointy gray hat clutched in one hand, and his wooden staff in the other. It was topped with a sun shape made of gold, with an orb in the center that glowed a soft yellow.

“Sorry. I just-”

“You’re worried, it’s okay. We’ll get him,” Patton soothed, placing his hat on his head firmly. Virgil nodded curtly, and the twins headed out into the night.

Logan’s heart pounded in his chest as he cradled a limp Roman in his arms. For maybe the first time in his life, Logan felt completely clueless. Helpless, even. He barely knew any healing magic, and he doubted he could find the brothers that Roman had mentioned in time. The name Picani was vaguely familiar to him, but he couldn’t place why and his brain was too frazzled to try and remember. All he could focus on was the soft, adoring smile Roman gave him before unconsciousness snatched him away. And, of course, the kiss that had sent fire skittering along veins and heat to Logan’s cheeks. How was it possible that Roman could be so alluring, even while battered and half-dead?

“Get away from him!” a voice snarled from the mouth of the alleyway. Logan gasped, placing Roman on the ground and springing to his feet. He took a defensive stance in front of him, brandishing his staff at the two figures that had stepped into the alleyway. One wore a hooded black cloak with purple patches, and shadows twitched around them restlessly. The other figure seemed to be the polar opposite, as they wore a light blue polo, a gray cardigan over their shoulders, and khakis. The only sign that they were magical was the pointed gray hat on their head, and the sun staff they held in one hand.

“Who are you, what do you want with him?!” Logan cried.

“Could ask the same about you,” the hooded figure growled. The shadows curled towards Logan menacingly, and he sent a warning blast of starlight from his staff in response. The shadows jumped back, as well as the two figures in the alleyway.

“An astro-witch?” the hooded figure gasped in surprise.

“Please, we’re Roman’s friends, we just want him back!” the individual with the gray hat pleaded. Logan furrowed his brow, magic simmering dangerously in the air.

“He was just nearly killed by a band of shadow-witches. Why would I trust another one?” Logan snarled.

“We’re two of his best friends, I’m Patton Picani and this is my twin brother, Virgil! We’re both gifted in healing magic, let me heal him and prove to you that we don’t wanna hurt him!” the one with the gray hat exclaimed. Logan’s eyes widened in surprise. These two were the brothers Roman had wanted him to find.

“Pat, you sure we can-”

“You’re the friends he wanted me to find,” Logan gasped, interrupting Virgil.

“Aww, he mentioned us?!” Patton squealed.

“How do we know you’re telling the truth? That he really told you about us?” Virgil demanded.

“My name is Logan Andromeda. Roman and I studied under the same master witch,” Logan explained, a little exasperated. He didn’t have time for this- Roman didn’t have time for this.

“The master witch, what was their name?” Virgil pressed.

“Thomas, Thomas Sanders. He’s a solar-witch,” Logan answered. Virgil and Patton seemed to share a sigh of relief.

“Okay. Your information seems to check out, although I’m not sure if I really trust you yet… but we don’t have a choice,” Virgil said, tone grim. Logan nodded curtly, and he stepped to the side to let the brothers take a look at Roman. Virgil darted over, dropping to his knees beside Roman. He placed a hand on his forehead, brow furrowing in confusion.

“What the hell happened to him?” he murmured.

“Like I said, he was attacked by a band of shadow-witches. I believe there was four or five of them that had ganged up on him. When I arrived, one of them was about to strike Roman down with a shadow-sword they had summoned. I disarmed them fairly quickly, but they had commanded one of the others to ‘deal with him.’ They attacked him with some sort of dark energy-” Logan’s voice cut off as Roman’s screams of pain echoed in his memory. “After I had dealt with them, the others scattered and ran off.”

“Thank you for saving him, Logan,” Patton replied, placing a hand on Logan’s shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze before kneeling next to Roman as well. He closed his eyes and placed a hand on the magma-witch’s chest. A soft glow emanated from Patton, and it began to seep into Roman’s body. He shuddered as the energy flowed into him, and his eyes fluttered open as he drew in a sharp breath. Logan could have sobbed in relief.

Patton suddenly slumped into his brother, the soft glow fading away. Virgil wrapped an arm around his brother’s shoulders, expression twisted with concern.

“M’kay. I’m okay,” Patton insisted, voice slurring slightly as he tried to sit up.

“Hey, whoa, no you’re not. What did you do?” Virgil asked, supporting him as he sat up a bit straighter.

“Roman was… he was- closer to… closer to d-death than we-” Patton broke off into sobs, leaning against Virgil heavily.

“Pat? What’s-” Roman gasped out weakly.

“The loveable dork that is my brother nearly depleted his magic saving you,” Virgil huffed out with a slightly hysterical laugh.

“Logan found you… I knew he would,” Roman sighed, his voice soft and wistful.

“It… It was more like they found me, actually,” Logan chuckled.

“Smaaaart friends,” Roman said, voice slurring a bit.

“Get some rest, Roman. We’ll take you back to our place,” Virgil said with a soft laugh, reaching out to brush Roman’s hair from his eyes. Roman sighed, leaning into the touch. An unfamiliar emotion twisted in Logan’s gut. Were Virgil and Roman… together? It certainly seemed so, with how fiercely protective Virgil was of Roman. But then why had Roman kissed him? Perhaps he was too disoriented when Logan found him?

“Logan, can you take Roman? I’m gonna help Patton,” Virgil said, snapping Logan from his thoughts. He nodded, willing his staff away before walking over to Roman’s other side and scooping him up into his arms. He clung to Logan, nuzzling into his chest with a hum. Logan’s face flushed, and his gaze flicked over to Virgil. The shadow-witch seemed mildly annoyed but didn’t say anything as he rose to his feet, with Patton’s arm over his shoulder to support him.

“Where are we headed?” Logan asked.

“Our place. It’s a tea shop with our apartment above it. It’s only a few blocks from here, can you carry him that far?” Virgil asked.

“Yes. I am stronger than I appear, and Roman isn’t that heavy anyhow,” Logan replied. Roman made an indignant sound, muttering something about not being a feather-light damsel in distress. Virgil and Logan chuckled at that, and even Patton let out a light giggle.

“C’mon. Let’s go home.”

Somewhere along their journey, Roman had passed out again, this time from sheer exhaustion instead of pain. Virgil had convinced Patton to climb on his back, and the solar-witch had quickly slumped into unconsciousness, his face nuzzled into the crook of Virgil’s neck.

Eventually, they reached the home of the Picani brothers. The sign above the door read “Quali-tea Time”, and had a picture of a smiling teapot pouring out tea. Logan also noted that the door was painted in rainbow colors, and the sight caused a smile to quirk up on his lips.

Virgil shifted around a bit awkwardly for a moment or two, eventually fishing out a key from within his cloak. He unlocked the door and pushed it open, silently beckoning for Logan to follow him. Once inside, Virgil shut and locked the door behind him, while Logan took in the tea shop. Although the lights weren’t on, Logan was fairly certain the shop was filled with pastel shades and rainbows, if the exterior was anything to go by. There was a counter with barstools at it, where customers could order and pay for their tea. Shelves with various types of tea lined the walls, and there was a plush seating area with a fireplace off in one corner.

“C’mon. Our apartment is upstairs,” Virgil said, heading to a door towards the back of the shop. He opened it to reveal a set of stairs, and he adjusted his grip on Patton before heading up. Logan continued to follow him, being mindful of the unconscious magma-witch in his arms. Virgil flicked the light on when he reached the top, and Patton let out a sleepy, confused sound.

“It’s alright Pat, we’re home,” Virgil soothed, smiling softly to himself. The expression seemed almost… strange, on the shadow-witch’s face. Virgil hadn’t done more than scowl or frown since Logan had met him, and this soft, shy smile made an emotion that he couldn’t quite place unfurl in his chest. It was shockingly similar to what he once felt when he gazed at Roman, before harsh words were flung and the mere thought of the magma-witch’s dazzling smile only brought pain and regret.

“You can- uh, lay him down on the couch. It’s just past the kitchen nook… follow me,” Virgil said, snapping Logan from his thoughts. His face flushed slightly, and he hoped Virgil didn’t notice that he was staring at him. Why had he even felt such things about Virgil? Logan was still hung up on Roman, wasn’t he? Nothing made sense, but he pushed those thoughts aside and followed Virgil deeper into his apartment.

They walked through a small kitchenette area, and made their way over to a seating area with a couch nearly overloaded with pillows. The couch was set across from a television, and Logan could picture Roman and the Picani brothers sitting down among the many pillows and watching movies. Virgil clumsily cleared the couch, pillows flopping unceremoniously onto the floor.

“I’ll tidy that up in a sec, just lay Roman down for now. I’m going to get Patton to bed,” Virgil said, walking over to a door past the seating area. Logan nodded, although Virgil couldn’t see it. He walked over to the couch, leaning down and gently depositing Roman onto it. He instantly snuggled down into the couch, letting out a sleepy sigh. A small smile wormed its way onto Logan’s lips at the sight.

“How is he?” Virgil asked, causing Logan to jump. He hadn’t realized that Virgil had re-entered the room.

“I think he’ll be alright, just needs some time to recover. How is your brother?” Logan asked. Virgil huffed out a laugh.

“He’s pretty zonked out right now, but okay,” he replied. An awkward silence settled between the two, until Logan noticed the shadows shyly creeping closer and shuffling the pillows into a pile beside the couch.

“You could have just walked over and done that,” Logan teased.

“Hey, gotta get rid of this nervous energy somehow,” Virgil shot back.

“I suppose,” Logan replied, fighting back a yawn.

“Are you tired? The pillows make for a nice napping spot, I know from experience,” Virgil replied with a teasing smile.

“That… actually sounds like a good idea,” Logan said with a yawn, arms stretching above his head. Virgil’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“You seem… awfully trusting of us,” Virgil said, suspicion creeping into his voice.

“Roman trusts you. Plus there is something… familiar, about your names. Specifically, your last name,” Logan replied. Virgil chuckled slightly, a blush creeping onto his face.

“Yeah… our Dad is Emile Picani,” he replied sheepishly. Logan gasped in realization. No wonder their names seemed so familiar to him. Emile Picani was a well-renowned herbal-witch, and his healing magic was legendary.

“I wasn’t aware that he had sons… it must be quite the reputation to live up to,” Logan commented.

“Yeah, that combined with our Pop being a dream-witch… growing up was interesting. But they never expected us to be like them, Dad always emphasized that we weren’t defined by who he and Pop were,” he answered with a shrug.

“A dream-witch?!” Logan gasped. Astro-witches like himself were incredibly rare, but dream-witches even more so. They could manipulate dreams and cause people to fall asleep with a single touch… such power was unheard of and often abused.

“Yeah… Dad met him soon after taking in Patton and I. His name’s Remy Picani- well, formerly Remy Morpheus. But then he married Dad and the rest is history I guess,” Virgil continued. A silence settled over the two as Logan let the information sink in. Something in Virgil’s tone implied that he and Patton had been through a lot, but he wasn’t certain that this was the time to press the subject.

“Well, guess I’ve bothered you enough. You get some rest, I’ll be in my room,” Virgil said, gesturing to a door back towards the kitchen area.

“Of course. Goodnight, Virgil.”

“Night.” The shadow-witch left the living room, shadows curling after him. As Logan watched him leave, he vaguely wondered how his life had managed to get so complicated so fast. With a sigh, he flopped into the soft pile of pillows and drifted to sleep almost instantly.

Roman’s eyes snapped open. He wasn’t sure what had woken him up- or how he even fell asleep in the first place. His memory was a foggy mess… there was a fight- Logan was there? Patton and Virgil, too. He was in the Picani brothers’ apartment. But what woke him-

Someone was suddenly on top of him, their hand clasping over his nose and mouth, while their knee dug into his stomach. He let out a muffled cry of surprise, and his eyes widened at the glint of a blade in the darkness. He struggled beneath the figure in vain as it got harder to breathe, and the blade drew closer to his chest, just above his heart- he couldn’t let this happen. He couldn’t be the damsel in distress again. A small burst of flames sputtered from his hand, and while it wasn’t much, it was enough to throw his attacker off of him. They slammed into the wall, but were back on their feet in an instant. Glowing golden eyes glinted at him in the darkness, and Roman scrambled backwards in fear, ending up falling to the floor with a loud thump. The sound startled what he had previously believed to be a pile of pillows, but was instead Logan.

“Roman, what’s-” his sentence cut off as he saw the fear in Roman’s eyes, and he quickly sprung to his feet, conjuring his staff in an instant. His gaze swiveled about, trying to find the source of Roman’s distress. The figure behind Logan crept closer, and the magma-witch’s eyes widened.

“Behind you,” he gasped out. Logan whirled around, and the attacker slashed at him with their blade. He cried out, stumbling backwards for a moment before regaining his footing. Logan glared at the golden-eyed witch, and sent a burst of starlight from his staff. They were thrown back once again, but sprang to their feet again and snarled at him in frustration.

Suddenly, before the attacker had a chance to try and strike Logan down, the shadows whipped out at them, disarming them and binding their hands behind their back. Roman glanced over to see Virgil standing a few feet behind him, and he practically melted in relief. Virgil gave Roman a small smile, which for whatever reason made his heart flutter ever so slightly. But before he could contemplate that, Virgil’s expression twisted into a scowl as he regarded the attacker.

“Kiddos? What’s going on?” Patton said, having emerged from his room at the sound of all the chaos. He had a fluffy blue blanket wrapped around his shoulders, and his hair was unruly from being asleep.

“This individual broke in and tried to kill Roman. I managed to hold them off for a time, but luckily Virgil came in and restrained them,” Logan explained, his voice slightly breathless.

“Logan, are you okay?” Patton asked.

“I’m fine. Let’s just find out who the attacker is,” Logan said dismissively. Patton looked like he wanted to protest, but summoned a small sphere of light in his hands. It cast the room in a warm glow, and allowed them to see who the golden-eyed witch was.

The figure was a man who wore a black cloak edged with yellow trimming, and had dark hair that fell into his golden eyes. A jagged scar ran over half of his face, trailing from the top of his forehead to his lip. His blade, now discarded on the floor, was a curved dagger with twin snakes twining around the hilt.

“Who are you?” Virgil growled.

“No one of importance,” the figure hummed, sounding bored.

“I’d consider rewording your statement,” Logan said cooly, his staff humming with magic. The figure swallowed nervously, then let out a pained sound as the shadows clenched unexpectedly for a moment.

“Don’t make me ask you again,” Virgil snarled. He rolled his eyes, huffing out a sigh.

“Fine. The name’s Declan,” he replied smoothly.

“Why did you attack Roman?” Logan demanded.

“You know, I’d love to stand here and answer your questions all night, but I have a job to do,” Declan snarled, and his dagger flew to his hand. He tried to slash through his bonds, but the blade merely slipped through them, not breaking their hold. A shadowy tendril shot out and snatched the blade from his hand, bringing it over to Virgil.

“Dude, they’re shadows. You can’t cut through those. But good to know that you must be an earth-witch with a particular talent in metal manipulation,” Virgil said with a smirk. Declan scowled, squirming in the shadowy bonds.

“Are you in league with that band of shadow-witches?” Patton asked, his voice firm and eyes almost cold, a strange phenomenon for the solar-witch.

“What?! Those idiots? Oh please, I’m a solo assassin. I don’t need those morons,” Declan huffed.

“Thanks for telling us you’re an assassin. Now, why are there people after Roman?” Virgil pressed. Declan cursed under his breath, clearly frustrated that he had given himself away.

“Hell if I should know. Prince did something to piss someone off, and now there’s a rich bounty waiting for any assassin who kills him,” he replied, shrugging nonchalantly.

“But I haven’t-” Roman’s voice cut off with a pained gasp as he tried to sit up.

“Roman!” Virgil gasped, eyes wide with concern. Unfortunately, Virgil’s sudden flash of panic at Roman’s condition caused his hold on Declan to slip for the briefest of moments. But that was all the assassin needed, breaking free of the shadows and summoning his dagger to his hand.

“Well, this has been fun, but the bounty is not worth this much trouble,” Declan scowled, before turning around and leaping out the open window.

“I’ll go after him,” Logan declared, but only managed to take a step forward before he winced and fell to his knees, hand clutching at his side.

“Logan!” Virgil cried out, rushing over to Logan before dropping to his knees beside him.

“M’fine,” Logan protested weakly, before he slumped against Virgil, eyes fluttering.

“Bullshit. You’re holding your side… he managed to get a hit on you, didn’t he?” Virgil pressed. Logan shifted uncomfortably for a moment, until Roman shuffled closer to both of them, expression twisted with concern.

“Jus’ a scratch,” Logan muttered, moving his hand. Both Roman and Virgil’s eyes widened as they saw the jagged cut running across his side, and the red rapidly blooming from it and onto his polo. With hardly a second thought, Virgil closed his eyes and ran his hand along the cut. Shadows trailed after it, before settling into Logan’s skin and leaving a mere scar behind. He let out a shaky breath once the cut was healed, opening his eyes.

“There. It’s no light-healing magic like Patton’s, but it gets the job done. You’ll probably feel a little sore and weak for a few days,” Virgil said with an apologetic hum.

“S’okay. Thank you,” Logan said softly, clasping his hand over Virgil’s. A light flush overcame the shadow-witch’s face, and Roman felt his heart thud the slightest bit faster in his chest.

“You’re- uh, you’re welcome,” Virgil stuttered, eyes darting around frantically, unsure of where to look. Logan smiled, and gave Virgil’s hand a comforting squeeze. Virgil met Logan’s gaze for a moment, then switched to look at Roman. The magma-witch had pink dusting across his cheeks as well, and lips parted in a somewhat surprised expression. This only caused Virgil to flush deeper, and let out a light chuckle. An emotion Roman couldn’t place settled over the three of them. It was strangely warm, and almost caring. He wasn’t sure if he wanted it to stop.

Patton watched the nearly silent exchange between his brother, Roman, and Logan with an amused smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He could see what was happening as clear as day, but the three of them had absolutely no idea. Which was even more amusing, considering Patton had no desire for romance, dating, or anything of the sort.

“I think you three have something to talk about,” Patton piped up, breaking the tender moment.

“What?!” Roman spluttered, gaze whipping over to Patton. The solar-witch merely giggled in response, slipping the fluffy blue blanket off of his shoulders and draping it over the back of the couch.

“I’m aroace, not blind, Roman. I see what’s going on here,” Patton replied with a grin. A surprised squeak escaped Roman’s lips, while Virgil gestured uselessly behind him. Meanwhile, Logan seemed to be silently unraveling Patton’s words.

“But-”

“I’m not saying you have to talk anything out, but you probably should before things get… interesting. I’m betting people aren’t going to stop coming after Roman, so I’m going to go get some help,” Patton said, finger-combing his unruly locks as he began to walk out of the living room.

“Patton, you’re still recovering from healing Roman!” Virgil protested.

“I’ve gotten some rest, I’ll be fine. This can’t wait. Besides, Dad and Pop aren’t too far away,” Patton said, summoning his staff in one hand, and his broom in the other. Virgil frowned, but let out a sigh of defeat.

“Fine. But be careful. And don’t forget your hat.”

“My hat!” Patton cried out, shifting his broom under one arm, then holding out his now free hand. His bedroom door flew open, his gray pointed hat zipping out and into his hand. Patton put on his hat with a determined smile, then took his broom in hand once more.

“I’ll be back soon. You three should talk. Love you!” Patton said, rushing out of their apartment, leaving the three witches to stare after him in mild bewilderment.

Logan mulled over what Patton had said. He wasn’t entirely sure of what the solar-witch was implying, but he had a niggling feeling that it had to do with… well, feelings. It was clear there was something between Roman and Virgil. And, much as it pained him to admit, Logan still cared deeply for Roman, in spite of everything that had happened. Not to mention that there was something about Virgil that just seemed to draw Logan in.

“There’s something I must confess to the both of you,” Roman blurted, before either of them could say anything. Virgil and Logan exchanged wary glances.

“Well… perhaps we should move to the couch, first,” Logan proposed, starting to rise to his feet. Roman and Virgil nodded, flushing slightly before standing up and making their way to the couch. Roman sat down in the middle, with Virgil at his left, and Logan at his right.

“So… uh, what was it you wanted to tell us?” Virgil asked, fidgeting with the ends of his cloak.

“Well… the first thing is that- that I… I really still care about you, Logan. I know I said some awful things… we both did. But I didn’t realize just how much I still cared about you until you saved me. Twice,” Roman said, looking down at his hands, which were nervously folding and unfolding. “And yet… I find myself caring deeply for Virgil as well.”

“What?!” Virgil shouted in surprise, cheeks flushing red.

“I know, I know. It’s strange, but true. I care for both of you. Very much,” Roman uttered softly, brown eyes warm and earnest. Virgil’s mouth opened and closed uselessly, the shadow-witch unsure of how to respond.

“Roman… I must confess that I too, still care for you very much. And perhaps the reason things didn’t work out before is that we were missing something. Someone,” Logan replied, flicking his gaze up to Virgil.

“I… what?” Virgil gasped, looking incredibly flustered. Roman’s reaction seemed to be more or less the same, except for the excited glint in his eyes.

“I’ve never been one for the ‘love at first sight’ sentiment, but there’s just… something about you, Virgil, that makes me want to reconsider,” Logan confessed softly. Virgil’s blush grew darker, if possible, and Roman looked like he was about ready to squeal with excitement.

“I… um…”

“I’ll admit, you came off as tough, powerful, and fearsome when I first met you, but there’s an underlying softness to you that is…” Logan’s sentence was cut off by Virgil suddenly surging across the couch, taking his face in his hands, and pulling him into a deep kiss. Logan made a startled sound, but quickly sank into the kiss. Virgil pulled away, a bit too soon for Logan’s liking, eyes wide.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking, I shouldn’t have-” Virgil’s sentence cuts off as he suddenly realizes he’s practically in Roman’s lap, the magma witch having wrapped his arms around Virgil’s waist.

“It’s alright, Virge. I don’t think Logan minded,” Roman said with a smirk.

“Ugh. That’s- that’s not- this is complicated. Roman, I feel like I’ve had a crush on you since forever, but I don’t- I’m not sure how I feel about Logan. But I just kissed him, and I really liked it- I don’t really know what I’m feeling,” Virgil rambled.

“Virgil, a kiss doesn’t have to be a commitment. If you’d rather just remain friends, I am fine with that. But for the record… I enjoyed kissing you as well,” Logan soothed, a slight flush over his cheeks.

“I think… I think I want to try. A relationship. With the two of you. I’m just scared,” Virgil said, refusing to meet either witch’s gaze.

“I’m scared too. But I think what we have, what we could be- it’s worth the fear,” Roman said, one hand rubbing soothing circles into his back.

“You’re scared? But you’re… you’re you! Brave and reckless… and- and all that stuff!” Virgil exclaimed. Roman chuckled, tugging Virgil the slightest bit closer to him.

“Oh Virgil… I’m afraid more often than you would think. I talk about going on grand adventures… but they can be terrifying. The fear of not coming home after a quest… but that’s what makes them an adventure. And in the end, it’s worth it. To have won, and to return with a noble story,” Roman declared, voice soft and eyes shining.

“Can you stop being so adorably dramatic? It just makes me wanna kiss you,” Virgil grumbled, but there was a soft, adoring look in his eyes.

“Guess I’ll just have to be more dramatic, if that’ll finally get you to kiss me,” Roman smirked.

“Shut up,” Virgil murmured, looping his arms around Roman’s neck and pulling him into a soft, sweet kiss. Roman seemed to melt for a moment, letting out a satisfied sound against Virgil’s lips. The arm around Virgil’s waist tightened, while the other hand reached up to run through his hair, causing a shiver to run up Virgil’s spine. He let out a sound akin to a moan, and Logan found himself shaking his head with a fond smile.

“Careful you two, I’m sure it won’t be long before Patton returns,” Logan teased. Roman broke away from Virgil with an indignant sound, face red. Virgil let out a snicker, covering his mouth with his hand soon after. Roman soon dissolved into giggles, and even Logan found himself laughing slightly.

“Oh Logan… I’ve missed that smart mouth of yours,” Roman sighed wistfully.

“I’m sure that’s not the only thing about my mouth you’ve missed,” he replied with a smirk.

“Fair enough. C’mere you,” Roman said, carefully disentangling his hand from Virgil’s hair and reaching out towards Logan. The astro-witch chuckled, and leaned in. Roman’s hand rested on his cheek, and their lips met… it was everything Logan didn’t realize he was missing.

Emile hummed as he tended to his plants, a small watering can in one hand. They reached up and stretched towards him, their vines curling around his fingers. He huffed out a soft laugh, stroking the leaves lovingly.

“It's alright, I'm here,” he soothed. They retracted from his fingers, and if plants could purr, Emile believed they would have.

Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped his waist, and a nose nuzzled into his neck. Emile laughed again, turning his head to look down at his husband, who was now pressing soft kisses to his neck. He pressed a kiss to Remy's soft yet unruly hair, setting his watering can down.

“I'm here for you too, don't worry love,” Emile said with a grin. Remy let out a pleased hum, pulling back slightly to look Emile in the eyes. He twisted in his husband's warm grip, placing a hand on his cheek and kissing him lovingly.

“What're you doing up so late, babes?” Remy asked after pulling away.

“Couldn't sleep,” Emile shrugged, pressing another kiss to Remy's lips. Remy was frowning when he pulled away, but was stopped with a hand on his chest when he tried to kiss it away.

“I could help with that, you know,” Remy pointed out.

“You were sleeping soundly, for once. I didn't want to wake you,” Emile murmured, brushing a strand of hair from Remy's eyes.

“You're like… too sweet. But as you can tell, I woke up anyway. Bed feels empty and strange without you,” Remy hummed, pulling him down into a deep and passionate kiss. Emile laughed into the kiss, hands plunging into Remy's soft, thick hair.

“Mmm… I love you. Sorry for leaving bed,” Emile murmured against his lips once he pulled away.

“Betcha you'll find a way to make it up to me,” Remy smirked. Emile let out a low laugh, and leaned in once more.

A sudden blur of blue and gray bursting in from the window caused both witches to jump, Emile losing his balance and toppling backwards, taking Remy down with him. The two of them glanced over to see their son, Patton, looking a little disheveled with an urgent look on his face. Remy was the first to scramble to his feet, rushing over to Patton and stopping just short of pulling him into a hug.

“Patton? Hun, you okay?” Remy asked softly. Patton’s expression wavered for a moment before he threw himself into Remy’s arms, sniffling. The dream-witch hugged his son tightly, looking over Patton’s head at Emile, expression twisted with concern. Emile rose to his feet and walked over to Remy and Patton, wrapping his arms around both of them.

“What happened?” Emile asked in a murmur, gently rubbing Patton’s back.

“You remember our friend Roman?” Patton asked.

“The one Virgil has a crush on?” Remy asked. Patton nodded, tears beginning to spring from his eyes. Emile and Remy exchanged concerned glances once more, hugging their son tightly between them.

“Someone’s put a bounty on him, he’s almost been killed twice! Thankfully an old friend- well, they were more than friends- of Roman’s saved him, but then he got hurt too! I just… I don’t know what to do, we need your help,” Patton whimpered, burying his face in Remy’s chest.

“It’s okay hun, we’ll figure this out,” Remy murmured, gently running his hands through Patton’s hair. Emile pressed a gentle kiss to his son’s hair, then pulled away from the hug.

“I’ll grab my bag, and then we can head to your apartment,” Emile explained with a soft smile.

“Grab my bag too, sweetie? I’ve got my broom,” Remy said, shifting Patton into a one-armed embrace and holding his now free hand out. His broom flew into his grip, and Emile smiled at his husband’s dramatic antics before heading to their room and grabbing their respective bags- Emile’s a large floral handbag, and Remy’s a brown messenger bag. Both bags were enchanted so that any object could fit in it, no matter the size or weight.

Emile strode back into their main living space to see that Patton had now detached himself from Remy, wiping at his eyes before adjusting his hat with a confident smile. Emile smiled back before giving Remy his bag. He slung the bag over his shoulder, before giving Emile a smirk.

“What?”

“Aren’t you forgetting something, babes?” Remy asked, gesturing with his broom for emphasis.

“Oh! My umbrella!” Emile cried out, holding out his hand. After a few crashing sounds, and winces from Remy and Patton, his umbrella flew into his grip. Remy chuckled fondly, shaking his head.

“You and your Mary Poppins aesthetic,” Remy scoffed, but had a soft twinkle in his eye.

“Practically perfect in every way! Now, let’s go to Patton’s and see if we can sort this dilemma out!”

Remy wasn’t sure what he was expecting when he arrived at Patton and Virgil’s apartment, but his son curled up on the couch with Roman and another man he didn’t recognize was not one of them. Virgil was seated in Roman’s lap, one of the magma-witch’s arms around his waist. His nose was buried in the crook of Virgil’s neck, eyes closed and snoring softly. His other arm was around the darker haired man that Remy didn’t recognize, his face smushed against Virgil’s chest, one hand clutching at his cloak. Virgil was leaning his head on Roman’s, a soft look on his face as he gazed at the two men clinging to him.

Patton let out a sharp gasp, and Virgil’s head shot up at the sound. The movement nearly startled Roman and the other man awake, causing Virgil’s expression to twist to one of mild panic. But they both settled back asleep, and Virgil let out a sigh of relief.

“Calm down Patton, you’re gonna wake them up!” Virgil hissed.

“Sorry! I’m just so excited! It looks like you three talked things out!” Patton whisper-shouted. A light flush came over Virgil’s face for a moment, paired with a rare soft smile.

“Yeah… we did. They’re my… uh, well- we’re uh- dating. All of us. Together,” Virgil stammered, becoming more and more flustered.

“Well, I’m very happy for you three,” Emile said, smiling encouragingly. Virgil gave a small half-smile back, gaze shifting back to Roman and the other man.

“Thanks, Dad. And while you’re here, do you think you could take a look at Roman and Logan? Patton and I tried healing them the best we could… but I’d really feel better if you’d double-check our work,” Virgil asked, gave flicking between Logan and Roman, then back to Emile.

“Of course, Virge, I’d be happy to! But it seems they’re a little wrapped up with you right now,” he replied with a wink. Virgil flushed deeper, if possible.

“Daaaaad! I am so glad they’re not awake right now, you’re embarrassing,” Virgil muttered. Just as the words came out of Virgil’s mouth, Logan began to stir. His eyes fluttered open, and he blinked tiredly for a moment until he saw Virgil. A soft, adoring look came across his face, and he leaned up to give Virgil a quick peck on the cheek. A small squeak escaped Virgil’s lips, and he glanced frantically between Logan and the others.

“Logan!” he hissed, face incredibly red.

“Mmm… you’re cute when you blush. Was kissing you okay? I didn’t overstep, did I?” Logan asked, brow furrowing with concern.

“No, you’re fine-”

“Good,” Logan interrupted with a murmur, pulling Virgil into a soft kiss. Virgil made a surprised sound into the kiss, but began melting into it- until Remy cleared his throat.

Logan jumped, breaking away from Virgil with a yelp. The noise awoke Roman, who made a tired, distressed sound, tugging Virgil closer to him in a protective manner. An incredibly deep blush was over Logan’s face as he saw Remy, Emile, and Patton standing in the living room. Virgil was murmuring soothing words to Roman, assuring him that they weren’t in danger, and his grip on the shadow-witch loosened.

“Remy, they were having a moment! And you spooked poor Roman!” Emile protested with a frown.

“Babes, I’m happy that our son is happy- but we came to help them with whoever’s trying to take out Roman, not see them be all cutesy and domestic,” Remy replied.

“Yes, of course- sorry Mr. Picani,” Logan stammered. Remy huffed out a laugh.

“Gurl, you can just call me Remy. And don’t sweat it.”

“Yeah. Besides, he and Dad are much worse,” Virgil teased with a smirk.

“Hey! Now wait just a minute-”

“You said something about helping us?” Roman piped up, before a full-on sass-off erupted between Virgil and Remy. The dream-witch quickly schooled his expression and nodded.

“Roman, do you know why someone would be after you?” Emile asked. Roman sighed, drawing one arm away from Virgil’s waist so that he could run a hand through his hair.

“That’s the thing- I have no idea,” he replied.

“Are you sure? What about your adventures, you’re always running into unfriendly people,” Patton pointed out.

“But I haven’t come across anyone as of late! The last big adventure I had was slaying a dragon that was terrorizing people,” Roman said with an irritated huff. Remy and Emile exchanged nervous glances.

“Is everything alright?” Logan asked, but the two of them didn’t seem to hear him.

“You don’t think that-”

“Emile, it’s been years, decades since one’s been seen or even heard of!”

“The same could be said about you.” Remy let out a frustrated sigh, then turned to Roman.

“Are you absolutely sure it was a dragon you killed?” he asked.

“I think I know a dragon when I see one, Remy,” Roman huffed, expression twisted with confusion and frustration.

“Are you sure? Think about its eyes, its mannerisms, did anything strike you as strange about it?!” Remy demanded.

“What? I don’t know! It was a dragon, it was hurting people, so I put an end to it!” Roman snapped.

“Pop… what are you trying to say?” Virgil asked carefully, gaze flicking between Roman and Remy.

“A dragon-witch might be targeting Roman,” Emile replied gravely. A shocked silence settled over them for a moment, until Logan spoke up.

“But- they’re even more unheard of than a dream-witch or an astro-witch!”

“Yeah! And how could one be after Roman if he killed them?” Patton asked.

“There could be more than one dragon-witch. Or it could be one of their dragons that Roman killed. It’s hard to say,” Emile explained.

“See, this is why I keep telling you all of these adventures are a bad idea! You’re gonna get yourself killed,” Virgil huffed.

“The dragon was hurting innocents! I couldn’t just sit there and let people die!” Roman protested.

“Why do you have to be so goddamn noble and heroic?! It’s both the most frustrating and charming thing about you,” Virgil grumbled.

“You think I’m charming?” Roman smirked.

“Oh my god, shut up!” Virgil exclaimed, burying his face in Roman’s shoulder.

“Roman, where was the dragon’s lair? Maybe if we went there, we could figure out what exactly happened,” Emile suggested.

“It was in the old subway system under the city,” Roman replied.

“Then it’s settled. We head to the old subway system in the morning,” Remy said.

“Why not now? We’re all awake and ready to go!” Roman protested.

“Gurl, haven’t you been attacked twice?! Y’all need rest before we try and take on a dragon-witch!” Remy scolded.

“I agree… but it may not be safe here. An assassin has already come here, there’s no telling who else may know of our location,” Logan pointed out.

“Hun, I’d like to see them take on a dream-witch and the most notorious herbal-witch,” Remy said with a confident smirk. Emile blushed slightly at Remy’s proclamation, but nodded.

“Yeah, and Logan did a pretty good job of protecting me earlier,” Roman cooed, leaning over to kiss Logan’s cheek.

“I got wounded.”

“Virgil healed you!”

“I’d prefer not having to heal either of you.”

“Okay lovebirds, that’s enough. Let me take a look at Roman and Logan to make sure that they’re healed up okay, then you all can get some rest,” Emile said, tone making no room for argument.

He looked over Logan first, then Roman. He checked over Virgil too, despite his protests that he was fine. The three of them then trudged to Virgil’s room, none of them needing Remy’s dream magic to help send them to sleep. Emile sent Patton off to bed, despite his insistence that he didn’t need to rest. However, he was practically asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. It reminded Emile of the days when Patton and Virgil were just children, just after he had married Remy.

“You should rest too,” Remy murmured, arms wrapping around Emile’s waist and nose nuzzling his neck.

“What happened to potential assassins not being able to take on you and me?” Emile teased.

“I’ll wake you if anything happens, promise,” Remy murmured.

“Fine,” Emile sighed, letting himself be led to the couch. Remy sat down first, and Emile laid down with his head in his lap, letting Remy stroke his hair until he fell asleep.

The next morning was calmer than expected, with Patton and Emile making breakfast for everyone. Logan and Virgil hardly left Roman’s side, both of them equally paranoid about how he was holding up despite Emile’s okay on his condition. They shuffled through their morning routine, a little different from what they usually experienced on their own. Roman didn’t mind it one bit- in fact, he felt he could get used to it, waking up with Logan and Virgil.

After they had eaten and rounded up their various magical paraphernalia, their quest could not be put off much longer. The band of witches set out to the abandoned subway. It was a bit of a trip from Patton and Virgil’s apartment, but with their brooms (and Emile’s umbrella) they made the trip in no time.

“So where’s the dragon?” Remy asked, voice echoing in the empty subway cavern. Scorch marks could be seen all over, as well as parts of the tunnels that had completely collapsed, leaving behind only rubble.

“That’s the thing, it just went poof after I killed it. I didn’t really think anything of it at the time,” Roman explained.

“What?! Why didn’t you tell us this sooner?!” Virgil demanded.

“Hey! I’ve had a very stressful past few days! Details slipped my mind,” Roman protested sheepishly.

“How about the detail that you should check to see if the dragon you killed is actually dead? Or that the dragon is actually a dragon?” a voice snarled from behind them. They all whirled around, Logan and Virgil taking a defensive position in front of Roman. Patton stood beside his brother, while Remy and Emile were in front of the four younger witches.

Before them stood a tall woman wearing a sleek bodysuit that seemed to be made of shimmering green scales. Her dark hair was piled into a haphazard bun on the top of her head. If the horns protruding from the top of her head weren’t enough to prove what she was, then the fiery orange-red reptilian eyes certainly were. She was a dragon-witch.

“Um… heyyy, about before-” Roman started, but was cut off by Virgil elbowing him.

“Don’t make this worse than it already is, Princey,” Virgil muttered. The dragon-witch moved as if to step closer, but halted by a firm glare from Remy.

“Gurl. Don’t even think about it,” he snarled, golden dreamsand beginning to swirl between his fingertips. The dragon-witch arched an eyebrow, dark laughter rumbling in the back of her throat. She threw her head back and began to full-on cackle. Remy gritted his teeth, and with a defiant yell, hurled his dreamsand at the witch. Golden tendrils surged through the air- but ended up curling through nothing. The dragon-witch had vanished.

“Where did she-”

“REMY!” Emile cried out, but his husband turned around too late. The dragon-witch was behind him, hands having morphed into claws. She slashed them across his face, and Remy cried out, stumbling backwards.

“NO!” they cried out in unison, Virgil’s voice swelling above the rest as a wave of shadows flew from his fingertips, hitting the dragon-witch in the chest and sending her sprawling. Emile and Patton rushed to Remy’s side. Emile kneeled beside him and pulled the dream-witch into his arms. Patton’s hands flew to his mouth when he saw the heavily bleeding cuts over his father’s face. Remy let out a whimper, eyes fluttering and tears of pain mixing with the blood trailing down his cheeks.

“It’s okay, you’re going to be okay, my sweet Bedtime Bear,” Emile soothed, his voice trembling as tears dripped down his face. Some of them landed in Remy’s cuts, the tears causing them to heal slightly.

“Thought ‘m more of a Sweet Dreamsss Bear,” Remy slurred. Emile choked out a laugh, brushing Remy’s hair out of his face.

“Maybe now’s not the time for cartoon references,” he murmured.

“Youuuuu ss-started it,” Remy pouted.

Patton let out a sudden gasp, and Emile’s gaze shot up to him as he slammed the end of his staff into the ground. A shimmering golden dome materialized above them, just in time to stop a massive dragon claw from crushing them. A frustrated roar was heard, and the claws came down, again and again, Patton letting out a pained gasp with every hit to the dome. His body was trembling with the effort to keep the barrier up, and sweat trailed down his brow.

“Patton…”

“Don’t worry about me, heal Pop!” Patton cried out. The dome was hit again, and Patton let out a shout as he fell to his knees. The barrier flickered, but stayed up as Patton leaned against his staff, gripping it firmly with both hands.

A burst of starlight hit the dragon-witch, soon followed by a wave of shadows and a blaze of fire. She roared in pain, stumbling back from the golden dome. Patton glanced over to Logan, Virgil, and Roman, giving them a weak smile before slumping to the ground with a pained sound. The golden dome flickered out, and Virgil was at his side in an instant.

“Nononononono, Patton, don’t do this to me, c’mon- not like this, please-” Virgil begged, shadows clinging to him and swirling anxiously as he took his brother into his arms. Patton’s eyes fluttered open, and Virgil sobbed in relief.

“‘M okay, jus’ tired,” Patton murmured.

“Well, if you weren’t sleepy, I would be able to help you with that, hun,” a voice piped up from beside Virgil.

“Pop!” Virgil and Patton cried out in unison, seeing Remy standing beside them. The cuts had healed to become just faint lines against his face. Emile stood at his husband’s side, smiling in relief as he gazed at him and his sons.

An enraged roar broke the Picani family out of their reverie, and their gaze snapped to see the dragon-witch stumbling backwards against the old subway system’s wall. Bursts of fire and starlight rained down at the witch, Roman and Logan fighting together in tandem- almost like a practiced, graceful dance.

“I’ll take care of Patton, you two go help Roman and Logan,” Emile said, already scooping Patton up into his arms.

“But what do we do?” Virgil asked, glancing over to the dragon-witch nervously. No matter how many hits Logan and Roman got on her, she would get back up, jaws snapping and spitting fire.

“You three keep her distracted long enough for me to use my dreamsand without her noticing. Once she’s asleep, we turn her in to the Board of Master Witches. They’ll figure out what to do with her,�� Remy explained.

“Sounds good, Pop. Be careful,” Virgil said.

“You too, hun. Go help your boyfriends,” Remy replied with a wink. Virgil spluttered for a moment or two, blushing, before turning and running to help Logan and Roman. Logan caught sight of Virgil first, expression flashing with concern. He sent another burst of starlight from his staff before rushing over to Virgil. He gently grasped his shoulder, eyes searching for any injuries.

“Are you okay? How is your family holding up?” Logan asked, gazing softly into Virgil’s eyes.

“They’re okay, Pop has a plan,” Virgil said, then explained Remy’s plan to him. The astro-witch nodded curtly, about to pull away and tell Roman the plan, but hesitated.

“I’ve never been one for superstitions, but-” he paused to press a soft kiss to Virgil’s lips. “A kiss for good luck.”

“Good luck,” Virgil gasped out, practically breathless from such a simple, soft kiss. Logan smiled, then turned to run and explain the plan to Roman. Virgil watched him leave for a moment, until he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. The dragon-witch was getting up from Logan’s most recent blast of starlight, and her angered gaze was zeroed in on Logan and Roman. Something snapped inside Virgil. He couldn’t let them get hurt.

“Dragon-witch!” Virgil cried. Her head snapped to glare at him, but Virgil stood his ground, glaring right back. Tendrils of shadow writhed and whipped behind him, and Virgil was surprised to see a spark of fear run through the dragon-witch’s amber eyes. The tendrils lashed out at her, pinning her front claws to the ground. Her massive wings flapped as she roared in frustration, trying to free her claws.

A burst of starlight hit her side, and a mighty roar shook the old subway system. She breathed a plume of fire at Logan, but Roman countered it with his own fire. With his other hand, Roman summoned some of the rubble towards him, and it swirled around him for a moment before he sent it flying at her. She roared again, and Logan sent another burst of starlight straight into her mouth. The dragon-witch shrieked and writhed, but Virgil’s shadows held firm.

“Gurl, you sound so overtired! Bedtime for you, bitch!” Remy shouted, dreamsand swirling around him before it shot forward into the dragon-witch’s head.

“No!” she shrieked, before her eyelids fluttered and her body slumped to the ground. The dragon form shifted and melted away, and she soon was in human form, fast asleep. Virgil’s shadows retracted, and he let out a sigh of relief.

“We did it!” Roman squealed, rushing over and wrapping his arms around Virgil’s waist, lifting him up and spinning around with him in his arms.

“Put me down! And could you be any louder? We just got her to sleep!” Virgil hissed. Roman gave him a cheeky grin, setting Virgil down but still keeping his arms around his waist. Virgil opened his mouth again- probably to reprimand Roman- but he was cut off by a pair of lips meeting his own. When Roman pulled away, his grin was brighter and his gaze soft and loving.

“I’m sure your Pop can get her to sleep again,” Roman murmured.

“You’re insufferable,” Virgil muttered.

“Yes, but I believe I prefer him that way. It can be rather charming,” Logan said, walking over to them and dropping a kiss on Roman’s head. The magma-witch flushed bright red, causing Virgil to smirk.

“That’s our Roman. So charming it’s insufferable,” Virgil agreed, loving the blush that danced along Roman’s cheeks.

“Alright you three, how about we head home?” Emile’s voice piped up, and the three witches turned towards him. Patton was still in his arms, although he was more alert. Remy was just behind him, the dragon-witch slung over his shoulder and snoring softly.

“Home sounds fantastic,” Virgil said. Logan and Roman nodded, and the witches headed out of the old subway system, the threat over their heads finally gone.

Logan woke up to sunlight streaming through the window, strong arms around his waist, and someone’s head against his chest. He blinked in confusion for a moment, not quite recognizing where he was. But then, soft kisses were trailed up the back of his neck, and Logan remembered in an instant.

“Good morning, Roman,” he murmured, turning his head to look his boyfriend in the eyes.

“Shhh… too much talking, not enough kissing,” Roman pouted. Logan rolled his eyes, but leaned in to press a kiss to Roman’s lips. When Logan began to pull away, Roman followed and kissed him deeper, causing Logan to let out a soft gasp. He could feel Roman’s smirk against his mouth as the two continued exchanging soft, passionate kisses. One of Roman’s hands inched underneath Logan’s shirt, and Logan gasped again.

“Hey, some of us are trying to sleep here,” Virgil grumbled, his voice muffled against Logan’s chest. Logan broke away from Roman with a laugh.

“Sorry Virgil, you know how Roman gets,” Logan teased.

“Hey!”

“Only teasing, love,” Logan said, still not used to the thrill that went through him whenever he said that. Love. It had only been a few weeks since they had defeated the dragon-witch, and Roman, Virgil, and Logan’s relationship had started. But Logan was certain of his feelings, for one of the first times in his life. He loved them.

“Hey, you guys are adorable, but am I gonna get a good morning kiss here or not?” Virgil huffed.

“Of course, my dear. Apologies for forgetting you,” Logan replied, shifting towards him again. Virgil leaned up to press his lips to Logan’s, the astro-witch running his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair. He let out a sudden gasp into the kiss, as Roman had begun kissing up his neck again.

“Roman!” Logan gasped out. Roman smirked against his neck, pressing another soft kiss there.

“Sorry Starshine, you’re just so kissable this morning,” Roman murmured.

“I’d have to agree. C’mere?” Virgil asked, a little bashful. Logan smiled, and leaned in once more.

As the three of them exchanged soft kisses for most of the morning, Logan couldn’t believe his luck. Just weeks earlier, his heart had been filled with regret. But now his once lost love was back, and he had Virgil now too. And he would fight a thousand dragon-witches if it meant they were forever by his side.

Tag List (ask me to be added/removed!): @adorably-angsty @alix-the-skeleton @allthemetalsoftherainbow @armageddonhascome @backatthebein @bangthekobrakid @bloodropsblog @cefinitely-rolo @coffeestudylive @cosmic-chu @cyndaquil17 @dani-jeanso @didsomeonesayprince @emphoenixcat @every-day-insomniac @fandomsandanythingelse @freekiphotography @freepaperie081 @hanramz-the-fander @i-need-a-social-life-2710 @i-really-dig-the-purple @ironwoman359 @justanotherpurplebutterfly @kanejandkruge @kitsuneprideleader @kittycake574 @le2712 @littlemiracle05 @loganpatton @lollingtothemax @look-its-meme @loverofpizzaandallthingssweet @lynlinked @mewsicalmiss @midnightcandy @moonstonefox @musicsavedmefromdeath @mystrangedarkson @nightmarejasmine @not-as-smart @of-treble-and-dragons @punsterterry @purplepatton @quoth-the-sparrow @radioactivehelena @royallyanxious @ruuworld @sanders-trash-4ever @save-me-oh-dream-of-mine @shadowsfromthesun @shygirl4991 @sleepyssnail @softbludemon @softnic @sombraplayslazertag @sweetinsomniac @the-fandoms-are-takin-over @theresneverenoughfandoms @thisrandomperson102 @thuriweaver @vigilantvirgil

[sign-from-god-complex]

My Writing Masterlist!!!!

Grouped by ship, to hopefully make things easier to find!! All my writing is also tagged under the tag “lo can write” and all my music is under the tag “lo can sing”!! 

(⭐ = top 5 most popular fics // ❤️ = author’s favourites)

LAMP

Full Fics (over 1,000 words, ish) 

The Purpose of Marriage, To Know That You Are Loved - lamp! just fluff; very sappy. featuring: lots of love declarations and a nontraditional marriage proposal. (2,425 words)

tonight might be my night to reminisce - lamp! angst with a soft, hurt/comfort ending. featuring: Logan stargazing and getting existential. (1,665 words)

Saviour - platonic logince and platonic royality! hurt/comfort. featuring: a superhero au and some absolutely terrible puns I spent far too long trying to find. (1,398 words)

Spooked - platonic lamp with a focus on platonic analogical! fluff and humour. featuring: Crofter’s type bribery and bad ghost hunting. (2,362 words)

“You never told me you had a fucking twin.” (⭐) - platonic lamp with a minor focus on platonic logince! fluff and humour. featuring: Roman not knowing how to let other people talk and the subsequent confusion. (1,985 words)

cloud nine (❤️) - lamp! fluff and hurt/comfort. featuring: lots of napping and Virgil trying to help his boyfriends feel better. (2,799 words)

smitten - qpr royality & romantic prinxiety! fluff. featuring: Roman being a lovesick idiot and Patton being basically the sweetest partner ever. (1,033 words)

Chaptered Fics

A Gift From Me To You (❤️) - lamp and platonic sleepxiety! angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, this fic has it all! featuring: surprise soulmates and a whole lot of emotional journeys. (complete) (29,882 words / approximately 3,000 words per chapter) chapter 1 - chapter 2 - chapter 3 - chapter 4 - chapter 5 - chapter 6 - chapter 7 - chapter 8 - epilogue

Prinxiety

Drabbles/Ficlets (under 1,000 words, ish)

“I think I'm in love with you.” - prinxiety! absolute fluff. (616 words)

"So what, who cares what they think?"  - prinxiety! fluff and hurt/comfort. (345 words)

Full Fics (over 1,000 words, ish)

running out of luck // on his knees - prinxiety! light fluff; nothing hugely intense. featuring: late night strolls on the beach and Roman being a dork. (1,081 words)

“You better have a good reason for waking me up at the ass-crack of dawn.” - platonic prinxiety! fluff. featuring: a timelapse of early mornings or late nights and some reluctantly asked for affection. (1,247 words)

demiromantic love - prinxiety and implied endgame dlamp! fluff with a slight bit of angst. featuring: the obligatory identity crisis and crush on your best friend 90% of LGBT+ people experience in their life. (1,089 words)

stellar nebula - prinxiety with background loceit and parental analogince! fluff. featuring: an impulsive surprise and a whole lot more softness than Virgil was expecting to deal with. (1,375 words)

“You’re crying” (⭐) - platonic prinxiety! hurt/comfort. featuring: hot chocolates and late-night insecurities. (1,350 words)

Logicality

Drabbles/Ficlets (under 1,000 words, ish)

“Here, take my blanket.” - ambiguous logicality! fluff. (553 words)

“For some reason I’m attracted to you.” - logicality! angst (warning: no happy ending). (583 words)

Full Fics (over 1,000 words, ish)

Secrets - logicality! hurt/comfort and a lil bit of angst. featuring: a silly misunderstanding and some crying. (1,307 words)

Caretaker - platonic logicality! fluff. featuring: autistic! sides! and Patton being an excellent roommate and friend. (1,431 words)

solidity - ambiguous logicality! angst, possibly hurt/comfort but mostly angst (warning: no happy ending). featuring: some hardcore dissociation and reality issues, and Patton trying his absolute best to help. (1,073 words)

“Is there a special reason as to why you’re wearing my shirt?” - queerplatonic logicality! hurt/comfort and fluff. featuring: Patton trying to work on his issues and Logan being a good qpp. (1,151 words)

“If you don’t hug me right now, I think I might fall apart” - queerplatonic logicality! hurt/comfort and fluff. featuring: angry, protective Patton and some of the subtle ways to love someone. (2,012 words)

“Don’t be silly, I want to stay up with you.” - queerplatonic logicality! hurt/comfort. featuring: some school-related stress and Patton being willing to sacrifice sleep to assist. (1,046 words)

Falling Leaves - platonic logicality! fluff. featuring: autistic sides and lots of crunching leaves. (1,325 words)

Analogical

Drabbles/Ficlets (under 1,000 words, ish)

Nightmares - analogical! mostly horror, with some hurt/comfort. (730 words)

“Don’t say you love me.” - analogical! hurt/comfort. (627 words)

“All I do is drink coffee and say bad words” - queerplatonic analogical! fluff with a little bit of hurt/comfort (704 words)

“Have you seen my hoodie?” - analogical! hurt/comfort. (687 words)

Full Fics (over 1,000 words, ish)

Understanding Pride (⭐❤️) - queerplatonic analogical! a good mix of angst, hurt/comfort and fluff. featuring: aro/ace Logan coming to terms with his identity and nb Virgil helping him out with that. (5,519 words)

“Just smile. I really need to see you smile.” (❤️) - analogical! pretty much entirely fluff, with a tiny bit of self-doubt. featuring: ace Logan having to deal with some shitty people and Virgil being a soft boyfriend. (1,108 words)

“You’re very endearing when you’re half-asleep.” - analogical! complete fluff. featuring: a sleepy Virgil and a completely in love Logan. (1,031 words)

Royality

Drabbles/Ficlets (under 1,000 words, ish)

“This is girl talk, so leave.” - royality, with a side of analogical! fluff. (1,002 words)

First Dance - royality! absolute fluff. 

safe - royality! fluff.

Full Fics (over 1,000 words, ish)

How Does He Know You Love Him? - platonic royality! angst, with some hurt/comfort. featuring: some reminiscing from Patton and a long-overdue conversation. (1,540 words)

“Please, don’t cry.” (❤️) - royality! fluff. featuring: a proposal and Roman drinking loving his boyfriend juice. (1,562 words)

four and twenty blackbirds - royality! fluff. featuring: Roman’s being a gay mess and both literal and metaphorical sweetness. (1,589 words)

nevertheless - royality! fluff with a lil hurt/comfort. featuring: a song and a hesitant but undying kind of love. (1,196 words)

Logince

Drabbles/Ficlets (under 1,000 words, ish)

logince soulmate drabble - logince! fluff. (553 words)

“You can’t banish me! This is my bed too!” - logince! fluff. (451 words)

Awe - logince! complete fluff. (991 words)

Love You (❤️) - queerplatonic logince! fluff. (748 words)

interstellar infatuation (❤️) - logince! absolute fluff. (729 words)

“Did you seriously just get your foot stuck in a toilet?” - logince! humour. (737 words)

a hand to hold - logince! fluff. (594 words)

Full Fics (longer than 1,000 words, ish)

take care (⭐❤️) - logince! fluff, extremely sappy. featuring: Roman’s bad self-care tendencies and Logan’s willingness to do anything to help his boyfriend. (2,925 words)

the choice is ours and ours alone - logince and (background) moxiety! fluff and hurt/comfort. featuring: autistic Logan and serious relationship discussions. (3,534 words)

breathe in fire (❤️) - logince! angst and a little bit of smut (warning: no happy ending). featuring: an amazing one night stand, and Logan's fear of falling in love. (1,267 words)

“I think I picked up your coffee by mistake.” - logince! fluff. featuring: Logan being a gay mess and Roman managing to be smooth for (what I imagine to be) the first time in his life. (1,507 words)

Screw You // Okay - logince! smut? sorta. and fluff. featuring: arguments as a cover for sexual tension and Logan trying not to admit that he’s soft. (1,432 words)

Effort for Effort’s Sake - ambiguous logince! hurt/comfort. featuring: some emotional turmoil and Roman caring a whole lot. (1,915 words)

“I’ll be here to protect you.” - pre-romantic logince! fluff with a little bit of hurt/comfort. featuring: Roman’s irrational fears and Logan’s willingness to help him feel better. (1,215 words)

cuddles and catnaps - platonic logince! hurt/comfort and fluff. featuring: an exhausted Logan and a heartfelt discussion. (3,667 words)

better things are here with you - logince with background moxiety! fluff. featuring: love confessions and an agreement for the betterment of both ends. (1,768 words) - moxiety companion fic here!

celestial bodies (❤️) - logince! fluff. featuring: a proposal and more emotions than either of them know what to do with. (1,400 words)

disruptions - logince! fluff. featuring: a very nervous Logan and an unexpected, and yet entirely expected, love confession. (1,234 words)

Moxiety

Drabbles/Ficlets (under 1,000 words, ish)

“You’re cute when you’re all worried.” - moxiety! hurt/comfort. (440 words)

“Wait a second are you jealous?” - moxiety! fluff with a tiny bit of hurt/comfort. (762 words)

“I’m so proud of you.” - brotherly moxiety! fluff!!! (544 words)

Full Fics (over 1,000 words, ish) 

The Well (❤️) - moxiety with background logince! horror? angst? it’s something! featuring: fae Patton and Virgil being the protector as always. (2,820 words)

Nook - Present - moxiety! angst and hurt/comfort. featuring: loving husbands and emotional release. (1,149 words)

every way that matters (❤️) - queerplatonic moxiety! fluff and maybe some hurt/comfort. featuring: an unexpected marriage proposal and a bond closer than you could ever imagine. (1,167 words)

love like you - moxiety! lots of fluff and a little bit of angst. featuring: immortals in love and some sappy slow dancing. (2,064 words)

things are better here with you - moxiety with background logince! complete fluff. featuring: a lot of Virgil being stupidly in love and several attempts at a proposal. (3,404 words) - logince companion fic here!

Self-Control (❤️) - moxiety! fluff. featuring: a past as rebellious punk children and rediscovering feelings after a long time apart. (2,539 words)

Ships with Deceit

Drabbles/Ficlets (under 1,000 words, ish)

“Hey, hey, calm down. They can’t hurt you anymore.” - parental anxceit! hurt/comfort. (1,000 words)

“I love your hugs.”  - moceit! hurt/comfort. (243 words)

“Do you even still love me?” - dlamp! angst (warning: no happy ending). (626 words)

Certainties - loceit! fluff. (548 words)

Full Fics (over 1,000 words, ish)

they hate you, I’m sure - platonic moceit! hurt/comfort and fluff. featuring: some tears from Patton and cuddles from a good snake boi. (2,830 words)

“He’s so pretty I think I’m gonna faint.” (⭐) - roceit and one-sided royality! hurt/comfort maybe? I’m really not sure. featuring: Roman’s shitty friends and Dee being observant (bonus: Logan using neopronouns). (1,845 words)

the cost of admission - loceit! fluff. featuring: nb Logan and a direct interpretation of the line, “oh my god, they were roommates”. (1,421 words)

“Please, open the door.” - analoceit! hurt/comfort. featuring: an unexpected coming out and emotional vulnerability. (2,261 words)

Other

Drabbles/Ficlets (under 1,000 words, ish)

feigning innocence - losleep! fluff. (892 words)

“I’m thinkin’ about losleepxiety” - losleepxiety/analosleep! absolute fluff. (369 words)

Full Fics (over 1,000 words, ish)

Idealistic (❤️) - losleep! fluff with a tiny bit of hurt/comfort. featuring: Remy loving space and Logan loving them even more than that. (2,286 words)

Warmth - remile! fluff with a tiny bit of angst. featuring: nonbinary Remy, trans Emile and just an unreasonable amount of soft. (3,401 words)

Four Seven Hate - losleep! is “gay mess” a fic genre? no? then maybe fluff. featuring: Logan not understanding how emotions or people work and a whole lot of misplaced anger. (1,498 words)

“You’re stunning.” - sleepality! fluff. featuring: prom night and Remy being a bit of a sappy gay. (1,206 words)

No Ship

Full Fics (over 1,000 words, ish)

Patterns - no ship! angst, just entirely angst (warning: no happy ending). featuring: Virgil’s bad coping mechanisms and self-harm. (1,357 words)

Music

Make-Believe - a Roman-inspired song!

Lost & Found - a Virgil-and-Deceit-inspired song!

nevertheless - a royality song!

[things-we-used-tc-share]

Would the 67 (“I’m right where I belong.”) with Analogince be something I could ask for? It's okay if it's no though

Warnings: Minor angst/ relationship troubles, panic attacks. 

Ship: Analogince

Plot: They’ve all had their doubts before, but they hadn’t expected it to be Logan they find having a panic attack in his bedroom.

--

Virgil can feel something in the air today, something different, heavy. He briefly ran through his mind a list of things that could be wrong, even checking in with Thomas to see if the host was okay. He was, okay that is, but he seemed a little out of it, a little...different. The next person he checked in with was Patton who, although a little tired, was happily baking cookies in the kitchen. 

So why did something feel wrong? 

He knocks on Roman’s door to find the princely figure working his magic, light swirls of red and gold floating from his fingertips as he worked on another project of his. He turns to the smaller man with a wide grin “Morning Virgil,” the swirls stop as he crosses the room to kiss his boyfriends gently on the lips and then his forehead “What can I do for you today?” 

“Something feels wrong,” he admits sheepishly “Not drastically, just wrong, I spoke to Thomas and he seems a little out of it but otherwise fine, Patton seems a little tired but again otherwise fine, so I came to see you, but you also seem fine,”

“Which means... either it’s you or Logan?” Roman finishes with raised eyebrows and Virgil nods. 

“But I don’t feel any different than usual, anxious but that’s nothing new,” The youngest side sits on Roman’s bed looking a little defeated “But Logan’s never not okay, he’s always okay and the thought of him not okay terrifies me but if there’s something wrong then...”

“We need to go to him and help him,” Roman leans down and presses a kiss to Virgil’s forehead “Come on, darling, let’s go see if our boyfriend is okay,” Virgil gives a small smile and allows the creative side to take his hand and lead him out of the door towards Logan’s room.

Both of them generally love Logan’s room, for Patton it can sometimes feel suffocating but to Roman and Virgil it was the most serene place they’ve ever been in. The dark blue door stood between them and the room on the other side, despite belonging to the side notorious for his lack of living, is so alive. 

The walls are dark blue and the ceiling a living galaxy as it filled the room with it’s dull glow. The walls held mimics of little stars that moved with the real night’s sky, gentle and dark clouds swirling amongst them. Logan’s room felt like you were stepping into another realm sometimes, Roman had described it as “magic of his own kind,” realistic magic, that’s Logan’s forte. 

But now, knowing something must be wrong, staring at this door felt like walking into something darker, like there’s a monster on the other side. Despite being with the other man for almost a year now, neither of them had ever seen Logan in true distress, upset, crying, it was a worry to think they might have to come across this. 

Roman pushes open the bedroom door and his face crosses into panic, eyebrows raised as a gentle gasp ran through him and he surged forward. Virgil peaks over his shoulder and moves just as fast. 

“Logan, breathe,” The logical side was clutching at his chest, breath stuttering as he reached for some air, the veins in the side of his face were straining and his eyes screwed shut, tears streaming down his face. Roman sits beside him, helping him sit up straight whilst Virgil sat in front. “Logan you need to breathe with me okay? I’m going to take your hand and then I need you to look at me, okay?” Logan nods and looks up at his boyfriend. 

There’s so much fear in his eyes. Virgil almost forgets how to breathe himself as Logan’s panic reaches for his own, but he pushes that to the side, right now his boyfriend needs him. Virgil begins to count, inhaling and exhaling in a pattern alongside it and Logan, recognising the rhythm, copies. 

Roman breathes deeply beside Logan, matching his own breathing to help the others. The logical side leans into the touch, and once he has his breathing under control, almost completely collapses against Roman in exhaustion. The other two sit on either side of him, letting him adjust for a moment before Virgil asks quietly “Can you hear us L?” Logan looks over at him tiredly before nodding, eyes ringed red from tears. “Do you know what brought this on?” There’s a hesitation before he again, nods. 

“Would you be able to tell us darling?” Roman asks quietly and Logan sighs, sniffling as he wipes his eyes and leans up off of his boyfriend. He leans his head back against the bed frame as he cleans his glasses from the tears and fog, sliding them back up his nose, trying to find the words. 

“Do you ever wonder if you belong with me?” He asks quietly “If I’m the right choice I mean...I’m hardly an expert in romance or love or relationships and I can’t help but wonder if I really make you happy,” Virgil’s expression turns to understanding, whilst Roman’s to confusion. 

He’d often wondered if he was right for Logan, given their history of backwards and forwards arguing, Roman had often wondered if he was good enough for anyone at all. He had been described on more than one occasion as ‘arrogant’ and ‘loud,’ He had somehow not thought that Logan would experience the same issues, he always seemed so sure of himself, always. 

Virgil, however, presses a gentle kiss the back of Logan’s hand “I’m right where I belong Logan, here, with you two,” Roman hums in agreement. 

“Virgil’s right, I’m not exactly known for putting up with people for the sake of it, I’m here because I belong with you, and with Virgil, like missing puzzle pieces, without each other we’d be incomplete,” 

Logan gives a small, tired smile and nods. “I really need to sleep,” He says quietly, moving to stand up with an unstable sway. The two immediately dart up to steady him. 

“Say no more, my prince,” Roman waves a hand, the covers to the bed roll back and Logan flops onto hit, shuffling up to make room for the other two as they slide beside him. Roman clicks his fingers and the covers float snugly on top of them. It takes less time than usual for Logan to fall asleep, with Virgil’s arm around his waist and Roman’s fingertips intertwined with his own. 

They’ll talk more about it later, for sure, but for now they all need their rest. 

@analogical-mess // @unikornavenger // @mycatshuman // @creativity-killed-thekitten//@theresneverenoughfandoms//@charmingprincey//@aclickonapostwillchangeyourlife//@heck-im-lost //@k9cat//@stilljittery//@romansleftshoulderpad//@sanderssideslibrary // @max-is-tired//@therealmoshar//@punsterterry//@trashypansexual//@miserykillme//@demigodnamedathena//@sevencrashing//@misunderstood-shadow//@aphriteblack//@jemthebookworm//@sandersandthesides//@penguinkool// @georganabanana//@importantrunawaystudentstuff // @ao-koshka 

[subtlereferencetomyinterests]

Complexities Unknowable- Chapter 7 (Finale!)

Ao3,   1    2    3    4    5    6.  MasterPost

Relationships: Deintruality, background Analogince

Warnings: Cursing, Remus-typical language and jokes, Minor self-deprication/insecurity, the ol’ ‘thinks-it’s-unrequited-and-is-oblivious-to-obvious-flirting’ song and dance, all sympathetic sides, feelings of being left out, also I accidentally projected too hard and now Patton has adhd oops. 

Word Count: 4,000 (approximately)

Patton felt better than he could ever remember feeling. Sleep came easy as it hadn’t for him in years. It was amazing how far a little bit of understanding went.

When all your closest friends are together, you get lonely. Patton wouldn’t say that he was jealous, but everything was different now. When he used to spend time with the others, it was four pals spending quality time together! Now when they did, it was a date, except oops! Patton’s here too! How awkward!

He knew that was unfair. They didn’t really think of him that way, of course not. Hence why he didn’t bring it up.

It wasn’t like that with Remus and Deceit. Even though they were dating, Patton never felt left behind. Their humor was dark and snarky but accessible, not laden with inside jokes that he’d missed out on or specific clues that he didn’t pick up. 

The inclusiveness they treated him with was probably borne from being excluded for so long, though he didn’t like to think about that. The fact was, the three were friends now, the past was past, and Patton was drinking in their companionship like fine wine (or, to be more accurate to himself, a grape juice box).

It did not take him long to figure out why he was so fond of their company. You can only spend so much time with Deceit prattling about the dangers of repression before you start to unearth all of those deeply buried feelings.

He’d fallen for the Dark Sides. Whoops. 

Could you really blame him? Deceit, suave and clever and funny, yet so gentle when he wanted to be; Remus, bold and brash and energetic, but still with such a deep empathy hidden in him! It was no wonder that the two were already together- anyone who spent as much time with them as they spent with each other would be head-over-heels as well! (Patton was speaking from experience on that one). 

Initial surprise regarding the feelings had soon faded to something almost comfortable. He was happy to have them as his friends alone, so what was a little crush? No big deal!

...Was what he had thought ten minutes ago, when there wasn’t an affectionate Remus wrapped around him, chattering off various compliments.

“I could hold you forever, Patty. You are just the softest, like a water balloon full of blood and organs! But still so ripped, I mean, damn!”

“Language,” Patton chided meekly, trying very hard to not dissolve into the ether.

“Awww, you can’t make an exception for me? Just this once? I’ll make it worth your while~,” the last part was a hushed sing-song right near Morality’s ear. He felt his face redden, but forced himself away to refocus on… whatever he had been doing.

“Nope, no exceptions,” he chirped, going back to- right! Cleaning!

“You aren’t tempted at all? You are so responsible- and that’s really one of the sexiest qualities there is.”

It was just Remus’ nature to talk to people like that, Patton told himself firmly. The Creative side was just expressing his friendly affection in a way that made sense to him. It came alongside being close to someone so unused to ‘typical’ friendship dynamics, after all. Patton reminded himself of this again and again, denying himself the desperate urge that welled up and told him to respond in kind. He would not purposefully misinterpret Remus’ actions for his own gain, he was better than that!

“Thank you, Rem,” just nice, platonic gratitude for nice, platonic compliments. 

Eventually, finally, mercifully, The Duke had seemed to get bored. He disentangled himself from Patton (appearing rather crestfallen, though the moral trait wasn’t sure why), and wandered off. 

But that, whether for good or for bad, was hardly the end of that.

Deceit’s room was magnificently cozy. It was armchairs that swallowed up whomever sat in them, warm lamps casting down on all surfaces, and jazzy music playing distantly in the background. In other words, the perfect place for a good cup of tea and some sandwiches, not to mention pleasant conversation.

Deceit lounged back in his oversized chair, sending Patton an inscrutable look across their teacups. The side smiled, hoping that was the appropriate response.

“So,” he drawled, switching the track of their conversation abruptly, “You’re something of a seamster, aren’t you?”

Patton stared blankly for a moment before the term clicked.

“Oh, you mean a seamstress?”

“Sorry, I thought you’d prefer the masculine, but that really was presumptuous of me,” Deceit amended in apology. 

“I didn’t know that there was a word for it other than seamstress. Hey, isn’t it kinda weird how some jobs are like that, when you think about it? Like how there’s actors and actresses! Why wouldn’t ‘actor’ be all encompassing, ya know?”

Deceit made a vague noise of disinterest and waved his hand, as though manually cutting off the tangent in conversation.

“Yes, gender is a distasteful societal construct and an overall prison to our consciences, we both agree- but regardless, you sew. Make clothing and things like our quilt. Isn’t that right?”

“Right- yes.”

“Do you make all of your own clothes, then?”

“Hmm, sometimes I do- I mostly make stuff for the others. It’s easier to conjure simple stuff for myself, but making them is a lot of fun!” Morality gestured enthusiastically to the pastel pink sweater that he wore, fluffy and intricately patterned. 

Deceit’s eyes glinted in a strange, intimidating, and also incredibly hot way. Patton almost forced the attraction out of his mind, before realizing that that kind of repression would definitely be noticed in this part of the Mindscape. 

“I would have to say you have quite the talent, in that case,” the dishonest trait set down his cup and craned his body over the small table between them, heterochromatic gaze alight with… something. Patton cleared his throat. 

“W-Why’s that?” 

“You look positively hideous in that, my Dear,” he purred in obvious lies, gloved hands now sitting in the middle of the table and creeping forward by the inch.

“Aw, thanks,” Patton croaked, fighting the urge to lean forward in turn. 

Something strangely disappointed flashed in Deceit’s eyes, but he quickly recovered. He reached out to run a hand along Patton’s sleeve, the touch lingering against his arm.

“My my, that’s just like a cloud. How did you manage that, Darling?”

Morality shivered as Deceit continued to toy with the fabric of his sweater. 

“I-It’s probably because it’s made with love! Since that’s what I am, kinda,” he stammered, desperately trying to keep up the cheery tone.

“I’m inclined to agree. There’s beauty in all you touch, Sunshine.”

Oh, the pet names. Patton really couldn’t take it; he jerked away and pressed his back against the chair, before he had the chance to do something stupid. Honestly, it was sad how hard this was for him- Deceit was just trying to be a good friend! It wasn’t his fault that he showed it with flirts!

“You’re too sweet,” with distance reestablished, Morality found it much easier to formulate words, “I really appreciate you, Dee.”

Deceit blinked, still hovering over the table. He cleared his throat and snapped back into his seat, suddenly looking the part of the cold and distant Dark Side that Patton had feared just months prior. Guarded, callous, stoic. It was almost frightening, how quickly he changed. 

“Yes, I know you do. Let’s change topics, shall we?”

Patton, feeling quite a bit of whiplash, nodded hesitantly. Their conversation continued to flow normally, for the most part, but he couldn’t help feeling that he’d messed up somewhere. There was something heavy over them, but Patton hadn’t the slightest idea what it was. 

For a brief, dizzying moment, he wondered if they were moving backwards. If he’d somehow crossed a line when he was trying so hard not to, and now they were two steps back again. Just the thought of it made him too sick to finish his tea.

Patton didn’t have to be worried for long about that particular mishap, thankfully, as a very momentous occasion had swallowed up the fear. Remus and Deceit were going to be joining in their first ever movie night as part of the family! 

There’d been plenty of TV marathons with just them and Pat already, but now they’d all come together! As part of the group!! Contributing to the voting and the arguing and the joking and the experience of it all!!! Needless to say, Patton was practically bouncing off the walls in his excitement. 

He plopped down onto the couch with a bowl of popcorn, passing a much larger container of snacks to the amorphous blob of limbs and sass that had once been his three best friends, cuddled together far across from him. Now, all they needed were the Dark- sorry, former Dark Sides.

He wasn’t waiting for long before Deceit and Remus appeared in the living room (Remus, thank the lord, wearing actual pajamas). Patton couldn’t contain the happy little chirp that escaped him, scrunching himself to one side of the sectional so that they’d have plenty of room to make themselves at home.

Rather than huddling together in the crook of the curved sofa, however, Deceit immediately gestured for Patton to scooch over, and Remus sat on his other side. Morality was happy (if a bit surprised) to comply with this new seating arrangement, flashing them bright smiles. In light of recent events, being so close with both of them was a little dizzying, but it wasn’t too hard to bear. For now.

The conversation on which movie to watch that night was more agreeable than usual, which was nice; they got right to the marathon with little hassle. Patton sighed as the opening credits to Tangled played. At that moment, his life couldn’t get any more wonderful. Surrounded by the people he cared about, finally all together, it was perfect. 

And then, a mere ten minutes in, Remus leaned his chin on Patton’s shoulder and pressed into his side. 

“Mother Gothel is such a Milf.”

Patton would usually have been put off by the sexual comment, but at that moment Deceit had also seemed to decide that he’d make a good headrest. Which was fine, this was fine. Some mild friendly cuddling- nothing he couldn't handle!

Another twenty minutes later and Remus twisted an arm around his waist. Deceit held Patton’s hand between a couple of his own. By this point, they were beginning to look a lot like the cuddle pile wrapped up together on the other side of the couch. He was still alive, though!

Neither of the sides beside him moved an inch until the film ended, only begrudgingly letting go when Morality had to get up for a snack refill. Even then, they latched back onto him as soon as he returned. Thus began the second movie, and the beginning of Patton's slow and snuggly death.

Every few minutes, it would be something else: Deceit ran a hand or two through his hair, Remus hooked his leg around Patton’s, Deceit nuzzled against his neck, Remus laughed into his shoulder, et cetera et cetera et cetera.

Three movies in and he was barely keeping up with the conversation. His head was spinning and he was sure he’d never been so warm, but more than that he felt protected. Even adored. He wasn't often on the receiving end of affection, and the longing brought with it ached, but he never wanted it to end.

Then Virgil yawned (oh yeah, the other three were still there), exiting from the ending credits of All Dogs Go To Heaven and clicking back to the main screen.

“Bed time,” he grumbled, a tone so intimate and low and clearly meant for his boyfriends that Patton almost felt bad for overhearing it. 

“It is getting quite late,” Logan agreed, standing to stretch. Roman followed suit and dragged a  sleepy Anxiety up with him.

Virgil tossed the remote in Patton's general direction and let Roman haul him up in his arms (Deceit caught it with an unoccupied arm, given that the moral side’s brain was currently jelly). The three bid their goodnights and were gone with a few shimmers of color and a whoosh.

“I guess we should head up, too,” Patton murmured, working very hard to disguise his reluctance. To his surprise, the traits sandwiching him only sank further into his sides.

“Oh, you’re absolutely right, it’s so very late,” Deceit rumbled, his face partially hidden in the crook of Patton’s neck.

“Yeah, I’m exhausted. I can’t move,” Remus added, his voice ticking up in a noticeably mischievous way. 

“I can’t either. We should stay, just like this.”

Patton's heart warmed, looking between their adorably sleepy faces. He couldn’t lie, the offer was tempting, but in such a situation his brain came back to him. Despite the continued proximity of his crushes, this was something he could handle! 

“Aww, don’t you worry about it, I’ve got ya,” and, making very sure that his grip was secure, Patton stood up with Deceit and Remus cradled in either arm. He hardly staggered under the weight of the sides, familiar with such heavy lifting. 

Remus and Deceit went from sleepiness to pure shock in a matter of milliseconds. Deceit instinctively clung to Patton with all of his limbs, meanwhile Remus gave a startled laugh. Their faces were a matching pink; oh, he could have made them uncomfortable!

“Is this okay? I promise I won't drop you.”

Remus nodded frantically; Deceit squawked in an affirming sort of way. 

Relief washed over Patton and, satisfied with the response, he sank out in a circle of cyan. For a moment, he feared that the nausea that The Subconscious usually brought him would unsteady him, but he was left pleasantly surprised when he felt none. In fact, it felt just like rising up anywhere else. Just as easy as breathing. Hm.

He didn’t dwell on it too long, ascending The Subconscious’ staircase and bringing his cargo to the first bedroom he saw (Deceit’s). He nudged the door open with his shoe, carrying them right to the bed and dropping them down gently. Remus fell onto his back with a happy hum; Deceit stayed upright and stared at Patton with wide eyes. He huffed a laugh and nudged The Snake's shoulders, and Deceit let himself fall beside his boyfriend, dazed. 

This was routine for Patton: grabbing the covers and blanketing his friends, as he’d done for probably every other side at one point or another (even Logan, though he would deny it furiously). Once Remus and Deceit were sufficiently tucked in, he stood up and dimmed the lights to near darkness. 

“Alright, you two have a good night's sleep.”

There was a noise of approval from the pair. Patton gave them one last smile before disappearing back to his own room. To scream into his pillow and think about how gay he was.

Which meant that he didn't get the opportunity to hear the interaction that followed between Dee and Ree.

“Well, that didn’t backfire at all.”

“I want him to snap my spine in half like a glow stick. He could break every bone in my body and I would thank him,” Remus replied dreamily. Deceit hummed in agreement. 

“Perhaps we should try a more… direct approach, as this doesn’t seem to be working in our favor.”

“I dunno about you, but I’m feeling pretty fuckin’ favored right now.”

“I was suggesting that we be more-” he very nearly gagged, “Straightforward.”

“More like gay-forward, actually,” Remus corrected, “But I’m with you! You know I love being direct.”

“Now when I say direct, I don’t mean blunt.”

“I don’t understand the difference.”

“I know you don’t. Let me do the talking.”

“Fine by me! Whatever works to get him to pick me up and throw me!”

Deceit rolled his eyes, settling his arms around Remus. 

“Yes, yes- but I’m actually wide awake right now, and I’d love it if you keep being loud all night, Dearest.” 

“Oh, right,” Remus lowered his voice, curling himself around the lying side in turn. Together, their breathing slowed. As they drifted to sleep, the feeling of Patton's arms around them still ghosted their skin.

Patton was cleaning furiously. He’d already reorganized the entirety of his room- twice, for that matter- and now he’d moved to the Common area. It hadn’t been so much as a week since his last tidying session, and the Mindpalace was pretty much spotless, but that was irrelevant. It was as good a distraction as any.

Maybe he was avoiding the trifecta of trifling traits- aka his best friends- because he knew that they’d ask about why he was being so weird lately. Maybe he was avoiding Deceit and Remus, the reason that he’d been weird lately. Maybe he was just avoiding his thoughts about them, because seeing them all cozied up and sleepy and adorable a couple nights ago really hadn’t helped settle his growing infatuation with them. Most likely, he was avoiding all three. 

But he had failed to take into account that The Common Area was not the best place for avoiding stuff. Given that it was. A Public Space. 

“Patton,” began the voice of Deceit behind him, in a tone deadly serious.

He spun around to see a very embarrassed Dee and an immensely giddy Remus. Well, Shhhhh-ucks. Shucks. 

“Hey!” Patton tossed the sponge in his hand back into the sink and pretended that he wasn’t freaking out at that exact moment. 

Deceit hardly registered the greeting, continuing: 

“We need to talk to you.”

“What about?”

The Snake opened his mouth, and promptly closed it. His eyes had widened concerningly, and he cast his gaze downwards.

“We-” he cut off again. Patton’s worry was mounting. 

“DeeDee?” Remus prompted, elbowing his partner’s side, “I thought you were doing the talking?”

“I-I can do this, I’m not tapping out,” his voice was frenzied, hiding himself behind The Duke in a rare display of fear. 

“Guys? Is something wrong?” Patton approached them, all of his nervousness about his feelings forgotten in the face of this distress, “Whatever it is, you can talk to me.”

Remus gave him a warm smile, not hesitating for a breath. 

“We came to tell you you’re hot and we wanna date you! But, you know how bad Dee is with words! Anyway, whaddya say?”

Deceit, for his part, nodded in deep resignation. And Patton’s head reeled.

He could hear, audibly hear his heart thumping against his ribs. It was probably as simple as a confession could get, but regardless he found himself frantically replaying the words over and over and over again. He’d never imagined- not even for a second- even the thought of it- 

Mentally, he took a step back. Roman, Logan, and Virgil were an item. Remus and Deceit were an item. And Patton was a third party, paternal and caring and watching out for all of them and their misadventures, though he knew he’d never be entirely part of it. But maybe, now he could be. After everything, they wanted not to just be with him, but to be with him.

It didn’t process.

“I- You- What- Me?”

Because there is good in this world, Remus (correctly) interpreted his flustered stammering as surprise and not distaste. The smile that he almost always wore widened and he took a step forward, dragging the mildly less panicked Deceit along with him.

“You,” he confirmed, shimmying excitedly in place, “Definitely you. And us.”

“I second that not-at-all vague sentiment. We’ve grown unfortunately fond of you,” Deceit uncoiled himself from Remus enough to be seen clearly.

Patton saw it. He saw, in full light and understanding, the subtext in their previous interactions. And now that he did, he had no idea how he’d missed it. A testament to the power of his insecurity, probably. But that didn’t matter, because they liked him back.

Patton failed to words. But, they were very near, and he was very happy, and in the light of new context, he figured that they wouldn’t mind the response he opted for instead. 

He hopped forward with a delighted squeal, scooping the traits up in his arms. Remus started cackling and immediately returned the hug with just as much fervor. Deceit wasn’t far behind for once, allowing his face to split with a smile equal parts shock, relief, and glee. 

“Oh, I love you two so much!” Patton laughed out, burying his face in Remus’ hair. 

“I love you back!” Remus said in kind. 

Deceit attempted a dramatic groan, but he failed to tamp down his grin. 

“It could be said that I feel something love-adjacent for the both of you. Perhaps.” 

Patton’s mind was swimming in joy, so much so that it barely registered when Remus tilted his head back only to lean forward, and oh wow, were they kissing. Patton’s vision was all bright blurs of color, and he melted. The creative trait pushed up against him, rough in much the same way as an overly excited large dog. Patton hardly had time to reciprocate the kiss before Remus broke off completely from the hug, unflustered and unaffected by what he’d done, save for a light blush.

“Now you guys!”

Oh, he was still hugging Deceit. 

“Only if it’s okay?” he’d barely gotten the apprehensive words out of his mouth when it was suddenly occupied, and the world went back to hazey vibrance. Deceit was almost skittish, a barely-there press against his lips like he expected Patton to shove him away. He didn’t, by the way. Rather, he slid a hand up to rest between the side’s shoulder blades, bringing him nearer. 

After a moment, they pulled back slowly, not letting go of each other. 

“That was hot, ngl,” Remus chimed from his perch on the counter.

Patton was overcome with a fit of giggling, energy building in him. He ended his and Deceit’s very drawn-out embrace to satisfy the necessity of full body wiggle. He was in Silly Mode, there was no avoiding this until it had been exorcised via The Joyful Movement™. Patton flapped his hands at his sides and shook his hair out, laughing all the while. Today could not possibly get better!

But he remembered his audience of two. He looked up, hair fluffed up and face flushed with fading excitement and a tinge of self-consciousness. 

“Sorry, I got over-excited...”

“That,” Deceit announced solemnly, “Was astoundingly adorable.”

“I’ve died a gruesome death,” Remus rolled off the counter and onto the ground with a crash (and some bone crunches thrown in, probably for fun), “My heart overloaded, it has burst. There’s blood everywhere, it’s in my eyes, I’m now also blind.” 

Patton’s relief escaped in another bout of laughter, and something lifted in him. A weight that had been there for so long that he hadn’t even remembered it was there, nor how it felt to be without it. But now that it had left, he didn’t know how he had been living with it for so long. There was airiness in his chest, a clarity in his mind, a general sense of contentment rushing over him. This wasn’t a face he put on for others benefit, it wasn’t a fleeting enjoyment of one thing or another- what it was was a deep, thrumming joy that overcame him. 

He was happy. 

Naturally, Patton could not finish cleaning due to. Circumstances. Those circumstances being, he was finally letting himself indulge in some quality time with his new boyfriends (an identifier he very much liked the sound of). 

The trio were half-laying on the Common room’s couch, a tangle of various limbs. Remus leaned against a pile of pillows, and Patton rested his head on his chest. Draped across the both of them was Deceit, fastening all of his arms around them in a manner simultaneously protective and needy. Oh, and also very, very cute. 

“This was totally what I was planning from the beginning,” his voice reverberated through Patton’s chest, “God, I am so great at plotting.”

Remus clicked his tongue agreeably, pressing a kiss to the top of Morality’s head.

“Yeah, I was pretty sure we were gonna end up killing you, Pumpkin. This wasn’t even in the ballpark of outcomes.” 

Patton hummed in thought, cuddling himself closer to his partners.

“I dunno. I’d say your plan turned out pretty well.”

@deceits-left-glove​ 

@princemesscharming

@shrimp-crockpot

[imnotcameraready]

If Villains Baked Cookies — Chapter 3

A/N: it’s been a Fuckin While, welcome back to this!!! 

Word Count: 3295

Warnings: Sympathetic Deceit y’all, curses, cursing, minor character death (not anyone significant to the storyline), suggested abuse, suggested trauma, swords, knives, panic and panic attack — if i forgot any pls let me know!!!

Pairings: im realizing that this is platonic Moceit and then platonic Analogince, with like. light versions of platonic DLAMP given that they’re a famILY

Characters: Deceit, Patton, Virgil, Logan, Roman, Thomas, AND EMILE PICANI :^) and Percy the Printer™

read on AO3!

Prologue — Chapter 1 — Chapter 2

@rebelrewriter

enjoy!

Sir Virgil Malory wasn’t exactly a knight, per se. He never liked the shining armor and giant swords, both of which would clang together in an incredibly distracting way. No, Virgil prefered the shadows, the quiet, soft leather shoes and a few small daggers hidden in his coat.

He was forced to undergo the knight training, though, as the youngest of four brothers who had all grown to be high ranking knights. His father, before he died, expected all of them to carry on his own legacy of being one of the King’s war advisors.

When he was sixteen, just before the last year of his knightly training, he was pulled aside by one of the King’s aides. Of course, his heart was beating in his neck, he was sweating buckets, what had he done to make the King mad? Why did he need an audience with the King? And the aide didn’t tell him anything until they got to the small war-planning room.

With JUST the King in it.

“Sounds terrible, being locked in a room with a royal,” Roman interrupted, feet kicked up onto the table.

Virgil shot him a glare. “It is pretty terrible when I’m locked in a room with you,” he stuck his tongue out at Roman, who made a sound crossed between a squeak and a gasp in indignation.

“Virgil? Keep going?” Thomas asked, wrapping his own cape around himself as well.

“Fuck, uh, yeah.”

“No more interruptions, Roman,” Logan raised an eyebrow and cast a side glance at him, “And get your feet off of the table. Patton would be furious.”

Deceit rolled his eyes while Roman grumbled quietly, sitting up proper. “Like Patton’s capable of being furious,” he joked, voice soft.

Thomas still didn’t like how his tongue flicked when he spoke.

Virgil cleared his throat, and Roman’s grumbling quieted.

The King had called Virgil into the room not to reprimand him, but to extend an offer. His army had enough knights who fought with swords. He needed more who could fight in the shadows. Who could sneak into an enemy’s tent and slit their throats quietly.

Yeah, it was a weird gig. Seemed to go against all of the knights’ mantra of honor and dealing with things in battle, but the King was serious. He talked a lot about how not everything could be settled out in the open and how not everything could be known to the public. I didn’t like it at all but….I wasn’t really cut out to be a knight, anyway. I said yes.

Training was, well….similar? I don’t know how much y’all wanna hear.

“Just, like….I dunno. Whatever you see fit?” Thomas asked.

He had started slowly slipping off his armor, but kept his dagger and sword strapped to his person. His choice to keep his weapons didn’t escape Deceit’s gaze, he kept noticing the god’s eyes following him. Thomas really, really didn’t like him.

Virgil just watched Thomas a little harder. He seemed to want to retaliate, but a nudge from Roman distracted him. “No more third person?” he cocked an eyebrow, leaning across both of his arms and the table, grinning cheekily up at him.

“Eh, that wasn’t gonna last anyway,” Virgil rolled his eyes with a huff, “I’m not a storyteller.”

I’m gonna skip training. But basically, uh, I learned how to throw knives, make poisons, climb walls, you name it.

My brothers knew I had a special job, but they didn’t know what it was. We lived in the same house, nearby the castle, which was technically my eldest brother’s house since his family lived there. They always asked what I was doing and what the King wanted from me but I never told. The King’d said that….anyone I told would be killed.

My brothers sucked, but I didn’t want them dead.

I was knighted when I was seventeen, and then I started getting sent out on jobs. Never with anyone, never during the day. The royal family always claimed I was a war messenger. That appeased my brothers for the most part, but the oldest one….Percival. Percy. Percy never really trusted that description. He never went after me, though, but I could always see that he just didn’t accept that.

When Patton was first being challenged by the King, I was almost sent, actually. There were only a few of us war messengers, all assassins, and I’d just returned from another job. Because I was fresh home, the King sent someone else. I didn’t know his name or anything but I remember how scared we all were when he didn’t come back.

The King sent someone else to poison Patton’s crops, and they came back. Succeeded.

News traveled fast, though, that the. Well. He was called a murderer then, and everyone was saying that the murderer’d run. Fled into the hills. And everyone was calling for the King to send a party against him.

The pressure went on for only about a year before the King caved. He said he sent a single knight against the murderer to best him in combat. The King sent me. He told me it didn’t matter how I did it, but that I just needed….he wanted me to bring Patton’s dead body back.

Virgil now looked down at the table, brow furrowed, angry at the memory. Thomas glanced up at Logan and Roman, noticing that they seemed surprised. Thomas hadn’t been asked to bring the body back, either. It might have been a custom that died with time.

Even Deceit was looking at his own lap, humming quietly along with the wind chime.

It was a tense, uncomfortable silence.

“Whew!” Thomas’ head snapped up at the sound of the side door opening. Patton walked in, wiping his hands on a towel. “Left was really milkin’ it today!”

Only Deceit chuckled. Virgil lowered his head onto the table, the hood of his cloak falling over his head. Logan groaned.

Patton seemed confused at what he’d walked into. He looked around at them all and opened his arms. “What’s wrong, kiddos? I hope that pun didn’t moove you!”

“We’re just, um….” Thomas looked up at Logan — he seemed to be the task manager.

Logan met his eyes and sighed. Despite only being here for a few hours, Thomas was already getting the hang of being here. Truth be told, he’d already made up his mind. Of course he was staying. But he didn’t want to be just stagnant. Not after all that he’d heard about the king.

“We are listening to Virgil explain how he arrived here. Are you….aware, of why he came?”

Patton grimaced as soon as Logan said “explain.” He stepped to Virgil’s side and gently rubbed his back. “Yeah, I remember when Virge arrived! He, uh….well, he was real determined!” he smiled, a little too cheerily for the topic, “But Deceit wasn’t havin’ any of that.”

“Sorry,” Deceit grumbled, “It was fun.”

Virgil sat up. “Sorry,” he mumbled, wiping his face, “I’ll keep going.”

“Don’t wipe too hard, you’ll smudge your angsty make up,” Roman retorted, voice lacking the bite it’d had earlier, “You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to.”

Virgil looked up at him and they seemed to share a moment. Patton kept rubbing Virgil’s back, also watching Roman, then Logan. Scanning around, making sure his children were okay, Thomas reckoned. He was a little surprised when Patton’s eyes landed on him, too. He gave Patton a tiny smile, which Patton returned thrice as large.

“Well, this is a good time to, uh, air out the dirty laundry. I’m gonna cut up the brownies while you kiddos talk?” Patton patted Virgil’s shoulder one last time before walking around the table, towards the kitchen area.

Thomas watched him and Deceit share a look, too, though it was a little different from the other. He couldn’t tell how. Was it an increase in tension? Determination? Seriousness?

It must have communicated something, because Deceit rolled his eyes away and glared at Virgil’s back. “I cannot pick up the story, Virgil, if you would like,” he offered.

Virgil shook his head and faced Deceit. “No, nah, it’s….it’s okay. It’s way in the past anyway! And, ‘sides, I kicked Roman’s ass harder,” the last part was punctuated with Virgil pointing to Roman with his thumb over his shoulder.

Roman, however, snorted. “The only thing you kicked, Angst-fest, was the dirt after our glorious battle!”

“You started crying over your ripped cape, but go off,” Deceit said, checking his fingernails and digging the dirt out from under them.

“You little—”

“Shut it! Alright, so…..”

The whole chosen one thing wasn’t big back then, but everyone kinda knew about me being sent off. I didn’t say bye to my family or anything, either. Those assholes didn’t care.

“Virgil! No swearing!”

“Jeez, sorry Patt.”

The King set me up with everything, rations and money and weapons and all that jazz. It only took about a week to ride here, too, since it was the first time and none of the opportunists’d settled into where they are now.

Like, you know. Logan talked about having to fight a sphinx, when he first came. I’m sure you had to fight some things like that too. Creatures and peddlers and thieves set themselves up along the path, see if they can kill the Chosen One and loot their body. Or they just wanna swindle you out of money and goods.

None of that was there when I went. It was real easy, until I got to the mountain.

I ran into Patton first, while he was building the barn, actually. With like, his hands. I didn’t think he was the warlock but, well, did any of us? I asked what he was doing all the way out here, he said he lived here. He’d just moved. He was kinda jumpy, but like, that’s valid. He asked why I was here and I told him….I told him I was here to meet a warlock. Lied, and said I was here to discuss a truce with the King.

Patton flipped out. Super excited and all.

Here, Virgil gestured to Patton. “I dunno, do you wanna….pick up the story?”

Patton shot him a small smile and brought a plate of brownies to the table. As soon as he set it down, Roman grabbed one and began nibbling on it. Logan thanked him and took one as well, and then Virgil, who was still staring at Patton.

He leaned on the counter besides Deceit, who wrapped an arm around Patton’s shoulders. He took a deep breath.

“I thought it’d be the end of being chased around. Maybe I’d get to farm and-and go back down to the town. I missed having neighbors. But, like….at that point, it’d been a year. A little over a year of working with Deceit’s magic. And, since it’s tied to preservation and honesty, I could….I could hear you lying. It’s weird, but I could hear it, but I wanted to believe it so badly,” Patton shrugged.

“That means it wasn’t a dumbass idea,” Deceit grumbled.

Patton laughed behind a hand. It seemed no one was going to mention that Deceit had sworn. Logan raised a hand, but Virgil grabbed it and lowered it slowly, all waiting for Patton to continue. It only took a few moments before his hand dropped, arms crossed in front of his chest.

“Yeah, um. That wasn’t my brightest, I’ll admit,” Patton’s voice was airier, “I let Virgil in. We sat in the kitchen. We….I think I was just rambling at you.”

“You were telling me about the chickens you were raising,” Virgil added, eyes flickering towards Deceit.

“And I didn’t interrupt. You had a knife in your sleeve,” Deceit met Virgil’s gaze.

Virgil looked down at the table and nodded. “Deceit, uh….we had a fight.”

All was quiet, Virgil staring at the table and fidgeting with his sleeves, but Deceit leaned off of the counter behind himself. “Do you not want me to show it?” he offered, sincerity clear in his voice.

Virgil stood up, head snapping up to Deceit. “Don’t,” he leaned forward on the table, nostrils flaring, knuckles tight on the table’s edge.

Roman stood up, too, and — where the fuck did he get that sword? He stuck a sword between the two of them, holding up his off hand towards Virgil’s chest.

On instinct, Thomas stood as well, drawing his own sword and holding it out to mimic Roman. “Woah, woah, calm down, everyone. If that’s—if that’s where the story ends, then that’s fine, right?” Thomas glanced up at Roman for support, who nodded, then at Logan.

Logan….didn’t move. He was just watching Patton, who was standing behind Deceit, seemingly stricken. Thomas watched, too, as Patton blinked a little. He moved slow, like how one would when approaching a scared animal.

“....Dee. Don’t do it,” Patton grabbed Deceit’s arm, tugging him back a little.

Deceit didn’t break eye contact with Virgil. Just watched him quietly, the second eyelid over his snake eye blinking slowly. Virgil was matching his glare and seemed only a few seconds away from ripping Roman’s arm away from himself.

Yet he broke first, looking down and away. The room’s tension dropped, Roman spinning around and sheathing his sword. He held Virgil’s shoulders carefully and asked if he was okay. Patton pulled Deceit backwards into his arms, holding him tight and asking the same. Thomas himself just….watched. Slowly sank back into his seat, leaned backwards. Logan patted his arm and Thomas turned up towards him.

“I hope you can excuse the tension,” Logan’s voice was quiet, probably hoping to not be heard by the others, “They have a lot of history.”

“They. Deceit and Virgil, I’m guessing?” Thomas whispered back.

Logan nodded, fixing his glasses as he glanced back up at Deceit. “Deceit is fairly tame, for a forgotten deity, but he is incredibly protective of Patton. Given that Virgil was assigned to kill him, Deceit….well. I don’t know much of the story myself, but I do know that Virgil was defeated in hand to hand combat. Multiple times. They get along fair enough now but I assume those memories are still difficult to sit with.”

They both looked up at the sound of Roman tugging Virgil toward the door. Thomas couldn’t see much of Virgil, wrapped beneath his thick patchwork cloak, but the one hand he could see was gripping Roman’s white tunic tight enough to turn his hand just as white. A murderer. It was still a little hard to process, this teenager was supposed to be a hardened murderer. Roman held the door open with his foot and carefully ushered Virgil out. He caught Logan and Thomas’ eye as he hurried out and mouthed “We’ll be back,” before letting the door close behind himself.

Now, Logan and Thomas directed their attention to Deceit and Patton. They’d shifted, Deceit sitting on the counter, Patton holding his hands tight.

“He’s very human, all things considered,” Logan murmured just loud enough for Thomas to hear, “If you’d like….I can show you to your room for the night.”

Thomas looked at him. Logan was watching him as well, blue eyes piercing behind those glasses.

He reminded Thomas so much of the librarian, Emile, but with a different level of power. When Thomas had been chosen he went to Emile, only to be held in the tightest hug he’d ever felt. There were rumors in their village, there are always rumors, that Emile had the Gift of Sight and that he’d been able to see what happened to his brother. The same piercing eyes, the same knowing gaze. They held Thomas in his spot so well that he almost forgot he wasn’t standing in the library’s foyer, about to ask Mr. Picani if he’d ever climbed a mountain.

“....I….”

“I know you’ve made your decision, Thomas. Regardless of your desire to announce it or not, there are still a few hours until dinner and you may find it best to rest,” Logan’s face folded into a small fond smile, “Besides, Patton has been arranging your room for the past decade.”

They’d been expecting him. Of course they had, if the Chosen One was a generational tradition lasting over the past hundreds of years.

The thought made Thomas’ blood boil. He’d trained for years to protect Tomasphere but the more he learned about the royal family….

He hoped Logan couldn’t see his anger. Thomas smiled back, more unsure. “Um. Yeah, sure,” he followed Logan as he rose and tucked in his chair.

“Patton,” Patton turned to look over his shoulder at Logan and Thomas, “I’m going to take Thomas to his room. Roman and Virgil are outside.”

“Wait,” Deceit’s hand — Thomas’ fists balled tightly as he saw that there were claws, claws on his scaled left arm, just like the claws that gripped his throat only a few days ago — pulled Patton’s shoulder to the side, “I can tell Virgil totally wants to finish the story, so I shouldn’t step in. Thomas’ isn’t staying, ergo the story shouldn’t be finished.”

Logan frowned at him, opening his mouth to interrupt, then closing his mouth as he tried to decipher the circle speak. Thomas watched him, deferring in a moment of fear, but Logan only shook his head. “I don’t think that will be necessary—”

“Virgil didn’t get his ass handed to him so bad, and it definitely took less than a week for him to fully recover,” Deceit rubbed the back of his neck, “It….I’m completely proud.”

“Dee, it’s okay.”

“I didn’t break his spine. He—Patton, sunlight, he—Patton.”

Deceit’s eyes flicked toward Thomas, whose fists clenched even firmer, and then down to the table. His shaking shoulders were hunched just enough for Patton to pull him back to his chest and for him to rest his head in the crook of Patton’s neck. “Now, Dee, you were different. That was a few centuries ago, and you were different. Things’re better now,” he rubbed the deity’s back, running a hand through his dark brown hair, “Things’re better.”

“I don’t know, Patt,” Deceit’s voice was muffled but held a distinct change in tone.

Thomas wanted to watch, something in him wanted to bear witness to this honest side of Deceit. He hadn’t been sure about Deceit’s sincerity since he’d met him, certain that there were backward statement and some very obvious lies, but, well, Thomas couldn’t exactly tell. The sentiment of his sorrow, though, and the tone. The tone of his voice. Was he being honest?

But Logan’s hand gripped his arm and tugged.

“Thomas. Let’s go,” his voice was firm, and Thomas couldn’t help but obey.

He followed Logan out of the kitchen and left Patton to calm the upset god. He followed Logan into a smaller room, furnished with a fully-made bed, a small desk, a wardrobe, and a candlestick in a lantern already glowing. It seemed quaint, like moving into a new room, but Thomas could already tell that it was meant to be “home.” He dropped his satchel onto the desk and looked up. There were stars drawn onto the ceiling in golden ink, an “R+L” in the corner paying homage to the artists.

If Logan expected some sort of reaction, he was sorely disappointed. Once he saw the bed, Thomas knew he was done for, as the weight of how much he’d gone through during the day finally crashed onto his shoulders. He took a few steps toward the bed, collapsed onto it and, within mere seconds, was asleep.

[not-safeforsanders]

can you write analogince with virgil and roman being really loud in the bedroom, causing logan to hear and “accidentally” walk in on them?

Explicit Content; 18+ ONLY. Minors do not interact with this post or my blog.

Ship: Analogince.

Notes: Short one again

--

Logan bites his lip as he stares at the door that he had every intention of just walking past, pointedly ignoring the noise that is coming from the other side. This isn’t the first time he’d heard the two now, and each time seems to end with him feeling curious and...frustrated, sexually speaking. His cock twicthes in interest as he hears Virgil gasp out Roman’s name, the sound of skin hitting skin filling the room. 

He bites his lip and slides on his headphones so he can at least pretend he hadn’t heard anything, before opening the door. Roman and Virgil both look up at him, and he feigns surprise. Although he is genuinely somewhat surprised, as he slides his headphones back off and notes the way Virgil is bent over, Roman buried deep inside him. “Sorry,” He doesn’t sound sorry at all, and by the way his cock twitches he would assume he’s not looking very sorry.

Roman certainly seems to take notice, and also hs very little shame as he grins up at Logan. “Either leave or join us, either way shut the bloody door,” 

Well, Logan certainly doesn’t need telling twice.

[ao3feed-logince]

by WaeRose

What do you do when you find someone crying, and it’s all your fault? What do you say when you hear the muffled sobs and frantic words behind the blood-red door? When you know that, no matter how much you never wanted to hurt him- never wanted to hurt anyone- you still did. Is there anything you can do to fix it, when you’ve spent so long pretending that nothing was broken? When you’ve spent so long pretending that you didn’t care if things were broken or not? Well, if you're Logan Sanders, a metaphysical representation of the logical thinking of one Thomas Sanders (and you are, for the purposes of this story), then you book it down the hall in a desperate effort to find someone more emotionally competent to solve the problem.

Alternately summarized; If you're not going to love yourself, then I guess we'll have to do it for you. Stupid.

Words: 6396, Chapters: 1/4, Language: English

Fandoms: Sanders Sides (Web Series)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Multi

Characters: Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders, Morality | Patton Sanders

Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Minor or Background Relationship(s)

Additional Tags: the other ones might show up but this ain't about them, implied moceit, ((dont worry abt remus hes aromantic i decided. irrelevant to plot but i want u 2 know.), Slow Burn, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crying, Self-Esteem Issues, aka all of them, Analogince - Freeform, Self-Hatred, Friends to Lovers, Panic Attacks, Kind of????? idk im bad at judging what constituted a panic attack, which is ironic becuz i had one today lol, oh major tmi but its fine we're all friends here. Anyway:, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Needs a Hug, POV Second Person, POV Alternating, i have a special little divider that will show when the pov changes for u :3, its also second person present tense because i wanted to try something new, yes i had a h/mst/ck phase no we aren't talking about it, Autistic Logic | Logan Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders Has ADHD, none of them are neurotypical. You know me by now., its my fanfiction and i get to project as much as i want!, Logic | Logan Sanders Is A Good Friend, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders is a Good Friend, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders is a Good Friend, they are all care so much about each other, FUCK, I know it Seems like it's heavy focus on Logince and Prinxiety, but analogical will also be big. You'll see, everybody gonna be having feelings together, hence this being multi-chapter n all