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wolfprincesszola · 6 months

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The Fate of the Marked Six Chapter 8

I KNOW I KNOW I'M LATE BY BUT IT'S STILL WEDNESDAY SO I DIDN'T FORGET. I WAS JUST REALLY BUSY. enjoy this chapter of exposition and more worldbuilding. as always, reblogs and likes are appreciated! enjoy <3 ——————– Summary: Virgil moves into a new town and meets Roman, a ghost that he promises to help in finding the unfinished business needed to pass over. However, Roman's past seemed to be deeply muddled with trouble, an uncurable disease that has started to affect a classmate, and a certain tight-lipped valedictorian. Friendships are made and Virgil finds himself thrown into a situation far more complicated and twisted than he signed up. Hopefully, with the help of his new five friends, he can find a way to bring peace to the town once and for all.

Trigger Warning: None

Content Warning: Suggestive Language, Swearing

<Previous> <Next> ——————–

Chapter 08

Remus was always tired. He knew it was only time before his illness caught up to him. His medicine could only hold off of his illness for some time. He wanted to never have to tell his best friend that he was struggling through something he couldn’t help him with, but he had promised Logan. It had been a few months since Logan first started looking into Remus' magic and keeping Remus in the loop, unlike what Remus' doctors had been doing. They had just been giving him medicine and telling him to always take it, never giving his family information. At least with Logan, he made sure to show Remus and tell Remus whatever he was doing and why he was doing it. However, since Logan also wasn’t a doctor or professionally trained, it meant more risk for the two of them doing it alone. Logan was experimenting with both his and his magic willingly.

He watched as Logan started to become more and more tired with every experiment they did together, as he continued to use his magic, and it continued to push his limits. Remus knew that if he didn’t tell Janus now, Logan would never stop pushing his limits to help him.

Logan had more of a heart than he let others believe he had.

Right before their next experiment, Remus asked Janus to come over to the school.

“On a Sunday?” Janus cried incredulously.

“Yes, Janus, do it or you're a stinky doo-doo head.” Remus begged, knowing that only he found that as a compliment.

“Fine, fine.” Janus had taken only 10 minutes to come to school, where he found Remus and Logan.

Logan looked up in exasperation as soon as he saw Janus, adjusting his glasses, "I cannot believe the only reason you finally took my advice was because you believed I would overexert myself. I know what I am doing and I know my own limits."

"That's what I thought before I fucked your mom. Man, it kept going and going." Remus grinned over at Logan, who lifted part of his lip in disappointment and exhaustion of Remus' jokes. Remus assumed that Logan would be tired of them after having spent the past couple weekends with Remus.

“What’s going on?” Janus raised an eyebrow at Remus, "It isn't like you to team up with Goody-Goody-Two-Shoes over there."

"I know." Remus grinned, "But I just wanted to ask if you would like to join us for a threesome-"

"Out with it, Porter." Logan interrupted him with an unamused face, looking at his watch, "I have things to do."

Remus rolled his eyes, "Boo, you never let me have any fun. So you know how I lied to you, Jan?"

"Of course I do. I'm the Lord of the Lies." Janus rolled his eyes. "I totally didn't go searching for what you were hiding afterwards and I totally didn't find out without your permission."

"That's my best friend!" Remus clapped excitingly, "So you know about my cancer?"

"Yes." Janus stared at Remus and for a second, Remus wondered if he saw a flash of sadness come up on Janus' face. It was gone before Remus could confirm what he saw. Right. Janus was never sad. Janus was Janus. He was sarcastic, he lied a lot, he did things for Remus. There was no way that Janus would be sad over the revelation that Remus had cancer. It wasn't like him. Remus was glad. "I'm sure it was not legal, but-"

“It was legal.” Logan argued, “But now that you two lovebirds are finally caught up, let’s go up to the lab. Wright, touch anything and you die by my hands.”

“Oh, wow, I'm so scared.” Janus drawled. The 'lovebirds' in question paid no attention to Logan's comments.

The three walked up only for Logan to tell Remus to go underneath the Watari examiner. Logan did his normal checking to see if anything had changed with Remus, which thankfully had not. Then, Logan looked up at Janus.

“Alright, Porter, since you don’t want me to overexert myself, it’s time for you to take my place, Wright. Go hold hands with your boyfriend.”

“What?”

“Am I right to assume you have magic?” Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.

Janus hesitated, “How did you know that?”

Logan rolled his eyes, “Magic users know when other users have magic. People who don’t have magic cannot. Once you know the signs of what to look for, you can always feel magic users’ auras.”

“Oh.” Janus replied, “Is there anyone else we know that you know has magic?”

“Yes.” Logan just replied, “Go hold hands with your boyfriend.”

“We’re not dating.” Remus remarked, knowing it was utterly useless anyways because there was no convincing Logan that they weren’t dating when everyone in the school also thought the same thing. "We're just friends with major benefits!"

Logan still turned the monitor so that Remus could see what he was looking at, even if Logan wasn’t over by where he was. As the control room was separate from the room with the examiner, Logan spoke into the microphone instead of yelling. “I presume you know Janus’s power, Remus. Can you see it right now?”

Remus shook his head as he stared at Janus, who had his hand on top of his. There was still nothing on the top of his head.

He got used to the feeling of the heavy feeling off his chest leaving his body do, and it wasn’t soon after that he started to feel it, and he stared at the monitor to see the black aura of his cancer start to fade.

“Is that your…?” Janus asked, motioning to the screen.

Remus nodded as he didn’t feel as tired anymore. The heavy feeling was now nonexistent, and he looked at Janus to see the 豪 above his head. Then he saw the symbol appear above Logan’s head. Having known a couple of characters in Chinese after experimenting with Janus' powers a couple of times, Remus knew exactly what was written above Logan's head.

Regret. The worst kind of flaw out there.

He exchanged a look with Janus, who just nodded, almost as if he knew that Logan had been dealing with regret for a very long time.

Logan stared at the monitor before he spoke into the microphone. “Alright, I’m going to do something. Don’t move until I tell you to and whatever you do, don’t let go of each other’s hands.”

With that, he pressed a button that took the Watari examiner off of Remus.

“Okay, now swap positions.”

Janus nodded, and Remus moved off the machine for Janus to get on. Unfortunately, Janus was a little too short to hop onto the machine that was calibrated to Remus' height. Instead, Remus grinned mischievously and Janus groaned.

"Oh no."

"Oh yeah." Remus nodded as he moved his right hand across Janus’s arm until it reached Janus' right hip, never ceasing contact with each other. His other hand found its way towards Janus' left one, and Remus grabbed on, pulling Janus upwards with him grabbing onto Remus' shoulders for support. Remus gripped onto Janus , just tight enough to keep his hold on him, but loose enough to not hurt him.

Janus stared at Remus, who just guided Janus to relax and sit still, and Remus moved his arm to hold Janus' hand again.

"I hated every minute of that." Janus grumbled as Remus grinned at him.

“Alright, this might feel weird, Janus.” Logan spoke as the Watari examiner scanned Janus and found his fielsog. “Just, if it becomes too weird, squeeze Remus’s hand, try to not speak.”

Remus made eye contact with Janus, who he knew was in new territory, and Remus just squeezed Janus' hand. He watched as Janus’s shoulders relaxed.

“Alright, you can talk now.” Logan replied, pointing to the monitor. “There are some good news and bad news.”

“Bad news first.”

“No idea what the hell is happening with your cancer.” Logan replied. “Good news is: it doesn’t affect Janus because Janus’s fielsog takes in your black aura and transfers it into his own magic, as seen by his bright fielsog. That’s probably why you give other people more power.”

“THAT WAS AN OPTION?” Janus freaked out.

“You guys can let go of each other.” Logan commented, deciding not to answer Janus’s question.

Remus felt the heavy feeling settle on his chest again and he clutched the nearby table to steady himself.

“Re!” Janus yelled.

“Don’t move, Janus.” Remus shook his head, “I’m okay.”

“He’s right.” Logan replied, “I know you care about him, but his body needs to get used to the weight of his illness again.”

“But why? Can’t you find anything on this?” Janus asked, distressed, staring at his best friend. Remus hated hearing Janus distressed, but currently wasn’t able to see two inches in front of him because of the scalding headache he got as the cancer set in again.

“Alright, here.” He heard Logan’s voice as he felt Logan's fingers on his lips, slipping a pill into his mouth, “Swallow.”

He did just that, dry-swallowing the pill, however painful it was, and soon his vision returned. His pain seemed less.

“Surprisingly, magic suppressors work on him.” Logan shrugged before he awkwardly stared at Remus on the ground recovering, patting his head, “Good boy.”

“He’s not a dog!” Janus glared at Logan as he knelt down beside Remus.

“It’s okay, Jan.” Remus chuckled as he got up, going over to his best friend again, “I’m okay. I promise.”

"I know a lie when I see one. After all, it takes a liar to know a liar." Janus shook his head.

Remus just gave a light chuckle.

“Feeling alright, Porter?”

Remus nodded, knowing that Logan would continue with his research. Although the pounding headache was still there, and the heavy feeling on his chest had gotten heavier, Remus needed to pretend to be better at least. For Janus.

“Alright, then go ahead and transfer your black magic to your boyfriend again.” Logan spoke into the mic.

Remus laid his head atop of Janus’s lap, in which Janus responded by putting his hand on Remus' forehead worryingly.

This time, Remus’s headache didn’t go away, but his heavy feeling did, and just like that, he was told to separate from him, and he leaned against the table instead.

“Tell me what you see, Logan!” Remus asked as he closed his eyes, trying to ignore the lights dancing around.

“It’s a gradual exchange.” Logan murmured, “Right…uh, I don’t know what to do with this information.”

“Logan, get me out of this machine right now, or I’ll rip some shit out.” He heard Janus say.

“Please don’t break the machine, Janus.” He murmured, his voice hoarse.

He heard the machine deactivating before he heard someone rush up to him. “Re…what do you need? Just name it and I’ll give it to you. Ask for the world, and I’ll give it to you.”

“That’s a big promise.” Remus let out a laugh as he continued to squeeze his eyes shut.

“I’d do it.”

“I know you would. I would like to watch it burn with you, but I just need some time to recover before that.” The heavy feeling was starting to hurt his heart and he started to take deep breaths.

“You should stop this research. It’s hurting him.” Janus told Logan.

“Huh…here you thought he’d be here to make sure I don’t exceed my limit, only to find that it’s you that’s exceeding yours.” Logan seemed arrogant and Remus knew Janus was so close to wiping the smirk on Logan's face by punching him square in the jaw. The only thing stopping Janus was Remus' inability to even move.

“Just shut the fuck up.” Remus groaned at Logan, “Jan, this is helping me. I know what’s going on. I know it’s highly experimental and it’s just research, but now I know what’s going on with my body. Logan’s smart. He can find a cure for me.”

"I am smart, but I never said I could find a cure. The chance of that would be infinitesimal."

“Re, this isn’t good for your health.” Janus murmured. For the first time, Remus heard genuine worry in his voice. There were too many times where Remus would say something dangerous and see that Janus just waved it off as an act Remus did and usually it was, but in the moment of his need, Janus was there to keep him grounded.

Finally, Remus let the pain overcome him as he let himself cry. He was sure it was a sight, especially for Janus who had never seen the boy cry in his life.

“I can't stop, I just can’t.” Remus sniffled, “I’m just so tired, I couldn’t take it anymore. I want to be able to live again, Janus. I have spent so much of my life already on medicine and in the hospital. I can’t go out anywhere or do anything without being hooked up to a machine first. I’m the king of the school and yet I still feel like a loser. I can’t deal with another second of this life. I want to live and love someone the way others do. I want to have a normal life.”

Tears fell down his cheeks. He sobbed, curling up into a ball, “I just feel so alone with this. I want to love someone the way others can.”

“You can still do it safely with the medicine.” Janus offered. “Love who?”

Someone like you.

He couldn’t say that.

“Nevermind.” Remus buried his face in between his arms and his knees. The heavy feeling in his chest lifted and he opened his eyes to see Janus hugging him, as tight as he possibly could. His Janus that never enjoyed physical touch. His Janus that never let him hug his when they were younger. His Janus that would rather be stabbed than hug someone.

“Janus, I-“

He was cut off by a slap to the face by Janus' glove that he had taken off. Although it didn’t hurt, Remus was still caught off guard and shut up.

“You idiot.” Janus scoffed, burying his face into Remus’s chest, “Shut the fuck up and listen to me. Don’t you ever think that you’re any less than because you have some stupid disease that you’ve been fighting against! You are my very best friend and I want you to know that you will always have me, even if the whole world is against you. We will find a cure together, I promise."

Remus smiled at the thought of Janus always being there for him, and maybe a part of him wanted everything he said to be true. Every sentence rang with truth and sincerity, something that Janus wasn't a big fan of. It meant a lot to Remus to hear all of that. He squeezed Janus in the hug. “Thank you.”

He let the tears slip out again, but this time, they weren’t hopeless or tired ones. They were happy ones as he became reassured that Janus would always have him.

Four words died in his throat. The four words he desperately wanted to tell him.

I love you, Janus.

The two stayed in the position they were in, hugging, until they heard a voice clearing.

They looked up, separating from each other as they saw Logan awkwardly staring at them.

“I know this is heartfelt, but I have never been too good with feelings. They are the bane of my existence." Logan spoke through the mic, “Would you two mind having this moment…outside where you guys aren’t at risk of breaking the extremely expensive equipment?”

"No!" Remus sniffled, laughing as he leaned against the table.

Janus got up, also smiling.

Despite what would’ve been an awkward and embarrassing moment, Remus couldn’t help but laugh at the situation because for once, he was experiencing something that every teenager experienced. The act of being in the middle of an awkward heartfelt situation.

“Let's go light this school on fire, Jan!” Remus cleared his throat as he stood up, taking some time to get his balance in place as the heavy feeling on his chest once again arrived from the loss of Janus’s contact. Janus smiled as if he knew Remus meant stealing the DDR set from their family and playing it in the safety of Janus' room.

“Next Sunday?” Remus asked Logan.

“Ask your boyfriend.” Logan snorted as he grabbed his bag, locking down the room before walking away.

Remus turned towards Janus who shook his head.

“Oh come on, why not?”

“Because I’d rather you be safe and miserable than on the verge of dying and still miserable.”

“Please.” Remus begged.

“Only when he can get a real license, or when he starts getting some good results.” Janus remarked, "I trust myself more than that pretentious asshat."

“Oh come on!”

Despite all the arguing, Remus knew he was grateful to have Janus as a best friend.

-+=~=+-

Remus was walking home alone when he heard a noise. It sounded like a metal cane scraping against the floor. Upon hearing it the first time, Remus fastened his pace. The noise didn’t seem to get any quieter, but instead louder, but still the same pace as Remus.

Fear settled in his body as he turned around to see no one. There seemed to be no movement within anywhere, but he continued to hear the cane moving towards him.

Remus started to run, and the noise continued at the same pace, and continued to get louder and louder. His heart pounded in his chest, but somehow, the cane was louder.

He fell and tripped on the sidewalk, and his knees stung from the pain. He was sure he was injured but he had to keep going before the cane noise reached him. He didn’t know what it was, but he had a suspicion that they were after him. He continued to run until he got to the safety of his front porch, all lit up with his parents out in the front.

The cane noise had ceased to exist entirely, leaving a chill down Remus’s spine.

“Are you okay? Why were you running?” Remus’s father asked, worried. “You got hurt?”

Remus turned to look at his backyard, where there was no one. “I thought I heard something and I got scared.”

“You’re okay now?” His mother asked, rubbing his back.

“More than okay, now that I’m here with you guys.” Remus muttered, “Let’s go in before the cold hits you guys. I’ll patch myself up there.”

“Alright.” The two chuckled as all three of them walked inside. Whatever the cane noise was, Remus knew that he hadn’t imagined it.

Because when he stared out into the distance, he had seen a pair of red human eyes staring back at him in the dark.

-+=~=+-

Remus walked into school early to find Virgil. Virgil was pretty easy to find, considering that he was reading a book with headphones on.

“Hey, what book is that?” Remus grinned, pulling Virgil's headphones off slightly to let him know that he was there.

Virgil snapped his head up, relaxing once he saw Remus, “Oh hey, Remus. It’s A Tale of Two Cities.”

“How is it?”

He closed the book, sighing, “Boring. What’s up with you though?”

“I wanted to ask you about paranormal stuff. Is now a good time?”

“It’s never a good time to ask about all that stuff.” Virgil sighed, taking his headphones off completely so it hung around his shoulders. “What happened?”

“I think I saw something, and I’m kinda freaking out over it. I was hoping you could tell me if ghosts could make noises I could hear, and if I can see just their eyes, especially if they aren’t normal ones.”

“What do you mean by that?” Virgil raised an eyebrow.

Remus turned around, looking around nervously, “Okay, well, the person’s eyes were red. I know I'm demented, but that’s not physically possible, is it?”

“No.” Virgil snorted, “Are you sure this wasn’t just another person pranking you? I mean you are the king of the school. You’re bound to get some pranks.”

“Yeah, but not like this. At most, they key my car, and honestly, I’d key my own car too.”

“Yikes.” Virgil remarked, “It really depends on what you saw. Is there any way you could explain more in detail?”

“They were human eyes, but they were red. The person seemed tall, but this was in complete darkness. I would’ve just called the police, had I seen a silhouette, but that was the weird part. There was no body attached to the eyes. I could only see the eyes.” Fear took over his body again, “What do you think it is?”

Virgil hesitated, “There’s only one way for someone’s eyes to be red…but it doesn’t mean that they don’t have a body, so I doubt it’s true.”

“I’m willing to take any explanation.”

“The person’s being possessed by a ghost.”

Remus choked, “Sorry? A ghost can do that?”

Virgil looked around before nodding, “Most ghosts don’t because they don’t know about it. The ones that do know about it never do it because they know there is a chance it could bind their soul to the human’s forever…or at least until the human dies.”

“What do you mean bind their soul?”

“We shouldn’t talk about it here, there could be people listening.” Virgil murmured. “Bleachers at lunch.”

“Sounds good.”

“Yeah…just make sure no one is following you because we all know how popular you are.”

Remus rushed out during lunch, making sure to hide from the other high schoolers.

“You take so long.” Virgil sighed as he pulled out a book, “Right…so start from the beginning.”

“So I’m walking home, and then I hear a cane scraping at a slow pace. It’s echoing through the area. It’s dark, so I stop and turn towards the noise to see who it is. There’s no one there, no cane, but I continue to hear the cane moving. I’m completely alone, but it’s getting louder. I start running, and the cane continues, not moving any faster or slower, but it gets louder.” Remus shivers as he recounts the story, fear settling in his body, “I keep running until I see the lights of my house, and once I reach my porch, the scraping stops. I look around and there’s nothing there except for the floating red eyes. Not connected to a body of sorts.”

Fear didn't usually get to him. He loved paranormal and scary things, but this was an exception. There was something about this thing in particular that made Remus terrified out of his mind.

“This sounds like a nightmare, Remus. Are you sure it’s even real?”

“If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t have this injury. I got it because I tripped while I was running away.” Remus pointed to the scrape on his knee.

“Ah.” Virgil started to flip through his book. “Alright, so the whole thing with the red eyes is the first problem. The only way for someone to have red eyes is if a ghost possesses them willingly.”

“Willingly?”

“So there are two types of possession: willing and unwilling possession. When the human is allowing the ghost to possess them, the eyes turn red. When the human doesn’t allow them, it’s unwilling and their eyes turn purple. When it’s unwilling possession, there’s no way for the ghost to bind its soul to the human, but instead, it would be harmful to the ghost to do it. It would mean that for a few days, they won’t be as strong as they normally are, whether that means not being able to use their powers, or not being visible to mediums. When it’s willing possession, there’s a chance for the ghost and human to bond souls. That’s a bad thing.”

“Why is it bad?”

“If their souls are bound together, the ghost won’t be able to be far away from the human for a long time. The ghost can enter the human’s body and possess them at any time. They can use each other’s powers. The human would be stuck to the ghost forever until their death.”

“What happens during their death?”

“Well…if the human has unfinished business and turns into a ghost, the two will be forced to wander together, not being able to be too far from each other ever, and find out their unfinished business. The two can only move on once the other one has.”

“Or…?”

“If the human doesn’t, then the ghost is forced to be a ghost for eternity, forever wandering the world.”

“That doesn’t explain the whole sound thing and the staring into my soul thing.” Remus whispered, trying to calm his heart. He didn't understand why he was so scared. He loved this type of stuff and he tried to wrack his brain onto why.

“Well…I didn’t think so, but I decided to look more into it before lunch.” Virgil replied, “Yeah, uh…sorry, but you have a ghost leeching onto your soul.”

“What?”

“So you know how I have the ability to see ghosts?”

“Uh huh?”

“I thought it was unusual that I haven’t found more than one ghost wandering around the city. I’ve only seen and talked to one ghost, when usually there are thousands, especially in very populated places like this. I found it super weird. Right now, I’m getting my ghost friend to check up on places and investigate what’s happening, but…I think this might be related to this. I mean, you being able to hear or see this ghost is weird to me, but I think it might also be related to your powers. I don’t really know the details of it.”

“Go back to the whole ghost leeching on my soul thing. Is this in a sexual way or...?”

“No, not sexually. I'm just getting to that. Basically, I think a ghost a long time ago got bound to a human, possibly a medium, and then when the medium died, the medium had no unfinished business, trapping the ghost to forever wander here. The ghost, in spite, decided to start to try and possess innocent people to do bad things, which caused their powers to become weak, especially since the universe doesn’t like ghosts messing with people’s characters. Do you know what that means?”

“Universe tries to punish the ghost?”

“Close enough. The ghost’s powers weaken so much that it almost causes them to disappear from the world completely, so the ghost decides to try and leech off someone and finds out that it can be done really easily, so they start doing it to people. Leeching off someone’s powers can’t be easy, and it must’ve been really tiring towards the human. What the ghost is basically doing is that it’s taking the power from your body and from you to use for something else that they’re doing.”

“How do you know this?”

“Well, Janus mentioned one day that he was worried because he thought you were getting way too weak and tired recently. It seems harder for you to do things because you’re in pain. he also mentioned that you always thought you didn’t have any powers. It makes sense with the ghost leeching thing because a ghost will literally overtake the magic of your fielsog.”

“Wait, but my power is passive. I can use other people’s powers if I touch them. Also, you know technical terms?”

“I’m studying to be a doctor. Of course I do.” Virgil rolled his eyes.

“Then, you need to talk to Logan about this. I mean, I’d like to be welcome into the conversation, but he’s the one who’s been informing me about everything with this.”

“Alright, fine.” Virgil sighed as he opened the book to show Remus, “Just be mindful to not come in contact with Logan for a while.”

“Why?”

“Because I know that the ghost that’s leeching onto you can hear every word I say, and the only reason they aren’t coming out is because I’m wearing a rosary. I need to give Logan a rosary before we talk about it.” Virgil pointed to the rosary on his neck.

“Is the ghost always going to be listening to everything we say?”

“No. Unlike when ghosts are bound, the ghost can go out of you at any moment. It doesn’t have to be near you to leech off you. It’s a complicated matter, but basically, the ghost is choosing to be near you right now to gauge how much I know about this topic.”

“How can you tell?”

“Because I can see ghost auras as well as human auras. Right now, your magic is triple as powerful as an aura than I could tell beforehand.” Virgil remarked as he stood up, “Stay safe, Remus. I’ll make my way around to give Janus a rosary too.”

“Is there anything we can do against this?”

“Unfortunately, not to my knowledge right now.” Virgil stood up, patting Remus’s shoulder, “I wish you luck.”

“Thank you.” Remus gave a weak smile, feeling a weight lift off his chest for a few moments.

As Virgil left, Remus stared off into the distance, not sure of what to do. If his cancer was being caused by some ghost leeching off of him, he was sure as hell not going to let the ghost win. He didn’t want to leave the world, and he most definitely didn’t want to leave his best friend. Not after he promised to help him find a cure.

He stood up, deciding it was time to go find Janus and hang out with him for the remaining time he had left for lunch. Before he could take a step though, he heard a male voice he didn’t recognize that made a chill run down his spine.

“The mark of death, the liar's breath, the special one, the favorite sun, the hourglass, and the impasse. The six destined to come across me, the six destined to fall to my arms. Beware, for, if you come one by one, not all six will come out when it’s done.” ——————– this was a hefty chapter. i'm gonna be completely honest, the chapter about remus running away scared the crap out of me when i thought about it but i don't think i made it sound too scary when i wrote it alksdjfaldjf. i was too scared-. i also hope remus and janus weren't too out of character because they felt a little out of character, but i needed to show that they do actually care about each other. wonder if anyone can figure out what the prophecy at the end is about. hope you enjoyed! :)

If you enjoyed this, please consider reblogging! Reblogging helps me a lot and are very appreciated. Check out my masterlist for more, feel free to request any writings, and stick around if you want to see the rest of what I have in store for this! :)

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soysaucevictim · 1 year

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For real though... learning some Tico/Tiquismos stuff while writing this thing has been a delight and a fun challenge, you know?

All because I chose the Spanish surname "Espinoza" (because the Begotten!Twins are thorny as hell, and it suits them) and looking up where that name was very common. Honed in on Costa Rica for the twins' dad.

I'm glad I'm at least aware of dialects being a thing.

(And none of the racist, imperialist, classist BS from my grandpa thinking there's such a thing as academic/perfect Spanish. That anything outside of that arbitrary, practically non-existent dialect, is just fucking slang/wrong.)

#sanders sides #roman sanders #remus sanders #(i honestly think its hilarious how dialect differences can make communications kinda silly tho)#(camotes can mean weirdos or it can mean sweet potatoes)#(languages - like the people that made 'em - are messy and i kinda love it)#(this is also just me complaining about a family member)

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blazethecheeto · 5 months

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Things Sanders Sides Characters Absolutely Have Said

Remus, with a headache: Advil me up, daddy.

Logan: I will short out the language centre of your brain if you say anything like that ever again.

Logan: Janus, this morning, I called you abhorrent and reprehensible, and I’d like to withdraw that statement-

Janus: Aww, thanks-

Logan: But I can't. Those are the 2 words that best describe you.

Roman: Enough! How dare you mock me in such a manner!?

Janus: Well. How would you like me to mock you? I take requests.

Logan: How long do you think it'll take?

Virgil: I don’t know, three or four.

Logan: Three or four what? Days? Weeks? Months?

Virgil: Yeah, maybe five.

Logan: Five what?!

Virgil: So are you gonna explain how the hell you crashed my car?

Logan: Well we were driving and there was a deer in the road, so I said "Patton, deer!"

Virgil: ...And what did Patton do?

Logan: ...He said "Yes, Honey?"

Roman: There's no way he cares about any of us.

Thomas: Remus would throw himself in front of a moving car for us!

Roman: Remus would throw himself in front of a moving car for fun.

Patton: Where the devil is Janus?

Virgil: Well, it is raining outside... Maybe he melted?

Roman: Shall I look outside for a pointy hat?

Patton: That's it, you're grounded! Roman, no adventures for you! Logan, no debating for you! Janus, no stealing for you! And Virgil... oh my god, is there anything that you love?

Virgil: Revenge.

Patton: No vengeance for you.

Virgil: I was going to say "I'll get you for this," but I guess that's off the table.

349 notes · View notes

sasiaucompetition · 4 months

Text

Fics Submitted to the Event

Okay, so apparently links count as characters, and you can only have so many characters per block of text. That is why the end of the list looks like that.

This is the list of all AUs entered, with links. Originally I was going to do links separate, but then I realized it would be easier to do it this way.

The AUs I know that are Mature and up have been marked, but please contact me if there are others on the list that haven't been!

The Other Side of the Mirror - @/Frejennix and @/Lalijinx (ao3)

Chessboxing AU - @/arealsword (ao3)

What you need - @/Anxiousgaypanicking (18+) (tumblr)

Happily Ever After Universe - @/edupunkn00b (ao3)

Never Met You - @/Nad98 (ao3)

Archduke of Demonic Cultivation - @/ThreeCrowsInATrenchcoat (ao3)

One Coffee, Morally Gray - @/Duckduck_Scribblerswan (Caellie_E_and_Vaye_R) (ao3)

A Dragon's Treasure - @/TypicallyUntipical (ao3)

Fairies in the Forest - @/Ended_Flames (ao3)

Ghost Janus AU - @/SoDoRoses (FairyChess) (ao3)

Logan Accidentally Steals Two (2) Children - @/the-panmixxia (ao3)

The Stowaway's Heart - @/thesympatheticvillain (ao3)

They Share A Kitchen - @/BuddyBuddyPalBuddy (ao3)

100 Seconds to Midnight - @/never_the_rose (ao3)

Touch Transcends Language - @/IfFoundPleaseReturnToJanus (18+) (ao3)

Flores Facets - @/Whiskey_With_Patron (ao3)

Life's A Drag - @/infawrit10 (ao3)

Crown Princes And Butterfly Wings - @/Ended_Flames (ao3)

Where the Lovestruck Bleeds - @/Fangirltothefullest (ao3)

Banding With You - @/glacierruler (tumblr)

Through Hades and Back - @/glacierruler (tumblr)

Deja Vu / Hero Worship AU - @/Greenninjagal (ao3)

Eucatastrophe - @/arealsword (ao3)

Side by Side in the Mindscape - @/edupunkn00b (ao3)

Beside Me - Dee - Thrall - @/edupunkn00b (ao3)

Plea for my New Self - @/VoidDragons (ao3)

Stray Hearts Are Subject To change - @/Queen_Whovian (ao3)

How the Angels got their Wings - @/SunRey1116 (ao3)

don't paint wonderful lies on me (that wash away) - @/codevassie (ao3)

How to Fuck with Humanity 101 - @/Jungle321jungle (ao3)

What You Can Stand - @/ManyFandomsOneLog (ao3)

All of These Stars (Will Guide Us Home) - @/lucernis (ao3)

Virgil’s Guide to Avoid Accidentally Falling In Love With Your Boss’ Boss - @/Jungle321jungle (ao3)

Hidden In Shadows - @/Kaysigns (ao3)

Labeled - @/AdrianaintheSnow (ao3)

Dreaming While I Wake - @/VoidDragons (ao3)

Painful Death - @/VoidDragons (ao3)

Lost & Found AU - @/rollthewhatever (tumblr)

Monsterous Roomates - @/Willowanderer (ao3)

Between Light and Darkness - ORPHANED (ao3)

Pumpkin Spice - @/VoidDragons (ao3)

Pick A Side (i love you and everything is beautiful) - @/arealsword (ao3)

Is there anything left of Patton - @/AdrianaintheSnow (ao3)

if you're going my way, i'll go with you - @/iclaimedtobethebetterbard (ao3)

one chance to change your fate - @/iclaimedtobethebetterbard (ao3)

A Moment with Potential - @/Midniteblue (ao3)

KNEE DEEP - @/plumcat (ao3)

House of Tarot Cards - @/FlowerMeat (ao3)

The Long Road Home - @/warcatscat (ao3)

Punks, Poets, Parents - @/edupunkn00b (ao3)

Flightless Bird - @/AvoSunflowerTea (ao3)

A lesson in practicality - @/ResidentAnchor (ao3)

Endless Sides (Sandman AU) - @/sometimes-love-is-enough (tumblr)

The Ghost and the Reaper - @/thatonelesbianfander (tumblr)

A Bug in the System - @/AwLawdItComin (ao3)

Syzygy - @/arealsword (ao3)

lavender for luck - @/lovelylogans (ao3)

The Starlight Universe - @/iclaimedtobethebetterbard (ao3)

59. Pieces Verse - @/SoDoRoses (FairyChess) (ao3)

60. (Un)Wanted - @/TheAsexualofSpades (ao3)

61. Black Hole Sun - @/coconutcluster (ao3)

62. Vanished - @/red_imeanblue (ao3)

63. Space and Everything In It - @/Greenninjagal (ao3)

64. You Can't Go Back - @/delimeful (ao3)

65. Ghost AU - @/tsghostau (tumblr)

66. Live Without You - @/stormsofstarlight (ao3)

67. Janus Sanders and the Cassandra Fallacy - @/arealsword (ao3)

68. Short Sides AU - @/nachosforfree (tumblr)

69. Plant Parents Dukeceit - @/ThreeCrowsInATrenchcoat (ao3)

70. For the Record/The Sanders Archive - @/VillainVogue (ao3)

71. The Other Side(s) - @/VillainVogue (ao3)

72. genius loci - @/oldkamelle (tumblr)

73. unsympathetic patton au - @/aidensm8 (tumblr)

74. cat virgil - @/its-the-cat-queen (tumblr)

75. murder mystery - @/thecrowslullaby (tumblr)

76. guilty tears - @/not-exactly-laborious (tumblr)

77. ride the cyclone - @/purplecrayonismine (tumblr)

78. Pingverse - @/SoDoRoses (ao3)

79. Spirit Complex AU - @/casart (tumblr)

80. A Series of Silly Questions - @/SoDoRoses (ao3)

145 notes · View notes

the-froschamethyst4 · 2 months

Text

Badge and Medics

𖤐Pairing: Cop! Gaz x Doctor! F! Reader

𖤐Pronouns: She/Her

𖤐Warnings: fluff, heavy language, mention of needles, OD’s (overdose) and some violence, some sexism, married couple, kissing, drug usage, medical terminology,

𖤐Summary: Being married to a cop is one thing but married to a cop who somehow always gets the calls about people on drugs and he brings them to his wife’s place of work is another

————

————

"2-Adam-23, there is a potential illegal drug usage in downtown Manchester."

"Another one?"

"2-Adam-23, responding," Gaz flipped the lights on after responding to the radio. Price then drove to the address given by dispatch.

Beep, beep, beep, beep

"Heart is steady...keep an eye on him just in case."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Druggy coming through," Price announced as he held a guy by his left arm and Gaz on his right.

"Officers, what's going on?"

"Someone used an illegal drug, and now here we are," short and sweet, Price.

"We usually see Doctor Y/n."

"I'm here, I'm here," Y/n came walking to the two officers, she looks at the man sweating profusely. "Get him into room 6," she tells the officers who moved him to the room.

The man was shouting profanities at Gaz and Price, spitting which caused Gaz to shove the mans head to his stomach.

"You are not going to spit," Gaz warns him.

"Oh fuck you, you bitch! I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE! TAKE ME TO JAIL!"

"The jail won't accept you high off your mind," Price tells him as they cuffed both of his wrists on both sides of the railing and Gaz grabbed the spit hood putting it over the mans face to keep him from spitting.

"Okay, so what am I doing?" Y/n asked, she was joking, she knew what she was doing, this is the 5th person high off their mind on some kind of substance.

"I WANT A DOCTOR NOT A NURSE!!"

"I am a doctor-"

"FINE BITCH, I WANT A MALE DOCTOR!! NOT SOME WHORE IN A WHITE COAT!!"

"Watch it," Gaz says through gritted teeth.

"Easy, tiger...well no male wants to deal with you ass, so they sent me in because you...don't scare me, I'm not stuck in cuffs right now," she says, taking a needle and sticking it in the mans arm, he squirms and shouts and slowly starts to drift off to sleep.

Price was impressed with Y/n along with Gaz, he smirks and looks down at his wife.

"Woah." Y/n then uncapped another needle sucking the blood from the drugged mans veins.

"Give him a few minutes of sleep and it should be done and over with, we've seen him before, so I'm aware of his history, I'll also be giving this to the lab to let you know what he's on, but I think I have a sense on what he might be on." Y/n says, disposing her gloves and needles. "Anyways, come find me if anything happens," she gives them both a smile and a wink at Gaz as she walks away.

Gaz looks at his partner who motioned his head to follow you. "Go on, I've got it from here," Gaz takes off down the hall seeing you go into a room.

He acted cool, walking by and seeing you bending down on your knees talking with a child patient. Gaz leans on the door as you talked so gently with the child. Giving the child a stuff animal to hold as you pricked their shoulder.

"There, all done," Y/n says. She looks at the parents. "I'll have her blood tested and I'll be back with the results."

"Thank you, Doctor."

"Of course, now...Olivia, I want you to hold on to this bear, he will help you with every Doctor appointment, just squeeze him and everything will be okay."

"Okay!" She gives Y/n a smile.

"Good...I'll be back," she turns and Gaz steps from the doorway.

"You spying, Kyle?" Y/n asked.

"No...just came to see if we are still having dinner at Sanders?" He asked.

"Yep, nothing has changed as far as I'm aware," she smiles up at her husband.

"Okay good...ummm~ sorry for bring another druggy."

"No, you're not, it's your way of saying I love you and it's an excuse to come and see me."

"....Yeah~ you're right," he says with an awkward smile.

"Oh, Aubrey can you take this blood sample to the lab please?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Thank you, I also need the results by 12!"

"GOT IT!"

"Busy day?" Gaz asked her.

"Just a bit," she says, she looked around and stood on her tippy toes and kissed her husbands lips. "I'll see you in a little bit, go watch your suspect, officer Garrick."

"I will, Doctor Garrick." He says as they both walked away from each other.

Gaz was swooned seeing his wife for the millionth time this week. As he made it back to the room, Price could see cupids above Gaz's head.

"Hey, calm down now, you'll see the missus when you get home, Garrick," Price says as he stood with his arms still cross over his chest watching the drugged man.

"Doctor Y/n, your patient in room 5's blood is back..."

"What is he on?"

"He is running on many...drugs ma'am."

"Name them and tell me what his blood level is at."

"Heroin, meth and we think cocaine, he also has some pills in his diet, looks like anti-depressants, and Ibuprofen, and his blood level he is over 4 times the legal limit...ma'am I think he was trying to overdose..."

"I see..." Y/n took the test from her assistants hands and walks back to the room. "I have your tests," she flashes the clipboard to both officers looking at the man.

"Goddamn," Price says, reading the chart.

"We think he might have been trying to overdose."

"Oh without a doubt," Price says.

"If you two weren't there to control the situation, I think if he would have taken one more thing, he would have died, I mean, he's on the verge with the amount of shit in his blood right now."

"Agreed, we'll have to place him under arrest and send him to the Prison and he'll have to wait for a judge to see him."

"It's the weekend, so he'll be in there till Monday," Gaz says.

"Yep," Price pops the 'P'. The man stirs in his sleep and looks at Y/n and the two officers.

"Where am I?"

"The hospital," Y/n says.

Then all of sudden Price and Gaz walk over to him placing his hands behind his back and cuffing him.

"W-W-Wait, what's going on? I haven't done, anything-"

"Illegal usage of drugs, misconduct, battery on an officer, illegal possession of illegal narcotics." Price cuts him off to tell him everything he's been charged with.

"Doc, come on now, you can't let them take me-"

"Your chart says how many drugs were in your system, you were trying to overdose, and if these officers didn't get to you in time, you would be dead by now, unfortunately there is nothing I can do," Y/n tells him as Price walks him out of the hospital and to the cruiser.

"Thank you for your help, love."

"Of course," she leans forward kissing his lips. "Be safe."

"I always am."

----------

3 Weeks Later

Price and Gaz walk into the hospital, Price and Gaz were not happy campers right now. They had gotten a call from the hospital saying that there was man asking for narcotics that only the hospital can supply.

He's been harassing the staff since 10 in the morning, and Price and Gaz have dealt with this guy before in the past always jumping from hospitals to hospitals always asking them them to supply him with random drugs.

This time it was-

"MORPHINE!!! I NEED MORPHINE!!" He yells.

"Hey! Austin!" Price yells catching his attention. "We've talked about this bud, no hospital is going to supply you with any sort of drug, that you don't need-"

"I AM A PATIENT HERE, I NEED MORPHINE!!"

"You are not a patient here, Austin," Gaz jumps in. "Are you high again?"

"NO!"

"Then come on, let's leave and let these nice people do their jobs-"

"THEY CAN DO THEIR JOBS BY GIVING ME MORPHINE!!" Austin raised his hand slamming them on the desk scaring the woman behind it, she shakes and both Gaz and Price pull out their tasers.

"On the floor Austin! You've overstepped your welcome, now on your knees now!" Price yells at him.

Austin soon turns and starts to charge at both of them, they both released their tasers making Austin fall to the ground. Price jumping on his back and putting his hands behind his back and Gaz gave him cuffs for Austin.

"KYLE! Y/N WAS HURT!!" A nurse yells for Gaz. Price nods allowing him to go check on his wife.

Y/n sat on an empty patients bed, gripping the thin bedsheet as a nurse of hers was stitching up her arm.

"Love," Gaz comes in, hugging her side.

"Ow, easy."

"I'm sorry, are you okay?"

"Yes. I'm fine."

"What the hell happened?" Gaz turns to the nurses but Y/n started to talk.

"I thought he was regular patient, I've never seen him before, so I wanted to know if he needed help with anything, and he was...acting normal and then when he told me, he was here for a physical and I was getting everything I need, he then just started to shout 'I need morphine' over and over. When I tried to die down the situation, he grabbed a blade, like a razorblade from his coat pocket and sliced my arm pretty good."

"She didn't lose too much blood," a nurse tried to reassure.

"His name is Austin Hill, he's known for going around random hospitals always asking for a random narcotic you can't get from the streets, just last week he went to Downtown Abby and asked a nurse for Majorana and when she told him she couldn't do that for him, he went ape-shit, now he'll be under careful watch," Gaz said.

"Come on, Gaz we've got some booking to do-Y/n you wanna make a statement?"

"Yes, please," she says as Gaz gave her a pen and paper waiting for her to be done writing. He takes the paper and pen from her leaning down to kiss her and rushing out of the room.

"I'll see you later love!"

----------

An Hour Later

"Got another one for you, love," Gaz says as him and Price held up a woman who seemed to be...limp.

"Umm~ can she walk?" Y/n asked.

"She did..." Price starts.

"She collapsed on her way in," Gaz ends.

"Jesus-okay, get her to room 8," Y/n says.

The officers placed her on the bed, she has this...sort of creepy smile on her face, eyes widened and haven't blinked so far, she was still limp as Y/n did her usual exams on her.

"Umm~ a-are you guys sure she's not dead?" Y/n asked, writing everything down.

"Pretty sure," Price grabs her wrist feeling for a pulse. "It's slow," he says, dropping her wrist.

"Miss? Ma'am...are you okay? Hello?" Y/n asked, the woman's head turned to look at Y/n she jumps a bit from how creepy this woman was.

"You have a horn coming from your forehead."

"Edibles," Y/n immediately says with a straight and serious look on her face.

"I knew it," Gaz says, poking at Price's chest.

"Do you need any blood samples to convict?"

"Nah, we'll let her off with a warning," Gaz says. "Go ahead and knock her, love," he says, placing his hands on his belt.

"Will do," she uncapped a needle sticking it into the woman's arm, she slowly started to drift to sleep. "She'll wake up in an hour or so," Y/n tells both officers.

"Good-how's your arm, love?" Gaz asked, gently taking her hand.

"It's fine, I just can't do a whole lot at the moment."

"When's your break?"

"In 20 minutes."

Gaz looks at his partner and Price nods letting him know, he can take a break with his wife.

-----------

Y/n and Gaz sat outside in the courtyard eating some sandwiches, and chips. She giggled at Gaz's comments about the people he works with along with some random drama at the station, one being a cop and a possible inmate having an affair together.

"That's crazy," Y/n says.

"I know, so they are talking about transferring her to another station away from the jail," Gaz says.

"Good, you don't know what she could do for him while he's in jail."

"They've already confiscated two phones, toothpicks he could easily stab someone with, and a few shanks, he was in solitary confinement for 3 months," Gaz takes a chip in his mouth. "Anything crazy here, besides your arm?"

She just giggles. "Not really...so, I have a question?"

"Go ahead," he chuckles.

"When you're on patrol, and you get the call to go check up on something?" She questions her wording. "Why do you and Price always get the narcotics calls?"

"I don't know? I can do others like traffic stops, domestic violence cases, and others, but I'm not sure why we always get the narcotics calls," Gaz says.

"Well, my breaks almost up," she says.

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

Later That Night

Y/n was clocking out, telling her collogues 'goodbye' and 'have a good night.' She walks out of the hospital and looks around for her husbands car, she soon sees it pulling up to the sidewalk where she stood.

"Kyle," she coos and opens the passenger side door.

"I wish you'd let me open the door for you, so I can be a true gentleman."

"I am an independent woman," she says, moving the seat belt over her body.

"Oh I know, baby," he says, leaning forward and kissing her lips. "Let's go home, I want you to rest after what happened today, I know you pushed yourself today."

"Just a bit, I am tired," she yawns and let her head rest on the window as she watched the pretty lights of lit up building, apartment complex's pass by her window.

Soon her eyes were closed as Gaz drove them to their shared home. The golden lit up street lamps lit up the neighborhood and Gaz pulls into the driveway, gently shaking her thighs waking her up, she yawns and lets out a soft moan. Making grabby hands towards her husband.

"Hang on, baby," he says, going around the car and opening it, unbuckling his wife from her seat, and he bridal carries her into the house. "An independent woman, huh?"

"Shut up," Y/n says, snuggling into her husbands neck and giving her some soft kisses making him shutter.

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

A Few Days Later

Y/n had stayed home from work since the incident, she stayed on the couch most of her time, her husband working, and coming home every break just to come and check up on her.

"Baby, I brought you some sushi," Gaz says, coming into the house, Y/n peaking over the back of the couch with a big smile.

"Thank you, Kyle. When is your break over?"

"In a few minutes, I brought Price with me, so we can head out immediately," Y/n stood up off the couch seeing Price sitting in the cruiser in the driveway. She waves to him and he waves back.

"Thank you again, Kyle, but I'll be okay, no need to come and check on me, I have your number if anything happens, and I have Price's number in case I get ahold of you, I promise, okay?"

"I know, baby, but I just want to make sure nothing happens while I'm gone on duty and something does happen."

"I'll be fine," Y/n kissed her husband, letting him get back to work, she ate her lunch and thanked him again for her food.

87 notes · View notes

a-small-batch-of-dragons · 2 months

Text

Language Barriers

same anon as like 5 minutes ago, I remembered the fluffy prompt! Could you write a Sanders Sides DLAMPR fic (before they get together) where all of the Sides have different love languages? And they’re all trying to flirt in their own way, but the others keep misinterpreting it? A lot of TSS fic features the Sides having different love languages (and I’d like to think they do, in canon), but I’ve yet to see a fic that specifically focuses on that fact and describes the differences between love languages. Feel free to ignore, and remember to take care of yourself! – anon

hey I love love love love LOVE your writing! If you’re open to prompts rn, I’ve just reread your story "Idiots, Idiots, Everywhere" and it’s awesome, thanks very much, BUT. Are you willing to write a Sanders Sides fic where it focuses more specifically on all the Sides having different love languages? Bonus points if it’s DLAMPR (but platonic PR, this is an incest-free household) and all the Sides are like “…but he’s like this with everyone”. No pressure at ALL, but it’d be cool to see how you approach that. – anon

Read on Ao3

Warnings: none

Pairings: dlampr

Word Count: 3431

Or, five times the Sides misunderstood each other's love languages, and one time Thomas got fed up with it and decided to just...explain it to them with the efficiency they have when they're trying to explain something to him. Which is to say: it takes them a second to get it. The Imagination helps.

Physical Touch

If you were to ask anyone, they would tell you that Patton loves giving people hugs.

It’s the bane of some of their existences, they’d try to claim, and the others might just shrug and say that’s Patton for you. He knows his kiddos love it, at least a little bit. But he won’t lie, he does love a good hug. There’s just something so magical about how, out of all the shapes humans could have possibly been, they’re just perfectly designed to hold one another. Isn’t that just perfect?

Logan would probably say something about evolution and adaptation to the needs of their environment, or something, but he’s not gonna rain on Patton’s parade. Humans are hug-shaped, so they’re gonna hug. Besides, he’s not complaining when he’s working downstairs in the winter and he’s gotten too absorbed in his work and then a Patton-shaped heating pad just comes along and hugs him.

Patton loves hugging all of the Sides. Logan because he’s always so surprised by it, in a good way! He gets this soft little look that is almost on the edge of a smile, like he wasn’t expecting it but it’s the best possible outcome he never could have predicted. Or when he’s trying to comfort Patton and he hugs with undeniable certainty.

Virgil is also fun to hug, because he’s such a pouty-face about it. He snuggles up as much as any of them but he has to put on his mopey show first, just in case anyone’s watching. Virgil also gives the mopey hugs too, but then he makes himself just a bit bigger so he can wrap all the way around Patton. Which is the best.

Speaking of wrapping all the way around, Janus has six arms and he uses every single one of them. They get into competitions sometimes—not serious! It’s all for fun!—about who can surprise-hug each other the worst. Or best. Janus is currently winning from the time he managed to make himself look like the chair in the living room with a blanket over it; Patton sat down and boo!

Remus isn’t allowed to do surprise hugs, not after he accidentally tackled Patton into his Kraken’s pond and they had to spend the rest of the afternoon trying to get out of the pond. But Remus’s hugs are the kind that squish his soul right back into his body and ugh, there’s nothing better than that after a long day. Besides, it’s not like expecting Remus’s hugs takes anything away, he’s still going to squeeze him so hard he might not be able to breathe for a few seconds, but that’s Remus!

And then with Roman—Roman hugs the way every single knight from a fairytale should hug. He just makes you feel safe and precious and like nothing in the world could hurt you. It’s why Patton always sits next to Roman during scary movie nights, after all, even if he gets teased about it a little. Roman doesn’t mind.

So yes, Patton does love hugging all of them. But it doesn’t have to be hugging! It can be holding hands, or just leaning against each other, just as long as he can feel them and tell himself yes, they’re okay, they’re right here, I love them.

Because he does. He loves them terribly. Even if they think he’s just a big fan of hugs.

***

2. Quality Time

Virgil has the reputation of being the cat of the Mindscape for good reason. Not because he hisses at things that don’t cooperate—the other Sides are not excluded from this—and not because he spits up hairballs—it was one time, Remus, and it was entirely your fault—but because he has a habit of just appearing in the same room and hanging out for a while.

…alright, it’s not a habit, he does it on purpose.

Companionable silence really is the best way to go about things. You’re both close enough to talk if you want to, but each of them is allowed to do their own thing and hey, there’s another person doing their own thing too. Which is why it’s his favorite way of hanging out with Logan, especially when he needs to make sure that something gets done. He’s always down to affectionately bully Logan into whatever he asks him to make sure he does.

He does that with Remus too, but it’s not exactly the same: Remus needs someone to make sure he doesn’t actually destroy anything, and he’s more than happy to oblige. Especially since he likes to get a bit of a heads-up before a rampaging beast goes barreling through the kitchen at some ungodly hour of the morning.

If he’s never beating the cat allegations, Janus sure as hell isn’t helping. There’s a big window in the Dark Sides’ half of the Mindscape that is perfect for lying in for, oh, a few hours on end. Remus has many—too many, if you ask Virgil—pictures of the two of them just basking in the sun, dozing like they haven’t got a care in the world.

Virgil’s actual favorite place to sleep is with his head in Patton’s lap. Especially after he’s just finished baking, when he’s all warm from the oven and he smells like sugar and spice…Virgil will sit on the counter or the floor and listen to Patton talk about whatever he wants and then while the oven bakes, he’ll fall asleep right in Patton’s lap. He even gets first dibs on whatever just got made.

Roman makes a game of it. He’s the Prince, every good Prince needs a rogue to work with. They trek all over the Imagination, having adventures, defeating monsters, it’s the perfect mix of Roman’s quests and Virgil’s need to be a creepy little shit in every dark corner he can find. Being with Roman even makes boring council meetings fun, because he gets to terrify the idiots that they’re just gonna fight later anyway and he gets to spend time with Roman.

He doesn’t care what he’s doing, not really, just as long as he can spend time with them. He just…wishes they would understand that sometimes.

***

3. Words of Affirmation

Logan is no stranger to impostor syndrome, but that doesn’t mean he has to allow it to plague those he cares for. Understanding something to be true on an intellectual level and feeling the validation that comes from hearing someone else voice it are two very different things. The other Sides are each remarkable in their own right. They deserve to hear it.

Patton is kind. He does not say that lightly: kind people who choose to be kind because they know how difficult it is are not individuals to be trifled with. Patton makes the conscious choice to try and be better every single day. He is earnest and sincere, sometimes painfully so, but he does not allow himself to be dissuaded by obstacles. How could Logan not want to express his admiration?

And Roman…oh, Roman is a wonder. There is so much that goes into his work that often goes unnoticed, or underappreciated, and it is a crime that Logan too often finds himself on the wrong side of that line. Roman is clever and funny and has a work ethic that, truly, rivals Logan’s own. For every slight he makes, however unintentional, he tries his best to make up for it by telling Roman in no uncertain terms how honored Logan is to be part of his creative process.

Remus is an entirely different story, no pun intended. Remus is unabashedly and unapologetically himself, and as such is a marvel to behold. He cares not for the sanitization or reduction of anything in his work, and so Logan does his best to follow suit. Remus is who he is, and it is beautiful.

He tells Janus he’s beautiful too. And not once is he lying. The first time he did it, Janus laughed in his face, at least until he realized Logan was telling the truth. He then didn’t see Janus for an entire week. It ended when a little snake plushie appeared outside of his door in the middle of the night with a tiny note that just said thank you. He tells Janus he’s beautiful every chance he gets now.

Virgil is his little alley cat. Perfectly fine to approach on his terms, but will let him know with no uncertainties when he’s getting a little too close. It doesn’t help that Virgil is quite fun to tease, even if all he’s doing is giving him compliments—true compliments, mind you—and watching in amusement as Virgil curls up into a ball with his hood pulled down over his ears as if that could hide how red they are. He’s not cruel about it, of course; he stops the moment Virgil appears genuinely uncomfortable and there are certain topics he doesn’t go near. But Virgil can’t always hide his little grin and so on it goes.

He’s quite happy to shower them with his words, he just…doesn’t know if they’d believe him if he said I love you.

***

4. Acts of Service

Words are difficult. There is so much ambiguity to be found in even the most basic of sentences, and when it comes to matters like this, Janus prefers to take as few chances as possible. Whoever coined the phrase ‘actions speak louder than words,’ Janus definitely owes a drink for how spot-on it is.

Whenever Patton needs a hand in the kitchen, he’s always the first to volunteer. He can do up to three things in the time it would take another Side to do just one, after all, and he’s had enough experience cooking for the troublemakers (Virgil and Remus) to know how to get around most of their pranks. And how to get them back.

Logan, bless him, has a tendency to overwork himself at the best of times. And in doing so, he gets these terrible knots and cramps in his neck and shoulders from hunching over his desk for hours on end. It might not be the most polite of things to practically blackmail his way into giving Logan a massage, but the poor dear always falls right to sleep so he mustn’t mind too much.

Remus and his delightful menagerie of creatures often need more than their fair share of attention. He had to pester Remus into getting him a raincoat and muck boots that could withstand the acidic slime, but weekend mornings found them strolling cheerfully through pens and cages and paddocks, tending to the bizarre flock. Anything to make the chore more of a fun activity and less of, well, a chore, when Remus really doesn’t suit stressed-out frowns as well as manic grins.

Virgil has a terrible habit of not asking for reassurance when he needs it. Janus regrets the part he played in making it that way. So, no matter how small and stupid Virgil may think it is, whenever he asks for help, Janus gives it. A tug on his cloak or a soft please will have him do anything from turn the light in the hallway on to checking the poor thing over for wounds after a brutal nightmare. It took long enough for Janus to re-earn that trust, he’s not going to lose it if he can damn well help it.

Out of everyone in the Mindscape, only Roman truly appreciates his love of theater. Sure, the others are game to help out here and there, but when it comes to the art of make-believe, Roman is the proud owner of Janus’s ‘yes-and’ partnership. The two of them make all sorts of stories together, from villains and heroes to morally grey adventurers, to simple fairytales and old plays. Roman needs someone else to help him play the roles and Janus is more than happy to play with him.

Perhaps one day, he might be able to reveal that everything he does for them, he does because it’s them, but for now, he’ll happily play the role they expect of him.

***

5. Gifts

Roman and Remus do not, in fact, fight over who gets to give the most presents to the other Sides.

Instead, they fight over whose idea they work on first.

For Logan, Remus’s self-writing pen narrowly won out over Roman’s proposal for a never-ending notebook, if only because said pen squirted ink into Roman’s mouth before he could finish his argument. They ended up giving both to Logan at the same time, but the pen was decidedly on top and did its own little celebratory wriggle when Logan used it for the first time.

Remus nearly challenged Roman to a formal duel when it came to designing a heat lamp for Janus that wouldn’t run the same risk of burning out the electricity in their section of the Mindscape. They managed to agree on everything up to the design on the lampshade. Roman said it should be a yellow snake, curled up and sleeping, and Remus wanted it to be a big leaf that Janus could lay under like he was actually outside. The compromise was eventually reached over many hours of almost bloodshed and now the sleeping snake under a leaf is a staple in the corner of Janus’s room.

Roman cleverly proposed Virgil’s weighted blanket while Remus was being crushed under said blanket, leaving not a lot of wiggle room until he had to agree. Of course, he promptly fell asleep and cuddled Roman into a pile of goo, so technically they made both the blanket and the plushie at around the same time. Virgil still brings the little skeleton to movie nights.

Patton gets their presents one after the other, because you need one to understand the other’s context. A rebreather designed to slip on over the person’s face just like any other face mask, to filter out particulates and allergens. Something that could be worn for up to two consecutive hours before it needed to be recharged.

The other present was a box full of kittens.

”Ro?”

“Yeah?”

Remus pushes his goggles to the top of his head and looks over the desk. “Do you think they’ll ever get it?”

Roman sighs, closing his notebook and leaning back to stretch. “I don’t know, Re. I love them, really, they just…”

”Don’t realize.”

“Yeah. It’s okay, though. We’ll get there eventually.”

“Of course we will. Hand me that wrench, would you?”

“The one that’s covered in guts, or the one that’s made out of foam?”

“The foam one. I need to whack this thing but I don’t wanna hit it too hard.”

“I’m not gonna ask any more questions.”

***

+1: I Love You

”Hey!” Patton rises up first, clapping his hands. “Oh. I’m the only one here.”

“Only by a moment,” Logan says as he joins him. “Is Thomas here?”

“No, I just got summoned by—well, I thought it was Thomas but he’s not here.”

“Whoa, hey!” Virgil appears on the staircase. “What’s going on? I was in the middle of watching someone.”

“Don’t you mean ‘something?’” Remus appears, covered in slime and cackling. “Ah. I see.”

“I’ve got it,” Roman says, rising up and spraying his brother with something that somehow manages to dissolve all the goo without staining or spraying anything else. “There. Now maybe you’ll think twice about surprising Uma when she’s feeding?”

“Oh, I’m gonna do this so many more times!”

”I felt the exasperation from my room,” Janus sighs, appearing, “what’s Remus done now?”

“Why did you assume it was Remus?” Janus just looks at Logan. “Fair enough.”

”Now that we’re all here, what is this about?” He looks around, frowning. “Where’s Thomas?”

“That’s weird, is he not the one who called for a meeting?”

“What’s that?” Virgil reaches out and picks up a piece of paper from the coffee table. “‘Each one of you needs a card, find the matches.’ What cards?”

“Here.” Logan picks up something that fell when Virgil picked up the paper. “There are only five of them, though, and six of us.”

“What do they say?”

“Let me see…one says ‘Physical Touch,’ one says ‘Acts of Service,’ one says…oh, I see.”

“I don’t,” Patton says, “can you share with the class?”

“Wait, wait, I think I know what this is, is one of them ‘Quality Company’ or something?”

“‘Quality Time,’ yes.”

Roman nods. “It’s the Five Love Languages.”

“Thomas doesn’t even speak Spanish!”

“No, no, Padre, not literal languages, it’s…it’s the ways you express your affection for someone. How you tell them you love them. There’s five: physical touch, acts of service, quality time…”

“‘Words of Affirmation,’” Logan continues, reading off the other cards, “and ‘Gifts.’”

Virgil hunches his shoulders. “So what, are we supposed to pick one?”

“I believe the intention of the exercise is to…select which one is our love language.”

Janus huffs. “Why? What does Thomas have to gain from doing something like this? And where is he?”

“Maybe he’s not the one who summoned us.”

“Well then who did?”

“Maybe if we do the thing we can find out.”

Janus sighs, peering over Logan’s shoulder and squinting. “I guess this one’s mine, then.”

“‘Acts of Service?’ Very well. I suppose I’ll take ‘Words of Affirmation.’”

“Can I have the touch one?”

“Certainly.”

“Twins get ‘Gifts,’ obviously,” Virgil mutters, “which means I get the…time one, or whatever.”

Logan hands out the last two cards and they stand there for a moment, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing does.

Patton looks back down at his card. “Wait, did you say these are how we tell people we love them?”

“That is a simple definition of this, why?”

“Because you guys do these with everyone!”

There’s a pause. Logan adjusts his glasses. “Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but…yes, I do indeed give you all words of affirmation, because, well…”

“Aww,” Virgil says, “do you love us, Logan?”

Logan coughs, blushes, and adjusts his tie. “I believe that is a logical conclusion, yes.”

“Aww!” Patton squeals. “I love you guys too!”

”So whoever set this up knew that we were all trying to tell each other that—“ Roman starts.

“—and needed to hammer it into our heads what was happening,” Remus finishes.

“Well,” Janus sniffs, even as a smile threatens the corners of his mouth, “how dramatic.”

Virgil tugs on the strings of his hoodie. “Yeah. How dramatic.”

There’s another pause.

Roman coughs. “Uh, this seems like a good a time as any, um…Remus and I put together a festival thing in the Imagination for everyone, if you want to…if you want to come and see it.”

“It has everyone’s favorite state fair stuff,” Remus sands, “and there’s supposed to be a northern-lights kind of thing after it gets dark.”

“Can we cuddle?”

“Of course.”

“Will there be food?”

“Your favorite, shadow-ling.”

“You two are so thoughtful,” Logan says softly, “I would love to come.”

“I can get the good blankets from the closet,” Janus offers, and everyone grins, “should we meet there in ten?”

“Oh, this is going to be so much fun!”

The Imagination is just happy they finally sorted it out. Now, to give the six of them a group date they’ll never forget…

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#dragonbabbles #sanders sides #fic #roman sanders #remus sanders #sympathetic remus #logan sanders #patton sanders #deceit sanders #janus sanders #sympathetic deceit #virgil sanders

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