#this chapter focuses pretty much solely on roman and logan though

[stormcrawler75]

A New Kind of Experiment Chapter 3: Making Music

Summary: It’s time for Logan and Roman to give the Human his first test.

Characters: Logan, Roman, Virgil, and Nate (Procrastination)

Warnings: None, I believe

                                                              ~                

                                                              ~

Roman hummed under his breath softly as he went over the first test for his and Logan’s new subject. It was the day after the Explorers had delivered the young Human to them and while they had given the Human the first day to get used to his new space, it was time to start the actual observation and tests.

Roman circled the tank with the test inside. It was a much larger tank than the Human’s primary one since it was meant to be used for the human to exercise and run tests in. There was a soft floor like the kind inside the human’s primary tank and the first test had been placed inside right in the center.

“Thanks for the help, Nate,” Roman glanced back at his friend gratefully. The ravanette Merman grinned back at him from where he was leaning against the wall with his bright red tail swishing lazily behind him.

“No problem,” the magic user said. “Was happy to help. How else were you going to get that thing in there?” Roman laughed and nodded in agreement.

While Atlantis was a city of science, magic had never been forgotten. It was rare for any Atlanteans to be born anymore with the gift but there were always massive celebrations to those babies who had it.

Nate just happened to be one of those babies. He was 26 now and an expert in his field of magic that just happened to be Molecular Teleportation which made him a huge asset for experiments and observations like this one. He had been the one who had teleported all of the water out of the human’s tank once it had been built and was in charge of putting the tests in the proper place in the tank. Food and the human himself could be brought in and out using tubes and a small box attached to the side of the tank that opened on both sides.

Nate pushed away from the wall and swam to the door. “Well, if that’s all I’m needed for, I’ll be leaving. I don’t want to disturb your, uh, test.”

Roman waved at him, only half paying attention, more focused on looking over the tank one last time. “I’ll see you, Nate!” He watched Nate swim out of the room from the corner of his eye. He looked down at the checklist he was going through on his pad and grinned. All down. All that was left was for Logan to bring the Human.

Roman settled down on the floor and let his tail curl around him. Finally, they could get started. They gave the human the day before to get used to his new surroundings and get an early start on the study the next day. And here Roman was now, at 6 o’clock in the morning, waiting for Logan to finish giving the human his food and getting him into his portable tank.

Roman scratched at the bright red scales on his waist, right under his shirt and right above his tail. He wondered what the Human thought about his tail. After all, Roman thought in slight disgust and pity, Humans had legs not tails. Weird tails split into two that they used to walk around on land. And they didn’t even have scales! It had to be such a treat for their Human to be in the presence of Roman’s beautiful tail! And Logan’s own dark blue tail was nothing to sneeze at either, of course.

Roman perked up and pushed himself up from the floor when the door slid open and Logan swam in, pulling the Human’s tank in behind him. “It’s about time!”

Logan gave him a dry look. “I’m sorry but the Human was having a fit. He refused to eat his food until I had him give it back to me and eat a small piece myself.”

Roman snorted in amusement. “You ate cooked fish?”

Logan nodded and scrunched his face. “Yes, unfortunately. I had to show him that it was safe to eat though I wish there had been another way besides eating it.”

Roman dissolved into loud laughter and Logan glared at him. “If you could stop laughing at my misfortune,” he hissed, “I’d be greatly appreciative. You’ll scare the human.”

Roman’s laughter immediately stopped as he took in the little human watching him in trepidation. Roman winced and nodded. “Right, right. Sorry about that.” He turned to the larger tank where the tube was halfway set up and started to attach it to the portable one. “Help me with this, will you?”

With both scientists working, it didn’t take long for the tube to be set up and drained. Roman pulled Logan back to the wall to watch. Logan grabbed his own pad from a half-open drawer and opened up a document to write up a report.

The human crawled through the tube and slid down into the large tank. He seemed happy to be out of the portable tank and bounced a little on the soft floor. The Human looked around and glared at Logan and Roman when he saw them watching him.

Logan huffed out a laugh. “He looks like your guppy cousin when he glares like that,” he whispered to his partner.

Roman thought about the six-year-old Merperson Elliot being raised by his other cousin Emile and grinned. “They do look alike, don’t they?” He swallowed back a laugh when the human turned on his heel and crossed his arms petulantly. “I wonder when he’s going to find the test?”

Logan hummed. “Right now, it seems.” The human had looked over at the toy that Nate had teleported inside the tank. It was a toy that was square in shape and was a shade of silver. It was a toy for small Mers and it was perfect for the first test.

The human approached the toy hesitantly. He circled it and stared at the object, like it was something a lot more fascinating than a simple toy, like a new and beautiful treasure. Which it probably was to him.

Logan leaned forward and watched intently as the Human crouched down and picked up the toy, bringing it up to his face. Roman made a small sound of interest and the human must’ve heard because he gave them both a sharp look and turned so his back was facing them.

The two Mermen quickly swam around the tank so they could get a good look at the human’s face. The human was staring down at the toy in frustration and curiosity. Roman wished he could tell what the human was thinking right now. When the human pressed down on one of the side and a small musical note came out, the human yelped and flung the toy away from him. It hit the side of the tank with a thud and fell to the ground.

Logan was typing out notes frantically on his pad, glancing back and forth from his pad and the human. Roman was gripping his own pad tightly. The human was staring at the toy fearfully with his hands close to his chest. He didn’t make a move for about a minute, but then slowly stepped close to the toy. He poked it with his foot and it was only was when nothing happen did he crouch down again.

The Human picked up the toy gingerly and pressed another side. Roman watched the human flinch when another musical note was made but the human didn’t throw it this time at least. Instead, he folded into a more comfortable sitting position and pulled the toy into his lap.

The toy was designed to get small Mers to get used to a simple concept of causation. They press one side and a note comes out. They press another and a different note comes out. Whatever note comes depended solely on the action the child made.

And, yes, Roman and Logan knew that as a whole, humans were “smart” in their own way. Adult humans could build primitive machines that any Mer could build as children. But, how smart were they really? The goal of giving the human the toy was to see how he responded to simple concepts and then progress slowly. They wanted to see how far his intelligence went.

Logan paused in his frantic typing and glanced up. “See how fascinated he is,” Logan whispered to his partner. “He is so intrigued by the toy.”

He was certainly right, Roman thought. The human was pressing the sides of the cube curiously with his mouth forming a little o. After about a minute of hearing all six side’s notes, the human closed his eyes and started to press certain sides one after another slowly. It took Roman a second to figure out what he was doing, but when he did his jaw dropped.

“Is he,” Roman asked softly, “making music?”

Logan was just as speechless as Roman. The two scientists watched the human press note after note on the cube, making a small little tune that the human was rocking his head back and forth to slowly with a little smile on his face.

Roman never thought that the human would be making music after just getting the toy! Older Mers, around 2 or 3, did that all the time but Roman had been sure that the human would be just like the younger ones! He had thought that the human would just press the sides willy nilly to amuse himself with the pretty sounds but to actually make music! To recognize the different sounds and string them together!? This was amazing!

Logan lowered his pad down and shook his head in awe. “I cannot believe this,” he said softly. “I cannot believe this.”

Roman laughed in amazement. “Looks like humans may be smarter than we thought. We might have to start seeing if he could learn to read at this point.”

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A New Kind of An Experiment

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[sanderssidesfanfiction]

We’ll Carry On - Chapter Eleven

We’ll Carry On Tag

General Content Warnings: Sympathetic Deceit Sanders, Substance Abuse, Abandonment, Minor Character Death, Transphobia, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Dissociation, Bullying, Homophobia

Chapter-Specific Warnings: Hospitals

September 15th, 2000

Emile smiled at the man who he was sitting next to in the local coffee shop, who he was quickly becoming fast friends with. Remy was pouring over his business textbook with a sigh. “I mean, I know ninety percent of the stuff in this book! I don’t understand why I’m going to college!” Remy complained.

Shrugging, Emile said, “There has to be some reason, right? Something that you really want to learn?”

“Not really,” Remy sighed. “I don’t know why I’m wasting money when I’m not even gonna learn anything.”

“Then maybe you shouldn’t go to college,” Emile said with a shrug.

Remy sat back in his chair and hummed. “You know, you may have a point...”

February 5th, 2019

Emile was worried. Remy was running late, and he hadn’t called to give a reason why. That meant that he wasn’t stuck in traffic, and that he wasn’t helping late at the coffee shop. Roman and Logan were both relaxing in the living room, Roman in pajamas and Logan in his day clothes still. Emile couldn’t let them know he was worried, not this early in the night, but he was really worried.

Emile’s cell rang, and as if he had been summoned, Remy’s image was waiting on the screen. He answered the phone and hissed, “Remy, where are you? I was getting worried!”

“Emile, I need you to stay calm with what I’m about to tell you, okay?” Remy asked. His voice was neutral in tone but sounded a bit strained, and a little hoarse. “I’m at the hospital. I saw two kids on the street, one of them had real bad hypothermia, and I couldn’t just leave them alone, so I drove them here. I won’t be home for a bit.”

“Are you okay?! Do I need to bring the boys over? Do I need to come over?” Emile asked, his free hand making sweeping gestures. “Just say the word and I’ll get Roman and Logan in the car.”

“Mister Emile, what’s going on?” Roman asked.

Emile held up one finger as Remy started to speak again. “You might want to come here, and maybe bring your paternity test stuff with you. The kid who isn’t unconscious was in pretty bad shape emotionally, but he was the spitting image of you as a kid, Emile. Curly red hair, freckles, and all.”

“You’re saying there might be more kids out there?” Emile asked skeptically. “I don’t know, Rem, two already seems like a huge coincidence.”

“Look, bring it or don’t, but I can’t stay up all night watching these kids, and you’re much better with emotional stuff than I am,” Remy said. “Can you just...get here?”

“Yeah, I’ll be right over,” Emile said, hanging up. Logan and Roman were looking at him curiously. “Both you kids finished your homework, right?” he asked.

He got twin nods of assent.

“Good, because we have to make a late-night trip to the hospital. I don’t know how long it’ll be, so bring a set of clothes for tomorrow morning, and your backpacks so that if necessary Remy or I can drive the two of you to school.” Emile clapped his hands. “Let’s get moving.”

The two got packed quickly, and the atmosphere was tense in the car ride to the hospital, even though Emile played music. They got to the hospital and once Emile explained that he was there to assist his husband, the nurses directed him, Logan, and Roman to the pediatric ward.

Remy was sitting in one of the plastic chairs on the side of a bed, while a small blonde boy was lying on the bed, and a curly-haired boy who did indeed look like Emile as a kid sat on the edge, wiping at his eyes. “Hello, hello!” Emile said, walking in the room. Logan and Roman followed, standing by the door awkwardly.

The relief on Remy’s face was obvious to Emile. “Emile, you’re here. It’s so good to see you.” He turned to the curly-haired boy. “Patton, this is Emile, my husband.”

Emile waved and Patton offered a small wave back. “My mom used to tell me and Virgil about you,” Patton said softly. “Said that you were her first choice when she decided she wanted kids.”

“Really?” Emile asked. “I never knew that.”

Patton nodded. “She used to do a lot of stuff, before she married Charles.” He wrinkled his nose. “Charles liked to hurt me and Virgil. Not, like, hitting. At least, not mostly. But he would scare Virgil and laugh, and shout at us whenever we were too loud. So we ran away.”

Emile frowned. “Where were you headed? Do you have any other family who would help you?”

Patton shrugged. “Granny might, but she lives really far away. We were headed to this coffee shop in town called Sleep Easy. ‘Cause Virgil and I, we were hoping that you might be able to help us, and you were in the picture in a news article about it. Thinking about it...it might have been a stretch...” Patton looked at Roman and Logan. “And it looks like you already have kids, so I know you might not want me and Virgil...”

“Hey,” Emile said softly. “Don’t sell yourself short, kid. At the very least, I can give you guys a place to stay while you see if your Granny can look after you.”

Patton sagged with relief as a few tears slipped down his face. “Thank you,” he said. “Uh, this is my brother Virgil, but uh...he was in the cold for a while.”

“According to Remy, you both were,” Emile said. “You two are lucky he drove home when he did.”

“I know,” Patton said. “I thought we were gonna...that we were gonna...gonna be popsicles.”

“Let’s be glad that didn’t happen,” Emile said. “Logan, Roman, you two don’t have to stand at the door. We might be here a while, let’s see if we can at least get comfortable.”

Logan and Roman nodded, both of them getting situated on the other bed in the room. Remy rubbed Patton’s shoulder. “You’re gonna be okay, Patton. You and Virgil both.”

Patton nodded.

Emile moved towards Remy. “Why don’t you take a break, Rem? Maybe take the boys home, if you need to. I can stay here with these two.”

Roman’s head shot up. “No way! I want to make sure that my baby brothers are okay!”

“I agree with Roman, for once,” Logan said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Even if the nurses call me ‘sweetheart’ and ‘miss.’ I’ll rest easier knowing that both of them are okay.”

Emile sighed, knowing that Logan and Roman were already attached to these two and if they did wind up going to their grandmother’s, Logan and Roman would never stop at the very least writing to them to make sure they were okay. “All right. But my point stands, Rem, you look like you’ve been through the wringer.”

Remy nodded. “I’ll see if they can bring another chair in here,” he mumbled, walking out of the room.

Everyone got settled and Emile sat in the chair that Remy had been occupying earlier, taking one of Patton’s hands and smiling reassuringly. “It’ll all be okay,” he soothed.

Patton nodded and looked at Virgil. “I kinda want to sleep,” Patton admitted. “And I’m warm, so it’s not a bad thing. But I don’t want Virge to wake up without me right here.”

“Well, you can take this chair if you need,” Emile said.

Patton shook his head before Emile could stand. “I’ll stay here. I’m not even sure I could sleep right now, even though I want to.”

Emile nodded his understanding. Logan asked Patton a question about Patton’s glasses and Patton was suitably distracted from Virgil’s condition for the time being. Remy came back in with a second chair and took up vigil by the door. They all stayed in the room, even as the lights dimmed outside, and a nurse came in the door just enough to turn the lights in their room off.

Logan and Roman had both fallen asleep on the free bed, and Remy was dozing in his chair by the door. Only Patton and Emile were awake, Emile rubbing Patton’s hand with a thumb as Patton talked about what his and Virgil’s home life had been like with Charles moving in. Virgil groaned on the bed, and Patton’s gaze immediately snapped to him. “Virgil?” he asked.

“P’t...” Virgil’s voice was weak and his forehead creased. He opened his eyes halfway and looked at his brother. “You...oh...kay?”

Patton laughed even as tears were forming in his eyes. “I’m fine, I was just a little cold and fifteen minutes under a blanket warmed me up. You’ve been asleep for hours!”

Virgil blinked, looking around. “Where...how...?”

Emile stood and moved into Virgil’s line of sight. “Virgil, it’s good to see you awake. My husband found you and Patton on the street and brought you here to the hospital. How are you feeling?”

Virgil moved the blankets off his chest and coughed. “Like I’m being smothered,” he groused.

Patton giggled, effectively waking up Remy. “Huh? What’s...oh, Virgil. You’re awake.”

Virgil rubbed his head. “Your voice sounds familiar. I don’t remember you, though.”

“I’m the one who found you and your brother and brought you both here,” Remy said. “And right now, I’m the one who’s gonna grab a nurse and make sure that both of you are all right.”

Remy left the room quickly and Emile looked Virgil over. He looked tired, and maybe a little annoyed from the blankets, but his gaze was solely focused on Patton and filled with worry. “Virgil, Patton,” Emile said softly to get the boys’ attention on him. When he had it, he continued. “Remy and I are certified foster parents. If you need a place to go, at least until you can contact your grandmother, we would be more than happy to let you stay with us.”

Virgil looked to Patton and Patton looked back. Virgil furrowed his brows and Patton shrugged, adjusting his glasses with a grin. Virgil turned to look at Emile. “Okay,” he said softly. “Your place has to be better than the streets, at least.”

“That’s the spirit, sorta,” Emile said with a laugh. “No offense taken, I understand what you mean.”

Virgil nodded as Remy and a nurse hurried into the room. The nurse asked Virgil a bunch of questions and took his temperature, and smiled. “Well, Virgil, it seems like you’re perfectly healthy! You’re very fortunate to have so much of your family concerned about you!”

She turned to Remy and said, “We can discharge him first thing in the morning.”

“Great, thank you,” Remy said, and she left the room.

Virgil sighed. “I have to stay here all night?” he asked.

“Chin up, Virge!” Pat said. “We have some place to go now!”

Virgil turned red and muttered something along the lines of “But I miss...you know...”

“Oh!” Patton exclaimed. “I brought that with me! Along with Little Kitty!”

He grabbed a backpack off the floor and pulled out a baby blanket covered in storm clouds. Virgil blushed but took it with a small “thank you.” He leaned back on the bed, and Patton laid down next to him, and soon both of them were asleep again, leaving Emile and Remy to talk. “You know we have to take them in for the time being,” Emile said.

“Yeah, I do,” Remy said. “You know what this means?”

Emile sighed and scratched the back of his neck. “Remy, I’m sorry, I never should have donated my sperm. I know I just wanted to help other families have kids but now we’re the ones with all these kids...”

Remy put a finger on Emile’s lips to shush him. “It looks like we should start searching for a bigger house.”

Emile laughed and Remy hugged him. Emile kissed his cheek, knowing in that moment that Remy was truly the one for him, if he could put up with all this.