#janus has the ability to see others' fates

[wolfprincesszola]

The Fate of the Marked Six Chapter 2

I have decided on updating this fic every week, so look forward to 22 more weeks of content <3. Most likely, each chapter will be posted either on Wednesday or Friday just because (probably going to be Wednesday late night to be completely honest). I really liked the idea of one character on the head rather than an entire English word, plus I always love fangirling about Chinese characters, so enjoy this. Don't worry, you won't lose any experience if you don't know any Chinese. Just like in this chapter, I'll explain what each character means. I hope you guys enjoy and if you do, please reblog this because it helps a lot more than a like would! <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 Warnings: None

Content Warnings: Swearing, Talk about Vulgar Activity

<Masterlist>

<Previous> <Next> ——————–

Chapter 02

Janus Wright has known the fates of everyone he has ever come across, just by looking into their eyes. Once he found out symbols were branded on people’s foreheads, he stopped making eye contact with them. When he found out that he could see the symbols on their hands, he stopped trying to shake them. As a result, he found himself not wanting to talk to others in fear he would find out the fates of others, specifically their curses.

He was young when he first started seeing the symbols, and he didn’t know what they meant, because they weren’t in English. Maybe it was what piqued his interest in Chinese culture as every symbol was a character in Chinese. More specifically, a word. He learned pretty quickly how to read Chinese because of the symbols that hung over everyone's head.

Sometimes, they were the word 爱. Sometimes, they were the word 钱. Sometimes, they were something else. However, all of the words Janus saw seemed more like curses than fates. Anyone with the word 钱 seemed to have the worst fortune with money, often struggling to even be in a stable place financially. Anyone with the word 爱 seemed to struggle in finding someone they love.

He hated looking tragically at things, so he tried his hardest not to look at them to make sure he couldn’t see their curses. However, with most of the people in his high school, it was already too late. Most of them were branded, the halls haunted with the Chinese symbols.

The worst symbol he had ever come across was the word 死, the curse of death. he had only seen it on one person and one person only: his best friend, Remus Porter, and for the past 10 years of knowing him, he has been trying to figure out how to change his fate.

-+=~=+-

“Wright!” Janus heard Remus’s voice echo in the crowded hallway. He paid no attention to Remus' voice, continuing to walk away from him.

He heard Remus running through the halls to try and get to him, and everyone almost parted the way, as if he was the king of the school. He caught up to Janus pretty fast, pulling on the top of his backpack and almost making him fall over. Damn Remus for having such long legs.

“You never wait for me!” Remus complained.

Janus shrugged, taking off his headphones that weren’t playing anything and staring at Remus.

“I thought after a decade, you would be nicer to me.” Remus pouted before grinning, "Although...it would be nice for you to-"

"Not in school." Janus hissed, glaring at his best friend before he could even get a word out. The boy could be very outward with his vulgar language and Janus had gotten used to it, but it didn't mean that it never turned heads when Remus said something not school-appropriate.

"Oh come on, you never let me have any fun." Remus pouted.

"How I got stuck with you as a best friend confounds me." Janus sighed as he continued to walk away. Remus followed close behind, ranting about a new game he was playing in his econ class.

It was their daily routine. Remus, the king of the school, would talk to Janus, the quiet kid at school, and everyone around would pretend like it was normal that two people–completely opposite from each other–were such good friends. It shouldn’t have made sense, but with their friendship, it just did.

Maybe it came from the fact that despite Remus being so popular, his language and way of communicating with others was so vulgar that it made people wonder whether or not Remus was messed up or if he was awful at showing that he was joking. Maybe it came from the fact that Janus had been the only one to know how to handle Remus' attitudes and sometimes had gone along with his plans. Maybe it came from the fact that Janus wasn't quiet, but instead didn't mess with the niceties and faux smiles that everyone else hid behind. Maybe it came from the fact that only Remus had been genuine from the very start towards Janus. Janus would never know.

While the two walked to Janus’s math class, Remus high-fived everyone that looked at him on the way, while Janus tried his best to keep his eyes on his feet and not make eye contact with anyone.

“Yo, Pat!” Remus grinned as he bumped hips with the class clown, Patton Morris.

Janus was wrong about Remus being the only genuine guy. There was also Patton, who seemed a little too genuine at times for Janus. He was kind to everyone and it baffled Janus how Patton could be so nice to everyone, even those that were awful to him. Patton didn't hang around the pair too often though because of Remus' humor. Unlike Remus, Patton preferred to stay PG, in both his actions and language. If Patton wasn't so genuine to Janus, Janus would've hated him.

“Remus!” Patton smiled, turning towards the two of them, “Always a pleasure to see you. And you too, Janus!”

Janus made the mistake of looking up, pretending not to notice the branded 爱 on Patton's forehead. Still, Janus nodded in the class clown's direction, "Patton."

"How were your weekends, you two? I hope not too exciting." Patton began to fall into step with the pair walking.

"Oh-" Remus began before Janus cut him off.

"No, Remus. Patton doesn't need to hear any of that. You can tell me later."

Remus groaned before sighing, "Alright, I did nothing this weekend."

Patton raised an eyebrow in confusion as he fixed the grey cardigan sitting on his shoulders of his polo shirt. "Are you sure?"

"Nothing of interest, at least." Janus filled in for Remus.

"Ooh, I know what we can talk about! Did you find anything about your powers?" Remus jumped up in excitement.

Janus really had to get someone like the valedictorian to explain to Remus how powers worked because it was clear Remus wasn't understanding what Janus was saying. Still, Janus tried one more time, "I’ve told you this already, Re, if you have the power, you’re born with it. It comes easier to you when you can’t control it when you’re younger, and after a while, it’ll only come in spurts until you learn to control it again. Patton doesn’t have that ability, just like you don’t.”

“Hey, you never know. It would be cool if he had magic!” Remus grinned, “Besides, I thought you liked to speak in lies."

“Not when you say stupid shit like that.” Janus scowled, rolling his eyes.

“Which reminds me, you have to tell me what your powers are. You haven’t told anyone!” Remus grinned at Janus.

“Because I don’t fully understand them myself!” Janus scoffed, knowing the real reason was because Janus didn’t want Remus to find out his fate.

“Uh huh, I’m pretty sure you’re just bluffing.” Remus snorted, grabbing Janus' hat off of him.

“I’m not! I’m really magical!”

“That’s something a faker would say and not a real person who can use magic.”

Janus rolled his eyes, “Go to class, you two. We wouldn’t want the valedictorian to catch you guys again, do we?”

Patton’s eyes widened as he muttered a bunch of curses, “Logan's going to kill me if I’m late again. Bye, guys!”

Janus rolled his eyes as he said goodbye to Remus, getting to his math class as well. Patton had forgotten that Logan didn’t check tardies during the third period.

-+=~=+-

Janus enjoyed the valedictorian’s company. Logan Sanders was a quiet person, who kept to himself most of the time, so they often paired for group projects. With them being so oftenly paired together, they knew which parts to assign to who, and so they could spend the entire class period in silence while working separately and together at the same time.

Janus didn’t know a lot about Logan, but he knew the boy's fate. Janus knew that the symbol that haunted Logan was the word 憦, the curse of regret.

Sitting quietly with Logan, Janus started to learn more about the teacher’s pet. Janus could see the regret that weighed within his shoulders and his eyes that never seemed to go away, and Janus understood that Logan’s curse of regret had been with the boy for a long time.

Then, that gave Janus insight on Remus. Sitting with the quiet valedictorian with regret that weighed tons on the boy's shoulder told Janus something about Remus.

He had never really noticed it before but now he saw the tiredness that rested on Remus’s shoulders, the ones that always seemed in pain. He remembered how Remus always had a reminder around 4 in the afternoon to take painkillers, and he remembered how easily Remus got sick.

Janus was sitting at his usual table during their break time, reading a book when he saw a figure walking towards him. Janus closed his book, looking up to see Remus grinning at him. Remus' shoulders were sagging more than usual. It was clear he was cheerful, but there was a part of him that was more physically exhausted than normal.

“Hey, Jan.” Remus grinned as he stole a chip from Janus’ snackbox. “How was your day?”

“Good.” Janus pushed the entire box out for Remus to eat, knowingly having packed another one for himself since it had been an issue that Remus would steal his food.

“Hm, same.” Remus smiled as the two sat in silence, eating. It was usually how the more recent lunches have gone, as he had been noticing Remus had been getting more and more tired.

So, with his burning curiosity, he broke the silence in the worst way possible, “Are you going to die?”

“What?” Remus choked on his snack, laughing as he turned towards his best friend. “What do you mean?”

Janus turned towards Remus, “You heard what I said, Re.”

Remus laughed, “Oh, I wish. Would you be plotting to kill me? How delicious that sounds! Oh, tell me more, tell me more."

Maybe Remus was fine.

"I'm not planning to kill you. I'm just...not asking you straight out."

Remus seemed to grasp that Janus was seemingly worried for him and exhaled, "Oh, come on, Jan. I'm not going to die. To hell with that idea. In fact, the only way I would ever let anyone kill me is if they did it gruesome enough."

Yep, Remus was definitely fine.

"What even prompted this?" Remus raised an eyebrow.

The mark of death on his forehead.

“I don’t not know…maybe it’s the fact that you’ve been more tired recently, or that you haven’t been as cheerful, or that you’re always in pain, or that you can never eat a full meal anymore and resort to stealing snacks, or that-”

“I get it.” Remus laughed, cutting his best friend off. “I promise you, Janus Wright, with my life. I’m not going to die. If I do, I will strike myself down with a butt plug until I die."

Janus groaned. Of course Remus had to ruin it.

"That defeats the entire purpose of making you swear not to die."

"Well, just trust me, Jan. You're not getting rid of me that easily."

"Good." Janus bumped shoulders with his best friend, "I don't know how I could deal in this world with all these crappy people without you."

"You know it, baby." Remus shimmied before pulling Janus into an involuntary hug.

Despite the fact that Remus had promised him, Janus knew by the way Remus squeezed him so tight he was scared he would never see Janus again, that Remus was lying.

-+=~=+-

“I need your help.” Janus dropped a book onto Logan’s lunch table. Remus was currently serving detention for skipping first period and Logan was sitting alone during lunch, just reading his book and annotating it. Probably doing homework like the studious valedictorian he was.

“Is this because I put your boyfriend in detention?” Logan asked deadpanned as he didn’t look up from his annotations.

“What? No! He’s not my boyfriend.” Janus scowled.

“Mhm, keep telling yourself that.” Logan turned the page of his book, still not truly caring about what Janus was saying.

“Stop that.” Janus tsked, “You have access to all of the students’ medical records, right?”

“Don’t even think about making me break the rules, Wright.”

“I’m not, I’m not!” Janus flushed in embarrassment, knowing that it was exactly what he was going to ask Logan to do.

There was a bit of silence as Logan continued to read through his book and annotate it before Janus caved from the silence to tell Logan the plan. “It’s just that Remus is my best friend, and I know he’s lying about not being hurt. I don’t know how to help him if I don’t know his medical record. I’m scared that he has some sort of illness that’s making him feel this sick, and I want to help him.”

“No.”

“Please, Logan. I promise I won’t ask anything like this from you ever again.”

“I’m sorry. I feel sympathetic.” Logan hesitated as he finally looked up to face Janus, closing his book, “But I can’t break the rules. I have the trust of every faculty member on me.”

Janus was surprised that Logan could feel something, moreover feel sympathetic.

“I know, but can’t you make an exception this once? I mean…it’s not going to hurt anyone, is it?”

Logan gave a small smile--Janus didn't know Leo could do that either--as he stacked some folders together and stood up, “I’m sorry, Wright.”

“Please…I just want to keep him safe. I promise I won’t ask anything else from you for a month, and I won’t tell anyone about this. Besides…haven’t you ever tried to feel empathetic rather than sympathetic?”

Again, Janus didn't really know why he was saying that when he wasn't even sure that Logan could feel anything. The valedictorian had always been so robotic and emotionless that Janus was surprised that Logan stiffened. An unreadable expression flashed in Logan’s eyes and suddenly, the mark on Logan’s forehead turned bright red.

Holy shit, what did Janus just do?

“...Logan?” Janus asked, watching as the mark started to turn bright in the same color as fire.

The boy sighed, brushing through his hair and looked up towards the sky for what Janus could assume was a plea of forgiveness, “Fine, but only once.”

Janus perked up, “Really?”

“Not. A. Word. Got it?” Logan threatened Janus.

“Got it.”

With that, the two boys walked silently to the computer lab, where Logan typed in the computer a couple of passwords and went through a few firewalls until Logan scrolled down to Remus’s name. “Cancer.”

“What?” Janus’s voice cracked upon hearing Logan’s straightforward answer.

“Specifically, for the way natural magic is being stored in his body.” Logan replied, closing the tab before Janus could see more, “His body is too small for the growing and powerful magic, and so he needs to take medication in order to stop it from growing. I don’t know if there’s a cure.”

Janus nodded, staring at Logan. The mark on Logan's forehead was fading from a bright fiery orange back to the regular black it always was. “Thank you, Logan.”

Logan just shrugged, “Remember…”

“Not a word. I know.” Janus nodded as he watched Logan walk away.

Now that Janus knew what Remus was going through, even if he found out through a questionable way, he knew he wanted to help Remus get rid of the cursed symbol on his head, and hopefully learn how to help him in a way that he could help the others around him also remove their curses. ————– I know, I know. I didn't make Roman and Remus siblings in this. I'm actually so dumb for not seeing it before, but the entire fic is already planned out and it doesn't make sense if I change Remus' position for Logan's at this point.

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! :)

P.S. Should I start doing a tag list? If you let me know, I'll put you on the tag list.

#remus and janus being best friends is something i didn't think i needed until now #pls i love the best friends trope because janus just cares too much and remus is remus #chapter 2 #sanders sides #ts patton #ts logan #ts remus #ts janus #cw swearing #cw talk of vulgar activities #(because remus) #remus sanders #janus sanders #high school au #magic au #janus has the ability to see others' fates #the fate of the marked six #remus has magic cancer #terminal illness

[paperanddice]

Hiveling is a term for a rough collection of animated dreams that manifest with insect-like traits. While there's arguments over whether or not the dreams are truly a unified type like Janus monsters, there's enough overlap by primary region of manifestation and connected traits that many stand by the classification. Chrysalis spinners are among the most powerful known hiveling dreams, majestic and beautiful creatures with uncertain goals.

Their most immediate threat are their gigantic wings. Unlike most insect wings, they are not fragile and delicate, instead shockingly durable and heavy. They shouldn't even allow the creature flight, yet they defy reality and do so anyway. These wings constantly shed small scales, which are incredibly toxic. Simply getting a few on your skin can cause a serious rash, while the heavy clouds falling away each time it bats its wings can kill in moments. Possibly more terrifying though is its ability to affect fate in very small ways, granting second chances to creatures around it. This ability can be honed into a vicious mental attack, attempting to overwhelm the target with visions of a doomed fate. Even survivors of this deadly attack are left weakened, their mind damaged and their hope and confidence shattered, unable to recover without lots of time or powerful magic. Those who can resist the power of it are still hurt, getting a mind full of powerful fate visions is always hard to handle, but instead can draw some inspiration from the events they see and fight with greater fervor and confidence for a few moments.

Finally, truly killing a chrysalis spinner is quite difficult. They can encase themselves in a chrysalis, the source of their name. The exterior of this is stronger than rock, protecting the spinner's body as it tries to recover. If allowed the time, the chrysalis splits open again and it emerges again at full strength. This makes them incredible hit and run fighters, able to attack, retreat and heal, then return to finish the battle. The energy needed to perform this metamorphosis is extensive, and once it uses this it needs a long time to recharge and feed in order to do so again.

Originally from the Dreamblade Base Set. This post came out a week ago on my Patreon. If you want to get access to all my monster conversions early, as well as access to my premade adventures and other material I'm working on, consider backing me there!

5th Edition

Crysalis Spinner Large aberration (hiveling), unaligned Armor Class 18 Hit Points 150 (20d10 + 40) Speed 30 ft., fly 45 ft. Str 12 (+1) Dex 19 (+4) Con 14 (+2) Int 11 (+0) Wis 12 (+1) Cha 19 (+4) Saving Throws Str +5, Dex +8, Con +6, Int +4, Wis +5, Cha +8 Damage Resistances psychic, bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks Damage Vulnerabilities acid Senses passive Perception 11 Languages telepathy 60 ft. Challenge 10 (5900 XP) Toxic Scales. The chrysalis spinner is constantly shedding small scales from its wings while it flies. When the chrysalis spinner flies, it leaves a 10-foot diameter cloud of scales in each space it exits. The cloud doesn't block movement or sight. A creature moving through a cloud for the first time on a turn must make a DC 14 Consitution saving throw, taking 14 (4d6) poison damage and becoming poisoned for 1 minute on a failed save. While poisoned, the target has disadvantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws. A poisoned creature can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. The clouds last until the start of the chrysalis spinner's next turn, or until a wind of moderate or greater speed (at least 10 miles per hour) disperses it. Unearthly Grace. The AC of the chrysalis spinner includes its Charisma bonus. Additionally, the chrysalis spinner adds its Charisma bonus to its saves. Actions Battering Wings. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 13 (2d8+4) bludgeoning damage. Effect: The chrysalis spinner scatters poisonous scales in a 15 foot cone centered on the target. Each creature in that area must make a DC 14 Constitution saving throw, taking 14 (4d6) poison damage and becoming poisoned for 1 minute on a failed save. While poisoned, the target has disadvantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws. A poisoned target can repeat the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. Visions Of Twisted Fate. The chrysalis spinner targets one creature it can see within 120 feet ot it. The target must make a DC 16 Charisma saving throw against this magic. On a failure, the target takes 36 (8d8) psychic damage, and has disadvantage on attack rolls, saving throws, and ability checks until the end of its next turn. The target's hit point maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the psychic damage taken. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0. If the saving throw is successful, the target takes half as much psychic damage, and has advantage on attack rolls and saving throws until the end of its next turn. Spin Chrysalis (1/Day). The chrysalis spinner curls up into a ball, fusing together its outer body and skin into a stone-hard chrysalis. The chrysalis has AC 20; 120 hp; vulnerability to acid damage; resistance to bludgeoning, slashing, and piercing damage from nonmagical attacks; immunity to poison and psychic damage. If the chrysalis is destroyed, the chrysalis spinner dies. If the chrysalis remains unbroken for 1 minute, the chrysalis spinner breaks out, regaining all of its hit points and ending any conditions or effects on itself. Spellcasting. The chrysalis spinner casts one of the following spells, requiring no material components and using Charisma as the spellcasting ability: At will: cure wounds (can't target itself), lesser restoration 1/day: greater restoration, raise dead, remove curse Reactions Second Chance. When a willing creature within 60 feet of the chrysalis spinner misses an attack roll or fails a saving throw, it can reroll that attack or save. It must take the new result.

13th Age

Chrysalis Spinner  7th level leader [aberration]  Initiative: +13 Vulnerability: Acid Battering Wings +11 vs. AC - 12 damage Natural Even Hit or Miss: The chrysalis spinner makes a toxic scale spray attack as a free action. [Special Trigger] C: Toxic Scale Spray +11 vs. PD (1d3 nearby enemies in a group, one of which must have been the target of battering wings) - 5 poison damage, and the target takes a -2 penalty to MD (save ends) R: Visions of Twisted Fate +11 vs. MD (one nearby or far away enemy) - 30 psychic damage, and the target is weakened until the end of its next turn Miss: 15 psychic damage, and the target has a +2 bonus to attack rolls and all defenses until the end of its next turn. Second Chance: 1/round, as an interrupt action when a nearby ally misses an attack roll or fails a saving throw, that ally can reroll the attack roll or saving throw. Spin Chrysalis: When the chrysalis spinner is reduced to 0 hit points for the first time in a battle, it curls up and fuses its skin into a stone-like chrysalis. When the escalation die reaches 6 (or on the chrysalis spinner’s next turn if the escalation die is already 6), the chrysalis hatches open and the chrysalis spinner exits it at full health, with no effects on it. If the chrysalis is destroyed before then, the chrysalis spinner is killed. The chrysalis has AC 24, PD 22, resist damage 14+, immunity to any attack that targets MD, and 36 hit points. AC 20 PD 20 MD 21 HP 72

#D&D #dnd #dungeons and dragons #5th edition #13th age #homebrew #my homebrew #monster #aberration #dreamblade #dnd cr 10 #13th age level 7 #long post

[apricuscity]

New Season Intro.

"What are you willing to give up in order to find out the truth?"

Scenes are shown of Janus Windsor watching two children grow up. Time passes and we see Ruby walking down a hallway toward her tournament match. She passes by a masked woman, both look at each other for a moment before moving on. Windsor and Chimera are once again shown watching both women.

Queen Titania of Fae is shown watching a tournament broadcast. She reaches towards the screen when Puck is shown fighting. She tries to remember but Hades' shadow clouds her mind.

Talos, Valerie, and Pierce are watching several monitors as the tournament progresses. Scenes of Kara, and Evander fighting against various opponents are shown. It cuts to multiple people around Apricus watching at the same time, one in particular watching Grandpa Mashiro's matches.

"What are you fighting for?"

Scenes are shown of Skuld Kraka training in her homeland before leaving for Apricus. She and her sister depart for the Olympus. She's seen battling against several opponents. Meanwhile her parents are seen watching the matches as someone approaches their location unnoticed.

Tendo is seen training on the ship with Koko watching but The Demon's shadow looms over them both.

We see scenes of Hugo, Cerise, Sunil, and Puck training before their matches as Night watches.

Several council members, world leaders, and faction leaders are shown talking to their representatives. Everyone's individual goals flash across the screen.

Gouki is seen watching several of Paradise Entertainment's members as they make their way around the ship. One seems to notice her before turning a corner and vanishing from view.

"Can you do what is necessary to stand before a god?"

Multiple fights are shown from different rounds. Weapons clashing, abilities activated, fighters standing back up after being on the receiving end of strong attacks. Some going on sheer willpower.

The Five Emperors are shown watching the tournament from their palace. Each seems to be paying attention to certain fighters.

"Time to put it all on the line! Roll the dice and see what fate has in store for you!"

The entire tournament roster is shown.

A hologram of Mr. R is shown projected from a table the other Paradise Entertainment members are seated at.

One of Paradise Entertainment's "Senior Partners" walks into the room and reaches up to remove their mask but the camera cuts before anyone is shown.

Fight scenes are shown once more as Emperor Clarion smirks and moves a piece across the chessboard.

The final shot is the Olympus ship sailing across the sea.

#Intro #Just for fun #Olympus Tournament

[aalghul]

I have no clue what you guys have for godly parents so far (something about Hades and Persephone as Talia's grandparents?) But this is an au that's near and dear to my heart and here are my headcanon's.

Jason- Nemesis (goddess of retribution), although him as a son of Mnemosyne (Titan goddess of remembrance and the inventor of human language) would also be cool

Steph- I hadn't considered her as a daughter of psyche before! I was always thinking of her as a daughter of Dionysus but I like your take too

Dick- it's between Zephyrus (god of the west wind) and again Dionysus

Babs- Athena

Cass- Nyx (goddess of the Night and a bunch of other stuff. I have very strong opinions about this)

Tim- I know everyone probably thinks he's an Athena kid but it never fit for me. I didn't think about deified mortals as godly parents though! I can see him as a son of Ariadne. Dionysus would despise his very soul lmao

Duke- Apollo, self explanatory

Bruce- I know the obvious choice is Hades but I simply can't get behind that for multiple reasons so my top choices are Erebus (god of darkness, kind of like Nyx but if she was lame), Themis (Titan goddess of Divine Law), and Dike/Dice (goddess of justice and morality, so Themis but even more obscure and specific)

Alfred- probably a god in disguise tbh, feels like a son of Hestia (technically she's a virgin goddess but she does have kids if you look at her pjo wiki. Their both girls because their basically clones but trans Alfred is top tier so I'd accept it) . He could honestly be the child of the fates themselves and I wouldn't question it.

Not batfam (technically):

Roy- Hephaestus, self explanatory

Kori- Aphrodite (I have very strong opinions about this, and also the Aphrodite cabin as a whole. Rick really did them dirty in the books)

Donna- same origin but listen

Diana- Selene (Greek goddess of the moon, yeah there's like four of them. I hate the origin where she's Zeus's daughter. The presence of a man is simply unneeded in Themyscira)

Zatanna- Hecate (goddess of magic and a ton of other stuff, self explanatory)

Clark- ok I'd believe he was a child of Zeus, Jon and Jon's stores would probably bee the same

Artemis- Belladonna, she feels Roman

Cassie- I'm willing to allow her to be the daughter of Jupiter, but don't ask me how that works plot wise

Selina- Hermes (self explanatory)

Ivy- Demeter, hunter of Artemis (self explanatory)

Harley- this one was complicated, she gives off Tyche vibes but arguments could be made for Athena, Psyche, Aphrodite, and possibly Persephone (I think the reason it was cool for demigods to date despite all technically being related was that gods don't really have DNA or something? But that doesn't make sense so I headcanon that every god has unique DNA that's unique to them and their children. God genetics or something idk)

Harvey- Janus (Roman god of doors, Gates, transition, and duality. Literally has two faces. Self explanatory)

The flashes- it's split between Hermes and Zeus

That's what I have off the top of my head, and this only includes the Greek and Roman pantheons because if I included the others we'd be here for a long time. Anyway sorry for the ramble but this is a long time special interest of mine and seeing other people talking about it made me so happy!

This is what I have for the kids + the changes to Damian according to the whole al Ghuls discussion from today.

Mnemosyne is an interesting choice! I see why you would think of Nemesis. I already have that to Bruce at some point though, so it’s not an option for me lol.

Dionysus is clearly a favourite here lmao.

I’m going to hush about Nyx and Cass because I think I have strong opinions in the opposite direction. I see it, but I also don’t ^^;

Ariadne has me thinking. I think I really like her as Tim’s mother.

Apollo seems self explanatory for Duke, but then you realize that Apollo’s kids get healing or musical ability, not light powers (and definitely not shadow manipulation). We just have to make his bio parents minor gods (or have Elaine be blessed), or make him the child of two gods (neither of whom could be Apollo since he doesn’t have the powers we need).

I don’t see because Hades, Erebus or Nyx for Bruce because they seem like some a surface level understanding of Batman. Themis isn’t quite right because she goes beyond Bruce and his justice. Dice seems like a great choice though. I might be swayed here.

I didn’t know that Hestia had clones? I should probably reread the series.

Cassie works because she doesn’t inherit any powers but shows up to demand he give her some anyways. We just switch Greek for Roman from the original origin, and say it’s Cassie demanding demigod genes.

Ivy being a Hunter of Artemis doesn’t quite make sense with the stuff she does, but I do agree on Demeter.

I can get behind the DNA HC.

It depends on the Flash, but I don’t know if any of them would be Zeus. Hermes is really fitting though.

Dw about the rant, I don’t mind :]

#fun fsct I was obsessed with the name zephyrus when I was a kid. i had a whole child of zephyrus oc #and their name was based on the name. idk

[callboxkat]

Banished (part 1)

Prompt: Banished

Author’s note:  Mappy MerMay! (edit: I see the typo and I choose to keep it)

Summary:  Janus has been banished from his pod for crimes that he did not commit. However, this merman’s bad luck is far from over. A mer is not meant to live on their own in the open ocean, and as one would expect, things do not go well. Enter: Florida Man.

Chapter Warnings:  false accusations, past imprisonment, banishment, treating someone as an outcast, censored swearing, crying, death mentions

Word count: 2415

Banished Masterpost!

Writing Masterpost!

Ao3 Link

@badthingshappenbingo​

...

“Janus, third child of Mariana and Glycon, you are hereby banished from this pod, and from all pods who condemn the nature of your crimes.”

Janus had known it was coming, but nevertheless, the merman felt the verdict stab through him like a harpoon. The water around him suddenly felt 10 degrees colder, and the walls of the chamber seemed to loom ever closer, suffocating him.

Banished.

Murmurs rippled through the small crowd. Scales shimmered as the gathered mers, most already hanging on the edges of the chamber, tried to distance themselves further from the outcast. From him.

“You will have until sunset to leave the reef. Should you be found within our territory after the sun sinks below the horizon, the penalty is death.”

Janus simply stared at the merwoman before him, holding herself tall in front of the ornate coral design upon the wall of the chamber, her face stony. Her verdict was final, and Janus knew it. It didn’t matter that he was innocent. Officially, he was a criminal. An outcast. Banished. Trying to fight her decision would only further tarnish his image, and most likely that of the family and friends he left behind.

A part of him didn’t care about that. But the part that did held his tongue.

Janus’s eyes shifted toward the back of the chamber, where he could see most of his family huddled together. His mother was crying, being held by his father. His siblings looked stunned. A part of Janus wanted to call out, to tell them to do something, even though he knew that there was nothing any of them could do to save him. He wasn’t sure they even believed him, that he had not committed these crimes. While they never told him so, their notably few visits while he was in prison spoke volumes.

His eyes slid back to the judge, and he dipped his head in bitter acceptance. His fists tightened, and the long, metal chain attacked to one of his arms clinked softly. It was there both to keep him trapped and to prevent him to use his electric abilities, as if he would ever do something so loathsome and barbaric, even if his family hadn’t been in the room.

The judge raised her hands, and the chamber began to empty. A couple of Janus’s siblings glanced back at him as they left, but mostly, the mers who had come for the show avoided looking at him now. They would not want to be associated with an outcast. He understood, even if anger gathered in his chest. Even his parents refused to look in his direction, and the glances his siblings spared him were brief.

Finally, when all who remained were Janus, the judge, and the guards, two off them swam to his sides and unlocked the chain from Janus’s wrist, one keeping a clawed hand at the back of Janus’s neck as a warning. The cuff was replaced with another, lighter, but permanent one. This one was etched with sharp symbols. Janus closed his eyes and clenched his jaw as it was locked in place, a permanent hindrance to how much of his electricity he could use without harming himself, a solemn marker of his fate, and a warning to all others of his crimes. He would never be taken into another pod, not with that on his wrist. Not unless he could somehow get somewhere far enough away that they might not know what it meant.

At last, the guards let him go. He was allowed to leave. To prepare for his departure, and to say goodbye.

Janus opened his eyes and looked up at the judge, who remained at her post, watching him. He knew that he was supposed to thank her for her mercy, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. He figured that the “Go f*ck yourself” he actually wanted to say would do him and his family no favors, so he compromised and simply turned and swam from the room.

His life was over, in every way that mattered.

Outside, the bustling atmosphere of the reef seemed in sharp contrast to the somber mood within the chamber. Fish and other sea creatures weaved between glimmering mers. Cheerful gossip could be heard, as well as mers arguing over prices at colorful stalls, or calling out greetings to each other. Some kids seemed to be trying to see who could get the most pebbles to sail between the fork in a tall spire of coral.

It had been some time since Janus had been “free” this way, which only made the difference feel all the more staggering. To be suddenly thrust back into this normal part of life, even if only for the few hours they allowed him to prepare for his banishment, was… unsettling.

However, the atmosphere wasn’t quite the same as it had once been. None of the mers came close to him, Janus noted, choosing instead to take a longer path to avoid him, even as they acted as if nothing was wrong. As if it were a coincidence that they wanted to swim on the other side of the path. There had always been some nervousness that many mers tended to have around those with abilities like electricity or poison. But this was a whole level or two beyond that.

They knew. Of course they did. He was sure that everybody had been told of his “crimes”. The metal cuff on his wrist burned like a brand, but he refused to rub it, or to hide it with his other hand.

He swam away. He wasn’t even sure where he was going, but soon enough, he found himself at his destination

Of course. He wouldn’t have gone anywhere else.

It wasn’t his home that he found himself approaching, slowing his pace as it came into sight. Most of his family had said their good byes before his sentencing. Instead, he found himself at the home of his best friend: Roman.

Roman hadn’t been at Janus’s sentencing, but it seemed that the merman had somehow known he would come, and had been waiting for him. He was pacing, swimming back and forth between the two large, algae and sea star covered stones that marked the entrance to his property.

As Janus approached, Roman froze, and turned sharply towards him. His face was almost as red as the striping on his gorgeous tail, the pain in his eyes clearly visible with his long hair tied back.

“Janus,” he croaked, and pushed off of one of the rocks, swimming for Janus as fast as he could.

They crashed into each other, Roman’s arms encircling him. Janus choked on a surge of emotion and squeezed his best friend back. It was the first time they’d been this close to each other since his arrest.

“I’m sorry, Jan.”

“It’s okay,” he lied. Perhaps if he could convince Roman, Janus could believe it himself.

…

All too soon, the sky above the water began to turn pink and orange as the sun dipped below the horizon. It was time to leave.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Roman asked.

The two mermen floated together at the edge of the reef. Behind them, bioluminescent lanterns had begun to glow, and the sounds of life had begun to lull as most everyone went home for the night. Everyone except for them. Janus had a bag strapped to his back, with what few supplies he had allowed himself to bring. Some food, his gloves—which still fit over the cuff that would forever mark him as an outcast, thankfully—some bandages, a compass, and two carvings: one of his family made just after his youngest sibling had been born, and one of Janus and Roman, smiling for the carver.

Roman and Janus had gone back to Janus’s home to fetch the supplies. It had been nice to have Roman there, for his support. Most of his family had avoided him, even though he could tell they were heartbroken. A couple of his siblings had told him good-bye, and to take care of himself. Only his littlest sibling, who probably knew very little of the situation, had hugged Janus. She’d grown, since he’d last seen her. Janus had remained resolutely calm as he clung to her for the last time.

“Of course I’ll be okay,” Janus lied, now, looking out at the dark water.

Roman looked unsure, but Janus only turned and offered a half smile.

“So, uh… where are you going to go?”

It wasn’t the first time he’d asked. Janus still didn’t know how to answer.

“Maybe I’ll find another pod to join,” he shrugged eventually.

Roman’s eyes went to the metal cuff on Janus’s wrist, letters etched within it to symbolize his condemnation. He knew as well as Janus did that no mer pod who knew its meaning would take him, not when it was so clear to see.

“Maybe I’ll cover it up,” Janus said, putting a hand over the cuff self-consciously. He did his best to seem casual about it. He’d been almost defiant, back in the busier part of the reef, but it felt different, with Roman.

“Maybe,” Roman agreed halfheartedly.

“You know those arm bands the guards wear? Maybe I’ll get something like that. Or I’ll get thicker gloves.”

“You are pretty good at weaving,” Roman allowed. “You could make them look nice.”

“Naturally.”

They looked out at the open water.

“You could add some beading,” Roman suggested.

“Sea glass,” Janus nodded.

Roman nodded vaguely. “Oh—Jan, I have something for you.” He took off his own pack and started to dig through it.

“I hope it’s not too heavy,” Janus said dryly. “I’ll probably have to swim pretty far. If you’re giving me one of those statues of yours, I’m going to have to say no.”

“Ah, shut up,” Roman said, smacking his arm lightly. A heartbroken look flashed briefly on his face, and he quickly went back to digging through his pack. “No, it’s… here.” He pulled something out with a small flourish. He looked at it for a second, as if hesitating, then handed it over.

It was a small, red scale, a little bigger than the pad of Janus’s thumb, attached to a cord.

Janus took it in careful hands. “One of yours?”

Roman shifted, tucking his hands behind his back. “Yeah. You know, so you don’t forget about me on all your marvelous adventures to come.”

“I’d never forget you, Roman.” Janus looked down at the scale for a few seconds, tilting it so it shimmered in the fading sunlight. He glanced up, biting his lip. “I’m sorry I don’t have any to give you.”

They glanced down at Janus’s tail. It was sleek, nearly black, with a thick yellow stripe down the center that flared out at the fin, with yellow hints at the fins on his sides and back as well. All in all, it wasn’t all that different from most mers’ tails, except that rather than scales, its surface was made up of smooth, thick skin.

“It’s okay,” Roman said. “I’ll remember you, anyway.”

Janus nodded. He put the necklace around his neck, but kept turning the scale in his hands.

Silence fell over them. Above, the sun seemed to dip further below the horizon, signaling just how little time they had left.

And then Roman began to cry.

“Sh*t,” said Janus, looking down at the ground. “Don’t do that. You’re embarrassing me.” You’re going to make me cry if you keep that up.

Roman shook his head. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m trying—I know you want to just act like it’s normal, like this is just a normal night, but—Janus, I’m never—” his voice broke, and he had to take a shuddering breath to continue—“I’m never going to see you again.”

Janus knew that. Of course he knew that. He took a deep, steadying breath.

“This f*cking sucks.”

Roman, still crying, nodded emphatically.

“Come here,” he sighed. He reached out and put his arms around Roman. They floated there for a moment, holding on to each other. Roman’s grip was so tight that it almost hurt. Janus tried to memorize the feeling of his bracelets where they rested against his back, the texture of his hair against the side of his face, the way the merman felt in his arms.

“I just… How are you—how are you just okay with this? Why aren’t you yelling and screaming? Why aren’t you angry? Go fight them on this! Appeal or something. Fight. You’re… it’s not like you to just accept this.”

“It won’t change anything.” Janus said, his chin on Roman’s shoulder.

“You could at least… try.”

“I did try, Roman. I promise you I tried.” All the yelling and swearing and fighting in the world had gotten Janus absolutely nowhere. All his attempts to prove his innocence had been stricken down. One last attempt at an appeal would simply be rejected. It was too late to try, with the sun nearly set; and doing his trial over again would made no difference, anyway. Janus’s fate had been decided the moment he was arrested.

“Damnit,” Roman mumbled. Somehow, he managed to squeeze Janus tighter.

Normally, Janus was not the most cuddly mer in the ocean. But he’d allow it, tonight. …For Roman’s sake.

“What if I let you stay here?” Roman asked. “I could hide you. My parents left me a pretty big property. It has plenty of hiding spaces.”

Janus shook his head. “They’d figure it out eventually. And then they’d just kill us both.”

“Then… then I’ll come with you.”

Janus shook his head. “Roman, what about Patty? We can’t take them with us.”

Roman turned his head briefly away. He didn’t answer, other than to drop his head down so that his forehead rested on Janus’s shoulder, defeated. He never could have abandoned his sibling, or forced them to share Janus’s fate.

The sun sank lower.

“Just tell me you’re going to be okay,” Roman sniveled. “Really. Promise me.”

“Of course I’m going to be okay,” Janus lied. “I promise.”

It was okay that Roman clearly didn’t believe him. It was just what he was supposed to say, wasn’t it?

…

The moment that Janus was far enough from the reef that Roman could no longer see him, Janus broke. He just hadn’t wanted Roman to see him cry.

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #ts sides #janus sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #logan sanders #ts janus #ts roman #ts remus #ts logan #sanders sides mer au #sanders sides fan fiction #ts fic #ts fanfic #ts #tss #banished fic #bad things happen bingo #bthb #bthb banished #prompt: banished #g/t #giant/tiny #gt #infinitesimal!sides #infinitesimal!janus #infinitesimal!roman

[whenisitenoughtrees]

Fic Masterpost

Bad Things Happen Bingo Card and Masterpost Here; Prompts Closed!

One-shots

you don’t like the ending (we’ll find one that’s yours): In the aftermath of SvS Redux, Logan and Virgil have a much-needed conversation about emotions and being human. (4.5k; platonic analogical) (ao3 link)

i picture it, soft, and i ache: Janus falls in love with Patton and spends a long time having feelings about the fact, while everyone else just has to put their two cents in. (5.2k; moceit) (ao3 link) (podfic by @titheinironside)

thousands to prophecy failure: Roman works himself to the point of illness, certain that his self-worth hinges upon his ability to create for Thomas. Janus steps in. (4.4k; roceit) (ao3 link)

changing of the guard: After three days of constant stress and sleep deprivation, Janus finds himself unable to fall asleep, his body convinced that he is unsafe. Logan is willing to stand watch. (3.6k; platonic loceit) (ao3 link)

a slow voice on a wave of phase: Roman has synesthesia, and Logan’s voice is a shining galaxy. Is it any wonder that he falls in love? (ft: plenty of pining, and Remus being surprisingly helpful.) (5.6k; logince, platonic creativitwins) (ao3 link)

the point in just drowning another day: Patton is struggling, with himself and with his damaged relationships with the others, and it doesn’t help that apparently, his amphibian traits are here to stay. Janus offers him some much-needed support. (6.9k; moceit) (ao3 link)

you’ve got that young blood (set it free): Roman gets injured, and Virgil patches him up. Somehow, this leads to a conversation about scars, self-worth, and just how much of an idiot Virgil thinks Roman is being. (6.5k; prinxiety) (ao3 link)

infinity, and beyond: It's not every day that your husband's long-lost kid breaks into your house. It's not every day that you find out your husband of four years is an alien. Patton's just trying to roll with the punches. (7.1k; moceit, parental anxceit) (ao3 link)

this cup of yours tastes holy (this lie is dead): Janus attempts to save Logan from being poisoned. In the moment, switching out their glasses seems like a perfectly rational idea. It is not, in fact, a perfectly rational idea. (5.7k; loceit, mentioned prinxiety) (ao3 link)

there’s an endless road to rediscover: Remus sees his brother for the first time in fourteen years in the pasta aisle of a grocery store. He promptly decides to run him over with his shopping cart, and somehow, everything works out. (4.2k; platonic creativitwins) (ao3 link)

wait for fate to shine (on the home i seek to find): In an effort to save his own life, Virgil makes a deal with a god. Falling in love wasn’t part of the plan, and frankly, Virgil has no idea what to do with this. (7.6k; anxceit, moceit, implied future anamoceit) (ao3 link)

Multichapter Fics

look me up and define me (please remind me): Janus has spent so long being whatever Thomas needs him to be that he doesn’t feel like he has a particularly strong personal identity of his own. This isn’t a problem until he gives away his name, and then it very, very much is. (10.4k; platonic tdlampr, implied moceit) (part one) (part two) (ao3 link) (chapter one podfic by @titheinironside)

to be honest, capable (of holding you): Thomas is more than a little bit confused when Janus starts hanging out with him as a snake, but he’s glad to spend time with him. He just wishes that human-Janus wouldn’t be so weird about it. (14.2k; platonic thomceit) (part one) (part two) (part three) (ao3 link)

Filled Prompts

and days of auld lang syne: It’s New Year’s Eve, and Janus’ boyfriends are very drunk. (1.7k; deintruality) (ao3 link)

the woods are just trees: Logan wants Janus to accompany him on an expedition to the woods. At night. Janus is slightly less than enthusiastic. (2k; platonic loceit) (ao3 link)

we are not alone (in the dark with our demons): Roman loves Patton and Janus, but is certain that they could never love him back. So, he pulls away, hoping to ease his own heartbreak. Patton and Janus object to this. (5.8k; royaliceit) (ao3 link)

abject impermanence: Logan bites his lip a lot. Virgil finds this very distracting. (3.5k; analogical) (ao3 link)

sugar, butter, flour: Patton and Janus bake together, and slowly, Patton gets Janus to lower his walls. (2.7k; mociet) (ao3 link)

overthinking (darling we’re just fine): Roman is dramatic, Logan is long-suffering, and Virgil is having a crisis over bacon. Really, they’re just trying to make breakfast for Patton; it shouldn’t be this hard. (1.9k; lamp) (ao3 link)

to thine own self be true (though the mirror is cracked): Wherein Roman is struggling, Remus is trying his best, and Logan would just like people to behave in ways that make sense, please. (5.1k; platonic creativitwins, implied intrulogical) (ao3 link)

like a puzzle (we fit): No one else seems to have noticed the way that Patton has been isolating himself lately, which means it’s up to Janus to do something about it. (3.3k; moceit) (ao3 link)

Filled Bad Things Happen Bingo Prompts

persistent ghosts (sing of home): In the aftermath of Janus’ death, Roman is worried that his family is falling apart. But here’s the thing: Janus isn’t actually dead. (5.5k; platonic dlampr, background dukeceit) (ao3 link) (now with a part two here (7.2k; dukeceit-centric))

thrice for another day: Remus is injured, and possibly dying. His last hope is in seeking the help of the witch that’s rumored to live in the woods. (3.9k; intrulogical) (ao3 link)

#my fic #masterpost #this is a) to have all my fics accessible from the same place #and b) to have the ao3 links somewhere #since putting them on the posts keeps them from showing up in the tags #this will update as i post more fics #update now it's long enough for a read more so that's a thing

[trashyswitch]

Chaos in the Sanders House

The Sides are having fight after fight after fight. So much denial, so much truths being thrown at each other. How shall it end? Why, with tickles, of course!

I started taking the personalities of a few of my friends, and placing them as Sanders Sides characters. So...for those who I've basically written their personalities, I hope you enjoy the PURE CHAOS! This is: The server in a Nutshell!

WARNING: Some swearing, some cusses and a bit of dirty humor. 

Tickletober day 24: I’m Not Ticklish!

Janus and Virgil were yelling profanities at each other, and Poor Patton had to watch. Thankfully, Patton had a bowl of popcorn to keep him calm.

“FUCK YOU! I AM NOT A DABI SIMP!” Virgil shouted at him.

“YES YOU ARE! YOU LITERALLY HAVE A DABI FACE MASK IN YOUR ROOM!” Janus shouted at him.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Just because I have a Dabi mask, doesn’t mean I simp him.” Virgil added.

“LIES!” Janus shouted back at him.

“HOW?!” Virgil asked in anger.

“I’VE SEEN YOUR SHRINE IN THE CLOSET. YOU HAVE A FULL COSPLAY OF HIM, AND YOU EVEN HAVE A BODY PILLOW OF DABI! THIS IS AN INTERVENTION! YOU ARE OBSESSED!” Janus told him.

Virgil’s eyes widened. “I-...well...YOU’RE A SHIGGY SIMP!” Virgil yelled back.

“I- Excuse me?!” Janus asked.

“YOU SIMP SHIGGY SO MUCH!” Virgil yelled.

“HEY!” Janus leaned into Virgil’s face. “Don’t you DARE call him Shiggy. It’s Shigaraki to you.” Janus warned.

Virgil smirked as he pulled out his phone and pulled up a text conversation that was filled with thousands of fanart images of Shigaraki. “I’m surprised you haven’t maxed out your storage.” Virgil added.

“Shut up, Virgil! I’ve read the X Reader fanfictions you’ve uploaded to your Wattpad story.” Janus mentioned.

Virgil gasped. “You take that back!” He ordered. “At least I haven’t gone to Remus for SMUT IDEAS!” Virgil added.

Janus blushed almost immediately. “I...How did you-”

Remus popped up. “You called?”

“NOT NOW REMUS!” Janus shouted in his face.

Virgil snickered. “Geez, he just appeared! Why would you act so offended if you don’t ask him for smut suggestions?” Virgil asked.

“OH! Speaking of smut fanfic-writing, I HAVE A NEW IDEA FOR YOU!” Remus told Janus excitedly.

Janus squeaked in embarrassment. “REMUS, PLEEEEAAASE SHUT UP! NOW IS NOT THE TIME FOR THIS!” Janus begged.

Remus rolled his eyes and pulled out his pen and notebook with the words ‘Fanfictions Waiting to Happen’ in Newspaper Cutout Letters.

“Anyway: YOU’RE A DABI SIMP!” Janus shouted at Virgil.

“YOU’RE A SHIGGY SIMP!” Virgil shouted back at Janus.

“Well, FUCK YOU!” Janus yelled.

“FUCK YOU TOO!” Virgil shot back.

“I would fuck you two any day!” Remus declared proudly.

“REMUS STAY OUT OF THIS!” Both Janus and Virgil shouted at him. Remus just bursted out laughing and continued to write in his notebook.

Patton’s face winced in disgust as he shoved more popcorn into his mouth to stop himself from throwing up.

Roman came walking through the front door with 2 big balloons in his hand. Then, Roman removed the strings from both balloons, untied them, plugged the ends with his fingertips and handed one balloon each to Virgil and Janus. “Hi guys! Sorry for interrupting. Please continue this debate while sucking up helium. Let’s see how long you last before you die of laughter.” Roman suggested.

Virgil raised an eyebrow in confusion while Janus was already trying not to laugh. Roman waved the sides on. “Okay. Keep going.” Roman encouraged.

Virgil sighed and looked over to Janus. “Can I just mention that Janus has, like, 3 separate stories filled with Shiggy x Reader fanfictions?” Virgil mentioned.

Janus sucked in some helium. “How else am I going to organize my- Oh my GOD! HAHA!” Janus reacted, before laughing at his own voice.

Virgil tittered and sucked in some helium of his own. “Your voice sounds like a CHIPMUNK!” Virgil reacted.

“And yours doesn’t?!” Janus asked.

“I know MINE does, but your voice sounds like Theodore from the Chipmunks!” Virgil reacted.

“Excuse me, that’s offensive! I am NOT Theodore!” Janus warned.

“I didn’t say you were!” Virgil mentioned.

“True, but you said I sound like him!” Janus told him.

“You DO!” Virgil reacted.

Patton was giggling and laughing at the voices. “Hey Janus! I bet if you dressed in a green sweater, you’d be adorable like him too!” Patton mentioned.

“I...Excuse me?” Janus reacted.

“You are excused.” Patton teased.

“I- NO! I am NOT cute!” Janus argued.

“Yes you are!” Patton replied, before waddling up to him and squishing his cheeks. “You are the most adorable snek to ever snek.” Patton teased.

Janus’s face blushed even more than before. Unable to handle it, Janus squeaked in embarrassment and pushed his hands off his cheeks. “Stop it! I’m not cute!” Janus told him as he struggled to keep his composure.

Patton gasped and crossed his arms. “Are you denying the all-knowing Father of the Sanders Sides?” Patton reacted in an offended tone.

“Yes, I am.” Janus said back with a smirk.

Patton narrowed his eyes at him in slight annoyance before walking a few steps closer and closer to Janus. Surprisingly, Janus felt unphased by this action. He just continued to stare at Patton with a smug smile on his face. But the moment Patton poked his ribs, Janus’s smile fell and was replaced by another squeak. “NO! Don’t you even dare!” Janus warned.

“Oooohohohoho! You should’ve thought about what you were denying before you tried denying it.” Patton mentioned. “Because I can easily prove your adorableness...Through a few tickles, of course!” Patton told him with a big smile before he squeezed Janus’s side.

“What are you even talking about? I’m not denying anything! And I’m not even ticklish! Like, at all!” Janus tried to tell them.

Remus guffawed at the last statement. “He’s VERY ticklish! Go for his ribs! Those are a killer.” Remus said with no filter whatsoever.

“REMUS!” Janus shouted at him.

“Oooooh, this is gonna be good!” Virgil reacted with a smirk.

Janus jumped back and tried to run away from the situation he got himself into. But right as he tried to escape, Roman wrapped his arms under Janus’s underarms and held him there. “WAIT! NO! LET ME GO ROMAN!” Janus ordered.

Roman just laughed. “You’re not gonna scare me into letting you go, Jan. Just accept your fate, and SUFFER.” Roman replied smugly.

“I’ll get you back. I know all of your ticklish spots. Don’t underestimate my abilities to tickle you.” Janus warned.

“Aww, come on Janus! Can’t handle being the lee for once?” Roman asked.

Janus attempted to reach back and tickle Roman’s sides and hips if he could. But Roman just tickled him right under the armpits for even trying! “NAHAHA- ROMAN!” Janus yelled.

“Yes?” Roman replied calmly as he observed Patton getting closer and closer.

“Let. Me. GO- AAAH! PAHAHAT! WAHA- WAHAIT!” Janus shrieked.

“Wow! You’re right! I AM waiting! Wanna know what I’m waiting for?” Patton teased calmly as he poked and drummed his fingers on his ribs.

Janus gulped and whimpered nervously as Patton leaned into his ear, and whispered a breath-filled answer: “Your bubbly, manic laughter...”

Janus held his breath and tried to fight Roman off. And he almost succeeded! But Roman had chosen to wait till the last minute, to blow a raspberry onto his neck and catch him off guard. Janus squealed and smiled widely and wobbly as he struggled to get away from them both.

“Oh! Can I help?” Virgil asked, his voice still slightly high from the helium.

“Of course!” Patton replied.

“Cool!” Virgil reacted as he ran up and started going for Janus’s belly. But Janus didn’t react at all to the new touches. He just continued to struggle with the tickling on the ribs. Virgil was taken back in shock.

“Go...for...his feet!” Roman ordered, struggling with Janus in his arms. Virgil immediately ran towards Janus’s backside, grabbed one of his feet, and bent his knee and calf back so he could tickle his feet without an issue.

Janus’s eyes grew to the size of donuts as soon as Virgil so much as touched his foot. “DON’T- YOU- Ohohoho gohohod NOOOOHOHOHO!” Janus begged, slowly falling into short fits of laughter.

“Yes!! We’re close!” Patton declared happily. With the position Janus was stuck in, Janus couldn’t kick Virgil without risking falling over. He also couldn’t move his arms around much without being tickled further by Roman. Every struggle was met with a consequence, and Janus was somewhat conflicted about it! What a cruel way to handle him! But...It was definitely working in their favor.

“Aaa tickletickletickletickletickle!” Patton teased.

“Awww, poor Janny is all ticklish on his footsie. It would be a shame if I were to go for your toes next…” Virgil teased.

Janus squeaked in slight panic and tried to look behind him. “Now hohohold ohon a minute-” Janus yelped and threw his head back as hysterical laughter left his mouth. “HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! IHIHIHIT TIHIHICKLEHEHES! STAHAP IHIHIHIT!” Janus bursted out.

“Wait, really? I had no idea! It wouldn’t have occurred to me that moving my fingers baaaack and foooorrrth…” Virgil moved his nail back and forth under the toes very slowly to his voice, “...Would tickle so much! What a funny observation!” Virgil teased.

“YOHOHOU’RE HAHAHANGIHIHING AHAROUND LOHOHOGAHAHAN TOOHO MUHUHUHUCH!” Janus yelled at him somehow through all the dominating laughter.

“Oh? I am?” Virgil asked. He turned his face to Logan. “Have I been hanging out with you too much, Logan?” Virgil asked with a wink.

“For a romantic couple, I would say we need to hang out a little more...just for the sole purpose to spite the snake.” Logan suggested.

“Hmm...Well thought out. Okay!” Virgil replied.

“Why of course...I am the logical one, after all.” Logan said with a smug smile as he fixed his glasses.

Virgil chuckled and paused his tickling. Up back onto his feet, Virgil walked up to Logan and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “The most logical…” he added.

Logan blushed and looked away with a wobbly smile on his face.

“And the cutest!” Virgil added, poking his cheek. Logan blinked in surprise and looked at Virgil with a frown. “Actually, you’d be the cuter one in the relationship.” Logan explained.

Virgil guffawed. “Yeah right...Nerdy is the new cutie.” Virgil told him, booping the middle of his glasses.

“Am not. Emo is more adorable.” Logan argued, poking Virgil’s nose to make a blush appear on his vampire-like face. Virgil went cross-eyed for a moment before frowning. “Not true, but okay.” Virgil argued quickly.

Logan’s smug smile dropped. “Very true, actually.” Logan argued.

“Nope. Not true at all.” Virgil argued back.

“100% true, Virge. So true in fact, that simply tickling you would show the sides just how adorable you are.” Logan told him.

Virgil blushed slightly and narrowed his eyes. “...you wouldn’t…” Virgil dared.

Logan poked his belly and made a little ‘beep’ sound. “Oh look. I did it.” Logan said in a monotone voice. Virgil crossed his arms and soon smirked as he started to plan a tickle attack on him. “Hmm...It would appear my cute little emo might be planning something. Considering I just poked you in that belly of yours, I can theorize that you’re planning some sort of ticklihihi- HIHIHIHING AHAHAHATTAHAHACK- HAHAHAHAHAHA!” Logan hypothesized before falling into hysterics under Virgil’s fingers alone.

“Oh wow! The rainbow nerd is ticklish! Who woulda thunk?” Virgil reacted in a slightly monotone voice of his own.

Logan struggled to cover up his ticklish spots with his arms and quickly started to crumble to the evil, quick pokes and squeezes against his tummy. Virgil was very quick with his movements (unsurprisingly...he’s anxiety) and managed to even sneak around and squeeze his hip! Logan was almost losing his balance, so Virgil decided to squeeze both ticklish hips and drill into them at the same time. “zzZZZZZZZZzzzZzzzzzZZZ!” Virgil teased, imitating the sound of a drill gun.

Logan wheezed and doubled over in laughter. “NODRILLS- NOHOHOHO DRIHIHIHILLS!! NAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Logan laughed before falling onto his side. With Logan now onto the ground, Virgil set to work. Virgil wrapped one arm under Logan’s left armpit and started squeezing and skittering his fingers all over Logan’s back. “OHOHOHO GEHEHEHEHEHEEEZ! COHOHOME OHOHOHON! HAHAHAHA NOHOHOT MY BAHAHAHACK! IHIHIHIT FEEHEHEHEELS WEIHIHIHIRD! AHAND TIHIHICKLYHYHYHY!” Logan told him.

“Weird, you say? Are you sure that isn’t just the ticklish sensation effecting you?” Virgil asked, lessing his tickles a little so he could talk.

“Ihihit ihihihis, buhuhut Ihihihi’m nohohot uhuhuhused tohohohoho ihihit.” Logan told him.

“Oooh...Okay.” Virgil replied understandingly. “Perhaps I should take it slower?” Virgil suggested.

Logan couldn’t help but blush and giggle from embarrassment. But, he nodded his head. “Okay.” Logan replied.

Virgil took a few minutes to tickle his back very gently and slowly, so he wasn’t overwhelmed. Remus, who was just enjoying the cute view, rested his cheek on the palm of his hand as he enjoyed the cute moment in front of him.

Patton, who was still tickling Janus, gave him a break and turned around. “Hey Remus! If you’d like some popcorn, have mine if you’d like!” Patton offered.

Remus gasped and placed his free hand on his chest in appreciation. “Awww! Thanks Patton!” Remus said happily before grabbing the bowl and shovelling popcorn into his mouth.

Patton turned his focus back onto Janus and giggled. “You okay?” Patton asked.

Janus’s breathing was slowly getting calm as he recovered. “You...are so...getting it...Pat…” Janus warned. Without a second thought, Patton took off running. Patton turned his head around and squealed when he saw a tall, revenge-hungry Janus sprinting after him. It didn’t take long for Patton’s laughter to echo through the hallways towards the sides.

In the living room, Virgil was starting to pick up the pace on Logan’s ticklish back. Logan’s giggles turned to squeals and laughter as he wiggled his back around from the ticklish sensations. It felt weird the quicker that Virgil tickled, but it was a lot less unbearable thanks to Virgil’s slow start. Logan didn’t really get a chance to tickle Virgil back, but he did get a few moments to cuddle his loving boyfriend. The couple happily cuddled on the couch in the comfort of each other’s arms and enjoyed the sound of Patton’s distant laughs and hiccups.

...Meanwhile, Remus was STILL writing in his notebook. “Have you two made love yet?”

...Let’s just say it didn’t take long for a more manic fit of laughter to join Patton’s...

#ticklefic #Analogical #tickletober2020 #tickletober day 24 #I'm not ticklish! #lee!logan #ler!virgil #switch!janus #switch!patton

[wolfprincesszola]

The Fate of the Marked Six Chapter 12

i just realized that a couple of the old chapters have some formatting issues but i'm not sure where, so ig they're staying there until i get it pointed out or find it T-T. but anyways, WOAHHHH WE'RE HALFWAY THEREEEEE~. can't wait to finish with this because the climax keeps building. 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: Possible Death, Illness, Swearing

<Masterlist>

<Previous> <Next> ——————–

Chapter 12

Patton was going to be honest, he hated the idea of having a crush on Logan. It made his skin crawl with the uncertainty of how his feelings would one day be happy to see Logan, and the next be absolutely devastated. He had crushes before, but not like this. Not like him.

He thought the worst part about the idea of having a crush on Logan was the fact that he knew Logan wouldn’t reciprocate his feelings back. Logan was too apathetic, too robotic, too studious, too reserved. Not only that, but he didn’t know anything about Logan. Sure, Patton knew his favorite color, but he didn’t know Logan's darkest secrets or what Logan wanted to study. Yet, Patton couldn’t stop talking about Logan to all his friends.

He knew that everyone was already getting annoyed at how much he could say about Logan. It was already annoying to Patton to continue talking about Logan. Patton learned more just by observing Logan. He wore the same style every day, with a pair of khaki pants (or jeans if he was feeling risky), dress shoes, a black polo shirt, and a tie. He almost looked like he was wearing a school uniform, but the tie was always different. Logan even had a system. Dark blue on Monday, light blue on Tuesdays, black on Wednesdays, brown on Thursdays, and finally striped dark blue and light blue on Fridays. On occasions, he would wear a goofy pattern that had anatomical brains or of books, which Patton admitted was the best on Logan. It gave Logan personality that he severely lacked with such roboticism.

However, after Patton dumped paint on Logan and had felt bad, he realized how pretty Logan looked in the outfit Patton picked for him. He looked more like himself in the clothes he had stolen out of his own closet. Even if it was Patton's style, Logan decided not to wear the cardigan over his shoulders the same way Patton did. Instead, he wore the cardigan like it was supposed to be worn and it looked sophisticated on him. However, it was short lived as soon enough, Patton found a bag filled with neatly folded and freshly washed clothes containing the outfit Patton had given Logan.

Patton decided to try to make it his goal to help Logan feel like he belonged in the world. Because it seemed the way Logan was dressing and the way he was acting was not the true way Logan wanted to act.

-+=~=+-

“Hey guys, what’s going on here?” Patton asked as he walked up to the group huddling. Logan and Virgil were in the middle with notes, with Remus and Janus over them, looking at the notes.

“We’re discussing Remus’s illness.” Logan spoke, pointing to his neatly written notes about what he’s gathered.

“I’m currently stuck with him.” Janus clicked his tongue as he lifted his hand to show Remus’s hand intertwined with his. “We can’t let the ghost hear.”

“Tragic.” Remus grinned at Janus to show that he was almost ecstatic to try and goof off with Janus, but Janus was keeping him from doing just that.

“And yet somehow, you guys don’t seem too sad about it.” Patton remarked as he patted Remus’s back, “You feeling alright, kiddo?”

“Yeah.” Remus nodded, looking up at Patton, who yelped and leaped back.

“What?” Logan looked up immediately, a flash of concern fading away as soon as he saw Patton was unhurt.

“Wait…it’s not there anymore.” Patton raised an eyebrow.

“What’s not there anymore?” Virgil asked, raising his eyebrow.

“Sorry. It’s just that….for a second, I swore I could’ve seen something engraved on Remus’s forehead. It looked like a symbol.”

Janus and Remus exchanged a knowing look.

“What did you do to see that symbol?”

“I just pat Remus’s back.” Patton muttered.

“Okay, stay still and try not to jump.” Logan muttered before he motioned for Remus to do something. Remus reached out and gripped his arm, just tight enough so that Patton couldn’t move it easily and just loose enough to not hurt him.

Patton watched as the symbol faded in, and soon enough he could see it on everyone around him. “Everyone has symbols.”

“Can you write Logan’s down?” Janus and Remus asked at the same time.

Patton accepted the pencil that Logan had given, and he opened a new page for him to write it down.

As soon as they did, Logan, Janus, and Remus read it. It almost sounded synchronous.

“憦.” They all murmured.

"Wait, how do you know Chinese, Logan?" Janus raised an eyebrow, "I had to learn it because it was my power and I forced Remus to learn it."

"I took 2 years of Chinese because I already knew Spanish and Latin. Our school does not offer French, therefore I chose to learn Chinese." Logan remarked, almost as if it was obvious.

"How do you already know Spanish and Latin?" Patton asked with curiosity. "That would make you quadrilingual."

"Because my brother learned Spanish, so I learned it to tell him he was stupid in several other languages. Latin, I learned to help me ace the SATs. Are you telling me you haven't learned more than two languages?"

"Alright, before we get severely off-topic, what does that character mean?"

“It’s the fate of regret.” Janus explained, “I think Patton can see my power.”

“There’s no way.” Logan replied as he went to touch Remus’s arm. Immediately, he blinked. “Hey, Virgil, check this out.”

Then, all four of them were holding onto Remus, and were all staring at each other’s foreheads.

“死.” Logan murmured, earning a kick from Janus.

“Who has that?” Remus asked, his shoulders tensing up.

“You.” Logan stared at the symbol above Remus’s head.

“Janus told me that mine was 爱.”

“Maybe it changed.” Logan looked away, clearly haunted by what he had seen.

“Please explain to the two people that cannot understand whatever language that is.” Patton scowled.

“As you know, we're looking at Chinese characters." Logan replied, “Patton, your symbol is 爱. The fate of love.”

“Great!” Patton felt his heart swell. Maybe that meant he'd have amazing luck in love.

“No, not great. It’s not a fate really.” Janus murmured, “It’s a curse most of the time. Those marked with 爱 are destined to be cursed when it came to love.”

Patton screamed internally, knowing that it meant that it was probably why he had awful luck in his crushes with Logan being the worst of the pile.

“So what does Remus’s mean?” Virgil asked.

“Death.” Logan murmured, “He has a mark of death.”

“The mark of death, the baby’s breath, the favorite sun…” Remus murmured.

Logan scribbled something down in his notebook before turning to Remus, “What are you talking about?”

“Hm?”

“The rhyming. The mark of death, the baby’s breath, the favorite sun poem.”

“Oh…it’s just something in my mind. It’s nothing really.”

By the way Patton saw Janus look at Remus, he knew it really wasn’t nothing, but he wasn’t about to call them out if Remus wasn’t ready to talk about it.

Logan let go of Remus, “Either Patton or Virgil, try to touch the other instead of Remus.”

Virgil moved his hand two inches until he was only touching Patton, “I can still see the marks, even if I’m not touching Remus.”

Janus turned to Patton, holding his arm out, “Let go of Re and hold onto me instead.”

Patton stared at him, watching the symbols fade away as he let go of Remus. Then as he made contact with Janus again, he blinked. “I can see the symbols. They went away as soon as I let go of Remus, but they came back upon touching Janus.”

“Interesting.” Logan murmured before he walked over to grab onto Remus’s wrist. “You can let go of his hand, Janus. I need as much power as I can get. Once you see my eyes turn a different color, I need you to grab onto me. I want to see if something happens.”

“Your power of precognition?” Patton raised an eyebrow. “I thought it was a passive power.”

“When Remus’s power strengthens my magic, it allows for a vision.” Logan murmured as he readied himself, relaxing. Almost immediately after he did, he blinked and his eyes flashed into a different color. The beautiful brown that came from the dirt he used to plant flowers changed into a dark blue he saw in the ties Logan wore on Monday and Fridays.

Janus took that time to grab onto Logan’s wrist as well, and soon Patton was put forth into a vision.

It was a dark room. Patton could see Logan, sitting against the wall in chains, yelling out someone’s name. He looked worse than usual. His clothes looked like they had been worn for the last five days straight and his glasses were nowhere to be found. His hair was a mess. He looked tired and as if he could fall asleep at any minute, but still, his body persisted because his mind didn’t seem to want to fall asleep.

“Caleb!”

Who was Caleb? Did Logan trust him?

“Come out, you bastard, and face me!” Logan shouted. The room echoed.

Then, out of the darkness, there was a light that shone directly on Logan. He had to blink before he stared at the man in a black tux, holding a cane. The man's hair was slicked back, and looked about 40 to 50 years old. He grinned, using his cane to lift Logan’s chin up, “You smart little boy. Thank you for using my name.”

Logan moved his face away from the cane, glaring, “Where’s Patton?”

“Ah yes, your beloved-”

“He’s not-” Logan began frustratedly.

“Of course not.” Caleb scoffed, rolling his eyes as he cut off Logan, “It’s just that you came all the way here under the pretense of thinking he was in danger because of me.”

“Under the pretense…so you don’t have him?”

“No, you dolt.” Caleb scoffed, hitting Logan’s head with the cane, causing the cane to scrape against his head. He flinched in pain, but even after the cane drew blood, he didn’t scream of pain. “You’re the bait for him.”

“Why?” Logan croaked, “There is nothing I could offer him. I have been nothing but cruel to him all his life.”

“Oh, but you’re wrong. He was the first one to authorize a search party for you. He is still looking for you, even when the search party disbands for the night. Even when your parents have stopped looking for the night to get some rest, he shows up to school after getting an hour of sleep with no luck of finding where you were. Right now, he has been a mess since you’ve been gone.”

“It doesn’t make sense.” Logan scoffed, “You’re lying.”

Caleb rolled his eyes before he waved his hand and suddenly, Patton was on screen. He was walking around a hill, calling for Logan. Patton could see the bags under his eyes and the way his shoulders drooped. He looked like he was about to collapse but still continued, trying to find Logan.

“Patton!” Logan tried to reach out to the mirage, being pulled back by the chains still clasped to his wrist.

“Believe me now, sweetheart? He cares about you because to him, you have been kind.”

Logan swallowed, his expression different than before, “Leave him alone. Leave Remus alone. In fact, leave all my friends alone.”

“Sure, but that risks you forever losing contact with your brother.”

“What?” Logan’s voice cracked. “Leave my brother out of this!”

“Unfortunately, I can’t. He's a ghost, so he’s under my territory. He may not know it yet, but I have complete control of him.”

“What did he ever do to you?” Logan let the emotions in his voice take him over. He sounded angry and sad. He sounded like he was feeling for once in his life, “He was a good kid. He had a good life. He had good potential. Why is it that he should have to be under your control when he has been nothing but good his entire life?”

“Why, he has control over you, and you have control over Patton.”

“I didn’t know Patton before Roman’s death!” Logan scoffed.

“Because I made sure of that.” Caleb rolled his eyes. “Everything has been laid out for your life, for your brother’s life since you were born. Because I knew you were the one thing most important to the special one.”

Recognition flashed in Logan’s eyes, as he tried to process the saying. “He’s the special one. Patton has something you want.”

“Yes and I am going to get it, no matter how long it takes or how difficult the task is.”

“He doesn’t deserve this.” Logan shook his head, “You can’t do this to him.”

“Oh? But I already am.” Caleb grinned, turning around and snapping his fingers. The lights went out and Logan coughed, collapsing to the ground. Despite it being all dark, with no idea of where Caleb was anymore, Patton saw the flame that burned within Logan’s eyes. The determination burned in his soul, and he knew that whatever he was up to, he wouldn’t allow anyone else to come in the way of his plans.

Patton blinked, coming out of the vision and looking around to see everyone staring at him.

“You were in that vision a lot longer than we were.” Remus remarked. “Your eyes turned brown.”

“What color of brown?”

“My color of brown.” Logan replied as he pulled Janus to grab onto Remus again as he separated from the group to go write stuff down. “What did you see, Patton?”

“Well…a vision.”

Logan rolled his eyes, “I mean, in specifics.”

“Uh…if you got the vision, shouldn’t you know?” Patton asked, not really wanting to remember the vision. The man, whoever he was, terrified Patton.

“That’s the thing though. While you were still in your vision, we were all discussing. We all had different visions.” Janus began.

“Well…Logan was in a dark room. He's chained to a wall, and he looks like he’s been there for a few days. He doesn’t look like he’s slept, but he has been well fed. He yells out for someone named Caleb to come out. A man in his middle ages walks out and they have a conversation together.”

“Anything important in the conversation?” Logan asked as he was scribbling in his notepad.

“Apparently, to Caleb, your life has been laid out from the very start. So has your brother’s. He can see ghosts because he knew about your brother being a ghost. He can definitely control the afterlife, and he seems to have a lot of powers. He was able to create a mirage, and other things.” Patton shrugged, “Oh, and he mentioned I was the special one?”

“Shit.” Janus let the word slip out of his mouth.

“What?” Logan raised an eyebrow as he finished scribbling it down.

“Nothing.” Janus squeaked, “Let’s talk about the others’ visions first.”

“Right.” Logan sighed, “There’s an earthquake in mine. Everyone is trying to escape…except for me and Patton.”

“Where are you two?”

“Don’t know, but clearly in the middle of the earthquake because someone tries to go back for me, only to be stopped.” Logan muttered.

The other visions consisted of nicer things like the six of them hanging out, but Virgil’s was especially horrifying.

“All of us collapsed on the ground unconscious. The only one awake was my ghost friend. He tried going to each of us to try and get us to wake up, but no matter what, we wouldn’t. I wouldn’t. We looked scratched up. Logan looked the worse off. There’s blood pooling from him. My ghost friend tries so hard to wake me up to try and help him. Then, a scratchy voice mentions that there was no way for us to wake up.” Virgil shuddered, “It belonged to a ghost. A different, evil one.”

Patton blinked, “What kind of a scratchy voice?”

“It sounded like an older man, who sounds like he constantly has flem in his throat. He sounds like he’s always on the verge of coughing in front of my face.”

Patton blinked, “Does he have a deeper voice and an accent when he pronounces his ‘th’s?”

“Yeah.”

“That ghost is Caleb.”

“Caleb has to be the ghost inhabiting you then.” Janus turned to Remus.

Remus made a face, “Who decided it was a good idea to put a Caleb in charge of everything?”

“Don’t ask me.” Patton held his hands up in the air, defensively. “I wasn’t in charge of naming him.”

“Alright, that’s not a problem. Patton, I know you have connections. Find anything you might have on a Caleb that died around his 40s to 50s. Virgil, connect with your ghost friend and see how they’re doing on finding out about a way to contact the ghost.” Logan ordered the two.

Patton blinked. “Sorry what?”

Logan flicked his head, “Go.”

“Now?” Patton was caught off guard.

“Yes, now!” Logan huffed, pushing Patton away, “I’ll see you later. I need to talk to Remus and Janus alone. Go.”

“Alright, you’re so pushy.” Patton chuckled as he walked out of the area, deciding to help Logan out.

-+=~=+-

Patton walked into the detention room, fully expecting to see no one else in the room. Instead, he found Logan sitting at the front of the classroom, reading next to the teacher’s desk where their principal sat.

“Oh, hello, Principal Sanders.” Patton sat down near the front of the classroom.

“It’s come to my attention that you haven’t made up any of your 60 hours.” Logan's mother raised an eyebrow, “Mr. Morris, I’ve also learned you’ve been tormenting my son and that’s what most of those hours have come from. I will now be supervising all detentions until you make up all 60, and this is a warning to-“

“Mom!” Logan yelled, slamming his book shut, “I already told you, he’s the furthest from bullying me. Stop threatening to suspend him!”

His shoulders seemed tense, and everything about his position showed he was hostile.

“Honey, I know that you are friends with him, but I think it’s perfectly unacceptable that-“

“No. You don’t get to say that.” Logan scoffed, standing up, “I thought it was weird that for the first time in forever, you decided to try and do your job as a principal. Patton doesn’t deserve the punishment you give him because I have been endorsing this behavior.”

“What are you talking about-”

“Let me finish.” Logan glared, standing up from his chair, “Maybe if you stopped living in your little bubble and for once looked outside you would see that I am not myself when I’m around you.”

“Well, sure you’re quieter, but that comes with grief.” His mother began.

“No, I’m not just quieter. I don’t feel like myself anymore, Mom. I don’t even think I feel and it didn’t come from grief.” Logan’s voice cracked, “And for once, Patton gave me that ability to feel again. Even if it was annoyance, or some sort of irritation, he let me feel and he let me be myself around him. I could’ve gone away with not giving him a fair amount of detention hours, but the truth is that I enjoy spending time with him, and the only time we can spend time together is through detention hours. It helps the both of us, because I get to feel like myself for one second that I don’t have to keep a wall of perfection around him, and he gets to feel safe in an environment where there’s no yelling. He’s a little troubled, and sometimes he lashes out in a way I don’t enjoy, or sometimes we go head to head because the both of us can’t communicate in a proper way, but that isn’t his fault. It’s yours. It’s Dad’s. It’s his parents’. We are like this because of you four, and he shouldn’t be punished for something that I purposely inflicted on myself.”

Patton was speechless. He didn’t know that Logan had felt that way about him. He didn’t know that while a part of Logan was helping Patton escape from his parents, a part of Patton was helping Logan escape from his.

“Mom, just go.” Logan sighed coldly, turning around and looking up in an attempt to not let the tears fall out, “I can deal with all of Patton’s detention hours. Fix them to where they’re accurate to the number of hours he’s supposed to have. I’ll do detention how it’s supposed to be and I’ll have him write the behavioral statements for an hour before he has to stay silent and do his homework. Just…don’t suspend him or put him on warning.”

“Logan-”

“Go.” Logan adjusted his glasses to the top of the his nose, closing his eyes.

Logan’s mother sighed, walking out, “You better have that fixed by the end of the day.”

Logan didn’t answer, still facing away from everything with his eyes closed until he was certain his mother was out. Then, he turned to close the door and walked back to the desk to pull out a box of chalk. “Alright, Morris, you heard me. You know the statements. Go ahead and fill the entire board.”

He took out a chalk and placed it gently on the table before going back into his book. Patton treaded carefully, knowing that if he tried to ask if Logan was okay, it might end in either Patton getting punched or Logan walking out, never to be seen again.

Instead, Patton grabbed the chalk and started to write the sentences he knew by heart. Logan had made him write the sentences for the first 15 hours that he served detention before he was over it and allowed him to do whatever he wanted, as long as his homework was done.

He was not even a sentence in when he heard Logan sniffling and Patton turned to see Logan trying to wipe his eyes before the tears could fall out. Then, he knew he would take the risk of bodily harm if it meant he could comfort him, and calm his aching heart.

Patton walked up behind him, wrapping his arms around Logan and squeezing him.

“What are you doing this for?”

“I’m sorry that I’m a little annoying all the time, and I’m sorry that I haven’t been the best at keeping my promise of being a little kinder to you.” Patton mumbled, “But my goodness…you just have to tell me that you want to spend time with me. If I knew that I was your escape, I would’ve spent every day after school in detention with you.”

Logan didn’t say anything, but Patton felt something cold hit his hand, and he turned a bit to see Logan’s face streaked with silent tears still falling down his face.

“Jesus, you idiot.” Patton snorted, pulling the boy closer and squeezing him tighter. Logan’s arms wrapped around him as well, and he tried to ignore his pounding heart to continue comforting the boy. “Just tell me next time. I would’ve helped. I’m so sorry.”

Logan choked out a sob, burying his head in his chest as he let it all out. All the regret, grief, and anger built up inside of his for the past four years finally released and for the first time ever, Patton saw a gateway into who Logan really was.

“There, there, let it all out.” Patton mumbled as he rubbed his back.

Patton didn’t care that his shirt was being used for a tissue, nor did he think about the fact that Logan was currently hugging him like his life depended on it. He cared about the fact that Logan had never felt like himself and he wanted to give Logan that experience.

“I’m sorry.” Logan murmured.

“Take all the time you need.”

That sentence was enough to establish the relationship between his and Patton. It was enough for Logan right now. It was enough for him.

-+=~=+-

Patton stared at the post-it hung in his room. Although the rest of his house was a mess, his room was the only thing neat, organized and color coordinated. The only thing out of place was the white paper hung up on his corkboard in the middle with Logan’s name and number on it in his neat handwriting. He had yet to need to use it, but he had stared at the number so much that he had it memorized to heart.

Then again, he always had a good memory.

However, a phone call interrupted his thoughts.

Without looking at the caller ID, he picked it up, “Hello?”

“Patton. It’s Janus.” his voice sounded worried.

Patton took that time to look at the caller ID, knowing for a fact that he had never gotten Janus’s number. The name “Remus Porter” lit up and it clicked in his head. Remus had given Patton his phone number after they were paired up together the last year for a class and although they never used it again for each other, it came in handy.

“What’s wrong?”

“Are you doing anything right now?”

Patton heard a crash in the living room, along with the yelling he had learned to block out. “Yeah, why?”

“That sounds bad. Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Patton pressed the phone to his shoulder and cheek as he went to grab the shoes he hid in his closet. He learned that he should always have a way to escape his house through his room. He started to put it on, “What do you need?”

“Remus is in the hospital. Just…come here quick.”

“Wait, wouldn’t you need Virgil and Logan though? They know everything related to his illness.”

“It’s not that. I know everything there is to know about Remus’s illness too. The doctors just aren’t listening to me. They don’t understand that Re will die if he gets put on more pain killers. Just please…come quick.”

“On my way.”

Patton rushed over to the hospital, getting there in less than 5 minutes on foot. He was always a fast runner, and he attributed it to the fact that he had longer legs. It came with the advantage of being tall, and also living close to the hospital.

“Hi, sir, what can I help you with?” The nurse asked as Patton came into the hospital all breathy.

“Where’s Remus Porter being held?”

“Sorry, sir, but the family only permitted relatives to see him.”

“Patton! There you are!” Janus’s face melted into relief, “Remus is in the ICU and I need you to see this for yourself.”

Patton stared at the nurse who sighed, allowing him in and he rushed to Janus, “See what?”

Janus just rolled his eyes as the two of them dashed to Remus’s room where Remus was. He seemed weak, especially attached to all the machines. There was no one else in the room, but the room seemed so loud with the heartbeat monitor continuously beeping.

“Re…I brought Patton.” Janus’s voice was gentler than usual.

“Patton.” Remus croaked, holding his hand out. Patton slowly took it.

“Hey buddy. You don’t look so good. You feeling alright?”

“Shut up.” Remus laughed, “Don’t be like everyone else.”

No quip. No dirty saying. Nothing. Remus truly wasn't feeling good.

Patton snorted, “Janus called me over.”

“I caught a fever from school. Since my immune system is weaker because of my cancer, they have to look me over.” Remus coughed.

“That’s not the problem.” Janus murmured, grabbing Remus’s hand as well. He watched as the Chinese symbols soon appeared on both their heads. “The problem is that he doesn’t feel any better when I am in contact with him. He still feels just as weak, if not even more, and look at the symbol above his head.”

He watched as the symbol of death faded in and out of existence. When Patton could see the symbol, it burned bright red, almost like the color of fire. It looked like it was burning Remus’s forehead.

“Woah.”

“Usually, his symbol goes away after some time of physical contact, but that’s not the case now. And usually it’s not that color.”

“It looks bad. What does that color mean?”

“I’m not exactly sure, since the only place I’ve seen it was on Logan, and he’s very unreadable. I’m guessing it doesn’t mean something too good though. Right now, I think that it means that it means you’re closer to your curse.”

“Yikes.” Patton sighed, “How long they keeping you on bed rest?”

“Until I get better and then a day after.”

“And you don’t think you’re going to be good anytime soon?”

“Nope.” Remus laughed, turning his head to sneeze.

“Bless you.” Patton snorted, “So what you’re telling me is that he’s on the verge of death right now?”

“Everytime he eats a new painkiller, his symbol glows brighter.” Janus murmured, “The doctors won’t stop. They just keep putting him on different medications, hoping one will just stick but it won’t and it’s only hurting him.”

“How do you want me to convince them?”

“I don’t know. You’re charismatic though! You’re the class clown, everyone loves you! You’re the fun, loving Pat! There’s got to be something that you can do!” Janus begged, “Please.”

Patton sighed, “Alright, I’ll see what I can do.”

Remus sneezed, and a nurse came through at that moment.

“Ah, have you brought reinforcements?” The nurse raised an eyebrow, “You have to give some reasoning to him. He’s saying we should get him off the painkillers. It’s almost a death wish for someone with cancer.”

“Except Remus’s a special case. His heartbeat’s weaker and faster ever since you started giving him painkillers. Sure, he may be sneezing less, but his blood pressure is higher. I know you’re recording everything related to his health every hour and giving him new medicines, but the thing is that it’s getting harder and harder to measure them, and you’re afraid that you’ll be sued for getting him off, but you’re actually killing him right now. Do all four of us a favor and stop giving him it. Otherwise...I'm sure you wouldn't want to see me disappointed, missy."

The nurse raised an eyebrow looking at the clipboard in their hand. They sighed, and stared at Janus, “Be glad that your friend here has better reasoning than you.”

With that, the nurse took Remus’s blood pressure and wrote down his heartbeat before leaving.

"Fun, loving Pat to the rescue." Patton flashed a smile at Janus.

Janus sighed before admitting, "Thank you. I couldn't have convinced them without you."

"Of course, Janus! Anything for my bestest friends. If that's all, I'll be going out then."

"Wait, Patton?" Remus coughed as he tried to sit up.

"Yes, Remus?"

“Can you keep this a secret from Logan and Virgil?” Remus asked.

“Why?”

“I haven’t been the most truthful about my illness.”

“What do you mean?” Patton was very concerned now.

“The ghost that’s sucking all my power…has been contacting me more recently when no one’s around. He’s getting more powerful. I can feel him fighting back against my powers, against the painkillers, and more. I feel him fighting back against the blockage of everyone, but Janus.”

“You…don’t want to tell Logan or Virgil? Why? They’re helping you!”

“And I’m so grateful for that, but there are things I just can’t explain to them. I'd rather joke around about my illness and say weird and out-of-pocket things instead of facing the truth that I am dying and there's no workaway around it."

“I’m the least knowledgeable about your illness.”

“That’s exactly why. You won’t try to find an explanation or anything. You just accept it, and will try to help me find a solution. The other two are too obsessed with finding out why it’s like that before they find how to help me.”

Patton sighed, “Logan can see through my lies, so I can’t promise…but I’ll try to keep it a secret.”

“Thank you.” Remus seemed relieved.

Janus rubbed Remus’s forehead, “Alright, get some rest. I’m going to talk to Patton outside.”

“Have fun.” Remus murmured.

The pair walked outside, and Patton turned to Janus, expecting him to say something.

“How’d you know all those things about Remus? I didn’t even pay attention.” Janus asked.

“I didn't. I just winged it, and used a bunch of terms I thought Logan would use.” Patton snorted.

“Nice.” Janus smiled, “I’m not going to stop you from telling Virgil or Logan about Re in the hospital. He’s too important for me to lose. I know Virgil and Logan are going for the slower approach, but I know that approach is probably a stronger cure than the one that Remus wants. He wants a quick and easy way out of his suffering, but it’ll be temporary. Logan wants to find out why so he can find a permanent solution. Virgil wants to make sure that nothing like this happens to anyone else again. I get his point of view, but I also get theirs. I want Re to get better now, but I know that it won’t help him in the long run, and even if we expel the ghost, there’s a chance we could end up hurting someone else. It’s your choice to make on the matter.”

Patton hated the fact that it had to be his choice.

“I trust you either way. I believe we’ll make the right decision.” Janus pat Patton’s back, “I promise you that either way, the group will find a way to get over your choice.”

“Thanks.” Patton gave a small smile. “I think I'm going to head out now. Let me know about anything that changes.”

“I will.” Janus smiled weakly. Patton could see a look of terror and worry flash in Janus, and Patton just pulled Janus into a short hug.

When he left the hospital, he opened up the phone app.

Then, he started to type in numbers. One by one, he typed in the phone number he memorized.

Hovering his finger on dial, he took a deep breath, and let it fall onto the button.

He answered right away and Patton caught a breath, waiting for him to speak.

“Hello?” Logan’s voice sounded sleepy, almost as if he was either just waking up or about to fall asleep.

“You sound awake.” Patton joked.

There was shuffling on the other side, and Patton concluded the boy was still in bed. “Shut up, Morris.” he murmured, “Sundays are my recovery days.”

“You picked up, even if you didn’t know my number?”

“Usually, the person on the other end answers first, and then I reply afterwards, based on the voice and what they say. It has to be someone I know for them to not want to say anything after dialing me first.”

“What if it’s a stalker?”

“They’d have to get through my father who has an extensive knowledge of guns, and me who was trained to use a firearm since I was 10.”

“Fair enough. Just to make sure, I haven’t crossed you enough for you to take out a gun yet.”

“Hm…” Logan yawned, “I’ll think about that.”

Patton couldn’t help the smile that came to his face, “Sorry for bothering you, Sanders.”

“Mh, you always do anyway. What can I do for you?”

“Ah, I can always talk to you later. You sound sleepy and I should let you get back to sleeping.”

“No, you’re already here. Just tell me.”

“You sure you’ll be awake to answer it?”

“I will be if you don’t keep stalling.”

“Fair enough.” Patton chuckled, “I wanted to ask about Remus.”

Logan groaned, “You’re going to make me get up to get my notebooks, aren’t you?”

“I am.” Patton admitted as he walked to a nearby park to sit down at.

He heard shuffling for a while before Logan answered, “Alright, I have gotten it, and have cozied back in bed. What do you need about him?”

“His social security number.”

“Be serious.” Logan scoffed. “I will hunt you down if I find out you made me do all of that for nothing.”

“I wanted to ask about how Remus was. Is he getting better?”

Logan was quiet for a second. “I didn’t need my journal for that.”

“Is it obvious?”

“He’s getting worse. I don’t know what’s going on, but I know the ghost is getting stronger, and there is nothing I can do about it. I’ve tried using precognition, but nothing is showing up. I think the rosary is affecting my powers too since my powers expel both negative and positive energy. The rosary sucks up any negative energy, which protects me from the ghost, but…it also hurts my power.”

“Have you tried it in the shower when you can’t have the rosary on?”

“I’m too paranoid to try taking it off. There’s no doubt I’m a target.”

“I’m sorry.” That was all Patton could say.

“Is that all you wanted to say?”

“Uh…I got records for a Caleb Covington. I’m not certain, but I think it’s our guy. He looks like the dude I got in the vision, and he matches the description, but at the end of the day, he could be one of the workers or pawns for the ghost that’s possessing Remus.”

“Specific details?”

“He died almost 120 years ago in this city, in a freak magic show. He was a magician, apparently he was very well known for being charismatic. After he died, mediums would see him all over the place, and he was seen as pretty friendly. Then, people started to notice that he started to be worse off. Then, one day, he completely disappeared. That happened about 10 years after he died. Then, 30 years after that, ghosts started to disappear. Then, they disappeared completely about 15 years ago, and mediums started to move out of the town. Virgil’s probably the only medium in town right now.” Patton cited off all he could remember from the research he did with his friend who had access to records.

“Huh.” Logan mumbled and he heard scribbling noises being picked up by the mic.

“Did you bring a pen into bed with you?”

“Of course I did. The pen was attached to the journal. I’m not stupid.” Logan scoffed, “Right…thank you for telling me that. I’ll keep my eye out for that.”

“Let me know if you need anything else.” Patton replied numbly.

“I will definitely come to you.” Logan mumbled as he shifted.

“I should really let you sleep.” Patton thought it was endearing that Logan still listened to him fully despite still being half asleep, “What time did you go to sleep last night?”

“Ungodly hours.” Logan sighed, “Are you sure you don’t have anything else you want to tell me? I can hear it in your voice that there’s still something.”

Patton thought about it. Logan knew him too well, but he was also respectful. If Logan believed Patton wasn’t ready to tell him or didn’t want to, Logan wouldn’t press it.

Then, Patton remembered the mark that burned above Remus’s head, and he remembered Janus’s pained face, and the trust Janus had in Patton to make the right choice, and he knew that Remus’s safety was worth more than his pride.

“Remus is in the hospital.”

Logan’s steady breathing, picked up on the mic, hitched as he processed what he said, “Is he okay?”

“He definitely has been better.” Patton remarked, “He caught a cold, and I just only managed to convince the nurse to get him off the painkillers that seemed like they were killing him."

“Good. He shouldn’t be on any pain killers. I told him to stop taking the ones he got from his doctors. He should’ve known his rights. He could’ve refused them himself. Why did he have to be so stubborn and get you to have to convince the nurse?”

“I don’t know.”

“Jeez, Virgil told him to be careful around others because it’s flu season. His immune system is already at risk since we told him to stop taking any of the ones he gets from the doctors treating him.”

“You sound like a worried mother.”

He could practically hear Logan rolling his eyes.

“He’s okay, genuinely?”

“Yeah, for now. I just think that we might need to hurry the process of catching this ghost off guard because right now, he has the upperhand. If it is truly Caleb, he is continuing to get more powerful, and he’s not going to stop until he’s gotten what he’s wanted.”

“Right…” Logan trailed off, yawning again.

“You should go to sleep, Sanders. Sorry for keeping you awake.”

“Mhph, it’s fine.” Logan shifted in bed, “I’ll talk to you later though. I have a lot of thoughts about this.”

“Me? What about Virgil?”

“I’ll talk to him about it after I get more details. Until then, I’ll be sleeping again.”

“Alright. Good night, Logan.”

“Good night, Patton.”

With that, the two hung up, leaving Patton to be smiling at the thought of letting Logan be in his contacts now.

-+=~=+-

Patton liked to think he had a good sleep schedule, but that was later refuted by Logan calling him at 3 am, and him immediately picking up.

“You should be asleep” was the first thing Logan said to him over the phone.

“So should you, Lo. Don’t you need your beauty sleep?”

“Just because I’m a hypocrite doesn’t mean you should point it out.” Logan remarked, “Tell me more about how you know that Remus is dying with the painkillers.”

“So you know how he has the mark of death above his head?”

“Uh huh…”

“In the hospital, it was fading in and out, when usually after some time, it just fades. Then, when it was visible, it looked like it was burning into his forehead, and the color was more of a reddish-orange fire color.”

“Yikes. What does that mean? Does Janus know?”

“Well no, because it had never happened until this year.”

“So Remus’s the first time he’s ever seen it?”

“No…he’s seen it on someone else.”

“Who?”

“You.”

Logan fell silent.

“And I’d love to tell you what I know and what he knows about that, but it isn’t something I can answer, because no one can read you. You don’t tell us anything about yourself, and I’m glad you feel safe with us enough to even talk to us, but please, Logan, Remus’s life is at risk and-”

“It’s probably related to my brother. I hold a lot of regret towards stuff I did to my brother, or stuff I said. I guess, I’d rather keep it away from me, and yet Janus always finds a way to make me feel bad again and remember all the promises I kept to my brother.” Logan sighed, “If that’s the case, and if I feel this intense amount of regret that makes the mark like that, then we need to do something about it. Let’s call a meeting.”

“Right now? At 4 in the morning?” Patton asked, staring at the clock.

“Remus is in the hospital right now, currently dying. Do you really want to stall?” Logan pointed out.

“Good point. How are we supposed to get in contact with them?”

“I’ll deal with that. Meet me at the clock tower at school.”

“How long is this going to be? Because you have to remember that we have school tomorrow.”

“Good thing tomorrow’s a school field trip for the five of us.”

“What?”

“Hey, I promised my brother I’d save the living, but I never promised my parents I wouldn’t abuse my powers. Remus is the living who is on the verge of dying, and I’m willing to abuse a few of my powers to authorize an unplanned school field trip that doesn’t use school funds for a club that does not exist.” Logan remarked.

It was the first time Patton ever heard personality in Logan's voice, and he knew that the Logan he used to be was coming back full force. ——————– angsty logan is my fav to write fr <3 (see porch tears for one example that's so real), but logicality will always be my fav ship, even if it's not really shown in how much i make these two be tortured. but remus having development and being in so much pain that he can't even make his jokes is so sadddd :((((. ANGST DOES GET BETTER LATER THO I PROMISE <3

If you enjoyed this, please consider reblogging! Reblogging helps me a lot and it's just two clicks of a button (trust me, likes don't do anything to help me). 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! :)

#cw swearing #sanders sides #the fate of the marked six #chapter 12 #high school au #ts logan #ts patton #ts virgil #ts janus #ts remus #remus sanders #remus has magic sharing powers #remus has magic cancer #janus has the ability to see others' fates #logan has precognition #janus sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #i'm running out of ways to tag this fic #cw possible death #cw illness

[mimssides]

Never Met You

Chapter 6: Nostalgia

Memories can heal and hurt. They fill their lives and form their opinions and growth. They shall give themselves time to remember.

After the ambush, the castle had been under high alert. The king’s meetings had been reduced to a minimum and he was to stay in his own now heavily guarded wing. It had been a relief to hear Logan simply agree with Janus’s proposal. Unlike Roman, who was anything but happy with the measurements Janus, Green and Virgil himself had come up with, Logan had seen the reason behind it and was following their instructions as well as he could.

Now Virgil had time to rummage through the castle and check it from bottom to top. While Janus was coordinating the court, he had begun to search for possible breaches, questioning his way through the servants, guards and the workers in the courtyard. Janus had sent Green to go with him. Despite the short time Green had spent here he had made a few connections already and Virgil could use all the help he could get when he was talking to people.

Socializing was just not his thing. He was a guardian first and everything else second.

Right now, they were training though. Virgil had wanted to see how fit Green was and got pleasantly surprised by his ability to keep up with him. Not many could do so and it made it easier for Virgil to let him be close to Roman. It was hard for him to let anyone close to Roman these days. Especially, after the whole assassination attempt.

“Not, hah, as good, hah, as yours,” Green panted and leaned forward to catch his breath.

Virgil smirked and shoved him just when he straightened up. He stumbled, caught himself and giggled like a child before he shoved Virgil back. They continued nudging and shoving each other as they walked to the edge of the racetrack and sat down. Virgil had two water bottles taken with him, one for Green and one with a straw for himself. With no comment he shoved the straw under his shawl and drank as Green did the same.

“Is it very hot?” Green asked looking over the training grounds.

Virgil fiddled with the hem of his shawl and stared just in front of himself. He knew what Green was talking about.

“I’m used to it. I know how I have to breath that it doesn’t bother me. Also, the snake has made them give me one which is lighter and easier to breathe through. So, it’s fine.”

In the corner of his eye, he saw Green nod. He shifted and spawled his legs in front of him and leaned back. Something told Virgil that he had dropped the topic and he felt himself ease up a little. He never liked to talk about his face. It was just a sore topic.

To get himself into a better mind space, Virgil decided to focus on something else. Quietly he went through the last few days, over what he had seen and learnt. Frustratingly, not much had come to light about the intruders and all possible points of entry had been guarded thrice as much as before. There had been no new breaches but in the light of King George announcing he would hold a meeting with Logan in two weeks' time, it might only mean that they are waiting for the outcome of said meeting. Logan had invited him for the meeting and offered to meet him at the boarder but the King had insisted of coming to Theana and meeting Logan there in person. While that meant a lot of preparations and much more nightshifts for Janus, it lightened Virgil’s worries immensely. Like this he knew that there was top security with no intention of harming their king or prince.

Green shifted next to him, pusing one leg under his butt and leaning forwards as he looked down to the green grass. He let his hands run through the single blades and smiled.

Two days prior Virgil had seen him for the first time together with Patton. The boy had excitedly run up to him when they were questioning a farrier. The second when he had spotted Virgil, he had stopped and almost toppled over because of his sudden halt.

Virgil was used to the reaction; many people were scared of his appearance and he did not expect this little child to be any different. And yet, when Green called for him, the boy had come closer and had watched Virgil carefully. Shyly, he hid behind Green’s leg and gave him a curt wave.

“He’s not dangerous, kid. You can say hi,” Green said to him in a voice so warm it could have melted butter.

And to Virgil’s surprise the boy came out of hiding and actually said hi to him. And after he had said hi awkwardly back and almost died of pureness this kid radiated when he smiled at him, Green had praised Patton fondly for being so nice and brave with a stranger.

Virgil wasn’t quite sure if encouraging this kid to talk to strangers was a great idea, but at the same time he could see how much Green cared and how close this boy was to him. He talked and acted like a father around him and in Virgil’s mind that rised a few questions.

Green did look quite unassuming in his white tunic and the brown trousers but he had an air of strength and might around him, which was hardly deniable. And yet he gave himself as a simple man who just liked feeling the grass on his skin.

“You like to get dirty,” Virgil stated.

Green looked up and with no hesitation responded: “Oh honey, you haven’t seen anything dirty of me until you have seen me in bed.”

Immediately, Virgil swatted him in the arm and Green cackled loudly at the way the tips of Virgil’s ears flushed. He was close to simply get up and walk away but did not do so as the curiosity was too big. He really wanted to know what Green’s secrets might be.

“No, seriously now!” Virgil insisted and punched him again for good measure. “Why do you enjoy the ground work so much? Most soldiers don’t mind getting a bit dirty and all, but you seem to thrive in it.”

Green chuckled and scratched his chin. It was stubbly and the moustache didn’t look nearly as well kept and pristine anymore as it had when Virgil had met Green for the first time. And yet somehow Virgil found that the work seemed to make him look happier and more alive than before.

“It’s gonna sound strange to you,” Green admitted after a few moments while looking over the training court, “but I didn’t get to get messy all that often as a kid. I couldn’t go outside and sit in the grass or role around in the fields. I was – preoccupied with other things. So, this is like a second chance for me and I’m having the time of my life doing this, quite frankly.”

“Huh.”

“Yeah, I know it’s weird, you don’t have to rub it in, Brooding Beauty-”

“I didn’t- Brooding Beauty? I – What?” Virgil stammered at the nick name.

Again, Green chuckled and Virgil was considering to just walk away again. Yet he decided against it and took a deep breath before he looked down to his knees. It was always on his mind. Always something that kept his thoughts moving and one of the few things he could not talk about with Janus.

“You need to swear that this is going to stay between us, man.”

The rustling of the grass next to him told Virgil that Green had straightened his back and was now watching him closely. Somehow it felt familiar.

“Prince Roman said something along those lines when we first met.”

The wind was blowing his hair away from his eyes. Not far away from them he could hear the carriages being pulled around, people walking and talking. And yet there was no sound that could have given away Green’s presence next to him.

“I – I thought. I mean it’s said that he met you when you interrupted his carriage on his way to Sictes because you were chasing away some sheep thieves? When would the prince have had the time to say something like I just said?”

Virgil smiled. He looked up to the sky. The sky was a steely blue, no clouds but no clear sunlight either. It was like had been on that day.

He had run after the thieves because they had taken a lamb and he wanted to bring it back to its mother. On his chase he had crossed the road and apparently startled the horses on the prince’s carriage. He hadn’t even noticed as he ran through the underbrush. His focus was solely on the two men in front of him and as suddenly arrow after arrow was raining down on them. He barely caught himself from being hit as well. On was pinned against a tree as the other got hit in side and stumbled, dropping the poor lamb. Quickly, Virgil had shot forward and caught it barely before it could run away and possibly get lost mercilessly in the thick forest.

“And who might you be? Another thief? What are you doing chasing those buffoons?”

Virgil shivered. The voice was unmistakable and the tone harsh and cutting. He lifted his gaze, cradling the little animal closer to his chest and watched of all the people who he could have come across in the forest no other than Caroline Leto. A woman, no taller than 5 feet 2, black hair pulled back in a ponytail, greenish tunic and pants blending in perfectly in the background, a short bow in her hands which was pointed directly at Virgil’s forehead.

Even if Virgil had wanted, he could not utter a single word in that very moment, as someone crashed against his back from behind.

“Prince Roman had gotten out of the carriage the second it had halted completely,” Virgil continued to tell and finally looked up from his knees to meet Green’s gaze full of wonder. “He had spent more than a decade in the castle and it had been all too much. Too much of his parents, his responsibilities and his fate. He needed to get out, which was why he had agreed to the journey in the first place. So, when something happened that felt new and like an adventure to him, he didn’t hesitate for a single second. He got out to chase us, and out ran his guards with ease. I almost fell over when he crashed into me but caught myself and then helped steady him. I remember how he looked up at me, I think my – uh my scarf had moved down a bit and it caught his eyes. He didn’t look at me like other people did, with fear and disgust and all that. But with awe. And then he looked to the queen. And you know what he did then?”

Breathlessly Green said: “Did he smile at her?”

“That bloody bastard smiled at the so called ice queen and told her that her aim was amazing. She just raised an eyebrow and was about to threaten the both of us and he just kept being charming and friendly towards her. He stood in front of me to shield me from her arrow. And that had her finally convinced to lower her weapon and look at him more closely. I think she at first hadn’t recognized him, and only now realized who he might be. Since, you know, the Thea family hadn’t attended any public event in over a decade, so most people didn’t actually know how Prince Roman looked like as a grownup.”

Virgil paused for a moment, the flash of clarity in Queen Caroline’s eyes rushing through his mind. It was an image for the ages.

“She was surprised and said to him that she hadn’t imagined their first meeting to take place in a forest like this. And Prince Roman laughed and said he didn’t think so either but that he enjoyed it far more than a stiff and cold thrown room. And then they just chatted for a bit. As if no one hadn’t threatened the other with a short bow a mere moment ago. I was dumbstruck and couldn’t say anything, when Prince Roman asked me if I could help them getting the two thieves to his carriage so they could be dealt with in the next town. I just grabbed one and the prince took the other as Queen Caroline followed us and reminded the two thieves that they couldn’t flee anywhere with her weapon. They were then put in the carriage and Roman took one of the horses of his men as the Queen took another. They escorted me with the lamb back to its herd and asked me to come with them to the next village. On the way to there, I was walking next to Prince Roman and quietly listened to him and the queen talk. She was rather cordially and smiled quite a bit when she heard him speak. She praised his astute eye for her aiming skill and asked him if he didn’t mind that his clothing had gotten all dirty and ripped. And there it was when I heard the prince say that he didn’t mind his clothes getting soiled.”

     “Muddy and ripped clothes are proof that one has walked the world, are proof that one lives and experiences things. They are testament to our lives and I until now I have been kept in a pristine little cage behind glass panes which kept all weather and wear away from me.”  

Minutes of silence followed. Virgil didn’t mind. He could think that Green was letting that information slowly settle in his mind.

“You care for him.”

Green looked over to Virgil with wide eyes. Virgil stared back and continued: “J said that at first he thought you didn’t like Prince Roman, as you tried everything to avoid meeting him. But seeing how you act around him, after Prince Roman telling me himself that you were nothing but kind to him, I now see that J miscalculated. You care about him far more than you would like to admit. And I don’t know why but I am grateful for it.”

Green swallowed.

“You are?”

“I am, yes. He can need all the help and protection he can get. He’s can have a terrifyingly low sense of self preservation. J always says it runs in the family,” Virgil said and pulled his eyebrows up.

Green cleared his throat and laughed half-heartedly. With a grunt he stood up and Virgil did the same. It was time for them to continue with their day and get around to check the guard stations for unusual sightings.

***

           I can go.      

 █████ was pacing around in his room. He knew it was the smart thing to do. He knew Roman was a better diplomat than him and he had a better way with words than him. It made sense to send him on this mission and not go himself or send Logan or Janus.

 But Roman was his only ███████. He was the only one left in his family and letting him go for the very first time ever was not as easy as Janus and Logan made it out to be. Especially, not now. Not when he wanted to ask Logan-

 “You wanted to see me?”

 Roman had entered █████’s chamber. He was already wearing his outfit for the journey to Sictes and █████’s heart ached. Slowly, he turned around and closely looked him over. He looked cleaner and more put together than █████ himself did. He reminded him more and more of their Roman’s mother.

 “Aww, look at fancy you!” █████ said teasingly but the wetness sparkling in his eyes betrayed him.

 Roman sighed and walked up to him. They looked at each other for a moment and eventually █████ lifted his arms a little while shooting Roman a pleading look. Roman easily complied and pulled him into a hug.

 The whole situation was hard on Roman as well. In all those years they never had left their homeland nor left each other's side for a whole month. This was new and scary for both of them but it had to be done. Roman had promised to help █████ as well as he could in his times of needs.

 “I have to go, ███. You know I need this,” Roman mumbled into █████’s neck and he felt him pressing him even harder against his chest.

 “I know,” █████ mumbled back before he finally let them part from the hug. “I know you have to. This place always haunted you more than me. And I’m glad I don’t have to deal with Caroline.”

 Roman could not help himself but snickered at the comment and shoved █████ in the shoulder. They laughed for a moment before █████ guided them towards the sitting area and sat down with him on the divan. They remained quiet for a short while, just relenting their own thoughts and enjoying the other’s presence.

 “You are sure you can do this, right?” █████ said in a small voice.

 Roman bit his lips and took █████’s hand. He squeezed it, let go and signed: “I’ll be fine.”

 Around █████ he dared to not talk and sign as much as he pleased and █████ was glad that Roman still felt comfortable enough around him to do that.

 A tap on █████’s shoulder. He looked over. Roman signed concerned: “Will you be fine?”

 He took a deep breath and folded his hands in his lap. Would he be fine? There was Janus. He was like a brother to █████ at this point. He knew so well what was going on in his head, could predict so easily what others deemed to be unpredictable about █████. He would take care of Roman. He had promised so and █████ knew he would do anything to keep that promise.

 And then there was of course Logan. Logan, who had accepted the position as his Military Advisor at first, later also the title of his International Relationships Advisor and even as his Council for the Education System. Logan, who was loyal, smart and lovely. Logan, who had begun to flirt back three years ago. Logan, who had finally kissed him the first time two years ago. Logan, who had told him that he loved him right after that first kiss.

 “I think, I will be fine...” █████ said with a smile on his lips and he took something out of his pocket.

 Roman watched as █████ fiddled with a box and suddenly realized what it was. He inhaled sharply and █████ looked up to him, his hands tightening their grip around the box.

 “You’ll ask him?” Roman said breathlessly and stared at the little box.

 █████ simply nodded and exchanged a look with Roman. They hadn’t been together for a long time. The burden Logan would have to carry as part of the royal family was huge and no one knew that better than them. They had lost their Roman’s parents because of that burden.

 And yet Logan made █████ happy. Roman could see it every time they spoke together and, in every moment, when they managed to catch a glimpse of the other during meetings. They gave each other a safe place to retreat and a strong shoulder to lean on on bad days.

 Roman began to grin and put his hand over █████’s to stop him from clenching his fist anymore.

 “It’s about time. He’s certainly eager to finally spend every night with you!” Roman joked.

 █████ simply grinned at the comment and fiddled a little more with the box. On other days he would have complimented Roman’s slightly suggestive jab but right now he was simply too nervous to do so.

 “We both know that he will say yes. There’s no need for you to be nervous,” Roman reassured him as █████ didn’t say anything else.

 █████ huffed and shook his head still staring at the box in his hands.

 “I know,” █████ said bitterly, “he will. But – This is going to be so much on him and I – I’m thinking of making it even harder for him, Ro.”

 Roman blinked and █████ looked at him seriously. They had the same thought.

 “In case of your death you want him to become king in my stead, don’t you?”

 █████’s lips were pressed together in a thin line and Roman let out a long breath. Then he let out a laugh and leaned his shoulder against █████’s side.

 “He makes a better king than both of us combined me, ███. I’m not going to fight you on this. If anything, I’ll encourage it even,” Roman told him softly before he fixed █████’s unruly bangs.

 █████ let Roman fuss over his hair some more. He truly had inherited their Roman’s mother’s elegance and warmth and █████ tried to indulge in it as long as he could until Roman would undoubtfully have to leave. And he knew that Roman indulged in it as well.

***

The rest of the day was rather uneventful. Nothing new had been seen and they had to head back as empty handed as in the last few days. Green was quieter during all of it and Virgil was questioning himself if it had been something that he had said this day when Green suddenly started to talk on their way towards his quarters.

“What gave you the idea that I care about the prince? What of my behaviour gave it away?” he asked rather quietly.

For a moment Virgil mused and then replied: “I think it’s a bit the same behaviour you show around the boy; you soften your tone and have the patience of a saint. Frankly, I think it’s your fatherly side that is coming through.”

The steps next to Virgil stopped abruptly. He stopped immediately as well and turned to see Green’s mortified face. His breath hitched, sweat started to build up on his brows. Virgil did not hesitate and after a short “Can I touch you?” which was answered with a nod, he pulled Green away from the street into the little room he called his. Slowly, so very slowly Virgil managed to get Green grounded again as he told him how to breath and had him drink two glasses of water. The first one he almost completely spilled due to his shaking hands but the contents of the second glass made it almost completely into his mouth.

Several minutes later, after the panting and shivering from Green had subdued Virgil sat down next to him on the bed. Green let himself fall backwards on the bed and Virgil watched him closely. To his surprise Green’s eyes met his and were clearer than he had expected them to be after such an intense stress reaction.

“What on earth gave you the idea that I could be a father?”

Virgil furrowed his brows.

“I told Janus that I didn’t have anything to do with kids-” Green spoke further but Virgil cut him off.

“J asked you if you worked with kids. At least that’s what he told us and that’s not the same thing as being a dad and the way you treat Patton reminds me of how J’s father treats kids. He is like the only good reference I have for a father figure and you check all the boxes. Sorry, I assumed wrong. Didn’t think you’d freak out that much but, uh, sorry, it’s – it’s fine! You don’t have to tell me anything about this. I was out of line.”

Green had closed his eyes. He threw his arm over his face and only his mouth was visible now. He began to grin bitterly.

 “We were trying.”

It had been so quiet that Virgil had almost missed it. Almost. But he heard and his mind was racing.

These three words told him so much more about the mystery man than he had ever expected to find out. There was a we, a partner of sorts who was close enough to start a family with Green. But this partner was no longer in the picture. But why? How had Green, who fought quicker and harder than most people he had ever met, lost this partner?

And more importantly, how did Green cope with such a loss on his own? Looking at his still body, at the tenseness in his arms and the forced smile on his lips he wasn’t dealing well.

With a broken voice Virgil mumbled: “I’m so sorry, dude…”

A snort.

“Whatever for, Gloom and Doom? You’re not the one who took him from me. Took my life… It’s fine. Don’t tell Janus, the prince and especially not the king. They’ve got better things to worry about. They shouldn’t waste their time on some stupid no one, who is dealing with things that can no longer be changed. It’s fine.”

He lifted his arm and sat up.

His eyes darted down to his feet.

He lifted his gaze and met eyes with Virgil again. A little smile, sincere yet small.

“But for what it’s worth,” Green said and put his hand on Virgil’s shoulder, “thanks for thinking I’d be a good dad. Didn’t think I’d ever turn out to be good enough for that.”

___

Link for AO3, Taglist, Masterlist, and next Chapters are in my first reblog!

#intrulogical #remus sanders #virgil sanders #background romantic anaroceit #janus sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #fantasy au #Never Met You #theft #suggestive language #nothing too harsh but there's remus I guess? #eir writes #please reblog

[typically-untypical]

Nothing Important to Lose

Soulmate September Day 7: “There is a string tied around your pinky that only you can see, the end of it leads to your soulmate.”

Pairing: PaJaMus (or Intrumoceit)

Alternate Universe: Human AU

Warnings: None that I’m aware of

Word Count: 1979

The red string of fate was a single string tied around your pinky. It was not a real string, just an illusionary representation of your connection to your soulmate. One string, one soulmate. That was how it was supposed to be. That was what Janus was expected to have. Then why were there two brightly colored strings tied around his pinky? His parents didn’t have an answer to that either and they had always told him to keep it a secret. As a kid, he listened but it was always a question in the back of his mind. Was he supposed to ignore one of his soulmates when he found them? It would be much easier to ignore both and let them find each other. That’s what he had decided on when he was younger.

Janus walked up the steps to his office, hiding his feelings and intentions like his parents expected him to do, but he wasn’t sure how long he could keep up this charade.

“Councilman Idteec, can we get a statement about the increase in strange soulmate cases?” The reporter shoved a microphone in front of his face and he put on his usual charming smile despite his distaste for her words.

Strange, just like his own.

His eyes quickly flittered to the name on her press badge. “Good Morning Martha, I would love to speak on that topic, but I fear I am not an expert on that subject yet. Would you permit me just a bit longer while I study up on soulmates and how the connections are formed? After all, it would be ill-advised for me to talk about a topic that still has so much research being done, don’t you think?”

The woman blinked, a light blush on her face. She was obviously mesmerized by his heterochromatic eyes, something he often used to his advantage. “Y-yes, of course,” she finally blurted out, taking a step back. Janus gave her another smile before turning and heading back into his office building, letting his smile fall slightly once he was inside the protection of his walls. People could be vicious and cruel, a simple slip could destroy everything, but people were also easy to manipulate most of the time.

What was he supposed to do about the increase in ‘strange’ soulmates, especially considering that any historical evidence that this was actually normal would have been wiped in the purity movement? Janus suspected that these ‘strange’ cases were not strange but rather that society had fallen into a state of ‘normativity’ that was toxic. He could help change policies but his position didn’t currently give him the ability to change people’s minds.

Janus pulled at his gloves as he walked through the busy hallways, allowing his thoughts to once again take over. The gloves hid the strings from him, he didn’t know how since the strings weren’t even real, but he didn’t know a lot about soulmate strings, no one did. Soulmate strings had been around for millennia, but figuring them out was no less confusing than explaining the beauty of a sunset to someone without sight, or the sound of a meadowlark to one who couldn’t hear. It was frustrating because Janus would love to know why he had two strings attached to his finger. He had never even stopped to think what he wanted in regards to his strings. He didn’t have the time.

“Jay Bird! I want you to meet someone.” Janus was snapped out of his thoughts by one of the most interesting people he had ever worked with. Remus Prince was a spitfire, it was hard to predict what he was going to do next but that’s what made him great at strategy and marketing.

“And I, of course, totally have time for that.” Janus’ voice was heavy with sarcasm but a light smile flittered on his lips. Remus knew that he would always make time for him. “We will have to be quick though, I have paperwork I need to get done.

“Nothing interesting, anyway, this is my soulmate, Patton! Isn’t he a scrumptious little cookie?” Remus began to kiss and nibble at Patton’s neck who squirmed with a happy squeal.

“Remus, stop,” his voice was soft and lilting and Remus actually followed instructions. Janus was torn between being impressed that Remus was listening to someone other than him, being disappointed that Remus had found his soulmate, and being physically attracted to the new man that stood next to Remus. There were certain aesthetics about Remus that Janus liked but it was nothing compared to the soft dimples and curly hair of Patton.

“He is very handsome, Remus.” Janus held out his hand and Patton happily took it, but his face screwed up in a look of confusion.

“Is there something wrong?”

“No, it’s just um… my second string looks like it goes towards your hand, but it doesn’t connect. That’s really strange.”

“Patso, don’t talk about strings,” Remus said, grabbing Patton’s hand and pulling him away quickly but trying to be gentle.

“It’s fine Remus.” Janus had schooled his face into a neutral expression, pulling his hand away and hiding it behind his back. “He is your soulmate and if you trust him then I do not mind him knowing.” Janus squared his shoulders. He had told a lot of people a lie, deciding it was best to let his two soulmates have each other while he focused on his career, well, it was a partial lie. “When I was in high school I was caught in a fire that scared much of my body.”

“I heard about that.” Patton’s voice was soft and gentle and Janus almost didn’t want to lie to him.

“My hand was also badly burned, and I haven’t been able to see my string since.” A half-truth, Janus saw his strings only when he took the gloves off, a very rare event indeed.

Patton covered his mouth in shock, leaving the three in silence until Remus broke it.”

“He has really cool scars though. Won’t let me see the ones on his hands but just look at his face, he’s so handsome.”

Janus played it up, pretending that it was all just an act. “Oh you,” He batted at Remus, but the blush on his face was real.

“Wait, if you can’t see your string, Re, come here! Does your other string also connect?”

“Other string? You both have two?”

Patton blushed. “Oops.”

“Yeah, we both have two, what, you think one person can handle all of this?” Remus had gotten distracted again, picking Patton up in a bridal hold, causing the other man to giggle. Janus couldn’t help smiling as well, it was cute.

“I know that’s not going to be a problem right Councilman Idteec?” The way Remus said his name, a shiver wanted to run down Janus’ spine and for a brief moment, he could see Remus dismembering him.

“Of course not Re, what goes on in your household is your own business as long as everyone is consenting.”

Remus smiled happily, slowly lowering Patton to the floor.

“But I must get back to work.” He gave Patton a slight nod. Normally, he wouldn’t act so formal around Remus, but he had to make a good impression on Remus’ soulmate, yet that word hurt more than it should. He wanted to tug off his glove and run back to the pair, check to see if the strings united, if they were all meant to be together, but he couldn’t get himself caught in a scandal like that. It was best he lied to himself, for now.

The next month was a bit of a blur. Something was going on and he didn’t fully understand it. Patton seemed to have taken an interest in his private life because he was often being invited out by either Remus or Patton on small ‘hangouts’ as Patton liked to call them. Remus was very interesting and he enjoyed having Remus around so he wasn’t against going on these hangouts but sometimes they felt more like dates. Remus had always been a touchy person, but even Patton’s hand would ghost over his own and Janus was beginning to grow suspicious.

“Remus, Patton, I have obviously enjoyed your company, but can you explain why you two have been basically asking me out on dates the past month?”

Patton and Remus looked at each other before Remus just burst out with it. “We think you are our third soulmate.”

Under the table, Janus gripped his hand tightly. He couldn’t help but feel his heart flutter and he desperately hoped to shove that feeling down.

“But, we also knew that you can’t really confirm that,” Patton said, his voice much softer. “So, we thought we could just spend more time with you and see how things went. No strings attached.” Patton gave Janus a weak smile at his attempt at a pun and Janus wasn’t sure if he should be angry or burst out laughing. They hadn’t really lied to him, they were just hanging out as friends, the two of them just wanted more out of it. What did he want out of it?

He had enjoyed the past month immensely. Chaos with Remus was always entertaining, but there was a softness of being around Patton that just felt like home. Did he want this? Did he want to risk his career for a life with these two people?

“I don’t like it when people attempt to manipulate me. Sure your intentions were nice but still.” He was more mad he hadn’t caught on until now. “No reason to ruin a good dinner though.” He smiled as the waiter came by and put their food in front of them with a nod.

“Though you realize what will happen if it gets outright?”

Patton nodded slowly, and Janus already knew that Remus didn’t care. “But, I don’t want society to tell me who I’m allowed to love, or how many.” Patton frowned, “Because it’s not fair if I have to choose between soulmates. I want to love both of them.”

Janus was thankful that Patton was smart enough to keep his voice quiet, but he was also rattled by Patton’s confession. He had always been told he would have to choose, to keep up appearances, but here was someone who knew the dirty looks he would get from having two soulmates, knew how people would judge, and he just didn’t care. Janus’ fingers drummed against the table as he frowned in thought. It would be best for his career to keep up his charade, but would it be best for him emotionally. Having Patton and Remus around more often had been fun, and he had felt less stress the entire month. He had already known that being around Remus was a great affect on his mood, but Patton had been too and Janus hesitated.

Was his position worth possibly losing these two? He was almost certain that they were soulmates, it just felt right. “What the hell, this isn’t an election year and I can win back the votes I lose.” Janus began to take off his glove, showing Remus and Patton his hand for the first time. It was indeed covered in scars, but the first thing that both men noticed was the colored thread that connected Janus to each of them. Patton smiled happily, letting out a little squeal as he wrapped his fingers with Janus’.

“Really? You are going to give us a chance?”

“Why not, I have nothing important to lose.”

Remus smirked, leaning over the table and pulling Janus into a heated kiss. “You are going to regret that boss man.”

"I already do," Janus whispered with a light smirk on his face, reaching out to take Patton's hand.

Tags: @tsshipmonth2020

#soulmate september #soulmates #janus sanders #patton sanders #remus sanders #sanders side fic #fanfic #intrumoceit #PaJaMus #tsshipmonth2020 #Untypical Creations

[scenecipriano]

Set The Spirit Free

THIS- is based on @teataearts post that they made of my post! It’s postception XD 

Tw: decapitation mentioned, depression mentioned, panic attacks, angst, and injuries, mentions of selfharm

The song that was used to help with the added lyrics can be found here it’s a cover by Alice Flare! 

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

Roman stumbles when he pops back into his room, tears blurring his green eyes as he drops down to his knees, a choked sob getting trapped in his throat. Why was he never enough? He tried to be perfect, to be the perfect hero for Thomas and his family, ‘But you’re not the hero are you?’ Roman covers his mouth as another sob tries to force its way through. 

The voice of his insecurities was right, he wasn’t the hero anymore, he hasn’t changed, he was still the jerk that Logan claimed him to be, and the annoying prince that Virgil always said he was. Now that Patton was agreeing with… with Janus, who knows what the fatherly side has thought of him all these years and just lied straight to his face. 

It wasn’t fair, he was the one that suggested Thomas talk to Lee and Mary Lee, he was the one to suggest they go to the callback, but he didn’t want Thomas to be a bad person! He wanted Thomas to be good, he wanted to make Patton proud of him! Not… Not scared or upset like when he… 

‘Roman you need to stop! You’re hurting everyone!’ 

He closes his eyes and allows tears to slip down his face.

“T-That’s all I ever do is hurt, people… T-That’s why fate’s cruel hand gave me the ability to use the hurt incantation… i-it’s not fair,” Roman cries as he grips his hair tight.

Roman tenses when a knock sounds at his door. 

“Kiddo? Can you let me in, we need to talk…” 

Panic ceases Roman’s heart as he pushes himself up from the floor, he stumbles slightly as he rushes over to the door that hid the imagination. He must have accidentally knocked something down because Patton yelped out and asked if he was okay. 

Roman throws the door to the imagination open and runs inside, he slams the door shut and runs as fast he can, ignoring the gloomy scenery that took over his usual sunny and blue skies. 

‘Oh, Roman, thank god you don’t have a mustache! Otherwise, between you and Remus I wouldn’t know who the evil twin is!’ 

Roman chokes back a sob as he dashes across the slowly dying field, he runs into his palace and into the throne room. 

He collapses onto his throne and buries his face into his hands, allowing his sobbing and tears to spill freely. 

‘Okay, now you’re just being a jerk.’ 

‘That lyric wasn’t… good.’ 

‘Pump the brakes Princey!’ 

‘Roman, I’m surprised at you!’ 

‘Roman’ll make you sick~!’ 

‘Thank god you don’t have a mustache, otherwise between you and Remus I wouldn’t know who the evil twin is!’ 

The voices of his friends, brother, and that snake kept repeating over and over again, causing Roman to grip his hair tighter and tighter. 

“C-Cut the strings of hope… C-Catastrophic deeds… burn all means to cope...and set the spirit free…” 

The aura in the throne room darkens, the single strip that Roman kept dyed bled into a dark shade of black, his green eyes turning into black voids as his tears continuously fall like a slow flowing stream. 

“Wither and decay… end this destiny, break these earthly chains… and set the spirit free…” 

The white of Roman’s uniform bleeds to ebony, his sash taking on a more crimson color as a crown made of obsidian forms over his head.

“The spirit free…” 

Remus was worried, ha! Him worried, what a shocker right? But he was worried, Janus filled him in on what happened after the latest episode. Everyone tried their best to get Roman to come out of his room but nothing was working. As the days past, Remus noticed how everyone was losing the normal glow. Virgil seemingly more anxious than normal, falling into panic attacks and snapping at everyone before immediately breaking down and apologizing. 

Logan was more snippy than usual, nearly biting anyone’s heads off that even dared to look in his direction for too long. The logical side chose to keep to himself in his room, which Remus was sure wasn’t any better, he saw the red marks on Logan’s forearms. 

Patton and Thomas were the ones that worried him the most, the two of them falling into a depression. Patton refuses to eat, only wanting to wear his cat hoodie and some pajama pants. While Thomas refuses to leave his bed and do work, no matter what Remus tried, Thomas wouldn’t budge, no matter how many times he’s shown up with a severed head. 

Janus was surprisingly handling things well, he may have the occasional outburst, but that wasn’t really uncommon with the snake. 

“Okay, this shit is getting ridiculous. Jan, you’re the self-care guru, can’t you just, go up there and kick Thomas in the ass and make him get up?” 

Janus sighs heavily as he turns the page in his book. 

“I could, but what’s the point? With Patton down and Virgil in high gear, nothing is going to get Thomas up and going. If Roman would just get over his temper tantrum then this wouldn’t be happening.” 

Remus frowns and snatches the snake’s book from him, he holds it up above his head when Janus tries to snatch it back. 

“You and I are going up there, I’m going to try something, well I’m going to try what I should have done a long time ago but I couldn’t resist showing Thomathy my head collection.” 

“Oh? And what’s that?” Janus asks as he tries to jump up to get his book. 

“I’m going to heal him.” 

Thomas groans when he hears two of his sides appear next to the bed, he tightens the covers around him. 

“At, nope not this time, bitch.” 

Thomas goes to snap at Remus when the intrusive side jerks the blankets away but stops when the duke places his hand on Thomas’s head. 

“Flower gleam and glow, let your powers shine, make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine.” 

Thomas’s eyes widen when he sees the glowing aura form around Remus, the white tuff of hair and his eyes glowing as well. 

“Heal what has been hurt, change the fates’ design, save what has been lost, bring back what once was mine… what once was mine~.” 

Thomas blinks when a warm feeling floods through his chest, for the first time in over a week he felt like his old self. He stares up at Remus with his jaw slacked. 

“How did you-?” 

“Doesn’t matter, Dee-Dee, go check on the others, I need to have a talk with Thomas.” 

Thomas looks over to Janus, he notices how the sides scales looked more lively than they were the last time he saw him. He waves to him as the snake-like side sinks out, earning a small smile from him in return. 

“You and I need to make a trip, I think I know what’s wrong with my brother, but I need you to get to him.” 

Thomas looks at Remus and furrows his brows. 

“Why would you want to help him? Don’t you two hate each other?” 

“No, we just… disagree on things are you going to help me or not?” 

Thomas sits up and gives Remus a determined look as he holds his hand out for the duke to take. 

“Let’s go be our prince’s hero.” 

Remus felt himself go rigid when he and Thomas appeared into the imagination, the sky was dark, all of the greenery was dried out and brown, deader than Anne Boleyn after she was decapitated. He turns to Thomas when he hears the man cough and gasps for air.   

“Wither and decay, end this destiny… break these earthly chains and set the spirit free, the spirit free~.” 

Roman’s voice echoed across the lands. 

“I-Is that from T-Tangled?” Thomas wheezes. 

“Yes, once I save Roman we’ll explain I promise but you need to go. Update the others, we’ll be back soon.” 

Remus waves his hand, sending Thomas out of the imagination. 

‘Please be okay, Ro…’ 

Roman was cold, he cold and numb, but a small part of him inside his heart begged to be free. His voice echoed as he sang the incantation, his tears felt as if they had frozen onto his cheeks as a pond would freeze in the dead of winter. 

“Ro-!” 

Someone was here, he could hear them, his singing was too loud. 

‘Evil twin.’ 

A pitched yelp and a light touch to his left arm caused Roman to come back to reality, he watches as his brother slides across the throne room floor. His right arm clutched tightly to his chest. 

“R-Remus… R-Remus!” Roman cries, the black fading from his eyes. His costume bleaching back into his normal white, the obsidian crown disappearing from the top of his head as he rushes over to his brother. 

He gasps when he sees Remus’ hand charred black and bent at an angle. Fresh tears form in Roman’s eyes as he drops down next to Remus. 

“I-I’m s-sorry, I didn’t… I-I didn’t mean t-to, I just… I-I wanted the voices to s-sto-.” 

“S-Shh, it’s okay… It’s okay I’ll heal…” 

Roman tenses up when his brother pulls him into a one-armed hug. He buries his face against the rough fabric of Remus’ shirt. 

“I-I’m s-sorry…” 

“I’m just glad you’re back…” 

#sanders sides #tangled au #kind of #remus sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders mentioned #patton sanders mentioned #logan sanders mentioned #janus sanders #character!thomas #roman angst #with a small dash of logan angst #tw depression #tw self harm mentioned #tw panic attacks #decapitation mention #injuries #broken bones #angst #I think that's it #let me know if it needs more #enjoy :3

[infinitesimalyerkesdodsons]

Me: okay im feeling kinda good about the el noli au time to work on i--

Motivation: JANUS SILANG AU CONCEPT

Some messy bullet point explanations for the characters under the cut (since they contain spoilers and might get too long to read and scroll past lmao)

Warnings: death mention, cannibalism, gorey descriptions, betrayal

Thank you for considering reading this explanation lmao 🍪 have a cookie!!!

- so what i wanna say here is that the janus silang stuff has themes that revolve around twins and duality

- I'll also refer to janus sanders as deceit here so as not to cause confusion with his namesake

- there are three sets of people that have something to do with twins: miro and mira, the tiyanak and tala, and probably Janus himself, given his name and some stuff about his character that gives him this sort of dual nature thing

- i was actually tied between whether I make thomas or janus as Janus Silang in this, because thomas' red shirt with the star on it looks similar to the one Janus usually wears, but Deceit and Janus are essentially namesakes

- i decided to go with both of them because of how i saw Janus as a character. His duality in my opinion is brought by the fact that he used to know and be super close the main baddie of this story, the tiyanak, and was used by the tiyanak to gain important information (sorry remus!!!) and yet he's also the only one that has the power to help the counterpart of the tiyanak, tala (roman)

- it's also interesting to note that I also think that Janus' duality will fully come out in the fifth and final book in the series

- during the fourth book he was fated to die in order to set the world right, however this death wasn't just physical death, but an existential death in which his sacrifice reset the whole timeline and created a world wherein he never existed in the first place.

- only one person, who used to be a diwata, now human, remembered him. I hope that Janus returns in the fifth book and things are set back into place.

- anyway, the fact that this happened shows a big duality; his past existence saved the world and his nonexistence created an alternate world in the future that didn't need saving at all

- the timeline where Janus existed (2015 when things went down), I assume is simply an alternate universe where magic exists and is based on Philippine Myth and belief. The nonexistent Janus timeline (which is 2018), I assume, is this world we live in right now, a more realistic version of the original timeline.

- i want to think that janus, tala, and the tiyanak disappeared permanently from existence in order to set the world right

- it was said that only tala and the tiyanak can match each other in power, but in order for one to die the other must die as well.

- meaning that whatever happens, both tala and the tiyanak will disappear to save the world, but janus still has to die permanently in order to make tala's existence possible.

- which brings us to the other twins, tala and the tiyanak

- some important stuff in this is that the tiyanak and tala were twins born from a curse from humans in the Tabon cave.

- the tiyanak was cursed as a baby to be a man eating baby who eats the innards of people who neglect their family (or so i remember???)

- their very existence as cursed magical twins was a mistake, so bringing back to the saving the world part, in order to set the world right they both have to yeet out of existence

- as for their duality

- the tiyanak as i said earlier is a cannibal, and can create creatures to do his bidding. These creatures are from Philippine Mythology and each have their own abilities. He emerged from his mother's womb fully able to walk and talk, and can shapeshift into a child. (He cannot shapeshift into an adult though, so his underling creatures, the do-ol, do it for him)

- the tiyanak during the first book, disguised as Janus' brother in order to gain information about his twin, since Janus was supposedly the only one that can help Tala reach maturity to counter her twin.

- tala on the other hand was born without enough physical maturity, and is said to age by one year every 1000 years. When the events of the story play out tala is nearing her true maturity and only needs janus to do so.

- interestingly, before she appeared as her true form, before Janus' whole dying from existence thing, she looked like the tiyanak.

- anyway this is an abrupt end to this part of the explanation but let's get to the third set of twins

- miro and mira

- the thing with miro and mira is that they're not polar opposites unlike tala and the tiyanak. they have the same ability of switching and seeing between a purely magical world and the lesser magical earth.

- i chose logan and patton based on their personalities and the dynamic of the duo

- miro is more extroverted of the two, which seems like a good fit for patton

- mira is more reserved and quiet, and less open with talking about her ability. She preferred to figure things out on her own, retreating into the pure magic world in order to experiment with her ability.

- they die tho, miro by literally getting vertically cut into half in the middle of teleporting to the pure magical world, and mira by the hands of a mambabarang in the fourth book.

- the thing about these twins is that they don't necessarily completely oppose each other, and only their personalities seem to be different.

- i can see a similar thing happening with logan and patton, how they're not moral opposites but differ with how they work.

- next up is mica and renzo

- they're not twins but their characters are really important to the story

- mica is janus' crush, who gave him a usb necklace in the shape of a star (at the same time, star can be translated to "tala" in Tagalog, and the usb necklace played an important part throughout the series as well.

- she also played an important part in the third and fourth book, being a regular human without any power gave her advantage to magic (and lack thereof) related problems.

- And finally renzo

- did i mention that janus was orphaned? Well he was and another important character took him in. Renzo was also an orphan and he and janus had a brotherly relationship.

- that is, until janus got stuck in a dilemma where he could only save either Mira or Renzo from falling off a literal cliff, at the very end of the third book. Janus saved mira and renzo was left hanging and eventually fell (Well that was a cliffhanger amirite heheehe)

- one bit of lore about renzo is that he was a creation of the tiyanak as well. The tiyanak saved renzo from his doom and revealed this and I dont exactly remember why but it definitely had something to do with Janus as well.

So uh that's it i think hsjdjs this is kinda messy but yea if you made it here 🍪 have a second cookie!!!

#sanders sides #logan sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #my a(r)t #caps tw #not a countdown #sanders sides au #sanders sides art #ts fanart #janus silang au #janus silang #also if it's not too much uh #reblogs > likes

[sparrow-flies-south]

I Can’t Decide (Whether You Should Live Or Die)

Title: I Can’t Decide (Whether You Should Live Or Die) Pairings: Romantic Thomceit Warnings: Attempted murder, Attempted murder, a couple of references to implied child abuse, a character deliberately attempting to trigger someones allergy (as a murder attempt), reference to torture. Summary: Deceit is one of the best assassins in the business. So assassinating Thomas Sanders should not be difficult - except Thomas seems to have the amazing ability to happen to escape from death.And the longer it takes Deceit to kill Thomas, the less sure he is that he even wants to.

Notes: Happy Birthday Janus!! This fic is complete as a first draft, I plan to update weekly as I edit chapters.

My Masterpost   Read on AO3

Thomas Sanders is going to die.

There is a folder on the table with his name on it. Deceit picks it up and flips through it – Thomas’ address, family history, information about his housemate, a man named Virgil Storm, and details of Thomas’ career on Vine and YouTube. He’ll do his own research later, and find out everything there is to know about the man. For now, he just needs to understand the job itself.

“The deadline is ten days,” says his handler, a woman that is all sharp angles. Her hair is tied back into a tight bun, and she dresses like she’s on her way to a board meeting.

To her face, everyone calls her ma’am, but most of the Agency also call her The Dragon. She encourages this nickname by never killing someone over it.

“Whatever will I do with the other nine days,” Deceit muses.

The Dragon doesn’t respond, which is probably better than what anyone else would face. Then again, she always has been fond of Deceit, ever since he was a kid.

“I’ll take it,” Deceit says, though that is a given.

The Dragon nods and leaves the room. Deceit flips back through the file – Thomas Sanders is a former Vine star turned YouTuber, he lives with a reclusive man named Virgil Storm, and he will be easy to kill.

It will be a subtle death, because if she wants something loud, the Dragon goes to the Duke. An accident, most likely, something very tragic. However he’ll end up doing it, Thomas Sanders’ fate is sealed.

*

Deceit looks Thomas up on the flight over, and watches some of his videos. He finds them funny enough. Thomas seems wholesome enough on them, but someone wants him dead.

He doesn’t have a safehouse in Thomas’ town, but he does know a hotel where people don’t ask too many questions, so he checks in there. He stays only long enough to put away his luggage – a single, carry on suitcase – and then goes to find Thomas’ house.

It’s a nice enough house on a nice enough street – the lawns are well kept, and he sees some of the neighbours talking to each other. There is only one car parked in Thomas’ drive, and from the file Deceit knows it’s Thomas’. There’s no visible alarm on the outside, and a number of windows that might make for easy access. He slips into the neighbour’s yard, and spots a backdoor to Thomas’ house.

There’s a house being renovated down the street from Thomas – for now, it looks empty. When Deceit breaks in, he finds a balcony that has a good view of Thomas’ house.

He spends the next day learning more about Thomas – he stakes out his house, and is able to follow Thomas to the nearest Starbucks around noon. From talking to people, he learns that this is the only real routine Thomas seems to have. He doesn’t see Storm at all that day, and from what he finds out, that isn’t unusual.

Thomas, they say, seems nice enough – if someone says hello to him, he’ll say hello back, even though none of his neighbours are exactly friends with him. Storm, on the other hand, they rarely see. And when they do see him, he usually keeps to himself, and is always wearing a pair of headphones.

The next day, Deceit shows up for his shift at Starbucks armed with a baggie of ground up peanuts, and the knowledge of Thomas’ medical history – including his serious peanut allergy. He’s there to fill in for a barrister that has come down with a terrible case of food poisoning. Really, she should have known better than to eat shrimp that he’s tampered with.

When Thomas arrives, the café is packed. Deceit gets handed a cup with Thomas’ name on it, and sets about making his venti iced vanilla Americano. It’s not the first time Deceit has works at a Starbucks as part of a mission; he has become very good at making drinks quickly, and even better at slipping crumbled peanuts into them when no one is looking.

Thomas is idling near the counter, today dressed in a leather jacket and sunglasses that he is still wearing indoors. Deceit catches his eye and holds out the drink.

“Thanks gurl,” Thomas says as he is given the drink, a far cry from how he speaks in his videos. He takes a swing and pulls a face. “Hey, uh, I think you got my order wrong?”

Deceit fixes a smile on his face. Based on the hospital report from the last time Thomas had a reaction, it won’t take much to kill him. A single swig might be enough.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” he says.

Thomas turns the drink around and squints at the cup. “Yeah, this isn’t mine,” he says, pointing at where Thomas is written in loose handwriting. “My name is Remy?”

What.

Thomas – another Thomas comes up to the counter. “Oh, hey, I think that was mine?” he says.

“Right,” Deceit says. “My apologies. Let me remake that for you.”

“I’ll do it,” Kate, another barrister working with him, says. “I need you to get more cups from the back.”

Kate could easily do that, but Ethan Gold, Starbuck barrister, wouldn’t argue. So he just says, “Of course,” and walks away from the counter, while Thomas’ drink is made correctly.

By the time he gets out, Thomas is leaving, talking on the phone as he goes.

“So we’ll meet at your place at noon? Cool, I’ll see you there. Bye, Lee.”

*

Lee and his wife, Mary Lee lives a ten minutes’ drive away from Thomas. Seeing then seems to be so important to Thomas, that Deceit will do what he can to make sure Thomas gets to it as fast as possible.

So, when it’s late enough that the lights in Thomas’ house has gone off, and he’s certain the neighbours view of Thomas’ drive will be blocked by the fence, he crawls under Thomas’ car and cuts the breaks.

The house renovation makes a very good place to watch Thomas drive off from, so the next day that’s where he is. He perches beside a pile of bricks, close enough to the glass balcony door to see out of it, but where he’s not likely to be spotted. Usually, he would stay at the hotel and wait for the news, but Deceit isn’t willing to take any chances with Thomas Sanders.

Except the minutes tick by, and Thomas’ car doesn’t move. Thomas had said around noon, but it is half twelve now, and the car is still there. He wonders if Thomas decided to walk, or if he caught the bus instead, when he sees someone leave Thomas’ house.

Deceit goes to the balcony that overlooks the street to get a better look, and sure enough, it is Thomas, not Virgil Storm. Deceit watches him walk towards the car – he’ll only watch long enough for Thomas to drive off, there’s no way of telling when an accident will happen, after all – and right passed it, and onto the street.

Oh, you have to be kidding him. Thomas seems completely unconcerned as he walks closer to Deceit’s hiding place, and part of him wants to go down there and demand to know what Thomas is doing.

With a snarl of frustration, Deceit grabs one of the bricks and hurls it at the pavement where Thomas is – or rather, at the pavement a few inches to the left of where Thomas is. Thomas jumps where the brick hits the asphalt, and Deceit ducks back inside the house so he won’t be seen.

That was an extremely stupid move – Deceit had thought he’d grown past fits of rage, but apparently not. Still, when he peers out again Thomas is gone, so perhaps he’ll chalk it to another accident.

Deceit, however, is done with accidents.

*

Breaking into Thomas’ house is easy – all Deceit needs to do is pick the locks on his door and disable the burglar alarms. Honestly – anyone could just walk in. Maybe he’ll leave Virgil recommendations for some decent security.

Deceit barely spares a glance to Thomas’ kitchen and living room before making his way up the stairs. It’s late – almost three am, and the whole house is in darkness.

Upstairs, there are three doors opening off the corridor. The one in the middle is slightly ajar, and Deceit can see that it’s a bathroom. Another door leads to a room at the front of the house – from being able to see through the windows, he knows this is Thomas’. The third door must lead to Virgil’s room – through the crack at the bottom, he can see the glow of lights on inside.

Deceit opens Thomas’ door slowly, taking care not to make any noise, and when it is open just wide enough for Deceit to fit, he slips in, and shuts the door behind him.

Thomas is sat on his bed, his headphones on and his laptop in front of him. The glow of the screen lights up the moment Thomas looks up and sees him, the way Thomas’ eyes widen in shock and fear.

Deceit is already moving before Thomas begins to open his mouth to scream, and so he is able to tackle Thomas onto the bed and cover his mouth with a hand before any sound can come out. Damn it, Thomas is supposed to be asleep. Who the hell is up at three am?

Thomas struggles, hands clawing at Deceit’s own, and legs kicking wildly. He manages to catch his laptop and send it flying off the bed. It hits the floor with a loud thud. Deceit pushes himself onto the bed, and uses his knees to pin Thomas’ legs in place.

He’d been planning to use a pillow to smother him, but fortunately he also has a knife with him. Thomas is still scratching at Deceits hand, so he can use the other one to pull out the knife. Behind him, something pounds across the floor, and there’s the sound of a door hitting a wall when it’s thrown open.

Deceit is able to turn his head just in time to see the vase coming towards him.

The impact sends him falling pack against the bed, dazed.

“What the fuck!?” Virgil shouts, at the same time as Thomas cries, “You killed him!”

Deceit tries to get his hands under him, tries to push himself up, when Storm says, “Oh, fuck that,” and something collides with his head again, this time sending him careening into darkness.

*

The ropes are the first thing he notices.

He keeps his eyes closed, keeps his breathing slow and even, and listens to the footsteps pacing around the room. This isn’t the first time he’s been caught during a mission – it’s happened twice before. The first time had been easy enough to escape and finish the job, but the second had taken him days. When he finally had escaped, he’d almost bled out before he reached the safe house.

This time will almost certainly end up like the first.

“Shouldn’t he be awake by now?” someone asks. “Shit, I think I gave him brain damage.”

“He’s probably fine,” says a second voice. “I’m sure he’ll wake up soon.”

“Great!” hisses the first voice. “That means he’s going to wake up and kill us!”

…Definitely like the first.

It would, admittedly, be easiest to pretend to be asleep until one or both of them left the room. That would give him a chance to get out of the chair, kill Thomas, and then decide if he wants to kill Virgil, too.

But no one has ever caused him this much trouble before, not even the people who were expecting him. He’s curious.

So he makes a show of groaning and raising his head, of waking up slowly. He tugs against his restraints, more for show than everything, though it does give him a chance to make not of the amount of give in them. Rope is woven around his chest and arms, and then more has been used to secure his wrists.

Virgil is at the edge of the room, arms crossed and glowering. Thomas stands between Virgil and Deceit, eyes wide, looking as if he hadn’t actually expected Deceit to wake up.

“Uh, hi,” Thomas says. “Sorry about the tying you to a chair thing, but in our defence, you did try to kill us.”

Deceit doesn’t reply. He’s able to twist his hands to loosen the rope slightly.

Thomas falters. “How’s your head?”

“Fine.”

“Are you sure?” Thomas asks. “Virgil hit you pretty hard. We could get you some ice for it?”

Deceit isn’t sure why Thomas is asking that, but he still nods. He’s curious about what Thomas is going to do now that he thinks Deceit is at his mercy.

“Right! Yeah, I can get that,” Thomas says. He turns to Virgil, who’s scowl somehow grows even darker.

“Fuck no,” Virgil snaps. “I’m not taking my eyes off him.”

“Fine,” Thomas says. “I’ll get it. Just- stay here?”

And then Thomas leaves the room. He must be either stupider than Deceit realised, or far more cunning than Deceit was prepared for.

If Deceit is going to be hurt, this is where it will happen, while it’s just him and Virgil. Then Thomas can deny knowing about it, can build up Deceit’s trust in him.

Virgil stays where he is, watching Deceit so intently he doesn’t seem to blink.

“Have you called the police?” Deceit asks.

Virgil jumps at Deceit’s voice; unsurprising, considering how tightly wound he is. “Of course we did,” he snaps. “We’re just waiting for them to get here.”

Meaning there’s a time limit on how long he has to escape.

“What the fuck were you doing, anyway?” Virgil asks.

“I thought that was obvious,” Deceit says. “I’m trying to kill Thomas.”

“Why would you want to kill Thomas?”

Virgil sounds like the idea honestly makes no sense to him. Deceit just shrugs.

Virgil mutters something under his breath but doesn’t speak again, apparently content to just watch in silence. Or not content, considering the look on his face. It isn’t long before Deceit can hear Thomas’ footsteps up the stairs, and then Thomas appears, carrying an ice pack in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

“Jesus Christ,” Virgil mutters, eyeing the water.

Thomas shrugs sheepishly. “I thought he might be thirsty?”

“He just tried to kill you!” Virgil snaps. “You don’t worry about whether the person who tried to kill you is thirsty!”

If someone speaks like that at the Agency, it’s usually a good sign that violence is on the way, and you should start apologising before it’s too late. Thomas doesn’t seem bothered, though.

“Do you want it?” he asks.

Deceit shakes his head. He’s not stupid, there’s no way he’s going to accept anything from someone he’s just tried to murder. He might as well eat arsenic – it would cut out the middle man.

“Okay,” Thomas says. He steps closer. “Uh, I’m not sure how the ice pack will work. Maybe we can put it between your head and your shoulder?”

Deceit nods, and lets Thomas come closer, closer still. He places the water on the ground, and then reaches with the ice pack, and Deceit launches himself off the chair.

He keeps hold of the ropes as he tackles Thomas to the floor. He stands up quickly, and then turns to Virgil. As he suspected, Virgil is already lunging for Deceit’s knife, now placed on the night stand. He’s able to get there first, and he hits Virgil in the face. Virgil staggers back, and Deceit uses the distraction to throw him to the floor.

Virgil snarls and tries to stand up, but Deceit pins him and loops the rope around his hands. He drags Virgil across the room and ties the rest of the rope to the leg of the desk.

“Stop,” Thomas shouts, and suddenly he’s there, right next to Deceit, the guy who’s trying to kill him. “Don’t hurt him, please.”

Deceit turns, and Thomas backs away a few paces until his back hits the wall. His eyes are shiny with fear.

“We won’t tell anyone who you are, I swear,” Thomas babbles.

Deceit takes a step closer to Thomas. Behind him, Virgil spits, “Don’t you fucking dare.” Deceit can hear him struggling against the rope.

Thomas is here, in front of him, and alone. There’s nothing stopping Deceit, no lucky escapes this time. All Deceit has to do is grab the knife and stab him, or strangle him, or bludgeon him with something.

But he doesn’t want to.

A hundred kills and this one makes him hesitate, because – what? Because of an ice pack and a glass of water that is probably drugged? Because he’s seen some of Thomas’ vines and they made him laugh?

Deceit doesn’t hesitate. The training he’s had since he was a child has seen to that.

Something is wrong. He needs to regroup, figure out what’s happened and how to change it.

“Stay here,” Deceit orders, and Thomas nods. He doesn’t look relieved, not yet. “If you try to follow me, I’ll kill you. And then I’ll come back and kill him, too.”

Thomas’ breath hitches and he nods again. Behind him, Virgil goes silent. Neither speak as Deceit leaves the room.

When he’s halfway across the living room he hears movement upstairs, and stills, but then there’s nothing except for hushed voices from above, speaking too quiet for Deceit to hear.

He doesn’t look back as he leaves the house. He’ll kill Thomas tomorrow.

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #thomceit #janus sanders #tss janus #character thomas #my fic #I cant decide

[snowdice]

Road Trips and Missing Persons (Part 13)

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Patton & Virgil, Virgil & Deceit, Logan & Patton, Emile & Remy, Roman & Remus & Janus

Characters: Patton, Virgil, Deceit, Remus, Roman, Logan, Emile, Remy

Summary: Patton was just getting groceries. The next thing he knew, there was a knife at his throat and he was an unwilling uber driver. Virgil’s on the run after the murder of his dad, and it’s not just his paranoia that’s telling him he’s being chased down. He has to get somewhere safe, somewhere he can trust, and all he has is a couple of stories from his dad and a name: “Green Bellow Foods and Dispensary.”

Notes: Secret Agents AU, knives, carjacking, kidnapping, murder mentioned, guns mentioned, pepper spray, blood mentioned, drugs mentioned, explosions (more to be added)

This is a fic I’ve been writing on study breaks that you have probably all already seen at this point. I’ve affectionately named it the Goblin Brain Fic because it’s helping my brain actually get motivated for studying. I’ve slightly edited it for wording and grammar, but not for content from my previous posts. Feel free to send in asks to direct it because I’m not 100% sure where this is going and you can help decide if you feel so inclined! You can see the process I went through to build this at this link.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 My Master Post

Remy was slumped down in his seat as Emile continued to lecture him on all the possible consequences of his actions over the past 24 hours. Jeezy creezy was Emile miffed about all of that. Remy had been trying to blow it off, but Emile was fully, painfully aware that he’d almost had lost his brother today and Remy was going to hear about it until Emile’s lungs aches.

“And another thing…” he said.

“Wait,” Remy said, and Emile did because there was a lace of panic to his tone.

“What?” Emile asked.

“The tracker stopped working,” Remy answered pushing buttons a little bit desperately on his device.

“It went completely offline somehow,” Remy said.

“Did it get turned off?” Emile asked. “Or run out of batteries?”

“It doesn’t turn off and the batteries are designed to last for years,” Remy said. “It can even track through 20 feet of water. The only way it could stop sending a signal this abruptly is if the thing was destroyed.”

Emile paused. “You said Virgil knows what the blinking light means.”

“Yes.”

“Is it possible that he knows, or well, ‘knows,’ you’re dead? Barbara did send a man after him, he could have mentioned it.”

Remy stared down at the device in his hands.

He pressed a couple of buttons and studied the screen for a moment. “You little shit,” he groaned. “You threw it out the fucking car window, didn’t you?”

“How do you know?” Emile asked.

“Because if I look at the history, it was going at 65 miles per hour down the interstate, suddenly stopped cold, and then went offline probably when another car inevitably crushed it.”

“Ah.”

“Well, at least the fucker’s probably okay. Dammit Virgil! Where are you going?” Remy pushed a few more buttons almost idly as he thought. “Let me get into Virgil’s head for a minute: emo music, dark clothes, would rather have his toenails ripped out than go to parties, makes split second decisions based on little info. Yep! Got him.”

Emile rolled his eyes, but Remy wouldn’t have noticed as he had his own eyes closed. “Hmm. So, I’m Virgil. My bitch mom killed my dad and sent someone after me. I have no idea what’s going on, but I bolt out of there because fuck mom. I want to get the hell out of dodge so I convince someone to drive me somehow, I guess, but where would I want to go? Someplace safe. Where’s safe? Maybe Emile, but obviously that’s not where he went. Or Janus, but he’s too connected to mom. I don’t really know anyone else, especially not someone who could help with this sort of stuff.”

Remy thought for another long moment. “Oops.”

“Oops?” Emile asked. “What oops?”

He could tell by the expression on Remy’s face that he was not going to like the answer. “I may have let something… slip.”

“What do you mean, Remington?”

“Um, well you see,” Remy said. “A couple of months ago Virgil was being, you know, himself: a little shit. He may have, possibly, found some papers.”

“What kind of papers?” Emile asked.

“They were nothing important!” Remy assured. “There wasn’t any dangerous info in them or anything, but…”

“But?”

“It is somewhat possible that they had the name on them.”

“How possible?” Emile asked, eyes narrowed on him.

“He asked what Green Bellow Foods was and why they needed 50 top-of-the line computers outfitted at an old factory.”

“And what did you tell him?!”

“Nothing!”

Emile glared at him.

“Okay, well I had to tell him something,” Remy mumbled. “I just kind of said that I knew the owner well and was working with him on some stuff. Then I told him not to worry about it, which was probably a mistake, because he’s Virgil. So, then I found him snooping in my car. At that point I had to sit him down and talk to him. So, I told him a bit about Logan.”

“Remy that’s not nothing!”

“I didn’t use his name or anything. I just told him a couple of really, extremely, tremendously, vague stories, so he didn’t think I owed money to the mafia. Which, yes, he did suggest.”

“That’s worse!”

“What do you want from me Emile?!”

“Some common sense!” Emile answered. “I’ve been comparing you to the rat in Ratatouille for years, but I’m starting to think you’re more of a Pinky from Pinky and the Brain.”

“Hey, ouch,” Remy replied. “Also, I personally subscribe to the theory that Pinky is actually the intelligent one who is foiling Brain’s evil plots from the inside. So, there.”

“Now is not the time,” Emile said.

“Oh, it’s not the time to discuss cartoon theories?” Remy mumbled into his lap. “Must be serious.”

“It is serious! Virgil is missing!”

“Don’t you think I know that?!” Remy snapped. “I know, Emile.”

There was quiet. Emile took a breath. “Okay,” he said, calmer. “Do you really think he’s going to Logan?”

“He’s headed somewhere,” Remy answered, “and wherever that somewhere is, it’s inexplicably down the most direct route towards base.”

“Well, Virgil is smart. I don’t think he’d just keep going so quickly without a destination in mind. We should call Logan.”

“Do you honestly believe Barbara doesn’t have your phone tapped when Virgil is missing? If you had one of Logan’s phones, I might agree with you, but as it is, we’d be giving away our position, and possibly clueing her into Virgil’s plan. If he shows up at base, Logan will take him in no question. It’s less dangerous for everyone this way.”

“Fine,” Emile said. “We’ll just keep driving towards Logan and hope you’re right about where he’s going.”

“Of course, I’m right,” Remy said lightly. “I’ve got the paternal instincts going on. Course, they didn’t stop the knife throwing incident of ’09. I blame Janus for that, though.”

Emile shook his head at him.

“It is good for when he tries to steal sweets, or that one time he brought home a baby piglet and tried to hide it from me in his bedroom. Or when he’s feeling anxious about something but won’t tell me because he thinks it’s silly.” Remy’s own fingers tapped out an anxious pattern against his knee. “It also worked with the golf cart incident, but it was too late. Again, I blame Janus. He messes with the paternal instinct meter. He’s far too unpredictable and I make the mistake of thinking he’s responsible, which he is half the time, but the other half of the time I remember that he’s still mostly a kid and one that grew up in an unstable environment. Did I tell you that last month they went and won a bunch of tickets at the arcade and used them to get those 5 ticket rubber ducks and just unloaded them all over my room? Honestly, you’d think a 21-year-old would have a better use for his money or at least have the brains to go buy them at a store. He could have gotten like 500 more ducks for the same amount of money. Of course, it was his mom’s money, so I guess I can get behind wasting it on arcade games and rubber ducks. The prank was apparently based on some comedy sketch Virgil found online.”

“You’re doing the thing again,” Emile pointed out calmly.

“Stop psych evaluating me,” he shot back.

“Fine, fine,” Emile said. “Keep distracting yourself from your emotional responses with silly stories. See if I care.”

“Thank you,” Remy replied. “I will.”

Emile sighed as he started back up again mumbling something about having taken away Virgil’s Gameboy after catching him playing it at 3 o’clock in the morning. He claimed this wasn’t because the boy hadn’t gotten any sleep on a school night, but because he’d insulted Donkey Kong to Remy’s face. After that story had run its course, Remy continued to babble at an increasingly fast pace about all sorts of things. Emile imagined most of the stories he sprouted off were quite embellished.

Emile had tried to turn on the radio once, but Remy had slapped his hand away saying, “The next one’s a really good one.” So, he had resigned himself to his fate of tuning out Remy’s coping mechanism to the best of his abilities and just focusing on driving for the next 45 minutes. Which is probably why he noticed that traffic had strangely decreased. He didn’t really pay the fact that much mind until the traffic suddenly increased… in the form of a wall of stopped cars.

“Jenkies, what’s going on?” he asked, as he came to a stop at the end of the line of cars.

“Um…” Remy said looking out of his car window. There, staring into their car with beady black eyes was a cow. As Emile watched, said cow leaned forward to drag its tongue across the passenger side window. “Shit.”

Want to read more? Click below!

Part 14

#sanders sides #remy sanders #virgil sanders #janus sanders #platonic remile #remus sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #road trips and missing persons #adriana writes #murder mentioned #emile piccani

[omgyouatetheprincess]

Janus’ Playlist

AHH JANUS' PLAYLIST LETS GOO

Not that anyone asked for my opinions

Okay so I'd like to start by saying that Thomas, Joan and Talyn did an amazing job on this playlist because every song fits Janus so perfectly.

Here are some of my thoughts on the songs and some interpretations I came up with or found on the internet.

Trigger Warnings - abortion. Mocking of religion.

Black Hole Sun - okay at first I was like 'wow this is really smooth and nice and the vocals are so sweet.' Then I heard the lyrics. "In disguises no one knows,

Hides the face, lies the snake". It's such a Deceit song and I imagine him dancing to it (with or without a partner).

Black Hole Sun by Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox, Haley Reinhart

It Seemed That Better Way - holy heck, can I point out that this song is such a bop? Leonard Cohen has such a soothing voice and it reminds me of Patrick Page (aha Hadestown) and if Janus wasn't played by Thomas, I could imagine this as his voice. The song is about not knowing what the truth is and what to believe, and has religious meanings which could be countering Patton and his Catholic beliefs.

It Seemed The Better Way by Leonard Cohen

Anywhere - I feel like Patton would hate this because the first line is "It's a beautiful world if you've been lied to by parents and priests". Anywhere describes how the world isn't a beautiful as it may seem, and that people lie to make you see it.

Anywhere by The Scarring Party

Talking At The Same Time - it is immediately dark and that everything seems fake and a... Lie. A lot of Deceit's songs are about the truth or that everything is a lie and I have to give massive kudos to Thomas, Joan and Talyn because they did an excellent job portraying Janus through his music taste. The song describes how everyone talks at the same time, and what I interpret that as is that everyone says the same thing over and over. It's hard to explain so I'll let you make your own interpretations of it.

Talking At The Same Time by Tom Waits

all the good girls go to hell - I'm not going to lie (ha) but I don't like Billie Eyelash, but I'll see past the artist. My first thought when I saw the song without hearing it is that it's a good choice and Janus probably loves Billie Eilish. Spotify has meanings of songs so I'm going to go off there: "This song is in the perspective of the Devil / no matter how good you are, desperate measures will eventually break you / turn you into bad." I feel like Deceit would sing this around the house. This song is twisting Christian symbolism and the lyrics can be interpreted as Eilish praising people who go to hell as it's better than being morally good. (Also, just switch Peter with Patton)

all the bad girls go to hell by Billie Eilish

Denial - KDJIEKAKSNDENIAL? In Putting Others First, Janus is referred to as Denial and now this song? Everyone start clapping for Thomas and his team. Anyway, the song discusses themes of conflict within a relationship, and the denial and insecurity of being in a relationship near it’s end (source: Genius). Also, Roceit vibes?

Denial by The Vaccines

Trust In Me - first of all, heck yeah! I predicted this song to be on his playlist because it's a slimy snake song from Disney? Hello this is Thomas? I think it's a great song and Johansson's voice is angelic. Kaa is manipulating and hypnotizing Mowgli, and if Deceit could do the same you can bet your bottom dollar he would sing this. We love our not-evil snake boi.

Trust In Me by Scarlett Johansson

Razzle Dazzle - Janus singing this with Roman? Yes please? Okay so I get that this is a villian song, and I love that, but imagine Deceit in a shiny sequenced dress? I also haven't seen Chicago yet so I'm going off what I've heard - this song describes how it is too easy to put on a show and make the audience happy. Basically, acting is just professional lying. The line "Though you are stiffer than a girder they'll let you get away with murder" is so clever (no spoilers but he had it coming)

Razzle Dazzle by Richard Gere

[SLIGHT HADESTOWN SPOILERS]

When The Chips Are Down - I hecking love Hadestown so you can bet I squealed when I saw this song. This song is sung by the fates, who are portrayed at untrustworthy. The title of this song is derived from the idiom “when the chips are down”, meaning “when a very serious and difficult situation arises”. Eurydice is in potentially one of the most serious and difficult situations she could be in: her life is at stake. After Hades invites Eurydice to come with him to Hadestown, the Fates appear and encourage her to consider his offer. They tell her that she should look after herself now that she is starving and the “chips are down”. (Source: Genius). In my own words, the fates are convincing (or manipulating if you will) a poor helpless girl to put herself first and save herself. It also mentions how if you be good to get into heaven,you get a knife in the back.

Go listen to Hadestown, it's an incredible soundtrack.

When The Chips Are Down by Anaïs Mitchell, The Haden Triplets

[TW! Abortion]

Mandy Goes to Med School - okay so this song is about abortion, so we'll have to go off context. Mandy (or Amanda Palmer) has to pay for Medical School by giving abortions in an alleyway with a coat hanger, so I interpret this as having to do shady stuff to get what you want. I think him and Remus would enjoy this song together. I'd also like to note that Logan had a song by Amanda Palmer in his playlist... That isn't relevant but I wanted to note that.

Mandy Goes to Med School by The Dresden Dolls

I Put A Spell On You - 50SOG vibes? I really like this song, it has a nice rhythm and the lyrics are so creepy. This gives me vibes of Deceit cornering/pining another side/love interest because if our baby boy wants to be happy, he should. This is similar to Trust In Me because it talks about enchanting someone to get what you want. "I don't care if you don't want me, I'm yours right now." Chills. Janus singing this song would complete my life.

Also the singer calls the love interest daddy but we ain't shaming

I Put A Spell On You by Nina Simone

Evil Night Together - well the title has evil in it so... Perfect for our Evil Snake Boi. This song gives me huge Demus/Receit vibes because it's basically like "let's go on a date in the creepiest place."

What if we drank a drink in the torture chambers... Haha jk ...unless 🥺

Evil Night Together by Jill Tracy

Don't Tell Mama - another musical song? Roman would be impressed. This song is about an English singer, who's mother thinks she's in a convent (a nun), when really she's in a German s3x club. You can really tell why it would be so bad if her secret got out.

Don't Tell Mama by John Kander, Joel Grey, Jill Hawarth, Cabaret Ensemble, Harold Hastings

You're A Cad - definition of a cad: a man who behaves dishonourably, especially towards a woman... This song has a nice beat and gives me TikTok vibes, but it also gives me Moceit vibes (I say vibes too much) because the singer is saying "you're a villain, a cad, a rascal... But I'm like a fish on a hook for you and I still want you." Also, she has a sweet tooth?

You're A Cad by the bird and the bee

As Far As I Can See - all aboard the angst train, CHOO-CHOO "As far as I can see, nobody loves me. As far as I can tell, nobody loves you either" this song gives me such Roceit vibes because the meaning is pretty simple: if nobody loves Janus, then he'll take everyone down with him. I knew there would be that one song that tries to make me cry for our poor baby.

As Far As I Can See by Phantogram

Criminal - first of all, the cover is beautiful. Apple describes the song as “a description of feeling bad for getting something so easily by using your sexuality.” She also told in an interview: "One of my friends said to me, “Oh yeah, of course you aren’t writing.” So I was like, “The next time you see me, I’m gonna have a new song.” I wrote “Criminal” in 45 minutes when everyone else went to lunch because I had to have a hit. I can force myself to do the work, but only if someone is right up behind me." Which is the level of pettiness I see in Deceit and I am here for it. The context of the song is seduction and manipulation, so Janus using his sexuality to manipulate the other Sides is a cursed thought.

Criminal by Fiona Apple

Change - if any of them listened to Lana Del Rey, I sort of expected it to be Virgil. Change shows how Del Rey has matured, and I feel like it also portrays Janus' ability to adapt. "Change is a powerful thing... I'll be able to be honest..." Does this mean he's trying to change? Will we get more character development? LIGHT SIDE JANUS?

Change by Lana Del Rey

Devil In The Details - this song is about trusting the wrong person and taking advantage of something. "I am the first one I deceive if I can make myself believe the rest is easy.". More angst, yay.

Devil In The Details by Bright Eyes

Come Little Children - if you had a My Little Pony phase, you probably know this song. Come Little Children, also known as "Sarah's Theme" and "Garden of Magic," is a song sung by Sarah Sanderson in the film, Hocus Pocus to hypnotize children to lure them. Manipulation: a common theme.

Come Little Children by Erutan

Into The Unknown - I was really shocked to see this song until I realized, no, it wasn't the same iconic theme from Frozen 2. This short song is from Over The Garden Wall, a show Thomas watches but I have not. "If dreams can't come true, then why not pretend?" The show plays heavily on the battle between dreams and reality (source: Genius). The way I see this, Janus is convincing the Light Sides to do something, or specifically Roman to make his dreams come true through selfish means.

Into The Unknown by The Blasting Company

This playlist is one of the best because every song had me saying “Janus would so sing this". If you have any thoughts, feel free to comment!

As always, take it easy guys gals and non-binary pals peace out

#janus sanders #side tracks #spotify #playlist #deceit #thomas sanders #sanders sides #snake #black hole sun #it seemed the better way #talking at the same time #all the good girls go to hell #billie eilish #denial #trust in me #disney #razzle dazzle #chicago #musical #hadestown #when the chips are down #mandy goes to med school #i put a spell on you #don't tell mama #cabaret #you're a cad #criminal #dukeceit #moceit #roceit

[ts-a-heros-choice]

A Hero’s Choice - Part Three

Welcome/Explanation

Masterpost

(The votes from Part 2 have been counted, and here are the results!)

1 – Help the Duke

2 – Help the Prince

A – Roman

B – Remus

C – Mystery Guy

D – No One

(I used a random name picker to decide who our Mystery Guy is, and I got Janus! Anxceit it is then, though due to the nature of a choose your own adventure style story, it’ll eventually be up to you guys whether or not they actually get together...)

Virgil turned back to the Duke, running over to him and dropping to his knees beside the bleeding hero. He was wearing a costume identical to that of his partner, but in green, black and silver. There was a bright green gem embedded in the chest of his costume, too, which would’ve drawn Virgil’s attention if he wasn’t so focused on the blood.

Virgil didn’t know where to put his hands – didn't want to just touch the hero without warning, that would’ve been creepy – so he just waved them in front of him frantically.

“Do you- do you need help?”

The Duke stared at him like he was stupid. “What the fuck does it look like?”

Then, he gritted his teeth and hissed as the movement seemed to further irritate his wound. His black gloves were stained red, and Virgil absentmindedly wondered if that would ever wash out.

“I... I thought you guys had healing powers!” Virgil exclaimed.

There was a loud thump and crash and a shout behind them, and Virgil quickly looked back over his shoulder, letting out a quiet sigh of relief when he saw the beast fall to the ground, having just been thrown into a wall. The Prince was still injured – lines of red slashed across his shirt, but he was still standing, and other than that he seemed to be mostly okay.

(Virgil had made the right decision. The Prince had superpowers; he could fight just fine without the help of a random civilian.)

Virgil turned back the Duke.

The superhero gave him a weird look – an undecipherable expression that made Virgil quite uncomfortable.  

“I can’t heal myself,” he finally explained. “Ro- Princey has to do it.”

Virgil nodded slowly. “So... you just have to wait ‘til he’s done fighting the beast, then you can heal each other?” He asked hopefully.

The Duke nodded. “Just gotta make sure my guts don’t fall out before then.”

That did not soothe Virgil’s nerves, and his eyes widened.

“We should... put pressure on it?” Virgil suggested, though it came out more like a question as he actually had no idea what he was doing.

The Duke rolled his – startlingly green and ominously glowing – eyes.

“I know what I’m doing,” he said. “It’s not like I haven’t been stabbed before, dumbass.”

“You’ve been stabbed before?” Virgil asked incredulously.

“Duh. I’m a hero, heroes get hurt sometimes.”

Virgil was a tad put off by the hero’s brashness – though perhaps the injury was worsening his mood. Virgil couldn’t imagine being particularly pleased if he’d been stabbed, himself.

“So, uh...” Virgil trailed off. “What can I do to help you, then?”

"Grab my weapon. If the monster gets close, whack it.”

“Bu- I don’t know how to fight!”

“Psh, it’s not that hard.”

The Duke removed one hand from over his wound, trying to reach for his silver morning-star but he winced and hissed when that just worsened his injury. He took a moment – breathing shakily through gritted teeth – before quickly grabbing his weapon, shoving it into Virgil’s hands, and returning his hand to his stomach.

Virgil’s grip on the handle of the morning-star tightened. He looked it over with wide, terrified eyes, then turned back to the Duke, who was staring at him.

Then, Virgil turned around fully – his back now to the hero – and watched the fight that was still going on between the Prince and the beast.

The beast’s colourful fur and skin seemed to be practically impenetrable to the hero’s sword, and wouldn’t stop attacking him. The only thing keeping the Prince on his feet was his enhanced strength, speed and agility, which allowed him to throw the beast whenever he could get a good enough grip on him.

Virgil had never seen a fight like this up close – monsters appeared only a couple times a month, and the rest of the time the heroes used their abilities for fighting regular crime. Usually, when a beast emerged through a portal from a place only known to the people as Elsewhere, regular citizens hid in their homes or designated safe areas, leaving the heroes to fight by themselves.

(Were the fights always this difficult? Did the heroes always get injured this badly, only to heal themselves after it was all over?)

That thought left a bitter taste in Virgil’s mouth.

The Prince got behind the beast, wrapping his arms around one of its hind legs and picking it up as easily as if it was just a small cat. He then threw it into another building, and its bones crunched as it hit the wall. It didn’t get back up, curling up as best as it could and whining like a sick dog.

The Prince took a moment to catch his breath, before he straightened up, placing his hand over the red gem on his chest. It started glowing brightly. A large, swirling portal suddenly appeared in front of him – bright red, without so much as a glimpse to whatever place was on the other side. Then, the Prince walked over to the beast, grabbing him by one of its front legs and swinging it into the portal.

The portal closed behind it, and Virgil finally let out the breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding.

“Thank fuck,” the Duke said. “Now come heal me, you dumb fuck!”

“There’s no need to be so crass, you- oh!” The Prince looked startled when, upon entering the alleyway, he spotted Virgil. “Greetings, noble citizen! I see you’ve been defending my brother, here. Your heroism shall not be forgotten!”

Virgil blinked, dropping the morning-star. “Brother?”

The Duke scoffed. “Nice going, genius. What about ‘secret identities’ do you not understand?”

“If you’re going to be so rude, you heathen, then I won’t heal you.”

Despite the threat, the Prince still walked over to the Duke, moving to crouch at his other side and looking over his brother’s stomach with a concerned expression.

“Fuck off,” the Duke said.

The Prince rolled his eyes. “Move your hands.”

Virgil wasn’t sure whether or not he was supposed to leave, but none of the heroes had told him to, so he just stayed where he was. He watched as the Prince pressed his hands to the Duke’s stomach, pushing his brother’s hands to the side. The gem on his costume began to glow again, as did his gloved hands, and Virgil stared, wide-eyed, as the Duke’s skin slowly started to knit itself back together.

The Duke’s teeth were gritted and he grunted in pain as the healing went on. He tilted his head back and stared up at the sky.

The Prince’s brow pinched together as he worked, and it took a few minutes for the healing for finish. Then, when it was done, he fell back, his own back hitting the opposite wall with a thump.

The Duke was healed – though his costume was still torn and blood-stained – but Virgil was far too focused on the Prince’s eyes fluttering closed. He passed out, and both Virgil and the Duke watched in horror as the gem popped out of his chest, turning into a necklace that hung around the Prince’s neck. His costume disappeared – turning into a regular set of pants and a shirt – and his mask disappeared, too.

For a moment, Virgil was so shocked that the Prince’s now-exposed face hadn’t registered in his mind. And then, he realised that he recognised him.

It was Roman fucking Kingsley. One of the popular kids in his high school.

Someone Virgil knew – they'd rarely spoken, more of a friend of a friend of a friend – but Virgil knew him. Virgil knew him.

…

QUESTION:

What should Virgil do?

1 – Cover his eyes and lie

2 – Don’t and tell the truth

BONUS QUESTION:

What background ship(s) would you like to see?

A – Intrulogical

B – Royality

C – Remile

D – All of the above

E – None of the above 

(Vote in the reblogs/comments, and the options that will receive the most votes will determine the fate of this story! The votes will be counted Monday morning, so vote before then and Part Four will (hopefully) be out next Friday!

For answer 1, Virgil will cover his eyes and pretend he didn’t see the Prince’s identity, whilst for answer 2 he won’t cover his eyes and he’ll be honest about seeing Roman’s face.

- @izzyfandoms)

#me #a hero's choice #sanders sides #sanders sides au #virgil sanders #remus sanders #roman sanders #superhero au #high school au #choose your own adventure au