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always-anxious612 · 7 months

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When Imagination Takes Over (redone)

A/N: As the title suggests, this is a revamp of a fic I did a couple years ago. I normally don't post redos as I'm literally always revisiting and revising fics but I really like this one and I'll never pass up the opportunity to write these two interacting.

Description: the imagination is a very powerful thing that can create something out of nothing but thin air and a simple thought. But what happens when those thoughts are unwanted and a bit too persistent? In other words, it’s time for Roman angst once again, kiddos. Is anyone really surprised?

Pairings: brotherly Creativitwins

Genre: hurt/comfort

Warnings: Intrusive thoughts, paranoia, crying, panic attack, food mention, violence and injury mentioned but it doesn't actually happen just in Roman's head (let me know if I missed anything or if you want anything tagged!)

Word count: 2,955

It had been quite a tiring day in the imagination. Roman had been busy all day trying to stop the dragon witch from terrorizing one of the smaller villages in his kingdom. After a long battle which he, of course, inevitably won the people insisted on having a feast in his honor; and well, how could Roman refuse such a kind offer. It would be rude of him to refuse, really. And sure, maybe the food in the imagination was…well, imaginary; and maybe it would just end up leaving him feeling emptier rather than fuller, but it certainly did taste as good as the real thing and Roman was famished. Besides, it would be distasteful to just leave and deprive the townspeople of his presence, not to mention their joyous celebration would have to be put on hold. What kind of prince would he be if he did that? A bad one, obviously; and he was anything but a bad prince. He wouldn’t stay long anyway, he reasoned. Just long enough to greet everyone and take a few bites of the meal. Surely it wouldn’t take that long....

In hindsight, he really should have known better. He never could seem to get away from conversing with all of his people. Who could blame him? They were quite good company, and they always had a way of convincing him to stay with them for “just a little longer.” By the time he finished celebrating with everyone and insisted that he really should be on his way, the sky had grown dark and was tinged with the fiery reds and pinks of the setting sun. So much for not staying long.

As he bid goodbye to the last of his citizens, Roman sighed dreading the thought of the long walk he had to get back to the mind palace. Silently, he cursed himself for staying as long as he did when he knew he’d be too tired and hungry to properly create a steed or anything to get him back home. The door to the imagination was still quite far off on foot. To be fair, he really had intended to only stay for a short while this time. He sighed again before shrugging off his regrets. What’s done is done he supposed.

Roman started to whistle as he walked, a merry tune to cut through the silence that draped itself over the landscape as he entered the forest. It certainly was much more…creepy than he remembered it being out here. Taking a deep breath, Roman shook off his discomfort, looking around to admire his creation instead. His whistling slowly faded as he looked around and tried to keep his mind away from the less than pleasant thoughts that kept floating around his mind. However, as the sky became steadily darker and the trees shaded the moon, Roman’s uneasiness only grew.

Walking a bit faster, he tried to block out the soft whisper of the wind through the trees that sounded like voices filling the air. It was just his imagination, He told himself, aware of the fact of how ironic that was. The hairs on the back of Roman’s neck tingled with the sense that he was being watched by something just out of sight. It—It was nothing, just his overactive mind. Those were certainly not footsteps behind him, no matter how much he thought he could hear a second step just a beat behind his. It was just his own boots stomping against the ground and kicking up the leaves. A momentary gasp escaped Roman’s lips as he thought he saw eyes glinting out from behind a tree, but no, wait. It was just the barely visible moonlight catching on the dewdrops of the leaves.

Get it together, Roman. He chastised himself, shaking his head. Creepy and horrifying things were Remus’s territory, and Roman knew his kingdom well enough to know he was nowhere near Remus’s part of the imagination. So, there was nothing to worry about, and that was that. He was just too on edge after a long day and a fierce battle. That’s all there was to it. There wasn’t really anything lurking in the shadows, waiting to jump him, it was just his own thoughts running around and making him jumpy. Roman took another deep breath as he tried to push away the thoughts that were plaguing him.

This was ridiculous. He wasn’t scared of the dark or the trees. He was a prince for crying out loud. He—Roman stopped in his tracks. He could have sworn—those weren’t footsteps behind him…were they? Drawing his sword, Roman carefully started back up, his mind racing, his body tense. Again, he heard a definite second pair of steps behind him, but when he whirled around, sword at the ready, no one could be seen. Gulping, he walked faster, just trying to get through the woods. The rational part of his brain screamed that he controlled this place—that he could make it stop, that it wasn’t real, but that part of his brain was starting to drown in his fear. He just needed to get home.

Roman picked up his pace, trying to keep his breaths even and his eyes ahead of him. It was darker now, the leaves above completely blocking out the moon. The breeze had disappeared, but the whispers of the trees had not. They were whispering words that Roman had to strain to hear, and even when he caught a few snippets, he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. But they were whispering.

Roman was running now, desperate to get out. Desperate to get home. He’d dropped his sword somewhere along the way and couldn’t clear his mind enough to summon it again. His thoughts whirled around his head, any semblance of rationale getting caught up in his panic. A flash of yellow eyes behind the trees caught his attention—a flash all too wary and constant to be dewdrops this time. The eyes followed him, moving alongside him and keeping pace with ease. Yet the creature behind the eyes remained completely silent even as Roman’s feet pounded loudly on the earth, cracking twigs and rustling leaves.

The footsteps behind him increased their pace as he increased his own. Roman could feel them gaining on him. He could feel it. He could hear it. Twigs snapping right behind him, leaves rustling against the ground just a second after his own stirred them up. He chanced a glance behind him, but there was still nothing there. There was nothing there, yet he could hear the steps getting closer. They were getting faster, even though he was going the same pace as before. He wasn’t going to be fast enough. The trees, the eyes, the footsteps. They were gaining on him. They were—they were going to get to him. He was too slow. They were too fast. Everything was too much. With a pained cry, Roman stumbled to his knees and curled into himself, covering his ears and squeezing his eyes shut.

Logically, he knew he was in the imagination. Logically, he knew that he could stop this. It was just thoughts come to life. That was what the imagination did. And the imagination was his domain after all. He was the one that was causing all of these things to become real. But those thoughts were drowned out by his fear as quickly as they surfaced, and since when had imagination followed the rules of logic anyway. He was too disoriented to think rationally. Too tired to defend himself. Too scared to do anything other than curl up and desperately cover his ears.

Then there were arms around him, and he was shaking. It had caught up. Whatever was making the footsteps had caught him. Or maybe it was whatever had lurked in the trees, watching his every move. It had finally made its move and pounced. Or maybe the trees had finally had enough of him disturbing their home and had reached out to trap him forever in their embrace.

Roman gasped, trying not to cry as thoughts flew across his mind faster than he had time to fully process them. Thoughts of him decaying here forever alone. Thoughts of being torn limb from limb by the mysterious monsters in the woods. Thoughts of things he couldn’t see twisting their hands around his neck. Thoughts that he couldn’t manage to escape. Thoughts that swirled around him sweeping him deeper into his panic. But then he felt a gentle hand on his back. He felt himself being pulled into someone’s chest and felt the person begin rocking back and forth gently. This was…this was nice?

When nothing immediately tore him apart or wrapped suffocatingly around his body, he risked taking a shuddering breath. The hands around him tensed slightly before one of the hands came up to gently cup his head and press it to the scratchy fabric beneath his face. It took a while, but slowly, Roman relaxed and uncurled himself a bit. It took even longer for him to remove his hands from his ears, choosing instead to grip the figure in front of him and bury his face in the costume. Taking another shaky breath, he started to hear soft words of encouragement being muttered.

“It’s ok, Ro bro. I’ve got you. You’re ok. It wasn’t real.”

Remus. Roman tried to call for his brother, to assure him that he was ok now, but he only managed a whimper. Alright so maybe he wasn’t ok quite yet.

“Hey, it’s ok. I’ll get you out of here, k?” Remus promised, standing and hauling Roman up with him. Once they were standing, Remus draped Roman’s arms over his shoulder and pulled him onto his back before Roman could even protest. He was too tired to argue anyway, and still too shaken to care much as he buried his face in Remus’s scratchy costume, not daring to look up at the surrounding darkness.

A few minutes later, they finally reached the door out of the imagination. Remus bust open the door and shook away Roman’s tight grip before tossing him onto something soft. The familiar glow of the fairy lights in his room immediately calmed him as he finally let himself breathe in full.

“You ok, Ro bro?” Remus asked, voice unusually quiet. “Those were—that was unusual for your side, huh?”

Roman shuddered at the thought of the dark forest and of the creatures lurking there.

“I’m—I’m ok,” He sighed. “Um, thank you, Re.”

“Ew, don’t thank me, you’ve never said thank you in your life,” Remus scoffed, tone shifting immediately as he plopped down next to Roman on the bed. Roman huffed indignantly, trying to shake off any lingering panic.

“Well, excuse me, for being grateful,” he tsked, rolling his eyes.

“You’re not excused,” Remus grinned, reaching over to flick Roman who quickly ducked away.

“You ruined the moment. We were having a bonding moment,” Roman complained swatting at Remus as he continued trying to flick him.

“Gross,” Remus gagged. Roman tsked again, pouting as he turned away. Remus just snickered, falling backwards onto the bed and not getting up. A short silence followed their bickering until Remus sat up and stared at Roman, studying his face uncomfortably closely.

“You know that it’s dangerous to be in the imagination after dark when you’re this exhausted Ro Ro,” He remarked, poking at Roman’s cheek. “I thought doing stupid things was my specialty.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Roman defended, pushing his brother’s hand away with another eyeroll. “I mean, I was busy fighting the dragon witch and then the people wanted to celebrate, and I couldn’t just refuse them, and—and…I guess I ended up staying a bit too long.”

“Please, ‘a bit too long’ my ass. If I hadn’t sensed something was up, you’d be caught in your own head until morning,” Remus pointed out, looking pleased with himself.

“You’re not helping,” Roman grumbled, glaring at his brother. Remus grinned and shrugged.

“Well, brother dear, if you’re ok, I have an appointment with a certain snake and a bag of rats.”

“A bag of—ok, I don’t want to know. It’s—yeah, I’m fine.” Roman replied, waving him off as Remus stood up. To be honest, he wasn’t keen on being left alone again, but he wasn’t about to admit to his brother of all people that despite his efforts, the thoughts still lurked in the corners of his mind. The dark corners of his room had never seemed to intimidating before, and he still couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. Sometimes, things from the imagination could leak out into the Mindscape. It had happened before, granted only when one of them had left the door open, but what if the thing in the woods was still here? What if Remus hadn’t shut the door all the way when they came back? What if whatever had been making the footsteps had followed him? He'd never know until it was too late. The thought of roots writhing up from the dirt and trapping him to the ground as they suffocated him flashed through his mind and he quickly tried to push it away. But what if it happened this time? What if whatever was in the woods would drag him back before he could reach his sword? What if the monster with the yellow eyes was waiting in the shadows for him to let down his guard? What then?

Remus tilted his head, studying him for a moment before throwing himself back onto the bed, snapping into softer clothes and beginning to burrow into Roman’s nest of blankets.

“What the—" Roman muttered, pulled out of his thoughts at the motion.

“On second thought. It’s too comfortable here. Guess good ole Jan will have to wait,” Remus grinned, wiggling around to make himself comfortable.

“You don’t have to stay, Remus. I told you I’m all good,” Roman insisted, not really sure why he was arguing but feeling the need to anyway.

“Too late. You’re stuck with me for tonight,” Remus shrugged, conjuring up a deodorant stick and popping off the lid. Roman cringed slightly as he watched his brother take a huge bite of the deodorant.

“You—I’m really fine, though,” Roman tried again weakly. Remus gave him a weird look before rolling his eyes and sitting up slightly.

“Did you forget already? I can hear what’s going on up there Robro. I know that you don’t wanna be alone right now,” he said, poking at Roman’s forehead as he spoke. Roman paled, looking away. How could he forget that Remus could hear intrusive thoughts. He winced when he thought of what else he might have heard since they’d started getting along again.

“We can have a movie marathon like we used to. As long as I get to pick a few,” Remus suggested when Roman didn’t say anything, lighting up at his idea. Before Roman had the chance to answer, Remus had already grabbed the prince’s laptop and was pulling up movies to watch

“As long as you don’t pick anything with gore,” Roman gave in quickly, sighing softly. At this point, he knew Remus probably wouldn’t leave no matter how much he argued anyway.

“Boo, no fun,” Remus pouted, backspacing whatever he’d been typing in the search bar.

Roman only snorted before quickly running to the bathroom and getting changed out of his dirty prince costume. Instead, he put on some silky pajamas and settled himself beside Remus as his brother started the movie he’d picked, Frankenweenie. Roman glanced at Remus with a raised eyebrow receiving an unhinged grin in return. He knew Remus only picked such a tame movie for his sake; and he felt a wave of appreciation wash over him, almost drowning out the lingering fear that floated in his head. He settled deeper into the blankets and grinned softly.

“Hey, Remus.” he whispered, as the beginning scene began to play.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

Remus glanced over at him and made a face.

“I thought I told you to stop that.”

Roman shrugged, pulling the blankets closer around him. Now that he was finally warm and the fear and adrenaline were fading, he felt the weight of his exhaustion hit him.

“Thought you should know,” he mumbled with a yawn, “You’re—You’re a good brother. I’m glad you’re back.”

Remus was quiet for a while—a feat in itself. Roman would have been worried about the abnormally long silence had he not been on the verge of falling asleep already. Instead, he simply let his head bump against Remus’ shoulder and let his eyes slip closed with another yawn. In fact, he had almost completely drifted off when Remus finally spoke up.

“You’re—You really think I’m a good brother?” he asked, voice unusually shaky.

“’Course,” Roman answered automatically sitting up a little, “but if you ever repeat that, I’ll murder you with my bare hands...and my sword.”

Remus snorted.

“You can try. Sounds like a good time,” he snickered reaching over to flick Roman’s head successfully this time.

“Rude,” Roman mumbled in response rubbing the sore spot on his forehead.

“You’re so sappy when you’re tired,” Remus cackled, noting the fact that Roman didn’t even try to get back at him for the flick. Instead, his brother just huffed, letting his head fall back against Remus’s shoulder. Remus rolled his eyes but let him get comfy again. At least he could no longer hear the swirling thoughts that had plagued Roman since he’d reached him in the imagination. As everything settled down again, Roman drifted off quickly. So quickly that he almost didn’t hear Remus’s next words.

“You’re a good brother too, Robro,” he whispered. “I missed you.”

Roman smiled. The thoughts didn’t come back that night.

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davidthetraveler · 4 years

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David’s Fic-Rec Friday: 2020/03/27

Hey guys. Sorry about last week. With this quarantine in place, I’m having to share the internet with my mother, who has to do all her assistance principal-ing from home now. But we’ve managed to figure out a setup that will let her have the signal strength she needs and will still let me have access.

Of course,that didn’t stop my brother and sister-in-law on insisting we come over for dinner, thus resulting in this getting put out so late tonight, but what can you do?

Anyway, let’s get to this new batch of stories.

Blank - Royality Oneshot by And_There_They_Go_Again (aka @logan-sanders-enthusiast )

To start things off, we’ve got a Royality soulmate AU that starts out angsty but ends on a much brighter note. Everyone knows that at the stroke of midnight on your sixteenth birthday, the first words that your soulmate will say to you appear on your wrist. Roman and Remus are so psyched to receive their words, but only Remus’ appear. Roman’s wrist is left blank. Years later, all the pent up anger and frustration about the pity everyone shows him for not having a soulmate bursts out of him at his college roommate Logan, after which Roman storms out of their dorm in a rage.

But everything changes when he accidentally bumps into another student, causing them to spill their books and papers on the ground. Roman quickly apologizes and starts to gather up their things. But when he returns everything to them, they reply with sign language. Roman starts signing back, but then catches sight of the other boy (Patton)’s wrist, where the apology he just blurted out is written.

This story does mention some darker concepts, including self harm, rampant swearing, and both Remus and Deceit, though the latter is only mentioned and the former is sympathetic. But other than that, it’s all good and absolutely worth your time.

Anything Goes by LetHimBeCaesar (No Tumblr Account)

And now for some pre-relationship Logince. Logan has been taken into the imagination by Roman so as to acquire some dandelion greens for a project. In response, Roman has conjured up an entire field of dandelions, whose seeds are swirling and alighting all around them. One in particular, still intact, lands in Roman’s hair where Logan pulls it out. And at Roman’s prompting he makes a wish. It all might seem so superfluous and pointless, but it is the imagination. And in the imagination, anything goes, including the idea of him and Roman together, which the prince might be wishing for just as much as himself. Soft and simple, and oh so magical.

Two Cute Dorks in Love by PanicAtTheEverywhere (aka @muffin-arts )

Now here we’ve got some soft Moxiety for the soul, though there’s also some background LAMP. Patton can’t seem to find his cat hoodie, and after asking Logan and Roman with little success, he heads off to ask Virgil. But what he finds is Virgil wearing said hoodie and looking more content than Patton’s ever seen him. Happy to oblige with some swapping, Patton pulls on Virgil’s own hoodie, and the share a tender kiss as they express just how much they love each other. Wonderfully sweet, and with the image of some soft boys in comfy sweaters to sweeten the pot, you can’t go wrong with this one.

Professional Spirit Chasers by chemically_imbalanced_romance (aka @soft-stormcloud)

Now this one, I should warn you, does deal with some darker material, and could be problematic for some people, so do be careful and heed the warnings.

Logan and Virgil are an engaged couple who work as Professional Spirit Chasers (title drop). With their new camera man Roman, they’re trying to remove the spirit of a young man named Patton from a recently purchased house who died several years before at his own hands. Virgil, who is a medium, manages to talk him into coming to live with them so he’s not alone anymore. And Patton, under their adoptive care, begins to finally start healing from the pain his life, and death, have caused him.

Obviously this story features a dead major character, references to suicide and depression, some description of injuries, and supernatural elements. But if you can get through all that, then this story is definitely worth a look-see.

The Castle by shnuffeluv (aka @sanderssidesfanfiction)

A short drabble featuring the creativitwins. Remus has just finished building a cardboard castle for Roman, and Roman is delighted at what his regressed brother has made for him, and invites him to join him inside for some classic Disney movies. This story does mention blood, and features both Sympathetic Remus and Age Regression. But is otherwise wonderfully wholesome, as all best brotherly stories are.

Fluffuary 3 - Logince by vicdehart (aka @vicdehart )

Now for some cliche romance, courtesy of our resident Nerd and Prince coupling in another human AU. Roman’s bummed out about the rain preventing them from having their preplanned date outside. But Logan’s not about to let a little weather get his love down, and channels a little cliche romance for some dancing in the rain with his prince. Fluffy and hearfelt in every way you can think of, this thing will rot your teeth out if you don’t die of a sugar high first.

Platonic Ideal by pickledragon (aka @learningthomas)

And here we have a platonic Moxiety human AU for all your familial love needs. Patton comes home from work to his shared place with Virgil. After stewing in his thoughts for a bit, he brings up the subject of adoption with Virgil, who wholeheartedly agrees, reminding him that he is ready and happy to co-parent with him. The author expressly describes their relationship as platonic, but there’s room to interpret it romantically or queerplatonically. Either way, it’s wonderful and heartwarming in all the right ways.

A Lovely Night by The_Fangirl_Sunstorm (aka @the-fangirl-sunstorm )

I am such a sucker for Prinxiety mutual pining get together stories. It’s a wonder they don’t show up more often on these lists. Anyway, Virgil is, rather reluctantly, taking part in this week’s bonding activity with the other light sides. Namely, karaoke in Roman’s room. Virgil gets forced into a duet with Roman, and picks “A Lovely Night” from La La Land, as a clever way to express some of his own unspoken feelings for his duet partner. Afterward, overcome with these emotions, he excuses himself to recover from the overwhelming thoughts of his unrequited feelings, only for Roman to come check on him and reveal those feelings aren’t quite so unrequited. Such a perfect use of a lovely concept.

Tangled In You by MagpieMorality (aka @magpiemorality )

For our last entry, we’re looking at a Logince college AU that hits rather close to home for me (wow, awful lot of Logince stories in this one, eh?) Roman comes back to the dorm shortly after Logan does, and Logan offers to comb through Roman’s long tangled locks to work out the kinks and straighten it out. Which leaves Roman a very soft gay mess in his lap. Simple but oh so wonderfully sweet, this one’s exactly what I wish my partner would do for me. You know, if/when I have long hair again, and if I ever find a partner.

*****

And this week’s Featured Fic Writer is:

Panic_at_the_everywhere (aka @panicattheeverywheremcr)

This German writer has a most excellent talent for writing, and her story Broken, while still in progress, is a wonderful tale deserving of some love and attention. She’s definitely worthy of your time.

*****

Well that’s it for this week. Be sure to give each of these stories and authors some love and affection with some kudos, some comments, and maybe even some bookmarks. And if you’d like to see previous weeks’ recommendations, or learn more about the Fic-Rec Friday Project, you can find all that stuff here on my Fic-Rec Friday Masterpost.

Also, I’m still accepting suggestions for Featured Fic Writers and other stories to recommend. There are no requirements for writers, though it would be preferred that they be lesser known authors.

Finally, if you’d like to be added to my Fic-Rec Friday Tag List, or if you’re on the list and would like to be removed, just let me know and I’ll take care of it.

Stay safe everybody, and happy reading!

General Tag List:

@ultimate-queen-of-fandoms2 @panicattheeverywheremcr

Fic-Rec Friday Tag List:

@kunnuglegur-tortimandi @max-is-tired @creativity-killed-thekitten

#Self Harm Mention TW #Remus Sanders Mention TW #Deceit Sanders Mention TW #Suicide Mention TW #Blood Mention TW #Supernatural Elements #David's Fic-Rec Friday

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