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theonetheycallhannah · 3 years

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The Treatment of Captain Syverson-Chapter 19: Debridement

Characters: Captain Logan “Sy” Syverson, Shane Benton (OFC), various other original supporting/secondary characters

Summary: Shane begins to process life after her trauma, and Sy delivers the news of her safety to the people that matter most to her…but there is pushback on a few aspects of his report.

Romance and Smut Abound HERE!

Word Count: 4.1k

Warnings: Mostly fluff, but with mention of Shane’s trauma in the cellar. Not graphic.

Author’s Note: My darling readers! Thank you so much for your patience as I deal with seasonal stress, fatigue, anxiety, and some depression. It was my goal to have all chapters of this story done by the end of this year. I don’t think I’ll accomplish it, but I’ll do my very best to get at least one more chapter up by the 31st. 2020 has been a totally shit year, but I will forever owe it some remarkable things. This story, which has been an amazing escape from real life, the friends I’ve made from all over my country and the world, many of them because of this story, and a long overdue shift in my work hours starting next week. I’ll be glad to see the back of it, but the year has really opened me up to new ideas and some major soul-searching. I think, mentally, I’m actually more myself than I’ve ever been, despite some blue times. You can all take some credit for that improvement, because many of my moments of clarity have arisen from brilliant and profound posts here.

The title of this chapter seemed appropriate for a few reasons. Wounds are cleaned and cleared of damaged tissue during debridement. This is one of the steps usually required for a large and/or traumatic wound to heal. We see Shane beginning this process here in this chapter, and in a sense, Sy, as well. The cleansing of Shane in both the literal and figurative sense was so interesting and satisfying to write. And Sy’s bit at the end was a fun puzzle in which I had to figure out how to have Sy give the same news to four different recipients without sounding repetitive. I hope that landed, and if anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately for me, Henry is not mine, le sigh, and all mention of him, his characters, any characters from his films, or his precious doggy, Kal, are strictly for transformative and recreational use. I neither ask for, nor accept payment for the work I post on Tumblr or AO3. Unbeta’d because this is for fun and escapism. This is an original work by me, Hannah. Please reblog if you wish to share. Please do not repost either in whole or part, as the work of anyone but myself. Thanks so much for reading!

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If you want to be notified when I post a new chapter or work, I’ll be happy to add you to my tag list! Stricken blogs are getting personal messages from me when a new chapter is uploaded because Tumblr’s faulty tagging system will not stand in the way of me delivering what the people want!(?) lol! (Although…their lackadaisical notification system might…sorry for that. I have no control. lol!)

X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@X@

Shane still felt as if her head was floating above her body, like a balloon on a long string. The combination of meds in her system had helped many of her symptoms. The pain she felt, the physical pain, had been alleviated. Her troubled mind had been put at ease, more or less. But that was a long time ago. And unfortunately, the side effects weren't wearing off at the rapid rate of the intended ones.

As she sat in the SUV--the escape vehicle-- parked outside a large building the size of a small airplane hangar, she tried not to think about what Sy and his pals were discussing just outside the vehicle. She tried not to reflect on the past few days that she had convinced herself would be her last. She tried not to think about what -- or, really, who -- was inside that building.

She thought about seeing Elliott again. The man who had planned to kill her, and almost succeeded. A part of her wished he had, because she wasn't sure she knew who she was anymore. She was a stranger to herself. And living like this seemed so much more difficult than a quick painless death. She couldn't bear the thought of being in view of him.

But another part of her wanted to go in there and end his life herself. That part of her could pull the trigger on a gun aimed at his head. That part of her could bury a knife in his kidney, or sever an artery. Her anatomy and physiology courses could serve her well here. She had dangerous knowledge. Maybe that's why doctors often seem so full of themselves. They possess the knowledge to end life, and yet they choose to save it. It sort of puts things into perspective. Maybe they're justified in their hubris.

Still one more part simply wanted to go home, clean up, and lay naked in her soft sheets with Sy wrapped around her. Warmer and more comforting than any blanket had ever been. She had remembered missing him so much. She thought now about his gentle, loving hands on her, his mouth tasting her so delicately, his…

But then her mind was ripped from the sensual thoughts of Sy and back to her horrific memories from that cellar. The hands of strangers, rough and hateful, their mouths full of words like bile or the grunts of their own violent fulfillment.

Her nightmare of a daydream was abruptly interrupted by the opening of the back passenger door. She jumped, and looked at the source of the noise with wide-eyed terror. It was only Sy, but she couldn't school her face into a softer expression, even after realizing she was safe.

"Oh, Sunshine, I'm so sorry I startled ya! You okay?"

She said nothing, just let out her held breath woefully.

"Let's head home. I'll get your purse and bag of clothes here."

"I don't want those clothes. Throw them away. And these shoes are going in the trash as soon as possible, too."

"Okay. I'll toss it. You sure?"

"I never want to see that bag again. I'm positive."

He nodded, grabbed her purse, and went around to help her out of the vehicle.

One of Sy's friends approached them from the building.

"You guys okay? You'll make it home alright?"

"Yeah, Matt, we'll be okay. I'll be in touch soon about next steps."

"You got it, Captain. Anything you need, let us know."

"Will do. Thanks for everything you've already done. I owe ya."

"You don't owe me a thing, brother. You don't owe any of us. Not after everything you've done for all of us…for everyone."

Sy just nodded at Matt, and turned toward his truck, steadying Shane all the way to the passenger door.

The drive to Shane's house was quiet. Sy kept one hand on the wheel, holding hers in the other. She felt safe, but she couldn't shake the uneasy feeling inside her. Like the other shoe would soon drop, and her love would be taken away again.

When they were safely parked in her driveway, Sy took her keys out of his pocket, apparently having gotten them from his friend who'd drove her car from Elliott's to the airplane hangar place. He walked around to get her, and helped her to her door. She kicked off her shoes immediately when she stepped inside her shadowy living room. She had left the same lamp on that she always did, but it was dimmer now, having been on almost a whole week.

"Bath?" Sy asked. Shane nodded slowly. She would need a long soak to erase this feeling.

Sy got the bath water ready while she found some clothes to put on after. She laid her comfiest lounge pants and her favorite sweat shirt on the bed and walked toward the bathroom. She was soon hit with the comforting aroma of lavender, chamomile, and vanilla as soon as she stepped through the doorway. He had used her favorite bubble bath and salts.

"Check that water temp. I think it's about right." he requested. It was perfect. She started to peel off the stiff paper scrubs she was still wearing, but he insisted on helping her. As she stood before him, even though he'd seen every inch of her body before, she felt more naked and exposed than ever. She looked at him, noticed tears welling in his eyes, and dropped her gaze to the bath mat under her feet. Her skin, typically immaculately clear, olive perfection, was now peppered with dozens of bruises. She felt like a dalmatian, covered in spots. She chuckled inside herself at the thought of one of her favorite Disney films featuring the breed most heavily.

Sy's strong, but gentle hands landed softly on her upper arms. His lips lit tenderly on her forehead. "Ready?" he asked. She nodded and stepped into the large, garden tub full of steaming water. It stung her feet, ankles, and calves, but she still bent to sit, wincing as her tender petals and behind met the medicinal broth. Sy held her hand as she stepped in and guided her down. She closed her eyes at the soothing pain of the hot water and did not open them until she felt the water level rise. Sy had stepped in with her, wearing just his boxer-briefs, and was sitting on the side of the tub. He reached for the hand shower, and turned the water back on, slightly less warm, but still soothing and soaked her hair, directing the water away from her face. He had thought to grab her shampoo from the shower, as well, and was lathering some up in his hands to apply to her wet strands. It felt like heaven to have his fingers in her hair like this. Relaxing and soporific. He kept at it until she was certain he must be getting pruney, not to mention tired.

After carefully rinsing her hair of the coconut-scented lather, he grabbed the lavender foam bath she loved, and worked it up in one of the wash cloths he'd brought from the linen caddy between the sink and shower. He massaged the suds into her tired and injured skin over her back, then requested each leg in turn, kneading her calves and feet as she took another of the cloths and washed her face with the rich cleanser she kept by the bath, typically using it only on her "spa days" but feeling that it would nourish her battered cheeks and nose better than anything else. Sy's ministrations filled her with a kind of blissful contentment. She couldn't help but wonder if she deserved him. She always had thought she deserved the best things in life, even though her romantic past didn't tend to pan out that way. She'd worked very hard and often allowed herself to invest in quality. But now…she felt broken, in spite of herself. She'd have to tell Sy all that happened to her one day, and when that day came, he'd probably realize how damaged she really was, and he'd leave. Just like everyone else always did. She knew the conversation needed to come sooner rather than later, but couldn't bring herself to break the spell yet.

Sy let her soak for as long as she was comfortable until the water grew tepid. She looked up to him, sitting on the side of the tub, legs now outside, his gaze like twin seas met hers. He had been watching her, it seemed. As if worried that she would dematerialize if he looked away. Her bath robe was draped across his lap, as was a large bath towel. She moved to stand from the now chilled bath water, and Sy was immediately up to aid her rising. He held her hand as she stepped out of the tub and dried her top half before helping her don the robe, then continued to dry her bottom half.

"Go on in there and get comfortable, Sunshine. I have a few phone calls to make. I wanna let your folks know you're okay and I wanna tell Detective Clarkson you've been found. Anyone else you want me to get in touch with?"

"Umm, do you know if my brother and sister know what's happened to me?"

"They do. They should both be at your parent's house by now from what I gathered when I visited."

"Okay, so mom or dad will let them know. I guess you should call Susan, and let her know that I'm alive but won't be in this week. On my fridge, there's a phone directory for everyone in my department. But first, call Heather. I don't want her to worry any longer. Call her right after mom and dad. And tell them all I'll have them over tomorrow, but I can't tonight. I'm…"

She didn't even know what she was. Tired, sore, depressed, hopeless, and angry. A combination of so many feelings and emotions coursed through her.

"I'll work it out. You get in bed, and I'll be back in when I'm done with these calls, okay?" she nodded. He continued, "I love you, darlin.'" and wrapped his arms around her, making her feel almost whole again.

"I love you." she replied. Holding back tears until he had left the room.

~~~~~~

Shane realized she hadn't brushed her teeth in…far too long. She donned her sleeping clothes and went into the bathroom again to complete a comprehensive oral hygiene routine. Sy had been gone for about a half hour, during which time, his absence felt like a noose around her neck. Or an anvil on her chest. It made it feel like hours had passed rather than mere minutes. She was fidgety. When he finally re-entered, she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Do you need anything, sweet pea?"

"Just you."

Sy crawled under the covers with Shane to spoon her, arm laying over her rib cage. She winced, as the bruises on her torso were disturbed at the contact, but she didn't ask him to adjust. Despite the dull pain, this was what she needed. Sy's protecting arm around her.

"Did you get a hold of everyone?" She asked, sleepily.

"I did. Your family are eager to see you, but they understand your need for rest. Heather says that you better let her come over soon, because she's holding your phone hostage until you pay her in hugs. They all send their love."

"And Susan?"

"Yeah, that woman is a piece of work, I know, but I think she's going to come through for you. She's going to have them hold off on scheduling patients with you until you're better, and put both weeks in as vacation. She said you have plenty of it. But also, if you need more time, she can work out some…family medical leave…thing? She said she'd get the ball rolling on that, and will let you know what you need to do on your end."

"Oh, good. Yeah, she can be an asshole, but sometimes she does right by her employees. What about the detective?"

Sy paused there. "I, uh, I talked to him for quite a while and he said a lot of things. Let's go over the finer points tomorrow at breakfast. Or, rather, today." He said, looking at the blue numbers on the glowing digital clock on Shane's nightstand that indicated the wee hours of the morning were running out. "I'm sure we're both tired enough to grab a few winks, ain't we?" He asked, and she hummed her ascent as she tucked herself closer to his warm, monolithic chest.

As Shane drifted off, she thought she felt a warm kiss, and a whisper at her temple. It sounded like a tearful prayer. She was too far into her sleep to comprehend the words being said.

"Thank you God," Sy whispered. "I know I'm not your most faithful servant, but I am truly grateful that you've kept this treasure of mine alive and brought her back to me. Thank you for reuniting me with the woman I mean to spend the rest of my days with, if she'll agree to it. Thank you."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About Thirty Minutes Ago-

Sy left the bedroom and began scrolling through his phone for the Benton's number. He pressed the call button with joy.

"Sy?" John answered frantically, just as he did the first time Sy spoke to him.

"John, is everyone there?"

"Yeah, we're all just watching a movie in the family room. Do you have news?"

"I do. You may want to put me on speaker, because everybody's going to want to hear this."

"Okay." and after a brief struggle with the speaker button and help from two younger people Sy presumed were Ethan and Gabby, John was back with the whole family. "Okay, Sy, we can all hear you. What's the word?"

"Oh, it's a very good word, guys. I found Shane and she is alive, and now safe." Cheering from what sounded like a stadium full of fanatics resounded from the ear piece of his cell phone.

"Sy, this is Gabby, Shane's sister. Can we come see her now?" Gabby's tears were evident in her voice. He wished he could tell them yes. But Shane needed her rest.

"I know she would love to see you, Gabby, she'd love to see all of you, but I think what she needs right now is rest. She's been through…a terrible ordeal. I took her to the Emergency Room to get checked out, and she just had a bath and is about to go to bed. She'll want to see you all tomorrow, though. Maybe around lunch time?"

"That sounds good, Sy. We'll bring some of this food over." John said.

"Are you sure we can't come over tonight? I…I want to see my daughter with my own eyes." Margaret said, weepily.

"I truly wish I could tell you yes, Peg, but she's hardly slept the last week, and just had her first full meal since she was taken this evening at the hospital. I really think it's best for everyone if you guys wait until tomorrow when she's more herself and rested." Sy reiterated.

"What about the people who did this to her?" a male voice he didn't recognize asked, assured to be Ethan. "Any leads on them?" He wanted to tell them that most of the men had been dealt with using lethal or nearly lethal force, and that the perpetrator of Shane's misery was locked up in Matt's shop bathroom until they decided just how to take care of him. But he needed to disclose what he knew to as few people as possible.

"The less y'all know, the better. For your own good. At least right now. Just know that whatever justice has not yet been served, it will be very soon."

"That's good enough for me." John offered, in an apparent attempt to bring Ethan on side.

"Thanks, John. I'll take care of her tonight. I won't leave her side. I promise."

"Thank you, son." John replied. Sy appreciated the tender address, but wondered how Ethan felt about his father referring to someone else as his son. Probably not that great. He couldn't worry about that now.

"It's my sincerest pleasure. I want you to know that. She's my world now. I won't let anything else happen to her."

"We know, dear." Peg added.

"Good night. And we'll see y'all tomorrow."

Four incoherent replies rang out before he ended the call. Next was Heather.

"Hello?" she answered in sleepy confusion.

"Heather?"

"Who'sis?"

"It's Logan Syverson. Sy? From PT. Shane's boyfriend."

"Sy! Oh, it's good to hear from you! Any news?"

"The best news, darlin.' Our girl is alive, and home safe." he smiled ear to ear saying the words, but it quickly turned into a wince when Heather shouted for joy in his ear. It was fine. Not like he didn't already have mild tinnitus.

"Oh my GOD! I'm coming over right now!"

"No, Heather, she's resting. She told me she'll see people tomorrow, but I don't think anyone but you and her family should be allowed in right now. She's…well, she's been through seven levels of Hell, and when I look into her eyes, I can still see the fire."

"Shit. Anything I can do?"

"She'll be thrilled to see ya. But tomorrow."

"She better. I have her phone and the ransom is a thousand hugs."

"That's a steep debt." Sy chuckled.

"She can owe me for a while." Heather laughed. "Is she okay?"

What a loaded question. Physically, she was injured, but would heal. Emotionally, that would be more of a journey.

"Honestly, Heather? Not really. The physical stuff is more or less superficial, but…I'm worried about her mental state."

"Poor thing. Please let me know if I can do anything. Anything at all. She's like a sister to me."

"I will. For now, keep the news and the details quiet. I'm gonna call Susan next, and I don't think she'll like it if you know before she does. Just a hunch."

"An accurate one. She'd be furious. I'll keep mum. Thanks so much for putting my mind at ease, Sy. Take care of her."

"I'll do my best. See ya."

He was dreading talking to Susan the most. More than Clarkson. He couldn't quite pinpoint why, but she'd really pissed him off every other time he'd talked to her, and he really didn't think too much of her.

"Hello, this is Susan."

"Hey, Susan, it's Logan Syverson. Shane's boyfriend." He made sure to put the label in there. Remind her that her policy had not been enough to keep them apart.

"Mr. Syverson. Hello. What can I do for you?" her haughty tone was softened a measure with concern for her employee. Even though she didn't ask about her in so many words, he knew that she was wondering.

"Nothing. I just wanted to let ya know, Shane's okay. She's been hurt, and won't be in this coming week, at least. She's in some pain right now, of both a physical and emotional nature."

"What happened?"

"She, uh, hasn't given me a lot of details." Not a lie. "She just escaped from her captor and we found each other." Misleading, but mostly true. "We just got home from the ER." Perhaps a lie by omission of the stop off at Matt's. "They said she'd be okay, but to follow up with her primary for more tests."

"Okay, I'll make sure her schedule is cleared. She has plenty of PTO for these two weeks, but I'll call the FMLA office in charge of family medical leave and short term disability and let them know she'll need some more time off, and see if we can get that going. I'll get with her about the details, and what she'll need to do. I'll text her sometime this week. How's she doing?" Sy thought he heard genuine concern from this dragon woman.

"About as well as someone who's been kidnapped, tortured, and assaulted for a straight week can possibly be, I'd say." Sy's words were civil, but tinged with venom. Even though she was being decent right now, he knew the kind of person she could be.

"Dear God." Susan gasped, shocked at the statement, and Sy wasn't sure whether it was due to the events themselves, or the blunt way he'd told her about them. "Well, I'll do anything I can to help her though this on my end. She's one of my best. I can't…I really don't think I could replace her."

"I'm glad you don't have to try, Susan. Have a nice evenin.'"

"Thanks, Sy, you too."

Sy took a deep breath as he pulled up Clarkson's number and called him. He honestly wasn't completely certain how he was going to explain things, but he'd figure it out. He was good at flyin' by the seat of his pants.

A gruff voice came from the ear piece. "Clarkson."

"Detective, this is Captain Syverson. We spoke about the Benton case a few days ago?"

"I remember you, Sy. What's up?"

"Oh, uh, well, wanted to tell ya you could close the case. I found her." It was the coming conversation in which he would really have to bend the truth or lie altogether.

"Really?! Oh, that's great, man. Where'd ya find 'er."

"I's drivin' 'round, hopin' to come across some lead or sign of her. I was a few miles down highway 100 when I saw a slumped form in one of the ditches. I pulled off at the next drive and went back to check, and it was her. She was hurt, but once she recognized me…I dunno, everything's kind of a blur after that. But I got her checked out at the ER, and brought her home now." Most of that statement was false…but not the recount of them seeing each other for the first time. That was a very real and true fact.

"Highway 100?"

"That's right. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I heard about a terrible, two-vehicle accident on Highway D tonight. No survivors."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that." He wasn't. "I hope there weren't any kids involved." He knew there weren't.

"Nope. All adult males, aged 30-40. Couple of SUVs. One ran off the road, and another…well, it's almost like it was blown up on purpose. Happened just a few miles from town."

"That sounds horrible, but what does an accident on Highway E--"

"It was D. Highway D." Sy knew it was, and had said the wrong thing on purpose.

"My mistake. My question though, is what does that…tragedy have to do with my finding Shane on Highway 100?"

"That's what I'm wondering, myself, Syverson. See, there was some…evidence that suggests military involvement in this incident."

"Well, I'm retired."

"Are you though? Is anyone ever really retired from the armed forces. No veteran I've ever talked to can seem to shake off the war shackles."

"Well, I ain't shackeled, detective. I'm proud of my time serving my country, but I got no cause to relive it or hang on to it. Especially now that I have Shane. She's my life now. That part of it’s over."

"I guess I have to take you at your word, captain. Got no evidence so far that ties you to the scene. Just…be careful. If you do anything retaliatory to Miss Benton's captor or captors, I won't be able to protect you, no matter how I feel about your actions. Or how justified they might be."

"Understood. I will keep that in mind should I decide to take matters into my own hands." he tried not to let the smile on his face show in his voice.

"Right, well…is she okay?"

"I, uh…I think she will be…eventually. She hasn't said much to me about what happened, but I know it was torture, or akin to it. "

"Well, I hope she recovers quickly. I'll want a statement from her before I close the case."

"Sure thing. As soon as she's ready to talk."

"Great. Thanks for the call, Sy. I'm glad she's safe now. That's all that matters, really."

"Agree. Have a good night, Clarkson."

He ended the call and rubbed his face as head in frustration with his free hand. They'd have to come up with a story. A good one. Close enough to the truth that Shane could feel comfortable telling it, but far enough of a departure that they weren't incriminated in any kidnapping, murder, or manslaughter charges.

But for tonight, they’d rest. And just be glad to be together again.

Up Next: Chapter 20-Second Assist

#Sand Castle #netflix sand castle #captain syverson #Captain Syverson x OFC #sigh for sy #henry cavill #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill x ofc

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miguel-manbemel · 3 years

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Aspects & Fanfics Ep. 51: I Just Want a Normal Date Without Sides

Well, it’s been a month of rest and it’s time to resume the main storyline of the blog. In the last episode, we had just left Thomas and Nico meeting and starting a relationship and now we start seeing him involved in Thomas’ daily life. I hope you enjoy this new episode and I leave you with the story. Until next time.

SYNOPSIS: Thomas is about to have his first date with Nico, both of them alone, but he doesn’t feel truly alone if his Sides are around him all the time, so he asks them to enter autopilot and not disturbing him until the date is over. But something’s gonna go wrong in the Mind Palace and Patton is going to put himself in danger...

WARNINGS: Some moments of implied innuendo, romantic dukeceit and logicality. A scene of intense danger where some Sides’ lives are in mortal danger.

EPISODE INDEX

[Thomas is in the living room in his classic spot]

THOMAS: What is up, everybody!? Jeez, it’s been a while since the last time I said this… but if I’m saying it right now it’s because this is the moment when I’m gonna need to gather my Sides for one important petition. So… guys, all of you, could you please come here now!?

[All the Sides rise up around Thomas]

LOGAN: How may we serve you, Thomas?

THOMAS: I’m glad that you ask me that question, Logan, because there is one thing I want to ask you, all of you. As some of you may know, Nico and I are having our first date together tonight, and…

ROMAN: Yes, I’m so excited to see it!

REMUS: [suggestive voice, wiggling his eyebrows] I’m so excited in so many ways too!

VIRGIL: Please, Remus, don’t mention that. You’re rising up my expectations and I think I’m going over the roof!

REMUS: That’s not the only thing I’m rising up, I think…

VIRGIL: Remus!

REMUS: What? It’s not like any of us is naive enough to know that is one of our goals with him, is it?

LOGAN: You’re technically correct, Remus, but don’t forget that these things take time and if you go too fast you could be ruining any chances for Thomas to get into amatory physical intercourse with Nico.

REMUS: Ugh, Teach, only you could make it sound boring with that technical babbling of yours. The word everybody uses has three letters, you know, so it’s not so complicated for you to use it too. It starts with an S, ends with an X and has an E in the middle. Others use a word with four letters starting with F, but if I use it, the series director is gonna bleep me, so f… [bleep] him, I won’t use it.

LOGAN: You just did…

REMUS: I know, I wanted to catch him off guard. Didn’t work, sadly. [looking at the camera with a threatening glance and a low pitch voice] But I’ll keep trying…

VIRGIL: Please, if you don’t stop being so meta, I’m gonna get a headache…

THOMAS: [yelling] Enough! I know it’s me who’s thinking all these thoughts but will you stop verbalizing them and start listening to me for once!? Gosh…

[intro sequence]

LOGAN: Okay, Thomas, calm down. I know these can get on your nerves, but that’s no reason to…

THOMAS: [frowning] When I said “you” I meant all of you, Logan.

LOGAN: Oh… okay, I apologize, Thomas. Please, continue.

THOMAS: [sighs] As I was saying, tonight it’s my first date with Nico, our first date for us both all alone, and I want it to be perfect, without any trouble arising, and… most importantly, without distractions of any kind. I want us both to be alone for real. Do you understand me?

ROMAN: [beat] You lost me…

THOMAS: Well, all of you guys are married, right?

IAN: [dejected voice] Thanks for noticing me…

CHRIS: [same voice] Indeed. We should found a club for singles, right uncle?

IAN: Not a bad idea…

THOMAS: Sorry. Almost all of you. When you guys want to have some alone time with your husband, what do you do?

REMUS: Well, I…

THOMAS: I mean when you’re getting ready before starting the date, Remus, not when you’re on the last act.

REMUS: Oh…

ROMAN: Well, I prepare my room with warm lights, scent of roses, home made cuisine…

THOMAS: But even before that. What’s the first thing you do, so that you make sure nobody disturbs you?

ROMAN: Well, we usually enter autopilot, of course.

THOMAS: Bingo. You guys enter autopilot and in that state I’m completely unable to bother you because you can’t hear me, even if I call you. Unfortunately I can’t do the same, but I can ask you for a favor to achieve the same result. Guys, when my date starts, I want you all to enter autopilot, all of you without exceptions. I don’t want any of you guys to hear or see whatever Nico and I are doing.

REMUS: [mischievous smile] Why? Are you planning on… getting “super romantic”? [wiggles his eyebrows]

THOMAS: [blushing] No! [to himself with a silly smile] Well… not on our first date at least, although I wouldn’t mind if… [clears his throat, then with a serious voice] Anyway, whatever we end up doing is our own business, Remus. Guys, I never ever made a complaint about you entering my life whenever you wanted… [the Sides frown at Thomas] Okay, there was that one time, but you know I was under Ira’s influence when he was still Wrath. When I’m fully myself, I enjoy your company and you know I couldn’t live without you. But some things… require privacy, you know? I want to feel like a normal person having a normal date with a normal but wonderful guy, and I don’t want the sensation of feeling observed to ruin my date. It would be like having eight chaperons and the thought alone drives me hysterical. So, please, guys. I ask you as a friend. Do me that favor. Enter autopilot while I am on my date and do not disturb me under any circumstances until it’s over. Will you do this for me, guys? Please?

ROMAN: [groans, disappointed] I wanted to assist you in your date, but if you don’t want my advice, fine, do as you want.

THOMAS: Even if you don’t know what you’re doing, you’ll still be offering your help unconsciously, Roman, and I thank you for that, and for respecting my wish. Please, don’t be mad at me, Princey.

ROMAN: I’m not mad, I’m just… disappointed that I can’t see you triumphing in your romantic life after wishing it and pushing you into it for so long. But if you think I could be a hindrance for that, I’ll step back. Anything for your happiness, Thomas.

THOMAS: Thank you so much, dear friend.

VIRGIL: You know I hate to enter autopilot. I prefer staying alert or ducking out completely. Knowing I may be doing something to you but not actually knowing what I’m doing causes me a lot of anxiety, Thomas.

THOMAS: No, Virge, I don’t want you to duck out completely, I still want my sense of alertness ready to kick in should anything go wrong.

VIRGIL: Okay, Thomas. I hate to do this, but I’ll do it for you. You owe me one, Sanders.

THOMAS: Thank you so much, Virgil. I really appreciate your effort and I’ll make it up to you, somehow, I promise.

LOGAN: No problem on my part, Thomas. The only feelings I’m interested in studying with interest are Patton’s and mine. You can have your feelings all for yourselves if you like.

THOMAS: Thank you so much, Logan.

PATTON: It’s not gonna be that simple for me, kiddo. I’m literally your feelings. No matter how much in autopilot I am, I’m gonna experience your feelings, even if I don’t know the cause of your feelings. Is that okay with you? Cause to go any further, I’d have to inhibit myself, and then it would be you who wouldn’t experience feelings at all, not to mention I’d be putting my life at risk.

THOMAS: No, Patton, don’t you dare inhibiting yourself! I was expecting something like that. It’s okay if you blind yourself to whatever is happening as much as you can. That’s everything I ask, I would never ask you to put yourself into danger, and I certainly don’t want to put your life at risk just to please me.

PATTON: Okay, kiddo, I’ll do as much as I can, then.

THOMAS: Thank you, Patton.

REMUS: Well, you’re not my boss, Thomas, and I have no intention to…

JANUS: Don’t worry, Thomas, I got this. [seductive voice] Remus, honey, have you forgotten you had promised to dedicate a day to me and only to me, my love? I’m starting to believe you don’t care about me anymore, and I wanted to spend the day… and night… with you… so… badly…

REMUS: [to Thomas] You know what? Keep your silly date for yourself, I’ve got better things to do. Come with me, my love…

[Remus sinks down. Janus does too, not before smirking at Thomas, who smirks back and rises his thumb, mouthing the word “thank you” in silence]

IAN: I guess I’ll have to autopilot myself from Janus too to give him some privacy… Of course you can count on me in giving you some space, Thomas.

THOMAS: Thank you, Ian.

CHRIS: Same for me. Uncle Ian, why don’t we go to Sandersia to visit Ira? It’s been a long time since the last time we did.

IAN: Sounds like a plan. [to the others] Would you like to come with us, guys?

ROMAN: Nah, I have work to do, things to write, and stuff. Thomas may be on a date, but his mind never stops creating in the background, you know? Send my best regards to my brother Roland, guys.

VIRGIL: I’m going with you, guys. I really need something to distract myself from the huge stress I’ll be having today.

THOMAS: If you think it’s going to be too much distress for you, Virgil, I…

VIRGIL: No, it’s okay, I can take it, otherwise the one feeling uncomfortable would be you, and I already give you too much of that on a regular basis, so don’t worry. I’m sure I’ll find something to do with my friends to lift my spirits up.

THOMAS: I really appreciate what you’re doing for me, Virge. I promise I’ll make it up to you.

VIRGIL: You don’t have to, Thomas, but thank you.

CHRIS: [to Logan and Patton] What about you, guys?

PATTON: Well, as a matter of fact, we already had a busy day. Logan asked me to help him write some vocab cards so that he can understand better the subtle emotional charges of certain words and expressions, so that he doesn’t come out as rude or offensive by accident.

THOMAS: Oh, that’s very kind of you, guys.

LOGAN: Yes, I have set myself the goal of understanding feelings better so that I don’t hurt yours by mistake. I do care about you, guys, and your well-being, and I thought the next logical step was to learn that.

THOMAS: We know you care about us, Logan, and despite not fully understanding feelings yet, that doesn’t stop you from trying to adjust to them for us. That’s one of the many things that make you so cool, Logan.

LOGAN: I appreciate hearing that, Thomas. Well, we should be going. [sinks down] Bye, guys.

PATTON: [sinks down] Bye, kiddos. May your date be full of love and joy, Thomas.

ROMAN: I’m leaving now, guys, I’ve got work to do. [sinks down] You won’t believe what I’ve got in store for you, Thomas.

THOMAS: I can’t wait to see it.

CHRIS: Well, if no one else is joining us, we should be leaving. Thank goodness they finally fixed the royal carriages and now they’re as fast as they used to be. Ready, fam?

VIRGIL: Ready, son.

IAN: Me too.

VIRGIL: [sinks down] Off to Sandersia, then.

CHRIS: [sinks down] Bye, Thomas.

IAN: [also sinks down] Bye, Thomas, good luck on your date.

THOMAS: Thanks guys, have fun in Sandersia. [sighs] Well, this went better than I thought. I hope I didn’t hurt any feelings of them, and that they understand my motivations… For once, I don’t wanna be the Light Master or the Dark Master or any Master at all. I want to feel like a human again, like plain old Thomas Sanders. And what Thomas Sanders wants now is to get to know Nico Flores better, and I hope that we discover that we’re meant to each other. I… I really like that dude. Well, Thomas, you should stop talking to yourself, the Sides are gone and in autopilot and for the first time in a long time, you’re on your own. So you better get ready, Thomothy, today it’s your day… here I am, talking to myself again… I’ll better go take a shower so that I can calm my nervousness.

[Thomas goes upstairs heading to his bedroom bathroom. Time goes by and Thomas is already well groomed. He’s been cooking something which is now in the stove. There’s a ring at the door]

THOMAS: Oh, gosh! It must be him! [clears his throat] Calm yourself, Thomas. Everything’s gonna be all right. [takes a deep breath, then sighs] Let’s go.

[Thomas goes to the door and opens. Nico’s there smiling at him and holding a bottle of wine]

NICO: Hi, Thomas.

THOMAS: Hi, Nico. Did you have any trouble to get here?

NICO: No, not really. With a GPS, nobody can get lost these days, right Thomas?

THOMAS: Tell that to the pizza delivery guy, he always gets lost… What are you bringing there?

NICO: Oh, I bought a bottle of red wine. I thought it would be appropriate.

THOMAS: Gee, thanks, Nico. [checks the bottle] Oh, it’s a young wine… a… Rioja? But that’s an imported wine from Spain! That must have cost you a lot, you shouldn’t have!

NICO: It’s okay [tender smile] when you have a date with the best, you only wanna bring the best, right?

THOMAS: [smiles back] Jeez, if you say it like that, how could I argue back?

NICO: Then don’t argue anymore.

[Nico kisses Thomas]

THOMAS: [silly smile] Well, don’t stay there, come in. Should I put this in the fridge?

NICO: Have you got a wine cooler? It would be better to keep it there so that it stays cool but not too cold.

THOMAS: Yes, it’s right here in the kitchen. I’ll fill it with ice cubes and place the bottle inside. Dinner is almost ready, by the way.

NICO: It smells good… and I think the smell looks familiar to me… What are you cooking?

THOMAS: Well, I wanted to make a homage to you, so, after watching tons of tutorials and using my friends these past few days as guinea pigs while I was practicing, I’m making you… Pa… Parrish? Porridge? No, it’s not that… Perril? What is this word? [Nico chortles, Thomas smiles bashfully] Don’t laugh at me, I don’t know Spanish! Wait a second, I’ll check the recipe title… [checks his phone] Pernil!

NICO: Oh, I thought it smelled familiar! That’s a traditional Puerto Rican dish. It reminds me of Christmas with my abuela Carmen. I miss her so bad. She passed away a few months ago…

THOMAS: Oh, shoot, I hope I didn’t trigger any sad memories.

NICO: Sad? Maybe a few, but most of the memories you triggered are happy ones and that’s how I want to remember her. Thank you, Thomas, for taking the effort of honoring my ancestors and my family.

THOMAS: I only hope I can honor them properly and that I don’t mess up with the recipe. I’m not exactly the best cook, you know?

NICO: Judging by the smell, you’re doing great, don’t worry.

THOMAS: I hope so, it’s been five hours in the stove on a moderate temperature, as the recipe said. I hope it comes out right…

NICO: Thomas, relax. Everything’s gonna be fine. Besides, I’m not here to enjoy your food, but to enjoy my boyfriend’s company… What’s wrong? Are you crying?

THOMAS: [emotional] It’s okay, hearing you calling me boyfriend made me emotional. I… I still can’t believe that, after so long, someone decided they wanted to have me as his boyfriend. I had started to think that I would spend the rest of my life alone…

NICO: Well, I’m proud that you decided to have me as your boyfriend. And I’m glad that not other guys decided to give a chance to you… that way I had time to get you and make you all mine. They don’t know what they’re missing, but it’s too late for them.

THOMAS: Gosh… where have you been all this time and why didn’t I meet you sooner, Nico? My life these last few years would have been so much happier if you had been around.

NICO: I’m sorry you had a rough time, Thomas, but now that’s in the past. Let’s just focus on the present and the future, cause I’m not moving away from your side in a long time, if you let me, of course.

THOMAS: If I let you? You better won’t move away, Nico.

[the stove dings]

THOMAS: Oh, time’s up. The roast is ready, so you better sit down while I get the serving ready.

NICO: Thank you so much, sir.

[Nico sits down in the table, which is already ready, even with a red candle decorating in the middle and a bouquet of magas that Nico immediately notices]

NICO: Magas. The national flower of Puerto Rico! You really got set on giving a homage to my heritage, didn’t you?

THOMAS: [while serving the meal on the plates] Of course I did. And it wasn’t easy to find them around here. Most shops tried to sell me hibiscus instead.

NICO: Yeah, they’re pretty similar, but are actually from completely different species of flowers. And you got real magas. You gotta tell me where you found them.

THOMAS: Sure, while we’re having dinner. We’ll have a lot of time to talk about everything. [puts both plates on the table, then opens the bottle of wine and fills both cups and sits down in front of Nico] Well, everything is ready, so enjoy your meal.

NICO: Let’s have a toast first, shall we?

THOMAS: Sure.

NICO: To us. May we have the best evening ever, and may it be the first of many evenings together for the rest of our lifetimes. ¡Salud!

THOMAS: Cheers!

[they rise their cups and drink, then they proceed to eat their dinner. Meanwhile, in Logan’s room, Patton and Logan are writing vocab cards]

PATTON: And this is why you should say this and not that. Got the difference, Logan?

LOGAN: I… I think so, Patton. Wow, feelings are so complicated to manage. And so hard to understand logically. Sometimes it’s just a matter of trial and error. I don’t know if I’ll be able to learn about them as I should.

PATTON: Of course you are, Logan. You are capable of feeling just like anyone of us, and that just makes you able to understand feelings. Sooner or later, you’ll get the grip of it, you’ll see.

LOGAN: I hope you’re right… [suddenly scared] Patton? Patton what’s the matter?

PATTON: [grimacing as if in pain] I… I don’t know. I suddenly felt an oppression in my chest as if it was getting harder for me to breath.

LOGAN: Oh, no, Patton, what can I do for you?

PATTON: I don’t know… I don’t know what’s going on with me. It’s like I’m getting such a strong feeling that it’s overwhelming to me. I can’t literally cope with its strength… Wait, it’s starting to fade… yes… I’m feeling better now… [takes a deep breath] Gosh, that was intense.

LOGAN: But what was that?

PATTON: I can’t know for sure, cause I’m in autopilot, but I suspect Thomas is having a good time with Nico. Perhaps it’s been a sudden rush of true love what I just felt, so sudden and so strong that I got overloaded for a second. Wow… Thomas had never felt such strong feelings before, not even for his ex, who was his first love. Nico truly makes Thomas feel something, right?

LOGAN: Yes, you just said it Patton. But if this is going to put you in danger, I don’t know if…

PATTON: Don’t worry about me, Logan. I’ll get used to it. I better will, because a feeling like this of true love only grows stronger over time. Wait…

LOGAN: What? Another overload?

PATTON: No… someone’s talking to me.

LOGAN: What? I can’t hear anything.

PATTON: Not with words, directly into my feelings… I think it’s the Core. It’s calling me. It wants to tell me something. I must return to the Mind Palace Center.

LOGAN: If you must go, then fine. But this time, I’m going with you.

PATTON: You can’t. We need Thomas to send anyone other than me up there. And he specifically asked us not to bother him tonight.

LOGAN: But it’s too dangerous, I can’t just let you go all alone, just because the Core has suddenly felt the need to chat.

PATTON: Don’t speak about the Core so disrespectfully, please, Logan. It’s the source of everything that Thomas is, was and will be, including us both.

LOGAN: Sorry, I’m just nervous. I can’t just leave you.

PATTON: [sighs] If only there was a way to know when his date is gonna be over without breaking the autopilot… Logan?

LOGAN: Yes, Patton?

PATTON: Could you go to the bedroom and bring me my old cardigan, please?

LOGAN: Your old cardigan? For what, Patton?

PATTON: I need it for something I gotta do. Please, would you be kind and bring it to me. I feel a little weak from the earlier rush and my legs could fail me if I try to climb the stairs.

LOGAN: Okay, as you wish, Patton.

PATTON: Thank you, Logan.

[Logan starts walking to the stairs]

PATTON: Logan?

LOGAN: Yes, Patton?

PATTON: I love you. You know that, right?

LOGAN: Yes, I do, but why do you say that now?

PATTON: Just because. That’s something you must learn about feelings, Logan. It’s never a bad moment to say I love you. And I love you so much.

LOGAN: I… love you back, Patton. I’ll go get your cardigan.

[Logan walks upstairs]

PATTON: I’m sorry, Logan. But I gotta go see the Core, it could be important. I hope you can forgive me.

[Patton stands up, then looks at the ceiling and floats upwards, disappearing in the ceiling. Logan comes back down the stairs]

LOGAN: I can’t find the cardigan, Patton. Is it in your closet or… Patton? Patton, where are you?

[Logan gets scared and starts looking for Patton all around the place and can’t find him]

LOGAN: What have you done Patton? How could you do this to me? I need help… The others are too far away or too busy, so I can only count on him… Roman! Roman, please, I need your help!

[Roman rises up]

ROMAN: What’s wrong, Logan? You must be really distressed if you decided to call me. What is it?

LOGAN: Patton is gone, and I don’t know what to do. To be honest, I don’t know if you can be of much help, but still…

ROMAN: Hang on, Teach, what’s wrong? Where did Patton go?

LOGAN: To the Core. He said the Core called him. I asked him to wait until Thomas was free, so that we could go together, but he wouldn’t wait.

ROMAN: But the Core is dangerous! He shouldn’t have gone on his own!

LOGAN: That’s what I told him. How could he do this to me? He tricked me.

ROMAN: Well, this is a desperate situation, so I’m afraid we have no choice but to call Thomas.

LOGAN: But Patton left like this so that we wouldn’t disturb him.

ROMAN: I understand and that’s brave on his part, but also temerity. It’s too dangerous. Last time he did it, he had no choice because Thomas was unable to help, but now he’s here, there’s absolutely no justification for what he’s done. I’ll call Thomas.

LOGAN: But…

ROMAN: Thomas? It’s me, Roman. Don’t speak or do any gesture, just listen. Thomas, do you hear me? Blink if you do.

[Meanwhile, Thomas is having dessert with Nico, and they’re talking lively, laughing at one of Thomas’ dad jokes. Suddenly Thomas loses his smile, then blinks]

NICO: Thomas? What’s wrong? You suddenly went so serious.

THOMAS: It’s… it’s fine… I just got a little… stomachache. Would you excuse me if I go to the bathroom for a sec? I’m so sorry.

NICO: Of course, you’re in your home. I hope you’re okay.

THOMAS: Yes, I’m… I’m fine, perhaps something is not agreeing with me, but I’ll be fine, don’t worry. I’ll be back as soon as I can.

[Thomas goes to the bathroom and locks the door]

THOMAS: [angry] I just asked you for one thing, Roman, and not that complicated.

ROMAN: [voice in his head] I know, Thomas, and I’m terribly sorry. I would have never bothered you, but this is an emergency… probably a life or death emergency.

THOMAS: [scared] What? What do you mean life or death? What is going on?

ROMAN: Can you go to Logan’s room so that we explain?

THOMAS: I can’t, Roman. Nico is out there and you know that time in the Mind Palace runs faster than in the outer world. Ten minutes there are like one hour here. Nico would get scared if I don’t give signs of life for so long.

ROMAN: Okay, I’ll tell you, then. Patton has gone to the Mind Palace Core on his own.

THOMAS: What!? Why!?

ROMAN: That, I don’t know exactly, Logan didn’t have time to explain the details, but he’s gone on his own and you know how dangerous the Core is.

THOMAS: Gosh, of all the days he could do something like that, he had to choose today?

ROMAN: If you think you can’t come with us, that’s okay, Thomas. We just ask you that you help us travel to the Mind Palace Center so that we can join Patton. Only you can do that, and you can do it from the outer world.

THOMAS: Really? How?

ROMAN: Just picture us in your mind standing in the Mind Palace Center. You know the place, right? If you imagine us there, we’ll be there.

THOMAS: That’s it? That easy? All the effort and struggle to get there the first time could have been solved with me just imagining us there?

ROMAN: You are the Mind Palace itself, Thomas. From the outer world, you can take us wherever you want just with your imagination. And about the previous struggle, the first time we went there, the Dark Master had placed a barrier in the form of a labyrinth, a barrier that no longer exists, so traveling there is not that complicated anymore, as long as you intervene, that is. Ordinary Sides can’t travel there on their own except Patton as a former Master Side.

THOMAS: Okay, then, I’ll do that and hope it works…

NICO: [on the other side of the door] Thomas, are you okay? I hope you didn’t get too sick.

THOMAS: I’m fine, Nico, I’ll be out in a minute, don’t worry.

NICO: Okay…

THOMAS: [low voice] We gotta do this fast. You guys ready?

ROMAN: Ready when you are, and thank you, Thomas.

[Thomas closes his eyes. Meanwhile, Roman and Logan are in Logan’s room]

ROMAN: Okay, Logan, hold my hand. This is gonna be quite a ride.

LOGAN: Okay…

[suddenly the room around Roman and Logan starts getting blurry until it goes completely out of focus and turns into a series of colors without any shape or form]

LOGAN: Whoa, it feels like when I don’t wear my glasses…

[after some seconds, the place around them starts getting sharper until they realize they’re in the Mind Palace Center]

ROMAN: It worked! Thanks, Thomas, you can go back to Nico now.

LOGAN: Patton!

[Roman and Logan get startled by a yell behind them]

PATTON: Guys! Help me! I’m slipping!

[Patton is holding to the rope tied to the stake Patton placed the last time, too close to the Core, so much so that it’s sucking him into it, he’s grabbing the rope with his bare hands]

LOGAN: Patton, hold on! Don’t let go!

PATTON: Watch out! Don’t get too close or you’ll be sucked into the Core too! But help me! Pull from the rope, please! I don’t know how much I’ll be able to resist!

ROMAN: Okay, hold on, padre!

[Roman and Logan start pulling from the rope]

ROMAN: The Core’s attraction is pulling hard from the other side of the rope. It’s very difficult to pull back.

PATTON: Guys, please! Help me! I don’t wanna go!

LOGAN: Hold on, please, Patton!

[Roman and Logan start pulling from the rope at the same time with all their might. The rope slowly starts giving in, but soon they notice that the rope has started deteriorating and breaking apart]

ROMAN: [struggling] Nnnggh! If we don’t pull harder, we’re not gonna make it!

LOGAN: No, I won’t give Patton up!

PATTON: Logan… I’m so sorry… If only I had listened to you…

[the rope starts breaking]

LOGAN: No, no, no! I’m not gonna let this happen!

[Logan approaches Patton carefully while Roman keeps trying to pull, then he extends his hand towards Patton]

PATTON: Don’t do that, Logan, you’ll put yourself in danger!

LOGAN: I don’t care, I gotta save you!

PATTON: But you could die!

LOGAN: [yelling with tears in his eyes] I can’t live without you anyway! Try to hold my hand, Patton!

PATTON: I’ll try…

[Patton tries to hold Patton’s hand. Then the rope snaps and Patton starts flying towards the Core]

PATTON: [screeching] Oh, no-no-no! Logan!

LOGAN: [yelling] Patton!

[suddenly, in an act of instinct, Logan stretches his arm and holds Patton’s hand. This way, he stops Patton’s flight into the Core, but then both start getting pulled towards it. Logan stretches his other arm and holds the stake where the rope was tied]

LOGAN: Nngh! With the stretchy arms I lose almost all of my resistance, I can barely hold on!

PATTON: Logan, there’s no hope for me anymore! Let me go, or you’ll be sucked into the Core too!

LOGAN: Never! We both will be saved, or we both will end into the Core together!

ROMAN: Both of you, hold on! Now that Logan is standing mostly still, I can conjure a rope tied around his waist and that could be the solution, but try not to move, Logan!

LOGAN: The Core is pulling hard but I’ll do my best.

[Roman tries to conjure a rope, but in he critical moment, a sudden force pulls from Logan and makes him shake, so the rope appears untied]

ROMAN: Dang it!

LOGAN: Sorry, the Core pulled from me.

ROMAN: [making the rope disappear] It’s okay, I can try again, but try not to move, Logan.

[Roman tries again. This time, Logan manages to stand still and the rope appears securely tied around his waist]

ROMAN: Yes! That’s more like it!

LOGAN: Well done, Roman! Now pull.

[Roman tries to pull with all his strength, but the rope doesn’t move an inch]

ROMAN: [struggling] I don’t know if I can do this all alone, guys… it’s too hard… But I won’t let you go!

LOGAN: Roman, your hands are bleeding! It’s from the chafing of the rope!

ROMAN: I don’t care! I won’t let go, even if I lose my hands in the process!

[suddenly, Thomas and all the Sides appear in the place]

THOMAS: Hold on, guys!

ROMAN: Guys! Oh, for the love of Aphrodite, I’m so happy to see you!

LOGAN: Good timing, guys!

[they all start pulling from the rope at the same time. With the combined strength of all of them, it is a much easier task, and soon, Logan and Patton are out of danger. Logan’s arms return to normal as he hugs Patton tightly]

LOGAN: Patton, goodness gracious, I thought I was losing you…

PATTON: [whining] Logan, Logan!

ROMAN: Thank you, guys… But Thomas, what happened with your date?

THOMAS: I heard Logan’s yell about Patton before you closed the mental connection. I couldn’t just stay there enjoying myself on a date. Even if that date was important to me, there are chances for many more dates, and your safety, guys, is the most important thing to me. So I told Nico that I was feeling really sick and asked him if he would have any trouble in ending the date sooner, promising him that I’d repay him as soon as I felt better, and he accepted. He’s such a wonderful guy. I hope I didn’t upset him.

PATTON: I’m so sorry, Thomas. That is exactly what I was trying to avoid…

LOGAN: [angry and yelling] You nearly killed yourself over this stupidity you have just incurred into! What were you thinking? I told you to wait and you tricked me so you could go on your own! Do you have any idea of how you made me feel? I felt like a fool, but worst of all, I felt left behind! I’m your husband, I’m supposed to be by your side in good times and bad, but you left me behind! I…

[Logan starts crying]

PATTON: I’m so sorry, Logan. I was just so worried… and the Core just kept calling and calling… I couldn’t just ignore it… but you’re right, I shouldn’t have done this. I put myself into danger and I almost dragged you with me. I have no excuse and I’m sorry. I hope you can forgive me, Logan. All of you, guys.

LOGAN: [still crying] Don’t ever do that again… I thought I’d never see you again. I love you. You’re the only one I’ve ever loved and I don’t know if I’d ever be able to learn to love again if you disappear from my life. Please, don’t do that again, Patton. I don’t wanna lose you.

PATTON: [emotional, hugging Logan] I promise, Logan, I promise. And I love you too.

THOMAS: Was all of this worth it, though? Patton, you mentioned that the Core was calling you. I presume you went to talk to him like the last time. Did you get something from it?

PATTON: Yes, before the rope I tied around my waist suddenly got untied, probably because the Core’s influence slowly deteriorated it, as it was the same rope that I left here from the last time, I got to communicate with the Core again.

THOMAS: Well, and what did he say?

PATTON: Virgil, Roman, the Core has revealed to me a way to bring your son Dillon back with us and away from the Paladin’s control.

VIRGIL: What? Really?

ROMAN: Oh, gosh, Patton, if that’s true, I’d be forever grateful to you.

PATTON: However, Thomas, this comes with a risk for you.

THOMAS: A risk? What do you mean?

PATTON: A risk for you… and for Nico.

[Thomas looks at Patton, not knowing what to say]

[ending card]

THOMAS: I don’t understand, Patton. What does Nico have to do with all of this?

PATTON: The Core spoke to me, Thomas. He told me that something has changed inside of it the moment you first put your eyes on Nico. A force, stronger than anyone, has started filling it and it is a force strong enough to overcome the Paladin’s control over Dillon. But, in order to make use of that force… we need Nico to enter the Mind Palace and stand by your side when you face the Paladin. The two of you together are completely unstoppable.

THOMAS: But I didn’t want to reveal my secret to Nico. What if I scare him? What if he refuses to help me and at the same time breaks up with me? And what is more important, I don’t want to put him into any kind of danger.

PATTON: I don’t think Nico would really be endangered, as long as he stayed with you all the time, as I told you, you two are unstoppable. And about the rest, Nico loves you, Thomas. It only has taken you two a few weeks to build a love so strong that could banish the forces of darkness inside your mind world. I doubt he would break up with you, Thomas.

THOMAS: You doubt it, so you think there’s a chance he could do it. I… I don’t know if I’m ready for such a risk.

[Roman looks at Virgil and they both share a glance of agreement]

ROMAN: We understand, Thomas. We would never put your happiness on risk. We’ll find another way.

PATTON: Sorry if I’m pushy, but there’s one more thing the Core said. Dillon is running out of time. The possession that has happened to him is in some aspects similar to when a Sprite bites someone of us. Once the Paladin has spent enough time inside of his body, the real Dillon will be no more. It is a much slower process than with Sprites, because the Paladin doesn’t have a real physical form like them, but the process is still going on and if you don’t hurry, there will be no way to undo it.

VIRGIL: That’s something that breaks my heart, dad. But still, it’s Thomas’ choice. It kills me to think of such fate for my son but… I don’t want to make Thomas miserable.

THOMAS: No, guys, I have thought about it. If I am to start a relation with Nico in the hope of making it last for a lifetime… there can be no secrets between us. Nico needs to love me as I am, with all its consequences. Besides, if I have shared my secret with a lot of my best friends, it’s only natural that I share it too with the love of my life, isn’t it? I’ll talk to Nico.

ROMAN: Are you sure, Thomas? Don’t feel forced to do so just for us.

THOMAS: Yes, I’m sure. I have to tell him. For Dillon, but also for myself. I need to tell Nico my secret. And I really hope he still loves me when he knows the truth about me.

ROMAN: Okay, Thomas. Thank you so much.

THOMAS: Don’t mention.

PATTON: And Roman, there’s one more thing the Core told me. It was a message… for you.

ROMAN: For me?

PATTON: It wants you to know that what you wrote on the last page of your diary… is true. It was him. I don’t know what that means but the Core told me you would understand.

[Roman looks at Patton, at first without any reaction, then streams of tears fall down his cheeks as he shows a bittersweet smile]

ROMAN: Thank you, Patton… You have just made me… the happiest prince in the world. Happiest and terrified at the same time, but you have given me so much hope. Gosh, I love you so much, my dear friend… no, my dear father.

[Roman hugs Patton and Patton hugs him back]

PATTON: Happy to help, my dear son-in-law. Whatever I did, I’m happy to help.

[everyone looks at them with an expression of emotion]

VIRGIL: Am I the only one who is completely lost or is it just me?

[no one seems to hear Virgil as they’re busy cleaning their own tears]

VIRGIL: [shedding] Oh, never mind, he’ll explain later, I guess. Now it’s time for panic and or crying… or even better, just plain crying…

[they all stay like that, emotional, looking at them]

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kieraswriting · 4 years

Text

Coffin Chapter Twenty-Eight

Masterpost

Roman ran into the living room when he heard Patton screech. “It’s what?!”

“What is?” Roman demanded.

Patton shushed him, gesturing emphatically at the tv screen.

“As according to even the lowest reports,” the lady was saying . “95% of the vampires have been rounded up now. There will still be people available to take your calls if you suspect you’ve seen a vampire, and we highly encourage you to keep turning them in. We will still be here to serve you, just in a less invasive manner.”

“What’s going on?” Roman whispered.

“She said the sweep is over.” Patton whispered back, his eyes fixed on the screen.

“It’s what?!”

“Shh!”

In the next weeks, we’ll be working on transitioning the vampires into controlled work environments. They will be in public, but carefully controlled. There is no reason for fear if you should see them. However, we would ask that you refrain from bothering the handlers, as that increases the risk, however slightly.

•^*^••

“They’re what?!” Dee said, turning the radio up.

“Yes, we can confirm that the sweep is over. The vampires of course will still be arrested if they are discovered, but there will be no more searching of homes without warrants.”

“Well, that’s good.” The other person on the radio program said. “As much as I’m glad to have the vampires gone, it’s very disconcerting to have people storming into your house.”

“Yes, that is a large part of why the sweep has officially ended. Individuals will have to take more responsibility to hand in the remaining hidden vampires, but this way we can have back our freedoms and privacy.”

Dee looked over at Thomas, who was just as wide-eyed. “Can we…?”

“Not home, they know us there. But we can make a new home.”

Dee was just as fine with a new home as with the old one. He nodded enthusiastically.

•^*^••

Liam searched the house. According to reports from the neighbors, Logan had been seen here, but no sign of Patton, and there were only three people staying in the house.

So Patton and the vampire that held him under thrall were somewhere else, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t clues. However, everything he saw was merely personal items. And they didn’t seem to match the supposed inhabitants. Perhaps they’d managed to kick out the original inhabitants. Some vampires did seem to have hypnotic powers.

He kept searching, letting out a slight growl under his breath in frustration, and ignoring the looks his men were giving each other.

•^*^••

Virgil hadn’t had a phone in ages. He had… not really friends, just some nice people online he used to talk to sometimes, and he wondered how they were doing.

Between the three of them, they had Roman’s phone and a burner phone that couldn’t do much other than call.

Part of it was that he was bored, part of it was that he was just thinking about old times, and part was just the relief of the sweep being over. But he wanted to try talking to his fr-- acquaintances, really, and it had been at least a year since he’d talked to any of them, they probably were even less than that now. But still.

“Um… Roman?”

“Hmm?” Roman looked up from the fire. That had been his way of not getting bored, keeping the fire going. Between cutting work and tending the fire almost constantly, it seemed to be working for him.

“Can I…” It felt weird… bad… asking for something as personal and valued as a phone. “CanIborrowyourphoneIswearI’lltakecareofit--”

“Woah, slow down, you want my phone?”

Virgil hesitated, but nodded.

“Yeah, sure. It’s plugged in on the kitchen counter. We’ll do the bonfire in an hour or so, but you can have it till then.”

Virgil was very surprised that Roman would just let him have it, without asking why or anything. “Thanks.”

“Oh, wait, you’ll need a password. Uh… I don’t, really want to tell you, it’s kinda personal, but if you bring it here I’ll type it in.”

Virgil was even more surprised, but the password was quickly typed in and Roman handed him the phone back, cracking a joke about not downloading any viruses.

Virgil waited a long few minutes, sitting up on the kitchen counter and just staring at the home screen. It had a picture of Roman, Patton, and Logan, with Roman and Patton squishing Logan into a group hug. He felt a pang of guilt that he was the one here with them, instead of Logan.

And then he got over his anxiety enough to sign in to tumblr. Yeah, yeah, he knew it was technically ‘dead’, but that didn’t matter. He could be strange there, and instead of picking at him or just leaving him alone, everyone else was pretty strange there too.

He wasn’t terribly surprised to see 99+ notifications, since he hadn’t checked it in a year or two, but he was surprised to see that so many of them were mentions and direct messages. He nearly broke down in tears seeing how concerned people had been for him. They’d left kind messages, ‘for whenever he came back’, and they’d started chains of ‘loving V hours’. One of his old friends had sent him a message every week, even if it was something like ‘hey, come back, idiot, we miss you’.

So he messaged them first.

Ummm….. I’m back?

They didn’t respond immediately, probably didn’t have notifications on, or busy or something, and Virgil started scrolling through his dash. The tears swimming around in his eyes fell when he saw the post. It was someone advocating for the vampires. Saying that, no matter what they’d done, they didn’t deserve to be massacred. Virgil went to the blog, and saw that she was getting a lot of hate, but was making and reblogging things supporting the vampires, and ‘conspiracy theories’ about how they were treated that he knew to be true. He followed immediately. He kept scrolling, and found a few people agreeing with her, a very few supporting and sharing information around.

He’d always been interested in conspiracy theories, in cryptids, he wouldn’t be giving himself away to reblog some of these.

A fwip sound made him jump and then smile.

V!!!!!!!!! Where’ve you been!!!!!!????????

Virgil smiled wide. Lost my phone, kicked out of home, you know, all the stuff you warned me about. It’s really nice to hear from you.

Nice to hear from me???? Do you have any IDEA how nice it is to hear from YOU??????!!!!

XD I’m fine.

Did you really get kicked out of your home?!?

Lol, kinda. I’m staying with some nice people though. They’re even letting me use their phone.

That’s good, but what happened????!!!

Virgil thought about it. How much could he say? They didn’t know where he lived, and he didn’t even live there anymore. They knew his full first name, but not his last name. He’d… probably be safe talking to them. He always had been, when he told them about other things.

I saw the things you’ve been reblogging. Man, things are crazy. Are you doing alright with it all?? You didn’t have police bothering you or anything, right?

It’s a long story.

You think after this whole time that I’m not dying to hear long stories????!!!! I haven’t heard from you in ages! I want to know everything!

Well, you know about my dad, and all that….

He’s an abusive douchebag, yes.

Virgil had to give a small smile at that. They’d been the first person to call his dad abusive, and they’d helped him realize it too.

So… Dad was also a vampire…

Not surprising, all things considered. Did he hurt you?????

You remember that one lady I told you about?

The creepy fae lady? Did. Your Dad. Hurt you? I will find you and bust his face in, V, I swear.

I mean… kinda? Well, I guess I can’t say kinda. So he’s been drinking from me my whole life, and he went… way too far one time. The lady found me, oh, and she’s a vampire too, and she turned me to try and save my life. I went to live with her for a long time.

There was a long wait, and then a meme of John Mulaney, “Now we don’t have time to unpack all of that.”

So… you’re a vampire now?

Yeah.

And you’re safe. No police?

At the moment.

Ok, I’m gonna need a bit to adjust to the whole you’re a vampire thing, but before that-- At. The. Moment???? Who hurt you now????!!!?

There came the tears again. It was far too easy to cry right now. But to have his friend accept him so readily… and still ready to rail at people who would hurt him?! It was just a lot. More than a lot, and it made him so happy.

And don’t you dare say long story! Tell me what happened!

I got caught by hunters, before the sweep.

Another meme, “Now we aren’t just gonna skim past this like you didn’t just say what you just said.”

Please. Slow down and tell me what actually happened. You’re hitting me with some big revelations, and I need some details in between those.

Virgil went back to the beginning, writing out his story, and just avoiding names and places, just in case. It wasn’t easy, and by the end he was fighting back tears again. His friend wasn’t, they kept sending sobbing faces, and alternately saying how sorry they were that something like this would happen and raging against the people that had done it.

V, you don’t have to do this, but I think you should write that down. Make a post of it. I’ve seen the theories I don’t even know how many times, but I never got close to guessing how true they were. You… you really, really, don’t have to, and definitely don’t put your face in them, but taking pictures of the scars would really make it a lot more real to people.

Would it do any good?

I think it could do worlds of good. I’ve never heard things like this. NEVER. I absolutely believe you, and I think other people would too. Use a fake name, make a new blog, heck, make a whole new account, you don’t want people tracing this. But I really think you should do it.

Virgil hesitated again. He didn’t think he could take hate online.

I’ll help you, and I’ll get some other people too, if you don’t mind me telling them your story. I won’t tell them your name or anything.

You think… an ask blog? In case people have questions?

Yes. That’s a brilliant idea.

I won’t have a phone all the time…

I’ll help run it, and answer as best as I can.

It’s… It’s so nice to have you here, and here for me.

Always, V.

•^*^••

Virgil was quiet during the bonfire, but it was the thinking kind of quiet, not the anxious kind, which helped Patton feel better about it. They’d managed to get marshmallows, and to roast them. Virgil had hoped he could eat just one without problems, which, well, didn’t work out, but after that he ate a whole lot of them, ‘just to spite his body’.

They ended up laying on blankets near the fire, looking up through the leaves at the few stars they could see.

“Thanks for keeping me with you,” Virgil said. “I’ve… I’ve been thinking about the past, and if you’d sent me back, or…” his voice strangled a bit. “Or kept me in that coffin…”

“Virgil, I’m so, so glad that you’re here with us now.” Patton said. “I wouldn’t be the same person I am without you. If… Looking back on it, the very idea of leaving you there makes me sick.”

“You’re an important kid, and I’m glad we have you,” Roman said.

Virgil just nodded silently, curling in on himself a little.

Patton locked eyes with Roman, and they each had the same idea, moving to Virgil’s blanket and sandwiching him between them. There was no protest from Virgil, and he even grabbed their hands, squeezing silently.

Patton gave a soft squeeze back. “We’re here now, and we have you, and we won’t let go.”

“No, we won’t.” Roman echoed.

“Thank you,” Virgil said, his voice rather choked up, but a watery smile on his face.

#sanders sides #vampire au #vampires #blood #virgil sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #janus sanders #remus sanders #emile picani #remy sleep #my own work #coffin #violence #speciesism #vampire virgil #platonic moxiety

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illshowyourhurricanes · 4 years

Text

Flash: Zoom (Part one)

Sometimes, there’s this thing that happens and a request grows a mind of it’s own, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. This is what happened here, and the culprit is @something-tofightfor, who snatched up this image prompt and made a request before anyone else had the chance:

This one is something a little differently than I’ve done before, and with that being said, it’s quite the ride, but a fun one! Here, we see Billy as a Marine, and over a decade later, as a TBI patient. Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy-- there’s a lot more to come in this one!

Image prompt 7: Billy Russo x reader

Rating: R for language; possible trigger warning in mentions of crime and mental health

Word count: 3530

Tag list: @obscurilicious @the-blind-assassin-12 @something-tofightfor @logan-deloss @lexxierave @madamrogers @yannii04 @gollyderek @carlaangel86 @maydayfigment @vetseras @thisisparadisemylove @malionnes @thesandbeneathmytoes @crushed-pink-petals-writes @delos-destinations @luminex3 @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes @tenhargreeves @witchygagirl @fific7

As always, if you’d like to be added to or removed from my tag list, just shoot me an ask or DM!

Billy smiled like he’d never seen the atrocities of war. He grinned, and he showcased perfectly straight, unnaturally white teeth. His expression always reached his eyes, dark eyelashes framing his lids and accentuating the slight upturning of the corner of each, the left and the right. His jaw, strong and angular, could cut glass. Billy Russo was so organically gorgeous, so naturally photogenic, it was frustrating.

“People spend all of their money and years of their lives to maybe get photographed for a damn JC Penney catalog, yet here you are putting zero effort forth and looking like this.” You stopped fanning the instant Polaroid, took one more look, and rolled your eyes, offering the photograph to Billy. “Take a look, George Clooney.”

Billy smirked and plucked the photo from your fingers, giving it a quick glance before handing it back. “Imagine how much better they’d come out if you let me buy you a real camera. What’s your brand, Y/N? Nikon? Canon?” Billy turned toward you, his palms skimming down the length of your arms. “You want somethin’ digital?”

You cocked your head at Billy. His hands had dropped to your hips. “Polaroid. Classic. I’m all about instant gratification, Russo.”

Billy laughed in a deep timbre, pulling you closer and into a lingering hug. “One day,” he spoke into your hair. “When you grow into having patience… patience waiting for me until that next time I come home… I’m buying you that camera.” His New York accent was coming through strong, and that tended to happen when Billy really believed in something. You tightened your arms that were circled around his middle and pressed your cheek to Billy’s chest, listening for his heartbeat.

As you listened to that rhythm, your face fell and your posture deflated with your exhale. You slumped your shoulders and your arms dropped from Billy’s midsection, but you continued to linger in his arms. He always made sure to speak as if coming back was a guarantee; as if fighting on the front lines in Kandahar was just a normal trip overseas. You swallowed past a lump that had formed in your throat. You wouldn’t succumb to it in front of Billy. Not yet.

He was attuned to your posture, however small the shift in the way you carried yourself may be. Billy was attentive— he knew things about you, little nuances, unconscious mannerisms or habits, why you hated steak fries but loved waffle fries. There was a file in his brain, one specifically dedicated to you. He cared about you, your well-being and your happiness… your life. And he was a part of it, an essential part, whether he knew it or not. When he was gone, across oceans and continents and hemispheres, he took that essential part of your life with him.

It wasn’t lost on you that you were long past the falling head-over-heels, missing meals because your thoughts were all- consuming, dreamy-eyed and irrevocably smitten phase of what you had with Billy. You cared about him a lot, maybe more than he cared about you. The two of you had never exchanged “I love you”s; it was very rare and circumstantial the handful of times you or Billy talked about the future. And he’d made nods toward that precarious, never guaranteed place twice in just the last 10 minutes.

Lifting your head, you looked up at him, that woozy feeling of being drunk with one look into his darkened eyes very akin to that intoxicating feeling that came with love. “I’m holding you to that, Lieutenant.”

***** *****

You’d snagged a job with a popular psychiatric publication, and you chalked it all up to luck. Between your blog, business cards, spending all of your free time (and money) advertising, and networking with anyone who’d pay the smallest bit of attention, your name had been mentioned to a person with serious media connections. A random, brief phone call during a leisurely shoot one afternoon in the park resulted in a request for a viewing of your portfolio. Deemed “supremely impressive”, you were hired for a very specific field job.

That was how you ended up at Sacred Saints Hospital, deep in the heart of New York City.

New York was home, yet you’d been away for a good amount of time, traveling to build up your portfolio. The health facility you were to feature in the job you’d be hired for was a well-known facility. Sacred Saints was expansive, offering physical health services—surgery and recovery, intensive care, extensive stay— as well as mental health services and rehabilitation. Your goal for the piece was to photograph a host of mental health-centered techniques and options while still presenting patients as “normal” human beings, human beings that were not untouchable and should not be stigmatized.

The challenge was going to be finding a balance between clear, clinical photos and those of therapy at work versus the personal aspect of mental health care. Whatever got written wasn’t up to you, but one of your niches was getting shots of moments that captured emotion: someone throwing their head back in laughter, a person staring blankly, eyes full with tears of grief. You could only hope those shots would provoke receptive emotions in their viewers. Photography was deeply personal work when allowed to be. It was also a matter of legality in many situations, and this was one of them.

You needed clearance. The publication had kicked things off by securing permissions from the hospital-- you’d been issued a temporary badge for security issues, identification and such, and being cleared to enter the wards. The rest of what was required was consent from patients being photographed. The latter was much trickier given certain mental disabilities and the quick unpredictability that came with some personality disorders and brain injuries, but it was necessary, no exception. Day 1 was mostly dedicated to obtaining patient consent.

You treaded lightly. These people were still mothers, sons, sisters, uncles, still human… still people. They had the right of integrity, and you weren’t there to take that from them; you were there to bring awareness to the public, to remind everyone on the outside that the people inside of this facility were no different than those that read the magazine… that humanity is something every person deserves and should be given.

You were satisfied with your work for the afternoon, which had been surprisingly productive. A small stack of patient consent forms had been signed, and if you could get one to two more, you could start with your favorite part of the job-- the actual photography-- the next day.

Not merely content but happy, you walked along the tile floor of the main corridor with your camera hanging around your neck. The glint of artificial light reflecting off something shiny grabbed your attention; it was a badge on a policeman’s uniform, just above his left chest pocket. You felt a sudden surge of adrenaline. Another deputy appeared from the threshold of what appeared to be the same room and your footsteps quickened, your shoulders and head held higher as you approached them. As far as you’d seen, there were no other rooms guarded by any sort of law enforcement official on the ward. Your mouth was dry in anticipation; you knew you had to get into that room, to do all you could to coerce the patient to be photographed. It was blatantly obvious they had something no one else at Sacred Saints did, and that something needed to be captured on film. With a professional nod and a smile, you greeted the policemen, showing them your temporary badge of secured access and offering a short summary of what your goal was.

“I did notice you’re the only two officials on the ward,” you added, coming toward the end of your hopefully successful allowed entry of the room to your right. You’d only gotten one quick glance through the square-paned window set in the patient’s door and the only thing you could make out was dark hair, cropped close to the skull.

One of the deputies, a short and stocky male with a no-nonsense expression, eyed you with one raised brow. “We ain’t here for fun, lady. He’s convicted of multiple felonies, including several counts of murder for starters. This ain’t the circus… though the asshole looks like a sideshow freak.” He elbowed his partner in a jovial manner, the two of them snickering.

You narrowed your eyes at both officials, a total lack of any sort of amusement apparent on your face. You were seriously doubting this level of holding guard was necessary, as if these two clowns were serving a purpose standing outside of this person’s room dehumanizing him to a stranger.

“I understand he’s a felon, officer, but the two of you seem like competent individuals.” Taking a long stride to peek more closely into the patient’s room, the taller of the guards stepped in front of you. Holding up your hand, you continued to speak. “It seems he’s restrained to the bed, his arms and legs are strapped like he’s in a straight-jacket. What harm can he possibly do in such a position?”

The steeled look you’d been given by the cop attempting to block you from entering softened marginally as you stated the obvious. The patient couldn’t move from the bed, convicted felon or not. He was utterly powerless.

“You ain’t gonna get nothin’, lady,” the first man you’d encountered piped up. “He claims he got no clue why he’s in here, don’t remember, nothin’.” This policeman’s thick Brooklyn accent gave you some sort of uneasy deja vu, but you couldn’t put together the pieces, what it was a reminder of.

“I just want to ask if I can take his picture. No coercion, a simple yes or no question. It won’t take longer than five minutes, if that long, and you can see the entire interaction if you open those blinds.” There were windows the length of the room on either side, though the view was obstructed by cheap, plastic blinds, drawn so no outside view was available.

Both officers looked extremely bored, ready for you to get out of their hair and scamper away in defeat. You weren’t giving in, and you stood even with them, brows raised just a fraction in anticipation. The cops shared an exasperated glance, and the one standing in your way moved to the side. “We can see all we need through the door, ma’am.”

Of course you can, you thought to yourself bitterly. This man doesn’t have the freedom to move anything more than his head.

“You’re wastin’ your time even askin’.” You turned your head to look blankly to the cop from Brooklyn, his increasingly stupid, know-it-all commentary really starting to irk you.

“It’s my time to waste, officer.” You managed to plaster a forced smile on your face, taking another step toward the door. “I’ll take it from here, thank you.” You spoke to the less obnoxious deputy only. Your hand already on the doorknob, you stepped inside the room within half a second, closing the door with a soft click behind you.

***** *****

He hated being strapped to this goddamn bed. He hated that his goddamn face hurt. He hated that he couldn’t fucking sleep because of those fucking dreams, and he hated every goddamn thing about this fucking place. The cops guarding his room twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week; the nurses who tiptoed around his room, terrified; that stupid bitch of a doctor who wanted him to finger-paint like he was in kindergarten; that woman who was always at the foot of his bed, just standing there and staring with a self-righteous smirk of contempt and satisfaction. All of it was a living hell, but he hated nothing more than to be strapped to this goddamn bed.

He could hear voices outside his room; the useless cops, no doubt, and also the voice of a female. Everything was muted, words muffled; he couldn't hear actual words, but he could hear sound and tone. Who was the woman this time? Was it Dr. Dumont? The mystery woman who watched him sleep? A nurse, perhaps? Whoever it was, Billy didn’t want to be bothered or provoked… but maybe whoever it was would unstrap him. He could ask Dr. Dumont, or scare a nurse into asking for him. God, he wanted to walk, he wanted to go to the fucking gym, he wanted to look outside. Anything but these same four, drab walls, the smells and sights and sounds of Sacred Saints hospital.

With a click of his door opening, in walked a woman he’d not seen before. Who is this? Billy was in thought immediately, but the question he’d asked himself didn’t unnerve him that much anymore. People were always in and out; some repeat offenders, some he’d never seen before and would probably never see again, if he had any luck in his new joke of a life. But the one person that should have been there, that was never there, was Frank-- his best friend, his brother, the only family he’d ever had. Where is Frank?

Nobody ever answered him. He just continued to wonder, to ask, to hope. Desperately, he attempted to push the question from his mind, peering at the woman who had just entered his room. At least she ain’t a repeat offender.

He’d never seen her before, and through his suspicion and wariness, he didn’t fail to notice that that she was extremely attractive. In another life, he’d stride over to her, get her number, and her legs would be wrapped around him that same night. She’d be writing beneath him, screaming his name. In another life, Billy, he thought bitterly. In another life.

***** *****

There was already a small pit of sympathy that had settled deep down in your chest. This man had obviously done some terrible things, but who knew what had been haunting his mind then, what was haunting it now. There were no excuses that needed to be made for him, but to be talked about and ridiculed by men of the law that stood just outside his door… that would be dehumanizing for anyone.

As you opened the door cautiously, stepping inside in the same fashion, you kept a shadow of a smile on your face and somehow kept it from faltering. Not because he was confined, strapped to his bed— you'd seen that through that small excuse of a window paned with plastic in his door— but because there wasn’t a man looking at you as you’d expected; it was a phantom.

A stark white, generic plastic mask was pulled down over his face, and all you could see that reminded you that this was indeed a human being were his short spikes of black hair. And as you got closer, you felt your heart quicken at the stark contrast of inky black and blinding white between eyes and mask.

You kept your wits about you, but couldn’t help but think how badly you wanted those cops to be wrong, how badly you wanted and needed a photo of this man— how this was what you felt deep in your soul that you were trying to convey. This opportunity was fated; nothing this perfect happened by chance.

Just as you spoke a hello, a loud rapping at the door interrupted your pending introduction and in walked an older woman, wearing scrubs, clogs on her feet that squeaked over the flooring with each step. She held a small paper medicine cup in one hand, a drink of water in the other. She set both down on a bedside table.

“Time to get you out of this.” She reached out and roughly tugged at the restraints, a deafening sound of the pulling back of more Velcro than you’d ever seen in your lifetime. The man in the bed pushed himself up, still not saying a word as he was given medication. “The Tylenol you requested.” With a turning of his head, the man lifted his mask just enough for a quick swallowing of the pills, still revealing nothing. As he turned back to face you, he rolled his neck to the right, then the left. You briefly wondered what the mask meant to the patient as the nurse took his trash. Nodding at you briskly, she quickly left the room, leaving the two of you alone.

The stranger in front of you was tall, the length of the bed he lay in, and rail thin— skeletal, even. There was nothing imposing about him, no danger or peril in the air. From the little you’d seen, you couldn’t imagine this man as being dangerous at all, much less a felon, a murderer. But he was quiet— so quiet. Not one utterance, one word, one sound since you’d entered the room. You wondered if this was a tactic, a technique, or a result of his TBI.

Greeting him again, you got down to business by introducing yourself, explaining why you were there. “I’m Y/N, and I’m a photographer. I was assigned to take photographs for a periodical, and wanted to ask if you’d mind if I took a few pictures.” You spoke in a professional manner, kept your voice amicable, and spoke at a volume just shy of what you considered “normal”. You felt the need to keep the patient placated, at ease, and you wanted the cops to hear nothing you said.

“I have a release form, I’d just need your name and signature, and if you choose, your photo won’t have to be captioned and your name never mentioned. I only need the information for your release. Nothing more.” You gestured to the clipboard you held, the thin stack of release forms secured there, and tried not to look as hopeful as you felt.

This could be it— the photo, the one that would give you more exposure, and more importantly, the one that would evoke emotion and draw readers in. The humanity and recognition for these patients that you were initially working to capture could very well be debunked by this one photo of a man who was desperately trying to shroud his humanness. Then again, the obvious contrast could be striking. That, however, was ultimately left up to the writer.

Your attention was captured as the man in the bed slowly tilted his head to the side, regarding you through the cut-out eye holes of the plastic mask. The color of his eyes were jarring, almost black, and they bored into you with a type of intensity you’d never encountered before. Your pulse quickened and you could feel the pounding of your heart against your chest. He’s convicted of multiple felonies, including several murders for starters. You remembered the policeman with the Brooklyn accent, his warning, and just as you felt a cold, creeping fear crawling up your spine, you remembered the rest of what had been said: This ain’t the circus, even though the asshole looks like a circus freak. Your fear twisted into determination, and you didn’t shy away from his stare; in fact, your posture shifted as you stood up straighter, never looking away from this masked man.

“You got a pen?” The voice was muffled by the barrier of his mask, the tone was deep and rough from disuse. He also had somewhat of a Brooklyn accent and his voice sounded vaguely familiar… you rationalized that you didn’t know this person, and perhaps the voice just reminded you of that arrogant prick of a cop you’d had the pleasure of meeting just outside. In response to his question, however, your triumph skyrocketed. You knew your emphatic nod was eager.

“Yes, right here.” You calmly took the few steps to his bedside, keeping in mind to not ambush a TBI patient with sudden movement. Holding out the clipboard, you referenced points of the release to be filled in with the pen he’d asked for. “All I need is your name, printed here, today’s date, and your signature here. This second box can be checked, stating you do not want to be identified as the subject of this photo at any time.”

He took the pen and clipboard and you began to toy with your camera, adjusting the focus, the drive mode, and the aperture. Your fingers were quick, working deftly, and you peeked once through the viewfinder for verification. In the silence of the room, you heard the faint sound of pen scratching over paper, and then, the clipboard was raised, pen laid on top. Holding back a beaming smile was difficult, but you managed as you were given back the clipboard, this time with a signed release.

“Thank you, Mr—“ You glanced down at the information he’d given you, and your heart seized in your chest. William Russo. It was there in clear print, block letters you recognized from your past, a signature so familiar you’d know it anywhere... the certain curving of the R and perfect circle of the O. Your stomach lurched and a wave of nausea washed over you, and then, your voice was stolen and replaced with his own as he finished for you.

“Russo.”

#dani's 150 followers event #drabble requests #image 7 #billy russo x reader

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ts-virgil-angst · 4 years

Note

Sides doing self care?

Genre: i guess fluff, they’re just chillin

Word Count: 1178

TW: Deceit and Remus are here, but they’re like, normal and chill

—–

“Need some help there, kiddo?” Patton leaned forward off the couch as Virgil kicked the door shut, arms straining on the weight of the grocery bags.

“I’m fine,” he said, plopping them down on the island.

“You know, two trips wouldn’t kill you.”

“It wouldn’t, but at what cost?”

Patton laughed, starting to sort through the groceries. Virgil had gotten a lot, seeing as three of his roommates were sick wouldn’t be up for shopping for a while. Hell, he was barely up for shopping, but for different reasons.

“Where’s Logan and Roman?”

“Sleeping. Oooh, Roman’s gonna love this face mask.”

“Got it specifically for him. Actually, I got quite a few. Today is a self-care day for all of us.”

“Your brain being mean again?”

“Very.” Together, they separated the food and put everything else to the side. Virgil had a plan. A simple plan, but still a plan. Patton, Roman, and Logan were sick, and Dee and Remus were bound to crash their house at some point. If he could harness their chaotic energy for even an hour, he’d consider this self-care day a success.

Patton immediately washed up and started to prepare dinner. He wasn’t the best cook (that goes to Logan; the science of cooking was something he loved), but it always put him in a happy place which was all Virgil could ask for.

Leaving Patton to the kitchen, Virgil we to the living room, looking through the movies he’d bought. The Miyazaki Collection meant there was almost no way to choose from all of them. Virgil sighed, and just picked the first one he’d ever seen: Spirited Away. A classic that always made him happy.

After that, he set up the various face, skin, and hair products he’d bought in front of the large mirror so that everyone could choose from them. At some point Roman had decided the mirror in his (master) bathroom wasn’t what he wanted, so while he picked out a different one, the six by three-foot mirror moved around the house until it settled in the living room. It was the perfect place for all of them to check themselves before leaving the house.

By the time he was done setting up, the smell of the stew Patton was making started to make its way upstairs, waking Roman and Logan. They stumbled down the stairs, rubbing their eyes taking in the scene.

“What’s this?” Roman yawned. “Getting deep into self-care?”

“For today, yes.” Virgil stood, stretching. “It’s for all of us too.”

“Virgil, you needn’t have done this.” Logan’s eyes were still a little puffy from sleep, Virgil smothered a laugh as he looked at the drool crusted to Logan’s face. Virgil just tapped his cheek and Logan wiped it away. Or at least tried to.

“I know but I wanted to. You guys have been under the weather doing this is always fun.” The door behind them swung open with more force than necessary as Virgil said, “Even if these two are going to be with us.”

Roman laughed, then turned his head as he coughed into his elbow.

“Love the greeting, Virgil.” Dee’s voice was cold, but Virgil knew him well enough that he didn’t mean anything by it. At least, not right now. “Always so much fun.”

“Your sarcasm is enjoyable as always, Dee. Don’t sneak up on me, Remus.”

The was a loud sigh directly behind him as Remus moved around, smiling. “You never let me sneak up on you anymore.”

“Not today. Maybe tomorrow if you’re nice.”

He giggled as he walked to the stairs, saying, “No promises!”

“There are never any promises with you. And stay out of my room!” Remus was already too far away and Virgil couldn’t make out his muffled response.

“Out! Out!” Patton shooed everyone out of the kitchen, looking only a little annoyed that Logan was correcting his cooking. “It’ll be another hour before the food’s ready. Let’s do the face masked Virgil bought.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Roman said, kneeling in front of the mirror. “My skin has been so oily lately. No, no, no. Hands off. I’ll hand out the masks.” Virgil backed off, hands up in mock surrender.

Remus poked his head from upstairs. “Did you say face masks? Are they clay masks?”

“Of course. They’re the only ones that Roman likes.”

“Not true.” He tossed Virgil an avocado mask. “It just depends on the routine I want. Deep cleansing. Get over here, Logan. This is a family affair.”

Logan, who had been sitting on the couch as everyone else gathered around Roman, rolled his eyes and shuffled over. “You know I don’t really care for face masks.”

“Not with that attitude! Patton, you can have this one. Dee, take that it’s gentle on the skin. This is roughest, so Remus can have that. Logan, you can take this and this one is mine!”

They sat, lined up together, as they chatted, putting on their masks together. For the first time in a long time, Virgil started to relax. He fell over laughed as Remus gathered the different colored clay and styled his mustache to lay straight, crossing his eyes and making faces.

Dee regaled us with his last customer service breakdown—a man in his late seventies refused to believe he was the manager and wouldn’t leave until he called corporate. All of that, over a hate that was mistakenly priced a couple dollars lower than the actual price. “I will never understand the whole ‘Customer knows best!’ nonsense my store manager keeps slinging.”

As their faces slowly began to dry, a beeping started to emit from the kitchen. At first, they ignored it, not paying much attention. Then Logan, the only one with anything working braincells, just sighed, got up, and went to the kitchen. A moment later, a high-pitched whistling startled everyone.

“Patton, please keep in mind the timer when cooking.”

“Sorry, sorry!”

“If the stew is done, why don’t we wash our faces and start the movie?”

“Depends,” Dee said, checking out his face. “What movie?”

“Spirited Away.”

“I will be back in five minutes.”

“Right behind you.” Remus said, following him upstairs. “Start the movie without us and you won’t be having fun, but I will!”

“Can’t stand his threats,” Roman sighed, heading to his bathroom.

“Yeah, let’s not see what he means by that.” Virgil went with him, happy that the day was turning out well.

Once he and Roman washed their faces, they came back to the living room to see everyone else waiting, their bowls of hot stew on TV trays and the movie set up.

“Come on, slow pokes,” Patton said. “We don’t wanna start without you.”

Virgil took his usual spot on the back of the couch, the hot stew mixing with the warm feeling his chest. They didn’t have many days like this, but he was grateful for each and every one he got. He settled in as the movie started, smiling gently at his friends, his family. Today could hardly have gone better.

—–

send me prompts!

—–

@wikkedwolff @mira-jadeamethyst @genderqueerwriter-blog @raisin-oatmeal-cookie @finiteframe3 @frustratedwaffle @queerweare @zoeyheys @analogically-prinxiety @polysandershell @prinxietys @jadorefreedom @inalandofmythandtimeofmagic @thebaagelboy @vampyrsarah @winds-and-stardust @cisnesincorbata @fugitive-angel @ataleofire @angsty-anxxiety @saltequeen-deactivated @theanxofthethomas @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @miniritzcrackers @ninjas-forever @thesmallestalien @stjernemaskin @deathshadowrules @kenanscloud @tea–ghost @massivehoagiepastahumanoid @aznasalon @lilreadergurl @fury-of-rome @lunareclipse-13 @probablysomeproblems @choppedfestdelusion @julia-loves-cupcakes @aropicanipie @seukizuo @dragonetteeye @dontquestionmeagainsanders @romananalogicality

#virgil sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #remus sanders #deceit sanders #my shitty fic #first one done!#on to the next #answered ask #prompt ask

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thesandersarchives · 4 years

Text

Dreams/Nightmares

A brilliant, wonderful anon ask on my main blog made me think about the canon characters meeting their Sanders Archives selves, soooooo... here we are! Mild warnings for bugs (maggots), body horror, suffocation, vomiting (mentioned only, not described), and panic attacks.

The first thing Logan sees once he realizes he’s dreaming is--well, technically speaking, it’s not a ‘thing’, it’s a man. He doesn’t look like Thomas in the slightest, not like any Side he knows, but somehow Logan knows that this tall, long-haired man is him. And then this other-him turns, and Logan sees his eyes. Or more accurately, behind his eyes.

It’s infinite. Beautiful, if Logan were prone to poetic language. An entire universe of knowledge, inside this man’s mind, and Logan is envious, until the other-him opens his mouth.

“Don’t. Don’t wish for this, don’t seek it out.” There’s a pleading, desperate edge to his voice, and it prompts Logan to look closer. He sees himself, helpless, doomed to watch horror upon horror upon horror and unable to look away, unable to intervene, unable to save the people he cares about as they fall deeper and deeper, and all the while, he’s being watched himself, a specimen under a microscope and nothing more, nothing more--

Logan wakes with a start in his own bed. He switches the light on almost immediately, reaching for his favorite novel to give him a sense of familiarity, comfort, control. When he does eventually return to sleep, he hopes he won’t dream of those eyes again... -------------------------------------------------

Virgil is no stranger to fear, nor nightmares, but this one is the worst he’s had in a while. He doesn’t know exactly what’s chasing him through these twisting corridors with dizzying patterns on the walls and carpet, but he knows that somehow that fractured, twisted monster-thing is him. If he weren’t panicking right now, he’d be able to appreciate the irony that even in his dreams, he’s his own worst enemy.

Eventually, he stumbles, falls--he tries in vain to crawl around a corner, but cold, spindly fingers close around his ankle and drags him back

“I’m sorry,” His own voice, layered over with static, comes from behind him, too close for comfort. “I don’t want to do this, I don’t, I really don’t, I’m sorry--”

Static roars in Virgil’s ears, and he wakes with a gasp, launching himself out of bed and into the hallway before his brain catches up--but it’s not the hallway from his dreams, the adrenaline from the chase is already fading, though he’s still trembling.

Shakily, he staggers downstairs for a coffee. He’s not getting any more sleep tonight. --------------------------------------------

Remus usually has weird lucid dreams, so it’s no special occasion when he finds himself in a basement crawling with maggots. He’s pretty sure he’s already had a similar dream, actually, which is frustrating. He hates repeating himself, hates the thought that he has the capacity to be boring and predictable like Roman.

Nevertheless, he’s having a maggot dream, and he’s determined to enjoy it even if it is a repeat. He strides up to the largest cluster of wormy-squirmy deliciousness, and reaches out a hand. Just before he makes contact, something barrels into him with an incoherent snarl, knocking him flat on his back.

“Leave us alone.” The person above him hisses, voice echoing. His face and what little Remus can see of the rest of his body are covered in holes, which seem to house more of those lovely maggots. And somehow, that’s not even the most interesting thing about his appearance. No, judging by the mustache and the wild look in his eyes, this person is supposed to be him.

Suddenly, the other-him leaps back and away, like he’s been burned, muttering apologies and clutching at his head. More of the crawling mass swarms towards him, covering his feet and legs, going up and up and up while Remus grows uncharacteristically nauseated at this half-mad, helpless version of himself.

He wakes with a shudder, and scrubs a hand over his face a couple times until he’s satisfied that there aren’t any maggot-holes, before rolling over and going back to what he now knows is going to be a fitful sleep. --------------------------------------------

Roman doesn’t often have dreams like this, quasi-realistic, bland dreams of the back of his own head hunched over a book, but perhaps this is meant to be some kind of precursor to something more interesting. With that in mind, he approaches, and gets just close enough to see himself lift a gnarled, mangled hand to turn a page.

He gasps, and just that small little noise is enough to alert his other-self, who stands--tall, taller than Roman thought humanly possible--and snatches the book away. He turns, and Roman looks into a face that is and is not his own, a face that is indescribably wrong.

He takes an involuntary step back, horrified at the sight, and watches the other-him’s wrong face twist into something resembling dismay. He starts to speak, but Roman doesn’t hear--he’s already running. He can distantly hear bones creak, flesh shifting, and he doesn’t look back, no matter what horrifying things he’s seen Remus do, this is worse, so much worse, he’s so much worse--

Roman wakes tangled in his bedsheets, damp with sweat. He heaves himself out of bed with a heavy sigh. His mouth is dry and there’s bile rising in his throat. He needs a glass of water, and he needs it now. ----------------------------------------------

Patton doesn’t have lucid dreams often, but when he does, they’re rarely set in his room. Although perhaps this isn’t quite his room, but it feels like it could be... If he’d transformed into a giant video-game frog and destroyed the place, at least. The whole place is a pile of rubble and dust and remnants of old memories that Patton dimly recognizes.

At the center of the wreckage is a man--at first Patton thinks it’s one of Thomas’ friends, but as he shuffles closer, he realizes that it’s him--well, a version of him, anyway. Covered in dust and dirt and looking bone-tired, waist-deep in a pile of old books and soil.

Patton rushes forward to try and pull him out, but the other-him shakes his head. “No use for it, buddy. I’m in too deep.”

He tries for a grin, but it falters, and he lapses into a coughing fit, sending dust swirling up into the air as he sinks deeper, deeper, dirt spilling from his mouth. Patton’s stomach lurches. He looks back down at his other-self’s dirt-smeared, still-smiling face.

“Don’t you worry, everything’s fine.” He says, and Patton hears a loud, deep groan before the roof caves in and falls down on top of them both, blocking out the light, the air, everything, and the breath is stolen from his lungs--

Patton kicks off his duvet as soon as he wakes up, stumbling in his haste to reach the bathroom before he throws up. -------------------------------------------------

Janus tries to hide his surprise at the sight of--well, not exactly himself. Himself if Thomas was a few inches shorter, with a slightly more angular face and lighter hair. Himself without scales, with normal human eyes. He used to look a little bit like that, years and years ago, and he finds himself wishing--

“Not the truth, I’m afraid. At least, not anymore.” His other-self says, letting his features melt into a half-scarred face before it morphs into more familiar scales. “Sorry to disappoint.”

He looks impossibly old, for a moment, and there’s a flash of something sad and defeated in his eyes before they cloud over into mismatched mirrors, and just as Janus comes up with a question in his mind, the other-him answers.

“A long time. And mostly alone.”

Janus can’t fathom what he’s been through, what it would be like, and he doesn’t want to. The idea of spending who-knows-how-many years completely on his own sends a chill through him, too close in his mind to the few years he spent in the dark until he found his way to the other banished Sides. He steps forward, for once at a loss for words but determined to offer some form of comfort nonetheless, but his other-self gets there first.

“It’s better this way, and I’m well used to it by now. So you just sleep, no more dreams for you tonight. I’m not built for prolonged socialization, and it’s dangerous for you to linger.”

With that, he puts a hand against Janus’ chest and pushes, gently, until Janus tips back, falling into blackness.

He’ll wake, a little later, with tears drying on his pillow and the inexplicable urge to tear his gloves into little pieces burning in his mind. ---------------------------------------------------

Thomas didn’t expect to meet a new Side in his dreams, but apparently it can happen.

This one seems more like him than the others so far, somehow, but he looks downright miserable. And no wonder, with the cold dampness permeating this dreamscape. Thomas waves his hand in a Roman-esque flourish, manifesting a coat, which he drapes around the Side’s shoulders.

The Side stiffens, turning to look at him sharply, before scoffing and turning away.

“I should’ve guessed.” He says wetly, rubbing at his eyes with the back of his hand. Thomas isn’t quite sure what does it, exactly, but suddenly something clicks into place and he realizes that this isn’t a Side--it’s him.

...Except it isn’t, quite. He’s seen enough reflections of his own face to know that he’d never hold himself like that, never set his jaw that way, never harden his gaze and shut his emotions away like this other-Thomas is doing.

He gets the feeling that this Thomas doesn’t want to talk, so he merely sits down and wraps an arm around the other-him, waiting for the man to settle into the touch. They stare out into the fog in silence, and Thomas dimly registers other-him leaning against his side before the fog blots out everything else, and he wakes up with the light of dawn leaking through his curtains, a fuzzy, cold feeling in his head, and a dull ache in his stomach like he’s been punched in the gut.

He summons his Sides, all of them, the need to see them and be with them greater than his exhaustion. They all look as worn-out as he feels, even Remus. He sighs, and spreads his arms. “Bring it in, guys. We’re going back to sleep.”

They fall surprisingly easily into a cuddle pile, and Thomas soon drifts back into sweeter dreams with his Sides sleeping peacefully around him. They’ll talk about what they each saw in the night once they wake, but for now, it remains in the past, a fleeting nightmare and nothing more.

#The Sanders Archives #supplemental

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jasonsthunderthighs · 4 years

Text

Book Explanation Post

Ok, so the story will take place in four different parts of the world and distinct timelines for two of the characters. There are four characters:

Draven (Hybrid, in the UK)

Evelyn (Human Experiment in Oregon, USA)

Zevonia (Faerie Creature in Transylvania, Romania)

Baxter (Human in Munich, Germany).

It’s basically about how a different group of beings in the world (Humans, Human Experiments, Creatures and Hybrids) live and survive. Cause in this book, the Creature and Hybrids are basically illegal and are seem as dangerous and should be killed or sent to a facility if seen or caught. But even the Human Experiments get it worse as well.

But when it came to people being sold off to in the underground auctions or facilities, it doesn’t matter who you are, they don’t care and will do it for money, both Humans and Creatures.

And now this year in the year 2020. I had vowed to finish this book and get it published after 11 years of dicking around with this (started at the age of 12 with the small idea until it grew when I was 15, and life happened, and now I’ve been actually writing this since 2018 at the age of 20)

Also, this story begins in 2013 and has a five-year time stamp on what happens from them explaining how they’re living for the past five years to when the characters actually meet up and form their group. (Cept for Draven and Evelyn.)

**Side note: There are two countries in the world that are safe havens for Creatures and Human Experiments:

Sweden

And that’s where rescued Creatures and Human Experiments go-to for refuge and to live without getting killed for no reasons and sold out. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn't happen, though it’s illegal to and it’s being stopped. They also do kill the auctioneer and their followers or anybody apart of the auction wanting to buy a Creature or Human Experiment. And it’s run by Creatures as well. (Yes, the Queen is a CREATURE!)**

~~~

Draven is a Hybrid who is 1,000 (21) years old who's been owned, sold out to, tortured and all that for 334 years cause his older brother, Logan, hates him for being a Hybrid. He's also the second youngest of ten kids:

Logan

Victoria

Bucky

Steve

Coraline

Axl

Xion

Anastasia (his twin sister)

Draven

Riko.

In which Logan is the biggest arsehole ever, and everybody wants him dead (but I'm not going to kill him cause I like to piss off my friend and Tim with the fact that the bastard child won't be dead anytime soon). The night before Draven was sold, Logan killed their own mother, Draven's twin and lover in a house fire just to make Draven's life more miserable. Draven then goes on a killing spree in a white rage, killing 3 million people in a white rage for the loss of his twin sister and lover before Logan found and sold him off. (Logan also ended up kidnapping Xion and has hidden her in Russia somewhere) He was sold off to an underground auction for bout 450k£. He had been sold off to from "master" to "master" (He would also kill his "masters" and would get caught months later, cause he had no idea how to defend himself at the time until years later. He's killed 4 out of 7 "masters") before he landed in America and killed the last "master" he had.

This is where the real story begins to where the other characters will be involved. Draven then finds out bout the underground auctions and bout facilities (a place where Humans get turned into a Human Experiment via Creature Blood. They're kidnapped as babies and kept there to be experimented on. Creatures get sent there by authorities, so it's like a Creature prison as well.) and stumbles upon one where Evelyn is at, rescue Evelyn and the other prisoners before blowing up the facility to the ground.

I'm not going to tell you more on what happens cause it'll ruin the book.

Draven is very anti-technology and will NOT pick up a phone, computer, etc., in fear he’ll be tracked down and sold off again. He can kill them, but he wants to not do a lot of killing, so he can try to give Hybrids a good name.

He’s also got a safe house in a very secluded area and loves it there to relax and be away from the bullshit of the world. But, sadly, he doesn’t live there at all, cause he’s afraid that he’ll somehow be tracked there, despite hum making no technology to be tracked from and uses so many protection spells and techniques to keep that house safe from ever being tracked down by scent. And that nobody can even enter the premises cause of some Creature repellent that immediately kills anybody who tries to enter.

He’s got trust issues and barely trusts anybody, but sees good in Evelyn. He’s a messed up dude with a shit load of problems and can’t even trust his own shadow cause of the bullshit he went through. (I put him through.)

~~~

So a Hybrid is a mixture of ALL the Creatures in the world. It's almost like a birth defect. They're godlike and really powerful; unlike in Draven's case, he was suppressed from ever using or leaning his powers, so he didn't even know how powerful he was until he escaped the final time.

Evelyn is a 19-year-old Human Experiment who escapes with Draven and tries to live her life as a Human Experiment. She's a “Dream Waster”, technically she can manipulate thoughts and create fake memories and thoughts of oneself into anything she wants that person to believe what I want them to believe. She’s got the IQ of 174 and one of the only Human Experiments with a high IQ, so she got tortured and experimented on the worse.

She doesn’t know who her parents are, due to being kidnapped by one of the workers of the facility. So she doesn’t even know if she has any siblings (I’ll probably give her an older sibling.)

Oh, the government knows about this shit and were the ones who allowed it to happen in the first place.

I can’t tell you any more on what happens in her life, cause it’ll ruin the story.

But she’s a very sweet girl who’ll kick your arse if you fuck her over.

~~~

Baxter (Tim’s ( @nycterisarts) German husband. Haha) is a 22-year-old Human who’s a Creature Hunter that wants what's best for his younger siblings and his mother. He’s the eldest of 5:

Baxter

Zollar

Fredrick

Hugo

Shoshanna

His father got killed by a Werewolf Creature when he was 12 or 15 (I forgot the correct age and I can’t find my notebook filled with my information and small details, cause I just moved and everything is packed up.) in front of him and got scarred by it and vowed to protect his family and be the best older brother and the son.

He’s got scars from the Werewolf Creature attack on his face and upper body area and doesn’t care for his appearance as his family is already known to be the best Creature Hunters in Germany and everybody hires them to hunt the Creature for money in their village, cities and towns.

He’s a badass motherfucker who cares for his family and will kill you if you hurt them. He’s serious at what he does but is a loving and playful brother. Just not on a job. He’s asshole™ but can be a teddy bear.

~~~

Last but certainly not least, Zevonia. She just an 809 (17) Faerie Creature who just wants to not get killed by anyone and run the clothing shop she got after her parents left after Adrian was born.

She’s also the middle child of 3:

Sebastian

Zevonia

Adrian

She’s the only one who runs the clothing store and works with Mermaid Creatures who owns a jewellery store and they both help each other get the jewels and fabrics for their shops.

She’s pretty good at keeping the shop standing for the past 190 years but wants to design outfits for Creature models that are in some countries and in the UK and Sweden.

She’s a stubborn headed, thoughtful girl who is still growing and learning more of the horrible world. She is just a little shit wanting to fuck shit up and cause havoc for the Humans and the government.

~~~

I have yet to make a blog. But, if you’re all interested, then I’ll do it and cosplay the characters in this book:

Creatures:

Mains:

Draven Roché

Zenovia

Roché Family:

(In Hell) (The dad) Azrael

(Deceased) (The mum) Sylvia

(Missing) Logan

Victoria

Bucky

Steve

Coraline

Axl

(Missing; possibly deceased) Xion

(Decease) Anastasia

(Sent to America) Riko

Molino Family:

Constantine

Morticia

Sebastian

Adrian

Friends (Bucky’s friends that Riko was sent to America to, and these two are dating):

Reynard Way (Best friends with Sebastian and Souxie)

Natasha Johansson (Best friends with Souxie and Sebastian)

Partners:

(Bucky’s girlfriend) Lady Death

(Draven’s lover) Aurora

(Logan’s girlfriend) Scarlet

(Sebastian’s girlfriend) Souxie (Best friends with Natasha and Reynard)

Humans:

Evelyn Hurt

Baxter

Rawlings Family:

Oskar

Nadine

Fredrick

Hugo

Shosanna

~~~

I think that’s it! Feel free to ask questions! Sorry that it took forever, ADHD is a bitch.

I’m honestly going to be sad if nobody reads this, cause it took me forever to write this and I just wanna get this book out for people to read.

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august-anon · 5 years

Text

Still Got It

Hello friends, I got into an intense lee mood and wrote this and made this blog before I could talk myself out of it.

This is loosely based in one of my regular fics from my regular blog (the identity of which will be kept under lock and key because I don’t want anyone to know about this secret blog) and I wrote this so I wouldn’t have the urge to put a weird tickle scene in the fic. All you really need to know is that all the sides are seniors in high school and Virgil’s mom died when he was like 8 or 9 (which is briefly mentioned in the fic, so if you aren’t down with that please be careful or just don’t read).

Prinxiety with some pining barely-there Logicality in the background.

Word Count: 2,350 (because apparently my rambly, long-windedness isn’t reserved for just regular fics)

Also this is the first ever tickle fic I’ve written so please don’t judge me too harshly lol

(Also I didn’t edit this so I wouldn’t talk myself out of posting it so it may have mistakes or characters may sound weird/ooc at times)

-----------

It had been a few weeks since Roman and Virgil had started dating, and things were going shockingly well (in Virgil’s opinion, Roman never seemed to have any doubts) despite their rough start.

Things at school were still pretty awkward (the most loved and most hated people in the school getting together? The student body would need some time to adjust), but they were happy and that was all that mattered.

For now, they were taking a break from the mess that was their school lives, relaxing on Logan’s couch, with Logan and Patton relaxing to their left (still pining after each other, despite Roman and Virgil’s best efforts).

Patton was scrolling through his phone and laughing at memes while monitoring Logan out of the corner of his eye to make sure he didn’t try to start studying again, and Logan was actually reading a book for fun for once.

Suddenly, Roman sat up straighter, turning towards Virgil. “You know,” he started, “I can see those walls you have up breaking down every day, you’ll smile a lot more often around me now, but I truly and genuinely don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh.”

“Maybe you’re just not as funny as you think you are,” Virgil teased with a smirk.

Roman gave a mock-offended gasp, a hand coming up to clutch at his chest.

Patton giggled at his dramatics.

Roman waved a hand in Patton’s direction. “See? I’m funny!”

Logan raised an eyebrow and adjusted his glasses, leaning over to look at Roman past Patton and Virgil. “Forgive me for saying this Patton, but he’ll laugh at just about anything. I’m not certain he’s an accurate representation of how funny you are.”

Patton giggled again and shrugged. “He’s not wrong, Roman.”

“Well, you two are accurate representations, either!” Roman argued. “You guys barely smile, let alone laugh! Who the hell even knows what it would take to get even the barest of chuckles from you.”

Virgil shrugged, still smirking, and relaxed back into Roman’s side when he sunk back down, pouting. His arm came up to rest on Virgil’s shoulders while the other hand dramatically went up to his face.

They relaxed in silence for a few minutes more before Logan leaned over Patton again, a gleam in his eyes.

Virgil gave him a suspicious look. Nothing good ever came out of that particular gleam.

“Roman,” he said, as calm as usual, but Virgil still tensed.

Roman hummed to show he was listening and shot a questioning glance at Virgil. Virgil ignored him, keeping his eyes locked on Logan.

Then, Logan smirked, like only childhood best friends holding the secrets to the universe could. “I wonder if Virgil’s still ticklish,” he finished, a barely-there lilt to his voice that probably only Virgil could pick up on.

The betrayal.

Virgil’s eyes went wide and his fight or flight responses kicked in. He tried to launch himself off the couch to run (he knew this house better than Roman, and he could still fit in some good hiding places), but the arm around his shoulders worked to Roman’s advantage. He used it to pull Virgil to his chest and fling them both to the ground, Roman being careful to cushion Virgil’s fall.

Virgil tried to pull away, leading to a light wrestling match breaking out. A wrestling match that Virgl was doomed to lose, considering that Roman played on half the school’s sports teams and the only working out Virgil did was sneaking out his bedroom window.

“So it’s true, then?” Roman asked gleefully.

“What’s true?” Virgil bit out, trying to push at Roman’s hands and gently throw him off with a foot to the stomach (a quiet thought of “throw him off his rhythm” almost caused Virgil to lose his focus).

“You’re still ticklish!” Eagerness was rolling off of Roman in waves.

Virgil suddenly stopped fighting, frozen in place. Roman stopped, too, probably worried he’d crossed one of Virgil’s boundaries or overstepped.

“I don’t know,” Virgil finally said, brows furrowing.

Roman relaxed above him. “Don’t know…?” He trailed off, eyebrows also scrunching up together. “If you’re ticklish?”

Virgil shrugged and nodded, finally meeting Roman’s eyes.

“Well you used to scream pretty loud when your mom used to get you,” Logan said, somewhat oblivious to the silent conversation the two lovers were having.

Roman leaned forward and spoke lowly enough that their friends couldn’t hear. “If this is something you really don’t want to happen let me know now. You know I would never do anything to make you uncomfortable or do something you didn’t like.”

Virgil remained silent.

Roman gave a subtle nod with an eyebrow raised.

Virgil returned the nod.

Roman grabbed his hand and squeezed once before relaxing his grip. “Squeeze once for me crossing a line, twice for ‘stop this instant.’”

And after another brief moment of careful eye contact, they were wrestling again. Virgil could feel the anxious anticipation rolling around in his stomach and took a moment to remind himself of what Roman had promised.

That moment of distraction was all Roman needed, beaming as he was able to toss Virgil’s hands away and latch onto his sides and squeeze.

Virgil immediately gave up that fight to start a new one, his sleeve-covered fingers shooting up to cover his mouth.

Evidently, he was still ticklish.

Very ticklish.

But as ticklish as he seemed to be, he wasn’t going to make getting that laugh easy for Roman.

That just wouldn’t fit who he was, now would it?

Roman laughed victoriously as he gently squeezed up and down the fleshy parts of Virgil’s sides. “Come on, darling,” he said, a teasing lilt to his voice, “just give in! You know you want to!”

Roman switched to digging into Virgil’s ribs causing Virgil to lurch and squirm, eyes squeezing shut as he fought his giggles down.

Scary emo teenagers that put entire high schools on edge did not giggle.

But damn, how did that tickle so much through a tshirt and his hoodie? That just wasn’t fair.

“You’re going to break eventually,” Roman teased, “you’re just dragging this out much longer. Though, who’s to say I’ll even want to stop once I get a taste of that adorable laughter?”

Virgil briefly wondered how Roman got so good at this. Then, he remembered that not only did he grow up with the bubbly Patton, he also had Patton’s younger brothers to practice on. Not to mention his own older brother (and from what Roman told him, Remy definitely seemed like the teasing, tickling big brother type).

In a desperate attempt to keep his laughter in, his competitive nature getting the best of him, Virgil frantically tried to recall where he was most ticklish when he was young. He’d been pretty ticklish everywhere, but if he remembered correctly, his most ticklish spot was--

“Get his tummy!” Patton called out with an affectionate laugh.

--His stomach.

He very much regretted leaving his hoodie unzipped as Roman’s fingers scribbled over his thin lounge shirt.

He couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Virgil’s hands shot down to grip Roman’s wrists, though he very carefully made sure not to squeeze. His eyes shot wide open, as did his mouth as he started letting out loud laughter.

Roman’s face lit up. “Well isn’t that just the best sound for sore ears!” He crowed, switching his technique to alternating between light squeezes and spidering fingers that drove Virgil absolutely insane.

“Aww!” Patton squealed from the couch. “He’s so cute!”

“Even I must admit,” Logan leaned forward, smirking, “I haven’t even heard him laugh like that, not in years.”

If Virgil’s face hadn’t already turned red from trying to hold his laughter in (and from Roman’s teasing, not that he would admit it), he was sure he would be blushing at their words.

“This may just be the most perfect sound in the universe,” Roman cooed, leaning down to get his face closer to Virgil’s. “I really do think I need to hear more of it, I might just die if I don’t!”

Roman slowed down to give Virgil a slight breather, though he didn’t stop his fingers entirely, keeping Virgil giggling. It seemed that once the laughter started, Virgil couldn’t make it stop.

Not that he necessarily wanted to.

Roman slowly and carefully started maneuvering his fingers under Virgil’s shirt, giving Virgil ample time to squeeze Roman’s wrists to back out or tell him to at least back off.

If anything, Virgil actually loosened his grip. He brought one hand back up to his mouth to muffle the giggles.

Roman mock-pouted. “Now why would you do that? I wanna see those cute little dimples bouncing around!”

His fingers, now fully under Virgil’s shirt, switched back and forth between sweeping with the pads of his fingers and spidering with his short nails, making Virgil’s giggles grow in volume and intensity.

Roman smirked. “I suppose I’ll have to just make sure I get to see them again, won’t I?”

Virgil brought his other hand up as well, so that his entire face was covered by hoodie-clad fingers, save for his eyes, dancing with mirth.

Bring it, they said.

Roman narrowed his own in response. “So be it,” he growled out playfully.

And Virgil’s break was over.

Virgil didn’t even try to hold back his laughter again, howling out as Roman went back to work. The tickling feeling on his bare skin was so much worse. It was a struggle to keep his hands over his mouth, muffling his loud belly laughter. He knew he’d lose this game eventually, too, but he was determined to hold out as long as possible.

“Tickle tickle, sweet Virgil!” Roman sang. “Don’t you just wanna drop those hands? Give in and let me hear the sweet melody that is your laughter? The gorgeous gift that is your smile and sweet little dimples?”

Virgil’s face was on fire. It wasn’t fair that Roman knew all the right buttons to press to make him blush, and after such a short time of dating, too! Not to mention how good at tickling and teasing he was.

Roman’s fingers tickled up his torso, landing on his ribs once more and playing them like a piano. Unlike before, with both his hoodie and shirt in the way, Roman could actually stroke between each bone, wiggle his fingers along the bones themselves.

Virgil squealed as his arms shook, aching to come down and protect himself. He squirmed from side to side as much as he could with Roman straddling him (and Virgil wondered when that happened), which admittedly wasn’t far, and certainly didn’t bring much relief.

“Oh?” Roman said. “What was that cute little sound? I really wish I could have heard it, but there seems to be something in the way! Maybe if I just…”

Roman slid his fingers up into Virgil’s armpits, scratching away; and, despite Virgil’s best efforts, his arms came crashing down just in time for a loud shriek to pass through his lips.

“Aww, there he is!” Roman cooed. “My sweet prince! What adorable sounds you make!”

“Roman!” Virgil cried out through his laughter, not entirely sure where he was going with the sentence.

“Yes, dear?” Roman replied, and Virgil could hear the shit-eating grin in his voice.

Virgil just shook his head, not having an answer.

“Tell you what. If you can lift your arms up so I can get my hands back, I’ll stop.”

Virgil shook his head again and called out through his cackling, “I can’t!”

And he didn’t know if he really wanted to, either.

Virgil hadn’t been tickled since his mom died, and he’d been so young when it happened. He can’t remember disliking being tickled as a child, but he’d been so worried that had changed now that he was practically an adult.

But, as it turned out, Virgil thought he might actually like it.

And wasn’t that an embarrassing thought?

But when Roman started blowing raspberries, swapping between his now-exposed stomach and his neck, Virgil knew he reached his limit for the time being. Especially with those fingers still wiggling away in his armpits.

Try as he might, though, Virgil couldn’t raise his arms. It was all too overwhelming. His hands flailed as much as they could with his arms being glued to his sides. He latched onto one of Roman’s arms as tears of laughter finally started trickling down his burning cheeks, frantically squeezing twice.

Everything immediately stopped.

“I guess I’ll have mercy for now,” Roman said with a grin, trying to play it off in front of the others. He started wiping away Virgil’s tears. “My fingers were getting tired anyway. But there will be repeat performances. Especially since I’m sure I didn’t find all your spots!”

Virgil’s blush, which had thankfully started fading, flared up again. Roman chuckled and pulled him in for a hug.

“I wouldn’t be opposed,” Virgil mumbled before he lost his nerve. It was as close as he could get to saying he liked it.

Roman pulled back and grinned at him, wiggling his eyebrows. Virgil rolled his eyes and gave him a playful shove.

They both looked up to find Logan still immersed in his book and Patton back on his phone, though both of them seemed to be smiling. Logan looked up from his book and stared back at them.

“I’d consider this experiment a success. It seems you are just as ticklish as when we were kids.”

“Watch it, Specs,” Virgil threatened with a playful grin. “I know your secrets, too.”

“Is that so?” Patton asked innocently, though he had a predatory grin.

Logan shifted in his seat, eyes wide, but mouth wisely kept shut.

Roman and Virgil cuddled back up together on the couch next to Patton and Logan and started scrolling through their respective phones, occasionally turning to each other or the others when something particularly funny came up.

Then, Patton broke the peaceful silence once more.

“By the way, Virge,” he said casually, eyes still on his phone, “Roman is still super ticklish, too.”

#tickle fic #tickling fanfiction #sanders sides tickling #ticklish!virgil #lee!virgil #ler!roman #prinxiety tickling #i am anxious and adding 'tickling' to all the tags so this doesn't show up in the main tags lol #the tagging system is /mostly/ just for my own sorting on my blog #but i suppose i have enough tags now that things are less likely to show up in main tags?#it's only the first 5 that count right?#i don't pay attention to how tumblr works who knows #sanders sides #prinxiety #virgil sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #tickling #my writing #i guess we'll leave it at that #i find it funny that i'll curse when writing fiction but it's illegal for me to curse otherwise #i cannot legally curse hello #my ancient laptop literally shut itself down as I was editing my ao3 tags prepping to post it here and there at the exact same time #that was the scariest thing that's ever happened to me on tumblr #t fic

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etherealblasphemy · 5 years

Text

You Never Seemed So Tense, Love

(what’s this? some actual content? on my blog? it’s more likely than you think)

hello again, y’all! it’s been a while since i’ve posted any writing, but at last, i’ve finished another fic! i hope y’all enjoy this one, i found it really fun to write. (title from “gives you hell” by the all-american rejects)

Trigger Warnings For: mild language and mentions of alcohol

Summary: Logan Guiscard loves his simple, mundane life. He most certainly does not love his next-door neighbor, Virgil Savage.

Length: 7,476 words

Kudos are appreciated, reblogs are adored, comments are loved!!

Logan Guiscard loved his life. Honestly. He loved his little suburban house that looked like almost every other home in his neighborhood. He loved his shiny car that he had to wash every weekend because if it wasn’t shining then obviously someone would think something was wrong and wouldn’t take him seriously. He loved his job as an astronomy professor at the local university where nobody cared about what the constellations were named because the Greeks were all dead, and it’s not they couldn’t just Google the names, anyways. He loved waking in the morning to see a lawn full of native plants and a little garden, because he might live in the affluent suburbs, but that didn’t mean he’d give into lawn culture, the horrid thing.

The only thing he didn’t love was his unfortunately next-door neighbor, Virgil Savage. Everything about him was simply illogical. The first thing the imbecile had done after moving in was paint the house bright purple, a stark contrast from the pastel grey every other home sported. He had a rather irritating habit of playing music a decibel too loud for Logan’s taste. He had absolutely no sense of self-care; Virgil seemed to throw on whatever clothes were clean— they were mismatched and rumbled, as if he had just taken them from his floor—and his skin was dull and most likely caked with makeup, which could easily be fixed if the man would just wash his face in the morning. Virgil Savage also had the miserable mannerism of being at least partially nocturnal.

Logan first found out about this “lifestyle” within a week of Virgil moving in. At first, he thought his neighbor was simply having trouble adjusting to his new house. And then the music started. Had it been any other time of day, perhaps Logan would have learned to let it by, to continue with his daily life. But because it was nine-thirty on a Wednesday night and Logan happened to teach Introduction to Astronomy on Thursdays at seven a.m., he marched over to the Savage house with a glare that burned hot enough to set Pluto alight, and knocked three times on the heavy door, tapping his foot incessantly as he waited for a response.

Virgil had opened the door with tired, bleak eyes the color of the Milky Way, full of enigmatic monachopsis that seemed to scream for human contact like an abandoned astronaut, and all arguments fled from the tip of Logan’s tongue. The music was even louder with the door open; the most prominent instrument was a piano that sounded like someone was slamming their fingers down on the keys in a desperate rage. Someone was screaming about friends and not wanting to leave, their voice raspy and broken.

“Do you… need something?” his neighbor had asked with a gruff voice, clutching at his elbows as if the sooner Logan left, the better. Logan had snapped out of his daze, pushing his glasses back up as he looked up at the man standing in the doorway. He couldn’t see much from where he stood on the porch.

“Yes, actually, I would like for you to turn your music down. It is impeding my ability to sleep, and I have to teach a class in the morning,” Logan explained crisply. Virgil looked him up and down, sizing up his new competitor with a smug smirk.

“Well, I dunno, teach.” Logan’s heart stopped for a full second at the nickname before his face morphed into a mask of contempt. “There’s a party going on right now, and what party is complete without music?”

Logan’s eyes narrowed as he glanced inside. He couldn’t see much besides a very much empty living room. “Apparently, a pity party,” he replied, his tone harsher than he intended. For a quarter of a second, a single frame in the movie of life, Virgil’s face had contorted, full of hurt, before quickly losing its emotion, replaced with cool nonchalance. Logan had had half the mind to apologize for his unsympathetic behavior before the song grew louder and Logan was reminded that it was late at night and he was too exhausted to deal with this sort of tomfuckery.

He was about to launch into a full debate to convince this heathen to turn his music down to a respectable volume when another figure came careening through the living room by way of an unseen doorway, crashing into Virgil with raucous, drunken giggles.

“Broooooo…” the newcomer slurred, his arms wrapped around Virgil’s neck for support. “You gotta finish that assignment of yours. You wanna pass the class, donya? Come ooooon,” he wheedled. Virgil’s face flushed as the stranger whined.

“Roman, how much have you drunk?”

“…a bottle.”

“A bottle?! Dee let you drink a whole bottle?!” Virgil’s eyes were the size of dinner plates, his mouth hanging open in disbelief as he turned, facing the living room that still held no-one despite the “party” raging on inside. “Dee! I’m gonna kick your ass!” he yelled as he unwrapped Roman’s arms from his neck. Virgil’s eyes glanced back at Logan. “Sorry about my friend.”

With that, Virgil pushed Roman further into the house, muttering in exasperation as he shut the door without another word to Logan. The teacher blinked before he regained his senses. He scoffed at the sudden cut-off from his neighbor, rolling his eyes. There was nothing else he could do now besides head back home and shove a pillow over his ears to muffle the music.

It was only when he finally slipped into bed that he realized he could only hear the sound of crickets and someone’s air conditioner whirring in the late August night heat.

The music had been turned off.

He hated himself for believing that it would end that night with a simple confrontation. The next week, the music was up again. Logan was too busy grading incomplete and frustratingly incorrect constellation maps to tell off Virgil, and let it be. But then it happened again the next week. And the next. It seemed to Logan that Virgil was just trying to get a rise out of him at this point. When he called his brother he ask for advice, the only promising words he got was “talk to him.”

“Patton, you don’t understand. I have talked to him, he just won’t listen,” he sighed as his brother listened intently over the video call, constantly adjusting his round glasses.

“Now, Logan, you know that everybody communicates in different ways. Maybe he is listening, but he just can’t communicate in a way you understand.” Patton adjusted his glasses again as he tilted his head, a thought striking him. “Maybe he’s trying to get your attention?”

Logan sighed, thinking about Virgil. Would he really be the type of person to annoy him just to get his attention? Virgil didn’t need to play music at an irritating volume for Logan’s consideration of him—those sonderous eyes plagued him almost as much as the music did.

Hold on. What did he just think?

“Are you alright, Logan? You’re making face you always do whenever I correct on your grammar. You know—like someone just ate all the second cookies,” Patton giggled. Logan heard someone talking in the background as Patton turned away from the camera, listening to the person off-screen. “Yep! Do you wanna come say hi to him?” Logan heard a sound of acquiescence and the pounding of footsteps as someone ran down the hallway of his brother’s apartment.

“Hiya there, Logan!” He flinched as Patton’s partner, Emile, popped up in front of the camera. “I heard you were in a jam!” The psychiatrist held up a jar of jam as Logan groaned at the pun, massaging the bridge of his nose.

“I don't know which is worse—your puns or Virgil’s music,” he grumbled goodnaturedly as the partners collapsed into laughter that sounded choppy in the low quality audio of his laptop. He ran a hand through his hair as he checked the time, cringing at the late hour. “I’m sorry, Patton, but I’ll have to sign off now. It’s getting late and I have the wonderful blessing of teaching a morning class tomorrow. I’ll see you next weekend, correct?” His brother nodded as he and Emile wished Logan goodnight.

As he turned off his computer, his mind wandered back to the original topic of his and Patton’s conversation—Virgil. He couldn’t possibly be engaging in this childish feud because he was, what, interested in him? Logan snorted aloud, shaking his head. Virgil was obviously only toying with him.

“Well, then,” he whispered aloud as he slipped into bed, ready to fall asleep. “Two can play that game.”

He wasn’t able to put his plan into motion until the following weekend, just before he had to pick up Patton from the airport. It was quite simple, in Logan’s opinion, but then again, he reminded himself, he had to be on the road by at least nine so he could pick up Patton from his eleven-o-clock arrival, so complex schemes were out of the question until he had the time and reason to do such. Thus, he found himself setting a heavy speaker down on the edge of his front porch, his phone already connected to it. He had deliberated for a while on what song to use before settling on the timeless classic of “Hooked on a Feeling”.

He was about to turn on the speaker when he felt his phone vibrating in his hand. He turned it on to see a text from Patton: “So… I might have told you the wrong arrival time…” Immediately, he called his brother.

“What do you mean, ‘wrong arrival time’?” he questioned as soon as Patton picked up.

“Well, I’m here now. At the airport. It turns out the flight isn’t as long as I thought it was…” He could hear incessant chatter in the background and could clearly picture the dismal little airport that never seemed to stop renovating one wing or another, resulting in utter chaos when it came to an orderly flight schedule. “If you’re busy, don’t worry. I can wait a few hours—”

“Don’t be silly, Patton,” Logan interrupted. “I’m leaving now. I’ll be there in forty-five minutes if the traffic’s alright.” He was already grabbing his keys from inside, throwing on a jacket, and unlocking his car doors. “Have you eaten yet?” The silence was answer enough for him. “There’s plenty of options around. Just be sure to eat something healthy, alright? And remember to get your bags,” he sighed as he started the car, the engine a gentle thrum beneath him.

“Alright, Logan, I will. See you in a bit. Thanks for picking me up.” The call disconnected, leaving Logan in the silence of his car before he decided surprisingly that he couldn’t stand the quietude and turned on the car radio as he backed out of the driveway, unaware of the jet black eyes that watched him go sadly.

Logan made to the airport in forty minutes, actually. He found Patton sitting at the counter of a small shop selling dumplings and baobaos, giddily eating the delicious food. He watched with a soft smile for a moment as Patton snuck a bite of a dumpling to the golden retriever laying on the floor beneath him, her vest proudly displaying her role as a service dog. As Patton straightened, he finally noticed his brother standing several feet away.

“Logan!” he called excitedly, waving him over. Logan’s feet moved on their own, small steps turning into bounds as he ran to his brother and hugged him tightly. “I’ve missed you, too, Logan. It doesn’t seem that university can end soon enough.” Logan’s grip tightened before he released his brother. He felt something nose at his leg and looked down to see Lola nudging at his leg, staring up at him with puppy eyes, despite knowing full well she was not a puppy, by size nor age standards.

He crouched down and ran a hand through her fur as Lola’s tail began beating excitedly. “Hello to you, too,” he said as Lola barked softly in greeting. “You’ve got your bags?” he asked as he stood up. Patton nodded, finishing the last dumpling, and clambered off his stool, thanking the shop owners as he grabbed the handles of his two suitcases in both hands. “I’ll hold on to Lola.” He grabbed the golden retriever’s lease, untying it from the chair’s leg, and began guiding the dog and his brother through the dim airport to the parking lot.

It was nine forty a.m. when they got home. The sun was glimmering, bearing down with no qualms onto the earth with a fierce intensity that seemed to rake across their backs with a near unbearable heat. Patton took one look at the speakers still set up on Logan’s porch and turned around, stopping in his tracks.

“Logan, what are you planning?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to listen to some music while I washed my car,” he explained, even though he knew his car was clean and it was pointless to try and wash it when it was supposed to rain that night, anyways. Patton’s eyes narrowed with a ghost of a smile crossing his lips.

“You’re going to play music, aren’t you?” he proclaimed, twirling around and pointing at Logan with one finger and a sly smile as though he was a detective who had just solved the most difficult case ever presented to him. “Oh, I knew that look meant something! You looked so starry-eyed when we were talking about Virgil!” Logan blanched as he gasped in indignation.

“I did not look starry-eyed! He’s not even my friend, he’s just my neighbor!”

“A neighbor who you call on every Wednesday night,” Patton teased as Logan brushed past him with a groan of frustration, unlocking the door and shoving it open.

“It’s his fault, Patton, he’s the one who plays punk rock from the 2000s and 70s and 80s pop songs played on what I think might be an organ louder than a plague of cicadas at ten-thirty at night.” Patton could only laugh at Logan’s description as he made his way into the kitchen and opened the fridge, already making himself at home.

“Sure, Logan.” Patton’s brow furrowed as he surveyed the fridge and its contents. “How many jars did Mom give you last time?”

“I counted twenty—wait, don’t change the subject, Patton!” Logan chastised. Lola spoke—or, rather, barked—up, woofing at the brothers as if to say, “stop talking about your neighbor and feed me.”

When at last Lola was fed and Patton had dropped his suitcases down in the guest room, it was nearing ten a.m.; he was finally able to step outside and stretch in the sun. Out of habit, he glanced at Virgil’s house, half expecting to see strobe lights flashing wildly behind the curtains, and saw nothing. He paused, his thoughts turning to the speaker still sitting abandoned on his porch. Was Virgil still asleep? An evil grin split across his face as he pulled out his phone, finding the song easily.

“I hope you like the taste of your own medicine,” he mumbled as he pressed played. Immediately, sound poured out of the speaker, the lowest notes tapping a familiar rhythm on his heart. He could just barely hear the sounds of confusion in the other house, following by the door slamming open as Virgil stumbled out in his pyjamas.

Well, he couldn’t really call them pyjamas. Virgil was covered—thankfully, of all the bad habits Virgil partook in, sleeping in the nude was not one of them—but just barely. He wore grey boxers beneath a violet tank top at least two sizes too big for him, and not much else. And perhaps Logan blushed furiously at the sight of sunshine on Virgil’s lanky arms and pale legs, but it was just from the heat. Just the heat.

Not that any of that mattered. Logan was too busy watching Virgil nearly trip over his feet as he shambled about in his lawn, momentarily blinded by the sun, to think any more about Virgil’s limbs. As his eyesight adjusted, Virgil noticed Logan standing in his own yard, then saw the speaker blasting music, and put two-and-two together.

“Do you know what time it is?” Virgil groaned, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Logan snickered.

“It’s nine-fifty-two a.m., which is a more reasonable time than ten-forty-five at night,” he shot back. Virgil snorted before covering it with a cough. “Even if you wake up late, you should at least go to bed at a reasonable time. A good bedtime is crucial to a healthy life,” he lectured as Virgil raised his eyebrows with a smirk.

“Oh, getting worried about me, now? Careful, teach, or someone will think you’ve caught feelings for me,” Virgil chaffed, his eyes bright now in the daylight, intelligent and unrelenting in their mirth. Logan spluttered, unable to form a proper response. “Beware, Logan Guiscard. You’ve opened up a Pandora’s Box now.” Virgil’s voice was deep and full of laughter—like Logan was missing out on the funniest joke ever told. “I hope you like punk rock.”

He couldn’t stop himself from saying, “It’s you’ve been playing, how could it ever get old?” This time, Virgil snorted for real, chuckling uncontrollably as he backed away towards his house. Logan knew he wouldn’t get that sound out of his head for weeks. Virgil paused as he reached the doorstep of his home, glancing back over his shoulder.

“…I was finishing a report for my theoretical astrobiology class, by the way. I finished a little past midnight. Sorry for wanting to sleep in. I’ll make sure to let my professor know next time that I wasn’t able to finish my paper because my neighbor cared about me.” Logan physically stepped back, stunned. Virgil was taking university classes? And astronomy-related classes at that? Sweet heavens. Somehow, Logan’s face grew even more heated in the August sun.

Too bad Virgil had already left before Logan could find out more.

It wasn’t like Virgil hadn’t warned him. Logan could clearly recall him referencing Greek mythology (which another one of his passions that just so luckily gave him an advantage in astronomy) as he swore to wreak havoc on Logan’s life. Now, perhaps he hadn’t used those exact words, but it was exactly what was happening at nine p.m. on a Tuesday night in the middle of his late-night astronomy class. The class was too far gone now to be reigned back in, the music was still pouring in through hidden speakers, and all Logan could do was stare at Virgil like his whole world had been shattered as his neighbor laughed with his whole body, the sound loud and full of life and shaking Logan’s very core.

He had been in the middle of explaining which constellations appeared during which seasons—it was the beginning of the semester and he had learned the hard way to always begin with the basics—when the music first started. He had been so envirgorated in his explanation of the importance of the North Star that he hadn’t heard it until one of his students asked if whoever was listening to Fall Out Boy would please turn the volume down. Logan had stopped in his tracks, eyes snapping back to reality with a sinking feeling of déjà vu, and listened.

Unfortunately, his dread was well-met. The sounds of Fall Out Boy’s “Thnks fr th Mmrs” were pouring in from all sides of his classroom; Logan scowled, already searching for the familiar pair of inky eyes that bedeviled his dreams and late-night musings. “Virgil Savage!” he yelled, praying that the incident was actually Virgil’s fault and not some poor student who just happened to have the exact same music interests as his neighbor. “You better show yourself before I make you!”

The laughter was more of a giveaway than anything else. Virgil slumped in the doorway, his smirk so infuriating yet charming all the same. He gave a two-fingered salute to the professor as he held up his phone, waving in his trademark teasing manner. Virgil paid no mind to the students staring at the occurrence with rabid curiosity; his focus was on Logan as he bit his bottom lip and held out the phone towards the professor as though inviting him closer.

“You want the music off?” he asked, his deep voice gliding out of his mouth and wrapping itself around Logan’s body like venti of the ancient age. Logan nodded silently and unceremoniously, unable to think of a good retort. “Come and turn it off yourself.”

That was what had sent his class into chaos. One of them had yelled “Dance party!” immediately after, jumping up from his seat and flailing his arms around in what Logan could only assume to be dancing—an attempt at dancing, at the very least. Logan glared at Virgil as he stalked slowly towards the interloper, the sounds of students nothing but background noise at this point. He leaned closer to Virgil, his eyes full of wrath.

“Turn that music off right now,” he hissed.

“You’re staying up too late. If I can’t sleep in, you can’t stay out,” was Virgil’s only response. Logan stuttered.

“You—I—I am teaching a class!”

“And I’m not turning the music off,” Virgil continued. “I told you, if you want it off—” Virgil other hand grabbed Logan’s waist, pulling him into a dip as the professor yelped in surprise and the students cheered Virgil on. “—you’re going to have to do it yourself.”

It took a full five seconds to pass before Logan’s brain rebooted, shutting down the moment Virgil’s warm touch had met his starved skin. Once his reason returned, he wrangled himself out of his neighbor’s arms with several muttered swears and all but ripped Virgil’s phone out of his hands, turning the music off quickly and shoving the device back towards his neighbor. He glared daggers at the interloper for good measure as he retreated back into the comforts of his classroom with a scowl on his face.

“You’re not getting enough sleep either, teach. What was it you said? Yeah, I remember now: ‘a good bedtime is crucial to a healthy lifestyle.’” Virgil smirked as he watched Logan try to reign in his class, to no avail, those dark irises of his eyes holding something mysterious Logan would love to unravel if it weren’t for the classroom of fifty students in the process of losing their minds. “Of course, not letting loose every once in a while and refusing to humor your everloving neighbor really takes a hit on you, doesn’t it?” Logan glanced at Virgil as he paused from removing a recording phone from particularly stubborn student, focusing on the annoyance swirling through him instead of the rapid, blink-and-you’ll-miss-it wave of warmth that overcame him at the sight of Virgil’s eyes, half hooded by his black-painted eyelids and full of curiosity—curiosity for Logan. That particular feeling he shoved back into the recesses of his mind.

“Virgil Savage, escort yourself out of this room or I will have security do so. We will continue this at a later date.” Virgil only grinned wickedly as he saluted once more and slinked behind the door frame, disappearing in the myriad of hallways.

“How about we continue it tomorrow at Bourbon Coffee? I hear they make great croissants!” Virgil shouted back. Logan stopped dead in his tracks, his head whipping towards the door in shock. But in true Virgil fashion, he was gone before Logan could find out more.

His only hope to gain another piece of the puzzle that was Virgil Savage was to meet him at Bourbon Coffee tomorrow morning.

He prayed he would survive their encounter.

Logan woke up to the mouth-watering smell of french toast the next morning, a smile already on his face. He found his brother in the kitchen, slipping Lola little bites of bacon as he cooked.

“What is all this for, Patton? Don’t you trust me to make my own breakfast?” he asked as he patted Lola, who showed off her canines with a beam.

“One of Emile’s former patients is one of your students. They told a little story on Twitter, and Emile found out and told me!” Patton swiveled around, almost whacking Logan in the face with his spatula. “How come you didn’t tell me you were going on a date?” Logan huffed, swiping a slice of bacon from the plate where they were cooling.

“It’s not a date,” he argued. “This might be my only chance to actually deal with Virgil besides throwing a pillow over my ears.” Patton chuckled, leaving the conversation as he finished cooking and slid two slices of french toast onto a nearby plate and handing it to Logan, throwing a smaller slice on the floor for Lola to wolf down. He continued his points as he ate. “Besides, I wouldn’t even call our relationship a friendship—”

“Alright, first off, don’t talk with your mouth full,” Patton interrupted as he maneuvered them both to sit at the dining room table. “Second of all.” Patton waited until Logan looked up at his brother, holding his gaze. “Do you want it to be a friendship?” he asked gently, knowing the look that was growing in Logan’s eyes.

“…Truth be told, Patton… I do. Virgil…” Logan sighed, unsure how he could ever explain his interest in Virgil if he couldn’t explain the greatest mysteries of the universe, which were far more comprehensible than the mind and soul of his neighbor. “…Virgil is unexplainable. I try to understand him. But I can’t… Am I wrong to want to understand him?”

A ghost of a smile crossed Patton’s lips as he regarded his brother. “No. Not at all.” Patton’s grin turned mischievous. “But date or not, I still get to be excited! You never go out, it’s nice to see you having fun for once.” For once, Logan did not respond to Patton, allowing himself to genuinely grin.

Fun…

It wasn’t a foreign word in his dictionary, but its page wasn’t dog-eared the way other words were. It didn’t have the significance of ebullience (bubbly enthusiasm—it reminded him of his brother), it didn’t have the importance of syzygy (the alignment of celestial bodies—he always found some way to weave it into his lectures), it didn’t roll across his tongue with the same effortlessness of hiraeth (homesickness for a place that never was or cannot be returned to—plus, it tied into his efforts to learn the Welsh language). Fun was not an unknown word, but it was not one mulled over like wine as he pondered his place in the universe.

That didn’t mean he couldn’t reintroduce it to his vocabulary, relearn the way it sounded, the way it felt running along his vocal cords.

Patton could tell what was going through his brother’s mind. He sat back lazily as he ate his breakfast, his smile just barely concealing his pride. “It’s almost nine, by the way,” he added. “You should get ready soon.” Logan nodded, only a little disappointed that they had to end their moment of peace so quickly.

Far too soon, he found himself ready to go, with the exception of a stomach that wouldn’t stop churning. Logan had no idea why he was so nervous—at best, he and Virgil would get coffee and talk without tearing each other’s head apart, and at worst they would just continue their feud like normal. It wasn’t like things going wrong would ruin his life irreversibly—so why did Logan feel the need to impress Virgil, to make things go perfectly?

He pushed those musings to the back of mind for later analysis. He headed outside to be met with the uncomfortable heat he was so used to yet hated all the same. Wearing a black cotton button down did nothing to relieve the suffocating heat against his body. Silently, he cursed the sun as he glanced about, wondering where Virgil was. It hit him that they had never agreed to a specific time. For all Logan knew, Virgil could already by at the coffee shop waiting for him.

Swallowing thickly—he didn’t know why, he had no reason to be nervous—Logan walked over to his neighbor’s house and rapped his knuckles against the door, tapping his foot incessantly as he waited.

The door opened to reveal… not-Virgil. Logan vaguely recalled him as the drunken man who had popped up behind Virgil the first time he had given his neighbors a visit, though he could not remember the man’s name for the life of him. The man yawned, staring at Logan.

“You’re that teacher Virgil’s obsessed with, right?” he asked.

“…Yes?” Logan wasn’t exactly sure how to respond to that, even if his heart did flutter a little bit at it. “Is he inside? We’re supposed to meet at Bourbon Coffee, but he failed to give a time. I thought it would be logical to go with him so we arrive at the same time.”

The man at the door chuckled. “Virgil’s got a date, eh?”

Logan flushed against his will. “Alright—first of all, it is not a date, and second of all, would you please just tell me where he is?” he pleaded. The man nodded with a lopsided grin, glancing behind him.

“He’s still asleep. Probably thought the date would be a late one,” he drawled, laughing at the way Logan grumbled at the continued use of the word “date.” The man stuck out his hand, at last (re)introducing himself. “I’m Roman. Nice to properly meet you.” Logan took his hand politely, shaking it as he tried to be as inconspicuous as possible as he looked inside the house to hopefully see Virgil.

“I’m Logan Guiscard. Pleasure to meet you as well,” he said, biting back his frown when he couldn’t see his enigmatic neighbor. He drew his hand back with an awkward sigh. “Well, please let me know when Virgil wakes. I would rather go with him to the coffee shop than wait for him.” Roman nodded, saying he would, and closed the door to leave Logan standing on the porch with a heavy heart, though he decided it was better not to analyze why he felt disappointed that he wasn’t able to see Virgil.

Logan felt his phone vibrate and saw a text from his brother. Are you there yet? it read. He texted back a quick response, smirking devilishly when a notification from his music service popped up, giving him a positively evil idea. He tapped on the notification, opening the app, and scrolled until he found a song Virgil would adore waking up to.

“Would you mind if I listened to some music while I waited?” Logan asked Roman as innocently as possible. The neighbor shrugged. He bit back his sly grin as he subtly turned his volume all the way, connecting to his speaker, which remained on the porch from their last morning encounter. He pressed play, and let himself smile at last as chaos erupted to the sound of My Chemical Romance’s “Planetary (GO!)”.

The first thing to happen was Roman bursting into laughter as he realized what was happening. The second thing to happen was a series of shouts from inside Virgil’s house. Two people emerged from the shadows—someone Logan had yet to meet, and Virgil. He felt himself smile without thinking at the sight of his neighbor. Virgil’s eyes were hooded and full of exhaustion, bent on the murder of whoever woke him up so early. They cleared upon seeing Logan, lighting up like fireworks, but quickly narrowed as he put two and two together and realized Logan was behind his early wake-up.

“Y’know, if it weren’t for the fact that I love this song, I would be throttling you, you damn player,” Virgil mumbled with a tired laugh. He was murmuring along to the lyrics, holding out a hand to the teacher. “Come on, aren’t you going to dance with me?” For a moment, Logan felt like he had landed on an alien planet, because in no galaxy would this ever happen, but the moment passed as soon Logan realized, foreign planet or not, there was no way he would ever refuse.

He took Virgil’s hand with a sheepish smile, a silent apology for his lack of skill when it came to the aesthetic movement of his awkward limbs. Virgil didn’t seem to mind as they danced—well, to call it dancing would be pushing it. It was more like what Patton had once described as “moshing”, a frantic but energizing thrashing of arms and legs with no regards of what others thought. It was fun. Logan found that he actually liked it—or perhaps it was only because Virgil was dancing with him, and in a few minutes they would be grabbing coffee together like a real couple… of friends.

When at last the song ended, both of them were gasping for air as they laughed like the idiots they were. Logan was grinning so hard it hurt, but he found he didn’t care. I like him. I really like him a lot.

For once, the thought didn’t scare him.

“I’m guessing you want to head to Bourbon Coffee?” Virgil was asking him. Logan nodded wordlessly, unable to speak as he regained his breath. Virgil smiled softly. “I’ll go change, then. I’ve shown up wearing pyjamas too many times, they’ll probably kick me out this time.” Virgil hurried inside to change out of his night clothes, leaving Logan alone with Roman and the new person.

“We haven’t met before, I’m Logan Guiscard,” he introduced, holding out a hand to them. Their eyes flickered over Logan for a moment.

“Desmond Inoni. Call me Dee. You’re the teacher Virgil’s obsessed with,” the man stated cooly, amused as Logan blushed furiously, spluttering incessantly. The teacher was unable to voice his objections further, as Virgil came running out, hopping on one foot as he shoved a black sneaker on. “You two have fun,” Dee called as they set off. Virgil flipped him off playfully over his shoulder as Logan motioned for him to get in the teacher’s car.

In ten minutes, they were sitting down in the cafe with their hot coffee. Logan had gotten a simple black coffee, with about a bucket of added sugar, and Virgil had ordered some complex drink the bartender seemed to have had memorized. They sat in a corner booth by the window, enjoying the company of some calming, though probably fake, spider plants. Logan tried his best to be inconspicuous as he studied Virgil Savage, the mystery himself. He studied the way Virgil bobbed slightly to the cliché electro swing, the way the sunlight lit up the dusk in his eyes, the way his lips curved when he smiled as he spoke about his short-lived endeavor to become a musician to pay his way through college.

“What about you?” Virgil inquired. “How did you pay for college?”

“I won a scholarship by writing about astronomy. Being a teaching assistant helped to pay for the rest,” he explained. “I had to work quite hard to keep my scholarship, so I never had as many chances to make relationships—platonic or otherwise.” He caught Virgil’s gaze as he mumbled, “This is actually the first time I’ve been out with someone besides my brother and his partner…” Virgil’s eyes visibly widened in disbelief.

“Never?!” Logan shook his head, less melancholic than the last time he had mused over the young adulthood he never had. Somehow, sharing his woes with his neighbor lessened their meaning. Virgil took a sip of his drink before continuing, looking out beneath his thick eyelashes. “…I’m glad you thought my company was worthy enough for you, Logan.”

Logan knew he would treasure the way Virgil said his name for eons, forever and ever until the final star burned out and left the universe dark. He would always remember the way his heart skipped a beat, something slotting into place. Even if nothing came of this experience, even if by some reason he never saw Virgil again, even if the world ended right that moment and he was the last being alive, he would know that he had fallen in love with Virgil Savage.

But his neighbor was not meant to be his soulmate. Virgil didn’t love him.

“Logan? You okay?” Virgil was waving his hand in front of his face, worry swimming in his eyes. “You kinda disassociated for a moment. Don’t worry, I do it all the time.” Logan almost chuckled at Virgil’s small blush. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” he promised. “Just… glad you think my company is worth an early rise.” Virgil cracked a smile with a huff, shaking his head.

“Don’t think this changes things,” he warned. “I have a whole playlist you’re going to fall asleep to.”

“That would sound adorable and affectionate if I didn’t know what a scoundrel you truly are,” Logan fired back with a smirk of his own. “I promise I’ll have my own songs to share with you in the early morning hours.” Virgil laughed loud enough to draw the attention of other patrons, his smile crinkling the corners of his eyes.

They sat and talked for what must have been hours, trading anecdotes, questions, and life advice. He learned that Virgil had grown up half an hour away in the backwoods of suburbia, that his favorite color was violet, his favorite animal was a bird of paradise because their dances were beautiful and stupid at the same time, that his parents were divorced but were still friends, that his biggest wish as a young, dumb kid was to be an astronaut and die among the stars. In return, he told Virgil about himself, how his mother had died when he was nine but he loved his stepmother just as much, how his adoration of space began when an astronaut came to his school, how his favorite article of clothing was an old baggy sweatshirt from his first year teaching.

Yet all good things must come to an end, and eventually Virgil had to ruefully apologize that he had an appointment he needed to go to, and had to leave.

He watched Virgil leave wistfully, stirring what remained of his coffee with a cheap plastic stick as he let his thoughts wander over mountains and meadows. Somehow, by some chance, he was in love with Virgil Savage.

Even if Virgil never loved him back, he would make sure to cherish him. He would love and he would lose, yes, but he knew it would be better than to love and to imagine what could have been.

The climax to it all came about a week later, after many continued meetups. Virgil had been hinting at some big finale to it all for the past few days, and Logan was both incredibly excited and incredibly terrified of what his neighbor was planning.

It happened on a clear October night, just as Logan was winding down from a particularly tiring day. Patton was packed and ready to leave tomorrow morning, already sleep despite the early evening hour, and as much as his puns and jokes exasperated Logan to no end, he was going to miss his brother.

The teacher was sitting at the dining room table, finishing up reading a student’s paper. He rubbed at his fluttering eyelids, trying to keep himself from falling asleep as he took another sip from his water, determined to have all his papers graded before he went to sleep. He glanced at his watch every few minutes, chastising himself for checking so often as though he were waiting for something, quickly righting his course of focus back to his yet-to-be-graded papers.

He was about to call it a night and resign himself to an early morning finishing yesterday’s work when it happened. Through the window, which he had left open so he could enjoy the sounds of the night, came the telltale beginnings of trouble, a faint rumble Logan had come to recognize as a bassline emanating from his neighbor’s house.

As he began to hear the lyrics, he tipped back his head with a groan that couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be exasperated or amused. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me…” he muttered as he pushed away from the table to stumble to the window and stand bewildered at the apparent absence of life in the Savage household. Not even a bedroom light was on inside, and it seemed either Virgil had fallen asleep to The All-American Rejects, or this was Virgil’s finale. He knew it was the latter.

Sighing, he pushed away from the table with a clatter of his chair. Running a hand through unkempt tangles of hair, Logan all but shoved the door open and walked out into the brisk night, letting the overwhelming intensity of the song wash over him and take all worries of the papers on his kitchen table away from his mind. Then he noticed movement from one of the windows, and Logan knew to prepare himself for an overly dramatic performance that would have cemented his love for his neighbor if the secret space enthusiasm and the wistful eyes hadn’t already done so.

Logan’s hypothesis proved correct when the bridge of the song began, and people poured out of the house, just like in the music video—which he had watched dozens of times, in a long playlist titled “virgil’s favorites -- memorize!!”, because if he was going to be in love with the man, he might as well know more about what he liked.

And, just like in the music video, they began chanting the ever-plaguing verse as Virgil, playing the role of Tyson Ritter, strutted slowly and calmly down the steps to the teacher’s driveway, where Logan was waiting for him, an exasperated smirk greeting his neighbor.

As soon as Virgil was within an earshot, Logan called to him. “Is this your finale, then?” Virgil’s eyes lit up with playfulness as he stood toe to toe with the teacher, his grin bigger than a full moon.

“Was it too predictable for you?” Virgil retorted with a glimmer of affection in his voice.

“Perhaps,” Logan replied in the same dramatic air as Virgil. “Though I’m beginning to think maybe it’s because I’m rubbing off on you.”

“And maybe it’s because I’m letting you rub off on me. Maybe I like it,” Virgil laughed as he stepped but an inch closer. Logan could see the little discolored speckles in Virgil’s eyes now, from how close they were. Almost close enough to kiss, his brain supplied (un)helpfully.

At once, Logan’s entire demeanor changed. They were close enough to kiss, weren’t they? He’d been fantasizing about it on more than one occasion, though Logan always classified them as nothing but. Nothing but fantasies to tuck away for reminiscing. But here, under starlight, with Virgil looking like a Lunar Queen, with those mesmerizing eyes trapping his, those fantasies seemed more like memories.

“Logan,” Virgil whispered. And like that, the spell was broken. Logan broke from his dreaming to hear a silent night once more, the song having ended without his notice. He opened his mouth to apologize, but Virgil beat him to it. “Look up.”

And, oh, wasn’t that a sight.

“I was wondering why you weren’t outside watching the meteor shower, and when I texted Patton, he said you were grading papers. Can you believe it? Missing the coolest thing in the world for a couple of dead trees?” Virgil was saying, his voice soft and gentle as a blanket.

Logan, of course, was too busy looking to hear him.

Not looking at the meteor shower—oh, no, no. As gorgeous as the black-blue-purple swashes of paint across the heavens was, as breath-taking as the falling stars were, as inspiring as the night sky captured in pure happiness was, none of it compared to the beauty he was so enraptured by—the beauty, of course, being the look of pure awe in Virgil’s eyes as he watched the meteors shoot across the sky.

Without thinking, Logan leaned over, and kissed him.

It was brief, but as soon as he pulled away, he said, “I think I love you.” Just to cement it, of course. To make sure Virgil knew.

The man in question stared at Logan, his eyes wide with surprise, and lips parted in an unspoken gasp. Virgil said nothing. He only grabbed the back of Logan’s neck and pulled him for a second, better kiss.

Two shooting stars crossed the sky together above them, as if in love.

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bleepblopbloop56 · 5 years

Text

Yall want some more blanket fort au? No? Too bad

Roman and remy are polar opposites as children

Remy would do nothing but sleep as a baby, a lil angel child who barely cried and was easy to settle down

Roman would be screaming constantly and it drove both of them to tears at some point or another like “ food, diaper, burped, nap, what do you wANT”

They had to call patton's parents quite a few times being like “what do we do”

Remy liked bath times as a child, just loved the water.

Roman to this day still doesn't LIKE showering or bathing but he stopped throwing fits about ut around the age of 10

The only way to get that child to stay in a bath would be bubbles and so many toys you couldn't actually see the water

When they were still young enough to take baths together reny Did Not Like™ when roman would splash water everywhere. If we're being honest neither did patton or logan.

While getting him into the water was a struggle, getting him out was just as bad. He would kick and say no until he was in it, then didnt wanna get out.

Remy was just a freakin angel but a bit of a picky eater. Roman would eat anything he could get his hands on. Logan has lost count of how many times romans had to be stopped from eating mud, various bugs, a worm, or paint

Really the boy has no filter he's just if i can fit it in my mouth i can eat it

Neither likes carrots. They hate them actually.

Roman had a phase where he would only eat chicken nuggets for a solid month. They were Concerned™

Roman would make remy and virgil put on plays for their parents that neither wanted to do. Complete with horrible costumes often including one of logan's ties they keep managing to steal (patton helps but login doesn't need to know) improv songs, and about 3 minute long death scenes were roman has all the attention as he's like “BLARG I'M DYING OH NO I SEE THE LIGHT”

Logan always laughs at how cute they are and patton fakes the appropriate reactions (very obvious gasps, somewhat genuine laughs, clapping at the end of the songs, and fake crying when someone “dies”)

The first time there was a fake death on “stage” and patton was like “oh no!!” Roman broke scene too tell his dad that its okay he wasn't really dead

Reenactments of disney movies were everyone's favorite

Virgil never remembered the songs lyrics so would stand there awkwardly mumbling almost to the tune of the song and patton would clap regardless

As different as they are, when remy decided to make trouble along with roman, it was hell.

Going to the store with both children? Torture.

They'd run in different directions and try and climb out of the carts, logan needing to catch them right before they fell and seriously hurt themselves.

Roman would always wanna go to the toys and would sometimes try and sneak them in the cart and logan would stare him dead in the eyes as he pulled it out and put it back on the shelves.

Remy and roman: MCDONALDS MCDONALDS MCDONALDS

logan: one black coffee

Once the boys got ahold of logan's coffee when he wasn't looking… patton immediately put a month long coffee ban on the house due to the disaster that was trying to get two sugar rushed toddlers in control

The boys have had screaming contests before that caused many headaches from their dads. I don't have anything else to say except the boys sitting in their room just shouting to see who could scream the loudest. Patton then had to explain that if they kept this up someone would call the cops and that would be a bad thing

The boys house has a second floor which means there's a staircase which means many shenanigans. Such as:

Trying to see who could slide down the railing the best

Seeing how far they could jump off the stairs

Getting in a cardboard box and sledding into a pile of stuffed animals at the bottom

And trying to crabwalk up the stairs

Needles to say the stairs were the cause if many bruises

Storytimes with logan were always a treat

Patton would usually take care of putting them to bed, but some nights they just wanted papa to read to them

Remy was always much easier to put to sleep since he acted like a normal human being and get progressively sleepier until it was time to nap

While remy was more like a dial, roman was a light switch. It was all or nothing with him

He'd be bouncing off the wall completely and totally awake and then just shout “OKAY I'M TIRED NOW” and you had about 10 seconds to catch him before he passes out in his feet or just straight up goes limp in your arms and sleeps for a few hours.

Logan still says teaching roman to walk was his biggest mistake. Walking led to climbing and running and trouble. While remy would giggle and waddle around trying to climb on couches and tables, roman would run as fast as he could until something or someone stopped him. Usually a table or an unsuspecting human.

And while remy always prefered to be covered, roman Did Not like clothes. 90% of the time he was a baby/toddler he was only in a diaper cause he managed to wiggle his way out of his clothes when people weren't looking.

Shirts were the bane of his existence and don't even get him started in pants. He spent a lot of time in skirts just cause he didnt want to wear pants and patton “compromised” with him.

It was less a compromise more “listen kiddo you gotta wear something how bout this”

Potty training was not a good time in any of their lives. Remy and roman had no idea what was going on and patton and logan also had no idea how to do this.

Parenting books galore, mixed with calls to every adult person with a child they knew

“But the book says-”

“The books say to do this but trust me, it doesn't work and most of those people grow up to have asshole children so listen just don't”

“Hey karen i know we haven't talked in 2 years but how do children work”

“Hey mom yes i know its two am but what did you do when i wouldn't go back to sleep?”

Car rides worked pretty well to get remy back to sleep but roman needed a lot of physical contact at all times.

For most of his life if roman wasn't either swaddled or being held, hed cry. Remy doesn't mind it but usually he's okay with just hand holding if he wants affection. Roman just needs to be fully octopussed around someone at all times

Family game night as children was actually pretty fun and tame. Until they grow up and it get more and more aggressive.

At first when it was just roman and remy they'd be teams (roman and patton, remy and logan. Sometimes they'd switch but you don't mess with tradition)

Then virgil started being allowed to play and they went to adults vs children

And as the boys got old enough to stop playing on teams that's when things got interesting

At first they worried how the competitive yelling would effect virgil but it seems like he joined in just as fast.

And then when dimitri joined… boy it was every man for himself and they were all out for blood.

Monopoly is banned from the house but uno? Uno is screaming and betrayal, and they always play for snacks. Winner gets to choose what we eat tonight, a full thing of oreos that they are not required to share if they win (they usually do. Except dee. He just says fuck you and eats them all)

Edit: this post isnt fucking showing up in the right order on my blog and im fucking upset

#thomas sanders #sander sides #roman sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #deceit sanders #tw deceit #remy sanders #blanket fort au #logicality #someone told me to edit the post and try again #and apperently add the tag #sfw #on my post to try and fix it #but im so fucking frustrated im gonna cry

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residentanchor · 5 years

Text

Dr. Logan’s Not-So Sing-Along Story

Note: This is not only a Dr. Horrible Sing Along Blog AU, but it is also an AU of A Lesson in Practicality! I wrote this last year for a warm-up and there was interest so I’m sharing it here! I have edited it a bit since my writing has improved. If you have not read ALiP, all you need to know is that the guys have powers. Logan has telekinesis, Virgil can stop time, Roman has electricity powers, and Patton’s do not come into play but he can make duplicates of himself! Warnings: This follows the plot to Dr Horrible loosely so this is a spoiler warning, this will give away the ending! Which is not a happy one! Angst, death mention, blood mention, character death, sad, cursing, Roman is kind of a dick (to fit the role)

"It's coming along splendidly, Virgil!" Logan flitted around his lab in his excitement. Items floated above the table as Logan’s eyes softly glowed golden as he worked. "Theoretically, it should be fully operational by the end of the week! I just need to get my hands on some Wonderflonium--are you even listening to me?"

Virgil continued to sift through the mail, half paying attention. "Yeah, yeah. Awesome freeze ray, gonna stop your archnemesis, fix the city then the world. I’ve heard it all before," He held out a letter while keeping his eyes on the letters in his hand. "Here, this seems to be the only not junk today."

Logan sighed at his failed attempt to keep his friend slash sidekicks' attention and grabbed the letter, placing it to the side without bothering to look. "Can't you pretend to be listening to me just once?"

"You're after the same thing, Logan, and you know how I feel about it." Virgil walked around the room and sat down on a stool. "You want to take down the hero of the city and rule it your way, blah blah blah."

"I want to help the city!" Logan slammed a fist on the table in front of him. Virgil didn’t jump at his sudden outburst, used to the small bouts of anger. "They laughed at my ideas, especially that so-called hero! Mocked me and threw me out, and now he's telling the mayor to run the city into the ground! Things are even worse since he came about! Why does anyone even like that pompous imbecile?!"

"I get that Logan, you know I do. This just doesn't seem to be the way to fix it though. First off, making yourself into the super villain just to fight him?" Virgil leaned forwards onto the table. "You're too good of a person to be a villain. Heck, your motive is to make things easier for everyone, how is that evil?"

"If that bumbling moron can trounce around the city as a hero and be the most self-serving jackass in the city and be praised, he will only be countered by his opposite."

"Uh huh," Virgil smirked up at his friend. "And what about what he will think when he finds out?"

Logan spun around and turned back to his project. "I have no idea who you're talking about."

"Oh? So you aren't running late to do your laundry right now just to see him?"

Logan jumped and looked over at the clock. "Damn," He quickly ripped off the goggles around his neck and started to remove his jacket. "We shall discuss this later!"

It started a few months ago...

Logan was a man of habit. There was a day he went to the bank and a day he did his grocery shopping. There was a day for everything to get done, so going to the laundromat on a day he normally wouldn't be deviating from the familiar and comfortable schedule he abided by. However, he had left city hall after a much-anticipated meeting with the mayor. He presented all his ideas on plans and budgets to improve the city over the next few years. The mayor seemed thoroughly intrigued in the beginning, that is, before The Prince, the hero of the city walked in and mocked every idea he had. He went from being hopeful to being kicked out and laughed at in a matter of minutes.

He decided to distract himself with work, it's always what he did when things got rough. However, he couldn't help but notice the other man in the next row over.

His radiant smile seemed to shine like the world held no grievances with him, he was a bright light on a normally dreary day. He hummed to himself as he happily sorted through his clothes and sat down with a puzzle book to pass the time.

Logan kept stealing glances his way, wondering why he couldn't keep himself from being distracted by the man until he eventually gathered his own things and left.

The next week, Logan changed his schedule for the first time and went back to the laundromat. Just like the week before, it wasn't long before the same man came in. Logan smiled, he seemed to have a scheduled laundry day much like he did, an attribute he could appreciate. This time the random stranger did a bit of paperwork and Logan wondered who this stranger was and what life he lived outside these walls.

By the next week, Virgil had found out by obviously noticing the change in schedule, and was already berating Logan to talk to the guy. Determined to do just the opposite and watch from afar, Logan had only learned what he knew in passing over time. Not wanting to indulge in the bad habit of stalking to discover more had, unfortunately, told him a little bit but was never enough.

One day, he answered his phone with his name, Patton. He also learned that outside of his job, Patton volunteered at a local homeless shelter, because of course, he did. The man seemed selfless and a beacon of hope in the city that never seemed to want to do the right thing. He saw Patton try his best to fix things from the inside, the right way, just like Logan had attempted to. He was watching him fail, also as he had, but persevere through it all. Failed attempt after failed attempt never seemed to put the man down for too long before he was back again with his next idea. Logan determined, then and there, he was going to fix the city for both of them.

---

Logan looked back at Virgil with a pleading look and hopeful smile like he did every week. "You wouldn't want to join me this time, would you?"

"Sorry, man. Not today, just suck it up and do it yourself!"

Logan sighed and Virgil rolled his eyes. Every week he offered to have Virgil accompany him to the laundromat for moral support. With someone at his side, he would maybe get the motivational push needed to finally talk to Patton, but every week Virgil shot him down.

"Actually..." Logan froze and turned around, watching Virgil smirk over at him. "Stop by that frozen yogurt place on your way and I'll meet you there."

"Virgil, I am already running behind!"

"If you want me to show, you have to pay me."

"You are the worst evil sidekick," Logan's shoulders dropped in defeat. "Fine, but you're getting plain vanilla and no complaints."

"Sure, boss, whatever you say."

Logan entered the laundromat with a paper bag in one hand, scanning the room in excitement. He couldn’t deny there was a bit of extra bounce in his step knowing that with Virgil’s help, today just might be the day! He looked around at his usual spot but found no sign of Patton. Of course, the one time Virgil agrees and the man wasn't even there! He placed the bag down and went to retrieve his hamper in hopes Patton was perhaps running a bit late.

Ten excruciatingly long minutes had passed and he heard the jingle of the door once more, eagerly looking up and finally finding Patton walking in, a bit later than normal. Logan quickly sent Virgil a text asking his current location, now that Logan was alone with the other man.

His phone dinged and he looked down, frowning at his response.

'I'm not showing up, give him the frozen yogurt for me. ; ) '

Logan groaned and rubbed his eyes under his glasses, pocketing his phone. Of course. Virgil’s sudden change of heart made a lot more sense to him now. He readjusted them and looked up, eyes meeting Patton's who had glanced over at him in concern.

"You okay?" Patton asked.

Logan froze before glancing away quickly. "Y-yes," He looked down at the brown paper bag that held the frozen treats and thought back to the message Virgil had sent. "It seems..." He cleared his throat a bit. "My acquaintance will no longer be joining me today after he forced me to buy him a treat as payment." Logan dare not look over at Patton as he reached over and grabbed the bag. "Y-you wouldn't happen to enjoy frozen yogurt, would you?"

He reached in and pulled out the plain cup on top before finally getting the courage to glance over. Patton looked shocked and a small smile grew on his face. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Logan reached out and handed it to him. "I have my own, so it will simply be a waste."

"Well, then! I guess we're officially laundry buddies, huh?" Patton reached and grabbed the cup from him. "Thank you! My name's Patton."

"Logan," Patton reached out and shook his hand before he popped off the lid and took a bite with a smile. It was infectious, Logan decided, smiling back at him as Patton seemed to light up the room more than the cheap fluorescent bulbs above them.

"It's good! So, Logan..." Patton walked around and jumped up on a machine, cup still in hand. "I see you here all the time and we never talk. We both have some time to waste so let's fix that, shall we?"

---

Virgil heard the door creak open and lazily glanced over from his comfy position lounging on the couch. Logan had a smile a mile wide plastered on his face and was still flushed red from he could only imagine was due to his plan being successful. "So... How much do you hate me right now?"

Logan ignored him and walked over and fell dramatically into his chair with a happy sigh. "I managed to talk to him. We talked! Like an actual conversation! He even said we should talk next week as well! Can you believe it? An actual verbal connection after all this time."

"You're like a school girl with a hopeless crush, you know that?"

Logan got up from his seat and flitted around the room. "Anyway... I’m bursting with energy now and I have a freeze ray to build, we can talk later."

"Whatever you say, boss."

Logan sifted through his blueprints and started typing away at his laptop before suddenly freezing and looking over at Virgil. "Did you know his eyes are a shockingly bright shade of blue? Apparently a trait he gained from his mother, which is surprising due to their recessive-"

"Logan!" Virgil laughed as the other was startled out of his rant. "Freeze ray, remember?"

"Sorry. Just started thinking about freezing and cold and blue..."

"You're a hopeless gay, you know that?"

---

Things had been going so well lately for the ‘evil’ duo. Logan had Virgil hop on the roof of the van and plant the device while time was frozen. He made it look like he could merely teleport to any unknowing passerby, he didn't need others knowing his true powers. He hopped off safely and the guard driving the van was none the wiser.

That’s when things started going poorly.

While Logan was using his remote to take control of the van, he ran into Patton and got heavily distracted. Patton’s bright blue eyes had practically turned him into a bumbling moron and next thing he knew, he was signing a petition to turn an old abandoned building into a homeless shelter. Logan could do nothing but listen as Patton's face lit up, eager to explain what his plan was for the building. He was going on and on until the device in Logan’s hand beeped angrily at him for his attention. Logan jumped and sighed, apologizing as he ran off with a promise to make it up to him and hear the rest of his story on laundry day.

He quickly put away the device and ran for cover to put on his costume, if he could really call it that. People didn't tend to know the difference even with his face not covered in anything other than goggles.

He quickly took control of the van with success, causing the driver to jump out... when Prince appeared.

The man was serenading himself as he jumped on the van and punched the remote control. Logan fought to regain control and steer the van but it swerved uncontrollably. He looked up and panicked as he saw it turn and head straight for Patton.

Logan's heart stopped for a moment as he watched on. He didn't think as he tossed the broken remote to the ground. His eyes lit up and he reached out a hand, following nothing but instinct as he attempted to pull the van to a complete stop. Logan didn’t rely on his telekinetic powers over his brain often, but he wasn’t going to let the Prince’s carelessness risk the safety of others. ESPECIALLY when the ‘others’ was Patton of all people. In his desperation, Logan felt the vehicle slow to a stop and let out a cry of relief. He dropped to his knees gasping for breath, not entirely sure how he managed to pull that off.

He stumbled up and looked over, hoping Patton wasn't too frazzled, only to freeze in place.

Prince was there, holding Patton way too close and singing to himself still, grinding on the last of his nerves.

"You saved me..." Patton muttered out just loud enough for him to hear. "T-that van would have... and you stopped it!" He smiled up. "Thank you!"

"Of course, it was no problem for me, the Prince." He smiled and stared off into the distance, surely hearing applause for him that did not exist. "And your name would me?"

"P-patton!"

"Of course! A beautiful name for a beautiful creature."

Logan watched as the Prince grabbed Patton's hand, lifting it up to his lips and giving it a quick kiss. His eyes flickered from the van back to the duo as Patton giggled and fell for the stupid act. Rescue Patton from the Prince’s clutches or take the opportunity to succeed in his mission?

He ran and used his powers to force the back doors of the van open, quickly hopping inside. There was a briefcase strapped down that he quickly grabbed and freed, not bothering to look back as he angrily raced off of the crime scene.

"If Prince wants a fight, he's going to get one," Logan muttered angrily to himself.

---

Virgil stood to the side, tossing darts at the dartboard across from him that donned a mugshot of The Prince, various holes in the photo near the center. "Seems like it failed to me, Lo."

"It was a test run, Virgil, I needed to make sure the freeze ray was functional."

"It was functional, alright. It didn't shut off until you broke it." He tossed a dark and smirked as it hit the photo on the chin. "Think you can fix it?"

"Can I fix it..." Logan scoffed, the broken gun spread out in front of him. "Give me a few hours and it will be back and that stupid loose wire will be glued back in place with something a bit more reliable this time."

"I'm sorry, Elmer has never let me down before!"

Logan looked up and froze the dart Virgil had just tossed in the air. It suddenly flew straight, hitting the bullseye of the dart board. "WOAH!" Virgil put his hands up in mock surrender. "You okay, buddy?"

"Of course I am."

Logan looked away, but not before causing the previous darts to fly out and meet the center of the photo as well. Virgil snorted out a laugh and turned around. "Okay, tell me what's wrong."

Virgil sat down on his favorite stool, waiting for a response. Logan leaned over the table and sighed heavily before giving in. "They went on a date today."

"Ouch," Logan reached forward and continued disassembling the machine in front of him. "So, what? You're gonna build a death ray and kill the guy, mister 'I'm totally evil'?"

"Nonsense, although a death ray would be rather simple. I have that old stun ray, it's a matter of amplifying its effects and switching out the core for-"

"WOAH!" Virgil stood up, knocking over the stool in the process. He walked over to his friend and held up his arms, waving them back and forth. "No, stop that thought process right now! No death ray, you are not killing someone, Lo!"

Logan huffed and turned back to his project. "Of course not, don’t be ridiculous."

"No," Virgil grabbed Logan's shoulders, spinning him around. "I know how you are. Promise me, promise me, you will not build a death ray." Logan stared Virgil down and shifted his eyes away but didn't speak. "LOGAN!"

"Okay!" He shouted. "No death ray."

Virgil nodded and removed his arms. "Good. Now, I'm going to go spy on your arch nemesis for you while you work. Gotta be a good sidekick. Maybe try and sabotage that date."

"Heh, how you like that fool is beyond me."

Virgil spun around quickly. "I do not like the Prince, I am just trying to help so you don't sit here wondering what he's doing constantly!"

Logan made no comment as he went back to his work. He heard Virgil angrily groan and walk out the door in a huff. He waited, counting silently to himself before walking over to one of his drawers of abandoned projects. He pulled open the biggest one, staring down at the 'Stun Ray' in front of him, deep in thought.

---

"So, how was your weekend, Logan?" Patton sifted through his clothes in the dryer, making sure they were warm and completely dried.

"Dull, same as always. Just working on a new project or two."

"You know, I'm so impressed with you." Patton looked up and smiled. "You said you went to town hall with ideas to improve the city and they shot you down, but you just picked yourself right back up and now you're working on new stuff and doing it yourself! That’s so inspiring!"

"Yeah. Well, how about you? You're actually out there, actively fixing the city while I'm behind a door trying to get ready, always trying to..."

Patton saw Logan look out the window, letting his sentence fade off. "Hey," Patton leaned forward, placing his hand on Logan's as it rested on the machine. "Everything happens."

"Don't say for a reason, Patton, please."

"Well, no." Patton gave a small, sadder smile. "But everything does happen. It just depends on what we do next."

Logan sighed softly and smiled up at Patton, who could swear see the shine in his eyes brighten. "The world needs more people like you." He muttered mostly to himself. Logan quickly looked away, embarrassed at his words. "This world is going to burn the way it keeps going, and the flood that goes to wipe away that fire will leave us with nothing but ashes in its wake."

"That's not true!" Logan looked back at Patton who stared him down with a determined glint in his eyes. "Seeds can't grow without a little rain! It just takes some hard work to make sure it's just the right amount and taken care of!"

Logan watched as Patton smiled and finished loading his clothes into the basket and closing the door. "So, how was your weekend then, Patton?"

He knew how it was, Virgil had spotted Patton with the Prince at the park in a swan boat of all things. Logan had even followed them to the homeless shelter Patton volunteered at later that weekend. He was amazed Prince kept a straight face as he sat down and ate, listening to Patton go on and on about future projects and improvements to the place, eyes lit up and filled with hope...

"I went on a date, actually."

"You're kidding."

If Patton noticed the uninterested tone, he ignored it. "Yeah, I thought he would be a bit self-centered, you know? He's got a bit of a reputation and people only talk about how good looking he is as the only redeeming thing about him, but I guess that just goes to show you can't judge a book. He was so kind and sweet and he actually listened, you know?"

"Sounds wonderful."

"Yeah, I think I might see him again." The lights began to shake and flicker. Patton looked up and around the room, noticing some of the machines shake as well. "Is-are... is this an earthquake?"

Suddenly everything stopped and Logan let out a slow breath. "Don't worry, it seems to have passed."

"Oh, that was a bit scary." Patton looked over and lit up again, as he always did. "Good thing you're here to protect me, huh?"

Surely, this was the worst hell Logan could imagine for himself.

"Oh! Actually, speaking of my date... he said he might stop by!"

And it got even worse.

"Here?" Logan at Patton in a panic. "Oh, that reminds me, I was supposed to be somewhere!"

Logan headed straight for the door, abandoning everything behind. "What about your clothes?"

"I'll just come back, don’t worry!"

Logan threw open the door and immediately met with a force that caused him to stumble back. "Woah there!" Before he could even look up, a pair of hands caught him and spun him around, an arm wrapped around his shoulder, forcing him back into the laundromat. "Is your friend so intimidated he's trying to run?"

"Prince, I was hoping you could make it!"

"Of course, and with good news! But first!" He let go of Logan and stuck out his hand. "The Prince, the one and only! You must be the laundry buddy Patton has mentioned!"

Logan ducked his head and quickly took the hand, giving it a quick shake. "Yeah, we're meeting for the first time!" He pulled back his hand quickly and mentally berated himself. "I need to be going so-"

"GUESS what the mayor is doing behind closed doors right now?" The Prince cut him off from escaping. "Signing over a certain building into a homeless shelter."

"Oh my goodness, is he really?" Patton jumped up and down in his spot before jumping to the Prince, giving him a tight hug. "That's amazing!"

The Prince laughed and for a moment, Logan could understand why Virgil and Patton fell for the hero act watching him laugh and hug Patton close.

"Of course, the only signature he needed was my fist! With a pen in it, as I signed the petition you had..."

"Oh this is great, I have so much to do but I have all these ideas, this is great!" Patton picked up one of his filled baskets of clothes. "I'll take care of this, I'll be right back! We have so much to talk about!"

Logan and the Prince watched Patton happily trot out of the laundromat with small smiles. As soon as the door shut, Logan shifted away from the Prince. "Well, I was on my way out personally-"

"Not so fast!" Prince grabbed him and pulled him close once more. "Not before I say how wonderful it has been to meet you!" Prince bent down and looked at Logan as he hunched over. "... Doctor."

Logan jumped back as much as the Prince would allow and glared up at him. "You must have me mistaken for someone else."

"You have a little crush, don't you doc?" Prince spun them around and watched Patton give up a shirt straight from his basket to a man he must have recognized from the shelter. The homeless man smiled and thanked Patton before hugging the freshly washed shirt close. "That's what makes this all the more... sweeter. Because he's what you want... and I have taken that from you now, too. I must say, you have impeccable tastes, he is quite the catch."

Logan stumbled as he was released from the Prince's grip. "I'm sure I'll see you around... Logan, was it?"

As the Prince turned around to join Patton outside, Logan couldn't think of anything else but...

"I'm going to end you and everything you stand for."

---

"This is a bad idea, you promised me, Logan!"

"I don't care."

Logan adjusted the weapon in front of him, placing tape over the word 'stun' angrily before picking it up and swinging around, meeting Virgil face to face.

"I'm coming with you, and you know you can't stop me, Logan."

Logan's eyes sparked with a golden light and pure determination. "You know I can."

Virgil vanished and in an instant was in Logan's face, staring him down. "I dare you." They stood nose to nose silently before Logan's eyes slowly faded back to normal. "You're going to make an irreversible mistake, Logan, and as your best friend I can't just stand by and watch."

Logan took a step back and held the raygun in between the two. "Guess we'll just see how this turns out, then.”

---

"Justice has a name. And its name that it has, besides Justice, is the Prince!"

The mayor stood down from the podium and the Prince proudly took his place. "I just would like to say, I met my wonderful new boyfriend and he had such a strong determination to help others, it inspired me to step up! He made me want to help, even for someone like you all!"

"Prince!" Patton hissed, covering his face in embarrassment.

"Oh, of course, there's nothing wrong with being homeless and smelly!" Patton slouched over in his chair trying to hide away from everyone. "That did not come out right. ANYWAY! Patton had this wonderful idea to make this old building into a homeless shelter to help the less fortunate, so of course, I talked to the mayor to help out. In his kind generosity, he made me a statue, which is just-" the Prince laughed and shook his head. "-just the nicest thing! See how one small act can affect all those around you? How such generosity is met with more kindness? Wonderful! Now, I wrote a small speech!" Patton peered out from behind his hands as the Prince pulled index cards out from his pocket. "I hate the homeless!" He flipped to the next card. "...ness problem that plagues this city!"

"Oh, brother," Virgil grumbled, crossing his arms and falling back into his chair in the very back row. He looked over at the large cloth covering the statue of the Prince that was brought in earlier. He got up from his chair with a sigh and turned away from the Prince giving his speech. Meeting the back wall where the lights to the room were held, he turned and met eyes with the Prince who saw him as they made eye contact. The Prince paused in his speech and Virgil smirked before pushing the button and plunging the room in darkness.

Murmurs grew loud in confusion and mild panic as the darkness settled from the crowd. A sigh of relief was heard as the lights suddenly turned back on. Everyone looked around as the Prince looked back up at Virgil, sending him a glare. He walked around the podium and stared him down before pointing. "You, I know you. What are you up to, villain?"

Virgil smiled and tilted his head. "It's called a distraction, your majesty. Thank you for falling for it."

Before the Prince could utter another word, the cloth on the statue flew up and Logan stood up proudly. In front of him, his freeze ray was mounted and glowed with a bluish light at the end before pulling the trigger. The blue ray shot out, hitting the Prince right in the center of his chest. He staggered back before freezing completely in place. "Amazing what one can do in a dark room and frozen time." Virgil chuckled to himself.

Logan jumped down and slowly started walking towards the stage. "How funny, not a word, no one? You were all so talkative before. Always had a few choice words to say to me whenever you can." He spun around and looked at the crowd around him. "Strange, I've been trying to get someone to listen to me for quite a while. Is the silence of your hero all it took?"

"He'll stop you!"

Logan stopped and turned towards the sound of the voice, looking over at the crowd. No one stood up or made a move that they had spoken. "Oh, of course, he will. He'll always protect you." Logan looked back towards the stage. "Your Highness!" He made a dramatic bow and held it before standing back up. His long coat flourished as he pulled the hidden ray gun out from underneath it, pointing it straight up at the ceiling and letting loose a shot. The room grew loud with panic as people ran for the doors in a rush. Mayhem quickly broke out as the room emptied, Logan silently let them all flee as he stared up at the man frozen on stage. "So much for keeping them all safe, huh?"

Logan walked up and jumped up the few feet onto the stage. He looked out at the few reporters and people too terrified or too curious to leave their seats. He looked in the back and saw Virgil standing there, arms crossed and shaking his head in displeasure. Logan turned back to the Prince and held up the gun, leveling it with the man’s heart. "Next time you want to help others, how about actually caring? Fitting you'd die on a stage, you were quite the actor."

Logan lowered his head as he aimed it, merely a foot away from his target. He took in a deep breath and stared down the frozen hero before him. Roman’s shock face frozen, staring blankly ahead. Logan’s hands shook and his palms grew sweaty before he started to lower the raygun. "I..."

A sound rang out and Logan spun around, looking over at his freeze ray. "That can't be good..."

He looked back at the Prince who quickly shot up and grabbed Logan, holding him by the scruff of his jacket. He then spun around and threw him off the stage and down the row between the setup chairs. "Oh, sorry, were you in the middle of something?" The Prince jumped off the stage and stalked forward, stomping a foot down onto Logan's chest. "Seems your time is up, Doctor."

He looked over and reached down, picking up the ray gun. The tape had peeled off, revealing 'STUN RAY' underneath it. "A stun ray and a freeze ray? Very original," The Prince spoke sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He aimed it straight at Logan, who shook his head but couldn't speak, gasping for his limited breath as the pressure on his chest refused to let up. "Let us see if this one works better than your others, shall we?"

"No, idiot, don't-!"

The gun sparked, a crack on the side glowing as the Prince pulled the trigger. It suddenly erupted and let out a shockwave, causing the Prince to fly back several feet.

"Logan!"

He heard footsteps approach as he rolled to the side, gasping for breath. Glancing up, Virgil was right there helping him. "I-i c-couldn't-"

"No shit," Virgil pulled on his arm, helping him stand. "I told you. You're not a bad guy, Lo. Of course, you couldn’t pull the trigger. You think I’d let you try otherwise?"

A pained shout rang out and they looked over at the Prince. He writhed on the ground before sitting up, holding onto his arm. A shard from the gun stuck out of it, blue sparks flying as he slowly lost control of his abilities in his panic. "Ah, g-get it out!"

"No!" Logan shouted. "Removing it will cause quicker blood loss, wait for the medics!"

The Prince glared over at the duo. "Why should I listen to a villain like you? You tried to kill me!"

"YOU just tried to kill ME!"

"I didn't know it was going to KILL YOU!" The Prince stood up, pulling his arm close but heeding his nemesis' words. "I'm not through with you yet, Doctor!"

Logan watched as the Prince sprinted to the door, busting it open with his good arm. "Are you good to go?" Logan looked over at Virgil before nodding. The sidekick sprinted after the hero, Logan not quite sure what he was planning to do.

He looked around the room at the overturned chairs and remains of the chaos, wondering how it had gone so wrong. Or perhaps so right, seeing as he was sure he wouldn't have pulled the trigger. He was so sure he would be able to pull it off but when it came down to it, Virgil was right. Logan cared too much and didn’t have it in him to end another’s life.

Logan slowly got to his feet and looked around, finding the seats on the stage were empty. The mayor had left once everything started, but… "Patton." He whispered, glancing around frantically as he thought of the man, hoping he made it out safely. "PATTON!"

"L-lo?"

He spun and took a few steps toward the voice before freezing in place.

Against the wall, trying to hide behind a few chairs that had since fallen over, was Patton. His hand was in his lap, painted red. As was his shirt, and his face and-

"Patton!" He ran forward, frantic and numb to all his previous pain. He slid onto his knees and held out his arms, too afraid to touch the other man. "Hold on, Pat! You're okay, the medics will be here and you'll be okay!" He eyed the rather large piece of the raygun sticking out from Patton's gut.

"Lo..." Patton's head fell to the side as he looked up at him. "Don't worry, Lo."

"P-patton!"

"The Prince... will save us..."

Logan froze at those words, at Patton's small smile that appeared after he said them. Patton slowly closed his eyes, letting out a small sigh as he did.

"Patton, no please!" He reached out and shook the man. "J-just a moment! Patton! You can’t fall asleep, you need to stay awake!"

Logan watched as Patton's head fell limp, his hair falling over his face and the small smile still plastered, full of hope as it always had been. With shaking hands, Logan reached over and picked up the man as a sound erupted in the back of the room. He turned and saw a reporter that had remained taking a photo as he stood there, frozen to the reality to everything happening around him. Logan walked forward as medics arrived, placing him on a gurney that had appeared slowly and carefully before turning and walking out the door.

No one bothered to stop him.

Reports would talk about a brave, selfless man that stood up to the horribleness of the city and gave it everything he could. How he tried to fix it in every way he could from cleaning up the parks to helping the homeless. How he was the best the city had to offer in their darkest times. How this person managed to catch their hero’s eye and even his heart.

They would tell about how a villain came out and took the one person the city's hero had ever cared for without a thought. They would talk about how he picked up the body and left it, not a tear on the villain's face as he walked away victorious.

No one stopped him as he walked into banks and demanded anything he needed.

No one stopped him as he took over the city, fixing it the ways he always had wished, the Prince nowhere to be found.

No one stopped the man who had already lost everything.

#alip au #spinoff story #sanders sides au #angst #character death #tw blood #tw death #tw cursing #cursing #ts logan #ts virgil #ts roman #ts patton #dr horrible au #sad ending #open ending #my writing #celery writes

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missmonkeymode · 5 years

Text

My story with google + since its ending soon

So, first things first. How did I get on google plus in the first place? Honestly I'm not fully sure, I think it was a mix of youtube being glued onto google plus, my brother using it, and maybe being lonely I don't fully know. I remember the first thing I did, it was basically add a bunch of pokemon stuff to my feed and follow my brother. Nothing much really happened then, but the more important part is what happened a little bit later, like a couple of months after I made the account. I found a group of people who roleplayed warrior cats. I know, warrior cats. I was intrigued by the thought of roleplaying, since it was like a joint story (in my eyes at least). I immediately joined and made my first oc ever. Her name was Ivy, she's a young cat who hated everything and everyone and was weirdly strong. I made her design in a dolldevine thing. Funny thing though, I didn't even read one book about warrior cats before I joined the group.

That was technically the first time I had internet friends. I remember thinking that everyone was like, cool older teenagers but I found out recently that the closest friend I had was literally 2 years older than me so who would've thought. Eventually, the community got more and more inactive, and we just stopped. We stopped roleplaying with each other, and I think I was the only one who stuck with google plus from that group weirdly. This lasted until like, mid 2015 I wanna say? I dont't fully remember, but it doesn't fully matter, just by 2015 we split up.

So mid 2015 to early 2016 I literally remember nothing from them except liking minecraft youtubers (VAGUELY THO). All I do remember is getting kicked from this one group for breaking the rules once, but screw them right? I was messing around on youtube, and I found Jacksepticeyes playthrough of undertale in February of 2016. I fell in love with undertale. To be honest, I think that was one of the most intense hyper fixation I've ever had oopsie. I started following anything related to Undertale, including rp blogs since I knew what they were. Then I found someone who roleplayed Ink Sans.

Now about 7th grade me: I wasn't at the best place if I'm honest. I didn't have any friends, mostly what I did was read since I didn't have a phone at the time, I was extremely antisocial, and all I remember is like, the only time I had fun at school was watching the theatre kids dick around in theatre class even though I was too timid to actually say hi.

7th grade me was a different person than now me, even though I still have some traits from older me. But hey we ain't here to hear kit talk about how she thinks her life changed and junk we here about g+ baybee

So when I found this Ink Sans roleplayer, I checked out their blog since I was really into undertale aus and Ink Sans was new to me. I immediately followed after I saw their content. I was in awe, this person was a great rper, was everything 7th grade me wished to be (funny, confident, friendly, all that good jazz), and they liked undertale. I started commenting on their post, and we became friends. I remember becoming friends with them, and befriending their friends. I still know who they are to this day, and I still follow them even if we're not really friends anymore. Eventually the Ink Sans rper made a group where their friends hung out, and you can imagine how shocked and excited I was. Who'd like plain old Kit, all she does is read. But nevertheless, I dedicated the good chunk of 2016 in that group.

Overtime, I learned everyones name and stopped referring to them as their character. Ink Sans's mun's name was Uki, a Gaster Sans became Izzy, a Flowey became a Cy, etc etc. Everyone was older than me, I was the youngest in the group. I remember good things about that place, but one thing I don't remember is how horny e veryone was besides me. Lowkey I think because of skeleporn that they posted that I use to get fluseterd when thinking of sans f. So people were chilling on the server, then Uki got into homestuck. SHe got the others into homestuck, and I believe I was the last one to get into it (mostly because of my brother lol). So we all were posting about homestuck, and as a joke, Uki invited as many Eridan rpers to the server (since she had a crush on eridan lol) and eventually a dude named Myth joined. I'm a mutual to him on tumblr now so thats poppin. Myth is a good friend but he wasn't the quietest person. Eventually because of how rowdy it got, Uki's mom found out about the server and banned her from social media.

Everyone was devastated after that, especially her boyfriend Cy, and that launched the group into a weird limbo where we'd talk to each other and still be friends outside of the group, but not actually be active in the group. Officially it died in summer of 2016, but if I had to say when it died, I would say late winter after Uki left it died. 2016 came and went, and now its 2017 with a good chunk of friends still being into homestuck, so we decided to start roleplaying together as homestuck ocs. That's when things get weird and take a turn towards the sour.

So Izzy, the person who was gaster, started dating this papyrus roleplayer, who we called pap. Myth Introduced us to some more people and then yeah. OH WAIT I FORGOT TO MENTION LOGAN AND LGBT! So this group was the first time I figured out that the lgbt community existed, and Logan was a Pansexual gal who had a lot of drama irl but overall was pretty chill. BACK TO THE STORY!

So everyone had an oc, and everyone was at various places in their roleplaying life. Some people they were great at it, some people didn't start rping until the group started, some people were rusty at it but has some expirence (that twas me). Because of this group I opened up MSPaint and actually figured out how it worked and start using it. It was fun but some people were..... unsavory to be kind. What I'm going to say in the spoilers contains tw of being sexually gross and suicide.

Around spring Izzy and Pap's relationship started getting shakey, and Izzy wanted to break up with Pap. At the time I had no idea what happened, but apparently Pap threatened Izzy with suicide if she did break up with him. Izzy told Logan about it, and Logan told everyone to unfollow him. I didn't since I didn't know what was happening, but Pap was shunned from the group and I have no idea what they're doing today. It was a good thing to, his character were gross. Again, I didn't realize it at the time but like, his homestuck characters were fucking WILD. If I remember correctly (and i do) one of his characters tried to hump other characters and yeah that was bad. I made my character punch him and was bout to rip off his troll dick so yeah I did register that that was bad, but I didn't realize the gravity of it. Also another one of his characters kidnapped another character and had them as a sex slave maybe? yeah so good riddance to him.

Tl;DR Pap was gross and bad, so he's gone.

So like, late 2017, the rp group went inactive and some people I still know and talk to. A guy called Muff that joined later is still a good friend of mine. But that split up, and each person just stopped using google+ all together. All that really stayed was Myth, Izzy, and Muff. Logan had something happened with an ex and now deleted her account. I don't know what happened to her, all that she's safe. Cy just slowly moved to a new site, and we didn't stay in contact. 2018 rolled in, and I decided to be more out there and like, try to actually do things irl so that's where I changed from middle school Kit to Kit right now. I still used google+, I found some more friends whom are way better than some of the people who I interreacted with in 2017. Nothing eventful happened that year, but it was an amazing year nevertheless. Now early summer 2018 happened and i found jojo's bizarre adventure, and to my surprise some of my newer friends liked jojo! So we bonded over that, somehow passed them while reading/watching it, and life is going good. Then the announcement thhat google+ is ending happened.

Everyone, and when I say everyone I mean everyone, freaked out. A little bit about google+ culture is that you can literally become friends with everyone no matter follower count or post, it was a great place to make friends. Everyone was in a tizy about how they were going to keep their friends since nobody wanted to lose them. Another thing about google+ culture is how terrible the site is. To anyone here who's familiar with tumblr, imagine the tumblr staff but they dont fix bugs and don't care much about the site, and that's honestly the google+ staff. So everyone jokes about how the site is bad, there was a meme that was created to poke fun at the bugs (it was gold stars), and everyone said "when will this god forsaken site ended". Literally at first nobody knew if the announcement was real or not thats how much people joked about the end of google plus.

According to an article, the original end date was going to be in August. This was announced early this year, so people had time to plug other social media and things like that. But, that wasn't the fate of google+. Somehow someone leaked information about some users, so the google+ team decided to end it earlier. Tomorrow google plus won't be google plus, it'll be google business. Luckily I got peoples twitter and tumblr and all that jazz but.... damn. Who would've thought that google plus would end. None of us certainly did.

#google+#Google Plus #ill miss it

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fearfilledvirgil · 6 years

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Ivity and Anx: part seventeen I

Work Summary: Virgil and Roman hate each other to the core of their beings, but both become friends with a new stranger via the Sarrahas Project. Virgil takes to Creativity as well as Roman does to Anxiety, but they don’t know the true identity of the ones they’re slowing falling for.

Warnings: undertones of abuse, low self worth, intrusive thoughts, swearing

Word count: 1800

Parings: Slowburn Prinxiety

A/N: Clifhanger! I’ll post the second section to part seventeen in a few days so it isn’t as bad of a wait. The reason why the sections of part seventeen aren’t their own chapters is because I’ve set a chapter limit for myself. I intend to stick with it! Taglist under the cut.

masterlist

taglist: @rileyfirstname @verymuchanidiot @definentlynotjustanotherlemon @silversmith-91 @kanejandkruge @sander-fander-sides @lovecrazyjennybear @the-incedible-sulk @hexdream18243 @crows-with-hats @monikastec @definenormalifyoucan @i-am-absolute-fandom-trash @applecannibal @cats-with-blogs @bubblycricket @witchcraft--and--wizardry @bunnyartie @quietlypondering @elusivefalsehoods @hghrules @royallyanxious @quietwords-loudthoughts @squishynonbinarytwink @sortablue @illogical-anxieties @savingshae @a-fander-named-skittles @thelowlysatsuma @ughthatsprettygay @im-so-infinitesimal @certifiedtrashxx @karmels-stuff @sanders-sides-trash-blog@musicqueen1239 @the-average-loner @nicological1 @oh-star-how-the-mighty-fall @surleytemple @nervous-collection @asapmy @super-magical-wizard @arandompasserby

Patton was at Roman’s front door, with Virgil getting changed in the bathroom, and neither had a clue the other was in the house. This was going to be an interesting day. Roman could never turn away his best friend, so asking Patton to leave was out of the question. What was more out of the question was making Virgil hide, because then he might think Roman is embarrassed by him, but he isn’t. Something even less possible than that to happen was for Roman to make Virgil leave, which wouldn’t go well with either party. Virgil obviously didn’t want to go home, and Roman wanted to watch over him for a while. So, the only other option was to have Patton formally meet Virgil.

“Roman? Kiddo? Pal, friend, human? You okay?” Patton asked in quick succession, swaying on the balls of his feet. This broke Roman out of his line of thought, making the older—who was just called kiddo by a friend younger than him—snap his eyes up at his friend.

“Patton! Hi, yes, hello, please come in,” the owner of the home opened the door wider for Patton to come in, adding in a gesture of welcome. “I totally forgot you were coming over.”

“Roman!” Patton sounded slightly offended, but mostly worried. “How the pecking peck did you forget about my very worried dad-Pat call yesterday?” The younger started kicking off his shoes as he shrugged off his yellow rain jacket that completely clashed with his sky blue t-shirt with a pink ice cream cone on it.

Patton’s answer came around the corner just after he got his jacket on the hook. Virgil was looking down at his now ruined purple shirt in his right hand instead of looking up as he said, “Hey Ro, who was at the door? I heard the—“ He was cut off by a screech, which made him look up to see a very excitable short boy with curly red hair and many freckles. Patton.

“That’s your answer,” Roman said with a sort of flatline tone to both Patton and Virgil at the same time. He pressed his hand into his face, dragging it down his nose before taking a breath. Patton was basically vibrating with… whatever emotion he was vibrating with. His eyes were as bright as his toothy grin, his hands up against his chest and twitching as he wobbled back and forth. “He came over in literally the middle of the night. Right after you called, actually.”

Virgil, however, was shaking for the completely opposite reason. Here before him was Patton Heart, his best friends crush and mortal enemy’s (or is it friend? Acquaintance? Creativity?) best friend. How was he supposed to react to that? He doesn’t exactly have the best track record with emotions and Roman. Putting those two things together tended to end in catastrophe, but an amazing, wild, gorgeous catastrophe. He didn’t know what to do or how to think, much less what to say. Virgil ended up accidentally dropping his ruined shirt on the floor.

“Pat, remember you need to breathe. He’s not a puppy who will get excited from your energy.” Roman said, trying to calm his best friend down for the sake of his other friend.

Patton covered his mouth, trying to become calm, before removing it and saying, “I’m sorry, but finally! It’s really nice to meet you Virgil! I mean, ya know, like… officially.” He couldn’t help but bounce up and down on the balls of his feet. The desire to rush and hug the lanky boy was almost too much, but he knew from Roman that he wasn’t the biggest fan of sudden touches.

“Sure. Whatever.” Virgil bent down to pick his shirt up from the floor. He already had his mask, his facade, firmly in place. He had to have it in place. Patton may have talked to him as Anxiety, but he never had met Virgil before. Virgil didn’t know who he wanted to be talking to, so he settled on his usual hard persona. It was easy to do, as it was his natural reaction to anything at this point.

All this did, however, was make Patton squeal louder than before. “Wait, this means we all three can spend the day together! Oh oh oh and maybe I can teach you guys how to make thumbprint cookies?”

Both Roman and Virgil looked at Patton in shock before looking at each other. Neither had a clue to how deal with the boy in the ice cream shirt. Virgil wanted to run and hide from any chance of his facade breaking, but something inside him stopped him. Maybe it was how highly Logan spoke of him, or that he seemed harmless, or that Roman was looking happy at the day to come, but Virgil decided to stay. For now, at least.

Roman broke out of his stupor first. “Wait. Thumbprint cookies? As in jelly in the middle cookies? With the Crofter's in the middle?”

“What is with you people and excitement over jam?” Virgil couldn’t believe Roman’s sudden excitement over a jam. Especially after Patton just invited himself to do things with them.

“Hey! Crofter’s is amazing!” Roman attempted to defend himself, throwing his hands in the air. This made Virgil flinch in the slightest, but he held most of it back. Don’t show weakness. Don’t show weakness. Don’t show weakness.

“It’s a jam!” Virgil didn’t know how people could be this obsessed with a jam. It reminded him of Logan, which made a spike of sadness and guilt hit his stomach.

Both Patton and Roman gasped at that. “It is not just a jam!” Roman took a step back, lowering his hands. He didn’t know if Patton did, but he noticed the flinch. “It is the fruit spread of the gods!”

“Have you ever had Crofter’s, kiddo?” Patton asked softly. He didn’t know if Roman did, but he noticed the flinch.

The sudden change in Patton’s deminor caused Virgil to pause. It was very similar to the way Logan had tried to get him to eat the jam, not to mention when he was fixing him up after a rough night, “I haven’t.” He settled on the simplest words devoid of emotion. Don’t show weakness. Don’t show weakness.

“We gotta fix that right now!” Patton went to grab Virgil’s hand, but stopped just before he did. His hand wavered, unsure if he wanted to be touched. As an answer, Virgil put his hands in his back pockets, complete with a clench of his jaw at the pain the movement caused to his upper arm. It made a small sinking feeling hit Patton, but he dropped his hand and lead him to the kitchen anyways. Once there, he opened the fridge and pulled out the strawberry jar. He spun around to get a spoon and scooped some jelly out of the jar.

“Here you go.” He offered the spoon to Virgil.

“I’m supposed to eat that with a spoon? No fucking way.” Virgil told Patton, hands still in the back of his pockets.

Patton gasped, “Language!” Virgil at least had the decency to look a little embarrassed, but it was nothing compared to the overwhelming guilt swirling in his chest. Bad bad can’t do anything right. Virgil’s intrusive thoughts rattled. He hates you he hates you he hates you and he’ll hurt you now. Stupid stupid stupid.

“And yes. You can eat Crofter’s with a spoon and be completely happy. If you want I’m sure we can find you a piece of bread?” Patton lowered the spoon, trying his best not to blame Virgil for how cold he was being. He knew that it was a coping mechanism, now that he put together what happened with Anxiety and events with Virgil.

Roman chuckled at Patton in “Dad Mode” while he was digging in the pantry for the bread. “I’m way ahead of you for the bread, Pat. But he is right. You could eat Crofter’s with a spoon and be in heaven.” He handed a slice to Patton after opening it on the counter.

Patton spread what he had on the spoon onto the white bread before passing it over to Virgil. Virgil sighed, trying to keep his face looking disinterested, and took a bite of it. His eyes widened as, the sensations, the flavor, and the texture filled his senses. Before he knew what he was doing, he finished the piece of bread and licked his fingers. After, he internally cursed himself for it.

Roman and Patton both laughed at his reaction. “I think that’s a ‘yes’ on the thumbprint cookies?” Roman teased Virgil, who flipped him off.

“I will physically fight you, young man, if you keep using such bad words!” Patton put the jar of Crofters back into the fringe.

Virgil strongly felt that Patton would—even though he was older than the redhead—that same guilt hitting his chest again. He didn’t show it, keeping the stone face in place, as he apologized, “Sorry. Habit.”

“So what’s the plan for before lunch, kiddos?” Patton asked as he sat down at one of the breakfast bar seats at the same time Virgil heaved himself to sit on the counter.

“Well, Virgil needed some new clothes while he’s staying here, so we were going to go to the thrift store.” Roman said, mostly into the pantry as he put away the bread.

“We don’t have to do that. It can wait if you two wanna do something else.” Virgil mumbled as he stared at the floor. He hated to be an inconvenience. It all he ever was. Patton could see how insecure Virgil was in that moment with his head hung low and guard still firmly in place. That would not stand.

“I think that’d be fun! Maybe I can find me another awesome shirt while we’re there.” he smiled, trying to put Virgil at ease.

“That’s not really the problem.” Virgil sneered, but Patton didn’t flinch.

“Then what is it, kiddo? I think it’d be fun to go shopping.” He said softly instead.

Virgil didn’t want to say it. He also didn’t want to make it look like he was staying with Roman on charity. “I didn’t,” he clenched his jaw, continuing, “Bring anything but my phone yesterday, and that’s…. I was still talking to Logan.”

“We can go and pick up some of your stuff if you want.” Patton suggested, still speaking softly

“NO!” Virgil nearly screamed that one word. The fear he felt wasn’t only for himself this time. He didn’t know what his father would do if any of his “friends” came with. He didn’t let any of this fear leave his gut though, instead solidifying his glare with the harsh, loud, one word of ‘no.’

next part

hey im pretty sure you are used to this by now but heres another shoutout to my amazing co-writer and friend @lovecrazyjennybear! this chapter is so long that we have to split it up into three (four?) parts, and it was her idea where to split them, so blame her for the evil clifhanger. but seriously, i just???? love her so much and she’s such an amazing person and an amazing writer!!!! she’s awesome.

#fail’s writing #roman sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #virgil angst #sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #oh dont you love clifhangers?

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ethospathoslogan · 6 years

Text

everything that you aren’t; a prinxiety/sanders sides one shot

A/N: this fic was set out to kill me js, this is my third time attempting to repost this bc my computer kept freaking out. also, important note: i know that there are weird symbols when you view this on a dashboard. i do not know why tumblr is doing this to me and many other writers. if you view the fic on mobile or on my actual blog, they go away.

summary: Virgil was everything that Roman wasn’t. Even while being able to call Logan, Roman, and Patton his friends, he still found himself throwing his walls back up because he didn’t want to be hurt, and he didn’t want to hurt. Roman’s voice was heard in times of hope, Virgil’s was heard in times of peril. He would rather keep Thomas back because he couldn’t even begin to understand why someone would rather try and fail than not try at all and be okay, but maybe it was because Virgil was never really brave in the first place. Virgil and Roman couldn’t be more different, and Virgil couldn’t think of any possibility in which Roman would like him back in that way. Hell, sometimes Virgil wondered if Roman even liked him at all, or if every smile and nice comment was just an act. After all, Roman was an actor. His profession was based in lying, and Virgil had had his fill of liars.

ships: prinxiety

WC: 6,458

warnings: self deprecating thoughts***, anxiety, deceit is mentioned like twice but he’s not pivotal in the story, cursing, some angst, confessions

read on ao3

tagging: @panic-at-the-moment, @princelogical

Virgil believed that his existence was just him being forced into situations that he didn’t mean to get into, but situations he still had to reap the consequences for.

Situation number one: Virgil, despite everything, didn’t want to be a “Dark Side”, as Creativity had dubbed them. He knew that he didn’t belong with Logic, Creativity, and Morality; they were the good guys. They were the ones who Thomas liked and cherished. They didn’t have to be hidden from Thomas. The Dark Sides, though, Virgil just felt wrong about being with them. If Logic, Creativity, and Morality were the good guys, the Dark Sides were, without a doubt, the bad guys. The Dark Sides blinded Thomas; they made him believe and do things that he shouldn’t, and Virgil was a part of that. He contributed to the harm done.

But he felt like he wasn’t wanted by the Dark Sides, either. He was Anxiety. He made Thomas worry about things that most people wouldn’t, and the others didn’t like that. They didn’t like that Virgil made Thomas anxious about their plans. Virgil didn’t have enough fingers and toes to count how many times he and Deceit fought because Deceit wanted to lie and Anxiety was too anxious to go through with it. Virgil wasn’t wanted by the Light Sides because he was too evil, and he wasn’t wanted by the Dark Sides for being too weak.

Situation number two: By the time Virgil started being around Logan, Roman, and Patton more than not, he was already used to being unwanted. Of course the other three wouldn’t enjoy his presence. Virgil was summoned because Thomas wasn’t able to control his nerves. It wasn’t like any of them actually required his assistance. They had no reason to; Virgil never agreed with them, never helped them. He was just a hindrance to them, and all of them knew it. Therefore, he was unwanted by them.

But being unwanted by Logan, Roman, and Patton was different than being unwanted by the Dark Sides. Sure, the Dark Sides didn’t like him, but if Virgil was being honest, none of them ever liked each other. They were chaos, they were the negative aspects of Thomas that were kept hidden from him. They weren’t expected to get along. They just needed to work together. But with the Light Sides, it wasn’t so much as every man for himself as it was three-against-one. So often, Virgil found himself fighting a losing battle by himself because he was trying to do what was best for Thomas, trying to protect Thomas, and the others refused to understand that. And the worst part was that they could easily throw Virgil away; they believed that they didn’t need him, and Virgil started to think that they were right.

Situation number three: Virgil was truly accepted by Logan, Roman, and Patton. It wasn’t a situation he expected to find himself in, and the other Dark Sides didn’t like it, but Virgil liked it… loved it, actually. Patton was his best friend, Logan was a good buffer for when Patton and Roman’s heightened energies got too overwhelming, and Roman was really working to be nicer to him. Virgil liked these consequences.

Situation number four: Deceit came back and took the place of Patton. Virgil should have known. He should have realized that “Patton” wasn’t Patton the moment he showed up. Virgil lived with Deceit for years , he should have been able to recognize his faulty portrayal and old ways. He should have been able to protect all of them. That was Anxiety’s role, right? To protect everyone?

Virgil sometimes believed he did a real shitty job at it.

Situation number five: Roman and the terrible, painful, tragic feelings Virgil caught for him.

Honestly, Virgil falling for Roman was about the worst thing he could’ve gotten himself into. Roman and Virgil were two sides of the same coin and Roman was the better side. Princey could be loud, stubborn, and ready to throw himself and Thomas into heartbreaking situations disguised as grand romantic gestures. He was all of that but, dammit, he meant all of it with the best of his heart. He wanted to be heard because he believed that he had the right answers, even Virgil saw that. He charged into every battlefield he could because Roman was brave; he’d rather be hurt trying then never try at all. It could be tiresome to watch Roman do this, but Virgil couldn’t help but be impressed - amazed - by Roman and his spirit.

Virgil was everything that Roman wasn’t. Even while being able to call Logan, Roman, and Patton his friends, he still found himself throwing his walls back up because he didn’t want to be hurt, and he didn’t want to hurt. Roman’s voice was heard in times of hope, Virgil’s was heard in times of peril. He would rather keep Thomas back because he couldn’t even begin to understand why someone would rather try and fail than not try at all and be okay, but maybe it was because Virgil was never really brave in the first place.

Virgil and Roman couldn’t be more different, and Virgil couldn’t think of any possibility in which Roman would like him back in that way. Hell, sometimes Virgil wondered if Roman even liked him at all, or if every smile and nice comment was just an act.

After all, Roman was an actor. His profession was based in lying, and Virgil had had his fill of liars.

“Shit,” Virgil muttered to himself, pushing himself up into a sitting position on his bed and tugging his headphones off. He had retreated to his room to get away from all these thoughts, especially the ones that involved Roman, and he had hoped his music would dull out everything else. Instead, though, his room just made everything worse (because of course it did, it was Anxiety’s Room, he should’ve expected that) and his music was just giving him a headache.

He looked around his room, hoping to find something other than cobwebs and albums he already listened to to focus on, but the only thing that caught his eye were his Nightmare Before Christmas posters. They were the ones Princey wanted after he saw Virgil’s room because, even though Roman might as well have been a Disney Prince himself, those were apparently the only posters he didn’t have.

Maybe if you gave them to him, he would like like you more, his room whispered to him.

“But I like those posters,” Virgil mumbled, picking at the frayed edges of the sleeve of his hoodie. Despite the purple hoodie being fairly new, at least in comparison to his old one, he had already managed to wear it down with his anxious ticks.

But you like Roman, and Roman likes those posters, his room continued, its voice (Virgil’s inner voice? Virgil barely understood his own room, sometimes) getting closer to Virgil’s ear and he thought he felt something start to wrap around his throat. And if Roman won’t like you for you, he might as well like you for what you can give him. Are you worth anything else than what you can give, Virgil?

“Okay, nope, no, I’m not doing this,” Virgil said, his own voice strained and barely levelled, as he pushed himself off his bed. He couldn’t stay here, not when he could start feeling the beginnings of an attack creep up on him. He pulled his headphones down around his neck, the familiar weight more comforting than the tendrils of his room, and he sunk out as quickly as he could.

Virgil wondered if he had anyone on his side, really. The Dark Sides hated him, and he was friends with Logan, Roman, and Patton, but how long was that going to last? He couldn’t even keep his own room in check, how was he supposed to remain friends forever with the three sides he was never meant to be a part of?

He mentally kicked himself as he appeared in the commons. He knew that he shouldn’t be thinking things like that. He was grateful, he really was, to have friends like the others. He even admitted that, despite their bickering, he tended to feel better after he saw the other sides. Especially Patton, because Patton always knew how to help Virgil and was Virgil’s first friend.

Speaking of, Virgil thought as he heard moving around in the kitchen and light humming.

Poking his head into the kitchen, he saw Patton with his back to him, tidying up and putting away whatever dishes were left in the drainboard. “Hey, Patton,” he said, leaning against the doorway.

Patton looked over his shoulder and beamed when he saw Virgil. “Hey, kiddo!” he said, his voice containing its usual amount of cheeriness. “I didn’t hear you come down.”

Virgil shrugged. “Just needed to get out of my room for a bit,” he said, watching as Patton put away a final glass.

When Patton spun around to face him fully, Virgil didn’t miss how his grin faltered. Virgil then realized that his room probably made him look worse for wear due to his current state. He should’ve checked his mirror before he left; he had a feeling that his eyeshadow was probably a lot darker than what he usually did.

“You feeling alright, Virgil?” Patton asked, his concern evident behind his smile.

Virgil wanted to brush Patton’s worry off and say that he was fine, but that was a lie, and Virgil couldn’t lie to Patton. Especially not after Deceit made his return. “Just tired,” he finally said, blowing his bangs partly out of his face so that he could, at least, somewhat see. It wasn’t a lie; Virgil was exhausted (he always was). He just… didn’t want to explain why he was tired specifically now. If he told Patton what was going on, he was then just going to tell Patton everything, because Patton is that type of person who Virgil can just talk to for hours, and then Virgil was going to be emotionally drained and probably wallow about shit that he should have suffered alone with.

“Well, make sure you’re getting enough sleep,” Patton said. “I don’t want you getting sick on us.”

Virgil didn’t think that they got sick, it was more like an exhaustion-caused breakdown that caused, as Logan would say, an “error in the way the specific side was supposed to operate”.

(Virgil called it what it was: a “mental breakdown”, literally.)

Still, though, the sentiment brought a flush of heat to his cheeks. Even after all this time, he was still adjusting to being, well, liked . “Thanks, Pat,” he said with a small smile. “I’ll try.”

Virgil hadn’t even realized that another side had walked down the stairs until he heard the footsteps behind him and a voice say, “You’ll try what?”

Virgil flinched, definitely more than he should have, and spun around to face Roman staring at him with a raised eyebrow and a bemused expression.

He’s judging you, he thought. “Oh, hey,” Virgil muttered, trying to make his voice calmer than he felt. He tried to ignore how he could feel his heart thumping against his ribcage upon seeing Roman.

“Scared to see me, Virgil?” Roman asked with a laugh, sitting down on the couch. “You’re much more jumpier than usual, which is saying something. Was it my appearance? Do I not look dashing today?”

Roman was smirking and Virgil’s mind was on the brink of overdrive trying to figure out whether Roman was offended, making fun of him, or if it was just the typical teasing that they tended to fall into.

“You’re fine,” Virgil mumbled, looking away as Patton walked past him into the living room. He wanted to say more because, if he was being honest, he believed that Roman looked much better than fine but how would Roman react if he said anything different and-

“Just fine? Virgil, you wound me” Roman asked, placing his hand to his heart. He sounded offended. Fuck, he was messing this up, like he usually did. “Patton, Virgil says I look ‘just fine’, isn’t that absurd?”

Virgil swallowed and looked back up to Roman who was- who was smiling. Okay. Good. He wasn’t offended, he was teasing. Virgil knew this. Him and Roman did this all the time-

“I think you look great today, Roman,” Patton beamed, flopping down onto the couch next to Roman.

“I guess Virgil just has higher standards,” Roman said with wink. Virgil’s mind short-circuited. “What a shame that I must be critiqued so harshly.”

“Sorry,” Virgil mumbled, pulling his hoodie sleeves over his hands with a shrug.

“Do you guys want to watch a movie?” Patton asked before Roman could reply, if he even was going to reply. “I’m pretty sure WALL-E is still in the DVD player from last time.”

“Oh, yes please,” Roman said, grinning. “I can never get enough of that movie.” He then looked back to Virgil. “Are you going to grace us with your presence?”

He’s asking because he feels obligated to, he thought, scrunching up the edges of his hoodie sleeves in his fists. Patton is the only one who wants you here. Roman doesn’t want you-

“I’m actually going to go back to my room,” Virgil said, his words rushed. “I only came down for a break, I have some things to do.”

Virgil wished he didn’t notice the falter in Patton’s smile at hearing that he wouldn’t be joining them. “Oh, okay,” Patton said. “We’ll be down here if you need anything!”

Virgil nodded and gave them a wordless salute before sinking back into his room.

When he appeared in his room, he immediately headed over to his bed and flopped down on it.

Just fine? Virgil, you wound me.

What a shame that I must be critiqued so harshly.

Roman had been joking when he said that. Virgil heard his tone and saw Roman’s grin. Roman had been teasing Virgil and was not gravely affected by anything Virgil said.

But what if he misheard? What if he misinterpreted Roman’s tone? What if he missed a wary side eye shared with Patton? What if Roman, the moment Virgil left, started to complain to Patton about Virgil and everything he did?

Virgil’s eyes drifted again to his Tim Burton posters.

Should have given him the damn posters, Virgil thought as he pulled his headphones back on. He turned his music as loud as he needed to not be able to hear his own thoughts.

They had been going over Roman’s ideas for videos in the common room for over two hours now and, frankly, Virgil was exhausted. And irritated. And frustrated. And he could feel his heart start to pick up speed as the rejected pile grew higher and the deadline for the video grew closer.

He had been trying to hold back his comments as best he could, or at the very least soften them. He knew that coming up with ideas was stressful for Roman, and Virgil didn’t even think he’d be able to handle standing around while everybody else pulled apart what he made. He could see how the process wore Roman down, and Virgil felt bad that this was something that they had to do.

But Virgil could also feel his nerves jolting under his skin and, with each tick of the clock, the deadline grew closer. They had cut this one close, with only just over a week to find an idea, write a script, film, and edit. And that’s all if something doesn’t go wrong in any of those four processes, which is unlikely.

So, yes, Virgil was stressed and anxious and he could feel it building up inside of him.

Patton was currently kneeling on the floor next to the ideas that had been rejected to see if any could be looked at for a second time. Most of his time was spent, however, smoothing out papers that had been crumpled into balls, reading them over, and then gently and silently stacking them back into a neat pile. Logan was currently looking through a stack of looseleaf that Roman handed him. He was separating it out into three different piles and, occasionally, would move a paper from one to the another. Roman was flipping through a notebook he had, sometimes ripping out pieces and shoving them to Logan, sometimes glaring at what he had written, blowing his hair out of his eyes, and flipping the page angrily.

Virgil, in the middle of all of this, felt helpless. Silently, he kneeled down next to Patton and started looking at the papers that Patton hadn’t rechecked yet.

He picked up one of the discarded papers and read How to approach your crush.

Right, that one. Logan originally voiced that he found it a bit juvenile and that, as an adult, Thomas should look past any nerves when talking with someone he was attracted to. He took back that comment, however, when Virgil pointed out that there are people, including Thomas, who get anxious when approaching others. Still, though, the idea was still rejected because it was too similar to their Valentine’s Day idea that they already did.

Virgil had been too engrossed in finding an idea that worked when that one was first mentioned, but now he could have laughed at the irony of it if it wasn’t so spot on to what he was experiencing. He sighed and put the paper back down and, upon seeing him do that, Patton flashed him a soft smile.

“Another song with Jon Cozart,” Logan read off of the page he was holding. Virgil and Patton looked over their shoulders to see Logan raise an eyebrow at Roman, who only offered the same back. “Too vague and not nearly enough time.”

“Now, Lo, I think we can be a bit softer than that,” Patton chastised. If it wasn’t for Patton, Virgil thought that Roman and Logan might have wrung each others necks by now. Virgil was as tired and stressed as any of them, and he assumed Patton was just the same, but Logan’s unloosened tie and mussed hair did not go unnoticed, just as well for Roman’s wrinkled sash and constantly furrowed brows.

“It’s a good idea, Ro,” Patton then said, giving Roman an encouraging smile. “Just one that we’ll have to put aside for another day when we have more time. You can think of a song in the meantime, though!”

Roman sighed with an eyeroll. “No, it’s fine,” he said dismissively, looking back to his notebook. “We’ve done a video like that before anyway, so throw it out.”

“I don’t think we have to throw it out,” Logan said, placing the paper in the middle pile. “We’ve told you before, Roman, not every idea of yours has to be completely original, as an idea like that is already difficult to come by.”

“I know what you’ve all said,” Roman said, his voice clipped and with an edge of annoyance. Him and Logan then shared a look that Virgil thought was either a silent apology or a challenge for Logan to quip back at him.

For the next couple minutes, the four resorted back to silently looking through ideas, the only sound being the placing, tearing, or crinkling of paper.

Suddenly, Roman said, “Virgil, what do you think of this one?” Virgil turned to face him, cross-legged on the floor and looking up at him with a raised eyebrow. “Villains in Disney movies and their motives, along with what they represent.”

Virgil thought for a minute. “Honestly?” he asked and Roman nodded eagerly. “I think it’s too much to do in such a short time and too risky. I mean, you and Logan will have to spend time narrowing down what villains to use. Then you’ll have to write and complete a script. So that’s already a couple of days. Then there’s filming and editing. And something will probably go wrong in that process that could push us back a day or more.”

Roman then looked down at the page he had ripped from his notebook, frowning. “I don’t think it’ll be too much,” he said. “Besides, if we have to, we can push the video back a day or so.”

“And disappoint our viewers?” Virgil asked. “I don’t think that that’s something we should risk.” Virgil wished that he could have continued to keep his anxieties at bay, but even he saw that they couldn’t be wasting time anymore. He had to be completely honest with his thoughts if they wanted to progress.

“Oh, I don’t think we’ll push our viewers away if we’re a little late,” Patton piped up.

“But we don’t know that,” Virgil pointed out.

“You said that this was too risky,” Roman said, looking back up at Virgil. “How? I thought you liked Disney?”

“I do,” Virgil said. “But what if people watching disagree with what we say? What if they think our opinions are wrong?”

“Well, naturally, someone out there is going to disagree with what we think,” Logan added.

“Yeah, obviously, but what if they get mad?” Virgil asked. “You know how people can be, especially about villain characters. We say one wrong thing, we vilify someone too much or not enough, and suddenly everyone hates us.” He sighed. “Besides, doesn’t this kinda blend into ‘The Dark Side of Disney’?”

“Logan just said that not everything has to be original,” Roman said, the frown still on his face as he crinkled the edge of his paper.

“Yeah, but we should at least try to do a topic we haven’t done yet before resorting to old ones,” Virgil said, reaching for one of the piles he and Patton were looking through. He began to look through them again. “There’s, like, a thousand ideas in here. I’m sure we’ll find another one.”

Roman then, with a frustrated noise, crumpled up the paper in his hand and everyone’s head snapped to him. “I’m not surprised that you don’t like my ideas. Even the ones that I think you’ll like, you find a reason to not do them,” he snapped, the waver in his voice easily noticeable. “You just want to brush them off because- because you’re scared , even when it’s a good idea!” The sudden emotion in Roman’s voice caused everyone to completely still their movements. Virgil’s hands froze on the paper he was holding, his tense fingers pressing wrinkles into it.

Shit. Roman gave an idea to Virgil that he thought he’d like and Virgil just shut it down completely when he was supposed to be understanding. Virgil didn’t even think to give any constructive criticism; he just thought to give all the negatives because of course he thought that that was the right thing to do. Now, Roman was even more frustrated and seemed as if he was on the edge of a breakdown over his ideas and Virgil was the one who pushed him to that point.

Roman was right about Virgil being scared, too. Even Virgil couldn’t deny that. Honestly, Virgil actually liked the idea. He just saw it as a point for controversy among viewers and decided to only point out that instead of at least telling Roman that he liked it.

Shit. Fuck.

Virgil wanted to say something, anything, that could have calmed Roman but whatever he had in mind died in his throat. Instead, Patton, after looking between the two, said gently, “How about we call it a day? We’re all tired and a little frustrated, so I think it would be best if we just all relax for the rest of the night, okay?”

Roman, wordlessly, snatched his notebook and some of the papers closest to him before sinking out. Logan quickly neatened up his own papers before muttering an indecipherable excuse to go to his own room and sinking out. Virgil tugged his sleeves around his hands and pulled them close to his chest.

“I-I didn’t mean to-” Virgil stuttered out as Patton began to neaten the papers they were looking through.

“I know you didn’t, kiddo,” Patton said softly. “Everyone is just a little tense and I think Roman is just upset that today didn’t go so well for his ideas. He’ll be okay.”

Virgil found that even Patton’s reassuring words didn’t make him feel better. Him and Roman have fought before, and they have both said things to each other that stung, but now it was… different. Even looking past Virgil’s crush on Roman, the two were friends.

Virgil didn’t want to be the one to hurt Roman anymore, and he hated that, once again, he was.

Virgil wondered what it was about him that made everything go wrong.

He liked Roman; he liked Roman so much that it sort of scared him. Roman’s passion had grown on him, his courage was impressive, and Virgil really liked being able to have more civil -hell, even great - conversations with Roman than not. The two were both getting better at listening to each other and understanding each of their sides, and Virgil really did appreciate Roman’s efforts. There were slip-ups, yes, but at least the two were trying.

But then today happened, and Virgil felt as if he set all their progress (and the already slim chances of Roman ever liking him back) on fire. He should’ve been kinder, softer, when telling Roman what he thought. He probably could have gotten his point across without hurting Roman in the end. Now, Roman retreated to his room and most definitely hated Virgil and the other sides probably saw that Virgil still wasn’t one of them because this was all too good to be true and-

Virgil’s head shot up from where it rested on his pillow when there was a soft knock on his door.

When he swung open his door, his eyes widened at who was on the other side of it. “Roman,” he said, his shock clear in his voice.

“Uh, hey,” Roman said with a sheepish smile. He wasn’t clad in his usual regal attire and, instead, had a red hoodie and black pajama bottoms with little golden crowns decorating it pulled on. Virgil instantly noticed that he looked nervous. “Can… Can I come in?”

Virgil nodded and wordlessly stepped aside to let Roman in. Roman stopped in the middle of his room and looked around helplessly, as if he didn’t know what to do with his body. Virgil, taking the first initiative, sat on the floor, leaning up against his bed. “Care to join me?” he asked Roman.

Roman arched an eyebrow. “You do realize that you have chairs and a bed we can sit on, right?”

Virgil shrugged. “Yeah, but in all honesty, it seems like we’re about to have a conversation that’s better done on the floor than in a chair.”

Roman was silent for a moment before sighing and nodding. “That, somehow, makes perfect sense,” he said, taking a seat next to Virgil.

The two then resorted back to silence, Virgil pulling at loose threads on his hoodie, Roman staring down at his hands. If there was a time for Virgil to attempt an apology, now would be the time to do it. He didn’t even know if it would be good, but he might as well try and-

“I’m sorry,” Roman suddenly said and Virgil quickly turned his head to Roman, his eyebrows furrowed. “I… I shouldn’t have snapped at you today. I know you were only helping, and I told you that I wanted your honest opinion, but I still got mad at you. I guess I was just frustrated because most of my ideas already were shot down and… I guess I just thought you would agree because it was Disney and we’ve done a Disney video together. I’m… I’m really sorry, Virgil.”

Virgil gaped at Roman. He didn’t even think Roman was going to give an apology, hell, he didn’t think Roman needed to give one. “R-Roman-”

“And I said that you were scared,” Roman continued, shaking his head. “That… that really wasn’t right of me. Everything you were saying was true, at least some of it. And even if I didn’t agree with everything you were saying, I should’ve never called you scared. Again, I’m really, really sorry, Virg.”

Virgil shook his head. “Roman, you- you don’t need to be the one apologizing,” he said. “If anyone apologizes, it should be me! I mean, I-I should have been way nicer with your idea than I was because- because I actually really liked it. I was just nervous because we were looking at ideas for so long at that point and getting nothing done and we really needed to start moving forward and-” He shook his head again, steadying his thoughts before he rambled on into nothingness. “What- What I’m trying to say is that I’m sorry. I knew that you were stressed and frustrated and I should’ve been… more aware of that.”

Roman smiled softly at Virgil. “I appreciate the apology, Virgil,” he said. “But I still don’t think anything I said was right, especially when we’re getting along a lot better and working on things-”

“I’m not holding anything you said over you, Roman,” Virgil said. Roman snapped his mouth shut and almost looked shocked. “I… I’ve noticed how you’ve been trying, and I really appreciate that, and I think we are getting along a lot better. I thought what I said ruined everything. I wasn’t even hurt by what you said, I was more worried that I hurt you . And I think you were right to call me scared. I listed all the negatives to that video, even when there were positives, because I was scared, and it’s not the first time I’ve been a coward.”

Roman shook his head, frowning. “That’s the thing, though, Virg,” he said. “I really don’t think that’s true, at least not all the time, and you’re definitely not a coward. You’ve helped all of us -helped me - out of so many situations that were even stressful for you. That’s not cowardly.”

Virgil looked over at Roman, and Roman at Virgil, and Virgil couldn’t ignore how his heart leapt to his throat when their eyes met. Shit.

Virgil hadn’t meant to say, “Shit, Roman, you’re making this so much harder.” Still, though, he did, and Roman’s eyebrows furrowed and Virgil slapped a hand over his mouth.

Dammit. Shit. Fuck. Every other curse word that Virgil knew but couldn’t think of in this time of peril.

“What- What do you mean?” Roman asked, his confusion obvious.

Virgil truly hated himself at this moment. He hadn’t been able to stop himself from voicing his thoughts and now he couldn’t back out because Roman knew that something was up. They could have had a nice chat and worked out their issues and now Virgil was going to ruin everything by putting feelings into the conversation that Roman most likely would never reciprocate and-

“I- this whole situation is definitely getting harder because you’re here and you’re being so nice -and not that you’re not nice because you are and we just said that we were getting better with each other- but this is different, you know? But, no, you don’t know, because why would you? And I feel like I’m just messing everything up but-” Just gotta rip it off fast like a band aid “-I like you, Roman. Like as in I’m into you, Roman. A lot.”

Virgil quickly averted his eyes, not wanting to see what Roman’s reaction would be, before continuing, “And what sucks- what really sucks about this is that I shouldn’t, Roman. I shouldn’t like you as much as I do because I know that it can never happen. You’re everything I’m not, and I feel like I would just hold you back. You’re brave and passionate and I’m just… not anything close to as admirable.” He sighed with a shake of his head. “I know we’ve been working through things, and I know we’ve come a long way, but sometimes I think that this is just completely hopeless and that I’m going to mess up and you’re going to go back to not liking me at all, maybe even hating me. I… I never want it to get back to that point, but I understand if it has now.”

When Roman didn’t say anything, Virgil hesitantly looked at him and saw that he was wide eyed with a faint blush tinting his cheeks. “V-Virgil,” he said quietly. Virgil thought he could see the gears working in Roman’s head. “That- that was a lot all at once-” he gave a weak chuckle “-But I guess the first thing that I should start with is that… I like you, too. I have for a long time.”

For the first time in a long while, Virgil’s mind went silent.

“Once we started getting along better is when I realized it,” Roman said. “I knew that we still had a lot to work on but… I wanted to work on it. I wanted to get to know you better. And what do you mean that you shouldn’t like me because I’m, apparently, everything you’re not? Virgil, you’re intelligent, you’re willing to work as a team, it’s been you who has gotten us out of some of our worst times, and, I know I’ve told you this before but I have to say it again, you make me better. None of those are qualities that are unwanted in a… in a relationship, and they definitely shouldn’t be looked down upon. So, I don’t know what you’re talking about when you say that, because I think… I think that everything you are is great.”

Virgil gaped at Roman. It took three tries to finally find his words. “But- But I thought you didn’t like me-”

“Oh, thank you, I knew I forgot something,” Roman interjected with a grin. “You thought I could hate you? First of all, Virgil, I hate to admit it, but we have seen each other at our worst. If I didn’t want to at the very least be your friend, I wouldn’t have put in the effort. But I want to be your friend, or something more. Seeing how our relationship with you here has changed has been… amazing, honestly. And, second of all, I was more concerned with you hating me, especially after today!”

“Well that was my concern!” Virgil exclaimed. “And I could never hate you for basically the exact same reasons!”

The two shared a look, and when Roman started laughing, Virgil couldn’t help but join in either.

“Wow, we really are… messes,” Roman said, knocking their knees together.

“Honestly, yeah,” Virgil agreed with a chuckle.

“We’ve both been walking ourselves in circles with our fears.”

“Cognitive distortions.” At that, Virgil earned a side-eye from Roman, which he believed he deserved. “We thoughts things were different than what they actually were. Learned that from Logan.”

Roman rolled his eyes but there was still a smile on his face. His eyes then dropped to his hands and Virgil watched as his expression softened. “Seeing that we both feel the same way, I want to try to make this work, Virgil. I think that this… that we can eventually be something. We just have to…” He trailed off.

“We just have some things we still need to work on,” Virgil finished for him and Roman nodded. “I want this to work, too, Roman. I… I want to believe that it can but I don’t think we can just rush into things. If I’m being honest, I don’t want to rush into anything. I think we still need to- to work out some things and talk more but-” he then let out a soft laugh “-Dammit, I guess you’ve made me a romantic, because I really want this to work.”

“We just have to try,” Roman said with a grin. “But I think we can do it.”

Virgil couldn’t help but smile at Roman, and when Roman held out his hand to Virgil, Virgil only hesitated a second before taking it. Roman squeezed his hand gently and Virgil felt his face heat up as his cheeks flushed.

“You know, this really brings about a new meaning to that one thing you once called me,” Virgil said. “That I was your chemically imbalanced romance?”

Roman nodded and Virgil rolled his eyes at the prideful look behind his eyes. “That was a good one.”

Virgil sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I guess it was,” he said even though that was one of the nicknames that he was definitely more impressed with.

Roman grinned, but Virgil furrowed his eyebrows at him as he started to notice the eyeshadow starting to appear under Roman’s eyes. Even though their conversation had been as calm as it could have been (including Virgil’s accidental but well-timed confession), eventually the effects of his room were going to start to hit Roman.

“I think we should get you out of here before you start becoming a panicked mess and I have to rescue you again,” Virgil said.

Roman frowned and ran his fingers under his eyes, looking at whatever eyeshadow rubbed off. “Oh, you’re right,” he said. “You know, I was starting to feel a little off.” Roman then stood and held his hand out to Virgil. “We can go back to my room, if you want? Just to talk, of course.”

Virgil nodded and took Roman’s hand, pulling himself up. “I’d like that,” he said.

The first thing he noticed when he appeared in Roman’s room was the walls.

“You really do have one-hundred-and-one Disney posters,” Virgil said.

Roman laughed. “You say that as if you’re surprised,” he said.

Give him the posters, he suddenly though. Gifts are good for relationships and he liked them so you should give him what he wants because it will probably make things better and make him like you more and-

“You know, you can have those Tim Burton posters if you want,” Virgil said, despite another inner voice saying otherwise.

Roman shook his head. “Thanks for the offer, Virg, but I don’t want them.”

Virgil frowned. “But you said that you liked them,” he said. “You even came to my room once to try to take them.”

Roman waved a hand. “Well, yeah, but that was then,” he said. “Plus, I know that they’re your favorite. I would never want to take them from you.”

Roman smiled at Virgil, and Virgil smiled back.

Yeah, he believed that him and Roman could definitely work.

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #prinxiety #virgil sanders #roman sanders #stuff i write

259 notes · View notes

team-free-squiggle · 6 years

Note

Hey, if you're still taking prompts/requests, would you write something pairing Thomas with a side? If you do, thomas x virge? I really like the idea of thomas being able to calm virge from a rly bad panic attack or something

I can certainly try!

Fair warning, I have never written Thomas before, but I certainly don’t mind trying! Also keep in mind that I will try to make his character like he is with the Sides - like a slightly heightened version of himself, if that makes sense” It won’t be perfect, but hey, it doesn’t hurt to try!

I really hope you like it!

First Date of Wanting to Kick A Slimy Boi’s Arse

Fandom:

Sanders Sides

Summary: Thomas helps Virgil with something and they are a really cute and fluffy couple.

This is a Human AU, so no one is related, just all super good friends.

Characters: Thomas Sanders, Virgil Sanders, Roman Sanders, Logan Sanders, Patton Sanders, mentions of Deceit Sanders

Pairings: Thomas x Virgil

Warnings: slight/almost Panic attack, mentions of a break in, mentions of cuts/brusies

“So, Thomas. We know you and our Angsty Boi recently got together. We were sort of wondering, how?” Roman asked.

Thomas Sanders was having a lazy day with some of his friends. Roman, Patton, and Logan were at his house, along with his boyfriend, Virgil.

“Well, it all began with a Slimy Boi - Logan, shush, you know that Dee’s a slimy lil’ snake -” Thomas was cut off between Virgil laughing and Logan holding his head in his hands.

“What?” Patton was extremely confused. Virgil continued to laugh, though not as hard.

“He’s referring to my brother - Dee, though I’ve always called him Deceit because he was a lying bastard - and what happened with him. Thomas has always called him a snake, and Logan said once that snakes can sometimes be slimy. Hence, the “He’s a slimy Boi, Logan!” Virgil continued to laugh as Patton and Roman joined in.

“In all seriousness though, it kind of did start with him. Well, a made up version of him.” Thomas smiled when everyone was done laughing for the most part. At his statement, Virgil snuggled a little closer to Thomas.

Thomas pressed a quick kiss to the top of his boyfriend’s head, holding his hand and rubbing soothing circles into it as he told the story of what happened that night to his friends.

Virgil and Thomas were supposed to go on a date, that night. Thomas was actually in the middle of getting ready when he got the call.

“Mr. Thomas Sanders?” The lady on the other side said, seeming slightly tense. Thomas narrowed his eyes.

“This is him. What’s wrong?” He had recognized the phone number - Virgil’s security company. The one where both of them had gotten their houses secured from.

“You are listed as the second contact for one Virgil Williams’ house security, is that correct?” Thomas nodded worriedly, before remembering that the lady couldn’t see him.

“Yes, what’s this about?” There was a nervous edge in his voice.

“Mr. William’s house was broken into earlier this afternoon. The man who broke in, one Dee Williams, has been apprehended. Mr. Virgil Williams has been contacted, but we could not get ahold of him. You were listed as someone to contact to make sure that he knew and that the situation got dealt with.”

Thomas took a deep breath. “Thank you for notifying me, I will make sure it gets taken care of. Was there anything else?”

The lady’s tone was sympathetic, now. “Nope, that’s all. I hope you have a better day after this is dealt with, Mr. Sanders.”

“Thank you, I hope the rest of your day is better than this too!” He was sincere, but glad when they hung up.

Thomas was off that day, luckily, so he just put on his regular outfit and headed over to his crush’s house. They weren’t dating - tonight was supposed to be that first date - but Thomas guessed it was off. That was okay with him, though, because Virgil came first.

Thomas was there soon enough, and walked in after using the spare key to unlock the front door. He locked it again, knowing that both he and Virgil would be extra paranoid about safety for awhile, especially since it was Virgil’s younger brother who had broken in.

Thomas looked for Virgil everywhere. He had let him know he was coming, by text, but the phone was nowhere to be found. Thomas wondered if it was with Virgil, so he called it to at least find where it (and hopefully Virgil) was.

Thomas heard the sound from upstairs before it was abruptly muted, but it was all he needed. He ran to Virgil’s bedroom, finding it unlocked. He ran in, but Virgil was nowhere to be seen! The phone was on the bed, still ringing. Thomas hung up, wondering if Virgil was just hiding in case his brother came back.

“Virgil, it’s me, it’s Thomas. Are you in here?” He spoke quietly, sitting on the bed, hoping for Virgil to trust him enough to come to him.

The bathroom door creaked open slowly, Virgil stepping out from behind it. Thomas stayed seated, not wanting to scare his anxious crush more.

“Thomas, is - oh, god…” Virgil was clearly in pain, bruised and slightly bloody. He walked slowly over to the bed with Thomas’ help, who had risen and very slowly helped him while trying not to hurt him further.

“Virgil, baby, what happened?” Thomas’ voice was gentle, soft, trying to care for his boyfriend as he found the medical kit and started to help clean some of Virgil’s wounds.

Virgil took a deep breath. “Dee cut the security wires, alerting them, thank god. And thank god they called you. But anyway, I was about to get ready for what tonight was supposed to be. Sorry about that, by the way.” He winced as Thomas cleaned some of the cuts.

“It’s fine, Virgil, you come first.” He finished up, noticing that Virgil was panicking more and more. “Hey, love, in for four, hold for seven, out for eight. With me, now, okay?”

Virgil matched his ragged breaths to Thomas’ calm and steady ones, coming down. Thomas held his crush’s hands as he continued with the story after calming down.

“So, he breaks in. And starts hitting me, calling me names, saying that I shouldn’t have left home. He said mom and dad hated him, and kicked him out. I know for a fact that this is a lie because I saw them last week and they said Dee had run away. I brought that up to him, and that’s when he tried starting to take my stuff. While he was distracted with that, I dragged myself upstairs, and hid in the bathroom.”

“The police caught him and put everything back, if it makes you feel any better; there’s no evidence he was ever here.” Thomas smiled. Virgil let out a breath.

“He can’t do this again?” The way Virgil looked at him, wide-eyed and hopeful and so, so full of innocence made Thomas kiss him with everything he had.

“He can’t, not ever. Especially not if you press charges.”

“If we press charges, you mean.” Virgil smirked. “He tried to throw your laptop at me. So I have him on breaking and entering, stealing and physical assault, and we both have him on destruction of property.”

Thomas smirked right back. “You are briiliant and cunning. See, this is why I want to date you. Not to mention, you’re hot.”

Now Virgil was blushing. Then his eyes lit up, and he leaned in really close to Thomas.

“Hey, Thomas.” Thomas made a noise akin to a low whine. Virgil’s smirk grew.

“Yeah, Virge?” Thomas tried to appear nonchalant, but they both knew better, especially when his voice broke.

“After our date tonight, you know what I want to do?” Virgil’s deep voice was sultry and Thomas had to take a deep breath.

“What?”

“I want to put your mouth on my mouth!?” He laughed as Thomas blushed and glared.

In the present, Roman was hollering with laughter as Virgil finished the story.

“I said that one time, because you said you wanted to kiss me!” Thomas was indignant, and it only made him that much cuter to Virgil.

“Aww, baby, it was adorable, and I couldn’t resist.” Thomas pouted, but allowed Virgil to kiss him gently as Logan smirked, Patton squeed, and Roman cheered a little.

Dee might have broken some items, but he could never break apart their little FamILY.

~~I didn’t know how to end this I’m sorry, I loved writing this though! I hope I wrote Thomas well enough… Also I really hoped you liked it!

~~(Sanders Sides)

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(All)

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#sanders sides #prompt #character!thomas #virgil sanders #thvi #human au #unsympathetic deceit

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