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#brotherly anxceit
four-rabbit · 2 years
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Big brother/adult Janus or Logan holding baby Virgil?
I feel like you prob meant like teen brother Janus being caring toward Virgil and for that I'm sorry but the first thing that came to my mind was that one scene from Addams Family when the kids tried to throw the baby off the roof
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(No babies were harmed during the making of this drawing)
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Protector
Summary: Virgil’s entire job is to protect Thomas, and he takes that job very seriously.  The core sides might argue too seriously.  The core sides don’t know that there are actual dangerous sides he needs to protect Thomas from.  But there’s another side he needs to protect too.  He used to be able to count on help from Janus, who did the job without even knowing it back when he still lived with them.  But now Virgil and Remus are alone, and they have to look out for each other, which means the last thing that Virgil should do is leave his brother by himself.
Too bad it’s not exactly his choice.
Author’s Note: Hey, read the trigger warnings for this one.  Not everything comes up in every chapter, but when it does, I’m not messing around.  Please be very careful with this one if the warnings are something that’s going to bother you, and if you don’t read it, I won’t be mad.
That being said, welcome to my massive love letter to brotherly dukexiety.  These two are such amazing brothers and if I have to write my own monster of a fic to make everyone else see it, that's exactly what I'll do.  It's finished already, so welcome back to your regularly scheduled Sunday morning updates.  Hope you enjoy!
And as a last note, absolutely all the credit to @shadowling-guistical, who was there for me to scream to and who cheered me on and got just as excited about this story as I did the whole time it was being written.  Mishii, I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I say this story would not exist without you.
...
Virgil was not at all excited at the prospect of meeting with the core sides again.  That video was supposed to be a one time thing!  Okay, well, Thomas had said something about him being potentially used in future videos, but that was going to be something that happened once in a while, whenever they needed a villain to defeat or wanted to talk about the dangers of anxiety.  Why on Earth would they need to talk to him again so soon?
Remus hadn’t seemed to get it either, but he at least had been willing to get Virgil’s mind off of it by suggesting all sorts of ways he could annoy the core sides when he went to talk to them.  Most of his ideas involved dropping blood, saliva, or other bodily fluids on them, to which Virgil had laughed and pointed out the way that he definitely wouldn’t be able to conjure that much of anything.  He wasn’t Creativity, after all.
“Eh, you could at least spit on Janus,” Remus said, waving his hand dismissively.  “You’ll be right next to him.”
Virgil laughed again.  “Yeah, spitting on Thomas’ Self Preservation.  That’ll get me invited back.”
“I thought you didn’t want to go back,” Remus pointed out with a grin and raised eyebrows.
“Well, if I’m not invited back, how will I ever work up to being able to spit on Janus without consequences?”
It was Remus’ turn to laugh now, and he flopped down on his bed while continuing to grin.  “You make an excellent point.”
For how lighthearted the conversation seemed, they were both ignoring the undercurrent of fear tucked under the entire thing.  Because for how much Virgil and Remus didn’t love the prospect of him talking to the core sides again, there were still three sides that very much did.
It had been long known by the two of them how badly Malice wanted a way to get to Thomas.  Why he thought Thomas would listen to him was anyone’s guess, but he’d managed to get Positivity and Cruelty on board with the plan decades ago.  They had thankfully gotten pretty much nowhere, due in no small part to the fact that the side they’d need to convince to let them talk to Thomas was a core side who almost never came to their side of the mindscape in the first place.
Of course when he did come down here, he usually talked to Virgil, which didn’t make Virgil super popular.  But him having a direct line to Janus more often would be exactly the kind of thing that Malice would want.  Far easier to pressure Virgil into pressuring Janus into pressuring Thomas for something, as convoluted and complicated as that sounded.  So whether it was what Virgil wanted or not, Remus wasn’t too far off.  The safest thing for Thomas in this situation was to be as antagonistic as possible— which wouldn’t win him any points with Malice.  Whatever.  He was used to hiding bruises whenever Janus came down here.  It wasn’t that hard.
Virgil stayed in Remus’ room for most of the morning, as it was better for brainstorming and coming up with a game plan, especially when Remus was in there with him.  Of course, the game plan often ended up involving a lot of sex jokes and spitting on other sides, but Virgil could edit those parts out.
It was just after what would have been lunchtime if they were eating today that Virgil felt the tugging that meant he was being summoned by Thomas.  He glanced over at Remus with a tense smile that probably came out more like a grimace.
“Ah, time?”
Virgil nodded.
“Spit on Janus for me!”
“No,” Virgil said, as he sunk out in order to appear in the real world.
If he was going to be antagonistic with this thing, might as well get a head start.  Virgil appeared leaning on top of Janus’ hat, picking at his fingernails.  “I’m told you want to talk to me for some reason?”
“Get off of me,” Janus snapped, shoving Virgil towards the other side of the stair platform they were standing on.
“Oh, shoot, were you standing there?  Sorry, I didn’t see anything important.”
Janus gave him an unamused look, and Virgil turned from him to face Thomas before he could reply.  “Is there something you wanted?  I did have things to do today, you know.”
Most of those things probably involved hiding and running for his life, but that could come after he ended this conversation on a bad note so Thomas would never want to talk to him again.
Thomas sighed.  “Well, there was a bit of a surprising reaction to the video you were in,” he said.
Oh, god.  “What?  Are people lining up with torches and pitchforks?  Hate to break it to them, but they can’t actually affect me, I’m imaginary, they’re not—”
“Actually, everyone loved you kiddo!” Patton said brightly.
Virgil blinked and turned to face him.  “I’m sorry?”
“Yes, unfortunately, the fanbase seems to have adored you,” Roman said, crossing his arms and looking very unhappy with the situation.  “You are the second favorite character.”
“Second favorite?” Virgil asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Of course!  After me!” Roman proclaimed, adding a flourish with his hands.
“Oh, of course,” Virgil grumbled, leaning against the banister to his left.  “So why exactly does that matter?”
“Well, we have adjusted our plan slightly to align with what the viewers seem to be enjoying,” Logan said.  Virgil glanced down at him.  “And you will of course be included in more videos.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Virgil asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You’re gonna be a main character!” Patton called.
“I don’t want to be a main character,” Virgil said, crossing his arms over his chest.  That would be way too much pressure, were they insane?
“Oh!” Janus said brightly, clapping his hands together.  “Well, that decides that then!  Alright, Anxiety, if you wouldn’t mind heading back to—”
“Janus,” Thomas said in a low warning tone.  Janus groaned and looked up at the ceiling in clear disapproval, but stopped talking.
“You didn’t have a problem doing the last video,” Thomas said, turning back to Virgil.
“That was one.  Do you honestly think I’m okay with showing up in multiple videos?  Probably almost all of them if you’re saying I’d be a main character!”
“Anxiety, I can understand the idea of filming can be a little unnerving,” Patton said.  “And so can the idea of moving over here—”
“Wait.”  All of Virgil’s arguments came to a screeching halt before most of them had finished forming.  “Moving over here?”
“It would make it far easier to film if you could be around most of the time already,” Logan said.  “We can hardly expect Janus to make a trip to the other side of the mindscape every time we need to make a video.”
Virgil took a moment to process the irony in that statement, blinking at Logan.
Well, that changed things.  If he helped with the videos, he moved over here?  For a second, Virgil considered what that might mean.  He’d get away from Malice, Positivity, and Cruelty.  From what he understood, the core sides didn’t do things the same way they did.  Maybe he wouldn’t have to watch his back every second.  Maybe he could actually sleep easily for once.  But the problem there was, Virgil didn’t only have to watch his own back.  And if he left Remus alone…
It would be a huge disservice to the creative side to say that Remus couldn’t defend himself.  He was far from helpless.  He’d saved Virgil’s own ass more times than he could count.  But there were two of them and three of the others.  On a good day they could hold their own, but if it was just Remus against the three of them, he’d be pretty exposed.
Virgil was a protector.  That was his job, to protect Thomas.  Remus was a part of that.  And he needed Virgil far more than Thomas did most of the time.
Besides, there was a pecking order to the mindscape, as had been explained to Virgil very clearly the time that Malice and Cruelty had thrown Remus at him, unconscious and bleeding from where his mustache was supposed to be.  They wanted to get to Thomas.  But in order to do that they first had to get to Janus.  And since Janus wasn’t an easy side to get to, their best chance was to fuck with Virgil, the person Janus talked to if he ever came down there.  And if you wanted to fuck with Virgil you fucked with the people he was supposed to protect.  If Virgil left Remus alone and exposed, it would be giving them an even more direct line to Janus, and in turn, to Thomas.
Virgil paused as another option struck him.
He looked directly at Thomas.  “On one condition.”
Thomas blinked in surprise.  “You changed your mind?”
“On one condition,” Virgil repeated.
“What?”
“I get to bring someone with me.”
“Absolutely not,” Janus said instantly, glaring at Virgil.
“Janus,” Thomas said, crossing his arms.
“That’s my job!” Janus snapped.  “He doesn’t get to decide when you meet sides!  That’s my territory!”
“No one said he had to meet Thomas,” Virgil said, smirking as he slipped effortlessly back into the asshole persona.  “But if I have to deal with all of you idiots, I want some actually enjoyable company.”
“Hey, be nice,” Thomas said, raising an eyebrow at Virgil.
“Sorry, buddy, nice isn’t in my job description.  You should talk to Patton about that one.”
“Kiddo,” Patton said, sounding a little disappointed.
Virgil ignored him and looked back over at Janus.  “That’s my deal.  You want me to be part of this stupid video series long-term, you want me to come over here and be on-call for whenever you want to film, I get to bring one side with me.”
Janus narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.  “No.”
“Janus,” Thomas said in exasperation.  “Come on.”
“I am not allowing a hostile side up here,” Janus said, still looking directly at Virgil.  “I decide when you’re ready to meet new sides.  I know all of the other sides down there, and trust me when I say that you’re not ready to meet any of them.  Letting one of them come over here is dancing too close to that line, and I will not allow it.”
Patton started to say something else, probably an attempt to change Janus’ mind, but Virgil recognized the expression on his face.  He wasn’t going to be swayed.
And Virgil wasn’t going to leave Remus by himself.
“Fine,” he said, straightening a little as he shoved his hands in his pockets.  “Then I suppose we’re done here.”
“Wait a second, Anxiety—” Logan started.
“I suppose we are,” Janus said, not moving his glare.
Virgil sank back out to Remus’ room without another word, despite the protests he heard follow him down.
Remus wasn’t there when Virgil got there, which was definitely a bad sign.  Virgil headed for all of their usual hiding spots first, as they’d decided years ago.  If they went to the others first, they would unquestionably get hurt, and if they already were being hurt, it was okay, they could last a little longer in order to not give away hiding spots.
This time, however, Virgil didn’t have to make it through all of the hiding spots, because he was passing the third when he walked in behind Cruelty holding a knife up to Remus’ face.
Remus must have seen him, but Cruelty was the only one in the room and they were both well practiced with not acknowledging the other’s presence.  Virgil summoned his scythe, made with Remus’ help a long time ago, and crept up behind Cruelty, silent on his feet.
“And another thing—” Cruelty started in a low voice.  Unfortunately, his other thing would be lost to time and space, because that’s when Virgil slammed the handle of his scythe into the back of his head, and he crumpled.
“You okay?” he asked, looking at Remus.
“Yeah,” Remus said, waving a dismissive hand, even though after doing so he moved to clutch at his other shoulder.  “Just a stab wound.”
“Ah.” Virgil shoved down the anxiety that always came when Remus was hurt, whether it was hours of grueling torture or just a simple stab wound.  “You want help?”
“I can patch myself up just fine, thanks, I don’t need help.”
“Oh, yeah?  Because it looks like you got cornered by just Cruelty,” Virgil said, smirking at him.
“Ah ha ha ha,” Remus said.  “But come with me, I want to hear what the heck the core sides wanted to talk to you about.”
Virgil followed Remus to the bathroom, looking him over as he did so to make sure he wasn’t hiding worse injuries.  He had a tendency to do that if he thought it would make Virgil nervous.
“You checking me out?” Remus asked as they both stopped in the bathroom.
“Yeah, you’re still smoking hot,” Virgil said, rolling his eyes.  “Don’t worry, your new scar will not take away from how attractive you are.”
“Virgil, please, everyone knows scars make someone more attractive.  Movies say so and therefore it must be true.”
“Uh huh, yeah.”
Virgil set Remus’ shirt and sash to the side to be washed later as Remus inspected the knife wound in his shoulder.  He was right, it didn’t look bad at all, and he cleaned and wrapped it in under a minute, then snapped a new shirt on over it.  “So, what did the core sides want?” he asked.
“Oh, apparently the fanbase loved me, and they wanted me to move over there to be in more videos,” Virgil said, waving his hand dismissively.
“Hang on, what?” Remus exclaimed, leaping up from his spot sitting on the toilet.  “What did you say?”
Virgil stared.  “I said no,” he said in bafflement.  “Duh.”
“You did what?  Are you nuts?  And I don’t even mean the fun kind, Virgil!”
“Oh, please.”  Virgil crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall.  “What am I supposed to do, leave you over here by yourself?”
“Um, yes.”
Virgil stood up straighter and dropped his arms.  “What— Remus, I’m not going to do that.”
“You get offered a chance to leave this hell hole behind and you turn it down for my sake?  Jesus, Virgil, I love you too, but come on.”
Virgil stared at Remus for another minute.  Was he serious?  It sounded an awful lot like he was serious.  “You… Remus, you’re joking, right?  This is a really poorly timed joke?”
But Remus was seeming to realize that Virgil was serious the same time Virgil was realizing that Remus was.  “Virgil.”  Remus reached out and put his hands on his shoulders.  “I just got stabbed in the shoulder, and we’re reacting like it’s a normal Tuesday around here because it is.  Listen to me.  You are going to get out of here.”
“Not without you,” Virgil said instantly.
“Yes without me,” Remus replied just as quickly.  “Have you thought this through at all, idiot?  Remember when Janus first went up there?”
Virgil scowled.  “What about it?”
“Everyone hated him at first.  Don’t you remember?  Remember why he went up there in the first place?”
“Yeah, of course.  Laura Singer.”
Thomas had met Laura when they were both in eighth grade, when he had found her crying behind the school because she was worried her parents were going to find out she was a lesbian.  Janus had shown up on a whim to make a suggestion, and that was how Thomas got his first girlfriend and came out for the first time simultaneously.  And through that, overtime, Thomas had gained a lifelong friend in Laura, and a core side in Janus.
“But what’s your point?” Virgil continued, crossing his arms.
“No one liked Janus at first,” Remus said, crossing his own back.  “He won them over overtime.  Who’s to say that can’t happen again?”
“It’s not going to happen fast enough,” Virgil insisted.  “I can’t leave you down here by yourself, you idiot.”
“What, you think I can’t handle myself?”
“I know you can.  But I also know three against one isn’t a fair fight.  I’m not going to leave you here, Remus.”
Remus narrowed his eyes.  “Yes you are.”  He sank out before Virgil could protest.
“What— Remus!” Virgil cried, sinking out to follow him wherever he went.
He ended up in the core side’s commons in front of all four core sides themselves, and most of them were already looking either very surprised or very displeased to see both of them.
“Hello, all,” Remus said with his too-wide smile.  “There’s been a change of plans.  Anxiety will in fact be coming up here to assist with more videos!”
“Remus!” Virgil hissed, trying to kick him while being subtle about it.  It’s not like he was going to outwardly disagree with him in front of the core sides, and Remus knew that.
“Oh, really?  That’s great, kiddo,” Patton said with a smile, standing from his spot next to Janus.
“I’m not your kiddo,” Virgil snapped.  “Don’t call me that.”
“Well, we’ll have to see, won’t we, maybe you’ll warm up to the idea while you’re up here,” Remus said, giving Virgil a large blindingly bright grin that made Virgil reach behind him and pinch him on the back of the neck.
“But he’s so thrilled for the opportunity,” Remus continued.  “He just needed a moment for it to sink in, you know, it was a bit overwhelming is all.”
Patton’s smile turned a bit confused.
A second later, Janus stood up, already scowling.  “You seemed very against the idea earlier,” he said lowly.
“Yeah, what the heck is with the change of plans Hot Topic?” Roman asked, crossing his arms from his spot against Janus’ other side.
“I just told you,” Remus said, tilting his head just enough for his neck to crack.  “He needed some time to process.  But he’s more than willing to move up here to join you all.  Aren’t you, Anxy?” Remus asked, turning his smile back onto Virgil again.
Virgil gave Remus a large smile back that poorly hid the fury of a thousand suns, and turned to face the others again.  “Yep.  Just thrilled at the prospect,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Oh,” Patton said, still sounding confused.  “Well, that’s wonderful ki— Anxiety,” he amended.  “Do you know how long you’ll need to move up here?”
“He can do it right now!” Remus called brightly.  “He already has all of your begrudging permission, right?”  Remus snapped his fingers and there was a loud crunching sound followed by Virgil’s room appearing down the hallway right next to Janus’ room.
Virgil grabbed one of Remus’ hands and yanked it behind his back so he could bend the fingers back, even though it was clear at this point that Remus wasn’t going to change his mind.
“Well, that looks perfect!” Remus said brightly.  “We’ll just make sure everything looks good, and then I will be out of your armpit hair!”
Remus sunk them both out again, and reappeared them both in Virgil’s bedroom.
Virgil immediately whirled on him and shook him by the shoulders.  “Why did you do that?” he snapped.  “You asshole, I told you no!”
“And I told you I’m not letting you turn down the one chance you have to get away from the others,” Remus said firmly.  “You’re staying here, Virgil.”
“Remus, it’s not just about that,” Virgil said.  “Don’t you get it, you just gave them an easier way to hurt you and pressure me into doing something to get them to stop.  You know what they’re capable of.  They could seriously hurt you.  They could kill you.”
Sides couldn’t die permanently, but they were way more vulnerable while reforming from death.  Getting hurt during that time was the kind of thing that caused permanent damage.  Virgil and Remus had always been there to watch each other’s backs when it happened before.  If they managed to kill Remus, while Virgil wasn’t there to help…
“It doesn’t matter,” Remus said, pulling Virgil from his thoughts before he could really start spiraling.  “Just don’t do what they say.”
“What— oh yeah, I’ll just do that,” Virgil said, stubbornly ignoring the tears welling up in his eyes.  “I’ll just knowingly let my only family get badly hurt while I live in the lap of luxury.  That won’t make me a huge fucking asshole.”
“You’re right, it won’t.  Because that’s exactly what I’m telling you to do.”
“Remus.  I can’t just leave you there.”
“Okay, fine.  Don’t.  Get them to like you, just like Janus did, and ask them to let me come over here once they do.”
“I said that isn’t going to happen fast enough!” Virgil snapped.  “How am I supposed to get them to like me?  I’m not exactly a likable side, Remus!”
“Virgil,” Remus said, raising an eyebrow.  “I get that this might be a difficult concept for you to understand.”  He leaned into Virgil’s face as if Virgil was missing something obvious.  “Play. Nice.”
Virgil scowled.
“Don’t be confrontational.  Maybe agree with another side every now and then and don’t constantly bring up the negatives to everything they say.  Try not glaring at Janus every time a word comes out of his mouth.”
Virgil opened his mouth to protest, only for Remus to shove his hand over it, which Virgil leaned back from instantly.  He didn’t want to know where that thing had been.  “Virgil, Janus is the main side you have to win over.  You do get that, don’t you?”
Virgil took a step back and let out a groan.  “Yes,” he mumbled, glaring down at the floor.  “I just… Remus, I don’t want to have to deal with him to get you out!”
“I get that.  I’m with you, okay?  But that’s just how it is.  Get Janus to like you, and he’ll be much more likely to let me come over here.  And that’s the only way to ensure that I’m not kicked out almost immediately.”
“I know,” Virgil grumbled.  “I…” he sighed.  He was being unfair, wasn’t he?  Remus was the one who would have to deal with the others alone, if he could do that, Virgil could manage to not scream at Janus every time he saw him.  “Okay.”
“Yeah?”
“I’ll…” Virgil glared away.  “Play nice with Janus.”  He looked back at Remus.  “But I can’t just suddenly start being the friendliest side in the world to him, that’s just going to make him suspicious.”
“Okay, then try slowly working up to sucking his dick.”
Virgil winced.  “But Remus—”
“I can handle it.  I’m a patient side.”
Virgil snorted.  “Oh yeah, when I think patience, I think of you.”
“I know I won’t be able to get out immediately,” Remus said.  “It’s okay.”
Virgil looked back up.  Remus was biting his lip while frowning and not even pulling off a finger to chew on.
Virgil looked down and laughed bitterly.  “When did you get so serious?”
“Excuse me, is that a challenge?  I’ll strip naked right now.”
“Ew, no!” Virgil called, leaning forward enough to shove Remus’ back.  “You’re disgusting!”
“Thank you, I try.  And don’t ever call me serious ever again.”
Virgil looked over at him, smiling even as he shook his head in exasperation.
“I just trust you,” Remus said.
Virgil stopped smiling.  “Oh.”  He looked at Remus for another moment, then walked forward and pulled him into a hug.  “I’m not gonna let you down,” he mumbled into Remus’ sash.
“Yeah,” Remus said, hugging him back.  “I know.”
Remus pulled back after a minute and smiled weakly at Virgil.  “Okay.  I’m gonna go and add more traps to stop anyone trying to get into my room.”
“Let me help you,” Virgil said instantly.
“No,” Remus said, pushing Virgil back a little more.  “I’ve got this.  I’m gonna be on my own for a little while, I can—”
“Remus,” Virgil cut him off.  “Let me help you with this.”
Remus swallowed, and nodded.  “Okay.”
They both sunk out together and headed for Remus’ room, and Virgil tried to ignore the fear that was cropping up at all of this.  Remus would be fine.  He was Remus, he could handle himself.  Three against one still wasn’t fair, but that just meant he would have to move as quickly as he could.  He’d start tomorrow.  He could make everyone breakfast of some kind.  Pretty much everyone likes pancakes, right?
...
Chapter Two
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bloss0mlush · 2 years
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I am currently debating if I or if I not write an au where virgil is missing and janus who is his big brother trying to find him along with their friends
lovely bones and a song called hansel kind of made my brain make this au
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roseianxiety · 2 years
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As much as I like romantic anxceit, but platonic/familial anxceit has a special place in my heart.
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tss-coma-au · 2 years
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gosh I love this au. I'm glad we got a little bit of resolution, it's so good
:D im thrilled it still holds up after so long of being on pause! (Bc... Yes. This au, too, is just that. On pause, not finished)
I hope in the future i can offer more closure, bc I still have the aftermath recovery fic all blocked out to write and it definately touches several bases from recovery to falling in love with the others all over again(bc the intended relationships are LAMP, platonic dukexiety, and brotherly/familial anxceit, and Virgils memory loss extends to a few years before he and the others got together. Say early-college. He's going to remember who they are, but only as people he's met in passing.
The reality of it all definately sets in when Virgil realizes the engagement/promise ring he's wearing when he wakes up matches the rings of the other three, each with a written line of words engraved in it to add up into a finished quote. And. You know. When he's finally discharged and is taken to the large house they live in to find he has his own room with all his stuff. And its alot bc he last thing he remembers is living with Janus and being on shaky terms with Roman after Remus had a fall out w/ him(that's long since been resolved) and. It's. It's definately alot. For all parties involved.)
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jaratedeguadalupe · 1 year
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will never understand brotherly anxceit where is the sibling dynamic. i don’t see them physically attacking each other 
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werewroammin · 1 year
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roman and patton met chaperoning a school field trip. pattons son virgil and romans son logan both attended the same school, and they went on a field trip to the planetarium
seeing how well their respective kids got along they decided to keep in touch. mAyBe tHeY FaLL iN LoVe???
and idk should janus be logan or virgils brother i know i want him to be someone’s brother lmao
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gummie-crayon · 2 years
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i am creating the softest most bittersweet comic of janus and virgil and i am going so feral over it and i KNOW the brotherly anxceit community will go feral too
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Highschool AU where Janus is a really intimidating "bad boy". His little brother is Virgil and he (Janus) will threaten anyone who tries to come anywhere near his little bro (ESCPECIALLY Virgil's boyfriends)
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crazydemigod666 · 3 years
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Be Gay, Do Crimes
Wordcount: 3870
TW: sexual innuendos, kissing, explosives (no one gets injured or hurt, just a statue that gets blown up) stealing (is it really stealing when the museum you steal from was never the rightful owner anyway?), homophobia (mentioned)
Ships: Intruality, Analogical and Roceit
Summary: Be gay, do crimes. In which, Remus and Patton are gonna blow up the statue of a homophobe (not specified), Logan and Virgil are French speaking thieves, and Janus and Roman just want to sleep.
Taglist: @gattonero17
Let me know if you want to be added!
Part 2 | Part 3 |Part 4|  Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7
“Remus, I really think this isn’t a good idea”, Patton whispered, pulling his beanie over his light brown curls.
“Relax, my lovely Tiger Lilly, I know what I’m doing”, the man at his feet replied, hunched at the base of a stone pedestal.
“Clearly, you don’t”, Patton moved to sit beside him.
“You’re the one that suggested this!” his voice loud in the empty park.
“Remus, lower your voice!” Patton hushed back, “we’re going to get caught!”
“I’m not afraid to get caught. Are you?”
Remus pulled down his scarf, moustache peeking behind the green fabric as he placed a kiss on his cheek. “As long as I get caught by you in the end.”
Patton felt his skin tingle at the touch, mostly from the cold and adrenaline, but he only thought about how nice it felt to have his boyfriend so close to him. Never mind the fact they were together for over 4 years now, it never felt dull when Remus kissed him.
“You’re sweet, but if we’re going to get caught demolishing a statue of this magnitude, I want to get caught for actually blowing it up, not just attempting to damage it.”
He handed Remus his flashlight, swapping it for the wires in his hands.
They had planned this before of course. You don’t go out and about to place explosives in the park like a madman. Okay, Remus would, but that’s why Patton was here.
He had inspected the statue beforehand, the old bronze a fading green already, and had planned out what Remus wanted to do with it without anyone getting hurt.
Just because they were going to destroy the face of a man who said cars had more rights than gay people didn’t mean they had to destroy the flora and fauna around it or any innocent passerby’s.
And that’s why they were here at 2 am, in the dead of the night with fingertips freezing and adrenaline surging through their veins and a timer set in the middle.
“I really love seeing you work like that”, Remus sighed softly, his breath forming clouds in the thin stream of light.
Patton chuckled, the sound warm and bubbly :“You love seeing me, period.”
“Can’t blame me for loving your pretty face, Patty-cake. Especially not when you blush like that.”
Patton stopped working on the wiring to look at his companion, who teasingly raised his eyebrows.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about! It’s cold so of course my face is rose red, and I’m concentrated on getting this right, since you were more occupied with the aftereffects if it goes off.”
“Aww, but that’s not true!” Remus wrapped an arm around him, the dark grey fleece jacket soft under his fingers, “I never said your face was rose red.”
Patton sighed, dropping his head against his. “You are such a butt, you know.”
“The correct usage is ass, but yes, I am.”
“No, you’re a butt, your ass is hella fine though.”
Remus nearly fell over at the compliment, only supported by leaning on Patton as he grasped his jacket more. “W-who thought you that?”
Patton turned back to his work, smiling innocently as he glanced over his shoulder.
“What? The phrase or that you have a nice ass? The latter I learned pretty early on, my darling.”
“I should bring you out to do things like these more often”, he mused.
“Consider it a date then.”
“My, my, Patton, are you asking me out? Two men, sitting at the base of a homophobe, zero feet apart cause we’re really gay?” he put a hand to his chest for emphasis.
His boyfriend laughed, gently pushing him with a wire stripper in his hand: “As much as I love your theatrics, I need your light.”
“But you’re already here?”
“Hey, that’s my line!”
“And that’s my ass on the line but we’re still here!”
Gods, he did really love him.
----------------
“So”, Patton said after rounding the statue and checking his work one last time, “10 minutes? Or should we set it to 15 for a little wiggle room?”
“I know something else to wiggle”, Remus smirked.
He stalked over to him with wide and slow paces, hands in his pockets as he playfully wrapped one of his long legs behind Patton’s ankle.
“We can do that later”, he ruffled Remus’ hair, “now tell me what you want to set the timer at, Mr. Kingsley.”
“Well, soon to be Mr. Kingsley-Morales, I think 15 is more than enough time, but, perhaps make it 30, or maybe an hour, if you really want to make it worthwhile.”
Remus hummed, wrapping his arms around him and resting his chin on his head.
Patton smiled, the warmth from burying his face in Remus’ neck intense and radiant.
“Aren’t the chemicals you put in there to make a rainbow cloud appear worthy enough of your time, my darling Trash Rat?”
“I mean, sure, but you know what they say”, he placed his hands on Patton’s cheeks, brushing over his freckles until he ended on his lips, “could be gayer.”
“Is that a challenge?” Patton purred against him.
Remus pulled him nearer, one hand resting on the back of his head, gently combing through his hair and one on his waist as he let Patton close the gap between their lips.
It wasn’t the most ideal kiss, nor was it the best they ever shared, but for as many different ones they had given the other, some things always remained the same:
The gentleness, the fondness, the scratching of a moustache, ever so rough but never too much. How slightly departed lips and breaths exchanged eventually tipped over into passionate kisses, only to return to softly letting their lips touch each other again.
It was their way of saying how different they were from one another, bold and brash, sweet and timid, yet equally ardent and wistful in loving each other.
“Remus”, Patton sighed as he pulled back, “we should get going.”
“But I was just getting started”, Remus smiled as he kissed him again.
He hummed against him, and Patton almost forgot what he wanted to say, but reluctantly, he broke off their kiss once more.
“Someone might come and see us, we should get going.”
“Bah, they would just see two men kissing in the park, or, more if you want”, he grinned mischievously.
“Remus”, Patton chided, receiving a pout in return. “We’re going to get cau-“
“Hey, who’s there!” a voice interrupted him.
“Okay, you might have been right about that”, Remus said as multiple flashlights came into view.
Patton groaned, thinking about his options. None of them very good.
“What should we do?” Remus asked, getting ready to bolt.
“Maybe running”, Patton suggested.
“But where? We can’t just go back home!”
Patton’s mind was racing, trying to find a solution. The library? No, that was closed at this hour. Even though they lived close by, if their pursuers really wanted to catch them, they would lead them right to their doorstep, finding evidence of their plans.
Suddenly, Patton thought of a place they might go to.
“I know a place we coul-.”
“Stop right there!” the voices grew closer.
“Wherever it is, go, go!”
Remus grabbed Patton by his arm, dragging him through the park with only darkness as their cover.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Virgil, you don’t have to sneak around like that, you know.”
Virgil rolled his eyes, tugging at his gloves. “It’s a habit.”
“Oh really”, Logan stifled a dry laugh, “I wouldn’t have noticed after the 20th time you did this.”
Virgil crossed his arms, stopping in the hallway to look at the man trailing behind him. “You’d think that after what, almost 10 years?”
“7 years, 6 months and 4 weeks.”
“You would know it’s better to be safe than sorry, Logan.”
“Listen, just because that one heist in Paris went slightly sideways-“
“That’s putting it a little lightly, Logan.”
“Doesn’t mean you have to have to assume that this one will unfold in a similar way.”
Virgil shrugged, the hood falling from his head slightly, revealing his dark grey eyes. “I’m merely cautious.”
Logan walked over to him, tablet in one hand and a bag over his shoulder. He pulled the hood tighter and placed a quick kiss on Virgil’s forehead before he tapped on the screen.
He held it up so Virgil could see, once again, all the prep work Logan had performed. It was perfect, meticulously planned and executed, as expected.
Different camera angles were visible, showing nothing out of the ordinary. Even the hallway they were in seemed empty on the screen.
“Not a living being in sight”, he said.
“And the ones that are behind the screens looking at this?” Virgil asked for the third time that night.
“Safely snoring in their chairs, just in case”, Logan reassured him. “No one will come walking in here tonight but us two.”
Virgil took a deep breath, steading his nerves and lacing his fingers with Logan’s.
“This is important, Lo.”
Logan put away the tablet and locked eyes with Virgil, staring intently.
“Mon chéri”, he drawled and a chill ran down Virgil’s spine at the nickname.
It reminded him of walks under the stars, quick escapes into a broom closet, expensive wine and sour tarts by candle light, the taste of said wine mixed with fatigue sprawled out on the carpet in front of a fireplace. It reminded him of why he loved his job, and the man he did it with.
“Tout ira bien, je suis ici avec toi”, he placed a kiss to his hand, tender and delicately. Even through his sturdy black gloves, Virgil could feel the way it connected with his skin.
He sighed: “Je sais, mon Étoile, tu es toujours là. ”
“Then worry not, what could possibly go wrong?” Logan smiled.
Virgil groaned, burying his head in his hoodie. “I hate it when you say that! It’s bad luck!”
“It’s superstition, and the chances of anything going wrong tonight are very unlikely”, he said as he moved toward the left.
“Now, how about we come and get what we came for?”
“Thought you’d never ask”, Virgil grinned, following Logan into the next exhibition.
It took months for this heist to happen. Weeks to get friendly with the staff, to learn about the building, the structure, the escape routes, the shifts of the guards, but more importantly, to learn about the security system and to have Logan in a position that would let him dismantle it without too much of a fuss.
However, he was more the blueprint kind of guy, so to speak. The more fine and delicate work of removing their prize he would leave to Virgil. Plus there was the added benefit of seeing Virgil in is element, and perhaps, the work attire he chose wasn’t bad either.
Even though Logan himself rarely had to perform any physical activity more demanding than a quick sprint, he chose to wear a navy long sleeved shirt along with dark grey jeans, but compared to Virgil, he was severely overdressed.
Virgil preferred more tight fitting clothes, even his hood would remain motionless as soon as he had pulled up the mask inside his outfit. His muscles were even more refined under the black and purple spandex suit he wore. Even the tool belt was pressed tight against his body to provide the best way of working in tight spaces without getting caught. If Logan didn’t know better, Virgil was practically a shadow brought to life.
But he did know better. He knew him better than anyone, so he knew how important it was they got the diamonds on display out of here, back to their original owners, to the culture they belonged to.
In fact, it was this dedication, this devotion to justice that made Logan get into this world of thievery and deception in the first place. At first it was for a good cause, now it was for a good cause, and a personal one too.
As he rounded the display, he set to deactivate the alarm. The rest was up to Virgil.
“You have 9 minutes and 42 seconds”, Logan declared as he gestured for Virgil to get ready.
He pulled out the tools from his belt, eager to get to work . “Please, I can swap these out in 5.”
“I know you can, but I know how you like a margin”, Logan simpered.
“You know me so well”, he grinned underneath his mask.
“Yes, I believe I do”, he replied, making way for his partner, “But, really.”
“Hmm?” Virgil carefully pried out the gemstones, eyes trained on his work.
“One day I would like to get you one of these of your own.”
Virgil popped the gem out and put it in a pouch, safely tucking the first diamond away.
“Logan, I don’t care for riches, you know that”, he said, already working on the next gem.
“I do, but I believe that it is customary to offer a diamond when one asks their loved ones to marry them.”
Were it not for his steady hands, Virgil might have dropped his tools at the statement.
“A-are you... proposing to me? In the middle of a job?”
“I don’t see why not? This is an ideal time to ask since you wouldn’t be occupied with anything else.”
“I am pretty darn occupied now, putain!” he gestured to the gems in his hand, the last on still left on display.
“Is that a no, then?” Logan tapped his chin nonchalantly.
Virgil cursed a string of words that made Logan chuckle, his eyes glittering like the gems they came to steal, or is it stealing when they were stolen in the first place?
“Of course not! Yes, I want to marry you, you idiot!”
“Excellent”, Logan smiled at his now fiancé, “when you’re finished we can discuss the det-“
“Logan? Are you in here?”
Virgil’s eyes widened, his shoulders tense as he quickly put his tools and gems away. “You said everyone was asleep!” he hissed.
“They are! Every guard present is fast asleep and won’t wake up for hours!” he hastily replied.
“Logan? It’s me, Patton! I know I’m not supposed to be here, but I knew you were going to stay late today and I, uh, just decided to stop by!”
“Patton?” Virgil asked. “Your brother is here??”
“Oh, and uh, I brought Remus, you remember Remus, right? I mean of course you do, you’re my best man, to my wedding, with Remus, duh, such a silly question, anyway-“
“Merdre, this is not ideal!” he ran his hands through his hair. “We need to finish this quickly!”
“Wait, Logan the alarm system!”
But just as he tried to warn him, the temporary delay was already over, and security was up and running again.
Normally this wouldn’t have been a problem. If, they had swapped the gems with their replacements already.
“There you are!” Patton chirped as he rounded the corner, visibly out of breath with Remus on his six.
“Uh, who’s that” Remus asked.
“Mhhmm, who?” Logan bit his lip as Remus pointed at his partner.
“The dude in spandex looking like a super villain.”
“Yeah that is a little weird though”, Patton agreed. “You two work here together?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Nevermind what we do here, why are you two here? It’s the middle of the night!” Logan quickly changed the subject as he moved to stand in front of Virgil.
“Just…decided to pop in? And to make sure you weren’t dozed off somewhere in your office?” Patton held up his hands and plastered on a fake smile.
“That sounds highly unlikely”, he narrowed his eyes. “What are you hiding?”
“Wh-what? Hiding?”
“Okay then, Remus, what did you two do?”
“Why are you accusing me?? I would never hide anything from you!”
“I’m not accusing you, but you better have a reasonable explanation. You are essentially trespassing he-“
“I can hear voice from here!"
“Patton who else did you bring here?” they stared at the connecting hallways.
“Okay so, I might, we might have been chased by cops from the park here and we thought we could shake them off or at least hide here, please don’t rat us out, big Lo bro”, Patton pleaded.
“Rat you out? Logan, we have to leave now or we’ll all be caught” Virgil panicked.
“What in the world are you talking about??” Remus whispered, trying to push Patton forward.
Logan grabbed his bag and motioned for them to hide behind the corner, grabbing his tablet as he heard footsteps approach.
Turning on the screen, he switched the cameras on again and could see there were at least 6 officers behind them, one of them going into the direction of Security.
He put a finger to his mouth, indicating to remain silent as he tapped a few buttons on his tablet. A few seconds later, an alarm went of on the far end of the building, causing the footsteps to recede as illustrated by the footage on his tablet.
“Well, that was lucky!” Patton exclaimed.
Logan groaned, leaning into Virgil who rolled his eyes. “Sure, lucky.”
“That won’t keep them away for long though”, Logan pulled Virgil up as he went to look if the exits were clear.
“We need to move, fast”, Virgil said, pinching his nose. “How do we get out with these two?”
“We’re right here, you know.” Remus scoffed.
“Thank you for reminding us”, Logan muttered. “But yes, getting all four of us out will prove to be a problem.”
Virgil tugged at his hood nervously. “We didn’t even plan for one extra man, let alone two. We can scratch off plan A now.”
“Well, there is always that one back up plan we can use”, Logan offered.
“No. Absolutely not. I refuse”, Virgil put his hands on his hips, pointing a finger at him, “Out of the question.”
“What other choice do we have? I can’t transport us back to our house, that’ll be one of the first places they will look for Patton, and as soon as they find out what we did, so will they for me. Unless you have any other suggestions, this is the best plan we have!” Logan retorted.
“Even if I wanted to ask for their help, which, btw, I don’t, they won’t let in strangers, Logan.”
Logan twirled the leather shoulder strap in his hand. “They know me and Patton.”
“They know you, and Patton by association. His attachment is harder to explain, I mean, this entire situation is embarrassing and hard to explain!”
“Hey, nerds”, Remus interrupted their bickering, “how about you stop fighting until we’re out of here, yes? Seems like a plan?”
“Hate to agree with this guy but he does have a point.”
“Aww, you tickle me emo” he grinned.
“I’m gonna kill him” Virgil turned to him.
“No, you won’t, you will behave and we will go follow plan B, okay?”
“Fine”, he agreed reluctantly, gesturing to the other two to follow him and Logan out of the museum.
“I still hate this idea. They’re never going to approve of this.”
“On the contrary, I believe they will”, he said as he coaxed Patton and Remus across the entry hall.
“They hate strangers, Lo.”
“Ah, but they’re not strangers, are they?”
For the remainder of their escape, Logan said nothing more, trying to get everyone to their destination discretely.
As soon as they had left the museum behind them, having walked for nearly 20 minutes, Patton dared to break the silence again.
“Sooooo, lovely night, right?”
“It was, until you two showed up”, Virgil muttered. “Nothing personal.”
“Sure it wasn’t, Doctor Gloom and Doom”, Remus snorted.
“What’s with the nickname?” Virgil leaned closer to Logan as they kept on walking.
“It’s a Twin Thing!” Patton said cheerfully. “He and his twin do it all the time.”
“There’s two of you? God that must be awful.”
“Hey now, me may not know each other very well-“
“You didn’t even know I existed.”
“But, you shouldn’t jump to conclusions like that, uh, Virgil?”
“Sure, whatever, I’m just glad I don’t have to put up with two of you at once.”
“Well, about that”, Logan said quietly as he stopped in front of large stone steps, “remember what I said about strangers?”
“Yes?”
Logan walked up to the door, hoping the owner of the house wouldn’t be too upset at being woken at nearly 3 in the morning.
It took a few knocks and some yelling until finally, a figure in a yellow silk bathrobe opened the door, not in the slightest amused to see 4 men on their doorstep.
“Oh, what a very pleasant surprise”, they snarled.
“Hello, Janus. I hope we aren’t too much of a bother at the moment.”
“Why, because it’s the middle of the night?”
“Told you he would be upset.”
“Virgil, dearest, why would I be upset to see my little brother in his work gear out it the cold, with his boyfriend and two tag along ruffians standing right in front of me?”
“Okay, nevermind, I’d rather freeze to death, bye Jan”, he grunted as Logan prevented him from turning around.
“Janus, please forgive our sudden visit, but we didn’t have many options left.”
“I’m sure you didn’t.”
“Everything was going fine until these two showed up”, Virgil pointed behind him.
“Ah, I see”, Janus clicked his tongue.
“And I told Logan you didn’t like strangers, but he didn’t listen and-“
“Janus, darling, is everything alright?” a voice inside called out.
“You are correct, Virgil.”
“Is something wrong?” the voice called again.
“Nothing is wrong, love, or, perhaps, that depends on what they did” Janus replied.
“Wait, who’s inside”, Remus asked suddenly.
“Remus, that’s not very polite of you to ask!”, Patton smacked him gently on the arm.
“Ah, so this is the famous Remus Kingsley, eh?” he smirked.
“How the hell would you know-“
“Then why are you-“, the owner of the voice joined Janus in the doorway, a matching red silk bathrobe hanging loosely around his shoulders, his hair tossed in an appropriate bed hair style.
“What in the world are you doing here?” the man asked, his vibrant green eyes wide with shock.
“Me??” Remus yelled. “Roman, what the fuck are you doing here?”
“Oh god no, please tell me this isn’t happening”, Virgil buried his face in his hands. “This is a nightmare, this is a nightmare’s nightmare.”
“Oh come now, were it not for the fact it was 3 in the morning, I would find this highly entertaining”, Janus laughed, mismatched eyes twinkling with mischief as they put an arm around Roman.
“Janus, if Remus is on our doorstep it means trouble is not far behind”, Roman sighed.
“Oh come on, I’m not that-“
As soon as he tried to say bad, the explosives he and Patton had placed went off, a bright neon rainbow colouring the night sky behind them, casting a colourful glow over the city.
“Well, you know what they say”, Patton stammered as Janus and Roman emerged from their home, joining Logan and Virgil as they stared up at the sky.
“Be gay, do crimes.
170 notes · View notes
hteragram-x · 3 years
Text
I just thought about little Janus coming up with the most ridiculous lies so the other kids like him at school, as many childred often do.
“Of course I have a boyfriend, but you don’t know him. He... goes to a different school. And he’s two years older than us and has a motorcycle... No! I can’t show you the picture, because... because he is a spy and we need to hide his id- identical!”
(Little Logan: “Identity?”)
“My dad is an astronaut and my other dad is a movie star. You probably never saw him in anything, because you only watch cartoons! And I’m going to be in a movie with him one day, but it’s a secret, so don’t tell anyone. I already was in a movie. And they said I won an Oscar! ...Twice!”
--- --- ---
Most children are a little suspicious about these stories, but Patton and Remus believe every word he says and they’re convinced Janus is the coolest person who ever lived. Meanwhile Logan did a very professional investigation (he asked Janus’ dad where he works, but in a serious way, like a real detective – he had a hat and all that) and now he knows that Janus is probably making all that stuff up.
Roman is mostly jealous, because he wants a spy boyfriend too, so he gladly joins Logan’s side when he tries to discover the truth, while Virgil – Janus’ older brother – pretends he doesn’t know him, because he’s already 11-years-old and he finds this child’s behaviour absolutely embarassing. (Also because Janus once claimed that he saved his life more than 20 times, because Virgil constantly puts himself in danger and screams in fear.)
--- --- ---
(When Logan and Janus get together years later Janus laughs that he kind of has an older spy boyfriend, because Logan really spent a lot of time trying to gather information and expose all these lies when no one was looking. And maybe he is just 4 months not 2 years older, but that’s irrelevant.)
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Text
ok but like
a little Janus (the imagination is wack yall) who keeps following and clinging to Virgil and Virgil is having none of it,, so one day Virgil tells him to stay put for a while, "Me leaving your line of sight doesn't mean I'm gone forever, jeez",, but the last time he left Janus' line of sight, he never came back and left him and Remus for the light sides,, so in 10 minutes Janus is crying for Virgil to come back and no one can calm him down,, and Virgil realizes Janus was really hurt by him leaving and he feels bad,,, so come here child, guess im your big bro now,, hngbghnh give me the familial anxceit
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coconut-cluster · 3 years
Note
Yeah, I like to think that their still friends.
yeah 🥺 and in AUs, it’s so fun for them to have that ride-or-die dynamic where they quarrel all the time but would hide a body if the other needed them to akskdkfl
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arya-skywalker · 3 years
Text
Pleasant Surprises (Sanders Sides Fanfic)
Secret Santa fic for the amazing @nightashes ! Hope you enjoy
Prompts used:
- Familial (brotherly) anxceit, analogical
- Fantasy, (emotional) h/c
- Hugs, firelight, new beginnings
- “I think I understand now”
- “I’m here for you” (slightly different phrasing but same idea)
Read on AO3
Summary: Virgil risks a journey home to the dark forest to reconnect with brother Janus— and invite him to a potential wedding.
~*~
“I need to tell him,” Virgil said, curled up by the fire.
“Hm?” Logan looked up from his book. “Tell who, what, exactly? I’m afraid I’m not quite following.”
Virgil grimaced. “My brother. About....” He gestured vaguely. “Us? Me not being dead?”
“Ah.” Logan closed his book. “Would you like me to come with you?”
“No.” Virgil quickly shook his head. “No. I need to go alone. Besides, it’s not safe for you there.”
Logan folded his hands on his lap. “You left for a reason. Are you quite certain you want to go back?”
“I was scared, Lo. But now... I know what to expect. I’m ready.”
“Very well. Contact me if you need assistance.” Logan stood and walked over to his desk, taking out a small handheld mirror. “Say my name into this mirror, and we will be able to communicate through it.”
Virgil looked at the mirror warily. “And if I break it?”
Logan sighed. “It will still work on a shard of the mirror, but please be careful.”
“Always am.” Virgil smiled wanly as he took the mirror, cautiously placing it in his satchel.
Logan kissed his forehead and squeezed his hand gently. “Come home soon, please.”
Virgil took his hand and stood. “That’s the goal. I’ll miss you.” He stretched and took a deep breath. “Well, see you later, I guess.”
“Farewell and good luck.”
Virgil forced a smile and waved, then quickly packed his things before heading out the door— not giving himself the chance to back out.
~*~
Virgil tugged his cloak close against the chill. This was a bad idea. He knew it was a bad idea. Five years. Five years apart.
Maybe Janus wouldn’t even want to see him. Hell, maybe he wasn’t even here.
No. Too late to turn back.
Eerie whispers echoed in the mists and shadows lurked behind skeletal trees, but Virgil ignored them. That was normal here. As was the eternal night. Perfectly normal.
Here lived the monsters of the realm. The forsaken. The lost and abandoned. The only advantage was that they never hurt one of their own.
Virgil stopped in front of the door built into the cliffside and knocked. Snakes, spiders, and tentacles were carved around the doorframe, but there were no windows— only narrow slats to let air and light inside. Easier to defend without having to worry about glass.
It felt like eternity before the door opened. “Well, this is unexpected,” Janus drawled, his scales gleaming in the dim light.
“Hey, Jan... umm... can I come in?” Virgil rubbed his arm, not quite meeting his brother’s gaze.
“Depends on what brought you here.”
“I just wanna talk.” Virgil bit his lip. “And... apologize?”
“Go on, then. Say what you came to say.” Janus leaned against the doorframe.
Virgil took a deep breath. “I think I understand now,” he said slowly.
Janus arched an eyebrow. “Oh do you now? What do you understand?”
“Why you did what you did. Why we lived how we did. Why we were always hiding, never leaving the forest. How the world really works— well, not as much that, but more than I knew—“
“Did someone hurt you?” Janus cut him off, taking a step closer, concern in his eyes.
Virgil winced. “No. Well, yes, but that’s not important right now. What’s important is you don’t need to do that anymore. We can help you.”
Janus’s brow knitted. “We?” he echoed.
“I... uh... met some nice people. Like, really nice. I think you’d like them, if you give them a chance.” Virgil picked at a loose thread at the edge of his cloak.
Janus gave him a look, then sighed and stepped aside. “Come in. Would you like some tea?”
Virgil sighed in relief and walked through the doorway. It was just as he had left it— fur blankets piled around cushions and chairs, rickety table, a large fireplace with snakes around the mantle. “Sure. Something herbal?”
“Chamomile?” Janus suggested, filling a pot with water and placing it over the hearth.
“Whatever, sure.” Virgil warmed himself by the fire, then grabbed a blanket and took a seat on a nearby cushion.
Janus laughed softly. “Still prefer the floor to a chair, hm?”
Virgil shrugged. “It’s convenient. And warmer,” he said.
“Mm. Indeed it is,” Janus said. “Honey in your tea, yes?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
A moment later, Janus set a cup of tea on the floor next to Virgil and sat down a few feet away. “Careful. It’s hot,” he said. Which was obvious due to the steam.
Virgil wrapped his hands around the teacup anyway, breathing in the aroma. “So... umm... what’s up with you?” He winced. “I mean, like, what have you been up to? How have you been?”
Janus chuckled softly. “More of the same. Hunting. Strengthening the wards.” He gestured vaguely.
“Right, yeah,” Virgil muttered.
“I am far more interested about you, spiderling. Care to talk about your grand adventures?” Janus arched an eyebrow.
Virgil snorted. “I wouldn’t call them that. But uh... I guess.” He took a sip of his tea once it had cooled down enough. “Well... I headed roughly northeast from here. Traveled with the spider-people for a bit. But as we approached the border, some elves attacked. When they heard me speak, they stopped and demanded I bow before the prince.“ He smiled sideways. “Did you know we even had a prince out here?”
Janus hummed thoughtfully. “A prince in this forest? No, preposterous.”
“Anyway, Princey insisted on ‘rescuing’ me and ‘breaking the curse’.” Virgil gestured to his face, where dark spiderwebs still patterned his skin. “So he whisked me away to ‘civilization’.”
“Oh the horror,” Janus said, his lips quirking into a half-smile.
Virgil blushed slightly. “It was... overwhelming. So many people in one place. All so loud! And the buildings— they make walls out of wood, can you imagine? And the top out of grass! They wouldn’t last a second out here.”
Janus hummed in agreement, but remained silent, sipping at his tea.
“And... well... I don’t think the people liked me very much,” Virgil admitted, looking into the fire. “When they saw my face, they shied away. Some threw fruit and stuff, but the prince quickly put a stop to that.”
Janus narrowed his eyes. “They hurt you?” He asked in a low voice.
Virgil bit his lip. “It’s fine. It didn’t really hurt, just made a mess. And like I said, some people were nice.”
“Hmph. People do not think kindly of our people. Hence why it is safer to remain within the forest.”
“I know, I know.” Virgil ran a hand through his hair and exhaled sharply. “Anyway.... a little while later I met the prince’s advisor, a half-elf mage. He’s so handsome and smart and gentle and kind and—“ He stopped, blushing slightly. “His name is Logan and he offered to let me stay with him. He helped me learn how to control my powers.”
Janus arched an eyebrow. “You like this advisor, don’t you?”
Virgil nodded slowly. “I... yeah. We understand each other,” he said quietly.
Janus was silent for a moment, then reached over and put his hand on Virgil’s arm. “If he makes you happy, then stay with him.”
“Do you want to meet him?”
Janus blinked. “Come again?“
Virgil took out the mirror. “This is an enchanted mirror. We can communicate through it. If you want to.”
Janus touched the scaled side of his face. “Are you sure he wants to see me?”
Virgil smiled sadly. “You’re my brother. Of course he wants to meet you. And he didn’t hate my markings, so you should be fine.”
“Mm.” Janus sighed, then flicked his wrist, making his cowl float over and wrap around his face, hiding as much of his scales as he could. “Very well.”
Virgil took a deep breath and held the mirror so they were both in view. “Logan? Can we talk please?”
A moment later, the surface of the mirror fogged up, then cleared to show Logan’s face. “Virgil? Is everything alright? Can you see and hear me?”
Virgil nodded, holding Janus hand. “Yeah, we’re good. This is my brother.”
Janus cleared his throat. “Yes, Virgil is my brother,” he said. A moment later, he added, “You may call me Dee.”
“Oh. Hello, then. It is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Logan,” he said, blinking a few times.
Virgil shot Janus a look. “Logan is a friend. We can trust Logan,” he said, keeping his voice low.
“You may trust him. That does not mean I do,” Janus countered, then flashed a smile at the enchanted mirror. “Virgil has told me so much about you.”
“I hope he has said that which he so urgently wanted to tell you,” Logan replied.
Virgil groaned. “Don’t say it like that,” he grumbled.
Janus arched an eyebrow. “Oh? Have you said ‘that which you so urgently wanted to tell me’?”
Virgil rubbed his face. “Lo and I... we... uh.... we were thinking about... maybe... getting married?” Gods, words were hard.
“Virgil is correct. We have discussed the possibility,” Logan said.
Janus’s reptilian eye twitched. “You leave for five years, and return with a potential spouse,” he said slowly.
Virgil bit his lip and nodded. “Potential. We haven’t decided for sure, cuz weddings are expensive pageantry and shit, but...” He took a deep breath. “If we do get married, I want you to be there. I want you to lead me down the aisle.”
Janus leaned back in his chair, glancing between them both. “This is quite a lot to take in,” he said, steepling his hands like the dramatic shit he was.
“Oh for fucks sake! I’m asking for your blessing!” Virgil blurted, then groaned and flipped up the hood of his cloak.
“If it will make you happy, then by all means...” Janus said. “However, I will need to know more about this potential spouse of yours.”
“I am an open book. Ask your questions,” Logan said.
Virgil blinked. “You... you’re not mad?”
“Mm. I wouldn’t call it mad, no.” Janus sipped at his tea. “Now, Logan, tell me about yourself.”
“I am the royal advisor to Prince Roman and Prince Remus. I am skilled in the mystical arts,” Logan said.
Janus rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, I know that. Tell me more about yourself. Your likes, dislikes, hobbies, whatever. Why should I let you marry my little brother, hm?”
Logan blinked. “Well... I enjoy learning whatever I can. I have known Virgil for just over four years now. I would never hurt him, and truly wish him the best.”
Virgil tugged his cloak closer. “I’m right here,” he muttered. “And you don’t need to interrogate him.”
Janus inclined his head. “I believe I have enough information for the time being, although of course I would love to meet you in person. Virgil, you wanted me to leave the forest, did you not?”
Virgil blushed slightly. “Uh, yeah. I can take you to them. If you’re serious about coming with me. And as long as the forest will survive without you.”
Janus waved an arm dismissively. “Of course, of course.”
“I look forward to seeing you both. Farewell and safe travels,” Logan said. The surface of the mirror shimmered and his image faded.
Virgil exhaled slowly. That wasn’t as bad as it could have been.
“Virgil?” Janus asked softly. “This will make you happy, yes?”
Virgil rubbed his face and nodded quickly. “Yeah, thanks. Really. I’m uh... bad with words, but yeah.”
“Would you like a hug? Or is this a no-touch-time?” Janus asked, spreading his arms.
Virgil half-fell into the embrace, holding on tightly. “I missed you,” he whispered. “I’m sorry.”
“Mm. I know. I missed you, too, spiderling,” Janus murmured, rubbing gentle circles into his back. “I am glad you are safe.”
Virgil took a few deep breaths, letting himself relax. Safe. He was safe. He was home.
“And I will always be here for you. No matter how long we are apart. No matter what happens,” Janus said softly. “You didn’t really think I’d be mad at you for leaving, did you? I was simply worried.”
Virgil grimaced. “Worse case scenario shit. I’m good at that, remember?”
“Mm. But this is not a worse case scenario. Things are going well for the time being. Enjoy it.”
“While it lasts,” Virgil said with a half-smile.
Janus chuckled. “Indeed. Cherish every moment.”
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powerpuff-sides · 3 years
Text
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Tfw your brother is a dummy emo /j
Do not tag as unsympathetic sides // click on the drawing because it’s cropped
Also a bonus doodle under the cut (there’s two of them because tumblr either won’t show the picture or it’ll duplicate it so apologies for that) :
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Virgil : what was that for??
Janus : there was a bug
Virgil : what bug??
Janus : you. You’re bugging me
Virgil : THAT MAKES NO SENSE—
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