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shsl-fander · 11 months

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Blood Stained

Pairing: Logince and Moceit

Tw: Blood, fighting, yelling, bruises, swearing, threats, bullying, homophobia, hospital, Whump Roman

Au: Family/High School

Summary: Roman won't just watch around and let Logan get harrassed by this jerk at their school, but it backfires when hes caught in a severe fight and must be driven to the hospital. @spacedouterri @lavenderfoxboy

"Okay, let me get this straight," Janus hissed, hands gripping tight on his wheel. He drummed his hands against the leather, glaring to his side towards Roman. "My son, gets himself into a fist fight and I have to drive him to the hospital and all he cares about is missing his REHEARSAL?!" He scolds in disbelief.

Roman tapped his cheek, blood staining his fingers as he did so. He tilted his head up in an attempt to sway the dark, red blood dripping from his nose. "I would have called Dad if I knew you'd take me on a guilt trip," he mumbled.

Janus scoffed, shaking his head, "Roman!" he yelled, "You're lucky I agreed to pick you up, Patton would be freaking out on you just as much, he'd just be gentler," he corrects, rolling his eyes. "Care to tell me what happened? Either of you,"he prompts, raising an eyebrow.

Remus tossed a piece of popcorn into his mouth, grinning ear to ear, "I have no fucking clue what happened, for once I'm innocent!" He leans forward, sticking his head between the two front seats. "Roman?" Remus's smile quickly fades upon looking at Roman, who's usual was charm seemed completely drained. "...Ro bro?"

Roman's gaze fell towards the window, watching as they sped past the surrounding cars. A breeze followed their car. "Some asshole was bothering Logan," he muttered, barely audible above a whisper.

"What was that?" Janus blinked, taking a sharp turn onto the hospital's street. Silence lingered in the car, Janus tuning the music off, the only sound being the faint shuffling of the car's wheels against the ground.

Janus sighed softly, "I'm only strict on you because I don't want you to be like how I was at your age," he explained. "I was an amazing kid, smart but got in alot of trouble. I didn't really know how to protest in a good way."

Janus placed his hand over his son's, lips quirking to force a somber smile,"We just want you to be safe. Both of you, " he insists. He perked up as his ring tone blared from his phone, his muscled tensed scrunching his shoulders close together. He exhaled, "It's just your dad, Remus can you talk to him and explain whats happening?" he asks, rubbing his temples.

Just A few hours prior, Roman found himself leaned against his locker, humming softly to himself while he waited for Logan to come over. He knew Logan had a free period and frankly Roman did not feel like going to biology, so he'd agreed to meet up with him for at least a few minutes.

Roman blinked, glancing down towards the clock again with a raised eyebrow. "That's weird, nerd is never late."

He instinctly reached for his phone in his pocket, narrowing his eyes in confusion.

Roman: Hey Specs you coming? Or Did you decide to completely ditch me wowww I can't believe this. 😭😞

He snickered to himself as he typed, though he couldn't ignore the worry welling up inside him.

Minutes began to pass, the worry growing inside Roman the longer he stood in the halls, gazing around to find Logan. This was EXTREMELY out of character for Logan. While Roman found the insistence to keep a schedule for literally everything (even hallway roaming)quite annoying, he certainly didn't enjoy when Logan wasn't being himself.

Suddenly, it felt as if time stood still, the silence lingering in surrounding air. It was quiet, an uncomfortable sense of quiet before a loud slam echoed through the halls. Roman felt his chest tighten, he jolted up, eyes growing wide. He bolted towards the direction of the noise, praying internally that Logan's sudden disappearance had nothing to do with this.

Roman froze infront of the door, gritting his teeth anxiously. "Come on Roman, you're a prince," he murmured under his breath. "You gotta find out whats going on."

He slowly creaked the door open ever so slightly,peering through the small crack. His breath hitched at the sight of the situation, exactly what he'd been dreading.

Logan was pressed up against the wall, his breathing heavy and quick paced. He gulped, swallowing the spit that was closing up his throat. "I mean what I said, you're a pathetic homophobe who can't even win a debate," he spat, "And your threats are only confirming your lack of intelligence."

The boy, who Roman couldn't seem to recognize at first, glared at Logan. He was grumbling something along the lines of killing him.

Roman pounced up, tossing the door open, thoughts spiralling around his head. Everything in his mind was so blurred, he knew whoever this kid was could probably beat the shit out of him, but he also knew he wanted to protect Logan more than anything else in the moment.

He rushed up behind him, tugging on his shirt an yanking him away from Logan. "Leave him alone," he growled. Once he was face to face with him, Roman was able to properly recognize him in under a second: Adam Dotson. His scraggy, short red hair along with piercing blue eyes were both easy to spot.

Adam cackled, "Oh look here! Your fairy boyfriend came along," he teased, shoving Roman backwards leaving him stumbling to catch himself. "The fuck are you doing here, Adelio?"

Roman narrowed his eyes,"Are you deaf? I said leave him alone, " he fumed, voice stern and low. He felt his heart pound against his chest, heart rate increasing rapidly. He stared ahead at Adam, watching him crack his knuckles and return his glare.

Adam rolled his eyes, kicking Roman in his shin, "You think I'm scared of you?" He scoffed, "Tell your gayass boytoy that he needs to fuck off on talking to me too," he retorted, watching Roman clasp onto his leg.

Roman gasped, foundering backwards once again. He inhaled, folding his hand into a fist and he swore his heart was beating so fast he could hear the thundering in his eardrums. Roman took a breath before stepping forward and swinging towards Adam, his knuckles grazed the side of his cheek.

Adam sucked in a breath, bracing against the impact of Roman's punch before swiftly punching him back, hitting him square in his nose.

A trail of blood trickled down Roman's face, and he winced squeezed his eyes closed for a moment. The pain shot through his entire face, burning against his nose.

"Roman!" Logan shrieked.

Roman spat out a chunk of blood, leaving his mouth with a copper tang taste. He ducked. Roman slammed his fist into Adam's stomach. His knuckles pulsed, yet he still kept hitting as much as he could.

Adam groaned, bending over with a heave. His vision began to blur, barely able to make out the tan arm lunging at him again. He stepped back, cracking his knuckles.

Roman lifted his hand to swing at Adam again before he felt a tight grip around his wrist. Hes swung to the side. Blood swishing around his ears. Roman inhales before pain stings against his face once again, spreading throughout his entire body. His head spun and before his senses regain control, he's slammed against the wall.

All Roman could grasp was the imense pain. His knees shook, wobbling underneath him. Another punch hitting him, faint yelling in the background. A swift knee to his stomach. He kicked at Adam in an attempt to push him away. The air around him felt scarce.

Roman rubbed his head, which was splitting with pain. He swallowed, taking another final swing at Adam before he stumbled back again. Roman blinked, the objects around him finally returning to sight.

"That all you got, Princey?" exasperated Adam, wiping the blood resting on his lips. He lunged forward, leaping towards him. He snarled, grabbing at him.

Roman reached forward to push Adam back. He held his arms up to frantically block his face from all of Adam's swings. He elbowed Adam in his side, the closest possible range without having to remove his defense. An ache in his arms, white hot with pain. An attempted punch towards Adam's face, eventually making contact with his shoulder instead.

The impact wouldn't stop, constant punches against his skin. Roman gasped for air, tensing all throughout his body. He grimaced, bracing for the impact of more burning sensations before Adam was suddenly flung off of him. Roman recoiled, bending over and trying not to throw up. The world around him began to spin, and he felt dizzier than he'd ever felt before. He collasped onto the floor, rest tugging at his eyelids. Blood splattered all over his face, bruises scattered on other parts of his body.

Logan frantically snatched Roman's bag as the teacher escorted Adam out of the room, scolding him as she did so. He searched through his emergency contacts before clicking one of Roman's dads' numbers, a complete gamble at whether he was calling Janus or Patton; though it really didn't matter. He just needed Roman to get help.

Logan ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head. He'd never intended to put Roman in a situation of harm this intense. He slowly approaced his boyfriend, eyes wide with concern. "Are you alright? Can you hear me?" He asks gently, Roman's phone vibrating in his hands.

Roman swallowed, he opened his mouth to speak but a bit of blood began to spill out."I'm sorry Specs," he wheezed. He felt a bit of the tension in his muscles fade as Logan pressed his hands on his wounds.

Roman held a tissue against his nose, bandages now plastered over his knuckles, chin, and parts of his jaw. He felt a lump tighten in his throat, a puddle underneath his eyes. Everything hurt possibly even more now that that fight had finished, adrenaline worn off.

"Wheres my baby boy?!" Patton sobbed, rushing into hospital room where Roman sat, frowningly deeply. "Oh Roman," he huffed, kneeling beside his bed. He softly cuped Roman's face, face worn with worry. "How are you doing?"

A miserable laugh escaped Roman, "Well the doctor said I most likely broke my nose," he answers, "So a prince is thriving," he sulked. "I think I hurt my jaw too, and my arms are all bruised."

Patton rubbed his leg, what looked to be the only part of Roman's body that wasn't covered in bandages. "Your dad told me what happened, or at least what you told him about what happened," he sighed, "But you're gonna be okay, I know it! You're my strong prince, always have been." He insisted, though that was partially to calm his own anxieties. The moment Remus called him from the car while Janus drove Roman to the hospital, he felt sick to his stomach.

Normally, that alone would help ease Roman's worries but right now he just felt even worse. If he was actually a strong prince he'd be able to properly defend his boyfriend, instead of losing miserably against Adam fucking Dotson. But Roman loved his parents, and he especially didn't want Patton to feel worse. So, he cracked a smile,nodding along. "Thanks Dad, I love you."

Patton remained kneeled next to his bed, "I love you too Ro, we all do," he exhaled, "None of us want you getting in fights and hurting yourself."

Roman's smile faltered for a moment, a frown tugging at his lips. The lump in his throat tightened, his voice quivering as he spoke. He shook his head, desperately trying to hold back tears. "Is Logan here?" he asks, he really wanted to talk to him now that he wasn't being punched in the face.

Patton glanced towards the door, "Yeah, yeah he's here kiddo. He drove himself here when he found out you were sent in," he confirms, his voice light and soft.

Roman gaze followed Patton's towards the door, where he could see through the window Remus, Janus, and Logan seated right outside,waiting. "Can you ask him to come in? I royally need to talk to him," he requests, rubbing the bandage sat on his chin.

Patton placed a kiss onto Roman's forehead, gently patting his head."Of course, I think I need to help your dad fill out paperwork anyway, " he watched Roman fidget with his bandages or press his hands against his wounds and he swore his heart shattered.

Logan slowly trotted into the room, creaking Roman's door open and gently closing it behind him. His eyes widened, darting to all of the bandages scattered around Roman, and if his body wasn't damaged it was likely covered by a dark, growing bruise.

Logan sighed softly, approaching him with caution. He cleared his throat, "Hi," he greets shyly.

Roman couldn't help but laugh, chuckling under his breath, "Greetings, Specs," he replies, setting the tissue down for a moment. Luckily the bleeding on his nose had begun to subside, but it was still broken. "Listen I'm sorry, I should have been able to protect you better than I did. I mean I'm your boyfriend and not only that but I hold myself like some sort of prince but I can't even win a fight," he rambled on, tears slowly began to fall as he spoke.

Roman sniffled, frantically shaking his head and wiping his eyes. They wouldn't subside though, streaming down his cheeks.

Logan's frown deepened, he grabbed Logan's hands, rubbing his thumb against Roman's hands. "Roman please," he reaches over with his free hand to wipe his tears. He shook his head, "Don't apologize, frankly I feel physical violence to be a rather immature and arrogant solution to conflict anyways," he began. Logan huffed, "Though you tend to he rather immature and arrogant at times so I suppose your disappointment makes sense," he admitted, gently moving his hand up to card through his hair.

"My point is, you didn't have to do that for me, and even though I know why you did, I'm not remotely upset you lost the fight," he assures the other. "I'm just upset that you got in a fight in the first place." Logan watched as Roman shifted uncomfortably.

"Not upset at you," Logan quickly clarified, "upset at the situation," the hand that still had Roman's placed inside it squeezed his hand, while the other was running his fingers through his hair. "I love you."

Roman swallowed, attempting to blink away his tears. "Not as much as I love you, Nerd," he cooes softly. "It's why I did this in the first place," he explained, "I couldn't just sit around and watch him do that to you! Thats like Flynn Ryder just watching mother gothel hurt Rapunzel!"

Logan snorted, shaking his head, "I am nothing like Rapunzel, Roman," he corrects, rolling his eyes.

Roman groaned, rubbing his temples, "Oh MY GOD Logan, you're gonna hurt my head more than Adam did," he exclaimed in disbelief, paired with a dramatic sigh. "You're so literal. It was a metphor, Einstein." Roman felt a smile tug on his lips, watching as Logan pursed his lips, fighting a soft giggle.

"What'd you even say to Adam anyway?" Roman asked after their laughter calmed. "Bruise his masculinity?"

Logan felt his face flush in embarrassment, "Well he was debating with his friend about the morality of gay people, saying it was gross and a sin," he exhaled in exasperation, "Or really just being homophobic in general, so I corrected him because things he was saying was genuinely incorrect and he started getting all defensive and so I told him he was a pathetic piece of shit," he admits, watching Roman's jaw drop.

"He then began to argue with me and I told him he was being a moron since he couldn't grasp basic concepts of sexual and romantic attraction. "

"Oh my stars Specs, that somehow made you even hotter. "

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transfemlogan · 7 months

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revys shipping habits:

1. is romance repulsed & dislikes fictional romance. doesnt actually ship all that often & is neutral on most sasi ships

2. Prefers platonic/familial relationships (for example: i do not care 4 romantic demus, but i love platonic demus)

3. The only ships i dislike r the popular ones, l*gicality & pr*nxiety. I also do not like moceit. (I dislike the "opposites attract" trope in media)

4. Big fan of logan ships, especially analogical, loceit, & analoceit.

#lesson is all ships r free reign 2 talk abt but i most likely will not respond w/ “YIPPEE HOORAY!!!” NDHSJFBD #revy.txt

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im-an-anxious-wreck · 2 years

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My Name Is Logan Sanders-Miller

AO3 link

Summary: Pictures and the occasional story from his mother. That's all Logan had ever had of his father. Just one little photo album, and painful memories confessed to him in the dark, it wasn't much, but it meant everything to him.

His father hadn't wanted Logan. His mother had said that he took one look at Logan and left. Had there really been something so off putting about him that one glance was all it took to drive his father away?

Logan hadn't even done anything. All it took to make his father leave was just him existing apparently.

So, why the hell was he standing outside Sanders' house? Was he seriously going to ask his father why he didn't want Logan? Was he trying to prove himself to Patton, that he really was good enough and that Patton had missed out? Or maybe prove to himself that his father was shitty and that's why he didn't want Logan…

In any matter, Logan wasn't going to turn back now. This was it.

Knock knock

Warnings: cursing, past alcoholism, like five f-words (probably a new record for the minimum in my fics /j)

Universe: a human au

Perspective/main character: Logan

Side/secondary characters: Patton, Janus

Appear: Remus, Roman, Virgil, female oc (Logan's mother), Thomas

Mentioned: Emile Picani

Romantic relationship: established Moceit

Platonic relationships: Logan & everyone

Word Count: 9,277

Link to my collection of TSS fanworks

This is for the @sandersidesbigbang's event

Find the adorable artwork by @badkatart here and the really cute art by @thecrowslullaby here!

Thanks @aplacesofaraway for beta reading!

Logan knew he didn't want him, he'd known since he was a little child when he'd asked his mother why he didn't have a father like most of the other children. Logan had been devastated to find out that his father hadn't wanted him, but the question of why… that had haunted him.

Why didn't he want Logan? His mother had said that he took one look at Logan and left. Had there really been something so off putting about him that one glance was all it took to drive his father away?

Had it been Logan's blue eyes? Doubtful since he'd gotten those from his father. Was it his dark hair? It's true that neither of his parents had hair as dark as his, instead, he got his dark locks from his maternal grandmother, but surely it couldn't have been because of such a superficial reason as that.

Logan hadn't even done anything. All it took to make his father leave was just him existing, apparently.

But why? What were his exact thoughts when he left?

There was only one way Logan would be able to know, and that was to ask his father himself.

Logan sighed, mentally shaking himself as he looked up to the house he was now standing in front of.

It was a rather nice house, Logan couldn't help but think, with its blue panel siding and white trim. It was on the large side, had two stories, and yellow shutters. The multicoloured flowers were well tended to and the spacious yard was surrounded by a white picket fence. It looked like the perfect family home.

Logan took a deep breath and opened the wide gate. Closing it behind himself, he walked up the path to the white door.

He clutched the small photo album closer to his chest with his left hand and, curling his right, he raised his fist to knock. It just floated above the wood. He took another deep breath but still hesitated.

Was this it?

Logan quickly knocked twice before he could figuratively get cold feet.

Was he actually about to meet his—

The door swung open before Logan could finish the thought. A man dressed in mostly black, and a bit overdressed for a gentle spring day such as this one with his bowler hat, yellow gloves, and caplet, answered the door.

"Yes?"

Logan opened his mouth to answer but shut it again when no sound came out.

The tall man stared at Logan expectedly, dark brown and light brown —almost yellow— eyes seeming to look into Logan's very core. Which was ridiculous, that wasn't even scientifically possible.

The man looked at Logan for another moment before raising an eyebrow.

"Well? You've been staring at my house for a few minutes now. Can I help you with something, child?"

Logan blinked a few times before his brain finally caught up. "Ah, yes, actually, I believe you can." He pushed his glasses farther up his nose. "I'm looking for… Patton Sanders?"

The man's eyebrow only raised farther at that. "And may I ask why you are looking for him?"

Logan was now hugging the album with both arms. "Ah, so you do know him, which means I have the correct address. Excellent. And yes, you may ask that."

The man continued to stare at Logan —was this going to be a recurring thing?— before sighing softly. "Why are you looking for Patton?"

"Well… I have some… information I would like to—"

Another man, whose face Logan had all but memorized from the album, appeared behind the first man's shoulder.

"Who's at the door, honey?" Patton asked the first man.

"I don't know, the kid's looking for you though."

Patton turned to Logan. "Oh, hello! Can I help you with something, kiddo?"

"Um…" Logan cleared his throat. "I hope so. I have some informa—"

"Papa!" A boy about seven ran up to Patton before announcing, "Remus bit me!"

The first man sighed. "I'll take care of it," He said to Patton before calling into the house, "Remus? Why'd you bite your brother?" He led the boy back into the house where Logan could hear Remus arguing farther into the house.

"Sorry about that. Now, what were you saying, kiddo?"

"Well, my mother is Cindy M—"

A teenager came up behind Patton, his purple hair almost completely covering his eyes. "Yo, Pat, why's the Wi-fi not working?" He tapped something on his phone and frowned.

Patton sent an apologetic look to Logan as he told the teen, "I don't know. Ask your dad, sweetie."

"Okay." He looked up from his phone. "Oh, shit, did I interrupt? Sorry."

"Virgil, lang—"

The teen, Virgil, raised an eyebrow and Logan could really see the resemblance between him and the first man who'd answered the door.

Patton sighed. "I know, I know. I— you're alright, maybe see if your dad needs help with the twins though?"

Virgil glanced at Logan again before nodding. "Yeah, alright. I can ask him about the Wi-fi after we get the twins to stop fighting then." He gave a two-fingered salute before disappearing back into the house.

"I'm so sorry about that, but that's everyone so hopefully we won't get interrupted again. What was that about your mom?"

He didn't belong here. There was no way Logan belonged here with this warm, emotional family. They were obviously tight-knit and it's not like Logan was particularly special or useful. And what did he even expect to find? For this man, his… his… for Patton to welcome Logan with open arms?

If he didn't want Logan as a baby, then why would he ever want him now? Especially after seeing how boring, awkward, and socially inept he was.

What a fool Logan had been.

"Uh… kiddo? Are you selling something? ...You don't have to be nervous. Just tell me your spiel… Do kids these days even know what a spiel is?"

Logan went to take a breath but realised he couldn't, which only made it harder to breathe as he panicked.

"Woah, it's alright! Just take a deep breath. You're okay, just take your time."

Logan did his best to do what Patton instructed, even if only to not waste any more of his time.

"Apologies for the inconvenience, I shall be on my— um, my way now."

"You don't have to leave! You haven't even told me your name or why you were looking for me."

"Er, well… my name is Logan."

"Aww, Logan, what a nice name. That's what I would've named a kid if I'd have gotten to name one."

"I— wait, really?"

"Yes, really!" Patton smiled softly. "So, what was that about your mom… I think you said her name was Cin…dy. Um, s— Cindy who?"

"Cindy Ann Miller."

"Oh… and your name is…"

"Logan Sanders-Miller."

"Oh. Oh, geez."

Logan took a few steps back as Patton stepped out onto the porch. Patton shut the door behind himself and sat down on a white bench.

"So you're… Cindy's your mom?"

"She is my biological mother, yes."

"Wow, I— I almost can't believe she even remembered what my favourite baby name was. It's been… wait, how old are you?"

"Twelve, sir."

"You don't need to call me sir. I mean, you're my… my…” He paused. "Why now though? Why didn't she just— why now?"

Logan blinked in surprise. "Did she not tell you of my existence?"

"No, she didn't. I— I would've been in your life if she had. I promise, Logan."

"Oh, I didn't know that she never… she'd said that you… that you didn't want me."

Tears welled up in Patton's eyes, making guilt stab at Logan's chest.

"That couldn't be further from the truth, Logan. It's true that I most likely wasn't ready for parenthood at that time, but I would've learned. I would've learned from, but also for you. I would've been there for you."

"I… I see. That's…"

Patton wiped his eyes and Logan was once again reminded of how out-of-place he was.

"Should I go?"

Patton looked up in surprise. "What? I— no! I mean, if you have anywhere you need to be, then of course. But…" Patton let out a weird laugh. "Sorry, I'm sure I look a mess right now. It's just… a lot to process. Um… oh, does Cindy know you're here?"

"Yes, she found and gave me your address."

"Okay… yeah, okay. That's good." Patton wiped away the last few tears. "Well, that wasn't a very polite welcome on my part!" Patton attempted to joke. He didn't succeed.

"It was adequate in my opinion. You have been far kinder than necessary and asked why I —seemingly randomly— showed up on your doorstep. You could have told me to leave at any point but you didn't, instead, you listened to everything I had to say."

"Aw, thanks, Logan, but that's really the least I could do. I've… geez, I've missed so much. I really do want to be there for you though, I want to get to know you. As long as that's alright with you and your mom of course."

"I… I believe so. She did give me your address and said I could visit if I wanted to."

"I'm not really sure how to put this, but… do you still want to?" Patton looked at Logan with hesitation and… hope?

"Yes, I still want to."

The reaction was immediate, Patton's face figuratively lighting up. "That's great. I… I really am gonna try, Logan. I promise."

"...You want to try?"

"Yes, I do."

"Oh… well… then I shall try as well."

Patton smiled gently at Logan. "Alright. Sounds good— better than good, in fact!"

"Better than good," Logan echoed.

"Hey, it's a Saturday so I know you won't have school, would you like to come inside and meet everyone?"

"Oh…"

"You don't have to, of course! I don't wanna overwhelm you after all. Just giving you the option."

"Ah, well, if it's alright, perhaps some other time? …If there is another time."

"That's just fine! And of course there'll be another ti— I mean, if you want there to be another time. Sorry, I guess I didn't even consider that you might not… I mean, I completely understand if you resent me and decide at any point that you'd rather not see me anymore."

"Oh, that's… when I said 'if there is another time', I meant if you still wanted to meet again after today."

"Oh, I do as long as you do! Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, technically I can think of a few reasons, but mostly I just didn't want to assume. Not everyone wants a random child in their life."

"Yeah, I suppose, but that's not me." Patton huffed lightly. "If anything I love random children in my life, you're the fourth one so far! My husband, Janus, had a son long before we met, and we both adopted the twins a few years ago."

"Ah, I see. What's one more, then?"

"Exactly! …That didn't quite sound right. I'd still want you in my life even if I didn't have Virgil and my sons. I was just trying to say that I'm not new to children rather suddenly appearing."

"Oh…" Logan's chest twisted with some emotion that he couldn't quite place.

"And besides," Patton continued, "You're not just a random child, you're my random child!"

"But that doesn't— wait, was that a Kung Fu Panda reference?"

Logan couldn't help but feel amazed at how quickly Patton had accepted him. Sure, it might not last long if Logan messed it up —as he did with most things—, but still, Patton hadn't even known Logan for thirty minutes, and was already calling Logan his child.

"Sure was! The twins really like that movie so I know quite a lot of the dialogue."

"Ah, I see."

There was a small lull in the conversation before Patton changed the subject with, "So… would you want to go to the park?"

"...I'm twelve."

"Uh, okay… I don't see what— Oh, I didn't mean on the playground necessarily! There's a nice walking trail, plenty of benches, and even an ice cream stand."

"Mm, that sounds pleasant… I'm allergic to dairy though."

"Oh, sorry, kiddo. 'Fraid you get that from me."

Logan stared at Patton incredulously. "You were going to take me to an ice cream stand, despite being allergic to dairy yourself?"

"...Yes. I— I don't always make the best decisions when it comes to dairy, okay? I mean, my favourite food is mac 'n' cheese."

"You… that's unfortunate."

"Oh, definitely. I don't let it stop me though."

"I have only heard legends of people who eat the food they're allergic to."

"Legends?"

"I… thought it sounded cool. Apologies, I shall refrain from—"

"No, you're fine, Logan! I was just wondering what legends had people eating their allergy in it, that's all."

"Ah, none to my knowledge. The closest I can think of would be the Norse myth in which Balder had a dream that he was going to die, so his mother Frigg made all the plants, trees, and animals promise to never hurt Balder, but she forgot to ask mistletoe. The gods assumed that Balder was invincible and often used him as a target for knife-throwing and archery. One day they were all playing darts, and Loki, having learned from Frigg that Balder wasn't immune to mistletoe, made a dart from the plant and pretended to help guide the blind god Höd's hand. But under Loki's supposed assistance, Höd struck his brother, Balder, piercing his heart and killing him.

"Although Balder wasn't allergic to mistletoe in that case, it was just the only plant that could hurt him, and then Loki was being mischievous, which makes sense as he's the god of mischief." Logan paused, realising that he'd rambled on for longer than he'd intended. "Ah, apologies, that was a rather long story with very little relevance."

"You're fine! I enjoyed listening! It's been quite a while since I heard that story anyway, and I can see how your mind made the connection."

"Oh, okay… well, thank you for listening."

"Of course, Logan. Anytime."

Logan frowned a bit. "We got quite off topic."

Patton laughed. "So we did. But we can continue to get off topic together as we walk the park's walking trail if you want. The trail start is only a few blocks away."

"Alright… have you ever heard about the story where Thor dressed as Freyja to get Mjölnir back?"

"Ooh, that sounds vaguely familiar, but I don't remember most of it. Wanna tell it to me?"

Logan felt himself get even more excited. "Yes, I'd like that."

The day had gone so much better than Logan had expected, more than he'd ever dared to hope. Not only did Patton not hate him, but they'd spent most of the afternoon talking. Their conversation had been a bit awkward at times —as Logan's conversations with people other than his mother often were, albeit usually more awkward than it had been with Patton; at least Patton and Logan had some things in common—, but Logan was quite pleased with how the day had gone.

Logan had rather expected to be going home in tears, rather than a small smile he'd found on his face.

After he got home, Logan heated some leftovers for supper and finished the last of his math homework, quite glad that there weren't any bottles from the prior night to clean up —just a beer can that was already in the recycling—, and that his mother hadn't been too hungover to go and work.

Feeling a bit unsure what to do until his mother got home from her evening job, he watched some TV, his conversations with Patton still in the back of his mind.

He especially couldn't stop thinking about when Patton had said that he hadn't known that Logan existed, how his mother had said, on multiple occasions, that his father had taken one look at Logan and left, that he didn't want him.

But Patton did want Logan —or at least thought he did at the moment, he easily might not after getting to know Logan and seeing how worthless he was— and he hadn't known of Logan's existence… and since Logan was quite certain that Patton was telling the truth, that could only mean one thing: his mother had lied.

It meant that his mother had been lying to him for a frighteningly long amount of time.

What felt like both too soon and not soon enough, Logan's mother came home, looking tired as always.

After she grabbed something small to eat, she laid down on the couch, Logan hovering near one of the couch's arms.

"...I saw him today," Logan finally said.

His mother looked up at him. "Saw who? ��Your father?"

"Yes, I met him, his husband, Janus, and briefly two out of three of their children. Although the eldest, Virgil, was Janus' son, I assume from a previous relationship, who didn't seem to consider Patton his father."

"Huh, I see. Did it go well?"

"It went… a lot better than expected." Logan felt himself begin to get a little mad. "Especially considering the fact that Patton didn't know of my existence and was actually really nice."

His mother winced. "Oh."

More anger rose in Logan. "Yes. 'Oh'. I— Why didn't you tell Patton that I existed? And why did you tell me that he knew and just didn't want me!?"

"I… don't know."

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Logan was aware that tears were streaming down his cheeks but he couldn't find it in him to wipe them away.

"Logan, sometimes people just… make mistakes. And sometimes they don't realise until it's too late to fix them, at least directly, so they just leave the mistake to fester and it just gets worse over time but they certainly don't want to deal with it now." She dropped her voice to a whisper. "It just got worse, and the longer I waited, the worse I knew it would make everyone feel. So, I just never said anything… not till I finally, finally just bit the bullet and found his address."

She finally stopped staring at the ceiling and looked over at Logan. "I fucked up. I know I did, and I know I should've done it a long time ago, but at least you have your dad now. I know it's my fault that you didn't for so, so long, but you do now. I'm… Logan, I'm really sick, and it took… it took almost dying to realise that I was just trying to keep you to myself, and that's really not fair to you. I'm… I'm so sorry I didn't let you two meet sooner, and it's okay if you don't forgive me for a while, or ever, but I'm trying to fix it now. I'm trying, Logan."

"I—" Logan scrubbed underneath his eyes. "I know, Mom. I know you're trying. It— it really hurt, it hurt not to have him, but you… you did the right thing, and now I do have him. Him and you. That's all I ever wanted…” He paused. "I don't think I can forgive you today… but soon. I just need some time."

Logan's mother smiled softly. "I know, and I understand."

"I'm… I'm glad to have you back, Mom. Yo— you weren't really there for quite a while."

"Yeah, I know, and I am so, so sorry. But I promise that I'm not going to drink again. Your… your dad found me on Facebook earlier while I was at work and we messaged each other, and God bless him, he's actually paying for me to go to therapy with his cousin, Dr. Picani. I'm…" She paused to dab at her eyes with her handkerchief. "I'm gonna get better. I'm gonna get out of this depressive funk and I'm going to fucking stop this stupid alcoholism.

"It's not going to be easy, or linear, but I'm going to do it. I will."

"I know you will. If anyone could do it, it'd be you."

"Thank you for always having my back, little Lo. I don't know what I'd do without you. I— come here, baby." She raised her frail arms up and Logan quickly ducked between them, the both of them wrapping their arms around the other.

After a few moments they pulled away, Logan still kneeling beside his mother. "I… he invited me to come back soon."

"I know."

"I… I want to see him again. I'd like to get to know Patton and his family more."

"Okay, you know I support you either way, baby, so if you want to see him— all of them, then you should spend more time with them."

Logan wasn't sure what to say, so he just asked, "Do you want to watch a movie?"

His mother smiled. "Only if we pop some popcorn."

Logan sighed as he looked at Patton and Janus' white door. The parallel between now and the first time that he'd met Patton was making him hesitate, which was only making the moment feel even more familiar.

Logan startled slightly as Janus opened the door.

Janus raised an eyebrow. "Well, now isn't this déjà vu?" He rhetorically asked, the sarcastic tone that his voice usually took ever-present, despite the statement itself holding no actual sarcasm.

"Ah, apologies, I was just…"

"Gathering yourself for a moment?"

"Yes."

"Hmm… well, come in."

"Thank you." Logan went inside and Janus shut the door behind them.

"Logan's here, love," Janus called across the living room and Patton looked up from what he was fixing in the kitchen to across the kitchen bar.

"Hi! You made it!" Patton waved.

A golden retriever mutt came up to Logan, sniffed his pant leg, and began wagging their tail at him, so he patted the dog on the head a few times.

"I did." Logan remembered what his mother had said years ago about how people liked to have their house complimented. "Um, I like how your house's common area is an open plan. It's very… spacious."

"Aww, thanks, Logan. I really like that about our house too." His eyebrows furrowed a bit. "Where's your mom?"

"Ah, yes, she sends her regards and apologies for being absent, but she had to cover for a co-worker at work. It was rather sudden so we didn't have proper time to forewarn you."

"Oh, okay. Well, that's fine! That's too bad that she couldn't come, but I'm glad you're here anyway."

Patton was very generous with his compliments, Logan noted, a bit unsure as to why Patton's praise made him feel so happy. Well, Logan had been idolizing him since he was young, so perhaps it was a bit more obvious than he'd originally thought. He'd been wishing for a father figure since he was little after all.

"And I am glad to be here."

"If you'll excuse me for a moment," Janus said, "I'll go let everyone know you're here."

Janus went upstairs and since Logan wasn't sure what to do, he petted the dog some more.

"Oh! That's Biscuit, by the way!"

"Ah, they're a very good dog."

"Isn't she!"

Janus came down the stairs only a minute later, the twins in tow.

"Oh! It's the Boy Scout!" The twin dressed in a prince costume exclaimed.

"No! He's a zombie," The other twin —his name was Remus, if Logan recalled correctly— tried to correct, pointing his finger at Logan, the black and green sparkly cuff bouncing as he did so.

Janus clicked his tongue. "Remus, what did I tell you about pointing at people?"

Remus sighed deeply. "Not to because it's rude."

"And what do you say, dear?"

"Sorry, Logan."

"It's alright."

"Oh, also maybe don't call people zombies," Janus added.

Logan couldn't help but think what an odd family they were.

"...Are you a zombie?" Remus asked.

"No, I'm not a zombie, or a Boy Scout for that matter."

"Aww," The little prince whined. "Then who are you?"

"Logan."

He snorted. "Okay, smart—"

"Ass!" Remus finished.

"Boys," Patton scolded. "Roman, don't let Remus take the fall for your curse word, and Remus, we don't curse in this house!"

"You said 'fuck' just yesterday, Papa. You know, when you accidentally spilled milk everywhere?"

Patton sighed. "Okay yes, I did. But I shouldn't've said that."

"Also you're an adult, which means that if you wanted to curse, you could," Janus added.

"Yeah," Remus agreed. "Like Virgil, although he's not an adult… wait, why is Virgil allowed to cuss and we're not? We're only like… nine years younger."

"Well, my age minimum for children cursing is lower than your Papa's, so we compromised, and if you don't swear loudly in public, you can curse when you turn fifteen."

"Aww, but that's so far away!"

"Yes, it is."

"Oh, speaking of Virgil, where is he?" Patton asked.

"Still upstairs. He said that he'd be down in a minute."

"Oh, okay!"

"...So who are you really?" Roman asked.

"And don't say 'Logan' again!" Remus added.

"...Logan Sanders-Miller."

"Aww. You did it again."

Janus sighed. "Don't you remember when I told you last night that Patton had a son who was coming over for dinner today?"

The twins shook their heads.

"Did you tell them while they were watching TV?" Patton asked.

"Yes— oh, I see what happened. I always forget that they won't hear me if the TV's on."

"Are you really Papa's son?" Remus asked Logan.

"Um, yes, I am his biological son."

Roman ran into the kitchen where Patton was still cooking. "Papa?"

"Yeah, Ro?"

"Why'd you hide Logan from us?"

"Oh, sweetie, I didn't hide Logan from y'all! His mother had never told me that he'd been born so I had no idea he existed."

"Oh, that's sad… so kinda like how you and Dad didn't know that me and Remus existed until you found us at the adoption place? Well, except that Logan's your bioluh… biological son and me and Remus aren't."

"Yeah, that's exactly right!"

"Remus and I," Janus corrected. "I am trying to teach our sons some semblance of proper grammar after all."

…

Supper went fairly well, it was a bit awkward at times and Logan had a strong feeling that Virgil didn't like him, but the twins' lively conversation soon easily broke up any awkwardness.

"I can help clean up," Logan offered after they'd finished eating.

"Aw, that's okay! I've got it. Besides, you're our guest!"

"Oh, alright…"

"Um, but if you want, you could go watch the twins in the living room. They'll probably get out some toys which is fine, just make sure they don't physically hurt each other. Oh, but if that's too much pressure, I can come watch them, I'm just helping Janus clean up right now."

"That's alright, I can watch them." Logan walked deeper into the living room and around the couch, noticing Virgil scowling at him from the dining table as he went.

Seriously, why did Virgil dislike him so much?

"Logan!" Remus exclaimed as he knocked his plastic dinosaur into Roman's.

"Come play with us!" Roman whacked his pteranodon into Remus' triceratops, which fell out of Remus' hand, causing Roman to cheer.

"Aw, man!" Remus pouted. "Now how am I supposed to defeat the dino rebels!"

Logan sat down on the floor next to the twins. "Hmm, perhaps the Ankylosaurus could help?"

"Oh, yeah! But I'm dead, so you'll have to play him, okay?"

"Alright, I can do that."

"Oh no!" Roman cried dramatically. "Another leader of the Dinosaur Imperial Magistrate —DIM for short— has arisen!"

Logan played with the twins, using the plastic dinosaurs to fight for a minute or two when Virgil came into the living room and sat on the couch, gesturing for Logan to come sit next to him.

After Logan excused himself from the battle, Remus and Roman continuing on in his absence, he got up and perched himself on the edge of the couch.

"Yes?"

"You don't have to play with them, you know,"

"Oh, I know, but I actually enjoy playing with people younger than me."

"I just— I can take care of them by myself." Virgil huffed. "I know that Patton doesn't think that, but I can! I can be responsible!"

"Alright. I've never said otherwise—"

"You can't just come in here and suddenly be a part of this family."

"O… kay? I didn't—"

"I don't know what you think you're doing, just waltzing in here like you've always been here but you haven't! You can't just uproot our family because suddenly you want a dad."

"I understand that I haven't always been here but I really am not trying to uproot anything. I'm not trying to tear your family apart, I just want to earn my place in it."

"And what makes you think you will?!" Virgil exclaimed, his voice dangerously low, but still quiet so as not to let the twins playing on the other side of the living room or the adults in the kitchen overhear.

"I… I don't know," Logan admitted. "When I first met Patton, I didn't even originally come to try and join the family he'd built for himself. I just wanted to know why he hadn't wanted me as a baby, only to find out that my mother had lied and he had no idea I existed. I'm only here trying to earn a place in Patton's life because he's invited me into it."

"I—" Virgil's breaths were shorter than they should have been. "W— well stop trying! Who said you deserve to try! You shouldn't expect so much so soon!" Virgil's voice was steadily rising, so much so that the twins looked up from where they were playing.

"Are you okay, Virgie?" Roman asked.

"Yeah, you seem mad," Remus agreed.

"Everything's fine," Virgil gritted out, "I'm just talking to Logan."

"Okay, just remember Papa's saying: 'you say things bad when you're mad' !"

"Whatever, just go play."

The twins both frowned.

"Um, okay," Remus said, worry still evident in his tone. He looked at Virgil for a moment longer before he hesitantly went back to what seemed to be an odd game that involved both chess and checker pieces.

Logan took a deep breath. Virgil's words struck a little too close to home. "I apologize if it seems like I've been trying to barge in where I do not belong, but if I could ju—"

"Just stop it already. I don't wanna talk about this anymore."

"I— alright."

"I just…" Virgil took some more heavy breaths. "I just don't understand how you can come in here and act like you belong and like everyone's totally chill with that! Patton just met you the other day, there's no way that he could like you already! He's just being polite! And you're too naïve to fuckin' see that.

"No one even wants you here!" Virgil stopped, looking quite surprised at his outburst… at least he did until Logan's vision blurred with unshed tears. Logan couldn't see Virgil's face well enough to tell after that.

Logan stood up. "Well then, I apologize for overstaying my welcome. I can see that I'm not wanted so… so I'll be going then. Goodbye."

"Wait, I didn't mean t—"

"Didn't you though?" Logan snapped as he made his way around the couch and to the front door.

Patton came out of the kitchen, Janus right behind him, and asked, "Oh, Logan, are you leaving so soon?"

Logan opened the door.

"Wait, Logan—"

Logan shut the door behind himself with a bit more force than necessary, just able to hear Virgil faintly say, "Shit, I think I made him cry."

Tears streamed down Logan's face the entire walk home.

Logan had never been one to outwardly display his emotions, but he also tried not to just push them down. Which was why he'd felt so utterly embarrassed when he couldn't stop crying the day prior.

It was one thing for Logan to cry in the privacy of his own room, and another thing entirely to cry in front of Patton and his family. Sure, someone might've seen him cry as he was walking home, but that was nothing in comparison to how shameful he felt that Patton had to have seen him like that.

So much for trying to prove that he was good enough. He'd certainly messed that up beyond repair as there was no way that Patton would want him now.

Logan sighed, and forcing himself to get out of bed, he walked to the living room.

Logan's mother looked up from the TV and frowned, using the remote to turn it off.

"Hey, baby. What's wrong? Did something happen last night?"

"...I made a complete fool of myself."

She frowned. "Hmm, well come here. Let's talk it out."

Logan sat next to her. "Okay."

"So? What happened?"

"Well, Virgil said that no one wanted me there, among other things, and I kind of panicked, so I left… but everyone saw that I was crying before I could leave. It… Newton, I was so embarrassed. Still am, actually."

"Oh, honey! I'm so sorry."

Logan sniffed. "He was right though. I did kind of just barge in there and act like I was entitled to Patton and his family."

"Really?" His mother asked skeptically. "Because that doesn't sound like you at all."

"I— well… Virgil informed me that Patton didn't actually want me there, that he was just being polite and I was too naïve to see that," Logan spat as tears began to well up in his eyes.

"Hmm, okay. I don't know what Virgil's problem is, but I just really don't think any of that's true. I've been messaging your dad a bit ever since you met him. He seemed nothing but excited that you were in his life… well, and guilty for not being there for you sooner, but I've already told him that it's not his fault. I was the one to keep it from him after all…

"Anyway, point is, your dad absolutely wants you there. I think you'd know if he was just being nice. If there's two things I remember about him from college, it's how kind he was and how his passive aggression was not super veiled. I really do think that he cares about you, and while I don't know why Virgil said all those things, I think you should talk to the both them about it. Maybe it's not as bad as you think."

A few tears rolled down Logan's cheeks. "...Are you sure?"

His mother patted his shoulder. "Quite sure."

"Okay… when do you think I sh—"

There were a few light knocks on the front door, making Logan startle as he quickly tried to wipe away the few fallen tears.

Logan's mother got up and answered the door. "Hello, what can I do for you two?"

Logan couldn't hear what the other people had said, but his mother quickly ushered Patton and Virgil in with a, "Please, come in. I'm sure there's much to talk about."

Logan was just about to stand up and hide in his room when Patton said, "Wait, Logan. This'll only take a minute, but there's something that Virgil wanted to say."

Logan hesitated and almost left anyway, but Virgil seemed so genuinely worried that Logan stayed.

"Alright. Just for a minute."

"Okay…" Virgil nodded, still looking extremely nervous but almost a bit relieved. He stood in front of the couch, still keeping some distance so as to not crowd Logan.

Patton and Logan's mother went into the kitchen, most likely to make some tea, and Patton gave Logan a brief reassuring smile.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for snapping at you yesterday," Virgil began. "I didn't mean anything I said, especially that no one wanted you there… you don't have to earn your place in this family by the way. This doesn't make it right, but I was jealous because I thought that Patton liked you more than me. But that's not true, he doesn't play favourites like that."

"...Oh. I see."

"I'm afraid that I was kinda projecting my feelings of inadequacy onto you, like, everything I said to you was what I was feeling towards Pat. Um, but he and I had an entire conversation about it and I'm doing a lot better now, but still, I'm really sorry you had to get caught up in all that shit. In all of my shit."

"I… did not enjoy it, that's for sure, but as long as you learn from your mistake and try your best not to do it again…"

"I promise. From now on if I have a problem with someone, I'll talk to them about it instead of snapping at someone else."

"Good. In that case, I forgive you."

Virgil's shoulders slumped in relief. "Okay, thanks, Logan."

"You're welcome, Virgil. And thank you for apologising."

"No problem, it's the least I could do after I was so mean to you." Virgil shifted on his feet. There was a pause before he asked, "Hey, wanna go see what our parents are talking about in the kitchen?"

"Sure."

Logan's mother laughed at something Patton had said as Logan and Virgil walked into the kitchen.

"Oh, hey, kids. You get everything sorted out?" Patton asked, a bit pointedly at Virgil.

"Yeah, I apologized and he forgave me."

"Good, I'm glad."

"Um, hey… Pops?" Virgil seemed a bit hesitant with the nickname, and Logan deduced that he must have just started using the fatherly nickname after his emotional conversation with Patton.

Patton seemed to be holding back a beaming smile as he answered, "Yes, Virge?"

"Can we take Logan and his mom out to get burgers for lunch?"

"Oh, that's a great idea! Er, if they're not busy, that is."

Logan's mother hummed. "Well, I don't have work until three, and it's a Saturday, so it's not like Logan has school."

"Great! Do y'all like Sonic?"

Logan felt himself get excited. "Sonic's burgers are superior, especially when you consider the facts that you can get tater tots with it and that they have cherry limeades, as well as root beer. Which are my two favourite drink options."

"You're absolutely right," Virgil agreed. "They really are superior."

"Did you know that the first location opened near Shawnee, Oklahoma and was originally called the Top Hat Drive-In? In 1959 when Troy Smith and his business partner, Charlie Pappe looked into getting it copyrighted, but they discovered that it already was copyrighted. So they named the franchise Sonic, with the slogan 'Service With the Speed of Sound' ."

"Oh, yeah," Virgil agreed. "I think I read an article about that. They named it Sonic because the jets at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma city were breaking the sound barrier, right?"

"Yes, that's correct." Logan couldn't help but give Virgil a small smile, who returned it easily.

Logan had never met someone who liked Sonic anywhere near as much as him, and looked forward to sharing more facts with Virgil.

In the end, Logan had never had so much fun doing something so normal as getting hamburgers. Although he was beginning to suspect that nothing was normal around the Sanders' family… and he was right.

Logan loved the science fair, it was one of his favourite things about school, and even if his mother usually had to work a lot, she always made time for Logan's science fair, and this year was no different.

…At least in that aspect, it was no different, it was, however, definitely different in another way, namely, Patton and his whole family came.

Janus and Virgil were each holding the hand of one of the twins who were trying to pull every which way to see everything, bringing up the rear was someone that Logan didn't know, but looked rather like Patton —a brother or cousin, maybe?— in a floral print shirt, and leading the whole procession was Patton, a large tote bag on one shoulder, and a big water bottle in his other hand.

Patton waved, the tote bag almost slipping, but he managed to catch it just in time, laughing at himself a bit. "Hey, Logan! I brought snacks!"

"...To a science fair?"

"Yeah! I thought we might get hungry after."

"Ah, that's true. I hadn't thought of that. Good idea."

"Thank you!" Patton beamed. "Oh! This is my brother, Thomas." Patton gestured with his lips at the person Logan didn't recognize.

"What's up?" Thomas greeted.

"I'm at the science fair."

Thomas snorted. "That's fair."

Logan squinted suspiciously. "Was that a pun?"

"Sure was!"

"...I can certainly see the relation."

Thomas and Patton laughed.

Janus turned to Logan from where he'd been talking to his children. "Ah, before I forget, good luck with your presentation."

"Thank you, Janus."

"You're going to do awesome!" Roman assured.

"Or fall flat on your face," Remus gleefully added.

Logan pursed his lips. "Well, I certainly hope I don't fall on my face."

"Nah," Virgil said. "You won't… probably."

"Confident as ever," Janus teased sarcastically. "Well, we should probably go take our seats, but we wanted to wish you luck first."

"Thank you, I appreciate that."

Janus took the bag and water bottle from Patton.

"It was nice meeting you," Thomas said.

"Nice to meet you as well."

"Break a leg!" Remus said sweetly as they walked towards the seats, and somehow, Logan knew that he only half meant it in the 'perform well' way.

"So, where's your mom?" Patton asked.

"Here! I'm here." Logan's mother smiled nervously as she tried to catch her breath. "Patton, it's, um…"

"Good to see you again, Cindy."

Her shoulders sagged slightly in relief. "Yes. It is."

Patton was about to say something in reply but a woman with a dyed blonde bob haircut walked up to them, an overly fake smile on her face. "Hi! I'm Sheryl."

"Hi, Sheryl, I'm Patton!" Patton shook her hand. "And this is my son, Logan, and his mom, Cindy."

"Aww, don't you two make a cute couple."

Logan sighed a little louder than he meant to.

Patton's smile quickly turned awkward as he explained, "Oh, we're not a couple anymore, but my husband and our other children are here."

"Oh." Sheryl just awkwardly walked off and spotted someone she knew. "Susan! How's the kids?"

Logan mentally groaned. "Apologies. That entire interaction was my fault."

"What?" Patton asked. "Nonsense!"

"You wouldn't even be here if I didn't have a science fair, or had met you… or even existed."

"Oh, hey, no. Logan, that wasn't your fault. And I'm really glad you exist, especially because I got to meet you. She was just being a bit of a jerk—

"Fuckin' asshole," Logan's mother interjected bitterly.

"But it's nothing I couldn't handle, and absolutely not your fault."

"...Okay."

"Okay."

"If she says anything else, let me know." Logan's mother pursed her lips. "I'm on the board, and I can assure you that we don't take too kindly to homophobia. Veiled or not."

"Thanks, I appreciate that. I'll certainly let you know."

Logan's mother checked her watch before she looked between Patton and Logan and nodded to herself. "Well, I'm gonna sit down. It starts in ten minutes but you two should have time."

"Should have time for what?" Patton asked.

"Logan wants to ask you something." She smiled knowingly and walked away.

Logan sighed.

His mother was a bit too perceptive at times.

"What was it you wanted to ask me about?"

"Oh… well, I was just wondering why… why you introduced me as your son. I mean, obviously I'm your biological son but…"

"Oh! I introduced you as my son because you are my son. Ah, but if that makes you uncomforta—"

"No! Er, no. I'm not uncomfortable. I just… am not clear what yo—" Logan cringed at himself. "Nevermind."

"No! Go ahead. What is it?"

"I… I'm not really sure how to explain."

"Oh, hmm, that's tough… maybe I can guess? I kinda think I know where this is going. Oh, but I can totally just give you time if you wanna think it out for yourself."

"No, that's… I'd— I mean, it would probably be easiest if you just said what you thought I'm trying to say."

"Okay. So, what I think you're maybe wondering is what… oh wow, this is hard. Okay, you're my biological son, but you're also just… my son, okay?"

"Oh, I— okay."

"Is that okay?"

"Definitely. I… yes."

"Okay. And um, well, you definitely don't have to… but I'm okay with you know, fatherly nicknames, but again, only if you want! Not trying to rush anything of course, or make you feel like you have to ever even. So… um, so yeah."

Tears began to prick at the corner of Logan's eyes.

He really hadn't expected this to happen when he'd woken up today. He'd of course known that Patton was kind and caring, but to know that he already thought of Logan as his son… that it was okay for Logan to call him father… it was all too much, albeit in a good way.

"Oh! Sorry, I didn't mean to make you cry! You don't have to—"

"No, no. It's alright. These, uh, these are happy tears… Father." Despite Patton having just said it was okay, Logan still warily looked at him to see his reaction.

Patton broke out in a big grin. "Awww! Oh my goodness, abjfshdjsjsjdh!"

"Wh— what?"

"Aah, sorry. I'm just, shvshshsh."

"...Are you having a stroke? The signs are—"

"No, it's okay. I'm not having a stroke. Just so happy I'm at a loss for words!"

"Oh, I see."

"...Can I hug you?"

"Yeah, I'd like that."

Patton wrapped his arms around Logan. "Thank you for being my son."

Logan buried his face into Patton's shoulder before mumbling, "And thank you for being my father."

Logan was almost late for his presentation due to his happy tears, but he found that it was very, very worth it.

Logan hadn't quite been sure what to think when Patton invited him to come along with the other Sanders to the beach. For one, he hated swimming, but also, if there was anything Logan hated more than swimming, it was sand. And that was without even mentioning the ride home in wet swim clothes.

So no, Logan wasn't looking forward to going... but Patton had invited him, and he did enjoy the Sanders' company.

When Patton's sky-blue minivan pulled up, Logan got up from the window seat, grabbed his bag, and, after locking the apartment door behind himself, walked down the stairs and to the van.

Patton rolled down the passenger window and leaned around Janus to say, "Hey, Logan! You got everything you need?"

"Yes, I have sunscreen, a pair of clothes, goggles, a towel, and the key to get back into my apartment."

"Great! Hop in!" Patton pressed a button and the side door slid open.

…

The drive there mostly consisted of the twins asking 'are we there yet' just to annoy everyone; bickering with each other; Virgil, Logan, and Janus trying to stop them from said bickering; and Patton jamming out to oldies as he drove.

Due to the twins' bickering and the fact that Logan had never been out this way to the ocean before, the drive felt longer than it actually was, but soon enough they were all unloading from the van and heading down to the beach.

It was a rather warm June day, and the sun sparkled across the water brightly as it was unhindered by any clouds.

Logan could feel the apprehension building in himself the closer they got to the water, but took a deep breath to try and get it to settle. Patton wanted him to go swimming, so swimming he would go.

After setting up their stuff and putting on sunscreen, they all got in the water. Remus and Roman instantly began racing, Virgil acting as the referee, while Patton and Janus got in the water at a more sedate pace, already wading in up to their knees.

Logan was still standing quite firmly in the sand.

Patton turned around to look at Logan and furrowed his eyebrows. "Logan? What's wrong?"

"I just… am not particularly fond of swimming, that's all." Logan hesitantly walked to where the water lapped at his ankles, feeling a bit silly as Patton was already in to his waist.

"Aww, I'm sorry. We would've picked a different activity if we'd known that."

"No, that's alright. If I really don't want to swim, I can sit in a beach chair."

"Still. We wanna do stuff that you'll like too. How about next time you can pick where we go?"

"Really?"

"Sure! Just name the place and we'll go soon."

"Hm… how about the planetarium?"

"Sounds great!"

Logan nodded and mentally braced himself as he walked farther into the water. It wasn't quite as cold as he'd thought, but was still pleasantly cool in the heat of the day.

Logan paused with a small frown once he'd gotten in past his bellybutton and sniffed the air. Since this was the ocean and not a pool, there was no chlorine to bother Logan. He got in to his shoulders and pushed his feet off the sand, swimming in place to stay afloat, finally level with Patton instead of trailing behind.

"This isn't as bad as I'd thought."

"Awe, I'm glad! I personally love swimming."

"Mm, I'd… well, not forgotten that there wasn't any chlorine, of course, but it's not that bad. And sure, it smells a bit like salt, but considering it's the ocean, that makes sense." The water began to lap at Logan's chin. "I really had expected it to be so much wors—" The water brushed past his lips and he wrinkled his nose as he spat out the few drops of water that'd made it into his mouth. "Eurgh! Why does it taste so salty?!"

Patton laughed gently. "You knew the ocean was salty, Lo!"

"Well, of course I did, Father, but I didn't know it was going to be this salty! Ugh, it's horrendous."

Patton giggled. "Aww, sorry, kiddo."

…

The saltwater had tasted terrible, but all in all, swimming had gone much better than Logan had expected. The lack of chlorine had really made a big difference.

After they had gotten out of the water for lunch, almost everyone made sand castles while Janus and Logan sat on a blanket under the shade of a big umbrella.

"So, how are you enjoying the family so far?" Janus asked, startling a small laugh out of Logan.

"What?"

"Well, it's been a few months. Surely you have formed some sort of opinion by now."

"Oh, I have. I just wasn't expecting the question." Logan paused for a moment, trying to gather his thoughts. "I really like it here… not the beach— well, it is nice here, but what I meant was that I really like being with everyone."

"Good, I'm glad. Everyone likes that you're here too."

"...Everyone?"

Janus smiled like he was in on a joke. Perhaps he was. "Everyone."

"...I'm not intruding?"

"Not at all. I daresay that there would be many protests if you tried to cut us off. Patton is quite the protective papa bear. Actually, if you want to be specific, I believe there'd be five protests. Six if you count your mother."

"Oh… six?"

"Yes, six. Did you really think I'm completely apathetic towards you?"

"Well, I didn't know, and… well, I didn't want to assume."

Janus hummed. "Now you don't have to."

"True." Logan paused, a bit of anxiety building in his gut as he tried to think of how to word what he wanted to say. "Thank you for letting me into your family," Logan rushed out. "You didn't have to do that, but you did anyway, and I— I really appreciate it."

"I'm… not even quite sure what to say to that. I don't feel as though it was letting you as in 'I gave you permission', but more like you just naturally became a part of our family."

Logan hummed. "I see. Well, regardless, I'm still grateful for all of you."

"And us you," Janus said, voice full of sincerity.

They sat there in peaceful silence for several minutes until Patton came up.

"Janus! The kids say it's your turn to play with them."

Janus sighed faux-dramatically. "Well, if they insist…" He got up and went to where the others were throwing sand around.

"Hi!" Patton exclaimed as he sat down next to Logan.

"Hello, Father. How was the sand?"

"Sandy dandy!"

Logan exhaled through his nose, if only to keep himself from laughing. "That's… a very you response."

Patton laughed. "You betcha!" He looked out at the ocean for a few moments before saying, "Hey, Logan?"

"Yes?"

Patton looked back at Logan. "I'm glad you came to find me a few months ago."

"Mm, me too."

"I… I know I said this at your science fair last month, but you're family." Patton laughed a little. "I mean, of course you're family, but I just… I wanted to say it again. And that… that I really care about you, Logan."

"I really care about you too… Papa?" Logan hadn't meant it to sound like a question but he was a little unsure if Patton would think it was okay so it did anyway.

"Awwwww, c'mere!"

Patton scooted closer, Logan copying him, and Patton put an arm around Logan's shoulders, who immediately rested his head on Patton's shoulder.

"Love you… Lo-son."

"...Was that a pun in front of my emotional conversation?"

Patton laughed again, much louder this time. "I can tell you've been hanging out with Virgil a lot."

Logan smiled. "Maybe a bit."

"Hey!" Remus exclaimed from a bit farther down the beach. "Come look at what we made!"

Patton and Logan exchanged glances as Logan sat up properly again before they got up and went to where the twins and Virgil were gathered.

"Where's Jan—" Logan cut himself off with a startled laugh as he could only see Janus' head, his body under the sand which had been shaped to look like a snake.

"See!" Roman beamed. "He's a sea snake."

"You good under there, dear?" Patton asked amusedly, obviously trying not to giggle.

Janus pouted a bit, but still said, "Yes, I'm fine, just covered in sand."

"I like the details in the scales! Very fancy."

"Yeah," Virgil agreed. "Re and Ro did most of them."

Logan tilted his head to the side. "What species were you modeling this after?"

Roman thought about it for a moment. "Uh… sea snake?"

Virgil snorted. "We didn't have one in mind. Just used our imagination."

"Ah, I see."

"Come build sandcastles with us, Logan!" Roman exclaimed more than asked as he smiled up at Logan.

Logan couldn't help but smile back. "Alright. What time period and place were you thinking of?"

"Ooh," Remus cut in, "Which ones have the most gore?"

"Well…"

Everything was so very different from only a few months prior, but it'd only changed for the better.

Logan had always had his mother, but his family grew bigger than he'd ever thought possible.

Home really wasn't about the house, but rather about the people; and between Logan's mother, Patton, Janus, Virgil, Remus, and Roman, Logan had an abundance of home.

And there truly was no place like home.

~The End~

No reposting, likes are nice, and reblogs are very much appreciated! | Taglist (ask to be added or removed): @someoneiwasnt

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spicycreativity · 1 year

Text

I have gone ever-so-slightly off the rails and I'm toying with the idea of writing a fic for every kind of plot outline (not every, but every one that was included in this Reedsy article I found). So 7 longfic total.

Which ship is making your brain go BRRRR today?

#sanders sides #tss #sasi #spicypost

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i-am-bitterly-jittery · 2 years

Text

They Call Me Wicked (That Makes Me Glad) (pt 4/?)

[<<First],,[<Prev],[Next>]

Word Count: 1733

Rating: Teen

Pairings: the starts of Moceit

Warnings: bad family dynamics, Remus being Remus, allusions to child abuse

~~~START~~~

Janus stood still as a statue as he waited for the limo carrying the four Villain Kids to pull up. They’d gotten confirmation that the car had left the Isle with all four selected kids, and now the only thing there was to do was wait.

The welcome party for the Villain Kids consisted of himself, Virgil, Fairy Godmother, and the pep band, led by Remy — who had conveniently forgotten his uniform. As soon as the car was in view the band would start playing, then Janus would welcome them to Auradon, Fairy Godmother would welcome them to her school, and finally Janus, Virgil, and Remy would show them around.

Easy. And yet completely nerve wracking.

He was certain he made the right choice, but at the same time, he had no idea who would be stepping out of that limo.

Virgil gripped his arm tightly and Janus felt a stab of guilt.

For Janus, his whole reputation, and truly his whole reign rested on the hope that people could be more than their parents raised them to be. With all that pressure on him, he’d forgotten that other people would be impacted by the arrival of the Villain Kids too.

Virgil’s grandmother — his whole family really, but his grandmother was the worst — had a habit of jumping to the conclusion that Maleficent had escaped the Isle and had cursed their little princess anytime there was something even mildly wrong with him. Got a cold? Oh no! Maleficent must have escaped! Broke your arm? How could Maleficent have done such a thing? Bad at math? Oh baby, it’s not your fault Maleficent cursed you to be stupid.

…yeah, some of them were worse than others.

It was part of the reason he hadn’t come out to anyone but Janus and Remy yet, he couldn’t stand the thought of having his identity reduced to a curse placed on him by an evil fairy who was safely locked behind a magical barrier.

But with Maleficent’s kid running around Auradon? Janus could only imagine how much worse it could get.

The Prince was broken out of his thoughts by the pep band, who’d started to play Auradon Prep’s fight song.

The Villain Kids were here.

The limousine pulled up in front of where Janus, Virgil, and Fairy Godmother were standing, and Janus took a step forward to introduce himself.

Before he could, however, the door to the limo popped open, and a tornado of wrestling bodies fell out. The band cut off suddenly, unsure of what to do.

A third person exited behind the two — glaring disdainfully at the pair — followed by a fourth. The fourth person was unmistakable, if his black horns or magnificent wings didn’t give it away, then his pale green skin did: Maleficent’s son.

Oh, right, Janus thought numbly, hoping that his blush wasn’t too noticeable as he gazed at the newcomer — at Maleficent’s son. I’m gay.

Maleficent’s son took just a second to take in his surroundings — his icy blue eyes roving over everything and everyone — before breaking up the fight.

“Guys!” He hissed, sharp and low. “We have an audience.”

The last bit was said with a smile, but even a fool like Chad would have been able to tell that it was fake.

The two figures stopped wrestling immediately. The wilder-looking of the two sprung right to his feet, a manic grin in place as he sized up everyone who had gathered to greet them. The other stood in a more controlled, more graceful way, brushing himself off daintily before plastering a nice, political smile over his face — the way he reminded Janus of royals who wanted something made it clear that this was Evil Queen’s son.

“Leave it like you found it,” Fairy Godmother trilled, focusing Janus’s attention on the limo’s TV monitor that the wild boy was trying to hide behind his back. When he didn’t move, Fairy Godmother tried a more direct approach. “And by that, I mean just leave it.”

He got the hint that time and sheepishly threw the monitor back into the limo. Janus suppressed a wince just thinking about what the inside of that limo must look like now, but he didn’t focus on it long — any damage could be cleaned or fixed.

“Welcome to Auradon,” he said, giving them a rare, genuine smile. He’d been thinking about this for years, and with it finally coming to fruition, all his trepidation melted into the background. “We’re so happy you were able to make it. This is our headmistress, Fairy Godmother.”

“The Fairy Godmother?” Maleficent’s son asked, his attention suddenly focused on the older fairy. “As in ‘bippity boppity boo’?”

“Bippity boppity you know it,” Fairy Godmother agreed with the same earnesty she always had.

Janus caught just the barest hint of a wince on Maleficent’s son’s face before he masked it again. Yeah, if Janus found Fairy Godmother grating at times, he could only imagine how people from the Isle must feel.

“Welcome to Auradon Prep,” Fairy Godmother continued, oblivious. “We’re so honored to have you here…”

She waved her hand as a small cue for the Villain Kids to begin introducing themselves. The four kids stare at her, completely lost, until Maleficent’s son seems to catch her meaning.

“I’m Patton,” he said, flashing them a small grin that was almost certainly meant to show off his sharp teeth just slightly (it also had the unintended effect of causing Janus’s mouth to go dry). “Maleficent’s son.”

“I am Roman,” the next one said, emphasizing his words with a small, flourished bow. “Evil Queen’s son; and since my mother is a queen, I suppose that makes me a prince.”

He had taken just the smallest step in Janus’s direction, a strange — desperate, hungry — gleam in his eyes.

“Evil Queen has no royal stature here,” Virgil pointed out in a faux-friendly tone that Janus was certain the Villain Kids could see straight through even if Fairy Godmother could not. “And neither do you.”

Anger flashed briefly in Roman’s eyes before he forcefully hid it behind his own faux-friendly expression.

“I’m Remus!” The wild boy said, jumping in front of Roman just to make extra sure he had everyone’s attention— and effectively cutting off the tension between Virgil and Roman. “Jafar’s son!”

“Logan,” the last one said, his tone incredibly clipped, like he was daring anyone to contradict him. “Gaston’s son.”

That was… not what Janus had been expecting, but if Logan said he was Gaston’s son, then Gaston’s son he was.

“We’re so pleased to have all of you here,” Fairy Godmother continued. “Now, I need to get going, but Janus, Annie, and Remy will be giving you your class schedules and showing you around.

“The doors of wisdom are never shut!” Fairy Godmother declared with a flourish, before adding in a lower voice — as though it were a secret “but library hours are from seven to eleven; as you might have heard, I have a little thing about curfews. Goodbye!”

Fairy Godmother walked away, followed by most of the pep band, leaving only Janus and his two best friends with the four Villain Kids. After almost a minute of all seven of them just standing around in increasingly awkward silence, Remy spoke up.

“Sup, babes. My name is Remy, Sleepy’s son. Mister and Missus Social Grace over there are Prince — and soon-to-be-King — Janus, son of Beauty and her Beast, and princess Annabel, daughter of Sleeping Beauty and Philip.”

Janus quickly shook off his stupor and pulled his Prince mask on.

“This is a momentous occasion,” he started, shaking hands with each of the Villain Kids in turn, regaining his ‘social graces’. “In the future I hope we can look back on this day as the day our two peoples began to heal!”

No one said anything. The four Villain Kids looked startled, and Virgil and Remy looked bemused.

“Too much?” He asked no one in particular.

Virgil winced and bobbed his head from side to side to say yeah, a little. Remy however started grinning.

“Nah, gurl,” he laughed, throwing an arm around Janus’s shoulders. “Keep going. I wanna see if you can sound even more pompous and stuffy.”

“Okay,” Janus laughed, shrugging Remy’s arm off. “I get it. What I mean to say is that I’m excited for you all to be here, and I hope this can really be the start of something.”

“I wouldn’t mind starting something with blondie over there,” Remus grinned, waggling his eyebrows in Virgil’s direction.

“Hard pass,” Virgil huffed, placing Janus between himself and Remus and grabbing onto his arm.

Remus just shrugged and turned his attention on Remy. “What about you, shades? Wanna get funky?”

“Hmm.” Remy let his shades slip down his nose to look Remus up and down pointedly before pushing them back with his pointer finger. “Sorry, babe, don’t think you’re my type.”

“Do I have to watch you get rejected by everyone today?” Roman asked, sounding bored.

“I’m not the one who flirted with Princey-poo earlier and got rejected so hard my crown fell off, brother dearless.”

Janus had a moment to be concerned that a fight might break out between the two brothers — which now that they pointed it out, was so obvious he wasn’t sure why he didn’t see the resemblance earlier — before Patton was stepping in between the two, forcing them apart.

“I apologize for them,” he said, smiling politically. “They take after their parents — turbulent relationship.”

“R-right… well,” Janus really should get this welcome party moving. “We have your class schedules.”

Remy pulled out the four sheets of paper and wrote each Villain Kid’s name on their respective schedule “You’ve got your basics — math, science, history, English… and remedial goodness.”

“Let me guess,” Patton said, flashing his teeth once more. “New class?”

“It was a requirement of my father’s,” Janus explained apologetically. “You each also have a free period that you can either fill with an elective of your choice, or leave open if you’d like. Now if you’ll follow us, we’ll show you where all your classes are and tell you about some of the elective options.”

“Lead the way, your highness.” Patton’s tone was teasing, but it did a poor job at masking his nerves.

Janus shot him what he hoped came across as a reassuring smile before leading the group towards the repurposed castle.

~~~END~~~

This has been sitting in my drafts folder for a while cuz I forgot about it :/

I feel like Janus is kinda ooc in this, but I’ll just chalk it up to him having to be diplomatic and princely

General taglist:

@royalty-of-all-things-snuggly @pixelated-pineapple @knight-shives @misunderstood-shadowling

#sanders sides #ts sanders sides #janus sanders #virgil sanders #remus sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #remy sanders #descendants au #platonic anxceit #minor moceit #moceit #thursday writes #my writing #sanders sides fanfiction

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lily-janus · 2 years

Text

Chapter 2 - You DO Have A Heart!

Chapter summary: before Janus realized it, spring celebrations arrive, meaning, as this year's champion, he'll need to perform the opening dance on the dancing grounds... gods he hopes no one will see him in this embarrassing moment...

Patton, on the other hand, seems to have very specific family stuff that might be what drove him to try and become champion in the first place...

Pairing: moceit

Warnings: a slight panic attack at Patton's POV and mentions of dealing with grief, food mention.

Word count: 2,038

@moceit-appreciation-week day 2 Dancing/Touch

Janus woke up to the light, soft sound of music traveling from his open window. He groaned softly in protest of his disturbed sleep and turned to lay on his other side, trying to go back to sleep.

It’s been about a month since his strange encounter with the sky mages’ champion for this year. He, of course, never told anyone about it. Pressures were rising as the festival grew closer, and reputation is important now more than ever.

“Oh Janusss!” His father called him in a sing-song voice. “Spring celebrations have begun! Nature sings and so we must do so as well!”

Spring already?

Time really flies by, doesn’t it? He’s been so consumed by his training that he lost track of the seasons.

Janus sneaked a peak from his window. Judging by the placement of the sun and the fact that the plants still glicened from morning dew, he guessed it’s pretty early in the morning now.

“Dad, it’s unnatural to be awake so early!” He shot back. Then he heard footsteps and his door swinging open, sending a wave of cold, morning air Janus’ way. He shivered.

“Now, is this a way a champion speaks?” His father provokes him cheerfully.

“A champion needs proper sleep, Dad” Janus grumbles.

“Oh c’mon mister grumpy, it’s spring! Let the cheerfulness of nature infect you and course through your veins!” His dad stomps his feet, making the ground under his bed rise suddenly, which sent him flying a few good feet before barely managing to break his fall by sinking a bit into the ground.

Janus got up, annoyed, as he dusted his pajamas and rose up from the ground. His dad is always more unbearable than usual around this season.

“Nice instincts, son” his dad winked and he turned to leave the room. “Now come on! I made breakfast!”

…

“People will be expecting to see you during the celebrations, you know” his dad says between bites, more serious now. “It’s also a tradition that the year’s champion will do the opening dance on the dancing grounds.” He points out.

Janus sighs. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I never thought being a champion would be so… Demanding… I just wanted to show those naive sky mages what we’re capable of… Never asked for all of this pressure and expectations…” Janus stabbed his food in frustration and staffed it into his mouth.

His father reached out and placed his hand on Janus’. “It’ll be over before you know it, son, after you kick those sky mages’ butts!” He says with a grin.

Janus smirks. “Well, obviously, I could do that in my sleep”

“Plus, I know you hate to admit it but, you’re one hell of a good dancer.” His dad wiggled his eyebrows at him, making Janus’ cheeks flush.

He scoffs. “Am not.” He folds his arms over his chest in protest.

His father winks. “Of course you’re not. You should get dressed, Dancer Boy, the first day of celebrations is always the longest you know”

Janus groans. “Don’t remind me.”

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

“...on, Patton! Patton where are you?”

The faint shouts started to filter through Patton’s mind as he slowly woke up, the cold, chilly, morning wind blowing at him relentlessly. Forcing his nerves to tense up at the sheer cold and his eyes to fly open in alarm.

He let out a shocked yelp as he realized he was flying in the open air!

His breath comes in panicked gasps as he looks around to see his personal cloud a few good feet away from him and hears his parents’ faint shouts that woke him.

Patton takes a deep breath and launches himself towards it, going in through his open window and landing on his bed with a loud thump.

“Mom! Dad! I’m here!” He calls as he straightens his clothes and tries to take deep breaths to ease his heart rate. He hears shuffling up the stairs and both his parents burst into the room and crush him in a tight hug.

“Oh thank the winds, what happened dear?” His mom asks as they release him, examining him for injuries.

Patton sighed, rubbing his eye tiredly “I guess it was just sleep-flying.” He then yawns, missing the looks his parents exchanged.

“Son… You haven’t been sleep-flying since-”

“I know.” Patton cuts off his dad before he can complete the sentence. He knows what they’ll say next, and he prepares himself with the usual response.

“Sweety… This championship is clearly stressing you out, maybe it’ll be best if you step as-”

“No, mom, we’ve been over this.” Patton said stubbornly.

“But-”

“I said, no, okay? End of discussion.” Patton says as he pushes past them and goes downstairs for the kitchen, his stomach lurching with hunger. He hears their footsteps as they follow him.

“Son, we’re just worried about you-”

“I know you’re worried, dad, but you're just gonna have to trust me, I’ve got this.” He says, turning around to face them with his best reassuring smile.

His father looks down with a sigh. “That’s exactly what… Henry said '' he says under his breath, barely a whisper.

Patton freezes as the name hangs heavily in the air between them.

“Well I’m not Him.” He says, just as quietly. He goes into the kitchen and grabs himself a sandwich from the fridge. As he walks back to his room and past his parents, he says “I just wish you would realize that already.”

Patton goes quickly up the stairs and slams the door to his room shut. He takes a bite from his sandwich as he leans on the door.

Henry, Henry Henry… it's always about Henry… Henry did it this way, and Henry acted that way.

Patton sighs, sliding to the floor and hugging his knees with his left hand while his right hand holds his sandwich that he mindlessly munches on. But not anymore, Henry's gone and soon his shadow over Patton will be gone too, all he has to do… is beat that rude little earth mage. He can do that, he can prove to his parents, and everyone else, that he's so much more than just 'Henry's brother'.

At least Remus seems to believe in him… "you have the true heart of a sky mage"

It's been months but Remus' speech still echoes in his mind, motivates him and keeps him going, he can do this.

His eyes drift to the still open window in his room and he gets up, stuffing the last piece of his sandwich into his mouth.

He hears light music carrying from below with the wind, and he sticks his head out, closing his eyes and trying to focus on it. Something about it is so enchanting that, before he knows it, he's out in the open air again, drifting slowly towards the ground, where the magical music is coming from.

As he gently lands on the top of a tree, he sees a sight he's never seen before and honestly… never thought he would.

Seems like he wasn't the only one enchanted by the music, all the earth mages below seems to be in a trance, their bodies moving along with the music as if it's embedded deep in their bones.

And, at the very center of the dancing circle, was none other… than the earth mages' champion.

If he didn't recognize his face, Patton wouldn't have believed that the sarcastic, stoic mage he stumbled into a few months back is the same one that now dances at the center.

His eyes are closed but somehow he seems to be deeply in tune with everything around him regardless. His hands and legs move in perfect unison, complimenting each of their movements, his body swaying effortlessly with them.

Patton's transfixed with this display, the earth mage seems to be putting his very soul on display for all to see in his gentel dance. And, before he realizes it, the earth mage, eyes now open and cheeks colored a deep red, finished his dance and walked at a fast pace out of the center. Seeming eager to get away from all the attention and the applauding audience.

Patton blinks, feeling as though he just came out of a dream, eyes still following his rival. When he's out of his sight, Patton can't help but move from the tree and follow him from above, mind still swarming with images from his dance.

Earth mages' dancing was so different from sky mages'. Maybe it should have been obvious to Patton, they're the opposite about practically everything, but still. Sky mages usually, quite literally, dance on air, letting the wind sway them in ever direction it wishes and playing with it like a dear friend. They're movements are usually pretty wild and free, without any set of rules or restraint of some kind.

But what he saw now was so very different. The players, dancers and watchers alike all seemed to be listening to the same sounds, following their lead almost like another plant in the forest, melding perfectly with their environment, movements controlled and intentional. And their champion… he seems to not only listen to the sounds, but rather became one with them, letting them take over his entire being-

"Didn't take you for a stalker." The earth mage suddenly said, startling Patton to the point where he lost his focus for a beat and crash landed behind him.

Cheeks flushing red at getting caught, Patton stood bolt upright, straightening his glasses and dusting his clothes. All the while the earth mage looked at him with an unimpressed look.

"You really thought I wouldn't feel your intrusive presence during the spring celebrations?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, as if it's an obvious fact that every child knows.

Patton frowns. "Spring celebrations?"

The earth mage rolled his eyes. "You know, spring, one of the four seasons? I'm sure you've heard of them, they're quite famous."

Patton huffed in annoyance. "Obviously I know what spring is, excuse me for not knowing about all your stupid traditions that you all love so much."

He just scoffed. "You're the ones flying about the sky like a bunch of clowns and our traditions are stupid?"

"You're just jealous that we can fly and you can't." Patton said, smiling teasingly as the earth mage rolled his eyes again.

"I can assure you there's nothing your kind can offer that I'm interested in, now do me a favour and fly away? Both of us are screwed if we're seen together." Says the earth mage.

Patton smiled at that. "What's wrong, you fierce, stoic champion? Afraid someone will find out about your gentle soul?"

That earned him a growl from his rival as he grabbed Patton from the front of his shirt, leaning dangerously close. "Now you listen here, Patton." He spit his name like it tasted vile in his mouth. "I don't know what you thought you saw-"

"You mean, you dancing your heart out?"

His nostrils flared and he pinned Patton against a nearby tree. "That dance meant nothing, you hear me? Nothing." He breathed threateningly, his hot breath hitting Patton's cheeks.

"Awww what's wrong? Not used to being vulnerable?" Patton couldn't help but laugh at his face, cheeks a deep red and eyes wide, incredulous. "Did anybody tell you how cute you are?"

"Stop it this instant!" He yelled in protest. "I'm not some stray puppy, I'm not cute, understand?"

Patton giggled, he couldn't help it. After seeing him dance like that, he couldn't believe he'll be intimidating in the slightest, no matter how hard he tries to act like it.

"What's so funny?" His rival demanded.

"You." Patton said between giggles.

With a frustrated sigh, the earth mage let go of him, letting him tumble to the ground painfully. He turned away from him, poise suddenly sheltered. "I can't wait to wipe that smile off your face when I beat you."

"You mean if you beat me." Patton corrected him as he got up from the ground once again.

Even though his back was turned to him, Patton could hear the smirk in his voice. "I know what I said." And with that, he walked away.

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