#mer au virgil

[ascenari0]

mer!virgil from @voidsides merAU which I am absolutely in love with, their art is so COOL you guys. The au is really good too, you should check it out.

I was going through my old sketchbook and saw this was unfinished and I just had to finish it!

[Click or Tap for better quality!💜]

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #virgil sanders #voidsides mer au #you should check it out #sanders sides au #sanders sides art #sanders sides fanart #ts sides #ts art #ts virgil #mer!virgil

[goodieghosty]

Merfolk courtship is very interesting

#mermay #mermen #sanders sides #mer au #tsart #ts art #tsfanart #ts fanart #roman sanders #virgil sanders #prinxiety

[thecrowslullaby]

I have so many aus and yet i always forget to post them here fully. Continuation of this

bonus: rescue mission and himbo lesbians respectively

#familial anxceit #prinxiety #it's technically there. shhhhhhh #ts janus #ts roman #ts virgil #virgil sanders #roman sanders #janus sanders #does this have a plot? #not yet xd #crowtent #ts mermaid au #mermay #i guess xd #mer!virgil #mer!janus

[muppenthings]

Here's the Sanders Sides "Giant merman" au story, promised long ago. Told in a bullet list just to get it out. The first 2 parts for now!

Next Part

CW: while everything is kept very brief the story does mention abandonment, injury, person being called monster and mention of self-neglect. And death mention.

Part 1

It begins with Logan picking up Patton and Roman outside a café, Patton’s workplace. They drive a bumpy road to a secluded beach, where Virgil waits in the shallows to meet the other two for the first time (Virgil and Logan already know eachother for a few months). It doesn’t go very well, with Roman fainting.

They decide to meet again in a week, after Virgil gets some reassurance from Logan. (And Roman gets chewed out by Logan as he referred to the mer as a monster. He’s just scared for himself and the others mkay)

Roman joins because he wants to make sure his friends are safe as he doesn’t trust the giant yet. It takes a while for both parties to become used to each other. Virgil warms up faster to Patton, because the man is accepting from the start.

The trio visits the beach every Sunday to hang out with the mer, talking, playing music etc.

The humans have their growing suspicions that Virgil has been raised by humans. Or at least spent time around them before, despite how the mer refuses to talk about his childhood. Virgil happily recognizing a children’s book (one that Roman grew up with) was one of the hints.

Over time Logan notices how Virgil becomes more unfocused. Tired. Easily agitated. The mer is quick to brush off his concerns; he’s fine.

Meanwhile the humans are being shadowed by strange figures. One keep appearing at Patton’s work, asking odd questions about cryptids. About mermaids. What would he do if he met one? Patton just nervously brush them off.

One day Logan is approached by a man while at work. The man asks him out to have a chat. Logan declines: he can’t go on dates while at work (obviously), but the man insists and shows him a photo of the trio with Virgil. Uh oh.

The pair walk along the harbor (Logan asked a colleague to fill in for him dw) The man introduces himself as Janus.

Part 2

Janus works for a large MedTech company, owned by his father.

He tells him of how they almost 20 years ago, funded a researcher. Que flashback.

She was developing artificial wombs, on paper.

While she was improving the device, sending successful data to the company to ensure fundings, she was also creating genetically altered humans in the likeness of mermaids on the side.

She just wanted to see if she could.

And she did. On the 22nd try.  

Happy that the subject survived, she also quickly realized that when he exited the artificial womb, he needed to be cared for just like a human infant.

The next five years the researcher became a mother figure to the “mer”. It was obvious on the recordings of the two interacting. She hid his existence well. But that was before his growth really kicked in.

The subject, which she had named Virgil, was quickly outgrowing the tank in her research facility. Conscience kicking in, she recognized that she probably shouldn’t have run the experiments in the first place and the data could be dangerous in the wrong hands, she deleted all files about the creation of Virgil. Keeping only his physical files, and footage of him growing up because d’aw.

Hiring a large van that accommodated the mer, she had him crawl into the back and drove to the sea where she left him. Promising him that she’d return. She never did.

While driving, she attempted to call the company, and lost control of the van and crashed. Killing her.

Virgil never knew of her fate, he waited for over a week until realizing that she wasn’t coming back; he’d been abandoned.

It took the company a while to find the files with Virgil in them. (They only looked for files regarding the artificial womb after all). But when they did find them and went through the records, they found out they had a genetically engineered creature on the loose.

Instead of ignoring the matter, they wanted to take responsibility for the creature. (Also, because how is he even alive?!)

The MedTech company committed a secret team trying to locate the mer ever since, which Janus is part of. End flashback.

They’ve always been one step behind with how much he’s been migrating. Avoiding their ships when they get too close.

Thanks to Logan and his friends, he’s finally been tracked down.

#Giant merman au #ts Logan #ts Virgil #ts Roman #ts Patton #ts Janus #giant mer #Sorry taglist doesn't exist anymore #I lost it and just.... its been too long I feel it'd bother most #If you have any questions feel free to drop em #might take a while for the rest to come #xD #As always; ask to tag if I forget!

[logan-the-artist]

i was bored in class and started doodling then boom. i had this

#my art #drawing #art #sanders sides #virgil sanders #sanders sides fanart #ts virgil #roman sanders #ts roman #prinxiety #romantic prinxiety #roman x virgil #virgil x roman #mer!au #mer!virgil

[ashs-random-writing]

All Bottled Up

~~~~~

Janus was completely fine. He loved being trapped in a bottle from human littering, in fact, it was one of his favourite hobbies. He especially loved when the currents and tide started dragging him towards shore, leaving him ready to be discovered by a human, or a bird or something similar. Either way, he was screwed.

You’re probably wanting context right now, huh?

~~~~~

Janus was completely fine. He loved being trapped in a bottle from human littering, in fact, it was one of his favourite hobbies. He especially loved when the currents and tide started dragging him towards shore, leaving him ready to be discovered by a human, or a bird or something similar. Either way, he was screwed.

You’re probably wanting context right now, huh?

The first thing to say is that it was absolutely not Janus’ fault, no matter what may have been said. He did nothing wrong. Someone had insulted his tail, he had a right to attack them! The only problem was that this person happened to be about ten feet long, to Janus’ three inches. He didn’t even scratch them that much, just on the eye, and they had another one of those!

They didn’t seem to see his point of view, for some weird reason, and instead chased him closer to shore than he ever really wanted to go, and stuffed him into a plastic bottle that a human had thrown into the sea. He had been there for a few hours, and was starting to get hungry. If a predator didn’t kill him, hunger was sure to at some point.

His beautiful fanned out tail was uncomfortably scrunched in the bottle, and he was starting to get claustrophobic. The currents picked up, and the waves above got rougher in what Janus recognised as a storm. Just his luck, so many things tended to get thrown to shore during storms, and he would very likely join them. Just as he finished thinking that, the currents picked up and he was pushed up into the waves above. He could see the dark sky, covered in clouds, in between getting violently thrown around in the bottle.

Water was spilling out, and then filling back up from the waves. Janus wasn’t scared when he started thinking about how, if he got deposited onto the beach, the water could spill out and might never fill up again, leaving him to dry up.

Luckily, that’s not what happened. The tide left him in between a few rocks, and, while he passed out on impact, he didn’t die. The bottle stayed mostly upright, and he woke up to a human’s face staring down at him. He darted to the bottom of his plastic prison and stared up.

They said something, but he wasn’t listening. This could very well play out smoother for him if he pretended that he wasn’t sapient. He would rather be silently studied than interrogated any day. The human grabbed the bottle around the top, near the opening and Janus was lightly thrown into the plastic

The walk back to what was presumably the human’s house was tense, the human seemed nervous if the steady shaking of their hand was any indication. Janus sat in the bottom of the bottle and stared up. The human looked down at him as well, some sort of emotion on their face. He couldn’t decipher if it was concern, pity or curiosity.

None of the options really bode well for him, the first two would likely lead to them keeping him because of worrying that he could get hurt again out there in the world, and the third probably meant constant observation and studying, maybe dissection. He just let his fear show on his face. It wasn’t hard to pretend that he didn’t know what was going on and that he was just a simple animal, he just had to let instincts take over. They had to believe he was a dumb animal, they had to.

Their hands were shaking as they fumbled to put a small metal thing into their door, before going in. He immediately froze upon a sound that he had only ever heard described by other tiny mer. Large merfolk always seemed to roll their eyes at the fear of the creature, but based on the way the bottle was hastily raised in the air upon the predator’s arrival, the human knew the danger it posed

“No, bad kitty, down! This isn’t for you!” The beast jumped onto a countertop near him, taking a swipe at him with its paws. The human held him higher and yelled at the cat.

They put his bottle on a high up shelf, before going somewhere with the cat. The cat didn’t return with them, so he let himself relax just slightly. The bottle was picked up and set down on a lower surface whilst the human leant down to look at him

“Sorry about that, little guy, Sock gets a little excited around new things. My name’s Patton!” Janus just stared blankly, still letting his fear show.

The human- Patton- just frowned slightly “Can you understand me?”

He stared still, never taking his eyes off of them. They weren’t as big as some of the people he knew, but Gods, were they very large. Also, what sort of creature walked on two legs? Not even Crabs did that. It was mostly birds that did that, and he didn’t really think that humans were birds, to be quite honest.

They grabbed the bottle with an apologetic face, and Janus darted to the bottom. He was taken into another room, with a large tank full of water. Janus stared at it, floating lower in his own water. Was the human going to put him in there? He didn’t really know how to get out of his bottle, he had gotten slightly bruised just from getting stuffed in, and he had tried so many times to try squeeze himself out before the storm.

Patton set him down on a table, as they looked through something. They came back holding something sharp. Janus tried to figure out what that would be used for, a sense of dread welling up in his throat. They got closer, and Janus bared his teeth at them, crouching at the bottom of the bottle.

Patton frowned “I’m just going to use this to cut the top of the bottle away so you can get out, okay? No need to worry” Their voice was calming, but Janus wasn’t very reassured, all it would take was one wrong move...

He pushed himself into the ‘floor’ and hissed at the approaching object. Patton stopped for just a moment before carrying on with sawing at the plastic, occasionally pausing to check on him. Janus pretended not to notice, instead staring at the knife with a (mostly) faux fearful expression, though he still kept a watchful eye on the human in his peripheral vision

They eventually managed to saw it off, before picking up the bottle and going towards the tank

“I’m just going to pour this in here, and you can stay there a while, okay?” It wasn’t much okay to Janus, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He was slowly poured into the larger tank and immediately hid from the giant in some plastic plants.

He could still hear the human, though slightly muffled through the glass. They were talking into something like they were having a conversation, and Janus made the startling revelation that they were somehow talking to another human and telling them to come and see him.

He stiffened. Getting out of this may be harder than he first anticipated. He could swear he saw movement out of the corner of his eye, in the room next to his tank, but when he looked out again, nothing was there. Another human soon arrived, immediately going to the tank

“Oh My Stars..” They were staring at him with excitement in their eyes. Janus went further into the fake plants, baring his teeth at the human. They leaned closer, nearly pressing their face into the side of the tank

“You really found a miniature humanoid creature, and it seems to have adapted to aquatic life, which would definitely explain how we’ve never found something like it before..” They carried on rambling, and Janus mentally cursed to himself

Of course the human called a scientist. Although, their ramblings did make Janus think. Did humans really only come in one size, no larger humans and no tinies? Now, that was strange. He had assumed that his fish half would be the only interesting part of him, but apparently not

Eventually, the humans left him alone and in the darkness of the night. The only light was coming from a lamp a few metres away, and that was rather dim compared to the lanterns under the sea

He heard a sound to the left of the tank and turned towards it quickly, scared that the cat could be back. What he saw confused him, as he had already concluded that such did not exist, or at the very least, regular-sized humans didn’t seem to know of it.

A him-sized human was getting closer to the glass prison. He watched them curiously as they climbed to shelf next to the top of the tank and looked down. He swam up there, and peaked his head above the water

“You know, you can stop the act now, the humans are gone” They were talking with a small grin on their face

Janus grinned back “Well, why would I do that? It’s so much more fun to pretend to be a mindless animal. Besides, you are human, are you not?” he leant his arms on the lip of the tank, displaying his sharp teeth in a smile

They smiled back, still looking exactly like a tiny human

“I’m not, actually. I’m a borrower! Humans don’t know we exist, but we have to stay in human houses to survive, and borrow food and stuff from them, hence the name”

Janus nodded “Speaking of names, what happens to be yours?” he asked, leaning a little closer.

“I am Roman” They stated, bowing from their shelf “And you?” They turned their attention back to Janus

Janus grinned “Such a nice name, bit of a shame that I won’t tell you mine” He watched them sputter for a moment, before carrying on

“I mean, if you keep visiting me, I might just consider it. I imagine it will get terribly boring, having no one to talk to until I manage to escape” He floated backwards lazily, looking up the few inches to where Roman was staring at him. Their face broke into a grin

“Well then, I might just have to carry on visiting. Until then, what can I call you?”

“You may call me-” He was cut off by the sound of human footsteps a few rooms across, getting closer. Roman immediately hid, and Janus went back under the waves and pretended to sleep. He kept his eyes open just enough that he would still know what was going on, but anyone watching him would think they were closed

It was the second human, he noted, not Patton, and they appeared to be writing something down, mumbling to themselves

“At least it’s not nocturnal, that would be a pain. It would be really annoying if we couldn’t observe it... it seems to have the lower half of a betta fish, and the top half appears sufficiently human, though it does have gills.. We may have to perform tests to find out what it can and cannot safely consume and how long it can stay out of water” They carried on rambling to themselves, and Janus was left wondering if they would ever leave.

A quick glance to Roman’s hiding spot showed that they were still as stone, barely even breathing whilst the human was in the room. Janus was very glad that there was more peace between small merfolk and the larger merfolk. He couldn’t imagine having to hide every time a larger-mer swam near him, but he was pitiful of Roman. He understood why they hid, however, humans were known for their hatred of the unknown.

Even if a human didn’t hate a non-human, that didn’t mean they were safe to be around. Not with their curiosity and want to know more. In a way, he was doing the same thing as Roman, hiding behind a disguise instead of behind a picture frame. After about ten more minutes of the human studying him, they left and Janus got back up and swam to the top of the tank

“I thought they’d never leave, now, what was I saying?” He leant back on the edge of the tank, staring up at Roman with a smile

They smiled back, though a little more nervous, eyes flickering to the door again. Suddenly, they got a mischievous glint in their eyes

“You were just about to tell me your name” They looked smug at their attempt of tricking him

“How about no. But you did remind me, I was gonna give you a nickname to call me by, but how about you think of one” He didn’t want Roman to figure out his name before he could dramatically reveal it

Roman turned from him in mock offence “Well, since you are so rudely withholding your name, I shall dub thee Deceit!” Janus rolled his eyes, leaning closer

“Why are you so dramatic?” They held a hand to their chest with a gasp

“Me? Dramatic? Never!” They were failing to conceal a grin and Janus pushed himself backwards into the water, feeling himself about to yawn

“Alright, I’m gonna go to sleep for real now. Remember to visit if you ever want to know my name” He said, as they opened a hole in the wall and walked through it.

For the second time, he woke up to a human face staring at him. He hid in the plastic plants again. He didn’t even like the plastic plants, they felt like a mockery to him

First humans pollute the ocean with chemicals and plastic, and then, when they had fish, they refused to even use real plants, only the same things that were killing aquatic life. The human was Patton this time, looking at him with concern

“Hey there, lil’ guy, don’t be scared, it’s just me. I brought food! I don’t really know what you eat, so it’s just fish food, but I hope you like it! I know you probably don’t understand me but I do want you to be safe”

Janus held back a scoff, still staring at the human as they sprinkled something vaguely food-smelling into the water and gently encouraged him to eat up. He hesitantly grabbed one of the flakes and took a bite, only to drop it in disgust

How could anyone ever eat that? He swam away from the foul attempt at food and crouched in the plants, hiding again. His brain started wandering to his underwater friends.

Remus was a ‘regular-sized’ octopus mer, and absolutely loved grabbing him from behind to freak him out, either with his tentacles or hands

Virgil was a shadow mer, meaning he had magic. He could conjure storms sometimes, only in highly emotional moments and when doing spells, and he could change his size. He couldn’t really get smaller than Remus, but he could get bigger, about 60 ft tall. When he was that large, Janus was barely noticeable against him, and could rest on the very tip of his finger, although Virgil always proclaimed that was ‘too dangerous’ because he was too small to be noticed and could get hurt

In such cases, Remus would hold him and tell Virgil what he was saying, the size difference making him too quiet to be heard by the giant mer. Janus definitely preferred him at normal size, and he was pretty sure that Virgil preferred it as well.

Janus was pretty sure that, if Virgil found out who stuffed him in the bottle, the mer who condemned him to this fate of glass walls and fake food would get what was coming to them. Remus would likely try to strangle them and Virgil would likely strike them with lightning or such.

Patton sighed at his lack of co-operation as the food-flakes sank to the bottom of the water. They went to the other room, where human no.2 was sat down. Janus could only hope their notes would never spread

--

Roman didn’t expect to see a merperson in real life. He thought such only existed in the movies Patton and Logan would watch together, and even then, those mermaids were human-sized. He was both upset and overjoyed when Patton walked into the house with a borrower-sized fish person

On one hand, the mystical creature he was so fascinated by was *his size*, but on the other, they had been captured by a human; a fate worse than death. They were pulling the same trick that he was taught, playing dumb, faking that they weren’t sentient

He could admire that they could keep up the act even with the humans staring at them all afternoon. It was nightfall, and after he had checked that the humans were either sleeping or otherwise preoccupied, he ran towards the mer

They talked for a while, Deceit (very rudely) refusing to give over their name, before they both went to get some sleep. Roman borrowed some bread crumbs before that, though, and watched his new friend float in the water from a small hole in the wall

It had been so long since he had had anyone to talk to, and now there was someone trapped behind glass, but still seeming to want to be his friend. They had actively told him to come back to see them. Sure it was more ‘I’m gonna withhold information if you don’t talk to me’ but it still counted

Patton, immediately upon waking, went to Deceit again, giving them fish flakes. Roman grimaced in sympathy, he had tried those before, they didn’t taste that nice. Logan was in the other room writing notes and Roman turned his attention to him

There were pages upon pages of notes, which Roman didn’t think was a particularly good thing, especially given Deceit’s obvious reluctance to give important information to the humans. Both humans would be leaving to go to ‘work’ soon enough, leaving Roman and Deceit in the house alone.

With the cat, unfortunately, but that beast was being kept in Patton’s room as long as Deceit was in the house. That was another good thing that came from their arrival; he could borrow without getting attacked. About an hour later, both humans had left the house, and Roman set out on a quest to Logan’s room, where the notebook was being stored.

There were a few things he could do to destroy the notes if he wanted, but he eyed the inkpots on the shelf that his exit lead out to and grinned to himself. The notebook was in perfect range to get ‘lightly splattered’ with a full pot of dark blue ink

The notebook was closed, so if he was to do it right at that moment, the ink would spread over all the pages and dry them permanently closed before Logan got home. And, the best part was, that it would look like an accident. It would seem like Logan’s fault for leaving such valuable notes under a shelf full of ink. He pried the inkpot open and tipped it over, watching it cover the galaxy patterned notebook, before running back into the tunnel system he lived in, and navigating to the living room, back to the shelf where he had talked to Deceit the night before

They immediately swam to the surface to greet him, leaning on the edge of the tank

“Hello, Roman. Could you just not get enough of me? You saw me just last night” They had a teasing grin on their face as their tail swished through the water

“No, I just thought you should know that Logan no longer has any of his notes on you, courtesy of yours truly” He bowed, before looking back up and grinning. Deceit looked shocked, which was quite a change from the relaxed, calm façade they usually wore

“Really? How’d you manage it? I assume the humans might have a hard time figuring out what happened if you were too over-the-top, but I somehow doubt you were, as dramatic as you appear to be” They tapped their chin in thought, tail swishing in the water behind them

“I just staged a small ‘accident’ involving an entire pot of ink and his notebook” He grinned back, sitting down

“Weren’t you worried about the humans coming back and finding you before the ‘accident’ was done?” They were seeming concerned for him, as they leaned closer

“No, they’re gonna be gone for a few hours yet, and we have the house to ourselves. Now, do you want some better food than those fish flakes?” Deceit nodded, looking down at the fallen flakes distastefully

“Oh, absolutely, but first, why don’t we just talk for a while?” They started floating lazily, looking like they were checking their nails

“Sure! But what should we talk about?” he wasn’t very used to being able to talk to people, he had moved out from his parents home ten years prior and hadn’t met any borrowers since. Deceit was a surprise he had ever seen one, even if they weren’t exactly a borrower

“Anything, say… what do you do in your day to day life?”

Roman proceeded to explain the life of a borrower, and explaining how risky it could be and times he had nearly gotten caught. He started explaining how the cat made it doubly dangerous, to which Deceit winced in sympathy, before the sound of the door cut him off and he had to run and hide.

He forced his breathing to shallow out for the second time as Deceit dropped back into the tank with an audible splash. Roman’s heart dropped. The human had probably heard that and would probably start investigating why Deceit was trying to get out of their tank, leading to Romans’ discovery

Luckily, that’s not what happened, instead Patton, as he was the one who walked in, just walked over to the fish tank and sat down, leaving Roman to fret about the possibility that the human may be able to see him. This wasn’t like the night before, when it was dark and his own silhouette would be nearly indiscernible from the picture frame he was hidden behind

Patton may very well notice him if he stayed there any longer. But... he could also get noticed if he moved. He felt tears well up in his eyes and blinked them back. He hesitantly peaked over to Deceit’s tank, seeing them hiding again. At least they had that in common.

The human sat there for too long, forcing Roman to stay still as the figurines on the shelves. It was maybe half an hour later when Roman was able to move again, immediately dropping to his knees and crying. Deceit swam up to the top of the water again

“Roman, are you okay?” they whispered, eyes flickering to the open door that the human had gone through. Roman shook his head, trying to steady his breathing out as it was getting harder to do so. Suddenly he felt himself get splashed with cold water, and snapped out of his dilemma. Deceit was staring at him, looking concerned

“Roman, get a hold of yourself. I can’t have you dying of stress on me, okay? I-I think you may have to leave for now, just until tonight, it’s too dangerous” They quickly went back to their relaxed, ‘don’t care’ attitude “And, I can’t loose my one source of entertainment whilst I’m stuck here, of course. That’s the only reason,”

Roman nodded emptily, waving slightly before opening the entrance to the wall. Once he was out of the open, he slumped against the wall, and started crying again. He could hear the human walk back in a few minutes later, muttering something about a storm outside and sounding confused

Roman didn’t know why he was talking about a storm, their little device in the kitchen was saying that it was supposed to be sunny that day, and for the rest of the week. Storms weren’t mentioned. Just as he thought that, a clap of thunder sounded. Roman wondered what that was about, the humans’ device was almost never wrong.

He walked back to his home, finding it was the same lonely, depressing place he had left it. He had tried to make it homey, but he didn’t have many materials at his disposal. He had borrowed some lost fairy lights, and strung them up in his home, and the sections of the wall surrounding it, but they didn’t do much other than adding a dim glow to the dark walls. He had borrowed some paper and coloured pencil lead, and hung some drawings up next to his bed for a splash of colour, but they got irritating after a while

He sighed, listening through the wall to see if the humans were close. Patton was probably still with Deceit, and he couldn’t really imagine how they must be feeling, getting so closely observed by a human.

He slumped down on his bed, a single small blanket he had managed to sneak into his home, and started thinking. Would the humans start looking for tiny non-mers? Would they try and find him? What if Deceit finally cracked and told them everything, including Roman’s existence?

He shook his head, Deceit wouldn’t do that to him. He started drawing, first a snake, then a mer-person that looked suspiciously like Deceit. The picture was hung above his bed, and he laid down and stared up at it

--

Virgil was Furious. Janus had not come back from his swim around the reef all night, which, naturally, made him worry. Then, a mid-size mer came back into the reef, clutching at their eye. Virgil recognised them as having only moved nearby a week before, so they were immediately a suspect

Everyone else already knew not to mess with Remus or Janus. He swam over to them, feigning concern for their injured eye

“What happened? Are you okay?” Remus was trailing after him, looking ready to strangle them if necessary

“Some stupid little betta-mer tried scratching my eye out. Got ‘em back though”

They seemed way too smug for having done something to someone not even a tenth of their size

“Oh, and how, pray tell, did you do that exactly?” He subtly started growing his body about an inch every few seconds, pretending to be interested and supportive of whatever they had done

“Stuffed ‘em into a bottle and let ‘em float to shore. Probably got washed onto the beach with last night’s storm, eh?” They were laughing. They were laughing about hurting Janus. He felt a low growl build in his throat as Remus snuck behind them and restrained them. Virgil grew to full size, voice distorting

“You shouldn’t have admitted to that. You hurt my friend, and now I’m gonna hurt you,” He grabbed them as Remus let go of them.

They left with a few bruises and possible broken bones, and Virgil was confident that they wouldn’t have the audacity to come back. He cried for a while, before surfacing slightly at nightfall. There were no humans on the beach, luckily, but there also weren’t any signs of Janus.

A quick spell showed that he was there for a few hours at least, earlier that morning. Luckily in a rather deserted portion of the beach, but he wasn’t there anymore, which meant that he had been found. Virgil reported back to Remus, who was looking around underwater

“Nothing?” they both shook their heads, and Virgil went back down to normal size, sitting on the sand

“What if we never find him? What if- what if humans are torturing him right now and we won’t be able to help because they’re on land and we’re too big to be transported unnoticed-” Remus cut him off, wrapping a tentacle around his mouth

“It’s only been a few hours, he can’t be too far” Virgil pried the tentacle from his mouth

“Humans have him, Re, what are we meant to do?”

Remus thought for a moment “Do you know any spells that can show if someone has been near someone and how recently? Would that work?”

Virgil thought on that “yeah… yeah that might work”

The next morning, a giant Virgil went close to the surface, but far away from the beach itself. He started muttering the spell, Remus perched on his shoulder, and there was a small purple glow as a storm started above him, travelling to where dozens of humans were previously enjoying the sun and warm weather. He blacked out for most of the next hour, whilst the storm was still going on, but Remus filled him in on the fact that there was a lot of lightning and that his eyes were glowing a neon purple.

And that he looked powerful, but that was practically a given for a shadow mer. Once the storm was done, humans started flooding the beach again, and Virgil discreetly watched from a distance, at normal size. He helplessly scanned the beach and all the people on it, but none of them were glowing.

He stayed there for a few more hours, him and Remus looking around. A flash of light caught his eye in a mostly empty portion of the beach. He turned towards it to see one singular human looking around where Janus was presumably found. Based on how they were glowing, they were likely looking for more tiny mers.

They had been close to Janus sometime in the past three hours, and here they were snooping around to try find more tiny mer. Virgil, after pointing the specific human out to Remus, grew to full size and swam closer to them, staying carefully under the waves, before he was sure that this human was the only one that could see him

Once he was sure, he started rising, baring his teeth at the human, who was attempting to back away and instead tripped on a couple of rocks on those stupid two legs they walked on

“Where. Is. He?!” He demanded, slamming his hands down on the beach next to the fallen human as Remus crawled on the beach in a similar fashion, scowling

The human stared and stammered a few moments before speaking “I- who?”

Virgil growled, leaning closer “I think you know exactly who I mean, human. I know you have him”

They paled, starting to sit up “He- I don’t know what you are talking about” Remus crawled to behind them and restrained them, starting to drag them into the ocean

They struggled, eyes going wide and panicked. Virgil followed the two under the waves and seized hold of the human, concentrating his magic into their body. Their body accepted the magic, desperate to not drown, which meant the human was now Virgil’s and would have to do everything told of them. Virgil wasn’t very comfortable using such types of magic, but he would use any means necessary to bring Janus back

“I shall ask you one more time, where is he?”

They held their mouth closed with one hand and used the other to hold wire frames on their face. Remus used a tentacle to try and pry away the hand, but failed. He turned to Virgil

“Why don’t we take their breathing for a few seconds, get them really scared?”

“That could work, but if they drown then what are we gonna do? They’re our only lead on him, Re”

Remus grinned “That’s the thing, they have absolutely no reason to withhold this information from us unless they’re protecting another human. We have someone else to threaten if this one doesn’t co-operate”

The human’s eyes widened at that “Okay- I’ll talk. My roommate found your friend on the beach in a bottle and brought him back to help get him out, but I requested that we keep him in our home as I wished to study him”

Virgil growled “What is your name, human?”

The name fell out without the human meaning for it to it seemed “Logan. I am Logan”

Virgil put on a sickly-sweet smile “Well, Logan, I have a question for you”

Logan nodded, albeit hesitantly

“What made you think you were allowed to do that?”

“Wh-what?”

“You heard me, what made you think that you could ‘keep’ someone, simply for your own curiosity? What made you think that was an okay thing to do?”

The human struggled to keep their mouth closed, but Virgil glared and barked out an order to speak, squeezing their torso slightly.

They shook and explained that they were simply too curious and how they ‘had never seen a tiny person before, let alone one that was half fish’ and how Janus was ‘an important discovery for the scientific community’

Remus looked seconds away from wrapping his tentacles around their neck and squeezing until the life left their body. Virgil was doing the same

“Do you really think that justifies keeping someone captive, or are you just spouting any excuses you think may save you?” He released his grip on them, letting them float in the water. They, smartly, didn’t attempt to swim away, though Virgil did catch them looking upwards a few times

They stammered for a few moments before staying silent. Virgil could feel a small section of their emotions and rage bubbled inside him again. Guilt was on the forefront, but fear was still present. Virgil didn’t think they had the right to feel guilty, simply because someone had called them out

Virgil doubted that they would feel as guilty as they did had he not threatened them. Virgil was snapped out of his silent anger by thunder overhead and realised that he may not have regulated his anger very well

Remus had perched himself on Virgil’s shoulder at some point and the human was staring at him. Virgil glared back, baring his teeth at them. They flinched, and Virgil made sure that he didn’t feel guilty; this was the person who had taken his friend, after all

He grabbed the human once again, going up towards the surface, and depositing them on the now-empty beach. He didn’t really understand why humans didn’t enjoy storms, but he was certainly thankful for that little oddity. Virgil smirked down at them

“Here is how this is gonna work, okay? I will make me and Remus here look human, and you will take us to your home, we will collect Janus and you will tell no one that you saw us, or of our existence, you understand? If you are cooperative, I might consider relinquishing control of your soul. If not, then, well, pray you’ll never have to find out what I can do” He left the threat open to interpretation, hiding the fact that he didn’t actually have a threat in mind

They shuddered nonetheless, although did ask a question

“Am I allowed to tell my roommate? This would be rather hard to explain otherwise” They smoothed out the fabric dangling from their neck, which was now extremely soaked, just like the rest of them

Virgil and Remus looked at each other, before turning their attention back to the human

“You may tell your roommate and no one else. I suggest you start getting your explanation ready in your mind” He added a bit of command to his order of only telling the roommate. He didn’t need his secrets exposed to the whole world.

As an afterthought, he added “And I strongly suggest you don’t let your roommate share what you tell them. I wouldn’t take very kindly to that, as you might possibly guess. And, I don’t think that would be very good for you. If I relinquish control, I can seize it right back if you do the wrong thing, you know” He added force into his words, emphasizing his point

Logan nodded, not making eye contact.

Virgil put his hand to his shoulder and let Remus climb onto it, before channelling magic into his friend and changing his tentacles into a pair of human legs. He then did the same to himself, shrinking down and scowling at the feeling of two legs and the fleshy, soft texture of them.

Once Virgil gave the word, Logan started leading them towards their house

--

Logan didn’t enjoy the merfolk's company very much. First, they threaten him, and then they drag him underwater. He could admit that it was partially his fault for not giving them the information they wanted, but he didn’t want them to hurt Patton.

When he got dragged underwater, his body and mind went into a state of panic, which he was pretty sure was their plan because then he had no choice but to accept the magic that was offered if he wanted to survive. Even though he could breathe after that, his chest was tight and it was extremely difficult to disobey the giant mer. He had to physically restrain himself from answering their questions right away, but that seemed to just annoy them.

The octopus mer tried ripping his hand away from his mouth, but Logan remained stubborn. They suggested taking away his ability to breathe underwater, and Logan tensed slightly, until the giant mer denied that idea. That was good, they hadn’t figured out that he wasn’t the only human involved.

Until they did. Logan would like it to be clear that he did not forfeit information because he feared they would realise that he was disposable to them, but because he was scared that they would hurt Patton. They clearly had some way of finding out who had seen their friend, if the way they singled him out was any indication.

He stuttered out an explanation, making it clear that he was to blame, not Patton. Patton had only wanted to help, after all. They growled at him, forcing him to share his name against his will. He really didn’t like the feeling of his body obeying to an outside force instead of his own mind. He stared up at them, as they now showed a terrifying sharp-toothed, very obviously fake, grin

“Well, Logan” They said his name in a sort of mockery, and the feeling in his chest tightened, almost suffocating. He had a feeling it was their magic keeping him in check. “I have a question for you”

He nodded, swallowing thickly

“What made you think you were allowed to do that?”

“Wh-what?” He didn’t expect that, more on the lines of ‘how would you like to die?’ but, then again, they probably wouldn’t be able to find their friend without him alive, unless they waited for Patton to show up, and they already had control over Logan.

“You heard me, what made you think that you could ‘keep’ someone, simply for your own curiosity? What made you think that was an okay thing to do?” He tried to keep his mouth closed, without a direct order to answer, it was a lot easier, until the giant ordered him with a quick squeeze of his torso

Logan started nervously rambling, not really listening to what he was saying, but needing to make an excuse. No matter what he said, the mers seemed to get angrier. The octopus mer seemed quiet in a way that made Logan think that they may have been planning a murder

The giant mer let go of him, but he didn’t swim away. He doubted that they would very much like him escaping

“Do you really think that justifies keeping someone captive, or are you just spouting any excuses you think may save you?” Logan looked down and the mers stared at him for a few seconds

The giant one was looking extremely furious, eyes glowing and mouth twisted into a snarl. The octopus mer floated up and latched onto their shoulder as thunder boomed overhead, above the waves. The giant snapped out of their seeming trance, and glared at him. Logan flinched, trying not to think about all the things they could do to him

They grabbed him, taking him to shore and ordering him to take them to his and Patton’s home. He made sure he was allowed to tell his friend, but he was rather unsettled by the threats they used against him. While his main goal was to make sure Patton was safe from them, he would very much also enjoy getting rid of the magic swirling around his soul and forcing him to do things

Once they told him to start walking, he could not stop until they commanded him to, which they did just about halfway through the journey.

“Tell me, human” They spat the word, but it was better than the tight, suffocating feeling in his chest when they used his name. He shuddered “Do you regret your actions. Before you get any ideas, I now command that you can’t lie to me”

Logan looked at them, finding them only marginally less intimidating now that they were a reasonable height

“I- I really do..” he stuttered, not looking at them. The octopus mer seemed quiet, which for some reason seemed weird.

Logan got close to the house and started unlocking the door, hearing Sock’s insistent meowing from Patton’s bedroom window. He tuned that out in his mind, not regarding it as important until the octopus mer grabbed his arm

“Don’t tell me that’s what I think it is” They warned, and Logan stayed silent for a few moments

“It’s a cat...”

They both stared at him with varying degrees of anger

“You have a cat, and you have been keeping a tiny mer in the same house?! Just when I thought you couldn’t get any worse” The, previously giant, mer glared at him and then at the white-footed cat in the window, baring sharp teeth at the creature

Logan just lead them into his house, immediately getting greeted by Patton, who seemed worried about his absolutely soaking wet clothes and self, before noticing the two behind him

“Oh, who are they?”

“Patton, may I talk to you in private?” He cast a nervous glance to the mers, who were both glaring at the humans with malice

The octopus mer was the one who gave permission

“Oh, go ahead, just show us where he is, and then knock yourself out. Preferably not metaphorically” Logan pointed them to where the tiny mer’s tank was located, shaking slightly and trying to smooth out his wet clothes

“Logan, who are they?” Patton sounded a little more forceful, and Logan cast a nervous glance to the doorway

“Patton- their friend- we- we took their friend, Patton- they want revenge and they- they did something to me, Pat, I’m scared” He was whispering and he wrapped his arms around himself like a frightened child. Patton put a hand on his arm and looked at him with a concerned expression

“What did they do to you?” Patton’s voice was soft and full of concern, a nice contrast to the harsh words and tone used by the mers. Logan shook his head, he didn’t even know where to begin. The fact that they gained possession of his soul? The fact that they were threatening to kill him? The fact that they could make him do anything and he couldn’t do anything about it

His roommate pulled him in for a hug, and Logan, for once, didn’t pull away. They could hear the mers in the other room conversing, sounding different, not threatening at all. Just sounding like worried friends. He couldn’t hear their words. He looked down.

In the mers minds, he had probably deserved everything they did to him; he had stolen their friend away from them, and had tried to keep information on his wrongdoings away from them

-

Janus had been floating for a while after Roman left. It was terribly boring with no borrower to talk to. Patton had been in and out of the room holding his tank, and in between human visits, he would catch glimpses of a figure wearing a red cloak, running along ceiling beams and going in and out of tunnels in the walls.

Janus didn’t call attention to that, he understood Roman’s need for secrecy. When the second human, ‘Logan’, finally arrived back at the house, there were other people with them. Janus froze, until he heard a familiar voice and two familiar faces walked through the door

They immediately ran over to him and fretting

“Oh, thank the stars you’re okay, I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t” Virgil leant down to look at him in the tank

Janus smiled, before frowning

“You both have legs”

Remus grinned “Don’t worry Jan, my beautiful tentacles will be back the minute we get back to the sea”

“How did you guys even find me?”

“We used a sort-of tracking spell, to see which had been near you and how recently, and we used some... persuasion to get Logan to bring us here” Virgil explained, wringing his hands anxiously. Janus raised an eyebrow

“What exactly do you mean by persuasion? Last I checked, you could barely talk to a person to help you with something, let alone persuading anyone of anything” He teased, splashing him

Virgil winced “...You know that dark magic I was researching the other week?”

“You didn’t”

“He did!” Remus nodded enthusiastically

Virgil put his hands up, face going red “I know, and I’m not proud of it but I did what I had to do to get you home. They wouldn’t give us any information, and what was I gonna do? Politely reason with a human for however long it would take, whilst you could’ve been, I don’t know, tortured or something?”

Janus nodded, he could agree with that. If he had the power to help one of the other two whilst they were in trouble, he would use any means necessary to get them back

Patton walked in with an obviously forced smile “Well, I think it’s time you should leave. I’m sure you’ll want to go back to your homes, and, uh, stuff” They seemed in a hurry to get the mers out, likely nervous that what horrible thing happened to Logan would happen to them too

Virgil gathered some the water surrounding Janus into an orb and hovered him above his hand. Janus floated idly, as his friends and him walked out towards the ocean

Janus’ thoughts started to wander to the borrower who still didn’t, and never would, know his name. His mood got a little more sombre at that. The miniature human would still have to scavenge for food in a human house. Janus had achieved his own happy ending, but would Roman?

They got under the water and Janus allowed himself to swim freely through the reef with his family.

A few months later, a human woke up without the tight feeling he had grown used to being in his chest, and felt free for the first time since that day, whilst a borrower looked mournfully at the ocean through a window.

Everything was back to normal.

~~~~~

Taglist: @a-chilly-pepper 

#sanders sides #sanders sides gt #sanders side fic #sanders sides story #sanders sides au #sanders sides mer au #mer janus #tiny janus #octopus remus #merman remus #mer remus #mer virgil #giant virgil #giant remus #tiny remus #giant logan #tiny logan #borrower roman #borrowers #mers #giant patton #tiny patton #human patton #human logan

[typically-untypical]

On the Outside

AU: Merpeople

CW: Blood and Injury, Janus Angst

WC: 3,753

Date: 12/10/2023

The ceremony was beautiful. It was everything Janus had come to expect from Roman, grand, extravagant, and beautiful. Logan, despite his attempts to remain stoic, was ever the blushing sacrifice, his life made into a promise to love and to cherish their king. Janus turned from the sight, and swam away unable to watch for another moment. First it had been Virgil, always Janus' antagonist, always so afraid of failure. Janus had fallen in love with the way he protected others, with the sarcastic wit he used to hide his insecurities. Janus had fallen in love with Virgil, and Virgil had fallen in love with the king. 

Apparently, Roman was the adventurous type, always attempting to escape his duties as monarch of their fair city, always running from the coral spires that they called a palace. He and Virgil had met on one of those outings and had bonded. At first, Janus didn't think anything would come of it, the two were constantly arguing, constantly fighting, then the day came when he saw them. They were making out behind the jeweler's shop and when they separated for more than an inch, Virgil's eyes were filled with so much love. 

Janus had swallowed his feelings and moved on, refusing to pull himself into a situation where he would get hurt. Janus was smart enough to know he didn't have a chance against a king, and if he had made a move beforehand, it would have only made things strained between them. So he let go. He let go of his best childhood friend. He let go of the first mer he loved. He moved on.

Virgil became the king's first sacrifice, a title denoting the life Virgil would have to sacrifice to be by Roman's side, the people he would sacrifice. It also denoted Roman's sacrifice of safety. When a king announced he loved someone so publicly, it gave his enemies a target, a manipulative tool. There were many mer that would use any opportunity they could to take advantage of the king, and having a beloved, having a sacrifice, meant opening up one more avenue for manipulation and treason. The title of sacrifice was a reminder, and a promise.

Despite that, Virgil didn't leave them behind. He still visited whenever he got the chance. He made excuse after excuse to come see Janus and Logan, often times Roman would come along and Janus would play the part of a gracious host. He couldn't deny the king was good looking, but he was not a fan of the way he strutted about as if he owned the place. He did own the place, in a manner of speaking, but it still pissed Janus off. Though, that wasn't the full truth either, was it. Janus had been jealous, jealous of the way Roman would flirt with Logan, jealous of the way Logan looked at Roman and Virgil. It had been naïve to hope, but Janus had thought, with Virgil gone, he might finally make a move on Logan. It was the two of them, and they had been able to take solace in each other. 

That hadn't lasted long. Janus had watched quietly as Roman flustered Logan, spun him around in circles until he could only look forward. Janus had watched as Virgil pulled Logan out of his shell. He even answered Logan's questions when he asked about emotions. Janus had watched it all fall apart, sitting by and not saying a thing as Roman took one more person away from him. The ceremony had been the final straw. Janus hadn't been able to watch as Virgil and Roman kissed and spoiled Logan, not when he wanted to be in Logan's place, not when he wanted to be by Logan's side.

They didn't visit as often anymore, especially when Janus started making excuses, reasons why he couldn't see them, lies to hide his pain. Eventually, they stopped coming altogether, and it was easier that way. He moved from the coral spire he had shared with Logan and Virgil to something much smaller, something further from the palace. He left his job on the tribunal, no longer wanting to present cases in front of the three people he couldn't have. He focused on hunting, relying on old skills he had used as a guppy, as a survivor. He could still do it. He could still take care of himself. He hadn't grown soft in the light of Logan and Virgil's smiles.

They would hate to see him doing this again. This job was so dangerous. The hunter could easily become the hunted if one wasn't careful, and even if one was, a single misstep could throw everything off. Janus had barely made it back from the hunt with no prey to show for his efforts. His tail was missing patches to scales, scraped, broken and bleeding. It hurt to swim but what other choice did he have? He wasn't going to just lay down in the sand and die. That wasn't his style. If he was going to die it would at least be where it was comfortable. 

Somehow he made it home, leaving a trail of thick black blood in his wake. He hoped nothing else out there wanted to hunt him, because it would be far too easy to follow his trail, at least until the tide changed.

"Just swell," He muttered to himself and the empty house around him. He had been lonely without the others. He had thought the smaller house would help. It hadn't. The loneliness persisted despite the confined space. "What a warm home I've created." He rolled his eyes, swimming over to his bed of kelp and lowering himself slowly into it. He should probably tend to his wounds, but he also was too tired to move. He would take care of it later. He would take care of it when he woke up.

[Section Break]

Virgil couldn't help but swim laps across his room, trying to figure out exactly where things had gone wrong. He knew Logan was watching him but he didn't really care at this point. In fact, Logan could probably provide some perspective. "He hates us." Virgil said, knowing it wasn't true but also knowing Logan would help him out of his spiral.

"I highly doubt Janus hates us, though I also find him pushing us away a bit strange." 

That wasn't what Virgil was expecting. He didn't think Logan would actually agree that something was wrong. He figured he was just being overly anxious but he needed someone to talk him through it. Logan looked back at him and sighed, slowly swimming over to him, setting down his book. "Come here, angelfish," He whispered before pulling Virgil into a hug. "We've given him a bit of space, but how about we go check on him? Just the two of us? That might help considering his walls seem to come up when Roman is around."

"Yeah, cool, I could get behind that... but do you think it's safe? We haven't been out of the castle without guards since before we were with Ro."

"Safe or not, I feel like visiting Janus will help calm your nerves. Also, we won't be long, and we won't be far. Janus lives near the palace so we should still be in a protected area." 

It only took him a few seconds to agree. Virgil needed to see Janus again, to make sure he was okay. Something felt off and he was desperate to fix whatever it was. "Maybe we should take one guard, just to be safe?"

Logan nodded, "I think that's a wise decision. Let's go ask someone, assuming you're ready to go."

"Yeah, yeah I'm ready." He had been ready days ago but he couldn't tell Logan that. Now was good. 

It was a beautiful day for a swim around town, the temperature was nice and Virgil began to relax almost immediately after they were out of the palace. Maybe he had just been cooped up too long, being a King's sacrifice, especially Roman's they were always so well protected. It was sweet, but it was also increasingly stressful. Virgil liked to have more control of his surroundings and often he felt he didn't have that in the palace. It had been easier back when they went on regular visits, back when Logan and Janus still lived together. It had been so awkward trying to introduce Roman to Janus, he had seemed different, at arms length almost and after the ceremony with Logan it had gotten even worse. Virgil didn't know how to fix it. He didn't know how to just come out and let Janus know that he was in love, and he desperately wanted to let Janus know because things didn't feel complete without him.

"This is odd," Logan whispered looking at the name plates posted in front of the coral.

"What's odd?"

"I don't see our names, or Janus' for that matter." 

Virgil felt himself grow faint as the anxiety once again took hold of him, ice water running through his mid sea veins. "That can't be right. Why would Janus move out of the place we had together?" Virgil began to drag Logan toward the property managers office she would know what was going on.

"Luna, bitch, where's Janus? His name isn't listed anymore." 

The lion fish looked over at Virgil before giving him a wide smile, her spines flaring out. "Virgil! Big shot finally comes to visit me and only asks about his ex. How rude!"

"He's not my ex," Virgil blushed a bit, reaching out for Logan's hand, holding it tightly.

"Could have fooled me with the way you three were always flirting. It was a bit sad when he was left here alone. Anyway, told me the place was too big for just him so he moved out, probably about three months ago now." 

Three months, had it really been three months since they had last visited him? They both knew he wanted space but that was too much space. "Did the fucker tell you where he was moving to?" Virgil tried to smile, tried to keep his anxiety from showing, it was a trick he had learned from Janus, but he wasn't nearly as good at it as Janus had been. 

"Yeah, chill, I'll get you an address. And if you're gonna win him over might I suggest some nice sea glass? Showing up empty handed is a major no-no." She pulled out an oil pencil and wrote Janus' new address on Virgil's free hand. "He's near the outskirts of town so you have time to think of something nice before you get there.

"We appreciate the help, Luna," Logan said, far calmer than Virgil had been able to pretend he was. 

"The outskirts, there's nothing out there but danger. Fuck, do you think he went back to hunting? I swear if that idiot got himself hurt again I'm going to put him in the dungeon just to keep him safe."

"I'm sure he's fine," Logan whispered, pulling Virgil in closer. "Janus is intelligent. He isn't the kind to take unnecessary risks." They should have known something was up when Janus left his position on the tribunal. He had loved that job and wasn't that one of the first signs that something was wrong, abandoning the things you loved and cared about?

"Lo, I need to you talk me down, okay? I'm spiraling pretty bad. What if he's dead? What if he got eaten? What if we never see him again?"

Logan squeezed his hand and they continued to move forward, neither of them wanting to risk the possibility that Janus needed them and they weren't there. "As I said, Janus is very intelligent. I doubt he would get himself into a situation where he needed our help so dramatically that he couldn't ask for it."

"Right, right," Virgil whispered, still clinging to Logan.

"Also, between the three of us we have a very wide set of skills. In the past we have been able to handle many different challenges because of this. I don't believe there are many things in this ocean that we can't handle together. Also, we have the king's resources at our disposal now." He kept his voice gentle and Virgil was thankful. Logan had always been able to help him calm down, but still, right now, everything felt off.

As they got closer to the small hut Janus was supposedly staying in, the sea around them looked darker and Virgil shivered a bit. "Of course Janus would live somewhere creepy. He was all about that aesthetic and vibe." Virgil was sure he wasn't hiding how worried he was, but he was still trying. He was trying to give himself some kind of sense of normalcy.

"It does seem like his style," Logan responded, but he also squeezed Virgil's hand tightly. The darkness grew as they got closer and they both realized what was happening at the same time. Logan turned to the guard who had been following them. "Go back to the palace, get a physician here immediately, and inform king Roman of where we are and what we are doing." He then let go of Virgil's hand and swam toward the darkened water, entering the house without bothering for permission. He pushed the kelp away until he saw Janus' body, curled tightly around a slowly seeping wound. He took in a quick breath before immediately starting on first aid. Virgil wasn't sure what to do or how to handle this. It was like watching his worst nightmares come into reality.

"Virgil," Logan called, "Open up his nearest heat vent and get us some broth cooking. He's going to need something to eat or he will never regain his strength." 

"Right?" He could do with instructions. All he needed to do was focus on the instructions he was being given. He could do this.

Time passed by too slowly and too quickly at the same time. Virgil managed to get the broth together and Logan was able to get Janus conscious enough to drink a bit but he faded again shortly after that. It was all a blur and when Roman showed up with the physician, Virgil almost broke down. This wasn't supposed to happen. This wasn't supposed to be how it worked out.

[Section Break]

Janus woke up far more comfortably than he thought he would. The temperature was a little cool but less than he thought it would be considering where he lived. Even the kelp felt more comfortable than normal. He shifted and cracked his eyes open taking in his surroundings. It took him all of a second to realize he wasn't at home. Slowly twisting his head to get a better view, his eyes landed on a familiar red tail. The king was asleep, and Janus was most likely in a hospital. Shit, he hadn't expected to be found much less by the king. At least he was hoping he had been found by the king. Janus knew how bad it would be if it had been Logan or Virgil who had found him in that state and he was doing everything he could to deny that possibility. 

"Ah, you're awake," Roman said, shifting to be a bit closer. Apparently he wasn't sleeping as much as Janus thought he was. "You have worried my beloveds." Roman watched Janus before sighing and sitting back a bit. They were both silent, neither sure what to say to the other. Janus was just about to ask when he could leave, when Roman spoke, his deep voice reverberating in the waves. 

"I don't understand you," He said quietly. "You've quit a job you liked, moved to a place where you were alone, I am all for the drama and the adventure but this seems like a bit much. Were you intending on hurting the two of them? Was your grand plan to die alone only for them to hear news of your passing years later."

Janus wanted to answer no, but in a way, he was. He had wanted to push them away, because it hurt to be around them. It was better if they were allowed to focus on themselves and on their new happy life. "I was doing what needed to be done." Janus shrugged, wincing when he moved. Okay, maybe he was more injured than he originally thought he was and he didn't want to die. He just... wanted things he couldn't have.

"And what needed to be done?" Roman asked, "Getting yourself killed?"

"Getting away from you," Janus retorted before his brain could stop his mouth. He hated losing his cool but sometimes it was so hard to resist. "I didn't have any plans to stick around and watch you play house with the two men I'm in love with. That isn't my idea of a good time."

"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down. That is a lot to wrap my head around. First off, you love them, and I knew it. No one get that upset so suddenly unless there are some major feelings involved. It's so romantic, the three of you living under the same ocean only to miss each other, but what I'm not understanding is why you had such a problem with me. Or why you didn't just ask me not to come by so you could confess without me being in the way?"

Janus rubbed his face gently fighting the urge to groan. "Well I certainly wasn't going to tell the king what to do, but on top of that, they made their position fairly clear. They were yours." He turned to look at Roman and he watched a look of surprise cross the king's face, eyes wide and gills flared. "I have no intention of getting in the way of their future and their happiness."

"You..." Roman started, voice choked as he gained his composure, brushing the sides of his cheek which had gained a bit of color. "You're an idiot." 

Janus stopped, surprise crossing his own face. He focused on the king, attempting to understand what Roman had intended with that response. He was at a loss. Thankfully the king had more to say, apparently.

"They love you, have you not noticed that? And I don't mean in the sense of friendship. Virgil's tail does the same thing when he talks with me, or with Logan as it does with you, the little curl of nervous excitement, and Logan is constantly adjusting his glasses attempting to be perfect in your eyes because if he's perfect, maybe you'll notice him."

Janus sputtered, "N-no. That's not, Virgil does that when he's comfortable with people and he is obviously comfortable with me we've been friends for more then two decades, and Logan, he does that when he's excited. It has nothing to do with how they feel about me. Obviously they are both comfortable around me, we're friends."

"Yep, you're an idiot." Roman began to rise. "The question is do you love them?" He watched Janus with an intensity that he didn't like, that he didn't know how to deal with. Janus had already admitted to loving them. What more did the king want? "I think that's the answer I was looking for." Roman stretched, giving Janus a smile that he didn't understand. "I doubt even if I were to prove it you would understand, but this will at least be entertaining for me." 

He started to swim off, leaving Janus alone in the room as he felt the exhaustion creeping up on him. He wasn't sure if it was from his healing injuries, the lack of food, or his conversation with the king. Either way, he wanted to rest. He could go back home after that, rethink his plan about how he wanted to proceed. Whatever he was doing wasn't working.

"Jay!" Virgil's voice echoed in the otherwise empty room interrupting Janus' plan for sleep. Immediately afterward, he felt the pressure of someone laying on top of him, obviously avoiding his injures with the careful precision that only Virgil was capable of.

"It's alright, Shadow. I can't be killed that easily. You know this," Janus whispered, gently running a hand through Virgil's hair, floating in the current they had created. Logan was by their side shortly after, looking down at the two of them.

"You had us worried." His voice was flat, but the way his hands were folded behind his back, no doubt hiding the way they shook, was exceedingly telling. There was a part of Janus that wanted to push them all away, to put up the walls he had meticulously built when they both became Roman's, but he was tired. Instead, he reached out an arm, inviting Logan in and the other man curled up by his side, wrapping his tail protectively over both Janus and Virgil. "I'm not letting you go again," Logan whispered it like a fact, like a truth that not even the gods could change.

"Sleep first, then we can discuss." Janus was trying to leave room for things to change. He didn't want to continue being an outsider looking in. It hurt too much to be near them and to not be theirs.

"No, no discussion." Logan's voice continued to hold that completely assured quality. "I have held my tongue long enough. I love you, and I believe you love me too." A slight waver, barely perceptible but still there. "And I'm not going to let you go. I won't lose you."

What could Janus say to that? When Logan made up his mind there wasn't much argument that could be had. It was strange, and he hadn't fully wrapped his head around the words Logan had said. When he woke up again, more rested and more lucid, he might have something interesting to say about Logan's confession. However, for now, he just closed his eyes.

"Alright, you won't lose me, but we still have things we need to discuss." He wrapped his arm around Logan's back, hand splayed against the other man's flesh. He was too tired for this discussion now, but they would have it soon.

"A worthy compromise," Logan whispered. "Good night Janus."

"Good Night," Virgil echoed and Janus didn't blush, of course he didn't, but his lips did curl into a soft smile as he listed to the two of them breathing.

"Good night."

Tag List: @simplestoryteller @fantasticfangirl21 @joylessnightsky @glacierruler @tsspromptmonth

#TSS Rare Gifts Event 2023 #Untypical Creations #Sanders Sides #Sanders Side fic #Fanfic #Virgil Sanders #Janus Sanders #Logan Sanders #Roman Sanders #merpeople #janus angst #hurt comfort

[the-amazing-meow]

Day two of the follower extravaganza!

@donttouchthevoid !

Whew I've been following them forrrr like 7/8 years now.

I originally found their account when I was googling Sanders Sides fanart images on google in middle school, AND LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH THEY ROTTED MY BRAIN

I was absolutely O B S E S S E D with their winged!Virgil drawings, I had so much of their artworks saved on my old phones.

Also their mer!Virgil au had an absolute death grip on my adolescent brain, they were one of the first 10 people I followed when I finally got Tumblr a few years back.

They are an absolutely mind-bogglingly amazing artist and mutual, their more recent horror themed pieces are positively stunning.

They are genuinely one of the coolest people that I have the pleasure of calling a mutual on this hellsite.

Keep on creating my dude

#Meow's meows #Tumblr follower extravaganza

[prince-rowan-of-the-forest]

Day 17, Storm, we've got Virgil watching a storm out of the window

Day 18, Misfit, we have pre-AA Virgil not really being included in the discussion

Day 19, Flight, we have my MLP AU Roman and Virgil, Roman is a dumbass, Virgil is just done.

Day 20, Deep we have a Sanders Sides mer AU!

Day 21, Drain, we have a sleepy Virgil, I think he's very cuddly when he's sleepy.

:)

#sanders sides #sanders sides art #virgil sanders fanart #virgil sanders #roman sanders fanart #roman sanders #logan sanders fanart #logan sanders #SaSi mlp AU #patton sanders fanart #patton sanders #mermaid patton #mermaid logan #mermaid roman #inktober2022 #bitchqsstober

[aisakalegacy]

Printemps 1889, Hylewood, Canada (6/6)      

J’attends, ô cousine des contrées du mûr raisin, que tes nouvelles me trouvent outre-mer. Que Déméter et Bacchus bénissent vos productions et que Hermès conduise devant vous des affaires favorables : je ne manquerai pas de faire un sacrifice pour vous. Une lettre de mon père est jointe au sujet des affaires qui vous occupent.

Virgile

Ma chère Lucrèce,

Je reprends la plume avec difficultés pour répondre au dernier courrier que vous avez eu l’amabilité de joindre à ma destination. Je suis bien au courant des déboires de mon fils… Ayez l’assurance que je reprendrais cette correspondance moi-même si je le pouvais, plutôt que de le laisser désohonorer mon nom et le sien à chaque ligne qu’il écrit. Son comportement m’épouvante au moins autant que vous. J’en viens à regretter qu’il fût si éduqué : eût-il été fermier, il aurait été plus humble… 

Ce n’est pas par gaité de cœur que je lui délègue ces lettres, dont la réception et la lecture me procure toujours une grande joie. Je vous entretenais il y a quelques années du fait que ma vue avait baissé. Ce qui n’était qu’une simple incommodité s’est transformé en véritable incapacité. C’est bien simple : je ne suis plus même capable de lire, et vous savez pourtant bien quel amour je porte à la littérature. Le médecin m’a diagnostiqué une presbytie et m’a dit que cela ne fera que s’empirer : ma vue proche continuera à baisser de plus en plus et je ne peux rien y faire, ce qui crée en moi un vaste sentiment d’impuissance. Je vous demande donc de pardonner les coquilles éventuelles que je laisserai dans ce courrier : je l’écris sans brouillon et me relire serait trop épuisant… Voilà à quoi vous échappez, ma chère Lucrèce. J’ai ainsi eu la plus grande peine à déchiffrer votre lettre, mais j’ai tenu à la lire seul, car je soupçonnais ses tenants. J’ai dû pour ce faire lutter contre les protestations de ma femme qui tenait à m’aider, ce qui est bien ironique étant donné qu’elle-même a du mal à déléguer certaines tâches et s’évertue à faire la vaisselle alors que nous employons une bonne : le rempart contre la vieillesse est de se tenir active, dit-elle. Que voulez-vous, nous sommes des fortes têtes…

J’ai bien pris note de votre courrier et je vais prendre mes dispositions. Profitant de l’attrait qu’Hylewood a ces dernières années, mon beau-frère a ouvert il y a quelques années un sanatorium dans la partie la plus reculée de l’île, sur le chemin menant au bois. Il accueille toutes sortes de résidents frappés d’afflictions diverses, dont le séjour se prolonge souvent à quelques années. Si vous êtes semblable de quelques façons à ceux de votre genre que j’ai rencontré, votre teint vous fera passer inaperçue. Je n’ai pas encore eu l’occasion d’en toucher mot à mon beau-frère, mais je doute qu’il se priverait de la compagnie de ses semblables.

J’en profite pour vous toucher quelques mots concernants d’autres affaires familiales qui m’occupent, dont j’ai tenu Virgile éloigné. J’ai tout d’abord la tristesse de vous annoncer le décès de ma sœur Louise. Les circonstances de sa mort sont tout à fait tragiques, puisqu’elle est tombée de barque et s’est noyée dans le Saint-Laurent, entrainée dans l’abysse par sa robe trop lourde. Comme notre père, elle avait cinquante-six ans. Elle venait de se remarier après quatre ans de veuvage et elle laisse derrière elle deux fils célibataires.

Adieu, Lucrèce. Je ne crois pas que je vous réécrirai. Ne soyez pas affligée : nous nous rencontrerons bientôt. Vous trouverez dans cette enveloppe deux roses séchées de mon jardin, à offrir à votre chère Clémence en cadeau de naissance pour sa dernière née. Veuillez agréer l’hommage de mon respectueux dévouement et de ma sincère affection,

Votre cousin, Auguste

[Transcription]

Xavière Yancet : Madame est aimable de m’aider, mais elle a l’air fatiguée et elle devrait aller se reposer !

Jacqueline Le Bris : C’est un non sens, vous êtes de toute évidence occupée. Nous serons bien plus rapide à deux. Et puis…

Xavière Yancet : Madame ?

Jacqueline Le Bris : Ce n’est rien, un vertige. Vous avez raison, je ferais mieux d’aller faire une sieste.

#ts3 #simblr #legacy challenge #history challenge #decades challenge #lebris #lebrisgen3 #Virgile Le Bris #Auguste Le Bris #Jacqueline Rumédier #Xavière Yancet #Louise Le Bris #Alexandre Bernard #François Bernard #Frédéric Rumédier

[dsirmtcom]

NC - Dante, La Divine Comédie - Le Purgatoire

Note contemplative - Dante, La Divine Comédie - Le Purgatoire #Philosophie #MardiCestPhilosophie #Contemplation #Dante #Purgatoire #Virgile

Notes contemplatives de lecture – Note contemplative n° 50-2 Aucune explication verbale ne remplace jamais la contemplation. Saint-Exupéry, Pilote de guerre. Notes de lecture Pour courir meilleure eau elle hisse les voiles à présent la nacelle de mon génie qui laisse derrière soi mer si cruelle : et je chanterai le second royaume où l’esprit humain se purifie et devient plus digne de monter au…

View On WordPress

#MardiCestPhilosophie #Anaxagore #Aristote #Épicure #Éthique #Béatrice #Comédie #Contemplation #Dante #Diogène #Divine #Enfer #Héraclite #Lucifer #Mardi c’est philosophie #Notes contemplatives #Paradis #Philosophie #Platon #Purgatoire #Socrate #Thalès #Virgile #Zénon

[2023naples-rome]

Direction vers la mer pour le Castel dell’ Ovo

Le plus ancien château de Naples

Le nom du château découle d'une légende médiévale attribuée au poète Virgile. Un sorcier aurait déposé un œuf magique sous les fondations du château afin de soutenir l'ensemble. Si cet œuf venait à disparaître, la forteresse s'effondrerait, entraînant la ruine de Naples

[thecrowslullaby]

This is a metaphor of me being janked out if my room and being swung into exam month /hj.

#ts mermay #mermay #ts sides #ts janus #ts virgil #crowtent #janus sanders #virgil sanders #mer!janus #mer!virgil #ts mermaid au #Virgil is my bestie /jk #they'll get him next #blood #kidnapping #technically

[muppenthings]

Start

Continuation of the Sanders Sides "Giant merman" au story.

CW: while everything is kept very brief the story does mention abandonment, injury, person being called monster and mention of self-neglect. And death mention.

Part 3

Janus makes an offer to help with Virgil. But they must remove Virgil from the island and to the mainland where the company have a remodeled harbor, specifically tailored for Virgil. And he’d like Logan (and his friends) help to convince the mer to go there. Logan needs to think about it.

On his way back, Logan overhears the island’s fishermen talk. Their nets are being torn. The seal populations at the northern island have just vanished along with many populations at the mainland. The surrounding kelp forests are nearly halved in size. Old man Joe saw a huge shadow in the water just this morning. Speculations are running wild as to what it is.

The lethargy, irritation… Realizing that Virgil’s not doing very well and he’s negatively affecting the surroundings, he makes up his mind. He messages Janus, letting him know that he’ll talk with the mer on the condition that they can still see him. Janus agrees.

On the following Sunday, it’s only Logan and Patton that goes to the beach (Roman had to work but was informed of the plan and all).

Virgil looks more tired than ever now that Logan properly looks at him. He gently talks about the plan with Janus and the harbor. But Virgil stubbornly refuses thinking he won’t be able to see the three anymore! Logan keeps pushing, the situation is unsustainable. Virgil can’t keep himself properly fed in the small area, he appears to not be sleeping very well and he's causing damage to the ecosystem. A few poor choices of words from Logan and a sleep deprived mind, leads Virgil to think that Logan won’t come to the beach anymore. That he’s being abandoned once again. Heartbroken, he drags himself off the beach, unable to process anything Logan or Patton calls after him.

Virgil swims far, drowning in emotional turmoil and old memories.

Logan and Patton wait for hours on the beach. But the mer doesn’t return.

Crestfallen they go home, telling only Roman of the outcome. They don’t know how Janus, or the company, will take it. Instead, they decide to wait until Virgil’s calmed down and they can try again.

Virgil is unable to sleep that night, making him even more miserable. Following night, a ship passes by overhead. The loud engine proves too much and he snaps, attacking it.

#giant merman au #ts Logan #ts Virgil #ts Roman #ts Patton #ts Janus #giant mer #I have such a headache this evening so I only got this part out #I know its short but I cant tonight xD

[de-gueules-au-lion-d-or]

Quelles que soient ses formes ou ses dimensions, le bateau n’est pas un moyen de déplacement comme les autres. La voiture, le vélo ou le cheval restent sûrs et contrôlables (ou presque). Avec eux, on ne change pas d’univers pour évoluer entre deux points du globe. Le bateau, lui, ne nous laisse pas le choix. Entre ces deux points, il y a un monde mouvant, inhospitalier et périlleux à l’homme. La navigation porte forcément sa part d’incertitude. Le bateau nous emporte toujours vers un autre monde. Sur la rivière la plus tranquille, votre barque vous fera passer par des lieux inaccessibles au piéton; sur le canal le mieux aménagé, il reste, entre les marins d’eau douce et les piétons qui longent la rive, une infinie distance, même si cette distance n’excède pas quelques mètres. On peut s’y héler, s’y faire signe, on ne peut pas s’y rencontrer.

Le monde du bateau est un autre monde et c’est aussi une question de vocabulaire. Celui des mariniers et surtout des gens de mer paraît généralement ésotérique à tous ceux qui restent à quai. A bord, la boussole se fait compas, la droite et la gauche deviennent tribord ou bâbord et les mots les plus simples changent de sens. On nage lorsqu’on ma nie l’aviron et la seule corde autorisée pend au battant d’une cloche. Cet autre monde est celui de l’eau et de la mer, un monde où l’homme ne peut plus se prendre pour le centre de l’univers. Il n’est sans doute pas indifférent de constater que le développement des techniques de navigation modernes correspond à la fin de l’univers géocentrique. Nicolas Copernic est contemporain des débuts de la navigation en haute mer, une navigation qui s’affranchit définitivement des contraintes du cabotage pour se fier aux étoiles et aux vents.

Pourtant, cette véritable révolution n’a pas immédiatement détruit les antiques terreurs. Elle les a seulement déplacées. Il y a toujours une part de profanation dans le fait de s’aventurer sur les eaux. Pour les Anciens, loin du rivage, la mer était ce lieu infesté de monstres et de prodiges que dépeint l’Odyssée et que redoute Horace dans son ode au vaisseau de Virgile. D’autres traditions, longtemps vivaces, montrent les âmes rejoignant le pays des morts sur une barque, que ce soit pour traverser l’Achéron ou pour cingler, comme le roi Arthur, vers on ne sait quelle ile d’Avallon. En somme, depuis toujours, il y a les vivants et ceux qui sont en mer.

Partir sur l’eau, prendre un bateau, c’est toujours vouloir aller vers l’autre côté, un côté qui fascine – ou plutôt qui hypnotise. La mer a perdu ses sirènes et ses monstres, mais on risque toujours de s’y perdre définitivement, soit physiquement, soit en se laissant happer par d’autres horizons. Les émigrants du XIXe siècle fuyaient sans espoir de retour vers ce qu’ils croyaient une terre promise, tandis que, dans la trilogie de Pagnol, Marius ira chercher le bonheur de l’autre côté du monde… et ne l’y trouvera pas.

Aujourd’hui, les vieux enchantements paraissent singulièrement exténués. Les navigateurs les plus hardis ne sortent plus avec leurs voiliers sans les appareils électroniques les plus sophistiqués. Finis les âpres joies de l’isolement et le maniement du sextant. Grâce au satellite, plus besoin de faire le point pour être situé sur la planète, ce qui n’empêche nullement d’éventuelles fortunes de mer (naufrages et autres catastrophes). La mer n’est plus qu’un immense lac sillonné d’usines flottantes chargées de conteneurs, d’hydrocarbures frelatés ou de touristes en goguette, quand on ne la transforme pas en poubelle.

Qui nous dit pourtant qu’au-delà de telle nappe de brume ou de tel récif ne se cache pas encore quelque bateau maudit, quelque vaisseau fantôme qui nous rappellerait l’ancienne et terrible liberté des mers ?

Minute

[infinite-insomniac]

AUs and Idea Dump

Potential Warnings ⚠️- Murder/Killing Mentioned,

Post Continued Below Cut

Pastel Punk One wears pastel light colors and they’re mean and rude Other wears dark punk clothes and are the nicest person ever

Kingdom AU Virgil exiled prince of a kingdom from an early age for???? Became an assassin Logan a prince

Night and Day Rulers of their lands Night is light sides Day is dark sides

Roommates soulmate au Au where roommates are like soulmates

Remile height Remy is shorter than Emile at 5’3 Emile is 6’1

Hurt Comfort Remile Remy who wants to live his life, doesn't do friends because he just is a bit scared Emile who is happy and subtly flirts

Fake marriage How do you know you’ve been fake dating too long? When you fake get married Remile

Life and death Virgil is death Logan? Is life Love? Platonically?

Forced villains Dark sides are quite new villains who are forced to do what they do Light sides hero’s?

Hero AU A hero au where the hero either works with another hero or fights a villain Though they know each other in their normal identities not their super identities and are good friends normally Sometimes they vaguely vent about their problems with each other

Just Thomas Everyone is named Thomas All the sides are just called thomas

Soulmate Aus Murder your soulmate Informative soulmate Tells you all their information

Cursed Medusa esque Janus, wears a head covering if he looks at you you turn to maybe stone or something

Generic princess in a tower Virgil and a prince comes to save him to be surprised he’s a he. DND based. Fairytale. Knight, sorcerer, prince, warrior

Virgil kidnapped but brought back and cuddles with Janus while sobbing because he missed him Added: Virgil has amnesia

Monster hunters Logan Roman and Virgil Added: One of them are a monster

skeptic and history buff Janus who is a history major working at haunted houses Logan who’s in science and they hunt ghosts together both believe Logan is just a bit skeptical and is sure he scares off ghosts

Necromancer Virgil Virgil with a skeleton wolf pet or just like some sort of wolf or something

Skater Virgil people thing he’s a skateboarder, he’s an ice skater He tells people he’s a skater and they just assume Someone gives him a skateboard and he just face plants

Who is the vampire Virgil and Roman, besties? Boyfriends? Roman is a vampire everyone believes Virgil that emo is the vampire

Oceanologist and diver Logan who does it out of spite for how little of the ocean is mapped

Parent Virgil Virgil has tattoos all over goth and dark, kid Patton who is all happy and bright

Not fated to be Logan and Virgil are in love soulmate au bit one day they meet their soulmates and it starts pulling them apart till they realize soulmates could be platonic

punk logan who doesn't have real tattoos but gets temporary tattoos (allergic to ink?)

Sensitive Remy Remy who have eyes sensitive to light lives on a beach

Enchanted Book Virgil and Janus are bffs and they’re just talking and in an antique store. They see a cool fairytale book then pick it up. But they get sucked into the book when opened. They’re now that books 2 very up beat protagonists which conflict with their actual personalities and they’re getting annoyed fast by this world's cheerful demeanor of how nothing could go wrong. Bonus- they create tragedy and things go wrong because they were bored

Brock and Brad Human au, roman and Remus are the two’s middle names. First names is Brad and Brock (Remus prefers broccoli thank you very much)

Mer au Mer kingdom Maybe Roman and Remus princes Virgil a knight Logan an advisor Patton a medic? Janus an outcast of society

#sanders sides #sanders sides au