#patton be dropping hints ;)

[orbmanson7]

Let's do a quick analysis of this new short video "The Sides Need a Nice Day" which is clearly meant to be mostly for fun, but there's definitely some hints and easter eggs to pay attention to that I'd like to explore a little further.

I'll address this in three parts in separate posts, the first for Patton and Logan, the next for Virgil and Roman, and the last for Janus and Remus.

Let's start with the first part, about Patton and Logan.

Patton's initial approach, as we can see, was flawed despite his good intentions. He wants to do something nice for Logan, he thinks out ideas based on what he knows Logan enjoys, and he likes to see Logan actually having fun. These are all very emotion-based notions and motivations, which we can expect from Patton. He's inspired by his own emotions in response to seeing the videos online, and takes matters into his own hands to give Logan in particular a special day.

Why Logan? Because Patton's very in tune with emotions and can recognize that Logan has been having a tough time lately. He empathizes with this a lot (considering it's kind of his thing) so he wants to do something that he'd like someone to do for him if he was having a bad day - do something to cheer him up!

This is very sweet and he clearly puts a lot of thought into this idea...but it's not an immediate success because he only really puts the emotional concept and vision into it, and didn't think practically or make his decisions with logic in mind.

Wonder who could have helped with something like that...

First, he approached Logan about making a quick decision, which is not something Logan is ever known to do. Logan resists this right away by questioning him for clarification and is already annoyed to start because Patton is being vague and trying to get Logan to play along without giving consideration to Logan's need to understand a situation and weigh his options before deciding anything. Logan takes no action lightly and always thinks his actions through first, as opposed to Patton, who prefers gut instincts and impulsive action. He doesn't bother to offer Logan the information and time to make a more informed decision, all because he wants to hurry up and get to the fun part!

Patton (like Roman) is someone who is able to envision what he wants, but Logan is someone who actually figures out the steps needed to make that a reality. Without the steps, that vision is but a dream, and without the vision, the steps are just work with no purpose.

These sides need to learn to work together to accomplish goals, not just do things on their own, and this part of the episode gives us a hint towards that notion.

The peculiar way that Patton then explains the situation to Logan is also interesting, as he states that whichever option Logan chooses will be something Patton wants to do, and because Patton wants to do it, Thomas will want to do it, meaning Logan gets to do it, too.

This, by itself, is such an alarming concept to drop into this video, especially with Patton saying it so cheerfully.

In case it's not clear, Patton is implying that he has so much power and sway over Thomas' decision-making process that he can have Thomas do something just because he, Patton, wants to do it. None of the sides should have that level of influence over Thomas, but Patton not only has that power but also knows that he does.

(And to clear up any confusion, this is not the same as Janus saying during his part of the video that he's convinced Thomas to lean into certain thoughts for the day. Patton is suggesting that if he wants something, Thomas will do it, as if it's automatic and doesn't require convincing. That may be Patton oversimplifying it a bit, but it's still indicating his status above others in that sense.)

In this case, he's using it to give Logan a nice day by doing (read: permitting Thomas to do) things he knows Logan would enjoy...but in other context, that's a very dangerous situation, especially since Patton has been shown to make bad or skewed judgement calls in the past due to his biases as well as making some very impulsive, emotionally-driven decisions.

But he recognizes this status that he holds and is attempting to use it for good, so at least there's that?

The next and more obvious part of this section shows that Patton is rushing Logan through the activities chosen, talking over him or cutting him off when Logan questions Patton about this, and Logan grows more annoyed by this as time goes on.

He is not quick to anger, even when he was initially forced into deciding something with very little information, and it takes a few times of being pushed and talked over before he even shows his frustration at all.

It's important to notice this because Logan's anger is not just born of nothing. It's valid because it's a natural reaction to the situation he's in not being properly catered to him.

This is something we see in episodes of the series a lot, and when it comes to the specific moments where Logan has truly gotten angry enough to show it, it's never out of nowhere, even if it may seem that way. If you are properly paying attention, you will see the gradual buildup, where Logan keeps holding himself back, staying calm and collected as long as he can, before the emotion bursts out and he acts rashly (and then regrets it).

Logan's anger has been shown to appear after moments where he is repeatedly cut off, spoken over, and ignored or disregarded completely. Being silenced and skipped over so often, it's a wonder Logan keeps trying at all, but he does. At some point, the last line is crossed, and he explodes with that anger.

While the resulting behavior may be inappropriate or rude, the feelings motivating that behavior are extremely valid, because he's being pushed to this breaking point by others. Anger serves the purpose of making it known when someone's boundaries have been crossed and when they have been wronged, so it makes sense for Logan to experience it at these times.

So, in this short video, Patton is trying to do something nice for him, and Logan can recognize and appreciate Patton's intention, but the execution is filled with the same mannerisms that build Logan's anger - being cut off, spoken over, ignored. It's not that he doesn't enjoy these activities, either, but he's not being given the chance to enjoy them with the way Patton is presenting them to him. It's a recipe for disaster because Logan's needs and boundaries aren't being respected despite the whole point being to do something nice for him.

This is also a tough situation for someone to oppose, by the way! When someone does something nice for you but you honestly hate it, how do you begin to tell them that? You don't want to hurt their feelings because you know they were trying to be nice and meant no harm, but if you don't speak up about the issues you had with it, your boundaries could wind up violated over and over again and the other party would be none the wiser.

Logan must voice his frustration. He has to explain why he's upset. And, thankfully, in this section of the video, he does!

He starts by stopping Patton directly, hand out and everything. He speaks calmly and clearly, using the same tone he used when speaking to the others during DwIT to get them to chill out and not be so impulsive. Logan is using what he knows to work to make his case here, and he tells Patton that he appreciates what he's trying to do. But then, he raises his voice and informs Patton what's annoying him about it, that he can't enjoy these activities because he's being rushed through them. This is a direct communication of the issue at hand and why it's bothering him.

Patton then pauses, reflects, realizes his mistake and where he had messed up, and then alters his behavior to fix the issue.

It's so simple and succinct that Logan, while still annoyed, seems confused that Patton actually listened to him and by how easy it was to find that resolution.

And I think that's our next piece of foreshadowing, as well.

Logan has been holding back about his genuine anger and frustration over how he's treated by the other sides and Thomas. He feels ignored and only utilized as a tool, as if he were a book rather than a person (or the metaphysical manifestation of one, at least).

These are not feelings that have only sprung up recently, either - this has been happening for a very long time without Logan ever addressing it.

Until he does, the others won't realize the impact their words and actions truly have on him. He needs to speak up and the others need to listen and adjust accordingly.

With the way Patton responded in this part, though, perhaps this shows that they may have an easier, calmer solution in store than one might initially anticipate, but we shall see.

Speaking of foreshadowing, during the times Logan is shown in the library throughout this part, he is reading a book titled A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Knowing past easter eggs and hints, it's likely this is not a coincidence.

Having read the book myself, I think it's very possible this is a potential nod to something that may occur soon within Logan's upcoming arc (whenever that may happen), as the book happens to deal a lot with the concept of imprisonment and finding ways to live through adversity.

In the book, the main character is put on house arrest in a bustling hotel in the city, but he's relegated to a cramped attic space and had left all of his books away from home so he cannot access them, because if he dares to leave the hotel, he'll be shot dead. So he stays inside, and he self-reflects because he now has a lot of time to think. He gets to know the people who work and live in the hotel, how their lives are so different than his own had been and continues to be. For quite some time, he feels the true punishment of his stay there, how the whole world outside is moving on so fast, but he is stuck inside, removed from it. He becomes effectively useless, unable to be or do anything for others (outside of giving amazing wine pairings for meals, of course), but he stays true to himself despite it all. He remains his charming and intelligent self, he makes new friends, he finds ways to be happy despite being trapped there.

The most popular quote from the book is one that says, "if a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them." And while the main character in that story manages to make the best of his life and circumstances, we know that Logan is still struggling with his fate right now, being trapped within Thomas' mind as someone who cannot fully explore his own interests, who has less and less purpose since Thomas left college, and feels less respected and listened to every day.

Logan has to find a way to obtain happiness despite his circumstances, because he can't change his situation, but he can change how he responds to it.

This book may be a clue as to how he finally figures out how to do that.

The outcome of this part of the video with Logan and Patton is a satisfying one. Logan expressed his frustration, Patton listened and was able to correct the issue, and Logan was able to have a nice day after all, which is what Patton had set out to accomplish. There were quite a few bumps along the way, but it was successful in the end!

Now, onto the next part...

#sanders sides #sanders sides analysis #patton sanders #logan sanders #ts spoilers #long post #orbs thought bubbles #I'm posting part one for now and I'll post part two and three later on because i have two jobs back to back today and tomorrow so I'm busy #pfft but i won't make anyone wait for too long i promise

[roguekassa]

popstar logan au where his best friends are actor patton and musicians virgil and roman!!!!

all three of them getting cameos in his bad idea right music video where patton drops the first hints of logan and remus being together by putting R + L on his shirt.

when virgil and logan are spotted in Los Angeles, logan is showing virgil something on his phone (a picture, a text? the media doesn’t know yet) but it has virgil screaming and smacking Logan’s arm around.

Roman’s the last (and most obvious) about Logan and Remus’s soft launch. He simply tweets out one day and says “my otp!!!!!” The media goes into a frenzie after that.

#sanders sides #ts sanders sides #logan sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #remus sanders #patton sanders #intrulogical #guts au

[loganslowdown4]

Virgil: *sighs* I’ve actually been dropping him the most insanely obvious hints for like a year now. No response.

Patton: Whoa! He sounds like he just keeps missing the mark!

Virgil: He’s not stupid though! He’s actually really smart but he doesn’t get enough credit for that because he can be… uh, a little dense.

Patton: Maybe you need to be more straightforward and obvious. Like just go right up to him and say ‘Hey! I love you!’

Virgil: You’re right. Just rip the bandaid off. Ok, I can do this.

Patton: Yeah you can!

Virgil: Hey Patton, I love you.

Patton: Yeah, just like that!

Virgil: Holy fucking shit.

Patton: If it flies over his head, I’m sorry Virge, but he sounds like he’s just a bit too dumb for you!

Virgil: Pat-

#sigh #poor Virgil #don’t worry he’s not giving up #thomas sanders #sanders sides #cw swearing #incorrect sanders sides #virgil sanders #patton sanders #Moxiety #ts moxiety

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

The Elevator

can you imagine the sheer chaos that would happen if Thomas (and therefore, all the sides) got stuck in an elevator? – amateurmasksmith

Read on Ao3

Warnings: none!

Pairings: DLAMPR, can be platonic or romantic i don't care

Word Count: 1364

The five stages of grief, as explored through what happens when you get stuck in an elevator.

    Denial

  "No," Virgil groans, slamming his head against the wall, "there's no way we're stuck in an elevator."

"Of course not." Logan folds his hands patiently. "We heard this elevator move, it clearly had to travel to reach the floor we were on, so we are not stuck in an elevator, it is simply delayed."

"That's right!" Patton claps his hands. "All we have to do is wait for it to start moving."

They wait. And wait. And keep waiting.

"I don't know if you've noticed," Roman says after they've waited for a considerable amount of time, "but, uh, we don't really seem to be moving all that much."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Janus drawls, leaning against the wall next to Virgil and examining his fingernails, even though he's wearing gloves, "this is clearly the fastest elevator I've ever been on. Truly, I don't know how your ears haven't popped yet."

"Oh my god, will you shut up?"

"What was that, Virgil? Sorry, I can't hear you over how fast we're going."

"Guys," Logan interrupts, "enough. We just have to be patient."

          2. Anger

  "How in the hell did this elevator manage to break while we're on it?"

"This is ridiculous," Logan mutters, beginning to tap his fingers against his wrist, "do they not think people have places to be? How are we expected to make our appointments if we are stuck in this infuriatingly small metal box?"

"They really should pay more attention to them," Patton agrees, crossing his arms too, "after all, what if someone got really stuck in here? Or if it got caught between floors?"

"Not helping, Pop Star," Virgil growls, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

"Oh, sorry, kiddo."

"Well, clearly we have to recommend this place to everyone," Janus drawls, but a hint of steel undercuts the worst of the sarcasm, "for their stellar service and impeccable elevators."

Virgil grits his teeth and thunks his head back against the wall again. "I swear to god, I'm gonna punch our way out of here in a moment if this thing doesn't start fucking moving."

"You'll just hurt your hands, pry the doors open instead."

"Roman, no—"

Roman's fist slams into the wall with a thud. When he looks up, Patton makes a noise and takes step back.

"This elevator," he snarls, "better start fucking moving."

          3. Bargaining

  "What if I cut the cables?"

Patton yelps and Virgil swears as Remus drops down from the ceiling, looking far too eager and holding way too many tools. "Don't scare us like that, Remus?"

"And also don't kill us," Janus remarks, reaching out and grabbing his shoulder before he can get all the way to the control panel on the side, "we are still in the elevator."

"We can fix that!"

"For fuck's sake—no, Remus!"

"Language," Patton calls from where he's hiding behind Logan.

Virgil shoots forward to muscle Remus away from the elevator's control panel too, knocking some of the tools out of his arms and helping Janus hold him against the wall. "Stop it, Remus, you're scaring Patton."

"I should be scaring this elevator, but if the beast won't give up its guts, I'll eviscerate the monster!"

"It's an elevator, dude, calm down."

"I don't think asking Remus to calm down is going to work, Virge."

          4. Depression

  "What's the point," Roman groans, making everyone look around for him before realizing he's sitting on the floor, "what's the point in trying to ask him to calm down, what's the point of trying to get out of here? We're not going to make it in time, we're just going to be stuck in this elevator forever and we'll die of being stuck in a metal box."

"Roman," Logan says, surprisingly gently, "don't think like that, it's going to be alright."

"You said it yourself, Specs!" Roman throws his arms out. "We've already missed the bus by now, and the next one won't get us there in time. We missed it, it's over, we don't have another shot at it."

His face crumples miserably and Remus sags, letting Janus and Virgil wrestle the rest of his tools out of his grip before wriggling free of them himself. He scurries across the elevator to crouch next to Roman's side. Roman looks up with his eyes welling up with tears and Remus sits down, holding out his arms and letting his brother bury his face in the crook of his neck.

"Hey, Roro, it's gonna be okay," he murmurs, rubbing his back, "it's okay, Ro-Bro, it's okay."

"It's not," Roman sobs, "it's not okay! We worked so hard on this, Re, and now—and now—"

"Shh, shh, shh, it's okay, Roro, you're okay. I gotcha, okay? I'm right here."

The elevator fills with the soft sounds of Roman crying, even as he tries to bumble through apologies for being so emotional, or getting so upset, only for Remus to shush him and the others to follow suit.

"It's alright to be upset, Roman," Logan says softly, crouching by the two of them and reaching out to card his fingers through Roman's hair, "just give yourself a minute."

Roman sniffles and nuzzles against Remus's shoulder.

          5. Acceptance

  It takes Roman a little longer to compose himself, but Remus just holds him until he sags into his arms and bonks their heads together affectionately.

"You feeling a little better, Roro?"

"I mean," Roman sniffs, "not really, but I'm not going to cry anymore."

He looks up at the others, at their concerned faces and small smiles, and he sighs.

"Guess we're just stuck in here until someone comes to get us, right?"

Virgil slumps down in the opposite corner, an odd mish-mash of limbs and hoodie as he toys with the strings. "Yep. Guess so."

Janus sighs dramatically—which is saying something, seeing as both Creativity Brothers look at him as though they think he's being excessive—and slinks to the floor in a way that would make most animated Disney villains jealous. He props one knee up and flounces against the railing, looking every bit the inconvenienced overlord until Remus reaches out and pokes him in the ribs. Then he hisses and curls up into a more normal seated position and Remus cackles.

"Well, we might as well get comfy," Patton says, sitting down too, "who knows how long we're gonna be in here?"

"Until someone else notices the elevator is broken, I guess."

"We should play a game!"

"No," Janus groans, "no games."

"Ooh, what about Find The Organ?"

"No, Remus."

"I don't think I know that one, what's—" Patton squeaks as his hand claps itself over his mouth.

"I'm saving you from a far worse fate," Janus says gravely, with a look of utmost sincerity and honesty on his face, "trust me."

          +1. Realization

  Logan's deep sigh from the other side of the elevator draws their attention. Roman frowns as he sees Logan take off his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Logan? You okay?"

"What's up, L," Virgil asks too when Logan doesn't respond, "is something wrong?"

Logan still doesn't say anything. After another moment of the others trying to figure out what's got him so upset, he replaces his glasses with a forced calm and reaches out.

The button glows.

The elevator rumbles and lurches into motion.

"Whoa, Logan!" Patton scrambles to his feet. "You fixed it!"

"Wait, wait, what?" Remus gets up too. "How did you do that?"

"He's Logan," Janus says, getting up as though it was his idea to sit down in the first place, which it was, but out of necessity, not choice, "are you surprised?"

Virgil narrows his eyes at Logan's back for a moment before he bursts out laughing. "Wait, did no one push the button when we got in?"

Logan's silence is telling.

"Oh my god—"

"What the fuck—"

"How the hell did no one—"

"Remus!"

"What did I do?"

The elevator carries its passengers down to the lobby, rumbling and whirring all the way.

General Taglist: @frxgprince@potereregina@gattonero17@iamhereforthegayshit@thefingergunsgirl@awkwardandanxiousfander@creative-lampd-liberties@djpurple3@winterswrandomness@sanders-sides-uncorrect-quotes@iminyourfandom@bullet-tothefeels@full-of-roman-angst-trash  @ask-elsalvador @ramdomthingsfrommymind@demoniccheese83@pattonsandershugs @el-does-photography @princeanxious@firefinch-ember@fandomssaremysoul@im-an-anxious-wreck@crazy-multifandomfangirl @punk-academian-witch@enby-ralsei@unicornssunflowersandstuff@wildhorsewolf @thetruthaboutthesun @stubbornness-and-spite @princedarkandstormv  @your-local-fookin-deadmeme @angels-and-dreams@averykedavra @a-ghostlight-for-roman @treasurechestininterweb @cricketanne @queerly-fluid-fan @compactdiscdraws@cecil-but-gayer@i-am-overly-complicated@annytheseal@alias290@tranquil-space-ninja @arxticandy @mychemically-imbalanced-romance@whyiask@crows-ace @emilythezeldafan@frida0043 @ieatspinalcords @snowyfires@cyanide-violence@oonagh2@xxpanic-at-the-everywherexx@rabbitsartcorner @percy-07734@triflingassailantofmyemotions @virgil-sanders-the-gay-emo@cerulean-watermelon@puffed-up-bees@meltheromanstan@joyrose-fandomer@insanitori@mavenmush@justablah65@10paradox10@uhhh-hi-there-i-am-nervous@cutebisexualmess@bella-bugatti-frogetti-baguetti@ultrageekygirl

#dragonbabbles #sanders sides #roman sanders #remus sanders #sympathetic remus #janus sanders #deceit sanders #sympathetic deceit #patton sanders #logan sanders #viirgil sanders #fic

[dominustempori]

SPOILER ALERT FOR THE GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE TRAILER!! (long post, fyi)

Alright Ghostheads, I'm writing all this down now, so I won't forget all these thoughts and observations I'm having JUST a few hours after this awesome teaser for the "Afterlife sequel" has dropped.

I'm sure I'm missing some bits here, so comments are duly welcome, just don't go all negative energy on me =)

Definitely felt a similar vibe to when the first trailer for "Afterlife" came out like 2 years ago now. Normal summer day, good background music, then...sh*t happens. Even worse than that burst of PK energy from the mine shaft. And yeah, I saw bits of "Day After Tomorrow," I'd be lying if I didn't get JUST a little hint of that, but only because, you know, massive storm system overwhelming the south shore of Manhattan. But anyway.

2. I SWEAR that one building shot from the side is 55 Central Park West, aka Spook Central. Probably not significant plot wise this time, just a nod to the original movie. And considering I toured some of the filming sites on my trip to NYC this past summer, SURE looks like it!

3. Deadly icicles ripping up the streets? Like the earthquake tearing up the asphalt in the original movie only BETTER!

4. The discourse is already happening about details...I know some people like Ecto 1-A from GB2, and some fans are still angry about "they ignored it in Afterlife! It's so canon! WTF Jason Reitman?" Yeah...missing the point? [They're not DELIBERATELY ignoring GB2! I LIKED GB2! A lot! Not perfect but still I LIKE IT! Probably a lot more than other fans! The film only had so much time to focus on the past to keep the story moving, so only put in so much of the lore to help a new audience along. That's my theory I'm sticking to it.]

ANYWAY...yes the car IS the original Ecto 1, NOT the 1-A (which was WAY too busy for its own good, just sayin'). I saw the plate on a freeze frame, it's Ecto 1, the original.

5. Enter the exposition cut scenes. or whatever you want to call them. Swear to God that Patton Oswalt, Kumail Nanjiani, Dan, McKenna, and Logan are NOT at Ray's Occult Books...I mean come on look at those glass cases! It's GOTTA be the NY Public Library (throwback!) Patton's character is most likely a staff member, probably a librarian (related to Alice? God I hope so!) [GBs do their research yo! If that's one thing I love about the IDW comics, is how Ray and Egon and Kylie RESEARCH.]

That one bit with the frozen dude with the eyepatch? Looks like a flashback. Like, maybe Manhattan in the...late 1800s? Recurring hauntings is def a thing in the GB universe. Another secret society? Which, yeah, they did to death (sorry) with the Gozer thing, especially in the video game.

6. Liking all the concerned closeups. Paul Rudd still looking good, and I REALLY hope Carrie Coon as Callie has full on dropped the baggage about not having her Dad in her life. Well, mostly. Turned me off from her QUITE a bit in Afterlife, but that's just me. Finn's hair lookin' good short, love how McKenna still rocks the OshKosh look, and Logan with the retro vibe.

7. James Acaster HAS TO BE an adult Oscar. I WILL fight people on this =) Not Louis' kid, not Janine's... (well, maybe?) Peter and Dana are OFFICIALLY still a couple, what's to stop Peter from adopting the boy he saved in GB2? Or at least, maybe they have their own kid later on...? Damn I hope he's Oscar. I mean come on, this is still "Ghostbusters: the Next Generation" in my mind.

8. HAUNTED LION STATUE!!! (Yeah, that's right from Real Ghostbusters...kinda) It's the Library! And on another freeze frame...it's going after Ray (GASP!) That little elevator? Maybe they're going to...Special Collections? Remember the video game? Maybe? Squee?

9. DUDE, it's attacking GBHQ! Blew the freakin' doors off! It's gonna...NO NOT LUCKY! Dude she (they?) is getting the short end of the stick again...first she gets possessed by Zuul and now...please don't kill off Lucky, Gil! Also OGBs FTW!!! yeah Winston! bad ass mf as always! And man does Pete look proper scared. Go Bill Murray!

10. I'm presuming that the big bad/entity was originally trapped and stored in the ECU, hence the blinking red light in the post credits scene from Afterlife. And it's whatever's pushing out the cinder blocks this time around...and freezing Lucky in the basement of HQ? And it's the...thing pushing its demon horns in...(so far others are calling it a minotaur - totally NOT. this guy is so reaching, i mean an old obscure RGB comic reference from a wiki page? dude, just...no. a cross between a White Walker and Slenderman? yeah THOSE I get. I'm personally thinking some ancient demon from a summoning gone wrong...or maybe right in this case.) any case, DUDE with those icy blue staring eyes and 20 feet tall...f*ck yeah.

11. Also F*CK yeah Paul and Carrie in the jumpsuits! YES!!!

12. Alright, I can sort of buy a hidden room in Kumail's character's (presumably?) apartment, secret door at the back of a kitchen pantry with some pretty lead/silver tiling...but, what's with the horn? (SUMMONING HORN! Read the Bartimaeus Trilogy people!) and the shackles? the bells? well, yeah noise to drive away evil spirits...or not? again... SECRET SOCIETY! Or maybe Lucky and Trevor have their own place now? Nah, maybe not...wait and see I guess.

13. Dude...Paul Rudd is TALL, boy! Would like to see if they've actually gone and married...or, too soon? Nah, romantic/life partners is good.

14. I WANT THAT RED WINTER JACKET WITH THE PATCH! SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!

15. Also, Paul's reaction...SO my own after watching this. He is still fanboy-ing out and I LOVE IT.

Holy hell that was a long post. First genuine reactions on the day. Online journaling. All good.

OK peeps, let me have it. What are y'all thinking?

Until March 29!

#ghostbusters #ghostbusters frozen empire #frozen empire #ghostbusters afterlife #carrie coon #paul rudd #mckenna grace #logan kim #kumail nanjiani #patton oswalt #james acaster #original ghostbusters #Youtube #fin wolfhard

[brandstifter-sys]

Patton sees all the sides as kiddos—except for Janus.

Think about it. Even when he's being cute and goofy he uses a fatherly tone. His praise, his sympathy, his reprimands, and his jokes all tend to come off as coming from someone in a place of authority looking to be a guide and support.

He absolutely babies Virgil. He's happy to praise his little Princey and give him emotional and moral support. He purposefully dumbs himself down so Logan can be the smart one™ and praises him so he knows he's loved and appreciated. He also irks them all with dad jokes and puns.

Remus is like that one neighbor kid looking for trouble and no matter what he tries, Patton cannot father his way through this one.

There is only one moment in the series so far that shows Patton's mask dropping in front of his kiddos. Moving On. He doesn't completely drop the dad persona, but his tone slips and he admits he feels bad.

And then there's PoF. He is a broken frog man. He asks Janus if he's redeemable. He doesn't speak with any hint of authority or false cheer. He's vulnerable.

And then there's the very end where the two of them are watching Thomas and his friends. Janus bitterly and sarcastically says he was wrong about everything. Patton says "You know that's not true" in response. He is gentle and soft, but he isn't putting any authority behind it, no dad persona, just Patton being honest.

Tl;dr: Patton doesn't talk to Janus in a fatherly manner, unlike the others and Thomas.

#sanders sides #patton sanders #janus sanders #moceit #but not necessarily

[frickerdoodledoo]

Soooo... guess who got really nostolgic while having a cold and binge-watched all of Sanders Sides again after almost a year?

For the last few days I have been sucked down a rabbit-hole of Fandercontent, and let me just say... while this fandom is so creative, there are just a few things I wish people utilized more in fics, you know?

(Disclaimer, I live on angst and the Dark Sides are my three favourite characters, so most of these are about both of those subjects. Also not a huge fan of non-mindscape au's, so these are all about canon-adjacent fanfiction. My only AU is Sympathetic Dark Sides where they all coexist. Yes, even Remus.)

First and foremost, and this is what inspired this post until I found more things after, why do I see so few fics that include Virgil's Dark Side Voice™? It happens whenever he get's too stressed in canon, and from how he reacts whenever it happens, it seems to be a bit of an insecurity for him. Why aren't angst authors jumping on that?

Guys. We... we all saw the end-card of Flirt or Flight, right? How come so few do anything regarding Virgil's colour-changing eyeshadow? It's adorable, it's gorgeous, talk about it, please!

When Janus takes off the gloves in order to show himself to be truthful about his name... why??? He did that for a reason. If it was just about the typical "Cross my heart" pose, there was nothing stopping him from leaving on the gloves unless their was a reason to take them off! Theorize, go nuts! (I personally believe that his scales fluctuate in their coverage of his skin, and his hands being completely human shows that he's being honest. He wears gloves to make his lies less obvious.)

And on the subject of Janus' lies, has anybody else realized that for the embodiment of Thomas' Deceitfulness... he's actually kind of a terrible liar? While disguised as other sides, he always drops some pretty obvious hints that he's not the real Patton or Logan. And whenever he does his whole "speaking in lies" thing, he has this tone about him that makes it clear to... almost everyone, (Cough cough except Roman apparently), that he's lying, or atleast just being sarcastic?

In the Five Year Anniversary special, Virgil, Remus, and Janus refer to themselves as the Cousin, Uncle, and Aunt respectively. And I know that there actually is a fair amount of content about the Dark Sides being a seperate but related family, but I just feel like not many people talk about the low-key confirmation of that as a reality, ya know?

More.👏 Protective.👏 Dark Sides.👏 They've known eachother for so long, no matter how close the whole family is, Virgil, Remus and Janus would naturally know eachother better than any of the others.

If we are to assume that Janus even just unstably co-exists with the Light Sides, (like pre-redemption Virgil), post-Redux, but Remus doesn't... Well, that's the third person that Remus actually has a connection to that just... left him. First Roman, then Virgil, now Janus. (I personally believe that the Orange side will just be an Unsympathetic Dick, so he doesn't count, but that's just me.)

I am a "Former Paranoia Virgil" Truther, as are many others in the fandom. However, something I wish I saw more of is others not catching themselves when calling Virgil paranoid. Even better, the Dark Sides not realising how much thinking of that part of his past affects him, thinking nothing of it and then feeling really guilty.

And that's all the canon-supported stuff, but just... one last thing. Consider the following:

The Orange Side is a relatively new "Relevant" or "Consious" Side, his existance only needed when suddenly there were only two Dark Sides and still three Light Sides

Janus is Patton's foil because he represents an "immoral" side to Thomas, and Remus is Roman's foil as a flip-side to one, single concept. Virgil used to be Logan's foil before his redemption, because senseless overthinking and paranoia defies logic.

This need for a foil doesn't apply to Virgil, because he is no longer a Dark Side, but he isn't really a Light Side either. A Grey Side, if you will.

Virgil encompasses both the good and bad aspects of Anxiety, and is even capable of representing more of an excitement or sense of anticipation, hence the purple eyeshadow seen in Fight or Flirt. He is his own foil in the same way that Roman and Remus are eachother's. They're the good and bad of creativity, Virgil is the good and bad of anxiety.

I am most likely not the first person to come up with this, but this is just my specific take.

Anyway, I am probably going to go write atleast half of these prompts myself, so if any of these concepts interest you... maybe stick around?

#sanders sides #dark sides #fanfic ideas #virgil sanders #janus sanders #remus sanders #idk just a thought #fine ill do it myself #sympathetic remus #sympathetic deceit #sympathetic dark sides

[lovelylogans]

the parent trap

CHAPTER TWENTY: the queen elizabeth the second the second

The twins attempt to revive the past. The parents wish to change it

⁂

Patton watches, amused, as Remus looks in the mirrored wall of the elevator, stick his hands into his hair, and deliberately mess it up.

“Kiddo,” Patton says, his voice coming out a touch too wheedling for a father speaking to his eleven-year-old. “Not even a little hint about where we’re going?”

“Nope!” Remus says in delight, shaking out his hair like a dog, and Patton stifles the urge to reach out and even out the collars of his shirt; one poking up, one tucked inside his jacket.

Knowing Remus, that’s an intentional part of the whole ensemble. He’s wearing a almost chromatically green silk shirt with some kind of rippling design reminiscent of tie-dye. He’s paired it with his little leather jacket and a black pair of dress pants, and also his lime green Converse. Patton supposes you can’t win it all—mostly formal is still a major win in the books in terms of the Remus outfit appropriateness for the occasion meter.

“Not even after I point out how many surprises I’ve had today?”

“Nuh-uh,” Remus says, licking the palm of his hand and running it along the back of his head to make his cowlicks stick up even more than they already do. “You’ll love it, Pa, trust me.”

“You understand why that makes me nervous,” Patton says. The elevator comes to a stop, and Remus skips out of the elevator.

“Hey,” Patton calls, hurrying after him. “you get why that makes me nervous, right?!”

“C’mon, Pops!”

Patton follows Remus out of the front door of the hotel, where Remus has paused. Then Remus grabs his hand and starts hauling him toward—

“We’re going in a limo?!” Patton says, shocked.

“Apparently.”

Patton turns to see the voice, and nearly does a double-take.

Janus is devastatingly handsome. 

He’s wearing a pair of elegant earrings, dangling circular diamonds surrounded by gold, cascading down like clusters of grapes ripe for the picking. 

He wears no necklace to match them, which only serves to accentuate his long, graceful neck, his collarbones and shoulders, which are bare to the evening air—the neckline is straight across, perhaps an inch or two below those very collarbones Patton had once pressed kisses to, with only a pair of little straps to show that the shirt is clinging to him via some means other than magic or the sheer, brute strength of Janus’s strikingly good looks.

His pants are tailored, fitting well—Patton absolutely refuses to gawk at him for any longer—and he completes the look with a little clutch he’s holding tightly in one hands, a checkerboard black-and-white shawl he’s somehow managing to keep up with his elbows. Patton would’ve dropped it five time already, but Janus, as always, makes it all look so effortless.

Patton had almost hoped that ability of his had faded through the years, or perhaps quelled itself in the face of Patton being engaged to another man.

“Hello, Papa,” his other son says.

“Hey there, Rome,” Patton says, trying his best to snap out of it, Parker, by wrapping an arm around Roman’s shoulders and tugging him into his side, lest he mess up Roman’s hair, which looks very particularly coiffed. “You look great, sweetheart!”

He’s dressed in a much more classic suit style than Remus—white shirt, red tie, suit with a red pocket square folded carefully, and Oxford shoes. Patton does spy a little peek of bold red patterned socks, though. So he is still an eleven-year-old boy putting some fun in his outfit.

“So, erm…” Janus leans in, rising up on his tip-toes slightly to whisper in Patton’s ear. And there it is, that smell, that intoxicating smell that’s haunted Patton for years: freesia, sandalwood, sage. “Do you have any idea where they’re taking us?”

“Not a clue,” Patton murmurs back.

Janus pulls back with a sigh, tapping his clutch against his hand. “Right.”

Patton clears his throat, stepping forward and opening the limo door.

“Gentlemen,” he says to his sons and ex-husband, “after you.”

⁂

“Where are we?” Janus asks, even as Patton hustles around the car to open the door for him.

Patton offers a hand. Janus, almost like he can somehow not think anything of it, clasps Patton’s hand in his own, pulling himself to stand.

Janus’s hand meets his own, and suddenly it’s years ago, and they were giddy with new, young love, and yet at the same time they’re older, father to twins, and Patton’s calloused hand is holding Janus’s smooth one and once they were married and he had been allowed to hold Janus’s hand like this all the time and how sweet it had been then, how bittersweet it is now—

And Janus lets go, and Patton swallows, returning his hand to his own side

“Boys,” Patton says, “I don’t really see a restaurant here… is this where we’re eating?”

“No, actually,” Remus says, grinning brightly, and he points across the water.

Where a yacht is waiting.

Patton’s starting to have a very nervous feeling about this.

“That’s where we’re eating.”

And so Janus and Patton are promptly hustled down the dock to a small speedboat that carries them the short distance across the water to the boat.

Yes. They are boarding the boat. He’s once again boarding a boat with the man who had once been his husband. Who he’d met on a different, very large boat. This is somehow real.

“So,” Janus says, with a wry twist to his mouth as they ascend the stairs. “How exactly are we paying for this?”

“We’ve pooled our allowances.”

“Remus,” Janus scolds.

“All right,” Roman cracks first. “Grandfather chipped in a bit.”

“Roman!” Patton exclaims.

“Okay, he chipped in a lot,” Remus says with a laugh, before he speeds ahead of them all. “C’mon, you guys are gonna love it!”

Roman gently nudges past them to join his brother, before they both turn to face them with a choreographed flourish.

“Patton,” Roman says.

“—and Janus,” Remus says. Patton is slightly cheered that the oddity of being called his first name by his child is not only strange to him. “Your dinner—”

“—awaits,” Roman says, and together, they pull open the door to reveal the boat’s interior.

There’s a rear wall, painted blue, with several nautical-themed paintings along the wall, but the real star is directly in front of them: they’re near a massive window open to the outdoors, which means the boat is practically open to the bay all lit up, the city lights glinting off of the water.

“Boys,” Patton says, slightly choked up.

It’s beautiful. Dark woods and white tablecloths and blue accents, candles flickering in spare corners to provide the whole area with a soft, warm glow; the windows to the interior are lined with heavy-looking blue velvet curtains, which look comfortable to the touch.

Janus clears his throat. “The table’s only set for two.”

Patton blinks at him, then looks down at the table.

Yes. He’s right. There’s a floral arrangement of roses in the middle of the table, two tall candles on either side, two empty, silver plates with silverware, napkins folded into little boats, and two chairs, made from the same dark wood as the rest of the place.

“Oh,” Remus says, sounding like he’s barely quashing his laughter. “That’s the other part of the surprise. We’re not joining you!”

“You’re not?” Patton says.

“No,” a familiar voice says, “but I am.”

And then, clad entirely in white, one of Patton’s most favorite faces rounds the corner.

“Good evening, I’m Virgil, and I’ll be your sommelier this evening.”

“And I am Logan,” Janus’s cousin says, rounding the corner, in matching naval whites with Virgil. “Your chef.”

“May I offer you both a glass of the bubbly, in the hopes that you will perhaps not yell at us for following the orders of these particularly brazen eleven-year-old boys?” Virgil says, presenting a bottle to Patton in a well-practiced gesture.

Patton’s about to speak, but Virgil taps at the label. Which makes Patton inadvertently read it.

A 1988 Ruinart. Oh, Virgil knows Patton’s wanted to try a Ruinart from 1988 practically the moment since the champagne had been bottled, darn him. Buttery and hazelnutty, with a hint of honeyed lemon at the finish, or so he’s heard—and the cool spring and sunny summer meant an excellent harvest that year, it’s meant to be divine.

Patton wavers, looking from the bottle, to Janus, back to Virgil and Logan.

“It is rather sweet,” Patton admits in a quiet voice.

“Oh!” Remus cries out, and they all turn to face him. “We forgot the mood music! Roman, hit it!”

“Just relax,” Roman says as he clambers for a remote, “Sail through time… back to yesteryear…”

He hits the play button as both twins depart behind closed doors.

I love you for sentimental reasons… I hope you do believe me…

And Patton’s eyes at last fix onto one more decoration.

A life preserver, painted with familiar eleven-year-old handwriting.

Queen Elizabeth II ♥ 1986 ♥

“They’re recreating the night we met,” Patton says. “The boat, the music…”

“Yes, I’d gathered that,” Janus says dryly. “Virgil? I’ll have that drink now, if you don’t mind.”

Virgil pours two flutes of champagne with a practiced hand, setting the bottle in an ice bucket before he ferries them over.

Then he and Logan bow out.

And Janus and Patton are alone.

Truly alone.

Well. As alone as you could get, Patton thinks as he spies two identical heads peeping through the door’s port windows, on a ship like this.

But then, he and Janus had made that work quite a bit to their advantage over a decade ago.

“Now I know how a goldfish feels,” Patton murmurs, tilting his head in the boys’ direction.

Janus turns and offers a truly impressive Paternal Look Of Scolding. The twins both hastily duck.

Patton clears his throat, gesturing to the vantage point that looks out over the bay, a little further away from everyone else’s viewing stations, and Janus seems to understand his gist. They step away together. 

“You know, I haven’t been on a boat since the QE2.”

“No, nor have I,” Janus agrees, then looks down at the champagne glass. “Erm. Well, here’s to…”

“Our sons.”

Janus looks at him. His eyes, in the low light of the candles, the distant city lights, the shimmering reflections of the water, are all tourmaline: inviting, captivating, glittering, but inscrutable to him.

“Our sons,” he agrees softly, and gently clinks his champagne flute to Patton’s.

Patton chances another look to the windows; empty. So either they’re alone, or the twins are crouched somewhere out of sight with their ears pressed against the door.

“You know,” Patton says, quietly. “If you don’t mind—now that we’re alone—I wondered if…”

Patton gathers his nerve. 

“I may never be alone with you again,” Patton starts over. “So… only if you’re comfortable—can we… talk? About us? Those few weeks feel so hazy to me now. It ended so fast.”

Janus smiles, a bitter little thing. “It started so fast.”

“Oh,” Patton says, quiet. “That part isn't hazy to me at all. I remember that bit perfectly.”

Janus smiles, sipping his champagne.

⁂

“Seems like it’s going well out there.”

“Yes, it rather does.”

“Feels a bit silly for us to be spying on them in the same way as the kids.”

“...yes, it rather does.”

“Guess we should probably occupy ourselves with the next course. Um. What is it?”

“Oh! It’s a vichyssoise. Potato and leek soup.”

“Huh! Sounds good.”

“I can ladle you a sample, if you’d like. Certainly the boys don’t seem too inclined to it—what are they doing out there?”

“Playing poker, I bet.”

“Oh, goodness. Yours is a poker fiend as well?”

“Oh yeah. He’s banned from playing with customers, he swindled someone out of almost a hundred bucks once.”

“Goodness!”

“Yours?”

“Oh, yes. Him and my Uncle—Janus’s father—if you walk into the study while they’re together, they’re almost assuredly playing. Here you are.”

“Oh—thanks… hey, that’s really good!”

“Thank you.”

“Do you like to cook?”

“I do. Most people wouldn’t expect it, but I’ve always rather enjoyed chemistry. It’s simply a different application.”

“Applications of chemistry…?”

“...yes…”

“...maybe I should, um. Check the wine stores.”

“Oh—yes. That’s probably a good use of time. I’ll… go serve.”

“Right.”

“Right.”

“...”

“...”

“...after you. It’s, um. It’s a bit of a squeeze in here, isn’t it?”

“Quite right! Yes. Erm—I’ll just… go—! Oh, I hope I didn’t step on your foot just now!”

“Oh, no, you’re—you’re fine. Ah, sorry I grabbed you—”

“Quite all right. I fear I might’ve fallen. Ah. If you’ll…”

“Right, yeah! Yeah. Letting go now. Um. Good luck with the soup.”

“And good luck with the wine.”

⁂

Patton’s almost better than he remembers.

Which is, Janus thinks, absolutely disastrous news for him.

“So,” Janus says, fishing for a change of subject. “You seem to have done well for yourself, haven’t you?”

Patton shrugs, all bashful and unintentional charm.

“Your own vineyard—that old dream of yours actually came true.”

“Well, yours too,” Patton says. Still uncomfortable with too much of the attention on you, I see. “You were always drawing on napkins and corners of newspapers, and now you’re this major designer. Vogue! You were always reading that, and now you’re in it!”

Janus cannot help but grin at the memory.

“We both actually got where we wanted to go.”

“Yeah,” Patton says. “We did.”

“And I thought I’d never see you again,” Patton says, very quiet.

“Isn’t that part of it?” Janus says bitterly. “Never seeing each other again. Is that part of why we’ve let things lie the way they have, for so long?”

“Not we, Janus,” Patton says.

Janus sighs, reaching for the champagne, wishing it was a pack of Parliaments. “Well, you know, that part’s become hazy to me too, over the years.”

“You don’t remember the day you packed?”

“Oh, no, I remember that perfectly,” Janus says with a cringe. “Did I end up hurting you when I threw that…?”

“The hairdryer?” Patton says and, lucky Janus, his voice is all wry amusement now. “Not enough to leave a mark that’s lasted this long.”

“Right,” Janus says. “Erm—sorry. That was… rather too far of me.”

Patton swallows, suddenly very preoccupied with fiddling with the place setting.

“So,” Patton says, voice very soft. “That day… why’d you go?”

“Oh, Patton,” Janus sighs. “We were both so young, I had such a temper… we said stupid things, and I packed. Got on my very first plane and…”

Janus looks down at the champagne, swilling it about the glass. It’s a lovely color, a soft flaxen yellow, and the combination of bubbles and the cut of the glass catch the light in a very interesting way.

It’s an easier thing to focus on than to look Patton in the eye while he admits this old heartbreak. A ridiculous one, to be sure, but one that he still holds, cradled deep in his heart and undisclosed to anyone.  

“You didn’t come after me.”

He takes a sip of the champagne, attempting to seem unaffected as he looks up. 

Patton looks stricken. It’s as if someone has stolen the residual joy that seems to sit everpresent upon Patton’s face, from the crinkles that are starting to form at the corners of his eyes to his resting, generally pleasant expression.

It’s as if Janus has stolen all the joy from his face, Janus corrects himself grimly. It is Janus who has put this suspicious shine in his eyes and the way his fists are clutching, uncertain, at his once elaborately-folded napkin.

“I didn’t know you wanted me to.”

The words are barely a whisper.

“I suppose it doesn’t matter anymore now—it’s all done with.” Janus clears his throat. “Anyway—what are we going to do about the boys?”

“I want to be in Roman’s life,” Patton says immediately, then he clears his throat, rubbing a finger under an eye. 

“And I want to be in Remus’s,” Janus says. “We’re in total agreement on that.”

“Good,” Patton says, looking relieved. “And the boys—they’ve met, the court can’t keep them apart after all this, can they?”

“I’d certainly hope not,” Janus says, frowning. 

They both fall briefly quiet as Logan serves them a vichyssoise.

“I’ve never been sold on that judge of yours,” Logan says, with a scowl on his face. “Psychologists say that separating siblings, in the short term, cause stress and greater potential for sadness and loneliness. In the long-term, it could cause traumatic effects—there was recently a study revealed that intentionally separated twins and triplets into adoptive families without disclosing to those families or the children until they reached their adult lives.” 

“Was there?” Patton says, startled. 

“Oh, yes. It’s an ongoing conversation—especially concerning the ethics and potential coercion.”

“I’ll take your word for it—I’m not exactly the bookish type,” Patton says, with a little self-deprecating laugh. “Goodness, how awful for those poor people. But—but if all the common ideas now say so, then they’ve got to agree to a reworking of the custody arrangement, don’t they?”

“It’d be madness if they didn’t—ongoing psychological trauma!” Janus says. “We’d contest it, of course.”

“Of course!” Patton says. 

“What was the name of that lawyer we used last time? If he’s still in practice, we may as well get someone familiar with the case.”

“Remy,” Patton says. “Erm—Remy… gosh, how do you spell his last name. It was really long, I remember that. Remy… Zatawski? Zawikowski?”

It takes the rest of the soup course for them to remember that his last name is Zawistowski, and even then it’s because at last Logan takes pity on them and goes looking for a phone book that, fortunately, has his law firm listed.

“He’s probably not in the office right now,” Patton points out.

“Sure,” Janus says. “But we can call and leave him a message, can’t we? Here—you should probably leave your number for him. International calling’s hell on the phone bill.”

They both pause.

“How much international calling do you think the boys have done in the last month?”

Janus sighs, pressing his palm to his forehead in an attempt to stave off an upcoming headache. “I’m sure we don’t want to know.”

“Probably,” Patton agrees. “All right, here goes.”

He dials in, putting the phone on speaker. Sure enough, they hit an answering machine.

It beeps.

“Hi,” Patton begins. “This is Patton Parker, myself and my—my ex-husband were clients of yours about eleven years ago? Janus James, there was the matter of international custody—”

Janus figures their case is probably fairly unique.

“Anyway, we’ve recently had a meeting and we’ve decided we’d like to rearrange our custody agreement. Let us know if you’re capable of taking our case back on again, or if you have any recommendations for us. Thanks so much for your time. Oh, I should leave my phone number so you can reach me—”

Janus absolutely tries his best not to memorize the digits that Patton reels off in an exceedingly well-practiced way, but, well, he says the phone number three times, and what if Janus has to call him in the future regarding the children? No, knowing his phone number is for the best in the long run, surely.

Janus figures that will be the end of it.

And it is, until they reach the end of the entrée—they’ve mostly chatted about the children, though there were a couple momentary side-tangents into their respective businesses these days—when a splitting beeping echoes through the air.

Patton blinks at him, but he returns his hand to his pocket.

“That’s my phone,” he says uncertainly.

“Go on.” Janus says, gesturing with his fork.

He opens it, then puts it on speaker.

“Hello?”

“Hey—Patton Parker, great to hear your voice,” says that breezy New York accent, familiar even after over a decade apart and through a phone line. “I’m so happy you called me back, I’ve been trying to get in touch with you for ages, I think you changed your number—listen, you still have time to get in on the suit—”

“Suit?” Patton says, blinking. “Sorry, what suit?”

“The lawsuit,” Remy says.

“I… don’t know about any lawsuit,” Patton says. “Janus, do you…?”

“Why would I know about some American lawsuit?” Janus says, as baffled as Patton.

“What lawsuit!?” Remy says. “Jeez, I really didn’t have the right contact information, did I? Look, there’s a whole situation—the same judge who presided over your case years ago, he’s getting sued.”

“What?!” Janus and Patton both say at the same time.

“Look—long story short—the floodgates have been opened on this guy ‘cause he way overshot his hand in regards to international custody, he’s getting sued for malfeasance, you two definitely have a case given how he’s divided up your boys, do you want in?”

“I—yes, of course,” Patton says, still perplexed.

“Are you telling me,” Janus says, incensed, “that this judge who repeatedly told us that this would be the best for the boys—”

“Didn’t know jack shit?” Remy says. “Yeah.”

And then the rest of the evening is lost entirely to details.

previous chapter | masterpost | next chapter

#my fic #my fanfic #tpt fic

[always-anxious612]

Close Calls Ch. 2

This is the last chapter of this but I may do more of this au in the future! Also please don't judge me for my accuracy lol. I only did surface-level research on wounds and infections :')

Description: The infection grows more serious, and Virgil has to drag Roman to the clinic before it gets any worse. Unfortunately, he doesn't quite succeed. In other words, Roman is stubborn, Virgil is tired, and everything goes wrong.

Genre: hurt/comfort

Pairings: Prinxiety, Logicality

Warnings: panic attack, injuries mentioned, infections, homophobia menntioned, crying (let me know if I missed something or if you want something tagged!)

Word Count: 5,360

Chapter 1

The next day, I woke up a bit late, and, after hurriedly getting ready, began my duties as usual hoping Logan wouldn’t notice I was late. Logan was already in the clinic, as always, but this time Lord Patton was there as well. Thankfully, his presence saved me from a lengthy lecture. Patton was a well-known Lord in the castle, famous for his kindness and friendliness. Plus, he and Roman were pretty close as far as I could tell. Well, as close as a visiting Lord and a prince who only saw each other in formal spaces could be, I guess. They seemed to get along well is what I’m trying to say. Everyone at the castle loved him, though to be honest. Recently, I’d noticed he’d been visiting the castle more frequently and staying for longer periods of time, making a point to visit the clinic and say hello when he did. It had gotten to the point where he insisted that I call him Patton and drop the formalities while we were in the clinic. Logan had seemed to drop the formalities with him long ago.

“Um, good morning, my Lord,” I greeted Patton, still not quite being able to break the habit quite yet and trying to run a hand through my hand to make my bedhead more presentable. What so sue me, I didn’t have time to fix it that morning. I’d been up all night worrying about a certain prince.

“Oh, hi, Virgil! Good morning!” Patton grinned brightly. Ugh, how did he have so much energy so early in the day. I’d never understand morning people.

“I told you to just call me Patton, kiddo. No need to be so formal,” he added, coming over to ruffle my hair. Welp, guess fixing it had been pointless. Sometimes, I wondered if he knew we were the same age or if he just called everyone kiddo. From what I knew of him it was probably the latter.

“Um, right, so uh, is everything ok?” I questioned, awkwardly clearing my throat. “I—I mean, you’re not sick or anything, right?”

Sure, he’d been showing up here for a while now on his visits, but it never hurt to make sure. This was a clinic after all.

“Oh, no, no,” Patton assured, walking back over to Logan. “Just checking up on my two favorite physicians!”

“I’m still a nurse, technically,” I reminded him, though I couldn’t help but relax at his friendliness.

“Oh, Virgil, I meant to tell you. Today, you have the day off,” Logan finally spoke up, looking up from the papers he had been flipping through on his desk. So much for worrying about being late…Wait what?

“The day off?” I blanched. “But you always say that a doctor’s work is never done.”

I truly couldn’t remember a single day off since I’d started working here unless it was for medical reasons—ironic really.

“Ah, yes, well, Patton has expressed an interest in my profession, and I thought I’d take today to teach him a few things,” Logan replied, blushing slightly. Strange, Logan didn’t blush very easily…. I glanced at Patton and raised an eyebrow, trying not to jump to conclusions. If Logan understood what I was hinting at, he promptly ignored me, and I squashed down the thought. It wasn’t my business anyway, especially considering my own circumstances.

“If an emergency arises, I shall send for you, but soon, I’ll be taking Patton on my rounds to teach him to deal with less, um, life-threatening injuries and illnesses. You’re welcome to stay in the clinic if you’d like, but in case you need to find me, my list of patients to visit for today will be on my desk,” he instructed, clearing his throat.

“Oh, um, ok,” I muttered, already inching toward the door, “See ya later then, I guess. Bye Lo. Uh, Patton,”

I nodded a goodbye to both of them and waited until Patton had smiled and waved cheerily and Logan just nodded back to make my escape. Well, this gave me a chance to check on Roman at least.

Once I got up the many stairs and reached Roman’s room, I took a minute to catch my breath and look around before knocking. You’d think I’d be more used to making that trip by now.

“Um, your highness?” I called when I received no answer to my knock, glancing around again, just to be sure. When I still received no answer, I decided it was safe to just go in. Maybe he didn’t hear me?

“Roman?” I called after I made sure the door was closed behind me. Roman was standing by his window, studying the lush gardens outside, but he made no move to greet me.

“Princey?” I tried again, growing more concerned by the minute.

“Oh, Virgil!” He finally exclaimed, turning around a bit unsteadily. Huh, well that didn’t seem good.

“Uh, hey there, Roman. You doing ok?” I asked, already trying to examine him. His forehead was slick with sweat, and—though it looked like he had tried to cover it with makeup—I could see how flushed he was from across the room.

“Yeah, Yeah, I’m perfectly ok, V,” he smiled, as I came closer. The closer I got the worse he looked. His eyes were glazed, and he looked a little out of it, constantly rubbing at his eyes. Plus, other than the badly concealed flush of his cheeks, he was concerningly pale.

“Really,” I deadpanned.

“Yes, really. You’re only a tad bit blurry!” he asserted before cursing as he realized he’d just given himself away, “It’s really not that bad. I’m fine.”

“Wha—Roman, that’s not fine,” I chastised, hurrying the rest of the way over to him as he blinked sluggishly. “Can you make it to your bed?” “No, because I do not need to be in my bed,” he waved me off nervously.

“Roman,” I growled, grabbing his arm.

“Truly, Virgil, I’m completely fine,” Roman insisted, pulling at my grip.

“Obviously,” I retorted when he failed to get his arm back, “Just drop the act so I can help you. I need to see exactly what’s going on.”

“No,” He snapped yanking away from me, “I said I’m fine. I-I have an important meeting with the council to attend about the raids. So, if you’re done, I need to be on my way. Good day, Virgil,”

“Don’t you dare, Roman,” I threatened as he made his way shakily to the door.

“Listen, just—just make an excuse. You’re the prince. I’m sure you can postpone the meeting.”

“It’s not my meeting. My father called it, and he’s expecting me. I’m very sorry, Virgil, but I have to go,”

Ah, so that’s how it was. If this involved his father, it was going to be a whole lot harder to convince him to skip.

Roman had made it into the hallway and halfway toward the staircase by the time I collected my thoughts and made it to the doorway. However, I didn’t miss the fact that he was hugging the wall the whole way there.

“Roman—er, your highness—” I cleared my throat, looking around quickly. It was strangely empty. Whatever, it would be a lot more trouble if I got caught with Roman looking like this than for not addressing him properly, so I pushed it to the back of my mind.  

“Roman, please. You can’t do this. You can barely stand up straight, much less last through a whole meeting,” I begged. Roman straightened slightly but otherwise kept walking making me tsk.

When he reached the staircase, he turned to glance at me before straightening once again and disappearing down the stairs. Groaning at his stubbornness, I hurried after him.

“Roman?” I called, getting worried when I turned the corner and didn’t see him. I made it a little over halfway down the winding staircase before finding Roman, leaning against the wall and panting. How the hell had he moved so fast and gotten so far ahead in this condition?

“Ro?” I asked hesitantly, eyes flicking over his slouched posture and glassy expression.

“May—Maybe I don’t feel so great,” He muttered before sliding unceremoniously down the wall.

“Princey,” I gasped, grabbing his arm and part of his shirt to keep him from toppling down the stairs.

“Hey, hey, Roman, are you ok?” I questioned, shifting to get a better hold on him and pinning him back against the wall. Roman mumbled a response too quiet to hear as his eyes fluttered.

“No no no no. Roman, stay awake, ok? Stay with me. We’re still on the staircase, I can’t get—I don’t—ugh, damn it, Roman. I’m not strong enough to carry you back up. Why didn’t you just listen to me,” I muttered, starting to panic.

It’s ok, it’s ok, I started coaching myself, taking deep breaths as I tried not to launch into a full-blown panic attack. just take a deep breath and think. It’s not that bad, I blatantly lied to myself, trying not to even entertain the thought of what would happen if someone chose this moment to walk down the staircase. I could do this, right? I could—I could at least get him to the clinic if not back to his room. That was better anyway. He needed medical care that wasn’t me, and besides, going downstairs would be easier than going up, right? At least that’s what I hoped…

I was wrong. Or maybe I wasn’t. Maybe this was easier than going upstairs, but if that were true, I dreaded to think how going upstairs would be. After I had convinced Roman to finally let me take him to the clinic—as if I was really giving him a choice this time or that he was alert enough to fight back anyway—I found myself carrying a delirious, semi-conscious Prince on my back. Unfortunately, no matter what direction you go, trying to navigate stairs with a whole person on your back is rather difficult.

“Remind me—to—to kill you—after I make sure—you’re ok,” I huffed, out of breath and already sweating. Roman didn’t reply, concerning me even more. How had he gotten so sick just overnight? It had to be the infection, right?

After what felt like ages, I reached the clinic and almost sagged in relief.

“Logan?” I gasped, kicking open the door. At this point, Roman was completely unresponsive and slack against me, making it even harder to keep him on my back. I quickly laid him on the clinic bed and frantically looked around for Logan before realizing he was probably already on his rounds.

“Are you kidding me,” I grumbled, going to grab a damp towel for Roman’s forehead. The whole point of risking bringing him here instead of to his room was that I didn’t know what to do.

Huffing, I gathered some bandages and supplies to check on Roman’s wound again. That’s really the only thing I could think of that could be causing this. Did the infection get worse? Just how bad? When I got the bandages from yesterday off, I hissed in sympathy. Just as I had feared, the infection was much worse. It—This whole thing was beginning to feel like my fault. If I’d done better cleaning and stitching it. If I’d noticed that he was developing a fever yesterday. If I’d convinced him to come to Logan. If—If…I took a deep breath, pushing away the thoughts to focus on what I should do now. My hands trembled as I began thoroughly cleaning and sterilizing the infected area. At least there were actual supplies in the clinic, I guess.

            After I cleaned it, I set to work quickly, gently rubbing some antibiotic cream over the infection and making sure the stitches were ok. I’d have to make sure to change his bandages more often and to keep it clean so this wouldn’t happen again or get any worse. Next, I grabbed a cup of water and some medicines that should help with both the fever and the infection. This was the only other thing I could think of doing. The infection didn’t seem severe enough to have to remove it surgically or anything, but I’d be sure to ask Logan when he came back. The thought of him seeing how horribly I’d messed this up made me sick to my stomach, especially when the prince was the patient; but I knew it would be much worse if I didn’t get his help.

Sighing, I brought the medicine over to Roman and sat on the edge of the bed

“Princey,” I whispered, nudging his arm. Roman groaned and groggily batted my hand away.

“Come on, Princey, I need you to take these,” I coaxed softly, ignoring his swat and shaking him again. This time, he managed to squint his eye open.

“Do wha’?” he slurred tiredly.

“Take these pills, Ro. They’ll help.”

“M-My father. I have to—” he remembered suddenly, trying to push himself up and ignoring the offered pills.

“No,” I responded curtly, pushing him back down gently, “Your father can wait. I’ll even help you make up an excuse. Or you know, I’ll have Logan write you a medical note to prove that you have a fever and are not fit for work today. You—You passed out, Roman, I think that warrants skipping the meeting. Lean back and take these. Please.”

Roman sighed heavily but did as he was told and took the pills and water from me. His easy compliance told me all I needed to know about how badly he must be feeling.

After he gulped down the rest of the water, he ended up passing out again, leaving me to sit and wait by myself. Logan’s rounds usually took about two and a half to three hours because of the amount of soldiers the castle housed. More soldiers meant more injuries to check up on, and on days were the infirmary wasn’t full, or when the clinic was slow, Logan took his time to personally visit and check on every one of them. That’s not even mentioning the other castle staff that he’d tend to when illness spread throughout the castle or the fact that he had earned the title of royal physician, meaning that he also took care of not only the royal family but also any visiting noble staying in the castle. Needless to say, he had a lot of patients, and though he had other physicians and nurses that would regularly come and help him, especially when there was an influx, he usually preferred to work alone when he could. Today, no one was scheduled to be in the clinic, and no one was in the infirmary, so I knew Logan would be taking his time. With Patton there, it would probably take him even longer. He loved any opportunity to teach.

Sighing once again, I went to stand to get some water for myself when something warm clamped around my wrist.

“Roman?” I questioned, turning to find his hand holding me back. “Is something wrong?”

He grunted softly before yanking me forward, almost causing me to trip onto him.

“Cuddle,” he mumbled before I could yell at him. I felt my face flush bright red at his request.

“R-Roman, you know we can’t,” I protested, trying to pull away.

“Virgil,” Roman pouted, gazing up at me blearily, “Please?”

“We’re—We’re not in your room, Ro. Someone could walk in.”

“Please?” he begged, already struggling to keep his eyes open. I bit my lip hesitantly. He didn’t look far from falling asleep again. Maybe I could just cuddle long enough to get him to sleep then slip out before anyone could see us. Besides, it wasn’t as if anybody but me and Logan usually came into the clinic when it was closed anyway, and Logan was out on his rounds.

“Fine,” I gave in reluctantly as Roman smiled victoriously and scooted over to make room for me.

I couldn’t help the contented sigh that escaped my lips once I was settled in his arms, making sure to be careful of his wound. It was just so warm and comforting, and the way he was playing with my hair…I absentmindedly snuggled into his chest and let the warmth numb my mind. I hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, worried about Roman—apparently for good reason. A quick nap wouldn’t hurt, right? Besides, I was sure Logan wouldn’t be back for at least a couple of hours, and he was always complaining about the dark circles under my eyes and telling me to get more sleep. He should be happy I’m finally taking his advice. Unfortunately, my brain was too tired and too content to remind me just how bad an idea it was to let my guard down out in the open like this. Roman’s now steady breaths lulled me deeper into comfort and I felt myself slipping. It was so warm. This is nice, my mind almost sighed as I slid into sleep with Roman’s arms still wrapped securely around me. I should really learn to listen to my instincts more…

I was pulled from that warmth a little bit later by a rough nudge to my arm. Thinking it must be Roman, I groaned and shoved the arm away. The nudging paused and I was about to go back to sleep when there was another nudge—softer this time—followed by a voice.

“Virgil, you should probably get up.”

Oh. That—That wasn’t Roman’s voice. In an instant I shot up, inhaling sharply as I saw Logan and Patton peering down at me. No, oh no, no no no, how could I have let this happen? I should have never fallen asleep. I always harped on Roman for doing things that could get us caught but this was all my fault. What should I do? What could I do? Both of them had always been kind to me, but there was no telling how they’d react to this. Were they going to be angry? Were they disgusted with me? Were—Were they going to report me? What about Roman? I couldn’t let anything happen to him because of my carelessness. As my thoughts swirled around me, it became harder to draw air into my lungs. Once I realized that I couldn’t breathe, my chest constricted, holding back more of my breath. If it tightened anymore, I feared it would be impossible to breath altogether, but I couldn’t seem to collect my thoughts enough to loosen the knot there. My hands shook as I hugged myself, willing my panicked thoughts to go away. Obviously, it didn’t work. I saw motion from the corner of my eye and realized Logan was talking to me. Had he been talking this whole time?

“Virgil,” he coached, “Virgil, do you think you can take a breath in? Follow my breathing, ok?” more movement, to my left this time, but I couldn’t bring myself to look up. I tried to follow along; I really did. But every breath hurt. Everything hurt. My throat was burning. My chest ached. My head pounded. And everything was going wrong. Everything that I feared was happening. We’d been discovered. I ruined it. We couldn’t—I couldn’t—we just…half formed thoughts plagued my mind and my breath hitched as I realized I was crying. Was I going to be executed for this? 

“Virgil, dearest. Look at me, my love,” a different voice spoke up this time, but there was only one person who called me dearest and my love. I felt a hand touch my cheek hesitantly, then gently tilt my face until I was face to face with Roman.

“I need you to breath with me, Virge,” he instructed, calmly. “In for four seconds. Hold for seven. Out for eight, remember? You can do it.”

As he counted out the seconds, he removed his hand from my face in order to take my hand and press it against his chest. I struggled to follow along at first, but he continued breathing deeply and counting the seconds until I could. With Roman’s reassurances and guidance, I slowly felt myself relaxing.

Once the world came into focus again and I could breathe regularly without feeling like I was dying, I took one more deep breath before slouching forward into Roman’s chest.

“It’s alright, V,” Roman soothed, carding his fingers through my hair. Except, it wasn’t ok. Logan and Patton saw us. They know. I couldn’t even bring myself to look up and see if they were still standing there or if they’d already gone to report us to the king. The silence in the room made me inclined to believe the latter. I loved Logan, but he was very strict with the rules. There’s no way he’d let something as big as this slide. I was just another nurse, right? Instead, I sniffled and buried myself further into Roman’s chest.

“Oh, your shirt,” I lamented shakily, brushing my fingers against the wet spot that now stained the expensive fabric.

“It’s nothing, stormcloud,” Roman hushed, pulling me closer. I felt more tears burn my eyes at the action.

“Sorry,” I whispered, feeling the weight of everything settle uncomfortably in my chest.

“You have nothing to apologize for, dearest,” Roman assured softly. Liar. How could he say that when I was the reason we’d never get to see each other again.

“Um, pardon me for interrupting, my prince, but I believe this tea may help Virgil,” Logan’s voice offered softly from behind me making me jump. He was still here? Wait, he didn’t sound angry or disgusted. “Ah, um, thank you,” Roman responded, accepting the tea.

Taking a steadying breath, I finally pushed myself away from Roman’s chest. Roman handed me the tea before placing his arms loosely around my waist. I looked at the tea then hesitantly back to Logan. Patton stood behind him, worry swimming in his eyes. What was going on exactly?

“The tea helps to calm the heart rate and I find it to be quite helpful when I’m feeling stressed,” Logan explained awkwardly when I didn’t make any move to drink it. Nodding warily, I took a sip, relishing the calming warmth that flooded me when I did.

“Um, I also would like to apologize, Virgil. I did not realize that waking you would cause such a reaction. I should have been more careful,” Logan continued after a short but tense silence. At his apology, I couldn’t take it anymore. Why wasn’t he freaking out?

“Aren’t—Aren’t you gonna say something? A-About this?” I stammered out, hating how raspy and shaky my voice sounded.

“What would you like me to say, Virgil?”

I blanched at him, then glanced back at Roman who looked equally confused as I felt.

“I—Aren’t you, d-disgusted or—or something?” I pressed incredulously.

“Why would I be disgusted?” Logan questioned, tilting his head. I mirrored his look of confusion before setting my tea down lest I spill it with how much I was still shaking.

“By—By us? Or—I mean—m-maybe not disgusted but, you know, this isn’t really…accepted. I-I mean don’t you think it’s—wrong or something? I mean we’re both—and on top of that, I’m just a—I—”

“Virgil,” Logan interrupted before I could work myself up too much, “I would never be disgusted by this. Any of it. By you both being of the same gender, or by you being from different social classes. I—You know that I’m your friend, right? And that I would never report you or anything? Even if I were against it, I couldn’t do that to you. I would never do that to you.”

At my shocked expression, Logan’s shoulders slumped.

“I take it you didn’t know any of that,” he sighed, looking even more miserable as I shook my head.

“I suppose that’s on me, then,” he frowned remorsefully.

“Lo,” I started, suddenly feeling guilty for ever doubting him. I never would have dreamed that he considered me a friend. I thought I was just another apprentice. He’s had plenty before me…

“No, no, I should have made it clear that I care for you,” Logan insisted. “Let me make it clear now.”

I shut my mouth and nodded for him to continue.

“Virgil, I have considered you a friend for a while now, and if you’d like, I’d still like to consider you one,”—he paused and I nodded frantically at the offer before he smiled and continued—“I care for you and your well-being very much, and I would never wish harm on you. I have no intention of ever reporting you as long as the current king is in rule. His methods and punishments tend to be a little cruel, and I never want to see you hurt. Nor will I report you for something that shouldn’t even be considered a crime. If Prince Roman is the one you love and you are the one he loves, then I support you fully. You cannot help who you fall in love with. If it is mutual and consenting, then there shouldn’t be a problem, social class or gender be damned.”

“That’s right, kiddo,” Patton spoke up stepping forward, startling me. I’d kind of forgotten he was there. I was really not on my game with being vigilant today.

“I won’t report you either. It’d be a little hypocritical of me if I did,” He smiled, shooting a quick glance to Logan. I wanted to ask him to elaborate on that last part but decided against it. I was pretty sure I got the hint, and again, it wasn’t really my business anyway.

“And I know that I haven’t known you nearly as long as Logan, but I’d like to be your friend as well if you’d like,” Patton continued, shooting me a beaming smile. I returned his smile hesitantly, though mine wasn’t nearly as big or bright. I don’t think I could fully comprehend what was happening right now. This was certainly not how I thought things would be going. Just a few minutes ago, I’d been getting ready to say goodbye to Roman forever.

“Ok, um, we—we can be friends, if, uh, you really want to,” I nodded, snorting as Patton bounced in place a bit and nodded happily. He was always so excitable, I couldn’t help but grin.

“You—You really won’t report us?” Roman assured, arms tightening around me slightly, “Either of you?”

“Of course not, My Prince,” Logan confirmed.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Your Highness,” Patton chimed in.

“Please, just Roman is fine.”

Patton grinned at him and nodded, while Logan just raised an eyebrow.

“Alright then, now that that’s been settled, may I ask what you two are doing in the clinic in the first place? Is something wrong?” Logan inquired, studying the two of us.

“Oh, that’s right. It’s a bit risky to be cuddling out in the open like this, even if it was pawsitively adorable,”—Patton giggled at his own pun— “Wouldn’t it be safer in your room, Roman? Or somewhere hidden?”

“Ah, well—” I glanced back at Roman and at his reluctant nod, began explaining.

“Princey, er, Roman sneaked off to take part in stopping the raid on the nearby town and came back with a stab wound. He wouldn’t let me take him to you, Lo, trust me I tried,” I grumbled, taking a second to glare at Roman which he promptly ignored, “so, I tried to tend to it myself. I, uh, I guess I didn’t do very well. It got infected. Then I tried to fix it, but when I went to check on him this morning it was even worse, and he had a fever and ended up passing out. I managed to get him here and tried the best I could with mending it an everything, but uh, if you could take a look…”

Logan nodded at my request, and I scrambled out of Roman’s lap as he bent down to pull up his shirt. He quickly undid the bandages I’d wrapped and started examining it, asking what medications and ointments I’d used as he went.

“Well, you’ve done a remarkable job at cleaning the infection as far as I can tell. You gave him all the correct medicines and ointments as well. The stitching is also very well done. Keep in mind, Virgil, that the infection may not have been caused by you or by improper care. It could be internal body bacteria, or the fact that you did the stitches in an unsterilized environment under what sounds like not ideal conditions. All things considered, you did everything right,” Logan commended before leaning back and turning to address both me and Roman. I felt the knot in my chest lessen even more at his words even as I blushed at the praise.

“All you can do now is monitor the infection and keep it clean and dry and change the bandages often. Also be sure to avoid scratching at the stitches. They may begin to itch, especially because of the infection. I’d recommend avoiding heavy physical labor that could stretch or break the stitches as well. If you need an excuse, come find me and I’ll be more than happy to write you a note or talk to your father myself. You’ve suffered a very bad fever after all, even collapsing from it. I’m sure I could convince him you need bedrest,” he instructed, smiling softly at both of us. I blinked at him, pretty sure I’d never seen him smile so genuinely before. Huh. Today was full of surprises.

“Oh, also, take these pills for the next week, your Highness. Your fever seems to have gone down quite a bit, and I’d like to keep it that way. I’ll have Virgil keep up with your infection as he’s done an excellent job already and I’m sure you’d both prefer that.”

“Thank you, Logan,” Roman nodded, returning Logan’s smile and taking the pills that he offered.

“And I’ve told you a million times to just call me Roman.” He added with a huff.

“And I’ve told you a million times that it’s unprofessional to address you as such,” Logan tsked, sighing as he quickly re-bandaged his wound.

“Well then don’t do it as a professional do it as a friend,” Roman shot back, making Logan pause. He slowly finished up the bandages before taking a step back and raising an eyebrow

“A friend?” he questioned, crossing his arms.

“Yes. I believe this could be the start of a great friendship, the four of us. Don’t you guys think? Besides I’ve known you for years, Logan. Plus, I’m well acquainted with Patton already, though we’ve never gotten to spend much one-on-one time together. And Virgil, well, of course, uh, you know…” Roman cleared his throat blushing a bit. “Um, anyway, it’ll be nice, don’t you think? We can all just be here and exist together. No need for formalities or regard for social status or any of that. We can all relax and be ourselves.”

Logan took a minute to think it over before sighing and nodding softly.

“I—I suppose that’s acceptable,” he agreed, “You seem to constantly land yourself in my clinic anyway; so, it’s not as if I don’t get enough of you. It would be…nice to be friends.”

“Yay! New friends! I need you to know that I already love all of you so much,” Patton cheered as Roman stuck his tongue out at Logan.

“I think you just love everyone, Patton,” I couldn’t help but snort.

“Well, maybe, but you guys are special. I can’t wait to get to know you all more,” he replied, looking fondly at Roman and Logan who were now arguing about who-knows-what.

“Yeah,” I chuckled, rolling my eyes as Roman dramatically gasped and put a hand to his chest, “Me either, Pat.” Me either

#this fic is purely self indulgent lol #sanders sides #sanders sides fic #roman sanders #virgil snaders #logan sanders #patton sanders #ts morality #ts anxiety #ts logic #ts creativity #my fics #cait writes #royal au #sicfic #hurt/comfrot #prinxiety hurt/comfort #prinxiety #platonic lamp #logicality #tw panic attack #tw injuries #tw homophobia #damn this is a lot of tags

[typically-untypical]

decorating their house with halloween deco as a protest against xmas with any/all of the dork sides as a prompt :D

^_^ I'm all for people enjoying the Holidays however they want, but I think you have a point about the Dark Sides believing in Halloween Supremacy.

This Is Halloween

Remus could hear the sound of Christmas pouring through the door. It felt like heresy; the offending noise was scraping at his ear drums. This was completely unacceptable, it was still November and Remus was not about this life. Christmas was about hope, peace on earth, family, and all the other cutesy bs his brother subscribed to, and Remus would behave… ish… during the month of December, but it wasn’t December yet. Maybe if they lived in another country where Christmas meant more, Remus would find another thing to complain about, but they lived in the United States, Florida specifically. Christmas here was kept in check by the boundary line of Thanksgiving and it was only fair to the retail workers who would have to listen to Christmas music on loop, that Remus got his revenge. So, unless all of the other sides wanted nightmares of a decapitated Kris Kringle, they were going to respect the "no Christmas before Thanksgiving" rule. What better way to enforce it than with a Halloween takeover. 

Remus jumped up from the couch and teleported to his room, laughing all along the way. He knew what he wanted to do but he had to find just the right things, the perfect music, the perfect decorations. Sure he could just summon what he wanted, but sometimes a hint of authenticity was worth it. After finding a costume, a CD, and the decorations he wanted, Remus got ready for his plot. Was this an excuse to enjoy Halloween for another month, no, of course not. He would never force the others to continue enjoying a holiday about fears, lying, and disguises. It wasn't like those three things encompassed some of his favorite people. Nope, not at all.

Remus smiled as he snuck into the common room, looking for the CD player, he noticed that Patton had left the room, probably to look for more decorations, or to ask Roman to  conjure some. Roman was a fuddy duddy, he liked Halloween just as much as the dark sides but he had to pretend it wasn't his favorite because that wasn't what the light sides did. Honestly, Remus was a bit annoyed by his brother for playing to Daddy Patton’s wishes. Christmas was all well and good but where was the flair for the dramatics, the costumes? The candy? When they were younger he and Roman used to dress up in matching costumes.

With a snap, Remus turned all of Patton's Christmas decorations into 'tasteful' Halloween decorations, and he replaced the current CD with the 2001 Count Chocula "13 Day of Halloween - Rhythm and Boos" CD, an absolute classic. Then he disappeared quickly before he got caught, cackling back down in his own living room. He was sure his decorations and music wouldn't laugh, but even just the bit of change made him happy. The chaos was great and it helped ease some of the thoughts of making Paton the angel on the tree by shoving it up his... well.

Remus was laughing so hard, he almost didn't hear the CD stop and Patton's tirade of terror. Maybe he overdid it a bit on the spiders and gore, but if he was going to bring back Halloween for an encore, he was going to go big. By the time he stopped laughing, he heard someone coming down the stairs, though the didn't have the expected rush to their steps that he was expecting. Still, Remus changed into an outfit that would looked like Logan if not for the ripped cargo pants and torn green polo shirt. The glasses were at least correct, they should be since he had stolen them from Logan's spare drawer. He would probably never even know they were gone since Logan didn't typically need a set of spare glasses. Unlike some of the other sides, he was pretty good about taking care of his shit.

"Hey Re," Virgil said, dropping onto the sofa next to him. He was expecting to get reprimanded, chastised, something, but Virgil was acting positively calm. That was definitely not what Remus was expecting but he rolled with it anyway. Putting on the best fake nerd voice he could, Remus put down the book he was pretending to read and turned to Virgil.

"Why hello my esteemed college Virgin, what can I do for you today?"

Virgil rolled his eyes and shook his head. That had never been one of his favorite nicknames which was probably why it irritated him so much Roman called him that. "I was sent down here to tell you off for changing all the Christmas decorations." Again, he was calm, quiet even as he looked up at the ceiling rather than staring at Remus with those disapproving eyes the chaotic side knew Virgil had perfected. He wanted to gouge out those eyes sometimes, keep them in a jar. Maybe he should make a bunch of jars that had eyes that looked like they belonged to the other sides... later, right now he had someone else to focus on.

Remus looked at Virgil from behind his new glasses, everything was blurry so he had to push them up on his head to be able to actually see. "You aren't actually telling me to stop though."

"Nah," Virgil looked at him, "I like Halloween and I think your choice of music was... well it wasn't horrible. I actually thought it was kinda funny. Haven't listened to that since we were what... in middle school?"

A brilliant smile lit up Remus' face as he laughed. "Yes! See, I'm not the only one! Christmas can suck it!"

"Maybe I wouldn't go that far. Your brother likes Christmas so I'm happy to indulge him."

"Ew," Remus gagged and Virgil glared at him, rolling his eyes.

"But you aren't the only one who would be happy to indulge in Halloween for a little longer."

Remus' smile grew even brighter as he wiggled around on the couch until he was looking at Virgil fully. "What if we had a stupid little compromise or something?" 

Virgil raised his eyebrow, obviously attentive so Remus kept going.

"I'll leave the boring people alone so they can celebrate their holiday, and we could decorate for Halloween down here. The two of us could make it all dark and creepy and just have some fun." It had been a long time since he had hung out with Virgil and just existed in the same space as him. It would be nice to have his friend back for a bit. Remus sat watching as Virgil thought about, he was almost prepared to hear the other man say no when instead he nodded. 

"Yeah, Yeah that's a great idea." He stood up, holding his hand out for Remus. "We can pull out the old decorations, maybe make some new ones." Remus could see Virgil getting excited and everything buzzed in him like a hive of bees. 

Remus took Virgil's hand, laughing excitedly when it came off as Virgil attempted to help him off the couch. Anxiety only had a brief moment of fear until he obviously remembered it was Remus and he just tossed the hand back, shaking his head. 

"Alright Beetlejuice, I'm guessing you can get up on your own."

Remus reattached his hand as he, still laughing, sprang up to his feet. "You should go get your special decorations Vee, will set this whole things up Dark side style." Virgil smirked and nodded before heading off and Remus can already feel the change in the air. It was hard to explain, a hint of mysticism and dark magic, a hint of two people becoming friends again.

Remus wiggled excitedly, hardly able to contain his excitement as he started to place decorations. Maybe they could even rope Janus into it. He changed back into his normal outfit, this was gonna be so much fun.

#Untypical Creations #Sanders Sides #Sanders Side fic #Fanfic #remus sanders #virgil sanders #platonic dukexiety #I prefer to call the ship Virus #Halloween supremacy #Mostly fluffy

[talesofsorrowandofruin]

Manuscript Search Tag

Thanks for tagging me, @dogmomwrites​! :D

Words: remorse, accuse, enjoy and surveillance. These are from The Unfortunate Moth and The Power and the Glory:

Remorse:

The guards hauled Colman to his feet and marched him to the door. While it was being unlocked Colman looked back at Miss Patton. Genuine pain showed on his face, and perhaps a hint of remorse. But Yo-han was sure the only thing he truly regretted was being caught.

Accuse:

Jiarlúr stared at him, her mouth a grim line. Lian didn't believe for a minute she was really deceived. But as long as he put enough doubt in her mind, she couldn't go to either King Shi Zheng or Empress Raivíth. What would she say, anyway? "There's a doctor here who looks like my nephew. Yes, I know we all believe my nephew is dead, and the doctor's age and background doesn't match up at all." She'd be laughed out of the palace. Nor could she accuse him of being Imrahil in front of Abi, who as far as Jiarlúr knew also had no reason to believe her long-dead brother might still be alive. She'd have to explain the whole sorry saga, and it would sound even less convincing than when he told it.

Enjoy:

In spite of how boring the work seemed Irímé found he enjoyed it. There was nothing stressful about it, he had plenty of free time in which to write his stories, and he didn't have to work with anyone so he could give free reign to his own ideas. Ilaran checked on his work the first few days and then left him to himself. It was the most peace Irímé had got in his life.

Surveillance Survey:

Abi would have made a sarcastic retort if the circumstances had been different. As it was, she let the matter drop and surveyed their surroundings.

Tagging @winterandwords​, @silvertalonwritblr​, @kyofsonder, and anyone else who wants to do this! :D New words: reserved, round, runaway and rhyme.

#tag game #writing #my writing #my WIPs #WIP: moth #WIP: necromancer

[tss-grimmverse]

Prologue: Patchouli

tried to forget when i left this town but it takes me right back when i come back around

It was quiet in the tiny motel room.

Not a complete absence of sound; no shared human space could replicate the unique hush of a mushroom ring in a dark forest. Humans were noisy, restless things, forever surrounding themselves with distractions and gadgets to reflect their noisy, restless souls back at them. This room’s sad, gray air conditioner gurgled under the window like a hungry beast, exhaling icy air and dripping condensation. Distant car doors slammed outside; voices chattered; the parking lot buzzed with ambient road noise.

But it was quiet. The tiny TV on the dresser stood black and silent, its remote carelessly tossed on the bed next to a battered red backpack. The clock on the nightstand blinked teal numbers, cheerfully disconnected from anything resembling actual time. In the bathroom, the shower cut off with a squeak and a hiss.

Moments later, Roman stepped out in a cloud of steam, a white towel wrapped around his waist.

He shivered, gooseflesh prickling his bare skin. Cheap motel AC units never worked right; rooms were always either blazing hot or freezing cold. Usually the latter, bitter like lonely nights never spent in the same bed twice. Bleak like too many nightmares and too long running away from them. Cold like Bale territory and the regard of winter faeries.

Roman unfolded a white dress shirt from a shopping bag and spread it out on the bed. His nicest pair of dark wash jeans followed from his backpack, along with clean sneakers and, after some hesitation, his makeup bag. He combed fingers through his damp hair, grimacing at the moisture still dripping down his neck. Removing the towel from his waist, he dried it again before pulling on a pair of boxer briefs. 

He left his sword where it was: spanning the length of his bag, safely tucked away. He’d barely been able to look at the blade since killing Deceit, let alone hunt with it. For…reasons.

He’d get back to hunting one day. He would.

The starched shirt dragged stiffly across skin accustomed to simple cotton. He tucked it in, opened the first few collar buttons, and rolled up the sleeves. He could do fancy when necessary, but a hunter needed freedom to move. Socks, shoes, wallet, keys…and then there was only his makeup left to do.

He carried the small bag into the bathroom and studied his reflection with a critical eye. Messy hair, average brown skin, too-wide mouth, prominent nose, red changeling iris rings…spectacular eye bags.

You look tired, pet, a melodious faery voice whispered in his memory.

“Like looking in a funhouse mirror,” he whispered back, his imagination painting a mustache and ghoulish purple eye makeup. Roman leaned closer and glowered at those dark circles, the inevitable result of too many troubled thoughts and not enough sleep.

Well, that won’t do at all. Bad enough I remind myself of my fetch; at this rate I’ll start looking like old Panic at the…

Long bangs over snapping brown irises flashed through his mind’s eye; smokey eyeshadow against pale skin. A tiny smirk lifting the corner of a mouth, the one that always made Roman’s heart stutter… he pulled back his train of thought and ran a hand over his face.

He won’t be there.

Inhale.

He let out the breath in a huff, the hand over his eyes tightening for a moment, and inhaled again. You are going to this party to support Logan and Patton, and for no other reason. And if they see you like this, after not having seen you for months, they will worry.

He dropped his hand and straightened.

Lift the chin.

Eyes forward.

Focus.

Smile.

Roman forced up the corners of his mouth, seized a concealer tube, and set to work. A little foundation, a hint of blush for color, and only the thinnest of outlining around his eyes to finish the look. This was his friends’ engagement party; it would be rude to show up looking like he was going clubbing. Plus, if Virgil was there, he’d probably make some snide remark…

Roman capped his eyeliner pencil with more force than needed and stalked back into the room proper. No one in his right mind would subject himself to an engagement party between his best friend and his crush. He won’t be there.

Kate would be, though.

I should call her. She deserves a heads up before I crash back into her life at a public event.

Roman pulled out his phone. He wasn’t proud of the fact that he’d dropped off the face of the earth after killing Deceit, ignoring all attempts to reach him.

Even though Kate lied to him about his father…

Stop. Roman scowled. Deceit wanted to drive that wedge between us. Too bad it had fucking worked…but he wouldn’t be petty. He scrolled to her number and dialed. She was still his foster mother. It was time.

Kate answered on the first ring.

“Roman,” she breathed, sounding so relieved that Roman’s whole face grew hot. It had been weeks since he’d heard her voice, and he hadn’t realized until that moment just how much he’d missed it.

“Yeah, it’s me.” He paced the room, injecting a note of false cheeriness into his voice. “I’m, ah, in town. Was planning to crash Logan and Patton’s thing tonight.”

Silence. Roman could almost hear the gears turning in her head.

Will she lecture, or act like I never left? Sometimes Kate played the part of a stern parent; other times, a commanding officer. Most of the time, however, she was something between an eccentric, cool aunt and best friend. Her authenticity was one of the things Roman valued most in their relationship. He could always be real with her because she was always real with him.

Except, apparently, when it came to my parentage…

He shoved the traitorous thought down. That was not a discussion to be had over the phone.

“You know the party started ten minutes ago, right?” Kate finally settled on.

“You know you should always arrive fashionably late, right?” Roman snarked.

“Whatever, kid.” Her voice softened. “I’m glad you’re okay. I…I’m not gonna lie, I did worry.”

Roman closed his eyes. “Sorry for disappearing and not telling you.”

“You’re an adult; you can make your own choices. I know you needed time after everything.” Kate’s voice dropped. “But next time you feel the urge to vanish? A head’s up for your poor mentor and her poor worried wife would be appreciated.”

In a vain attempt to not show favoritism within her murder, she never called herself his mother. Roman was used to it. Actions spoke louder than words with Kate.

“Noted.” Roman sat on the bed, wondering if the rest of his murder had missed him. If they saw him differently now that they knew who he truly was…

But he’d called Kate for a reason.

“Um, Kate? Is, uh…is Virgil with…I mean, he’s doing okay?” Roman tried to sound casual, and knew he’d failed miserably.

“Oh, I see how it is.” Kate’s tone lightened to something gently amused. “You only called to find out if you were going to run into your beau tonight.”

“He’s just a friend.” Roman’s face heated, and he was glad she wasn’t physically in the room to rib him for it. “And maybe I wanted to hear the sultry sound of your voice as well!”

“I think you were hoping to hear someone’s sultry voice—”

“Kaaaaate.” Roman groaned.

“Oh, both of you are so easy to embarrass.”Kate chuckled. “You really haven’t talked to him in the last two months?” She sounded surprised.

“I haven’t talked to anyone.” Roman paced to the motel window, peeking out onto the depressing parking lot. “I…honestly don’t know if Virgil and I are still on speaking terms after everything that’s happened.”

Kate’s concern radiated over the line so hard he could practically feel it, making him glower.

“Was he thinking about coming to this party?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. He stayed with us to finish recovering and then left Philly a week ago, claiming he would make his own way down. You know how prickly he gets about people paying his way.”

Roman’s heart skipped so hard he missed a breath. “So…that’s a yes.”

“Well, he didn’t clarify if ‘down’ actually meant ‘Florida’ and ‘this party’. Rosa and I only got into Orlando last night, and we haven’t heard from him at all,” Kate went on. “He may show up, he may not. But Roman…I wouldn’t get your hopes up. After the hospital, and these last few weeks especially, he’s looked about one scowl away from hitting the road for good. If he was one of my hunters, I’d have expected to wake up and find him gone weeks ago.”

“Yeah, that’s…not surprising, I guess,” Roman said. He remembered Virgil lying in that hospital bed, bandaged and frail, tubes sprouting everywhere. Anyone would want to run away from that.

Technically, Roman had run away.

“After the party, are you—?” Kate hesitated. “Are you coming home? If you still need more time, that’s fine, but—”

“How can I, Kate?” Roman closed his eyes. “How do I walk back into Smile like nothing happened, after what Deceit said back in that castle? About me being…being—”

“Johnny Prince’s son,” Kate finished lowly. “I know. You want to know why I never told you.”

“You recruited me into an organization founded by my own father!” Roman burst out, stalking back to the bed. “How could you not tell me?”

So much for not doing this over the phone.

“That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you.” Kate’s voice sharpened. “Imagine growing up with everyone expecting you to live up to a stranger’s legacy. I was planning to tell you once you became a full hunter, Roman, because I wanted you to know you’d earned that on your own merit and not on Johnny’s reputation.”

“And Deceit ruined that,” Roman said bitterly.

“That Unseelie’s name doesn’t deserve space in your mouth,” Kate snapped.

“What are the others going to say?” Roman paced the tiny room. “Johnny’s a fucking legend, even if he did cut and run. I’m just me.”

“It doesn’t matter where you came from or who your father was. All that matters is the man and the hunter you’ve become. You know Smile will always be waiting when you’re ready to come home.” Her voice grew soft.

Roman’s heart pinched. He knew Kate meant he’d always have a home with her…but of course Smile would always be waiting for the son of Johnny Prince, he thought bitterly. How could it not?

“I’ll see you tonight?” she said.

“Yeah,” he echoed. “See you.”

He hung up and let out a long sigh. It does matter where I came from, Kate. Other people will care, whether you think so or not.

“Damn it,” he muttered, only just stopping himself from scrubbing his face and messing up his makeup. Maybe it was just as well he hadn’t been able to track down Johnny. Roman still hadn’t decided if he’d have hugged his old man or punched his lights out.

#

The motel he’d chosen wasn’t far from the park, so Roman elected to burn some restless energy by walking to the party. He stepped onto Woodland Avenue and prowled downtown, passing familiar buildings: the upstairs pool hall, the old yoga studio, that weird underground Christian coffee shop, their little grocery store. Every sight and smell in this town carried memories.

The Main Street diner where the four of them—himself, Virgil, Logan, and Patton— sometimes used to eat was gone, he noted; replaced with yet another generic copycat that would probably only last a few months. Their beloved Santorini’s lived on, thank goodness, loud and lively at this time of night.

Merlin’s Vision, the little witchy shop where Virgil used to work, had moved to a larger corner location. Even after hours, the musky scent of nag champa lingered and clung to Roman’s skin as he slowed, looking at the window display of wands, dragon figurines, and kitschy, stockinged faeries. There’d been a time when Roman associated nag champa with Virgil almost as much as patchouli. Smelling it now brought back a familiar wave of sadness and want.

“One day you will ache for something your stolen power can’t give you. And I look forward to cataloguing all the ways that will destroy you,” his former master crooned in his memory, eyes glinting bright silver.

Roman smiled at the sight of a particular figurine: a knight on a white horse, clad in silver plate, spear leveled at a green dragon curled around a tower. Like many captured changelings, Roman had learned to read in the Hedgerow: a scattered network of Arcadian adults and teenagers who’d taken it upon themselves to educate as many children in faery captivity as possible. He’d always gravitated towards tales of Camelot, of King Arthur and his brave, loyal knights questing for the Holy Grail—which, in Roman’s childhood mind, had been freedom.

“One day you will ache for something your stolen power can’t give you.”

Roman sighed, biting back the sting in his eyes, and tilted his head to stare at the October sky. Maybe coming back here after everything was a mistake.

But Patton made a point to give him the date and time of this party before Roman dropped off everyone’s radar. Patton would be hurt if he didn’t show up, all because Roman couldn’t handle being in a town where every little thing reminded him of one particular person.

I’m tired of running, Roman told himself. When I do see Virgil again…I want to be able to find some closure, whatever that looks like. For both of us. He’d been telling himself the same thing for two months.

He reckoned it was getting easier.

Chin up, eyes on the target.

Roman walked on.

He heard the party before he reached Painter’s Pond; an acoustic version of some vaguely familiar pop song spilled from the trees onto the sidewalk. Roman paused at the park’s edge, a smile pulling at his face. Streamers hung from trees, round tables surrounded one of the park’s open spaces, and tiki torches cast a warm yellow light on knots of milling people. The food table looked thoroughly picked over, but Roman hadn’t come with any expectation of eating.

He scanned the crowd, smiling when he spotted Kate and Rosa twirling each other on the dance “floor”; he remembered when they’d taken swing lessons together. Patton was, amusingly, dancing with Logan’s mother. He didn’t see Logan at all…until he did, and the sight made him draw in a sharp breath.

Logan sat at the table furthest away from the band, leaning back in a chair and talking to someone with long purple bangs, a hunched pose, and a heartbreakingly familiar patched jacket. Roman exhaled again, his heart thrumming into high gear in his chest.

Virgil.

He had to blink several times to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating.

Virgil showed up after all. But…why?

The last time he’d seen his emo, he’d been stretched out on a hospital bed with his chest all bandaged up, unconscious. Now he was just…here, sitting with Logan like the half-faery hadn’t broken his heart into a million pieces.

Logan looked particularly sharp tonight: hair immaculately braided, gold tie nestled at his throat, his nicer pair of glasses perched on his nose. Roman hated to admit it, but his pansexual ass understood why Virgil had gotten his heart in such a mess over this guy. Logan was smart, poised, and annoyingly, effortlessly sexy, with those cheekbones, that posture that showed off his chest, and those soul-piercing, fae eyes.

He was also a know-it-all, stubborn, and more unforgivingly, an oblivious asshole when it came to other people’s hearts.

Roman ground his teeth when Logan laid a hand on Virgil’s arm, leaning close. Virgil twisted his head away, but to Roman’s surprise, he looked back and said something that made the nerd smile. Familiar, sour jealousy bloomed in Roman’s heart.

Even now, at his own damned engagement party to someone else, Logan just can’t leave Virgil alone, can he?

Logan got up to join Patton on the dance floor, squawking in protest when Patton grabbed his hand and spun him around. Roman took a deep breath, recentering himself, knowing he wasn’t being fair. As much as he hated what this had to be doing to Virgil, Logan and Patton made an objectively adorable couple. Honestly, Patton’s warmth and sweetness were probably exactly what Logan needed to work that metaphorical stick out of his ass.

Virgil remained at the table, alone.

He’d put his back directly to Roman now, making it impossible to see his expression. Was he still pining, even after all this time? Was he here just to torture himself…or did his presence tonight mean he’d finally turned a corner, put the feelings behind him for good? Roman bit his lip, abruptly unsure if he was ready to know.

Now, more than ever, he wanted to melt back into the shadows and pretend he’d never come, Patton’s Disappointed Dad face be damned. The thought of looking into Virgil’s cynical, piercing eyes with their mismatched rings…what would Roman even say to him? The last thing they’d done together was fight, which ended with Roman punching him in the face, and then they’d been too busy dealing with Deceit to even begin to reconcile.

He also remembered that claw, blossoming like a red thorn from Virgil’s…dying, he could have died…

Roman shuddered and covered his mouth, letting the trembling and redness in his vision pass. He couldn’t think about that, not even for a moment, or he’d never sleep tonight. He had to be brave, like Sir Lancelot and Bedwyr the One-Handed and poor doomed Tristan.

Inhale for four.

Hold for seven.

Exhale for eight.

When he could breathe again, he squared his shoulders, took a breath, and walked to Virgil’s table.

Patchouli: grounding

#sanders sides fanfiction #sanders sides #roman sanders #ts roman #fanfiction #fae #faery #virgil sanders #ts virgil #prinxiety #changeling #fantasy #ts fanfiction #ts fanfic

[beauty-and-passion]

No literally I am losing my mind that you (my favourite fic author) are dropping everything to make a moceit fic (my favourite ship).

Godspeed and I am very very excited for whatever you share.

The power of moceit is too strong and me, a mere human, cannot resist it.

Brief update of what happened in the meantime: I got less time to write, so that's very sad. And most of the time was taken away by work, as always. But some time was also taken away by my mother's birthday: she turned 69, but it was on Monday and we all had to work. So first me and my brother took her to the restaurant for lunch on Sunday, then we had dinner and cake on Monday evening, then she took us and two of her closest friends to a restaurant yesterday. In the end, we celebrated a lot more than usual.

The good thing about me not writing is that I had more time to think about the story. And thinking is good, because I can question the story, the threads, the flow, the structure and so on.

And while I was doing it, I realized that, oh, I needed another scene.

The thing is: this story is going to be a trilogy. The first part will be divided into two chapters and the first chapter will have three scenes: in the first scene, Janus and Patton will be 15 years old, in the second scene they will be 16 and in the third scene they will be 17. Then the second chapter will cover a period from 17 to 19 years old more-or-less.

But when I wrote the first two scenes, I realized that the transition wasn't as smooth and natural as I wanted. Janus and Patton literally went from long gazes to an indirect kiss in the span of nothing. Hormones are raging when you're a teen, sure, but this is a bit too raging :P

And so, I added a scene between 15 and 16 years old. This scene not only gives me a wider time frame to show how things evolved, but it is the perfect excuse to expand on the main topic of this first chapter.

But after I added that scene, I realized something else: I needed Janus' pov to be more present. The first scene was a sad, boring, impersonal draft. I needed something better.

And so, I rewrote it. And this is what I got from it:

1) A lot more threads and details I can incorporate in the whole trilogy: the weight of denial, the influence of the mind, the amount of personal thoughts compared to the conversations and so on.

2) A better understanding of how Janus sees Patton in this first part.

3) A good way to show how they flirt - and this connects to the tiny headcanon I shared in my analysis of the Valentine's day episode, about Janus being very "old style" when it comes to flirting. I mean, all he did until now was indirectly saying that it's okay if Patton likes him and touching his finger. If we leave everything to him only, this story will be 200 chapters long.

4) The perfect excuse to show Patton being clever with words. Maybe a bit too clever, but considering the conversation they were having, I think it is okay if there is a clear subtext in what Patton says. Especially because his expressions make it very clear what he's actually saying.

5) Speaking of expressions, I had great fun showing how Janus and Patton are able to understand each other without words. The conversation is about something, the subtext is about something hinted about the conversation itself and then there are their expressions, that take everything they are talking about to apply to them. It's easier to read than to explain, I swear :P

6) The first draft of this scene was one page long (font calibri, size 10). Now it's four pages long. Either I added too much stuff or I have to worry, because if every scene is 4 pages long, then the chapters will be endless and I will have to split them. But that's a problem for later.

Moral of the story: try figuring out how a left hand can touch a right hand by using your hands only. It's freaking hard, your arms are in the way and you will end up looking like the stupidest contortionist ever.

#sanders sides #ask #moceit #my fanfiction #I am someone's favourite fic author? #ugly sobbing #that makes me too happy help #I love you mysterious anon #thanks for that #it made my day so much better #<3 <3 <3

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Moonflower

Prompts: Hello there! If you are taking request/prompt/whatever you want to call its I have one. Basically Roman (Sanders) (and Remus?) is a ghost/soul thingy and has powers that rely on the moon. One of the sides find him (them?) and DRLAMP (ether in between /p and /r with hints of both and/or Creative twins are /p and the others are /r.) happens. In terms of powers and looks on a new moon Roman(and Remus?) is visible and looks like what you imagine a ghost to look like no matter what and is pretty much f ed if you see him. In terms of powers and looks on a full moon Roman(and Remus?) can look basically however he wants (but always looks pretty weak(not that he is weak)) and is really strong (not fiscally but with his powers) and he is a fast boi. In terms of powers and looks between those as it gets closer to the full moon he gets stronger and as it gets farther from the full moon he gets weaker (for looks same thing happens but with looks instead of powers.) In terms of what powers in the first place probably magic and stuff like that. Thanks and sorry if I missed spelled something. Bi! (Sorry I had to.) - uhh-hi-there-i-am-nervous

Hi! I’m a HUGE fan of your work, I’ve been bingeing (is that how you spell it???) all of your sander sides stuff! 

And if you have time, and if you wish, could you (maybe) write a fic with Roman just teasing anyone (or EVERYONE-) under their utterly melted? Like how you described in the ‘Hot mess’ fic?? - infinite-hearts-333

Read on Ao3

Warnings: none!

Pairings: royality, p subtle but there ish

Word Count: 6147

In the corner of Everhart Estate lies the Moon Garden. A small lake, crystal clear even in the worst of rainstorms, surrounded by pale lilies and weeping willows. A single tree log, covered in moss, guards the entrance, big enough to dissuade most. If you were to ask most of the estate’s visitors if they had seen the moon garden, they would laugh in your face. 

“Another garden,” they would scoff, “why would they need another? That big log is just there to denote the edge of the property. So much nicer than a fence.”

But of course, if one looks at a map of Everhart Estate, one would notice that isn’t true. Most visitors aren’t in the habit of scrutinizing maps before they come, however, and so the garden remains a well-kept secret. 

The young master of the estate, Patton Everhart, stumbles into this garden quite accidentally.

In the corner of Everhart Estate lies the Moon Garden. A small lake, crystal clear even in the worst of rainstorms, surrounded by pale lilies and weeping willows. A single tree log, covered in moss, guards the entrance, big enough to dissuade most. If you were to ask most of the estate’s visitors if they had seen the moon garden, they would laugh in your face. 

“Another garden,” they would scoff, “why would they need another? That big log is just there to denote the edge of the property. So much nicer than a fence.”

But of course, if one looks at a map of Everhart Estate, one would notice that isn’t true. Most visitors aren’t in the habit of scrutinizing maps before they come, however, and so the garden remains a well-kept secret. 

The young master of the estate, Patton Everhart, stumbles into this garden quite accidentally. He slips beneath the log one evening and his mouth drops open in shock. A glittering lake, a starry sky, and flowers that almost seem to glow. He runs back to his father and asks what the garden is, who planted the flowers, and his father gives him a small smile. 

“I don’t know, my dear boy,” he says, crouching to rest a hand on Patton’s shoulder, “I’ve never been able to find that out.”

“I want to show everyone,” Patton gushes, “it’s so pretty!”

His father is oddly quiet for a moment. Patton’s exuberance fades. 

“F-Father? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, no, my boy, no such thing. It’s only…” He hesitates. “Come, come sit.”

They guide themselves into the father’s study, taking a seat on overstuffed couches as the father lays a hand on the boy’s shoulder once more. 

“I am glad you have found the garden,” he begins, “so very glad. It brought me solace in the moments when I needed it most and I wish only the best for you.”

Patton nods, wondering where this is going. 

“But,” his father sighs, “I must confess I…still feel some selfishness over it. You are my son, I would never mind sharing with you, but…”

“But anyone else would be different,” Patton finishes, “I understand.”

His father smiles gratefully. “We open our doors to so many, is it wrong of us to want a few places to ourselves?”

“No, I guess not.” Patton twists his hands together. “But what about the man who was there?”

His father stops. He looks at Patton with wide eyes. “A man? There, in the Moon Garden?”

“Yes. I saw him.”

As Patton had turned to go, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He paused, leaning around the edge of the nearest weeping willow to see what it was. 

At the edge of the lake, reclined on the shore, was a man. A rich red cloak covered his shoulders, the light gleaming off the gold pin on one side of his chest. His hair, short, coiffed, brown, glinted in the soft light too. 

Patton leaned closer, eyes wide. He had never seen someone like this before.

As he watched, the man lifted his hand toward the flowers, the petals just brushing his fingertips. In the starlight, it almost looked as though they glowed brighter.

Patton shifted his weight and felt a twig snap under his boot.

The man looked over. Patton’s breath caught in his throat as the man spotted him. For long seconds, the two didn’t move. 

Then the man smiled, carefully getting to his feet and turning to vanish into the underbrush.

“That’s what happened, Father,” Patton finishes, “I promise.”

“I believe you, dear boy.” The father hums distractedly.

“Do you…know him, Father?”

“As a friend, no, I don’t. But I have seen him before.” A small smile comes to his face. “I should’ve guessed he would linger in the Moon Garden.”

Patton fiddles with his hands, waiting for his father to finish his thoughts. Sure enough, he shakes himself a moment later and smiles at Patton. 

“That man is fine, dear boy. It is as much his garden as it is ours.”

“Wait, does he live here?”

His father only smiles. “In a manner of speaking."

2.

“The best thing,” Patton remembers his old groundskeeper saying, “about a warm autumn is that the night comes sooner but they stay pleasant as can be.”

He finds himself agreeing wholeheartedly with that statement when a heat wave sweeps through as the leaves begin to lose the last of their summer luster. Even as dusk falls and the skies turn from blue to pink to red, the breeze never raises more than a slight chill across his arms as he wanders through the grounds. 

His hand brushes along the top of the hedges, smiling at the few birds that swoop down to curiously investigate his hand. He loses himself in watching them swoop and swerve through the sky, only realizing it’s far too late for him to be out when he has to squint to discern them. 

He looks around. He’s at least a ten-minute walk from the main house. He sighs, resigning himself to getting back a little late and making the housekeeper worry when he spots the moss-covered log. 

Surely…surely it would be alright to spend a few more moments out? Just to see the Moon Garden?

He glances up, smiling as the full moon glistens in an inky sky. 

It would be a shame to miss it in its full glory. 

He ducks swiftly under the log, brushing aside the loose tendrils of ivy. As he emerges, the lake looks to be made of quicksilver, rippling gently as the breeze blows across it. The willow branches sway in the wake of his movement, accompanying him down to the water’s edge.

He crouches, reaching slowly for the ripples lapping against the shore, letting the tips of his fingers dip beneath the surface. As he does so, the ripples grow larger, his reflection obscured in the water’s surface. Underneath, the parts of his skin he can see have an almost ethereal glow to them, shimmering in the pale moonlight. 

As he withdraws his hand, he lowers himself further, waiting for the water’s surface to settle. His reflection swims back into view, wearing a grin he can feel in his cheeks. 

At least until he notices the reflection of someone else standing behind him. 

“Ah!”

“Easy,” the man says as Patton whirls around, almost losing his balance, “I’m sorry, my darling, I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

Patton holds a hand over his chest to calm his racing heart. “Who—who are you?”

The man smiles, crouching down so his face is level with Patton’s. “Why, have you forgotten me so quickly?”

The red cloak over his shoulders flutters. Patton’s eyes widen. 

“I’m hurt,” the man pouts, “I thought we were more than just ships passing in the night.”

“You’re the man I saw here last time,” Patton says, oblivious to the melodrama, “you—you were making the flowers grow.”

The man chuckles, dropping the charade, nodding. “That’s right, my darling. And you’re the adorable little dear that was hiding behind the willow tree.”

Patton’s face flushes. 

“Well, isn’t that precious,” the man murmurs, mostly to himself, reaching out to offer Patton a hand out of his uncomfortable position. 

He takes it, only to yelp in surprise when the man pulls him easily upright. “How—“

The man chuckles. “Stronger than I look, hmm?”

“Yes—yes, you are.” Patton shakes himself, cheeks flushing anew from embarrassment. He holds out his hand. “Patton Everhart.”

“Roman.” Roman holds his hand out to take Patton’s but instead of shaking it, he brings it up to his mouth. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“You—I—okay.”

He chuckles as Patton’s face burns brighter. “Too much, darling?”

“Yes.”

“My apologies.” He lets his hand go. “You must be the young man everyone’s talking about.”

“I—wait, everyone?”

“The kind one that runs the book fair in town? The one that helps to organize the markets?” Roman tilts his head. “Hmm?”

“…yeah, that’s me.”

Roman’s smile widens. “Then it truly is a pleasure to meet you.”

“You as well,” Patton says, glancing away, “but I’ve…I don’t know anything about you, I’m afraid. I only know what my father told me.”

“Oh?” Roman leans against the tree. “And what did he tell you?”

“That this is as much your garden as it is ours.”

“Well, yes, I suppose that’s true.” Roman gestures to the lake, grown still by now, with the moon reflected in its basin. “Welcome to my kingdom, my darling.”

Despite himself, Patton laughs. “What does that make you, then, a prince?”

Roman grins. “Why of course.”

Before either can say anything more, they hear a distant voice calling for Patton. 

“I have to go,” he says, reluctantly moving back toward the log, “will…will I see you again?”

“This is my kingdom, my dear Patton, what sort of prince would I be if I weren’t here to greet my visitors?”

I was right, Patton thinks as he winds his way back toward the house, it was worth staying out a little longer. 

3.

Roman is there waiting for Patton the next time he rushes past the log. He turns, smiling, only to laugh and open his arms to catch him as he stumbles. 

“Careful, darling,” he whispers, slowly righting them, “don’t hurt yourself.”

“I wanted to see you,” Patton mumbles into Roman’s shoulder, “and that root wasn’t there last time.”

“No? Shall we take it up with the tree, then, who so rudely interposed between you and the grass?”

Patton swats at his shoulder. “Don’t tease. Not all of us are gifted with excellent coordination.”

“If you wanted me to carry you, my sweet, you only had to ask.”

“What? No, that’s not what I—how did you—“ He narrows his eyes as Roman bursts out laughing. “Can you even lift me?”

He regrets letting the words leave his lips when Roman raises an eyebrow. Then warm hands take his wrists, guiding them around Roman’s neck, before an arm slings itself under his knees and picks him up like a child. He lets out a noise of surprise, clinging to Roman, only to be met with a chuckle as Roman holds him easily. 

“Comfortable, my darling?”

“What—how—uh—“

“I told you,” Roman says as he carries Patton over to a flat rock near the water’s edge, “stronger than I look.”

He sets him down just as gently, taking a seat next to him. 

“Any more concerns you have?”

It’s asked lightly, meant to be a jest, but several questions find their way to the tip of Patton’s tongue. He swallows, trying to make them leave, but Roman spots it and he tuts, reaching out to cup his face. 

“Go on,” he encourages in a soft voice, “ask me.”

“Where did you come from?” Patton gestures to Roman’s clothes. “I’ve never seen anyone dressed like that.”

“I’ve been told my tastes are dramatic.” Roman gestures to himself. “Can’t imagine why. But I’m from here, Patton, same as you.”

“Then how come I’ve never heard of you before?”

“I like my privacy. Oh, no you don’t,” he says, reaching out and stilling Patton when he tries to pull away, “you don’t count, darling. I like having you around.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Anything else?”

Patton glances at the lilies next to them, watching the moon glint off their pale petals. “When I first saw you, and you were…tending to the flowers, what were you doing?”

Roman moves a little closer, reaching across him to take the flower’s stem in his hand. “Do you want to see?”

“Please?”

“And I got a ‘please,’ aren’t you wonderful?” 

Patton valiantly ignores the heat rushing to his face in favor of watching Roman’s thumb brushing against the base of the bloom. His eyes widen as the flower begins to glow, the light bringing out hues of blue, purple, pink along the edges as it fades to a yellow center. He gasps, only for it to turn to a sound of protest when Roman twists the stem, snapping it off and holding it out. 

“Relax, Patton,” he says, brushing his fingers over the still-planted stem, “see?”

Indeed, another bloom takes shape before his eyes, the bud unfurling into the quiet moonlight. Little motes of light drift up to the sky, becoming as soft as the stars.

“H-how—you—how did you—“

In response, Roman simply holds out the flower. Patton takes it with trembling fingers, staring at it in wonder. 

“Evermoon lilies,” Roman explains in a soft voice, “that grow best under moon light.”

“But you—you just—“

“Helped them grow?”

Patton lets out an almost hysterical snort. “I’ve seen a lot of gardeners, Roman, that’s more than just ‘helping them grow.’”

Roman chuckles. “Or perhaps these flowers are special and will do that with anyone.”

“I don’t know if I believe you.”

“There are more,” Roman points out, gesturing to the swaying stalks, “feel free to test it.”

He shakes his head. “No, thank you. I…I’d hate to ruin them.”

He looks down again as Roman coaxes the bloom from his fingers, settling it behind his ear. “There. That’s better, then, isn’t it?”

“B-better?”

Roman nods to his lap. “Now your hands are free.”

“R-Roman, I—“

“It’s alright,” Roman interrupts softly, his expression kind, “you won’t ruin anything, Patton, go on. Pick one.”

Patton bites his lip, turning back to the shifting blooms. He spots a small one, petals somewhat curled in on themselves, and reaches for the stem. 

It snaps in his hand and his heart pounds in his throat. 

After a few moments, a soft blue light glows from the remaining stem and a new bloom takes shape, petals spread wide and glowing in the shadow of the tree. 

“That’s all it is,” comes Roman’s voice, “making sure the blooms are healthy. Very well done, Patton.”

Nimble fingers take the bloom from him once more, tucking it behind his other ear. A hand on his chin turns him to face Roman, who smiles and runs a finger over his jaw. 

“How pretty.” 

“R-Roman!”

“Oh, alright, alright, I’ll stop. You fluster too easily.” Patton tries to glare but it just comes out as a pout. “You’re not making it easy on me, darling, you’re being too adorable.”

He lightly shoves Roman’s shoulder. “You said you’d stop!”

“You’re objectively adorable, darling, there’s nothing I can do about that.”

“I am not.”

Roman raises a challenging eyebrow. “Do I need to prove it?”

“No, no, that’s fine, I, um…I concede.”

He chuckles, patting his shoulder. “Good man. Now, it’s getting awfully late, so why don’t you head back in?”

That’s the smart idea, but Patton doesn’t want to pry himself from the lakeshore. Roman seems to figure this out too because he rolls his eyes fondly, scooping Patton effortlessly into his arms again, laughing at the squeak of surprise. 

“Off you go, now,” he bids as he sets Patton down near the log, “the garden will still be here when you come back.”

“Will you be too?”

“Of course, my darling.”

4.

But Roman isn’t there the next time Patton ducks beneath the log. The Moon Garden is empty, only the rustling sounds of the breeze blowing through the flowers and the trees accompanying his heavy breaths. He glances around, wondering if he’ll spot him in the underbrush. 

No. There’s nothing. 

He’s about to go search for him elsewhere on the grounds when ripples appear at the center of the lake. 

Patton pauses, turning to face the water’s edge, his head titled to the side. 

The ripples get larger, and larger, and larger. Something dark appears at the center. 

Patton’s breath catches in his throat. 

Something rises out of the center of the lake, dripping wet, the water so dark it looks like blood. Patton steps back, heart in his throat, when the figure raises its head and glares at him with piercing eyes.

“What’s this,” it rumbles with a deep, grating voice, “a little morsel, wandering into my lair?”

The wind roars as the figure is suddenly right in front of him. There’s still fine spray settling in the water as it looms close, too close, to Patton’s face. There’s a manic gleam in the figure’s eyes that makes Patton go still with fear. 

“Don’t you know it’s rude to trespass?”

Patton swallows through a dry throat. “I-I—I didn’t mean to—“

The figure snarls, making Patton interrupt himself with a squeak of fear. 

“I’m sorry—“

“Sorry?” The figure looms over him. “Just how sorry?”

Its hand draws back, nails gleaming in the moonlight, and Patton squeezes his eyes shut as it swings down—

“Remus, no!”

Roman!

Patton throws himself away from the figure, landing hard on his hands and scrambling backward. Roman appears next to him, opening his arms and gathering him to his chest as Patton shudders. 

“Shh, shh, my darling, it’s alright, I’m here now.” Roman’s hand cards through his hair. “It’s alright, you won’t be harmed, it’s okay, it’s okay.”

“What—what did I do wrong?”

“Not a thing, my sweet, not a thing.” Roman raises his head to glare at the figure. “My brother just gets a little territorial.”

“Your…brother?”

“Wait,” the figure says, sounding much less intimidating than it did a moment ago, “is that your human, Roro?”

Roman splutters. “No, he’s not mine, Remus—“

“You sure? This isn’t the human you’ve been telling me about?”

“Well—yes, he is, but he’s not—“

“So it is your human, got it!” The figure claps its hands as Roman sighs, giving itself a shake until it, well, until it looks a bit like Roman. The other man smiles, crouching down. “Sorry, little one, I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Fighting the whiplash of what just happened, Patton peeks around Roman’s shoulder. “You…you’re Roman’s brother?”

“Yep, that’s me. Name’s Remus. If I knew who you were, I wouldn’t have scared you so much.”

Roman rubs the back of Patton’s neck. “Are you alright, my darling?”

“You even call him yours, what do you mean he’s not?”

“Remus.”

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop. For now.”

Roman ignores the jab in favor of leaning down to brush Patton’s hair from his forehead. “Patton? Are you alright? Did he hurt you?”

“No, no, I’m fine, I’m fine, I just—“ He looks up. “Where were you?”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here, I had to tend to something.” He helps him up. “If I’d known Remus would be so…well, prompt, I would have come back sooner.”

Remus snorts. “You say that like you haven’t been saved many times by how prompt I am.”

“What’s going on,” Patton blurts, the tight feeling in his chest yet to dissipate as Remus stands up, “I—who are you?”

“I’m Remus,” Remus repeats, voice softening a little, “I’m Roman’s brother. I help take care of the Moon Garden.”

“Were you going to…eat me?”

“No, little one, I just wanted to scare you off.” He bows his head. “I am sorry about that, by the way, I didn’t know you were the one Roman talks about.”

Shelving the fact that Roman talks about him for later, Patton glances around. “Why did you want to scare me?”

“Humans have tried to steal the evermoon lilies before,” Roman explains softly, “Remus was protecting them.”

Patton’s heart drops. “But I—last time, I—the flowers—“

“Peace, little one,” Remus chuckles, “Roman gave those to you. That’s different.”

“S-so I’m…fine?”

Remus’s gaze gives him a once-over. “Oh, I’d say so.”

And, right on cue, Patton’s face turns a bright red. 

“Wow.”

“Oh, I know, right?”

“Roman!”

“What? I told you, objectively adorable.”

“Roman!”

“You were right, Ro, I could just eat him all up. Shh, shh, little one,” Remus murmurs, holding up his hands as Patton whips around to face him, “I’m only teasing. I won’t.”

Patton buries his face in his hands, must to the amusement of the two brothers, willing the flush in his cheeks to fade. A warm hand lands on his shoulder a few moments later, rubbing softly. The fear rushes away, leaving him staggering as he leans against Roman. 

“Shh, darling, I’ve got you. Sit, it’s alright.” The grass rustles underneath them. “There. Are you alright?”

“He’s overwhelmed, Roro, that’s all. Give him a second.”

“How are you suddenly the expert on humans?”

“I’m the one who has to interact with them when they’re here and they don’t want to leave, you get good at reading them. You’re the big sap who—“

“Shut up!”

“No can do, little brother, who else is going to keep you humble?”

“We’re twins, you absolute—“

“I was born first.”

“You were not!”

“Was too!”

“Were not!”

Despite himself, Patton lets out a giggle as the two bicker. Fantastical as they may be, they’re just like every other set of siblings he’s ever known.

5.

His father catches him just as he’s about to duck outside. 

“Patton, will you come to my study for a moment?”

Patton follows, sitting on the couch and letting his father pull him close to rest his head on his shoulder. “What is it?”

His father is quiet for a moment. “We have to go on a long trip, my dear boy.”

“What? Why?”

“Your uncle has requested the family’s presence at his business celebration,” his father says with the tone of someone who’s been informed the dog has done its business in the front room, “and no amount of pleading will get us out of it.”

Patton shifts against his father’s side. “But it’s so boring.”

“Believe me, I know. And you and your mother will only be able to pull me away from his ‘discussions’ for so long.”

“…how long will we be gone?”

His father sighs. “Two weeks, at least.”

Two weeks of not going to the Moon Garden. Two weeks without seeing Roman or Remus. Two weeks of being surrounded by family that only wishes to talk to him if he’s done something ‘useful’ with his life.

“…I don’t want to go.”

“Neither do I, dear boy, neither do I.” His father sighs. “I suppose the only good news is that your mother’s business trip is ending and we’ll be able to spend time with her.”

“Will she be coming home with us?”

“Yes.” His father smiles, the familiar affections seeping into his tone as he speaks about Patton’s mother. “It will be nice to have her home again.”

“I miss her.”

“I miss her too.” His father squeezes him to his side before standing. “There, see? Something to look forward to.”

There isn’t time to visit the Moon Garden again; they leave bright and early the next morning and Patton is roped into packing all his things until he collapses onto the bed, fast asleep. 

It is nice to see his mother again, nice to run into the few cousins he actually enjoys spending time with. It’s less nice to be reminded that he should be looking for a partner to settle down with and ‘get his head into business, finally.’ The two weeks pass in a daze of pasting on a smile and wishing he could be back by the lake, watching the evermoon lilies bloom. 

He’s almost too excited to sit still as they travel back to Everhart Estate, making his parents laugh at his exuberance. 

“If I didn’t know any better,” his mother teases, reaching out to cuddle him close, “I’d think you had a suitor waiting for you at home.”

“Mother!”

“I haven’t seen my little boy in so long, I’ve missed being able to talk to you!”

“I’m not little, not anymore.”

“You’ll always be my little boy.” 

“She’s right, Patton.”

“You’re no help.”

“I’m your father, I’m not supposed to be of help in situations like this.” His father reaches out to muss up his hair. “Your excitement wouldn’t have anything to do with your late night outings, would it?”

“Father!”

“Late night outings?” His mother’s eyes gleam. “So you do have a suitor?”

“No!” His hands twist together in his lap. “I’ve been…going to the Moon Garden.”

As soon as the words leave his mouth, his parents’ expressions soften. His mother smiles and reaches to cup his face. “Don’t you worry, dear heart, we’ll be back before you know it.”

Of course, being back doesn’t mean being free. He has to help unload everything, unpack, sit down for dinner because it’s my first dinner home, dear heart, I want my family to eat with me, before he’s finally allowed to leave. 

The path is darker than he remembers it, rushing through the grounds until he finds the familiar log. He ducks underneath, smile wide, ready to greet Roman and Remus and apologize for being gone so long, when—

He freezes. 

The garden is dark. 

The lake looks like a pit, yawning into blackness. Even the flowers look smaller, less there, and the trees swish ominously in the quiet. He turns, slowly, hoping this is one of Remus’s pranks or something, but there’s no one to be seen. 

“Roman?” He turns again. “Remus?”

Nothing. 

He turns around again, hoping to catch sight of them, only to hear soft whispers coming from the rocks. He pauses, glancing over, only to see motes of scintillating light glowing near the water’s edge. 

He creeps closer, heart in his throat, only to gasp when he sees two silhouettes form, looking at him with soft smiles. 

“R-Roman? Remus?”

“Hello, little one,” Remus says in a soft whisper, “come closer, it’s alright.”

Patton doesn’t quite fall to his knees, but it’s a close thing. “What—what happened? Are you okay? What—“

A horrible thought crosses his mind. 

“This isn’t because I l-left, is it?”

“No, no, my darling,” comes Roman’s soft voice, “this happens every new moon.”

“I-it does?”

Remus smiles and reaches for Patton. Patton reaches back only to cry out in horror as Remus’s hand evaporates into mist as soon as it nears his. He rears back, only for both twins to let out soothing noises as Remus reforms without a problem. 

“What—what are you?”

“Moon spirits,” Remus says, gesturing to the flowers, “we tend to the evermoon lilies to ensure they grow properly.”

“So you—you’re connected to the moon?”

“That’s right.” Roman reaches out. “It’s alright, darling, come here.”

Patton sits warily on the rock as the two settle either side of him. “Won’t I hurt you?”

Roman waves a hand and it passes through him. “Nothing here to hurt.”

Patton just looks at him blankly. “So you—you’re—you tend to the flowers?”

“Evermoon lilies are powerful magical ingredients,” Roman explains, “they can grant strength, speed, vitality…”

“Like you?”

“Like us.”

“But they’re only as strong as the moon is when they’re picked,” Remus adds, “which is why the garden doesn’t look nearly as impressive as it normally does.”

“Because it’s a new moon.”

“Exactly.”

“Is…is that why you two are more powerful during the full moon as well?” They nod. “Is that why Remus tried to scare me away?”

“I did apologize for that, didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did.”

“Yes, Patton,” Roman says, “that’s right.”

“O-oh.”

Remus lets out a quiet hum when Patton looks sadly at the lake. “Come, little one, what’s the matter?”

“I-I was coming to apologize for being gone so long,” he mumbles, “and then I thought it was my fault that you weren’t—weren’t here, and I—“

“Oh, darling,” Roman murmurs, “how I wish I could hug you.”

“We’re right here,” Remus agrees, “you’re okay. It’s alright, now, little one, you’re alright.”

“C-Can I just stay here? For a bit? With you?”

The twins smile and the garden warms a little. 

“For as long as you like, little one,” Remus promises, “you will always be safe here.”

+1. 

Patton tears through the trees, sobbing as he skirts around hedges and bushes, chest on fire. He can still hear the awful words pounding in his ears, drowned out only by the sound of his own heartbeat. He swerves around the roses and keeps running. 

He doesn’t realize his feet have steered him to the Moon Garden even though it’s broad daylight until he’s ducking under the log and emerging by the lake. His heart clenches, knowing it’s unlikely the twins will be here, it’s not night yet, but—

“Patton?”

“Whoa, hey, little one, what’s wrong?”

“Oh, dear, you’re crying, come—come, my darling, come here—“

“What happened? Are you hurt?”

They’re…they’re here?

He barely has time to register that yes, the twins are here before Roman is in front of him, reaching out to cup his face in his hands, worriedly looking him over. 

“Sweetheart, are you hurt? Did you injure yourself?” He looks up and catches sight of Patton’s face and he melts. “Oh, my darling, what’s the matter?”

The only thing that escapes Patton is a sob. 

“Hush, my precious thing,” Roman soothes, slowly crouching and pulling Patton into his lap, “I’ve got you now, do you see? You’re here with me, I’ve got you, nothing can harm you here.”

“Deep breaths, little one,” comes Remus’s voice, “that’s it, now…”

The small animal that lives in Patton’s chest whispers that Roman is big and warm and soft, and that he smells like the garden. He lets Roman cuddle him close, still letting out big ugly sobs against a willing shoulder. 

“I’m here,” Roman murmurs, weathering the storm with admirable grace, “so is Remus.”

“Right here, little one.” A hand cards through his hair. “I told you, no harm will come to you in this garden, we’ll look after you, petal.”

Petal. The pet name makes him feel soft, small, cared for. 

“What happened, darling?”

“Not yet, Roro. You gotta let him cry it out a bit more.”

Roman hushes, letting Remus trace meaningless patterns on the parts of Patton’s back he can reach. The touch is gentle, grounding, just enough to pull him back from the worst of the words. When he sags into Roman’s arms, Remus hums quietly and takes a seat where Patton can see him. 

“Do you want to tell us what happened, petal?”

Patton hiccups. “I-it’s stupid.”

“It’s not,” comes the gentle correction, “it made you upset.”

“But I—“

“Petal.”

Patton sighs. “I…one of my father’s business associates came by the estate unexpectedly. He…he asked why I hadn’t started helping with the business yet, since I’m—I’m of age.”

“Do you want to help with the business?”

“No. I’m—I’m doing other work in town. With—with the library and every—everything.”

Roman gives him a squeeze. “And you’re doing it wonderfully.”

Tears well afresh in his eyes and Remus wipes them away. “What happened next?”

“He said—he said—“ Patton sniffles— “he said he’d never let me live under his roof if he was my father, that he’d—he’d disown me for being such a worthless traitor.”

Remus growls and Roman suddenly hugs him very tight. “That is a lie, Patton, you are not worthless, you are not a traitor, you are wonderful just the way you are, do you understand?”

“He’s right, my darling,” Roman murmurs, “you’re perfect. Don’t you pay that beast of a man any mind, you understand?”

“Y-yeah?”

“Of course, petal.” Remus tilts his head. “You don’t think anyone else will believe those awful things, do you?”

Patton hesitates a second too long. Remus lets out a soft noise. 

“Oh, petal, it’s alright. No one who truly knows you would believe that.”

“N-not anyone?”

A crash of twigs and a frantic voice. 

“Why don’t you ask your father?”

A few moments later, Patton’s father ducks under the log, expression harried until he spots his son in Roman’s arms. He lets out a wounded noise, surging forward and falling to his knees. Patton sniffles and reaches for him. 

“Oh, my dear boy,” he mumbles as Roman helps scoop him into his lap, “oh, my dear, dear boy, I am so sorry, I am so sorry that he said such awful things to you.”

“They—they’re not true, right?”

“No, Patton, they are not true and never will be. You are my son and nothing will ever change that. I will always love you, no matter who you choose to be.” A fierce kiss is pressed to his forehead. “My boy…”

“See, petal?” Remus chuckles. “I told you.”

“Thank you both,” his father murmurs, “for taking care of him.”

“The pleasure is ours,” Roman says, “he’s a wonder.”

“You—you know them?”

His father chuckles. “You think you’re the first child to wander out here late at night?”

“He has better manners than you did,” Remus snorts.

“Well, you have his mother to thank for that.”

“He blushes like you, though.” Roman chuckles and reaches out to ruffle both of their hair. “Like father, like son.”

“Does he ever,” Patton mumbles in his father’s ear, “stop doing that?”

His father sighs. “No, my dear boy, I’m afraid not.”

“Where—where’s Mother?”

“Currently flaying that bastard alive. She promised she’d come find us when she was done.”

Remus hums. “Does she need help?”

“She can handle herself.”

“Oh, I know.” Remus grins darkly. “But does she want help?”

His father chuckles. “No, Remus, I think she’s got it covered.”

Sure enough, quiet footsteps signal the approach of someone else. Patton peeks his tear-stained face over his father’s shoulder to see his mother step into the garden, her expression stern but softening as she sees him. 

“Oh, dear heart,” his mother murmurs, crouching to cup his cheek, “I’m so sorry. You’re alright, now, he won’t ever show his face around here again.”

“Good,” Remus growls.

“You look well, Mrs. Everhart,” Roman says gallantly, “righteous fury suits you.”

“Not now, Roman.” She glances at him. “And you can take that surprise out of your voice.”

“Surprised? I would never.”

Remus chucks a rock at Roman. “Knock it off, Roro, petal’s still upset.”

“Right, right, sorry.”

Patton just snuggles deeper into his father’s embrace, letting him hush the last of his sobs as he pulls him close. “It’s alright, my dear boy, you’re safe now.”

“C-can we stay?”

“I think we’ll have to ask Roman and Remus.”

“The moon’s still visible in the sky,” Remus says, gesturing upwards, “as long as it’s there, we’ll be here too.”

“S-so we can stay?”

“Of course, petal.”

Patton opens his mouth to ask something else when his stomach rumbles. His mother laughs. 

“It seems a picnic is in order, hm?” She taps his father’s shoulder. “Come help, leave him with them.”

His father gives him one last squeeze before his parents duck behind the log. Patton watches them go, letting Roman wrap his arms around him again. 

“How long have you guys been here,” he mumbles, “if you knew my father when he was little?”

“A long time, little one.” Remus glances at Roman. “And he’s been a flirt for all of it.”

“Hey!”

“You have.”

“And you’ve been terrorizing people for just as long.”

“You have your way of entertaining yourself, I have mine.”

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#dragonbabbles #fic #sanders sides #roman sanders #patton sanders #remus sanders #sympathetic remus

[emoprincey]

for the fake title: honey laced poison

Oooh, this gives me the vibes of like. Someone seducing a rich person then trying to poison them to try and get their money (but accidentally falling in love with them somewhere down the line). Like being sweet like honey then literally poisoning them 

The idea is going under a cut because this ended up being longer than I anticipated. 

Warnings for attempted murder, mentions of poison, and stabbing 

So, here's my idea. We have morally grey Patton, because that's one of my favourite concepts. And he seems like a sweet guy at first. A minor noble who somehow charms everyone, he hasn't let any kind of power go to his head, and he doesn't seem to be searching for more.

At a party, he (literally) bumps into Lord Janus, the son of a very wealthy aristocrat who's just inherited his father's title, and his family are one of the most powerful in the country. Drinks are spilled, apologies are made, and Janus and Patton end up talking.

Janus, naturally, thinks that Patton is adorable and wants to see him more, but they fail to exchange information at the party. Janus is a little disappointed about that, but it doesn't matter, because Patton seems to keep showing up everywhere he goes. What a lucky coincidence.....

Anyway, they quickly start courting and become engaged quite soon. If Patton wasn't so sweet and unassuming, one might think he had ulterior motives.

At this point, it's revealed that Patton specifically plans to marry Janus then poison him with his favourite honey flavoured tea, which is where the title comes in.

But then, as they get closer, Patton starts to realise that Janus is actually a total sweetheart, always making sure Patton is well cared for, and beneath his charming and snooty exterior, he's actually very kind and very smart. Patton had gone into this thinking Janus would just be some arrogant noble he could easily seduce and then bump off. But now he's starting to think that he might prefer to share all this wealth with Janus, and spend their lives together.

Unfortunately, it turns out Patton wasn't the only one who had a plan to get rid of Janus, and at some point Patton finds out that someone from a rival rich family is trying to assassinate Janus (maybe because Janus has some kind of seat in the King's council that this person wants, idk I'm thinking too much about the lore of this au now) and it's up to Patton to stop this person.

Janus does end up getting stabbed, not fatally, and Patton gets the would-be killer apprehended. In the midst of all this, it comes out that Patton had originally planned on killing Janus. Maybe the rival found out somehow, and decided that when they got caught, they were taking Patton down with them.

So, Janus is bleeding out on the floor, and now he's found out that his fiancé wanted to kill him. He's not having a good time of it. Patton tries to apologise, but Janus passes out from blood loss before they can really talk about it (which is maybe convenient for him because this is a Lot to process).

When Janus is recovering from his wound, Patton chances going to see him in hospital, and is surprised to find out that Janus has actually been asking for him. They talk, Patton assures Janus that he really doesn't want to kill him anymore, and eventually (probably after a lot of couple's therapy) they work things out and decide to stay together.

They have a very long engagement, and a few years later they have a lovely wedding and absolutely nobody dies. The end.

This is kind of a messed up story but morally grey characters r so interesting to me and I think this is a pretty fun concept.

Idk whose perspective it would be from, because I'd want the reader to initially think that Patton is totally innocent with just a few hints dropped here and there that don't quite add up, until his true plan is revealed about halfway through. I guess it would be primarily from Janus' perspective, and Patton’s pov would be very unreliable narrator-y. Idk.

#sanders sides #patton sanders #Janus Sanders #moceit #ts patton #ts janus #morally grey patton #if this is incoherent it's bc im tired #fic concept

[richie-trashmouth-toizer]

Hey my moon drops so I know it’s early but here. Yea this is my first ever fanfic so please ONLY constructive criticism if you choose to comment

(This is a Sander Sides Fanfic. It involves the ship Prinxiety hopefully not to stupid)

Warnings: cursing(minor), Insomnia, Denial, hinted/actual panic attacks, kissing, self deprecating comments, these are all the ones I found, if you find anymore let me know and I will add them

Word count: 1,917 words

Notes: hey so I started this fic at 9:22pm on a Thursday and finished at 12:10 on a Monday night almost 2 weeks later so bare with me in the beginning I am told I’m very good at writing and I try my best but like I said at the beginning Constructive criticism only. This fic personally is just an OC one because I found it hard to write in Janus and Remus into what I had in my mind. On that note, onto the fic.

12:00am on a Monday night!

God Virgil was screwed. He couldn’t believe how late it was, but no matter what he did to try and sleep, he simply couldn’t. All the; incense and soft music and dim lighting was just not enough anymore. I mean it’s not like he hadn’t experienced this before, in fact (though he would never admit it to Patton or Logan) this had been going on for three agonizing days.

“ Three days no sleep, not even a fucking nap.” Virgil said out loud to himself in a small fit of anger and exhaustion.

Why was this so hard! He wasn’t anxious or deprived of anything that he could think of. Not anything but sleep. If he could just close his eyes for a minute he would be fine, not happy or content but he would be fine.

“Breath, just breath” he said to himself in a half whisper.

In for four, hold for seven, then out for eight. As long as he kept this up he would be able to contain his frustration.

“Just breath”

He made a quick glance around his room until something caught his eye. A medium sized rectangle held upright by its other half, scribbled softly into its face legible just by the slightest dim lighting that covered his room read the word “family” Virgil repeated the word out loud remembering the day that the cutest little puff-ball they had, had given him the card.

Patton, how could he keep this from Patton. If felt horrible, almost sickening, I mean Virgil had worked so hard to feel as though he was finally in the other's good graces but here he was, betraying that trust.

But, the truth was that if he told Patton then, Patton would tell Logan and then Logan would bring it up at breakfast and that would continue to Roman finding out. Needless to say Virgil just didn’t need the concerning looks from Patton, and the lecture on proper sleep and mental health from Logan, and to top it all off the endless teasing from Roman.

Uugh Roman stupid, annoying, dream full, antagonizing, handsome, Princey.

“Whoa!” He let slip a little too loud. I mean he didn’t feel that way about Roman. Did he?

No no no, there was no way he felt that way about Roman! He had been making fun of him since day one, calling him demeaning nicknames like; Emo Nightmare, Hot Topic, Sunshine, My Chemically Imbalanced Romance, Negative Nancy, Doctor Gloom, J-D-lightful, Marilyn Morose, Panic! At the Everywhere, Incredible Sulk, and the list goes on and on.

How could he like someone who hated him? Somewhere around 2am Virgil decided that it would be best if, for now he shoved these feelings down until he couldn’t remember having them.

The rest of the night went exactly the same. Virgil’s alarm clock went off at 7:00am just like it always did, giving him just the right amount of time to get ready for breakfast at 8:00am. He showered, bushed out his wet shaggy hair and quickly straightened it before it started to curl, layered on his pail foundation and finished doing the rest of his makeup.

7:59am, Logan would be knocking on his door in

“Three”

“Two”

“One-“

“Virgil, Patton asks that you join us for breakfast as usual” Logan voiced in a his ever-so-slight robotic tone

“ Be right there” Virgil returned back in a mocking voice

“Excellent, see you then.” Logan said in the same voice as before

Soon after Virgil made his way down to the kitchen, empty, he must have been the last one down. He made his way to the side, entering the dining room and sure enough there sat; Patton, Logan, and Roman. Patton had made pancakes with blueberry sauce. The other three greeted Virgil with a subtle good morning, one right after the other. Virgil grabbed a much too small share of food. Considering that he got shared looks from both Patton and Logan.

“You feeling okay kiddo?” Patton said in a concerning tone

“Yeah you know it Pop-Star”

“Alrighty then just checking”

“Thanks pops”

It’s not that these kinds of conversations didn’t happen often. Of course they did, Patton is… well, Patton, and he’s just checking up on what he claims as his dark strange son.

“Virgil, it is necessary that you eat a proper amount of food” Logan said almost as antagonizing as usual

“Hey I’m watching my figure pocket protector”

“ What are you talking about?”

“ My stick figure”

This statement from Virgil caused little giggles from the other three.

“Seriously Virgil, it is important for your mental health and to help with insomnia.”

Well… Virgil had been eating increasingly smaller and smaller amounts.

Virgil struggled through the day growing more and more tired as time went on.(which he wasn’t sure was possible) and finally it was 10:00pm. He made a quick excuse to go to bed early and made his escape. Again like the past four nights he had no luck in the sleeping department. Until he heard the ever-familiar sound of the ping of his phone. He looked over at his clock.

“11:00pm?” He muttered to himself

Who on the earth would be texting him this late? He slowly picked it up. Roman!? Why was he texting him this late.

Sir Sing a lot: Are you asleep?

Virgil mumbled a laugh at the nickname he had set for Roman, he always did before replying.

Virgil: No

Sir Sing a lot: WHY NOT!?!??!??😡

Virgil: I can’t

Sir Sing a lot: What?

Virgil: another insomnia thing

Sir Sing a lot: oh umm I’m sorry I guess

Virgil: uhh yeah just umm don’t tell Pat or Lo. Okay?

Sir Sing a lot: What why not?

Virgil: because I just don’t want them to know

Sir Sing a lot: uhhmm

Virgil: Look it’s just… a really long story

Sir Sing a lot: okayyyy, I won’t tell them

Virgil: Thanks

Sir Sing a lot: Yeah just try to go to bed and if…

Virgil: Ifffffffff?

Sir Sing a lot: If you ever need someone to talk to I’m here. K?

Virgil: yeah yeah okay thanks Princey

Sir Sing a lot: Anytime my chemically imbalanced romance, see you tomorrow.

Virgil: see ya.

Damn, he couldn’t lie Roman was,… something. I mean he checked up on Virgil just to make sure he was sleeping. He was so… so, cute-

“Shut up!” He said harshly to himself

He had said that he was not going to let himself fall for Roman. He couldn’t let himself fall.

This continued for the next three nights. Virgil would wake up at 8:00am get lectured by Logan at breakfast, spend the entire day in agonizing tiredness then go to his room at 10:00pm and get texted by Roman at 11:00 pm to make sure he was at least trying to sleep and spend the rest of the night denying his feelings for Roman in fear of falling so deeply and madly in love just to get rejected.

He was on day nine of no sleep and was pretty sure he was dying. Then as usual the denial set into play. But something else was happening, his breathing was unusually fast and he began to sweat. “Oh fuck” he was, he was having a panic attack. He began to shake and he fell on the floor just as he heard his phone ping “shit”.

Little voices began to fill his mind.

He could never love someone like you

You are so ugly

How could you ever think that you are worthy of someone like him?

Then there was a knock on the door

“ Hello Virgil it’s me Roman”

“ If you don’t answer i'm coming in”

Virgil just couldn’t bring himself to answer, he tried but with the mix of panic and tears and hyperventilating he just couldn’t answer. Then the door cracked open the only reason he could tell was because he heard it open, the tears were too thick to see through anything. He looked up and saw through blurry eyes a figure dressed in red,gold, and white rush over to him.

“Virgil! What happened? Why are you crying?!” Roman blurted out hastily

“I-I-I-I’m f-fine R-Ro really.” Virgil choked out in a mix of congestion, tears, and panic

“You have to be joking Virgil. How on earth could you be in the state that you are in now and be fine. How stupid do you think I am.”

“ I DONT THINK YOUR STUPID!”

“Woah calm down virg”

“I-I-I-im s-sorry” Virgil said, starting to cry even more.

“Hey, hey it’s okay. There’s no need to get upset” Roman said, starting to hug Virgil “Now, tell me what’s going on.”

“ I-I well umm it’s I”

“ Hey calm down, just breathe and tell me why you are having a panic attack.

“ I-I-I- I c-can’t”

“ Come on Emo, breathe with me. In for four, hold for seven, and out for eight.”

“I-I”

“ you can do it Virg”

“ i like you” Virgil said in a whisper

“ What?”

“ I LIKE YOU!”

“ You like me?”

“ I mean yeah, how could I not.”

“ oh wow Virgil I-”

“ I-I know. It’s so stupid of me, I mean how could someone like you like someone like me.”

“ what are you talking about”

“ Oh come on Ro your, your perfect and I’m well I’m just me-”

Virgil was cut off by a soft pair of lips connecting to his. He sat there his eyes closing, he felt Roman push into him a little more. Then after what felt like a lifetime, Roman pulled away.

“ You are perfect” Roman said in a blood sucking tone

“You- you kissed me.” Virgil said in a shocked voice

“ Yeah” Roman laughed “ I did”

“Why!?”

“Because, because I like you to”

Maybe, just maybe Virgil would give this a chance. After all, Roman liked him too, and this was a relationship that Virgil was willing to let happen for as long as it could.

That night was the first time in a long time that Virgil slept. It was probably because he did it snuggled up to Roman. And to think that this was thanks to all those sleepless nights.

Thank you for reading. Again this is my first fic and I take constructive criticism and if you couldn’t tell I have personally never kissed someone so I’m really sorry for that scene but I am also excited for everything that is to come up so PLEASE give me ideas hope you enjoyed.

#sander sides #remus sanders #thomas sanders #janus sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #sander sides fandom