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aetheternity · 3 years

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Sight, smell, touch, taste, sound and which one I believe would draw the Aot boys to you. Kinda Modern Au 🤷‍♀️ idk you be the judge.

(If you guys want girls too I'd be happy to do them just let me know) (MILD NSFW WARNING kiddos be vanquished.)

Eren

~Sight

•Baby boy is so in love with every bit of your face, eyes, hair, curves, to the edges of your fingertips he's just got to look at you.

•Don't take this as shallow. No he definitely finds so many more reasons to cherish you.

•But that body tho~~ 😜

•He loves to watch your hips sway as you dance to music.

•Loves watching your hair flow on windy days.

•Craves the gorgeous red coloring from late night (horny) sessions.

•Enjoys slowly spinning you around when you're wearing something skin tight.

•Don't even get me started on when your skin is wet for any reason.

•Fuck~ but growled gently into your nape or collarbone.

Armin

~Touch and sound

•Damn papa he's a mixed breed. (No I didn't just say that shut up) .

•He wants to hear any noises that come out of your mouth and touch every delicate inch of your skin.

•Starts off with listening to you talk about your day. (Like everything! Don't skimp on the details.) Your little hums as you listen to music. Whispers of good night, I love you etc etc. Accompanied pleasantly with your warm lips, his fingers sliding over your back late at night or the feeling of your hair under his finger tips.

•It's all so beautiful. So absolutely perfect for him.

•And a little further along in your relationship when he's squeezing your thighs or cupping your ass. Listening to your breath hitch as he hits all the right spots.

•The breathless murmurs of his name on your lips has his heart soaring.

•He'll always reach up to your face after sex to press his thumbs into your cheek and devour every noise cresting off your lips.

•He'll always reach out for you after a long day. He just needs to squeeze your waist. Needs to hear your little giggles if he tickles you when he touches certain spots.

•In short you're a lucky bitch if he's yours so better keep him satisfied 😩😤

Jean (HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!)

~Touch

•He's touch starved so let the first thing you ever do with him relationship wise be giving him the tightest fucking hug!

•He wants you in his lap, pressed against his chest, within kissing distance and you better be ready to constantly interlock your fingers.

•Small price to pay for one of the best boyfriends in Aot.

•He's gonna need your skin pressed gently against his body period.

•Definitely plans as many instances as he can to get you in the bath tub with him. Bubbles soaking the gorgeous terrain of what is his as he rubs, wipes and scrubs every inch of your body with a gentle hand.

•You'll fall asleep. (He wants you to fall asleep). So he can carry you to bed bridal style.

•Absolutely loves sneaking a hand into your pants when you whisper you need him late at night and adores the lengthy marks you leave over the expanse of his back.

•But more than anything he just wants to hold you. Rub his hairy chin against your neck and face. (LET HIM DAMMIT )

Levi

~Smell

•Believe it or not I see Levi as the type to be extremely attracted to certain smells.

•And god he loves your's

•He wants to stick his face in your neck and just take a long sniff and once he has the opportunity lord knows that's one of the first things he does whenever he has the chance.

•Loves how you smell when you're covered in cleaning products from a lengthy spring cleaning, after you've washed your hair, in his shirt, after you've showered etc etc.

•Please he needs you to be as close as possible so that your scent can relax him!

•Sometimes wears your t-shirts or falls asleep holding any article of clothing that smells the most like you.

•And fuck yes your smell can also get him sufficiently hard for really long fuck sessions. (Most likely if you smell like his cologne.) The scent of your arousal is probably his second favorite smell.

•Always sleeps a full eight hours or more if he's got his nose tucked into your nape, slightly in your hair. (Hopefully you washed it..)

•That's it Levi enjoys your smell thanks for coming to my Ted Talk. 😃👍

Connie

~Touch and Taste

•Not lowkey about his freaky side at all.

•He'll come straight out after a confession on either side and be like I've been wanting to touch you for I don't know how long 😳.

•He craves his hand molded to any part of your body he can reach. Smacking that ass like it cursed at his mother. (Mfer is handsy as hell.) Wants no needs the taste of your sweat, thighs, neck, lips etc etc.

•Though he enjoys sweet touches too. Loves when you slip a hand under his shirt to scratch his back.

•Don't be surprised if that sweet touch or any sweet touch escalates into something else. (You so horny for what like: 😤)

•He's always got a hand up your shirt when you two are alone. Actually feels calmer after a long day if he's kissing your neck and fondling your nipples.

•Even if you guys are out he's touching you in other ways.

•Got his arm affectionately wrapped around your waist at all times, comes close to give you little kisses on your ear and lips.

•Just make sure you give him as many hugs as possible or he might riot. 😏

Erwin

~Smell and Touch

•Like Levi I'd like to believe he enjoys certain smells over others

•But like Jean I believe he's touch starved and has an unquenchable desire to touch you.

•Granted he won't be as horny when he actually has your touch no I feel your smell will get him going too. Specifically when you're wearing something he gave you or when you're only wearing one of his shirts.

•He loves touching your thighs, grazes his fingers over them with slow soft desire. Layers kisses near your armpits and shoulder blade where your scent is the strongest.

•If that leads to sex 🤷‍♀️ depends on his mood.

•Makes sure that if he's working late hours you're in his lap to provide your heartbeat and the soft scent of your breath as you lay open mouthed on his shoulder.

•Please be wearing no pants he'd love that so he can tap your butt to tell you he's done and then squeeze it when he's lifting you to bed.

•(Personal belief that he can undo buttons with his teeth and tongue.)

•Uses that to bury his face in your stomach and chest. (Overall wear Erwin's shirts challenge 21k)

Colt (My favorite guy from Marley besides Falco 😜)

~SIGHT MFER SIGHT

•He's so entranced by you the second he sees you 🥺

•Knows that he wants you all to himself but has a hard time saying it but when he does know that he's always watching.

•He's such a cutie tho!! Feels embarrassed if you catch him sneaking a peak if you're stretching and your shirt rides up or if you're only wearing a towel and you're parading around his room.

•Please tell him it's ok to look 🥺

•Wear his shirt. WEAR HIS SHIRT. Don't make me repeat it a third time. If you do he'll have his eyes on you all day.

•When he's comfortable with you he'll stare at your long legs peaking out his untucked shirt and.. now he's hard.

•He loves watching you do cute precious shit like cook or dance. Loves the way you jump around when you're just humming a tune.

•Let's you wear his boxers (Please be in them when he comes home. He'll give you that good cock.)

•Let's be honest here his eyes are always looming over your figure and he wants to touch but fuck he loves to look. 😜🥺

Porco

~Sight and taste (I have a strong belief that almost all the Marley guys love to stare.)

•Guys.. show off that ass for Porco.

•Give him something to watch. You go walking away from him with your ass perfectly cupped in something tight fitting there's gonna be another tight fit waiting for you at home.)

•He fucking loves the taste of your sweat. Quite possibly your blood too when he bites down a certain way. (Porco screams blood kink to me 🤷‍♀️)

•Shit quite literally gets him going.

•He's got your waist and hand in the streets and your thighs between his teeth in the sheets.

•He's a biter (Ladies, Gents and the rest.)

•Loves gripping your ankles and yanking you towards him. Sometimes during sex sometimes just because you keep inching away from him on the couch.

•I also see Porco as the kind of guy to stick his tongue in your ear. Like if he does he's staying there for about twenty minutes.

•Porco has the god tongue and rough fingers (Do with that what you will.)

Renear (Reiner) 🤭

~Obviously Sight but also touch.

•If please touch me were a person.

•I see him as the type where if he were friends with someone he had a crush on and was playful with them he'd do things like pull them into his chest on occasion and put his hands on the small of their back.

•Unlike Porco and Connie his touch is probably more aimed at loving than sexual.

•He's always marveling your gorgeous eyes, he loves running a finger over your chin before he kisses you, adores pressing his thumb to your bottom lip and when you open for him to press his thumb against the pad of your tongue-

•Holy shit.

•Watches you do literally everything as if he's so awed but he's in love.

•Holds you around the waist whenever you two dance. So close you can feel his heart skip for you.

•Once again (Wear his shirts. Wear his shirt. wear his shirt!)

•Also craves pecks on the lips and tight holds around his body so give him those.

Berthot (Berthold whatever the fuck his name is)

~Sight

•He's definitely one of those personality driven mfers.

•But he's also seen you and what he's seen is amazing.

•Why tf is he always blushing just to look away cause he adores you from your head to your toes.

•But unlike some of the other guys I see him as the kind of guy obsessed with your pretty face over your curves and what not.

•He loves the way your eyes twinkle when you see a shooting star or the way you smile at him when you see him.

•He's like the easiest guy to please out of all the others here.

•He bores every pretty expression you make into his memory.

•Specially when you guys are 😤🥰😩

•Good luck to Armin when he sees you as 99.9% of his memory like damn.. 😤

Farlen (As a bonus!)

~Sound

•Your voice has been a lingering sound in the depths of his memory.

•From the second he first heard you he had to hear more.

•If you sing he wants to hear more. If you cry he wants to slit the throat of whoever did it and if you laugh. God please laugh..

•He's gonna do everything in his power to hear literally everything you have to say even if it's stupid to you. (There is no never mind in this relationship 😤).

•And dear god if you moan in his ear it'll send him to a galaxy far far away. You might even make him cum on the spot.

•If you whistle he's gonna ask you to whistle for him and will probably fall asleep to the sound.

•He wants the details of your day (like Armin) but he'll probably stop literally everything he's doing just to listen to you vent.)

•Please whisper in his ear he'll get so so very hard.

•And politely mumble how much you love everything about him the universe isn't big enough for how big his heart gets.

(This was posted on April 7th right before 12am so again. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JEAN!!) 🥺

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morkofday · 3 years

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Fic Writer Interview Meme

thank you for tagging me @hils79 ♥ this is a great way to avoid writing my pingxie wing au which i currently struggle with bc am editing it into a completely new shape :D it’s exhausting but am making slow progress~

name: vish or vishie. won’t even advertise my irl name when it comes to fic writing haha

fandoms: so many more than i’ve ever gotten to write for. i am simply very slow at writing and the stuff i get into is way too many so... yeah. the most i’ve written for are BTS, The Untamed and now DMBJ. the list for fandoms i’d love to write for is endless but currently at least Guardian is very high up there. i keep having ideas but writing? not as much.

two-shot: i wrote this one two-shot back when i was still writing fanfics in finnish for this one youtuber group lol. it was supposed to be a oneshot but it got super sad so i made it happier with a continuation later on.

most popular multi-chapter fic: uuhh i’d say it’s my BTS abo fic My Lungs for You to Breathe which is currently at 98k words and 18 chapters but which i haven’t updated in almost a year :D idk if it will ever get to the end but i have enjoyed spending time with it. (Statistics: Subscriptions: 227 Hits: 11718 Kudos: 461 Comment Threads: 89 Bookmarks: 153)

actual worst part of writing: uuuhhh it’s so hard to name one currently? trying to get things out like i want them to and still sounding coherent? figuring out words that sound good but also make sense? idk. i love writing but these days i’ve been very stuck and insecure about it :/

how you choose your titles: i throw in words. i throw in more words. i stir. ta-da!

do you outline: i have not outlined on paper ever in my life. in my head tho? yes, absolutely. i am just too lazy and awkward to write it down. then i forget. oops. or then i don’t forget and get haunted or possessed, there’s no in between.

ideas you probably won’t get around to, but wouldn’t it be nice: this one historical au for Guardian which would also include some reincarnation themes. it would require a ton of research so am a bit scared. also, a DMBJ cultivator au just so that i could have pingxie and heihua meet in very different circumstances and have them use cool magic stuff. plus all the other characters having neat stories and skills and outfits. me and @ashenlights are throwing around a ton of ideas probably every day and have a docs file and some pins on pinterest etc :’D i will never probably actually write this bc it would get way too huge but the brainstorming is nice ♥ also i have this one pingxie reincarnation/soulmates au that haunts me currently but idk if i will have the motivation to write that.

and then my personal favorite: a fic for The Journey Across the Night where i get to explore the main trio’s relationship developing throughout the series (and probably even after that) while each of them slowly figures out how much they love the other two. first part would be shi cheng who first watches chacha and li jia having a crush on each other meanwhile he ignores any of his own feelings towards li jia and what he’s doing to distract himself from that. second part would be chacha who notices shi cheng’s feelings for li jia and tries to figure out how she will take that while maintaining her own developing relationship with li jia plus her family problems. last part would be li jia who follows chacha and shi cheng going from friends to something else. he doesn’t understand. he has a lot of other stuff in his mind. there’s his alter making his first appearance. he might or might not be in love with both of his friends but needs a tiny nudge to get it, especially with shi cheng. i lack the skill and words to accomplish any of this so i just like to daydream.

callouts @ me: actually the same as for you hils, that’s a good call out :’D i really should try some female characters once in a while. but they have slowly come a part of my stories at least? another one would be: pls for the love of god learn more vocabulary. and ways to form sentences. and like,,, stop editing those sentences so much, they’re fine.

best writing traits: uuuhhh can i just skip this? these days it’s not easy to find anything positive to say about my own writing or my process with it. i am a mess. some stuff makes sense, a big part does not. maybe emotion but i feel like i cannot manage that either in a way that would satisfy me? persistence works too. i rarely abandon things completely.

spicy tangential opinion: um. yours was very good hils, that made me so happy ^^ i should really try not to pressure myself to be perfect either just for the acknowledgement etc. this is a hobby yes and should be fun. which it is. but i struggle still sigh. idk what else to add really? write whatever you like. write those themes that you want to see. write the characters you want to see written in the way only you feel about them. write that pairing no one else has written. write for the fandom that doesn’t even show up on ao3. write for yourself, truly. write for your tiny group of friends who yell at you and are lovely and as crazy as you ♥ enjoy the process despite it being awful at times. writing is learning but also, don’t only just pressure yourself to improve with every sentence you write. i tend to do that a lot bc am so desperate to be better but i cannot force that into me. i gain experience slowly and learn at my own pace. i need to allow myself that. and sometimes i just need to allow myself to write whatever and have fun with it and not think about how much sense everything makes or if the characterization is 150% perfect. thanks for coming to my ted talk haha

this was so nice :’) it’s sometimes nice to think about myself as a writer and then come up with things that i should take note of more often. i hope to write so much. i have so many ideas. my heart is filled with love for some many things. praying for all the time and inspiration for myself and all of my writer friends ♥

tagging only @i-am-just-a-kiddo if they wish to join me on this one :’) also tagging @kholran who was calling for everyone in their own post! that one was so nice to read too ^^

#tag game #pls do not perceive me #i do not like perceiving myself djhkfdg #thank you for this either way #i hope any of this makes sense

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sparrow-flies-south · 4 years

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The Good One

Fandom: Sanders Sides Rating: Teen Pairings: Roman & Patton Summary: Two days after King Creativity vanishes, Roman shows up at Patton and Logan’s door. But as time passes, it becomes clear that something is wrong with Roman. And Patton might know what it is. Notes: Enjoy Roman angst ft. Patton angst! This was originally just going to be a short companion piece to First Impressions but then Roman had issues. Started this a while ago, but the new vid gave me inspiration to finish it!

Also on AO3!

Logan droned on about the benefits of Thomas doing his homework rather than spend time with friends. Patton tried to listen, really he did, it was just that the couch was comfy, and he’d barely slept for the last two nights, too busy listening for any sound that might mean Creativity was back. Tiredness tugged at his eyes. Maybe he should take a nap. Maybe then he’d wake up and find Creativity there, grinning the way he always did.

I got you good, he’d say. You were really worried this time.

And Patton would be annoyed that Creativity had pranked him, but mostly he’d be just glad that Creativity was back, that he was safe.

He might not be safe.

He might need Patton to rescue him, except Patton didn’t know how to get into the imagination, only Creativity could do that. He might be injured, or worse, wondering why no one came, while Patton and Logan argued about homework.

Logan cleared his throat. “Patton?”

Patton startled, realised that Logan had finished talking a while ago, and Patton hadn’t heard a word that he’d said. And now he was looking at Patton, clearly concerned.

“I know homework is important,” Patton said “But so is spending time with friends. Thomas has been working really hard lately, and I think he should take a break.”

Logan shook his head. “I’ve already created a schedule for Thomas’s homework. Taking the afternoon off will put him behind.”

“But nothing’s due until next week,” Patton argued.

“And this way Thomas will have plenty of time to do it all, rather than spend all of Sunday night working and not getting enough sleep for the start of the week.”

“I still think Thomas needs more time off.”

“I’ve allocated plenty of time for sleeping, eating, and reading.”

Patton was so tired, he couldn’t seem to think properly.

“Maybe we should-,” he began, but he was cut off by a knock at the door.

Patton straightened, and Logan swivelled his head to the direction of the door. Creativity never came in that way, he would just appear in the middle of the room. He certainly wouldn’t bother to knock.

Was it one of the others? Anxiety seemed far to skittish to go to them directly, the only time Patton ever saw him, he was lurking in the shadows around Thomas. Whenever Patton tried to speak to him, he would just sneer and leave without saying anything.

It could be Deceit, but why would Deceit come to them? Unless he was up to something, but then why would he just knock on the door?

Patton really hoped it was Creativity, using the door just to confuse them.

Another knock, and then a not quite familiar voice called out, “Hello? Is anyone there?”

Patton stood and hurried to the hallway, Logan following. They both stopped in front of the door. Patton gestured towards it in a way that meant what do we do? but Logan just gave him a confused look before pulling the door open. Patton stood on his tiptoes to peer over his shoulder.

“Ah,” said the figure on the other side. “You’re not imaginary.”

He looked like he’d stepped out of a Disney movie, with his white costume and red sash. His clothes were dishevelled, though, like he’d been wearing them for a while. His eyes darted rapidly between Patton and Logan and then past them, into the house.

Patton wanted to wrap the stranger in a hug and make him some hot cocoa, but he held himself back. He’d spent enough time with Logan to know that not everyone appreciated being touched without warning.

“On the contrary,” Logan said. “We are all manifestations of Thomas’s personality, and are, therefore, imaginary. But we are not denizen of the imagination, it that’s what you mean.”

Patton smiled at the stranger. “We’re sides. You’re one too, aren’t you?”

The new side nodded.

“Fascinating,” Logan said. “I had not expected any more to form at this stage. What do you represent?”

It was slightly abrupt, but Patton didn’t have the heart to scold Logan. Not when he was just as eager to know.

The questioned seemed to snap the other side out of whatever state he was in. He straightened himself up, and gave the two of them a winning smile.

“I,” he said grandly, “Am Prince Creativity.”

Patton’s blood turned to ice.

“Creativity?” he squeaked.

Logan frowned. “There is already a Creativity. It seems unnecessary to have another one.”

“Did something happen to him?” Patton asked, though he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.

The new side – Creativity – shifted slightly. “I don’t know exactly what happened,” he said. “I am the old Creativity, or at least I was. There was a split, and now there’s two of us.”

Bile rose up in Patton’s throat.

“A split?” Logan echoed. “How interesting. What happened to the other?”

Creativity looked down, and started fidgeting with his sash. “He’s, ah, he’s not here. He went to join the Dark Sides.”

Two creativities. One good and one bad.

“Dark Sides?” Logan asked.

“The others,” Creativity explained. “I thought they could do with a more interesting name.”

(A person can’t be good and bad)

“So the King is… gone?” Patton asked, pushing the words past the pressure in his throat.

Creativity hesitated. “We’re both parts of him, but…” he trailed off. “I’m sorry. Were you… close?”

Logan looked at Patton. He seemed about to say something, so Patton pasted a smile on his face, pushing his feelings down.

“Well then I guess you’d better get in here, kiddo!” he said brightly.

Creativity hesitated a moment before stepping over the threshold. Patton gave what he hoped was an encouraging smile, and led the way to the living room.

“That’s Logic,” he said when they were all sat down. “And I’m Morality. But you can call me Patton. Or Dad!”

Creativity stiffened when Patton introduced himself, but it was gone so fast, Patton could have imagined it.

“In that case, you must call me Roman,” Creativity announced.

“You find names important then,” Logan sighed. He adjusted his glasses. “In that case you are free to call me Logan, though it is unnecessary; Logic encapsulates my role and is perfectly suitable.”

Patton frowned at that. “But you’re more than just your role. Logan is about what makes you you.”

“Well, it’s really nice to meet you both,” Roman said. He glanced around. “Uh, I’m not sure where I should go now.”

Patton clapped his hands together. “Oh, you should stay with us! Here, I’ll summon a room for you.”

He closed his eyes and thought Roman, Roman, Roman, trying to picture Roman’s appearance, the way he stood and the way he talked. Tried not to think about anyone else. He felt the moment when his thoughts turned solid, and sagged as the energy drained out him in a rush.

“Patton?” Roman sounded concerned.

Patton opened his eyes, blinking away the spots in his vision. He forced himself to smile despite the tiredness. “There you go! One Patton-ted Patton room. First door on the left, right next to mine.”

Roman blinked. “Thank you,” he said, sounding taken aback. “Do you mind if I go get settled in?”

Patton nodded. He didn’t think he had the energy for much of a conversation, and if Roman left maybe he’d get a chance to lie down. “Go ahead, kiddo.”

Roman gave one last nervous smile at Patton, then nodded at Logan, and left the room.

“Well,” Patton said brightly to Logan. “He seems nice!”

“He was certainly unexpected,” Logan replied. “I wonder what caused Creativity to split?”

Patton looked away, his stomach churning. “We should do something to celebrate. How about I bake a cake?”

Patton jumped when a hand rested on his shoulder. He hadn’t noticed Logan cross the room.

“You should go lie down,” Logan said. “We can continue our discussion later.”

“Oh, I’m fine.”

“Patton,” Logan said sternly. “There is no use in working yourself until you break down. Weren’t you just arguing that?”

Still, Patton wanted to fight, to reassure Logan that he was fine. He could deal with a little less sleep than usual.

“Besides,” Logan said. “I believe it’s time for me to sort through the information Thomas has learnt.”

“All right,” Patton said. “I suppose I could lie down for a few minutes. But fetch me if you need anything. Or if you think Roman needs anything.” But what if Logan didn’t know Roman needed something? What if he already needed something? “Do you think I should make sure he’s okay first?”

“Roman is perfectly capable of looking after himself, I’m sure,” Logan answered. “And if he proves not to be, I’ll find you. You have my word.”

He couldn’t think of a different argument to stay up, so he went upstairs. He stopped for a moment in front of the new door, but he couldn’t hear anything inside. He considered knocking anyway, just in case Roman wanted anything, but dismissed the idea. Logan was right; Roman would be fine on his own. He was probably worn out, anyway, and Patton didn’t want to overwhelm him.

He went to his room instead, and lay down on his bed, and tried very hard not to think about the old Creativity.

***

The next day, Patton hunted through the cupboards for milk, eggs, flour and cocoa powder. He placed them on the kitchen counter, and then went to fetch Roman. A cake seemed like the perfect way to celebrate Roman’s arrival, and baking was the perfect activity to get to know someone with.

Patton hesitated outside of Roman’s door. He had no idea what to expect from Roman; he knew the old Creativity, but Roman said they weren’t quite the same person. He’d been planning on making a chocolate cake- Creativity’s favourite. Would Roman still like it? Would he remember that the King had liked it?

Patton knocked quickly on the door before he could lose his nerve. There, now that he’d knocked and that meant he had to go through with it.

“Hang on!” Roman called, and a moment later the door opened.

Roman froze when he saw Patton, and then plastered on a smile. “Patton! So good to see you. Was there something you wanted?”

“I just came to check how you were getting on,” Patton answered. “Are you settling in okay?”

“I’m splendid.”

“Well, if you’re not too busy, maybe we could do something together? It would be nice to get to know you.”

Roman suddenly looked nervous. “What did you have in mind?”

“Anything you want. I was thinking of baking, but we could always do something else.”

“Baking sounds good,” Roman said. “Did you want to start now?”

“If you’re free. I can always come back later if you wanted.”

Roman shook his head quickly. “I’m free. Let’s go.”

Roman kept fidgeting with his sash as Patton downstairs. It was probably nothing. Meeting new people was always nerve wracking. It was certainly nerve wracking for Thomas. Roman just needed time to get to know him, then he’d feel a lot better.

They reached the kitchen, and some of Patton’s worries drained away as soon as they crossed the threshold. It was a dark room, bordered with seventies style counters identical to the ones in Thomas’s house, right down to the dent in one of the doors from when Thomas had kicked in when he was six. Thomas had spent afternoons peering up to see what his parents were cooking, sneaking cookies when they weren’t looking.

No matter what, the kitchen always smelled of those same cookies, straight out the oven.

“Do you like chocolate cake?” Patton asked.

Roman nodded.

Patton hadn’t ruined things already, then.

“Great. Why don’t you get started measuring out the flour, and I’ll measure out the milk.”

Logan always followed a recipe when he cooked, but Patton just went by what felt right. It always worked, apart from on days when Patton felt like he could do nothing right, when no matter what he did, the cake always came out flat and burned. As Creativity, Roman probably trusted his intuition over written instructions too, but Patton still summoned a recipe for him, just in case.

“You don’t need to follow it exactly,” Patton assured him.

They set to work, first measuring out the ingredients, and then mixing them together. Patton showed Roman how to sift the ingredients in to a mixing bowl, how to crack eggs and not get any shell in them, and how to beat it all together. Roman watched each step intently, and when it was his turn, he followed Patton’s actions to the letter.

“Can I ask a question?” Roman asked as he stirred the batter.

“You just did!” Patton said. “But you can ask another one if you like.”

“Where’s Logan?”

“Well, he’s with Thomas,” Patton explained. “He likes to hang around while Thomas is at school. Why do you ask?”

“Just curious,” Roman said. He hesitated, and then added, “I overheard the two of you yesterday. It sounded like you were arguing.”

“We do that a lot,” Patton admitted. “We’re kind of opposites, facts and feelings.”

“And that’s… okay? That you argue?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Patton asked, confused.

It hadn’t always been. Patton had spent years convinced that Logan hated him, but he’d come to know better. Logan could be blunt, no matter how many times Patton told him not to be, but that was only because he didn’t see the need to soften his words.

“Never mind,” Roman said.

Patton waited a moment to see if Roman would say anything else, and then shrugged. “Well, how about you?”

Roman tensed. “Me?”

“Well yeah. I want to get to know you, remember? What do you like to do?”

Roman stirred the mixture for a while before answering. “I like singing,” he began, and then glanced over at Patton. Patton smiled and nodded, and Roman continued, more confident. “And acting. But my favourite thing is creating my own stories.”

The King had liked all those things.

“That sounds wonderful,” Patton said. “What do you do to relax? I watch movies.”

Roman’s eyes lit up. “Oh, I love Disney films.”

“Me too,” Patton agreed, grinning. “We should have a movie night. Logan never wants to have one.”

Roman smiled. “We could sing along,” he added.

“Yes! And you could tell me about why the villains are the best characters.”

Romans smile fell. He looked away. “I don’t like the villains.”

The King had. For a moment, Patton had forgotten who he was talking to.

“Oh,” Patton said. “I’m sorry, Roman, I shouldn’t have-.”

“Do you think this looks done?” Roman asked abruptly.

Patton nodded, and Roman poured the mixture into the cake tins. He went to the oven while Patton began tidying up. Stupid. Now he’d made Roman upset.

“Fuck!” Roman cried out suddenly.

“Language,” Patton scolded automatically, even as he turned to look.

Roman was standing in front of the oven, his shoulder hunched. He was clutching one hand, which had a large red mark on it.

“Sorry,” Roman said quickly.

“What happened?” Patton cried, rushing over.

He reached for the burned hand. Roman flinched, and then held it out so Patton could inspect it.

“I caught it on the side of the oven,” Roman answered. “Stupid of me, I know.”

Patton frowned. “It looks painful. Here.”

Patton gently tugged Roman over to the sink, and Roman followed without a word. He ran the cold tap, checking the temperature with one finger before placing Roman’s hand under it.

“Keep your hand under it for a few minutes,” Patton instructed, and Roman nodded.

His shoulders were still hunched, and he stared straight ahead, refusing to look at Patton. It could have been the burn, or what Patton had said earlier, or something else entirely.

Patton busied himself in clearing up, gathering the bowls and placing them next to the sink.

“I can help you with that,” Roman offered.

Patton shook his head. “Don’t worry about it,” he said. “Just keep your hand under the tap.”

“Afterwards, then.”

Patton shook his head again. “Roman, you’re hurt. I can take care of the cleaning up, okay?”

Roman looked torn, but nodded. Patton couldn’t start on the washing up, not while Roman was using the sink, so he busied himself in wiping down the countertops instead. He tried to talk to Roman as he worked, but Roman only replied with short answers and tensed up whenever Patton got near.

As soon as the five minutes were up, Roman turned off the tap, shooting glances at Patton the whole time, as if making sure Patton didn’t object. He stood in the middle of the room for a moment, before turning and hurrying out. Footsteps pounded up the stairs, and then a door slammed shut. Patton leaned against the counter, and stared at the spot Roman had been. Something was wrong with Roman, and whatever that was, it was a lot worse than nerves.

***

Roman came downstairs later that day, acting like nothing had happened. Patton focused on making sure Roman was welcome; he set up a movie night a few days later, and he even managed to convince Logan that the three of them should have dinner together every evening.

And when Patton and Logan couldn’t agree on whether Thomas should clean his room or watch TV, they asked Roman to be a tie breaker. Roman had been hesitant at first- perhaps worried about offending one of them, but the next time they asked for his help, he gave his answer much quicker. Soon, he was offering his suggestions without prompting.

Unfortunately, that lead to Roman siding against Logan most of the time. More than once, Roman had suddenly cut off what he was saying when Patton came into the room. He’d tried asking Logan about it, in case Roman was being mean, but Logan insisted that Roman was fine, even if he was wrong.

So it wasn’t surprising, when Patton came downstairs to find Roman and Logan in the middle of an argument.

“This could be Thomas’s chance to find his soulmate!” Roman proclaimed.

“Doubtful, seeing as very few High School romances last beyond graduation.”

“What’s going on?” Patton asked, once he got to the bottom of the stairs.

Roman stiffened when he noticed Patton, and Patton tried to push back the usual bite of hurt at that.

“Thomas,” Roman announced, “Is in love.”

“Or rather, infatuation,” Logan added.

Patton looked at Logan and gestured for him to continue.

“Thomas appears to have developed a quote-unquote ‘crush’ on one of his peers. Roman believes that Thomas should attempt to enter a romantic relationship with him. I, however, tried to explain that Thomas doesn’t have time for such frivolities. I have not been successful.”

“It’s true love!” Roman argued. “Patton, tell Logan how wrong he is.”

Patton closed his eyes and reached out to Thomas’s feelings. Sure enough, there was the web of excitement and nerves that could only be caused by a crush. He reached out to it gently, untangling the strings of thought and emotion, butterflies in the stomach and nervous stuttering, and looking for the images buried beneath them, the curve of a smile when someone told a joke, hazel eyes, a spattering of freckles over the nose, until he could see the boy Thomas was thinking of.

Oh. That wasn’t good.

He opened his eyes again.

“Well?” Roman prompted.

Patton chewed his lip. “Actually, I think I agree with Logan this time, kiddo.”

“You do?” Logan asked, sounding shocked.

Roman didn’t say anything.

“Not for the same reasons as you,” Patton explained, “But- do you remember that sleepover Thomas went to last month? Well, Carlos said he likes that guy too. If we ask him out and he says yes- Carlos will be crushed.”

Patton watched Roman’s reaction, ready for Roman to keep arguing, something about not letting anything get in the way of true love, perhaps. But instead, Roman seemed to shrink in on himself. His gaze fell to the floor.

“Okay,” Roman said quietly.

Patton and Logan exchanged a glance.

“You’re giving up? Just like that?” Logan asked.

Roman shrugged.

“You never give up that easily. You still tell me about how wrong I was to make Thomas do his homework rather than write last Monday.”

“Patton’s right,” Roman answered, monotone. “I was just being stupid and selfish and-“

“Hey, no,” Patton interrupted. “You’re not stupid. You’re just trying to do what’s best for Thomas.”

Roman glanced up, and Patton saw that his eyes were shining. He elbowed Logan.

“Ah, comfort. Uh, positive relationships can have a good effect on someone’s mental health. And there will be plenty of other chances for Thomas to enter a romantic relationship.”

Patton smiled gently at Roman. “You see?”

Roman nodded, though he still looked miserable. “I’m sorry.”

“What for, kiddo?” Patton asked.

Roman shrugged.

Patton chewed his lip. Roman seemed to be waiting for something, but Patton had no idea what.

“Is everything alright?” he asked.

Roman nodded, and smiled. It wasn’t convincing. “I’m just tired. Come tomorrow, I’ll be back to my usual fabulous self.”

Roman was watching Patton closely, like he was waiting for Patton’s reaction.

“Okay,” Patton said. “But, Roman, you know we’re here if you want to talk, okay?”

“There’s nothing to talk about!” Roman said quickly. “I just, uh- need to go lie down! You know how I am without my beauty sleep.”

Patton didn’t.

“Alright,” Patton said doubtfully. “I’ll see you later.”

Roman nodded and quickly headed upstairs.

It felt like another landmine Patton had stepped into accidently. And just like before, Patton had no idea how to make it right.

“That has never happened before,” Logan commented.

Patton jumped- he’d almost forgotten Logan was there. “Do you think he’s okay? He seemed so upset.”

“I am probably not the best person to make that judgement.”

Patton sighed. “I just wish I knew what was wrong.”

Logan hummed. “That I may be able to theorise about.” Patton looked over at him, and Logan continued. “Have you noticed that Roman always agrees with you?”

“That can’t be true,” Patton protested, but when had they been on different sides of an argument? “Well, we represent similar things. It makes sense that we agree a lot.”

“On everything, though? But it’s not just that. Whenever the three of us are having a discussion together, Roman will wait for you to speak before he gives his own opinion.”

Something cold crept inside Patton. Logan was right. Whether it was a question of what Thomas should do or what movie the two of them should watch, Roman always parroted what Patton said.

“You think I’m the reason he’s upset.”

Logan hesitated. “I didn’t say that. Yes, his strange behaviour always seems linked to your presence, but correlation should not be taken as meaning causation.”

But now that Logan had mentioned that one thing, all the other pieces of evidence kept piling up. Roman stiffened when Patton walked in. At times, Patton would ask Roman a question, and Roman would look like a deer caught in the headlights. And then there was how Roman reacted to hearing his name.

“If correlation doesn’t equal causation,” Patton said, “How do you know when something is the cause?”

“Well, you’ll have to find the reason for it to be the cause. Take cigarette smoking and cancer. Even though people who smoked had a higher rate of lung cancer, it took scientist finding the reason for cigarettes to cause lung cancer to actually prove it.”

“Okay,” Patton said.

Correlation doesn’t equal causation, but Patton already knew the reason. Roman might not remember everything the King had experienced, but he did know things. He must know what Patton had done.

All this time, Patton had been making Roman uncomfortable, and he hadn’t even noticed. Some friend he was.

“Patton?” Logan asked.

Patton blinked; he’d been lost in thought. He tried to smile. “I’m okay. But, uh, I think I might give Roman some space for a while.”

Logan frowned. “That might not be necessary.”

“I think it will help. But could you – keep an eye on him? Just, make sure he’s okay.”

“I’m hardly the expert at telling whether someone is okay or not.”

“You’ll be fine. Please?”

Logan sighed. “Very well. But you won’t be doing this indefinitely, will you?”

Patton shook his head. “Just until Roman gets a little bit more settled.”

It wasn’t a complete lie. Patton just wasn’t sure how long that would take. And if, even then, Roman still didn’t want Patton around, well, Patton would just have to respect his wishes.

After all, Patton knew the hard way the amount of damage he could cause.

***

Weeks ago, Patton had been curled up in one of the armchairs of the common room, reading Harry Potter. The king was on the sofa, scribbling in a notebook. At the end of his chapter, Patton had put the book down, stretched, and looked over at the King.

“What are you writing?” he asked.

The King smiled and turned the notebook to show Patton, but he was sat too far away for Patton to be able to read the messy handwriting.

“It’s how Thomas can get revenge on Mr Scott.”

Try as he might, Patton couldn’t find much good things to say about Mr Scott, so he avoided talking about him. Logan wasn’t bothered about that, he could spend hours ranting about all the reasons that man should not be allowed to teach maths. Before each class, Deceit would whisper excuses to get out of it in Thomas’s ear, and when Thomas was in the classroom, Anxiety loomed like a spectre behind him.

So it wasn’t a surprise that the King hated him too. Something about the notebook, however, made Patton feel uneasy.

“Revenge?” he echoed.

The King nodded eagerly. “Yeah. Thomas hides a dead rat in Mr Scott’s classroom, and Mr Scott sees it and screams like a girl.” He flipped through the notebook, and then held it up at a different page. “Oh, and in this one, Mr Scott gets in a car accident on the way to school and dies.”

“That’s horrible!” Patton cried, aghast.

The King tilted his head, looking confused. “What do you mean?”

“Thomas can’t do those things! They’re bad.”

The King didn’t seem concerned. “Well, yeah. Thomas isn’t even involved in the car accident one, he just finds out at school.” At Patton’s expression he turned defensive. “They’re just daydreams.”

Just daydreams. As if that made it any better. Patton eyed the Kings notebook, which he was clutching so tight his knuckles had turned white. How many more daydreams were like that? How many times had Thomas imagined those things, thought about those things, and Patton hadn’t noticed.

“Thomas can’t fantasise about someone dying,” Patton argued.

“Why not?” the King asked.

“Because it’s bad. It would make him a bad person.”

The King frowned down at his notebook. “But I’m one of the good sides.”

“I know,” Patton said soothingly. “I know you are. You just need to… stop imagining the bad parts, okay?”

If the King could just do that, then everything would go back to normal. Thomas would still be a good person, and Patton and the King wouldn’t have to argue anymore.

But the King shook his head. “I don’t know if I can.”

“You have to,” Patton insisted. “We have to make sure Thomas is a good person.”

“But Thomas is already a good person,” the King argued.

“But that,” Patton gestured at the notebook, “Is bad! A person can’t be both good and bad at the same time.”

The King fell silent at that, staring down at the notebook, absently running his fingers over it. Patton sat down next to him, and gently rested a hand on his shoulder. The King didn’t react.

“Look, it’s okay,” Patton promised.

“Right,” the King said blankly. He flipped the notebook open to a blank page. “I can figure this out.”

“Figure what out?” Patton asked, but the King was too absorbed in what he was doing to answer.

Patton watched him for a moment, and later, he regretted that moment. Regretted not saying something else, anything else. But the ideas the King had talked about still made his skin crawl. He left the King to his work. There was no stopping him when he got into the zone, anyway. Patton could talk to him again tomorrow.

But he didn’t, because that night, Patton was woken by someone shaking him.

He blinked at the near darkness of his room, and, squinting, could just make out a blurry figure wearing a crown.

“King?” he asked, still half asleep. “What’s going on?”

“I’ve figured it out,” the King whispered.

Patton frowned and sat up, fumbling on the nightstand for his glasses. As soon as the King came into focus, Patton knew something was wrong. His clothes and hair were dishevelled, the way he sometimes got when he worked on something nonstop, but his eyes were fever bright.

“Figured what out?”

“How to fix me.”

“Fix you?” Patton couldn’t understand what he was hearing. Was the King sick? Why would he need fixing?

The King nodded rapidly. “I was thinking about what you said, about how someone can be good and bad. Everything’s going to be better now.”

Patton shivered at the conviction in the King’s voice. “You don’t need fixing.”

“I do, though. A person can’t be both good and bad. I was the problem.”

Patton shook his head. He reached out, and grabbed the Kings arm. “I’m sorry for what I said earlier. There’s nothing wrong with you. You just… scared me.”

The King gently pried Patton’s hand away. “You don’t need to apologise. You were right. Thank you, Patton.”

“You’re scaring me again,” Patton said. “What are you going to do?”

The King shook his head. “I can’t tell you. It might not work. But if it does, you’ll like it better this way.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I know. I’m sorry. But I had to go now. I only came because- I want you to know that I’m fixing things.”

The King began to move away, but Patton grabbed his arm, fingers digging in to the fabric of his doublet. “Don’t go. Stay here. We can talk about this tomorrow, okay? Logan can help, he knows everything.”

The King hesitated.

“Please,” Patton begged.

“Okay,” the King said at last, not meeting Patton’s eye. “Tomorrow. I’m sorry for scaring you, Patton.”

“It’s okay,” Patton said. “Just… talk to us, okay?”

The King nodded, and left, hesitating for just a moment before he closed Patton’s door. Patton lay back down and stared at the ceiling, his heart beating fast. He didn’t know what had just happened, almost happened, but something about it had felt like a goodbye.

The King didn’t show up the next day. And then, the day after that, Roman had appeared at their door.

***

Patton spent the next few days in his room, doing everything he could to stay out of Roman’s way. That first night, Roman had knocked on his door after Patton missed dinner, and Patton had pretended to be asleep. Roman hadn’t knocked again.

The next day, Patton had been able to sneak out long enough to ask Logan to fill in for him on movie nights, because it wasn’t fair if the only way Roman got to do something he loved was if it was with someone who made him uncomfortable. On his way back to his room, Patton had almost run into Roman.

Roman had smiled, and asked how Patton was, but Patton had found an excuse to leave as soon as possible. It was good of Roman, to keep acting polite, even with Patton.

By the third day, Patton was bored. He hadn’t been able to do most of the things he loved, had barely been able to speak to Logan. Which was fine! Making sure Roman was happy was more important than silly things like that.

Still, it wouldn’t hurt to leave his room for just a little while. He could sneak some cookies up to his room, it wouldn’t be as good as baking them would be, but it would make him feel better.

He tiptoed down the stairs, listening for any sign of Roman. Logan was in the living room, alone, which meant Roman was probably in his room. Patton breathed a sigh of relief.

Logan raised an eyebrow as he watched Patton walk past, but he didn’t say anything.

Patton headed into the kitchen, not bothering to sneak anymore. Roman was standing in the centre of it.

Patton tried to back away before Roman noticed- it didn’t matter, he could come back later- but his elbow caught a pile of saucepans on the side. Roman spun around.

“Uh, hi,” Patton said, awkwardly.

Roman cleared his throat. “Hi. I, uh, haven’t seen you around much.”

“Oh, you know me,” Patton said. “I like to keep busy.”

“Right. Well, I was just going to get you. I thought we could bake something together? I promise not to burn myself.”

He glanced over his shoulder at the counter, where cake ingredients had been piled up. Patton wanted to say yes. Perhaps if they baked together, he’d be able to be friends with Roman. But no, that was being selfish. Roman didn’t really want Patton around, he wanted to bake by himself. He was just being polite.

“Well, I’d love to,” Patton said. “But I really should head back to my room.”

He turned to leave, but then Roman called out, “Wait.”

Patton stopped, and turned back around. Roman shifted from foot to foot.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Patton frowned and opened his mouth to say something, to ask what was going on, but Roman continued.

“I know I’m not… as good as I should be. Or as you probably want me to be. But I’m trying, I really am. And I’m sorry, but I don’t know what I’ve done wrong.”

“Roman,” Patton began.

“Is it about Thomas’s crush? Because I really am sorry about that. I, I didn’t know. I won’t try to tell Thomas what to do any more, just please, let me stay.”

Patton shook his head. “You haven’t done anything wrong.”

It should have been a comfort. Instead, Roman just seemed to wilt more.

“Roman,” Patton said. “Why do you think you need to apologise?”

“Because,” Roman sounded uncertain, “Because I’ve upset you. Clearly.”

Patton shook his head. “You haven’t upset me.”

“You’ve been avoiding me,” Roman pointed out. “It’s, it’s okay, won’t get mad or anything. I’d just really like to know why.”

“Roman, no.” How badly had Patton messed up? “I’m not upset. I’ve just been trying to give you space.”

Patton should have said something earlier, should have apologised to Roman, and told him what was going on. But then Roman might not have accepted the apology, might have demanded more, for everything Patton had done.

“Space?” Roman echoed.

“I know I make you uncomfortable.” Roman looked about to protest, so Patton held up a hand. “You always act jumpy when I’m around, and I keep upsetting you. So I decided to stop bothering you.”

Roman laughed, too loud to be real. “I don’t act jumpy. You’re being ridiculous.”

“Why do you never disagree with me?” Patton asked.

Roman faltered. “Well, you’re Morality, of course. You have to be right!”

Oh.

Pieces were being to fit together. Patton couldn’t see the full picture, not yet, but he could see enough to know he didn’t like it.

“That’s not true,” he said desperately. “There’s plenty of things I know anything about. And- and Logan disagrees with me all the time. That doesn’t mean he’s wrong, does it?”

Roman shook his head. “But he’s Logic. He doesn’t have to agree with you. I’m…” Roman trailed off.

“You’re what, Roman?” Patton prompted.

“I’m the good one. I have to be good, otherwise-,” Roman cut up. He curled in on himself, and then, in a small voice, said, “I don’t want to be alone again.”

Something in Patton’s chest cracked. “You don’t have to be.”

Roman glanced up. His eyes were shining with tears, but he looked hopeful. “Really?”

Patton nodded.

Roman sagged in relief. “Thank you. I’ll make it up to you, I promise. I can be good.”

Patton let out a noise of frustration. “No, you-,” without know what he was doing, Patton was across the room, and pulling Roman into a hug.

“You are good,” Patton promised. “You’re brave, and creative, and funny. And you’re not going anywhere, okay?”

“But-,”

Patton pulled back enough that he could look Roman in the eye. “I don’t care if you make mistakes. And I don’t care if you aren’t good all the time. I want you here.”

Roman broke, collapsing into Patton’s hug. Patton rubbed his back. “And I’m sorry,” he said, and he was crying now, they were both crying. “I’m so, so sorry about what happened to the King. I wish I could change it, more than anything. But it gave us you.”

They stayed like that, crying into each other’s shoulders, until Roman pulled away.

“Thank you,” Roman said. “For everything.”

“Anytime, kiddo,” Patton said, smiling. “But you don’t have to worry about being good all the time, okay? That’s my job. You just need to be you.”

Roman smiled. “I think I can try that.”

“Good. And you know, I’m not always right. And I don’t always know what’s best for Thomas. So if you disagree with something, anything, that I say- please tell me okay? Like Logan does.”

“Okay,” Roman promised, though he still didn’t look certain.

“We can start with something small,” Patton offered. “Like what the best Disney song is. But first,” Patton stuck out his hand. “Hi, I’m Patton. It’s nice to meet you.”

Roman stared at the hand for a moment, and then smiled and shook it. “I am Prince Roman. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Now,” Patton asked. “What was that you were saying about baking?”

Roman grinned, and gestured to a notebook open on the table. “I think,” he said. “That together, we can make the most epic cake in history.”

It wasn’t the most epic cake in history. That would require more chocolate, and better icing than either of them were able to manage.

But it was good enough.

#sanders sides #patton sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #fanfiction #my fic

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oh-theatre · 5 years

Text

Sycamore High: Sound it Out (Chapter 19)

A/N: This might be one of my favorite chapters, but here's the end of the night and the return of a certain be-speckled boy so... ALSO, I FINALLY FIGURED OUT A NICKNAME THAT TED WOULD CALL TOMMY AND I FIND IT ADORABLE

summary: Ted and Tommys night takes an unexpected turn for the worse

words: 3,171

warnings: swearing, kissing, blood mention, punching, HOMOPHOBIA, HOMOPHOBIC SLURS, negative thoughts

Ao3 Link

“I really do not like musicals” Ted comments shaking his head, they laugh walking out of the theatre. Tommy smiles, playing with Ted's fingers in his own hand. He leans in a little closer, his walk becoming tired. Ted looks down “You ok there gumdrop?” Ted asks as they walk back. The beautiful sunny day, slowing its course becoming a calm night. A cool wind blows the pair as they walk through the silent streets. Tommy yawns leaning in a little more, eyes drooping.

“Mmhm” He hums in response “Just tired, dearest” Tommy yawns again, Ted chuckles softly watching Tommy's hair fall softly into his eyes. He pushes them out of the way and supports Tommy a little more. Happy to carry his boyfriend all the way home, offering his weight. Ted walks peacefully with Tommy practically asleep on his side. He hears the smaller boy humming softly, Ted recognizes the song from the musical they just saw. Ted listens hoping nothing breaks the graceful tune that plays. But alas, all good things must come to an end.

“Hey! Fag!” A sharp voice yells from behind the pair, Ted feels his heart drop. A perfect picture, in a broken frame.

Ted keeps walking, feeling himself pick up the pace still supporting Tommy. He can sense the people behind him, Tommy perks up a bit looking confused. He pauses, stopping the pair in their tracks. He looks up sleepily at Ted.

“What's up buttercup?” He yawns his words “Why are we rushing?” Ted shifts uncomfortably. He stares behind Tommy noticing two figures approaching out of the clear space. Tommy notices and looks behind him. “Who are they?” He asks more aware. Ted shakes his head and Tommy understands. He takes his hand once more and they continue walking, the men still trailing behind. The apartment feels as far away as ever.

“Hey! Didn't you hear us?” The men shout, Tommy feels Ted tighten his grip. They struggle to keep going as the men continue to call out to them, yelling slurs and insults left and right. “Hey, you two! Holding hands” Ted shuts his eyes tight but keeps going, he just wants to go home.

“Hey, I've got you, ok?” Tommy whispers soothingly, noticing Ted's face. Ted tilts his head, nodding gratefully. Ted feels his phone buzzes, and he quickly checks it. He shows the map to Tommy, who smiles reassuringly. “Look, we’re almost home” Ted nods. He checks his messages and responds quickly, in the small clearing they've gotten too far away from the men.

Chad: Hey kiddos! Just wanted to check in a see what your ETA on the movie was!

Ted feels a small weight lift from his shoulder seeing the normality return. He responds quickly.

SB: Just finished, walking home now.

He pockets his phone at the sound of nearby rustling and they continue walking. They slow their pace, still alert. The men are nowhere to be seen, the boys take a breath. The night rolls in faster now, the starless sky shining once more. Ted smiles up at them and counts as many as he can, just like mom said. They continue as Tommy returns to his dazed state and Ted counts as many as he can. His record was 126, his moms was 243. Although Ted still thinks she made that up. He laughs softly to himself recalling his mother. He feels his chest slow, returning to normal and his breath sounds at a manageable pace.

“Hey! Didn’t you hear me you fucking fag” The men jump in front of the pair, Ted can see their faces now. Ted jumps back instinctively taking Tommy who becomes alert once more. He examines the men and unexpectedly Ted can feel Tommy shy away. He puts an arm protectively around him, Tommy clutches on.

“Leave us alone” Ted manages, surprised at the own confidence from his own voice, Tommy nods in agreement still hiding. The men erupt into obnoxious laughter taking slow steps forward, Ted squints, the dark light makes it harder to see their faces.

“Why? So you can go back to holding hands?” Another man speaks up, the left one snickers at his own remarks. “Nah I don't think so, I think I need to teach you queers a lesson” Ted can hear cracking, the man was cracking his fists. Ted backed away still protecting Tommy. He scanned his surroundings, find a way out. Suddenly a giant pressure hits his face and he stumbles backward, losing his connection to Tommy. He flails helplessly for Tommy, he can hear a sudden ringing as he hits the ground. He can hear noises, talking, shouting, fear rises within him. He tries to call for Tommy, but his voice is hoarse. He shuts his eyes trying to ground himself, instead met with a heavy pressure and a struggle to stay conscious.

~~~

“Oh my god!” Emma laughs still recovering “That was hilarious!” Paul nods also laughing. They exit the restaurant thanking their host. They sigh making their way to the parking lot where Paul had parked. The cool night sent a chill down the pairs back, but it was refreshing. They settle back into the car still riding the high of that fulfilling dinner.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, I was pretty nervous” Paul admits, pulling out of the lot. Emma smiles coyly, she watches his movements, catching his eye.

“I loved it! I haven’t been out for dinner since…” she ponders for a moment “Oh gosh, since forever. It was my sister's favorite thing to do” she perks up excited, Paul scrunched his brows, sister? “Every Friday she would try and find a place we hadn’t eaten at before and we would have to go” Emma explains, cheery. “The last place we went was…” something falters as Emma pauses. She swallows hoping Paul was to busy driving to notice. He does but decides to focus on the empty road in front of him.

“How was your food?” He asks trying to divert the conversation, not wanting to make Emma unhappy. She smiles gratefully nodding.

“It was good, I definitely ordered the right thing,” She says checking her messages, quickly responding to her mother's texts. She also takes a quick moment to text Charlotte back, smiling all the way through their conversation. She tucks her phone away turning back to Paul. “So tell me, Matthews, what happens now?”

“Now, I take you home,” He says, she looks around recognizing her surroundings. Watching familiar neighborhood houses go by.

“Then what happens?” She asks as they pull into her driveway. Paul smirks getting out of the car, helping Emma out. She gracefully accepts and they walk silently to her front door. “Paul?” He takes a deep breath, looking around him. He meets her eyes once more smiling.

“Then,” He says slowly, leaning in closer. He takes her hands, ignoring the blush creeping upon his face. He pushes a loose strand of her out of her face. “Then...I do this” He says practically speaking upon her lips. He cups her face, slowly bringing it to his own and allowing their lips to meet. It lasts a short beautiful moment before the door swings open and they pull apart quickly. Turning away from the door, hiding their red faces.

“So you’re Paul Matthews...” A light but firm voice spoke.

~~~

“Oh, you are going down, Matthews!” Deb shouts jumping up ecstatically, ferociously pressing the buttons. Alice laughs delighted, swinging her controller around planting one final blow. She dances in the victory music that plays from the TV and seeps in the beauty of a disappointed groan from Deb.

“Haha! What was that dear Deb?” She teases. Deb stands up grabbing Alice pulling her down onto the bean bags tickling her mercilessly. Alice squeals delightfully, grabbing her mouth trying to quiet herself but to no avail. The girls shush themselves hearing footsteps coming up the stairs. The door creaks open, Alice looks up at her mom. She smiles silly, joined by Deb.

“Hi, Deb,” Alice's mother says, she looks at her daughter expectantly.

“Hi, Ms.Matthews!” Deb says giddy, Alice shakes her head cheeks flushing.

“Hun, I've told you, you can call me Marley,” Marley says sweetly, Deb nods excitedly. “It's nice to see you around, I'm making some dinner would you like to join us?” She asks, instinctively folding up some things strewn around the room. Deb looks to Alice who shrugs. She looks back to Marley and nods, thanking her. “Alright! I call you down when it's ready!” Marley says leaving the room, closing the door.

“Eeek! I love your mom's food!” Deb exclaims, Alice nudges her glancing back to the tv. “Oh you're on” She grabs her controller and they begin once more.

~~~

“Mmm,” Chad hums dancing around the kitchen, circling Henry as they cook. “I don't know if its the food, or you, but something smells good” Chad giggles placing a kiss onto Henry's neck. The professor shakes his head, struggling to keep his smile under control.

“You are being very unprofessional Professor Hidgens” Henry comments lovingly, Chad bites his tongue giggling. Henry pauses stirring turning to his husband, he pulls him into a kiss. Chad holds his bowl kissing back, he pulls away biting his smile. They continue dancing around each other, a beautiful routine as they swirl through and around cooking up a storm. Henry hums a tune, finally pouring the finished meal into a setting bowl. “Love, will you set the table? I’m just not as good as you are with it” Henry coos, Chad nods setting to his task excitedly. Henry pouts suddenly, an awkward feeling settling him. Chad turns noticing, he strokes his husband's cheeks examining the man's face.

“Everything alright dearest?” Chad inquires

“Have you heard from the boys? The movies-”

“I have, they are on their way now” Chad comforts, Henry nods still doubtful. “Henry? Are you alright?” Chad continues, noticing the still unsure look Henry has.

“Something is wrong” Henry frowns “I feel...like something is wrong” Chad tilts his head still cupping his husbands face. They stay like this before Henry waves it off and continues on dinner. Chad watches before setting the last placemat, making sure there are four in case Tommy wants to eat with them. The music continues playing through the house putting both men at ease. Finally, Henry finishes sitting down at the table, watching his husband affectionately. His attention pulled away as the door swings open, both men stand and turn towards it.

“Help!” Tommy cries, rushing in supporting a large figure. The professors scramble over to him taking an unconscious Ted and leading him to the couch. They set him down, Chad goes to grab a first aid kit. Henry turns to Tommy, he didn't mean to glare but...he did. His face softens at the redness surrounding the boy's eyes, and the glasses inked with dry tears. He tries to speak but can't manage anything. Chad returns and immediately begins working on Ted's face, cleaning up the blood, working on his nose. “I'm sorry” Tommy whispers frightened. Henry and Chad pause looking to the be-speckled boy. “I was s-so tired and I didn't...I d-didn't see anything…” He chokes back a sob, his eyes never leave Ted. Henry stands carefully, walking towards the boy. He places an arm around Tommy comforting him, Tommy cries into him, Chad sighs going back to Ted.

“Its alright Tommy, come sit,” He says leading the boy over to the couch. Tommy wipes his eyes, he places Ted's head in his lap, stroking the boy's hair, scared. Chad keeps working, feeling Ted stirring he backs away. Ted blinks his eyes open tired, he nestles into Tommy who gasps softly kissing Ted's forehead.

“Mmm, what's going on?” Ted mumbles, Tommy tries to speak but can feel the incoming tears. Ted hears the small noise coming from his boyfriend, he sits up. “Gumdrop?” He yawns, suddenly feeling a load of pain. He rubs his nose, wincing at the pain. His eyes grow in horror as he remembers the incidents of the evening. He shies away unable to meet the professor's eyes. “Oh…”

“What happened boys?” Henry asks returning from the kitchen handing the pair glasses of water. They take it gratefully, sipping on it to avoid conversation. They share a look before nodding. Ted turns to Chad, hoping his reaction will be softer. They recount the events that had happened bouncing back and forth between the pair. By the end, the apartment falls silent, save for Chad trying to stop his sniffles.

“Henry, can I talk to you?” Chad asks coldly. His husband nods and leads them out of the room. The two teens look to each other, frightened. Tommy takes his hand, biting his quivering lip. Ted sighs taking him into a hug.

“I was… I am..” Tommy tries but can't get the words out. “I-im so sorry!” He blurts sobbing into Ted. Ted tightens the embrace, rubbing soothing circles on his back.

“It's not your fault Tommy” Ted reassures “It’s those...those…” He pulls away angry “Monsters” Tommy chuckles at his sweet frown. He wipes away tears from his eyes. “Are you ok?” Ted asks, his voice softer now. Tommy nods, gasping cautiously.

“You got punched, and you're asking me if I'm ok?” Tommy shakes his head, disbelief running through him “I love you” Tommy says, the words rolling off his tongue so smoothly. He doesn't go back, he stays confident but Ted? Ted has never felt so much before. He pulls Tommy into a kiss, sweet and loving. The boys melt into each other, two pieces fit perfectly together.

“I love you too, by the way,” He chuckles “If that wasn't clear” The pair giggle together. Ted takes Tommy into another embrace resting on each other. They take deep breaths feeling their eyes grow heavy. Ted feels an everlasting flutter, but it's comfortable. I could get used to this.

~~~

“Thank you Mrs.Perkins! Sorry for kissing your daughter” Paul shouts as he leaves the house, causing Emma to giggle. She walks him to the car, holding his hand comfortably. She tries her hardest to ignore the obvious blush Paul holds. He turns to her, placing another kiss on her cheek. “I hope we got to know each other enough tonight,” He tells her, She nods biting her lip.

“I think we did,” She says, pushing a hair out of her face “I really enjoyed tonight Paul, seriously” she pokes his stomach as he listens “And I'm excited to continue this...getting to know each other thing” He laughs nodding in agreement.

“I should go” He admits disappointed ��I'll see you Monday” He informs. She nods waving goodbye as he gets into his car, waving goodbye. She goes back to her house, smiling uncontrollably, much to her mother's notice.

“So I guess your night was awful?” Her mother teases. Emma groans plopping on to the couch. “He seems nice”

“Did you have to invite him in?” She asks defeated “I mean I really like him! And you totally embarrassed me” She moans kicking off her heels. Her mom chuckles gesturing her upstairs, she nods and goes to get ready for bed. She nods happily humming, what is wrong with me?

~~~

“Dinner was wonderful Alice, but I should really head home” Alice sighs nodding, She waves a sweet goodbye to Deb who disappears just as quickly as she came. She walks to the kitchen to help her mom clean up, hearing the door open she turns.

“How was your date?” Alice asks as Paul walks in almost immediately throwing off his tie.

“I won't say I'm in love” He hums quietly to himself, before leaving to go upstairs. Not before shooting his sister a quick glance. She rolls her eyes so far back she sees inside her head. Marley chuckles finishing the last dish and placing it carefully to dry. She kisses her daughter's forehead and starts to make her own way upstairs leaving a very empty feeling in Alice. She sighs checking the time shrugging she turns on the tv. Caution, she lowers the volume and makes sure the subtitles are on, watching hours of TV throughout the night. She finally falls asleep, dreaming of a certain beanie-wearing, flannel rocking girl.

~~~

FU: You really said the words ‘I love you’?

SB: Yes, Paul. I don't know if you know this but that's how relationships work.

FU: Ok, uh...fuck you first of all. Second, whatcha up to?

SB: Nothing much, just chilling on the couch, Tommy and I are watching some TV

FU: He's still there? It's like 4 am

SB: Its 12 am, and there was an incident so he's staying here

FU: An incident?

And so for the second time that night, Ted recalls the evening's events in detail, shivering at the thought. And for the second time that night, he leaves someone speechless.

FU: I'm going to commit murder

B: Can I join you?

Ted freezes, he darts his eyes up realizing he had been texting the boy's group chat the entire time. He feels his eyes sting as they threaten him with tears. He tries to type a response but his fingers can't stop shaking. He feels Tommy take his hands and squeeze them, he shows them the texts. Tommy nods and helps him through the rest of the conversation.

“Don't mention it, ok?” He advises “Just continue on like normal, you can talk about it another day” He continues, ted listens “But right now, everything is alright” He finishes planting a kiss on Ted's cheek. He nods returning to his phone.

SB: Alright Moriarty, no need for the dramatics

FU: If he's Moriarty, what does that make me?

B: …

SB: …

FU: Ok, moving on then. So then what happens now?

SB: Idk dude, the professors left to talk awhile ago and haven't come back. Anyway… how was your date with Emma?

FU: Oh.. it was ok...nothing special. We went out to dinner, drove around...the usual. And we kissed!

SB: No fucking way

B: Language! But also congratulations Paul

FU: Ah why thank you!

SB: No fucking way did Emma kiss you

Fu: Don't be jelly Teddy

B: I hate to remind you but Ted is in a relationship, he's far from jealous

FU: …

FU: Point to Moriarty

SB: Yeah loser, I'm in love remember?

FU: In love with yourself?

SB: Definitely not

B: Can't relate

FU: Self-love? Whos she?

Ted chuckles to himself, he spends the rest of the night reading over the texts, going back through feeling infinitely happy. Tommy yawns next to him, he leans into Ted nestling himself into his shoulder. Ted smiles placing a kiss on the smaller boys forehead I love him, He sounds it out to himself. I, as in me Ted, Love, as in care so much for, Him, Tommy. Yeah, things are going to be fine.

#sycamore high #tgwdlmHS #the guy who didn't like musicals #tgwdlm #starkid #musical theatre #theatre #ao3 #archive of our own #jon matteson #joey richter #robert manion #jeff blim #corey dorris #lauren lopez #mariah rose faith #jaime lyn beatty #writing #my writing

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imnotcameraready · 5 years

Text

chivalry is dead (14)

A/N: HUZZAH!!!! WE’RE BACK IN BUSINESS BABEY !!! oh my god, it is Finals Season over here and my last one is this thursday. sorry this is coming out so late! it was a difficult chapter to write, plus it was being written between studying s o .,.,..,

speaking of! update in My Life is that i’ve been spending this past semester studying in a different country. immediately after my next final, i’m going home! but that means i’m also packing, and have a (long as FUCK) flight back home, and then i have to unpack and its going to be busy seeing all my family — this bad boy isn’t going on haitus or anything, but it might be more than a week until the next update! just giving y’all a heads up :’) after that, once i reestablish a Routine back home, then updates will resume at the usual 4–5 days between chapters aslkdghasldfxkh

sorry for the long authors note, and thanks ! <3

WARNINGS: panic, crying, threats, mentions of violence, thoughts of violence/fighting, sword mention, past violence, torture mention — tbh, idk what else is in here? please let me know if there's anything i've missed!

Words: 5577

AO3 link!

MASTERPOST! <– look here!! for the longterm warnings!! including sympathetic Deceit and cursing/swearing!

chivalry taglist: @starlightvirgil @forrestwyrm @daflangstlairde @marshmallow-the-panda @askthesnake @k9cat @patromlogil @theobsessor1

general tag: @jemthebookworm

hope you enjoy!!!

Remy was being uncharacteristically quiet. Patton and Deceit could tell it was unusual, given the Bard’s conversation prompts garnered single word answers. “Mhm,” “No,” or “Yeah.” When the Artist asked where they were going, Remy only said “Emile’s place.”

Something must have happened. But they couldn’t figure out what.

They were walking through another indoor alleyways, roofed by a walking bridge, when Remy turned left and opened a door. It seemed he knew the ins and outs of this town easily, despite how much more detailed it’d become. And, as Deceit had noted earlier, it HAD become more detailed. Through the door was a set of stairs and up the stairs was a small garden courtyard, with a pastel pink door at the end with a sign denoting it as “Dr. Emile Picani, PsyD.”

“That’s incredibly professional, all things considered,” Deceit gestured to the placard.

“Ah, I think it’s to mark the building as a doctor’s office,” the Playwright said, nose scrunching, “I’ve never seen that before, though.”

“You haven’t?”

“Not on Emile’s door, no. We should look into researching the laws surrounding doctors’ offices.”

“Research?” Patton asked, “Wait, what do you research for?”

“For creating, Patty-cake. We don’t just invent how much blood is in the human body, the different types of swords, how refrigerators work. That’s all research,” the Playwright seemed so pleased with himself.

“Yeah, like we’re any good at it,” in contrast, the Artist was more dejected. “We aren’t good at researching, using references, anything realistic. That’s….”

“We don’t have to research anything, if we just memorize it all! Or if we just make stuff up!” the Bard bumped hips with the Artist and summoned his ukulele again, strumming the first few chords to ‘Your Welcome’ before Remy put his hand on the instrument.

“Stop,” his voice was so serious, “Look, uh. It’s pretty bad.”

They formed in a semi-circle around him, Remy’s hand on the door. He pushed his sunglasses up and rubbed his forehead.

“Emile called me in the middle of giving midday naps, so I haven’t had coffee in a hot sec, so sorry. But, like, okay,” he fixed his glasses and shot everyone a look, turning slow to get the whole semi-circle. “Logan’s a lil’ spooked. Emile’ll explain what happened. Just don’t be loud, a’ight?”

The group shared looks at each other, mostly confused, though Patton gave them all his patton-ted Dad glare.

“Well,” Patton said, turning to Remy with a final determined grimace, “Alrighty. Open sesame?”

Remy opened the door cautiously, peeking in himself before opening it wider and allowing everyone else entrance.

The first room was a sitting room, themed similarly to how Emile’s office with multiple cartoon-themed posters. There were some couches and chairs around a larger coffee table, a few other coffee tables between the seating. An assortment of magazines and children’s books were displayed on the main coffee table. There was a reception area to the left, with a sign in sticker list and a computer behind a desk, but with no receptionist and no patients.

Just Emile and Logan sitting on the main couch. While Emile was sitting upright on the left, hands calmly folded in his lap, Logan was sitting very il-Logan-ly. Slouched tiredly into the opposite corner, glasses folded in the hand he was using to rub his own face, legs kicked out. Patton’s brow furrowed, inspecting Logan’s positioning. He could almost smell the grief radiating off of him.

Virgil, the Child, and the Thief were nowhere to be found.

Emile looked upon hearing the door’s hinge. He offered a tired smile and motioned to the seating. “Hey, everyone’s here,” his voice was quite soft, despite Deceit and Patton’s preconceived notions about him.

“Joy,” Logan sounded tired, almost defeated.

Once the initial shock wore off, Patton rushed to his side, setting a hand on his shoulder and sinking down to kneel beside him.. Logan flinched away, and Patton lifted both hands again immediately. “Sorry! Sorry, kiddo,” he bit his lip for a second, then continued, “What happened?”

Logan shifted two fingers, flicking one eye at Patton. It was bloodshot, with the surrounding eyelid puffy red. He examined Patton’s expression, with his cheeks puffed up and brow pinched together, and closed his eyes again. He couldn’t keep looking at Patton’s face, not when he’d nearly watched Roman — not Roman, the Thief, die. Nearly. And then he’d let Virgil and the Child both get kidnapped. Plus this headache, the same one from the previous night, was throbbing in the back of his skull, only exacerbated by his crying.

Good Lord, he’d been crying. Another thing to tick off the figurative “New Things” list.

“Do you want me to tell them?” Emile spoke slow and soft.

Logan shrugged. Someone had to, and it wasn’t going to be him. “Thief could explain,” Emile suggested, still treading lightly.

His crossed arms seized closer, and Emile winced. Jinkies. Shouldn’t have brought up the Thief.

“Oh, he’d better,” the Bard hissed, a muddled anger laced through his voice.

He yelped when the Artist elbowed him in the side, shooting him a dark glare. Emile looked between them and stood up. “Yeah, you’d all — well, maybe just the Romans? Deceit and Patton can stay out here, and we’ll tell them together. How’s that sound, Logan?”

He made a bit of a choked sound in trying to answer. He couldn’t stop thinking about how he’d just stood there.

“Kiddo?”

He was so useless.

“Logan, buddy, move your hands.”

“No,” he hissed.

“Breathe with me,” he heard Emile again, to his side, “I’ll count again, okay?”

This was pathetic. No wonder none of them listened to him. Dealing with plentitudes of positive emotions were hard, he couldn’t have imagined — oh, now was he imagining things?

These overly-abundant negative emotions were increasing such that he could feel a spike in his brain’s norepinephrine levels, which was silly in and of itself because he didn’t even have a physical brain for these hormones to spike within.

Patton tapped Logan’s elbow again, gently holding his forearms as Logan’s hand squeezed his face even tighter.

“Well, isn’t this dandy?” the Bard’s voice was a little too loud as he ran his hand through his hair, mussing it up before smoothing it back once more.” We broke Professor Glum. Where’s Thief?”

“Hey,” Patton said, shooting him a Dad glare. “Zip it, lock it, and put it in your pocket.”

The Playwright sank down beside Logan, on the opposite side of Patton. He hadn’t taken his eyes off of Logan since they entered.

The Bard backed up with a scoff. Clearly something was wrong! And Logan didn’t want to tell them! His stomach lurched with nervousness; they’d never seen Logan so rattled. If the Thief were here, he’d tell them what they did wrong. Plus, the Bard missed him, regretted their fight.

“Logan, dear, it’s okay,” the Playwright said, watching him shift uncomfortably, “How about Bard, Artist, and I go talk to Thief. It has been a dramatic few days and being reminded of my….of Roman’s fragmented state can’t be helpful in stabilizing you.”

“Ditto,” the Artist mumbled, still tugging at the strings of his hoodie from where he stood, just barely inside the doorway. The Bard nodded, too, eyes still pointed away.

Roman hated being so useless, and something in their chests told them that it was partly his fault.

Emile looked between each of them, then at Patton and Deceit. Remy must have left unannounced; that was okay. Emile would probably hunker down in his office after this to watch a movie. Maybe “Lilo and Stitch.” He needed something feel-good after this. Maybe some of the other characters would even join. That’d be nice.

What he NEEDED to do was diffuse the tension in here! Wouldn’t want them all stewing in this mystery for too long. Emile cleared his throat and stood up.

“How about we split up, gang? I’ll take the Romans all back to talk to Thief, and Deceit and Patton can stay here with Logan?” Emile looked up at Patton, then at Deceit, with a tiny smile waiting for verification.

Deceit met his look with a small nod. “I agree. It would be best for us to talk to Logan alone.”

“It’s been a long day,” the Artist voiced their collective thoughts, “We do need a breather.”

“That it has,” Logan said, clearing his throat and coughing a little. He lowered his hands into his lap and released a smidge of the tension in his shoulders, looking at Emile directly. “I….I agree with Dr. Picani. It would be more manageable to talk to fewer faces.”

“Well, then, alrighty,” Emile stood up, cracking his back as he did so, “Let’s blow this popsicle stand an’ head to Thief.”

He led the three Romans away, all of whom went quiet and guiltily. Patton and Deceit could hear Emile’s voice trailing off into gentle warnings about “he’s fine now, but just go easy on him, ‘cause it probably hurts, oh, what is ‘it,’ uh.”

Deceit waited until the door closed after them to let out an exhausted huff.

That’s what this was. Exhausting.

“C’mon, sit down,” Patton said, motioning to Logan’s other side on the couch, “Everyone else is gone. Think you can tell us what happened, teach?”

Logan exhaled. He could do that. It should be easy. Emphasis on should, because nothing about this, about reassembling Roman like a Lego set without instructions, was easy. Nothing about sword fighting was easy, either.

Still, a process of facts would be easier for Logan to convey, which he did. He explained how he and Virgil had chased the Child and the Thief into an alley, how they’d encountered the Dragon, and how there’d been a fight. How it ended with Virgil and the Child being taken by the Dragon.

He also added, almost as an afterthought or almost betraying how much he didn’t want to be thinking about it, that the Thief had gotten a 27.65 centimeter gash across his chest, 6.43 centimeters at its deepest and deep enough to cut through part of his bone. Patton looked like he was going to faint, face paling at the image, and Logan jumped in to clarify.

“It required magic to connect the bone back together, but it’s been handled thoroughly enough and Thief will heal fine. No vital organs were damaged, and he is currently laying on Dr. Picani’s other couch to regain the blood he lost,” he explained, now taking Patton’s hand into his own and squeezing. “He will heal fine.”

“I don’t doubt that, but, still….” Patton squeezed Logan’s hand, too, and then took his other. He held both of Logan’s hands in his own and pulled them close together, giving them small, reassuring squeezes. “I’m sorry you had to see that. It sounds horrible.”

Ah. Yes. Logan pursed his lips again and swallowed. No, he wouldn’t cry again. Not right now. “Thank you, Patton, but I’m handling this.”

Deceit cleared his throat, and the two looked up. He was scowling, eyes not distinctly watching anything, definitely not watching them, hair falling out of his hat again, definitely not distraught. It seemed that the bycocket fit worse than his bowler.

“Just to clarify,” he said, and they both could hear that he was holding some thoughts back, “Virgil and Child are with Dragon.”

Logan pressed his mouth into a tight line.

Of course Deceit would focus on that fact. He didn’t know what he had expected from Deceit. Sympathy? Unrealistic. This Imaginative excursion was turning him sentimental. Wanting things he would, should never receive.

“Yes,” he hated how tight his voice sounded.

Deceit nodded slowly. He was still trying to process Logan’s story, and how he appeared. Patton and Logan had been working together for a much longer time than himself; he had never seen Logan so distressed. The typical emotionless facade was gone. It was unnerving, almost. Like, he knew that the whole “emotionless” thing was a big lie but seeing the lie revealed was very different from just hoping.

He wanted to lean down, kneel down. Use his gloves to wipe away the logical side’s tears. Promise that everything would be okay. That they would retrieve Virgil and Roman and that all would be well.

Woah, there, Deceit. One lie at a time, or you’re going to start tripping over yourself. You know you aren’t allowed to do that.

Patton, however, drew Logan’s attention once more, tapping him on the arm. He held his arms out in front of Logan’s chest, as an offer.

“Hey, kiddo,” he said, voice soft, “Can I hug you?”

Logan blinked, slow. He wasn’t much for hugging, but physical comforting would probably aid him in lowering his pulse. And….Patton. After a long pause, Logan said “Yes.”

He leaned back on the couch, letting out a slow exhale and closing his eyes, letting Patton wrap his arms around his shoulders. If only he could sleep. That would benefit him greatly. They should have asked Remy to knock him unconscious before he left. He was less overwhelmed and more exhausted by the adrenaline and intense emotions he’d been wracked with. He began counting beats in his head, using Virgil’s breathing technique to slow his own oxygen intake.

Patton let Logan snuggle into his shoulder, trying to exude as much positivity as he could. This whole situation was like a swirling toilet flush, all his prior excitement about entering the Imagination going down the drain. He just wanted to make sure Logan was alright.

That all of them were gonna get out of this alright.

“You know, I kinda wish we had a different first quest into the Imagination. This’ all a lot more, er,” what was the right word? “High-stakes. Than I’d’ve wanted it to be.” That wasn’t the right right word, but it was close enough.

He was worried that pointing out the seriousness of the quest would garner some sort of negative reaction, but Logan just nodded. In truth, they were all in agreement. It would have been easier to understand Roman had they understood the Imagination more, or if he’d just communicated how he felt.

But well, Deceit was the only one bitterly remembering that none of them were adept at swallowing their pride. Including himself.

“It’s too serious,” Patton continued, “I don’t want anyone getting hurt in here.”

“People have already been hurt, Patton,” Logan reminded him, voice lacking any bite.

And people would always be hurt, and there had to be something Deceit could do about that. The “best” thing to do would be to wait for the night. But what if something happened between now and then? Deceit couldn’t get the image that the Thief had described out of his mind.

What would happen? Would the Dragon really dismember — he couldn’t think of that. No, Deceit had to protect them.

It was a matter of pure self-preservation. That’s all.

Without warning, Deceit stood up, causing Logan and Patton to jump. He strode to the door and exited.

Logan and Patton watched the door for a few seconds before realizing what had happened. Logan was the first one up, Deceit’s name halfway off his lips as he swung open the door. “Where are you going?” he asked, following.

“To get Virgil. Simple,” it was really not simple, not in the slightest.

“That….is a horrible idea. Nor is it simple,” Logan wanted to scream, because he frankly regarded Deceit as one of his more coherent cohorts, less eccentric than Roman or Patton and more cohesive than Virgil. But this is a level of sacrificial that he didn’t anticipate the typically cautious and selfish Side could reach.

And, still, Deceit continued walking. He stopped at the top of the stairwell and took a deep breath.

“It is a simple idea. I’m going to be in and out, and,” if he didn’t confuse Logan further then he’d probably follow, and Deceit wouldn’t dare put any more of his... “If I die, I die.”

Logan spluttered. That didn’t make any sense.

Deceit tried to escape, but was suddenly caught up in a pair of arms. Patton hugged him tight, pulling him back from the stairs. Less restraining him and more hugging him stationarily.

“Dee,” his voice was more desperate, “You can’t just go—”

“No one else seems to be acting with any urgency!” Deceit didn’t struggle in the hug, he didn’t want to hurt Patton or anything, but it was quite the annoyance. “Don’t you both understand? We’ve been thoroughly warned that Dragon is dangerous, and now we’re just going to leave Virgil with them to get tortured?”

Maybe the Dragon wouldn’t hurt Virgil, but Deceit wasn’t going to leave that to chance. His carelessness had led to Roman being literally shattered by insecurity as well.

Gosh, he had really failed them.

No, not failed. He hadn’t failed. Deceit didn’t fail, it wasn’t a thing he was allowed to do. He was simply going through a difficult disguise.

And now he was going to make things better, and then he was going to slink back into the dark corners of Thomas’ mind where he so thrived, would go back to watching the other Sides with a yearning he chose to ignore.

“Of COURSE we do not want Virgil to be hurt,” Logan’s voice wasn’t offended, definitely not, not the least bit hurt by Deceit’s assumption, “But we cannot enter without a plan, either, and you cannot traverse the Imagination alone!”

“I can and I will, let go of me,” the second part was directed back at Patton as Deceit lowered a hand onto his arms and shoved.

His grip was iron, though. The thoughts racing through Patton’s mind were like darts, trying to figure out the perfect bullseye explanation of what was nagging at his mind. Because, before they came into the Imagination, everything was a little more carefree. A little different. Oh, what was that?

“No. I–I, oh, hang on,” he grumbled into Deceit’s shoulder, holding him down and trying to word his emotions. Patton’s emotions, everyone’s emotions. Everyone was a little less wound up outside. But in here, it felt like everything was almost too dramatic! Between all the screaming and yelling, and all the swear words, goodness he stopped keeping track for the swear jar because there were so many. Like, 60 so far.

That was definitely bending the morals Patton liked upholding, of keeping things PG-13 and kid-friendly. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with all of THEM?

“Patton,” Deceit’s voice grumbled, bringing him back from his thoughts. “Are you planning to elaborate? Because, if not, then let me go.”

He sure was! If he could figure out how to make words work.

Patton made a drawn-out “eh” sound, waving his hands back and forth as he tried to word it. “I think — and Logan can DEFINITELY back me up on this — it’s safer, is more logical, hurts less people, will hurt you less, will make me not cry, will make Virgil not angry, will make, uh….” he counted in his head, frowning against Deceit’s back, “Will make five out of seven Romans happier, if you wait for all of us to make a plan together.”

Logan hummed in approval with Patton’s statement, and Deceit squinted at them both

He couldn’t deny that Patton had a point. As the anger wore off, it was replaced with a frozen pit in Deceit’s stomach, chilling him to the bones with worry and a vague understanding. He wasn’t usually this worried.

Perhaps it was due to Virgil’s absence. Virgil was the mediator of their worries.

Or maybe it was something else.

But even if it were something else, Deceit didn’t want to risk Virgil getting hurt. It wasn’t as though Virgil had never been hurt before. Deceit wasn’t malicious, but he certainly wasn’t doctile, and neither were either of the other concealed Sides. There were reasons he had to keep the veiled, after all. None of them were walks in the park.

But this was a true villain, without the inhibitions of keeping Thomas running, in a world Roman had created to hurt himself.

….Deceit’s arms felt a little tingly in Patton’s grip. Was that typical of hugs? He had felt a little sore after the Bard that morning, too, but had chalked that up to it being an unusually long hug.

You know, maybe hugs just weren’t his thing. It didn’t have anything to do with him not being hugged enough. And he wasn’t going to indulge that thought further. He wasn’t going to indulge himself.

“I think,” Patton’s voice cut into Deceit’s thought process again, softer now than earlier, “We’re all in a bad mindset.”

“Clearly. These circumstances are nothing like nothing within the reality that Thomas would have to face, and are nothing I have ever prepared for,” Logan responded, voice more level.

“....You’re just gonna say that?” Patton sounded incredulous.

Deceit scowled, looking down from them, up at the walls, as Logan clarified that he was thoroughly prepared for every possible real-world scenario but wasn’t prepared for the “imaginative nonsense” that Roman’s world wrought.

Patton was right, Deceit realized, far too right. They were simply in a bad mindspace.

“I don’t want to pursue Virgil alone, but I refuse to let him stay with Dragon for any longer,” he stated, cutting off whatever tirade Logan had continued onto. “Patton, can you let go? I won’t run.”

Both of them blinked at him, and Patton slowly released his extended hug. They had been serious, earlier, about accompanying him. But the more Logan considered the consequences of splitting up the team, the more he was wary.

“I don’t think it would be wise for any of us to go without formulating a plan,” he said, holding a hand out to Deceit.

“Well, I’m not just leaving him. I can’t,” and Deceit then raised a hand to his own mouth, cursing himself behind his hand.

Master of secrecy he was. Hopefully the other two wouldn’t—

“What do you mean, can’t.” Oof.

Deceit exhaled, shaking out his hand as he drew it away from his face, thinking of a cover-story. One came quick enough. “Wouldn’t it be dreadful if Thomas’ Anxiety was killed by his Ego?”

That would throw off the scent and puts the situation in a different light. But it just made Deceit feel worse.

It was stupid. He should have been consoling the others. HE didn’t need it.

Patton and Logan shared a glance. They both didn’t want Virgil to be hurt — alright, let’s stop beating around the bush here, they both love Virgil. Patton says it about ten times a day, and he’d swear off cookies if he were wrong about Logan loving Virgil, too! And they love Thomas. They don’t want Virgil getting hurt already, but they also don’t want Thomas getting hurt.

Logan nodded slightly toward Deceit, one of his eyebrows twitching up barely.

It was a subtle expression, much too subtle for Patton to interpret, but he could definitely tell that Logan was asking something. Patton just shrugged.

That didn’t seem to matter, as Logan nodded curtly and looked up to Deceit with a steady expression.

“Yes, but even you must admit that there are no preservation benefits to you going to rescue him alone. Plus, if we are staging a rescue, we should aim to retrieve Child and Damsel as well.”

“I–” he had forgotten that there were two others trapped. Now he was sheepish. A foolish oversight. “You’re right. We should. All the more reasons to go now.”

Logan shook his head. “You might have a sword, but Patton and I are unarmed and likely would not fight.”

“Oh, well, um, teach?” Logan and Deceit both looked at Patton, who was grinning sheepishly, “Sorry, but your Pop’s ready to pop off on Dragon. He’s been pretty bad, and bad Sides get grounded.”

Deceit snorted, but pressed his lips together harshly. The concept of Patton grounding someone, figuratively and literally, was ridiculous.

Though he would pay real money to see the moral side knock someone out.

Oh gosh, that was an actual possibility in the Imagination. Deceit might be granted the opportunity of watching Patton kick the daylights out of someone. That pleased him way more than he’d like to admit.

Meanwhile, Logan just frowned. “Excuse me, you are going to unleash a confetti popper on Dragon? Why would you use a celebratory cracker as a weapon, in a world where weapons are readily available to us?”

Now it was Patton’s turn to facepalm himself, rubbing his own forehead. “Ah, sorry! Pop off’s another one of those modern slang terms the kids’re using these days, maybe a good one for the notecards?”

Logan nodded, conjuring his set of notecards and taking notes as Patton explained. “It’s when you’ve got a lot of stuff bottled up inside of you, usually some kinda anger, and then something upsets you enough for that figurative bottle to open. Like a cap popping off? I think that’s the entropy.”

“The….etymology?”

“The entomology!”

“Getting closer. Etymology.”

Patton grinned a little and shrugged again. “That.”

“I see,” Logan fixed his glasses, “Also, to ‘pop off’ can also be defined as engaging in a physical altercation?”

“In some cases!”

“Mmm.”

Logan slipped the notecards away again and clapped once. “Well. Thank you for that, Patton,” he turned to Deceit, who’d been watching and listening with a vacantly fond expression, and motioned to him with both of his hands, “Returning to the original subject matter, Patton and I are still unarmed, and would not be of service while you storm a literal castle. If we want to guarantee Virgil, Child, and Damsel’s safety, then we need to outline a plan.”

“Oh, so just because you took a little vocabulary learning break, we’re ignoring the high-stakes of everyone being in peril?” Deceit asked, fixing his hat and forcing himself back into a scowl, “You’ve got no sense of urgency and we can’t have that out in a duel.”

“Do you?” Logan crossed his arms. This debate was actually helping him feel better about their future prospects. “Having a sense of urgency is Virgil’s job. Ours, together, is to concoct a longer but more cohesive plan.”

Logan’s voice is, as always, too level. He’s much too aware for his own good, Deceit thought, and his own frustration returned tenfold.

“Virgil isn’t here to do that job, so I’m taking it up!” he gestured to himself with his thumb, but stopped midway through the motion. He’s just as flippant and it’s proving Logan’s point. Slowly, he drew his hands back to his chest and exhaled sharply, saying with fervor “We must get him back.”

Patton’s head turns back to Logan when he lets out his own frustrated exhalation. There was something here. He was on to something, but Patton just couldn’t figure out the pieces. Meanwhile, Logan and Deceit’s argument continued before him.

“If you’re so concerned about preserving all of us, as a group, for the betterment of Thomas, then why are you going to such lengths to put yourself in a position of unsafety to save another Side? I don’t understand.”

“Because we can’t let him get hurt, isn’t that obvious?”

“I agree, but I want to hear your explanation. Why not?” Logan asked.

It was a simple question, but it struck a chord much deeper in Deceit than it should have. It almost made him feel ashamed at how angry he was.

He HADN’T failed.

“I’ll die before I let Virgil be hurt again,” his voice came out as more hiss than enunciation. “Any of you.”

Deceit’s declaration hung in the air for a second before he realized what he said. You could almost pinpoint the moment he realized he’d said too much, as he turned back around to the stairs, if only to face away from the pair.

“Oh?”

Please, please don’t bring it up. Deceit considered possible alternative stories. Some kind of lie about the other Dark Sides, perhaps? Logan and Patton weren’t as familiar with them as he was, he could definitely make something up about how they interacted, something about their hostility.

“Deceit?”

“Deceit,” one of them grabbed his arm, likely Patton, “Hey, kiddo, you’re okay.”

Curse his pride. Deceit wanted to tear his arm out of whoever was holding him’s grip because the burning indignity of his confession was making the weird feeling return in full force.

He wanted to grip his cloak and hide his hands again, so they couldn’t see them shake. Why were his hands shaking, anyway? He didn’t have anything to hide. Why would he hide?

Patton swallowed. ‘Any’ of you. Deceit was an actor, same as Roman, so Patton always had a hard time figuring out what to make of him. So this was a hunch. Just a hunch.

Just a hunch and a little hope.

“I don’t,” he looked at Logan, who was frowning at Deceit as one would an unsolvable puzzle, “I don’t understand.”

That was okay. “It’s a hard thing to understand,” Patton found himself responding, grin growing, “Love’s a queer thing.”

Deceit groaned. Logan rolled his eyes, though his cheeks tinged pink. None of the tension was lifted.

“That’s absurd,” he murmured, talking about the pun.

“Is it?” Patton whispered, talking about something more.

That drew both of their attentions back to him, with confused, expressions wrapped in a special kind of denial.

Was he strong enough to admit it? It was funny, in the same way that adultery or the puppets were, because Patton wasn’t known for admitting things.

Baby steps. He couldn’t scare himself or either of the other two away.

“Deceit,” he said, looking at the other with a firm expression as Deceit turned over his shoulder, “Once we’re, uh, out of the Imagination….d’ya think it’d be okay if we moved your bedroom to the Mind Palace? With the rest of us?”

Forward, but careful. Deceit blinked, leaning back only a little, only in surprise.

How tender a way for Patton to invite him into their lives.

He stepped back around, expression guarded.

Logan looked up from Patton to Deceit, less guarded and more stepping back. This was curious indeed. That tightness in his chest returned. He didn’t quite understand what Patton’s offer meant — of course, it would be beneficial for Deceit to have a room in their Mind Palace, so he could be central in conversations if he was choosing to become more prevalent in Thomas’ decisionmaking. There must have been another reason behind it, however, because his pulse was quickening once more. His fists closed at his sides and he could feel how sweaty his palms were. Was he nervous? For what?

You know what, maybe Logan was just allergic to the Imagination. That’s why his hormones were being regularly imbalanced and causing visceral physical reactions to emotional stimuli.

Patton smiled a tiny bit more, and offered his hand to Deceit. “I think,” he started again, gentle as ever, “Roman would take it personally if we left without him. ‘Cause he’s worried about Virgil, too.”

Deceit looked at his hand, then up at Patton.

Inclusion. Teamwork, like he’d preached earlier.

He wasn’t ready to admit what he truly wanted. Deceit wasn’t personally selfish. But he could….he would allow himself to indulge in the thought of wanting to be wanted.

He took Patton’s hand, and Patton pulled him a little closer.

“Fine.”

Patton smiled.

“Hey!” the trio turned back to the door to see the Artist poking his head out, “Where’re you guys going?”

“Nowhere!” Patton chirped back, waving his other hand, “We just wanted some fresh air!”

Logan and Deceit shared another look. It was best to keep this agreement to themselves, for now. They wouldn’t want to overwhelm any of the others.

“Okay, uh. Well,” the Artist jogged out to join them.

His hood was pulled over his head, tugged into a small opening where only his face was visible. He looked around at Patton, then Deceit, then Logan, and nudged Logan slightly with his elbow. “I never got to say, um. I’m sorry. For getting mad at you this morning.”

That felt like so long ago, and so much had happened since then, Logan had almost forgotten that it was all the same day. He nodded slowly. “Of course. While it was an unconventional and fairly belligerent method of relaying your discomfort, I understand why you reacted in such a way.”

He opened his mouth to continue, but then closed it again and clenched his jaw tight as the headache came back once more. What WAS that? Logan waited for it to dull back once more before continuing, “I will avoid making similar observations in the future.”

“Uh, thanks,” the Artist watched him with worry for a few seconds before looking around the trio again and stuffing his hands further into his pockets, “Should we go inside? We need to outline what we’re gonna do.”

“Awh, outline? ‘Cause you’re an artist?” Patton asked, his usual cheeky grin returning, “I’m proud of that one!”

The Artist rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, whatever, Pop Rocks. Let’s just get inside. Bard and Thief miss you guys.”

He turned away, leading them back to normalcy with a slight new understanding of each other.

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hopelesstargazer · 5 years

Text

End of the Year Tag

So....I was tagged by @saijspellhart....never done one of these before so here goes nothing.

~favourite food?~

Okay, so I am a Minnesota raised girl and do love a good wild rice hotdish (and yes there is a difference between hotdish and casserole and if you don’t know, let me know so I can explain!). However my favorite food is either pupusas or pozole (latino cuisine). Both of them I over eat when my godchildren cook them for me and never regret it!

~favourite drink?~

Ummmm....Diet Pespi. Yeah, we won’t get into how cranky I get if I don’t have at least one pop a day. My godsons might have a story or two about how possessive I get in the late morning over my can of pop on the weekends....

~favourite clothing?~

My Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle fleece pants and my long sleeve Cuddle-Duds. Comfort for the win. After a long day of dealing with people, nothing is more comforting than cozy wear.

~favourite product?~

.....Pespi?.....I think. Does that count when you are an addict? Like can a pot head say that their favorite product is potbrownies? If not, I would say Google! Because it owns me and my information searching needs. After all, if you don’t know something, Lord Google will know it. Thus, All Hail Lord Google!

~favourite month?~

I’ve never thought about it. I guess you could say I like March. It was the month I was born and I like the little myth that comes with the month. The month of the Lion and the Lamb. My grandmother (a wonderful mother to 11 and a farmer in Northern MN) would always tell me that you knew how the month would go in the very beginning. If the weather was shitty and roaring at the start, it would leave calm and sweet at the end. Or in other words, if March came in like a Lion, it would leave like a Lamb. Of course, the opposite applies as well. If this is true, I honestly couldn’t say. I think it does, but I’m already bias so who really knows?

~favourite season?~

I’m fond of either Spring or Fall. It’s not too cold, but it’s not too hot. You really get those glorious days where the sun is shining, the air is crisp, and there is a magnitude of colors everywhere. It is just rejuvenating.

~favourite holiday?~

I’m partial to Easter. And before you ask, yes I happen to be Christian, BUT that is not why I like the holiday. I like Easter because it symbolizes rebirth. It symbolizes a new beginning, a fresh start. When you go into this season, you might have just experienced a shitty winter or the pervious year was just horrific. Thus, your soul is all crusty and flaky and thinking that nothing gets better. Then this season of new beginnings start and there are baby animals, new flowers, laughing children, and brightly colored eggs everywhere! It is a reminder that life is nothing more than a cycle. Yes, horrible things can and will happen to you. Yes, it will be dark and sad to deal with it all. Winter, both figuratively (in your heart/soul) and literally, SUCK ASS! But! BUT! There will always be a moment of something new. Something bright. Something colorful. Something living. Something that will bring you up out of the ground of cold despair and into the light of a new beginning. Even if it is for a moment, it is there. Easter is the holiday/season that best represents what it means to be human. A shitty start that only turns into the brightest and warms of sun rays. And that is my Ted Talk, thank you for listening.

~favourite place?~

Minnehaha Falls! Gooseberry Falls! Or any waterfall. I adore waterfalls. The sound of crashing water and rushing waves drowning out bad thoughts. The scent of crisp water pulling you into the moment. The sensations of moving water rumbling in your chest. The sight of dancing sprites in the sky as water droplets create rainbows. Cold water taking the heat from your body only to leave a pleasant tingle in its wake. *blush**cough* I’ll stop with the poetry now.

~best experience?~

So, I took a trip to Scotland with my Father at the beginning of this year. I would definitely say that was my best experience of 2018.

~best song?~

Best song? Of all time or this year? This year I really like Burning Man by Dierks Bentley. Of all time, you can’t beat the Hokey Pokey. It is a must have dance song at every public gathering. I have no shame when I say that I request it and drag EVERYONE to the dance floor.

~best movie?~

We have to clarify this nonsense for next year. Honestly, it’s just too vague. Best movie? This year? Of all time? Genre? Or is it just me that over thinks this stuff? *sigh* Okay, I thought Black Panther was extremely good, not just because it was an excellent superhero movie, had amazing female leads, astonishing action sequences, and wonderful humor. It really made me think about how hatred can pass down through the generations. It made me reevaluate how I teach my students in karate class and how I speak with/to them about social problems. Since most of them are immigrants or children of immigrants, it was an eye opening experience. Let’s leave it at that.

~best series?~

TV series right? (again with the over thinking simple questions) I really enjoyed Miraculous Ladybug, Voltron, How to Train Your Dragon, The Dragon Prince, and My Hero Academia. Granted, I also rewatch a bunch of anime classics as I taught the ways of being a nerd to my godsons. I’m proud to say that we have finally left the realm of Naruto and moved on to the great chasm that is known as Deathnote and One Piece.

~best book?~

Okay, so this one is exciting for me. I was suffering Tumblr and found a post that simple said “if Deadpool wrote a book, this would be it.” So of course, the ten year that still loves poop jokes and crude humor in me scream in joy and bought the book. It is called “Zeus Grants Stupid Wishes: A No-Bullshit Guide to World Mythology” by Cory O’Brien. I wish I could find the link so you could read some excerpts from it. I’ll just have to quote it.

“So one night Uranus is about to get busy with Gaia again I guess so he can father another baby and then stuff it back into her but instead of getting sex he gets a SURPRISE PENISECTOMY”

“So the moral of the story is that if you are not ready to be a father consider all of your options before skipping directly to cannibalism”

“ARE YOU READY FOR DISTENDED RACCOON TESTICLES? NO? WELL, YOU BETTER GET READY QUICK BECAUSE JAPAN JUST CALLED AND IT’S ‘BOUT TO DELIVER ONE WHOPPER OF A BALLSACK TO THE BAINPAN”

“So the moral of the story is that we should seriously consider firing the moon because I didn’t know we could do that and I bet we have the technology now to genetically engineer a WAY BETTER MOON than some dumb rabbit.”

So...10/10, greatest book I’ve read this year

~best video game?~

I don’t play many video games. Frankly, if it is not a bashing the buttons kind of game, I’m no good at it. Thus, I really like Shounen Jump battle game. I can hit random buttons while having no real skills. I also like watching people play them. That would lead me to Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Such a pretty game!

~have you unlearned any bad habits?~

hahahaha...oh, are you serious?

~biggest disappointment?~

I didn’t get back into college like I planned on. I just couldn’t find the time to give myself in order to achieve what I wanted.

~worst experience?~

If we are talking about this year, then that would go to almost dying in a bus accident in the middle of the Highlands in Scotland. It’s a great story that I love to tell, because it turns out to be the funniest tale of my really long list of horrific stories. Minus the thought of dying on some random hill and how inconvenient it would have been for my mother to retrieve our bodies cause I didn’t buy travel insurance.

However, if we are talking about ever in our lives, then that golden trophy would go to the time I, a store manager at Dollar Tree, was threaten with a plastic shank over $0.50 on hour 15 of my shift where I slept in the store that night so I could be there for the delivery at 5AM. That was horrible. Funny in hindsight, but horrible at the same time. Let me know, I can tell that story too.

~any new hobbies?~

Where do people find the time to start new hobbies? Serious, could you donate that precious time into a bank so I could have some? I would greatly appreciate it.

~did you achieve your goals for 2018?~

hahahahahaha....oh, you’re serious again?

~have you fulfilled a long-term wish?~

Ah, this it did! So, back in 2011, I studied abroad in Scotland and vowed to take my father back so he could see the country that I fell completely in love with. Severely in love with. Like, I would marry any Scottish man that said to me, “Ach, lassie, yer bonnie and me heart tis yers. I have this castle in ta middle of the great Highlands. Would ye leave with me to Gretna Green to marry ov’r an blacksmith’s iron?” I would say yes in a heart beat. A HEARTBEAT YOU HEAR?!

~have you tried something new this year?~

um, I dressed myself in a kimono for the first time by myself. That was stupid hard. Also, I did a bang up job if I do say so myself (after the fourth attempt).

~what plans or wishes do you have for next year?~

Let’s see, I am the best man at my best friend’s wedding in May, so I got that going. Also, in September, I’ll be going to Japan to visit my sister who is working as an English teacher, so I got that to look forward too. I would love to find some time to myself so I can try and finish my college degree that I started back in 2009. Cross your fingers. Also, I would like to complete this book I’m writing for myself. I would really like that. Oh, and finally, sleep more. Yeah, sleep. Good thing that is.

~what was the funniest moment?~

Serious, I teach kiddos karate at my church. I have no shortage of amazing moments in my life. Also I have three godsons and a goddaughter, stories are made every weekend. But I can tell you one of my favorites.

So, I’m teaching this not-yet-seven-year-old an introductory class to karate. I’m explaining to him that not only does yelling scare the bad guys away, but it tells the teacher that you are breathing. So I asked him playfully, “Do you like to breath?” And he stops all motion and looks at me. Then he shrugs and says “not really.” Needless to say, I too stop to stare at him, stunned by a response that I had NEVER received in my 13+ years of teaching children karate. So, I logically asked why not. This tiny little american-latino child that comes up to my waist tells me with the straightest face I have ever seen “Cause it take a lot of work to breath and I don’t know if I have the time for that.” (#mood much?) I’m losing my mind trying to hold in my laughter. Thus I spend the next few minutes with a 6 year-old having a philosophical discussion about the pros and cons of breathing. Eventually, we agree that blue is an ugly color on people’s face and we cannot do karate in our sleep so he had to stay awake and moving instead of passed out on the floor due to the lack of air in his body. Once that was establish, I asked another instructor to take over because I simply had to find a corner to sit in as I collected my laughing ass off the floor.

I will forever remember this child as the boy that I had to convince that breathing was a good thing and made me almost piss my pants in the middle of karate class. TWICE because that little stinker had to randomly blurt out in the middle of a different class weeks later that we were wrong because blue was a flattering shade on dead people and we should not be racist to dead people.

I will now kindly remind you that this boy is 7 YEARS OLD.

~what are you thankful for?~

I am thankful for family and friends. I am also thankful to @saijspellhart. In my desire to let her know that she is not alone, I am finding the courage to become more open with myself and other around me. So thank you. I hope that this year will be a rebirth for both of us and tons of smiles for everyone that reads this.

As for tagging other Tumblr users, I am too damn shy for that. Instead, if you are reading this and want to do this, tag me! I would love to get to know you and your likes. It’s nice to see the humanity on this site. Thank you for getting to the end and I hope to get to know you too!

#text #long post #end of year #hopelessstargazer get to know #well this happen #this was fun #blog #ask blog

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oh-theatre · 5 years

Text

Sycamore High: Auditions (Chapter 21)

A/N: I hope you know that for all the shows, and all the main characters I devised audition songs so please for the love of all that his holy appreciate my choices. Anyway, this chapter is set up weirdly but hope you enjoy! Also, I might be getting some kind of editor soon so...

summary: Its audition time! Whos gonna get cast?

words: 2,520

warnings: Swearing

Ao3 Link

“I love you” Ted smiles “I love you! I love you” Tommy exclaims as they walk into school early Monday morning.

“Do you love me? Or do you just like saying the phrase?” Ted asks innocently. Tommy giggles smiling wide, baring his teeth.

“Both!” He perks up, kissing Ted lightly on the cheek. Ted flushes, delighted by the fluttery sensation he’s become so familiar with. A feeling he'd come to expect, desire, crave-

“Would you two stop being the cutest for a second so I can freak out about auditions?” Charlotte wonders joining the couple. They chuckle turning their attention to Charlotte.

“How are you freaking out? You're literally so amazing” Tommy gushes, Charlotte giggles as they pair off into their own pair leaving Ted to wander around. He meets up quickly with Paul and Bill who also seem to be talking about auditions. Ted joins their conversation as they all walk towards the auditorium. He yawns tired, wincing at the slight pain caused by the scrunching of his nose. The gang bids farewell to Tommy making their way into the large theatre sitting down in their respective seats. Chad stands happily at the front, a mischievous smile scans the room.

“Well its finally here!” Chad announces, Ted smiles “Its audition day! Who's excited?!” The class grumbles in response. He chuckles “Alright! I'm giving you guys the entire period to work on your songs and get some final critique before this afternoon!” The class nod and split into their groups. Ted, Paul and Bill herd over to a corner, sitting on the floor.

“Ok, who wants to go first,” Paul asks, opening his sheet music. Ted laughs dryly to himself.

“Nopety nope,” He says, silently studying his music. “Someone else, I'm way too nervous”

“You're nervous? I can't reach my notes!” Bill exclaims, flipping exasperated through his own music. “How to apply for a job! How to advance to the mAil room” Bill sings, Ted, listens. Bill groans having trouble with the note. “How to sit down at a desk!” Ted nods.

“It sounds great Bill, seriously” Ted encourages, placing a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. Bill smiles gratefully.

“Ok...ok Ill go first” Paul cuts in, the boys nod ready to listen.

~~~

“Bill Dorris?” Chad comes out into the foyer scanning the room. Bill perks up and stands walking over to the doors. Chad nods, taking his audition packet and sending him in.

“Good luck Bill!” Ted shouts across the foyer. He nods gratefully before disappearing behind the doors. Bill enters quietly, making his way to the stage, he tries to stop his shaking, clutching onto his hands.

“Um..um hi…” He starts, shaking his head “I'm Bill, and today I will be singing ‘How to Succeed’ from the musical ‘How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying’, thank you” He takes a deep breath, finally glancing up. He starts…

~~~

“Charlotte?” Chad sends Bill out, greeting the eager girl. “Come on in”

“Good luck Lottie” Emma shouts mocking Ted but with a hint of genuineness. She bounces into the theatre, skipping nervously every step. She makes her way up confidently to the stage, smiling at the directors.

“Good afternoon, my name is Charlotte, and today I will be performing ‘No More Fear’ from the musical ‘Freaky Friday’, thank you” She silently praises herself, beginning to sing.

~~~

“Tommy Sweet?” Chad says, he tries to stop himself from laughing on the formality. Saying Tommy's last name, while the boy practically lives at his house. Tommy gets up from his position, Ted stands with him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. Tommy smiles gratefully, squeezing Ted's hand.

“You're going to do amazing gumdrop” Ted assures, whispering sweetly into his ear. He nods, taking a deep breath making his way to Chad. He ushers him in helping him to the stage.

“Good luck Tommy” The professor whispers quietly before taking his place at the table. Tommy slowly walks up towards the stage and stands ready.

“Hello! I'm Tommy Sweet and I'm going to sing ‘Now it's Just the Gas’ from Little shop of horrors! Thank you!” He smiles at the pianist, excited to begin, the butterflies in his stomach flying away.

~~~

“Ted Porker?” Chad yawns, he doesn't mean to but it's getting late and he's quite exhausted. Ted looks to his friends freezing before Tommy and Paul lead him over to Chad. Tommy squeezes his hand gently before returning to his spot on the floor. “You alright kiddo?”

“Yeah...yeah, let's just get this over with” He sighs resigned, Chad chuckles leading him into the theatre. He makes his way up to the stage, he rushes.

“Hi, my name is Ted Porker, my song is ‘Look at the Sky’ from Urinetown” He wastes no time beginning.

~~~

“Emma Perkins” Chads not even trying anymore, out of almost 50 students, a few have stuck out and been interesting. Emma chuckles at the professor but stands, Paul nods encouragingly, she gives him finger guns before shaking her head awkwardly.

“You got this Em!” Charlotte calls out, a small group of cheers erupts from her friends. She laughs of them biting her lips thankfully. She turns to the professor.

“Let's do this,” She says walking in front of Chad and taking her place on the stage, Chad sits nodding. “I'm Emma and I'm going to sing ‘Times Are Hard For Dreamers’ from ‘Amelie’” she nods before the piano begins.

~~~

“Finally” Chad mutters to himself reaching the end of his list “Paul Matthews… cmon” Paul nods.

“You've got this!

“I believe in you bud!”

“I'm hungry” Surprisingly Paul appreciates Emma's statement the most. She smiles up at him, he nods. He reaches Chad, giving him the packet.

“Alright let's go,” Chad says leading him, as he had done one too many times today, to the stage. Paul gets right into it, wasting no time.

“I'm Paul, and I'm going to perform ‘Oh, What a Beautiful Morning’ from the musical ‘Oklahoma’, thank you!” He takes a sharp inhale, before beginning, summoning Curly.

~~~

“I'm going to quit tomorrow” Chad announces as he and Ted return home. Ted chuckles, Henry emerges from his room, kissing Chad. He nestles into Henry, moaning softly clearly exhausted. “I'm sorry, I really am but some people just can't sing love” Chad mumbles into his husband's neck. Henry lets out a soft chuckle rubbing comforting circles on his back. They pull away, Chad turns to Ted. “But not you Ted,” He says mustering up as much affection as he can. Ted smiles, sighing.

“It's fine, I'm just glad it's over” He pounds a victorious fist into the air. “Alright I'm off to bed, I'm tired” He yawns, Chad nods agreeing. Ted bids the pair farewell before heading to his room. Henry turns to his husband, who remains pouting.

“Me tired” Chad gestures pointing at himself, Henry chuckles “Me want bed”

“Ah but alas, you need to work on the cast list love” Henry reminds him “You're the one who did, monologues and songs in one. It needs to be up by tomorrow morning” Chad groans again, once more nestling into his husband. “I know dearest, what a life”

~~~

Gucci Gang

Tommy: How does everyone think they did?

Emma: Eh, I mean I got through it….

Charlotte: I don't know how I did, but I sure had a lot of fun

Ted: Of course you did

Bill: Ted be nice

Tommy: Ted! Be nice

Paul: Oh my god…

Ted: Shut it, Paul

Tommy: Hehe, that's funny Bill!

The adventures of Fucking Useless and Sleaze Ball

FU: You're dating Bill

SB: Ok shut up. First of all, I would be honored cause Bill is aMAzing and second I'm not but go off

FU: Whatever you say… how is he by the way? Have you talked to him yet?

SB: No, give it time

Gucci Gang

Tommy: I'm sure you all did amazing

Ted: I'm sure you did the mostest amazing

Tommy: I feel like you know that's grammatically incorrect

Bill: But you're not going to fix it

Ted: What's wrong about it?

Bill: It's just ‘Most amazing’

Tommy: ‘Most amazing’ love

Emma:...

Charlotte: Oh wow…

Paul: *cough*

Ted: Ok yeah, I’m out for the night.

Gumdrop

Ted: Night Tommy

Tommy: Night Ted! Make sure you actually get some sleep ok?

Ted: I will, I promise.

Ted: Love you

The absence of a return text was the result of an absolute delighted squeal being released on the other line. Tommy bounces back typing quickly.

Tommy: LOVE YOU TOO!!

Slowly the conversation dies out until everyone had clocked out. Each with settling in for the night with their own level of anxiousness. Each unaware that Chad was currently sat at the table, pulling his hair out over the cast list. Certain of one thing, those six were on it.

~~~

“No...way” Charlotte gapes, feeling faint. A squeal pulls her out of her thoughts, a firm feeling clutching onto her. She feels herself pulled into an embrace.

“Lottie! Congrats!” Emma shrieks clearly caffeinated. Emma pulls away pointing to Charlotte's name, Charlotte lets out a nervous laugh. “Char! You're Bea!”

‘What are you guys shouting about?” Paul moans walking up to the pair. Emma bounces pointing to the cast list hanging royally on the auditorium doors. Paul's eyes widen “Emma! Oh my god! Congratulation” Emma's hands drop, her face follows.

“Huh?” She turns, quickly stumbling back. Charlotte stops her finally feeling the flutter in her stomach calm down. “Oh...oh my…” She turns to Charlotte, they resume their squealing. “I'm Portia!” She manages through her excitement, she notices Paul staring at her. She clears her throat and stands idle. “I mean whatever…” Paul raises his eyebrows, nudging her aside. Suddenly the same look befalls Pauls's face.

“I...m...im?” He barely whispers, Emma turns unable to see the list “I'm Nigel?” His voice as doubtful as ever, Emma and Charlotte share a silent gasp. “I'm...Nigel” He tries again, a still uncertain tone remains. Emma hits him. “I'm Nigel” He decides. She claps his back.

“You're Nigel! And I'm Portia! And Char is Bea” Emma squeals, too excited to contain her happiness.

“I believe congratulations are in order then” Bill approaches adjusting his glasses. He nods at each, Paul grins wide. He turns back to the list. “I will do crew, I find sound and lights enthralling” Bill explains.

“Will you have enough time?” Paul asks coyly, Bill tilts his head “Well, I'm asking because you're Brother Jeremiah!” He announces, pushing Bill forward showing him his name. Emma smiles.

“Guess you're my dad huh?” Emma teases, Bill turns a glaze over his eyes. She takes him in, hugging him. “Congrats Bill” Their moment is broken by a sudden clearing of the throat. The group turns, Emma's face drops, she glares. “Sam” She seethes, he stands gallantly before them. Charlotte suppresses a blush but moves aside politely. He winks at her much to Emma's unfortunate disgust.

“Step aside, for it is my turn to see the cast list” He explains. He pushes forward clearing the area. As if a sacred bubble surrounds him that only he can touch. He examines the list gasping suddenly. Charlotte bites her lip excitedly. “If music be the food of love, play on!” He calls out. They all ponder for a moment before Charlotte bounces.

“You got Shakespeare!” She proclaims, the group stifles their collective groan. He nods dropping his act for a moment, something is shared between them. “Oh, Sam! Congratulations!” He shakes hyper, pulling her into an unexpected hug. Emma goes to move forward but is quickly stopped by Paul. She pouts keeping an intent eye on them. Her anger does not disappear as another figure approaches once again surrounded by his entourage.

“Move aside losers” Billy requests, Emma and Bill get ready to pounce fury controlling them. Paul and Charlotte rush to hold them back. He looks over the list for a moment before smirking. “Guess we will be seeing a lot more of each other, say hello to your shylock” He announces, before quickly leaving the foyer continuing on.

“Oh, I could just kill him” Emma seethes once more, Bill nods in agreement.

“Hi, hello, what the fuck was Billy doing here?” Ted approaches annoyed, hand in hand with Tommy.

“Language love” Tommy reminds gently, yawning away. He looks around practically a zombie before setting his eyes on the list. That seeming to be the only energy he needs, he perks up. Tommy pulls carefully on Ted's hand. “Cast list dearest!” Ted smiles encouragingly, not expecting the sudden knot forming in his stomach. He sends Tommy forward, knowing he didn't need to search the list for something that wasn't there, he gives him a kiss of good luck.

“Tell me what you got” He requests, Tommy scoffs playfully as he makes his way forward.

“Don't be certain I'm in it, I know for a fact you don't kno-” he pauses, the group's full attention falls on him now. “Oh my god” Is all he manages. He turns starry-eyed back to Ted.

“Gumdrop?” Ted asks cautiously, he moves closer to Tommy “What's wrong?” Tommy bites down a laugh, shaking his head.

“Oh Ted, there's nothing wrong” He sighs dreamily, Ted licks his lips raising his brows.

“I'm not following” Ted tries again “Did..did you get a part?” He cautions, the group continues listening.

“Better” Tommy smirks “You got a part” He barely whispers. Paul and Bill gasp softly, Ted doesn't register and goes again.

“Come again?”

“Love! You got a part!” He erupts, Paul and Bill cheer, soon joined by Emma and Charlotte. Ted freezes, a part? No...no… surely “And not just any part, you got Nick Bottom!” He informs. Ted exhales sharply, pursing his lips waiting for the song to end. For someone to pinch him, wake him, pull him out of this perfect dream. Tommy throws himself around Ted, who ground himself returning the embrace. “I'm so proud of you Ted” Tommy whispers gently, just for the two of them. Ted feels something lift off of him, he didn't know words could feel so good. They pull apart, but something hits him.

“Wait what about you?” He says wiping his eyes, returning his focus. The cheers become silent as they watch Tommy intently. He shrugs coyly.

“Well...I'm not the Bea to your Nick,” He says, Charlotte giggles “I am however a certain Nostradamus!” And the cheers return. Ted goes for another hug picking up his smaller boyfriend spinning him around. Through everything, no matter what, this moment right here. It was great, it was perfect.

~~~

Chad puts a soft hand to his heart, smiling exhausted but happy. He listens with absolute glee as the student's cheer and rejoices over the cast list and their parts. He nods proud of himself, walking over to his desk. He slumps in his chair revising the scripts and sheet music. He looks over the cast list once more

Nick Bottom: Ted

Nigel Bottom: Paul

Bea Bottom: Charlotte

Shakespeare: Sam

Portia: Emma

Nostradamus: Tommy

Brother Jeremiah: Bill

Shylock: Billy

Now...the show begins...

#sycamore high #tgwdlmhs #tgwdlm #the guy who didn't like musicals #musicals #musical theatre #theatre #starkid #jon matteson #corey dorris #joey richter #lauren lopez #jaime lyn beatty #robert manion #jeff blim #writing #my writing #ao3 #archive of our own

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