ask-tss-runbabyrun

[ask-tss-runbabyrun]

a saturday morning in the group home

in case anybody is curious about what it is like to be roman and logan at this stage in their lives!

(let me know if you want to be on the tag list for this au! also, asks are open, so if you have any questions for any of the boys, feel free to drop them. :D)

---

Logan had heard the things they said about Roman behind his back. The conversations with doctors and specialists, the whispers and sideways glances. They thought Logan didn't understand, so they spoke in front of him. Sometimes, Logan thought, youth could be considered a weapon. 

“Intellectual disability…” 

“Autism spectrum disorder…” 

“Mental retardation…” 

Logan crossed his legs and pretended to be focused on his picture book, but really, he was committing every word he heard to memory. While he was not the best at remembering things word for word, he knew that the second he repeated these phrases to Roman, he would have them memorized for the next week. 

Roman was not dumb. The rest of the world just wasn't smart enough to get how he thought. Logan smiled to himself. He was smart enough. He was the only person in the world who was. 

—

Logan was tired of apples. But Roman hated them, and Mr. Picani got stern when children wasted food, so Logan choked them down and slid the rest of his pancakes over to Roman. 

“Roman, say them again,” Logan demanded. 

His brother, beautifully serene, tipped his head back slightly, his coily, dark brown hair bouncing back with it. His ever-intense eyes were narrowed with focus. Logan could not help but smile at the theatrics. Roman could recite in his sleep, but he always had to make it a show. But Logan couldn't blame him. It was the only thing he did that impressed anybody besides Logan. Of course he hung onto it like a livelihood. 

“Say them again,” Logan repeated, “And then you get my pancakes, okay?” 

That was enough bribery to convince Roman to get on with it. 

“Intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, mental retardation.” 

His voice, though conventionally musical, had a wateriness to it. Sometimes, his words slurred together, and when he spoke, he sounded a little bit like the other kids in Logan's class. Logan saw adults wince whenever Roman spoke, as if his existence was enough to upset them. When they stared at Roman, they looked ten years older. Logan wondered if that was why he acted the way he did.

“Logan, gimme the pancakes!” Roman begged, bouncing in his seat gleefully. 

He wasn't nervous. He knew Logan would not break his promise. Logan pushed the plate closer to him, and as he started to grab a pancake and tear into it, Logan gently swatted the top of his hand, absentmindedly passing him a fork and picking up the long-abandoned napkin on the floor, spreading it along Roman’s lap. 

“Use your fork, Roman,” Logan reminded his brother, only to be met with a groan. 

Logan yawned, tapping his palm against his mouth a few times so he could hear the whooshing that happened when his breath was rhythmically interrupted. Looking over at Roman, he wondered if he could hear it too. 

“Forks are dumb,” Roman said, gripping it with crooked, awkward fingers. “I can’t get it to work right.” 

“That’s because it’s in your right hand, Roman,” Logan said, his mind on other things. “You’re left-handed.” 

“I don’t want to be left-handed, though.” 

Logan opened the picture book that he had been using as a notebook for a few weeks now and gripped the pencil he found on the floor while getting breakfast, writing down the words Roman had repeated underneath a brightly colored house. 

“That’s too bad,” Logan replied, “You don’t choose what hand you get. You just use it.” 

Tapping the pencil against the book, Logan squinted as if it would help him think any better. These words all sounded familiar, but Logan was not sure why. They all seemed to go together in some way, but Logan did not know how. Logan was not an idiot. He knew that Roman was different from other kids. He went to fifth grade with the other ten year olds, but he came out with different homework from them. He still needed help tying his shoes while the other fifth graders double-knotted. And even though he pretended that he could, Roman could not read. Whenever Mr. Picani put a picture book in front of him, Roman just looked at the artwork and created a story of his own. It made Mr. Picani shake his head with worry, but Logan always smiled when he heard the stories. Without fail, they were always better than the ones that were on the page to begin with. 

“Logan, is today Saturday?” Roman asked. “Can it be Saturday today?” 

Logan nodded. Roman asked this every day, but today, he got lucky. 

“Yes, it’s Saturday,” Logan said, trying to hide the contempt from his voice. “After our therapy sessions, we can play all your favorite games, okay?” 

Roman exploded in celebration, and Logan tried as hard as he could not to roll his eyes. It wasn't playing games with Roman he disliked. In fact, that was his favorite part of the day. What marred Saturday for Logan was what came before that – therapy. 

His social worker, who doubled as his therapist, was bossy and pushy, which Logan supposed made him a good therapist, but quite an awful person. Logan didn't like him at all, and he wished his social worker was a woman. Then, at least, he could have hugged her and pretended that he had a mother. Logan didn't want a father. Fathers were stupid. 

After breakfast, Logan got up, threw away the trash he and Roman accumulated, and took Roman's hand, leading him into the bathroom. While Roman looked at his face in the mirror with ease, Logan had to climb onto a step stool just to see below his forehead. Roman grinned at himself as Logan turned on the water to the sink in front of him, washing his face and his hands with a professional precision. Logan liked looking clean and neat. It separated him from the other six-year-olds and reminded everybody around him that he was capable. He didn't need help. If he did, he would've still had a milk mustache above his lip.

[ask-tss-runbabyrun]

thank you so much for all the love on this blog so far!! i really appreciate it.

asks are open, so if you have any questions about the silly guys, feel free to send them in, but i will be making a few posts in the future that will offer some more lore for you all! :D

[ask-tss-runbabyrun]

INTRO POST!

welcome to the official blog of the run baby run au, a sanders sides au that has been completely created by me! here, you can read about the lore of the au, get to know the characters (they are not exactly carbon copies of canon in certain aspects, you will see why!), and send them anything you want!

my name is annie, my main blog is @prodigal-explorer, and i am very excited to share this au with you! please never hesitate to send asks or messages if you have any questions about the au or just want to talk.

now, let's get into the au!

here is an overview of the au, and it will be updated gradually! i have a set storyline in mind for this that i will be introducing little by little.

here are the introductions of the main characters:

roman

logan

virgil

as more characters are introduced, i will add their official intro posts to this.

and here are just some general faq's about the au if you want to learn more!

i hope you enjoy these characters and this story as much as i do! feel free to follow, send an ask, or reblog, it really means a lot to me!!

[ask-tss-runbabyrun]

faq's about the run baby run au!

q: why is it called run baby run?

a: okay so this is kind of embarrassing, but this au came to me while i was watching a dance moms dance by the same title! you can check it out here, it's a very cool dances about these two young girls who seem to be running away from something together. but the nuances of the dance and my very overactive imagination caused me to create a storyline based on the song and the dance that ended up spiraling into this giant au we have today! just goes to show that inspiration can come from anywhere! i also really like the foreshadowing associated with this title. no, i will not be elaborating on that. :)

q: why does roman act so strangely sometimes?

a: so roman has an intellectual disability. his iq is about 45, which means that he has the intellectual capacity similar to that of the average seven-year-old. this does not mean he is stupid or that he lives a deprived life. roman is a very smart person, but his low iq makes a lot of typical tasks and skills very hard for him. he has low motor skills (he struggles with things like holding scissors/pencils for example), and he has a lot of trouble with academics that go higher than a third grade level. here is some more information about intellectual disabilities! and not all people with intellectual disabilities are the same, so it would not be wise to compare roman to other people (real or fictional) who have one.

q: why aren't they all white?

a: because i don't want them to be white! this is a human au in which none of the sides are at all connected to thomas. they are their own people. this means that they can look however i want and be any ethnicity i want! i am a person of color, so i am always looking to add representation. i hope you all enjoy it!

q: where is patton/remus/janus/remy/emile/thomas?

a: trust me, all of the characters show up at least a little bit in this au! some of them just turn up a lot later on. patton, janus, and remus especially are characters that have a way bigger part in the later arcs than the earlier ones.

[ask-tss-runbabyrun]

run baby run character intro: virgil

name: virgil august solomon

age: twenty-six years old

bio: virgil is a gentle soul who works at the group home in which roman and logan stay, among other places. he is a social worker who ensures the well-beings of foster kids, especially ones who are in crowded group homes like this one. he cares a lot about his work, unlike a lot of his colleagues, who push him around and make fun of him for being too soft with the children.

virgil is the only social worker and adult around who bothers to properly care for roman and logan. he loves the two little tykes, and he is horrified by how the two are treated by others, ostracized, punished for things without being taught why they're wrong, ignored, and overall just emotionally and physically neglected.

virgil has a tendency to be a pushover, especially with children. he wants to see children smile, and sometimes, will do anything to make their dreams come true, even if it's unrealistic or unsustainable. but he also tries his hardest to be fair with children, and he is not the type to hold a grudge, especially against a kid.

nightmares are a common struggle for virgil, and he is a pessimist who tends to see the worst case scenario. he works hard to protect his loved ones and keep them close, because he would rather they be sheltered and unharmed than out in the world and hurt by somebody with bad intentions.

[ask-tss-runbabyrun]

run baby run au character intro: logan

full name: logan alexander mendoza (becomes logan alexander solomon post-adoption)

age: six years old

bio: logan, to put it simply, is a child genius. tiny and round, he toddles about with college-level books in his hands. he is quiet and quick, like a little mouse trying to hide from a tomcat. he always seems to be running away from something.

logan's mind races faster than most people can comprehend. he lives in a constant state of overdrive out of sheer necessity. after all, he has been put in charge of the well-being of his brother. logan is the only one who cares enough about his big brother to make sure that nothing bad happens to him.

though logan is a genius academically, he struggles immensely with social cues. at the group home, he is regularly bullied due to being perceived as snobby and arrogant. he has a tendency to be too bossy to his big brother as well. but logan's heart is in the right place. really, he is a young boy who has way too much pressure put upon him from all angles.

even though he is forced to take care of roman, logan never resents his big brother for all he struggles with. logan also does not view roman as lesser than for having an intellectual disability. logan truly believes that roman is one of the smartest people in the world, and that the rest of the world is just too stupid to understand him.

[ask-tss-runbabyrun]

run baby run au character intro: roman

full name: roman ezreal mendoza (becomes roman ezreal solomon post-adoption)

age: ten years old

bio: roman is a child who is just a ball of energy. he is a kind soul who tends to trust people very quickly, and he is very gentle with and protective over his younger brother logan.

he has a moderate intellectual disability, his iq being in the 40's, so despite being ten, he has the skillset and general mindset of a child much younger. but he is determined to live a full and amazing life just like everyone around him, so he works hard at everything he does.

roman tends to be a very intense, imaginative, and emotional person who views the world in vivid color. this can be wonderful, but it can also be very overwhelming. he will sometimes have meltdowns when he does not understand what is going on around him, or when he feels too much at once.

roman is a person who greatly enjoys structure, and he follows the rules given to him by his younger brother as closely as he possibly can. he wants to be somebody that his brother is proud of.

[ask-tss-runbabyrun]

run baby run au overview

this story begins in an overcrowded group home, where two orphans, half-brothers, have found each other, clung to each other, and decided from there on out that they would never, ever let go.

their names are roman and logan.

roman is the older brother, standing at ten years old. he is willowy, starting to hit his growth spurt, and he has luscious dark skin and beautiful red-brown curls that sit wildly upon his head, just how he likes them. he is shockingly gentle considering how much energy he constantly carries around, and he is always curious. the world is his playground, and his vibrant imagination is always in use. and he is severely intellectually disabled. roman is a boy who has the same mental capacity as a six year old due to an intellectual disability, his iq being in the 40's. he struggles with basic tasks, and it is uncertain if he will ever be able to live independently. nobody in the group home could be bothered with parenting the boy, as they label him as difficult and bratty. so roman basically has no choice but to lean on his little brother.

speaking of little brother, logan is the younger of the two, six years old to be exact. he is tiny, extremely tiny in fact, and he has light olive skin and pin-straight black hair that he chooses to keep long because brushing it soothes him. he is startlingly mature for his age, and he always has a gleam in his eyes as if he's always observing the world around him in a careful, scrutinizing way. he is a genius, able to learn things very quickly, to the point where he is at a high school learning level when other kids his age are barely at elementary school level. and out of necessity, he has learned how to parent his older brother, helping him through things that he cannot do, and basically dedicating his entire life and all of his time to making sure that roman's various needs are met. he doesn't see any other option. nobody else is going to take care of roman, and he is the only one who is capable. so he does it. and he loves roman dearly throughout it all, seeing the potential roman has where nobody else does.

roman and logan struggle in the group home. nobody wants to adopt them, or even foster them, because they are such a unique case. many people have tried to separate the brothers, but it never works. they are too attached, and they cannot imagine life without each other. until virgil, their kind, standoffish, and very anxious social worker decides that enough is enough. he loves roman and logan like they are his own, and he decides to make them his own. he adopts them, and roman and logan are thrilled that they get to live with the one person in the group home situation who was actually nice to them.

but good things don't always last forever.

virgil struggles. a lot. with raising these two kids. he tries very hard to give them equal attention, but it becomes difficult as roman has a lot of needs, while it seems like logan has very few. logan can take care of himself in the morning. logan can make his own meals when he is hungry. logan can do his own homework without help. logan can, logan can, logan can. and roman can't. not without help, at least. so virgil finds himself spread too thin trying to take care of roman, while logan is sort of neglected, left in the dark. it doesn't help that logan is a very independent type who doesn't like to be vulnerable. logan doesn't want help from virgil. he's six, and then he's ten, and then he's fourteen. and he still doesn't want help. and when roman turns eighteen and has to deal with the transition from kid to adult, he needs even more help, and so logan distances himself even more, deciding to skip high school entirely and attend the local college for schooling.

(to be continued...)