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Talos is Fucking PISSED

Commission for @wraithmasters of our OC’s Fusion getting MAD AS HELL This was so much fun and Vlad’s face in this is probably my favorite thing ever Commission Info

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They grabbed a large tupperware container of mac&cheese out of the fridge, forgoing heating it up or putting it into something smaller entirely. If they didn’t finish it, Dan surely could. Talos was digging for a spoon that seemed at least somewhat reasonable when Dan asked if... if they wanted to keep dating Phanos like this.

And honestly? They did. Daniel was helplessly in love with Phanos, and Charlie knew that too. It wasn’t even really a question. Just like Daniel had no intention of putting what Char and Dan had going on hold. There was a lot of internal debate between the two halves over the validity of the ‘No Romo’ tacked onto that particular relationship, but in the end they both agreed that neither of them wanted to give either of them up. Romo or otherwise. 

Biting their lip, Talos turned and glanced between the two of them. “No, we’d- I’d still like that, but...” A sigh came out of their mouth. “I don’t want it to just cater to Daniel, if that makes sense. You’re important to me too, Dan. No romo.” They glanced up at him, a nervous yet teasing smile creeping up onto their face at the last statement.

Of course, Talos would get if that was just... too much. Too strange. With how new they were to navigating all of this still, it’d probably be a lot of hit-and-miss going forward. 

Dan gives a mild concerned and curious look to Phanos at the spike of irritability he reads on his bro.  He gets the very distinct feeling he’s missing some context somewhere, but he’s not even certain where.  Or if it would do him any good even if he weren’t.

Keeping an idle eye on Talos leaves him wondering just how much conflict or bickering is going on with their own internal peanut gallery.  He’s sure they’ll learn to get a handle on it, but apparently they’re still working on it for the moment.

Dan follows Talos out of the lab, sticking to the middle just in case Phanos wants a moment to lag behind and compose himself.  Or let out steam.  His own keel is feeling about as even as he could expect in this situation for the moment, thankfully.  Now that his doubts have mostly melted away, he can move on to practicalities.

Like food, once they arrive all into the kitchen.

“Normally I’d say the beginning is a very good place to start, but I get the feeling y’alls might team up to smack me for that.” And it’s not entirely relevant to the situation, either.  Which beginning is even the one to go from?  Too many to choose from.

“So how about instead I ask if you’ns still want to be doing that dating thing with Phanos, should said torch still be also wanting that thing?” Well, there’s Dan’s best go at ripping at least part of the bandaid off.  He’s well aware that what Phanos and Daniel have- had, was much more… concrete, defined, and probably-serious than what was going on with him and Charlie.  He figures they should probably get first consideration here.  They can shake the rest out from there, right?

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Talos could feel an internal part of them cringe a little, and there was a brief moment when they closed their eyes and had to grit their teeth a little before they could think clearly again. They didn’t blame Phanos or Dan for being irritated, but... Talos wasn’t any more sure than they were about where to go from here. Maybe it was better to draw more on the blunt component for a little while. Even if that part was split between the situation at hand and comforting other internal bits at the same time. Talos had a strange headspace. 

“We will, just... not here.” The Lab still made them uncomfortable, and they normally only ventured down there usually to check in on Vlad. So they led the way from the base of the main staircase, taking the intangible shortcuts to get to the kitchen quickly and avoid any of the entrances to the lower levels of the mansion. Stalling further by obeying the architecture would just irritate the brothers more, and Talos didn’t want that. They didn’t speak up again until they’d arrived and gone back to solid. 

“Honestly, We’re not sure where to start either...” They sighed once everyone was settled, sort of avoiding eye contact while they sought out some comfort food. A bad habit of Charlie’s that had spilled over to Talos in a big way. 

Dan bumps Phanos back fondly.  Best little bro.  He definitely made the right call to drag Phanos into this sooner than later, he’s certain.

“Anywhere not down here and with food is fine by me.” Dan misses the context for most of the remark, aside from that the Masters clan is an opulent and overly rich bunch of dweebs.  But he’d be happy to get out of the Lab, wherever else it is they go from here.  He’ll let Phanos decide, though.

He’d call Talos on stalling further actual discussion of how things stand and how to move forward, but a simple look to Phanos suffices to express that opinion, he thinks.  He gets the feeling that his own nerd has slipped back from the forefront again, so Phanos probably is better off taking the lead for the moment anyway.

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Talos let out a chuckle at Dan’s nerd comment, distracting them from the look Phanos gave him. Daniel was somewhat of a nerd about these things (and trying to impress/catch up on his history for Phanos).

They looked up when they heard the sigh, and swallowed down their nerves. They’ve got this. 

“Well... It’s not cubes of steak and fruit, but snacks make everything better, right?” they said, giving a hopeful look between the two brothers. “Food makes every situation better. So, kitchen, or...”

Maybe letting Dan and Phanos decide would make them feel better. Less trapped. God knows that Talos didn’t want them to feel that way, not after what everyone had gone through. 

“Indicative that they’re a huge nerd.” Dan tacks on after Talos’ answer about their name.  Because of course he has to.

Phanos’ look in his direction gets answered with one of his own, saying vaguely that he’s holding up as well as can be expected to this little drama.  Coping with awful humor and trying to find a balance between acting aggressively normal and not actively dismissing the weird and tough shit Talos has gone through to exist at all and get here to this moment.

“Hey, no probs.  The important bit is that we’re all here now and we’ll get settled for going forward from here, right?”  Damn Talos and the whole being all genuine and such about thanking him.  Now he’s a little flustered and trying to cover it with words, which always works so well.

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Talos took Phanos hand and pulled/drifted back onto their feet themself. It was still a bit of a challenge getting more than a handful of words processed through their mind at the sight of Dan and Phanos combined, but they managed.

“Protection anchor. Figured it was appropriate.” They wondered how Phanos would react to that, and how it would be different than how Dan had. Daniel had known about the destruction anchor Phanos had to some degree, but they had to wonder how similar it was for the brothers.

Speaking of, they turned slightly to Dan. “Thanks,” they said with a soft, grateful  expression. Honestly, starting this conversation with both of them had been the hardest part, and if Phanos already knew the basics, then that saved them a lot of stress and hair pulling.

“Well, now you don’t gotta.” Dan’s grin is shit-eating and unrepentant.  He gets a few snapshots of Phanos crushed to them and then pushing himself up, floating his way down the stairwell after the pair.

He’s fairly well convinced this isn’t all some elaborate trap by now.  He knows that utterly smitten look and awkwardness, and combined with what he saw earlier and during the fall…  

“You’re welcome, pal.” Honestly, he probably is doing them a favor in not letting them dig themself a deeper hole by waiting forever to get to telling Phanos.

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Talos felt Phanos trying to move out of their grasp and immediately let him go when they realized that they were still holding on to him. A good chunk of them didn’t want to let go, but they also got the not wanting to be touched thing. 

“Hi.” Wincing a little from the bruises they were probably already healing from, Talos sat up and- shit. It had been only a few days, maybe just over a week at most, since Daniel had last seen Phanos, and yet to them it felt like an eternity. They just couldn’t take their eyes off of him, letting that pleasant feeling course through them for a moment before Daniel’s bits got pushed down just a bit so Charlie could actually talk to someone.

“We-uh- I.... was going to...” This certainly wasn’t how Talos had been intending to break the news to Phanos, but of course when did things ever go smoothly for either of their component parts? Pretty sure the exact opposite of that was why Talos was even a thing to begin with. 

Dan watches the acrobatics involved in Talos getting a Phanos to the face and several steps to the back of the head.  An instinctive reaction like that… it’s hard to fake.

Good thing they’re a full ghost now too, or those blows might be something to worry about.

He’s so glad he already had his phone out, because that recording is pure gold.  Once he wraps it up and sends it to the cloud to back it up, he slow claps it out for the nerds.

“By the way, I may have mentioned to Phanos about what’s going on.  Hope you don’t mind.”

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Were it not for their anchor giving a subtle buzz feeling at another ghostly presence in the Mansion, it would’ve probably been very easy to get the drop on Talos even with Dan’s courteous warning of “Incoming”. 

As it stood, they only had a split second to register what was happening, and that was all it took for their body to go into autopilot. Didn’t even have a chance to really process the sudden rush in their chest from a certain someone getting all kinds of emotional over seeing his Boyfriend again. 

Talos moved the instant they noticed an impending Phanos-to-the-Face, shifting so that instead of Phanos just landing on them, they could catch him and redirect the momentum. It caused them to fall backwards on the stairs and hit their head a few times, but they didn’t care so long as the damage was on themselves and not him. 

It wasn’t until they were already at the foot of the stairs and groaning from getting hit in the head a few times on the way down that they realized they’d moved on instinct to protect Phanos from fall damage that he probably wouldn’t have sustained anyways. That really did get them flushed a few darker shades of blue. 

Dan keeps glancing down to text back and forth with Phanos as he talks with Talos.  Maybe he’s being mean by drawing this out.  Maybe almost certainly.  Still better than the mess of how he was told, fuck off.  He looks up again, very empathetic at the thought of them not wanting to poke at their own core too much.  Even without the elemental fuckery, it’s weird to think about.

“I feel that.  If it ain’t broke, no need to fix it, right?”  And if it was the GiW that did this to them… too much messing about could skirt dangerously close to Bad Mental Territory for them, especially with Charlie’s pre-existing history.

“As long as it ain’t that weird Connectiony stuff, and you don’t get all in a fuss about me continuing to do dangerous jackass shit when I get bored, I’m pretty much okay with that.  I figure you ned to ask someone before declaring them yours, right?” Dan’s question is pointed, and directed at the part about Phanos being their too, when Phanos only even sort of knows they exist right now, and through no action of their own.

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“Exactly! You get it...” Talos grinned a little, once again grateful that Dan seemed to get where they were coming from. Some parts of them relented that contacting him was a good idea after all, even if the execution could’ve been handled a little better. 

“Pretty sure we couldn’t stop you from doing dangerous jackass shit anyways, but no. I don’t think it’s quite the same as the Connection stuff.” At least, it didn’t feel quite the same. Talos was drawing on what they remembered of it as Daniel. No... no, it was different. Probably. Most likely. 

“Fucks sake, yeah, we still need to do that too...” Talos groaned, feeling half of themselves inwardly cringe at the thought of going through this whole song and dance again with Phanos. Hopefully they could get it better with him, instead of that clusterfuck from earlier. 

Dan keeps glancing down to text back and forth with Phanos as he talks with Talos.  Maybe he’s being mean by drawing this out.  Maybe almost certainly.  Still better than the mess of how he was told, fuck off.  He looks up again, very empathetic at the thought of them not wanting to poke at their own core too much.  Even without the elemental fuckery, it’s weird to think about.

“I feel that.  If it ain’t broke, no need to fix it, right?”  And if it was the GiW that did this to them… too much messing about could skirt dangerously close to Bad Mental Territory for them, especially with Charlie’s pre-existing history.

“As long as it ain’t that weird Connectiony stuff, and you don’t get all in a fuss about me continuing to do dangerous jackass shit when I get bored, I’m pretty much okay with that.  I figure you ned to ask someone before declaring them yours, right?” Dan’s question is pointed, and directed at the part about Phanos being their too, when Phanos only even sort of knows they exist right now, and through no action of their own.

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“They seem to mesh okay. I haven’t really taken a close look at it yet and we’re pretty sure we don’t want to either.” Shit, they did it again! Talos had a good streak for a minute there, but it’s so hard sometimes when they don’t feel fully themselves. They still weren’t sure though what exactly their core was, the whole breakout from the Facility was just a messy blur and they cant remember much except for the blind rage of being. 

“For now? Vlad, the Mansion, Charlie and Daniel’s bodies..... I think you and Phanos too..... yeah, definitely...” It wasn’t a very long list, but that just made Talos’ job easier didn’t it? Not that Phanos or Dan really needed protecting, but that probably wouldn’t stop Talos from trying to somehow anyways. They could get a little one-track-minded at times. 

Dan finishes setting his contact information for Talos, then further debates what to do with the picture.  Eventually he settles for messaging Phanos the pic with a fairly vague caption.  Because he’s the worst.

“Selfish is good, even if wearing yourself out isn’t.  And at least light and lightning aren’t polar fucking opposites.” So hey maybe Talos’ core wasn’t a total wreck of a mess like his own was.  He wondered if they still had their core elemental powers at all.

“So what’s ‘yours’, just for future reference?” Probably better to ask how far that extends now, before he fucks up and breaks something that’ll put them at odds.

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“Hah! As if.” Talos rolled their eyes, finally relaxing enough to  uncross their arms right about the time Dan decided to snap a picture of them. Rude asshole, god they missed him. Mostly the Charlie bits, but Daniel’s side was coming around too. 

“No, it’s way more selfish than that. I just want to take care of whats ours, you know?” That was all it boiled down to. Daniel’s connections and Charlie’s survival just sort of meshed together to form a need to protect what was theirs. It had been serving them pretty damn well so far, even if routine was boring as hell. 

“Pretty much.” Dan pulls out his phone and snaps a pic of them with no warning, before glancing down to do something on his phone with it.  At least the flash wasn’t on, there’s enough light to get away with that.  The odd angle does make it a bit spooky, though.  Perfect.

He has to look up again when they mention their anchor, though.

“Protection?  Geez.  I’ll forgive you for that, but only if you don’t go all Phantom and do-gooder on me, bub.”  Dan is mostly kidding.  Mostly.  His own anchor tries to rear up in wary alertness, but he shoves it back down.  No big deal, he’s sure they can work something or other out that doesn’t leave their anchors bitterly conflicting with one another.  They have to.  Because reasons.  Reasons like Dan not being willing to give them up.  If they are who they say they are.  Which they might very well be at this rate.

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“Hell, that’s what it might as well mean right?” Talos snorted and shrugged. Phanos would probably get and appreciate the reference a little more, if Daniel ever bit the bullet and they worked up the nerve to contact him too. Which some small bits of Charlie actively ribbed the Daniel bits about doing sooner rather than later. 

“I guess he thought it’d be easier to break the news to you first. I’ve been a little starved for company lately.... and I missed you. It’s lonely, with dad working in the lab all the time. Hyper-vigilance gets exhausting and boring pretty quickly turns out, even with a Protection anchor.” Might as well get that little tidbit out of the way, its not like Dan wouldn’t figure it out eventually. The near-hourly patrols of the mansion and surrounding property were the easy part of fulfilling their Anchor, it was taking care of Vlad that proved the real challenge. Like talking to a brick wall sometimes. 

It was a relief though, at least, that Dan seemed to understand some of the more surprising parts of the fusing process. At least there was a little lineup in their experiences, for whatever that was worth. 

“You frickers and your Greek bullshit.  Of course it is.  Does it mean ‘i am a huge fucking nerd’ or something?” Dan rolls his eyes at them.  What a total dweeb.  Dweebs?  Close enough.

“Yep, I should have kept count but in case you hadn’t noticed, you’re rather distracting.”  Dan shrugs right back at them.  “It’s still hecking bizarre that the Daniel side of your peanut gallery decided to come to me first, and I have yet to decide if I should be offended about that shit or not.” Probably not, though.  Daniel is strange and doesn’t really quite get him the way Charlie does.  Did?  Fuck both kinds of conjugation, language was never meant for these situations.  Unnatural abominations and the freaks who give a shit about them.

He gives a solid sigh of relief about Talos’ anchor being firm and stable.  One less thing to be frothed up over, at least.  

“I feel that.  You’d think a sudden, new anchor would be the most disconcerting and upsetting part of the process rather than the least.”  He doesn’t ask after what theirs is, it’s enough for him to know that they have one and it’s stable.  If they want to share beyond that, that’s up to them.

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“It’s from a greek myth, so yeah probably.” Talos shrugged, flashing a sheepish grin that faltered a little when Dan brought up their switching of plural and singular pronouns. 

“Fuck, am I still doing that?” They groaned a little, trying to figure out how to best explain it. The most accurate explanation they could come up with though, was a shrug and a wobbly hand gesture. When they spoke up to elaborate, Talos made a concerted effort to stick to singular pronouns. “Ehh, it kind of depends. Right now I think it’s mostly Charlie in control. They know how to talk to you better than Daniel does I guess. I’m pretty sure it’s just me most of the time, but I flip between ‘I’ and ‘We’ so much it’s hard to say.” 

They almost jumped in surprise when Dan suddenly blurted out about their Anchor. Ah, right, that... “It’s stable. Heh, funny enough, that seemed to be the first thing that settled right into place when they became Me. Heat of the moment focus I guess.” 

“Talos… Sounds like something Phanos would like.”  It’s got the right air of ancient-feeling pretentiousness.  It also sounds sharp.

“You flip ‘I’ and ‘We’ a lot.  ‘S that on purpose?”  Dan figures why not now for trying to parse out some of what’s going on in their head.  No time like the present.  “I mean, you went from bein’ not-Charlie to suddenly Very Charlie, so like.  Are you two still separate in there?”

For now he’ll give them the tentative benefit of the doubt.  He’s still wary, and ready for a trap, but he’s not about to go on the offensive or storm out anymore.

“You anchor.” He blurts out suddenly when it occurs to him.  Did they have a new one?  He hoped they had some kind of anchor at least.  Shift is unpleasant, but wavering between or going without is a special kind of hell.

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“...We’re trying out ‘Talos’ for now.” They mumbled, saying it out loud for the first time. Daniel’s affinity for greek mythology led them to the story of the bronze automaton tasked with protecting Crete. It had felt fitting. 

“I think so.... in a way at least. We’re still new, still figuring out how this works... how I work...” It was Talos’ turn to cross their arms, nervous and a little self conscious thanks to the component parts. It was... surprisingly comfortable, honestly. Being themselves. But at the same time strange to think and feel that this was natural and easy. Not that there weren’t hurdles, this conversation being one of the bigger ones, but it was.....okay. 

“I wouldn’t joke about something like this, especially not with you and Phanos.” Their tone is nothing but sincerity. From both parts and the whole. 

“Does ‘me’ have a name?” Okay so that probably shouldn’t be the priority here, but he can’t just keep referring to them as ‘this ghost’ or whatever in his head.  And that’s regardless of if he believes them or not, though the scales are beginning to tip in their favor at least.

“You’re really… like us?”  Dan’s still trying to process the implications of that.  Somewhere in the back of his mind the implication of ‘cryo chambers’ percolates to tentative conclusions.  For himself and Phanos there’d been no option of going back, and no desire to even if they had been able to.  But this fusion seems a lot less merged and unified than himself.  Even if he’s still occasionally got a peanut gallery, he doesn’t shift between them.  He’s himself.

“If this is someone’s idea of some kind of joke, it’s sick and fucked.  And that’s by my standards.”

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i am unafraid, unrivaled, unashamed, and undefeated

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Talos sighed, brushing some of their hair out of their face. This wasn’t a fun topic, for either of the component parts, but if anyone could understand even a little bit what it was like.... Dan and Phanos would be the ones. 

“...The GiW wanted to see what would happen if they removed our ghost halves from our human bodies. This is what happened. Daniel and Charlie had to become Me to keep their ghost forms stable. That’s the condensed version of the story.” Very condensed, Talos didn’t bring up the bodies downstairs or the nightmare of being caught and escaping later. Didn’t bring up how Vlad was trying to keep their human bodies alive because they couldn’t get back in yet. 

All that would come in due time, for now they at least got through the basics of why they were Talos now. 

Dan blinks, his hair wisping down from outright hostility down to confusion.  He had been arguing with something very much not Charlie and now with just a few moments of transition, if he closed his eyes and tweaked the voice a little, he’d absolutely believe that Charlie was standing right in front of him.  Well, below him, anyway.  Stairs and all.

It’s just a very distinctive tone and cadence, okay.

“Can you explain without all the froufrou and bullshit whinging now?”  Okay so maybe Dan’s being unfair about the handling of a topic that’s highly emotionally charged for everyone.  He firms up his stance and crosses his arms anyway.  “Because this talking around shit is doing everyone a whole heaping helping of no fuckin’ good at all.”

If they are telling the truth… Does this mean there isn’t a third, unified personality?  He doesn’t really remember much of a transition phase himself, but this sort of this isn’t even nearly an exact science.