#( tag yourself I’m virgil )

[part-time-zombie]

Blame It On The Alcohol

pairings: loceit (romantic, can be read as platonic)

summary: janus is used to having a drink or two alone. he's not used to logan showing up at his door asking for a glass, and definitely not after it looks like he's already had a few drinks himself.

tags/warnings: alcohol use, drinking and getting/being drunk, sharing a bed, hurt/comfort, angst, logan isn't okay, janus notices, janus gets slightly flirty and logan gets slightly flustered near the end, he doesnt take advantage of him or anything though, yeah they both get drunk but nothing smutty happens

word count: 3464

The last thing Janus expected to hear was a knock on his door. It was late, for one, and he along with most of the other sides are usually winding down for the night at this hour. Not to mention the fact that no one had ever bothered to knock on his door at all, or even stop by for any reason. Well, Remus would let himself in and he often stays up this late, but he never knocks first, always just kicking the door open and making himself at home whether Janus was there or not.

So it wasn’t him, but he couldn’t think of any reason anyone else would be here. Patton is never up this late, and Roman and Virgil would rather let the house burn down than talk to him voluntarily, so why on earth would someone be at his door right now?

The knocking resumed, a slow but heavy pounding at a wavering rhythm, and Janus decided he may as well answer it before whoever it was got bored and left. Sparing a moment to ensure he looked decent (he had been getting ready for bed after all), he opened the door with his best attempt at a neutral expression.

Logan stared back at him with the same look, leaning casually against the door frame once the door was opened.

“I’m out of wine,” he slowly mumbled, raising an almost empty bottle to further emphasize his point.

Janus took a moment to respond, taking in the sight of Logan most certainly drunk at his door this late at night. His tie had been loosened and his shirt was uncharacteristically wrinkled, and every so often he should shuffle in place as if he were trying to keep his balance. He looked dead tired, and almost undone in a way Janus had never seen before.

"I can see that,” he finally said, still trying to make sense of the situation. “Although you technically still have a bit of wine left in that bottle. Why are you here, exactly?”

Logan looked back down at the bottle in his hand before bringing it to his lips and tilting his head back, easily downing the last of the wine without hesitation. Once the bottle was completely drained, he all but shoved it into Janus’ arms.

"Now I’m officially out of wine,” he corrected. “And to answer your question, I know you likely store some of your own in your room. I would like to have some if you don’t mind.”

“Don’t you think you’ve had enough?”

Logan's eyes narrowed. “Not hardly.”

Well, if he was so set on getting blackout drunk, who would Janus be to deny him another glass or two? This was going to be fun.

"Very well. By all means make yourself comfortable,” he said, moving aside and letting Logan stumble in to his room. Logan all but fell into the plush seat by Janus’ desk, running a hand over his face with a sigh.

Janus set down a fresh bottle of wine before moving to unlock one of the desk drawers for some glasses. He had to take such drastic measures after Remus stole all of his wine glasses some time ago. He grabbed what he needed only to see Logan already chugging straight from the bottle, nearly a quarter of it already having been drunk.

Janus quickly snatched the bottle out of his hands and placed it on the farthest end of the desk, ignoring Logan's whine of protest.

"And here I thought I was the selfish one,” he chided. “It would only have taken me a moment to get a glass, you know.”

"But I don’t just want to have just a glass of wine,” Logan replied, his words now slightly slurred. “You’re allowed to drink until you’re totally inebriated, why can’t I?”

“Because you’re the responsible one.”

“What if I don’t want to be?”

That brought a weight to Janus’ stomach, sinking uncomfortably within him.

“What are you saying, Logan?”

Logan sighed in frustration, as if the answer was obvious and Janus was an idiot for needing to ask. “I’m saying I don’t see the point in doing all the work around here when it doesn’t get me very far. Everyone else is allowed to be silly and stupid and selfish, and I always end up cleaning up after them. Don’t I deserve a break?”

“Of course you do, but I don’t think this counts.”

Logan shrugged, glancing wistfully at the bottle Janus kept out of his reach. “Maybe not, but it’s the closest thing I can get. I can drink until I stop thinking for the night and recover in the morning to get back to work, it works well enough.”

“You’ve done this before?” Janus asked, though they both knew it was more of an observation than a question.

“On occasion, when I don’t want to have to deal with everything. I just happened to run out of wine tonight, and I knew you’d have some.”

Well, this wasn’t nearly as much fun as Janus had hoped. He reached over and grabbed the wine, taking a rather large swill from it in the same manner that Logan had before passing it over to him. He didn’t want to be fully sober for this conversation.

"So how long have you been drinking your cares away, exactly?”

Another shrug. “I’d say roughly around the same time you started making appearances, if not a little bit before. It wasn’t necessarily because of you, though.”

Well that was a relief.

“Then what was it about?”

Logan took another long drink before passing the bottle back to him. “Something tells me you already know.”

He had an inkling or two. He took a drink as he tried to come up with a way to bring it up, passing the bottle back and Logan quickly started chugging from it.

“At a guess, it’s probably about the others. Perhaps even Roman specifically.”

Logan set the bottle down with a sigh, not looking up at Janus. “It’s not just Roman, or even about the others really.”

“Then what it is about?”

“Why should I tell you, exactly? You don’t even know what it is yourself, not to mention I know how much you love gossip. Frankly, me coming to you at all was a mistake.”

Logan got up from his seat, making his way to the door. Or at least, attempting to do so, as he staggered unsteadily and ultimately fell to the floor with a painful grunt.

Janus fought back a grin as he helped Logan back up, placing him back in the chair.

“Something tells me storming off won’t get you very far,” he teased.

“I shouldn’t have come here,” he slurred, head drooping heavily. “Now you’ll go telling everyone about how foolish I look, and then I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Janus almost felt sympathy for Logan. Or maybe it was pity. Or the wine. Either way, seeing him so dejected and defeated by something he wouldn’t share tugged at something in his chest, and he found he couldn’t stand Logan being like this.

“I admit I love to spread rumors and drama, but I promise I won’t talk about this to anyone. This isn’t just some petty squabble to laugh at over dinner; whatever is going on with you isn’t something I’d joke about with anyone.”

Logan scoffed in response before taking another drink.

“I’d still like to know whatever or whoever it is that’s driving you to drink. I could help make sure it doesn’t get this bad again or find a means of getting you a proper break.”

“You won’t like the answer.”

“I still want to hear it.”

Logan took a particularly long swig from the bottle before passing what was left over to Janus, sighing to himself as he did so.

“It’s Thomas.”

Janus was glad he hadn’t taken a drink yet or he would have done a spit take right then and there. Of all the things Logan could have said, Janus never thought it’d be that.

“Thomas is the problem?”

“More accurately, I am.” Logan replied. “No matter what I do or how I try, nothing ever works. He won’t listen to me; he won’t even interact with me at all unless there’s another problem the others are too dramatic to fix. I’m just a tool to him, something to be used when needed and left to collect dust otherwise. I don’t know what it is I’m doing wrong or why I can’t get through to him, but it always ends the same. I beg for him to see me, and he looks straight through me. It’s like I don’t exist to him anymore.”

Logan was right, Janus hated this answer. Knowing that it had gotten this bad and that he was this neglected by not just the other sides but by Thomas himself made his stomach turn. He took another sip of wine, hoping that it would somehow make this easier.

Maybe that’s what Logan hopes for when he drinks.

Janus thought back to the few times he and Logan had interacted, how stressed he seemed and how much the others ignored him. He remembered how often he would shut Logan up or even remove him from the discussion entirely. He really was a part of the problem, wasn’t he? If he hadn’t taken such efforts to hog the spotlight for himself, maybe Logan would have been heard more clearly.

“I’m sorry, Logan. Truly.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Maybe not fully, but I had a hand in this all the same. I pushed you off to the side and let the others overlook you when you actually were the most helpful one there. I should have made the others, made Thomas, pay more attention to you. You don’t deserve this.”

“Maybe I do. Maybe it’s something I’m doing wrong. I know everyone else can get his attention easily, so it has to be a failure on my part.”

“Now that’s just not true,” Janus added, passing the bottle back to him. “The others get his attention because they’re loud and dramatic. It’s hard to hear the weather alert on the news when there’s a storm howling outside. Just because you aren’t as obnoxious and over the top as them doesn’t mean you’re less than. If anything, I’d say it makes you better than them. You don’t resort to something so childish to be listened to.”

“Perhaps I should. It works for them, after all.”

“But is that how you want to be seen? Throwing a temper tantrum until all they hear is you screaming at them?”

“What other option do I have at this point? Everything else has failed.”

“Well, we can figure something out here. I can help to make him listen to you.”

Logan looked back up at him, skepticism shining in his hazy eyes. “And why would you offer to do that for me?”

“Because you’re an essential part of Thomas, and I admit I respect you a great deal.”

“Really? Even now, after you’ve seen me like this?”

Janus nodded, not trusting himself to not say anything too sentimental. Logan seemed to accept it as a viable response though, offering him a small smile before taking the bottle and finishing off the last of the wine in one final gulp.

“I should go to bed,” he mumbled, words slurring over again. “So should you.”

“You’re the one who knocked on my door this late at night,” Janus joked.

“Right, sorry about that.”

“Never apologize for coming to me, especially for something like this.”

Logan looked confused. “Requesting alcohol?”

“Needing someone to talk to.”

“… oh.”

The two sat together in silence for a moment, neither of them capable of finding something to say. Eventually Logan stood up from his chair again, albeit shakily, as he prepared to return to his room for the night. Janus watched as he tried and failed to walk on his own, before making up his mind with a sigh and gently grabbing hold of his arm.

“Janus, what- “

“You’re not making it to your room like this, not on your own anyway. I could walk you back if you want, but that’ll run the risk of someone seeing me escorting you out of my room in the middle of the night while you can barely stand. I think even in this state you can imagine how that would look to anyone.”

Logan nodded in agreement, head lolling about on his shoulders. “What do you suggest, then?”

“Well, I’m not exactly against the idea of you staying the night.” Janus felt himself blush as the implications of the idea came to mind. “I mean, only if you want to. Nothing is going to come of it and it doesn’t have to mean anything, it would just make sense for you to have somewhere to rest for the night without anything happening.”

Logan stared back at him, swaying lightly in his hold, before sighing. “I suppose so. If anything, the company might be nice. As long as you promise nothing will come of this. I doubt I’m in any state to start something like that right now.”

“Something like what?”

Logan didn’t respond, only flushing a beet red that definitely wasn’t from the wine.

Janus chuckled softly at the sight, greatly enjoying seeing Logan so open and emotional. He’d never had the chance to see him like this, and it was quite a sight.

He gently guided him back to the bed, changing them both into pajamas with a snap of his fingers. Logan sat down with a huff, leaning back towards the headrest as Janus crawled into the bed beside him. It took a few minutes of awkward maneuvering, but Logan eventually managed to slip beneath the covers, wasting no time in cozying up to Janus.

Janus froze, not quite sure what to do or how to react, but as he felt Logan's body heat washing over him and his arms wrapping tightly around him he found he didn’t quite care. If Logan needed this from him, who would he be to deny it?

“Pretty.”

“What was that?”

“Your scales,” Logan explained, looking up at him. “They’re pretty.”

As if to further prove his point, he reached up and let his hand drift slowly across the left side of his face, gently caressing the scales there.

“They’re smooth too. I like them.”

Now it was Janus’ turn to blush, sputtering out some vague semblance of a thank you before turning on his side, ensuring Logan couldn’t see his rapidly reddening face. The change in position also prevented Logan from further touching his scales, and Janus tried to pretend he wasn’t bereft of the experience. Not many people complimented him on his scales, and he had never let anyone go so far as to touch them before, but feeling Logan's skin softly against them felt pleasant in a way he couldn’t describe, much less address.

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable,” Logan said from somewhere behind him, voice tinged with regret.

“You didn’t, it’s just… sensitive, is all,” he lied. Mostly.

“Ah. Apologies.”

“It’s no problem. Goodnight.”

“… goodnight, then.”

Logan didn’t try to hold him again, and Janus tried not to think about how much he wanted him to.

“… Janus?”

Logan's voice echoed in Janus’ ear, pulling him out from the depths of sleep. He blinked his sleep-crusted eyes open groggily, groaning at the brightness of the light seeping in through the curtains.

 Turning his head with an aching stiffness in his neck, he found himself face to face with a very flustered Logan. A Logan that was currently wrapped tightly in his arms.

“What happened last night?” he asked him, eyes wide.

Shit. What did happen last night? He was getting ready for bed, then Logan showed up asking for a drink, then…

Ah. Right. That.

“Don’t you remember?” Janus asked, letting a playful smirk make its way across his face. May as well have some fun with this for a moment, after all. “It was definitely an eventful night we had, I’m sure at least some part of it is still fresh in your mind.”

Logan opened his mouth like he was about to say something only to close it again as he wriggled free from where he and Janus had evidently tangled together in the night. He sat up in bed, pulling the blankets up to his chest even though he was wearing a shirt and Janus fought back the urge to laugh. He was surprisingly cute all flustered like this.

“Look, whatever happened between us last night, it didn’t, alright? It didn’t mean anything, and it won’t happen again, so just please leave it alone.”

“Leave which part of it alone? The part where you all but fell into my arms in a drunken stupor, or the part where you let yourself be even more open and emotionally vulnerable than you might even be with yourself?”

“All of it, ideally. Especially the part where we woke up like… this.”

Janus arched an eyebrow. “Is that what you think happened? Some drunken one-night stand fueled by alcohol and repressed feelings?”

Logan squirmed under the teasing scrutiny. “… is that not what happened?”

Janus couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “Not at all. We drank, we talked, and when you could hardly stand let alone walk to your room, I offered you my bed. Nothing else happened between us last night, at least, not like that.”

Some of the tension left Logan at that. “So you’re saying we didn’t… “

“Nope. I may be a horrible person, but I would never take advantage of you like that.”

“… oh. Well, that’s good to hear, I suppose. What did we talk about, exactly?”

Janus felt his smile slip, quickly replaced with a sympathetic look. “We talked about why you were drunk, and why you drink like this so much.”

Logan looked away, the tension from before returning. “I talked about that?”

“Seems like you needed to talk about it. You’ve been dealing with all of that for a while now by the looks of things.”

Logan cringed to himself, still not looking at Janus. “Right. I didn’t mean to bring that up with you. Whatever it is we discussed, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone else.”

“I don’t plan on anyone else knowing, as long as you’ll do something for me.” he said, letting a trace of mischief slip through his voice.

“What is it you want from me now?” Logan asked, tone thick with skepticism.

Janus sat up in his bed, ensuring he was looking Logan head on and that he was looking back at him. He held his gaze, face slack but somber.

“Next time you want to drink, come to me. I’d rather you talk to me about whatever’s bothering you than have you drown yourself in wine again. I swear nothing you say will go beyond this room, but please just go to me instead of the wine.”

Logan fixed him with a deadpan stare. “That’s a bit hypocritical of you, isn’t it? Last I checked, you’re just as inclined to get inebriated if not more so.”

“That’s fair,” he chuckled. “But I drink for fun, not to forget about my problems.”

“… touché.”

Logan gave him a small smile, one that Janus returned.

“I didn’t make a fool of myself, did I?” he eventually asked.

“Not too much, though you were awfully affectionate near the end.”

Logan flushed. “Affectionate?”

“Just a little. You… may have complimented me. You said you liked my scales.”

“Oh. I didn’t mean to- “

“Make me uncomfortable?” Janus teased. “You said the same thing last night. Don’t worry, I don’t mind. It was honestly rather sweet of you to say.”

Logan blushed and looked away again, and Janus let him. It meant he wouldn’t see the blush steadily creeping on his own face.

“I should get dressed, I have work to do.”

“Of course, I should get started on a few things myself.”

Logan quickly shuffled out of bed, Janus doing the same. With a wave of the hand, they were both changed back to their usual garb, and remaining equally flustered.

“I’m going to my room now,” Logan mumbled, still avoiding Janus’ gaze.

“Right, you do that. I’ll talk to you later then.”

Logan gave him a curt nod before walking out the door, closing it softly behind himself. Janus let out a breath, running a hand over his face. Wow, that was awkward.

At least he managed to get a little closer to Logan, right?

If only he knew how to proceed after all of this.

@britt-ish123 @lio-the-chaotic-nonbeanie-weenie @oatmeal-stans-the-trash-rat @nico-the-overlord @can-i-take-a-stab @rougeside4 @keitaisghost @new-zee-land

[alexthefly]

Snakes on a Thunderbird

For @godsliltippy for TAG MiniBang 2023 (@tagminibang)

Inspired by this adorable piece of Fishtank art here. (@tippystreasurebox)

Trigger warning for snakes. Also brief mention of animal neglect, plus some minor whump and peril.

As Virgil went through his post-flight checks, Gordon twisted and revelled in the several satisfying pops his back made. 

“Oh god, that is so much better! Want me to crack yours for ya, Virg?”

There was a grumble of disapproval from his right. 

“I’ll pass thanks. Hearing yours was an experience in itself. In fact…” 

His brother reached over and snagged the small metal box Gordon had been carrying on his lap. 

“...perhaps I’d better take that before you do yourself any more damage.”

Gordon rolled his eyes and snatched the box back with perhaps just a little too much snap.

“Right Virgil(!) ‘Cos hauling passengers and crates off of a sinking ship was fine, but this last hundred yards to the rescue centre is where things gets really tricky(!)”

The rescue hadn’t really been all that bad physically. The crates in question had been lighter than expected, though that was because apparently properly feeding the various animals inside had clearly not been much of a priority for the smugglers on board; about as high as safety and ship maintenance had been. And although Gordon’s back was definitely starting to twinge a bit now, he’d have been a lot happier to be a lot achier if it meant those poor creatures had been treated right.

Well, whatever. He’d stayed professional. …Mostly. That Johnny hadn’t mentioned his little brother's prolonged blue streak ricocheting over the comms was likely a sign that he’d felt the same way.

The fact the GDF were already briefed and waiting with an arrest warrant the second they’d touched down was probably another one.

A yellow light broke through his thoughts and dragged him back to the present. He batted the medi-scan away with a grunt.

“Would you quit it, Virg? I’m fine.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

Gordon opened his mouth, ready to deliver a witty yet devastating retort, but then thought wiser of it. Better to just let the big guy get it all out of his system. He'd only worry otherwise, and a worried Virgil was a pain in the backside, especially with the flight home and debrief to get through. He closed his mouth and submitted to the inevitable with a huff.

Virgil for his part stayed quiet too as he completed the scan; once it was done, he continued to look Gordon over with the practised eye of both a medic and a big brother.

“Well, Doctor Virgil? Are you done? Can we go now?”

Another moment of scrutiny. Then: 

“You know today was a good day, right?”

Dammit. The big green angst-detector strikes again.

Gordon really didn’t want to talk about it now.

“Whatever you say, bro.”

“I mean it,” Virgil insisted. “You’ve said it yourself - this shelter is the best. They've got the facilities and the expertise; they’ll take good care of all these guys, big and small. And the GDF will make sure the people that did this get what's coming to them."

“Uh-huh.”

"Gordy, the good guys won. Take the win.”

Honestly it didn’t feel like a win. Not even a tiny one. The memory of all those sad little eyes was too raw. It was going to take a lot for it to fade into the background, and he just didn't have the energy right now. All he wanted was to get everything unloaded, go home, swim ‘til he couldn't think anymore and then crawl into bed and sleep for 12 hours.

"Virg, could we please do the pep talk another time? The shelter staff are waiting for us."

A little frown appeared on his brother's brow, but he sighed and nodded.

"Are they all okay in there?” Virgil asked instead, nodding at the box balancing on Gordon’s dashboard. 

It was an obvious change of subject, but a welcome one. Gordon gave the portable incubator a protective little pat.

“Should be. I candled them earlier and they look good. Not pipped yet, but I think it should be soon.”

He blinked as a sudden thought occurred.

“Actually," he said as he opened the incubator lid and retrieved the covered tray inside, "I’m just gonna check they’ve not been turned mid-flight. I’ve been holding them steady the whole way over, but you never know.”

“I thought you were supposed to turn eggs?” said Virgil with a hint of confusion. He leaned across to watch what Gordon was doing. "Grandpa said it stopped the embryo getting stuck."

“That’s for birds. Snakes are different. All the little veins and stuff are fragile; you flip the egg, the umbilical cord tears away and they die.” 

Gordon gingerly lifted the lid and peered inside. 

"Of course, these guys are almost ready to hatch so I don’t know how much of that appli-”

But the rest of his thought died on his tongue as he lifted the lid and took a look inside.

A beat.

“What?”

“Erm, not sure. Hang on a sec…” Gordon gently slid the eggs to one side of the tray and running his gloved hands very carefully in the sandy substrate below.

"Where are you?" he muttered softly.

"Where's what?" Virgil quickly jumped to his feet, unease radiating from every pore.

"One of the eggs must have hatched in transit," explained Gordon, still rifling through the soft gravel, looking for any flash of movement. "Once the shell breaks they usually take a few hours to come out, but I guess with all the jiggling…"

"Okay, so presumably there should be a snake in there then. Where’s the snake, Gordon?!"

Gordon kept digging, slightly more urgently. 

"Some snakes bury themselves down into the substrate after hatching - it’s a kinda protection thing. They wait there for their first shed, then they come out looking for food."

Virgil reached out gingerly over Gordon's shoulder and picked up the soft and clearly empty egg shell, complete with a neat split down the middle. He held it softly in his hands, turning it over and over as if he might find the wayward snake still clinging to it somewhere.

"Exactly what sort of snakes are these, Gordy?" he asked slowly, deliberately.

"Umm…”

“Gordon!”

“I don’t know! I’m not a snake expert, and you can only tell so much from just the eggshell anyway.” 

He set the tray onto the dashboard and started checking inside the incubator itself, just in case. He could feel heat starting to rise across his cheeks.

“Gords, could it be… poisonous?”

Gordon swallowed back the sour taste in his mouth.

“I don’t know.”

There was a moment of horrible silence as those words sunk in. Of course, the chances of the snake being venomous were slim - only about 10-15% of known species were after all - and in any event their uniforms were designed to withstand pretty much anything, but there was still that tiny sliver of doubt in his mind. Was Brains far-sighted enough to have considered snake fangs as a variable during the testing phase?

Virgil took a step back, eyes darting everywhere, and tapped his wrist controller. 

“I’m not picking anything up. John? Any chance you could run a sweep of the cockpit for… uh… unusual heat signatures?”

“Unusual?” 

John’s projected image leapt out of the dashboard holo’ right in front of Gordon’s face, causing him to almost fall off his chair. 

“What sort of unusual?”

Virgil cleared his throat in a far-too-obviously guilty way. 

“We’ve kind of… misplaced something.”

“O-kaaay… What sort of something?”

Gordon opened his mouth to say… Actually he wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but in any case Virgil got there first.

“Can you just do it please, John?” he asked, brow furrowed. "Now?"

The look John shot them both could have stripped paint, but he turned away and started swiping.

“No unusual readings found,” he said after a few seconds. "Perhaps if I knew what I was looking for…”

Gordon caught Virgil’s eye. Despite his obvious concern about the situation, the big chonk was clearly still trying to cover for him. 

He really was the softest marshmallow.

But as touched as he was, right now the most important thing wasn't avoiding blame; it was finding the snake before anyone got hurt, including the creature itself. There would be time to wriggle out of Scott and John’s inevitable lecture later.

“The signal’s likely very subtle,” he said, drawing John's attention. “He’s cold-blooded, so his core temperature’s gonna be mirroring the immediate environment. Look at components a little below body temperature and check for tiny, unexplained fluctuations.”

“Cold-bl… You lost a reptile?!”

“A snake,” clarified Virgil.

There was a moment while John processed this new information, then he closed his eyes and pinched the top of his nose. 

“Of course it's a snake(!)” He sighed. “EOS? Did you catch all that?”

EOS’s voice rang through clear over the comms. “Yes, John. Checking now…”

“In the meantime,” said John, “I suggest you put your helmets back on, just to be safe. The less exposed skin you two have the better.”

The brothers nodded. 

Gordon set the incubator down and grabbed his helmet from the dash in front of him, just as EOS brought up a schematic of the cockpit onto the screen in front of him.

“There’s a slight irregularity in temperature around the co-pilot’s control panel, but it’s too indistinct to pin down to a specific component.”

Gordon’s eyes darted all over the dashboard in front of him. 

Where?

Scrabbling to push his chair back and get his helmet on, he vaguely heard Virgil say something about lifting the main cover off the console before he was suddenly distracted by a sharp, stabbing pain in his right cheek, just above the jaw.

“Yeow!”

Virgil was by his side immediately, mediscanner in hand. “What?! What is it?”

Gordon remained in his chair, sitting stock still.

"Don’ scan.”

"What?"

"Don' scan. Th' noise'll scare 'im."

Virgil's eyes went wide.

"Where is it?" he whispered, looking him up and down.

“I’z on m’ face."

“What?!?”

“On. M’. Face. W’z inside th’ helmet.”

Virgil and John exchanged a panicked look.

…Yep.

By rights, Gordon should have been scared. After all, there was a chance he could die here; the little danger-noodle might be pumping deadly venom into him by the second. But surprisingly he wasn’t overly worried about that possibility just now. In fact he felt strangely calm and clear-headed. What was done was done after all, and the priority now was to a) not do anything to make the snake strike again (him or Virgil); and b) get it secured.

“Ah’m gonna slowly r’move th’ helmet," he mumbled, trying not to move his mouth too much. "When y’ see ‘im, grab ‘im c’refully b’hind th’ head an’ unhook ‘im.”

Keeping his head stock still, he looked sidelong at his big brother to check he’d understood. Poor Virg looked pale, but he nodded and shifted into position in front of him, mouth set in a grim line. Behind him, John's face was a picture of worry.

“R'dy?” Gordon asked. 

Virgil nodded, hands poised.

He gave a little blink in lieu of a smile. “Okay."

Deep breath.

"One. Two. ‘Hree.”

And slowly he took off his helmet.

Virgil reached forwards and closed his hand next to his face. Gordon's skin pulled painfully for a moment, then released, leaving a sharp echo across his cheek.  

He exhaled in a big whoosh that seemed to come from his very soul, and raised his eyes to finally look on the thing that had bitten him.

“Scanning for a species match now,” said John urgently as Virgil stepped back, holding the offending creature out at arm’s length. “Cross-matching size, markings and-”

“It’s a Children’s Python!”

“A what?” Virgil asked roughly.

John took a massive breath in. “Oh thank god! Are you sure?”

“Certain,” replied Gordon, finding his feet and bouncing over to look a bit closer, all concern for his safety gone. “We had one as a class pet in 5th grade. Native to Northern Australia. Fantastic pets.”

“I can confirm the identification, John” said EOS. “The species is non-venomous.”

All the remaining colour drained from Virgil's face. He lowered himself down shakily into his chair, arm still outstretched. “Well in that case would someone please come and take this thing out of my hand before I have a heart attack?”

“Oops! Yep, give me one second…” 

Gordon grabbed the tray of eggs and fished out a roll of electrical tape from one of his console drawers. 

“This should keep the lid secure until we can get him into the shelter, at least.”

Gordon reached out and gently took hold of the little snake, who had stopped thrashing around and instead seemed content to curl its body gently around his hand. He took a second to admire its beautiful mottled markings in light and dark brown, and the gentle undulation of muscles pulsing as it moved.

"Hey, little guy."

The tiny snake flicked its tongue at him, tasting the air.

Slowly, gently, Gordon encouraged the snake back in the tray, extracted his hand, and then put the lid on and taped it down.

As soon as the tray was closed, John seemed to deflate like he was the one who’d been punctured.

“Please, for the love of god, don’t ever scare me like that again, okay guys? My cortisol levels can't take it."

"Take it easy John," soothed Virgil as he stumbled over to examine Gordon's cheek. "You sit back and have a float and we'll finish up here." 

He took Gordon by the chin and turned his face to the side. 

"...C'mon Blofeld, let's get you cleaned up."

…

Fifteen minutes later and sporting a natty Baby Shark band-aid on his cheek, Gordon skipped across the animal shelter car park towards the front desk. Alongside him, Virgil carried the now-definitely-sealed incubator. (Gordon had argued it was his privilege as 'the walking wounded’ not to have to carry stuff. Virgil had just rolled his eyes and agreed, muttering something about checking for himself to ensure no more 'jailbreaks'.)

Behind them, a dozen or so vets and other volunteers were unloading the various other crates of animals from Two's hold, checking them over and directing them to their respective enclosures.

Gordon grinned.

"Feeling better now?" asked Virgil, quirking a smile in reply.

He was, in more ways than one. Somehow, staring into the face of that tiny serpent had made him feel a lot more positive about everything. Nature really was amazing. If a baby creature, just out of its egg, could survive and protect itself in a hostile environment like that little one had today, then with a little bit of care he was sure the other animals they'd rescued would as well.

Life was good. He had his health, he had his family, and they’d done good today. 

Suddenly overcome with happiness, he couldn’t help doing a little jumping air punch, earning a low chuckle from his left.

"You were right, Virg. Today really was a win.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow at him. "Not sure I'd quite describe it that way, but if you say so. You did still set a snake loose in my ‘bird, though.”

“Hey, don't blame me! I'm as much a victim as you are. Little Hissy Houdini's a force all of his own.”

A pause. “You named him?”

“Yep! Kinda fitting, don’t you think?”

Virgil’s eyes narrowed. 

"You’re not keeping him.”

Gordon gasped dramatically. 

“Virgil Tracy, I am shocked! I would never-”

“Sully the Gully, Puppy Longstocking, Razorbill Bob, the Swift Family Robinson…”

“...again. Never again.”

“Well that’s just as well then, because I don’t think Scott would appreciate finding this little escapologist in his sock drawer, do you?"

As Gordon contemplated all of the delicious trickster-y possibilities that that image brought up, he stretched and gave his back another series of cracks.

Virgil regarded him coolly. "You sound like a goddamn popcorn maker," he grumbled. "Speaking of, I wonder if the others'd be up for a movie night tonight? I feel like we've earned a bit of down time."

"Sounds good to me," said Gordon, flinging an arm around the big man's shoulders. "And I have the perfect one in mind… You like Samuel L Jackson films, right?"

[skymaiden32]

Safety Measures

Read on AO3 here

Fandom: Thunderbirds

Tagging: @dragonoffantasyandreality @thundergeek59 @janetm74 @katblu42 @liseylou @amistrio @uniwolfcorn @idontknowreallywhy (Please ask if you would like to get alerts when I update or post new stories.)

Thundertober Day 18: Safety

Some rules are made to be broken.

Continuity: TAG

------

“Are you joking?!” Gordon winced when he heard Virgil yell at the hologram in front of them, hovering above Thunderbird 2’s dashboard. “Please tell me you’re joking…” The man in the image tried his best to look apologetic, but after years of learning how to read others, the two Tracy’s could tell he wasn’t.

“This is no joke, Mr Tracy. It’s health and safety.” The idiot stated. “According to the official handbook, no non-staff members are allowed to access the master control panel. If we let just anyone use those controls, it could result in disaster.”

Virgil grumbled, uncharacteristically folding his arms in front of him and slumping back in his seat with a huff. This back and forth was eerily similar to the whole atmospheric cleaner debacle not too long ago. Honestly, he wouldn’t be surprised if the official he was currently speaking with was the same guy and had moved companies. But alas, that was not the case.

Gordon frowned at the man, standing up and making his way over so he was eye level with the hologram. It was lucky he was in front of them as a hologram; if he were truly face to face with them he probably would’ve had a black eye. “Well, can’t you make an exception just this once? There are people in that factory who could die if we can’t access those controls!” The idiot began to open his mouth, and Gordon quickly silenced him. “And before you ask if there’s another way, there isn’t.” He put it bluntly, hoping to get the situation into this guy's thick skull. “Our team has run through every possible solution we can think of in various simulators, and nothing works. They all result in the building collapsing. Or worse.”

Sensing his brother’s increasing frustration, Virgil took over the conversation again. “The master controls are the only way. Please, we don’t have much time left to save your workers.”

“As much as I’d like to help…” Liar. “I’m just doing my job. Which is to uphold our company's code of health and safety to the highest degree.”

“Well, so are we.” Gordon snapped. “Would you seriously risk your employees' lives just because a rescue team wants to access your system to save them?” He practically hissed. “A little hypocritical, don’t you think?” The officer rose an eyebrow, as if genuinely puzzled. Virgil looked at his brother in shock. Gordon ignored them both. “You preach about wanting to protect your team from danger, but you fail to realise that the most dangerous thing you can do is not let us help them. They’ll be waiting for us to come to their rescue, probably scared out of their wits, but help will never come for them. All because you have your head buried in the sand.” He shook his head, and laughed without humour. “Don’t you see? International Rescue is the only thing standing between those men and women down there, and an untimely death. If you don’t let us in, believe me, we’ll find our own way in. It’s your choice…”

An uneasy silence followed. Virgil and Gordon waited a few tense seconds before the official huffed. “...Fine.” He finally relented, seeing the point the aquanaut was making. “I’ll allow it. Just this once. Meet me down at the main control building. I’ll let you in and show you how to operate it.” That was all he said before the hologram winked off, leaving empty space where it once was.

Virgil looked at Gordon in awe, laughing at his success. “How’d you manage to do that?”

His brother just shrugged, still amazed that it had worked. “When you’re in a naval officers company to defend yourself enough times, you pick up a thing or two…” He explained slyly, examining his nails. “Guess I still got it!”

“You sure do little brother!” Virgil chuckled, flying towards the rendezvous point. “Down with overcomplicated safety measures, huh?” Gordon couldn’t help but agree.

[not-sure-what-im-feeling]

Sanders Sides as things I've said/heard

all of these are sourced from me. feel free to use them yourself for other characters and such, but i ask that you tag me in it. sorry for how long this is

Remus: continuously poking Roman

Roman: OH MY GOD STOP TOUCHING ME

Logan: Oh! did you know that—from a microscopic level—you can’t actually touch someone? Atoms don’t touch.

Patton: But they aren’t named Adam? That’s Roman and Remus!

Logan: scientific fuming

<<•>>

Janus: about something that has nothing to do with Christianity Read the fucking Bible!

<<•>>

Logan: While we’re reading this book, what are your impressions about this character?

Patton: I think he was in jail or involved in something illegal.

Logan: Good, now, why something illegal?

Patton: Well, most people in jail are involved in something illegal

<<•>>

Virgil: I need help? Yeah, when I’m dead. When they’re putting my body in… the carcass box…

<<•>>

Virgil: No questions, but I’m not sure how long I can keep it together before the demons get to me.

<<•>>

Remus: playing cards with the others I will peel your face off with a wire cutter!

<<•>>

Remus: making Nanaimo bars with patton Should we use the beating machine for the cream part?

<•>>

The sides are going through old junk and find a paper doll with Roman’s name on it (it looks nothing like any of them)

Virgil: Aw, it looks just like you, Roman!

Roman: That’s my choir boy you bitch!

<<•>>

Roman: probably to Logan Do you want a tumbleweed? Cause you’re really boring.

<<•>>

Playing some game like tag idk

Roman: Hey! No fair, I hurt my leg!

Virgil: Death won’t give a fuck when he reaps your soul

<<•>>

Virgil: This tastes drugged…

Remus: You already are drugged!

<<•>>

after Roman said something

Virgil (or Janus): I lost… so many brain cells

<<•>>

Logan: Why did you say smash to an arachnid?

Remus: You underestimate how amazing spiders can be

<<•>>

Remus: leans against table Wanna have gay sex?

<<•>>

They all did a “What fanfic trope are you” quiz

Virgil: I got found family?

Roman: Oh so they called you depressed and gay

<<•>>

Remus: Here’s a coin! It’s kinda soggy though…

Virgil: This is… a cucumber slice

Remus: Yeah! (:

<<•>>

Remus: Ugh, people have common sense and it’s annoying

<<•>>

Remus: Say goodbye to your toes!

<<•>>

Remus: Who wants to be reliable when you can be [jazz hands] inconsistent!

<<•>>

Roman: What’s your aesthetic?

Patton: Cartoons!

Virgil: Purple

Remus: Actually, rock

<<•>>

Virgil: I want to die holding a spider

<<•>>

Roman: You punch me a lot…

Virgil: Only when you anger me!

Roman: What about when we played slapjack and you lost?

Virgil: That angered me!

<<•>>

Remus: Mother and father issues? You’ve gotta be kidding!

Virgil: Wow, okay, don’t just call me out

<<•>>

watches a video about a baby race

Janus: It’s all just a metaphor for society…

[moss-sprout]

Trails Of Roses

I wanted to make something for prinxiety week and really felt inspired by todays prompt: Roses!

Tags: @prinxietyweek

Summary: Roman goes to the imagination a lot to go on his creative and adventurous journeys. Sometimes he’s only gone for a while, a few hours or days. But other times he could take weeks to return, the longest being 2 months without returning. Virgil develops hanahaki while Roman is away, and in order to preserve his own life, goes after Roman.

Word Count: 3,864

TW: Hanakahi Disease, Slight blood, Swear words, Description of animal death

_ _ _

Tim Burton has always been Virgil’s pick of movies, so it was no surprise that the other sides surprised him with Corpse Bride and some pizza for his birthday. What was a surprise, was that Roman conducted the whole thing, being the most insistent on performing grand gestures. It shouldn’t’ve been unexpected really, but Virgil was still not fully used to their blooming friendship after they used to be so hostile towards each other for months, only to finally find common ground and slowly build their acquaintanceship to form a strong friendship. Corpse Bride wasn’t his favorite movie by Tim Burton, but it made sense that Roman picked it -- being the most romantic of the sides. Currently the sides were all sitting together on the couch, Logan leaning against the arm of the left side of the couch with a mug of coffee, making occasional critiques on the movie's inaccuracies and logical solutions that could’ve been made. Patton was sitting on the couch next to Roman and Virgil -- Roman being the closest to Virgil, their shoulders almost touching despite there being plenty of room on the couch for more space. But Virgil didn’t mind for some reason, Roman was a good movie companion to murmur songs and snicker about inaccuracies with. Roman was currently tapping along to the Piano Duet on Virgil’s wrist, which made the movie slightly more difficult to pay attention to. 

The movie eventually ended and they all talked about as normal for a while before Roman squeezed his wrist gently and let go to stand, walking to the center of the room. The conversation fell quiet as they all stared expectantly at Roman.

“My friends! I am sorry but I must announce my departure! The Imagination calls to me once again. There is no telling when I will return, but I leave tonight.” This wasn’t unusual. Every so often Roman would announce he’s leaving for another adventure in the Imagination.

“Oh! Good luck, Roman!” Patton squeaked hopefully.

“I never understand why you depart yourself to these frivolous adventures-”

“Lo, be nice! This is important to him!” Patton cut in and Logan sighed before attempting to pull his face into something that looked something like a face of agreement.

“Not that I’m offended,” Roman said in a very offended tone, “but I do it because I have citizens to save, witch dragons to slay, nothing that your math equation filled brain could comprehend anyways.”

“It’s an imaginary state of mind there are no real peop-”

“Anyways,” Roman cut him off, earning an unsatisfied grunt from the other, “I have an important project to tend to in the imagination and I won’t be here.”

Virgil wrinkled his nose, “weren’t you just there last week?”

“Well.. yes…”

“And imaginary citizens can’t wait for their prince to slay their imaginary dragon?”

He sighed, “I understand it’s your birthday Virgil, but I assure you this is of the utmost importance. I’ll make it up to you when I’m back.” he said with a wink. A flustered expression flashed across Virgil’s face before he turned away, attempting to hide it with his bangs.

“Wh-whatever.” he murmured.

_ _ _

A few hours later, Virgil was in his room when he heard chatter in the hallway. Looking at the clock on his wall he realized it must be time for Roman to go – making it dramatic as he always does by formally saying goodbye to everyone beforehand. He figured he should go say goodbye and sunk down to join the others in the corridor. 

Rising up, Roman stopped mid-conversation upon seeing Virgil, his face lighting up “Virge! You never come to see me before I leave.”

“Yeah well, someone’s gotta tell you not to get eaten by some demon bunny when you step into the unknown.”

Roman gasped, a dramatic hand flying to his chest, “you have so little faith in me?”

“Not since you almost died trying to approach a hallucinatory cow.” he smirked smugly.

Logan turned to him, confused, “how do you know it was hallucinatory?”

“He was in a boat. In the ocean.”

Roman sputtered, his face turning red, “T-that only happened once! And you try being stranded on a boat for two days! Things happen.”

“Well you better start to mooove it before you’re late for your journey, Roman.” Patton grinned, and behind him he heard Logan heave a deep sigh.

“Thank you, Patton. I bid you all farewell until our next fateful moment!” he called, beginning to step back toward his room. They all said a final goodbye before the door shut. Logan said something about having to check on something in the oven, and Patton followed closely behind him. Virgil lingered in the hallway for a moment, just staring at Roman’s door before sighing, shaking his head and turning to walk away. But just as he did his eye caught sight of something shiny. He immediately halted and turned to look again, making sure his eyes weren’t just playing tricks on him. On the floor by Roman’s door was something small reflecting in the moonlight from the window. He bent down and picked it up, revealing a small jar of.. Something.

His eyes widened with the realization that this was probably important and fell out of his pocket when he was leaving. He quickly burst into Roman’s room, only to find it empty.

He was already gone, and probably wouldn’t be back for a while. Time in the imagination worked differently than in the mindscape, he wasn’t sure if even Roman knew how it worked; so he’d be gone for a while. Virgil just hoped that the bottle was nothing important. He clutched it into his palm, staring quietly at the door that led to the imagination. 

Virgil vaguely wondered for a moment what Roman would be doing on his journey, and what was so important that he needed to do it tonight. Normally, he would be preparing weeks in advance but he just suddenly mentioned it tonight. 

He suddenly became very aware that he was inside of Roman’s room. He hasn’t been in Roman’s room very much, and never for very long. The room was casted by moonlight by the large windows, the red curtains and bed set glowing amongst all the white and brown in the room. The room also smelled heavily of Roman, with his rose water perfume and lingering scent of fresh paper. It caused him to relax a bit, the familiarity creating a safety net over him from his anxiety. His friend had now provided more comfort for him, feeling strangely safe and content whenever he was nearby. 

He coughed, shaking his head before heading to Roman's door. It would be awkward to explain why he was just standing in Roman’s pristine room if he was caught here. Roman’s room was beautiful but he felt so odd in there, his black and purple clashing with the soft whites and reds. Elegancy against ruggedness. 

He reached the door before doubling over into another coughing fit. He quickly went straight to the bathroom to grab some cough medicine from the bathroom before Patton could notice and force Virgil to take another “sick day”. He shuddered upon remembering what happened last time Virgil showed the slightest sign of sickness. He opened the cabinet grabbing the cough medicine and shut the cabinet. He glanced at himself for a moment but looked back when something caught his eye. He squinted at himself in the mirror when he spotted a splash of red on his hoodie. Slowly, he brought his hand to it and gingerly touched it. He grabbed it in his fingers and pulled it off, examining it. 

He stared at it for a moment, confused. It was… a petal? Or something like that. It was red and soft and when he hesitantly smelled it, it smelled like a flower – probably a rose or something like that. Virgil figured that Roman had a draft in his room and he probably had a flower vase in there that caught the wind and blew a petal onto his shoulder. He brushed it off, pushing the odd petal to the side of the sink and resumed with the medicine. 

He downed the cough medicine, cringing at the strong taste of artificial cherry flavor that Patton got before coughing more. He groaned, not wanting to deal with being sick. He hung his head but froze when he saw the sink. Slowly, he lifted his head, not taking his eyes off the sink as he stared. There… There were more rose petals, about 6 of them in the sink bowl. Virgil rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things but they remained. He stuck his hand down and grabbed one, making sure it was real. It looked almost identical to the one he pulled off of himself earlier. He felt something on his tongue and pulled one out of his mouth. He stared at the bowl as he began to comprehend what this all meant. 

The word “hanahaki” flashed across his mind and he blinked, remembering the infamous fanfiction trope. He’d vaguely wondered if this applied to him, but shook his head dismissively. He didn’t fully understand what was happening but it was late and he was sure to be fine tomorrow. He scooped up the petals and threw them in the trash before brushing his teeth and going to bed.

Everything will be fine tomorrow.

_ _ _

Everything was not fine. 

The day after coughing up the first petals – his throat felt a bit clogged and throughout the day he would cough into his palm to see more of the obnoxious red flower petals. 

He did some searching on the internet, and after a brief Google search he found he obtained the symptoms of Hanahaki Disease… somehow. The petals were red and of Roman’s favorite flower, so he put two and two together and realized his affections must lie in Roman.

Only problem was Roman wasn’t back yet, and there was no telling when he would be back. According to a fanfiction site, if they didn’t get something done about the flowers soon, then whoever had it would die of suffocating on the flowers. But Virgil was still shy and didn’t know what to do, so he waited, figuring Roman would probably be back soon enough so he could confess and rid his lungs of them.

Unfortunately, waiting didn’t work. He waited three days and checked Roman’s door frequently to see if he’d returned. His hanahaki hadn’t gotten any better, and his petals became harder to hide and more frequent.

During breakfast on the third day, they were all eating the pancakes Patton made when Virgil fell into a coughing fit, the red petals falling from his mouth in front of his other two roommates. When they asked about it, he gave up on hiding it, explaining the story to them.

And that led to where Virgil is right now, at Roman’s door to the imagination. After a flustering conversation with Patton and Logan, they agreed that waiting would be risky, and it would be a good idea to look for him in the imagination. They weren’t too happy about it, seeing as Virgil has never been inside the imagination, and would have no idea where to find Roman. But it was either that or waiting, which proved itself to be unsuccessful so far. They had packed a bag together, one with a first aid kit – including some medicine that Logan thought could slow the hanahaki. It also had food and water for his journey. He stared unmoving at the door, fingers fidgeting with his sleeve before he took a deep breath and opened the door.

The other side was bright. A soft white glow illuminating from the door, sparks of colors floating out of it. He took a step in, and suddenly he was falling.

Virgil woke up on a soft patch of grass. He groaned, sitting up and scanning the realm.

“So this is the imagination..” he muttered softly to himself as he surveyed the area. It was pretty, with valleys under a cloudless sky and a large body of water off to the right side of him. He stood and walked forward toward the edge of the hill, revealing a small town below. He couldn’t tell if there were people there – even if fake, the thought of being surrounded by strangers made him shudder in fear. 

“Well,” he said to no one, “I better start going if I’m going to find Roman.” He chose a direction on where he guessed Roman would be and began walking.

It quickly occurred to him that he had no idea what he was doing. He didn’t know where anything was and there wasn’t a definitive path he could’ve taken. He even got the courage to walk to town and see if there was any information he could get from the villagers, but they weren’t programmed to answer Virgil’s specific questions – so they either broke or went back to their repetitive task.

The first day went by fast, and Virgil set up a spot to rest near the forest, planning to travel through the forest the next day.

Virgil woke to the sound of something being dragged. He blinked at the harsh sunlight in the sky and turned over, only for the dragging sound to stop for a moment before continuing. He blinked, sitting up, wondering what that noise was. All sleep left him as he faced a small dragon dragging his bag.

“Hey! Stop that! That’s mine!” he shouted, spooking the dragon. It hissed at him and grabbed his bag, flying away before Virgil could catch it.

“Seriously?! That was literally all I had.” he sighed, wondering how Roman put up with this place. “Well, better go through the forest before it gets late..” he sighed, turning to face the forest and head in.

It didn’t take more than a day and a half for Virgil to realize that the forest was either really big, or he was just walking in circles, because it seemed endless. His illness wasn’t doing great either – he’d read about the full flowers and hoped he wouldn’t get any, but he wasn’t so lucky. Every so often, if it wasn’t petals he’d be coughing up, it would be a full flower that he’d choke on, confirming it was in fact a rose.

Multiple days went on like this. After he’d escaped the forest he’d went on to more valleys and mountains. The imagination was much bigger than he anticipated, his hope draining fast. He was beginning to think it would’ve probably been better if he just stayed in the mindscape. 

He was hungry, not being able to find much food since that dragon went away with his bag. He was leaning against a wall in one of the towns he tried passing through. It was always the same answer he got whenever he asked: “did Roman come through here?” and the villagers would shower the prince with praise but wouldn’t confirm when they last saw him. That's what he gets for trying to make sense of fake people. 

Right when he was about to give up for the day, he spotted a bunny hopping not too far from him – having a snack on the grassy pasture. He licked his lips, it wasn’t much, but it might work. He crept towards it, freezing whenever it looked his way. He was so close when he felt his throat close up again. He mentally begged his lungs not to, but before he could stop it he was coughing again, startling the bunny. It snared its row – no, maybe two rows of sharp unnatural teeth at him. 

“Demon bunny?!” He cried out as it made its way towards him angrily. If he wasn’t so stricken with confusion and fear this situation might’ve been funny. 

But before it caught up to him something flashed in front of him, pinning the rabbit to the ground. It was the dragon! “Wait, you stole my stuff!” he shouted at it, but it ignored him, and began ripping the rabbit apart with its teeth as Virgil gaped, trying to process what just happened.

After a few bites it looked back at Virgil and made a weird gesture for him to follow. Virgil hesitantly started following it, not knowing what it was doing. Every few moments, he coughed again, a spew of flowers and petals trailing the ground, along with the untasty savor of copper thanks to the thorns that would rise in his throat. The dragon didn’t seem at all fazed by Virgil’s sickness however, and would keep coaxing him in a certain direction that Virgil felt compelled to follow.

After walking for what felt like hours, Virgil and the dragon reached a tower. It looked old but not terribly run down. It made a chittering noise and flew inside through one of the windows. Virgil slumped against the wall, feeling weak. Of course he follows a stupid dragon out to some tower where it probably just wanted to be fed or something. His dramatic sigh got interrupted by a series of more painful coughs. Virgil could still hear the dragon. Its chittering got louder and it was standing on the edge of the roof on the tower, making some calling sound.

Before Virgil could puzzle out what it was doing, he heard a louder, deeper version of the cry in the distance. Before long, there was a bigger dragon flying towards them. He choked on something between a gasp and a cry as he scrambled for his sore and tired legs to work so he didn’t get burned to a crisp by the dragon for being close to its baby. 

He couldn’t though. No matter what he screamed at his brain, he still sat there on the grass against the tower wall staring at the big dragon becoming bigger as it came closer, becoming more visible. It felt like his heart was in his throat and he squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the moment the flames hit his skin as the flapping of its wings approached. This was it, he was never going to say goodbye to the others, or tell Roman how he felt, or ever watch Thomas grow up or-

“Virgil?!” his eyes snapped open at the familiar voice. There, on the back of the big dragon, was Roman, sitting on a saddle as he gazed baffled at the sight, obviously not expecting Virgil to be there.

“R-Roman!” he started, trying to get up, but his jelly legs sent him straight to the ground again with an oof.

“Wait, don't move, I’ll help you.” he heard Roman say as Roman unsaddled himself and approached him. “Virgil, what on earth are you doing here? The imagination is dangerous for someone as inexperienced as you.”

“Roman, I-” he was cut off once again but hacking coughs, feeling his throat close up with something rising through. 

“Virgil, breathe.. By the Gods of the Sun, how long have you been out here?” he heard him scold as he examined him. Virgil wanted to bite back but couldn’t even speak with the rose forcing its way out of his throat. After several painful moments it broke free and dropped to the ground along with some loose petals and Roman’s talking stopped as they both stared at the blood soaked flower in front of them. 

“Is… is that-”

“A rose. Yup, been getting them all week.” he replied, his voice still raw and raspy.

It was silent for a moment and Virgil heard Roman was about to say something but a chitter broke the sound instead, the small dragon came between them, saying something in some sort of dragon language to Roman.

“That’s where you went off to?! Y'know your mother and I have been looking all over for you this past week.” he scolded, but there wasn’t any anger in his voice.

The dragon chiddered some more before Roman rolled his eyes playfully and shook his head, “yes I can get it for you give me a moment.” he dug through his bag but seemed to realize whatever he was looking for wasn’t there and began to panic slightly. Virgil remembered the glass bottle a few days prior and reached in his pocket, relieved to find it still there.

“Are you uh, looking for this?”

Roman glanced up, “oh thank you, Virgil! I feared I had lost it. It’s her medicine I prepared for her so she would get over her sickness. Unfortunately, she’d snuck off and her mother was worried. We went looking for her, but it seems you found her first-” he rambled, but cut himself off, his eyes glazing over an emotion Virgil couldn’t read.

“Oh. Right. Virgil, what are you doing here?” he said in a soft tone, simply curious but not annoyed.

Virgil shifted, and if on cue, began coughing again, sprouting up more rose petals – thankfully not a flower this time.

“Um, well, you see – I have hanahaki.”

Roman blinked, “the fictional disease based on unrequited love?” 

Virgil shyly nodded. He waited for a reaction, maybe Roman would reject him politely, or would swoop him into a dramatic kiss, or perhaps would play koy. But he didn’t expect Roman to laugh.

Virgil watched as Roman laughed, stunned at the unexpected reaction. But before he could figure out what that meant Roman lit up, “who ever said it was unrequited?”

“I..”

“I thought I was quite obvious really.” he said before his expression dimmed to a softer one as he locked eyes with Virgil. The emo side shifted in awkwardness, for he didn’t know how to handle the soft affection.

“I actually came out here for you. I planned to be back sooner but the imagination never rests.” Roman said as he began digging through his bag. After a few moments he pulled out a small box and placed it in his hand, their fingers touching briefly as Roman pulled back his own hand. 

“Technically, I could’ve made that in my room, but it was easier and faster to create it here. It’s kinda why I come here a lot.” he shrugged, soundly oddly timid.

Virgil’s fingers smoothed over the wooden box before lifting up the lid. Immediately a soft familiar tune began playing from it.

“Is this..” he breathed, barely loud enough for anyone to hear as the music box continued to play.

“It’s a small collection of Tim Burton songs! It was a little challenging to make because I had to really focus on the tunes in order to get them perfect but-” he stopped when Virgil looked up at him, small pools forming in his eyes.

“Oh goodness, do- do you not like it? Sorry I-” he was cut off by Virgil wrapping his arms around Roman’s neck and pulling him into a kiss.

“Of course I love it, dumbass.” he chuckled. “It’s sappy and thoughtful and… totally you.” he smirked and Roman returned with a beaming smile.

For the first time in days, Virgil thinks he can breathe again.

[acingthistest]

Rise Through the Night

Prompt 3: Arcade

tags: @prinxietyweek

Basic Summary: Roman and Virgil go to the arcade. That’s it.

TW: none (Again, tell me if I'd need to add anything)

Characters: Virgil, Roman, Patton, and Logan

Platonic or Romantic Prinxiety and implied "romantic" Logicality

“To the arcade!”

“There’s an arcade?” That was one of the first questions asked. Turns out, Roman had an arcade in the Imagination.  Didn’t really fit the theme of his brand. But who was to judge? They were bored and needed new something to do.

They ended up taking Logan and Patton with them as well. They were greeted by plenty of the loud noises inhabiting the place. That being either the games or the screams of others. Good thing Virgil already had his headphones on. They went up to the prize counter to see if there was anything worth aiming towards. A certain plush caught Roman’s eye. A large Totoro plush was up on the top shelf, costing 4k tickets. Now he could’ve just summoned one or asked one of the employees if he could just take it. He did technically own the area. But where’s the fun in that. Roman thought if he could win it with his own skills, Virgil would be so impressed.

Choosing to split off in pairs, Patton went with Virgil, and Roman went off with Logan. Immediately Roman rushed off to find a game, with Logan closely trailing behind.

“I can’t believe I was dragged here by you three.” Logan complained.

“If I asked you by myself you would’ve said no. You came because Patton wanted you to come, don’t blame me.” Roman retorted.

“Perfect.” Roman uttered walking up to the game of his choice.

 Multiple rounds and possibly a couple of tantrums later, Roman had only collected about 300 tickets.

-

“Come on Roman, we need to go.” Said Logan, who had been watching Roman for the past hour.

“Logan please! I swear I can get this.”

“Even if you do manage to win this jackpot, I doubt it’ll be enough for the prize your aiming for.”

“And how do you know that it isn’t, I never even told you the prize?” He asked.

“Knowing you, it’s something extra, meaning extra tickets which is why you’ve been so desperate for the past hour. You realized you weren’t going to get everything, yet it didn’t stop you.”

Logan was right, except maybe about the part of him being desperate. Though Roman wanted to keep going, it was getting late and they needed to meet back up with the other two back at the entrance.

“Fine, let’s go meet up with Virgil and Patton.”

The two of them made their way to the entrance. There stood Patton, patiently waiting. Although, Virgil was nowhere to be seen.

“Oh there you two are!” Patton shouted as soon as he caught sight of them.

“Hey Patton! Uh, where’s Virgil?” Roman asked him, worried that they may have lost him in the crowd.

“He’s just over by the counter getting something.” Patton replied. Oh, good for Virgil. Roman wondered what he had won, though he didn’t have to for long as he heard a voice from behind him.

“I’m back and I got it!” Virgil called as he ran up to the group. He seemed to be holding something behind his back.

“What’d you win for yourself Happily Never After?” Roman asked.

“Well actually Theatre Nerd, it’s for you.” Virgil replied.

“First of all, I am not a ‘Theatre Nerd’, but really? What is it?”

Virgil slowly revealed to Roman what was behind his back. Roman’s eyes widen. It was the Totoro plush.

“I saw you eyeing it when we came in, so I thought I’d get it for you.” Virgil admitted sheepishly.

“I- I can’t, possibly accept this.” Roman couldn’t believe that Virgil won him the plush that he wanted to win him.

“I insist you have it.” Virgil told him and placed it in Roman’s hands. Roman hugged it tightly, it was soft.

“It’s perfect, thank you.”

[toboldlywrite]

Heads up (more than) 7 up

I was tagged by @serenanymph​ twice so I’m finally going to post something lol. A little extra to make up for not posting anything in a while. So here, have some Insomnia Code:

“You did what?!” All his fur stood on end like he’d been caught in a lightning storm. She’d never seen his eyes so wide while his pupils were simultaneously so small. He looked like one breath could make him explode into a cloud of soot. “Dana that’s—“

“Not illegal,” she pointed out. “There aren’t any rules against it.”

“Yeah, because no one with half a grain of sense would—“

“I was twelve.”

“You were an idiot!”

Dana blinked at him. He’d never talked to her like that before. He realized it, too. He sat down, licking one paw’s frazzled fur back down. “Sorry,” he muttered. “You were reckless. And still are, apparently. Some things aren’t worth risking yourself for, Dana.”

“Yeah, that wasn’t. What?” She asked at his incredulous look. “It’s been ten years. I’ve matured. The point is, that wasn’t worth it. But this is. Lucy is. So is everyone else who’s gone missing.”

“No one’s asking you to sacrifice for them.”

“It’s my decision.”

Virgil flexed his claws into her comforter. “I could stop you,” he said after a moment. “Alert security.”

Dana’s hands paused in the middle of knitting virtual code together—just as she’d been doing the entire time she told Virgil her story of pre-teen rebellion. She met his eyes. “Then do it.”

Virgil stared back at her with his black-hole eyes, kneading into her bed like it could reverse time. Familiars were supposed to help their students learn; keep them safe in the Network, make sure they followed the rules. And later they would guide their programmers; sensing things in the code humans couldn’t, and anchoring them to the conscious level. Morality wasn’t supposed to be part of their code. And yet, Virgil didn’t call security. He just sat there, watching her, shifting from paw to paw. Maybe it was his glitch. Maybe it was that Network engineers didn’t know as much about Familiars as they said they did. Or maybe anything that was given life and a mind developed their own sense of right or wrong eventually. Whatever the case, Virgil had made his choice. And it wasn’t the one he was supposed to make.

“This is dangerous,” he said.

“I know.”

“You could get expelled.”

That gave her pause. But just for a second. She continued her knitting. “I know. But if I don’t do it, who will?”

He shook himself up to standing again. Less electrified, this time. “If we don’t do this,” he corrected. “I don’t like it. But I’m with you.”

She smiled, reaching out to scratch him behind the ear. “Never doubted.”

Tagging @mecharose​ @weaver-of-fantasies-and-fables​ @lady-redshield-writes​ @ink-flavored​  @ryns-ramblings​ @radley-writes​ @raiswanson​ if you wish to participate! And open to anyone who wants to, of course!

[idontknowreallywhy]

🍄🤡💾

🍄 Describe your wip/one of your wips in the format of ____ + _____ = _______

“Small Enthusiastic Tracy + Uncle Virgil Getting Carried Away = Glitterpocalypse”  

💾 What is your document of your wip/ a wip called? (not the stories actual title but what you’ve saved it as)

Hahaha “Final straight” - hilariously I titled it that when I thought the thing would be at least ten chapters less than it has turned out to be so I’ve been on that “Final Straight” since… um… May…

🤡 How many Wips are you actively working on?

Uhhhh *rubs back of neck* soooo it depends how you define “actively” but assuming we say it means I have at least half a plan for it and a decent chunk written (albeit not chronologically, let’s not kid ourselves here) … hmm lemme figure this out…

(Under the cut for rambling and links)

The big boys (2)

Resurface My Earth & Sky magnum opus (so so close to finishing this beastie now and I am so very proud of it)

Estera - my co-written mad sprawling razorfluff Scott-finds-a-friend-and-they-help-each-other-to-live universe… with parts for possibly two sequel fics which I may never use but I keep adding to them so… active… I’ll call it one WIP tho (at risk of @sofasurf locking me up because I keep trying to leap down plot rabbit holes). This one takes up a significant proportion of my brain in daily life, her back story, how that interweaves with Scott’s and their future story is vastly detailed now but will probably mostly not see the light of day. OC fics are never the best at getting engagement with people so I guess time would be better spent on others, maybe, but I’m inherently hopeless at writing the stuff I think I should be and so… yeah, I just love this story and how the two of them interact and the rest of the Tracys’ eyeview on it all (inc EOS, especially EOS) and I actually reread it a fair amount… your primary target audience is yourself, right?

Currently small but could easily get big:

Unnamed Wingman Ash story - so many notes and bits of prose and IDEAS. Constantly at the top of my “last updated” note files but other than posting some random snippets I haven’t actually worked out how to Start that one yet…

Octopus House - teeny adhd Scott at school

Red - the Alan & Havoc one

Shorter ones that should be easily finished off AND YET…

Play it Out - 3/4 just lacking that final chapter to fix what I broke

Sparkly cockroaches - a one-shot gift fic that I’ve been poking at for over a year 😏 whatever state it is in when I finally post it, it will not have been worth the wait but would be good to finish this at some point. Maybe before the second anniversary of the gift date 🙄

Fathers Day - 3/4 chapters done, 4th on its way slowly. Dad!Scott and the Tinies.

An Eyebrow-razing incident - 3/4 done, just gotta do the deed and raze those brows. Because I am a terrible, terrible human.

FishTanked-Up - 2/? I’ve got a morning-after chunk in draft but I have my doubts about them getting to the gallery. Also they might have accidentally adopted Juan… which could complicate things.

Music is Everything 4/? - my first ever TAG fic and although I haven’t made any progress on the finale in a while, I absolutely intend to finish it because it was my first. I might just have to rewrite half of it before that…

Misc insanity

A Very Silly Christmas Fic - the fic that confirmed I have no control over where a supposedly one-shot goes 🙄 Also ACTUAL ICELANDIC volcano erupted and made my crack Hrómundartinhurmindur fic a bit weird. Maybe I’ll finish it in time for this Christmas…

So… if we just count those and ignore the snippety / bullet points / too many exclamation marks plot bunnies then… twelve? That’s actually not as bad as I thought…

[prince-rowan-of-the-forest]

Prompt: Witch!Virgil helping out one of the other sides when they need a potion or spell?

Potions of Persuasion

----

Roman goes to Virgil for a little magical assistance in making his relationship with a prince from another kingdom possible. How can Virgil possibly say no?

----

| Ao3 |

Warnings: none (that I'm aware of, but please lmk if i need to add any)

Pairings: background roceit.

Word count: 1974

Notes: Thank you so much for the prompt, Storm! This was super fun to write :)

As always, anyone is welcome to send me prompts!

Honestly I have no idea where any of the lore in this came from I thought none of it through before I started writing.

I may post another fic later today if I get round to finishing it :)

Tags: @full-of-roman-angst-trash @reptilianrapscallion420 @your-local-random-dino @cutebisexualmess (if anyone wants to be added let me know1)

----

“No.” Virgil said as soon as his door swung open, banging against the wall in a way that told him everything he needed to know about the intruder to his cabin. Just as he had thought, when he turned away from his cauldron, Prince Roman was standing in his doorway.

“Oh come on, Virgil, you don’t even know what I’m going to ask!” Roman cried, he didn’t look disheartened in the slightest.

“If you’re about to ask me to curse your brother for what feels like the fifteen-thousandth time, I will push you into my cauldron.” Virgil said, turning away, to pick up a small shaker and adding a few pinches of salt to the soup he was making, it bubbled menacingly and Roman jumped, making Virgil snicker, “As I’ve told you every time you’ve asked, I don’t work with curses, and even if I did, I’m not cursing a prince.”

“Spoilsport,” Roman huffed, walking in and shutting the door, “But that’s really not what I was going to ask this time, I swear.”

Virgil stared at him for a long moment, long enough for Roman to start shifting uncomfortably.

“...what exactly is it that you want, then?” Virgil asked, narrowing his eyes skeptically as he returned to his soup, grabbing the shaker of paprika and beginning to shake a little bit into the mixture.

“I need you to make me a girl.” Roman said, firmly. Virgil turned back to Roman so quickly that he accidentally chucked half the pot of paprika into the potion. The now slightly orange mixture coughed up a cloud of smoke that made Virgil’s mouth tingle with spice when he breathed it in. 

“...what?” Virgil asked, standing in front of Roman with two long steps, Roman had the nerve to look sheepish, “I did hear that right, didn’t I?”

“...yep,” Roman nodded, “I need you to make me into a woman.”

“Why?” Virgil asked, throwing up his hands.

“Well you see,” Roman started, and Virgil already knew he was in for a wild ride, “I’m in love with Prince Janus, from our neighbouring kingdom, you know him?”

“Of course,” Virgil rolled his eyes, he might live in the forest but both brothers visited him often enough to keep him updated on just about everyone, “You rave about him often enough, I sort of figured.”

“Well yeah, You know there’s that law that says a prince has to marry a princess?” Roman prompted.

“So you want me to make you something that’ll turn you into a woman,” Virgil said, “Despite how horrible the consequences of that could be, not only with the magic but also political consequences, problems for yourself because as far as I know you are a cis man and gender dysphoria sucks?”

Roman looked even more sheepish, rubbing the back of his head with a hand, “Well I- when you put it like that…”

“Exactly,” Virgil said, “And besides, everyone already knows you’re a man, if you suddenly came back from the forest as a woman everyone would know something happened and they would come after me, it’s not like they’d suddenly think you’d always been a woman.”

“Unless you could-”

“I can’t change the memories of an entire kingdom, Roman, I am literally just a forest witch, I’m not even powerful enough to curse people! What the hell makes you think I could alter even one person’s memories??”

“Then… what am I supposed to do?” Roman said, the expression on his face making Virgil do a double take, he really was worked up over this, wasn’t he? Virgil suddenly realised that this wasn’t just some crush, he really wanted to be with this other prince, “My parents are already trying to marry me off to some princess I don’t even know, you know- what-”

“Roman, deep breaths, ok?” Virgil said, gently resting a hand on his arm. Roman stopped and took a deep breath (a little coercion magic to calm him down wasn’t bad, was it?) and then another until he was calm again, “It’ll be alright, ok, I- well I’m not sure right now what I can do, but I’m sure we can work this out somehow, ok?”

“...alright,”  Roman said, looking up at him, for goodness sake, Virgil hadn’t been able to say no to that face for years. 

“Sit down somewhere,” Virgil said with a sigh, waving a hand in the direction of a corner of his small cabin filled with beanbags and overstuffed armchairs, “I’m gonna grab my books and we can… we can have a look, ok?” 

“You got it, Virge!” Roman said, grinning, his energy seemingly restored as he flopped into one of the armchairs. 

Virgil sighed, flicking his fingers at the contents of his cauldron that began to mix itself as he moved over to another bookshelf and started pulling down battered looking spellbooks. He had no idea, not really, what he would be able to do for Roman, but… he had to try, didn’t he?

Roman and Remus- the human princes- had been coming to see him- a loner elven hermit who happened to know a little magic- in his little cabin in the woods ever since they were barely able to talk, having chased each other too far into the woods. Virgil had needed to help them then and ever since he hadn’t had a moment of peace that wasn’t shattered by one of the two barging into his little cabin and insisting they spend time with him. 

Really, he had no idea how he, a low level witch who’d defected from the elven kingdom when he was barely a hundred years old and ever since had lived alone in the forest, had ended up with a pair of princes practically treating him like a father figure. He didn’t know their situation, not really (neither of them liked talking about their parents). All he knew was that if he could help the pair, he would. 

But, as he had mentioned more than enough times by now, Virgil was only a low level nature witch. He could make potions, do a few basic spells, he could understand the trees and plants he lived amongst, he had been able to coax the trees into twisting together to form even his little house. But he couldn’t do curses, he was barely capable of spells that even needed a little more energy, let alone the high level ones he’d barely touched. It’s not like he could somehow change the law so that Roman could marry his prince, or change their memories so they never knew the law in the first place, but maybe there was something…

“Alright,” Virgil said, placing the stack of books down on the small table between all the chairs and sitting down himself before reaching for the book on top of the pile and opening it, beginning to flip through the pages, “no, no, no, that’s useless, can’t do that one…”

“Do you want me to look as well?” Roman asked, leaning forward a little, “I can help?”

“You don’t know what spells I can’t do,” Virgil said, before continuing to mumble. After a few minutes of flicking through the pages, he put that book to the side and picked up the next one.

“But I can find ones that sound like they might be helpful?” Roman suggested.

“Fine,” Virgil rolled his eyes, pushing the next book on the pile towards Roman, “Look away.”

—-

“What about this one?” Roman said, lifting the book he was holding and turning the page to face Virgil. They were four books down in the pile now and Virgil had needed to pause his search to make sure his soup (that he was pretty sure was already botched because of the paprika, but he’d see it through anyway just in case) didn’t overmix itself. Virgil kept hold of his staff that he’d been shamelessly using to stir the pot whilst he leant over to peer at the page Roman was offering.

“That… might actually work,” Virgil said, narrowing his eyes to look a little closer, “It seems… doable, and I don’t see a reason why it wouldn’t…”

“So, you’d just have to cast this spell on me, and I’d what, be able to persuade anyone of anything for however long?” Roman asked, tilting his head a little, Virgil went back to mixing, “So I could get father to change the law? And that me and Jan getting married is a good idea?”

“Not exactly,” Virgil said, “First off, it’ll be easier if we make the spell into a potion, because then we can control it better- and I trust myself with potions much more than spells and I really really don’t want to mess this up. Second, depending on the amount of each ingredient we add, you’ll have a number of tries, so think carefully now about how many you’ll need.”

“Alright,” Roman said, marking the page with the ribbon attached to the book and standing up, “What do we do?”

“I will make the potion for you, it shouldn’t take… long,” Virgil said, frowning at his cauldron, “Can you help me lift this?”

“Of course!” Roman said, moving around to the other side of the handle. Together they lifted it and placed the full cauldron of ruined soup off to the side. 

“Great, so, I’ll get everything ready here, if you really want to do something-”

“Yes! Yes I do!” Roman interrupted, Virgil sighed.

“Don’t interrupt me.”

“Yes, O’ Great Potion Master!” Roman said, though he looked to be suppressing a giggle. Virgil couldn’t help but chuckle too.

“You are unbearable,” Virgil snickered, “Go over to that shelf over there and find me the allspice, betony, clover, sandalwood and… some nutmeg, for good measure.”

“It doesn’t say nutmeg on the ingredients,” Roman protested.

“Who’s the witch, here?” Virgil said, shooting Roman a look. The prince sighed and trudged over to the cupboard, coming back with an armful of jars and bundles and dumping them on the side.

“I think this was everything?” Roman said, gesturing to the pile, Virgil looked it over for a second before nodding and grabbing a bucket of water and dumping it into his smaller backup cauldron that he’d now set over the fire, “What will the nutmeg do?”

“A bit of extra luck,” Virgil said, “In both the effects of the potion itself but also for your relationship with Prince Janus.”

Roman stopped still and Virgil only cast him a second glance before grabbing the book and propping it up with one of his more sturdy jars on the shelf. When he turned back to begin working, though, he found himself wrapped up in a tight hug. 

“Hey?” Virgil said, trying to keep his voice softer whilst he tried to cool his confusion. He knew Roman was unpredictable just like his brother, Roman could easily switch from emotions like the click of a button, carefully, Virgil put a hand between Roman’s shoulder blades, “What’s up, buddy?”

“I- I just- thank you, so much, for- for everything,” Roman said, squeezing Virgil a little tighter, “I can’t believe you’re willing to do something like this for me, Virgil.”

“Of course I am,” Virgil huffed, “What, did you forget that you and Remus practically inserted yourselves into my one-elf family? How am I supposed to turn you away over something this damn important?”

“I assume we’re just going to ignore the fact that you just called us family?” Roman said, chuckling, Virgil couldn’t resist bapping the back of his head.

“You jerk,” Virgil said, “You’ve got me being sappy, don’t tell Remus he’ll throw a fit and never cease bothering me for a moment.”

“You love us really,” Roman said, pulling away from the hug and grinning at him.

“Shut it, Princey, now we have a potion to brew.”

[golden-songbird]

though i’ve handled the wood (i still worship the flame) part 1

Roman laughed as he returned from the shining, glittering lake, his bangs sticking to his forehead as water dripped from the ends, trickling onto his body and on the ground. His clothes clung to his skin, and the dampness felt good as Roman walked down the path, the sun already starting to dry the droplets of water that slid down his shoulders and legs.

His friends were following him, all of them laughing and running along the path to keep up with Roman’s fleeting footsteps. It had been a long couple weeks of work, and everybody had collectively decided that it was time for a break, and what better way to do that than go swimming? Even after hours of races, Marco Polo, and water tag, everybody was happy and excited to be there, just glad to be spending time with each other. Happy to be spending time with Roman.

“Next time, we should have a cannonball competition,” Roman suggested. “Remus would probably win, but it’s at least worth a try!”

“That’s an awesome idea, Ro!” Patton encouraged, ruffling Roman’s wet hair. “And I wouldn’t say that Remus would beat you easily! You two basically tied in all the races.”

“I was going easy on him,” Remus teased lightheartedly, “You’ll see. Tomorrow, we’ll compete for real.”

Roman’s heart soared to the top of the clouds.

“Wait- you guys want to do this again tomorrow?” he asked, his voice a hopeful whisper, afraid to be extinguished like a small ember.

“Yeah, the fun’s only just started,” Virgil said with a wry smirk, “We still haven’t played Chicken Fight, and I’m looking forward to knocking Janus into the water.”

“Whatever,” Janus chuckled, “Not to destroy your dreams, but I’d probably be a base in the Chicken Fight anyway.”

“I wonder why it’s called a Chicken Fight to begin with,” Logan said, “There are no chickens. I’ll have to research this later, I suppose.”

“I love hanging out with you, kiddo,” Patton reassured, “We all do.”

Patton then enveloped Roman in a long, gentle hug. It wasn’t restricting or forceful, and Roman could pull away whenever he wanted to. And it was real. Patton wasn’t doing it because there were cameras, or because Thomas was watching. It wasn’t because Roman had done something great.

He was just existing. And for Patton, that was enough.

And as Patton hugged Roman’s front, Remus hugged Roman from behind. Then, Virgil joined in. And then, Janus. And lastly, Logan.

“Love you, Broman,” Remus murmured.

Tears formed in Roman’s eyes as he heard the familiar nickname escape Remus’ lips. Roman had come up with it years ago when Remus went through a phase of calling Roman suggestive names such as “kitten” and “babygirl”. Remus, having hated the nickname at first, called Roman the name ironically, but as time went on, “Broman” had stuck, and it wasn’t going away anytime soon.

But it had been forever now since Roman had heard the nickname. He closed his eyes and let himself relax into the hug, leaning all of his weight against Patton and Remus, who held him upright easily.

“I don’t want to go back,” he whispered, “I’m gonna miss you guys so much.”

“I know, my dear,” Janus mumbled, smoothing Roman’s hair carefully, “But we’ll be here tomorrow, okay? We want you to get some sleep and take care of yourself.”

“You can’t hide here forever,” Logan said regretfully, “As much as all of us might like you to. But we’ll wait as long as it takes for you to return. Whether it’s one day, or thirty. We aren’t complete without you, Roman.”

Tears slid down Roman’s face, mixing with the lake water on the rest of his body. His body shook as he sobbed, but the support around him started to slacken. Patton smiled down at Roman as he faded away, and Logan pressed a gentle kiss to Roman’s forehead before fading as well. Roman closed his eyes, unable to watch anymore. He sank to his knees when Remus faded, and he couldn’t bring himself to get up until he cried all the tears he could, and the sun went down in the Imagination, making way for a cruel, dangerous night.

Roman was alone again, just as he always had been.

[onthevirgeofdestruction]

Words: 737 Content Warnings: Food, Empty Threats Characters: Patton, Virgil, Roman, Logan Ships: LAMP Rating: G Genre: Fluff Additional Tags: Virgil Sanders is Protective in odd ways

   “Is it possible to sleep for two days?” Patton groaned, rolling over on the air mattress to snuggle closer to Virgil. They shifted into a loose ball, and Virgil wrapped her arm around them affectionately. Patton grabbed the arm and held it with both hands. She smiled and rubbed their back gently.

   “If you sleep for two days, Roman will be forced to eat an entire cheesecake by himself. Are you really going to do that to him?” Virgil teased, reaching for her phone lazily with her free hand. Patton looked up at her in surprise, which quickly morphed into a deeply conflicted expression. Someone had to fill the temptation quota while Deceit wasn’t here.

   “Wait, what? Cheesecake?” Roman asked from his desk, obviously not paying that much attention to the pair of them while he was caught up in homework.

   “That is incorrect. I would eat a slice as well,” Logan corrected Virgil from her desk, where he worked on his laptop. He had a playful smile as he reviewed his studies.  

   “Alright, then, an entire cheesecake minus a slice is a very unhealthy thing for Roman to eat, you know.” Virgil hummed, flicking through the various cheesecake flavours with her thumb.

   “Virgil would never let Roman do that, Patton. You do not have to worry about his welfare,” Logan reassured Patton. Roman booed loudly in response.

   “No, I wouldn’t.” Virgil chuckled under her breath and ordered the cheesecake. “I did already order the cake, though.”

   “Virgil, you don’t even like sweets,” Roman pointed out, still typing away.

   “It’s still delicious either way. And I couldn’t stop you from eating sweets if I tried. And I did, remember?” Virgil reminded him, slipping her phone back into her pocket and pulling Patton closer, while Roman just looked oddly proud of himself for continuing to eat badly. “I just want to help Patton through these last two weeks of work.” She relished how warm they felt, even through all the layers of clothes she wore.

   “Oh yeah,” Roman elongated and let out a little amused chortle.

   “The morale boost is only helpful until they have a sugar crash, that is,” Logan pointed out, keeping his small smile as he worked.

   “I know my limits with sweets, Lo,” Patton rebuked with exasperation, and Virgil took a deep breath, taking in their scent.

   “But not with your job,” Logan scoffed, sounding equally frustrated.

   “You really don’t have to go in to work for your last two weeks, Patton,” Virgil reminded them softly.

   “I can’t leave them in the lurch like that,” Patton muttered back.

   “Just enjoy being the little spoon until you can have a big spoon of cheesecake, Patton.” Roman huffed and ran his hand through his hair, making a bitter face at his laptop screen. Aw, Princey is jealous.

   “He’s right, Pat. You said yourself you wanted to sleep for two days, nap for two hours until dinner,” Virgil insisted, playing gently with Patton’s curls.

   “You were the one keeping me up with cheesecake temptations.” Patton stuck out their tongue at her playfully.

   “As long as I’ve successfully given you a reason to want to wake back up, I’m happy,” Virgil whispered back, keeping Patton close to her chest. Patton exhaled heavily and rubbed their face on Virgil’s chest.

   “What kind of cheesecake is it?” Patton asked curiously.

   “Strawberry,” Virgil answered. She thought it seemed like the safest bet between the three of their likes in flavours.

   “Okay.” Patton giggled but got cut off by a yawn. “You would really miss me that much if I slept for two days?” They added, shifting in Virgil’s arms and settling down to sleep.

   “She’d burn down your newly ex-job just to get more free time with you,” Roman piped up. Virgil rolled her eyes and sighed. He wasn’t wrong… Virgil just enjoyed knowing they were nearby and safe. She couldn’t help that, it was part of the bond.

   “Virgil, I’m certain we’ve already discussed ‘no arson’ as a guideline,” Logan stated, and Roman and Virgil both broke out laughing. Patton snickered and yawned once more, curling up cozily.

   “Goodnight, guys,” Patton muttered, closing their eyes.

   “Night, Pat,” Virgil whispered back.

   “Sleep well,” Logan answered.

   “Sweet dreams!” Roman exclaimed with a small wave. Patton’s breathing didn’t take long to even out. Virgil laid back with Patton and listened to the muted sounds of studying filling the room with a satisfied smile.

[vinbee631]

10 - Intermission: How Would You Like a Friendly Competition? (Let’s Take On the Song) 

Prodigal Sons and Daughters Alike

“Remus!” The art student in question jumped out of his skin as his twin burst into his room one afternoon. “Jesus, who died?! Or, is it good news? I can tell from just- screaming.”

(The school van in question later in the fic, they're good for wheelchair transport, but riding in the ones they convert to hold 14 students for field trips is my personal hell)

Chapter title from Me Against the Music - LP Version by Madonna and Britney Spears, the better version to me :) Also, cw, they do play laser tag, so like- gun violence? But for high schoolers? Nobody gets hurt but it's a pretty in depth description if that bothers you

“Remus!” The art student in question jumped out of his skin as his twin burst into his room one afternoon. “Jesus, who died?! Or, is it good news? I can tell from just- screaming.”

“Quit teasing, this is important!” Roman declared, hopping on Remus’ bed and crossing his legs.

“Sure, just make yourself comfortable, I guess,” he joked, “but go on. What is it that you’re dragging me into this time?” 

“You say as if you don’t regularly drag me into shit all the time. You dragged me into this school,” he pointed out helpfully.

“Alright, I get it, just cut to the chase! I’m invested now,” Remus urged with a smile.

“Okay, okay! Soo, I found another poster, and it’s even better than the hike one! There are these, like, mini field trips they’re gonna start doing tomorrow, and they go to all kinds of cool places! I was gonna invite the others, too, but I wanted to bring it up to you first!” 

“Uh, yeah sure!” Remus agreed instantly with a smile that didn’t quite reach is eyes. “We inviting Virgil, too?” 

Roman started, starting at his brother as he processed the statement. Something was… off about him. And he could tell exactly what, and who, it was related to.

“You know what? No, we’re not doing this. The others can go as a group of three, or four if they wanna open that can of worms, but this is gonna be a sibling day. You’re so- keyed up over this Virgil situation, and I am not going to watch as you wear yourself to the ground! We’re taking a break, and we’re doing it twin style!”

“And you’ve just… decided this for me? Bet, I guess, where are we going?” Remus chuckled, though Roman was relieved to see some of the tension leak out of his shoulders and frown lines.

And then, he grinned brightly, tugging his flustered twin out the door. “Well, we gotta sign up first! That’s what I was trying to tell you! There are a couple of different places, and initially, I was gonna get everyone’s opinions but starting with you, but now we can just decide together, c’mon!” 

Remus hopped along behind him, haphazardly tugging on his shoes and slamming the door shut behind him. “Jeez, okay, okay! I’m coming, slow down!”

Roman laughed, racing down the hall with his brother in tow. They skidded to a stop in the lobby, where a small group of freshmen they didn’t know were gathered around a clipboard. 

“So, there are different clipboards for different grade levels, so we might have to wait a bit, but…” Roman paused, craning his neck to read the announcement, “We can choose from a trip to a little shopping center in Gainesville… an- I think that says laser tag? And a ‘nature hike’ at the one nature center that we drove past on the way here. But, I mean, we kinda already did that.” 

Remus perked up. “I dunno about you, but if we don’t do the laser tag, I might lose it,” he decided. Roman quickly nodded in agreement and they rushed to fill out the paperwork they needed. 

“At least we don’t have to convince Mom and Pops this time,” Roman huffed, making his brother laugh. 

“Exactly! All we have to worry about is having fun! Oh, and me kicking your ass at laser tag.”

Roman huffed. “Says you! I believe it will be me doing the ass-kicking here!” 

The whole walk back to their dorms, the boys bickered halfheartedly about supposed asses being kicked, but Roman wasn’t all too worried about that anyway, when his brother was smiling bigger than he’d seen in days.

…

Remus was happy he loved his classes so much, otherwise the waiting for them to be over would have been torturous. 

The field trips here didn’t work the same way as in other schools. The laser tag trip wouldn’t get them out of class. Instead, it gave them something to do in the afternoon.

It didn’t make waiting for it particularly easy, but Remus did appreciate that he didn’t have to miss out on the best class schedule he ever had to hang out with his brother. 

That was, arguably, the best part, having some (somewhat) private time to bond with his brother. Roman was the reason he’d been brave enough to come to this crazy place, anyway, and they’d barely had time to hang out alone since they got there!

And then, of course, the whole Virgil thing had been happening, so Remus had been a bit too distracted to think about quality time with Roman. 

Now, there was nothing stopping him from that time! He wiggled excitedly at the thought as the bell rang for the end of his last class. 

He met up with Roman less than a minute after the bell at the front of the school. There were a few other kids coming, but Remus didn’t recognize any of them and Roman was too excited about brother bonding time to worry about any of them. 

The twins easily recognized the school van they were giong to be taking on this trip, considering it was shockingly similar to public school vans. It briefly made Remus wonder where you could even buy one of these things, not that he wanted one. They were the kind of ugly only a school transporation vehicle could be.

He hadn’t noticed, but while he was lost in thought, they had started moving, and Roman had started talking. He tried to zone back into the conversation, but being zoned out in the first place tended to open up his mind to wandering- very far away… and now he was thinking about Virgil.

It probably wasn’t fair to be upset with him, and Remus wasn’t really. He was simply… frustrated about the hoops he had to jump through to talk to him. Virgil was excruciatingly closed off, and if only Remus knew why. That would certainly help him figure out a better way to ease him into communicating. 

But that was also kind of exhausting, and he had plenty of other things he should be putting that energy into instead. It was totally worth it to put energy into caring about his friends! But when that energy wasn’t being reciprocated, it was going to get to a point where this wasn’t a healthy exhange.

Remus really didn’t want to give up on him, but it was starting to look like he might have to eventually. 

He zoned back in to see Roman leaned very into his personal space, making eye contact to try and break him out of his brain. His twin smiled when Remus met that gaze. 

“So, you’ve obviously still got something on your mind,” Roman stated, leaning back to sit next to him once more, “and you’re gonna talk about it. Right now, preferably.”

“I… yeah. I’m still stuck on the Virgil thing, I guess. Like… I’m not upset about it, but I… I’m just confused. Being shy is one thing, and not liking me as a person is another, but we’ve barely talked! And he wouldn’t even tell me he was uncomfortable until I’d already done something wrong! I just… really don’t get him, y’know? And I want to get him, in a healthy way, but I can’t!” 

Roman frowned, shifting a bit closer to him. “Well, it might not be a bad time to talk to Dr. Picani about it. You don’t even have to tell him it’s Virgil, but I mean, from what I’ve heard, he gives pretty good advice, maybe even better than mine!”

Remus didn’t fall for the bait of the tease, but he did smile a little. “I- yeah, maybe I will. It’s something to consider, at least. I just wish it was… easier. Being a teenager with emotional problems is hard enough, and when they involve another person, it’s just… ugh, anyway, thanks, Ro. I’ll think about it.” 

“Anytime, Re. And yeah, I get it. Just… don’t wear yourself out worrying about someone else, and honestly? I think it’s gonna work out, anyway.” Roman smiled at his brother as they got comfortable for the rest of the ride home. Maybe he couldn’t help his brother fix all his problems, but he could certainly be there for him everytime. 

And then, their fond moment was swiftly interrupted by their excitement of reaching their destination. 

The boys practically dragged each other out of the back of the van abomanation, only stopping to pay attention to when they had to leave and where they were supposed to meet their chaperone at the end of the day.

And then, they, along with the rest of the group of course, were off. 

They were allowed to play five rounds if they wanted, and they could take breaks in between for snacks, or to check out some of the games nearby as the laser tag place doubled as an arcade.

The twins weren’t really focused on those parts at the moment. They were focused on the fastest way possible to decimate each other in a little friendly competition.

It took a minute to get suited up, and to request being on different teams, and then they had to wait for a full room of other players, which took another five minutes. Then, finally, they were released into the dim space, obstacles speckled with glow-in-the-dark paint flecks and tainted with a distinctly ‘arcade-y smell.

The countdown ended, and they were off.

Remus glanced at the infrared camera in his corner, watching another person on his go sprinting past. No sign of Roman yet, so he turned past one of the odd foam towers and turned to the edge of the space, trying to map out the area in his head.

Roman had started in the opposite corner. If he was strategizing like he normally did, he was most likely searching for other people that were easier to snipe than his brother, to get himself on the leaderboard before finding his actual target. 

He broke out of his momentary brainstorm to jump past another opposing team member, zapping the back of their vest in the process.

One point, Remus. 

A glance up at the scoreboard confirmed he needed to be faster than that, though. He zipped past someone crawling on the floor, jumping over them and scoring another point along the way.

There was a set of kids standing back to back. Remus used two hits in the same spot where their vests touched. 

He was up to four points, Roman was only at three.

Where was he?

Remus turned, flattening himself against a wall and listening to the room. He’d almost done a full lap already, and no Roman? Almost like, his twin was circling at the same time-

*ZAP*

“Oh, you motherfucker!” Remus laughed, squinting at the bright red light pulsing from beneath him on his vest. He had been followed the whole time! 

He shot out in the dark when the red pulsing finally faded, managing to hit someone running past a gap in two obstacles, but not Roman. 

Sensing his twin had made himself scarce for the time being, he took another lap, darting around, and accidentally running into a wall to avoid running into a stranger.

Roman had six points, and so did he.

They were halfway through the round already, only five minutes left to get his brother back. He just needed to find him first.

It was risky, but he took a chance with one of the raised platforms, climbing up and laying on his stomach at first. He took a breath, then jumped up to see who he could find Two…four… five people, he ducked back down. No Roman, but at least he hadn’t been hit.

He jumped down and took another, much more cautious lap.

And there it was, a glint of white in the corner of his eye. He feigned the other direction, and when Roman’s vest popped out, he turned around and shot him right in the chest.

…Yeah, if this wasn’t laser tag, that would have been kind of grim.

He shot away from the pusling red with a gleeful laugh, despite the attention it was probably going to attract. He was one point ahead, but he was tied with his brother in spirit.

Three minutes left.

They ended up circling each other, lasers ringing out and point totals ticking up as the time ticked down. With thirty seconds left, Remus was a point ahead. But that wasn’t enough.

Roman was on his tail, he could feel his eyes. He crouched low to the floor and listened. 

Dumb idea.

Being crouched slowed down his escape, and when his brother pounced, turning a corner and firing his laser, Remus’ only option was to flatten to the ground and try to roll away.

His vest turned red as he lay prone, and the lights turned on

“ROUND OVER. CONGRATULATIONS, TEAM RED.”

Remus groaned, keeping his face pressed to the floor to avoid Roman’s gaze. His twin laughed, offering a hand to help him stand.

“I almost found you, and we tied, anyway!” He complained, jumping up and walking in step with his giggling brother. “Yeah, but ya didn’t, and my team won! Close though, wanna go again?”

“Uh, of course, I wanna go again, I have to win back my honor!”

Roman laughed again, and Remus found that, despite the little disappointment he had and how he was slightly out of breath from running around, he was still able to laugh along.

[skymaiden32]

Tit for Tat

Read on AO3 here

Fandom: Thunderbirds

Tagging: @dragonoffantasyandreality @thundergeek59 @janetm74 @katblu42 @liseylou @amistrio @uniwolfcorn @idontknowreallywhy (Please ask if you would like to get alerts when I update or post new stories.)

Thundertober Day 7: Alive

Scott was just happy his brother was alive. Months later, the roles are reversed. Missing scenes from Terror in New York City and The Uninvited.

Continuity: TOS

A/N: A little longer than usual for these prompts, but here you go! ^^

------

“A few weeks?!” Virgil was outraged at the news his father and brother had just delivered. “But that’s terrible! Suppose she’s needed on call?”

“Well let’s hope she’s not,” was the patriarch’s answer. He really hoped the world would just hold off on major disasters for a while, but the world always had different ideas. And with Thunderbird 2 being as vital to operations as she was, chances were she would’ve been needed in the next few weeks or so. The hope that she wouldn’t just wasn’t realistic. “Now, you relax. You need a lot of rest.” Virgil opened his mouth, about to interrupt, but Jeff quickly stopped him. “You take care of yourself, and we’ll take care of Thunderbird 2.”

Virgil huffed, but relented, laying back in bed. Jeff, satisfied that his son wouldn’t try to get up anytime soon, at least with Scott in the room, left to supervise progress on the repairs. Once he was out of earshot, Scott moved to sit next to Virgil on the bed, finding his brother’s hand and squeezing it. “You’ll be back on your feet and behind the wheel again before you know it, Virg.” Virgil squeezed back, looking up sadly at his older brother.

“What if I’m not though?” Virgil mumbled, breaking Scott’s heart into a million pieces. It hurt to see his brother like this. “What if the damage is too big to fix?”

Scott frowned. “Hey, let’s not have any of that. Thunderbird 2 just needs a bit of R+R. Brains reckons it’ll take some time and a lot of work, but it’ll happen.”

“And if Brains is wrong?” A blasphemous question. Brains was hardly ever wrong. But Virgil asked all the same.

The older of the two brothers held back a sigh. “Then we’ll build a new one from scratch. One way or another, you will fly again, Virgil. I know you will…”

Virgil hummed. “What’s wrong with me then?” He chuckled, before wincing, holding a hand against his head. “Actually, don’t answer that. I’m guessing a whopper of a concussion, a bruised rib, and damaged pride.”

“There’s the Virgil I know and love…” Scott smirked at the pride comment. Virgil grinned right back. A little more seriously, he confirmed his brother’s suspicions. “Got it in one, plus a couple of extra superficial burns from the crash. Me and the others will come in to check on you every hour or so. Gordon mentioned wanting to watch something with you.”

Virgil frowned. “Knowing Gordon, that could range from an absolute masterpiece to straight up torture.”

“True.” Scott agreed. “He did swear to me that it was a good one this time though.”

“We’ll see.” Virgil commented. Either way, it would be good to spend some time with their ocean loving brother. A few short moments passed in silence before the bedridden man broke it again. “Hey, Scooter?” His brother’s eyes were on him in a second. “I must’ve given you quite a scare when I went down like that.”

Scott scoffed, although not unkindly. “More like many, many miniature heart-attacks. Not just me either. We were all scared out of our wits! I’m pretty sure you took decades off of Dad’s lifespan.” 

Virgil’s eyes were downcast once again. “I’m sorry I worried all of you.”

“Virg…” Scott sighed. “You aren’t the one who should be apologising.” He reassured him. “And trust me, the Sentinel did. A lot.” He hummed. “In fact, I’m pretty sure Washington is trying to find out where we’re based just so the Commander can send you a gift basket.” That got a laugh out of his brother. “You’re okay now, that’s all that matters at the end of the day. Just don’t do it again. I’ll leave you in peace for now.” He stood up, about to make his way to the door. “I’ve gotta meet up with Dad in the hangar, but I’ll be back with Alan in an hour to check on you.”

Just before he left the room, Virgil’s voice called him back. “Hey, Scott?” He whirled around so fast it was amazing he didn’t give himself whiplash. “Same goes for you.” Virgil smirked. “Don’t go getting attacked mid-flight and almost dying.”

“I’ll try not to, Virgil. I’ll try not to…”

------

In the vast, blazing sands of the Sahara, two men worked tirelessly on a third’s head wound in the shade provided by the silver rocket plane behind them. Scott winced when Wilson dabbed a healthy amount of cleaning solution on the gash. Wilson apologised quickly, before focussing once again on the injury. Lindsey grabbed a roll of bandages from the first aid kit, and after getting the all clear from Wilson, wrapped them carefully and snugly around Scott’s head.

The two archaeologists stepped back, giving the International Rescue operative a thumbs up. “You’re good to go!” Lindsey stated.

“At least until your teammates get here to check our handiwork is sound.” Wilson huffed.

“Well, it feels just fine.” Scott smiled gratefully. “Thanks, fellas. I really appreciate it.”

Lindsey and Wilson both grinned. “No problem.” The bearded man brushed it off. “If you’d been on your own it probably would’ve taken them a while to find you in this wasteland. From the sounds of it, those fighters were shooting to kill. If they’d realised you were still out here…” He didn’t want to finish the thought. The mere idea that anyone would shoot down a Thunderbird was impossible, at least on purpose. Both he and Lindsey had heard about the whole Sentinel scandal. For the International Rescue crew, this must feel like a scary case of deja-vu. 

“Just glad we were able to do something to help, no matter how small.” Lindsey cut in, breaking Wilson out of his train-of-thought.

Scott smirked, raising an eyebrow. “Trust me, you’ve helped a lot more than you realise. Thanks to you two, the guys back at base know where I am, and that I’m okay.” Just as he finished his sentence, the distant sound of engines was heard throughout what the trio on the ground thought must’ve been a good chunk of the desert. “That’ll be them now…” He commented, shielding his eyes against the sun as he stepped out from his Thunderbird’s shadow to see if he could spot the familiar green.

Lindsey frowned, concerned. “You sure it’s not those fighters again?” Scott shook his head.

“Once you know what a certain craft sounds like, with enough training you can pretty much distinguish it from any other aircraft out there.” He explained, getting back into the shade at Wilson’s insistence. “Definitely not the fighters. It’s Thunderbird 2.”

“Oh.” Lindsey simply said in understanding. Just then, Thunderbird 2’s shadow rolled over the body of her fallen sister, and landed as close as she dared. The three men next to the rocket plane watched as the main body rose from the pod and the door swung open, revealing the other International Rescue operatives. Scott recognised Brains and Tin-Tin, as well as his immediate younger brother. They all looked worried out of their minds, and Virgil was just that little bit furious.

“I’m dead… I’m so dead…” Scott gulped, causing both of his companions to look at him, puzzled. Virgil came bounding up to them at top speed, carrying his medical supplies with him. Brains and Tin-Tin trailed behind him with camping gear, taking in the sight of Thunderbird 1 buried nose-first in the sand.

“Do you have any idea,” Virgil’s voice was dangerously low, “how worried we all were, Scott?” Looking between the two archaeologists next to his brother, he breathed in deeply. “Thank you for everything you’ve done, gentlemen.”

Wilson replied. “As we said to your buddy here, it was our pleasure.”

Virgil hummed, checking the bandage that was already on Scott’s head. “Did they just finish this?”

“Yeah, they did.” Scott confirmed.

“Then I see no reason to change it right now. It’s sound. They must’ve had some sort of first aid training.” Wilson and Lindsey nodded. Virgil looked over at them again. “Well, from the looks of things, it’s going to get dark soon. No use moving on, so you’re both welcome to set up camp with us for the night.”

The men exchanged looks, and nodded in thanks. Afterwards, they moved to their jeep to get their camping supplies, letting the two operatives talk. “Sorry, Virgil.” Were Scott’s first words once they were sure the archaeologists couldn’t hear them. 

His brother simply shrugged. “Well, like you told me three months ago, I really hope this doesn’t happen again.”

Scott sighed. “It might though. This wasn’t a case of mistaken identity this time; they knew fully well I was with IR.”

“And so long as we’re IR, there will always be people out to get us. It’s quite the occupational hazard.” Virgil grabbed a small flashlight from his medical kit. “Let me check for a concussion real quick.” The younger man took his time. “Yep, that’s a concussion alright. Guess we’re sharing a tent tonight.”

“Like I’ll pass up a chance to spend time with my favourite brother…” Scott did his best puppy dog expression.

Virgil snorted. “Brotherly affection isn’t gonna get you off the hook after giving everyone a repeat scare of the Sentinel incident…”

“Worth a shot.” Scott shrugged. “How’re Dad and the others?”

“Coping.” Came Virgil’s short reply as he shut his kit. “But you can hear for yourself in a couple of seconds.” He gestured his head toward the open cockpit of Thunderbird 1. “Brains just finished fixing the radio.”

Scott frowned. “Didn’t even notice he was in there.”

“That’s how you know you have a head injury.” Virgil gave him a look.

Brains stepped out of the silver plane. “R-Radio’s all fixed up, S-Scott.”

“Thanks, Brains. I’ll call Dad and let him know what’s going on.”

Virgil watched as his brother disappeared into the ship, keeping an eye and an ear out in case anything happened. His face morphed from worried but happy, to straight up concerned. There was something niggling at him. 

“P-Penny for your th-thoughts, Virgil?” Brains asked in an attempt to draw out the other man’s concerns. 

Thunderbird 2’s pilot sighed. “I was lucky, Brains.” He began. “Extremely lucky when I got shot down by the navy. At least then, it had been a mistake on the Sentinel’s part, and we’d been fairly close to base.” He looked at his friend. “Scott didn’t have either of those luxuries. He’s even luckier to be alive than I am! If those men hadn’t found him…”

“We p-probably would’ve lost him.” Brains finished. “I’m s-sure he knows that t-too, Virgil. Y-You of all p-people know what he’s like w-when people he loves could g-get hurt. He’s probably downplaying j-just how serious h-he thinks this is. A-At least for now…” 

Virgil frowned, but didn’t argue. Of course, out of all their family, Scott was the most likely to hide certain details. “I know. That’s what worries me…” 

“Do you th-think those fighters will come b-back?” Brains asked. He hated to think about what could happen if they returned to finish the job as much as anyone else.

“I don’t know.” Virgil admitted, watching as Scott finished his conversation with their Dad. “Whatever happens though, I know that we won’t ever fall as long as we have each other…”

[footnotesandendings]

some memes I was tagged in. not tagging anyone but play if you want!

general questionnaire meme

Tea, coffee, or soda? soda

Dogs or cats? both

Can you play any instrument? I played the trumpet for ten years.

What’s your sun sign? Gemini

First song lyrics that pops into your head? Hold me, hold me like a grudge

Do you have any tattoos? Six of ‘em.

Favorite place you’ve travelled? Barcelona

What’s the last movie you’ve watched? The new Emily Bronte biopic. It was okay.

What languages do you speak? English. I studied Spanish in high school and Russian in college but I only have a handful left of each and a lot of times when I try to speak one of them I’ll put it into the syntax of the other.

Do you have any hobbies? I mean. Here we are.

You can hang out with one fictional character for an hour, who do you choose? Dani Rojas, I guess. He would be nice to me even while I was being awkward, and I could get him rolling on telling stories so I didn’t have to talk.

Compliment yourself: I’m a pretty good friend, I think.

ao3 first lines meme

Rules: Share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written fewer than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway (spoiler alert: rules are made to be broken…)

From newest to oldest…

Jack ducked his head and scrubbed his fingers through his wet hair, breathing in the smell of shampoo and conditioner that came off with the droplets.

“So serious,” Jack murmurs, holding his hand in the air halfway between his body and Jordan’s.

Jordan runs his thumb across his phone screen, watching the code input come up and fade away again.

Fay never expected gratitude from that girl.

Jordan’s phone buzzes against his thigh and he turns his head away from the fan with the camera, letting Jude handle that while he checks the screen.

Jack texts after the Everton match, asking if Jordan is up for a quick visit and messing around.

Will doesn’t go out much.

It's strange coming out of Qatar, where they were together basically twelve hours a day or more, back into real life, where they're... not.

Virgil is a patient man.

Roy slipped one arm around Jamie’s waist, the other curling loosely around his neck so Jamie’s throat fit in the crook of his elbow.

[live-laugh-loverpool]

World Cup Group Chat 7

Tags: @millythegoat, @alissonbecksfan234, @moomin279, @lfc-fanfiction

This is the final WC group chat! Ibou my baby...I hope they're protecting you well

Fabi: DEJAN LOVREN!!!!! 😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡😡

Dejan: 😎 Yeah?

Fabi: WHY did you not beat Argentina while you still could?! Before they could get to the finals and break our Ibou’s heart?

Bobby: Now we’ll have to suffer that insufferable Emi Martinez bragging for the next 4 years

Ali: Not to mention Messi being called the GOAT for the next four years

Dejan: OH CRAP

Ali: Has anybody talked to Ibou? I tried, but I didn’t get anything.

Boss: I texted him and I tried to call him, but he didn’t answer. I also called those other two kids he’s been hanging out with, but no such luck.

Boss: I’m calling Didier now.

Dejan: At least we didn’t beat them

Bobby: Dejan, we all know your pale, unmoisturized prune would’ve succumbed to the France midfield. So shut up 🤐

EgyptianKing: Nobody tells MY Dejan to shut up 😤

EgyptianKing: At least he came out of the World Cup with a MEDAL, unlike Brazil

Fabi: 😶

Ali: MO REALLY? I thought we were friends 🥺

Bobby: At least we were IN the World Cup, unlike Egypt

Dejan: OOOOOOOHHHHHH

Fabi: GO ROBERTO 🤩🤩🦷🦷🦷🦷✨✨✨

Boss: OUCH

Dejan: Look where you went…not even in the German national team

Boss: Even I could have defended better than Varane

Ali: I’m sure you’d do a great job, boss

Fabi: We know 😉

EgyptianKing: Boss, you could have defended better than Rudiger, too

Fabi: Anybody can defend better than Rudiger

Dejan: He could have also defended better than any member of the Egyptian national team, MOHAMED

Fabi: OUCH 😯😯😯😯😯😯

Bobby: Dejan, the boss could have defended better than you

Ali: ROBERTO FIRMINO BARBOSA DE OLIVIERA, YOU DID NOT JUST SAY THAT

Bobby: I did 😎

Boss: I just called William and Matteo, and they’re going to check on Ibou for us and tell him that I called.

VVD04: Good. Now everybody will be home

Dejan: Virgil van Dijk. The boss would have defended better than you.

VVD04: Then how come no team in the Bundesliga ever bought him?

Ali: Are we going to sit around and roast each other, or are we going to worry about Ibou?

Ali: Like WHO’S CUDDLING HIM

Ali: WHO’S WRAPPING HIM IN BLANKETS AND GIVING HIM BUCKETS OF HIS FAVORITE ICE CREAM

Ali: Who’s telling Ibou that it’s NOT HIS FAULT that Deschamps doesn’t know who’s a competent centerback among his players?

Ibou: I’m right here, you know

Fabi: IBOU there you are!

Matteo🕺✨: So Willo, Fabi is the bald Brazilian they call flaco. Ali is the goalkeeper with excellent hair that’s literally Klopp’s kid

Matteo🕺✨: Clearly Ali, when I say excellent hair I do not mean superior to mine

SarcasticMilner: Ibou, you brought MATTEO here?

Ibou: And Willo

Ibou: They’re my French support team

WilloTree: We’re brothers

Matteo🕺✨: We call ourselves the Single White Gloves! 1️⃣ ⚪ 🧤

SarcasticMilner: Get out of here

WilloTree: At least we’ve got silver medals, Ibou

Matteo🕺✨: Yeah, Maupay will never be able to say that

Bobby: You STILL have issues with him?!

Matteo🕺✨: Why not? Don’t you have issues with Sergio Ramos?

VVD04: Bobby, the kid got you good

Ali: Ibou, when are you coming home?

Ibou: I’m flying in tonight

Robbo Hoodie: Wear your coat, there’s lots of snow outside

Ibou: Perfect 😒

EgyptianKing: The boss will make hot chocolate

SarcasticMilner: Without burning it? 😒

Ali: Yes

Fabi: I remember playing against you in the Premier League, Matteo

SarcasticMilner: When he was Emery’s darling beanpole

Matteo🕺✨: I’ve gained muscle since then

SarcasticMilner: Where? 😒

Matteo🕺✨: In the CORE

WilloTree: Ibou, it’s not your fault btw

Boss: Yeah, he’s right. 👍.

Matteo🕺✨: OMG he still does that?!

Dejan: YES

Bobby: Since when do you know Klopp’s texting tendencies?

Matteo🕺✨: I wasn’t born yesterday! I was born on April 14, 1999, on a Wednesday. I was also part of Hendo’s Future Skippers Chat Class during the first COVID lockdown.

SarcasticMilner: You can’t even captain yourself

Matteo🕺✨: I can now 😎

WilloTree: I’m joining that class in the New Year

Hendo: Welcome in advance, Willo

VVD04: How long have you been here, Hendo?

Hendo: Since the start

Hendo: I was watching the show

Hendo: We’ll all give you plenty of love when you get back, Ibou 🙂 And we’ll give you love here in advance!

Ibou: YES

Ibou: I’ll still miss the other Single White Gloves, though

Hendo: Is that Michael Jackson related?

WilloTree: Yes it is 😎

Matteo🕺✨: We’ll stay in touch, Ibou

Ibou: And unlike us, Marseille won’t stay in touch with the UCL. You couldn’t even stay in touch with Tottenham

Bobby: OOOOOHHHH that’s a ROAST

SarcasticMilner: Ibou, I like you a little more than I did before now. And I always liked you

Dejan: Single White Gloves, silver’s still a pretty good medal, you know. 2nd place out of 195 United Nations-recognized countries, that’s good man

SarcasticMilner: A World Cup silver medal wasn’t enough to get you to a self-respecting club, Dejan

Dejan: And a silver medal in both the Premier League and UCL wasn’t enough to keep Liverpool a self-respecting club

Boss: DEJAN LOVREN

Dejan: That’s the second time somebody said my full name today

Boss: No wonder 😒

SarcasticMilner: JURGEN NORBERT KLOPP I LOVE YOU YOU ARE THE GOD

Boss: Just this morning you swore at me for falling down the stairs

Matteo🕺✨: Can I see that happen every morning? Like, permanently?

WilloTree: Me too?

SarcasticMilner: HELL NO

Ibou: HELL YES

Bobby: HELL MAYBE

Hendo: What are your medal credentials?

Matteo🕺✨: UEL runner-up (2018-19), FA Cup winner (2019-20), Nations League winner (2020-21),  Ligue 1 runner-up (2021-22), World Cup runner-up (2022)

WilloTree: FA Cup winner (2019-20), Nations League winner (2020-21),  Ligue 1 runner-up (2021-22), World Cup runner-up (2022)

SarcasticMilner: You two copied and pasted from Wikipedia

Matteo🕺✨: I do have some intelligence, you know

SarcasticMilner: Does intelligence include scoring an own goal and equalizing with a goal in the SAME game?

Matteo🕺✨: Ouch

Matteo🕺✨: Is he always like this?!?!

Hendo: YES

Ibou: YES

Robbo Hoodie: YES

Ali: YES

Fabi: YES

Bobby: YES

Boss: YES! I don’t think we need to say any more

Matteo🕺✨: But I need to say more

Matteo🕺✨: I am French-Moroccan (sorry Achraf)

Matteo🕺✨: My hair is amazing and Marouane Fellaini will never understand that

Matteo🕺✨: Willo is my soul twin

Matteo🕺✨: Alex and Pierre are my pseudo-dads from Arsenal

Matteo🕺✨: David Luiz’s hair is really good and so is Willian’s

Matteo🕺✨: David Luiz and Willian are literally a couple and they have their own restaurant

SarcasticMilner: Is he always like this?!?!

Ibou: YES

WilloTree: YES

Matteo🕺✨: YES

Matteo🕺✨: Oh, you’re talking about me

Boss: Kostas gives me enough headaches in the morning

Boss: And enough headaches in the afternoon too, with those things

KostasDaGod: They’re shorts

Boss: I refuse to call both the things I wear in hot weather and the things YOU wear shorts 🩳

Ibou: I’m heading for the airport now!

Boss: See you soon, Ibou! We’re proud of you

Hendo: TTYL

Ali: 🤗

(BOSS has ended the chat.)

(MATTEO🕺✨  and ROBBO HOODIE have reentered the chat.)

Matteo🕺✨: 🇲🇦🇫🇷🇲🇦🇫🇷🇲🇦🇫🇷🇲🇦🇫🇷

Robbo Hoodie: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

(BOSS has kicked MATTEO🕺✨ and ROBBO HOODIE out of the chat like Thiago kicked Haaland’s balls.)

[justahumanmachine]

Incorrect Quote Tag!!!

I was tagged by @corethomas. Hello corethomas!!!

Anyway heres some incorrect quotes i have accumulated over the years. This will be your first introduction to my little guys. Have fun.

~~~

Azure: What doesn't kill me better start running, because now I'm fucking pissed.

~~~

Mara: I hope you know what you’re doing.

Azure: Nope, but I’m doing it anyway.

~~~

Virgil: Hey, I'm cool. I can be cool. Nothing gets through this rock hard exterior. I'm a tough dude, isn't that right, Azure?

Azure: The other day you cried because I punched a seagull.

~~~

Virgil: It’s really muggy out today.

Azure: If I go outside and all the mugs are on the lawn, I will kill you.

Virgil: (Sips tea from a bowl)

~~~

Azure: I have high standards. If I’m going to have a girlfriend, I want her to be strong, graceful, intelligent-

Pallas: (trips over her own feet and falls into a garbage can)

Azure:

Azure: I want that one

~~~

Virgil: The human body is seventy percent water. We’re basically cucumbers with anxiety.

Fey: Excuse you, with the amount fo salt and alcohol I consume, I’m more of an anxiety pickle.

~~~

Pallas: I’ve never smoked marijuana. I ate a brownie once at a party. It was intense. It was kind of indescribable. I felt like I was floating. Turns out there was no pot in the brownie. It was just an insanely good brownie.

~~~

Octavian: Still don’t have the slightest clue what’s going on here, but I fully endorse this turn of events!

~~~

Felix: You may be asking, “Felix, how did you do this to yourself?”

Felix, struggling to get his leg out of a chair: Well, kids, Felix has no freaking clue either.

~~~

Felix: Octavian, you almost died!

Octavian: Don’t worry, Virge said all the bleeding was internal.

Octavian: That’s where the blood’s supposed to be.

~~~

Lyrian: I don't follow the rules. I follow dogs on social media.

~~~

Lyrian: Me? Well, I’m open to the idea.

Octavian: Why on earth would you be open to the idea?

Lyrian: Because I worship chaos.

~~~

Virgil: Sanyi, aren’t you supposed to be in hiding? Meaning you don’t go out randomly to buy hamburgers?

~~~

Sanyi: I am not a whore, and, not that I’ve done the math, but, if I were, I’d be the super classy kind that gets flown to Dubai to stay in an underwater hotel.

~~~

Tian, holding up her class notes: And then this doodle of a burrito because when I first read Aristotle, I thought it was pronounced like “Chipotle.”

Tian, in shock: Wait a minute, is it “Chip-o-tottle?”

~~~

Tian: I’m gonna mix a can of Red Bull with seventeen shots of espresso in a fishbowl and then chug it while Kids by MGMT plays in the background so I can perceive twenty-three spatial dimensions and fight my own soul.

~~~

Mara: Did you tell anyone we’re married?

Fey: Yes, I have no self control and told the foreign ambassador we’re married.

Mara: Okay, no need to be sarcastic.

Winona: No, she actually told me you were married.

~~~

Rose: I came out here to attack people and I'm honestly having such a good time right now.

~~~

Lyrian: Yum, thanks!

Rose, who has kidnapped her: *puts more tape over their mouth* I said stop eating it.

~~~ Azure: I have no respect for Santa. Don’t sneak in through the chimney and undermine my authority by bringing my family presents. Walk in through the front door and fight me like a man.

~~~

Sanyi: Just took a personality test and got an A+.  ~~~

Octavian: As someone who has a long history of not understanding anything, I feel confident in my ability to continue not knowing what is going on.

~~~

Lyrian: The ‘how the fucks’ and 'why are you so dumbs’ don’t matter. All that matters is that I have a new gun.

~~~

Rose: Get in, loser, we’re committing vehicular manslaughter!

~~~

Azure as a child, reading her school assignment out loud: I love my library because...

Azure, mouthing words while writing: I love reading, fuck you.

~~~

And that’ll be all! Everyone I know has already done this already so uh no tags I guess, but if @corethomas and @jasperygrace want to go for round two, hell yeah.