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marshmallow-phd · 6 years

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Charming Instruction

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Supernatural, Wolf Au

Pairing: Junmyeon x Reader

Summary: You were just an average, everyday college student desperately trying to graduate. Only one more year stood between you and that celebratory walk. However, due to an oversight by your adviser, it seemed that the one class you never wanted to take was required to take that walk. It wasn’t the subject matter that made you uncomfortable. It was the teacher. Your heart sped up every time you saw him and you didn’t want that distraction in your life, attractive or not. With meeting him now an inevitability, you swore that you would keep your hormones in check. But after your first day of class, a series of hi jinks and weird situations lead you to discovering the secret of your professor and why he seemed to bombard your every thought.

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I Final

This first week of class had been the hardest Junmyeon had ever been through. Even more so than his first semester as a professor at the college. The off days that you weren’t in his class were better than the three days you were in attendance. He didn’t have to calm himself down to be in your presence or worry about losing his train of thought when he spotted you. But that was only two days out of the week. For the Wednesday and Friday that followed, he’d steeled himself up at the beginning of that first class. To his reluctant relief, you sat near the back, far out of his eyesight unless he strained to look for you. It would be easier to avoid your gaze, to not get caught staring at you so far back. Not only did he want to avoid scrutiny and gossip from his students, but he also didn’t want to scare you off.

As under the radar he tried to be with the rest of the pack, he was failing monstrously. For the past week, he’d been avoiding the house, taking the time away from everyone to try and work up a plan. A plan he was still trying to formulate. But everyone had noticed his jumpy and sketchy state. Of course, his constant absence left Kris mostly in charge, but he had a hard time feeling guilty about that. It was about time that Kris got a little taste of the chaos Junmyeon had been dealing with for the past few years on his own.

Coming down the stairs the morning of the second week of class, he overheard Sehun talking to Kris, trying to see if Junmyeon had spilled anything to his fellow leader. But he hadn’t and it hurt Junmyeon to hear the worry in Sehun’s voice.

Kris sighed, “Well, I have no clue. I think you should just give it some time and he’ll-”

Junmyeon stepped into the kitchen, keeping a smile on his face, even if it was fake and forced. “Morning everyone.”

Murmurs of “good mornings” echoed around the room, but no one looked him in the eye. They were trying hard to pretend that everything was normal and that they hadn’t just been talking about him in his absence. It was sweet, if a little useless. Best to not stick around so they could all relax again.

Filling up one of the rarely used thermoses with fresh coffee, he headed for the back door. “I’ll see you guys later.”

Just before he could escape, Sehun called out to him. “Are you going to run with us tonight?”

Junmyeon almost whined. There was so much hope in the youngest member’s voice and he was about to crush it.

“I can’t. I’ve got… other things I’ve got to take care of.” It was a complete lie, but Junmyeon couldn’t chance shifting while his focus was so disorganized. His wolf was strong these days and only his human logic was keeping it at bay. In his other form… there was too great a chance of the wolf taking over completely and he’d shoot off running from the rest of the pack, following his instincts until they led to you. That would be the second least okay thing for him to do.

Today was another day with you in class. Again, you sat all the way in the back. Too far. Too far away from him.

Focus, Junmyeon.

Why did this class have to only be an hour and a half long? As much as it was torture for him, it was also soothing. He knew you were close and he knew you were safe. Not that much could actually happen to you around here. There were no more threats of witches or hybrids as of late. The only difficulties recently were the mates themselves. Really just the inconvenience of them.

Not that you were inconvenient! Not in the slightest!

It was just the situations. Nothing could just be easy in his life, could it?

He nearly laughed at himself, trying to defend his thoughts against an imaginary version of you in head.

The next day, Junmyeon gave up. He still hadn’t been able to come with any solid plan on how to approach you. No one in the pack yet knew about his mate and, well, he figured it was time to tell them anyway.

All the way home, Junmyeon went over how he would approach the subject with his brothers. He could already hear Jongdae and Baekhyun’s laughter ringing in his ears. They were going to have a field day. But Junmyeon was at the end of his rope. He couldn’t just approach you and say, “Hi, I know I’m your teacher, but I’m a werewolf and you’re my mate. Want to go out on a date and get to know each other?”

He banged his head up against the steering wheel. Why was this so hard?

Sighing, he finally got out of the car, bracing himself for the circus to come.

But no one was home.

Concerned, he called Chanyeol, who answered after two rings.

“Hey, hyung!”

“Hey, Chanyeol,” Junmyeon continued to roam the house, scanning for any form of life, “where is everyone?”

“We’re getting pizza!” Chanyeol replied, clearly chowing down on a mouthful of food. “We were going to ask you to come along, but you’d been so busy lately we didn’t think you’d be up for it.”

Junmyeon tried not feel left out. He had been both absent and constantly turning down their offers the past week so he couldn't blame them. Still, pizza sounded really good at the moment.

“Are all of you there?” he asked.

“Everyone but Kris. I sent him a text, but he hasn’t responded.”

“Okay,” Junmyeon sighed, “make sure you all make it home safe.”

“Always do. I think we’ll be heading home here soon.”

“Alright. See ya then.”

With nothing else to do, Junmyeon went upstairs to his room to take a shower. Usually he kept his showers short and conservative, but, being the only one home, he gave himself extra time, letting the water pellet his back and warm his skin. The dotting pattern against his muscles felt good, relieving just the smallest amount of stress.

He felt better after getting out of the shower even if his thoughts were still bouncing around chaotically. Slipping into a simple pair of sweatpants and a tank top, it felt nice to shed the put together appearance of the professor and to just be a guy - a regular guy with no issues, no hidden secrets, and no facade to keep in tact.

Heading back down the stairs, it seemed one person had come home. Junmyeon caught the tail end of Kris’ call for anyone who might be around.

“No one’s home,” he answered, entering the kitchen. In front of Kris he didn’t feel the need to keep up the happy face. “They all went out for pizza a few hours ago. Chanyeol said he texted you.”

Kris pulled out his phone and frowned at the screen. He just shrugged, turning his attention back to Junmyeon after slipping the phone back into his pocket. “What’s going on with you?”

Now faced with the chance to answer, he didn’t know how to let it out. Instead, he just shuffled his bare feet over to the breakfast booth and collapsed down in it, sighing.

His fellow leader sat down across from him. “Junmyeon?”

Looking up, that’s when Junmyeon finally noticed the familiar conflicted look in Kris’ own eye. “You don’t look much better.”

Kris scoffed. “Yeah. I just got the surprise of my life today.”

Junmyeon raised an eyebrow. “Oh, yeah? I bet I can beat it with what happened to me last week.”

That just made Kris smirk as he leaned back in the chair. “Really? Fine. We’ll say it at the same time and see who wins.”

Junmyeon couldn’t believe he was laughing at the moment, but the situation was too hilarious not to. “Alright. Deal.”

Kris held a hand up along with three fingers that went down with the numbers. “Three. Two. One.”

“I found my mate.” “I found my mate.”

Junmyeon felt his jaw drop. That was not what he was expecting from Kris. Far from it. “Well,” he gulped, “this is quite the development.

“Yeah,” Kris half-laughed, half-scoffed, “you got that right.”

Before either of them could elaborate on their confessions, tell-tale stomps echoed off the floor and walls and ten young wolves came clopping into the kitchen.

At first, they were all normal, putting each other in choke holds and dodging punches as they loudly and happily chatted about nothing. Then they all noticed the not-so-cheerful looks on their alphas’ faces and the silence was immediate.

Pushing his way to the front, Minseok looked at them back and forth. “Anything you guys want to share?”

Being quicker than him, Kris waved at Junmyeon. “You first.”

Traitor. Junmyeon dropped his face into his folded arms on the table and groaned.

“Junmyeon?” Sehun called out. “You said that everything was fine.”

And there’s the guilt trip.

Sitting back up, Junmyeon looked to them. “Technically, everything is fine. It's just….”

“Junmyeon found his mate,” Kris finished for him.

Junmyeon shot him a dirty look.

“Shouldn’t you be happier about that?” Chanyeol asked innocently.

“Yes, well,” he cleared his throat. “It’s complicated.”

“Isn’t it always?” Tao snorted.

“Maybe we can help?” Yixing offered.

Exhaling deeply, Junmyeon shook his head. “I’m not sure exactly how you’d be able to help. You see… she’s….” Junmyeon braced himself for the worst. “She’s one of my students.”

At first, there was nothing but stunned silence. And then the howling hit.

It was loud and thunderous, coming from only four of the members, but their volume was enough to make up for the rest of the quiet, open-mouthed pack.

Jongdae and Baekhyun were holding onto each other as they struggled to breathe. Chanyeol was doing his usual full body laugh, at first slapping Kyungsoo on the shoulder before earning a death glare and moving on to Tao, who was giving off his signature high cackle. Even Kris was struggling a bit with holding back his laughter, lips pressed together and avoiding Junmyeon’s gaze.

Feeling a bit like a child, Junmyeon pointed to Kris. “He found his mate, too.”

Once again, silence over took the room.

“Kris?” Luhan gasped. “Are you serious?”

The other alpha shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Yeah….”

That really shocked the pack. Junmyeon had wanted to find his mate, but Kris had made it very clear that he was perfectly fine on his own. There was a running bet that Kris would be dead last in finding his mate. Looks like some people would be paying up here soon.

Tao frowned. “Who is she?”

“She’s….” Kris stared down at his folded hands on the table, “an old childhood friend.”

“How is that possible?” Baekhyun asked. “Wouldn’t you have known she was your mate back then and never have- ow!”

Kyungsoo had elbowed Baekhyun before he could finish that train of thought. A few other members shot Baekhyun dirty looks out of the corners of their eyes. Better to keep those memories in the past where they belonged.

“You don’t feel the mate pull until after you’ve shifted for the first time,” Junmyeon explained. “Considering Kris moved here before he ever had his first transformation, I’m assuming she was from your hometown?”

Kris nodded, still keeping his gaze down.

“Wow,” Minseok mused, “so Kris has it really easy, huh?”

“Not exactly,” Kris countered. He tapped his index finger on the table. “She’s engaged.”

Junmyeon nearly choked. “W-what?”

“Yup.”

Junmyeon now didn’t seem to be in that bad of a situation anymore. At least you seemed to be on your own. Granted, he wasn’t completely sure about that, but there wasn’t a ring on your finger, at least.

“I’m suddenly thankful for the witches,” Jongdae commented.

“At least Lanie was just stubborn,” Chanyeol added.

“Good luck with that, ge-ge,” Tao saluted. “Better you than me!” He disappeared up the stairs, still laughing to himself. Kris definitely wasn’t going to let that slide.

It didn’t take long for the others to disperse, murmuring clearly among themselves. A majority of the boys headed out the back door to go for a run, not bothering to invite the two of them along. Junmyeon didn’t stop them either. Luhan and Minseok were going with them so they shouldn’t get into too much trouble. Hopefully.

A hiker had spotted the group from afar just a few weeks ago. Nothing to worry about really, but Junmyeon preferred for them to go completely unseen.

“Life’s pretty screwed up, isn’t it?” Kris chuckled.

Junmyeon nodded in agreement. “I just wish it would be nice to us for once.”

“You need to stop freaking out,” Gemma chastised for the millionth time. “He’s just your teacher.”

“Her teacher that is smoking hot and makes her heart thump,” Cam snickered.

From your spot on the couch, you threw a pillow at Cam. It was a pathetic throw and she blocked it with her arm easily.

Tomorrow was the first time you’d have to hand in a paper for class and Professor Kim apparently wasn’t very uptodate on the twenty-first century. While every other teacher had students hand in papers through the school’s site electronically, Professor Kim insisted on them being hand delivered on paper... in class.

The paper was written, printed, and carefully placed inside your bag for the next day, but you were still freaking out. You were going to have to walk up to him and somehow hand in the paper without turning red or freaking out in any way. Any visible way, that is.

“I don’t get why you’re making such a big deal out of this,” Gemma added, flopping down sideways on the matching gray loveseat. “Plenty of students have had a crush on Professor Kim. It’s nothing new.”

“I know,” you groaned. “I just- I can’t explain it. I just freak out whenever he’s near.”

“Look, (y/n),” Cam was suddenly serious, giving you a pitiful look, “I get that ever since freshman year you think all guys are scum-”

“That is not true!” you countered. “I know that there are nice guys out there! One relationship with a jerk has not made me think that all men are horrible. I just realized that having a relationship is a big distraction. My grades tanked and I was barely able to save them before the end of the semester. It wasn’t worth it. I refuse to get any more attachments like that. I’ll love you guys forever, but I don’t need anyone else trying to convince me to stay.”

“We love you, too, but you are still blowing this little crush out of proportion,” Gemma laughed. “Just hand the damn paper in and leave it at that.”

You opened your mouth to argue, but stopped. Maybe you really were blowing this up more than it was. Crushes were fine to have. Your heart could use the exercise, the occasional rise in beats per minute. Wasn’t that kind of blood pumping good for you?

Why were you freaking out like this? Why couldn’t you just be normal?

The next morning, you were completely calm going into class. Okay, “completely” was a bit of a stretch, you were much better than you had been last night. Walking into class, you even took the brave step to sit more towards the middle of the lecture hall, more in the line of Professor Kim’s eyesight.

Yes, you could do this.

Professor Kim also noticed your new seat, his eyes flickering towards you every few minutes. It sent your heart into a frenzy, but you simply repeated to yourself that it meant nothing and you just needed to focus on the lecture.

You made it to the end of class, very proud of yourself indeed. Almost right after you were all dismissed, your phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey!” Cam greeted on the other end of the phone. “Have you seen my my packet for biology?”

Your mind now on a single track, you packed up your things and headed out of the hall. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Are you sure?” she whined. “I can’t find it and the last thing I remember was printing it off on our printer last night, but now I can’t find it.”

Outside, you stopped, wedging the phone between your ear and shoulder as you looked through your bag for any sign of Cam’s packet. Then you saw your paper.

“Shit!”

“What is it?” Cam asked.

You whimpered. “I forgot to turn in my paper! I’m sorry, Cam, but I’ll look for your packet a little more in a bit, I have to catch Professor Kim!”

Hanging up, you didn’t give Cam a chance to say goodbye as you ran back to the lecture hall. It was completely empty of students or the professor alike. Groaning, you pulled out your syllabus to get Professor Kim’s office number before taking off in that direction. Hopefully, he’d still accept the paper since now it was technically late.

The door was shut when you arrived, but the light was on, shining through the cracks around the frame. Lifting your hand to knock, you froze when you heard voices inside.

“I hardly need your style of expertise, Baekhyun,” Professor Kim grumbled. The name sounded familiar to you, although you couldn’t place where it’d be from in your consciousness.

“Okay, fine,” the one you assumed was Baekhyun huffed. “Moving on, are you going to run with us tonight?”

“Yes, I’ll be there tonight.”

“Good. It’s about time you started stretching your paws again.”

Paws? What the heck was that supposed to mean?

“My paws are just fine, thank you. But I have missed running with you guys.”

“Of course you have,” Baekhyun scoffed. “Us wolves have to stick together. Isolating yourself isn’t in our nature.”

You swallowed back a gasp. W-wolves? Their nature?

There was no way he was alluding to what you thought he was… right?

People who could turn into wolves didn’t exist. Those were just stories. A section of your class that you would be covering in a few weeks. A fairytale, folklore. There was no such thing as werewolves. And your professor certainly wasn’t one.

“As a leader of the pack,” Professor Kim chuckled, “I think I understand that a little better than anyone.”

Your heart was about to jump out of your chest. Needing to get out of there and find a rational explanation for what you just heard, you shoved your paper into the mail slot next to the door and took off down the hall.

What the hell was going on at this college?

#exo #exo fanfiction #exo fanfic #exo wolf au #exo wolf!au #exo werewolf au #exo werewolf!au #exo supernatural au #exo scenarios #exo series #junmyeon x reader #kim junmyeon #suho #Charming Instruction #untamed wolf universe

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pixelgrotto · 7 years

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RIP Archie’s Sonic the Hedgehog comic (1992-2017) After 25 years and nearly 300 issues, Archie’s long-running Sonic the Hedgehog comic was officially cancelled earlier this week. The writing’s been on the wall for a while now, since the comic went on a forced hiatus several months ago and none of the creators were allowed to publicly discuss it due to ongoing negotiations between Archie and Sega. But this Thursday, the book’s final fate was declared, and it looks like the Freedom Fighters - who once announced that they could handle anything - couldn’t quite beat the threat of cancellation. A lot of people dunk on the Archie Sonic comic for being overly convoluted, going through some pretty low points or appealing primarily to furries, and all of these things are kinda true, except for maybe the furry one. But warts and all, Archie Sonic is a glorious beast of monstrously complex proportions. First of all, let the fact that Sonic holds the record for having the longest-running North American comic for a licensed character sink in. Seriously, this series ran from 1992 to 2017 and nearly reached 300 freaking issues. In a time when most comics from Marvel and DC can barely reach double digits before either being renumbered to generate a temporary boost in sales or flat-out cancelled, Sonic the Hedgehog kept chugging along, stealthily reinventing itself from its original status as a slapdash funny book to an ongoing saga that manifested lore so deep that it warranted the release of an entire encyclopedia to help people keep everything straight.

What’s even more interesting is that Archie Sonic became the one place where you could still see characters carried over from the DiC Saturday morning Sonic cartoon show, which was produced in 1993. The show, affectionately dubbed SatAM by everyone who watched it back in the day, frankly doesn’t hold up that well and is a good example of nostalgia goggles at work. It had an incredible theme song, though (SONIC! HE CAN REALLY MOVE! SONIC! HE’S GOT AN ATTITUDE! SONIC! HE’S THE FAAAASTEST THING ALIVE), and the show did do an admirable job of developing a backstory for a mascot who, at the time, had no characterization other than the fact that he was fast and collected rings. SatAM fixed this by putting Sonic in the surprisingly dark world of Mobius, a place ruled by Dr. Robotnik, a dictator who had “roboticized” the population by turning them into droids. It also gave the hedgepig a variety of characters to play off of, like Princess Sally, Antoine the cowardly French fox, Bunnie the half-roboticized rabbit and Rotor the walrus. Along with Tails, this lot was collectively referred to as the Knothole Freedom Fighters. Archie Sonic got its start telling stories with the Freedom Fighters while they were still on air, and even after the show was cancelled, the comic continued using them, essentially turning itself into season three of the cartoon. As the decades passed, the SatAM characters and story threads evolved and changed in wondrously unexpected ways - Sonic and Sally fell in love, the original Dr. Robotnik was killed and replaced with a robotic version of himself from an alternate dimension, Bunnie and Antoine got married and Mobius was revealed to be a future version of Earth that was attacked by the Xorda, aliens who had unleashed gene bombs on the planet, mutating the wildlife into anthropomorphic animals. (This was my goddamn favorite batshit crazy bit of Sonic comic lore ever.) Furthermore, the comic increasingly began introducing more elements from the actual Sonic video games, which had finally developed deeper stories of their own thanks to the advancement of technology. So you had stuff like Sonic and the Freedom Fighters teaming up to fight Perfect Chaos and meeting Silver the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat. It was an unusual, unique combination of Western and Eastern concepts melding together in one pictorial arena, and it made Archie Sonic feel special.

Speaking of the games, the book was also special because it damn well carried Sonic’s presence in North America during the years when the blue guy wasn’t starring in many video games (the Sega Saturn era) and couldn’t star in any decent video games (the Sonic ‘06 era). Even when Sega was releasing shovelware that damaged the brand, Archie Sonic kept pumping out issues, and its sheer determination to keep going won it legions of dedicated fans. Many of these people, including myself, got stuck on the comic at a young age and stayed long-term. I personally started picking up issues in 1994 or 1995, so basically only three or so years after the book was out. I think I was seven years old. A few years later, I got a subscription and had the comic delivered to my mailbox every month. (I still remember my first issue - it was number 41, when Sonic, Sally and that douchebag skunk Geoffrey St. John went to the Zone of Silence to rescue King Acorn.) The subscription continued until I was in college, and only ended around my junior year, when I forgot to renew it because I was too busy applying to go abroad after graduation.

In short, I subscribed to a periodical about a damn blue hedgehog for a large majority of my life. Even when I stopped regularly reading around issue 180, I always kept abreast of the book’s developments (like that crossover with MEGAMAN!) and told myself that I’d eventually catch up on the stories I missed, likely in the excellent Sonic Select and Sonic Archives trade paperbacks that Archie was publishing. And there were tons of others like me. The Archie Sonic community is such a vibrant one, filled with 90s kids who grew up on this book and even older folks like the crazy Dan Drazen, a 60-something librarian who wrote the most detailed (and overly picky) online reviews of every issue. Many of these fans went on to work for the comic at one point or another, like the incredible Dawn Best and fan favorite Ian Flynn, who swooped in as a writer in the late 2000s and saved the book when it was suffering from a spell of plodding stories. For a lot of us, Archie Sonic was the preferred Sonic canon, and we got pissed when Sega pulled awful jump the shark moments outta their butts - like having Sonic hook up with human princesses in his broken 2006 game - when there was a wealth of solid lore in this weird little comic coming out in America that they always seemed content to ignore.

In fact, the only time Sega really paid close attention to the book was when Ken Penders launched a lawsuit against it, which may have been a contributor to its eventual cancellation. People better than me have already scripted lengthy writeups about Mr. Penders, and I encourage you to read this extremely in-depth take on the whole fiasco, which is a bizarre tale of copyright arguments and delusions of grandeur worthy of any John Grisham novel. But in a nutshell, Ken was a former writer who helped guide Archie Sonic away from simple gag strips and into the realm of full-on adventure tales. His control over the book was major until he was fired, and a few years later, he went on a vehement quest to prove that he owned all characters he had created while working for Archie, including series mainstays like Julie-Su, Knuckles the Echidna’s girlfriend. He ended up suing Archie multiple times and won on legal loopholes, which prompted him to start attacking the book’s current team while declaring that a buttload of barely-related story concepts were his. He also tried suing Sega when Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood came out, claiming that the enemies in the game were too similar to ones he had whipped up. Archie eventually had to come up with a plot device to kill off (trap in another dimension, really) all of the characters he had created during his tenure, and eventually they instituted a full reboot to wipe continuity clean and remove all traces of the lawsuit from history. Unfortunately, the legal issues did some pretty heavy damage to Archie’s relationship with Sega, who were reportedly pissed that the American comic company had let things get so screwed up. And I don’t blame them. To the Sonic fan community, Ken Penders is largely loathed as a megalomaniac who sabotaged a long-running comic for personal gain. But he doesn’t deserve all of the blame, and he did put out some good stories in the day before going bonkers. Archie’s also at fault, both due to their not-so-great freelancer deals as well as their incompetence at handling lawsuits. (At one point the company even fired their entire legal team and hired new attorneys, yeesh.) In recent years, Archie also seems to be terrible at handling their finances, even though they’re currently spearheading Riverdale, a successful show on the CW that’s made all of their high school characters into hot, emo Millennials. (I call it the “Archie Sex Show” in my head.) I’ve heard rumors that company management wants to streamline their output to ONLY focus on Riverdale-related stuff, and seeing as how the Ken Penders business was a tremendous waste of time that ripped some large holes in their relationship with Sega, it only makes sense that both companies would decide to part ways. So where do we go from here? Well, it was suddenly announced today that IDW Publishing would be the ones picking up the Sonic license for a relaunch of the book in 2018. IDW’s a fit place for Sonic, since they currently publish the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…which Archie once owned the license for. (Funny how these things go in circles, eh?) Unfortunately, I have a feeling that the current arc that was going on in the Archie books - a charming retelling of the Sonic CD story - is going to go unfinished, and I’m also fearful that we’ll be saying goodbye to the DiC Freedom Fighters. I’d LOVE to be proven wrong, and it would warm my heart to see Princess Sally, Bunnie Rabbot, Antoine, Rotor and Nicole survive a change in publishers. But since Sega’s never “officially” acknowledged those characters in a game (except for Sonic Spinball, which was made by an American studio and doesn’t really count) they’re likely going to be classified as expendable cannon fodder that are no longer relevant. There is some hope, though. Perhaps a miracle will occur and IDW will have the good sense to re-hire guys like Ian Flynn or maintain some semblance of the continuity that an entire generation knows and loves. Until the day we know for sure arrives, I’ll just have to re-read my old issues, revel in the glory of covers drawn by SPAZ, laugh at insane crossovers like the time Sonic met Spawn, and remember an era when a hedgehog with attitude and his Knothole friends kicked Dr. Robotnik’s butt and brought me twenty plus years of wonderful adventures. For Mobius! For freedom!

The header image of the Archie Sonic cast was drawn by darkspeeds and found on Deviantart. The cover images are just a few of my favorites from the days when I was subscribed to the book, and were taken from Comic Vine and Cover Browser.

#pixel grotto #musings #video games #sonic the hedgehog #sonic #archie #archie sonic

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internetbasic9 · 6 years

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Nature Deborah Eisenberg Returns With Tart and Spiky Stories in ‘Your Duck Is My Duck’

Nature Deborah Eisenberg Returns With Tart and Spiky Stories in ‘Your Duck Is My Duck’ Nature Deborah Eisenberg Returns With Tart and Spiky Stories in ‘Your Duck Is My Duck’ https://ift.tt/2DBDpXJ

Nature

Books of The Times

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CreditCreditAlessandra Montalto/The New York Times

In a classic Deborah Eisenberg short story, “Holy Week,” a travel writer visiting an unnamed country in Central America complacently compiles adjectives as he reviews a restaurant: “relaxed,” “intimate,” “romantic.”

This being Eisenberg, things take a turn. A very different set of words are required to actually summon the day; let’s say, “anxiety,” “empire” and “guns.” These might be the same words we would compile to describe a visit to the world of Eisenberg. You might add “insomnia” to the list and, for her dedicated readers, “patience.”

Eisenberg is a writer of legendary exactitude, and slowness. The first story she wrote, “Days,” took three years to complete. She now averages a story a year. Her new collection of six stories, “Your Duck Is My Duck,” is her first book of new material since 2006.

She is always worth the wait. The new book is cannily constructed, and so instantly absorbing that it feels like an abduction. The stories themselves are simple and calmly recounted — a writer is taken up by wealthy patrons and bears witness to their disastrous marriage, a man attends his uncle’s funeral, another takes up a dog-walking gig.

But the sentences are wild, full of breakneck swerves; leaps in time, space and point of view; all kinds of syntactic fireworks. The title story begins: “Way back — oh, not all that long ago, actually, just a couple of years, but back before I’d gotten a glimpse of the gears and levers and pulleys that dredge the future up from the earth’s core to its surface — I was going to a lot of parties.” It’s a beautifully seasoned sentence — well-stuffed, tart and unexpected — but it also suggests Eisenberg’s preoccupying theme: how power conceals itself.

“The wars in the East were hidden behind a thicket of language: patriotism, democracy, loyalty, freedom — the words bounced around, changing purpose, as if they were made out of some funny plastic,” she wrote in her best-known story, “Twilight of the Superheroes,” set on Sept. 11 and included as the title story of her 2006 collection. “What did they actually refer to? It seemed that they all might refer to money.”

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Deborah EisenbergCreditDiana Michener

The stories in the new book take place in the present day, many of them in New York. The subways are a mess. The news — “like a magical substance in a fairy tale — was producing perpetually increasing awfulness from rock-bottom bad.” One story begins with an epigraph by Donald J. Trump: “I know words. I have the best words.”

At the best of times, Eisenberg’s characters are a frantic sort. Here we meet them in full, majestic swivet. “I’m hurtling through time, strapped to an explosive device, my life,” the narrator of the title story tells her therapist. “Plus, it’s beginning to look like a photo finish — me first, or the world.”

Each story is spikily distinct, but themes echo and chime. Many of the plots hinge on a death. Character types reappear. Beautiful, disappointed women cruelly visit their sorrows on their daughters; elderly women and recent college graduates strike up unlikely friendships.

“Yes, I had nightmares — children do,” the narrator in an old story, “All Around Atlantis,” recalls. “After all, it takes some time to get used to being alive. And how else, except in the clarity of dreams, are you supposed to see the world all around you that’s hidden by the light of day?” The ambiguous gift of Eisenberg’s characters is that they never become fully acclimated to our planet, to its beauty or horror. (Or mundanity, for that matter. Even the smallest activity remains monstrously difficult: “I began to unpack, but there was the issue of putting things wherever.”)

In the early work, her characters existed in a state of elegant alienation, a kind of anomie one review described uncharitably (but indelibly) as a 1980s “cocaine-and-radicchio brand of trendiness.” The later work is about emerging from isolation and complacency, about larger questions of what it means to live an ethical life — and, as Eisenberg has said, whether such a thing is even possible for an American. These stories emerge from the ashes of the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, out of despoliation and environmental plunder.

The title of the book comes from a Zen riddle. A Zen master, his disciple and a duck are trapped in a bottle. The master’s lesson, as recounted a bit drunkenly by the host of a dinner party, is: “It’s not my duck, it’s not my bottle, it’s not my problem.” Many of the characters exist on the precipice of this realization — they are queasy about their good fortune, heartsick at the way “money moves across the globe at the speed of thought, at the speed of poison in water, but when will these people” — refugees — ”be allowed outside the wire enclosures?” Always they are unsure what to do: “I was exhausted, though still wide awake, as I was so often — wide awake and thinking about things I couldn’t do anything about. Couldn’t do anything about. Couldn’t do anything about.”

On the face of it, “Your Duck Is My Duck” could be regarded as a politically mild book for Eisenberg. The world intrudes only at the margins — tumult is hinted at in unnamed countries, glimpses of unspecified migrants. But these are stories of painful awakenings and refusals of innocence. This book offers no palliatives to its characters or to its readers — no plan of action. But it is a compass.

A version of this article appears in print on

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of the New York edition

with the headline:

Stories a Long Time Coming, and Worth the Wait

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blogwonderwebsites · 6 years

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Nature Deborah Eisenberg Returns With Tart and Spiky Stories in ‘Your Duck Is My Duck’

Nature Deborah Eisenberg Returns With Tart and Spiky Stories in ‘Your Duck Is My Duck’ Nature Deborah Eisenberg Returns With Tart and Spiky Stories in ‘Your Duck Is My Duck’ http://www.nature-business.com/nature-deborah-eisenberg-returns-with-tart-and-spiky-stories-in-your-duck-is-my-duck/

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Deborah EisenbergCreditDiana Michener

A version of this article appears in print on

, on Page

of the New York edition

with the headline:

Stories a Long Time Coming, and Worth the Wait

. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

Read More | https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/25/books/review-your-duck-is-my-duck-deborah-eisenberg.html |

Nature Deborah Eisenberg Returns With Tart and Spiky Stories in ‘Your Duck Is My Duck’, in 2018-09-28 11:40:13

#Nature of Business in the Current Market

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naminethewriter · 27 days

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Monstrously Simple Days at College

Chapter One: Welcome Back

Masterpost | Next | Ao3

Story Summary: Humans and Monsters live together in harmony and that means they all get to go to college together. Roman, Remus, Janus, Virgil, Logan and Patton are big group of friends that may be a bit chaotic with all the different monster cultures they hail from. College itself is hard too, but with them all supporting each other, it can't be that bad, can it?

Content Warnings: None

~~*~~

“Remus, you ass, come down right now! You’re not going to get yourself in trouble five seconds after coming back to campus!”

Roman shields her eyes as she looks up at her brother, shaking out her own wings after the long flight back to college. Their second year was going to begin in only a few days and Remus is not going to ruin her reunion with her partners by being a dick and breaking the flight regulations immediately upon coming back.

Thankfully, it seems to have gotten the message as she watches them divebomb back to the ground, aiming directly for her.

“Don’t you dare, you stinking rat!” she screeches and takes off the ground herself, if only a few inches for the better mobility and reaction time she has in the air. Remus stops her fall only a short distance away from her and grins, his sharp teeth glinting in the sun.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist, I wasn’t going to actually hit you. Too many witnesses.”

“Ha ha,” Roman deadpans, setting her feet back on the ground. “Let’s just go to the dorms so I can pretend I don’t know you.”

Remus snorts.

“Too late for that, I think everyone on campus who isn’t a first year knows us by now.”

Roman chooses to ignore its comment. She is well aware that last year a few different events happened that made both her and her brother, as well as their group of friends rather well known.

“C’mon.”

She sets off, entering the campus grounds through the huge main gate, Remus close on her heels.

“It’s such bullshit that we can’t just fly on campus. Who the hell decided it was a good idea to enforce no-flight-zones anyway?”

“It’s for privacy and community, which you would know if you had paid any attention during orientation last year. I don’t want any randos to fly up to my windows either, so I completely understand why they forbid it on campus entirely. That and those drone things. They’re creepy.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get why we’re not allowed to do it around the dorms, but we’re not at the dorms! We’re basically in a park!”

“Go ask your boyfriend, they know stuff like that!”

“My boyfriend isn’t here! And I can’t fly up to find him because of stupid regulations!”

“Too bad for you.”

Roman quickens her steps as her eyes lock onto the thing she’s been searching for after having spotted it during her landing earlier. A black parasol.

“Why the fuck are you in such a hurry?” Remus complains behind her, but she ignores them, instead weaving skillfully through the crowd to reach her partner.

“My dark and stormy thundercloud! Wait up!” she calls ahead and the parasol comes to a stop as the person holding it turns around. The vampire looks at them with tired, bright purple eyes. They yawn before answering.

“Hello prin—“ They cut themselves off, staring at the chains and jewels attached to Roman’s horns with a look of confusion. “—cess?” they finish, uncertain. It takes Roman a moment to figure out what happened.

“Oh! Yes, feminine day. Our uncle came by a few weeks after our birthday and gave me a bunch of horn-jewelry as a present. Apparently, grandma told him I was ‘developing an interest’ and he dug through his horde. He had no idea I was using them as pronoun indicators, but he said he knew a dragon a few centuries back that did the same thing! So, I seemed to have revived a trend without even knowing it!” Roman laughs and Virgil’s shoulders drop in relief.

“I see. I was really confused for a second ‘cause they didn’t trigger anything. And I felt bad assuming just because the jewels are pink that it’s for a feminine day.”

“I can’t deny that that’s part of why I choose it for feminine days, you’re good. I’ll have Logan cast the identifying spell on them as soon as possible so that you don’t get confused by the rest.” It is practical to have a witch for a friend, who can just enchant her jewelry so that people could tell what they indicated with only one look.

“Speaking of Logan, have you seen them yet?” Remus cuts in, suddenly leaning very close to Virgil’s face. Roman hadn’t seen it move and blinks in surprise, but Virgil doesn’t seem startled in any way and just pushes Remus away from them.

“No. I literally just got here myself.”

“An amateur mistake. I arrived here yesterday. It was a lot quieter then,” a smug voice comments to the right of them. Roman turns to see her other partner Janus standing a few feet away, smiling self-satisfactorily at the group.

“What a blessed day to have my eyes fall onto my partners so quickly!” Roman exclaims delightedly and pulls Janus in for a hug. He is more open to public displays of affection than Virgil, who prefers cuddles on the couch.

“Everyone who sees me should consider themselves blessed,” Janus jokes and Virgil rolls their eyes at him.

“Sure, keep telling yourself that, kitty.”

Janus playfully hisses at them and they hiss back, before Remus, again, suddenly inserts herself back into the conversation.

“If you’ve been here a while, have you seen Logan yet?” he asks again, pouting.

“Maybe,” Janus grins. “I won’t tell you for free.”

“No riddles already!” Roman groans. “At least wait a few hours until you try to start your games.”

“I’m a sphynx, Roman. It’s what I do.”

“Yeah, but I’m tired from the flight and I wanna spend some time with my partners. Without my brother. I’ve seen it enough all summer,” she whines.

“I don’t wanna see your face anymore either,” Remus bites back.

“Aren’t you rooming together again?” Virgil asks and both dragons glare at them. They scoff but don’t comment further. As an only child, they never got their ‘brotherly bond’, and they had learned not to question it.

“Anyway!” Remus declares loudly. “I just wanna know where my—” It stops speaking mid-sentence, their head snapping to the side at a concerning angle and her nose twitching. He stands still for two seconds before suddenly sprinting into the crowd of students around them. The other three look after him in confusion.

“Ah,” Virgil says after a moment. “I think I see the tip of Logan’s hat.”

“Like a loyal puppy running after their owner,” Janus huffs and Roman elbows him lightly in the side.

“That’s not something you can make fun of her for. He hasn’t seen Logan almost the entire break, I would’ve been a mess if I hadn’t been able to see either of you for that long.”

Janus raises his hands in defeat.

“Fine. I won’t comment further.”

“Thank you,” Roman smiles and presses a kiss against his cheek. Janus turns his head away to hide his blush, causing Virgil to snort. Before Janus could retaliate however, a new voice carries over to them.

“Hey, kiddos!”

Looking towards the direction of the gate, they could see a pair of blonde ears peak out from between the sea of students and moments later, Patton has made his way over to them.

“It’s so good to see everyone!” he laughs, his tail wagging excitedly. “I missed you all so much!”

“Pat, I saw you last week,” Virgil comments, a fond expression on their face.

“Exactly! A whole week without seeing any of my kiddos is a long time!”

“Well, we’re all together now, padre. And we have a whole semester to have new adventures together!” Roman laughs and pulls him into a hug he gladly accepts.

“I’m looking forward to it! But where’s Lo and Remus? You said everyone’s here, but I don’t see them.”

“Oh, they’re over there somewhere,” Roman points behind her to where Remus had disappeared minutes earlier. “I think they need a moment alone since they haven’t seen each other in a while.”

“I see. Yeah, Logan had a lot of rituals and such to attend, right? I haven’t been able to meet up with them either.”

“I think he said something about planet alignments at the end of the semester and that’s why his coven had a lot of stuff going on,” Virgil adds.

“The positions of the planets do subtly influence the energy of the cosmos at all times, so I’m not surprised that a certain combination of placements would cause a bunch of witches to have a month-long spell fest,” Janus nods as well.

“Thank you for your contribution, oh wise one,” Virgil teases and Janus, seemingly having had enough from their continues comments, walks over to them and simply gives them a quick kiss. As he pulls away, Virgil’s cheeks have a purple tint, showing their embarrassment.

“You’re not the only one who can tease people, darling,” Janus purrs. Virgil half-heartedly hisses at him before hiding their face in the high collar of their cloak. Thankfully for them, Janus doesn’t get a chance to continue his teasing as Logan finally appears out of the crowd. Remus is with them, its arms wrapped around their midsection and firmly pressed to their back. It doesn’t look like they are willing to let go any time soon.

“Salutations everyone. I hope you all had a restful break.”

“Logan!” Patton exclaims happily and moves towards him for a hug but Roman quickly grabs his arm to stop him in the same moment that Remus lets out a growl from his position behind Logan and a small flame shoots out of her mouth.

“It would be best not to get too close to them at the moment, padre,” Roman advises, her hand patting his back in reassurance so that his ears don’t remain pressed to his head. “Remus is probably going to be a bit territorial with Logan for at least the next few hours since they haven’t seen each other in so long.”

Patton looks confused for a moment longer before his expression brightens and he exclaims, “Oh! Because Logan’s his ‘treasure’, right?”

“Exactly. Good memory, Pat.”

“Thanks! But why aren’t you the same way with Verge and Jan then? They’re your ‘treasure’, aren’t they?”

“They are. But I’ve also met up with them several times over the break. And if we couldn’t see each other in person, we texted and stuff.”

“It was very frustrating to be involved in an ever-elongating process of rituals and have my contact with the outside world limited,” Logan huffs, one of his hands continuously patting Remus’ arms around him to calm them from its sudden burst of protectiveness. “I understand the necessity of the procedures since a lot of the spells will not be able to be cast again for centuries, but it was a strenuous process that only ended five days ago. I went to bed afterwards and slept for three days, packed my things yesterday and arrived here earlier this morning.”

“Well, I’m glad you got to have at least some rest,” Patton smiles, and Logan nods to him gratefully.

“Speaking of rest, my arm’s getting tired from holding this parasol and I want to get out of the sun. It’s starting to give me a headache,” Virgil complains.

“Then let us be off to the dorms!” Roman links her arms with Virgil and Janus’ and starts dragging them off.

“Uh, that looks fun, can I join?” Patton giggles and hooks his arm to Janus’ free one when he offers.

“Want to join them or look for a quiet spot?” Logan asks Remus quietly, leaning their head back to see its face. Remus takes a moment to consider, watching his brother and their friends.

“As much as everything in me is screaming to keep you to myself right now, I can’t let Ro-bro get to our room alone. She’s going to start decorating everything and it’s going to piss me off and then we’re going to fight about it and I actually don’t want to get into trouble with the dorm manager on our first day. You’re already settled though, right?”

“Yes, meus, I am. I’m going to stay with you for the rest of the day.”

“Good.” Remus buries his head in Logan’s shoulder and tightens her grip on their midsection for a moment before pulling away a bit and grabbing their hand. “Let’s go before Ro gets it in her head that she can decide which side of the room she’s gonna get.”

~~*~~

Here art the character designs!

Drawn by @prince-rowan-of-the-forest, the link to their post is included in the Masterpost linked above!

Also, fun fact! Roman and Remus might both not identify as male, they agreed that they are each others brother at all times. So despite it being a feminine day for Roman, she is still Remus' brother 💖 💚

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naminethewriter · 17 days

Text

Monstrously Simple Days at College

Chapter Six: Entirely Scientific Interest

Masterpost | First | Previous | Ao3

Content Warnings: Remus starts a discussion about genitalia, comparing the differences between their monster species, it slips in some innuendos but there is no sexual content

~~*~~

Cultural Exchange is a course every single student at the college is required to take. Be they human or monster, there are no exceptions. The goal of the course is as it says in the name: to learn about the cultures of different people. The humans may only be one species, but they are so widespread that their cultures differ greatly even over relatively small distances, while there are many different species of monsters that do have some cultural differences even within their specific species but not as much variety as humans as a whole. So, there is a lot for both sides to learn.

With as many students as there are, there are several classes going on at once and thankfully for them, Roman, Remus, Logan, Janus, Virgil and Patton were all assigned to the same one. There is one big group project that everyone has to complete and that is to research one culture not represented in the group decided by drawing lots.

They got assigned sirens this time and everyone was happy with that selection. Merfolk in general tend to keep to themselves, but sirens even more so. Unlike what the legends usually say, they use their singing as a defense mechanism. With the continued intermingling of species however, an effort has been made to learn more about merfolk and in turn sirens, so there is some research for the group to fall back on.

Especially Logan and Janus are eager to learn, with the former being simply fascinated by any new knowledge and the latter because his entire nature directs him to gather as much information as possible.

Right now, Roman, Virgil, Janus, Logan and Remus are waiting for Patton in the room they have booked to plan their project. Patton has texted them his apologies for running late but offered to bring them coffee, so they had texted him their orders.

Roman and Virgil are passing the time on their phones, while Janus stares boredly off into space. Logan however is trying to get their partner to stop drawing crude pictures on the whiteboard.

“Remus, this is an inappropriate place for you to draw penises,” he sighs.

“Why’s that?” Remus asks, a smirk on its lips saying they know full well why.

“This is a classroom, meus, not your sketchbook.”

“Why does that matter?! Penises have their place in a classroom.”

Logan raises one of their eyebrows. “How so?”

“Simple anatomy, of course! And they’re different for all of us!” She begins a new drawing next to the penis he already drew. “Look, human cocks have different heads than us dragons! We’re more spear-like and they’re harder, too. Plus there’s some scales along ours.”

“Fascinating,” Logan murmurs as they closely study Remus’ drawings, apparently now fully convinced of their scientific merit.

“Aaaand, ours don’t just hang lose like we’re just begging for them to get damaged. We have sheaths.”

“I was aware of that. In fact, most monster species have them. It’s an interesting similarity between such a variety of biologies.”

“Witches are the same as humans, right?”

“Remus, do you have to ask your partner about their genitals when I’m in the same room?” Roman complains, gagging over her phone.

“It’s simple anatomy, my dear,” Janus chimes in, grinning like Cheshire cat. “Their interest is purely scientific. Weren’t you listening?” Roman gives him a blank look but doesn’t feel like commenting further, so instead she taps on Virgil’s shoulder to show them a meme she just found. Virgil looks over and pulls out on of their earbuds to talk to her about it, the two of them dissolving into their own little world.

Logan ignores their interruption and keeps their attention on Remus. “Indeed. Physically we are the same as humans, but we differ in our spiritual makeup. Though I could alter my form however I please with the right spells.”

“Oh, kinda like Janny then, right? Since you can just shapeshift at will?” Remus turns directly to Janus for that second part who’s studying his nails with disinterest now that the subject of his teasing is preoccupied.

“In a way. My form right now is not my default, and I can have pretty much any parts I want.”

“Truly fascinating,” Logan says as they lean closer, watchful eyes studying Janus’ form. “I was aware of this being a chosen form but not to what extent.”

“Well, it’s not like I can do whatever I want,” Janus clarifies, fully turning towards them. “I can’t change my hair color or grow my limbs longer. But since we sphynxes don’t really have a sex as most others, I’m not as restricted there.”

“But most sphynxes are perceived to be women, right?” Logan wonders, tilting his head as he tries to recall whatever information he has read about them so far.

“Most of my kind would choose ‘woman’ as the label for them before ‘man’, yes. But few actually care. I am pretty much an outlier there.”

“You’re so lucky you don’t have to worry about STDs and pregnancy shit,” Remus sighs. “Interspecies protection is such a hassle to keep track of.”

“What do you mean, he doesn’t have to worry about such things?” Logan asks, their brow furrowed.

“Well, you know how we don’t really know how sphynxes reproduce, right? They keep it this big secret for only them to know.” Remus waits for Logan to nod before continuing its explanation. “Since they do it in that mysterious way we don’t know about, they are completely incompatible with our reproduction systems, so they can’t get pregnant, can’t get anyone else pregnant and don’t even contract the diseases that correlate to genitals.”

“My form is simply an imitation on the most basic level,” Janus adds, grinning at Logan’s stumped expression. “On a genetic level, I am completely different from you. We don’t have the same cells at all. So I can’t get sick with most of the common diseases or really transfer them either.”

“I will need to have an in-depth discussion with you on this subject sometime,” Logan insists, their eyes practically glowing with curiosity.

“Earn it,” Janus says simply. They are all used to the sphynx’s challenges, so Logan’s face simply morphs from curious to determined and he nods.

“I will.”

Remus meanwhile grew bored of their conversation and hones in on his brother’s other partner.

“Hey, Virgy! What about yours?”

“What about my what?” Virgil asks, not having paid much attention since they were focused on Roman.

“Your penis!” Remus calls delighted, hoping to get a fun reaction. Behind Virgil, Roman pulls a face but doesn’t try to interject again.

Virgil pauses for a moment, staring at Remus who simply stares back.

“Why do you think I have one?”

They actually manage to dumbfound Remus with that one as it takes it a second to respond.

“You don’t?”

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. How would you know, you’ve never seen me naked.”

“You offering?” Remus grins, having recovered quickly but Virgil simply shows them the finger. “Boo, you’re no fun.”

“Stop trying to get at my partners’ private parts, Remus!” Roman groans. “Can we change the topic, please?”

“Just don’t engage, darling, you’re only going to rile her up more,” Janus purrs, hopping off of the table he’s been lounging on. He walks over to his partners and leans closer to Roman, grinning. “Instead, let’s talk about when you’re going to taste my dust again.”

Roman slips her phone back into her pocket to fully focus on her boyfriend immediately.

“Oh, please, you won last time only because I wasn’t feeling well then.”

“Keep telling yourself that, dear. Maybe you’ll believe it eventually,” Janus teases, his wings shuddering behind him in anticipation of another flying race already. Roman’s wings similarly shift behind her, though she is careful with the left practically leaning on Virgil, who looks at them, annoyed.

“Not this again,” they groan. “Just leave me out of it, please.”

“But we need a referee, sweetheart!” Janus pouts dramatically and not at all sincerely. “You can’t just leave us hanging!”

“Oh please,” Virgil scoffs, pushing Janus away from them when he tries to lean closer to them with his puppy eyes. Janus is rooming with Patton, he’s learned a lot about looking like a kicked puppy, but Virgil wouldn’t be swayed. “You don’t listen to me anyway and 9 out of 10 times you need photographic evidence to see who won. I am utterly unnecessary.”

“How dare!” Roman gasps, taking Virgil’s phone out of their hand to grab it instead and hold it close. “How could my wonderful knight ever think they’re unnecessary! You are most integral, no matter what! Even if your presence is simple moral support, you’re doing your part!”

Virgil’s face turns slightly purple and they pull their hand back, mumbling something incoherent under their breath. They look over to Remus and Logan, hoping they weren’t paying attention and thankfully they weren’t as they were now discussing what looked like a drawing of an anatomically correct heart.

“You could also just join the race. Maybe your speed has increased since the last time,” Janus teases and Virgil’s head snaps back to him, the purple tint on their cheeks becoming stronger.

“Oh, shut up,” they grumble.

“Stop teasing them, Janus,” Roman chides lightly, but her grin shows that she’s enjoying teasing their partner just as much. “Their bat form is just not made for racing.”

“It would definitely win an adorableness contest though.”

“Oh, for sure.”

“Shut up, both of you!” Virgil whines, hiding in the collar of their cloak.

“Uhhhh, what are we teasing the emo about?” Remus asks as it bounds over, grinning delightedly.

“Remus,” Logan sighs but doesn’t otherwise interfere.

“You don’t get to tease, that’s partner privilege,” Roman says, sticking her tongue out at her brother who returns the gesture.

“We were talking about racing actually, Remus. Want to join sometime?” Janus offers and Remus’ eyes brighten immediately.

“Fuck yeah!”

“Nooo, you’re just going to cheat!”

“Am not!”

“So are!”

“I guess we do need you to referee after all, darling,” Janus purrs at Virgil with a sly smile as the twins continue to bicker and Logan tries fruitlessly to get them to stop.

Thankfully for them, that’s when the door opens and Patton finally tumbles in.

“Sorry, kiddos!” he huffs, placing the palette of coffee orders on a table. “The coffee shop was super full and the barista looked on the verge of tears so I offered to help her out for a few minutes until the line was under control. But I got a nice discount on the drinks and a bagel as a thank you!”

“Thank you for buying us coffee, Patton,” Logan says as he grabs the cup marked for him, as well as Remus’. The others also say their thanks as the drinks get distributed and they all enjoy a few sips.

“Oh yeah, Pat! I have a question!” Remus announces suddenly.

“Sure, kiddo, shoot!”

“Is your dick furry?”

“Oh, for the love of gold, Remus! Shut up!”

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naminethewriter · 19 days

Text

Monstrously Simple Days at College

Chapter Five: Dragon Scales

Masterpost | First | Previous | Next | Ao3

Content Warnings: Roman hits themselves with a knife but since they are a dragon, it doesn't actually hurt them

~~*~~

“Roman!” Remus shouts, as they burst into their dorm room, making Roman jump. They were trying to learn their lines for a play but now their script lays scattered on the floor.

“Remus!” they hiss, scrambling off their bed. “Why are you yelling? Didn’t you say you were going to cook?” Each dorm floor has an own kitchen everyone on the floor can use, provided they clean up after themselves and bring their own ingredients. With such a variety of species and cultures gathering at the college, it was hard to cater to all tastes at all times. Roman and Remus weren’t picky eaters, but Remus does enjoy cooking for herself from time to time.

“I was! And I was cutting up some onions and wasn’t really paying attention to the knife and it hit my finger! But it slid right off! My scales hardened again, I think!” Remus hops down excitedly and Roman can’t help but be swept up themselves.

“You sure?”

“I think so! Tried a few good whacks with the knife and I had to hit pretty hard to even feel it!” Remus holds out the sharp tool in front of him, apparently having taken it with them in its excitement. “Want me to try it out on you?”

“I’m not letting you hit me with a knife!” Roman knows better than that. “Did you even clean that? You said you were cutting onions, that’s gonna hurt a lot if it breaks through.”

“I didn’t!” Remus says it so cheerfully that Roman suspects they left it dirty intentionally.

“Give it here.” Roman grabs a wet wipe and the knife, cleaning the blade before setting their hand flat on their desk. They had done a test over the summer to see how hard their scales had gotten over the last year and they were curious to see if the difference is really as remarkable as Remus claims. Their hand may look like humanoid flesh right now, but that is just a cosmetic thing to blend in. It is just as hard as their scales in full dragon form.

They start tapping the knife against their hand, first very lightly and then progressively putting more strength into it. It takes them a good while to hit a level they can feel even a twinge of pain.

Remus is right, their scales have definitely hardened again.

“And? And? And?” their twin asks impatiently as they hand back the knife.

“Yes, they’re thicker.” They both grin widely. The thickening of their scales is an important step to growing up in dragon culture as they become less and less vulnerable and in turn are allowed to go out into the world more. In the first few years of their lives, Roman and Remus had hardly been allowed to leave their home, both their mothers fussing over them. They also wanted them to wait to go to college but their father and one of their aunts had convinced them that it was time to let them experience the world on their own.

And it led to them both finding wonderful friends and amazing partners, though that hadn’t stopped their mothers worries completely. They should write them a letter with the good news soon, Roman decides.

“I wonder how much force I would need now to get a good cut in my arm,” Remus wonders aloud, their voice startling Roman out of their thoughts. Their brother was holding the knife close to its face, studying the blade.

“Don’t you dare,” Roman protests. “You’re gonna get blood all over our room. At least do it in the bathroom! And finish your cooking first, you left the onions out in the open, didn’t you?”

“Mayyyyybe~ But this is so much more interesting!” Remus cackles before darting out of the room.

“Remus! You’re going to get banned from the kitchen again!” Roman yells, running after it. One, because they didn’t really want their brother to cut herself and two, because they are really looking forward to that dinner Remus had promised.

Life with a twin is pain, Roman decides.

They wouldn’t have it any other way.

#namiswriting #Monstrously Simple Days at College #Chapter 5: Dragon Scales #creativitwins #ts roman #roman sanders #ts remus #remus sanders #fluff #sibling squabbling #the twins are handling knives more or less responsibly #monster au #college au #sanders sides #fanfiction #reblogs are appreciated

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naminethewriter · 25 days

Text

Monstrously Simple Days at College

Chapter Two: Platonic Cuddling at Midnight

Masterpost | Previous | Next | Ao3

Content Warnings: None

~~*~~

“I’m sorry you have to do this…”

“Pat, I thought we got it through your thick skull last semester! None of us mind doing this with you,” Virgil sighs, pressing more of their weight into Patton behind them. They are sitting on Patton’s bed in the dorm he shares with Janus and are currently making their way through the Lilo and Stitch series.

Patton whines quietly and Virgil twists their neck to look up at him, seeing his ears pressed against his skull.

“I mean it, Pat. We all know you consider us your pack and that that means that during full moons you’re going to be a bit more clingy than usual. The others would be here too if Logan hadn’t run out of those weed things that can only be harvested under a full moon for some reason. Honestly, herbology sounds like a fucking nightmare.”

“Language! And I know you don’t mind it usually but when it’s just one of you here it gets even worse. Just the thought of you leaving the bed is making me kinda upset…”

Virgil reaches up to scratch behind his ear in comfort.

“I have no plans of getting up, I’m very comfortable where I am. Plus you’re always nice and warm. And unlike the others, I don’t need to use the bathroom as often.”

Patton’s arms tighten around Virgil slightly and appreciatively. He also nuzzles against the back of their head.

“Still, I would feel more comfortable with at least one of the others here so you can at least move around if you want to.”

“Yeah, Janus and Roman going with is still kind of stupid. Like, I get why Remus is tagging along, he’s still super attached to Logan, but I swear Janus just went along because he wants to cause some kind of chaos and Roman then decided he had to do damage control. I’m gonna text them to get their asses back here.”

“Nooooo, you don’t have to!” Patton whines, reaching for Virgil’s phone but they evade his grasp. “I don’t want them to come back just because I’m a bit clingy!”

“Oh please, Pat, it’s not bad that you have needs. And it’s not like they’re out for anything important. Logan will probably thank you later for getting them of his back.”

“Well… if you say so.” Patton’s voice is still hesitant, but his tail is wagging at the thought of at least two of his packmates returning soon.

“Aaaand Roman says he’s dragging Jan back here. Will take them at least another twenty minutes because apparently, they got separated from Logan and Remus anyway, so no teleports. But with their flying speed it shouldn’t make much of a difference.”

“What do you mean they got separated?” Patton sits up straighter, in turn justling Virgil who quickly soothes his worries.

“Everything’s fine. I already texted Logan and it seems like Ro and Jan started arguing about something so Remus and him just left them behind. They’re still on campus grounds so they didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“But it’s the middle of the night!” Patton cries, struggling to get out from behind Virgil and out of bed. Virgil quickly turns to face him, grabs his arms gently but firmly and presses him back on the bed. Thankfully, their vampire strength gives them a bit of an upper hand, though with it being a full moon, they’re sure that Patton could break free if he really tried.

“Breathe, Pat. In, two, three, four. Hold, two, three, four, five…”

Virgil continues counting until Patton’s eyes stop darting towards the door and remain locked with theirs.

“The others are just fine. Logan has protective spells up at all times and Remus can kick just about anyone’s ass. As for Janus and Roman, they’re no slouches either and are both very fast. Not to mention, they’re still on campus grounds, they’re safe.”

“Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. Sorry.”

Virgil sits back, letting go of Patton so that he can get himself comfortable again.

“Don’t apologize, Pat. You’re protective of us and that’s super sweet. And I’d love to watch you lecture the two when they get here.”

“They’re your partners though? Shouldn’t you be trying to get them out of trouble?” “Eh,” Virgil chuckles as they cuddle back up against Patton, “where would the fun in that be?”

#namiswriting #Monstrously Simple Days at College #Chapter Two: Platonic Cuddling at Midnight #platonic moxiety #background anaroceit #mentioned intrulogical #ts patton #patton sanders #ts virgil #virgil sanders #fluff #monster au #college au #sanders sides #fanfiction #reblogs are appreciated

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naminethewriter · 21 days

Text

Monstrously Simple Days at College

Chapter Four: An Unusual Trade

Masterpost | First | Previous | Next | Ao3

Content Warnings: None

~~*~~

A loud and insistent knocking breaks through the calm classical piano music playing in Virgil and Logan’s dorm. Beethoven, Bach and Mozart are common composers the two listen to, since Logan found it the best background music for him to study to and Virgil associates them with their childhood as Beethoven and them share a birthyear. Their mother, who had already been a big fan of Bach, kept up with Mozart and Beethoven for their entire careers and often played their music on the piano. Virgil can always feel the tension in their body leave them when he hears one of their pieces played.

Now that tension was returning however as the knocking doesn’t stop.

“Would you mind getting it, V?” Logan asks, hunched over their desk. “I am almost finished with this text and would hate to lose my place.”

“Yeah, I got it, L. Might just punch whoever it is in the face.” They mutter that last part under their breath as they swing their legs off the bed and head towards the door. “Who the hell—”

“I’m here for a trade, guardian of night!” Remus interrupts them as soon as the door is open.

Virgil just stares at her, then at her brother who is just behind them.

“What?”

“A trade!” Remus proclaims again, louder this time. “The witch for this inferior dragon!”

“Inferior!” Roman sputters, wings flaring out behind him in offense. “How dare you besmirch my honor, you filthy—”

“Would you both shut up before you make this entire corridor hate us!” Virgil hisses, massaging their temples. “What you’re saying is that you want to spend time with Logan and to do that you’re kicking Roman out of your dorm and pushing him on to me?”

Roman pouts at them and Virgil just slyly smiles back which earns them an eyeroll from their partner.

“Got it in one, Scaramore! Now where’s my witch?”

Remus pushes past Virgil, and only then do they notice that it is literally dragging Roman along by gripping his wrist, though Roman doesn’t seem to give him much resistance. At least until they’re in the room and Remus bounds over to Logan. That’s when Roman shakes his arm free and Remus lets him go without even looking at him, instead standing behind Logan’s chair and gently resting its head on theirs, silently waiting for them to stop reading.

“Sorry for just barging in,” Roman sighs after Virgil closed the door and comes to stand next to him. “Remus was just getting super antsy because Logan wasn’t answering her texts, so I told them to just go and check on him in person and then it came up with this whole trading idea. And I would love to just hang out with you, no fancy dates, just chilling but if you’d rather be alone, I can suffer third wheeling them.”

He nods over to the desk where Logan has allowed Remus to place her hand over theirs while they finish up.

“Nah, it’s fine,” Virgil shrugs. “I wasn’t really doing anything anyway. And I wouldn’t leave you to suffer those two being their weird interpretation of sappy.” Roman snorts, lightly bumping against their shoulder before sitting down on their bed, sighing contently and shaking out his wings. Virgil lets themselves plop down next to him, pulling their phone over to close Tumblr. They’ve already been scrolling through their dash for at least an hour. It was good to have a distraction.

Their phone screen just went black when a thump from the desk announces that Logan is done reading. He and Remus talk quietly between themselves for a moment and while Virgil has good enough hearing that he could’ve listened in if they wanted to, they don’t. Then Logan stands, smiling over to them and Roman.

“I will be over with Remus in her room then,” they nod to Virgil. “If you need anything, you can text me.”

“Nothing’s gonna come up, L,” Virgil shrugs and Logan adjusts his glasses.

“You never know. Anyway, since I have classes early tomorrow, I will return before 10pm.” They give a sharp look to Remus, who pouts at them but doesn’t protest. “Have a nice evening, you two.”

“You, too, Pocket Protector!” Roman salutes as his brother impatiently pulls Logan out of the room. The door clicks shut behind them and Roman lets himself collapse on the bed with a sigh. “I love it, they’re my brother, but she can be so much sometimes.”

“Maybe look at a mirror,” Virgil laughs. “You’re both so similar and so different, it’s insane.”

“Shut up,” Roman whines, weakly throwing his arm in Virgil’s direction. “I know that already. I just wanna chill and watch a movie or something. I’m beat.”

“Fine, fine,” Virgil huffs fondly. They all had a long week behind them. They still needed to survive tomorrow but afterwards was finally the weekend. “Any ideas on what to watch?”

“Disney.”

“Yeah, I figured, but that hardly narrows it down.”

Before Roman can say any more, a knock again sounds through the room.

“You think Logan forgot something?” Roman wonders, sitting up.

“Nah, he would knock once and then come in. Maybe he sent Remus to get something? Though I doubt it.”

Virgil gets up to open the door again, at least this visitor was a more polite knocker than Remus.

As the door swings open, it reveals a very displeased looking Janus, who immediately groans.

“Hello to you too,” Virgil says amused, though they step aside to let his second partner in, who immediately makes a beeline to the bed and let’s himself fall down on it, placing his head in Roman’s lap.

“I am so done with this week,” Janus whines, not even hiding his annoyed-ness behind his usual snark. That immediately clues both Roman and Virgil in that something is seriously bothering him.

“What happened?” Roman asks, stroking Janus’ hair, pulling a soft purr out of him. Virgil joins them on the bed, moving Janus’ legs so he can sit down beneath him, gently massaging his shins.

“Ugh, Patton’s been driving me up a wall. I love the guy, you know I do, but he’s been just insufferable the last few days.”

“How so?”

“He has some coursework due and been struggling with it. I offered him my help, but he insists that he can get it done by himself. Which would be fine if he wasn’t constantly whining and yelping unhappily while he does so! Plus, his tail goes haywire, too, hitting against his chair. He’s not even aware of it most of the time so even if I ask him to stop it only helps for like a minute at most. Which is also why he can’t do it in the library! I just wanted to read a book in peace, but he just wouldn’t shut up! So, I decided to get out of there before I force him to let me help.”

“A good decision,” Roman agrees. “I’m sure Pat will make it up to you with cookies.”

“He better.” Janus takes a deep breath, the tension in his shoulders slipping away. “I’m not really mad at him.”

“We know,” Virgil reassures.

“It’s understandable that it can get frustrating though. But you’re here now and we can just have a relaxing evening.”

“Yes please,” Janus sighs, pushing his head more into Roman’s hand.

“We were trying to find out what to watch before you came in.”

Janus sits up abruptly, staring at them both accusatory.

“How come I wasn’t invited to this little hangout in the first place?” he pouts. “How often do you do this, leaving me all alone to the coldness of my bed?”

“Oh, stop being dramatic. That’s Roman’s schtick.”

“Hey!”

“And we didn’t plan this. Remus decided he wanted its boyfriend to themselves, so she dragged Roman over here to get their room to himself. We probably would have texted you after we picked something to do.”

“Probably? You wound me, Virgil!”

“We literally just sat down,” Roman adds, again patting Janus’ hair which gets him to relax a bit. “You seem more on edge than usual, are you not sleeping well again?”

Janus sighs, rubbing his temples.

“With the whole Patton thing, I had a hard time concentrating on my own work. And maybe I had a nightmare a few days ago.” He says that last bit quietly and Roman simply hugs him from behind, gently wrapping his wings around him.

“We’re here for you if you want to talk about it.”

“I know.”

“That sounds like someone who doesn’t want to talk about it,” Virgil guesses, eyebrows raised. Janus nods.

“Maybe tomorrow.”

Roman squeezes him one more time before letting go and moving further onto the bed to get comfortable.

“Then let us rest the topic and find something to watch. My vote is for the Emperor’s New Groove!”

“Yeah, I’m cool with that,” Virgil shrugs, pulling out their box full of Disney DVDs. What can they say? They were there for the invention of VHS and DVD and they 100% prefer them over streaming services. Logan and them have a nice set-up of a tv connected with a DVD player, a switch and a PS4.

They pop the DVD in and move back to the bed where Roman is waiting for them with open arms. They’re leaning back against the headrest, wings spread wide and invitingly. Janus has already squished himself between the wall and Roman, his head resting against their thigh. His eyes already seem to grow heaving and Virgil hopes that he can find the rest he clearly needs.

“Want any snacks?” they ask, keeping their voice low. Janus just hums noncommittally, probably in no mood to move while Roman looks thoughtful.

“If you have something not messy or sticky?”

“I’ve got some gummy bears?”

“Sounds good.”

Virgil opens the snack cabinet they share with Logan and pulls out a bag of candy and a bowl, transferring the gummy over so that the rustling of the bag won’t disturb them during the movie. Then they get back to the bed, plop the bowl onto Roman’s lap before taking their seat at his side.

“Thank you, my darling knight,” Roman smiles, pressing a kiss to their cheek before fishing out a gummy from the bowl.

“Shut up and watch the film,” Virgil laughs, leaning into his side. This wasn’t what they had planned for the night, but this works just fine for them.

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naminethewriter · 23 days

Text

Monstrously Simple Days at College

Chapter Three: Don't Disturb the Witch

Masterpost | First | Previous | Next | Ao3

Content Warnings: Janus is irritating Logan on purpose but it is part of their friendship and Logan isn't too annoyed by it

~~*~~

It took Logan only two weeks to get over their annoyance of a summer spent doing nothing but rituals and potion brewing and get back to doing those things in his free time to satisfy his curiosity. Thankfully the college provides small laboratories for the witch students to use that are shared between a group of four to five. Logan has managed to book the room for twelve hours to use it undisturbed and they are determined to make good use of it, especially since Remus is busy with its own project.

The potion recipe he had selected for today would take up almost all of the allotted twelve hours with a little time designated for clean-up after, so they are working on a strict schedule. Which is why as soon as they enter the room, they get to work. He sets up the book holder by the cauldron and uses a fire spell to ignite the wood placed underneath the huge metal container to get it heated up and ready to boil the water he adds next. Afterwards, he bustles from cabinet to cabinet to gather the ingredients he’ll need and neatly arranges them for later use.

They get absorbed into their work immediately. Potion brewing is a very routine process that Logan enjoys immensely – at least if it’s for their own ambitions and not just because the coven decided they had to help out.

Well, that wasn’t entirely fair, Logan had enjoyed the experiences he’d made over the summer, a lot of it had been fascinating and he’d learned a lot but there was also a lot of mundane, easy and repetitive task sprinkled in between that he could have done without.

But that was in the past, now he has a potion he is actually excited to work on to brew.

Several hours into the process, Logan is busy carefully counting how many times he’s stirring the tincture when the door to the laboratory opens.

“I have this room booked until 3am, so whatever it is you need, do it quietly and get out, please,” Logan says without looking up and while he continues to count. The door closes again, and they assume the other party left. They are proven wrong as a hand comes into view that glides along the edge of the cauldron, sharp claws scratching against the metal. Thankfully for them, it was not currently boiling and as such not hot to the touch.

“Hey Logan,” a familiar voice purrs before Janus is suddenly hopping to sit up on the cauldron’s edge to Logan’s right, his sharp grin only a short distance from Logan’s face. His wings keep him stabilized on the edge, one of them lightly tapping Logan’s left shoulder.

“Janus, I do not have time for your games right now,” Logan sighs, risking a short glance up to his friend, who just continues smirking at him. “I thought I made myself clear that I was busy with this potion for the rest of the day.”

“Oh, relax a bit Logan, you’re working too hard!” Janus laughs, lightly bumping his shoulder against Logan’s. “Taking a break won’t kill you.”

“If it eases your worries to know, I have taken several breaks as there are times in the process of brewing this potion where it has to rest and is not to be interfered with. I have eaten adequately and hydrated myself. But right now, I need to concentrate.”

“Concentrate on what? You’re just stirring in a circle.”

“Yes, and I need to do so precisely 500 times. So I am counting.”

“What are you at then? 54? 167? 349?”

“I know you are attempting to throw off my count, Janus, and I do not appreciate it. Please leave and find someone else to entertain you.”

“Aw, but Logan!” Janus pouts very dramatically and not at all sincerely. “I barely have had the opportunity to spend some time with you since the semester started! Remus has been keeping you all to themselves and I’m missing my friend!”

Logan is not about to fall for their dramatics.

“If you are so keen on spending time with me, you should have brought it up to me in my free time. I am working right now and would appreciate if you no longer disturb me.”

“So cold! I am saddened beyond belief! How can you be so indifferent to my attempts to simply spend time with you.”

“If you insist on spending time with me right this minute, then I would suggest a type of parallel play where the two of us engage in different activities while in the same space. If you would like to read a book, I will not mind you remaining in the room. As long as you let me continue with my work.”

“You’re no fun, Logan,” Janus groans, leaning harder into Logan’s side this time which almost interrupts his steady stirring.

“I am not in the mood for your jokes, Janus,” Logan presses out through grit teeth as he tenses his arms to keep the stirs even. “I am busy. Respect my boundaries or I will make you do so.”

“Uhhh, that sounds like a challenge, Logan.”

“It is not, Janus. It is an ultimatum. Leave now.”

“What could you possibly do to make me leave when you’re so busy with your counting?” Janus hops down from his perch and stalks around Logan, his wings fluttering in excitement. “You’re stuck in place, aren’t you? Unable to take your eyes off of your work for more than a fraction of a second. And don’t most of your spells need at least one free hand?”

“They do indeed. Thankfully for me, that makes 500.”

Before Janus can react, Logan pulls his staff out of the potion as that’s what he was stirring with, and with his left hand he pulls something out of his pocket.

“Now, wait—” Janus starts objecting but is cut off as Logan blows a handful of dark blue dust in his face. He starts spluttering and tries to wipe the stuff off of his face but quickly, he feels his consciousness fading.

“Wha—” he mumbles. “Wha’ di’ you dooo?”

“It’s a simple sleeping spell,” Logan explains matter-of-factly. “Judging by the rings under your eyes, it seems to me like you need the rest.” Janus glares at them but before he can retort, his knees give in and Logan quickly casts a levitation spell to catch him. They carefully float him over to the large window where the last beams of the setting sun spill into the room. The wide windowsill is covered with pillows and blankets as many a witch tends to spend a night in the laboratory while working on a more complex spell or potion.

Janus is slightly snoring in his sleep by the time Logan lowers him down on the comfy cushions and pulls a blanket over him.

“You really should find a healthier way to cope with your insomnia,” Logan whispers as they watch their friend sleep. “I will talk with the others about this tomorrow.”

Then they go back to their potion. They still have another five hours of work ahead of them after all.

#namiswriting #Monstrously Simple Days at College #Chapter 3: Don't Disturb the Witch #platonic loceit #ts logan #logan sanders #ts janus #janus sanders #fluff #well kinda #janus is annoying on purpose #but logan knows how to retaliate so it's fine #monster au #college au #sanders sides #fanfiction #reblogs are appreciated

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