#My remile ribs

[romansleftshoulderpad]

Dr. Picani likes cottagecore. Remy is dark academia. They are in love.

[just-call-me-the-intrusive-thot]

The Gang Finds A Backroom Baby

Here we have my fic for the @sandersidesbigbang !

Thank you to my lovely beta reader @threecrowsinatrenchcoat for their help (and for their comments which were hilarious and an absolute mood)!

I’ll be updating with additional links as I have them! I hope you all enjoy!

-

Walmart AU: (almost) everyone works at walmart and they’re all gay and stupid.

Word Count: 10K ~

Pairings: Romantic Prinxiety, Logicality, Dukeceit, and Remile (mentioned)

Content Warnings: Remus being Remus, swearing, mentions of dermatillomania, implied and outright child abandonment and neglect, there’s probably innuendos in here too tbh, brief spider mention

Summary: When the gang finds an abandoned baby in the backrooms, they are given the task of taking care of it until the proper authorities can arrive. Despite initial trepidation and anxieties, saying goodbye proves to be much harder than everyone anticipated...

~~

The wind and hail came pouring down as Patton and Remus turned up to work that morning, both nursing their freezing hands and drying their soaked hair as they headed towards the employees area of the backrooms. Remus all the while was animatedly regaling Patton with a story from his college days that had the latter contemplating requesting for Logan to schedule the former in for a psychological evaluation.

“So I’m just sitting there, shirt off, fuckin’ barbecue sauce on my ti- the fuck is that?!”, Remus queried, nudging Patton in the ribs. 

The shorter man yelped and nudged him right back, “Remus! Don’t do that! Your elbows are so pointy-!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve got sick knife ‘bos, whatever! Look!”

Patton followed Remus’ pointed finger towards a box placed rather haphazardly in front of the back rooms' fire escape doors. It didn’t match any of the other boxes, missing the store’s logo and bearing corners that were worn and crushed. Damp patches and ripped seams implied it might’ve been moved inside sometime in the very early morning when the weather had begun to get violent. 

The thing looked like it’d been through some real shit, and Remus was more than ready to investigate. 

Patton was a little more hesitant despite the allure of the mystery box, “Shouldn’t we wait for Logan and the others? What if it’s something dangerous?”

“Good, might spice shit up around here!”, Remus cackled, kneeling down to excitedly give the box an experimental poke. Nothing.

Patton joined him, ready with his phone poised to call 911 if it was indeed something dangerous. Like a rabid raccoon. Or a tiny crocodile. Or … god forbid… a spider's nest. The thought alone made Patton shudder down to his core. He literally shuddered when Remus ripped open the top of the box, only for his eyes to widen and his smirk to drop into a startled O shape.

Pat peered into the box and…. Oh.

--

Virgil, Janus, and Logan all managed to get inside the store before the weather outside soaked them to the bone. Whoever had pissed off the almighty Thor was surely about to receive a hefty complaint from Virgil in the form of a shiny new black eye if Janus was reading his downright infuriated body language correctly. 

“I can’t believe we have to fucking work today,”, Virgil groaned and ran his hands down his face, probably praying his make up was as waterproof as advertised, “You’d think rampant capitalism would take one fucking day off.”

Janus rolled his eyes. He swiped at the water droplets lining his wide brimmed black hat while lamenting the inevitable dampness he’d be sure to feel later. He fished his beanie out of his long coat’s pocket, musing flatly, “As long as consumers are willing to brave this weather, the higher ups will send us out here to suffer. You know this as well as I do, it was the first bullet point covered in employee orientation.”

Unimpressed but visibly unable to entirely disagree with Janus’ sarcasm, Logan simply closed his umbrella and shook off the water and hail stones, “Be that as it may, let’s just hope this shift goes by smoothly. And preferably with little to no customers.”. 

The darker gentlemen at Logan’s side gave a harmonious grumble of agreement when they were interrupted by frantic footsteps quickly gaining on them. Janus recognised the squeaks and heavy clunking of Remus’ favourite thick black combat boots, confirming it was him as a rubbery skid and clatter was followed by a rather colourful expletive.

“Oh Lord give me strength...”, Logan groaned as he, Janus, and Virgil watched Remus try to hop the checkout to reach them instead of taking the extra ten seconds to go around it.

“Remus, what on Earth-?!”

“A BABY!!”, he wildly squawked, his expression halfway between excitement and bewilderment as he flopped over the checkout and face planted the tile floor. 

“A what?!”. Virgil narrowed his eyes, Janus helping Remus to his feet while Logan was still in the phase of working out what the hell Remus had just said, “The fuck do you mean ‘a baby’?!....... Have you been feeding the fucking raccoons out back again, I swear to god-”

Once Remus was helped up, he gestured to the backroom so quickly he nearly took out Janus’ eye, interrupting Virgil in the process, “NO, I MEAN IT’S A FUCKIN’ BABY, VIRGE!!”. Remus grabbed Janus’ arm and began hauling him towards the backroom while Virgil and Logan were left to follow them, “This is so fucked up, holy shit-!!”

Remus kept babbling as they went, but Janus couldn’t make out a word of it; his brain was still trying to catch up to his reality. They were just past the door to the backroom when Janus’ brain finally let what Remus had been yelling about sink fully in.

“WAIT WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU MEAN “A BABY”-?!”

His echoing exclamation was cut off as a tiny wail resounded and Janus broke eye contact with Remus to search for the source; Patton, stood there with a crying honest-to-god human baby in his arms. In the moment, you could’ve bowled Janus over with a leaf.

“.... Holy fucking shit, it’s an actual baby.”, was all he could utter in disbelief. He looked frantically between both Remus and Patton just as Virgil and Logan caught up.

“Why is there a baby, what the emphatic FUCK, Remus?!”

Remus shrugged, “Fuck if I know-!”

Patton shushed them both as he tried to calm down the child in his arms, “Language!”

Remus rolled his eyes at him. Virgil seemed utterly lost for words, and while Logan was much in the same boat, he stepped forward to approach Patton and the child. From a cursory glance, it couldn’t have been more than a year old, clad in an oversized child’s onesie that was in good need of a proper cleaning. Thankfully, it’d stopped crying, simply whimpering instead while Patton tried his best to keep it warm and settled in his arms.

“Where did you find it?”, Logan finally managed to ask.

Patton gestured with a nod of his head to the cardboard box still laying at the exit door, “Inside the box, poor lil thing... There wasn’t much else, just a blanket really. Oh, and a note but it’s too soggy for me to read the ink.”

He handed the child to Logan who stiffened immediately, awkward and obviously having never been handed a baby before in his life. Or perhaps he was just worried he’d somehow manage to drop it. Either way, Patton made sure to be quick in picking up the soaked note and handed it to Virgil before taking the baby back.

Wincing at the cold dampness of the paper, Virgil began deciphering the writing, scrutinising whatever was left among bleeding black smudges and gross clumps of dirt. 

“I think it just says “please take good care of her”? I can’t make out anything else...”

Janus couldn’t mask the twitch of rage that crossed his features. Leaving a baby out in the cold and hoping - or presuming - strangers just might be kind enough to take it in... that was a cruelty he was far too familiar with. He hadn’t realised he was so tense until Remus’ hand gently wrapped his own in a firm, comforting grasp. Janus reciprocated it with a soft squeeze, letting the fluttering feeling in his chest kick the unpleasant emotions out of their footholds.

“So, what do we do now?”, Janus exhaled, leaving the question open despite all five of them knowing Logan would be the one to make the final call.

With a sigh, Logan crossed his arms, “We will obviously need to inform the authorities, most likely the police considering this is a far too obvious and unfortunate case of child abandonment. After that, we really can only hope for the best; that she will be given to a family who will care for her.”

The atmosphere in the backroom still felt heavy and unpleasant in spite of their mutual agreement. Thankfully, Patton Morales-Hart was not about to let the day start off so spectacularly gloomily. He gave a bright smile, doing his best as always to find the bright side, “Well! It’s a good thing we found this lil ray of sunshine! Now she can find a happy home, and until then we get to keep her safe and warm!”.

He held the baby in front of him adoringly and gave her that winning smile, “Isn’t that right, kiddo? Yeah! We’re gonna keep you company all day ‘til we can find you a new mommy or daddy! Or two, or three-!”.

To no one’s surprise, the infant let out a gurgle of delight, instantly grabbing for Patton’s glasses. Janus could feel the weight of the situation lighten unanimously; Patton’s upbeat attitude was infectious, though Logan somehow managed to coax himself back into his usual stoic headspace. 

“That was far more fanciful than required, but I do agree; the least we can do for the child is keep her safe until the proper authorities arrive.”, he gave Patton an affectionate but firm glance, “Be that as it may, we ought not get too attached. Lest some of us have trouble saying goodbye once she’s taken into protective care.”

Patton frowned, but it was obvious Logan was just trying to prevent what was likely inevitable heartbreak, especially on Patton’s end. A sentiment the fatherly man seemed to come to a sad understanding of, “Boo, you’re no fuuuun...”

Logan rolled his eyes, and if Janus wasn’t such a perceptive person, he may have missed the sparkle of infatuation in Logan’s eyes. He made a note to tease Logan about it later when Virgil piped up, “So, who’s making the call then? You can count me out, obviously.”

Remus flicked the back of Virgil’s hoodie, “Duh, we all know Logan’s gonna do it. It’s pretty much his job.”

Logan bristled a little, but he seemed to shrug it off, “I suppose I must. For the time being, please see to it that the child is given the utmost care and attention.”.

He turned to Patton, speaking quietly so as not to be overheard, however Janus was never one to miss a chance to listen in.

“If you require anything from the parenting supplies aisle, I will cover the necessary costs. Just please be considerate, alright Pat?”

Patton’s cheeks flushed a little at Logan’s rare informality. He gave Logan a tenderly genuine smile that was sure to set the latter’s heart racing, “Thanks, Logan. I can cover it myself, y’know...”

Logan shook his head, sporting a fond smile, “I’m your manager, it’s my responsibility to see that this matter is dealt with properly by the most responsible of staff-”

“Are you two gonna get a room or what?”, Remus interrupted and Janus could see Logan had to bite back the urge to smack him upside the head. Instead, he cleared his throat, “Don’t be crass. I’ll be making the call now, so please see to it that our temporary charge is kept safe.”

--

“Jan, can you pass me that Cream of Corn next to you?”

Janus nodded, picking up the baby food jar and handing it to Patton who gratefully popped the lid off. The baby sat strapped into a baby carrier Patton had picked out from the motherhood supplies while he scooped out a small spoonful of the paste. With a classic ‘here comes the choo choo train’ and a couple of crude train noises, Janus watched the infant gleefully gulp down her breakfast.

“I’ll never understand how babies can stomach that crap.”

Virgil wrinkled his nose as he sized up the jar from behind the café’s counter, “It’s like mulched wet garbage.”

Janus deadpanned back at him, leaning on his chair with his feet on the cafe’s table, “And you would know exactly how that tastes because...?”

Virgil glared at him. He came out from behind the cafe’s counter and swiped Janus’ feet off the table, pointedly ignoring the question, “Shut up, and keep your shoes off the furniture. My tables aren’t a goddamn footstool.”

Janus glared at the server, only stopping when Patton gave him a stern, fatherly warning glance. He sighed and sat back in his chair properly, letting the silence lapse as Patton went back to cooing and feeding the baby. Thankfully, the store was still empty of any customers and the hail storm seemed to be going strong so Janus gladly accepted the prolonged break for as long as he could. 

A soft hiss of steam caught his attention as Virgil cleaned the coffee machine. Despite how often the two butt heads, Janus felt a little better noting that Virgil looked far less tense than he had been earlier. Of course, about the only way you’d get him to admit that he gave one iota of a damn about said barista would be upon pain of death. And even then, Janus preferred to take his chances with the reaper.

“Oh.”, Patton gasped quietly, interrupting his happy babbling at the content infant, “I just realised, the little angel doesn’t even have a name.”

He didn’t need to clarify. Virgil and Janus shared a conflicted glance; they both knew naming her would be a mistake. Logan had warned them not to get attached, and for a good reason, but Patton was giving them both the most pitiful Patented Patton Puppy Dog Eyes…

“.... Well, it can’t hurt to give her a name if it’s just to make our lives a little easier.”

Janus tried, and failed, to sound disinterested. Patton’s expression lit up and even Virgil couldn’t help but smile along, “Sounds good to me. How about we go with Sally?”

“Absolutely not,”, Janus scoffed at the emo, while reaching over to softly boop the child’s nose and earning him a delighted gurgle, “She’s not some ragdoll, she’s a classy little lady. Marceline is much better.”

Patton frowned, “That sounds so old fashioned though! I was thinking maybe we could call her Lucy-!”

Virgil and Janus both wrinkled their noses at that, “Absolutely not-!”

“Goodness, Dr Buzzkill and Mister Snyde agreeing for once? I believe I may be witnessing a miracle.”

The trio let out a startled noise, so wrapped up in their squabbles that none of them had heard Roman approaching. His shimmering golden umbrella was sopping wet, as was the burgundy leather jacket and red hoodie underneath that replaced his usual letterman and t-shirt combo. 

In the single least subtle way, Virgil’s eyes roamed over Roman’s change in attire; if the dusting of rose pink settling along his cheeks coupled with the way his eyes dilated near instantly were anything to go buy, safe to say Roman had well and truly activated Virgil’s Fight or Flirt Response with the win enthusiastically going to Flirt.

Once Virgil apparently remembered English was a language he could indeed communicate in, albeit perhaps not well at the moment, he managed to get out, “Oh shut up- Wait, why are you even here?! You and Emile don’t bring the kids around this early ever-”

“Roman!”, Patton interrupted, his mortified expression a contrast to his earlier smiles and sunshine, “Did you bring those adorable lil kiddos all the way here, this early in the morning, during a hail storm!?”

Roman immediately threw his hands up in defense, “Come now, Padre! I would NEVER do that! Besides, I’m not due to take care of my tiny army of rambunctious hellions until about four-”.

He stopped and stared at the tiny baby girl gazing at him from the baby carrier on the table. He pointed to said baby girl who immediately grabbed his finger. Not that Roman was all too worried about that.

“What the heckity heck, how long has this been here?!”

Patton sighed, not so much at Roman, moreso at the situation, “Since we found her in a lil cardboard box cradle in the backroom, poor thing. Logan’s making calls right now so we’ve gotta look after her til then.”

Virgil leant his head on his right palm while he rolled the dish towel in his left hand idly, “Considering we can’t even decide on a name right now, I’d say we’re doing just peachy in the parenting department.”

Patton winced, glancing hopefully at Roman, “Well, maybe you can help, Roman? You’re way more creative than all three of us combined!”

The trio turned to face Roman who looked more than a little put on the spot. He nervously ran a hand through his wet hair, clearly about to speak up when Virgil cut in, “Pat, it's not fair to dump this on him! How would you like it if-!”

“It’s alright, Penny Dread-Filled, I really don’t mind naming this radiant little princess!”, Roman assured him, his previous unease disappearing. And so sue him, if Virgil melted a little at the soft smile Roman shot him? That's his business.

With both care and attention, Roman gently lifted the child from the baby carrier and gave her a comically over-acted look of befuddlement, clearly trying -and succeeding - to make her laugh while he thought things over.

“Hmm, did you all have suggestions?”, he finally asked, giving a bright smile as the as-yet-unnamed baby girl began gleefully patting his face with her tiny hands.

“I wanted to call her Sally,'' Virgil shrugged.

“I liked Lucy!”, Patton added excitedly.

“I prefer the far more elegant Marceline.”, came Janus’ smarmy reply.

Roman hummed, letting the child sit in the crook of his arm while he adjusted her little bib that Patton had picked out. Neither Pat nor Janus missed the way Virgil seemed mesmerised by how gentle and natural Roman looked with the child in his arms.

The moment of soothing calm was utterly shattered by Roman’s declaration, “Yes, I’ve decided. Those names? They’re …  all terrible, frankly. I love each of you dearly but seriously..”

The trio let out a groan of united frustration. Janus inhaled sharply, annoyedly drumming his fingers on the cafe table, “Well, what would you name her then? Given you’re to be our naming expert.”

Roman huffed but gladly gave his input, “Simple. I believe this tiny maiden of the Oh-So-Pointy-Baby-Nails,”, he began, still smiling even as he un-clawed his chin from her little hands, “should be called Alice.”

Surprisingly, it did give all three pause. Long enough for Roman to continue, “Clearly we want something classic, slightly vintage, and a little gothic, correct?”

From his expression, Virgil hoped he wasn’t imagining the wink Roman shot him at the last remark. The way Patton and Janus fixed the two with a knowing grin must have reassured him it was very much not imaginary because suddenly the dish towel on the counter was the most interesting sight for miles.

“Besides”, Roman continued, “She’s just as curious as the wonderfully bizarre Alice who braved wonderland! …. IF the way she’s trying to climb into my jacket is any indication. Might one of you lend me a hand actually-?”

Patton carefully took the baby- Alice, back from Roman, making sure to get her settled in the carrier despite her tiny noises of protest at losing her climbing tree. To keep her placated, Roman stayed and sat at the table, cooing and fawning over Alice like she was his own child. 

Had Virgil not known Roman for as long as he had, he may have believed it. 

She had tanned skin and rounded upper cheeks similar to Roman’s. Her hair was still thin and barely present, but the shade looked roughly the same if a little darker, and the way she scrunched her tiny face up in laughter was so adorably Roman, it was uncanny. Of course, she wasn’t exactly a coincidental exact copy of Roman; her eyes were a similar green that matched Virgil’s left eye and her nose was similar to his too…

In any other situation, she’d pass for our daughter-

Once Virgil could flusteredly dislodge the gay clogging his throat, he managed to pose the question to Roman, “So, what are you actually doing here, Princey? It’s storming outside and you said it yourself, you wouldn’t have to be here til four so...”

Roman looked back up at Virgil from his game of making funny faces at Alice only to send Virgil a delightful smirk that he would most certainly not be thinking about for the rest of the day, no siree, “Oh, I woke up early thanks to the endless assault of the hail on my window. And I thought that, since I cannot sleep, perhaps I ought to check in on my favourite barista while the roads weren’t so treacherous.”

In spite of how much his heart was trying to burst out of his ribcage and beg Roman to elope with it, Virgil covered his gay crisis with a snort and a sardonic retort, “Didn’t know you felt so strongly about Remy.”

Virgil wondered if he was hallucinating the way Roman’s smirk faltered. 

“Come now, Misery Bitchness, you and I both know I wasn’t referring to Captain Caffeine Addiction next door.”

Damn him. Damn Roman being so goddamn charming. Virgil feigned deep thought with a hum.

“Hmm, nope, can’t say I have a single clue who that barista of yours is then, sorry.”

Virgil added jokingly, “But hey, he’s probably pretty good at taking care of himself. No need for any stupidly charming princes to come to the rescue.”

Roman rolled his eyes in slight annyoance, but levelled the darker man with another smirk that Virgil was 100% certain could murder him in the night and he’d be absolutely fine with it, “Oh, really? So this same barista wouldn’t want a dashing, handsome prince to come rescue him every once and a while-?”

“I hate to interrupt this absolutely nauseating display of flirtation, but I need to have a word with these two.”

Virgil and Roman both nearly leapt out of their skin as Logan stood behind the latter, gesturing to both Patton and Janus. Patton was about to protest, clearly invested in the banter between his obviously pining friends, but Janus got there first, “Oh no, such a shame, I was having so much fun watching Beauty and the Beast try to so spectacularly hide their obvious sexual tension.”

Janus didn’t need to look at Virgil to know he was flustered and bristling like a feral alley cat. 

Good, serves he and Roman right for being so sickly sweet this early in the morning. He let Patton hand the carrier holding little Alice to Roman as the three of them left him and Virgil to awkwardly make small talk.

--

By the time the trio had reached the backrooms, Remus was already waiting for them. By which that meant he was clipping all of Logan’s paper clips together in a chain. Logan pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling deeply, “Unclip them. Now.”

Remus huffed, “I JUST finished-”

“NOW.”

Oh boy. Remus grumbled about it but he began unclipping them while Janus took a seat next to him and Patton slid into the chair next to Janus. Judging by Logan’s snippy tone, the news they were about to receive was anywhere from Not Great to Abysmally Bad.

“I contacted the police,” Logan sighed, frustration seeping into every inch of each syllable, “Who told me to contact child services. And upon doing so, they have helpfully informed me that due to the current weather conditions, they will not be able to collect the infant-”

“Alice.”, Patton interjected.

“Right, yes, they will not be able to collect Alice for a good few hours- I’m sorry, did you name her?!”

Janus and Patton shared a split second glance of panic.

“No.”, Janus lied, “Technically, Roman was the one who named her.”

Patton could tell Logan would be screaming into a pillow right now if he had one. Remus, who had no idea his brother had waltzed in and named the baby already, gave a similar annoyed grumble, “Why does Roman get to name her!? Pat and I found her-!”

“I told ALL of you specifically NOT to get attached!”

Logan hissed through grit teeth. “What part of ‘Do not get attached to this infant’ did you all have such trouble understanding?!”

Remus shrugged, his tone comically bitter, “Hey, don’t look at me, I didn’t name her after all-.”

Janus elbowed Remus and the trashy man gave him a toothy grin in return. Logan looked like his frontal lobe was about to combust with all of this stupidity condensed into the one room. With a guilty little smile, Patton spoke up, “Well, on the bright side, we can just use her name now, right? It’s a little less awkward than just calling her ‘the baby’ all the time! And besides, not naming her felt kinda… wrong.”

Taking a deep breath through his nose, Logan nodded slowly, “Fine. I may not be entirely pleased by this outcome, but if it will help communications and general morale, I will let this slide. For now.”

Patton let out a breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding as Logan continued, “Anyway, as I was saying, the proper authorities cannot make it here to pick up Alice and thus we will need to accommodate her for the next few hours. In that time, I will ask you all to rotate between caring for Alice and fulfilling your duties. Am I clear?”

The trio nodded. Janus and Remus headed out immediately though Patton couldn’t help but stay behind. He watched as Logan rested his head in his hands and decided that he didn’t want to leave Logan like that.

“Logan, when’s the last time you took a break?”

Logan snorted dismissively, though Patton could see him try to play it off.

“That’s of no concern-”

“It very much is, Logan. You’re exhausted, buddy..”

Patton sat back down and scooted the seat closer. He gave an apologetic wince with each little squeak of the chair legs on the wooden floor. Logan very clearly minded - Patton could see his jaw tense - but he didn’t address it.

“Let us say, hypothetically, I may be in need of recuperation. Where would you suppose I’d find the time to do so, Patton?”

Patton frowned, “Don’t you relax on your breaks?”

Patton was always far better at reading microexpressions than reading a room. If he hadn’t been so good, he might’ve missed the slight twitch of Logan’s facial muscles, missed the way he went to avert his eyes but forced the eye contact. Patton’s concern tripled, leaping straight over the doubled mark.

“... You’ve not been taking breaks, have you?”

He hadn’t meant to sound accusatory. Or perhaps hurt was more appropriate. Logan sat back in his chair, less casual and far more of a retreating gesture.

“I don’t require breaks. I have work to-”

“Of course you need breaks, Logan!”, Patton scolded, each note in his voice more worried than the last, “You’re stressed as it is, and now we’re dealing with this important situation and you still won’t rest?!”

Patton got up and sat on the edge of Logan’s desk, making sure not to impale his rear on any of the pens and paperweights Logan had accumulated.

“Logan, really, this isn’t healthy.”

“That is just your opinion-”

“What, like it was ‘’just your opinion’’ that I needed to stop picking at my skin when I got anxious? Like it was “just your opinion” that my fidget bracelets would save me coming into work with hands covered in bandaids?”

Logan’s lips pressed into a thin line and Patton knew he’d feel bad using this against him later, but right now his dear friend was working himself sick. Pat could handle a little guilt in exchange for Logan practicing a little selfcare.

“Logan, I’m saying this because I care about you. I don’t wanna see you work yourself until you collapse.”

Patton didn’t like how sombre the air felt, so he smiled and gently guided Logan to look at him. 

“What’s the point of being the manager of a Walmart if you can’t manage ‘er?”

Logan snorted, unable to hide his affectionately disappointed grin. And Patton felt his chest swell with joy. It wasn’t like he could say it aloud all that often, but sometimes Patton would let his mind wander through the library of things that made him happy; Logan’s genuine laughter was right there at the top, without fail.

Said manager met Patton’s smile with a tired - but no less genuine - one of his own.

“Your puns are atrocious.”

Patton chuckled and Logan continued, “... but thank you. I apologise if my lack of personal attention has caused you stress in turn, Patton.”

He shook his head, “You’re good, Logan! Really, it just made me a little sad is all.”

Logan gave a quizzical look at that, “How so?”

Patton’s fingertip drew anxious little circles on the desk as he tried to sum up how he felt without telling Logan how he felt.

“It’s just, well, I can’t stand seeing my friends unhappy is all. And you’re one of the bestest friends I have, Logan!”

Obviously startled, Logan did a wonderful impression of a fish trying to gasp for air. Patton stamped down the overwhelming desire to outwardly comment on Logan’s adorable bewilderment.

“... ‘Bestest’ is not a word. But I appreciate the sentiment. I concede that I too hold you in the highest regard, Patton.”

Patton thought the creeping blush caressing his cheeks was warranted; the soft smile Logan gave him was so warm he felt like a cat sunning itself on a summer’s day. Patton wanted to photograph that smile and keep it right next to his heart. Alas, he had a job to do, so he stood up off the edge of the desk, intending to go and check on the others. However, Logan took his hand, causing Patton a massive gay internal crisis.

Seemingly unsure of himself, Logan took a second before finally speaking.

“Thank you, Patton.” he began, “Your encouragement and support help me feel like I’m actually appreciated around here.”

Weighing the pros and cons of spontaneously kissing his best friend, Patton decided that right now, all he could manage was a quick nod and an “anytime, Logan!”. Once he’d made it back to his greeter’s station, Patton let out a soft screech into his palms and tried his best to calm down his racing heart..

--

“Buh.”

“Close enough, Roman sure is something that begins with a Buh. And it ends in an Itch.”

Virgil snorted at Roman’s gasp of offense, “Virgil! You can’t teach our little Alice such language!”

Oh Lord, give him the strength not to read into that use of ‘our’ too deeply.

“Whaaaat? It’s not like I said it out loud. Besides, she’s too busy trying to eat those baby keys for the last five minutes, she doesn’t give a shit what I say-”

Roman reached across the table and pressed his finger to Virgil’s lips inciting another wave of homosexual hysteria to take over his brain.

“That’s it, you’ve lost speaking privileges. Blocked, banned, and reported!”

“Blocked from what? Life itself? Cool, lemme go yeet myself into the next conveniently open grave-”

“Ah, ah, ah! What did I say? You’re banned from speaking!”, Roman chided, “Meaning no threats of throwing yourself into the eternal dirt nap, Pete Wince!”

Virgil felt his cheeks flush a little. He can recognise Roman’s I care about you so don’t joke about offing yourself tone anywhere by now. Perhaps the fact he was used to it was a bad sign, but part of him wanted to do it more often if it meant getting the reassurance that Roman cared that much.

Won’t stop him being a little shit at every given opportunity though.

Virgil began signing at little Alice, the baby enthralled by his hand movements while Roman shot him a perplexed glance. 

“What in the name of Athena are you doing?”

Virgil shrugged, staying quiet until Roman realised he was being deliberately difficult. “Alright, alright, you can talk. Now what’s all this Naruto jutsu bulls-sugar?”, Roman corrected at the last second.

“Isn’t it obvious? We’re talking shit about you in ASL.”

With a gasp, Roman looked from Virgil to Alice, then back to Virgil. 

“Betrayal!”, the lovable dramatic idiot wailed, clutching his heart. “Betrayal, too overwhelming for words!! How could you both?!”

Meeting Alice’s perplexed stare with his own deadpan gaze, Virgil rolled his eyes and gave her a more exaggerated look of ‘can you believe this shit?’. He was about to calm down the drama queen but instead, a familiar feral trash mammal swooped in and scooped up Alice out of her baby carrier.

“Jeez, which one of you is the baby here?! Lookit you, being all quiet while Roman’s bawling his eyes out!”

From just behind Remus, Janus soon followed, “Now, now, Remus, let’s not be rude. Even a baby isn’t that loud and obnoxious.”

Virgil snorted and once more Roman held onto his heart as if he were worried it’d fall out.

“Am I to be slandered and mocked by ALL of my loved ones?!”

Virgil met eyes with Remus, both focusing back on Roman to deliver a unison nod and a “yep.”

However, Roman had no chance to retort. From within Remus’ hands, Alice gave a tiny gurgle and spat out a tiny “yeb” noise, clearly copying them. Virgil’s face lit up along with the twins’. Janus was more subdued, but Virgil could see his delight through the mask of disinterest.

“She spoke!!!”, Remus cackled.

Janus sighed, but his smile was still decipherable, “She made a vague gurgle that could pass for ‘yep’, sure.”

Virgil swatted his arm, “Don’t be a dick, I doubt you could talk at like, one year old.”

He fought back the urge to sock Janus in the arm again as the smarmy asshole scoffed, sarcastically retorting, “I’ll have you know I spoke at six months.”

“Do I even need to point out that that’s obviously bullshit?”

Remus cackled at the two of them with a gleeful bounce in place, pointing at Virgil while addressing Alice, “Ooh Alice, can you say ‘bullshit’-?”.

Roman gasped, “REMUS NO!”

Wielding Alice like a giggling meat shield, Remus spun with her in his arms, his voice songlike.

“Remussss Yeeeeessssss~!”

Eventually, Janus was able to carefully remove Alice from Remus and put her back in the baby carrier. The latter huffed and Virgil noted that the former also seemed a little more mopey too. Maybe she was tired? Virgil wasn’t sure; he’d never had a younger sibling, not to mention he was always the baby of the family among his cousins. He had no idea how to read baby language, but as her little eyes landed on him and gave him a tiny smile, Virgil figured that was her way of telling him he was doing alright just being there. 

Virgil smiled back, gently tapping a finger to her nose and softly uttering, “Boop. Now you’re cursed to be happy and healthy forever. Truly a tragedy.”

In the middle of cooing quietly at a happy, babbling Alice, he became suddenly aware that the chatter had quietened, and to his horror, the others were standing there watching him with smiles on their faces. Janus and Remus shared a look Virgil assumed was a mutual expression of “what a dork”, while Roman…

Roman was looking at him with such a soft, borderline longing expression that made Virgil’s heart flutter like a caged butterfly within his ribs. All at once just being there was too much for him. Virgil muttered an excuse and got up from the table, muttering an apology as he swerved around an approaching Patton. He barely heard Patton’s greeting for the blood pulsing in his ears and the thrumming of his heart…

-

Remus was about to return to his game of Aeroplane with Alice when Patton arrived to spoil his fun and take her for a nap.

“Boooo!”

“Remus, she needs her sleep.” Patton scolded lightly, picking up the baby carrier and heading away to let her rest in the employee lounge. “She needs to rest her lil head so she can let her baby brain have a break.”

In spite of his eye roll, Remus understood. Babies needed the time to let their mushy lil squish brains absorb everything. He understood. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be a petulant little shit about it. 

Janus softly swatted his arm, “Stop pouting, hopefully the CSA agents will take hours to get here...” Remus could hear the tiniest hint of something in Janus’ tone. He wondered if the whole situation hit a little too close to home; Janus rarely shared insight into his past, Remus knew that he and Remy were afforded far more leeway than most people could hope to know. But Janus had only ever told him about his birth parents. It was probably a mistake considering they were both more baked than a sixteen layered cake, but Janus had insisted that if anyone was to ever know about his childhood, he’d wanted it to be-

“Remus?”

Janus’ voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

“What?”, Remus responded, eyes darting from Janus to Roman who gestured with his eyes to Remus’ hand. Whose fingers were softly threaded with Janus’. He didn’t say anything for a second, giving Roman an opening to cover for him, “Nico being loud again?”

Remus snorted, but rolled with it, nodding along; who knew Roman could be cool sometimes? Janus eyed him suspiciously.

“Nico?”

Roman explained, “The voice in Remus’ head that gives him the not great thoughts. He named it that so he could ‘yell at somebody’ next time he needed to blow off steam.”

Janus nodded, furrowing his brow, “Alright, but why Nico?”

Remus shrugged, lying immediately, “I picked it out of a baby name book-”

“It was his first crush’s name.”

Okay, he changed his mind, fuck Roman. He kicked out and toppled the chair Roman was sitting on. He gleefully watched Roman try to right himself only to watch him eat shit and kiss the floor tiles. Remus cackled obnoxiously, leaning to the side as Roman got up and threw a couple ketchup packets at him.

Janus caught one in his hand and, like it was nothing, perfectly tossed it back onto the condiment basket on the table. Remus figured he was justified in thinking it was hot.

“Now, now, Roman, let’s not make a mess of Virgil’s tables.”

Remus smirked to himself while Roman’s cheeks tinted a perfect tomato shade. Janus always knew how to get through to people without having to be overt or obvious. He knew how people worked and how to be in control of almost every situation. Remus admired that. Not to mention it was just another feature of his best friend that Remus found utterly enticing.

“And you are going to fill me in on this crush of yours.”

Remus wanted to protest but all it took was one look at Janus’ folded arms and unyielding eyes and he knew he’d have to tell him about it.

-

Logan wasn’t sure how long it had been since he’d started, but finally all of his paperwork was sorted and the schedules were rotated for the next two weeks. 

He ran his hands down his face. Perhaps Patton had been right; he needed to take a break.

Retiring to the employees lounge to enjoy his lunch, Logan took note of Alice sleeping soundly in her baby carrier. Logan hadn’t needed to wonder who had seen to her care. The small pile of blankets and plushies neatly tucked around the carrier and keeping her warm were all the clues he needed to deduce that Patton had been the culprit for this adorable display.

It was a heartwarming sight, only dampened slightly as Logan mentally calculated how much he’d have to spend to cover all of it. He’d asked Patton to be considerate, but then again, he could just picture poor Patton being utterly torn for choice, opting to go with each option instead of making a single choice.

Thinking of it that way, Logan couldn’t bring himself to be upset.

“How can I be mad when you look so peaceful?”, Logan mused aloud to Alice. 

He retrieved his snacks from the mini fridge; a jar of crofters and some homemade biscuits he’d prepared the night before. It’d been a while since he’d found the time to bake recently, but thanks to a frustrating altercation between two of his neighbours keeping him awake, Logan had taken his sleeplessness and made it productive.

With a practiced precision, Logan halved four of the biscuits and slathered on the crofters with a small spoon, using the back of it to smooth out the thick layer of jelly. Once he was satisfied, Logan took a bite and began to wonder why he had forsaken breaks for so long.

The sweet taste of mixed berries had entranced him so entirely, he had forgotten he was sharing the break room with a sleeping infant. Until he had locked eyes with said infant while he was busily attempting to lick the jelly from off his hands. 

Utterly embarrassed, Logan cleared his throat out of habit, startling Alice for a moment. He had anticipated having to comfort her if she began bawling, but instead, her little eyes caught a glimpse of the jar of Crofters. As if asking Logan to feed her, she made eye contact immediately after.

Logan, unsure of what to do, simply replied, “Ah. I see the confusion. I am afraid this is not baby food. This is a delectable fruit spread that I am almost positive an infant like yourself should not have.”

“Uguu!” came Alice’s counter argument. 

At least, that’s what Logan assumed that was.

“I’m sorry, but ‘uguu’ is not an admissible counterpoint.”

Alice made a series of tiny, perhaps irritated babbles at Logan until he finally was forced to google “Can infants have jelly/jam?”. The list of results were… inconclusive, none specifying whether a small spoon tip was alright or not. In the end, Alice began to fuss, and for fear of her crying, Logan relented. He found the baby spoon Patton had used to feed her earlier, thankful that it was clean, and scooped out a tiny dollop of Crofter’s onto it. He felt a little ridiculous, but so sue him; Alice looked so excited to try it, how could Logan say no?

Trying to remember what he’d learned of Patton’s time with her, Logan held the spoon in a wand-like motion. How did that childish babble go again? It took him a second to remember, releasing a sigh as he spoke and carefully swerved and swished the spoon.

“Bippity boppity food.”

Despite Logan’s trepidation, he held the spoon out for Alice who gleefully ate the jelly. He watched as she seemed to consider the flavour only for her little face to scrunch up at it. 

He could hardly stifle his chuckle. How adorable. 

Alice made a small grumble of displeasure that quickly turned into a whine. Logan immediately felt a little out of his depth. Does that whine mean she’s hungry? No, she just ate- Did that count as eating?! Maybe she’s tired?! No she JUST woke up-

Logan’s panic increased tenfold as Alice began to cry.

Shit shit SHIT-

Acting on instinct, he gently picked her up and held her how he’d seen the others do so. Supporting her head and making sure her body was cradled properly against his own for stability. That was step one. Step two was to work out why she was crying. 

Maybe he needed to burp her? She had hardly eaten anything but perhaps it might work all the same. He gently patted her back, being careful not to use too much strength. It didn’t seem to work at all, her crying only getting more agitated. 

Logan considered texting Patton for help, but part of him was too proud to let it show just how awful he was with children. 

He wondered what Pat would do, how he would solve the problem. With a calming inhale, Logan weighed the options; it was obvious she didn’t need changing, she had just laid down for a nap, so the problem was clearly either food or milk. Weirdly, he became aware that Alice’s crying had become a steady whining. He turned to see her making grabby hands at her bottle behind him. Well, that settled it. Of course, he’d have to keep her happy while her bottle warmed; once Logan had prepared the formula and let it heat up, he took a seat on the sofa with Alice. He set her on his knee and wondered just what to do. What did babies like? Toys were the logical answer, but when Logan offered her the plushies Patton had acquired, she seemed to refuse them. Instead, Alice made whimpery little noises and Logan felt utterly useless.

“I’m sorry Alice, I wish I were able to make you smile.”

She made a sad little gurgling noise, as if she could feel his misery. 

Then she made tiny grabby hands at him. Did she want him to lift her up? Logan gave it a try, lifting her up and-

She giggled.

Logan’s eyes widened; she wanted to play? He could manage that! With a small confidence boost, Logan met her smile and gently bounced her on his knee. Each happy noise that came from Alice made Logan smile wider in return until he found he was laughing with her. So much so, he nearly forgot about her bottle until the little beeping noise caught his attention.

Bashfully, Logan cradled Alice in his arms, making note that she seemed far more comfortable now, “Come on, it’s time for your milk. Lest I forget and be scolded by the others. Trust me, Alice, I will not live that one down, I assure you.”

The only response he got was a half attempt at a syllable and an adorable head tilt. Logan took the milk from the heater and tested the temperature. Once he was sure it wouldn’t be too hot, Logan offered it to Alice who gladly began to drink. It was at that moment - holding Alice protectively in his arms like she was his own child - that Logan realised that maybe he just might be cut out to be a parent after all.

He had just put down the empty bottle and burped her when Logan heard the door to the employee’s lounge open. Turning to face who it was, his smile fell to match Janus’ expression.

“Child Protective Services are going to be here in about ten minutes. They’re letting us know to have her and anything of hers ready to go by then.”

Logan tried to remain stone faced as ever, but even he could tell Janus would see through the way his shoulders slumped and his frown faltered. “I see. Then please help me pack her things.”

Janus nodded and silently helped an utterly heartbroken Logan load her into the baby carrier for the last time. Once they were done, Janus put an understanding hand on Logan’s shoulder, “We’re all going to miss her. She has quite the way with people, hm?”

It was impossible for Logan not to agree when her little green eyes were staring up at him so gleefully.

--

The handover was relatively quick, albeit a bittersweet affair. 

Roman and Remus had both gotten teary saying their goodbyes to Alice. Though he’d deny it, Janus was also clearly devastated as he booped her tiny nose as a goodbye gesture. Patton was holding it together surprisingly well as he gave her a tiny forehead kiss as a goodbye present - despite the fact that they all knew he’d be sobbing later on.

Logan had remained professional, staying focused on making sure the handover went well even though there was a distinct sadness in his eyes.

And Virgil wasn’t entirely sure what to do. Or say.

This would probably - no, almost definitely - be the last time any of them saw little Alice. He was lost as she was handed to him for a goodbye. Feeling the pressure mount, Virgil committed her face to memory. Maybe someday in the future he could hope that she might visit them all. Remember their faces and swing by to say hi. 

Virgil could feel his eyeliner drip a little and fought back the urge to cry. Instead, he smiled, softly booping her nose like he’d done before, “That’s your going away present. Another curse so you won’t be allowed to forget us, okay?”.

It was hard not to sob hearing her bubbling laughter just as the CPS worker took her carefully to put her back in the carrier.

With a last wave as the vehicles pulled out of the parking lot, Alice was gone. 

Off to a new life, with a new family who’d love her. Hopefully, just as much as they all had. 

Everyone returned to the store aside from Virgil and Roman, both standing staring out onto the road Alice had taken out of their lives. Virgil tried to slyly wipe his tears away but if the hug Roman gently wrapped him in told him anything, he hadn’t done a great job of it.

“This sucks.”, Virgil sniffed, “I mean, she had to go sometime but..”

Roman nodded, “I know, Virge, I know.”

He felt Roman sigh, only pulling back from the hug enough to give Virgil a sweet smile, “I’m sure our little princess will find a perfect home with wonderful parents who treat her like she should be.”

Virgil nodded, ignoring the overthinking he’d be doing later about the exact use of that ‘our’. “They better, or I’ll feed their knees into a woodchipper.” Roman laughed and for maybe just a moment, everything felt a little better.

--

It had barely felt like a full six months since Alice had come and gone, but here Virgil was the same as always; running the cafe and catering to Roman’s hoard of little gremlins.

Okay, maybe he’d started to love their ramblings and questions as of late, so sue him.

Emile sat with some of the club going kids as they finished off the snacks in their lunchbox and on the other side of the ‘cafe’s patio area’, Roman handled the ones who got lunch at the cafe. 

And Virgil was bravely taking on the task of listening to little Eduardo who wouldn’t stop babbling about his pet hamster. 

“He’s so fluffy, and he eats sunflower seeds, and he makes these funny little noises!”

Virgil gave an exaggerated gasp, adding the final touches to the hot chocolates he was putting aside for Emile and Roman. “Woww, he sounds like the coolest hamster.”

Ed nodded, looking as proud as a baby peacock, “He is!! Sir Squiggles is the bestest friend in the whole UNIVERSE!!”

Virgil smiled, “Now that’s impressive.”

Once the hot chocolates were done, Virgil picked up the strawberry milkshake Eduardo had ordered and handed it to the eager young lad, “Here, it may not be as cool as Scribbles-”

“Squiggles!”, Ed laughed.

“Okay, okay, it may not be as cool as Squiggles, but it tastes nearly as awesome.”

The young lad took a big sip and Virgil could practically see him buzzing with delight.

“Thanks, Vee!! You’re the coolest!!” Eduardo bounded over to one of the tables his friends were sitting at and Virgil only slightly lamented having to clean up the spills later. How could he ever be annoyed when the after school art club was visiting? It was utterly impossible. 

“Oh my sweet Aphrodite, stop the presses; Virgil Knight is smiling! What a scoop-!“

Virgil slung his hand towel at Roman, smacking his arm, “Oh shut up, Princey. I always smile.”

Roman gave him a look of ‘yeah that’s utter bullshit’ and thus it was Virgil’s turn to make an offended noise, “I do so smile!”

“Yeah, every full moon after a blood sacrifice perhaps, Nine Inch Wails. I don’t think I’ve seen you so jovial in many months!”

Virgil rolled his eyes, handing Roman his hot chocolate, “And you wonder why I poison your drinks.”

Emile’s hot chocolate in hand, Virgil snickered as Roman’s expression went from playful disbelief to somewhat fearful. Good, serves Roman right for picking on him. 

At the table, Emile was animatedly recounting the contents of an episode of Gravity Falls to the children; all in various stages of engagement from vivid enthrallment to utter disinterest. Virgil placed the hot chocolate down and Emile finished their retelling to have a chat, most of the children greeting Virgil and disappearing to other tables to chat with their friends. 

“Thanks Virgil! It wasn’t too much trouble was it?”

Virgil shook his head, “Nah, you’re good. If anything, asking for Lucky Charms marshmallows in your hot chocolate is pretty genius really.”

Emile gleefully agreed, taking a satisfied sip, “Good to hear it!”

They seemed conflicted for a moment, like they weren’t sure if they should ask, but Virgil could tell Emile wanted to ask something so he sat down next to Emile, “Alright, Doc, what’s eating at you?” 

Virgil could see Emile start to protest but they sighed, “Okay, it’s gonna sound really dumb-”

“Can’t be dumber than the time Remus tried to train Danny DeCheeto to steal people’s wallets.”

“... You know what, yeah, that’s actually pretty reassuring.” Emile chuckled, “Well, I’ve been thinking and, not to be a traitor or anything, but I’ve wondered if Remy next door might um… also indulge my… eccentricities?”

Virgil squinted at them for a second, “You’re… wondering if I think they’d make you your special ‘Lucky Hot Chocolate’? I mean, why wouldn’t he?”

A flustered whine left Emile, their hands bringing up their hot chocolate as if it’d hide their obvious blush, “I don’t… wanna be a burden.”

“You’re literally the furthest thing from a burden. I don’t think you could even be an inconvenience if you tried.”

They gave a small smile in response despite their tinted cheeks, “You’re too kind, Virge.”

Virgil snorted, his tone light, “How dare you, I’m a bastard with a blackened heart as dark as my eyeliner.”

Emile swatted his arm lightly and sipped more of their hot chocolate, “Says the guy who’s apparently super great with kids. And babies.”

The addition had Virgil groaning in annoyance, “.... Roman told you, didn’t he?”

“Implying he’d ever miss the chance to gush about you to me.” They chuckled, voice softening as they continued, “He told me you were pretty attached to little Alice, huh?”

Virgil’s frown must’ve spoken for him when Emile added, “It was a wonderful thing you all did, y’know. That little girl will get to grow up and have a happy life with parents that love her thanks to you all keeping her safe.”

In theory, Emile was right; Virgil knew it was most likely she’d be matched with parents - or maybe a single parent - who’d love her and dote on her and give her a good life. Anxiety, however, didn’t work like that and it’d been driving Virgil crazier than he’d care to admit. 

“I know, I know, I just can’t shake the panic that.. That maybe they’ll be bad people, or they’ll ignore her, mistreat her and never give her the love she deserves. That maybe they’ll make her miserable, or- or that she’ll miss us too much and never be happy-!”

“Breathe, Virge.”

Emile’s voice was calm, a gentle hand prying him out of his anxiety.

“‘Maybe’s are like fireflies; it’s tempting to keep ‘em in a jar to keep looking at them, but you should really just let them go.”, they gave him a reassuring smile, “It’s alright to be concerned, but I think you’ll find Alice is gonna be more than okay.”

Virgil didn’t seem convinced, slumping in his chair, “You say that like I’m ever gonna know for sure...”

Emile’s gaze drifted, smile widening while they gestured for Virgil to look over at Roman, “I think he’s calling you over, don’t let me keep you from Prince Charming.”

Virgil rolled his eyes instead of swatting Emile in the arm lest they spill their hot chocolate. He got up and made his way over to Roman, stopping dead in his tracks.

Said Prince Charming was merrily gossiping to Eduardo’s mother, Clara, both too focused on the conversation to notice Virgil approaching.

And there in a baby carrier, dressed in a cute little yellow sundress and happily playing with a plushie Virgil recognised from the pile Patton had bought, was Alice. 

Roman spotted him standing there staring in awe, excitedly gesturing for Virgil to come and say hello. It was a miracle that his legs obeyed him, but he made it over, giving Clara a polite greeting, “Hi Clara, and… Hi Alice.”. He caught himself, realising that she might have been renamed, “Wait, sorry, um-”

Clara shook her head, sweetly assuring him, “Don’t worry, Marina and I settled on calling her Alicia. You’re welcome to call her Alice.”

Virgil visibly relaxed, looking at Roman with amazement as he explained, “Clara and her wife were looking to adopt again. When I saw how utterly devastated you and the others were at having to say goodbye to her, I decided to inform Clara that there might be an adorable baby girl who needed a home.”

“Inform he says. As if he didn’t all but hand me the adoption papers himself.”, Clara chuckled, playfully teasing Roman by stage whispering to Virgil, “Don’t let him fool you, mijo, Roman was just as emotional. He practically begged me to adopt her.”

Virgil snorted, taking joy in seeing Roman blush as red as his flannel shirt. His gaze, however, was stolen by Alice softly bopping him with her rabbit plush to gain his attention. Virgil knew he was smiling like a sentimental idiot, but he couldn’t care less.

“Hello to you too.” 

Clara gently took Alice out of the baby carrier and handed her to Virgil. He held her carefully, making sure to support her as she let out a delighted squeal. 

Roman joined him, cooing at Alice who in turn coo’d back in her own babbling way. Virgil joined in, “That’s right Alice, tell him what a dork he is.”

She gurgled merrily and Roman clasped his heart, “Once more I am betrayed! Oh how cruel!”

Roman slung his arm around Virgil for drama, careful to not startle him, “Oh mercy, I beg of you-”

“Alice, can you say ‘overdramatic’?” Virgil deadpanned.

“Aba bah.” came Alice’s attempt.

“A+ for effort.” Virgil smiled, and even Roman couldn’t help but drop the act to admire how cute she was being.

Clara’s chuckling broke them out of their little bubble, “Are we having fun?”

Virgil blushed, clearing his throat while Roman tried to hide his smile. Eduardo, who’d been preoccupied with his milkshake til now, blurted out, “You two should keep her, you look like a family!”

It was a damn good thing Virgil’s brain was in safety mode, otherwise Roman would have had to make a hasty catch while he fainted. Clara hid her snickering and ruffled Ed’s hair, “Mijo, don’t tease!”

“Sorry mamaaa.” he groaned, going back to his milkshake.

Deciding to draw attention off of themselves, Virgil cleared his throat, “Uh, do the others know Alice’s back for a visit?”. Clara shook her head, “Roman wanted it to be a surprise, so he asked me not to let anyone know beforehand.”

Speaking of Roman, Clara nudged him with her elbow, speaking hushedly to him. Virgil wasn’t too fluent in Spanish, but going by Roman’s expression and stammering retort, she was probably teasing him as usual.

While he was curious to listen in on their hushed conversation, Alice let out an excited screech, baffling Virgil until he followed her gaze. Remus, who was similarly excited, was making a beeline for the two of them while Janus and Patton, who’d been accompanying him, both lit up upon seeing her. Patton turned to call someone over - probably Logan - and Virgil huffed a fond sigh.

Virgil looked down to a happy Alice, “Can you believe these guys? It’s only been a couple of months.” 

She looked up at him with her sweet little smile and Virgil couldn’t help his own widening at the sight, “Okay, okay, I missed you lots too..”

[End]

-- Bonus --

“You should ask him out already, you two work so well together.”

Roman’s cheeks flushed bright pink, averting his gaze, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Clara levelled him with an unimpressed gaze that immediately called bullshit on that claim, “Roman Prince, you are the worst liar I’ve ever met, and you’ve met my ex girlfriend.”. She softened a little, “What’re you so afraid of? He clearly likes you.”

Roman frowned apprehensively, “And if he doesn’t? I mean, yes, he’s probably my closest friend there’s no denying that but… ”

Clara rolled her eyes, “Buts are for short shorts, not for matters of the heart, Príncipe Nervioso.”

She gestured over to Virgil, now surrounded by their friends as he held Alice with all the love and protection of a parent, making sure to occasionally coo and babble with her when she wanted specifically Virgil’s attention.

The sight ignited a strong longing within Roman’s heart; a desire to see Virgil happy like this every second of every day. His enamoured heartbeat momentarily lulled him into a semi trance, and all he could think about - not that he often thought of much else some days - was Virgil and the future he wanted with him. Going on dates, living together, perhaps getting married and adopting their own child. 

“Eduardo was right, you know.”

Roman shook out of his daydream and met Clara’s knowing gaze, “You two would make good parents someday.”

He shyly rubbed the back of his neck, unsure how to really respond to her unknowing echo of his thoughts, “Calm down, Clara, we haven’t even gone on a date yet.”

“Yet.” she retorted, “Come on, I best get going soon. If I’m going to have to break their hearts and take her home, I’ll need you to cheer them up.”

Roman chuckled, “Well, tis a prince’s duty to soothe all that ails his people.”

Clara rolled her eyes, playfully poking him in the side, “It’s also a prince’s duty to be brave and invite his future husband on that first date.”

She took Roman’s offended, flustered gasp as a win. ~~~~~

[shadowling-guistical]

rubberband heartbreak

"What kind of— What kind of person says that?! What kind of monster is grateful for their soulbond snapping?“ Roman says, wondering.

And all Janus could hear was his baby brother’s desperate, unhinged laugh as he clawed at his own skin.

And all he could see was red. Angry, smoldering red.

(Janus didn’t think the overdramatic prick even saw the fist coming.

***

Virgil had a soulmate, once. What a beautiful, awful, painful thing. (READ ON AO3 HERE) SHIPS: Established LMP, Established Demus, Past Virgil/OC, eventual LAMP, Eventual Remile

WARNINGS: Minor Character Death, Domestic Violence, Angst

--- It would have been roast chicken again that night. It was in the oven, sitting on a bed of potatoes and carrots that perfumed their little house with a smell that was honestly heavenly. No matter how many times he had that exact meal, he thought he could eat that meal for the rest of his life. He’s pretty sure he will. It was the only thing his soulmate knew how to cook without requiring an emergency call to the firestation, after all. He wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

A bottle of semi-fancy wine was cooling in a bucket of ice on the counter, just waiting to be opened. It was the exact type that they had drunk when they made their courtship official, and the nostalgia and memories only made the taste that much sweeter. 

Fresh flowers sat prettily in a vase on the kitchen table in a bunch. Violets, his favorite. His soulmate had bought home earlier while all twitterpated. 

It was the perfect set up for a date night-- Simple. Elegant. Romantic. Everything someone could ask for in a night in with their soulmate.

And despite all that, all Janus Sanders wanted to do was vomit. Or maybe find a seat. No, a fainting couch. Yeah, he might need a fainting couch.

He briefly wondered if those are still a thing. It should be. God it should be. if the lightheadedness that began lapsing at the edge of his brain were any indication, he really needs it right about now. He nervously tapped a finger on whatever surface it met with, which turned out to be the countertop of their kitchen island. At the back of his head, he registered his knees slightly shaking, and his heart trying to pound out of his ribs. He really should have sat down before he answered the call.

“Yes…” He spoke into the phone that had been glued to his ears ever since the call came, just minutes before the start of his date night with Remus. He spoke without really registering what he was saying. The buzzing in his brain prevented him from catching anything other than bits and pieces of gentle concern and medical jargon. However, icicles are still icicles. And no matter how hard the person at the end of the line tried to soften the blow, each one still dug into his chest. It pierced so harshly and the coldness spread downwards to his stomach.

Urgent.

Emergency treatment.

He needed his family.

He needed them.

With just a phone call, Janus’ whole evening grinded to a halt, “I see. Thank-- right. Of course. We’ll-- We’ll come down. Yes. Thank you. He-- I understand. Goodbye,” Before Janus could even recover, before he could even process the fact that--

“Janus?”

Janus blinked. His hand fell limp by his side, and he didn’t even realize that he was still gripping the phone. Oh-- oh, Remus . He didn’t realize that his boyfriend had even come downstairs. How long was he--? “Jan, are you okay?” Remus’ sharp, bright eyes darted at his form, knowing that the answer is obviously a big fat no, “What’s going on snakey? Is it Remy?”

The icicle twisted, and for a moment Janus thought it must have melted out of his eyes. Oh god-- oh god, Remy . How will he explain this to Remy?--

It would wreck him. Absolutely destroy him when he finds out.

Because he was--

He was…

Janus’ breath came out shaking. His hands even more so. His composure took the worst of it.

They were supposed to protect him. They were supposed to be there for him and annoy him and beat up anyone that dared look at him the wrong way. Because they were his-- They were his-- “I--” He swallowed around the weight lodged in his throat. He must looked as dazed as he felt, because Remus’ expression turned from cautious curiosity into grim concern, “I don’t--”

Janus never babbled before. He was never at a loss for words. He always know what to say-- He should know what to say-- Because he needed to call Remy-- He needed to explain--

The thought was squeezed out of him when Remus took him into his arms. The hug that Remus suddenly enveloped him in shouldn’t feel as relieving as it did. He shouldn’t have felt that small, that unsure nor that scared. But Janus felt everything buzzing in his brain melt away as he felt his soulmate squeeze him.

“Hey...Hey...Shh...It’s cool. It’s okay,” He felt Remus’ breath against his ear and this time, he didn’t shiver out of fear,  “Breathe...That’s it. I won’t have you asphyxiating anywhere else other than in bed, you hear me?” Involuntarily, like Remus always somehow does, he dragged the smile out to Janus’ lips. And in return, he grinned as well. Remus dragged a thumb across Janus’ cheekbones, “There’s that pretty smile. Can you tell me? Or do you want me to--?”

Janus felt a shudder ripple through his chest, and he shook his head. He didn’t need to. He didn’t need to rely on their soulbond for this. He didn’t want to submit Remus to the knot of thoughts and panic that were all tangled up in his brain right now. “That’s okay. Okay Jan,” He felt his large hands rub his back, up and down. But Janus shook his head. “It’s--everything’s not okay, Remus. Far from it--” He brought up a hand, gripping the fabric of Remus’ shirt, “My brother’s-- Virgil’s in the hospital. His-- His soulbond broke,”

---

Remy had come to their home a little over an hour later, looking very much similar to Janus did. Remus noticed the pinched, spooked look on the eldest Sanders’ face, now that his sunglasses were perched up on the crown of his head. He had smiled wanly, and offered a reassuring hand on Janus’ shoulder. But it was brittle and unsure. Both of them reeling from what Remus assumed was shock.

Janus however, then stepped closer. He nearly folded into his brother, who immediately inhaled as if he was punched. Immediately, Remy wrapped his arms and squeezed. Remus, for all the times he would say something at the most inopportune moments, had let him. And Janus couldn’t have thanked him enough. No judgement. No comments. Just someone who wanted-- needed, his big brother right now.

“You know, I can come with? Take turns driving,” Remus offered, once Janus slowly let himself unlatch from Remy. He cleared his throat and shook his head, starting to put on his composure like a mask.. The effect was instantaneous. Janus' back straightened, and the perfect picture of calmness rippled through him like waves on water.  Remus felt his heart twitch in his chest when Janus did. Did his soulmate really want that now? He barely allowed himself room to breathe

“No. It’s okay. We’ll manage. It’s...It’s a family matter, Remus. I’m not sure-- I’m not sure if it’s the best time, right now,” “We’ll call whenever we can,” Remy promised, as Remus helped haul Janus’ duffle bag into the trunk of Remy’s car. He didn’t need to, really, it was only filled with some spare change of clothes and toiletries but...It was still a nice gesture. Before they were set to leave, Janus hugged Remus one last time. The hug that Remus tugged him into nearly made Janus melt and his composure shift. His soulmate was all gangly limbs, bony and sharp. But in this warm skeleton cage, Janus never felt more safe. Remus was like that, Janus had realized. Unlike his twin, his gestures of romance were...A lot more subtle. A lot more tame, actually, compared to the larger than life person that Remus always was. And on the verge of entering a storm, Janus couldn’t help but revel in the stability that Remus unwittingly always provides.

“You’re stuck with me,” Remus smiled, easy and teasing as he nudged Janus’ chin with his knuckle.

The rattling inside his chest petered out, as if Remus was sapping away his worries about Virgil with just a touch. For the first time, each second doesn’t feel like it’s one moment closer to losing Virgil anymore. There was a storm on the horizon, but it hadn’t rained yet. The clouds will part, and the sun will shine again.

Something deep inside him loosened, a knot of tension slowly unravelling.

It’ll be okay.

It’ll be okay.

Virgil will be okay.

“Not going to get off me that easily, Squid,” Janus replied with a lot more warmth than he’d ever let anyone else hear. He’d keel over and perish before anyone else at his firm knew that he’s a sap. He has a reputation, for god’s sake.

“If you start making out, I’m leaving without you!” Remy called, already slipping into the driver’s seat. A hand reached for the coffee he grabbed on the way there, taking a blasé sip. Janus sighed and finally parted from his soulmate. Once he was secured, Remy handed him the coffee and smiled, looking a lot more fragile than Janus had ever seen him. Even more than the time…

“Let’s go get our little brother, shall we?”

Despite the circumstances, something in his heart swelled.

Little brother. They were getting their little brother back.

---

“He’s probably going to be okay, right?”

The hospital loomed, large and daunting. It was a behemoth of a building, stark white against the sky, which was a gunmetal grey from the threat of an approaching storm. Janus felt like he was 20 again, young and viper-tongued. But instead of angry and bristling, he’s...desperate. Out of his depth. Hurting and worried and strung out. Maybe it was the long drive talking. Maybe it was the prospect of seeing Virgil again, years later after their messy goodbye.

The only thing preventing Janus from nervously cracking his knuckles right now, just meters away from the entrance, was the musical notes playing right at the back of his head. It was faint, and he could still just ignore it over the din of people. The chords were familiar, the lyrics faint. But it settled in his bones and stopped it from rattling. Remus must have been listening to a lot of music today, he faintly thought. His soulmate’s playlist had looped back from Vocaloid, to the Hamilton Polka, and back to Video game OSTs for the third time now. Despite the questionable choice of a playlist, Janus appreciated it just the same. That feeling of having one person that was always thinking of you, connected through musical notes and voice and thoughts.

“I don’t know…” Remy admitted. Janus didn’t point out his habit of absentmindedly rubbing his bicep. He didn’t need to judge someone for trying to leech some comfort from a soulmate he hadn’t had the pleasure to meet yet. “I think we just need to be prepared,

---

They said that Virgil laughed.

He had laughed as he did it. Agony must have ripped through him top to bottom. It would have fizzed and flared back up again- leaving him a writhing mess on the floor of his own home. It burnt through him and made him suffer. Yet, he had laughed .

Virgil laughed.

He was still laughing when they got to him , the nurse had said.

Janus clutched his nephew as he slept, his own heartbeat beating in time with his pounding head. He remembers Virgil’s laugh. The cackle, a pleased, borderline mischievous sound.

Now, he wishes he could wipe his head clean from it.

Thomas suddenly whimpered, and Janus fussed over him again. No matter what lullaby he sang, or any reassurance he whispered to the toddler, nothing had erased the sudden cold dread that had washed over him after they knew. Nothing could stop the child from crying out and demanding for the comfort of his father. Nothing could bleach Janus’ brain from the sight of those awful, black cracks spreading out on Virgil’s skin like Lichtenberg scars.

After they found out what that bastard --

That absolute beast of a conniving, cowardly, sniveling bastard--

Janus pulled in a raspy gasp, trying hard not to let a single sob go through his composure. Not when it took this much effort to make sure he was calm enough to take care of Thomas. His nephew had spent the time with medical personnel since they were both brought in, and Janus wanted to make sure that wouldn’t happen again. The boy needed to be with family.

His family.

Their family. Because Thomas is his nephew. His only nephew--

… Oh stars, he had a nephew.

They came in expecting their brother, only to meet their nephew. Janus didn't feel ready for this. He needed to-- He need to be--

Janus squashed the pained noise in his throat. Ready? What a thought. he would laugh if he wasn't so haunted by Virgil's. He isn't ready. His baby brother’s soul had snapped in two, frayed into anguish and Virgil had laughed.

And there was absolutely nothing-- nothing that could prepare them for this.

[wisherbysharlight]

WHAT IF... SANDERS SIDES BUT MAKE IT A TROPEY TEEN BEACH AU

Endgame!LAMP. Dukeceit, Remile

Just 2k stream of consciousness words from a plunny that grew legs TW for v slight underage drinking, one joking mention of violence, and a non-specific discussion of intrusive thoughts

-Janus has just moved there because his parents wanted to start a new "adventure" and he is a Stereotypical Teenager. Very "ugh MOM I wanna go back to my FRIENDS for my LAST SUMMER BEFORE COLLEGE"(most of his friends suck. He should not spend time with them. He does not know this)

His Parents buy him a surfboard and tell him to try it out as a way to get him to Shut Up

Hes a Skater Boy(cue music) so he picks it up super fast from like,,, youtube videos

 -He gets told to Get a Job if he wants to like, keep buying surf gear?

All the local kids work at like one restaurant/yacht club type place right on the beach

Janus gets hired as a host

 -Logan is a beach badge checker, Patton, Roman, and Remus are beachfront restaurant waiters but Roman just Really Wants To Surf, Emile and Virgil are Lifeguards, and Remy is a bartender

 -Janus is Very Good At Customer Service because Fake Smiles

Patton recognizes this Immediately

He shows him the Rage Closet which is a tiny room with an arm chair that locks from the inside where you can punch a pillow on your break when it gets to be Too Much

-Janus is Attached now and there is no getting rid of him

Patton Fully Endorses this and introduces him to the rest of the group

Janus Knows Immediately that LAMP is In Love but says nothing because he aint no snitch

-Remus surfs, but he also always wear a thong while doing it

Roman wears a full wetsuit and somehow still gets Board Rash. Remus is somehow immune and it infuriates him

 -Janus, not knowing that the twins live right on the beach cuz they are RichTM: Hey Ree I kinda wanna learn how to surf would you be able to teach me 

Remus, who religiously watches Janus surf every morning, but is absolutely willing to play this game: Yeah absolutely

Patton, later: “lets rinse off at the twins they’re right here” Janus: theyre.... What?!

 -Meanwhile, elsewhere, Virgil and Roman are double teaming Logan to drag him into the water with them cuz he’s pouting about losing a debate with their manager about how he didn’t really be mean to the dudebro who wanted to get his buddies onto the beach without paying, he was just enforcing the rules. And if the dude was so offended by Logan’s Very Accurate Dragging that he complained to management then, well, that’s his problem not Logan’s

 -Logan is never without a book. Ever. And its always a different book. Janus is starting to think he owns a library

One day he is just... reading a Physics textbook. Not taking notes or anything. Just reading. 

Roman is Very Very Alarmed by this because he is Gay and Math is Scary

"Roman I'm also gay that is not a determining factor"

"Yeah but you can't drive"

"...fair"

 -the first time janus has a shift with the twins, he cant stop staring, not just because hes like,,, super attracted to Remus but also because they are like Chaos Incarnate and yet somehow get the most tips??? He doesn't understand???

It's just cuz they are both Huge Flirts and Flatterers and the patrons dont care that they're not-so-subtly beating the shit out of each other right there on the dining floor because theyre just so charming

 -one of the bartenders gets aggressively snapped at by a customer and called "sweetheart" and before Janus can even begin to react Remy is there, sunglasses off, fire in his eyes, telling them to settle their bill and get the fuck out

Janus, used to City Restaurants- "Wont you get in trouble with the owner?!"

Remy, who knows Nothing Else But This- "What?? Not likely I only did it cuz Thomathy wasnt here to do it himself"

 -the restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday so that is the Pseudo Weekend for the staff where everyone hangs out at the beach

Emile and Virgil take Tuesdays off but still work Monday’s cuz they feel better being the one watching over their friends

 -Roman, staring at Virgil on the lifeguard stand: ugh he’s so pretty I almost wish I was drowning just so he could give me cpr 

Janus: you wanna potentially get your ribs broken just for lip contact? 

Remy, staring at Emile on the lifeguard stand: listen, if that’s what it takes, I’ll take it

Remus, immediately going up to the lifeguard stand because he has 0 impulse control: hey my brother and cousin want you to break their ribs 

Virgil and Emile: excuse me?????

 -Patton will literally spend hours in the water. Logan physically drags him out to put sunscreen on him every two hours to the minute. Patton does not admit that he purposely "forgets" just so Logan will do so

Logan is Dark and has never used sunscreen ever but Patton is so pale and he just gets so concerned about him. Patton thinks its adorable

He has pages of research on proper spf determination.

Roman and Remus use spf 15 just on their faces and have never once burned in their lives

Logan wants to submit them for scientific study because that shouldnt be possible

Virgil calls Logan out on the fact that he also should be wearing sunscreen and Logan like... blue screens he cant believe in all his research he missed that

 -Patton is like... a ridiculously strong swimmer. Virgil still has a heart attack every time he goes for laps when there is the slightest hint of an undertow

Patton Knows This so he tries to stay in Virgil's sight line for the most part if there is an undertow. Or just dives over the waves again and again.

His nickname is Ariel. He thinks its just cuz of the swimming and the fact hes a red head. LAP all separately also tack on that its the swimming, the red hair, and the hnng pretty 10/10 would follow out to sea ala Prince Eric

 -first beach bonfire Janus goes to Remy is Fully In Emile's Lap like... half an hour in

he has had like maybe a sip of a beer

Remus says he still claims this is because he is a Clingy Drunk

no one will call him on it, least of all Emile

 -there is truth or dare. Roman may or may not skinny dip you have no proof

 -Logan gets infuriated that he cannot roast a marshmallow properly

Patton does it perfectly every single time but its ok cuz he shares and Logan eats it right from his fingers and Roman and Virgil are just in the background Trying and Failing not to be the Most Jealous

Patton thinks theyre upset they didn't get marshmallows and makes some for them too and there is lots of Significant Eye Contact involved

Janus is going to spontaneously combust if they don't get their shit together

 -Janus is out walking on the beach one night on a full moon cuz he cant sleep with everything so quiet around here when he sees a bright green patch out in the water and goes ...wait

he calls out to Remus and he comes into shore and is like "waves are perfect at night you should join me" so janus goes back and gets his board and they surf and chat for like the entire night

Janus finds out Remus couldn't sleep cuz intrusive thoughts were keeping him awake

Janus listens and doesn't judge, just lets Remus talk it out

They go back to shore and fall asleep on the sand next to each other like mid sentence still talking, now about whatever creative business idea Remus had, and get woken up by Logan's morning rounds like "come on guys you know you're not allowed to sleep out here" but they dont care theyre both just *blushing emoji*

-Logan Always Has A Notebook right? And a regular book he reads. And everyone assumes they are like Notions and Observations, but no, it’s actually blank paper and he uses it to sketch and then one day he leaves it behind and someone either Virgil or Patton finds it and flips through it and it’s all sketches of them and Roman and they’re like??? Actually really good? Anyway that’s how they find out Logan is actually minoring in art even though he’s majoring in something Very STEM 

And he never told his best friends because like almost all his pre college art is Them and he doesn’t want to be caught having Feelings and by the time it gets to college it’s been too long and he can’t tell them now 

Roman takes one of the sketches of him surfing and makes it his profile picture on All Social Media He Has and Logan is so flustered he nearly breaks his damn phone

Patton is so offended he didn’t get invited to Logan’s first showcase that he doesn’t talk to him for like two whole hours 

Virgil quietly asks if there is any art of all four of them, finds out there is, and makes a print and keeps it on his bedside table

 -They are all Pining Outwardly Now and its Worse

 -Remus : you have known them since pre-k please ask them out I beg of you 

Roman: You just dont get it 

Remus: I asked Janus out after 4 weeks what is your problem

 Emile: Virgil, I love you, you are my Partner in Anti-Drowning but you are so stupid 

Virgil: What???? All I said is that you and Remy are really cute and I'd love to be in a relationship like that 

Emile: I am not a violent person, Virgil, but I have the strong urge to smack you

 Patton, in the Rage Closet: They're all just so hOT and ReSPEctFUL 

Janus, waiting for his turn, trying to act like he cant hear him: I Am Looking Elsewhere

 Logan: I just don't understand why they were more upset that I didn't tell them than that I'd been making art of them for years?? Shouldn't that second part be worse??

Remy, who has been partial to Every Single One Of AMP Waxing Poetic About Logan: Yeah, no idea /s

 -the twins get into a surfing competition as a pair and everyone goes to see them and support them

Thomas airs the competition on every tv in the restaurant cuz he’s Proud of his Bois

They WIN cuz they are Creative and Talented and came up with all sorts of crazy tricks while they were fucking around in the water but it earns them Major Bonus Points for originality

 -Roman does the run off the podium and into Love’s arms trope with just like... whoever’s closest lets go Patton because he is a Waif and forced himself up front so he can see

The other two are Devastated because well shit but then Roman pushes through the crowd, still holding Patton’s hand, and gives them this smile and is like “remember in like second grade when we said we’d do everything together and made a pact on this beach”

Analogical: uhhhhhh yeah

Roman: holding you both to it. No take backs. This counts. Now kiss me, dammit, we WON and they DO MANY TIMES AND ITS REAL CUTE

 -Meanwhile dukeceit have Mysteriously Disappeared and No One wants to be the ones to go find them. They show back up, eventually. Janus has a branch in his hair and remus' hair is sticking straight up and when he opens his mouth roman glares at him and tells him in no uncertain terms that they do not want to know

 AnYWaY these are my children and I will gladly answer any questions about them. I left out Janus Backstory and Creativitwins Angst and Many Individual LAMP Scenes and Remile/Dukeceit getting together and Epilogue but can absolutely provide such things on request

[ts-a-heros-choice]

A Hero’s Choice - Part Four

Welcome/Explanation

Masterpost

(The votes from Part 3 have been counted, and here are the results!)

1 – Cover his eyes and lie

2 – Don't and tell the truth

A – Intrulogical

B – Royality

C – Remile

D – All of the above

E – None of the above

(So, this fic will include Anxceit as the main ship, with Intrulogical and Royality as two other main ships that you will have some control over (through Virgil’s actions) and Remile as an established background ship)

“Ah, fuck.”

Virgil finally tore his eyes away from Roman Kingsley, turning to stare – equally wide-eyed – at the Duke, who wasn’t quite glaring at him, but had a rather suspicious expression that made Virgil quite uneasy.

“You’re Remus Kingsley,” Virgil suddenly blurted out. “That’s- that’s Roman Kingsley, and you’re his brother, so you’re... you’re Remus.”

(Virgil didn’t know Remus very well, either. He’d spoken with him only a few more times than he’d spoken with Roman. But one of Virgil’s best friends – Logan Berry – had had a crush on Remus for almost a year now, which meant that Virgil probably knew a lot more about Remus than the hero knew about Virgil.)

The Duke – Remus – tilted his head.

“Maybe I should kill you,” he said.

Virgil jolted away from him. “What the fuck?”

“I mean, no one’s supposed to know who we are-”

“I won’t tell anyone!”

“-and I feel like it might just be easier to kill you, you know? Slit your throat and leave you to bleed out in this alleyway, or something.”

Virgil opened and closed his mouth a few times. “But- but, you guys are heroes! You’re not supposed to kill people!”

Remus pulled a face. “You sound like Roman.”

“Well, Roman’s right! You can’t just kill me. I swear I won’t tell anyone!”

Remus leant forward, looking him over suspiciously, and Virgil froze as Remus’s face got far too close to Virgil’s to be comfortable. He didn’t move, though – just stayed frozen and still as the slightly foul-smelling (Logan had questionable taste in guys) hero examined him.

“Hm.” He finally leant back. “You’d better not.”

Then, he finally turned back to his brother, who was still slumped over against the wall, his eyes closed. There was blood starting to seep through his white shirt – lines of red from when the beast had slashed at his chest – and Virgil’s mouth tasted bitter as nausea continued to swirl in the pit of his stomach. His anxiety was not handling this situation well, and he couldn’t wait to get home and pretend that this had never even happened.

Remus shifted closer to Roman – glancing back over his shoulder at Virgil for a moment – before he pressed his hands to his brother’s chest. The gem on his costume and his gloved hands both began to glow as he healed him, and when he finally pulled away, Virgil had expected him to pass out, too, but he didn’t.

Remus sat back, pulling a face as he slumped against the wall, but his eyes didn’t flutter closed, and he didn’t look too tired.

“How- how come he passed out and you didn’t?” Virgil asked.

Remus rolled his eyes. “My injury was worse: took more energy to heal.”

“Oh.” Virgil shifted awkwardly. “So, um... how long will it take him to wake up?”

“Dunno.”

“Right.”

The silence was awkward and uncomfortable, but Virgil got the idea that he wasn’t supposed to leave yet, so he stayed put.

Virgil leant back against the brick wall. It was solid and uncomfortable and a little sticky, but he was exhausted, despite the fact that he hadn’t been the one doing any actual fighting. Remus was just beside him – still transformed in his black, green and now-red suit. He looked even more tired than Virgil felt, but Virgil couldn’t get a good look at him with the costume – even knowing his identity, it was still a little difficult to recognise him.  

Whatever magic fuelled their powers likely masked their identities, too, but it couldn’t do a thing against logic. It couldn’t have stopped Virgil from putting the pieces together after seeing Roman’s face.

It hurt Virgil’s head to think too much about it.

A few minutes passed. They watched Roman – the rise and fall of his chest – and waited rather impatiently for him to wake up. Virgil was just about to suggest trying to wake him up themselves when Roman suddenly jolted in his sleep.

Then, he groaned, and his eyes slowly opened.

“Wha-”

Remus sat up straight. “Ugh, finally! Bro, you’re so weak, who passes out after just one heal?”

“You should- ow... you should be more grateful, you imbecile. I just saved your life.”

Remus scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Psh, it wasn’t that bad.”

“You almost died!”

“It was pretty bad,” Virgil agreed.

Roman jumped at his voice, turning back to him with wide eyes as if he’d forgotten that the other teenager was still there, which should’ve been impossible as Virgil was sat right beside Remus. He stared at him. Then, he slowly looked down at himself. He took in his regular clothes and then reached up, touching his own face and feeling the definite lack of a mask.

“Shit.”

“Right?!” Remus threw his hands up into the air. “What the fuck are we supposed to do with him?!”

“Uh... I promise I’m not going to tell anyone?” That came out more like a question, which likely wasn’t helping Virgil’s case. “Can I go?”

Remus shook his head. “No. Shut up.” He turned back to his brother. “He knows your identity, so he knows my identity, and no one’s supposed to know! What do we do?”

“Wha- you’re looking to me for advice?” Roman exclaimed. “This is your fault! You should’ve covered his eyes when I passed out! Or- or covered me!”

“Well, it’s your fault for passing out, you bitch.”

“I wouldn’t have had to heal you if you hadn’t have gotten stabbed, dumbass!”

“Your gem was the one that let the monster in!”

Virgil blinked. He then coughed, interrupting the two fighting heroes, and their heads spun around to face him. They seemed to have temporarily forgotten about them, again, and looked almost surprised that he was still here.

“I’m sorry, what the hell do you mean by ‘your gem let the monster in’?”

Roman huffed, elbowing his brother in the ribs. “Nice going. Are you gonna tell him all of our secrets?”  

Remus rolled his eyes. “Fuck off.”

Roman sighed, turning back to Virgil with a look that read something along the lines of ‘can you believe him?’ which Virgil wasn’t sure how to respond to. Then, the hero sighed. He reached up and massaged the bridge of his nose, and Virgil’s brow creased as he watched him.

“The gems can open portals,” Roman began. “As you likely already know. But... they don’t only open portals when we’re transformed. They do it on their own, sometimes. We can’t control it. We have to transform to close them, but sometimes we’re not quick enough and monsters get through.” 

“Oh.” Virgil blinked. “That’s- that’s- um... can’t you just, I don’t know, get rid of the gems?”

Both of the twins pulled faces.

“I mean, but... what if that doesn’t work? We can’t risk it,” Roman defended. There was something a little... dishonest... about the words, like that wasn’t the whole truth.

Virgil decided not to press.

“Right, right...” He looked around. There was a pause, and then he continued. “Are all fights as bad as that one? ‘Cos if this is what it’s always like... maybe you need some help?”

Remus immediately straightened up. He suddenly grinned at Virgil – a manic, wild grin that made Virgil rather uncomfortable, and he got the feeling that he wasn’t going to like whatever the hero was about to say to him. Then, Remus turned to his brother, who looked just as confused as Virgil felt.

It took a moment of Remus staring, and then Roman seemed to realise what his brother was thinking.

“Oh- no. No!”

“Come on, it’s a good idea!”

“None of your ideas are ever good ideas. And, besides, we were going to give it to Patton!”

Remus scoffed. “Him? I know you want to fuck him-”

“I do not!”

“-but he’s so weak! He’d be no help. A monster could just look at him and he’d burst into tears, and you’d be so distracted trying to get into his pants that you’d be no help, either!”

“Why must you be so crude, you monster?”

“What the hell are you two talking about?” Virgil suddenly interrupted.

They both turned to look at him. Roman looked him over slowly, his brow creased, and Virgil shifted uncomfortably. Remus’s grin returned, and he leant forward.

“We have another gem – found it when we found these two – and that's how we transform. Wanna use it and help us? Roman wants to tell Patton and give it to him but you already know, and you seem fit enough. And much more bearable than that wimp. So, do you wanna become a superhero, too?”

…

QUESTION:

What should Virgil do?

1 – Help with gem

2 – Help without gem (give it to Patton)

3 – Don't help

(Vote in the reblogs/comments, and the options that will receive the most votes will determine the fate of this story! The votes will be counted next Friday, and the next part shall be written for and posted the Friday after that!

Answer 1 and 3 are exactly what they seem (accepting/denying Remus’s offer) and answer 2 would mean that both Virgil AND Patton would become involved with the superhero business, though Virgil wouldn’t become a hero himself, he'd just help in other ways. So, it all depends on what you’d prefer – seeing more of Patton or having Virgil become a superhero!

- @izzyfandoms)

[spacegaywritings]

Of shared Passions and shed Tears - Oneshot

Ship:  familial Remile x Virgil Summary: Remy and Emile have been married for a long while but it has not been that long ever since they adopted Virgil. Remy comes home one day to find their child a crying and sniffling mess but instead of just comforting them, they cherish their family together and bond because Remy is the opposite of a neglectful parent. Virgil uses he/him + they/them and is genderfluid (as well as a stimming ADHD nerd) ao3 ; Words: 3051 My KoFi  - Support me ♥ or Commission me

Story under the cut:

It was a rather comfortable Thursday afternoon in a cozy suburban area. Everything was peaceful as you would expect and want it to be. The sun was lazily stretching itself over the horizon in its warm bath of orange petals and reddish flakes.

The houses seemed to be in a late autumn slumber, barely moving and in a half daze. Everything was slow, moving not at all or just lethargically so. The world was captured in a film playing in slow motion.

But there was movement, there was trouble. It was just hiding away like a sneaky snake, planning and conspiring against them all. Ready to destroy the peace, ready to hit each stable emotion and crash it into pieces. The predator was waiting to strike at the right moment when its prey was falling victim to its own trust in the comfort of a world that was colder and crueler than it seemed to be, despite the warmish glows the sun spared on the area.

It felt like an idyllic scene. Clearly, this was painted to be someone’s desktop background. It had a great resolution and spiked harmony within the observer.

But hidden in one of the warm houses, an emotion was stirring up. There was a world, a whole storm of feelings. Intensity, depth, wails and waves of rapid changes in mood and situations.

It was the fictional world of Stellaris. Virgil was sitting on the couch, clutching a pillow and watching the latest episodes. He watched them. Again.

One of the protagonists was going through a lot of issues and they were having a breakdown. Virgil mirrored the issues on the small TV as they hugged the pillow close to them and wailed silently.

“But why would you do that?”, he asked.

His words echoed through the emptiness of the universe. It was like speaking in an abandoned church and he was just as likely to receive a response. Another sob wrecked through his body, shaking his ribs and making his throat vibrate as he let out another pained whine.

It was just fiction. HE knew it. His brain was convinced that he had just put on the same DVD again so it was clearly not reality. Hell, the whole world this was playing in was so far from reality that it was clearly impossible for these events to replay but still.. Still, his heart was bewitched to believe all that was happening before hi eyes to be the one and only truth he had ever known.

It was heartbreaking, agony-inducing and absolutely nerve-wrecking .. but at the same time, it was cathartic. In some way, at least. His emotions seemed to receive a ritual of purification as Virgil started sobbing once more, actual tears glistening in his greenish eyes.

“Please don’t go”, he begged.

Their voice was miserable and the pleads elicited nothing more than a one-sided conversation. He would never get an answer, not that he wanted to or had to. Virgil already knew what would happen but they did not like it.

The protagonist went. Oh fuck, they just went along. Why did they do that.

“Nu!”

Virgil cried out and took ahold of a nearby tissue box just to swing it at the TV. His motivation was just weak enough to just let the box mildly grace the screen before sliding down miserably. Even his attempts at rage were extinguished by the sheer hopelessness of the scene.

“Why would you go, you dumb fuck! They trusted you!”

The blonde flopped down onto his back. Painful squeezed rattled his body as his heart sulkily beat in a special rhythm made for heartbreak only. It was like the running engine of a dying car. Virgil would be terrified if his whole attention was not focused on one of the main characters leaving the country - as well as their potential lovers.

The whole light of the show, the colour and all heart left the show and it made Virgil’s soul suffer sympathetically. It was like autumn, all life was sucked away in fear of winter taking it all away. A bit like getting sick, energy was scarce and every bit of feeling and movement seemed to immediately use up all the last pieces of stored energy.

The love interests were talking by now. Dejected and fearful, they hugged and Virgil could not help but curl around his friend-shaped pillow and make sure he was hugging the remorse out of himself. It was not like he had committed the mistake of taking it too far at once but at the same time he had and he blamed himself along with the protagonists.

The tears slowly started making their way through. When the interior monologue of the leaving character started, Virgil could not help but let out another tirade of helpless sobs and silent pleads.

It hurt so much to go through all this rejection just to reject others... to protect oneself.

They were crying so much, they did not notice dad #2 come in until he was being shaken by his shoulder.

“Virgil? Virgilius Thanathel Picani, what the fuck is wrong?!”

The kid flinched and pulled the pillow off their face. Remy was instead their, a face of tragedy right there.

“Dad?”

Virgil hummed and nudged the other so he could sit up. Once dad #2 made space, the teen cuddled up next to him and grabbed the remote to stop the show. The heartbreak was too intense and he could basically taste the worry from Remy’s face in his own thoughts. It was tangible.

“m okay”, they mumbled as they let their head rest on Rem’s shoulder. If it was not for them to be all curled up, their heads would bonk together since Virgil was a bit taller than his dad #2. Dad #1 was just tall as fuck and it was illegal, to be candid.

“Virgil, what is wrong, why are you crying?”

The blonde hugged his dad from the side and he did not hesitate to return the hug and give the child a bit of the sweet medicine that is physical love and affection. It was warm. Their heart felt warm.

The teen mumbled something incoherently into his shoulder and shook his head. It felt like rubbing the bad feelings out of Remy’s chest when he knew that his child was crying.

A cold fear was scratching within him and it was rough, used and abused.

“Can you repeat that maybe? I promise you don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to but you can if you want to.” Remy gently brushed the hair out of his face, some of these blonde strands sticky with saltiness and sadness. “I just want to help, darling.”

Virgil’s arms around him squeezed him a bit more and Remy’s heart was about to shatter like a thin cup of glass that was to be dropped onto the hard surfaces of the roads.

“People are so dumb”

The teen’s voice was faltering a bit, squeaky in a sense that the cries made it sound raw and somewhat ... on edge. It was neither composed nor soft and careful as always. Virgil’s voice sounded much like a wound someone just re-opened and rubbed over instead of applying something to speed up and support the damage done to the skin.

A part of dad #2 just cherished that Virgil did not the instinctive nickname he had given him. Another part of him was stricken with the worry of him the blonde suffering from bullying and other issues. And it had been so long after school and here he was, suffering and sobbing.

“Well, of course they are, Virgil.”

Should he say more?

The kiddo cleared their throat and shifted a bit but remained in a rather curled up position, still compressing their actual height. They were just a small ball of soft pleas and little sniffles at the moment. With all the weight and closeness, Remy felt as if he was holding a treasure, a living miracle in his arms. A wonder of creation he needed to protect at all costs but the responsibility and conditions were vague at best.

“Why are people so dumb?”

Virgil sighed and rubbed his eyes, allowing themself to retreat to the corner of the couch once more. The adult let him go, eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses which he quickly removed in favour of properly looking at his kid.

“It is just, like, you know. Is that drama there on purpose, do they do it just to make it even harder?”

Remy blinked. That sounded like a very deep conversation. This, indeed, seemed like a situation in which he was all in the mess already and now had to figure out how to soothen out everything that has happened so far. It was like taking over the wheel for someone who did not drive quite as well as yourself but they actually are in a sort of complex situation so you have to figure out where they stand and how to best get out of it without hurting anyone.

If he said a wrong word, that would be like straight-up driving into a truck. Without even looking. Without insurance either. Or about anything to cover up for the damages and other consequence he might cause with his inconsiderate and hot-headed behaviour.

“What happened, what is wrong?”

Virgil curled up with his blanket by now, offering one end to Remy who hesitated just for a moment before taking it and shifting closer. They were sharing a blanket. This was a real deal. This was a higher level of parenting by now.

This was some big big trust level.

“You know, so, there are these people and they would make such a good ship and they are made for one another and one of them is just so scared that they all up and left and the others are left aside and what if they will not get together at all? I mean, I mean”

He took a deep breath, steadying himself. The kid was cuddling a pillow again but still leaning their head against his shoulder. Brushing the pillow, they breathed with more ease. They sounded less hasty, less as if they were running away from a big stone rolling after them.

Was that stimming?

Em had talked about it...

His fingers fidgeted a bit more and the blonde shifted his head over to Remy’s chest. It just stayed. It stayed in trust and silence.

“Look”, he pointed at the screen and pushed a hard object into Remy’s lap. A DVD case.

“They could be so happy together and they just gotta be so dramatic about it. I mean, I get it but they have so much trust and shit and why are they freaking out so much over words. It is just a word, it will not change a thing, why would it change a thing after all?”

He patted the pillow with both hands and let out a deep sigh.

Remy clicked his tongue.

“Are you talking about a show?”

He glanced over the case and read the title.

Stellaris.

Huh, he remembered Emile talking to him about it. He probably just had gotten it for them since they talked about ordering it online. But were those not some books?

“It is not just the show! The show was just released and it is now on terms with the books! Look, look!”

Virgil shifted up again, their head removing itself from Remy’s chest and he spared another peek at his kid as they flapped their hands a bit. When they leaned down to grab something, their body was slightly bouncing up and down like a dull bouncing ball.

The blonde got up and pushed a whole stack of books into Remy’s lap. With all these pastel books and a whole case of DVDs on his thighs, dad #2 had to act quick and pull these items closer, making sure his arms prevented them all from falling.

“Books, oh yes. I remember you getting these books from the library not too long ago. You read all of them?”

Virgil’s head bopped up and down in rapid succession.

“Of course! They are easy to read! This is not a maths textbook or anything!”

Remy chuckled at the statement and let his gaze travel down to the moving toes of his kid. It was adorable to see physical signs of him getting passionate about certain things. Whenever they were happy, they would flap their hands or bounce and it was a delight to the eye, no matter what other people would say. It just made Remy want to hug them. He was blessed to see actual indicators of Virgil’s mood and be able to help him when he needed it or know that he did a good thing and made them incredibly happy.

It was also an amazing implication of nervousness every now and then. Again, some people might be annoyed but for Remy, it was facilitated communication. He did not understand it all but he got the cues most of the time and only needed to react and figure it out from there.

As he did at that moment. Sure, dad #2 did not know what Virgil had felt at first but he now knew he was excited, happily even so ! Now, the man could make sure to attend to whatever the teenager hyperfixated on.

He glanced over the DVD and flipped it so he could read the description. Huh, a fantasy world. Rebellion. Oppression. No wonder Virgil liked it. For a moment he wondered whether his friends Remus and Eden had inspired him to like this..this piece of entertainment.

“It sounds interesting”, he commented and put the case aside.

“I still don’t get much of what this show is about - or the books.”

He shrugged and picked up the books so he could identify the right one to pick. There, volume 1. The smaller man started reading the back of it.

“In a postw-”

“Nooo”, Virgil whined and pressed his whole body against Remy, effectively blanketing dad #2 with his whole weight. “You need to look insideeeee”

“Okay okay! Gee, Virgil”

The man couldn’t help but chuckle again and he surrendered the book to the human piece of blanket on him. Blonde blanket kid took the book and skipped through it they were a few pages into it.

“Okay, now lookie here, Ri!”

Virgil cleared his throat and actually stayed still for long enough so Remy could take his turn of holding the book. There were illustrations of characters. Probably the ones from the show/books. After all, upon glancing at the TV, he could see a person with similar facial features as the person in one of the drawings.

“That is one of the protagonists and they are fucked up!”

Remy blinked.

“I see.. In a good way?”

Virgil pulled back and shrugged casually, their lip dragging into a lop-sided grin. Dad #2 nodded thoughtfully and focused on the next the illustration provided by the wise pages of insight into his kiddo’s new interest. It was a wolf next to a person, a tall person.

“Who is this?”

Virgil let out a loud, intense sound. It was high-pitched, it was a persistent squeal and Remy was sure that his husband could hear it at his work place. He was also convinced this sound would never get out of his system and would visit him in his sleep. …The sound was also worth it. It was the sign of the teenager being excited.

It was not the funky stimming but it was a part of them becoming gradually more and more immersed in something they relished in.

“That is one of the love interests, dad!”

Virgil patted the illustration of emphasis.

“She is one of the protagonists and they are dating the other one you just saw - wait wait!! We can watch the show together!”

Remy shook his head with a smile and pulled the teen into his lap.

“How about we make some snacks and watch it together? Or we can wait for Em to come home and watch it with us”

Virgil rapidly patted Remy’s chest with his hands and nodded.

“Yesyesyesyes!! We can watch it with dad!!”

Dad #2 inhaled sharply and tugged the teen closer.

“I am so happy you are here”, he mumbled as he slung his arms around Virgil who immediately eased into his touch and wrapped his arms around him as well. They were engulfed in the luck being bound, of being united.

They carefully nudged their dad in reply and curled into the warming hugs of comfort and support. If it was not for Virgil to be a light blonde dude, he was sure that he would pass as biological kid to either Emile or Remy at least. Sure, they could not have gotten him together but he was there and he was their kid.

“mhm”, Virgil hummed and fidgeted with his fingers behind his back once more.

“I…I … I am glad too, you know..”

Their voice was silent but composed and every word rolled of their tongue with meaning. It did not drop as much as strive into the world in order to fulfil a certain purpose and find a specific end where it was needed.

Remy breathed out.

“I know, I know. We both know”

He felt tears well up in his eyes.

“It is just nice to hear that you still think we were the right choice after all.”

Virgil was the next to sniffle and shift his upper body closer against Remy. He looked ridiculously gigantic in the lap of Remy, who was smaller than him. Sitting in his lap and clinging o him while he was sniffling once more was just an odd sight to walk in on but Emile did not mind that.

When he came home, he just joined the cuddles.

No matter how old, he would try his best to support Virgil along with Remy.

“Hey dad #1, two said we will watch drama tonight.”

Emile smiled.

“As long as I am with my two favourite people in the world, my life is complete.”

Virgil returned the gesture.

“I know, I think so too.”

[royalprinceroman]

To The Poison Named Loneliness - Chapter Two

Story Summary: Patton is about to start high school and he doesn't want to start it in the wrong body. Born as Patricia, Patton wants to change, but his strict mother wants nothing to do it. With the help of some family and friends, he'll get his chance to start fresh. High school is a challenge Patton wasn't sure he was ready for but together with his childhood friend, Virgil, and some new friends he meets along the way, he'll overcome anything in his way... even himself.

Pairings: Eventual Moceit, Eventual Sleepxiety, Romantic Logince (parents of Virgil), Background Romantic Remile, Childhood Best Friends Moxiety

Fic Warnings: All sides are in this story (all sympathetic), homophobia, transphobia, bullying, sickness, food mentions, mental/physical abuse, blood, cursing, etc (This is for the fic as a whole)

<- Chapter One | Chapter Two (You’re here!) | Chapter Three ->

Read on AO3! | Like what I do? Buy me a coffee!

***TW: Major mental/physical abuse and cursing in this one, please proceed with caution***

Patton stood there, hand on his neck and the other on his stomach. His long locks of blonde hair were gone. He now had a typical boyish haircut but a little bit longer on top so he could choose which way to flip his hair. Maisie had been amazingly kind the entire time she cut it. She even shared with Patton that she herself was transgender. She had been born a boy. Patton had never met a person who has transitioned all the way. It gave him… hope.

They had all walked together to a nearby church just across the street from the large house for the ceremony. Patton now waited for everything to begin.

Alice walked over towards Patton and he grabbed the pillow on the nearby table that had the rings on it.

"I'm ready, Alice." Patton said.

Alice smiled. "Yup! You look great. Now, I know your mom is gonna get mad but I very much doubt she'll make a scene at my wedding."

Patton agreed. "Yeah she's-- um very interested in some things you have." He tried to be coy but it didn't work.

"Oh yes that's very clear how much she came around after my mother died." Alice rolled her eyes. "Pay her no mind. I take full responsibility for what happened today." She ran her hand through Patton's hair and he giggled. "You are who you believe you are, sweetheart and I support you. You look happier now than you have for awhile…"

Patton leaned in to Alice. "Thank you."

Alice leaned down and kissed Patton's head. "You're welcome. I love you, Patton."

"I love you too, Alice." Patton said.

A woman across the room called towards Alice and the bride to be looked excited.

"Things are about to start! See you later!" Alice said excited as she dashed off to take her position.

Patton gulped and grabbed the nearby pillow with the wedding rings on it. Another wedding host showed him where to stand and gave him a thumbs up. He was so nervous. What would his mother think? Would she stop the whole wedding to yell at him? Patton didn't know. He watched as the bridesmaids and groomsmen on both sides head down the walkway. Patton swelled to see both genders standing on either side of where Julia stood. She looked so beautiful in her white tux with a purple lapel. Even as far away as he was, Patton could see the tears rolling down her face.

Julia loved Alice so much.

Patton watched a girl in a light lavender dress head down the aisle next, spreading violet petals as she did so. She dramatically dumped the last bit at the very front and then Patton took a deep breath. He began walking.

It was then that he realized Julia was making eye contact with him.

He decided in that moment to not look anywhere else but her. Julia nodded and smiled gently as he walked. Patton felt so much better. As he arrived at the end, he stood next to the flower girl. Julia also gave him a thumbs up and he returned it. He had no idea if his mother had seen him or not. Hopefully Chris did. Patton wanted to thank Chris for the tux he was wearing.

Breaking the silence, "Here Comes The Bride" began to play from the organ in the corner. Everyone else stood up and Patton leaned around to see Alice. She had a tiara on now with a veil over her face.

She looks like an angel… Patton thought as she passed by him.

Uncle Dave gave a small wave to Patton as he walked by with Alice and Patton smiled. It seemed Uncle Dave approved too. Alice must've told him at some point.

The wedding proceeded as planned and Patton gave the wedding bands at the proper moment. Alice and Julia kissed and everyone erupted in cheers. Patton smiled and was genuinely happy for them until he noticed one person not cheering out of the corner of his eye.

If looks could kill, Patton would've been dead.

His mother glared daggers at him and by the look of things was restraining herself from saying a word. Her face was beet red and her eyes sharp with anger.

Patton quickly looked away from her and back to Alice who was in an embrace from Julia. The two held hands as they walked down the aisle to exit the church. Try as he might to not cry, Patton felt the tears begin to fall. The hope built up by Alice and her happy day all fell apart right in front of him. The room was loud, but he couldn't hear anything. It was muffled, as if it was far away. The tears blurred his vision. Why had he let this little ball of happiness so far inside his heart?

This is going to disappear. The voice in his mind chided him. Why would you think this outfit and haircut meant anything at all? You're trapped. You cannot escape her, Patricia. You're hers forever.

Patton shoved his hands onto his ears, dropping the ring bearer's pillow. He dashed towards the back of the church through a set of double doors. That was to be the catalyst for everything.

She's after you. She'll find you. The voice said. You can't hide from her. She knows you better than anyone else.

Patton ignored the voice, dashing through the empty halls. His new polished black shoes tapped on the vinyl floor, echoing his every movement to anyone giving chase. He ignored the tears falling down his face and quickly unbuttoned the jacket, taking it off in one quick movement. Patton proceeded to do the same thing to the shoes and pants as he ran. He didn't deserve to wear the clothing anymore. Eventually, one of the doors he tried swung open. He quickly shut it behind him and realized as his eyes adjusted to the darkness: a Sunday School classroom. Patton dived under the teacher's desk, wrapping his arms around his knees, trying so hard to calm himself down.

You're all alone now, Patricia. No one's coming to help you. Soon your mother will be here and who knows what she'll do with you… The voice said, taunting him. Abandoning the clothes doesn't change what you did! You horrible, disobedient girl!

Patton covered his ears. "Shut up!! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!" he screamed. "Shut up.. please just shut up…"

The door on the other side of the room randomly burst open. Patton covered his mouth to quiet his sobs.

"Patricia?! I know you're in here! It's the only room unlocked!" Martha bellowed.

Patton refused to move, to speak. This was going to be the time his mother snapped.

"Patricia Marie!! GET OVER HERE RIGHT NOW GODDAMN IT OR SO HELP ME!!" His mother shrieked, the voice piercing the cold silence around them. Suddenly the desk flung away from Patton and he screamed in terror, hiding his face into his knees. "There you are you ungrateful bitch!"

His mother reached down and grabbed Patton by the arm and yanked him up effortlessly, before rearing back and slapping him across the face as hard as she could. Patton wailed in pain and fell back to his knees, sobbing.

"No, you stand up right now. I'm going to show you exactly why you do not cross your mother." She spat, yanking Patton back up by his bra strap. "Look at you! You are a girl! Breasts, hips, and all!" Each word countered with a slap across Patton's face, each one more painful and loud. "No daughter of mine is going to be a tranny!" She slapped Patton so hard his bra strap snapped and Patton fell to the floor.

He didn't know if he was still awake or not. Everything was so dark and black. The shrill voice of his mother was now a mere muffle. He could taste iron in his mouth and he felt something warm running out of his ears and nose.

This was it. She was going to kill him.

The door slammed open across the room as Martha brought her foot down against Patton's ribs. He sputtered blood and wailed again. In the doorway, Alice rubbed her bruised shoulder from ramming into the locked wooden door. Her eyes darted to Patton collapsed on the floor. "Julia! Over here! Call 911, hurry!" Alice shouted down the hall before she ran over. "Get the fuck away from him!" Alice shouted, running over and shoving Martha away. "What the fuck do you think you're doing, Martha?! This is your child!" She leaned over to Patton, checking his vitals. What did she do to you, Patton? Oh baby I'm so sorry... Alice turned and stood to face Martha, her brows furrowed in anger.

Martha growled but didn't walk back towards her. She leaned against the desk she had shoved away. "That thing is not my daughter. Not anymore." Martha said. She wiped the sweat off her brow and stood up straight. "If she wants to be a boy then she should learn how to fight."

Alice growled. "You bitch."

From the door, Julia walked in, a gun in her right hand and a badge in her left.

"Martha Taylor, you're under arrest. Turn around." Julia said blankly, waving with the gun. "You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to consult an attorney…"

Alice turned back to Patton as Julia finished telling Martha her miranda rights and cuffing her. She gently tried to pick the small boy up but he whined gently, wrapping his arms around himself.

"Alice!" She turned to see Maisie at the door. "The ambulance is here!"

"We're coming." Alice responded as she picked Patton up against her. She shhed the crying boy, kissing his forehead.

As she walked by Martha in the hallway, she stopped for a second and looked at the woman dead in the eye. "If you even remotely look at Patton ever again, you won't be leaving in handcuffs next time."

Martha didn't respond.

Alice rushed down the hallway as fast as she could.

"Alice… I.. I'm ruining your dress…" Patton mumbled.

"Baby, I don't care about my dress. Don't worry, focus on yourself." Alice assured. "Stay awake okay?"

".... I'm sorry." Patton said.

All Patton could hear as he slipped into darkness was Alice shouting his name.

---

Tags: @availe @vicdehart @sendingcookiesfromhell @lumina-universe @notveryglittery @changeling-ash @canvas-the-florist @mandeebobandee @axyzel @okay-finne @sanders-sides-with-quinn  @sassafrass64 @canvas-the-florist @bookwyrminspiration  @withspaces @grayson-22 @re-side-this @theblankest123 (please send me an ask to be added!)

[tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors]

LOAFT prompt: Patton wears makeup for the first time, the others are really gay about it

Pretty

Pattonis unfairly gorgeous.Hisboyfriends already knew that, but it never hurts to have a reminder.

Pairing:Platonic Pattmile, romantic LAMP, background romantic remile

Wordcount: 2960

Warnings:guilt, mentions of isolation/bully, public kissing

Notes:part of the expanded universe of Love and Other Fairytales, beginningimmediately after Brilliant. Author knows NOTHING aboutmakeup, all make up talk sourced from google

Ao3 Series Link

—

Emilewas not nervous.

Hewasn’t!

Okay,actually, yes, he was nervous, just a little.

Whichmade him feel just a little bit silly because… he probably wasn’tnervous for the right reasons.

TheSpider Prince was sitting on the edge of the haphazard circles oflawn chairs in the Waller’s yard. Patton was sitting next to him –well, for a given definition of ‘next to,’ with his legs drapedacross the princes lap – and Elliot was on his other side, speakingmore animatedly that Emile had ever seen. The prince and Patton wereboth smiling down at them.

Occasionally,Logan or Roman would circle back to them, for quick kisses or to sitbriefly.

SoEmile was not nervous because he thought the Spider Prince washostile, or because he thought the fae might become hostile –he seemed perfectly content to sit with his boyfriend and listen tohis friend talk.

Emilewas nervous because of Patton.

Andmaybe ‘nervous’ wasn’t quite the right word.

Thiswas Patton’s house – he was the host. It was, by all rights, hisparty.

Emilewas here because of Remy, and Remy had been invited by Roman. Kai,Corbin, and Sloane were Thomas and Logan’s friends, and Elliotbeing friends with the Spider Prince was the second worst kept secretin town – they were here because of the prince.

Itwas Patton’s house, and nobody had come here for him.

Itwas Patton’s party, and he was sitting on the edge of it, notmingling or speaking to anyone but his boyfriends and Elliot. He’dgreeted everybody, but only when they’d come up to him first.

Sono, ‘nervous’ didn’t seem like quite the right word for the pitin Emile’s stomach.

Itmight be a little closer to ‘guilt.’

Emilehad spent years terrified of Patton – everyone had. Mickey Talbot’sstory back in kindergarten was, in hindsight, clearly exaggerated,but at the time it had been totally petrifying.

Andby the time it had occurred to Emile that he’d never seen Patton somuch as try to speak to another student on purpose, let alonecompel anybody to do anything, Patton- Patton had made friends, goodfriends who clearly loved him and Emile had just… tried to ignorethe fact that he’d been…

Well.He’d been pretty darn terrible, honestly.

Butwas impossible to ignore it now, with Patton – what? Stuck to thesidelines in his own home? It made the shame that had been simmeringfor years threaten to boil over completely.

Thelittle group caught his attention again when the prince, clearlyunder encouragement from the other two, took Patton’s empty pop canand threw it nearly twenty feet into the trashcan with a flick of hiswrist. Patton cheered, and Elliot gave a little fist bump.

Emilestood up.

“Whatchadoin’ Babe?” said Remy, looking up from his seat curiously.

“Somethingstupid, maybe,” said Emile, swooping in and pecking him on themouth, “Be right back, sugar,”

Remygave him quizzical look, but he didn’t press. Emile detoured pastthe cooler and grabbed two cans of pop – orange soda, because hewas pretty sure that’s what the can-projectile had been, and asprite for himself – and made his way over to the three of them.

Theprince noticed him first, narrowing his eyes, but more confused thanwary. Patton followed the line of his gaze and outright startled whenhe saw Emile.

Emilesmiled, as friendly as he could manage, and tried not to give awaythe rampant anxiety in his ribs.

“Itwas a good shot!” he said brightly, and the Spider Prince cocked anamused eyebrow.

Emileturned to Patton and held out the pop, “So I figured I’d, um- youknow. Save you the trip,”

Pattonglanced down at the can, his eyebrows pinched in confusion.

Slowly,almost like he was waiting for Emile to jerk it away, he took it. Hegave Emile a polite, if still baffled smile.

“Thankyou,” he said.

Emileswallowed, braced himself, and jumped.

“CanI sit?”

Patton’spolite and befuddled smile stayed frozen on his face just long enoughfor Emile to start sweating under his collar.

Andthen it widened, solidifying into a genuine grin with the corners ofhis eyes scrunched up, and nodded enthusiastically.

“Yousure can, kiddo!”

Emileown smile brightened in response, because how could it not? Itwas one of the most infectious smiles he’d ever seen.

Hetook the red lawn chair next to them, readjusting his flower crown.

“Itwas a really good shot,” he repeated, “How’d you get such goodaim?”

“Throwingknives,” said the prince bluntly.

Pattonwhacked him gently on the chest and Emile tried not to keel over onthe spot.

“Youcoulda just said practice, sweetie,” said Patton, a littleadmonishing.

Helooked more annoyed than scared, and Elliot was biting the inside oftheir mouth like they were trying not to laugh.

Emilegot the distinct feeling someone was joshing him.

“Myuncle can throw a hatchet,” he said, “He tried to teach me, but,well,”

Hegestured to his whole self.

“Notexactly much of a, uh, fighter, over in this neck of the woods,”

Pattonfrowned.

“That’s…that’s silly,” he said, a little haltingly.

Emilewrinkled his nose.

“Whatdo you mean?”

“Whenyou came to school in that dress the first time?” said Patton, likehe was saying something obvious, “Gosh, Emile, that was- that wasso brave,”

Emileflushed.

“I-I don’t know about that-”

“Itwas!” insisted Patton, “And you always wear such pretty clothesand flower crowns, and you’re so good at make-up! I’d never bebrave enough to wear any of that kinda stuff. Definitely not toschool,”

“Well…it’s been a long time since anyone’s said anything, everybody’spretty used to it, I think,” Emile reasoned, “I could lend yousome? I have some older ones I think, in your size. And I have tonsof makeup,”

Pattonsnorted, bright pink.

“Maybe-maybe the clothes,” said Patton, “If you- if you reallywouldn’t mind, but I don’t think I’d look right in makeup,”

“Whynot?” said the prince suddenly, his eyebrows pinched, “Like lippaint?”

“Yeah,but there’s a lot more now,” said Patton, “And it’s ‘cuzI’m all freckly. I’d need a whole bottle of foundation to coverthem up,”

“Whywould you cover them up?” came the incredulous response.

Pattongave his boyfriend a strange look.

“That’s-that just what make ups for,” he said, “To cover up bad spots,”

Theprince looked genuinely offended.

Theycontinued their back and forth, and Emile glanced over where Remywas, and Emile’s bag hanging on his abandoned chair.

Hestood up suddenly, and held out his hand.

“Comeon,” he said.

Pattonstartled, looking up at Emile’s face and then his hand.

“Come…where?” he said warily.

“I’mgonna do your make-up,” said Emile, “No foundation required,”

Abeat, and then Patton shrugged, laughing a little.

“Okay!”he said.

Emileswept his bag up while trotting past his chair, blew a kiss andanother “be right back” over his shoulder at Remy, and they madetheir way into Patton’s house.

—

“Aaaaandclose,”

Pattonclosed his eyes and barely startled when the soft brush moved overhis eyelids.

“Thisis a sorta forest-y green, with a little bit of gold,” explainedEmile, “Next is the eye liner,”

“Uh…I don’t know about that,”

“OhI’m not gonna put it one your waterline, don’t worry,” saidEmile, stowing the eye shadow palette as Patton opened his eyes. “I’mtrying to make your eyes look extra big and shiny, I’m afraidlining both will mess it up. And you do not wanna go throughthe mess that is removing waterline makeup,”

“…right,”

“Closeagain?”

Pattondid, tap-tap-tapping on the counter of the bathroom sink he wassitting on.

Emilepulled a little bit at the corner of Patton’s eye – it feltweird, and then there was a quite swipe of some kind of creamy penciland Emile let go.

“Othereye?”

Pattonturned his head.

Thiswas… weird.

Pattonwas trying not to feel like it was weird, but… well, it just wasweird. It had been years since he’d been alone with anyonewho wasn’t his parents or Roman and Logan – if he ever had,honestly. Part of him was waiting for Emile to come to his senses andrun away.

Evenmore weird was the fact that Emile had approached him. OfferedPatton clothes and make-up, and make-up lessons, which bytheir very nature implied Emile was willing to be in close proximityto Patton for extended amounts of time, multiple times in the future.

Itwas… just weird.

“Okay,so now,” said Emile, the next time Patton looked up, “I’m justgonna hold this out, and you’re gonna blink, mkay?”

“Isthat… purple mascara?” said Patton incredulously.

“It’lllook black from far away,” explained Emile, “But it’ll pick upall the gold in your eyes,”

“Well…alright,” said Patton dubiously.

Finally,Emile put something on Patton’s lips he didn’t quite recognize –it seemed too liquid to be lipstick, but it stayed on much betterthan he though gloss would. Emile pulled back, smiling.

“Alldone! Take a look,”

Pattonhopped down off the counter and turned.

Hefroze.

Hiseyes looked huge in the mirror, and almost honey colored. The pink onhis cheeks and lips, and the forest green on his eyes made him look…

Well,almost fey. Ethereal, definitely.

Butthe confusing part was that it looked like every one of hisgolden-brown freckles was still on full display.

“Ithought you put cover-up on me?” he said absently.

“Justtinted moisturizer,” said Emile, “I was pretty sure if I coveredup your freckles your spooky immortal boyfriend would be a little bitsalty with me,”

“Youmade me look so pretty,” blurted Patton.

Emilewas quiet for a long moment.

“…You were already pretty, Patton,”

Pattonturned away from the mirror, smiling.

“Thanks,”he said, because it was polite to accept a compliment.

Emiledidn’t seem to buy it.

“Youare pretty! And really nice, and… you seem like a lot offun, and-”

Pattonwas starting to feel a little confused, and then a lotconfused, because he was pretty sure Emile’s eyes were getting alittle shiny.

“I’mreally sorry, Patton,” he said suddenly.

Pattonblinked.

“I-”

Hecocked his head.

“Emile,what- what on earth are you sorry about?”

Emilestared at him.

“Because…”

Pattonwaited, still wondering what Emile could possibly be talking about.

“Becausepeople were so mean to you in elementary school,” said Emile, “AndI never did anything. And then you had Logan, and then Roman, but Istill… I still should have said something, but I didn’tand-”

Hesniffed, dabbing the corner of his barely-leaking eye with hisknuckles.

“You’rereally nice,” said Emile, “And you deserve lots of friends. AndI’m sorry I never tried to be one,”

Thebathroom fell quiet. Patton shuffled a little awkwardly.

“It’sokay,” he said, but Emile was shaking his head already.

“Alright,maybe not… okay, exactly,” said Patton fairly, ��I- Iforgive you, though,”

“Idon’t really know if you should, Patton,”

Pattoncracked a smile.

“Well,good think it’s not up to you if I forgive you, huh?”

Emilesnorted.

“So– I do,” said Patton, “And- we can just be friends now.If you want to,”

Emilegrinned, nodding quickly.

“Definitely,”

Pattonbeamed right back, and Emile grabbed him by the sleeve.

“Comeon, sugar, time to knock your boyfriends’ socks off,”

“Oh,that’s- you’re being silly,”

“Iwill bet you money at least one of them is gonna be totallyspeechless,”

“Emile,you goof,” Patton laughed.

Theyexited the back door, Emile scanning the crowd. He spotted one ofthem, and gave a sly smile.

“Lookslike Logan’s first,” he said, “This is gonna be adorable,”

“Whatdo you-”

“Oh,just wait,” said Emile, pulling again on Patton’s sleeve andmaking his way over to the cluster of younger students.

“Hey,Logan,” said Emile, with that note in his voice like he thoughtsomething hilarious was about to happen.

Loganturned, politely attentive.

Pattonsaw the exact moment Logan caught sight of him – he froze, his eyeswidening to near perfect circles, and then turned bright,fresh-carnation red.

Pattongiggled, and so did Thomas beside his brother, who made some kind ofgarbled, incomprehensible noise in response.

Movementcaught Patton’s eye on the ground, and he giggled again – a riotof flowers was crowding around Logan’s ankles. Lavender roses werethe most prominent, as well as regular old lavender and what Pattonwas pretty sure was gardenia.

“Whatdo you think?” said Patton.

Loganhesitated, before walking forward – Patton giggled again whensimilar batches of greenery unfolded in his footsteps, and slowlytook Patton’s hands, like he thought Patton might disappear if hemoved too fast.

“Youlook…”

Along pause, and Patton prompted, “Yes?”

“Iam having trouble finding an adjective that is even remotelyadequate,” said Logan, his voice slightly strangled.

Pattongrinned, and Logan’s expression went from stunned to outright awe.

“Resplendent,”he said suddenly, and Patton’s heart felt too big for his chest ashe gave Logan probably the soppiest expression he was capable of.

“Itis still not… quite sufficient,” said Logan, slowly raising onehand to brush his knuckles against the bend of Patton’s jaw, “Butthe closest I can think of, I-”

Heswallowed, shaking his head and smiling, soft and disbelieving.

“Patton,holy shit,” he said breathlessly, and Patton lost it.

Emilecut through his giggles, with a smug expression.

“Onedown, two to go,”

Logannodded enthusiastically.

“Romanis very poetic,” he said sagely, “He will be able to give you anadequate compliment,”

“Yourcompliment was plenty adequate, sweetheart,” said Patton, takingLogan’s hand as Emile started weaving them through the crowd.

Romanwas with Remy, and he didn’t look up at first. Emile broke into theconversation, giving Remy a quick kiss, and then said somethingPatton didn’t quite hear.

Romandid turn then, and the smile that burst across his face could haveshamed the sun.

“Oh,Patton,” he said, a little breathless. He covered the spacebetween them in a single breath and swooped Patton into his arms,spinning him, and Patton shrieked in delight.

“Oh,look at you, Goldilocks, my god,” he said, “Spun from beams ofsummer sunlight. Cast from gold and brought to life like Galatea, Iswear it-”

“Roman,”exclaimed Patton, covering his face.

“No,no, don’t hide from me, beautiful. Let me see your sweet smile,look at you, you’re an absolute knock-out-”

“Oh,you- you-!” Patton stumbled and then cut himself off, gigglinghelplessly.

“Oh,where’s Tall, Dark, and Spooky,” said Roman, “I have to see hisface,”

Romanstarted moving towards where Patton had been sitting with Virgil, andhe seemed to have no intention of putting Patton down. Patton loopedhis arms around Roman’s neck, making himself comfortable and stillhalf giggling. Logan followed, but Emile hung back, waving as thethree of them walked away. Patton gave him a quick wave back and agrateful smile.

Asthey approached, Thomas was just pulling Elliot away with a sly lookon his face. Virgil was giving Thomas a wary look, and Elliot lookeda bit confused, but whatever Thomas was saying seemed to convincethem, and then Elliot and Thomas were walking away.

Ittook only a moment longer for Virgil to notice them, and Roman satdown with little ceremony.

Virgilsmiled at the three of them, and then he saw Patton, and his smiledropped entirely.

Hestared, looking totally stunned for… a little longer than Pattonwas strictly comfortable with, and Patton started to squirm a littleawkwardly.

“I-”Virgil started, and Patton wasn’t quite sure if it was meant to bean actual word or just a punched-out noise Virgil made.

“Beloved,”he said suddenly, his voice reverent, and Patton barely had time toregister the starstruck burst of joy in his chest before Virgilsurged forward and caught Patton’s mouth in a kiss.

Andkiss was underselling it, because Virgil had pretty muchinstantly tangled his hand in Patton’s curls and sucked Patton’sbottom lip between his – Virgil’s other arm had wrapped almostentirely around Patton’s waist, so Virgil was practically joiningPatton in Roman’s lap.

Andspeaking of, Patton could feel Roman’s breath, warm and just alittle unsteady on his temple, and Logan’s hand hesitant onPatton’s back and feeling like brand even through his shirt. Virgilgave a slow graze of teeth to Patton’s lip and hoo, this wasgetting very out of hand very fast.

Hepushed gently on Virgil’s shoulder, and Virgil pulled back –barely, but he did – just as breathless as Patton felt and his lipssmeared faintly pink from Patton’s.

“Weare, um,” Patton said, a little nervous but mostly fond, “Sort of– very out in the open, sweetie,”

Virgilhad a sort of dazed, confused look on his face, and it looked like ittook him a minute to parse the sentence. Then he turned bright,searing scarlet, sending a quick, horrified look at the clusteredhigh schoolers, all of whom were very much not-looking at them in atotally unsubtle way.

Pattonsnickered, and Virgil groaned, hiding his face in Patton’sshoulder.

“Wayto make a guy feel good about himself, though,”

“Youare hazardously beautiful,” muttered Virgil.

“Iconcur,”

“Completelyunfair,”

Pattonwas smiling so wide the apples of his cheeks ached. He pressed a kissto Virgil’s cheek, and giggled at the pink he left behind.

Hewas definitely taking Emile up on the makeup lessons.

—

Main

@toujours-fidele @guardian-of-the-bears @patton-loves-coloring @nonbinarynerdbot @cloudchaser7 @lesbian-velociraptor @fall-chemically-atthedisco @alien–puppy @constantly-fatigued @idiotauthor @pinkeasteregg @mantha-has-fallen @v-blue-writer @lucifer-in-my-head @pearls-of-patton @221biotchplease @jungshookaf @sporadiccheesecakecat @greeneggsandham1998 @generalfandomfabulousness @never-saygood-bye @sleepyssnail @moonstone-fox @sos-fandoms @radioactivehelena  @jemthebookworm @runofthemillnb-pan @friedlieb-ferdinand-runge @erlenmeyertrash @flix-net @burningpersonflapsuitcase @whizzie72 @crazyfangirls-stuff @justadamfangirl @holy-anxiety-batman @starrycari  @flamingfawkes @hiddendreamer67 @storytellerofuntoldlegends @animegirlz7 @acoustic-sodapop @magimerlyn @quietwords-loudthoughts @bluebellflames @anxie-teaa @sweet-and-sour-shadowling

Love and other Fairytales

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[romansleftshoulderpad]

Go read Brewing Love by @notalwaysthevillian and then scream to me

[vincent-frankenstein]

To My Heart and Soul

[ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | you are here | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | read on AO3 ]

Warnings: major character death, villain/abusive deceit, blood, fighting, panic attacks, creepy imagery

Pairings: logince, hints of moxiety, a tiny smidge of remile and past abusive anxceit

Logan barely had time to react before Toby slammed his foot into the ground, sending out a wave of magic that shoved Logan right out of the dragon’s grasp. He slammed into one of the dragon’s piles and slid to the floor in a cascade of junk, black spots dancing before his eyes as he struggled to get a hold on his breath.

Nothing could have prepared him for the sheer terror the dragon evoked. She was massive, her long body coiled around and around to fit inside the building. Her head alone was the side of a small truck. Jagged, razor-sharp teeth jutted out from her jaw, and smoke billowed from her tapered snout, sparks flying through the air. Logan shook from head to toe, terror reaching up his throat to choke away all logic. He couldn’t breathe.

Patton and Toby moved in unison, firing off brightly-colored spells that collided with the dragon’s scaly hide with a noise like a train crash. She roared and let loose a volley of flames, which Toby just barely blocked with a flickering orange shield.

Logan balled his hands into fists and squeezed hard enough to draw blood, until the pain drove away his terror, until he’d regained some semblance of logical thought. There had to be something he could do to help. He wasn’t quite ready to reveal his connection to Roman just yet, too wary of what the dragon’s reaction could be — but that didn’t mean he had to be completely useless. He sucked in a deep, shaking breath, glancing around the room.

There! When Toby blasted him backwards, the weapon fell from his hands and landed embedded in a pile off to his right. He watched the battle for a moment — Patton pushed his hands through the air and a bright blue whip lashed around the dragon’s hind legs — and then he set off, inching along the edge of the pile, his hands tightening around his shield generator. If he could just reach the weapon, he could get it out of there. He could ensure their mission was complete.

The dragon’s tail swiped through the air above his head, sending the top of one pile flying. It clattered to the ground with a horrible noise, breaking Toby’s concentration. Logan froze, pressing himself back against the pile, but when he was sure he hadn’t been seen he continued.

The hilt of the weapon glowed in the firelight, and it seemed to grow brighter as he approached, as if it knew he was coming. He darted from the edge of one pile to the edge of another, inching around the perimeter until the weapon was close enough to touch. Hand shaking, he reached out and yanked it from the pile — and in doing so dislodged something very big and very heavy higher up in the pile, which came crashing down at his feet with a deafening clatter.

The dragon froze mid-fire breath, whipping her long neck around to stare right at Logan. He froze solid, his limbs locking with panic, his hands twisting around the hilt of the weapon — and his mind blanked beyond holy shit, holy shit, so this is how I die —

“Logan!” Patton darted forward, yanking the shield generator from Logan’s hands and slamming it into the ground just before the dragon’s massive claw came down on them. “What are you doing?”

He tried to answer, really, but all he could produce was a terrified squeak. Patton opened his mouth, glancing over his shoulder at Logan — and the dragon used his distraction and swiped through his shield with ease, knocking him into Toby and sending them both flying. They slammed into a wall and slumped to the floor in an unconscious heap.

And oh, wasn’t that just perfect. Logan stumbled backwards, mind racing — Patton and Toby weren’t moving, and the dragon was peering at him like a particularly nasty insect, and he had to get them out of there, somehow, but he couldn’t even breathe, let alone think — and the dragon lowered her massive head, until she was so close that Logan could feel her blisteringly hot breath. Sparks brushed against his skin.

“How did you even get in here?” she wondered, her long, snake-like tail wrapping around his middle and squeezing. Red-hot pain cracked through his ribcage as she lifted him off his feet, and he choked, darkness tugging at the corners of his vision. The end of her tail looped around the sword and tore it from his hands, and a cry tore itself from his throat. “Now, come on. That’s not yours, and you know it.”

The weapon’s warmth disappeared in a split second and the pain nearly doubled, flooding every inch of his body in a wave of agony. Black spots danced before his vision and he heaved for air, his lungs protesting every breath. He had to get the weapon back; he didn’t come this far just to die.

“Roman —” He gasped as the dragon’s tail tightened, choking on his own voice. She searched his face, eyes narrowing.

“What did you say?”

He winced, pain wracking his chest when he cleared his throat. “R-Roman,” he managed, his voice shaking and hoarse. “I know Roman.”

All at once, her grip loosened, and air flooded his lungs as he crashed to the floor. He doubled over, jagged agony shooting through every limb, colors popping behind his eyelids as he squeezed his eyes shut. He grit his teeth, a low whine building in the back of his throat. “F-Fuck,” he muttered, hands curling into shaking fists against the floor.

“How do you know him?” the dragon asked, and he could just barely hear her through the blood rushing in his ears. Was there anger, beneath her shock and confusion? He couldn’t tell. Logan breathed as well as he could through his broken ribs and raised his head to face the dragon.

“He was my h-husband,” he said, and the dragon’s eyes widened, a string of hissed curse words flying from her lips. She set the weapon gently on the ground and leaned in close, disbelief and concern warring in her emerald eyes.

“Holy shit,” she whispered. “I — why didn’t you just say that?”

The pride at being right about the dragon knowing Roman was far overshadowed by the pain lacing through the growing numbness in his chest. He groaned, gasping for breath, and the dragon swore again. She gently lifted his head with the end of her tail, peering at him with narrowed eyes.

“Tell me again,” she said. “Tell me I can trust you.”

“He was my husband,” Logan said again, meeting her gaze with all the strength he could muster. “I loved him.”

She searched his face. “Logan,” she whispered. “You’re Logan.”

Had Roman told everyone in this world about him? He nodded weakly, falling against the dragon’s tail as pain spiked through his lungs. “Okay,” the dragon said, glancing around the room. “Um. Okay, okay, I — shit, you’re really messed up.”

“No shit,” Logan said, but it came out as a weak, wheezy groan. The dragon winced, her gaze falling on Patton and Toby.

“In my defense,” she said, “I thought you were just thieves. How was I supposed to know you’re my dad’s husband? I — I can’t heal you, do either of these humans know any healing spells?”

“Y-Yes,” Logan sad, and somehow he managed to lift his hand to point at Patton. A moment passed, then another — he blinked once, twice, the dragon’s words catching up to him — and then he froze. Her dad? “Wh — wait — how?” he spluttered, but the dragon had already curled up near Patton and Toby, poking at them with one claw.

Moving carefully, she pulled Patton off of Toby and propped them both up against the wall. She blew a burst of hot air against Patton’s face, and his eyes snapped open, a million emotions crossing his face all at once before he settled on fear. He jumped to his feet and blue sparks burst to life in his palms, spreading out into a long shield.

“S-Stay back!” he cried, as the dragon stood and glanced at Logan. Patton followed her gaze, and a cry of fright tore from his lips. “Logan? O-Oh no, are you okay? I’m coming kiddo, don’t worry!”

“Patton,” Logan yelled, “it’s alright! The dragon and I have reached an — an understanding!”

“I’m not going to hurt you,” the dragon said, with every ounce of comfort a giant, hulking beast with rows of razor-sharp teeth could muster. “I mean — not anymore.”

Patton glanced between the two of them, eyebrows furrowing. He took in Logan’s injuries, concern lining his face, and craned his neck to look at the dragon as confusion joined the mix. His shield flickered away after a long, tense moment, and he set his hands on his hips. “Well, I’m very confused!” he said with a nervous laugh.

“We can explain l-later,” Logan said. He tried to stand and agony jolted through his torso, sending him crashing back to the floor with a cry of pain. “P-Please heal me.”

Patton was at his side in an instant, blue-coated hands pressing firmly against his chest. Warmth flooded through the numbness and drove back the pain and he made a small noise of relief, eyes slipping shut.

“I’ll, uh. Wake up this human.” The dragon moved to turn, and Patton cried out to stop her, his magic flaring painfully through Logan.

“A-Ah, let me do that!’ he said, wincing apologetically at Logan. “He might try to attack you before he understands what’s going on.” He lifted his hands and shook away the excess magic, and then sat back, raising an eyebrow. “What… what is going on, bye the way?”

Logan stretched, breathing deeply with relief. “The Dragon’s Eye was engraved with a… a message that Roman gave me, years ago. I assumed that that meant that he had interacted with the dragon at some point, and I was right. Once I told her who I was, she stopped attacking.”

Patton pulled Toby into his lap, whispering words that made the bruises littered across his skin fade away. “How do you know Roman?” he asked the dragon, his voice as kind as ever. Logan blinked, something hot and uncomfortable seeping into his chest. The fact that Patton already trusted Logan enough to trust a dragon…

The lies he’d been telling settled deep in his gut and burned.

“He’s my father,” the dragon said, and Logan choked, because somehow he’d forgotten about that little detail. The dragon laughed, settling her head on her folded claws like a cat. “Not biologically, of course. My parents were killed before I even hatched. If he hadn’t found me and taken care of me… I would have died. He’s the closest thing to a dad I’ve got.”

Patton cooed softly, hugging Toby to his chest. Logan could practically sense the oncoming tears. “That’s so sweet,” he said, choked-up. “That sorta makes you my niece, huh? And Logan’s like your step-father!”

Logan blinked. Logically, that made sense. He had married Roman; therefore, the dragon was his step-daughter. Somehow, though, he hadn’t made that connection until Patton said it aloud. A step-daughter. He had a daughter.

He took a moment to recover, and cleared his throat. “Y-Yes. I suppose I am,” he said, as evenly as he could manage. He’d gone from being utterly alone to having a brother-in-law and a daughter — and as the shock faded, he realized that he didn’t mind in the slightest. He tried for a smile. “Do you have a name?”

“Seraphina,” the dragon said. “My friends call me Sera, or at least they would if I had any friends.”

Patton made a high-pitched noise of sympathy, and Logan raised an eyebrow. Was that a sincere statement, or a Hercules reference? The latter was extremely likely, considering she had been raised by Roman. “Right, Sera,” he began. “We need some —”

“Holy shit —”

And Toby was awake. He leaped from Patton’s lap with a cry of shock, orange magic flaring around his hands. “Get back, you two!” he yelled, swaying unsteadily. Logan jumped between him and Seraphina on instinct, throwing his arms wide, and Patton grabbed Toby’s arm and yanked him back down with a loud cry of fright. Toby staggered to the floor, his magic fizzing and sparking, confusion and anger flaring on his face.

“It’s okay!” Patton yelled, a bit louder than he had to. “It’s okay, she’s a good dragon!”

“What?” Toby fought to yank his arm from Patton’s grip, but Patton was far stronger than anyone gave him credit. There was no escape.

“She’s on our side,” Logan insisted, as Seraphina nodded vigorously, curling in on herself to appear smaller. “She knows Roman!”

“What?” Toby looked between the three of them, face lined with shock.

“She’s Logan’s daughter!” Patton finished, and Toby went stock-still.

“What.”

His magic flickered out, and Logan sagged with relief, shooting a glance at Seraphina over his shoulder. “I believe we have some explaining to do,” he said, sitting back down with a heavy sigh.

“Damn straight,” Toby growled.

“Damn gay,” Patton said, in a voice so similar to Roman’s that Logan’s heart skipped a beat.

So Logan told the story a second time, with Patton interjecting puns every now and again, to his great chagrin. Seraphina kept her commentary to herself, watching Toby warily, her long, leathery wings shifting uncomfortably, as though she expected him to attack. Toby, to his credit, didn’t react badly. He stared at Sera for a long moment, on eyebrow raised, and then his gaze slid to Logan.

“I can see the family resemblance,” he said dryly.

“Shut up,” Logan said. Seraphina relaxed, resting her head on the floor beside Logan. She shot him a sideways glance when Toby snickered, and Logan raised an eyebrow back, rolling his eyes.

“Now that that’s out of the way,” Logan began. “I have some questions, Sera.”

“Ask away, padre,” Sera said with a laugh. The corners of Logan’s mouth twitched. She was definitely Roman’s daughter.

“How did you get Roman’s weapon?” Logan asked. “Did he give it to you? Did he instruct you to take it? When did you get it?”

“He brought it to me,” Sera said. “About… nine months and two days ago. He only told me to protect it, and then he disappeared. He seemed… shaken. Scared.” She frowned, worry swirling in her deep emerald eyes. “I haven’t seen him since.”

Nine months and two days ago — in other words, two months after Roman “died.” If they needed any more confirmation, this was it. Patton shot Logan a wide-eyed look, barely contained hope lighting up his face.

“So Princey didn’t die,” Toby said, leaning back against one of Sera’s hoards. His eyebrows furrowed. “You’re sure it was him?”

Seraphina squeaked. “He — he died?” she exclaimed, head rearing up.

“I just said he didn’t, genius.”

Logan glared at Toby. “Obviously, he didn’t,” he said, deep in thought. “Both Anxiety and Dorian suggested that he is alive, and now we know that he didn’t die the night we thought he did. He faked his own death. Or someone else faked it for him, but considering he was able to bring the weapon to Seraphina months after the fact, that seems unlikely.”

“But why would he fake his own death? And how?” Patton asked, nose wrinkled in thought. “There was a body, and the only way he could have faked that is with —”

“With a duplication spell,” Toby cut in, tapping against his knee as he thought.

“But you said he gave up his magic to be with me,” Logan said. “How would he have cast a spell?”

“There’s more than one kind of magic,” Toby said. “Inherent magic is magic that you’re born with. It can only be used by people born here, and you’d need a near-constant supply of magic to live if you have it. That’s why we can’t spend too long in your world. That’s what Roman gave up.”

“But magic can be stored, too,” Patton continued. “Like — like your shield generator! We can push magic into objects and give them purposes, and then they can be used by anyone, anywhere, even a mortal in the mortal realm. But…”

Toby sat back, eyebrows furrowed. “But I’ve never heard of someone creating a stored duplication spell,” he said, crossing and uncrossing his arms like he didn’t know what to do with them. “I mean, duplicating a body, making it convincing enough that mortal doctors would consider it real? Even with inherent magic, that would be fucking impossible.”

“Dad loved to do the impossible,” Seraphina said. “I mean, just look at this thing.” She angled her head at the weapon, lying on the floor beside her.

“Speaking of that,” Logan said, “what is it? How does it work?”

Seraphina snorted. “Hell if I know, Dad never told me. But can’t you feel it? Whatever it is, it’s powerful. There’s a shitload of magic in there. Even I can’t produce magic that strong.”

Logan reached forward and drew the weapon into his lap, running a finger along the runes. Every person he’d met in the magical realm had a different buzz to them, a unique energy, but they’d all run together until the lines had blurred and he couldn’t tell what belonged to who. Roman’s weapon was defined in a way that nothing else had been; as sharp and as certain as Roman himself. If he could determine the difference, so unused to magic as he was, he couldn’t imagine how it was for experienced mages like Patton and Toby.

He slid his thumb over the small hole in the center of the hilt. There was an identical hole on the other side, forming an almost-tunnel. They didn’t seem to serve any purpose.

“Being obnoxiously talented was Princey’s thing,” Toby remarked with a shrug, and Logan snorted.

“Hey! Shush.” Patton whacked him in mock-offense, giggles tumbling from his mouth. He sobered quickly, though, and his brows knit together. “Why would he do it, though? Why didn’t he just ask for help?”

“Roman wasn’t often one to admit when he needed help,” Logan said. “Something made him believe that the only option was to fake his own death, and whatever that something was, he believed he could face it alone.”

The thought both saddened and terrified him. Roman had him, Patton, and the entire Arcane Council on his side, as well as whatever other resources the leader of magical New York could gather. If even that wasn’t enough, if he still believed the only viable option was to run away… it did not bode well. How alone had he felt, those last few days? How alone had he been ever since?

“Gee, I wonder who the ‘something’ could be,” Toby drawled sarcastically.

“Dorian,” Patton said, pain flashing across his face. “And if Anxiety is right… he ended up getting Roman anyway.”

Logan’s fingers tightened around the hilt of the weapon. “We will get him back,” he said, to himself as much as to Patton. “We have the weapon now. Our next priority should be to return to the council and determine how to use it. Then…”

“Then we find Dorian and bitch-slap him into next year,” Toby growled.

Logan raised an eyebrow. “Crude, but you’re not wrong. There is another thing that’s bothering me, though,” he said. “Roman never told me about this place. I didn’t even know he had brothers. And yet, he told me where to find the weapon, and — and he engraved a message for me, in the dragon’s eye.”

“He what?” Toby asked, eyebrows raising. He yanked the eye from around his neck and peered at it, running a finger along the words. “To my heart and soul…”

“You hold the key,” Logan finished. “It’s the same phrase that he engraved in our wedding rings, so it seems likely that he meant for me to find the eye. That implies that he knew I’d get involved in this, that he had knowledge of the future. Is that… possible?”

“Not… really?” Patton said, biting his lip in confusion. “I mean, I guess he could have seen a seer, but —”

“But even Princey wouldn’t be that stupid,” Toby said, dropping the eye back around his neck. At Patton’s annoyed look, he rolled his eyes. “What? Everyone knows seers are bad luck.”

“No,” Patton said, “some people believe seers are bad luck. That doesn’t mean that they are.“

“Doesn’t matter, anyway,” Toby said, rolling his eyes again. “There hasn’t been a seer born in our world for decades. I doubt he would have been able to find one.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, too,” Patton said. He shrugged, mouth twisting into a confused grimace. “Just another mystery! We can ask him when we find him, okay?”

Logan nodded. “Right. Come on.” He stood, dusting off his pants, and offered Patton his free hand. “Thank you, Seraphina. Your help was invaluable.”

Seraphina rolled onto her back, wings spreading out beneath her. “You’re welcome, dad,” she said, equal parts sincere and teasing. Logan choked, shoving away the deluge of mixed feelings that threatened to swallow him whole. Behind him, Patton awwed so loudly, he wouldn’t have been surprised if they could hear it back in New York.

Bathed in sunset-light, the three climbed out of Seraphina’s keep and back into the forest. Logan held the weapon tightly to his chest as they trekked over the uneven ground, following just behind Patton and Toby.

They were so close. They had the weapon, a way to defeat Dorian, once and for all. They had answers, and above all, they had one definite truth: Roman didn’t die in the car crash. He was out there, somewhere. Logan could find him.

Logan could find home.

He smiled to himself, a sigh of relief falling from his lips. His shattered world was beginning to build itself back up, back into what it had been before.

A figure stepped out from the trees, golden eyes glowing beneath a hood wreathed of shadows. He blasted Patton and Toby aside without a moment’s hesitation, head tilting up, his mouth stretching into a wide grin.

“Hello, Logan,” Dorian said, and the world fell apart once more.

[romansleftshoulderpad]

Like a Lover

Words: 6, 713

Ship(s): Remile, background Logicality and Prinxiety, I think Background Dorry is mentioned

Warnings: Swearing, caps, a lot of jokes about condoms (and various NSFW mentions as well as an ending that alludes to some NSFW... activities), Emile gets tipsy at one point, food mentions, mentions of Dysphoria and improper binding. (There’s technically a continuity error from part one but Mama Mia 2 had plenty of errors so basically I’m already doing better than Mama Mia.) 

Additional notes: Genderfluid!Emile and Trans!Remy, This is an unofficial sequel to 2 A.M but you don’t need to read that to understand this. (Eventual) Fake dating. There was only one bed. *Gasp* and they were ROOMMATES!

Tags: @fandermom @my-analogical-romance @patchworkofstars

---

“Guess who’s back,” Remy said in a sing-song as he crawled from his balcony to Emile’s.

“You’re going to kill yourself one of these days,” Emile teased, stabilizing his arms.

“Oh, please, Babe, you’ll have to prove that I’m not immortal first.” Remy stood straight as he regained his balance. Emile’s hands were still touching his skin.

“I’m pretty sure your death is exactly what it would take to prove that you aren’t immortal,” Emile said. The two locked eyes for a moment before bursting into laughter and pulling each other close. “I’ve missed you so much.”

Remy glanced down to Emile’s wrist, seeing the blue ribbon tied around it. “I’ve missed you, too,” he said softly, almost as if he weren’t sure if he wanted Emile to hear.

“C’ mon in,” Emile said, “my dads are gonna want to see you.”

Emile intertwined his fingers around Remy’s and lead them both through the foreign familiar bedroom. “You repainted,” Remy said. “Very, uh... it’s blue.”

“You’re not the only one growing up, College Boy,” Emile teased.

“So all the Funkos?”

Emile rolled his eyes, swinging open the bedroom door and leading Remy out of it. “All on shelves in my closet. I’m not a monster, Remus, of course, I still have them.”

They walked downstairs to where Logan and Patton were sitting at the kitchen table, reading the news and sipping on coffee over quiet conversation. Remy couldn’t help but notice how softly warm and domestic the whole moment was. He almost felt bad for intruding. Emile coughed quickly, drawing their attention towards them.

“Remy!” Logan greeted with a smile. “Welcome back. How’s college going for you?”

“Oh! I didn’t hear you come in last night!” Patton said with an innocent smile.

A blush ran through Emile’s cheeks and up to the top of his ears as he released his hold on Remy’s hand. “He just dropped in ten minutes ago.”

“Sure thing, Kiddo,” Patton laughed, hiding a smirk behind a sip of coffee.

Logan cleared his throat, embarrassed either on his son’s behalf or on his own accord. “So...College, Remy.”

“Oh, yeah, uh, college.”

“Yep,” Emile squeaked. “College. Let’s talk about college and nothing else.”

Remy and Emile took seats at the table and Remy began to give a practically day by day analysis of his past school year. Emile was totally enamored by his every word as he mockingly imitated his professors and talked about how he was shocked to actually enjoy a few of his classes.

“And how about summer plans?” Patton asked with a mischievous grin.

Remy shrugged. “Not sure I have any. I’ve been too busy with finals to make any.”

Emile forced out a cough under his dads’ stare. “Well, um, my uncle is getting married. And I, uh, he told me to bring a plus one.” Emile took a deep breath and only then did Remy notice the way that he was shaking his hands. “I thought it’d be a little less awkward with you there.”

“And, of course, we’ll pay all of your expenses,” Logan said.

“When is it?” Remy asked.

“We leave next weekend,” Emile said. “It’s a seven-day cruise.”

“A... a cruise wedding?” Remy asked. “I’m in.”

“I don’t know, Em, you might need to twist his arm a little more,” Patton teased.

The group continued to talk, eventually roping Remy into a family breakfast. They shared jokes and made plans and Remy couldn’t help but feel like he was home.

The time before the cruise came and went in practically the blink of an eye as Remy found himself boarding the large ship by Emile’s side. “Woah,” he muttered out, seeing the large chandelier that hung over the elegant lobby. “I’ve never done anything like this before.”

Emile laughed. “Uncle Roman is pretty, uh, extravagant. I just wanna know how he got his fiancé to agree to this.”

“You say that like your uncle would marry anyone less than half as extra as himself,” Patton laughed.

“Why don’t you two check out the ship a bit while we take the bags up?” Logan suggested.

“Are you sure?” Remy asked hesitantly.

“Just don’t go overboard,” Patton teased. He took Remy’s bag and gave the other a pat on the back. “Have fun, Kiddos!”

“Alright! What first?” Emile said with a smile as their dads headed towards the elevators. The skirt of their dress fluttered back and forth as they swayed where they stood.

“Two words,” Remy said with a smirk. “Pool. Deck.”

“Follow me, my good sir!” Emile teased.

Remy tried not to think too hard about how Emile’s callused hands were bigger than his own as they maneuvered through the crowd. When they snuck into a crowded elevator, he tried not to focus on how their bodies pressed together (and how Emile was noticeably taller). When they reached the pool deck, Remy felt like he could breathe again, free from the crowds and embracing the fresh air. Speakers blared a mumbled version of some generic pop song he had never paid attention to and kids yelled as they splashed around in the pool.

“This is our lives for the next week,” Remy said with a smile. “Nice.”

“With a few wedding events sprinkled in, yes,” Emile laughed. “Dinner is semi-formal so if you see a man in a red sequin tux, it’s Uncle Roman.”

“A red sequin tux?” Remy asked with a laugh.

“Yep. His fiancé sent us pictures once.”

“No way.”

“Yes, way, I’ll show you them at dinner,” Emile said. The two continued to walk around the pool deck, arms brushing against each other, as they explored, making themselves acquainted with all of the elevators.

Emile and Remy had been childhood friends for as long as they could remember. They had been there for each other through each of their coming-outs, sleepless nights, and years of holidays and birthdays. If a couple... /feelings/ had developed, Remy didn’t consider that anyone’s business but his own. Of course he felt /close/ with Emile, but never in /that/ way. Right?

“Oh look! An arcade!” Emile said excitedly. “We should totally go sometime!”

“Oh, hell yeah. Let’s kick some greasy 12-year-old’s ass.”

Emile laughed, pulling Remy’s hand forward as they announced, “Adventure is out there!”

“Can you ever go five minutes without a Pixar reference?”

“Nope!” Emile replied, popping the ‘p’ and tapping Remy’s nose lightly.

“Bet you can’t get through ten during dinner,” Remy challenged.

“With my uncle?!” Emile asked. “You’re on.”

+++

Despite Emile’s constant reminders that dress codes weren’t strict and that the first night everyone would be more focused on catching up than appearance, he still couldn’t help but feel anxious the entire way down. Logan had always been rather formal but seeing Patton in a pastel three-piece suit was certainly a surprise. Emile was wearing their usual go-to look for such events, though without the colorful tie. Their green ribbon had been discarded from their wrist.

“Are you okay?” Remy whispered. The four of them walked down the hall, seeming to be ridiculously ahead of schedule.

“Hmm?” Emile looked up, their fingers rubbing the hem of their cardigan. “Oh, yeah, it’s just... there’s a lot of people to explain it to. I’d really rather not.”

Remy brushed his arm along Emile’s as a small reminder and a silent question. Emile nodded scantily and Remy intertwined their fingers, squeezing with just enough pressure to let Emile know that he was there for them. He pressed the button to call an elevator and gave Emile a smile. “So what’s this Uncle Roman like?” What followed was a long conversation with more embarrassing stories than Remy imagined that Roman would want to have shared.

Inside the restaurant were about three tables filled with Emile’s family members and a man in a dark red suit happily waved them all over. “I’m noticing an obvious lack of sequins,” Remy teased.

“Oh please, this is only night one. He still has plenty more time to cover himself in fake jewels,” Emile assured.

“There’s my favorite non-binary pal,” Roman said, keeping his voice restrained to just the small group as he ruffled Emile’s hair. “And this must be your date.”

“My plus one,” Emile corrected. “This is Remy.”

“Nice to meet you, Remy, I’m-“

“The infamous Uncle Roman,” Remy said with a shit eating grin.

“Oh this one’s a keeper,” Roman said, nudging Emile’s arm. “Now, if you don’t mind me asking, what are your pronouns?”

“Oh, uh, he/him,” Remy said.

“Emile, you need to bring him around more,” Roman teased.

“You say that like anyone can separate these two,” Patton teased. They took their seats and Roman’s arm fell across the shoulders of a man dressed in black with faded violet hair.

“Oh! Remy, this is my fiancé, Virgil,” Roman introduced. “Virgil, this is Emile’s friend Remy.”

“Hey, kid,” Virgil greeted with finger guns.

“Uh, hey,” Remy replied, shooting back an awkward smile. As the rest of the group settled into casual conversation and catching up, Remy couldn’t help but feel like he was intruding. He began to debate whether or not coming had actually been a good idea when he was taken from his thought by an arm pressing against his. He found Emile’s hand and intertwined their fingers, smiling slightly as Emile squeezed his hand.

“It’s okay to be nervous,” Emile said. “But I’m glad that you’re here.” It didn’t take a genius to know what they meant. (Unfortunately, Remy had one brain cell.)

“Thanks, Em,” Remy said. They held hands all throughout dinner, and Remy was starting to realize that his crush might have been bigger than anticipated.

Of course, a tiny crush turned into a big, gay disaster when they got back to the cabin. “The couch is a pullout, right?” Remy asked nervously, chewing on his lip.

“I think so,” Emile said. “Remy, I’m not going to make you take the couch. It’s not like we haven’t slept together before.” Emile thought back to his father’s teasing, face blushing as he then realized what he had said. “I mean sleeping in the same bed. Separately. Asleep.”

“Gotcha.” He dug his hands in his pockets, staring at the ground.

“If it makes you uncomfortable,” Emile blurted out, “I can sleep on the couch.”

“Em, you don’t need to do that,” Remy said. He took Emile’s hands in his own and the two found themselves in a stalemate as they locked eyes.

“Well I’m not letting you sleep there either,” Emile said, their face crinkling as they tried to appear serious and threatening.

Remy couldn’t help but laugh, breaking his stare. “I nearly forgot how stubborn you are.”

“Ha! I win then!” Emile said. “My stubbornness is my best quality.”

“No way,” Remy said, breaking away from Emile to pull a pair of pajamas out of his suitcase.

“Oh yeah? Then what is my best quality?” Emile asked, their breath hot against Remy’s neck as they leaned over his shoulder.

Remy thought for a moment, panicking on what to say. Your compassion. Your thoughtfulness. Your sense of humor. The way you don’t care about what people think of you. Your smile. Your eyes. The way you’re making my heart beat so loudly I feel like it’s going to burst!

“Your ass.”

Emile laughed and rolled their eyes. “Whatever, I’m gonna go get changed.” As they went off to the bathroom Remy groaned in his hands silently asking himself whhyyy?

Remy was used to friendly flirting. Hell, he was used to real flirting! He had dealt with crushes before and was certainly experienced when it came to relationships, but Emile was different. Remy has never considered Emile his type; he was into more edgy, dangerous people. Those who weren’t afraid to get a little messy or even get some blood on their hands.

But Emile? They were a mediator. Emile was the calm during the storm and they had been a constant in Remy’s life for as long as he could remember. He couldn’t imagine living in a world without them. He was but a blade of grass and Emile was the entire universe.

Remy shook out his thoughts as he took his binder off and quickly threw on a baggy shirt with his school name on it in large print. He continued changing into his pajamas and put his clothes off to the side until Emile walked in.

“Since when do you sleep shirtless?” Remy asked, trying to hide a blush as Emile raked their hands through their wet hair. Truthfully, he wished he could stop his eyes from wandering across Emile’s soft stomach and toned arms. Someone had clearly kept their New Year’s Resolution.

“I guess I just made a habit of it,” Emile said with a laugh. “I can put something on if you’re uncomfortab-”

“NO! I, uh, no, I’m not uncomfortable at all!” Remy said, blushing both in embarrassment and from his inability to peel his eyes from the sight in front of him. Suddenly he felt rather fortunate to be trans. “You can be as clothed as you want and I’m going to shut up now.”

Emile giggled as they climbed into bed and patted the space next to themselves. Remy tried to contain his heart rate as he slowly climbed into bed, busying himself with the way he adjusted the pillows. It’s just Emile. It’s just sleeping. Calm down.

Of course, it wasn’t long before Emile was half asleep with their head against Remy’s neck and their shoulders overlapping. “Em,” Remy whispered, just to make sure that they weren’t listening. He pushed their hair away from their face and fought back thoughts about how wonderful it must feel to kiss those lips. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

+++

The next morning proved that Emile, dawned with a blue ribbon, only had one thing on his mind: The arcade. He had quickly gotten dressed- and urging Remy to do the same- excited as they headed to meet his dads for breakfast. Remy soon realized that Emile was very much a case of like-father-like-son as he saw an exuberant Patton dragging along a very tired Logan.

“Coffee?” Logan asked quietly as Emile and Patton talked loudly and excitedly about their plans for the rest of the cruise.

“Definitely,” Remy agreed.

Logan patted his back with a small laugh. “Welcome to the family. You’re either a morning person or addicted to caffeine.”

“Let me guess which Roman is.”

Logan groaned, pushing up his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose. “Excruciatingly loud in the mornings. We can only pray that there’s enough coffee in the world to allow Virgil to keep his sanity.”

“So,” Emile said, excitedly drumming his fingers on the table, “Remy and I were planning on going to the arcade later!”

“Kids,” Patton said fondly, exchanging a glance with Logan. “Just be ready for tonight. Roman invited us all to join him and Virgil later for swing dancing.”

Emile let out an excited squeal, smiling and shaking his hands slightly. “I love swing dancing!”

“Since when?” Logan teased, his eyes darting to Remy for a quick moment before landing back on his son.

“There are some things you don’t know about me, Dad,” Emile teased.

Patton was considerably less subtle than his husband had previously been as his eyes darted between the younger boys. “Care to elaborate on that, Em?”

“Nope!” Emile squeaked, hiding behind his hands.

Remy couldn’t help but laugh at Emile’s blush. He was bright red and possibly the cutest thing that Remy had ever seen. “How do we need to dress?”

“Just a bit fancier than jeans and leather,” Logan teased.

“I think I can work with that.”

“Now eat fast,” Emile said, “I wanna get in as much arcade time as possible.”

It was no secret that Remy had a competitive streak. He certainly let it show as soon as they had hit the arcade. After rage quitting at Pac-Man, he bought a few more tokens and had his eyes set on Skeeball.

“You ready to lose, Picani?” Remy teased, nudging his friend’s arm.

“Oh, you’re on,” Emile bit back, just as fiery but with a wide smile.

Unfortunately, Remy has a terrible aim and quickly had his ass handed to him. “How are you so good at this?!”

Emile chuckled, teasingly messing up Remy’s hair. “It’s called ‘patience’, Remus, you should try it sometime.”

“Patience can eat my ass.”

Emile rolled his eyes but Remy couldn’t miss the fond smile that graced him. “I have enough left for one more game,” Emile said, digging through his pocket. “Let me help you.”

Remy was quick to arm himself, just about the toss when Emile stopped him. “Patience, Remy,” he teased. “Just follow my lead.” Emile grabbed onto Remy’s hip causing Remy to blush as he took in a sharp inhale. Emile’s freehand traveled down Remy’s arm, just barely intertwining their fingers together at the end. Emile slid his foot between Remy’s and opened up his stance, widening his legs slightly.

Emile was his best friend, and Remy did /not/ like where his mind was going. Emile drew back Remy’s arm, each of their bodies twisting together in sync. Remy’s mind flooded with a thousand poisonous thoughts and he began to wonder how he would ever survive the trip.

Skeeball, he reminded himself, we’re playing Skeeball. Nothing... else.

They made the first shot and scored 40 points. “See what patience can getcha?” Emile teased. “C’ mon, let’s shoot for 50 this time.”

Remy forced out a small laugh ignoring the way his body wanted to melt into Emile’s. He focused on the game. “Yeah. Patience.”

Unfortunately, that night’s events weren’t much easier. The club was dimly lit save for the spotlight on a loud, brassy band. In the corner of the room was a bar where Roman and Virgil had been waiting, sipping on margaritas. The rest of them took seats at the bar and ordered drinks- specifically only getting water for Remy. (Which didn’t matter as he took sips of Emile’s drink when no one was looking.)

By the time they got to the dance floor, Emile was already tipsy off of his second daiquiri. “C’ mon, Remy, dance with me!” Emile laughed, pulling Remy by the arms. Even if Remy wasn’t saying ‘no’, Emile still brought out his signature charming smile and puppy dog eyes. Remy wondered if Emile knew that he was his only weakness.

Emile brought Remy’s hands to his own hips as he wrapped his arms around Remy’s neck. He wants me to lead. Sure, Emile might not have been entirely sure what kind of dance they were doing, but he wanted Remy to lead. That seemed to be all that mattered.

Remy wasn’t blind. He had noticed the ways that Patton enjoyed using him to embarrass Emile; he saw Logan ever so slightly testing him when he and Emile were being particularly affectionate. It was the same way his own parents teased him about Emile long before he had a crush on his neighbor.

Only, that’s where the line was drawn. Emile didn’t have a crush. Parents just like being assholes sometimes. They like teasing. So Remy just had to ignore it. He couldn’t get his hopes up. And as he felt his hands against Emile’s soft fingers as they danced, faces not even an inch apart as Emile came back from the twirl, Remy pushed his hopes down deep into the darkest part of his mind.

“Remy! Dip me!” Emile yelled.

“WHAT?” Before Remy could stop him, Emile was already leaning back too fast for Remy’s noodle arms to catch. They both fell to the ground with Emile laughing the whole way down. Remy’s face was just above Emile’s, their lips practically touching, prompting Remy to sit up quickly in a panic as Emile kept laughing.

“Oh get a room,” Virgil teased as he swung by. Remy noticed that he was straddling Emile and quickly scrambled off of him.

“We, uh, we fell,” Remy said. “That’s it, I swear.”

“Relax,” Virgil laughed. “I saw you fail at dipping him. Patton said he’d give me a dollar if I could embarrass Emile.” Virgil looked the giggling man up and down before helping him up. “I don’t think I’m getting that dollar.”

“I don’t think anything can embarrass him at this point,” Remy said. “He doesn’t drink, well, ever.” The realization felt like a rock hitting Remy’s chest. “Guess we’ve both changed a bit.”

“Young love is adorable,” Virgil teased. “Just because he’s 21 now doesn’t mean he won’t stop acting like he’s 12.”

Remy let out a fond sigh. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“Now,” Virgil said, jokingly pushing the two back into the crowd. “Go have fun.”

They spent about another hour dancing and giggling before Emile had sobered up and Remy had begun to push past his limit. “Rem? Are you okay?” Emile asked, stopping their dance and bringing Remy to the edge of the crowd.

“Yeah, yeah,” Remy said. “Just- my binder-“

“Nope, say no more, I’m taking you back to the room so you can take it off,” Emile said stubbornly. A few passing patrons glanced suspiciously at them.

“Em, it’s fine,” Remy said.

“Nope!” Emile swept him off of his feet (literally) and carried him out of the room. Remy hid his blush as he saw Roman and Logan’s glances before the door closed behind them.

“Emile, I’m perfectly capable of walking to the room myself.”

“I’m aware, I just don’t give a shit.”

“Em!” Remy yelled in surprise.

“Like you haven’t sworn before.”

“Oh I’ve said some shit, but this isn’t about me,” Remy said. Emile gave him a stern glance before the two began to laugh. When they got to the hall, Emile used his knee to call up an elevator. “You literally could have put me down.”

“Could have,” Emile repeated. “But I won’t.” As a man of his word, Emile continued to carry Remy all the way up to their room. “How long have you been wearing that thing?”

Remy mumbled something from inside the bathroom that Emile couldn’t hear.

“C’ mon, Rem, tell me.”

Emile’s voice was cold and commanding and it sent a chill down Remy’s spine as he inspected the red lines on his torso from the mesh of his binder. “Twelve hours,” he mumbled, a bit louder. Despite the door between them, he could already feel Emile’s disapproving glare. He was so much like his dads at times. “But it’s fine!” he yelled before Emile could get a word in. “I’m fine, just a bit sore.”

“Which is exactly why you aren’t wearing that thing tomorrow,” Emile argued. Remy groaned, trying to avoid looking at his reflection as he pulled on a baggy shirt.

“You, Sir,” he said, swinging open the bathroom door, “are an asshole.”

“Yeah, but I’m an asshole who cares about you,” Emile said. He gently pressed his hands against Remy’s ribs, just below his arms. The moment was quiet and intimate in a way neither knew how to describe.

“Does it hurt?” Emile asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

“No.”

“Good. Lay down, I want to help you relax.”

“What?” Remy asked as a soft blush rose to his face.

“I just wanna work out the kinks-“

“This, Emile, is why your dad keeps asking you about condoms.”

“The kinks in your back, pervert.”

Remy opened his mouth the argue but found himself speechless as Emile pressed his gentle fingers into the curve of his neck. He let Emile lay him down and began to relax as warm hands unwound the knots in his neck and shoulders.

“Do you mind if I go under your shirt or would you prefer for me to stay over?”

“Over,” Remy said almost instinctively. With the way his crush was getting worse by the minute, he could only imagine what the touch would do to him. “Please.”

“Of course,” Emile said, his voice soft and light. Loving, almost. Almost.

Remy let his face sink into the pillow. As Emile’s hands traveled down his back (with just the right amount of pressure) Remy wished that he could focus on anything. Fortunately, it didn’t take long before he was fast asleep.

For the first time in years, Remy had been disappointed to wake up from a dream. It hadn’t been sexual, but it had certainly involved the man beside him. They had been dancing, only more coordinated and less tipsy. They each moved effortlessly and the feeling of Emile pressed up against him was now permanently seared into Remy’s brain. In a good way at least. The dream was hauntingly vivid and Remy could still feel the phantom Emile’s hand on his cheek and his soft lips pressed to Remy’s.

Remy slid out of bed, immediately going to search for his binder. “No binding,” Emile said groggily from under the covers. “C’ mon, you promised.”

“I didn’t promise shit.”

“Well, then it’s a good thing that I know where your binder is and you don’t.” Emile sat up from bed, his hair in a million different directions as the fabric fell into his lap.

“Emile Picani, you’re going to hell even if I have to put you there myself.”

“Oh no,” Emile sarcastically whined. “I’m being a good friend.” He crawled out of bed and rested his chin on Remy’s shoulder. “I have an idea I think you’ll like though.”

Remy rolled his eyes. “Oh yeah?”

“Well, you did seem pretty excited to go to the pool deck.”

Remy’s eyes widened and he dashed to his suitcase. “GIVE ME FIVE MINUTES AND WE’LL GO!”

Remy was like an excited child the whole way up and Emile couldn’t hide the fact that it made his heart flutter. He let Remy lead them to the seats with “Optimal Hoe Lighting” presumably to tan.

Now, it would be a lie to say that Emile had never seen Remy partially undressed. As children, they often took family trips to beaches where the two would run around in bathing suits and build sandcastles. As they grew up, however, Remy drew back slightly. It was understandable, of course, no teenager is perfectly content in their own skin and adding his dysphoria made his desire to be so public with his body even lesser.

But Emile shouldn’t have been so surprised when Remy took off his coverup. He couldn’t stop his eyes from raking over Remy’s body. His muscles had become more defined and his hips bones stuck out just over the top of his board shorts. His tongue stuck out from between his lips as he adjusted the straps of his bikini top. His were hidden behind his sunglasses and Emile silently wished that he hadn’t noticed his staring.

Remy smiled at Emile with a small giggle. “You did not blend that sunscreen in at all.” He stuck his tongue out in that same concentration and cupped Emile’s face in his hands. Despite being nearly a foot taller than him, Emile thought he just might melt into Remy’s touch. “Let me help you.”

His hands were warm against Emile’s skin and the taller of the two couldn’t help but smile. His face was twisted in concentration but he worked with the utmost care. He took the excess sunscreen and worked it into the skin on his ears and neck. Emile couldn’t help but smile at him adoringly.

“What?” Remy asked with a laugh.

“You’re adorable,” Emile blurted out and failed to hold back his giggles when Remy began to blush. “Aww, are you getting flustered?”

“Yes! Now shush!”

Emile laughed, tapping Remy’s noise with a sound effect. “Well, I just can’t help it if the most handsome man in the world is easily flustered! D’awwh and look how cute he is with his face bright and red.”

“Emile Picani, I swear to all things good and holy I will absolutely push you in that pool,” Remy said, trying to look angry but ultimately failing.

“Why? I’m only stating the tru- OOF!” Emile grabbed onto Remy’s wrists as he fell back into the pool. He came up, coughing up a bit of water but laughing the whole time. Remy splashed him across the face.

“You’re the worst.”

Emile playfully splashed him back. “But you loooooovvveee meeeee.”

“That’s gay,” Remy countered splashing back as the two engaged in a full out battle of splashing only to stop when the lifeguard yelled at them. They had made their way out of the pool to tan (Remy tanned; Emile panicked about burning) as he lay there with earbuds drowning out the world around him, Emile attempted to recall the last time he had seen his friend so at peace.

He was happy for him. After all that Remy had been through, he deserved a break. Emile selfishly hoped that he was partially to credit for such a state.

“Like what you see?” Remy teased.

Emile muttered gibberish under his breath as he hid his blushing face from his laughing friend. If he heard that gorgeous laughter until the end of time, it still wouldn’t be enough.

+++

When they were getting ready for dinner, Emile still refused to give back the binder. He really missed the relaxing laughter then, it would have been a much better substitute for the yelling. “Your body needs time to rest!”

“My body can survive another hour or two without your advice!” Remy shot back, his voice seething with venom. The venom began to pool in Remy’s eyes, though he would never admit it, and Emile’s heart shattered. “I- I can’t- Em, I can’t go out in front of everyone without it.”

“But, earlie-”

“Your family, Emile. I can’t go out there without it in front of them.”

“Remy,” Emile whispered softly. “I... if you’re worried about passing, you can borrow some of my clothes. I’ll make sure you’re the most handsome man in the room with it without a binder.”

Remy opened his mouth to speak but just as quickly closed his lips and hesitantly looked to the floor. Emile smoothed out Remy’s hair and pressed a kiss to his forehead. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to. I can call my dads and explain to them.” He could see the gears turning in Remy’s mind. “Just be prepared for the inevitable jokes from my dad.”

“I’m more surprised he hasn’t given you a box of condoms already,” Remy teased.

“Worse,” Emile groaned. “He gave me two.” Remy exploded into laughter with a smile bright enough to make the sun seem like a lightbulb; Emile was absolutely smitten.

“I’m fine with going to dinner,” Remy said. “Dress me up as your own living doll.”

Emile dug through both suitcases and gave Remy a pair of his own black slacks while frantically digging through his own clothes. While Remy would never have considered wearing a white button-down under a sky blue sweater, he loved the look more than he’d admit. The soft fabric was a comforting weight on his shoulders and it smelt like Emile. It was perfect.

At dinner, he sat between Emile and Virgil and he let his mind wind down and relax. His fingers ran up and down the sleeves of the sweater as he watched Emile talk.

“So,” an old woman, presumably Emile’s grandmother, asked suddenly, “how long have you two been dating?” Her voice was sweet and full of adoration. Emile and Remy glanced to each other quickly.

“Oh, we aren’t-“

“Two years.”

Emile looked like an owl with his wife eyes being magnified by his lenses. “What are you doing?” he mouthed quietly.

“I’m so glad Emi is doing more than just watching those silly shows,” the old woman teased.

“Remy, I think we should talk,” Emile said sternly. “Alone.”

Logan and Patton exchanged glances between themselves and the two as they walked out of the restaurant. “Okay! Okay! Before you say anything, I panicked!” Remy justified.

“What? HOW IS THAT YOUR SOLUTION TO PANICKING?!” Emile yelled. “NOW I’M PANICKING!”

“I’m sorry! She just seemed excited and I didn’t want to-“

“It’s fine,” Emile said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’m not upset just... confused.”

“Do you want to stage a dramatic breakup?” Remy offered.

“No, no, I don’t want to make a scene the week of the wedding. Uncle Roman would have my head on a spike,” Emile said.

“Hey,” Virgil said from the doorway behind them. “Patton asked me to check on you too. And, uh, make sure that you’re using condoms. I’m not gonna make you answer that.”

Emile winced with a groan. “He really needs to stop worrying about that.”

“STDs aren’t a joke,” Virgil said, falling to hold back a teasing laugh. “Let me guess: This dumbass lied and now you’re figuring out how far to take this bullshit?”

Emile stared at him in horror; Remy was trying to telepathically communicate with Virgil. “How did you figure that out?” Emile asked.

“Magic,” Virgil deadpanned. “Also I’ve been eavesdropping behind that wall for the last minute.”

“I’m sorry,” Remy said. “I didn’t mean to lie, I just-“

“Kid, it happens,” Virgil said with a genuine smile. “Now, c’ mon, they’re bringing dessert out and I’m sure you two ‘love birds’ don’t want to miss.” Remy blushed, intertwining his hand with Emile’s as they walked inside.

The next day had Emile whisked away with his Uncle for last-minute wedding preparations leaving Remy entirely alone for the day. Somehow, on a ship full of thousands of people, Remy was alone.

An hour before the wedding his phone began to ring. “Em?” he asked, not even having bothered to check the caller I.D.

“Go, uh, go ahead and get ready,” Emile said. “There’s still a bit more I need to do and, uh, just meet me here, okay? My dad, Patton, will help lead you here.”

“Lead me there?” Remy asked. “Em, I’m a grown man.”

“A grown man who gets lost a lot,” Emile clarified. “Now hurry up.”

+++

“Care for a dance?” Remy jokingly flirted, holding out a hand to Emile. The pink tie she wore in place of a ribbon was subtle enough to go unnoticed to everyone else; but not Remy. He knew her too well.

“My prince,” she laughed, taking his hand as the opening notes to a song from Cinderella began to play. Neither could remember the words, but the melody was all they needed.

Remy intertwined his fingers with Emile’s and let his other hand gently curve against her side. She smiled shyly as she laid her free hand on his shoulder. “I haven’t danced in forever.”

“That’s what I’m here for, my dear,” Remy said with a laugh, pulling her onto the dance floor. He led her into a simple rhythm and smiled softly when she relaxed into it. “You look... beautiful, by the way.”

“So do you,” Emile said. “H- Handsome, I mean.”

“So this is love,” the speakers sang. “So this is what makes life divine.”

Their foreheads pressed together as the world melted around them. All that mattered was each other and keeping their feet in time. Remy pulled Emile closer, snaking the arm that had been on her side to the curve of her back as his other hand cupped her cheek. Emile’s hand stayed against Remy’s, rubbing circles onto the skin and beckoning him ever closer.

For a brief moment, more than ever, Remy wished that he hadn’t been lying. No, he didn’t wish he could take back the falsehood, he simply wanted to make it true. For a brief moment, he forgot that it wasn’t.

Their lips connected softly and moved in sync, each slowly pulling the other closer. Emile’s hands were on Remy’s neck, holding him until neither had air to breathe. Emile’s tongue traced against Remy’s bottom lip and that’s when the panic set in. He pulled away quickly, staring at Emile with wide eyes and a gaping jaw.

Emile was blushing with a natural smile on her face. “That was...”

“I gotta go,” Remy blurted out, quickly taking Emile’s hands off of him and dashing out of the room.

“REMY! Wait!” Emile called out, starting to run after him when she got caught by the arm.

“Sweetie, just let him go,” Logan said softly.

“He needs some time to himself right now,” Patton agreed.

“But- But he’s my best friend! A- And he needs me!”

“Is this about him needing you or you needing him?”

Emile was breathing frantically, tears welling in her eyes. “I don’t know, but- He-” Her hands were shaking and tears began to fall down her cheeks. “He actually likes me back,” she whispered. “I’ve been in love with him for three years and the minute we finally- something finally happens he just runs off.” She glanced behind her at the couples dancing and laughing gracefully.

“Give him ten more minutes. Then go find your Prince Charming.”

+++

It had been forty minutes since Remy had left the wedding. “Go away,” he said weakly to the pair of shoes in front of him.

“You don’t have to say anything,” Emile said. “I just want you to listen to me. Please?”

Remy silently moved to his left, leaving just enough room for Emile to sit down. He kept his face mostly covered, but Emile could still see his red eyes and stray tears.

Emile took a breath, fiddling with something in her lap. “Remy, I- I think you’re incredible. You’re smart and kind-“

“Are you really reading this off of your phone?” Remy asked.

Emile quickly put her phone behind her back as a red blush grew on her face. “N- No! I just-“ She sighed defeatedly. “My dads helped me edit and revise.”

Remy laughed, snatching Emile’s phone and holding it above his head. “You’re ridiculous.”

“And in love with you,” Emile blurted out. Remy almost dropped the phone. “I’ve... I’ve been in love with you for the past three years. You’re my best friend, Remy, and I... I thought if I told you then I’d... lose you.”

“Em,” Remy said softly. “You’re not going to lose me.” He pressed a small kiss to her knuckles. “I love you, Emile. Sure that love has changed and evolved over the years, but it’s always been there. It always will be.”

“How do you love me now?” Emile asked.

“I love you like a best friend,” Remy said.

“Oh.”

“I love you like a lover.”

“O-Oh!”

Remy’s heart was pounding in his chest and he wondered if his face was any redder than Emile’s strawberry skin. “Emile,” he asked softly, “can I kiss you?”

Emile laughed, leaning up and brushing her lips against Remy’s. “I thought you’d never ask.”

+++

It was nearly the end of summer. Another sleepless night, but Remy took the time to start packing. His eyes were strained and he knew he’d be exhausted by sunrise, but for now, he chose to embrace the tranquility of midnight.

That’s when something hit his window.

He pulled back the curtain and saw Emile, clad with a blue ribbon, standing on the balcony and waving. He climbed out of his own window and let the summer air hit his face. “Hello, my love.”

“Hey, Rem,” Emile smiled and held his arms out towards Remy. “Mind helping me over?”

“You’re coming in through the window?” Remy asked, holding onto Emile.s sides and helping lift him into the balcony. “Well, this is a surprise.”

“I didn’t want to risk my dads being awake tonight,” Emile whispered softly. Remy’s face flooded with color and Emile pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

“Emile Picani, are you being a bad boy?”

“Mmm, I’m your bad boy,” Emile said, pressing a kiss to and nipping at Remy’s bottom lip.

The two slipped inside, fingers tightly interlocked. “I love you so much,” Remy whispered. “And I’m going to miss you so much.”

“I’ll be waiting for you here when you get back,” Emile said. He pressed a soft kiss to Remy’s lips, following it with a trail of kisses down his neck. “Now, why don’t we make up for that lost time in advance.”

“O-Okay.”

[romansleftshoulderpad]

Loner (Until I Met You.)

Ships: Remile, background Analogical and Royality. (Because it’s Me. Of course there's royality.)

Warnings: Feelings of loneliness, swearing, caps, and some suggestiveness

Tags: @fandermom @my-analogical-romance @raiseafuckingglass

---

It wasn’t that Emile didn’t have friends- quite the opposite in fact! He just didn’t have many close friends. He could easily drift from group to group, feigning contentment in not understanding inside jokes, and being happy just in the moment. Though, he did also cherish his time alone. He liked being in the peace and quiet, and being alone seemed to make a good excuse for being lonely.

Then, he met Remy. Remus Liam Star was unlike anyone Emile Picani had ever met in his life. He was loud, boisterous, and sarcastic beyond belief. He held up a stoic façade and pretended to care only for himself, but as soon as one of his friends was in trouble, he showed that he was protective and that he cared with his whole heart.

So maybe that’s why, on this rainy March day, Emile invited Remy to be alone with him stargazing tonight. The grass smelled of that morning’s rain and there was nary a cloud in the sky to block their perfect view. “Do you believe in true love, Remus?”

He heard Remy take a deep breath as if his words were waiting to be ingested as they float among the cold air. “I think I’m starting to.”

Emile took a sharp inhale as his heart rate picked up in his chest. “Me too,” he whispered. He knew very well the magical feeling in his chest and the sickly feeling in his gut. He was getting his hopes up atop the highest skyscraper while his heart sank deep, deeper, and deeply into a dark abyss for the man sitting laying next to him.

“Bet he’s a lucky guy,” Remy said.

“I guess,” Emile said.

“Hey, Em, listen to me.” Remy was sitting up, his face hovering inches above Emile’s. “You are so fucking wonderful, okay? Don’t you doubt that for a damn second.” His eyes were fiery and intense, but it was his lips that Emile’s gaze was glued to. “Any guy would be lucky to have even two seconds of your time or a fraction of your love and- oh shit! Are you crying? Did I say something wrong?”

Emile shook his head with a smile, tugging on Remy’s jacket as he sat up and pulled the other into a hug. “Thank you, Remus. That means a lot.”

Remy melted under the touch but would never admit it outside of that moment. It was awkward at first, but when his hands finally found their places on Emile’s upper back, they were both content to just exist in the starlight against the score of crickets and streetlights.

The next few weeks passed wordlessly and Emile couldn’t stop his heart from sinking deeper and deeper, faster and faster, until there was no hope of it coming back to the light. Remy fazed in and out of relationships- none of them serious, but it broke Emile’s heart anyway. It was a rainy day in mid-April the next time they were alone together. There were alone together in what was lazily called a ‘Sun Room’ as the wind gently splashed their legs. Emile pulled his legs close to his chest in an effort to stay dry on the old wicker couch.

“So, Em,” Remy said, stretching out his arms in front of him. “Why haven’t you dated anyone this year?”

Emile shrugged, exhaling into his mug as he took a sip, hoping that the fog on his glasses would hide the panic in his eyes. “Haven’t been asked,” he said, “haven’t asked anyone else.”

“What about that guy from March?” Remy asked. “Oh, let me guess, he’s actually a total asshole and you’ve moved on.”

“Remus,” Emile said with a laugh, his words dying on his tongue, “no. He, uh, he’s not an asshole.”

Remy looked to Emile with a raised eyebrow and curiosity in his eyes. “Why don’t you ask him out, then?”

Emile kept his eyes on his knees. “The timing is never right.”

“Timing is a sorry excuse,” he teased. “Sometimes you have to take risks.”

If Emile were any braver, he would have made a move right then and there. He would have put down his mug, pulled Remy by the jacket, and he would have kissed him absolutely senseless. They’d break for air and Emile would spill out everything he had been hiding for the past two months. If he were lucky, Remy would have confessed that none of his past relationships worked because he was too hung up on Emile and no one else could ever suffice. However, Emile was not lucky, not brave, and failing to keep to the hem of his pants dry. He tucked his legs under his knees and took one final sip of his drink. “Can we change the subject, please?”

“Em,” Remy said quietly, trying to figuring out what he said wrong.

“Remus, please. Just change the subject.”

Remy turned his head away from Emile as his eyes grew focused on a dying porch light. “I’m gonna be single next Saturday.”

“You finally got bored with him?” Emile teased.

Remy was silent for a beat and now Emile was worried he had spoken out of turn. “Among other things, yeah. We just... didn’t click well. It’s just not gonna work out. Why delay the inevitable?”

“If the breakup is inevitable, why start the relationship in the first place?”

“Because it’s worth it to try,” he said, the air between them was cold and began to still. The storm was finally about to end. “Starting a relationship is, well, it’s a test of compatibility, I guess.”

“Roman always seems to say the opposite,” Emile said. “He says that... if you’re compatible as friends, and you both share the same feelings, a relationship is just... a change in boundaries.”

Remy let out a sign and chuckled. “That’s because Roman actually likes the guys he dates.”

Emile spent the rest of the night trying to figure out what that statement meant. He never got an answer. He tried to brush it off but it always stayed quizzically in the back of his mind.

“I am SO DONE with artists,” Remy announced, slamming his head against the old picnic table as he sat down. The group stayed in touch by taking turns organizing little get-togethers- usually a brunch, or dinner party when Logan was feeling particularly bold- and talking about life. Of course, they all had moments where they hung out as fractions and fragments of their group, but the get-togethers were tradition and none of them would trade them for the world.

“Excuse you,” Roman said with a rather offended gasp.

“Not you kind of artists but,” Remy fumbled with his hands as he tried to think of the words before just digging his hands through his hair, “UGH!”

“Tough breakup?” Virgil asked.

“Percy is such a picky asshole.”

“Remus-“

“Remy.” There was a beat of silence. “Only Em gets to call me ‘Remus’,” he muttered under his breath.

Logan cleared his throat. “Remy,” he said, “perhaps it would be best to take more time before entering these, uh, flings head first. I’d even go so far as to recommend advice from Roman.”

“Well that’s definitely a first,��� Virgil teased, poking his boyfriend’s side.

“I’m not sure I’m equipped at the moment.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Roman sighed, keeping his eyes low on the ground. “I uh,” mumbled an embarrassed (but would never admit it) Roman, “I’m having problems trying to confess to my own crush.”

“Aww, Roman,” Patton said. “I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“He’d be a fool not to at least give you a chance,” Emile said with an encouraging smile. From the side of his eye, he could see Remy give him a glance that was nearly impossible to read through his dark sunglasses.

“Uh, yeah, you’ll do fine, Roman,” Remy said. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Babes, I got an iced green tea that’s just calling my name from the nearest Starbucks.”

“Tired of us already?” Virgil teased.

Remy rolled his eyes with a laugh. “Without caffeine? Yes.”

Roman sighed, clicking his tongue disapprovingly as he shook his head. “I doubt he’ll ever change.”

“You never know,” Virgil said with a shrug, his voice low as everyone looked to him. No one pressed him for an explanation. No one needed to.

It was a bit of a shock when, later that night, Emile had received a phone call from Roman rather out of the blue. “Hey, is it okay if I come over?” Roman asked before either had a chance to say hello.

“Oh, uh, yeah, sure,” Emile said. “I’m just cleaning some things up.”

“Perfect! Because I’m in your driveway.” Three beeps signaled that Roman had hung up already.

Emile sighed, putting his phone in his pocket and trying to speed-walk across the house to open the door. “Roman, is there ever a time when you’ll give me more than a five-minute warning before your arrival?”

“Emile, darling, would I be here on such short notice if it weren’t absolutely necessary?”

“Yes, Roman, yes you would be.”

Roman rolled his eyes and leaned his hip against the doorframe. “I need your help. Can I come in or not?”

“Yeah, come in, come in,” Emile said. “What did you need help with?”

“Patton,” Roman mumbled, falling dramatically across Emile’s couch.

“What about Patton?”

Roman rolled his eyes. “Oh wipe that smug little grin off of your face; you’ve been spending far too much time with Remy.”

“Answer the question, Roman.”

“He’s too wonderful!” Roman exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. “His smile could light all of Times Square! His freckles are tiny kisses that the sun has left upon his face! And his body-”

“I’m gonna stop you right there,” Emile said. “Stop. Go to jail. Do not pass ‘Go’ and do not collect two hundred dollars.”

Roman smirked as he sat up. “Emile, my dear and wonderful friend, you must help me in winning over Patton’s affections! Wait- who the hell are you calling?”

“Virgil. I am definitely not equipped to help with this alone.”

A couple of phone calls, a few minutes of waiting, and one brewed pot of coffee later, Roman, Virgil, Remy, and Emile were all scheming on the living room floor with all the furniture pushed away towards the walls as they sit on a macrame rug.

“Hey, why don’t you just, I don’t fucking know, ask him in a date? Like a normal person?” Virgil asked. “With no fireworks or ostriches!”

“Oh, please, like that would ever work.”

Virgil’s face fell into his hands with a groan. “Of course it would work! It’s fucking Patton!”

“Exactly! And Patton deserves the absolute greatest and most spectacular extravaganza that anyone could ask for!”

“Holy shit,” Virgil groaned before retaliating with a more solid argument.

Remy nudged his shoulder against Emile’s and brought his lips dangerously close to Emile’s ear; his breath against the other’s neck caused Emile to fight back a chill. “Why don’t we make another pot of coffee and let these two settle their bitch fight?”

Emile silently nodded and let Remy lead him into the kitchen by the hand. He tightened his grip around Remy’s fingers as that feeling came back to him. His hopes were as high, higher, and highest as they could be, and his heart stayed warm through the ice of the deep, dark, blackened, and lifeless sea. He was being torn apart, and he needed wanted Remy to keep him stable in the middle ground. He wanted Remy to grab him by the tie and kiss him but, no, that would never happen. He needed to come back to reality. He hadn’t even noticed when Remy let go of his hand.

Remy hoisted himself onto the counter, swinging his legs back and forth. Roman and Virgil’s bickering had become muffled background noise, but it showed no sign of stopping. “It’s always a party with those two, huh?”

Emile forced out an awkward laugh. “It is, isn’t it?”

“If you ask me,” Remy said, “Roman doesn’t even need some extravagant speech. Just catch him alone under the moonlight and kiss him senseless, ya know?”

“Maybe if this were a fanfic,” Emile teased. “But this is real life. You can’t just kiss people without asking.”

“Fair point.”

The bickering had quieted down and, for a few moments, everything was completely silent. Remy and Emile were caught staring in each other’s eyes. It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. Seconds felt like minutes felt like hours felt like years. It was late April.

“We should, uh, we should check on the others.”

“Yeah. You’re right.”

It was the middle of May. Roman was having the gang- and a few other friends- over for an End of Spring Pool Party. Roman had promised to tell Patton how he felt before the end of the night. Virgil had bet Remy five bucks that he would bail.

Emile has never been one for swimming- at least not around strangers- so he had confessed that he’d be content to sit by the pool and watch. It was perhaps the most casual any of them had seen him- khaki shorts with a flowery button down and a regular pair of brown boat shoes.

“Wow, Em, you dress down nice,” Remy said with a wink. There were a few hours to sunset. Really, the party was only starting.

“Thank you, Remus,” Emile said with a smile and flushed cheeks.

“Quit flirting and ask Roman where he keeps the spare firewood!” Virgil yelled from the other end of the pool, poking at an unlit fireplace.

“Keep flirting, I’ll talk to Roman,” Logan teased as he passed by them and Emile was sure that his blush would give him away as he looked only to the ground. If he were to look up he would have noticed Remy looking to the sky with a face that was red from embarrassment.

“I should, uh, probably go get changed,” Remy said, patting a drawstring bag on his side. “Keep an eye on Roman while I’m gone. I’m really looking forward to those five bucks that Virge is gonna owe me.”

“Whatever you say, Remus,” Emile said with a laugh. He looked towards the sun as Remy headed inside. The orange sky had melted into pinks, purples, blues, and a lightless black littered with stars before his very eyes. The party was loud and alive with music blasting, conversation from everywhere in the yard, and any type of outdoor lighting that Roman could buy for under five dollars a piece. Emile was content to sip on fruit punch and watch from a distance.

“Hey, Emile,” Virgil said, swimming up to the side of the pool. “Have you seen Logan?”

“I think he went inside to go get some snacks.”

“Damnit, would you wind going inside and getting him for me? I need him to help me kick Seth and Toby’s asses in a chicken fight.”

“Sure thing!” Emile said. He put his drink down on the table next to him before snaking his way through crowds of people. As he got closer to the kitchen he felt himself gasping for air. He didn’t even know these many people could fit in one house!

“Em!” Remy whispered, gesturing for Emile to come closer. “You gotta see this.”

The two peaked behind a wall that leads to the dining room, where Roman had Patton pinned against the dining room table as they both kissed roughly as if nothing else mattered. “Eww,” Emile said under his breath as he turned away from the wall to give them their privacy, as well as to try to remove the image from his brain. 

“I know right?” Remy laughed as he snapped a picture and texted it to whom Emile could only assume was Virgil. “I can’t wait to get those five bucks.”

It was the first real look that Emile had gotten of Remy that night. His sunglasses were pushed on top of his head, holding back his hair, and he still wore his black jacket (open) over his bare chest. With his plain black swim trunks, it all somehow looked like an actual outfit, as ridiculous as that sounds. “I should probably find Logan,” Emile admitted. “Virgil sent me in here to find him.”

“That nerd? I sent him out a bit ago to go entertain his boyfriend. I’m sure they’ve found each other already.”

Emile let out a relieved sigh and smiled at Remy. “Thanks then.”

“Anything for you, Em,” he replied with a wink. Emile was lost beyond belief but he finally felt stable, level, and found all at once. “Why don’t we go get some fresh air?”

“I’d like that,” Emile confessed, lightly wrapping his fingers around Remy’s. They walked to the pool deck together, taking in the cool spring air and enjoying the laughter of their friends and acquaintances. Emile had let go of Remy’s hand in preparation to retrieve the drink that he had previously left unattended. However, with the dim lights and his lack of focus, it was rather impossible for Emile to see the upcoming events to unfold in front of him. He lost his footing as he walked closer to the pool. He slipped, falling backwards in what would play in his memories as slow motion.

“EMILE!” Remy yelled as he quickly threw off his jacket and sunglasses, diving into the pool after him. He wrapped an arm around Emile and swam to the surface, the older of the two coughing and spitting up pool water.

“Remus, you,-”

“Shh, you’re okay,” Remy said.

“My glasses,” Emile mumbled, his voice too strained and weak to properly talk. “I need my glasses.”

“Can you keep yourself afloat while I get them for you?” Emile bit his lip and nodded, kicking his legs back and forth as Remy let go of him. Remy’s vision swept across the pool floor until he saw the tortoiseshell frames laying a few feet away. He took a big gulp of air before diving down towards them, opening his eyes once he was beneath the surface.

His vision was foggy under the chlorine and his eyes felt instantly weaker. The glasses now looked more like a brown blob and he tried to grab them as quickly as bubbles of his own air tickled his face. He grabbed one of the sides of the frame and swam to the surface just before running out of air. “Guess you really leave me breathless, huh?” Remy teased as he swam up to Emile, who was sitting on the concrete by the side of the pool, soaking wet and looking lost. Remy pulled himself up and carefully slid the glasses onto Emile’s face. “Are you okay?” he asked quietly.

“Remus, you saved me,” Emile mumbled.

“Oh, I, uh, anyone else would have done the same thing. I just, you know, did it first.”

“Well, thank you,” Emile said with a gentle smile that took Remy’s breath away.

“We should get you over to the fire. You’ll dry off a lot faster.” He was able to grab his towel and wrap it around Emile’s shoulders as they walked towards the fire, though with Emile’s blush, the elder was sure that he’d be dry way before they even came near the fireplace.

It was a cool night in May and no one else mattered. The warmth and light of the crackling fire felt wonderful against cold and soaking skin. Remy sat back against the bench, his knee and thigh resting against Emile’s.

“So,” Emile said quietly, “you’ve been single since April. Must be a new record.”

“Heh, uh, yeah,” Remy said through a forced laugh. “I finally took some advice from Roman.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah. I decided that I actually want to like the guy I date.” His words were spoken carefully and backed by tension, but his body relaxed, letting his arms and shoulders fall against Emile. “And I uh, really like this guy. Guess the next step is to date him.”

“He must be a lucky guy,” Emile said.

“I’d consider myself the lucky one,” Remy said, his words slow and barely above a whisper, “if you’ll have me.”

Emile turned towards Remy, gazing at him silently with awestruck eyes. He placed his hands on Remy’s face and neck, pulling him forwards and locking their lips in the middle. It was soft and sweet as Remy melted into it. He pulled Emile closer by the hips and began to kiss more roughly, devouring the other as if he needed him the way someone atop Mount Everest needs oxygen.  

They broke apart to the sound of Virgil wolf whistling. He laughed as Roman grumpily handed him crumpled up dollar bills, before handing half of them over to Remy. “Luck be a lady tonight,” Virgil yelled, pocketing the rest of the money.

“Yeah, well I still won the bet on Roman!” Remy retaliated, unsure of how to react with all of their friends watching them.

“Which was exactly why I charged Roman extra on the bet on you,” Virgil said with a smirk. “I had my doubts on him ‘fessing up, but you two? It had to happen sooner or later.”

“Girl, you are the worst,” Remy said with a glare.

“So I’ve been told,” Virgil said with a smirk.

Remy rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, we can do this with or without an audience.” Without a second of hesitation, he took Emile’s jaw in his hand and pulled him forward, resuming their previous kiss.

Emile’s face was bright red with embarrassment from his friends teasingly clapping and howling, but he returned the gesture with one of his own before melting into the kiss as if the rest of the world had melted with him. He finally had people who cared for him- actually, genuinely cared for him. He had a place in the world, and above all, he had Remy. He smiled into the kiss as he finally reached his happy ending.

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This isn't proofread at all, but here you go. One Remile fic is just as good as like a bottle of medicine right??

Remy didn't even hear it happen. He just saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and when his head turned, he saw someone being pushed to the ground. Three teenage boys were laughing at a girl who was now lying on the pavement, her knee scraped. Remy huffed out an agitated breath and marched over.

"Why did you do that?"

The three boys turned to see Remy crossing his arms at them, and they started to laugh at him too. "Get lost, kid, you're too young to have such an attitude. What are you, like five? Six?"

Remy glared up at them through his dollar-store sunglasses. "I'm eight, thank you very much," he said, eliciting howling laughter from the teens. He knew he was a little short for his age, but who were these kids, pushing people around just cuz they're older?

"C'mon, let's go. Kid's not worth it." The teens walk away, shoving Remy aside. As soon as they leave, he kneels down next to the girl they pushed.

"Are you okay?" Remy asked, offering his hand. The girl sniffed and nodded, letting Remy pull her up. "Do you need a bandaid?"

The girl frowns, her head turning to the ditch on the side of the sidewalk, where a stuffed fish lay, dirtied by the mud. "They ruined my Dory," the girl whispered. Remy could see tears pricking in the corners of her eyes, and he quickly ran down into the ditch to grab the plushie.

"Hey, it's okay," he said when he got back up. "We can clean it." He holds his hand out again, and the girl takes it, letting Remy lead the way. "What's your name?" he asks.

"Emily," the girl replies. 

"Okay, Emily. Let's go clean your Dory."

---

After that, they were nearly inseparable. Remy took to being Emily's bodyguard, going everywhere with her to make sure no one messed with her. People bugged him over and over, teasing him and asking if he was her boyfriend. Remy didn't see that as much of an insult.

He was there for her on the night that her parents got divorced, and she ran to his house and cried, so he took her into the woods so they could be alone while they talked. He was with her throughout middle school when she would get 50s and 60s on her psychology tests, so disheartened because all she wanted was to pursue that path. He was willing to rewatch and rewatch and rewatch again "Finding Nemo" because every time it was Emily's turn to pick the movie she would without a doubt pull out the blue DVD case.

He was there on the night that Emily--now Emile--told Remy that he was a boy, and that his parents weren't happy about it. He was there during high school when Emile's dad decided he was old enough, and kicked him out of the house, and Remy took him in and let him cry into his shoulder, and begged his mom to let Emile stay. He was there to see Emile's marks slowly improve, to the point where he would get upwards of 90s and even 100s on his psychology test, because Remy suggested studying tactics that would link the answers back to Disney movies, which made Emile understand them so much better. He made sure everyone knew that it was Remy to thank for his marks.

---

"Remy? Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Remy looked up from his phone, confused. "We've kinda been talking for like... all of lunch period, Ems," Remy replied. Emile shook his head.

"I mean alone. Without all these people around." Emile had his arms tucked around himself, and Remy got the feeling that it was an important topic, so he shut off his phone and stuffed it in his pocket, extending his hand for Emile to take. Like always, Emile let Remy lead the way outside.

They stopped when they were in the middle of the baseball field, completely deserted except for a group of kids on the other side, too far to hear what they were saying. "This is good?" Remy asked. Emile nodded, tapping his fingers against his leg. His eyes wander away. He was never great at eye contact anyway, not that it bothered Remy any.

"You're... are you going to the prom with Roman?" Emile finally asks. His voice is timid, and Remy's brow furrows.

"What? No. I don't have a date to prom. I thought we were just gonna hang out there, you and me. Why would you think I'm going with Roman?" 

Emile bites the insides of his cheeks, his eyes flitting around the grass. "You're always flirting with him. I thought you two were together," he says quietly. 

"...I flirt with everyone, Em. I would have told you if I was with someone."

"Why don't you flirt with me then?"

Remy's heart jumps. "Because... we've been friends forever. I'm so used to your presence... I don't think... it's not just that easy to start with someone who's all... like, if I know them--" Remy stutters out, his eyes flicking away. Truthfully, it was just hard to flirt with Emile. Flirting pointlessly with someone Remy wasn't interested in--that came easily. When that person is Emile though, it becomes a whole different story. Remy actually likes Emile. How do you flirt with someone you like?

Both of them are silent for a few moments, before Emile slowly sucks in a breath and says, "do you want to go to the prom with me?"

"We're already going to the prom--"

"No, I mean... Do you want to go to the prom with me? Like, will you be my date? Uh, romantically?" Emile's eyes are trained on the ground as he says this. "A-And, I don't just want it to be prom, too. I like you a lot, Remy, and I want to be your boyfriend. I never told you, c-cuz you never seemed to pay that kind of attention to me. It was like--like I was the only one you didn't think that way about, and I'm so scared, because you're such a loving person, what does that say if you don't like me? What if--"

"Woah, woah, slow down, Em." Remy gently places a hand on either side of Emile's face, coaxing him to turn his head, to look at him. It isn't often that Remy gets to see Emile's eyes straight-on, and seeing them filled with tears hurts him deeply. "This is okay?" he whispers. Emile nods, though his eyes flicker to the side for a moment. 

Remy takes his hands away from Emile's face and moves them to his forearms, sitting down in the grass and bringing Emile down to sit with him.

"I never meant to make you feel like that, Em," Remy says softly. In the distance, they hear the bell go off, signalling the end of the lunch period, but they stay still in the grass. Physics be damned, Emile is more important right now. "And if it makes you feel any better, then I want you to know that I've liked you for a long while."

Emile smiles besottedly, ducking his head and picking at the grass with his fingers.

"Emile?" Remy whispers. "Can I kiss you?"

Emile's heart thuds against his chest, and he nods. "Yeah."

Remy's hands are on his cheeks again, and he leans forward, pressing his lips to Emile's forehead for a few seconds before pulling back. Emile laughs a little, then lifts his eyes to meet Remy's. "You missed," he says, and then leans forward to capture Remy's lips.

—-

Logan: KSHAKDHKADBAK W O W KAHDKS THIS IS SO HECKIN S O F T 😭

GUYS LOOK WHAT @accidentally-logince DID!!!! I LOVE IT AND THEM!

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68. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

This was supposed to be answered as an ask but Tumblr Done Goofed so @max-is-tired ! Here ya go!

Warnings: (Fake) blood, caps, swearing, Roman is there

There was a loud scream from the kitchen. That couldn’t have been good. Emile crept down the stairs only for Roman to run up to him right before he got to the source of the scream.

“Emile! Hi! Uh, you don’t need to worry about anything down here!” he said, his voice squeaking the way it always did when he lied.

“Roman? What’s going on?” Emile asked.

“NOTHING! Nothing! Just, uh, go back upstairs and don’t worry about it!”

Emile ducked under Roman’s arm, ignoring the pleas of the actor. And that’s when he saw Remy. “What the fu-“

“THIS ISN’T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!” Remy yelled. His white shirt was stained with red over his chest. The same crimson stained his hands and face. Emile was going to faint.

“I told him to go back upstairs, but noooo!” Roman said.

“Roman,” Remy warned, “shut the fuck up.”

“Shutting the fuck up now.”

“Remus Sanders, you have two seconds to explain before I call the fucking hospital,” Emile said.

“Okay, okay,” Remy said. “We were playing around with Roman’s special effects and it, you know, kinda... exploded.”

“You’re going to be the death of me,” Emile said.

“This seems personal, sooo, I’ll be going-“

“Nope! Your makeup, your mess to clean up,” Emile said. “I need to go cleanup my mess of a boyfriend.”

“Aww,” Remy reached out to cup Emile’s face but found himself falling forward as Emile ducked beneath him.

“No kisses until you get cleaned up,” Emile said. “Now, c’mon, lets get you to look less like a dead body.”

“I love you too, babe.”

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This Remile is kind of old but????????? You’re wonderful so take the boys and cherish them <3

Logan: DJKAHFJDKAHFJLDSK I LOVE THEM AAAAAAAH

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68. “This isn’t what it looks like.”

I have tried posting this,,,,, five times,,,,,, damnit Tumblr. Anyway, this was requested by @max-is-tired ! (Who is also taking prompts and is a great writing so go check them out)

Warnings: (Fake) Blood, Caps, Swearing, Roman is there

Ship: Remile

Writing Prompts!

There was a loud scream from the kitchen. That couldn’t have been good. Emile crept down the stairs only for Roman to run up to him right before he got to the source of the scream.

“Emile! Hi! Uh, you don’t need to worry about anything down here!” he said, his voice squeaking the way it always did when he lied.

“Roman? What’s going on?” Emile asked.

“NOTHING! Nothing! Just, uh, go back upstairs and don’t worry about it!”

Emile ducked under Roman’s arm, ignoring the pleas of the actor. And that’s when he saw Remy. “What the fu-“

“THIS ISN’T WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!” Remy yelled. His white shirt was stained with red over his chest. The same crimson stained his hands and face. Emile was going to faint.

“I told him to go back upstairs, but noooo!” Roman said.

“Roman,” Remy warned, “shut the fuck up.”

“Shutting the fuck up now.”

“Remus Sanders, you have two seconds to explain before I call the fucking hospital,” Emile said.

“Okay, okay,” Remy said. “We were playing around with Roman’s special effects and it, you know, kinda... exploded.”

“You’re going to be the death of me,” Emile said.

“This seems personal, sooo, I’ll be going-“

“Nope! Your makeup, your mess to clean up,” Emile said. “I need to go cleanup my mess of a boyfriend.”

“Aww,” Remy reached out to cup Emile’s face but found himself falling forward as Emile ducked beneath him.

“No kisses until you get cleaned up,” Emile said. “Now, c’mon, lets get you to look less like a dead body.”

“I love you too, babe.”