#Plural Cafe

[eeveecraft]

The Fracturing and Decline of the Tulpamancy Community

Why am I back? Well, I've been thinking about this for a while and a friend of mine just discovered the Tulpamancy stuff. If you're reading this, you know who you are. Still not happy that you found out, but it got me thinking about some stuff I want to write down.

So, some of you may know, #RedditTulpas, the official r/Tulpas Discord server shut down like, a few months ago. The Tulpa.info server got shut down back in 2023, and there's also the debacle that happened with Tulpa Chat several years ago. Basically, all of the largest Tulpamancy Discord servers get shut down for whatever reason once they hit a certain point. The main reason why tends to be drama driving the staff to their wits end, which eventually leads to the server being shut down for the well-being of the staff's mental health.

I mean, I guess there's Tulpa Central with its 1,300+ members, but even though Kopase (eugh) isn't the owner anymore, it's still a server that deliberately excludes other forms of Plurality, and I don't think communities like that should be encouraged to exist. Because let's be honest, that's just thinly-veiled ableism and ignores how Tulpamancy techniques can help disordered systems function better. Oh, that and the fact that other plurals can have tulpas, too.

I also want to bring up how r/Tulpas has drastically declined in quality; we are especially cognizant of it because we moderate that subreddit. There's a lot of low-effort, redundant, and sometimes low-key unhinged posts on the Subreddit, and there is very little actual productive discussion. Most posts there nowadays are just questions, many of which have to be removed because they're already questions that are answered in the FAQ or so basic that they should be asked in the pinned post.

With Reddit specifically, I think a factor in this decline is the direction Reddit has been going with trying to become a publicly traded company, especially with their API changes essentially killing third-party apps. That, and Reddit gleefully giving away all of its user posts to OpenAI with no ability to opt out. We ourselves only check Reddit to moderate the subreddit nowadays because of these changes, and we wouldn't be surprised if others followed suit.

However, this doesn't discredit the general trend we've seen with the larger Tulpamancy communities just declining or outright dying.

The Tulpamancy side of Tumblr has been pretty quiet for several years now with the only major Tulpamancy-specific blog besides ourselves really being Sophie's and maybe Caflec's, and we're hardly active in terms of making posts (we just don't have much to talk about anymore).

There was also the Tulpa.info Mastodon instance, Tulpas.social, but that died pretty damn fast. Plural Café closed invites the moment we tried recommending it to others and has been gradually falling apart, too.

My point is: there's hardly any actual large gatherings of Tulpamancy systems anymore. I remember in one of my Tulpamancy Help videos, I explained how the community became fractured, but I think it's gotten even worse. Like, don't get me wrong, I don't think the community should be a monolith; niches exist for a reason. However, there's something just... disheartening about seeing gatherings of 1,000+ Tulpamancy systems just getting dissolved; thousands of people conversing, exchanging ideas, and helping each other just... separated.

You're probably wondering, "Well, if you're complaining about it, you surely have some kind of solution, right?" Well, not really. it seems to be a cycle tied with the general makeup of the community; enough people in the community just seem to be drawn to petty arguments and drama that takes a toll on the people who manage these communities. So for larger gathering to exist, the people need to be palatable. Otherwise, as new communities form and people flock to them, the same people that caused the downfall of the others before will follow suit. And to be frank, I don't quite have a solution in regards to getting people to stop gravitating towards and starting mentally-taxing drama. That's up for the individuals inside the community to figure out, let alone want to change.

So, what's the conclusion? I guess it's just that I believe the community is heading towards some kind of recession, a dark age of some kind. And that makes me sad to extent because the more Tulpamancy spreads, the more its techniques can be used to help people. There's a reason anthropologists and psychologists are studying Tulpamancy, especially with the interest in its possible therapeutic applications. Despite that, I want to be optimistic and hope that eventually, the community finds its stride again instead of fading into further obscurity.

7-15-2024

[manyminded]

made a plural pride blinkie inspired by blinkies cafe!! f2u, no credit required :] (all sides of syscourse are allowed!) I submitted it as a custom thing ^_^ ily plurality

[mysticality404]

New Discord Server!!

Please join if you're interested!!

https://discord.gg/Afws5kfvEJ

The first nitro giveaway is when we reach 50 members!

[pluralquotebook]

"I'm gonna have the buffest ankles known to man" -Aspen, as we stood on our tiptoes at a concert

-🫖🌹 (Tea Rose Cafe)

.

[casettecsys]

i want to infodump about our system so bad but we have so many depressed motherfuckers in front that we barely feel like talking...

[weirdsht]

What es up 👾

What if totcf with transmigrated!reader that barely says anything about themselves but they know so much about the others, they think it's kinda unfair how easy they are to read to reader (reader has read the novel so they're like a piece of cake to reader) and then one time everyone was drinking, some were drunk, some were dead on the floor or couch, then reader says "I miss my husband..." With such a solemn expression and everyone is shocked because wdym u have a fockin husband????

Rosalyn: *sees reader crying their eyes out* you... You have a husband?

Reader: yes, Rosa sob I miss him, my kids, too!

The gang: Kid? Wait, kids? Plural...? How come we never knew of this????????????

Reader was actually referring to their fictional boyfriend and characters they grew to love that they knew about from Earth, but reader is like, crying like it's the saddest thing as if their spouse went to war

…Seriously? - LoTCF & Reader

a/n: a/n: not me sneaking my lads obsession in here, also I had to choose 1 LI so the gig isn't out of the bag so soon but I don't have a bias there... so i used the usual roulette lol, find out who won as you read the story

tags: earth timeline doesn't make sense. transmigrator reader, love and deepspace mentions, platonic, fluss

English isn’t my first language so there will be grammatical errors

Pls don't repost my work anywhere without my permission

Constructive criticisms and any kind of interaction are more than welcome

Requests are currently closed but my ask are still open (read pinned)

Buy Me Dessert

Navigation Masterlist

[Name] was an enigma to Cale’s group. They know that she’s not from their world. Know that she can predict the future to a certain extent. However, beyond that information, they don’t know much about the transmigrator. 

They barely know anything personal about [Name].

Which is a bit unfair if one thinks about it deeply. [Name] knows everyone like the back of her hand, but they don’t even know if the name she has given her is her real one.

But it doesn’t matter much. Cale’s group is not one to pry information that could possibly be sensitive out of a comrade. They all have their secrets after all, maybe [Name] was uncomfortable talking about her previous life.

Well, that was until Rosalyn saw her crying one day.

It was a normal day, a good one even. For the first time in a while, there’s absolutely nothing to do. Even Rosalyn’s research has been put on hold. And so she decided to find [Name] so they could try to newly opened cafe in town, and have a girl’s day.

“[Name] are you busy–”

The mage stopped in her tracks as she heard the transmigrator sob from the other side of the door. [Name]’s cries were quiet but it caused a loud concern to ring in Rosalyn’s heart.

“Why are you crying? Did something happen?”

Rosalyn opened the door, panic spread through her body as [Name] is known to never cry.

“Ro-rosa..?”

[Name] looked up as the door opened. Her knees touched her chest, her head resting on top of it. Tear stains could be seen on her clothes, it looked like she had been crying for a while now.

“I’m fine, don’t worry nothing happened.”

She reassured Rosalyn as she wiped her eyes with her sleeves. Her voice was wobbly, not helping her case and certainly not making the ex-royal believe her.

Rosalyn took [Name]’s hands on her left hand and wiped the transmigrator’s tears with the handkerchief she bought with her right hand. Concern is etched on her face as she gives [Name]’s hands comforting strokes.

“Tell this unnie what’s wrong.”

Both have forgotten about the door being wide open. Making everyone, the three kids and Lock, hear everything they are talking about.

“It’s a silly thing… I just realized it’s been so long since I saw my husband…”

Rosalyn fought the urge to overreact at the news that one of her friends had a husband she didn’t know about.

“From your previous world?”

“...Yeah, it’s been so long since I saw him. It doesn’t help that when I last saw him it looked like he was going on a very dangerous mission.”

[Name] was crestfallen as she spoke. It was clear just how much she missed him.

“My children too, I only saw my twins for a short while!”

The whiplash Rosalyn is getting from these shocking pieces of information is too much.

Good thing another redhead arrived to save the day.

“Why are you four hiding over there?”

Cale asked the four children and only then did the two women realise how the door was open. Rosalyn shot [Name] an apologetic look. She didn’t mean for her personal life to be broadcasted like that.

“No need to be sorry, it wasn’t really a secret. There wasn’t just a chance to bring it up.”

[Name] assured the mage as she gestured over to the five outside her door. Beckoning them to go inside.

As Cale and the children walked towards the transmigrator, they updated Cale as to what they heard.

“So you had a husband before coming here?”

“Yes, my husband Sylus… I didn’t even get his limited card before I could… huek!”

The transmigrator teared up once more and every one pitied her despite their confusion. Just what card is she talking about? Maybe it’s an earth thing they don’t know about.

“[Name]-nim are you talking about a credit card?”

Choi Han peeked from outside. He was just passing by when he heard the children updating Cae about his fellow transmigrator’s life.

“Huh? Oh no, I mean he did have a black card but that’s not what I’m talking about.”

Now Choi Han was part of the confused crowd. If she didn’t mean a savings card what could she be talking about then?

Meanwhile, in the corner of the room, Cale squinted his eyes. That man knows for a fact that [Name] hasn’t even had her first kiss yet. What are all these lies about a husband? 

…Plus the name she said sounded very familiar.

“Could you tell us more about him?”

“Yeah tell us please nya!”

Raon and Hong encouraged [Name] to talk more, interested in the slightest information about their mysterious friend’s personal life.

“Well, his very tall. Around 187cm I think? He kind of looks like a vampire with his white hair and red eyes. I can confidently say that his one of the most handsome guys out there.”

Everyone became even more intrigued. Just how great was this husband of hers? [Name] sounded very in love with him. He also sounded well-off based on Choi Han’s explanation of how a black card is like the equivalent of a golden plaque.

“Oh, he also has this thing called Evol. Basically he has powers, his power in particular is controlling energy. His super strong, he can even heal wounds.”

From the corner of the room, Cale suppressed a sigh as he placed the pieces together. Instead, he opted to silently facepalm.

The conversation about [Name]’s supposed “husband” lasted for a few more minutes before everyone filed out of her room. Leaving only her and Cale behind.

“What was your affinity level before you got here?”

“Affinity 60… But omg, you play love and deespace too!?”

[Name] looked at the redhead man who was finally letting out that deep, imparted sigh he had been holding in since earlier.

“No, I just saw forum leaks about your husband Sylus.”

“Ohhhh, I was wondering how you knew when he was barely out when I transmigrated…”

An awkward silence lingered around the two. Both of them don’t know how to proceed with the new information. In fact, [Name] didn’t know that game existed on Cale’s earth.

Wait was it possible that they were from the same earth?

But he had powers…

[Name] decided to not think about it.

“Next time, refrain from speaking about your fictional husbands as if they’re real… I think you nearly gave Rosalyn a heart attack?”

“Wait really!?”

[Name] looked at Cale who was on his way to go back to his room. She didn’t know the repercussions of casually speaking about her otome game. The redhead only looked at her as if she was a lost cause. 

“Yes, really.“

incase you were curious about the roulette lol dont mind me using the jp names im just more used to that

[notiddygothgf]

7. Behave

★ pairings: aki hayakawa x fem reader

★ ❝ You need to behave ❞ ❝ I can try. ❞

★ c.w.: aki being a smooth criminal. (more content warnings and tags)

★ a/n: HI THEREEEE. im giving you some new chapter(s. yes. plural) before this week because i start my new internship and i know i will be super busy! also bc my cousin slash proofreader told me she would end her life if i didn't so. (her, just now btw: yeah. you know thats right!) anyway take this damn chapter. i HOPE YOU LOVED ITTTT i love tension i love aki hes such a sweet pea in this chapter. MORE SEXINESS COMINGGGGG AKAKAKA KEEP COMMENTING ILY ALL

★ w.c: .6.5k

shameless ; chapter index

"THANK YOU FOR COMING under such short notice," Makima began, her voice smooth and authoritative. She stood at the head of the table, her gaze sweeping over the room, which was empty save for you and her. "Today's agenda is straightforward. We have a new mission that requires immediate attention, and I believe it's crucial to ensure everything goes smoothly."

You shifted in your seat, trying to focus on her words.

Makima's eyes flicked to you briefly before continuing. "We have a newcomer joining one of our teams, specifically under the command of Captain Hayakawa."

No fucking way. You thought. There was no way – no fucking shot. Your heart skipped a beat at the mere mention of his name.

Makima continued, "While I have full confidence in Captain Hayakawa's capabilities, I believe it wouldn't hurt to have an additional layer of support."

She paused, looking directly at you. "Which is why you will be joining Hayakawa's mission alongside his team."

Before you could react, the door opened again, and the captain in question stepped in. His eyes went wide when he saw you, but he quickly masked his surprise, standing tall and composed.

Act cool, you reminded yourself. Don't be messy.

Still, it was hard to ignore him when you had spent the last week of your life replaying the memory of his lips on your skin. As if you hadn't spent all of last night and this morning anxious to see him again. Replaying the memory of his hands gripping your hips hard enough to bruise while you were on top of him.

Fuck.

"I apologize for the short notice," Makima said, her gaze shifting to Aki. "You will be taking on this mission with additional support to ensure its success."

Aki nodded, his eyes flickering back to you only momentarily. He couldn't stop looking at you, his expression a mixture of surprise and something else you couldn't quite place. You tried to maintain your composure, feeling the weight of his gaze. If you stayed in that room any longer, you thought you would have exploded.

"Understood," Aki said, his voice steady. So deep, fucking hell – the sound of it practically had you squeezing your thighs together.

"Good," Makima said, a small, satisfied smile playing on her lips. "You're dismissed."

You bowed, and made your exit. He followed you.

As you and Aki walked out into the hallway, the tension between you was palpable. The door clicked shut behind you, and Aki turned to you, his voice low.

"Are you busy right now? Or after this?"

You shook your head, trying to hide the slight tremor in your voice. You were so happy to see him, it wasn't even funny. "Not really. Why?"

You followed him outside, the cool afternoon air a stark contrast to the stuffy meeting room.

"There's a cafe up the block from here," He said slowly. "Wanna grab a coffee with me?"

Yes. More than anything.

"I'd prefer something alcoholic," You answered. "Or sweet. Know anywhere a girl can get a soda around here? If not, a beer would suffice."

"I'd prefer something alcoholic," you answered, a teasing smile playing on your lips. "Or sweet. Know anywhere a girl can get a soda around here? If not, a beer would suffice."

Aki smiled softly, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Can't have you drinking on the job now, can we?"

You walked in comfortable silence, the noise of Tokyo's busy sidewalks filling the spaces between your thoughts. People moved around you in a blur of motion, but it felt like you and Aki were in your own little bubble. Aki walked side by side with you, his sword strapped to his back, the hilt glinting in the sunlight. The sun filtered through his bangs, casting dappled shadows on his face and making his features look almost ethereal.

Your eyes wandered, taking in the vibrant cityscape around you. Neon signs flashed overhead, and the smell of street food wafted through the air, mingling with the scent of blooming flowers from a nearby park. You felt a sense of contentment, an odd calm in the midst of the city's chaos.

You pulled over to a vending machine on the corner. Aki dug into his pocket and pulled out a few coins, dropping them into the slot with a clink. He turned to you, his eyes questioning. "What do you want?"

"Oh, uh..." you trailed off, glancing at the selection. "Dr. Pepper?"

He punched in the numbers, and the can clattered down into the dispenser. He retrieved it for you and then put in a few more coins to get himself a Coke.

You popped the cap, and he did the same. The crisp sound of the cans opening was followed by a hiss of carbonation.

"Cheers," you said, tapping your can against his. The impact made the soda fizz up and threaten to spill. You quickly brought the can to your lips, sucking up the overflow.

Aki licked the top of his can clean, his tongue darting out in a way that made your thoughts wander.

"It's so nice out today," you said as the two of you began to walk again, the city sprawling out before you.

"That's because I told the weather you'd be coming back," Aki replied with a smirk, his tone playful.

"Cornball." You laughed, playfully shoving him in the shoulder. The casual contact sent a thrill through you. "How have you been since we last saw each other?"

"Miserable," he answered.

You laughed at his admission. Then, when you realized he wasn't joking, you piped down.

"Has Himeno said anything about," You took a sip of your Dr. Pepper, "You know...?

"The two of us hooking up?" He answered like it was nothing, "No, she hasn't."

"No–" You sputtered, "I meant about everything else that happened."

"She hasn't texted you?" He raised a brow at you. When you didn't answer, he shrugged, "She'll get over herself."

Then, when you continued to look at him with an unspoken question hidden behind your lips, he added, "No one knows about us. Not here, at least."

Good. You thought. You wanted to keep it that way. Yet, for some odd reason, you couldn't shake the sinking feeling in your gut at the thought of other women laying their hands on him.

"About that..." You sighed. "Aki, look... I– you're a great guy, and I... it just... You understand why it can't happen again, right?"

"It wasn't supposed to happen the first time, either," He answered coolly – you stopped walking, and he stopped, too, letting the pedestrians pass the two of you by, "What?" He asked, "I think it's a little late for that, don't you?"

You rolled your eyes. The worst part was that he was right. "Yeah, but I just... I dunno, I want to be– I want to do the right thing."

Aki sighed, "Look. I would never do anything you don't wanna do. Believe me when I say that you have full control of any situation that goes on in between us. At the same time," He took a breath, "I can't sit here and lie and tell you I haven't been thinking about you every day since you left. I will never stop craving you. In fact, I'd help you break your vows again in a heartbeat. Just say the word."

You felt the heat creep from the back of your neck to the points of your cheeks. You're insufferable, you thought, Insufferable and infuriatingly attractive. 

God, I hate you. It couldn't have been further from the truth.

You began walking again. He followed suit.

"You gonna tell him?" He asked you.

You answered him without looking, "Who?"

With legs as long as his, it didn't take him very long at all to catch up to you – walking side by side like an obedient dog.

"Your husband."

The sound of those words coming out of his mouth made your heart drop. You knew he knew you had a husband, reasonably, but he had never acknowledged him verbally. Until today.

You cleared your throat, doing your best to seem unphased by him – a task that proved to be much more difficult than it seemed, considering that every time you looked into your husband's eyes, you wished they were his instead. "Tell him what?" You sipped your Dr. Pepper.

Your coworker raised a brow, deadpanning, "That you fucked your coworker."

His brazen remark made you all but choke on your soda, wiping the spilled saccharine fluid off of your lips. You were in complete and utter disbelief that he would be so open about it in public, like he wasn't at all ashamed by what he had done.

After a moment of silence, you replied, "I'll get to it. Look, we got into this... this fight before I left. It got pretty ugly. He's angry enough as it is. At the very least, I want to keep my life in Kyoto."

"Do you, though?" He hummed.

You didn't. 

When the two of you passed a flower shop on the side of the road, you pulled over, drawn to a planter full of wildflowers near the front – pink and blue and gorgeous. You reached out to pinch one of the stems between your fingertips.

"Yes," You snapped back, gaze trained on the plant. "And if you want to keep this cordial relationship going, then you need to behave. I want you to behave."

He sighed behind you – voice much closer this time, like he was right behind you. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw him stand to your right.

You didn't glorify him with a response. Instead, you brought one of the flowers up to your nose, giving it a sniff. It smelled fresh, as if they had just been picked this morning. It was a rare treat to find such unique flowers at a store.

You could feel his presence next to you – the warmth of his body right next to yours. The proximity was suffocating. He was staring at the pretty flowers, too. He was so close, in fact, that you felt his knuckle graze yours. You stifled a shudder but didn't move away.

His touch brought back memories of the two of you in bed together. The heat of his skin, the way he whispered your name, the intense look in his eyes.

"You murdered my happiness– our happiness. This is the end of everything, isn't it?"

"You are my happiness," He panted, licking a stripe from your clavicle to your jaw. 

"Oh, fuck–" You arched your back, eyes rolling with bliss. "Murderer–" You moaned, "Murderer!"

The knot in your stomach was about to snap. You could feel it.

"Murderer!"

"Yes–" He breathed.

"Don't stop–"

"I won't."

His finger caressed yours, twitching, as if he wanted to hold your hand.

You stared at the flowers, trying to concentrate on their vibrant colors and delicate petals, but every nerve in your body was focused on the subtle pressure of his touch – every nerve was on fire. His knuckle brushed against yours again, this time lingering just a bit longer. The sensation was electric, sending a jolt through you that you could feel in the pit of your stomach.

The world around you seemed to fade, the bustling sounds of the city and the murmurs of people passing by becoming a distant hum. It was just you and him, standing in front of a planter full of wildflowers, the air thick with unspoken words.

I missed you, You thought, but didn't say.

Your breath caught as his pinky finger hooked around yours, the smallest of connections, yet it felt like a lifeline. It took everything in you not to turn your hand and entwine your fingers with his.

He shifted slightly, his shoulder brushing against yours. The movement caused his fingers to slide further against yours, and you could feel the soft pad of his thumb tracing your palm.

Your heart was pounding inside of your chest.

He was close enough that you could feel the warmth radiating from his body. He reached out and gently touched a white flower, his fingers brushing against the soft petals.

"These are beautiful," he murmured, his voice low and smooth. You could hear the underlying tension, the same tension that thrummed through your veins.

"You're so beautiful, you know that?" He mused, eyes scanning your flustered face.

Slowly, rather than awaiting an answer from you, he pulled the cigarette out from between his lips, popping it between yours.

You knew it was wrong. 

But, still, you couldn't resist the temptation as you wrapped your lips around the stick and breathed in.

Just as your fingers began to intertwine, you pulled away abruptly, your heart racing. The sudden loss of contact felt like a physical ache, but you forced yourself to move.

He was fucking addictive, and you felt like you were experiencing withdrawals.

"Sorry," Aki said. For the briefest moment, hurt flashed across his expression. It was quickly replaced by that deadpan, stone-faced facade that you knew so well, like it was only a moment of weakness."I'm gonna run to the bathroom. Don't get lost."

"Yeah, okay," You breathed in response.

He hesitated for a second, like he didn't really want to go, but eventually turned and left you alone with your thoughts. You stood there, staring at the flowers but not really seeing them. Your mind wandered, drifting through the chaotic mess of thoughts that had been stirred up since you stepped back into Tokyo.

You thought about the plants, the ones you admired at the entrance with their big, green leaves. They were beautiful. Your husband would never let you bring one home.

The memory of him – of your last interaction with him – left a bitter taste in your mouth.

Your thoughts circled back to Aki. His words echoed in your mind:

It's a little late for that, don't you think?

Was he right? Had you already crossed a line that you couldn't uncross?

The conflict in your brain was overwhelming. On one hand, the allure of indulging your passions was tempting, intoxicating,even. On the other hand, you had a life back in Kyoto, a comfortable lifestyle that you knew well, even if it wasn't fulfilling.

You couldn't possibly give it all up for a man in uniform, could you?

You wandered deeper into the shop, your eyes glancing over the array of plants and flowers. The air was filled with the earthy scent of soil and the sweet fragrance of blooms. You trailed your fingers over the leaves of a potted fern, its delicate fronds tickling your skin.

You found yourself standing in front of a tall, leafy plant with broad, vibrant green leaves. It was stunning, and you could picture it in your living room, adding a touch of life and color to the space. But then the image of your husband's disapproving face flashed in your mind. He would never allow it. He hated the mess they made, the dirt that inevitably found its way onto the floor.

A sigh escaped your lips. Why did everything have to be so complicated? 

You were caught between two worlds, two lives. One was predictable and safe, the other chaotic and exhilarating. And Aki...he was the embodiment of that second life, the one that made your heart race and your mind spin with possibilities.

Your thoughts drifted to the times you had spent with him, the stolen glances, the memory of his lips like a ghost on your neck.

It's a little late for that, don't you think?

You felt a pang of guilt. Your husband didn't deserve this. He was a good man, providing a stable, comfortable life for you. But comfort wasn't everything. There was a part of you that craved more, that longed for the passion and intensity that Aki brought into your life.

Your fingers brushed against the edge of a delicate orchid, its petals soft and velvety under your touch. You remembered how Aki's touch felt against your skin, the way his fingers trailed over your body with a mix of tenderness and desire. The memory sent a shiver down your spine.

You closed your eyes, trying to focus, to ground yourself. The logical part of your mind told you to walk away, to leave Tokyo and never look back. But your heart, your traitorous heart, whispered that maybe, just maybe, it was worth the risk.

Just then, you heard footsteps approaching. You opened your eyes and turned to see Aki standing there. He was holding something behind his back.

"You ready to go?" He asked.

You nodded slowly, not knowing whether or not to feel relieved that he had interrupted your thoughts.

He nodded, understanding in his eyes. "Alright."

You were exhausted. Mentally and physically.

The two of you walked out of the shop, the unspoken tension still hanging in the air. It was as if nothing had happened at all between the two of you, and while you thought you wanted that before, you weren't so sure now.

Was it really too late to turn back?

The sun felt warm against your face, against the fabric of your Public Safety uniform that heated up beneath its rays. You took a deep breath of fresh air before looking at Aki again.

He looked beautiful in the sunlight. The golden glow hugged his pretty features – his perfect nose, the curve of his cupid's bow, the pools of moody blue in his eyes. When he was looking at you like that... he was breathtaking.

And he was... holding a bouquet out with one hand...? It looked like the flowers you had seen in the planter at the shop. Long, beautiful stems speckled with soft, pastel petals – hues of blue, pink and purple projecting from the bouquet like pretty little fireworks. Wildflowers, the kind you couldn't buy anywhere else.

You felt similar fireworks in your stomach. You didn't know which sight was more beautiful – the flowers, or him.

"Aki..." You exhaled a breath you didn't know you were holding. "What's this?"

"The flowers you liked. I asked the shop owner to make me a bouquet," He peered down at you softly, tenderly, as if his gaze could melt you like butter. "Do you like them?"

And, clearly, it could. Your expression softened immediately, and you took the flowers from him gently. "I love them, Aki. They're gorgeous," You paused, nearly saying 'you shouldn't be getting me these. I don't deserve them', but decided resisting him was hopeless, "Thank you."

He bought you flowers. He. Bought. You. Flowers. Your smile could power an entire city.

"You shouldn't have," You hummed, giving them a good whiff. They smelled even fresher than the ones you had smelled outside of the shop. "They're so fucking pretty."

He smiled stupidly, as if he couldn't help himself, "So are you."

As the two of you continued walking up the block – to nowhere in particular, at least to your knowledge – Aki began to speak again, "My roommates aren't home today. You should come back to my place. We can–"

"We're not doing that again," You deadpanned.

Aki frowned. "I was just gonna ask if you wanted to watch a movie. Have a few beers, bake something."

"I shouldn't be at your place at all," You reminded him. You would not be so easily swayed. "For any reason. Remember?"

"Not even if I make us dinner?" He tried to bargain with you. "I wanted to try something new tonight. Maybe you could try it for me. Give me some pointers, you know?"

Okay. Apparently, you would be so easily swayed.

"Alright, fine," You sighed. Pointing an accusatory finger at him, you added, "But I have to behave, Aki. You need to behave."

He only smiled at your words, swatting your hand away, "I can try."

.

You stood barefoot in the bathroom, watching yourself in the mirror. Your Public Safety uniform sat folded in a pile on top of the toilet. Aki's sweater – which he had offered you after it became clear that your afternoon rendezvous would carry on into the evening – hung off of your much smaller frame. The neckline was so wide that it threatened to slip off of your shoulder, and the sleeves fell far past your fingers.

He had given you a pair of sweatshorts to change into, too, but you couldn't imagine trying them on. At least, not when his sweater fell just above your knees like a nightgown.

And, for the love of all that was holy, the smell of him clung to the navy blue fabric. You could hardly bear to be wrapped in it – swaddled in the warmth of something you knew he wore over his own body.

You were frozen, staring at your reflection, the oversized sweater consuming your smaller frame. The way the fabric draped over you, brushing against your knees, made you feel small, almost protected. But that wasn't right, was it? You were married, and this—this was crossing a line. Crossing that line you just said you weren't going to cross a few hours earlier.

It's just clothes. Who cares if I don't wear the pants under it? It's not like I'm spreading my legs open for him.

You weren't sure who you were trying to convince.

You wanted to believe that, needed to believe it. After all, the sweater was practically a dress on you, and it wasn't like you were walking around with your ass hanging out. And the shorts? They didn't belong to you, didn't fit right. No, the sweater was good enough.

You took a deep breath, inhaling his scent once more. The warmth, the familiarity, it almost felt like a comfort you had been deprived of for so long. But you knew this wasn't about the sweater or the way it fit.

When you finally emerged from the bathroom, you knew you had taken a moment too long. You released a weak breath, trying to act casual, trying to convince yourself that everything was fine. That you hadn't crossed a line. But deep down, you knew you were lying to yourself.

It wasn't just about the sweater.

Aki was in the kitchen by the stove, donning a black sweatshirt and gray sweatpants himself. He was hunched over a pot, stirring something that smelled delicious.

You sauntered into the kitchen, crossing your arms self-consciously over your chest. "Smells tasty," You hummed.

Aki turned around, licking something off of his finger. He looked as if he was about to say something, perhaps a witty retort, but whatever he was going to say died on his lips when he saw you in his sweater. His gaze flicked down to your shoulders, your sleeve-covered arms, the smooth skin of your legs that the sweater revealed – and he looked like it took everything he had to keep his mouth shut.

His expression softened, like you made him as weak as he made you. Then, like he hadn't promised to behave a few hours earlier, a smile most scandalous snuck over his lips.

You propped your hand up on your hip, quirking your brow at him, "What?"

He shook his head, but the smile never left his face. "Nothing," He laughed quietly, "You look cute. Am I allowed to say that?"

I look cute? You thought. You look cute.

Cute was an understatement, honestly. There was a sort of domestic charm to him cooking dinner for the two of you, clad in his pajamas, black hair down over his neck and hanging in his pretty face. It was dangerous – you could get used to a sight like that, and that idea frightened you.

"No," You bit your lip, fighting a cheeky grin of your own, "But, thank you."

Reasonably, you knew it was inappropriate. Still, you figured there was no harm in indulging a little.

You left the kitchen after that, skipping into the living room of his apartment – which was so, undeniably him, with its clean blue, white and gray accents – and plopping down on the carpet between the couch and the coffee table. You pulled a blanket off of the couch and wrapped it around your shoulders. Your can of beer sat open on a coaster on the table from earlier, and you took a hefty swig of it.

The TV was on, set to a soap opera with the volume down. You reached for the remote and turned it up (like you owned the place).

"Cookies are in," Aki climbed over the couch, sitting on the floor next to you. He set two dishes on the table. "Now we wait 10 minutes."

You practically began to salivate just looking at the food. There were pieces of chicken neatly sliced on the plate, topped off with a delicious sauce that smelled an awful lot like the one you had smelled Aki making earlier.

"It's Teriyaki," He said.

You picked up your chopsticks, popping a piece in your mouth and all but moaning at the flavor. "That's really fucking good, Aki."

"Is it?" He asked, "I thought I overcooked it."

"Just take the damn compliment, Captain," You answered him (while stuffing your face full of chicken).

Aki only smiled at you. "Do you want to watch anything specific? I have one of the Halloween movies in."

"Halloween's fine," You offered, "I'd say I could go for a romcom, but I doubt you'd have one of those lying around. Don't seem like that kinda guy."

"You'd be surprised," He hummed, holding his beer can up to his lips and taking a sip, "I don't own any, but, for the record, I can get pretty caught up in those soap operas on the TV."

"Is that so?" You grinned stupidly.

He turned the DVD Player on with the remote, using his other hand to feed himself a few more pieces of chicken. It was all so sickeningly domestic that it made your head spin.

Aki set his chopsticks down on the table, turning to you after the opening credits began to roll. "Mind letting me in?" He said, nodding toward your blanket.

The thought of sharing a blanket with him had you flushed and nervous. You shook your head, "Like hell I will. Go get your own blanket."

"That is my blanket," He corrected you, shifting closer, "Now, move over, before I steal it from you."

As you scooted away, a playful grin spread across your face. "You're not getting it," you said, holding the blanket tight around your body like it was a lifeline.

Aki arched his brow, his lips quirking up in a smirk. "We'll see about that," he murmured, inching closer to you.

You squealed, trying to push him away as he pretended to wrestle the blanket from your grip. "No! Get your own!" you laughed, your heart pounding in your chest.

Aki chuckled, effortlessly overpowering your resistance. "Told you, it's mine," he said, his arm slipping around your shoulders. Before you could protest, he tugged the blanket over both of you, trapping you in the shared warmth.

The sudden proximity stole your breath away. The room fell silent, the only sound being the faint murmur of the movie playing in the background. You tried to focus on the screen, but it was impossible with Aki so close, his presence overwhelming your senses. His cologne, the remnants of his cooking, the subtle heat radiating from him—it all wrapped around you, making your heart race.

Your eyes flickered to him, and you froze. He was already looking at you, his expression unreadable, but the tension between you was palpable. The space between your faces was impossibly small, and for a moment, you thought he might—

A shrill alarm pierced the air, shattering the moment.

"The cookies," Aki whispered, his voice low and rough. He pulled away from you reluctantly, the blanket falling from his shoulders as he got up.

You watched him as he walked to the kitchen, your body still tingling from where his arm had been. He moved with practiced ease, opening the oven and pulling the cookie tray out, grabbing a spatula to flick the cookies onto a plate. The sound of a blood-curdling scream from the TV pulled your attention back to the movie, but your focus was split, your mind still reeling from the closeness you'd just shared.

Hesitantly, you moved to the couch.

Aki returned to the living room, the plate of cookies in hand. He slipped back under the blanket without a word, settling beside you so closely that your thighs pressed together, the heat between your bodies almost suffocating. You didn't resist this time, letting him claim his spot, but the tension in the air was undeniable, thick like static electricity.

You both finished your meals in silence, the sounds of the movie barely registering as your senses were tuned entirely to his presence. Each movement he made sent a ripple of awareness through you. The way his fingers brushed against yours as he reached for his drink, the subtle shift of his leg against yours—it was all too much, and not enough at the same time.

What's wrong with me today? Am I in heat?

Desperate for a distraction, you reached for a cookie and took a bite, the sweet warmth of it melting on your tongue. "This is so good," you murmured, your voice coming out softer than you intended. You held the cookie out to him, offering it like it was the only thing keeping you grounded. "You have to try it."

He turned to you, his eyes locking with yours in a way that made your heart stutter. "Okay," he said, but instead of reaching for a cookie from the plate, he leaned in. Slowly, deliberately, his gaze never wavered from yours.

You froze as he crossed that unspoken boundary between the two of you. For a brief moment, you thought he might—no, he wouldn't—but then his lips brushed against the edge of the cookie, and your heart slammed against your ribcage. He took a bite, his eyes dark and intense, watching your every reaction.

He chewed slowly, almost deliberately, before he spoke. "That's good," he murmured, his voice low, resonant with an undercurrent of something that sent a fucking shiver down your spine. He licked a crumb from his finger, a simple gesture made unbearably sexy by the way his eyes flicked back to yours.

Your hand trembled as you set the cookie down, your mind reeling from the sheer intensity of the moment. The room felt too small, the air too thick, every second stretching out as you both sat there, teetering on the edge of something that felt inevitable.

The tension was unbearable, an unspoken force drawing you closer together. Your breath was shallow, every inch of your body hyper-aware of his proximity, the way his eyes seemed to darken with every passing second. The space between you was charged, electric, as if the very air was waiting for you to make the next move – as if he was waiting for you to make the next move.

Then, before either of you could break the silence, you both moved at once – all but jumping at each other in the process of linking your lips together in the middle.The kiss was fierce, desperate, as if all the tension that had been building between the two of you finally snapped, and the sheer force of it nearly knocked the breath out of you.

His hands were on you in an instant, rough and urgent, pulling you into his lap.

It was a mess of heat and need, his lips devouring yours with a hunger that screamed, 'I missed you. I'm tired of pretending like I didn't'. Your fingers tangled in his hair, pulling him closer, deepening the kiss until it felt like you might drown in it. The taste of teriyaki mingled with the lingering sweetness of the cookie, a heady mix that only drove you further into the sensation of him, him, him.

You wrapped your bare thighs around his lower back, letting him pull you closer still. With your hips flush against his, you could feel him pressing up against you – hot and ready, just like the cookies were.

It had been years since you had felt desired like this. Would it really be so bad to indulge yourself a little more?

You could feel his breath hitch, his grip tightening on your waist as the kiss intensified, becoming something almost frantic. The world outside of this moment ceased to exist; it was just the two of you, lost in each other, in the heat, the taste, the sheer overwhelming desire as you ravaged each other on Aki's couch.

You could forget about his roommates for a minute.

Wait.

His roommates.

When you finally pulled away, it was like the air had been sucked out of the room. Your chest heaved, struggling to catch your breath, as you stared at each other, the reality of what had just happened sinking in. His eyes were dark, pupils blown wide, and you could see the conflict there, the struggle between what had just happened and the weight of the unspoken words hanging in the air.

'You need to behave'.

"Aki–" You panted, gripping the inky black tresses at the base of his neck while his kisses descended down the valley of your neck. "Aki, your roommates–"

"Fuck them," He mumbled against your skin. "Missed you."

And there it was, that warm pit of desire bubbling deep inside of your gut. The feeling of being desired. Of being missed.

A shuddering moan passed through your lips when he wrapped his lips around your sweet spot, right in the crook of your neck, and applied a gentle suction.

"I told you– we can't be doing this," You said (but did absolutely nothing to stop his kisses), "Oh, God, Aki."

You felt so weak. He made you weak. You couldn't possibly resist him.

"Aren't they– Aren't they coming?" Was your next attempt at stopping the moment (despite the fact that you most definitely did not want to stop, and made that clear by rolling your hips into him like a desperate whore).

"My roommates?" He smirked, sliding off the couch and dropping to his knees to press more kisses to your thighs, your legs. He peeked up, blue eyes glinting with mischief, "No, but you can, if you want."

"We can't..." You trailed off, but, fuck, when you watched him get down on his knees to press slow, tender kisses to your calf, you really, really wondered if you could.

"We can," He murmured, voice slurred against your skin. "Right here on the couch, if you want. Bedroom works, too. But do you want me to – is the question."

Want him... to do what...?

You thought of the last time you'd had him like this. The image of his black hair disappearing between your thighs, his tongue lapping you up like he was dying of thirst.

And you couldn't help the wanton shudder that overcame you. "I do, Aki, but..."

"Say it again," He peered up at you, eyes desperate.

"I.." You swallowed. "I do– I want you to... I want you, Aki."

He put his head down, pressing a kiss to your thigh, "Fuck, say it again."

"I... I want you, Aki," You breathed. It felt liberating to say it – no "but"s or "if"s attached. Just him. You wanted him in the most primitive and feral way that you had ever wanted anyone before.

"Then let me have you again," He murmured softly. He licked a long stripe up your leg, from your inner thigh to where the sweater ended. "I've been craving it all week," He continued, throwing your earlier words back at you, "You wouldn't keep a needy man waiting, would you?"

"No," You panted. Not knowing how else to sugar coat the words – and being, frankly, too exhausted for formalities, you cut to the chase. "I need you to fuck me, Aki."

He froze suddenly, wild eyes peering into yours like he thought you would never ask. "Yeah?" He replied, breathless. "Right now?"

"Please, sir..." You teased him. "You won't keep a needy woman waiting, will you?"

"But, your roommates..." You said. "What if they come home early?"

His hands slid up your smooth thighs, beneath the hem of his sweater, where they could grip your hips. "You'll be quiet for me, yeah?"

And his eyes, fuck, his eyes – he peered up at you, half-lidded, tipsy, and enamored by you. Who knew that the Devil Hunter could have such an ability to look as if he, himself, had been possessed by a Devil?

You told yourself you would be good. You told yourself that you would do the right thing.

"Yes," You exhaled softly, like it pained you to keep it in, "Fuck, yes."

You would just... start tomorrow.

Tomorrow, You thought as he slipped beneath your sweater and pulled your ass closer to the edge of the couch, Yeah, that's it.

Tomorrow.

a/n:

credits: UNKOWN ATM. I found the cover pic on pinterest unfortch. If you know the artist, please let me know, so I can credit them properly for their work!!! This is NOT MY BEAUTIFUL DRAWINGGG. I obviously do not own csm or anything related to it. please do not reproduce, copy, or translate my works anywhere. dont fk w me im a bruja.

also: come find me on my wattpad if u wanna interact more!

taglist: @mitsuyeahhh , @sleepysnk , @enneadec , @noaabean , @em1e , @drakensdarling , @bertholdts--butt , @satanlovesusall666 , @mitsuwuyaa , @noctifule , @scaraphobia , @ask-the-insect-hashira , @lovingranchturkeyweasel , @bontensbabygirl , @slvdsjjk , @novacrystalli , @hanmastattoos , @kodzuksn , @hqtiny , @ohmaiscool15 , @redlittlequeen , @leivane , @goldeneagles-posts , @yeahblahlame , @no-oneelsebutnsu , @cookiesandcreammy , @cawwn , @the-haitani-baton , @littlelovebug98 , @armani78 , @mindurownbussines , @kokos-property , @violetmatcha , @hp-simp505 , @acethebrave , @mitsuyeahhh , @sleepysnk , @enneadec , @noaabean , @em1e , @drakensdarling , @bertholdts--butt , @satanlovesusall666 , @mitsuwuyaa , @noctifule , @scaraphobia , @ask-the-insect-hashira , @lovingranchturkeyweasel , @bontensbabygirl , @slvdsjjk , @novacrystalli , @hanmastattoos , @kodzuksn , @hqtiny , @ohmaiscool15 , @redlittlequeen , @leivane , @goldeneagles-posts , @yeahblahlame , @no-oneelsebutnsu , @cookiesandcreammy , @cawwn , @the-haitani-baton , @littlelovebug98 , @armani78 , @mindurownbussines , @kokos-property , @violetmatcha , @hp-simp505

wanna join the taglist? | shameless ; chapter index

[brofightiscancelled]

yapping about how i approached translating karamatsu's brand new world. just discussing the localization liberties i took and other things i think are interesting. i just love yapping sorry

part 1/4 because i forgot about tumblr post image limits lol

establishing my ethos: im still learning japanese but have been translating (chinese -> english) for over 7 years, so my translation skill is higher than my japanese skill. if there's anything i get wrong here pls point it out!!! i usually translate mostly songs, anime (donghua), and manga

The Title

japanese has multiple alphabets: 2 phonetic ones and 1 derived from chinese characters (kanji) that dont tell you anything about how they're pronounced

kanji characters have multiple pronunciations. for example, 心 can be pronounced "kokoro" or "shin" depending on the context it's used in.

"how do you know which kanji pronunciation to use" you guess. alternatively, media geared towards children (who have lower language skills) will sometimes spell out the right pronunciation above the kanji in little letters

sometimes people will just make up their own pronunciations for kanji for Style Points, in which case they will also spell out the intended pronunciation above the kanji

so this title actually reads "matsuno karamatsu's brand new morning". however the Style Points pronunciation guidelines indicated that this is pronounced "Brand New World". i deliberated over this for a while and ended up going with "brand new world" because the phonetic pronunciation is in english so i assume this would be the preferred title for an english localization. unfortunately this did lose the interesting double reading of "morning" and "world" but sometimes it just be like that.

Chapter 1

every time choro says something about the chopsticks in this first part, he's repeating the same thing each time: "Stop [pointing with your] chopsticks". but this 1. doesn't sound very natural in english, and 2. is too long to fit into these speech bubbles.

translations often have to take liberties due to the medium. in anime subtitles, they need to consider how fast a watcher can read the subtitles. in manga, it's often about how many words they can fit in a vertical text bubble.

the underlying impression is that choro is annoyed he even has to tell oso to stop pointing with his chopsticks (this is common sense, you're a grown ass man, why don't you know table manners, etc), so i tried to write it in a way like he's saying it short and snippy like an annoyed mom who has already reminded you 5000 times about this exact thing: Chopsticks.

oso calls totty "あざとい" here after hearing that he's trying out pancakes at a new cafe. as far as i can tell, this roughly translates to "cunning" or "sly" and is used to describe women kinda derogatorily, like a girl at the office who speaks harshly to the women but sweettalks to men (like tsunoda from aggretsuko).

i couldnt really think of a natural-sounding equivalent to this implication in english, so i settled on the kind of close "coquettish" to get across that oso is calling totty girly in a strange and insulting way. oso's dialogue here literally goes something like "sly.... you really are sly...", but since "coquettish" is kind of a weird word to use in english, i ended up localizing this around to suit my weird word choice to make it sound like oso was thinking for a second about the right word to call totty, which i also think comes off as a little more natural-sounding

japanese (and chinese) have a plural second-person pronoun, but english doesn't (besides y'all, which i did use in oso's dialogue earlier lol) which is a real headache and almost always needs some creative thinking to get sounding Normal. this was a relatively straightforward case: "how would a father address his sons as a collective?" -> "Boys"

CHAPTER 2

the dreaded jp onomatopoeia without an english equivalent. im lucky that these boys' whole gimmick is being from an old cartoon so i could get away with the very cartoony "honk" sound effect for "blowing one's nose".

the source material always translates イタい as "painful" so i do it too but i wish osmt had come out like just a few years later when "cringe" was in the common vernacular because it's a way better localization. in my opinion.

also a minor note: in the first bubble totty is actually repeating kara's words back at him "someone's? watching? me?", which is made clera by him using kara's self-pronoun (オレ) and not his own self-pronoun (ボク) (if you don't know about self-pronouns i will talk about them more in a future note). however this nuance is lost in english and could be misconstrued so i just went and made it so he's repeating back what kara said but not using the exact words

"頭おかし" does literally translate to "strange in the head" but colloquially just means "insane" or "crazy". but ichi is being really harsh to kara here, and kara does start questioning his mental sanity later in the chapter, so i went with a more harsh translation here that specifically references the head. also "YOU'RE INSANE" does unintentionally have a different meaning to most of us here on tumblr dot com, doesnt it lol

i dont know what the consensus is on giving iyami a french accent when localizing him. it's probably overkill to do both this AND keep the zansus. however i cant convey a mid-atlantic accent in writing so this is my next best way to convey that iyami talks very strangely. also it's funny

this panel was really hard to redraw. please clap

anyways same use of "strange" here as before with the head thing ("crazy") but it can also have the vibe of "abnormal". i thought "is something wrong with me?" helped convey both these meanings. come to think of it later in chapter 6 i translate okashi very literally as "strange". maybe i shouldve said "is something wrong with me" there, too....

CHAPTER 3

jyushi literally says "why do we do the olympics?" here. i localized it this way because it means essentially the same thing and is funnier. dats the art of translation babyyyyy

japanese personal pronouns quick rundown: in english we tell others to refer to us as different pronouns- him, her, they, etc., but we only have one pronoun to refer to ourselves with (I). japanese has many self-pronouns, and which one you use to describe yourself with is usually based around context and personality (some pronouns are more polite to use than others, some give off the connotation of being stuck-up or of being a country bumpkin, etc). this is helpful for characterization and also being able to tell who is talking through written dialogue

we aren't meant to know who this figure is at first, but we're also meant to have the clues to figure it out (if you were to investigate, you would find that f6 oso is the only one with full black gloves and knee high boots).

oso usually uses the masculine self-pronoun 俺, which is a rude and casual pronoun very fitting of the slacker eldest. however, f6 oso, a reliable and polite dreamboat, uses 僕, a polite and proper masculine pronoun (normal choro uses this pronoun). so this pronoun use masks the identity of this mysterious figure- but if you looked into it, you'd be able to see that this does link up to f6 oso. it's also possible the artist didnt know this and just went with 僕 to fit the fairytale prince vibe here though lol

i have no way to convey this in english so all of this is just lost nuance in translation. womp womp.

for the record these are the boys' personal pronouns:

oso: 俺 (ore can convey that he's rude, kanji alphabet can convey .... he's old-fashioned, possibly? shrugs?)

kara: オレ(ore can convey that he's full of himself, katakana alphabet can convey that he's [trying to be] stylish or loud)

choro:　僕 (boku can convey that he's polite, kanji can convey that he's proper)

ichi:　おれ (ore can convey a kinda casual-lazy vibe, hiragana alphabet can convey that he's soft-spoken kinda?)

jyushi:　ぼく (boku can convey that he's Just A Little Guy, hiragana alphabet can convey that he's childish)

totty:　ボク (boku can convey that he's Just A Little Guy, katakana alphabet can convey that he's [trying to be] stylish and modern)

CHAPTER 4

demonstration of localization for the medium: totty's dialogue here translates most literally to "What are you talking about?", but "talking" and "about" are pretty long words that are hard to fit into that skinny dialogue bubble. "the hell are you on about?" conveys the same thing, has shorter words that are nicer to fit into a bubble, and also shows a bit more personality (and i think is a little funnier).

this part ends here becaues i forogt about the tumblr post limit. i will continue in future posts

part 1 / part 2 / part 3 / part 4

[midnightwriter21]

demon slayer hcs: how you meet pt 2

characters: fem!reader x zenitsu, shinobu, tengen & his wives

warnings: spiders, minor injuries, polyamory

ZENITSU

he's a sweetheart omg

you guys meet in the forest with the spider demons

you're a slayer

a pretty strong one too. not hashira level but you're working on it

you're weakness?

spiders, bugs, anything creepy and crawly

but isn't that everyones weakness?

idk know how you were convinced to go fight a spider demon

bc personally? ain't no way

but anyways

you get separated from the group of slayers you were working with

so ur alone

when u hear some bushes rustling or som

so u look down and boom

a spider

with a human head

FUCK. THAT.

you take off running and i mean fast

so fast you can't even see where ur going

and bam u run head first

into zenitsu

who coincidently was running from the same thing as u

he realizes ur human, grabs ur hand and TAKES TF OFF

ZOOMMMMM

ur gone

until u meet spider demon w the house

zenitsu passes tf out, ur shitting urself just a little bit, and then

zenitsu handles tf out that demon

while asleep?!

hot af

sleepy zenitsu could get it

SHINOBU

idk somethin abt her irritates me

she still fine asf tho

shes a top fs

you're a slayer

and you were on an easy mission

prob a low ranked demon

and then shit

a lower moon pulls up

low key fucks u and ur comrades up

somehow yall kill it

and your brought back to the butterfly mansion to be treated

and we all know miss gurl shinobu is running that mf

so shes obv overseeing your recovery

for some reason the other slayers heal faster than you did

wonder why?

perhaps purposely ripping ur stiches to spend more time around a pretty lady?

noooooo you would neverrrr

thats exactly what u were doing

and shinobu knows it too

but she plays dumb cause she thinks its sweet that you admire her enough to delay your recovery and cause urself that pain

she does poke u a lil too hard when redoing ur stitches tho

takes care of u til ur ready to go on another mission

TENGEN + wives

he's so fine for what

can we make this foursome into a fivesome?

sooo ur not a slayer

ur not a kunoichi

not a fighter at all

just a cute lil civilian

you meet the wives before you meet tengen

you're out shopping

need some new clothes

or maybe you have an event that you need some new jewelry for

gotta look flashy yk

so you finish your shopping and walk out of the store when your knocked flat on ur ass

it was suma

she was running from makio after making her mad

and she ran straight. into. you.

she immediately burst into tears because she felt so bad

makio is yelling at her for knocking you down

and hina is trying to calm them both down

and ur jus like "wtf is goin on"

you feel fine until you stand up

you hit the ground again

ankle = sprained

que the guilty sobbing from suma

the girls carry you to a bench to assess the damage and this grabs tengens attention all they way from the inside of another store

like "who is getting attention from my wives?"

VERY UNFLASHY

jealous af

until he sees u

a cute little civilian women in pain

and his wives fawning over you

he introduces himself and gets the story of what happened

calms suma and makio down

and apologizes on their behalf

meanwhile ur in awe

um hello?? a literal god is standing in front of you apologizing for his wives

WIVES??

AS IN PLURAL? MORE THAN ONE???

he checks ur ankle

his hand wraps around ur entire leg

dudes hands are big af

not the only thing on him thats big

to make it up to you he carries you to a very flashy cafe

where you all sit and have tea and snacks together while you rest ur injured ankle

tengen pays

does this count as a first date??

i love them

[rwby-encrusted-blog]

Ruby: MMmm-MH! Goooood Morning Yang!

Yang: *Brushing Teeth* M'rn Rbs!

Ruby: You're up bright and early. What's up?

Yang: *Spits in sink* Me and Blakey got a whole day planned-*Gargling & Swishing Mouthwash, Spits* We're gonna go for a walk in the park to get some pictures taken and do a little window shopping, then we're meeting up with her parents for lunch!

Ruby: You've got a whole day planned, Huh! Is there something special about to ... day ...

Ruby checks the calender - wednesday, Febuary 14th.

Valentines day

Ruby: Nonono! Not now! I haven't prepared!

Yang: Sorry Rubes! I gotta get dressed, so unless you wanna see me naked again, you should-

Ruby: I'm going, I'm going!

~~~~~

Ruby: Hey Weiss! Blake and Yang are busy-

Weiss: I have Dates planned Ruby! I'm afraid I can't help you.

Ruby: With- I'm sorry did you say 'Dates' as in Dates Plural?

Weiss: Yes I did.

Ruby: Isn't that kind of-

Penny: Salutations Ruby! I am here to see My Valentines for the day!

Ruby: Penny? You're going out with Weiss?

Jaune: I am too! We're going to be switching on and off throughout the day!

Ruby: What.

Penny: Knowing that you identify as 'Asexual' I inquired what romance felt like to Weiss, who was on her way to ask Jaune on a 'date.' Jaune brought up how Polyamorous relationships were uncommon but plausible, so Weiss agreed to spend her time with us both!

Ruby: ... Oh.

Weiss: Yes, and I still need to finish readying up! Please leave so that I may Dress!

~~~~~

Loud Thumping and groaning may be heard behind Ren and Nora's Door, along with slapping sounds.

Ruby: I dunno why I thought they'd be doing anything else.

~~~~~

Oscar: Hey Ruby! What're you up to?

Ruby: Finding you! Everyone else is busy with Valentines, so I figured "hey, Oscar hasn't seemed interested in anyone, and he know what romance is" so I looked for you so we could have a Totally Platonic hangout. Which, for Valentines day would be weird-

Whitley: *Barging in* Hello my Evergreen~ I brought Cinnamon raisin Oatmeal cookies for my most sweet of sweets~

Oscar: Uuuhh ... Sorry Ruby, I'm kinda busy?

Ruby: ￣へ￣

~~~~~

Ruby: *Knocking on Door* HEY UNCLE QROW!

Robyn: *Wrapped in a towel* Sorry kid, He's busy in the Bathroom.

Ruby: ... i though him and Clover-

Clover: I'm here Too!

Qrow: I got a big heart Kid! Now leave and let me bathe with these guys, or I'll tell them about your seventh brithday!

Clover: Now that I wanna hear!

Ruby: You wouldn't!

Robyn: *Holding Qrow's hand* He Would.

Ruby: ... Got it. Have a nice time. Please leave a sock on your handle next time this happens!

~~~~~

Ruby: ...

Emerald: How do they feel now?

Mercury: *Rubbing his legs, crying Slightly* They feel Real. They feel like they're back.

Ruby: Well That's sweet.

Emerald: We're trying. I'd talk more but concentration-

Ruby: And Merc seems like he needs you, have a nice day.

~~~~~

Ruby: Hey Winter-

Winter: ...

Cinder: *On Winter's shoulder* ...

Ruby: ... I'll be going.

~~~~~

Ruby: Hey Miss Schnee-

Willow: *sweaty and Flushed* Hello Dear! I'm afraid I don't have much time-

Kali: Willow~ We have time for one more round before me and Ghira need to see our Kitten~

Ruby: Just go-

Willow: I can take a break if you need-

Ruby: I'll be fine, i get it-

Willow: Seriously, If you need something-

Ruby: Thank you, but I'm good, all good, go have your fun-

~~~~~

TaiYang: Hey! You've reached the Personal Scroll of Taiyang Xiao Long! At the moment I am pounding someone's ass right now, and Can't reach you! PLease leave a message at the Tone!

Ruby: *Hangs up* Safe to assume that's where Raven is.

~~~~~

Ruby: ... Hey? Hey Torchwick!

Roman: *Sitting at a table at a cafe* Little Red, I'm not in the mood for any of our games today.

Ruby: What do you mean?

Roman: Look, Neo's a free spirit, and on today of all days, she's reveling in Warm bodies rather than cold blood, leaving little ol' me out to dry, just cause the way I get down and Dirty is only ever stylish not sexy.

Ruby: ... yeah, I get that. Everyone I can think of is either being horny or romantic. It's annoying.

Roman: Oh-ho-ho! It seems the little nightmare for all the criminals in Vale is and Ace of Spades, huh?

Ruby: Well ... *Unfurling Crescent Rose as she takes a seat* Wrong Farm tool, but yeah, my flags fly white, gray, Green and Purple.

Roman: ... how about truce for today? I get the feeling if we stay out of each other's trouble our friends and family can have a nice day.

Ruby: No assault, theft from Mom and Pop shops, no murders, no trafficking and no destruction of property.

Roman: ... take off destruction of property.

Ruby: Hostile architecture only.

Roman: *Extending his hand* Deal.

Ruby: *shaking his hand* Sweet.

[enemylv1]

Currently doing a note goal

Who I am?

I am enemyLV1 or elo for short, i am plural with a big mostly nonhuman system (list here) tough mainly kypros is the one posting here, use any pronouns (including neos) on us and try nicknames, are human so if you have an issue with that bye, I am from Chile , english is not my firts language and I have autism so sometimes may misunderstand what it is said, please tell if you dont understand.

What is the blog for?

This blog is for our drawings, writtings or any idea we have , please if we miss tag or mess up anythinc correct me!

we mainly post of kirby and oc's , but may post from time to time about other of my likes.

interests that we will speak long about

Kirby, sonic , portal , pokemon , slimes (in general) , cryptids, chilean history , space , marine creatures , spiders, stupendium , el cuarteto de nos, alan sutton, spongebob the musical, dinoprehis , digimon, etrian odessey, solarballs and miis

What are we ok with?

I am ok with suggestions, asks (about us or anything we created) , any fan stuff, scenarios , dms from mutuals , infodumps and any social interaction really (im just bad starting them). any tagging :D

What are we not ok with?

I am not ok with anything sexual , anything romantic ,I dislike using familial terms (like brother for example) on others (you can use them ,but do not expect me to follow unless is a character on rp). I dislike things like miss, lady or any formal femenine tittle, girl and more casual things are ok .

Topics that we are sensible about

Eating disorders, infections , abuse of any kind, child death ,ablelism, medical terms and cancer, this is not me saying I can not read , watch or even write about it, but sometimes I will avoid it.

Extra

My sibling is @tmhj , I may use she/her on them , thats because star is not out irl

Sometimes we mess up names and pronouns it is not on porpuse , correct us please.

I (Kypros) am turretkin, recluse spiderkin , hornet mothkin , endermankin , techkin , scp-168kin and slimekin

we joined tumblr at 12/31/21, 9:13:09 AM

My other blogs are here other pages are art fight and strawpage we also have others but dont post on them, same name in all places

Bye, hope you enjoy my blog

stamps made by us, userboxes by marionette-userboxes ,bored-dromaeosaur and we-the-vessel (deactivated ), binkies made on blikie cafe

[eeveecraft]

Hey, I know we don't post much right now on Tumblr (that's because (at least when I'm fronting) our brain can only handle so many socials at once), but hey, Twitter's getting fucked.

You want an alternative to Twitter that's open-source, decentralized, but still connected to other decentralized communities?

Try Mastodon!

Anyone can host their own federated instance that can connect to a plethora of other instances! It's not run by a scumbag billionaire who wants to strangle every goddam drop out of you! You can block entire other instances that you don't vibe with! There's a million and a half other instances you can join if you don't want to host your own! You can move accounts to other instances! You can connect to entirely different sites like Lemmy (Reddit alternative) if they're federated! You can even follow people on completely different instances if they're Federated! There's LOADS of free mobile clients with a motley of features like Trunks, Ice Cubes, Toots, and more! Annoying celebrities are practically nonexistent! What's there not to love?

So, today, I would like to promote the Plural.Cafe Mastodon instance! It's chill, friendly to all plurals, and I believe is the largest plural-specific instance on Mastodon right now.

You can even generate invite links to Mastodon instances, and you also have the option to select a box to where new people will automatically follow you by using the link! Therefore, this link is for our followers who want to see what we're doing on Mastodon:

Can I guarantee we'll stay active on Mastodon? Have you seen our track record (that means no), but hey! It's better than Twitter.

If you do join through this link or just join Plural Cafe in general because of this post, feel free to let us know and tell us your experience with Mastodon as a platform.

If you want to follow us and you're not on the Plural Cafe instance, our handle is @Eeveecraft@plural.cafe. Anyway, I'm gonna go pass out. Happy Twitter getting fucked.

[faraway-cafe]

It's a new morning in Faraway Town. You heard a new cafe just opened up recently! Curious to see what's on their menu, you head out, passing the park and town square. You walk in to see they serve... headmates? Plural headmates?

Hi! We are a build a headmate blog ran by multiple mods, below is more information about us and the blog!

Requests: Open!

We have a whitelist, however these are just things the mods know well and are comfortable with, it's ok to request for something not on the whitelist

──── ୨୧ ────

Mod intros:

Mod Ash: Hello and welcome!! I'm Ash, and I mainly go by he/him. I'm the host of a willogenic sys of 6 (including me :D). My main is @vocaloid-enthusiast .

Mod Niko: Hi, I'm Niko! Pronounfluid but you can just use they/them Complicated relationship with plurality but I'm the mostly-frontstuck (lock)host of our mixed origins system. We have a few willogenic alters though. OMORI is my special interest and OneShot is my comfort game<3 I probably wont be too active on here due to being very busy with personal life, but I think alter packs are cool so I wanted to join and help out a bit :> Personal tumblr blog: @starfilled-galaxy

Mod Basil: Hiii I’m Basil (or Jay or Cyn) I go by all pronouns, yes, all of them >:3 I am the host of a willogenic system with 6 members including myself!! I don’t have much else to say aside from that :^ My tumblr: @basilcatt143

──── ୨୧ ────

Tags:

#[📬] Pack done #[❌] Request denied #[✍️] Not pack #[🎧] Mod Ash #[💫] Mod Niko #[🌻] Mod Basil

──── ୨୧ ────

[DNI banner transcription] Do not interact: Radqueers/transID, proship/darkship, anti endos, anti good faith identities, & bigots

Whitelist, blacklist, and template under cut!

──── ୨୧ ────

Whitelist:

OMORI Milgram Murder Drones MLP (gen 4) OneShot Deltarune Celeste Warrior Cats Chicory: A Colorful Tale Vocaloid/Utau/synthV/etc Kagerou Project Project Sekai/Hatsune Miku Colorful Stage Bungo Stray Dogs The Legend of Zelda Spy x Family Persona5 (a little) Portal & Portal 2 Nonhuman headmates

Blacklist:

Vivziepop TCOAAL Harry Potter South Park Real people/factive packs Radqueer, transIDs, etc

──── ୨୧ ────

Template:

Name: Age: Pronouns: Gender: Orientation: Species:

Personality:

Source: Emojis: Aesthetic: Role (if wanted):

Faceclaims:

[mogaiconstellations]

Find your Cozy Game title using your username! Use the first letter of the first word in your username for the first list and the first letter of the second word (or the last letter of the first word, if you only have one word) for the second list. Feel free to add articles like "the", "a", "of", etc, to pluralize words, and to ignore extra letters in your username/use the lettered form of numbers that appear in your username in number form (ie if you are Chilly6 you could use C and S for example). Most importantly, have fun!

First List:

A - tiny

B - critter

C - magical

D - garden

E - witch

F - animal

G - dungeon

H - dawn

I - potion

J - dream

K - myth

L - night

M - vampire

N - slime

O - lofi

P - wild

Q - chef

R - tavern

S - pixel

T - dragon

U - kingdom

V - memories

W - grim

X - cat

Y - goblin

Z - cozy

.

Second List:

A - bookshop

B - glade

C - grove

D - life

E - waters

F - city

G - caravan

H - harvest

I - wood

J - talk

K - caravan

L - hearts

M - path

N - valley

O - hills

P - story

Q - keeper

R - cove

S - farm

T - bakery

U - folks

V - club

W - galaxy

X - academy

Y - cafe

Z - peaks

[pluralquotebook]

"I'm not questioning your ability to kill, terroristboy, I'm questioning your ability to salsa!"

.

[kieraelieson]

"One Emo Latte, with Extra Soulmates"

All Five Chapters - Or Read on AO3

Roll the Poll fic 1: Janus, Virgil, and Remy in a triad. In a Hurt/Comfort fic with a Soulmates universe and the prompt ‘housing’.

Content warning for kidnapping, fear of death, mild self-injury, quite a bit of cursing, as well as societal and specific poly-phobia.

Virgil’s head nodded and he jerked it upright. He’d hoped the smell of coffee would keep him awake, but he’d been nodding off ever since midnight. 

“Heya, babes,” the barista said, giving him a wry, apologetic smile. 

Virgil knew immediately why he was there. “Two hours again already?” 

Remy nodded, peeking at Virgil over his shades. “Why don’t you head home and get some sleep? You could certainly use it.” 

Virgil sighed, his inhibitions broken down by the lack of sleep and the way his favorite barista had allowed him to nod off in the corner all night, only following protocol when necessary. Namely, that a customer had to buy something every two hours, or else be asked to leave. 

“I’m having… housing difficulties…” Virgil admitted, not willing to share any more. 

Remy put a hand on his hip, considering Virgil. He then glanced around the cafe, confirming that it was empty. He sat down across from Virgil. 

“We may be open 24 hours, but this really isn’t a great option.” 

Virgil nodded. “Yeah, I know. I can— I can just go.”

“Hold on, bitch. I’m not kicking you out. Just trying to help you find a place to sleep.” 

Virgil shrugged helplessly. “I don’t have much cash for a hotel or something.” 

“What about your soulmate?” Remy asked. “I’m sure they’ll be willing to put you up for a night.” He winked at Virgil. “Pretty lil emo down on his luck, I’d tap that too.”

The flirty joke pulled a half grin out of Virgil. “I haven’t met him yet,” he admitted. 

Remy shrugged. “Loads of soulmates are close to each other before they meet. Scribble down the address of the cafe. See if he shows up. Here, I’ve got a pen.”

Virgil took the pen, staring at it doubtingly. 

Remy stood and stretched. “I need some caffeine in me too. I’ll treat you for this one.” 

Virgil’s eyes went wide and he gaped at Remy. “No, you don’t have to do that!” 

Remy just waved a hand dismissively in his direction, already going behind the counter and starting to pull out cups. 

Virgil’s gaze was drawn to the pen again. He didn’t really dare to ask his soulmates for help. Not writing on his skin in public. They too clearly had different handwriting. Were too clearly Two. 

It was the very reason he was out here now. Slipping up and referring to plural soulmates. His roommates didn’t want someone near them with two soulmates. No one did. 

He’d been stopping by this cafe for over a year now, had made friends with Remy. He didn’t want to throw that away on a chance of a bed. He’d manage. He’d be fine. Somehow. 

Maybe he’d try to get back inside the apartment anyway. Just cause his roommates didn’t like it, it wasn’t like they would physically force him out, right? If he just stayed in his room. Kept the door locked. He already wore long shirts and pants. As long as his soulmates didn’t screw him over with writing on his hands or face or something. 

Remy came back, setting a steaming cup in front of Virgil. A to-go cup. 

“Any responses?” Remy asked. 

Virgil forced a smile. “Yeah, um, I’ve gotta get on the next bus, but he’ll meet me.” 

“There you go!” Remy praised. “Have a nice night, practice safe sex, tell me all about it at some reasonable hour.” 

Virgil stood up, taking the cup and laughing along with Remy. He left the cafe, abandoning the warm lit environment for the empty streets. 

Someone entered just as he was leaving. Virgil only got a brief glimpse of him, but he was very unique, especially wearing a hat like that. 

••^*^••

Remy huffed as Janus entered. And just after Virgil left too. He usually got a bit of time to chill on an overnight shift. 

“Oh, and I’m just overjoyed to see you too,” Janus said smoothly, leaning against the counter with an entirely too attractive grin. 

Remy rolled his eyes. “What’s your snakey ass doing bothering me at bitch o'clock in the morning?”

“A man can get a coffee, can’t he?” Janus purred, looking perfectly innocent. 

“Not you,” Remy snarked, already starting to make Janus’s favorite. 

Janus just smiled. 

“Why are you really here?” Remy pushed. 

Janus looked at his wrist, noticeably lacking in a watch. “Oh dear, what time is it?” 

Remy scowled. “No.” 

Janus looked back up at him, all innocence. “No? I genuinely do not have the time.” 

Remy gritted his teeth. “You know someday I will not do this for you.” 

Janus batted his eyelashes. 

Remy shoved his coffee at him. “You’re lucky you’re pretty, bastard. It’s 4:27 am.” 

Janus smirked triumphantly. “I was just chatting with you and sipping my coffee till 5.” 

“Bitch.” 

Janus wiggled his gloved fingers in Remy’s direction, sauntering out of the cafe. “I’ll owe you~”

“You better pay up this time, asshole!” Remy snapped at his back. 

Fucking pretty ass Janus. And fuck his own crush on the man! He’d never have been dragged into all this if he could just keep it in his pants. 

••^*^••

Janus arrived at the location. Why Remus had ever decided they had to meet up here was a mystery. As were most things about the man. 

But. It was within walking distance of that cafe where Remy worked, so he had an easy alias and no license plate to track. His hat kept his face out of view from any cameras he didn’t discover ahead of time and avoid. It was early enough in the morning that both night owls and early risers were likely to be in bed. 

Janus waited outside the apartments, putting himself in the shadow of a large ornamental shrub. Just a few minutes later a car drove up. 

“Heya, Jan!” Remus greeted, throwing open the driver side door. 

Janus grimaced at his volume, snapping in hushed tones. “Would you keep it down?”

Remus rolled his eyes obnoxiously, and then fished out a folder. “I got all the juicy details for you~” 

Janus accepted the folder, flicking through it rapidly just to confirm Remus hadn’t swapped it with some folder of which sex toys he preferred or some nonsense. 

“I appreciate it,” Janus said. “I’ll pay you the usual—“ 

He cut off as there was suddenly a loud crash from inside the nearest apartment. Janus cursed. This was why he would have preferred a different meeting location! 

Remus craned his neck, trying to sneak a peek through the apartment window. “Oh this is perfect! Any suspicious persons’ reports will point right to those guys.”

Janus tensed, despite Remus’s optimism, as yelling continued from in the apartment. It was too muffled for him to tell what was going on, but he didn’t care to know either. 

“We should get out of here,” Janus said. 

Just then, the door to the apartment opened, and someone was pushed roughly out, falling to the pavement. 

“Don’t let me see your freak ass again or I Will beat the shit out of you!” A man from within the apartment yelled, slamming the door shut. 

Janus winced. He did not want to be a part of some domestic dispute. He turned to walk away, even if Remus was going to be an idiot and stay to watch. 

But then the crumpled man on the ground said something that stopped Janus in his tracks. 

Just one word. A simple, “You?” Implying recognition. 

Fuck. 

Janus didn’t know the man from Adam. But he was not allowing someone to see him, in this location, at this time, knowing who he was somehow. No. He could not leave witnesses. 

He turned to Remus. “Help me.” 

Remus, showing off one of his brief streaks of competency, scrambled out of the car and dashed the few feet towards the man. 

Janus slid into the driver’s seat just as Remus pulled the struggling man into the backseat, one hand covering his mouth. He sped out of the apartment complex, taking roads with less cameras and getting out of the town. 

Fuck, what was he going to do now?!

Chapter Two

Virgil was going to die. 

He’d thought he could just slip into the apartment and to his room with everyone asleep, but Roger was still up, and saw him immediately. He confronted Virgil, ruining all plans of laying low as his words quickly became yelling. Virgil tried to defend himself, that he couldn’t help how many soulmates he had, and he hadn’t even met them! But Roger didn’t care. He wanted Virgil out. 

Virgil, with a confidence built only of the coffee he could still taste on his tongue, had refused to leave. He’d thought that, angry as they might get, his roommates wouldn’t actually escalate to physically pushing him out. 

Oh how wrong that was. 

His ribs still ached from the several hits they’d absorbed before he’d been shoved out the door. And his head was spinning and aching from the impact against the coffee table. 

And also the fact that he was going to die. 

That guy with the hat was doing some, some drug deal or something, who knew, and Virgil like a supreme dumbass had opened his mouth. 

Tall, big, and stinky had grabbed him, an arm wrapped around both of his, pinning them to his torso, and the other hand clamped over his nose and mouth. He couldn’t scream, couldn’t get the breath to. All his kicking and wriggling hadn’t been enough before he was pulled into the car. 

And now they were driving away. 

He was So Dead. 

The guy holding him shifted the hand over his face once the car was moving, uncovering his nose so Virgil could breathe freely. He sucked in air, tears beginning to leak from his eyes. 

He was the fucking worst, unluckiest son of a bitch to ever exist. Two soulmates, homeless now, kidnapped. And they didn’t have masks on. No masks meant he could recognize them, and they wouldn’t leave him alive. 

He was going to die. 

He didn’t want to die! 

His whole life he’d been looked down on or bullied for having two soulmates but he’d never even met them! He wanted to at least see them before he died. 

Virgil’s breath came faster, catching in his congested nose and making him panic. He needed to breathe! He couldn’t breathe! 

His chest heaved with sobs and his desperate attempts to get air. 

“Might get loud,” the man holding him said, and then abruptly the hand over Virgil’s mouth was gone. 

Virgil gasped, drinking in the air. Without the cover over his mouth his sobs rang out loud in the otherwise silent car. If he wasn’t so thoroughly miserable and about to die anyway he would’ve been embarrassed, might’ve managed to stop himself, but he just couldn’t. 

“I don’t wanna— Please, don’t kill me!” He forced out between sobs. 

“We’re not going to kill you,” the driver snapped. 

He didn’t know if he could believe it. But even without a single assurance that it was the truth, relief flooded through Virgil. 

“I didn’t see anything,” he blurted. “I-I don’t have a clue who you are. I don’t know what you were doing. I d-don’t know anything. I swear I won’t tell anyone anything!” 

The driver made a frustrated sound. “Just— shut up.” 

Virgil fell silent, other than his breath coming in hiccuping half-sobs. 

“What is our plan, Jannie?” The man holding him asked. 

The driver made a rough, growling sound. “For now, I’m getting us out of town. We’ll have to find a way to manage him without you carrying him everywhere so I can drop you off. I’ll figure out what to do from there. And I’ll need to keep the car.” 

“I’ve got duct tape!” The man said, entirely too happily. 

Virgil squirmed against his hold, trying to get his arms free to— to— to make a nuisance of himself at least. Of the two men, one had recognized his need to breathe, and the other had told him to shut up. He liked his living chances better with both of them than just the one. 

But the man holding Virgil was far too strong for him to fight against, and soon Virgil was pressed down into a car seat, his arms pulled behind his back. He bit back another sob as his wrists were taped together, and then the tape wound around his torso and arms haphazardly. 

“Check him for anything dangerous,” the driver said. “And anything he could use to contact someone.” 

A chill ran down Virgil’s spine. He was gonna die anyway, wasn’t he? 

••^*^••

Janus’s mind had been nothing but a steady stream of ‘Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck Fuck’ ever since he’d heard the crash in that apartment. 

Now he had a man tied up in the car, terrified for his life, and no idea what to do with him. 

Now that he had the folder, Janus’s plans had been to buckle down and work on the contents. It would take him days, and that was if he managed to be fast enough. He didn’t have Time for a problem like this! 

And even if he Had time, that still left the question of what was he going to do?? He couldn’t let him go, that was obvious. He definitely wasn’t going to kill him. The only other option seemed to be keeping him, but that wasn’t at all viable long term. 

At least for the moment though, Janus couldn’t see any other options. 

Remus had flipped up the man’s hood over his eyes, so he couldn’t look out and around at where they were as they approached a place where Janus could drop Remus off. He also properly buckled him in before he got out, a thing he ought to have done ages ago. Since then, the man had been quiet. 

Janus drove, looping around and doubling back multiple times on his way to his house. The less the man knew about where they were and how to get back, the better. 

Janus sighed heavily as he parked. His gut was already twisted in knots, his conscience screaming with how much he’d already done to this random person. And here he was about to scare him more. 

He pulled out the gun he knew Remus had hidden in the car, pointing it at the man, held low enough that he could see it under the hood. 

The man stiffened, but Janus didn’t give him time to beg for his life again. He didn’t think he’d manage to hold onto him at all if he did. He was cursed with a bleeding heart and if this man begged again he might just let him go and fuck all the consequences. 

“You’re going to stay quiet.” Janus commanded. “You’re going to come with me into the building, and you’re going to do everything I say.” 

The man nodded rapidly, his breathing getting fast and shallow. 

“I don’t want to bother keeping this gun pointed at you the whole time, but be assured I will always have it on hand.” 

The man nodded again. 

Janus tucked the gun into his waistband, wishing he’d had the forethought to bring a holster. Then he got out of the car. When he opened the back door, the man stayed silent, as he’d been told to. Janus undid the buckle and guided him into the house. 

He breathed slightly easier once he was inside the house with the door locked. 

Now what? 

He couldn’t just start in on work with curious eyes wandering around. 

It was nearly seven now. Maybe he’d make breakfast. 

He knew he was just continuing to push the real problem down the road, but he hadn’t come up with any answers. 

Janus left the man standing in the dining room and started looking through his fridge. He wanted something that would take a bit of time. Push that problem just a bit further before he reached a point where he had to deal with it. 

He finally pulled out some vegetables and started chopping them. He took his time slowly making complex omelets, only looking towards his captive when the man maneuvered his way to the floor to sit. 

Unfortunately, even after the long cooking, Janus didn’t have any better ideas. This was so far out of the realm of what he expected he’d never planned for it, never considered it before. 

He carried the plates into the dining room and set them at the table. He helped pull the man up so he could sit in a proper chair. Then he flipped back his hood. 

It was the first real look he’d gotten at the man’s face. Janus swallowed. His… very pretty face. If he wasn’t careful this would be Remy all over again, only worse because he’d already drug this man so deep into his mess he couldn’t see a way to get him out again. 

Janus’s second reaction was pity. The man was blinking in the brighter light, out from under the shade of his hood, and his face was tearstained and red, streaked with black eyeshadow. Janus also noticed a large bump near the back of his head. 

He gently probed it, concerned as the man winced, trying to duck away from his hand. This was recent. Remus hadn’t knocked him around any. It must have been in the commotion in the apartment. 

Janus went back to the kitchen. He got a cloth and dampened it, then also got an ice pack. 

“If I take off the tape, you will not attempt to attack me or run away,” Janus said. He’d found that in many cases, phrasing questions as statements and statements as questions tended to throw off the other person, and he got what he wanted more easily. 

The man nodded silently. Janus remembered that he’d told him to be quiet earlier. He moved behind the man, cutting at the tape with scissors. “You’re welcome to speak, so long as you aren’t loud.” 

“Thanks,” the man muttered. 

“Are you in pain?” Janus asked, considering whether this was a simple ice and ibuprofen type of situation, or whether he would need to attempt further first aid. 

The man shrugged, picking up the cloth and cleaning his face, then holding the ice pack to the bump on his head. 

Janus rolled his eyes at the non-response. “Would you object to taking painkillers?” 

That prompted a quiet, “No.” 

Janus retrieved the bottle, opening it in plain view so it could be seen he wasn’t switching the pills with anything. He got two cups of water, and then sat down to eat his own, rather cool by now, breakfast. 

“What’s gonna happen now?” The man asked, looking up at Janus. 

His gaze was piercing, possibly even more so because he didn’t intend it to be. Janus feigned nonchalance. 

“I’m not telling you. You’ll find out as it happens.” 

He could see a faint shudder run through the man. He didn’t have a better answer though, for him or for himself.

••^*^••

Remy had been thinking about Virgil ever since he left. He hoped it had gone well, getting picked up by his soulmate. 

It drew his mind to his own soulmates. At a young age they’d come to realize how dangerous it was to be three, and they tried to spare each other the danger. 

He didn’t know either of their names. Didn’t know where they lived. What they did for work. Nothing. He hadn’t even contacted them in several weeks. 

He wanted to. 

The desire built up over the remainder of his shift, and when he got home Remy caved to it. 

He scrawled in sharpie, high up on his thigh where it wouldn’t be easily noticed regardless of what he chose to wear, Heya. How’s it going?

Chapter Three

Virgil noticed the note on his thigh when he used the bathroom. It gave him an idea. A brief flutter of hope. 

His phone might have been taken from him, but if he could manage to contact his soulmates, maybe he could get help. 

He exited the bathroom, and immediately his captor’s gaze was on him, watching as Virgil returned to the couch. He didn’t seem to be unkind. He’d given Virgil food, and painkillers, and hadn’t hurt him. Was even letting him walk around this house without being tied up. 

And it was a house. Not like an abandoned warehouse or a back alley or any of the other scary locations Virgil had expected to end up in. He might… not die?

His captor was still incredibly intimidating though, and was keeping a close eye on Virgil. He didn’t know where to find a pen or a marker, and even if he did, he was sure he’d be discovered with whatever he wrote on his skin. 

But if he did something temporary maybe? 

Virgil tentatively laid down on the couch. His captor watched him do it, but then went back to reading through some paperwork of some kind. Virgil rolled over, facing the back of the couch. 

It made his skin crawl to have his back to the man, but he had a purpose for it. It gave him just a bit of cover, just enough hopefully. 

Virgil pushed his sleeve up. He was going to dare to do this on his arm. He knew his soulmates mostly wore clothes that covered skin, but if any part of them would catch their attention, forearm was a safe bet. 

Taking his thumbnail, Virgil pressed hard into his skin, dragging the nail to make a white line in his skin. The white quickly became an irritated red, but he knew from experience that the red would be gone in just a few minutes. He slowly made more lines on his skin, trying to keep his movements small so he wouldn’t be noticed. 

Help

••^*^••

Remy stared at the faint red lines on his forearm as they appeared. He’d noticed around the time the H was completed, while he was changing into pajamas to sleep the day away. His curiosity quickly turned to concern as the word finished. 

He grabbed a pen, scribbling onto his wrist. 

How? 

As he watched, waiting, the Help faded on his arm. Definitely not red pen. That… that definitely seemed worse. 

In response, he got a slow and scratchy-looking number. A phone number. 

Well. Remy could definitely call. 

The phone rung multiple times, eventually going to voicemail, unanswered. 

“Hey, this is Virgil. I missed you somehow, but just send a text or leave a message and I’ll try and get back to you later.” 

Remy frowned, confused and more than a little unbelieving. Virgil?? What did Virgil have to do with this?? With one of his soulmates? But it was definitely his voice. 

Virgil was supposed to be on a bus right about now, maybe even picked up already by his own soulmate. Maybe Virgil’s soulmate was nearby to Remy’s soulmate? This was all just so weird and confusing. 

Remy next tried texting. 

Hey, everything alright?

The response he got back alarmed him even more, though it didn’t remove any of his confusion. 

Hello. He’s at the hospital. Unconscious, but stable. He was in a car accident. I’m informing his family and work through his contacts, and then turning the phone off. He won’t be able to come in for a few days. 

Remy stared at the text for a long few minutes. So Virgil didn’t have his own phone. He’d never talk like that. And whoever did seemed to think that Remy was someone from his job? And he was in the hospital?!!

Remy wrote on his wrist, just under the how?

 ???

He didn’t have any better ideas of what to write. 

There was no response. Not for a while. 

Then finally. 

Help

Please

Remy started looking online to see if there were any way to track someone based on just a phone number. 

••^*^••

Janus didn’t know why he hadn’t considered that of course the man had a job. They’d both startled when the phone rang, and the man had cringed into the couch, rapidly throwing out any number of apologies for being called by his boss, as if Janus was going to fault him for that. 

Janus had figured out something to send back, and sent it to the top few contacts on the phone just in case before turning it completely off. 

What was he supposed to do now? 

Surely people would begin looking for the man sooner than later. And Janus could manage to whisk him into hiding, but that would be a lot of work. And… he wasn’t sure he could handle it, emotionally. The longer this went on, the worse he felt. 

He wasn’t cut out to be a kidnapper. Certainly not a kidnapper of a random handsome stranger. If he’d hated the man, perhaps he would be managing this better. 

An idea was beginning to form though. An idiotic idea. A stupid, horrible, terrible, dangerous idea. 

If he could get the man on his side, he wouldn’t need to hold him captive. On the other hand, if the man was absolutely against rights for people with multiple soulmates, well, it would be easier for Janus to hate him. 

On the dangerous side, if the man was smart and had an ounce of self-preservation, he’d go along with everything Janus said, at least verbally, and then go straight to the police as soon as he was released. 

The real question was if the danger of that outweighed the twisting in his gut every time he scared the man. Janus was way too fucking soft for this. He should’ve kept Remus here. 

Janus sighed. He was an over-emotional fool. 

••^*^••

Virgil was trying hard to stay calm. It wasn’t working. 

His soulmate had actually called. Really and truly. And then his captor had sent some kind of message in response and had turned his phone off. Virgil hoped he’d convinced him that it was just work calling cause he was late. But he hoped more that his soulmate could actually do something with the little information. 

Only one soulmate had responded to his desperate messages, but with such a short time on his skin, he wasn’t surprised that the other hadn’t noticed. 

His arm tingled unpleasantly, the skin irritated and tender. 

Suddenly, his captor let out a sigh. Virgil tensed as the man closed his folder and turned his attention entirely towards Virgil. 

Virgil carefully sat up. 

“I imagine you are aware that it is possible to have more than one soulmate,” his captor said. 

A tremor ran through Virgil. Oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit, he wasn’t kidnapped randomly cause he witnessed the deal. He was kidnapped for having two soulmates, this was So Much Worse! And he’d gone and asked one of his soulmates for help!! They’d be pulled into this! 

His captor’s lips pressed together. He continued speaking. “Having multiple soulmates is estimated to occur in 0.67% of people. Though many of those hide this fact, so the percentage may well be inaccurate.” 

Virgil hesitantly nodded. He had to try and stay on this man’s good side. 

“The reason it’s often a hidden fact is that society frowns heavily on those with multiple soulmates,” his captor said, emotion flickering over his face. An emotion Virgil never expected. Something like… grief? 

“Many people don’t know until they run into it that there are laws restricting actions by those with multiple soulmates, particularly if it can be proven that the individual has multiple.” 

Virgil actually didn’t know that. He’d heard rumors, but had always just tried to lay low himself. 

“Because of societal standards, it’s incredibly hard to change these laws… through normal avenues.” 

Virgil swallowed. This sounded an awful lot like telling him about illegal things. He’d be an accomplice. Maybe. He wasn’t entirely sure how that worked. But regardless, he’d never be allowed to live once he heard about illegal plans. 

He couldn’t deny his curiosity, but more than that he was scared. He covered his ears with his hands. 

“I-I don’t know why you’re telling me this!” Virgil blurted. “Look, good for you trying to help us, but don’t tell me illegal shit! The more you tell me the more I can tell police, and I’m not an idiot, I know you can’t just let that go. I don’t wanna end up dead, stop telling me things that’ll make me end up dead!” 

He finally managed to shut himself up. He’d never intended to say all that. He glanced up at his captor’s face, expecting a scowl, or even the gun pointed at him again. But instead there was a sort of pleased shock. 

“Us?” 

Virgil’s face drained of blood. “N-no, I didn’t mean that. I meant to say them. Them.” 

The man grinned. “You definitely said us.” 

“I didn’t!” Virgil protested. “Or I didn’t mean to!”

“You have multiple soulmates,” the man said, his grin widening. 

“I do not!” Virgil yelled, accidentally breaking the ‘be quiet’ rule. “I don’t! I-I-I’m normal! I’m not a—“ his voice cracked, and he swiped angrily at his eyes, which were leaking again. 

The man’s expression softened. “It’s alright,” he said gently. 

“It’s not!” Virgil argued. Why he was being an idiot and getting angry and upset and arguing when the man across from him had a gun he had no idea. But he couldn’t seem to help it. Feelings were rushing up from his chest, pouring out his throat. “It’s not ok! It’s never been ok! People always hate you for it and I can’t… I haven’t even met them!” 

He was crying. He swiped his sleeves over his face. 

“Why does everyone hate me for it? I didn’t even get to meet them. Everyone else gets to find their soulmate! Everyone else gets a happy ever after! Why do they fucking hate me so bad!?” 

At some point the other man had moved from his chair across from Virgil to sitting on the couch next to him. He took the hand Virgil was tugging at his hair with, loosening his grip on the strands. 

“I have multiple too,” he said, his voice barely more than a whisper, hard to hear over the harsh breaths stuttering out of Virgil’s mouth. 

“I didn’t even get to meet them,” Virgil repeated, the words coming out in a whimper. 

“You should’ve gotten to,” the man said. 

The words seemed to ring in Virgil’s mind, not quite sinking in, but refusing to leave. 

“You deserve to meet your soulmates,” the man said firmly. “You deserve to get to love them. To be near them. Just as much as anyone else.” 

Virgil stared at him, the validation cracking a dam he’d long held within him, emotion flooding out and overwhelming his already strained system. He lurched forward, clinging for comfort to a source he never would’ve considered. 

The man let him cling, even wrapped his own arms around Virgil, gently shushing him and telling him it would all be ok. 

Chapter Four

Janus wasn’t sure how this had happened. But he’d held the man while he cried, and now he had another damp cloth, wiping his face. 

“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m like this. I guess I just haven’t slept and…” the man trailed off, hugging one of Janus’s throw pillows to his stomach. 

“Would you like me to take you home?” Janus asked. He hadn’t thought it through. But he didn’t regret it either. Regardless of what he chose to do next, this man didn’t deserve to be held captive and scared. 

The man’s face cycled from surprise back to teary. “I don’t have one anymore.” 

Janus pressed his lips together. Well, he had seen the man forcefully kicked out. 

“You’re welcome to stay if you like. As a guest. I won’t force you. Or if there’s somewhere you’d like me to take you?” 

The man’s face scrunched up, clearly caught between gratitude and suspicion. “Why would you do that?” 

Janus gave him a small smile and a shrug. “You’re like me. If I’m going to fight for us, how could I then hurt one of us?” 

“But—but I still saw your weird deal. A-and I can recognize you. I could tell the cops and— you definitely shouldn’t just let me go.” 

Janus’s smile became wry. “I’ll have to take the chance that you won’t.” 

The man just looked disbelieving. 

Janus set down his cloth. “I won’t ask that we start over. I’ve already done more than I expect to be forgiven for. But perhaps we could try introductions? My name is Janus.” 

Despite his disbelief, after a moment the man held out a hand. “Virgil.” 

Janus shook it gently. “I’m glad to make your acquaintance, Virgil. Would you honor me by being my guest? If you haven’t slept, there’s a bed you’re welcome to use.” 

Virgil rubbed his eyes with his sleeves. “It’s not fair to kidnap someone and then be all nice. Giving off real mixed signals.”

Janus couldn’t help chuckling. “I should not have kidnapped you. I’m truly sorry.” 

Virgil shrugged. “You had to. Someone saw you doing illegal shit. This is the weird part.” 

Janus kept chuckling, something traitorous in his chest doing little flips. “I’m well aware.”

Virgil blinked, slowly, and Janus could see as tiredness began beating his inhibitions. 

“I think… yeah. I might take you up on the bed. Would you…” The spark of fear returned to his eyes for a moment. “Would you put the gun somewhere? Out of reach.” 

Janus nodded solemnly. At some point, he would explain to Virgil that this particular gun was incapable of shooting, but this didn’t seem like the time. 

Janus stood, offering a hand to help Virgil up. Virgil didn’t take his hand, but did follow as Janus directed him to the bedroom. Janus left him alone and went back to work, but he was unable to get him out of his mind. 

••^*^••

Virgil curled up on the bed, feeling awkward about laying in someone else’s bedroom. The exhaustion was tugging at him far more than the awkwardness, however, and he was slowly relaxing. 

His mind was still full of swirling emotions, but fear had retreated to one of the smallest. The man- Janus, was definitely still doing illegal shit, but he was trying to help people with multiple soulmates. He may have kidnapped Virgil, but looking back, about the worst thing he actually did to him was to tie him up with tape and threaten him with a gun. 

Virgil frowned. Those were definitely bad things. So why was his brain trying to say they paled in comparison to what he’d said? Actions were definitely more telling than words. 

But those words. 

You deserve to meet your soulmates. 

You deserve to get to love them. To be near them.

They’d pierced somewhere deep within Virgil, letting light and air in, allowing him to want. And now he couldn’t stop himself from wanting. 

He felt he might owe Janus something deeper and more important than the kidnapping. 

And his mental image of Janus had shifted from the terrifying stranger in an odd hat, and now was all warm chest and soft words. And acceptance. 

They were alike. They both had multiple soulmates. Virgil had never met anyone else with multiple soulmates, at least not knowingly. Having his deepest secret not only known, but shared. It screwed up his self-protective instincts, already putting Janus as part of Us, when he should undeniably be a Them. 

Virgil’s brain flitted over the idea of helping Janus, and he tried desperately to cut off that possibility entirely. He was not about to get himself into criminal business just because a handsome man was just like him and trying to help and… oh fuck he was genuinely considering it. 

Virgil buried his face in the nearest pillow. This was idiotic. This was death wish levels of stupid. He should not be considering this!! He’d just been kidnapped by the man for fuck’s sake! 

••^*^••

It had been nearly an hour of Remy trying to figure out how to use a phone number to track a person. He’d stumbled across more information about Virgil than the anxious man would ever be comfortable knowing could be found on the internet, but no way of tracking where his phone was at the moment. 

And still the minutes kept trickling by. 

There were no new messages. Remy kept his sleeve rolled up, and checked it every few minutes just in case, but nothing. 

He was getting more and more concerned, both for his unknown soulmate, and for Virgil. 

He had one more option, either to help him, or to convince him that everything would be fine. Janus. 

Janus owed him anyway. 

And if he was in the cafe wanting an alibi the night before, he was almost sure to be holed up in his house ignoring all attempts to contact him. So Remy would have to go to him. 

That decided, Remy grabbed one of his emergency cold coffees from the fridge and got into his car. 

Janus’s house was maybe 20 minutes away. Remy kept his sleeve pulled high, glancing away from the road on occasion in case of further messages. 

He unlocks Janus’s door without bothering to knock first. 

“Jay! Gotta problem here.” 

Janus comes quickly around the corner, concern and alarm plain on his face. “What happened? Are you alright?” 

Remy gestures to his arm. “I am, but apparently my soulmate isn’t, and it’s got some weird crazy thing to do with my friend Virgil, and you’d better have some cool illegal way to track a bitch, cause I am not used to being a worrier and I hate it!”

Janus blinked several times at the barrage of words. Remy cursed at his slow uptake. “Come on, Jay! Open your little bag of tricks and help me out here.” 

“Virgil?” Janus asked, apparently painfully slow today. 

Remy groaned loudly. “Yes. I’ve told you about him before. And apparently I’ve got a soulmate near him, cause I was sent his number and a message for help.” 

Janus takes his hand, frowning down at his arm, bare of everything other than what he’d written himself. 

There’s the sound of a door from further in the house, and Remy has only a moment to wonder who Janus has over when a very familiar figure comes around the corner. 

“Remy?” Virgil asks, and then when he sees him, “Remy!” 

Virgil unexpectedly runs forward and grips Remy around the waist. They hadn’t really… hugged before. So it’s strange, but Remy’s concern being suddenly relieved at seeing Virgil unhurt outweighs that. He wraps a protective arm around Virgil. 

“Oh hell, nah. There’s some major explaining to do.” Seeing Janus looking guilty, Remy jabs a finger at him, sloshing the remainder of his drink inside the cup. “You. Talk. Now.”

Janus abruptly looks even more guilty. 

Virgil suddenly gasped, grabbing at Remy’s arm and staring. Before Remy can explain about his soulmate’s messages, Virgil is shoving his own sleeve up, holding it close to compare. 

Remy stared with wide eyes. It was Virgil. Virgil was his soulmate. One of them, anyway. 

“Oh, you lied to me,” he breathed out, not genuinely upset. He understood lying about multiple soulmates. He’d done the same himself many times. 

Suddenly, several things clicked together in his head, and he rounded on Janus. “What the hell did you do?!” 

Janus raised both hands. “There’s a whole story to it, Rem—“

Remy stepped forward, backing Janus against a wall, using his extra few inches to loom over him. “Better start telling then.”

“I’m fine… now,” Virgil said, sounding almost defensive of Janus. 

Remy’s eyebrows shot up. There was some Tea here. And he was Going to be told All of it. 

After a full explanation, Remy stood above Janus, his arms crossed. Janus looked supremely guilty, as he Was. 

Remy grabbed his arm, shoving the sleeve up. As he now expected, his scrawl was on Janus’s wrist as well. 

“I told you we should check if we were soulmates!” He exclaimed. 

Janus just stared with wide eyes, awe taking over his expression. He reached out softly to Virgil, comparing his arm to his as well. 

Virgil was just looking back and forth between the two of them with shock and wonder. 

“Alright babes,” Remy said authoritatively. “This is how it’s gonna go. You,” he pointed at Janus. “Are going to pull out your first aid kit and we’ll check Virgil over for any hurt he got from that asshole he used to call a roommate. Then you’re going to give us your bedroom for a nap, and treat us both to a good lunch when we wake up from a nap. After that, and only after, will we start to consider forgiving you.” 

Janus grimaced, but to his credit, he knew when it wasn’t the time to argue. 

“You,” he turned on Virgil. “Are going to show us everywhere that hurts. Once I’m convinced that you’re properly ok, then it’s nap time. I’ll let you make your own decisions on Janus after. As far as I’m concerned, he’s sleeping on the couch tonight and owes me about a hundred coffees.” 

Janus was starting to look genuinely dejected, and Remy grabbed his collar, pulling him in for a deep kiss. 

“Tonight we talk about being soulmates,” he said more gently. “And how we want to play that.” 

Virgil grabbed Remy’s hand in one of his, and Janus’s with the other. His eyes were shining. He didn’t say anything, but he squeezed both their hands tightly. 

Well! Discovering two of his favorite people were his soulmates. Not a bad day. 

Chapter Five

~one month later~ 

Virgil read the paper carefully, studying each word at a time. He highlighted a line before passing it to Janus. 

“This bit reads oddly.” 

Janus looked at it, and his nose wrinkled. “That bit was original.” 

Virgil scrunched his face up. “That’s been in the law?” 

Janus shrugged, the look of disgust on his face apparent. “There’s a reason I’m changing it.” 

Now that he was a full part of Janus’s operation, Virgil had been told everything. Janus was slowly taking laws and regulations, tweaking them subtly, and getting a man on the inside to swap them with the originals. That man, Patton, was married to Remus’s brother, and they had another partner named Logan who was not yet let in on illegal activity. 

Change was slow. Incremental. It had to be. It couldn’t be noticed, or everything would be ruined. 

But a law here tweaked to be more lenient, a regulation loosened there, and society gradually became less hostile to people with multiple soulmates. Slowly. 

Virgil reached over, wrapping his fingers over Janus’s. Janus smiled at him softly, and raised his hand to his lips. Virgil watched as a small flower bloomed to existence on his knuckle, drawn by Remy. 

He flushed slightly. He still wasn’t ready for the full kisses that Janus and Remy often shared, but he was certain that smaller affections like this filled his heart just as full. 

Janus released his hand, going back to his work. Virgil took the paper back, continuing his own proofreading of the draft. 

••^*^••

Remy often found himself drawing on his skin now. Drawings couldn’t be so easily pointed to different hands, and thus were safe to revel in. Flowers over his knuckles, hearts over his hands, larger more detailed designs covering his arms and legs. 

His night shifts at the cafe were never quite so dull anymore, knowing he could send a bit of art to one of his loves. And many times, one of them would show up. With Virgil, it was often for coffee and long talks, like they had before but deeper, more tender. Janus still wanted an alibi half the time he stopped by, but now there were visits where he’d come to make out if the cafe was empty. 

When his shift was over he’d head back home. Virgil was coming over in the morning. He often split his time between Remy and Janus’s houses, almost like they had a custody agreement over him. 

It was difficult for Remy sometimes, adjusting to a partner who wanted to take things real slow. But Virgil’s softness and cute grumpiness was uniquely special to him, and he looked forward to the day he’d get to kiss him silly. 

Despite the rough time that brought them to realize they were soulmates, none of them truly regretted it, though Janus still apologized if one of them brought up the kidnapping. 

••^*^••

Janus had never felt so fulfilled. 

He’d always believed strongly in the cause, knowing he was a member of the minority he fought for. But it was different somehow, having his soulmates with him. 

Remy and Virgil were so similar and yet so different. Both would snark and snipe, especially as Virgil got more comfortable around him. But Virgil had a softness to him where Remy had passion. Remy had initiative where Virgil had caution. Virgil had gentleness where Remy had strength. Both so unique. Both so precious. Both somehow his. And he theirs. 

He was reaping the very reward he wished to give to everyone with multiple soulmates. And it was sweet. 

Janus subtly shifted position, careful not to wake either of his partners. They’d spent a late night and were now napping, leaving him the most lucky with getting to experience them laying on either side of him. 

They’d started with ‘trapping’ him, each laying over one of his arms to prevent him from working, but it had quickly shifted into soft cuddles as they fell asleep. And despite his earlier protests, he didn’t truly mind in the slightest. 

He wanted to buy a larger house, or at least a larger bed, as this one only barely contained them if none of them tried to roll over. He didn’t make much money, certainly not legally. So it was a rather futile dream, about as futile as his dream to one day marry them. But a man could dream. 

Tagging @snowdice Since I used your Roll the Dice game to start this fic! 🥰