#Sanders Sides Trust Fanfic

[chameleon66]

Ticklish tornado; An epic battle, Round one

Author’s note: About a week ago I got asked to write a tickle fanfic for Pomni and Jax and I have to say I had a blast writing this. I never really thought much about Pomni before but writing this helped me get to know her better (and of course I had fun writing Jax) So if any of you reading have a suggestion for a tickle fic for any characters from Sanders sides, Helluva Boss, Hazbin Hotel, Murder Drones, or The Amazing Digital Circus then please send in your ideas and I may write them (Won’t promise anything though). Also this can be read as romantic or platonic. With that being said, enjoy your reading.

Word count: 2535

Warnings: Tickling, Teasing, Mild touch aversion, Anxiety, Negative spiraling, Jax being a mischievous little bunny, angst, (Let me mknow if I need to add anything)

How many adventures must one go on to get used to this wacky place? Pomni thought as she walked through the portal Caine had opened up for them to go back into the circus tent.

It had been another crazy adventure of surprises, traumatic events, and trombones, and Pomni was feeling the drain from it. Not only did she feel exhausted but she also felt her anxiety racing in each of her fast heartbeats and rapid breathing, each movement around her felt like an abrupt explosion with her brain feeding her thoughts that did the opposite of soothing her troubles.

Will I ever get to leave this place? Does my family know I’m gone? Does anyone in the world miss me? How long has it been since I put on this headset? The digital world became increasingly drowned out to Pomni as her anxious thoughts began to snowball.

She was acutely aware of everyone sitting down in the couch area with her muscle memory being the only thing to pull her to sit down on a couch alone, away from everyone else. Whatever they were talking about was a distant murmur.

Her chest felt tight, her vision felt hazy, and her stomach felt like it was trying to digest itself. Pomni was indeed spiraling and like with most cases she didn’t know how to bring herself back.

Time passed, or maybe it didn’t? Pomni couldn’t be sure anymore. When the snap of fingers in front of her face seemed to pull her out of her spiraling thoughts and suddenly she was back on the couch with a close up of Jax’s face jumpscaring her.

“Ahhh!” Pomni screamed quietly as she flinched back.

“Oh good, you’re still alive.” Jax stated assured, while moving out of Pomni’s face and behind the couch.

Pomni then watched him walk behind the couch then lean both of his arms down then rested his head on them all while looking at her.

“How long have I been sitting here?” Pomni asked.

“If I had to guess~.” Jax dragged out the last word as he looked skyward in consideration of his answer. “About four hours.” He shrugged.

Pomni only sighed, even if Jax had been there far longer than her, how could she trust his ability to keep track of time?

“Everyone else checked in for the night.” Jax clarified, that mean’t it was only her and Jax here.

“So~ something on your mind or is staring out into space with your eyes going on all scribbly scrabbly just a new hobby of yours?” Jax titled his head at Pomni waiting for her answer.

Pomni hesitated, her and Jax had never been close, in fact no one was close with Jax. Mostly because he bullied everyone and just generally made everyone feel uncomfortable.

Though he had seemed pretty nice back at Spudsy’s when he got back from…wherever Gangle had sent him off to and they had a short exchange, where he didn’t even try to joke or make fun of Pomni, so maybe part of him wasn’t all that bad.

“It’s just been…a lot, lately.” Pomni’s voice dropped in volume while talking just out of habit but Jax seemed to have no problem understanding.

“How so?” Jax pushed further. Pomni supposed if Jax got mean she could just ditch him and hide away in her room.

“Just - the idea of being here forever and missing out on everything life has to offer, you know.” Pomni wrapped her arms around herself before continuing.

“My whole life was just taken from me, I’ll never see my family again, I won’t ever die because that’s impossible here! But at the same time I won’t ever get to live because I’m trapped here for eternity! OR AT LEAST UNTIL I COMPLETELY LOSE IT AND ABSTRACT, THEN I’LL BE THROWN INTO THE CELLAR TO BE FORGOTTEN ABOUT BY EVERYONE-.”

“Pomni!” Jax yelled, stopping Pomni’s ranting. “Ok short stuff, I want you to take a deep breath.”

Pomni didn’t realize until then how audibly she had been hyperventilating so she did as told and inhaled as much air into her as she could then holding it.

“Now let it out. Slowly.” Jax instructed and Pomni did so, they repeated the process five more times before Pomni felt remarkably better and Jax saw the change too as the next thing he asked was. “Feel better?”

Though Pomni still felt heavy with worry she hummed with a nod giving Jax the answer he wanted.

“Good. Now I know it’s easier said than done here but try to relax. You don’t have to worry about a problem that doesn’t exist yet.” Jax hopped over the back of the couch and laid back beside Pomni sighed as he sunk back into the cushions.

Pomni fiddled with her gloves and her body refused to comply with the idea of relaxing as her muscles were still tensed and brain kept trying to throw her back into her anxious spiral despite her best efforts to think about something else.

“You’re not relaxing.” Jax cracked open one eye to look at Pomni who was visibly not relaxed with her tensed posture, leg bouncing under her, and her eyes fixated on her gloves.

“Ugh! I can’t help it, how can I possibly relax in this f#%king place!” Pomni exclaimed to the empty circus tent.

Jax had to admit she had a point, relaxation was a skill one had to master after coming into the circus and there was really no such thing as being completely relaxed, but if anyone needed to learn how to it was the chronically anxious and traumatized jester girl.

“Do you need some help?” Jax asked only to get a suspicious side eye from the jester in return.

“What are you gonna do?” Pomni asked back clearly, not sure of any idea Jax had.

“Oh chill Jingle bells. I’m not gonna try anything, I just wanna help out a friend. It's so hard to believe.”

“Yes.” Pomni said flatly.

“Fair enough, but this time I swear I just wanna help.” Jax smiled at her. This had a bad idea written all over it but Pomni decided that if Jax really was just gonna prank her or something then at least it'd take her mind off everything.”

“Fine, but don’t even think about trying anything.” She warned the rabbit.

“Alrighty then.” Jax stood up from the couch and went back behind it, leaving Pomni’s line of sight. She felt a little uneasy about this but tried to keep her mind calm.

Pomni then felt the pressure of two hands on her shoulders, her initial reaction was to flinch at the contact then immediately feel her skin prickle under her jester outfit.

She was close to asking Jax to stop whatever he was doing but then he started rubbing his fingers into her muscles and immediately Pomni eased up. While physical contact was something she had a love hate relationship with she was enjoying the pressure and warmth of Jax’s hands on her shoulders rubbing slow gentle circles with each of his fingers.

She could feel Jax smirk behind her as he continued rubbing her shoulders but she didn’t find it in herself to care, right then she tried to focus on the good things because that’s what had worked for her so far, holding onto the good things she remembered and from in the circus.

Reassurance from Ragatha, games of chess with Kinger, the pretty stars at night in the sky, no longer having to deal with–

A sudden shock moved through her nervous system as she felt a squeak involuntarily come from her mouth.

Her hand flew to cover her mouth as her tension suddenly returned with a bite. She realized that Jax’s hands were no longer on her shoulders but near her mid back around her ribs, he had probably just brushed against them but it was enough to create a ticklish sensation.

“Pom pom?” Jax hummed. He knew it, the jig was up.

“Yes?” Pomni answered back in the most hesitant way known to this digital world.

“Did I just hear you squeal like a little chubby piglet?” Jax’s grin was a mile wide, he knew what he heard, but he’d never give up the chance to fluster someone.

“Umm…” Pomni stuttered but lying would do her no good in this situation. “Yeah…”

“Don't tell me you’re ticklish~.” Jax was now wiggling his fingers at Pomni only succeeding to make her even more unnerved.

Pomni was stuck and no words were coming out of her mouth to try and defend herself against the claim.

“I’m not hearing a ‘No’.” Jax’s hand went back into Pomni’s ribs though she did see how he left the window open for her to push him away if she didn’t want it.

But once the first notes of Laughter rang through Pomni’s body she let her body go limp. She hadn’t thought about it but it had been so long since she had truly laughed. She recalled how laughing supposedly released hormones that make you happier.

She wasn’t exactly too sure how biology applied to the digital circus as biology and technology were two very far apart subjects but she certainly felt a little lighter than before.

“Aww! Look at the cute face you’re making.” Jax cooed at her. She was trying to squirm away out of instinct but Jax took the chance to jump over the back of the couch and over her to keep up the tickles.

Pomni’s face was now significantly red even though she hadn’t been holding her breath. The tickling sensation over her body was at the same time too much and too little in some paradoxical way.

“Jahahahahahahaxx, you M@H@H@Th$$RF###%%%R!” Pomni’s laughter even though the profanity censor was still present which only encouraged Jax to rile her up.

“Pom pom, how come you’ve never told anyone you’re ticklish?” Jax’s eyes were completely trained on her and her reactions to each spot, boy he loved getting reactions out of the others.

“Quhuhuhuhit teheheheheheheheheasing meHHEHEHEHE.” Midway through her sentence Jax‘s hand got in her armpit which caused her laughter to intensify greatly and she found herself getting a little overwhelmed by the stimuli.

“But you’re so much fun to tease.” Jax made a pouty face at her but then his signature grin reappeared as he focused one hand to tickling her ribs while the other tickled her armpit.

It was quite odd how not much effort behind the tickles was needed on his part. Seemed Pomni was quite sensitive to light stuff.

If her memory didn’t lie her pits were always a bad spot for her and she didn’t know how much longer she could take it there. Then she got a devious idea.

Pomni realized nothing was stopping her from fighting back. In fact Jax hadn’t even pinned her arms and hands down anywhere, he had just let them try and deter his hands from their tickle assault. Huge oversight on his part, as he would soon learn.

Through her laughter Pomni found it in her to reach out fast as a bullet and latch onto Jax’s waist and gave it multiple squeezes.

Jax let out a squeal of his own as his body went limp like a noodle overtop of Pomni. She turned the tables on him as she pushed him back into the couch and scratched much more ruthlessly at the front of his overalls

She took the chance and went for his stomach which earned her a stream of non stop chuckles.

“F$$$$%%%%K Pohahahahahahm Poahahahahaham! Nohohohohohohoho!” Jax’s attack on Pomni had been put on halt as his hands now tried to grab hers. His smile now miles wider.

“Aww~ Is the big tough bunny too sensitive to take what he gives?” Pomni put on her baby talk which only succeeded in making Jax’s laugh even more squeaky. He sounded like he was an actual rabbit who was getting loved on. It was just as adorable as it was hilarious.

She was frankly amazed that he hadn’t thrown her off him yet since he was like twice her height and she weighed about as much as a baby kitten according to Caine

Feeling eager to experiment with her new found power over Jax, Pomni went up to his ears and stuck one finger into one of them and began to swirl it around. Jax lost it.

His laugh grew ever more sporadic and uncontrolled and he began kicking his feet too. Though it seemed his ears provoked the same reaction within him as Pomni because he went on to go right back into Pomni’s ribs while Pomni Hands clung onto his ears continuing her retaliation.

They continued going back and forth for a while after that with each of them taking turns pushing the other one back into the couch and gaining the upper hand from them. They couldn’t even tease each other through their shared laughter.

At one point they had both even fallen off the couch and were both just on a floor still laughing like they were high on helium. After a couple minutes both of them were now just laying on the floor together giggling and smiling.

After everything went quiet for a few seconds when Jax spoke up. “So, that make you feel any better?”

Pomni sighed “Yeah, it- it did. Thank you Jax.”

“Yeah, yeah don’t get all mushy on me Jester. Just do me a favor and don’t tell the others about this, I don’t need them thinking I’ve grown soft.” Jax shook his head.

“Aww~ Does that mean you’re going soft for me?” Pomni broke out her baby talk voice again seeing how much it embarrassed Jax before.

“Hah!” Jax huffed out a fake laugh as he flicked one of the bells in Pomni’s hat. “In your dreams Jingle bells.”

Oddly enough Pomni laughed too.

Both of them said their goodnights and went back to their respective rooms both oblivious to the four sets of eyes that were secretly watching them from around the corner.

Ragatha felt like her heart was about to burst at the two’s cuteness, Gangle was scribbling down notes for her next tickle fanfic for her OCs, Zooble was smirking on the inside they planned to use Jax’s weakness against him the next time he tried to steal their limbs. Meanwhile Kinger was facing away from the group staring off into the hallway wondering what they were all looking at.

[swhhdr-wthhr]

lots of fun facts about my sanders sides opposite au: (but i clearly have thought of some characters more than others)

logan :

introduced around the time of og accepting anxiety. represents bad decision making and willful ignorance

his first big moment was in can lying be good, which was a game show run by him instead of a play directed by janus. he didn't care whether thomas lied or not. he just wanted to give janus a morality crisis and joke around with virgil

only uses analog technology (ex: if someone asked to borrow his phone, he'd pull out a rotary phone, which works despite not being plugged in)

he's an amateur magician and loves showing off his tricks. virgil is the only one who is impressed by this

pulls things out of seemingly-too-small spaces like mary poppins with her bag, but only from other people's clothes (he will often steal janus's hat and pull something absurdly large out of it)

instead of rising up or appearing out of nowhere in the videos, in every video he walks out from a different random place (ex: from behind the tv like remus, from underneath the couch, down the stairs virgil sits on)

all of his clothes are glow in the dark

he doesn't know he needs glasses. he just assumes everyone has blurry vision

uses vocab cards like original logan but all of the words are made up and have never been said by anyone

regularly puts inflection on all the wrong parts of words and pronounces common words wrong (he doesn't pronounce long, uncommon words wrong, just short, easy to pronounce ones)

always talks just a little too loud and a little too fast

conspiracy theorist but only for theories that no one has ever heard of

wears a suit in every video except the court room one, where he wore the unicorn onesie the whole time

when thomas died his hair purple, his hair was inexplicably a completely different color. it would change every time someone mentioned it and he would never acknowledge that his hair looked different from everyone else's

censors people like og janus, but instead of covering their mouths, he just makes a loud distracting noise like og remus

the only side who doesn't think he's annoying is virgil, who finds him hilarious

virgil:

introduced in episode 1. represents pretty much all of thomas's positive emotions and none of the negative ones. also impulsive thoughts (impulsive not intrusive)

is technically a light side based on his role in the story but he's friends with everyone and "doesn't pick sides" (he sides with whoever is the most useful or interesting to him in the moment)

whenever conversation with the others bores him, he shamelessly ignores them, often scrolling on his phone in the middle of a video

extreme form of a hedonist. he chases dopamine like his life depends on it and is willing to do extremely reckless things if he thinks it will be a little fun

often causally tries to usurp the others and gain unilateral control over thomas's life ("wouldn't it be fun if you just ignored all of them and listened to me?")

is very open to trying new things for the experience, even if he can reasonably guess that he won't enjoy it. roman has no short supply of horrifying, painful ideas that they can try together

very good at insulting people in ways that really hurt. also very good at acting innocent and pretending he wasn't trying to be mean

some parts of the fandom in this universe would think he had a corruption arc when he became friends with the dark sides (there would definitely be fanfics where patton kidnapped and brainwashed him to be evil or smth) but he was just always like this.

always excited to help out the dark sides with their plans, being a bit of a double agent because thomas trusts and listens to him

he's an asshole who just wants to have fun and get what he wants all the time forever

roman:

introduced in this version of dwit, but he represents dark creativity and melancholy more so than intrusive thoughts

claims to hate disney but constantly quotes disney villains

frequently goes on long, depressing, overly dramatic speeches

collects dead things. he's trying to get a corpse of as many different animals, plants, etc. as possible

shameless masochist. (his shoes feel like he's walking on broken glass all the time and he loves it. he was inspired by the original little mermaid)

says all of the same types of things as og remus, but in a more monotone, gloomy way

often very aggressive, especially towards logan. he shows his love through violence and insults. he does the same with patton and virgil but less overtly because he can't get away with it as easily

came up with the name "the dark sides" just like he did in the og series, but this time it's an official term because it was created by one of them

always fights with patton over who's in charge. patton is usually the winner. either way, they don't like listening to each other so whoever wins would just boss around logan (they already both do)

janus:

introduced in episode 1. represents honesty and justice

the most gullible person ever. assumes everyone is always telling the truth and is completely blindsided when he's lied to

a strict kantian. he literally has never lied intentionally

associated with sheep instead of snakes (get it? like the bible?) it's much more subtle than the snake symbolism but gets more obvious as the show goes on and he gets an outfit change. (he wears a white wool turtleneck, has sheep/goat rectangular pupils, and has little horns under his hat, which is why he wears it)

his logo doesn't have a sheep on it, but his christmas sweaters do

tries to be nice to everyone since it's his job to be a good role model, but he would rather be honest than polite, so he can be pretty sassy at times

always feels guilty for something, even if he did nothing wrong

always a target of logan for his gullibility, and how he tries so hard to steer thomas in the right direction. in can lying be good, the game show logan hosted was rigged and completely nonsensical. this drove him crazy because...

he cares very much about things being fair

much more competent in the courtroom scenario than og patton was, too bad patton in this universe is also more strategic than og janus

remus:

introduced in episode 1. represents light creativity, hopes and dreams, and innocence

very squeamish and easily scared

if og remus is r rated creativity and og roman is pg creativity, this remus is g rated. never curses. very averse to violence

he's kind of the straight man of this group of gay men (similar to og logan). he's fed up with everyone, especially the dark sides

really hates the fact that virgil is friends with the dark sides, but he can't really do anything about it so he just sulks

you know in the we take requests video where they say the most out of character thing each character could say? and for remus they say like 'can you guys just chill? i'm trying to sing all of moby dick'? that's this remus's energy

writes poetry in his free time

his ideas can be pretty out there and weird like og remus, but just without the dark stuff

mostly pretty calm and subdued, but can get very hyper and intense when he's exited about an idea or a romantic opportunity for thomas

patton:

introduced around the time of svs

very strategic. plans meticulously before doing anything. (even little unimportant things) he was the mastermind behind pretty much everything logan and roman did before he was even introduced

says that he doesn't care about the other dark sides and that he only works with them out of necessity. he is actually very fond of and protective over them. he'll never admit it

always polite to everyone, even when he's arguing against them (this was very confusing to thomas who expected him to be even scarier than roman). it's just performative though. he's a hater, not a lover

enjoys making puns but always denies that they were intentional (like og logan but if he was lying about it being an accident)

has very dulled emotions. he enjoys spending time with roman, logan, and virgil because they're all so intense in different ways and allow him to feel something

he is especially attached to virgil, since virgil can't just make him feel any emotion, he can make him feel happy

doesn't emote with his eyes. or blink.

starts off as less threatening than roman, but later on, he gets some much scarier moments. roman has more of a constant, steady stream of scariness, while patton holds most of it in until it builds up to an explosion

has a #1 Dad mug, but it's been crossed out and has #2 Boss written under it (logan gave it to him)

roman frequently tries to kill him. he pretends not to notice it to frustrate him (ex: roman will poison his coffee and he'll drink the whole thing with no reaction)

[thefuzzzz]

My 2024 Fanfic Masterlist

It's been a good year and my first full year of writing fics on Ao3! I decided to make a masterlist of all my fics this year to look back on what I've written. They're ordered from least to most recent by ship. I hope you can find something in this list to enjoy!

Ships and fandoms:

Roman/Virgil (Sanders Sides), Jason/Nico (Percy Jackson), Keith/Lance (Voltron), Akutagawa/Atsushi (Bungo Stray Dogs), Dazai/Chuuya (Bungo Stray Dogs), Daichi/Sugawara (Haikyuu!),

Roman/Virgil (Sanders Sides):

Quiet Night Together (Established relationship, fluff, nightmares)

The Reverse Shakespearean Experience (Written for @/sandersidesbigbang. Click here for info on my wonderful collaborators and more)

Jason Grace/Nico Di Angelo (Percy Jackson and the Olympians):

There are 31 of these, so I put them into collections by their respective events since I didn't post any without an event running (both hosted by the lovely @/jasico-challenges!)

Valentine's Day Bingo Oneshots (link to my masterlist of just these here)

Jasico Week

Keith/Lance (Voltron):

The Beginning of a Beautiful Tune (A 3-chapter college AU featuring violinist Keith and pining Lance)

Next Best Thing (After saving the universe, Keith and Lance have a hard time being apart from each other, and begin sharing clothes to help deal with the long distance)

Lance's Perfect Plot to Getting his Hot Coworker to Go on a Date with Him (An AU where Keith and Lance are waiters at a diner and endure rom-com levels of humor to get together)

New Affection (Fluff without plot)

Lance's Very Eventful Trip to the Dog Park (Modern AU meet cute)

How to Recover from Getting Stood Up (Step one: Meet a cute barista and walk him home in the rain. Step two: Awkwardly flirt with him in hopes he reciprocates. Step three: Take him to an arcade and demolish him in laser tag.)

Your Father's Hand-Me-Down Anger (light angst with a happy ending)

Keith Takes His Whiskey Neat (Western AU featuring outlaw Keith and musician Lance)

Icy Rain and a Sapphire Ring (Marriage proposal, post cannon)

Keith v.s. Lance's Skincare Routine (Lance makes sure Keith is really included in his nighttime routine, much to Keith's dismay)

A Summer Off the Court (Volleyball player Keith and Texan Lance in what I can only describe as a gay Hallmark Movie AU)

Who Else Would It Be? (angst with a happy ending featuring Blade of Momora Keith, written for the Klance Intergalactic Hub Discord server's reverse big bang event)

Flip Phones, Cowboy Hats, and Christmas Trees (A 2000's modern AU (yet another gay Hallmark Movie AU) with Texan Lance and Myspace famous turned small YouTuber Lance)

Akutagawa Ryuunosuke/Nakajima Atsushi (Bungo Stray Dogs):

Cruelly Limited World (Pure angst)

Akutagawa Learns To Trust Atsushi With Something Other Than His Life (Post-mission fluff featuring a bubble bath)

Dazai Osamu/Nakahara Chuuya (Bungo Stray Dogs):

Another Anniversary (Domestic fluff)

Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi (Haikyuu!):

All of these were for DaiSuga week, hosted by the amazing @/daisugaweek2024, so here's the Ao3 series link, and here's the Tumblr masterlist!

That's it! If you made it this far down the post, I really appreciate you! I hope you found something to read. This post was really just for me to see all my works from the year in one place, but I'm so happy you read through it all!

[thetomorrowshow]

🎢🍦💖⛔💲👀🎯🏆

🎢 Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

Ummm i'm gonna have to say this sanders sides fic i wrote called slower than words. it's unhinged. why did i write that

🍦 What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

probably this flower husbands one-shot called 'Get Him Flowers'!

💖 What made you start writing?

Tbh i was raised in a household where my mom read fanfic to us all the time. When i started writing, she encouraged me and helped me create my first ever ffn account!

⛔ Do you have a fic you started, but scrapped?

Umm i started writing one a couple of months ago where jimmy grows wings as punishment for not dying first but i lost track of the plot and writing it was like pulling teeth. maybe i'll start it again one day

💲 Would you ever open commissions?

Probably not! It is illegal to charge money for fanfics. However, i do have a kofi linked in my bio :)

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

Ok ok so in the jimmy memory-loss au basically he goes missing for a year and everybody starts to move on, then a watcher crash lands on hermitcraft. Joe hills finds him and soon enough they realize that it's jimmy, even though he has no recollection of any of them - or anything, really. It's kind of adorable and kind of angsty as jimmy deals with trauma from his time away, but it fosters a very wholesome friendship with joe hills. Writing it legit made me love them together so much.

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

everybody was yelling at me about how there was no way jimmy was dead in trust au skdhdjk

🏆 What's your most popular fic?

Poisoned rats (esh au) has the top hits in ao3, and trust au has the most kudos!! There was also a martyn cleo one-shot that popped off on tumblr.

Ask game

[hylianengineer]

Ooh, hey I have weird asexual kink recommendations! Starting with everything @sigynpenniman has ever written, but also I have more. (Pretty much entirely fanfic because that is what I spend my time reading.) And yes you should totally write some asexual kinky stuff yourself, it's awesome, but I find that reading and writing about it are both satisfying and fun in different ways.

Also, I'm not entirely clear on where the line is between asexual kink and non-kink stuff so I'm taking my best guess. I think it kind of means different things to everyone.

Medical Stuff

Tales From the 212th Medbay - Star Wars The Clone Wars, very realistic depictions of medicine except for the fact that it's, well, Star Wars. It's not as soft as Sigyn's stuff but it deals with consent, medical trauma, bodily autonomy, etc. Everything else by this author is also fantastic, but you'd better read the content warnings because some of it is intense.

🦷 Toothache 🦷 - this is a series of OFMD oneshots featuring anxiety related to dental care

pushing through (it's only pain) - we're all in agreement that hiding injuries out of fear of being a nuisance and then someone finding out and caring for them anyway is shrimp emotions, right? The fandom for this is the Greatcoats series but I read it completely fandom blind.

A Most Malignant Technology - this is DS9 Garashir, and significantly less asexual than anything else on this list. In that it does become sexual in later chapters, but the sections before that are just about medical stuff - extremely intimate and explicit medical stuff, but not in a sexual way.

sometimes the past gets in the way - yes I AM still out here reading Sherlock fanfic in 2024 and I have no shame. This is about medical anxiety and trauma, but goes in a very unexpected direction with the source of that trauma.

Time to Rest - it's a pokemon fic about being gently persuaded to take care of yourself, what more do you need?

I'll treat you decent - OFMD fic about learning to accept help and let people take care of you. It's kind of medical but that's not the main focus.

The Healing Properties of Felt-Tip Pens - This is an Avengers piece about the trauma of super-healing, when you've been through something horrible but have no scars to show for it.

In His Hands - Lord of the Rings, focuses on trust and loyalty

connective tissue - Star Trek Discovery

Non-medical stuff

Slight Softness Included - a series of Doctor Who oneshots about platonic intimacy

Do you even lift? - random physical intimacy is kinky, right? This is about Una from Star Trek Strange New Worlds carrying her crew members for various reasons.

Fringe Benefits - A Strange New Worlds Fic about Pike and Una sharing a bathroom and bonding over it. Including Pike braiding Una's hair. It's just lots of platonic intimacy.

Into the Air - Batman fandom, nonsexual and nonromantic ABO dynamics. There's a lot of similar fics in this fandom and I kind of have A Thing about them but I'm not gonna spam this list by linking all of them.

easy mornings - massage fic which could be interpreted as platonic or romantic but is definitely not sexual. The fandom is a podcast called Just Roll With It but it works fandom blind.

Tensionamento - similar to the above but with a definite lack of romance. In place of that, there is platonic male/female friendship.

Dozed - Star Wars. Platonic sleeping together.

Embrace of Darkness - strangely tender Eldritch horror. Sander's Sides, but works fandom blind. And everything else by this author is also amazing.

Love Is For Children - Avengers series based on nonsexual, nonromantic ageplay and found family.

Stuff That Isn't Fanfic

New Amsterdam, for warm fuzzy actually caring medical care. The whole thing is one giant middle finger to the current state of the USAmerican healthcare system and it's about doctors who work really hard to do better. Please check the content warnings first though because Jesus Christ (cancer, grief, and drug addiction are the big ones but there is. a lot.)

Queer Eye. I've only seen the modern version so I can't speak to the old one but I assume it's similar. Emotional intimacy, people taking care of each other and being vulnerable, platonic affection, etc.

Any weird asexual kink recommendations?

OH I LOVE YOU to be honest I mostly write it because I often find that I can't find a lot of what I like/want already made. so be honest my best recommendation for weird asexual kink is crack open a google doc and find your bliss. chase that warm tingle in your limbs. and give yourself permission to really chase that even if what you end up creating seems deeply strange or confusing, even if you don't understand why it works for you. sometimes you're scratching an itch in your own brain buried so many layers deep even you can't really see it.

and as someone with a med thing, I can't say enough good things about the tv show mystery diagnosis, which is not in any way anything other than just straight up TLC level medical docudrama but i certainly enjoy it deeply. that's a weird comment but it's my truth

[acetarisborn]

Trust - Chapter 4

Summary: Roman wakes up and realizes that only fighting his insecurities will make him reunite with the other Sides.

Pairings: Moxiety and Platonic Logince

Content Warning: Self steem issues, anger attack, self doubt, blood

Roman opened his eyes slowly, he blinked a few times, thinking he still had them closed for a second because everywhere he looked there was nothing but darkness.

He tried to stand up but he felt a huge pain on his hip, he groaned and put his hand where he felt the pain, his eyes looked down to see blood in his hand and two stains in his white clothes, his eyes widened as he let out a panicked scream.

“What happened to me?!

The creative side took a deep breath and took his sash off to use it as a bandage. He stood up weakly, when he was on his feet again he fixed his clothes and hair.

“Wait...” The creative side looked up to see the same as the entire place seemed to be.

“Where am I?”

He looked down at his hands, one of them still covered in his own blood. Even if the place was entirely black it wasn’t technically dark, he was able to see himself.

Roman tried to rebember what happened the previous night to end up wherever he could be at that moment.

He remembered in a second. The fight, Deceit, how bad he felt and how that imposter was probably pretending to be him right now

“Oh no” He exclaimed while thinking how his friends could be in danger

“I need to get out of here”

He ran as far as he could, he didn’t even knew where but he kept running, trying to find any kind of exit.

“Ugh, what is this sick joke?! Where’s the exit, is it invisible or what!?”

his eyes widened realizing the simple logic of the situation

“Gosh darnit! Why didn’t I thought about that?”

He imagined a big door with an exit neon sign, clapped twice and it appeared in front of him

“Yes!”

Roman moved the doorknob and ran through it, only to stay in the same place

“Oh, Come on!”

Deceit was probably behind this, he was so mad at him, making him feel so worthless, an idiot, selfish.

He clapped twice and his sword apeared in his hands

“I know you did this, Deceit. Show yourself already!”

The figure weirdly appeared when Roman asked for it, looking at him with a fake grin. In the inside he was furious that his plan had failed for now, but Roman didn’t had to know about his facade.

“Well if it isn’t the fairest of them all” He said with a sarcasm so noticable, even for Roman.

“What have you done to my friends?” He asked with his sword in hand and a serious face, he wouldn’t let the events of last night happen again or never.

“You don’t want the answer to that, but I think someone else can tell you. Why don’t you ask him”

After he said those words another voice speaked

“Hey, coward”

Roman turned around and saw Virgil, wearing his old hoodie. He didn’t even cared about how he called him, he ran to him and grabbed his shoulders

“Virgil! Wait, what are you doing he-”

“You left us...” he interrupted him, the anxious side’s eyes glaring at him with hatred.

“I-I’m sorry, Virgil. I didn’t mean it! Deceit brought me wherever this place is!” He asnwered pointing at Deceit

“Shut up, Roman!” A new voice said, he moved to see Logan, angrier than he had ever seen him, with his arms behind his back.

“You are the only one responsible of today’s events! about what happened to Patton!”

“Patton? Where is he, what happeed? Is he hurt?!”

“He is GONE!” Virgil’s voice yelled in a deeper tone.

Roman was shocked, he thought sides couldn’t be ‘gone’ He knew that. It was impossible. No more kind compliments, no more cookies at night, no more hugs, his friend was dead.

“N-no, you are lying, YOU ALL ARE”

“He DIED, Roman! All because you were a dramatic crybaby like you always are!” Virgil punched Roman in the chest, making him fall and scratch his knees, his sword falling to the ground.

He tried to stand up but Logan kicked him again in the stomach.

“Always saying you are so brave when you are actually so fake and coward you couldn’t even just ignore Deceit and keep him from doing it!”

Selfish, moron,

 coward, fake,

 fragile.

 Logan and Virgil kept saying those words to him while beating him up, he wanted to fight back, he wanted it so much but couldn’t. They were his friends, his family, and them saying all that hurted more than the actual pain of the punches, tears were already staining his face.

“Calm down Roman. think, think for once!” He thought trying to pay more attention to his voice than to the pain, he needed to do something, anything to get out of the situation.

Then he looked at them:

The voice of reason, the fight or flight instincts...What would they do?

“Logan used that word one time, what was it? Cognitive distortions! thoughts you made up when you hate yourself...”

He kept thinking to himself, he wasn’t going to talk because he knew that would gave an advantage to his adversary

“Try to use common sense, Roman. You are in an empty, black place where suddenly Virgil and Logan appear just to insult you and beat you up? That’s stupid!”

“These are not them” He finally said outloud.

Roman stood up, pushing them aside with a strange easiness

“These are mothing more than illusions” He grabbed his sword again and looked at them

“A dirty trick made to weaken me” He said as he slashed Virgil’s body in half, making him to dissapear into thin air

“What you said might be true for once” He ran to Logan and did the same, ending the illusion

“Maybe I am a moron, selfish and even a fake piece of garbage” He turned around at grabbed his sword, facing Deceit, his eyes now clear of tears

“But I’m still Thomas’s freaking hopes, dreams, justice and bravery”

He ran to Deceit while lifting his sword, ready to end what he had created

“I’M A GODDAMN  PRINCE!”

He gave a war cry and just when Roman’s sword touched Deceit’s body everything turned blinding white and a door appeared in front of him.

He was panting, sweating, the pain from the punches and the still fresh wound came back; but he did it. He defeated his own hate.

His arms fell down again, suddenly feeling the right one broken, which was weird considering he was imaginary but at this point the not literal logic had been thrown out of the window. He grabbed his right arm and opened the door, going to a big familiar forest, the surroundings he made for the mind palace or at least where the Sides are usually, a house was visible on the distance. Home.

Meanwhile Patton had asked for a “Family Meeting” in the living room

“Alright kiddos, now that we have calmed down we need to focus again in the main problem. We need to get Roman back”

“Do you already have a plan?” Logan asked serious

“well, no... but that’s why I need you too, guys! Logan, you are realistic, with your intelligence and strategy, along with any information Virgil could be capable of tell us about Deceit we could find a way out of this”

Logan smiled slightly at the compliment, then adjusted his glasses and stood up, while Patton sat next to Virgil inthe couch.

“First of all we need to remember what we recently discovered about him”

“He is an idiot” 

“He is scary” The other two sides answered to the logic, who facepalmed after that.

“That’s why I don’t like feelings” he murmured “No, I mean the important things. Let’s review what happened yesterday.

“You tackled him when you knew it was him, he fought with Roman’s sword and took his time changing into his own form, also he tried to kill Patton” Virgil rewinded the events in his head, saying the last one in anger.

“That’s what got me intrigued. He was very close to cut your throath, Patton. But the question is... Could he?

Patton looked at Virgil confused, trying to know if he was alone in his confussion. Virgil’s eyes widened as he realized what Logan meant.

“Can a side actually die? Is that the question?”

“Correct. Since we are important facets of Thomas’s personality can those traits actually dissapear completely?”

“Well, when Virgil ducked out” Patton moved his arms like if they were duck wings “Thomas was without any reflex or caution. Then I think if Roman is dead by now then he would be without imagination”

“Then we need to call Thomas!” Virgil stood up and moved his hand in the air sumoning him.

The man appeared before them, looking confused but greeting everyone

“Oh, hey guys! Why did you called me? we aren’t making a new video yet-”

“There’s not time to explain, Thomas, think of anything that needs of creativity or imagnation”

“Like a dog using roller skates to chase a car?”

Patton smiled imagining how that would work and Virgil sighed relieved knowing what that signed.

“That was one of the most absurd things I’ve ever heard but thank you for your cooperation, Thomas” He said as he made him sink down

“Oh, okay! By the way,where’s Roman?” Thomas asked but he had already got out of the mind palace.

“Well, that tells us Roman is still alive but we have been wasting the entire time just solving that. It doesn’t matter if he is alive if we can’t find him”

Virgil was getting anxious, he wanted to go to the point already but part of him was scared of a possible question.

“In order to make a well defined plan we need to ask everyhting we can. But if you are so rushed to know everything then why don’t you just tell us what you know” Logan said, unintentionally in a threatening tone.

“Logan is right, Virge. You need to tell us if you know about any place Roman could be”

Virgil remembered all the places he had been, not always voluntarily when he hadn’t met the sides. All sorts of bad memories, fear, anger and panic came to him, which made him shake.

“I-I don’t know if I can tell you, guys” He said ashamed of not being able to porvide information even in a moment like this.

“It’s alright ki-”

“Wait, Patton” Logan stopped him in the middle of the sentence “Why not? we need this information to save Roman”

“It’s just too much to handle...” He was unaware of how to respond, all of that was hard to reviveand just spit it out.

“Ugh, your stupid emotional dilemas are something we can’t deal with right now, I’m sure you have been through a lot but you need to put your dramas aside and think of the bigger situation”

Logan was annoyed but those words were enought for Virgil to grab him by the necktie and reply.

“Listen smart guy, you have no idea of what I’ve been through. I mean, what can I expect from a thing like you?”

“At least I wasn’t the one who started all of this madness to begin with!” Logan said, pushing Virgil.

“Alright, guys. L-let’s not fight right now...”

“Your naive attitude doesn’t surprise me. You try to keep the peace because you don’t even know a thing about conflicts!

Patton got shocked at Logan’s words, he looked at the floor, thinking he knew that was true. What Logan did made Virgil furious.

“Don’t talk to Patton like that!” He tried not to punch him just because of Patton, knowing that would dissapoint him.

“We said we’ll be honest then I am!”

They started to yell at each other, insulting and arguing while Patton tried to stop them.

A knock on the door made them to suddenly stop, they all turned to look at it. Who could it be? If it was Deceit or other dark side it would be really stupid from them to do that and there was no one on the mind palace at that hour.

Then a groan of pain was heard from outside.

“Who could it be?” Logan asked quietly

“Logan. we should open, whoever they are they are probably hurt” Patton said more serious this time but a glimspe of sadness was still evident in his voice.

“Are you crazy? What if it’s another trick? What if they are taking advantage of our situation right now?” He tried to make Patton reason about the consequences.

“But what if it’s not? I think we should help!” Patton looked at Logan, Logan notices that his eyes were wet, realizing his mistake, then he looked at Virgil with concern. He grabbed Roman’s sword.

“This will be incoherent coming from me but I think I owe an apology to Patton later and we should do what he says, whoever is out there could be injuried and we should help. If it makes you feel safer I’ll be ready with Roman’s sword to defend if is necessary”

“Alright, I’ll open it. Stay behind if something happens” Virgil said walking to the door with Logan and Patton behind him.

He could feel his pulse racing, the sound of his own heartbeats invading the silence of the room. He turned around to see them and Logan nodded serious, his hands trembling wrapped around the sword. Patton also was trying to hold his fear

The grabbed the doorknob and opened the door. He gasped when he looked at the figure outside.

“ROMAN?!” They exclaimed at the same time while looking at the creative side.

His always clean white suit was now stained with blood and his face was bruised as well as his whole body, his red sash was now in his arm being used as a bandage for what looked like the blood as a deep cut and his hair was completely messy. 

He smiled weakly when he looked at his family, all surprised to see him in that state.

“Hey guys...”

After saying those words and being in the safety of at least the entrance of the mind palace he stopped struggling to stand in his feet and fell.

“Roman!” Patton shouted when Roman’s body fell to the floor. “Virgil, what do we do? He looks awfull!”

Virgil stood in shock for a moment, where the heck was he to end up like that? If he ended up like that what could happen to them? 

He snapped out of it when he ralized Patton’s question. He looked at Logan with a terrified expression, then back at Patton again, he pulled his hair and tried to say something, anything useful

“I-I..” He stammered as his voice sounded deeper.

He was panicking, Patton noticed but he needed to focus on Roman too, both were worried ad didn’t knew what to do until Logan’s voice broke the silence

“Virgil, grab Roman and take him to his room, I’ll help you. Patton, go for the first aid kit and then go there”

Virgil straightened up his back and nodded, Patton went running and they both followed the logic side’s orders.

Virgil grabbed Roman from his legs and Logan by the arms, carrying his unconscious body to his empty room. When they entered the room they saw the curtains ragged, the bed cut, the entire room was a mess.

“Sweet Sherlock”

“Something did happened last night”

Logan looked at the room in shock, the cut in the bed looked like one made by his sword. He put the pieces together and knew that Deceit had been there, he tried to  fight but the dark side’s manipulation was too strong and influent, specially in Roman. Knowing how it feels, being told things you think are true but don’t want to hear made him feel sorry for him, emphaty wasn’t a ‘feeling’ he liked to experiment.

“Roman is... probably weak. It seems he has been severly injuried, we should let him rest” He said, trying to act calmed, panicking about Roman is the last thing they needed.

“I’ll go get Patton, stay and tell us if Roman wakes up” Logan asked Virgil. Before he left he stopped, loking in concern at the fanciful side.

“I’m sorry, Virgil. I know this isn’t your fault and I got carried away I just... I worry that you are not strong enough to stand to a thing like Deceit’s manipulation and lies, your emotions could get in the way and I’m... scared, of any of you getting hurt by feelings”

Virgil’s eyes widened at the logic side’s confession, he was just trying to help, he was also dessperate, just as he was a few days ago.

“I forgive you. I know the feeling, pal.”

“And one more thing” Lgan paused for a moment “Don’t tell Patton what I said, having him know all this may be a pain in the back”

Virgil laughed while sitting in Roman’s desk table

“Alright, I promise”

“Thank you” He said to then get out of the room.

FINALLY!

Alright, I’m really, REALLY sorry for the eternal, an I really mean ETERNAL time I took finally finishing this but I’ve been having some important proyects in school, my school’s play is soon and I’ve had a LOT to read. I promise I’ll try my best for it to not happen again.

I would have posted something about it but I didn’t do it because of personal reasons.

Tag List:

@well-love-has-failed-me   @the-darkness-art    @bunny222

[brother-lipsmackariah]

Does Virgil read Logan's fanfiction? Or does he just KNOW Logan writes Star Trek fanfiction

[iwrestlenow]

Many More To Die

TITLE: Many More To Die

FANDOM: Sanders Sides (Necromancer AU)

SUMMARY: For over a thousand years, necromancy has been forbidden in the Kingdoms, the Necromata--its practitioners--feared, reviled, and punished for a power they never asked to wield. Those Necromata who are not killed in the cradle are taken from their families, stripped of their Name--the core of identity and memory--and imprisoned for the rest of their lives.

Logan was twelve when he entered the palace dungeons. Prince Roman was fourteen when he witnessed the young necromancer being brutalized, imprisoned, and left to suffer.

Roman only wanted to offer the other boy comfort, and perhaps a scrap of dignity. He didn't realize his kindness would follow both of them into adulthood--or that Logan would one day become the only person in all the realms that Roman would be able to trust with his life, his heart, and his very soul.

SHIPS: Logince (Logan/Roman), future Moceit (Patton/Janus) and Dukexiety (Remus/Virgil)

WARNINGS: lots of death because necromancy, slash, and more to come as I figure it out ‘cause it’s late and I’m tired. Also, no betas, we die like men.

NOTES: This is based on the gorgeous piece of art by @gretacticdraws that can be found here. I ended up writing a ficlet for it, and then my brain got swallowed up. Breathe at me wrong, and I’ll write more...hell, who am I kidding? I’ll write more anyway because this? Is self indulgent drivel. XD

Also located at AO3 over here.

1023, A.A.

Necromata.

Sitting in the middle of his cell, twelve year old Logan...Logan choked on tears as his shoulder screamed, his bones ached, and the flickering lights of his cell let his imagination run wild with all manner of monsters and omens of doom lurking within every shadow.

He knew he was lucky—many necromancers were caught in the cradle and killed. Very few survived as long as he had. He could be grateful to his family for that much, that he'd lived long enough to escape a death sentence.

He did have a family. He knew that much—remembered that much. Everything else, they had taken before throwing him into his cell. The prison mage's hand was still a ghost of cold fire against his forehead, worms of icy coal burning through his brain to wipe out every trace of the things that would make him what he was, allow him to be more safely contained.

The name spoken with fear and loathing was all that he had left.

Necromata. The legions of the Animator...the necromancers.

“Psst!”

The hiss echoed off the stone in the corridor, made his heart leap into his chest as he looked around for the source of it.

“Psst! Over here!”

Logan tried to scramble back from the door of his cell, and screamed when he forgot about his dislocated shoulder, collapsing as it gave way under his weight.

“No, don't—please, it's okay. I don't want to hurt you.”

Blinking, Logan squinted into the low light beyond the torches that barely lit his new home. Something bright green flickered there, an outline visible that was vaguely person-shaped.

“Who...who are you?” he asked, curling his injured arm as close to his body as he could so he wouldn't forget again as he got to his feet.

“I...I'm not supposed to say.”

Logan shuffled a little closer to the bars of his cell. “Then how do I know you don't want to hurt me?”

“The prison mage took your Name—you won't understand if I tell you. Just...”

The person-shape on the other side of the bars moved forward, an arm protruding through to set a bowl on the dirt floor of Logan's cell. Inside there was water, and sitting across the rim was a heavy piece of leather.

“I saw what the guard did when you came in. Your shoulder...it happened to me once when I snuck out to hunt for the Lazari.”

“The Lazari don't exist.” Logan replied, reaching up with his good hand to try and wipe some of the tears and snot off his face. “They're a fairy tale, like the Animata.”

“How do you know?”

Logan opened his mouth...then closed it after long moments.

“I...I don't know.” he admitted. “I must have lost it when the prison mage took my Name.”

“Then you could be wrong.” the person-shape insisted, those emerald flecks in the near shadow sparkling with determination. “I'll find a Lazari one day. Just you wait.”

“What does that have to do with my dislocated shoulder?”

“Oh! Sorry—uhm, I did it once. When I snuck out, I fell from a tree and mine popped out. My brother showed me how to use the bars on our window to pop it back in! I threw up, though—and he made me bite a belt so I wouldn't scream.”

The hand appeared between the bars again, nudging the bowl and the leather strap forward a little further.

“I can tell you how to do it.”

Logan shuffled forward a couple more steps, then shifted to kneel in front of the bowl of water.

“I...might know.” He replied, staring at the bowl for a long moment before he peered back into the dark, into the green spark that was his benefactor's eyes. “Thank you.”

The person-shape said nothing for a long moment...

“Berry.”

“What?”

“Berry! The guards called you Logan, right? They took your Name—maybe Berry can be your new one.”

Before Logan could comment, the person-shape grew less distinct, and the flicker of green was gone with the clatter of footsteps scurrying away into the dark.

It was a silly idea—a Name taken could not be restored so easily. Still, the word rattled around in his head along with the one that made his bones ache again.

Necromata. Berry. Necromata. Berry. Berry.

Logan Berry.

Something stirred in the middle of Logan's mind, in his marrow—in the place that magic had scoured out and rubbed raw within the pathways of his brain. Something stirred, settled...

Something slid into place, and all of a sudden the shadows were far less frightening.

Popping his shoulder back into the socket hurt far more than dislocating it had—and yet while he'd sobbed his soul out after being injured, after being robbed of all that made him a person, he shed not a single tear as he put the leather between his teeth, wrenched his joint back into place, and used the fresh water to clean up after he'd emptied his stomach into the corner of his cell.

He even managed to sleep on his pallet of straw, and dreamed of green embers in the dark, drifting into the shadows in his cell and transforming every monster into a friend.

**********

1033, A.A.

“I had the dream again.”

“A kinky one?”

“Sweet leaping gods, Remus!”

The high, strident cackle of his twin brother echoed through Prince Roman's bedchamber, making him wonder yet again why he thought he could talk to the crazy idiot about anything remotely meaningful. Yes, Remus was trustworthy—he gave Roman all manner of hell for the secrets he shared, but had suffered his fair share of indignities to keep his mouth shut—but sometimes he wondered if it was worth the teasing and the laughter to have such a steadfast confidant.

Remus had secrets of his own, after all—the numerous Anima that shared his bed, for one. Like Roman, Remus was fascinated by the Necromata, the true necromancers that all citizens of the Kingdoms were taught to hate and fear. The Anima were little more than pretenders, mages of other disciplines that toyed with the death magic that had been outlawed for over a thousand years.

Still, they had a lot to teach—and made good company, from the way Remus spoke of his dalliances.

“Oh, I'm just yanking your chain, big brother!” Remus assured him, crossing over to drape himself over Roman's back, chin settling on Roman's shoulder to read what his twin was writing as he hunched over his desk. “C'mon now—tell me about the dream, and I'll tell you about the Necromata I fucked last night.”

Roman straightened abruptly at that, unceremoniously sending Remus sprawling to the floor. Turning his chair, he gaped down at his brother and pointed an accusing finger at him.

“You did not sleep with a real necromancer, you lying sack of horse dung!” he hissed. “Why would you even say that in the palace of all places?!?”

“Because the sex was unbelievably good?” Remus offered, shrugging from his place on the floor, flat on his back. “Believe me, Ro Bro, a guy that can't actually feel human contact can keep it up for a nice, long, slow roll in the hay. It's pretty remarkable!”

Roman just huffed, standing from his seat—and promptly sinking to the floor to sprawl out right beside Remus.

“You're lying.” he said simply.

Remus was quiet a long time...then sighed.

“Of course I am. He was just another Animata.”

“Anima. The Animata are a myth, like the Lazari.”

“Since when did you turn into such a brainiac, Roro? We both know I've always been the smart one.”

Roman rolled his eyes with a grin, stretching his leg to kick Remus's ankle—but the truth of the matter was, Remus was right. Between the pair of them, Remus was smarter by leaps and bounds. He was studying the collegiate sciences when he was seventeen, and began his magic training before he'd even reached puberty. The fact that the only part of the sciences he enjoyed were anatomy and mortuary study were entirely besides the point, as was the fact that Remus wasn't actually capable of using magic at all.

He was, as their father lovingly put it, a rogue genius: in possession of an intellect so massive that the rules couldn't restrain him. He either knew too well how to circumnavigate them, or he simply didn't care enough to bother and did what he wanted—what he thought was right, no matter the consequence.

Roman might have been the elder of the twins—by one hour, eleven o'clock of one night where Remus came at midnight the next morning—but he aspired, every single day, to be the maverick that Remus was. He simply lacked the brains...and the courage.

Which was why today, it was Roman their father would be naming as his successor, and not Remus. Roman would be king, would rule by the law and the will of the gods, and Remus would...get to be Remus for the rest of his life, a crown prince without a care in the world.

“Tell me about the dream, Roro.”

Remus's voice was gentle this time, his fingers walking their way along Roman's arm until he could find his hand and weave it into his own.

Roman sighed, staring up at the mural on the ceiling of his bedchamber—a beautifully wrought depiction of the Fall of Death, the final battle between the Animator, the first of the Necromata, and their ancestor, King Thomas Andres, that had saved the Kingdoms over a thousand years ago.

“He was in it.”

“The boy from the dungeons?”

Roman nodded. He could feel Remus watching him...

Just like he could feel the boy from the dungeons watching him every time he had the dream... ********** “He was here again.”

“Jumpin' Jiminy, Lo—are you sure?”

Logan nodded, mostly to himself. Patton couldn't see him, not from the bathtub behind the partition that separated it from the rest of the room, but it hardly mattered—after eight years as cell mates, the two of them had become as close as brothers, as close as twins according to some of the guards that had met the king's identical twin sons.

They had grown so naturally into the relationship, it made Logan wonder sometimes if he'd had a brother before his Name had been taken.

Well...it made him wonder in the early days, at any rate. Logan had stopped wondering many years ago.

Suffice to say, Patton didn't need to see him nod to know that Logan had.

“Well? What'd he do?”

Logan let his mind wander back to the night before—the dream space that he so often occupied, the boy that had come to him in the dark ten years before with a bowl of water, a leather strap, and a name.

The boy he'd come to think of as the Green Man, with those eyes that the dark couldn't fully hide.

“The same thing he always does.” Logan managed to reply, setting down the pen he'd been using in favor of resting his elbows on his desk and steepling his fingers to press against his lips. Among those Necromata imprisoned in the palace dungeons, Logan was quite fortunate: he was allowed a cell mate, access to books and writing implements, even a small window sill garden consisting of plants that couldn't be used for magical purposes.

He was very lucky. Ten years of good behavior had given him an incredible amount of leeway and granted him creature comforts like access to regular bathing privileges. The guards even referred to him by his chosen name.

He was, for all intents and purposes, treated like he was truly human. A prisoner, always, but one the guards and prison mages shared a basic blood connection to, unlike the other Necromata.

“...Lo?...Logan!”

Shaking himself, Logan cleared his throat and tried to beat back the heat he could feel rising in his cheeks, having been caught wool gathering.

“Apologies, I didn't catch that.” he called over his shoulder.

“I said, did he say anything this time?”

Logan shook his head, knowing once again that his actions would be understood rather than seen. Patton asked the same thing every time Logan mentioned the visits, and every time it was the same.

If Patton really knew the content of the Green Man's visitations...

Pressing his fingertips to his mouth again, Logan shut his eyes and let himself remember.

The visits were always in a dream space—for years, before the visitations became more regular, Logan had assumed the Green Man was a guard's son, or the child of some member of the palace staff. Later, when the Green Man came to Logan in his sleep, he figured he was the son of a prison or court mage—who else could manage to dream walk in the mind of even a crippled necromancer like him?

Then again...Logan was different from many prisoners like himself.

In the dream, Logan still cannot see his face. Like those ephemeral dreams from his first few nights in the dungeons, he's little more than shadows with burning points of light the color of fresh shoots just springing from the soil. Over the years, he's become more distinct, but still nothing Logan can give any real definition.

He is a man made of darkness, his eyes reflecting what spark of magic lives within him. They never speak to each other—Logan never dares, secretly apprehensive that disturbing the quiet will somehow end this irregular communion they share.

All the Green Man does is extend a hand, the only part of him Logan can truly see. What was once small and slim fingered has changed over the years into a large hand, broad but lean, tendons standing out below each knuckle and tanned by exposure to the sun. Every time, he reaches out, and every time, Logan takes his hand and just...holds on.

In the dream space, Logan can feel his touch. It's likely a projection, something imagined, but there's strength and warmth in that hand—the pressure of fingers meshing with his own, the heat of palm sealed to palm. There's something under the skin, itchy and trembling, and it makes Logan want to pull away because it's just too much...

The Green Man never lets him. Gradually, the feeling passes, and Logan clings until the feeling returns, crashing over him and sliding back in waves beating the shore of his nervous system.

Logan is always the first to let go. The Green Man makes sure of it—and then he leaves.

“Are you okay, kiddo?”

Logan looked up sharply, twisting to see Patton over his shoulder. His mop of tawny curls is swept back from his face, still dark and wet from his bath, the chill of the cell raising gooseflesh on his bare torso.

He has one hand holding the towel around his waist, and the other resting on Logan's shoulder.

The pressure is barely there, that buzzing awareness of contact easily missed if not expected.

Patton hastily lifts his hand, face screwed up in silent apology. Logan dislikes physical contact, even if he cannot feel it—just like any of the Necromata, so divorced from the living, human populous that they cannot even connect to them through touch.

“Didn't mean to spook you, Lo. Just...you're real quiet. Usually, you got more to say after a visit from You Know Who.”

Logan nodded, then made a point of reaching out to squeeze Patton's hand briefly before letting it go just as quickly.

“Apologies. I suppose I'm just...distracted by today.”

“Yeah—hey, you think the prince'll come down here?” Patton asked hopefully, drawing back to go and find some clothes. “I mean, if he's gonna learn to be king after the ceremony...”

Logan let Patton continue to chatter about the potential for this new ruler to somehow see their plight, somehow be their salvation. He let the words, the hope, wash over him without making contact.

Patton could have hope, because he had no Name. No history, no memory, no past and therefore no future. He was a blank slate, for all intents and purposes, unable to access the power of the Necromata with no life of his own to bind it to.

Unlike Logan. Logan, who no longer wondered if he'd had a brother in his family.

Logan, who could share a dream space, something only mages were capable of.

Logan, who had been given a new name by his benefactor so many years ago, a name that others used daily.

Logan Berry, who even now could feel the essence of every rat behind the dungeon walls, every guard on patrol, every prisoner languishing beneath the lowest floors of the palace...and every noble, every royal, every peasant up above.

Logan Berry, who could not remember his family, but could remember that he once had a brother.

Because, despite the fact that a Name taken could not be restored so easily, Logan had taken a name freely given and made it his own.

A Name, freely given. A life, restored.

Logan could not have hope, because he had the power of the Necromata at his fingertips—and it was only a matter of time before good behavior would no longer be enough to earn him the leeway to stay alive.

[violets-and-books]

Thank you for the tag Rae <3 but how dare you steal Lore now I have no one to tag /hj

How many works do you have on ao3 so far?

29, though only a couple are Six of Crows. I've some left over from my Sanders Sides and star trek fic moments

What is your ao3 word count?

473,615 which is... wow. I write a lot, huh?

What fandoms do you write for?

Six of Crows predominantly rn but I used to write for Star Trek and Sanders Sides. I might return to Star Trek, who knows 🤷‍♀️ It's not like I've not got ideas

Top 5 fics by kudos:

A Catalogue of Kisses (897)

How to get a Tired Demo Expert to Sleep (741 - my first wesper fic ever aaaa)

Putting a Label on it (593)

Down Payment (567)

Inlaid with Stars (563)

Do you respond to comments? Why/why not?

I love responding to comments! If there's something in the comment for me to respond to, I'll do it. I love interacting with people who love what I love!

What's a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

For all my love of angst, I do prefer happy endings. Ummmm, I would say probably, compared to my other fics, Bow Before your King has the angstiest ending, just because they've got a lot of trust to rebuild. It's not angst but it's the closest to it, I think

What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Inlaid with Stars, definitely. Proper Disney ending. Love it, still the happiest I've got by far

Do you get hate on your fics?

I got harsh criticism on my Star Trek fics, specifically for my word choices, which is why I stopped writing for the fandom. But not hate, I think hate's a strong word

Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I've written two Disney crossovers and then my Star was wip. I think A Prize for Traitors (star wars) is my craziest just for sheer ambition

Have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, I don't think so

Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, I don't think I'm good enough for that, lol 😂

Have you ever cowritten a fic?

Attempted it with @reactiontolife but the idea never got off the ground, sadly

What's your all-time favourite ship?

Wesperrrrrrr or Jack x Sally from the nightmare before christmas

What's a WIP you'd like to finish but doubt you ever will?

My Sanders Sides Much Ado About Nothing au. God, it was so good, I'm just not interested in it anymore 😭

What are your writing strengths?

Description and dialogue. It just comes so easy to me, like transcribing the TV screen in my head. I love writing it so much! Description especially, it comes so easily and I practice it a lot just accidentally, out in the wild

What are your writing weaknesses?

Action. And hurt/comfort. But mostly action

Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

If i know the language, it's alright, or if its just a couple words. But I'm really really dumb so I only know English so if its some language I don't know, I'm pulling up Google Translate and that pulls me out of it a little

First fandom you ever wrote for?

Harry Potter, self-insert fanfic in my childhood notebooks (I was always Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood's child). Do not perceive me for this-

Favourite fic you've ever written?

Either my one shot Starlight or Bow Before your King. They both still get me excited when I reread them and writing them was a big step for me in changing the way I write or trying new things (whump and switching POVs a lot, mostly). Also As You Wish because I wrote it for my beloved and it's also just a super good one shot in general

Tags: @reactiontolife @jesuislaluneetlesetoiles and anyone who wants to do it :]

Thanks for the tag @sixofsol ! I've missed these kinda tag games, they're so fun to do!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

20 so far! (I published my first fic in Jan of this year oml)

2. What is your AO3 word count?

172,381! My goal is to get 200k written by new years day but October was a terrible month for writing so I'm 10k words behind schedule :(

3. What fandoms do you write for?

So far only six of crows. One day I want to branch out into rwrb or lokius but for now the wesper brainrot is way too strong

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

Of Merchlings and Letters Home with 963

Of Lies and Rash Decisions with 839

I Wish You Meant It with 787

You got me wrapped around your finger (not that I'm complaining) with 600

Jesper Fahey Couldn't Sleep with 537

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I love responding to comments as they make my smile sm. Sometimes I'm too overwhelmed (in a good way) or busy to answer immediately but I do try my best!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Heh it definitely has to be Just You and Me Merchling. I had so much fun writing that one, hurt no comfort is my beloved.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Uhm, depends on how you want to look at it. Fic with the fluffiest ending? Probably Summer Days Drifting Away or Out Of The Blue. Fic where they finally found happiness after everything they'd been through? Flair For The Dramatics or Never Let Me Go. Fic where against all odds it worked out in the end? Of Lies and Rash Decisions.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Thankfully I haven't to my knowledge.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I dabble in some every now and then... it's always soft and either full of jesper being a simp or a pining idiot (or both) during it. Lost On The Shape Of You and The Longest Hour are my only published examples

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

The only crossover I've published was Never Let Me Go, if that even counts considering it was more of a Spiderverse AU then a Spiderverse crossover. I have a How To Train Your Dragon wesper au in the works, but it's still in the baby phase so I don't yet know how faithful to the og movie the storyline will play out. There will definitely be all the iconic scenes anyway.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge, no.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yeah! Of Merchlings and Letters Home, Of Lies and Rash Decisions and Flair For The Dramatics have all been translated into French by the wonderful shippoutsy on ao3 and twitter. (Link to the translated fics in the titles) it is one of the highest honour someone can bestow to a fanfic writer in my opinion, alongside fanart and book binding. If I was only more fluent in my native language I'd offer to translate so many of my fave fics

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Not yet, but I'd love to one day! @mezlymils squinting at you babe

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

Wesper... who's surprised?? Nobody

15. What's a WIP you'd like to finish but doubt you ever will?

So far it's my Rose Tinted Glasses wip. Tooth rotting fluff is way too difficult for me to write and I am STRUGGLING.

There's also the omalh epilogue

16. What are your writing strengths?

Metaphors are my lover and descriptive imagery my best friend!! I love being able to metaphor the fuck out of everything and I defo think one of my strengths is setting the scene. There's also internal monologuing but I think that's my adhd jumping out there hehe

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Definitely dialogue and small scenes that don't require much description, such as washing dishes or something else mundane but necessary to the scene. I don't feel like I'm a very humorous person so having dialogue that's natural and in character is something I can struggle with a LOT.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

It's quiet jarring to me personally, really takes me out of the scene and forces me to disconnect from the fic, especially if its a language I don't know. A word or two is fine, but whole sentences don't work for me.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

I used to publish marauders fics on wattpad when I was 12...

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

Of Lies and Rash Decisions my eldest child, Little Stolen Moments my middle child and Never Let Me Go my youngest child. Those fics are everything to me for so many reasons that I won't delve into here lest I bore you lmao

Tagging: @mezlymilsposts @crowpricorn @sunfl8wer @violets-and-books @littlelcvestory @thesacredlore ♡

[gaylotusthatexists]

escaped

fandom: sanders sides

pairings: platonic analogical and moxiety, background logicality

prompt: trust issues

trigger warnings: injury mention, nightmares, panic attack, let me know if i need to add anything else

word count: 3310 

a/n: this was requested by @skelevale​ and written for the @badthingshappenbingo​! this was fun for me to write haha so thank u for the request, i hope that y’all enjoy ^^

ao3 

Virgil spread out his wings and took flight, leaving the cave he'd used for shelter last night. What he hadn't expected to happen was for him to immediately tumble down the side of the mountain, hit several trees on the way down, and land on the hard floor, his entire body beginning to ache. That was weird - he'd been flying just fine the day before, what had-

Oh, shit. His eyes widened as he saw the state his wings were in. Feathers missing, a huge tear down one side, some feathers a little burnt around the edges. He supposed it was to be expected, after the trouble he had gotten into the day before, those army men trying to shoot him out of the sky. He just hadn't realised how bad it had been, hadn't had much time to check over before he collapsed and fell asleep.

He needed help, someone to fix this. But it wasn't as if he could easily find help. Unlike most injured people, he couldn't just walk into A&E, or go into a shop to buy bandages. No, no, that would only get him killed sooner. He needed to get out of this forest, find someplace safer. He knew there was a town on the other side of the forest, one that he'd seen a few times in the air, but he wasn't sure how accepting that place was. And he couldn't go back to where he came from, couldn't risk it.

He tried to fly again, but only managed to hover in the air for a few seconds before collapsing again, hitting his head on a rock below and very nearly screaming out in pain. He kept it in, though - he was well practised in the art of staying silent, even when he wanted nothing more than to shout out to the world. He rubbed the back of his head as he sat back up, and noticed blood staining his hand once he drew away. Well - that wasn't good.

His only hope was walking until he found some sort of safe place. Perhaps that town would be friendly - if it was, he'd be able to get some supplies and patch himself up, or even find someone to help him. The chances were low, but... it was worth a shot. He stood up and began to walk through the forest, his wings curling around his body as a sort of defence. A weak defence, really, considering about battered they were.

The town would have only been a fifteen minute fly away, but on foot he had no idea. He wasn't the fastest of walkers, not used to using his legs unless he absolutely had to. But perhaps fear could fuel him, the knowledge that there were people out to get him, and that if he didn't move quickly he could get caught.

His stomach rumbled and he instinctively wrapped his arms around his waist, eyes falling down to the floor. For a moment, he felt dizzy, his vision blurring, before he took a deep breath and continued moving forward, perhaps a little slower than before. When was the last time he'd eaten? Days seemed to blur together when he'd been on the run for so long, and it was difficult to find food in the wild that wouldn't kill him. There had been that kind couple he met near the last village, who'd given him some supplies before telling him to run. He'd been so, so grateful for that, but he'd ran out of that food a while ago, and it must have been almost a month since he'd been at the village.

Okay, okay. Just... a little rest. He moved over to the side of the path and sat down at the base of a tree, taking off his bag and taking in several deep breaths, holding his head in his hands. The pain was beginning to catch up with him, his dead wings weighing down on him. He took his bottle out of his bag and had a large gulp of water, which helped just a little.

Was it already nighttime? Looking up, he noticed the sky beginning to darken, the setting sun casting an orange glow over the forest. Perhaps he'd just woken up late - thinking about it, he had been pretty exhausted. Maybe a little nap now wouldn't hurt. He hadn't spotted anyone else on his travels, and those army men had their base on the other side of the forest. He curled up in his spot, closing his eyes for just a second, and was immediately swept into his dreams.

Bound in chains and drenched in sweat. People called his name - no, a number, he needed to remind himself that his name was Virgil, not whatever they called him. People called a number and he had to follow, knowing exactly what was about to happen, and knowing there was no way he could stop it.

It was always a blur, but he could remember the pain, as his feathers were stripped away and he cried and cried, trying to ignore the blood and his own screams. They ignored it, too, so why couldn't he?

And then darkness, thrown against the cold, hard floor, bound in chains again. A small room, enclosed, hardly enough space to stand, definitely not enough space to move. Not that he would be able to move anyway. And he' d cry, all the time. There was nothing much else to do.

A whisper, echoing through the dark, calling him, death beckoning closer, the alarm sounding, his head racing, blood dripping down his arms, and no one coming to save him.

Virgil woke up, trying to catch his breath, and wondering why there were tears falling down his cheeks. He didn't want this, didn't want to think about everything that had happened. He remembered what it was like, and knew he'd never go back, couldn't go back. He'd escaped now, he was free, he was...

A sound, further in the forest. A twig, snapping, and someone moving suddenly, hiding behind a tree. Virgil could hear them breathing, could hear them shuffling in place. They thought they were doing a good job of hiding, but Virgil could see their body behind the tree, their shadow on the ground. He wiped away his tears and tried his best to remain calm.

"Who's there?" he spoke out, cringing at how quiet and hoarse his voice was. It had been a while since he'd used his voice.

There was no response.

Virgil tried again. "I'm not afraid of you." Lie. "Just show yourself." Please don't. Please just leave.

The person behind the tree moved, slowly spinning around and facing Virgil with his hands in the air. He looked... friendly. Not wearing the uniform of anyone who would try to hurt Virgil, at least, unless he was in disguise, or just a general asshole. No, no, he just looked like a normal person, jeans and a shirt, glasses, a blue tie. And a knife, strapped around his belt. Virgil kept his eyes fixed on the knife, trying to control his fear.

The man slowly reached down for his knife and Virgil stiffened. But then, he threw the knife away, a few feet further along the path, and lowered his body so he was eye level with Virgil. "Are you okay?" he asked, softly, with genuine concern.

Virgil just stared at him, unsure what to make of him. He... didn't look like a threat, but he did have that knife, and there was no indication that he didn't have any more weapons. "Who do you work for?" he ended up asking, trying to stay as far away from him as possible until he knew he'd be able to trust him.

"I'm self-employed," the man replied. "I'm a scientist, conducting research in these woods."

Virgil's shoulders stiffened again at that. Scientists. He'd never met a scientist on his side before. He- He didn't want things to go back to the way they were, he-

"Don't worry," the man continued, "I'm not going to hurt you. I want to help."

Virgil looked him up and down, trying to figure out if he was okay. He... wasn't displaying any signs of aggression, so...

"You're injured," the man stated. "I can help you. My husband is a doctor, I could take you to see him."

A doctor. Virgil hadn't had many good experiences with them either.

"Please, I just want to help. Are you- Are you with anyone else?"

Virgil shook his head.

"No, family? Friends?"

"I'm completely alone."

"You're... a child, though."

He wasn't a child. "I'm seventeen."

"That's still a child."

Virgil didn't reply. He wanted to run, get far, far away, but was afraid the man might try something to get him to stay. It was probably better to just comply, assess the situation as he went, and escape when he had an open opportunity.

"My name's Logan," the man introduced. "Can I ask what yours is?"

He stayed silent.

"Okay, that's fine." Logan rose up, standing tall and offering a hand. "Let me take you back to my house. My husband will be able to help you there."

Virgil stared at Logan's hand for a moment, before standing up himself, not needing Logan's help. He grabbed his bag and began to follow Logan through the forest, silently. At least he was going willingly at that moment, it wasn't as if Logan was forcing him. Perhaps that was a good sign. Or maybe Logan was just trying to build up a false sense of security.

Virgil's eyes followed the knife on the ground as they walked, waiting for Logan to retrieve it. He didn't, instead abandoning it on the forest floor. And when he looked back up at Logan, he was smiling, giving him a comforting look. This- This seemed okay. Logan wasn't trying to hurt him, not like everyone else did. His wings curled around his body again, shielding himself as he walked. He kept his eyes fixed on Logan.

"So," Logan said, after fifteen minutes or so of silence, "what are you doing in this forest?"

Virgil's eyes fell to the floor. "Couldn't fly. Got stuck."

"Ah. Where exactly were you heading before?"

Virgil shrugged.

"You... don't know?"

"Just away."

"Are you running from someone?"

"Do you have to ask so many questions?" Virgil snapped.

Logan seemed taken aback. "Sorry. I'm just curious. We don't really see a lot of winged teens wandering the forest."

"Yeah, well-" He shoved his hands in his pocket. "-it's not like I'm here by choice."

"Is there somewhere else you'd rather be?" After Virgil didn't respond, Logan added, "Surely you must have a home somewhere. Family, or something."

Virgil shook his head. "Nope. Like I said, I'm all alone." He kicked a rock on the ground, watching it bounce along the path.

Logan was quiet for a while longer, before he glanced over at Virgil again. "Are you hungry?"

"No." As if on cue, his stomach growled again. "Yes."

"Here." Logan handed him a small cereal bar, with writing he didn't understand on the wrapper. "It's not much, but it will keep you going."

Virgil twisted it around in his fingers, examining it to see if there was anything wrong, before opening it and taking a small bite. It wasn't the best thing he'd ever eaten, but didn't taste like it was poisoned either, and he hadn't eaten in a while so it was... welcome. He ate the whole thing in a matter of seconds, feeling just a little bit better. "Thank you."

"It's quite alright, uh-"

"Virgil."

"Virgil." Logan smiled. The tips of Virgil's mouth tilted up slightly, before he plastered on a frown again. He shoved his hands back in his pockets, fiddling with the empty wrapper as he walked.

Eventually, Logan came to a stop, by a small cottage in the middle of the forest, cosy and warm, the smell of pie drifting out the open window. Virgil swallowed, trying his best to force his stomach not to growl, as he didn't want to seem ungrateful for the food Logan had already given him. Virgil followed Logan into the house, scrunching up his wings to fit through the doorway.

"Patton!" Logan called, stepping further into the house, as Virgil loitered closer to the entrance, surveying his surroundings. The house looked nice enough, nothing like the place he'd previously 'lived' in. Pictures of Logan and an unfamiliar man were hung on the walls, and flowers were dotted around the rooms in little pots, adding a dash of colour. It looked nice, but Virgil still refused to lower his guard.

A man came out of the kitchen, eyes widening as he spotted Virgil. He looked to be kind enough as well, with curly hair and a round, freckle-dotted face, wearing a blue t-shirt tucked into a flowing skirt. Upon realising Virgil's condition, he rushed over, eyes immediately filled with sympathy.

"What happened?" the man - Patton, Virgil presumed - asked, as he looked around Virgil's body, getting way to close for comfort. Virgil couldn't help but move back, folding his arms and wings around his body protectively.

"This is Virgil," Logan introduced. "Found him in the forest."

"Oh, you poor kiddo." Patton stepped back, looking Virgil up and down. "C'mon, let's get you patched up." He moved further into the house and, after glancing at Logan and receiving a comforting nod, Virgil followed.

The three of them moved into the kitchen, and the smell of the pie from earlier only got more intense. Virgil tried his best not to stare at it as he sat down at the table at Patton's command. Patton got down on his knees and began to clean up some of Virgil's wounds, dapping a wet cloth on some of the cuts. It stung, just a little, and Virgil wasn't quite sure what to do, wasn't sure if he could trust Patton, but he sat there anyway, not able to think of an easy escape.

"What happened?" Patton asked, as he began to wrap some bandages around Virgil.

Virgil closed his eyes. "I don't- I don't want to talk about it."

Patton looked concerned, but didn't dig any further, which filled Virgil with relief. He continued to patch Virgil up until all the cuts had been wrapped in a bandage or given a plaster, before he moved around to his back and looked at his wings. Virgil turned his head and body slightly so he was still facing Patton, still trying his best to maintain a calm composure. When Patton touched his wings, Virgil couldn't help but flinch, move his wings back, stiffen his shoulders.

"Sorry!" Patton immediately apologised, now looking a little panicked. "Did that hurt?"

It hadn't hurt, not really, but...

"Is it okay if I touch them?" Patton asked, after Virgil's silence. "I just need to figure out the best way to fix them, but I can do it without touching if you'd prefer."

Virgil relaxed a little at that. "Don't. Please."

Patton nodded. "Okay." There was an extended period of silence as Patton moved around Virgil, humming every now and then. Virgil looked over at Logan across the room, who was looking at them with a curious expression. Virgil didn't know what to make of that, but everything in his mind screamed danger. He knew that was... unlikely, Logan had only been kind to him so far, but...

"Virgil, can I ask you a question?" Logan asked, breaking the silence.

Virgil blinked. "Uh..."

"How long have you been out here alone?"

Virgil's leg bounced up and down. "I- I don't know. Few months? Half a year?"

"Interesting. It's just-" Logan paused, considering Virgil for a second, before continuing anyway. "-I know someone, another scientist, who works in a... rehabilitation centre for people such as yourself, and they were telling me about how someone escaped five or so months ago, someone who... fits your description pretty well."

Virgil's whole body tensed up at that, his eyes widening in fear. Fuck. What if- What if Logan was that kind of scientist? What if he was going to hurt Virgil? What if he was going to send him back?

"R-Rehabilitation?" Virgil repeated, in hopes that maybe it was a different place. Wherever he had been stuck certainly wasn't to 'rehabilitate' him.

"Well, that's how they described it," Logan said. "I don't know the specifics of what they do. It's across the country, anyway, at least a few cities over. They seemed pretty concerned, though. Everyone is still looking for you - or, well, for whoever went missing."

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. Virgil could feel the panic building up inside him, his heart beginning to race, vision blurring as he stood up, moving away from the couple. It was getting harder and harder to breathe, and Virgil just- He- "I need some air," he let out, quietly, before rushing back towards the door, our into the forest. Logan and Patton followed him - of fucking course they did, why wouldn't they, they're trying to kidnap me, send me back there, fuck - but halted in the doorway, as Virgil took off, shooting into the air. He cringed at the pain soaring up his back as he tried to move his wings, feathers falling to the ground and Virgil losing his balance very quickly. He fell back down to the floor, trying not to cry upon impact, and curled up into a ball, wrapping his wings around himself protectively, wishing that he could just disappear, or that Logan and Patton would just leave him alone, or that-

"Virgil," a voice said next to him, "breathe with me, okay?"

Virgil peeked one eye open, noticing Logan close to him, counting on his fingers. For a while, Virgil just stared at him, vision slowly turning darker and darker, until he began to attempt to copy Logan's rhythm, breathing in and out, in and out, until he was calm again, until the world made an ounce more of sense. As Virgil slowly uncurled himself, still staying on the floor but sitting up and staring down at the dirt, Logan moved away.

"Are you alright, Virgil?" Logan eventually asked, crouching down so he was eye level with him. Virgil still refused to look Logan in the eye.

"No," Virgil admitted, wrapping his arms around his waist and hunching his shoulders.

"Are- Is it you? The one who ran away?"

Virgil's silence confirmed the answer as yes.

"And you... don't want to go back?" Logan guessed.

Virgil nodded.

"Did- Did they hurt you?"

Virgil was still for a moment, before he eventually nodded again. Logan reached out a hand towards Virgil, but Virgil just shuffled back, afraid. "Please- Please don't send me back there."

"I promise that we won't send you back," Logan said. "We can keep you safe here, okay? You can trust us."

Virgil gulped. "H-How?"

Logan blinked. "I... know it may be difficult to believe, or that you may find it hard to trust us after everything you've been through, but Patton and I are... good people. Or, we're trying to be. We won't hurt you, we promise. We just want to help. And- And if you want it, you can have a home here, okay?"

Virgil looked at Logan for a while, trying to blink away his tears. He had to admit that Logan had been nothing but kind to him, and... and if seemed safe, here.

"You can leave at any time, of course," Logan added. "Or leave now. Really, it's up to you. I just need to you know that the option is there."

After a while of consideration, Virgil slowly nodded. "Okay. Okay. Th-Thank you."

Logan smiled. "We have that pie inside to eat if you're still hungry."

Virgil's eyes lit up.

[sleepless-in-starbucks]

Beautiful Stranger

Ao3

Summary: Five years. He’s known Roman for five years. And yet today, for some reason completely beyond Virgil’s grasp, he feels like he’s never so much as met this man. But maybe that’s okay. Warnings: Nothing? I think? Let me know if I missed something Pairing: Prinxiety Misc notes: Inspired by Halsey’s Finally // Beautiful Stranger

    Beautiful stranger, here you are

    In my arms

    And I know

    That beautiful strangers

    Only come to do me wrong

Virgil couldn’t have explained it if he tried. That didn’t mean he didn’t want to; oh how he wanted to be able to explain this. But there were no words that could describe this feeling. No words that could lay out in clear terms what was happening.

He had known Roman for five years. High school rivals turned college friends. It didn’t make much sense, but Virgil had given up trying to force Roman or anything involving Roman to follow the rules of sense. 

And now the same was happening here. There was no sense in looking at a man he had known so long and feeling as if they had never met. It wasn’t even that, really, because he didn’t feel like they had never met. He just felt like the man he had met wasn’t this man.

But that didn’t make sense either. Roman was Roman. He was the man Virgil knew, and he had never changed his ways. His dramatics, his flare, his flamboyance, all of it. He was the same as always. And yet… he wasn’t.

And words still weren’t helping Virgil figure this out.

It was late. He and Roman had come to Roman’s apartment after a particularly trying english exam, flopped on Roman’s couch, and hadn’t moved since. The late afternoon sunlight that had been filtering through the shutters had been gradually replaced by dusk and dark, the only light now coming from scattered moonbeams. Virgil was lying against Roman’s chest, head resting against his shoulder while Roman had one arm wrapped loosely over Virgil’s back.

There wasn’t anything abnormal or exciting about it. They did this a lot. More or less after every test they had together, sometimes for tests only one of them had taken. It was normal. Commonplace.

So why did this time feel so different?

“Got something you want to share with the class?”

Virgil broke out of his thoughts at the sound of Roman’s voice, quiet and lightly teasing. He was smirking, looking amused.

“What?”

“You’ve been staring at me for five minutes.” Roman explained simply, cocking his head to the side just the slightest. “I know I’m a sight to behold, but you’ve never been much of a beholder. Something up?”

Virgil faintly blushed, embarrassed to have been caught staring like some tween with a bad crush. “Nothing.” He answered equally quietly, unsure why the space or the moment seemed to demand reverence but abiding by its quiet nonetheless. “Just spaced out.”

Roman didn’t look like he fully believed that, but he still half-shrugged at the cop out of an answer. “Fair enough.” He said, settling once more against the couch and looking out the window.

The silence held for a couple minutes. Virgil looked down into his lap, trying to avoid another awkward moment. Though his gaze was off Roman, however, his thoughts were not.

“Care to dance?” Roman broke the silence.

Virgil looked back up at him, Roman now looking at him with a small half-smile and a curious expression. “Dance?” Virgil repeated, faintly bewildered.

Roman nodded. “We’ve been sitting here for at least two hours without moving. I figure we should stretch in some way or another.”

“And you want that way to be dancing?”

“Why shouldn’t it be?” Roman asked. “Come on. It’ll be good, promise.”

Virgil watched Roman for a moment, not certain what he was looking for but deciding quickly enough it was probably there. He nodded, just a little, and Roman’s smile grew.

Roman got off the couch easily, managing to move Virgil so that he was barely jostled as his makeshift pillow stood. As soon as he was on his feet, Roman offered a hand to Virgil.

A beat passed before Virgil actually took it.

“I hope you know I can’t dance.” Virgil said as he rose, gently pulled up by Roman.

“I’ve got two left feet- don’t worry.” Roman reassured. “I’m not going to try and perform the tango.”

“Then what are you going to try to perform?”

“Nothing fancy.” Roman promised as he guided Virgil’s arms around the back of his neck, loosely placed and held, as he himself moved his hands to lightly hold Virgil’s hips. “Just a little bit of back-and-forth steps.”

Virgil tried to ignore the odd sensation of… something in his chest. He wasn’t sure what. He wasn’t sure why. He had been close to Roman before- barely a minute ago they had been more or less cuddling- and they had danced together too, though never like this. Normally they were stupid, quick wild dances, normally done when Roman was excited about something and deemed the only way appropriate to release that energy to be through dancing. This was more calculated. More personal. More important.

But for the love of the gods, Virgil couldn’t have told you why any of that mattered.

“Is this okay?” Roman asked, softly, yet another piece of a puzzle that wasn’t making any sense. Roman believed strongly in making sure people were comfortable with what was happening and being wary of personal boundaries. But he only ever asked strangers if they were okay with something. With friends, he learned their tells, and was able to call the whole thing off without so much as a word from the uncomfortable person. He had never missed a sign before, and Virgil doubted he ever would.

So why was he asking? Especially Virgil, who’s tells he had been learning for five years filled with panic attacks and anxious breakdowns. If anyone knew when he wasn’t comfortable at any given moment, it was Roman.

Thoughts getting him nowhere, Virgil turned his attention back to reality, nodding slightly in answer to Roman’s question. Roman watched him for a moment after the nod. Virgil couldn’t tell if he wanted to be certain that Virgil was telling the truth or if there was some other reason he felt his gaze had to linger.

The moment passed soon enough, however, and Roman began to move, starting with slow, small movements, swaying slightly as he stepped forwards once and backwards twice. Virgil easily replicated his movements, copying his steps and swaying with him.

Minutes passed and their dance barely changed, Roman introducing a slight turn as they stepped that had them slowly circling but little else. Virgil continued to follow the dance, steps never faltering despite the fact that he was watching Roman’s face and not his feet.

Roman’s eyes were a pale green (how had Virgil never noticed before?) but Virgil could have sworn they were gold for how brightly they shone even with only moonbeams to light them (why were they shining like that, especially when all Roman could see was him?).

Freckles decorated his face, over the bridge of his nose and across his cheeks as well (they must have hidden in his tan before, how else could Virgil only now realize Roman had them?), light brown and doing little more than somehow making Roman look more gorgeous (when did Virgil realize he was gorgeous?).

And his lips… (why was Virgil even focusing on his lips?) they were just lips, really, like any human would have (so why couldn’t Virgil stop thinking about them?).

“Who are you?” Virgil asked, not sure why. It was a stupid question, one that Roman couldn’t really answer, and Virgil knew that. But the silence had been waiting to be broken, and Virgil was weak to do anything else than offer the first thought he had to do so.

“That’s a silly question.” Roman said, lightly teasing, though the melancholy in his small smile didn’t match the tone. “I’m Roman.”

“I know that.” Virgil defended.

“So you asked because…?”

“Because you’re… different. You’re Roman, but you’re not- you’re not the Roman I know.” Virgil said before he sighed, eyes falling from Roman’s face to his chest. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“...I think I get what you mean.” Roman said, quietly, after a moment.

The silence once more stretched, Virgil still looking at Roman’s chest and Roman still swaying slightly as he led their slow circling dance. The words still didn’t make sense, still didn’t explain how he was feeling, didn’t explain what it meant to be in the apartment of a long-time friend and feel as if you were just dancing with a stranger.

“Beautiful stranger.” Virgil murmured. That wasn’t really right either. But it was closer.

“Pardon?”

Virgil didn’t respond immediately, letting them make one more full circle before he said, quietly, barely a whisper, “You’re a beautiful stranger.”

Roman was then the one to let the silence stretch across the time of one more circle, leaving Virgil to only hope he understood what Virgil meant, that it wasn’t just some sort of odd compliment but instead something so much more meaningful.

“And what does that mean?” Roman asked, though Virgil could tell he didn’t want the literal definition of Virgil’s words.

“I’m terrified.” Virgil admitted.

“So am I.” Roman responded. “But I think… I think that’s okay.”

Virgil finally looked up, meeting Roman’s eyes again, not so much unable to place the emotion in them as he was afraid to do so. “Is it?” He asked, cautiously, afraid of what would break if Roman said no.

Roman met his eyes for a moment before he answered, clearly thinking, clearly considering, but Virgil could tell it wasn’t to consider his own answer. He was considering the answer Virgil wanted to hear. He had already made his own decision.

“Yeah.” Roman said, finally. “It is.”

Another moment, another beat, another pause passed without a word, without a movement aside from their steps. And then one of them was leaning forwards- Virgil really wasn’t sure which, it might have been both of them- and they were kissing, just as slowly and gingerly as they were dancing.

Virgil wasn’t sure how long they were kissing, but he decided it was perfect. He was breathless when they pulled apart, but only slightly. He took a breath as he looked at Roman, who was smiling, a big yet gentle smile, and Virgil couldn’t help but smile back.

Still smiling, Virgil leaned his head against Roman’s shoulder, allowing himself to be rocked by Roman’s swaying as they continued their dance, just closer now. Virgil’s arms moved to hold Roman’s waist, and Roman’s moved up to wrap around Virgil’s chest. Virgil knew they’d have to stop dancing soon enough, have to sit down and actually talk about this- about them.

But for now, he was happy to stay like this, comfortable in the silence, content in the hold of a beautiful stranger.

Beautiful Stranger, here you are

In my arms

And I think it’s finally

Finally

Finally

Finally

Finally safe

For me to fall

[subtlereferencetomyinterests]

I’d Like to Stand By Him

Ao3,  MasterPost

Relationships: Prinxiety!

Wow low-key a fanfic right-of-passage, I’m finally writing prinxiety! I do love it, it’s popular for a reason! Also I should probably do a masterpost  but, we’ll cross that bridge soon enough,, this is based on the side tracks! I know that this has deffo been done before but I wanted to,,,, so yeah!

Warnings: cursing, mild hurt/comfort, fluffffffff.

Word count: 1,572

No one man could listen to this much indie pop on a daily basis; not without hurling, anyway. Virgil stared up at Roman’s velvet-colored ceiling with narrowed eyes as the final, agonizingly slow song on the playlist faded to silence, a tattered sketchbook laying forgotten on his chest. He took his headphones off and exited Spotify. 

“Well?” 

He sat up abruptly at Roman’s much-too-close voice. Virgil looked over to see his friend beaming, twirling his ornately-cased phone between his hands. 

“Meh,” Anxiety pushed the other trait out of his bubble. Roman scoffed and placed a hand on his chest. 

“Don’t ‘meh’ my favorite songs, you pop-punk party-pooper!” 

“My playlist was more punk rock, but okay.”

“Whatever, those subgenres all sound the same anyway.”

Virgil very carefully placed his sketchbook on the ground and then very not-carefully shoved Roman’s shoulder. Roman gasped dramatically and shoved back. They met eyes with a glare, which they held for about 30 seconds before cracking up together. Their laughs were wildly dissimilar: a low chuckle against what should really be called a shriek. 

Virgil let out a final amused huff and flopped back onto the bed. He nudged Roman with his shoe.

“Seriously, though. That was an excessive amount of sappy love songs.”

“You’re one to talk, Sally’s Song.”

“Oh please, Amy Lee and Tim Burton? Love song or not, it rocks.”

Roman hummed in agreement and fell back beside Virgil. There was a contemplative sort of quietness from the artistic side. Virgil turned his head to stare at him expectantly.

“I’ve never seen you think so hard in your life, Princey.”

Roman  huffed and flipped onto his side. 

“What’s it to you?”

He shrugged, a rather awkward motion in his current position.

“Just seemed like there was something on your mind, man. You can keep being all brooding and quiet if you want, but I should probably remind you that that’s my job.”

“It’s nothing, really, I was just... wondering.”

Virgil shifted to his side to look at Roman properly (and also to relieve the awful cramp developing at the base of his neck). He waited politely for the creative trait to continue, poking him in the shoulder when he didn’t.

“Wondering what, dude?”

“Do you think about anyone in particular when you listen to love songs?”

Dread crawled up Virgil’s spine.

“Do you?”

“Maybe.”

Oh, God. So that was what this was about. Virgil hadn’t deluded himself into thinking that Roman had feelings for him, but that didn’t mean he was ready to hear the side gush about who he did love. It stung, especially considering the times when Anxiety would look over at his friend, the two of them sitting in silence just to spend time together, and Roman would be looking back with cloudy eyes and a smile and he thought maybe- maybe. 

Maybe what? Clearly, it was nothing. It had never been anything.

Much as he didn’t want to hear about it, a grim, curious little part of Virgil still wanted to know who all that mediocre music was dedicated to. 

“Wow, Ro, now you’re shy? I know you; if you’ve got a thing for somebody, then it’s taking every ounce of your self-control not to literally sing a ballad about them right now.”

Roman flushed, breaking eye-contact with a chuckle. Virgil despised the part of him that wanted to kiss that stupid adorable look off his face. Ugh. 

“I’ll tell you,” Creativity murmured after a pause, “if you tell me who your songs are about.”

Virgil rolled his eyes so hard that they should’ve fallen out of his head. 

“First off- I never said that my music was about anyone. Secondly- are you serious?”

“We don’t have to, I just thought it could be fun.”

Wait, no, now he had to know who it was! Backtrack!

“Fine, whatever, I’ll tell you,” hah, as if, he was gonna lie through his teeth (and hopefully Janus would have the sense to mind his business and not check in). He’d get Roman’s sincere answer, and naturally he’d say something completely ridiculous to fuck with him, and then they’d laugh about his crush together. It might be enough to dull the ache that settled beneath his ribs.

Roman grinned- warm, bright, beaming- and sat up, clapping his hands together.

“I knew it! You are a big sap!” 

Virgil pulled himself up to sit across from the fanciful side with an exasperated groan.

“Yeah, right. So, on three?” 

Roman blinked in surprise and reddened a bit more. He cleared his throat, sitting up straighter (ha). He looked nervous, of all things. 

“Right. Three,” he took a deep breath and settled his hands in his lap, “Two,” he met Virgil’s forced smirk with a soft smile, “One.”

They shouted in unison, Roman and Virgil respectively: “You!” “Your brother!”

The laugh died in Anxiety’s throat before it had even had the chance to form, his eyes widening. He looked up abruptly- obviously they’d both had the same idea to trick the other into an embarrassing admission. It was a joke, it had to be.

It wasn’t, Virgil’s heart only sinking as he saw the genuine shock and pain in Roman’s expression.

“Oh.”

“Wait- you- really?!” 

Rather than answering, Creativity looked even more mortified and made to stand.

“Forget I said anything. I- I should just go. Good luck with Remus.”

Virgil caught his wrist.

“Okay,” he took a deep breath and tried to quell the absolute screaming that had overtaken his mind, “Okay. First off, this is your room, dude,” that was an easy start; stating the obvious. “Secondly, I don’t have a crush on your brother, it was just- it was a dumb joke. Third...” Alright, the hard part. At least Roman was listening now, looking a little less absolutely devastated. A little.

“Fuck, man, I- I really thought you were gonna say ‘Patton’, or something. I had no idea you, uh,” Virgil growled in frustration, “I thought you’d say somebody else, and when I said that, it would be so ridiculous and we would’ve laughed and I’d mess with you about your crush, but-”

“I’m sorry!” Roman howled, “It was stupid and I shouldn’t have said anything, okay?”

“No, that’s not what I meant! Look, it’s- I really like you, and-”

“Virgil, stop, you don’t have to do that. Just forget it, please.”

Fuck, how was he so bad at this? He couldn’t stand the thought of Roman believing that he didn’t love him back for another second, but he didn’t know what the hell to say to make him listen. Another noise of frustration rumbled low in his throat as he tried to fix this. Then it hit him, just how god-awful Roman was at listening; so he wouldn’t say anything. Not with words, anyway.

Virgil grabbed the sides of Roman’s face and pulled him abruptly forward, knocking their noses together before tilting his head and actually, finally kissing him. The creative side made a muffled exclamation at the clunky gesture of affection. It was barely a second before Virgil let him go and scooted back, both of their faces flaming red.  

Anxiety’s eyes flicked across the room, occasionally hazarding a glance at Roman to gauge his reaction. After determining he’d stunned the other into silence, he managed to speak.

“It was about you.”

“What?” 

“The song.”

“Oh, I’d forgotten about that.”

Virgil snorted. He looked up to find Roman watching him carefully, and smothered his laugh. There was a beat.

“You... Really?” Roman murmured. Anxiety scooched closer and bumped their shoulders together.

“I wouldn’t have kissed you if I didn’t mean it. You know that.”

Suddenly, Roman’s expression was consumed by a wide smile, and that was just not fair. Virgil couldn’t help smiling back (albeit without showing all of his damn teeth like a cartoon character). 

The romantic trait hadn’t recovered from the initial hurt entirely, his motions stilted as he took Virgil’s hand in both of his, but the touch was no less reverent for it. His eyes shone with relief and affection and a million other things that were honestly a little overwhelming, but Virgil didn’t particularly mind right then. 

“What’cha staring at, Ro?” he hoped the teasing tone made up for the fact that he not-so-subtly slid his unoccupied hand up to rest on Roman’s hip. 

“Nothing, Virge.”

And they met each other in the middle, so much more delicate and sweet and slow than before. Roman released Virgil’s hand to hold his waist and press closer. Virgil hummed against his lips. There was nothing to prove this time; no hurry. Just them, and the mutual affection that had waited far too long to surface.

Wow, Virgil really had gone soft. 

They pulled apart slowly, all quiet laughs and caring looks. It was at that moment Virgil realized that, due to his unwillingness to let himself fantasize about this beforehand, he had absolutely no fuckin’ clue what to do next. He pushed his hair out of his face and made a little distance between them.

“Uh- so- do you wanna, like- is this a thing now?” he cringed internally because holy fuck how was he so bad at this. 

Roman just chuckled, his former distress now completely erased. 

“You tell me, Emo.”

“I- yeah, we can- yeah.” 

He laughed again, and Anxiety groaned in embarrassment.

“Shut up, Princey.”

Roman shoved him. He shoved back. Business as usual- well, almost, anyway. 

@shrimp-crockpot

[taters169]

Here's a few I think need more love

On a cosmic scale

Back to the future fanfic, doc finds borrower marty in his lab

Trust multiverse

Four well written OCs in various combinations of size differences similar to borrower universe but they are called Viri

Rogue

Ben and Holly's little kingdom fanfic, set after the TV show and centered around their kid. (Wip)

Perspective series

Sanders sides in various combinations as borrowers and beans

someone send me gt stories to read im actually going insane trying to find more

[what-a-nightmare-ts-au]

Hey it's ok. You have no idea how many times I've wanted to curl up in my blankets and forget the world exists... it's not stupid and you're not weak. I'm assuming you've been through something traumatizing and that can take a long time to recover from. It's ok to feel those things

Ethan: …

Ethan: I can’t believe you. It’s just... it’s just not possible. But that’s really, really nice to hear anyway. I- I... I haven’t…

-His voice has gradually been diminished to mere whispers, and he covers his face as tears well up. He takes a few deep breaths, calming himself just enough to finish the sentence before breaking down.

Ethan: I haven’t heard anything like that in… ages. 

[missteanight]

Long ago, there lived two Kingdoms in harmony. The Kingdom of Delkate and the Kingdom of Petros.

It is said that there lived an ancient, deceiving beast who tricks its victims with false promises in the Kingdom of Petros. But no one knows where it currently hides.

In old folktales and songs of the common people, there once was a war between the two Kings -who founded their kingdom- against the guile beast. Once the King of Petros slayed the beast, the King of Delkate turned the beast into stone.

-

Thank you for taking your time!

[callboxkat]

Infinitesimal (part 28)

Author’s note: Are you ready? I’m not.

Warnings: feeling trapped, sleep deprivation, crying, injury mention, loneliness, sadness, food mention

Word count: 3560

Look for the masterpost in the notes!

...

Everything had been going well. Or, at least, it had seemed to be.

Then, suddenly, a shadow—an enormous, impossibly tall shadow—swept into the room.

Patton jumped out of his skin at the unexpected appearance, far too fast for him to duck out of view. He froze where he was, his neck craning back to look at the human towering overhead, unable to move from his spot. The bundle in his arms dropped as his grip slackened, sending its contents tumbling to the floor with a clatter that only distantly registered in his mind. His heart was in his throat, and he swallowed hard. He could feel himself begin to tremble.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. Not now.

The universe didn’t seem to care. The human turned to face him, his attention no doubt attracted by the noise.

“Patton?” Roman’s incredulous voice boomed out.  

…

4 hours earlier.

Patton was still lying atop the stack of books when he thought he heard a soft, tapping sound.

He did nothing for a few moments, just listening to it in mild curiosity. But when it became clear that not only was he not imagining it, but it was also coming from very close by, Patton began to sit up. He propped himself up on an elbow and looked down at the table. Something—no, someone was down there.

“Patton?” he heard a voice hiss. “Are you here?”

No… it couldn’t be.

The little sat up fully, ignoring the dizziness from the sudden movement, staring in disbelief.

“Virgil?”

The figure turned suddenly towards, and they made eye contact.

It was really him. It was Virgil. Even without the light from the new nightlight, there would have been no mistaking his silhouette, crutches and all.

Patton was already looking for the best way down from his perch. He scooted forward, looked for a good foothold. He found one quickly and started his way down. Virgil, too, made his way over, crutches tapping quietly on the wood, and waited at the base of the stack. Patton, however, didn’t take the hand that was offered to help him down the last couple steps, instead getting down on his own. Virgil frowned slightly at the action, his eyebrows drawing together. He lowered his hand.

Then Patton turned to face him; and for a moment, he simply stared at the newcomer.

Virgil’s confused look only intensified when Patton reached out and prodded his shoulder sharply. A little too hard, maybe, but… Patton had to make sure he was real.

“You came back,” he observed after a pause, his voice a breath.

…

“Of course, I did,” Virgil said, softening. “I would’ve come sooner, but I was….” He trailed off, seeing the look on Patton’s face. “Are you okay?”

Patton murmured something incomprehensible.

“What?”

“I thought you left me,” Patton repeated, his whispered voice cracking. “Or—or that something could have ha-hap-happened to you.” He blinked hard, and a tear rolled down his cheek, glittering in the dim light. Virgil silently set his crutches to the side and pulled Patton into a hug. Patton started sinking to the floor, pulling Virgil down with him.

Virgil hugged him tighter as Patton tears kept coming, occasionally letting out a gasp or sob, muffled slightly by how he buried his face in Virgil’s shoulder. Rather alarmed and unsure what to do, Virgil began urgently whispering.

“I’m  sorry, Patton, I’m sorry. It’s okay, I came back… Shh, shhh, you have to try to be quiet, Shh, Patton, the humans are gonna hear us, please… I’m so, so sorry; I didn’t know. I was always going to come back. I’m sorry, I thought you knew that.” Virgil kept whispering over and over. He felt guilty as hell.

They sat there like that for a while, Virgil doing his not-so-great best at trying to comfort Patton. Patton, for his part, tried to be quiet, to calm down; but in the end, he didn’t manage to stop until he had already worn himself out. After that, quiet at last, Patton kept his face buried in Virgil’s shoulder. The occasional hiccup interrupted the silence. Virgil held onto him, trying to be comforting while not using too much pressure.

Finally, Virgil gently extricated himself from Patton’s grip and sat him up, looking him over. The glow of the nightlight caught about half of his face, and Virgil’s already broken heart just about shattered. The shadows around Patton’s eyes had gotten much worse since he had last seen him, and he looked incredibly miserable and tired.

Virgil reached up and brushed a few tears from his friend’s face. Patton sniffled at the gesture.

“I made you a promise,” Virgil said, his voice soft but convicted. “I promised you that I would get you out of here. And I’m going to. Tonight. I’m taking you home with me.”

…

Patton sniffed again, but he tried to smile at Virgil’s promise. “I’m sorry,” he breathed, his throat feeling a little raw. “I don’t know why I overreacted like that. Guess I got a bit silly.” He had told Virgil to stay away if he needed to, after all. He’d been too quick to assume that Virgil would change his mind about helping him just because of one little thing. Patton wouldn’t blame him if he had, but he still should not have jumped to that conclusion.

“It wasn’t silly.” Virgil’s voice was firm.

Virgil helped Patton pack up his things. In reality Virgil was doing most of the work—Patton wasn’t being much help. He just didn’t seem to have the energy for it. Whether this was more out of melancholy or exhaustion, Virgil couldn’t have said.

“You know what?” Virgil sighed after about ten minutes of this. “This can wait a couple hours. You need some sleep.”

Patton stopped, blinking owlishly at him. He made no move to resume his packing.

“Come on.” Virgil gently took him by the wrist—probably reluctant to grab his hand, since it was still bandaged—put his pillow down on the table between them, and guided Patton to lay down. “What’s going on? It’s like you haven’t slept at all since I left.”

A pause.

“Can’t,” Patton mumbled.

“You can’t? Why not?”

“Nightmares….”

Virgil was silent for a long moment, closing his eyes tightly. He understood about nightmares. He had them too, sometimes, thankfully not as often as in the past. He remembered the first night he had spent with Patton, when the other little had started to have a nightmare, but Virgil had managed to calm him down. Clearly, that hadn’t been a one-time occurrence. He sighed in resignation and lay down next to Patton, putting one of the thicker blankets over the two of them. Virgil put his arm around Patton, resting his forehead against his friend’s. I won’t let you have any nightmares tonight, Virgil silently vowed.

“Don’t wanna be alone,” Patton breathed, his eyes already closed.

“You won’t be,” he promised. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Patton nodded once into the pillow, and he promptly fell asleep.

…

A couple of hours later, around three in the morning—there was no clock in here, but he could tell based on the amount of light coming through the window—Virgil gently nudged Patton’s shoulder. The other little shifted and opened his eyes, blinking drowsily.

“You’re still here,” he mumbled, sounding pleased.

“I am. Are you ready to go?”

Patton nodded, as eagerly as one can while still half-asleep. He rolled over partway, peering up at Virgil in the semi-darkness. “…Why’d you stay away?” he asked.

Virgil sighed, but he figured that he should have expected this conversation to continue. “I’m sorry, Patton. I shouldn’t have been gone that long.” He had been gone less than a week, but he knew that it must have felt much longer to Patton, who was waiting on him to get out of here and all. Way for Virgil to pay him back for volunteering to stay behind.

“’S Emile okay?”

“Yeah, he’s okay. He was pretty worried when I didn’t show up that night”—The one where Virgil, like a complete fool, had fallen asleep outside of the walls—“He told me when I got back that he was about five minutes from coming out after me. And he was still pretty sick then, so….”

“You were worried about him,” Patton surmised.

“Exactly,” Virgil sighed. “I… If he had gotten worse, or hurt, and it was my fault…. I wanted to wait until he was better before I came to get you. I was… I was worried that if I left to come here, he’d think something had happened; and I didn’t—I didn’t want to risk that.”

Patton nodded in understanding, looking away.

“I should have come anyway. At least to tell you what was going on. I shouldn’t have assumed you’d know. I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay….” Patton murmured.

“No, it’s really not. Don’t pretend it is. But come on.” Virgil sat up, nudging Patton’s shoulder again. “It’s time to go.”

Patton sat up as Virgil pulled away the blanket, and then he and Virgil finished packing together. Virgil had brought his old backpack, which they filled with food from Patton’s food dish. He’d also brought a pouch for water, which rested against Patton’s hip. Patton tried to convince Virgil that they should bring a box that Roman had given him, but Virgil pointed out that it was probably too heavy for Patton to carry all the way back to where they were going—plus, Virgil wouldn’t have room in his bag for it, and he didn’t have his arms free to carry anything more.

Patton pouted, but he relented. Instead, he just took out some pieces of worn colored pencil graphite from the box, wrapped them and his fork up in a blanket, and tied the bundle together with strips from the blanket he had accidentally torn the day before. Virgil cut off a couple long strips of that same blanket and helped Patton secure the bundle and his pillow to his back.

There was still plenty of food that they couldn’t fit in Virgil’s bag; so the two of them ate as much of that as they comfortably could, not wanting to waste it. Then, at last, it was time to leave.

The two of them started down the table leg, Virgil staying close to the other little’s side so that he could offer any help to Patton that he might need. They went slowly, not rushing this time. They even stopped a couple of times so that Virgil could check in on Patton, making sure that his hands were alright and that he hadn’t grown too dizzy. Even so, the climb went by fairly quickly. Virgil was silently grateful that this table leg had a design carved into it and that the humans had left a light on, giving them more light to see by. Both factors made everything much easier.

They had just about reached the floor when Virgil paused, his ear twitching. “Did you hear something?” he whispered. “A faucet maybe?”

“Probably upstairs,” Patton murmured back. “They get up pretty early.”

Virgil couldn’t help but continue to be wary, but he supposed that that was a reasonable explanation. He didn’t think that the humans in this apartment were the type to be up at this hour.

Even if it was one of the humans who had captured Patton, Patton had mentioned that they always knocked before coming in, so they should have been fine.

Right?

…

Patton stood stock-still, the bundle whose bindings he had been readjusting now lying at his feet, the colored pencil tips scattered about.  He and Roman stared at each other for a long moment, Roman’s mouth opening and closing like a fish. Patton silently prayed that Virgil was out of sight. He’d still been untying his crutches from his back, so he was presumably hiding against the table leg.

Roman finally seemed to find his voice. “What… what are you doing?” he asked haltingly. His gaze went to the supplies at Patton’s feet, and his jaw set.

“You’re leaving?” he asked.

Patton took an involuntary step back. Even though he knew Roman, knew that the past couple of weeks evidenced that Roman would never hurt him—certainly not intentionally—Patton couldn’t help but quail at his feet. To be caught out in the open like this, the gargantuan human towering above…. After having spent so long on a table, always reaching about half the humans’ height, the difference now was jarring. And it was terrifying. It certainly didn’t help that Patton was standing on the floor, with his stuff all packed, clearly in the middle of an escape. It was, as his long-estranged older cousin had once said when they were kids, like he had been caught stuck in a cookie jar… in a cookie factory… with his pants down… and on fire.

Suffice it to say, this would not exactly be the easiest situation to talk his way out of.

…

Roman noticed Patton’s fearful reaction immediately, his brow creasing. He couldn’t help but be hurt by that. Even after everything, Patton still feared him, and was apparently planning to just leave in the middle of the night, without a word.

Roman sighed, regarding the tiny mouse-man sadly. He looked down at the bundle at the little guy’s feet, unsure how to feel about the fact that the fork and the colored pencils he had given him had been packed within it. Something else drew his attention, though: what looked to be a pouch resting on Patton’s hip—it was a little dark in the room to see details, but it was clearly not something that had already been on the table with Patton. So where had it come from?

Trying to figure that out, since Patton would probably not tell him, he scanned the floor around him. His eyes paused on the table leg nearest the little guy, and he frowned. Something looked off about the shadow it cast. It wasn’t smooth, straight lines like it should have been. It looked, for lack of a better word, lumpy. Like something else was pressed against it, distorting the shadow.

…Like something was hidden there.

After a long second of staring at the shadow, Roman tore his gaze away and returned his attention to Patton, who had stiffened noticeably, having apparently realized what he was looking at. Roman felt guilty, but the behavior also more or less confirmed his suspicions.

Patton was not the only mouse-man in the room.

“Are you—are you mad at me?” Patton suddenly asked, seemingly out of nowhere. His voice shook audibly.

Roman was taken aback by the question, his attention momentarily drawn away from his discovery. “No…” he said, his voice almost a whine. “No, of course I’m not mad. I’m just—I’m a bit hurt. You were going to leave without saying good-bye.”

Against his will, Roman’s gaze flicked briefly back to the table leg. He could have sworn that the shape of the shadow had changed, almost imperceptibly. Just as quickly, he looked back to Patton and took a deep breath. He knew what he had to do.

“We meant it, you know. We really were going to let you go. And… I guess if you think you’re ready, then I can’t stop you.”

…

Patton was shocked at Roman’s words. Roman very much could stop Patton if he wanted to, so what was he talking about? Why would he just let him go?

“Do you—was—was it really so bad, though?” Roman seemed unable to help but ask. “Staying with us?”

Patton kept staring in disbelief. He heard a quiet shuffle behind him; presumably, Virgil was shifting where he was pressed against the table leg.

Roman waited a moment before he swallowed, nodding, apparently taking Patton’s stunned silence as a confirmation of his fears.

“Okay, then… I just have a couple more questions, if that’s alright?”

Patton fidgeted nervously, looking down. It seemed like Roman wasn’t going to hurt him, but he didn’t know what was about to happen besides that. He felt like he was pinned down under those huge brown eyes, stuck in the open; and Virgil, unused to being around humans, was probably faring no better.

“Do you still have somewhere to go?”

Patton hesitantly nodded, shifting on his feet.

“And will… will leaving make you happy?”

At the crack in his voice, Patton dared to look up at Roman’s face. He was looking away now, but where Patton had expected to find anger, or annoyance, there truly was only hurt. Almost like he was sad to see Patton go. Like he really didn’t see stopping him as an option.

Roman glanced over at the little as Patton nodded in confirmation.

Roman took a deep breath and let it out. “Okay, then…. Okay. Good. Do you, uh, need me to open the door or anything, so you can go? Or directions or something? Some food or water to bring with you? Anything at all?”

Patton shook his head, feeling almost numb with shock. This couldn’t actually be happening, could it?

Roman swallowed. “Okay. Okay, okay.” He brushed a hand through his hair, looking back towards the kitchen. “I’ll, uh, I’ll go tell Logan you said good-bye.” He looked back to Patton one final time. “I wish you all the best, little prince. I’m really glad I got to meet you. Good luck, Pat.” His voice broke on the final syllable.

And he walked right out of the room.

Patton stared after him for a second, then stepped forward before it was too late.

“Wait!”

He heard the human’s shuffling footsteps stop cold.

“Thank you, Roman,” he called out. It was the first time he had called the human by his name.

Roman’s footsteps resumed. He didn’t come back. After about thirty seconds, Patton felt Virgil’s hand on his arm, and then the two of them were moving. They made their way to the doorway hidden in the wall, Patton glancing back the way Roman had gone every few steps. Even after Virgil had sealed the doorway to the humans’ apartment, even after he and Patton had shoved a chunk of drywall in place to block off the opening forever, Patton couldn’t help but glance over his shoulder, couldn’t help but think of Roman and Logan even as he walked towards a life where he could finally be away from humans. Where he could finally be free.

…

Roman trudged away from the living room with a heavy heart. He wanted nothing more than for Patton to be happy, but even so, he couldn’t help how he felt about the little mouse-man’s departure.

They never had found out what he was, he reflected, raising a hand and resting his fist against Logan’s door. Now they never would.

He knocked.

Unsurprisingly, Logan didn’t answer. The nerd slept like a rock, Roman thought with a dejected fondness. Roman opened the door, slipping into the room. He walked over and sat down in Logan’s desk chair, looking up at the glowing star stickers on the ceiling for a moment before he reached over to shake Logan’s shoulder.

“Logan, wake up.”

…

Logan groaned at the abrupt awakening, turning over to face away from the intruder. “This had better be important,” he muttered into his pillow.

“It is… Patton’s leaving.”

Logan was immediately wide awake. He sat up sharply, turning to look at Roman, thinking he must have somehow misheard. “What?” He started to get out of bed, but Roman held out a hand to stop him.

“He’s leaving,” he reiterated. “I was getting water, and I heard him. He was already halfway out of the room when I found him. We’re not gonna convince him to stay. Even if we tried, he’d just leave the next time we left him alone, wouldn’t he? And besides… I don’t think he was the only one there.”

“The only one there?” Logan echoed.

“There’s more of them, Logan. Of whatever he is. Like you said there probably would be.” Roman sighed, looking down. “Anyway, I let him go. They’ll help him better than we can, I’m sure.”

Logan was torn, looking towards his bedroom door.

“Don’t,” Roman warned. “It won’t do any good. I’m sure he’s already gone, anyway.”

Logan knew he was probably right. But how was he supposed to just sit here?

“Even so, I need to make sure that he’s sufficiently recovered to—.”

“Logan. Stop.”

Logan sat back in the bed, but he still grabbed agitatedly at the blankets. He knew Patton was likely already gone, he knew that; but even as frustratingly emotional as his reasons were for wanting to go out there and stop him, even just briefly, even just to say good-bye, he couldn’t help it. He had grown attached to the creature, to a tiny man who could fit in his hand and who loved cheese and kids’ movies and who threw into question everything that Logan knew to be true about the world.

And he was supposed to just accept that he was gone, now? Just like that? Without even a good-bye?

“He can’t be gone just like that,” Logan said very softly.

“Maybe we’ll see him again someday,” Roman replied hollowly. Neither of them believed it.

...

(I know this kind of looks like an ending, so let me assure you it is not--I promised the ending would be happy, didn’t I?)

...

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