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goldnskyart · 1 year ago

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Skateboards and Jam

So I might’ve written a one shot to go with the skater x nerd prinxiety art I’ve been making recently- it wasn’t supposed to be more than one chapter but I’m a very slow writer and I didn’t wanna wait to start posting it lol.

It is ofc inspired by the jam video and the whole thing is a little silly but I love it honestly and I hope y’all like it too! I’m not usually a writer but I tried my best

Pairings: Prinxiety

Warnings: None I don’t think- possibly slight injuries in later chapters

Description: Roman has a bit of a thing for one of the skaters at his local skate park, too bad he doesn’t have any chance with him. Or does he? Virgil certainly couldn’t tell you

| Ao3 | next chapter —> |

Chapter 1/?

Roman kicked a pebble across the beat up asphalt, pretending he felt any sense of belonging in the little skate park. It was more of a parking lot than a park really, but still it was a popular hangout spot for people way cooler than him. Nevertheless he passed by every single day. “It’s the closest way home.” He’d say if anyone asked. And it was not untrue, if it wasn’t he wouldn’t have found it in the first place. But actually he mostly just enjoyed watching a bunch of cute guys do cool tricks on their boards, he knew it was delusional to even think any of them would be interested in him, most of them were probably not even into guys. However a guy with as vivid an imagination as Roman couldn’t just let the idea go. Maybe if he came by often enough someone would come up to him and sweep him off his feet, metaphorically or not he wouldn’t mind either way. And he had one specific guy in mind. A guy who always carried a board with a rainbow spiderweb roughly painted on, which of course means he’s gay or well, probably, maybe, there was a non zero chance. It was the closest thing to a rainbow he had seen around there. He wasn’t what Roman would usually consider his type but fuck he was cute, there was no point even trying to deny it.

Virgil annoyedly blew a few strands of purple hair out of his eyes. What was even the point of being at the park alone, he couldn’t skate and didn’t have any intention of making new friends. Still there he was. It was just one of those days. Everything that could go wrong had and as a cherry on top the friends he was supposed to skate with canceled last minute. Virgil glanced down on his board, decorated with a rainbow spiderweb, he was quite fond of it but still the temptation to just snap it in half was strong. But he didn’t. For a moment he just stood there trying to shake the frustrations in the pleasant autumn breeze but was quickly pulled back to reality by the overwhelming feeling of someone watching him. Looking over his shoulder he did indeed see someone not very subtly staring at him. And he knew who it was. Or well, knew was a bit of a stretch, but he recognised him. The dude walked by like every single day. A stereotypical nerd always looking so proper and put together, not even a single strand out of place on his oh so perfect head of beautiful golden brown hair. It pissed him off. Virgil lightly shook his head, that nerd was getting on his last nerve just by existing.

Roman looked away for a moment, his attention grabbed by loud cheering on the other side of the park. Someone did something cool it seems but he just missed it. His heart took a jump in his chest as he suddenly felt a strong hand grip his jaw and forcefully turn his head back around. And there he was that one skater boy, his face only inches away from his own. Roman’s cheeks immediately flushed, his heart beating so loud he could’ve sworn the entire park heard it. Virgil acted entirely on impulse, normally he would never approach a stranger but this time he just lost it. “What the hell are you lookin’ at nerd?” He almost hissed out, aggressively shoving his face in Romans.

“I just think you’re cute-“ Roman just blurted it out without thinking about it for even a second, his voice muffled by the tight grip on his cheeks. His face turned an even deeper shade of red as he realized what he just said, and he thought himself to be able to see a faint blush cover the others face as well. Virgil just blankly stared at him, at a complete loss for words. This was not what was supposed to happen. He was supposed to be intimidated and leave. Not give Virgil butterflies. What the fuck. Slowly he loosened his grip and backed away a little, instead starting to anxiously pull at his hoodie. Roman just stared for a moment trying to take in what was happening, he was half expecting to be punched in the face, or made fun of at the very least. But seeing the other guy's reaction he couldn’t help but break a little smile. “Would you mind teaching me some tricks?” he asked, glancing over at the board the skater was still loosely holding under his arm. Roman never had any intention of learning to skate but he thought it might be a good place to start talking. And it did sound like something straight out of a romcom so of course he wanted that.

Virgil was completely lost in his own world overwhelmed by his own feelings. Looking up at the other he realized he just asked him something, no idea what but by the way he was looking at him it was clear he was waiting for an answer. “I-eh sure?” He said just hoping it was an appropriate answer to whatever was asked, his hand nervously finding its way to the back of his neck. Romans grin widened “today?” he asked, reaching out and spinning one of the wheels on the colorful skateboard “I bet I can do one of those cool jumps.” Virgil couldn’t help but snort at that. On the inside however he was panicking, realizing what he had just agreed to. Surprisingly it wasn’t the idea of hanging out with a complete stranger that scared him, it was the fact that he himself couldn’t skate, and now he had promised to teach someone else. How the hell was he gonna do that without admitting he’s not actually a skater. No doubt the guy would laugh at him too, he’d certainly not think he was cool anymore and leave. For some reason the thought made Virgil's heart sink. "Oh, I almost forgot- I’m Roman!” he reached his hand out towards Virgil, with a smile so bright you’d think it’d rival the sun itself.

(All of the chapters and the art that goes with it can be found under the skateboards and jam tag)

#skateboards and jam #I love these two idiots so much #writing absolute simp roman is my new favourite thing #prinxiety #roman sanders #sanders sides #virgil sanders #roman x virgil #sanders sides fanfiction #fanfic #sandersides #sanders sides fanfic #prinxiety fanfiction #my fanfiction

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prince-rowan-of-the-forest · 1 year ago

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To Make a Heaven of Hell (4/?)

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Virgil gets to explore Lily's paradise, have some questions answered, and think about some things.

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Chapter warnings: past toxic relationship/trauma, brief mention of gender dysphoria

Notes:

This chapter took me a while to write, but I'm really happy with how it turned out!! I'm so grateful for Jaysea's Hells Belles prequel fic - I think I'd die without it at this point, lmao. It makes it very easy to orient myself and write my descriptions of places like Lily's paradise. lol. If you like the series and haven't read it, go read it, after this chapter, obviously. It's very good.

Please enjoy this chapter! And I apologise that we don't get to meet Roman yet ;-;

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“You’re absolutely sure you’re okay with this?” Virgil asked for what must have been the thousandth time as Lily lead him back through the door maze that was the universal paradise realm. It made Virgil uneasy just to be back here at all, though he was reassured by the promise that they weren’t going to his own door.

“Absolutely,” Lily reassured, voice still patient and kind no matter how many times he asked, “I’m not about to make you sleep in the break room, am I?”

“But- your paradise?” Virgil asked, “Isn’t that- personal, or something?”

“Virgil,” Lily said, pausing their trek along the dusty paths, Virgil worried for a moment that he’d done something wrong, “You are welcome in my paradise whenever you want, even after you’ve accepted your own. You need somewhere to stay, and I have a spare bedroom, it’s okay.”

Virgil was silent for a moment, and Lily took that as a sign to continue walking, he followed, despite his growing uneasiness about the whole situation, “I- I can’t cook, or clean, or anything- I know money’s not a thing here- but-”

“You don’t need to do anything to earn your keep,” Lily cut him off firmly, “You don’t need to earn basic kindness.”

“But-”

“And besides,” Lily said, “Carl gets annoyed if you try to clean.”

“...who?” Virgil asked, frowning. They didn’t realise someone else was involved in all this.

“Ah, Carl, my house,” Lily said, her house… had a name? She chuckled at his obvious confusion, “It’s semi-sentient, Sharkie named it when they were little.”

“Really?” Virgil asked, tilting his head.

“Yeah, she lived there too, before they accepted their own paradise,” Lily said, winking at them. Virgil didn’t say anything to that, but he was sure Lily saw the astounded expression on his face.

“We… age… here?” Virgil finally asked, as they started to approach a round purple door with shimmering silver metalwork set into it.

“Not exactly,” Lily said as they stopped in front of the door. This must be Lily’s, “Once you settle into yourself your body will either age or de-age to wherever you feel most comfortable - uh, best examples, Judy is a lot younger now than when she died, and Sharkie is a lot older.”

“So… I’m not going to be seventeen forever?” Virgil asked. Lily laughed.

“Not unless you want to be.” She reassured, “Once you’re settled and comfortable here you should age until you’re comfortable.”

“Oh thank God,” Virgil chuckled awkwardly, before looking back at the door, “So this is…”

Lily nodded, stepping up to open the door, “Welcome, to Hobbiton.”

“Hobbiton?” Virgil asked, before he actually got a look around the door and gasped, “Oh, Hobbiton,”

“I know, it’s cool, right?”

“Really cool,” Virgil chuckles, following her lead as she walked through the door and up to the house.

Virgil yelped in surprise as a black and white blur darted out of the front door as soon as Lily opened it. She laughed, leaving the door open as she walked over to pick up what Virgil could now see to be a cat.

… he felt a little silly being afraid, now. The cat was adorable.

“This is Max, my cat,” Lily said, smiling as she walked back over, “You can pet him, if you’d like, he’s a little attention seeker.”

Virgil laughed and tentatively reached out to run his fingers through the cat’s long fur. Animals had never liked him back in the mortal world, especially not his parents’ monster of a cat. Max, however, seemed to be happy with affection, no matter who it came from, and rubbed his head against Virgil’s hand immediately.

While he still couldn’t help but feel uneasy about this whole thing - Lily letting him stay in her paradise and promising no catch felt wrong on so many levels - he thought maybe he could get used to this anyway.

—-

Lily had let him know which room was hers, and which room he would be staying in too. She’d let him know that he was welcome to use the kitchen if he wanted - Virgil had quietly mumbled that he was scared of the oven, embarrassed, though she hadn’t seemed to mind. She’d told him that he could read anything in the library, but to beware because a lot of the books were… spicy, in nature. She’d also told him that he was welcome to explore the house, as well as the rest of Hobbiton, at his own leisure.

He’d been left alone in her hobbit hole after she had left to go on a date with Bel. For a while he’d just sat on the bed of the spare room, looking around with his hands in his pockets. The idea of touching any of Lily’s things sent a shiver of fear down his spine. Objectively, he knew she wouldn’t get angry, she’d given him permission, for goodness sake. He just couldn’t quite shake the feeling. He’d lived with his boyfriend for two years before he died, and every minute in that house he’d been walking on eggshells. It was hard not to apply that same fear to this.

But this was paradise, Lily wasn’t the same as his boyfriend. No-one would appear from around a corner to scream at him for toasting a piece of bread or daring to sit in the wrong chair.

Not only that, but the way Lily seemed to trust him so readily was almost eerie. Sure, the fact that he’d earned a paradise in the eyes of the universe was at least somewhat telling about their character, but she’d still only known him for a short time. He wondered how a person could be so trusting.

But then again, he trusted her, at least somewhat, so maybe it wasn’t so strange.

Taking a deep breath, and then another, Virgil finally stood back up from the bed in the spare room and slowly ventured back out into the hallway. He couldn’t help the way he crept, making sure he didn’t make noise despite the fact that he knew Lily wasn’t here, and that she wouldn’t care. Slowly he made his way back to the living room - the space was lovely, but he caught the reflection of himself standing in it and almost burst out laughing. He looked over at Max, curled up on the couch.

“I really don’t fit in here, huh,” Virgil chuckled, the way he stood, so out of place in the almost cottage-core living room, with his dark patchy clothes, ripped jeans, and big stompy doc-martins, the dramatically emo makeup he wore atop his deathly pale skin and shaggily cut dyed black and purple hair. No, he stuck out like a sore thumb.

Max just stared back at him, looking unimpressed. Virgil shrugged.

“I guess it doesn’t matter, right?” Virgil said to the cat, as though he would respond, Max just licked his paw, “It’s not like this is actually my place, it’s Lily’s, I’m not supposed to fit in, right?”

Max meowed at him, because of course, he was a cat, and didn’t actually understand a word they were saying.

“Cool, thanks,” Virgil said anyway, coming to the conclusion that no, it didn’t matter. Lily said he was welcome here, so he was, even if he stuck out like a sore thumb against the fantasy aesthetic of the house.

Maybe he’d explore later, but for now he sat down on the couch and looked at the fire burning in the fireplace. He sat there, for a long moment, just staring at the flames, until he remembered something Logan had told him when he first got here.

“You should also - as a soul - have a body that more accurately aligns with your gender identity.”

He hadn’t thought about it, really, because the state of his own body had - surprisingly - been the least of his worries since he’d arrived in the afterlife. But now that he sat and thought about it… Logan was right.

When he turned to look back at the mirror, he could already see that his facial features looked a little more masculine. When he looked down at himself he couldn’t see much of a visual difference to how he’d looked back in the mortal world whilst he’d been wearing his binder, but… he wasn’t wearing a binder now.

He couldn’t help but flap his hands when he realised that he wasn’t wearing a binder, but his chest was still flat. When they’d come to terms with that realisation, they slowly - very slowly, under the watchful gaze of Max - peeled off their jacket for the first time since he’d gotten here and stood up, walking over to stand in front of the mirror in awe.

Maybe he couldn’t see much difference when he was sitting, but Virgil was pretty sure that his body was less curvy than it had been. It was… odd, he barely felt a difference, but it was there for certain. It was weird to him how he could stare at his own reflection without feeling disconnected - like he was looking at someone else - or cringing away when he saw what he looked like.

He looked like… him.

They weren’t sure how long they spent staring at himself in the mirror, but eventually, Max meowed and walked over, winding his body around their legs. Virgil laughed, bending over to pick up the cat before looking back at the mirror.

Honestly, Virgil might like to have a pet of his own one day.

“You wanna explore the garden with me, Max?” Virgil asked the cat, who purred loudly and snuggled into his arms, “Okay, let's go.”

—-

When Lily returned a few hours later - with Bel walking next to her - Virgil had finished wandering through her garden and instead retreated to the Library, finding one of the few non-spicy books and curling up in Lily’s favourite armchair to read. That’s where Lily found him, half asleep using their jacket as a blanket with the book open on his chest. She’d carefully taken it and slipped a bookmark between the pages to save his place, before grabbing a proper blanket and draping it over him before retreating to her own bedroom with Bel.

Virgil woke up in the middle of the night to the dim light of the moon shining through the library window. His neck hurt from the awkward position he’d fallen asleep in on the chair. He stood up, pulling his jacket on properly and grabbing the blanket that he was pretty sure hadn’t been there when he’d fallen asleep and trailed - half asleep - back to the room Lily had said he could stay in, collapsing properly on the bed and falling back to sleep in an instant.

—-

The next morning he’d woken up to sunshine on his face - which he didn’t really appreciate, he’d have to remember to close the curtains tomorrow night - and the smell of pancakes. It was so surreal that Virgil just lay there staring at the vaulted ceiling of the room for a few minutes as everything came back to him. He didn’t remember where he was for the first few seconds until he turned his head to look out of the window and saw Lily’s garden, and beyond that the rolling green hills of Hobbiton. So all of this hadn’t been some kind of medicine-induced dream.

Virgil breathed a sigh of relief as he dragged himself out of the bed and padded out into the hallway in black fluffy slippers that had appeared by the door to the bedroom - he was sure those hadn’t been there yesterday - to find Lily humming along to music in the kitchen, flipping a pancake in a saucepan.

"Hey kid!" Bel said, waving to him from where he was leaning casually against the kitchen counter, his tail was swaying to the music. Virgil waved, ducking his head, a little embarrassed for seemingly no reason.

“Good morning,” Lily said turning to look for him when Bel spoke, “Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah,” Virgil answered, hands in his hoodie pockets as he realised that yes, he’d slept last night better than he’d slept for… a long long time, and he’d woken up to the prospect of pancakes, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to summarise in words how amazing this felt, “I slept really well.”

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General tags: @full-of-roman-angst-trash @reptilianrapscallion420 @your-local-random-dino @cutebisexualmess @glacierruler @roseianxiety @bella-bugatti-frogetti-baguetti (if anyone wants to be added, let me know!)

Hell's Belles AU tags: @awitchbravestheverge @twoalpacas @goldnskyart @anxious-mess19 @doteddestroyer :)

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#sanders sides #hells belles au #virgil sanders #sanders sides fanfiction #fanfic #rowans writings

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always-anxious612 · 1 year ago

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Close Calls Ch. 2

This is the last chapter of this but I may do more of this au in the future! Also please don't judge me for my accuracy lol. I only did surface-level research on wounds and infections :')

Description: The infection grows more serious, and Virgil has to drag Roman to the clinic before it gets any worse. Unfortunately, he doesn't quite succeed. In other words, Roman is stubborn, Virgil is tired, and everything goes wrong.

Genre: hurt/comfort

Pairings: Prinxiety, Logicality

Warnings: panic attack, injuries mentioned, infections, homophobia menntioned, crying (let me know if I missed something or if you want something tagged!)

Word Count: 5,360

Chapter 1

The next day, I woke up a bit late, and, after hurriedly getting ready, began my duties as usual hoping Logan wouldn’t notice I was late. Logan was already in the clinic, as always, but this time Lord Patton was there as well. Thankfully, his presence saved me from a lengthy lecture. Patton was a well-known Lord in the castle, famous for his kindness and friendliness. Plus, he and Roman were pretty close as far as I could tell. Well, as close as a visiting Lord and a prince who only saw each other in formal spaces could be, I guess. They seemed to get along well is what I’m trying to say. Everyone at the castle loved him, though to be honest. Recently, I’d noticed he’d been visiting the castle more frequently and staying for longer periods of time, making a point to visit the clinic and say hello when he did. It had gotten to the point where he insisted that I call him Patton and drop the formalities while we were in the clinic. Logan had seemed to drop the formalities with him long ago.

“Um, good morning, my Lord,” I greeted Patton, still not quite being able to break the habit quite yet and trying to run a hand through my hand to make my bedhead more presentable. What so sue me, I didn’t have time to fix it that morning. I’d been up all night worrying about a certain prince.

“Oh, hi, Virgil! Good morning!” Patton grinned brightly. Ugh, how did he have so much energy so early in the day. I’d never understand morning people.

“I told you to just call me Patton, kiddo. No need to be so formal,” he added, coming over to ruffle my hair. Welp, guess fixing it had been pointless. Sometimes, I wondered if he knew we were the same age or if he just called everyone kiddo. From what I knew of him it was probably the latter.

“Um, right, so uh, is everything ok?” I questioned, awkwardly clearing my throat. “I—I mean, you’re not sick or anything, right?”

Sure, he’d been showing up here for a while now on his visits, but it never hurt to make sure. This was a clinic after all.

“Oh, no, no,” Patton assured, walking back over to Logan. “Just checking up on my two favorite physicians!”

“I’m still a nurse, technically,” I reminded him, though I couldn’t help but relax at his friendliness.

“Oh, Virgil, I meant to tell you. Today, you have the day off,” Logan finally spoke up, looking up from the papers he had been flipping through on his desk. So much for worrying about being late…Wait what?

“The day off?” I blanched. “But you always say that a doctor’s work is never done.”

I truly couldn’t remember a single day off since I’d started working here unless it was for medical reasons—ironic really.

“Ah, yes, well, Patton has expressed an interest in my profession, and I thought I’d take today to teach him a few things,” Logan replied, blushing slightly. Strange, Logan didn’t blush very easily…. I glanced at Patton and raised an eyebrow, trying not to jump to conclusions. If Logan understood what I was hinting at, he promptly ignored me, and I squashed down the thought. It wasn’t my business anyway, especially considering my own circumstances.

“If an emergency arises, I shall send for you, but soon, I’ll be taking Patton on my rounds to teach him to deal with less, um, life-threatening injuries and illnesses. You’re welcome to stay in the clinic if you’d like, but in case you need to find me, my list of patients to visit for today will be on my desk,” he instructed, clearing his throat.

“Oh, um, ok,” I muttered, already inching toward the door, “See ya later then, I guess. Bye Lo. Uh, Patton,”

I nodded a goodbye to both of them and waited until Patton had smiled and waved cheerily and Logan just nodded back to make my escape. Well, this gave me a chance to check on Roman at least.

Once I got up the many stairs and reached Roman’s room, I took a minute to catch my breath and look around before knocking. You’d think I’d be more used to making that trip by now.

“Um, your highness?” I called when I received no answer to my knock, glancing around again, just to be sure. When I still received no answer, I decided it was safe to just go in. Maybe he didn’t hear me?

“Roman?” I called after I made sure the door was closed behind me. Roman was standing by his window, studying the lush gardens outside, but he made no move to greet me.

“Princey?” I tried again, growing more concerned by the minute.

“Oh, Virgil!” He finally exclaimed, turning around a bit unsteadily. Huh, well that didn’t seem good.

“Uh, hey there, Roman. You doing ok?” I asked, already trying to examine him. His forehead was slick with sweat, and—though it looked like he had tried to cover it with makeup—I could see how flushed he was from across the room.

“Yeah, Yeah, I’m perfectly ok, V,” he smiled, as I came closer. The closer I got the worse he looked. His eyes were glazed, and he looked a little out of it, constantly rubbing at his eyes. Plus, other than the badly concealed flush of his cheeks, he was concerningly pale.

“Really,” I deadpanned.

“Yes, really. You’re only a tad bit blurry!” he asserted before cursing as he realized he’d just given himself away, “It’s really not that bad. I’m fine.”

“Wha—Roman, that’s not fine,” I chastised, hurrying the rest of the way over to him as he blinked sluggishly. “Can you make it to your bed?” “No, because I do not need to be in my bed,” he waved me off nervously.

“Roman,” I growled, grabbing his arm.

“Truly, Virgil, I’m completely fine,” Roman insisted, pulling at my grip.

“Obviously,” I retorted when he failed to get his arm back, “Just drop the act so I can help you. I need to see exactly what’s going on.”

“No,” He snapped yanking away from me, “I said I’m fine. I-I have an important meeting with the council to attend about the raids. So, if you’re done, I need to be on my way. Good day, Virgil,”

“Don’t you dare, Roman,” I threatened as he made his way shakily to the door.

“Listen, just—just make an excuse. You’re the prince. I’m sure you can postpone the meeting.”

“It’s not my meeting. My father called it, and he’s expecting me. I’m very sorry, Virgil, but I have to go,”

Ah, so that’s how it was. If this involved his father, it was going to be a whole lot harder to convince him to skip.

Roman had made it into the hallway and halfway toward the staircase by the time I collected my thoughts and made it to the doorway. However, I didn’t miss the fact that he was hugging the wall the whole way there.

“Roman—er, your highness—” I cleared my throat, looking around quickly. It was strangely empty. Whatever, it would be a lot more trouble if I got caught with Roman looking like this than for not addressing him properly, so I pushed it to the back of my mind.

“Roman, please. You can’t do this. You can barely stand up straight, much less last through a whole meeting,” I begged. Roman straightened slightly but otherwise kept walking making me tsk.

When he reached the staircase, he turned to glance at me before straightening once again and disappearing down the stairs. Groaning at his stubbornness, I hurried after him.

“Roman?” I called, getting worried when I turned the corner and didn’t see him. I made it a little over halfway down the winding staircase before finding Roman, leaning against the wall and panting. How the hell had he moved so fast and gotten so far ahead in this condition?

“Ro?” I asked hesitantly, eyes flicking over his slouched posture and glassy expression.

“May—Maybe I don’t feel so great,” He muttered before sliding unceremoniously down the wall.

“Princey,” I gasped, grabbing his arm and part of his shirt to keep him from toppling down the stairs.

“Hey, hey, Roman, are you ok?” I questioned, shifting to get a better hold on him and pinning him back against the wall. Roman mumbled a response too quiet to hear as his eyes fluttered.

“No no no no. Roman, stay awake, ok? Stay with me. We’re still on the staircase, I can’t get—I don’t—ugh, damn it, Roman. I’m not strong enough to carry you back up. Why didn’t you just listen to me,” I muttered, starting to panic.

It’s ok, it’s ok, I started coaching myself, taking deep breaths as I tried not to launch into a full-blown panic attack. just take a deep breath and think. It’s not that bad, I blatantly lied to myself, trying not to even entertain the thought of what would happen if someone chose this moment to walk down the staircase. I could do this, right? I could—I could at least get him to the clinic if not back to his room. That was better anyway. He needed medical care that wasn’t me, and besides, going downstairs would be easier than going up, right? At least that’s what I hoped…

I was wrong. Or maybe I wasn’t. Maybe this was easier than going upstairs, but if that were true, I dreaded to think how going upstairs would be. After I had convinced Roman to finally let me take him to the clinic—as if I was really giving him a choice this time or that he was alert enough to fight back anyway—I found myself carrying a delirious, semi-conscious Prince on my back. Unfortunately, no matter what direction you go, trying to navigate stairs with a whole person on your back is rather difficult.

“Remind me—to—to kill you—after I make sure—you’re ok,” I huffed, out of breath and already sweating. Roman didn’t reply, concerning me even more. How had he gotten so sick just overnight? It had to be the infection, right?

After what felt like ages, I reached the clinic and almost sagged in relief.

“Logan?” I gasped, kicking open the door. At this point, Roman was completely unresponsive and slack against me, making it even harder to keep him on my back. I quickly laid him on the clinic bed and frantically looked around for Logan before realizing he was probably already on his rounds.

“Are you kidding me,” I grumbled, going to grab a damp towel for Roman’s forehead. The whole point of risking bringing him here instead of to his room was that I didn’t know what to do.

Huffing, I gathered some bandages and supplies to check on Roman’s wound again. That’s really the only thing I could think of that could be causing this. Did the infection get worse? Just how bad? When I got the bandages from yesterday off, I hissed in sympathy. Just as I had feared, the infection was much worse. It—This whole thing was beginning to feel like my fault. If I’d done better cleaning and stitching it. If I’d noticed that he was developing a fever yesterday. If I’d convinced him to come to Logan. If—If…I took a deep breath, pushing away the thoughts to focus on what I should do now. My hands trembled as I began thoroughly cleaning and sterilizing the infected area. At least there were actual supplies in the clinic, I guess.

After I cleaned it, I set to work quickly, gently rubbing some antibiotic cream over the infection and making sure the stitches were ok. I’d have to make sure to change his bandages more often and to keep it clean so this wouldn’t happen again or get any worse. Next, I grabbed a cup of water and some medicines that should help with both the fever and the infection. This was the only other thing I could think of doing. The infection didn’t seem severe enough to have to remove it surgically or anything, but I’d be sure to ask Logan when he came back. The thought of him seeing how horribly I’d messed this up made me sick to my stomach, especially when the prince was the patient; but I knew it would be much worse if I didn’t get his help.

Sighing, I brought the medicine over to Roman and sat on the edge of the bed

“Princey,” I whispered, nudging his arm. Roman groaned and groggily batted my hand away.

“Come on, Princey, I need you to take these,” I coaxed softly, ignoring his swat and shaking him again. This time, he managed to squint his eye open.

“Do wha’?” he slurred tiredly.

“Take these pills, Ro. They’ll help.”

“M-My father. I have to—” he remembered suddenly, trying to push himself up and ignoring the offered pills.

“No,” I responded curtly, pushing him back down gently, “Your father can wait. I’ll even help you make up an excuse. Or you know, I’ll have Logan write you a medical note to prove that you have a fever and are not fit for work today. You—You passed out, Roman, I think that warrants skipping the meeting. Lean back and take these. Please.”

Roman sighed heavily but did as he was told and took the pills and water from me. His easy compliance told me all I needed to know about how badly he must be feeling.

After he gulped down the rest of the water, he ended up passing out again, leaving me to sit and wait by myself. Logan’s rounds usually took about two and a half to three hours because of the amount of soldiers the castle housed. More soldiers meant more injuries to check up on, and on days were the infirmary wasn’t full, or when the clinic was slow, Logan took his time to personally visit and check on every one of them. That’s not even mentioning the other castle staff that he’d tend to when illness spread throughout the castle or the fact that he had earned the title of royal physician, meaning that he also took care of not only the royal family but also any visiting noble staying in the castle. Needless to say, he had a lot of patients, and though he had other physicians and nurses that would regularly come and help him, especially when there was an influx, he usually preferred to work alone when he could. Today, no one was scheduled to be in the clinic, and no one was in the infirmary, so I knew Logan would be taking his time. With Patton there, it would probably take him even longer. He loved any opportunity to teach.

Sighing once again, I went to stand to get some water for myself when something warm clamped around my wrist.

“Roman?” I questioned, turning to find his hand holding me back. “Is something wrong?”

He grunted softly before yanking me forward, almost causing me to trip onto him.

“Cuddle,” he mumbled before I could yell at him. I felt my face flush bright red at his request.

“R-Roman, you know we can’t,” I protested, trying to pull away.

“Virgil,” Roman pouted, gazing up at me blearily, “Please?”

“We’re—We’re not in your room, Ro. Someone could walk in.”

“Please?” he begged, already struggling to keep his eyes open. I bit my lip hesitantly. He didn’t look far from falling asleep again. Maybe I could just cuddle long enough to get him to sleep then slip out before anyone could see us. Besides, it wasn’t as if anybody but me and Logan usually came into the clinic when it was closed anyway, and Logan was out on his rounds.

“Fine,” I gave in reluctantly as Roman smiled victoriously and scooted over to make room for me.

I couldn’t help the contented sigh that escaped my lips once I was settled in his arms, making sure to be careful of his wound. It was just so warm and comforting, and the way he was playing with my hair…I absentmindedly snuggled into his chest and let the warmth numb my mind. I hadn’t gotten much sleep last night, worried about Roman—apparently for good reason. A quick nap wouldn’t hurt, right? Besides, I was sure Logan wouldn’t be back for at least a couple of hours, and he was always complaining about the dark circles under my eyes and telling me to get more sleep. He should be happy I’m finally taking his advice. Unfortunately, my brain was too tired and too content to remind me just how bad an idea it was to let my guard down out in the open like this. Roman’s now steady breaths lulled me deeper into comfort and I felt myself slipping. It was so warm. This is nice, my mind almost sighed as I slid into sleep with Roman’s arms still wrapped securely around me. I should really learn to listen to my instincts more…

I was pulled from that warmth a little bit later by a rough nudge to my arm. Thinking it must be Roman, I groaned and shoved the arm away. The nudging paused and I was about to go back to sleep when there was another nudge—softer this time—followed by a voice.

“Virgil, you should probably get up.”

Oh. That—That wasn’t Roman’s voice. In an instant I shot up, inhaling sharply as I saw Logan and Patton peering down at me. No, oh no, no no no, how could I have let this happen? I should have never fallen asleep. I always harped on Roman for doing things that could get us caught but this was all my fault. What should I do? What could I do? Both of them had always been kind to me, but there was no telling how they’d react to this. Were they going to be angry? Were they disgusted with me? Were—Were they going to report me? What about Roman? I couldn’t let anything happen to him because of my carelessness. As my thoughts swirled around me, it became harder to draw air into my lungs. Once I realized that I couldn’t breathe, my chest constricted, holding back more of my breath. If it tightened anymore, I feared it would be impossible to breath altogether, but I couldn’t seem to collect my thoughts enough to loosen the knot there. My hands shook as I hugged myself, willing my panicked thoughts to go away. Obviously, it didn’t work. I saw motion from the corner of my eye and realized Logan was talking to me. Had he been talking this whole time?

“Virgil,” he coached, “Virgil, do you think you can take a breath in? Follow my breathing, ok?” more movement, to my left this time, but I couldn’t bring myself to look up. I tried to follow along; I really did. But every breath hurt. Everything hurt. My throat was burning. My chest ached. My head pounded. And everything was going wrong. Everything that I feared was happening. We’d been discovered. I ruined it. We couldn’t—I couldn’t—we just…half formed thoughts plagued my mind and my breath hitched as I realized I was crying. Was I going to be executed for this?

“Virgil, dearest. Look at me, my love,” a different voice spoke up this time, but there was only one person who called me dearest and my love. I felt a hand touch my cheek hesitantly, then gently tilt my face until I was face to face with Roman.

“I need you to breath with me, Virge,” he instructed, calmly. “In for four seconds. Hold for seven. Out for eight, remember? You can do it.”

As he counted out the seconds, he removed his hand from my face in order to take my hand and press it against his chest. I struggled to follow along at first, but he continued breathing deeply and counting the seconds until I could. With Roman’s reassurances and guidance, I slowly felt myself relaxing.

Once the world came into focus again and I could breathe regularly without feeling like I was dying, I took one more deep breath before slouching forward into Roman’s chest.

“It’s alright, V,” Roman soothed, carding his fingers through my hair. Except, it wasn’t ok. Logan and Patton saw us. They know. I couldn’t even bring myself to look up and see if they were still standing there or if they’d already gone to report us to the king. The silence in the room made me inclined to believe the latter. I loved Logan, but he was very strict with the rules. There’s no way he’d let something as big as this slide. I was just another nurse, right? Instead, I sniffled and buried myself further into Roman’s chest.

“Oh, your shirt,” I lamented shakily, brushing my fingers against the wet spot that now stained the expensive fabric.

“It’s nothing, stormcloud,” Roman hushed, pulling me closer. I felt more tears burn my eyes at the action.

“Sorry,” I whispered, feeling the weight of everything settle uncomfortably in my chest.

“You have nothing to apologize for, dearest,” Roman assured softly. Liar. How could he say that when I was the reason we’d never get to see each other again.

“Um, pardon me for interrupting, my prince, but I believe this tea may help Virgil,” Logan’s voice offered softly from behind me making me jump. He was still here? Wait, he didn’t sound angry or disgusted. “Ah, um, thank you,” Roman responded, accepting the tea.

Taking a steadying breath, I finally pushed myself away from Roman’s chest. Roman handed me the tea before placing his arms loosely around my waist. I looked at the tea then hesitantly back to Logan. Patton stood behind him, worry swimming in his eyes. What was going on exactly?

“The tea helps to calm the heart rate and I find it to be quite helpful when I’m feeling stressed,” Logan explained awkwardly when I didn’t make any move to drink it. Nodding warily, I took a sip, relishing the calming warmth that flooded me when I did.

“Um, I also would like to apologize, Virgil. I did not realize that waking you would cause such a reaction. I should have been more careful,” Logan continued after a short but tense silence. At his apology, I couldn’t take it anymore. Why wasn’t he freaking out?

“Aren’t—Aren’t you gonna say something? A-About this?” I stammered out, hating how raspy and shaky my voice sounded.

“What would you like me to say, Virgil?”

I blanched at him, then glanced back at Roman who looked equally confused as I felt.

“I—Aren’t you, d-disgusted or—or something?” I pressed incredulously.

“Why would I be disgusted?” Logan questioned, tilting his head. I mirrored his look of confusion before setting my tea down lest I spill it with how much I was still shaking.

“By—By us? Or—I mean—m-maybe not disgusted but, you know, this isn’t really…accepted. I-I mean don’t you think it’s—wrong or something? I mean we’re both—and on top of that, I’m just a—I—”

“Virgil,” Logan interrupted before I could work myself up too much, “I would never be disgusted by this. Any of it. By you both being of the same gender, or by you being from different social classes. I—You know that I’m your friend, right? And that I would never report you or anything? Even if I were against it, I couldn’t do that to you. I would never do that to you.”

At my shocked expression, Logan’s shoulders slumped.

“I take it you didn’t know any of that,” he sighed, looking even more miserable as I shook my head.

“I suppose that’s on me, then,” he frowned remorsefully.

“Lo,” I started, suddenly feeling guilty for ever doubting him. I never would have dreamed that he considered me a friend. I thought I was just another apprentice. He’s had plenty before me…

“No, no, I should have made it clear that I care for you,” Logan insisted. “Let me make it clear now.”

I shut my mouth and nodded for him to continue.

“Virgil, I have considered you a friend for a while now, and if you’d like, I’d still like to consider you one,”—he paused and I nodded frantically at the offer before he smiled and continued—“I care for you and your well-being very much, and I would never wish harm on you. I have no intention of ever reporting you as long as the current king is in rule. His methods and punishments tend to be a little cruel, and I never want to see you hurt. Nor will I report you for something that shouldn’t even be considered a crime. If Prince Roman is the one you love and you are the one he loves, then I support you fully. You cannot help who you fall in love with. If it is mutual and consenting, then there shouldn’t be a problem, social class or gender be damned.”

“That’s right, kiddo,” Patton spoke up stepping forward, startling me. I’d kind of forgotten he was there. I was really not on my game with being vigilant today.

“I won’t report you either. It’d be a little hypocritical of me if I did,” He smiled, shooting a quick glance to Logan. I wanted to ask him to elaborate on that last part but decided against it. I was pretty sure I got the hint, and again, it wasn’t really my business anyway.

“And I know that I haven’t known you nearly as long as Logan, but I’d like to be your friend as well if you’d like,” Patton continued, shooting me a beaming smile. I returned his smile hesitantly, though mine wasn’t nearly as big or bright. I don’t think I could fully comprehend what was happening right now. This was certainly not how I thought things would be going. Just a few minutes ago, I’d been getting ready to say goodbye to Roman forever.

“Ok, um, we—we can be friends, if, uh, you really want to,” I nodded, snorting as Patton bounced in place a bit and nodded happily. He was always so excitable, I couldn’t help but grin.

“You—You really won’t report us?” Roman assured, arms tightening around me slightly, “Either of you?”

“Of course not, My Prince,” Logan confirmed.

“Wouldn’t dream of it, Your Highness,” Patton chimed in.

“Please, just Roman is fine.”

Patton grinned at him and nodded, while Logan just raised an eyebrow.

“Alright then, now that that’s been settled, may I ask what you two are doing in the clinic in the first place? Is something wrong?” Logan inquired, studying the two of us.

“Oh, that’s right. It’s a bit risky to be cuddling out in the open like this, even if it was pawsitively adorable,”—Patton giggled at his own pun— “Wouldn’t it be safer in your room, Roman? Or somewhere hidden?”

“Ah, well—” I glanced back at Roman and at his reluctant nod, began explaining.

“Princey, er, Roman sneaked off to take part in stopping the raid on the nearby town and came back with a stab wound. He wouldn’t let me take him to you, Lo, trust me I tried,” I grumbled, taking a second to glare at Roman which he promptly ignored, “so, I tried to tend to it myself. I, uh, I guess I didn’t do very well. It got infected. Then I tried to fix it, but when I went to check on him this morning it was even worse, and he had a fever and ended up passing out. I managed to get him here and tried the best I could with mending it an everything, but uh, if you could take a look…”

Logan nodded at my request, and I scrambled out of Roman’s lap as he bent down to pull up his shirt. He quickly undid the bandages I’d wrapped and started examining it, asking what medications and ointments I’d used as he went.

“Well, you’ve done a remarkable job at cleaning the infection as far as I can tell. You gave him all the correct medicines and ointments as well. The stitching is also very well done. Keep in mind, Virgil, that the infection may not have been caused by you or by improper care. It could be internal body bacteria, or the fact that you did the stitches in an unsterilized environment under what sounds like not ideal conditions. All things considered, you did everything right,” Logan commended before leaning back and turning to address both me and Roman. I felt the knot in my chest lessen even more at his words even as I blushed at the praise.

“All you can do now is monitor the infection and keep it clean and dry and change the bandages often. Also be sure to avoid scratching at the stitches. They may begin to itch, especially because of the infection. I’d recommend avoiding heavy physical labor that could stretch or break the stitches as well. If you need an excuse, come find me and I’ll be more than happy to write you a note or talk to your father myself. You’ve suffered a very bad fever after all, even collapsing from it. I’m sure I could convince him you need bedrest,” he instructed, smiling softly at both of us. I blinked at him, pretty sure I’d never seen him smile so genuinely before. Huh. Today was full of surprises.

“Oh, also, take these pills for the next week, your Highness. Your fever seems to have gone down quite a bit, and I’d like to keep it that way. I’ll have Virgil keep up with your infection as he’s done an excellent job already and I’m sure you’d both prefer that.”

“Thank you, Logan,” Roman nodded, returning Logan’s smile and taking the pills that he offered.

“And I’ve told you a million times to just call me Roman.” He added with a huff.

“And I’ve told you a million times that it’s unprofessional to address you as such,” Logan tsked, sighing as he quickly re-bandaged his wound.

“Well then don’t do it as a professional do it as a friend,” Roman shot back, making Logan pause. He slowly finished up the bandages before taking a step back and raising an eyebrow

“A friend?” he questioned, crossing his arms.

“Yes. I believe this could be the start of a great friendship, the four of us. Don’t you guys think? Besides I’ve known you for years, Logan. Plus, I’m well acquainted with Patton already, though we’ve never gotten to spend much one-on-one time together. And Virgil, well, of course, uh, you know…” Roman cleared his throat blushing a bit. “Um, anyway, it’ll be nice, don’t you think? We can all just be here and exist together. No need for formalities or regard for social status or any of that. We can all relax and be ourselves.”

Logan took a minute to think it over before sighing and nodding softly.

“I—I suppose that’s acceptable,” he agreed, “You seem to constantly land yourself in my clinic anyway; so, it’s not as if I don’t get enough of you. It would be…nice to be friends.”

“Yay! New friends! I need you to know that I already love all of you so much,” Patton cheered as Roman stuck his tongue out at Logan.

“I think you just love everyone, Patton,” I couldn’t help but snort.

“Well, maybe, but you guys are special. I can’t wait to get to know you all more,” he replied, looking fondly at Roman and Logan who were now arguing about who-knows-what.

“Yeah,” I chuckled, rolling my eyes as Roman dramatically gasped and put a hand to his chest, “Me either, Pat.” Me either

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transfemlogan · 1 year ago

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plz teach me how to start writing smth /silly

i want to write a fic but idk how to start lol

-rauberrauber

I WILL TELL U MY WRITING PROCESS (BADLY EXPLAINED) @rauberrauber

STEP ONE: THE IDEA PHASE !!!

Come up w/ an idea & then write it down like. Halfassedly. Like my current fic was written down as "Logan transforms in2 a wolf on a full moon & virgil stays w/ him & makes a potion or whatever 2 keep the pain away & then he just turns in2 a dogy" (exact quote) & then was added onto 2 make my outline

This is my current outline (censored just so you guys dont. Get spoiled 4 everything that happens in the fic HEHDKDN) its just a lot of like rambling, trying 2 get everything in ordsr

REVYS TIP: MAKE SURE YOU ARE DAY DREAMING ABOUT YOUR IDEA NONSTOP. /silly whenever I try to write something when I haven't thought about how it'll go while I'm doing a chore or listening to music or falling asleep, the idea will never ever come out bcuz I have no idea what I'm even trying to do.

STEP TWO: THE PLANNING PHASE !!

Start planning ! I use Notion 2 organise everything, but i used 2 use my notes app 4 the longest time (& sometimes still do if I am too lazy to open my computer).

I write down a basic summary of my plot, how many chapters there are if its a chaptered fic, the characters & relationships, a timeline if its needed, a to-do list (ex. Research [insert thing], give the characters last names, create the timeline, etc), a list of what I need 2 research (& then keeping track of everything I research), title ideas, world building, etc etc

My planning phase is like... A Lot of work bcuz i really like to plan! It is my favourite part of any creative work i do, bcuz there is something wrong w/ me /j /silly.

This is sort of what my notion page looks like for "To The Tune Of Your Death". I also have a page for character info, like pronouns & ages & genders & races & relationships w/ each other, & two separate timelines with exact years and days (bcuz it is very much needed 4 this entire au). One for the main fic timeline (like when Janus dies and when Logan and Virgil start dating) AND one for background information (like their parents divorces, bcuz it unforrunately relates to the fic)

REVYS TIP: DO NOT GET SCARED BY HOW MUCH PLANNING I DO. it is entirely a me thing. I have yet to meet anyone who plans as much as I do & enjoys it like I do.

STEP THREE: THE WRITING PHASE !!

Note: the writing & planning phase overlay each other A Lot. You are going to start writing & then pause 2 keep planning or u will be planning & realise you need to start writing to Continue to plan. This is very normal, esp if ur researching for a disability or a race— you will not do research One Time & know everything immediately.

START WRITING!!! I always have like 7-10 drafts & I'm usually rewriting as I write. I use CalmyWriter to write on my computer and then I transfer it to discord so I can have it on my phone. I also use my notes apps a lot of the time! Bcuz its easy to just write on my phone anywhere than wait 2 use my laptop. I avoid google docs, simply bcuz i absolutely hate google docs (& it usually lags real bad 4 me)

(I do however transfer everything to google docs once I am done, bcuz i like 2 share my fics w/ ppl who want 2 beta!)

When I start my first draft (which u will always have a first draft) I am not at all focused on grammar, spelling, or "good writing", I'm focused on getting the idea down & the basic flow of events & following my outline (unless it needs to be revised). Literally my first drafts are so awful & thats the point.

Its usually very like (example): Virgil walked to the store and he bought this. [Insert what he bought as it relates to what he will be doing later] logan said hi to him he is blushing & gay. They arw talking. [Skip kissing scene] janus dies yayyy yippee

Thats what my 1st drafts r like. & then either once I am done, or while I am writing, I'll start revising. I will go back and rewrite scenes or add scenes in or move stuff around. Sometimes I have my 1st draft side by side with my revision & sometimes I go off memory

& once I am done w/ my revision... I do it all over again. & then again. & then I keep doing that until its finished.

I always keep my sketchbook & a pen/pencil by me while I am writing, incase I need to make a quick note of something for later or if I need to sketch out a layout of somehing (for example, I stopped to layout Virgil's witchcraft/office room while writing tge analogical fic)

STEP FOUR: UM. THE REST... OF IT ALL PHASE !!

I title my fic (if it hasnt been titled already), I create a summary for AO3, I send it out for my friends who want to beta, I reread it like 50 times & go "wow I am so good at writing", I create drafts on tumblr & ao3 and make sure its tagged correctly & the correct ppl r @ ed if i had a taglist of some sort etc etc

Any of my fics (or art) that you see get posted, were 100% in my drafts for like 3 hrs b4 they were posted bcuz i kept going through it and making sure everything is good (esp bcuz i cross post on tumblr & ao3)

& that is... pretty much my entire writing process broken down.

I think one of the scariest parts of starting to write for me personally was the first draft part. I always felt like it needed to be good IMMEDIATELY or else i wasnt being a "good writer". But most, if not all, writers dont start off "writing good", they start off with a shitty rough draft. & then keep revising & rewriting.

The best advice i have ever seen was "just start it", bcuz if ur so caught up on writing well, nothing will ever get done. Just GO START IT RIGHT NOW GO QUICKLY RUN!!!!!! RUN !!!!!!!!!!!!! WRITE !!!!!!!!

#i spent an hr writing this & getting screenshots HELP EJDHDIDN #I was like “ok ill sleep rn!” & then spent an hr writing this #ask

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tracybirds · 2 years ago

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11 for Scott, 12 for Virgil and 14 for John? 😊

ahhh thank you (both for the ask and for waiting while I slept :DDD)

11. A queer headcanon for Scott

I have so many fluid headcanons for everyone (bc I find that more fun personally!!) but I'm going to elaborate on aro Scott bc I was meaning to do that before I crashed at the beginning of the week lol

cw sex mention as a heads up :)

Aro Scott is very near and dear to me simply because I think he's such a good example of a person who loves so fiercely, just not romantically lol :D He loves his family and friends so much, they colour everything he does, and I like the idea of him not really knowing until John comes out as aroace and Scott's like huh tell me more and kind of really intensely interrogating him until John loses his temper a bit bc he thinks Scott just doesn't believe him, and Scott's like "well EVERYONE feels that way" and then John goes all quiet and is like "uh, no they don't, it's normal but not as common" and Scott goes away and has his lil crisis and then comes back a week later and is all "okay so I might be aroace too but I still want to have sex" and John's just like "I hate you so much right now I do NOT want to have this conversation with you" and anyway they muddle along and Scott eventually figures out he's aromantic and allosexual and he has a good time with it :D

12. How Virgil would show off his identity

I feel like Virgil would be pretty lowkey and not do anything too overt. I think he'd enjoy going to pride and walking down the street holding hands with his date, and as an artist I feel like he'd really enjoy subtly showing off the colours of his flag (yes I'm being ambiguous here bc I don't have a set headcanon, I know, shocker!). I can 100% see him as the guy that never really comes out, but just is himself so authentically he makes it look effortless and nobody ever questions a thing :D

14. How John would come out

Oh man, it's either the most matter of fact statement over dinner where he's just like "look I don't want any false assumptions here, these are the facts" OR it's the most angst ridden, nerve wracked, over thought rush of words to Scott and Scott only and then he just never mentions it again and Scott's like wth John are you telling people or not and John just very unhelpfully shrugs and says do what you like and Scott's like NO BECAUSE THERE'S A RIGHT ANSWER HERE AND IF I PICK WRONG YOU'LL BE MAD AT ME and John's just :| *hangs up* Eventually he tells Alan, but only bc Alan's questioning his own identity and Alan spills the beans to everyone and everyone (in the family at least) was like oh yeah, that tracks cool.

While the first scenario is more likely, I think that the second scenario would be way funnier, he's just like "Scott it's YOUR queer crisis now"

#ask games 😁💕

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snowdice · 2 years ago

Text

Big Bang Editing Story [Day 112]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story years ago, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag ‘proofread stories.’ I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Part 41 Part 42 Part 43 Part 44 Part 45 Part 46 Part 47 Part 48 Part 49 Part 50 Part 51 Part 52 Part 53

I don't have a lot of time on Mondays to work, so you'll probably only get 2 rounds of this. However, I'm trying to get back into the habit so...

Maybe you'll get some this evening, but no promises. I had a busy weekend and am tired lol. I might just go to sleep at 5 when I get home. XD

Chapter 54 (Patton)

“I still can’t believe he’s allowing this,” King Thomas said from next to Patton. The two of them were standing at the edge of the arena outside the horse stable, watching from a safe distance.

“If he hadn’t tried to bite me earlier, I’d think he was a different horse,” Patton agreed.

“He doesn’t even let Logan ride him,” the king said. “At least not ride him and give him directions.”

Patton was very aware of that. Logan did on occasion choose to get up onto Mr. Apples’ saddle. However, Mr. Apples was always the once who got to decide where they went after that. Logan had no say.

With that in mind, Patton, Logan, and every stable hand who’d heard about the prospective riding lessons had tried to convince Virgil to learn to ride on a different horse. Virgil was just as stubborn as Mr. Apples however and had insisted. Logan, being the only one who could be around Mr. Apples without risking being kicked, had become his de facto tutor.

Not even Logan could have expected that within a week, Virgil would be able to control Mr. Apples. Though perhaps ‘control’ was the wrong word. Nothing could control Mr. Apples, but for some reason, Mr. Apples seemed willing to do as Virgil asked.

Even right now Mr. Apples was trotting around the training arena like he was a well-trained trick horse warming up with his rider.

“Logan told him we could go on an actual ride today if the lesson went well,” Patton told the king. The lesson seemed to be just getting over because Logan said something to Virgil and Virgil started to climb off. Mr. Apples was patient and still as he dismounted.

“Do you think he’d mind if I went with you?” King Thomas asked.

Patton shrugged. “Mr. Apples might.”

“Mr. Apples definitely will,” the king replied. “I’ll come anyway.”

Logan had walked over to where Patton and the king were standing while Virgil fed Mr. Apples some apple pieces as a reward.

“I hear you’re going to go riding today,” King Thomas said.

Logan nodded. “Mr. Apples seems to listen to him well enough,” he said.

“I might join you if that’s alright. Where are you kids going?” the king asked.

“I was thinking the main forest path,” Logan replied. “It’s not a particularly difficult route, but it’s also a part of the castle grounds Virgil hasn’t been able to see yet. Loraine told me it has been recently cleared after the winter.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” the king said. “Are you going now?”

“Once Patton and I saddle up our horses,” Logan said. “You can come.”

“Great,” the king said with a smile. “I’ll ask for Bella’s saddle to be brought out. I haven’t gone on a ride yet this week.”

He turned then to walk towards the stables leaving Patton and Logan alone.

“Do you think he’s been acting weird?” Logan asked, turning towards Patton.

Patton frowned. “No,” he said. “Not really.”

“I’m just wondering why he wants to go horseback riding with us.”

“He likes spending time with you?” Patton guessed.

“Yes,” Logan said, “but typically in a setting that doesn’t involve Mr. Apples.”

Well, that was fair.

“I mean, it’s not too weird,” Patton said, thinking back through the last couple of days. King Thomas had been a bit… clingy.

“He’s been hanging around a lot,” Logan said, echoing Patton’s thoughts with narrowed eyes. He glanced back at Virgil. “You don’t think Virgil let something slip, do you?”

“He didn’t say anything,” Patton said. “I think your dad would say something if Virgil let slip he was an assassin somehow.”

“Unless he let slip something that didn’t quite implicate himself but invited suspicion.”

“Your dad doesn’t seem suspicious,” Patton said. At least, Patton didn’t think he did. He hadn’t been acting mean in any way. In fact, he might have even been acting nicer.

Logan frowned. “We should keep an eye on him, especially around Virgil.”

Patton bit his lip.

“What?” Logan asked.

“Are we ever going to tell your dad about Virgil?” he asked.

Logan hesitated. “I don’t…” he trailed. “I’m not sure.”

“It just feels weird lying for so long,” Patton said. Patton didn’t lie a lot. Sure, maybe he’d pretend to not know what Mama was talking about when sweets went missing from the kitchens or he’d pretend to not know what Logan’s birthday gift was, but he’d never lied about anything serious before now.

“I know, but,” Logan glanced back at Virgil once again, “even if we did decide to tell, we’d have to convince Virgil everything would be alright beforehand. I don’t think we’re at that point yet. He was terrified of Father until a few months ago, and he’s still cautious around him sometimes.”

Logan was right, of course. Virgil was getting more and more comfortable around the king, but he figured any of the progress made would go down the drain as soon as they brought up telling King Thomas about where exactly Virgil had come from. Patton didn’t know if Virgil would ever be comfortable enough.

“We should go get our own horses,” Logan suggested, and Patton nodded.

Patton and Logan’s horses had already been saddled by the stable hands in anticipation of their ride and it didn’t take long for the king to saddle his own horse, Bella.

The forest path at this time of year was very pretty, Patton thought. The tree branches now had small green leaves on them after having been barren for the entire winter and flowers were starting to grow. In a few weeks’ time it would be even prettier, but it would also be harder for the groundskeeper to maintain as well as it was right now.

Virgil really did seem less anxious around King Thomas now. The path was only wide enough for two horses to go at once, and he didn’t seem to mind that he and the king ended up next to each other while Patton and Logan lagged behind. In fact, he and the king seemed to be having a nice conversation about the local wildlife.

However, if Patton looked close enough, he did sort of see what Logan meant. Virgil may not be anxious talking to the king now, but the king himself seemed just a little bit nervous at least at the beginning of the ride.

He seemed to relax a bit as they rode (even laughing when Mr. Apples tried to bite him when he got too close).

Logan had been teaching Virgil the basics about things like animals, but there was still a pretty big gap in his education when it came to anything that wasn’t about training to fight and kill. King Thomas seemed more than willing to answer any of his questions when it came to the animals and plants around them even if they were sometimes a bit silly.

He’d seen a bird that looked like a dove. (It may have even been a dove, but Patton hadn’t seen it.) This had been a source of endless confusion for him.

“But shouldn’t it live in the dovecote?” Virgil asked.

“Not all birds live in a dovecote,” the king explained again.

“But it’s a dove,” Virgil said with a frown.

“Not all doves live in a dovecote,” the king replied.

“But it’s a dovecote,” Virgil argued. “It’s for the doves.”

“Yes, but there are also wild doves,” the king said.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Virgil replied.

“What about it doesn’t make sense?” the king asked with a laugh in his tone.

“Doves go in the dovecote,” Virgil said.

Patton was starting to have trouble following this argument.

“Dovecotes are made for doves,” the king said, “but not all doves go in dovecotes.”

“Why?”

This seemed to stump the king momentarily, but he still answered after thinking for a bit. “Doves existed before people got to them,” the king explained. “People caught and trained some of them, but there was no way to catch all of them. So, some stayed in the wild and continued with their lives like they had been before humans. Plus, sometimes domesticated doves fly off and never come back. Sometimes they might die, but other times they may have just gotten lost and had to build a new life somewhere far away. Or maybe they even decided that being a trained dove working for humans wasn’t for them, so they decided to go off on their own.”

“You let them do that?” Virgil asked.

“We can’t really stop them in the end,” the king said. “People can try, but it never ends up working as long as they can fly.”

Virgil thought about this. “I still don’t understand,” he said, “but okay.”

“We should take you to the cliffs,” the king suggested.

“What are the cliffs?”

“The castle grounds were built for defense,” King Thomas explained. “The edge of the grounds to the North is a large river and overlooking it is a huge cliff. It’s a good place for picnics and for birdwatching. It’s a bit of a trip, but now would be a good time of year to go.”

He glanced over his shoulder back at Logan and Patton. “What do you boys think about going to the cliffs sometime? Maybe in about a week?”

Logan squinted at his father suspiciously. It wasn’t so much the fact that the king was asking them to go to the cliffs. They did that every so often. However, this time, it only supported Logan’s claims that the king was hanging out with them a lot recently.

“Sure,” Logan said, after a moment.

“Sounds fun!” Patton said cheerily right after, trying to cover for the lack of enthusiasm in Logan’s voice with his own. Judging by King Thomas’s expression and Logan’s tight-lipped scowl, he may have overcompensated.

“Great,” the king said. “”I’ll make sure to make arrangements when we get back to the castle.”

Chapter 55 (Logan)

Virgil was beginning to be able to read some of the common instructions in magic books, but Logan still made sure to read out the instructions to him at least twice before setting him loose. He’d started to jot down notes to himself about things, though these notes were not words, but various symbols that only made sense to the boy himself.

Logan had asked about their meaning at one point and received an answer that, while earnest, was unintelligible. The symbols were mostly just pictures of things to represent certain steps in spell casting, but they were filtered through Virgil’s rudimentary penmanship and often bizarre perception of the world.

Though, despite the fact that Logan could not often decipher his chicken scratch, it did seem to help him produce impressively quality charms even as Logan began to introduce more complicated processes to make them. He was a very good student even if he didn’t have the best foundation for learning.

“I add lavender for the next step, right?” Virgil asked, his finger on a word in Logan’s magic book.

“That is correct,” Logan confirmed.

Virgil looked back at the book and mouthed the word ‘lavender’ to himself before turning back to his potion. He grabbed a few sprigs of lavender and threw them into the cauldron.

The liquid popped and bubbled violently, but Virgil didn’t flinch as he once would have, prepared for it now.

After the lavender, Logan knew that it would have to simmer for 5 minutes. Virgil looked down at the boiling liquid, contemplating it for a long moment.

“Can I soak a knife in it?” he asked.

“What?” Logan asked.

“Can I soak a knife in the potion once it’s done?”

“In that potion?” Logan clarified. “In the emergency hand warmer potion?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“I think a hot knife would be useful,” Virgil said.

“For what?”

Virgil shrugged. “Cooking food on the road,” he said, “burning wood, stabbing someone and immediately cauterizing the wound.”

“That is… not a standard use for this potion,” Logan said.

Virgil titled his head at him. “Would it work though?”

“Well, I don’t know,” Logan contemplated. “Perhaps. The potion can cause burns if one uses too much of it or if it is used without an appropriate layer between it and the skin. If one were to pick a knife with enough surface area and let it soak long enough, it could in theory get hot enough to do as desired. Hmm…” he thought about it. “There would perhaps be the problem of the potion not sticking to the knife very long as it is intended to soak into fabric. However, cardamom could solve that issue as long as it doesn’t interact with any other ingredients. Let me see that spell.”

Virgil stepped out of his way so he could study the page. “Yes,” Logan said after scanning through all of the ingredients. “I think coriander would work for something like that. Let me go find some.”

He turned to walk towards where he kept his supplies of potion ingredients. Virgil followed on his heals.

“Can we use a serrated knife?”

“Oh, that’s a good idea, Virgil,” Logan said, nodding as he searched through the cupboard that should hold the coriander. “The knife being serrated would help keep the potion stuck to the blade after many uses and would increase the surface area.”

“That was certainly my intentions,” Virgil said smoothly. There was something odd about the tone that had Logan turning to him and blinking at him. Virgil just smiled at him innocently and Logan turned back to the cabinet finally locating the coriander.

“So how are we going to use that?” Virgil asked.

“We’ll put it in right before the last step and let it sit for about 3 minutes,” Logan said. “If it doesn’t quite work, we may need to make another batch. There are options other than coriander, but that’s the first idea that comes to mind and it a lot simpler if it works.”

He continued to speak of the many other options they could try as they returned to the caldron as well as how they could test the hot knife. It was already about time for the next step and Virgil did it without interrupting Logan’s rant.

Virgil listened to his suggestions with interest all while still making sure the potion he was making was progressing well.

Logan did eventually take over to finish the potion with the revised steps he’d come up with and they ended up with a potion that looked perfect except it was a few shades darker than the one they’d originally been planning to make.

“Well, it looks good,” Logan declared. “We will need to acquire a knife to test its effectiveness, however.”

“There are a few good ones in the kitchen,” Virgil pointed out. “I especially like the one 10 inch one with the black and white handle.”

“You have been eyeing up the kitchen knives?” Logan asked.

Virgil rolled his eyes as though that was not a perfectly reasonable question to ask him. “We should steal that one,” Virgil said.

“Do you think we’ll be able to sneak past Ms. Heart to steal a knife from her kitchen?” Logan asked.

“We can’t,” Virgil said.

Logan almost didn’t believe him… and then he remembered the water pouch incident. “It’s the dinner rush,” Logan said. “We should probably wait for a bit.”

Virgil was shaking his head. “The dinner rush is the best time,” he said. “Everyone will be distracted, and all of the knives will be out and in prime stealing position.”

“And if Patton’s mother catches us messing around in her kitchen during her busiest time of day, she will have Father ground us for a week.”

“Then we just won’t get caught,” Virgil said.

“I’m not sure if it’s that simple,” Logan said with a frown.

“You can stay here if you want,” Virgil offered. “I’ll just go by myself.”

“No, I’ll come too,” Logan relented, though he did still have some reservations about the idea.

He let Virgil lead him towards the main dining hall. By now, Virgil knew the kitchens and dining hall very well.

“Stay here,” he said. They were in a hallway a few feet down from the staff entrance to the kitchen. “I’m going to do some reconnaissance.”

“What type of reconnaissance?” Logan asked, but Virgil had already disappeared before his very eyes. With a blink, Logan looked up and saw a dark figure disappear onto a balcony overhead.

#proofread stories #not writing

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froggi1337 · 10 months ago

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Was a little anxious to post this, but here goes.

Who’s your favorite character to write?

Perhaps my favorite character to write was my Mage: The Awakening character: Jonas Moore, shadowname, “John Doe”. He was a rookie cop in the wrong place at the wrong time with his mentor and partner. They walked into a wizard trap and got their shit fucked up, Jonas surviving as unscratched as he did only because his mentor was in front of him as the entered. This awoke his mage powers, however, he awoke in a coma and spent the next week trapped in a world of nightmares. He'd wake up and vanish to parts unknown, returning anonymously with the shadowname “John Doe” some years later to investigate his partner's death. I had a lot of freedoms with that character I hadn't been able to experience through a free-form social media roleplay on Formspring (if anyone remembers that), and I think the game experience has a lot to do with my fondly remembering of this character more than anything.

An alternate take I didn't want to throw out was: My favorite character to write was perhaps Virgil Wayne in a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure roleplay called Port Holiday. It was my first positive roleplay experience after The Cards, even if it was mired by the usual internet drama that follows those kinds of open rp communities. But I digress, I look back on Virgil and the things I got to do there very fondly and I hope to find an experience half as good as the one I had there one day soon. My experience roleplaying Mage beats out Port Holiday mostly because I didn't have my own story arcs indirectly shelved by my friends in my tabletop game as opposed to the fandom roleplay which actively ignored me.

Who’s your least favorite to write?

Off the top, it's Joseph Johnson, aka, the Ace of Hearts. He's always been such a nothing bro character, and I've tried to overhaul him multiple times in the past but getting stuff to stick has been difficult. I've got so far as to consider shelving or outright scrapping the character, and giving his role to one of my more capable characters. Then again, it isn't like I haven't made progress with Joe's development... I just wish his fleshing out process would go smoother!

Who’s your favorite character overall?

This was one fluctuates quite a bit, especially these days as my little universes of characters slowly expand. But honestly, I'd be a fool if I didn't acknowledge my roots and admit I come back to my favorite dirtbag, Francis “Fran” Daniels. She's been with me since I was a wee child, and even transitioned alongside me irl and fellow mainstay OC Victoria Wayne.

Which character(s) do you love to hate?

There's one clear winner by a mile, it's Alan McGregor. I wanted to make Alan as obviously toxic with his personality as possible, for a villain like him. He's taking advantage of a lot of people and a lot of them don't even require his super intrusive telepathy powers. I lifted inspiration from the big name Republican politicians of my time (yes, especially Trump).

What’s the easiest thing to write for you?

I like to think if nothing else that I'm quite good at openers. I love to try and set decent scenes for readers, gives me a chance to build a new scene and place new and interesting characters together that likely haven't met before. What's not to love?

What’s the hardest thing to write for you?

The moment we go beyond an intro, I lose track of the story. Weaving a narrative is much harder than one might make it look. The establishing shot of the story is great and all, but I also have to write the rest of the story and that's the hardest part for me.

Do you plan everything out before you write or do you sit down and go with the flow?

No, my writing sessions have always been more impromptu; although, my goal this year's to improve my relationship with work. I want to try and actively work on planning out what I'm writing more often (not starting not lol).

What songs do you listen to get in the writing mood?

I usually put on a scramble, although suggestions are welcome! Additionally, it's really easy for me to write for Fran when I put on 'Sound of Silver' by LCD Soundsystem or Van Halen/any 80's dad rock. Alan is easier to write or otherwise plan out in my head to musicians like Kanye West or MF DOOM.

Do you have songs that you associate with certain characters?

Buddy I've debated making whole playlists lol

How do you get around a writer’s block, if anything?

Weed.

Is there a certain type of character you favor writing over the others?

The snide bad boy with a soft streak is a personal favorite of mine, I'm also a fan of guy who's a deranged bad ass in spite of the circumstances against them. I love a good underdog story!

What is one character you love but rarely/never write?

I love Tomas O'Valen! My beloved red mask wearing boy rarely sees the sun anymore, and while I'm sure that's fine and dandy for him mommy says he needs his vitamin d

Is there one character that always fights you when you try writing them?

I get a lot of resistance from Leon, I think it's because I've been kind of anxious about him being a little bland compared to everyone else. Compared to everyone else, he feels less finished but I'm not to worried. His part in the story of the world he's in comes much later.

What is your go-to ‘self-indulgent’ genre of writing (such as comfort, angst, enemies to friends, etc.)?

You'd have to find my F-List for that one, and I don't give that out to just anyone I'll have you know.

I kid, I kid. I'm very self-indulgent about fight scenes, I'm that kid always banging their actions figures together. Pushing them to their limits, seeing how much I can make them physically and mentally break each other. Plus seeing two characters at odds go against one another like good vs evil is always fine, even if the characters aren't always morally black & white. Because who cares, this motherfucker carries six pistols because he watched 'The Boondock Saints' in theaters and thought that one guy was “cool as fuck.”

What two characters did you never expect to work together?

I didn't expect Tomas and Fran to have as much equal ground to stand on. Sure, in-lore Tomas knew Francis' grandfather and father but she was never fond of those people (especially her grandpa, he was a sourpuss in his old age by the time they met). And yet, Tomas can be considered a sort of family biographer by now, having personally known and befriended 3+ generations of Fran's family.

What’s one writing weakness you want to work on?

I need more creative stamina or energy while writing, if this questionnaire has taught me anything. Once I'm started it's great, I'm on a roll and I can bang out a start in a heartbeart, most the time. However, it becomes quite clear when I start to lose steam while writing, and I want to work on that. If only to at least hide my exhaustion on paper.

Are you prone to leaving unfinished WIPs or do you strive to finish everything you write?

In hindsight, not as many one might think lol

What is one theme/storyline/idea you wish to write but never have?

Well, a FULL story is any kind of answer. But I jest, I want to write sci-fi. More specifically mecha, I absolutely adore Gundam and I'd love to build dioramas and write little stories centered around them. Hell, I'd love a shot at building my own original setting for a mecha sci-fi. I have a little bit of one Aon paper, but I put in on the back burner due to the scope being a little overwhelming for me at this stage of my writing career.

What is one story idea you have in your head right now?

Francis Daniels throws Drake Morrison in front of a train lol

Random Writer Questions

Can be for canon, non-canon, fanfics, RPs, OCs, or anything in between.

Who’s your favorite character to write?

Who’s your least favorite to write?

Who’s your favorite character overall?

Which character(s) do you love to hate?

What’s the easiest thing to write for you?

What’s the hardest thing to write for you?

Do you plan everything out before you write or do you sit down and go with the flow?

What songs do you listen to get in the writing mood?

Do you have songs that you associate with certain characters?

How do you get around a writer’s block, if anything?

Is there a certain type of character you favor writing over the others?

What is one character you love but rarely/never write?

Is there one character that always fights you when you try writing them?

What is your go-to ‘self-indulgent’ genre of writing (such as comfort, angst, enemies to friends, etc.)?

What two characters did you never expect to work together?

What’s one writing weakness you want to work on?

Are you prone to leaving unfinished WIPs or do you strive to finish everything you write?

What is one theme/storyline/idea you wish to write but never have?

What is one story idea you have in your head right now?

&- Free slot, ask your own question here.

#original character #writing memes #writing prompt

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darth-does-stuff · 3 years ago

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Logan Lancaster met Virgil Silvius when he was 6 years old. His father had told him, in the simplest terms, that the baker in the village sent supplies to the castle, usually by sending a messenger (mess-en-ger, he committed that to memory). However, the messenger was not there that day, so he and his son were coming to drop off the supplies personally (that was a fun word to say). His father, being a castle servant, was sent to receive the supplies, having to also bring along Logan.

And that was how he ended up here, peering up at his father as he talked with the other man before looking back down, meeting the eyes of another boy. He gave a small wave, holding his father’s hand with his other hand. The other boy stared back at him, as if he was con-tem-plating something (Logan had learned that word from a book his dad had showed him, he remembered proudly). Eventually, the other kid waved back shyly, almost immediately looking back down at his shoes.

Logan’s father tugged on his hand gently, “We’re going, bud.” Logan looked up at his dad and nodded, turning back towards the other kid only to find that he and the man were already walking away.

“Pa, who was that? I mean, what were their names?” Logan asked as he walked with his father through the castle halls. He said each word carefully, like he did every time he talked, as if he couldn’t bear to get one word wrong.

“Hm? Oh, the baker’s name is Oakley and his son’s name is Virgil,” Pa replied, gently leading Logan away from a room he tried to see into, ever the curious child.

(Virgil, Logan repeated in his head. What a peculiar name. He decided he liked it.)

a/n: just a small little excerpt from an analogical fic i’m writing, i will say writing kid!logan is easier than writing any of the other sides as children because with logan i can use big words and pass it off as logan being mature and knowing them and with the others i don’t know how children work lmao. anyways take some fluff *chucks it at you*

taglist: @star-crossed-shipper don’t know if you wanted to be tagged in just general writing stuff or only pirate au so consider this me asking lol

#sanders sides #ts #ts logan #ts virgil #virgil sanders #along with some ocs :]#btw for future reference when you know more about oakley and his personality oakley my beloved #analogical #writing #sanders sides fanfiction #logan sanders #won’t say the name of the fic yet but yes i do have an actual name for this #truly astounding /gen #did i base logan’s last name off of fabian’s?? maybe #ok in my defense i thought of it and then i realized how similar it was to fabians last name and THEN i realized that was #where the inspiration had come from lol

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agerestorybits · 3 years ago

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Agere Roman where he has a sick day and the core four all gush over him and take care of him. However really wants his brother because he is feeling scared and sick. Roman tells the others to get Remus but he is pretty sure Remus wont show up but then he does and Roman gets cuddles and fun times.

I hope this made sense lol please and thank you in advance! ((I feel like I give you a new prompt every couple weeks, let me know if I am requesting too much lol. love your writing btw (= ))

(Request away! I get to them at my own pace and sometimes that pace can be pretty fast, lol.)

Warnings- Food mention, sickness. (let me know if I missed any)

Janus wasn't younger than ten so he was fine on his own. It was also why he was sneaking down to the kitchen to get some some scooby doo gummy snacks and some juice. He didn't think anyone would be in there, least of all a very sick little Roman who was crying on the floor hugging a large soft blanket and wiping his running nose off on it. He looked up to see Janus in the doorway and whimpered out a small, "M ick." Before crying harder and coughing.

Janus frowned confused as he walked over and put a hand on Roman's shoulder. "Why are you alone?" Even if Virgil didn't want to watch Roman due to his fear of germs, Patton or Logan should have be willing to.

"No one wans wake up." Roman sniffed. He rubbed his very red nose. "Say m bother." He said making Janus grabbed a handful of paper towels and start drying off Roman's face. Roman's face was burning up and he was shivering hard enough that his teeth clacked. Janus grabbed his hand helped him stand before leading him into the t.v. room and buddling him up on the couch. He turned on the t.v to start playing Disney karaoke, even if Roman didn't feel like singing along listening to the music would help distract him from how poorly he felt.

Janus went and grabbed one pill for colds and flus. He didn't need to worry about getting the wrong amount since he was suppose to only get one and he filled Roman's mickey sippy cup with apple juice. He grabbed his owns snacks before walking back in to see Roman crying again. Roman stopped crying when he saw Janus he reached for him whimpering as he the cold rushed in to his nest of blankets from where he had reached out.

Janus got Roman to take the medicine and let himself be pulled into the blanket mess. Roman didn't ask but Janus shared a few of his gummies with him. "We can watch dooby if you wans." Roman said shivering less and looking more tired. Janus wasn't going to turn that down and soon they were both asleep with the cartoon playing.

---

Roman woke up on the couch, whimpering when moving hurt his head. "Hey easy there bud." Virgil said gently putting his hand on Roman's shoulder. Roman let Virgil pull him into a side hug as he looked around wondering where Janus had gone. He saw him in the kitchen with Logan and Patton.

Janus had woken up bigger and then proceeded to 'politely' yell at Virgil, Patton and Logan. Leaving all three of them feeling a bit guilty for upsetting Roman.

Roman was a happy that they wanted to take care of him now, but at the same time was a bit upset they didn't want to earlier. Even if they had been half asleep, he felt like they should have payed more attention to him when he asked for help. He also felt worse when one of them would wince or flinch away when he coughed. It made him feel even more gross.

He wished Remus was here but he didn't want to ask for him. So he just settled down into his buddle of blankets and watched Virgil get him cold washcloths for his forehead and Logan put on shows and Patton kept pushing drinks at him to make sure he stayed hydrated. Janus managed getting him medicine and resupplied his tissue stock.

He didn't want any of that. He wanted his brother who he knew wouldn't make him feel gross and weak. He muttered to himself darkly as Logan made him return to the couch after going to the bathroom. He didn't want to sit around and just watch t.v and drink watered juice and hold a stupid cold cloth to his face. "I want Remus." Roman muttered not noticing that Janus heard him.

So when Remus popped up behind the couch and tickled the side of Roman's neck he screeched and giggled as batted the hand away. "I see you've got caught by a sniffle monster."

"Mm ick." Roman said firmly smiling as Remus hopped over the back of the couch to let Roman hug him.

"That's what I said." Remus said booping Roman's nose. Roman giggled again before coughing. Remus looked up at the t.v and tsk'd, "What's this garbage?" He jumped to his feet and set up the wii before tossing a red wii remote to Roman, grabbing a Green one for himself and threw a yellow one at Janus. He held up the last remote, "Who else wants in on this?"

Virgil passed on playing and decided to just watch. Logan and Patton said they would take turns. That being settled Remus walked back over to the couch and sat down next to Roman. "I'll be on your team." He said in a loud whisper.

Logan looked over at him. "We're playing a racing game? There aren't teams?" Roman laughed.

"We'll see." Remus said winking at Roman. Logan very quickly figured out that by teams, Remus just blocked everyone else that wasn't Roman from reaching the finish line.

Roman felt a lot better listening to Janus and Logan get mildly annoyed by Remus' antics. Playing a game was better than just watching, it gave him something to do. It helped that he was winning alot.

#remus #agere Janus #Agere Roman #virgil #patton #logan #food mention #sickfic

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solarwindsempire · 3 years ago

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Things about our system that’d get us fakeclaimed! Inspired by @parablesystem (we can untag if wanted!)

- pro endo + mixed origins system

- no hosts, frequent fronters change on a daily to weekly basis

- 140 people documented, that’s less than a third of our members

- “too many” similarities between members

- most majority of in-sys relationships are between fictives who share a source, and are shipped at least somewhat in fandom

- we enjoy being plural to the point where we’re scared of being wrong about the system, and when self-fakeclaiming gets bad, or internal communication goes to shit, everyone who fronts looks into how to “do” tulpas

- fictive heavy and double heavy, we literally have at least 20 Virgil Sanders/Anxiety headmates

- Encanto fictives who spell their names “wrong” (Camillo with two Ls intead of one, despite that being the incorrect way of spelling)

- Camillo using neopronouns (literally why we abandoned our initial system tiktok account, a singlet saw Camillo’s video and said it was making fun of neopronouns- and then once told we were a system said “I checked their page and I’m 99% sure they’re faking, plus they support endos”)

- Tive: I miss ___ from my source

Us half the time: *forms ___ within two weeks*

- Philza and Mumza feel less like they formed and more like they walked in and joined the system by accident (kinda)

- Transmasc body, 99.999% queer despite our hundreds of members, we’re 15 at midnight

- Autistic + ADHD

- Some members are dyslexic (in headspace) but it doesn’t present when they’re fronting, despite it affecting the brain when they’re fronting (weird situation lol, we could explain more (I think??) if anyone wants)

- George and Techno are dating, which clearly means that we at some point shipped the characters/content creators /s

- ‘tives who worry about acting “in-character”

- we’re a system/plural on tiktok

- literally just- 90% of anything in our system

#tw fakeclaiming #fakeclaiming tw #the whole post is /lh and /j #and /pos #because we’re amazing #and being a system is already enough cause for fakeclaimers

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phantominzie · 1 year ago

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I found it!! It takes a while to get to that point though so I'll put the chapter verbatim below for you to read without reading seven chapters. This isn't mine lol so I highly recommend you go give the full story a read when you get the chance <3

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12849006/chapters/29341518

Virgil woke up feeling unrested and immediately felt panic. What was wrong? He couldn’t figure out what was wrong! What -

Breathe. He needed to breathe. In for four. Hold for seven. Out for eight.

After a few more minutes, Virgil had calmed himself down and started sifting through the past few days, trying to find a trigger for the sudden panic.

It took him over twenty minutes of laying in bed and staring at the ceiling to find the issue.

Reality had switched off. During the weekend, the reality switch flipped. Nothing felt real and he had been happy (well, relatively). There were no consequences. It almost felt like his past didn’t exist.

Monday, and reality had come back on. His skin itched from how much they’d touched him, yet he craved their touch once more. He wanted to see them every second of the day, yet he wanted to run away. Far away.

This wasn’t right. Nothing was right. Everything felt wrong and he didn’t know why or how to fix it.

The issue wasn’t that he didn’t care for his soulmates. That was far from true. No, Virgil cared too much for his soulmates. He was making himself vulnerable. They probably didn’t care for him as much as he did them, if they cared at all. They were going to end up hurting him. Then he’d end up lashing out and hurting them back. And that was the last thing he wanted.

Maybe he should do what he had been planning to do since the beginning. Distance himself. Remove himself from the equation. It was better off this way. He couldn’t hurt anyone and they couldn’t hurt him.

So Virgil worked his best to distance himself, but it was hard .

Roman would meet him outside the honors dorm and insist on walking him to class. Patton would beg and beg for them to meet for meals until Virgil relented and ate with them. Logan would somehow find him in the library (seriously, it was like the guy lived in there) and propose some group study sessions.

He couldn’t escape.

After a month of this, Virgil finally managed to avoid them all for a week. He spent it mostly in his room, sneaking out at strange hours because they’d all figured out his schedule.

They texted. They called. They wrote on their skin.

Virgil ignored it all, tried to play it off like classes had picked up. He was just busy. That’s all it was. He was just busy.

He thought it was working.

Until Patton finally caught him outside the honors dorm on the way back from class.

“Hey, Virgil!” He chirped. “Working hard or hardly working?” He giggled.

“Uh, hey, Patton….”

“So! My grandma is coming in for dinner tonight again and I wanted you and everyone else to join us!”

“Oh, um, I dunno, Patton. I, uh, I’ve got a lot of homework and--” Virgil stammered out, but cut himself off.

Patton’s puppy eyes. Anything but that.

“I-I guess I can take a break for tonight.”

“Great! Meet us in the west parking garage at five!”

Patton gave him a quick hug that left Virgil feeling very conflicted, then skipped off.

Virgil sighed and walked into the dorm, planning to change into something more appropriate to meet a grandmother in. Ripped, black skinny jeans, a band t-shirt, and a torn up hoodie? Not gonna cut it this time.

Virgil jogged toward the parking garage. He was late. Again . He would do them a favor by disappearing.

Patton, Logan, and Roman were all standing around an old, beat up minivan that couldn’t have been from later than 2003.

“ This is your car?” Virgil asked hesitantly. He didn’t know if he trusted something that looked like that .

Patton smiled, unoffended. “She’s more reliable than she looks. Hop in!”

So they piled in, Roman in shotgun and Logan and Virgil behind them. Virgil didn’t speak for the entire ride. Patton and Roman chattered the whole way. Logan said very little, but Virgil could feel the man staring at him for the duration of the ride.

They arrived at a small diner, about a 25 minute drive from the campus. It was small, obviously family-owned. Patton led them inside cheerily, walking in as if he was right at home. He greeted some of the staff by name, leading them to a large horseshoe booth right by the window. It had a beautiful view of the nearby park though the window.

And older woman was already sitting at the booth, and stood as they approached.

“Patton, sweetheart!” She said, pulling Patton into an embrace.

“Gram!” He hugged her back tightly.

“And these,” she said, turning to the rest of them with a large smile, “must be those lovely soulmates of yours.”

“Hello, Ms. Sanders, I am-” Roman started respectfully, but was cut off by Patton’s grandmother.

“No, don’t tell me. I want to guess.” She carefully inspected each of them.

“You,” she said, pointing to Logan, “are the smart one. Lo, I believe.”

“Yes,” Logan replied, adjusting his glasses. “I am Logan.”

“Nice to meet you, sweetheart.”

She examined Roman and Virgil. Roman puffed out his chest. Virgil shrank in on himself.

“You’re the actor, Ro.” She said, gesturing to Roman.

Roman smiled. “Yes, ma’am, Roman”

“Which makes you the mysterious one,” she said, putting a gentle hand on Virgil’s shoulder. “V.”

“Uh, y-yeah. That’s me.:

Logan rolled his eyes. “Yes, he’s Virgil.”

Mrs. Sanders smiled and gestured for them to pile into the booth before her. “With my hips, it’s much too hard to scoot in there.” She explained, sitting on the end.

A waitress came around and took their orders. Virgil made certain to order the cheapest thing on the menu. Then, Mrs. Sanders laid her hands on the table and looked at them all.

“Let me lay down the law, here,” she said, making Virgil even more nervous. “No more of this ‘Mrs. Sanders’ or ‘ma’am’ nonsense. You either call me Gram or Delilah.”

Logan and Roman both voiced their agreement. Virgil gave a small nod.

Logan shot another look in his direction. Virgil shifted uncomfortably. What was with him tonight?

They chatted about meaningless things for a few minutes, Patton looking anxious all the while. He seemed to tense up as he finally asked what was on his mind.

“So, Gram, how was the drive up here?”

Delilah rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Patton, you really worry too much. My feet my be numb, but I can drive and walk just fine!”

“Gram, it’s not safe !”

“Um,” Roman said, lifting a finger, “I don’t mean to interrupt, but why are your feet numb?”

Delilah gave a smile. Patton stared at the table and shifted uncomfortably.

“It’s a side effect of the chemo.”

The table went still, all staring at her in shock.

She didn’t look sick.

“I’m sorry,” Logan said, looking down and adjusting his glasses. “Did you say chemo ?”

Her eyes softened. “Yes. I was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer a little over two years ago. Nearly died for a while there!” Delilah laughed, as if was no big deal.

Patton was completely still. In all the time Virgil had known him (which, granted, wasn’t long), he had never been still. He was always moving or bouncing or tapping. He had too much energy. Now, it was as if he was a statue.

Virgil had no clue what to do or how to react. Luckily, their meals arrived and cut through the tense moment. They moved on and didn’t acknowledge it again.

The meal passed well enough, but Virgil could tell something was up with Logan. He kept glaring at Virgil out of the corner of his eye, rolling his eyes or making harmful quips whenever Virgil managed to speak. He seemed to snap a few times at Roman and Patton, but none of those were as fiery as the ones directed at Virgil.

By the end of dinner, everyone was tense and on edge. It was obvious that even Delilah had picked up on it and was uncomfortable, yet was too polite to butt into whatever was going on between all of them.

She insisted on paying the bill herself, despite everyone’s protests. It made Virgil even happier that he had ordered the cheapest meal.

She gave Patton a kiss on the cheek before waving them out, saying, “I think you boys have a few things you need to talk over.”

The car ride back to campus was tense. Quiet. Logan was glaring out the windshield. Patton’s knuckles were white from how hard he was gripping the steering wheel. Roman was shifting uncomfortably in his seat. Virgil was trembling in his own, dreading the upcoming confrontation.

What the hell was going on?

They pulled into the west parking garage at 8:43 pm. Virgil’s throat closed up. That was the beginning of the end.

“Why don’t we head to my room?” Patton asked, though it was more of a command. “It’s probably the closest from here, and my roommate is out.”

Patton turned off the car and left them with no choice but to follow him. He led them in silence to Juniper Hall, one of the regular dorms on the opposite side of campus from Virgil’s. He went into the elevator, forcing Virgil to follow, the enclosed space drawing the breath out of his lungs quicker than he could get it in. Luckily, Patton only lived on the third floor.

He held the door open for them all to enter his room before slamming it behind himself.

“Mind telling me what that was?” He asked, voice low, glancing between Virgil and Logan.

“I didn’t do anything!” Virgil exclaimed, his voice higher pitched and louder than normal due to panic. An ingrained response ever since he entered the system.

“Oh you didn’t, did you?” Logan said, turning on him.

Virgil flinched and took a step back. Logan followed, and Virgil did his best to stand his ground.

“No, actually, you’re right,” he said after a few moments. “I believe that’s an accurate description of your behavior.”

Virgil shot a look over to Patton and Roman, their faces blank. He looked back to Logan.

“W-what?”

“You see, Virgil ,” Logan said, beginning to pace the room, hands clasped at the small of his back, standing ramrod straight. “All of us have been trying to put effort into this relationship, even if it’s out of our comfort zone, yet you don’t seem to be making the same effort. In fact, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’ve been trying to avoid us, seeing as this is the first time we’ve seen you in a week .”

Logan whipped around and quickly approached Virgil, causing him to trip over his own feet in an effort to back up. His back hit the wall, breath hitching. Logan advanced until he was inches from Virgil’s face.

“I - I -” Virgil tried to defend himself, but the words wouldn’t move past the lump in his throat. He was trembling violently.

Logan’s eyes were cold, hard, searching his own. The anger in them grew.

“Logan-” someone tried to speak up, but it sounded like it was miles away.

“I thought we were past this,” Logan growled. “I thought we were done with this dilemma. What is with you and running away?! And STOP SHAKING! ”

He slammed his fist into the wall, right next to Virgil’s head.

Virgil flinched to the side and gasped.

Patton and Roman were yelling now, too. Virgil couldn’t hear the words over the blood pounding in his ears.

The switch in his brain went from flight to fight. Blood boiled in his veins. He shoved Logan away, ignoring the shock on his face.

Logan was staring at his fist, face white as a sheet.

“Oh no. No, no, no no nonono-” He whispered.

“Fuck you,” Virgil hissed, before the anger boiled over. He started shouting. “I have anxiety, jackass! You don’t just ‘get over’ it! I probably have a shit ton of other issues, too! My life as been shit, and I don’t need dicks like you ,” he jabbed a finger at Logan, “making it worse!”

“Virgil, I’m-”

“No! You don’t get to talk! You’re done talking!

“Virgil, stop!” Roman grabbed Virgil’s arm.

He hadn’t even realized he’d started advancing on Logan, who still looked like he was going to be sick and staring at his hand. It was almost enough to shake him out of his blind anger.

Almost.

He wrenched his arm out of Roman’s grip. “And who the fuck are you to tell me what to do?”

“Virgil,” Patton’s voice was stern. “That is enough.”

“Fuck you!” Virgil yelled. “You’re siding with him?!” He flung out an arm to gesture at Logan.

“I’m not siding with anyone, I’m just--”

“Bullshit! You’re hiding behind other people’s opinions and a fake smile, just like usual! Why not be real for once in your life!”

Patton’s face was blank, his voice steely. “You want me to be real?”

Roman looked terrified, stuck in the middle of the three of them. “Guys, maybe we should just--”

“Shut up, Daddy’s Boy.” Virgil snarled.

Roman snapped his mouth shut. Clenched his jaw.

Patton moved slowly in front of Virgil. His face may have appeared calm, but his eyes were filled with rage. “I lost my moms when I was just a kid. My grandmother, my sole caretaker , has stage four cancer. It’s a miracle she’s even alive . Everything important is either taken from me or destroyed. I thought this would be the one good thing I could have. I guess I was wrong.”

It was like a slap in the face, like a bucket of cold water had been poured on his head. Virgil deflated.

“Well, I’m sorry to disappoint.” He said. He turned and walked out the door.

This time, no one followed.

Ppl should write virgil as the one who is in the wrong more often

#sanders sides

38 notes · View notes

prince-rowan-of-the-forest · 2 years ago

Text

The Stresses of Shapeshifting

Janus is struggling to regain control of his shapeshifting powers after they get away from him.

Thankfully, the noble Roman (and the others helped a bit too, I guess) was there to save the day!

In the end, all anyone really needs is a cuddle pile, Disney movies, pizza and... possibly inedible... cake.

----

| Ao3 |

Warnings: General distress, a panic attack, minor swearing

Pairings: Platonic DRLAMP

Word Count: 3325

Notes: This is my first posted Sanders Sides fic!! I'm super excited, please be nice, but also please reblog/comment and let me know what you think because I'm nervous. Oh yeah, remember that I had ages ago about Janus' shapeshifting powers going crazy? this is that. haha.

Pings: @seren4d3 (there were a few more people who said they wanted to see it but didn't say they wanted to be pinged specifically so I won't ping because anxiety. If you want to be pinged for future fics in general or something specific, lemme know!! (be specific please lol)

~~~~

“Hey there padre-” Roman said with a smile, it was almost dinner time and he wanted to inquire who’s turn it was to cook, but he stopped as he walked around the sofa, smile falling. Just the look on Patton’s face making him stop in his tracks. Patton was sat on the couch, gripping his jeans with white-nuckled fists, he was staring into nothing with gritted teeth, the tensest Roman had ever seen his fellow side, “What on earth happened to you?”

Patton shook his head sharply, and thats when Roman noticed the glitchy flickering- his glasses, his eyes, Patton didn’t look quite right, something was just off, and then it wasn’t- then it was again. Minor shifts in appearance, nothing big enough to notice if you weren’t looking closely. Roman quickly placed his cup of coffee down on the coffee table and took a step closer, glancing around to see if he could spot any evidence as to what might be happening right now.

There was a small pile of black fabric with a hint of yellow off to the side- as if it had been thrown; it rang as familiar in Roman’s brain, on the arm of the sofa next to Patton was a pair of yellow gloves- Janus’ gloves? What were they doing here?

“What in great Odin’s eyepatch is going on…” Roman muttered, looking back to Patton as if for answers, Patton only curled in further in response, moving his arms so he was in a position almost to hug himself, the flickering got stronger for a second, and Roman thought he saw Patton’s face shift completely before it it was pulled back into place.

Roman moved over to the fabric and lifted it up- black with yellow lining- that was Janus’ cape… what on earth was Janus’ stuff doing here? Patton made a noise- it sounded strained and upset, but was obviously in protest, Roman huffed and carefully folded the cape, before putting it neatly on the coffee table. Patton relaxed minutely, before jerking forwards, his clothes glitched this time, Roman saw them turn black, for a moment Patton’s cardigan was gone, replaced with Logan’s collar, before immediately returning to Patton’s signature look. It almost looked like rubber banding in a video game. As if you were trying to customise your character but it kept lagging back to the default.

“Patton?” Roman said gently, stepping forwards with his hands raised up, he wasn’t sure what was going on, but he knew it wasn’t good. Something was wrong with Patton.

“Not- not-” Patton started through gritted teeth, before tensing up again, Roman could see his fingers digging into his arms, “Not Pa- not Patton-”

Roman stared for a moment, as (not?) Patton’s eyes shifted through colours, he noticed his own red- Remus’ green- Virgil’s purple- Logan’s blue and then back to Patton. He glanced at the gloves, then back at the cape, clues falling into place. In a flash, Roman pulled out his phone, sending a ping to the groupchat- ‘Code Yellow!!!!’ before shoving it back in his pocket and looking back to the side on sofa.

“Janus?” Roman asked, Not-Patton nodded, going to say something before clenching his jaw, face contorted in what looked like extreme effort, the flickering got worse for a moment, before it cleared up, but Roman was no longer looking at Patton, but a mirror image of himself, granted his reflection looked like it had been dragged through a bush backwards. For a moment he had no words.

“My hair is not that messy,” Was the statement that chose to come out of his mouth. Eloquent, Roman.

“Sorry-” Janus choked out, but even with the strained tone Roman could tell it wasn’t sincere, well, good thing the sarcastic snake was still in there somewhere, “Can’t- can’t control it-”

“Hey kiddos! What’s hippety happening down here- oh!” Patton- thank goodness the real Patton- had arrived on the scene first, Roman breathed a sigh of relief as Patton rushed over to the sofa, “Roman? Janus? What’s going on?”

Janus tensed up, digging his- now neatly painted and manicured- nails into the soft fabric of Roman’s tunic, the fabric bunching up under the pressure. The real Roman took a second to wring out his hands, feeling the nervous energy building up, he took a deep breath.

“I think Janus is having trouble with his shapeshifting powers,” Roman tried to explain, “I found him down here as you but he’s been glitching and shifting and- I mean you see him, right?”

“Yeah- yeah kiddo,” Patton nodded, quickly moving around to the front of the sofa and sitting down next to Janus, “Are you ok with touch right now, kiddo?”

A small nod was given in response, before Janus’ eyes went wide- his hair flickering from different styles- long to short, Romans’ regular fluffy but tamed look to Logan’s neat slicked back to Virgil’s dramatic bangs before settling on something not quite Roman but closer than before. Patton waited for the glitching to settle down a little before carefully putting an arm around Janus’ shoulders.

“I can’t- I can’t-” Janus started, eyes still wide, he still was incredibly tense, he didn’t seem to be able to finish the thought though. Roman sat down on the sofa too after a few seconds hesitation, on Janus’ other side, and took a gulp of coffee that could not have looked princely in the slightest before putting the cup back down.

“It’s ok,” Patton said softly, rubbing calming circles into Janus’ back, “You’re safe here, kiddo,”

“We don’t need anything from you right now,” Roman added, placing a hand on Janus’ arm to add his own comfort, he felt Janus relax slightly, slumping forward just a little. The glitching picked up for a moment, before settling back again as he relaxed.

“What seems to be the issue?” Said Logan, appearing from the stairs, Roman looked back to see the logical side adjust his glasses, surveying the scene.

“Janus is struggling to control his shifting ability,” Patton explained easily, upon mention, Janus tensed up again, he curled in on himself as he glitched through a series of forms, before returning to Patton this time. The real Patton chuckled softly as he had to readjust his postion with the change.

“Keeps- changing,” Janus forced out through his teeth, “I can’t- can’t get back-”

“We’ll figure this out, kiddo, don’t you worry,” Patton said sotly, “Hey Logan? D’you think you could try and figure out what’s going on?”

“Of course,” Logan nodded, turning back to the stairs, “I’ll start in the memory hall, please contact me should there be any developments,”

“You got it, teach,” Roman said, shooting a smile back at the Logical side before focusing his attention back on Janus.

“I can’t- hold it,” Janus said, gripping his own arms tight as if for emphasis, he gasped, “Why- I can’t- I can’t keep hold of a form-”

With that he started shifting again, his clothes flickered first, then his hair, his eyes, his face shape, the fabric changing from Patton’s soft shirt to Virgil’s firmer but still amazingly soft hoodie, his hair settled on Virgil’s purple and Patton had to readjust again- Virgil was like a stick compared to both him and Roman.

It took a moment to realise Janus hadn’t taken a breath since he shifted, simply staring at his arms eyes wide, his hands had released their vice grip on his arms and were now shaking violently in his lap, seconds later Janus had shrugged Patton and Roman off and was starting to take sharp short breaths that Roman was certain weren’t getting him the air he needed.

“No no- not Virgil- no, no I promised- I can’t-” Janus forced out between breaths, “I promised I would- I would never this-”

“Janus, Janus, kiddo I need you to breathe, you’re panicking, it’s ok,” Patton instructed firmly, wanting to reach out again but keeping his hands threaded together in his lap. Janus’ refusal of touch just now had been clear.

“It’s not, it’s not ok I promised him- I promised- I can’t-” Janus shook his head, gripping his trousers.

“Jan?” Roman’s head whipped around to find the real Virgil had arrived in the doorway, Janus jolted hearing his voice, and began to shake even worse.

“Virgil I’m sorry- I’m sorry- sorry-” Janus repeated, Roman looked up at Virgil, trying to ask for help using his eyes. Virgil mumbled something, before hurrying over to join them.

“Jan, Jan you need to calm down,” Virgil muttered, kneeling in front of Janus in his own form, “You’re having a panic attack Janus,”

“Virgil I’m sorry,” Janus said, sounding so upset that Roman couldn’t help but want to wrap him up in a blanket and hug him to death, “I didn’t- I can’t- I can’t control it- I can’t shift- I-”

“It’s ok Jan,” Virgil interrupted, he reached forwards and gently took Janus’ hands, Roman could see that the hold was loose enough that Janus could easily pull away, but Janus did the opposite, gripping Virgil’s hands like a lifeline, “Breathe with me, alright? Breath in for four seconds…”

Janus did so, Roman recognised this breathing exercise, Virgil had had Thomas do it all those years ago in Virgil’s room. When they first accepted him.

“Hold for seven seconds, you’re doing really well Jan,” Virgil told him, rubbing the tops of Janus’ hands with his thumbs, “And breath out for six seconds, good, keep doing that, in for four…”

Amazed, Roman watched as Janus’ shoulders relaxed, he started flickering again, but Roman thought that might be a good sign right now- he hadn’t flickered at all as Virgil, maybe it was to do with how panicked he was? Roman watched at Janus eventually switched to Remus’ form, Patton’s nose wrinkled for a moment, before he smiled.

“Ew…” Janus huffed after a final deep breath, finally calm enough to find words, “I hate being Remus,”

Roman couldn’t help but snort, “Too messy for you? Mr. Prim and Proper?”

Janus shot him a glare, which only made Roman laugh coming from Remus- who wasn’t really a ‘glare’ kind of person, rabies infested dog? He could portray one perfectly, glaring? Remus had never been able to get it right, Virgil gave Roman a reproachful look, though, which shut him up pretty fast.

“Oh hey am I late to the party?” The real Remus flung himself over the back of the sofa- startling Patton, who’s lap was unfortunately the target of this horrible attack, “Hi other me! Where’s Janny?”

“I am Janus, you fool,” Janus said, pushing Remus’ legs off of him, Remus simply put them back.

“His shifting was on the fritz,” Virgil sighed, glaring at Remus, who stared at Janus with a look that could have been surprise.

“That hasn’t happened in forever though!” Remus said, swinging an arm.

“Woah- careful there, kiddo,” Patton said, narrowly dodging an elbow to the face.

“Sorry sweetcakes! Speaking of cake, I should make some! Cake always helps!” Remus grinned.

“Not when it’s your cake,” Roman muttered, Remus gasped, offended, and jumped up, Patton winced.

“My cake is the best around!” Remus yelled, turning around and slapping his own ass. Roman sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

“I meant literal cake and you knew that,” Roman said, still adamantly looking away. Remus just giggled.

“Cake… would be nice,” Janus said slowly, Remus cheered.

“See! Janny wants cake, so I should make cake,” Remus grinned, Roman deemed it safe to look back, and found Remus kneeling on the ground and giving Patton pleading eyes, “Pwease? I pwomise I won’t make a mess?”

Patton sighed, “Remember the rules?”

“No usually inedible ingredients, no explosions,” Remus counted off on his fingers, “I’m not allowed to use the entire pot of paprika… um.”

“No intentional messes, or science experiments,” Patton finished.

“Yeah that! Can I use the kitchen now?”

“Go ahead…” Patton said with a wistful sigh. He may as well say goodbye to the kitchen now.

—-

“I think I’ve figured it out,” Logan said, having reappeared about fifteen minutes later. Janus’ switching had calmed down from what it had been before. Though occasionally he would still switch between the other sides. In that time, Roman and Patton had switched sides so that Patton could keep a better eye on Remus in the kitchen. Virgil had remained with them as well, and was now wedged in between Roman and Janus. Roman thought he looked rather content, curled up against his side.

“Oh really? That’s great Lo!” Patton said, smiling happily, “What is it?”

“It seems to be connected to stress, so the condition may be elevated by stressful of anxiety enducing situations,” Logan said, looking at a notebook, “Have you observed something of the sorts?”

“Yeah I think so… It was worse when you were panicking, right Jan?” Roman asked, looking over at Janus.

“Yes…” Janus said, “Panicking made the switching worse or more- eugh- more frequent,”

“And a panic attack trapped you in one form until you calmed down a little,” Virgil added quietly, Janus managed to hide the flinch well, but Roman still noticed the slight jerk of his hand.

“That seems accurate to what I have found as well,” Logan nodded, scribbling something on his book, “I believe the best course of action would be to get some rest and avoid any situation that may cause negative emotions to take hold of you,”

“Thanks Logan!” Patton grinned, “Hey, since we’re already all here and comfy, how about we have a movie night?”

“Can we watch Disney?” Roman perked up, Patton chuckled.

“We’ll let Janus choose, ok kiddo?” Patton smiled, Roman sighed but nodded, it made sense. That didn’t mean he had to like it.

“Disney is fine,” Janus said with a small smile as his face flickered between Virgil and Patton’s, “Aladdin first,”

“Aladdin is a perfect choice!” Roman said, raising a fist with renewed vigour.

“Hey Logan, I hate to ask for another favour, but would you mind checking on Remus…?” Patton asked with a worried smile, “He insisted on making cake…”

Logan leveled Patton with an unimpressed look, “And you let him?”

“He said he’d follow the rules!” Patton protested, Logan let the tiniest hint of a smile slip onto his face.

“I shall check on the state of our kitchen,” Logan promised, “I will also check the freezer to see what ‘comfort foods’ we have, I will forgo insisting on a healthy choice in favour of comfort tonight.”

“You’re amazing Logan!” Patton called as thanks.

“Thank you Lo,” Virgil called.

“I shall create a more comfortable space for us to sit and watch the movies,” Roman said, wanting to contribute to the night of relaxation they were gearing up for.

“Thanks kiddo, that would be awesome,” Patton said, giving him a thumbs up.

“Can I have one of those fleecy blankets?” Janus asked quietly.

“Done!” Roman grinned, a folded blanket appearing in his arms, he quickly handed it to Janus, before conjuring a good seven more- so that everyone would have a blanket to snuggle under with more to spare. He conjoured the fluffiest pillows he could and laid them out so everyone could find a space to be comfortable.

“Onesies, anyone?” Roman asked, snapping his fingers to switch his regular outfit into his onesie. Patton gasped, clapping his hands in excitement, before switching his own clothes to his cat onesie. Virgil shrugged off his hoodie before willing his onesie to replace his clothes. He handed the hoodie to Janus, who wrapped it around his shoulders.

“A onesie may not mesh well with this constant shifting,” Janus sighed, “So Virgil’s hoodie will have to do,”

“Don’t you dare imply that my hoodie is second rate,” Virgil pouted, glaring at Janus, who smiled.

“Did I say that? I missed the part where I said that,”

“Asshole,” Virgil said, shoving Janus lightly, though there was a smile on his face.

“Now kiddo, theres no need for that kind of language,”

“Sorry Pat,” Virgil said, “But that language is always necessary when it comes to Jan,”

“Virgil!” Janus gasped, a hand to his chest, “I’m offended!”

“Shut up and get comfortable, doofas,” Virgil huffed, elbowing him in the side. Janus elbowed him back. Which led to a playful fight breaking out on the couch.

“You guys are going to ruin my pillow arrangement!” Roman whined as he dimmed the lamps so that- while they could still see- it was dark enough to comfortably watch a film. Patton laughed.

“It’s ok kiddo, they’ll probably get messed up anyway, don’t worry too much,” Patton smiled as Virgil attempted to suffocate Janus with a pillow, though both Patton and Roman could tell that Janus wasn’t actually suffering and they were both having fun, so simply decided to leave it be (with a comment from Patton about how violence wasn’t the answer of course).

“Remus’ cake is baking at the moment,” Logan informed the others after he had surveyed the place, Remus in tow, “I made sure to test it for toxins and/or other harmful substances before he put it in the oven, so I can assure you that it’s safe as of now. As for dinner, I’ll be able to put the pizza in the oven after the cake has finished baking, so we may as well start the film now, as it will be about 54 minutes until the food can be served.”

“Thanks Logan! Come sit down, both of you, Roman made the place all comfy!” Patton smiled. Logan nodded, calmly switching his clothes into his unicorn onesie (he had become much more comfortable wearing it around the others as time had passed) before sitting in one of the armchairs (instead of the sofa where everyone else was crowding) and covering himself neatly with a blanket.

Remus, in comparison, dove onto the sofa and wormed his way underneath the blankets. Ending up with his head in Patton’s lap and his feet in Roman’s, his body splayed over Virgil and Janus, effectively stopping them from continuing their fight.

“Can I-” Remus started, Logan cut him off.

“Onesie or decent pajamas,” Logan said, holding up a finger, “If you wish to watch the movie naked, you will have to go behind the sofa. That is the rule.”

Remus pouted, but switched into a tank top and sweatpants nonetheless, Once everyone had adjusted to Remus’ presence on top of them, Roman pressed play on the movie and the group settled into a comfortable night of movies and relaxation.

—-

When Janus woke up the next morning, he registered multiple feelings at once. First, he was himself again and didn’t feel any of the weird queasiness from constantly changing as he had been the night before, even the lingering nausea from the amount of truth-telling was managable. Next, Virgil was curled up at his side, fast asleep, and he himself was resting against Patton’s chest who had one arm wrapped around Janus in return. He was also still asleep, and Janus realised that- while he had an arm around Virgil, he was also hugging Patton. Remus was there as well, curled up against Patton’s other side, stealing the comfort of his other arm. Roman was sandwiching Virgil against his side, snuggling up against the anxious side and trapping him there. They were still all wrapped up in blankets and still on the couch from last night. Though Janus noticed that all of the plates and glasses had been cleared away and the coffee table wiped down. Logan was up then. This was only confirmed by the smell of toast and pancakes he noticed wafting from the kitchen.

He smiled softly, making no effort to move, as he marvelled in the sight of the others, sleeping soundly all together, with him in the middle. They all cared so much about eachother, him included, it really was amazing how far they’d come.

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acefeather2002 · 3 years ago

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Scale Sensitivity (DLAMP/LAMPD)

This was written Pre-Putting Others First - Selfishness v. Selflessness Redux, so I know the name for Deceit is different. The reason why I used Dolion instead of other commonly used names like Dee or Damien was because I wanted to use something different. Also, Dolion is of Greek origin and actually means "Deceit" or "Liar". (That's right I did my research lol) Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. As I said before, this fic and all other Sanders Sides fics that I've written are also found on Wattpad. I have the link to the book on my Masterlist, so if you wanted to find them all, then you can. Without further ado, please enjoy "Scale Sensitivity".

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It was a calm and peaceful day in the Sanders house. Keyword: "was". Dolion really got himself into a pickle this time. On the floor, held down against his will and giggling with anticipation as his boyfriends loomed over him with mischief and vengeance filling their eyes. I know you're wondering, reader, "What did he do this time?" Well, this time wasn't necessarily his fault. It actually started around breakfast time. Let's go back to the beginning.

Everyone sat at the table except Dolion; he was already finished eating so he was sitting on the couch on his phone. Patton kept glancing at him from where he was sitting, grabbing the attention of the others. "Something wrong, Patton?" Logan asked somewhat confused. Patton snapped his attention back to the others who were looking at him worriedly. "Huh? Oh, yeah...no-I mean...um..."he stuttered embarrassedly. Roman raised a brow and lightly jested at him with a knowing smirk, "Seems a certain serpent has seized your sights."

Patton glanced down at his plate with a light blush on his cheeks. Virgil chuckled at the sight, "So what did Deceit do to have your focus on him so hard?" Patton's blush depends as he explained himself, "When we were much younger, he and I would play together a lot. It was kinda rare to see us apart, and one of the things we'd do together was cuddle up to each other. He always told me I have the best hugs and that I was so warm."

He paused for a second and reminisced at the memory before continuing, "Well, one day, I asked him about his scales, and his face instantly reddened. He started stuttering as if he were almost too flustered to talk about them. Then a couple of days later I accidentally brushed against the ones on his neck, and he jumped so hard. I questioned him and got the same response of stuttering when he revealed that touching and sometimes even talking about his scales can leave him a flustered mess. Honestly, I kinda wanna mess with him about it today."

The surrounding sides glanced at each other with the same idea in mind until Roman broke the silence. "I suggest a contest!" he declared. The others looked up at him somewhat shock at the sudden outburst but were indeed listening. Roman continued, "We each take a chance to see who makes our darling Dolion the most flustered. Make him a sputtering wreck." "Like tickling him?" Patton asked. Roman was quick to explain, "Don't just full on tickle him; just tease him some." They all nodded and agreed on their tactics and went on their separate ways.

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Logan asked Dolion to come into his room for an experiment, so he was sitting on his sofa waiting to see what he needs to do. Logan took a couple of steps forward and started explaining, "I wanted to get a better of understanding of your scales, so I wanted to run some tests if that's okay with you. Nothing too drastic but effective and will give good results." Dolion nodded in agreement as Logan walked up to him and brushed the side of his face.

A shudder slithered down Dolion's spine at the touch. Logan noted the reaction and started scratching at his neck a little bit. This earned him a small purr of contentment, and he found Dolion melting into the feeling. "Um...L-Logan, what exac-exactly ar th-these t-tests for?" Dolion stammered out. These were the results Logan was hoping for, so he stopped the comforting scratches and kissed Dolion's cheek, earning a small flinch. He then replied, "I needed to find another way to treat you. That's all."

Dolion was in a relaxed state of shock at the revelation, but just shook his head with a smile and went on the visit his other boyfriends. He walked down the hall and opened Roman's door to find the romantic prince at his computer with his back facing him. In the need for cuddles now, Dolion stepped up, moved Roman's arm out of the way, straddled his lap, and nuzzles into his neck. "Well hello to you too, my precious python," Roman greeted.

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Roman saved his work and started hugging the serpent side that sat in his lap. He took off Dolion's hat and began carting his hand over the back of his head, his fingertips grazing the back of his ear. He felt Dolion shudder in his hold and asked, "Something wrong, love?" Dolion just muttered a simple "No" into the prince's neck. Roman continued to trail his fingers behind Dolion's scaly ear, and he felt him ultimately fall limp in the embrace at the touch.

Dolion would give out tiny whimperd at the sensation with an occasional giggle. At one moment, he swatted at Roman's hand because it grew too much even though it was so small. Although Roman couldn't see it very well, he knew that the romantic reptilian had a blush on his face because he could feel the heat radiating off of him. Eventually, Dolion lifted his head from the royal's neck, blush clear as day, and climbed off his lap. Before he could get too far, Roman gripped his arm, pulled him back, and planted a soft but firm kiss to hiss lips before letting him go. If Dolion could get any darker in the cheeks, then his face would be blood red. With that in mind, he disappeared to his room for about an hour to calm himself before going back out in search for another one of his boyfriends.

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Trudging down the stairs, Dolion found his bubbly boyfriend in the kitchen cooking pasta for dinner. Smiling to himself, he quietly walked up behind Patton and clasped his arms around him, earning a surprised squeal. "Ah! Oh, hey, Dolly. What's up?" Patton greeted happily. Dolion pecked the back of Patton's neck, earning a shudder and replied, "I just wanted to see you, Darling. Need any help?" Patton shook his head no, put down the spatula and turned in the hold to look directly at Dolion, admiring the warmth in his heterchromatic eyes.

Patton leaned forward to plant a gentle kiss to his lips and trailed down to the scaled side of his neck. He then started to nibble on the flesh, earning an adorable giggle from the slimy boi. "Hehe darharling stohop," he chuckled. Patton snickered and replied sinisterly, "But you're tasty. Like raspberries!" Without missing a beat, Patton blew directly on the spot that he nibbled, which granted him a high-pitched squeal and baby laughter to follow instantly after with Dolion falling limp in his arms.

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At the sound of the cry, Virgil ran into the kitchen with his anxiety spiked, "What happened?! What's going on?!" He quickly calmed down when his eyes beheld the adorable sight. "Dang it, Patton!" Virgil complained with his arms crossed, "I haven't even gotten a turn yet!" Dolion's eyes widened at the admission when he saw the others come down and stand on either side of Virgil with knowing smirks on their faces. Immediately, he managed to slip out of Patton's hold and slinked past the other three to make a break for it, only to be tackled to the floor and dragged back by Virgil himself by the leg.

"No! Please don't do anything to me!" the poor snek pleaded for mercy. Virgil straddled his hips with a sinister grin plastered on his face as Patton held up his arms. Logan and Roman sat at each foot and slipped off his shoes and socks. "Please," the nope rope begged, "What have I done to deserve this?!" "What have you done? What have you done? I'll tell you what you've done! All the crap that you've put us through!" Virgil was the one to answer, and Logan, Patton, and Roman didn't even want to stop his rant.

"To start, you always lied to me about different things. You always had tricks up your sleeves. You were always hiding something. When something when wrong in one of our plans, you were almost ALWAYS, at the very least, involved. You impersonated Patton AND Logan. You tried to get Thomas to lie about little mishaps. But the biggest one of all...was when you found a way to trick us into loving you." Virgil finally finished with a loving smile on his face. Dolion smiled fondly at the last statement but made the mistake of getting cocky, "Well at least it worked. Didn't it?"

Virgil chuckled mischievously and responded, "You do understand the position you're in right now right?" It was a calm and peaceful day in the Sanders house. Keyword: "was". Dolion really got himself into a pickle this time. On the floor, held down against his will and giggling with anticipation as his boyfriends loomed over him with mischief and vengeance filling their eyes. You were wondering, reader, "What did he do this time?" Well...now you know how he got into this predicament, and the only way out is to endure it.

"Bottom line, Dolly Dear," Patton started; he held Dolion's hands under his knees as he scribbled in his underarms, "we feel it best to punish you through all the mess you've put us through." "Initially," Logan added on, "it was supposed to be a contest to see who could get you the most flustered, evidently Patton won, but this is far more satisfying in all honesty." He then started trailing a finger up and down the right sole, earning a squirming snake trying to hold his laughter. "Don't bother holding it in, dear vulnerable viper," Roman teased as he started scratching under his toes on his left foot, "We're gonna bring it out anyway, and it'll only be pouring out harder and louder the longer you try to resist."

Virgil grinned at Dolion's already reddened face and finalized, "Face it, Dolion." He lifted his hands to show his fingers wiggling and ready to attack, "You're doomed." With that said, Virgil's hands shot for the serpent's sides, and Dolion all but screeched at the overwhelming electricity that bolted through his body. "AAAHAHAHAHAHA! NAHAHAHAHA! PLEAHEAHEAHEAHEASE HAHAHAHAHA!" Dolion cried as he violently shook his head.

"You've brought this upon yourself, dear," Roman declared as he and Logan tortured his feet. "PLEAHEAHEASE STAHAHAHAHAP!" Dolion screamed out. "By the way, Dolion," Patton remembered, "I never got to finish my snack thanks to you." He moved to lying on his stomach and holding the snake's arms up by hand and moving close to his neck. "Do you want some, Virgil?" he asked, and the side in question immediately knew what he meant and absolutely agreed. Virgil got off Dolion's hips and moved to his side so he could get at the perfect angle while lifting up his shirt. "One...Two...," Patton counted off."THREE!" he yelled, and the two blew long, hard, tingly, and tickly vibrations into the nope rope's neck and stomach.

All Dolion was able to do was scream, and scream he did, "AAAAAAAHAHAHA! OKAHAHAHAY! OKAY OKAY OKAHAHAHAY! UNCAHAHALE! MERHERCYHYHY! I GIVE I GIHIVE! I SURRENDERHERHER! JUST STAHAHAHAHAP!!!" They all released their hold on the sensitive serpent, and he instantly curled into a ball, trying to rub away the ghostly sensations. They all awed at their curled up cobra as Roman picked him up bridal style and carried him to the couch with the others close behind. They all sat into a cuddle pile with Dolion right in the middle. "I hate you all," Dolion said happily, and "We love you too, Dolion" was heard all around him as he drifted off into a peaceful and pleasant sleep.

~Bonus Ending~

"OH NO! MY PASTA!" Patton jumped out of the pile, waking up Dolion with alarm, and shot over to the kitchen. Thankfully, it was just getting ready with nothing burned, so he plated and served the food at the table, and everyone reveled at the kitchen skills the father figure aquired.

#sander sides #sanders sides tickle #lee!deceit #ler!logan #ler!roman #ler!patton #ler!virgil #Pre-Putting Others First - Selfishness v. Selflessness Redux

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areweevercameraready · 2 years ago

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more than beliefs (8: prince ali)

A/N: so so so excited for us to be here. I've had these chapters written for quite a while, actually — got it up to 11, which I finished last night. it takes a little bit for updates because i have a job and am a student LOL

WARNINGS: none really, there's a lot of tension and a lot of arguing, but if there's anything I missed then please let me know!

Words: 4729

here it is on AO3!

here is the masterpost (i keep forgetting to link it, oops...)

enjoy <3

“Well. Now what.”

“This is...an opportunity.”

“Excuse me?”

“Your plan. We could….well, we should ask his opinion when he wakes up, if he has one. He won’t have any preconceived notions of any of the others. So we can ask him about your plan. Or, rather….I think your plan makes sense. Already.”

“You want to….what. Follow up on what part of the plan? It’s not necessarily concrete.”

“I don’t know. It’s your plan.”

“It’s you the plan is about.”

“Fair enough. We could start with the part you’re most upset over.”

“No. No, really?”

“Why not.”

—————————————

None of them were strangers to the Imagination, not after last time, but there was something now about how they traversed the town that made it seem so normal. Maybe things had been fleshed out more in the town, but the buildings looked a little more real, the town people waving a little more emphatically. Logan squinted up at the sky, reminding himself that while time moved at a regular pace due to his involvement with the Imagination, the clouds realism and the sky’s hue were not related to him. It all looked very realistic, with a new amount of precision.

While they walked, Logan took his time to look around the group, taking up the rear of the crowd. The Thief was in front, the Child right besides him. Logan didn’t remember them being as reliant on each other as they were now, but, well, there must be some kind of symbolic reason they looked so similar when none of the others did. The way that they leaned on each other was more than just a choice of family or partnership, it must be.

In front of him was Virgil, who kept looking back to make sure Logan was coming. He’d been near the front with the Thief for a while, before Janus approached and Virgil quickly dropped back. It was clear they didn’t want to associate with each other, for clear reasons, of course, but by god. That was going to be annoying after a while. Logan did his best not to acknowledge it.

Patton, too, seemed to be trying not to acknowledge it. Or rather, he was trying to figure out what to do about it, looking for a way to balance both sides. He was trailing after Janus, kept looking back at Virgil and Logan.

All of this was rather annoying. Logan had just wanted to get in, confirm Roman was alright, and get out. It was supposed to be simple and quick.

Still, though. The nagging anxiety of something having happened to the Playwright….

It wasn’t Logan’s problem. The Playwright could handle his own. And it wasn’t as if he and Logan were companions as of late.

“Pick it up,” the Thief called back at Logan. “We’ve gotta get back before nightfall.”

“Why?” Logan heard Janus ask, closer to the front.

“Noted. Sorry, the detail is captivating,” Logan responded.

He stopped gawking around at the town while they walked. It had grown in detail, of course, but he could admire that some other time. It was just impressive to him, to see how Roman had grown, even to pick out the precise detailings that Logan himself helped with. He was the one who ran through Roman’s work for edits, after all. Much of the architecture was a mishmash of different historical time periods and famous forms, so it was inspiring to see how the gothic-inspired stained glass art meshed with the colorful Victorian-style exterior paints.

One would think that, past the city walls, there would be less to look at. And one would be wrong. The grass was now definably tallgrass prairie, tall enough to almost fully cover the Child. They could see the top of his head bobbing along besides the Thief, though that was an indication of how tall the grass was. Virgil kept looking back at Logan, too.

Logan waved his hand dismissively. Virgil didn’t need to wait for him, it was only a waste of time. Logan was on his way. But all Virgil did in response to that was to squint warily and keep walking.

Perhaps they should talk. It has been a while and neither were allowed an audience with Thomas during the most recent bout of arguments, so Logan had an idea of what might be running through Virgil’s head but only an idea. And Virgil, when he wasn’t blowing troubles out of proportion and spurring instinctual levels of conflict, managed to have some very thoughtful ideas. Logan would give him that.

The other two were much harder to talk with on the topic of what to do next. Patton was troubled, unendingly so, over how to approach the situation. Janus seemed to know what must be done but couldn’t recognize that perhaps the ends did not justify the means, not at all.

Neither had wanted to listen to him, along with Roman. Janus had outright replaced him.

No, Logan didn’t want to try talking with them any time soon.

The grassy plains didn’t take much time to cross, not as they rushed. The sun must have been low in the sky by the time they got to the treeline, though, because the Thief waved everyone forward. He didn’t meet Patton’s eyes, nor Janus’. Not Virgils or Logans, as he took up the rear.

“Follow the Child, he knows where he’s going from here. It’s getting late enough,” he grunted.

“Is there a reason you’re trying to get us inside fast?” Virgil asked, sparing a glance back as he climbed over a log.

The Thief squinted at him, just as ice cold with him as the others, before responding, “Yes. You’re unarmed. If we get attacked, I’m gonna have to keep track of all of you, plus the kid. And I don’t wanna have to do that, so we’re going inside and not coming out until daybreak.”

Straight forward, though it did leave a very obvious and glaring question. “What the hell would be attacking us?”

“Nothing’s changed, V. We’re in a forest next to Remus’ side, take a fucking guess.”

“There’re probably a lot of possible things in the forest, Virgil,” Patton butted in. Up ahead, the Thief could see him count on his fingers. “Uh, last time, you were worried about bears, right?”

“Think bears,” the Thief said with a sigh, annoyance abundant. “And then think, like, no fur. Just none. Ten feet tall. And six arms.”

“You sound like you’re talking from experience,” Janus hummed. Jeered, really. Because he knew, he remembered, that the Thief had mentioned being afraid of something outside. He couldn’t really remember what, but he knew that the Thief had wanted to be indoors before nightfall last time they trekked across the meadow that separated the forest and city.

But the Thief had no patience for Janus, which was almost a return to how they’d met. Almost worse, in retrospect, because it was the rolling back of carefully crafted trust. “You’re gonna be talking from the bottom of a ditch if you keep it up.”

The rest of the walk went quietly and much quicker than before. No point in trying to start conversation when it was always going to be bitten back. Especially by the guy who was carrying weaponry, none of them wanted to cross him. Once they got past the forest line, too, it went a lot quicker. The tree wasn’t very recognizable to most of them. Logan could pick it out for the subtle windows above the eyeline, but if the Child hadn’t proudly stopped in front of it, Patton totally would have kept walking.

“We’re here!” The Child held out a hand, waving at everyone to stop while he leaned toward the door.

Or, rather, the drawing of the door. It was still painted on with what looked like black chalk, but some of the symbols were different. Logan’s eyes trailed over the writing — *A place for solitude.* Still just as encouraging as last time.

The Child pushed his hand against the big black dot of the handle. As he did, the black chalk began to glow in gold, and he gripped the bark tight. Then, with a slow, gentle movement, he pulled it outward. And out popped a handle.

Behind them all, the Thief was waiting, glancing at the group and the Child every so often. Logan hadn’t forgotten about him and his posturing. If there were something out in the woods, surely they’d hear it by now, wouldn’t they? Especially if it were truly as monstrous as the Thief were leading them to believe.

“Here we go.” Logan turned once more to see the Child pull the whole door open. Patton clapped, and the Child mock-bowed.

“Good job, kid,” the Thief leaned over, grabbing the door. “In you go.”

The Child scrambled in first, Patton following. Janus followed closely after, Virgil in next, and Logan stopped in the doorway. He glanced back at the Thief quickly, noting once more how similar his appearance was to the Child. It must have a reason, hadn’t it? “I thought this was just your house,” he asked.

He stepped in, following suit with everyone as they took off their shoes. The Child had already kicked his light-up sneakers off and stowed them with the rest of the shoes. There was a coat hanger, too, where it looked like there was only one cloak hanging. While everyone undid their laces, tucked their shoes away, the Thief just unzipped off his boots and stacked them in the corner.

“I got roommates,” the Thief responded after a while, while they were taking off their shoes. “Bard and Child live here permanently. It keeps them safe.”

The last part was added quieter. Virgil glanced at the Child, who only nodded in agreement. “I’m learning a little magic, too! It’s technically creation, I think, but it makes me feel magic. Like a witch. Thief says it’ll be good protection.”

“Like uh. What’s her name—Vi?” Janus asked.

The Child’s response was a vigorous wave of his hands. “Oh, no, Missus Vi’s a lot more dragon and a lot more witch,” he hurried into the kitchen after he threw his cloak onto the coat hanger. “D’ya want anything to drink?”

“Hey! You can sit down, I’ll handle drinks,” the Thief called out.

The offer demonstrated the routine of this all, at least. The Child knew what the Thief was going to offer. Janus raised an eyebrow and glanced at Logan, who he assumed was making the same connection. Logan shrugged slightly. Neither of them knew who might have been coming over enough for them to develop this routine. Maybe it was none of them, because Patton was also pleasantly surprised, Virgil tucking against the back of the pack, by the now sealed door. There wasn’t even a handle. All magic, huh.

“You guys can come up the stairs, too. No point just standing in the foyer,” the Thief shouted back down at them.

Logan sighed. True.

“Is it just me, or are we feeling corralled?” Virgil mumbled.

“It’s just you,” Janus responded, and he grit his teeth when Virgil smacked his arm.

“Fuck you.”

Up there must be better than whatever was brewing down here, Logan decided. And he was the first to walk up the stairs.

The first time they visited, it was surprisingly home-y in the tree. Logan had only gotten to visit when they first arrived, after the ball, since there were few opportunities to see the Thief and Child outside of that moment. Now, it had somehow become even more homely. On the couch were a few blankets, some freshly disheveled. The Child had just hurried over to one, wrapping himself up with it like a cloak, while the Thief hurried about in the kitchen. His hair was down, black drapery around his shoulders, even though his cloak was hanging downstairs in the foyer.

“Is this seat taken?” Logan asked the Child, gesturing to the other side of the couch.

“Nope, go for it,” the Child chirped, still burrowed in his blanket.

Logan sat, crossing his ankles and leaning back. This was all much more than he’d wanted. He had hoped, similar to Roman, for some solitude. These arguments and his forced silence in them was bearing down hard and when he was alone, at least he got to have first say over himself. But here….

“Hiya, kiddo,” Patton’s voice cut into his thoughts and Logan closed his eyes.

“Hi, Dad!”

“How’re you doing?”

“‘M doing okay. Eric’s stressed. Everyone’s pretty stressed. I don’t know where Roman went, but….” the Child’s voice trailed off as Virgil and Janus, finally, climbed up the stairs. Logan could hear their thunking steps.

Virgil slowly shuffled off to sit in one of the armchairs. It was big and plush, and enough for him to sprawl his legs over one side to dissuade anyone from coming closer. Janus, similarly, sat on one of the counter’s bar stools. Rather than watch the Thief cook — it looked like he was making actual dinner rather than just drinks — Janus turned toward the living room to listen to the conversation. There was a lot you could learn from eavesdropping.

At the silence, Logan opened his eyes, drawing attention back toward the crowd. He had to learn, same as everyone else. Whatever thought the Child was having ended as muddled as it began, and the Thief sighed with his own response. “None of us know where he went, or even why he’d go so far from even us. He’s been pissed at everyone lately, it feels like. I’m worried.”

“Does this happen often?” Janus leaned back around toward the counter

Instead of responding, the Thief just glared at Janus. All of these standoffish responses weren’t getting them anywhere. “C’mon, Eric,” Janus leaned a little closer.

“Shut the fuck up,” the Thief bristled, scowl deepening if it could. “You don’t get to ‘c’mon’ me, like you don’t know what you fucking did.”

“Language!” the Child pipped up, and the Thief’s lip twitched in the faintest of snarls before turning back toward the other side of the counter.

A tense moment for everyone, even as the Child stared hard at the back of the Thief’s head. There was a power dynamic here. Logan was trying to understand it, but there was something he wasn’t quite grasping in it.

“Sorry, kid,” the Thief mumbled, his shoulders dropping slowly.

The Child shrugged, as if the Thief were looking at him, and then he shook his head. “It’s okay. Sorry. You can swear. We’re all worried. But yelling at Mister Deceit isn’t going to bring Roman back.”

The Thief nodded without turning around, and none of the Sides said anything, because what were they supposed to say to that? None of them even shared glances, as if the mere act of looking at each other was going to give something away.

After a few moments, Patton stood up from his seat on the ground and shuffled into the kitchen. “Need a hand?” he asked.

After another pause, the Thief responded in a soft, hoarse, “Sure.”

Patton and the Thief worked on cooking, cutting up vegetables for a medley and pan-frying some fish. It was a silent few moments while they worked and while everyone else sat, just thinking. The silence was only broken by the Child hurrying up, Virgil behind him, to offer to make the table.

While they set the table, there was only more silence. A few quiet quips by Patton while cooking, but otherwise, no one wanted to start conversation. Tensions were high. Even the Child was tense, it seemed, and…Logan realized, his poise reminded him of the Damsel’s, from earlier. Thinly veiled understanding and anger, held together by what, pure responsibility? That made sense from the Damsel, who posed as the royal figurehead to the group. Why would the Child have the same aura? Interesting.

Other versions of the tension were read differently as well. The Thief’s wording earlier had struck a chord in Janus’ ear and he thought on it some more, while they all sat in silence. ‘He’s been pissed at everyone.’ That’s what the Thief had said. ‘Everyone’ was a lot less specific than just the Sides. Did this exclude himself and the other advisors? Why would Roman be upset at all of them? Or rather, were they upset with him, and the feeling was mutual?

The Child’s eyes were trailing back and forth between the Thief (sitting besides him, eyes pointedly on his plate) and Patton (also looking around, though he gave a shrug when their eyes locked) then Logan (staring ahead with a blank look and eating slow) and Virgil (glancing between the Thief and Janus) before finally landing on Janus himself (watching the Thief). It unnerving at the very best. Everyone was so scared. The Child didn’t know where Roman went but he sure had a hunch that Roman was feeling down, and maybe he wanted some quiet time. Maybe if they all just talked. He didn’t know.

He’d been especially disappointed by Roman in the latest talk with Thomas, the round table and name reveal and such. It was such a nasty thing to do, to laugh at Janus’ name. And Roman knew it. But he guessed it was fair. Janus had hurt Roman. And Janus…well. The Child didn’t like bullies. Janus had torn Roman’s ego to shreds while trying to claim that he was helping look out for him, and the Child didn’t like the sound of that, he’d told Roman. It was a really complicated situation. The Child was upset with Roman but he was much more upset with Janus.

The sentiment didn’t seem to help Roman and the Child worried if he was upset with them, the advisors. Because he’d run from even them.

That sounded like something that was happening, that Roman was being overly critical with himself. The Child wished he were here. He wanted Roman to know that it was going to be okay. That things were tough, but so were they.

That’s what the Thief said sometimes, whenever the Child was worried, but he didn’t think the Thief really knew how deep those words hit.

The Thief was the first done eating, and he was quick to put his bowl into the sink. He then just leaned on the side, arms crossed, watching the rest of the table.

This was all a headache and a half.

Janus kept watching him. It was unnerving.

“You doing okay, snake,” he asked, voice hard.

Janus sighed at being called out. “I’m doing just fine, thank you,” he hissed back, casting his eyes back down.

The Thief let out one harsh, “heh,” before the Child interrupted now.

“You seem really upset.”

“Oh, damn, do I?” the Child’s face fell more at the dripping sarcasm. “Gav, we’re in a real shitshow. I’ve gotta make sure these guys don’t fuck Roman up any more.”

“I don’t think any of us want to do anything anymore to Roman. He’s….we just want to talk about things. Make sure he’s okay,” Patton explained.

The Thief rolled his eyes at that one.

“Why wouldn’t we?” Virgil put his fork down, standing up with his own plate to put away. “You all keep acting like you’re so surprised that we give a damn. Roman’s important to us, he’s ONE of us.”

“Yeah, well. Should’ve told him that before he ran away,” the Thief said.

“We know he’s important to you all, but he…well. Egos need to be fed, you know,” the Child pushed his plate forward as he spoke, then curled back into his seat, picking at the fabric of his cargo pants. “Everyone’s all about not letting Roman’s ego get too big, but he is ego. And…I don’t know. Mister Deceit used him. He’s hurt.”

“Roman dug his grave. Likethe rest of you schmucks,” the Thief approached slowly, picking the Child’s plate up.

He grabbed Virgil’s and Logan’s as well, Virgil’s while he was still standing. They stared at each other for a moment, Virgil trying to understand what was such a threat here. The Thief was wondering the same.

The stare-off lasted only a moment, though, before the Thief sighed and put the dishes into the sink. There was no use fighting. They were all too stubborn to accept that they might be wrong. And that’s their problem, not the Thief’s.

“Sit tight and wait. We don’t go back to the castle until we hear from Bard that they’ve found him or are coming up empty,” the Thief said.

In their own ways, everyone was discontent with that. Virgil especially sat back down at his seat at the table, gripping the actual seat part with tight nails. It didn’t feel good to just be waiting like this. He knew that Roman wasn’t splitting again but something sure was telling him that something was happening. It was just a bad feeling. He got those a lot.

Hilariously, the one who spoke up was the Child. He leveled a glare at the Thief and said, “We all could be looking for him.”

The Thief sighed. It sounded like a common argument, but this was the only time Roman’s gone missing, from everyone else’s memory.

Logan leaned forward on both hands, crossing them on the table. He was intrigued by their relationship already. He wanted to see how this conversation would play out.

“I can’t. You can’t. I need to stay here and watch these bozos,” the Thief gestured to the table, and Patton piped up with a, “Hey!”

“I could help. You know I could,” the Child argued back.

“I’m not letting you get in harm’s way, Gavin.”

“But you KNOW I can fight! And-And you’ve been helping me get better. Roman’s going to need all of us supporting him, when we find him,” the Child stood up, hands opening and closing at his sides.

“Kiddo,” Patton’s voice was soft, cutting in while the Thief glared and tried to think of what to say. “Maybe…I think Eric’s right. When the search party finds him will be a better time to talk with him, right? That’ll mean everyone’s there.”

The Child whirled on Patton, brows furrowed. It looked like anger. Or fear.

Logan squinted a little. Did the Child know anything? He seemed so self-assured about what was happening and what Roman needed.

“But-But didn’t the Playwright already go after him? And then whatever…Wherever Roman is hurt the Playwright. Right?” he turned back to the Thief.

“And that’s exactly why you’re not going out. Because if it took down the Playwright, it’ll take down you too—“

“But he was alone! If we all go together—“

“Gavin,” the Child took a step back, flinching from the Thief’s tone. “I’m not arguing about this with you. You heard the Damsel, too. We stay here.”

The standoff ended in silence, both parts of Roman glaring at each other with a lack of understanding. To Janus, it spoke even more to how disjointed Roman must be feeling. After all, it’s not very good when the parts of yourself argue so much. As well as he loves a good spirited argument and battle of wits, this is far from it.

He stayed quiet, like the rest of them, but the sound of breathing caught his attention. Janus’ eyes slowly slid to the side and he noticed Virgil, tense as a coiled spring, hunched over the table. Immediately, on an instinct, Janus stood.

“Virgil?” he asked.

That drew the attention of the other two, who had also been preoccupied watching the argument. The Child stepped further away from the table as Janus hurried around, putting a gentle hand on Virgil’s back.

The raised voices. The stress of it all.

The Playwright had been hurt. Roman was hurting himself again through this stupid self-insert situation.

They’d let Roman get hurt. Again.

The Thief’s anxiety was enough to fill the room and then some, and just feeling it was making Virgil nauseous. He dragged his fingers through his hair and took a slow, deep breath. Trying to not hear the echo of shouting.

Fuck.

“Virgil, dear,” Janus tried again, voice soft as a cushion.

Virgil jerked his shoulder away from Janus, choking out, “I’m fine.”

“Virge, here. Breathe with me. Like the thing Logan taught you,” Patton was knelt besides him. He felt Patton’s hand on his knee.

He could hear Patton breathing. It was on pace, 6 in, 7 hold, 8 out, something they’d done before. A variation on something they’ve done in a video, similar to something they’ve done in general. The numbers switched sometimes, since Patton wasn’t all that on details like this, but…it still worked.

Virgil closed his eyes and breathed. And kept breathing.

He reached down and grabbed Patton’s hand. He squeezed tight as could be, and he hoped it didn’t hurt, but it more than likely did. But he was breathing.

Patton out a hand on Virgil’s other shoulder to steady him, watching the top of his head as they breathed together. While they were all together, Patton had done his best to figure out what would help calm everyone down. That’s part of why he was so scared of Roman being alone, you know! He liked venting. When Roman was upset, he liked finding people he wasn’t upset with and staying with them until he could get it off his chest. Janus was the one who liked space. And he got enough space that he became distant.

Virgil needed support, a hand to hold, someone to lean on, and then rest. Someone to lead the breathing so he could follow. He was brave on his own right and in his own time but in managing emotions? Walking the tightrope between them? That’s where Patton’s breathing came in.

After a few minutes of quiet, breathing (Logan’s pretty sure the Thief was also following, as he had leaned back and was staring at the ceiling, quietly breathing as well), Patton leaned back. Virgil patted Patton’s other shoulder, tiredly staring at the table. It always seemed to suck energy, when he got into a state. They tried to prevent him getting there in the first place but when he got there, it took a lot out of him. And he likely was trying to siphon some more of the panic and fear out of everyone else. That sounded about right.

“Sorry,” he murmured. “Thanks Patt.”

“No problemo, Virgil,” Patton chirped.

Janus looked around at the walls for a clock, to see what time it might be, but the Thief was ahead of him. “That’s enough for the night, I guess. Plates in the sink. I’ll handle it. The rest of you, you know where my guest bedrooms are.”

And that was that, it seemed. Everyone put their plates away, the Thief told Virgil specifically to get a good rest, told everyone else to sleep well, and they quietly made their ways toward the hall of bedrooms. It was nestled beneath another stairwell, one that went down, and no one really wanted to talk to each other. Patton wished everyone a “sweet dreams” and that was that.

The Thief did the dishes, quietly, quickly. It didn’t register that it might have been too quiet until he was done.

Janus and Logan were both still awake. Virgil had knocked out and Patton was halfway there, too tired to hear the scrambling upstairs.

“Gavin?”

A box being shut, a door being quickly closed. The pounding of feet running up another set of stairs, to the third floor, where the Tree’s master bedroom was.

“Gavin, are you up here?”

Logan closed his book first, hurrying out in his blue pajamas. His feet were cold on the stairs. Something was cold in his stomach too. The moment of realization, perhaps.

He met the Thief on the ground floor, Janus behind him, and the Thief’s eyes were wide with fear. His dark black hair was covering his shoulders and chest, blending in with his cloak as he moved like a shadow past them toward the front door.

“What happened?” Janus hissed, grabbing Logan’s arm.

Logan grabbed him back, squeezing tight. They both knew, as the Thief threw open the front door and ran outside with a shout.

“GAVIN?!”

#more than beliefs #lets mf goooooo #sanders sides #sanders sides au #sanders sides fic #tss fic #tss #tss roman #sanders sides roman #throwing this in there LOL #sanders sides janus #sanders sides virgil #sanders sides patton #sanders sides logan #guess ill throw this in all the big tags bc i always forget LOL

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