#all my friends call me remy because I love cooking and I’m small

[livelaughlovepedri]

if you ever wonder how I look like, this is me🤣

[lifttheveilseethetruth]

I hope everyone is having an amazing Friday evening and if it’s not Friday, well, I hope you are having an amazing time anyways. :) This is a pick-a-pile on love letters from your soul love. We will also be getting a channeled song from them! This is someone who your soul is calling out for and vise versa! Remember that this is a general reading and not to get too caught up in it! It’s very much for fun and none the less I hope you enjoy :) Feel free to as well switch up any pronouns to fit your situation!

Pile 1 starts from the left, leading to pile 2 on the right and last but not least pile 3 is the bottom image ❤️‍🔥

Take some time now to center your self and call onto your highest guides to lead you to the letter that is meant for you at this time.

Breathe with me,

Inhale, 1, 2, 3

Exhale, 1, 2, 3

Let go of any expectations or outcomes that you may be seeking. This is solely for fun and what is meant for you IS seeking you, never doubt that.

Let’s start now with~

Pile 1

Hello love,

I feel you have been doubting our connection again. Please know, my love, that I am on my way. There is no need to doubt, my heart only beats for you. I am working hard to get to you, dear. You are what inspires me to work so hard. I know you doubt because I am private and I don’t tell you how much I truly love you. But that doesn’t erase the fact that you are my first thought when I wake up and my last thought when I go to sleep. I stay up all night thinking about you. How much you’ve changed my entire life, my entire perspective. I love you with all of my being. Please be patient with me, I’m so grateful for how patient you’ve been thus far. Lift your head up, my princess, I am on my way. I have some things to clear up but you are my end goal. I have big plans for us.

I love you always,

Your divine masculine

Channeled song- Shawty Remi Wolf

Pile 2

To my sweetie pie,

Life has been such a rollercoaster. I for one can not WAIT to be able to meet you and have you in my arms. Thinking about meeting the one for me (you) brings me a huge smile on my face! Sugar plum you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. When I meet you for the first time please do not be startled. I may be so clumsy and outgoing from how excited I am. I am so nervous too. I need to take a shower just thinking about you. Wow, the way your brown hair flows, I just can’t wait to feel it on my skin. I’m going to cook you amazing food and you will love every second of it. You will be my taste tester, in more ways than one. I am manifesting you daily. We will come together soon. I can’t wait for you to join my ride. My friends are wild but they mean well. You will have so much fun with me. I can’t wait to sweep you off your feet.

Signed,

Your goofy goober

Channeled song- C U Girl Steve Lacy

Pile 3

Hey gorgeous,

I’m coming through to tell you that i love you. You already know this though. I love seeing your nose scrunch up when you get shy. I love teasing you, you’re my little baby. I love taking care of you and being there for you. You already know who I am and I just need you to know that my love for you is true, darling. I will never give up on you or us. You are my ride or die. I couldn’t even simply imagine a world without you. I love looking into your eyes, I could find them in any crowded room. Do you know that I want to marry you? I want to grow old with you, in a little small house, in the middle of nowhere. Where our fur babies may roam the yard for miles. Then I will whistle and they will come running back for dinner time. Speaking of food, you make the best omelettes I’ve ever had in my life. I love sharing my life with you. You make me feel so comfy, safe and warm. I strive to make you feel the same. I can’t wait to grow old with you and laugh about all of our memories. You are the rarest treasure, I will never give up… unless that is what you wanted. Please stay with me, marry me, grow old with me. I promise to always be there for you. I love you with my whole heart, my whole soul.

Love,

Your future husband

Channeled song- Don’t Dream It’s Over Crowded House

[pixie88]

Mrs. Evans

Chapter 14 - Always the Bridesmaid.

A/N: Sorry I haven’t uploaded anything new in the last week or so but I have about 6 drafts on Wattpad waiting to be transferred over. I’m hoping this chapter has been worth the wait for you guys! Thanks for being patience with me! I hope you like it.

If you would like to be ADDED or REMOVED just let me know! I hate to annoy people with tags.

Read previous chapters HERE!

Warnings: Fluff & NSFW

Word Count: 2062

Pairings: Laila x Harry

Enjoy!

5 Weeks later

Laila is just finishing her last client of the day when her phone PINGS.

She shook her head.

Ever since that night he had picked her up from Nikki's he will not let her walk home in the evenings by herself. No matter how many times she had told him that she was fine with walking home, he'd be outside the shop waiting for her to finish at the end of her shift.

15 Minutes later

"Laila, your boyfriend is here!" Daniel calls over "OK, I'm just finishing up Mrs. Evans" she smiles up at her in the mirror.

Mrs. Evans has been one of Laila loyal clients, when she has move salons Mrs. Evans has always followed. She has to get 2 buses to get to this salon, Laila has offered to do her hair at home, but she says she likes coming to the salon as it gets her out of the house. Even though she shouldn't, Laila always charges her less than the salons prices, but unbeknownst to Mrs. Evans Laila makes up the difference through her tips.

"I'll finally get to meet this boyfriend of yours, Laila" she whispers, Mrs. Evans has a glint in her eyes "Hang on a minute! Is that why you asked for a late appointment? I've told you that he walks me home, haven't I!?" Mrs. Evans giggles "Mrs. Evans! That is sneaky!" she narrows her eyes at her with a smirk "Laila, How many times do I have to tell you it's Ivie!" Laila leans in and whispers "I know but my boss says it's unprofessional to call clients by their first names" Ivie huffs.

"Right, all done!" she gets up from the seat and hands Laila some money "There's a little extra in there to take this boyfriend for a drink" she whispers, Laila tuts "You didn't have to do that!" she isn't having any of it "Now where is he?" Laila walks her to the reception desk.

Daniel knows the drill to take the money from Laila once she has gone.

He's sat down when he saw her, his face lights up. He gets up from his seat "Mrs. Evans..I mean Ivie, this is my boyfriend Harry Taylor..Harry this is my client of..." it takes her a moment to think "11 years Mrs. Ivie Evans" he offers her his hand and a bright smile, "It's a pleasure Mrs. Evans" she smiles at him "Oh please call me Ivie. Nice to meet you Harry!" she shook his hand "Isn't he handsome Laila! He has dimples too, they say you will never be without a girlfriend if you have dimples!" Harry chuckles "Well thank you, Ivie! I bet you have broken a few hearts in your time"

Ivie blushes "I like him, Laila!" they are interrupted by the sound of a car horn "Oh, that will be my grandson! He's giving me a lift home, Laila can you book me in for 8 weeks time just text me a time. It was nice meeting you Harry, you better take care of her or I'll be after you!" Laila hides a laugh "Don't worry I will. Nice to meet you to Ivie" Harry tells her as she leaves the shop she waves over to Laila.

Once she is out of sight Laila hands Daniel the money Ivie had given her "She's paid £15?" Daniel asks "She said she put some money in there for me to get my boyfriend a drink" Laila says as she empties her tip jar and hands Daniel the extra fiver "I don't know why you don't just ask her to pay the extra tenner" Daniel shook his head "Because I've been doing her hair for years and she's a pensioner"

Harry looks at her confused "Laila, only charges Mrs. Evans £10 for haircut and makes up the difference through her tips" Daniel tells him "Ten pounds difference right?" Harry asks, pulling out his wallet and sticking a tenner in Laila tip jar "Harry!" she pulls it out and hands it back to him, he holds up his hands refusing to take it back "Harry! You can't do that!"

He shrugs his shoulders "I just did and I didn't know about the tip system last time, so call it a late tip!" She huffs "Plus, she did say to you to get your boyfriend a drink!" He winks "Fine!" She pockets Harry's tip and the rest of the jar.

She helps Daniel lock up before leaving for the day, Harry links his fingers through hers "How long have you been doing that for Ivie?" Harry asks her as they walk home "Since I moved to this salon! My other boss didn't mind, but Dave wasn't having any of it" Harry smiles at her "You know you are terribly sweet and soft! But it's also super adorable!" she rolled her eyes at him.

After Poppy told him five weeks ago about Laila's birthday, he confirmed it with Alec that it was in 6 weeks on 5th August. She will be 31, Rem had given him a few present ideas all of them, he knew she would gone nuts, it had to be something sentimental. It took him a few days, but he came up with the perfect gift for her.

~*~*~*~

A couple of days later

Harry stayed at Laila's for the night, as it was her birthday the next day. Her parents were having a do at theirs, they had invited Harry's family, but his parents were on holiday in Rome. Rose offered to for them to flight back, but Harry told them it was fine. Surprisingly Colin suggested they would take the couple out for a meal when they got back to have belated birthday celebrations.

Once Laila fell asleep, Harry managed to sneak down to his car and decorate the flat with balloons, party streamers and banners. He popped the flowers he had bought in a vase with her card, present and small birthday cake in front of the bouquet.

He crept back into bed.

The next morning he woke before her, she was laying on her side with her back towards him. He pulled her towards his chest, she began to stir, he had an idea. His lips kissed just below her ear, his hand slips into her underwear and moves to part her folds "Hmmm..." she hums. He brushes against her clit, her breathing becomes heavy.

His muscular frame surrounded her, he pulls the straps of her top down replacing them with kisses. He only has to stroke over her a couple times before her centre is soaked "Hmm....what a way to be woken up!" He smirks against her shoulder, his lips press against her ear "Happy birthday gorgeous!"

He places a small kiss against her pulse line as 2 fingers enter her, he watches her bite her lip, she pushes the curves of her arse against him and she begins to grind her curves against his crotch. He backs away "Ah ah! Today is about you!"

She huffs, he wants her just as much but today is about her. His pace quickens, her hand reaches up behind her and clutches his hair. She throbs with pleasure, a hot frenzy threads through her body to her core and as he enters another finger inside her while his thumb press onto her clit. Her eyes drift shut as she bucked her hips, legs begin to shake as he curled his long digit inside her and stroked all the right places.

She's barely holding back, the edge in near and she is more than ready to fall over it. Her clutch on his hair tightens as she hits her climax, calling out his name but before she's down from her high, he flips her onto her back, pulls off her underwear and his lips are against her apex. His tongue parts her fold "Harry, wha...what are you doing?" She feels him smirk against her core, he lifts his head a little to look up at her "Making you come in every way possible!" she doesn't get to reply before his mouth is back against her centre.

A little later

Both spent, trying to catch their breath, they collapse back against the mattress. Her head rests on his rising chest "That was one way to wake me up!" he chuckles "Get your pajamas on, I have another surprise for you," she reaches for her underwear and she grabs his t-shirt pulling over herself. "I'm going to have to cover your eyes for this part" He moves behind her, in just his boxers. His hands, cover her eyes, he guilds her into the living room he decorated the night before.

He removes his hands, her eyes refocus as she looks around the room "Wow! This is lovely!" she turns and captures his lips, he smirks "That's not all!" he points over to the dining room table, where her presents are. "You didn't have to get me anything!" he chuckles "I wanted to" she walks over and opens her card. The front reads *Happy birthday to my beautiful girlfriend*

"Open the smaller present first," he tells her, she opens the smaller one. It's a small compact mirror, she looks at him confused, he flips it over and in permanent marker it says *Your dare is to get a kiss from who you think is the most attractive person in the room* she laughs remembering this was his dare he had asked her to help him with at the stag weekend. She pulls his lips to hers, he smirks against them "At least this time you didn't tell me to kiss my own reflection" they both laugh.

"Open the other one!" she turns to the last present, she opens the box inside is a silver locket "Harry...It's...beautiful!" he smiles "Just like the one your Great Nan had?" she takes a closer look, its very simpler "It is!?" he smirks "After you told me how much you loved it. I asked Remy to get a photo of it from your parents, but that's not all look inside and check out the back of it" she flips it over.

Engraved on the back are the words and the date she asked him to be her boyfriend *I love you x 12/06/20* she opens it up and the photo is the one he took of them together on top o2 arena. She rushes him, her arms wrap round him "Thank you so much! Honestly the best present ever!" he's glad she likes it "You're welcome, I'm glad you like it. You go and get in the shower and I'll cook us up some breakfast" she places a soft kiss against his lips and makes her way towards the bedroom.

Her phone is vibrating against the bedside table, she swipes the screen, she laughs as she shook her head at her friends.

After her shower, Harry serves up her breakfast waffles and fruit, he even lights a candle on the birthday cake "What did you wish for?" he asks "A new boyfriend," she teases him, but soon regrets it when he begins to tickle her "Ahh!" she screams "What did you say, Laila?" he loves hearing her laugh "OK, I was joking! The only boyfriend I want is you" he stops "Good! The feeling is mutual, Princess"

Laila meets Nikki outside her work "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Nikki screeched at her before wrapping her arms around her friend, "Thank you! But I can't breathe" Nikki loosens her grip "What did Harry get you?" Laila lifts her locket to show her "Oh wow! Laila! That's gorgeous!" they head in for their appointment with Daniel.

Continue reading this story here - Chapter 15.

@lem-20​ @secretaryunpaid​ @shewillreadyou​ @aussieez​ @khoicesbyk​ @irisofpurple​ @tea-me-kah​ @casualpostqueen​ @gloriousalmondvoiddreamer

[zootopiathingz]

Thanksgiving in Quarantine

(A/N: more Pixar AU!! no there's not really a plot I just wanted to write something for thanksgiving. Also friendly reminder I've never cooked a day in my life so Imma just be vague on those details)

"Alright Pixars, listen up!" Mike called to get everyone's attention. After their conversations died down, he stepped forward towards the front of the room so all eyes would be on him. As the group leader, it was his job to host the monthly meetings and inform them of recent events or decisions made by him or their creator, Luxo Sr.

Once he was sure they were listening, he proceeded to explain, "So as you all know, even though we aren't affected by Covid, we still have to stay in quarantine for the sake of others. So that means that this year, we won't be spending Thanksgiving with the Disneys—"

"YES!!" Everyone cheered ecstatically, some standing up to pump their fists or high-five each other.

Mike was taken aback by their joyous reaction. Not just because it was a response to what he said, but he couldn't remember the last time all of them were that excited about anything. "—like we usually do.." He finished.

"Oh don't act like you're not relieved about it, Mike." McQueen said, "You hate the Disneys just as much as we do."

"Excuse me, but we do not 'hate' here." He said, "We just strongly dislike. Anyway, I'm not that relieved like you guys are. I was actually looking forward to our tradition."

"Well, I'm just glad we won't have to be greeted by them singing 'Be Our Guest' for the millionth fucking time." Woody scoffed, earning some murmurs of agreement from the rest.

Their relationship with the Disneys was complicated, to say the least. Luxo Sr. started the alliance with Mickey Mouse himself several years ago, and thus they joined the Disney family. But the Pixars were never given a say in the deal, and while they did admire the Disneys and were grateful for the success they brought them, that didn't mean they were tolerable to be around. The Pixars didn't hate them (despite constantly joking that they did), they just despised their arrogance and their random outbursts of songs every ten minutes.

"Wait so if we're not going to the Disneys, we're gonna have Thanksgiving at our house?" Marlin asked, "You do realize we haven't done that in like, 14 years? And obviously the family's grown since then."

Mike nodded, "I understand that, but if we're able to somehow survive Halloween, Easter, Christmas, and New Years on our own, then how hard can Thanksgiving be?"

"Your optimism is appreciated." EVE said, "But from past experience, this feels like yet another disaster waiting to happen."

"Yeah, I mean, who's even gonna cook dinner?" Remy asked.

"You are." Mike shrugged.

The rat man widened his eyes, "Say what now?"

Remy was a great cook, and honestly he was the only one who actually knew how to use an oven. But cooking an entire Thanksgiving meal for the whole group was asking a bit much.

"I can't cook that much in one day by myself!"

"You won't, some of us will help you. Right, guys?" Mike asked. But he got no responses, instead everyone just awkwardly looked away.

Remy sighed, "Come on, guys. Do you really want to eat burnt turkey for Thanksgiving? Imelda?"

She put her hands up in defense, "Don't look at me. I don't know how to make white people food."

"Okay, relax. We'll have WALL-E help you." Mike said, gesturing to the robot man—who gave an enthusiastic wave.

But this offer didn't make Remy feel any better. Out of all the Pixars Mike could've suggested, it just had to be WALL-E. "Seriously?" He asked, "You know he burns toast, right?"

"He'll be fine." Mike waved a dismissive hand. "..probably. Okay, does anyone else want to help with Thanksgiving dinner?"

Once again there was nothing but silence and awkward glances. Remy looked around with a pleading face, trying to get anyone to agree, but no such luck. Well, until Atta got tired of the lack of responses and and decided it was best to take one for the team. "Alright fine. I'll help you." She said to Remy.

"Thank Luxo." He sighed with relief, "You are a saint, Atta."

She shrugged, "I try."

"Then it's settled." Mike said, "Thanksgiving will be hosted by Remy, Atta, and WALL-E. Let's pray they don't screw it up."

The three gave him a cold look, while the others nodded in agreement.

—

Thursday came sooner than they realized, and unfortunately due to the pandemic, buying groceries was a pain in the ass and getting what they needed for dinner took longer than they would've hoped. Luckily they were able to have it all in their kitchen and (hopefully) would have enough time to make it. And even though they were spending the holiday by themselves, the Pixars still got dressed up and decorated for the occasion.

Since the kids would be joining them at the table as well, that meant having to cook for even more people. Remy, WALL-E, and Atta were hard at work in the kitchen making gravy, deviled eggs, sweet potato casserole, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, etc. And of course, turkey. At first it didn't seem like cooking was going to be so bad. They got an early start before most of the Pixars even woke up. If all went well, they would have dinner done by the afternoon.

"Okay guys, we've got a full house of hungry Pixars so we gotta get this done quick." Remy reminded them, "Atta, you're on pie detail, and you're gonna help me with the turkey. WALL-E, you focus on the casserole, eggs, and making sure Atta stays away from the marshmallows."

Atta slowly looked over at him while he pointed at her, "Yeah, I see you."

She narrowed her eyes at him before slowly reaching her hand toward the bag of marshmallows. He scolded her as she popped another one into her mouth, smirking at him and holding back a laugh. But then the two quickly moved on, since they couldn't waste much time on banter and jokes.

"I don't see how the Disneys do this every year." WALL-E commented, taking a bite of bread.

"Well, they don't actually make it. They have a whole cooking staff that serves them every meal. Which is kinda why they invite us in the first place." Atta explained to him, helping Remy baste the turkey.

Remy scoffed, "And yet there's only one chef in this house. Man, I'd love it if I could get more help around here. Hopefully the new Pixars will know how to cook."

"That's what you say every time." Atta chuckled.

"Maybe if I keep saying it, it'll happen." He shrugged.

After a few minutes, the turkey was ready to cook. They placed it in the oven and set the correct amount of degrees and time. Now all they had to do was wait and finish the rest of the meal.

Violet walked into the kitchen, inhaling the strong scent of half-cooked food. "Mmm, smells great in here." She commented, opening the fridge to grab a water bottle. "So how's slaving away for the others going?"

"We're not 'slaving away', Violet." Remy rolled his eyes. Although now that he said it out loud, it kinda seemed like they were, considering not a single other Pixar was offering to help. Instead they were all hanging out around the house doing who knows what. "Regardless, we're doing just fine."

"You wanna help us?" Atta asked with a mouthful of marshmallows—which earned a scowl from Remy.

Violet sighed, shutting the fridge. "I'd love to, but Joy's taking me out shopping for Christmas presents.

"But stores aren't even open today." WALL-E said.

"That's what I told her." The teen shrugged her shoulders, "But she insisted on taking me and a couple others. I honestly think they're just trying to get out of the house so they have an excuse not to help out."

The three exchanged an annoyed glance. While they expected that sort of behavior from their friends, it was still irritating to know they didn't care enough to even stay home for Thanksgiving. But then again, ditching her friends when they need her didn't sound like something Joy would do.

Before they could question it, they heard Violet's name being called from the other room, signaling her to walk away. "Well, good luck with dinner, guys." She said.

"Okay, have fun today." Atta said to her right before she left. The three then gave each other the same confused expression, all thinking the same thing. But it was a short-lived moment, as they quickly got back to work.

"Alright, making conversation is nice and all, but we can't spend much time having social interactions." Remy reminded them, "From now on, no more distractions, okay? Focus is key."

He turned around, seeing a certain someone once again stuffing three marshmallows in her mouth. "Atta!"

"Leave me alone!" She retorted.

—

Several hours passed since the three started cooking, and they were getting close to being finished. It was hard keeping the kids out of the kitchen to stop them from sneaking bites of the food, since they always did that even when eating at the Disneys' place. But in a display of irony, Remy always shooed them away or chased them out with a broom.

A little after noon the meal was finally ready to be gorged. Everyone had a little bit of everything on their plate and had to pull up a few chairs and small tables so they could all sit together in one spot (one of the tables was actually just an old nightstand). Usually when eating meals, the Pixars would just sit in different areas around the house since the table wasn't big enough for all of them to sit at. But since this was Thanksgiving, they wanted to be together.

"Alright everyone, before we eat, we should go around and say what we're thankful for." Woody said, "And I'll start if that makes it easier."

"It would." They all agreed.

They all joined hands as Woody began, "Well, I'm thankful for all of you. You're not just my friends or people I'm forced to live with, you're my family. Which is kinda the same thing but has better meaning. I'm also thankful for our success, and I'm thankful we're doing this here and not at Disney hell."

A few of them laughed and nodded, although they never thought they'd hear the words "Disney" and "hell" in the same sentence.

"I'll go next." Sulley said, "Let's see, I'm thankful for the food on my plate, and the hard-working people who made it for me."

Remy, Atta, and WALL-E smiled at him.

"And I'm thankful to have the privilege to celebrate this holiday with the people I love."

"Awww!!" They cooed.

Barley leaned towards Sadness to whisper, "Wait, are we supposed to say meaningful shit like that every time?" The girl merely shrugged in response.

Once everyone had a turn saying what they were thankful for, they were finally able to dig in. The turkey was even better than they were used to. The whole meal tasted far better than what they would've received at the Disneys' Thanksgiving. Except the sweet potato casserole appeared to be missing quite a few marshmallows.

"I'm so glad it's Thanksgiving." Joy said, a little out-of-the blue.

"Why's that, Joy?" Bob asked her curiously.

"So I can finally get in the Christmas spirit without people telling me to 'wait until Thanksgiving'." She rolled her eyes.

Out of all of them, Joy was definitely the Christmas fanatic, so much that all other holidays around the end of the year were irrelevant to her. The Pixars didn't mind it, though. They loved Christmas, and they were glad she was always the one to go all out on decorations so they didn't have to.

"Can't argue with that." Jessie said, stuffing a piece of pie in her mouth. "But sadly it's not gonna be the same this year."

"No kidding." Merida scoffed. "If people had just done what they were told back in March, this wouldn't have happened."

McQueen raised a brow, "Dude, we had a whole ass celebration for the Swearing-In in March—"

"That was before quarantine, shut up." She was quick to defend.

"When's quarantine gonna be over?" Dash asked, "I'm tired of staying inside all day."

Mike sighed, as he dreaded this topic every time it came up in conversation. But as the leader, he had to be the voice of reason. "Look guys, I know it's tough, okay? We can't even die from Covid but we're being forced to stay at home, and I know it's frustrating. Heck, there's probably not even gonna be a Swearing-In ceremony for 'Soul'."

"There's not??" Dory asked with a frown.

"If things stay this way, then no." He said, even though it hurt to admit. Swearing-Ins were a big deal for the Pixars. It was what made them apart of the family. "But there's nothing we've been through that we've faced alone, right? We've always had each other, and we always will."

Even though they were still sad about the situation, and even if what he said was a little cheesy, they knew he was right. They were the Pixars for crying out loud, they could handle any challenge as long as they stuck together.

Mike raised his glass, signaling everyone else to do the same. "I propose a toast. To our Pixar family."

"To our family!" They cheered, sipping their drinks afterward.

[sanderssidesfanfiction]

If There’s A Place I Could Be - Chapter Forty Three

If There’s a Place I Could Be Tag

March 12th, 1998

There wasn’t anything hugely important about it. It wasn’t Remy’s birthday, or Christmas, or any other holiday. It was just a regular day, and that was what made this so special. Toby had come home from school with a tiny recipe book which he had given to Remy. “Obviously, that’s not the end-all be-all of recipe books, but it’s something to start you off so you’re not stuck with ramen every time Mom makes you cook your own lunch or dinner.”

Remy looked at the book in his hands almost reverently, and grinned. “Thanks, Tobes!” he exclaimed. “This looks like it’ll be a huge help! Making ramen is kinda relaxing, but it does get old after a while. This will help a lot.”

Toby gave him a smile and a one-armed hug. “I’m glad you like it. Now, I gotta scram and figure out how to explain to Mom why I need a ride to my girlfriend’s house, but I hope that sometime soon we could try a recipe in there together.”

Remy was touched. “Yeah, I’d love that,” he said.

  September 11th, 2001

It started with a ripple but soon tore into the entire coffee shop. They had seen it on the news, gotten a call from someone who knew someone who was involved. The Twin Towers were going down in flames. The Pentagon had been attacked. Everyone was bustling around, talking about it, trying to call loved ones to make sure they were all right, trying to get their coffee fast so they could pick up their kids from school and hug them tight and never let go. Remy’s head was reeling as he heard the news. He didn’t live near New York City, and Washington DC wasn’t a hop skip and a jump away, but it was still startling to hear about.

Startling was an understatement, but Remy didn’t have the words to describe what he felt. He scratched the back of his neck as he continued working on his shift. He had a job to do, no matter how much he didn’t want to do it. He worked and worked, making coffee after coffee and passing out pastries as needed, and he knew that he wouldn’t be able to sleep well tonight.

At the end of his shift, Remy had just hung up his apron and Emile walked in, looking dazed. He took one look at Remy and pulled him in for a tight hug, which Remy desperately returned. “You heard the news?” Emile asked.

“Yeah. Obviously, you did too,” Remy said.

“Mhm,” Emile confirmed, voice sounding small, and scared, and uncertain, and that terrified Remy to no end.

They broke apart and Remy said, “Let’s just go home.”

“Yeah,” Emile agreed.

They got in Emile’s car, but Emile wasn’t starting it. Remy looked at him. “Emile? You okay?”

Emile stared at his lap and shook his head. “This has me thinking...” he started, but stopped. “I just want...” Another beat. “I don’t want to miss my chance with you.”

“What do you mean?” Remy asked, heart starting to beat harder.

“I mean...I mean life is short, and we never know when it’s going to end. I don’t want to land in an early grave without telling you that I love you,” Emile said. “Because I do. I do love you, Rem, more than words can say. That’s why I fought back so hard when you said what you did. It hurt more coming from you than anyone else. I don’t...I don’t want to live without you, Rem. I want you by my side. And as more than a friend. I want...I want to love you for the rest of our lives, however long or short that may be. And I know commitment is scary, but...there’s no one else I’d rather commit to.”

Remy stared at Emile in shock. “You’re saying that you’d, like, marry me?” he asked.

“Hypothetically. One day. If you wanted. Not right now, obviously, I’m not proposing, but...I want to be your boyfriend, with the option of maybe, one day, being your husband,” Emile said. He turned pink. “Is that weird?”

Remy leaned over and kissed Emile softly, but with every ounce of adoration and desperation he felt combined. Emile kissed back, placing a hand at the nape of Remy’s neck. When they pulled apart, Emile lightly squeezed the back of Remy’s neck. “I take it that’s a yes, then,” Emile said.

“Definitely. Yes,” Remy agreed. “I really want to be with you, too.”

Emile offered Remy a shy smile and they finally drove home. Remy squirmed where he sat, clearing his throat. “Kim was going to be moving her practice the week after this one,” he said. “I’m not sure if she’ll be doing that anymore.”

“Well, we can always find someone else in the area,” Emile offered.

Remy shook his head. “No offence, Emile, but I think I’ve made all the progress that I can make. At least, right now, you know? I know not to dump everything on you, and I have coping strategies for when the uh...the flashbacks pop up, and I know how to be a little more open-minded to other people’s experiences. I don’t want to rehash everything with an entirely new therapist, when I don’t exactly need one, you know? Other people need that time more than I do, and besides, I think I’m mostly well adjusted other than a few...uh...hiccups.”

“Obviously, I can’t force you to go to therapy,” Emile said reluctantly. “And we’re not in a position where if you don’t go I risk seriously hurting myself helping you. But I do wish you’d reconsider.”

“I know you do,” Remy said. “And I get it, really. But when it comes down to it, I’m just...I know I’ve said it before...but I don’t need a therapist, Emile. I don’t think I’m cured, but I do think that I’ve processed everything that can be processed at this point in time.”

“Therapy isn’t just for processing trauma, it can help you with the little things, too,” Emile pointed out.

“Well, yeah, but what little things are there, other than our occasional fight and my occasional stress over work? Those don’t happen often, like I said, and other people need that time more than I do,” Remy said.

“I don’t want to start an argument,” Emile said as they pulled into the parking lot. “I just request that you keep it in the back of your mind. Sound good?”

Remy nodded. “Yeah. That’s fine.”

“You’re going to forget this conversation even happened by tomorrow, aren’t you?” Emile asked knowingly.

“Probably,” Remy agreed. “Anything I don’t want to address I just bite the bullet if I have to or else I ignore it until it goes away.”

“That’s not very healthy,” Emile said, voice pitched just a little too high to be normal.

“You can’t exactly stop me,” Remy sang at the same pitch.

“I know,” Emile sighed. “And I try to not let it get to me, but sometimes you really do worry me, Rem.”

“I know,” Remy said softly. “And I appreciate the fact that you care. But I can handle a lot of things well on my own, remember?”

“Yeah,” Emile said. “Although that stomach flu you had last week was not one of those things.”

Remy pulled a face. “Tell me about it. I’m just glad I got a clean bill of health on Friday. We need the money for rent.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me that money is tight, please,” Emile groaned. “I’m stressed enough.”

“Today is a stressful day,” Remy replied simply.

An awkward silence hung over them as they stepped into the apartment and put their things away. Emile came out of his room around the same time Remy did, and they looked at each other uncertainly. “We already know what’s going to happen if we turn on the TV, don’t we?” Emile asked.

“Unfortunately,” Remy sighed.

The silence took over again. Emile cleared his throat. “Want to drown our sorrows in cartoons?”

Another long pause. “...Sure, why not.”

Emile grabbed some movie or another, Remy wasn’t really paying attention, and he settled on the floor seeing as how they had yet to get a TV stand and therefore buying chairs wouldn’t help them whatsoever. Emile put the movie in and settled next to Remy. Remy scooted closer. Emile looked over at him curiously. Remy took Emile’s arm and wrapped it around his shoulder, nuzzling into Emile’s side. “You’re just a giant cat,” Emile said with a fond smile.

Remy stuck his tongue out at Emile and Emile laughed. “You even do the tongue thing! You’re a cat!”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Remy said, but he was smiling and nuzzling further into Emile.

Emile laughed softly and pressed a kiss into Remy’s hair. “Shh, the movie is starting,” Emile said.

Remy rolled his eyes and rested his head on Emile’s shoulder, feeling thoroughly exhausted. This was why he was letting Emile putting on some movies and cartoons for them both. He didn’t have the mental energy or the will to watch normal TV, his brain wouldn’t comprehend words on the page like they normally would when reading a book, and he hadn’t slept soundly since Emile and him had broken up. Even when he was sick with a stomach flu, his sleep would be interrupted by vomiting or fever or chills. He hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in a month, so having cartoons on to watch if he could even stay awake made things simpler. Easier to follow. Low-stakes games that didn’t feel rushed or forced. It was dumb, but it was comforting.

Well, no, it wasn’t dumb, purely because it was comforting. It was why Remy reread his favorite comics, why he reread books when he knew the ending. Everything turned out all right in the end; he didn’t have to worry about the characters dying an unforeseen death or really going through anything he couldn’t handle, because he had been through it all already. He knew what was going to happen. And Emile derived similar comfort from cartoons.

...Huh. That explained a lot. And also made Remy feel a bit like a dick for not understanding that for a year.

Emile shifted underneath Remy and Remy opened his eyes. When had he closed them? “Hey, sleepyhead,” Emile lightly teased. “I need to pee. You mind?”

“Hm? Mm-mm,” Remy hummed, sitting upright.

Emile put a hand on Remy’s shoulder and offered him a smile, a murmured, “I’ll be right back,” and a gentle squeeze.

Remy watched Emile go and leaned back against the wall. He looked at the TV, which had been turned off. Apparently, he had slept through the entire movie. Whoops.

Emile walked back over to him and leaned against the wall. “Do you want to head to the shelter to help out tonight?”

“Wouldn’t we miss dinner?” Remy asked.

“There’s ways to help out other than cooking. Childcare, helping people with paperwork for food stamps and such, or even helping with finances, either the shelter’s or the individual people there,” Emile said. “Usually the childcare dies down after dinner, but when the kids’ parents have to talk about something serious, someone has to keep the kids occupied. And besides, we might not get there before dinner wraps up, but it never hurts to just talk to Bernie and see what he might need help with in the future.”

“True,” Remy allowed, stretching his legs. “I’m just not full of energy at the moment.”

“Yeah, but that’s why we should go. Most people won’t, and they might not help today, when lots of people will need help.”

“I know,” Remy agreed, standing. “We’d better get going if we want to be there soon, though.”

Emile offered Remy a thankful smile and Remy offered him a hopeful one back. They had been on good terms again, falling back into their old routine like nothing had happened. Though Remy couldn’t deny there was a certain shift in the dynamics since their fight. As he grabbed his jacket, he wondered if it was just what had happened today that made Emile behave differently, or if this would stay. The fact that they resumed dating would definitely remain, but Remy found he liked this new feeling. It wasn’t like they weren’t equals in their relationship before, but something seemed a little different about today. They seemed like...partners.

Obviously, they had been partners before. That was how relationships worked. But more than the sense of partners in crime. More than the sense of passionate declarations of love, or simple lingering touches on each other’s bodies when they wanted to discreetly show affection. This partnership felt like it would last through fights, through trouble, through any and everything. Even through a break up. Remy felt like this partnership wasn’t just something between him and Emile romantically. If he inspected it closely, he was a little surprised to find that it ran deeper than romance, deeper than platonic love. This was a bond he hadn’t experienced before. It wasn’t a familial bond, but it felt similar. Like he and Emile had somehow always known each other and never wanted to be without each other in their lives. It was cliché, but Remy could have sworn that...this was what soulmates should have felt like.

[snowdice]

Gaps in His Files (Part 12) [Relabeled; Refiled Series]

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Relationships: Logan/Patton

Characters:

Main: Logan, Patton

Appear: Remy, Virgil (but only in the epilogue)

Summary:

Logan Berry has learned many things the last 10 years: a lot of math and physics, a bit of humility, and how to be a hero being just a few. Through his education, his experience teaching, and his exploits as the superhero Bluebird, he’s changed in a lot of small and large ways. He has recorded these changes in well-organized documents and files. He’s even had to create two new file designations: a red one for files about his moonlighting at Bluebird, and a light blue one dedicated to his boyfriend, Patton.

When Bluebird is targeted by a memory device and all of those 10 years of progress suddenly disappear, Patton Sanders and Logan’s extensive files are left as his only resource to get those memories back. But what is Patton supposed to do when there are clear gaps in his files? And what does he do when he is one of them?

This is set 25 years before Sometimes Labels Fail though it’s story is completely independent of it and it is not necessary to read that one first.

Notes: Superhero AU, memory loss, past child abuse, past child neglect, unhealthy ideas about ones place in relationships, emotional suppression, self-deprecating thoughts, medical procedures mentioned, very brief unhealthy views of sex

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11

This one is very heavy. Patton is spiraling hard and expresses some very unhealthy deep seated views of himself and his role in relationships. So be warned and if you want to wait to read this, feel free. Basically all of the warning in the notes apply in this one except medical procedures.

Patton’s back ached from falling asleep on the floor next to the couch once again the night before. It had been horribly quiet in the apartment in the last 24 hours since Patton returned from the hospital to find Logan gone. He didn’t know what to do.

They’d defaulted back to looking through the files that they’d already pretty much read through at this point and Patton was starting to wonder if there was even any point. They’d looked through the red ones last night and the green ones this morning before rotating back to the blue ones which were now spread all over the coffee table.

Patton had snagged one of the fluffier blankets from the closet and curled up under it, but it didn’t make him feel any better. In fact, he might feel worse because he couldn’t keep insisting that Logan pet it like he normally would.

Logan didn’t even seem to care enough to voice his obvious unhappiness with Patton. His silence just made Patton feel worse and worse and made his thoughts spin and spin. Logan was tapping his fingers against the table thinking about something. Usually Patton would respond to that action with patient fondness, but today it just made him want to curl up into a ball wondering what he was thinking. Patton’s mind kept returning again and again to that place it had been in on and off the last two months except that place was getting darker and darker every time he came back around to it.

Ever since the rejected proposal, Patton had tried to figure out what it was about him Logan didn’t like. He’d tried all sorts of things. He’d tried not inviting himself over to his apartment as much, not being as pushy about Logan taking care of himself, offering sex less, offering sex more, not being as pushy about spending time with him, being more quiet, letting him decide what they did on dates, not talking as much about his job, not depending on him as much when he was stressed, not crying in front of him when he was overwhelmed. He’d tried. He’d tried so many things.

The problem was Logan. Or at least Logan before.

What Logan hated most in life was change and he’d clearly gotten used to how Patton naturally acted over the years. Thus, he kept getting distressed when Patton tried to change something.

When Patton avoided his apartment for over a week, he’d asked if Patton was mad at him and then since Patton had that Saturday off, he’d managed to cajole Patton into spending all day in Logan’s bed napping and cuddling.

The not pushing him to care for himself had only lasted a few hours. Patton knew it had to be annoying, but he couldn’t stop himself from reminding him to eat breakfast and Logan hadn’t seemed mad when he’d started back up. He’d even brushed a kiss across his cheek when Patton handed him a plate of bacon and breakfast potatoes.

He seemed to be able to tell when Patton wanted to have sex with a startling amount of pinpoint accuracy, like he had Patton down to a science. When Patton wanted it, but didn’t start something, he initiated it himself and he looked at him with abject confusion when Patton tried something when he didn’t want it.

He showed up to the hospital to take Patton to lunch in the cafeteria when he didn’t mention meeting up for lunch because he assumed the reason was that Patton was too busy that day. He pushed when Patton didn’t speak much, citing that he was worried something was wrong and he insisted on his input on dates before he’d move forward with any plans.

Patton had kept quiet about his job for three days before Logan had gone and talked to Remy behind his back to ask if something was wrong at work. Under pressure from both of them, he’d spewed out the buildup of stress all over the place. And it was so hard. It was so hard not to cry about it when Logan pressed soft kisses to his cheeks and temples and asked him if he was okay.

But now Logan wasn’t used to Patton and wasn’t set into patterns that he probably didn’t actually like, but just allowed because he wanted to be nice to Patton and was used to it. The problems with Patton were becoming apparent every time Logan side eyed him.

Patton had been hoping that maybe he could figure out from this version what parts of Patton he really did not like. Then Patton could hold more firm about getting rid of those things once Logan got his memories back. He’d definitely appreciate it after an adjustment period. That is if Logan even wanted him after this. He hoped he’d at least give Patton a chance to fix himself.

Patton was good at pretending. He knew how to cut pieces of himself off to get people to love him back. He’d had a lot of practiced. Make sure to do your homework at the dinner table at mom’s house so she knows you’re not being lazy. Cook when you’re at dad’s house so dinner is ready when he gets home from work, but make sure you’ve cleaned up by the time he gets home, so he doesn’t see you cooking. Don’t let grandma cook potatoes; she doesn’t like them and will blame you for them being on the dinner table. Never turn on the television at mom’s house; it rots the brain. Make sure the television is on the sports channel by the time dad gets home. Don’t touch grandma’s remote no matter how loud the volume is. Sit up straight for mom. Don’t cry in front of dad. Be quiet for grandma. Pretend dad doesn’t exist for mom. Call dad’s new girlfriend mom. Don’t try to correct grandma when she calls you by your dead grandfather’s name. Get good grades. Get into a good college. Get a job that pays well. Don’t complain. Don’t get in trouble. Don’t be gay.

Patton knew how to do it all. Logan had never asked it of him. Never, not once had he told Patton that he needed to fix himself or that he had to change for him; he deserved it more than any of them.

“We’ve talked a lot about me,” Logan said surprising Patton out of his churning thoughts especially since he had barely spoken all day. “but what about you?” he asked. “Tell me more about you. Tell me about our relationship. Why do you want to be with me or at least the me with my memories?”

“I…” Patton started. “There are a lot of reasons.”

“Then tell me one.”

Patton bit his lower lip. “You read my papers.”

“Your papers?”

“I’ve written a few research papers and you looked them up and read them and tried to understand them because you wanted to be able to talk to me about something I was interested in. That was the first time in my life that someone looked at me and it felt like they actually wanted to know me. And you kept doing things like that. You remember my coffee order and bring my favorite sandwich to the ER even when you know I’m in surgery and I can’t be there to see you so you just leave it with someone else to give it to me when I’m done. You eat the stupid cafeteria food at the hospital when I only have time for a 30-minute lunch just to spend time with me and after the first time we had sex, you got up early and cooked me an omelet because you didn’t know how to cook anything else. You try to find ways to help me feel better when I’m upset even though it doesn’t come naturally to you and you’re willing to throw popcorn in my mouth from across the room with your powers just because I ask even though you think it’s silly. You once took me on a picnic to a park 5 hours away because I mentioned how much I loved it when a group of us went there on a retreat during medical school even though you don’t like eating outside because of the bugs. And you didn’t even complain… well, I mean, you did complain, but only enough to make me laugh, not so I thought you really resented being there with me. When we go to parties and I say I want to go home, you pretend to get a migraine so we can leave early and sometimes we end up having sex in the car outside. And even though you complain about how annoying you think Remy is, you know he’s my friend so you still make a point to make an effort with him and hang out with him even when I’m not there. So…” he swallowed. “Yeah.”

“You really love me,” he stated, eyes intent on him and unreadable.

“Every part of me loves you Logan,” Patton said, gripping the soft blanket in his fingers. “You can have whatever pieces you want.”

“Whatever pieces?” he echoed.

Patton forgot for a moment that the man in front of him did not have context, that he didn’t and couldn’t understand what Patton was asking. “Look,” he said. “I know there is something wrong with me. I know there are parts of me that annoy you or make you angry, but if you just tell me what they are I’ll change them.”

“You think I don’t like all of you?” Logan asked.

“Clearly not!” Patton said, standing up suddenly and throwing the blanket off onto the ground. He paused and took a breath, forcing his tone to be calm and clinical, like he did when he got too emotional at work. “Look at this,” he gestured to the piles of files in front of him: blue, green, and red. “This is everything from your personal files to your work files to the files for your alter ego, but where am I? You have the receipt from the first fast food order you bought with your credit card, the invitation from your five-year high school reunion that you didn’t even go to, and your sixth-grade report card. But there is nothing in here about me. Not really. I am not important enough for you to keep. But I can be if you just tell me how. I can be whatever makes you happy. If you love me at all, I will rip myself apart until I’m what you need.”

Logan looked him directly in the eyes. “If I love you, I don’t want that.”

Patton blew up. “Then what do you want, Logan?!” He snapped his mouth closed and looked away, tears that had been building since Logan had lost his memory, since Patton’s marriage proposal had been rejected, since his mom had first called him stupid because he’d gotten a B on a math test in the 5th grade, springing to his eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t…” he swallowed and stood, a picture of calm. “It has been a stressful couple of days,” he said, flicking a tear off his cheek. “I think I need to go back to my place and rest for a while. I’ll come back tomorrow morning and we can… I don’t know, try aromatherapy or something.”

Before Logan could say anything more, Patton beat a hasty retreat.

Want to read more? Click below!

Part 13

[bewaretheidesofmarchyall]

Soulmate Shenanigans Part Three: Return Of The Shenanigans

Let’s do this!

At this point, you probably know the drill (and, if not, parts one and two are here and here!)

Basically I found some prompts for September, and now I’m doing them in October just because

Prompt #3

You have an animal that only you and your soulmate can see.

Warnings: Death mentions, brief mentions of drowning (I pinky swear that I’ll stop drowning Janus for the rest of this challenge), brief mentions of house fires (I pinky swear that I’ll stop setting Patton on fire for the rest of this challenge)

World Building

Soulmates had always been an idea bubbling in the back of humanity’s brains. A sort of “hey, this romance thing is complicated, could we just kinda know?”

It was starting to annoy the fates

Do you expect them to do all the work? I mean, what with the spinning, and the looking ominous, and the lack of dental, their job is a hard one, and you want to make it harder by having them weave two people’s stories together?

One day, a fate heard yet another “please, let me meet my soulmate tomorrow” prayer and went nuts

Fine. Fine! You want soulmates? We’ll make soulmates.

The plan was to create two soulmates, make them fall in love

And then kill them.

Just to remind humans where they stood on a cosmic scale. Just to remind them that every story ends tragically, when you get down to the end.

They reviewed a few couples (Some Romeo and Juliet people had promise), but in the end decided. Feuding families? Check. Opposites attracting? Check. Tragedy? Inevitable.

Characters

Patton: Patton grew up inside the hedges.

Hedges were his family’s specialty, so the house was surrounded by them. He rarely got to leave, but he could get lost in the gardens and talk to his imaginary pet, so all in all things were okay. Sure, maybe it was weird to have a blue jay that only he could see, but he was lonely!

See, Patton’s family liked three things

1. Having heirs (but only in theory)

2. Increasingly elaborate hedge mazes

3. Fighting a blood feud the goddamn lawyers

Patton wasn’t really on that list, but he wasn’t on the list of hated things either, so there was that.

List of Hated Things

1. The goddamn lawyers

2. Anyone who associates with the goddamn lawyers

3. Anyone who is descended from the goddamn lawyers

4. Anyone who gets in the way of the blood feud with the goddamn lawyers

5. Dandelions. They’re not serious gardening.

Janus: Janus was, of course, a child of the goddamn lawyers

The lawyers weren’t a clan of blood like the gardeners, but one of merit. And having kids was seen as a conflict of interest, and therefore frowned upon.

Of course, it’s illegal to murder or criminally neglect children, so he was allowed to stick around and have a childhood vaguely reminiscent of John Mulaney’s “one black coffee”, “over on the bench”, and “getting accused of murdering Princess Diana” skits

Most of his childhood was spent accusing his pet blue jay (that couldn’t be seen by anyone else) of crimes and then debating himself about whether or not the bird was guilty, like a normal kid.

However, when it became clear that someone else was stealing his blue jay, he had to find them and give them a piece of his mind, even if they lived behind formidable hedges

The Plot

Patton (about eight at this point) was wandering around the grounds, talking to Sunny (his name for the bird), like every other day, when the strangest kid he’d ever seen in his life appeared through a small gap in the hedges and informed him that the bird was his and he’d be leaving soon

A bird custody battle ensues

Janus uses a lot of legal terminology, which Patton pretends to understand. The debate ends when Patton’s aunt shows up and threatens to chuck Janus over the garden walls if he doesn’t get out immediately.

Janus runs off, but Patton sees him through the hedges later, and he looks kind of sad about the whole thing, so Patton offers to share custody of Sunny. 

Janus perked up at this solution, despite claiming that the bird’s name was really Iago, and a friendship was born.

It was hard for them to chat when both their relatives would love to murder at least one of the kids if they could get away with it, and Patton was separated from him by the hedges, but they managed.

Sunny/Iago was decent at carrying messages, Janus was good at finding secret passages, and Patton had adequate aim when tossing packages over the hedges.

They were best friends for years and years, confidants in their crazy worlds.

At around sixteen, Janus convinced Patton to leave the grounds for an afternoon. The two of them saw the sights (which meant buying/stealing bread) (you can guess who actually bought the bread and who stole it) and had fun

The evening ended with the two of them sitting under a tree, chatting. The dandelions were in that in-between stage where some of them are flowers and some seed-heads, so Patton was able to weave a crown of flowers and make a wish at the same time.

Take a wild flying guess who he wished for (hint: they were currently wearing the flower crown and pretending to not like it, but would secretly never take it off. Ever.).

Patton claimed he’d wished for world peace (which, on further reflection, he felt bad for not thinking of first), and Janus claimed he’d wished for solid gold coins, but they were both lying.

Eventually, Patton had to go home.

Sunny-Iago: Sunny-Iago had gone by many names before. As one of the extra-dimensional lords of fate, they’d been called things like, “THE FUCK IS THAT”, “IT HAS SO MANY EYES”, and “Oh, fuck, that raven’s back again”. It made perfect sense for them to have at least two, despite being in the flesh prison of a blue jay this time.

A damn blue jay.

At least ravens have a little class.

Anyway, their job was to guide two sweethearts together and then drive them into a metaphorical (or literal? It could always be literal) brick wall. This was proving harder than expected, since the most important thing was to not get attached to either of them and well

Sunny-Iago had gotten attached to both of them. It was hard to see kids grow up and be fine killing them off, okay!

But they knew the drill. This had to end in some kind of tragedy. 

So, they had a plan. Instead of having them both killed off because of miscommunication, they’d merely never see each other again and pine after what could have been, eventually turning into a bittersweet story they’d tell to....someone younger and more naïve, or something. They were still working it out!

So, they grabbed a quill pen in their beak and wrote a note to Patton’s aunt (it took several tries. Beaks were not meant for holding quill pens). 

The note said something along the lines of “You know the goddamn lawyers? Of course you do. Your nephew fell for one, last chance to fix the situation is at 10:00 at the gate”.

Back To The Plot

Patton and Janus got back to the gardener grounds. Neither wanted to leave the other’s company, so they lingered at the gate, chatting and finding excuses to stay.

After a few minutes, it was obvious that Patton had to leave. Before doing so, he quickly kissed Janus on the cheek, just in time to get caught by his aunt, who came close to stabbing the both of them with a garden trowel.

When Janus came back a few days later, wilted dandelions still in his pocket, Patton was gone, sent far away from lawyers and love. All that was left was the bird. A stupid bird that no one else could see.

Time-lapse! Seven years later!

Janus was working on the most important legal case any lawyer had in a solid three years.

A gardener had murdered one of his relatives (he kept forgetting which one, which was a bit of a problem, since half of his job was to look tearful about them) with a wheelbarrow, and he was attempting to get them arrested for it. 

If it worked, the gardeners would have consequence for committing murder, which would hopefully tone down the blood feud a little.

Half of the jurors had been rigged by both sides, some paid to vote one way and some paid to vote another. There were, however, six undecided jurors out there.

The Jurors

Logan: Logan is the only person on the jury who knows anything whatsoever about law and what can be done in a courtroom. He actually wants the most just and logical thing to happen. 

Weirdo.

Roman: Roman is an actor in a touring production of Much Ado About A Midsummer’s Ham (Cooked As You Like It)

He just wants this trial process to be over so he can get back to rehearsal-wait, nevermind, the guy with the glasses is cute and he’s going to make this court case last as long as possible.

Remus: Remus is here to cause as much legal chaos as possible

He might get arrested for contempt of court.

Virgil: Virgil gives 0 fucks about anything that happens, but knows more about law than Logan, who knows more about law than anyone else in the court.

Remy: Remy heard from people that court cases are full of juicy drama.

Those people are wrong. It’s just a bunch of legal stuff. He’d rather be at Starbucks!

Emile: Emile is psychoanalyzing everyone else on the jurors section. Especially Remus.

Back To The Plot

The case progresses normally

Well, normally for this town anyway, which means that the goddamn lawyers are dying off fast (mostly of poison).

Janus, however, has managed to dodge every assassination attempt. He’s lawyering like Billy Flynn here!

Late in the afternoon, everyone’s a little tired and a lot bored when yet another witness is called. Janus was pulling his hat over his eyes for shade from the sunlight streaming into the court, when he heard the witness’s voice.

After a seven year disappearance, Patton stood in the courtroom.

Remy leaned forward. He saw the look on Janus’s face. At long last, drama had arrived.

After the court got out of session, Janus dashed down the steps of the building to catch up to Patton. He offers to get a coffee with him, but Patton turns him down, insinuating that he only offered to get information on the gardeners. Janus left, dejected.

Over the last seven years, Patton’s was in the far away land where his family started: New Jersey. While in this cursed place, his family attempted to change him from a dandelion to a venus flytrap, and nearly succeeded.

Nearly.

But when, the next day, his aunt poisons Janus’s water glass (gleefully explaining that this poison doesn’t show up on the standard tests and precautions), he just so happens to be clumsy enough to knock it over before Jan drinks it, and ends up volunteering to get coffee to make up for it.

Coffee meet-ups lead to coffee dates lead to rekindling of old romances (all under the utmost secrecy)

Eventually, the court case comes to a head. 

The six pre-decided jurors work quickly, but Logan debates, and Roman stalls because he’ll be missing Logan, and Remus is forcibly removed from the courthouse, and Emile forgot to take notes, and Virgil sleeps through most of it, and Remy couldn’t care less about this, only caring about what happens with Janus and Patton.

They make their decision

Since they saw like 47 murder attempts over the course of the trial, it’s not a stretch to assume that the gardeners did kill that guy with a wheelbarrow.

Janus and the rest of the prosecution celebrate, and in the excitement of the moment, he and Patton end up sharing a kiss.

That’s the moment the gardeners went from Lowkey Trying To Murder Him to Highkey Trying To Murder Him

Both of them walk home with their head in the clouds

When your head is in the clouds, it’s easy to get kidnapped and thrown in the harbor to drown, especially if you happen to be a goddamn lawyer who just won a case.

And when your head is in the clouds, and you overhear your relatives talking about how they threw the person you love the most into the harbor to drown, it’s easy to make rash decisions

Like grabbing a torch and running into the middle of a prized hedge maze, and threaten to burn it all if his aunt didn’t tell him where Janus was. 

When the answer was “dead, obviously”, Patton took the torch to the shrubbery, and the estate burned.

Problem: Janus crawled to shore and survived. 

Secondary problem: Patton’s not trying especially hard to escape the fire.

Janus got to the house, saw it was on fire, and ran into the grounds. He eventually found Patton (who was still alive and in the hedge maze), but....it’s a very intricate hedge maze, and now there’s smoke everywhere, and they can’t find their way out.

At the last second, Sunny-Iago swooped over their heads, pointing to the exit, and they run after them.

They’re almost out of the burning grounds when Sunny-Iago falls to the ground, still, and they find themselves in another place entirely.

The Fates

The Fates had bet on how good old birdie would kill Janus and Patton off

Knife? was the most common bet, followed by Wolves. No one bet on them living in the end.

Except Meghan (alternate name: The Lurking One), and nobody liked Meghan, and nobody liked losing money. 

So, they were going to do the job personally.

Back To The Plot

Janus and Patton find themselves in a tomb where every grave is theirs. A tomb where every grave is theirs is essentially the office space of the fates, who enjoy the atmosphere.

The Fates themselves take a multitude of forms: Animal, vegetable, mineral, eldritch, you name it.

And they all bicker amongst themselves about how to best kill off the couple.

Knife? Wolves? Triscuits? How??

Janus tricks them into debating the subject round and round in circles, but they eventually come to their senses.

As a last ditch hope, Patton says that they’ll pick the method of death for them if they give the couple a chance to plead for their lives.

The fates agree, and the Final Court Case begins.

Janus is quite a lawyer, but there’s literally a saying about how hard it is to argue with Fate, so its a nail biter of a case. Patton manages to give a passionate defense and Janus brings up evidence, but it’s still anyone’s game how the jurors will vote.

Steve votes for death

The Great Rot votes for not death

Spatula votes for not death

Karen votes for death

Meghan votes for not death

A Clump Of Petunias votes for death

Broken Taco Shells And Broken Hearts votes for not death

That One Relative At Family Reunions That You Pretend To Know But Don’t votes for death

Microwavable Lasagna votes for not death

The Ghost Of Richard III votes for death

That Sock That Always Disappears From Dryers chooses not to vote. What a jerk.

At this point, it’s tied 5-5. Enter Remy, who just wants to go to the extra-dimensional Starbucks.

He deliberates. He hems. He haws. He draws out the moment unnecessarily long for drama’s sake.

But, at the end of the day, he was always rooting for these humans.

Remy votes for not death.

Conclusion

Patton and Janus get to live. Time is very short for humans, and eventually they would both die, but right then and there, they got to live.

Dandelions eventually took root where the carefully trimmed hedges had once been.

And Roman noticed, after his performance was done, that a certain nerd was in the audience.

And he could also see Roman’s blue jay.

Hope you enjoyed!!

[notalwaysthevillian]

Shattering Stereotypes

Warnings: Slight bullying, friendly teasing, kissing, mention of illness

Pairings: Romantic Mox and Remile established, Romantic Logince to come

Word Count: ~2.1k

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Read from the beginning

Chapter 14

Once Roman had told his parents about the tryout, their relationship seemed to improve. At least as far as Logan could tell.

“Hey, I know we normally work over at your place, but my parents wanted me to tell you that we could go over there too.” Roman told Logan a few days later. “My mom thinks I’m avoiding them, which I’m not and I haven’t been -”

“Ro...man.” Logan corrected himself. If he gave Roman a nickname, he’d never hear the end of it from Patton. Or Virgil. Or any of his friends. “I don’t mind if we work at your place. It’d be a nice change of pace from my own parents.”

“Oh, come on, your parents awesome!”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “They tease me at every given opportunity. Your parents don’t do that.”

“They might, given the chance.”

“Roman.”

Roman let out a laugh, reminding Logan how far gone he was for this boy. “Alright, well how about we head over to my place tonight?”

“Got a date with your boyfriend, Prince?” Toby called out from across the hall.

Roman spun on one heel. “Better than a date with detention, that’s for sure.”

Anger flashed in Toby’s eyes, but there was nothing he could do. If he acted, someone would report him to a teacher and he’d be suspended from school. Instead he flipped Roman off and continued down the hall with some of the other baseball players.

“I can’t wait to hear how bad the team is going to do this year.” Roman said as he glared at Toby’s back. “Not to be cocky, but I pretty much carried the team.”

There was dead silence on Logan’s end. His head was reeling from that interaction. Roman hadn’t denied anything, hadn’t said that they weren’t dating. When Remy got wind of this, he wouldn’t spread the rumor, but he certainly would confront Logan about it.

“...ay, Logan?”

Blinking back into reality, Logan realized that Roman had still been talking to him. Concerned eyes stared at him. “What?”

“Are you okay? You zoned out there for a sec.”

Blood raced to Logan’s cheeks. He ducked his head into his locker, pretending to look for something. “I’m fine.”

“...okay.” It was clear that Roman didn’t believe Logan, but he merely changed the subject. “So are we good for going to my house then?”

“Yeah, just let me text my dads.”

Logan opened up the group chat he had with his parents.

Logan: I’m going to Roman’s today after school instead.

Better Dad: Is he feeding you?

“Roman, um...are we eating over at your place, or?” Logan asked, cursing his easy blushing cheeks.

Roman gave him a nod. “Yeah, my mom cooks enough for an army anyway. Whatever we don’t eat she takes down to the shelter.”

“That’s nice of her.”

Logan: Yes

Awesome Dad: Be home by 10!

Better Dad: Thomas let the kid have some fun

Better Dad: Just not too much fun ;)

Rolling his eyes, Logan locked his phone. “I’m good.”

“Let me guess, they’re teasing you about coming over?”

Logan lightly shoved Roman before the two of them headed for Roman’s house. He lived a bit farther from the school, but it wasn’t as though Florida got cold often.

When they reached Roman’s house, Roman grabbed their jackets and hung them up in the closet. “Could you take your shoes off?”

Logan did as he was asked. Just as he finished toeing off his shoes, he was nearly knocked over by Dahlia, who came flying around the corner.

“Hi Logan! Can I hug you?”

“Sure.”

Dahlia wrapped her arms around his legs and squeezed, nearly knocking Logan over. Roman caught him before he fell, settling him on his feet and turning to his sister. “How dare you knock over the new royal advisor!”

She shrieked with giggles and darted off into the house.

“Royal advisor?” Logan teased as he followed Roman up the stairs.

“She likes to play princess.”

Too late, Logan realized that Roman was leading them to his room. The last time he’d been here, he’d been deterred from exploring upstairs, and Roman had been in the home theater anyway.

“Voila!” Roman let the door swing open, pulling Logan inside. “Casa de Roman.”

“Casa means home.”

“You know what I meant.” Roman laughed, tossing his backpack on the bed.

As he pulled out their homework, Logan took the opportunity to look around the room. He’d expected Roman to have much more sports memorabilia on the walls, but then again that had been a stereotype.

There were a few shelves hung up around the room, holding a trophy here and there for baseball, as well as a few medals. But for the most part, Roman didn’t have too much covering the plain white walls.

His bedspread was a deep red with flecks of gold that caught the light. The pillowcases looked like they were a gold satin, which made Logan laugh a little.

“You don’t have a lot of...you in your room.” He sat on the floor, pulling out what he had for their project. A small note fell out and Logan stuffed it into his purple folder before Roman could notice.

“Yeah.” Roman looked around his room. “Good thing, I wasn’t the real me until recently.”

The fond look he gave Logan had the latter blushing a deep red. “We should get to work.”

Over the course of an hour and a half, they’d both moved to get more comfortable on Roman’s bed.The two of them worked with no interruptions before Margo knocked on the doorframe. 

Seeing Roman’s mother in the doorway, Logan nearly fell off the bed.

“Dinner time!”

When dinner was over, Logan texted Thomas and gathered up his homework. “Tryouts are tomorrow, right?”

“Yep, right after school so we won’t be able to work on our project.”

Logan gave him a smile. “See you at tryouts.”

“You’re going?!”

“Of course, why wouldn’t I go support a friend?”

There had been very few times Logan had gotten Roman to blush, but this was one of those times. He relished in the way that the heated cheeks just seemed to make Roman glow.

“Thanks. Um, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Bye.”

The next day went by agonizingly slow. Roman had been bouncing in his seat during most of English, mumbling his monologue under his breath.

Lunch had been Logan trying to stomach his food while Remy and Emile pretended that they totally weren’t making out when the lunch monitor looked away.

And Virgil had teased him throughout study hall, making sure that he didn’t take it too far.

Needless to say, Logan was relieved when the final bell rang.

“Hey, care if the rest of us join you?” Virgil asked as they headed towards the lockers.

Logan shrugged. “I don’t mind at all.”

The five of them met up in the lobby, flowing into the auditorium together and finding seats. Emile and Patton talked about a new episode of Carmen Sandiego. Virgil listened in, rubbing circles on the back of Patton’s hand with his thumb.

“You helped him with his monologue, right?” Remy asked, his arm snaked around Emile’s waist. How it wasn’t uncomfortable for him due to the auditorium chairs, Logan would never know.

“Yeah.”

“So when he’s saying it, he’ll be thinking about you?”

Logan elbowed Remy hard. “Shut up.”

Mrs. Torres, the choir teacher, walked onstage, followed by Jamahl, the band teacher. “Alright, we’re pulling names out of a hat for the order. First up is Marisha Johnson.”

The five friends sat through everyone’s auditions, clapping when they were finished.

“Do we clap even if they’re terrible?” Remy mumbled, earning a quiet scolding from Emile.

Finally, it was Roman’s turn. He cleared his throat, turning to face the teachers. “Hi, I’m Roman Prince. I’ll be doing a more modern version of Romeo’s monologue.”

He took a deep breath before diving into it.

“But...wait. What’s that light in the window over there? It is the east, and Juliet - she is the sun. Rise, beautiful sun, and kill the jealous moon. She is already sick and pale with grief because you - you Juliet, her maid, are far more beautiful than she. Don’t be her maid, because she is jealous. Virginity makes her look sick and green. Only fools hold on to their virginity. Let it go. Oh, there’s my lady. My love.”

At this point, Roman’s eyes landed on Logan. He could feel the others looking at him, but he couldn’t tear his eyes from Roman’s.

“How I wish she knew how much I love her. She’s talking, but she’s not saying anything. Who cares? It’s her eyes that speak, her eyes that say something. I will answer them. I am too bold. She’s not talking to me. Two of the brightest stars in the sky went away on business, and they ask her eyes to twinkle in their place until their return. What if her eyes were in the sky and the stars in her head? The brightness of her cheeks would outshine the stars the way the sun outshines a lamp. If her eyes were in the night sky, they would shine so brightly through space that birds would sing! Look, how she leans her hand upon her cheek. Oh, how I wish I was the glove on that hand, so that I could touch that cheek.”

As soon as Roman finished, there was a beat of silence and then an uproarious applause.

“Thank you Roman.” Mrs. Torres did her best to not play favorites, but everyone could see the twinkle in her eye. “Next up is Artie Zenith.”

When auditions were over, Roman darted over to them. “How did I do?”

“You were amazing!” Patton squealed.

Emile nodded. “I’ve never seen someone deliver lines so flawlessly.”

“Good job, Roman.”

“Yeah, you were way better than -” Remy was cut off as Emile kissed him to stop his sentence.

Turning, Roman looked at Logan. “You’ve heard it a million times. Was this time any better?”

“Way better.” Logan could feel his blush deepening. “You nailed it.”

“Cast list will be posted on Monday!”

The weekend was fairly uneventful. Logan was just as excited as Roman to see the cast list. Roman had worked so hard, and he was so talented. There was no way he wasn’t going to land a part.

Monday morning, Logan found himself standing in the lobby with his friends, waiting for Mrs. Torres to come by and pin up the list.

It was swarmed as soon as she did so. The five of them stayed back, waiting for Roman to tell them the news.

He launched himself out of the crowd, a huge grin on his face. “I got the lead!”

A cheer went up from all of them, echoed by the crowd of theater kids.

Logan held back, waiting until they were headed off to English class. “Congratulations. You deserved it.”

“Thanks, Lo. I couldn’t have -”

Logan erupted into a coughing fit. Reaching around him, Roman grabbed Logan’s water bottle from the side pocket of his backpack and held it out.

Flipping the top open, Logan guzzled everything inside, his breathing returning to normal. “Thanks.”

“You okay?”

“For now.”

Those words couldn’t have been more wrong. Over the course of the rest of the day, Logan felt worse and worse. He didn’t eat anything during lunch, ending up running for a trash can just before the bell rang.

It felt as though he blinked and he was at home.

“Shh, Lo, just lay down.” Thomas said, pulling back his covers. He helped Logan into bed, placing a cool washcloth over his forehead. “I’ll be back with some water and some crackers.”

Nodding, Logan slipped into unconsciousness.

He woke to voices outside his room. After a moment, the door opened and Roman walked in.

“I heard you went home sick.” He said as he walked in. “Is it okay if I grab the project folder from you?”

Logan flailed a hand, gesturing toward his backpack. “Purple folder.”

“Thanks, Lo.” Roman hovered in the doorway for a moment. “I hope you feel better.”

As he left the room, Logan fell asleep once more.

[spacegayparty]

Heart-warming Tea and belated Arrivals (Oneshot)

Pairing: Logan x Roman/Logince. (minor: thomas x Patton, Sleepxiety)

Summary: It was supposed to be a sleepover before starting a road trip together but instead, a bunny ruined it all and left Logan and bear with the unbearable: each other... unless-

Tags: bunny mention, mentions of an injury, biting mention, rabies and hospital mention, mentions of Virgil being panicky, jealousy, mutual pining, alcohol, drinking, wine, food mention, cooking, passing of time, kissing, onesies, mentions of frogs, mentions of dragons and unicorns

ao3

My KoFi  - Support me ♥ or Commission me

Story under the cut

A foot tapped. Up and down, up and down.

The clock was running, ticking. It was deafening in the stretching moments of silence.

Finger pads rubbed against a resistant fabric. Back and forth, back and forth.

Unaffected, the clock kept running. Its arms lethargically jumped from one to another number. One, two, three, four seconds.. five.. A sigh, followed by a groan. Two different sounds, two different people. Tic, toc. Tic toc.

It was 9.13 pm.

Roman shifted, shifting one leg over the other for a moment only to discover the tapping was not as satisfying without a ground underneath his foot. Logan let his fingers trace over his watch and patted it as if touching a device to show time could actually influence its course. Long legs glanced over at Mr. Watch who caught him. They both averted gazes.

9.16 pm.

Notification sounds chimed loudly. Vibration could be heard and spiked up hands grabbed their phones to check for the important messages they were all waiting for. The relief was so great, for a moment, the clock was mute to their worlds.

***

9.11 pm

Pattoncake: We didn’t forget about you! Just a few issues, nothing to worry about!”

9.16 pm

Pattoncake: Uh... so, we found a cute little bunny and I wanted to pet it and Virgil told me not to and it bit me and I am bleeding and Virgil is freaking out and driving really fast but we are on our way to get me checked because Virgil said this might be rabies. Pattoncake: I don’t think i have rabies but we took the bunny with us. Sorry, kiddos! I am fine and Virgil will be fine! I will sing with him, so he calms down.

*Prince Roman and Logan are typing*

9.17 pm

Logan: It is responsible to have foresight. Take care of the injury and calm down Virgil, if possible. It is advisable to drive when in a calm state. If Virgil needs time, maybe call a cab.

Prince Roman: Stay safe, padre! We shall defeat any and all disease if necessary! If you need someone to drive in place of our stormy knight, I will jump in for you!

Pattoncake: I am okay! We are there, gotta go before Virgil carries me! *chuckles* Love you!

***

Roman squinted at his exchange of messages. This could not be everything. A mortal bunny had dared to injure his friend, ruining their whole get-together! He had been so delighted all day and he needed it, he deserved it! Why was the world so mean to leave him stuck with the nerd when he has had such a horrible time all day! He wanted to sneer at life, at this situation. A foul feeling within him prevented him from following his easy whims. It sucked all energy out of him.

Stupid nerd..

Said nerd himself was similar in terms of thoughts. His apathetic stare into nothingness seemed more tense then usual, his shoulders pulled up in discomfort at the situation. Glasses were adjusted almost obsessively while calculating meticulously just how and when the others could be back and whether it was worth it.

They had travelled back home to Virgil’s apartment and Roman as much as Logan were much further away from their respective homes. Roman wanted to do some travelling and perhaps look out for some career-related things while Logan had returned because he wanted to use the extended weekend to meet his friends. Together, they had agreed to have one sleepover at Virgil’s and one at Patton’s. Inherently, Virgil’s home was supposed to be the meeting point for a comfortable night in preparation for a small road trip.

Logan only wanted to see his best friends again but now he was stuck. He was stuck with Roman and it was too early to go to sleep, even for him.

“We could prepare a few things for them-”

“Shut it, nerd. You already eyed the whole kitchen Virgil has probably deep-cleaned before. If you want the dude to have a full mental breakdown, you can’t mess with his shit or he will cry or something.”

His words, his tone. They were as sharp as his cheekbones. The fire was burning in his eyes and it came all towards Logan.

“I meant we could cook for them. It is past dinner time and they will need sustenance upon return.”

The contrast between burning Roman’s fierce tongue and Logan’s nonchalant commentary was stark. It was like two different worlds clashing together. Out of all people, Roman just had to get stuck with the least fun person in their group. Logan was okay. He was handsome, decently dressed but he was so stuck-up. The dude was literally wearing a necktie to a sleepover with friends! They usually wore onesies! Roman was in his dragon onesie and he felt stupid because of him.

“I mean, yeah, whatever.”

The two got up into the kitchen, a neat space. Roman was right, this room was meticulously cleaned. The taller one noted to himself that Virgil had to be sleepless from at least cleaning through a whole night. That was for sure.

“Oh, what the hell-”

Logan perked up. His eyes had been lost in the details of admiring how perfectly clean everything was. A part of him assumed Virgil did not use the kitchen after cleaning it. Probably too busy or worried about ruining “everything”. The smaller friend was focusing on something else instead. He had his gaze fixed on the fridge, particularly a photograph on it. It was Virgil and his roommate - Remy - who was currently out of state to visit someone else.

“What’s the matter, Roman?”

Logan’s direct voice cut right through to Roman.

“Can you believe this? Logan, they are dating. Virgil did not tell us shit. They are abso-fucking-lutely dating.”

The nerd squinted at the photograph. Roman snatched it off the fridge and examined it.

“Yes, definitely. Clean your glasses, specs. This is a pair of dating pals.”

At last, he handed it over to Logan who adjusted his glasses to sit exactly where they had resided before. The photograph was one of these instant photographs, he believed the term was polaroid. There was nothing too peculiar about the photo, just Virgil and another person in front of a fountain. They looked at one another, holding hands

“They are holding hands, Roman. I do not know whether this is indicative of a relationship. We all hold hands with Patton a lot and cuddle. Speaking of which, you give anyone but me a lot of kisses which would usually be seen as a rather romantic gesture.”

Something in Logan felt off. His words seemed more fired up and he adjusted his glasses once more, hiding away the hard glance in his button eyes. He rushed past Roman and reached for one of the bottles of wine around.

“We can prepare sandwiches for everyone.”

...Well, that was something. Roman almost wanted to believe there was jealousy burning in Logan’s eyes when he tried to open the bottle. Whatever. The theatre student busied himself with finding the necessary ingredients for sandwiches. Cheese, ham, salad, mustard, cream cheese, gherkins, and tomatoes. Oh - and the sandwich toast, of course.

He placed all things on the kitchen counter where Logan still resided in intense fury as he tried to stab a cork.

“Hold on, calculator watch. I got this for you.”

Roman approached the other from behind, in complete disregard for personal space and put his hands around him. He placed his fingers on Logan’s and softly tugged them around the bottle’s neck and the its opening. There was a heavy fight in his limbs and he could feel cold anger radiate from him. Not that it mattered. He wanted this wine, too. If they were to stay with one another for even another minute, he would need to numb his system.

“Let me help you, Logan.”

At once, the nerd loosened his grip and turned his head just enough to glance at Roman for just a minute. Their eyes met, ever so softly gazing at one another. It felt like a deja-vu. His heart was yearning. For a moment, they just looked at one another. Logan’s neck tickled. His skin was covered in delightful goosebumps. The wine at their hands might have been still but Roman’s heart was sparkling like fireworks in the sky.

“Do it, then.”

Demanding as always, Roman thought. For a moment he had been lost in the charm of Logan - not that there was too much of this. Still... it was a mesmerising experience. Instead of falling for these siren-like songs Logan sang with his eyes, he carefully used the corkscrew to push it deeper through the cork and then, he carefully pulled the remaining pieces out.

Not perfect but just good enough.

“Thanks.”

He could hear the eye roll. Maybe he wanted to hear it, rather than listen to his tell-tale heart. Glasses clang together, rattling. Liquid flowed into glasses and Roman was handed a rather filled glass of red wine.

“You think Virgil would not tell us about his partner- or partner?”

Swish. Logan turned around, wine in hand and mischief in his eyes.

“Why would you think so?~”

The taller one stared down at Roman and sipped his drink. It was as red as his heart or Roman’s racing thoughts. He shifted and cleared his throat before rewarding himself with an idea for stalling.

“How about a toast? Don’t you have manners?”

Logan rolled his eyes. It was in his whole face which seemed to sneer at him. Despite the reaction, he stepped closer and reached out to let their glasses’ rims meet.

“To Remy.”

“Who is Remy?”

“The person you assume to be Virgil’s partner. The one on this photograph -”

“I get it, I get it.”

Roman took a big sip.

“I’m just glad Virgil is dating someone. Like, wow, I was worried he would get it on with Patton.”

Alarm rushed over Logan’s face but he caught it quickly and drowned it in a face of wineglass. Their glasses were almost half empty already.

“I don’t want to sound as if I was against our friends dating but I, too, was worried about our group dynamic suffering from imbalance.”

Eyes rolled once more but it seemed .. so sassy all of a sudden. It gave Roman a smile.

“Also, I really am glad they didn’t move together.”

Logan nodded hard.

“Good luck we found Thomas. Wait, actually - you found him, did you not? It was a good choice to introduce him to Patton after one of your plays.”

Warmth bubbled up in Roman’s big chest.

“You-you really think so?”

Genuine eyes locked with Roman’s blurry honey orbs.

“Of course. You found a rather kind person and successfully introduced him to someone who would like him. Thomas and Patton are a cute couple.”

The other snickered and turned around to start preparing some sandwiches. Patton and Virgil would probably be thankful. After he had seen the kitchen, he was even more so convinced that Virgil needed a break. He was quite for a while. Roman continued on his wine, drinking faster than wine should be enjoyed but the mood had him look into the glass like into the howling abyss.

“They are a cute couple..”

The smaller student joined in, silently putting his near-empty glass down. He cut the cheese slices and tomatoes and gherkins patiently.

“Of course they are! Patton is an absolute sweetheart. He is the cutest of the group. How could you not love him?”

Tic toc. Tic toc.

“I guess you are right. He is the loveliest in this group.”

9.57 pm.

Logan finished his glass and poured himself more but only took a few tentative sips before emptying the bottle into Roman’s glass.

“Lo-” “Ro-”

The two looked at one another. Shock froze the room. They were stuck staring. Mouths agape and fingers grabbing into the air. Bodies turned to one another but nobody leaned in.

“Uh- mayonnaise. We should make some with mayonnaise. Patton really likes them with mayonnaise.”

“Ah, yes.”

Disappointment darkened Logan’s voice. It edged on hoarse by now. He wordlessly retrieved a whole jar of mayonnaise. It was unopened. Bought for Patton only. Logan made no more attempts at communication, downed the rest of wine instead and opened the jar.

“Woah there, you worried about Patton that much?”

The nerd nearly hissed at this. Bile burned his tongue. He didn’t even have the heart to miss one of his best friends amidst this situation.

“How about you sit down, Logan. I can finish the rest. You did so much already-”

Roman approached him, his arms finding their way around Logan who violently stepped back.

“Don’t touch me!”

He pulled away, his eyes wide. Logan hugged himself, his back pressed against the wall behind him. His eyes vaguely glanced at the fridge, the picture of Remy and Virgil burning into his mind.

Life wasn’t fair!

“Logan -”

“Maybe we shouldn’t do this. I- I have made a mistake with this. My apologies, Roman.”

“What do you mean?”

Logan pushed himself off the wall. His steps were unusually uncoordinated, his vision hazy and delayed. He had not eaten, he had drank a good glass of red wine and for all he knew, he was tall and lanky, even a bit more so than Roman.

“Logan, please talk to me. Don’t just go - what are you doing? What is wrong?”

Worry rose in Roman. He knew he usually picked fights with Logan, he would challenge and fight him on any and all points he ever made but seeing him like this? This was torture. Roman did not hate Logan, he just did not know how to connect to him and when he got close, Logan pushed him away like this.

“I am leaving. I - I think I will sleep in a hotel or whatever. I will leave you space, so you can have fun with Patton.”

The theatre lover stepped back a bit.

“What do you mean by that.”

His sentence was a question but he stated it, almost like a threat. Logan held onto the door frame for support and barely tilted his neck enough to glare at the other. They were blurry with pearls of tears and pure hurt.

“If you have an appreciation for Patton of that kind, maybe you shouldn’t have come. Maybe I shouldn’t have listened to you speak about this. It is for the best we both go home and forget about this.”

He turned to leave, his dark blue shirt rubbing together and creating a sound so painful, Roman did not know such harm could exist outside of tragic plays.

“What are you - What are you insinuating. I d- I don’t like Patton this way if you mean that.”

Logan seemed to care about his drunk strive more than anything. He kept walking, feet stepping into nothingness and leading Logan into walls, furniture and so on. He was a dead man walking.

“Fuck it, me-me....figuratively..”

Logan stumbled and fell onto the couch, luckily. A few steps aside and he would have met the table or maybe just the floor. None of which were as pleasant as meeting the couch face-first. Roman was head on his tail.

Thump thump.

Tic toc.

10.38 pm.

“Logan, are you okay?”

The nerd grumbled. His body slowly wiggled away from Roman but stopped when his height took in the length of the couch.

“Go away..”, he mumbled into the soft cushions.

“No way. You tell me what’s wrong. Are you hurt at all?”

A soft head shake.

Roman squinted at the sight but at least Logan answered him, somewhat. A weird suspicion stirred up inside of him. It was like the foreshadowing in books. Something was about to happen and he felt as if he had enough clues to know where this was going.

“Come on, let me help you. You got sleeping things with you?”

Logan curled up and made a little sound.

“I will get it for you, just wait.”

He didn’t know what was going on but he took it. Logan was talking to him again. Maybe he just had a bad phase or was caught up in a bad headspace? When he was in a bad place or remembered shit things, he often snapped at others. Not that this was a good thing, it just happened and sometimes it was difficult to keep things in line. To be fair, it was a little exciting to see Logan show some feelings. Even if it was those kind of feelings people usually didn’t want to see. It gave Roman a funny sensation inside. It was like a warm comfortable hug for his brain. He was the only one who could do that. Logan yelling? Only he could do that and he had developed an odd pride for it.

Roman got to the bedroom and swiftly got to the deed of sniffing around in Logan’s things. Figuratively - oh no. Now he also started with this insanity as well. Well, a little clarity never hurt anybo- What was this? He pushed his fingers deeper into Logan’s bag and slowly pulled out.. a onesie. The unicorn onesie he had gifted him last Secret Santa.

Butterflies tickled his stomach from the inside and Roman found himself smiling, eyes wet. Logan had not forgotten. He did not.. he did not hate it or him at all. Roman hugged the onesie to himself. It was supposed to be a little fun gift, not too serious. It smelled of the other so much, it had Roman convinced he had worn it before.

Slowly, he detached himself from the fabric and brought it over to Logan.

“Hey..”

Logan was sitting by now, rubbing his temples and groaning.

“My apolog-”

“Logan.”

The nerd stopped himself and looked at Roman. He noticed his glasses were on the table rather than on his face. All anger seemed wiped off like makeup with a cleanex.

“Let’s wear our onesies and watch a film together.”

He hummed.

“Will you meddle with the vote again?”

Roman laughed, tossing him the unicorn suit.

“I have just decided we will rewatch Frozen I, so we can watch the sequel together with Virgil and Patton!”

“I am in pain just thinking about it.”

The shorter student smiled at him and quickly left to finish the sandwiches and clean the kitchen. His mind was a bit hazy, slightly warmer than usual but it was okay. Everything was okay.

When he returned, Logan was cuddled up in his onesie and a blanket - another one was next to him, still folded. The remote was in place and Frozen I was selected. He quickly slipped into the bedroom and changed his attire. Within a few moments, he was back and cuddled up next to Logan. He softly opened his arms.

“I will snuggle you if you want to~”

10.53 pm.

“Roman, will you ever be quiet?”

Of course he snuggled up to him. Roman started the film and hugged Logan back, before leaning in and whispering.

“Maybe Patton is objectively the cutest but you are by far the more attractive and feisty one, teach~”

Logan closed his eyes and snuggled Roman closer.

“...thanks.”

He glanced at him. Roman glanced back. They inched closer, closer, their noses nearly touching. Lips met, covering one another. Logan slowly moved on top of Roman and straddled him, one of his hands cupping Roman’s face.

Eventually, he pulled back just enough to mumbled back to him.

“You might be rather handsome yourself..”

Roman beamed!

“But Patton is rather aesthetically appealing, too~”

The laying friend pouted but Logan leaned down to softly peck it away.

“You don’t like Patton?”

Roman shook his head.

“Well, we have another thing in common, then. How pleasant.”

Fingers entangled. Logan shifted to brush through Roman’s hair with his free hand. He closed his eyes.

“Are we throwing off the dynamic now?”

Logan shook his head.

“No, we are not dating Patton, so it’s fine.”

“That does not even make remotely.. any.. I mean.. that.. that doesn’t make sense, Logan.”

The taller one smiled.

“What is so illogical about this? I think I did not get your point ~”

Roman stuck out his tongue for a moment and sighed contently before mumbling.

“How about you come down here and I will tell you?~”

“Sounds sufficient~”

***

3:37 am

“Hey Virgil, look! I think they finally got together.”

A silent snort shook the air ever so softly.

“I sure hope so. This will finally balance out the group dynamic. This whole tension between them got fucking unbearable.”

“Language-”

“Shh, let’s go get a snack for your new pet.”

Patton hugged his bunny close.

“Why would you call a bunny “Froggy” ?”

The two slowly sneaked into the kitchen and left the cuddling dragon and unicorn alone. Tomorrow would be another day.

It would just never be quite as sweet as Logan’s and Roman’s embrace.

[girl-with-cat-eyes]

Tale As Old As Time (2/?)

Years ago, an unlucky prince fell victim to fate and was cursed to spend forever as a beast. He hid away in fear of what he'd become. In a nearby town, a young man struggles to care for his ailing father. In the ultimate sacrifice, he agrees to live with beastly prince. Can our anxious beauty melt this beast's heart? AKA Thvi beauty and the beast au.

Ships: Thvi, Logicality, Demus, Romile

Chapter Summary: When we last left the boys Virgil had agreed to live with Thomad in order to heal his father. Now he will get to meet his new roommates and we see Thomas' reaction to all of this.

A/N: This took forever for chapter 2 but I'm happy with how it came out. We were originally going to have the kusoc incorporated but that proved beyond our talents. And remember prompts are open!Remember R&R and enjoy!

Love, @girl-with-cat-eyes & @forever-forgotten-angel

~~

Thomas tried not to stare as he led Virgil into his home, well it was theirs now. He couldn't believe that he'd agreed to live with him until the flos insidias magicae fabrica bloomed again. That a beautiful man such as this would willingly choose to live with a beast like him. 

He shook those thoughts away, swallowing before turning towards the other. "I can show you to your room and then I could introduce you to the others if you'd like." 

"Others?" 

He chuckled. "Yes. Did you think I lived here all by myself?" 

Virgil shrugged. "Truthfully I thought this place was abandoned until I saw you. That's why I didn't just knock on the front door."  

Thomas led him through the hallways, a room already picked for him. "I prefer it if people think the castle is abandoned. Keeps away unwanted visitors."

Truthfully it kept everyone away, as sad as that was. But it for the best. Sure Thomas hated being alone like this, but he'd hate it even more if people came just to stare at him. Or even worse formed a mob. It was the only possible outcome surely; he was a monster. 

Finally they were at the doorway Thomas had in mind. "Here's your room." He turned towards the other. "I'll let you get settled in, and I can introduce you to everyone later. And maybe we could have a late dinner? If you want to of course. Or I could have dinner sent up here for you. " He probably would want to dine alone. God knows why anyone would want to eat dinner with a beast like him, let alone this beautiful, kind man. 

Surprisingly, Virgil nodded eagerly at the mention of dinner. "Yes. I'd love to have dinner with you. And to meet everyone of course. Are they your family or friends or...?" 

"Technically they work for me. But they're like my family. Or friends at the very least." He smiled at the thought of his friends. He didn't know what he would do without them. He'd had to stop talking to everyone after he was cursed. Of course, Thomas felt guilty that they had been cursed for his mistake. They didn't deserve to spend their lives the way that they now did because he'd accidentally insulted that enchantress. 

He shook his head, trying to clear those thoughts. They didn't deserve it but it was too late now. "Right. Well I will let them know that you are living with us now and to start preparing a late dinner. I'll be back in a bit to show you to the dining room. This place can be confusing if you don't know the lay out." 

He nodded up at Thomas. "Alright. I'll um.. unpack my things." That's when Thomas saw the small grocery bag of clothes and toiletries that Virgil held. It wasn't much. Clearly he hadn't intended on being gone long. He made a mental note to get him some new clothes. 

He watched his new houseguest enter his room, giving a soft wave as he shut the door. Thomas sighed. He was adorable! He had a handsome, adorable roommate for the next 6 months at least.

Giving himself one more moment to compose himself, Thomas made his way down to the kitchens to tell everyone of their new roommate. 

Thankfully, Logan was still awake when he got there, the clock holding his family close. "Well?" He asked. 

Thomas clicked on the lights, hearing soft groans. "Everyone." He said. "I have news." 

~

Virgil looked at his new room. It was bigger than his one at home, and far nicer too. Up front near the door was a small couch with a chair and a coffee table in front of a fireplace. Clearly meant for visitors. Then in the back was the more 'bedroom' area. There was a simple vanity sitting across from a wardrobe. And sitting along the back wall was a four poster bed with a canopy and a footrest in front of that. Yes the room was nicer than anything Virgil had ever stayed in before. 

He sat his bag down on the footrest before laying down on the bed with a sigh. Getting a thought, the man pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to his father telling him he loved him and to remember to take his medicine. 

He already missed his father so much. Virgil had never been away from Dee for long periods of time and 6 months felt like an eternity. But he reminded himself that this was all worth it. Virgil would get the flower and get it back to him. And possibly get to flirt with that cute beast in the process. 

Thomas seemed nice enough: he'd not only offered to let Virgil have the flower for free come spring, but he was letting him stay here free of charge until it bloomed. Not to mention he looked like a cuddly teddy bear. 

Virgil was shaken from his thoughts by a knock on the door. He rolled off the bed, going to answer the door. Thomas stood on the other side with a sheepish grin. "I told everyone. And they all want to meet you… And afterwards we could have dinner?" 

Virgil nodded. "Ok." He followed the taller man…beast..whatever. He followed the other out and downstairs. "You said they worked for you?" 

"Yes. And they're.. Well they're like me. I figured I should warn you now so you aren't shocked." He nodded at that. Alright he was living with multiple beasts it for the time being. 

Thomas lead him into what seemed to be a kitchen, giving him a nervous smile as they entered. To Virgil's shock, the room was empty, only a few household items sitting around. "Where is everyone?"

"We're right here, kiddo!" 

Virgil jumped and looked down. There was a teapot looking at him. And the teapot could speak. Oh boy. Suddenly a clock moved to beside the teapot and spoke. "Patton, dearheart, please be careful. You could have shattered getting off of the trolley!" 

The teapot turned towards the clock with a sweet smile. "Oh sweetie pie, I am being careful. But you can't expect me to stay on the trolley my entire life." They were both talking. The furniture could talk. These were the people Thomas had been referring to. 

Virgil swallowed. "You can all talk." 

A candelabra moved forward, grinning and bowing. "Of course we can talk!" Virgil starred as the talking candelabra tucked one of it's candles under its base in what he could only assume was a rather dramatic bow. "I am Roman, at your service. The brightest star of this household and master of romanc-" 

"And I am Remus. King of Trash and far superior to my flames for brains brother up there." Virgil looked down to see a fancy trash can give him a somewhat salacious wink. Strangely this was not the oddest thing to happen to him tonight. 

"Well.. This was unexpected but it's nice to meet both of you." He was going to ask for the names of the others when a little chipped teacup bounces into view. The clock scrambled forward to steady the cup.  

"Hi! I'm Chip. Uncle Thomas says you live here with us now. Are you going to be my new uncle?" He gave a big grin. Virgil felt a smile grow on his own face at how adorable this little guy was.  

The clock moved closer. "Charles it's not po-" 

"Absolutely. I'm your uncle Virgil now." He locked over to the clock and teapot. "I didn't catch your names. I'm Virgil. And you are?" He prompted. 

The teapot spoke first. "Well, kiddo, I'm Patton but most folks call me Pat or Dad." He smiled up at Virgil. He found himself returning the gesture and meaning it. 

The clock besides Patton sighed. "The only person who calls you 'Dad' is Charles. Which makes sense since he is our son." Patton shrugged and the clock turned to face Virgil. "I am Logan. Patton's husband and Charles' father." 

Virgil was about to speak when he heard some clanging come from the entrance. Before he could ask what was making that sound a feather duster appeared in the doorway, followed by an armoire. “We’re here.” The feather duster exclaimed. “Oh! Is this him? Hello. I’m Emile! Gosh, what you did for your father is truly brave.” 

The wardrobe rolled its eyes. “Gurl stop. You’re overwhelming him.” He gave a smirk. “I’m Remy. The most fashionable bitch around here.”

Virgil gave a short nod, trying to come to terms with everything. He would be living with a beast and living furniture until the flower bloomed. Ok. He’d dealt with weirder. And this couldn’t be too bad; they all seemed nice enough considering that he had broken in. Besides they could all be awful and he still wouldn’t leave until spring. He would put up with anything to cure his father. He ran a hand through his hair before speaking. “Right.” He sighed. “Well, I’m Virgil, um he/him pronouns.I’m going to be staying here for a while, until I can cure my father. But I’m sure you were already knew that. It’s nice to meet all of you. I hope you won’t mind my staying here.” 

They all smiled at him and Virgil felt relieved that they didn’t seem too mad at his intrusion. This could certainly work. Come spring, he’d have the cure for his father and maybe some acquaintances. Or maybe even friends? He felt warm and happy just thinking about it. “Well, have you eaten yet? We could make some dinner for you if you’d like. And maybe you could tell us about yourself.” Said Patton. 

Virgil nodded. “That sounds great.” He looked at Thomas. “You said you wanted to give me tour?” He nodded and offered out his hand. Virgil took it with a soft smile. It was so soft. 

“Yes. I’ll show you around while dinner is cooking.” He returned Virgil’s smile. “Shall we?”

~

Thomas tried to focus on showing Virgil the rooms, but it was hard when his reactions were so adorable. He couldn’t help but watch the awe on the other man’s face as he lead him through the castle. His face lit up as they moved through the rooms, eyes widening at the size of his new home. 

“It’s not much.” He explained. “But it’s my home.” 

Virgil raised an eyebrow at him, clearly disagreeing. “Not much? This place is easily as big as my home village!” 

Thomas shrugged. “I guess I just haven’t thought about it like that. I grew up here; it’s all I know.” He turned to look at the next room. “This is the library. I spend a lot of time in here, if you ever need me come here.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “You’re welcome to use the library as much as you want. I mean the entire castle is free for your use of course.” 

Virgil looked at the room in awe. “There’s so many books here, it’s amazing. I work at a bookstore and we don’t have anywhere near the number of books that are in here.” He turned back towards Thomas. “You mean it? That I can come in here whenever I’d like?”

Thomas smiled. “Of course. There’s quite a few books in here I could recommend for you if you’d like?” Virgil nodded. “Alright. Dinner should be ready by now, shall we head back? You must be starving by now, I’m sure.” 

He shrugged. “I mean I guess? I haven’t eaten today if that’s what you mean.” Thomas stopped to look at him.

The response threw him through a loop. He felt worry course through him, but tried to hold it back. There had to be a logical reason for this. “Why not? Too busy driving?” He was met with another shrug.

“Ehh.. More like I was rationing out the food. I needed to make sure my dad was able to eat. God knows he needs to keep his strength up.” And the worry was back stronger than before. Virgil must be starving if he had be rationing out their food. 

“Oh. Well you must be starving then. We should definitely eat.” Thomas began moving again with a quicker pace. The faster they got to the dining room, the faster this poor man could eat.

“I mean it’s not the first time I’ve skipped a meal. I do it all the time back home.”

“What?” 

“I’ve skipped meals before. Saves money that way. Then we can afford my dad’s medical treatments and he can still get 3 meals a day. It’s a huge load off my shoulders to know that he’s getting enough food. He really needs it with him being so sick; it’ll help him keep his energy up.”

Thomas blinked. Virgil had been ... starving himself so that his father had enough food. This hadn’t just been a one-time thing since they were traveling. He apparently did this often. Worry coursed through Thomas’ veins and burned like acid. He swallowed. Virgil needed to eat right away. The poor thing, god knows how long it had been since he’d had a real meal. Thomas was determined to change that.  “Well, I can promise you, Virgil, that you will never have to miss a meal while you’re here. You won’t have to worry about that.” He gave a soft smile before leading Virgil to the dining room. 

~

Thankfully it was a short walk from the library to the dining room. Thomas had wanted to carry Virgil there, but he was unsure if the shorter man would be ok with it. Instead he chose to guide him there, hand on the small of his back. 

Virgil had been just as impressed with the dining room as he was with the rest of the castle, his eyes lighting up at its sheer size. Thomas had to resist a smile as he took it all in. He shook his head slightly; Virgil needed to eat. "Please sit down. I'm going to see how dinner is coming." 

Virgil sat and he went back to the kitchen. He needed to make sure everything was done. "Is dinner ready?" The others all turned to look at him. 

Roman spoke first. "But of course. I was thinking that I could perform something first-" 

"You can perform while Virgil eats. He hasn't eaten a proper meal in almost 3 days." Patton gasped at that.  

"The poor kiddo. He must be starving at this point." Thomas nodded in agreement. 

"And apparently he goes without food all the time. He needs a proper meal. So food first." With that he went back into the dining room. 

"Dinner is almost ready." He announced as he sat down, trying not to stare at Virgil's pink tinged cheeks. Alas it did not work too well for Thomas. He was but a simple gay. And the panic was starting to set in. He would be living with this cute guy for the 6 months? There was no way he'd survive it. 

He had just sat down when the others brought out dishes of food as well as two place settings. Thomas sent them a thankful look as they set down the trays of food before going back into the kitchen. Reaching forward, Thomas served both himself and Virgi trying to keep in mind that he would most likely want less. 

Virgil smiled and gave a soft thanks. “Thank you.” He swallowed. “For everything. This… It means everything to me. This flower is the only thing I’ve found that could cure my father. He’s all I have.”

Thomas nodded thinking of his own parents. They’d been so close before everything. He could still remember his mother tucking him in at night. It had been so long ago. He quickly shook those thoughts away and turned his attention back to the conversation at hand. "Well I'm glad to help." He paused. "So tell me about your life before now. I really don't get to go outside much." 

Virgil seemed to grow more comfortable as he talked about his job at a bookstore and how he used to love to write and wanted to become a writer before his father became ill. Thomas sighed. He could do this. He could spend the next year living with this sweet and cute man. He just had to remember that it was to save his father's life and not get attached. 

~~

Taglist:

@canvas-the-florist

[pixie88]

Rem’s Birthday BBQ

Chapter 5 - Always the Bridesmaid.

A/N: Remy set Laila up on a date, but Laila and Harry aren’t happy about it. How will the birthday celebrations go? Yes, Laila’s embarrassing moment has happened to me haha! I hope you like it.

If you would like to be ADDED or REMOVED just let me know!

Read previous chapters HERE!

Warnings: Fluff, Mild NSFW & Adult Language.

Word Count: 2106

Pairings: Laila x Harry

Enjoy!

"A date?" Laila questions him "Yeah, with one of Alec's mates" Rem seems super excited about this "What friend?" Harry asks, looking over to Alec "Freddie, I didn't think he'd be Laila's type, but Rem seems to think that he is" as soon as Alec tells him its Freddie Harry chuckles "Freddie?! Really?! Good luck Laila!" There is almost a hint of jealously in his voice.

"Come on, Harry he's not that bad!" Alec tries not to laugh through his lie "She'll fall asleep before they have even ordered drinks. He has no chat when it comes to girls" Laila looks over to Rem "So you're setting me up with a bore?" Rem shook his head "No, he is actually really funny! Ignore these two! I just want you to find someone...it's been 8 years since Josh...you need to get over him at some point!"

A sadness still came over Laila each time someone mentions his name "Rem! Look, it's your birthday and I don't want to fall out with you over this, so here is your present I'm going to walk away from this conversation before I say something I regret!" She gets up leaving before anyone can say anything.

"Auntie Laila!!!" Carly collides with her "Come on, we are all on the zip swing" Laila parents had a huge back garden surrounding their house, so her dad built a park for the grand kids. All the kids loved the zip swing they would take turns on having a go and pulling the seat back each time.

Having 3 older brothers Laila had a total of 11 nieces and nephews. Chris had Lilly - 11, Luna - 9 and Carly - 5, Max had the twins Isla and Arya - 10, Nate had Alfie - 5, Issac - 7, Blake - 11 and  Zeppy the oldest at 18.

"Auntie Laila" Alfie zipped past on the swing as he hit the end the swing flies up nearly dropping Alfie off backwards "Wow, be careful Alf!" Laila watches her nephew run back to the start with the swing in tow.

"Where are your parents?" she looked round at the kids "Nanny and Grandad had us stay over last night. We had a camp out in the living room" Carly tells her "Why don't you have a go?" Carly pushes her towards the swing "Yeah, Auntie Laila!" Alf cheers her on "But....!" she hesitates but the kids aren't taking no for an answer.

Laila gets on, gripping the swing for dear life "3...2....1...Go!" they count her down, she zips along the line, then as it hits the end.... the chair flies forward up into the air and Laila's grip loosens, she fell backwards onto the grass the swing above her with no passenger "LAILA!!" she hears a familiar voice shout within seconds she knows whose voice it is as he stands over her "Are you OK?" Harry looks down at her as soon as he asks, she bursts out a laugh "Other than dying of embarrassment? Yeah, I'm OK" he starts to laugh with her as he helps her up off the ground.

"You went down before the seat did!" he laughs, "I didn't expect it to throw me off," she looks over to the kids who are laughing at her, "Should we get you a drink?" he puts his hand on the small of her back leading her to a table.

She sits as Harry grabs them a drink "Laila, are you OK?" Terry looks at her worried "Dad, I'm fine," she laughs, "Still, I better go and tell them to be careful" he leaves her alone at the table walking over to the kids.

Harry hands her a Pimms can "I wasn't sure what you wanted but thought you can't go wrong with Pimms right?" he sits down next to her with a beer in his hand "Actually, I don't like Pimms" she lies, "Oh! I can go and get you something else?" he's about to get up when she giggles and pulls him back down "I'm joking!" She laughs, he narrows his eyes at her with a grin "That was just mean!" he laughs, "Erm...Its looks like you have a date this Friday!" She scrunches up her nose at the question "Argh...I need to find a way to get out of that one!"

"Oh?" he's sips his beer trying to sound neutral "I know Rem means well..." he has to ask. It's now or never right?! "What was he talking about earlier? When he mentioned someone called Josh?" He watches as her walls slowly go up.

She turns to him "No judgment?" He nods just wanting to listen to her "OK, Josh was someone I met in college, we were together for over 4 years. Engaged, but then he got sick...." she takes a deep breath gearing up to say the words "He passed away...." she looks down at her hands in her lap.

He wished he never asked now, he takes her hand.

She looks up at him "It took me a while to date after that and I'm not trying to give you a big head or anything, but you are probably the first person to have made it to a second date," he tries to hide his smirk, but it breaks out "Must be my amazing dates" she shook her "About that... do you do normal dates" she raises a questioning brow at him.

He chuckles "I...to be honest with you, I've never done dates as extravagant as I have with you.." Laila tuts at him finding it hard to believe "Honestly, it's the truth. You have this thing about you that makes me just want to impress you"

She lets out a little laugh, "I love the big wow dates, but I prefer simple ones," he smirks at her "Now she tells me! What if I was to do a movie night and dinner at mine? You would be happy with that?" She pretends to think for a second "It depends on your cooking skills" she winks, he howls "My cooking skills are fantastic actually!" she shoves him "Of course they are!"

"Friday come over and I'll show you!" she knows exactly why he has chosen to do it on that day "Have you forgotten? I have plans," he knows she's baiting him, "We both know you don't want to go on that date and I wasn't lying earlier when I said you'll be asleep before ordering" for a split second she could see a hint of jealousy in his eyes as she decides what to do "I'll let you know" she smirks, teasing him.

Later everyone is a little tipsy now and Nate drags Laila up to dance "Nate, No!" he isn't listening to her "Come on, every family gathering, we always get up and dance!!" all the kids that haven't fallen asleep are up dancing too. Pharrell Williams - Happy is playing everyone that is still at the party is up dancing except Alec and Harry who are watching from the sidelines.

"Grandad, you dance like an old man!" Carly laughs at Terry doing the robot, Remy dances his way over to Laila "I'm waving my white flag!" she shook her head at her oldest friend "Rem! I'm sorry I snapped a bit earlier," she hugs him "Hey, you made up for it as soon as you came flying of the zip swing. That was priceless! But one thing I did notice Harry seem to run to your rescue pretty quick?" Remy gives her a look he always give her when he knows there's more to the story.

She can't keep it a secret from him anymore, she looks round Harry isn't within earshot, but his eyes are glued to her, "If I tell you something you can't tell anyone! I mean not even Alec! Pinky promise?" Rem rolls his eyes "Laila, how old are we again?!" she huffs at him "OK, I pinky promise! Now what is going on?" she checks one more time "Harry and I have been on a couple of dates" Remy's face lights up "W...what!? You and Harry?! When did this start?" Rem has 21 questions for her.

"It started after your stag weekend. He came to the salon for a haircut and it went on from there," she whispers to him, "Do you like him? Have you....you know?" He winks at her, she can't believe he just asked her that "Rem! No! We haven't! I do like him" Rem pull her in for a hug "Lulu! I'm happy you've finally gotten yourself back out there!"

She blushes "Lulu, you haven't called me that in years!" She laughs. "Called her what?" They hear behind her, turning they saw Alec and Harry joining them "Lulu, I used to call Laila it growing up"

"Well, Lulu you won't mind if I stole my Remy for a dance?" Alec spins Remy, she laughs, "No, of course not. I'm happy for you to take him off my hands! His dances moves are awful" she laughs.

Alec and Remy start dancing together with everyone else.

"Lulu huh?" She turns towards him "Oh, no! Don't tell me you're going to start teasing me about it?!" He laughs, "Nah, I might start calling you it myself. Oh, by the way your dad offered to let me stay the night" she looks at him confused "He did?!" Why has he done that? "I told him I couldn't have more than one beer because I was going to drive Alec and Remy home, so he said we could all stay"

"That's my dad for ya! I'm staying the night too" her dad had already told her that she could stay a few days ago "We could be sleeping next door to each other again?" He winks. "Just keep the snore session down, yeah?!" she laughs, "I do not snore!" he protests "OK, if you want to believe that!" She teases him more "You are so irritating, but I like it. I really want to kiss you!" she smirks "Sorry, but you'll have to keep your lips to yourself!" He huffs.

Its after midnight Remy, Alec, Harry and Laila were the last ones to head the bed "Night Lulu and Haribo!" a drunk Remy sways into his old bedroom with Alec. "Which room did your mum say I was in?" Harry whispers trying not to wake everyone "The guest room next to my old ro...." his lips crash to hers, the kiss is electrifying making every nerve ending stand on end.

They stumble into her bedroom onto the bed. His lips trail down her pulse line, his hand glides up her leg, slipping under her playsuit and brushes against her centre "Harry?" he pulls away to look at her. "I want to....its just..." he strokes her face and smiles as he collapses on the bed next to her "It's fine. We can take it slow" she felt relieved he understood. "Not too slow we can't cuddle?" he lets out a soft chuckle "I do like to cuddle" he wraps his arms around her.

"I am sorry! It's been so long since I've been with someone in that way," he kisses her forehead "Don't give it a second thought. I can do slow" he begins to stroke her hair making her eyes drift.

~*~*~*~

"Laila! Are you awake?" she heard her mum call out, followed by a knock on the bedroom door, she looks around the room realising where she is.

With Harry is asleep next to her "Laila?" her mum calls out again.

Shit! She can't have her catch Harry in here! Laila tries to wake him "Harry! Wake up!" he begins to stir, she silences him with a finger to his lips.

When the door handle twists Laila pushes him off the bed and he falls to the floor with a thud "Ouch!"

"Laila, Are you..?" Laila smiles at her mum "Mum?! You alright?" Laila tries not to blush.

"Yep, I just wondered if you wanted breakfast?" Laila nods "Great, what about Harry?" Laila is shocked by her mum's question "What? Harry?" she asks, "Sweetheart, if you're going to get him to hide behind the bed at least make sure his feet aren't sticking out the bottom or did you forget he's nearly 6 foot? Well, I suppose we are all the same size when we're doing the horizontal tango" she winks as turns to leave the room "I'll take his silence as a yes to breakfast" she closes the bedroom door.

Harry pops his head up smiling at a very red Laila....

Continue reading this story here - Chapter 6.

@secretaryunpaid​ @lem-20​ @aussieez​ @khoicesbyk​ @irisofpurple​ @shewillreadyou​ @txemrn​ @pixiezilla6​

[oh-theatre]

Objection!: Chapter 20

Chapter title: To Thine Own Self

A/n:  TALK ABOUT A BAD CHAPTER AM I RIGHT FELLAS...EYYYYYY. Anyway its Virgils birthday so i wanted to get this chapter out earlier!! Because my boi!! its his birthday!! Im love him!! Im very sorry to how bad this chapter is, its funny cause it basically contains nothing of substance. All I know is that Virgil is a flirty man, anyway enjoy some trash!!

First | Previous | Next

words: 3221

summary: Its Virgils birthday!

pairings: Eventual logicality, prinxiety, platonic demus, romantic remile

warnings: Murder mention, child murder, Law and Courtroom, swearing, blood, hospital, crime scene,  murder, gun mention, guns, swearing, abuse, graphic descriptions, alcohol, blood mention

Ao3 Link  

“Lo?” Patton shakes the lawyer softly, his coat tickling his face softly. Logan startles awake, his glasses falling carefully upon his lopsided face.

“E! Equals Mc scared!” He exclaims, Virgil groans from across the room toppling over to where Remy snores. “What time is it” Logan murmurs, sitting up as he adjusts his glasses. The knot tightens as Patton watched Logan adapt to the morning. His face flustered as the lawyer looked his way. “Oh, good morning Patton” Logan greets.

“Hi” He barely squeaks, he shakes himself out before extending his hand to Logan. Once their fingers connect, a quick warmth spreads over them, their bubble returns locking them safely away from the world. Soon Remy snores himself awake, pop! Patton watches as the bubble crumbles around them. “W-what happened here?” He questions, turning away from Logan.

“The case!” Virgil remembers “Patton! We have something to show you!” He rushes, swiftly taking Patton's hand unbeknownst to the quiet panic that flows over Patton. The relief when Virgil releases him is almost too much, its silly he knows but its a reflex. “Ok, we stayed up all night working on this” He shows Patton the board

“It was all a lie?” Patton reads, his soft eyes tracing the plethora of evidence. “What does that mean?” He inquires, the others turn to each other not sure how to respond. “You all need sleep” Patton decides, he adjusts his scarf making his way towards the door.

“Pat, come on” Logan begs, the lawyer turns cocking his head. “This has to mean something, I believe you ok?” Logan states Patton swallows. “George is innocent”

You'd think after months of fighting tooth and nail, Patton would gleam at those words. But as his eyes fell upon Logans, his entire body felt exhausted, defeated from the battle. Should he never emerge victorious he had already lost, lost something so special, nothing else compared.

“Maybe, but it doesn't matter now” Patton laments “Nothing we can do” He watches the board, a heavyweight places itself upon his chest. Pushing deeply as it constricts his every movement. He sees the others want to say more, after all, they had spent all night, sloppily theorizing. However, the doors opened as two small pairs of feet ran towards him.

“Papa!” Valerie cries jumping into her father's arms. Patton embraces her freely, preparing as Remus joins him, allowing himself to sit in Patton's other arm. After a brief shriek of laughter and moment of kisses, Patton smiles at Emile.

“Thank you so much for taking them last night” Patton gestures, wanting to never let this moment end. The dream he’d held for so long, sometimes he wondered how it ever became a reality. How he, out of all people, was blessed with children.

“Liam?” Patton calls listening as the door squeaked open, a piercing yet familiar sound. After a pause with no response, the lawyer stood from his desk, feeling lightheaded during this dark hour. He pushes through the house, stumbling blindly, a quick fear as rustles happen. He shakes his head allowing a quick smile to spread across his face. “Nothing to fear, I'm safe” He lies

“Cupcake?” A voice from out of the empty dark calls out, Patton really hated the nickname. Oh, how selfish that was. A sweet nickname, a sweet person and Patton hated it.

“Over here” He replies, his hands searching the wall finally reaching the lights. Allowing them to flicker awake. “Hi” He smiles softly, Liam grunts practically tripping over himself as he reaches the couch. Patton leans over, kissing his forehead carefully, adjusting his partner's hair.

“Beer” Liam requests, paying no mind to the kind gesture Patton performs. He could smell the alcohol practically wafting off of Liam, but it was late and he didn't have the energy to...run if need be. Once he returns with his opener, he sits. “What?” Liam mutters as Patton watches him expectantly.

“I was wondering if you had any more time to think...about what I asked you?” Patton began slow, making sure to keep his words simple. Liam huffs, rolling his tired eyes.

“You think you can raise children?” Liam mocks, Patton looks to the window, something comforting about the way the stars twinkled. It reminded him of someone, he couldn't pin it. He smiles again, a facade arises.

“I do, and I think you can too” Patton hopes, more convincing himself really.

“Then you are a fool and really naive if you think that pursuing this is a good thing” Liam finishes, the beer emptied before Patton can process his words. He tumbles as he makes his way mumbling angry to the room. A practically shattered Patton remains, the softest of tears fall from his eyes.

“Patton?” Logan waves gently in front of his face. The lawyer blinks before the lights come back on behind his eyes. He shakes slightly adjusting to his surroundings, shooting a quick look to his children.

“Sorry, must've spaced out!” He smiles shaky, nervous laughter practically pouring from him. “I'm really sorry but I have to go” he announces, the twin's yawn, leaning safely into their father. They loved Emile, they loved all of their dad's friends, but no place, no home, no person would ever feel as safe as Patton. Before he goes, Patton spins on his heel to face Virgil. “Hey, don't forget, my house this Thursday, birthday dinner” He reminds, Virgil bites down a smirk but nods

“You know it” He nods, almost excited at the prospect of some normalcy to return to his life. For almost the entire time he and Patton knew one another, Virgil would spend his birthday evenings at Patton's house. The lawyer would cook an extravagant meal full of the detectives' favorite foods, he would give him gifts and shower him with praises. It didn't change once the kids arrived, it simply improved. No matter what happened during the day, that was set. Breakfast with Roman, lunch with Logan perhaps. A quick ‘Happy Birthday Virge’ from either sure, but Patton's house, seven pm sharp? That was set in stone, and should they grow old, and expand their families far and wide. Virgil knew...it would always be like that.  

~~~

“And...done!” Roman cheers to himself, the rough tips of his fingers simply begging for a break. He marvels at his creation, nodding satisfied as he places the gift delicately in his drawer. Making sure its kept safe and hidden until Thursday.

“Judge Reial?” A rasped knock at the door beckons Roman's attention. His gaze falls upon a man waiting at his arch. He stands smiling as the man approaches. “I'm judge James McCoy” He greets, shaking his extended hand. A firm yet soft touch, a quick shiver as they part both sitting once more. “It's an honor to meet you” James admits, Roman feels his face arise. The heat spreading quickly, surely this was a joke?

“Likewise?” He tries, James chuckles. A deep boom, so smooth it moved across Roman pleasantly.

“Apologies, I just transferred here. I've read about your work...I mean you're incredible in court.” Roman had to wonder if he had the wrong person, he was just...himself. “I was requested to come here for a case, then I was offered a job and I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to work with you” He gushes, Romans blush only grows.

“That's so sweet thank you” Roman finds his bearings, a coy smile upon his face. “I mean, I get it all the time” He jokes, mission successful as yet another smile and laugh falls from James’s mouth. “Surely you didn't just move out here for me?”

“Don't flatter yourself” James teases, a smirk upon his face. Roman bites his lip stifling a laugh. “No I mean, I was iffy about taking the job but then my partner….he broke up with me so...new start ya know?” James explains, a raw honesty to his words. Roman nods, trying not to get excited at the developments as they unfold.

“Would you like to have lunch?” Roman blurts, a new sparkle in his eyes. James purses his lips “Thought we could maybe get to know each other” He proposes, Jame wants to hide his smile but his lips have their own mind.

“I'd love nothing more” James agrees, he collects his things at the ring of his phone standing as he goes. “It has been an absolute pleasure” He extends his hand once more, once again tickling Roman with possibility. “Lunch” He finalizes

“Lunch” Roman swoons, his back melting into the chair once more. He can feel his feet tap below him, dancing as the ideas sing throughout his mind.

“Hey Ro” Patton smiles through the door, Roman ushers him in. “You look giddy, what's up?” An uncertain expression befalls the lawyer, Roman shrugs into a shimmy.

“I just met someone” Roman marvels, realizing just how weird his insides felt. It felt like he had reverted ten years, a shiny new judge, he was dumb and easy to trick. He tripped over himself to be seen, and now here he was. People wanted to meet him, to see him. And for what? He wasn't some here, he wasn't this outstanding citizen. He sent people to jail, to spend the rest of their lives suffering.

“Bad people Ro” Virgil would take his hand, their words in whispers as Damian snuggled against them snoring softly. Roman wouldn't dare meet his eyes, fear of falling apart under their caring honesty. They weren't pools of dark mystery, they were swirling clouds of determination and ambition. Virgil's eyes radiated all he conquered, Roman loved them.

“What if they weren't bad? What if I made a mistake” He fears, the words only rising in panic. Virgil cups his face, his gentle hands tracing Romans almost perfect features. “What if I'm just like...him?” Roman dreads even the idea, but he knew it was always there. Forcing its way through the blockade. Virgil leans forward, taking Roman's lips on his own, knowing full well the judge would melt into the gesture. That for just this moment he would feel loved.

“You're not your father Roman, you never will be” Virgil assures, digging the point as far as he can. “Just this conversation, your concerns now, prove that. You care” He identifies, Roman wants to cry, but because for once in his life, he believes that maybe just maybe he really isn't. That all of his efforts and work, paid off. He is not his father.

Roman should feel sad, he misses Virgil so much. His stomach tug as even the slightest thing causes him to reminisce. But he's not, he loves Damian and he...cares for Virgil. Knowing that he's safe means the world. And something just cleared for him when Virgil uttered the words. As though he finally understood. He was...almost free. Should Virgil ever want to pursue him again or not, Roman would…

“Be ok” Roman mumbles, Patton stops his rocking of the stroller, the twins remain sleeping. “I'll be ok” He gleams. Patton forces a smile, nodding proudly of his friend. I wonder what that's like.

“That's good Ro, I'm proud of you” Patton squeezes his hand, his gaze returning to his source of joy. The twins sprawled across the stroller, sleeping carefully, cuddled with their respective stuffed toys.

“I...have a date!” He tilts his head, uneasy smile “Kind of?” He questions, Patton laughs.

“Oh?” He wonders, biting his lips as Virgil's name appears in his head.

“He's a judge, he just transferred here, he's cute and we are having lunch together” Roman finishes, drumming the desk lightly. “Guess too fast is my middle name!” He jokes, Patton swallows as his own words trail his mind, the crushing look Logan gave him replaying like an old station.

“Light and breezy” Patton nods slowly.

“Light and breezy!” Roman sings, feeling genuine, deep-rooted happiness. Unaware of the fragile demeanor of the lawyer across from him, as his world threatens to crumble, the regrets of everything he's ever done in his mind. The desperation as his heart aches to him, calling out to Logan, the phrase ‘miss so much’ we an understatement. He yearned for something he left of his own will, what an absolute...idiot he was.

Don't get emotional Patton

~~~

“I will be there soon Pat...yeah I love you too” Virgil chuckles, stuffing the phone into his pocket as he pushes through the door into the precinct. The still quiet of the building causing unease in the detective so used to the bustling bounces of the room. He turns into the room fully expecting to have the frozen solitude to himself, alas as the lights flicker on he releases a soft gasp. “Roman?” He whispers. The judge stands idle by Virgil's desk, a small amber box alight in his hands.

“Hey” He smiles, the exhaustion under his eyes visible.

“What are you...what are you doing here?” Virgil questions, their voices remain ever so soft.

“Happy birthday” He rushes, skipping a few steps. Virgil's eyes widen as he nods, taking a step forward. Roman looks enchanting under the dim lights, his aura blazing passion.

“You remembered?” He's not sure why he questions it every time, Roman has never forgotten his birthday. He's never had a reason to assume someone, especially his friends would forget, and yet he lives in fear.

“Of course” Roman laughs so sweetly, it barely makes a sound “December nineteenth, you were born at exactly six forty four pm. You didn't cry at first so your mom was pretty worried, but it turns out you were just a little shy” He chuckles, neither understand why there are tears making their way down the men's cheeks. “You were a pretty light baby. Your favorite birthday was your sixteenth when your mom took you to a concert for the first time, but your sixth comes pretty close after you got to tag along with your dad on a case” Roman recites, the absolute adoration flooding his eyes. “You always spend your evenings with Patton, no matter what.” Roman moves closer, allowing the distance between them to circulate warmth.

“What are you doing?” Virgil hopes, maybe a little too much that he gets closer.

“I have a gift…” Roman's eyes move towards Virgil's lips “For you” He states, carefully he lifts it placing it in the detective's palm. “I know its small but uh...happy birthday Virge,” He says, overwhelming conviction. Virgil carefully undoes the ribbon, the paper falling with it. Virgil sucks in, his breath falling short. A small cloud, with lighting coming out of it, sits at the bottom of the box. “It's a worry stone, carved like a storm cloud”

“Because I'm your storm cloud?” Virgil groans, a knowing smirk. Roman laughs nodding sweetly.

“Because you are my storm cloud” Roman leans in stopping himself, he knows he's going to regret his next move but he takes his waist and locks their lips. Virgil allows it to happen, his arms snaking their way around Roman's neck.

“What was that?” Virgil questions, not entirely opposed to the idea, his arms remaining.

“Think of it as a breakup kiss, and a birthday present” He shrugs, Virgil chuckles shakily. “I have a proposition,” He says removing his arms, taking hold of Virgil's hands.

“Oh do tell” Virgil plays with Romans fingers in his own.

“You say we’re moving too fast then let's start again. From the top, Virge you're basically my best friend” Roman can't keep still, Virgil feels the warmth spread as he stays safe in his arms. “I'm not gonna let that slip away, and I'm not gonna let Damian slip away. Come on, I know you miss me” Roman teases, Virgil pouts stretching Romans arms behind him, he leans in planting a kiss on Roman.

“Maybe just a lil bit” Virgil states, Roman, shakes his head still smiling.

“Virge...I'm serious” Roman begs, Virgil nods allowing him to continue. “I wanna do this right, please” He requests, Virgil has no qualms.

“Yes of course” He purses his lips feeling Romans phone buzz, he smirks coyly, removing it from his back pocket. Roman barely puts up a fight. “Oh? Who's James?” Virgil wonders, Roman rolls his eyes “Come on best friend, whos the dude, I bet-” Roman leans in kissing him

“We can start tomorrow” Roman tries to grab his phone back but Virgil lifts above his head shaking it. He takes it scrolling through the previous texts giggling after each one, a contagious joy spread from the two. And before the hour strikes seven, it's just them in their delighted aura.

~~~

“I think alcohol might have been a bad idea” Roman jokes, Logan grunts sitting down as he simply takes another sip of his drink. “Come on Lo, we should head home” Roman suggests, feeling the high of Virgil's lips upon his own drain away

“Im...going to propose to Patton” Logan decides, he flops on the couch, the music quiets as the people around him continue. Roman guffaws, a bellowed laugh.

“Yeah, alright Logan. I think you have to be dating first” Roman takes a calm sip of his drink, observing the world around him. Logan

“I'm not kidding Roman” Logan sits up, adjusting his glasses “I've known him for ten years. I practically know everything about him” Logan shrugs “I know he takes his coffee with cream and two sugars, a hint of cinnamon. I know that his favorite color is the rainbow because it changes every day. I know today its violet for Virgil's birthday. I know that he checks on the twins at least three times before going to bed himself.  I know that there are only two people who can touch him without causing him to flinch. I know that when he balls his fists he digs his nails so deep into his skin he draws blood.” Roman doesn't want to listen anymore, his heart hurts as he watches Logan defeated

“Logan you do-”

“I know that turtlenecks provide him some sense of comfort as they wrap in warm coziness. I also know he used to use them to hide scars” Logan takes a shattered breath “I know that when he kisses me my heart beats a million times faster…” Logan rubs his forehead frustrated “I know that he can never have his eyes or hands away from the twins. And I know that...that” He pauses sucking in his huffed tears

“Logan? What?” Roman wants more

“I just like him so much” Logan moans, sprawling across Roman. “I wanna give him butterfly kisses” He pouts, Roman laughs stroking the lawyers head gently. “Do you know what those are? With the eyes?” His pout only furthers, as tears well in his eyes. He clutches to the pillow, his glasses drooping.

“I know bud, I know” He whispers carefully, not wishing to ruin the night further. Its funny, Roman had only seen Logan like this once before, and it was also about Patton. It's almost ironic in a way.

“Mm, my phone is buzzing” Logan mumbles, his arm making grabby towards the device. Roman takes it for him, asking him to put in his code. “What's happening?” He mutters into the couch pillow. Roman reads, the grin slowly disappearing.

Logan, please help

Patton was being vague, and Roman couldn't handle that

[logicalyfun]

Opposite Sides Clashing Right

New story, sorry if it's bad, still getting the hang of writing. So hope you enjoy it! But before you go:

Warnings:abuse mention, alcohol mention,maybe swearing, car accident mention briefly  and i think that's all, if you find some please let me know

Ships: Remile, Logicality, Prinxiety,soon to come tho

Now,enjoy!

-

Emile is 16 years old, trying to survive with his uncle after his parents have passed away during a car accident when he was just 8 years old. Now he was trying to live his life at his fullest with his close friends. What could possibly go wrong? 

-

"I'm gonna get ya" Patton said as he chased after Emile. He was much faster than him in wolf form since he spent lots of time running. With that being said,Patton jumped towards him making both of the fall to the ground. "Got ya"

"No fair you're stronger than me " Emile said as he playfully bit Patton. They weren't brothers but they sure act like it, knowing each other since they were little cubs. 

"Come on nerds, time to get back home and change" Roman said as he howl signaling he found them. 

"You guys go on, I won't be long, I just need to do something, " Emile said sitting down in front of a pond. He enjoyed staying back alone and looking at the stars in the sky. He decided to take a drink before going until he heard a branch break. He went to check what it was, maybe it was a deer or a bird but, to his surprise, he found a person. 

"Very funny you guys" the person said as he stood up turning around and finding a wolf looking at him."Hey hey don't hurt me, stay back!" he said backing up. Emile tilted his head, confused at the young man's actions. That's when he remembered his wolf form, silly him. "You're not gonna attack me?" He tilted his head in response, why would he attack him, he wasn't a threat or anything. That's when he caught his scent, why didn't he smell him when he found him. Before the man could talk again he bolted going towards his house still thinking about the man he had found in the forest. 

-

He opened the door only to be greeted by his aunt and uncle arguing with each other. ‘Great just what he needs’. He tried his best to avoid them, failing as he had closed the door a bit too loud. “What do you want, mutt?” his father asked.

“Nothing, sir”

“Good,now that you're here might as well cook us something won’t ya, make yourself useful for once” he grumbled the last part. Emile was used to this already, they never liked him and only took him because they pity him. Well that was before now they only bossed him around, sometimes getting beaten up by his uncle when he got drunk. He couldn't wait to turn 17 and get out of this place he used to call home once. He only wished he could spend some more time with his par-

“What’s taking so long, can’t you do something right for once” he was grabbed by his shirt and thrown out of the way. 

“Sir, can i go to my room?” 

“Yes, I'm tired at looking at you, go and don't expect any leftover”

Yep, this was his life, insult after insult, at least they went easy today. He always told himself to never let his uncles words get to him, he was right about him right?

He was too tired to think about it anyways. He took a bath and went straight to bed. Not before thinking about the young man he encountered today. It was a mystery to him as to why he didn't get killed in that moment, the man smelled like a hunter so why didn't he kill him right there and then. As he thought about it more, he felt his eyelids slowly closing allowing him to finally fall asleep.

-

"Why do we have to do night guard, it's rainy today" Roman complained as they went around the perimeter. Everyone hated to patrol while it was raining, it was difficult to see and smell enemies.

"Hey we all hate it ok but we have to do it, to protect the pack even if we know there's no hunters or rogues near" Patton said

"Guys i need to tell you something" 

"What is it Em" Patton said as he stopped. 

"Two days ago, I heard something after you left and i found a person"

"Person near us, near the territory that's strange" Roman said concerned. 

"Yeah and…" 

*click*

That sound made them stop. It was dead quiet before a grunt was heard. 

"Run" Roman whispered. And with that they ran towards the woods making it harder to be found. They ran as fast as they could dodging trees and rocks. Stopping a few minutes after to catch their breath. 

"I think.. we lost them" Roman said, catching his breath.

"Lost who" as he stopped a net was thrown at him. 

"Emile" they growled when they heard footsteps close.

"Hey,there's two more here" one with a net said. 

Two more persons appeared, one with a knife and the other with a hunting gun. Patton growled at the gun as he started backing up slowly. 

"Take the one in the net I'll take care of the others" a whine from Emile came as they threw nets at the other wolves, tranquilizing both of them. 

"No guys wake up, wake up." Emile felt a sharp hit and it was all a blur before he blacked out. 

-

"We just hit a jackpot guys" Remy said as he opened the door of their house. They arrived to find some wolves in their house, each of them in different cages. It was the first time they were gonna have wolves. They always found birds or smaller animals but big animals like them, never.

"Yeah we sure did, but not just one but three of them" Logan wondered as he looked at the different wolves that had just arrived. "What happen to you guys"

"Why bring them to us, weird? " Virgil said as he looked at the wolves. They were in cages of transport which he didn't agree with. He rather have them tied and not locked up in a small cage.

Remy looked at them closely, noticing that one looked familiar. "I think I've seen this wolf" it looked exactly like the other one. He truly did fall in love with that wolf he saw that night. He was confused as to why the wolf didn't attack him. 

-

"My head hurts, " Emile said as he rubbed his head. He had turned back to human form only wearing an old shirt and basketball shorts. He looked around seeing that his leg was chained. He saw Patton and Roman still knock out. He didn't see anything that was threatening or dangerous.

 "Hello" he heard someone say, he didn't see who said it. 

"Hello who's there?" 

"Names Remy sweetheart"

"I'm not telling you my name you Remy guy"

Remy got closer, making Emile go back a bit. "Hey you guys, turned human. Wait you guys are werewolves, not normal wolf but why do you have ears and a tail?"

"Duh we can change from human to wolf whenever we want" Emile said, still not trusting this guy. That's when he smelled him,"Hey i saw you, you fell down and tried to fight me" he said as he looked at the young man in front of him.

"Why are you talking to him?" Patton said as he tried to sit up with a pain look in his face. He didn't like or understand what was happening but what he did know is that he's trapped. 

"He doesn't seem to want to harm us"

"That's what they make you think and when you think they're just nice they betray you" he said shooting a glare and a low growl toward Remy.

"Hey easy, I'm Remy and we don't want to hurt you guys"

"Then why are we chained huh" Roman said standing up. 

"Remy there you are, I've been looking all over for you" Virgil said as he walked towards them. He was received by low growls making Virgil stop to look at them. "I've seen that they turned human and are automatically wearing clothes. Eyes look healthy and ear too"  

"Cut the chit chat emo one, what do you want?" Roman said, glaring at him.

"We just want to do some studies" one with glasses walked their way. 

"So you want to kill us?" Patton asked

"No no we don't kill anything" Remy answered crossing his arms. 

"It's simple, Remy over here is who writes about all that we discover, Logan is the one who runs test and I draw how you look or specific appearances"

"You didn't catch us?" Emile asked

"No, we received you guys last night" Remy said. 

"Pesky hunter trading and selling us like a piece of garbage" Roman growled.

"Well you guys are staying" Remy said as he walked towards Emile. He unlocked his chain, taking it off his leg so he could move. He then did Roman and Patton. 

"This is our chance," Patton whispered. He ran and pinned the one with glasses. Roman doing the same to the other one.

Emile turned but sat down near Remy. He never attacked but tried to do peace with them.

"What are you doing, aren't you gonna attack me?" Remy asked getting close to him. He looked at his brothers, they were trying to get out of their grasp. 

"Em what are you doing, it's our chance" Patton said to him, still pinning Logan.

Remy sat beside Emile, receiving a warning growl from him. Remy could try and get close to him without dying in the process.To his luck he got a good response being able to sit closer to the young werewolf. In a blink of an eye he was a wolf again, not only him but the others also changed. 

Remy tried to pet him receiving low growls until he finally managed to pet him. His fur was so soft and fluffy, he was so tempted to hug him.

"You got a spot big boi" Virgil smirked as he scratched behind Roman ears making him fall on him back. Logan was gonna do the same but Patton got of him before he could even touch him. He growled backing up from the glass guy. 

"Easy, I just want to help," Logan said. He kept growling until he hit a corner. Patton tried to look for an exit, panicking as he saw no exit making him lay down and whimper. "Hey it's ok I didn't mean to make you panic" Logan said sitting in front of him. He pets his head getting a good response from the frightened wolf.

-

tags: @vicdehart

Hey, thanks for reading! Look forward to the next chapter, coming soon :)

Stay cool, gurls 

[lemonyellowlogic]

the harder the rain, the sweeter the sun: chapter thirteen

-o-

masterlist

first

previous

-o-

chapter thirteen: the announcement

“Okay, everybody, I have something to tell you!”

Emile stood up at the table in the middle of a dinner, an excited grin on his face. It was late for a dinner, but Remy had been gone all day scouting the border and Emile had been shopping at the closest market for the dinner’s ingredients, so Virgil wasn’t able to cook until late. 

The four others paused their eating, Remy quickly swallowing before asking with a soft smile as they perched their face on their fist, “What is it, my love?”

“Well, I’ve been planning this for while now, but I just got the letter confirming it. I wanted to keep it a surprise until now.”

Diego raised an eyebrow, looking up at him slightly confused, “What?”

“The annual festival of spring in my village is on for this year after not being able to be for a few years now due to...tensions, but we can all go!”

Remy choked on their drink, looking at their husband in shock, “Love, what?”

“It’s almost Logan’s birthday too, so wouldn’t it be fun for the boys to come with us so Roman can meet him?”

“Emile, you can’t actually be serious.”

Emile’s face fell, mouth twisted into an annoyed pinched look, “I am in fact very serious, Emerson. What gives the impression I’m not?”

Remy cringed at their name, but stood, grabbing his hand, “My dear, you know how bad the tensions are right now. It really isn’t smart for your village to be creating any uproars or anything that could notify the human armies.”

Roman’s head shot up as he looked at Remy, “Human armies?”

Virgil and Diego looked at each other in confusion before all three teenagers stared at the adults, who looked at each other annoyed.

Emile waved it off, “Nothing, Roman, it’s just some rumors-”

“Some rumors? Emile, I’ve seen them myself! The human king is sending out more and more soldiers into the woods by the day and we don’t know why yet.”

Emile shot them a bitter look, taking his hand out of his partner’s, “Thanks for taking my side, dear.”

“I’m not going to lie to them, Emile!”

“We’re not lying, Emerson! We don’t know if they’re attacking or just scouting!”

“Why else would they be scouting for!”

“Guys!” Diego yelled standing up and glaring at his guardians, “Can we stop with the yelling?”

Emile pinched his brow, “I’m sorry Diego, that Emerson got worked up over nothing. Now, am I travelling alone or do any of you want to join me?”

Remy looked at Emile, their voice hard but their eyes pouring worry as they stared at their husband, “No one should go to the avian village, Emile!”

Emile quickly twisted towards them, “No. The boys will stay here, but I’m going to my home to visit my friends and to see my goddamn nephew, Emerson. I’m not a child, and I can protect myself.” Emile walked quickly out of the dining room, abandoning his plate of food and walking towards the bedroom, which they loudly slammed the door of.

The dining room was quiet as Remy slumped into their seat, hands covering their face as they groaned into them. Roman sat at the table still, staring at his plate of food as he thought about what happened. His father, sending more armies into the woods? That was not going to be good.

He flinched as he felt an arm grasp his shoulder but relaxed as he saw Virgil standing there. He pulled Roman out of his seat, and the two of them, plus Diego who saw them escaping, walked quickly out of the room and out of the house.

They ended up near the river, Diego jumping into it as the other two settled down near the edge. Diego’s head popped out of the water as he sighed, his long golden and black tail trailed back in the water, the almost completely set sun’s final rays shining off of his scales.

Roman laid back into the grass, “Well, that was eventful.”

“Tell me about it,” Diego groaned into his hands as he floated in the slow water, “The two of them never fight unless it’s actually important.”

Virgil hummed, sitting cross-legged as he thought, “Do you think the humans are actually preparing an attack? Ro, when you still lived there, was there any indication that the king was planning for one?”

Roman stiffened before forcing himself to relax, “Well, as a commoner, I didn’t hear much, but I knew that the king didn’t want to infiltrate the forest, and people thought he might’ve been afraid to do so.”

“So then what changed? How can a man change his opinions in just a few months?”

Roman shrugged at Diego’s question, “I don't know, but let’s hope for the best. Maybe he’s just scouting to see how much space Alimagians have and reveal he’s giving up territory?

Virgil raised an unimpressed eyebrow and Roman deflated, “I don’t know anymore. I thought I knew my kingdom more than I did, I guess.”

Diego stretched out to grasp his hand, looking into his eyes, “Hey, don't worry about it, Ro. We get it.”

Roman gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand once around Diego’s, and the boy squeezed back before letting go.

Virgil sighed, “So...are we ever going to talk about...this?” He gestured vaguely with one hand.

Roman looked confused, but Diego just blushed, “What do you mean?”

“The three of us, the hand holding, and just everything. Can we talk about it?”

Roman started blushing as well but looked away, staring the the woods at his left as he spluttered, “I-well, I mean-”

“Boys!”

Emile called out, walking outside, his face tired but stern, “I told the three of you no swimming after dinner. Come inside.”

Roman let out a breath of relief for not having to expose his heart so soon, but both Diego and Virgil looked annoyed.

Virgil groaned, “Diego’s the only one swimming, Em.”

Diego swatted at his arm, “Wow, thanks, V.”

“I don’t care. Get inside. I’m not in a great mood tonight, boys, don’t give me a reason t gt mad.”

The three sighed, Roman standing up first before reaching out first to Virgil to help him up, and then a transformed back Diego who was still soaking wet, his clothes the only things dry. He stood from the water and shook his head, shaking water all over his two friends. 

Virgil squawked in indignation but Roman only rolled his eyes, giving Diego a look. Diego rolled his eyes back with a smirk before flicking his hand and pulling the water off of the two and himself and throwing it into the river behind him.

The three started walking back to the house, Emile having walked back inside and knowing the atmosphere wasn't going to be delightful. Virgil huffed into his room without a word, and Diego and Roman gave each other a confused look before Roman shrugged, saying good-night to the boy as he laid down on his bed.

--

The next morning, Emile walked out of their room early in the morning to make himself a cup of tea, his wings held tightly against his back. After he allied the boys inside, he had stalked back to his room and slammed the door. Eventually, Remy walked in in silence, changing and getting into the bed without a word to their husband.

Emile refused to speak to his partner that night even though he knew they were awake. Both of them got a night full of restless sleep over the hurt and annoyance the other felt. Emile truly wished Remy would just trust him more, trust him to make his own judgement, but he didn’t understand their fears. 

The village had always had the festival, celebrating the blooming flowers and new animals that came each spring, but for the last three years, his people became more and more nervous of humans, since a few had begun exploring the avians’ mountains and coming close to finding their villages. 

But finally, they decided to celebrate again, and Emile could finally visit without being worried. It'd been years since he saw little Logan, even thought the boy was about to turn seventeen now. 

Remy had met his family before and Emile wished his partner could recognize that Emile truly was safe around them, but sadly, they didn't. There was talk of humans near the avian settlement, but there was always talk of it. 

Humans rarely found it, and when they did, they often didn’t make it back to their homes. Not because the avians would kill them, they'd just succumb to the cold. 

But still, knowing people, soldiers could find his home was frightening, many humans were. 

Well, not Roman, Emile reminded himself, Roman was always sweet and never had tried anything. Anyways, even though humans may be near his village, his village is strong and protected, and so there shouldn’t be any worries, but Remy just wouldn’t listen to him.

However, Emile did take a peek into the living room where the human slept soundly, and let out a gentle sigh. Roman is fine, don’t worry, he assured himself, and went back to making the tea. 

When he had his cup made, he hummed happily, and walked outside, sitting comfortably on one of the chairs that sat there, his wings relaxing as he was enveloped by the outdoors. He sipped his tea and sighed, a smile growing on his mouth.

“Emile?”

Emile tensed, and looked back at the door, seeing his partner standing there, their hand rubbing their neck awkwardly.

Emile cocked their eyebrow, their words coming out forced and biting, “Yes? What is it?”

Remy cringed, looking to the ground before meeting Emile’s eyes, “I’m sorry, Emile. I shouldn’t have tried to force you not to go, but...I’m just worried about you, Em.”

Remy sat down on a chair adjacent to their husband, and looked at them with guilt written on their face. Emile sighed, holding his tea in both hands as he sipped, “I’m sorry too, I shouldn’t have yelled at you at the table in front of the boys, I’m just frustrated, Remy.”

“I know, my love. I’m still worried though, you know the rumors, that the king is planning an attack soon upon some villages. I just really don’t want you getting hurt.”

Emile let out another sigh, looking up at his partner, reaching out and grabbing one of their hands,“I know, love, but you have to trust me. Everything will be fine, and I’ll only be gone for a weekend or so. You’ve been to the village, it’s safe.”

“I know, I know, Emile. But do you have to go? I don’t want something to happen to you when I can’t help.”

“Well,” Emile placed down their cup of tea on a table and traced his partner’s jaw with his index finger, laying his hand on their cheek, which they leaned into, “You won’t always be there when I need you, but the time won’t be one of those times. Nothing will go wrong, I promise. And if something does, god forbid, I’ll come home right away, Okay?”

Remy sighed, nodding slowly before standing up and walking in front of Emile, who stood, opening his arms. Remy seemed to leap into them, hugging him tightly, “Okay, Emmy, okay.”

Emile smiled, hugging them back and kissing Remy’s temple, his wings wrapping around the two. After a minute or so of this, Emile spoke up, “Love, I need to finish my tea, let’s sit back down, hmm?”

Remy somehow nodded with their head still in Emile’s shoulder, and they pulled away, a soft grin on their face as they sat back down at the small table and chairs where they sat before and where his tea was sitting, still warm but cooling fast.

Remy took a sip from Emile’s cup, and he swatted at them, “Go away, Somnus. You don’t even like tea.”

“Wow, last name? How cold.”

Emile rolled his eyes with a smile, “Just like my tea is getting. Go get your own.”

“But I love bothering you.”

“You are the absolutely worst, my love.”

Remy leaned forward and kissed his cheek, “I know, “ and walked back inside to make themselves some coffee.

-o-

(a/n: emerson somnus is remy’s full name, but they go by remy. it is not their deadname or anything of the sort. emile kept his last name, picani, when the two were married and remy kept theirs as well.)

-o-

next

[sanderssidesfanfiction]

If There’s a Place I Could Be - Chapter Thirty Two

If There’s a Place I Could Be Tag

November 4th, 1993

Emile swallowed and shifted on his feet as his mom looked him over. He must have been quite the sight, covered head to toe in dirt and blood. To be fair, Sully had started the fight, but something told him that Mom wouldn’t want to hear that right now. Sully had started it, but Emile had finished it. By shoving Sully into the side of the building, which happened to be where the metal gutter was, landing Sully with a concussion.

Finally, his mom took a breath. Emile knew this lecture was going to be long, but he didn’t know exactly how long it might be, and that’s where the real fear kicked in. He hoped he’d have time for dinner before bed, but judging by the look Mom was giving him, his odds weren’t very high.

  May 26th, 2001

Emile finally left his room when his dad called up that it was time for lunch. He walked down the stairs to find Remy resolutely not looking at him as he sat at the table with a plate of meatballs with some sauce Emile couldn’t identify, and rice on the side. Emile sat down next to him tentatively, where another plate was waiting. Remy didn’t acknowledge him.

His mom and dad came in with plates of their own, his mom said grace, and they all started to eat. Remy went for the rice first, but Emile was curious and immediately halved a meatball, skewering it and humming in surprise. The olive oil brought a depth of flavor to the meatballs that he had never tasted before! “The olive oil was a good call, Rem,” Emile said. “I’m super impressed.”

Remy’s eyes flickered over to him for half a second. “You mean that?”

“Yeah! I’ve never had the meatballs taste like this before, and it’s absolutely delicious.”

Remy’s smile at that was small, and shy, but completely genuine. He wasn’t putting up a front, or playing up his emotions. He was genuinely pleased. And in Emile’s mind, he definitely should be. “It’s been forever since I’ve cooked,” Remy admitted. “I missed it.”

“Well, if this is what you can do with simple ingredients, we’ll have to invest in real food more often,” Emile said. “This is, without a doubt, the best meal I’ve had in months.”

“Emile!” Remy laughed, cheeks flaming red. “You’re gonna embarrass me!”

Emile shrugged and said, “Well, I’m just sharing my opinion,” before backing off and going back to eating.

The atmosphere in the room was slightly less tense after that, though no one really said much, aside from the occasional praise to Remy about improving the recipe. Remy ducked his head with a blush every time, but Emile could see that he really enjoyed the end result of his experiment. It got Emile thinking. Remy would make an excellent cook at a restaurant, or he could probably make new mixes for coffee at the smaller chain, if his managers let him. But food service seemed to be where Remy excelled. He knew a lot about business and math, but he enjoyed cooking. He tucked that thought away for later. He was sure he could make sense out of a half-baked idea at some point in the future.

“So, Remy, do you want to tell us a little about yourself?” Mom asked. “Obviously, you’re a wonderful cook, but outside that.”

Remy shrugged. “I mean, I kinda like sports. Not to the point where I’d be called a sports nut, but it passes the time, and it’s fun to play and to watch. I’ve read some...novels, and books, but uh...my biggest hobby by far has to be...uh...comics. Like, DC, Marvel, anything in between, indie companies, I love them all.”

“Oh, that’s nice!” Mom said. “Do you think you like comics as much as Emile likes cartoons?”

“I’m not sure if anyone could like anything as much as Emile likes cartoons,” Remy laughed. “But yeah, I’m pretty enthusiastic about them.”

“Who’s your favorite superhero? You can’t like comics without having some kind of favorite superhero. Or perhaps a supervillain?” Dad asked.

“How about an antihero?” Remy shot back. “Deadpool is by far my favorite comic series. Anything with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy comes in second, and first for everything DC, but Deadpool takes the cake.”

“He’s tried to explain the timelines to me, but I can’t keep up with them,” Emile said with a shake of his head. “It’s too confusing.”

“You just lack the ability to apply ret-conning,” Remy informed him. “That makes understanding timelines so much easier.”

Emile and Remy fell into banter about whether or not cartoons or comics were better that had them both laughing by the end of lunch. Everyone put their dishes in the kitchen to be washed later and Dad asked, “Do you boys want to do anything in particular? If you want, we can always go to the community center for a game of basketball or something similar.”

“Uh...if you don’t mind, Mister Thomas, I’d like to talk to Emile alone a minute, first,” Remy said.

Emile’s hair stood on end as his dad nodded. “If I hear shouting, I will come over to break it up,” he said. “You both are mature enough that I hope it won’t be a problem.”

That unspoken behave may as well have been written on a neon sign to Emile. He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Remy led him upstairs, back to Emile’s room. Remy closed the door behind him softly and hissed, “How many times do I have to tell you, Emile, I don’t like you talking smack about my family!”

“It was a knee-jerk response,” Emile said, crossing his arms.

“The first sentence might have been. The rest certainly wasn’t,” Remy snarled.

“Well, what do you want me to do? Lie to your face and tell you I believe you when you say your parents will change?” Emile challenged. “Look, Rem, I don’t want to hurt you, but you’re setting yourself up to be hurt again putting that hope in your parents!”

“Yeah?” Remy asked. “You’re so certain they’re going to fail me, huh?”

“Every person I’ve ever met who has acted like your mother did never changed their tune. I’m speaking from experience, Remy! I don’t want you to get hurt anymore!”

“They can change!” Remy exclaimed. “They took Vanessa and Toby and I on trips when we were little, and they were doting and caring to all of us at one point or another. They have good in them, Emile! They have good days! They can get more good days if they only put in the effort!”

“Is it worth it, though?” Emile asked. “You’re ripping at the seams, a thread that’s slowly unravelling into insanity. You know your parents weren’t good to you, Rem. You’ve been over this with me and with Kim. But do you know what Kim might not have told you?”

“What?” Remy asked.

“Any good days that they had do not negate the bad days and the hell they put you through most of the time. If you believe they can be good? Then great. Let them prove it to you. Don’t force them to do anything, don’t be the one to reach out first. Make sure that they know you’re serious, you won’t back down, you’re your own person.” Emile shook his head. “You’re making excuses for them and putting all your eggs in one basket. What happens if they don’t come around?”

“They will,” Remy said with certainty.

“But what if they don’t? What happens if they only accept you to a point? They say that you can be who you want in terms of a job, but you can’t be gay, or you can’t have certain people as your friends? There’s always something with those types, Rem. Something will always keep them from being happy.”

Remy’s fists were shaking at his sides. He brought up a hand and Emile flinched, but Remy just pointed. “You know that you can act like a real ass, Emile? It’s not just me who has my moments, or my months!”

Emile took a deep breath, remembering his mother’s words about being gentle. “Remy, I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, holding his hands up. “I’m trying to be realistic, and I know you don’t like it when I sugarcoat things.”

“You talk about my family like they’re all scum,” Remy said. “Well not all of them are that bad, or bad at all! Toby’s the one who gave me ‘the talk’ when I told him I was gay! Vanessa always snuck me snacks if I was banished to my room for however long and I might have missed a meal! Nate and Magenta are angels! Not all my family is my parents, Emile, and even my parents have the potential to change!”

“But it’s only potential, Rem. I don’t want you taking all your hopes and putting it on potential. I don’t want your mom to keep stalking you. I don’t want your parents to ship you off to the military. I don’t want you getting hurt. I just...I can’t find the pretty words to explain why something won’t work!” Emile exclaimed. “I know it can’t work, but you disagree, and I can’t figure out how to get you to see it from my side!”

“I have seen it from your side!” Remy exclaimed. “I saw it from your side on Thanksgiving. When my mom came to me at work. When I put all my hopes on you and moved in with you. But you have extreme, visceral reactions whenever my family gets brought up that make me feel sick to my stomach. They’re not bad people, Emile!”

“They’re bad parents,” Emile insisted. “And bad grandparents. Your cousins and Vanessa are mostly off the hook for now, and Toby was never on it, but your parents? And grandparents? And the aunts and uncles who wouldn’t stand in your corner when you needed it? They’re hurting you, whether intentional or not, actively or passively. And I don’t want to see you hurt!” Emile’s eyes were clouding with tears. “I love you, you idiot! I don’t want to see you hurt!”

“But you hurt me too! When you say my family is evil and my parents are bad and toxic, that hurts me too! Because I want to believe that my family can be good! And you refuse to give them that chance!” Remy hugged own torso. “Maybe I give them too much of a chance, but you definitely give them too little. I could change, why couldn’t they?”

“Rem...” Emile trailed off. “You didn’t change. They tried to change you and you resisted, and you put up walls and fronts around yourself to get their approval, but you were always a kind, caring person at heart. That’s you. And they...they aren’t.”

Remy scowled at him.

Emile shook his head. “I’m sorry, Rem. But I can’t...this is one thing I can’t sugarcoat even if I wanted to. You deserve to know that your parents were hurting you. Are hurting you, even now.”

Remy crossed his arms. “So, what, I’m just supposed to go through life without parents? Without family? Without a safety net? Just free fall the second my mental health takes a dive and crash onto the pavement below?”

“No,” Emile said. “You can borrow my parents and family if you need. You have me, and Clara, and Theo, and Xavier, and all of our mutual friends as a safety net. The second your mental health takes a dive we’ll be there to support you in any way we’re able to.”

Remy kept his arms crossed, eyes growing glassy with tears. “But what if I don’t want you? What if I don’t want them? What if...what if all I really want is my parents there for me? My mother supporting my decisions, and my father praising my hard work?! What if I want that?!”

The last word was shouted at max volume, and Emile could hear his dad rushing up the steps. Emile swallowed. “Well, Rem...you can’t always get what you want.”

Remy’s face darkened and he bellowed, “Screw you!” just as Emile’s dad rushed in. “You don’t get to tell me who I can and can’t go to for help! Maybe I want to reconcile with my parents! Maybe you’re the one being controlling and demanding! You’re the one who’s hurting me, not them!”

“Okay, okay, break it up!” Dad yelled, stepping between them. “Remy, why don’t you go downstairs? I’m sure my wife can help you with whatever you might need at the moment. She has a much gentler touch,” the last part was said with a pointed glance at Emile. “It’s my turn to talk to Emile, now, for a minute.”

The look Emile was getting spoke volumes. He was in massive trouble. Remy huffed and left the room, and Emile braced himself for perhaps the sternest talking-to he would ever have in his life as his stomach sank.

[romansleftshoulderpad]

I’ll Be Home For Christmas (If Only In My Dreams)

Warnings: Food mention, Drunkenness at 7:52pm

Ships: Logince, background Moxiety, background Remile

Tag: @fandermom

The night was perfect. The Christmas tree had been perfectly decorated, the music set the perfect atmosphere, and the smell of Patton’s baking was just beckoning guests into the kitchen. Yes, everything was perfect. Except Logan wasn’t there.

{4:15pm}

“Is the great Roman Prince wearing sweats to his own Christmas party?” Logan asked with a chuckle.

“No, of course not,” Roman said, rolling his eyes at his computer screen. Whenever Logan had to travel for work, the two would make an effort to video chat whenever possible. “This is simply my ‘Slaving over the kitchen because my beautiful boyfriend is away’ outfit.”

“Well I admire your dedication,” Logan said. His smile dropped slightly. “I wish I could be there with you all tonight.”

“Oh, babe, I wish you were here with us too,” Roman said. “It’s just not quite Christmas without you.”

“I really hate this project,” Logan said. “All of us do.”

“Oh, Lo-“ Roman’s voice was cut off by the doorbell ringing. “You can complain about it all you want, later. Patton’s here now, I should let him in.”

“All right,” Logan said, wearing a professional smile. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” Roman said with a soft grin, as he hit the ‘End Call’ button.

{5:30pm}

“Are we done yet?” Roman whined as he put another bowl into the growing pile in the sink.

“Almost,” Patton said. “Just one more batch of gingerbread.” Despite the near hour and a half of cooking and baking, Patton was still as cheery as ever. He looked over Roman’s exhausted state. “But I can handle it. You go freshen up.”

“Are you sure?” Roman asked. “It is my party, after all. I shouldn’t expect you to work on your own.”

“I’ll be fine,” Patton said. “I bake all the time, it's a piece of cake! Er- It's a piece of gingerbread.”

Roman smiled graciously at his friend and raced to his bedroom. He had a perfect red velvet suit ready for him in his closet. Right on cue, he heard the familiar ring of a Skype call from his computer and he rushed to answer it. “Hey, babe.”

“Hello, Roman,” Logan said with a bright smile. Roman loved Logan’s smile and would do anything he could to see it as often as possible. He loved how his eyes crinkled and how his cheeks rose. “It’s great to see you.”

“You too,” Roman said with a smile. He took off his sweatshirt, laying it on the bed as he went to his closet for the tux. He was very good at multitasking, especially when he had Logan’s voice to focus on. “Patton says hi," he added as he paced back and forth between the closet and the bed.

“You should totally go out there like that,” Logan said, commenting on Roman’s lack of shirt or pants.

Roman hid his blush behind his hands, rolling his eyes at the camera. “I’m dating a pervert.”

“Right, I’m the pervert,” Logan said sarcastically. “Just remember that next time you get wine drunk.”

Roman stuck his tongue out defensively as he buttoned up his white shirt. He tux was a soft velvet, and it fit him perfectly. He couldn’t help but admire his own image on the corner of his computer screen. Logan was absolutely star struck.

“You look... Wow,” Logan said, struggling to find the proper words. “You look gorgeous.”

Roman smiled, his face flushing slightly. “Baaabe.”

Logan glanced to something on the side of his desk, just off camera, and smiled as he brought his eyes back to Roman. “I’m the luckiest man in the universe.” Roman’s heart skipped a beat. “I wish I could be with you right now,” Logan said. His smile melted into something of melancholy concentration. His eyes skittered around the desk like mice running from a feral cat. “Roman, I gotta go,” he said. “There are a few phone calls I need to make.”

Logan ended the call before Roman could respond.

{6:32 pm}

Virgil was at the door with an uncharacteristically festive Santa hat and a bag full of boxes. “Okay, Romano, you’ve been hoarding my boyfriend long enough, where is he?”

“Lovely to see you too, Sandy Claws,” Roman said.

“Virgil!” Patton yelled, launching himself at the doorway. He pulled Virgil into a side hug and placed a kiss gingerly on his cheek.

“So, Logan really won’t be here tonight?” Virgil asked, offering a pitiful gaze to Roman.

“Unfortunately not,” Roman said with a sigh, “but that can’t stop us from having some holiday cheer without him. Right?” The question was rhetorical but there was just enough of a hitch in his voice that no one could tell whether to agree with or console him.

{7:52pm}

“Giiiiiiiiiiirl,” Remy said with a hiccup, “you have- really- outdone yourself this year.”

“Yes, and it seems you have really outdone yourself on the eggnog,” Roman said, taking the cup out of Remy’s hand.

“He is such an idiot,” Emile said through a smile, watching this ordeal from just outside the kitchen.

“You’re the one dating him,” Virgil reminded.

“Yes, well, he’s my idiot,” Emile said decidedly. He continued watching Remy make a fool of himself as Virgil snuck out to take a “very important phone call” which Emile decided not to question.

“Help. Me,” Roman shot out as Remy began climbing on him for his eggnog back. Emile smiled and took the cup from Roman, causing Remy to launch himself from one torso to the next like a monkey climbing through a jungle.

“You can have this back after we get some food in your belly, okay?” Emile said with a gentle smile and puppy dog eyes that he knew Remy couldn’t resist.

As the two walked off Roman was definitely not thinking about how Logan would have enjoyed laughing at the display. Or how much he missed Logan. Or how Logan would have loved to laugh at a drunk Remy being hailed around by Emile like a toddler. Or how Logan... Logan... Logan...

He blinked back tears and forced a smile onto his face. He had to be a good host. He had to be supportive.

{9: 04 pm}

Virgil slumped down next to Roman on the couch and stuffing his phone back into his pocket. “You doing okay?”

Roman nodded softly, curling his lips. “I just miss him. A lot.” He took a deep breath, letting a small chuckle escape as he did so. “It’s childish, isn’t it? I knew he’d be gone. I accepted it, but... everyone here is so happy. And I’m happy for them. For you and Patton. For Remy and Emile.” He closed his eyes as tight as possible because he was not going to cry in front of Virgil and he was most certainly not going to cry in front of all these people. His attention was stolen by the phone vibrating in Virgil’s pocket. Once. Twice. Urgently. Three. Four. Five. Virgil smiled at Roman, patting his hand.

“I think that’s your gift.”

{9:05pm}

“My gift?”

The door handle moved slowly and Roman stood up to investigate.

The door handle turned again.

The door creaked open slowly.

And Roman was definitely crying now.

“Merry Christmas,” Logan said as Roman threw himself onto the other. Roman’s tears were falling onto Logan’s shoulder and neither of them could pay any mind to the clicking of cameras around them.

“I love you so much,” Roman said as he choked on tears. He pulled away just enough to see Logan’s face- to make sure it wasn’t a dream- and to give Logan enough space to get inside the damn house. “What about work?” Roman asked. “I thought you had meetings, and- and-“

“Screw meetings,” Logan said. “If they fire me it’s their loss, but I couldn’t be away from you. Not now. Not on Christmas.” He glanced up to Virgil who gave him a supportive wink. He took Roman’s hands and got down on one knee. “Roman, you are the most important person in the world to me. You’re the light of my life. The center of my universe.” He could see his own tears welling up in Roman’s eyes. “You make me a better person. You make me want to be a better person. I couldn’t imagine a life without you in it.” He pulled a black box from his pocket and produced from it a gold ring with a crown of rubies at its top. “Roman Prince, will you marry me?”

Roman was sobbing, nodding as quickly as his head would allow as he melted into Logan. Everything felt so surreal and he needed to make sure he was awake. But if this is a dream, he decided, I never want to wake up. He took Logan’s face into his hands and kissed him hard and desperately. He traced his tongue against Logan’s bottom lip when Virgil coughed loudly to remind the couple of the large crowd watching. Roman pulled his lips away but kept his forehead pressed against Logan’s. He kept one hand on the crevice of Logan’s neck, feeling their hearts beating together.

It was a happily ever after if Roman had ever heard of one.

{8: 45 am}

Waking up with Logan still felt like a fantasy. Roman kept his hands around his boyfriend’s waist and felt the comfort of Logan’s arms around his back. “I love you so much,” Roman said.

Logan kissed Roman’s forehead. “I love you too,” he said, his voice weak and groggy just the way Roman loved to hear it. They sat a moment in complete silence, just taking in each other's presence. “There are presents beneath the tree.”

Roman groaned, pulling himself closer into Logan and breathing in every bit of him. “You’re the only present I need.”