#and a sleepy side virgil is also so good

[moss-sprout]

#25 for the ask game? and can the relationship be prinxiety pls?

Behind the Enemies Door

#25: Showing up injured at their enemies house

Pairing: Prinxiety

Summary: Pre AA where Roman gets injured in the imagination – too injured, and stumbles to the first door he can find, which happens to be Virgil)

TW: Swearing, blood/injury (I think thats it but lmk!)

Word count: 1974

Based off of this ask game!! Feel free to send me more prompts! I love doing these :D

_ _ _

Roman stumbled ungracefully out of the imagination into his quiet room. He grabbed onto the cool bedpost in an attempt to steady himself, his legs shaking and breathing so hard that it didn’t feel like his lungs were big enough to intake the air he needed.

It was dark and he couldn’t see much of anything, but he could feel everything. The cool air laid against his skin that was exposed due to rips in the fabric of his prince outfit, and the sensation of something wet plastered against his skin. He didn’t have to see in order to know – from the foul odor, and from the fight – that it was blood; his blood. And he was losing a lot of it too. His open wounds pounded painfully around the sides of his waist and also dotted around his arms and legs; the pain so intense he could hardly feel anything else.

He stumbled farther into his room, he would originally fetch his first aid kit at this point and patch himself up, but his instincts were taking over at this point, and the only thing that was on his mind was help, he needed help.

Staggering out of his room, he dizzily walked into the dark hallway of the mindscape. His mind seemed to have shifted into survival mode, because it no longer felt like he had total control of his movements, and the world was getting foggier and less coherent by the minute. 

He briefly heard a knock. Someone was knocking? It took a moment to process that it was him that was knocking on… someone’s door. He didn’t know who.

Someone had opened the door. Oh, they weren’t asleep? Odd, Roman assumed everyone would’ve been asleep by now. Logan had ranting to him and Patton the other day about the importance of a full night's rest; and Patton got sleepy easily. He must’ve just woken them up with his knocking, he assumed.

He heard cursing and panic. The voice sounded familiar but he couldn’t yet place it on who it was..

_ _ _

Virgil was doing his nightly routine of scrolling on Tumblr while listening to his usual playlist. It was a little bit past midnight and Virgil was honestly just distracting himself from everything. The current conflict with the ‘dark sides’, along with his silent want to be a part of the ‘light sides’ – things just felt off at the moment, and of course the fact that he was Anxiety didn’t exactly help. 

His mindless scrolling was interrupted by a noise. At first he thought it was probably just a part of the song he was listening to, but it occurred to him after a moment that it couldn’t have been, cause he’s listened to this same song a dozen times and there had never been a knocking part of the beat.

He removed his headphones and frowned. Someone was knocking on his door? That couldn’t be right… He slowly got up from his bed, trying to rack his brain on who could possibly want anything from the social outcast – especially at this time of night. 

He creeped over to the door, as if making a single sound would expose him and alert everyone. His hand searched for his doorknob in the cool darkness of his room, realizing just how dark it was after turning his phone off.

He opened the door, making a small creaking sound as he peered out to see who it was.

“Hello?” he asked, his voice rough from not using it for almost all day. In front of him was a side, he couldn’t tell which one at first, but once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could slowly make out the bright red sash and familiar white bold jacket of Roman’s outfit. 

His frown only deepened, the side of the mindscape who hated him the most, here, at his door. That couldn’t be good. He was prepared to snap at him, possibly get into a verbal argument that would cause the other to stomp away in frustration, before he noticed something was off about him.

He didn’t carry the same bravado as he usually does, instead his posture was slumped and he was leaning slightly on his door frame.

“Uh.. Princey? You good?” his brows furrowed, his confusion turning to concern when he hadn’t answered him, in fact, now that Virgil had come to the realization of just how quiet it was, he noticed just how heavy the prince in front of him was breathing.

“Roman?” he asked softly, observing his posture further; He was hunched, and his arm was clenched against his middle, but even in the darkness he could see a stain, bright and ugly against his white tunic. 

“Holy shit are you bleeding?!” Virgil cried out.

Roman mumbled something sort of incomprehensible repeatedly, and Virgil took a moment to puzzle out what he was grumbling. ‘Help me’

“I- Well- well get in here then.” he tried tugging on Roman’s arm without really thinking, but after hearing the pitiful whimper that came out of the other’s mouth at the action, he was more gentle, and guided him into his room onto the rug on his floor, making sure to lean his back against his bed.

Virgil mumbled to himself about having a first aid kit around his room somewhere before quickly getting up to rummage through his drawers to find it, and flicking on the switch for a small lamp that sat on his nightstand to better see what he was doing.

When he returned to Roman he was able to now take in just what he was dealing with. He had so many stains on his jacket that it looked more red than white, and there were tears that exposed gashes on his body. Roman also looked exhausted, more tired and vulnerable than he’s ever seen him. He chewed on his lip in thought, Roman may have been his enemy, in fact one of the few people he can’t stand in Thomas’ mindscape, but he still couldn’t bear to see him like this.

“Alright, I’m.. gonna have to take off your clothes if I’m gonna help you.” he said to Roman, he expected Roman to be unreactive, but this time he flicked his eyes up, his face slightly altering to surprise, like he hadn’t expected Virgil to be there.

“Anxiety?” he heard him mutter.

“Uh.. yeah..” he coughed, “What did you even do to fuck yourself up this bad, dude?” he scoffed, trying to make this moment feel less intimate.

Roman didn’t respond, only watching Virgil carefully as he gingerly unbuttoned his jacket, being gentle enough to not disturb any of the other’s wounds. He hissed in sympathy upon seeing the wounds more clearly now that the jacket wasn’t half covering them up. He was able to press dry towels to his bigger wounds to stop bleeding, grimacing at every pained moan or hiss the other made.

He made Roman hold the towels in place as Virgil began on the antiseptic. He could see Roman dropping more, they needed to stay awake, right? So Virgil figured he should probably talk to Roman in order to keep him up.

“So..” he started, “Um.. what the hell happened? Lost a fight to a dragon witch?”

Roman stared at him for a moment before opening his mouth, “You have so little faith in me? Of course I could never lose to a dragon witch” he tried to scoff, but only a rough cough came out instead, followed by a pained grimace. At least Virgil knew this was Roman, he could never pass up the chance to be cocky.

Roman didn’t follow it up with anything else, in fact, Virgil could see him slipping, his exhausted body wanting to fall into unconsciousness. 

“Hey,” he snapped, “no falling asleep on me, got it? Or I’m gonna torture you with antiseptic." The threat was empty, he was only carefully dabbing the antiseptic on the scratches, but it seemed to make Roman sit up a bit straighter, trying not to fall asleep.

When Virgil couldn’t take the silence anymore, he asked the question that hung in the room like a bright pink elephant: “why did you come to me?”

“Hm?” 

“Don’t act dumb, Princey.” he scoffed, “we both know that we… Well, we just don’t get along. That’s a fact. I’m sure Logan or Patton would’ve been a way better help than I am.

Roman took a moment to answer, “I don’t know. I was just following my instincts. They led me here… Besides, you’re not actually doing too bad.”

Virgil tried not to think about the reaction he felt upon hearing him say that, instead focusing on moving to the athletic tape to bandage the bigger wounds. 

“This is.. This is really dumb of you, Sanders.” he shook his head, “What in hell did you get into?” he muttered for a third time.

“It’s nothing.” he tried to deny, but his voice wasn’t strong enough to come off as dismissive like he wanted. 

Virgil paused momentarily to lift an eyebrow in doubt.

“Ok ok fine.” he relented, “it’s just that… I can kinda get carried away in the imagination sometimes. I don’t necessarily mean to but it’s… nice.”

“You.. you really gotta be more careful, you idiot.” the words didn’t hold any heat, instead they were softer, in a more concerned tone.

Roman furrowed his brows, a question popping up in his head that he hadn't thought about until now, “why are you helping me?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“You hate me, Anx.” Roman said without skipping a beat, Virgil winced at that. “You have literally no reason to be helping me right now, so why?”

“Someone has to apparently.” Virgil tried, but Roman wasn’t buying it, he just kept staring at Virgil expectantly. Virgil fumbled with the equipment for a moment, “Roman I don’t know what to fucking tell you. You show up at my door past midnight looking like 10 trains hit you, and you’re the last person on this planet I’d ever expect to see trust me to help you.. You’re insane and unpredictable and fill me with awe in how much– how often you manage to surprise me.”

“And you’re so insane for this, Ro.” he paused, slumping, “who would even be able to replace you if you were gone.” he stared intently at the creative side’s injuries.

Roman stared at Virgil in astonishment, he was worried about him? That’s … that’s impossible. Anxiety was the villian, yet he was so gentle with how he patched him up, and even now, the concentrated look on his face, looking sort of sad as the emo side stared at the bandages that held Roman’s injuries.

For the first time since he’d entered the emo’s room, he took a look at himself. The red stained wounds were now covered neatly with white cloth, the chilly air making his skin shake a bit. “Wow.. you did a really good job on this, Anxiety..” he said it as though he couldn’t believe it himself. And he sort of couldn’t, Anxiety was shattering Roman’s neatly crafted perspective of him in this one night.

“Yeah, well, what’cha gonna do, yknow?” he shrugged.

“No, no… Like, staying with me and not kicking me out, and being able to heal me despite.. This whole catastrophe. That’s pretty brave.”

Virgil’s face went red and he quickly glanced away, scoffing, “N-no…”

Roman grinned despite himself, reaching out to touch Virgil’s hand, hearing a little surprised gasp, “Thank you.”

The other blinked at him, searching his face for a moment before nodding, “Whatever. Let's get you to bed, dork.” Roman knew those words were meant to be dismissive, but he could hear the grin in Virgil’s voice as he said it.

[cg29fics]

Gone

Having issues with my post’s again. So If you are reading along with this then you may need to check you’ve not missed previous chapters.

Tagging 🔖 Sorry if I’ve missed anyone - If you would like to be tagged in these updates then please let me know and I’ll add you to the list: @janetm74 @drileyf @katblu42 @psychoseal @weirdburketeer @alexthefly @misstb2 @thundergeek59 @burningcowboyhoagietaco @dragonoffantasyandreality

Countdown to the final chapter - 3 - left to go. You can also read the complete fic on Ao3 or FFNet - CreativeGirl29

Previous. Chapter 51 - Persuasion.

Chapter 52. Preparations

“Oh, thank you,” Jeff exhaled with relief when Gerry uttered those beautiful words, ‘Virgil’s going home!’

“I knew that would make you happy,” Doctor Sylvia, responded, “however, there are conditions. Nothing too serious, I’ve already gone through them with Brains, and I’d like to go through them with you too.”

“Yes, of course,” Jeff replied.

“Dad,” Virgil mumbled, from the wheelchair as he began to wake from his nap.

Jeff bent down and held his son’s hands. “Hey, are you okay?”

Virgil shook his head and yawned. “Pain and sleepy.”

“Don’t worry we’ll get that sorted for you.” Gerry said, leaving to get some help.

Jeff stayed by Virgil’s side while the nurses and Doctor Sylvia helped him back into the bed and gave him some medication. When he was happy that Virgil had once more fallen asleep, he turned to Gerry and whispered. “Can we speak somewhere quieter, so we don’t disturb him?”

“Of course, come into my office and we can have a coffee and chat.”

… …

“So, the conditions,” Gerry began, when they were both settled and drinking coffee, “Virgil will need to continue having regular scans on both his back and legs. Brains told me that you have the equipment for this, and I’ve asked him to send the results to me. If any unexpected complications do arise, Virgil will need to be brought back here immediately!”

“Absolutely!” Jeff confirmed.

“Also, as I’ve mentioned before we really don’t want Virgil putting any weight on his legs yet, which means he will need to be restricted to his bed, a sofa or a chair. Any other times he will need to use a wheelchair to get around your home. Brains said that he will be making the home wheelchair friendly, and we have plenty here you can choose from.”

“That all sounds fine with me, the only problem will be making sure Virgil sticks to these rules and accepts that he’ll need help to get around!”

Gerry smiled. “Well tell him if he doesn’t he’ll have to come back here, and it may cause him to be out of action a lot longer.”

“That should do it,” Jeff chuckled, “anything else?”

“You will need to bring him back in to see me as an outpatient when it’s time to remove the casts,” Gerry informed him. “Other than that, then he’s good to go!”

“Great, then when can we leave?” Jeff asked, smiling broadly.

“Well, I would like to run some final tests tomorrow, so I’m thinking the day after that.”

Jeff nodded. “That should give Brains plenty of time to make the adjustments that are needed, and the rest of the family a chance to prepare everything else.”

“Good,” Gerry said, placing his now empty cup on the desk, “I bet you’re looking forward to telling Virgil this news?”

“Actually,” Jeff grinned, “I would like to keep the news a secret, I’m thinking that it would make a wonderful surprise for him.”

“Well, I’m sure when you do tell him, he’ll be over the moon!”

… …

Two days later:

Jeff felt like he was bouncing down the corridor as he made his way to collect Virgil from the ward room. Thankfully the days had passed by quickly since he had received the news from Doctor Sylvia, and it was now time to let Virgil know that he was finally going home, and that it would be today! It had been extremely difficult to keep it from him, but Jeff knew the surprise and look on his boy’s face would make it worthwhile. Thankfully, he had been able to share the information with his family, and to say they were happy would have been an understatement, they were ecstatic! Gordon and Alan had taken it upon themselves to help organise the welcome home party with their grandma’s help, John immediately offered to help Brains with any adjustments to their island home, while Scott went over plans with his father to fly them home.

Now standing outside his son’s private room, Jeff exhaled with relief thankful that Virgil wouldn’t have to see this room again. He could now return home and recuperate in the comfort of his own room, surrounded by the things that made him happy, and with the company of people who loved him very dearly. Pushing the door to the private ward room open, Jeff beamed at Virgil who was propped up in the chair next to his bed. “Good morning son, how are you feeling on this fine day?”

“I’m okay, pains not to bad.” Virgil replied smiling at his father.

“That’s fantastic!”

Virgil watched as his dad literally skipped into the room, he was far too energetic for 9am on a Wednesday morning, thinking about it he’d never seen his father this lively. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Jeff answered, trying to look innocent.

“Okay, something is definitely going on. You’ve got that same look in your eyes that Gordon gets when he’s concocting an elaborate prank!”

“No,” Jeff protested, “I don’t get that look.”

“Err, yes you do,” Virgil said matter-of-factly, “come on admit it, you’re up to something, what is it?”

Jeff grinned back at Virgil. “Okay, okay… I’ve got something planned, but you will have to wait until Doctor Sylvia arrives, then I will tell you.”

“I knew you were up to something,” Virgil retorted. “At least now I know who Gordon inherited that look from!”

Jeff released a hearty laugh. “I always thought he got it from your mother.”

Virgil raised his eyebrow at his father and eyed him suspiciously. “No, definitely from you!”

A few minutes later Doctor Gerry Sylvia entered the room with a small computer pad in his hands. “Good morning.”

“Morning,” Both Virgil and Jeff responded.

Gerry acknowledged Virgil. “I’ve got something I need you to sign.”

“Does this explain why my father is being very weird?” Virgil questioned.

“It will,” Gerry chuckled, handing him the computer pad.

Virgil took the pad and began reading the short statement on it, his eyes widening as he did. “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” Gerry stated.

“I’m going home?” Virgil asked, not quite believing his eyes.

“If you press the yes button on that discharge form, then I’ll be taking you home today!” Jeff informed him.

“Today?” Virgil questioned, this time not believing his ears.

“Yes!” Jeff answered. “Now hurry up and click yes, so we can go!”

Virgil grinned from ear to ear and pressed the acceptance button on the pad. “Okay dad, I’m ready to go home!”

“Great,” Jeff responded, “because we’ve got a plane to catch.”

“Are we going home in Tracy 1?”

“No,” Jeff replied, shaking his head, “Scott and I have organised something a bit more special than that.”

“Thunderbird 2?” Virgil questioned hopefully.

“Yes,” Jeff nodded, “your green lady is on her way!”

[riallasheng]

Next part (first half of TOS Thunderbirds)

Thunderbirds TOS

☾ -       Scott canonically (hi comics and novels) operates on very little sleep, so I tend to headcanon that he has Familial Natural Short Sleep Syndrome, in which the person generally has about half the hours of sleep of a normal person (so 3 -4 hours) without suffering from feeling tired / sleepy or other consequences of sleep dep. Scott (and John) inherited this from their Mom. Scott is a living furnace and tends to over-heat easily, and his parents used to hand him his younger brothers when they were young, as Scott's body heat tended to send them off to dreamland like a lightswitch. He sleeps almost exclusively on his side, only sleeping on his back if he's flat out dead to the world, ill, or unconscious/recovering from injury. He's a very light sleeper, tending to wake up quickly and easily, switching from sleep to fully alert almost instantly. He's also a very ACTIVE sleeper, always moving and shifting at least a little, even when deeply asleep. Him not moving while asleep is generally a sign that something's off. Despite not needing much sleep, he does tend (canonically, as Terror has it stated directly) to short himself a fair bit, leading to him often needing to 'catch up' on missing sleep. Scott used to like pressure when he slept (like the rest of his family does), but since the war he can't stand feeling restrained and thus tends to sleep with only a light blanket or even no covers at all.  Talks in his sleep.       John, like Scott, has Familial Natural Short Sleep Syndrome. Unlike Scott, he doesn't short himself on sleep, getting what is, for him, a healthy amount of sleep (so 3-4 hours) on the regular. He is a very heavy sleeper and falls asleep quickly and easily. He famously once slept through a depressurization (in his defense, the 'sleep pods' on the space station double as safety rooms and are air tight 'clamshell' pods. once you can get him TO wake up, he usually snaps to full alertness instantly, but GETTING him to wake up is the challenge. He usually sleeps on his back or on his stomach, finding sleeping on his side uncomfortable at best (he also has INFAMOUSLY bad bed head as he tends to toss and turn a lot and roll from his back to chest to back again.) Like most of the Tracys (Scott is the only exception), he likes pressure when he sleeps, and tends to sleep with at least one weighted blanket, as well as a collection of blankets and a duvet. Factoring into this is the fact that he tends to run ICE cold, sometimes cold enough that his hands and feet will be so cold it wakes him up. John (like Gordon and Scott) tends to be an early riser, and usually goes on runs with Scott upon waking (he tends to find the pool too cold, especially shortly after waking up)       Virgil is dead to the world, and growls and grumbles at anyone who goes to wake him up before he's good and ready, and tends to need copious amounts of coffee to wake up. He falls asleep quickly and easily, but it can take him a long time to wake up properly / get all pistons firing. (I 100% pulled on my Dad, an engineer, for Virgil, I freely admit. Up to and including phrases like 'too much blood in my coffee stream' and a mug that reads 'if you bring me coffee, you may live' and the like XD ) Virgil snores like a chainsaw in his sleep, and rarely (if ever) moves while asleep. Like Scott, Virgil abhors silence although where Scott tends to go for simply leaving his window open to let the sounds of the Island provide background noise, Virgil tends to have music playing - rarely his own as he is a perfectionist and picks up the flaws in his own work, especially when tired, but he'll listen to the works of others without issue. Instrumental or vocal, if it's music he'll listen to it (and it generally a good way to gauge his mood by seeing what music he has playing)

Hey my tripleace gurl!

Would you kindly do ☾ - sleep headcanon and ♡ - romantic headcanon

Heyo Mbali!!

Ooooo, fun ones!!! (also, I have GOT to replay bioshock sometime soon XD )

Let's see... under cut because long XD

…

Also ended up needing to break this into two parts because LONG, so the romance emoji will be a reblog to this.  I’d @ you, but I know you don’t have a tumblr so I’ll just dm you the link on discord XD 

...

Also this keeps glitchign out, so even THIS PART will be in a few parts in reblogs =_=

Fireball XL5

☾ -       Steve sleeps light but long. He can manage on 6 hours, but does best with 8, and he begins to drag fast if his sleep is interrupted / broken up. He tends not to move much when sleeping       Venus sleeps like a ROCK. She falls asleep fast, easily, and once she puts her head down she can (and has) slept through a space battle and crashlanding.       Matt tends to battle with insomnia, and when he does sleep it tends to be in 2 hour power naps and is a very ACTIVE sleeper, always getting tangled in his bedding and even sleep walking on occasion.

------

Lady Penelope

☾ -       Lady Penelope sleeps very lightly, and runs cold so whenever possible she'll have some form of heater in her bed... her bed at home has both a heated mattress and an electric blanket. She tends to be easily disturbed, switching between sleep and fully awake and aware almost instantly, and it can take her a long time to fall asleep again once she's awake. There are always weapons near (or on) her person when she's asleep. There is a knife and laser pistol under her pillow, and a heavy machine gun under her bed, on top of all the 'spy goodies' she's got stashed around her room and in her purse designed to look like normal items. She's also something of a cuddler, and has a body pillow that she loves, but will make due with a normal pillow or rolled up blanket (and she also ALWAYS ends up being an absolute cuddle monster to any bedfellows and it's impossible to escape her)       Parker is actually naturally a heavy sleeper, but has trained himself / been forced by life experience to be a light sleeper. Since he's come into Lady Penelope's employ, he's actually become a heavy sleeper again, and it he tends to be slow to wake and groggy for a fair while after he wakes.

------

Stingray

☾ -       Sam has an adaptive bed with railings on the side, and the bottom sheet is actually a very wide sheet that is attached to two mechanized rollers on either side of the bed that can essentially slide him from the edge of the bed to the middle or from the middle to the edge, which he often needs as he suffers from weakness in his left arm and thus has trouble pulling himself into / out of bed without it.  The bed can raise it’s head and foot like an adjustable bed.  Sam tends to run hot and thus prefers only a light cover, although as the winter months hit he’ll slowly increase the layers until he’s comfortable.  He’s a light sleeper, but tends not to move much while asleep.        Phones is a very light sleeper, and due to his time as a mercenary, he tends to wake quickly and sharply at any little thing.  It’s saved his life hundreds of times, but it does mean that he tends to only rarely get unbroken sleep, so he tends to take cat naps during the day.  He usually sleeps on his back with one arm tucked beneath his head / pillow (and generally resting on his knife there).  He tends to move little, if at all, while asleep.       Troy sleeps heavily / like the dead, but he wakes up quickly, easily – bright-eyed and bushy tailed, although it takes him a long time to fall asleep.  He tends not to move much when asleep, and usually sleeps on his stomach with his arms tucked under the pillow.  He likes a light cover to no sheets at all, and tends to sleep in shorts and nothing else if given a choice.       Atlanta tends to fall asleep fast, sleep light but long, and wakes quickly.  She’s trained herself to keep an ear out for her father having trouble, as Sam hates to impose on her or wake her and will do his best to get himself into and out of bed or deal with spikes of pain without waking her, and while he CAN manage for the most part, there are still tiems he needs help.  She tends to lay very still when sleeping, making few (if any) movements even during REM, but she does talk fairly extensively in her sleep.       Marina used to be a very heavy sleeper who tossed and turned and slept long and late.  However, her 9 months as Titan’s captive means that she now sleeps lightly, startling awake at any little sound or movement, and she often doesn’t get as deep a sleep as she needs, and sometimes doesn’t get any sleep at all.  She almost always sleeps curled up on her side, trying to make herself as small as possible.  She’s found that if she sleeps with someone else, she sleeps better, feeling protected and safe, and has – on bad nights – snuck into the rooms of most of her friends to curl up, and Atlanta, Phones and Fisher have gotten in the habit of poking their heads into her quarters before heading off to bed to see if she needs someone there.  She’s actually found most often snuggling up with Sam, Atlanta and Phones as they are light sleepers who don’t move much, which means she feels safe and guarded enough to sleep.  As time passes, and she begins to feel safe again, she’s starting to sleep heavier again, as well as starting to toss and turn a bit, and the number of times she needs to curl up with a friend are slowly dropping.       Fisher is a fairly active sleeper, tossing and turning a lot in his sleep, although he’ll settle quickly if he can snuggle or hug something, and as a result he has a body pillow that he’ll curl up around when he sleeps.

[briandthemoon]

virgil in K3 or D2? happy new year!

Both? Both. Both is good.

This also just slapped me with how long it's been since I returned to finish these sdkjfsdhfsd

[Do Not Repost This Art!]

[edutainer2022]

I have a killer headache today, so a fluffy Jeff and Scott sleep-fic WIP goes up. The ideas, bouncing about, are thanks to @flyboytracy and the giftset of Scott, tumbling down Dad's planetoid, @janetm74 and her Scott vs. Sleep in-depth explorations, and @gumnut-logic in some way or other (I did remember what comments inspired the visuals in my head). There is supposed to be and will, at some point, be an unabashedly fluffy closing scene, featuring Virgil, but re: killer headache today.

SHIELD OF PROOF

**Then**

"It isn't fair!"

His wife's huff is equal parts amusement and exasperation.

"How do you do that, Jeff? Seriously? I get stranded with a toddler shaped supersonic jet. You waltz in from the Moon and he's the sleepy kitty, napping at a drop of a hat!"

She throws her hands up in a dramatic flare, but her eyes are brimming with fondness. He hides a smile in the crown of curly brown hair and makes it a kiss for good measure. The sleeping child is breathing puffs of air into his chest, one tiny arm hugging Dad as best he can, another still holding a toy plane. Jeff could never imagine the idea of a heart swelling with love could feel so real.

"Well, at least Virgil gives you no trouble. That little guy could sleep through a rocket take off."

Which he promptly has. Baby Virgil made GDF private chat trends, having famously slept all through his Dad's launch to Alpha Shadow base.

The trick with Scott, a firm believer in going "run", "fast", "jump" and "vroom" ALL THE TIME, and a self-proclaimed nap-nihilist at a wise age of two and a half, was to remember the little fella was a Tracy. It would get you nowhere to talk him out or to deny what he's set his mind on. But it was possible to reason with the boy and suggest a more optimal solution to obtain the ultimete goal (running about with a toy plane, making engine noises) - say, the plane engines needed to cool down, so how about we wait for a moment right there, on the couch, and then it can fly even faster. Between officer training tips and the unbridled adoration and trust in the bright blue eyes - Jeff soon had a sound asleep toddler in his arms. Or maybe it was because the arms were strong, and big, and Dad, and Dad was THERE.

His wife is openly smiling now, reaching down to extract the toy from the small hand.

"Do you want me to take him? I'm going to check on Virgie anyway."

He adjusts his hold on the warm, small weight with one hand and pulls her closer for a quick kiss.

"Nah, we're good. I'll get Virgie once this little man is up and about again."

Which is bound to happen sooner than they'd both like. The house will be filled with invigorated pitpat of tiny running feet, and shrieks of delight, and little grumbly noises the roused baby would be making, as he would take Virgil to the back porch. But for now he settled to listen to his eldest son's even breathing, enjoying the quiet while it lasted. He was home.

**Now**

"How did you do it, Dad?!"

Virgil's baritone barely passed for stage whisper. He played along, raising a quisical brow at his son's dramatic gesture, spanning the length of the Island infirmary bed. Or rather, the considerable length of Scott, tucked to his father's side, sound asleep. To his credit, Jeff tried for looking sheepish, but it came out more cheeky than anything. Virgil was having none of that - hands up in the air.

"Seriously? You've been back from space for what? Twenty minutes? And you already have him cooperate, have an arm in a sling AND asleep?! It would have taken me the better half of the night!"

Jeff promptly bit down a response that he also got Scott to take painkillers and agree to a deeper scan first thing in the morning. All under half an hour. It felt a little bit comforting to know eight years down the line and he still had what it takes to stare down an adult son who was "fine, Dad, it's nothing, you need to rest!" and had just incidentally led a mission to rescue his hide from the far corner of the galaxy (having tumbled down half an exploding planetoid in the process). What didn't sit comfortably was the offhand understanding his other son would consider himself on Scott wrangling duty 24/7 apparently. It truly had been a long while since he was their father. This would need to change. He shifted a light hold on Scott's slumbering frame, mindful of the shoulder, secured in a sling over his shirt and (now confirmed) bruised ribs - and smiled up at Virgil.

"I have my bag of tricks, son."

Virgil's soft gaze was quickly shiting gears back to a deeper shade of worry (something Jeff would need to nip in the bud), as his hand reached for the medscanner. Which was obviously redundant as it was, likely, the scanner activation that sent his second eldest careening back to the infirmary. His mother barely managed to shoo everyone out to begin with, after Jeff had been settled and hooked up to monitors and IV lines. Alan was beat and half asleep on his feet. John was back up in orbit, to set up sorting data from their incredible trip with Eos (Jeff was a little fuzzy who that was, again - a student? some kind of child prodigy?). Kayo took off with the GDF and her uncle, having given Jeff a fierce hug. Gordon was bidding goodbye to Penelope (and Parker, of course) or whatever the kids called it these days (Jeff filed that one to bask in amusement later). Scott and Virgil were determined to keep round the clock vigil and to not leave Dad's side (possibly ever). Between himself and Mom he managed to negotiate Scott taking the first shift, fully intending to set up camp by his father's bedside and start on the report of the Zero-XL mission. The GDF guys did eye them funny, but still. A report right away? Jeff hid a sigh in a fit of cough. He had a mission of his own, till eight years of fatigue drew him under. Back on the planetoid, crumbling beneath his feet, the lifelong instincts helped compute the flash of lanky blue, tumbling as a ragdoll into the void, into the alarm claxon, blaring "son" and "fall", translating the surge of adrenaline into a single focus - "catch!", a move well honed ever since baby Scott first swandived off a backrest of a couch. Between taking in his son dangling off the death grip of his hand over the abyss, blue eyes transfixed in a mixture of awe and shock, meeting the rest of the boys all grown up and surreally THERE, in his arms, exposing the Hood in a surge of fury so consuming he was sure he scared his kids, and hugging his mother upon landing, he did allocate a breathing moment to process the thought there was no way Scott hadn't hit anything through the collision with every boulder that had been Jeff's home for eight years, or hadn't pulled anything in their drop and grab maneuver.

TBC

[ts-janus-rp-blog]

Logan's heart melted at seeing that adorable head tilt. Gosh, he's so damn cute. He's forgotten just how cute he is. "Breathe. breathe." Logan echoed to him, then he smiled softly. "Bedtime story? What is a bedtime story? Is that what your asking?" He chuckled, "It is a story that makes you sleepy. Mary would come and read you a bedtime story every so often. It was really sweet to see." Logan commented.

"Yep! We're done! It's not as good as Mary would've done it, but it is good enough, huh! Well probably need to wash you a few times for your beautiful fur to come out, but that's alright. One step at a time!" Logan leaned over to turn off the water, then he grabbed a towel and started drying off his hair.

But he paused and frowned at seeing him trying...trying so hard to move his feet. "It'll move in time, vee. Gotta be more patient. But I'm sure it'll move on due time. Very soon." He kissed the side of Virgil's head before he worked on drying him down.

He picked Virgil up and set him down on his chair so he could put another hospital gown onto virgil. he also helped him slip on some underwear so he won't be completely naked underneath that gown. Finally, he carried him out into the bedroom and set him down on the clean sheets. Oh, guess someone changed Virgil's sheets while he was getting washed down, how nice.

"Vee?" Mary's head poked into the room, and she smiled. "You already look so much better, sweetie. Did you have a good wash?"

💍-Part 13-💍

TW: Misgendering, Rape, Abuse, Assault, Swearing, Injury Mention, Childloss, Remus.

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↣P1-P10, P11, P12↢

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@ts-janus-rp-blog

[PREVIOUS REPLY]

Logan couldn't help but to chuckle at seeing how happy Virgil was to see him again. "Virgil! Hey!" He said through his chuckle, "Did you thought I wasn't going to come back or something? Id never leave you in here by yourself! Not for very long, anyways. I'll always come back for you." He smiled. Then he went back to scrubbing, though Virgil was mostly done anyways. There wasn't much left to clean up. "It's okay, take your time." He could see him struggling to respond, and he didn't want Virgil to stress himself over it again. "Mhm, I'm sure she probably just wants to try and jog your memories. Or see what you remember and don't. Or, probably knowing Mary, read you a bedtime story." He chuckled at that, "She's such a mother that I won't be surprised if she does that."

"Oh? Okay. I'll let her know." Logan stood up again and poked his head out of the bathroom. "He says okay. But can you wait until I finish cleaning him and lay him back down on the bed? Thanks, Mary!"

Logan came back and smiled to Virgil, "Let's get you finished here then she says she'll love to talk to you! She says she wants to talk to you alone... I'm not sure why that is, but, how does that sound?"

[kiddiesides]

Vi, awake and sneaking off when dads asleep: Stare

Patton, playing mario kart:..

Virgil: I watch *hes and waches Patton, Patton plays fearful that Virgil will tell now*

i love this sm bc Virgil is doing literally nothing yet it makes Patton so fearful bc this little guy now has blackmail on him. But Virgil is also just a little guy!!! he just wants to watch his big bro play videogames.... BUT ITS MIDNIGHT BABIES ARENT SUPPOSED TO BE AWAKE AT MIDNIGHT...Bbut oh god if Patton tells him he shouldnt be awake then Virge will DEFINITELY tattle on him....

and Virgil is just happy bc cars on the telly go vroom vroom :)

Patton has the brilliant idea to offer Virgil some warm milk on his sippy cup. A nice drink will get Virgil on his good side and that way wont tattle. And the warm milk is to make him sleepy. THEN when Virgil gets sleepy, Pat will take him to his room and they'll both go to sleep, then in the morning he will tell his dads little Virgey just woke up in the middle to the night and went to his room bc he wanted to sleep with him. Perfect Plan!

[wish-i-wasnt-a-coward]

Family Cuddle Pile

a/n: I actually wrote this a while ago but it was perfect for the request. Theirs like, no content for this ship an I love it so much! Thank you for reading :) @arodynamic-enby

Pairings: romantic Anxceitmus and kid!Patton also super background Logince

Warnings: tattoos, less than ideal parent mentions, food mention, and light cursing

Word count: 1,844 

-----------------------------------------------

Remus flopped out of bed, throwing his body carelessly across the room. He hastily threw on his clothes. Short shorts, ripped fishnets, a vest that was more patches than original material, really big clunky shoes, and a ripped up band-t. He also hooked his favorite bone earrings in his tattered earlobes. 

He stomped into his apartment’s kitchen. He grabbed a stale piece of bread he soaked it in coffee. Yawned and grabbed his bag, racing out the door. 

His brother was waiting for him at the tattoo shop, sketching a new idea. Unlike him, Roman only had a few tattoos, including not one, not two, not three… but three Disney quotes, a frog on a mushroom, a rose on his arm, and a constellation. Most of his tattoos were covered by tasteful burgundy overalls and a white button-down shirt.

Remus’ tattoos were also mostly covered by his clothes. But he had a tattoo sleeve depicting the garden of Eden, a matching frog on a mushroom, a quote from one of Roman’s books, medically accurate bone structures on his hand, a realistic spider on his neck, and a snake wrapping around his non-sleeved arm. And those were just the visible ones. 

Suffice to say, the twins were very different. 

Remus threw his bag onto the floor in the backroom, “Ro, when’s the first appointment!!” he yelled. “Your’s? At 11. FYI, Jan n’ Pat are coming over at 12, for motivation” Remus smiled, fuckin’ superb. 

He busied himself in collecting the ink and preparing the tattoo gun. The client wanted a fucking orange on their wrist, it should only take an hour or two but Remus was not excited to do a frickin’ orange circle. 

The prissy orange bitch came in and Remus got to work. They didn’t move much and only cried a little bit when the needle started jabbing at their skin. Remus liked this part of the process, stabbing people consensually was his favorite thing ever… also the art part but stabbing people!

Almost exactly an hour later the door jingled open. “Dada!!” a tiny voice called back into the store. “I’ll be there in a minute patty-cake” Remus called from his spot hunched over the client's arm.

He added the final touches to the fruit and helped the orange bitch off the chair. Roman swept the client away, Remus practically ran to greet his partner and son.

Janus wore a leather corset over a black collared shirt and baggy pants, their long platinum hair framed their face under their signature hat. They were holding hands with a toddler wearing mostly pink and blue, his blond hair (that matched Janus’) was a mop of curls barely held together by a few butterfly clips. 

“Dada, Dada!!! I got you a flower” the little boy cried, letting go of Janus’ hand and stumbling towards the tall man who scooped him up. Patton giggled and held out a sweaty flower clenched in his chubby fist. 

Remus accepted the flower with a gasp, ”this is really for me?” he said joyfully. Adjusting the small boy in his arms Remus turned towards Janus who was looking at the pair with a disgustingly sappy expression. 

“What are you lookin’ at hot stuff?” Remus teased. “Shut it you,” Janus said, pressing a kiss to Remus’ check. Patton made a noise, “icky” he said pushing Janus away. They laughed, “yes darling, we’re very icky”. 

“When’s verge-“

“he’ll be home at 4” 

“Dope”

“Stop by the Sleepy Café before you bring Pat to the apartment?”

“Can do scootal-lo!” 

Remus turned back to the little boy in his arms, “looks like you're stuck with me squirt”. Patton beamed and snuggled into Remus’ chest. Janus smiled again, “I’ll see you, boys, at dinner,” they said, ruffling Pat's hair and peaking Remus on the lips quickly so as to not upset the toddler. “Bye-bye Janny!!” Patton called after Janus as they left for work. 

“Righty-o,” Remus said, carrying Patton into the back room. “I know Ro’s got a couple coloring books, wanna do those for a bit?” Patton nodded and reached towards the ground to be put down. Remus plopped Patton on the couch and pulled out the book and pens as well as a sketchbook off his own. They sat together coloring and drawing until Roman came back to hug Patton. 

“Ah, my favorite nephew!” Roman said, scooping up the little boy. Patton laughed and pulled Roman’s hair. “Roro, can I color your arm pictures??” he asked, pointing to Roman’s rose tattoo. Roman plopped the toddler back down on the couch and handed him a pen. 

Patton went to work on the rose, scribbling reds and pinks and greens across his arm. Roman gave him complements each time Patton paused, and each time Patton shushed him and went back to work. Remus finished up his sketch, adding it to the pile of tattoo ideas they were eventually going to put up-front, and sat next to the toddler. 

“That’s really good pat-” 

“Shhhhhhhh”

Remus nodded and mimed zipping his lips. He liked spending time with the kid. They weren’t biologically related but who gives a fuck about blood, unless it’s outside of your body, then it’s fun. 

---------------------------------------------------------------

“I don’ wanna” Patton wined his dad sighed “I know bubbles but we gotta go home to Papa and Janny, isn’t that fun” Patton considered this, “but Roro’s pretty arm picture” he argued. Remus scratched the back of his neck, “Pffffff- Ummm, how about this, we go home now and I’ll take you back to the shop tomorrow after pre-school” 

Patton brightened considerably, “ok” he chirped. “up please” the toddler’s chubby hands reached towards Remus who obediently scooped him up with a coo. After all who was he to say no to uppy hands. 

“See ya tomorrow, have fun on your date with the nerd” Remus sang as he snatched his bag juggling the still fussy Patton in his other arm. “Fu- Frick off Re. Say hi to your partners for me,” Romans said affectionately and waved as his twin left the building. 

Remus happily trotted out into the road. The tattoo shop was located on a quaint little street in the more commercial segment of their town only a short walk from Janus’ job. 

A light drizzle floated around them and the air was warm and comforting. Patton squealed as a large drop of water hit him in the head, prompting a laugh from Remus.

A jingle sounded through the peaceful cafe, the brown room was illuminated by those cool old fashion lights and a lovely array of pastries made the air smell of chocolate and blueberry scones. But the scones, as delicious as they were, weren’t the snack Remus was here for

“Hey babe- Remus why are you soaking wet”

“Puddle” Patton screeched. 

“Kid’s right, Puddle.”

Janus pinched their eyebrows, “ya know what, I’m not even surprised anymore. Just make sure Patton doesn’t catch a cold” they scolded. 

Remus nodded and saluted in mock seriousness, “yes captain” he said and pressed a kiss to Janus’ face over the cash register, “I’ll see ya in a bit” Remus grinned and led Patton back out of the cafe. 

Janus sighed lovingly as they watched their boyfriend and son turn to cross the street, Patton’s hand clasped around Remus’ happily. “Stop looking so happy, you're scaring the customers” Remy teased from across the counter. “Ha, Ha,” Janus glared and went back to work” 

Janus’ apartment was a cute two-bedroom space on the fourth floor of the building. The furniture was an interesting combo of vintage and things from the side of the road. The vintage parts came from their parent’s house, their father had died two years after Janus’ had run away and hadn’t thought to write them out of the will. 

The three of them had made a date out of customizing the few pieces that Janus wanted to keep. The customization mainly included darkening everything and adding more gothic touches. Virgil had done the fabrics, Remus the painting, and Janus moral support/ director. 

The three partners had also painted the kitchen/dining room/living room black with one yellow wall. Janus and Virgil’s room was dark purple instead of black with highlights in the same yellow. Patton’s room was the only one that didn’t  look marginally like a cave. 

The walls were a cream-yellow that lit up in the morning sunlight. After Janus announced that they were going to have a baby Remus had spent three hours painting the grey ceiling with white fluffy clouds. It was one of his favorite projects. 

Patton of course had no regard for the work put into the entirety of his home and was the usual menace of a toddler. And today a toddler with cheerios, truly a sight even god would tremble before. 

Remus plopped down next to Patton who was pushing cheerios around his highchair tray with an intense focus. He smiled at the little boy and flicked on the tv, “got any requests pip-squeak?” Remus asked. Patton looked thoughtful, “dead lady!!” he cried excitedly hitting the tray with his fists, cheerios flew everywhere. Remus nodded, understanding, “Corpse bride coming up!” he picked a few cheerios from the couch “you really are Verge’s kid” 

When Janus got home Patton was curled up on Remus’s chest. Both slept soundly despite the dead folk on the screen in front of them singing about the wedding. 

Janus smiled, their family was fucking adorable. They slipped off their shoes and snuggled up into Remus who hummed happily and pulled Janus into the hug still asleep. 

----------------------------------------

Three hours later Virgil trudged up the four flights of stairs huffing indignantly with each step. Of course, he could take the elevator… but it might break down and he would be stuck for hours. Or someone could get into the elevator with him and he would have to interact with a stranger. So stairs it was. 

He rummaged around his baggy hoodie, running his fingers through his dark purple hair in annoyance when he couldn’t find the key. Once he found it Virgil carefully (as he did everything) opened the apartment door. His combat books clunked satisfyingly against the hardwood floors as he entered his house. Virgil felt the tension leave his muscles, he was home. He glanced across the room, looking for his family. 

Virgil’s face lit up like a god damned Christmas tree. 

Across the room, both his partners and his son were curled up sleeping happily. Drool covered Remus’ face and Janus was snoring, they were the most precious thing Virgil had seen all freakin day. 

The three of them woke as Virgil wrapped his arms around them, Patton squealed in excitement. “Hello, darling” Janus mumbled sleepily into Virgil’s arm. Remus just groaned and nestled into the hug. The toddler wriggled between his dads squealing profusely. “Shhh, s’ sleepy time” Remus mumbled, rolling deeper into the cuddle pile and shutting Patton up. 

Virgil smiled and pressed a kiss to his partner’s cheek. “Mmm, love you” they purred. “Love you too Jan,” Virgil said, nestling his face in their neck. Virgil knew he would have to start dinner soon but that could wait, for now, cuddles.

[maya-tl]

💜💛💚

What do you want me to say. It was supposed to be a doodle with an angsty one to follow this one, and I ended upgoing overboard. By a mile. Or maybe even a few. 

[iclaimedtobethebetterbard]

if you’re going my way, i’ll go with you - chapter 7

Fandom: Sanders Sides Characters: All the sides, character!Thomas, minor/background OCs Rating: Teen & up Relationships: Platonic/familial Logan & Janus (& a little bit Patton), mentioned Analogical, mentioned Dukeceit Warnings: Brief instance of sex negativity, language, a couple of minor sexual references, as well as brief non-detailed mentions of past instances of: bullying, teen pregnancy in an unsupportive environment, teachers misusing power over children, an injury resulting from dangerous behavior, torture and injuries resulting from it. (much like last chapter, despite the warnings i swear this is mostly just very cute fluff, platonic loceit edition this time) Word count: 4676

Read on AO3!

My writing masterpost

start - previous - here - next - masterpost

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Chapter 7

Logan had been having a productive day. (Had been.) It was satisfying and enjoyable. He’d woken curled in Virgil’s arms, his partner pressing the softest of kisses to his forehead, and the pair of them had cuddled, talking and exchanging gentle sleepy kisses, for a little more than an hour before Logan had finally roused himself to tend to his responsibilities, later than he had intended. Upon arriving at work, he’d greeted Remus—who had already arrived and opened up the lab, presumably at the normal opening time—and assured him that yes, he was fine, and there were no concerning reasons for him being two hours later to work than usual. (Remus had seemed a little skeptical when Logan had failed to provide any reasons, concerning or otherwise, for the delay, but accepted Logan’s word without too much pushback.) Making a batch of puberty blockers had gone much more quickly than he anticipated, and he’d gotten it out of the way with ease, allowing himself to focus on his normal workload before he got too far behind schedule. 

All in all, it had been an excellent morning. 

When Logan went to lunch, though, heading towards the cafeteria-style meal hall on the first floor of the Heroes’ Guild headquarters, he stepped out of the stairwell and found his path blocked by Vortex.

The man, short and muscular, stood with a wide stance and his hands on his hips; his supersuit was bright orange, textured like overlapping scales with a metallic sheen, with accents in red and a bit of yellow. His mask and gloves were red and his brown hair was combed upwards with a bit of a twirl to it, vaguely reminiscent of the logo—a letter V stylized to look like a tornado—on his chest. 

Fire and wind powers. And an ego and temper to match the most stereotypical depictions of such powers. For all Logan disliked Vortex, and hated the way he treated Janus, he had to admit he was quietly grateful Vortex had enrolled as a hero; the amount of damage he could do as a villain was not pleasant to think about.

“Good afternoon, Vortex,” he greeted mildly. “Excuse me.”

Vortex didn’t budge. “There was an incident last night, Logic,” he announced, not even acknowledging that Logan had spoken at all. 

“So I’ve heard,” Logan said, choosing to ignore the belligerent tone in hopes of concluding this interaction as speedily as possible. “I’ve been assured that Count Ruthless was dealt with handily by the heroes who responded, and the damage he did to civilian property is being remedied. Is there anything specific you wished to discuss?” 

“Where were you?” Vortex demanded, no less rudely than before. “You weren’t on the scene, and you weren’t in your lab. There were no communications from you, either.” 

“Ah,” Logan said, and found himself at a highly unpleasant lack for words. It wasn’t like his presence was actually required or even expected for a villain as low in the pecking order as Count Ruthless; nobody ought to be surprised by Logan’s absence at the scene. But the lack of communication was harder to explain away—it was rare for Dr. Logic to be totally unreachable in the event of an emergency. And “I left my work phone at home because my boyfriend, who is also my nemesis, called me in a panic and I dropped everything to spend the night in his lair” would not go over well. “I—well—” 

“Babysitting,” a new and very welcome voice said from behind him. Janus appeared at his side and slung an arm about his shoulders, leaning comfortably on him. “For me, of course. So kind of him, honestly.” 

“Ah,” Logan said again, gratefully. “Yes.” That was a logical and plausible explanation, one that required no further information to be shared. Very helpful of Janus.

Janus, meanwhile, frowned at Vortex. “Also, he’s a doctor,” he said, tone icy. “Doctor Logic. And he’s your superior.”

Vortex looked like he had eaten something very unpleasant. “Sorry. Sir,” he said to Logan, shooting a venomous look at Janus.

Logan raised his eyebrows. “I appreciate the apology,” he said coolly. Glancing over at Janus, he added, “I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to share that information; thank you.” That should explain away his earlier stammering to Vortex.

“No, no, it’s all good,” Janus played along. “Vortex is acquainted with the fact that I have a child.” They tilted their head, glaring harder at Vortex, who was still standing with arms crossed before the pair of them. “Remind me what you said about that, back in our sophomore year? Something about how my, what was it, ‘whorish tendencies’—like you didn’t date just as many people as I did—‘destined’ me for villainy from the very start, right?” 

Logan pressed his lips together, forcing himself not to react. While the specific quote was news to him, he had already known about the history between Vortex and Janus. The two had been in the same class during their time at Brennan; to Logan’s understanding, Vortex had bullied Janus from very early on. It had only intensified after Janus became pregnant at fifteen—at that point, Vortex had gone from an outlier to a ringleader.

Logan was glad he’d shown up looking for an apprentice when he had, and had been able to remove Janus from the situation entirely. Very few people in Janus’s life had been less than cruel to him over the pregnancy up until that point—including his teachers.

“You know how there’s a super biology unit at Brennan?” twenty-year-old Janus asked, placing the cutting board he had just cleaned on the dish rack. Patton, who was all of four, was building a puzzle with large, chunky pieces on the floor of the living room. While at this point Janus had their own apartment, they frequently came over to Logan’s for dinner. The pair of them discussed whatever was going on at work, and after dinner Janus did their college homework, allowing Logan to seize the opportunity to entertain Patton until the tiny child dozed off, usually in his arms.

Logan looked over from where he was adjusting the seasoning of the soup and testing the vegetables for doneness. “Yes, why?” 

“I—” Janus swallowed. They seated themself on a chair at Logan’s table and picked at their fingernails. “I just—before Patton.” The little one looked up at his name, and Janus’s voice shifted at once to something far more cheerful. “Yeah, hi baby! How’s your puzzle going? It looks so good!” 

Once Patton had reported his progress in a serious little ramble, made all the more adorable for his tiny voice still full of toddler-lisp, and had resumed his work on the puzzle, the smile dropped off Janus’s face and she returned to what she’d been saying before. “I was at school, right? Just a little before I found out about him. And I tried to do this thing I used to show off with, where I’d jump off something on the playground and use my powers to catch myself. Grow wings, or really long legs, or go all snakey, so I didn’t get hurt. It—” They laughed, but it was thin and wavering. “It was stupid. But I—then I—it was just a normal day. But when I jumped and tried to shift, I couldn’t. And I was too startled to fly before I hit the ground.” He bent his head, avoiding Logan’s eyes. “I wasn’t that high up, I only sprained my ankle. But the nurse didn’t—he didn’t say anything about why I couldn’t use my powers. Just healed it and let me go back to class without my powers or any explanation. He—he had to have known.” 

Logan turned off the stovetop, moved the pot to a cold burner, and turned to face Janus, giving her his full attention. 

“And I had no idea what had happened for weeks,” Janus went on, voice trembling. “I couldn’t shift, and I didn’t know what had happened—I was so scared, and none—” They gulped. “None of my teachers said anything. None of them explained it to me.” 

Logan moved over to sit beside them and put a hand on their upper arm. 

“And then in bio, we went over shifters, and the teacher—she just—just read it out from the textbook in front of everyone. That we can’t shift if we’re pregnant.” Janus leaned into Logan’s touch. “I—I didn’t know. And she told everyone. The whole school knew by the end of the day.” He drew the back of his hand across his nose. “I know I was an—an annoying little piece of work when I was fifteen, but someone should still have told me!” 

Patton looked up again as Janus’s voice cracked on a sob. “Mama?” he asked, tiny face pinched up with worry.

“Hi, baby,” Janus croaked wetly, holding out his arms and letting the child climb into his lap. They wrapped their arms around their son, burying their face in his curls and sniffling softly.

Logan sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said, wrapping his arm fully around them in a side-hug. “You’re right. You were mistreated. It was wrong and should not have been allowed.” 

Janus leaned into the hug, nestling against Logan with a trust Logan rarely saw him display to anyone else, Patton still cuddled close in his arms. He huffed out a laugh that held no amusement. “And Vortex had a field day with that, obviously. He left my boyfriend entirely alone and just picked on me for it.” They made a descriptive noise of disgust. “Honestly, half the reason I said yes to the apprenticeship was just to pi—” They glanced down at Patton. ”—upset Vortex. He was so sure you’d pick him. He was bragging about it ahead of time and everything.”

“I knew I was uninterested in working with him twenty-six seconds into the interview I gave him, actually,” Logan said.

That drew an actual chuckle out of Janus. “I’m not surprised.” She chewed on the inside of her cheek for a moment. “What did I do, though? I wasn’t even trying.”

Logan didn’t hesitate. “You had potential. It was clearly being wasted. I didn’t like that.”

“Aww,” Janus drawled, the sarcasm clearly covering up genuine warmth. “That’s—”

“I want soup,” Patton, who had evidently gotten bored, announced.

Janus straightened at once, attention entirely drawn to the child in his lap. “You do?” he inquired, doting and indulgent.

“Pwwwease?” Patton said, struggling with the l, and reached up to place his palms on Janus’s cheeks.

Janus’s whole face melted into a delighted smile. “Of course, baby. Hold your uncle for me.” She transferred Patton to Logan’s arms.

Logan accepted the small warm body at once, running a hand through Patton’s hair—which was getting long enough to warrant a trim—and smoothing it. The child happily wrapped his tiny arms about Logan’s neck, chanting, “Soup, soup, soup,” under his breath and watching Janus’s progress.

Janus crossed the kitchen and pulled down bowls from Logan’s cupboard—two regular ones, and one dedicated specifically for Patton’s use. It had pawprints and hearts painted on the rim; it was shallow, so food in it would cool quickly, and made of stoneware, which was harder to break and less sharp in the event that it did shatter.

In short order Patton was seated in his chair, which was not a high chair but did have a higher seat than any of Logan’s other chairs, happily digging his spoon around in his bowl. Logan and Janus, seated on either side of him, were both quiet; Janus still seemed to be turning something over, and Logan felt that work matters, which were not particularly pressing this week anyway, were less important just now than this conversation was.

“I would’ve done it,” Janus said quietly a few minutes later.

“Done what?” Logan asked, though he suspected he knew the answer.

“Gone villain. Everyone was telling me I’d have to.” Janus stared at the fridge, where a scribbled crayon drawing Patton had proudly presented to Logan last week was pinned up. “I would have done it. If you hadn’t shown up.”

Logan thought about the surly child Janus had been when they met him, crossing their arms and avoiding his eyes, clearly assuming Logan thought the worst of him, and the blank shock on their face when he offered her the apprenticeship anyway. He thought about the terrible look on Janus’s face the day Vortex had been accepted into the Heroes’ Guild, and the way they had wordlessly vanished into the training room with their dual knives in hand, emerging two hours and eight shredded dummies later and refusing to speak to Logan for the rest of the day. (Logan had hated signing off on Vortex’s contract, though he could hardly have rejected the young man’s application without accusations of favoritism that would only make things worse for Janus.) He thought about the way Janus spoke more warmly of their nemesis Viper than they did any of their coworkers.

Logan put his hand over Janus’s on the table between them and squeezed. “I know.”

Logan had seen that vulnerability from Janus quite a few times over the years. But out here in public, face-to-face with a man who they did not trust and in fact hated quite a lot, Janus’s masks and shields and walls were all up and the hurt they had never bothered to heal from was hidden away behind a sharp, dangerous grin. Janus was not afraid to poke at their own wounds if they thought they could gain something out of it. Vortex’s discomfort being a case in point. 

Janus clucked her tongue condescendingly at Vortex. “Always telling me I ought to be a villain. And now the head of the Heroes’ Guild calls my son nephew. How does it feel to be wrong, Vortex? Do tell me. I’m unfamiliar with the sensation.” 

Vortex ignored the pointed speech. “And where were you last night?” he demanded, eyes narrowing. 

“Spending the night at my boyfriend’s. I’m sure I don’t have to spell out what we were doing.” Janus sounded bored, examining his nails with pursed lips; it was a beautifully delivered lie. “Though perhaps your wife might appreciate it if I explained to you, since, you know, both of us enjoyed ourselves.”

“That is more than enough,” Logan interjected firmly, adding in a murmur to Janus, “I’d rather not rush you to my lab for burns, if it’s all the same to you.” He stepped slightly forward, emphasizing that he was on his way somewhere and had been interrupted by this whole interaction. “Vortex, thank you for the concern over Reflection’s and my own wellbeing last night. As you can see, our absence was simply a matter of poor timing. I’m going to grab some lunch now, would you care to join me?” 

Vortex scowled. “No, thanks, I just ate,” he said, far more politely than the look on his face, and he begrudgingly stepped aside and allowed Logan and Janus to pass. 

“So,” Janus said in an eager, gossipy tone when he and Logan were seated at a table in the cafeteria with their chosen meals in front of them. “Spill.” 

“I have no idea what you’re referring to,” Logan lied, taking a bite of his lasagna.

“What did I give you an excuse for? C’mon, Doc. It pissed Vortex off no end, that’s always a promising start to a story.” Janus leaned forward, propping her chin up on both hands. “It’s not like anyone can hear us.” This was true; the tables in the cafeteria were located inside of booths protected with noise-canceling barriers of Logan’s own design. The barriers both allowed privacy while eating and drastically reduced the amount of background noise in the cafeteria, making the space much less overwhelming to be in.

However, being able to safely share information about last night with Janus did not mean Logan wanted to. He shrugged. “Personal matters. My presence was requested elsewhere when the response team was doing their work.” 

Janus stared at him, pausing mid-chew, their expression growing more and more dramatically unimpressed until it shifted into theatrical disgust. Ah. They had put the pieces together. Unfortunate. “No,” they said, breathless with horrified glee.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Logan tried. 

“You missed out on hero work because you were at your boyfriend’s?” Janus demanded, sounding equal parts scandalized, annoyed, and delighted. 

“It’s more complicated than that—” 

“Oh my god, this is great. You are never allowed to yell at me for kissing Remus ever again.” 

“I do not ‘yell’ at you,” Logan protested.

“Fine, but you get all huffy about it.” Janus grinned and pointed at him with her fork. “Not allowed anymore.” 

“If you would choose other times to engage in such activities than when both of you are supposed to be working, I would have no objections to how you choose to spend your time.” 

“Right, because responding to a villain incident is totally not a time you’re supposed to be working. That’s totally different.” Janus sounded far too smug for anyone’s good. “That’s totally a responsible time for you to be getting some—”

“That is quite enough, thank you,” Logan interrupted. He frowned; he couldn’t exactly share any details with Janus about why he’d gone to Virgil’s so unexpectedly in the middle of the night. “I would like to cease discussion of this topic now.”

Janus rolled her eyes. “Fine, fine.” There was a brief silence as they both ate; then Janus looked up. “You haven’t been over for dinner in ages. Patton misses you.” 

Logan hesitated. “I know.” Once Janus had graduated college, joint dinners had alternated between their two residences for some time before settling into a solid routine—weekly at Janus’s, and once a month at Logan’s. This state of affairs had kept up with little interruption for several years. And then Janus had decided, against all Logan’s good counsel, to start dating his intern.

“I don’t work with him, we’re in different departments that have almost no overlap. So it’s not a conflict of interest. Also you can’t make me,” they’d shot off, rapid-fire, when he’d suggested a little more than a year ago that perhaps it might be wiser to remain on friendly terms only with Remus.

He had to admit that, against all his trepidations, the pair of them had made it work remarkably well. And, well, he was hardly in a place to criticize Janus for making less than perfectly sound decisions when it came to dating choices—and unfortunately, Janus knew this and would call him out on his hypocrisy should he try.

The thing was that Janus, together with Virgil, comprised the entire list of people who existed in both Logan’s work life and his personal life. He preferred to keep the two as entirely separate as possible. And Remus, as fond as Logan was of him, was located firmly in the “work” side of his life. Dinners at Janus’s were not work events, they were family events—but now, for the last several months, dinner at Janus’s was an event that included Remus. Hence Logan’s hesitation, a vague tinge of anxiety twisting in his gut despite himself. He had not been to Janus’s apartment for dinner in over six months, though Patton and Janus had come to his own as usual. Still, the frequency of their visits was drastically decreased, a state of affairs that pleased no one.

“He’s safe, you know,” Janus said, eyeing Logan shrewdly. “He’d never tell anyone.” 

Logan frowned. “You cannot predict every eventuality. Knowledge is powerful, and the further it spreads, the harder it is to control. The only ‘safe’ option is to never tell anyone. Two people is already more than I would like, no matter how much I trust you.” 

“He was fucking tortured for you,” Janus said sharply. “He didn’t say a word.” 

Logan froze. “I—I’m sorry, what?”

Janus blinked. “Oh. Right,” she said awkwardly. “I, ah, wasn’t supposed to tell you that.” 

“I—please elaborate?” 

Janus hesitated, but Logan could see the cogs in their brain turning towards the conclusion that at this point an explanation was owed. At last— “It was ages ago now. When he was kidnapped,” Janus said, frowning at his food. “That one time. The day we started dating. By the time I got him out, they’d already tried to get information out of him. He just—” They swallowed. “Just dissociated through it. Told me it was only a little worse than what he’d used to be used to. While I was resetting his dislocated fingers. He said it wasn’t that bad.” Their voice trembled slightly. 

Logan was silent for a moment, resisting the irrational urge to go find Remus right that moment and check that he was okay, apologize for not having known, ask if he knew his own wellbeing was unquestionably more important than any of Logan’s tech.

The kidnapping incident had been over a year ago. A new villain had wanted to come onto the scene with a splash, and had assumed that kidnapping Dr. Logic’s intern would be a good way to lure him out for a fight. To prove them right would have put Remus in danger of repeat incidents, so Janus had gone instead to extract him with as little fuss as possible. Remus had showed up to work the next day with a few bruises and scrapes, but he’d claimed they were superficial and had come about from the brief struggle he’d put up at being grabbed off the street. He hadn’t seemed to be concealing anything, and at the time Logan hadn’t known that Remus had good reason to be able to hide or downplay his injuries and to lie convincingly about their origins.

“Neither of you told me that,” Logan said at last, struggling to keep his tone even, fighting back the urge to be guilty, to tell himself he should have known, should have figured it out, should have looked back once he learned more about Remus’s childhood and put the pieces together, should have done something.

“He asked me not to,” Janus said shortly. “And I saw to it that he got proper treatment for his injuries.”

“Reflection, that was still highly relevant information,” Logan scolded. “His wellbeing is my responsibility, particularly in a situation like that. You should absolutely have come to me and—“

“No,” Janus interrupted. “I should not have gone back on my word to him. He’s an adult, he received the necessary medical attention and then made his own decision about how to move forward. And I was not about to betray the trust of the first guy who saw me having a kid as a good thing and not a—a fucking turn-off.”

That was right; Janus and Remus’s relationship had been so new. Of course Janus would have been in a particularly irrational frame of mind when it came to Remus, just then. Not to say that Logan was wrong. Simply that Janus’s mistake could be explained. He sighed. “Very well. I understand that the past cannot be changed. I also strongly disagree with your decision in retrospect.”

“Sure. Sorry. I’d do it again, though,” she said bluntly. “But my point was—you can trust him. With all of it. I promise you can. He looks up to you so much,” he went on, tender but also intensely sincere. “He’d never share your secrets.” 

Logan drew in a breath. “I… have not come out to anyone in a long time,” he said quietly. While his alter ego was openly trans, he rarely had to actually state it to new acquaintances—people picked up on it from his social media, or the flag on the strap of his wristwatch, or the events he attended. And he was stealth at work. It had been quite a while since he’d had to spell it out.

“Ohh,” Janus breathed, understanding. “You’re scared?”

“No,” Logan protested, then winced at how quick and loud he’d spoken. “I do feel… some trepidation about the idea,” he admitted.

“Okay,” Janus said, serious now. They hesitated, clearly thinking hard about this. “You know, you don't have to tell him,” she offered. “Even as yourself.” 

“No.” Logan shook his head at this idea. “I—I would want to. If I were to interact with him in that context. That is an important part of my other identity.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “I just—I don’t know.” 

“He’s safe,” Janus repeated, this time more gently. “Frankly, he’s more respectful of my gender than I am.” He snickered. “I think he judges me for not raising Patton gender-neutral, actually. Just a bit. Not that he’s ever said anything.”

Logan, who also did that, refrained from commenting. He could hardly fault Janus, who’d been a teenager just beginning to understand their own gender—he’d had to explain so many concepts from the ground up to Janus the first few months he’d known him, even things as basic as pronouns—for not having been prepared to think in the long term about such things. And Patton was certainly doing fine so far.

Janus was still watching him, clearly trying to think up more arguments in Remus’s defense. “I’m not breaking up with him anytime soon, you know,” she said. He crossed their arms. “Not ever, actually. Not if I can help it. So he’s not going to stop being around.”

This was a good point. Logan hesitated again. “I will think about it,” he said at last. In theory, he had no objection to Janus’s proposal. But in practice, it was hard to make the decision when it required breaking so many of his most well-established habits.

“Good.” Janus gave him a small smile. “Let me know. Anytime.”

Logan nodded. “How is Patton doing at Brennan lately?” he asked, changing the subject. 

Janus lit up. “Oh, he’s absolutely beating all the other children into the dust, you know how it is,” they said proudly. “Leaving them all in desperate tears, inconsolable in the face of the knowledge they’ll never be as good as him. Laughing in the face of their despair.” 

Logan blinked and nodded, trying very hard to keep a straight face as he imagined Patton actually doing any of what Janus had just said. “I see. Where are his lessons at lately? Children with emotion-based powers don’t usually start focusing on deliberate control until… seventh grade, isn’t it? So it would be more centered around managing his emotions to build up to that, and learning to use his common powers?” 

“Yes,” Janus confirmed. “He’s been—” 

The lighting in the cafeteria went red. 

“Another one?” Janus asked, sounding surprised and annoyed. Red lights meant a villain incident at the third level or higher had been reported. Two incidents large enough to warrant a red alarm in less than twenty-four hours was… unusual, to say the least, though Logan was not surprised at this particular one. Virgil had been very clear about his intentions for the day, and though he was unlikely to be doing anything that impacted civilians, two villains fighting each other was more than enough to draw attention and get a report filed. 

“I’ll handle it,” he said, holding down the button on his wristwatch that would transmit his voice to the heroes’ intercom channel. “Everyone, please resume normal operations until further notice.” 

Logan made a quick stop at his lab to grab a few gadgets he thought might come in handy, as well as an iced coffee and a bluetooth speaker, before checking the location of the reported incident. Count Ruthless’s lair, as expected. He left without much fanfare—after all, he preferred that this encounter draw as little attention from his coworkers as possible.

-

Taglist (ask to be added/removed!): @the-sympathetic-villain @theimprobabledreamersworld @remy-the-lemon-berry @midnightstorm-underthe-moon @crazydemigod666 @perplexed-kale @did-he-just-hiss-at-me @virgil-is-verge @simplestoryteller @oblivionartworks @so-youre-a-rock-with-issues @emoprincey @theblackcatscratchpost @biwithapie @poettheythem

[nb-octopus-writes]

Cookies and Cuddles

Summary:

As Thomas's Anxiety, Virgil can tell when the other sides are stressed, and he's going to do something about that.

other titles I considered include:

Stress, Snickerdoodles, and Snuggles

Gemtle Squish

How to Trick Your Friend into Taking a Much-Needed Break

Stress-Baking, Snuggle Blanket, Sleepy Bois

Worried Boi, Weighted Blanket

Wordcount: 1.7 K

~

Virgil was Thomas’s Anxiety. As such, if Thomas was anxious, Virgil knew why. (Well. Usually. When the anxiety was a nebulous ball of uncertainty, Virgil couldn’t place what was wrong. But he always knew at least as much as Thomas did.) However, things worked a bit differently inside the mindscape. While Virgil could still feel it if one of the other sides was anxious, he couldn’t tell what the source was, and general stress was even harder to place than anxiety.

There had been an uncomfortable ball of nerves in Virgil’s stomach all afternoon. He’d tried ignoring it until it went away on its own, but that hadn’t worked yet, so he went to figure out what was causing it. Most of the tension was a general stress he couldn’t source, but there was an edge of anxiety, and that felt like Patton. Virgil sank out of his room to pop in on the Pop.

Patton was in the kitchen, taking a tray of cookies out of the oven. Janus was also there, sitting on the counter and daintily eating a muffin. Patton stood holding the cookies for a moment, frowning thoughtfully at the counters. They were already strewn with other baked goods, and there wasn’t enough space for the baking tray.

“Why are you stress-baking,” Virgil said.

“I’m not stress-baking,” Patton said distractedly, which explained why Janus was there. He set the tray of cookies down on the stove so he could close the oven and started shuffling the baked goods around to make some space.

“Of course you’re not,” the physical representation of deception said in a gentle tone that nonetheless made it clear that Patton wasn’t fooling anyone. “This is absolutely a totally normal amount of baking to do in a single day. Especially considering that we’re imaginary and don’t actually need food.”

Patton didn’t answer, just continued to move the muffins closer together.

“Plus, I’m Thomas’s Anxiety, and you’re part of Thomas,” Virgil said. “I could tell you were stressed from my room.”

Patton sighed. He started picking at the wrapper of one of the muffins. “I’m worried about Roman,” he admitted. “He’s been working so hard, and I can’t get him to come out of his room and take a break. I thought, maybe, I could tempt him out with a snack, but…” He sighed.

Well, that would explain the rest of the tension, if Roman wasn’t taking care of himself. Virgil nodded and sank out. He popped back into physicality just outside the twins’ room. The door was cracked, so Virgil knocked on the frame instead.

No answer.

Virgil pushed the door open a little further. “Roman?”

Roman was sitting at his desk, back to the door, scribbling away on a piece of parchment with a quill made of a large red feather.

“Roman,” Virgil said again, a little louder.

Still, Roman took no notice, so Virgil went in. He glanced over at Remus’s side of the room, but the other creativitwin was currently absent.

Coming up behind Roman, Virgil put his hand on his shoulder. “Roman.”

Roman yelped, flinging his hands and the quill in the air. “Jumping—! jellyfish!” he yelled, eyes wide and startled. “Haven’t you ever heard of knocking?”

“I did,” Virgil said. “‘Jumping jellyfish’?”

“You startled me,” Roman huffed. “It’s alliterative. Why are you in my room?”

“I am full of stress and anxiety. I want you to lie on me like a cat and squish them out,” Virgil explained. He knew from past experience that if he framed it as helping Virgil, rather than taking a break for his own sake, Roman was more likely to actually do it. They really needed to work on the prince's self-care habits.

But for now, direct intervention would do. Besides, it was true, just not in the way Virgil was implying. He was full of stress and anxiety, and Roman lying on top of him would help get rid of it. It was just that the stress was all Roman's, and Patton's on Roman's behalf, and it would be more the fact that Roman was taking a break, and less the squishing, that would fix it.

Roman frowned. "Don't you have a weighted blanket for that?" he asked, audibly concerned.

"Yeah, well, it's not working for this one."

Roman's concerned frown deepened. "Do you need a better one?" he asked, reaching for his quill again. "I could design—"

"No," Virgil interrupted quickly. "Nope, it's just a different kind of stress this time, that I can't get rid of by myself."

"Oh," Roman said. "And you want me to help?"

Virgil nodded.

"Me… specifically?"

"I don't think it would work with anyone else today," Virgil told him honestly. "Please, Roman. I need you."

That did it. Roman could never resist a friend in need. Honestly, that was part of the problem. But this time, Virgil was exploiting it for Roman's own benefit, so that made it better, right? Whatever. He could let the others debate the morals and whatever of it.

His objective, right now, was to get Roman to take a break and relax for a while.

"Of course I'll help you," Roman said, getting up and taking Virgil's hands. "Do you want to go to your room?"

"Nah. I wouldn't want to steep you in the anxious vibes."

"Mm. Good point." Roman glanced back at his desk. "Well, we shouldn't stay here, or I'll keep wanting to get up and write, and I won't be a good blanket."

No, that would not work at all. "Living room?" Virgil suggested.

Roman beamed at him. "That'll work!" he said, and they sank out.

Virgil rose in with Roman, and as always, it made him dizzy and a bit nauseous. He stumbled and leaned on the prince, waiting for the feeling to subside.

"I've gotcha," Roman said soothingly, wrapping an arm around Virgil's waist to hold him securely. His other hand rested lightly on Virgil's back.

Virgil relaxed, and took a deep breath. It helped. "Thanks."

"Of course," Roman said tenderly. He picked Virgil up, carried him across the room, and laid him on the couch. Then he summoned a few pillows, placing them around him to box him in securely. He even tucked one under Virgil's knees.

"Do you want to change your outfit?" Roman asked, his hand resting lightly on Virgil's calf just below the knee.

Virgil supposed that the zipper on his hoodie might be uncomfortable pressed between them. He swapped it for the Christmas sweater Roman had made him. His neck immediately felt cold.

"Could you make me a version with a hood?" He didn't want to drain Roman's creative energy any more, but it was a very small request. "Just to be a little cozier."

Roman's eyebrows rose a bit, but he nodded, and with the soft whooshing sound that tended to accompany his reality-altering, the sweater had a soft hood. Then he swapped his own princely garb for his own Christmas sweater and a pair of soft red pants with little golden crowns on them.

"Need anything else?"

Virgil reached up, making grabby hands. "You."

Roman smiled, and gently lay down on top of him.

Virgil sighed happily, grabbing a fistful of Roman's sweater in each hand. It was soft, and gave him a nice pressure on his palms, and most importantly, it was an extra assurance that Roman couldn't leave.

Roman summoned a blanket over them both. He settled comfortably in Virgil's arms, and Virgil could feel the tension leak out of his muscles.

"Thanks, Roman," Virgil said. Already, the ball of stress in his stomach had lessened, and if he could get Roman to take an entire nap, it would probably dissolve entirely.

Plus, even if this was mostly for Roman's benefit, the squish of Friend really was nice.

"You're welcome, Spoops," Roman said fondly. He yawned and somehow managed to snuggle even closer. "Anytime."

~ flashback ~

Virgil sank out of the kitchen without a word. Patton looked at the spot where he had been for several long seconds, then looked to Janus.

"Where do you think he went?"

"Beats me," Janus drawled. Patton gave him a look, and he shrugged. "I would guess to go deal with the source of your anxiety."

"Oh." Patton started taking the cookies off the tray, putting them on a cutting board to cool. "I hope he has more success than I did."

Janus hummed. After a bit, he reported, "He's lying by omission."

Patton looked up. "Really? What's he saying?"

"You know it doesn't work that way," Janus said. "Unless I pop in on them, I can no more hear what lies Virgil is telling than he could tell what was worrying you." He tilted his head, as though listening, and stuck his tongue out slightly to taste the air. "Or not telling, rather. Every word he's said is true, but he's left out some valuable details."

“Hm,” Patton said. “Do you want a cookie?”

Janus lifted his muffin, still only half eaten. “After I finish this.”

“Okay.” Baking sheet emptied, Patton took it back to the table to fill it again from the mixing bowl of cookie dough.

A hand in a yellow glove snuck around beside him to snitch a ball of cookie dough right off the tray, and Patton lightly slapped it. It retreated, taking the raw cookie with it.

“I thought you were finishing your muffin first,” Patton scolded, turning around. Janus was still sitting on the counter, eating the muffin with an extremely innocent expression. So innocent that it was obviously put on for Patton’s benefit. He appeared to be leaning on one arm, his hand hidden behind the flour bin. The stolen cookie dough was nowhere in sight.

Patton rolled his eyes and returned to his task. Shortly, he had the tray filled again, and put it in the oven.

“Oh good,” Janus said. “Virgil and Roman are indulging in some self-care.”

Patton’s heart lifted hopefully. “They are?”

“Would I lie to you?” Deceit asked playfully.

“Yes.”

Janus smirked.

“Are they, though?”

“See for yourself.” Janus gestured toward the living room, and Patton turned just in time to see Roman, wearing his Christmas sweater, lean down behind the back of the couch.

“Oh, good.” He pondered the snacks again. “Do you think they’d like some cookies?”

“Probably. But you might want to wait until they get to the movies part of self-care, instead of the nap part.”

That was fair. Patton gathered up the dirty dishes to wash them, humming lightly to himself. “I think, that’s enough baking for today.”

[reverse-moon]

Hhhhhh

One of the sides taking pain meds

And one of the others having to watch to make sure they don't do anything stupidddd

Characters: Logan and Virgil Logan takes a little more than he should of a dose of pain meds Virgil is reluctant to help Yep.

---

How did Virgil get roped into this again?

Oh right. Logan, you know - the brain, had messed up and gotten really hurt. So, he had to take a pain pill.

Virgil knew how everyone reacted to pain pills. He made sure to know - Patton grew cuddly and sleepy, Roman and Remus just became tamer versions of themselves, and Janus somehow became more snake-like and sometimes got a fever. Virgil himself grew more anxious and also often needed more than one calming presence around him to even try and sleep it off.

But Logan never had a need. He never got hurt enough to need pain killers; he was too careful. So imagine the surprise when they all heard Logan ask for some.

Naturally, the choice for making sure Logan didn't have issues was Virgil. "What?! Why me?! I'm pretty sure I'm the least qualified!"

"Virgil, didn't you say you didn't have a list of how we all react to different pills and medicine?" Janus asked, reading a book.

"W-Well, yes... B-But-"

"Janus is right, Virge. Out of everyone, for something so sudden like this, you are a bit more ready for this." Patton said.

And thus, Virgil was in Logan's room, leaning on the wall as he waited for the effect to kick in. It had been about 30 minutes, around the time it usually would kick in normally. So...

He noticed Logan had been a bit quiet for a while... But there's a lot that could get him silent. "You good, Logan?"

"Hm? Oh, uh, yeah... I think... Am I supposed to feel fuzzy-headed when on things like this?" Logan asked softly.

Oh, good lord...

"Depending on the pill, it can do things like that. You took what again?" Virgil rubbed the bridge of his nose as he asked.

"Ibuprofen, about 450 milligrams."

...What?

"Logan, the recommended max dose is 400 milligrams within 4 to 6 hours. How even did you get a 50 milligram dose added, most tablets are 200 milligrams." Virgil said, moving from the wall to Logan.

"That might be why my brain is fuzzy..."

"You're LOGIC, how did you not know that you shouldn't take more than 400 milligrams?!" Virgil said, rather anxious. "You are way smarter than that!"

"In my defence, Virgil, I was - still sort of am - in a lot of pain. I took was I thought was needed." Logan said, looking at the anxious side. "... Why are my glasses not working-"

Virgi groaned. It wasn't exactly a high off of the pain killers, per say. But it was close enough. "You took them off ten minutes ago because you were planning on laying down. You know, 'cause you're in pain?"

"I did- Right... However, I have work, so I should get that done." Logan blindly looked for his glasses, worrying Virgil. Once Virgil spotted them, he sneakily hit them in his pocket.

"Logan, I don't think it's a good idea for you to be doing work right now. Maybe that laying down is the better option while you're fuzzy in the brain and hurting." Virgil said. "I mean... What if Thomas suffers in production because of a small mess up. We don't want that, right?"

"Virgil, I assure you... As soon as my glasses are back on my face, I'll be alright." He said. "I can't fall behind." Logan hummed a little. "How did we even start saying the phrase 'fall behind'? I mean, yes, if someone falls while in a group, the group may continue on their path. Which in turn, leaves the fallen behind. But from my understanding, at least one person from the group will care enough to backtrack and help whoever fell. Right? This means that no matter if they fell or not, someone kept them from 'falling behind'. Correct?"

Virgil shook his head, confused. "I don't know. Just lay down, you're head isn't-"

"And how did the term 'head on straight' and its variations come to be? Technically, every head is straight, but it also can change how it's oriented. But it is attached to the human body in one way, therefore, it's 'on straight' no matter what." Logan continued.

Oh, good fucking lord...

"That wasn't what I was going to say, but again, I don't know. I was gonna say your head isn't wanting to cooperate. So you really should lay down." Virgil said. He was really getting tired of this high-like trip Logan was on. "Can you j-" He looked over from the bed to find Logan right in front of him. "When did you-"

Virgil was cut off by Logan moving closer, his actions pushing Anxiety into the wall. He blushed, confused and probably causing Thomas to have way higher anxiety than planned (he'd have to apologise later). "L-Logan?" He managed to get out, looking up at the tall nerd.

"Did you know how special you are, Virgil...?" Logan's tone was deeper than normal. "You're amazing... And honestly..."

The next few minutes had to be a blur. There was no way Logan, of all sides, had leaned in. There was no way Logan kissed him for three minutes, pulled away from Virgil a little then flung himself and Virgil onto the bed before falling asleep in less than 30 seconds. There was just no way.

Worst part? He wasn't even sure if Logan would remember that. So he couldn't even ask, because it might just become an accusation at Logic.

...At least Virgil could still feel the joy from the kiss...

[writingsoftheghost]

Sleepy

cw:sleep deprivation, stress

Based on this prompt by @sleepyvirgilprompts

Patton felt guilty, they were all stressed with everything going on, but he didn’t think about how Virgil was probably taking it. Like he knew he was stressed, but he never thought it could be this bad. Roman and Logan were feeling similarly, both regretting the amount of pressure they’d no doubt been putting the anxious trait under.

They all logically knew he would take the brunt of Thomas’s stress, but they had a tendency to forget sometimes. Usually it was fine, they’d finish a project and Virgil would take a couple days to himself in his room, however, most of these projects were worked on gradually over a few months before the deadline got to be serious and the intensely stressful period started.

However this project had gone differently...

This time, Thomas had procrastinated a little, and so they were cramming months of work into one week. It was rather hectic and Virgil was working overtime. Everyone assumed he’d be fine once they finished.

On the day of their deadline, he was currently reminding everyone that they only had a few hours left for the fourth time when Roman turned around to face him.

“Shut up already! We know! If you could cool it with the doomsday clock that would be fuckin’ great!”

Virgil flinches slightly before recovering and switching his demeanor, “Well, I’m sorry,” he growls, “but this has to get done.”

“You could help a little,” Roman spits back.

“I’m providing the adrenaline,” Virgil grumbles before stalking off to where Logan and Thomas are editing the video.

It goes on like this up until the last hour, Virgil running around and Roman shouting at him to chill. Patton briefly attempts to calm the two, but Virgil makes it clear that he doesn’t have time to waste on things like tea or cookies.

The work is done and they all breathe out a sigh of relief when Thomas starts the upload process.

“We did it, kiddos!” Patton smiles at all of them.

Virgil wipes at his eyes tiredly, “Yay...”

He looks at his hands covered in black eyeshadow. He laughs a little, the laughter quickly turns into sharp, hiccuping sobs.

“Oh, kiddo,” Patton approaches him slowly with open arms.

Virgil takes a step forward into the parental side’s arms, he gives one last shaky sob before collapsing into Patton’s embrace.

“Woah,” Patton scrambles to catch Virgil before he falls to the floor, he pulls the other side back up against his chest protectively. “Virgil?” he asks softly.

A soft snore is the only response he gets.

Patton makes a sympathetic noise, “Oh, Virge.”

“What’s wrong with him?” Roman demands, his eyes wide and glued to the sleeping trait. Thomas and Logan are also having a hard time keeping the concern from their faces.

Patton shushes the creative side, “He’s exhausted,” he whispers, rubbing a hand up the hoodie clad side’s back.

Logan sighs, but nods. Thomas says he’s feeling tired too and heads to bed for a nap.

They all sink out together, Patton scooping Virgil into a secure hold before reentering the mindscape.

Patton lays down on the couch with a soft sigh, Virgil whines softly as he’s readjusted to a more comfortable position. The fatherly side lays the sleeping trait’s head onto his chest, placing a protective hand onto Virgil’s back and pressing a kiss to his forehead.

The anxious side’s hands come up from their place at his sides to fist themselves in Patton’s shirt.

Patton chuckles, “Sweet dreams, kiddo.”

Eventually Patton has to get up, he slips out from beneath the other side without disturbing him, so he goes off to use the restroom and take a shower.

Virgil wakes up alone on the couch, he doesn’t remember how he got there. He sits up and stretches, he checks the time, it’s mid evening.

Roman enters the living room then, Virgil jumps slightly. The prince looks shocked to see him.

“I thought you’d sleep longer.”

Virgil shrugs, “Why?”

Roman rolls his eyes, “Because you collapsed, you dork, Lo said we shouldn’t expect you awake until tomorrow morning at the earliest.”

“Collapsed?” Virgil asks dumbly.

“Yes, collapsed.” Roman repeats, “You scared Patton half to death, Logan thought you fainted.”

“Oh, sorry.”

Roman sighs, he sits down on the couch next to the emo, “How do you feel?”

Virgil shrugs, “Fine, where’s Pat?”

Roman points to the hall, “Shower. When was the last time you slept?”

Virgil looks at him for a minute, “I just woke up?”

The prince groans, “Before that, Virge.”

Virgil blinks slowly, he was still so tired, “I don’t know...”

Roman nods, “That’s about as good as we expected, I’m sorry for yelling at you yesterday.”

“Yesterdaaaa—oh no! The project! Did you guys—”

“God, calm down, Hot Topic. It was finished before you even fell asleep. Don’t you remember?”

Virgil blinks at him slowly, he takes a moment before shaking his head.

Roman sighs for like the fifth time and Virgil’s starting to get rather annoyed by it, if he’s so frustrated why doesnt he just leave?

“Roman, I told you not to wake him up,” Logan grumbles angrily from the staircase.

“I didn’t, he was already awake!” Roman cries indignantly.

Logan glares at him for another second before turning back to Virgil, “How are you feeling?”

“Why does everyone keep asking that? I’m fine! I took a nap! I’m sorry for freaking everyone out, okay?!”

“Virgil,” and Logan sits down between him and Roman on the couch, “We aren’t upset with you, we’re worried. You don’t need to feel guilty about that, but we need to know what caused you to collapse like that.”

Virgil turns away feeling embarrassed, “I didn’t mean to...”

“We know,” Logan reaches out a hand and gives the other side’s a comforting squeeze. “How long have you been going without sleep.”

Virgil shrugs, “Most of the week,” he mumbles.

Logan nods, “We need to have a talk about how you deal with stress.”

Patton comes back from the bathroom, he also looks shocked to see that Virgil is awake.

“Hey, kiddo. How ya feelin’?”

Virgil shakes his head, “I’m tired.”

Logan nods, “That’s to be expected, before we let you go back to sleep, however, i advise you to eat something small.”

Virgil nods, he was rather hungry. 

“I’ll make you a sandwich,Vee.” Patton turns to Logan, “Sit with him, please?”

Logan nods.

“I don’t need to be babysat,” Virgil protests weakly.

Logan nods, “I know, but Patton and I think you may benefit from the presence of others. Studies have shown that physical contact,” he gestures at his hand that’s still wrapped around Virgil’s, “Helps alleviate stress.”

Virgil nods, “Okay. Makes sense I guess.”

They sit in silence until Virgil finishes eating, Patton wordlessly offers himself as a pillow again and Virgil is back to sleep in seconds. Roman smiles when Virgil puts his feet in his lap, he assumes that means he’s been forgiven.

Logan smiles as he begins preparing a presentation on healthy sleep habits and coping with stress to show Virgil in the morning.

----------------------------------

Taglist:

@idont-freaking-know @aceawkwardunicorn @cute-and-angsty-princess @emo--nightmaree @a-yeet-bop-bop-boom @me-a-mess-morelikelythanyouthink @katlikethesword @tranquil-space-ninja @book-limerence

[kanene-yaaay]

Go to Sleep

Kanene’s note: Gosh, having a schedule is weird. I just wanna post everything I already wrote and ramble non stop about it asdfgtyujkigfdo. XD

Well, this was suppose to be a drabble, but it’s very long so sdftyujikgfred. I hope you like it!

Warnings, fun facts, random things and stuff:

* This characters don’t belongs to me! They all belong to Thomas Sanders from the serie Sanders Sides.

* This is a SFW tickle fanfic. If you don’t appreciate this kind of content, please, look for another blog. There are a plenty of fabulous arts in this site!! ^w^)b

* This is Lee!Virgil with Ler!Roman. Around 1.500 words.

* Sorry for any spelling, pontuation and grammar mistakes! Any and every advice is very very welcome! \(-w-)/

* Listen a bit to the birds today. Changing the way you think is not a bad thing. Drink water, sleep, eat and love!

[~*~]

Roman growled, missing by a few inches the button of his thunderous, infuriating alarm before finally hitting it. Staring and blinking lazily at the numbers his brain struggled to discern and recognize, only to confirm it was really time to wake up and start the day. He grabbed his pillow and squeezed it with all the strength he could muster, rolling from one side to other on the mattress, trying to wake up his body as quick as his mind and almost falling from the bed a reasonable number of times during the process.

 He got up, yawing, stretching and humming as the first lyrics of the day stuck on his head, hand rubbing at his eyes as he followed the kitchen’s direction with slow steps and tired sways on the beat of the song.

 Two dark, wide eyes stared right back at him, their owner completely frozen on the spot with his hand inside the cabinet, probably already holding some sort of a snack. Roman also stopped mid-step, gears running inside his mind, gaze locked on the other, his brow progressively furrowing.

“Virgil,” he began, voice slightly hoarse “What the heckty heck are you doing up? It’s barely seven in the morning!” Virgil only stared back, slowly closing the cabinet’s door, as if afraid the movement would startle the other. Roman proceeded to get some eggs and other cold ingredients from the refrigerator for the breakfast, his words growing more awake and vivid as they spilled with no filter or whatsoever from his lips. “You got an early shift again or something? Those are absolutely hellish. A bunch of people exhausted, tired and glaring at you as if you are the holder of all their problems and their solutions can only be achieved by being insufferable pieces of- Urg. I can’t believe they would give you one right after you got the night one. Damn, I didn’t even see you arriving here yesterday!”

 He turned his attention back at the other, looking for a kind of frustration in the place of the still startled, wide gaze which continued to be directed at him. Virgil nodded slowly, stepping away and putting some physical distance between him and the confusion on Roman’s features.

 Then, between the strings of sleepiness that clouded his brain, it clicked.

 Suddenly more details on the other’s behavior started to become clearer: the way Virgil’s hair was messier than his usual ““style”” (Roman scoffed mentally, thinking that if he rolled his eyes any harder they would never come back to his normal place again), his wary, yes, but way too much slow movements, the way he seemed to be unable to stop blinking at every millisecond and, above it all, the final piece of the puzzle.

 Virgil wasn’t wearing his pajamas.

 “YOU DIDN’T!” Roman gasped, as if Virgil’s life choices were a personal attack. “YOU DIDN’T GET ANY SLEEP LAST NIGHT!!” A turn of heels and he was again fixating his glare on the other, his free hand accusingly pointing in his direction, receiving an annoyed hiss as immediate answer.

 “Shut up!” Virgil snarled, practically growling back at him. “It’s fucking seven am don’t be so freaking loud.”

 “Don’t change the subject! Why didn’t you go to sleep?”

 The one being questioned just snorted, half amused. “Bold of you to assume I’d ever sleep in my whole life.”

 “That is it.” Virgil didn’t even have the time to wonder the meaning of his friend’s sentence before the aforementioned picked him up, resulting to a not very contained shriek escaping from his lips and his hands not much gracefully – or gently, although since they were keen on just jumping on each other out of nowhere to play fight Princey would be fine - meeting his friend’s face.

 “Roman! What the he-”

 “Did you just SLAP me? My beautiful face?! Before my own beautiful eyes??” Virgil Storm always got, even if he would never admit this out loud, surprised with Roman’s capacity of doing a series of offended incoherent noises which evolved to words before being carefully metamorphosed in weird noises all over again, and in the end still managing to form comprehensible sentences. His surprise did nothing to quell the grumpy snark immediately flying from lips, though.

 “And I’m going to do it again if you don’t let me go in this exact instant.”

 “You go and try to help and that is the acknowledgement you get,” The one wearing pajamas with little crows printed on it huffed, mumbling in a lower tone as he noticed the sharp gaze being thrown in his direction. “fucking unbelievable.”

 “I still can hear you, Princey. You’re literally carrying me.”

 “I sTiLL cAn HeAr yOu-OW! Ow! Ow!” The sentence was interrupted when the sleep deprived one punched Roman’s shoulder. “You’re insufferable, you know that?”

 “Let me fucking gAAH!” In a way his wish was granted, one could say as they watched his protest being cut as Storm was impolitely tossed on his bed, Roman quickly following his friend on the mattress, arms hugging him from behind, and physically preventing him from escaping his current soft predicament. “Prince, you’re dead.”

 “Shhh, no talking. We’re sleeping.”

 “We are not. You are being a pain in ass and I am about to defenestrate you.” Despite his fervent protests, his sharp, flaming glare began to lose its heat, his body not doing any actual effort to free himself from the other’s – strong, good - grip, muscles starting to relax against the great warmth involving him in a comfortable and secure blanket.

 “Sure, sure, mister Grumpy Pants, you can do that when you wake up.” He tightened a bit his hold around Virgil, yet being the most careful as possible, actively ignoring the annoyed hiss his friend gave him. His hoodie was really fluffy at the touch, slightly remembering his stuffed animals he frequently hugged to sleep.

 For a moment, everything was pleasantly quiet. The one with smudged makeup, since he hadn’t time to get it off before being trapped by his roommate and best friend, felt the tiredness becoming sleepiness as the seconds went by.

 …That was until an electric sensation shot across his spine, leading him to almost jump in the same place 

 “S-stop nuzzling me!”

 “Hm? Oh sorry.” Virgil pressed his lips tightly closed, preventing the wobbly giggles to escape as Roman speaks, not realizing how close his mouth was from the base of his neck, every breath sending tickly shocks across every nerve. “You’re just too much sooooft.”

 Roman opened an eye when realized that no snark remark from the other followed his words, the figure in his arms shaking too much to be asleep. A frown painted his feature as he readjusted the position of his hands, trying to get a bit more of balance to look at Virgil’s face when suddenly a high-pitched yelp escaped, cutting the air and immediately catching their attention.

 “Did you just squeal?” He questioned as his glare assumed a playful shine seeing a blush spread on his now frozen friend.

 “It was NOT a squeal! It was a yelp.” Virgil’s words came so fast that they almost tripped on themselves. Roman snorted, a smile taking over his face. “Get off me!” and, in the moment the one wearing a hoodie tried to pry his hand from the spot on his right side where it was resting, the pieces finally clicked in the right place and his smile quickly submerged, giving space to a smirk.

 ‘No WAY Doctor Doom and Gloom is ticklish!’

 However, the red lover only blinked as the true personification of innocence and naiveness, his hand firm in its place, fingers starting to slowly move, light pokes being delivered on the sensitive skin. “But why that, Knight Mare? It’s cold and all I could ever want is just to hug my bestest friend!”

 “You already hugged me, now go aWAY!” His voice trembled in the last second, the exact moment his thumb experimentally scratched the spot right under the lowest ribs, leading a surprised squeak to leave Virgil’s mouth.

 They both stared at each other, gleaming, filling their wide eyes.

 “No.” Virgil said, trying to squirm away but finding himself stuck between Prince and the wall. Roman didn’t even attempt to hide his smug grin, anymore. This was going to be so much fun

 “Don’t you dare! Don’t you freaking dare!!” His friend only laid down again, now carefully, yet firmly, pulling him one more time against his chest, growling playfully. Years and years fighting for the Tickle Monster title on his family, battles and battles against Remus only sharpening his skills, which showed by the way his fingers seemed to find every single weak spot on Virgil’s skin, wiggles, scribbles, pokes and scratching exploring everywhere. “No! Nononono! You fucker, you moron, you bitch, you-” A few chuckles cut his curses as he one wearing pajamas squeezed his side a couple of times, the tip of his fingers also teasing his ticklish stomach. “Roman!!”

 “No, no, my so dear, so ticklish, friend. Roman is no longer here, this is…” He paused for a dramatic effect, basically beaming at the giggly giggles and wiggly wiggles from the other. He shoved his face on his neck, the next words vibrating almost as bad as the spidering on his ribs. “The Tickle Monster!!”

[i-will-physically-fight-you]

For your one word prompt request, how about "Lilac"?

Pairing: Platonic, familial moxiety

The walls are purple. Not a deep royal purple, no, rather the opposite side of the spectrum entirely. A muted, pale purple--the kind of purple that paint stores might label as "gentle lavender" or "sleepy lilac".

Virgil twists his lips, tracing a finger against the edges of the wall; they were eggshell white when he'd left for school in the morning.

"Careful! The paint is still drying!" Virgil jumps at the voice that calls out behind him.

He takes a deep breath, steadying himself. It's just Patton Ernest, his foster father as of a week ago. Virgil can't seem what to make of the guy that decided fostering teenagers was a good idea. Especially when Virgil is going to probably be his first and last foster when he royally fucks up the way he inevitably does.

"I, um, sorry." Virgil says, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

"No worries," Patton says, half sheepish grin enveloping his face, "I hope it's okay--I mean you said you liked purple so I thought I'd surprise ya and help the room feel more your own--but I realize now that maybe I should've asked first."

Virgil looks at him. There's an ugly, twisted part of him that wants to make a snide remark and slam the door in Patton's face. There's also a pitiful, cowardly part of him that wants to admit he's touched by the gesture. So he settles for neither and yet both at the same time.

"I mean, purple's cool, so thanks. But it's also still your house so. I won't be offended if you end up repainting it after I leave." Virgil shrugs, closing the door before he can catch the look on Patton's face.

[izzyfandoms]

Sleepy cuddles! Maybe a side being grumpy (Roman sounds good for being grumpy) because /tired/ and someone else (Logan or Virgil, maybe? Or Logan AND Virgil) convincing him to go to sleep, with party A refusing to without cuddles. Party B, clearly, does not have a problem with that.

Analogince - Grumpy

GENERAL TAGLIST: @quillfics42 @aj-draws @phantomofthesanderssides @phlying-squirrel @sly-is-my-name-loving-is-my-game @because-were-fam-ily @imtryingthisout @a-creepycookie @littlestr @spooky-scary-virgil @fuyel @mimsidoodles @soupgremlin @aroaceagenderfluid @birdsbookshiddeninrealbirdsskin @quirkalurk @gingers-trashy-stuff @iinyxtello @justaqueercactus @melodiread @mrbubbajones @pun-master-logan @gayturtlez @k1ngtok1 @yourneighborhooddisaster @alexxander-the-gay @full-of-roman-angst-trash @selfcarejanus

Masterpost

"What's got you so grumpy?" Virgil asked, his arms crossed as he looked over Roman.

Roman huffed, crossing his arms, too.

"I'm not grumpy!" He exclaimed. "I am as perfect and regal as ever. How dare you accuse me of such unprincely behaviour!"

Virgil raised an eyebrow.

"Sure," he said flatly.

"I'm not!" Roman complained. "I'm not grumpy. Maybe you're just grumpy and you're projecting it onto me."

Virgil watched him for a moment, looking over his grumpy expression and crossd arms and usual slouch. Then, he turned away, looking to the door.

"L, Roman's being grumpy!" He loudly called out. "Help me convince him to go to bed!"

Roman let out an offended gasp.

"How dare you attempt to bring in reinforcements against me! Logan, tell him that he is being ridiculous and that I do not need to sleep."

"Everyone needs sleep, Roman," Logan said as he entered the room. "And you are certainly being more miserable than usual, which is likely linked to the fact that you did not get enough sleep last night - I kept track - so I am going to have to take Virgil's side in this instance."

Roman let out another highly offended noise, his hand over his heart.

"Excuse me? I am being attacked by my two beloved boyfriends. Oh, how tragic!"

He let out an exaggerated sigh, and Virgil snorted. Roman glared at Virgil, though it was as weak as it always was when it came to his boyfriends, as he did love them.

"Come on, princey," Virgil said. "It's bed time."

Roman huffed, crossing his arms once more.

"You can't tell me what to do."

"That is true, you do have free will, so we cannot make you do anything," Logan conceded. "But I will say that I do recommend you getting some sleep, not only because it will help your mood, but also because it is quite good for you."

"Yeah, L's right," Virgil said. "Come on. You stayed up all night last night - don't think we didn't notice - so you need some sleep."

Roman stared at his two boyfriends for a few seconds, before he let out a sigh.

"Fine," he said. "I suppose the two of you are making some decent points. But! I have one condition. I will go to sleep, if the two of you cuddle with me."

Virgil and Logan exchanged a look.

"Deal," they both said in unison.