#baby virgil au

[renomonarch5058]

Cool dad Remus

[skeletinmoss]

Today I had a dream

A baby lawyer, lawyer for babies. Pat is so gonna adopt him in the end.

[sanders-sides-uncorrect-quotes]

Pre-AA Virgil save me

Save me

Save me Pre-AA Virgil

time taken: 2 ½ hours

[stormclouds-makeraine]

virgil and his baaabbyyy :3

(from a human AU where anxceit are exes and coparents!!!!!)

[delimeful]

WIBAR Intermission: Visiting Home (1/3)

G/T July Day 17: Home

this intermission has 3 parts, taking place during different points in the WIBAR timeline. this chapter takes place before LMMR/Act 2 of WIBAR! baby time :)

shoutout to nyn for inspiring the last scene with Roman at the end! 

warnings: negative assumptions, mentions of blood/hunting/injury, mild fear/nervousness, other than that it's all fluff (literally)

-

Despite the tension buzzing at the back of his skull, Virgil found that being planetside again was surprisingly… nice.

He would have preferred that it was an uninhabited area— or at least, that it wasn’t one of the only places in the universe that had aliens he really, really couldn’t afford to terrify— but he couldn’t deny that feeling the ground under his feet and the sunlight on his skin was soothing, a balm he hadn’t known he’d needed.

It wasn’t the same as Earth, not really, but Patton’s home planet was close enough to familiar that he found tension seeping from his overwrought muscles despite himself.

He shook some of the dazed contentment off, flicking a glance over his shoulder and reminding himself that if any of the locals saw him, it could spell Capital-D Disaster.

His little excursion into one of the less populated natural areas near the little port town was entirely unplanned, and all the riskier for it, but they simply hadn’t had any better options.

Patton had been putting off visiting his family for longer than anyone would have liked— first with the excuse of healing from his injuries, and then with the financial strain that had come from his crewmates dedicating the bulk of their time to searching for him, rather than doing their usual delivery and transport jobs.

(The strain of providing for an entire new off-the-books crewmate, too, Virgil knew. He tried to avoid taking up too much, resource-wise, but there was only so little he could eat before his symptoms went from barely-tolerable to unmanageable.

The adrenaline crash and resulting sprains after he’d intervened in the raiders’ attack had been a painful reminder that most days, his body felt like it was barely holding together at the seams.)

Finally, they’d managed to weave together a cover story believable enough that the trip was set in motion, with the caveat that Patton would go planetside to visit, and Virgil would stay on the ship, up in orbit, firmly out of range of discovery.

Patton hated the idea of lying to his loved ones, wanted more than anything to introduce Virgil and prove he wasn’t the monster the galaxy thought he was, but even his stubborn optimism hadn’t held up under the combined forces of the other 3/4ths of the crew.

It was too dangerous for word to get out about Virgil, especially after the close call they’d already had, narrowly averted thanks to Remyy. Between Logan’s points on the historical government response to rumors of rogue humans, Roman’s assertions that bounty hunters of all kinds would begin targeting them, and Virgil’s own intense discomfort with the idea of his existence being revealed to others when he’d only just gotten free, Patton had conceded, if a bit morosely.

So, things had proceeded according to plan… right up until Patton’s clutchmates commed in, requesting that they bring the Mindscape down so that they could fill Patton’s quarters and kitchen with a variety of gifts and supplies to remind him of home after he left.

Patton hadn’t been informed. A surprise, they’d said, meant to show their love and care for their sibling in a way that would linger as long as possible.

It was a cultural custom, apparently, and Patton’s hard headed tendencies must have run in the family, because they’d refused to take no for an answer without a good reason.

Unfortunately for the reason in question, informing them that there was another crew member onboard who couldn’t be seen by anyone else would only defeat the purpose of staying off planet in the first place.

And so, after very intense sweep of the ship to hide away any trace of Virgil’s presence, he’d swept his old cloak around his shoulders, followed Logan offboard, and let himself be guided to what seemed to be an unoccupied area of the coastal jungle that surrounded the local populace.

Logan had requested he stay in the general area until he returned from corralling the busybody relatives, and then rushed back to the ship where Roman waited, looking more harried than Virgil had ever seen him.

It was an awkward, stressful situation, sure. But he still couldn’t help but marvel a little at the thick, dark fronds of the trees and the almost powdery texture of the grey-white sand beneath his feet.

He hadn’t gotten very many chances to actually appreciate the wonder of being in space, on alien planets, with how much of his stay so far had either been locked in cages aboard ships or on the run, too busy trying to survive to take in the scenery.

Running his fingers over the corkscrew-patterned bark of one of the nearby tree trunks, Virgil didn’t notice the slight rustling of a nearby brush.

—

Marren had thought the alien an intruder at first, had skidded to a halt and narrowly avoided toppling out of the underbrush right in front of them.

Behind her, Robbyn and Denel tumbled against her back with the beginnings of peeped complaints at the interruption of their game.

“Ssst!” Marren made a whistle that was more air than sound, her baby feathers ruffling up in pre-emptive upset. “Quiet, there’s a stranger!”

Unlike any other game, her playmates immediately went silent, eyes growing round and nervous. They all knew better than to catch the attention of a maybe-dangerous unfamiliar alien.

Especially now. One of the older kids had told horror stories about smugglers when the grown-ups weren’t listening, insisting that straying fledglings would get all their feathers shredded off and fed to the horrible monsters at the bottom of the Spacesea, where starlight and ships alike couldn’t reach.

They’d gotten in big trouble for the tall tales, but the story had already been taken up by the waves and couldn’t be squashed, especially with the fearful but dedicated belief of younger fledglings.

“Is it a monster?” Denel asked, already looking more fluff than form.

Marren… couldn’t really tell.

They were huge, even bigger than the Draellex spacefarer who had come to do a presentation for her class last season, but most of their features were also obscured by the long, deep grey cloak that they were swathed in.

“They’ve got hands,” she reported instead, because the stranger was touching various plants and rocks with nubby, strangely smooth fingers. “No claws, though.”

“Maybe a trader ship came early?” Robbyn offered thoughtfully. Their downy soft pink feathers were the least fluffed up between the three of them, their gaze focused on the alien with an intense curiosity.

“We woulda seen it, right?” Marren replied dubiously, before going quiet for a moment as the hooded head of the stranger turned and paused as though listening.

She didn’t continue until they turned back to their slow inspection of the wildlife, letting out a tiny peep-peep-peep of relief. “The only ship that came down is Uptel Patton’s, and he’s only got two playmates.”

She’d only met one of her Uptel’s friends in person, and only when she was a baby baby, way before her first molt, so she barely remembered it, but there were plenty of pictures in her Elder Uptel Farrun’s home. Patton’s parents were always happy to talk about their spacefarer son, and Marren always got a fun trinket from her Uptel when he visited.

Well. Almost always.

He’d seemed very distracted when she’d seen him this morning, enough that he’d barely noticed her amongst the many relatives that had swarmed to greet him after his longer than usual absence.

Something bad had happened to him, Marren had been told, which had made his parents’ home feel all sad-grief-loss whenever she visited, but he was all better now.

She wasn’t so sure. Everyone around him had felt like relief-joy-kinship at the sight of him, sure, but her Uptel had never flinched away from preening before.

“Maybe he got a new one?” Denel asked, still half-hidden behind Robbyn but not quite as frightened.

Marren made a considering chirp, and then began shuffling under the wiry branches as quietly as possible, seeking out a closer bush.

“Where are you going?” both of her playmates asked in very different tones.

“Gonna look closer,” she replied, and then froze as the answer carried farther than she meant it to.

The stranger turned sharper this time, and searched the clearing with tiny back-and-forth movements of their head.

“Patton?” they called after a moment, and Marren almost startled back in shock: the alien had spoken Uptel Patton’s actual name, not the Common version, and sounded uncannily close to an actual Ampen.

If it weren’t for how impossibly big the stranger was, she might have thought it was a simple prank, a couple of older kids stacked on top of each other under a form-disguising cloak.

Her gaze trailed down and finally focused on the familiar glow coming from the shadowed neckline of the cloak. She would know that glow anywhere!

“They’ve gotta special charm!” she crowed, and pushed past the branches to dart out into the open, intent on inspecting her Uptel’s newest friend.

Patton’s friend stumbled back hard with a sharp inhale, and Marren abruptly remembered that it wasn’t polite to startle people, especially strangers, and slowed to a stop. She angled her head up to try and peer into the shadows of the hood, squinting her eyes almost closed in as innocent and friendly a look as possible.

“I’m Marren,” she introduced herself, using the little bit of Common that her Uptel had taught her. “The stars greet you and so do I!”

That kind of greeting was more for actually being up in space with all the stars, but she figured it was the thought that counted.

Patton’s friend muttered something in an unfamiliar language, their tone soft, and then lowered themself to a seated position, much slower than they’d moved before. “My name is Virgil. It’s… nice to sea you?”

Marren let out a peal of chirping laughter, nearly knocking herself off balance with the force of her amusement.

That was definitely one of Uptel Patton’s friends, alright. He was the only bondrelative she had who put silly word jokes in his greetings like that.

“Can I sea you?” she shot back brightly, and when that didn’t seem to make it through, she pretended to move an invisible hood down from her own head.

Friend Virgil went all stiff for a moment, before speaking again. “I don’t think… uh, that’s not a good idea. I’m… I’m shy.”

Marren was distracted for a moment by puzzling through the words; it was an odd combination of Common and Ampen words, some of them a little smushed together until they almost seemed like a new word entirely.

Once the meaning behind the answer registered, though, she made a long, protesting whistle. “I’m not gonna be mean to you! Denel’s shy, too, you guys can get along!”

“Denel?” Friend Virgil echoed, again pronouncing the name eerily accurately, and Marren heard a little peep of alarm from behind her.

Antennae twitching with frustration, she turned and gave the bushes her best irritated stare, fluffing up indignantly. “They’re Patton’s friend! They’ve gotta be nice to me, I’m his favorite telit! Stop acting so new-hatched!”

“You’re his only little cousin,” Robbyn was speaking to her as they hopped into view, but their wide eyes were locked on Friend Virgil like they’d just found a shiny new stone. “Can they talk?”

“Kinda,” Marren chirped back, since it seemed like Friend Virgil knew more of the spacefarer tongue than their native one. “I know enough space words to translate! Probably.”

“You’re going to hurt your throat,” Robbyn cautioned in their best know-it-all voice. Marren was saved from having to answer by the thud of Denel tripping his own way out of the bush.

With his underlayer all fluffed out like that, it was no wonder that he accidentally rolled a few feather-lengths along the ground, squawking in high-pitched, babyish alarm as he tumbled.

Friend Virgil leaned forward so quickly that even Marren peeped in surprise, but all they did was set a humongous cupped hand next to Denel to keep him from toppling any further. Denel pulled all his limbs in with a panicked squeak as he bumped into the helping hand, and turned his head to peer up at Friend Virgil nervously.

“Safe and sound,” Friend Virgil crooned, in the sort of lullaby sing-song tone that was usually used to soothe hatchlings. “Okay, good, okay?”

It took Denel a stunned moment to respond, but when he chirped affirmative, the waver in his whistle had faded to almost nothing. He slowly uncurled, and even reached out for balance as he got back upright, looking absolutely awestruck.

He was way more aether-sensitive than most fledglings, Marren recalled, which meant that Friend Virgil must have been radiating some deeply trustworthy energy. As always, she had been totally right! Of course Patton’s friend was nice!

Marren wasted no time in spinning back around and darting up to Friend Virgil’s legs, giving them her best pleading expression.

“See? We can all be friends, you’re big-nice and nobody will be mean to you! Please please please?”

—

Virgil was not good with kids.

Specifically, he wasn’t good at saying no to kids.

Back home, they’d always picked up on it the moment they saw him, like sharks catching the scent of blood in the water, except the sharks were twelve year olds and the blood was Virgil’s inability to tell them not to draw on him in sharpie.

He’d finally found something that humans and aliens had in common, it seemed, because Marren– the apparent leader of the little group– had immediately figured out exactly how to use the Ampen version of puppy dog eyes against him. It was like nature had designed them as adorable feathery pom-pom creatures as a tactic designed to target him, specifically.

He hadn’t stood a chance.

As such, he found himself seated in the middle of the small clearing, his hood lowered and face exposed for anyone to see, being used as an actual, literal human jungle gym by a bunch of chirping alien fuzzballs.

The playtime racket must have been attracting more, because it felt like every time he looked up, three or four entirely new bundles of fluff had appeared, racing around his feet or climbing up the side of his cloak, chattering between themselves in strings of tweets and whistles.

The namecall they used for him wasn’t quite accurate, sounding more like ‘frrr-kul’ with a rolling trill followed by a chirp that only occasionally resembled the latter half of his name. They seemed to have a much harder time than Patton making the non-bird sort of syllables, which made sense, seeing as they were itty bitty babies.

“Frrrr-kul!” one of them called gleefully, summoning him over to the other side of the clearing for the newest round of whatever it was they were playing.

Virgil wasn’t ashamed to admit that something in his chest squeezed a bit as another fledgling turned dizzying little loop-de-loops in front of him, presumably leading him over to the new spot. For once, the heart palpitations he was experiencing around strange aliens were almost entirely cuteness-induced.

Almost, because there was still a solid chunk of his brain panicking viciously about how tiny and soft and fragile they all were, hence him moving at the pace of a seasick slug.

Marren had put forward a half-hearted complaint about how slow he was moving, to no avail. As it turned out, the only thing more compelling to him than a kid’s heartfelt request was the fear of accidentally hurting one of them.

It had taken him at least fifteen minutes just to stop flinching every time one of them fell or flung themself off of his knee or shoulder or— for one very stealthy candidate— his head, only to tumble lightly back to the ground unharmed, the impact entirely cushioned by their fluff.

He’d caught the first five or six on sheer instinct, which had only prompted even more to partake in the fun new ‘game’, until he gave up and accepted his fate as a living launch pad. Thankfully for his stress levels and long-term heart health, they had moved onto another game quickly enough.

He was slightly less thankful that every game so far had included him being scampered over, without exception, but he should have figured as much just from being friends with Patton, honestly.

His latest role seemed to be a very ill patient, as one of Marren’s friends walked around—and on— him carefully, calling out chirped instructions and sending the rest of the participants scrambling into the nearby brush. Within a few moments, they’d return with leaves, twigs, and other forest detritus, which would then be painstakingly applied to the top of his hand, or his chin, or wherever else the ‘doctor’ gestured to. Half the time, the makeshift bandages would flutter off the moment Virgil shifted even a little, prompting chitters of delight as the kids hurried to re-apply them.

Still better than any healthcare he’d gotten on Earth, honestly.

Seeing as his current job was to lay in place morosely like that guy from the Operation board game, he eventually closed his eyes and let himself relax a little, trying to hide an irrepressible closed-lip smile.

A few rounds later, he heard a chorus of what sounded like Patton’s favorite greeting chirp, but in a range of much higher pitches. He cracked his eyes open, expecting another gaggle of fledglings had showed up, and instead found that Logan was standing at the edge of the clearing, arms all dropped limply to his sides in shock.

Virgil went tense, only managing to repress his flinch because a good portion of his brain was still dedicated to monitoring where all the babies were around him, and currently at least ten were clinging onto his person. “Okay, listen. This was not my idea.”

Logan carefully tucked his hands behind his back in what Virgil first mistook for a polite gesture, only to emerge with what was unmistakably the portable camera he used whenever he was collecting video data for later.

“...Really?”

Whirr-click. Logan didn’t even bother looking apologetic as he began recording Virgil’s pint-sized tormentors. “If Patton didn’t get a memento of this, he would never forgive me, facetiously speaking.”

Rolling his eyes, Virgil slowly shifted up to his elbows, a startling amount of leaves fluttering down from his hair. A tentative hand feeling around in his hair revealed a fluffy stowaway, who peeped in displeasure as Virgil carefully disentangled them.

Talk about having a bird’s nest for hair. That was probably a sign that he needed a trim, but for now he could only laugh to himself, using two fingers to try and soothe the ruffled feathers of the fledgling that had apparently seen his head as prime real estate.

“You’re… very good with them,” Logan commented, shuffling closer with uncharacteristic tentativeness. “Is it normal to take on a parental role for children that aren’t under your care on Earth?”

Virgil snorted, and then leaned forward a little to help keep one of the more tenacious fledglings clinging to him from losing their grip. “It depends on the person, but honestly? A lot of humans are total suckers for anything cute making baby sounds, human or not. Sometimes to the point that the keener wildlife will take advantage of it and lead us to babies that are injured or out of reach because they know that odds are, a human will help.”

“Truly? Non-domesticated species, as well?” Logan replied, visibly distracted from his slow approach by the implications. “Cooperative dynamics between sapient species and local fauna are present on many planets, but for almost all studied Deathworlds, such a thing is unheard of. The risk is higher in harsher environments, where a much more competitive nature is required for survival.”

“Yeah, for real. I used to work as an assistant… uh. An assistant animal-healer, and people were always bringing in abandoned babies they’d found. Sometimes they were actually in need of help, but sometimes they definitely weren’t,” Virgil huffed a little at the memories, holding still as a fledgling took a running leap to jump from one of his knees to the other. “It was well-intentioned, though. Lots of people hate to see a baby left alone and jump to conclusions, since you’d never do that with a human infant.”

Logan’s hands twitched, and Virgil carefully shrugged one shoulder, giving him permission to record the information.

“Just make sure you don’t write stuff about babies or kids down where anyone could get to it,” he cautioned, chewing on the edge of his lip. “I trust you, but I don’t trust, y’know… the rest of space. Better safe than sorry, right?”

“Correct,” Logan confirmed, having heard that exact catchphrase from Virgil probably about twelve times a week. “Am I alright to approach?”

“What?” Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, of course, just be careful. I mean, you’re definitely safer for them to be around than me.”

There was a relieved angle to Logan’s ears as he stepped forward, nimbly avoiding a few of the fledglings chasing each other back and forth like feathered tumbleweeds. “I disagree. They seem quite safe in your hands,” he said. “I have no doubt that Patton would be ecstatic to know that you’ve managed to make some friends amongst his kin despite our need for secrecy.”

Right. His cover had been blown five minutes in by the Ampen equivalent of a bunch of grade-schoolers. Crap.

“Let your mind remain at ease,” Logan added, either correctly reading the panic on his face or just guessing from the not-inconsiderable experience he had with Virgil. “With Ampens this young, I’m certain that your positive impression as a playmate will be the bulk of what they mention to their families. I’ve already heard a few of them refer to you as ‘Patton’s shy friend,’ so I imagine most will come up with the rest of the answer on their own assumptions.”

"'Patton's shy friend'?" Virgil felt his ears redden as his face heated up, and there was a chorus of delighted whistle-squeals from the nearest fledglings.

“You change colors just like Uptel Patton!” Marren shouted excitedly, and, well.

There were at least four different species of alien he knew of that shifted colors in all sorts of ways, from a gradual chameleon shift to the rapid flush of an octopus. This was one trait that wasn’t likely to make anyone think ‘Human’.

“Do another color!” A small harmony of encouraging peeps and eager gazes.

“Uh…,” Virgil cast a helpless look of his own Logan’s way. “I mean, I can probably do purple if I hold my breath for long enough?”

“Alright,” Logan cut in urgently,“I think it’s time that Virgil get back to the ship, actually, you’ll have to play with him again the next time we come to visit. Yes, yes, everyone off now…”

–

Miraculously, they’d managed to get through the entire impromptu visit without either of Patton’s flockmates seeing any errant belongings, broken cabinets, or any other indications of the highly illegal and infamous Deathworlder they definitely had onboard.

Roman let out an exhausted snort, trying not to shift impatiently as he stood by the boarding platform and waited for Logan to return with Virgil. If Patton was there, he would have given him a disappointed look for being so blatantly untrusting, but he wasn’t, and it had been a long day, so Roman could be on edge if he wanted to, okay?!

Thankfully, Logan chose that moment to step out from the shade of the forested area, exchanging an assessing look with Roman before deeming the path clear and beckoning Virgil to follow him on board.

The Human padded after Logan, footsteps eerily quiet as always, and… huh. He looked a lot less stressed than he’d seemed when they’d all but shoved him off the ship a few hours ago. Roman tried not to feel immensely suspicious about it, but he glanced down to check his hands for blood anyhow.

He was mostly sure that the Human didn’t actually have any murderous designs, especially not on anyone from Patton’s hometown, but they’d set him loose in a random forest with little to no guidance. Roman couldn’t rule out the idea that Virgil had entertained himself by hunting down some of the local fauna or something.

There was nothing, though, and so he forced his eyes away and checked in briefly with Logan instead. See? He could be cordial when he wanted to! He was a beacon of toleration, okay?

The claim fell a little flat even in his own mind, but he was promptly distracted by the tiniest hint of a whistle. He straightened up, alarm shooting through him as he swiveled his head this way and that, searching for any surprise witnesses.

His gaze fell on the Human as Virgil passed him to board the ship, and Roman stiffened at the sight of three fluffy bundles perched in the swoop of the Human’s hood. “Stop right there!”

Virgil went still, shoulders hunching upward like a bristle and eyes bizarrely wide, and Roman let his tail scrape from side to side for a moment as he glowered, only growing more certain of his guilt.

“I knew it, those are fledglings! Let them go this instant,” he started, planning to end with a suitable threat to ensure the safety of the smallest and most vulnerable of Patton’s kin, only for the Human to somehow go even more stiff and frozen.

“Oh my god, where?” He hunched over slightly, eyes flickering down to scan over his front and arms. “Are they okay?”

Roman pulled up short, admittedly disoriented at the show of clear and abrupt concern. One of the fledglings cheeped in dismay, and Virgil’s head tilted, following the sound.

“Guys, that’s not safe,” he groaned, and then repeated it in Ampen tongue. “Not safe. Not good, not safe, okay?”

His hand twitched up like he was going to reach for them, but then he hesitated for a moment, before slowly turning around so that his hood faced Roman. “Can you help them out? I know they’ve got all the feathers and stuff to keep them safe, but I still don’t want… I don’t want to jostle the hood and knock them out or something.”

“I… yes,” Roman said, feeling like he’d just been hit by a paralyzer shot. He reached out and scooped the fledglings out of their makeshift nest, watching as Virgil’s shoulders grew more and more taut. The Human didn’t trust him, but he held still anyways. “You’ve got, ah. Leaves and twigs. In your head pocket.”

“I bet I do,” he muttered, before taking a few slightly too-fast steps away once he’d checked that his fuzzy passengers had been evacuated. With soft, cautious movements, he patted down the rest of himself, including his other pockets and even the folds of his overcloak. “I think I’m good.”

“That was very dangerous,” Roman scolded, looking down at the trio with disapproval.

Virgil shuffled slightly, looking at him more directly than he usually did. After a moment, he spoke. “They’re fine, right? It’s not their fault, they just think it’s a game.They’re… they’re only babies.”

This was what worry looked like on a Human, Roman realized with a jolt, and managed to choke down his initial offense at the very idea that he would hurt them. He’d assumed the same at first glance, hadn’t he? Virgil had never seen him with kits before, and didn't know very much about him. Roman hadn’t exactly been sharing information or encouraging any bonding, and it wasn’t like the Mindscape had provided very many opportunities for interacting with younglings thus far.

Stars, he hoped there hadn’t been any kids on the smuggler ship. The very idea made him sick.

“Of course they’re fine,” he replied a bit shortly, cradling them a little closer. “Kits will be kits. They didn’t mean any harm, like you said.”

“Oh. Okay, that’s good,” Virgil said, some of that odd tension falling away. He looked back down at the kids. “Uh. Bye, little guys. Stay safe.”

He mimicked a farewell trill with uncanny accuracy, and the fledglings all echoed it with varying levels of mournfulness. Virgil waved as he edged his way up the ship’s ramp backwards, like he thought the kids would ambush him the moment he took his eyes off of them.

Seeing as these three had somehow snuck past a Human’s senses, Roman almost couldn’t blame him.

“When I next see Patton, I’m going to tell him to have a serious talk with you all about being too adventurous, you hear me? Crewmates are not for climbing,” Roman lectured as he carried them back to the main path. He paused to think about how hypocritical that lesson would be coming from Patton, who took any excuse to perch on Virgil. “Oh, for stars’ sake.”

Well, whatever. This was just a one-off. What were the odds they would ever be bringing the Human back here, anyhow?

[cheesycheesyches]

Prinxiety Week Day 6 - Band-Aid

@prinxietyweek

they went rollerblading! roman unfortunately didn't put his elbow guards on tight enough

[romanthesecond]

Luckily, Logan and Virgil weren’t piggies, and instead were two very special boys. They didn’t talk a lot, much to their older brother's disappointment, but they did take up a lot of time! Weekly trips to the toy store were stopped when Virgil cried at all the people, and Romans was late to his first day of school because Logan hid his notebook and wouldn’t give it back.

Roman struggled adjusting to having brothers. It was easier when they were babies because all they would do was sleep and cry, but as they got older, they wanted him to share his things. 

Not even his cool toys, like his princess dolls! No, his little brothers were terribly boring, and very strange. They wanted his story books, and his socks. Even after the twins turned four years old, he still couldn’t figure out what they were doing with his socks.

To make matters worse, Logan was so smart! Roman was eight and he still didn’t know his three times tables, yet Logan knew all the way up to twelve times twelve! It felt horrible when the neighbors would coo over the little nerd and pinch his cheeks while Roman stood to the side, only doing good in art class.

He got on a little better with Virgil because he liked coloring in, and he never complained when Roman demanded they play Royals for the hundredth time but he wasn’t that much fun since he preferred just sitting in silence and holding Janus’ pet snakes.

[prodigal-explorer]

most sanders sides aus: high school, prinxiety/logicality/demus, roman is a popular jock and virgil is a sad artsy kid who was adopted by patton and logan, bonus if his biological parents were abusive and are trying to get him back.

my favorite sanders sides au i’ve made: logan is a six year old child genius who manipulates his shy and slightly pushover-y social worker virgil into adopting him and his intellectually disabled and wildly funny older brother roman. logan has raised roman all his life and so he is a very parentified six year old while roman is a very infantilized ten year old, but due to his low iq and unique presentation, people regularly underestimate roman and his abilities. also janus is a sweet kid who’s around roman’s age who desperately follows roman around because romans the only kid in the group home they live in who’s nice to him. also remus is logan’s unhinged first grade teacher. also patton is a creepy mf who is very kind to logan and offers him comfort and protection in a world that expected him to grow up too fast but he also falls in love with logan which is a bit of an oopsie considering that patton is nineteen and logan is FOURTEEN at the time he and patton meet…but also roman and logan are thé best of brothers and the most iconic pair and they understand each other better than anyone and are always trying to protect each other and it’s super sweet and wholesome there’s just a lot of trauma too.

[ask-tss-runbabyrun]

a saturday morning in the group home

in case anybody is curious about what it is like to be roman and logan at this stage in their lives!

(let me know if you want to be on the tag list for this au! also, asks are open, so if you have any questions for any of the boys, feel free to drop them. :D)

---

Logan had heard the things they said about Roman behind his back. The conversations with doctors and specialists, the whispers and sideways glances. They thought Logan didn't understand, so they spoke in front of him. Sometimes, Logan thought, youth could be considered a weapon. 

“Intellectual disability…” 

“Autism spectrum disorder…” 

“Mental retardation…” 

Logan crossed his legs and pretended to be focused on his picture book, but really, he was committing every word he heard to memory. While he was not the best at remembering things word for word, he knew that the second he repeated these phrases to Roman, he would have them memorized for the next week. 

Roman was not dumb. The rest of the world just wasn't smart enough to get how he thought. Logan smiled to himself. He was smart enough. He was the only person in the world who was. 

—

Logan was tired of apples. But Roman hated them, and Mr. Picani got stern when children wasted food, so Logan choked them down and slid the rest of his pancakes over to Roman. 

“Roman, say them again,” Logan demanded. 

His brother, beautifully serene, tipped his head back slightly, his coily, dark brown hair bouncing back with it. His ever-intense eyes were narrowed with focus. Logan could not help but smile at the theatrics. Roman could recite in his sleep, but he always had to make it a show. But Logan couldn't blame him. It was the only thing he did that impressed anybody besides Logan. Of course he hung onto it like a livelihood. 

“Say them again,” Logan repeated, “And then you get my pancakes, okay?” 

That was enough bribery to convince Roman to get on with it. 

“Intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, mental retardation.” 

His voice, though conventionally musical, had a wateriness to it. Sometimes, his words slurred together, and when he spoke, he sounded a little bit like the other kids in Logan's class. Logan saw adults wince whenever Roman spoke, as if his existence was enough to upset them. When they stared at Roman, they looked ten years older. Logan wondered if that was why he acted the way he did.

“Logan, gimme the pancakes!” Roman begged, bouncing in his seat gleefully. 

He wasn't nervous. He knew Logan would not break his promise. Logan pushed the plate closer to him, and as he started to grab a pancake and tear into it, Logan gently swatted the top of his hand, absentmindedly passing him a fork and picking up the long-abandoned napkin on the floor, spreading it along Roman’s lap. 

“Use your fork, Roman,” Logan reminded his brother, only to be met with a groan. 

Logan yawned, tapping his palm against his mouth a few times so he could hear the whooshing that happened when his breath was rhythmically interrupted. Looking over at Roman, he wondered if he could hear it too. 

“Forks are dumb,” Roman said, gripping it with crooked, awkward fingers. “I can’t get it to work right.” 

“That’s because it’s in your right hand, Roman,” Logan said, his mind on other things. “You’re left-handed.” 

“I don’t want to be left-handed, though.” 

Logan opened the picture book that he had been using as a notebook for a few weeks now and gripped the pencil he found on the floor while getting breakfast, writing down the words Roman had repeated underneath a brightly colored house. 

“That’s too bad,” Logan replied, “You don’t choose what hand you get. You just use it.” 

Tapping the pencil against the book, Logan squinted as if it would help him think any better. These words all sounded familiar, but Logan was not sure why. They all seemed to go together in some way, but Logan did not know how. Logan was not an idiot. He knew that Roman was different from other kids. He went to fifth grade with the other ten year olds, but he came out with different homework from them. He still needed help tying his shoes while the other fifth graders double-knotted. And even though he pretended that he could, Roman could not read. Whenever Mr. Picani put a picture book in front of him, Roman just looked at the artwork and created a story of his own. It made Mr. Picani shake his head with worry, but Logan always smiled when he heard the stories. Without fail, they were always better than the ones that were on the page to begin with. 

“Logan, is today Saturday?” Roman asked. “Can it be Saturday today?” 

Logan nodded. Roman asked this every day, but today, he got lucky. 

“Yes, it’s Saturday,” Logan said, trying to hide the contempt from his voice. “After our therapy sessions, we can play all your favorite games, okay?” 

Roman exploded in celebration, and Logan tried as hard as he could not to roll his eyes. It wasn't playing games with Roman he disliked. In fact, that was his favorite part of the day. What marred Saturday for Logan was what came before that – therapy. 

His social worker, who doubled as his therapist, was bossy and pushy, which Logan supposed made him a good therapist, but quite an awful person. Logan didn't like him at all, and he wished his social worker was a woman. Then, at least, he could have hugged her and pretended that he had a mother. Logan didn't want a father. Fathers were stupid. 

After breakfast, Logan got up, threw away the trash he and Roman accumulated, and took Roman's hand, leading him into the bathroom. While Roman looked at his face in the mirror with ease, Logan had to climb onto a step stool just to see below his forehead. Roman grinned at himself as Logan turned on the water to the sink in front of him, washing his face and his hands with a professional precision. Logan liked looking clean and neat. It separated him from the other six-year-olds and reminded everybody around him that he was capable. He didn't need help. If he did, he would've still had a milk mustache above his lip.

[i-am-bitterly-jittery]

AU where Patton and Logan are Roman’s parents, and they all go shopping at a mall. Roman goes with Logan while Patton does some of his own shopping. While Patton’s shopping he runs across Roman alone in a store and scolds him for wandering away from his dad. Then Patton takes Roman off to the food court to grab lunch with Logan

Meanwhile, single father of two Virgil is freaking out because he lost one of his kids!

[tss-whumper]

run baby run au

this is probably one of my top favorite sanders sides aus of all time that i have ever made! i'm excited to finally post about it.

this au is very dark so read with caution!

(cw -> ableism, mentions of s/a, pedophilia, violence, physical abuse, kidnapping)

this story begins in an overcrowded group home, where two orphans, half-brothers, have found each other, clung to each other, and decided from there on out that they would never, ever let go.

their names are roman and logan.

roman is the older brother, standing at ten years old. he is willowy, starting to hit his growth spurt, and he has luscious dark skin and beautiful red-brown curls that sit wildly upon his head, just how he likes them. he is shockingly gentle considering how much energy he constantly carries around, and he is always curious. the world is his playground, and his vibrant imagination is always in use. and he is severely intellectually disabled. roman is a boy who has the same mental capacity as a six year old due to an intellectual disability, his iq being in the 40's. he struggles with basic tasks, and it is uncertain if he will ever be able to live independently. nobody in the group home could be bothered with parenting the boy, as they label him as difficult and bratty. so roman basically has no choice but to lean on his little brother.

speaking of little brother, logan is the younger of the two, six years old to be exact. he is tiny, extremely tiny in fact, and he has light olive skin and pin-straight black hair that he chooses to keep long because brushing it soothes him. he is startlingly mature for his age, and he always has a gleam in his eyes as if he's always observing the world around him in a careful, scrutinizing way. he is a genius, able to learn things very quickly, to the point where he is at a high school learning level when other kids his age are barely at elementary school level. and out of necessity, he has learned how to parent his older brother, helping him through things that he cannot do, and basically dedicating his entire life and all of his time to making sure that roman's various needs are met. he doesn't see any other option. nobody else is going to take care of roman, and he is the only one who is capable. so he does it. and he loves roman dearly throughout it all, seeing the potential roman has where nobody else does.

roman and logan struggle in the group home. nobody wants to adopt them, or even foster them, because they are such a unique case. many people have tried to separate the brothers, but it never works. they are too attached, and they cannot imagine life without each other. until virgil, their kind, standoffish, and very anxious social worker decides that enough is enough. he loves roman and logan like they are his own, and he decides to make them his own. he adopts them, and roman and logan are thrilled that they get to live with the one person in the group home situation who was actually nice to them.

but good things don't always last forever.

virgil struggles. a lot. with raising these two kids. he tries very hard to give them equal attention, but it becomes difficult as roman has a lot of needs, while it seems like logan has very few. logan can take care of himself in the morning. logan can make his own meals when he is hungry. logan can do his own homework without help. logan can, logan can, logan can. and roman can't. not without help, at least. so virgil finds himself spread too thin trying to take care of roman, while logan is sort of neglected, left in the dark. it doesn't help that logan is a very independent type who doesn't like to be vulnerable. logan doesn't want help from virgil. he's six, and then he's ten, and then he's fourteen. and he still doesn't want help. and when roman turns eighteen and has to deal with the transition from kid to adult, he needs even more help, and so logan distances himself even more, deciding to skip high school entirely and attend the local college for schooling.

in college, logan meets a sweet and happy man named patton. unlike the other college students, who view logan with irritation and disgust, patton is very nice to logan, offering to study with him and hang out with him after classes. logan is shocked, and a bit excited that a college student wants to hang out with him. so he accepts, and the two grow closer and closer. patton starts to invite logan to parties, and then, he slowly transitions into inviting logan into his dorm room alone. the two kiss within two weeks of knowing each other, and logan feels like he's in heaven. somebody loves him romantically. somebody knows him without knowing his complicated family situation. so logan distances himself from his family more and more as his relationship with patton grows. patton tells logan that he just turned eighteen. when logan nervously tells patton that he's fourteen, patton only laughs and tells him that age is not that important.

age is not that important.

and patton isn't actually eighteen. he is going on twenty-five.

but logan doesn't know that. and since he has never been in a relationship before, and he doesn't even tell virgil and roman about what's going on, he doesn't have anybody to talk to as the relationship between him and patton grows more and more...dangerous. patton starts locking logan in the dorm room, not letting him out until logan touches him the way he wants. patton starts to hit logan whenever logan says no to patton's advances, or speaks out against him in any way. and the very first time patton sexually assaults logan, the poor boy's world turns upside down. he feels broken, disgusting. but he can't tell anyone. roman wouldn't understand. and virgil? logan couldn't stand the idea of seeming like some disgusting delinquent, or a sex-crazed animal. he didn't want virgil to blame him. so he keeps quiet, and lets it keep happening.

(this is only part one! there is more to the au than this, but this is the first arc, and i don't want to give away the entire storyline in one post because there are a LOT of plot twists! this is one of my most favorite aus, so please let me know if you want part two!)

[monkeythefander]

A Witch and a Baby

Chapter 6: Epilogue

Summary: It’s been 3 months since Logan became Janus’ dad. Logan has gained a lot of friends, and is introducing Virgil to everyone today. Delaney also has a message for Logan.

Content warnings: Mention of horror novels (only by name), mention of having lunch (nothing specific). Let me know if I missed anything else.

Relationships: All platonic, Logan is Janus’ dad.

Click below the cut to read this chapter.

———————————————————————

It’s now been three months since Logan became Janus’ dad. Janus is growing up so fast. He’s now babbling and grabbing onto things. Logan feels happy every time Janus achieves a new skill.

Logan has also spent more time with Virgil. The two have hung out at the cottage and the cafe. Logan would also visit the library more often in the evenings to talk to Virgil during his breaks or whenever there aren’t many visitors in need of the vampire’s assistance. They often talk about horror novels. Logan doesn’t read horror often, but he does have an appreciation for the genre, so he can bond with Virgil over some horror novels. Some of the books they’ve talked about are “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley, “The Haunting of Hill House” by Shirley Jackson, and “Bird Box” by Josh Malerman.

Today, Logan is introducing Virgil to his other friends and Delaney. Since the twins and Patton get along well, Logan thinks Virgil will be accepted into the friend group easily. Delaney already met the merman twins, and got along well with the both of them, so Logan thinks she should like Virgil as well. These thoughts are proven true when his guests all arrive. Patton and the twins arrive together. The next to arrive is Delaney, and she has a gift for Janus. It’s a snake themed baby rattle. When Logan offers the rattle to Janus, the 3-month old immediately shakes it and babbles happily. After this moment, Virgil arrives. Logan introduces the vampire to the rest of the guests.

Upon being introduced to Virgil, Patton immediately asks if he can give the vampire a hug. Virgil hesitantly agrees. Patton starts to ask Virgil about himself and the two end up discussing cats. It turns out that they both like to leave food out for the stray cats that wander around the village. Roman and Remus are able to bond with Virgil over books. Roman and the vampire discuss fantasy books, and even give each other book recommendations. Remus and the vampire discuss horror novels they both like. They decide they need to find a new horror novel to read and discuss together. Delaney and Virgil are able to bond by talking about the various spell books in the public library. Virgil even recommends some books for her to check out if she visits the library sometime soon.

Logan joins in on these conversations every so often, but he mostly just enjoys watching the people he cares about getting along. The witch also plays with Janus by shaking the new baby rattle.

—————————

The 5 adults and baby eventually have lunch together and keep enjoying each other’s company. After the meal, the guests slowly started to leave. Delaney ended up sticking around the longest.

“Hey Logan.” Delaney says while watching Logan put Janus into his crib for a nap.

“Yes, Delaney?”

“I’m proud of you.” She says with a smile on her face.

“Proud of me for what?” Logan turns away from the crib to look at Delaney.

“For stepping outside of your comfort zone and finding a family. When you were my apprentice, you told me you didn’t care for making friends. You only really spoke with me, and kept conversations very formal. I wanted you to find friends that you felt like you didn’t have to be so formal around. And I wanted you to not be only focused on your studies. You deserved a break to do whatever else you find fun. When you eventually left your apprenticeship with me, I hoped you’d try and find some friends who you could have fun with. But when I came to give you Janus, I realized you weren’t doing that. I almost thought I shouldn’t give you Janus, since becoming a father would probably take away even more free time from you. Our little snake ended up being what you needed though, didn’t he?”

“Yeah. If it wasn’t for Janus, I wouldn’t have met any of my friends. I wouldn’t have reconnected with you…”

Delaney smiles at that last comment.

“I’m glad we’re talking again. I missed having you around. And I’m grateful for you taking on the responsibility of being Janus’ parent. He’s grown so much, and you’re a great dad.”

Logan smiles slightly.

“Thanks. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to be the good father figure you thought I’d be.”

“Oh, you definitely have succeeded at fatherhood. And if you ever struggle in the future, I’m here to help as the honorary Aunt.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Logan smiles a bit more.

“Well, I gotta get going now. See you around.” Delaney says, before turning around to walk out of the cottage.

“Wait!”

Delaney stops moving to find Logan walking over to stand in front of her. He opens his arms.

“I know that in all the time you’ve known me, I haven’t been that physically affectionate. But I want to hug you now, if you’re okay with it…” Logan says quietly while nervously avoiding eye contact.

Delaney quickly pulls him into a hug.

“I would never turn down a hug from you.” She says, holding him gently.

Logan relaxes into the embrace and hugs her back. They stay like that for a few minutes. Just enjoying being in each other’s presence. Then they pull away from the hug and Delaney says goodbye again and leaves.

After watching her go, Logan thinks about what she said at the start of their conversation. He really did find himself a family, didn’t he? A family of a witch, a baby, and all their friends. It may not be what’s considered the standard family, but Logan wouldn’t change it for the world.

—————————————————————

End Notes: Thanks for reading Chapter 6 of “A Witch and a Baby”, aka the last chapter of this book. Please consider leaving a like, comment, and/or reblog if you enjoyed.

Sorry if this chapter was kinda short, I just couldn’t think of another way to wrap this story up. Considering this was my first time writing a chaptered story, I wasn’t sure if it’d do well, so if you enjoyed this story I’m glad you did. While this fic may be over, I’d be willing to write oneshots for this au of Janus growing up and other stuff if any of you would be interested in that. So if you’d possibly like to see that, let me know.

-Monkey💜

————-

Links

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/52055863/chapters/141566380

Link to previous chapter: https://www.tumblr.com/monkeythefander/745355732819509248/a-witch-and-a-baby-chapter-5-a-vampire-in-the

[space-and-galaxies]

the amount of father/son content i've seen for moxiety after virgil has specifically said he does not want to be treated like a kid is astounding

[wolfprincesszola]

The Fate of the Marked Six Chapter 10

merry holidays everyone <3. as always, reblogs and likes are appreciated! ——————– Summary: Virgil moves into a new town and meets Roman, a ghost that he promises to help in finding the unfinished business needed to pass over. However, Roman's past seemed to be deeply muddled with trouble, an uncurable disease that has started to affect a classmate, and a certain tight-lipped valedictorian. Friendships are made and Virgil finds himself thrown into a situation far more complicated and twisted than he signed up. Hopefully, with the help of his new five friends, he can find a way to bring peace to the town once and for all.

Trigger Warning: None

Content Warnings: Talks about Death and the Theology of Death

<Masterlist>

<Previous> <Next> ——————–

Chapter 10

“Please?”

Virgil turned towards Roman, sighing, “Why? Why do you want to so desperately go into my school and accompany me around? My family already thinks you’re enough to deal with. I already think you’re enough to deal with. Do you really think I’ll be able to entertain you while we’re both at school?”

“I’m so bored here!”

“I’m not restricting you to be here!” Virgil rolled his eyes, swatting Roman out of his face as the ghost went to block his view from his homework. “You can go out and explore the city!” “But I’ve already done that, and you told me that there’s a ghost that’s bound to find me. I’m way too scared to have that.”

“There’s more of a chance of the ghost finding you at school! The person being leeched off is there.” Virgil pointed out.

“Okay, but I want to see what goes on in your school. I’m so bored at your house, and I don’t feel like trying to investigate any more when it’s clear there’s no other ghosts in the city.”

“Shouldn’t you help me find out the reason why?” Virgil raised an eyebrow.

“Now, I could…but I could also hang out with you and we could figure it out together afterwards.”

“Uh huh…” Virgil drawled out, “What if my teacher is a medium?”

“Oh come on, I won’t tell you any answers. If they can see me, I’ll sit perfectly still, and I promise I won’t help you on the test until they’re not looking.”

Virgil rolled his eyes, “I’m not letting you help me cheat on a test! How would your brother react if he found out you were helping someone else cheat?”

“Hey, I never cheated on mine! That’s gotta count for something.”

Virgil paused, “You…remember that you never cheated on your tests? I asked you a couple of weeks ago to account for anything you remember about your school, and you mentioned nothing of the sorts.”

Roman blinked before going back to being annoying, “See? Being at your school could maybe help me recover some of my memories.”

“You’re impossible, Ro.” Virgil rolled his eyes snorting.

“Please, you love me.” He teased, “Come on, sunshine. I promise to be good.”

Virgil felt his heart flutter at the nickname. Roman had stopped using them after Virgil told him to not flirt with him, but he guessed that he was going back to using them because they had become such good friends.

“What did I say about nicknames?”

“Sorry.” Roman muttered, “Please?”

Virgil stared at his unfinished homework, “Fine. Help me finish the math homework before I finish doing my eyeshadow, and I’ll let you come along.”

“Yes!” Roman pumped his fist in the air, floating over to the seat as Virgil went to go grab his makeup brush to dab up the look under his eyes.

It wasn’t even a minute later when Roman yelled that he was done. Virgil raised an eyebrow, in the middle of doing his makeup when he checked on his homework. “There’s no way you know that.”

“Well…I guess past me must’ve been pretty smart, huh?” Roman smirked. “Can I go now?”

“Fine. Pack your imaginary stuff.” Virgil rolled his eyes as he stared at Roman’s clothes, “Do you actually have clothes?”

“Actually, a neat thing I found out about the afterlife.” Roman grinned, “I don’t need to be hygienic, but if I want to change clothes, I just have to think of it and then I change. Like this.”

He spun and he changed from his regular outfit of a white shirt with a red and gold jacket and some brown jeans into a uniform often worn by Disney princes with a red sash across.

"Playing on the Disney prince much?"

"Oh, that would be so wonderful if I could be one!" Roman groaned with a disappointment that he wasn't one. "I mean I look amazing with this attire, don't I?"

Virgil didn't want to admit that Roman was right, so he just shrugged, glad that Roman saved Virgil's heart by changing back to his normal attire soon after. "Not really. But if you can change, then why do you always wear the same outfit?”

Roman scoffed, “No, I don’t. I just enjoy this color. I change the hoodie to a slightly different shade of red every day.”

“Uh huh.” Virgil snorted as he went to finish his makeup.

He came out to Roman wearing his iconic red jacket, but had black ripped jeans, and fingerless gloves on. Not only that, it was clear he had eyeliner on, enough to make his eyes pop and create more narrow eyes.

Virgil’s jaw dropped, unable to stop gaping at him.

“This is the closest you’re getting to an outfit change.” Roman remarked, fixing his gloves. "I thought I'd play up to what you look like, emo."

“Uh huh.” Virgil nodded, hoping his face wasn’t flushing. He didn’t know why he was feeling like this. Maybe it was because for the first time, he noticed how conventionally attractive Roman was. Maybe it was because Roman, his first friend in this new town, was starting to seem like his soulmate by how well they worked together and clicked immediately unlike many of his other ghost friends and other love interests. Either way, he didn’t like it and he hoped the feeling wouldn’t continue. “Let’s go, Count Woe-laf.”

"Hey, hey, that's my nickname." Roman scoffed, “I’ll see you at the gates of the school.”

“Didn't you say you needed to see places before you teleported to it? Wouldn't that apply for the school?"

“Well, considering that you’ve mentioned that I’m probably an alumni from the high school, I doubt it, and also, I’ve explored the entirety of this city. If I get lost, I’ll just teleport to you because I can do that. I can teleport to people and not places, as long as I know their faces.”

“Fancy.” Virgil remarked, “Alright, well, I’ll see you there. Try to avoid Remus, and if you can’t, please for the love of God, don’t touch him. Ghosts can interact with each other, but they shouldn’t touch each other without consent. If they do, who knows what the ghost will do to you?”

“I promise.” Roman gave a loopy grin before he teleported away. Virgil rolled his eyes, getting ready to drive to school.

-+=~=+-

Virgil found Roman waiting for him at the flagpole, and Virgil snorted, grabbing his phone out to pretend like he was calling something. “That’s not suspicious at all. You look like you were waiting for me.”

“I was because I’m a gentleman.” Roman grinned as he stopped leaning against the pole and followed Virgil inside, not caring about whether or not he went through others.

“Uh huh….try not to pass through people.” Virgil snorted, “It’s very rude, and you never know if one of them might be Remus.”

“Right.” Roman blinked, deciding to go through Virgil instead.

“There he is!” They heard a really loud voice.

Virgil turned to see Patton grinning at him.

“Ah, Patton.” Virgil smiled, “How are you doing?”

“No, how’s my favorite best friend doing?”

“Don’t call me that, Pat. We both know your best friend is Logan." Virgil rolled his eyes, “What's up?"

“Did you ever get in contact with your ghost friend? I want to talk to him!"

“What deal?” Roman asked.

“Right.” Virgil nodded before he gave a glance to the side. “Ro, he said he’d tell me information to help you with your unfinished business…in return, he wanted to just rant to you about something that apparently he doesn’t have the confidence to tell me or anyone else.”

“He’s here?” Patton asked before he started spinning around, trying to find where Roman was, “Where is he? That’s so cool. Tell him I said hi-”

Roman gave a small wave, “Right…so where does he want that to happen? Might as well get it over with.”

“Oh come on, at least sound enthusiastic to hear it.” Virgil scolded Roman before turning to Patton, “Alright, I know a quiet place. You just can’t be that loud.”

“Thank you.” Patton gave a small smile.

Virgil didn’t know what was really said in the supply closet he found for them, but all he knew was that when Roman came out of the room, he was excitedly grinning.

“What did you tell him?” Virgil asked, almost horrified, “He’s smiling from ear to ear.”

“I can’t tell you, mi cielo.” Roman hummed, “Man’s oath.”

“You literally looked so deflated in not wanting to be his friend before you walked into the supply closet.” Virgil accused.

“Listen, I made him swear. He even dropped a book to tell me that he wouldn’t say anything to anyone.” Patton gave a look, “You’re not getting a word out of him.”

“He’s right.” Roman shrugged, “I don’t care if he was your supposed good friend, he’s my best friend now.”

“Betrayed.” Virgil gaped, “How dare you steal my ghost friend from me, Patton.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll always be my bestie.” Patton grinned, linking his arm around Virgil, “I feel much better. Let’s get to class.”

“I hate this so much.” Virgil grumbled, crossing his arms.

“Patton’s my favorite of your friends now.” Roman grinned.

-+=~=+-

Virgil noticed that when Logan passed by them, Patton tensed up, but he brushed it off as Patton being weird like normal. That was until Patton started fumbling around Logan that Virgil started to realize what was going on.

“You have a crush for Logan!” Virgil accused when they were in math together. He had gotten so close to Patton that it didn't feel weird to talk to Patton normally. For once though, Virgil was glad that Roman wasn't a part of the conversation because Roman tended to be more on the romantic side and would try his best to help in this escapade. The ghost had mentioned he was bored of the class a few minutes ago, as he knew the material already, and mentioned that he wanted to explore the other math classes.

“What?” Patton dropped his notebook, “No I don’t.”

“Uh huh…explain the hearts you keep drawing then with the whole LS + PM thing. Logan Sanders + Patton Morris. You’re not slick.” Virgil smugly pointed out. “Why did you find the need to hide it?”

Patton sighed, deciding it wasn’t worth keeping in, “Because it’s weird between us. We’re different from other relationships. I annoy him, and he hates it, but still copes with it. Then, I had a dream about him and me being in a relationship, and everything changed my view. Suddenly, Logan's not so bad, and I actually see him as someone that deserves a break from me annoying him. Suddenly, he’s beautiful when he’s laughing, even if it’s forced. Suddenly, I want to be around him every moment, and I hate that, so I start avoiding him because of that. I get flustered when I think about him or talk about him, and I’ve never felt like this for someone before. I’ve had crushes before, but not like this. Not to the point where he is the only thing plaguing my mind day and night. Not to the point where I’m imagining scenarios so realistic that I want to believe is real, but I know he would never tell me that he wants to be the person that makes me feel like I truly belong somewhere in this world because the truth is the universe is cruel, and they don’t care about my feelings for Logan. They don’t care that I feel alone, and they know that Logan won’t be the person to help fix it because in reality, everything in my life is changing right now and Logan was the only thing in my life that was constant, so I feel like I clung onto him like a baby clings onto its pacifier even after they don’t need it anymore. I don’t think I really like Logan because I don’t think I could handle being in a relationship with him, but also…I wouldn’t mind if he kissed me?”

“Jeez.” Virgil scoffed, blinking, “That’s a lot to process.”

“Complicated, right?”

Virgil jumped, turning to see Roman smirked as he laid on the desk. When did he get back?

“Get off the desks.” Virgil hissed at Roman as he pretended to go back to working on his worksheet.

“Sorry. Sounds like he finally told you. Said you were the closest thing to a best friend he had other than Logan, so I tried to tell him to tell you, but unfortunately, it’s kinda hard for a normal human and ghost to communicate together.” Roman snorted, “How’s math going?”

“Horribly. Can you help me with the answers?” Virgil hissed.

Roman sighed, going to stand behind Virgil, grabbing the pencil with him. Virgil felt his heart beating as he realized how close Roman was to him. Even though he had been this close to him when he was annoying him, it was never like this.

“Just follow the movement of the pencil.” Roman whispered into Virgil’s ear, as Roman did the work, making sure to keep it neat and for some reason, despite Virgil not being able to hear anything louder than the heartbeat pounding in his own chest, he was able to make it through and understand all the math problems Roman had done for him.

“No fair, you have a smart ghost to help you.” Patton pouted, looking at his work.

“By the way, Vir, I need you to come with me.” Roman grinned as he let go of the pencil, floating to be in front of Virgil.

“Why?”

“I think I found my unfinished business. You said that it would feel like a tug. Well…this is all what the person feels.”

“Right now?”

“Preferably yes because I know where he is, but I’m sure I’ll see him passing by in the hallways. I’ll just point him out later if you can’t get out.”

Virgil raised his hand, “Can I go to the bathroom?”

“Can you hold it? There are just 3 minutes left of class.”

Virgil sighed, staring at Roman, “Keep an eye on him. You can teleport yourself to me, but go stay with him until I see you.”

Roman nodded, disappearing off to who-knew-where, and Patton raised an eyebrow, “What about you?”

“Hm?“

“There’s gotta be something you’re struggling with.”

“Yeah, trying to get you to leave me alone.” Virgil joked, flicking Patton’s forehead.

-+=~=+-

It was lunch when he next saw Roman. He was following behind who he thought was Logan, and Virgil blinked, not sure if he was seeing correctly.

Logan walked up to the table with Patton, Remus, and Janus.

“Hey, Sanders.” Patton grinned at Logan, “What’s up?”

“Not here for you, Morris.” Logan remarked before he pointed to Virgil, “Heard I’m needed from you.”

Virgil remembered that he had yet to give Logan a rosary, and decided to give it now. “Right…I need you to put this on, and whatever you do, I need you to not take it off.” Virgil warned, holding out a rosary necklace.

“What is it?” Logan asked, grabbing it. “And I doubt it’s practical in the shower, or in bed.”

“Ah, in the shower you can leave it just somewhere in arm’s reach.” Virgil sighed, “You have to wear it to bed though. Especially in bed. It’s a rosary.”

“I’m not religious.”

“You don’t have to be. Just please, wear it.”

“Hey, Vir, this is the guy I’m talking about! Apparently, he has the same last name as me. Isn’t that cool?” Roman grinned, waving a hand in front of Logan’s face. “His life’s way more interesting than yours…but he’s a lot more boring.”

Virgil blinked before turning to Logan, “Please?”

Logan grabbed the rosary and put it on, and not a moment too late, because as soon as Logan put it on, Remus clutched his heart, wincing in pain.

He saw a glimpse of red eyes flash right next to Logan and knew it was a close call.

“Re!” Janus shrieked as he went to check on Remus.

All Logan did was stand there, staring, “Right, was that it…or?”

“Ah, there’s more, but I doubt this is a good place to talk.” Virgil began.

“I know a quiet place.” Logan shrugged, motioning for Virgil to follow him.

“Hopefully more spaced than a supply closet?” Patton remarked, earning a jab on the side from Virgil.

“Come on, Remus, this concerns you too.” Virgil motioned to the boy.

“Ooo, field trip!” Remus clapped as he went to join the two boys.

“Don’t kill each other.” Logan monotonously remarked to Janus and Patton.

“Thanks.” Sarcasm dripped out of Janus' mouth.

With that, the three (plus Roman) soon followed after.

The three walked into the room with the Watari examiner that no one was allowed to touch.

“Alright, this is a quiet area. Go.” Logan crossed his arms.

“Are we allowed to be here?”

“Yeah.” Logan shrugged.

“This is so cool!” Roman grinned, dancing around the room and exploring the area. “Do you think the machine can see my aura?”

“Most definitely. Stay away from it.” Virgil replied underneath his breath.

Remus took the lead, explaining to Logan everything they talked about before.

“That’s what the rosary is for.” Logan sighed, as he went to turn on the Watari examiner. “Hop on, Remus. I need to show Virgil something.”

“Sick!” Remus grinned. "Is it my-"

"No, it is not your private parts." Logan interrupted Remus as he took off his glasses as a way to try and shield his eyes. When it was clear Remus made no effort to strip, Logan sighed a breath of relief and put his glasses back on.

Virgil watched as Roman bounded over to see what Logan was staring at.

“Hey, Logan?” Virgil asked.

“Hm?”

“Why don’t you ever talk about your brother? I saw his work at the art gallery you mentioned I should look at.”

Logan froze, and it was clear that out of all the questions Logan thought Virgil would ask, that wasn’t one of them. It was enough for Roman to turn around gaping, asking Virgil a bunch of questions about why Virgil didn’t tell him, and how Virgil knew, and how Logan might’ve been his unfinished business.

Logan stiffened, looking at the machine, “He was a great artist, wasn’t he?”

“Yeah. His videos were very heartwarming.”

“I stopped talking about him when my parents stopped wanting him to be remembered.” Logan muttered, “They wanted to pretend he never existed, and I was never one to disobey my parents’ wishes.”

“Even if it conflicted with yours? I mean, it’s clear you care about him. Otherwise, who else would’ve donated all the book nooks you did with him? Who else would’ve gotten his work into an art gallery? Who else would’ve gotten a statue memorialized after him to prevent drunk driving?”

Logan rolled his eyes, “Patton really is a blabber mouth. Remus, go ahead and hop on the machine.”

“He didn’t tell me.” Virgil remarked. “I can just see the love you had for him.”

Well, technically Patton did, but Virgil could stretch the truth.

Roman seemed surprised by the statement too, staring at Logan to hear his response.

“Yeah, well love doesn’t do us any good in this cruel universe.” Logan forced a tense breath out before changing the subject, “Look at his aura right now.”

Virgil gaped at the black aura. “It’s swallowing him whole.”

“You’re saying that the black aura is the ghost sucking the life force out of him?” Logan asked.

“Yeah.” Virgil nodded.

“Right, now reach out your hand.” Logan commanded Virgil.

Virgil did just that and Remus grabbed on. Before he could say anything, he felt power surge through his veins, almost making him fall down from the power of his magic. Virgil watched as the black aura disappeared, and it instead transferred to make his magic strong. The ghost aura disappeared from Remus entirely, and Roman’s aura became more powerful too.

Remus glanced at Roman, about to open his mouth to tell Logan about Roman peering over him, but stopped when Virgil tugged his arm to make Remus look at him. Virgil shook his head and Remus let it go, waiting for Logan to speak.

“Is it gone?” Logan asked.

“Is what gone?”

“The ghost aura. I assume you can see it?”

“Yeah, I can. It’s gone.” Virgil murmured, staring at Remus, “How are you feeling?”

“Energized. Better.”

Logan pointed to the aura that was now glowing blue, “That’s his actual magic, hiding behind what I now know is not his cancer, but instead…a ghost.”

“It seems like it’s kinda blowing your mind.”

“It’s just the idea of not knowing what happens to the ghost, and also…what the hell the other cases of this same cancer were.” Logan pursed his lips, “It’s the only cancer that comes from magic.”

“And it’s not cancer.” Remus reminded him.

“Uh huh.” Logan trailed off, staring at the monitor.

Roman went to grab the monitor and Virgil bit his tongue, not wanting to expose Roman for being in the room with them.

Luckily, Roman only shifted it to the side, just outside of the two’s viewpoints, and enough for him and Logan to see fully without stepping back from the monitor.

“You’ve been looking at it from the wrong angle. Look outside the fielsog, and instead look at the entire body. The Watari examiner can look at the body as a whole, and show what’s happening to the ghost, because I don’t see any other ghosts around here.” Roman spoke, almost as if he was expecting Logan to know he was speaking.

Virgil blinked, repeating what Roman said.

“That’s what I just said!” Roman turned to look at Virgil before Logan turned towards Virgil, walking right through him. He blinked, jumping out of his zone, “Oh, right…I forgot, I’m a ghost.”

“You’re so right!” Logan replied as he turned to change the examiner. “Don’t freak out, Porter.”

The machine started to spin around Remus, just close enough that it didn’t hit Virgil in the arm, as Remus was still holding onto him.

Then, Logan looked at the monitor.

“Hey, uh, Logan, I would like to know what’s going on.” Remus spoke as Logan stared at the machine examinations.

“Apologies.” Logan pointed the monitor towards the two, showing every part of his body was filled with blue aura. “The ghost isn’t in your body. I think what’s happening is that you’re expelling them out of feeding on your magic by literally sending out so much power that it takes over and gives it to the other person. The other person is able to filter out the ghost feeding magic because they aren’t the one being leeched onto. Since Virgil has a rosary on, it keeps the ghost from even entering his system, which it could do without the rosary.”

“Okay, so what does that mean?”

“The ghost isn’t using you as a host.” Logan pulled out a whiteboard from behind some area, starting to draw. “Let’s say the ghost is the beehive of all the magic. You walk past the beehive once and accidentally knock it over. The ghost sends a servant after you to sting you, and let’s say that sting also turns you into Beeman, sort of like Spiderman when he gets bitten by a spider and-”

“Off-topic, Microsoft Nerd.” Roman leaned against the whiteboard and Logan cut himself off, staring.

“What’s wrong, Logan?” Virgil asked, wondering why Logan was staring to where Roman was.

“I thought I heard something.” Logan shrugged it off, “Anyway, I know my metaphor does not truly hold as practical logic and it would've been better to correlate the ghost to a queen bee. The main point is that y ou now are ‘infected’ with the host, and so the host can do things to your body like a parasite.”

“Kinda a perv, if you think about it.” Remus snorted.

“Shut up and listen.” Both Logan and Roman snapped at the same time.

“Once a Sanders, always a Sanders.” Virgil smiled, muttering under his breath as he found it entertaining.

“So even when the host is at the beehive, it can check up on you at any time and control your magic, even when it’s not near you. In other words, you’re screwed.” Logan placed the whiteboard marker back down, “Unless you can do something.”

“What is that something?”

“Get an insider into the hive. Right now, the ghost can’t hear us because Virgil’s using his magic to expel the ghost from the hive. Right now, Remus is safe and we are safe too, unless the ghost comes knocking on the front door to come talk to us personally. What you need is a ghost to help get into the hive and pretend to be a servant.”

“That’s extremely dangerous.” Virgil remarked. “If this ghost is as powerful as its aura is, a ghost would never last as a spy in there.”

“I know.”

“And you still want us to do that?”

“Right now, Remus isn’t dying, but as soon as he lets go of your arm, the ghost will continue eating at his soul. Anything we do to the ghost, we do to him. They’re interconnected at this part. We need to find how the ghost even connected with Remus in the first place, and why because it could’ve gone for anybody else. We find the entrance to the sting, we find the entrance to the beehive, and we can take the ghost down. However, that means we need a helpful volunteer.”

“Like who?”

“I know a few people.” Logan replied as he walked over to open the door of the lab, to see Janus and Patton leaning against it, arguing, “Why don’t we start with them as tributes?”

“Hey! Not Janus!” Remus replied defensively, “You mess with him, and you mess with me.”

“Yada yada yada.” Logan mocked as he closed the door, “You two touch anything and I will set you guys on fire, got it?”

“Got it.” Patton swallowed as he looked at the monitor, “Hey, that’s neato. What’s that about?”

“Something.” Virgil remarked.

“We don’t need a ghost to go into the beehive because it’s probably something existent in real life. It has to be in order for this operation to even go down. We can take a few volunteers to go find the ghost. We just need….a ghost to find the entrance, and to take the bait.”

“I’ll do it.” Roman shrugged.

“No way. I’m not risking a friend’s life.” Virgil scoffed, “Any of my ghost friends-”

“We have no choice. You said yourself that usually cities are bustling with ghosts. You haven’t found a single one here. You need to find at least one and take the bait.”

“I’ll do it.” Roman repeated again.

“No, I can’t put someone in danger like that.” Virgil shook his head.

“Then you’re keeping Remus in danger. The ghost is already dead. There’s nothing you can do to harm them.” Logan adjusted his glasses as he began to argue with Virgil.

“You just said it was a beehive. What if the ghost I choose gets trapped in the beehive?”

“It’s a risk we have to take.”

“Do we really though?”

“You’re going to let Remus die?” Logan crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow.

“What? What are you two talking about? We're not letting Remus die!" Janus scoffed, jumping into the conversation.

"I think it'd be fun to see what would happen!" Remus grinned at his best friend, who just shushed him.

“I’m not saying we should let Remus die. I’m saying we should find another way to do this infiltration thing, because I don’t want to risk any more lives than possible.” Virgil groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

“This isn’t risking anyone’s life!” Logan huffed.

“I’ll do it!” Roman yelled. Virgil still ignored him.

“It’s risking a ghost’s life. He deserves to-”

“He doesn’t deserve anything, he’s a ghost!”

“You don’t get to say that.” Virgil scoffed, “You don’t know this ghost. You haven’t become his friend. How would it feel if he was someone you knew that died?”

“Low, but even if he was someone I knew, he lived a life already. He knows what it’s like to experience it. Remus hasn’t finished his life yet.”

Patton placed a hand on Logan’s shoulder, “Be a little more compassionate, will you, Lo? What if the ghost was your brother?”

Virgil watched as Logan tensed up and decided to play on that, "What if he was your brother, huh? Would you be saying the same thing?”

“According to my parents, my brother doesn’t even deserve to be talked about.” Logan replied coldly, pushing Patton’s hand off his shoulder.

“I’m not talking about your parents. I’m talking about you. What if the ghost was your brother? Would you be saying something differently?”

“I made a promise to my brother when he was alive that I would help the living. Remus is living. My brother is dead, and that is all he’ll ever be. To me and my family.” Logan’s voice shook, the first time Virgil ever heard Logan’s voice sound slightly emotional.

Virgil nodded, numbly, understanding where Logan stood. To him, it was more important that Remus got better than to wait a little longer and find something that would keep both Remus and Roman safe.

“I see.” That was all he said before he rushed out of the room.

-+=~=+-

It was raining when school was finished. After Logan and Virgil had fought, the five living students had separated, deciding to let the two cool off, but suggesting that they make up soon. It was clear Logan wasn’t going to do it by the way that he seemed distant the entire rest of the day. However, Virgil was still glad that even through all of it, Logan kept his rosary on.

Roman decided to follow Virgil the rest of the day, always trying to suggest to Virgil to run into Logan and talk about what happened. Virgil didn’t understand why Roman was so willing to throw himself at Logan to make it up to him, and why Roman was so willing to risk his life.

Virgil felt the rain and sighed, deciding to call his parents to pick him up instead of walking back home. He had forgotten an umbrella. Roman offered to try and teleport an umbrella from his house and that was what left Virgil all alone at school. Virgil doubt Roman could teleport an item with him, but still was allowing Roman to try if it meant Virgil could get out of the cold faster.

“Here.”

Virgil turned to see Logan offering his umbrella. “What?”

“I’m driving home today. I don’t need it. Besides…rain’s my favorite season.” Logan muttered.

Virgil sighed, staring at the rain clouds, “No, it’s okay. I asked my parents to pick me up.”

Logan nodded numbly, as he sat by the steps, just far enough away from Virgil that it was clear he was still in an iffy situation with Virgil, but not far enough that it was weird.

“I should’ve realized sooner that he was your brother.” Virgil sighed, breaking the silence.

“Who?”

“Roman. You hold him to a high regard, and I should’ve realized that all the places you recommended had him featured. You still want to share his story.”

“You couldn’t have known.” Logan shrugged.

“But I should’ve. You have his quirk of moving your hands when you talk.” Virgil remarked. “I wasn’t lying, you know. He’s your brother.”

“Yeah, I thought so.” Logan inhaled sharply, “I thought I heard him.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Remus’s ability to strengthen magic can be really strong sometimes.” Logan muttered, “I missed his voice.”

“Yeah?”

“He sounds different. Happier.”

“That’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yeah…it just means that the brother I knew died long before the car accident.” Logan murmured, “I’m glad that you’ve brought him the peace he needs. I hope that he finds his unfinished business and is able to move on.”

He stood up, offering Virgil his umbrella one last time. Virgil took it as a sign of peace, and reconciliation.

Logan started to walk away in the rain, not caring that he was getting soaked.

“Have you ever wondered if you were his unfinished business?” Virgil yelled as Logan got to the bottom of the staircase that led to the school gates.

Logan turned around, and Virgil saw the tears that were streaming down Logan’s face. Logan was smiling for the first time, but it was unnatural. The happiness didn’t fully reach his tear-stained face, “If I was, the universe would’ve given me the power to see ghosts instead of the curse to see his death in the future and be unable to prevent it. They chose you for a reason, Virgil.”

“But-”

“It doesn’t matter how many times I wished for my brother to come back. It doesn’t matter how many times my parents and relatives all tried to wish for him to come back. It means that all it takes is for someone not related by blood to find him. It means that all of our grievances were for nothing because he was right under our noses. You don't get to say that it was the universe's calling to bring you here to me. Because if it was truly the universe's calling, and if the universe truly cared about me, you wouldn't have to be the one to tell me my brother has unfinished business. You don't get to say that it isn't my fault when I have slaved away at trying to be what he was and fill the hole in my parents' heart. You don't get to tell me that the universe isn't trying to play a prank on me when I can't even mention my brother's name without tearing up still. The universe hates me, and it's clear that whatever my brother's unfinished business is, it isn't with me because otherwise...the universe wouldn't be so cruel. You have no idea how much it hurts to know that the world chose to give your brother to a stranger rather than his bloodline.” Logan choked back a sob.

“I’m sorry.” Virgil whispered, not knowing what else to say.

“It’s not your fault.”

“I know.”

“Promise me that he’ll be okay for me?”

“You don’t want to tell him that yourself?”

“I don’t think I could face him if I tell him that I’ve been grieving for him for 4 years. Again, love doesn’t fare too well in a universe this cruel.”

Virgil watched as Logan walked away, clearly trying to pretend that he wasn’t crying, and that it was just the rain.

Virgil couldn’t imagine having to go through that pain, especially alone, as it seemed like Logan's parents depended on him to be Roman. He couldn’t imagine having to pretend to be the image of a dead brother that he looked up to. It gave his a little perspective to the way Logan was now. It made sense why Logan was so cold to others.

“Hey, I couldn’t get it.” Roman popped right next to Virgil, almost scaring the wits out of him.

His smile soon faded upon seeing Virgil staring off into the distance.

“Are you okay?” He asked worryingly.

“Yeah, I’m okay, why?” Virgil asked.

“Because you’re crying.”

Virgil went to feel his face, and he realized that silent tears were streaming down his face. He just laughed, “Oh…I guess I am.”

Virgil had sworn to Roman that he would help him find his unfinished business, but now he couldn’t help but wonder whether or not he would hurt Logan if he were to help Roman.

He was in the same dilemma Logan was in. Should he help the dead he had learned to care for or the living who hadn’t truly begun to live yet? ——————– this chapter is PACKED with drama: patton gaining a crush on our precious logan plus logan angst to the MAX? i like this chapter a lot especially the scene at the end where virge and lo make up (platonic analogical >>>)

If you enjoyed this, please consider reblogging! Reblogging helps me a lot and are very appreciated. Check out my masterlist for more, feel free to request any writings, and stick around if you want to see the rest of what I have in store for this! :)

[rayisme]

I FINISHED THEM!

Also head cannon for the au, Virgil and Remy's eyes glow when they're really happy.

@goodieghosty @edupunkn00b @transformationloveb @lovelivingmydreams @haysgrove @fandomfollowerart @virgil-my-emo-son

[fishfinz]

2018 Redraw!

the one on the right was my first official kindersides piece back in 2018 so after finishing the main four’s redesigns i indulged in nostalgia! they’re all so cute...