#is missy showing us some stimming here?!

[fuckyeahbigmouthgifs]

[krowfics]

He's not the kind that bites you, he's the kind that just delights you

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Ships: Platonic Virgil & Logan

Plot: Virgil makes breakfast with the strange fae

Words: 2283

Notes: Fae AU, child - autistic - semi verbal Virgil, fae Logan, Missy is a bird and also shes not called Missy (yet), Janus is there but asleep, past child abuse, food, stimming

Part four of my Of Humans and Fae AU

AO3

~~~

Virgil didn't know what was going on.

It was safe. Or the mushroom ring was safe. Janus had only specified the mushroom ring was safe, which meant Virgil knew nothing about the fairy who showed up inside it, the one who Janus apparently knew. Janus seemed to trust him, enough to sleep in his house at least. Still, it was reasonable to be at least a little afraid of the faerie.

The fae were bad. The kidnap you and eat you or curse you or kill you, kind of bad. The don't go in the forest or you'll never see humans again, kind of bad. The long list of rules to follow if they did find you, kind of bad. 

Don't give them your name. Don't say sorry or thank you. Don't eat their food. Don't be rude. It didn’t seem to make much sense that they were also called the fair folk when they just seemed scary.

Adults thought not saying sorry or thank you was rude. How could you deny offered food without being rude? Virgil decided you were doomed the second you even saw a fairy, so what was the point in memorizing the rules to survive? He still memorized them. Some terrible, frightened thing inside of him made him. It was like memorizing what not to do in front of dad so he wouldn't yell, especially when Virgil couldn't say anything back.

It was times like these where Virgil really, really, extra hated his useless mouth. He couldn't talk even if he wanted to. And he did want to! Sort of. He wanted to be heard, he wanted to talk. But that didn't specifically mean he wanted to use his voice. Tapping for yes and no questions was perfect but it failed him when he had a question himself. It wasn’t even always like this! He could talk to his teachers a lot, as long as they didn’t call on him in front of the entire class. He certainly couldn’t talk now, in a stranger’s house, to a strange fae who.. Kidnapped them? They kidnapped themselves and delivered themselves to him so that was close enough.

What in the world is up with the faerie?

Virgil desperately wanted to shake Janus until he was awake and ask him to explain everything, though he knew he wouldn't be able to use his voice, making that completely pointless. 

It was upsetting, he didn't even know if they were safe.

But Virgil had woken up in the stranger's bed with Janus asleep next to him, Stormy in his arms and three crows laying across the mattress.

Crows.

Crows!

Virgil's initial thought was to squirm and flap his arms to get the overwhelming giddy tightness in his chest out. He didn't though, barely managing to stop himself, so as not to disturb them. 

His second thought was to touch them, which he really, really wanted to do. But they all looked asleep, and that didn't feel very nice to do to an animal who didn't know him yet. 

Finally, his third thought was to get up and explore the peculiar place, but there was a fae in here and Virgil couldn't ask Janus whether the fae was safe.

He would be, right? Janus wouldn't take him anywhere worse than home, Virgil was as sure of it as he could be. But what if he was wrong?

Virgil wrung his hands anxiously for a moment before stealing himself. He wiggled out from under the blanket and slid off the bed, leaving his plushy behind, one of the crows shifted but didn’t wake. Virgil really wanted to pet it. 

He instead walked to the door and carefully - carefully, quietly - opened it.

To his right, there was a living space. With a couch and opposite it were two chairs that did not match each other. One of the chairs looked big enough to comfortably hold two adults. There was a coffee table in the center, and a fireplace with no fire in it and all around there were shelves and shelves and bookcases and more shelves. It kind of looked more like a really homely library than a home. There was no TV, do fay even have TVs?

He heard a thud in the opposite direction and turned to it. He stepped closer softly, peering through into another room, half open with no proper door but still not easily visible from the living room. He walked through the doorway, seeing the fae man crouched down, reaching into a cupboard. 

Several more crows sat around the room. The window was open, one sat on the windowsill with another on the counter nearby, gazing down at a book as if it could read it. One stood on an upside down pot sitting on the counter above the fae.

The one on the pot tilted its head, spotting Virgil. It then cawed suddenly and the fae jumped. He pulled his head out from in the cupboard and looked over his shoulder, “Oh.” Lunar said, standing, “Hello, Little One.”

Virgil blinked up at him and then nodded, hopefully that’d come off as polite. 

The fae started towards him and Virgil went to make an aborted step back. Stopping himself at the last moment, it'd probably be rude otherwise. Don’t be rude to fae. The fae stopped too and just stared. He tilted his head just like the crow had and then crouched down.

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

Virgil fiddled with the hem of his pajama shirt nervously, but nodded, anything else would be a lie.

“Would you like to help me with breakfast?”

This Virgil maybe could say no to. Without it being rude, at least. It would still be a lie though, and fairies were supposed to hate lying. He wondered if the fae would even know he was lying, and if he didnt, would it not matter? 

Virgil always liked helping Janus when he was preparing their lunches to bring to school, he wasn't allowed to half the time because Janus didn’t want Virgil interacting with their father much and that was often inevitable in the kitchen with it being so close to the living room. Maybe Lunar would let Virgil have some of what they were making while they were still making it. Janus would always let him, even if it was just licking a spoon clean of jam after they were done with it. 

There was the problem of Virgil not being too entirely sure he could eat this food though. Don’t take food from fae.

Still, he nodded. Lunar smiled at him and Virgil found himself giving a hesitant smile back.

Lunar stood and turned to the counter, picking up a couple of things with loops of string attached… Maybe necklaces? 

“I went to an acquaintance last night, after you two fell asleep. He's another human, like you, who lives with fae. I received a counter spell, I'll have to make something in return later.” He was rambling a bit, Virgil thought it was kind of nice to hear, like Janus when he wasn’t too tired to talk. “I wasn’t sure I could make a meal that didn’t have anything from Fairyland in it, though supposedly if it is salted enough it loses its enhancement. I’m not exactly sure how I’d acquire salt, or if I’d trust myself to put enough on. Hopefully this will remedy that issue.”

And then he was at Virgil’s level again, "Adder told me before that your favorite animal was spiders, is that still the case?"

He was smiling softly, despite looking so nonhuman with his thin face and unnatural looking eyes, he looked kind. Virgil nodded, because spiders were his favorite, how much had Janus talked to him? And how much of it was about Virgil?

"Oh good," lunar said, "I didn't want to cast a spell on the jar specifically in case my magic altered the witch's magic." he explained, holding one of the necklaces up, "But I didn't want to give it to you without a protection spell, so I made a metal case for it and enchanted that. A little complicated but it should work."

Virgil's eyes were drawn to the little jar, true to Lunar's word, there were lines of metal on top of the glass, not quite touching fully, but snug enough in some place to not rattle. The metal had lines and swoops in the pattern of a spider web, with two small spiders sitting atop their webs. He made that in one night? Did he sleep at all? 

"This will allow you to eat any of the food here without getting enchanted or trapped." Lunar explained clearly, "It's a gift for you." 

Lunar looked… Well, he looked excited, like when someone turned in a test knowing that they got all the answers right and was awaiting the good grade.

Virgil thought there might've been some rule about accepting gifts from faeries. There probably was but he couldn't remember. He didn’t think it would matter even if he could.

He reached up and carefully grabbed the little jar. He couldn't help but smile as he ran his thumb down the webs. Between the bars of metal, he saw what looked to be dry, loose plant bits in the jar. He slipped the string over his neck and turned his smile up at the fae. 

He was almost startled with how softly Lunar looked at him. It was the same look Janus gave him when Virgil was particularly happy and his brother was just happy he was happy.

"I intend to make pancakes with apples, and a batch without, as Adder doesn't seem fond of them." Lunar moved through the kitchen, he crouched by that cabinet again, "I also have grits and oats if you don't… Do you like fruit? Specifically apples?" he asked suddenly, turning to Virgil with a mixing bowl in hand.

Virgil nodded because he did, so long as they weren't the wrong texture.

"Me as well, though they can be cumbersome with inconsistent textures, I find it doesn't bother me too much. I have issues with meats’ textures that most tend to not relate to. Fae differ." he shrugged, "Humans likely differ just as much. Would you like to help stir the batter?"

Virgil giggled at Lunar, it was almost like he read his mind even though it was just a coincidence. Like they both have something so in common one of them was inevitably going to bring it up. Virgil nodded and it wasn't long before he was sitting up on the counter, watching Lunar flit around the kitchen to gather ingredients.

One of the crows stepped closer like it was examining him and he barely held in his squeal and more agressivly squirming. He did squirm a little, but the crow was just so cute he couldn't help it.

"Ah, I see you've met. Or are meeting, rather."

The crow cawed at him, fluffing its wings a little bit.

"Well, in a sense, yes. Though we are different species. I'd guess humans are at much of the same loss at understanding you as the others."

Virgil blinked owlishly, wide eyed and almost gaping as he looked between them.

The crow cawed, tilted its head, and then straightened up only to peck Virgil. It was too gentle for a proper peck, though Virgil did think for a fleeting moment that he was going to get bit, it was more of a touch with its beak. Virgil's arms were half raised, unsure of what to do.

Lunar stepped over and reached to scratch the feathers just under its beak.

"I call her Aster, she's one of the younger crows that seem particularly fond of me. Likely because I give her food." he explained, "She also likes being pet." 

Virgil took the queue hesitantly. She was soft, and so pretty with the way her feathers reflected the light. Virgil flapped his unoccupied arm, just a little bit, not wanting to spook her.

He really wanted to ask Lunar more about the crows. He didn't even bother trying, nervous of the embarrassing half hum that sometimes happened when he was like this and tried to talk. He focused on the pretty bird instead.

When Virgil looked up to Lunar again, he was pouring various things into the bowl, cracking eggs to add as well.

"Would you like to stir this while I chop the apples, Little One?"

For a moment, Virgil felt a feeling eerily similar to pressing two sides of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich together in the quiet of the morning, trying not to be overheard over the TV before his dad went to work.

But there was no need to be quiet, no TV, not even sandwiches at the moment. Something was actually going to be cooked and warm when he ate it, which was on the rarer side in the past. But maybe that would be standard now, maybe he would help Lunar with breakfast everyday from now on.

He nodded, grinning and reached out, squeezing his hands toward the bowl.

With the bowl in his lap as he stirred, the fae man stood by his side, cutting apples into bite sized pieces, little Miss Aster sat on his other side, watching the bowl with interest. Lunar did let both him and the crows eat little bits of apple once he chopped them up. Virgil didn't fully know what was going on, everything around him seemed a bit too good to be true, but he wasn't afraid.

And when Janus woke up and found them in the kitchen with fresh pancakes, he didn't seem afraid either.

~~~

writer’s block is a bully :(

[insanetwocubes]

So what's the problem with that?

Okay so the problem is that it basically turns me into a whiny baby bitch.

Fair. But you know how to not be like that.

I know how to not be like that sometimes.

Okay.

Sometimes I don't know how to get on equal footing. There's always that missing bit of information.

You gotta turn it into a study, missy.

Now a study is too formal. I think I need experience.

But in order to get experience, I need to mitigate the negative effects of such interactions.

Well, I think we already kind of discovered that the way to do it is to lessen the meta negative feelings about the negative feelings.

Yup yup. That's all good in concept except now it's actually something that's doable. Or at least more doable than before.

*nod nod*

So what was the really last time-

Also Flare. You want to tell me why you haven't been using your tools?

*sinks into the couch* I didn't think I needed....

You still need your tools, stupid girl! You do this all the time. You discover something new that can boost you exponentially up but because you're so impatient to be some version of "cured" you just toss out all your previous tools like this new shiny toy is gonna carry you all the way up.

You really think not using that one is impeding my progress.

Yes! Depression or not, you still suffer from alexithymia *insistently pokes Flare's temple*

So you want me to start using that tool again.

Not only that one! All your other tools, too! Damn we have so many we need a fucking directory. Oh yeah! We would already have one if you didn't abandon that idea, too!

Goddamnit man! One week without depression and you think you are some neurotypical divinity.

Well.

*huffs over a wave of aggression*

Even the stimming! You genuinely thought you were cured. Which is not only disgusting that you would want that, but false! It just goes to show that you are too impatient. This isn't like a learn a new skill and everything before then is obsolete. This is why we're not getting cured. Because you refuse to stick with the tools.

Okay okay okay okay okay.

You do the thing where you learn a new thing but you don't focus on it long enough to master it.

Can you blame me, Four. I just want to act like a normal person.

Maybe.

Okay. Maybe I haven't been using my tools because I'm focusing on other things like trying to make money and my tools were built in a different context.

So instead of changing the tools, you throw them out completely?

No. No, that's not intentional.

I didn't realize how much it was helping.

You just got rid of all continuity in our life.

I'm sorry. Hey. Thanks for letting me know, okay. We kinda lost the thread of the other conversation, but....

The other conversation was dead on arrival.

Not...exactly.

Wdym?

Well, it's kinda the whole point, isn't it? Going back to you last interaction and learning from there.

Guess so. Problem is though... it's still convoluted even if we unwrapped it quite a bit.

True.

So say. You interacted with a stranger right now. What would happen?

Depends. What's my purpose here?

See, that's what you gotta decide. Is it to find out more information, is it to kiss ass? What?

Well. Last time I wanted to have a nice conversation but it...wasn't baiting.

Okay. So when it doesn't bait, what do we do?

Uh go find someone else?

I feel like okay. Sometimes when I'm in an environment like that. Betrayong what I really want might come off as a sort of faux pas.

Ah. I remember that time. So remember when we did commit a faux pas and we hurt his feels.

Uh huh?

You gotta figure out how to not do that.

Very helpful. Thanks.

Well yeah. I put things in perspective for you. You know how to get people on your good side. Pay attention to them and what their values or skills are.

*frustrated* But Four....

C'mon. You want to be a normal person? We gotta work on shit like this.

~Four

Okay. Okay, I'll try to humanize people I know.

~Flare