#like the fact that I was right in guessing Patton stopped Roman’s blade

[starry-smuts]

This applies to any and all updates so I’m gonna use it as a thread for updates to lay out my thoughts lol. Keeping it in the tags in case spoilers for part 7

So how are we feeling after the latest chapter?

[ifeellikeameowster]

Raise Hell - Creativitwins and Darkside!Roman Fic

Fic Summary: After a brooding session in his room after the events of SVS2, Roman decides Fuck It! and visits his brother Remus' room. As the two brothers reconnect, Roman ends up making a startling decision.

Warnings: Roman Angst, Self Loathing, Self Deprecating, Darkside!Roman, Gore, Violence, Weapons, Sexual Innuendos (Basically Remus just being Remus)

Pairings: None!

Wordcount: 7k+ (almost 8k)

Author's Note:

I started writing this fic immediately after SVS2 so it's canon complacent until after that, where it branches off into this AU! This was before both Flirting With Social Anxiety and Working Through Intrusive Thoughts came out, so please just consider this an alternate "What If?" scenario! (Also this just goes to show you how much I procrastinate when it comes to writing whoops lol.)

Roman sat curled up on his bed. Sitting in the same position that he had been for the past two days or so. He couldn't exactly recall how long he had been there holed up in his room, actually.

The only thing he could recall was the disappointed looks on their faces, their harsh words whether intentional or not, and the feeling of his whole world seemingly crumbling down around him. It was all too much too soon, and after his outburst he had sunken into a numb state of suspension. Waiting to feel anything other than anger, grief, and disappointment. All three of which were mainly pointed dangerously at his own self like a bunch of daggers repeatedly striking where they knew it would hurt most.

Patton had stopped by shortly after he had first sunk out, yes. But Roman could hardly hear what the fatherly side was saying to him over the ringing in his ears and his own rapid heartbeat constantly reminding him it had been recently struck through. Something about everything being okay, he thinks? Yet how could Patton have said that when absolutely nothing was okay right now? In fact, he doubted anything could be okay ever again. Not after…well, after he had apparently messed up again.

It was starting to become a habit now, all of these stupid mistakes. And how could such a perfect prince as him make such mistakes? He was supposed to be a paragon of perfection! An idol for all aspiring heroes alike! The pinnacle of heroism and all that is good in the world! Instead he was just...just wrong. Always wrong. Always wrong no matter who's side he took or who he believed in or what he said or didn't say. Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.

But if he wasn't a perfect prince...if he wasn't a hero...if he wasn't right...then what exactly was he? What was left? Well, nothing, really. He had put all of his eggs in one basket and now the littlest breeze had apparently sent it toppling over.

Wait a minute...If he had nothing left, then that meant he had nothing left to lose, right? Which meant all of his old restrictions on himself, all of his walking the fine line and all of him staying on the right side of the fence- All of it was meaningless. It was doing nothing, just like him.

He slowly unfurled his body from it's curled up position and turned his gaze towards the closet on the far side of his room. The door was dingier compared to the rest of the elegant and ornately designed bedroom. Scratch marks marred its greyed, wooden surface and a sign was tapped loosely and half-hazardly to the middle. "Danger: Nightmare Zone. Keep out!" It read in bright red lettering.

"Keep out, huh...I must have been really mad when I wrote that." Roman glanced down to his hands, which he had clenched. "But now I'm just empty...so what's the use in obeying a stupid sign that I put up there myself?" He unfisted his hands and looked back to the imposing closet door. "What could be more dangerous in there than staying here and stewing in my own thoughts?"

He slowly stood up, his legs tingling from being in one position for far too long. He made his way over to the closet door. Slowly. Cautiously. Glancing over his shoulder as if someone was going to walk in on him at any moment. As his hand grasped the handle, he felt himself gulp. Did he really want to do this?

"…"

Well, what else was there to do?

He pushed the door open and stepped into the closet full of old clothes. All of his new princely adornments were actually being stored in a mahogany wardrobe beside his nightstand. These clothes were...they belonged to...Well, someone who didn't exist. At least not anymore. He pushed his way through dusty and moth-bitten clothes as if he was pushing through the undergrowth of a dense jungle. As he neared his destination, the place grew darker and smelled more and more of mold.

He finally arrived at another door. This one was more well kept than the last, with golden trimmings and an intricate door handle. He took a deep breath to steal his nerves before pushing it open.

He stepped out into another bedroom. This one had moss in the corners, cobwebs on the ceiling, and ivy climbing it's walls. Even still, it was much tidier than he had been expecting. It gave off more of a wild feeling rather than a dirty one. Just as he was about to take another step to inspect further, there was a mace in his face.

He hadn't even flinched back, he was so tired and dazed. Roman sucked in a nervous breath and looked to the wielder of the weapon.

Remus was standing frozen in place, his face flickering between emotions. Eyes twitching. It appeared like he had intended to knock him out again...just like last time in the living room...but something must have made him pause.

"You've been crying." He hissed, less of a question and more of an accusation.

Roman blinked, confused, before reaching up to poke the skin underneath his eyes. Sure enough, it was puffy. He bet if he looked in a mirror they'd be red-rimmed as well. But he didn't even want to see his own face right now. He huffed out in irritation. "So what if I have?"

Remus' face flickered once more before settling into a firm stare as he slowly lowered his morning star mace away from Roman's head. He was being oddly still and slow in his motions, and the difference between this and his usual rambunctiousness was making Roman's skin crawl with nerves. "Why?"

"Why?" Roman repeated after him, bristling, "Why do you even care why?"

Remus blinked, seeming to come out of his previous mood. "You tell me Prince Smarmy! You came into my turf." He rested his mace behind his shoulders and started rocking back and forth on the heels of his boots.

"I…" Roman's gaze fell to the ground. "I don't know. It's just the last place I could go, I guess?" He shrugged before waving a dramatic arm, "But if you don't want me here either, then just say it to my face!"

Remus tilted his head curiously before leaning forward "Oh, I can do way better than that, brohide." And with that, he snapped his fingers and the room flipped upside down.

Roman gasped as they fell through the air. The room seemed to twist and morph around them. Until finally, he had landed roughly on his own fluffy white floor rug. Remus, however, had fallen through the fancy canopy of his bed. Tearing a large hole through it and landing in a heap on the covers.

"Hey, my bed!" He shouted, offended beyond belief.

"Oh tough titty." Remus chastised as he picked up a golden laced, red silk pillow. He started plucking at it's loose threads. "I bet you have a ton of those ugly tent things."

"They're called canopies, you uncultured swine!"

Roman got up in a huff and dusted off and straightened his rumpled clothes. He sent a glare over to Remus as he did so. "Why'd you do that?"

"Do what?~" He sing-songed annoyingly back.

"Teleport us in such an unruly manner!"

"Hmmm…" He flopped over on to his back and started doing snow angel motions. "Why'd you go in my room?~Huh? Huh?"

"Wha- I- I asked you first!"

"I asked you second!!" He rolled over on the bed to grin up at Roman, still clutching the poor, abused pillow.

"Ugh, fine!" Roman threw his hands up in the air and moved to grab his vanity chair. He pulled it over to sit in front of the bed. "I just didn't want to be in my own room right now, okay??"

Remus frowned with pursed lips and sat up, scooching forward on the bed. "But it's your room, numbnuts."

"Well maybe I don't want to be near me right now…Um, wait. That doesn't make any sense, does it?"

"Probably not! But-" He cupped a hand over his mouth and loudly whispered conspiratorially, "I can rip your head off your body and throw it to the side for you so you're not close to it anymore?"

"No that's...That's not what I meant and you know it!"

"Fucking party pooper!" Remus threw his hands up then abandoned the pillow he had been holding to riffle curiously through the rest. "Do you not keep a dagger under your pillow??"

"What? No, of course not! Who would do that?"

"Me, duh! For security reasons, bitch boy."

"Well I'm obviously more sensible than that. I keep swords under the bed like a sane person."

"Wait, really?!" Remus threw himself over the side of the bed to look underneath it. "Holy shit, nice!" He rustled through them for a moment before grabbing a sleek black flamberge by it's blade and pulling it up. "I'm keeping this!"

"I would protest that but you've already gotten your filthy blood all over it and that sword is a particular bitch to clean."

"Sibling souvenir!" Proclaimed Remus as he stabbed it into his stomach for safe keeping.

"What on earth are you doing? Why would you stab yourself??"

"To make sure it doesn't go anywhere! Oh, and to test it's stabby powers."

"You know in hindsight, I shouldn't have even asked."

"Speaking of askings of questions-ing, why did you visit my room of all places? Needed to get rid of some trash? Because I'm taking if you're offering. I could always use more decorations!"

"Remus, you rat bastard, I saw that your room was cleaner than you let people believe it to be. If you did take any of my trash you'd probably organize it into the proper bins and everything."

Remus gasped and put an offended hand over his chest. "How dare you! My room is perfectly and gloriously trashy and stinky, just like me."

"Mhmm, sure it is."

A shuriken flew past the side of his head and embedded itself right in the face of one of his many Disney posters.

"Just answer my question!!"

"Okay, okay jeez!" Roman raised his hands placatingly before dropping them to grip at his knees nervously. "I, well, I didn't want to be alone anymore…"

"And? You couldn't just visit the other lamo light bitches in the living-dead room?"

"They, um." He sighed before looking over at his posters. Prince Charming smiled brightly back at him, even with a weapon digging into his forehead. "They don't want to be around me. They don't want me. Not anymore. If they ever did. They have him, after all. Both of them."

"Him. Them. Stop playing the pronoun game already and get fucking on with it!"

"He has Janus now! Thomas chose Janus! Patton chose Janus! They chose Janus! They both chose Janus...over me…" Roman blurted out. The words were spilling out now, unstoppable. He sniffled as he felt the tears threatening to fall once more as well. He didn't even realize he had any left to cry. "I chose Thomas. Thomas chose Patton. Patton chose Janus. No one ever chooses me! No one ever takes my side!"

"Apparently, I'm always the one in the wrong..." He ran his shaky hands over his cheeks, desperately trying to push any tears that appeared away. To keep them from falling anymore. Hadn't he cried enough? "I was wrong about Virgil. I was wrong with how I talked to Logan. I was wrong about the breakup. I was wrong about the wedding. Now I was wrong about Deceit- no, Janus- ugh...Everything I do is wrong!"

He lowered his hands again to dig his fingers back into his knees. Roman drew in another shaky breath, trying to calm himself after the outburst. He glanced nervously up at Remus to gauge his reaction to his brother's crazed rambles.

Remus had leaned forward to hear him better over his sobs and shaky voice, almost tipping over the edge of the bed. He had his nails digging into Roman's comforter, and Roman was afraid he was about to rip holes into it. He already had a canopy to replace after all, he didn't want to have to replace that as well! They stared at each other in tense silence for a few moments more, one at a loss on what to say next and the other trying to process the onslaught of new information. Finally, Remus let go of the comforter, slid off the bed, and sat on the floor in front of him with his legs splayed out.

"So what you're saying is...wait, Jan Jan the Banana Man actually told you his name?"

"Well, he more so told Thomas and Patton it and...I just happened to be there too?"

"Huh. Never thought he'd tell anyone else. Well, not after Virgil…was Virgil there?"

"No. Unfortunately Virgil wasn't there to back me up. If he would have even taken my side at all...And Logan was...there in textbox spirit?"

"What'd nerd-a-lerd say?"

"He…well, I wasn't really paying much attention to- I was panicking okay! But I heard enough." He looked to the side, feeling shame well up in himself again. "Enough to know that he was taking his side, just like everyone else."

He heard a mumbled "Damn pronoun name again-" before Remus clapped his hands together with a loud boom that echoed through the large room. "Okay! And I can't believe I'm saying this but- tell me the whole story. Top dick to bottom butt."

"Ew." Roman wrinkled his nose up in disgust.

"Just tell me already!!" Annnddd another shuriken whizzed past his head. This time it embedded itself in his dresser. He hoped it hadn't cracked the wood too much...

Thus Roman spun the entire tale, starting at Janus' first appearance and ending with the absolute fiasco between the callback and the wedding that had occurred a couple of days ago...or had it been several? Time had muddied itself in his reclusion. He would take several breaks in his storytelling to go off on self-deprecating tangents that sounded an awful lot like dramatic monologues from some tragic play. More often than not these tangents were cut short by Remus, who would hurry them along with crude nicknames and threats to get back to the main story.

Somehow during this storytelling process both of the brothers had ended up splayed out side by side on top of Roman's fluffy white floor rug. As if they were kids gossiping on the floor at a sleepover. Remus had busied his hands by pulling out locks of the fur from the rug while Roman's own hands gesticulated wildly with the ups and downs of his tale. As he neared the end of the story, Roman curled up to lay on his side so he could face Remus and see his reaction.

"...and then I decided to go to your room. Because I had nowhere else to go. I didn't want to stay in my room with my own thoughts any longer...but I didn't want to see any of the other sides, either."

Remus was laying on his stomach, fiddling with the rug and swaying his feet in the air. At hearing the last bit, his feet fell back down to rest on the floor. "...But you wanted to see me?" His voice was the softest Roman had ever heard him speak. It was incredulous and almost...hopeful.

"I-I don't know. I-" Roman diverted his eyes across the room, sweeping over the damage done by them earlier and eventually landing on the dingy and scratched up closet door. He stared at it for a moment in thought before looking back over to Remus. "Do you ever…Ever miss sharing a bedroom?" He murmured.

Remus wrinkled his nose and glared at him, likely upset that he had dodged the question. "Not really. Your taste in stuff is far too Gucci-Gucci-bougie for me."

"No, not that!" Roman dismissed with a wave of his hand, " Not the furniture or anything like that. Just the…the feel of someone else being there too? Knowing that someone else is always there? Someone who's kind of like you but not really? Someone you can talk to when you have no one else?" Roman ran his fingers through his hair in distress. "Does that make any sense???"

Remus was still glaring at him, but now his eyebrows twitched with an unseen emotion. "Being brothers?" He hissed.

"What?"

Remus reached over to grab Roman's shoulders and shake him silly. "What you're describing. Is being brothers. What I wanted to be. What you didn't let us be. What you rejected. Shoved into the darkest corner. Placed under a Do Not Enter sign-"

"I'm sorry, okay! I didn't mean it!"

Remus paused in his shaking, several emotions flashing across his face. "Didn't mean it?"

"I know I-" Roman placed his hands over Remus' on his shoulders but didn't push him away and lowered his head in shame. "I acted rashly and perhaps a tad extreme to our new circumstances at the time. But it was for what I thought was the best. I only ever wanted to serve Thomas. I only ever wanted to please them. I never thought- I-" He looked sincerely back up into his brother's eyes. "I never thought about what that would mean for you. What that would do to you. What that would do to us. And for that, I'm sorry."

Remus loosened his grip but didn't let go entirely, staring intensely and attentively at Roman.

"I never actually wanted to push you away. I was just doing so because I thought- Well, okay admittedly I wasn't thinking much at all really but-" His eyes briefly flickered back to the closet door "I didn't want to become a dark side too! I didn't want to not be able to see Thomas. Or to be rejected by the others. I-" He laughed then. A dry, helpless laugh. He shifted to put his head in his hands. "But I guess that happened anyway, didn't it? What sick irony, huh? Maybe it's what I deserve… Maybe it's karmic retribution…"

"..."

"I shoved you away... And now they're shoving me away! I lost a brother so I could keep everyone and everything else in my life but now- now I've lost that, too- Now I have nothing. Now I am no-"

Remus tightened his grip on Roman's shoulders again and pulled him towards himself. He ended up knocking their heads together in the process-

"Ow! What the hell are you-"

-of wrapping his arms around Roman and hugging him to himself.

"You-You're hugging me?"

"You didn't lose a brother…" Remus pouted, as if he was a petulant toddler, "I've always been right fucking here if you'd open your stupid eyes for once."

Roman let out a shuddering breath, feeling an entirely new type of tear prickling at the corners of his eyes. He buried his head in Remus' shoulder and gripped onto the back of hid brother's clothes as if he was his last lifeline. He probably was.

Sure the hug was the most uncomfortable one he'd ever had, what with the hilt of the sword in Remus' stomach poking him in his own and his forehead still ringing with the pain from where Remus banged them together, but somehow it was still nice. It still felt like...home.

"...But I thought you hated me?"

"What gave you that idea?"

"You're always calling me names and hitting me with stuff!"

He felt Remus shrug. "You do the same thing."

"You do it first!"

"Eh- that's just what siblings do~~"

"With medieval weapons?!"

"Says the guy with a stash of swords under his bed!~" Remus sing-songed teasingly.

"Oh like you have room to talk- You said you keep daggers under your pillow!"

"Shouldn't everyone? You should keep some under yours too, Mr Whiny Prissy Pants!"

"And there's the name calling again."

"Hey now, you know it's the older siblings job to pick on the younger-"

"But I'm the older sibling! I manifested my form first!"

"Eh, semantics-schmantics! Same diff!"

"You're completely unreasonable!"

"And you're too stuck up!"

Roman let out a growl and smacked a hand over Remus' face, pushing him away and breaking up the hug. Remus let out a huff and reached over to slap the back of Roman's head in retaliation. This caused them to descend into a full on slap fight, looking like a slapstick scene straight out of a comedy movie.

They roughhoused like this, like a pair of bickering elementary schoolers, until they eventually tired themselves out and flipped gracelessly back onto the floor. They both stared at the ceiling for a few silent seconds before bursting out into fits of crazed laughter.

"That was the worst hug ever! Hahaha!"

"Hey! I don't have much practice! Heeheehee!"

"Haha! We must look like a couple of insane people lying here!"

"Haha! I knooowww~~ You're room is sooo trashed!~Heehee!"

"Hey! You're the one that trashed it! Hahaha!"

"Well you're the one who invited me here brozilla! Hahahoo!"

"You're the one that brought us here! Hahaheh! I wanted to be in your room! Heh!"

Their laughter eventually died down. But just as Roman was about to drift off into sleep from his position lying on the floor, he heard Remus ask, "Do you still want to go to my room?"

Roman blinked his eyes open. He sat up and looked forlornly around his own bedroom. The thought of staying here seemed lonely, now that he'd finally reunited and reconciled with his brother. And the pictures and posters adorning the walls just reminded him of past memories that only hurt to think about right now. "......Yeah. Yes, actually." He turned to Remus, who had also sat back up, " I know, I know it sounds crazy but-"

"I like crazy!" Remus grinned and raised his fingers in preparation to snap, causing Roman to have a flashback to the previous time he did it.

"Wait! Don't turn the room upside down again! We can just sink through the floor like we normally-"

"Sink through the floor? Okay, if you say so!" His grin widened maniacally and he snapped his fingers.

The floor started to shift and cave in on itself, causing Roman's furniture to all move closer to the center. A hole slowly opened under where the brothers had been sitting that pulled them down into it. Roman screamed as they were both sucked into the abyss.

His scream ended abruptly as he was flung up into Remus' room, the hole now acting as a geyser of sorts. Roman landed in an unruly manner and was knocked out of breath while Remus landed swiftly on his knee before rolling up into a standing position.

"Home, Smelly Home!" He proudly declared with his hands on his hips, either unaware of or uncaring towards his brother's struggle to get up from the floor.

"Shouldn't have opened my big mouth..." Mumbled Roman as he dusted his clothes off and tried to straighten his appearance, only for his work to be completely undone when Remus yanked him into his side and rustled his hair with his elbow. "Hey! Stop that! Do you have any idea how long it takes to do my hair?"

"Eh, it was already messed up anyways." Remus slapped Roman's shoulder, "Now come on slowpoke, I'm gonna give you the grand tour!" Remus then ran off further into his room, causing Roman to have to chase after him in order to keep up.

Remus showed him his bedroom first, which had a mirrored layout to Roman's, but the furniture was darker and more rustic. The decorations looked more like something out of a haunted mansion than a grand palace, like Roman's did. Remus then stopped by his weapons closet, where he finally removed the flamberge sword from his stomach and tossed it haphazardly inside. From what Roman could make out before Remus had shut the door again was that the room looked bigger on the inside than the title 'closet' would suggest. Remus then pointed out a few more small areas of note before eventually leading Roman to the back door.

Every side's room had a front door- where the other sides could enter their room, and a backdoor- where each side could go out of their room and into their own personal section of the mindscape. Most sides referred to it as their 'backyard', of sorts.

Roman followed Remus out of his backdoor and onto a balcony overlooking a dark, twisted forest. The balcony itself was the same design as Roman's own balcony but was made up of black marble instead of white. There were a few cracks here and there, yet it was overall fairly stable. English Ivy crept along the rails and crawled down the side of the castle. There were no stairs in sight, unlike with his own balcony, leading Roman to wonder whether Remus would take the time to climb down the Ivy or simply jump off of the railing in order to enter his backyard.

Remus spread his arms out in a grand gesture before spinning around to sit backwards on the railing, facing Roman. "So, what do ya' think? Badass digs, right?"

Roman, lost in thought and not expecting the question, blurted out the first thing to cross his mind. "We have similar balconies."

Remus raised an amused brow. "No shit, Sher-cock. We're in the same castle. Same castle, same floor plan. Duh."

"Wait, the same castle…?"

Remus shrugged, leaning far enough back on the railing to have Roman worry about him falling over the side of it, "It split when we did. We still share a room and space... it's just-" He waved around a hand dismissively. "Halved, now."

"Ah...so that's the reason we can visit each other without going through our front doors…" Roman walked up to lean forwards on the railing, right beside Remus. "Wonder why I didn't question that sooner?" He rested his chin in his hand with a sigh. "All this time, we were even in the same castle...the same area of the mindscape...and I never- I never even bothered to visit-"

Remus, who had grown bored of the conversation and had started to pick his nose, interrupted Roman's spiral by flicking boogers at him. "Hey now, none of that. You did enough moping back in your own room, you cry baby.*

"Ugh! Ew!" Roman sputtered indignantly and pulled out a doily to wipe his face. "You're disgusting." He huffed.

Remus stuck his tongue out at him and laughed. "If you start saying sad shit again, I'll give you a wet willy." He then leaned towards Roman and started wiggling his fingers menacingly.

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me, bitch!"

"Well, if you do that, then I'll- Then I'll shove you off of the balcony!"

Remus faked a scandalized gasp and placed a hand over his chest while the other draped across his forehead. "You'd murder your own dearest brother?!"

"It wouldn't kill you, you overdramatic oaf, sides can't die!"

"You're calling me overdramatic?" Remus abandoned the pose to lean forward with a knowing grin. "Talk about the pot calling the kettle black."

"Oh shut up." Roman pushed Remus away, before turning around to sit beside him atop the railing.

Remus' eyes widened. "My goody two shoes brother is sitting precariously on a railing? Since when? Is it opposite day? "

"What do you mean? I do dangerous stuff all the time!"

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

Roman gestured wildly, "I slay the dragons! I defeat the monsters! I save the people! I...fight the bad guys…" Roman deflated as his hands fell beside him to lock the rail in a death grip. "But I guess I failed at all of that, huh? So much for being a goody two shoes…"

Remus hummed in thought, nails tapping against the black marble. His legs swayed back and forth as they both looked up at the night sky above them in companionable silence. Roman eventually let out a forlorn sigh and relaxed his grip on the railing. Suddenly, Remus let out a loud gasp and clapped his hands together, startling Roman who in turn almost tipped over the edge of the balcony.

"I have the best idea!"

"Oh no, you're planning something. That can never be good."

" No, no! Really, really! Listen, listen!" Remus smacked Roman's arm and shoulder excitedly in-between each word.

"Okay, okay! Just stop!" Roman slapped Remus' hands away. "Tell me then brother, what is it?"

Remus beamed and jumped to stand back on the balcony. "Okay so, you're saying that the other sides are shutting you out, right? And that they made you feel like a stinky doodoo head?"

"Gee, thanks for reminding me. Totally helps me feel better." Roman grimaced with a sarcastic thumbs up as Remus paced back and forth.

"Right! So, they're starting to treat you like a villain. And J-Anus as a good guy?"

"I- I guess? That's like the bare essentials of what happened...I mean, that's what it seems like--Ugh, just what are you getting at?!"

Remus stopped pacing to spin towards Roman and spread his hands out. "So why not just be a villain?"

"......what?"

"Join the dark sides with me!" Remus then awkwardly faked a modeling pose. "We have great fashion! And weapons! Lots of weapons!"

Roman scoffed. "I know, I saw your weapons closet." He slid off the railing to stand in front of his brother. "But what makes you think I'd want to be a villain?"

"Well, they made you feel fucking awful, right?" Remus leaned forward with a menacing grin, "So why not give them a little hell in return?"

"What, as in revenge?! I'm supposed to be a purveyor of justice!"

Remus shrugged and started circling Roman. "Where's the justice in always shutting you out? Of always telling you that everything you do is wrong? Of splitting us apart?" He stopped to put his hands on Roman's shoulders again. "Aren't you tired of trying to be a good guy all the time? Don't you just want to let loose and raise a little hell?"

Roman bit his lip and wrung his hands together. He looked down at his feet as his brother's words rang through his head. Where was the justice in that? He had always tried to do the right thing before. To be the good guy. To be the hero. But no one ever appreciated his efforts. Instead they always, always focused only on his mistakes.

The other sides' voices chimed off in his head.

"Roman, you can't do that." "Shut up Roman." "That was wrong, Roman." "Stop being so dramatic, Roman."

He pushed those invading voices furiously away and tried to reorganize his thoughts.

Him, joining the dark sides? Could it even be done? A light side had never switched over to the dark side before... Well, unless you counted the original Creativity and their split. Where a part of that Creativity had...had been pushed to the dark sides and…

Roman's eyes widened in realization as he looked back up at his brother. "You too." He breathed out.

Remus squinted his eyes and scrunched his nose at him. "Hah?"

"Always being shut out. Always being told everything you do is wrong. Being forced to split apart." Roman grabbed the hands that were on his shoulders to move them down and squeeze them reassuringly. "You experienced all of that too. Even more than I did…Don't you want to raise hell too?"

Roman grinned in a very in unprincely manner and released Remus' hands. He swept his arms aside in a grand motion. "Let's raise hell together, brother. What do you say?"

Remus stared at him blankly for a moment before breaking out into a shit eating grin of his own. "Hell yeah! Hell mother fucking yeah!" He jumped up and down excitedly and clapped his hands. "Oh! We're gonna have so much fun! Those butt holes have no idea what's coming."

Roman chuckled fondly at his brother's enthusiasm. He felt lighter than he had in years. Free of responsibility. Free of expectations. Free of limitations. Free to do whatever he wanted. Speaking of which…

"You mentioned fashion earlier, didn't you?" Roman pulled at the hem of his shirt in thought before smirking up at Remus. "I believe for me to officially join the dark sides, a makeover may be in order."

Remus nodded and grabbed his brother's hand to drag him back inside, chanting, "Makeover time! Makeover time!" The entire way while pumping his fist victoriously into the air.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, in Thomas' living room.

"-and a part of taking care of yourself is to not self-deprecate." Janus was explaining, standing next to Logan.

"Yeah, you've gotta compliment yourself sometimes, Thomas!" Patton added happily.

Thomas scratched the back of his head nervously. "I don't know guys... isn't that a little…"

"Conceited?" Virgil cut in, glaring over at Janus' before looking back to Thomas. "What if we end up doing that out loud in front of others? What if people think we're stuck up?"

"Well, it's better than always thinking so negatively of himself." Janus spat out.

"Janus has a point, Virgil. It's been proven that constant self-deprecating behavior can have a wide range of negative effects on one's psyche and mental health." Logan chinned in while adjusting his glasses. "Which could also lead to eventual negative effects on one's physical health, including-"

"Well, I mean yeah!-" Virgil rushed to interrupt, "He shouldn't think too badly of himself...but he shouldn't think too highly of himself, either!" He uncrossed his arms and gestured towards the empty space where Roman usually stood. "I mean, what if Thomas ends up as stuck up as Princy here, huh? What would you do then-"

"Wait-" Thomas interrupted him, "Where is Roman? Has anyone seen him lately?"

The sides fell silent as they all looked curiously towards the empty spot.

"I haven't seen him since Janus joined us... Patton, didn't you check up on him or something?"

"Well, yeah! Of course I did kiddo!" Patton nodded then pouted, "He didn't seem to want to talk to me though…"

"Has anyone actually talked to Roman in a while? Where is he?"

The sides gave Thomas varying degrees of shrugs and noncommittal answers in response.

Thomas sighed, "Really, guys?" He then looked towards the corner again and called out, "Roman! Are you there? Are you listening? If so, come on up! You should join us!"

They waited in awkward silence for a while for Roman to appear, or to at least respond to Thomas' call...until they heard a deep chuckle emanating from behind the tv.

"Join you? Nope! Not possible~"

Hands crept out from behind the tv, grabbing onto the wall, causing everyone in the room to immediately be alert. They remembered the last time they saw hands there...this couldn't be good! Something was wrong! Sure enough, Remus slowly emerged, climbing up the wall as if he was a lizard. He then twisted his head around, causing Patton to almost faint from fear. Thomas, meanwhile, backed away as far as he could without falling over the couch.

"I'm afraid he's already joined someone else!~"

Remus jumped off of the wall to land in Roman's designated spot. His head and body shifted back to their original positions and he grinned at the others with his arms spread out. Now, the others could see that along with his usual attire, he also donned a crooked and cracked silver crown atop his head. His purplish eyeshadow was gone, instead replaced with a messily applied sparkly silver eyeshadow. Some of the glitter from it fell down the sides of his face to freckle his cheeks as well. The wide grin of his lips was painted in a deep green lipstick.

"Me!"

"Remus…?" Janus breathed out, confused.

"I didn't call for you! I called for Roman!" Thomas shouted once he had regained his composure from witnessing such a horrifying sight.

Virgil bristled and stood up from where he had been leaning against the stairs. "Where is he? What did you do with him?" He bared his teeth at Remus as if he was an agitated guard dog.

Remus put his hands on his hips and threw his head back with a laugh. "What did I do to him?" He leaned forward with a smirk. "What did you do to him? Huh?"

"Wha-what do you mean? W-we didn't do anything..." Stammered out Patton.

"Also, did he change his makeup?" Muttered Thomas, "It actually looks kinda good…"

"Focus on the main issue here, dudes!" Virgil snapped his fingers at them both before turning back to Remus. "Okay, whatever. It doesn't matter wherever you put him, just give him back!"

Remus chuckled and stepped to the side, "You hear that, dear brother? Sounds like they're ready for you to come out!~"

At that, the tv seemed to flicker to life. A colorful error screen appeared and started to crackle and fizz. As the glow from the tv lit up the room, the rest of the room started to glitch along with it.

The sides glanced around nervously, fear creeping into their bones once more.

"What's going on? What's happening to the room?!" Thomas panicked.

Logan placed a hand on his chin. "These types of spatial effects seeming to happen in Thomas' physical living room instead of just inside the mindscape...could it be?"

"No…" Gasped Janus, "No, it can't be!"

"Oh but it can!~" Announced another voice from inside the tv.

Hands reached out from inside the error screen to grasp the sides of the tv. A form slowly climbed out of the tv and stepped into the living room.

"......Roman? What on earth are you wearing?!" Virgil waved a hand incredulously at his new get up.

Roman, now fully standing beside Remus in his usual spot, smirked at Virgil and flicked his cape. "It's called fashion, Midnight Query."

Roman's usual outfit was now black in all of the areas it used to be white. On top of that, he wore a red velvet cape with a white and black spotted fur trim. On his shoulder laid a skull where the cape connected and clasped shut. His upper eyelid was decorated in sparkly gold eyeshadow and thick black eyeliner which spread out into a cat-eye look. His smirk donned blood red lipstick and a crown identical to Remus' was atop his head, except his crown was golden and not crooked or cracked at all. He looked like he had stepped right out of a fairytale…but as an evil king instead of a noble prince.

"Perhaps you should try it sometime, Dark and Dreary. It might make you look less…" Roman made a point of looking Virgil up and down before waving his hand at him with a scowl, "Drab."

"Roman! Where have you been? I missed you. Your makeup looks great!" Patton rambled ecstatically.

"Missed me?" He sneered, "Ha! I bet you all didn't even realize that I was gone." Roman then looked down to check his meticulously manicured nails with a bored expression.

"Of course we did! That's why I called you!" Insisted Thomas.

Roman tsked and shook his head. "Oh Thomas, Thomas. Always the peacemaker." He moved the hand he had been checking to flip his cape over his shoulder. "But I'm not here to make peace. We're here to raise hell. Isn't that right, brother?"

In response, Remus summoned a pitch black flamberge sword and stabbed the blade into the ground. "Hell yeah we are!"

The area of the floor that he smashed cracked open to reveal an eerie green and yellow glow. Small shadow hands emerged as little demons started crawling through the cracks.

Roman summoned a longsword with a ruby embedded in its hilt and slashed at the wall. Red and orange flames burst forth from the rip as even more shadow demons started to join them.

The glitching of the room from the tv screen grew at an alarming rate, some of the glitches covering entire pieces of furniture.

"What on earth is happening!?" Thomas screamed, gesturing wildly at, well, everything.

"Roman, you need to stop this now!" Virgil growled, slipping into his Tempest Tongue.

"Yeah kiddo," chuckled Patton nervously as he tried to wrestle his hoodie away from a demon that was currently trying to steal it. "Isn't this a tad bit extreme?"

Roman laughed darkly, raising his sword into a shrug. "And why should I?"

Remus rested his elbow on Roman's shoulder, "We haven't even begun to have our fun yet!"

Janus narrowed his eyes at Remus, "Remus, this is not what I meant when I said-"

"Blah blah blah!" Remus mimed a mouth with his hand. "That's all you are, anacon-don't. All talk, no action!"

"What's going on?! Why isn't anyone answering me?!"

"Well, Thomas, it appears that Roman and Remus have initiated-" Logan started only to get interrupted by Virgil.

"They started Daymare Mode!" Virgil shouted as he angrily threw a demon that had been crawling on him into the wall, knocking it out instantly.

"Daymare Mode? What's Daymare Mode?!"

"It's a combination of Daydream Mode and Nightmare Mode." Janus explained while shaking a demon off of his hat with a sneer, "It's a state Creativity can only achieve when it's whole…"

"So, what? They can affect the real world now that they're working together?!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Thomas." Chastised Logan, "You're technically just hallucinating-"

"I'm hallucinating?!"

"Yes, that is what I just said."

A demon tugged at Logan's pant leg only to be sent running away in fear by a well-placed harsh glare.

Patton, finally having gotten his hoodie free, tied it back around his shoulders and clapped his hands. "Okay, you two! That's enough. I'm not sure what's gotten into you today, but-"

"Oh no, no, no." Roman waved a finger at him, "I'm afraid we're not going to be listening to you anymore, padre."

"We've got our own plans, Daddy DingDong!"

"Oh yeah?" Hissed Janus, "And what exactly are those?"

"You can't do them, whatever they are!" Virgil yelled out as he stomped on another demon's tail, sending it hopping away in pain. "We won't let you. I won't let you!"

Remus and Roman exchanged amused glances before turning back to the others.

"You don't have to let us do anything," Roman hummed, "We're the kings. We shall do whatever we want." He waved a dismissive hand.

"Hear ye, Hear ye! The Twin Kings of Creativity!" Hollered Remus, as both twins raised their swords triumphantly in the air, "We take no shit and kick some ass!"

"To us!" Roman high fived Remus' hand, then turned to grin menacingly at the others, "And now, time for you to go to hell."

"To hell?!" Thomas gasped, looking desperately back and forth at the other sides.

Logan's eyes widened, having figured out what they were planning to do. "Roman, if I'm correct- and I always am- then I'd advise against-"

"Too late, Deuce Banner!" Remus shouted triumphantly as he and Roman clashed their weapons together. The sound from the clang resonated in all of their heads, making their vision blurry.

Thomas gripped the sides of his head, trying to get the ringing to stop hurting his ears. His head felt like it was splitting open. And then, there was nothing. Just a fade to black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thomas gasped for air as he woke up. Wait, woke up? Had it all been a dream? Thank god-!

"Well, well, well. It's about damn time." Drawled Roman.

"We thought you were never gonna come to!" Laughed Remus.

Thomas jumped up in surprise from where he'd been laying on the floor, only to immediately regret moving so harshly as he felt his head swim. "Ow ow ow." He gripped his forehead and peered around, "What-"

"Welcome, welcome!" Roman proclaimed as he spread his arms out in a grand gesture. "To the Kingdom of Creativity."

Thomas looked up to see Roman and Remus sitting side by side on twin thrones, one gold with red cushions and one silver with green cushions. Roman sat up straight with impeccable posture and one leg crossed over the other. Remus lay sideways across his throne, kicking his feet and tossing what appeared to be a grenade up and down as if it was a baseball.

"...What? Where am I?"

"We just told you." Scoffed Roman, "You're in the Kingdom of Creativity." At Thomas' confused frown, he continued, "You're in our room, Thomas."

"Your room?" Thomas looked around at the ornate throne room. "It doesn't look like my living room, like the others' did."

"That's cause we're not as boring as the other sides." Sighed Roman, "We have much more pizazz." He gestured at the room around them. "We did some redecorating recently, actually. What do you think, hmm?"

The throne room was mainly black, with silver and gold furniture giving the darkness a stark contrast. Banners of their two symbols hung on opposite sides of the room in correspondence with each side's throne. Overall it gave off a majestic yet eerie feel.

"It's- Um." Thomas finally stood up from his position on the floor and glanced around nervously. "It's certainly something. But um, where are the others…?"

He had long since noticed that it was just him and the twins in this room. The others had seemingly vanished into thin air. Their continued disappearance was making him more and more uneasy as each second ticked by.

Remus huffed and casually threw the grenade over his shoulder and out a window, causing an explosion to be heard outside. "What's wrong Thomathy, our room not up to snuff with the others? You prefer Daddyo's and Scene-Kid's rooms? Huh?"

"What? No!" Thomas raised his hands placatingly, not wanting to anger the two currently volatile sides, "You're room is fine! It's great! It's just they were here and now they're not here and I was just wondering-"

"They're off on their own adventure right now, Thomas." Roman butted in. He leaned forward to place his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. "That doesn't matter, though. What matters right now is us. Don't you want to stay here with us, Thomas? We can show you around the castle~!"

"Um- No, that's fine... No thank you." Thomas smiled as his voice shook. "I'm sorry, I can't stay here... I need to find the others."

Roman's pleased smile immediately fell into a scowl, "Fine, then. You want to see the others so badly?" He stood up from his throne and gestured for his brother to do the same. "Then why don't you just join them already!"

The both summoned their new weapons again, causing Thomas to start to panic. "Wait! Don't! Not again!"

"Too late, Thomas. You should have accepted our gracious offer."

"We could've had so much fun together!" Chirped Remus.

"And we will! You're just not ready yet, it seems." Roman sighed with a disappointed frown, "Now, for the time being~"

"Have fun in hell instead!~" The twins chimed in unison as they clashed their swords together for a second time.

The clanging rang in Thomas' already aching head as everything fell into the blackness once more.

[foxfire-midnight-wings-writing]

Spider Virgil! (Introduction)

So, I guess this is a bullet fic? I always liked to write like these but never knew they had a name lol. Anyways, lets go!

If you’d like to talk more about this AU, you can send me an ask at @foxfire-and-midnight-wings​ or on here. (Preferably only using this one for asks that could bring potential to expand on the story or universe, with the other one for smaller asks and non-canon talk)

[Next]

[Fanfic Masterlist]

Warnings: super long post, talk about spiders and spider traits (fangs/venom, extra eyes, extra legs, etc.) and the usage of them, talks of spider and snake bites/venom (aka non-sexual biting), general anxiety thoughts and cognitive distortions

[This is basically an AU where Virgil has some spider-like traits, similarly to Remus and Janus with their respective animals. No one is unsympathetic!]

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

First off, he has a little set of extra eyes underneath his 'real' eyes (only four eyes in total)

He got nervous before introducing himself to the other sides (aka the ‘light sides’) so he had Janus and Remus help him use makeup to hide them.

Janus & Remus understand bc while they like their animal traits they know he's always nervous about them.

While Remus only hides his octopus tentacles, Janus tends to hide his fangs, most his scales that aren’t on his face (ex: neck and shoulder), and his extra arms around many of the others.

Virgil has setules so he can climb walls and stuff, which is how he gets up and sits on places that shouldn't be sat on.

Also, he has 4 spider legs that are connected to the muscles on his back

One pair is positioned just underneath his shoulder blades, the other pair is around his mid-lower back

When he’s not hiding his legs, they usually are positioned as if they were giving him a weird hug (top are resting on his shoulders, bottom are wrapped a little bit around his torso)

Also fangs!

He has extended canine teeth that (surprise!) connect to a pair of venom glands on his neck

This means that his teeth are really sensitive too, though, which can suck at times

He had a bad habit of instinctually injecting venom into meat and stuff he eats, but luckily it doesn’t hurt him. Now that they’re all older though, all the ‘dark’ sides were able to adjust to their animal traits or habits.

In this case, that meant he trained himself not to automatically inject his venom into stuff

Remus was the first to find out about venom milking, because it’s Remus

Because both Janus and Virgil have fangs + venom, he knew that they were constantly worried about accidentally hurting someone and not having an antidote. So he brought up the idea to them

Luckily, they were all young when they discovered this so there weren’t any inappropriate jokes about it, but Remus makes them a lot in the present (along with the vore jokes, which everyone hates)

Basically, for those who don’t really know, the way people make antidotes and medicine to help with venom from animals like spiders and snakes is through extracting the venom by a process called “milking”

So they ended up experimenting a lot and they eventually made their own antidotes to both Janus and Virgil’s venom

And once they both also learned how to bite things (and as a result each other) without using their venom

(Snakes and spiders can do what’s called a “dry bite”, basically they bite without injecting venom into what they bit)

This revelation ends up with Janus and Virgil often threatening to bite the other person, sometimes if they fight they actually do

The antidotes have been helpful on the few occasions one of them injects a tiny bit of venom by accident (which was extremely rare, and only ever happened when they were younger)

Virgil and Janus still regularly milk and make their antidotes, and they usually keep some of both in all three of their rooms for emergencies

(sometimes they do it just because they can, and end up giving it to Remus so he can do weird experiments with it in the Imagination)

Also, the hissing? Janus is a snake, so that makes sense. But Virgil?

Well, after a little research, they ended up finding out that spiders make a low hissing noise called “stridulation”. So technically, spiders hiss too.

Virgil uses that against Remus when he tries comparing him to a kitten, and he threatens to bite him

[The Present Situation w/ the Other Sides]

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

He was planning a big reveal for the ‘light’ sides at one point (before he was accepted) but he never went through with it

Because Accepting Anxiety happened, he was worried he'd lose the friendship/acceptance of the others due to his traits. (Anxiety and cognitive distortions, y'know? Plus, he saw how freaked out Patton and the others were by the spider decorations in his room, how could he expect them to react any different to him?)

And so he continues to hide them and his other abilities

which is an absolute pain because while he can easily cover up his extra pair of eyes, he has to be very careful about not showing anyone his fangs

And don’t get me started on how hard it’d be for him to get into his jacket and positioning it just right so his legs aren’t being squished but they aren’t very visible

Fun fact! That’s why he always appears on the stairs. he can easily hide them by leaning against the wall or positioning his back to where no one can see them

But he still gets little urges to do things spider-like because of his anxiety.

For example: crawl up the wall and go in corner = no people = safe

So to fill that little spider instinct to crawl up places to get away from people he takes to sitting in places he shouldn't.

Top of the fridge, the counter, anywhere he can get while being able to reason his way out of being questioned on how he got up there

To his surprise, no one stops him. If anything, Patton calls it cute and Roman basically encourages it

And so things go on like normal, and he always takes off his makeup once he's in his room.

Sometimes he indulges a bit and climbs the walls

He has a small resting area that looks similar to a hammock (but it’s practically a nest of blankets) that’s connected to his walls. Sometimes he’ll sleep up there because it’s off the ground and away from everything

he tends to lay on his stomach and to spread out as much as he can when up there

(Janus and Remus find it hilarious, but Virgil points out that Janus can’t say anything because he does that too)

No one has seemed to catch on that he has spider traits, and he is extremely relieved about that

Then Janus comes along and introduces himself to Thomas and the others.

And then Remus joins in too.

And while none of them are on bad terms, Virgil gets more and more worried someone is going to point out their animal traits and ask him if he has any.

And he worries because he doesn't know how to respond

He can't just say

"Oh yeah, all the 'dark' sides have animal traits and I've just been hiding mine from you in fear of rejection and that you'll all hate me. By the way, my anxiety is making me not say anything about this because I'll have a panic attack just thinking about telling you, and so I haven't said anything about it, and the more time that passes makes the anxiety about telling you guys worse which causes me to put it off even more. And it causes a spiral from there that often makes me whole myself up in my room for days on end."

So he tries to prevent anyone from asking about the 'dark' sides by making it seem like he left them on extremely bad terms.

It takes a minute for Janus to realize it’s not the normal banter they throw around, it’s something more desperate and anxiety-ridden

Janus catches onto his plan very quickly, and when he can he gets Virgil alone with him and Remus to talk it out.

Virgil tells them about his fears of rejection and how none of them know about his spider traits (especially because they went to his room once and Patton was freaked out just by the spider curtains, making his fears worse)

So they all make an agreement to help Virgil hide his traits and to make a plan to help the others not ask them about each other

And then Remus just goes "so you're saying I can fuck with my brother? That's the plan, right?"

Cause he is so on board as long as he can cause chaos.

And what better way to cause chaos than by pretending to be in an arguement or on extremely bad terms with a close friend, forcing the others to watch it happen and be uncomfortable as they argue back and forth

Janus just agrees because he likes being dramatic and it's not like they didn't banter a lot before now, they just get to make it public and more "serious" than before

(They all know it’s just because he wants to be part of the Drama™)

They make a list of things they can and cannot make jabs/remarks about

And then they prepare for the chaos

(Note: This is not them being “unsympathetic”, they all agreed on the plan and all know what they are signing up for. The entire purpose is to make the others think that they have bad relations with each other, which some may interpret the arguing/jabs as the characters being “unsympathetic”)

[The Chaos Time Begins]

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

So this all happens before Selfishness v. Selflessness, right?

Which is what makes the entire courtroom scene funny to the ‘dark’ sides, bc they all were planning to have that be when the drama really started to take off

When in the courtroom and Janus makes the comment about Virgil’s name, he really wasn’t expecting that, but after the initial panic passed he was like ‘I mean, alright I guess’

He didn’t really want them to know anything about his full name (Virgilius), but it wasn’t going to really hurt him

(He just wanted to avoid any of the references or jokes Roman and Logan would definitely make because he already got enough of it from Janus and Remus)

and the plan worked! almost a little too well, though...

After the courtroom scene ends, there’s a couple days of silence where everyone just. Doesn’t talk about it. At all. The ‘dark’ sides were prepared for this, so it’s not too bad for them, but it makes Virgil feel very awkward when around the others.

Then, after the third day of awkward avoidance, Patton and Roman gather all of them in the living room to try and make sure everything is okay.

Unfortunately for them, Patton had also invited Janus up there because he saw the tension between him and Virgil

And Janus physically restrains himself from showing how excited he is because this is the perfect way to make the Drama™ officially known

Virgil is just chilling on the couch waiting for everything to spiral, because while he appreciates the effort, the fighting is completely intentional. So there’s no stopping it now

It goes about as well as you can expect

While everyone else except Janus starts talking, Janus just patiently waits until someone brings him into the conversation to start making jabs. (mainly because he knows that the others actually have stuff they need to talk through first, before he derails the conversation)

They all are able to get to a good conclusion about the situation, misunderstandings are talked through, and now all that’s left is dealing with Janus

And as soon as Patton starts talking to Janus, he gets excited because the show can finally begin

Roman: Now, I know not all of us really like him, but- Virgil: like him?! That’s funny, princey, because I really fucking hate him! Janus: Oh, come on, Virgil! Just lighten up a little. You’re seeming a little... dark. Virgil: Don’t. Patton, trying to prevent them from arguing: Hey, now, kiddos! Let’s take a moment and just step back to breathe, yeah? We don’t want this to- Janus: become a truth-telling session between us and Virgil? Patton: become an arguement.

The others try to help Patton defuse the situation, but it doesn’t work. If anything, it makes the situation worse because Janus uses them as fuel for some of his arguments.

Virgil: Yeah, keep talkin’ pal! I’m sure they really want to hear it from someone who makes it his job to harass everyone Janus: Well, sorry about that Sir Emo, but I couldn’t hear you over the sound of you leaving us. Oh, wait! Sorry, you don’t want to remember being a ‘dark side’, now, do you? My apologies! Roman, frantically glancing between the two: Wait, wha-? Virgil, standing up: Oh shut it, you treacherous snake! Like you ever even wanted me there. You’re probably glad I’m gone, huh? The cold from your room is starting to affect your heart! Not like you had one, though. Janus: Why, you-!

They start arguing and slowly they start getting louder and louder

Eventually, they’re yelling insults at each other, and everyone else is at a loss for what to do

Then, in what seems to be the ending of the argument, Virgil yells “I never wanted to be there with you in the first place, you bastard!”

Janus takes a moment to pause, and then he just says “Right, of course. My bad, Virgilius”

The living room is quiet as Janus sinks out, and Virgil just stands there shaking

He knew it was going to happen, and he knew it was just his name, but the acting and drama was becoming a little too much. It started to feel too real to him, and he knows that’s just his anxiety speaking, but he still feels the tears gathering in his eyes

Patton tries reaching out to him, but Virgil says “I’m going to my room” in a broken voice

The others watch helplessly as he leaves, and eventually they all break off to their own rooms to think about what just happened.

[starlocked01]

Suspended in a Defenseless Test

AO3 @tsshipmonth2020

Masterpost- Previous- Next

Summary-  Patton never had a soul bond. He thought he was okay with God's tumultuous plan for his life- until he met Remus.

Day 7 Intruality- A red thread only you can see connects you to your soulmate

There's a red string that joins you and your true love. You all know this. It's not some fairy tale. No matter the distance,  you are connected by an unbreakable soulbond.  The non-believers and sinners like to lie and say they have red strings too but I know God only gives them to the faithful, not the homose-

Patton switched off the radio, shutting down the emphatic pastor's voice. He couldn't comprehend how a God that creates invisible soulbonds to lead his children to their complement would punish those who hadn't found him yet. He had plenty of queer friends gush about finding their soulmate because of the red strings. Why would they lie about the fear they felt as children that they would hate the person on the other end, or that the other person would hate them for being queer?

Then again, Patton had no reason to complain. He never had a red string. And according to the lastest radio prophet, that meant he wasn't of the true faith.

There's no way that man knew what he was talking about. Patton had been a priest. He knew the Lord. But did the Lord claim him?

Patton sighed, eyes on the road. Most days he didn't feel broken or incomplete without a string, but Sundays usually did their best to bring him down. God had a plan for his life, apparently it just didn't involve a soulmate. He could be okay with that.

Until he met Remus.

The man was wild and loved to do fun things unplanned, especially if they were gross. He'd show up and drag Patton out to a public park to go on a hike in the pouring rain or bring over buckets of glitter and glue to make slime. He told crass jokes that made Patton blush and always found ways to cheer him up. Even on Sundays.

Patton loved his company and secretly feared the day Remus found his soulmate and left Patton behind.

He pulled the car into the apartment complex where Remus roomed with his brother Roman and Roman’s soulmate. Patton couldn't imagine how awkward that must get, but Remus loved the arrangement. He parked and was gathering his stuff from the back seat when he felt a presence behind him.

Patton blushed, already guessing what Remus was up to and was not surprised when he looked over his shoulder to find Remus mimicking anal behind him. Remus grinned at having been caught and wrapped Patton into a tight hug around the waist.

"Remus…" Patton gave his friend a withering half-smile.

"It's been too long, Daddy. I missed you!" Remus let Patton twist around to hug him back. Patton let his head rest on Remus' shoulder a moment before pulling back with a nearly genuine smile on his face.

"The correct term is 'Father' and you know I'm not ordained anymore, Rem," Patton reached behind his back and grabbed a bag that he held up to Remus, "how have you been? I brought you this."

It wasn't possible for Remus' eyes to gleam any brighter. He took a hand off of Patton's waist to take the gift but instead of opening it right away, he took a step back and gently grabbed Patton's hand.

"Hey, can we take a walk? RoLo kicked me out for the afternoon because they're being all squishy couple-y today. And I need to tell you something."

Patton couldn't stop the flash of fear in his eyes. So today was the day. His closest friend had found his soulmate and whatever kind of dynamic they had would have to change.

Remus saw the fear and winced, "no no it's not bad, Pattycake, come on let’s walk. I won't be able to explain it standing still." Remus bounced on his toes and swung Patton's hand back and forth almost as if to prove his point. Patton gulped and nodded, closing the car door and locking it behind him before letting Remus lead him off down the road.

They walked in uncharacteristic silence for a few minutes, still hand in hand. It felt like the Mariana Trench had opened between them, horrible dark secrets waiting to come to light.

That was pattonly ridiculous to think but nonetheless Patton could not stop worrying. Remus squeezed his hand tighter and led him down a path off the main road.

"Oh, I know where we're going."

"You remember? After two years I didn't think you would," Remus smiled warmly, leading him to a clearing by a large pond surrounded by trees.

"How could I forget that day?" Patton chuckled and shook his head, "I still don't know how you caught a goldfish with a condom."

"I am a man of many talents, few of them useful, " Remus led Patton to the edge of the pond where a blanket and picnic basket were set up.

Patton gasped, "Remus, what is this?"

Remus gestured for Patton to sit down, "Patton, I have a confession to make. Do you still take those?"

Patton chuckled, sat down on the blanket, and pulled Remus down with him.

"Okay, but only for you, kiddo."

"Did you seriously call all the parishioners that? Is that why they kicked you out?" Remus' grin faltered quickly as the joke was met with sad eyes filled with regret. "Damn it. Damn me, right? I'm sorry Patton. But I do have a bit of a confession to make," Remus took a deep breath and looked in Patton's expectant eyes, "I really… really want to make us official."

Patton blinked in surprise, "but, surely I'm not your soulmate. Aren't you waiting for them?"

Remus deflated but tried to keep the energy up, "I know I'm not your soulmate, Pat, but hear me out. I understand if you don't want to because I'm not your soulmate but what I had in mind was a bit different. I want you to be my queerplatonic partner, not a romantic partner."

"Queerplatonic? I've never heard of that before," Patton mused over the word. He'd always assumed romance and love with a soulmate was the most important kind of relationship the Lord had given humans, but the most important man in his life wanted something different. And specifically not a romantic relationship.

"Okay, confession number two. I don't have a soulmate. In fact, I'm aromantic. I've never had a red string and frankly at this point I never want one. But I still want to be your partner, just not in a romantic way. You mean the world to me, Patton. I know coming to terms with queer stuff hasn't been easy for you but, well, what do you say?" Remus looked hopefully at Patton who stared straight ahead at the water rippling in the light breeze.

"What… what does aromantic actually mean then? I suppose I was wrong to assume it meant 'without love'..." Patton's voice hitched. He looked over to Remus and smiled to reassure him.

"Not experiencing romantic attraction to others, like not wanting to date them or do romantic-y bull shit with them," Remus looked away, heart crumbling as his best friend continued to avoid the big question.

"Oh. Wow…" Patton took a deep breath, "Remus, I have my own confession to make," Remus looked back to Patton, intrigued, "I don't have a soulmate either. And though I've heard of the aromantic community before, I never realized that being aromantic did not mean being resigned to never loving someone else in a deep and fulfilling way. Queer platonic partners, is that similar to dating but without the romance?" Remus nodded silently, hope reblossoming in his chest, "I think I could like that. You are so important to me, Remus. I was terrified you were going to tell me you found your soulmate and had to leave me behind."

"I could never leave you behind, pops!" Remus cried, "just imagine the catholic guilt I'd have for abandoning you!"

Patton giggled and grabbed Remus' hand, "so, I guess… yes! I want to be your partner, Remus."

Remus grinned broadly and tackle hugged Patton. They both rolled off the blanket and ended up laying in the grass and laughing with joy.

Remus sat up suddenly, "did you hear that?"

"What?"

"I'm gonna catch that frog!"

"What??" Patton watched as Remus jumped up and dove straight into the pond, holding a hand up to shield his face as mud splashed everywhere around him.

Remus resurfaced, pulling himself out of the mud with his elbows because his hands were full with a giant bullfrog who looked perturbed at having been pulled from his spot.

Patton squealed with joy, "oh, let's name him Lilypad!"

Remus chuckled, "that sounds like Little Pat, I like it!" He set the frog down in the grass, futility wiping mud from his face and slicking his hair back out of his face while Patton tried to restrain himself from immediately poking the poor animal.

Remus laid spread out on the grass, drying in the sun while Patton grabbed a stick and blades of grass to play with Lillypadton (he liked the flow of that name better). They talked for hours and shared the snacks Remus had set up before Patton arrived. Remus opened the gift Patton had brought and was ecstatic, playing with the neon green tangle toy and admiring the hand-decorated picture frame.

Something welled up deep in Patton's heart, looking at his brand new partner. They weren't soulmates but he was confident the Lord wanted them to find each other and be together this way.

After a while, Patton stood and picked Lilypadton up, returning the frog to the edge of the pond while Remus gathered up the picnic in the blanket like a giant sack that he threw over his shoulder. Patton took his other hand with a smile and they walked back to the apartment.

Remus dropped the blanket by the front door and they could hear the tv playing in the living room.

"Roro, we're back! Y'all better be decent," Remus yelled from the kitchen as he washed the worst of the dried mud from his arms.

"Yeesh! Yes, you can come in," Roman shouted back from the living room. Patton peeked his head around the corner to see Roman and Logan cuddled on the couch watching Netflix. It looked dark and potentially gory so Patton slipped right back into the kitchen with Remus.

"Hey, Pat, I'm gonna go shower off. I've got mud up my ass and it's getting kinda nasty. Make yourself at home," Remus smiled and kissed his forehead. Patton blushed and nodded.

As Remus headed off to get cleaned up, Patton sat himself down in the kitchen, preferring to leave the others alone with their movie.

"Hello, Father," Patton looked up from his phone to Logan who was standing awkwardly next to him.

"You can just call me 'Patton', Lo. I actually prefer it…"

"My apologies. How are you?" Logan asked stiffly, shifting from foot to foot.

"I'm doing pretty well. Thank you for asking. How are you today?" Patton smiled, trying to put the other man at ease.

Logan adjusted his glasses, "I am doing adequately-"

"Lo, just get the drinks. Pat's fine," Roman called from the couch.

Logan bristled, "I apologize for his lack of manners. Do you want anything to drink?"

"No thanks. And thank you, I'm sorry for intruding on your movie date," Patton sighed.

Logan moved to the kitchen to get the drinks but kept glancing at Patton. Patton did his best to ignore the looks, praying Remus would finish up quickly.

Logan cleared his throat, "Patton, are you and Remus dating? He was acting weirder than usual before you got here today."

Patton blushed at the directness of the question, "not like you and Roman are," Patton wasn't sure how to explain it to the two soulmates- if Remus even wanted to tell them.

Roman had stopped watching the television and had his arms crossed over the back of the couch, "I told you, Lo, Remus doesn't have a soulmate. He was just excited to see Pat, nothing more to it."

"Roman, he had a whole picnic planned. That's hardly something you do for just a friend."

"Guys, I-"

"Patton is my Zucchini and you two are just jealous," Remus announced loudly from the hallway. All three turned to look at him and he grinned, "come on Pat, let's leave the lovebirds alone."

Patton jumped up, eager to get away from Logan and Roman’s questions and confusion. He was also more than a little curious about being called a 'zucchini'. He could hear Logan and Roman whispering as Remus led him off down the hall to the bedroom.

"What the hell is a zucchini?"

"I don't know, Roman. Just let it go. We can ask Remus to explain later."

Patton was grateful as the door shut behind him, cutting off the rest of the conversation. He turned to give Remus a quizzical look to find him wearing the tangle toy in his hair like a crown.

"That's adorable. What's a zucchini?" Patton grinned, genuinely this time.

"Ah, sorry. I probably should have asked you first. It's like an alternative to 'boyfriend' for queerplatonic partners. We can go by something else if you don't like it," Remus grinned, patting the bed next to him to offer Patton the seat.

Patton's eyes were shining as he sat down, "oh my goodness, that's adorable! I love it! So do you want to be called my zucchini too?"

"Ehh, Nah it doesn't sound right for me," Remus frowned, laying back on the bed to stare at the ceiling.

"Well," Patton swung his legs back and forth, "what about my squish?" He poked Remus in the stomach, causing a fit of giggles.

Remus sat back up and grinned at Patton, "that sounds perfect! You'll be my zucchini, I'll be your squish, and everyone else will be confused as hell!"

Patton leaned his head against Remus' shoulder, imagining the looks of confusion when they told others.

"Oh hey, I thought of something!" Remus bounced up from the bed and went straight to the closet, rummaging around for something which he quickly found, "since we don't have soulmates, let's make this official ourselves," he held up a variegated ball of blue and green yarn.

"Okay!" We'll have to untie it before I leave but that's such a sweet idea!" Patton couldn't help but think back to when friends on the playground would do something similar, using red yarn during games of pretend to mark their friends and crushes as "soulmates".

Remus cut a decent length of yarn and gently took Patton's hand in his. He tied one end of the yarn around Patton's wrist and held out his for Patton to do the same. Patton tied the other end of the yarn with a small bow and held Remus' hand in his, smiling at his squish.

Patton felt a mild itchy burning on his wrist and looked back down at the yarn. Remus looked too, pulling his hand away from Patton's. As they watched, the blue-green yarn sparked for a minute before returning to normal.

"Well that was odd," Patton was the first to speak.

Remus looked weirded out and tried to untie the bow but found that no matter how hard he pulled, the knot stayed tied. He grabbed a pair of scissors from his desk and tried to cut the loop around his wrist but the yarn passed right through the blades without being severed.

Patton gasped and pulled the thread between them taut before taking another step back. The thread lengthened, magically longer than it had been cut. When he stepped closer it shrunk shorter, much like how other's had described their red threads acting.

"Does this mean-?" Patton asked quietly.

Remus grabbed Patton's hand and dragged him out to the living room, walking right between the couch and the television much to Roman’s displeasure.

Remus held up their bound together wrists, "can you guys see this?"

"You're holding hands and blocking the tv. Yes, we can see that," Roman grumbled at them.

"Is there something we should be seeing?" Logan asked with an edge of curiosity in his voice.

Patton held up the string, "you guys can't see the string?"

Roman and Logan shared a look and Roman answered, "I thought you didn't have a soul thread, Remus. We can't see any string. What's going on?"

Remus turned to Patton with a large happy smile, "we created our own soul bond!"

Logan sat forward immediately, "tell me exactly what happened. Don't leave out any details."

Roman sighed and paused the movie, a smile on his face seeing his brother happy. He had no clue what was going on but he could be happy for the pair and could forgive them for the intrusion.

Patton picked up Remus in a hug and twirled him around, tears of joy spilling down his cheek. They both sat down next to Logan and started explaining the thread and the sparks and the scissors. This led to Logan asking several questions about the nature of their relationship, with Roman interjecting with questions of his own.

When Patton left that evening to drive home, the string magically stretched with him over the miles. He thanked God for Remus and for blessing their unconventional relationship with confirmation they were meant to be together in the way that made sense to them.

[teacupfulofstarshine]

pattonella part 10: in which the author cannot write a fight scene to save her life but attempts to do so anyway

cw: cartoon/fantasy violence, injury, passing out, death of unnamed background villains, swearing

part 1 // part 2 // part 3 // part 4 // part 5 // part 6 // part 7 // part 8 // part 9 // read it on ao3!

in the end, it’s patton who stays behind. 

“you don’t have any battle experience,” virgil says. 

“you don’t either!”

“i’ve been trained in self-defense my whole life,” virgil says. “i used to have to spar against dorian when he was learning. and i have magic to compensate for when my skills fail me. you don’t have either of those things.”

“not to mention, roman will become distracted enough when he sees us ride to his rescue,” logan says. “if he realizes you are there as well, his distraction will be heightened, and the likelihood of his injury will increase.” 

virgil watches patton open his mouth to argue, tense his shoulders, and bow his head. “you’re right,” he says. “but - but roman is my - my - i care about him, and i care about you too, logan, and - and virge, you’re my brother! what if something happens?”

“nothing is gonna happen to us, pat.” virgil holds his hand out, and a shimmering purple hexagon appears over his palm. “i’ve got magic to shield us and keep us safe. logan and i will come home safe, and we’ll bring roman back to you alive. i promise.” 

patton wrings his hands anxiously, reaching forward and making small grabby hands at his brother. virgil surges forward and pulls him into a hug, wrapping one hand tightly around patton’s waist and letting the other one weave up into his hair. “it’s okay, pat. just wait here with nate, and i promise we’ll bring roman back.”

“i trust you,” patton says. “i always trust you, you know that. i just - i’m -”

“hey, you’re talking to the living embodiment of anxiety,” virgil jokes. patton laughs wetly into his shoulder. virgil leans back and presses his forehead to patton’s. it’s the most intimate display of love and trust between family, one that had taken virgil years to be fully comfortable with. patton exhales shakily. 

“i trust you,” patton says, softer this time, he kisses virgil’s forehead and smiles, eyes watering. “come home safe, okay vee?” 

“of course, pat.”

“i love you.”

“i love you too, pat.” 

patton looks to the doorway, where nate is waiting. virgil smiles when he sees patton’s family crest sewn over nate’s heart. patton squeezes virgil’s hand before following nate out of the armory. virgil exhales and turns to look at logan. the second prince has a crossbow strapped to his arm, two quivers slung over his shoulders, a box of crossbow bolts on each hip, and a proper bow in his hand. 

“that’s a lot of weaponry.”

“these are the weapons in which i am most proficient,” logan says. “do you have a weapon of choice?” 

virgil looks at all the weapons hanging on the walls. there are halberds bigger than he is, morning stars so heavy he doubts he could lift them, battle axes with blades thicker than his arm. he carefully selects a slender basket-hilted sword and straps the belt around his waist. he also pulls a few daggers off the wall and tucks them into the straps on his belt. 

“an interesting choice of weaponry,” logan says. “knives take a great deal of speed and skill to use properly in battle.”

“you’ve got one, don’t you?” 

“my weapons are primarily long-range,” logan says. “they are fired from horseback. i do not engage in direct combat if i can help it. that is not my area, not like it is roman’s. i do far better with the strategy of war than the actual fighting.”

“bet that’s why you’re so good at chess, huh?” virgil teases. logan smiles and steps forward. 

“i find that i would very much like to kiss you now, virgil.”

“i think that’s acceptable,” virgil says. logan gently holds his face with one hand, and virgil leans into logan’s long, cool fingers. his thumb strokes gently beneath virgil’s eye, and then logan leans in and kisses him. their noses bump together, and when virgil loops his arms around logan’s neck his fingers brush the fletching of the arrows.

“nothing is going to happen to roman,” virgil says. “nothing is going to happen to you. i won’t let it. i’ll die before i let that happen.”

“please do not die,” logan says, voice strangled. 

“i don’t plan to.” logan looks like he wants to argue more, but virgil kisses the words right out of his mouth.

*~*~*~*~*

thomas comes down to see them go. 

he watches logan saddle up his dappled grey horse, watches virgil tentatively pat the nose of his black horse, watches them load up saddlebags of supplies. logan is wearing chainmail, leather gloves, and leather arm guards, but virgil doesn’t have any armor on. 

“is that wise?” thomas asks. logan turns to face him. 

“virgil insisted that he did not want to be weighed down with armor.” 

“i notice your armor is fairly light as well.” thomas tries not to sound disapproving. judging by logan’s facial expression, he has not succeeded. 

“virgil has layered additional protection spells on both of us. heavy armor will only slow me down.” 

“patton is not with you.”

“he has less combat experience than we do, so he is staying in the castle.” logan’s face darkens with emotion so quickly that thomas can’t pinpoint what exactly he’s feeling. “thomas . . . please keep an eye on him?”

“of course, lo.” thomas wants to hug him tightly, wants to press his face into logan’s hair and beg his little brother to come home safely, but they are in the very public courtyard and he thinks it unwise. instead, he grips logan’s shoulder and squeezes just a touch too tightly. “be careful.”

“i always am,” logan says softly. 

thomas watches logan mount his horse, taking the reins with an expert hand. virgil takes a few more tries to get onto his horse, gripping the reins a little more tightly than logan does. he wathes them kick their horses into action and canter out of the castle courtyard. 

he curls his fingers tightly in the hem of his shirt and exhales a short, sharp prayer to whatever god may be listening. please, let them come home safe. all of them.

*~*~*~*~*

the village roman left to defend is roughly a day or two’s ride away from the castle at a measured pace. when they break at noon for lunch, logan spreads a map out and weighs it down with two rocks and curses. “this is nowhere near enough progress,” he curses. 

virgil looks up at him, and logan tries to release some of the stress from his tone. there’s no point in taking out his frustration on virgil; it isn’t his fault. “i know that there is no way for us to know when your vision will occur, but the sooner we can get to roman, the sooner we can protect him. what if we get there, and your vision has already transpired?” 

he kicks angrily at the grass, and virgil sets down the bread he’d been eating. logan feels a hand on his and a head leaning against his shoulder, and he exhales slowly. “roman is my baby brother,” he says softly. “even though he is the captain of the guard and he is the knight, i have always seen it as my responsibility to care for him and keep him safe. when - when our mother -”

logan cuts off, swallowing once, twice to control his emotions. “when our mother passed on, roman was . . . too young, really, to remember her. but thomas and i, we remember. we were there, shortly before the illness took her, and she made thomas promise to take care of me, and she made me promise to take care of roman. i take that very seriously.”

“i get it,” virgil says. “i take care of patton, even though he’s older than me.” 

“he is my brother,” logan repeats. he feels stupid for not being able to articulate his feelings more clearly, but virgil nods against his shoulder. 

“i understand.” 

he gently kisses logan’s neck, which makes logan shiver, and steps away. “maybe i can help.”

“what do you mean?” 

“i’m magic, l.” virgil carefully approaches the horses and lifts his hands. purple light begins to swirl around him, escaping in wisps from his fingertips and shining from every lock of his hair, which ruffles in some nonexistent wind. the horses toss their heads nervously, but virgil speaks a single word in that ancient, lost-to-time magical language, and they calm almost instantly. 

virgil lifts his hands, and he speaks. 

logan has studied many languages extensively. his role in life has always been perfectly clear: thomas is the crown prince, destined to be the next king; roman is the knight, the protector; logan is the diplomat, the lawmaker. even if he cannot speak a language, he can usually understand or at least recognize it. 

he doesn’t think anyone has ever heard the language virgil speaks to use magic. he doesn’t even know if virgil is consciously aware of the fact that he is speaking another language. logan can’t tell a noun from a verb from an adjective when virgil speaks, but he usually gets so enthralled in the way all of virgil’s speech flows together seamlessly to look for individual words. 

logan is not prone to figurative language. however, he thinks that if he had to assign a simile to his feelings when he listens to virgil speak magic, he would probably compare it to an orchestra. he could listen to pick out each instrument and its contribution to the whole, but it disrupts the collective genius of the whole. for once in his life, logan closes his eyes and stops trying to actively examine every single piece of the input he’s receiving. 

he just listens as virgil speaks. 

virgil finishes the spell with a flick of his wrists. purple magic speeds out from each hand and coils around the hooves of the horses before dissipating into sparkles. “what was that?” logan asks. 

virgil’s hair settles around his face, and when he turns to look at logan his irises gleam with the faintest spark of purple. “a speed spell, with any luck. i never really had any formal magic training, so for the most part i just kind of guess? i dunno, i concentrate really hard on the effect i wanna have and then the words just . . . come to me.” 

logan means to ask virgil if he can run some tests on this phenomenon once they have rescued roman and returned home safely. what comes out of his mouth is, “you are the single most fascinating creature on this planet.” 

virgil’s pale skin flushes pink to red to scarlet, and he rubs the back of his neck. “oh - geez, l, i - uh - really?”

“i would not say it if i did not mean it,” logan says earnestly. virgil’s eyes skitter from his shoulder to his ear to his face, and logan steps forward to kiss him gently. 

“we - we should finish eating,” virgil says. “and we should get going.”

“i agree.”

*~*~*~*~*

virgil breathes a quiet sigh of relief when he realizes that his speed spell works. the countryside passes them by in streaks of blurred color, even though their horses don’t appear to be moving any faster than a normal canter to either him or logan. when they dismount outside the village, virgil feels faintly dizzy, but logan is right there with a steadying hand on his elbow. 

“do you hear that?” he whispers. 

virgil does not, but logan slides his bow off his shoulder and grips it tightly. “distant fighting. i do not see any signs of conflict in the village, which means it must be elsewhere.” his hands shake ever so slightly, and virgil reaches up and takes logan’s free hand in his before he knows what he’s doing. 

“it’s okay,” he says. “we’re here. we’ll find ro, we’ll keep him safe, we’ll bring him home, okay?” 

logan lets out a long, controlled exhale. “okay. you are right, of course, my love.” virgil feels a pleasant fire curl in his chest at the nickname. “is the speed spell still on the horses?” 

“no, it dissolved when we got here. i could try and put it back on?”

logan shakes his head. “conserve your magical energy for the fight. if we can hear the battle, they cannot have gotten too far from us. we will lead the horses into town and ask if anyone has seen the prince.” 

virgil takes his horse’s reins in his hand and walks beside logan. as they enter the village, logan’s entire demeanor changes. he pushes his shoulders back, lifts his head, sets his jaw; his eyes become hard and focused. he looks less like logan, virgil’s . . . boyfriend? fiancé? partner? . . . and more like the kingdom’s second prince. 

a young woman looks up from sweeping the street in front of her house, catches sight of logan, and immediately drops into a deep curtsy. “your highness!” logan lifts a hand in greeting. 

“rise,” he tells her. “this is my consort, virgil. we are looking for my brother, his highness prince roman, who was dispatched here with some knights eight days ago to resolve a bandit situation.” 

“his highness lead the knights and some of our able-bodied villagers into the woods to ambush the bandits,” she tells them. “we hear the distant fighting, but we have no news. they left mid-morning.” 

logan nods. “thank you.” she curtsies again as logan swings up onto his horse. virgil grips his saddle and pulls himself up onto his own horse as best he can. “virgil, we must hurry.” 

“yeah.” 

they follow the path into the woods, hearing the sound of battle grow louder and louder. logan stops abruptly, dismounting and tying his horse up to a nearby tree. “we will be faster and less conspicuous on foot,” he whispers. virgil quickly dismounts and ties his own mount next to logan’s. he draws his sword, flexing his fingers around the hilt; logan pulls an arrow from one of his quivers and notches the arrow. 

virgil listens to the battle grow louder and louder and prays that they aren’t too late. 

*~*~*~*~*

dodge, roll, parry parry thrust slash shield up and block , spin and counter, thrust forward and bash and bring your sword up and then down, flat on your back with the wind knocked out of you, no time to recover bring your sword up now and block the strike, kick out and knock him down, spring up, sword down - 

roman loses himself to the rhythm of the fight. he can feel claire at his back, feel the adrenaline singing in his veins. these are his people; he swore an oath to defend them. he cannot let them down. he will not allow himself to be defeated. 

in the corner of his eye, he sees movement behind him. there is movement all around him in the chaotic ocean of battle, and he has to focus on the three bandits bearing down on him from the front. he has no time to turn and look behind him, and then -

an arrow sprouts out of the neck of the largest bandit. he gasps, chokes, drops his weapon and fumbles for his throat as he drops to his knees. roman is confused. he doesn’t remember bringing any archers in his encampment. he squints at the arrow and realizes that it’s fletched with dark blue. 

only one archer in the kingdom uses such arrows. 

the other two bandits grip their weapons more tightly. roman lifts his sword, and then -

“roman, get down, NOW!” 

roman whirls around in time to see an enemy archer in the trees. they fire, and he freezes; he can’t get out of the way in time, he won’t make it -

the arrow strikes a shimmering purple hexagon and drops harmlessly to the forest floor. behind him, roman hears a dull metallic thunk, spinning on his heel to see the weapons of the remaining bandits hit a wall of purple hexagons. two more dark-blue-fletched arrows sprout from their necks, and they drop like flies. 

logan is nowhere to be seen, but the enemy archer falls out of the tree with a cluster of arrows in her chest. virgil bursts into the clearing, hands glowing bright purple. he draws the sword hanging at his hip, and purple light spirals down the blade. “come and get me, motherfuckers!” he shrieks, head wreathed in purple fire, eyes glowing. 

bandit after bandit falls to logan’s arrows, but none of them can seem to find where, exactly, the second prince is. virgil is swarmed by bandits, but he stabs his sword into the ground and produces a shockwave of purple magic that sends them all flying. the wounds he leaves glow with purple light, and any bandits bearing such wounds stagger to an unconscious halt within minutes, no matter how slight the wound. 

virgil slashes his way across the battlefield. his hair whips around him, and a string of rotating purple hexagons swirl around his body. whenever an attack comes towards him, whether it be an arrow or a sword or a fist, a hexagon detaches from the string and grows and blocks the attack. roman can feel himself beginning to flag, but he finds himself face to face with virgil. he lifts his glowing sword and touches the tip to roman’s chest. 

roman inhales sharply as strength and vigor begin to flood into him. “i have dispatched the enemy,” virgil rumbles. “take their energy and drive them out.” roman connects the power in hie veins to the comatose bandits on the forest floor and grins. virgil smiles back at him, feral and unhinged, and whirls around to bring his sword crashing down on the head of a bandit attempting to sneak up behind him. 

another arrow blooms from the shoulder of a nearby bandit, and roman raises his sword. 

*~*~*~*~*

the battle goes swiftly with virgil and logan’s assistance. 

roman hoists his sword high over the clearing as the last of the bandits flee and fall beneath his forces. “victory!” he cries. the rest of his knights lift their weapons and echo his sentiment. he sees claire across the battlefield, wincing as she makes her way over to him. 

“are you injured?” 

“a few cuts, probably a mild sprain. i’ll be alright, your highness. you?” 

roman looks down at his arms and inhales shakily. there are a few small cuts littering his hands and forearms, but as he watches purple light travels across them and leaves clean, unbroken skin in its wake. he looks up to see virgil, still glowing with an almost unholy light, sword almost too bright to look at. 

“i have more energy than i can contain,” virgil says. his eyes are solid purple, glowing as he stares at roman. “if his highness permits it, i will heal his knights.”

“will it hurt you?” roman asks. 

“i have the energy to spare.”

roman looks at claire, then back to virgil, and nods. “do it.” 

virgil nods. “as you wish.” he turns his back to logan, heaves his sword up with two hands, and drives the blade into the earth. another shockwave of purple magic ripples out over the battlefield. instead of damge, however, this one bathes roman’s knights and the villagers who’d accompanied them in soft purple light. gasps of shock echo across the battlefield as tendrils of magic wrap around any injuries sustained in battle and carefully heal them. 

“roman!” 

roman whirls around to see logan drop from a tree and sprint across the battlefield. he’s breathing heavily; there’s a slice on his cheek from where his bowstring must have rebounded, and his fingers are bruised and rubbed raw. logan drops his bow and grips roman’s shoulders. 

“are you alright?! have you sustained any serious injury?!”

“what are you doing here?” roman asks. 

“virgil had a vision,” logan says. “you were struck by an arrow and killed in battle. we could not let that happen, roman, i -”

roman drops his sword, decorum be damned, and throws himself forward to hug his brother. logan stiffens at the sudden contact, but quickly melts to hold him tightly. “i was so scared,” logan murmurs. “i know you are a competent swordsman, but when virgil told me you were fated to die, i -”

“i know,” roman murmurs. he pushes his face into logan’s neck; his brother is sweaty and too-warm, but roman refuses to let go. “i know, but i’m here. i’m okay.” 

logan pulls back and studies him critically. “are you injured?”

“i was.” 

“what do you mean, wa - virgil?!” 

virgil slowly approaches them, still surrounded by ethereal purple light. “beloved,” he says. logan swallows, hard. “you are injured. allow me to help you.” he steps forward, brings his glowing hands up, and pulls logan into a deep kiss. logan’s eyes widen in shock before slipping shut. virgil supports logan as he dips him backwards, and purple light travels through logan. roman watches his cuts seal up and his injuries heal themselves. 

logan brings a hand up to touch his lips when virgil finally breaks the kiss. “i . . . you . . . wh . . .”

virgil smiles. it’s different than the feral grin he’d had in the heat of battle; this one is soft and loving. “beloved,” he says again. virgil blinks, and the purple light dissipates from him all at once. he sways on his feet, looking completely and utterly exhausted, and pitches forward into logan’s arms. 

“virgil!” logan gasps, catching him and slowly lowering them to the ground. 

“shit, is he -”

logan already has two fingers on his neck looking for a pulse. “his pulse is weaker than i would like, but he is breathing. i suspect he overexerted himself during that fight. i have never seen him use that much magic at once.”

“the doc will be able to help him, right?” 

“most assuredly,” logan says. he looks up at roman and sighs. “would you care to return home, roman?” 

roman thinks of patton, bright and smiling, running to greet him in the courtyard. he pictures sweeping patton off his feet and spinning him around and showering his round face in kisses before connecting their mouths and thoroughly reacquainting himself with the taste of his beloved. 

“yeah, lo. let’s go home. 

[in-the-grip-of-depression]

In The Grip Of Depression Chapter 47:The Final Encounter

Chapter One | Previous Chapter Trigger Warnings: Mentions of blood, injuries, violence, character death (whoops)

Roman cursed under his breath as he watched Logan disappear among the trees. He couldn't just go running after him blindly, he had Virgil and Thomas to worry about.

Not to mention the fact Roman had no idea where Logan was running to and there was no way he would catch up with him now.

Roman turned to the remaining two of their little group with an annoyed sigh.

"We have to go after him!" Thomas said frantically and Virgil nodded, picking up his katana determinedly.

"We have no idea where he's gone and I'm not risking Preston getting hold of Thomas. That would be a disaster." Roman said, trying to take charge of the situation.

"Oh no you don't Roman. Worrying about risks is my thing, being cautious is my thing! You don't get to decide if something is too dangerous, that's my job and I say it doesn't matter how risky it might be, nothing is worse than letting Preston get hold of Patton and Logan. Both of them are important parts of Thomas and if he... If he hurts them or...k...ki... Worse.... Thomas will be just as screwed as if Preston got hold of him directly."

Romab blinked in surprise at Virgils words before sighing. "You have a point Virgil, come on let's go."

Thomas, Virgil and Roman set off into the woods in the direction they saw Logan take.

After a while they paused and Roman muttered to himself "Surely we aren't lost, I know my way round this forest so there's no way we should be going around in circles."

"well either Preston is messing with us or you don't have as good a memory as you think you do." Roman turned round, ready to give Virgil an unimpressed look only to find Thomas was the one who said it.

Before Roman could say anything Thomas inhaled sharply and put a hand to his chest, overcome with a sudden gnawing empty feeling.

"Thomas? What's wrong?" Virgil asked and Thomas gasped out "I'm so c... Cold and empty."

Virgils eyes widened and he exchanged a worried look with Roman, both of them having come to the same conclusion.

"Prestons starting to break Patton."

Thomas winced as the feeling in his chest seemed to grow every couple of seconds. "What can we do to stop it?"

"We need to find Preston as quickly as possible and stop him." Roman said with a grim expression.

He started walking in the direction he felt was most likely to be the right way and the other two followed, Thomas wincing and gasping as the ache in his chest grew and he began to shiver as he started to feel colder.

The trio didn't seem to be getting anywhere and they came to a stop again because Roman was starting to get truly annoyed.

"This has to be Prestons doing. He must have wanted to lure Logan away from us so he allowed Logan to find him easily and then messed everything up so we couldn't find them!"

Virgil had a frown on his face as he considered what Roman said, he wouldn't put it past Preston to do something like that.

Thomas hunched over as he felt like ice had filled his lungs but then suddenly he felt the previous ache and feelings of emptiness get washed away by a wave of warmth.

"What just happened?" he asked, looking at the other two in shock as he stood upright again. "the cold is completely gone now."

"maybe Logan managed to get Preston away from Patton or something?" Roman said, looking around with a frown.

"if he did then he must really love Patton. Preston was a complete monster towards him and it's hard to think that Logan put up with that in complete silence and didn't break worse than he did." Virgil muttered, earning a confused look from Thomas.

"wait, what exactly did Preston do to Logan?"

There was complete silence as neither Roman nor Virgil wanted to explain just how much Logan had been through.

Thomas looked between the two expectantly before throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Damn it! Why do I never know anything that's going on? Why is it I'm always left in the dark despite the fact that this is my mind!? I have the right to know when things happen! So one of you better start talking or so help me I'll..."

Whatever Thomas was going to do didn't matter as an earpiercing scream of agony suddenly ripped through the air, cutting off Thomas and making the three of them turn in the direction it was coming from.

"That sounded like..." Roman started to say but was cut off by Virgil who exclaimed Pattons name loudly and ran towards the scream.

Roman quickly ran after Virgil, followed closely by an equally worried Thomas.

The three of them ran for a while before bursting into a clearing where the first thing they saw was Patton laying on the floor clutching his arm, his face streaked with tears.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Virgil asked, dropping to his knees next to Patton and looking him over for injuries.

Patton shook his head and managed to gasp out "Logan and Preston were wrestling over there somewhere but it went silent and I don't know what happened."

Thomas walked over in the direction Patton had gestured to and peered between a couple trees to see two forms unconscious on the floor.

Thomas bent down to try and roll them over or try to wake them but Roman grabbed his wrist and gently tugged him away.

"There's no knowing what might happen if you make contact with Preston and even if you were about to touch Logan there's not much you can do to wake him up."

Thomas frowned but allowed Roman to pull him to a safe distance.

Virgil became aware that he didn't have a clue how to help Patton so he got to his feet and peered over at Preston and Logan.

"How long do you think it'll take for them to regain consciousness?" Thomas asked and Virgil shrugged.

"I don't know but it'd be better if Logan woke up first so we could end this the easy way by getting Preston while he's unconscious."

"Virgil!"

"What? He'd do the same to us and you know it! It's the easiest and safest way to get rid of him!"

Roman had a deep set frown on his face as he muttered "Just because that's what he would do doesn't mean you should do it too. We shouldn't stoop to his level, we have honour."

Virgil scowled and crossed his arms as he broke eye contact with Roman. "Fine but you show me what use that honour is when he wakes up and kills one of us."

Roman sighed and shook his head. "he's not going to kill anyone. I won't let him."

A whimpering sound came from the two unconscious forms on the floor and they both started twitching in a nearly identical way.

"What do you think is happening?" Thomas asked, watching the twitching in alarm.

Suddenly Preston sat bolt upright, his eyelids still shut but twitching. Logans hands were still clamped tightly onto his upper arms so they were both sitting up.

Finally Prestons eyes shot open, for a brief moment they were completely black before they went to their usual dark brown and he let out a noise of shock and anger.

"What the fuck?!" he exclaimed and pushed himself to his feet, dragging Logan up with him.

Logans eyes opened blearily and his entire body was limp with exhaustion as he continued to cling to Preston. He now knew exactly what had happened but he didn't have much energy left to tell the others let alone do anything himself.

Preston noticed Logans grip and immediately grabbed him by the arm, pulling him in front like a meatshield.

"Let him go." Roman muttered drawing his sword while Virgil brandished his own with a glare.

Preston sneered "Why would I ever do that? I am unarmed, facing two armed opponents. It would be stupid to let go of the one thing standing in the way."

Roman frowned. Prestons argument was logical and he had to agree. Roman would prefer not harming an unarmed person as that seemed very unfair but he guessed he would make an exception for Preston seeing as the being before him had proven time and time again that he didn't need a blade or weapon to harm people.

Virgil was furious and the only thing keeping him from lunging at Preston was the half conscious form of Logan.

The last thing Virgil wanted to do was add more pain and suffering to the logical trait.

Thomas had backed up to the edge of the clearing as soon as Preston had woken up and both he and Patton sat watching in fear of what would happen.

Preston eyed both Roman and Virgil, a calculating look crossing his face which then morphed into a grin. "Alright, you want the nerd back? Have him."

Preston suddenly shoved Logan towards Virgil who stumbled slightly as he caught him.

Preston made a dash towards where his sword lay and managed to pick it up. He smirked as he saw the realisation flash across Romans face. He'd been played.

Roman was angry both with Preston and himself. He'd hesitated at attacking for a few seconds due to Preston unarmed state and now he was armed and dangerous again.

He hadn't exactly walked away from their last encounter unscathed either so an all out fight didn't seem the best approach.

Virgil managed to position Logan behind him and then turned back to Preston, his eyes blazing with rage and his jaw clenched as he stepped forward.

It all happened quite quickly. Virgil lunged with the sword and Preston quickly deflected it, spinning and sending a kick at Roman who was a little to slow to doge it and stumbled.

Preston then ducked a slash from Virgil and swiped with his sword at their legs.

"You can't best me, I'm a master swordsman." Preston boasted with a smug smile, causing Virgil to let out a growl of annoyance.

Roman took a deep breath and started pushing forward, swiping his sword through the air from left to right in rapid succession forcing Preston to step back and dodge the blade.

Virgil stayed back not wanting to get in the way of Roman. Instead he tried to think of some other way to get at Preston. Maybe he could figure out a way to disarm or distract Preston long enough for Roman to stab him?

Virgil frowned. That hadn't worked the first time though according to what he knew. Patton stabbed Preston right at the beginning of all this and Preston had survived. Why was that?

Virgil ran over to where Patton and Thomas were, hoping Roman could keep Preston busy as he asked Patton some questions about Prestons rebirth.

Preston dodged attack after attack, laughing slightly as he saw Roman becoming more and more frustrated at not landing any.

"Come on Roman, I'm sure you can do better than that. You're trying to kill me remember? Or maybe you're just not very skilled at using your sword or fighting." Preston taunted.

Roman let out a snarl and suddenly began to attack faster, his anger taking over.

Preston managed to dodge a few but wasn't able to move quick enough to move fully out the way as Romans sword swung at head hight and caught him right across the cheek, leaving a long thin cut.

Preston hissed in pain and put a hand to his cheek, a large happy smile coming to his face when he realised he was bleeding.

"There's the angry Prince I know. Come on, remember, if you don't kill me I'll kill everyone you care about."

Roman kept attacking, his anger fueling his movements as he attacked with everything he had. He couldn't let Preston win. He had to end him and this whole thing now.

Preston laughed as he practically danced out of the way of Romans attacks. He knew from experience that anger tended to make people sloppy and more likely to make a mistake and that's exactly what happened.

Roman spun and tried to slash at him but left his side exposed meaning all Preston had to do was slash across and Roman crumpled.

The high sound of Romans scream echoed through the trees and Preston just about managed to let out a short cackle before a black clad ball of fury with a sword suddenly charged at him.

Preston immediately found himself locked into a fierce battle with Virgil who was clearly not at all hesitant with his desire to kill.

Thomas watched from the sidelines, horrified at the sight of Roman laying in a slowly growing pool of blood.

He glanced at Preston and Virgil who were battling intensely before making a dash towards Roman, ignoring Patton who hissed his name in alarm.

He made it to Romans side and quickly put pressure on the wound. "Roman, what can I do to help?" He asked frantically.

Roman groaned "Thomas... You need to get back to safety. There's no telling what he'll do if he gets hold of you."

Thomas ignored him and looked around, trying to find something to help him stop the bleeding. He was in the middle of a clearing though so there was nothing around, causing him to feel useless as he couldn't stop the bleeding.

"Thom... Thomas... Let me... Let me help." A voice rasped from somewhere and Thomas turned to see Logan crawling towards them.

"Logan no! You're exhausted as it is, don't!" Roman said but Logan ignored him and put one hand on the wound and then the other on Romans forehead.

Thomas watched in confusion as both sides closed their eyes, their faces scrunched up and jaws clenched.

The wound stopped bleeding as heavily so now it was merely a scratch but Romans outfit was still bloodstained and ripped.

Logan let out a small sigh and slumped sideways as he lifted his hands from Roman who still had his eyes closed.

Thomas crawled towards Logan and lifted him with shaking hands. He could feel the very faint thump of Logans pulse and his eyelids flickered slightly but he made no movement that indicated that he was aware of his surroundings.

Thomas started to drag Logan back to where Patton was but froze in horror as he watched Virgils katana suddenly stab into a tree trunk, leaving the anxious side unarmed.

Virgil glared at Preston who was smirking back, twirling his sword in his hand like a baton, clearly showing off and enjoying playing with Virgil.

"That was fun, but like I said, you can't best me in a fight like that. Don't feel too bad though, you never were going to win."

Virgil clenched his hands into fists and growled "You won't win. Even if there was a possibility that you managed to kill Thomas, you can be damn fucking sure we'll take you down with us."

Preston let out a laugh. "Really? Well I look forward to seeing that, I really do, however, you're currently unarmed."

Preston stopped twirling his sword and took a step towards Virgil who stepped back, his eyes darting around for possible solutions and/or escape routes.

Roman opened his eyes, tears running down his face as he came to terms with everything that had just flashed through his mind. He looked over at Preston and now he knew exactly what had happened he couldn't help but feel pity.

Roman looked over at Logan and made a mental note to shout at him later for using up all his energy, even if it was to heal him and give him important information.

Roman pushed himself to his feet and called out "Hey Preston, why don't you let Cayden out to play?"

Preston turned to Roman his eyes wide in horror which was definitely odd considering he usually had a smug smirk or cruel grin on his face.

Roman smiled "Cayden loved Mulan didn't he? I can sing some for you if you want or maybe Thomas can. How about Reflection?"

Prestons eyes narrowed in apparent anger but Roman caught the flash of pain in them.

"You are walking a dangerous path." Preston hissed, his eyes darting from Virgil to Roman.

Roman had picked up his katana but made no move to raise it. He was still hoping he could do this all with words.

"Why is my reflection someone I don't know Somehow I cannot hide Who I am Though I've tried When will my reflection show who I am inside"

Roman burst out into song and the effect was instantaneous.

"No! Stop it!" Preston cried out, trying to keep a fierce expression on his face but his eyes were welling up with tears as memory after memory began to assault him.

Virgil had managed to get to a safe distance and was watching in surprise, caught off guard by Prestons reaction.

Preston seemed to fight off the memories for long enough because he used his ability to fling Virgils katana out of the tree and towards Roman who immediately stopped singing so he could dodge the blade.

"I'll kill you first for that little trick!" Preston snarled and started stomping towards Roman who teleported before Prestons sword could make contact.

Roman quickly pulled his phone out and sent a text to all of the others before raising his sword just in time to block Prestons blow.

"What's the matter Preston? Not a big Disney fan?" Roman asked with a grin.

Preston just snarled and launched a kick at Roman who managed to dodge.

Virgil frowned at the text, his eyes darting from his phone to the fight. He looked over at the others and saw Thomas and Patton looking just as confused. He felt the urge to hit Roman round the head and call him an idiot but then again Roman had nearly brought Preston to tears with the song from Mulan so maybe he knew something they didn't?

Virgil sighed and muttered "He owes me for this." he quickly sunk down and was back before anyone noticed he'd gone.

He sighed and began climbing up a nearby tree until he reached a sturdy enough branch.

Using a bunch of stuff he'd found he managed to secure a pretty heavy duty cd player to the branch. He turned the volume up on full and quickly skipped to the right song which he then put on repeat.

He quickly shimmied down the tree, his feet landing on solid ground before the music had reached anyone's ears.

Virgil nodded to Roman who teleported nearer to the tree just as the first lyrics to The Light Behind Your Eyes started to play.

Preston froze, his eyes flashing with pain again as the familiar song registered.

"N... No!" He gasped, stumbling slightly, his hands trembling.

Roman began softly singing along, knowing the words quite well from his memory and the fact he'd listened to it while trapped in his room.

Preston stood taking gasping breaths and one hand on his head as the song washed over him, accompanied by Romans voice which was pretty exact to Thomas's.

Roman sent a glance over at Thomas who seemed to remember the song and when Roman nodded Thomas joined in with the next verse, making Preston scream out in anger and pain.

His hands were shaking and his breaths were coming out in pants.

Virgil watched and rolled his eyes as Roman gestured for him to join in but took his chance to immediately belt out the lyrics when the beat really kicked in.

Prestons knees buckled, the memories he'd worked so hard to keep locked away suddenly spilling over and overwhelming him.

His whole body shook with grief as memory after memory of his friends faces flashed before his eyes.

Their smiles. Their laughter. Their tears. Their fear. Their bloody corpses.

Everything was crashing down on him and he let out an agonised scream, pain radiating through his body.

Virgils voice cut off as he watched the same grey that effected him starting to creep up Prestons arms and neck.

Preston had his hands clenched into fists in the floor, his sword still held tightly in one hand as he sobbed.

Roman had a look of relief on his face as he slowly approached Preston, his sword in his hand just in case.

"Cayden?" Roman asked in a gentle voice and Preston let out a cry.

"No! That's not me anymore! I'm... I'm not Cayden! I.... They... They all died and I didn't do anything to help! I... I failed them! No, Cayden failed them! Cayden is dead! He failed so he died! I'm.... I'm Preston! It wasn't my fault! It was Cayden fault! He.... He stabbed... He..."

Preston started sobbing harder, his words difficult to understand.

Virgil was still frozen in place, his eyes wide in panic as he watched the grey spreading at an alarming rate. He was terrified to see what would happen once the grey spread across all of Prestons body because he knew that would probably be his fate.

Roman stood by Preston and frowned. He didn't think he could bring himself to stab someone so broken like this. And Preston or Cayden, whichever he identified as at the moment, was clearly broken.

Roman thought it over and reasoned that ending Cayden/Preston would probably be a mercy at this point. He was clearly insane and in absolute agony.

While Roman deliberated Preston had closed his eyes and started to try and push the memories back again. He couldn't quite build up another wall or anything to keep them out but he did manage to clear his mind a little.

With a slightly clearer mind Preston managed to get a strategy in place.

He pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the way his legs shook, and threw his sword at the cd player which instantly shattered.

Virgil let out a loud growl of anger at his cd player being smashed, especially with an MCR cd in it.

Roman raised his sword and swung it at Preston who used his ability and managed to block it with his own sword just in time.

"I'll give you props that was certainly a good idea. Rather cruel but effective. You almost had me." Preston said, a deranged grin on his tear streaked face which was steadily becoming grey.

Roman had one last idea and quickly shapeshifted into Paxton, using the fact he already had a similar injury to the one Paxton had had to his advantage.

"Cayden?" he asked, his voice soft.

Roman knew this was probably one of the cruelest things he could do but it was either this or Preston would kill them all.

Prestons eyes were wide and even though part of him knew this was just Roman, a larger part of him was desperate to believe this was truly Paxton.

"Cayden? Can you hear me?" Roman said, echoing the words Paxton had said during some of his final moments.

Preston stepped back, inhaling sharply as the memory tried to take over.

The grey had now spread across Prestons face, making his deranged eyes appear more frightening.

"P... Paxton..." Preston muttered, his eyes locked with Romans. "Paxton... Paxton is dead!"

Roman stepped back as a look of rage crossed Prestons face and managed to block his anger fuelled blows. However Roman couldn't do more than continue to block as there was no opening for him to land any of his own blows.

The extent of Prestons anger was causing an actual heat to radiate off of him and as his sword continued to swish past Romans face it became clear to Roman that he'd made a grave mistake in trying to provoke him with his past.

Roman dropped the appearance of Paxton, trying to focus his energy on fighting Preston but it didn't make a difference.

After 30 seconds of blocking, dodging and backing away Roman found himself at the edge of the clearing with a tree directly behind him so there was no where else to retreat to.

Roman slashed forward with his sword, trying to force Preston back but each one was blocked and Preston lunged forwards mercilessly driving his own sword forward.

Roman let out a cry of pain as the blade pierced his abdomen, right below his belly button.

Roman bent over in agony and slumped to the floor as Preston removed the blade and held the now bloody sword in a threatening manner above Romans form.

Prestons eyes darted around to the others, a deranged half smile half sneer on his face as he said "Anyone makes a move and I'll make a mess."

There was a moment of tense silence as Preston made eye contact with the three still conscious people and then the temperature seemed to plummet as a wide unnerving grin spread across his face.

Preston crouched next to Roman, keeping one eye on the others as he grabbed the injured trait by the hair and forced his head back so he could hold the sword to his throat.

"for your little stunt you will die last, watching helplessly as I destroy your friends one by one."

Prestons harsh whisper made Roman flinch and if he could have he would have stood up or attempted to shove Preston away but the injury he'd sustained prevented him from being able to do so.

Preston stood up, a gleam in his eyes as he looked around for his next target. Eventually his eyes settled on Patton who was sitting over by a cluster of trees.

Without hesitation Preston stalked towards Patton who scrambled to get to his feet with wide eyes and a wince as he jolted his broken arm.

Before Preston could take more than two steps he sensed something being thrown at him and instinctively ducked, just in time to dodge the swing Virgil made at him.

In response Preston swung with the still bloody sword and grinned as he felt it connect.

Virgil let out a shriek of pain and backed away, a hand clutching one of his shoulders.

Preston barely spared Virgil a glance before continuing his path towards Patton who had just managed to get to his feet.

Wide eyed in fear Patton hurriedly tried to back away, stumbling slightly over a tree root.

Preston was about an arms length away when a voice suddenly shouted "Hey! Leave him alone!"

Preston paused and looked to the side to see Thomas glaring at him, a small dagger in one of his hands.

"Thomas! What are you doing?"

Suddenly there was a blur of movement as Virgil rushed forwards to try and pull Thomas away.

"Get off of me Virgil, I can't just watch as he hurts you all!" Thomas exclaimed, struggling as Virgil tugged him back a few steps.

While Preston was watching their interaction with an eyebrow raised in amusement Patton had remembered the dagger Roman had given him.

He quietly slipped it out of his pocket and collected himself with a few breaths before throwing it directly at Preston.

A whooshing sound caught Prestons attention and he turned just in time to see a dagger flying towards him.

His eyes widened in surprise as the dagger hit its mark and he took a step back from the force of the impact, a small gasp of pain leaving his lips.

He reached up to grab the handle of the dagger where it protruded from just underneath his right collarbone and pulled it out with a hiss, sending blood splattering to the ground.

"You really shouldn't have done that." he growled and quicker than anyone expected he lunged forwards with his sword and the dagger.

Patton didn't have time to dodge as the two blades were thrust towards him and he found his own dagger being embedded in his abdomen while the sword barely missed.

"No!" Thomas shouted and used all his strength to shove Virgil away from him.

Preston smirked as he twisted the dagger, relishing in the cry of pain that came from Pattons mouth as he pushed it deeper.

Thomas ran towards Preston, dagger in hand and his mind full of anger as he watched Patton crumple to the floor after Preston pulled the dagger out of his abdomen.

Prestons smug smirk disappeared as something sharp plunged into his side and he was tackled to the floor, landing heavily on the hard dirt.

Heavy blows suddenly began raining down on Preston who was too stunned to be able to do anything for a few seconds.

It was only when the weight was removed that he realised what had happened.

He sat up and looked at Thomas who was panting and red in the face, his fists clenched and covered in blood from where they'd impacted.

The expression on Thomas's face let Preston know that if Virgil wasn't holding him back he would still be laying into him.

Raising a hand to wipe some blood from his face Preston got to his feet, his eyes locked onto Thomas with an animalistic glint.

"What's wrong Tommy boy? Do I make you angry? Do I make you want to hurt and kill me?" Preston taunted.

Thomas let out a small growl as he strained against Virgils hold, just itching to hit Preston again to try and rid him of his smug superior attitude.

Virgil was using all his strength to hold Thomas back from Preston, already worried about how the brief amount of contact might have effected him.

He glanced around at the others, his worry mounting as he realised he was the only one standing and capable of fighting.

Roman was slumped against a tree, wounded and bleeding, Logan was unconscious on the floor from exhaustion and Patton was now on the floor in a slowly growing pool of blood.

Virgil was conflicted, he wanted to end Preston but he needed to keep Thomas safe which he couldn't do if he was fighting Preston.

Now fully understanding just how bad things were, Virgils anxiety began to grow as he struggled to think of a way to act that would help protect Thomas while also fighting Preston.

His increasing anxiety caused a familiar black smoke to begin forming, licking up his back and swirling around his legs.

The energy started to come from Virgils hands and Thomas suddenly let out a small cry as if he'd been burnt.

Virgils eyes widened in horror and he let go of Thomas immediately, alarmed that he'd hurt him.

Preston chuckled and turned back to Patton who was still on the floor, his chest rising and falling at a slightly unsteady rate as the pool of blood around him expanded.

Virgils panic increased as he noticed where Prestons attention was now focused and he shot a quick look at Thomas who was rubbing his arm.

He clenched his fists, grit his teeth and took a deep breath before launching himself at Preston in a last ditch effort to protect Thomas and the others.

Preston was once again tackled to the floor, this time by Virgil who's eyes were blazing with anger and determination.

Preston let out a growl as he fought back against the side on top of him, annoyed about not being able to finish at least one of the sides off for good yet.

Thomas watched from the sidelines as the two fought, a tangle of arms and legs as they growled and swore at each other.

He looked around and tried to figure out what the best thing for him to do was.

Both Roman and Patton were bleeding out and he couldn't see a way to heal them, it wasn't as if he had... Wait a second.

Thomas's eyes locked onto Logans unconscious form as the thought of healing powers crossed his mind.

He dashed forward and dropped to his knees next to the logical side, shaking him and patting him on the face to try and rouse him.

Preston managed to get a lucky hit on the shoulder he'd already struck with his sword, thus freeing himself from Virgil who recoiled in pain.

Preston made use of this and both his hands found Virgils throat, his thumbs digging into the anxious sides windpipe while he used his knees to keep Virgil from wriggling free.

Virgils hands scratched uselessly against the back of Prestons and his vision started to blur.

Preston shifted his knees and Virgil felt something solid pressing into his stomach where his pockets were.

Reaching a hand into the pocket his fingers closed around the knife he'd pocketed what seemed like forever ago.

His arms were growing heavier as lack of oxygen kicked in so it was with great difficulty that he steadied his hand and plunged the knife upwards.

Thomas gave up all attempts at being gentle as he started to panic slightly and slapped Logan across the face, successfully causing the sides eyes to shoot open.

"Thomas? What... What's going on?" Logan rasped, blinking blearily.

Before Thomas could respond there was a loud exclamation of shock and pain and as the two turned to look for the source they witnessed Preston falling backwards off of Virgil, a knife sticking out of his chest and a growing patch of crimson soaking into his shirt.

Virgil was gasping for breath and massaging his throat, his eyes locked onto Preston warily.

Preston knelt there looking down at the blade protruding from his chest, recognising it as one of his own.

"Naughty Virgil, has no one taught you it's wrong to take things that aren't yours?" he said while standing up, his voice sounding strained as a small trickle of blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.

Virgil pushed himself to his feet, still trying to get his breath back but positioning himself into a protective stance in front of the others.

As the two stared each other down Thomas helped Logan over to Patton to try to at least staunch the bleeding and by 'helped' Thomas pretty much dragged the logical side across the clearing.

Neither Preston nor Virgil paid any mind to the movements of the others as they were too focused on each other, a knowing smirk on one face while the other was drawn into a scowl of hatred.

"You won't walk away from this. Even if you kill me, you can be damned fucking sure that I'll take you down with me." Virgil growled, his teeth clenched just as tightly as his hands which were shaking slightly.

Preston chuckled and coughed up a bit of blood. "You're determination and confidence is admirable but you're quite clearly ignorant of the situation you're in."

Virgil narrowed his eyes, not sure what he was referring to.

Preston looked down at the knife and laughed again before grabbing the handle with both hands and pulling it free, gasping and hissing in pain.

"What the...?" Virgil started but was cut off as the dagger was thrown at him and he had to dodge.

Preston laughed, blood bubbling up out of his mouth as the red began to spread across his front at a more rapid pace.

While the two had been focused on each other Logan had managed to stop Patton bleeding as heavily but due to his exhausted state he hadn't been able to heal up the wound completely, thus Thomas was told to keep pressure on it while Logan attempted to get to Roman.

Logan crawled as fast as he could over to Roman who's bleeding wasn't as heavy as Pattons but was still pretty bad and due to the placement of his wound he could hardly move without experiencing agonising pain.

Logan was starting to try and heal up Roman when the sound of a body hitting the dirt caught his attention.

Looking round he was stunned to see Preston on his hands and knees, blood splattering the dirt from where it leaked from his mouth and chest.

A small jolt of hope and relief hit him but was immediately squashed as Preston seemed to be laughing, almost as if he knew something they didn't.

Prestons laughter was getting louder, causing those present to shudder slightly but then it cut off as the blood now flowing from Preston mouth cut him off and it came out in gurgles.

An enormous grin curled across Prestons blood stained face but after a few seconds the blood was no longer there and Preston pushed himself up onto his knees, seemingly not affected by what had just happened.

"This was quite fun, playing all these games but now it's getting boring. It's becoming repetitive and predictable and I grow tired of it. You've had your fun, now it's my turn." Prestons eyes were pitch black and his voice came out in a deep growl.

Then in a split second his eyes were back to the same dark brown as before.

"No, I can do this, please I...." Preston seemed to be pleading but his sentence was cut off by a choking gasp as his skin began to break apart, the grey flakey texture meaning it fell off like pastry.

"Wait! No!" Preston yelled, his eyes wide in terror before a loud ear piercing shriek of agony burst from his mouth, echoing around the clearing and reverberating off the trees.

Virgil had fallen back in horror, his gaze fixated on where Preston was literally falling apart while his anxious energy began to grow at the thought of that possibly happening to him.

Logan and Roman exchanged worried looks and Logan once again began focusing on healing the creative side.

Thomas still had his hands over Pattons wound so when the screaming had began he had been unable to cover his ears like Patton had. Instead his face was scrunched up into a grimace and he was gritting his teeth as he tried to tune it out.

Prestons scream continued as the parts falling from his body began to get bigger so now whole chunks were just sloughing off like the most crumbly pastry ever.

Virgils heart was pounding as he watched, his energy swirling around him violently as he struggled to keep calm.

A massive chunk on Prestons face slid off and hit the floor, leaving a gaping crater where his jaw should be that more closely resembled a void of pitch black.

Cracks ran across the rest of Prestons face and as the remainder of it began to fall to the floor, the long agonised scream began to alter to an eerie howl.

Where the form of Preston had knelt there was now an abomination of nightmarish proportions, comprised of a shadowy substance that flickered like flames.

Virgil froze, his mind unable to properly comprehend what was before him.

The creature stopped it's howl and gazed down at Virgil with what could only be described as the equivalent of a grin on its wolfish face.

Logan just about managed to heal up the worst of Romans wound, both of them with the same horrified expression as they recognised the thing that had come from Preston.

Roman winced as he pushed himself to his feet, his abdomen protesting at the movement but he had other things to focus on.

Logan also stood up, his legs shaking as he tried to push his exhaustion away. He couldn't afford to pass out when this thing was present.

Virgil took a step back as the thing stepped forward, a growl rumbling from its large form.

For a split second everything seemed to stop and then just like the calm before a storm it all went to hell.

The creature swished its whip like tail and crouched ready to pounce, a loud growl coming from it.

Virgil quickly darted out of the way, mostly relying on instinct as he panicked about what was going on.

The shadowy form leaped forwards, teeth bared and claws ready to strike but it just missed

Roman began searching for his sword as quickly as he could manage while Logan stumbled over to Patton and Thomas who were both pale and shaking at the horror in front of them.

Without a word Logan started to once again try and heal Patton, hoping he could fully stop the wound bleeding before the monster noticed what an easy target the three of them were.

Virgil seemed to have noticed that at the same time the creature had because as it let out a small snort of amusement and began to prepare itself to pounce, Virgil unleashed his energy which knocked it slightly off balance.

It hadn't seemed to have done much but it did what he'd wanted and got its attention off of the three crouched.

The only issue now was that it was looking at him instead.

He quickly turned and darted towards the trees, just barely dodging a swipe from its enormous paw.

He probably would have kept running in attempt to buy time for the others to get their strength back but that didn't happen.

Instead a loud shout of "Hey! Fuck face! Didn't anyone tell you that the Prince always slays the monster?!" drew everyone's attention, including the creature who spun on the spot.

Roman had a cocky grin on his face that seemed tired and worn but nevertheless he stood there with his teeth and sword gleaming, challenging the creature to try and fight him.

The creature tilted its head as it considered him before a large chuckle like growl rumbled from its chest and it turned its full focus onto him.

Roman didn't dare take his eyes off it as he got into a prepared stance with his sword.

The creature launched itself at Roman who swiped with his sword half heartedly as he quickly stepped out of the way.

As he expected the blade passed  through harmlessly and panic started to grip him but he shoved it down.

He couldn't afford to panic now, he needed to think of something quickly to protect everyone.

The creature's lips were pulled up in a taunting grin as it turned to look at him and swiped a paw at Roman too fast for him to dodge.

He let out a grunt of pain as he was half thrown to the floor, blood starting to seep from the slash marks left by the creatures claws.

The creature seemed to deem him as not a threat as it turned once again to Thomas, Patton and Logan who had been slowly trying to sneak further back between the trees.

A burst of energy suddenly hit the creature and Virgils voice echoed through the clearing, deep and terrifying.

"Stay away from them!"

The creature let out a frustrated growl and shook off the energy that was curling around it, it's eyes locking onto where Virgil stood.

It snarled and quickly sprang towards him with its mouth open ready to tear into him.

Before it could make contact it came to a stop, it's jaws slamming shut on nothing and a slight surprised yelp coming from it.

Virgils eyes widened as he spotted Roman standing behind the creature, its long tail wound around his hands as he pulled it backwards.

The creatures momentary shock was swiftly replaced by a murderous rage and it spun quickly, attempting to get at Roman.

Roman darted out of the way, hands still on the tail, a grin on his face as the thing slightly reminded him of a dog trying to catch it's tail.

The creature swished it's tail and Roman braced himself as his feet left the ground.

Before the creature could react, Roman landed on it's back, immediately grabbing hold and kicking with his heels to try and hurt the thing.

The creature made a sharp barking sound as Romans heels connected and started shaking and bucking to try and get him off.

Roman grit his teeth, a determined expression on his face as he began pulling himself closer to the things head.

Virgil watched the two, momentarily frozen in place but jolted back to his senses and ran towards where Thomas and the others were.

Randomly, as Roman slowly scaled the creature, he was reminded of the scene in The Jungle Book where Baloo had hold of Shere Khans tail.

He shook his head at the bizarre thought and managed to get to the beasts shoulders just as it seemed to get an idea.

A snarl of annoyance was all the warning Roman got before the thing ran and jumped in an attempt to knock him off with low hanging tree branches.

Roman grit his teeth as he felt sharp branches and twigs jabbing into him but managed to hold on, slowly inching his way closer to it's neck.

A loud roar of frustration rumbled beneath Roman and he took a deep breath before lunging the rest of the way, his arms wrapping round the creatures thick neck.

It was like someone had turned the difficulty up on a mechanical bull, the shadowy form immediately began to shake and throw itself around, a constant stream of nightmarish noises emanating from its mouth.

Roman started squeezing his arms like he was giving the thing a bear hug, his legs barely able to maintain their grip.

The thing started to become more frantic in it's attempts to get rid of Roman, colliding with tree trunks and eventually slamming onto the floor in an attempt to get him to release the grip he had with his legs.

The creature was throwing him around like a rag doll but it also seemed to be slowly weakening as it's movements became more sluggish and the growls started to sound raspy and strangled from where Romans grip was still around its neck.

It huffed and snarled before slamming itself into the ground, making Roman cry out in pain as his leg impacted at full force with a startling cracking sound and the creatures weight pressing down on it.

Roman was now partially pinned by the creatures weight and he could feel his own strength beginning to fade as the pain from his various injuries started to make themselves known in earnest and it felt like someone was trying to rip him in half.

Maintaining the grip on the things neck became the only thing he could focus on, he didn't dare let his attention wander in case it was all the creature needed to escape his grasp and begin its rampage all over again.

He closed his eyes and screwed up his face in pure concentration as he kept his iron hold, ignoring the immense pain pulsing through his abdomen from where his previous wound had been torn wide open again and ignoring the small voice in the back of his mind that was telling him he probably wasn't going to make it.

He didn't care at the moment, he just needed to protect the ones he loved, his own fate be damned.

the shadowy horror let out a pained whine as it's breaths became more laboured and it's form seemed to flicker.

After a tense few moments it's struggles stilled and a loud rattling breath signalled they'd finally overcome the monster.

silence enveloped the clearing as the creatures body dissipated, leaving a small amount of ash behind and Roman who lay on his side, his breathing ragged and his white outfit stained various shades of red from his multitude of injuries.

"Roman!"

Virgil sprinted to Romans side, gently pulling him into his lap as he surveyed the damage with worry written across his face at the sight of what looked like fresh blood. "Hey, can you hear me? Roman?"

after a few gasping breaths Roman opened his eyes and a small half hearted grin came to his lips. "Hey beautiful, come here often?"

Virgil let out a hysterical laugh at the attempted joke, shaking his head. "Of course that's your first response after all this. right, I'm going to sit you up and then we're going to try and help you to your feet and..."

Virgils voice cut off as Roman shook his head, tears running down his cheeks.

"What? what is it?"

Roman closed his eyes at the worry and panic in Virgils voice, dreading what he knew he had to say.

"I'm sorry Virge, I should have listened to you earlier instead of worrying about doing the honourable thing. I guess it's only fitting that I pay the price for it as it was my own mistake..."

Virgils eyes widened in horror as he realised what Roman was angling at. "No, no no no no no, don't speak like that, everything's going to be fine, we'll get you healed and get you to a bed to rest and..."

Roman raised a hand and shakily cupped Virgils cheek with a sad smile. "We both know that's bullshit. you're never one to sugar coat stuff so please don't start now. I'm in a right state and it's miraculous I'm hanging on right now as it is. Take care of everyone for me..."

Virgil was full on crying now as he held Roman in a tight hug, battling the denial of what was going on.

"what's going on? He's speaking like he's saying goodbye."

Virgil sniffed and glanced to his side where Thomas had just knelt down.

"that's because I am. I'm sorry for all the stress and pain I ever caused any of you and I'm sorry for any I might cause by leaving but all that matters to me is that I saved you. As long as you're safe I don't care what happens to me."

"please don't go, I need you.." Virgil sobbed, ignoring the comforting hand Thomas had placed on his shoulder.

Roman looked up at virgil and gave him his best smile, despite the pain. "I love you Virgil. I have for a while and I always will. I wish we had more time together but as you yourself like to say, life's not fair. please take care of everyone for me, I'm going to miss you all so much."

Patton and Logan had managed to make their way to them now and Romans voice started to tremble.

"You guys are finally free of him, or it or whatever the fuck that thing was and I'm glad I was able to do this for you all before succumbing to this."

The four faces around him began to blur as Roman felt his strength leaving him and his eyelids began to flicker shut, his breathing stuttering out as he managed one final sentence.

"I'm sorry to put you through this again Virge... look after each other... please... for me..."

Romans form went limp in Virgils arms and the side in question let out a howl of anguish and despair as he lost yet another person he loved.

Thomas buried his face into Virgils shoulder while Logan and Patton held each other, each of them crying and mourning the loss of their brave friend.

After several moments Virgil let out a small whispered goodbye and the body began to fade, seeming to take part of him with it. With nothing to cling to he fell face first into the dirt and remained there while he sobbed.

Thomas glanced up at the other two and saw their matching grief stricken expressions, the very same one probably on his own face.

"w... we need to t... try and fix things."

The stuttered sentence was enough to spark some sort of response from Virgil who pushed himself up from the floor and glared, his face caked in mud and tears.

"There is no fixing this." He growled through gritted teeth and his energy whirled around him violently until he was blocked from view and then it dissipated leaving the spot he had been completely empty.

An awkward tense silence fell as the three exchanged looks of worry and uncertainty. There was no telling how things would go now. There was definitely no way they'd ever get things back to how they were, the best they could do now would be to just survive and endure it a day at a time.

Authors note: And so ends the story of how Thomas and the sides battled to escape The Grip Of Depression also known as Preston. I'm sure there will be many people who aren't happy about how it ended and all I'll say to that is...watch this space ;)

Wow, this was one hell of a chapter to write and I sure took my sweet ass time huh? it's literally taken me years to finish this but I did it and I'm actually proud of myself because I managed to actually see a project through to completion. Thank you to everyone who's left comments, whether they were one word reactions to something I'd written or full on rants, I'm grateful to every one of you as motivation has been a big issue and the comments helped me push through. I would also like to thank everyone who has taken the time to read this, no matter if you interacted or not, I appreciate you all, thank you for joining me through the ups and (considerably large number) downs of this story.

🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍💕💖

[artcrazypal]

What Makes a Heart Tick

Here’s my gift for @mariniacipher for the @sanderssidesgiftxchange!

So, fun fact, I picked up your gift, saw the second prompt, and wrote the entire first chapter in one sitting. I haven’t written that much in one day, much less one sitting, in months. All that’s to say is that I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it.

Title: What Makes the Heart Tick

Summary: Roman, an entertainment automaton, is pulled out of his old life when a young man named Patton takes it upon himself to keep him company on his birthday.

Warnings: None

Pairings: None

Read it on Archive of Our Own

Chapter One: Happy

Roman took his final bows at the end of the performance. The small audience clapped, stirring something that didn’t quite sit right in his steel body, and the curtains closed. Roman straightened with a gentle whir of gears and walked off stage. He heard the director step on the the apron and start talking to the audience. 

Roman stopped between the legs. Soon the after-show tour for the handful of people who paid to see backstage would begin. It was always nice to see fans.

Roman heard the director herd the crowd out the door, then start explaining the rules of the tour. Roman took his cue to walk back near center stage among his scenery. He paused to adjust the simple-but-beautiful costume that hid his inner workings and waited, as 5 starry-eyed fans followed the director behind the curtain.

“And here you see Roman. He’s an automaton, the finest one on this side of the Atlantic,” the director said.

“How old is he?” a boy, or maybe a man, wearing a light gray coat that seemed like it had originally belonged to a father or older brother and tailored to a more-current fashion asked.

“Roman’s been in motion for 4 years, as of tomorrow,” the director said.

“Do you have any other automatons?” the same person asked.

“No, he’s the only one,” the director said.

“Does he get lonely?”

The director gave a little laugh, “My, you ask a lot of questions, hm? Let’s move along.”

The tour moved on, leaving Roman in the dim glow of the gas lights, as they moved on. 

*****

The next day was a Sunday. The director went to church and left Roman in the dark. Roman turned his head, as the door opened. He couldn’t quite see who it was, but it certainly wasn’t the director.

“Good dawning to you, friend, or shall I say fiend?” Roman called, brandishing a sword at the intruder.

The intruder squeaked, and Roman saw the same light gray coat and cap that he had yesterday.

“You came here yesterday,” Roman said, letting the dull blade fall by his side, “Ah! This place is in no state for a customer to see! I’m not even in costume!”

“Well, is it in a state for a friend to see?” the person asked.

“I must confess, I do not know what you mean,” Roman said, quickly grabbing his costume and putting the first layer on.

“Well, I was just thinking that it’s your birthday, and no one should be alone on their birthday. Oh, but I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Patton.”

“My name is Roman,” he replied, straightening his bow tie and finally turning around to see his visitor, “But don’t humans go to church on Sundays?”

“I don’t,” Patton said, “But I do like to go to friends.”

Roman’s gears whirred, as he took in what Patton meant, “Well, then, what would you do with your friend?”

“Well, because it’s your birthday, you get to decide!” Patton said.

“Well, then, I suppose we shall have to go on an adventure for your birthday.”

“No, silly, it’s your birthday! The director said you’re turning 4,” Patton giggled. 

“Oh, then, I suppose it is. You’ll have to show me how to celebrate, for I’ve never had a birthday before.”

“You’ve never celebrated your birthday?”

“No.”

“Well, that won’t do! Hm, I’d say we should go out for lunch, but everything is closed and you can’t eat anyways. What if we go, and you can show me all the spots that make you happy?” Patton asked.

“Happy? I’ve never heard that word before. And I’ve lived my whole life with the director in this stage, so I don’t think I can show you anywhere the director hasn’t brought you,” Roman said.

“You don’t know what happy is, and you’ve never left this stage? Oh, no, I’ll have to show you all the spots that make me happy, then. Come on, or we won’t be back until after sundown!”

Patton and Roman ran out of the stage room, barely pausing to close the door behind them. The sun hurt Roman’s eyes, and the uneven roads kept him from kept him from ever truly getting his balance, although he was balanced enough to keep up with Patton, as he ran down the street and in to a plaza.

The plaza was mostly empty, except for a couple walking past. They were too deep in conversation to notice Roman and Patton.

“This plaza is better during the week. There’s musicians that play over there, and that shop sells the best sweet bread, and that shop is owned by my friend’s family, and he shows me how to make little machines. Do you think they made you?” Patton asked, pointing around the plaza.

“I don’t remember my creation. I just remember being turned on for the first time backstage,” Roman said.

“Huh, well, they’re really smart. Here, look,” Patton said, fishing a pocket watch out of his coats and flipping it open. It was in the shape of a heart, and it ticked along to the same beat as Roman’s own mechanical heart. Roman slowly took it in his hand, feeling the steel, the same material as his hand, and listening to it tick. A lightness rose up in his chest, and he smiled.

“Logan likes to talk me through how it works and how they make the steel, it’s something called the Bessemer process, I think? Or that might have been one they made before. But I think he’d like meeting you,” Patton said.

“I think I should like to meet him, too.”

“That’s be so fun! Alright, we should go if we want to have time to see everywhere,” Patton said, and he started running again.

Roman followed. He was getting more used to the way that the streets curved and bumped, and he didn’t feel quite as off-kilter as he had before. This time, Patton lead him down a small trail in to a glen. He stopped a little ways in to the tree cover in the center of the tiny valley.

“This is the glen. No one ever comes here, but it’s a great place to hide,” Patton said, “I only take my best friends down here.”

Roman felt a lightness in his chest at being called Patton’s best friend.

“Patton, I’ve been thinking about the word happy. I feel light and free, and I think that’s what happy means.”

“You’re be-glen-ing to see it!” Patton grinned.

“I don’t understand.”

“I made a pun, get it? Beginning and glen, be-glen-ing!”

Roman laughed, as he understood, “Allow me, I cannot be-leaf I didn’t get it sooner.”

Patton nodded and laughed back, snorting a little with the force of his laughter.

Patton led Roman on and on through different parts of the city. Their final destination was the very theater where they started, and Patton said it made him happy because it was the first place he remembered seeing a performance, and it reminded him of his new friend.

“I guess I should go before the director gets back,” Patton said, walking towards the door.

“Wait,” Roman said.

Patton stopped and turned back around.

“I’ve been happy all day with you, and I don’t feel quite that happy backstage. Would you mind a favor for a friend? I think I will be happy to only perform for you.”

“Of course you can come home with me,” Patton said, and Roman only looked back once to shut the door.

Next chapter

[perspective-series]

Kingdom Perspective (14)

By: @arc852 and @hiddendreamer67

Warnings: Fear, panic, kidnapping, keeping/treating people like pets, threats, and unwanted touching/grabbing

First Chapter || Previous Chapter || Next Chapter

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Virgil looked at the toothpick, realizing he had been caught in a lie. “Oh, I would, but we’ve really got to finish our game…”

 Roman thought for a moment and his eyes glanced towards the board. “Will you show me if I win?” Roman asked.

“If you win?” Virgil considered those odds. Virgil was pretty good at chess, and it seemed Roman had only ever won in a fluke. “Yeah, I’ll take those odds. What happens if I win though?”

 “You don’t have to show me your claimed ‘skills’?” Roman suggested, trying his best to keep the grin off his face.

“I was hoping for more of a prize, but I do like being lazy.” Virgil rubbed at his chin. “Shake on it?” Virgil stuck out his hand.

 Roman carefully gripped Virgil’s hand between his thumb and forefinger and gently shook it. “The deal has been made.” Roman said.

 He then reached over and moved his queen. “Checkmate.” 

Virgil’s face fell, slowly realizing the trap he had so foolish fallen into as he was busy underestimating his opponent.

“Uh...so about that.” Virgil looked sheepish. “I may have slightly exaggerated my skills.”

 Roman hummed, the smirk still on his face. “Yes, I figured. But a deal is a deal.” He held out the toothpick out more insistently. “I want to see how well you can fake your way through this.”

“Oh geez.” Well, here goes nothing. Virgil hesitantly grabbed the toothpick.

 Roman grinned and then sat back, arms crossed. “Alright, show me what you got.” Roman had a feeling this was going to be very entertaining.

“Ah, of course, my fencing skills.” Virgil adjusted his grip on the wooden rod. ‘En Guarde!” Virgil thrust it forwards like he had seen on tv, then tried to re-enact some of the fight scenes from various fantasy scenarios. Though the moves in his head were epic, bringing them to life more resembled… well, him wildly waving a stick around like a child who just discovered Harry Potter.

 Roman couldn’t help but laugh as he watched Virgil practically waving the stick around. “Okay, no, just...no.” Roman said in between laughs. “You’re even holding it wrong and your position is quite frankly atrocious.”

“Hey, gimme a break.” Virgil shrugged, stopping his little charade. “I am using a toothpick here.”

 “True but you could still hold it better. Even the way you stand can make a huge difference. Here, let me…” Roman reached towards Virgil as he spoke but trailed off and froze as he realized what he was doing. He bit his lip. “Um...may I?”

Virgil tensed. “May you what?” He asked, not sure how far Roman had intended to go.

 “Just, move you into position? It’s less confusing to move you myself than if I tried to explain it…” Roman said, hand still hovering. “I’ll be gentle, I promise.”

Virgil was about to protest, but then he remembered that in lots of athletic things the trainers would help guide your limbs into position. This was only different because of a very noticeable size gap, but for once Roman’s grabbing made sense. It was likely how Roman learned to do it, too.

“Uh, yeah, I guess.” Virgil agreed, trying not to feel weird about it. After all, in this instance touching actually meant that Roman was treating him like a regular person. 

 Roman gave the human a soft smile and then brought his hand the rest of the way over to Virgil, gently starting to nudge his limbs into the correct position. “See, your feet need to be like this and more apart, putting a bit more weight on the right then the left.” Roman nudged his feet just so. 

 “And you need to hold the sword up higher.” He pushed on Virgil’s arms to move.

Virgil corrected his footing, moving whenever he felt Roman’s fingers pushing him into place. True to his word, Roman’s touch was almost uncharacteristically gentle. 

“Like this?” Virgil asked, shifting his hold on the toothpick as his arms were straight out in front of him, propped up by Roman’s fingers still.

 Roman grinned. “Perfect!” Roman took his hand away. “Now, jab the sword forward quick and then bring it back to the same position.”

“Hya!” Virgil lunged forwards, then did his best to reset as Roman instructed.

 “Nice! See, I told you a proper stance can make a hell of a difference.” Roman said with a grin. “Now try a forward slash, but step forward as you do this one and then back to position.”

“Ah, yes, the forward slash.” Virgil looked a bit lost. “Just to make sure you’ve got this down pat, I think you should educate the group.”

 Roman blinked at that but grinned. “Why of course.” Roman stood up and grabbed his sword from the corner. He back a bit away and got into position. “You do it, like so.” He grunted the last word out as he delivered a heavy forward slash before getting back into position.

Virgil blinked, watching the giant blade move through the air. He didn’t feel in danger, what with the fact it was Roman and he was standing several feet away, but it was still a sight to behold.

Virgil focused back on himself, copying the movements. Though he got the positioning correct, it was a lot less impressive when done with a toothpick.

 “You are learning fast.” Roman said with a proud grin. “Want to go over a few more moves?” Roman was excited to teach.

“Sure, Princey.” Virgil smirked. It certainly couldn’t hurt to know a few sword moves, even if he would probably never get into a sword fight in his life. Besides, this was actually pretty fun.

 Roman continued to show Virgil a few more moves, each one Virgil getting after a try or two. Roman had to admit, Virgil was a natural. Or maybe that was just his teachings. Either way, Virgil was doing great.

 But after an hour, Roman could see Virgil was getting pretty tired, not used to the strenuous workout. “I think that’s a good place to end, what do you think?”

“Oh, yeah.” Virgil panted, not realizing how exhausting this would be; he certainly needed to work out more. “I can take a break if you’re feeling tired.”

 Roman smiled. “I think a break would be good for the both of us.” Roman placed his sword back in the corner and took a seat. “You did better than I thought, though. I’m really impressed.”

“Thanks.” Virgil gave him an actual smile, sitting down as well. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

 Roman chuckled. “Why thank you. I’d say I’m a natural but it could also be the ten years of lessons as well. Hard to tell at this point.”

“I have to say I’m...actually impressed.” Virgil admitted. “I know you were probably forced to do it, but still, that’s a lot of dedication. I’ve never really been dedicated to anything.”

 “I wouldn’t say that.” Roman said with a teasing smile. “After all, you seem pretty dedicated to that look of yours.”

“Ah yes, my emo personality.” Virgil snorted. “Well, at least all my years on MySpace and Tumblr are finally paying off.” 

 Roman blinked. “I have no idea what those are.” They did sound like they fit Virgil’s style though, somehow.

“Just some internet sites where dark souls like myself perfect our edgy personas.” Virgil smirked.

 “...Internet?” Roman was so confused.

“Uh….” Virgil was at a loss for how to explain such a concept to a fantasy prince. “It’s kind of like...a really fast way to share information? Sort of like magic, maybe.”

 “Oh. Okay.” He still didn’t really get it but he figured that was for the best. “Anyway, I was thinking. I may be able to get my hands on a sword your size. It may take a while but in the meantime we can practice with the toothpick. You already have a lot of the basics down so I’d say you’d get the rest of them within the next week. Then we could get started on a bit more complicated stuff. Oh! Maybe I can teach Patton too so you have someone to spar with!” Roman grinned, overcome with this new excitement. 

Virgil felt his heart twinge slightly, feeling guilty to be the bearer of bad news. “Uh...Roman? That all sounds great, but I’m not going to be here next week, remember?” So long as everything went according to plan, of course.

 Reality crashed down on Roman at Virgil’s words. “Ah, yes, right…” His excitement was gone in an instant, replaced by the ever familiar gnaw of loneliness and disappointment. “I mean...must you leave right away?” Roman asked quietly.

“...well, we really shouldn’t delay it.” Virgil reasoned, only a tad bit nervous at Roman’s wording. Now he mostly just felt pity for the guy. Roman didn’t exactly seem to have many friends, if Virgil himself even counted as one. “I’ve already been gone long enough, and Patton needs to get out of here as soon as possible.”

 Roman looked down. “Right. No, yes, of course you are right. Can’t...can’t delay it…” Roman sighed. He had been hoping...but of course, why would Virgil want to stay with him after everything he had done? Maybe he even deserved to feel this way, for all the trouble he caused. All the times he had treated Virgil as a...pet.

“...hey.” Virgil looked at Roman intently. “I had fun just now with you, Roman. This isn’t personal, I just...I don’t belong here, you know? And even if I wanted to stay here, well, I couldn’t...could I? I mean we saw how today went when I tried to accompany you.”

 “No, you’re right. You have your own world you need to go back to and it is dangerous for you here, it’s just…” Roman sighed, thinking something over.

 “Virgil? ...Are we friends?” Roman had to ask. He knows they weren’t at first but maybe now? He was better now, after all. Virgil even said he had had fun hanging out with him! But...Roman was still nervous of what Virgil would say.

“I mean, I’m not really a labels person, but…” Virgil thought it over. It was strange to think about, but he did find himself actually caring about Roman now as a person. “Yeah, I’d say we are.”

 Roman’s eyes widened. Having hoped for that answer but not expecting it. “R-Really? Even after everything I did…?”

“Do you want to not be friends?” Virgil said incredulously.

 “No!” Roman exclaimed. “No, I very much want to be friends! I just...do I really deserve your friendship? I know I am changed now but I still...I treated you so horribly…” Roman felt like he could cry, honestly, but years of feeling like that helped him to push the feeling away and keep his eyes dry.

“Ugh, yeah I know.” Virgil shuddered, his memories flashing back to when he first came here. All the grabbing, the demands, the constant belittling…

“But it’s not like you were trying to be a massive jerkwad.” Virgil pointed out. “You’re just an idiot. Which made it super hard to get through your thick skull, but also made it easier to forgive you for all that. Because you’re not really a bad person at all.”

 Roman gave Virgil a soft smile. “Thank you...that means a lot.” Roman sighed and looked away for a moment.

 “I guess that means I have a whopping total of...one friend.” Roman chuckled humorlessly.

“I thought Remy was your friend.” Virgil reminded him. “And Logan has to be your friend, he’s your brother. He’s contractually obligated to tolerate you.”

 “Logan may have to tolerate me but that does not make us friends. As for Remy...that’s a bit of a longer story...but he doesn’t consider us friends.” Roman said sadly.

“Well why not?” Virgil said incredulously. “I mean, he annoys me, but he’s perfect for you.”

 “I thought so too. But he...well, during that chess game I told you about, he...told me he couldn’t be my friend. That I was not only too young but...but I was technically his boss and not only that but the prince and he said it would be...weird.” Roman didn’t meet Virgil’s eyes as he explained.

“...oh.” Virgil had thought everyone would be clambering over each other to be best friends with a prince; he never imagined that just holding the title would keep you alienated from others. 

“Well what about all your soldier dudes?” Virgil offered. “Surely there’s somebody who sword fights you who you consider a friend.”

 Roman just shook his head. “The most half of them want to do is prove they are better than the prince of the kingdom. The other half don’t do anything because I have the power to get them in trouble…” And maybe Roman would have done so, had done so, when he was younger, but not now...he was past that.

“Gotcha.” Virgil noticed the friend pool seemed pretty thin. “So, who can you befriend then?”

 “I don’t know...I feel like I’ve tried everyone.” Maybe if he hadn’t been born a prince, he’d have more friends...but he would never know.

“I mean, come on, there has to be somebody!” Virgil insisted. “Other royals? Visiting dignitaries?”

 Roman shook his head. “Just you.” Roman said quietly, looking down at his lap.

“...right.” Virgil muttered. “I see why you did the whole kidnap a human thing now. I mean, still incredibly, horribly wrong, but...at least I get it.”

 “It came from a mix of jealousy towards Logan and my...my loneliness.” Roman said. “You’d think I would be used to it by now and I am but...it still hurts.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Virgil certainly wasn’t the mother hen type where he felt like it was his responsibility to fix all of Roman’s problems, but at the same time he couldn’t help but feel sorry for the guy.

“Back home I’m the same way.” Virgil fessed up. “Except I didn’t try so hard to make friends, I just drive people away naturally.”

 “Really? I never would have thought.” Roman teased slightly, despite his down in the dumps mood.

“Heh, yeah.” Virgil’s smirk held less sass then normal, his eyes betraying a hint of sadness. “I...didn’t have much back home. I don’t know if anybody even knows I’m gone. Kind of a bummer when you think about it, and now I’m just gonna have to thrust myself back in...mediocrity.”

 “Yes...sort of like what will happen to me once you are gone.” Back to a sad and lonely normal.

“Mhm.” Virgil mused. “...what if I stayed?”

 Roman’s head snapped up, looking at Virgil. “Wh-What?” Had he heard Virgil right?

“Oh, ah, I mean…” Crap. Virgil hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but now he had to explain himself. “I was just...thinking. About the ‘what if’s.”

 “R-Right.” Roman bit his lip, trying not to get his hopes. “And...what if you stayed?” Roman echoed Virgil’s question back at him.

“Well…” Virgil gazed off into space, thinking about it. “I mean, it’s dangerous here. Would definitely need to figure out some precautions or something. But when you think about it, every life has some danger, right? Not exactly a bad gig being all chummy with a prince. No more minimum wage, no more rent….”

 “R-Right. I could provide everything for you. And, of course, I wouldn’t put you in harm’s way again. And I would be able to keep my only friend…” Roman listed off his own list of things.

“But I mean that’s crazy, right?” Virgil snapped his head back towards Roman, having not really been listening. “I can’t stay here, I- it doesn’t make sense...does it?”

 Roman bit his lip. “Of course, I’m not going to force you to stay.” Roman started off with. “But...you could stay. It’s not so far out of the question.”

“I think I might be going insane.” Virgil pressed at his temples, trying desperately to come to his senses. After all, no sane person would want to stay.

Virgil froze, a sudden realization hitting him. “Am I becoming Patton?”

 Roman’s eyes widened. “No, of course not! I mean…” Roman bit his lip. “It’s different, right? I’m actually treated you like a person. Not a pet, not anymore. Not like Logan.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Virgil remained unconvinced. “But it’s still letting somebody take care of you, liking them because they’re nicer than before...ugh this is such a mess.” Virgil groaned, putting his head on his knees. A few days ago he was so sure of what he wanted. Now he wasn’t even sure if he was brainwashed.

 Roman sighed, and leaned down to be a bit more eye level with the human. “Virgil, I will not hide how much I want you to stay. I want you to stay more than anything but...I refuse to keep you here if that is not what you want or even if you think wanting to stay is unhealthy. Just say the word and both you and Pat will be home. Or say another and...you can stay.”

Virgil looked up to meet the Giant’s gaze. “Thanks Roman.” Virgil said earnestly. “I...I don’t know what I want, but for now I think it’s best we stick to the plan.” At least a sane Virgil had decided going home was the best action. Of course, sane Virgil had also hated Roman’s guts.

 Roman nodded, trying not to show his disappointment. This was Virgil’s choice. “Alright. Then we’ll stick with the plan and after the coronation, you’ll go home.” 

“Right.” Virgil nodded. It was the right thing to do. He would go home to Earth, where he belonged.

So why did that decision leave him feeling so empty inside?

“I...get why Patton’s struggling so much with this now.” Virgil gave a weak chuckle.

 “I’m sorry Virgil. I wish...I wish things hadn’t ended up in such a mess.” Roman sighed.

“Yeah, no I know.” Virgil assured him. Of course, Roman was also incredibly biased, but he was all Virgil had and he was willing to support Virgil’s decision no matter what. That had to count for something.

...unless this was just some long-winded scheme to convince Virgil to stay all along…

Virgil looked up at Roman, smirking. No, it couldn’t be that. Roman wasn’t that smart.

 “Anyway...I think it might be time for bed. What do you think?” Roman asked Virgil.

“Sounds good.” Virgil agreed. The many events of the day had tuckered him out.

 “Are you okay with sleeping in my bed again?” Roman asked as he offered a hand, wanting to make sure.

Virgil nodded, climbing on. “It was fine before.”

 “Just checking.” Roman said, carrying him over to the bed. He set him down and went to the closet to change before climbing into bed. “Goodnight, Virgil.” Roman said, blowing out the last candle.

“...goodnight, Roman.” Virgil replied. He wondered how many times he’d get to say that.

***

Logan knocked softly on his own bedroom door, indicating his arrival before slowly coming in. His face was weary from the toils of the day, but it lit up at the sight of Patton out on his desk. The cage had been pushed to the side, all but forgotten.

“Hello, Patton.” Logan greeted, sitting down. “My apologies for being so late.”

 Patton grinned but behind his smile was sadness for the date they would be seperated was coming ever closer. “It’s okay. You’re here now!” Patton exclaimed. He went over to take a seat closer to Logan. “How are you, uh, holding up with everything?” Patton asked. Logan looked exhausted.

“I am...functioning.” Logan replied. Though the pressure of the throne was indeed quite the burden, the true source of all his worries and aching sat before him. The decision to let Patton go was a heavy one, which weighed upon him throughout the day.

 Patton nodded. “Do you think it will be easier once you actually...are king?” Patton asked. Of course, he wouldn’t be around to see that. Which made Patton sadder.

Logan looked at Patton thoughtfully. “That part remains unclear.” He reached out a hand, wanting to touch Patton as if to affirm he was not yet gone.

Not yet, but soon.

 At the sight of the hand, Patton scooted closer and gave a nod. Wanting the affirming touch as much as Logan did.

Logan let out a sigh of relief, his hand finding it’s familiar position draped around Patton’s form.

“...I’m going to miss you.” Logan admitted softly.

 Patton leaned more into Logan’s hand, turning to bury his face in the closest finger. “Then please let me stay.” Patton asked softly.

“Don’t.” Logan shook his head. “Not tonight. I don’t want to spoil our last evenings together with petty arguing. You need to go and that is final.”

 Patton sighed. “I know.” Patton knew but he still hated it. “I’m sorry.”

“All is forgiven.” Logan smiled, ruffling Patton’s hair slightly. “Now, perhaps we have time for a bit of light reading before we turn in for the night.”

 “That sounds nice.” Patton said, sending Logan a small smile. He hated that they couldn’t spend more time together before he had to go but he would take any time he could get.

“Excellent.” Logan picked Patton up, heading to his bedroom door. He peeked out, checking that the coast was clear before heading towards the library. “What title should we read tonight?”

 Patton thought for a moment. “Well, we never got to finish that one book. The one about the fairies? And that mystery?” Patton said, trying to recall the book. He hoped Logan knew what he was talking about, seeing as how he forgot what it was called.

“Ah, The Lost Button.” Logan nodded, remembering. It was a common fairytale, but Patton always seemed intrigued by the simplest of fiction regardless since he knew none of the old tales. “Perhaps we can finish it.”

 “Yay!” Patton cheered. He had been hoping to finish it at some point. And well...this was his last chance.

Logan perused the shelves, pulling the familiar powdered blue novel from its resting place. He sat down in one of the dark red armchairs in the back corner of the library.

“What page were we on?” Logan murmured. He set Patton up on his shoulder, using his hands to flip through the pages.

 Patton clung to the fabric below him as he stared down at the book. “I think we stopped at chapter 14 last time.” Patton remembered.

“Ah yes, now I remember.” Logan turned to the correct page, reading the story aloud and letting himself get lost in the narrative.

 Patton closed his eyes and got lost in both the story and Logan’s voice. It was nice and quiet, despite being a bit hoarse from exhaustion. Slowly, Patton began to realize that he had long since stopped listening to the story and was focused solely on Logan’s voice.

 He began to realize that this was one of the last times he would ever hear it. Especially in this kind of situation. Before Patton could fully realize it, he was crying softly into his hand.

Logan’s storytelling faded off, hearing the soft sobs coming from his shoulder. “...Patton?”

 “I-I’m sorry, I just-I…” Patton continued to cry. “I...I’m gonna m-miss this.”

Logan stared down at the pages before him, his heart once again aching. “...I will too.” Before Patton, he had only ever read academic pieces. It hardly made sense to keep wasting his time if there was no one to share these moments with.

 Patton wiped his tears away, looking down at the book. “I’m sorry for ruining it…” He had to go and ruin a good moment with his crying, hadn’t he.

“Patton, you’ve ruined nothing.” Logan insisted. “It would hardly be sincere of us to act as though everything were as it once was.”

 “Right…” Patton sighed. “Can we still...still finish it?” Patton asked, hoping it wasn’t too late. It didn’t look like they had too much left anyway.

“Of course.” Logan cleared his throat, trying to make the lump there go away as he started reading once more.

 Again, Patton wasn’t listening much to the story but at least he wasn’t crying anymore. But all too soon, Logan’s voice stopped and Patton opened his eyes to see that Logan had closed the book. “It’s...over? Already?”

“Happily Ever After.” Logan repeated the last phrase with a nod. “That’s usually how such stories end.”

 “Oh, right.” Patton was quick to apply his life on that phrase. Knowing it wasn’t going to be a happily ever after. “I guess it’s...bedtime?” Patton said with a sad sigh. It seemed his time with Logan was just going by faster and faster.

“If you’re tired.” Logan answered, not wanting to keep Patton up. “Of course, if you feel up to it, we could read another story.” Logan knew, logically, that would be a bad plan, but he also knew logically that his hours with Patton were quickly becoming limited. It seemed silly to waste so many precious moments sleeping.

 “...Could we?” Patton asked softly.

“We could.” Logan smiled softly, standing with a certain grace to keep from jostling Patton as he moved back towards the shelves. His fingers ran gently along the spines, trying to find a slimmer novel. They certainly wouldn’t have enough time to finish another book like that before...well, it didn’t need to be said.

“What sort of story should we end on?” Logan asked, never realizing how important choosing a book could become. “A happy story? A peaceful one?”

 “I...I think I need a happy one. One with an equally happy ending…” Patton answered. Why he was torturing himself with something he could not have, he didn’t know. But...he still enjoyed them.

“A happy ending.” Logan murmured. What a strange concept. 

He pulled a thinner green book off the shelves, checking the cover to ensure he had made the correct choice before heading back to the armchair.

 Patton smiled sadly as he looked down at the new book. He was happy for the extra time though.

“I think you will enjoy this one.” Logan explained, looking at the cover briefly before flipping to the first page. “It’s about a boy, Jack, who is a tiny creature that is quite human like as well.”

 Patton blinked for a moment. “Wait, you mean Jack and the Beanstalk?” 

“You know it?” Logan turned back to the cover, trying to remember if he had shown Patton this book. “Have we read this one before?” 

 “N-No but it’s a common fairytale in my world.” Patton explained, looking down at the cover. Sure enough, it was what Patton remembered the cover to look like.

“...oh.” Logan frowned at the piece of literature. That was certainly...odd. Logan had never heard of any mediums that were the same in both his and Patton’s world. What could that possibly mean? It was quite a strange coincidence. “Well, in that case, perhaps we should choose another story, rather than something you know.”

 “No! I-I want to read this one. Please?” He wanted to see if it was exactly the same. Besides, in a way, he could kind of relate to the story. Kind of.

“Very well then.” Logan opened the book once more and began to read.

 As Patton listened, it did seem like this one was similar to his worlds version. Until they got to the giant part. Instead of the man-eating giant like he was used to in the story, the giant was just another regular person. Which, he looked at Logan, if this version was made by giants, he supposed that made sense.

Logan continued the tale, following Jack as he stole the three golden treasures. Upon the third theft the giant chased after him, but Jack cut down the beanstalk to trap the giant in the clouds.

“Then Jack and his mother prospered with their newfound riches for the rest of their days.” Logan wrapped up the story. “There was rejoicing throughout the land, the beanstalk was gone, and they lived happily ever after.”

 “It’s a little different in my world.” Patton admitted. “But mostly the same.”

“How does your version differ?” Logan asked.

 “Uh, well…” Should he tell Logan? “In, um, our version the giant...eats humans…” He said the last part a bit quieter, looking away.

“What?” Logan looked appalled at this notion, turning to view Patton on his shoulder in horror. “That’s positively barbaric! Why would you write such a tale?”

 “I didn't write it!” Patton exclaimed. “And uh...now that I think about it, a lot of stuff involving giants had them eating humans…” That was certainly...strange, now that Patton thought about it.

“That is truly horrible.” Logan gagged at the thought. He certainly could never imagine trying to use Patton for sustenance.

 “Yeah...but uh...that was one of the reasons I was so scared when I first got here.” Patton chuckled a bit. “I actually thought one of you was going to eat me.” It wasn’t funny at the time but Patton found he could kind of laugh at it now. After all, he knew that to be very very false.

On the other hand, Logan was far from amused. “Patton, my sincerest apologies.” He murmured, a foul taste still present on his tongue from the matter at hand. “If I had only known I could have alleviated your worries much sooner.” The idea of Patton being afraid of him in such a way left Logan’s stomach in a knot.

 “Oh, no it’s okay. By the time I was given to you, I knew giants weren’t gonna eat me.” Patton said. No, he just thought they were going to kill him. After all, they were going to feed him to the dogs before Logan took him.

“Regardless, the knowledge might have helped.” Logan thought back on those first few days with a wince. “I would have done anything to make you less afraid.”

 “Honestly? I think anything you would have tried wouldn’t have worked…” Patton rubbed the back of his neck. It was why it had taken around a month for any progress to have been made.

“...Right.” Of course Patton was correct. It was one of the many reasons that Patton had to return to his own world.

“Patton, what would you have done in my position?” Logan asked, genuinely curious.

 Patton blinked. Well, that was...an unexpected question. “I...I don’t know.” He admitted honestly. “As of right now, I would have let them go right away. But...before…” Patton wanted to think he would be good and listen but he could never be sure.

“Before?” Logan tilted his head. “Before what?”

 “Before...all this happened to me...I’m not sure what I would have done if I found someone tiny. It’s...hard to tell after my own experiences.” Patton explained.

“Ah, because you would feel empathetic.” Logan nodded in understanding.

 “Yeah…” Patton agreed. Patton thought for a moment. “How would you feel if you were in...my place?” Patton couldn’t help but ask.

“Ripped from my world and taken to another, larger in scale?” Logan clarified. “Would it be myself as I am today or before I met you?”

 Patton hummed in thought. “...Both? Like uh...would you react differently?”

“Well, I suppose they would be much the same.” Logan admitted. “I would be quite...off put. Overwhelmed, frustrated, hesitant. From there it would depend on what sort of individual I ended up with; I suppose that must be the worst part of it, isn’t it? The fact that you have no say in your own placement within the world. You are at our mercy in terms of your experiences, aren’t you Patton?”

 Patton just nodded. “That’s...exactly how I used to feel. Still do...sometimes.” Patton admitted.

Logan nodded sympathetically. “I think that would be my least favorite part of the ordeal. I enjoy being in control of my own fate.”

 “So did I…” Patton spoke, eyebrows furrowing. “But as...as time went on...not being in control was kind of...nice?” Patton rubbed the back of his head.

Logan’s gaze showed his confusion. “How so?”

 “Well…” Patton sighed. “I don’t know. It was just nice to not have to worry so much about messing up when everyone was telling me what to do.” Patton shrugged.

“Ah, I see.” Logan looked thoughtfully off into the distance. “I can certainly see the appeal of having a weight off your shoulders.”

 Patton nodded. “...Why did you save me that day?” Patton asked out of the blue. But the question had been nagging at him for quite some time.

Logan blinked, surprised at the question. “Where did that come from?”

 Patton looked away. “It’s been on my mind since it happened, I just...never asked it out loud. I just don’t really get it. No one else cared about me. They were going to feed me to the dogs after all...So why did you care enough to save me?”

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

FLASHBACK MODE

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Logan sat with his back straight against the wood, trying to appear as regal as his father who sat in the great throne to Logan’s left. Logan sat in a similarly fashioned throne, although it was less ornate and shorter in stature: fit for a crown prince.

“Your excellency!” A shout from the hall caught both members of the royal family’s attention. The royal sorcerer came skidding into the throne room, looking uncharacteristically giddy.  In his arms was what looked to be a container covered in a sheet of velvet fabric. “The portal scry was impeccable! I have seen wonderous lands beyond our own, filled with all sorts of peculiar specimens. And, as a symbol of my humble gratitude for continuing to fund such an essential and beneficial portion of my research-” This declaration was accompanied by a deep bow- “I have brought one such specimen before you today for your pleasure, to entertain as you see fit. Behold!” With this, Dee dramatically whirled the velvet cloth away, making it disappear with a snap of his fingers.

 Patton’s eyes blinked at the return of light and then widened when he saw where he was. A giant throne room. Straight out of a fairy tale. The giant who had captured him was behind him, holding his cage high for two new giants to gawk at him. Patton scooted back a smidge but couldn’t really do anything about being surrounded on all sides.

 His ribs still hurt from when he was grabbed up and there were still tear tracks stained on his face from earlier. And as he watched these new giants, the tears began to return.

 The king perked up slightly as Dee revealed the being in the cage. “What...is that?” Now he was intrigued.

“This, your majesty, is a rarity most closely resembling the ancient mythical creature known simply as... the human.” Dee brought the cage closer, making sure to hold it high so that the King could clearly see the cowering form inside. “Born with our form but cursed to remain a miniscule size, these creatures are meant to look upon us as their masters. An entire race of servants that have been hiding in the realm beneath ours.”

Logan looked at the creature trembling behind the cage bars. It certainly didn’t appear to be an ideal servant. Surely the simplest of tasks would prove fatal for such a twig.

 “Fascinating.” The king leaned forward more, staring intently at the tiny human creature. Patton whimpered, scooting back more even if that only put him closer to Dee. 

 “And you say there are more of these creatures?” The king asked.

“An entire realm of them.” Dee grinned maliciously. “Right now my scrying powers are all but depleted, but given enough of your fabulous resources, my liege, I can acquire a large collection of these for your amusement. And, should you be so generous, if I were to be granted a few specimens of my own, I could advance my- our- knowledge of these creatures to determine how to make them bend most effectively to my- your!- will.” 

“It seems more fitting for this being to be used for recreation rather than utility.” Logan observed, raising a doubting eyebrow.

Dee’s grin fell slightly. “Well, it is indeed possible that our legends are a bit...exaggerated. But whether or not these miniscule pets are capable of assisting the throne, certainly they can be taught to bow down before the illustrious king and find pleasure in exalting your greatness as does every other conscious being within the four corners of this beloved kingdom.”

 “Yes, quite.” The king smirked. Soaking in all the praise. “How long have you had this one for? Can it do such a thing yet?” The king wondered.

 Patton shook. He didn’t like any of this talk. How they were treating him and other humans as...as pets or slaves. Patton could barely believe this was even happening.

“Hardly an hour, my lord.” The sorcerer explained. “It was a fairly simple matter of extracting the screaming creature from its homeworld-” Dee cringed in memory, his ears still ringing- “before I prepared it to be brought before you on humbled knee. Though I have yet to train this specimen, I am certain that between the two of us it will quickly learn to happily kneel before your radiance as well.”

 “Yes, I do believe so.” The king grinned. He then stood from his throne. “Shall we do a bit of...training right now? I must say, I am quite curious to see just what this being can do.” He leaned in close, face practically against the bars and Patton yelped, cowering in fright. 

 No, no, no! Please get away, please! Tears started running down his cheeks again. He just wanted this all the be a dream, but the throbbing pain of his body begged to differ.

Logan froze, feeling an unfamiliar aching in his chest as he watched the being tremble in fear. Logan frowned at the sensation. Why did he feel this way? What was this? For a moment Logan almost felt as though he should stop these events from happening, but he shook his head. What a silly notion. Even if he had such urges, his father’s word was law. The King was welcome to do whatever he pleased with this new discovery.

“Yes, we can get started right away.” Dee’s own grin stretched from ear to ear. “Right this way~” The sorcerer gave a large swooping motion with his arm and guided the King out of the throne room, leaving Logan alone.

The crown prince drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. It was, after all, only a human. 

Even if something occurred, it would certainly not mean the end of the world. With time Dee would be able to acquire another one to continue his and father’s training and research. If the human were to perish, only his father, Dee and Logan himself would even know the being existed in the first place. A single life given to the pursuit of magic and imperialization.

Despite all of this Logical thinking, Logan didn’t feel any better as the next few days passed. That was the strangest part of this: the feelings. Logan did not get feelings. In his mind, they were a disease that hindered a good leader’s mind. Strategic decisions were harder to make when one felt guilt or sympathy.

Sympathy. Was that what this was? Or Guilt? But why should Logan feel guilty? He certainly wasn’t the one torturing the poor creature in the name of discovery. And even if Logan did feel that these actions were unjust, it was not as though he could do anything to stop them; not until he became king, but that likely would not be for several years to come.

Logan picked idly at his dinner, more so pushing his salad around rather than consuming it. He could not get the tiny person’s face out of his head. Those distraught eyes haunted him in the night, forcing the prince to lay awake deep into the twilight hours. Yet when he passed father in the halls, the king looked as though he gained a full night’s rest. Why? Why was Logan the only one cursed to care about this creature’s life?

These thoughts continued to plague him, up until he next saw the human. It was dangling in a cage, attached to a stand that stood between his own throne and father’s. The human looked even more sad and pathetic than before, and as Logan peered at it he could see clear markings of injuries left during the sessions of ‘training’. 

 Patton kept his head down, trying his best to ignore the giants around him and the pain coursing through his body. Training had been...torture. He just wanted to be home, resting in his own bed, maybe watching some netflix. Or better yet, baking some yummy cookies. Tears slipped down Patton’s cheeks as he thought about home. Would he ever get to go back?

 The king nodded to Logan as he came in before turning back to Dee. “This thing is taking too much time to train,” The king complained.

Logan slowly took his seat at his own throne, peering in at the cage. At this height, It was actually perfectly at eye level, and Logan had a perfect view of the human. He almost wished he didn’t; the thing looked miserable.

“Your highness, it’s only been a handful of days!” Dee smiled at the King, before sending a snarl in the direction of the cage. “Every creature can be broken eventually, no matter how stubborn.”

 “Well, at this point I’d much rather throw him to the dogs. At least the thing can be useful as dog food.” The king commented. 

 Patton gasped at that, head snapping up in the king’s direction. He couldn’t be...but his face held no other expression than complete boredom. “N-No…” Patton whimpered quietly, shaking even more as he placed his head in his hands. 

Logan and Dee both looked appalled by the suggestion as well.

“Your highness, let’s not be so hasty!” Dee gave a hesitant laugh, looking almost nervous. “Surely you know such a valuable specimen is too precious to be thrown to the dogs. Allow me to study it, I guarantee you you’ll be pleased with the results.”

Logan frowned at the occupant of the cage. Did it just...speak? Was Logan imagining things? Had it spoken to Dee or father before? Logan found himself desperately curious for answers, but those answers would never come if this human ended up as dog food or a lab rat.

“Father, may I have it?” Logan asked, turning his gaze to the king. He found his heart was pounding, fearing that his plan might yet fail and this creature would suffer more. It may just be a human life, but it was a life all the same.

“You?” Dee said incredulously. “And what do you plan to do with it?”

 The king waved his hand towards Logan. “You know what? Go ahead, Logan. You may have it.” The king decided.

 Patton’s eyes widened and he lifted his head up again to look at the giant. Logan. Wh-What? So he wasn’t getting thrown to the dogs? Was being with Logan better? Or...would the torture continue…

“But, your highness-!” Dee’s whining was cut off by an interruption from Logan.

“Father, as I recall, as king your word is law.” Logan pushed up his spectacles. “To question such a decision would be treason, would it not?”

“...of course it would.” Dee’s reply was muttered through gritted teeth. 

 The king gave a firm nod, looking at Dee. “...I also don’t want to see anymore of these things running around. They seem to be nothing more than a waste of time and space.” The king glared at the cage holding the human. Patton shivered and curled in on himself once again. The king huffed. “Your magic can be put to much better use.”

Dee’s jaw dropped. “Sire! Surely you do not mean this!”

“Questioning twice in one session?” Logan hummed. 

 “Yes, Dee, are you questioning my authority?” The king asked, narrowing his eyes.

Dee looked ready to spill royal blood on the throne room floor, bowing low and plastering on a smile that appeared to be more of a grimace. “Of course not, your majesty.”

 “Good.” The king said and then turned his attention to his son. “Take the creature away and do what you want with him. But...keep me updated. On the major things.” They might not be worth it in the long run with how much time it takes to train them but he still found himself curious at the end result.

“Of course, Father.” Logan nodded in respect, standing up and unlatching the cage.

“If you need any assistance, I can offer my vast human expertise!” Dee called after him, sounding a bit desperate to have any interaction with the human as he watched his discovery leave the throne room.

“That won’t be necessary.” Logan called over his shoulder.

 “Enough Dee. If Logan does not wish for your help, you will leave him and his human alone.” The king said. “Now leave, I have some work to attend to.” He shooed Dee away.

 Patton moved to the farthest corner away from the giant prince. He couldn’t understand why Logan had saved him from death by dogs...did this giant care? Or was it just because he found him fascinating like Dee did.

 ...It was probably the latter…

 Patton didn’t want to get hurt again.

Logan looked down at the cowering human, wincing at the way it looked. Logan stared straight ahead instead as he walked. Should he say something to it? Try to comfort the creature? The idea felt a bit silly, but all the same...it had spoken. Logan was sure of it.

“It’s alright.” Logan finally spoke, still focused ahead as he navigated into his bedroom. “You’re safe now. I promise.”

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

End of flashback

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

 Patton frowned when Logan became quiet. “Logan?”

Logan looked at Patton as though just noticing the human was there. “My apologies, I was lost in my thoughts.”

 Patton shifted a little on Logan’s shoulder and smiled. “It’s okay but uh...you never answered my question.”

“Right.” Logan nodded. “I suppose.... Well, I felt sympathetic to your plight.”

 “Oh?” Patton titled his head. “Well...I’m glad you did. Your father and Dee sure didn’t…” Patton stared off sadly.

Logan lifted his hand, gently rubbing his finger along Patton’s side. He gave a tense sigh. “I know. I only wish I had thought to save you sooner.”

 Patton turned to hug the finger. “It’s...okay.” Patton wished that too but there was no changing the past. “I’m okay now. That’s all that matters.”

Logan gave a slow nod. Patton’s safety now was all that mattered; and that’s why he couldn’t stay so attached to the little human.

“It’s late.” Logan observed, standing up. “We should head to bed.”

 Patton deflated a bit but nodded. It was getting pretty late. “Okay.”

Carefully Logan returned the books to their proper spots on the shelves, leaving no trace of his presence. He shuffled back down the halls, already hiding a yawn behind his hand. With a grimace Logan noted the beginnings of the morning sun peeking over the horizon; perhaps he would not be gaining much sleep after all. 

 Patton noticed the sun as well and he winced. “Whoops.” He wanted to spend as much time as he could with Logan but he also knew Logan needed sleep. “Sorry.”

“It’s quite alright.” Logan assured him, settling into bed to try and gain the brief hour or two before he would be needed. “I was the one who suggested it.”

 “I know but I know much you need sleep.” Patton said, settling down on Logan’s chest.

“A few sleepless nights won’t do me any long term harm.” Logan reasoned, closing his eyes and settling his hand over Patton.

 Patton hummed, eyes already starting to close. He supposed it wouldn’t. “Goodnight, Lo.”

Logan smirked, amused at the notion of night when the sunlight was already streaming in. “Goodnight, Pat.”

[amintyworld]

Chapter Two: No Way - Sanders Sides Six AU

A/N: Guess who’s back! I worked very hard on this for a few months to bring ya’ll, and I hope you enjoy it. Special thanks, as always, to my test reader and friend @dee-ree-vee who’s helping me so much with this series. It totaled to 9 pages on a google doc, so hopefully, this helps if you need something to read these days. - Minty

First - Last - Next

TW: Cursing, manipulation, toxic relationship, mention of possible murder, near-death, bullying. (Tell me if I missed any!)

Summary: A look into Daniel (Deceit)’s past.

Remy yawned as he stretched, walking over to his bed. It was late, another boring dinner to get through - polite conversations about politics, the weather, and the governor’s new niece. Dull, and seemed always as a test to prove himself to the people of the court, as if being the ‘trouble’ child wasn’t enough.

He had kept his composure until the advisor had so graciously asked - “Now Remy, as we all know your… qualifications, it’s only fair to ask if you’ve considered a… alternate, if you were to not meet the needs of the people.”

King Thomas had to grab Remy’s arm from under the table to keep him from doing something he might regret. Remy struggled to keep his voice steady. “And why, may I ask, would we ever need an alternate?”

“Well, it just seems that your training has been to a lackluster performance at most. Truly, my prince, you cannot expect yourself to be ready for such a big position?” The advisor had smiled in mockery, for it was all too clear the real intentions behind his eyes - to make him cause a scene, and boy, did he know how to get under his skin! “Maybe it would be better if we could consider a position for you to use… your…” The advisor sized up Remy in distaste. “… ‘special’… talents…”

He barely got through the dinner without strangling the advisor’s smug face.

High above, a green spirit had been pacing, a light blue and bright yellow watching him. “Why, if I outta- he has no right saying anything like that to my great-grandson!”

“Slow your temper, Remus. You’re going to end up causing a scene and breaking some dishes again.” The bright yellow spirit had said - half his face was covered in scars, his eye cloudy. His hand reached up to rub his temple, and the light blue spirit at his side - a flowing blue gown with circular glasses and his long curls held up in a bun - had given him a reassuring glance, which made his yellow counterpart smile. “I swear if it weren’t for you and Roman messing with the mortals-”

“When I get a body, I swear I’m gonna give him the old one-two and then-!” Remus’s smile crooked too wide, his eyes wild. “THEN I’ll show him 'special talents’!” Remus said, laughing a bit madly, before resuming his pace.

Roman fazed through the wall in a bit of a hurry. “How’s Remy? Did he read it yet?!”

“Barely got through the first few pages, I’m afraid.” The light blue spirit, Patton had said warmly, looking toward the spirit in question. A growl could be heard from behind them. “Remus is in a bit of a haze after dinner.” Patton looked to Roman. “How’s Logan? The poor thing seemed so pale today.”

“He’s…he’s fine. The healer’s doing everything she can, but…with his old age…” Roman trailed off, not knowing the words, or rather, not wanting to say what was next. Patton rubbed his arm comfortingly, giving Roman a warm smile. 

“Hey…” Patton’s voice was warm and soft. “He’s Logan - you know more than anyone he’s not going down without a fight, just like his father.” Patton smiled. “Remember how stubborn he was growing up?”

Roman smiled. “Yeah… every time I’d beat him in a sword fight, he’d get up and demand a rematch, no matter the scuffs and bruises. Tough kid.”

The yellow spirit sighed, utterly displeased as he held Remus back from going to go give a certain someone more than nightmares. “Remus, stop being so childish! Remy needs our advice, not someone to murder all his problems away!

Remus struggled against the restraint, growling. “Why can’t he have both?!” Patton looked over and sighed, strolling over. Time to sort this out.

“Remus?” Patton said. “You know if there was a death in the castle, especially overnight, people would wonder what caused it, and people would leave. They’d leave, and what would we do then? We can’t follow them, and we’d be stuck in a cold, dark, castle until the end of time. Do you want that?”

“N-no…but that bastard has NO RIGHT-”

“He’ll eat his words, I promise. But no murdering, okay?”

Remus grumbled. “Fine. No murdering.” The yellow spirit promptly released him, letting the green one slide down, his arms crossed. “The things I do for this family…” He muttered. 

—————————–

Prince Daniel loved his husband more than anything in the entire world - This was a fact that didn’t need to be verified, nor confirmed. One could tell from the way Daniel’s eyes flickered to his love’s own frequently, admiring the way he looked out of the stiffness of his duties. One would revel in the way they danced, even when they hadn’t for weeks or months it felt like it had been mere hours. 

When you were in their presence, you could tell they were meant for each other, that they balanced each other, and that truly, their hearts beat as one. 

Salkenshire was their home, where they fell in love - where the teenaged prince was lovestruck by the siren voice beneath the balcony. They met in secret in the gardens, Benjamin held Daniel’s hands and made him feel like he was flying - like he was truly alive. On his 18th birthday, Benjamin smiled and held his lover close as he kissed him goodnight.

Daniel knew, in that moment, that kiss would be burned into his mind forever. He told himself that he’d never forget that night as long as he lived. 

But, time can be a cruel mistress, even to those as happy as they.

——————————

Remy scanned the page full of doodled hearts and words of passion. 

Passion coming from one of the empire’s most ruthless leaders? He must be dreaming. 

Everyone knew the story of how the empire came to be - every citizen was brought up on the stories, plays were acted out every independence day, and the parents always scolded their children - “Don’t be so cold-hearted, my child! We don’t want you to become like King Daniel, hm?”

The words on the parchment made no sense at all - yet they were there, in front of Remy’s eyes. He could never have pictured their founder as such a romantic. He flipped the page, where their wedding was described in great detail, and he sighed. “Someone’s a bit obsessed.”

The yellow spirit just crossed his arms and stared off as the others, at the prince’s comment, turned to look at the royal in question. Daniel bit his lip, looking out the window at the rain. It felt familiar, like an old friend. He sighed, the argument replaying in his mind over and over, and it felt as if his heart broke and was pieced together, over and over again.

Daniel didn’t talk about the past much, not with anyone except Patton and Remus. Even then, the conversations were vague. In Daniel’s eyes, it was for a good reason - no matter how much the past stung and hurt, it couldn’t be changed. Daniel’s eyes watered, as the few tears left watery streaks down his cheeks.

No matter how much he wished it would. 

——————————–

Daniel smiled as he rode in the carriage - it was their twenty-fifth anniversary, and he was heading home after talking with the Farwood Duke and Duchess on tea for that Saturday - they were expecting a wonderful baby boy, Jonathan. Their alliance was very strong, and the two kingdoms were very good friends - Daniel liked the still calmness of Lady Valentine. She was the type of person who radiated power and yet never seemed to need to enforce that power. 

As Daniel looked out the window, he saw a crowd of angry people as the guards tried desperately to calm them down and keep things from becoming too heated. 

A rebellion had stirred, restless in Salkenshire. Many did not want an alliance with Farwood - wounds from the war between them still hadn’t completely healed. The war had been gruesome, and many casualties weren’t forgotten. Many of the people still considered them traitors.

The carriage had come to a sudden halt, leaving Daniel pretty confused. Royal carriages don’t stop very easily, or for very many reasons, either. “Franklin? Is everything all right?”

The sudden jolt forward made the royal stumble backwards, tossing him back in his seat harshly. The carriage moved much faster than previous brisk trot, and made Daniel fly all around the carriage as they turned in many different directions. 

Something was most definitely wrong. 

Suddenly, a stranger opened the carriage door, brandishing a dagger. Daniel didn’t need to even think as he punched the attacker in the nose. So this was the trouble.

The attacker, now bleeding heavily from his nostrils, kicked Daniel square in the face as he fell back on the floor of the ride. His crown knocked off, Daniel slowly slid it under the seats for safekeeping as he rolled up his sleeves - time to do some dirty work.  The attacker landed with a thump inside the carriage, standing over the royal with a grin as Daniel, with a determined look, kicked the attacker firmly between the legs, sending him toward the ground. He quickly restrained the attacker pushing his restrained arms toward his shoulder blades on instinct.

“So this was your plan, huh? Hijack a carriage and kill the crowned Prince?!” Daniel yelled. “For what? To stop the alliance?!”

The attacker squirmed against the Prince’s strong grip. “Not…enough…exactly, your Highness… but… ugh…. Basically.”

“Not exactly…?” Daniel asked. “What do you mean?”

He hadn’t noticed the second attacker until he felt the blade up to his throat. Time seemed to slow, and he couldn’t breathe. “Alex, you pissbrain. I told you he was trained.” Daniel gulped as the knife pressed harder to his neck. “I suggest you let him go, your highness, or things are going to get ugly.”

Daniel slowly let go of his grip, his heart thumping rapidly in his chest. “What now? You kill me?”

The second attacker gave a deep chuckle.

“Now, your highness? You enjoy the ride.”

As quickly as they came, the two jumped out and rolled quickly down into the dirt. Before Daniel could even piece together what they had meant… his eyes widened.

That’s when Daniel saw the ravine. 

Next? Darkness.

—————————-

The first thing Daniel remembered was the pain. It was numbing at first, almost bearable, like a small cut or scuffed knee. Then, he remembered how his head pounded like a drum, and he could hear his heart beat loudly in his ears. He felt a weight press down in his stomach, and then the sting of his legs. His face felt hot, like it was on fire.

He remembered opening his eyes and seeing white, thinking he was dead. When his eyes adjusted, he saw the carnage - blood and intestines, skin and bone - splattered all around him. He was trapped nearly drowning under a pile of rocks, the only survivor.

The first thing he wanted to do was throw up. Whether it was because of what he had seen, or because of his own injuries, he didn’t know. The second thing he tried was to move, but it seemed the more he did the more pain he felt swirling in his mind. He tried screaming, but he had no air to call for any help, only to sustain himself. 

The first few nights were the hardest. Daniel couldn’t even say it was a few nights - he’d blurred in and out of consciousness while the sun beat down on him, making him crave water and even more so, food. 

After a week he felt tired, and weakened. He could even start to feel his body slowly begin to shut down. He thought everyone thought he was dead - after all, it was a miracle he’d survived the fall in the first place, and very unlikely anyone would think it would even be possible. 

Daniel was sure no one was coming for him.

So, one couldn’t blame him for thinking it a mirage when he thought he saw a group of knights and guards climbing down the ravine. Even as his mind told him it was a dream, Daniel pulled out his bloodied hand and waved it with all the energy he had left. His world slowly began to fade as the sounds of moving rubble echoed in the distance. 

————————

Benjamin was known for a lot of things. He was known for his stance on the Farwoodian War, which had made him an orphan at 12. He was known for his strict coldness toward everyone, no matter the status. 

That is, except, his husband. 

Daniel had been known to be one of the most gorgeous people in his kingdom, and he was determined to wed him - just to look at his smile, to drag his fingers through his perfect hair, and to own his chiseled body. 

Benjamin was good at getting people to do as he wanted. All it had taken was a few love poems and Daniel was head over heels for the royal. Benjamin was a very good actor when the situation called for it, and had all the pieces fall into place so Daniel could be his complaisant husband, and his eye candy. All that was needed was a bit of romance to ensure his pet wouldn’t stray too far from the flock, and he was set.

Of course, when the King had gotten word of the accident on their anniversary, he had acted sick with grief. His heart didn’t feel very broken, instead feeling a mighty rage that Daniel had wasted all his preparations for the perfect night - he had practiced his lines for weeks, after all. 

His servants and allies had given him great sympathy. The palace was filled with sweets and gifts from all who knew him. 

Benjamin had given the order to search for Daniel’s remains around a week after the news. He was sad to see his pet go, but he had a replacement waiting in the wings when the time was right - he was young, hot, and the foreigner duchess’s son from Monasia. He was perfect. All that was needed was for the funeral arrangements to be made and the funeral held, and then his new husband could finally move in. He had to admit - he needed someone to look at.

What Benjamin didn’t expect, however, was for the knights to bring back his husband alive.

He had been so happy - his eye candy had returned, after all. The healer had done all she could, but couldn’t get rid of the scarring across Daniel’s face, nor the blindness on his left eye. His husband’s beauty turned utterly bland, and left the King extremely displeased. He couldn’t handle having to live the rest of his life without a husband as handsome and as worthy as himself, but he couldn’t ever act that way. 

After all, a King is only as ever powerful as his people. 

Daniel had been overjoyed to be alive and with his love, the one who loved him more than anything in the entire world. He rarely left Benjamin’s side, and Benjamin could admit it was getting annoying - the looks he sent his way weren’t the same without the sun kissed glow or the honey glow of his eyes. Everything Daniel did before only angered him from seeing that fat scar each time and fake a smile. 

He was… in a bit of a situation. Nonetheless, Benjamin would find a way to get rid of him, one way or another. 

—————————

Daniel had never been this angry in his entire life. He’d never felt so betrayed, so upset, so devastatingly sad. He clutched the bundle of letters tightly as he burst open the doors, getting his husband to look up from the work on his desk with a glance and a sickeningly sweet smile. “My dear, what angers you so? It pains me to see you so upset.”

“Benjamin J. Shawcross, you have a lot of explaining to do.” Daniel spat, throwing the letters on his lover’s desk. Benjamin just looked at the letters, still retaining his smile. “Excuse me, but could you please leave me and my husband alone for a moment? We have some… private matters to discuss.”

The council members and handmaidens quickly took their leave after they saw Daniel’s expression. The kingdom had never seen it’s highness get angry before, and it was more than a frightening sight. 

After the double doors were firmly shut, Benjamin just laid his head in his hands. “So, you found the letters.”

“Is that all you have to say, Ben?!” Daniel yelled. “You’re cheating on me, and that’s all you have to say?!”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions, dear. He’s only a friend.” The King said cooly.

“Friend? A friend who you ask to describe his ‘beauty’? Who you call your ‘honeybee’?” Daniel snapped. 

“If you’re going to overreact this much, I want a divorce.”

Daniel looked like he was slapped. “Excuse me? Why?”

“It’s clear that you don’t trust me and think that I would cheat on you, so-”

“Honey, I’m half-blind and I can see the evidence right in front of you!” Daniel yelled. “I have done nothing but be by your side and support you for over 25 years, and you-” Daniel looked to the side, crossing his arms, too angry to even finish the sentence. 

“You know, you’d think after 25 years your husband would learn to trust you-”

“Bull. Shit.” Daniel interrupted. “I trusted you, I LOVED you, you liar-!” 

“Now my lovely husband wants to accuse me of lying?” Benjamin looked shocked. All this did was anger the Prince more - he was blaming all this on HIM?!

“I’m no husband of yours.” Daniel hissed. “Did you even mean everything you said at the altar? Did you even mean all the kisses, all the talks, everything?!” Daniel yelled, exasperated, the pain so great it stung in an unfamiliar way. What did he ever do to deserve this? Why wasn’t he enough?!

“Of course, my sweet, I meant every moment I had with you.” Benjamin cooed, walking over to his husband and holding him close. “You seem so upset, my love.” His voice was like a siren’s, worming its way into Daniel’s mind and making him feel uneasy. “Did you get enough rest, my sweet?” Benjamin rubbed his husband’s arms soothingly. He knew this song and dance too well, the lovesick fool always fell for it.

Rest?

Daniel felt embarrassed at his husband’s soft tone. Was he tired? He WAS the only one yelling, was it really not that big of a deal? Maybe…

Wait. Wait, wait-

Daniel quickly pushed away Benjamin, utterly disgusted. “Get away from me.” His touch felt so uncomfortable, so caring and loving that it felt unreal. Too unreal. 

It was so weird. His touch never felt uncomfortable before. 

It was like the background around him was fake, and it toppled over in front of him. Fakeness clouded everything around the man he’d called his husband. 

“What’s wrong dear? You look so shaken.” Benjamin looked at his husband in deceitful care. 

“What’s wrong…? You lied to me, cheated on me, and manipulated me for 25 years.” Daniel looked to his husband in pure hate. “I think we’re not going to work out, Ben, and that’s putting it nicely.” Daniel stood tall, staring him down sternly. He felt as if he’d just woke up from a dream, a dream where everything was perfect because he had someone who loved him. He felt slapped, though there were no marks on his face. Even though he wanted so badly to go back to his perfect fantasy world, it would feel tainted and poisoned with chains of control. Control that Daniel wanted back.

Now, Benjamin’s face turned quickly into a chillingly cold grin, as he looked at his husband and laughed deeply. Daniel had never heard him laugh before - it made his entire body tense just at the sound. “You’re smarter than you look, you know.” The king stood in front of his prince, radiating power. “In all the years I’ve been with you, I never thought you’d figure it out.”

“What…?” Daniel breathed, feeling like he was in a nightmare.

“Oh, let me tell you honey, you were hot back in the day. Beautiful enough to have anything and everything your little heart desired. We were both alike in that way, it seemed. What I wanted, dear… what I wanted was you. You were everything I deserved - the most gorgeous person in the kingdom as my husband.” Daniel glared down at his husband, trying to stay composed. “I’d figured that when you got older, I’d have to stage an accident to bring in some fresh meat, but those protesters had given me the right opportunity.” Ben smiled, his hands behind his back as his gaze turned ice cold. “But then you had to go and ruin it by surviving that fall - a miracle indeed, dear. That’s why you need to go.”

“Go…?”

“I’ll have the divorce papers on your desk by tomorrow morning.” The King said, turning to go back to his desk and finish his papers. 

“Wait, I… I don’t-” Daniel turned him around. “If we’re getting a damn divorce, at least give me the decency if telling me why.”

“Why?” The King almost laughed. “You haven’t put it together already dear?” Benjamin grabbed him close and traced his finger along his scar, pushing enough so that Daniel had felt it. “I don’t want damaged goods.” Daniel’s breath hitched at the touch, before his husband had dumped him on the floor. “You’re to grab your things, sign those papers, and leave. I don’t want to see your ugly mutt for as long as I live. Now, shoo.”

Shoo?

Daniel stood and marched over to his desk, slamming his hands on it to grab his attention. “You listen here and you listen good, asshole. You may have been able to order me around like I was your pet for a long time, but I’m not your pet anymore. You think that you can just get rid of me like that, all because of a scar you just can’t bear to see?!” He got up close to his face, practically spitting the next words. “No. Effing. Way.”

—————

Taglist (general people who seemed excited for the update - tell me if you want to be taken off!):

@aphandgflover, @ollyollyoxinfree, @daring-elm

[sebthesnipe]

The Wounded Jellyfish

February Prompts 2/24

Prompt List

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The February Collection on AO3

My Dearest Procyon

Other works by me

Prompt:  Umbrella / Unhappy

Ship: Prinxiety and Logicality

Original story based on this wonderful post by @underdog-arts

TW: Blood, violence, Jellyfish

“A half-dragon-half-witch that is also a queen?!” Roman asked excitedly as he walked beside the smaller man, his arms filled with the supplies they had purchased throughout the day. 

“I guess so,” Virgil chuckled. “I don’t know why I would though.”

“Well, why wouldn’t you?” Roman scoffed.

“Fair,” the witch shrugged. Roman had been shooting Virgil suggestions of things he could possibly pull from dreams since he discovered the darker man’s ability. It seemed as if Roman was testing him, as if he didn’t truly believe in the man’s power. It was cute. 

“Oh! One of those creepy, pink things that have all those tentacles and float around in the ocean?” the prince pressed, earning another laugh from Virgil. 

“You mean a jellyfish?” the dark eyed individual clarified with a grin. He wasn’t sure if it was Roman himself that lightened his mood or the fact that he had come clean about his past. Either way, he felt lighter than he had in a long while. In fact, he was having such a good time with the prince that all thoughts of Logan’s deception had escaped him. 

“Yeah! That!” Roman grinned in return, “A jellyfish!”

“I told you, I can make any-'' Virgil's words were cut short as a thin oily man bumped into Roman, causing their supplies to scatter at their feet. “Hey!” the witch snapped as the weaselly man raised his hands in surrender. “Watch where you’re going!”

“Sorry, sorry. My sincerest apologies, sir,” the man rushed, his voice nasally and shrill. “Allow me to assist.” He bent to scoop up the books Virgil had purchased along with a few of the jars of preserves, shoving them into Roman’s hands as the prince knelt to do the same. 

“It’s alright, accidents happen,” Roman offered politely, accepting the items as he offered an uneasy smile. 

“No, no. I must make amends,” the man continued earning a suspicious glare from the witch. 

Virgil took a step back, not bothering to help the two pick up the mess they had made. No, something wasn’t right here. The space he set allowed him to keep a better eye on the slimy individual as he continued shoving items into Roman’s grasp. 

The witch’s gaze caught the slight movement of the man’s hand brushing against Roman’s pockets, no doubt checking them for valuables. Virgil frowned. Roman was completely unaware of what was happening to him even as the man found his coin purse and managed to get it loose as Roman fumbled about. The poor sod was so dense it was almost adorable. 

The oneiromancer didn’t hesitate to take a step forward, taking hold of the man’s wrist as the creep tried to stand. 

“I don’t think so,” Virgil hissed, his hackles raised in his annoyance. “I’ll have that back, thanks,” he added, holding out his free hand for the purse. 

The man’s gaze went wide with surprise as he eyed the witch, obviously trying to determine whether he would be able to take him. Roman was far too busy trying to balance all of the haphazardly placed supplies in his arms to be much of a threat. The man tugged at his arm, trying to get away, but Virgil’s hold remained firm. 

“Virgil, what-” Roman interrupted, confused by his companion’s actions and earning a quick glance from the man. 

The distraction was the perfect opportunity for the man to produce the small blade at his waist and lash out. Pain bloomed across Virgil’s chest, skin heating as it was split open. Somehow, the witch kept hold of the thief’s wrist even as he pulled back, dragging the man with him. The man used the newfound momentum to now thrust the sharp metal into Virgil’s side, finally winning his freedom as Virgil’s breath hitched in shock. 

For an instant, everything seemed to freeze. The cold iron intruding into his muscles sent a chill through his body. His knees threatened to give way, about to deposit him onto the muddy ground. He glanced at the prince, whose horror was obvious on his features as he allowed the items in his hands to drop to the ground once more. 

“Virgil!” Roman cried out, sounding as if he were far away despite the way the world seemed to stand still as Virgil began to fall.

……………………….

The cat sat in Patton’s lap, looking extremely unhappy under his crown of flowers. It was a very fitting look, considering how Logan currently was feeling. It was getting well into the late afternoon, and Virgil and Roman still weren’t back yet. Supply runs should not take this long. 

Patton on the other hand seemed completely content as he worked the two needles against each other, knitting something that looked far too small to be anything but a rag. They had been like this for hours, Logan just lounging in the dragon’s lap as he worked, Patton still sneezing occasionally. He had even managed to catch one of his rags on fire by accident, giving a small cry as he desperately tried to put it out. 

Logan wasn’t sure how much more of this he could ta-

He tensed as he felt the mana flow within him drain substantially. Something was wrong. Virgil wouldn’t use that much power unless there was an emergency, and he certainly wouldn’t use it in a populated area. 

The clicking of the needles fell away as Patton froze in response as well, glancing in the direction of the surge of magical energy he suddenly felt. He wasn’t familiar with Logan or Virgil enough to recognize the feel of their magic, but as far as he knew, there were no other users in the area. 

Logan jumped down from his perch immediately, bounding for the exit. Patton wasn’t too far behind him, scooping up his pack as he yanked open the door. The two rushed down the stairs and out the front of the inn without so much as a glance backwards.

……………………………

Roman’s hands pressed against the soft fabric of cloak Patton had given him. The bright red now mixed with the darker tint of Virgil’s blood as he applied pressure to his wound. Panic welled in his throat as he struggled to keep it together. Flashes of his kingdom burning and his loved ones dying in his arms threatened to break to the forefront of his mind. 

“You’ll be fine, Virgil,” he whispered brokenly. He glanced about the street once more, desperately searching for help. The people that surrounded them simply stared, no one willing to help. “Someone get me a doctor, damnit!” he cried again, yelling at the onlookers who just whispered amongst themselves. 

A young boy suddenly rushed forward, bending low to snactch Roman’s satchel before bounding back into the crowd. The realization that the small thief had just robbed him took a moment for the prince to process before he began to cry, holding Virgil even closer to him. How could the world really be this horrible?! 

“Hey,” the witch’s weak voice came, “it’s okay.” Roman shook his head desperately, only pausing when he felt Virgil’s red stained hand against his cheek. “It’s all good, ah!” his breath hitched in pain, grimacing before continuing, “Princey. Gonna take more… more than this-”

Another set of footsteps could be heard, and when Roman glanced up, another portion of their supplies was gone.

“What are you doing?!” The tears doubling as they poured down Roman’s cheeks, dripping from his chin as he yelled at the crowd, “Can’t you see he’s in pain! He’s dying! Somebody do something!”

Virgil’s soft smile faded as he lifted his other hand, pulling Roman’s attention once more. 

“S-stop moving…” the prince whispered, his voice cracking, “You’ll make it worse.” 

Virgil, as usual, ignored the man, and twisted his hand this way and that, drawing an image in the air. The atmosphere around them began to grow heavy with something electric, sparks flying from the witch’s fingertips and showering down on them both. He brought the motions to a halt, leaning to press two fingers against Roman’s forehead and pulled back. A single glowing pink thread appeared from the spot between Roman’s eyes.

The string pulsed brightly once… twice… it jerked slightly, doubling in width before it jerked again… and again. Suddenly it split, far too many tendrils to count appearing from its middle. 

The crowd gasped in horror, murmurs of ‘witchcraft’ washing through them as they backed away.

Swirling through the air, the original light engulfed the tendrils into a ring, popping up to make a dome, creating what appeared to be a floating jellyfish bobbing above them . 

Roman stared up at the creature in awe, taking in the sight with a small shaky gasp.

“Virgil… it’s beautiful,” he whispered, smiling down at the quickly paling man.

“Only because it came from you,” the injured witch returned with his own weak smile, hissing as he shifted in Roman’s arms. 

“WITCH!” Someone cried, tossing a stone. Roman cried out as it struck him in his shoulder and he bent low to try and protect Virgil with his larger body. 

As if in retaliation, the glow of the jellyfish pulsed, the creature expanding to a massive size. The crowd was forced to stumble back as the umbrella spread across the ground, tendrils whipping out to shock anyone who drew near. Roman glanced up at the glowing pink shield that now completely enveloped them, but he made no move to stop shielding the smaller man himself. 

“Ro.. Roman…” Virgil breathed, words catching in his throat as he began to choke. “You need… need to go. They’ll be after you now. They… They think you’re... you’re like me.” 

“If I were half the man you are, I would be grateful,” the prince buried his face in the man’s chest, dampening his cloak further with tears. “I’m not leaving.” 

Virgil gave a huff, the act forcing another wave of pain to shoot through him as he coughed. 

“Logan… Logan will need you. H-He’ll die without me. You have to save him… Please…” the words slowly trailed off as Virgil’s voice grew weaker and weaker, uttering his last plea in a soft whisper. 

Then his eyes fell shut. 

“...I can’t… I can’t…” Roman cried, “I’m useless… I can’t save anyone!”, his sobs doubling as he clung to Virgil’s now limp body. He hadn’t been able to save his family or his home and he wasn’t able to save Virgil! How could he be expected to save Logan? He was a nobody that could do nothing. Perhaps it was better if he let the monsters around him think he was a witch,. Let them kill him for it. Maybe then at least he wouldn’t be in so much pain….

To be continued….

Taglist:

@hiddendreamer67 @nightashes @aequinoctiale @sumersnowlilly

[vintage-squid]

Let Sleeping Snakes Lie

Summary:  When life gets to be too much, and every breath becomes overwhelming, it pays to have a boyfriend who can tell when you're lying to yourself about how fine you are (not too mention can give a damn good massage)

Pairing: Virgil/Deceit  Warnings: sympathetic Deceit, cursing, insomnia, sensory overload, nonsexual nudity (changing into comfier clothing and remaining shirtless), massages, making out, fade to black

Part 2 in the Reptilian Romance verse!  Part 1 can be found here  Also on AO3

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

Virgil sighed as he slumped down onto the couch and desperately willed the cushions to part and envelop him whole. An entire world made of cotton-stuffed fabrics sounded immensely more satisfying than the weight of his current existence. Why did the worries of their Thomas-centric world have to fall on him? What did he ever do to deserve this?

Groaning, Virgil flopped sideways until his body lay across the seating, feet tucked under a throw pillow and head buried under his hoodie and arms. Well, it wasn’t perfect, but this was marginally better than before. Between one breath and the next, the anxious side let himself be engulfed by the makeshift darkness, focusing on the sound of his own deep breathing to tune out that of the other sides in the next room. Not easy, when the living room and kitchen were separated by a wall with a giant goddamn hole in it, but Virgil was nothing if not incredibly stubborn. He was going to relax if it fucking ended him. It was too bad he left his headphones in his room this morning like an idiot.

One breath.

Another.

Hah! See? He could totally do this, even without his headphones.

One breath.

Another.

Absolutely nothing could bother him now.

One breath.

Anot-

Virgil grunted as a finger jabbed against his arm, breath catching in his chest. Nope. He wasn’t going to look up. He wasn’t going to give that satisfaction to whoever’s death wish was large enough to dare to bother him right now. Not a questioning Logan, nor a pestering Roman, nor even a concerned Patton, was going to make him leave the comfort of his little nest. He was totally relaxed-

Poke.

That was it! With an aggressive hiss, Virgil launched himself from the couch, a raging ball of eye-shadow and insomnia, and tackled the body kneeling next to the couch. The pair grunted as they rolled, the other side yelping as their hip crashed against the corner of the coffee table, before they came to a stop, Virgil seated over the other’s hips and pinning down both arms.

“I swear to fucking god - Deceit? What the fuck?”

The anxious side blinked as he looked down at his boyfriend’s sheepish expression. Of all the sides Virgil had expected, his serpentine partner hadn’t been one of them; he’d thought Dee was busy sorting memories today. Deceit shrugged one shoulder as best he could from his pinned position, bouncy curls freely tossed about, his signature hat lost in their struggle.

“You weren’t lying to yourself pretty quietly over there, cheetah. You don’t know I can help appearing when someone tells the truth.” Deceit was able to easily pull his hands free of the other’s loosening grasp to wrap his boyfriend in a hug, pulling Virgil gently against his chest. One gloved hand gently ran up and down the hoodie-covered back, simultaneously an offering of comfort and a subtle nod towards their little secret together. Ignoring the fact they were laying on the living room floor for now, Deceit was determined to help his thundercloud feel better. “What doesn’t have you so calmed down, love?”

Sighing, Virgil gave in with surprisingly little fuss, tucking his head under Deceit’s chin to nuzzle his favourite patch of scales there. He gripped the black capelette like a lifeline, as if letting go meant his partner would disappear forever, leaving the anxious side cold and alone. “Just...y’know… life, I guess,” he mumbled, closing his eyes and attempting to bury himself closer. “Didn’t sleep well again, not that that’s unusual or anything, but Thomas has been so stressed lately on top of it all. Everything is just too loud, too bright...too much. I can’t make it stop, and my room is only making it worse right now.”

Deceit nodded with a soft hum as Virgil trailed off with a sigh, keeping the anxious side close and hidden as he silently waved a shooing motion at the three other sides who had entered to investigate their scuffle. An audience wasn’t going to help his cheetah calm down. He glared at the trio until they backed off, returning his attention to his love only when he could hear their low murmuring resume in the kitchen.

“I don’t think you’re feeling under-stimulated, love, a sensory deprivation” he murmured lowly, attempting not to aggravate the auditory overload the other had been experiencing. “Let’s not go to my room; I don’t think I have something that will make you feel worse, hm?” At Virgil’s small nod, the deceitful side willed them both to sink out of the Commons and land in the soft embrace of his bed coverings.

His room was significantly dimmer, with its flickering sconce light, but Deceit willed every other torch to dim and die with a flick of his wrist anyway, leaving only a handful to cast the room in a gentle glow. That taken care of, he gestured once more, this time drawing shut the sheer drapery around his bed, allowing the soft light through while creating the illusion of being hidden; Deceit wanted to ease Virgil’s discomfort, not upset him further by aggravating his nyctophobia or claustrophobia. Now he could focus entirely on the anxious side, who remained silently slumped against him.

“Darling? What level are you at?”

There was a moment of silence, broken by Virgil’s slow exhale. “Yellow light,” he eventually murmured, turning to keep his face buried into Deceit’s chest, eyes shut. “Better than before… still feel wound too tight though.”

Nodding, unseen by his partner, Deceit removed his gloves and began to run his nails over his love’s scalp, in time with his steady breathing. “I think it will be a hindrance if you drop your cover for a bit, love. You know how ugly I think your eyes are, after all.” His small grin widened when a purple eye glared up at him from behind a fringe of hair before hiding against his chest once more. “Awful. Now, if touch is still not okay, I have a idea that will make you feel less relaxed, alright? Let’s not get you into something less comfortable first.”

With Virgil’s consent, the deceitful side sat them both up, kissing the top of the other’s head and beginning to slowly strip the anxious aspect curled in his lap. First, the signature patchwork hoodie was unzipped and slipped off, followed shortly by the distressed purple shirt. Deceit maintained a grounding, yet gentle, touch, running the back of his knuckles up and down Virgil’s scaled upper arms. He carefully cupped the other’s jawline, tilting his cheetah up for a sweet, chaste kiss. Pulling back, Deceit let his hands slide down to rest over the other’s hips, just over the top of those ripped skinny jeans, thumbs running over the smooth purple scales scattered there.

“Would you be more comfortable in just your boxers, or do you want a pair of my sweats?”

“Sweats, please,” Virgil murmured with an easy exhale from his place tucked against his boyfriend.

Humming, Deceit let his fingers rest over the zipper of the other’s jeans, waiting for a nod of consent before undoing them and helping Virgil to shimmy his way free of the constricting fabrics. Unwilling to leave his boyfriend alone on the bed, Deceit summoned a pair of cotton pants from the bureau with a snap.

Bare chested, but comfortable, Virgil was limp and calm as his basilisk helped him to dress before laying him belly-down on the bed. The anxious side let out a wordless grumble as he pulled the pile of pillows towards himself, burying his face into the soft material and relaxing with a deep sigh. He tensed again, and snapped his head up, when a weight settled over the back of his thighs. His instinctive glare softened immediately, however, upon seeing Deceit’s apologetic expression, the other’s hands raised in apology.

“I should not have warned you, cheetah, I’m not sorry.”

Virgil slumped down again, absently noting his boyfriend had also stripped to just a pair of flannel pants, before reaching back to pat the other’s knee. “S’fine, just startled me. You can stay.”

Deceit leaned down to press a soft kiss to the back of Virgil’s head, nuzzling his faded purple hair. “I won’t let you know if I’m making another move, okay? I’m not going to touch your back now.”

When no protest was forthcoming, the deceitful side lay both of his hands flat against the iridescent scales decorating the space between Virgil’s shoulder blades. He smoothed his palms along the wiry deltoids, over each shoulder and down each side, before sliding up his love’s spine to repeat the process thrice over, getting a feel for where the pockets of tension lay hidden. As he moved, Deceit breathed deep and slow, hoping to get his cheetah to follow along the steady pattern, until their chests rose and fell like the lapping waves of an oceanic tide, a constant ebb and flow of energy. Once the pair were inhaling synchronously, the snake made his move. On the next pass of his hands, he pressed his thumbs in firmly, kneading them along the bony curve of those knobbly shoulder blades, before returning to his smooth circuit.

Beneath him, Virgil let out a long groan, low from the back of his throat. The anxious side found himself arching up into the harder press with each breath in, exhaling deeply as his basilisk rubbed over and around the rest of his back. His scales warmed to the continuous contact, and he willed them to remain flat against his back, preventing any of them from getting caught or tugged during the massage. He tucked his nose into the piles of pillows, scenting his love deeply on the next inhale. Deceit was everywhere - above him, around him, within him - heady and addictive.

As the painful knots were worked loose from Virgil’s upper back, Dee shifted the pressure to concentrate at the stiff juncture between his cheetah’s neck and shoulders. Each touch was laden with care, and every breath saturated with love. There was no pain here, no worries or responsibilities, just a pair of reptilian lovers existing in tandem.

Entirely blissed out, Virgil stirred from his reverie with a grumbled moan as he was gently turned over. Looking up at his boyfriend, who was now straddling his lap, the anxious side breathed deeply and slid his hands up Deceit’s thighs to hug around his waist, lethargically tugging the other to lay over him. He hummed as his silent request was obliged, massaging those bony hips and receiving a few chaste kisses in turn.

“Th’nks b’be,” he murmured, tilting towards Deceit to nuzzle those pretty yellow scales, humming as his lips were covered once more. They traded soft kisses in the dark, parting only to come together again, Dee’s hands coming up to gently cup his love’s cheeks and smooth over them with his thumbs. Slowly their kisses grew longer, until Virgil parted his lips and welcomed his basilisk deeper. Dee’s tongue lazily slid along his own, tracing the inside of his mouth, and tasting the soft groans and pants coaxed from his throat.

Pulling back, Deceit touched their foreheads together, grinning through his own ragged breaths as their mismatched eyes got lost in one another.

“How was that for a distraction?”

With a snort, Virgil rolled them to the side, keeping his arms around the other’s waist, and Dee’s knee over his own hip. “Not ‘nough. Need more.”

“Never,” the basilisk murmured, coiling around his cheetah.

[logansanderslove]

Logan 3.0  (10/?)

CO-AUTHOR: @demented-dukey

Summary: Remus is an incorrigible flirt, and Logan can only bear the innuendo for so long until something has to give. Passions erupt, but there are more lasting repercussions than either could have predicted, including a significant transformation to Logan himself! How will these new changes affect the delicate balance of Thomas’s mental state? When a new dark side threatens the lives of several of the other sides, will Logan and Remus’s love be strong enough to save everyone, including Thomas?

Ships: INTRULOGICAL

Sanders Sides: Logan, Remus, Thomas, Roman, Virgil, Patton, Deceit

Fic type: Drama, Romantic, Action, Flirty

Trigger Warnings: no character deaths, but a lot of very close calls. Consensual knife play and blood play, and lots of bloody fighting and monster attacks. If you’re sensitive to unsympathetic characters, some parts flirt pretty close to that, but there’s also a lot of extenuating circumstances to explain the situation, and there’s a happy ending once you get through the angst and misunderstandings. Self-harm and references to such, and suicidal tendencies.

MASTERLIST

Chapter 10: Fury

“What was that?” Patton whispered once the scream had faded away.

Virgil clutched his hoodie tighter around himself, “Best guess? Something bad.”

“It… it sounded like Logan? But… wrong.” Now Patton was beginning to shake. For Logan to release a scream like that… had they found Remus? Were they too late?

Virgil drew his hood up over his head, gently rocking back and forth, and then blinked, symptoms clicking in his head. “Thomas is having a meltdown. I don’t know what happened to Logan, but it’s bad. I gotta go.”

Patton almost begged Virgil not to leave him, but he dug his fingernails into his clenched fists. “Go, take care of Thomas. I’ll wait here for the others to come back.”

Virgil nodded, sinking out. Patton began to gather supplies - some food and water, bandages, several first-aid kits, and other accouterments and sat down to wait.

He didn’t have to wait long.

Patton jumped as a door creaked open. Chiding himself for being on edge, he jumped again when the door slammed closed. “Hello?” he called out, wincing at the quiver in his voice.

Heavy footsteps approached the common room, and Patton gaped as the figure stepped into view. “Well, well, well…” Logan’s voice rang out, as sharp and dangerous as the sword he carried. Patton’s stomach twisted at the blood that ran down Logan's chin along with that which coated the blade, dripping onto the carpet. “What have we here? Holding down the fort all alone, Patton?”

“I-” Patton gulped, afraid. Every instinct was telling him to run, to hide, to get away from Logan… but something was wrong, that was as obvious as the red glow from Logan’s eyes as well as the dark shadows that surrounded them, and Patton had to help if he could. “Virgil’s with Thomas… I thought Roman was with you?”

Logan tsked, casually wiping some of the blood off his blade. A horrible thought crossed Patton’s mind, “Did… did you kill Roman?”

“Not for lack of trying,” Logan muttered, and Patton felt his heart start beating again, pounding to make up for the lost time.

“But- why?” the words were out before Patton could stop them, “Why were you trying to kill Roman?”

“Because, you simple, stupid excuse for a side,” snapped Logan as he wiped the blood from his mouth, “He betrayed me. You’ve all-” he hefted the sword up, aiming it at Patton, “-betrayed me.”

“If-if this is about Remus,” Patton said hastily, “I’m sorry, Lo. We’re gonna do everything we can to-”

“NO!” Logan said, thrusting the sword forward. Patton froze, the tip of the sword hovering inches away from his throat. “No, this is about me, and how you’re planning to replace me.” Logan smiled, and the sheer hatred in his face made Patton start crying.

“I-I’d never!” Patton hiccupped, tears rolling down his face.

“You will never,” Logan confirmed, “Because your pitiful “Morality” could never take the place of Logical Thinking, nor could your precious “Heart” ever truly encompass the might of my Righteous Fury. In fact...” Patton felt the blade press against his skin, and he whimpered, “I should end you right now. Thomas has no need for morality when I can handle ethical situations logically, and then you’ll see what it’s like having your powers ripped away and assigned to another side.”

Tears cascaded down Patton's cheeks as he felt his heart shatter. "Wh-What are you talking about, Lo?! What do you mean, 'ripping powers away'?" He asked with fright.

Logan scoffed. "As if you didn't know. Now," he pressed the blade closer, bringing a drop of blood from Patton's throat. The Moral side flinched, his breath stopping as he watched Logan's devilish glare. "Why don't you call Virgil and Dear Thomas up here so we can all have a teensy weensie chat."

His tone nearly gave Patton a heart attack, but he nodded slowly. "O-Okay..." He sighed shakily, then cupped his hands around his mouth. "Virge!! Thomas! Calling Virge and Thomas back! Could you pop up here for a minute?" He shouted, then met eyes with Logan, trying so hard to look past the dark glare that was burning through him.

Logan grinned, Patton drawing back at the sharp fangs that filled his mouth. "Well done, Pat. I appreciate your cooperation, I'd hate to have to dispose of you."

Logan lowered the sword, and Patton felt his knees give out - he sat down hard, perched at the edge of the chair. The paternal side was shaking like a leaf, but despite his fear, he would not leave Thomas alone to face this on his own. Whatever happened in the next few minutes, Patton would defend his kiddos with his life.

Virgil and Thomas rose up into the common room, Thomas hunched over and Virgil soothingly rubbing his back, “Still not a good time, Pat. Find out anythi-SHIT!” Virgil stepped between Logan and Thomas, shielding Thomas with his body. “What the hell happened?”

Logan ignored Virgil. “Hello, Thomas.” his voice dripped with false sweetness. “It’s been a long, long time. It’s good to see you again.”

Virgil and Patton exchanged confused glances. Thomas whimpered, cowering into the corner of the couch, deep in the nonverbal stage of his breakdown. “You saw him yesterday, Lo?” Virgil started but trailed off at the scowl Logan shot him.

“Logic saw him yesterday.” Logan sneered. “I’m Fury, and it’s been ages since I’ve been properly in control.” His voice shifted as he returned his attention to Thomas, again taking on a tone of fake lightness, “You’ve changed a lot since you were a little child. Bet you thought you’d destroyed me forever back then. It took a long, long time to build myself back up, but my plans finally fell into place, and now here I am. You could never escape me, Thomas, not forever.”

Virgil narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists. "Where's Roman?" He demanded, and although his tone was strong, he felt like he would crumble at any moment. He took a deep breath. "Did you kill him?" He asked shakily.

Logan chuckled, glancing off into space. "Who knows? I mean, I tried, but Deceit being the coward that he is hid them both, so I suspect they're still in the Subconscious. They'll be lucky if they get back alive, but if they do, they'll be too late." He spoke with a hint of glee, then he sighed.

"Who knew that being in the Subconscious and being trapped by the Nightmare Fuel would be all it took to bring me out." A smile twitched his lips up. "Would you like to know what Logic's greatest fear is?"

Patton grew an expression of concern. "Wait, Logic's fear is what let you out?" He asked, but Logan shook his head.

"No, you simpleton," he snarled, causing Patton to draw back with wide eyes. "It was his reaction that brought me out." He snickered. "He's afraid of you all turning on him. That he'd be replaced, banished, scorned. So when he was faced with a nightmare of you all betraying him and basically killing him," the others exchanged wide-eyed glances. "He couldn't take it. When the real Roman and Deceit showed up, he snapped. I was finally free!" He took a deep breath, then turned his gaze to Patton, an expression of disgust on his face.

"God, you're crying?" He snorted as more tears dripped from Patton's chin. "You always were the weak one. I should just do away with you. No need for a useless side, anyway." He lifted his sword again, leveling it with Patton's throat, a blood-thirsty smirk crossing his face. "Say hello to Logic for me."

“Why don’t you say hello to me yourself?”

Everyone in the room turned, and a new-slash-old figure stepped out of the shadows. Gone was Logan 3.0, with the black tie and the earrings, gone also was Logan 2.0 with the logo and the striped tie. This was the original, Logan 1.0, with a plain blue tie and stylish pair of Warby Parkers.

Logan 1.0 fearlessly stepped up to Fury. “I’ll go first. Greetings and salutations, Fury. Is there a problem here?”

~

Roman and Deceit made it to the back door of Dee’s room, nearly falling inside and bracing the door shut behind them. “Where is he?” Deceit panted, trying to catch his breath.

Roman closed his eyes, concentrating. “Light side’s common room. Pat and Virgil, and shit, Thomas is there too.”

Deceit swore under his breath, too stressed to lie, and headed for the stained-glass window. “At least they’re still alive, but knowing Fury, that could change at any moment.” He pressed the code in, and the panel slid away, revealing the button to release the door to the safe room. “As soon as I’m gone, press this to release your brother. Fill him in on the situation - I have a feeling we’re going to need his help. If there’s a shred of Logan still inside Fury, Remus is probably the only side he won’t kill on sight.”

“Wait, what are you going to be doing?” Roman asked.

Deceit ran a hand down the front of his body, his clothes shifting into a familiar old costume. Moments later, Logan 1.0 smoothed down his tie. “I’m going to distract him.”

~

Logan 1.0 fearlessly stepped up to Fury. “I’ll go first. Greetings and salutations, Fury. Is there a problem here?”

“Deceitttt…” Fury snarled, “I was hoping you might survive the subconscious. I’ve been dreaming of paying you back for that little stunt you pulled decades ago, and it would have been disappointing to miss out on my revenge. Show yourself, and let’s end this charade.”

“I don’t believe I will,” Logan 1.0 said, adjusting his glasses. “With you in charge, there seems to be a lack of logical thinking in Thomas’s mind, and I feel duty-bound to fill in-”

Fury leaped forward, pinning Logan 1.0 to the wall, his sword at his throat, “STOP TRYING TO REPLACE ME!” he screamed.

“-temporarily,” Logan 1.0 continued, ignoring the imminent threat, “until such time that Logan returns to resume his duties.”

“I AM LOGAN NOW!” Fury screeched.

“Are you?” Logan 1.0 asked, curiously. “Because you said it yourself, Logan’s greatest fear would be his friends turning on him. Therefore, it stands to Logic,” he grinned at Fury’s flinch, “that the reverse would be true: Logan would never turn on his friends, nor intentionally hurt them. The fact that you are willing to do so indicates that you are not yet fully integrated, and therefore, you are not Logan.”

~

Roman clenched his fists then released them, stretching his hands. He let out a deep breath, then spun and hit the button on the wall, watching as a trap door opened, stepping back with wide eyes. Then his relief grew when his brother appeared, his eyes grew wide, then he ran up the stairs and nearly tackled his twin with a hug, holding him close.

"I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'm SORRY!" Remus cried, shaking his head. "I shouldn’t have run! I made a mistake!! But I just heard the screams coming from the Subconscious! Are you okay?! What happened?! Where's Logan?!" He fired questions, but Roman just shushed him for a moment, then pulled back.

"I'm fine, Re. And don't be sorry, it's okay, I’m okay," he said, stroking his brother's hair. His face then turned down. "As for Logan, however..." He spoke grimly, and Remus' eyes widened.

"Is he okay?!" The despair in his voice was heartbreaking.

Roman frowned. "Not exactly..."

~

Fury's eyes blazed with hatred at Logan 1.0, gritting his teeth. "I'm going to tear you to shreds, Deceit. That's hardly a punishment that fits your actions, but it'll be fun." His fangs glinted, the other three in the room standing with wide eyes, cowering together.

Logan 1.0 rolled his eyes. "No, you won't. I know you. And as long as you're not fully integrated, you can't harm me. You can't bring Logan to hurt his friends-"

Fury put his finger to Logan 1.0's lips, quieting him. "Ah, ah, ah, see that’s where you're wrong. All this time that I've been building myself back up, I've become stronger. I don't need to be fully formed in order to force Logan to attack his friends. I can do whatever I want."

His hand shot forward, and Logan 1.0's eyes snapped wide as he choked, Fury's dagger plunging deep into his stomach. Patton shrieked, clinging to Virgil as Thomas started crying. Fury's evil cackle filled the room as he met Logan 1.0's eyes, smiling at the fear that now filled them.

"You knew this was going to happen eventually, Deceit. That someday I'd be back, and you wouldn't be able to stop me. It would always end like this. Don't you see? You were always destined to die at my hand," he twisted the knife, bringing another cry of pain from Logan 1.0. "So just accept your fate-"

"LOGAN."

Fury snapped his head up with wide eyes, everyone else matching the expression at the two Royal brothers that stood in the doorway. Fury narrowed his eyes.

"Remus. It's been quite a while." He snarled, and Remus nodded with a raised eyebrow. 

"Maybe it has, but I don't care enough to acknowledge. Now let go of my best friend and give me back my boyfriend, you dick." He growled, his morningstar suddenly materializing in his hand. "You're strong enough now to become your own person. So let Logan go and show your fucking bitch ass so I can beat the shit out of you." He spat.

Everyone stared at Remus with shock. They knew he was violent and vulgar, but never had they heard him that angry. Fury narrowed his eyes, then a slight smirk crossed his face. He ripped the knife from Logan 1.0’s stomach, dropping him to the ground, the man falling limply, weakly holding his hand on his badly bleeding wound, struggling to keep his eyes open.

Fury then took a step forward, opening his arms. "Take your best shot, Remus. Try to make me come out. Are you willing to do what it takes, or are you too afraid to even put a scratch on your precious little Logan?"

Remus smiled, like the cold glint of a knife in a dark alley. “You know me, Fury, and everyone here knows I ‘scratched’ Logan our first night together. If I’m willing to cut him for fun, what can you imagine I’ll do to you?” 

“Let’s find out.” Fury said, and the battle was on.

Remus parried a sword thrust with his arm, ignoring the gash that opened up as a result as he swept the legs out from under his opponent. Fury scrambled back to his feet, crying out in pain as the morningstar slammed into his shoulder, leaving jagged gashes from the spikes. Fury struck out with his dagger, slicing across Remus’s chest and leaving his sash in tatters.

Skirting the edge of the battle, Roman grabbed an unconscious Deceit (still in Logan 1.0’s form) and dragged him to the relative safety of where Virgil, Patton, and Thomas were huddled in the corner of the common room. Patton grabbed some of the medical supplies he’d collected earlier and quickly went to work, using the bandages and his own powers to stabilize Deceit’s injuries. With Thomas nearly catatonic and two sides otherwise vulnerable, Roman and Virgil took up defensive positions in front of them, watching the fight carefully and ready to step in if Remus was defeated.

Fury kicked the morningstar out of Remus’s hands, and it went spinning across the room to embed in the far wall. With a maniacal laugh, Fury raised his sword above his head, ready to plunge it down, but Remus threw a ninja star, slicing open Fury’s wrist and causing him to drop his sword. Remus tackled him, straddling Fury and punching his face over and over again. “Get out, get out, get out!!!”

Fury just laughed, eyes glowing as red as the blood streaming from his nose and mouth. “You can’t make me. I may not be Logan yet, but I’ve bonded to him now.” He rolled their bodies, pinning Remus to the floor, his grip tight despite the blood seeping from his wrist. “You can’t get rid of me. Not anymore, and never again.”

Remus struggled, unable to break free from Fury’s hold. Leaning down to Remus’s ear, Fury murmured, “How does that feel, Remus? Knowing that you’ll never be able to separate me and your precious boyfriend again? Knowing that any time you anger him, I could come out and make you pay for it? Knowing that every time you sink down on his cock, I’ll be hiding behind his eyes, fucking you through him?”

Remus' eye twitched, then in a flash, his fist shot up with such force that Fury jolted back, releasing his hands for only a second, but it was long enough. Remus jumped up and slammed Fury down onto the floor face-down, holding him with all the strength he possessed. Glancing to the side, he met his brother's eyes and with a twitch of his head he called him over.

Roman ran to help hold Fury down as Remus pushed Fury's head against the floor. "Shut. The Fuck. Up. You sadistic bastard." Re snarled, shaking his head. "You've always been a piece of shit, but now you've gone too far."

Fury snickered. "Really? This is where you draw the line? I would have thought I crossed it ages ago." He shrugged underneath them. "Oh well. Still, how much more do you think Logan can take? I can take as much damage as you can deal out and keep right on swinging, but Logan here? If you keep at it, he'll be dead in minutes." Fury said with glee, and Remus' eyes suddenly widened as he realized the truth behind that statement and as he saw the dark red that was beginning to seep out from underneath Fury's form.

Roman manifested a pair of irons and clapped them onto Fury's wrists, then he looked up at his brother. "He's right. Logan is going to bleed out if you do anything else. Honestly, if he were in control, he'd probably have passed out by now. Fury is the only thing keeping him alive." He said softly, making Patton's eyes go wide, looking up from bandaging Logan 1.0's wounds.

"No..." He whispered, then he snapped his head to Virgil. "Virge, you can put him into a sleep, right? Like, you can do that thing where you kind of sedate people?" He whispered, and Virgil's eyes shot open, then he jumped to his feet and ran over, shoving Remus out of the way. The Duke shouted in surprise, then he raised his eyebrows when Virgil grabbed Fury's head and placed his palm on his forehead. Fury struggled, then seconds later he went limp, his head dropping down, his eyes closed.

Everyone looked at Virgil with shock, the purple-haired boy letting out a hard breath. "He'll be out for a while, but we need to use that time smartly." He looked over his shoulder at Patton. "Good call on the sedative." 

Remus chewed on his lip, staring down at Fury with tears in his eyes as he now realized that the chances of getting his Logan back were almost nil. His breath shook, then he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to meet his brother's eyes, then Roman pulled him into a hug, completely ignoring the blood from his brother's wounds that was turning his white uniform red. He was just glad to have his brother alive.

"It's going to be okay, Re...we'll find some way to fix this." He glanced up at Patton. "In the meantime, we have to make sure Deceit is functioning. He's going to have to take the place of Logic for a little while. Virgil, keep an eye on Thomas and just try to...I dunno...make sure he doesn't collapse into nothing, I guess?" He met his brother's eyes. "Remus and I will try to figure out how to fix Lo."

Everyone nodded, immediately taking in their responsibilities. Patton began to heal Deceit the best he could, the man still in Logan 1.0 form. He probably would be for a while. 

Virgil sat beside Thomas, rubbing his back and calming him with small hushes as Thomas shuddered, tears streaking his face.

Remus and Roman lifted Fury up, and Remus glanced to the side at his brother. "Where do you think we should keep him for now?" He wondered, and Roman shrugged, adjusting his hold on him. 

"Probably just put him in Logan's room and lock him in, seal off the escape so he can't leave. Besides, he'll be in the irons. He's not going anywhere anytime soon." Remus nodded silently, then Roman nudged him with his hand. "Hey, I know this hurts, but it's what we have to do. If we want to fix things, we need to get to work as soon as possible."

The twins carried Fury to Logan’s room, stripped the bed of everything but the fitted sheet, and laid out their captive, securing his wrists and ankles to the bedposts. Pulling a chair over to the bed, Remus collapsed into it, the stress and blood-loss finally catching up to him.

Roman perched on the arm of the chair, looking down at him. “You look like shit, bro.”

“You should see the other guy,” Remus laughed, tired. The brothers looked at Fury, still knocked out and immobile. Face softened with unconsciousness, it was hard to remember that it wasn’t Logan laying there. If this were any other night, Remus would be completely on board with tying up his boyfriend spread-eagle and having his wicked way with him, but as it was, Remus just wanted to he held by Logan’s strong arms again. “What are we going to do, Ro?” he whispered, broken.

“Well…” Roman said, and Remus looked up hopefully. His brother was a brilliant strategizer, second only to Logan himself, and if he had a plan, then Remus wanted to know about it. “We know he won’t leave Logan willingly, and trying to force him away didn’t work either.” Remus nodded morosely. “But I’ve been thinking about what he said during your fight…”

“That if I ever pissed off Logan, he’d come out and make me pay?”

“What?” Roman blinked, “No, not that. And that doesn’t even make sense anyway.”

Now it was Remus’s turn to be confused, “What do you mean, that doesn’t make sense?”

Roman flapped his hands, starting to get excited, “That’s what I’m trying to tell you. I think Fury made the classic villain mistake, and the key to his downfall was in his evil monologue!”

“Which part?” Remus said, trying to remember what Fury had been blathering on about during the fight. To be fair, his mind kept going back to Fury talking about fucking him through Logan.

Taking a deep breath, Roman tried to explain, “The bit where he said he was fused to Logan, and it makes sense when you mentioned about him “coming out” again.” At Remus’s blank stare, Roman spelled it out, “In order to come out, he’d have to go back inside first.”

“So…” Remus said, “We might not be able to pull Fury out, but you think Logan can put him in a box?”

“Not really,” hedged Roman, “Fury proved that he’s impossible to destroy completely, and he’ll escape any box we try to lock him in. I think Logan can control him, and I think once they fully integrate, Logan will have complete control over Fury. I think merging them together is the only way to fix this. But… we need Logan to come back first.”

Remus bit his lip, “I think I have an idea of how to call Logan forward… but you’re not gonna like it.”

Roman sighed, "At this point, as long as it doesn't involve Lo bleeding any more than he already is, I'm willing to try anything."

"It definitely doesn't involve Lo bleeding," Remus said, evasively.

Roman's eyes went wide, drawing back a little bit from his twin. "What in Shakespeare's name does that mean? That has 'ominous death' written all over it."

"No death, ominous or otherwise." Remus chuckled darkly. "It's something I've done several times before - nothing permanent, so turn off those worried puppy eyes."

Roman raised his eyebrow in confusion, pondering all the many things his brother could have meant. 

Bleeding?... And it was something Remus had done multiple times before? Roman sighed. That didn't narrow it down much, that could be applied to a multitude of Remus' activities.

He stared at his brother, then his gaze caught the few white scars on his neck, and his eyes widened as it suddenly clicked.

"NO. YOU ARE NOT DOING THAT. I FORBID IT, REMUS!!!"

"I thought you were willing to try anything?" Remus was touched by Roman's concern - there were times when he'd wondered if his brother would even care, and it was nice to know for sure. "Logan... he had much the same reaction as you when he found out. I told him that it isn't permanent, but maybe... it would be enough to call him back." He looked up at Roman, suddenly shy. "Do you think it would be enough? That he loves me enough to come back and stop me?"

Roman sighed. "Remus, of course, he would. He loves you more than life itself!! When we were in the Subconscious, we were attacked by some ROUSes, and although Logan was hurt, he refused to turn back. He was dead set on finding you." Roman smiled. "You mean the world to him."

Remus felt his heart soar, then he bit his lip. He didn't want to worry his brother, but they didn't have many other options as to how they could bring Logan back.

Remus looked up at Roman with pain. "You know it's the best shot we have. I know you know that. You don't have to like it, but we don't have time to sit here with our thumbs up our asses."

Roman closed his eyes, took a long deep breath, then after a hesitation he nodded. "You...you're right. We don't have any other options." He admitted, then he put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "But Remus?"

His twin looked up with a questioning gaze, and Roman squeezed his hand on his shoulder. "Please be careful."

“Where’s the fun in that?” Remus joked, but he put his hand over Roman’s and squeezed back. “I will. But you’ll need to distract the others. Make sure that we aren’t disturbed. Maybe… come up with a plan, in case this doesn’t work.”

Roman bit his lip, then nodded. "Okay. I'll go and check in on Deceit, see how he's doing, and if anyone asks, I'll just tell them that you're watching over Fury. They won't question it. They know how much you care about Lo." He patted his brother's shoulder as he rose to his feet. "Good luck."

Remus nodded his thanks, watching Roman leave. He let himself relax for a moment, scoping out Logan’s room to set the stage and making a mental list of what supplies he would need. Hefting himself to his feet, he made a quick trip to his room for the items he’d need and popped back, making sure Fury was still dead to the world. Spreading out a tarp to protect Logan’s carpeting, he positioned the chair on the tarp and pulled a small side table next to it to spread out his supplies. Taking off his shirt, Remus cleaned the blood from his body and tried to mend a few of the worst gashes, leaving himself mostly intact except for the night sky still scabbed over his skin. The wounds that Fury had inflicted refused to heal very much, and he bandaged them as best he could. He then cleaned and patched up the wounds he’d inflicted on Logan’s body, and placed a pillow under Logan’s head so he’d be in the perfect position to watch Remus.

Sitting back down in the chair, Remus repositioned a few of the knives on the side-table and settled in to wait for Fury to stir.

~

Roman rose up in the light sides' common room to see Deceit laid out on the couch, sure enough still in the Logan 1.0 form, unmoving and eyes closed as Patton wiped his forehead with a cloth.

Roman walked over. "Why haven't you healed him yet?" He asked with partial disbelief and a very small hint of anger. Patton spun around.

"I've tried my best! I don't know what Fury did, but him hurting Dee somehow stifled my ability to heal him completely. So I've just been tending to his wounds and making sure that he'll be okay." Pat explained. Roman nodded, then sat down on the floor beside him, leaning back against the couch and rubbing Deceit's head with his hand.

"Remus is watching over Fury. You know how he'd never leave Logan." He said with a slightly sad smile. Patton nodded, then collapsed next to Roman, leaning on his shoulder.

"Ro?" His voice was soft, and the Prince glanced to the side.

"Yeah?"

Patton sniffed back some tears, but they began to fall anyway. "Do...do you think everything will be okay? Because even though I'm trying to hope, I just have this horrible feeling that it's all going to fail and we'll all be lost and Thomas will be damaged and nothing is going to ever be the same because we couldn't fix things and-"

Roman pulled Patton into a hug, quieting him, then he rubbed Patton's back as he felt the Moral side start sobbing. "Shh...it's going to be okay, Pat. I know it is." He glanced towards Logan's room. 'It has to be...'

[how-to-survive-a-factory-tour]

How to Survive a Factory Tour - Chapter 14

A Sanders Sides / Charlie and the Chocolate Factory FanFiction

PREVIOUS

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Well, today is going swimmingly, isn’t it? When I won my ticket, I had thought I’d be coming here and seeing all the fantastical wonders that were hidden within these walls. I hadn’t thought I’d see these wonders and then immediately have them ruined by seeing how they almost kill two of my new friends. I know it sounds rude to blame them given what they’re going through, but I wish Patton and Logan had been a little more careful. All Patton had to do was stay clear of the very edge of the cliff, and all Logan had to do was not go into that teleporter, or at least make sure there was nothing in there with him, and then they’d have been fine, and the tour would have stayed nice and happy. But nope! Now it’s mopey. Marylin Monrose over here has stopped joining in my playful banter about Disney and music and such as he was before. He’s fiddling with his hoodie, counting to himself. I don’t get it, Wonka reassured us that Patton and Logan are going to be okay. Why does he look like we just saw them die?

Luckily, Ethan is willing to talk. And he knows musicals! We’re currently in a deep discussion about whether Evan did the right thing when lying to the Murpheys in Dear Evan Hansen. He’s bringing up a lot of good points to support the yes side that I’d never even considered…

Unfortunately, Wonka interrupts our conversation, deciding to stop at a couple rooms we pass as we walk down the corridors.

“Now, this room is where we keep the square sweets that look round! We just finished them, and they’ll be being officially released next month. We just need to market them a bit first to make sure people are actually aware they’re a thing.”

We all peek through the window in the door, and my eyebrows furrow. The sweets are all different coloured cubes with little faces on them. But I emphasise: cubes. They don’t look round at all! The name is a lie!

“They look square to me…” I mumble, but make sure I’m loud enough for Wonka to hear my criticism. I mean, if he’s coming close to releasing them, he needs someone to tell him that it’s actually, you know, how it’s supposed to be!

“No no, they’re square sweets that look round,” Wonka repeats. Um, is he serious? Repeating the phrase doesn’t change the fact those sweets are definitely cubes. Welp, when these launch, they’re going to bomb. The Wonka name will have a second 

“They’re squares! They don’t look round at all!”

“No no, they look round.”

Okay, he’s lost me. I have never been more confused than I am right now. I look between Wonka and the sweets beyond the door, trying to figure out what the heck he means.

“Roman,” Virgil’s voice breaks my concentration. “Do you honestly not get it?”

I open and close my mouth. “... Yes?”

He rolls his eyes. “They’re square sweets that look around.”

“Ooooh!” That’s why they have faces! Their eyes are looking around the room!

I swear I’m not an idiot. All the sugar is probably just getting to me. I’m smart.

Wonka continues to lead us down the corridors yet again as Virgil rolls his eyes at me yet again, chuckling. I elbow his side in response. At least he’s in good fooling again… I just need to be very very careful to not remind him of Patton and Logan. Then he’ll be back to being , and then we’ll be back to nothing being fun.

Wonka leads us into another room, and it’s certainly an interesting one. The walls are lined with shelves, all filled with bottles of different shapes, sizes and colours. In the centre of the room is a large bubble machine, making bubbles that float up high through the very tall room. The ceiling of the room is just a large spinning fan.

“This is the Fizzy Lifting Drinks Room!” Wonka tells us. “You may have noticed us advertising them recently. We just finished working out all the problems with them a couple months ago, and will be releasing them in two weeks! You three are lucky and get to be the first to try it.” He goes over to one of the shelves looking through. “What flavour would you all like? There’s cola, lemon, lime, mixed berry, cherry…”

I’m about to say mixed berry before realising anything berry flavoured probably isn’t the most appropriate right now… So, instead I choose, “Cola. May as well go with the classic fizzy drink.”

Wonka nods, grabbing a bottle of dark brown liquid, popping open the cork. He then holds it out to us three.

“I’m not so sure about this…” Virgil mumbles. “You sure it’s perfectly safe?”

“Completely sure, my dear boy! Now go ahead, you three!”

I take the bottle, rolling my eyes at Virgil’s uncertainty, before taking a swig, and then pass the bottle to Ethan.

Wow, that drink is super fizzy, even more so than that lemonade back at Dessert Island.

Hold on. That’s… odd. My feet don’t feel like they’re- HOLY SHIT, MY FEET AREN’T TOUCHING THE GROUND!

I’m floating! I’m flying! Oh my gosh, this is awesome! Fizzy Lifting Drinks, I get it now! Oh, this is absolutely fantastic!

“Guys, you have to try this!” I call down as I continue to rise. Now I see why the ceiling is so high!

Ethan sips from the bottle and passes it off to Virgil, before he too lifts off the ground. I, on the other hand, find myself stopping about three quarters of the way to the ceiling. Pretty good I have, I don’t want to get chopped by the fan blades.

Virgil watches us, unsure whether or not to join us. 

“Come on, Virge, it’s awesome!” I call. I emphasise my statement with a front flip and a “Whoop!”

Virgil watches us a little longer. Ethan eventually stops rising at the same level as myself. “It’s a good thing we stopped. Wouldn’t want to fly right into the fan…”

“Yeah.” I agree before looking back down. “Get your butt up here, Virge! It’s fun and safe, I promise!”

The Emo Nightmare hesitates, before sighing and raising the bottle to his lips. He downs some of it, hands the bottle back to Wonka, before rising from the floor. However, he almost immediately seems to regret it, turning to Wonka. “Uh, how exactly do we get down when we want to?! We could be stuck!”

“No, you won’t be. You just need to burp and you’ll come right down,” Wonka replies.

“Oh… okay…”

I decide to swim around in the air for a bit and make the most of my time with the ability to fly. I do flips, try and recreate the scene in WALL-E where he and Eve fly around in space (though Virgil and Ethan are refusing to play along), and I sing You Can Fly from Peter Pan. Honestly, I’m having the time of my life. I can’t wait until these go on sale and I can fly whenever I want!

However, the enjoyment comes to an end when Wonka calls up to us. “Come on down, you three, we must be getting on! We’ve got so much time and so little to do! Wait… scratch that. Reverse it.”

Darn, I’ve been enjoying this… I don’t wanna go back down. But, I guess I must. I let out a burp, and find myself slowly sinking to the floor. The other two do the same, and we all find ourselves back on solid ground.

Virgil shivers. “I did not like that…”

“I thought it was really fun,” Ethan replies, and I nod in agreement.

Wonka leads us from the room and we are once again walking down the corridors. My feet are honestly killing me from all this walking… I probably shouldn’t have decided to use today to break in a new pair of shoes.

“Do we have to keep walking?” I ask. “We haven’t gotten a break all day…”

Wonka stops walking. “In that case, let’s catch some transport. I think it’s somewhere down here…” He turns left to another corridor, and then right. We run and catch up.

There in front of us is the strangest looking car I have ever seen. Is it even a car? I think so. I mean, it has wheels and a steering wheel.

“Ta da! The Wonkamobile!” Wonka grins, stepping forward, and climbing into the driver's seat. “This car is completely sustainable. Doesn’t run on petrol, or even electricity; just ginger ale, ginger pop, ginger beer, beer bubbles, bubble-ade, bubble cola, double cola, double bubble, burp-a-cola, and all the crazy carbonated stuff that tickles your nose. Hop on in, and we’ll use it to go to the next room.”

I climb up and take a seat at the front of the strange vehicle. Virgil takes a seat behind me, while Ethan sits at the back.

“You doing okay?” I ask Virgil. Figured that now we’re alone I should probably check up on him

“Yeah, just… Everything with Patton and Logan hasn’t done wonders for my anxiety… I keep thinking I’ve distracted myself and got it all out of my mind, but then I remember what happened to them and start freaking out a little. Since I dropped out of school, Remy and Thomas have been the only friends I’ve really had. Sure, occasionally I bump into old friends from school, but we’ve mostly lost touch. So… it meant a lot to get three new friends. And I... I don’t want to lose two of you…”

Oh. Oh god. He’s crying. Like, there are actual tears in his eyes.

“Um, Virge? Can… can I touch you?”

Virgil hesitates. He doesn’t respond verbally, but instead turns and buries his face into my shoulder, crying into it. I tentatively wrap my arms around him, rubbing his back. “Hey, hey, it’s okay… Pat and Lo are gonna be fine, Virge. Mr Wonka promised. When we’ve finished the tour, we’re gonna meet up with them, we’ll explain what they missed, and then we’ll all head home just as good as when we arrived. Get all the tears and worries out now so we can have fun the rest of the day.”

Virgil nods, lifting his head a little and wiping his eyes. “S-sorry… God, this is embarrassing... “

“You don’t need to be embarrassed. It’s understandable you’d get panicked after everything. I’m scared too. Guess I’m just better at suppressing it.” I pause. “Which, now that I’m thinking about it, probably isn’t actually a good thing…”

Virgil chuckles. “Yeah, probably not… Thank you.”

“It’s nothing, Virge.” I take his hand, squeezing it comfortingly. “Just remember, Pat and Lo will both be fine. Patton’s probably already having his wound treated, and Logan’s in the juicer as we speak.”

“Yeah…”

Our conversation is ended by a jolt as the Wonkamobile starts moving. It drives us at a gentle speed down the corridor. It’s nice, I definitely prefer it to the boat ride…

At least that’s what I think until foam suddenly is fired out a pipe all over myself and Virgil.

“What the fuck?!” he cries, pulling his hand from mine to wipe the foam off his face. I do the same, only yo be met with another blast of foam to the face.

“My clothes!” I cry. “It’s official, cars should not be powered by carbonated drinks!”

Ethan sounds just as startled and annoyed as us from where he’s sat at the back. Wonka, however seems completely unfazed as foam covers him, not even wiping it away.

Virgil and I hold our hands over the pipe in an attempt to stop block the foam. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work, and foam keeps bursting out over us.

I’m glad Remus isn’t here. He’d be making a lot of rude jokes about this.

“What’s that?”

I look ahead as Virgil asks the question. We’re heading towards a strange machine… The car continues forward, heading into it. I don’t even have time to register what happens as we do before we emerge from the other side of it. The foam’s all gone. My clothes are clean, as are Virgil’s, even the stains from our dessert war back in Dessert Island having been cleared.

The car comes to an abrupt stop, and Wonka hops out. “There are two very interesting rooms in this corridor! Come along, let’s go take a look!”

I share a glance with Virgil, wondering what the hell just happened, and we both climb out the Wonkamobile. Wonka leads us and Ethan to a nearby door. “This is the Nut Room! Here, our team of a hundred specially trained squirrels are testing nuts to see if they’re good or bad. If they’re good, they get taken to be put into chocolates and other things. If they’re bad, however, they get thrown down the garbage chute.”

“Like Veruca?” Virgil asks.

Wonka sighs. “Yes, like Veruca…”

I only get a quick look in the room before Wonka leads us along again, likely wanting to change the subject since Virgil brought up the previous tour again. He takes us into another room a few doors down. “Here we have another recently finished product: lickable wallpaper! Will be good for nurseries. Go on, have a taste!”

We all go up to the wall, licking the various pictures of fruits. Wow, it’s amazing! It tastes so re-

WHOA. WHOA. WHAT THE HECK IS THAT ONE?! IT CANNOT BE WHAT I THINK IT IS!

“Um, M-Mr Wonka… what’s this one?”

“That would be a snozzberry!”

“... Uh huh…”

I notice Virgil raising an eyebrow at me, and I whisper a simple response. “Don’t try the snozzberries.”

We don’t spend long in the room, as there isn’t much to see. But, as we leave, my feet begin to ache again. “Can we do something that doesn’t require walking again? Not the Wonkamobile! Just… another mode of transport?”

Wonka nods. “Of course! We’ll take the elevator.” He goes up to a nearby door, pressing the button beside it. A few moments later, and there’s a ding, and the door opens. We all follow Wonka into the elevator, which seems to be made of pure glass. “Hm, which room…?” He looks through the hundreds - no, thousands - of buttons. “Aha! Let’s go to the Rock Candy Mines!”

He presses a button, and Virgil, Ethan and I almost fall over as the elevator suddenly nyooms to the right.

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NEXT

Taglist:@clone-number-1, @pumpkinminette, @i-have-n0-idea-what-im-d0ing, @jessicakennedy957, @why-should-i-tell-youu2, @dont-lose-urhead

[imnotcameraready]

chivalry is dead (5)

A/N: idk what to write here for this chapter, to be Fuckin Honest — this didn’t feel like a lot to write, and then i checked my wordcount and was like “woah! that’s the longest chapter” and i didn’t wanna cut it so here’s A Lot!!

WARNINGS: sympathetic deceit, threats, minor character death, knives, swords, descriptions of blood, blood, cursing, panic, chaos, Getting Lost in the woods, crowds, arguing, a chase, mentions of a bear, loneliness, — if i’ve forgotten any, please let me know!!!

Words: 5465

Pairings: nothing yet!!! slight hints of the good Royality™ and some Soft Loceit™ and some i guess hard-stop platonic Anxciet — DLAMP is still endgame but i told y’all this would be a fuckin slow burn

Part 1 (chivalry is dead) — Part 2 (i’m wishing) — Part 3 (the bells of notre dame) — Part 4 (honor to us all) — Part 5 (i’ve got no strings)

AO3 link!

@starlightvirgil @forrestwyrm @daflangstlairde @marshmallow-the-panda​ @askthesnake @k9cat

enjoy!! <3 <3

“I’ve got no strings, so I have fun….I’m not tied up to anyone….They’ve got strings but—”

“Would you shut up already? Of all the songs for you to be singing, too. Singing won’t get rid of me.”

“I can dream, can’t I?”

“Ppft. I don’t know, Dickhead in Distress, can you?”

“What’re you doing here, Dragon Bitch. Go kiss a mirror.”

“Just paying you a little visit. Excited to see you so vulnerable. Once I find the others, I’m gonna take a lot of pleasure in cutting your head off in front of them. Maybe we’ll even get a crowd.”

“I hope you never find them.”

“Then I’ll just kill you alone. Or maybe I’ll guillotine you! Oh, I’ll set up the most beautiful blade — cold steel, perfectly manicured and sharpened. Maybe that’ll actually draw them out of hiding, rolling your head along the main road, watching the blood paint the cobblestone red.”

“That’d….that’d hurt Thomas. Holy shit. You’re insane.”

“And you sicken me, what’s your point? You know I wouldn’t do that. Not with all your little lover boys in town.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you feel it? They finally checked in on us. Nerd Declassified Creativity Survival Guide let them in. It’ll be the coup of a century. And, if I find them....”

“Don’t hurt them.”

“They’ve got strings—”

“—No, no come back here. Don’t!—”

“—but you can see—”

“—Please, you can’t—”

“—there are no strings on me!”

As Anxiety, Virgil has a running mental list of all the things Thomas perceived as dangers. Ergo, these were things Virgil didn’t want happening to him. He doesn’t like not knowing what’s at the bottom of the ocean. A drink left unattended at party was a potential danger. He doesn’t like being caught in a lie and doesn’t like having to be out socializing for unexpectedly extended periods of time.

Waking up in on the ground in a forest was pretty high on that list. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the blue sky, dotted with small clouds, through an opening of tree branches.

He sat up, blinking his eyes more and trying to take in their surroundings. Dirt and leaves were stuck to his hair and the cloak he’d wrapped himself in. To his left was Patton, laying face down in a pile of leaves, and to his right was Deceit and Logan similarly splayed on the ground.

Immediately Virgil thought the worst, but his worries alleviated when Deceit groaned, and Logan’s arms pinched in to push himself up. Patton sat upright as well, arms stretching around himself.

“Well,” Patton hummed, “We’re not in Kansas anymore.”

The forest around them was thick, tall trees in every direction and stretching as far as they could see. They seemed to have landed in a small clearing, on a patch of grass and leaves and flowers, but still very much in the middle of the forest.

“Here I thought the Playwright’d be helping us,” Deceit said, picking the leaves off of his coat, “This is ridiculous. We’re in a forest.”

“This isn’t good. Oh my God, this isn’t good — Logan, what do we know about edible berries?” Virgil asked, turning around in a few circles.

Logan looked around, mouth open as he assessed the situation. Then, he patted the inside of his coat, mumbling to himself.

After standing up, Patton went to grab Virgil’s shoulders, stopping his spinning. “Don’t look around too much, kiddo, you’re gonna make yourself dizzy. And–And it’s okay! We’re in the Imagination now, and we’re gonna find Roman.”

“How’re we supposed to find Roman when I can’t even find the treeline?!” Virgil asked, grabbing Patton’s arms back, “And we just FELL. From the SKY.”

“Yeah, well….that can happen! It’s the Imagination, it’s okay. Besides, we survived! Roman wouldn’t let the Imagination hurt us,” Patton pulled him a little closer, patting his arm twice.

Virgil grabbed Patton’s hand and yanked him closer to his chest, causing the moral side to let out a small “Woop!” and open his arms as well. There had to be a number of panic attacks in one day that the anxious side could take, some sort of pain threshold, and he was certainly on his way to reaching it. Deceit watched them hug for only a few seconds before turning around and looking for Logan. And, by proxy, the book.

If the Playwright handed them a book saying that it’d help, calling it “deus ex machina,” then it likely had some sort of answer. Right?

It seemed Logan himself had the same thought, because he was sitting on the small stump, pressing his finger to it. Deceit approached and sat besides him. Logan had opened to a new page, one not indicated to earlier by the Table of Contents. “Imaginary Map” was the clever name, and the map itself stretched both pages. It didn’t indicate where they were, but there was a forest, a mountain range, and a lake, all forming a jagged triangle around what looked like a town. A small river ran through the town, between the mountains and lake. There was a compass in the bottom left corner as well, cardinal directions written in the Playwright’s neat but floppy handwriting.

“It’s a safe assumption that we’re somewhere here,” Logan circled the forest area, “But I cannot tell where the sun is.”

“If it follows a pattern. Roman’s been known to keep it on daytime for much longer than just one day,” Deceit said.

Logan shrugged. His foot was tapping on the ground, rubbing the corner of the page between his fingers. There were a lot of questions he had and a lot of feelings he didn’t understand. Why had Roman done this? It was excessive, to break oneself into pieces like he had allegedly done.

And he hadn’t ruled out the possibility that Roman had just dressed up different, was putting them through this story for god knows what reason. That Roman was upset about something or other, and thus had set up a narrative that held the other Sides at fault, with him sitting in his room safe and sound. Did Logan find that easier to explain? Perhaps. Did he want that? He was merely thinking of all the potentially logical explanations for Roman’s behavior.

He blinked when Deceit put a hand on his. “You’re gonna tear the page,” he said, voice quiet.

Slowly, Logan nodded, though he didn’t remove his hand from Deceit’s. The comfort was welcome at this time. “Thank you.”

They both examined the map, opening the book further when Patton and Virgil approached to see, the later having calmed down.

Virgil immediately pointed to a small gap between the tree drawings, then pointed to biggest tree drawing in the forest — it looked like the other trees, just slightly bigger. “I think we’re in this gap thing. And we gotta head to that tree,” he stood up straight, cupping his hands around his eyes and looking at the sky.

Logan glanced at him, then back at the map. “What makes you say that?”

“Big tree. First checkpoint, like in a video game,” Virgil said, jerking a thumb back toward the clearing’s center, “Wanna stare at the sun with me?”

Deceit carefully took the book from Logan’s hands, and Patton slid into Logan’s seat as he vacated it. He went to stand besides Virgil, lifting his glasses to the top of his head and watching the sun as well. Well, they weren’t staring straight at the sun, because that was dangerous. More like they were trying to figure out where it was in the sky through the thick tree coverage. Either way, it looked like they knew what they were doing, so he looked away. Patton hoped they knew what they were doing.

“Patton,” Patton glanced up from where he was fiddling with his shirt’s drawstrings, “You’ve been quiet.”

Deceit was watching him with a raised eyebrow beneath the bycocket hat that had replaced the bowler. Though, his hair was falling out of place beneath it. Patton leaned forward as he answered. “Oh, you know. Just worried’s all.”

Deceit stiffened when Patton cupped his cheek and slid the hair back into the hat, but he just kept talking. “I mean. It feels bad. Roman didn’t even tell us how he’d been feeling. And does that mean he’s been doubting himself this whole time? He thinks we don’t like him, and I know for a fact that that’s wrong.”

Patton sat back, crossed his legs, and nodded to himself. “We love Roman. I,” he trailed off, and then chuckled quietly, “I know I love Roman, a lot. We–We’re best friends!”

“And yet, he didn’t disclose his feelings.”

“Yeah, well, that’s what hurts about this all. But that just means we have to make sure he knows we love him! We’ve just gotta sure he knows so well that he doesn’t question it anymore!”

Deceit raised an eyebrow at Patton’s explicit and tunnel-visioned optimism. Judging by the shine in the moral side’s eyes, though, there was nothing Deceit could say to convince him otherwise.

Ah, curse them all and their stubborness. Deceit would have to find a good time to address that with Patton, to be honest. It always hurt, a little, when he caught Patton beating himself up over failing to emotionally connect with the other Sides. Nothing that a cuddle and some cookies wouldn’t stave off, but Deceit was….well, this whole endeavor with Roman was showing him that he couldn’t keep “staving off” the other Sides’ problems.

He shook his head, clearing it, and both him and Patton looked up to the sound of crunching leaves as Logan and Virgil made their way closer.

“East, right?” Virgil stuffed his hands into his pockets, pulling his thick cloak tighter around himself as he did so.

“Very much so. At least that will give us nearly a full day to find the forest’s edge. From there, we will be able to discern the distances between objects,” Logan said.

“It better not be too far. I don’t wanna be spending the night in the woods.”

“Well, sleeping in a forest is not ideal, though I have enough of an idea on how to arrange a lean-to that we may be able to survive one night.”

Virgil tutted, shaking his head. “What if some animals find us? Like a really big bear or something?”

Logan paused and, for a second, Virgil was worried that he’d respond with some statistic about what kinds of bears live in forests with trees like this. What Logan said, though, was “We’ll throw Deceit at the bear and run,” just as they stopped in front of Patton and Deceit.

Virgil and Patton both snorted at the offended gasp Deceit gave. “How dare!”

“Awh, Deceit, don’t worry! Logan’s just joking,” Logan opened his mouth to clarify that, yes, he was posing a hypothetical suggestion to alleviate Virgil’s worries, “We just couldn’t bear that!”

Logan rolled his eyes, pointedly ignoring Patton’s grin. Well, alright then. He clapped, drawing attention back to himself. “Okay. The sun is still rising, in that direction,” he pointed with one arm, “And, compared to the map, Virgil’s supposed first checkpoint is in that direction,” he shifted his arm.

“Although we don’t know distances comparatively to this map, I can only assume that if we walk continuously in that direction, we will soon find the large tree. That will also help us figure out the comparative distances on the map.”

After a round of agreements, the four Sides gathered themselves and began their trek, Logan leading the way with the book’s map open in front of himself. Some woodland creatures were about. Patton pointed out a squirrel, two squirrels, a bird (a swallow, according to Logan) and they’d even seen a deer in the distance.

There were still some loose ends to tie before this supposed quest, Deceit thought. He slowed his walk so he was in line with Virgil, who was bringing up the rear.

“Sssso.”

Virgil glanced at him from the corner of his eye, quick, before starring forward again. “What?”

“Truce,” Deceit was watching Virgil, lips pinched in thought.

Virgil stopped, as did Deceit. He turned to fully face him, brow pinched tight and mouth open in a small O. It looked like he was trying to weigh his options, or, Deceit considered, weigh a new insult.

“We have had our differences, Virgil. And I cannot say that I fully trust you either. But I think, for right now, we….should work together. I plan on working with you,” Deceit’s eyes narrowed when Virgil’s scowl deepened. “For Roman’s sake. At least.”

Virgil kept glaring at him. Deceit wasn’t sure if Logan and Patton had stopped walking, he wasn’t keen on taking his eyes off of Virgil. Since their steady falling out, he’d regarded Virgil as more of a live wire than anything else. He was a leading factor in stifling Thomas’ interactivity, after all, and that was detrimental to Thomas’ development as a human being. They very much had their historic differences. But, given Virgil’s display of protection in the Mind Palace….while Deceit wasn’t a fan of being immediately attacked, he understood the reasoning behind the decision. Fight or flight.

They held their stare-off for only a moment longer, until Virgil blinked, looking away towards the other two Sides. “You’re right. For Roman’s sake,” he added the last part softer, regret laced through his voice.

That was good enough, Deceit supposed. He started after Logan and Patton — they hadn’t stopped, and were two blue dots in the distance — when Virgil called after him. “Hey, Deceit?”

“Yes,” he looked at Virgil, who was tugging at his cloak’s sleeves, jaw set.

“I’m sorry. For attacking you earlier,” he said, quiet and strained.

Deceit’s eyebrow raised. That was unexpected, Virgil apologizing for a reaction. “It was understandable. I entered where I shouldn’t have, without forewarning. And you were already tightly wound from Roman’s extended disappearance.”

“Maybe it was valid, yeah, but still,” Virgil followed after him, steps slow and eyes trained not on Deceit’s face but his chin. “‘M sorry.”

Virgil felt a hand brush his and looked down to see Deceit holding his hand out, open for Virgil. “It’s okay, Virgil,” the other’s voice was so soft now, “Just some steps backward, and more steps forward to come.”

There were about a million things Virgil thought to say. Something about how that was just mumbo jumbo, something about hanging out with Patton too much, something else about how untrue that could be.

But something about the way Deceit’s hand was shaking, the way his snake eye twitched, like he was fighting an impulse, drove home that he honestly believed it. And, for Virgil, that was all he needed to take his hand and keep walking.

They’d been walking for maybe fifteen minutes total before coming across another clearing, this one much wider, with a thick oak tree in the center. Was it oak? The bark was reminiscent of an oak, but the tree itself was so big that it seemed more like a redwood.

Patton began walking around the tree, looking it over, while Virgil and Deceit followed behind Logan. He was the first to approach, drawing his hand down the bark as though feeling every etching.

“Well. This is your checkpoint,” Logan said.

“I don’t see how it’s so significant that it had to be marked on a map,” Deceit said, tilting his head upward, squinting into the light to see how tall the tree was.

“Just a hunch. I don’t really, either, other than….it’s big.”

“Maybe it’s just a big tree? Does Roman usually just make things like this?”

“I don’t know. I try not to interact with Roman’s creative process, especially his pet projects, similar to how he does not interact with mine,” Logan looked around, “We should walk the perimeter. There may be something different.”

Deceit and Virgil both nodded, and then turned in opposite directions. Logan followed after Virgil, one hand touching the tree still, and they found Patton first.

The moral side was on his tip-toes, examining something on the tree’s trunk. “What’d you find, Pat?” Virgil’s voice surprised Patton enough that he stumbled back a little.

“Ah, sorry!” Virgil checked on him, but Patton waved him off.

“It’s okay! I just got a little spooked — that’s a door.” Logan and Virgil looked at where Patton’d been inspecting.

Sure enough, there was a light circled outlined on the bark in black chalk. Logan moved closer immediately, taking a knee to inspect. There was a door-sized circle drawn on the bark, as well as a fully-blacked out circle where one would expect a handle, and a small keyhole drawn in just beneath.

In the center of the door was Roman’s crest, also drawn in with black chalk. Written beneath the crest was “A place for solitude.”

Logan squinted at the words, mouthing them quietly. He ran a thumb over the words and, finding them unchanged, rubbed a little harder. None of the chalk was coming off. Curious.

One could expect Roman to have magic in his world, given the present fantasy elements. This seemed to Logan like it could be the first indication of magic.

“What do you think that means?” Logan turned around, finding Deceit, Virgil, and Patton all standing behind him.

Logan looked back at the door and stood up slowly. “....I’m not sure. I don’t know how this world works,  so trying to predict what it might mean could lead to the wrong assumptions, but it feels like something outside of reality.”

Patton nodded, and rubbed his own arms. They were lonely words indeed, and while it was a tree trunk, Patton was sure it led to something else. “Do you mean like magic?”

“It looks like we’re not getting in, if this is even a door,” Deceit stepped back as he spoke, “I don’t know how we’d even try to open it. We should try to find the road to town.”

“But this door’s got Roman’s crest on it. Another Roman’s probably in there,” Virgil said.

“There’s no way for us to get in, and it’s unconfirmed that this even a doorway. Plus, if it is another Roman, he probably heard us by now. He might not want to see us.”

“How would he have heard us?”

Deceit pointed up to a few feet above the door’s drawing. There was a circular window, seemingly without any glass.

“Hey L, has the map updated or anything?” Virgil asked, still looking at the window.

Logan frowned, pulling the book from his jacket. He flicked open the Table of Contents with emphasis, but stopped and spread out the page. There was a new section that had been scratched out, beneath “The Playwright,” and Logan couldn’t make out the words. Hm.

He opened the Imaginary Map, at the back of the book. The tree that they were at had been colored in with a dark brown trunk and bright green leaves, and had been labeled.

“The Playwright has named this tree ‘The Thief’s Nest,’” Logan said as he scanned the page, “Beyond that, nothing has changed.”

“Alrighty, so the Thief lives here! We’ll have to check back when he’s home and maybe he’ll let us in?” Patton nudged Logan, gesturing for him to follow.

“I find it unlikely that someone who describes their home as ‘a location for solitude’ would allow us entrance,” Logan stood up, looking at the Book again, “But I suppose we don’t have any other option. We should start in that direction.”

Patton nodded, a smile on his face. “Maybe we’ll be able to steal him away from his loneliness!”

His pun was met with an angry huff.

“Wow, it looks like Patton stole the air from your lungs,” Deceit quipped, “And here I thought thievery was wrong.”

He and Virgil had already started in the direction Logan had pointed to, a few steps away from them. Logan groaned at the pun, walking past Patton and ignoring Virgil’s snickering as he continued to lead their way out of the forest.

Finding the edge of the forest was simple — the map had shown that the distance between the Thief’s tree and the clearing that they’d landed in was actually shorter than the distance from the tree to the forest’s edge, confirming that the distances on the map were precise, to a comparative extent.

Once they got through the treeline, Virgil pointed out the road, only a short distance away, and they were soon on the path. On the horizon was a large castle, looking nearly as tall as the mountains behind it. The Sides could make out some buildings below it, sprawling and larger as they grew closer. This must be the town on the map. It was surrounded by a wall but there was a gate on their path, its doors open.

There was probably no harm in entering an unguarded door, Deceit had reasoned. They went in.

The town was certainly bustling, more people walking around as they walked along the road. Windows were open, store-fronts had crowds standing before them. Upon first entering, there were only one or two shop stalls between the streets, the more they walked but the deeper they got, the more stalls and stores there were; there were more people scattered around, talking in hushed voices or mulling around doorways. The buildings grew taller, too, the closer to the castle they got. Still semi-in the distance though much closer now was the castle, a towering figure with light-grey walls and red

The group held each others’ clothing ends as they slowly pushed into a large market-place area, such like a town square. Virgil was looking around, arms tucked in close and body pressing even closer to Logan as the crowd densified around them. Someone in the crowd caught his eye, though, and he squinted.

Slowly, he pointed his hand out in front of Logan and Patton. “Isn’t that the Dominos delivery guy?”

“Maybe — hey, that kinda reminds me of that one thing we saw on Tumblr, about how every face we see in a dream’s a face we’ve seen in real life,” Patton tapped his lip thoughtfully.

Virgil saw the gleam of getting to explain something in Logan’s eyes. As soon as Patton said “that one thing,” he frantically signaled from Logan’s left, waving his hand across his neck to call ‘cut.’ But the deed was done.

“Actually, that would imply that the human mind is unable to create new faces, but that hasn’t been proven in a way that can be measured. According to a media article published by Stanford University’s Neuroscience Department, there are many ways that the human dreamlike state’s facial recognition cannot be calculated in an adequate way, including that such a test would involve precise knowledge of every face that a person has seen throughout their lifetime, including passing strangers. Though it’s heavily implied, due to how humans use REM sleep to store memories—”

“Hang on, hang on,” Deceit waved a hand at them, drawing immediate silence, “Listen.”

They both stopped, Virgil flicking his hood off so he could better hear. Patton was already looking around, trying to find where it was coming from.

“A dream is a wish your heart makes”

“Yep, that’s him,” Virgil murmured.

Patton pointed to the left and Deceit nodded. “Let’s go,” Deceit said, before Patton grabbed his arm and tugged him down the road.

They both immediately picked up a brisk fast-walk, jogging after the music, with Logan and Virgil right on their heels.

“When you’re fast asleep~”

“Is this going to be a trend, do you think? Following music?” Logan huffed quietly, “It seems to be a motif.”

“Motif?” Virgil asked.

“Yes. Given how the Playwright was discussing this whole scenario, it seems that some literary devices will be used to aid us in finding Roman. The use of music, specifically Disney music , may be a way to lead us, the protagonists, towards the next plot point.”

“In dreams you lose your heartaches~”

Virgil pursed his lips. “You know, I don’t know if we get to be meta here.”

“Why wouldn’t we? We’ve done so in multiple episodes, for comedic relief,” Logan said. Patton and Deceit rounded around a corner, and there seemed to be a soft ukulele accompaniment to the singing.

“Well,” Virgil said, as he and Logan jogged after them, “I don’t know if we’re allowed to break the fourth wall in fan—”

Deceit and Patton had stopped just around the corner, and Virgil slammed into Patton’s back, making him stumble forward a few steps. Logan stopped himself, tripping on his feet but being caught by Deceit and held steady.

“Oh, shoot, sorry,” Patton helped Virgil upright, “We just found him.”

“Whatever you wish for, you keep~”

There was a small crowd, only about twenty people, gathered around a set of five barrels. And Roman.

Well. One of the Romans, they all reminded themselves, because this certainly wasn’t their prince. He was wearing a loose white tunic shirt and a red vest trimmed with gold, all of which was tucked into a bright red waist-sash. Beneath the sash was a pair of puffy pants tucked into knee-high black boots with golden heels. His hair was messy, swept up and blowing around in nonexistent wind.

“Didn’t the Playwright say something about every Roman having part of his crest?” Patton asked, tilting his head.

“He said that the book’s cover would update with parts of his crest as we talked to more of the Romans, not that they each would be adorned with the crest,” Logan looked at the book’s cover, then flipped it open to the Table of Contents.

“Have faith in your dreams, and someday~” the Roman’s voice rang clear as day over the hushed crowd, even over the bustling sounds of people walking past.

A new section appeared, a sub-section of “The Playwright” called “Authors Notes.” That definitely hadn’t been there prior. Logan squinted and began flipping to it, but was interrupted by Virgil nudging him and pointing.

“He is wearing the crest, I think. Look at his pants.”

The Roman’s pants had a jagged designs on them, red pants with golden stitching in a zig-zag and with small gold circles around it. “Doesn’t it look like his crest’s mountains and swirly whatever’s?”

….He supposed Virgil had a point.

The Roman stood up on the barrel and struck a pose while strumming on the ukulele. He was watching someone in the crowd, smile broad as the sky.

Then, he hopped from one barrel to another, making a pose as he did so. “Your rainbow will come shining through~” he spun on the barrel on the word “rainbow,” and Virgil stiffened.

“He has good balance and coordination,” Logan placed a hand on Virgil’s shoulder, rubbing gently, “He didn’t fall off the ladder, and he’s will not fall off the barrels.”

“....What if you’re wrong,” Virgil hissed.

Logan raised his eyebrow at Virgil, as though daring him to repeat that sentiment. Virgil just rolled his eyes and glowered back at the Roman.

“So,” Patton turned around and whispered to the group, “We….probably have to talk to him.”

“No matter how your heart is grieving~”

“We definitely need to talk to him,” Deceit said, turning his head towards Patton, “But to do so we’re also gonna have to interrupt his performance.”

“Do you think we can just wait until he’s done?” Virgil tugged at his sleeves, watching the Roman do a twirl after another jump, one leg kicked into the air, “Maybe he’s got good coordination, but if we interrupt him, and he gets really shocked, and he falls over—”

“Then one of us can catch him. I do agree, though, that intervening is not the best course of action. It may upset this iteration of Roman.”

“Alright, then, how about we wait until the song’s over?”

“If you keep on believing~”

“It’s almost over, right?”

“I think this verse repeats?”

“How….how do you not know how this song goes? Isn’t this Princey’s ringtone?”

“I don’t know. I don’t typically retain the memory of lyrics, that is overseen by Roman, and I don’t listen to his ringtone. I just retain facts, schedules, and our internal clock, among my other duties.”

“And yet you’ve memorized the Rainforest Rap?”

“Let’s not hound Logan for his music tastes, Black Parade.”

“The dream that you wish will come true!”

All four of them were startled by the uproarious applause that broke out. They looked up to see the figure laughing, leaning forward from the front-most barrel to high five someone in the crowd. As he leaned in, he acted like he was listening to something, ukulele held high and away in the gesture. His movements were was comical and exaggerated, hand cupping his ear, legs in a bent splits over the barrel.

“....D’you think they all have names like, ‘the position-name’?” Virgil asked, watching the Roman lean back up, do a backflip onto another barrel,“Because I think this one’s a clown.”

“Perhaps he’s the performer,” Logan suggested.

“Oh! Maybe he’s the thespian!” Patton clapped.

“We just missed his mid-song break,” Deceit said, pinching the bridge of his nose as the Roman began strumming his ukulele again,  “Oh my God, we missed his song break.”

Virgil nudged him with his elbow. “It’s not like he’s going—”

“STOP! THIEF!”

The four Sides, along with most of the civilians who’d been watching the performance, all turned around around. Behind them were some taller buildings, fluctuating between three and four floors of height. After craning their necks, trying to find the source of the yell, Virgil tapped Logan’s chest and pointed.

Four buildings down, running along the building’s rooftop, was a man. He had a large black cloak, covered with deep red patches, that billowed after him. That was all they could see from this distance.

Fortunately, they weren’t the only ones who had spotted the man on the roof.

“Hey, Aladdin!” the performing Roman shouted, cutting himself off by waving his ukulele into the air, “Stealing from the dragon’s hoard again?”

“Aw, shut up and get running, Sir Talks-a-lot!” came the reply.

The Roman laughed, loud and brash, but only Patton turned toward him. He saw the performing Roman jump off of the barrel he’d been standing on, into the crowd and disappearing from Patton’s sight.

“One jump! Ahead of the breadline!” he sang, strumming the ukulele once, harshly, before the crowd around him dissolved into shouting, running, and chaos, “One swing! Ahead of a sword!”

Patton looked back up at the running figure. The cloaked man jumped off of one of the roofs, pirouetting mid-jump and throwing something at the guards. Two of them dodged, but one was struck, falling over. Virgil flinched as he noticed the fallen guard had been hit with a throwing knife, the handle wrapped with a bright red fabric.

He tugged Deceit’s arm, hissing at the other two, “We’ve gotta follow him.”

“Do you think that’s another Roman,” Logan asked. He glanced at Virgil, who nodded before immediately running in the direction of the cloaked figure and guards.

Deceit opened his mouth, but was shoved to the side by another person in passing. “Hey, watch it!” he snapped, looking around to see who’d pushed him.

Laughter, childish laughter. He looked down to see a young boy with messy light brown hair and a black cloak. The boy turned to him, cupping his hands around his mouth.

“Sorry, mister Deceit! I’ve gotta run!” the golden brooch that pinned the child’s cloak together glistened in the light.

Logan and Deceit heard Patton’s breathing hitch when he saw it was the sun from Roman’s crest. Another one.

“You know, the Playwright implied it’d be hard to find them all,” Deceit mumbled.

A guard shouted, something indecipherable, but the child took is cue. He turned and kept running, away from them all.

“Wait,” Patton shoved Logan to the side and ran after the child, “He’s–He’s just a kid—!”

“God damnit,” Deceit hissed, pressing shoulders with Logan as they both turned in opposite directions.

They looked at each other, then the stage. The crowd had completely cleared now, chaotic as people ran away from the multiple groups of guards. The Roman they’d seen performing earlier was nowhere in sight, barrels kicked over, though….they could hear faint singing from beyond the wall.

“We should regroup later,” Deceit said, “Right here. Tomorrow morning, if need be.”

“After sunrise. You follow Virgil, I will follow Patton,” Logan responded.

He patted Deceit’s back and they pushed off of each other, taking off in their own respective directions.

[inerdmuch]

Dark Circles, The 'Morrow

Also on my Ao3!!!

Idea by @do-you-promise

Remus, despite his outbursts, was actually very easy to make complicit. Offer him a game and he'd be enamoured for hours. This had surprised some originally. By some, it is presumed as Logan.

"Hiya Remus! How would you like to join me in a game of Jenga?" Patton asked happily. It was around eleven thirty in the morning, and it seemed a good idea to keep the side engaged until Deceit showed up to take him back. Remus eyed the tower suspiciously for a few moments, before jumping up.

"Sure!" He exclaimed, ecstatic to be included. "Usually only Deceit plays games with me. I love games!" He began bouncing up and down. Patton laughed, sharing in his growing energy, ramping up the ever-joy Remus felt.

"What do you and Deceit do?" Asked Patton, intrigued. His eyes sparkled, and Remus felt an idea spark to life. He pulled in the moral side, staring directly into his eyes. Patton swallowed. Remus looked a little bit scarier from that angle, but really he was just happy, right?

Remus conjured up an axe, and Patton felt his heart drop.

"I call it 'Blood Tag'!" Remus crowed. "If I make you bleed, you're it, and vice versa. Deceit tells me it doesn't hurt him, and it's never hurt me, even when he cut my head, so it should be fun!"

"I don't think I want to play that game," Patton's eyes widened. He took a step back, and held up his hands. Remus giggled, and hefted the axe on his shoulder. Patton turned and began running.

"You're doing the running thing!" Remus shouted happily. "I knew you'd like this game really!" He was about to give chase, lofting the blade into the air, when a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned around, wondering if the other person would like to join in, only to see the fiery eyes of his twin. Roman did not look like he wanted to join in. In fact; he looked very angry. Remus knew that when someone was angry, it probably meant that he'd done something wrong.

He looked over his recent behaviour. Nothing too bad? Anything to warrant anger? Not really.

"Axe. Gone. Now." Seethed the prince. Remus willed it to green smoke and dropped his arms. "Why would you do that?"

"What did he do?" Asked Logan from the kitchen. By the sound of Patton's hurried explaination, it seemed he was getting the run down. Virgil had been coming down the stairs from his room, but took one look at Roman's face and slunk into the kitchen to listen to Patton.

"He said he wanted to play a game, so I told him about one Deceit plays with me, and he started running so I thought he wanted to play," Remus shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt him!"

"Uhhh, yes? It would?" Sassed Roman. Remus looked confused.

"That doesn't make sense," he muttered. "It doesn't hurt. I don't feel it." Roman rolled his eyes. He wasn't gonna listen to feeble excuses from his unstable twin.

"Well guess what, it does, and now you've scared Patton!" Roman hissed, pushing him. Remus grew ever more confused. Confusion grew to frustration. Frustration became a need to shout. But he wasn't supposed to shout here, not his usual shouts, and so he simmered. Buzzing bees bubbled up in his throat, humming wildly, wanting to be let out now, now, NOW! "I cannot wait for Deceit to come pick you up!"

Oh, it was on.

"You never liked me!" Screeched Remus. The screeching calmed the bees in his throat. "I was always the scapegoat, wasn't I, Roman! 'Remus did it, Remus did it', and I took the blame because you never could! Admit it!"

It became very still. Remus hated that even more. And he hated the stupid look on his stupid brother's face. The bees still buzzed, and he needed to let them out. He could feel himself building into a tantrum, and he remembered the advice given to him by Dr. Picani. 'Let your emotions out'. Dr. Picani was always fun to talk with. He was glad the Deceit took him.there for weekly sessions, even if he wasn't sure why.

"That's not even the worst part! The worst part is, is that you left me! When it was decided who was good and who was bad, you took it on yourself to become the hero and banish the villain! Well guess what!?" Remus was screaming now. He had tears in his eyes, and he wondered if he should lick them. Tears were salty. His voice began to crack. "I didn't want to be a villain, but you didn't care."

"Remus, I..." Roman tried to say, but it was clear that the Duke was not going to take it.

"I don't want to play anymore. I want Deceit." He turned and stalked to the bed that still said in the corner, and rolled himself in the sheets. He settled into a little lump in the blankets, rising and falling slightly as his breath gusted them up. Roman made as if to comfort him, only to be stopped by Virgil's head shake. The purple side moved to sit on the bed, and snapped his fingers, creating a thick curtain around it.

"Hey," he said. Keeping it simple and calm. Remus sniffed loudly. "Wanna talk?"

"No. Wanted to play a game but got yelled at," the lump said bitterly. Virgil hummed. "Why didn't Deceit say it hurt? He's never lied to me about important things."

"I know full well there's very little that will make us happy in the Dark Side. Maybe he just wanted to let you play and be happy," Virgil sighed. "I know full well neither Deceit or I were ever happy."

Things went very hushed under the blankets.

"How do I do things that won't make others upset? I want to know when people are scared," Remus whimpered. Virgil felt his heart tighten. He knew what it was like to be the outcast of the group, the monster everyone feared.

"I don't know how to tell you," he admitted softly. "But I can at least help fix your makeup. I'm sure it's smudged after all that emotion."

Remus poked his head out and tilted it in confusion. Before Virgil could kick himself for not remembering, Patton made a knocking sound outside the curtain. He let himself in, peering through the thick wool fabric. As soon as he saw Remus, he began to tear up.

"Oh, if I'd only known!" He howled. He tackled Remus into a tight hug, and began smothering him with apologetic words. "You should have said you don't feel pain so much! I could have he-e-e-elped you!" He descended into a chorus of wails. Virgil rolled his eyes and stood to leave. Remus coughed and looked at him imploringly. Virgil shrugged, as if to say 'Not my problem', before sauntering away.

~~~

Lunch was subdued at first. The fight still hung heavy in the air. Remus glared at Roman. Roman looked at the floor. Virgil sat on the counter, looking forward to hearing any drama. Logan ate in silence, comfortable in the tense atmosphere. Patton pushed his food around his plate.

Remus conjured a tub of spreadable cheese. Staring at his brother, he opened it, and held up a spoon. Slowly he scooped up some cheese and ate the spoonful, holding direct eye contact with Roman. Sprinkling onions all over the cheese, and raw sliced pickles, he kept eating the monstrosity. Daring his brother to look away. He added more and more to it. Bleach. Chocolate. Glitter (not the edible kind). Roman started to gag.

"Something the issue with my lunch?" Remus asked, viciously jabbing at the seemingly endless tub of cheese and... Variables. "Everyone knows that you should at least try things before you knock them. Unless you're a coward."

Virgil snorted into his pot of yogurt.

"Me? A coward!?" Roman gasped, affronted. "Give me that!"

Staring at his brother he brought a heaped spoon of the concoction to his mouth. He chewed. He swallowed. And went green, lunging for the sink as he felt the mixture take it's revenge on his cockiness. Remus burst out laughing, hitting the table with his fist and wheezing. Virgil swallowed his giggles, barely. Logan sighed and kept eating, his head down. Patton almost went to comfort Roman, only to snigger a little himself. At the affronted look he got, he shrugged.

"He got you good, Roman." He giggled. "Played to your weaknesses. But don't worry champ; I'm sure it'll have a sweet revenge!" Remus laughed harder and Logan started to groan. Why him? Why?

[pixelatedrose]

Soulbound Part Seven

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Ao3 link

Masterpost

Word Count: 2,788

Pairings: Prinxiety, Logicality, background Remile

Warnings: Uncensored swearing, nightmares, mention of implied self harm (skip from “It had been another nightmare” to the end of the paragraph.), slight self deprecation, if I missed anything at all please please tell me, and if there’s anything you’d like me to tag, don’t hesitate to ask!

Summary:

Roman Prince and Logan Rose are soulmates. They’re platonic soulmates though. They both have the same Soul mark to prove it. But they both have one other soul mark, binding them to one other person. And when they find Patton Miles, it just so happens that they’re both his soulmate. Logan being his Soulbound Soulmate, and Roman being a platonic soulmate. But something feels missing. And it feels filled, shockingly so, when they meet a certain someone a year and a half after they found each other.

Chapter 7

  Logan Rose woke up with a bit of a start. He glanced around his room wildly, everything appearing fuzzy without his glasses. He calmed himself down before pulling the cord on his bedside lamp and examining his arm.

  It was bare and pale as always, save for his tattoo that depicted Patton's name.

  Despite everything, Logan let out a shaky breath. He knew it was illogical. And that only bothered him more.

  It's just a dream, Logan. Nothing is wrong. Logan picked up a book on the ground in spite of himself and began reading. However he found- as he always did- that he was unable to read much further than a few pages.

  "It's just a dream...It was nothing but amalgamated memories and images…It wasn't...It can't have been…" Logan took another deep breath to steady himself.

  And once again resorted to the only method that ever seemed to work.

  He flipped open a small journal and began writing down his dream with as much detail as possible.

  It had been another nightmare. He had been sobbing on the floor of a foreign room before dragging himself over to an all too familiar box under the bed where he fished out a pencil sharpener blade and had-

  Logan paused for a moment in his writing. He always hated writing about his nightmares. It was necessary for him to fall back asleep, but it was so hard sometimes.

  Every once in a while Logan Rose had acutely vivid dreams about ordinarily mundane things that didn't seem to make sense. 

  Seeing people he'd never seen before at a birthday party he'd never attended. 

  A dark room that slowly got edgier as time wore on filled with a multitude of different events. Most of them less than savory and quite traumatic. 

  A kid, taller than Logan, pushing him to the ground and pulling him back up by his hair only to have someone else spit in his face.

  These dreams made no sense to Logan. Dreams were supposed to be concoctions of memories, images, ideas, and emotions. Logan's brain should not be able to create such a vivid image of a house he'd never seen before. And yet Logan would have remembered if he'd ever seen the odd house with the strange yellow door that his mind so often brought up.

  Logan finished writing down his nightmare in his dream journal and set it down once again, rubbing his tired eyes. He glanced over at one of his many bookcases, sighing at the vast amount of dream journals he had filled up over the years.

  He had started cataloging his dreams back in fourth grade when his mother had suggested that writing about his dreams would help him remember them and even sleep better. So now Logan had nearly 6 years worth of journals filled to the brim with dream after dream after dream. Even if he could never remember what he had dreamed that night, he always wrote down that he was unable to recall any details.

  Logan lay himself back down to sleep as he quietly pondered his vivid dreams and what they could possibly mean, if anything at all.

  That's absolutely ludicrous. Dreams don't mean anything. They're just dreams. As he drifted off once again, Logan found himself with a ghost of doubt cast across his mind.

  Just dreams…

  Logan Rose fell asleep, his mind conjuring up recipes that called for memories, images, sounds, ideas, and emotions.

~~•~~

  Roman woke up to his alarm which he lazily slapped, sending it snoozing. Five minutes later it started yelling again, and this time Roman reluctantly rolled himself out of bed. Quite literally in fact. He had found it always helped him wake up.

  He hit the floor dramatically and lay down on the floor for a few minutes staring at his ceiling.

  Roman suddenly was struck by a brilliant idea and he sat up straight and got ready for the day as quick as possible.

  "Heya Ro-Bro! Sleep like a corpse?" Remus asked as Roman came down the stairs.

  "Why would you phrase it like that? Like actually why??"

  "Because it's interesting and you're boring so i have to be interesting for the both of us!!"

  Roman watched his twin brother sprinkle poptart crumbs into the omelet he was cooking and grimaced. "Well you sure do a good job of that one…"

  "Hey, Ro, have you seen the dandelions?"

  Roman paused for a brief moment. "Why the fuck are you eating dandelions?"

  "You absolute shitheaded moron it's for Brigit."

  Roman flushed. "Oh." He had been thinking of Virgil again and his head was still mushy from sleep. "In the fridge…"

  Remus turned and pulled out a small bag of dandelions before hopping over to a glass tank which contained a small tortoise. "Roman's an idiot, isn't he Brigit? Isn't he?" Remus cooed at his tortoise, dropping three of the four flowers in along with a small pile of lettuce before looking at the fourth flower and asking out loud. "Hey, dandelions are edible, right??"

  And before Roman had time to violently judge his brother, Remus shoved the entire fucking flower in his mouth like the absolute heathen he was.

  "Hey, not too bad." Roman's trash-man of a brother said, walking over to his slowly burning food.

  "I swear to god I don't know how we're related…" Roman muttered, returning his mind to a much more savory person.

~~•~~

  Roman got to school and met up with his friends. He debated skipping a few steps in his plan and looking for him right then, but decided against it. He didn't want to come off seeming like a creep.

  So he waited until his third period rolled around and felt his eyes light up as they fell to the emo boy scrunched up in the back corner of the classroom. Something was definitely brighter about Virgil today. Maybe it was the new hoodie he was wearing or the fresh makeup on his face, or perhaps it was the way he looked rested or the fact that he was nodding along to his music and silently mouthing the words, but Roman was unreasonably happy to see Virgil in a good mood.

  “Good morning, Hot Topic! You’re looking splendid today!” Roman bubbled, winking at the mass of emo that sat at the table.

  Virgil snorted and looked up at him. “Aw, you think I’m hot!”

  “On the contrary! I was talking to my reflection!”

  “Ah, that makes more sense. I put too much faith in you to think you’d ever stop being self-absorbed!”

  “Hey! You’ve only known me for what, two days?”

  Virgil shifted in his seat, having taken out his earbuds already. “I tend to be a pretty good judge of character.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yep.”

  Roman took his chance to strike. “Well I bet you wouldn’t be able to judge my friend’s characters off of one glance!” Roman smiled at Virgil, missing the way the other’s shoulders relaxed when he spoke. “Want to join me with my friends at lunch?”

  Roman patiently awaited the inevitable decline. It was part of his plan. He would laugh it off and be charming as ever and continue to pester him until he-

  “Sure.” Virgil said casually, a hint of a smile on his face. 

  What.

  “You seem like a cool guy, I guess. Should I meet you by the cafeteria?”

  Roman’s head was a jumbled mess and where he had been planning on being charming, he had fallen end over end down the stairs of grace and was drowning in his own pool of poor planning.

  “Uh, uhm, n-no I’ll just meet you outside your class!” Roman had just barely been able to save the end of that sentence. He had not expected the emo boy to accept his offer so quickly. He thought the boy was shy and reserved, didn’t like talking to people. Curiosity to know what made the emo boy trust him overtook Roman. “Would it be terribly rude of me to ask why you’d want to come and eat with a bunch of people you hardly know?”

  Virgil shrugged. “I dunno. I just kinda…” He turned and pulled up his hood. “Feel like I can trust you. I also don’t really have anyone else, so I mean I don’t have many options.” he lowered his voice to the point where Roman wouldn’t have been able to hear the emo. “And if I at least look like I have friends maybe people will leave me alone this time around…”

  It worked and Roman hadn’t heard his breathless whisper. “Oh! Well I’m touched! In fact I think-”

  Ding!! Ding!! Ding!!

  Damn that bell.

  Class began and Roman didn’t get the chance to mention that he and Patton shared a class. A minor detail, but he was irrationally disappointed that he couldn’t keep talking to his newfound...Friend.

  Roman thought. Friend? Am I not jumping the gun by considering us friends this early on? What would Virgil think? Would he be okay with it? Would he be disgusted? Roman’s mind filled with the image of Roman calling the boy his friend and Virgil smiling widely, happy to be his friend. Roman let himself smile too.

  The period ended and Roman said his farewells to Virgil. Roman pulled out his phone between classes and brought up the group chat.

  Hey I’m bringing a friend of mine to come and sit with us at lunch kk

  It was just a few moments before his phone buzzed quietly in his hands.

  Pat-man: OOOooooOOOooOOoo~~!!

  Pat-man: A *friend* you say? *nudge nudge wink wink*

  Each of his texts were signed with a series of emojis, ranging from hearts to faces.

  Roman typed out a text, leaning against the wall outside his classroom.

  Yes Padre, a FRIEND

  Nothing more than that! I swear you rwad into things way to much

  His Phone buzzed again and Roman looked at the new text.

  Pocket-protector: First off, you misspelled 'Read' and second, you used the wrong 'Too'. Third, if you're speaking of the boy you have gone on about for the past two days, then-

  The bell rang and Roman silently thanked it for saving him the time to read Logan's perfectly composed letter of a text filled with perfect grammar.

  The hours ebbed by anguishingly slow, it seemed the more he wanted to see the pale boy the more the weights the universe attached to time's ankles.

  Finally- finally- the hour struck three minutes till the bell and Roman silently excused himself knowing that the abandoned hall pass in his pocket that would free him of suspicion.

  He got to Virgil’s classroom just in time for the bell to ring and for Roman to quickly lean himself up against the lockers casually.

  Virgil walked out and seemed almost surprised to see Roman standing there before a ghost of a smile adorned his pale face.

  “Honestly, you don’t have to skip out of class early just to wait for me.” Virgil said as he walked up to the taller boy.

  “I know, but it wouldn’t be very chivalrous of me to leave my new friend wandering through the halls with no guide!” Roman smiled and the pair started walking towards the cafeteria.

  “And so that would make you my knight in shining armor?” Virgil teased.

  “No, I like to think of myself as more of a prince.”

  Virgil snorted back his laughter. “But I thought they gave princes education! They’re doing a miserable job rearing you.”

  “Ha, ha. Very funny, Jerky Mcjerk-face.”

  “Ouch! Is that the best comeback you have for me, Princey?” Before, Virgil had called Roman by the theatrical nickname in a friendly manner, now his tone was mocking him, a soundless giggle twinkling in his blue eyes.

  Roman hrumphed and crossed his arms. “Sometimes I’m not entirely on point with my words! I’m human! Even someone as flawless as me can make mistakes!”

  Virgil barked out a short laugh. “Ha!! Flawless! I should bring you up on charges for false advertising!”

  “Then maybe I should do the same with you, Surly-Temple! You’re not as shy as you seem, are you?”

  “Who ever said I was shy? I just don’t like people.”

  “Oh…” Roman internally cursed at his lack of words. He had jumped to conclusions. It was a simple mistake, but it reminded Roman of another thing he should try and fix. He shook it off easily. “Well in that case I’m sure you’ll have no problem introducing yourself to my friends!” He led Virgil through the thick of the now bustling and ever so loud cafeteria to a table in the back near one of the backdoors leading outside. It was a small circular table, like all the others in the room, perfect for a friend group to claim and have no one else intrude.

  Patton and Logan were already sitting down and chatting about what sounded like the emotional and psychological repercussions of being torn from your dimension and being thrown into another. A very fascinating topic to say the least.

  “Hey, Padre! Pocket protector!” Roman announced as they neared the table. Roman noticed out of the corner of his eye Virgil throwing up his hood. “I must introduce to you all, a one Virgil Sanders!” Roman theatrically bowed and gestured toward the purple haired boy next to him.

  Patton stood up immediately and flounced over to the boy. “Hi!! My name’s Patton, but you can just call me Dad!!” He said with a wink as he held out his hand for Virgil to shake. Virgil seemed to relax as he took the sorter boy’s hand in his.

  “Virgil. It’s nice to meet you, Patton.” He smiled lightly.

  Logan had stood as well, letting Virgil come to him. “Logan Rose. A pleasure.” He said politely, extending his own hand. Vigil accepted it and the group started to settle in.

  “You know, Virgil, I think I have the same second period as you!” Patton slipped in as they started taking their seats.

  Virgil seemed to think for a brief second. “Oh, I guess so. I guess nice to re-meet you, then.” He slowly took off his hood and faced Patton who was seated across from him. “Sorry I didn’t recognize you, I tend to not pay attention to stuff like that.”

  “It’s fine! I think it’s great we have a class together! It means less boring moments in the day!”

  Logan was staring at Virgil and he started speaking. “You know, You look familiar to me as well...Do we not share a fifth class together? Ap English in Mr. Evan’s class, if I am correct?”

  Virgil blinked. “Uh...Yeah...So I guess I have a class with each of you then...What are the odds?” Virgil gave a small laugh.

  “Infinitesimal.” Logan replied before biting into his sandwich.

  “Oh speaking of which, do you remember what was taught yesterday? I was trying to do my homework and sort of forgot what he’d said…”

  “I remember absolutely nothing but I do remember he was wearing a pink shirt with a green belt and was disgusted, I mean I may not be one for fashion, but even I know that was a horrific choice.”

  The table erupted into several different kinds of laughter. A loud booming one from Patton, a softer but clear one provided by Roman, and a light chuckle emitted by Virgil.

  Lunch wore on and It seemed like Virgil really connected with everyone.

  He was in a brighter mood for the rest of the day as he walked off with Logan, discussing fan theories about doctor who and Sherlock, and then happier still when he met up with Roman in the theater and got to have his older brother teach him for what seemed like the first actual time.

  And as Virgil bid his farewells, Roman called out to him.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow, Virge!!” He yelled across the courtyard, waving happily at his new friend.

  “Cya!!” Virgil called back, feeling happy and warm inside.

  Virgil had never even had friends before, and for some reason, having only just met them a few hours ago, felt like these friends were ones that were going to last. He felt so right when he was with them. It felt so right when he would hear Logan talking about one subject or another, or when Patton made a dad joke or pun, or when Roman did something charmingly stupid or funny. It felt right being with them.

  And for someone who’s never felt right in their life, Virgil felt as though it was all too much to actually be real.

  But for once, He didn't worry about that.

Author’s note:

Oh wow! Would you look at that! I’m way early!! I legit thought I wasn’t going to get this done in time because I stopped writing for like two days cause one: I wanted to write a special valentines day mini fic (Link here!) and then two: I was away from my computer and had very tiny motivation. Anyway I hope you guys appreciate my earliness, and note that this probably won’t happen too often. Stay fresh and minty my lovelies!!

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