#sanders sides secret santa 2019

[halfhissandwich]

🕑 and 🕠

My timeline of watching Sanders Sides is actually really complicated, so I will answer this ask with the full timeline. Because it’s actually kinda amusing.

Mid/late 2018: Previously completely unaware of Sanders Sides, I saw a prinxiety animatic to the song “What Is This Feeling” from Wicked. I liked it and was intrigued by the characters, so I looked into the series. And by that I mean I literally only watched Accepting Anxiety 1+2 since it was the most popular episode. Maybe actually just 2. Then I completely forgot about it. So yeah Virgil’s arc was kinda always spoiled for me. :/

Summer 2019: So many fanmade things for Sanders Sides kept appearing on YouTube for me, mostly videos using that weird dress up app (blanking on the name). They included Remus, so yeah Remus being Roman’s brother was spoiled for me. I returned to the series and watched DWIT first, then watched the rest of the series. I liked Sanders Sides as a passive fan, more a “yeah this is a nice little series” instead of now when I’m like “this series is my everything.” I casually consumed fan content, but never made my own.

Mid 2020: Despite not being obsessed with the series, I eagerly awaited POF and was incredibly pleased with it when it was released! However I fell out of the loop after POF for several reasons, particularly COVID killing many of my smaller interests.

December 2023: That damn Secret Santa episode pulled me back into the fandom with a fucking vengeance. And now I’m more obsessed with it than I have ever been in my life.

[sanderssidesgiftxchange]

It’s around that time of year, and you know what that means!

In our holiday spirit, we—@stardustlogan and @viclouis—decided to host this year’s Sanders Sides Secret Santa! (Ah, the alliteration. My 8th grade English teacher is trembling.)

You may be familiar with how Secret Santa works, but just in case, here’s what’s going to happen:

1. Sign up by filling out our sign up form here. 

The information you provide in the form will decide what kind of gift you’re going to create and receive, so be sure to fill it out as accurately as possible! 

You can specify which characters, ships, types of gifts, and more on the form. Your safety and comfort comes first, so please make sure that you mention it if certain characters/ships trigger you (e.g. Deceit, Remus, ships with either of them, etc.) 

2. You will then be matched with a giftee, for whom you will create your gift according to their Secret Santa wishes. 

3. Once you have finished making your gift, you will submit it to us via email or a file sharing platform (i.e. Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.).

4. Gifts will be posted on this blog starting on Christmas Day (Dec. 25th) for your giftee (and the fandom :D) to enjoy.

Posting will be spaced out over the span of around a week so that your creations don’t get buried under everything else that’s being posted, so don’t fret if you don’t see your gift or your creation posted just yet on the 25th!

5. Have fun perusing all the beautiful new content and, if you like, making your guesses, but please maintain secrecy—that’s part of the fun! That means don’t post your gift on your Tumblr, personal AO3 account, etc. just quite yet. 

6. The big Secret Santa reveal will take place on Jan 7th, which is when we will post a list of all the Santas involved and tell you who created which gift. After the 7th, feel free to post the gift you created anywhere you wish to.

Except there WILL be winning this Christmas, for both giftees and Santas :DD 

Here’s our schedule:

September 6, 2019 - Sign-ups open

September 20, 2019 - Sign-ups close

October 11, 2019 - Wishlists sent out

December 11, 2019 - Gifts due

December 25, 2019 - Gift posting starts

January 7, 2020 - Santas revealed

If you want to be a part of the exchange but are unsure whether you’ll be able to commit, there are options to become either a Pinch Hitter (someone who makes a gift—possibly at short notice—if a santa drops out or is otherwise unable to complete their gift) or a Beta Reader. Details about this can be found here.

You can find more information as well as the rules & guidelines on our main page. Make sure to follow this blog so you can keep up to date with all the latest news and announcements!

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions, and have fun creating !!

[heavenly-roman]

Look At The Stars, Look How They Shine For You

Plot: In which Logan and Virgil both have crushes, and Roman and Patton are done with their shit

Warnings: sympathetic Deceit and Remus, crying, one (1) kiss, flirting, mild swearing, not a warning but roman is non-binary so

Pairing(s): analogical, background roceit (are u surprised?) and background intruality? dukality? moduke? idk it’s pat/remus, platonic drlamp

Word Count: 3894

if you like this, consider buying me a coffee?

Taglist: @emo-disaster @shitpost-sides

(ao3 link!!!)

this was my secret santa gift for @thepurpmann!!! very glad u enjoyed it, and thank u for giving me such a wonderful prompt :)

+++

“-and that’s when I said, listen here, buddy-” “Roman, shut up,” Virgil orders his best friend, who makes an offended noise and places their hand over their heart as if they’ve been wounded.

“I’ll have you know, it is very rude to-”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Virgil waves his hand to dismiss Roman, before gesturing to a boy laughing with his friend. “Who is that? Is he new?”

“Aw, does little emo have a crush?” Roman backs away before their shorter friend can elbow them in the stomach as they anticipated. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry! That’s Liam, or Levi, or Lucas, or… something like that. He’s in my first period math, super smart but kind of a show-off, if you ask me.”

“I don’t think you have any jurisdiction to call anyone a show-off, Princey,” Virgil shrugged, walking towards the boys and leaving Roman to pout.

Virgil approaches the pair, and before his anxiety talks him out of it, he asks the blonde boy, “Hey Patton, do you have the assignment rubric for art? I think I lost mine.”

“Oh yeah of course!” Patton chirps, slinging his backpack in front of him. “Just let me find it!”

Virgil smiles at him, and turns to face Liam or Levi or Lucas. “Sorry for interrupting you guys, it was just uh, important. I’m Virgil.” He rubs the back of his neck, all of his confidence drained from being so close to this new kid.

Liam or Levi or Lucas smiles, and Virgil’s breath catches in his throat. “Don’t worry about it, it was a mundane conversation that was vastly improved when you arrived. I’m Logan.”

Virgil feels his cheeks heat up as he reaches his hand out for Logan to shake. “Nice to meet you, Logan. You new here?”

“I just started here last week actually,” Logan grabs his hand and it takes everything in Virgil to not faint because wow, is he gay and this guy is strong. “Thanks for noticing. Although, I would've appreciated it more if you had noticed when I sat beside you in History class on my first day, and have been sitting there since.”

Virgil sputters, internally scolding himself for not noticing the hot guy that has apparently sat beside him for a whole week . “Oh, uh, sorry, I- that class is just really boring, you know? And I  usually fall asleep or listen to music so I don’t really, um, pay attention to the world around me. So… sorry.”

Logan begins to respond, but Patton beats him to it, pulling out the rubric for Virgil. “Okay, here it is! It’s a little crumpled by it should still be legible!”

“Thanks, Pat,” Virgil takes the sheet of paper and turns back to Logan. “I should get to class. See you in history?”

“Yeah, see you then,” and Virgil thinks he’s imagining the excited glint in Logan’s eyes. He gives a two-finger salute and walks away, completely ignoring Roman’s questions when he rejoins them.

+++

As the bell rang for lunch, Logan files out of class and beginning walking to his locker. Patton jogs to catch up, bumping his shoulder into Logan’s.

“So,” Patton starts, grinning as Logan nods at him to continue. “You and Virgil, huh? Does someone have a little crush?”

“Please, Patton,” Logan scolds, trying to ignore his flushing cheeks. “I just met Virgil today, there is no feasible way-”

“Logan.”

“Alright, I suppose I could be attracted to him,” Logan concedes, hiding his face in his locker to avoid Patton’s teasing gaze. When he emerges from his locker, money in hand to buy lunch, Patton’s mischievous smile greets him, and rightfully so, Logan becomes concerned. The blonde boy links his arm through Logan’s and begins marching them through the hall.

“Well, it’s a great thing that we’re going to have lunch with him and Roman then, isn’t it?” Patton smiles as Logan sputters, ignoring the taller teen’s protests and pulling him along towards the cafeteria. Logan spends their time in line trying to convince his friend to rethink his sabotage plan.

“Patton, this is a bad idea. I just acknowledged my possible feelings for him-”

“Hi Virgil, mind if Logan and I sit with you?”

“Uh, yeah, go ahead,” Virgil gestures for them to sit down. “Roman is just buying their lunch, they’ll be here soon.”

Logan nods stiffly and begins eating his pizza, silently cursing himself for becoming friends with Patton and letting him lead him into this situation. There are a few moments of awkward silence before Virgil speaks up.

“Hey, Logan?”

Logan looks up, wiping his mouth and nodding for Virgil to continue.

“Roman doesn’t know your name, so do you think-”

“You can call me many different names that begin with the letter L?” Logan raises his eyebrow.

“Please?”

“It would be my honour to mess with your friend.”

“A man after my own heart,” Virgil punctuates his sentence by placing his hand on his chest and wiping an imaginary tear from his eye. Logan ducks his head down to hide his blush from the two men he’s sitting with.

It’s then that Roman makes a reappearance, tray in hand, talking to a taller boy with a smirk on his face. The boy walks away and Virgil has to snap his fingers in his friends face to gain their attention.

“Hello? Earth to Roman?” He calls, chuckling at Roman’s love struck face. They shake their head to clear their mind and sit down to join the three other teens.

“Roman, this is Liam,” Virgil introduces, shooting a wink to Logan, who might as well just die right here.

“Pleasure to formally meet you, Liam,” Roman says, taking Logan’s hand to shake. “Say, have you met Dee?”

“Dee?” Logan asks. “Is that the person you were just talking to?”

“I was just talking to him, yes. Isn’t my boyfriend so cute?”

“He’s not your boyfriend, Ro,” Virgil corrects, stabbing his salad with a fork to emphasize his point.

“Not yet, but if he keeps flirting with me like that? I’ll force him to date me.”

“I’m sure there’s a nicer way for you to ask him out,” Patton playfully scolds. He elbows Logan under the table, to which Logan sends him a glare he can only hope is as subtle as he thinks.

“Nah, I think they’re gonna have to use force,” Virgil shrugs. “What do you think, Levi?”

“Levi?” Comes Roman’s confused whisper.

Logan suppresses a laugh and answers, “I don’t think Dee would flirt with you if he had no interest in you, Roman.”

Roman sends Virgil a look that Logan can’t define, and responds, “Thank you! Someone who has some common sense at this table!”

Patton pretends to be offended, while Virgil chooses to throw a cherry tomato at Roman’s face.

“I’m perfectly sensible, thank you very much,” Virgil picks up another tomato and laughs when Roman protects their face.

“If you’re so sensible, why haven’t you asked out-”

“Because Remus has a crush on Patton!” Virgil quickly interrupts.

Logan feels his heart sink. It’s foolish to think that Virgil could have been interested in him. Virgil is hot, funny, snarky, and in no way attracted to the nerd who sits beside him in history class. His breathing grows heavy and there’s a lump in his throat. Tears sting his eyes as he tries to control himself. How could he have been so stupid? And why on Earth is he so upset?

“-knew Remus has a crush on him, it’s very obvious Virgil. Almost as obvious as your crush on-”

“If you’ll all excuse me,” Logan whispers, his voice not able to go any louder in fear of crying in the very open cafeteria. He clambers out of his seat and speedwalks to the bathroom, doing his best to not draw attention to himself. He hears a Logan, wait! From Virgil, followed by a Logan? From Roman, and he can’t bring himself to laugh.

The bathroom is empty, luckily for him, but he throws himself into a stall anyway. He locks the door and takes off his glasses, furiously rubbing at his eyes to shoo away the tears. He thanks himself for having the common sense to have taken his things with him, and chugs half of his water bottle. He does not want a dehydration headache for the rest of the day.

Logan lets himself cry for a minute or two, before he hears the bathroom door open. Upon instinct, he holds his breath and pulls his legs up onto the toilet seat to hide any evidence that he’s there. He’s relieved to see an unfamiliar pair of paint splattered combat boots - that is, until the owner of said boots calls out into the almost empty bathroom, “uh, Logan?”

Logan silently curses - he figures one of the others sent this person in to talk to him, and from the impatient tapping of their boot, he doesn’t think they’ll be leaving anytime soon. He slides his feet off of the toilet seat and stands up, placing his glasses back on his face and takes a deep breath. He opens the stall door, and staring back at him is - Roman? No, a clone of Roman. A much edgier, slightly scarier, more facial hair having, clone.

“They were right, you are cute,” Clone said, looking Logan up and down. They sat against the wall and patted the spot next to them, signalling Logan to sit. Once he did, Clone spoke up. “My name is Remus, I’m Roman’s twin brother.”

“You’re the one that has a crush on Patton?” Logan asked, incredulously. “But you’re…”

“Scary?” Remus fills in, and Logan nods, albeit a little hesitantly. “I get that a lot, don’t worry. Roman will tell you that I’m terrifying, but that’s just because I've pushed them down the stairs one too many times.”

Logan laughs and says, “Well, I think Roman is obligated to be scared of you.”

“You’re right,” Remus sighs. They sit in a comfortable silence as Logan calms his breathing.

“You know,” Remus starts, “I’m not gonna make you talk about whatever made you so upset that you had to run to the bathroom and cry, just know that me, and the others, we’re all here for you, okay? Life sucks sometimes, and all that we can do is be there for each other.”

“Thank you, Remus. I really appreciate it,” Logan stands as the bell rings for third period. “You coming?”

“I’m always fashionably late to class,” Remus leans back against the wall and closes his eyes. “I think if I showed up on time, my teachers would send me to the nurse.”

Logan nods and begins to leave the bathroom, but not before saying, “oh and Remus? Patton’s face lit up when Virgil said you have a crush on him.”

Logan closed the door on Remus’ sputtering, laughing to himself and feeling slightly better.

+++

Virgil repeatedly hits Roman with his sketchbook while they walk him to art class. “I still can’t believe that you would try to tell Logan that I like him!”

“Well I still can’t believe that you tried to trick me with his name!” Roman retorts, catching the book in their hand and throwing it back at Virgil.

“You’re the one that didn’t know his name in the first place.”

“You’re the one that didn’t know he was in your class, smartass.”

Virgil rolls his eyes and waves goodbye to Roman, walking into class and sitting in between Patton and Dee.

“So Dee,” Virgil starts, gaining the boys attention. “When are you planning to officially ask out Roman?”

“I’d probably say the same time you’re planning on officially asking out Logan,” Patton cuts in, innocently shrugging his shoulders.

“I’ve known him for all of one day, Pat.”

“And yet you’re completely infatuated with him.”

“Excuse me, but-“

“Guys?” Dee tries, gaining their attention. “Could you not fight in the middle of class? I don’t think detention would be very ideal for any of us.”

The two boys mumble out their apologies, before Patton turns to Dee. “So when are you asking Roman out?”

Dee flushes and tugs his yellow beanie down over his forehead, “I was thinking of asking them to go with me to the Winter Formal. As a date.”

Patton squeals and Virgil nods approvingly.

“Well, as long as you don’t hurt them, I don’t care what you do.” He leans in close, voice barely above a whisper as he asks, “You know what I did to the last person that broke their heart?”

“Nothing, because you’re a good person and you wouldn’t want to hurt anyone?” Dee suggests.

“You wish, Anderson.”

Dee goes to respond, but their teacher begins class, and Virgil sighs a breath of relief. His relief, however, is lived for around three minutes, before their teacher tells them to use the period to finish their current assignment.

“So,” Patton whispers, and Virgil wishes he could disappear so he doesn’t have to have this conversation. “You planning of asking Logan to the Winter Formal?”

“No,” He whispers back, ignoring Patton’s sad expression.

“Why not?”

“Because,” his sentence is interrupted by their teacher shushing them, and reminding them to get back to work. He continues, whispering now, “ Because I just met him, and I have no clue if he even likes me back.”

“He does, Virgil. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“He says no, we ruin our friendship-“

“The friendship you’ve had for a day?”

“Shut up,” Virgil grumbles, shoving Patton. “It would make everything awkward.”

“More awkward than it is now?” Patton raises his hands in surrender. “If you’d rather be two pining idiots-“

“Hey!”

“-that’s fine by me. But when you decide to act on your feelings? Let me know, and I’ll be there to help.”

+++

Fourth period comes, and Logan finds himself dreading it - he’ll have to face Virgil, and he does not want to explain why he ran off during lunch. He elects to just keep his headphones in and hopefully Virgil will ignore him like he has for the past week.

“Hey, Logan?”

Virgil does not ignore him.

“Uh, yeah, what’s up?” Logan takes out his headphones and cringes at his use of slang. Virgil half smiles and sits down beside him.

“You doing okay?” He asks, and Logan can see the concern in his eyes, and damn it, why does he have to be cute and nice?

“Yes, I am perfectly alright, Virgil. Thank you.”

“Of course,” Virgil bumps their shoulders, before turning to look Logan in the eyes. “Listen, I’m not gonna make you tell me-“

“I already heard that all from Remus, but thank you. I really appreciate it,” Logan chuckles. He turns his attention to the teacher as he announces that he’s handing back tests. He looks over, seeing Virgil pale at the announcement.

Logan knows he didn’t do this test - all of his work from his previous school will be counted up and he’ll continue from the new unit - yet he can’t help but feel dread in the pit of his stomach as the teacher places Virgil’s test on his desk, face down.

Virgil peeks at the top corner of his test and swears under his breath. He’s hitting his forehead with the palm of his hand, and Logan swear he can hear him mutter, “stupid, stupid, stupid,” over and over again.

“Everything, uh, gucci, Virgil?”

Virgil lets outs humourless chuckle. “Uh, yeah, yeah I’m- I’m good, yeah.”

“May I see your test?”

Virgil hesitantly hands over the paper, burying his head in his hands. Logan flips it over and inhales a sharp breath through his teeth. At the top of the page, in large, red numbers, it says 52%, followed by see me after class .

“Virgil?” Logan asks. The hum he gets in response urges him to continue. “Do you need tutoring?”

“Oh, um,” Virgil rubs the back of his neck. “I - I don’t know about that.”

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of, you know that right?”

“Yeah, sure,” but the glossiness of his eyes told Logan a different story.

“How about this - I’ll come over and help you with our homework, and we can think of it as a study group. We’re both learning, yeah?” Logan suggests.

“Yeah,” Virgil nods, a small smile creeping its way back onto his face. “Thanks, Logan.”

“Anything for a friend.”

+++

“So the French Revolution-“

“Which one?”

“Virgil-“

“Sorry, sorry, I just - I don’t know why we’re learning all of this? It seems… unnecessary.”

“Why don’t we take a break?” Logan stands from the desk chair and heads to the door. “We will resume in ten minutes.”

Virgil nods and pulls out his phone as Logan leaves, presumably to go to the bathroom. He scrolls through his notifications - a few from Tumblr, Instagram, until a text from Roman pops up.

From: Princey!!

          VIRGIL VIRGIL VIRGIL

To: Princey!!

          yes roman?

From: Princey!!

          DEE ASKED ME TO THE WINTER FORMAL

         AS A DATE

         WERE GOING ON A DATE

To: Princey!!

          that’s awesome!! glad he finally smartened up

From: Princey!!

          Me too!!!!!!! :)))!!!

         Now you just have to smarten up and ask out Logan and we can go on a triple date!!

To: Princey!!

          triple?

From: Princey!!

          Remus asked Patton out yesterday!!!!

Virgil decided not to answer just ask Logan walked back in. The latter checked his watch. “Still have six minutes left of our break, it seems.”

“Yeah,” Virgil mumbles. At Logan’s concerned look, he elaborated. “Dee finally asked Roman out. They’re going to the Winter Formal together.”

“Thank heavens,” Logan sighs, slumping down into his chair. “If I hear Roman complaining about how Dee won’t ask them out one more time …”

“And, uh… Remus is going with Patton.”

“Really? I’m surprised he didn’t chicken out,” Logan says, shrugging. “So, that just leaves you and me, right?”

“Yeah, um, we’re the only two without…” Virgil’s eyes flick down to Logan’s lips, and he truly hopes that his friend is as oblivious as he says. He swallows hard, adding,  “Without dates.”

“So the logical thing would be to go with each other.”

And Virgil is glad he didn’t choose to take a drink at that moment. His face goes red and he stammers out, “You… you want to go, uh, together? As-“

“As friends, yes. I’m sure it would make for a less… lonely night.” Logan looks unsure, “that is, of course, if you’re not planning on asking someone else.”

“I’m not!” Virgil answers too quickly. “I’m… I’m not.”

“Satisfactory. I suppose we should coordinate, then. What’s your favourite colour?”

+++

“As friends?”

“As friends,” Virgil sighs, adjusting his backpack straps as he walks with Roman. “But he still wants to match, so I’m here to find a blue tux and a purple tie, and honestly, is blue really my colour?”

“Virgil, calm down,” Roman pauses their walking, thankful that the mall isn’t very crowded. “You’re getting worked up. Blue will look lovely on you, I promise. Is he wearing the same thing?”

Virgil takes a deep breath and opens his eyes that he didn’t know he closed. “No, uh, he’s getting a purple suit and blue tie.”

Roman’s gasp would’ve scared Virgil, had he not seen the excitement in his friends' eyes. “You’re wearing each others colours? Virgil that is truly-“

“Say adorable and you’re dead.”

“-adorable.”

“And now I’m shopping without you,” Virgil begins walking away, until Roman catches up to him and reminds him which of the two of them has style, and which one wears a hoodie everyday.

They spend the afternoon going from suit shop to suit shop, only getting mildly distracted when Roman sees a dress they just had to try on.

Finally, they find the perfect suit - navy blue, and very subtly pinstriped. Along with that, Virgil buys a purple tie, matching almost perfectly to the patches on his hoodie.

He’s as ready as he’ll ever be.

+++

Logan sharply knocks three times, and stands back, waiting for the door to open.

“Oh, hello Logan!” Says Virgil’s mother. “Come in, come in, Virgil is almost ready.”

Logan nods, accepting the invitation. He stands in the doorway, tapping his foot. He pats his pocket, and soon after all his worries come to the front of his head. What if he hates it? What if it’s inappropriate for a school dance? What if-

“Logan?” Virgil is right in front of Logan, waving his hand in his face. “You alright?”

“Yes, I’m…” Logan takes the opportunity to finally look at Virgil - his blue suit fitted perfectly around his shoulder, his white shirt contrasting perfectly with his pale skin. Logan feels his mouth go dry, because damn is he gay . “...fine.”

Virgil smirks, “you sure about that?”

“Yes, I am perfectly alright.” Logan clears his throat, “you look… very handsome.”

“Oh, uh, thank you,” Virgil flushes. “You look great, too.”

“Thank you,” Logan smiles.

“Shall we go?”

“Oh, um, actually,” Logan pulls the small box from his pocket. “I got you something.”

Virgil takes the box, the look of surprise on his face morphing into excitement. He pulls out the handkerchief, black with constellations printed on it. “Logan, this is… beautiful. Thank you.”

“Of course. You spoke about how fascinated you were by the stars and I saw it and thought of you, so...” he pulls out a second handkerchief. “I got one for myself, as well. Now we are truly matching.”

Virgil fiddles with the handkerchief and eventually manages to fit it into his pocket. “Now, shall we go?”

“Let’s.”

+++

The venue is decorated with blues and silvers, snowflakes at every table and white Christmas lights strung on the ceiling.

The group found table 16 and sat down with their respective dates.

“So, Logan,” starts Roman. “How’re you enjoying your first official dance at Sanders High?”

“I suppose it’s satisfactory. Though I’m sure the food will not be to my liking,” Logan looks at Virgil and mutters, “my date is quite nice, however.”

The flush on Virgil’s face is enough to tell Logan that he’d heard. “It’s never good, by the way,” he answers.

The DJ turns on a slow song, and Virgil proposes, “Do you want to dance?”

“It would be my honour.”

The two make their way to the dance floor, holding hands and sufficiently blushing. Virgil holds onto Logan’s waist as Logan moves his hands to Virgil’s shoulders. They sway for a short while until Patton “accidentally” pushes them closer together.

Chest to chest, Logan feels his heart figuratively pounding out of his chest. He looks up at Virgil and his partner smiles, and Logan is overwhelmed. He leans up.

He leans up and kisses him.

Virgil, to his credit, is only surprised for about three and a half seconds before he kisses back. His hands move from Logan’s waist to his cheeks, and he pulls him in impossibly closer.

They break apart when the song ends, and pretend to ignore the cheering from their friends. Slowly, Virgil leans down again for a soft, shorter kiss.

“So,” Virgil says.

“So,” Logan replies.

“What do you say we go on a real date, hmm?”

“You mean going to a school dance as friends and then kissing halfway through doesn’t count as a real date?” Logan chuckles, “and here I thought I’d been doing it correctly.”

“You’re a dork.”

“Your dork.”

“Yeah, I guess you are mine.”

[unholy-sacrificial-mutt]

MERRY (late) CHRISTMAS @i-am-an-indecisive-mess

I am your gifter and i absolutly loved making this sweet cuddle pile for you! I do hope you enjoyed it as much as i did making it!

If anyone is interested, i am accepting comissions. A big thing is happenin in my life that i need to save up for!

[piningpebbles]

!! wow i nearly forgot we could reveal our secret santa gifts finally aha-

 here was my piece i made for the lovely @trans-demon-king !! 💜💜

-haven’t gotten the chance to do a lot of traditional art like this for a while so i’m really glad this came around, really got hit with some motivation and gah it was so fun to be apart of!! 

[villlainarc]

To Fall in Love

All Chapters

Summary:

Roman was to be king. He couldn’t go off on adventures just because his heart was being torn out of his chest and towards a voice that no one else believed existed. Being king to Roman was a burden greater than the one Atlas bore, heavier than the sky itself.

———

A voice, desperate and pleading, called out over the ocean. It soared along the waves and dipped into the currents, searching for someone, anyone, that would listen. With each passing moment, the cry grew weaker, the power it had once held falling away. Soon enough, no one would hear it.

Dreams do work in mysterious ways, don’t they?

Pairing: Logince

Warnings: copious amounts of angst, death mention, one (1) kiss, an argument, unhappy/bittersweet ending

Word Count: 12638

———

Prologue: The Whispers of Lovers

In which Roman hears the call of a siren and Logan is finally satisfied with what he has.

Like Freedom

In which Roman, at long last, finds the dream he’s been chasing.

Like Mercy

In which Logan discovers that maybe, he does have feelings after all.

Through the Lonely Nights That Fall

In which Roman is incredibly gay and may be coming on just a bit too strong.

Remember My Embrace

In which Logan has a realization, makes a decision, and says goodbye.

Now and Ever After

In which Roman moves on, Logan returns to the grotto once more, and they both wish for something impossible.

a secret santa gift for @ari-the-anxious-ace, beta read by @cringeless​

you can also find the full story on ao3 and other things i’ve written under #writings from the stars

[viktorhargreevesloveclub]

finally getting started on my secret santa project! wasn’t expecting to have that much motivation cause i only have a lot when ts something i really like but wow i love writing deceit

[delimeful]

a mourning dove

here it is! a little late, but this is my @secret-sanders-sized gift for @roseof-alltrades3 ! 

i apologize for the lateness! i was so excited to work with your prompt that i ended up biting off more than i could chew and writing quite a bit more than planned! still, i hope that you like it! <3

warnings: blood, capture, fear, referring to a person as an ‘it’, random jerk giant

-

Logan was in the middle of breaking seven different rules when he was almost caught by a human. 

He’d been frustrated with his teacher, who refused to even consider the possible benefits of human technology, and with his best friend, who got upset at even the mention of humans being anything but dangerous, evil creatures. Nobody ever listened to him, not about the things that mattered. He’d seen some of the tools humans had, and he was certain they could benefit greatly from studying them! 

Of course, he’d only caught glimpses of those tools because he’d gone past the borough’s boundaries… far past them. But his point still stood! 

Incensed by being disregarded, Logan had abandoned his daily tasks to find his way to the edge of the woods again. Now, he was searching the forest floor for any possible human artifacts he could bring back as evidence to support his claim. 

Unfortunately, most of what he’d found was trash. Human litter tossed out of car windows or blown in from nearby fields. Logan grimaced, angling his wings to bank left, away from another shiny wrapper he’d mistaken for metal. 

Though their creations were interesting, Roman did have a point. Humans themselves were rather repulsive, in both mannerisms and appearance, what with the lack of wings. He almost pitied them. Almost. 

Distracted as he was by scanning the ground, when he finally caught sight of the human, it was just as the giant creature was crossing the boundary into the woods, only meters away. He froze for a moment, seized by some primitive instinct that overrode his logical mind screaming to flee before he was seen.

The human’s eyes flicked in his direction, and then promptly tripped over a stray tree root and toppled over with a yelp and a loud crash. The ground seemed to almost vibrate with the impact. 

Shaken by the quick movement, Logan finally managed to break out of his terrified haze and snapped his wings to swiftly dive towards the nearest branches for cover. He was going too fast to manage his usual precise landing, but managed to slam chest first into a thicker branch and cling to it, tawny wings tucked up against himself.

“Oops,” the human mumbled, picking a twig out of his bangs absently. “Sorry for the scare, little birds.” 

He didn’t give the trees around him more than a cursory glance before continuing over to a nearby birch, settling easily at the base of it and pulling the shoulder strap of his bag over his head. Logan breathed a near-silent sigh of relief, letting his death grip on the branch ease slightly; it seemed like the human had mistaken whatever glimpse he’d caught of the winged tiny as a bird. 

Still, the scare was enough to make his heart beat like it was trying to jump right out of his chest. He began to edge slowly along the tree limb, trying for a branch that extended behind the human’s field of vision. A leaf fluttered down, shaken loose by his movements, and he followed it with his gaze to where the human was sitting with a strange, rectangular device in his lap. 

Logan bit the soft inside of his lip. He should go back to the borough, warn Roman and the other guards of the human wandering near, especially after such a close call, but… 

Below him, the human opened the rectangle up, forming a right angle that was almost like an open book held sideways. He hummed a cheerful tune as the inside panels of the device suddenly changed color. Logan locked his legs around the branch, peering down. The human hadn’t seen him, and was very intent on the device, so it couldn’t hurt to take a bit longer. 

For the next hour, he watched curiously as the human pressed on the bottom rectangle, which was full of small square buttons that clicked, sometimes hesitant and sometimes so fast that it seemed as though he wasn’t even looking at what he was pressing. 

More intriguing was the way the bright, color-changing part would respond to the button pressing, small black lines appearing on a white background or entirely new scenes flashing into existence. The device seemed to glow, like a light reflected by water or one of the boroughs enchanted lanterns, but he could find no source for the light to be reflecting from, and everyone knew humans couldn’t perform enchantments. 

By the time the human stretched and changed the square back to a dull black, it was beginning to grow dark. The human closed the device back into its original form, and tucked it into his bag with easy motions. Logan sighed in disappointment, brimming with questions. He wanted to know everything about that strange technology- how it worked, what it was used for, where the human got it- but his only source of answers seemed done for the day, packing up and rising to his feet. 

After all, it wasn’t as though he could speak to a human. He’d be killed on the spot, or worse, captured. He watched as the tremendous creature yawned, displaying a mouth with teeth large enough to bite him in half, and shuddered. He was fairly certain humans weren’t that barbaric, but it was still unnerving to see. 

It was only once the human had vanished back over the hill that Logan finally felt at ease enough to stand on his branch, spreading his cramped wings a few times. He sent one last longing glance at the place where the human had last been, and-

Wait. What was that? 

He glided down to the oddly bright colored shape on the ground, landing a few feet away and glancing over his shoulder warily, suspecting a trap.

Nothing jumped out at him, though, and when he prodded the odd rounded rectangle, it didn’t do anything but sit there like a rock. He cautiously reached out to touch it, lifting it up into his arms and inspecting it closely in the dying sunlight.

It was lighter than he expected, more like an acorn than a rock, and made of a smooth blue material that certainly wasn’t wood or spidersilk cloth. He ran his thumb along the hard surface, finding a strange divot in it, and pressed his thumbs against the line. It gave slightly, and Logan grinned victoriously as the shell of the device cracked open to reveal… another smaller and more angled rectangle within.

He blinked at the shine of metal, wondering what in the world the purpose of such a tool could be. It wasn’t sharp enough to be a knife. Was it made to open something? Some kind of human key? 

A low hoot echoed nearby, and Logan stiffened, squinting at the bramble nearby in the low light. Roman would be having a fit by now, and it was too dark to do more investigating anyhow. 

Pulling the shell-cap loosely back into place over the metal, he ran a few feet and then took off, flitting between the trees back to the borough boundary lines. 

Taking care to avoid the night patrol, he kept the human item tucked closely to him as he reached the small aspen that held his home in its trunk. Luckily, he lived fairly far from the crowded borough center, and nobody took note of him slipping quietly in through one of his ceiling entrances. 

At least, that was what he thought until he touched down on his bedroom floor and heard someone clear their throat pointedly behind him. He whirled around, not entirely surprised to see his best friend standing there.

Roman was the son of the king and part of the guard, well-known and well-liked for his charming personality and looks alike. He had broad red hawk wings that flecked with gold whenever he cast enchantments, and many of their small town would sigh with longing or admiration whenever he passed by. 

Logan wondered how many of them would still have crushes if they knew how much of a worrywart their prince was. 

“Roman, what have I said about entering my home without permission?” he scolded automatically, his grip tightening on the item.

“Maybe I’ll actually listen to that when you start listening to the elder’s rules,” Roman shot back, his hands on his hips and his wings distinctly ruffled with his annoyance. He squinted at the bulky item in Logan’s arms. “What is that?” 

“... A human artifact,” he admitted, already drawing himself up in defense of his prize. “I found it, and I intend to study it.” 

“Oh, and I suppose that it was just laying around within borough limits, huh?” Roman scowled at him for a moment, before dragging a hand over his face. “Logan, you can’t keep doing this! We both know stealing from humans is dangerous.” 

“I wasn’t stealing. The human left this behind,” Logan defended, turning away to set the device on the floor next to his bed. 

“The human? As in, a particular one?” Roman’s voice went up a pitch, and Logan hid a wince. 

“I meant whatever human left the device. There was no human in sight when I retrieved it, of course. I’m no fool, Roman.” 

It was technically mostly the truth, but he was careful to keep the tips of his wings still anyhow, since they tended to flick around when he told lies. Roman sighed, looking caught up in his own thoughts. 

“Right, of course.” It was the closest they got to apologies, admitting the other was right. “I just wish… maybe we could meet up and work on spellwork more often? It’d keep me from worrying about you, and I miss when I had a decent partner to spar with.” 

Logan pulled his wings tight against his back, irritated by the guilt welling up inside him. “I’ve told you before that I cannot help you progress any further. I have imparted all I can in theory work, and you have already surpassed me in terms of casting, traditional and freeform. There is no sense in having me present to sit around uselessly when you are busy working on bigger and better things.” 

“Oaks above, Lo.” Roman swore, ruffling his hands through his hair in frustration. “You’re not useless.” 

“Of course I’m not,” Logan sniffed, staring intently at the device to avoid Roman’s gaze. “I am simply better suited to spend my time researching other matters to help the borough, namely the potential of human artifacts, regardless of what you or our mentor are so set on believing.” 

“Ugh! I don’t know why I even bother when you never listen!” Roman groaned, hands dropping to his sides.

Logan scowled. “I am listening, and that’s why I know you’re being ridiculous. I don’t need to be under constant supervision. I can take care of myself.”

“Fine, then! Keep dropping feathers in wolf dens, see how long it takes for one to hunt you down.” Apparently fed up, Roman flared his wings up and launched himself upwards, exiting through the skylight. Dramatic as always. 

Logan shook off his lingering unease with an absent flap of his wings. He refused to let himself linger on his friend’s ominous analogy, choosing to instead refocus on the mysterious item. 

He would be fine. Humans weren’t wolves, anyways. 

-

The next day, Logan found himself once again heading for the edge of the woods, the device strapped securely to his lower leg. 

He’d spent hours fiddling with the thing, attempting to understand how it worked to no avail. He’d considered taking it apart by force or trying more dangerous experiments, but ultimately he only had the one, and he didn’t want to ruin something that could potentially be vital to proving his point about human tech.

At least, not before exhausting all his other options, which included seeing if the human had another one, and if Logan could catch a glimpse of him using it. It was a long shot, particularly since he wasn’t even sure if the human would return at all, let alone happen to use a duplicate of this item.

Still, he had to try, and so he spent a few hours staking out the treeline from the leafy branches above. Taking the odds into account, he hadn’t honestly expected the human to return, so he was more than surprised when the giant actually did appear, several hours earlier than the previous afternoon as well. He leaned in to watch as the human scoured the forest floor, holding a black box to his ear and speaking to it. 

“No, I remember having it in my bag at the end of class, for sure. It has to be around here somewhere, because this is the only place I went between campus and home, and I already searched my whole car!” the human said, voice growing more distressed as he went on. There was a pause, faint sounds coming from the box. Logan wondered if it wasn’t some sort of communication device. 

The human took a deep breath, settling down onto the dirt for a moment. “Yeah. Yeah, she’s a very nice professor. If I explained, I’m sure I could get an extension to redo the work, but that’s not what I’m really worried about.” A sniffle. “That thumb drive isn’t my normal school one. It has a bunch of old family photos stored on it, and I don’t have them saved anywhere else. If I can’t find it…” 

With a pause to take a deep, shuddery breath, the human managed to keep from crying. “I’m just going to keep searching, okay? It’s kind of windy, maybe it got blown a little ways away or something. Yeah, I promise to stay safe. Are you sure-? Okay. I’ll text you when I’m done here, then. Thank you… bye.” 

 Logan watched as the human took the box from his ear, tucking it away into his pocket and beginning to sweep his hands over the dirt again. Searching, Logan was fairly sure, for the device currently tied to him. He stuck his leg out to look at it, studying the size. It certainly didn’t match up with any of his body parts, but for the human… he supposed it was vaguely thumb-sized. 

Thumb-sized but somehow containing something important to the human, something relating to his family. Logan felt a traitorous sting of guilt, which was ridiculous. It wasn’t as though he’d known the human would miss the item when he took it, not with its size. And there was no way he could return it now. Could he? 

He supposed if he managed to place it just right… and maybe, if he was lucky, the human would do something with it to check that it still functioned, and Logan would finally have at least one question answered. 

His desire to return the item was purely scientific. It had nothing to do with how the human had to take breaks from searching to push his glasses up and rub at his eyes with the back of his hands. Nothing at all.

His plan came together simply enough; the human was traveling from tree to tree in a line, apparently not sure which one he had sat under the day before. Logan remembered, of course, that it was the birch next to the log with the oyster mushroom colony, and knew that the human had already passed it. He flitted over to the birch in question, climbing down the branches until he was as low as he could get.

As soon as the human was a solid four trees away, he dropped to the ground, banking with his wings to slow his descent. He stumbled slightly upon meeting the dirt, and hurriedly ducked so the tree was between him and the human, heart pounding in his ears. He took a deep breath. 

There was no reason to panic. Humans were dangerous, yes, but he wouldn’t have to deal with a human so long as he was smart. He was always smart, therefore, nothing to worry about. 

Checking to make sure that the human was still occupied, he hurried over to a boulder entangled in the tree’s roots. It was prominent enough that the bright blue of the device’s shell should stand out noticeably against it. He carefully laid the device on top of the rock and then took off, returning to the treetops. 

He was careful to conceal himself thoroughly in the branches, well aware that the human might find the sudden mysterious appearance of the ‘thumb drive’ suspicious. He certainly would, but he knew that humans were generally as ignorant as they were huge, so he wasn’t overtly worried. 

The human continued to search further and further, enough so that Logan began to worry that he’d bypass the tree entirely on his way back, but luck was on his side. Shoulders drooping with defeat, the human turned around and headed back the way he’d come, only to stop dead at the sight of the thumb device sitting innocently atop a rock. 

He blinked, and then rubbed at his eyes for a moment as though wondering if he was seeing things. The thumb device remained real, and he knelt to pick it up with a growing smile, opening the case to check the metal inside with ease.

In the next moment, his head snapped up to search the woods around him, and Logan was careful to remain completely still, not a feather out of place. As expected, the human didn’t spot anything, and Logan watched as he rose to his full height, feeling a small twinge of disappointment as the device disappeared into his pocket.

Unexpectedly, the human spoke. “To whoever is looking out for me, thank you very much!” 

He placed a hand over his heart and did an odd little half-bow, eyes curious, and then waited a few moments before straightening again and beginning to walk back along the path out of the woods. As he left, he held that little black box up to his ear again and began to talk into it after a few moments’ delay.

“Virgil, I found it, I found it! I don’t know how, but I think a friend helped me…” Logan’s feathers ruffled slightly as the conversation continued outside his hearing range. 

What a ridiculous human. It was almost a shame Logan would probably never see him again.

-

“Hello, little bird!” A cheerful voice called out, nearly making Logan topple off his perch. 

He clung to the wood beneath him and peeked through the leaves, eyes widening in disbelief as he confirmed that it was, in fact, the human from before. 

“I hope you don’t mind if I call you that, since we weren’t formally introduced!” the human continued, spreading a blanket along the ground in front of the birch to sit on. “My name is Patton Hart!” 

He paused, and the only response was distant birdsong. Patton seemed undeterred.

“Well, little bird, I’ve deemed this area my lucky spot, so I hope it’s okay that I study here!” He pulled his strange color-changing rectangle out of his bag as he spoke, and Logan couldn’t help but lean forward with interest. 

“Thankfully, I was able to turn my final in on time with the files from the thumb drive! It worked perfect, so thanks for keeping it safe for me!” 

Logan perked up, immediately spotting the small blue thumb drive- or rather, half of it. The shell had been opened, and the metal part was plugged into the large rectangle. So it was a key! 

He waited for the human to elaborate on how it worked, what it unlocked and what it’s purpose was in conjunction with the rectangle, but he seemed content to sit and work in silence. Logan opened his mouth, and then snapped it closed again. He may have broken many of the rules already, but this one would put more than just him at risk. 

No, he couldn’t talk to the human… but he could listen.

Scolding himself for leaving his notebook at home, he settled in to watch the human study, noting certain patterns or phrases the human used whenever he started off on some random tangent addressed to “little bird”. As far as nicknames went, it was... tolerable. 

What made the encounter even more interesting was that when the human packed up to leave, he left something behind again, this time on purpose, going by the “Freely given, little bird!” he had announced before leaving. Logan had spent a good while agonizing over whether or not to approach such an obvious trap, but in the end his curiosity won out.

When he dropped down to the ground to investigate, he found that a small, embroidered piece of cloth had been set out with a variety of objects on top. Some he dismissed easily, like the oversized human food- undoubtedly drugged or poisoned- and the simple carved toys, but others were more intriguing. 

Of course, there was no way he could take anything back to his home, not now that the human was likely waiting for that exact thing. He couldn’t remain here to investigate either, seeing as the sun was setting and he could get… immersed in his work. Anything could sneak up on him.

Deciding on a compromise, he took the objects that interested him- a small white cylinder with an orange protrusion, and a band with a metal face- and carried them to a nearby abandoned woodpecker nest inside a sturdy trunk. Once they were safely tucked away, he resolved to study them in the morning and headed home. 

His evenings were strangely quiet without Roman there to laugh and tease. The heir was still giving him the cold shoulder, not that Logan had done anything to rectify the situation. Having Roman keep an eye on him would make his daily excursions all the more difficult. That was all that mattered. 

The next morning was spent fiddling frustratedly with the items he’d taken, trying to understand how the switch triggered flickering light, what the light was meant to do. It wasn’t near warm enough to burn, so was it simply a light source? It was so dull that he’d need several to properly light up his room, let alone a human home. 

The face of the band was no better, covered in symbols that clearly held some sort of meaning, and moving parts that continued unpausing in a cycle around the center of the symbols. It reminded him vaguely of a sundial’s rotations, but he had no way to guess the meaning of the human writing. 

When he went to see how the human reacted, however, he found that not only was he completely unconcerned by the missing items, but even enthusiastic to see what had been taken.

“Are you a curious one, little bird?” he asked, carefully clearing the other objects away. “That little fake candle and the watch… I guess you’re light on time, huh?” 

Logan watched as his human grinned brightly without explaining his words at all, and bemoaned the fact that he’d gotten a human that spoke in riddles. At least he knew what the items were called. 

The next day, his human left more objects, none of them wooden toys. He wondered if maybe the human was conducting an experiment of his own, with how what he brought seemed to build off the few that Logan selected to take. Excluding the food, which was always replaced with new food despite the fact that he’d never touched it. 

His hidden nook got crowded quickly, and he expanded it to a few other trees, careful to keep the precious items safe from rain or mold. 

His curiosity about his human also grew with each passing day, learning small things about him from his daily chattering. He was going to college, which was what he was studying for, and he lived with another human named Virgil. He was incredibly forgetful, and whenever he forgot an item, he would politely request it back and then count down from sixty with his back turned and his hands covering his eyes. 

The first time he did this, he was sorely disappointed, seeing as there was no way Logan would fall for such a trap, not even when baited by Patton calling him shy, which he most certainly was not. 

The next day, however, found his human delighted by the return of his ‘keychain,’ and Logan continued to tell himself that he was simply being practical, since the item had no discernible use. His human’s smile had nothing to do with it. 

Eventually, he started to get sloppy. When things were too large, he snuck them back home. When Patton lost his keys and did his customary turn-around-and-count gesture, he dropped them from the trees and fluttered barely a safe distance away to watch him reclaim them. Worst of all, he became… almost relaxed in Patton’s presence. 

This lapse in caution was the only explanation he had for what happened next. 

He had been running late, held up by one of his teacher’s lectures, and so cut through a swath of trees nearer to the road in order to arrive at their customary meeting spot. 

Once he got close, he spotted something glinting in the grass. Normally, he’d assume it was another stray bit of litter and move on, but with Patton, one never knew when the human would accidentally lose something, or where. He sighed and dipped down to land, squinting at the… wire? Next to a pile of sunflower seeds? 

Distracted as he was by the unnatural sight, he didn’t notice the top netted part of the trap until it slammed down on top of him, triggered by the shifting plate underneath his feet. 

The impact knocked all the air from his lungs, leaving him wheezing and thrashing weakly under the mesh. He forced himself through a breathing pattern, over and over until it no longer felt like he was choking on nothing. His overwhelming panic calmed momentarily, he shoved against the trap with his wings, grunting in frustration when the bound edges of the net didn’t even budge. 

There was no question about it. This had to be a human trap, and he didn’t want to be in it when the human came to collect. 

A bit more desperately, he wrapped his hands around the edges of the trap’s thick wiring and pried at it, cursing when his foot slipped and plunged through the holes in the bottom netting. 

Before he could wrench it free, he felt a distant, rhythmic rumble in the ground. It grew louder and closer, and a chill ran down his spine as his movements became frantic. 

As soon as the giant boots creating the noise stepped into view, his whole body froze up, as though back in the clearing on the first day Patton showed up. 

Seeing a human from the ground was so much worse. His body began to tremble uncontrollably as the human approached the trap with easy steps, each one heavy enough to trample him into dust. 

The stranger was wearing a dusky camo jacket and bristle across his jaw, but Logan’s attention was entirely riveted on the long, serrated hunting knife in his hand. 

“Shh, little thing. You’ll be f-- what…” 

Logan heard the exact moment the man realized that he hadn’t caught a bird, and he resisted the urge to curl into a ball and hide behind his wings as a huge gloved hand approached. It gathered the netting of the trap up into a makeshift bag with him stuck in the center. Logan writhed against the hold, his breathing becoming quick and shallow once again as he stared at the knife. 

“Easy, little thing,” the hunter muttered absently, turning his hand this way and that to see Logan’s ensconced form better. “What are you?” 

Logan shuddered at the fascination in his eyes, pushing out against the net despite the fact that there was no way he could beat those massive fingers. 

His silence cracked as soon as those same digits pinched down roughly on his wing, spreading it to its full wingspan. 

“Agh! Let go!” he yelled, body shaking as the muscles in his shoulder were overextended. The man released him, more out of surprise than anything else. 

“You can talk? Incredible!” The man prodded at him again. “Go on, say something else.” 

Logan opened his mouth to say something that he would likely regret, but a different voice spoke first. A familiar one.

“Hello? Is someone over here?” Patton asked, pushing a low branch out of his way as he peered over at the hunter. 

The hunter jumped, and for a second Logan believed he’d be shoved in a pocket, but the man seemed to decide showing off took precedence. He held Logan out slightly, net and all. “Take a look at this!”

Patton stepped closer, the furrow in his brow growing as his gaze fell onto Logan. His body vibrated harder with terror, betraying him easily at the sight of two humans looking at him. 

“Um, did you… catch him?” Patton asked, voice hesitant. 

The hunter barely seemed to notice. “Sure did… I was trying for-- well, it doesn’t matter, this is better. I think it can imitate human speech!” 

Logan felt another shudder run through him, and Patton’s soft brown eyes found his. 

“I think… I think you should let him go,” Patton blurted, surprising all of them. He drew himself up, nodding once. “You’re not supposed to be hunting here at all, anyhow.” 

The hunter’s grip on Logan tightened, and a strangled whine escaped his throat without his permission. “Man, you actually pay attention to that conservation notice? This place is abandoned, park rangers haven’t checked on it in years. Finders, keepers as far as I’m concerned.” 

“That doesn’t apply to people that can talk!” Patton protested, stepping closer with his hands lifted placatingly. “Look, just let him out, okay? I won’t report you to the authorities if you take your traps and leave.”

The hunter snorted, gesturing vaguely with his knife. “Yeah, right. I’m a careful guy. They’re not going to find anything that I don’t want them to find, and with the money that this,” he lifted Logan slightly, “will bring in, I won’t have to worry about cops anyways.

“You don’t have any leverage over me, so turn around and mind yourself before you get in trouble,” the hunter finished, turning on his heel and beginning to walk away. Logan, ironically enough, felt a thrum of panic at leaving the other human behind. He wasn’t entirely sure that two bickering humans were better than one malignant one, but it certainly felt that way at the moment. 

Footsteps thumped loudly behind them, and the hunter whirled on his heel in time for Patton to catch both his wrists, Logan grunting as he was tossed about in the net. 

“What are you--?”

“Let him go, now!” Patton was frowning, arms visibly straining with the effort it took to keep the other man’s hands still. Logan stared down at the dizzying drop beneath him, wondering if it would kill him on impact if he was dropped now.

“You little--!” The hunter pried his knife-wielding hand free, and Logan watched as Patton swung his now unoccupied hand back and slammed it against the side of the hunter’s head, cupped right over his ear. 

The man cried out and fell back, his grip on the net loosening, and Logan felt as though he was near heart failure as a new pair of hands gently closed around him, prying the trap away from the hunter. 

Patton - for who else could it be - brought his hands close to his chest and bolted, making everything around Logan bounce rhythmically. He eventually pressed close to one of those large palms and clung to the edge of a finger, his head aching with the abrupt motions. He’d been ‘rescued’ from one human, but now he was securely in the hands of another. 

No matter what Patton said, he was still a human. It had to be some sort of trap, some long con that he was trying and failing not to fall for. 

The movements came to a stop with one final thud as Patton’s knees hit the ground, breathing heavily. Moments later, the hands surrounding him cracked open like a bird’s egg, sunlight pouring in. 

Above him, Patton was flushed with exertion, and he was still breathing deep as he spoke. “Are you okay, little bird?” 

His face creased with concern as Logan stared up at his giant features, body frozen like a deer before a mountain lion. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you, I swear. It’s gonna be okay.” 

It was a ridiculous claim for a human to make, but he found himself relaxing fractionally anyhow. 

“I’m gonna- um, take this off of you, okay? I’m gonna get you out of there, don’t worry.” Patton shifted him delicately to one palm, wincing at the way Logan’s wings flapped ineffectively, and began to carefully pry the net open. The trap which had given him so much trouble was barely an obstacle for a human. Logan shifted uncomfortably as Patton untangled it.

“How- how did you know?” he asked, since his mouth had never known when to stay quiet. To Patton’s credit, he didn’t even blink at the question or the tiny winged person it had come from.

“It was just a guess!” Patton offered, a grimace crossing his face briefly. “I normally feel like I’m being watched when I’m out in that clearing, but today there was nothing, so… I got worried. Oh, unless you’re asking about the ear clap. My best friend signed me up for a self-defense class, because I… uh, ‘have a marshmallow heart’ and I’m ‘exceedingly liable to get into trouble,’ allegedly.”

It felt like a fairly accurate assessment. 

“There we go,” Patton managed, finally getting the net completely open. Logan bolted for the exit before he could change his mind, spreading his wings as soon as he was in the open air and gaining some distance before turning. 

Patton hadn’t moved from his spot. He was smiling, bright like his smiles when Logan helped him, and Logan couldn’t help but flutter a bit closer and return the gesture, so grateful for this strange, kind human. 

“Glad… I’m glad you’re okay,” Patton said, and then winced, a hand dropping to his side. 

When he pulled his hand away, it was glistening with blood. They both blinked at it for a moment, smiles faltering, and then Logan followed his gaze down to where a dark stain was spreading slowly through his shirt and jacket. He realized suddenly that Patton, one hand busy keeping Logan secure and the other busy boxing the hunter’s ear, hadn’t gotten away from the man unscathed. 

In the process of rescuing him, his human had been stabbed.

“Oh,” Patton said weakly, and then his eyes rolled back in his head and he fell into a dead faint.

[quoth-the-sparrow]

Someone To Lean On

A Sanders Sides Fanfiction

Warnings: people being rude, panicking, crying (if I need to add anything, let me know)

Pairings: Analogical, Background Royality

Description: Logan’s been having a rough month. Good thing hyr partner is there for hyr!

Word Count: 2,239

A/N Part 1: Logan is genderfluid and uses he/him, xe/xem and zhe/hyr pronouns; zhe is using zhe/hyr for the events in this story. Virgil is nonbinary and uses he/them pronouns.

You can also find this story here on ao3

(I wrote this for @demigodnamedathena as part of a secret santa I participated in!)

Logan walked up to the front desk, carefully balancing the stack of books in hyr arms. The librarian in charge ignored hyr, but this was a normal occurrence. Of course Mrs. Edwards had to be the one manning the front desk; she was the only librarian who didn’t like Logan. Logan had a feeling zhe knew why this was the case, but zhe didn’t know for sure. Zhe cleared hyr throat after about a minute had passed and finally the librarian looked up from her computer at hyr.

“Can I help you?” she asked, clearly annoyed. She cast a glance at the books and rolled her eyes. “The self-check counter is over by the new books section.” Logan bit hyr lip as zhe set hyr books down onto the desk, hyr library card on top of them. Zhe smoothed out hyr skirt and as zhe did so, saw Mrs. Edwards give hyr a look as if she’d smelled something awful.

“I need to check these books out, please. The self-check won’t allow me to do so because these are interlibrary loans.”

Mrs. Edwards sighed in irritation but scanned Logan’s card and the books. Once she was done she shoved the books back in Logan’s direction. “There you go.”

Logan made no move to leave. No matter what Logan did, she was always so rude to hyr. Zhe didn’t know what to do. Hyr friend Patton crossed hyr mind and zhe decided to take a leaf from his book. In as sweet a voice as zhe could manage, zhe said “I hope you have a good day!” before taking hyr things and walking out.

Zhe felt a little better once zhe was out the library doors. A soft sigh escaped hyr lips. Zhe was used to people being judgmental and rude but this month it had been an almost daily occurrence. So what if Logan like wearing skirts and dresses sometimes? They were just clothes; it wasn’t like zhe was hurting anyone. Logan would never understand some people’s need to be hurtful to others just for being different.

Logan adjusted hyr belongings and made hyr way down the library steps and onto the sidewalk. The walk home would only take ten or fifteen minutes; plenty of time to think about what all zhe had to take care of today. The thoughts in hyr head were an endless loop.

“I need to finish my homework for science and English, the dishes need to be washed, it’s about time to vacuum again, and the trash probably needs to go out as well. The bookshelves are getting dusty, I should probably clean the sinks in the bathrooms… “ Logan felt hyrself getting overwhelmed at the prospect of everything that needed to be done. All zhe wanted to do was crawl into bed and sleep but zhe knew zhe couldn’t. Not until tonight, at least, and it was only just past noon.

Hyr phone rang and zhe scrambled to grab it from hyr pocket. It was hyr partner, Virgil. “Hello?”

“Hey, L, where are you?”

“I just left the library, I should be home here in a bit. Why do you ask?”

“You’re usually here by now is all. Did you get distracted at the library again?” His tone was light and teasing.

“Here where?” Logan asked, but before Virgil could answer, realization struck hyr. Zhe checked hyr watch and cursed inwardly. “Oh for the love of- it’s Tuesday, isn’t it?” How could zhe have forgotten about their regular Tuesday lunch?

Virgil’s tone shifted to one of confusion as they said “Yeah, I’m at the diner already. I haven’t ordered yet though, so I can come pick you up from the house if you want?”

“Yes please, I have to drop off my books and then I’ll be ready.” Logan felt near tears at hyr stupid mistake but zhe swallowed them down. Zhe couldn’t cry; zhe wouldn’t cry.

“I’m so sorry for forgetting, Virgil. I completely spaced on what day it was.”

Zhe could hear the sound of a car door closing. “Hey it’s okay, it happens. Are you sure you’re alright? You seem-”

Logan hurried to cut Virgil off. “I’m fine! Really, I’m fine. I’ll see you soon?”

“Yeah, okay… see you soon. Love you, L.”

“Love you too, bye.”

Logan hurried the rest of the way home, wanting to freshen up before Virgil got there. Zhe knew zhe had been forgetting something, which was unlike hyr. Lately zhe had been forgetting all kinds of things, which only made hyr situation worse. “Stay calm, you can do this, just relax, Logan,” zhe said to hyrself as zhe reached the front door. Just as Logan unlocked it, there was a ripping noise and the library books tumbled out of the bag and onto the ground. Zhe cried out and bent to gather them up. Of course this had to happen too.

Logan could feel the tears bubbling up again but zhe bit them back. “No, no, no, none of that. I refuse. Stay strong, don’t cry, it’s fine…” Zhe repeated this mantra to hyrself as she made her way inside and set down hyr books on the coffee table. Logan took a deep breath, attempting to settle hyrself before heading into the bathroom.

A few minutes later, zhe heard the front door open. Virgil called out “Hey starlight, I’m home! Where are you?”

Logan glanced at hyrself in the mirror, frowning before heading out to meet Virgil in the kitchen. “I’m here. I’m so sorry about our lunch date, I don’t know why it slipped my mind.” Lie. You’re a liar. Logan ignored the ugly thought and hugged Virgil, who immediately held hyr close.

“Hey it’s alright, the diner was more crowded than usual anyways. Maybe we can order something and have it delivered? Or I think we have some leftovers from when we went to Ro and Pat’s the other day, that should still be good.”

Logan backed up, shaking hyr head adamantly. “No! No, the diner is fine, that’s what we always do. It’s fine, let’s go, I-” Hyr voice was trembling and Virgil frowned, shushing hyr gently.

“Shh, shh, hey, it’s okay. Let’s sit down so we can talk, alright?”

Zhe nodded reluctantly, that voice in hyr head sharp and hard to ignore. “Now look what you did! Virgil goes through enough without having to deal with you too. What is wrong with you?” Virgil sat down at the table and moved a chair close to them. Logan took hyr seat, hands wringing together despite hyr best efforts not to.

Virgil gently took Logan’s hand in his. “Logan. I'm going to ask you something and I need you to answer me honestly. Okay?” His voice was laced through with concern and Logan couldn’t bring hyrself to look at them.

“Logan please look at me.” Logan bit hyr lip and looked into hyr partner’s warm brown eyes. Zhe saw the worry and sadness there and Logan couldn’t breathe. “Is everything okay?”

Those three words were enough to cause the dam to break inside hyr chest. A sob rose up and escaped hyr lips before they all came tumbling out, and this time there was nothing zhe could do to stop it.

“I- I’m s-sorry, I’m so sorry, Virgil, I-” Logan tried to apologize, to pull hyrself together, but couldn’t do it no matter how hard zhe tried. Hyr partner held hyr and let hyr cry it out, rubbing hyr back and murmuring soft words of reassurance.

“It’s okay, let it out, love, I’m here now.” Virgil was warm and his voice was so soft and sweet and Logan clung tighter to them. This went on for some time until finally the tears stopped flowing. Logan wiped the tears away and pulled back. Even though Virgil had seen hyr cry before, zhe felt embarrassed of hyrself.

“Virgil, I’m sorry… I’m okay, really, I just need to calm down, you know? I’ll be fine.” Logan looked at hyr partner, who was frowning.

“L, it’s okay to cry. Do you want to talk about what’s been going on? If there’s anything I can do to help make you feel better, I want to know. You can talk to me about anything, you know that, right?”

Logan nodded reluctantly and let out a sigh. Zhe hadn’t wanted to say anything but it was far too late now. Virgil would only keep asking, so why prolong the inevitable? Logan held tightly to Virgil’s hands and spoke. “I’ve just been… struggling, with some things the past month or so. I’m fine, really, just letting little things get to me is all.” Virgil looked sad and concerned at this.

“Is there anything specific you wanna talk about, Logan?” Virgil moved one of their hands and continued rubbing Logan’s back in slow circles, encouraging Logan to elaborate.

“I’ve just been so stressed lately. Work’s been ridiculously busy, I’m falling behind on my homework, chores have been piling up here at the house and it’s been driving me crazy, and people have been making rude comments-”

Virgil narrowed their eyes. “Who’s been saying rude things to you? Is it that mean librarian, I’ll fight her!” Logan nodded.

“Yeah, she just- every time I go in, she gives me attitude and acts like I’m a waste of her time. I see the ugly looks she gives me, especially when I’m wearing my skirts and dresses. I’ve been trying to do what Patton had suggested and kill them with kindness. I want to be confident enough not to care, the way Roman is. But sometimes I just get so angry, Virgil, I just want to yell and stand up for myself. Causing a scene won’t do anything though, so I just ignore it and let it eat me up inside. The worst of it is that she isn’t the only one who gives me those looks. Who laughs at me. Who says something, either under their breath or to my face. I’m just so tired of it all.”

Logan’s voice caught in hyr throat and zhe closed hyr eyes. A few tears fell down and Logan could feel Virgil wipe them away with the pad of his thumb. “Shh, hey, Logan it’s okay. People suck, but if they have an issue with you and how you dress, that’s on them. It’s none of their business and they don’t get to have a say. I’m sorry you’ve been dealing with that. Why didn’t you tell me about any of this?”

Logan felt tears beginning to well up again and zhe shook hyr head as if to clear them away. “I know how hard things can be for you, Virgil. You have your own problems to deal with, not to mention your anxiety. I didn’t want to make things worse for you by giving you my problems to deal with as well. That wouldn’t be fair to you.”

Virgil held Logan close, his voice shaky. “Logan… I hate seeing you do this to yourself. Please don’t bottle things up like this anymore. Trust me, it doesn’t help anything. It just makes things worse. We’re partners, and you are never a bother. Your problems matter just as much as mine do. We’re in this together, okay? I’m the one who should be apologizing. I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you when you needed me. I should have realized something was off sooner. I’m sorry, Logan.”

Now Virgil was crying, and it was Logan’s turn to reach up and wipe their tears away. “I’m sorry too. It isn’t your fault; I’m the one who was actively trying to hide this from you. Don’t cry, stormcloud, please. I’m gonna be okay. We’re going to be okay.”

They stayed there in each other’s arms for a long time before Virgil finally spoke. “I love you, Logan. You mean the world to me, you know that, right?”

Logan hummed softly. “Yes, I know. You mean the world to me as well.”

He planted a soft kiss on the top of Logan’s head. “We’ll figure out something to do about that mean librarian. I’ll do my best to help with your homework; maybe you can talk to your professors about it? As for chores, we can knock those out together. But right now, we’re not gonna worry about any of that.”

Logan looked up at Virgil curiously. “We’re not?”

“Nope. Right now I’m going to get us some food and we’re gonna cuddle on the couch and watch Netflix.”

“Oh. Virgil that sounds lovely, but what about our lunch date at the diner? You love the diner. We always go there on Tuesdays, and-” Virgil cut Logan off with a kiss. Logan let out a small noise of surprise before kissing back.

Virgil pulled away and planted soft kisses all over Logan’s face, making hyr laugh. “I do love the diner, but I love spending time with you more than anything. Where we are doesn’t matter as long as we’re together. Right now I just want to take care of you, okay love?”

Logan smiled, feeling better for the first time in a while. Zhe couldn’t believe how lucky zhe was to have someone as amazing as Virgil in hyr life. “Thank you for everything, Virgil.”

Virgil stood and lifted hyr hand to their lips, planting a soft kiss there. “Of course, starlight. I’m always going to be here for you.”

A/N Part 2: I hope you all enjoyed this story! Reblogs and comments are greatly appreciated. Tell me what you think! If you’d like to be added to (or removed from) my taglist, please let me know by sending me an ask. You can find me on ao3 at Storytelling_Sparrow. Thank you so much for your continued support!

Taglist: @theresneverenoughfandoms @galaxywitchwolf13 @magicallygrimmwiccan @daring-elm @creativity-killed-thekitten @007ardra @princeyssash @khadij-al-kubra @im-shooting-straight @sawyer-saucee @gayzelley @it-me-the-phi @elfarmyenby @sparkedawg @ironwoman359 @today-only-happens-once @areyousirius-noheisdead @madly-handsome @milomeepit @princelogical @silversmith-91 @xxladystarlightxx @poisonedapples @romanamongthestars @ab-artist @ninjago2020 @anuninspiredpoet @justanormalfoot @gemini-the-kitsune-rp @urielthealienboio @aizawaisnotstraight @therubyjailcell

[hiddendreamer67]

Secret Sanders G/t Event 2019

What’s that, you say? Secret Santa Sign Ups in October? Shhh don’t worry about it. 

You’re officially invited to participate in the Infinitesimal Sides Secret Sanders! That means all content produced by this Secret Santa event will be G/t. It will also be about Sanders Sides.

What is G/t? It stands for “Giant/tiny”. It simply means these stories contain extreme size differences, which often means some of the characters are borrowers, fairies, giants, etc. Could also include things like characters shrinking or growing. If that idea appeals to you, even if you’ve never heard this term before, you’re welcome to participate! :D

Sign-Ups will be open until the end of October, and your Secret Sanders assignments will be sent out November 1st! (Caveat: it may be Nov. 2nd or 3rd, but it will be that first weekend). Here is the link: 

https://forms.gle/mhNxoREkb4n7QHrS7

If you have any questions, feel free to message me! I’ve also created a side blog @secret-sanders-sized where I’ll be compiling more information and also keeping participant updated as we go. 

Happy Holidays, y’all! :D

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!

[sanderssidesgiftxchange]

secrecy unveiled!

thank you so much for participating in this event, whether it was by creating a gift, beta reading, pinch hitting, or reblogging the gifts and showering them with love!

this spreadsheet will be the comprehensive list of santa-participant matches. if you have dropped out of the event before the drop-out deadline, your url was replaced by the assigned pinch hitter’s url.

additionally, our ao3 collection has finally been set as unanonymous! go check it out to find out who wrote what :D 

we hope you have enjoyed yourself and the gifts over the course of these past four or so months. again, thank you for your support and participation! 

here it is; the Grand Reveal!

[did-he-just-hiss-at-me]

hi i failed to meet the deadline of my own damn event!!! how are y'all doing this new years day

anyways happy late christmas @bexxbeauty here's ur gift. i failed to submit this before it got to new years for u but its ok at least i tried

[missfay49]

Secret Santa 2019, presents, The Making of Veggie Sides

captions under the cut!

WHAT is up everybody!  dragon fruit Thomas here

this is my logical Side / blueberry Logan

this is my fanciful Side / tomato Roman

and this is my morality / cookies and sprinkle frosting Patton

everyone... this is my anxiety / turnip Virgil

squash DECEIT!

I’M your creativity / (photobombing) / zucchini Remus

and this is... wait, who is this guy? / JoOOAAAN?

that’s a wrap! / until next time, take it easy fruits, veggies, and non-binary produce.  PEACE OUT!

[pistachiolan]

I posted 81 times in 2021

70 posts created (86%)

11 posts reblogged (14%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 0.2 posts.

I added 115 tags in 2021

#lanart - 24 posts

#pride owls - 11 posts

#nonbinary pride - 10 posts

#lesbian pride - 10 posts

#gay pride - 10 posts

#intersex pride - 10 posts

#pansexual pride - 10 posts

#bisexual pride - 10 posts

#aromantic pride - 10 posts

#aro pride - 10 posts

Longest Tag: 17 characters

#Даниил Данковский

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

TrailMix Secret Santa: Sanders Sides: Merman Janus x Scientist Patton Secret Santa I made last year for a wonderful talented @worrynotso

--- Do NOT repost/edit my art without permission, but feel free to reblog and give me some feedback! - Want to commission me? Check my other social media? You can find a link to everything in my bio!

272 notes • Posted 2021-02-05 18:04:41 GMT

#4

Second part of my participation in the dropped zine #LostTSZine This one was Intruloceit for the Ship part of the zine I went with "sky lovers" aesthetic and got them matching rings :3

This as well as my other submission from the zine are both available on my RedBubble! (Link in Bio)

— Do NOT repost/edit my art without permission, but feel free to reblog and give me some feedback! - Want to commission me? Check my other social media? You can find a link to everything in my bio!

397 notes • Posted 2021-02-15 18:01:37 GMT

#3

I was a part of zine that unfortunately didn't work out, but I'm still happy with the pieces I did for it so thought I would share! Here is Remus' coverart I did!Check #LostTSZine for more wonderful artworks from different artists!

--- Do NOT repost/edit my art without permission, but feel free to reblog and give me some feedback! - Want to commission me? Check my other social media? You can find a link to everything in my bio!

404 notes • Posted 2021-02-12 17:29:41 GMT

#2

Moth 🦋 Virgil Sanders

An idea that was in my head and WIP folder since 2019, got inspired to do something with it ✨

686 notes • Posted 2021-04-29 21:21:51 GMT

#1

The Seven Sins of Las Nevadas

| Fundy: Envy | Purpled: Pride | Foolish: Greed | Sam: Wrath | | Slimecicle: Sloth | Schlatt: Gluttony | Quackity: Lust |

Something I worked on for a month on and off because I kept changing and adding stuff, but I'm super satisfied with the final version. My first proper DSMP fanart because the Casino aesthetic pulled me into this hole

Do not use my art without credit

1803 notes • Posted 2021-06-21 19:03:10 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[hetacon]

Merry Christmas Eve!!! I hope you’re doing well today and your Christmas preparations have been mostly stress free. - Secret Santa

Thank you, I hope you’re having a good holiday season no matter what you celebrate!

We’ll see how the preparations go (especially since I’m drawing and writing even MORE gifts for my friends still) but I’m sure it will be fine! Have a good day, I’m happy that I’ll finally get to see what you’ve made me tomorrow and I hope you’re happy with yours too!!

[villlainarc]

To Fall in Love

Like Freedom

Summary: In which Roman, at long last, finds the dream he’s been chasing.

Pairings: Logince

Warnings: unhappy ending (so it doesn’t sneak up on you later)

Word Count: 2160

A/N: the songs in this chapter are (also) from frozen 2: show yourself and all is found (no more frozen 2 songs after this i promise)

More A/N: this is a secret santa gift for @ari-the-anxious-ace and as such, is already completed (and can be found at this very moment on ao3). but so as not to spam you, chapters will be posted every three days.

special thanks to @cringeless for beta reading :)

masterlist || 1 || 2 || 3 || 4 || 5 || 6

read on ao3 or below the cut

find other stuff i’ve written under #writings from the stars

After going for months without a moment away from the voice’s call, Roman feels lonely in its absence. The silence is all-encompassing, and he has to concentrate just as hard on ignoring his discomfort as he had on ignoring the song that had plagued him before. It feels so long ago that Roman can’t believe how little time has passed.

As the days draw on, he busies himself with sailing the ship, somehow knowing which ropes to tie where and which way to steer despite never having done anything like this in his life. It serves as a distraction from the sudden stillness that envelopes him though, and it will get him to the source of the voice, so he certainly isn’t going to complain.

When he’s not steering the ship or adjusting the sails, Roman is belowdecks, holed up in the small library he’d found in the captain’s quarters. There isn’t much else to do onboard, so Roman settles for reading the largely dull books that line the shelves, their pages filled with topics that range from geography to mythology, though Roman isn’t able to find anything that captures his interest for longer than an hour or two. Still, it’s better than focusing on the quiet surrounding him.

Every so often, when the books can’t keep him occupied and there’s nothing he needs to do to keep the ship on course, Roman sings. He knows so many songs, but the only thing he sings during his journey out is the melody that, even now, won’t stop running through his mind. If he’s being perfectly honest, he desperately wants to hear the voice again. Based on his logic, if he continues to sing to it the same way it had sung to him, it might just answer.

It never does, but that doesn’t stop Roman from dreaming.

🌊

He hasn’t been traveling for more than a week when he lowers the sails and begins to slow down. There is an island on the horizon, and for the first time since he’d begun this journey, the cord around his heart tightens. It tugs gently, and Roman knows that this island is where the voice had come from. This is the place. He can’t stop a smile from growing to take over his face because this… this is it.

As he nears the island, the sun is beginning to set. It causes Roman to shiver, and he’s more than a little shocked by the cool breeze that blows over the ship. He hadn’t realized he’d gone this far north, but he supposes it makes sense. He’s been sailing for a few days, and his kingdom isn’t that far from the northernmost tip of the continent. It makes sense that the island he’s come across is a colder one at this point.

By the time he’s drawn as close as he can to the island and dropped anchor, the sun has set completely and both the sea and sky have turned an inky black, lit only by scattered pinpricks of starlight. It’s beautiful in a way that’s so different from the palace he’d left, and Roman finds he far prefers this sort of beauty. The cold wind that chills him to the bone only adds to the mystical aura of the island and even as he shivers, Roman is smiling. Something inside him had started to glow in anticipation as soon as he’d seen the island for the first time, and that glow has since settled into his chest, leaving him with a feeling of completeness. If he hadn’t already known it to be true, the feeling of everything clicking into place would have tipped him off that yes, this is right. He is here; this is where he’s meant to be.

For a blissful moment, Roman listens to the sound of waves lapping at the sides of his stolen ship. He feels more at home here than he ever had in a crown, and he wants to savor the warmth that fills him.

But the moment passes, and the warmth slowly begins to fade. Roman is here for a reason, and the glow receding from its place around his heart reminds him of that. He still doesn’t hear the voice though. It’s been silent for so long now that frankly, it’s unnerving. He wants it back.

“Ah-ah, ah-ah,” Roman sings out the familiar tune, praying that the voice responds this time.

“Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah.”

There it is. Roman grins, pulling off his jacket and heavy boots before laying them near the wheel of the ship. He’s colder now, but losing his long coat and shoes will make it easier for him to swim to the island. He pulls himself up the side of the ship, standing at the bow. Taking a deep breath, he dives into the icy waters.

The cold of the sea nearly sucks the air from his lungs as he slips beneath the waves in a cloud of bubbles. Quickly, he resurfaces, gasping for air. Fighting back a full-body shiver, Roman begins paddling toward the island, grateful that despite the cold winds, the ocean is relatively calm tonight.

He makes it to the shore sooner than he would have expected and pulls himself onto the rocky beach. The strength in his arms that comes with sword fighting translates rather well to swimming, apparently. Roman stands, clothes dripping onto the pebbles that make a mockery of the fine, white sands he has back in his own kingdom. He shivers again before shaking off the cold and scanning the island.

When his eyes land on a cave that glows a royal blue color from within, Roman knows with absolute surety that the voice had come from there. Squeezing out his shirt as much as he can, he uses it to dry the rest of his body in a poor attempt to make himself warmer. Giving a final shiver, Roman begins to make his way toward the cave.

As he passes through the entrance and he himself is bathed in the blue light, Roman finds himself growing warmer bit by bit. Strange though it is, he’s not about to complain.

Roman turns in a circle, looking about the cave in search of… well, he isn’t quite sure. His mind is again flooded with lyrics he’s never heard before, and he sings them in the hope that the voice will respond.

“Come to me now,

Open your door.

Don’t make me wait one moment more.”

He doesn’t receive a verbal response, but the blue glow grows brighter from behind a grouping of stalagmites. Roman walks toward it, repeating his plea.

“Come to me now,

Open your door.

Don’t make me wait one moment more!”

There is still no response, but despite that, Roman finds himself climbing between the stalagmites in an effort to reach the light that continues to shine with ever more intensity. As he makes his way past the final stalagmite in his path, he finally receives a reply.

“Where the north wind meets the sea,

There’s a river full of memory.”

Roman runs barefoot towards the voice, somehow managing to not slice his feet open on the rocks beneath them. A smile spreads across his face once more as he stops short upon reaching the entrance to the grotto.

He stands there, taking in the stunning scene of intricate rock formations lining a dark pool in the center of it all, lit up by moonlight and that deep blue light emanating from a shadowed figure near the water’s edge. Roman steps closer, curious. Is this figure what he’s been looking for all this time? He takes another step, then another. Little by little, Roman draws near enough to walk into the blue light. Every logical part of his brain screams at him not to, but Roman has never been one to sacrifice his dreams to logic. He certainly isn’t going to now, not when he’s so close to the dream he’s been chasing.

He reaches out his hand, letting it be swallowed up by the light. Nothing happens to it, so Roman follows suit, fully submerging himself in the blue glow. He blinks, eyes adjusting slowly to the light and sees… a mermaid? His jaw falls open involuntarily as it gestures for him to come closer, singing, “Come, my darling, homeward bound.”

Feeling his heartbeat grow faster, Roman takes another few tentative steps towards the mermaid, sitting down in front of it. With a softness that’s completely uncharacteristic of his normal voice, he sings in an awed whisper, “I am found.”

The mermaid reaches towards him and places a hand on his face, brushing against it gently before pulling away again. It—no, he, Roman decides. Calling the mermaid, someone who looks so human, “it” feels wrong in a way he can’t describe—he begins to sing again. At first, it’s just the soft melody he’d been hearing for months. “Ah-ah, ah-ah. Ah-ah, ah-ah-ah.” Then, taking Roman’s hands in his, the mermaid continues the song he’d called out with only a few moments before.

“Where the north wind meets the sea

There’s a river full of memory

Sleep, my darling, safe and sound

For in this river, all is found.”

Unconsciously, Roman moves closer to the mermaid who, for his part, merely smiles as he continues to sing.

“In its waters, deep and true

Lie the answers and a path for you

Dive down deep into the sound

But not too deep, or you’ll be drowned.”

Roman is so completely enchanted by the mermaid that no matter how hard he tries, he can’t bring himself to be disturbed by the lyrics. Instead, he allows himself to be held captive by the mermaid’s blue-eyed gaze as he sings with a voice so clear and rich that there’s simply no way it could ever be replicated by a human.

“Yes, it will sing to those who’ll hear

And in its song, all magic flows

But can you brave what you most fear?

Can you face what the river knows?”

The mermaid’s voice grows softer as Roman moves closer again, leaning against his chest that rumbles gently as he sings. The sensation causes Roman’s heart to do flips within his chest and his eyes to flutter shut in contentment. He’d traveled so far from home, but lying on the mermaid’s chest as he sings makes it all worth it in Roman’s eyes.

“Where the north wind meets the sea

There’s a river full of memory

Come, my darling, homeward bound

When all is lost, then all is found.”

Roman sighs, completely blissed out in that moment. He can’t imagine a better place to be and if he has his way, this night will never end.

But ending is exactly what it’s doing as the sky slowly lightens and the stars begin to fade. Carefully, the mermaid lifts Roman’s head off his chest as though he’s made of glass. He presses a delicate kiss to Roman’s forehead that leaves its victim a blushing mess before slipping into the pool of water he’d had his tail submerged in.

With the mermaid gone, the spell Roman felt he’d been under is very nearly broken. The soft kiss still has him in shambles, but the rest of his mind is slowly clearing. He blinks, trying to make sense of his surroundings. The sun is rising, he reminds himself, glancing up to the gap in the ceiling of the small grotto. He’s been here all night, though it certainly hasn’t felt like it. Roman stands up anyway, figuring that without the mermaid there, he has no reason to stick around. He had found the voice. There’s no reason for him to stay anchored by this island any longer, is there?

No, there isn’t, Roman tells himself. But…

He hadn’t come to find the voice just out of curiosity. He’d come for the promise of freedom and adventure the voice had sung of, the idea that he would be able to leap headfirst into the unknown and, for the first time in his life, truly be free.

Roman has a duty to go back home and rule over his kingdom, but the lure of adventure is too tempting to pass up. He’d been doomed to stay here from the start, just as he’d suspected when he’d been back in the palace.

He can’t tell if it’s because of the mermaid himself or the freedom and adventure he’d promised, but Roman is inescapably bound to him. And for some reason, he can’t bring himself to feel any inkling of remorse about that.