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thepenguinclub · 2 years

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not like the movies

part of my teacher virgil series, this operates as a stand alone but the other parts are here (1) and here (2) if you want to read them, this is installment 3. series masterpost here.

virgil and ocs, oc/oc, bullying and good support systems

Summary:

In movies, when someone is bullied, they overcome it. They get better, they forgive their bully, and then they move on. They’re confident. One good prom and their whole personality has changed; no longer the smart, nerdy loner, but a social, charming popular kid.

It’s unrealistic. It gives false hope.

When Danni was little, they liked those movies. The ones where the bullied kid grows up to be the most popular person at the party. They liked to imagine what it would be like if that happened to them. If they became the most beloved person in their school.

Then Danni’s glasses were broken for the nth time, and they let that fantasy die a sad, lonely death.

Now they don’t like those movies. They think they’re stupid, and careless.

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Danni's got a system worked out. Chris won't bother them if they give him five bucks every morning, which is a win in their book. It's not a big deal.

Until it kind of is. Mr. Sanders to the rescue!

Also, their boyfriend is the best. Not totally related, just had to put that out there.

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i have things i should be writing. and instead i write hurt/comfort for ocs. i definitely have my priorities straight. (ha)

danni's pronouns are they/them!!! use them right!!

big thanks to @sunbrightshadows for betaing, they're the best and the comments were so helpful. go check their stuff out.

quick note: this happens in september, which is BEFORE The Junior Lit. and Lang. Class of Mr. Sanders and What Happens in It. they've been in school for about a month and a half.

enjoy!

guide to the american school system: first year - freshman - ninth grade - ages 14-15 second year - sophomore - tenth grade - ages 15-16 third year - junior - eleventh grade - ages 16-17 (this is the grade that virgil teaches!) fourth year - senior - twelfth grade - ages 17-18

WARNINGS: bullying, purposeful deadnaming, mentions of past physical bullying, descriptions of past physical bullying, mentions of broken bones, crying, there's a watergun emoji that's pointed at a tired face as a joke (if that's insensitive/or offensive let me know and i'll immediately take it down)

let me know if i missed anything.

(for those reading as a standalone, virgil is a genius and is 19 when he starts teaching, having graduated college very early.)

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There are a lot of things that the media romanticizes. Tragedy. Death. Trauma. Things that add interest to a tv show, but, in actuality, are some of the worst things that can happen to a person.

It’s unrealistic. It gives false hope.

Then Danni’s glasses were broken for the nth time, and they let that fantasy die a sad, lonely death.

Now they don’t like those movies. They think they’re stupid, and careless.

The pod of lockers was loud, but not as loud as it could be. It was still early, a whole thirty minutes before classes would start, so people were still arriving. Danni’s bus was just one of the ones that had another route to run before class started, so they ended up being early. That was fine. They liked getting an early start to their day.

dan ❤️

Have i mentioned recently how much mornings SUCK

Danni huffed a light laugh to themself as they wove their way through groups of kids to their locker, dropping their bag next to it once they got there.

DANNI BABY 💕❤️🔥💝💖🥰😘😘😘😍

once or twice

dan ❤️

😮💨🔫

Danni slipped their phone into their overall pocket, bending down to open their locker. They got it on the second try, which was an improvement, so they were in a pretty good mood as they hung their jacket on the hook and took out the binder they would need for the day.

They slammed the door with a satisfying clang, unzipping their backpack and fitting the binder in cleanly. When they stood up and swung the bag onto their back, someone was waiting for them.

Not the right someone, unfortunately. Danni bit back a sigh.

“Hey, Chris,” they greeted. Chris nodded at them.

“Got the money?” he asked rudely. Danni just nodded, pulling out a few bucks from their pocket and handing them over. Chris inspected them, then frowned.

“This is only three dollars,” he stated, as if Danni was incapable of basic math.

“I haven’t gotten paid yet,” they explained patiently, quietly. “That's all I have.”

“Well, that doesn’t work.” Chris put the money in his pocket anyway, then leaned back on the lockers and crossed his arms. “I need three for lunch and two for refills.”

“Sorry,” Danni replied, despite not being very sorry. “That’s all I have. You’ll just have to go without your vape for a few days. Or ask one of your friends for some cash.”

Chris raised his eyebrow.

“I don’t think you understand what’s happening right now,” Chris said. “You don’t get to talk back. Our deal was that if you gave me five dollars a day, me and my friends wouldn’t push you around anymore. You aren’t doing your end of the deal.”

“I’m trying,” Danni protested, voice still stubbornly quiet. They fixed their eyes somewhere around Chris’ sweatshirt hood. “But I don’t have anything else with me. Today and the next few days it’ll just be three, and then on Friday I’ll get paid, and we can go back to five.”

Chris was quiet for a second, and Danni hoped that he would drop it.

“Okay, Will.” Chris pushed himself off the lockers. Danni didn’t flinch at their deadname, but they did cringe internally. They weren’t used to it anymore, and hearing it always had the same effect that squeezing yourself into a shirt you’d had for too long did. It was old, made their chest feel tight, didn’t fit right, and didn’t feel like it belonged to them anymore. “Then I guess we’ll be seeing you later.”

Chris walked away and out of sight, leaving Danni wrongfooted. They knew Chris and his buddies wouldn’t try anything bad, nothing to leave anything lasting, but they weren’t exactly looking forward to getting roughed up. They had just gotten these overalls. They even had little sunflowers embroidered on them.

“Hey, baby,” a voice said from behind them, causing Danni to turn around. They smiled at their boyfriend, pushing Chris from their mind.

“Hi,” they greeted, walking forward into Danny’s arms and relishing in the hug. Dan kissed the side of Danni’s head.

When Danny pulled away, he appraised Danni’s outfit. Danni did a little twirl for him.

“I like those overalls,” he complimented with a grin. “They new?”

“Mhm,” Danni hummed in response, beaming. Dan always noticed this stuff, despite his wardrobe containing sweatshirts (in a variety of colors including black, gray, brown, dark red, and black again. Maybe another gray), sweatpants (in less colors, being restrained to black and gray), sneakers, work boots, and socks (none of them had a matching pair. They were all solid colors, in the same scale as his sweatshirts, and yet none of them had pairs.). He said he noticed it because Danni liked this sort of thing.

Danni linked their hand with their boyfriend’s, pulling him along until they were walking in stride next to each other, the thunk thunk thunk of Danny’s Timberland boots in time with the soft fall (and the occasional squeak) of Danni’s yellow converse.

They climbed up the flights of stairs, talking briefly about their classes for the day and any plans they had after school. They both had work, Danni at the local italian restaurant and Danny at the gas station, but after that they were free and planned on doing homework together.

They walked hand-in-hand into Mr. Sanders’ room just as the warning bell was ringing, Danni sliding into their seat gracefully while their boyfriend plopped into his indelicately.

Dan started up a conversation with Mr. Sanders, something about unicorns (Danni didn’t question his boyfriend and his teacher’s relationship), while Danni browsed the bookshelf next to their seat, finally deciding to pull out a Percy Jackson book that they had read upwards of seven times already, flipping to their favorite part and settling in to read.

The class filled up slowly but surely, until the last people, Kane and Dylan, were slipping through the door as the bell rang. Danni closed their book, placing it back onto the shelf and focusing up on the front of the classroom, where Mr. Sanders had drawn a little cartoon version of Oscar Wilde holding an oversized copy of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’.

“One guess on what our next book is going to be,” Mr. Sanders started, drawing scattered laughter. He smiled at everyone, pulling out the attendance clipboard.

“Favorite season,” he said, before moving his way down the list. Danni said fall, which was the correct answer. Dan said summer, which was a gross answer because summer is hot and sweaty and boredom, but Danni forgave him because they knew Dan didn’t like school and appreciated any break from it he could take.

Class moved normally, after that. Mr. Sanders gave some background on the book, and previewed what the unit was going to look like. All-in-all, nothing exciting. Danni finished filling out the important dates in their color-coded planner that Dan teased them about just as the bell was ringing, and they quickly slipped it into their bag and followed after Danny.

They both waved goodbye to Mr. Sanders, and that was normal, too. Except-

Except outside of Mr. Sanders’ classroom, a small gaggle of boys were a little ways down the hall, glancing over to the classroom every once in a while. They weren’t odd enough to draw attention, but they were odd enough to draw Danni’s attention. They stopped in the middle of the classroom doorway, tugging on Danny’s arm from where their hands were interlocked, and someone bumped into them from behind because of the quick stop, and-

“Actually, Dan, I have to stay back for a second,” they squeaked, clearing their throat and darting to the side to open the doorway up again. Dan followed them, confused and concerned.

“What’s wrong, babe?” he asked, ducking his head down so it was at eye-level with them. He was four inches taller than Danni, so tall enough for their eyes to be at his chin, but Dan always made sure to duck a bit so Danni didn’t feel that much shorter.

“Nothing,” Danni answered quickly. “I just remembered I have to talk to Mr. Sanders about an assignment really quick.”

Danny’s face smoothed, and he smiled.

“There you go, my little nerd.” He leaned over and pecked Danni’s cheek. “Have fun nerding. See you at lunch?”

“Yep,” they confirmed, smiling back.

Dan squeezed his shoulder, turned around, and walked out of the classroom.

Danni’s smile dropped as they watched him leave, and they stood there until the last people had filed out of the room. They sighed, turning back to walk over to Mr. Sanders’ desk. He looked up from his computer at their approach.

“Something I can help you with, Mx. Bail?” he asked, giving them his full attention. They shook their head and plopped into the desks right in front of Mr. Sanders’ desk instead of their usual seat three rows back. They squirmed at the change.

“Just wanted to stay here for a second,” they answered quietly, setting their backpack on the floor. Mr. Sanders raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything else. Just went back to typing on his computer.

Danni pulled out their phone and scrolled through Tumblr for a bit, just until the warning bell sounded. That meant they had a minute left to get to class. Nobody had come into Mr. Sanders’ classroom, which meant the next period was probably his planning period. Danni grabbed their bag, nodded to Mr. Sanders, and walked to the door, only to stop.

They were still there. Of course they were. They didn’t care about going to class on time. Danni sighed heavily. They turned around and made their way back to the seat in front. They avoided Mr. Sanders’ eyes as they sat down again.

It was long enough that Danni was beginning to hope he wouldn’t mention it. Long enough for the bell to ring again, signifying the start of class. Danni wasn’t worried. They liked ceramics class, but it wasn’t something they were worried about missing.

It was only after the bell was done that Mr. Sanders spoke, crushing Danni’s hope underfoot like a dry, autumn leaf.

“What’s wrong, Danni?” he asked kindly.

“Nothing.” Danni still wouldn’t meet his eyes. Mr. Sanders paused for a second, then typed more on his computer. A few minutes later, he shut it with a soft tap of the lid. He leaned forward and laced his fingers together. He didn’t say anything, but he was obviously waiting for Danni to start talking. When a full minute had passed and the silence was starting to get uncomfortable, they finally did.

“There’s just… some guys,” they said lamely. They picked at their overalls. “Outside. Of the classroom.”

Mr. Sanders didn’t say anything.

“They’ve… known me, for a while,” they found themself continuing, even though they weren’t sure they’d actually given their mouth permission to. “And they’re waiting for me, and I don’t want to talk to them. So. Yeah.”

Mr. Sanders just stared at them. Danni fidgeted with their frog ring.

“They’ve been- picking. On me. For a while. And, uh, push me around. But they don’t do that anymore!” Danni rushed to add, despite the fact that Mr. Sanders hadn’t reacted to the information. “I just give them a little money now that I have a job, and they leave me alone.”

Mr. Sanders nodded slowly.

“So, let me see if I have this right,” he started, and Danni cringed. “There’s a group of boys who physically and verbally abuse you, and in order for them to stop, you give them a portion of your paycheck.”

“They didn’t physically abuse me,” Danni corrected weakly. “They just knocked me around a bit.”

“Right,” Mr. Sanders agreed with a dry voice. “My bad.”

Danni let out a defeated breath, and Mr. Sanders softened.

“Danni, why haven’t you told anyone about this?” he asked, tone gentle. Danni stared at their shoes.

“It’s not like I didn’t expect it,” they answered quietly. “It kind of comes as a package deal.”’

“With what?” Mr. Sanders sounded earnest, and Danni couldn’t figure out what he wasn’t getting. They glanced up quickly before looking back down.

“With being like I am,” Danni explained, voice somehow getting even quieter. “Non-binary.”

Mr. Sanders didn’t say anything. Danni chanced a peek at him. His face was normal, no hint of surprise on it. In fact, he hadn’t reacted at all. Danni suddenly felt like they had just walked into a trap.

“Have you ever broken a bone, Danni?” Mr. Sanders asked. Danni furrowed their eyebrows.

“Uh, no?” They shifted in their seat. “What does that have to do with-”

“I have,” Mr. Sanders interrupted softly. Danni shut their mouth with an audible click. “When I was in tenth grade, I tripped and fell on my way home from school and landed on my wrist so that it broke. My mom took me to Urgent Care and I got it splinted, and they told me I needed to go to another doctor to get it casted, but that would have been too expensive so I just walked around in the splint for six weeks until it was better.”

Mr. Sanders paused, still looking at Danni. Danni had the feeling that they were missing something.

“At least, that’s what I told my mom,” Mr. Sanders continued. He pushed himself off of his desk and leaned back in his chair. “What actually happened was that I was walking in the hallway and this Junior pushed me into the lockers, and my wrist hit them and broke. I got a few more bruises that I attributed to a fall, and the rest of the story is true.” He smiled a little and lifted up his right hand. “And now, when I shake my hand, my wrist makes a rattling sound.” He demonstrated, and Danni didn’t hear anything, but that might have been because of how far away they were. Or maybe it was because of the ringing in their ears.

“So, Danni,” Mr. Sanders met their eyes and cocked an eyebrow. “Did I deserve what happened to me? Is that fair?”

“No,” Danni answered quickly. “Of course not. But… that’s different.”

“Okay.” Mr. Sanders nodded to himself. “Then let me remind you of something; when I was in tenth grade, I was twelve years old. The guy that pushed me was five years older and in the same math class as me, and I was smarter than him.” Mr. Sanders shrugged. “Some would say I should have seen that coming. That I was asking for it. It came as a package deal.” He looked at Danni meaningfully, and they swallowed. “And I did expect it, of course I did. So, let me ask you again,” he leaned forward again, raising his eyebrows, “did I deserve what happened to me? Was it fair?”

Danni didn’t answer, just played with their rings. They knew Mr. Sanders knew what their answer would be anyway. He didn’t say anything, waiting.

“What should I do about it, then?” Danni asked finally.

“Give me names,” Mr. Sanders replied immediately. “That’s all you have to do.”

He hadn’t even finished speaking before Danni was already shaking their head. They sat up straighter, not having realized they had been sliding down their chair.

“You can’t do that,” they protested. “You can’t just solve my problems for me.”

Mr. Sanders rolled his eyes.

“Ye ol’ ‘I need to learn how to deal with my own problems’ argument,” he mocked, “how I hate thee. Danni, it’s okay to ask for help. Will you have to deal with problems yourself in the future? Yes. Will you have a support system to help you with those problems? Also yes.” He spread his hands out. “That’s all this is, is your support system.”

“But what if I don’t have a support system later in life?” they asked, desperate. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t just swoop in and save Danni, because what if they needed him again and he wasn’t there? What then?

“You will,” Mr. Sanders answered flippantly, waving a hand. “Unless something horribly tragic happens, Danni Bail, you will have a support system with you until the day you shed this mortal coil.”

“How do you know that?” They were becoming increasingly more frazzled, and it was obvious, the desperation in their voice bordering on embarrassing. Mr. Sanders softened considerably. He pulled his legs up to sit criss-cross-applesauce on his chair and rested his elbows on his knees.

“I know that,” he started gently, “because he sits next to you every class. He hugs you hello and hugs you goodbye. He compliments your outfits even though he doesn’t understand fashion, he makes a fool of himself just to see you smile, and he texts you all the time because he loves to talk to you.” Mr. Sanders rested his chin on his hand with a smile. “If the way that Daniel Marcus looks at you when you aren’t looking at him is any indication of how long he’ll be with you, which I think it is, then you aren’t going to be alone for the rest of your life.”

Danni sniffed, which was around the time they realized they were crying. They wiped at their tears quickly, and grabbed a tissue when Mr. Sanders offered the box to them.

“And,” Mr. Sanders continued, “if, for some reason, you don’t want Dan to help you with something, I’d be happy to be your Plan B. You’re a special kid, Danni. I’ve only been teaching you for a month and a half and I already know that. I would love to continue to be a part of your life if you want me to be, even after the end of the school year.”

“You’re a really good teacher, Mr. Sanders,” Danni said instead of answering, but by the size of Mr. Sanders’ grin, they were sure he understood perfectly fine.

“Thank you, my good individual.” He bowed dramatically, made even more entertaining by the fact that he was still sitting cross-legged on his spinny chair.

Danni opened their mouth to reply, but was cut off.

“Hello?” a familiar voice called, before a head of fluffy brown hair was sticking through the doorway. “Ms. Benedict said- Danni?”

Dan’s face contorted into concern, and he was across the room in a second, kneeling in front of Danni with his hands on their knees, fervently looking them over.

“Baby, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?” He didn’t give Danni any time to even open his mouth before he was whipping to look at Mr. Sanders. “What happened?”

Mr. Sanders shot a look at Danni, one that said ‘see? What did I tell you?’. Danni felt their cheeks heat up.

“Mx. Bail can tell you that, I think,” Mr. Sanders answered. He took his laptop and put it in his lap, then used the desk to push himself so he was spinning in circles on his chair, ending so he was facing away from them. “Don’t mind me, I’ll just be here, not eavesdropping on your conversation.”

Dan snorted, then smiled at Danni’s wet giggles, even though his eyebrows were still furrowed with concern.

“What happened, DB?” he asked quietly, lifting his hand to brush tears off of Danni’s cheeks.

“Some guys have been picking on me for a while,” Danni answered, their second time saying it coming much easier than the first, “that’s all.”

Danny blinked at them.

“Baby, what do you mean ‘picking on you’?” he asked slowly. Danni shrugged.

“Just… using my deadname,” Danny’s hand spasmed on their knee, and it curled it into a fist, “giving me a hard time. Nothing big.”

Dan laughed incredulously.

“D, that is big. How long has this been happening?”

Danni stared at Dan's hands. One rested on their thigh, thumb rubbing absentmindedly at one of the embroidered sunflowers. The other one was still in a fist on their knee, but it was relaxing. Danni reached out and took it in their hand, entwining their fingers.

“Since middle school,” Danni answered quietly after another moment. Dan sighed, then thunked their forehead down on Danni’s thigh, startling a little laugh out of them.

“Why didn’t you say anything?” he asked, voice muffled by the denim of Danni’s overalls.

“Didn’t wanna bother you,” they muttered, carding their free hand through their boyfriend’s hair.

“You can’t bother me, babe,” Dan answered. He looked up at them, Danni’s fingers still stuck in his hair. “I love you,” he said with conviction.

“I love you, too,” Danni said back, smiling a little. “I’ll be more honest, I promise.”

Dan nodded.

“Good.” He stood up, leaned forward and pecked Danni on the lips, then backed up, cracking his back. “Alright, teach, you’re good.”

Mr. Sanders spun back around. He was smiling very widely.

“That was fucking adorable,” he said. Danni hid their face in their hands while Dan did finger guns.

“You know it,” he replied. “I assume you’re dealing with the jackasses?”

“I’ll call you if I need you,” Mr. Sanders assured him. He stood up and placed his laptop back on his desk. Danni joined them a moment later, rising and swinging their backpack over their shoulder.

“Thanks, Mr. Sanders,” they said, trying to convey how much all of this meant to them. Mr. Sanders just smiled at them gently, coming around his desk to give them a quick hug.

“Of course, kid.” He pulled away, suddenly looking serious. “I wasn’t kidding about what I said. Anything you need, just let me know, okay?”

Danni nodded, confirming that they understood. All it took was a little ‘okay’ and Mr. Sanders was back to grinning widely.

“Just shoot me an email with the names of the little dicks that’ve been causing trouble,” he instructed. Danni nodded again. “I’ve already emailed your counselors, they both have passes ready for you so you can just head to class.”

“Thank you,” Danni said again as they walked towards the door, Dan’s hand slipping into theirs. “Have a good day, Mr. Sanders.”

“You too,” he called back.

Then they were walking down an empty hallway.

“How’d you even know to come to Mr. Sanders’ classroom?” Danni asked suddenly, looking up at Dan.

“Mr. Sanders emailed my counselor,” he answered casually. “She pulled me from class and told me that he was ‘requesting my presence.’”

Danni thought back to their conversation. He must have done that at the very beginning, when he didn’t even know what the problem was.

Danni went up on their tiptoes to kiss Danny’s cheek.

“I love you.” They kept walking, tugging on Dan’s hand from where he had stopped. He skipped a bit to catch up with them.

He grinned, squeezing their hand. They squeezed back.

“Love you too, DB.”

————

alright, hope you enjoyed. i already have more ideas for stuff for this series so let me know if you'd be interested in that type of thing!

notes and reblogs are my life blood so please leave them. i'm thepenguinclub on ao3 if you want to read my other stuff over there.

have a good rest of your day!

teacher virgil masterpost

#sanders sides fanfiction #ts virgil #oc #penguin writes #teacher virgil

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ashs-random-writing · 2 years

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An Im-purr-fect Curse

Patton walked the same route in the woods every day. Most people didn't go near it out of superstition, but Patton loved the peacefulness of it. That is, until a man ran past him and a witch's curse hit him instead of the intended target. Now, as possibly one of the worst creatures he could be in an area so superstitious people refused to so much as look in the direction of a magpie, he just did his best to survive

Reblogs>>>>> likes

Ao3

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Patton usually looked on the bright side, and this was no different. Sure, he was cursed and with no way into his house or any way to communicate his dilemma, but at least he was cute!

He curled up in his little box, attempting to save some warmth in the harsh wind of the night. It was the third night of his curse, and this was still the worst part.

You see, he had been cursed into being a kitten

If you asked him why, he probably wouldn’t be able to answer. All he knew is he was walking, some person ran past and Patton had gotten the blame for whatever they had done. He started sleeping in his cardboard box

The next morning, everything was how it usually was, people walking to school, work, morning runs, to coffee shops, to cafés and barely anyone spared him a passing glance. A few people stopped to see him closer, but that just made him nervous.

He knew that there were people out there that would go out of their way to hurt a black cat, being the supposed omens of bad luck they were. He tried to back away most of the time, sometimes hissing at them. Not everyone got the message, and some tried to pet him.

Not that he was upset at attention, but it was new and he wasn’t sure of people’s intentions. Especially in an area where superstition was relatively common. Most times someone tried to approach him, he would hide behind some boxes

It was... scary being a cat. He curled up and watched the many feet walk past him, starting to feel hungry. He had been hungry the past few days, but he didn’t know how to hunt. He had managed to salvage some things from garbage, a pizza crust or two but not much else

He wished he was human again. He wondered if his friends had reported him missing, or if no one noticed

He was like this for most of the day, until someone started to approach him. Patton stood up and started backing away, ears going back. He suddenly realised he recognised this particular person. It was a guy that was in a few of his classes, Virgil

Patton had tried making friends a few times, but Virgil didn’t seem to care. Patton knew next to nothing about this kid, so the recognition didn’t really calm him down. Virgil had stopped at his obvious fear and was now just stood in the alleyway.

He started to crouch to be closer to where Patton was preparing to hide if necessary

“Hey, little guy. You look a little hungry, do you want some food?” He got something out of his bag, revealed to be a tuna sandwich. Virgil placed half of it on the ground for him, and Patton stepped closer slightly, weary of the possible trap

“It’s okay, eat up, I don’t bite. I could leave you to eat that if you like, and you won’t have to worry about any big scary humans, okay?” He was mostly talking to himself, but he never changed from the soft voice.

Patton didn’t get any closer, and Virgil left. Patton started to eat, and he realised just how hungry he truly was. He curled up again and watched people walk by, no one paying him any mind. It had started raining at some point and he tried to hide in his box, only for it to start falling apart. He knew that people would be in their houses, hiding away from the rain, and he wished that he could do the same

He had been keeping track of the days. It had been six days since he was cursed, and he had been fed by Virgil twice a day, a few times even doing it whilst Virgil was still crouched there, even letting Virgil pet him

Virgil had started coming to feed him quite commonly, and Patton was weighing the pros and cons of following him home. He would get out of the cold, and he’d get fed more regularly. But, what if that would get Virgil in trouble?

The next time Virgil visited, Patton made his choice. Once he was fed, he started walking behind and headbutted his legs

“Do you want something, lil’ guy?” He asked, holding out his hand as if to get permission to pet him. Patton didn’t even think, before sniffing the hand and pushing his head into it. Virgil pet him softly and Patton realised how much the curse affected him

He didn’t even think before acting like a cat...

He followed Virgil the rest of the way until they got to an apartment complex. Virgil held his hand out again and this time when he pushed his head into it, he was picked up

He mewled in surprise and Virgil scratched between his ears

“I’m sorry, baby, I can’t just let you wander wherever in here,” He hugged Patton to his chest before going inside. Virgil’s apartment was quite large, and there was another person inside, likely a roommate

Patton recognised them as being a few years higher up in their college, but he didn’t know their name

“Hey,” Virgil started, before walking over to them. Patton felt wary to be near them; he didn’t know them at all, not to mention, they were kinda intimidating

“Can you look after this kitten whilst I go buy cat supplies? And maybe book a visit to the vet as well? It will only be like an hour, at most” Patton was placed on the table next to the unknown person.

They didn’t even look up from their book “I’m assuming this is that oh-so adorable stray you’ve been feeding for the past few days? I’m surprised you managed to stop yourself from adopting it sooner. Have you named it?” They turned their page boredly, still not looking up

“Yes, Janus, this is the stray I’ve been feeding. And, no, he doesn’t have a name yet, we can give him one when I get back” Virgil responded and Patton compared the version of him he’d been seeing the past few days to the version he saw in class

In class, Virgil kept his head down, didn’t talk and didn’t answer questions. Here and when Patton was on the streets, he was a lot less anxious, he talked, and Patton even saw him without his hood up

Virgil started to leave, flicking his hood up once again. Patton jumped of the table and started following. He didn’t think the other person would hurt him, but he was still nervous to be near a new person in this form. Virgil picked him up, pet him a little and placed him back on the table

“Make sure he doesn’t try to follow me. Oh, but he doesn’t like people so maybe don’t get too close? I don’t know, just try not to panic him please” And with that Virgil left and Patton was left alone with Janus

Janus only just looked up at him as Virgil was leaving, and they didn’t seem particularly happy about it. Patton hopped off of the table and started to look around. The apartment was mostly dark colours, with some snake themed things here and there, and, unfortunately, a few spider themed things.

He curled up in a warm spot between the living room and kitchen, where he was able to keep an eye on Janus. They were back to focusing on their book and didn’t really look at him

Virgil came back a while later, carrying two bags worth of things; one full of toys and one full of general supplies like food bowls and stuff

Patton walked over to his sort-of friend and meowed. Was Virgil his friend? He had tried to make friends with him, but Virgil never really came out of his shell. Patton still thought of him as a friend anyway

Virgil placed the bags on the floor and crouched

“Hey, little guy... Did you miss me? I’m sorry” Patton received some cat treats, which the cat portion of his brain loved immensely. The part of him that was still human, however, wasn’t too keen. Soon enough, Virgil had brought him to the couch, where he was set between the two humans. Patton climbed to the other side of Virgil, still weary of most people whilst in this form.

He knew it was irrational, and he did feel bad, not trusting people, but he just couldn’t trust people blindly anymore. Everyone was so much bigger than him, and he’d even had a few instances (at least four of them) when someone had tried to hurt him, either by throwing something or trying to kick him.

He just... It wasn’t easy, anymore. Virgil pet him a little and he laid down, feeling almost as if he could cry. He couldn’t, of course, as cats do not and can not cry.

Virgil and Janus started discussing naming him and he stopped listening. He would know when they had named him, after all. He went and curled up in an open cabinet. It was habit at this point, to sleep in a box-like object.

He didn’t know how long he was asleep, but he could hear Virgil presumably looking for him. He stretched and walked out towards where he could see Virgil crouched, looking under things for him.

“There you are... I was worried for a second there, Midnight” Patton was pet and pondered the name. It wasn’t the worst name that could’ve been chosen, but Patton didn’t feel like it really fit him

Janus groaned from across the room

“I swear, I’m gonna die if you don’t change that stupid name” He threatened, not even looking up from his book, which Patton noticed to be Good Omens.

Virgil stood up and glared at Janus, the kind of friendly glare that could only be achieved by best friends.

“Excuse me? Midnight is a cool name!” Virgil was saying, and Janus was disagreeing

Patton couldn’t see a reason to stay in the same room as them as they were arguing over a name that wasn’t him. He started wandering. He looked at the bags that Virgil brought home. There was bound to be something interesting in there for him

He pawed at the bag, trying to get it open. He briefly considered using his claws, but decided against it.

Virgil walked over to him

“Aw, you wanna see your stuff? Okay” Virgil got some of his new stuff out of the bag, including a soft looking cat bed and some toys and treats. Patton felt the bed with his front paws, and found it was just a little softer than it looked

He curled up in the middle of it, feeling sleep creeping up on him. Nights of bad sleep, sleeping in the rain, had made him rather tired. He heard the click of a phone camera, but payed it no attention

When he next woke up, the clock on the wall read 3:24 am. He liked the night vision that came with being a cat, but otherwise, there weren’t too many perks, especially being a black cat.

He sought out Virgil to check on him. He wasn’t planning on waking him up, of course, sleep was very important. He went through the door with Virgil’s name on it, that was slightly ajar

He looked up to the bed, which had light on it. It seemed Virgil didn’t sleep at night, Patton noted with a little disapproval. Virgil should sleep and be healthy.

He jumped onto the bed, which caught the human’s attention.

“Hey, Midnight,” He whispered, smiling “Come over here” He waved his hand towards himself

Patton walked a little closer and hit the phone screen gently. Virgil laughed quietly, turning the phone off and putting it on the nightstand. He curled up next to the human, who pet him a little before starting to go to sleep. Patton nodded to himself and decided to wander the house more, noting the room with Janus’ name on the door and the guest room next to it

He climbed onto the couch and watched the rain hit the window, hoping his friends weren’t too worried about him

Virgil wasn’t the most social guy in the world, and he knew that. He was quiet in school, and he didn’t really have friends. He would say that was how he liked it, but... it wasn’t.

He wanted friends, he wanted to be a part of a group, but every time someone tried to talk to him, it’s like his brain shut down. He almost couldn’t fathom someone wanting to be his friend. It seemed like a practical joke every time his classmate, Patton, even talked to him

He knew Patton wasn’t playing a practical joke; he really was just nice, the nicest person in the school, if you asked someone.

And yet, Virgil could never find a response when Patton asked him something. He regretted that every time he saw the guy, having fun with his friends.

His niceness was one of the reasons that it was such a shock that he went missing randomly. He was in class that day, and the next... nowhere. No one knew where he was, no one had any information, he just disappeared.

It was a total shock to the system; Patton was the kind of guy that you just couldn’t imagine anyone disliking him, let alone making him disappear

Patton’s friends seemed to be taking it the worst, which was to be expected. The usually loud twins were silent, looking down at the tables, and Logan, the smartest kid in class, didn’t answer any questions, barely lifted up his pencil.

No one knew what to do with themselves without Patton’s bubbly presence in the room.

Virgil joined in on the searches, and, a few days into searching, no one had found anything, it was like he really just disappeared. He sighed, stopping his walk back to his apartment to lean against a wall, only to notice a cat.

The poor thing was tiny, seemed practically malnourished. Virgil’s heart ached at that, starting to slowly approach. It stood up and darted backwards, ears pinned back and looking completely terrified. It wasn’t hard to see why, black cats didn’t have many people tolerating them around town

He stopped, before crouching down to be less intimidating. It stopped as well, looking almost as if it wanted to run away, which it probably did. It was a kitten, a bigger kitten, but a kitten nonetheless. It couldn’t be more than a few months old, at all. He spoke to it softly, getting a sandwich out of his bag and placing it on the ground

The kitten didn’t get closer, so Virgil left it to eat, knowing he was likely the source of its discomfort. Over the next few days, it had become routine to stop to feed the cat before and after searches, and it had been starting to trust him

Searches had still been turning up fruitless, and no one knew anything. There was no body (luckily), there were no fingerprints, no helpful intuition that could lead them to Patton. There weren’t any clues.

He sighed, going back to the alleyway where the cat was. It ate its food, and when Virgil started to leave, the little guy followed, bumping into his leg. Virgil stopped, crouching next to him

“Do you want something, lil’ guy?” He asked, mainly to himself. He held out his hand for it to sniff, and it pushed into the hand, evidently searching for attention

He smiled to himself, starting walking again. He was planning on bringing the cat home at some point anyway, why not then? The tiny cat followed him home, and he scooped it into his arms, bringing out a startled noise.

Janus seemed overall unsurprised and unenthusiastic about the new household addition, though not upset either. The cat, he was thinking of calling it Midnight, didn’t seem to like being too close to Janus. Which seemed rational, honestly, seeing as it had probably met all kinds of nasty people on the streets. Unfortunately, he had to leave it with his roommate whilst he bought some supplies

The tiny thing tried to follow him, and Virgil had to carry it back to the table. He didn’t want to leave it, but he didn’t want it to follow him and get hurt

Whilst he was out, he bought the parts for a cat tree, a light blue cat bed, a few toys, treats, a collar, a cat-carrier and cat food. The cat greeted him at the door, tail pointed upwards. Virgil smiled

“Hey, little guy... Did you miss me? I’m sorry” He gave it some cat treats and brought it over to the couch, setting it between him and his roommate, trying to socialise it more. It climbed over Virgil’s lap to the other side of the couch, to which Virgil pet it, before starting to discuss names for it.

Virgil suggested Midnight, while Janus told him that was a stupid name and the cat started to explore the apartment

“Well, you think of something if it’s so stupid” Virgil crossed his arms, and Janus rolled his eyes

“How about Crowley?”

“You can’t just suggest names from your book!” Virgil exclaimed, and they went on with this for quite some time, until Virgil went and sought out his cat (named Midnight, because that was a cool name, no matter what Janus thought)

The cat walked over to him from the kitchen, and Virgil later found a cupboard door open and the cupboard itself filled with cat hair.

Midnight started wandering again, going towards the bags that Virgil brought home. He looked at all the items Virgil got out but ultimately just went for the cat bed, and curled up.

It was an adorable sight and Virgil may or may not have taken a few pictures. After the makeshift photoshoot, he went to bed. He didn’t sleep, his brain was too active for that, but he stayed on tumblr and youtube for a while.

He probably would’ve stayed on his phone all night, if Midnight didn’t show up and curl up next to him. The kitten had a calming effect on his racing thoughts, and he pet him softly, starting to feel his eyelids droop. When he next awoke, Midnight was gone, but Virgil wasn’t too worried; he had quadruple checked that all the doors and windows were locked, meaning Midnight couldn’t get out

Midnight was sat on the couch, where he was staring at the window. Virgil decided to book a visit to the vet to make sure he was healthy.

Midnight walked towards him with his tail pointed and Virgil smiled “Good morning, Midnight”

He sighed to himself, realising he’d actually have to talk to the receptionist at the vets office to get Midnight a check-up, but he relented, knowing that the little cat deserved to be healthy

He started coaxing Midnight into the carrier with some treats. The car-ride to the vets office was quiet, with some music quietly playing through the speakers, but neither cat nor human made sound

Virgil turned into the parking lot, and got the carrier out of the car

The receptionist was nice and patient with him, even when he stuttered or spoke too quietly. The vet was also nice, but Virgil did have to hold Midnight to stop him running away

Honestly, Virgil felt bad for the kitten. Someone had obviously done something to him, and it wasn’t hard to see their motives. The vet concluded that he was mainly okay, if a little hungry, and that he was fit to go home

Virgil brought Midnight back to the apartment, where Janus was waiting, having woken up whilst they were at the vet’s

“Well? How’s your cat?”

“Oh, he’s fine! And I was thinking,” He started to say, letting Midnight out of the carrier “You know how we don’t really use the guest bedroom and we never have visitors...”

Janus gave him a deadpan look “We are not giving your cat an entire room. It doesn’t even pay rent”

Virgil sat on the table “Of course he doesn’t pay rent, he’s a cat. But, wouldn’t you prefer if the cat tree was in its own room and not cluttering up in here?”

Janus groaned

“Fine, but I’m no longer helping you set up the supplies”

Virgil was fine with that, he supposed, he just had to build the cat tree and set up the food/water bowls and maybe order a cat flap and arrange the toys and... yeah, this was becoming more daunting by the moment.

He grabbed the stuff, forcing himself through it. Midnight deserved it.

It only took an hour or two to finish, and he was listening to music as he did it, so he didn’t mind too much. Midnight liked the cat tree, especially the boxes it came for him to lay in. Virgil couldn’t imagine anyone ever wanting to harm such an innocent creature

Once he had done with that, he started getting ready to search for Patton again.

For the next few months, still nothing. Midnight had gotten closer to Janus, and now could sit between the two humans without running away, but things weren’t as good outside of their apartment

People were starting to stop volunteering for searches, and no one was any closer, still. No finger prints, no nothing. One of Patton’s neighbours said that he had gone for a walk like he did every day, and just never came back.

Midnight had been a constant help through all of the stress, and Virgil was glad to have found him. Now, if only he could find Patton as easily as he found stray cats.

Midnight had a collar now, it was blue with grey and purple accents. The grey and blue was to remind him of Patton; those were the colours he was always seen in

He had started talking to Patton’s friends, offering comfort to them. He believed they were friends with him now, but he wasn’t entirely sure. He had hung out at each at their houses, and they talked at college, but Virgil felt (incorrectly) that they were merely tolerating him

He knew they wouldn’t invite him places if it was just toleration, but he couldn’t help his thoughts

Virgil greeted them with a small, almost sad, smile

“Hey guys” He greeted, sitting down

Roman greeted him back, before looking down at his phone, at news stories. Virgil had seen him look at such quite a few times, seeming to be looking for any news on Patton

The others stayed silent. Virgil knew why, it had been exactly six months since Patton disappeared.

After a while, they started conversation. It was the comfortable sort of conversation, the kind about nothing at all.

They decided they’d hang at Virgil’s place and have a sleepover, to distract everyone from what day it was

“Just a little warning, I do have a roommate, so we don’t have a spare room and we’re all gonna have to sleep in the living room”

Logan raised an eyebrow “I thought you lived in a three bedroom apartment?”

Virgil coughed, embarrassed “I do, but I, uh, gave the third bedroom to my cat” He mumbled, looking down

Roman snorted “How’d you get your roommate to agree with that?”

Virgil looked up with a small smirk “He was tired and I was annoying”

Soon they were all journeying to Virgil’s apartment.

Virgil had texted Janus beforehand the plan of what was happening, so he wasn’t surprised when they got home. Instead, he was sat on the couch, reading a book on psychology, with a cat in his lap

“Good evening, Virgil. Virgil’s friends. I would offer you a drink, but I seem to have been immobilized by this carnivorous beast,” He gestured to Midnight

Midnight lifted his head to peer at the apartments arrivals, and he stared at the three new people. Virgil lead them inside and Midnight ran through the cat flap to his room.

“Oh, darn. My excuse just ran away,” Janus deadpanned, getting the guests some water

They all talked for most of the night, occasionally the topic would drift to Patton and the mood got more sombre.

Midnight came out of his room a little later in the night and sniffed at the three new people

Remus reached out to pet him, but Midnight flinched away from that, running backwards.

Remus flopped down onto the couch, with a small frown “Your cat seems very nervous. Or maybe he just doesn’t like me, what’s his name?”

“His name’s Midnight, and don’t worry, he’s like that with everyone. We found him on the street when he was a kitten, and I’m sure you can imagine what some of the more superstitious people would do to him around here,”

Virgil’s friends nodded in sympathy, looking at Midnight, who stared back

Patton didn’t mind living with Virgil and Janus, but he wished he wasn’t a cat for it. He had started, almost regrettably, getting used to his new life

In a morning, he would wander the apartment for something to do, Virgil would feed him and then play with him, and then Virgil would join the searches looking for him or go to school, leaving him with Janus. Janus wasn’t bad, and was an absolute softie when it came to him and Patton being home alone. And, he had started online learning instead of in-person, anyway

Patton had started curling up next to and on the laps of the humans, and he would stare out of the window otherwise, or play with his toys, or sleep. Virgil was nice, he supposed, but every time Patton remembered that he was Virgil’s pet, he felt a small pit grow a little larger in his stomach

It wasn’t Virgil’s fault, it really wasn’t, and he still stayed acting the same around him, but...

Patton was worried that soon, he wouldn’t be human at all. He had almost forgotten what it was like to have two legs. He was on the way to forgetting his own face. He just hoped he would never forget his friends.

He curled up on Janus’ lap as Virgil was at school. Janus was reading a textbook, and Patton started feeling sleepy. He drifted off for a while, before he was awoken by the sound of voices

“... by this carnivorous beast” He saw a hand gesturing to him and he looked up at where he assumed Virgil would be alone.

Behind him, however, were Patton’s best friends in the whole world. Patton stared for a few seconds, before the cat portion of his brain made him run

The cat part of his brain was sort of like an actual cat that shared control of his body. He often had to bargain with it to not get distracted whilst he was checking on his... roommates (he couldn’t, wouldn’t, bring himself to say owners). It wasn’t really a cat in his head, it was just his new instincts clashing with his human brain and turning out wrong.

Right now, his instincts were telling him to run away from the threat of new humans, though his human brain knew that they weren’t a threat. They were his friends, they wouldn’t hurt him, would they? His thoughts said no, but his instincts said yes

He jumped into a box compartment of his cat tree and curled up, trying to calm down. He could hear them talking in the next room. They were talking about a dumb movie they were watching, and Patton missed when that would be something he would do with them. But now, he had to fight his instincts to even look at them. He heard the topic drift to human him, and he listened close

Had it really been half a year? It felt so much longer, and yet, so, so much shorter.

He carefully walked through the cat flap a few hours later, mentally reminding himself that these were his friends, not a threat, and yet, when he saw them all across the living room, he had to supress the urge to run and hide away from his friends.

They looked at him with curiosity and he walked a little closer, sniffing at them, assuring himself that they were still the same people he remembered. Remus reached out at him and he ran backwards, bad memories of people on the street flooding his mind

Virgil explained to them why he seemed so nervous, and Patton lied down near the group of humans. He shouldn’t have been so nervous around his friends, it wasn’t as if they’d suddenly gained a hatred of black cats whilst he was here.

Virgil pet him and he started going to sleep, purring.

When he next awoke, instead of 1am, it was 5am and he was the only one awake. It calmed him almost, to stay in a room where there were people, but no perceivable threat to him. He carefully walked towards Logan, trying not to wake anyone.

Logan had fallen asleep with his glasses on, he noted. He walked towards Roman. Roman had either forgotten to wear his eye mask, or thrown it off in his sleep, but either way, it was in his hand, not on his face

Remus had sprawled over almost half of the living room, and was snoring in a way that made it feel like a miracle that no one had woken up from it yet.

Virgil was curled up next to the tv, head pressed into the floor next to the pillow, instead of the pillow itself.

Patton sought out Janus. After all, he couldn’t leave him out of his check up on his friends. Anyway, he was the only human that wasn’t setting off alarm bells in his mind currently.

He pushed the slightly ajar door open and wandered into the bedroom. Janus was asleep as well, in a onesie that was made to make him look like a snake.

Patton hopped onto the bed, almost subconsciously, before curling up next to the warm human. He didn’t sleep this time, he just basked in the warmth. He would’ve preferred to bask in the sun, but it was too early for that currently

He watched the curtains ruffle in the soft breeze of the open window. He wanted to play with something, his mind wasn’t occupied enough, but... here was warm, and everyone else was sleeping and couldn’t play with him.

He huffed quietly. These things never bothered human him. He started kneading the bed beneath him as quietly as he could, sharpening his claws

Janus woke up a while later, once the sun rose. He pet Patton with a tired hand

“Mornin’, little guy,” He yawned “what are you doing in here?”

Patton simply meowed, headbutting Janus’ arm. and gently biting the sleeve, pulling towards the door. Virgil and Janus both knew that the gesture meant that he wanted to play

Honestly, Patton didn’t mind what he did as long as it got rid of the boredom. Janus sighed, smiling down at him

“Alright, alright, lets go get some of your toys"

They went into the third bedroom, Patton’s room, and Janus got out a few toys, a wind up mouse, a feather on a stick and a laser pointer

Patton let the cat in him take over and chased the toys around the room. The next time he saw the clock it was about 8am.

He climbed his tree and stared down at Janus, who stared back at him with a small smirk. Patton sat on one of the platforms and lied down.

Janus sat against the wall, scrolling on his phone, and Patton jumped down from his platform, crawling into his lap. Janus distractedly pet him, and stared at the window

Patton could tell that something was up, but lacked the context clues to decode it. He laid his head down on Janus’ chest, hoping that was enough to make him a little happier. Patton’s eyes started to droop and he slept

For one of the first times since the curse, he dreamt.

He wasn’t a cat in his dream, he was himself, but... smaller.

His friends were there, but they didn’t acknowledge him, it was like he was invisible.

They were upset, he realised

He tried to call out to them, help them, but he couldn’t speak. He looked down, only to find paws and whiskers.

Suddenly, everything looked scarier, his friends faces contorted and he was in a cage.

He looked around, but there was endless nothingness beyond the bars. He noticed a shape emerge from the darkness, but before he could make out what it was, he woke up.

The sun was in a different place in the sky and it was no longer just him and Janus in the room, everyone had come in. Patton didn’t mind as much as he expected

He still enjoyed his friends company, no matter how scared he was currently. He stretched before slowly walking towards them, sniffing them. They smelled the same as they used to, and they didn’t make any sudden moves whilst he was there. He strutted over to his basket of toys and knocked it over, looking at the humans

Virgil sighed with a smile on his face

“Playtime it is, you little terror” He said, grabbing a feather on a stick and placing the feather on the ground in front of Patton.

Patton crouched and playfully flicked his tail, ready to pounce at his prey. As he was mid-jump, the feather moved. This carried on for about 30 minutes, and he could hear all of his friends giggling at him. He didn’t mind that, he probably would’ve giggled out of the sheer adorableness of the scene if he was them.

He pounced faster the next time and caught it between his paws. He meowed in victory, lifting his head to look at them

Roman was videoing him and the rest of them were staring at him as if he was the most adorable thing they had seen in their lives, and he walked over to them hesitantly.

Roman held his mouth shut in an attempt to not be too loud and scare him, Remus grinned down at him, holding his hand palm up in a non-threatening gesture.

Patton sniffed the hand and pushed his head into it, managing to convince his instincts that these humans were safe

Soon, almost everyone in the room was petting him and he purred, crawling into a random lap and starting to fall asleep. He didn’t know how long he had been asleep, but he knew that it had been at least an hour.

He opened his eyes and stretched on the person’s lap, noting that it was Logan.

Virgil was talking about something to do with social media, and Logan was occasionally chiming in. The twins weren’t in the room, and Janus had changed out of his pyjamas at some point. Logan seemingly hadn’t moved at all since Patton fell asleep

Patton looked around at his friends that were in the room and he sought out to find the twins. They were fighting over something in the living room and Patton designated to do what he always did to stop Virgil and Janus from arguing. It would probably work on Roman and Remus

He walked over to them and sat between them, effectively stopping them from shoving each other in fear of disturbing him. The others soon joined them all in the living room and Patton would’ve smiled

Every one of his best friends was in the same room. But, they didn’t know that he was there, not the human version of him anyway.

Things like this happened for months. All of them would meet up, sometimes at Virgil and Janus’ apartment sometimes at others, and Patton would get to see them pretty often.

Mostly at Virgil's but occasionally he would be taken to someone else's house. Patton didn't expect these visits often, nor did he want them to come around more; most of these visits were for when his friends were upset and he did not want that. He kinda preferred to be at Virgil’s apartment, it calmed his cat-self. And, he could watch Virgil and Janus like each other and deny it.

Right now, everyone was at Virgil’s apartment, talking about stuff they had planned for Christmas and stuff. Patton was lazed across the back of the couch, listening to the plans with a bittersweet feeling

They were talking about him, human him, and how they wanted him to come back, what they would get him for Christmas and what they would say if he came back. He stayed where he was. There was no way to communicate his dilemma to them, there was no way to show them that he was still there, there was no way to say he was even still alive

Someone pet him softly and he watched over them all. He wasn’t big, he wasn’t strong, but he’d protect them all as best he could.

Logan was conflicted. It still felt like just yesterday that Patton had been laughing and joking with him, but it had been almost a year since he disappeared.

He liked his new friends, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was replacing Patton. They still searched, just not daily anymore. He didn’t want to admit it, and he didn’t want to believe it, but he didn’t think they would find him anymore. There still hadn’t been any leads, or clues, or witnesses and there was no Patton

He sometimes went to look at Patton’s house, but it was never any less empty.

He liked Virgil’s pet cat, it helped him calm down. It reminded him of Patton in a way. Patton loved cats, even though he was allergic.

Logan walked towards Virgil’s apartment, where he knew everyone would be waiting. Virgil was perched on the coffee table, as if there weren’t plenty of seats available around the room

He sat next to Janus on the couch, which Midnight was sprawled across the back of. He gently stroked Midnight’s fur and started contributing to the Christmas plans. He still missed Patton, and he wished he would be there for it, but...

He knew that probably wouldn’t happen.

They talked for ages and Virgil let them stay over again. This time, Midnight didn’t hide for most of the night, instead staying in the room with them, and Virgil brought his little bed into the living room, taking lots of pictures of the cat for the social media page he had created specifically to showcase his pet to the world

Logan couldn’t blame him, Midnight was cute. The social media had quite a large following, a few thousand or so. It consisted of little pictures or stories of what Midnight had done that day, like when Midnight first started getting comfortable around people.

Logan found the blog to be a comfort for him, to know that maybe he could find joys in the things that Patton liked, and not always feel sad for it. By January, it would’ve been a full year. He still missed Patton more than ever, but maybe it was time to start letting go.

The day that Patton disappeared, everything had been so... mundane. They had gone to college, Patton had doodled on his hands, like usual, he had been so happy. And later that night, his next-door-neighbour reported that he had never returned from his walk

His neighbour usually sat outside most days, and Patton talked to him before and after walks, so for Patton not to come back was extremely worrying. Most people expected the search to last a day or two at most, with the best case finding Patton completely healthy, and worst case being a body being found.

Logan almost wanted the body over having no clues. At least then, they could find out what happened and get some closure. All they knew now was where Patton was not.

He sighed. He wouldn’t stop hoping that Patton would come back, of course not, but maybe he should stop expecting it. He read his book in silence as everyone else started to sleep

Midnight was sat on his bed, staring at him with wide eyes. Logan smiled softly, beckoning the cat over to accompany him as he read. Midnight jumped onto his lap, curling up. Logan pet the small creature, and started reading again.

When the one-year anniversary came and went, all he could feel was emptiness. He didn’t speak that day. Roman didn’t speak either, Remus spoke a little, but not very much. Virgil gave them little gifts to cheer them up, but they did barely anything.

Searches hadn’t been going on for a while, and there were still no advancements on the case. Logan had almost finished his teaching degree.

Patton had wanted to do that with him. Logan had wanted him to, but... It seemed he would be the only one of his friends graduating this course. Roman, Remus and Virgil each did creative arts courses, like art, drama and writing.

They had a few classes on writing all together, but him and Patton were the only ones going into teaching as a profession. Logan sometimes walked Patton’s route to clear his mind. Nothing ever gave him any clarity.

Patton didn’t seem to be coming back. He kept group photos of them framed on his wall, but he couldn’t help but think. Why couldn’t they have still been that happy now?

They all knew that Patton wouldn’t have wanted them to be too sad, but Logan couldn’t help it. Patton was one of his best friends, and now... and now he was nothing more than years worth of memories that Logan would never get to relive.

Patton’s birthday was coming up soon. They were going to make a cake together, like Patton did for them. They were going to decorate it as best as they could, put some of Patton’s favourite things on it. They were going to get him gifts, and leave them at the makeshift memorial they had at the school. Many other people were planning to do the same, Virgil included.

Logan couldn’t help but wonder, what would Patton be doing if he were there? What would’ve happened if it were someone else who had disappeared off the face of the Earth?

He grabbed his computer bag and headed for the university with a sigh. The space next to him during lectures remained empty, and somehow seemed emptier every day that Patton wasn’t sat there. No one dared sit there, scared of upsetting him, not even new students.

He looked at the front. He didn’t want to think about this anymore, he wanted to think about anything else.

He thought about Virgil. Virgil had started dating Janus, and they both had drawn up a fake contract of who gets what if they break up. They had decided to share custody of Midnight, but in the event of a break up, Virgil would get more custody than Janus. It was an absurd concept to have in writing but it did make Logan a little happier to think about his friends

And well, Patton would’ve loved to see him happy. He wished he just knew where Patton was, but there was nothing that even suggested that he was ever there

He read his textbook silently in his room.

Similar things kept happening every month. Every month that Patton didn’t return, Logan would cry. He was getting better, though, he was starting to accept it. He refused to forget Patton, but he started moving on.

After a few years, he managed to secure a job at the university. It felt weird to him that the students he taught didn’t know Patton. It felt weird that they sat in Patton’s spot, but he ignored it. They didn’t need to deal with his trauma, they could sit wherever they pleased, but that didn’t stop him from feeling almost as if he could cry when a student reminded him almost too much like Patton

There were a a few students that gossiped and talked throughout his lectures. He didn’t mind that, it was their choice whether or not to listen to the coursework. No, it was what they talked about that really grinded his gears. All they ever talked about was whatever true crime podcast they had listened to the previous night

Logan had never liked most true crime podcasts. He didn’t like that they profited off of someone else’s trauma, without giving any profit or getting any permission from the victim or the victim’s family. He had heard some podcasters laughing at the victims, and it made him see red. There were a few (far too little, but still a few) who did share profits with victims, and tell the stories in a respectful way, but most didn’t

He ignored them speaking most days.

That is, until the true crime/unsolved mystery involved Patton. They were gossiping about his best friend’s disappearance as if it wasn’t a tragedy. They were theorizing on what had happened as though they were talking about a tv show, not a horribly traumatic experience for all of Patton’s friends.

He attempted to get through the lesson but he felt horribly sick all of a sudden. He slammed the book he was reading from closed, walking briskly out of the lecture hall. Students seemed confused about this, but he just went to the breakroom and called his friends.

They comforted him, and after maybe ten minutes, he went back to his lecture, making sure that it wasn’t too obvious that he had been crying. He didn’t want to tarnish his reputation

He wrote a new rule on the board behind him, saying that talking about True Crime was banned in his classroom

“You can talk about it anywhere, but not in here. If I hear you talk about it, you are going to have to leave. So either do it extremely quietly, or wait until after my lecture. You can talk about something else, just not true crime” He said sternly

His students protested, and he ignored them and got back on with his lecture. His shift would be over soon, and he could visit his friends. He got into his car and drove

He drove to Virgil and Janus’ house that they had moved into together. The others were already there. He could barely hold in his sobs as he walked through the door

His friends immediately started comforting him and he sunk to the ground. Midnight walked over to him, rubbing against his leg with a soft purr. Logan had read somewhere that cats knew when you were sad, and would comfort you as best they could

Logan attempted a smile. It seemed that everyone in the room cared. Patton would’ve cared as well.

Logan thought on his new rule and he knew that he’d be seen as the strict teacher that didn’t let anyone have fun, but he could not have a repeat of what had just happened. He wiped his eyes and looked up

Nothing in the world was more important than his friends, he decided. He had lost one, and he would never loose another. He would rather die than let any of them die, or disappear.

A lot had changed since Patton disappeared. Roman was slowly becoming famous as an author, writing fantasy series. Remus was trying to make it as a horror director. Logan was doing the profession that they had wanted to do together

It had been five years since, but Logan felt that Patton was just as present as ever. He was gone, but Logan sometimes felt as though he were right next to him.

He pet Midnight distractedly. Midnight was quite a large cat, not at all like the tiny kitten Virgil found him as. Still as affectionate, still pretty jumpy, but very much bigger

Logan smiled down at the cat.

His brain seemed more fond of this one cat than he had been over any other animal and he couldn’t understand why. Perhaps he had simply latched onto the first permanent fixture in his life that even vaguely reminded him of Patton, and stayed with that attachment

He and the others played with the cat for a while and Logan started going home. He didn’t think for a while. After the day he’d had at work, he knew who he’d be thinking about and he didn’t want to cry again.

He watched a movie instead. It was a movie about witches and potions. Something he didn’t have to think about much, he knew magic wasn’t real and he didn’t have to think about the logistics of fantasy. He frowned.

Patton would’ve insisted magic was real. He sighed

If Patton was confirmed dead, he probably wouldn’t still be clinging onto the memory, but the thought that Patton could possibly come back at any time kept him from moving on. He had tried, he really had, but... grief wasn’t logical. He did understand that the chances of Patton coming back were slim to none, but it was that small chance that kept crushing his hope time and time again

His students seemed to silently resent him for his oddly specific and strict rule for the rest of the year, but he was just glad that they were respecting it. He heard them talking to new students about the rule, warning them of how strict he was

He never wanted to become the strict teacher, but he couldn’t deal with hearing Patton’s name as casually as that, talking about him like he wasn’t a person that people had mourned for, were still mourning for, even. He prepared for his next class and looked over the list of people

He sighed. Maybe this year, people would stop reminding him. Maybe this year he could move on

Patton knew that no one had truly moved on. He had been like this for years now, five of them if he counted right.

He couldn’t remember what his glasses felt like on his face. He couldn’t even remember his own face, other than when he saw it in photos. He couldn’t remember how tall he was. He couldn’t remember what standing on two legs felt like.

He never forgot a thing about his friends.

Virgil and Janus had moved house. He was no longer sure of what his own house looked like.

He had accepted that he was never getting out of this quite some time ago, but his friends never truly had. They were still mourning, still missing him, and he wasn’t coming back in a way they would know. He missed being human, he missed talking to his friends and giving them advice

He missed everything about his old life, but his new life wasn’t so bad, really. Virgil and Janus cared about him, he still saw his friends, and he had never had to worry about food beyond those first few days. He knew that nothing would happen to him as long as Virgil and Janus were there, and he would try his hardest to make the opposite true as well. He wanted to protect.

Speaking of which, he was stalking the house whilst they were asleep, trying to find the mouse that was bothering him and his humans. The mouse was small, but it kept eating food, which could turn the food bad. Mice carried disease, and Patton wouldn’t let his humans get sick when he could stop it.

The little thing had avoided Patton for a week so far, but Patton had caught a few mice in the past five years, and he was pretty darn good at it if he did say so himself. He listened for the small squeaks and the noises of the mouse’s feet. He slowly walked towards the kitchen

There it was, the culprit of the food theft. He pounced on the unsuspecting mouse with precision and accuracy. His instincts took over from there, and the next thing he knew he had a dead mouse in his claws. He licked his paws and started grooming himself. He looked down at the mouse, thinking about how happy his humans would be that he had protected them.

He picked the mouse up with his teeth and started towards the stairs, where Virgil and Janus were sleeping. He walked through the cat flap of their bedroom and jumped onto the bed, dropping the rodent onto Virgil’s chest

Something in the back of his brain reminded him that he wasn’t thinking like a human anymore and he admitted that he probably wasn’t, but he also admitted that he wasn’t human anymore. He had human memories, but he was a cat, with cat instincts.

Virgil had woken up at the gift, and was looking down at it and back up at him. Patton nudged it closer, trying to remember why Virgil might not enjoy his gift. If he was human, he would never have confusing moments like this.

Would human-Patton have enjoyed the gift? He... wasn’t sure. Virgil pet him with a sigh, nudging Janus awake

“Janus, Midnight just took care of the mouse problem” Patton puffed up his chest proudly

Janus groaned “And I suppose you want me to get rid of the body?”

Patton lied down on Virgil’s legs, carrying on with grooming himself. He thought about his friends

Logan had become a teacher. Patton thought that he might’ve wanted to do that too. Logan’s students didn’t like him too much, because he didn’t let them talk about something that caused them to talk about Patton.

Roman was getting quite a bit of money from selling books he wrote. He was becoming a best-seller apparently. Patton was proud of him. He wrote about magic and dragons and witches. Patton remembered that he got turned into a cat by magic.

Remus had gotten accepted into a prestigious film school, so he was trying to become a director for horror movies. Patton knew that Remus loved horror movies, he always played them on movie nights, both before and after Patton was turned into this

Patton noticed Janus leave the room with the mouse

He soon left the room as well, going into his own to his scratching post. He scratched for a while, watching the moon out of the window. He waited for the sun to start to rise to see his humans again. Everyone had planned to meet up at Virgil’s house again, since it was movie night.

He was excited to see them again.

Patton watched out of the window towards the road where his friends would show up in their cars. Patton didn’t like cars, and was fairly certain that he never had, but there was still the doubt in his mind that maybe he did like them before the witch got him

It was night-time currently, so he wouldn’t see anyone for a while. He flicked his tail, starting to go to his bed.

When his friends showed up, he was wide awake. The scratched behind his ears and talked to Virgil and Janus. They barely payed him any notice anymore, and instead started ordering food and getting the selection of movies lined up.

The played with him today though. They played with the laser pointer and the fake mouse and some of his newer toys. Virgil told them about Patton’s successful hunt the night prior

When they started watching movies, Patton watched them too, and he felt as though he had never seen them before. He knew he had, but he couldn’t remember them

He wondered what his favourite movie was, since he could no longer remember

Were they watching it? He wandered closer to the TV and looked up, trying to jog his memory. The colours were bright, animals were speaking, but he couldn’t remember what it was. He swished his tail in both frustration and anger at his brain.

It was like it was attempting to remove any semblance of humanity from his memories. But... he was human, once upon a time, wasn’t he? He wasn’t making that up, at least he didn’t think so

Virgil had found him when he was just a kitten, but Patton remembered a life before that. Of course he did. He had grown up human all those years ago, he had been friends with just over half of the people in the room with him, they were in high school and college with him and suddenly, he was at the beginning of a new life-cycle.

After many upon many movie nights, weeks, possibly months later, Patton had lost even more of himself. He had started forgetting words. He remembered his name, and the name that humans knew him by

He had forgotten longer words, words that Janus said to seem smart in arguments. He had almost forgotten that humans didn’t stay awake during night time, and take short naps throughout the day. He had forgotten his favourite human food. He wasn’t sure if he had ever had a pet himself.

It took a while for him to realise that this wasn’t normal; it felt as natural to forget as it did to breathe. He lazed in front of the window, soaking in the sunlight. He could hear his humans in the next room, talking about something or other.

He knew that Janus was going to... going to...

Oh, darn it, he couldn’t remember the word. Janus was going to ask Virgil to marry him, but Patton didn’t know when. Perhaps he had heard, but forgot.

He attempted to remember his own birthday. It was in the summer, right? But, he wasn’t sure which month, which day, or heck, whether he was even correct with his summer estimate.

He stared out of the window. He wasn’t sure why anymore, not sure what he was watching for or thinking about. Virgil pet him on the way past. Janus scratched his head. They were going out for dinner, on a date

Maybe this would be where Janus asked? Patton wasn’t sure anymore what the significance of marriage was, but he did know is that it was important to his humans

He wasn’t sure how long they were gone, but they both seemed extremely happy when they came back, so he assumed the question had been asked. He rubbed against their legs, purring to show his happiness at their own.

Virgil grinned, crouching down

“Hey Midnight! Look!” Virgil showed his hand, which Patton noticed had a ring on it. He sniffed the ring and pushed his head into the hand, satisfied that he was correct. His friends showed up the next day for a party about the occasion

It was loud. Patton didn’t like loud noises very much. He ran away from the small party the minute a balloon popped and had a nap in his room instead

The wedding took place a year later, and really only was the two humans and Patton there for the actual officiating, since they didn’t want to make a big deal of it. Patton had forgotten even more things, and he didn’t know what he’d forgotten

He was maybe six years old in terms of how long he’d been a cat. He went to the vet every year, and every year, he hated it. The vet would get close to him, and he didn’t know the vet, so it was like they were threatening him

Virgil always gave him treats afterwards, though, and Janus gave him cuddles in the car to calm him down whilst Virgil was driving. Patton didn’t know why the vets visits were important, but he went through with them.

A few years down the line, and Patton couldn’t remember anything beyond Virgil finding him as a kitten. He didn’t even know why he called himself Patton anymore, his humans called him Midnight, though he’d heard them use the name Patton before, addressing another human they knew but somehow Patton had never seen

He never started calling himself Midnight in his mind though, it felt wrong in a way he couldn’t understand or explain. His humans still were happy, were still together, but it hurt when Patton tried to move now.

He was ageing, but the humans still seemed the same as ever. Were humans immortal, he wondered, or did they simply age slowly?

He wasn’t sure. He started walking towards his humans bedroom, but he was a lot slower than he used to be, and his bones ached with every movement. They had for about a month now, and they were just getting worse

Virgil came downstairs soon enough, and he said something in a soft voice, picking Patton up. Patton wasn’t sure what was said, but he was sure that he remembered being able to understand humans before

Virgil brought him to the box that took him to the vet. Patton didn’t like his small box, or the vet, but he didn’t have the energy to run away anymore. Whilst they were in the car, Virgil sounded worried and kept talking at him

Patton knew, deep down, that this was probably the end, and this would be the last time he got to see his humans. He let out a low whine, looking through the front of the box.

The vet did something to him, and the pain went away as he fell asleep.

When he woke up, he was... Well, he wasn’t sure where he was, but he was in a human body. The memories came flooding back to him.

He... oh, gosh was he dead? He looked at his hands. Everything looked the exact same as the day the curse was placed, down to each and every detail on each doodle. He wandered for a while, feeling numb, until he found somewhere where he could observe Earth below

He cried. He would see them again one day, he reminded himself.

---

:)))

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