#virgil's not okay like fr fr

[elguritch-art]

Just Like Then

Days. Days and nights both. Listening to it- her- scream. Scream like it was that same night, reverberating in his head, in his chest, just like it had done over a hundred years ago as she died. And he'd done nothing.

(Short Story of Session Events Under the Cut)

Virgil was still doing nothing. Curled up on the indistinguishable void floor in front of the locked door of- Of whatever Warlock hellscape he'd willingly walked into. Because he thought he saw her. Saw Crowbait. Saw the kindred who'd become a sister to him after his embrace, who'd been the bridge between him and the rest of the pack's languages, who'd seen how damaged and hurt he was and showed him tenderness and compassion-

And here she was. But wrong. It wasn't her. It was her. A mismatch of flesh, a face that wasn't her's. A harmony of voices that spoke as if she were in there, but too wrong all the same…

…

…

…

His pack had always talked about what if one of the Warlocks got them. Or a Fiend. The two most dangerous to be caught by. Because they wouldn't just give any of them the Final Death. They'd use them. Change them. Just like now.

…They'd always talked about what to do, if it happened. Virgil had felt it. Every one of them having a rippling sense of pain at the words spoken, "Put them down with mercy and kindness. We'll know. They'll know. All of us will understand." Just like a horse with a broken leg, or a dog caught in a hunting trap. Quickly. Cleanly. With mercy. With love.

Virgil slowly, shakily pushed himself up, the screaming still ringing in his ears, dried and fresh blood running down the side of his neck from his eardrums that had rebuilt and burst numerous times over.

Get up. Do it quick. Do it clean. She'd know. She'd know.

He slowly stood, clutching her sawed-off in his left hand, his right drifting to his own right thigh. He only took one step towards her when the screaming stopped.

Virgil slowly drug his eyes up from the void to meet the wretched, misshapen face, with too many eyes, too many jaws, flesh barely clinging to bone. He met the eyes of a creature knowing it was lame, and wanted to die, and it made his gut wrench in a way that made him want to throw up. Not because of the creature's face.

Because when he looked into the eyes, he finally saw her. He couldn't ignore it, tell himself it was just a Warlock trick, because that was her. That was the way she looked at him a hundred years back, whenever she wanted to pry him to do something for her but she didn't want to voice it until he himself voiced the question for her.

Virgil shakily pulled out his Walker, spurs softly jingling as he crossed the space back over to her. His hand was shaking so bad, he almost wondered if he'd drop the damn thing and it'd fire off on itself. Maybe hit himself in the head by accident and finish what he himself couldn't do. But he leveled it at her forehead, staring down the barrel, his trigger finger going numb.

"I always… Hoped it would be this gun… That did me in…" The jumbled voices quieted, making one voice distinct enough to pick out, speaking in Spanish this time instead of the American words she knew he never fully liked.

He wanted to throw up again. He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream. He wanted to let La Bestia go and take care of this for him so he didn't need to do this with his own hands.

Virgil let out a breathless, haunted half-laugh, not able to find much else he could do.

"Enjoy those three minutes, Snakebite." She said, a hint of a tease in her voice. Just like then.

"...Least I'm not in the middle of a goddamn firefight to do it." He quietly replied back, returning to his first language himself, barely keeping the tremble from his words. Words he'd said to her a hundred years back, sitting at camp after a raid.

"They… Were wrong." She softly croaked.

His hand had gone cold, the barrel wavering. Pull the trigger. Pull the trigger.

Words came out of Snakebite's mouth instead, "...What do you mean by that?"

"It wasn't your fault… None of that was." The tattered corners of the jaws and teeth turned up into a smile. Her smile.

Red tears welled up, finally coming forth, and he fought to keep them from fully pouring over. Not yet. "Last damn time I'm going to disagree with you, on this one." He said, a weak smile on his face. Just like a hundred years back. Disagreeing with her, but he never meant it with vitriol. Never. "I'm sorry." His voice faintly cracked.

"What does that make it then…?" She asked back, that hint of a taunt in her words. Just like then.

"I don't know… It…" His throat closed up, the warmth of the tears trickling down his sun-worn cheeks. "It makes it so you all aren't here with me." He bitterly, emotionally croaked out.

Crowbait mused for a second, claws twitching on the floor. "Your heart- Well… Your heart doesn't beat anymore, but it's still in there…"

Snakebite shook his head. His arm was cold. "Scarcely feels like it." His voice was breaking each time he spoke.

"But it is. 'Cause you'd be dead, chucklehead." Crowbait returned, shifting forward, onto her knees, closer to the gun barrel.

He couldn't keep looking at her, lowering his head, squeezing his eyes shut. "I'm sorry." He barely got the words out, the tears nearly burning at his skin.

He heard her shift again, then felt the tips of her claws graze his wrist, his fingers. She gently cupped his shaking hand, steadying it, and he felt her forehead press up against the barrel of his gun. "Don't be, I'm glad it was you."

Just like a hundred years back. His first kill. The first time she helped him feed. With a bullet instead of his teeth. Steading his hand, just like then, because she knew, he knew, that he'd pull the trigger. He wouldn't walk away. Couldn't walk away. The gun was already in his hand, the hammer cocked back.

Virgil drew in a shuddered breath, keeping his head down. He couldn't look at her. He couldn't see it again. Her fingers curled around his hand, squeezing it, reassuring him so he could follow through with the promise the entire pack had made to each other. "Wish it didn't have to be." He croaked, finger curling once.

The gunshot echoed longer in his head then it should have. The smell of the powder didn't bring him comfort this time. The weight of the Walker feeling a thousand times heavier then he knew it was.

He opened his eyes, staring down at his boots, slowly dragging it across the ground to her form. Still. Quiet. Unmoving. Slowly crumbling to ash.

The door at his side clicked.

Virgil turned, holstering his Walker, the tears streaming freely down his face. He hadn't pulled the trigger on them all a hundred years back. It were the Law that did that. But it'd been his fault they'd been able to take aim at all. And now this time, he'd had to take aim himself. Pull the trigger himself.

Virgil Lawrence. The Cursebringer. Everyone died around him. Be it his fault, or his own hand. It always happened. Just like then.

[cr33p5]

OKAY

i know that it’s probably just a rlly mundane or stupid reason for doing 3 and 3 for a video right?

and obviously it’s like nothing huge but THINKING ABOUT IT for more than like 5 seconds is making me tweak out

“so i grabbed logan and patton and here we are” PARDON??? PARDON ME? and you didn’t grab virgil? in the year 2025???

i know it can be chalked off as like ohh virgil is embarrassed he doesn’t wanna do the trend ykyk but like, the idea that he just didn’t even bother with him is CRAZY. welcome back season 1!??

like semantically, how crazy is it that virgil’s actually being lumped in with janus and remus exclusively??????

like yeah it’s been seen or referenced before like in the “if tss was an anime” video, but that’s still different bc they were all in a lineup so it was all of them there, and even though they lined him up closer to janus and remus, he’s still clearly *part* of the “light” sides

and not to mention like, EVERY one of these like silly filler or joke videos, it’s always just janus and remus being “left out” from the main 4, like merch too is always just the main 4 and then janus and remus are like usually left out until later

and also considering how much virgil clearly doesn’t like them and tries so hard to distance himself from them and what he used to be, that it’s now like officially 3 and 3 ????

and like yes ik it’s probably just for an easier video format or some shit to make a two parter

BUT YOU GET WHAT IM SAYING RIGHT??????

(delusional)

like fr i don’t think it would’ve been that much more to include virgil w the other three, or honestly just knock ‘em all out in one video but

that’s still like crazy to think about right or is it just me

also side note (no pun intended)

roman saying “what’s up doc, me that’s what” was CRAZY i was like, okay.. i see the remus in you. i see the parts of you that you hate. tone it down, boy.

ANYWAY that’s just my first deranged ramble guys pls reply if u have anything 2 add on i luv talking about virgil 🙂‍↕️🔮

[hoardingpuffin]

Okay friends. Romans. Countrymen. I wish to yell about my bird and the most recent lore, so. Spoilers below the cut.

WE FINALLY GOT THERE! VIRWOOD NATION, HOW ARE WE FEELING?

God, I am so excited to finally have gotten there. Connor and I pretty much decided after the very first time we did lore together that we wanted Virwood to be a thing and it's finally here!

One thing that was very very important to me [actually obviously it was important to us both but I don't wanna talk for Connor, so I'll focus on my end of things for the time being] was to portray these birds' aro-ace-spec identity truthfully.

Elwood is demiromantic and that, mixed with the fact he is just not really used to the idea of being loved or even wanted, really was gonna impact any relationship they were gonna have. Before he got to Brightstep he didn’t ever really consider having friends or family a possibility, let alone having a partner, so when he figured out he liked Virgil that was really terrifying for them. His experience with love, love of any kind, was limited to reading about it, and he didn’t even plan on telling Virgil. I think his plan probably was to just bury it for the time being - and then Virgil was presumed dead for a week. Not that Elwood nessecarily believed that, but they also didn’t not believe it. He simply clung onto inaccceptance - if he didn’t accept the option of Virgil being gone, then maybe it wasn’t real.

And then Virgil showed back up in the library, and confided in Elwood about the void sickness, and suddenly a mess of feelings - love and fear and worry - bubbled over and even though Elwood didn’t mean to confess, he indirectly did by blurting out the one solid truth he came to realize over the previous week sitting in Virgil's office, not talking to anybody, just alone with their own thoughts. He would not accept a world that Virgil was not in.

I didn’t want Elwood confessing to be like... him just saying "I love you" or "I'm in love with you" or "I like you" - those are things he feels, but he doesn't know how to articulate how he feels a lot of the time. This is heavily based on how my experience with the combination of being autistic and demiromantic impacts how I process and experience emotions. Sometimes I know the word for an emotion, but it's not enough. One word does not even get close to describing how emotions feel. And I wanted to express that with Elwood. He does love Virgil, but to them I don't think the word has the same weight as saying that Virgil is kind and a good person that they refuse to live without. Describing how an emotion feels, what he thinks, how he experiences being around Virgil is more impactful to him than just saying one small four-letter-word.

I loved seeing everybody's reactions to the lore and I am sending you all hearts and I am so excited to get to keep telling Elwood's story and to create some depiction of aroacespec relationships that I can confidently say feel truthful to how I experience those identities.

💕💕💕💕💕

Also obviously I am excited for the Angst. Void sickness makes brain go brrrrrr fr fr.

[snowseasonmademe]

I wanna know is who is your ultimate celeb husband because it seems like you have a lot of sides and not a main one😂

this is a great question :) let’s break everyone into boyfriends and husbands and then pick the top one for each.

rules:

everyone is starting at a 20/20 bc they all meet the base requirements for each category

the points given and taken are based off of vibes, zodiac signs, their looks, and what i know of them and their personalities.

enjoy ;)

————————————————————————

husbands (requirements: be 12+ years older than me, be fine, be from any other country than the u.s., be black, have tattoos)

lewis 🥇 (39/20) - im gonna be extremely nice and disregard the dog video i just saw. +5 points for the tats .and he’s hot for a shorty so +1 for that. very good style +3. +2 bc he’s an earth sign but -1 cause cap men are just horrible. but +3 for his accent (it’s questionable sometimes, he may or may not be american sometimes idk). he’s the goat so +6.

damson (35/ 20) - phenomenal actor +5. sexy ass accent +3. funny +2. +2 points for having good music taste. +3 points bc he’s a fellow earth sign.

skepta (18/20) - okay so he’s a rapper and lord knows they aren’t faithful so automatic -12 for that. adding back +3 for the tats. he’s my favorite uk rapper so +4 for that. great style +2 more. i also really like his voice to +1.

virgil (14/20) - yall know a love a water sign but he’s had a history of infidelity so the water sign points cancel out. so -12 for that. but +3 for the tats. the marriage and kids ruin my daydreams so -3 more for that. very great player/captain so +4. +2 bc he has a fine pair of legs in him.

~~~~~~~~~~

boyfriends (requirements: be 2-5 years older than me, be fine, be an athlete)

aurélien🥇 (43/20) - my first french boyfriend. +4 for being the first in addition to the +5 for being french. body is *chef’s fucking kiss* delectable +5. is the oldest +2. loves american more than i do +1. can play the piano +1. -1 bc his style is a bit off sometimes. adding the 2 back for having a good dog (that he doesn’t eat off of). family man +4.

jude (41/20) - my first ever soccer bf +5. godly body +3. i like his accent +3. carries his team +4. gives us content +1. momma’s boy -2 (no shade but that usually doesn’t end well). on that same notes, family man +3. cancer +2. likes to kiss and hug +2 lol.

jules (36/20) - my second french boyfriend. +5 for being french. +3 for his perfect chest. +4 for the impeccable style. his nose is really cute so +1 for that. pretty eyes +2. actually gives us content +1.

ibou (34/20) - most recent addition to my french bfs. +5 for being french. i love his teeth +3. juicy legs +4. funny +2. serious about his faith and i think it’s really cute +1. gemini tax -1.

klay (31/20) - although he is 15 years older than me he didn’t have tats so he’s here and not there. also he just doesn’t give me husband, yk? my favorite basketball player of all time +5. funny +3. can be an air head sometimes -1. but weirdly smart +2. thinks aquarius is a water sign -1. can drive a boat +3.

levi (30/20) - has tats +3. sassy -2. always gives boyfriend unintentionally all the time +4. i like his accent +3. (i think i need to watch more chelsea games y’all bc i feel like i should have more for him). his name is absolutely top tier +2. (100% moanable)

note: this took me absolutely way to damn long omggg. but let me say i didn’t expect lewis to win the husbands honestly, i thought it would be damson. and i didn’t think levi would rank so low. i need to get more into him fr. let me know where i should take away or add any points and feel free to do this in the comments or on your blogs with your husbands and boyfriends 💋.

[virgil-isnt-a-lee]

If all the Sanders Sides characters were switches, what percentage of Ler/Lee would you hc them as? (Bonus points if you include Picani and Sleep)

Virgil is pretty easy, I'd give him about 75/25 lee/ler. I 100% see him with a huge lee lean, but don't underestimate him as a ler! C'mon he makes such a good ler, he absolutely plays off the anticipation and shit, and he and Roman get into tkl fights ALL the time, and someone's gotta bring princey down a peg or two, no? As a lee, he's just the cutest little shit ever, definitely tries not to giggle and fails.

Logan, hmm.. maybe 65/35 ler/lee. Definitely ler leaning when he indulges in the playfulness, but he's very methodical as a ler, he does that slight smile as he gets someone's worst spot, definitely. Makes mental notes of their reactions too. But also he gets tickled frequently when he's been working too much (usually by Patton, Roman, or Janus)

Patton is a solid 55/45 ler/lee, like ALMOST an even 50/50, but just slightly more ler leaning. Listen, he loves laughing and making the other sides laugh, even though he is the resident tickle monster and he 100% gets evil tickle monster moods, he always ends up wrecked too, and he loves both very much, but he's morality, and he just slightly loves making the other sides laugh more

Roman is an even 50/50, okay? He may start most of the tickle fights, but let's be so fr, at least half of those he starts because he wants to be tickled and he won't admit it outright. Very playful and teasy ler, probably calls the others princes or some other noble title while tickling them. Definitely curls up into a ball when he's tickled

Janus is like a good 80/20 ler/lee. He's got no problem wrecking the others, though he sometimes feels a little less secure when he's the lee, though he enjoys it occasionally. He usually only lees in three scenarios; Remus is bored and no one else is around, he didn't wreck his lee into being too tired to get revenge, or he really looks like he needs it. Very methodical ler, like Logan, but he's very teasy, unlike Logan (usually)

Remus is like 60/40 ler/lee, like Roman, he starts a lot of tickle fights, but not always because he wants tickles. A lot of things time, he just wants the chaos, the noise and laughter and adrenaline. And the tickles. As a ler, he's teasy but mostly focuses on making the lee laugh as loud as he can (he does know when to stop) as a lee, he is very squirmy but very happy and teasy, laughs really loudly and unrestrained, too.

Now I don't know too much about Emile, but I know enough to say he's probably lee leaning with a super cute laugh, so I'll give him about 70/30 lee/ler, because he and patton definitely have tickle fights.

Remy though, listen I love Remy. He's a solid 75/25 ler/lee. The other sides (really just picani) might try to tickle him out of bed, and it'll wake him up, but he'll just pull him back down into bed and tickle him until he agrees to take a nap with him.

Send me more asks y'all 😭

[typingatlightspeed]

Oh barracks bunnies is so good, I'm sad it's over but glad I got to read it :)

The last chapter,,, ohhhh the last chapter,, Bea, my queen, get his ass! figurative and literally! Oh it was so good I loved the argument and the whole lead up to the sex part! She really taught him a lesson on being a good leader AND made sure he would remember it!!! I love how you show that they really trust each other and I'm also glad to know that all TF industries mercs have always been freaky

The whole sex part was so good! The way you describe Bea's body makes me wish that she would sit on my face too ngl, amazing! I remember reading the previous chapter where Cheavy went over all the things he'd like to do with Bea in bed and I love that some of those actually happened (mostly the last one with her domming him but like yk :) !!

The end was great: short, sweet, and education because I did not know that the USA anthem being star spangled banner was such a recent thing! I love Bea's whole energy during that scene as well, walking in with his clothes on was a power move and I love that for her!!

Are you planning to do anything else with the tfc mercs in the future? Or something similar to barracks bunnies with a different set of mercs/different part of the TF2 cast? (outside of mi, I'll have to catch up on that!!) I'd be delighted to see if you do something like this again!

Amazing as always, you impress me every time!! Were I a braver user I'd go off anon but alas, I am not, so for now it's just long asks, hope you don't mind :)

I'm glad you enjoyed, anon! :D I had fun writing it; I just wish I hadn't written a couple chapters before just not being a person for a few weeks because of the death march to Smissmas that is working in a meat room during the holidays lmao. I was going nuts not having the time or energy to write the rest for so long!

The "argument" (if you can call it that; it was more of a dressing-down than anything lol) was a lot of fun to write. Bea just UNLOADING on his stubborn ass was so nice, and because it was someone he respects, he listened even before she hammered the lesson into him (oh hohohoho). Bea's pedagogy is top notch, lmao.

Ehehe thanks! Considering it was such a big climax (heh) of the fic, I put a lot of love into writing the sex scene. Bea being a hardass but also both of them having a lot of fun, yanno? I definitely wanted to hammer home that Bea's a built, broad, thick-ass fat woman and deeply sexually attractive to the guys she's fuckin' BECAUSE of that, not in spite. And tbh I'd let her smother me with her cunt any day lol. But yes! Some of Cheavy's fantasy came true! Good for him. :3

Okay so fr? Same on the anthem thing??? I wanted some kind of random relatively recent event for the mercs to just kinda banter about to set the scene, and I looked up a lil list of major events that happened in the early 30s, saw that, my brain broke, and so I went and looked it up in more detail and yeah. 1931. Absolutely bonkers. So I knew that had to be what I used. I like sprinkling fun trivia in with my pornography. <3 And Bea walking in with his clothes! Which of course means Cheavy had to do the walk of shame back to his room butt-ass naked. Lucky for him everyone else was in the rec room, lol

I don't have any specific hard plans, but if ideas come to me I'll deffo write 'em. I have the vague inclination of writing something with Virgil as a team bicycle thanks to the deeply sexy art of rawmehn on bluesky, who's drawn him being a pathetic subby bottom getting railed by Spy and Medic and tbh I'm on board with it. >:3 As far as similar stories with other characters, yeah probably at some point. Saxton slutting his way around MannCo could be kinda fun. Monstrous Intent is of course chock fulla that kinda stuff, including trains and group sex and gangbangs and the such.

Thank you so much for your kind words. It means the world and I'm deeply, deeply flattered. <3 Srs I can't say thanks enough. And hey anon if you're skittish that's not a problem. I adore these long asks, they make my day and my week. <3

[the-void-has-questions]

HELLO FROM THE HALLOWOODS MY LOVE YOU HAVE RETURNED!!!!! Here’s my thoughts on the new ep: (spoilers ahead for 141, ofc)

nik, i also wish things had gone differently but. Could they have?

OOH SOMETHING IS DIFFERENT!!! NEW!!!

puck sounds like me. What.

Ooooooohhhhh oh my god what is going on

I do NOT like the spores but okay!

Look I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to hear about Olivier or Diggory but. This is gonna be fun and I’m looking forward to it nonetheless!

Ooh puck is not fully human I don’t know why I’m surprised!!!

WHAT is going on

Puck, darling, you’re delightfully full of bad decisions.

IRENE?!??????

Wait fr are we getting a big bad rn??

MORE MUSIC THEMED BIG BADS???????

Shelby!!! Hello!!!!!!!

Oh no

Mr Greenstreak is so right to call cops pigs, but also the fact that they have a precinct? Running water?? When and where ARE we,,?

VIRGIL??? COLE???? HELLO???? So we’re not THAT far in the future but at least ten years

SCOUT CITY???????????

Fischer lane. Symphony of ghosts. Fuck you.

Okay who is the Boss? Violet? Bern?? Probably not… but??? It’s a scout. “Grey blue eyes like glass storm clouds” and a Scoutpost jacket!

SAXOPHONE PLAYER

What.

CEBELSGSGK

Clem. It’s Clem.

I need a minute

Good god, girl. Jumpscare warning!! now WHERE IS YOUR SISTER.

OOH who are you??

God, I love love love puzzles….

?? Oh. Ain’t that horrific.

Mx. wellman, you have a uniquely beautiful way of peppering in world building in a way that obscures it from the audience without making it frustrating

OH HI NIKIGNIK

MAROLMARR??? HELLOOOO??? WHAT THE FUCK.

Oh. Clem dearest… I’m happy to hear a familiar voice <3

Marolmaar reborn and reborn?

I wanna sub to the patreon so badddd but I have No Money to spare rn. One day….

I’m so happy. Literally ecstatic!!! You’re back!!! NEW PUZZLES!!!!! YEAHHHHH BOYYYY

That was a truly wonderful episode!! I can’t wait to see more of marolmar and also figure out how to spell his name!!

[demisofphoenixdrop]

hello! could i hear about 5, 6, and 11 for the ask game?

ABSOLUTELY! Thank you, kind stranger :)

5 - Favorite Minor Character

My favorite minor characters? Oooh y'all-

I'm an Emmalyn lover fr. She's autistic. She's a sweetheart. I love her. I can and will kill for Cadenza. My beloved.

Btw big fan of my friend's crack ship of Emmalyn and Nana (y'all should ask me about that <3)

6 - Favorite Skins

Y'all remember Laurance's baby shower fit? That. Specifically after his hair got fluffy and they were rocking around Malachi's castle.

Also LOVE Aph's princess dress she got from the shadow knight lady in Pikoro(?)

Oh!! And everything Lucinda ever wore ever. I love her.

And Zoey's timeskip clothes! Basically everyone's timeskip clothes are gorgeous.

11 - rewrite, redesign, and/or reinterpretation

Okay- so-

I don't have a current rewrite. I do, however, have my own canon. It's mostly a playground for my ocs tbh.

That being said-

I love shadow knights. I love their mechanics and made my own rules for them.

So-

Shadow Knights are people who have had their soul ritually torn and removed. When someone is sacrificed on an alter to the shadow lord, they die. Their soul is extracted and half of it is given to the shadow lord for power. The other half is used to reanimate the dead. This grants them strength, speed, and some magic - a la The Shadow Knight Form.

Shadow knights complete their ritual by slaying either a loved one, someone they had an oath to, or just...so many innocent people. So, some SKs come back and off their spouses or their lords or like- burn an orphanage. Classic stuff, really. And bada bing bada boom, you got yourself a fully realized shadow knight!

Unrelated but another Danni Rewrite thing-

Brian betrays PD in my version because he is sick of living in a small town where nothing happens and he's living under his father's shadow. Also, Zane promised he could help Brian come into power.

Sometimes, though, Brian betrays PD because he's trying to woo one of the guards - my oc, Virgil - but they are more loyal to their village than Brian.

This, depending on the work I'm writing, leads to Virgil killing Brian and becoming a full shadow knight because they did truly love him, but they couldn't let him destroy the town that took them in.

I should really start drawing mcd again-

Keep up the asking!!

[prince-rowan-of-the-forest]

Dragon Quest (chapter 2)

----

Virgil and Remus find Roman and Janus. Virgil just happens to be accepted... again... by a group he never thought he'd get to be a part of again.

----

| Ao3 |

<- Previous Chapter

Warnings: none

Pairings: romantic roceit, platonic anxceitmus, prinxiety and creativitwins

Word count: 1847

Notes:

It's been a while but it's finally here! You can thank @doteddestroyer for that honestly, this was requested, and I swear that's the only reason I've actually been able to sit down and do writing.

I swear, the people pleaser in me can be helpful sometimes.

Regardless this hasn't been edited but I hope you enjoy anyway!

----

“What the fuck!” Janus yelled as he was hoisted into the air by arms secured tightly around his waist. He could barely hear a thing over the wind in his ears and the wingbeats above him. Looking down he could see Remus and Virgil becoming more and more speck-like by the second as he was lifted higher and higher. 

Looking up, his vision of the sky was obscured with all too familiar red wings.

“Roman?” Janus yelled, trying to keep his tone questioning, but voice loud enough to be heard over the winds, “What’s going on?”

He didn’t get an answer beyond Roman's arms around his waist tightening and a rumbling growl that Janus could feel from where his back was pressed to presumably Roman’s chest. 

A look back to the rocky outcropping that he’d been snatched from he found that he could barely see Remus and Virgil anymore. He hoped that they’d follow and ‘rescue’ him, considering the storyline of the quest now seemed pretty clear to Janus. A damsel in distress captured by a fearsome dragon - your typical fairytale.

Though he did hope that wasn’t exactly right, if Roman had characterised himself in that way they’d have to have another talk about his self image. 

Janus could think about that later, hopefully when he wasn’t dangling thousands of feet in the air, supported only by his dragon-boyfriend’s arms in a princess dress. 

He was taken to the mountains - well at least Virgil and Remus were headed to the right spot - and dumped quite unceremoniously into a rather large pile of plush blankets and duvets and pillows. When Roman landed - and he could confirm now that it was Roman who had kidnapped him thank goodness, Janus found that he looked more dragon that he had when he’d last seen him. 

There were red scales on his face and neck and his pupils were slits - almost like a cat. He had a tail, that swayed behind him as he walked, and Janus hated to think that he’d suffered without them here whilst it had grown in. He wasn’t speaking either, but that was understandable, Virgil and Remus had both acted much more like their animals during this period for them as well - both to the point where the hadn’t talked. 

Roman paced in the cave entrance for a while and eventually Janus thought he would entertain himself by testing the limits of his clear imprisonment. 

First he picked up a blanket and draped it over himself, earning no more than a warning glance from Roman. Next he stood up slowly, which did get his boyfriend’s attention, though he simply watched with narrowed eyes, almost daring him to push it further. 

The moment he attempted to step off of the blanket next, Janus found himself on his back in the fluffy nest, his boyfriend on top of him, pinning him down with hands on his chest. 

“Okay okay,” Janus said, despite Roman’s growl, “Don’t leave the nest, got it.”

Instead of letting him go properly, though, Roman just backed up and lifted Janus up - if you heard him yelp in surprise no you didn’t - and brough him back to the middle of the pile and sat down, placing Janus firmly in his lap and wrapping him up in a tight hug - wings included. 

To be fair, Janus didn’t mind all that much. Roman radiated heat like a lit hearth and the warmth enveloping him had him melting into Roman within a second. 

Roman, even with his dragon brain, seemed content enough to bury his face in Janus’ hair - left free by his costume’s annoying lack of hat - and near purr as he held him close. 

“You’re not a terrifying dragon at all, are you,” Janus murmured, gently running his fingers over the scales that coated Roman’s neck and half-exposed shoulders, “You’re just as much a cuddle-bug as normal Roman.”

A pleased purr escaped Roman in response as he wrapped Janus closer with his wings. Well, he could certainly get used to this for a short while. He just wondered how Virgil and Remus were doing right now. 

—-

It had taken them nowhere near as long as Virgil had expected for them to reach the mountains. 

Remus told him it was just the way the imagination worked, which he wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of though it made sense. Roman probably didn’t want them to take a week to get here. 

“So… we climb?” Virgil asked, dismounting his horse - who he’d grown kind of fond of throughout their journey. He’d been surprised that she hadn’t showed some more Remus-esque features during their journey, but that might just be Roman’s imagination messing with him. 

“Guess so,” Remus shrugged. 

“Oh-” Virgil said after actually taking a glance around, “Or we could take the path-”

Remus snorts, rolling his eyes, “Of course RoRo made a super-safe path, his quests are always so easy.”

Virgil almost punched him when they heard the rumble of thunder ahead. Almost, because he still needed his guide. 

It had begun to rain shortly after they’d started their trek up the mountain pass, making the path slippery and dangerous. Virgil constantly willing himself not to slip seemed to be doing well for him in this situation, and then the wind had picked up, pushing back his hood and giving him a facefull of rain and making Remus laugh. Virgil might’ve pushed him off the pass if they weren’t trying to find Roman, who would likely be upset if Virgil killed his brother. 

“Fuck you, Remus,” Virgil hissed, when the mountains started throwing rocks at each other, because Roman sure did enjoy his fanfiction. 

“What??” Remus yelled, “It isn’t my fault Roman likes the Hobbit??”

“You fucking jinxed us!” Virgil yelled back over te crash of thunder - and rocks - “You said this would be easy!!”

“It will be,” Remus yelled back, “We just gotta find- over there! A cave!”

“Thank god,” Virgil sighed, carefully making his way along the precarious path towards the cave. Crossing his fingers that the mountain giants were where the references to Tolkein would end. He might have a few weapons on him but he wasn’t sure he and Remus would be able to face off against a goblin kingdom alone.

—-

Virgil collapsed into the cave without looking around, sighing in relief to be out of the rain. He immediately unfastened the cloak he was wearing and dumped it, uncaring to the quest costume. He wasn’t wearing that soaked thing any longer than he had to. 

“Virge,” Remus whispered, poking him in the arm.

“What,” Virgil hissed back, before Remus gestured into the cave and Virgil finally looked, expression slowly morphing into something more fond as he looked at the scene in front of him. 

Roman had wrapped himself around Janus, who seemed to be alternating between playing games on his phone and petting Roman’s hair like he was an oversized cat. They looked incredibly peaceful in what looked to be a blanket nest, and Virgil and Remus shared a look and shrugged before starting to walk forward. 

As soon as Remus took a step, though, Roman’s head snapped up and his slit pupils narrowed as he stared at them. Janus looked over, startled, but he relaxed when he saw them and waved. Awkwardly, Virgil waved back. 

“Hey RoRo,” Remus said, tilting his head, “What’s up?”

Roman stood up from the nest and practically pounced Remus - grabbing him and dragging him back over to the nest. Virgil yelped in surprise at the sudden movement, stepping back and staring wide eyed as Roman dropped him next to Janus and settled down, wrapping his wings securely around both of them. 

Was Roman… purring? Virgil remembered, vaguely, when he had first ‘gone spider’ - hut he’d isolated himself and attacked anyone who tried to come into the forest. He knew he’d attacked Remus at one point, though he didn’t actually remember doing it. 

But even though his mind seemed to be taken over by the ‘beastie’, Roman still seemed content to cuddle up to his boyfriend and brother. Janus had an arm wrapped around him, no doubt revelling in the warmth, while Remus was uncharacteristically quiet as he leant up against his brother, but Virgil didn’t quite think it was a bad thing. 

“So um,” Virgil said, clearing his throat after about a minute of standing there awkwardly, “I just- I’ll be going, then?”

Roman looked up and huffed, a cloud of smoke filling the air in front of him which Remus waved away with a giggle before looking over at him. 

“The quest isn’t over,” Janus said, cryptically. 

“What?” Virgil asked, frowning.

Remus nodded, “Janny’s right, we’re all still dressed up, so it’s not over.”

“Well maybe it’ll end once I leave? You guys are pretty happy there…” Virgil said hesitantly as he frowned. If he was honest with himself, which he rarely was - especially when what he wanted was concerned - he’d really like to join the strange dragon cuddle pile. 

“Of course,” Janus said, “Because you can definitely just leave a quest.”

Virgil’s frown deepend, because what was he supposed to do then?

“Come join us!” Remus exclaimed, before everyone turned to look at Roman, who simply started purring again and pulled Remus closer, “I think that’s an agreement Virgie!”

“Uh- really?” Virgil asked, hesitant, “I dont…”

“Stop being gloomy and come over here,” Janus said, waving him over. Virgil still hesitated, but slowly walked over. When he attempted to step onto the blanket nest, though, Roman’s tail came out of nowhere and tripped him up, causing him to yelp and fall forwards. 

Instead of crashing unceremoniously into the ground like he expected, Virgil found himself caught by both Janus and Remus, who both helped to lower him more carefully onto the blanket pile. 

He sat there awkwardly, for a moment, before Roman reached out and grabbed him, pulling him properly into the pile of blankets and fluff. 

“I suppose he wants you here,” Janus said, shooting a knowing look at Virgil, who huffed and rolled his eyes. Silently grateful that Janus said anything at all. 

—-

Hours later, after Roman and Remus had both fallen asleep, Virgil felt a weird tingling as his quest outfit morphed back into his normal clothes. He glanced over at Janus, who looked embarrassed to be caught hugging his own hat, which he hastily placed back on his head. 

“This is nice, you know,” Janus whispered into the silence, “Truthfully.”

“Yeah it- it really is,” Virgil whispered back after a moments hesitation.

Another minute of silence passed, only broken up by Roman’s snoring - releasing puffs of smoke every time he breathed out - before Janus spoke again, “You definitely shouldn’t come visit us more often. I don’t think Roman would appreciate it at all.”

Virgil couldn’t find words to say for a long moment, eventually, he just sighed, “Do you guys do movie nights?”

Janus nodded, already smiling, “Every Friday, darling, like we always have.”

“I'll see you Friday, then.”

Janus nodded and relaxed into Roman's hold, "I'll be counting on it."

----

Tags: @full-of-roman-angst-trash @reptilianrapscallion420 @your-local-random-dino @cutebisexualmess @glacierruler @roseianxiety @bella-bugatti-frogetti-baguetti (if anyone wants to be added, let me know!)

[t4tails]

Okay, but like... canon explanation of how Richie became a Bang Baby, that name, is that he came into close contact with Virgil soon after the bang but like... hmm, Richie, how much of Virgil's clothes did you have to sniff and whiff to get enough Bang Baby smoke? Is there anything you want to share with the class Richie?

SKDHSJSBWJBDE no but fr if just close proximity so soon after could make you a bang baby then why didnt anything happen to virgils sister 🤔 hmmm side eyes richie. makes you think

[dadswithipads]

Live reacting to the third episode of season 4 of static shock

Yes Africa. I love Virgils character so much especially right now in these first few episodes I've seen of season 4. He's just grown so much I love him, he's just as stubborn.

SHARON!! love her. I love the directing that 2D cartoons get in the episodes It's so much different than live action it's so much more fun. Like imagine these shots in a live-action show it would be so jarring. Virgil being intuitive. "Ssstatic" "ssssurpise". Lmao Virgil never change. Gear! I thought it was gonna hit the bee not protect Gear but Okay, Static. The animation is so much better this season oh my gosh. And the 3rd. NOO THE BANNER ITS BROKEN. So Virgil can just Shield people now. Okay. Anansi!!!

He blew up his garage! Richard. Lmao. Uh OH. I love Robert Hawkins. Poor Doc. Uh oh fr. Aww Sharon. Its just an illusion. "Im not looking for Virgil nerd boy, Im looking for you." Lmao. Okay. Season 4 really likes parallels so far.

I love the way they both sit on Statics Shield. Lmao Richie. I thought Lindsay Lohan was playing for a minute. NOOOO THE WALL ITS BROKEN.

Awwwwwww Richie protecting Sharon. I just. Its so sweet. He doesnt get chance do this stuff. He used to want to be a fireman lol. No Sharon. Virgil I love you. Omg. But he's static couldn't he have just walked in? "I too have often wondered about the stripes". LMAO.

Oh I get the name of the episode now. Aw Virgils little thumbs up and his smile to Richie. Daww. Lets go Sharon. Bisexual sitting by our resident bi, Virgil.

Lets go music. Virgil lmao.

[xoiue]

IM SSO SORRY I MISSED THIS I HAD TO GO THR9UGH MY EMAIL TO FIND THIS😭😭 THANK YOU FOR THE TAG @moon-mage!!!! <333

9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better

3 ships I like: Vil Shoenheit/Rook Hunt (my beloved morticia/gomez dynamic...), Wednesday Addams/Tyler Galpin (there it is again!), Arrlechino/Furina (im starting to see a trend here and honestly it was lowk a cannibal fic that got me hooked onto this ship. pls don't judge me)

first ship: Brick/Blossom. but the first that i actively participated in the fandom for (fics and ect) was the sandersides Virgil/Princey. that was my comfort ship and 8 yr old me fr cried to that

last song: chance with you by mehro. been among my favs for 2 yrs

favorite childhood book: THE WHATEVER AFTER SERIES‼️‼️ that was like an awakening, okay? whatever after -> ever after high -> descendants -> once upon a time -> twisted wonderland.

currently reading: ao3, Dark Dreamer by Randomshite, The Promised Queen by CatherinewithaK! i have both thos tabs open and am reading them simultaneously

currently watching: uhhh idr watch stuff tbh but i am watching itsfunneh w my lil cousin

currently consuming: sashimi from yesterday's bday party. old fish makes me gag but i needed to finish it 🤷

currently craving: a spine extractor and a uterus remover (periods suck)

tagging (no pressure): @breeznx11, @oya-oya-okay, @edith-is-a-cat, @rayroseu, @fruixtii, and anybody else that'd like to join!

9 Fandom Peeps to Get to Know Better

Thanks for the tag @lovelyllamasblog <33

3 ships I like: LeoVil no kidding (Leona / Vil - Twisted Wonderland) Xehaqus ( Xehanort / Eraqus - Kingdom Hearts) XueXiao (Xue Yang / Xiao Xingchen - Mo Dao Zu Shi)

First Ship: Ooof let’s see… Scrooge x Goldie? Huge fan of The life and Time of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa, I read it A LOT when I was a kid and well, the Klondike arc was my favorite! Otherwise, probably Spike x Buffy from my teen years xD

Last Song: “Les gens qui n’ont pas d’enfants” by GiedRé

Favorite Childhood Book: Hard to say… but the first that flashes before my eyes is The Witches by Roald Dahl.

Currently Reading: ……Ao3. Witch Hat Atelier otherwise.

Currently Watching: The Empress season 2

Currently Consuming: Orange blossom water navette biscuits and clementines (Yes, I’m a Mediterranean girl.)

Currently Craving: Time. Or a clone. Let me draw my comics AND play BG3 please…

I tag (no pressure as always <3): @saph-y @eldstunga @mellosdrawings @tempo-takoyaki @broh3m3

[reverse-moon]

Okay so I posted the art before (oh fucking well) but now I have ✨ideas✨. [ OG post found here. ]

╔══════════════════════╗

N (B/W, B2/W2) - Patton

Sweetheart man

Grew up around Pokémon before Ghesis took him in, so he literally can understand Pokémon. Just not how people think he can

Doesn't wanna be Plasma King

Black(Hilbert)/White(Hilda) needs to understand he's being used >:(

He actually doesn't "own" a Pokémon team, they just kinda help him willingly. The Pokéballs are a formality they endure

Just wants peace

Lowkey hates Ghesis with every fiber of his being

He knows his stuff

He acts dumb bc Ghesis doesn't think he know shit

100% punched Ghesis after B/W was over

Black(Hilbert)/White(Hilda) was the surprised Pikachu meme at that

Nate/Rosa are good friends with him later :3

╚══════════════════════╝

╔══════════════════════╗

Guzma (S/M, US/UM) - Remus

Yeah, he's an "evil team" leader

But its not exactly called Team Skull

It's call Team Ceph

But otherwise he's literally just Guzma and the team is literally just Team Skull

"Losers" trying to prove their worth

He's actually a super good trainer too

But his little brother is supposedly better so he did this.

He's really chill with Sun/Elio/Moon/Selene tbh

Yeah, they're brats, but their his friends so fuck off >:(

Kikui isn't too bad either.

He custom made platform sneakers, he's fancy like that.

╚══════════════════════╝

╔══════════════════════╗

Cynthia (D/P/P, BD/SP) - Logan

Research!

He's v powerful

He's also really into the history of Sinnoh

Despite his efforts, he's literally very recognizable (thank you, Fantia /sar)

He just wants to be in the library tbh

Dawn/Lucas giving him the chance to meet Palkia/Dialga/Giratina really made him happy (he'd never say it more than once tho)

He loves his Garchomp (she's his bby)

Also really into writing

Dawn/Lucas beat him, he spent literally all day in the next day reading and writing.

His grandmama is glad to have him help with her history and science and all that

He's actually really shy too, he just learned how to interact bc Champion.

Let him be-

╚══════════════════════╝

╔══════════════════════╗

Zinnia (ORAS) - Janus

Lorekeeper of the Draconid people

They hate his ass

All because he's got burns and heterochromia :(

He's actually really nice

He was besties with the old Lorekeeper

He acts mean to Ruby/Sapphire and May/Brendon, but honestly he's so done with shit

He doesn't want to be a bad guy.

But he will be bc that the only way he can get shit done

This isn't a Comic Zinnia parallel either, this is game Zinnia he's like

He also learns p quick that Ruby/Sapphire is probably gonna be a good candidate to save the world

So at the top of the Sky pillar

Summons Rayquaza

And is like "Save the world I've done my part peace!"

He's currently just wandering the world

Probably has met Logan, Patton, Remus, Virgil and Roman at one point

Not that he stayed long with any of them

╚══════════════════════╝

╔══════════════════════╗

Gold/Ethan (G/S/C, HG/SS) - Roman

Nothing much changed

What did you expect? This a Protag role!! They're empty slates for a reason

Remus is his older brother tho

He low-key looks up to Remus actually

Big of heart, dumb of ass. Might become a himbo one day

Became Johto Champ

Wants to be the "greatest trainer"

Doesn't know what that means, but he wants it!

He's really sweet

╚══════════════════════╝

╔══════════════════════╗

Red (R/G/B/Y, FR/LG) - Virgil

He's a selective mute

Really loves his Pikachu

Will get violent (his Charizard actually held him back from Giovanni once)

So done with humanity

Became Kanto champ, then left bc "I'm not dealing with this, Green-"

Some people call him Purple bc he just never told them his name

He really doesn't care about that tho

"Purple the silent champ" sounds dope to him

Mount Silver actually doesn't fucking phase him with how cold it is

He kept his bedroom really fucking cold (59°F/15°C)

Also it gives him an excuse to eat warm calming food more often :D

Roman challenged him once and lost

And now he can't escape the trainer

Got dragged to Alola by Blue once

It wasn't bad

Too sunny and hot tho

Sun/Elio/Moon/Selene was nice to meet

Met Remus and talked about Roman and stuff

It was nice

"It's too hot, Blue." ❝That's because you're wearing black and very dark purple, dumbass.❞ ← Actually conversation between Virgil and Blue in Alola

Didn't changed to lighter colors though. He suffered for his theme

╚══════════════════════╝

And there you have it.

If I make Sleep, Emile, Thomas and Nico, it's gonna be way fucking later and I have no clue who I'd replace with them. Emile would probably be a Pokemon Professor (maybe Sycamore) and I feel like Nico would be a fun replacement for the artsy Alola trial cap, but idk.

Have fun with this and just credit/tag me should you do something with this shit.

:)

Also here, have the songs I got the idea from:

N's Theme (From "Pokémon Black/White")

Vs. Guzma (From "Pokémon Sun/Moon")

Vs. Cynthia (From "Pokémon Platinum")

Vs. Zinnia (From "Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire")

Dragon's Den/Vs. Trainer Red (From "Pokémon Gold/Silver")

Pokémon Musical Bytes - Complete Package

[snowdice]

Big Bang (Sort of) Editing Story [Day 60]

I started writing this fic while editing my Big Bang story, but am going to continue doing it for other things now that Kill Dear is out. I will write and publish 100 words of the story every time I finish doing whatever task I’m doing. If you’d like to block these proceedings, please feel free to block the tag proofread stories. I will reblog this post with the parts of the story I do today. Edited chapters are linked; everything else I’ve done so far is under the cut.

My Master Post Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27

Okay. Not sure how long I’ll go today, but let’s work on this for a bit. Just gotta finish this side quest and then we can get back to the plot. ;)

Chapter 28

Thomas did not have to be told that something had gotten Helen Heart in a tizzy. He could tell just by the amount of food she had sent up on his dinner tray. She always made and pushed more food when she was stressed, and he couldn’t help but chuckle when he found both a hearty serving of roast beef and a mini chicken pot pie on his plate along with three vegetable side dishes and a side of macaroni and cheese.

He could also guess what had happened to illicit such a response. Thomas had caught up to Jeffers Deknis in his garden and they’d spoken at length about Logan and Patton’s new friend.

There was no way that after said discussion, Jeff had not mentioned Virgil (and more importantly his friendship with Patton) to Helen during their daily gossip sessions. There was also no way that Helen had heard the words “child” and “too small” in a sentence and hadn’t flipped. From there the inevitable sequence of events was clear: Patton went home, Helen talked his ear off until he agreed to bring Virgil to meet her, Helen met him and immediately committed herself to making sure he ate three square meals a day as well as multiple snacks.

Thomas had sussed all of that out before the kitchen worker bringing him his dinner had mentioned what had happened that day.

 That in mind, he decided to wait until after dinner should have been cleaned up before walking his own dinner leftovers down to the kitchens.

Thomas was unsurprised to see Jeff already in the kitchen. He was sat at a small table off to the side where kitchen workers usually took their breaks. The only person other than Jeff and Helen left in the kitchen was a dishwasher who was finishing up. Helen usually spent a couple of hours after dinner in her kitchen or her office organizing for the next day and in case anyone needed food on an off hour, and then there was a night cook who would take over so she could go back to her set of rooms.

 Helen took the tray of leftovers from Thomas herself and shooed the dishwasher out of the way. “I’ll handle the rest myself,” she told the girl. “You can leave.”

She nodded and started to take her apron off. Helen dumped the tray on the counter without care and turned back around to usher Thomas into one of the kitchen chairs. Thomas went willingly and she turned to fill the tea kettle with water and set it on the stove.

“It take it she met Virgil,” Thomas said to Jeff.

“She’s adopted Virgil,” Jeff replied, taking a bite out of a cookie.

 “And what of it?” she asked. “Someone obviously needs to feed the boy. Speaking of, you’re grounding your son by the way.”

Thomas took one of the cookies for himself. “Why am I grounding Logan?” he asked.

“He was worried enough about his health to make him a nutrition potion, but still did not bring him to me,” she harrumphed.

“I see,” Thomas replied.

“In Logan’s defense,” Jeff interrupted. “the boy seems rather timid. He may have worried about you scaring him off.”

Helen slapped him with a dishtowel.

“Actually,” Jeff continued. “From what I’ve gathered he didn’t have contact with anyone since the time I saw him a couple of weeks ago until now.”

 “Any adults,” Thomas corrected with a frown. “I’m pretty sure he, Patton, and Logan must have been around each other considering how close they already seem to be.” He paused, “Logan implied he wasn’t particularly… comfortable around adults.”

“I did get that impression, yes,” Helen said, pouring the hot water from the kettle into a tea pot and carrying it and some cups over to the table.

“He was incredibly jumpy,” Jeff confirmed. “I imagine he does not have good experiences with many people, but he seems to have grown attached to Logan and Patton. He defers to them in most things and seemed a bit protective.

 “Where did he come from?” Thomas asked.

“I’m not sure,” Jeff said. “I found him hiding in the garden shed a couple of weeks ago.”

“Did he sneak in?” Thomas asked.

“That’s what I would have thought,” Jeff replied, “but when I asked, he said he wasn’t trying to steal anything and that he was supposed to be in the castle. So, I’d assumed that meant he was the child of someone living in the caste.”

“But neither of us could find anyone who knew him,” Helen said. “Of course, we didn’t even know his name until now.” She seemed to decide the tea leaves had sat long enough because she started to pour them each a cup of tea.

Thomas took a sip. “Earl Grey,” he commented. “I guess I’m not sleeping much tonight.” It was her ‘planning tea.’

 “We need a plan,” she said, “but we’re going to have to be gentle.”

“At least with Virgil,” Jeff said.

Thomas laughed lightly, “and what do you plan to do with the other two?”

“I have my ways.”

Helen rolled her eyes. “You say that,” she said, “but you’re too soft. The two of them learned to run circles around you and your powers years ago.”

“We should talk to them though,” Thomas said. “Separately from Virgil.”

“We should,” Helen agreed. “I already spoke to Patton a bit yesterday, but I will again. We should see if we can ask around and find out why he’s in the castle. We don’t even know how long he’s lived here. Or who brought him here.” The look on her face told Thomas she wanted to have a talk with his guardians whoever and wherever they were.

 Helen took a drink of tea, it seemed to calm herself. “We need to make sure whatever has been happening to him is not happening in these walls,” she said.

Thomas had honestly… not thought about that. He’d assumed whatever made Virgil so skittish was in the past, but it was possible that it was ongoing. The thought made him sick.

“Perhaps you should try to talk to him, Thomas,” Helen suggested.

Thomas winced. “I am not sure that is a good idea...”

“Why not?”

“We don’t have the best track record… I don’t think me being around him would be a good idea.”

 “Oh, please, Thomas,” Helen said disbelievingly.

“No, you don’t understand,” Thomas said. “He seems disproportionately afraid of me. I think it’s a mix of me being king and how we met.”

“How did you meet?” Helen asked.

“I… gave him a bit of a fright,” Thomas admitted. “Logan and Patton weren’t in the room and I didn’t know who he was. He… ended up under the bed. Then… the second time I saw him he accidently ran into me. He freaked out again.” The memory still made Thomas feel gross. It also made him think there was a lot more to his backstory than the three of them understood.

43410

“Perhaps Jeff can try to talk to him then,” Helen said. “It sounds like he was calmest around you. I’ll push Patton towards taking him to the garden more often. I bet fresh air would do him some good anyway.”

Jeff nodded. “I will try to talk to him a bit more.”

“Great,” Helen said, but Thomas already knew the conversation wasn’t over. “Now we need to talk about strategic events to throw over the next few months that Patton and Logan to invite Virgil to. We’ll start slow, but we need to make sure he feels welcome in the castle.”

Thomas met Jeff’s eyes. Yeah, it was going to be a long night.

  Chapter 29

Virgil finished eating the breakfast Patton’s mom had sent for him. It had been going on a week since she’d made the menu for him. She sent up little cards with each meal and he was supposed to rate each thing she sent on a scale from 1-5. Logan would read it to him before he ate, and Virgil mark the little box on the card. Usually, he would put a 4 for everything (he had tried to do 5, but Logan had told him 5 was reserved for things like chicken alfredo). Three was for things that he was neutral on, 2 was for things he didn’t like but could tolerate, and 1 was for things he didn’t like. So far, the only 3 was the unseasoned porridge she’d sent one day.

 “Finished?” Logan asked.

“Yeah,” Virgil said.

“What would you like to do today?” Logan asked. “Patton is busy until after lunch, and then we thought you might like to go back to the garden again. It’s supposed to drop in temperature over the next few days, so it will be the last good day for it.”

“Sounds good,” Virgil said. “I don’t care what we do today though.”

“Well, there are a few options,” Logan said.

“What do you want to do?” Virgil asked.

Logan made an expression, and Virgil titled his head. “I’m don’t have anything in particular I want to do,” he said.

“You’re lying,” Virgil said immediately.

 “You would not be interested in the activity I wish to partake in,” Logan said.

Virgil squinted at him. “I’d be interested in laying on the ground and staring at the ceiling.”

Logan chuckled. “No, truly. The activity I would do if you were not present would involve reading.”

“You can read to me,” Virgil suggested.

“…In Sanskrit.”

Virgil frowned at him. “Isn’t that, like, some sort of dead language?”

“It is,” Logan said. “I taught myself to read it to read a specific book called the Pragilium Text. It’s an encoded book that leads to a magical location that I have been trying to decode for years.”

 “That’s fine,” Virgil said. “You can do that.”

“It would be in the library,” Logan said.

“Okay.”

“But…” Logan said. “It would in no way be interesting to you.”

Virgil shrugged. “Like I said. I’m content to lie on the floor for a few hours.”

Logan frowned. “I can’t make you do that.”

“You wouldn’t be making me,” Virgil said. “I want to go. Maybe you can find me an easy book I could try to read?”

“Are you certain?” he asked.

Virgil nodded, decisively.

“Very well, get dressed and I will show you the library.”

Virgil stood to do so and a few minutes later, Logan was leading him out of the royal wing.

 Both of the guards greeted him kindly, and Virgil hunched his shoulders in a bit, but said a soft “hi.”

The library didn’t end up being too far away. It was through the small dining hall and to the left where the staircase to the kitchen was to the right.

“This is not the main library,” Logan said. “It is just a smaller one. The royal librarian comes here only about once a week to organize. Some other castle residents might come in too, but it is usually mostly empty.” Virgil could tell just by listening for a few seconds that the place was likely empty (unless someone was lying in wait).

 “I’ll look and see if there is something simple for you in case you’d like to read. You can explore a bit if you’d like,” Logan said.

Virgil nodded and stalked off into the shelves to secure the area. There were many books, not that he could quite read any of the spines. The bookcases were mostly cramped into the space. There was the open area where they’d come in with a few comfy chairs and Virgil found a desk near one of the windows. It had stacks of books including one pretty large and old one. He looked at it curiously.

 Virgil heard Logan’s footsteps approach from down an aisle. “That’s the Pragilium text,” he said.

“It’s pretty,” Virgil said, looking at the design etched into the cover.

“Yes,” Logan agreed. He reached forward to touch it and opened it carefully. The print was small and didn’t look like the letters Logan had taught him so far. There was a small map on the side that Virgil could at least guess at the meaning of.

“You can read that?” Virgil asked.

“I can,” Logan said. “Very few people can though.”

“Wow, you’re really smart.”

“Thank you,” Logan said with a smile.

 “Now,” Logan continued. “I found you a book. I apologize as its subject matter is for younger children, but it has many pictures that can help give you context when you don’t know something. You don’t have to read it if you do not wish to, especially as we haven’t gotten very far in our lessons, but I thought you might like the challenge.

He handed him the book and Virgil took it with a smile. “I’ll try to read it,” he said.

“Well, you have free reign of the library. Feel free to continue to explore and to interrupt me if you need to.”

 Virgil nodded and took the book before deciding to finish his sweep of the library. It turned out that appearances were not deceiving, and the library truly was empty. Once he was certain about that, he looked around for a comfortable place to settle down and try to read the book Logan had handed him. He found a sturdy looking bookshelf near where Logan was reading at his desk. He scaled it quickly. It was a little bit dusty at the top, but it wasn’t a bad place. It was close to the ceiling and kept him hidden pretty well, but still gave him enough room to pop up onto his elbows. If he looked left, he could see Logan down bellow with his head in the book, but if he looked right, he could see the entrance to the library.

 He pulled the book in front of him and looked at the cover. It was covered in drawings of different colored flowers. One simple white flower was in the center and there were three words on the cover. He squinted at it and silently tried to sound it out based on what Logan had taught him so far. He could guess that the larger word was ‘flowers’ based on context. So, he was pretty sure it read How Flowers Grow.

He flipped open the book. Logan was right, there were many hand drawn beautiful pictures. He could pretty much understand what was happening just from them even if he couldn’t read all of the words.

 It was an interesting book even if he couldn’t read it and it was obviously made for small children. Judging by the pictures it seemed to be detailing how plants, or at least, flowers grew through some kid planting and caring for a flower over the course of some amount of time.

Virgil had, of course, known flowers grew from seeds, but it was interesting to see things about how the stem would pop out of the seed in the ground and things about the roots growing.

He more looked through the pictures than read it the first time but had flipped back to the front to try to read the words when he heard the library door open.

 Virgil perked up in awareness, but then settled when he recognized Patton’s footsteps. Virgil tilted his head to watch as he walk directly to Logan’s hideaway.

“Hi,” he said, gaining Logan’s attention.

“Hello, Patton,” Logan replied. He glanced at the window and must have seen that time had passed because he closed his book and shuffled his papers.

“The guards said you came here,” Patton said, glancing around. “Where’s Virgil?”

Instead of letting Logan answer that question, Virgil pulled himself forward, with the book in one hand and slid off the bookshelf to land lightly on his feet next to Patton.

Patton screamed before slapping a hand over his mouth.

 Logan had placed his hand over his heart. “Where on Earth did you come from?” he asked.

Virgil blinked at him and then pointed to the bookshelf he’d been on top of.

“How long were you up there?” Logan asked.

“Pretty much the whole time,” Virgil answered.

“I…” Logan said. “I didn’t even know.”

Virgil squinted at him. “You need to learn to look up.”

Patton giggled.

Virgil turned on him. “You need to learn to case the area.”

“Oh honey, your shirt is all covered in dust,” Patton said instead of responding to his very valid criticism. Virgil frowned. “Let’s get you changed and then go grab some lunch.”

“Lunch?” Virgil asked.

Patton chuckled and grabbed his hand. “Yes, sweetie, lunch. Then garden.”

“Fine,” Virgil said. “But you do need to learn to be more observant.

“Yes, yes, whatever you say,” Patton said.

Logan just rolled his eyes.

  Chapter 30

After lunch, Patton and Logan took Virgil out into the garden to walk around. They let Virgil lead them around wherever he wanted to in the garden. A bunch more flowers had died since the last time they’d been out here, and Patton felt sad despite having never felt very sad about that sort of thing before. But, Virgil seemed to really like the flower he’d found last time, so Patton thought he was probably sad on the boy’s behalf.

Of course, Patton thought, perking up, eventually it would be spring, and Virgil could get to not only see flowers but see all of the flowers grow. Patton couldn’t wait to see him amongst the garden then.

 Virgil took them wandering through the orchard for a while, but most of the trees had been stripped of their fruits. They ended up in the food garden after a bit, and Virgil finally seemed to decide on the direction instead of just ambling about.

A few seconds after Patton noticed Virgil seemingly decide on a destination, Patton noticed Mr. Deknis kneeling on the ground a few feet away. Had… had Virgil been looking for him? Patton wondered. That was adorable.

Mr. Deknis looked up as they approached and smiled at them.

“Hello, Mr. Deknis,” Patton said as they came closer.

 “Hello you three,” Mr. Deknis said. “Getting into trouble?”

“No,” Virgil said, shaking his head.

Mr. Deknis gave him a flash of a smile. “I know, I’m joking,” he said. “Especially since there isn’t much left in my gardens for certain princes to destroy with experiments.”

“Oh, okay,” Virgil said. He tilted his head. “What are you doing?”

“I’m getting the last of the acorn squash out,” Mr. Deknis replied. “It’s the last crop to get finished. Good thing too, it’s supposed to start snowing soon.”

Virgil looked down curiously at the dark green squash.

“Would you like to help me pick a couple?” Mr. Deknis asked.

 “Sure,” Virgil said, sounding interested. Mr. Deknis patted the ground beside him and Virgil knelt down to watch him.

“They’re not too difficult to harvest,” he said. “You just cut the fruit off the stem. You want to leave about a hand’s width of the stem left over which will help preserve moisture. The earlier harvests, I left in the field to cure in the sun for a couple weeks, but the frost’ll ruin them so we’ll take them inside the green house and let them sit in the sun for a bit there. We also want to keep the leaves. You’ll probably be eating those for dinner tonight since they have to be cooked up within about 24 hours after they’re picked. Patton’s mom makes a good side dish with them and she’ll be making some curry tomorrow, probably. Maybe some stew if there are some leftover.”

 “Put the squash in this wheelbarrow and the leaves into this pile, okay?” Virgil nodded and Mr. Deknis handed him the extra pair of gloves and shears he carried with him in case one set broke. “These might be a bit big on your, but they should work for now.”

Mr. Deknis looked up at Patton and Logan. “Would the two of you like to help?” he asked. “I can get some more equipment.”

“I can help out if you want, but you don’t need to stop and get more equipment just for me,” Patton said.

“The same for me,” Logan said.

“Well, if you’d like to help still, you can sort the leave. Give your mother a head start.”

 “Sure,” Patton said. He and Logan went to do that while Mr. Deknis and Virgil worked on cutting the squashes from the vine.

“What do you do during the winter?” Virgil asked curiously. “If this is your last crop.”

“Well, at the beginning, I mostly will be working on making sure things are stored correctly along with some of the kitchen staff. There’s some drying to do and some canning. After that’s done, I’ll spend some time organizing and planning. Then, before the spring comes, I’ll start preparing seedlings in the green house.”

“Seedlings?” he asked.

“I let seeds start to grow in the greenhouse that I replant once it gets warm enough.”

 “Why don’t you just plant them where they’re going?”

“I do for some,” he said, “but giving some a head start is good for them.”

Patton watched as Virgil continued to ask questions about gardening while working on harvesting the squash. Mr. Deknis continued to answer them in a calm, soft tone that Patton didn’t think he’d ever heard from the often gruff man before.

Patton wasn’t surprised when, after finishing getting most of the squash off of the vine, Mr. Deknis asked if Virgil wanted to help him with canning some pears in a couple of days. Virgil immediately looked over at Logan and Patton as though asking permission.

“Say yes if you want to Virgil,” Logan said.

 “Yes,” Virgil said as soon as he was given permission. Mr. Deknis smiled at him softly and started loading the last of the squash into the wheelbarrow. Patton offered to run the squash leaves to the kitchen while Logan and Virgil helped Mr. Deknis take the actual squash to the green house.

He dropped the leaves off to a kitchen worker since Mama was busy and headed back out to the garden. By the time he returned, Logan was already back from the green house and sitting by one of the more decorative trees near the castle.

“He’s exploring,” Logan said, nodding at the large patch of bushes.

 Patton chuckled. “I see.” He sat next to Logan. Every so often he’d hear the bushes rustle, but he couldn’t tell if it was actually Virgil or an animal.

“He’s adorable,” Patton commented, keeping an ear out.

Logan hummed.

“I’m glad we kept him.”

“He isn’t a pet, Patton.”

Patton rolled his eyes. “I know, but I’m still glad. I’m glad he’s making friends with Mr. Deknis. Once he knows how to read better, we should get him a book about gardening. He seems interested.”

Logan nodded. “Having a hobby would be good for him. Clearly he has a fascination with the garden.” He nodded to the blur of dark hair that could be seen through the bushes. It seemed Virgil had stopped his exploration and was now laying down in the bushes a few feet away.

 “I’m going to go see what he’s doing,” Patton said. “I’ll be right back.”

Logan nodded and Patton got to his feet. The bushes were part of a small maze that was filled with flowers during the spring and summer months but were mostly just green and brown bushes for now. Despite the fact that Patton had been able to see him only a few feet away, it took him a while to wind through the path to where he was. When he finally turned the last corner and he came into view, Patton gasped softly.

“Ghost kitty!” he said, making sure to make his voice as quiet as possible.

 Despite how soft he made his voice, two pairs of eyes shot over to him. The completely black kitten was perched on Virgil’s lap like she belonged there. Ghost Kitty hissed slightly, but Virgil reached forward to pet her head gently.

“This is Ghost Kitty?” Virgil asked. “I thought you said she was hard to pet.”

“She is,” Patton said. He lowered himself onto the ground from a few feet away from them. “How did you get her to come to you?”

Virgil glanced down at the cat and shrugged, scratching one of her ears. “She just came over to me and let me pet her.”

 “Wow,” Patton said softly. He looked at the cat. “Could I pet you sweetie?” he asked, holding out a hand in her direction. She hissed again.

Virgil frowned down at her. “It’s Patton,” he said as though he expected to understand his words and the exasperation in the tone he said them in.

He pet the cat’s head to soothe her and then reached over to grab Patton’s hand. He pulled and Patton carefully leaned a bit closer until his hand was within sniffing distance. Ghost Kitty sniffed his fingers contemplatively and then bumped her head against it. He barely restrained a squeal, knowing that probably wouldn’t be taken well.

 He carefully turned his hand over so he could stroke the top of her head. He gently scratched her ear, not daring to go for under her chin yet since she didn’t know him well. “Hi,” he said softly. After a moment, she started to purr softly. Virgil reached over and scratched under her chin and she purred louder. “Oh, you’re a good girl,” Patton breathed, letting a hand trail gently down her back once and then again. Patton settled himself carefully into a seating position continuing to pet her. After a few more moments of soft petting, she hesitantly stepped her front paws onto Patton’s thigh so she was sitting in both of their laps. Patton laughed softly. “Hi sweetie.” He glanced over at Virgil who had a wide smile on his face as he pet the cat. This. This was adorable. They continued to pet the cat for a very long time.

  Chapter 31

Logan waited for a while after Patton left to check on Virgil, but the two never resurfaced. It was odd, Patton would usually remember to come back and get Logan or at least tell them where they were. With a sigh, Logan climbed to his feet to go find them. It took him a while to weave his way through the maze of bushes to them especially because they were suspiciously quiet (Well, suspicious for Patton. Virgil was often unnervingly quiet when alone.) Luckily, he knew the bushes enough after all of these years not to get lost and managed to find the two after a few minutes.

“Ah,” he said, immediately identifying the reason for Patton disappearing.

 “Logan!” Patton said, his voice excited, but also quieter than normal. “We found a kitty!”

“I can see that,” Logan responded, taking a step closer. The cat hissed at him in response. The hissing was so intense and wild that he’d suspect the thing was feral if it wasn’t happily on Virgil’s lap having had it’s head in Patton’s lap before Logan had approached.

“No,” Virgil told the animal as though it could understand words. “That’s Logan. Be nice.”

The cat still glared at him and swished it’s tail back and forth threateningly. Virgil pet the top of it’s head and it broke eye contact with Logan to purr.

 Patton seemed delighted by the purring, reaching to stroke under the thing’s chin carefully. “We should give her a name!” Patton said.

Virgil frowned. “I thought her name was Ghost Kitty.”

“That is ‘Ghost Kitty’?” Logan asked skeptically. From what Patton had said about that cat, it was terrified of people and no one could ever get near it, even him. Now it was in Virgil’s lap?

“But that was a temporary name,” Patton said, “for before we officially met her. Now we have to give her a real name.”

“Do not give it a name,” Logan said. “You will get attached.”

 “How do you name a cat?” Virgil asked.

“Do not name it,” Logan said.

“You give them names based on their personalities, how they look, or even just because it’s a cute name,” Patton explained. “Like, remember Mittens? I named her Mittens because she has white fur and black paws!”

Virgil looked at the cat. “She’s completely black,” he said.

Patton hummed. “So, we could give her a name based on that like Midnight or Shadow.”

“Those are fine,” Virgil said.

“No, no,” Patton said. “I’m just giving you examples. You get to name her yourself.”

“This is a bad idea,” Logan said.

 “Just throw out some names,” Patton said. “Anything you can think of.”

“Uh,” Virgil said. “Knife.”

“…Just Knife?” Patton asked.

“Nightmare.” Virgil seemed to think about it. “No, that’s mean.”

“How about things you like?” Patton suggested.

“Alfredo?”

Oh no, Logan thought, he was worse than Patton at cat naming.

“Good start,” Patton said. “Logan, do you have any suggestions.”

“Cat,” Logan said.

“Real suggestions,” Patton scolded.

Logan sighed and thought for a moment. “Aphrodite.”

“Catphrodite!”

Logan glared at him. “Helena.”

“Helenpaw.”

“Claudia.”

“Clawdia.”

“Persephone.”

Patton smiled at him, cheerfully.

“…Damnit!”

Patton turned to Virgil again. “Like that! They don’t even have to be serious. Like, uh, you could name her Madam Fluffywuffykins the Great!”

“Do not name her that,” Logan said, scrunching up his nose.

 Logan sat on the ground, the cat eyeing him, but no longer hissing. Logan gently guided them towards more sensible names despite Patton trying his hardest to drag them into stupidity.

Virgil still didn’t quite get it. He mostly tried to name it after foodstuff, and often not even appropriate foodstuff such as “Corn” and “Acorn Squash” and “Sandwich” and occasionally would drop in semi violent ones such as “Razor,” “Nightshade” and “Void.” Patton suggested names like “Fluffers,” “Bobette” and “Darling” as well as some that were puns. Logan tried to direct them towards more sensible ones like “Salem” and even went so low as to suggest the contrary “Snowball.”

 It quickly seemed to become less about actually naming the cat and more of a game. Patton had taught Virgil about playing with cats and had even gotten out a ball of yarn he cared around for his crafts. Both Virgil and the cat seemed to find endless entertainment with that. Logan hoped Patton had another ball of yarn that color because, he was never going to get that ball back.

The barrage of names fizzled out into naming things around them like “Leaf” and “Bush” until they stopped suggesting names altogether. Patton and Logan sat back and watched Virgil play with the cat.

 Logan watched as they stopped playing suddenly and Virgil and the cat squinted at each other. “Marisol,” Virgil said, pulling the name out of nowhere. “That’s her name.” He said it with a certainty that was surprising considering how he’d treated the naming process with confusion and caution earlier. If Logan did not know better, his tone of voice would indicate that the cat, or Marisol he guessed, had gotten bored of them coming up with stupid names and decided to tell him her actual name herself.

The cat made a sound and batted at Virgil’s face without claws to grab back his attention.

 He turned back to it and bopped its face with a finger in kind. It attacked his finger, but in a clearly playful matter as it still did not extend it’s claws and its teeth did not draw blood.

“That’s a great name, Virgil,” Patton said.

“Much more pleasant than any that Patton suggested all afternoon,” Logan said. He received an elbow to the side for his quip.

“A pretty name for a pretty kitty,” Patton said, scooting over to where Virgil was sat and attempting to pet Marisol’s head. Marisol, however, was too keyed up and batted at the hand.

 “I love you too!” Patton said.

Logan rolled his eyes, but he had long since resigned himself to watching the two of them play with and coo over the cat for the rest of the day.

Eventually, though, it started to get darker. Even after Logan pointed this out, it still took over an hour for them to relent and leave the bush maze to go to the door. The problem was of course, that the cat had managed to grow very attached to Virgil in the last few hours and she followed them all the way to the door with manipulatively heart breaking mews.

 “You’ve got to stay out here,” Virgil said, when they got to the castle door. He pet her ear softly and she shoved her head into his hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t have anywhere to put you.” He sounded horribly sad about that fact and Logan felt himself shift uncomfortably. “I basically live in a closet and Logan doesn’t like cats in his room anyway.”

Logan immediately felt unreasonably guilty, probably more so because Logan did not think Virgil was trying to make him feel guilty. “…Bring the dammed thing inside.”

Virgil blinked up at him. “What?”

“It will get cold soon anyway,” Logan said.

He frowned at Logan from where he was crouched. “But you don’t like fur in your room…”

“I will have to find a potion that works,” he said with a sigh, “and we’ll have to say it’s mine to the guards and Father since it will be staying in my room, but it is yours in every other way. That means you are going to feed it, clean it, and clean up after it.”

Virgil nodded immediately and swooped Marisol up in his arms. The cat went without complaint. “Thank you!” he said. “I love her.”

“I know you do,” Logan said, already regretting it already. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to even consider recanting the offer considering how happy Virgil seemed to be. They had a cat now, he guessed.

  Chapter 32

“What are you doing?” Helen asked a few minutes after her son walked into the kitchen and started looking around as though he were trying to find something. It was a few hours into the afternoon, and she and a few workers were already prepping for dinner.

“Uh,” Patton said. “Have you seen Virgil?”

“No,” Helen said. “Why.”

“Er… Logan and I sorta, lost him,” Patton said. He was wringing his hands anxiously. Helen put down the knife in her hand.

“What do you mean you lost him?” she asked.

“Well, see, we were trying to teach him how to play hide and seek, um, but then we didn’t think to tell him that he eventually had to come out if we didn’t find him, and now we haven’t seen him since breakfast.”

 “He didn’t know what tag is?” she asked. That was just one more thing to add to the list of why Helen worried about Virgil and where he came from. Every morsel of information she’d managed to wring from Patton despite his evasions made her lists of concerns grow larger, even little things like him not knowing about simple childhood games. Actually, thinking of concerning things having to do with Virgil. “Wait, so he hasn’t eaten lunch.”

“Um, we don’t know that,” Patton’s mouth said while his eyes said ‘no.’

“He needs to be on a consistent diet, especially when he’s still taking the malnutrition potion,” she scolded.

 “I know, Mama, I know,” Patton said. “I’m trying to find him. I’d kinda hoped he’d gotten hungry and snuck down here. He probably wouldn’t want to risk being caught stealing food though.”

Helen grimaced. Yet another concerning thing.

“Wait! I have an idea, I’ll be right back.” Patton turned and ran out of the room. Helen frowned at the space he’d been and finished chopping the carrot on the cutting board in front of her. If it had been any other person in the castle missing, Helen wouldn’t have worried, but she had literally never seen Virgil without Patton and/or Logan by his side. Even when he’d gone to help Jeff can some fruit, Logan had reportedly hung around to read a book.

 Considering that Logan had never exactly been clingy even with Patton, she imagined that either Virgil asked, or Logan thought he should stay with him for his comfort. So, she was surprised that he was apparently hidden away somewhere in the castle where neither of the other kids could find him.

Still thinking about this, she walked over to the entrance to the cellar below the kitchen where they stored most of the vegetables, planning to grab some more carrots. She was confused for a moment when she heard movement from deeper in the pantry. She reached over and touched the panel near the door that controlled the magic lights.

 The newly illuminated figure startled as the lights came on, whipping around to stare at her with wide eyes.

“Virgil?” she asked.

“Sorry,” he said immediately, taking a step back.

“It’s fine,” she said immediately, “but what are you doing here?”

He considered her for a long moment, but apparently, she passed some sort of mental test, because he relaxed, at least as much as he’d ever relaxed in her presence. “Where are we?” he asked.

Her brow knit together. “The cellar under the kitchen,” she said, “You don’t know that?”

He shook his head.

“The only entrance is from the kitchen.” Now that she thought about it, she hadn’t seen him go through the kitchen at any point.

 “No, it’s not,” Virgil said. “There’s a tunnel.”

“A-a tunnel?” she asked. Actually, taking a closer look at him, he seemed a bit grimy. He had dust all over his front and dirt on his nose. She thought he might even have a couple of cobwebs in his hair.

“Yep,” he said.

“Where’s the tunnel?” she asked.

“It’s right over here,” he said. He took a couple of steps and pointed to the ground. There was an open square hole there that clearly had been made a long time ago but which she had never noticed in all of her time working here.

 “How did you find this?” she asked.

“We were playing hide and seek,” Virgil explained. “Logan said I could hide anywhere inside the castle. I hid on top of a dresser upstairs in some unused sitting room. There was a hole in the wall above it, so I climbed into it. Then, I crawled a little bit and it let out into a hidden passage in the walls. I wandered around in it until I found another hole in one of the walls. I thought it was a way out, so I squeezed into it, but it took me to a different hallway where I found an old room. There was a different hole in that room that had probably been covered by something because it was in the floor but whatever it was had rotted away. I crawled though it into a tunnel and came out here.”

 She couldn’t help but laugh a bit at his explanation. “Well, it sounds like you went on an adventure,” she said, “but Patton and Logan have been trying to find you. You missed lunch.”

He tilted his head at her. “I know. I was supposed to hide.”

“Yes,” she explained, “but you are supposed to come out at some point if they can’t find you for things like food.”

“Oh,” he said.

“They probably should have explained,” she said. “For now, why don’t we get you something to eat? You must be hungry.”

Virgil frowned. “But I missed lunch.”

“You can still eat even though it’s not in normal hours,” she said. “You could even if you had made it to lunch.”

 “Really?” he asked, he looked tragically confused by this offer.

“Of course, sweetie,” she said. “In fact, I insist you get something good to eat right now. How about I made you a grilled ham and cheese sandwich? Maybe some cookies too!”

Virgil titled his head. “You are Patton’s mother,” he stated.

Helen laughed softly. “He gets its all from me,” she said. “We should probably go find him and tell him you’re okay. He was worried.”

“I didn’t mean to worry him,” Virgil said with a frown.

“I know,” Helen said. “It’s okay. He’ll probably laugh when he figures out where you’ve been, and Logan will interrogate you all about the secret passageways.” He seemed happy about the prospect of seeing his friends. “Come on, let’s go upstairs for a bit,” she said.

  Chapter 33

Patton’s mom had already made Virgil sit down at the small table in the corner of the kitchen and had handed him a sandwich by the time Patton barreled into the kitchen, Logan coming after him at a more sedate pace.

“Virgil!” he said, sounding surprised and relieved.

“Patton,” Patton’s mom scolded. “No cats in the kitchen.” Patton had brought Marisol in with him and had let her go as soon as he’d seen Virgil. She immediately plodded over to him and hoped onto the table to sniff at his face in greeting.

“But she’s the princess!” Patton argued.

“No,” Logan said.

 “Yes, she is!” Patton said.

“The stupid cat is not a princess.”

“Don’t be mean to your little sister, Logan.”

“I regret every life decision that has led me to this point.”

While Logan and Patton were distracted squabbling and Patton’s mom was distracted watching them squabble, Virgil tore off a bit of the ham in his sandwich and offered it to Marisol. Marisol gracefully took it from his grip and ate it.

“So, this is Logan’s new cat I’ve been hearing about?” Patton’s mom asked.

“Indeed,” Logan said, his lips thinned. He and Marisol were mostly amicable when alone with just them and Virgil, but Patton had a habit of cooing over the kitten and needling Logan into being irritated.

 “Mmm, yeah,” Patton’s mom said. She glanced over at Virgil right as Marisol basically slammed her face into his chin in a bid to get pets. “Your cat.” She shook her head. “But Princess Kitten or not, I do not want fur in dinner,” she said.

“Sorry,” Patton said, honestly not sounding sorry at all. Virgil was always a bit surprised when the insolent shrug garnered nothing more that a scowl that did not reach Patton’s mom’s eyes. “I thought she could help me find Virgil, but you already found him.” He turned to Virgil. “Where have you been all day?”

 “Found a tunnel,” Virgil said. He had to use one hand to hold Marisol back from his sandwich as he took another bite, but then gave her a bite of cheese.

“You found what?” Logan asked.

“There’s a tunnel under the cellar,” Virgil said. “It goes to an old closed up room and also to a set of secret passageways.” It was a bit of a security risk honestly, though clearly no one had used it in years by how dirty it was. He did plan to go back into it and make sure the sprawling tunnels didn’t go to anywhere more dangerous like the royal wing.

 “A closed-up room?” Logan said. He could see a bit of curiosity already building in his eyes.

“Yeah,” Virgil said. “Where the door used to be seemed like it had been bricked over.”

“Really? Can you show me.”

“Sure,” Virgil answered.

“Ah, perhaps we should be a bit more cautious about climbing through random tunnels we don’t know the stability of,” Patton’s mom said.

Logan’s frown edged on a pout.

“Talk to your father,” she said. “I’m sure he can get someone who understands these things so you can safely investigate.”

“It was safe enough for Virgil,” Logan pointed out.

 “No, Logan.”

He sighed but seemed to concede. That was another strange thing about living here. By all rights Logan didn’t have to obey anyone except the king, but he often listened to those around him, not just the adults but Patton as well. It was interesting though it sometimes made the hierarchy hard to figure out. Virgil did sometimes stress out about the hypothetical situation where he got conflicting orders from two people, and he wouldn’t know which one to obey. So far it hadn’t been a problem luckily. They always seemed to work it out amongst themselves in some give and take social interaction that was a bit too complex for him to understand.

 Patton walked over to where Virgil was sitting. “I’m glad your safe,” he said. “We should probably put a time limit on hide and seek in the future, so you know when to come out.”

“Did I win?” Virgil asked. He’d honestly forgotten they’d been playing a game until Patton’s mom had asked how he’d found his way into the cellar.

Patton laughed. “I’d say so, yeah,” he replied. He leaned over to kiss Virgil’s forehead, but drew back immediately with a pinched expression. “You are… very dirty,” he said, rubbing his mouth.

Virgil nodded. “Your mom made me sit on a tablecloth,” he said gesturing to the fabric she’d laid over the chair.

 Patton snorted out a laugh. “We’ll get you into the bath when you’re done eating and you can tell us all about your little adventure.”

“I would also like to hear about your discoveries,” Logan said. “Though you are not allowed to sit on the bed until you do not have spider webs in your hair.”

Patton’s eyes widened and he jumped away from Virgil, startling both Virgil and Marisol. The latter hopped from the table onto Virgil’s lap. “Spiders?!”

Virgil tilted his head at him in confusion.

“He isn’t a fan of spiders,” Logan informed him, his voice amused at Patton’s reaction.

 Apparently deciding that she was no longer startled, but more confused by the noises Patton had just made, Marisol jumped out of Virgil’s lap to investigate, wrapping her way around Patton’s legs. He bent down to pat her back, though he still looked a bit startled.

“Your cat, huh?” Patton’s mom asked Logan once again. Virgil studied her. She had apparently missed Logan mentioning that he allowed Virgil on the bed. Or perhaps Logan was correct in his insistence that it wasn’t actually that big of a deal here. Virgil would rather not test that assumption, however, so was glad that it had been distracted from by Patton’s outburst.

 “Creepy, crawly death dealers,” Patton mumbled into Marisol’s fur, having picked her back up. Virgil made a note to not inform Patton of all of the different types of spiders he’d seen skittering around in the castle walls today. Maybe he’d talk about them with Logan once Patton left. He’d probably be interested. Virgil had seen some he’d never seen before! Logan probably could even help him figure out what their names were. “You’ll protect me, won’t you kitty?” Patton asked Marisol.

She made a little ‘burrrr’ sound in response, which Patton seemed to take a confirmation.

“Aw thank you, baby! Such a good baby.”

50234

Virgil popped the rest of the sandwich into his mouth. Patton’s mom turned away and grabbed a plate stacked with cookies. She handed it to Logan. “Take these, and please get the health hazards out of my kitchen,” she requested.

Logan took them without complaint. “Come on, Virgil,” he said. “Let’s go get you clean.”

“We’re going to need so much soap,” Patton said.

Virgil looked down at himself. “I can go outside and get most of it off if you get me a bucket of water,” he offered.

“Virgil, it’s below freezing,” Logan said as though that had a baring on what he’d just said. Logan sighed. “No. Bathtub.” Virgil shrugged. “Honestly,” Logan said. He turned with the plate of cookies in his hand, clearly expecting to be followed. “You’re not going to catch your death pouring a bucket of water over yourself in the cold when there are literally over a hundred perfectly good bathtubs in this castle. For goodness sakes.” And well, Virgil wasn’t going to complain.

  Chapter 34

Patton, to be completely honest, was not all that interested in the room that Virgil had found. Beyond just the fact that it would definitely have creepy crawly death dealers in it, he really did not understand the intrigue. If it had just been him, he probably would have just let a castle worker deal with it, but it was not just him. Logan was ecstatic with the prospect of investigating a secret in the castle. People who didn’t know him well may not believe it considering he spent most of his time with his nose in a book, but he was an adventurer at heart.

 Thomas had been easily swayed into finding someone to help tear down part of the wall into the secret tunnel near the room (so no one would have to crawl through the kitchen cellar like Virgil). It had taken a few days, however, and Logan was practically bouncing off the walls waiting. Virgil, despite having already seen the room before, also seemed excited, though if that was because of his own curiosity or because he was just excited that Logan seemed so exited remained to be seen.

“They are silly, aren’t they,” Patton asked Princess Marisol. He was laying on his stomach on Logan’s bed and Princess Marisol had just put her little paw on his nose.

 “Yes, I agree,” he said. “Don’t they know that we’re literally going to be 2 feet away from the normal hallway?”

“It is not silly,” Logan defended himself. “Any number of things could go wrong.” He sounded far too excited about the prospect of something going terribly wrong. “The tunnels could cave in and block off the exit or there could be some unknown pathogen in the air.”

Patton did not ruin his fun by mentioning that Logan’s dad had definitely basically baby proofed the tunnels for them ahead of time. Instead, he just said, “Don’t let Virgil hear you say that sort of thing. It will just stress him out.”

 “Yes, yes, of course,” he said, waving off Patton’s concerns as he mulled over two different weird green planty things (potion ingredients, Patton assumed) before setting one aside and sticking the other in his bag.

“So silly,” Patton cooed at the cat. Logan let out a huff but did not choose to say anything about it this time.

Speaking of silly, Virgil came back from Logan’s bathroom then, and Patton tried not to giggle. “Is this right?” Virgil asked, sounding and looking confused. Logan, in his overexcitement about adventure had commissioned Virgil an outfit that actually fit. Said outfit, however, very much made it look more like Virgil was going on a safari instead of a two-foot detour from the normal castle hallway.

 “Almost,” Logan said, “Here, let me.” Logan started straightening everything out and flattening the collar, reminding Patton of an overbearing parent on picture day. Virgil accepted the fussing without protest. It was adorable. Well, the outfit was ridiculous, but still, adorable. “There,” Logan said. “I think we’re ready to go now.”

It was about time. Patton was sure people were already waiting for them downstairs. Patton got up and patted Princess Marisol on the head. She looked up at them with interest.

“You can stay here, sweetie,” Patton told here. She seemed to consider it and then hopped down from the bed to go rub up against Virgil.

 Patton guessed she was coming. It didn’t matter too much since Logan had given her a magical collar that allowed her to open most doors in the castle and everyone knew she was the royal cat now, so if she decided she wanted to come back to the room and nap, she could. (She was very aware of the power she held.)

She pranced happily by Virgil’s side all the way down the steps to the first floor of the castle. She was such a good kitty.

Well, she did hiss angrily at everyone who came too close to them, but still, a very good kitty.

 Patton did lean down and pick her up so they could actually talk to the man waiting for them at the large hole in the wall. Logan went to talk to the castle worker while Virgil half hid behind Patton. He was clearly listening very intently to the conversation however, at least more intently than Patton was. Patton was busy shaking his head fondly.

“Yes, yes, Princess,” he said to the cat. “I know we do not trust the strangers, but I promise this stranger is perfectly safe.”

“How do you know?” Virgil asked.

“His name is Chester and I’ve known him since I was 9.”

[blazethecheeto]

okay let's go in order of the narrative i carved out of this album (guys i know this might not make any sense just hear me out)

-

fainted love

this is probably the most accurate song to describe their past relationship. (at least to me) they both took comfort in each other for their flaws and darkness, nothing more. there was a twisted sort of love there, for both of them, but on the surface, it was just comfort from the only person they had.

there was this fanfic i read where it had this dynamic between them and UGH I CANT REMEMBER IT BUT IT FR CHANGED MY LIFE.

-

winner

so. so their relationship wasn't all good. their 'casual situationship' was soulcrushing for virgil, they really were toxic for each other.

this was when it started to crumble apart. when he started to consider leaving.

-

alley rose

*gets out spreadsheet* so besides my soul ascending the moment i heard this song, this absolutely shattered me thinkin about anxceit. this is janus's pov, virgil is his alley rose. their love was so fragile, so terrifying for him, that he didn't care whether it would end one day. he loved him more than virgil knew.

(FUCK OFF BRO THIS SONG 😭)

-

found heaven

see this reminds me of virgil leaving the dark sides, the whole 'you're no demon' analogy as he leaves them for the light sides, he feels wrong but he's found a new place to stay that accepts him.

not a perfect analogy, but the religious imagery in the song does remind me of patton and thomas- the guilt inside of all them to be either on the good or bad sides.

-

eye of the night

this sounds like virgil being paranoid about janus watching him everywhere he went after he left- the whole 'see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil' analogy.

janus bill cipher connections go crazy

-

never ending song

LOOK THIS IS WHEN JANUS APPEARED. virgil thought he escaped his old life, but the moment janus showed up, all the memories came flooding back and he realized the cycle will start over. that's why he keeps interrupting janus whenever he tried to speak, snapping at him to just leave.

virgil 'wasted' his adolescence giving himself to janus even though he always kept him at arm's length.

-

lonely dancers

k this is just virgil bonding with the others over bad exes. i immediately thought of that moment in svs where janus flirted with roman in front of him and he flipped up his hoodie and sulked. he's still salty about it, but wants to rub in his face that he's better off.

(it reminds me of let's kill tonight, which is on virgil's playlist- the same energy of let's dance and party so we forget heartbreak)

-

the final fight

me when anxceit confrontation song. look, i don't even have to analyze anymore i can just post the lyrics. but yeah i will fucking riot if virgil doesn't have this angsty ass speech to janus in the finale, asking him why, telling him what he put him through. i can see a narrative in this album now, from him leaving, to introducing their past, to the inevitable confrontation.

its funny how these songs genuinely sound like they'd be on virgil's playlist bc half of the songs in his playlist are angsty janus songs.

-

miss you

another janus song holy- he knows he hurt virgil, he knows his own flaws and insecurity ruined them. but he misses him a lot. this is the other half of the confrontation, where janus retorts back to the final fight, accepting that he treated him wrongly, but he never meant to break his heart.

:((

-

forever with me

now this song totally ruined me when i heard it. after the confrontation, janus and virgil both really thought about how they affected each other their whole lives.

in another life, they don't fuck it up. in another life they put aside their insecurities and love each other right. and they're still gonna be together forever. (they have to be)

-

i skipped bourge-jesus or whatever it's called bc it didn't rlly fit the narrative. (although i think the light sides could symbolize the bourgejizzers, and how the dark sides used to make fun of them or pretend they were them in the past) then again i could make anything sanders-sides related if i tried.

boys & girls i skipped too, and killing me had the same implications as winner. ANYWAYS HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS RANT IM GOING INSANEEEEE I LOVE ANXCEIT SO MUCH

stream found heaven it's a godly album also i might keep doing these, especially for their official playlists i have a doc that's like 60k words with me analyzing each song.

found heaven is an anxceit album send tweet

[captainpufferfish]

Gone Soft

AO3

(this was an xmas present for my irl, jay, aka @snazzy-snake !!! ily dude!!)

Summary:

Logan Blight was intelligent. Obviously. While he may not have been the strongest, he was the smartest, and he liked to pride himself on that. Solving problems was..kind of his thing.

So why couldn’t he solve this one?

(tws: the owl house au, logan being in love and dealing w it Badly, virgil in a negative light (not really u!) humans are seen as weak, ask to tag for anything!!)

Ever since Grom, he’s gone soft.  

It shouldn’t sting. It shouldn’t. Virgil has said worse things, and it's not like it matters in the long run. He has new companions, fr- acquaintances that care about his well being and wouldn’t hurt him. They wouldn’t hurt him, not like he had hurt Patton Park. Not like Virgil had hurt him.

Now he had Patton again! And sure, their friendship was...rocky at best, but he had made it up to him! Excluding the countless times he had let Virgil pick on him...and the constant mocking about his skill as a witch...and the whole ‘platonically broke his heart when they were children’ thing.

Okay, so maybe that was a work in progress! But he was sure he had Remus. Even though he had hurt Remus’s best friend multiple times. And also called him a lot of unsavory things. And bullied his other best friend. Wow, he really was on a streak for the Biggest Piece Of Shit award.

And then there was one. Janus. Just thinking about him made him feel things, which on its own was troubling, but feeling good things? It was unacceptable, Mother and Father would kill him if they knew something was getting in the way of their ‘perfect child’ scheme. Remy and Emile liked to tease him about everything that had happened, but he didn’t really get what they were talking about.

He had tried to figure it out, really, so you couldn’t blame him for lack of trying. As any rational person would, he made a list: (Which he consequently burned because no way were Remy and Emile finding this.)

 Events in which I have felt positively towards Janus Noceda:

He performed a light spell to try and stimulate my dopamine and serotonin levels, which were previously lower. It was slightly effective and is the moment I can pinpoint that this...infatuation, as it were, began.

He came up with some hair-brained scheme to try and save me from the Library Incident. That was the first time I’ve laughed that hasn’t been mocking.

He gave me back my book and hijinks ensued in the tundra. He convinced me to join his book club. It was kind of him. Nobody’s ever done something for me like that before.

He called us working together to reach our mutual goal, which was at the time us trying to restore Patton’s memories (which I had accidentally set alight with blue fire when trying to erase the memory of being his ally) ‘teamwork’. It felt good to be part of a ‘team’.

He asked me to accompany him to Grom after my figurative nightmare was shown to both me and him. I agreed. It hurt when he called us ‘friends’, why I am not certain. Further research will be necessary. As per his usual charming endearing overdramatic self, we ended up...dancing. Which was fun. Grom turned into a cherry blossom tree, and I have looked into the symbolism of said trees out of interest. They stand for mindfulness, and the uncertainty of life and death. Quite gothic, I will admit.

During our Grudgby match with Virgil and others, he ended up carrying me towards the end of the game as I had injured my leg. I also ended up slipping up and saying some very irrational things about Janus to Patton and Remus. This is all confusing and I don’t unders-

 His pen fell out of his hand, a long black line scratched onto his formerly pristine list. “Shit.”

Ever since Grom, he’s gone soft.  

Ever since Grom, he’s gone soft  

Ever since Grom, he’s gone soft.  

Logan couldn’t afford to be as emotionally compromised as he knew he was. Yes, Janus was pretty- pretty annoying, of course. His parents wouldn’t want him hanging around a human, it was ridiculous! Think of the scandal- Logan Blight, caught stammering and blushing and acting like a complete fool around a human! He would be disowned, left to rot in his room with nothing but his books and the silence. They had done it before.

 He clenched his fists, and one of them started hitting his leg repetitivly. Logos and Ethos, the two small abominations that kept on his desk, looked up at him, their weird melty faces conveying concern the best that they could.

He couldn’t do this. He  couldn’t  . He was- he was supposed to be the one child that wasn’t a fuck-up, and now what? A bitter laugh escaped his throat. He was an idiot. An idiot that allowed himself to be lured in by rounded glasses and green flags on little sticks and rainbow sleeves.

 He sat back down and drew a bright blue strike through his old list, inkblots spattering the page as he started to write again. He didn’t have the tears to cry- all he had was his little Azura book and this cold, empty room. So he wrote.

 Reasons why I should stay away from Janus Noceda:

He performed a light spell to try and stimulate my dopamine and serotonin levels, which were previously lower. It was a useless attempt to try and recruit me to his group of misfits and fools.

He came up with some hair-brained scheme to try and save me from the Library Incident. I don’t need saving.

He gave me back my book and hijinks ensued in the tundra. He convinced me to join his book club. A book club is a waste of time and effort that I could be using to study to be the best witch I can be. I don’t need him.

He called us working together to reach our mutual goal, which was at the time us trying to restore Patton’s memories (which I had accidentally set alight with blue fire when trying to erase the memory of being his ally) ‘teamwork’. Teamwork and friends hold me back. My full potential cannot be reached when I am this volatile.

He asked me to accompany him to Grom after my figurative nightmare was shown to both me and him. I agreed. It hurt when he called us ‘friends’. We are not friends.

During our Grudgby match with Virgil and others, he ended up carrying me towards the end of the game as I had injured my leg. I also ended up slipping up and saying some very irrational things about Janus to Patton and Remus. I cannot afford to make such careless mistakes.

Ever since Grom, he’s gone soft.