#me? projecting on janus? wow
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*pats Janus on the head* you can fit so much angst into this bad boy :)
#TSS#Janus Sanders#Janus Sanders angst#Janus Sanders Fanart#Sanders Sides#me? projecting on janus? wow#what a surprise
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to celebrate together - a sanders sides fanfiction
this is a cute fluffy fic (for the most part) about human versions of the sides discussing easter, ramadan, and passover, three very prominent holidays from three different religions during the springtime!
(cws -> brief mention of anti-semetism, brief mention of anti-semetic hate crimes, honestly there are brief moments of insensitivity towards all three religions mentioned (christianity/catholicism, islam, and jewish) but they are genuine moments of confusion and not in bad faith! this fic is about learning and growing and respecting other religions, so there is a bit of a learning curve.)
word count: 2.9k
(also, i know i usually write a lot of unsympathetic patton which may deter some people. it will comfort these people to know that patton is not unsympathetic in this fic! he's actually a cool guy! so don't worry about that.)
Everyone in the house knew that Easter was one of Patton’s favorite holidays by now. They had only been living together for a few months, but it was obvious from the new way Patton carried himself in the springtime. He bought a lot of Easter-themed furniture, so by the time March 1st rolled around, the house was covered head to toe in eggs, bunnies, baskets, chicks, and crosses. Lots of crosses.
“Why are there a bunch of plus signs everywhere?” Roman had dared to ask one day, “Logan, is this one of your math projects?”
“You seriously don’t know what a cross is?” Patton asked, his eyes wide with shock, “Oh, that’s right. You’re balsamic.”
“Uh…Islamic,” Roman corrected awkwardly, “Me and Remus just say we’re Muslim. And I know what a cross is, I just didn’t know that it was one of those. They really do look like plus signs with a big tail. What are they all for?”
“Well, they’re Easter decorations!” Patton explained readily, “Since Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus, we have crosses here to commemorate all he sacrificed for his people.”
“Wow,” Roman said, a smile forming on his face, “I guess Jesus must have been pretty brave.”
“He’s not just brave, Roman,” Patton said, “He died for us. The least we can do is celebrate him.”
“Yeah, that seems fair,” Roman said, still gazing around the colorful, decked out area with a gentle, somewhat cautious curiosity that was generally unlike him. He seemed to sense that this was sensitive territory. “So…why do you guys celebrate Easter the way you do? With the bunnies and the eggs? Did Jesus really like sunny side up or something? Did he have a pet bunny?”
“Come on,” Patton said, “I want to tell everyone about this!”
Roman grinned and followed Patton into the living room, where the others were sitting and chatting. Logan was on the recliner, working on a grocery list, while Janus and Remus were on the ground, playing Go-Fish. Virgil was spread across the couch, scrolling through his phone.
“Guys, Patton’s gonna teach us about Easter!” Roman said, “Like, why they use the eggs and stuff.”
“It’s because of Jesus,” Logan droned tiredly, staring up at Patton, “Is this really necessary?”
“Of course it’s necessary, Logan!” Patton chastised, “It’s the most important event of springtime!”
Virgil tilted his head. “But what about Passover?”
“Pass-what?” Patton said, clearly confused, “No, we’re talking about Easter. What’s passover?”
“I like Layat Al-Qadr best,” Remus shrugged, “It’s the only night of the year where I can get Roman to shut up.”
“Hey!” Roman protested, “Oh, I have an idea! We’ll have a contest. Each of us will talk about what we think is the most important event of springtime, and then we’ll hold a vote!”
“I suppose we can do that,” Janus said, “Logan and I don’t celebrate any of these things, so we will be neutral voters. We don’t have any emotional attachment to any of the options.”
“Perfect!” Patton said, “And we’ll start with Easter, because Easter is-”
“Fat chance,” Virgil said, “Everyone already knows everything about Easter. It’s the only holiday that Americans give a shit about. It’s all over the supermarkets, it gets all the attention and respect. You don’t even know what Passover is, and do you even know that Ramadan exists?”
“Of course I know what ramen is, I had some for dinner last night,” Patton said.
The room was silent for a second.
“Virgil has a point,” Logan said, but when Patton pouted, Logan continued, “But we can still hear Patton out. He may say something we don’t know about yet. Besides, if we’re going to keep this vote objective, we need to hear out every option with equal respect and attention. Can we do that?”
“Yeah, sorry, Pat,” Virgil said softly.
“Sure,” Remus said, “Tell us about how Jesus got nailed on a cross.”
“Why would I tell you about that if you already know that part?” Patton asked with a disgusted expression.
“Cuz it’s the coolest part,” Remus replied with a toothy grin.
“Well…you’re not entirely wrong,” Patton said, growing excited as he started again to speak, “Easter is the holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus! It’s celebrated every springtime, after the first full moon of spring. Jesus was arrested by Jewish leaders, and he was sentenced to death on the cross for trying to lead his people.”
“Interesting,” Janus mumbled, narrowing his eyes a bit, “Jewish leaders. That was an interesting detail to mention. Why does that matter to you, Pat?”
“Anyway,” Patton said icily before continuing the story, “A man named Joseph asked these leaders to take Jesus down from the cross after he died, in order to bury him properly. They allowed it, and Joseph buried Jesus in a stone tomb. But three days later, when people came to put spices on Jesus’ body, they found that he was gone!”
“So Jesus wasn’t actually dead??” Roman asked, clearly shocked by that twist in the story.
“Well, of course he’s not dead,” Patton said, “That’s the entire point of Easter, buddy! Jesus was resurrected. Easter is a holiday that represents rebirth. There’s always hope, and Jesus will always be there for us. Even during the darkest times, and even in the face of death.”
“Jesus is badass,” Remus remarked, “But that still doesn’t explain why there are eggs, though.”
“Oh! Another part of Easter is something called Lent,” Patton said, “In the 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday, Christians and Catholics celebrate Lent, which is a time of prayer and resisting temptation from sin. People sometimes give up things that they consider to be sinful during Lent. It’s a mindful thing. Right now, I’m giving up alcohol. And back in the medieval times, eggs weren’t allowed during Lent, so on Easter Sunday, eggs were used to signify that Lent has passed on by. Also, eggs…they represent rebirth in a way.”
“Don’t they just represent birth?” Logan asked.
“Well, I guess, but…come on, Logan! You like the egg salad I make every easter!”
“Your egg salad is quite good.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Easter is pretty cool,” Virgil said, “That’s really cool, actually.”
“So you think it’s better than your day?” Patton asked hopefully.
Virgil laughed. “Good one. Easter sounds awesome and all, but nothing beats Passover.”
“What’s that one?” Roman asked eagerly, “Why’s it called Passover? Do you play basketball or something?”
“Okay, where the heck did basketball come from?” Janus asked.
“I mean…you pass over the ball. In basketball,” Roman replied.
“No basketball,” Virgil chuckled, “It’s actually called Passover for a bit of a complicated reason. I’ll start from the beginning. This story starts in Egypt. The pharaoh, who is basically the leader of Egypt, didn’t like Jewish people, and he didn’t want too many Jewish people living in Egypt. So he enslaved all the Jews who currently lived there, and ordered that all Jewish babies who are birthed in Egypt get killed.”
Roman’s eyes widened, and he started to feel a bit sick.
“But why?” he demanded, “The Jewish babies didn’t even do anything!”
“You’d be surprised what people do to people who are different,” Virgil replied in a mutter, “Anyway, one Jewish woman decided that she wouldn’t let her baby die. She hid her baby in a basket and put him into the river, to float away to somewhere safer. The pharaoh's daughter found the baby, and decided to take him in. His name was Moses.”
“Oh! Moses!” Roman cried out in recognition, “Like the movie, like the movie The Prince Of Egypt!”
Virgil smiled slightly and nodded.
“Yeah,” he said, “Yeah, like that movie. That’s a good movie if you guys want to learn more about Moses.”
“And listen to some amazing songs by Stephen Schwartz!” Roman added.
“Roman, let’s let Virgil finish, okay?” Logan said, and Roman reluctantly nodded, turning his attention back to Virgil.
“Anyway, Moses grew up, and found out that he was Jewish, and he came from a Jewish family. He saw how horribly his people were being treated, and when he killed a slave master, he ran away to the desert,” Virgil continued, “There, he found a burning bush, and the bush talked to him. The bush basically said that he was God, and he was going to help Moses set the Jewish people free. But when Moses came back and told the pharaoh this, the pharaoh refused, over and over. And every time the pharaoh refused, God sent down a different plague, or curse, to Egypt.”
“But that’s not fair,” Patton protested, “The rest of the people didn’t even do anything.”
“Well, I don’t disagree,” Virgil said, “But God wasn’t feeling very forgiving after having his people enslaved for years. He knew that there was no other way to convince the pharaoh.”
“Yeah, if you’re gonna get mad at anyone, get mad at the pharaoh,” Janus said, “He was the stubborn son of a bitch who wouldn’t set free the slaves. He put his people in danger by doing that just because he wanted more free labor.”
“There were a lot of plagues because the pharaoh kept saying no,” Virgil explained, “And the tenth plague was a curse called the angel of death, a curse that would kill the first-born child of every home. In order to protect the innocent families, God told Moses to tell anyone who would listen to paint over their door with lamb’s blood. If the door was painted over, then the curse would pass over them, and nobody would die. Passover, see?”
Roman nodded, his eyes widening as he was enraptured in the story. “Passover,” he repeated.
“The Israelites listened to Moses, but a lot of others in Egypt didn’t, including the Pharaoh,” Virgil said, a bit sadly, “It sucked. They all had to learn the hard way. If they had just listened to Moses, nobody would have died. If the pharaoh had just let the Israelites go the first time, then none of the plagues would have had to happen. But stricken with grief after his firstborn son died, the pharaoh finally let the Israelites go, and they were freed from slavery.”
“So that’s the story of Passover,” Logan said, “How is it celebrated?”
“Well, it’s celebrated for eight days,” Virgil explained, “Seven if you’re in Israel. But here in America, it’s eight. On the first night of Passover, Jewish families have a Passover seder, which is a big dinner where we pray and sing, and we tell stories from a book called the Haggadah. All families celebrate a little differently, but for the most part, we do that stuff. I remember when I was little, my mom would always give me a sip of her wine.”
“Damn, just a sip?” Remus asked with a little laugh, “Shoulda given you a whole cup. Imagine a drunk little Virgil stumbling around.”
“That would have been cool,” Virgil admitted, “Me and my cousins would drink grape juice and pretend to be drunk. After all the serious stuff was over, of course. A big part of Passover is discussing current events. Unfortunately, most places in the world aren’t very Jew-friendly. Even here in America, there are a lot of hate crimes. Actually…”
Roman noticed with horror that Virgil was getting teary-eyed.
“Virgil?” Logan asked quietly, “What’s wrong?”
“I’m sorry,” Virgil said, trying to wipe away his tears before they fell, “This is hard to talk about. The synagogue that my family went to when I was a kid before I moved here, it- a few years ago- it- it got burnt down.”
“Burnt down,” Janus realized, “As in…someone did it. On purpose.”
Virgil nodded, his eyes completely downcast. He was crying, but his face was hardened, almost angry. But not quite. He seemed too sad to be angry.
“All the drawings the kids made. All the food that people donated. All the copies of the Torah,” he whispered, “It was all gone in one night. My parents still can’t talk about it without crying. I guess I can’t either.”
“I’ve never heard of anyone burning down a religious building like that,” Patton said softly, “That’s horrible.”
“Yeah? That’s cuz they don’t burn down your stuff,” Janus said quietly, putting a hand on Virgil’s shoulder, “I’m sorry, Virgil. You…don’t deserve that. Nobody deserves that. No matter what.”
“Don’t let me stop you from continuing the competition,” Virgil said, “Remus, I wanna hear about yours. What is this one day that can get Roman to shut up?”
“Do we really have to bring that joke back?” Roman asked, too amused to be sore.
“Well, the night I was talking about, Layat Al-Qadr, is just one night of Ramadan,” Remus started to explain, “Ramadan’s actually about a month long.”
“A whole month?” Logan asked, “Wow. That’s a lot longer than Easter and Passover.”
“Not if you count Lent,” Patton pointed out.
“Layat Al-Qadr is the 27th day of Ramadan,” Roman continued, “And you pray the whole entire night, pretty much. We ask Allah to forgive us for the mistakes we made, and we hope that he says yes.”
“How do you know if he says yes?” Logan asked, tilting his head slightly.
Roman shrugged. “You don’t. That’s why you have to believe.”
“That sounds kinda boring, praying for the whole night,” Janus admitted, “Is that seriously the only thing you do?”
“I was worried it would be boring too,” Roman admitted, “But it’s actually really cool. You’d be surprised how therapeutic it is. It feels nice, talking to someone who you know will always listen. Reflecting on all the stuff you did, and figuring out how to do better without worrying about anyone getting mad at you or hating you.”
“And we also have iftar,” Remus said, “It’s like a giant meal, and we get to spend time with family while breaking our fast.”
“Wait, wait- you fast?” Virgil asked, “For an entire month?”
“It’s not so bad,” Remus shrugged, “Especially because we have iftar, and we usually eat a little bit in the morning. Breaking the fast together as a family during iftar is cool, because, like, everybody’s breaking it at the same time. So it’s like- we all are hungry together, and then we all become satisfied together. It’s pretty cool.”
“We also have five prayers that we say every day,” Roman added, “Along with an extra one at night. The prayers are the really important part because it’s so traditional. It’s been done for so many years before us, it’s like…passing down a torch. We don’t want to forget about it. So we do it to honor the people before us, so that hopefully, the people after us have something in common with us when they celebrate Ramadan.”
“Well, when you explain it like that, it sounds really cool,” Virgil admitted.
“I used to think prayer was weird, and kinda culty,” Janus mumbled, clearly a bit ashamed, “But…it actually sounds awesome. Mindful, you know?”
“Wait, where does Ramadan come from anyway?” Patton asked, “Like the fasting and the praying. Who started it?”
“It was started by the Prophet Muhammad,” Roman said eagerly, “He’s this really cool guy who told us what Allah wanted for the Muslim people. And Ramadan is the month on the Muslim calendar where Muhammad found the Quran, which is our holy book. It’s sort of like Patton’s bible and Virgil’s Torah.”
“Oh, gotcha,” Patton said.
“To be more specific, it’s the ninth month of our calendar,” Remus said, “But also, it depends on the moon. It’s like a thing. To try and spot the Ramadan moon. Roman and I did it a few times when we were younger.”
“It’s hard to do it now,” Roman said, “There’s so much artificial light in this city. But once it’s high enough in the sky, we can see it great. It’s so cool, feeling like you discovered something.”
“And we fast because Muhammad told us to, basically,” Remus said, “It’s one of the five pillars of Islam, fasting during Ramadan. And like Roman said, the Muslim people have done it for thousands and thousands of years. So it feels really awesome to continue it today. Even if it leaves us a little hungry and cranky sometimes.”
“You guys should come to iftar sometime,” Roman said, “A bunch of our Muslim friends and us all come together and eat and talk and laugh, and just enjoy each other’s company.”
“It sounds amazing,” Virgil said, “Kinda like Passover seder.”
Remus nudged Virgil gently, smiling over at him.
“Hey, yeah!” he said.
“And Easter Sunday!” Patton piped up.
“Maybe all our events have more in common than we think,” Roman said, “I mean, all of them have cool stories, and big dinners, and just…that festive attitude. That feeling of carrying on a tradition that’s so much bigger than yourself.”
“Do we even need a vote, then?” Logan asked, “I don’t know what to vote for. All of those events sound lovely.”
“I agree,” Janus said, “Maybe we can vote on something else. Like what movie to watch tonight?”
“I vote The Prince Of Egypt!” Roman cried out, “Virgil made me think about it, and now all the songs are in my head!”
“Oh! I’ll make some egg salad for dinner!” Patton said, “It’s the 21st century, we’re allowed to eat eggs during Lent now!”
“Maybe I’ll bring in the leftover date cookies from yesterday’s iftar,” Remus said.
“Yes, those are so good!” Roman agreed, “And I wrapped them in foil, so they should still taste fresh!”
Virgil smiled and closed his eyes, wiping away his residual tears gently as he listened to his friends ramble and scramble to celebrate together. Maybe tonight, this strange amalgamation of Easter, Ramadan, and Passover, the mutual respect and admiration for these three holidays, was their most important event of the springtime.
--
(i hope you all enjoyed this fic!! during times like these especially, it is so important to remember that every religion is beautiful and valid, and every religious holiday ought to be respected! now, i am not catholic, christian, muslim, or jewish. i wrote about these holidays after doing extensive research from multiple sources for each, but if i got anything wrong, please please let me know and i will correct it to the best of my ability. i promise i want to learn and grow, just like these guys, so if something is inaccurate, please tell me if you feel so inclined, and i will take what you say into account!!)
(have an amazing spring, no matter what you celebrate!!)
#sanders sides#thomas sanders#tss#roman sanders#sanders sides fandom#virgil sanders#patton sanders#logan sanders#remus sanders#janus sanders#sanders sides fanfic#sanders sides fanfiction#sanders sides fic#sanders sides au#sanders sides writing#sanders sides headcanon#sanders sides headcanons#tss roman#tss logan#tss patton#tss janus#tss remus#tss virgil
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2, 4 (eucatastrophe), 7, 12, 15-16-17, 23, 24, 41, 47, 49 (melliferous) :>
2. Go to your AO3 “Works” page, to the sidebar with all the filters, and click the drop-down arrow for “Additional Tags.” What are your top 3-5 most used tags? Do you think they accurately represent your writing habits?
Body Horror (5)
Remix (4)
Friendship (3)
Suicidal Thoughts (3)
Time Loop (2)
I don't think they don't represent my writing habits, I'm just kind of surprised more common tags aren't in there.
4. What detail in [insert fic] are you really proud of?
It's very simple and very stupid, but I really love that Thomas's reaction to seeing Janus for the first time in Syzygy is 'so beautiful. so mysterious. i'm in love' and Janus's POV of the exact same moment is 'what the fuck is wrong with him. he needs a fucking nap'. It makes me laugh.
7. Any worldbuilding you’re particularly proud of?
most of my favorite worldbuilding I've done in Syzygy hasn't come up just yet, but I'm really fond of a lot of the stuff I did there that I've been explaining through epistolary. apart from that, the whole 'fae seven year sacrifice recontextualized as a eldritch lovecraftian ritual' is definitely up there.
12. Are there any tropes you used to dislike but have grown on you?
tragedy babyyyyy
15. What’s your favorite AU that you’ve written?
genuinely, it's still the Inception AU (not really an AU, I guess? I guess it's more like a flat crossover since it's actually plausibly canon in both universes. Okay. I'll pick another one) melliferous OBVIOUSLY
16. What’s an AU you would love to read (or have read and loved)?
hmmmm Fallen London AU. I just think it would be neat. Also, see answer to next question.
17. What highly specific AU do you want to read or write even though you might be the only person to appreciate it?
the one I occasionally rotate in my brain is the dungeons and daddies au. (NOT a bdsm AU) instead, it's the AU of six sides flung into the forgotten realms to rescue their missing centre, except they're all really bad at D&D. this week's side fact: patton is like 50/50 on the moon landing actually happening, to logan's intense anger. the other one i've been rotating i plan on writing next year so we'll see how that pans out
23. What’s a trope, AU, or concept you’ve never written, but would like to?
i want to do a soulmate AU to specifically deconstruct the idea of soulmate AUs. and/or hanahaki, same thing. i've had some ideas in the past but never got around to writing them.
24. Are there any easter eggs in [insert fic], and if so, what are they?
you didn't specify a fic so I'm going to go with Syzygy and I'm pleased to announce that quite a lot of the epistolary sections feature mini-cameos from either friends of mine or writing projects that i never ended up finishing. the play that thomas is in is vaguely based off a story i wrote in high school, everyone in the hollow-host.net chat room in chapter two is from one of my group chats (guess which one is me). oh, and in the review of AAHTDTL in chapter one, two of the plays listed are (obviously) Melliferous and Eucatastrophe.
41. Link a fic that made you think, “Wow, I want to write like that.”
In this fandom? Love and Other Fairy Tales kicked my brain with electric shoes and set me into writing overdrive with fairy emotions and a feeling's not a thing you own did the same with Thomas-Side feelings.
47. If [insert fic] was a pair of shoes, what kind would it be? Describe the shoes.
i assume this one's for melliferous. a good pair of walking boots that you loved dearly, but they're kind of squishy with all the honey you've been walking through and you know you're going to lose them eventually.
49. What are you currently working on? Share a few lines if you’re up for it!
Got the next chapter of Syzygy all drafted out, just need to polish it. It includes the phrase 'snex life' and a background weedmobile. Here's a bit:
Thomas isn’t sure if he should be shaking Janus’s hand or not. It seems like it would be a weird sort of thing to do. He actually kind of just wants to hug Janus as hard as he can, but that seems like an even weirder thing to do. He settles for a normal-person verbal introduction, instead. “Um, my name’s Thomas. Hi.”
For some reason, this gets a small frown out of Janus. “It is?”
“I... think so?” Thomas says, momentarily doubting it, before he shakes his head. “No, it is. Thomas. Thomas Sanders. Why are we being so weird about our names?”
the other thing i'm currently working on is a plan and research for (what will hopefully be) next year's big bang fic. nothing non-spoilery there to share, unfortunately. talk more about that later!
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until parted by death
romantic prinxiety, background logan & virgil & janus, weddings, anxiety, technically main character death but it's not angsty at all, fluff, no angst
Wordcount: 2018
Summary:
“I, Virgil Storm, take you, Roman Kingsley, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until parted by death. This is my solemn vow.”
“I, Roman Kingsley, take you, Virgil Storm, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until parted by death. This is my solemn vow.”
And that was it. They were married.
---
'Till death do us part, right?
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Heyo, this is super short because I wrote it based on a dumb Instagram post, but it's cute and Rozh liked it so here.
Big thanks to them for betaing, I love you @rozhanelle
Don't send me your dentist bills please.
WARNINGS:
death (very brief, nothing sad/angsty), general feelings of anxiety, little bit of sensory overload
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The wedding was small.
Which was what Virgil thought of every time his anxiety started acting up, because he was marrying Roman Kingsley (!!!!) and Roman was a romantic. He’d been dreaming of a Disney princess wedding to his perfect prince since he was a kid, but because Roman was marrying Virgil and big weddings made Virgil anxious, he had agreed to a small one.
Which was just one of the many ways Roman showed Virgil that he loved him. That Roman loved Virgil, that he was marrying him because he loved him, which helped Virgil’s fear of Roman getting cold feet and leaving him alone at the alter.
Which Roman wouldn’t do. At the very least, Roman would pull him aside and tell him he wasn’t ready, that he had realized he didn’t want to marry Virgil after all. He wouldn’t be mean about it.
But that didn’t matter! Because it was a small wedding, which Roman didn’t want but Virgil did so he had agreed to it, which meant that Roman loved him a lot and wanted to marry him.
Unless Roman was going to not marry him because of the small wedding. Unless Roman decided he wanted a big one instead and went off to find a better person with less anxiety that was as romantic as Roman.
Oh god, Roman was going to decide to not marry him-
“You need to stop worrying,” Logan said from where he was knotting his tie in the mirror across the room. He didn’t look at Virgil as he said it, so he missed Virgil jumping halfway out of his skin, having forgotten he wasn’t alone in his pity party.
“That’s, uh, kind of my whole personality, L,” he responded, rubbing the back of his neck self consciously and fiddling with the end of his sleeve. He hadn’t worn a tie or bowtie, much to Logan’s chagrin, because screw tradition, that shit was choking you and Virgil was a big fan of not choking to death, thank you.
They had compromised, which meant that Virgil was wearing the suit jacket instead of his hoodie, and he missed its weight like he missed air when he was wearing a tie.
But he had managed to swing the big black platformed Doc Martens with purple shoelaces and red roses embroidered on the side to match both Virgil’s dress shirt and Roman’s, so he wasn’t complaining too much.
Logan turned to look at him when he was done with his tie, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. It looked like he was going to dispute what Virgil had said, but Virgil was saved by the door opening and letting a somewhat sheepish-looking Janus into the room.
“Sorry I’m late,” they said. The door shut swiftly behind them with a click as they wandered further into the room. They whistled when they saw Virgil. “Wow, you look not bad.”
Virgil snorted.
“Thanks, Jan.” He walked over and flicked the brim of Janus’ fedora, laughing when they scowled. “You look not bad yourself.”
It was true. Everyone had cleaned up very nicely, and Virgil appreciated it. Logan in a full suit, Janus with a suit jacket, dress shirt, and a nice black skirt that was longer in the back than in the front and swayed when he walked. Janus had also gone with platform Doc Martens, although theirs were just the plain black with yellow threads.
It would really suck if this wedding didn’t go well. Asking all their friends to come only to be stood up, or for the officiant not to show up, or for Virgil to forget the words, oh shit what were the words-
“Stop it,” Janus interrupted his thoughts by returning a flick to Virgil’s forehead, which made him go cross eyed for a second. “Everything is going to be fine.”
“How can you know that?” Virgil asked, and it sounded a lot more desperate than he wanted it to, and oh no his nose was burning and there was water in his eyes what about his makeup-
“Because it’s you,” Janus answered simply. Logan came up behind them, setting a hand on their shoulder and fixing Virgil with a gentle look.
“Virgil, this is your wedding. You planned everything. It’s going to be perfect because you wouldn’t let it be anything else,” Logan elaborated.
“And even if something did go wrong,” Janus added, shrugging. “You love Roman, right?”
Virgil nodded, not trusting himself to speak past the lump in his throat.
“And Roman loves you,” Janus continued. “There isn’t anything that could change that. Not even a little mistake at a wedding.”
“It’ll be fine,” Logan finished, smiling at him.
“And I’m not supposed to tell you this,” Janus said, lowering their voice conspiratorially. “But Roman is freaking out just as much as you are. He wants it to be perfect for you.”
The fact that Roman, put together, confident Roman was panicking about making this small wedding as perfect for Virgil as Virgil wanted it to be for him was more comforting than it should have been.
They were in it together. They could do this.
“Okay,” Virgil said after a moment, making sure his eyes were clear and he was breathing deeply. “I’m ready.”
“Good,” Logan said. “Because it’s about to start.”
And it did go well. Everything went off without a hitch. Virgil stumbled over his vows a bit, but Roman did the same, and no one there judged them. And even if they did, Virgil wasn’t sure he would have noticed, too caught up in loving Roman.
“I, Virgil Storm, take you, Roman Kingsley, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until parted by death. This is my solemn vow.”
“I, Roman Kingsley, take you, Virgil Storm, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until parted by death. This is my solemn vow.”
And that was it. They were married.
Roman swooped Virgil up in his arms to twirl him, and Virgil couldn’t bring himself to do anything except giggle embarrassingly, pulling Roman in for a kiss when he was finally set on the ground.
They couldn’t really do anything except press their mouths together, both smiling too wide to actually kiss right, and that set them both off laughing again, Roman’s face wide and ecstatic and only inches from Virgil's.
“‘Till death do us part,” Roman whispered against Virgil’s lips, and Virgil, impossibly, smiled wider.
“‘Till death do us part.”
— — — — —
Death was loud.
Virgil closed his eyes as soon as he opened them. There were too many colors and too much noise to do much else except stand (stand? stand) there and take it, eyes closed and hands gravitating towards his ears.
“Mixter? Excuse me?” someone said, close to Virgil, and with great difficulty, he pried his eyes open. Because as horrible as the noise and the sounds were, ignoring someone purposefully was worse.
The person in front of him was short and wide eyed behind their pair of wire glasses, with chestnut ringlet curls down their back pulled away from their face with pink butterfly clips. They smiled when they saw him looking.
“Hello,” they greeted warmly, and Virgil put all of his focus, all of his senses, into hearing their voice and seeing their smile. It helped dampen out the rest of the world.
“My name’s Emile, she/it,” she said, waving. “You’re dead.”
The bluntness of it acted as a reboot. Virgil was turned off, held for a few seconds, and then turned back on again.
He had known that. He had known he was dead as soon as he had opened his eyes, but he hadn’t known it.
He was starting to get a headache.
“I know it takes a second,” Emile sympathized. “Let me know when you’re ready to continue.”
“I’m not ready,” Virgil said after a second of standing there, hands by his sides, staring at Emile like an idiot, “but let’s continue anyway.”
Virgil was dead. Emile was dead. Apparently, everyone around him was dead, because they were in the afterlife. It was almost exactly like regular life, except there was no global warming, no president, no douchebags, and no finish line.
Virgil was in one of the places where new dead people showed up. He followed Emile to her office, where she explained that it was it’s job to help newly dead people.
Things moved fast, after that. Virgil told Emile anyone he was interested in contacting that he knew was dead (one person, he knew one dead person, one he was very very very interested in contacting) and got the rundown of how things worked there.
It said that Virgil could have a few days to settle in if he needed them before discussing anything else. Virgil thought that was a good idea.
They walked out the door, into a park, and then they waited. Emile said it would be about five minutes.
It was four minutes and fifteen seconds.
“Virgil!” a voice shouted from their left, and Virgil turned towards it immediately, eyes flooding with tears before he had even laid eyes on the source of the voice.
And then arms were around him, picking him up and twirling him slowly, cradling him to a strong chest.
“Virgil, Virgil, Virgil, my love, baby, oh,” Roman chanted into his hair, hugging him so tight it would have hurt if Virgil could actually feel anything except for the warmth of Roman around him. He clutched onto his back, pressing as close as he could.
They stood there for a few moments.
Roman pulled back, and Virgil made an absolutely pitiful noise that Roman only crooned at, pressing a kiss to his forehead and the tip of his nose before he connected their mouths.
The kiss was salty and wet and clumsy but perfect, and Virgil sank into it and held Roman tighter.
Roman’s apartment was nice. Very him, with colors and posters and succulents and miniature sculptures on bookshelves. Roman collapsed on the couch and pulled Virgil on top of him so he was situated firmly in Roman’s lap, and they didn’t say much at all. They didn't need to.
Eventually, Roman broke the silence.
“I’ve been thinking,” he started, speaking into Virgil’s shoulder.
“Oh no,” Virgil breathed back, too overwhelmed with Roman’s presence to put any actual tone into the banter.
“Shush,” Roman laughed back, flicking Virgil’s ear. He swallowed.
“Go on,” Virgil encouraged after the silence had lasted a bit too long.
“I’ve been thinking,” Roman said again, “for a while now. When you weren’t here yet. That we’re not together anymore.”
Virgil furrowed his eyebrows and pushed on Roman’s shoulders until he was sitting upright in Roman’s lap, knees on either side of Roman’s hips, looking directly at Roman.
“We are together now,” he said quietly, bumping their noses together and making Roman smile.
“I know,” he replied, equally as soft. “But not together together. ‘‘Till death do us part,’ remember?”
Virgil paused, tilting his head as he thought about it.
“You’re right,” he finally admitted. “We’re not married anymore.”
Roman bit his lip.
“I guess we’re single now, huh,” Virgil continued, looking up at the ceiling. He didn’t need to look to feel Roman’s gaze on him, watching, waiting for what he was going to do. Virgil looked back at him, bringing a hand up to swipe a thumb across his cheek, catching on his bottom lip.
Virgil grinned a little, leaning forward so he could rest his elbows on Roman’s shoulder, and for once, for once , there was no anxiety in the back of his mind telling him this wasn’t going to end well.
“So,” he practically purred, turning his confidence meter up as far as he could, bumping their noses again, “wanna grab a coffee sometime?”
------------
Thanks for reading. :)
You can also read my stuff over on ao3. (thepenguinclub)
Comments and kudos are appreciated and make my day! Have a good rest of yours. <3
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Perfectly Fine
Prompt: Hi! I would love to read something from you featuring asexual Remus! - anon
it is project onto fictional characters hour my dudes
Read on Ao3
Warnings: discussions of the reality of being a sex-repulsed ace in a very allo world, nothing explicit
Pairings: none you heathens
Word Count: 1358
It takes them longer to figure it out than it should have and honestly, that’s on them.
But Remus is Remus, and that's perfectly fine.
It takes them longer to figure it out than it should have and honestly, that’s on them.
So it’s no secret that Remus’s particular sense of humor is equally as derived from what he finds funny and what makes the others the most uncomfortable. Logan did an analysis of it once and the results were 49%-51%. Which one is which varies but the quantities are incredibly consistent.
The trick is figuring out that the balance applies to Remus too.
And sure, the idea of Remus being uncomfortable is…difficult to remember sometimes, given that, you know, he’s Remus, but it’s there! It’s worth remembering! He’s a Side too! But considering his metric for ‘uncomfortable’ is wildly different from everyone else’s, it’s easy for them to overlook it. Maybe he gets some excitement out of grossing himself out too, maybe there’s a sick thrill in seeing just how close he can get himself to vomiting, honestly, who knows. Remus is Remus and that’s perfectly fine.
So here’s the big one that, again, took them way too long to figure out.
Remus is asexual. Not just asexual, sex-repulsed asexual.
Let’s reiterate: Remus is Remus and that’s perfectly fine.
It just…took them by surprise, is all.
“Wait,” Logan says, adjusting his glasses, “you’re asexual?”
“Those are the words I used,” Remus says, his head hanging off the couch.
“I—I heard you, I am…simply surprised,” Logan settles on, closing his notebook and setting it aside. “I would not have guessed that Thomas’s Sides would have different sexualities or romantic orientations.”
“What does it matter, Pocket Protector?”
“It doesn’t, it’s interesting to me.”
“Does that mean that all of us could potentially have different sexualities?” Patton’s head pokes above the counter as he digs for the good muffin tray—not the one Janus swiped three hours ago, of course not—in the cabinets. “Or no?”
Logan shrugs. “I imagine it would be possible, though I find it likely that at least some of us share Thomas’s.”
“My ears are burning,” Roman announces, plopping onto the couch next to his brother, “what incredibly gay thing are we talking about now?”
“Yeesh, Princey,” Virgil mutters, recovering from flinching horribly into the chair, “don’t do that, you scared the hell outta me.”
“Sorry, Virgil.” Roman taps Remus’s leg, hanging up over the back of the couch next to his head. “Why’re you upside-down?”
“Why’re you right-side up?”
“Remus…prompted a discussion on sexualities,” Logan says carefully, sparing a glance at Remus, “and we were debating the question of if we, as Thomas’s Sides, all have different sexualities.”
Remus kicks Roman in the head. “Told them I’m ace.”
“Oh, that makes more sense.”
“Really, and here I thought Remus beginning a complex introspective conversation was the height of character accuracy.”
“Payback,” Virgil sniggers as Roman startles horribly as Janus appears from behind the couch. “All jokes aside, I’m with L, I, uh, didn’t expect Remus to be ace.”
“Why not?”
Janus scoffs. “Couldn’t be the number of sex jokes you make on a daily basis, not at all.”
Remus shrugs.
“I think it’s just surprising considering how comfortable you are making the jokes, kiddo.”
“The fuck makes you think I’m comfortable with them?”
“Lang—what?” Patton’s head pops up again.
“A wild Patton appears!”
“Has Thomas…ever been interested in Pokémon?”
“What do you mean, comfortable?” Patton tilts his head, focused entirely on Remus and not the others making Pokémon jokes. “Are—are you not comfortable?”
“Remus isn’t exactly known for his ‘comfortable’ sense of humor, Padre,” Roman says, leaning back on the couch to make eye contact around Remus’s legs.
“But—but that—hold on.” Patton stands up—“ah! More Wild Patton!”—and puts his hands on the counter. “Remus, why would you make jokes that make you uncomfortable?”
Remus eyes him from upside-down. “Why does anyone do anything?”
“Sheer, absolute boredom, yeah, yeah, we get it,” Virgil sighs, “but it’s a good question, Remus.”
Remus just shrugs, only for it to dislodge him from his precarious position and slide toward the floor. Roman watches him collapse into a graceless heap and rolls his eyes, lying down on the couch.
“Hey! You stole my spot!”
“You’re the one who moved. Hey—!” Roman squawks in surprise as Remus throws himself on top of him. “You’re squishing me!”
“Too bad for you.”
“Remus,” Janus says softly, “are you…does sex make you uncomfortable?”
“Like maggots are crawling through my bones!”
The living room is quiet for a moment, enough to make Remus push himself up and stare around at them.
“What?”
“Sex isn’t something shameful, Remus,” Patton says patiently—and wow, isn’t that a surprise— “I promise.”
Remus rolls his eyes. “I know that, it just makes me want to rip all of my skin off and start over.”
“Why?”
“It’s bad enough I have to live in this meat sack,” he grouses, flopping back down and eliciting a soft ‘oof’ from Roman, “don’t need to be consciously reminded of it.”
“...‘meat sack?’”
“Oh, sorry, Lolo, ‘flexible container of mostly water.’”
“That’s not—well, yes, I suppose that is more accurate,” Logan says as he adjusts his tie, “but why would you choose to refer to your body as a meat sack?”
Remus shrugs. “’S not like I’d choose to be in this fucking thing. Evolution fucked up when it made us this way, at least we aren’t fucking horses. Oh, hey—“
“No,” Roman interrupts, “no jokes about that.”
“Spoilsport.”
“Remus?”
“What do you want, Snake-Face?”
“Are you…uncomfortable with your body?”
“Every day! It’s awful! I wish I didn’t have one!” At Janus’s muffled noise of heartbreak, Remus cranes his neck to look up at him. “Oh, relax, I’m fine, discomfort is part of my existence.”
“But it shouldn’t have to be.”
Remus huffs a sigh when he realizes that everyone else is looking at him with a similar amount of concern. Well, except Roman, but Roman gets it so that makes sense.
“I may or may not be being slightly dramatic, I am fine.”
“Can confirm,” Roman hums lazily, “comes with the Creativity gig.”
“Look, I just don’t like that it’s—it’s—“ Remus’s gaze lands on Patton— “look, Cookie Monster over there is allergic to cats, right?”
Logan frowns, glancing back and forth between them. “Yes, what does—“
“He’s not gonna die from it and he can still be around them, he’s just hyperaware of when there are cats and he can’t spend a lot of time around them without being really uncomfortable, right?”
Logan blinks in surprise. “Yes, I understand what you’re saying. Very clever analogy.”
“I am Creativity, you nitwit.”
He rolls his eyes fondly. “Of course.”
“So,” Virgil says cautiously, waving a hand at him, “you’re…good?”
“Yep. Goody-goody gumdrops, that’s me.”
“As long as you never say that again, fine.”
Roman gives him a hug. “I’m proud of you, Re, coming out is hard. Especially when you have to give people a vocabulary lesson when you do it.”
“Thanks, Ro-Bro.” Remus’s grin widens. “Does that mean I get to pick the movie for tonight?”
“What? No! It’s my pick! Hey! Hey!” Roman squeals as Remus starts to poke his belly. “Don’t! Dohohon’t!”
“Let me pick!”
“No!”
“Boys,” Janus sighs, reaching out and using his six arms to separate the twins, “that’s enough. Roman, what movie are we watching?”
“Pacific Rim.”
“Hey, wait, that’s what I was gonna pick!”
“See? There you go.”
Logan perks up immediately. “Does this mean we finally get to watch a movie with no romantic subplot?”
“And batshit physics.”
“We can overlook the batshit physics.”
“Whoa, L, what happened to you?”
“I…may have a greater appreciation for the cinematic depictions of the machinery.”
Patton just rolls his eyes and gets back to searching for the muffin pan. No movie night is complete without fresh baked goods. Ah, there it is, although he could’ve sworn he looked there a few moments ago…
Anyway, they end the conversation in the same place it started.
Remus is Remus, and that’s perfectly fine.
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If you want to be added/taken off the taglist, let me know!
#dragonbabbles#fic#sanders sides#remus sanders#sympathetic remus#janus sanders#deceit sanders#sympathetic deceit#roman sanders#patton sanders#virgil sanders#logan sanders#ace#asexual#asexuality#sex-repulsed asexual
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Nothing at All and I Resent the Question
Ao3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32359684
———————————————————————
Pairing: Platonic Loceit (could be seen as romantic if you wanted to)
Word Count: 1120
Summary:
Deceit stood up, bringing out his hook and pulling Logan off of the screen. The logical side landed a bit roughly in his room, mirroring his usual position in Thomas’ living room.
“My apologies, Logan. I’m afraid my summoning abilities are a bit rusty and… unusual. Lovely room you have, by the way.”
aka my interpretation of what happened between Logan and Janus during POF when he was dragged off screen.
———————————————————————
Deceit waited patiently. The day of reckoning had finally come: April “lucky number” 13th. He snorted. Lucky. That was one of the bigger lies that Thomas had told recently.
When the reception had been less than ideal and yielded none of Patton’s treasured “good feelings'' (sigh), Deceit had expected to feel a rush of self-righteousness, an urge to say “I told you so”. He’d been right about the whole thing all this time, after all.
Instead, he’d been hit with a feeling of… emptiness. Thomas had gotten nowhere. Deceit’s own plans had only led to more damage. The fact that he’d had no other options didn’t seem to soften the blow, no matter how much he wished to remain unaffected.
All of this pontificating had brought him here, sitting on the couch in Logan’s room. He would be damned if he let all of his work be for nothing. So far, the wedding aftermath had been a bit disastrous, given what he could grasp from inside the Mindpalace. So disastrous, in fact, that he felt his mission might already be doomed before it even started. Logan, the poor thing, had been trying to contribute some much-needed reasoning to the conversation and been thoroughly and utterly ignored again. Still, there were a few things that gave Deceit hope. Thomas had at least considered his argument a bit more, going by his “made a decision with a blindfold on” comment.
So, with more determination than he’d ever felt before, Deceit had set up the skip button and waited; hoping that maybe Thomas had at least considered his argument, that the others wouldn’t immediately dismiss his words because he was a dark side, that even if they didn’t dismiss him they wouldn’t hold too much bias, that Thomas would actually just fucking listen to him for once and understand that the world wasn’t black and white. If Patton, Roman, or Thomas had actually gotten to the point of skipping logic, then he would know that things were dire. He was torn between hoping it would happen just to give him the opportunity and being horrified by what the circumstances of said opportunity mea-
It just so happened that at that exact moment his train of thought was broken by none other than the aforementioned “skip button” being pressed. By Patton. Hm, interesting. He’d expected that it would be Roman, if anyone. Deceit stood up, bringing out his hook (he definitely didn’t feel giddy about finally getting to use it) and pulling Logan off of the screen. The logical side landed a bit roughly in his room, mirroring his usual position in Thomas’ living room. Deceit winced a bit as the other stumbled.
“My apologies, Logan. I’m afraid my summoning abilities are a bit rusty and… unusual. Lovely room you have, by the way,” he said, eyeing his hook as he pushed it back up into its spot in his capelet, ready to be summoned again at any time.
Logan, who had been adjusting his tie a bit dejectedly and looking hurt, quickly straightened up at the sound of the other side’s voice. Deceit didn’t comment.
“Deceit,” the logical side spoke, his normal speaking volume a welcome contrast to the yell that typically accompanied the statement, “what are you doing here?” His eyes narrowed, quickly putting everything together. “It was you who placed the skip button, wasn’t it?”
“Indeed. Again, my apologies. I would’ve loved to devise a gentler option but, alas, it appears we’re in pretty dire straits at this point,” he replied.
“It’s no matter.” Lie. “I’m assuming you have a reason for dragging me down here?”
“I need a favor.” He hesitated for a second. “Well, less of a favor and more your permission.”
Logan’s eyebrows had progressively raised higher and higher. “Permission?” Janus nodded. “For what?”
“I wish to impersonate you.” Logan’s eyebrows were at his hairline at this point. It took him a few seconds of silence to gather his response.
“You’ve never asked for permission in the past, I’m confused as to why you feel you need to do so now.”
Deceit looked away, sighing, he hated being emotionally vulnerable. “Well, last time I impersonated you without permission it went--How do I say this?--It was a bit of a disaster. One that, if i’m not mistaken, hurt you in the process.” Logan attempted to speak but Deceit kept going, “Yes, yes, I know you ‘can’t feel’ and whatnot. That’s unfortunately a debate for another day; right now I'm requesting your permission. I’m… unsure if I'll ever get another opportunity like this.” He finished, trying to keep the desperation out of his voice.
Logan stared at him for a second. “Why?”
“Pardon?” He looked back at Logan.
“Why do you believe you’ll not get another opportunity? Why choose to ask me? Why do you need an opportunity in the first place? To do what?”
Well… that wasn’t exactly what Deceit had been expecting but, then again, this was Logan he was dealing with.
“You’re the least biased out of all of them. I have the best chance with you. As for the opportunity… I feel that this little discussion that Thomas is having quite closely pertains to me.”
“How so?”
Janus glanced his eyes away again. “‘Deceit’ is an oversimplification of my purpose, just as ‘Logic’ is an oversimplification of yours. I’m also Thomas’ self-preservation. His selfishness. And well… he could use some selfishness right now.” Silence rang out for a few seconds.
“I see. Then you have my permission.”
“...”
“Wow, you put up such a fight, Logan. I’m exhausted.” Deceit snarked out, surprised by the ease of the other’s agreement.
Logan smirked a bit, adjusting his glasses. “I believe I now have a greater understanding of your presence here, Deceit. If Thomas won’t listen to me on the matter, perhaps he will listen to you.”
Logan stepped out of his spot next to the staircase, coming to stand next to the couch. He looked at Deceit, gesturing to the vacated space.
“Go ahead,” he said. Deceit saw no bitterness in his eyes.
He walked over to the spot and let his disguise wash over him. There were now two versions of Logan in the room. He turned back to Logan.
“Thank you.” He spoke with more genuineness than he’d spoken in years.
Logan simply gave him a small smile and shook his head. “No need. For your sake and Thomas’, I hope you succeed.”
Deceit began to sink down, the two sides each giving each other a mutual nod of respect as he went. If all else failed, Janus at least felt that he might have an ally in one of the light sides.
#sanders sides#thomas sanders#ts deceit#ts sides#logan sanders#ts logan#sanders sides fanfiction#ao3fic#ts janus#janus sanders#loceit
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Paint My Spirit Gold
Dukeceit Week Day 2: Green/Yellow
Fans of the YouTubers "Deceit" and Remus "The Duke" Sanders start to suspect that maybe, just maybe, the two of them are more than simple internet pals.
AO3 Link: [here]
Word Count: 2187
Warnings: n/a
@dukeceitweek <3
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[ID: A screenshot of a Twitter post by user @CallMeDukie. It features a watercolor-style painting of a snake. The snake appears to be made of melting chocolate, and there is a large bite taken out of its tail. Cherries and jam are leaking out of the snake at the bite wound. The snake's expression of horror is overly-exaggerated to the point of comedy. The caption reads: "liked your snake boi, @SerpenThyme. thanks for the inspo." /end ID]
-
A notification ding cut Janus off mid-sentence.
“Wow, someone left their cell phone on, so professional,” he said, giving the camera a dramatic eye roll. That someone was him, of course, because he was the only one in the apartment- just him and the running livestream- but that was no excuse not to be a drama queen about it. He finished wiping flour off his hands and grabbed his phone to silence it; but the notification made him pause. He flicked his eyes up toward the camera and gave a slight smirk.
“My goodness, I’m famous,” he drawled. “The Duke himself has graced little old me with some fan art.”
Most of the comments in the chat wanted him to show it, so Janus opened up Twitter to see the full post he’d been tagged in. It was a watercolor painting of the coiled-snake chocolate sculpture- lovingly named Jake by his viewers- he’d made for his YouTube video last week; it was wearing an expression of such comedic horror that Janus had to stifle a laugh. He flicked his phone screen toward the close-up camera on his counter so his viewers could see.
“How kind of you, Remus,” he said. “All of you should go scold him for what he’s done to poor Jake here.”
Most of his viewers would know he was joking- after all, they were the ones to nickname him Deceit when he provided neither a real or fake name for his online persona. They knew full well what he was like by now.
The oven timer dinged. Janus silenced his phone and set it aside.
“And our first batch of cookies is done. You know, why don’t we show the Duke some appreciation?”
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[ID: An Instagram post by user @SerpenThyme. The photo is an artistically-framed shot of a stack of sugar cookies with green, yellow, and pink icing. Propped up against the stack is another cookie, with an intricate icing-drawing of an octopus. The photo appears to have been color corrected to have high contrast, low saturation, and a dark vignette at the edges. The Instagram user @OctoDukie is tagged. No caption. /end ID]
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“You know, I have often been accused of actually being a little old lady, what with my fondness for knitted jumpers, rocking chairs, and incredibly fucked up murder mystery books. Today I am doing nothing to dispel this accusation, by making soup.”
The studio was dark and empty aside from Remus' workspace. Everyone else had left long ago, even his own brother, which meant that it was officially ass-o'clock in the morning (or, as most people called it, somewhere between 1 and 2 a.m.) But Remus was stuck in hyperfocus, honed in on putting the last touches on a commission that he'd been putting off for weeks. It's not that it was a tough painting- once he'd gotten started, it was actually a very creatively satisfying piece- but man, executive dysfunction could go suck a dick
“French onion soup, specifically. Because while I do like to pretend I am a classy bitch, I am also, regrettably, a lazy bitch with a distaste for anything that takes longer than one bottle of wine to make.”
Remus hated working in silence. It was stifling, almost suffocating. His brain needed noise like his lungs needed air. So when the studio had grown still and silent, Remus had flipped open his laptop and queued up some YouTube videos.
“So we have here three pounds of onions that we need to slice up, pole to pole. You’re going to cry no matter what, so if you have any memories you’ve been repressing since middle school, now is an excellent time to dredge those up.”
And if it happened to be 90% SerpenThyme videos, well. Sue him.
“Now the first rule of caramelizing onions: fast and sloppy is always better than slow and thorough… at least, that’s what every man I’ve ever slept with tells me.”
Remus choked and glanced over to his laptop screen just in time to catch Deceit's trademark smirk directed at the audience just for a moment. It was the deadpan delivery that always got him. Remus could barely hold onto a joke long enough to get through it without cackling mid-punchline, but this fucker could say the funniest shit like an off-hand comment.
He wiped his hands off on his jeans (what use were clothes if you couldn't use them as paint rags?) and pulled his laptop across the table. He typed out a quick comment, citing the timestamp of the joke, and after it was posted, he shut his laptop.
'Cause ass-o'clock was short for "get-your-ass-home-or-I’ll-kick-it" o'clock.
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[ID: A screenshot of a YouTube comments section. The first comment is by user TheDuke, and reads: "10:42 wow, rude." The second comment is a reply by user SerpenThyme, and simply reads ";)" /end ID]
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Janus plopped down on the couch with a slight groan. He didn’t need to stream today, but he really hated missing days. Besides… he was fine. Really.
He adjusted the camera until he was happy with the framing, and then checked the settings on his streaming software. Satisfied, he started the stream, and watched as his usual viewers rolled in.
“What do you mean I’m not in my kitchen?” Janus drawled, addressing the chat. He glanced around with an expression of faux-shock on his face. “My goodness, when did that happen?”
He chuckled, and then gestured to his surroundings. “Yes, we are in my living room today. If you must know, my closest and most trusted friend tried to murder me today- yes, Virgil, it was attempted murder and nothing less- and I survived with nary a scratch… and a broken foot, but that is beside the point. Anyway, I’m not allowed to stand for long periods of time, and I may or may not be somewhat inebriated by pain pills and couldn’t stand even if I wanted to. So we are cooking from my couch today.”
Janus paused for a few moments to read the chat messages as they popped up. A few get well soon’s, a few theories about the “attempted murder,” Virgil- who moderated his chat for him- vehemently denying the “attempted murder” but otherwise refusing to clarify the event, and a large volume of wtf why are you streaming today, take care of yourself comments, which made him smile. But one particular comment caught his eye, almost lost amid the torrent of an active chat: wait this kinda looks like the Duke’s living room?
“Oh, VampSuga,” he said, addressing that commenter in particular with a slight smirk. “I haven’t the faintest idea what you’re talking about. Anyway, since I can’t reach my oven from here, I thought some no-bake cookies were in order. For these you will need-”
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[ID: A screenshot of a Discord conversation. The text reads:
“VampSuga: Ok ok hear me out. Dukeceit.
Starstruck96: who?
IneffableSnek: lmao
FeralBeauYasha: lol
VampSuga: Deceit and Remus Sanders! They’re totally dating. I will die on this hill.
FeralBeauYasha: Isn’t the duke w/ PatPat?
IneffableSnek: no thats his brothers bf
FeralBeauYasha: ohh
VampSuga: Did anyone see Deceit’s stream today? I swear that’s the Duke’s livingroom.
StarStruck96: idk that seems like a stretch
IneffableSnek: no wait i kno what u mean
IneffableSnek: im watching the duke’s old videos and that one where he shows off all his old weapons he’s in a living room kinda like deceit’s
FeralBeauYasha: They were acting all cute on twitter too
VampSuga: DUKECEIT” /end ID]
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"Hey guys, been a while since you've seen my face and not just whatever my hands are busy with, when it's within YouTube's terms and conditions I mean. They used to be way more lenient…" Remus trailed off for a moment, then shook his head sharply and plastered on a grin.
"Anyway! In June me and a few other creators did a fundraiser for the Trevor Project, and y'all smashed the goal, so I let you decide what video I'd make this month." He paused, and gestured to the mountain of clothes piled behind him on the bed. "And you had so many juicy ideas to choose from, but you decided to dress me up like a Barbie instead."
Remus paused to scroll through his phone for a few moments. "Ah, ok, here we go. Twitter user YoonIsMyCat- oh, BTS, nice- sent in this first outfit. Uh… future Remus, put up the post here somewhere." He gestured vaguely to his right. "Y'all went with either a fuckton more clothes or a fuckton less clothes, which I respect. Apparently this outfit is called…” He squinted at his phone. “Amish chic? I take it back, no respect at all.”
Remus cycled through the outfits his viewers sent in, which ranged from the aforementioned “Amish chic” to “2008 rave attire” to “ok now you guys are just fucking with me” (which consisted of one of those big puffy snow coats, lime green in color; booty shorts with the shrug text emoji across the ass; fuzzy pink boots; and a yellow cowboy hat to top off the whole thing. It was awful. Remus loved it.) The mountain of clothes on the bed gradually became a mess of clothes spread across the floor instead, until there was just one outfit left.
“Ok so Twitter user VampSuga sent me this outfit that I’m gonna call ‘sexy librarian.’ I couldn’t find this exact sweater online, but-” he paused for dramatic effect, before brandishing a sweater toward the camera like a bullfighter. “My boyfriend had something that was close enough.”
Remus hopped up from the bed and switched off the camera so he could change.
“They’re going to lose their minds,” a voice drawled from the doorway. Remus threw his shirt at him.
“Shoo, I’m getting naked.”
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[ID: A Twitter post by user @CallMeDukie. It features a selfie of YouTuber Remus “The Duke” Sanders, a Hispanic man with his hair dyed green and styled into a spiked mohawk. He is wearing a yellow knitted cardigan over a black button-up shirt. He is grinning widely at the camera. The caption reads: “my viewers pick my outfits! now live on youtube. go see what i look like as a sexy librarian!” /end ID]
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DukeceitStan
first and only dukeceit shipper ig
DukeceitStan
wow there’s so many of you now! Hi!!
DukeceitStan
i want this to be canon so bad omg
DukeceitStan
i mean just look
[image]
how
[image]
cute
[image]
[ID: A series of three gifs featuring Youtubers SerpenThyme, aka Deceit, and TheDuke, aka Remus Sanders. Deceit is a black man with long, dreadlocked hair, and vitiligo patches along the left side of his face. Remus is a Hispanic man with green-dyed hair styled into a mohawk, many ear and facial piercings, and tattoos covering both arms. Each gif is edited so that the highlights are tinged yellow when Deceit is seen, and tinged green when Remus is seen.
The first gif depicts a close-up shot of Deceit’s hands as he carefully decorates a cookie with green and yellow icing. The cookie art he is working on appears to be a half-finished octopus. The gif then fades into a mid-shot of Remus, with his back to the camera, facing a canvas. The canvas is blank, and Remus appears to be laying out paints on a table to his left.
The second gif depicts Deceit seated at his couch, facing the camera. He has many ingredients spread across his coffee table (including oats, cocoa powder, and butter) and appears to be in the process of laying out several more. The gif fades to show Remus seated at a similar couch with a similar coffee table in front of him. The camera is angled slightly downward to better show the myriad of knives spread out across the table. Remus is gesturing wildly with a morning star held in his hand.
The third gif depicts Deceit in his kitchen. He is pulling on a bright, yellow knitted cardigan, and smirking toward the camera. The gif fades to show Remus in his bedroom, seated on his bed. He is holding up a similar-looking cardigan toward the camera and grinning. /end ID]
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“Remus, it’s almost two in the morning. Come to bed.”
“I’m coming, sorry. Twitter distracted me.”
“Mm. I can’t believe the bird app is more distracting than I am.”
“You should try harder.”
“Come to bed and maybe I will.”
“Ok, ok, I’m coming. Hang on though, is it cool if I post this?”
“Sure. They figured it out anyway.”
“Sweet. Ok, Jannie, I’m coming.”
-
[ID: A screenshot of a Twitter post by user @CallMeDukie. It reads: “Dukeceit is canon.” /end ID]
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Skater Dark Sides AU (bullet fic) 5
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 6 (end)!
Wow, who still remembers I have this project? I almost forgot myself 🙈 But, since it is Dukeceit Week, I have finally returned! Currently my plan is to write out one particular scene from this part for my next entry which will be two days late then, hush but we’ll see. For now enjoy the last part of Janus and Remus’ solo arc 💛💚
Again this will include: romantic Demus, platonic Dukexiety, brotherly Creativitwins, everything else is open to interpretation so far
Still don’t think any trigger warnings are necessary but if you do find something, tell me please!
the first few weeks of vacation go over incredibly quickly for Janus
maybe it’s because he’s having fun but time really seems to fly
he hangs out a lot with Remus & Co. and he feels freer than ever before
keeping his feelings for Remus hidden is easier than he thought, his instincts to act like he’s in control of every situation helping him out a lot
still, living with Remus, even for only a few days a week, gets them way closer than before
Janus isn’t fazed by Remus sex jokes or off-putting infodumps about macabre topic anymore
and Remus moved his most prized possessions into Janus’ apartment
one week in the middle of vacation, Janus’ parents want to go on their annual family trip and somehow Janus manages to talk his way out of it (with help from his mom)
which means that he can spend that particular weekend with Remus in its entirety
Remus is thrilled at the prospect and takes time off work himself, so that the two of them can do shit together
they go to a water park and it feels so much like a date, Janus is kinda freaking out about it internally beforehand
but once they get there, Remus is just his usual self, so Janus quickly relaxes
they have a lot of fun and once they get back to the apartment they decide to have a movie night
after both have showered, dressed in pyjamas and the pizza arrived, they sat on the couch and made fun of bad rom-coms
somehow Janus ends up leaning against Remus as they share a bowl of popcorn
Janus ends up looking up at Remus after he made a bad joke and they lock eyes
they won’t remember who moved first but suddenly they’re kissing
no tongues though and before it gets too heated, Janus pulls back
he gives an entire speech about how much he likes Remus, how nervous he is to admit it because of his history and how his family situation could complicate things
Remus listens patiently
Janus ends with saying that he thought about it a lot and if Remus is willing he’d like to go out with him
Remus is silent for a bit before he grins and says that he really likes Janus too and would love to go out with him and if that ends up pissing off some conservative rich assholes then that’s just a bonus
Janus hits him for that before they start kissing again
so that’s how they start dating
none of the skate crew is surprised when they show up holding hands some days later
Janus talks to his mom after they get back from their trip and she’s super supportive but wants to meet Remus soon
they do decide to keep this from Janus’ father for just a bit longer
the meeting between Remus and Jan’s mother goes over rather smoothly all things considered
she – of course – finds him weird but just as Janus can appreciate his honesty and sees how much he cares for her son
Janus is surprised how well he handles this relationship; change is normally pretty hard for him but Remus makes it feel so easy
his therapist is pleasantly surprised as well
by the end of summer vacation, Remus pretty much moved in completely, they just hadn’t made it official
but with autumn approaching, Janus thought about it a lot and he decides it’s time to tell his dad about everything
so the next weekend he’s there he asks him to give him some time
they talk about the new school year and Janus’ internship first before J can muster up the courage to breach the actual topic
once he does, his dad is very quiet, listens till the end and remains silent for a while longer
when he does speak, he first makes it clear that he loves Janus, unconditionally, but that he’ll need some time to process, so J leaves him alone
the rest of the day is a bit awkward, but that was to be expected
Janus’ mother keeps him company and reassures him that his dad loves him, it’s just surprising news
Janus doesn’t doubt her
the next day, his father takes him to the side again
he tells Janus that he’s proud of him, always has been
he’s been worried ever since the kidnapping since it affected Janus so badly but he’s glad to see that he’s finding his own path
he also tells him that he will support Janus no matter how he wants to proceed, go public, keep it between the family, whatever
Janus will deny vehemently that he cried a bit
in the end they agree that Janus won’t make any announcements or anything but if the truth somehow came to light, they would not try to hide it and face the negativity that is sure to follow head-on and together
Janus was never as grateful for his family as he was on that day (he even completely forgot that he hadn’t come out to his siblings yet. whoops)
Remus is also very happy for him once he hears the news
he’s a bit scared of meeting Janus’ father, not that he would admit it but that’s normal
on the last day of vacation, Janus officially asks Remus to move in with him and he gladly accepts
Okay! Finally this arc is done so next, we should meet Virgil! 💜 If I don’t forget about this again... 😅
Hope you like it, reblogs, comments and/or asks are very welcome!
#namiswriting#my writing#sanders sides#sanders sides fanfiction#bullet fic#tss janus#janus sanders#tss remus#remus sanders#dukeceit#demus#skater dark sides au#asks and reblogs are very welcome#set up for my next dukeceitweek story#hopefully#💛💚
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Sanders Sides D&D 2
Ooh fresh take: Jan is virge’s patron and that’s why there’s beef
Also: Jan is some sort of fae related being
Jan: i need you to do something for me Virgil: no Janus: that's not how this works!! Virgil: watch me :P
Okay so I was thinking of Patton as a cleric cuz ooh healer however, Patton as a Druid makes me so happy
I want logan to have Rage
(Also that could tie nicely in an arc about Logan learning to accept feelings)
but barbarian logan is going to be a scholar again and is gonna be smort
bc hes logan. he cant be not smart
Oh I figured he’d be the bbeg that eventually joins the party (hurt/comfort baybee!)(Remus)
he was the bbeg but then joined the party as a bardbarian or just a bard
plus, actual bard who accidentally casts vicious mockery instead of bardic inspiration
Side note: please include a scene where Remus attempts to seduce the dragon
also with this second au, i can start them at like level 5 so people can multiclass
Pat as cleric/druid
gasp logan as artificer/barbarian
janus sorcerer/rogue
because basically everything but alchemist would work well with barbarian, but alchemist feels very Logan
bc mad scientist being actually mad
alchemist logan making an experimental potion and going "here im not sure what this does but im sure its fine! someone drink it"
Remus does it voluntarily, but Logan usually tries to get Roman to drink it
Virgil will occasionally drink it when he's on his last legs and is just like.....100% done with the party
remus as a wild magic path barbarian and just fucking teleporting or doing something equally ridiculous whenever he rages
Oh my god Remus with rage would be a force to be reckoned with
You gotta describe the first time he goes into a rage really dramatically
obviously virgil is trying to "escape" his patron, Janus (really just do whatever he says to not do out of spite)
Eldritch knight roman
Feywild warlock virgil
hey so in the second d&d au, should roman and remus be actual full siblings but like remus went darkside and like romans just trying to get back at him for putting a dark stain on the family name
hey hey hey what about warforged Logan? (essentially a robot)(so like "i dont feel anything" becoming real)
okay hear me out. elf roman and elf base simic hybrid remus. so like maybe the reason remus went darkside was experimentation? so like. hes elf but special
FALLEN AASIMAR VIRGIL
virgil just transforming in the middle of a combat scenario and like his eyes turn into black pits and flightless skeletal wings appear on his back and like everyone near him has to make a charisma check and like he deals extra necrotic damage
Pat is the one human stuck in a band of misfits
so with it, roman would be a full elf, and remus would be an elf that has tentacles bc octopus
So robot logan
i meant literally he doesnt feel anything
like he has all the emotions, but he doesnt physically feel the need to like eat or sleep or stuff like that
he just.....he pretend he don't have the feelings.....but he do.....he feel so much and he hides it all in his littol mechanical heart <3
plus......if he warforged, then like.....AC huge
he stands in front of friends.....he protecc...."no, i don't have feelings, i am physically incapable of affection" but he do!! he do! he take hits for them because he do!! he care so much
Bro he spouts all this and then he uses a reaction to dive in front of someone and everyone’s just like oh
LIKE ROMAN STILL BEING MEAN TO LO BC HE THINKS HE DOESNT HAVE FEELINGS BECAUSE HE DOESNT HAVE A HEART BUT HE DOES
hey hey everyone needs to grow
and logan standing up for himself and other people stepping in and saying no stop thats not right
plus if canon wont give me roman facing the consequences of his actions towards Logan......
but also Roman learning how to properly handle his own emotions and how he interacts with others
logan who doesn't view himself as anything more than a machine to be useful to others
the party giving logan love and affection until he slowly learns his own worth as a person
Roman and Logan not getting along (maybe Roman has a Lore reason to distrust Warforged, maybe not) and slowly learning to trust each other
when Logan is feeling real down or having some issue, Roman actually comes through to help him, showing how far both characters have come
Okay yes but also can we please give Roman more confidence than canon? Like I’m sooooo sick of low self esteem being played for laughs or just being really really sad
this boy is going on a mission and will slap his brother upside the head and tell him to shut tf up remus youre not a monster just come back home and he will do it alone if need be
OKAY SO WHAT IF HE ORIGINALLY WENT ON THE QUEST JUST TO STOP REMUS ONCE AND FOR ALL BC ROMAN THOUGHT HE WAS A MONSTER, BUT ALONG THE WAY, AND AFTER LOGAN, HE CAME TO REALIZE THAT NO, JUST BECAUSE REMUS (AND LOGAN) ARE DIFFERENT, THEY ARENT MONSTERS, JUST DIFFERENT
AND LIKE IN THE FINAL PUSH TO MAKE REMUS JOIN BACK WITH HIS BROTHER, ROMAN IS PROJECTING HIS OWN FEELINGS ONTO REMUS AND EVERYONE IS LIKE WOW BRO YOU GOOD THERE, BUT ITS A BIG MOMENT FOR LOGAN, ROMAN, AND REMUS
im unsure as to how, but it happened when he was an older teen/young adult. a simic scientist either picked him (read: kidnapped), or remus volunteered (potentially to escape court life, unaware what exactly the experiment was going to do to him physically
bc also, remus and roman are royalty
so like. how best to get at the nobes/royalty/rich famous people than by turning their kid into a monster
wait, wait, wait, because i'm lowkey a sucker for this trope, but i'm not sure if it fits Remus: the experiments left him with some fairly significant physical pain/uncontrolled magical reactions. through some combo of trying to deal with that and trying find a cure for his pain, he keeps like....absolutely wrecking random towns on accident but also deliberately wrecking certain places looking for either a) vengeance on the guy(s) responsible or b) someone who can make the pain stop
SO LIKE. WILD MAGIC BARBARIAN DOING WEIRD SHIT TO HIM WHENEVER HE RAGES
AND LOGAN COULD MAYBE HELP WITH THE PAIN AND SHIT
BC ALCHEMY
Yknow, for simplification purposes, we could say the True Bbeg just gave Remus lycanthropy and Remus hasn’t managed to control it yet
lycanthropy but simic shit?
Mr. I-Don't-Have-Feelings sees the poor dude in pain and also Roman in emotional pain from seeing his brother in pain and is absolutely like "i must resolve this like right now, immediately" because he definitely doesn't hate seeing his friend suffering, or his friend's brother whom he's just met
he definitely doesn't relate at all to the idea of someone else shaping your body and absolutely does not sympathize with Remus's plight
i was thinking the grappling thing and either manta glide or the ability to breathe underwater for the simic stuff, but like he doesnt have control over the tentacles yet?
Manta glide seems like we could have fun battle scenes
he just jumps off a cliff to avoid mushy talk/dealing with his actions/roman
Roman: Remus just because you're a monster and though i wish i was an only child-- Remus, jumping off a cliff: byyeeeeee Patton: Roman, look what you did! Virgil: dammit jan what did you do? Janus: why do you think i had anything to do with that? im a fae, not a genie Logan, thinking: what an asshole. i wish i could do that
oh my god Logan always being tired mentally bc he cant sleep
Oh my gosh I love that. So Remus got kidnapped super young, (from royal family) they never found him, as a result Roman had to grow up super fast (side effect: lowkey inconsiderate and forgets to ask for others input). Meanwhile, Remus was experimented on by True Bbeg and came out with some trauma and super cool additives
yep! chronic pain and ptsd and all sorts of other shit!
so like, simic hybrids are usually created when they're adults. but what if the true bbeg decided to go younger to see what would happen, and thats why remus has chronic pain and stuff
he was still growing when his genes were spliced, so hes dealing with growth plates shifting and his body maturing and puberty and body changes and stuff
Pat is going to have a lighthearted story. Im saying that now. Hes the one without all the baggage
Sure, but his parents have to lowkey be the really kind people who are surprisingly always down for violence
everyone: multiple crises Pat: y'all need help Pat: love and affection in spades for his little band of misfits
Patton (which I think would be pretty simple, honestly he might just see danger and jump in and suddenly everyone in the party has Feelings)
Logan
Mhm. So how did he grow up? Was he just poof created? Wait
What if he was created by the king?
To make up for remuss disappearance
wait, wait....angst......he was created to fight (hence the barbarian stuff) but alchemy is his real passion
wait so like. a second son???
hes there to replace remus?
Yea! (But like in a sympathetic grief way) But that causes a bit of a complex in Roman and ergo Roman and Logan have a bit of a beef
okay so like. hes there to be a companion for roman, and like take remus' place, even though hes not actually in line for the throne?
LOGAN AS A KNIGHT
and just......the conflict of being created for a specific purpose (plus being, you know, robot and technically incapable of deviated from said purpose) vs the fact that he actually does have independent consciousness and like....wants to live life for himself
the parents made Logan a barbarian in hopes that him and Roman would be safe
okay. so logan was created by the king with the sole purpose to take remus' place as romans brother/companion, and to be his like guard? protector? and fight, but logan wants to be an alchemist and study shit
wait, wait, wait.....thinks about Asimov's Laws
he.....his first operative is protect (specifically protect Roman)
oh man. so hes literally just a shield
his second level operative is just like.....care for Roman's emotional well-being, but he doesn't really know emotions because he was kinda just spawned and nobody told him how
and he just....kind of....lets Roman treat him like garbage and take all his grief out on him because he's staunchly in denial of both having feelings or knowing how they work
Anyway Yea so Logan created by royal family in place of Remus which created angst between the two “brothers” and identity issues in Logan. Their arcs are learning how to healthily process emotions plus Roman apology and Logan commits to alchemy
So big question: why did virge make a deal?
Tricked
he gave janus his name
and instead of janus like killing him or whatever the fae do to people who break the rules of dealing with the fae, jan was like. hey. i'll give you magic, but do what i say
Janus is lawful neutral, but leans towards being selfish
hes self serving, but he has a strong set of morals and rules he follows
Tho I want to Virgil to also not be pushover so let’s say loophole happened and Jan has to stay with virge (hence why Jan is a part of the party)
okay so a couple of the rules are dont give a fae your true name and don't try to figure out their true name
So
what if virgil accidentally gave up part of his true name, and got stuck in the deal, but then figured out janus' true name
so in the same vein that janus had control over virgil, virgil now has more control over janus
he still gets his magic from janus, so he cant break free completely, but virgil has more freedom and can occasionally tell janus what to do or when to shove it
there should a running gag where virge can explain how he learned Jan’s true name but Jan can make something loudly censor him every time
(he learned his name bc once he heard janus practicing his evil genius voice and talking to himself in the mirror and janus said his true name)
so maybe janus sent virgil on the quest to protect a town or stop something related to remus, but virgil dragged him along
he might just be trying to protect a town thats close to a ley line, or something fae-related, and they just happen upon the whole thing
janus is selfish. but lawful vs chaotic is where he comes through, in morals vs doing whatever. janus has a strong set of loyalties to the fae, and to himself
so like....Remus is just too close to Jan's stuff and he wants to take him down
Virgil is just like....exhausted and said "fine, but if i gotta do this, you're coming, too"
or at least figure out a way to protect his place, even if it doesnt mean fully taking out remus. just moving him would work for jan
Janus: virgilllllllllll hes going to mess up my magic storage locker Virgil: Jan, its empty Janus: but its mine
Yea. Remus attacks a city away from the fae: Jan: Yknow I’m gonna sit this one out Virge: oh no you don’t, get up
Or
Janus vs Janice
so his real name is Janus, but Virgil calls him Janice
Virgil: This is Janice Janice: with a “U-S” Virgil: mhm, sure Jan
I'm a big fan of just like any of the old theory name being various aliases for Jan
Damien, Dante, Ethan, Declan, etc, etc
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El amanecer (The Sunrise)
Soulmate September: Day 1 - Your Soulmate’s name is written on your wrist or palm. @tsshipmonth2020
Pairing: DLAMP
Summary: Logan works in his mamá’s coffee shop, El amanecer, and there he meets quite a few people. But, on a particular Saturday, he meets some of the most important people: his soulmates
Summary 2: Patton spills his horchata, Roman is late to work, Virgil brings an umbrella, Logan does his job, and Janus is Remy’s coffee boy
Patton scanned over the menu one more time before practically skipping up to the counter. Once he got there, a middle aged woman smiled warmly at him and positioned herself behind the cash register.
“!Buenos días! Welcome to El amanecer. What can I get you?”
The woman’s smile was contagious, and even though he was half-asleep and slightly cranky, Patton couldn't help but return it. “Hi! Can I get a mango horchata, please?”
The woman nodded and went a little farther down the counter to prepare the drink, leaving Patton fiddling with the many bracelets decorated along his wrist.
“So, young man,” The woman looked up at the high-schooler before focusing on the drink again. “how did you hear about my shop? Me and my son have been trying to figure out how to spread the word more quickly. Especially since we just opened up last month.”
Patton’s smile grew as he recalled how his friend Emile recommended this coffee shop to him a week ago. The two were in math class and Emile had mentioned that she had passed by the new shop on her way to school. She had wanted to go with Patton, but her debate team had rescheduled their meeting to today.
“Well…” Pat smiled to himself, “I heard about it through a friend.” The woman nodded and handed him the horchata. After paying, he left a five dollar bill in the jar labelled: TIPS next to the register and turned to leave before looking back. “Thank you Miss...?”
She laughed. “Please, call me Quetzali! No need for formalities.” Patton nodded with a grin. “Well then thank you, Quetzali. I needed a nice drink to wake me up! I have a project due in a week and I’m afraid I’ve been procrastinating it longer than I should have.” He smiled sheepishly and then waved goodbye.
“Good luck with the project! And hopefully I will see you soon.” She winked.
And as Patton closed the door, he heard Quetzali shout, “!Mi amor! Come take over the front, I need to—”
Assuming she wasn’t talking to him, Patton took another sip as he walked down the street. He was so busy brainstorming ideas for his science project that he didn’t notice a mop of red hair running straight at him.
“HEY WATCH OUT—!!!”
The two collided, knocking both boys off their feet.
Patton groaned as he rubbed his head, trying to soothe the growing throb. “I am so so sorry! Are you okay?” The redhead helped Patton up.
“Oh uh…” He glanced down to see his spilled horchata a few feet away, “Well I’m okay kiddo! But my drink sure isn’t…” He trailed off with a small pout.
The stranger grimaced. “Gosh I really am sorry about that. I’m running late for work and I do not want to be late for the second day in a row!”
The two were so engrossed in one another that neither of them noticed how it had started to lightly drizzle.
“It’s alright! No harm done—uh...what’s your name kiddo?”
The redhead laughed, “I’m pretty sure I’m older than you.”
He held out a hand to Patton, “Name’s Adams, Roman Adams. And I think you fell for me.” He winked.
And neither noticed the purple-haired teen walking up to them.
Patton’s hand froze mid-handshake. “Um, what?” Did he hear that right?
Not expecting that reaction, Roman quickly dropped his hand to his side, “Oh. Sorry, I can be a bit too forward sometimes.”
“No! No, don't worry kid—Uh, Roman. I just…” Patton trailed off not really believing that he finally met one of his soulmates. “Um, I’m Patton.”
Unfortunately Roman was quick to worry, and he felt as though he made things weird. He wanted nothing more than to leave the (in Roman’s opinion) awkward situation.
Until Patton’s name clicked.
“Wait. Your name...? You’re Patton?”
The two looked at each other in awe. Roman swiftly pulled up his long sleeves, ignoring the rain running down his now exposed arm, while Patton pushed up the bracelets that covered his soulmates’ names.
And sure enough, starting from his inner wrist, Roman’s soulmarks read: Patton Virgil Logan Janus in a variety of colors.
Patton gasped as Roman read over his soulmate's arm, the colors for each name matching: Roman Virgil Logan Janus
Roman made eye contact with Patton’s teary eyes and the two quickly engulfed each other in a hug. “We found each other! Oh my goodness gracious!!!”
With a joyous laugh Roman looked up at Patton, “I’m sorry about your drink.”
“Roman! I would spill a thousand drinks if it meant I got to meet one of my soulmates!”
It was then that the two finally noticed that it was raining. And for some reason, they were no longer getting wet.
“Uh...what if you met another soulmate?” Patton looked sideways to see someone about his and Roman’s age, holding a big umbrella over all of them.
Roman gave the new stranger a small grin, “Do you mean..?”
The stranger shuffled awkwardly before gesturing to his arm not holding the jet black umbrella. “You can check for yourselves. I’m Virgil.”
Patton eased out of Roman’s hug and gently lifted Virgil’s grey jacket sleeve. He stopped once all of the names were visible: Roman Patton Logan Janus once again, the soulmarks were in an array of colors
Patton squealed in happiness and Roman lightly smirked, “How lovely it is to meet you, Dark and Stormy Night.”
Virgil couldn’t help the small smile that grew the longer they looked at each other. “Wow, Princey. Wonder where you came up with that one?” He muttered sarcastically.
Which Roman was quick to return with a playful scoff, “Well seeing as you have saved Patton and I from the rain, I think it fits perfectly.”
Patton smiled as two of his soulmates laughed, he bounced closer to Virgil and held his arms out in a hug. “Hug time?” He asked excitedly.
Virgil’s smile dropped. “I don’t…” He fidgeted with the end of his jacket, he didn't want to be rude to his soulmate. Especially as they had just met.
Patton let his arms drop. “You can say no, Virgil.” His warm smile calmed the purple haired boy down a bit.
“Are you sure…?”
Roman smiled. “Of course! We would never force you to do anything you don’t want to.”
“Thank you.” Virgil’s whisper was returned with a nod and a smile.
“Now Princey...I think you owe Pat here a new drink.” The trio glanced at the spilled horchata laying on the sidewalk.
Roman was quick to bow deeply, “I would be honored to accompany my soulmates to retrieve Patton’s desired drink!”
“Wait! Don’t you have work, Roman?”
Roman waved off Patton’s concern. “I just met two of my soulmates! I’m sure Thomas will understand if I called in explaining the situation.”
“Well if you’re sure…”
With that the three walked back to El amanecer. All the while talking about their lives, and joking around with each other.
~*~*~*~*~
Janus groaned as his phone rang for the third time. He didn’t even have to look at the caller ID. “What do you want now, Remy?” He snapped.
“Chill babes. Geez, can’t a BFF call xir friend to say hello?”
Janus sighed in frustration, “Remy, if you don’t tell me your new order in five seconds, I am hanging up and not getting your stupid coffee. Everyone knows you could use less caffeine anyway.”
“HEY!”
“Five seconds~”
“Okay! Okay, geez.”
“Four seconds~”
“Sooo, I made up my mind and I just want a plain cappuccino!”
Janus stopped walking. “You, what?”
“Plain cappuccino.”
Janus felt an eye twitch, “Remy. You had me memorize an entire order with a whole bunch of extra syrups and toppings twice and now you’re telling me to forget all of that!?”
“Listen babes, I don’t choose the coffee. The coffee chooses me.”
“You know what? Fine. You’re lucky I care about you.”
“Awww does Jan-Jan actually have a heart?” Remy teased through the phone. Xe knew Janus only cared about a select few people, but the few he does care for, he cares for deeply.
“Oh, would you look at that! I’m already at El amanecer! Bye Remy.” He hung up on Remy’s cackling laughter.
Janus opened the door as a ghost of a smile appeared, “What a lunatic.”
He got in line behind a rather attractive redhead, and he couldn’t help but tune into the redhead and the cute barista’s conversation. What? He was bored, sue him.
~*~*~*~*~
“Salutations, welcome to El amanecer. What would you like?” Despite being flustered by the redheaded customer, Logan kept his voice neutral and ensured he had an air of professionalism around him. Well...as much professionalism as a 16 year-old boy could muster.
“Hey there! Um, can I get one mango horchata, one vanilla bean frappuccino, and a strawberry agua—Uh, agua...fresca, please?” Roman cringed a little at his slip up.
Logan totaled up the order and gave a small nod. “Of course. Wait one moment please.” He went to prepare the drinks, and Roman saw this as the perfect opportunity to make some small chat with the dashing blonde barista.
“Today’s been a crazy day. I was late to work, and in rushing to get to my bus stop I ran into this guy. Turns out, he’s my soulmate!”
Logan didn’t look Roman in the eyes, “Oh?” He replied, seemingly disinterested. But really, he was a bit dejected that the redhead had already found his soulmate.
“Yeah! And after we found out, another guy walked up to us and we found out that he was another one of our soulmates!”
Logan’s shock was hidden by him turning his head away from Roman. “Oh, wow. The odds of that are infinitesimal.”
“Infinity—What?”
Logan placed the horchata and agua fresca in front of Roman before turning away again. “Infinitesimal. It means really small.”
Roman nodded, “Oh, cool. So...what’s your name? I’m Roman.”
Logan’s grip on the frappuccino faltered and the coffee crashed to the floor. He jumped, startled, and hurried to clean it up.
Logan looked up, his face flushed when Roman exclaimed, “Oh! Sorry if I’m distracting you.”
The blonde shook his head. “No, no. You’re fine...Roman. I was uh, surprised is all.”
“Why?” The confusion in his eyes was too adorable for the barista to handle.
Logan looked away, focusing on cleaning up the rest of the spilled coffee. “My name is Logan.” He figured if they were soulmates, Roman would have a similar reaction. And if he had no reaction, then Logan could forget this embarrassing moment ever happened.
He stood up and looked hesitantly in Roman’s eyes. But the hesitance was quickly replaced with hope, as a wide smile lit up the redhead’s face.
“You mean we’re…?”
“Soulmates.” Logan confirmed.
The two rolled up their sleeves and on Logan’s arm were brightly colored soulmarks: Roman Janus Patton Virgil
“Wow.” Roman let out a breathy laugh. “Three soulmates in one day?”
Logan sent him a small smile. “By any chance, are any of the other names on my arm the two people you met?”
“Yep!” Roman beamed, “Virgil and Patton are over there.” He pointed to the far left corner of the coffee shop where a bubbly, black haired teen sat in a round table laughing with a purple haired boy.
The words; “They’re beautiful.” slipped out.
Logan wanted to smack himself.
Thankfully though, Roman only smiled. “Yeah, they are.”
After preparing the vanilla bean frappuccino again, Logan nodded in thanks as Roman left a tip.
The two stared at each other, both not knowing what to say, until the sound of someone clearing their throat caused them to jump.
An amused looking brunette laughed at their startled expressions. “My apologies. But I couldn’t help but overhear…” The stranger shifted uncomfortably before cautiously rolling up his sleeve, his tan skin clearly showed: Roman Logan Patton Virgil
“I’m Janus.” The brunette gave them a small smile.
“¡Ay Dios mío!” Logan exclaimed quietly.
Roman was smiling widely at this point, “We all met on the same day!”
“Well,” Janus glanced at the table in the far-left corner. “We haven’t all met.”
Logan nodded enthusiastically, “But we will. After I take your order Janus, I’m sure mamá will give me the day off.”
Janus shrugged, “Don’t worry about it. I only came here to get my friend Remy a cappuccino. And with how much xe pesters me about my soulmates, I’m sure xe will understand why I didn’t deliver it to xem.”
Roman bounced happily, eager for all of his soulmates to meet one another.
With a small nod at Janus, Logan turned away from his soulmates. “¡Mamá! Necesito el día libre por favor.”
Quetzali came out of the back of the shop, looking questioningly at her son. “¿Por qué?”
Logan smiled as he gestured to the two boys in front of the counter. “Porque mamá, quiero conocer a mis almas gemelas.”
Quetzali’s face morphed from concern to pure happiness in the span of a few seconds. “Wow! It’s nice to meet you boys!”
Roman and Janus smiled, giving Quetzali a nod of respect. “Y usted, señora.”
All three of them looked at Janus in surprise.
“What?” Janus huffed, “I didn’t take three years of spanish for nothing.”
They all laughed and Quetzali ushered her son out from behind the counter. “Go meet them, mi amor. Have some fun.” Logan hugged her before joining Janus and Roman in walking up to their other soulmates.
Virgil groaned as he spotted Roman. “Finally! Did you get lost on your way across the shop?”
“Nope!” Roman stepped aside, letting Janus and Logan into view. “However, I did get lost in our soulmates eyes.”
Patton jumped up excitedly while Virgil eyed the new boys. “Hi! I’m Patton!!!”
Logan held out a hand which Pat shook vigorously, “I am Logan.” He nodded at Virgil who sent a peace sign in return. “Sup I’m Virgil.”
Janus took Patton’s hand from Logan and pressed a small kiss to the back of it. “Hello Patton, it is a pleasure to meet you.” He turned to Virgil with a smile, “You as well Virgil.”
With a blushing face Patton offered them all a seat.
“So...this is kind of crazy huh.”
The purple haired boy snorted, “It’s more than crazy, Pat. But...I’m glad to finally meet all of you.”
Roman nodded, his eyes constantly drifting to each of his soulmates.
“Indeed,” Logan adjusted his glasses. “I have never heard of multiple soulmates all meeting on the same day before. The chances that we did are—”
“Infinitesimal.” Janus interrupted.
Logan’s face went aflame. “You actually heard Roman’s and I entire conversation?”
“You have a nice voice Lo.” Janus winked, causing the barista’s blush to deepen.
Virgil pretended to gag, “If all of you are going to be this mushy, I gotta go.”
They all laughed and spent the entire day getting to know one another. The chances of them meeting the way they did? Infinitesimal. Their love for one another? Infinite and unmeasurable, especially as the years went by.
#dlamp#ts logan#ts roman#ts janus#ts patton#ts virgil#remy mention#ts soulmate au#tssoulmateseptember2020#tsshipmonth2020#hispanic!logan#teen!logan#teen!virgil#teen!roman#teen!patton#teen!janus#logan sanders#patton sanders#roman sanders#janus sanders#virgil sanders#sanders sides soulmate au#nonbinary!remy#romantic dlamp#delilah writes#soulmate september
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Logan Accidentally Steals Two (2) Children - Chapter 4; A Scritch and a Scratch
Original Link (by me!)
Rating: Gen
Characters: Logan, Remy, Virgil
Ship: (eventual) Logan x Janus
Summary: Logan Sanders is so excited to study this exciting new creature that's been discovered! The spider-like creature is very interesting, and oddly adorable.
A few weeks later, a similar situation arises when an octopus like creature is discovered.
But surely they couldn't know each other. They aren't sentient. They're not related, and they definitely don't have an overprotective (and oddly attractive) snake parent looking for them. Nope, definitely not.
(or, how Logan became part of a monster family)
Warnings: Spider, accidental kidnapping, laboratory
(fic is not in this font)
Remy groaned softly, looking up from his phone as the creature tapped on the glass yet again, chirping and wriggling around. It'd been doing that for the past two hours, and it wasn't helping his hangover.
"Girl, I told you. Logan isn't here, you tap tap tapping ain't gonna do shit"
Though he was most likely imagining it, the creature seemed to understand the sentiment, shuddering in that creepy way that made its carapace shake, and whined slightly. Could it understand him? Was it actually upset that Logan wasn't here?
Great, doing a Logan and projecting on it. If I start cooing at it I'm quitting.
He shook his head slightly, frowning when he saw it prying at its own carapace with its fangs, whirring and whining. He tapped at the glass in an attempt to make it stop - he had no idea if that was normal behaviour, they'd never seen it do that, and he didn't want to get in trouble for allowing the thing to mutilate itself by the time Logan got back.
The tap of glass did stop the creature, but surprisingly it seemed thrilled by it, hopping back on to its back two legs to do a little arm-wave-boogie and chittering the same it did at the banana. Remy paused, and repeated the action.
It chittered and tapped right back on the glass, before scurrying back and dancing. Remy tilted his head, and tried to picture what the creature was seeing.
"I guess my hand does kinda look like another creature thingy? Is that what it is, huh?"
As expected, the critter didn't respond other than bobbing up and down in anticipation - much like a dog waiting for the ball to be thrown. Remy chuckled slightly, before tapping the glass, and the reaction was much the same. A loud trill before the action was mimicked.
The little game continued for quite a while, the critter growing more lethargic as they played, though seemed determined to continue. Not wanting to exhaust it first thing in the morning, Remy eventually stopped, feeling a little bad as it continued tapping away in hopes of a response.
"Lil thing, please, just chill until Logan gets here, kay?"
After a few more taps it stretched again before wandering off to do… Who knows what, in the little catacombs of webbing it had created. Just as Remy had finished assembling the most fire playlist, the door swung open to reveal a harried looking Logan, hair untidy and button up slightly ruffled. The creature squeaked and dropped into a curl as Remy put his hands on his hips, revelling in the position swap.
"Wow, girl, look. You've gone and scared it with your unprofessional entrance."
Logan winced slightly at the playful jab, sending a saddened look to the sentient ball inside the enclosure as he approached the work bench to deposit his jacket and briefcase.
" I apologise greatly, Remy, leaving you unattended for three hours is grossly negligent on my half, and I'll be entirely understanding if you'd like to make a complaint against my unprofessionalism."
Remy frowned slightly, reading his nervous posture - did he really expect Remy to get him in trouble?
" Fuck that noise, I ain't getting you in trouble, but what happened? You aren't usually late - like, ever. "
Logan sighed, and shifted around slightly before answering "You're right, I do not make a habit of being late but - well, last night Roman couldn't sleep, so I tried to read him a story, and well… we ended up fast asleep, curled up on his bed and I didn't hear my alarm, and so I was late dropping him off to school, and, "
"I get it, babes, waking up late fucks all your plans up. And anyway, you've got a perfect record for the, what, twenty two years you've been working here? It's fine"
"Thank you, Remy. You're very kind. This won't happen again."
Remy shrugged, nonchalant, pulling out files from the cabinet.
"It's whatever. You see to your spider baby"
Logan nodded, making his way over, and Remy felt the need to add "It's been asking for you all morning"
The reaction was worth it, the scientist perking up greatly with a dumbass, excited smile on his face as he rushed off to tend to his little creature.
--
Logan crouched at the enclosure, humming happily as the creature ran up to give a greeting, wagging around. Logan smiled as he unlocked the enclosure, gently scooping the critter up while mummering gently. He didn't want the creature to think they were going to perform more distressing examinations today. The opposite, in fact. Today was the day they try to engage it with enrichment to see what it likes! Enrichment varies from animal to animal, and usually reflects what that animal does in the wild. Seeing what it likes to play with will hopefully give insight to activities it engages with in its natural habit - yep, that's the only reason. I'm definitely not just doing this because I feel ridiculously guilty about yesterday.
"Oh, Lo, it was prying at its carapace and whining earlier. I made it stop cause I didn't know if that was normal."
Logan glanced at Remy, who gave him a shrug. While the student was still doing paperwork, he didn't sit as far away as usual and wasn't as stiff in his posture. Logan vaguely wondered what had happened while he was gone, but shook the thought off and leaned down to inspect the little critter.
"Yes, I can see some damage around the Cephalothorax and there's blood underneath from the pulling…" his attention went to the creature, placing it down on the table and gliding a gentle finger over its body "What's the matter, little one? Why are you hurting yourself, hmm?"
The creature obviously didn't respond, staring at Logan silently before shifting, moving to bite at that hardened carapace, clicking. Logan used a simple wooden depressor - or a 'lolly stick' as Remy called them - to intercept the creature from biting itself, tutting slightly as it hissed.
"Please don't, little creature. That seems to hurt. Let me look,"
Logan gently traced his finger over the area, looking for signs of infection or even possible parasites festering underneath and causing bother. However, as soon as he did so, the critter scurried back. At first he thought it was uncomfortable - trying to avoid an inspection - and sadly resigned himself to pinning the poor thing down for the second day in a row. To his surprise, however, the creature merely chittered and wiggled, coming back towards him and standing on its back legs to expose the area he was trying to look at. Did it enjoy it?
Testing his theory, Logan gave it a little firmer of a scratch, and it downright trilled in delight. Logan felt a smile at his cheeks, scritching and scratching as the creature cheered him on with adorable little chitters and chirps.
Even Remy had come over to inspect what was happening, clearly trying to restrain a smile
"Hmm, I think it forgives you, Lo"
The thought made his shoulders relax slightly as he nodded, though his response was cut short by the vibrations coming off the creature. The both went silent and stared - Logan's hand was still, and after a few seconds the vibrating stopped and the creature was chirping at him, as though complaining. When Logan hesitantly continued, the vibrating continued.
After a few minutes, when his brain caught up, he realised that it was purring
As though the creature couldn't get any more endearing, here it was purring as he scratched under it's chin.
If the creature kept getting cuter, Logan wasn't sure how much longer he was going to be able to cope
#thomas sanders#sanders sides#tss fanfic#sasi#logan sanders#logic sanders#ts logan#ts fandom#ts virgil#sanders sides virgil#virgil sanders#baby virgil#spider virgil#virgil sanders is a spider#spiders#lab au#laboratory au#sleep sanders#remy sanders#roman#roman sanders#ts princey#ts remy#remy sleep#dark sides#ts dark sides#ts dark creativity
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Paper Flowers: one step forwards two steps back
Progress isn't always linear. And the setbacks can feel devastating. But it might still be worth it to try and move forward again.
A cute puppy jumps around excitedly, clearly asking to play, in a grassy field, on a sunny day.
Dad lays his hands to his heart. "Aw so cute!"
The dark Lord has his arms crossed, face partially hidden in the shadow of his pulled up hood. "Pathetic," he scoffs, not even looking.
A cat delicately washes her face. Dad gasps. "Elegant!"
Nemesis rolls his eye. "Obnoxious"
A horse prances around a meadow, hair flowing freely in the wind.
Dad stared on in awe and whispered: "Majestic."
Nemesis pinched the bridge of his nose. "Disgraceful"
Suddenly Dad jumped on a bench and pointed frantically at the ground. "Aaah spider!" he screamed.
Nemesis cooed as he knelt down. "Hello there darling!" He gets up, gently petting a massive spider.
Dad screams in horror once more.
"Well, that was fun," Patton smiled nervously. Virgil looked up at his paternal colleague with a raised brow. The man's body language didn't exactly radiate "I just had fun" energy.
"Plastic spider got you spooked huh?" He mused as he returned his attention to his phone. Thomas just got done filming their character's collab video. Princey's latest very transparent attempt at helping Virgil get along with the others.
"A little," Patton admitted. "But still. I get why Roman enjoys making videos with you so much!"
Virgil suppressed a scoff. There was no real need to point out that it was just Thomas playing caricature versions of them. If Patton wanted to pat himself on the back for this he wasn't going to burst his bubble. So he just shrugged. "I guess," he muttered not noticing how Patton lit up at this small victory.
“Wonderful work you two!” Roman beamed as he entered the commons. Okay, so apparently there was a point in pointing out the obvious.
“Does everyone just forget that it is Thomas who plays these characters? Most we did was toss in a few suggestions. The vine is all you Roman, jeez!” Virgil complained, though he gave Roman the smallest hint of a smile. He wasn’t sure if Roman had started making an effort to give the others credit since they became friends, or if it was just a part of him Virgil only saw now because he spent some actual time around him without shouting insults at each other. Not to say they hadn’t had fights the past… Six months, man time flies. Anyway, their fights could get just as heated as ever. But now after they stormed off to their rooms to cool down, one or the other would eventually knock on the other’s back door with a movie or a snack and an apology. They’d talk things out and make up. It was much better like this. In the past when Virgil’s anger subsided he’d start panicking about… well, everything. Not talking about it afterwards, or even acknowledging that a fight had taken place… Yeah not great.
Roman just rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say Gloom Day. But what did you guys think?” he asked, smile back in place. Roman was already feeling good about today because Virgil had more or less openly complemented him.
“It was amazing Roman! I’m sure the fanders will love it too!” Patton gushed.
Roman gave a little bow. “Thanks padre. Your enthusiasm is appreciated as always.”
This time Virgil could not contain his snort.
“Something funny? Panic at the everywhere?” Roman asked, hands on his hips and a brow raised in challenge.
“Nice one,” Virgil allowed. “It’s just, why even bother asking him? You know he’s going to sing your praises. You can’t sneeze without getting a medal as far as Patton is concerned,” he pointed out.
“That’s not true,” Patton protested gently.
“Well, what did you think then? Oh, sinister one?” Roman asked expectantly, not commenting on the medal thing.
Virgil thought about that for a moment. “I guess it was sort of okay. It was rough on Thomas because Dad and Nemesis have very different energy, but he enjoyed it. The fanders probably didn’t expect the nemesis to interact with other characters,” he allowed, trying to sound reluctant. This time he did see that Patton was beaming. He was really getting too soft around the others.
“Evening everyone,” Logan greeted as he entered the commons. Making Patton get up to get dinner ready and Virgil contemplate whether he’d have dinner in his room or if he could handle a little more social interaction.
“Logan! How did you like today’s project? I am two for two and feeling pretty good, so no need to hold back your criticism,” Roman grinned. Logan cast his eyes to Virgil and then to Patton who nodded, clearly excited to confirm this.
“I see. Well while your intentions were rather transparent, it was a rather good experiment.”
Virgil sat up confused. Did… Did Logan figure them out?
“I don’t have any idea what you are talking about,” Roman grinned innocently.
Logan sighed and adjusted his glasses. “Fine. You ran a test to see how the fanders would respond to the characters loosely based on our personalities interacting. Anxiety and Patton are an interesting first choice. My character and Patton’s would have a more natural combined narrative, but it is effective none the less. I assume that if this gets positive reviews, you will propose other collaborations as well?”
Roman shrugged. “Maybe.”
Virgil felt kind of bad. Roman had promised to stop pushing the subject after things got to a blow with Patton after the whole ‘Marcus’ incident. He should have known that he wouldn’t intentionally push them together.
“Oh Roman! That’s a brilliant idea! That’ll definitely help Anxiety feel less nervous about the whole thing. Right Anxiety?” Patton asked kindly.
Virgil shrugged as he got up to set the table. Just to have something to do.
“You guys do whatever. I’m still not on board.” He didn’t expect them to get it. They represented what people liked about Thomas. His intelligence, creativity, humor, kindness, passion…
He was… as far as everyone was concerned, what hurt Thomas. And yes, he overdid it, a lot. He had tried to be better, honestly, but he couldn’t help who he was.
“We’ll see about that Doominator. I’ll win you over, just you wait. But what did you think Logan?” Roman insisted, pulling Virgil out of his thoughts.
“Well, until we have more data it is hard to say…” Logan started, but then he stopped to ponder. Roman was actively asking for feedback. He had even stated that he could handle it if it wasn’t entirely positive. Maybe he should reward that effort with some of his own.
“Though while I usually would stick with facts, if it is my personal opinion you are seeking…”
An eager nod from Roman confirmed this. Well here goes.
“You all know I am not most in tune with emotions and artistic endeavors. That being said, you did well. The classic broken pattern and the recurring theme of closing off a video including Anxiety and any other character with some form of screaming will almost certainly be well received by the fans.”
Roman was beaming. He had more or less expected someone to criticize the skit in some way, but they all really thought it was good. Maybe the Sanders Sides series could actually happen!
“Dinner’s ready! Thanks for helping out Anxiety,” Patton said pleasantly.
Virgil looked down at the table and found he’d finished setting for four. Guess he’ll be staying for dinner.
He sat across from Patton with Roman to his right and Logan to his left. Roman was brainstorming out loud while they ate dinner, occasionally encouraged by Patton or redirected by Logan when he veered of topic. Once or twice Virgil even muttered a teasing remark which had Roman pouting dramatically and the specs trying to hide their amusement.
It was nice, almost, normal.
He should’ve known then that something was heading his way.
“What do you say Florida Ghoul? Underrated Disney movie night?” Roman asked as they put away the dishes.
Virgil was honestly tempted. Almost all his favorites were in that category. Which Roman knew. They’d argued about the best movies often enough.
But if he started he might lose track of time…
“I have made you all suffer through enough of me I think. I’m going to head down, see what the others are up to.” Thomas was more or less dozing off in front of the tv, he should be fine going down. Maybe he could ask J for a movie night of their own.
“Night,” he waved as he made his way to the door to below. Suddenly he felt someone tug at his hoodie? He looked back, expecting Roman, but it was Patton, looking at him with big shocked eyes.
“Y-you’ll be back though right? We really don’t mind you staying. You don’t have to…”
Virgil raised his hands. “Wow, calm down. What made you think I was going to go back? Permanently I mean.”
Patton looked away, let go of his shirt and started fidgeting with his hands.
That told Virgil enough. He looked up to Roman and Logan. “What did Deceit do?”
Roman got ready to speak, but Logan beat him to it.
“About a week ago, after we first discussed Roman’s Sanders Sides idea, he made a brief appearance. He implied that he might take you back in if we didn’t do a better job of ‘handling you’. Roman and I already assured Patton that Janus has no such power without our aid, but he apparently has not been convinced.”
Virgil glanced to Roman who nodded to confirm that this was how things had played out.
He let out a tired sigh. “I can’t belief this guy. I’ll be right back.”
Before anyone could say anything he rushed down the stairs. His thoughts racing. Was this the first time Janus had tried to guilt the others into being his friends? Had Roman… No… No he couldn’t start down that path. Not yet anyway.
“Janus!” he called out as he entered the living room.
“Virgin!” Remus greeted excitedly. Virgil gave the chaotic gremlin he’d grown up with a quick wave.
“Leave us for a sec Remus,” he growled, not looking away from the yellow clad side.
Janus walked up to Remus, looking at Virgil with confusion.
“Why don’t you go hunt something for breakfast Remus,” Janus suggests. Remus didn’t need any more prompting than that. A second later they were alone.
"Virgil, what's the matter?"
Virgil worked a brow. "What do you think? Why could I possibly be mad at you?" He asked, wanting to give Janus a chance to fess up himself.
Janus took in his body language and expression. This was not the fury he'd expect if he'd somehow discovered Janus had been in his room when he wasn't there.
So that left... "Did the lights really tell on me?" He huffed trying to hide how worried that made him. He had no clue about the context. What did Virgil think happened?
"No. I said I was planning on hanging with you guys tonight with plenty of my usual self deprecating humor and Patton was worried I was planning on staying away. I figured you had something to do with that. Logan told me what happened because I asked," Virgil clarified.
"Now I want to hear your side. The truth J. Please." He really hoped the explanation wouldn't be as heartbreaking as the one in his head.
Janus took in a deep breath. "Okay, bit promise we'll stay on topic. No evading, no beating around the bush." Virgil nodded in agreement.
Janus studied his face for a moment until he was satisfied with what he saw. "Okay. Virgil you have been disappearing. I tried to check up on you a few times the past few months and you were just gone. I allowed you to go upstairs because I thought it would be better for you. But if they are erasing you... I needed them to at least try to keep you. I didn't know what else to do..."
Virgil groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm going to skip over the fact that you obviously entered my room while I was our, for now." He took a deep breath. It wasn't a surprise really. Janus and Remus both always just appeared in his room when they wanted to speak with him. So of course Janus had occasionally popped in to find it empty.
"I was probably in the imagination," Virgil confessed.
"The... why? How?!" Janus asked shocked.
"Roman gave me a little meadow to relax. Like 5 months ago I think. Not too long after the prince vs nemesis video's started. I go there when I need a break."
Janus stammered for a few seconds before letting out a utterly perplexed: "Why?"
That hurt a little. Was it that hard to belief?
"He only said he felt like giving me something. Maybe it was because I gave him some constructive criticism earlier and he wanted to try out positive reinforcement. You know he always overdoes everything," Virgil explained. There wasn't a single lie in his statement, so Janus believed him.
"But... he's not supposed to know..." Janus collapsed a hand in front of his mouth, realizing he said that out loud.
"What is Roman not supposed to know?" Virgil growled.
Janus took a small step back. "I... before I sent you upstairs I told Patton and Logan what I was planning and why. I wanted to be sure they'd look after you."
Virgil nodded. That made sense. "Why was Roman not supposed to know that?"
Janus couldn't look at Virgil. "I... told them I was worried what it would do to Thomas if you didn't move to a less stressful environment. I wasn't sure if Roman would be helpful or even more wary of you. So I blocked even the thought of telling Roman about our conversation from their minds."
Virgil was silent for a few moments. Somehow he felt a lot better about everything now. It all made so much more sense.
"Unblock it then," he muttered as he turned around.
"Virgil..."
"Unblock it. I'll see you guys next week or something. Maybe..." J had meant well after all... right?
"Virgil!" Janus called after him, but he was already halfway the upper commons.
When he walked in Roman, Logan and Patton were standing there waiting for him.
"Janus lied. So you don't have to pretend anymore. And you should be able to tell Roman," he said. Hands in his pockets, leaning casually against the doorframe. His old walks back in place. It was better that way.
"Anxiety... kiddo no. You..."
"Just drop it!" Virgil hissed in his tempest tongue, the briefest glimpse of his feral form was enough to make Patton stagger backwards into Logan. Roman was reaching out though. He was still on Virgil's side.
"I was getting sick of all this sappy family stuff anyway," he scoffed before leaving for gos room.
Roman stormed into the meadow ready to break down Virgil's door if he had to. Virgil hadn't knocked not even once. But he couldn't be left alone with his thoughts now!
He was barely two steps inside when he spotted Virgil sitting there, a crown of purple daisies in his hand.
"You came," the anxious man breathed in relief.
Roman sat down next to him careful to keep enough distance but also be within reach.
"Of course," he said gently. They both knew ge wanted to defend Patton and Logan. To assure Virgil that they never did what they did because they feared he would be pushed to the edge and hurt Thomas in the fallout.
Virgil had explained to him that his discomfort around Patton was due to feeling like the moral side saw him as a ticking timebomb.
The reason for that was painfully obvious now. But how to make Virgik see that Patton was more distant than he wanted to be instead of more welcoming?
"I knew it was all too good to be true. The bubble was bound to burst... I told myself not to get too attached, cause it would end up hurting... I didn't realize... not until earlier. My room is almost back where I started Roman. I litterally pushed them away. And I thought... I thought I'd pushed you away too." Roman could tell Virgil had been crying.
"Preposterous. I'm much too stuborn to get rid if that easily," he assured Virgil. The darker side cracked a smile at that.
"I'm glad I was wrong about that..."
Roman nodded. Virgil had told him how much he hated being right.
"Did I ruin movienight?" Virgil wondered tensely.
"Well I don't know about Logan and Patton. But you and I are going yo watch all those tragically underrated movies."
And with a wave of his hand Roman set out an out doors movie theatre complete with snacks. The sky darkened and Virgil was handed a movie menu.
He smirked as he looked it over. Roman really did have to overdo everything. Including distracting him.
It was appreciated though.
@moonlightshow00 @naturallyunstablegamer @alias290 @meowthefluffy @riverdoesbadart @vpow @apinkline2715 @frida43 @tired-yeetling @firegirl156
Later Virgil would discover that his room was moved just a few feet closer to the upper level again.
Next: adjusting
#sanders sides#fic#ts sides#virgil sanders#roman sanders#prinxiety#ts virgil#ts roman#paper flowers au#patton sanders#janus sanders
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The First Steps Into the Adventure (Patton partners with Janus)
Summary: well it would be no good telling you what happened!
Note: AAH! Okay, I can’t really believe how many people interacted with this! Thanks! Right, so this is still basic introduction stuff, I’ll admit. This is a bit clunky but I want to give as many chances for this to be interactive as possible.
The decision will be presented at the end!
Once again, this is inspired by fluffomatic’s tickle forest idea!
Previous Part!
_._._
Patton screwed his face up in concentration, carefully evaluating them, before he lit up and pointed at Janus, “You’re on my team, JanJan!”
“Well good luck on your journey, lover boy,” Janus taunted with a smirk as he walked to stand beside his team leader, Virgil quickly punched his hat down over his eyes as he scampered off as well. He was violently blushing as he approached Logan and he managed to give a friendly smile.
“Great! Now just two more things to do!” Roman announced with an elaborate flourish.
“How much more to this is there!” Janus frowned to which Patton tweaked his side as a warning.
“Well if you wish to adventure blindly without your map and a hint, then that’s up to you!” Remus cackled as he chucked paper at them violently.
Logan frowned at their map, beyond it’s very apparent unprofessionalism, it seemed fairly straight forward. It was simply one long winding path to a large childishly scribbled ‘X’. He expected something a bit more detailed from a joint creativity project but maybe that was yet to be seen. “Is my map the same as Patton’s?”
“Yeah, if it’s like a race thing then I’m out,” Virgil snarked.
“Nah, see your map goes down this left road and Patton’s goes to the right,” Remus answered.
“Ah I get it. Left brain goes left and right brain goes ri...” Logan mumbled off as both creativities looked at him blankly. He may as well be speaking Spanish... well if Roman didn’t speak Spanish. Maybe they weren’t quite on his level of genius.
“Anyway!” Roman called out and magicked two sealed envelopes, “Now it wouldn’t be fair to just send you into this world without any warning. So we randomly selected two of our fantastical beasts... or one of our plants to inform you of.”
Logan perked up at that- maybe the detail would be in the inhabitants of this adventure rather than the adventure itself. Patton handed the envelope to Janus as he had a very bad habit of sucking badly at opening envelopes. Janus wordlessly and without even looking, hooked his finger under the flap and opened it in one swipe.
“What is it!” Patton squealed.
“Give me a second,” Janus answered with a glare at Logan’s team. He hooked his arm over Patton to turn them so there was no way that Logan’s team could cheat and look at their sheet, “Also be quieter. I don’t know about you but I truly don’t care about winning this.”
It was a very short page from what looked like an encyclopaedia but the information was very limited and basic. Not that they would be complaining.
A picture showed a huge ‘Little Shop of Horrors’-esque plant monster. Remus’ influence was pretty easy to see. Janus doubted Roman would ever want to create something like that, but he did smile as he recognised that Remus would never have the monster be this pretty looking. Clearly they were much better working as a team. The plant had gorgeous pristine white petals framing a pastel pink ‘face’. The page was titled ‘Motherbloom’.
“A large flower that’s queen of the tickle forest. She pins down her target and lifts their shirt to deliver a long raspberry on the tummy. She also uses her vines to tickle at other areas. The leafy sacs around the base of the flower holds air she uses for raspberries. The white flowers on the bush carry an intense pollen. Scientists discovered that if this pollen is transferred to other plants, the plants offspring will become tickle plants.”
Patton released a squeal that only dogs could hear. “Patton!” Janus hissed as he tried to wrangle his team leader under control.
“Ah! Aren’t you super tickly to raspberries JanJan?” Patton launched into a hug and quickly pressed a small raspberry to his neck; which totally didn’t send Janus squealing himself.
“Aw man, you guys got the motherbloom! May come in handy that,” Roman peered over their shoulders.
“I thought you decided which ones we got?” Patton asked.
“No, it truly was random. We put everything we created into a list and used a number generator to chose which one everyone learned about.”
“Wow, that is... very thorough of you both,” Janus complimented. Roman blushed violently at the very small compliment and awkwardly shrugged it off.
Logan opened the envelope with a summoned letter opener and quickly withdrew the page. He frowned as he realised this was probably ripped directly from some book. Virgil leaned on to his shoulder casually to peer at the page; therefore making his brain shortcircuit. How dare his boyfriend be so casually cute and affectionate. How was he supposed to work in these conditions. Virgil already looked quite beautiful on this day. Despite how rushed he was to get ready for what Roman and Remus planned, his makeup exaggerated his slightly sleepy eyes and of course his bright almost neon green and purple eyes looked as striking as ever. He was all bundled into his jumper just in case their adventure got too cold and he was mindlessly nuzzling into the front. He was... “Well this isn’t a whole lot to go off on?”
“Wha...” Logan perked up again and stared at the page. It was titled Tickler Jelly.
“These jellies are attracted to pool toys and swim up to them. If a person is easily targetable, they will latch on and begin tickling the target with its four large feathers.”
It showed some very typical jelly fish with obvious feathery fluttering stingers near the centre with normal, presumably, non-stinging stingers that are used to latch on to the victims. It was pink and undeniably adorable so Logan concluded this was probably a Roman creation. But then again, jellyfish were quite intimidating animals so maybe Remus suggested the concept itself.
Remus had walked over to them with a shrug, “Would you’ve rather we didn’t give you any information to go on?”
“Well no but we may not even go into water so really this isn’t any good!” Virgil frowned.
“And now you know what could be lurking in the water! I’d stop whining if I was you! This was totally random, I don’t control what you lot found out.”
“Right! Teams!” Roman teleported back on to the platform and stood on his throne, “I wish you the best of luck in your adventures. Your journeys will be long and treacherous. But you must keep in mind that your treasures are waiting for you. If you keep a sharp eye out, you may even find hints along the way to help unlock your treasure. May the best team get to the treasure quickest. Good luck teams!”
Roman and Remus clapped dramatically and the whole stage puffed into a wave of technicoloured smoke.
The same stage that everyone was standing on.
They all fell to the floor with grumbled swears. Both teams awkwardly stared at the other before Janus leapt to his feet and dragged Patton down the path. Logan, seeing this, immediately pulled Virgil into his arms and sprinted down the dusty path ahead of them. The game was on.
Patton and Janus raced ahead until they lost sight of the other team and settled quickly into a walk. “Right, so what do we need to do?” Janus asked, he figured he better play the game properly and actually pretend that Patton made a good team leader.
“Just follow this path. By the looks of it we have to follow this path which takes us into a wooded bit then across a river before getting to the treasure. Simple!” Patton chirped as he charged on ahead.
The world was just as beautiful as any other the creativities had created before. Despite it being the evening, it was still a warm day with a gorgeous clear blue sky. There were a few streaks of bright white clouds and there was only enough wind to prettily rustle the leaves of the trees. It was beautiful. The path was taking them past a bit of a thicker grassy bit. Trees dotted along their path with thick bushes of ferns and dry yellow grass that stretched up to their waists.
Janus frowned as he saw the path was still tilting around a section of trees. “Can I look at the map?”
“Sure.” Patton handed it over without any fuss.
“Yeah, wait!” Janus pulled them to a stop and pointed to the path they were following on the map. The map clearly showed that the path they were following was awkwardly circling around the wooded bit. It would probably take double the amount of time to follow the path or just cut through the wooded bit. “We should just cut through this wooded bit. We’ll end up back on the path and probably cut off a good ten minutes.”
“Oh yeah!” Patton stared at the map before flicking up to look at the path, “but we have no idea what could be lurking in the forest ready to tickle tickle tickle us!” He was wiggling his fingers and curling up to Janus. To which he totally didn’t blush. Of course he got partnered up with the literal tickle monster.
“Yes but then again we have no idea what could be on the path. We seen some butterflies flying around, any one of them could be planning an... attack on us. I don’t think we’ll be in any more danger if we cut through. Plus, don’t you think it would be in Remus’ nature to punish us for following the boring predictable option?”
“Well, we should figure this out soon. The more time we stand here arguing, the more time we are wasting...”
Meanwhile... with Logan’s team!
“Right. Now the most logical decision would be to analyse the map and decide which is the optimal route to travel. Knowing Patton, he will be following the map blindly,” Logan pulled Virgil to a stop and summoned a compass so to actually use the map effectively.
“Yeah but he also has Janus with him. We have no idea what they could be doing,” Virgil awkwardly tried to conceal just how hard he was panting from the short run. Logan ignored him by examining the map and looking up for any identifying features.
“Okay so by the looks of it, we can follow the path through the plain fields ahead of us. Or we can quickly jog over that hill and there will be a public garden.”
“Why would we go through a garden?” Virgil frowned and yoinked the map away from him.
“Well right now we are at the mercy of whatever the twins have organised,” Logan stated.
“Yeah you don’t need to remind me. Us even standing still right now could be the opportunity this weird world is looking for. We could be standing in the middle of an ant hill for all we know!” Virgil whined but Logan pressed him into his side with a gentle smile.
“All good points. I’m just saying the field could contain anything for all we know while a flower garden would only contain flowers. Therefore we know to avoid loitering and interacting with the flowers and it could be a straightforward path forward. They both lead to the same place,” Logan reasoned as he guided them slowly forward.
“Do you want to go through the garden?”
“I think it’s worth considering. However, I could never outshine you in thoroughly considering our options. I’ll leave the decision up to-”
“Too much pressure!” Virgil laughed and burrowed into his chest.
“Okay then,” Logan murmured, “we could continue through the field and face whatever they have planned. Or we go through a flower garden and know we have to face tic... plants. Hmm...”
And so the adventure has fully began!!
Should Patton and Janus:
A) Follow the path.
B) Cut through the wooded bit.
Should Logan and Virgil:
1) Go through the field.
2) Go through the flower garden.
#turtle writing#ts virgil#ts logan#ts roman#ts patton#ts deceit#ts janus#Tickling#TicklyAdventure#fluff
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mr. blue, you did it right (but soon comes mr. night creepin' over)
Summary: A hypothetical: Thomas loses one of his brothers suddenly, this is how his Sides are handling it. (Ao3)
Genres: Vent, Hurt/Comfort
Characters: Centrally, C!Thomas & his Sides: Roman, Remus, Virgil, Patton, Logan, and Janus. Peripherally, My “Sides”: Mel (Dark Creativity), Liam (Light Creativity), and Prudence.
Relationships: Platonic DLAMPR
Warnings: Death, sibling loss, grief, coping
A.N./Disclaimer: I’m just using c!Thomas & his Sides as a frame/structural thing to process things. I don’t claim to even know how he would be like in the position I’ve been in lately. Nor do I hope to. I will not go into excessively personal detail here on specifics.
Prudence, usually reserved but clearly stressed, spoke, “So, why are we doing this?”
Mel groaned, “Our “Center”, as some of those Fander cats been calling that concept, is feeling like shit so it’s better to just lay all the guts out and-”
Liam was chipper, “Clear up the mental space, by working through it emotionally!”
Prudence spoke up again, “Well, that explains why you two keep roping us all around the Ao3 tags about… Wait, shouldn’t we be-”
Mel grabbed Liam by the shoulder, “Nope, we’re doing this. Liam, I’m gonna need you.”
“Of course!”
-
It happened so fast.
One moment Thomas was just vegging out to some mind-numbing YouTube videos and frenetically turning over some projects that he was excited about finishing. The excitement made it hard to sleep the night before.
In a blur, he was calling 911 for one of his brothers- who wasn’t...
It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
-
Liam started to fidget, “W-wow, we’re just diving right in, aren’t we? A-are you sure you want to go through with this?”
Mel, “Not really, but I feel like we have to.”
Prudence stayed silent.
-
Needless to say. Everything ground to a halt.
Well, not immediately.
At first, there was this feeling to just express it. Or at least busy himself with distractions.
It was a brief moment where Roman, Virgil, and Patton were completely on the same page.
What with the emotionality and the avenue they felt it should go under – Roman’s territory.
Roman felt an immense pressure, sat in his room.
Since there was only a swirl of pain and disbelief to work through, whatever he could produce in response was going to be out of his comfort zone. He’d rather try to make something light – or just work on some of Thomas’s active projects. But as he sat there, staring at his desk. Nothing seemed to materialize.
Remus decided to show up uninvited, but his tone wasn’t nearly as unhinged as it usually was, “Those guys REALLY should be leaving this uncomfortable shit with me.”
Roman sighed, “Yeah… probably.”
Remus was still surprisingly somber, “It IS pretty fucked up that one of the worst things I could ever imagine throwing at Tommy-boy… actually happened.”
“Please. Please don’t elaborate.”
“Fine. But no way in hell is anyone is going to forget what happened there, least of all ME.”
Roman sighed again, “Y-yeah… I’m kind of dreading that you’ll be adding that to the list of things to-”
“Upset Thomas with?”
Roman nodded.
“Can’t really control that if I wanted to.”
“I… figured.”
-
Prudence spoke up, “Nothing can change what happened.”
Liam spoke, “It doesn’t feel real sometimes.”
Mel was quiet.
-
Logan somehow managed to keep Thomas on track with his various duties and schedules.
Stuff like recording his activities, housework, and regular exercise.
He didn’t understand, then, why Thomas suddenly stopped prioritizing him. Though he recognized that it wasn’t the first time this has happened, nor would it be the last time. Things were piling up.
Thomas was apologetic, “Yeah, I know I can’t let everything go but…”
Virgil sighed nearby, “It’s all kind of a lot to deal with, Lo.”
“Yes. I am not blind to that, but it’s important to try to maintain these things. It can buffet Thomas’s mental health if he takes care of things-”
“Don’t you think he’s spinning enough plates as it is!? We’re not just dealing with all the shit he was juggling before It Happened. But NOW we have to-to-”
“Help make death arrangements… see what secondary losses Thomas needs to pick up, since his brother is no longer able to fulfill or realize them… reorganize his resources… help his family with-”
Thomas cleared his throat, “Uh, hey. Logan. You’re NOT exactly helping there.”
When Logan saw Virgil, he was in the midst of a panic attack and hyperventilating. “Oh. I apologize.”
Thomas fidgeted as it was all starting to sink in.
Logan slowly approached Virgil and softened his approach, glancing at Thomas, “Remember what you've learned... Breathe in for four seconds…”
-
Prudence muttered, “Things will never be the same.”
Mel nodded, “Now we have to deal with a new and fucked up normal, huh?”
Liam was quiet, this time.
-
Patton was a lot more emotionally volatile, since It Happened.
No one really blamed him. Even though his impulses to fret over how the others were feeling or how Thomas’s friends and family were handling it all… were incomplete.
He wanted to support everyone and be a shoulder to cry on. He wanted to be there for them.
He was tired. And he ached. But he often pushed it down.
Janus noticed and never truly let it slide.
“Totally not burning the candle at both ends, now are we?”
“But-”
“Thomas is a real ball of energy. Staring at everyone’s Facebooks and having dozens of maudlin threads going on to worry about is just so helpful. Trying to comment on everyone’s memorial posts doesn’t hurt at all. You can carry all of it without consequence.”
“Well, there’s the Golden Rule… and all that. I mean they have been grateful for it, Thomas isn’t the only one hurting here. A-and it helps us… me… a little.”
“Oh, must I remind you what happens when he keeps ignoring his own pain?”
Patton pressed his fingers together, “N-not really.”
“Patton. You absolutely rock the whole ‘I’m about to pass out at any moment” look. Do keep it up.”
If Janus was honest, he was also bone tired.
Striking the balance between the two of them had always been tumultuous, but all the new complications have made it even harder to navigate.
He didn't realize his grip onto his cane was getting shaky, but Patton did. No time was wasted until Janus felt his foil wrap him into a hug.
Both of them totally didn’t start to weep.
-
There were good days.
Days where Thomas kept apace with Logan’s recommendations. It helped when he did. Thomas felt less like time was slipping through his fingers during those moments. He felt more present, productive, and perhaps most importantly, in control.
Those swathes of time made Thomas and Logan swell with a quiet sense of accomplishment.
But one set back, or distraction, or reminder, or for no apparent reason whatsoever… and the dishes piled up again. The To Do List would extend. Nothing got done.
Logan would be lying if he said it didn’t frustrate him at all. However, in order to help him understand this process better, he did take the time to nudge Thomas to research about grieving. It helped all of them more than they expected. (Including Logan.)
Logan shared something he learned to everyone, “Quoting from a book by Lucy Hone, PhD, called, Resilient Grieving...”
The researchers, Margaret Stroebe and Henk Schut, regard grieving as a dual process as we oscillate backward and forward, at times confronting and at other times avoiding our grief in order to get some respite. The dual process refers both to this oscillation between confrontation and avoidance, and to the fact that the bereaved have to cope with two types of stressors: loss-oriented stressors and restoration-oriented stressors.
Virgil gently nudged him, “Looks like you’re about to lose them, Lo.”
Logan cleared his throat, “Yes, apologies…”
In other words, we have to deal with the loss experience itself (thinking about the dead person, remembering life as it was, looking at old photos, going over the circumstances and events surrounding the death, crying about the loss) and the stress of working out how we are going to live without the deceased in the future (dealing with finances and loneliness, perhaps moving house, learning to cook, paying the bills, and so on.)
Roman looked contemplative, “… so, it’s kind of like a pendulum?”
Logan nodded, “Precisely.”
-
Some days, Remus couldn’t stop replaying to Thomas the traumatic flashbulbs of What Happened.
The cause of it, the uncanny image of a lifeless loved one, the response, the fallout… it careening through Thomas’s mind the moment he allowed his attention to drift. Or whenever something triggered the memory. It was painfully vivid and only made it harder to think of anything else.
Some nights, Roman couldn’t stop playing dreams to Thomas of It Not Happening.
The notion that his brother was alive actually. It was all just some fucked up joke. There were plenty of awkward laughing about how to explain it to everyone. Pleasant diversions that did spark momentary joy and hope. Which came crashing down once Thomas woke up and had to remind himself that, no. He was never coming back.
Neither Twin felt great about that. Remus felt like a particularly vindictive broken record. Roman was guilt-ridden over the cruelty of it. No matter how often they were told that this sort of thing was completely understandable coming from them. That they couldn’t be blamed. Two sides of the God-forsaken pendulum they all found themselves riding.
-
There were so many other things.
So many efforts to deal with both sides of the swing. Recognizing the reality, finding distractions, honoring and exploring the pain, trying to rediscover positive emotions, finding a balance...
Thomas cycled through those feelings and thought patterns over and over again.
Perhaps, things will eventually become more manageable.
He didn’t expect, nor felt right to want it to be “all better.”
-
Prudence spoke up, “Are you two happy now?”
Mel tapped her chin, “I guess. A little. This shit’s been rattling in my brain for months.”
Liam nodded, “It does feel good to actually articulate all of that. Otherwise-”
Prudence rolled their eyes without malice, “I somehow doubt this will stop you from incessantly refreshing those tags on Ao3 and Tumblr.”
Mel shrugged, “Probably not. You know me and the whole sadomasochism thing.”
Liam gasped, “I WAS going to say that it’s cute reading about the twins bonding, man.”
Prudence, “Well, I hope this’ll get our “Center” back on task… they’ve been desperately wanting to share more of your projects with the world.”
Mel crossed her arms, sulking slightly, “It hasn’t been exactly easy to keep the Creative Spark going.”
Liam hopped in place a bit, “But we’ve been doing it anyways. It’s an accomplishment!”
Prudence simply nodded and smiled.
#spilled musing#sanders sides#roman sanders#remus sanders#virgil sanders#logan sanders#patton sanders#janus sanders#(my sides here are mostly a bookend/interlude thing)#sibling loss/#death/#(... 'mr. blue sky' was one of the songs played in the memorial service btw)#(but yeah - it's pretty transparent why i've been going into the creativitwins' iterative tags over an over again)
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Road Trips and Missing Persons (Part 23)
Fandom: Sanders Sides
Relationships: Patton & Virgil, Virgil & Janus, Logan & Patton, Emile & Remy, Roman & Remus & Janus
Characters: Patton, Virgil, Janus, Remus, Roman, Logan, Emile, Remy
Summary: Patton was just getting groceries. The next thing he knew, there was a knife at his throat and he was an unwilling uber driver. Virgil’s on the run after the murder of his dad, and it’s not just his paranoia that’s telling him he’s being chased down. He has to get somewhere safe, somewhere he can trust, and all he has is a couple of stories from his dad and a name: “Green Bellow Foods and Dispensary.”
Meanwhile, everyone else is trying to find a missing 15 year old, all with different pieces of the puzzle about where he is. It really is too bad that no one is answering their phones.
Notes: Secret Agents AU, knives, carjacking, kidnapping, murder mentioned, guns mentioned, pepper spray, blood mentioned, drugs mentioned, explosions, car crashes (more to be added)
This is a fic I’ve been writing on study breaks that you have probably all already seen at this point. I’ve affectionately named it the Goblin Brain Fic because it’s helping my brain actually get motivated for studying. I’ve slightly edited it for wording and grammar, but not for content from my previous posts. Feel free to send in asks to direct it because I’m not 100% sure where this is going and you can help decide if you feel so inclined! You can see the process I went through to build this at this link.
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 My Master Post
“Would anyone care to explain themselves?” Logan asked the room filled with the most frustrating human being he’d ever met. He must have infused his voice with the desired amount of ire, because everyone in the room seemed to wince simultaneously except…
“No thanks!” Remus chirped. Logan shot him a tired look and stepped forward. “Wait! Dad! No!” In a move he’d been using since Remus was a rambunctious child, Logan swiftly put him in a headlock.
“We’re going downstairs,” he told the others. His son was a bit wiggly when Logan started to pull him towards the elevator in the other room, but he didn’t actually put up a fight. In fact, the wiggling usually meant he was pleased with the attention.
He let Remus go when they got to their destination. The elevator was small enough that they ended up taking it in two groups. Logan ended up in an elevator with Lena, his sons, and his brother.
There were a couple of moments of awkward elevator music. “I am very displeased with everyone in this elevator,” Logan informed them all.
No one responded but Patton who patted him on the shoulder. Logan turned on him. “You are at the pinnacle of my ire.”
There were a few seconds of drawn out silence, and then Patton removed his hand. “Wow,” he said after a moment. “You could hear a pen-acle drop.”
“Kids, you no longer have an uncle,” Logan said coolly.
“That’s right,” Patton said with a smile despite the glare Logan was sending him. “You only have a puncle now.”
Roman snorted out a laugh but looked quickly away when Logan glared at him.
The elevator came to a stop and they climbed out of it. “You all go to the conference room while I wait for the rest. Except you,” he pointed at Lena and her bloody nose. “Fred can debrief me. You go get that checked out.” She shot him a thumbs up (because apparently the lack of disrespect for his authority had rubbed off on her) and wandered off towards medical.
“Um,” Roman said tentatively.
“Yes?” Logan asked, already even more tired.
“Also, Janus may or may not have a broken rib. At least he said he might have.”
“Why on Earth is he walking around, then?” Roman just shrugged in response to Logan’s question.
“And send someone down to look at his Janus apparently,” he called after Lena right before she turned the corner. “Anything else pressing?” he asked the three still with him. “No? Then I’ll see you all in the conference room in a few minutes.”
“Conference room 16 or 17?” Remus asked.
“Remus, everyone here is aware that room 17 is a broom closet,” Logan said. “No one is falling for that again.”
Remus sent him finger guns. “Conference room 17 it is,” he said turning to strut off down the hall. Roman shot Logan an awkward half smile before following after his brother, and Logan’s own brother jerked forward to smack his lips against Logan’s forehead before waltzing off after them.
Why was his family like this?
He turned to wait for the elevator to go back up to the factory and down again. He crossed his arms as it arrived. “You’re injured?” Logan asked as the doors opened.
Most of the occupants looked confused, but Janus looked slightly annoyed. “Remus,” he muttered.
“Roman actually,” Logan corrected. “I’m having someone sent down to look at you.”
“I’m f-”
“Don’t even try to argue right now; your second on my list today.”
“Remus is first?” Janus asked.
“Of course, Remus is first.”
“Where am I on the shit list?” Remy asked with interest.
“Somehow, only 5th.”
“Score!”
“But you’re inexorably moving up.”
“But I’m not in the top three.”
“No, my children and brother fill up the spots above you.”
“You said I was second,” Janus said with a frown.
“Yes,” Logan said. “Also, you’re grounded.” Then, he turned to walk towards the conference room.
“Wait, Logan, what does that mean?!” Janus asked his back.
“It means, Logan owes me a buttload of child support,” said Remy.
“I am not your kid. You are not my dad.”
“Sure, son.”
When Logan made it to the correct room, his family was already hard at work making his life a series of aggravations. Patton and Roman were already bent over some sort of project that involved markers, but Remus was missing. Before even stepping into the room, he turned to the opposite side of the hallway and opened the door to the supply closet.
“Get in the correct room before I make you get into the correct room,” Logan said.
“Come on dad, you know it’s not nice to force someone out of the closet.” On most days, Logan would not have found that at all funny, but today for some reason, it elicited a snort of surprised laughter. Remus smiled up at him from his seat on the floor like he always did when he’d done (or thought he’d done) something clever.
“Don’t,” Logan warned, wagging a finger at him, and trying to smooth the smile off his face. It was difficult since his chest was light with the relief of everyone he cared for being relatively unharmed. “Don’t. That doesn’t mean your forgiven. I am very, very unhappy with you.”
Remus just kept grinning.
“I’m relieved that you are safe and happy to have you back with me,” Logan said, “but I am also very angry.”
“Eh, that’s fair.”
“Now get out of the closet.”
Remus found it fit to obey him for the moment, and stood, following him to the conference room where the others had gathered. Patton had somehow found a stack of name tags somewhere and had managed to convince Roman to help him draw little pictures on them along with the names. Patton stuck one with a broom drawn on it onto Remus when he came in. He noticed Virgil’s had a knife drawn on it and Remy’s a cup of coffee. Logan’s own was, aggravatingly, a mobile phone.
Remy and Fredrick were currently forcing Janus into a chair while Roman avoided the glare the injured man was sending at him, and Emile was talking quietly to Virgil.
“Okay,” Logan said. “Let’s start with the ones who haven’t started to explain yet. Roman?”
“My phone got broken probably somewhere between Janus tackling me and hitting me in the face.”
“Oh, is that why Dad texted me about where you were a thousand times?” Remus asked
“Yes,” Logan said, “and you said you didn’t know.”
“I didn’t say that actually.”
“Remus.”
“I was in the middle of something! …And then I forgot.”
“And then it ended up in the bottom of a lake,” Roman said.
“And then it ended up in the bottom of a lake!” Remus agreed. “Along with Roman’s car and us for a minute.”
“You drove your car into a lake?” Logan asked Roman. He felt like his eyes was going to start twitching. “Is that why you are all wet?!”
“Yes, he did!” Remus said.
“Hey! No!” Roman said. “I managed to stop the car before it went into the lake. It’s not my fault the guys behind us aren’t as good drivers as me and slammed into us!”
“Roman destroyed another car!” Remus crooned, and there was the eye twitch. “What’s that? Three? And you say Janus is cursed!”
“I take so responsibility for the Taurus or for this one!”
“Two’s a coincidence; three’s a pattern!” Remus sang joyfully.
Logan shook his head at them and chose to look over at Janus instead. “And you?” he asked. “You looked at your mission details and never responded.”
“You were trying to send me on a wild goose chase when my brother was missing!” He tried to stand up and Remy pushed him back down again.
“I was trying to get you in a controlled environment before telling you of the issues for fear you would overreact and do something careless if you found out on your own.”
“I already knew,” Janus growled, “and that is not your call to make.”
Logan considered that. “Perhaps it wasn’t,” he agreed, “but you still should have attempted to communicate with me, at the very least so I would have known you were okay. For all I knew, Nelson had caught you in a lie and your cover had been blown.”
“It is blown,” Janus muttered. “I smashed her phone, blew up her car, and disobeyed her. She sent men to kill me.”
That information was honestly a relief in a way. Janus had been in danger constantly while being a double agent and Logan had grown more than fond of the man in the last few years. Not having to play nice with Barbara all the time would do him some good.
“We’ll have to reassign you,” Logan said. “As well as Remus, and you’ll both need new permanent residences.”
“We already decided we’re getting an apartment together,” Remus said.
“You decided,” Janus said weakly, clearly not actually interested in protesting, but needing to keep up appearances.
“And we’re going to get a kitty.”
“Ah,” Logan said. “Well, in that case, I would highly suggest you verify it is in fact a ‘kitty’ before you allow it on the premises. I have made that mistake before.”
“You love Raphael,” Remus claimed.
“Possum,” Roman explained at Janus’s questioning look.
“In fact,” Logan said. “It may be advisable that Remington consider moving as well. Nelson very much knows where you live and will likely be unhappy with your continued existence. At least, you should consider taking up residence somewhere else temporarily. For tonight, I’ll get everyone set up in some of the rooms in the base, but that will come later. For now, we need to get everything sorted out. I have a good overall idea about what happened at this point, is there any other important information I need to deal with immediately?”
Most everyone shook their heads and Logan was about to move on to getting more detailed reports when Remus raised his hand.
“Yes?” Logan asked.
“There are two of Barbara Nelson’s men tied up in the trunk of Lena’s car,” he offered.
“What?” Logan asked.
“They were the guys shooting at us that caused Roman to drive into the pond.”
“I did not drive into the pond.” Roman said.
“You were shot at?!”
Want to read more? Click below!
Part 24
#sanders sides#logan sanders#patton sanders#remus sanders#roman sanders#creativitwins#janus sanders#virgil sanders#platonic moxiety#emile picani#remy sanders#kidnapping#murder mentioned#guns#car crash#nose injury#adriana writes#road trips and missing persons#road trips and everything in between
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Brother in Arms (5) END
The final chapter!! I can’t believe I actually finished this up so nicely!! I could make a continuation if y’all want, but more than anything I plan on focusing on a different project 👀 hope you like this last chapter!!!!
Summary: An unexpected twist occurs during a faux camping trip in the living room. Logan has a secret he doesn’t wish to share, but a thunderstorm may force him to.
Characters: Logan, Virgil, Roman, Patton, Janus, Remus
Pairing(s): analogical, royality, dukeceit (all ships can be read as romantic or platonic depending on preference and no romance takes place while regressed, as always)
Warnings: a thunderstorm, crying, a story is told that implies death and mentions ghosts, a clown mention, and i believe that’s it but lemme know if I missed anything!!!
Word count: 1,244
~
Logan was a caregiver. Not a regressor.
He told himself this every time he watched cartoons with Virgil. Whenever Virgil got him to play pretend with him. All the moments he shared with a regressed Virgil, he had to remind himself that he was the grown up.
He had to be.
Now everyone was getting ready for the “camping trip” that night in the living room. Logan got the s'mores ingredients gathered and the fake campfire set up while Patton and Janus did the blanket tent. The regressors were quite excited about it, and so was Logan.
Excited... for the regressors, of course.
Soon they were all gathered and the fun could begin. They were starting with the s'mores, roasting the marshmallows over the fake campfire.
"I wanna set mine on fire!" Remus declared.
"I don't like burned marshmos," Virgil murmured.
"How we know when they're ready?" Roman asked.
"I think they're ready now," Logan said, helping everyone make their s'mores. The marshmallows squished perfectly between the graham crackers and the chocolate, much to the regressors' amazement.
Logan had, of course, put the marshmallows in the microwave for just a few seconds to soften them up before the "roasting".
He... definitely did not want one for himself. He had to remember that this was for the regressors, not him. He couldn’t give in to the temptation to indulge in their hobbies.
With the s’mores eaten, they all told scary stories around the fake campfire. The caregivers started, though when it was Logan’s turn he tried to decline.
“I wanna hear your story, Logie!” Virgil exclaimed.
“Yeah, nerdy pants!” Roman agreed. “Story!”
Logan sighed fondly. “Alright, I suppose. Um... there once was a... little boy... who had a paper boat. It was raining out, so he... floated the paper boat along a stream of water on the sidewalk until it fell into a sewer. Looking down into it, the boy found a clown.”
“This is the plot of It!” Remus said.
“I told you, I’m bad at this!”
“You gotta reach deep down in your gut and pull out your sense of imagination! Just rip it out of there! That’ll help you tell stories!”
Logan paused. “Thank you, Remus.” He decided to think of something else, something unique. “Um... okay, different little boy... who learned how to fly. Everyone told him he couldn’t do it. No one believed in him. He couldn’t fly, he was only a boy. Um... but one day... he decided to try. He went to the edge of a cliff... no, perhaps this is more sad than scary.”
“No, keep going!” Roman exclaimed. “Did he learn how to fly?”
“Yeah, keep going,” Patton encouraged with a smile.
“Alright. Um, he went to the edge of a cliff, taller than the trees. He knew he could fly, he just had to believe. So he jumped. He closed his eyes and willed himself to fly. Then he fell. But he did learn to fly, because his ghost flies around that cliff to this very day.”
“Wow,” Roman whispered.
“He died?” Virgil shrieked.
“Cool!” Remus said with a smile. “Tell another one!”
Logan chuckled. “That’s all the storytelling I’ve got in me, I’m afraid. Who’s next?”
As Logan listened to everyone’s stories, he could feel his brain getting fuzzier and fuzzier. He fought it off, trying to pay attention to what everyone was saying.
Then the thunderstorm hit.
A crackle of thunder got Logan jumping to his feet, his heart pounding. He was very much not a grown up right now and he did not care for that fact, not at all. He had to be the grown up, Virgil needed him.
However, Virgil was clapping his hands and giggling.
“Stormy!” he yelled happily.
“Logan, you good?” Janus asked amusedly, Logan quickly sitting back down.
He cleared his throat. “Um... I’m fine, just caught me by surprise.”
It was ridiculous for him to be scared of a little thunder. The storm couldn’t hurt him, he was being silly. He would be fine, he just needed to focus on the camping. Focus on Remus’s story.
Thunder clapped just as Remus began cackling maniacally as part of his storytelling. That was not helpful.
Logan needed to breathe. He was on the verge of tears, but he couldn’t be, not right now. Why was the storm scaring him so much?
It was then Roman’s turn to tell a story, and hopefully it would be less scary and Logan could take his mind off things. Things such as fear and thunderstorms.
As it turned out, Roman was much better at scary stories than Logan gave him credit for. Terrific.
“Just when she thought she escaped the butcher, the door creaked open and she screamed!”
Thunder went along with the story and this time Logan screamed before bursting into tears.
“Oh gosh, Logan, what’s the matter?” Patton asked, holding Logan in his arms.
Logan couldn’t speak. He was too young.
“Logie, you scared?” Virgil asked, moving closer to Logan and holding his hand. “It just thunder. Won’t hurt you.”
Logan was inconsolable. He didn’t know how old he was but he felt completely helpless. All he could do was hold onto Patton for dear life and cry his eyes out.
“Lo gon’ be okay?” Remus asked.
“He’ll be just fine,” Janus answered. “He’s just scared of the storm, that’s all.”
“I thought grown ups weren’t scared of anything?” Roman pondered aloud.
“That’s not quite the case, little prince.”
More thunder crashed and Logan jumped. Patton held him more closely and gently shushed him.
“Shh, it’s okay, Loganberry. I’ve got you. You’ll be alright.”
He continued to murmur words of comfort in Logan’s ear, who began to calm down. He had tears and snot running down his face but didn’t have the will to clean it off.
“How old are you, Logan?” Janus asked.
Logan could only babble in response. He wanted to say words but wasn’t sure how to.
“Oh, looks like we’ve got ourselves a little baby boy!” Patton declared with a smile, Logan giggling and clapping his hands.
Patton had Janus get some tissues so he could clean Logan’s face. He carried him into the blanket tent and laid him down. He knew Logan would be needing a diaper at such a young age, so he summoned one and quickly put it on him.
“There we go!” Patton cooed. “How about some nice, cosy pyjamas, hm?”
Logan clapped his hands and kicked his feet absentmindedly. Patton got him changed into a blue baby romper that fit him perfectly, and summoned him a space themed pacifier.
Virgil poked his head into the tent. “Can I see baby?”
Patton chuckled. “Of course! Be gentle with him, he’s much younger than you.”
Virgil crawled into the tent and Logan instantly made grabby hands at him. Virgil laid down next to him and held him.
“Is he like my little brother now?” Virgil asked.
“I don’t know, that’s up to the two of you,” Patton replied.
Virgil held him closer. “I’mma protect you from all the storms in the world, Logie.”
Logan let his eyes close and Virgil’s warmth overtake him. He gripped Virgil’s onesie tightly, never wanting to let go.
He didn’t want to be a regressor. Though with such a loving, accepting group of people he could call family, it wasn’t the end of the world.
Besides, it would be fun to be a child. Every now and then.
#virgils fics#agere sanders sides#sanders sides#sanders sides fanfiction#agere#agere fic#logan sanders#roman sanders#patton sanders#virgil sanders#janus sanders#remus sanders#agere roman#agere remus#agere virgil#agere logan#cg janus#cg patton
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