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xebecatt2002 · 3 years

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"Gabrielle, Tell him. Do the Bard thing" Chariots of War

From the very first episode Gabrielle is introduced as a storyteller and straight away it is hard not to be impressed with the level of authenticity the writers give to Gabrielle’s skills as a Bard. Many of these stories she tells are based on fragments of authentic myths.

'Chariots of War', the second episode of the series, opens on Gabrielle telling Xena a story as they make their way to the bar in a village tavern. Though we only catch the ending of her story, there is still interesting details to unpick.

G: “And so, Zeus, in his appreciation, turned the two lovers into oak trees. And then do you know what happened?”

X: “Somebody built a boat out of them?”

G: “No-- their branches intertwined, and they spent the rest of their days in each other’s embrace.”

There are a lot of stories in Greek myth involving 'metamorphoses', the Greek word for ‘transformations’, with both gods and mortals turning into other things like plants or animals. The only story that comes close to the one Gabrielle tells is the story of Baucis and Philemon.

The complete version of the myth is only found in the work ‘Metamorphoses'. It is a collection of myths woven together into a narrative through their common theme of transformation. It was written by the Roman poet Ovid who lived between 43 BC and 17 AD, a period of Roman history which saw the end of the Roman Republic and the reign of the first Emperor, Augustus.

The gods Zeus and Hermes (known here in their Roman forms, Jupiter and Mercury) disguise themselves as mortals and travel across Greece. When they seek hospitality from the mortals they encounter, they find themselves turned away from every household until the come upon the simple home of Philemon and Baucis.

‘Looking for shelter and rest, they called at a thousand

homesteads;

a thousand doors were bolted against them. One

house, however,

did make them welcome, a humble abode with a roof

of straw

and marsh reed, one that new its duty to the gods and men.

Here good Philemon an Baucis had happily passed

their youth

and here they had reached old age, enduring their

poverty lightly

by owning it freely and being content with the little

they had.’

Ovid, Metamorphoses, 8.628-635

Here the couple greet the strangers and offer up what little they have, providing them with the best of the meagre food and wine unknowing their true divine identities. Ovid goes in to quite a bit of detail describing the hospitality the couple offer especially the dishes that make up their feast during. While they entertain their guests the cups magically refill with wine.

‘Meanwhile, whenever the mixing-bowl got empty,

it seemed

To refill of its own accord, with the wine welling up by

itself.

Stunned and scared by this wonder, Philemon,

trembling, and Baucis

lifted their upturn hands to heaven and fervently

prayed

For forgiveness after serving so poorly prepared a repast.’

Ovid, Metamorphoses, 8.679-682

Fearing they have offended their divine guest they seek to appease them by sacrificing their only goose. This leads to a comical scene with the elderly couple chasing the goose and failing to catch it. It appears to run towards to gods for safety which seems to work as the gods command them to spare the bird as they are grateful for what they have already provided.

They then proclaim that the couple will be spared from the punishment they will inflict of their impious neighbours who refused to honour the Greek custom of hospitality known as xenia (ξενία), a word derived from the Greek word for stranger xenos(ξένος). Sometimes referred to as 'ritualized friendship' the custom was based on generosity, courtesy and gift-giving that strengthen ties between people. In earlier times when it was thought that the gods walked among mortals it was even more important to respect these customs to avoid incurring the wrath of a visiting god. It would became seen as a moral obligation for both Guest and Host to show respect to each other.

Returning to Ovid's story, the couple leave their home with the gods and head to the safety mountains. There they witness the flood the gods send down to wipe out their impious neighbours. Nothing is spared except the couple’s home which undergoes its own transformation as it becomes a temple to the gods.

The gods offer to grant the couple anything they desire as reward. After deliberating with each other Philemon and Baucis ask to be guardians of the new temple and also, that when the time comes for them to die, that they die together so they don’t have to suffer the loss of their partner. After many years happy years together they are transformed into Trees. Philemon an Oak and Baucis a linden.

"We

ask

to be priests and to guard your temple; and since we

have passed our years

together in peace, let the same hour carry us off, so I

need not

look on my dear wife’s grave, nor she have to bury my

body."

Their wish was granted; as long as life was allowed

them, they served

as the temple’s guardians. When time had taken its

final toll,

and while they were casually standing in front of the

steps of the building,

telling the sanctuary’s history, both Philemon and

Baucis

witnessed their partner sprouting leaves on their worn

old limbs

As the tops of the trees spread over their lip sand concealed

them forever.

Still to this day the peasants of Phrygia point to the oak

and the linden nearby which once where the forms of

Philemon and Baucis.’ Ovid, Metamorphoses, 8.712-720

The devotion the couple have for each other is really endearing. You can really see why this story would appeal to a young Gabrielle who left her home and arranged marriage to find the true place she feels she belongs.

It is also an interesting choice of story to share with Xena, someone she’s just met who is aloof and independent. She’s eager to befriend the warrior but is finding her emotionally distant. This emotional distance is reflected in the physical distance between them. In these early episodes they have clearly defined personal spaces, such as sperate bedrolls, and they spend a lot of time apart as Gabrielle is left behind in a 'safe' location. You could read into this that just as Xena tries to keep distance between her and Gabrielle physically to protect her, she is trying to keep her emotionally distant for safety reasons as well. In some ways Gabrielle may understand this which is why she choses to tell this particular story to Xena. The old couple might seem weak and vulnerable but they are given strength by the devotion and support they have for each other. Gabrielle is trying to show her new friend that caring isn't a weakness but a source of strength by using this story as an example.

X: “What’s the point?”

G: “Come on, Xena. I believe everyone will find their tree in the forest someday-- even you.”

X: “I find the strongest trees in the forest stand alone.”

G: “You don’t have to be strong all the time, Xena; sometimes it’s good for the soul to be soft.”

This moment beautifully foreshadows the relationship that grows between Xena and Gabrielle throughout the series as both become entwined emotionally, spiritually and physically in a multiple of ways. There are moments that the imagery of the myth is invoked in such a way that Xena and Gabrielle symbolically become the lovers. Intentional or not by the writers it is a fantastic coincidence.

One episode that subtly does this is ‘The Abyss’ during one of its poignant cave scenes. After an encounter with cannibals Xena and an injured Gabrielle become tapped in a cave that is rapidly flooding. As Xena tries to get them out, Gabrielle tells Xena her final wish, that she wants to be buried with Xena.

X [Whispers]: "Gabrielle-- Gabrielle-- here-- here. The time's

come. We're getting you out of here, all right?"

G: "Oh."

X: "All right."

G: "Xena, I have a-- a last wish."

X: "I don't want to hear of it."

G: "No-- I'm serious. You don't want to know?"

X: "What is it, then?"

G: "I don't-- want to be buried-- with the Amazons."

X: "All right. Well, in fifty years, when the time comes."

G: "Xena-- I wanna lie with you-- with your family? In

Amphipolis."

X: "What about your family?"

G: "I love them-- but I'm a part of you. I want it to be like

that forever. I love you."

It is the climax of a series of intimate moments that are grounded in their love and devotion to each other. Gabrielle’s words cement their soulmate relationship. They are meant to be, and will be, together forever like the lovers of her story.

The context of this moment adds another layer to this allusion. As Gabrielle is affirming to Xena that she is a part of her, the warrior princess is preparing to save her injured partner by tying her to herself using vines. This nicely invokes images of Gabrielle’s story of the two lovers who becoming trees and entwining together. Also it connects with Ovid's tale of Philemon and Baucis as like the mythic couple, Xena cannot bear to witness the death of her partner. As Philemon and Baucis were spared that fate by being transformed into trees, Xena is using a plant to physically entwine her and Gabrielle to save her from death.

This climb up the ravine walls to escape the rising water could be reminiscent of Philemon's and Baucis' arduous climb up the mountain to escape the flood or just another coincidence. What perhaps isn't is that it is love and devotion that binds each couple together for eternity. Just like the lovers in the story Gabrielle tells in season one, and the myth it is based upon, Xena and Gabrielle will be together for eternity in each other's embrace.

Throughout the series there are a number of different ways Xena and Gabrielle become entwined together. As the emotional distance between them shrinks, the physical space seen in earlier episodes disappears and they begin to embrace each other. Not only is there a myriad of touches and hugs to connect them but while sitting, walking and even fighting they become inseparable.

They become so close that they pick up traits from each other and almost merge into one. This is such a vast topic to discuss it really needs its own post to explore in detail but the importance for this discussion is the idea that they merge into one entity. The idea that they become one is the connection with the myths and invokes the imagery of metamorphosis.

This metamorphosis becomes literal later in the series. In season 5’s ‘Succession’ during Ares’ contest to determine a worthy successor to Xena as his Chosen, he places Gabrielle and Xena into the same body. At dawn they discover that Gabrielle metamorphoses in to Xena and dusk, Xena into Gabrielle. This nicely alludes to Gabrielle’s story as they transform, much like the couple becoming entwine trees, two individuals become one entwined in each others bodies.

This physical metamorphoses happens in the series when it has become fully established that these two are soulmates, destined to be together for eternity. They are truly devoted to each other that they cannot be separated, just as the lovers cannot bear to be parted from each other even when they are transformed into trees.

As Gabrielle predicted at the end of her story, they both found their tree in the forest in each other.

Sources

Ovid, Metamorphoses

Whoosh.org, Episode Transcripts

Screen captures by myself

Thanks to Simjay on the Discord Xena group for the Gifs!

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i-am-bitterly-jittery · 3 years

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The Great Dessert Caper

A quick fic from the Parent Trap AU I laid out a couple days ago (you don’t need to see it to read this)

Word Count: 2642

Rating: Teen

Pairings: Mociet and Remile (plus momceit and dadton)

Warnings: no warnings but some important things to know is that Janus is Remus and Virgil’s dad, Patton is Roman and Logan’s dad, and Virgil is selective mute

~~~START~~~

The last month of Logan’s summer had certainly been a strange one. First, Roman came home from camp acting strange. Then Logan learned that Roman has an identical twin brother who’s been living with Patton’s ex-husband and Roman’s father Janus, and that Roman and said twin ended up going to the same summer camp and decided to switch places! That led to Patton ushering them to New York to switch the two back (technically, Logan didn’t have to come, but curiosity had gotten the better of him and he just had to meet Patton’s ex-husband for himself). Once in New York, Logan was treated with the knowledge that Roman and Remus were trying to get Patton and his ex back together again, and uncle Emile was helping!

Logan was exhausted, so he was grateful to learn that Janus was taking the twins, Remus’s younger brother Virgil, and Janus’ (rude) fiancé on a camping trip before Patton took Roman back to California, leaving Logan, Patton, Emile, and Janus’ coffee-addicted housekeeper alone in Janus’ house for the weekend. It was Logan’s first chance for peace since Remus had taken Roman’s place returning from camp. Remy and Emile had both disappeared within two hours of the others leaving, but that didn’t bother him, it just meant a little more peace (and that he and Patton were now alone in a practical stranger’s house, but Patton had no qualms about making himself at home, so Logan let that one go).

Of course instead of the three days of peace Logan had been promised, Janus and the kids returned the very next day, sans fiancé.

From what Logan gathered while the twins were being frog-marched to Remus’ room, the twins and Virgil had spent the entirety of the trip terrorizing Janus’ fiancé until he couldn’t take it anymore and ended the engagement. It was clear on both the twins’ faces that they had no regrets, even as they ended up grounded until Roman went back to California.

Logan was currently trying to salvage what was left of his peaceful weekend by reading in the living room, as far away from where the twins were blasting Disney CDs on Remus’ old CD player as possible. Patton and Janus were outside on the balcony overlooking the lake, probably discussing how this joint-custody thing was going to work. And with Remy and Emile still gone, that left only one culprit for the hairs standing up on the back of Logan’s neck, and the acute feeling of being watched.

Still, Logan was resolute in ignoring the five-year-old as he continued his reading.

Five minutes passed and Logan was no longer reading, he stared at the page blankly as he waited for the child to get bored and leave. Weren’t five-year-olds supposed to have short attention spans? Why was this kid still staring at him?

It only took another minute for Logan to break.

“What do you want?” He asked the child, quietly so as to not attract Patton or Janus’ attention.

Virgil grinned and crawled over the back of the couch to sit next to Logan. Then he took the two folded pieces of construction paper he was carrying and spread them out over the coffee table.

The first sheet of paper featured two stick figures — one short and purple, the other tall and navy (presumably meant to represent Virgil and Logan) — going through a series of steps that appeared to be a plan to steal the desserts Logan had smelled Remy making yesterday morning from the kitchen and taking them to the twins upstairs. The second sheet featured a relatively well done schematic of the house, complete with yellow and blue stick figures to represent Janus and Patton on the balcony, red and green stick figures representing Roman and Remus in their room on the second floor, and numbers correlating to the different steps in the plans, demonstrating where in the house they would be for each step.

The whole thing was very impressive, and Logan was almost shocked at the detailed planning of the child — of course he’d already met Virgil’s father and older brother, so he was well aware of where Virgil got it from — there was only one flaw.

“I’m not helping you steal snacks for those delinquents,” Logan informed him sternly. Virgil pouted, but Logan held firm. “No, your father said they were grounded, and that includes no treats.”

Virgil’s lower lip began to wobble, and his eyes filled with tears. It was like taking a wrecking ball to Logan’s defenses.

“No, no wait!” He rushed to say. “I’m sorry! Don't cry! I’ll help you steal the desserts just don’t cry!”

Virgil instantly perked up, grabbing Logan’s hand and dragging him towards the kitchen. Logan wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or horrified with the kid’s manipulation tactics. Clearly Roman and Remus had overthought their plan to get Patton and Janus together, obviously the only thing they needed was for Virgil to pout them into submission; Patton would have caved before Virgil’s lip even began to tremble, and Logan seriously doubted that Janus was any more adept at resisting the kid than Logan was.

Virgil stopped in the hallway just short of the kitchen and brought a pudgy finger up to his lips in a shushing motion. Logan nodded seriously because clearly this kid was a professional thief and to treat this caper as anything less than completely serious would likely get Logan blackballed in the world of children thieves (which was apparently something that was important to Logan now).

Virgil peaked around the corner into the kitchen, then quickly pulled his head back, flattening himself against the wall. After a moment of silence, Virgil motioned for Logan to take a look as well.

Logan leaned over Virgil to get a look at the kitchen. It was the same as it had been earlier when Logan made himself some tea, and had Logan’s intentions been innocent, he’s sure that the sight of Janus and Patton right outside the French doors wouldn’t have even given him a second of pause. But that was then, Logan was a criminal now, and as such, he was grateful that both of the adults had their backs turned and didn’t see Virgil and Logan looking at them. Janus and Patton were standing rather close together — much closer than they really needed to be to discuss custody — and Logan wondered idly if the twins’ plan was working. Glancing down at Virgil, Logan realized that he wouldn’t mind if Patton and Janus got together, having two more brothers might not be that bad.

Virgil held his finger to his lips again and slowly crept into the kitchen. Logan followed behind him, keeping a careful eye on the adults outside. Virgil snuck up to the fridge and carefully pulled the door open, the seal made a noise, and the door squeaked a little, but neither sound was loud enough to draw attention to them. Virgil pointed to the top shelf of the fridge, and Logan realized what his part of the caper was: the desserts were stored too high for Virgil to reach them on his own.

With one last glance at the men on the balcony, Logan stepped up to the fridge. First, he got down a Tupperware of cookies which he carefully placed in Virgil’s arms. Virgil continued to stare at him expectantly, so Logan proceeded to grab both the Tupperware of cupcakes and the plate of cinnamon rolls as well. Virgil gave a satisfied nod, so Logan closed the fridge, sent one last look at their dads, and followed the child out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

The door to Remus’ room was wide open — no doubt because both the twins were of the mindset that when they’re grounded it’s their job to make it into everyone else’ problem — so Virgil walked right in with his stolen cookies held aloft triumphantly, Logan followed without the same gravitas.

“Way to go Vee!” Remus cheered as Roman took the Tupperware from Virgil and offered the five-year-old the first cookie. “You got the nerd involved!”

“Careful, or I might just go tell Patton and Janus what the three of you are up to,” Logan threatens, with no real intent behind it.

“Aww come on, specs, you wouldn’t do that to Virge,” Roman teased. Virgil pouted at him for emphasis and Logan just melted further.

“No,” Logan sighed in defeat. “I wouldn’t.”

Virgil grinned and hugged Logan’s legs, and Roman let out a victorious whoop.

“Sit ‘own, Lenny,” Remus ordered. “We’re playing scrabble. You have to be on Virgil’s team.”

“Lenny?” Logan asked as he joined the twins in sitting criss-cross in front of a scrabble board. As soon as he was seated, Virgil climbed into his lap.

“Cuz Virgil is clearly the George here,” Roman explained. Ah, Of Mice and Men, got it.

Unfortunately, the rules of scrabble mean very little to everyone who wasn’t Logan, and the new rule is that any ‘word’ goes as long as you can provide a plausible definition for it. Fortunately, Virgil is more than willing to put any combination of letters that even vaguely resemble a word onto the board, and the twins were both willing to accept any fake definition Logan gave them as long as Virgil was using his pout against them.

It’s safe to say that Logan didn’t mourn the loss of his quiet weekend too much.

~~~

Patton and Janus’ conversation was going rather well if you asked Patton, it was clear that Janus was also harboring unresolved feelings. Unfortunately, right as Patton was certain that they were about to kiss was when Emile and Remy chose to come home.

“We’re back, babes!” Remy threw the porch door open, with a grin that made it clear he knew exactly what he was doing.

“Back from where exactly?” Janus asked, looking for all the world like he was trying to set his friend on fire with his mind.

“We went out for a picnic,” Remy smirked.

“You left yesterday!” Patton exclaimed. It was a good thing Emile sent him texts to check in, otherwise Patton might think that his brother had gone missing!

“We had dessert afterwards.”

Patton blushed and stuttered something about not needing to know what his brother was doing. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Janus watching him fondly. He wondered how he was ever going to build up the strength to leave again.

“So where are the ragamuffins?” Remy asked once the three of them had returned to the kitchen. “I’m surprised they’re so quiet.”

“Remus and Roman have been grounded,” Janus informed him. “It seems that they just didn’t get along with Marcus.”

“Oh? And where’s Marcus?” Patton had to fight to keep a grin off his face at just how smug Remy sounded.

“Probably on his way back to the city. He’s decided to pursue… other options in his life.”

“Good riddance.”

“Thank you, Remington, you’re so tactful about my feelings.” Janus rolled his eyes.

“Gurl, that guy sucked. One time I saw him throw a stick into the yard and tell Virgil to go fetch.”

“He’ll be truly missed,” Patton said, sending his most innocent look at Janus when the other turned to glare at him.

“Don’t think I don’t know what part you played in this!” Janus pointed an accusing finger at him, but Patton continued to bat his eyes, the picture of purity.

“Looks like La Femme Rouge was here!” Emile called from the living room.

“What?”

Emile entered the kitchen a moment later with two pieces of paper in his hand. On the paper were a bunch of stick figures drawings.

“I’m guessing the desserts are missing from the fridge.” Janus said, sounding exhausted.

Patton opened the fridge to find the top shelf completely devoid of sweets.

“Someone’s committed a sin-namon,” he joked

“How did the squirt reach the top shelf?” Remy asked incredulously. “He’s like this tall!” Remy waved his hand around the height of his knee.

“It looks like he got help,” Emile said, pointing to a drawing of two stick figures, one purple, one dark blue.

“And to think,” Patton said dramatically. “That my oldest son is a criminal!”

“If you’ll excuse me, gentlemen,” Janus said, making his way towards the stairs. “I have to go put our criminal mastermind in jail.”

Patton chuckled and followed behind him. He had been planning on saying goodnight to the twins anyway, might as well return whatever was left of the treats to the kitchen.

The door to Remus’ room was wide open, Janus strode right in while Patton hung back at the doorway, watching his little family fondly. Roman and Remus were on the floor playing Guess Who? while Logan read a book, his back leaning against the bed. Virgil was in the bed, already asleep, which was good since it was well past his bedtime.

“Guilty of conspiracy to burgle, and tomfoolery!” Janus declared as he marched into the room.

“Objection your honor!” Remus cried out. “We’ve received no legal counsel!”

“Logan,” Janus turned to the teenager who looked a little startled. “How do your clients plead?”

“Guilty,” Logan answered immediately, much to the chagrin of the twins.

“Then I sentence them to no more sugar tonight, and veggies in their omelets in the morning. And how do you plead, Logan?”

“Guilty.”

“Then I sentence you to return your ill-gotten gains to the fridge.”

Logan nodded and started collecting the remaining sweets.

“And you, you little monster,” Janus leaned down and picked up his youngest. “Are guilty of thievery, conspiracy to burgle, and of being the cutest criminal ever, how do you plead?”

Virgil mumbled sleepily against Janus’ neck, but didn’t answer.

“Then I sentence you to one night in jail. Go to bed, boys!” Janus called as he carried Virgil to his own room.

“Night, dad!”

“Goodnight dad!”

“Brush your teeth before you go to bed,” Patton reminded them. “You wouldn’t want to get cavities from all that sugar you just ate.”

“‘Course, pops.”

“We will, padre!”

Patton smiled, he could stay here forever, with his perfect little family.

Of course they weren’t quite a family, and Patton would have to go home sooner or later, he would have to take Logan and Roman with him, and they would have to leave Janus, Remus, and Virgil behind.

“Logan, let me walk you to the kitchen. Goodnight boys!”

The boys called their good nights, and Patton closed their bedroom door.

“You just want the cookies for yourself,” Logan accused as soon as the door was closed.

“Of course!” Patton took the cookies from Logan, leaving the teen with only the cupcakes and cinnamon rolls. “Did you have fun today?”

“Yes,” Logan admitted, a blush covering his face. Patton beamed.

“Are you going to get back together with Janus?” Logan asked once the desserts were returned to the fridge. Emile and Remy were gone again, and Patton doubted that he wanted to know where they went. But Logan’s question threw him for a loop.

“It wasn’t my intention when we came here,” Patton admitted.

“But you tried to get rid of his fiancé,” Logan pointed out. “You’re just as guilty as the twins in that regard. And you wanted to look your best when you saw him again.”

“Yeah, I guess…” Patton trailed off. He gazed out the window. Outside it was dark, Janus owned a considerable amount of land, and not a house was visible except one tiny cabin on the other side of the lake. It was a beautiful home for kids, and Remus and Virgil were very lucky to have grown up here.

“I like it here,” Logan admitted quietly, reluctant to break the peace that had settled over the house.

“So do I.”

~~~END~~~

I wrote this in four hours nonstop this morning

I don’t know if I’ll write more for this AU, but if I do it probably won’t be in chronological order

I just love kid!virgil he’s so cute and no one can resist his pout

General taglist

@royalty-of-all-things-snuggly @pixelated-pineapple

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snowdice · 4 years

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Road Trips and Missing Persons (Part 24)

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 Part 23 My Master Post

Logan had kept them in the meeting room for literal hours, pausing only to feed everyone except Patton and Virgil (who had actually eaten dinner). Eventually, he decided that he was satisfied with the explanations (Well, no, perhaps not satisfied, he was still very displeased with everyone except Virgil and maybe Emile, though Emile had not helped himself when he’d realized that he’d spoken both to Patton and Remus in the grocery store near Remy’s house early and he and Patton had proceeded to go off on a tangent about pasta.) and had taken them all to some of the hotel style rooms in the base.

The room Remy, Emile, Janus, and Virgil were in had two double beds. Virgil and Janus had claimed one of the beds already and were currently curled up together on it both asleep. Janus had apparently picked up Virgil’s stuffed spider from home and stuck it in his pocket. He had ordered Remy to dry the slightly damp toy with a hair dryer before consenting to laying down. The two of them had fallen asleep easily after their long days, the stuffed spider laying on the top of Janus’s chest and Virgil’s arm thrown around him loosely.

Emile had stayed up longer and taken a shower before emailing his receptionist asking her to cancel all of his appointments for tomorrow (or today as it was by now). He’d climbed into bed a couple of minutes ago, leaving Remy the only conscious one in the room.

Virgil stirred awake as Remy stood up from the chair he’d been sitting on and stepped towards the door. “Dad?” he asked.

Remy took a detour to stand by his bedside and stroke a few of the curls that were still damp from his shower away from his face. “Go back to sleep, kid.”

“Where’re you going?” he asked.

“Just gonna go grab some coffee,” he said.

“It’s night,” he pointed out.

Remy cracked a grin. “Yeah, well, you know me.” He tapped him on the nose. “I’ll be right in the mini kitchen outside.”

“Kay,” Virgil agreed, laying his head back on Janus’s chest. Janus never stirred, dead to the world in the way he only ever was when Virgil was snuggled up against him.

Remy closed the door quietly behind himself and wandered over towards the kitchen.

“Can’t sleep?” Patton asked when he stepped into the little area. The man was sitting at the small two-person table with a mug of what looked like tea and a box of Oreos.

“Having trouble chilling out,” Remy replied. “You know how it is.” Patton hummed in acknowledgement as Remy investigated the coffee maker.

“You know,” Patton said amused. “If your trying to calm down and sleep, coffee may not be the best solution.”

“Babe, do you know me at all?” Remy asked. Patton just shook his head.

“Besides,” Remy continued. “Who said I was planning on sleeping any time soon?”

“You should try to sleep,” Patton said, frown clear in his tone even though Remy was turned away, putting coffee grounds into the machine.

“Says the man already out here eating cookies at half past 1.”

“Touché.”

They were silent until Remy’s coffee was finished. Remy poured himself a cup and went to sit across from him. “Thanks for not shanking the little bastard on sight.”

Patton’s nose scrunched. “I should have known he was yours with that mouth of his,” Patton said, then he shook his head. “He’s a cute kid.”

“He held a knife to your neck.”

Patton shrugged. “It’s not the first time I befriended someone with a deadly weapon on me,” he said. He pushed the packet of Oreos over to him. “I hope you realize I’m filing for joint custody.”

Remy laughed. “I figured after I heard you spent over 3 hours in a car with him.”

“I’m going to teach him how not to curse and why falling asleep during a kidnapping is not ideal.”

“Well, Emile’s already tried his hardest on the first front, so good luck, and the boy likes to nap at inopportune times, what can I say?”

“Takes after his dad.”

“I am both insulted and flattered simultaneously.”

Patton giggled softly.

“But, seriously,” Remy said. “I do owe you for making sure Virgil was okay even if you didn’t know he was my spawn.”

Patton shrugged. “You don’t owe me anything.” He paused. “Well, you could buy me some cheese since I’d just bought a bunch to make mac and cheese, and it all went bad during the long car ride.”

Remy snorted. “Why do the lactose intolerant fear no god?” he asked. “But, sure, I’ll be happy to reimburse you and endorse your hedonistic ways.”

Patton smiled at him and finished off his tea.

Despite his suggestion that Remy head to bed a few minutes before, he did not put his mug in the sink, but filled it back up with water and popped it into the microwave. Remy turned back to his coffee for a moment and immediately felt arms come around him. “Thanks for not being dead,” Patton said into his ear.

Remy chuckled and patted his arm. “You’re welcome Patty, but really what did everyone expect? I’ve got a couple of kids to raise still.”

Patton just hummed and kept hugging him until the microwave beeped. He grabbed his mug then and plopped another tea bag into it.

“So, not what you planned for your weekend, huh?” Remy asked.

Patton shook his head sitting back down. “I was going to make the mac and cheese and watch reruns of Parks and Rec,” he said wistfully. Then he grinned. “I probably would have still been awake at this hour anyway.”

“Oh, Pat. How many times have you watched that show?”

Patton just smiled at him, eyes sparkling. “We really should try to get some sleep,” Patton said.

“Yeah, well, Emmy snores.”

“And Lo kicks,” Patton said, “when he’s not trying to crush me. Not that trying to sleep in the same bed as one of the twins is any better.”

Remy snorted. “Didn’t take Logan for a cuddling type.”

“Oh, he always tries to deny it, but he’s a big softie.”

“Explains why I’m not dead all over again.”

“Hmmm,” Patton agreed. Then he grinned. “I have the Netflix app on my phone,” he divulged.

“…We’re starting with season 3.”

“Of course,” Patton agreed, pulling out his phone.

They got yelled at in the morning by Logan for falling asleep at the table.

The end! Except for the epilogue.

#sanders sides #patton sanders #remy sanders #virgil sanders #janus sanders #emile piccani #remus sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #road trips and missing persons #road trips and everything in between #adriana writes

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hutchhitched · 4 years

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Social Commentary in The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Part III

Part 3. Yeah… There’s a whole lot going on in the last third of the book, and I may have had to put it down a few times because I got really excited about how she wove the new book with the original trilogy. I know some people thought Part 3 was over the top, but I found it purposeful and deliberately on the nose, and I think that’s why it works. If you want to see my thoughts on the rest of the book, here are the links to Part 1 and Part 2.

Major spoilers below:

Tagging some who asked me to and/or are interested: @the-tesseract-wrinkling-time, @shesasurvivor, @everlarkedalways, @xerxia31, @infinitegraces, @panemposts, and @endlessnightlock. Some others are tagged throughout.

Before we move on to Part 3, I have to backtrack to something from Part 2 I forgot to include in the previous meta (I blame being up till 7 am and only getting four hours of sleep for that). In Chapter 18, Reaper stabs and rips the Panem flag and then uses it to cover the fallen tributes. The reaction of the mentors is shock and horror that the flag has been treated in such a manner. There’s a lot to unpack here. First, desecration of the flag in the US (and I’d guess most other countries, too) is almost always guaranteed to get a reaction. There have been attempts to pass a constitutional amendment to make it a federal crime to burn the flag. Others argue burning the flag is something protected as freedom of speech. Yet, official guidelines for how to treat the flag are broken all the time by letting it touch the ground, not lighting it, not taking it down during inclement weather, and turning it into a massive symbol of patriotism by holding it horizontally on a football field. I saw someone make reference to the outrage against NFL players kneeling during the national anthem as being disrespectful to the flag (even though that was a suggestion of a military veteran, as opposed to sitting during the anthem instead) rather than being outraged at the actions those players were protesting (police brutality against African American men). So, who is it that rips down the flag? Reaper, the tribute from District 11. Rue and Thresh were District 11, as were Chaff and Seeder. All were portrayed in the movies by African American actors. It’s fairly clear in the books that it’s a predominately black district. In other words, it’s likely Reaper is also a black man who tears down the flag of a country that oppresses him so he can provide cover and give dignity to the dead tributes. Now, think about it from a “rebel” perspective, and imagine that’s a Confederate flag that was ripped down. I know in the books that the Districts are the rebels and the Panem flag is more connected to the Capitol, but still. The debate over the (mostly successful) removal of the Confederate flag from former slave states has raged in the US in the past decade. Probably the most famous image of that debate is when a black woman climbed the flagpole at the South Carolina Statehouse and ripped down the flag. Remove the flag of the government that oppresses you, which is what Reaper does.

Something I find really interesting is the lack of technology in this book. Panem obviously has advanced technology, but it’s not nearly as present as it is in the trilogy. I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume that’s a result of the depressed economy, and by the time we get to the 74th Hunger Games, the economy in the Capitol has recovered and been used to develop new technologies and products that make life easier for citizens. That’s a post-World War II/1950s consumerism analogy if I’ve ever seen one. Post World War II affluence in the United States was a major factor in the development of new weapons and technology. Because American workers were making more and had savings and wages rose 100% between 1945 and 1968, Americans spent more, bought more, and paid more income tax. The solidification of capitalism as America’s economic system helped the US “win” the Cold War against the Soviets. Because Americans made more and were subsequently taxed more, the government had more money to develop new weapons and technologies. The first computer, the hydrogen bomb, vaccines for polio and smallpox, NASA, and the development of ICBMs all took place during this era. A strong economy typically makes people think the nation/government is strong. Not coincidentally, an early counterculture developed during the 1950s that protested against increased consumerism and senseless spending. The Beats/Beatniks/Beat Generation disliked that Americans spent so much money on frivolous things while others (African Americans, the rural poor, and so on) suffered. Sounds a lot like the Capitol citizens who spent lavishly and didn’t care about the districts. As a slight aside, Allen Ginsberg, one of the Beat Generation’s poets, wrote Howl, which calls out capitalism and repression. I wrote The Cry for @promptsinpanem’s prompt Howl in homage to that. Someday, I might actually expand it.

In Part 2, I wasn’t sure who had the power, and I really couldn’t figure out Highbottom. That’s mostly cleared up for me by the end of the book. I was intrigued by Pluribus Bell’s (many bells, I love it!) story about Highbottom and Snow’s father before Snow left for District 12. It was the seed that let me hope we’d get more information, and we did. Crassus Xanthos Snow is Snow’s father. Crassus was a member of the First Triumvirate (Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus) and helped transition the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire (from pre to post Hunger Games). He also gained power and influence as a soldier during the slave uprising of Spartacus (became a hero during a rebel uprising). Also, Xanthos is a city in Turkey that’s been conquered repeatedly but always recovers (Snow lands on top!). Highbottom’s first name is Casca, who was one of Caesar’s best friends, but he ends up being the first person to stab Caesar during his assassination. The break in the relationship between the two men is clearly why Highbottom turns on (young) Snow, and the explanation about how the Hunger Games come to be is a pretty big allegory to the betrayal of Crassus (Caesar) by Casca. Also, that explains why Highbottom didn’t ever really seem to be supportive of the Games, even though he was credited as their creator. ( @everlvrks)

There are a lot of references to Roman names and places in this book and the trilogy. The Capitol seems pretty obsessed with the Classics and wants to reflect that type of lifestyle and elitism. During grad school, one of the books I had to read discussed the obsession America’s Founding Fathers (Washington, Hamilton, Jefferson, and so on) had with the Classics. They emulated Greek and Roman ideals. The District of Columbia (Washington, DC) is named after the Roman goddess of Liberty. Jefferson’s and Washington’s homes use classical architecture like domes and columns and many of the federal buildings (the Capital and White House) reflect that. Add on the Washington Monument (an obelisk—which are found all over in the ancient world) and the columns of the Lincoln Memorial and the dome and columns of the Jefferson Memorial, and well… The Founding Fathers were Deists who revered the Classics, which is why I (a religious historian) always laugh when people tell me the US was founded on religion. Yeah, and the Civil War wasn’t fought over slavery, either.

Before this book, I would never have thought about Snow having a history with District 12 or a stint as a peacekeeper. I even looked ahead to the title for Part 3 and still didn’t realize that was going to happen, but it makes sense. First, Snow seems to have known Katniss much better than can really be explained. Her hunting outside the fence and her escapes to the Lake were never really solitary because he knew the area. He’d been there before. He’d visited Lucy Gray in the Seam, been to the meadow, and so on. Some people may see that as too much, but it absolutely fits with the draconian oversight of the Capitol during Katniss’ time, and it indicates why Snow was so intrigued and obsessed with her. Second, Snow’s experience in the military would have worked wonders for his political career. He won the Hunger Games, served as peacekeeper, visited the districts, became the youngest person to qualify for officer training, and went to the university. That’s a stellar resumé for a budding politician. Clearly, he was exceptional. Terrible, but exceptional (which is said about super-villain Voldemort in Harry Potter, too).

I had to stop and put the book down and wiggle with glee when the tree appeared in the distance. I didn’t think we’d get the actual Hanging Tree in the book, but that might have been the most thrilling part for me. It wasn’t overt. She didn’t name it. She just set the scene, but I knew what it was. And then to have the hanging and the man yell out to his “love” and the mockingjays pick up his cry and for Snow to see a mockingjay and immediately hate it… Oh, good night, nurse. It’s just too much. That’s when I made this post. I’ll admit, I have a thing for lone, massive trees. My dad has one on his farm, and there’s a huge, very old Burr oak that’s a local tourist attraction close to where I went to college. I felt like I was driving down the road and seeing it rise from the distance, which I did way too many times during undergrad and grad school.

References to the Covey having traveled and planning to again travel north were clear indicators that District 13 was alive and well (sorry for the on the nose pun) even back then. It seems obvious to me that Snow kept that information in the back of his mind as he took power and anticipated an eventual attack from there. The fact that his family’s fortune was destroyed in District 13 makes it even more appropriate that the final rebellion came from there, too.

I didn’t like Lucy Gray in the first two parts of the book, and I’m still not completely taken with her. There’s just something about her I don’t quite trust, and I’m not convinced she was completely in love with Snow. Sejanus thinks she is, but I’m also not sure I trust him to be the most perceptive person either. I’ve discussed this briefly already with some others, but I’m still on the fence about her. I acknowledge that she doesn’t have the same power as Snow does, so it’s not possible by definition for her to play him, but I do think she’s manipulative. Peeta is, too, so that’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does indicate she’s not exactly who she says she is. Lucy Gray’s job as a performer gives me even more pause because her living is made by putting on a show, by performing, by convincing an audience that what she’s doing is authentic. For lack of a better way to put it—If Lucy Gray is a performer, how would Snow ever know what’s real and what’s not real? Sound familiar? (This part’s for you, @lovely-tothe-bone.)

The songs:

Deep in the Meadow—It’s a lot disconcerting that Katniss’ lullaby to her sister is a song Snow’s heard before out of the mouth of the woman he once loved. Equally disturbing to know that he’s been in the meadow, and I really thought that the song was going to be about Lucy Gray and Snow together there. I’m glad it stayed a lullaby and not a love song. I think it’s fabulous that Katniss and Peeta reclaim the meadow for themselves as a place where their daughter dances. It’s a little bit (a lot) poetic.

The Hanging Tree—Well, now that we know where that story comes from, I like it even more. The only part of the book I didn’t really like was Snow thinking he had something figured out and then rethinking and then changing his mind and so on. There was a little bit too much of that as he tried to decipher song lyrics, and particularly with this song.

The public domain songs—I grew up singing these songs (although with some slightly different words), so they all brought a smile to my face. Probably my favorite rendition of Keep on the Sunny Side is from the movie Oh Brother! Where Art Thou? The entire soundtrack is very bluegrass, and good bluegrass is delightful. And it’s nice to know what the Valley Song really is.

Unnamed—Okay, so my favorite was the first one at the Hob (pp. 362-364). I’m no songwriter, but I could hear the tune, and it was very Lumineers (maybe crossed with the Dixie Chicks?). Upbeat and peppy and feel good, all the way. I also find it interesting that music and concerts are outlawed in District 12 once there’s a new base commander. An allegory on the tendency to cut art programs first? On the power of art as a motivation for action? Both?

Which brings us to the star-crossed lovers of District 12, or something. Obviously, this brings up images of Katniss and Peeta, but probably the most famous reference is in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet with the star-crossed lovers taking their lives. That’s often read as them being fated to die, which is something Snow seems to follow. He mentions his destiny and fate many times and doesn’t do a very good job of recognizing his choices. There’s one time during the Games when he resolves to do the right thing, but otherwise, no. Shakespeare does also say in Julius Caesar that the fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves (which John Greene used in his book title). Snow doesn’t want to take responsibility for what he does. He chooses to follow the rules instead of what is right. He’s legalistic instead of ethical. There’re a lot of philosophical and religious undertones to that, but I’ll let that float for a while.

On page 386, Lucy Gray tells Snow, “You’re mine and I’m yours. It’s written in the stars.” I’ll be honest, I almost dropped the book when I read that. In Catching Fire, Katniss says the same thing about Gale, but she doesn’t end up with him. They aren’t fated. She ends up with Peeta, who she chooses to love. I should have known from that point that Lucy Gray and Snow would not end up together, but I still wasn’t sure how that was going to happen. I really did think she was going to break up with him or betray him somehow because that was the only thing I could think of that would make him stop loving her and turn into what he becomes. A broken heart is a really good reason for revenge, but what actually happens so much worse. ( @mtk4fun and @norbertsmom )

Snow and Lucy Gray decide to run away together, just like Katniss and Gale were going to in the original trilogy. Lucy Gray is worried the mayor’s going to kill her, and Snow doesn’t want to live without her. Except he realizes really quickly that he doesn’t like life on the run. It’s beneath him. He deserves better. He’s entitled to and fated for more, he thinks. On top of that, he’s passed the officer’s training exam, and suddenly there’s a way out of the pit into which he’s fallen. And then he lies to Lucy Gray.

Lucy Gray’s said all along the most important thing to her is trust, and then he lies to her. He doesn’t tell her he had a hand in turning in Sejanus. He doesn’t tell her because he’s afraid of losing her, which is a selfish reason, not one to spare her feelings or to protect her. He lies to protect himself. By the time they get to the cabin at the lake, he’s decided he’s not going with her, and she’s realized he’s lied to her. And then the weapon he used to commit murder (for her or him?) is there. Snow snaps quickly after that. There’s a metaphor, I’m sure about him losing his hold on reality and self-control when he’s past the boundaries of civilization, but he falls really, really quickly. He goes from wanting to tell her he’s changed his mind to attempting to murder her. The only thing that really stops him is the snake bite, which is not fatal, but reminds me why I didn’t trust Lucy Gale. Was it deliberate? Did she leave him on purpose? Does she escape him, or does he manage to cut her down? Either way, he doesn’t choose love. Love, which is a selfless act, isn’t his end game. He chooses himself. He chooses being selfish and looking out for himself instead of others. He doesn’t like being vulnerable. He clinically plans to marry someone he doesn’t love, so he never feels exposed again. In short, he makes the opposite choice Katniss does, and that makes all the difference.

A few other things because this is way too long at this point:

Peacekeepers: Boot camp for peacekeepers was interesting and strongly resembles the process of the military stripping down differences and making each soldier part of a machine. Haircuts, uniforms, routines, and so on are all about stripping away his identity, and he hates every second of it. He’s too good for that, and there’s entitlement all over the place. That’s very different from the peacekeepers from the districts who join the military as a way out of poverty. I mean, Snow does, too, but only because he’s forced.

Betrayal: Recording Sejanus and Snow justifying it was hard to read. It was harder to read about the execution. And then to have the Plinths take Snow in after he returns to the Capitol is absolutely the worst. Despicable behavior.

Poisoning Highbottom: It doesn’t surprise me, and it’s exactly what the rumors in the original books were. Snow kills his rivals to ascend.

Snow’s role in the Games: The Hunger Games change dramatically between the 10th and the 74th. It’s clear Snow has a significant role in how and why that happens. The tributes aren’t caged and are housed in luxury. The cattle cars are replaced with a high-speed train with lots of food. The tributes get stylists and prep teams instead of being unwashed and dirty. In other words, the treatment of tributes becomes more humane, which becomes even more problematic. At least Lucy Gray knew she was being offered up as a sacrifice. No one lied to her about what she was. The implementation of these ways to fatten the lambs up for slaughter is horrific and cruel and very Snow.

Finally, the purpose of the Hunger Games changes for Snow by the time we get to the end of the book. They are no longer just a way to punish the districts. They’re a way to exert controlled warfare instead of a messy war between the Capitol and the districts. It’s still kids being forced to kill kids. The tributes are still kids in cages. They’re still “not from here.” The Capitol kids are to be protected, but the parents in the poor areas aren’t able to take care of their own. It’s all deliberate. Collins doesn’t pull punches about the treatment of migrant children in cages or the murder of schoolchildren. What she does is point out that we don’t really mean what we say about protecting children. We’re only outraged for our own, not for those who are different. Suzanne Collins doesn’t have time for white privilege, American elitism, tyrannical government, excessive capitalism, or excuses, and her book reads that way. I loved every word of it.

#tbosas #tbosas spoilers #balladspoilers #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #meta #hunger games meta #spoilers #book spoilers #really #long post

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ashrain5 · 4 years

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Found Family - Ch 5: Addition

Premise: Virgil’s homelife isn’t the best. The day after he turns 15 he packs his bags and runs away to live with the only family who actually cares; his older brother Roman who lives with his best friends Patton and Logan. Virgil is quickly pulled into their little family. He’s never been happier.

Warnings: emotional crying, i guess? It’s happy tears though

Relationships: Brotherly Prinxiety, Platonic LAMP

Wordcount: about 1.5k

Masterpost

Ao3

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 [you’re here] Chapter six

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Virgil didn’t talk to Logan the next day, obviously not over the betrayal. He did, however, try to get Roman to spill the beans on the surprise.

It took all of his self control but Roman managed not to say anything, despite always having been weak for Virgil’s puppy eyes. Instead, he bundled him into the car right after breakfast and tried to distract him on the way so he wouldn’t notice where they were headed quite as soon.

He was just about to tell Virgil about something that had happened at the theatre when the boy gasped.

“Roman. Ro, Ro, Ro, are we going to the shelter?”

“Hmmm maybe.”

“Are we gonna play with the puppies? Patton said they let you play with puppies sometimes!”

Roman just smiled, not saying anything as he parked the car. Virgil got out of the car before Roman had even turned off the engine, squirming in place as he waited for Roman to get out as well.

He ushered Virgil over to the door, greeting Madison who was in again that day.

“Good morning! That your brother you told me about?”

“Morning. Yeah, this is him.” “Alrighty! Let’s go see the babies then!”

Virgil grabbed Roman’s hand, practically vibrating with excitement as they approached the puppy kennel, little yaps and borks already audible.

As Madison opened the door for them, Virgil let go of Roman in order to dart in and flop down on his butt to let the dogs sniff at him.

“Please don’t mention adoption, yeah? I don’t want to freak him out.” he told Madison quietly before entering the kennel as well.

“You like this surprise, Vee?”

“Yes, absolutely. I love them and I would die for them.” Virgil said, snuggling Blue to his chest as the puppy nosed at his chin, others climbing over his lap.

“That’s good. I’m glad you like this. You seem pretty taken with that pupper there.”

“Yeah, it’s super sweet. Just look at that tiny little face! How old is he?”

“Four weeks! We call him Blue.” Madson explained, standing by the door.

Virgil cooed, pressing kisses to Blue’s fluffy little forehead. “Oh you’re just a tiny little baby. What happened to your Mommy? You’re too little to be without her aren’t you? Yes you are! Yes you are!”

Roman smiled, amused by Virgil’s baby voice as he snuggled the puppy. “You like him that much?”

“Yes. I love him and I’m gonna come back to visit him as much as possible.”

“Uhm. About that. I think he’s already scheduled to be adopted, Vee.”

Roman honestly felt a little bad when he saw Virgil’s shoulder slump and his smile slip off his face before he put on a fake smile.

“That- that’s good! He’ll have a really nice family.”

“Yeah. He will, Vee. Think you’re gonna be up to taking good care of him?”

“What? What are you talking about? Roman what do you mean?”

Roman grinned before turning to the door. “Hey Madison, I think we’re quite done here, we’ve decided.”

“That’s great! Let me let you out, then we can prepare all the adoption papers.”

Virgil was starting to tear up as he held Blue close. “What’s happening? Ro, are you serious?”

“Yeah, Vee. The little guy is coming home with us. I wanted to get you a dog so we can train it to be a service dog in case I’m not with you.”

And there Virgil’s self control went and he was crying big, fat tears as he babbled his thanks and happiness into Blue’s soft fur.

“Aw Vee, it’s okay, you don’t need to cry, it’s okay!” Roman said, smiling. “C’mon, let’s get out so we can take him home.”

Virgil nodded, slowly picking up puppies from his lap to put back on the ground, keeping Blue in his arms as he got up, Roman following him out of the kennel.

Roman signed the adoption papers, paid the adoption fee and thanked Madison for all her help.

They got a collar and leash but didn’t use it since VIrgil seemed very determined to not let go of his new puppy, all the way to the pet store.

“Alright. We need another collar and a harness to get him used to for when he’s ready for the service dog vest, a different leash, bowls, food, a to-go water bowl, toys, grooming stuff and a bed. He’s your dog now, Virgil and though I will help you, you will have to take care of him the most okay? You’ll have to brush him every day, you have to walk him, you’ll have to go to puppy school and get him trained to be a service dog. I’ll pay for his food and other stuff and walk him from time to time but he’s your responsibility, you understand?”

“Yeah. I do. Thanks, Roro.”

Roman pulled him into a side hug. “You’re welcome. Now go on and pick out stuff. He’s your dog, you get to choose all the colors. And we’re getting him a dog tag so think about a new name for him if you want one.”

Roman had barely finished his sentence when Virgil was already running off, excitedly browsing the shelves. Whenever something caught his eye he’d stop, investigate it and either dismiss it or show it to Blue to get his opinion. He ended up with several collars and harnesses and leashes and beds, along with several toys, some brushes, bowls and food they’d asked an employee’s help for.

“Sooo are you done?”

“No, not yet.” he said, picking out all the leashes, collars, harnesses and the beds, sitting down somewhere where he wouldn’t be in the way of any other customers. “I gotta choose which ones to take! This is way too many things for one puppy, Ro.”

Roman snorted out a laugh, leaning on their shopping cart as he watched Virgil debate on the merits and disadvantages of his chosen items, apparently using both Roman and Blue as sounding boards. The employee gave them an amused glance as eventually Virgil decided on one collar and leash, two harnesses, a bed and a blanket for “when he wants to lay in the living room!”

Roman went to the register while Virgil scampered off with the rejected items, placing Blue into the shopping cart for safekeeping while he put the things away. “It’s mean to let the employees clean up my mess, Ro!” he said over his shoulder as he struggled not to lose anything.

Once everything was ringed up he made Virgil choose a tag and they got it engraved with their names, address and Blue’s new name which Virgil chose to be Thomas.

Roman ended up leaving quite some money at the store and while Virgil tried to give him money for it, he didn’t accept it because he didn’t regret it at all and he’d saved some money for this exact purpose.

The whole way home Virgil kept petting Thomas, whose tail was wagging a mile a minute.

Once home Roman helped Virgil carry everything inside.

“Padre! We’re home! Look what we got!” he called and just a moment later Patton’s footsteps came rushing out of the kitchen where he was making lunch.

“Oh my gosh, puppy!” he squealed, immediately moving up to Virgil to coo over him and the dog.

“His name’s Thomas. Ro said he’s gonna be my service dog.” Virgil explained, showing off the little bundle of fluff. After a while Roman managed to convince Virgil to let Thomas down to let the dog explore his new home.

The next hour was spent following a tiny german shepherd as he sniffed about the house, exploring every nook and cranny. The backyard was explored with even more enthusiasm.

All curiosity was gone the moment Virgil wasn’t there anymore though. While Thomas was exploring, Virgil had gone inside to get something to drink and the second Thomas noticed that his human wasn’t there anymore he went to follow him inside, tripping over his own paws.

He’d grow into them, Roman supposed.

In the kitchen he found Virgil sipping from a water bottle, sitting on the ground next to Thomas who was slobbering water from one of the newly purchased bowls, occasionally looking up at Virgil who would always smile at the pup when he did.

By evening everything had calmed down a little bit, Virgil taking Thomas out for a walk before bed. When Roman went to bed later in the evening, he expected Virgil to be in his bed, waiting for him to come in and make sure he’d be safe like he’d done several times before. Instead, Virgil was in his own bed, curled up around his pillow with Thomas sleeping on the pillow next to Virgil’s head. Roman dared to turn on the fairy lights in order to take a picture of them.

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Taglist: @3-has-charm @adreamisadishyourmommakes @analogical-mess @bubbliee0 @iris-sanders-athena @letthefandomsbegin @emthetimelady @ilovereadingandilovebreathing @rabbitsartcorner @ravenwashere1776 @stormcrawler75 @soulwillriseinperfectlight @lizluvscupcakes @why-should-i-tell-youu2 @that-one-nb-kid

#mikey writes #found family #Virgil sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders

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stylesfics-xx · 4 years

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Chapter Eight: A Whole New World

Forever? Masterlist

16th January 2017 “Harry what do I wear?” Ashley asked her best friend bluntly from the other end of the phone as she riffled through her chaotically messy wardrobe.

“You woke me up at five in the morning to ask me what you should wear? I thought something serious had happened.” Harry mumbled, his head resting comfortably on his pillow.

“Harry this is a very important day, I need to look the part.”

��Ash, you do know it’s radio, no one is going to see you.” Harry assured her, “But if you want my advice, wear the red roll neck jumper, with those ripped black jeans and Doc Martens.”

“I knew I could count on you Harry.” she sighed.

“I hope it goes well today love.”

“So do I,” she sighed, before proceeding to hang up the phone.

The tube was eerily quiet compared to Ashley’s usual journey to work, when she worked in the office her shift was 8 till 4, meaning hitting rush hour was inevitable, but getting to work for before 6AM meant an early tube, dropping Daisy off at the childminders on the way. Ashley was grateful that her journey was now somewhat more bearable, even despite the early wake up time, the only other commuters were those travelling in to the city for early starting jobs, and the people who had got drunk the night before and had spent the whole night asleep, travelling the whole length of the northern line. She hurried through the empty tube station, making sure not to be late. In an attempt to make a good impression on her fellow colleagues she stopped off at a nearby bakery that had just opened for the early morning rush, picking up a variation of croissants, pastries and donuts.

Ashley hadn’t felt intimidated by the Capital FM offices since the day she started the internship, she hurried through, most desks were empty as the majority of people didn’t start work until what was deemed a more ‘sociable’ hour of the day. “Morning Ash, how are you feeling?” Roman greeted her as she entered the office kitchen, placing the box of pastries on the side, and continuing to make herself a cup of tea.

“Nervous, but in a good way I guess,” Ashley told him, taking a bite on a pain au chocolat.

“You’re going to be great, I’ll make sure to ease you into it, I’ll introduce you and you can talk as and when you feel comfortable, there’s no pressure, I promise.” Roman assured her, picking a croissant from the box, “The big bosses have also said can we call you Ash when we are on air? Something about coming across as more relatable.”

“Sure, everyone I’m close to calls me that anyway, I mean you’ve called me that ever since I have worked here.”

“That’s great, you have about fifteen minutes to sort yourself out before we go live,” He explained.

“Alright Ro, cheers,”

“Good morning, you are listening to the Capital Breakfast show on a wonderful, yet slightly murky Monday morning, with me Roman Kemp, and for the first time, my new co-host Ash Hanson.” Roman chimed, resulting in cheers and woops from the producers and tech team who were present in the studio, “Ash, I’ll let you introduce yourself.”

“I’m Ash. I’ve worked at capital for about a year now. I’m originally from the North of England, and most people probably know me for being good friends with a curly haired member of a little British boy band, who you might have heard of.” Somehow talking about Harry and the band made her nerves disappear.

“So Ash, can I assume that with you being so close to the One Direction boys, you have a few stories that would make the lives of me and my fellow One Direction fans a lot better?” Roman asked her.

“I won’t lie I’ve seen a lot, particularly at the after parties, but they are all sound lads, there’s some stuff I probably can’t tell you on air, because frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one of them is listening.” Ashley told him.

“And obviously we’ve heard a bit of solo stuff from Zayn, Louis and Niall, if you had to pick one of the boys based on their solo music who would you choose?” Roman asked.

“That is a tough one, I think based on what we’ve heard so far, I’d have to say Niall.”

“Well on that One Direction related note, here’s This Town, on Capital Breakfast.” Roman said, before flicking a switch that meant their voices were no longer heard on air.

“Was that alright?” Ashley asked, taking a quick swig of her water.

“You’re doing great, you’ve got the knack of it already.”

“Taxi for Miss Hanson.” Ashley looked up as she exited Capital, seeing an all too familiar Audi parked outside, Harry stood leant against it, wearing a black trench coat over a grey hoodie and black skinny jeans, with a pair of sunglasses on top of his head to push back his messy hair.

“What are you doing here?” She asked, approaching her best friend.

“Can’t I pick up my best friend after her first day of her new job?” He asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

“It’s lovely of you to come down here, I just wasn’t expecting it, that’s all.”

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

“I mean I guess I wouldn’t say no.”

“Good, because you need to line your stomach.” Harry explained, as the pair of them climbed into his car.

“Why’s that?” she asked.

“We’re going out tonight.”

“There are two major factors that go against that Styles,” She told him, “Firstly I have a six month old daughter who is far too young to be left home alone, secondly I have work first thing in the morning.”

“Firstly, Daisy is going to have a sleepover at Auntie Gemma’s house, Secondly, you can stay in my spare bedroom, I’ll drive you to work in the morning.”

“What am I going to wear? I’ve spent the last year in tracksuit bottoms.”

“Well after our brunch, we’re going to Oxford Street to get you a new outfit.” Harry explained, parking up outside The Ivy.

“What’s all this in aid of?” Ashley asked, leaning her head back against the headrest.

“You Ashley Hanson, need to get laid.” Harry smirked.

“When did you reach that conclusion?”

“Well you aren’t coming to America for my birthday, so I thought we’d celebrate early, and I could wingman you.”

“Why don’t we try and get you laid instead?” Ashley insisted.

“Oh darling, I do not need any help in that department.”

“I’m so happy for you Harry, but frankly I’m not at a point in my life where getting laid is something I want to do, Daisy is my main priority.”

“Can we at least go out for my birthday tonight? Pretty please?” Harry asked, looking at her and fluttering his eyelashes.

“Alright! But I want to go to a nice bar, not some mad club.”

“It’s a deal.”

“Are you sure about this Harry?” Ashley asked, looking herself up and down in the full length mirror in Harry’s bathroom.

“We’re going to have a great time.” Harry assured her from his bedroom, next door to the bathroom.

““You really think this looks okay?” Ashley asked, entering Harry’s bedroom, she had gone for a black glittery bodycon dress paired with red heels.

“You look beautiful,” Harry told her, taken aback by his best friend who stood before him.

“I’m not sure about this dress, I’ve still got mum tum from when I was pregnant, and my boobs haven’t been the same since I started breastfeeding.” Ashley sighed, shrugging off the fact that Harry calling her beautiful made her stomach flutter.

“Love you wouldn’t even know you had given birth six months ago, and there is nothing wrong with your boobs,” Harry assured her.

“Have you been looking at my boobs Styles?” Ashley questioned, turning to look at her friend.

“Taxi’s here.” Harry replied, making a quick exit downstairs.

As promised Harry took Ashley to a swanky North London bar, the sort that you could only get into if you were well known, and with Harry being Harry, that was easy. Ashley and Harry’s previous attempts at nights out hadn’t ever really ended well, there was the night out in LA when the paparazzi gave Ashley a hard time, and Harry had to effectively cover her, and there was Ashley’s 18th, which resulted in a fight between Ashley and a fan. “Why are we here Harry?” Ashley asked him, taking a sip of her pornstar martini.

“To celebrate my birthday obviously.” Harry replied.

“I mean you’re Harry Styles, you could take literally anyone for drinks, but you chose me, a single mum, who lives in a one bedroom flat in South London and most of the time has either baby sick or milk on my clothes.”

“I didn’t want to take literally anyone out, you’re my best friend, you always have been, you always will be, I find it hard to trust people Ash, I’ve been screwed over by so many people who want to be friends with Harry the celebrity, not Harry from Holmes Chapel who would rather spend the night in watching a cheesy romcom than go to some overly prestigious party, and I’ve never had to worry about that when it comes to you,” Harry explained.

It was almost midnight when they arrived back at Harry’s, both of them feeling a little bit tipsy from the several cocktails they had consumed, “Ash, lets dance,” Harry took hold of his best friend’s hand, leading her into the kitchen.

“Harry, I have work in like six hours,” Ashley whined.

“Please, if it was my actual birthday we would be dancing together,” Harry begged, holding both of Ashley’s hands in his.

“Alright one song, then I’m going to bed.” Harry opened his phone shuffling his music, the first song that blared out of his surround sound was Still The One by Shania Twain, Harry took hold of Ashley, one hand on her waist whilst he used his free hand to hold her hand, the pair swayed along to the song, Ashley’s head resting against Harry’s chest, breathing in the smell of his aftershave mixed with the alcohol from the cocktails he had drunk. Ashley smiled up at her friend, his smile beamed back at her, edging his face closer to hers, their lips mere millimetres apart, she knew exactly what was about to happen, “No Harry, we don’t do that, you’re drunk.” She stepped back from his embrace.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s fine, I’ll see you in the morning,” she muttered before quickly exiting the kitchen.

“I meant it, I am sorry.”

“Good night Harry.”

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ibelieveinharrystyles · 4 years

Text

Chapter Eight: A Whole New World

Forever? Masterlist

16th January 2017 “Harry what do I wear?” Ashley asked her best friend bluntly from the other end of the phone as she riffled through her chaotically messy wardrobe.

“You woke me up at five in the morning to ask me what you should wear? I thought something serious had happened.” Harry mumbled, his head resting comfortably on his pillow.

“Harry this is a very important day, I need to look the part.”

“Ash, you do know it’s radio, no one is going to see you.” Harry assured her, “But if you want my advice, wear the red roll neck jumper, with those ripped black jeans and Doc Martens.”

“I knew I could count on you Harry.” she sighed.

“I hope it goes well today love.”

“So do I,” she sighed, before proceeding to hang up the phone.

“Nervous, but in a good way I guess,” Ashley told him, taking a bite on a pain au chocolat.

“Sure, everyone I’m close to calls me that anyway, I mean you’ve called me that ever since I have worked here.”

“That’s great, you have about fifteen minutes to sort yourself out before we go live,” He explained.

“Alright Ro, cheers,”

“I’m Ash. I've worked at capital for about a year now. I'm originally from the North of England, and most people probably know me for being good friends with a curly haired member of a little British boy band, who you might have heard of.” Somehow talking about Harry and the band made her nerves disappear.

“And obviously we’ve heard a bit of solo stuff from Zayn, Louis and Niall, if you had to pick one of the boys based on their solo music who would you choose?” Roman asked.

“That is a tough one, I think based on what we’ve heard so far, I’d have to say Niall.”

“Well on that One Direction related note, here’s This Town, on Capital Breakfast.” Roman said, before flicking a switch that meant their voices were no longer heard on air.

“Was that alright?” Ashley asked, taking a quick swig of her water.

“You’re doing great, you’ve got the knack of it already.”

“What are you doing here?” She asked, approaching her best friend.

“Can’t I pick up my best friend after her first day of her new job?” He asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

“It’s lovely of you to come down here, I just wasn’t expecting it, that's all.”

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

“I mean I guess I wouldn’t say no.”

“Good, because you need to line your stomach.” Harry explained, as the pair of them climbed into his car.

“Why’s that?” she asked.

“We’re going out tonight.”

“Firstly, Daisy is going to have a sleepover at Auntie Gemma’s house, Secondly, you can stay in my spare bedroom, I’ll drive you to work in the morning.”

“What am I going to wear? I’ve spent the last year in tracksuit bottoms.”

“Well after our brunch, we’re going to Oxford Street to get you a new outfit.” Harry explained, parking up outside The Ivy.

“What’s all this in aid of?” Ashley asked, leaning her head back against the headrest.

“You Ashley Hanson, need to get laid.” Harry smirked.

“When did you reach that conclusion?”

“Well you aren’t coming to America for my birthday, so I thought we’d celebrate early, and I could wingman you.”

“Why don’t we try and get you laid instead?” Ashley insisted.

“Oh darling, I do not need any help in that department.”

“I’m so happy for you Harry, but frankly I’m not at a point in my life where getting laid is something I want to do, Daisy is my main priority.”

“Can we at least go out for my birthday tonight? Pretty please?” Harry asked, looking at her and fluttering his eyelashes.

“Alright! But I want to go to a nice bar, not some mad club.”

“It’s a deal.”

“Are you sure about this Harry?” Ashley asked, looking herself up and down in the full length mirror in Harry’s bathroom.

“We’re going to have a great time.” Harry assured her from his bedroom, next door to the bathroom.

““You really think this looks okay?” Ashley asked, entering Harry's bedroom, she had gone for a black glittery bodycon dress paired with red heels.

“You look beautiful,” Harry told her, taken aback by his best friend who stood before him.

“Love you wouldn’t even know you had given birth six months ago, and there is nothing wrong with your boobs,” Harry assured her.

“Have you been looking at my boobs Styles?” Ashley questioned, turning to look at her friend.

“Taxi’s here.” Harry replied, making a quick exit downstairs.

“To celebrate my birthday obviously.” Harry replied.

It was almost midnight when they arrived back at Harry's, both of them feeling a little bit tipsy from the several cocktails they had consumed, “Ash, lets dance,” Harry took hold of his best friend’s hand, leading her into the kitchen.

“Harry, I have work in like six hours,” Ashley whined.

“Please, if it was my actual birthday we would be dancing together,” Harry begged, holding both of Ashley’s hands in his.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s fine, I’ll see you in the morning,” she muttered before quickly exiting the kitchen.

“I meant it, I am sorry.”

“Good night Harry.”

#harry styles #one direction #harry styles imagines #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfiction #one direction memes #harry styles one shot #harry styles best friend fic #harry styles blurb

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1-1snailxd-art · 4 years

Note

Caretaker Prompts 19 and 15 with angst. May I suggest in a Hunger Games setting or the like?

15 “I know it hurts, I’m sorry.”

19 “Just keep pressure on it.”

I know you said Hunger Games, but because my brain is like a revolving door I couldn’t get anything that was really flowing well with that (I’m not big into Hunger Games. I’ve only read and seen the first one).

So, I went for a Supernatural style universe with Vampires and Werewolves that I kinda came up with ages ago.

Relationships/Character: There’s no romance here - Deceit/Declan (Father figure/Alpha - Born from magic and connected to a snake spirit), Roman and Remus are 17-year-old twin pure-blood werewolves (parents were both wolves rather than being turned, giving them enhanced senses, strength and healing), Virgil is a 3-year-old pure-blooded Vampire (parents were both vampires), and Logan is a 17-year-old human 😝

Warnings: Blood mentioned, panic, vomit mentioned

Words: 2333

Summary: Babysitting was meant to be an easy way for Logan to earn money, but turned deadly when vampires came to hunt the child in his care. Supernatural beings or not, Logan was willing to risk his life for the boy and show he was stronger with nothing but human blood in his veins.

_________________________

“Just keep pressure on it.” Remus instructed, shifting aside for Roman to take his place. “I’m going to clear the perimeter.”

“Be careful.”

His twin nodded and hurried down the stairs, leaving Roman alone with a bleeding and grunting Logan.

“I know it hurts, I’m sorry. This wasn’t meant to happen.”

Roman felt horrible listening to the other boy cry out in agony as he adjusted his position to control the bleeding from his stomach.

“He gonna die, Ro? Did I- Did I did it?”

His three-year-old brother shuffled out of the bedroom, tears streaming down his face and mixing with the splatter of blood that coated his face and ninja turtle pyjamas.

“No, buddy. You didn’t do this okay. Just go back in the room and wait.”

“But tha teef.”

Sighing, Roman glanced from the stab wound in Logan’s stomach to the mess that was his shoulder. Fangs had sliced through flesh with the ease akin to a hot knife through butter but was thankfully clear of his face so Roman didn’t need to worry that he had been turned. The vampires who attacked the house were out to kill, not turn or feed, and Virgil’s mouth was too small to do that much damage even if he was rampaging.

“They’re not your teeth, Vee. I promise you; you didn’t hurt the babysitter.”

“Logan.” Virgil said firmly, tears falling faster as he got more worked up. “His name’s, Logan.”

Watching his brother cry was heartbreaking for the older sibling and he had to fight the urge to scoop him up and away in the safety of his embrace, but he knew he couldn’t. Virgil’s eyes were glued to Logan, tiny chest heaving with hiccupped sobs and worsening every time the injured man made a sound.

“Virge, buddy, you need to get back in the room.” Roman was desperate for Remus to return, or even their father for that matter, just so someone could help Virgil before he had another vampire to deal with. “I promise I will help Logan, but I need you safe first.”

The small nod as Virgil shuffled back should have offered some reassurance but Roman’s senses peaked; his inner wolf smelling a change in his little brother’s system.

Turning towards the stairs, he focused on working out how far away Remus was.

"Roman?“ The toddlers voice shook just as his body trembled; eyes growing in realisation and the brown of his left iris faded to grey.

“Virgil, in the room, now!”

He hated to yell but his tone was harsh enough to shake Virgil into action, scurrying into the room and slamming the door shut.

“We’ve gotta move, Logan. I’m sorry, but this is going to hurt like a bitch.”

“Just get it over with.” Logan huffed, gritting his teeth as pain exploded through his body when Roman tried to lift him up.

A growl rumbled deep in Roman’s throat when he rose, thankful Logan had remained conscious enough to hook his usable arm around his neck and make the carry at least a little easier. Normally lifting someone Logan’s size would be easy, but after fighting off a whole vampire nest he was almost spent. Kicking the front door open, Roman rushed to his cars back door, thankful it was still open from when he and Remus had arrived at the house.

"Roman!“ Remus called out and ran over to the car as his twin slid into the driver’s seat. “Perimeters clear but I think one sucker got away.”

“We’ll deal with that and Dad later. Vee is turning.”

“What? I thought you told the babysitter to give him his meds?”

“I did.” Came the grunted reply from the backseat and the twins exchanged a worried look.

“He’s getting worse than.” Starting the car, Roman shifted into reverse and gave Remus a concerned look. “Be careful, Duke.”

“Same to you, Princey.”

Carefully heading back into the house, Remus paused to sift through the heavy vampire scent that hung in the air until he located Virgil’s; surprised to find it still concentrated at the top of the stairs. Slipping into the kitchen, Remus collected a plastic bottle from the fridge that contained a mix of herbs, animal blood and milk. To anyone else, the combination was vile, and the smell alone tormented the twins sensitive noses, but it was the best thing in the world to Virgil.

At the top of the stairs, Remus braced himself for his adopted brother to jump out and attack him, but nothing happened. He could hear the toddler breathing from the other side of the door, but they weren’t moving at all; vastly different to the other times he had shifted.

“Virgil? You okay, little buddy?”

The door creaked as Remus pushed it open, spotting the toddler shivering on the bed next to a puddle of vomit. Holding his arms up in surrender, Remus eyed him carefully as he stepped into the room.

“It’s okay. Dukey isn’t going to hurt you, alright? I’m just here to help.”

“Go -way.” Remus froze in shock that Virgil had managed to speak, spotting the rows of sharp teeth that now protruded from his gums. “I hurt you.”

“Oh, I don’t think you will.”

“I will.” Virgil insisted, pushing himself back against the headboard to stay away from his brother. “I kill.”

“Virgil, you won’t hurt me.” Sitting at the edge of the bed, Remus kept his voice level and calm; though he was ready to defend if Virgil suddenly turned on him.

“How ju know? I done’d it b-fore.”

“I know because every other time you’ve turned, you have attacked on instinct. Right now, you’re talking, Virgil. You’re in control of your instincts right now and I’m part of your nest. You’re in my pack and I’m part of your nest; we won’t hurt each other, I promise.”

Heavy breathing was the only sound in the room for a few moments, then the toddlers face shifted from fear to sadness. Not wanting to make a move in case he triggered an instinctual attack, Remus watched and waited until Virgil crawled towards him on his own.

“It hurts, Dukey.”

“It’s okay.” Opening his arms, Virgil gratefully climbed onto his lap and accepted the comforting embrace. “The pain will dull when you’ve fed. I’ve got your drink right here and there is more if you need it, okay?”

“k.”

Shifting around so he was comfortable, Virgil accepted the bottle and started to drink; though he was soon unscrewing the lid when the plastic pop top limited the pace he desperately wanted to consume the liquid at.

“Are you feeling better or do you need more?”

“My no-sh-e -till hurt.” Virgil complained, wrinkling his nose further when he took a breath in.

“That would be from all the blood scents around here. You’re not as use to having to filter it out as Roman and I.”

Remus looked around the room at the blood splatter from Logan’s impromptu battle, genuinely impressed that a normal human could have fended off so many vampires while protecting the toddler they were after.

“Why don’t we get cleaned up, grab you another drink and take Logan’s car for a drive until your fangs retract?”

“Ok, but what -bout Dad?” Virgil wrapped his arms and legs around Remus when he stood and watched him carefully step around the headless vampires in the hall to reach the bathroom.

“Dad will find us, don’t you worry about that.”

****************

Logan loss consciousness some time during the drive but was thankfully still breathing when Roman sped up to the hospital and cried out for help; struggling to pull him out of the car now he was completely deadweight. Following what seemed like a million questions and 20 minutes of a nurse fussing over his own cuts, Roman was finally left to his own devices in the waiting area; giving up trying to call his Dad after leaving his 15th voice message.

He was hanging upside down on the chair when Remus came in; a sleepy Virgil on his hip.

“I thought you two would have found a park to hang out in, since the sun is finally up.”

“That was my plan,” Remus admitted, glad to feel his little brothers breathing even out as he fell asleep; “but the little nightmare wouldn’t stop nagging me to come. I would’ve preferred getting my ears boxed than listen to it for another hour, and now we’re here, he falls asleep.”

Sitting up properly, Roman laughed and held out his arms so Remus could manoeuvre the youngest into his arms.

“Better asleep than freaking out on us.”

“Nah, I said he was fine.” Sitting on the chair opposite, Remus pulled out his phone and started scrolling through his notifications. “Fangs retracted after 15minutes and he was satisfied with two doses. Considering I was expecting to have him hanging from my neck like last time, it was a welcomed surprise.”

“You think telling Dad that will stop him from killing us for leaving Virgil with a human.”

“Only if we also leave out the fact that a vamp nest attacked the house.”

Exchanging a glance, the twins groaned and spoke in time.

“We’re dead.”

**************

The sun had set when Declan arrived at the hospital, half furious after hearing the twins messages and half worried out of his mind. He double checked his concealment charm was still effectively hiding his scaled side before entering the building, shaking off his damp trench coat once he was walking the warm halls.

Four days prior he’d left the boys at a secluded Airbnb to follow a promising lead on Virgil’s birth parent, assuming the hostile vampire nest tracking the pure-blooded toddler wouldn’t pick up their trail for at least a few more days. Returning to the trashed house made his blood run cold, though it quickly reheated hearing the twins had left their adopted brother to investigate a reported werewolf pack. Of course, it had been a trick, false reports given to encourage them out of hiding; Declan could’ve seen it a mile away and he regretted his radio silence even more now.

As he neared the room assigned to some boy attacked in the woods, Declan was prepared to reprimand the twins in the harshest way possible. Each step brought him closer to grabbing Virgil and storming off, but when he reached the door, he found himself frozen. He saw Remus passed out on a hospital bed, looking just as exhausted as his twin in the bedside chair despite both of them clearly being in a deep sleep. Resting a hand on the door, Declan could feel the warding they had obviously put on it to protect the room; something that would have exhausted them without his assistance.

It was Virgil’s position that intrigued him the most. The toddler was perched carefully alongside the boy on the furthest bed, looking more peaceful than he had since his vampiric blood started taking affect.

“Excuse me,” a nurse called from the door over, “can I help you with anything, sir?”

“I’m the boys’ father, well, to three of them anyway. I’m Declan Fidi.” He held out a black gloved hand which the woman shook with a smile.

“You have some brave and lucky boys Mr Fidi. The whole staff agree that the twins quick thinking saved Logan’s life. Did you train them in first aid?”

“I wouldn’t have let them go out into that forest if I hadn’t.” Turning back to the viewing window a thought came to mind. “The boy - um - Logan, are his family around? I would like to have a word before I take my troupe away.”

“I’m sorry, but Logan doesn’t have family. He’s part of the local group home.”

“That’s okay. Thank you for your help anyway. I should probably get these boys to a proper bed and out of your hair.”

“Oh, they’ve been no trouble at all. Logan will be here for a few days at least, so feel free to bring the boys back if you like. I’m sure their visits will be welcomed.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Pushing the door open, Roman and Remus bolted awake instantly at the call of their warding; heads dropping in shame when they registered their father had entered.

“I’ll spare you two the lecture on your stupidity for later.”

“Yes, sir.” They said in unison, standing and stretching their tired muscles.

Declan moved to Logan’s bed and carefully picked Virgil up, the toddler whimpering as his sleep was disturbed.

“Shh, shh, shh.” He assured, rubbing Virgil’s back while he settled into his shoulder. “You’re alright.”

“Dad?”

“Yeah, buddy. We’re going somewhere safe to sleep, okay.”

Leaning back, Virgil looked into his father’s eyes, tears lining his own.

“But Logan -“

“We’ll come back tomorrow.”

Declan pulled Virgil’s purple hood over his head and encouraged him to lean on his shoulder again, nodding for the twins to head out the door before he followed.

They walked in silence back to the car park, Declan telling the twins to get in his van rather than taking the second car.

“You can work on cleaning it when we come back tomorrow.”

“Wait, you were serious about coming back?” Roman questioned, helping to buckle Virgil into his car seat.

“We’re not ditching town straight away?” Remus added.

“No. Roman’s got a car to clean, you’ve got a house to clean up, and I’ve got to see about adding to Virgil’s nest.”

The twins jaws dropped and watched Declan casually climb into the front seat in shock.

“You would let Logan join our pack?”

“Even though he’s a human?”

“A human wouldn’t have taken down three vamps alone. He’s not a human,” Declan chuckled at the thought of how shocked the vampires would have been. “He’s a hunter and a lost soul; just what our family needs.”

_____________________________

End Note: Smol Vampire Virgil had to happen. Don’t tell me you never thought about it. This was a universe I made months ago. I had a whole back story planned out. Maybe one day I’ll write it, or do art for it or just make it an ask AU or something. Honestly, I have too many ideas some times but just not enough brains and concentration to write it all.

Prompt from this list.

More writing from the Caretaker Prompt ListWriting master post

General tag list (let me know if you want on or off): @thequeensphinx @ollyollyoxinfree @celeste-tyrrell @pumpkinminette @ahyeahisurehopeit-does

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demigodsanswer · 4 years

Text

Hazel Levesque: Into the Prophecy-verse pt. 1

Time for the prologue to an AU I’ve wanted to write for a long time and need to finally get out of my brain. Hazel is a little OOC in this, but that’s because it’s an AU where she grows up in the modern world, not the 1920s.

Description:

Rome was a three-thousand year old empire, with two capitals - Old Rome in Italy and New Rome in America. New Rome was the powerhouse of the gods and their hero’s.

The children of the Olympian gods lived amongst mortals, the most powerful of them joining the Legion, and some even earning fame status when major prophecies thrusted one or a few of them into the spot light.

Hazel Levesque is an unclaimed, unimportant demigod, unsuitable for the esteemed legion. And she’s about to find herself at the middle of a major prophecy.

~*~*~*~

Alright let’s do this one last time

“My name is Jason Grace. I’m the son of Jupiter and for ten years, I’ve the one and only child of the Big Three. I’m pretty sure you know the rest: I saved a bunch of people, fell in love, saved the city, and then I saved the city again and again and again. I also did this [cut to Jason getting hit in the head with a brick]. We don’t talk about that. Look, I’m a comic book, I’m a cereal, did a Christmas album, have an excellent theme song, and a so-so popsicle. I mean, I’ve looked worse. But after everything, I still love being the hero. I mean, who wouldn’t? So no matter how many hits I take, I always find a way to come back, because the only thing standing between this city and oblivion is me. There’s only one child of the Big Three. And you’re looking at him.”

Hazel was listening to her music too loud to hear Chiron calling her. She had her first day at some prep school for demigods, meaning she was leaving Chiron’s half-way house for unclaimed and untamable demigods.

New Rome was overflowing with demigods who either hadn’t been claimed or had been rejected from the Legion. Lupa had deemed her and her friend Leo “too insubordinate” for the Legion. He set the wolf on fire (an accident) and she had told the wolf to eat shit (not an accident.) Demigods who didn’t fit in the Legion and couldn’t live at their home with their mortal parents (like Hazel, who’s mom had been deem “unsuitable”) or didn’t have mortal parents (like Leo) lived in one of the half-way houses. There was hundreds of them around the country, all named “Chiron’s Half-Way House,” but only the New Rome branch was actually graced by the old Greek Centaur.

He did his best to train or rehabilitate problem kids, getting them ready for either the legion or the real world. He was the one who had insisted every demigod apply to some fancy, over-priced prep school. And Hazel was the only one of them dumb enough to be smart enough to get in.

“Do I have to go?” She asked Chiron, as he adjusted the collar of her uniform (which she already hated.)

“This is a step in the right direction for you Hazel.”

She tugged on one of her curls, pulling it straight in front of her eyes before letting it bounce back into place. Chiron led her out to the car. Leo was waiting out on the front porch.

“Don’t forget us little people while you’re off becoming some famous hero or some shit, Levesque.” He said, smiling.

Hazel pulled him into a hug. “Who could forget you?”

“I’ll bust you out as soon as I can,” he whispered.

Hazel sat, clearly angry, in the back of Chiron’s car. He couldn’t drive, being a centaur and all, so Argus, the thousand-eyed half-way house driver was behind the wheel, and Chiron lectured her about all of her opportunities.

“I don’t care,” Hazel protested. “I don’t want to go, I’m only here because I drew some pictures.” Her scholarship was art-based, that was true. She was a good artist. Not a really notable demigod skill, though. Still, someone had to mosaic all of Jason Grace’s accomplishments. They were only one year away from some world-ending prophecy that the tabloids still had yet to leak. So it was only a matter of time before Golden Boy Supreme (as Leo had nicknamed him) added another line on his resume. And if Hazel was lucky, which she rarely was, she’d be there to sculpt the whole thing in marble.

“You passed the entrance exam just like everyone else,” Chiron told her. “This is your opportunity, Hazel. Do you want to end up like --”

He cut himself off, but she knew how that sentence ended. Like her mother. Her mom wasn’t perfect, but she wasn’t bad. She was actually pretty cool. The courts were just picky about who was allowed to raise demigod children. Even mega-Hero Grace grew up with a foster mom - Sally Jackson, poster mom for good demigod parenting. Literally, her picture was on the side of buses. She had her own book. She had been on The View with the nine muses.

Her mom wasn’t Sally Jackson, for sure, but she always made sure Hazel had food, and she taught her how to draw. The court’s problem was her mom’s inability to hold down a job. The only thing she managed consistently was selling her own homemade jewelry. It was all bullshit though. If Hazel wasn’t a demigod, they never would have separated them.

“Whatever,” Hazel said as they pulled up to the school. She grabbed her backpack and suitcase, and preyed to whatever god her father was that she would be kicked out by the end of the day.

“Tie your shoes!” Chiron yelled after her. She ignored him.

Hazel walked into a whirlwind. The school was huge. Most people were in their uniforms, although a few wore ancient Roman style armor over theirs. Some carried stacks of books, and other had spears and swords. Half her day was academic - Latin, literature, history, science, and math. The other half was training - weaponry, climbing, survival skills, and pegasus riding. At least they had Pegasi here. She had been trained well enough at the half way house, but there were unfortunately lacking in magic horses. Well, besides Chiron’s lower half, which Hazel wasn’t too keen on riding.

“You’re shoe’s untied,” a stranger said, passing Hazel.

“Yeah, I know it’s a choice.”

The sneakers probably weren’t uniform, but she didn’t earn the label “insubordinate” for nothing.

She found her locker, wide and tall enough for armor, weapons, and other demigod provisions, and shoved her suitcase in it. She figured she would move into her dorm later on.

Someone opened the locker next to hers. “Oh this is so embarrassing,” Hazel said to her locker neighbor, “we are wearing the same jacket.” She laughed awkwardly, but the girl just rolled her eyes before walking away.

Off to a good start, Hazel though before grabbing her backpack and moving on to her first class.

Each class seemed to come with its own thousand pound textbook. And the long, winding hallways made it impossible to stop at her locker in between classes. By fifth period - history - she had four new text books and figured she was about to get one more.

She walked in late. She hoped the darkness of the room helped cover her late arrival, but she cast a shadow in front of the projector.

“Ah Miss. Levesque,” her history teacher, some old guy named Mr. Quintus, paused the movie, “you’re late.”

She shrugged, “Maybe y’all are just early.”

A girl with black spiky hair and dark eye make up let out a stifled chuckle. Quitus and Hazel looked at her. “Sorry, it was just so quiet.”

“Please take your seat, Miss, Levesque.” He started playing the movie again. Some history documentary. The Romans loved those. This one had some young narrator, who would have been handsome if it wasn’t for the scar down his face. With his blond hair and blue eyes, Hazel could have mistaken him for Jason Grace, if Jason were twenty-five, not fifteen.

“The Titan Saturn, lord of Time, was overthrown by Jupiter and his other brothers and sisters, and his remains cast away.”

Hazel was just staring to tune the whole thing out when Quintus paused the video again. “Can anyone tell me the Greek name for the Titan Saturn?” The girl next to Hazel raised her hand. “Yes, Miss. Grace?”

“Kronos,” she offered.

“Very good,” Quintus restarted the film. Hazel thought about leaning over and asking her if she was related to Jason, but figured she probably got that all the time.

A week later, Quintus stopped Hazel on her way out the door. “Miss. Levesque?”

She walked over to his desk. “What’s up?”

Quintus showed her the score from their history quiz the day before. A red 0/100 was written across the scantron.

“A zero?” Hazel tried to look genuinely upset. “A few more of those and you’ll probably have to kick me out of here, huh?”

“If a person wearing a blind fold took a true or false quiz at random, what score would they get?”

“Fifty percent?”

Quintus changed her 0 to a 100. “That’s right.” He stood and faced the bored to start erasing that day’s lecture notes. “Are you familiar with the story of Icarus, Miss. Levesque?”

“Uh yeah, he was escaping the Labyrinth with his father with a pair of bronze wings. But he flew too close to the sun, the wax melted, and he fell into the ocean. it’s about pride, right?”

“Correct,” he said, turning to face her, “but you left out a crucial element. Yes, Icarus was instructed by his father not to fly too high. But he was also told not too fly too low, as the sea mist could also weaken the wax.”

“Why are you telling me this?” She asked.

“You’re trying to quit, and I won’t let you. You must remember not to let yourself fly too low, it’s just as dangerous. I’m assigning you a personal essay. Not about history, but about yourself and the kind of person who you want to be.”

Hazel had spent an hour at her desk, trying to write anything for Quintus or for her literature essay, but her ADHD was going off the rails. She wished Leo would make good on his promise to bust her out of there.

But she decided not to wait for Leo.

She hadn’t seen her mom in a while. She grabbed her hoodie before making her way down the fire escape.

#will i finally complete a fic #most experts say no #hazel levesque #jason grace #leo valdez #sally jackson #chiron #hazel levesque into the prophecy verse #thalia grace

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your-anxious-nightmare · 4 years

Text

Adventures In Dad-ing (14)

Summary: The aftermath of Patton leaving. (This one's a little jumpy, so the beginning is obvi a little later than the bulk of the chapter sorry, I didn’t like the way it looked around the other way and wanted to preface where Virge is at first.) (Darwin is my Deceit btw) Word Count: 3365 Relationships: All platonic stuff, kinda parental analogical. Previous Chapters: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, (because I know this has problems, look up the tag ‘adventures in dading’ or ‘dad Virgil’ on my blog archive and you’ll find all of them) Tags: @katatles-the-fish @karma-the-tax-collector @analogical-mess @rebeyerfdog @msu82 (ask to be tagged xoxoxo) Warnings: Kinda neglectful parenting, lemme know if there's other stuff Ao3

Three days.

There was no patter of feet in the hallway. No giggles from the kitchen as cookies were stolen. There were no cartoons or musicals or singing. The house was quiet, and so was Virgil’s heart.

On the first day, Virgil spent the vast majority of time curled up on the couch cradling a teary-eyed Logan as he himself was held against Roman’s chest.

On the second day, Roman had gone back to work, dropping Virgil off on his way in. Remy was nice enough to put him on cleaning, keeping him away from the harsh gazes of customers. Emile had even come in to bring him a cooked lunch, offering a hug and a shoulder when he began to cry.

On the third day, Virgil was silent. His workday was slow, only spent clearing up old plates and wiping down tables. He ignored Roman’s texts asking if he wanted him over for dinner. By the time he got home, he was too tired to kick off his shoes before falling face-first onto the couch.

That was where Logan found him hours later.

The young boy had tried to stay home, knowing that his being around might not help Virgil cope with the temporary loss of his son. But unfortunately, his step-father had noticed his presence was more apparent and kicked him out. With nowhere else to go, he shuffles down to the Casey residence and knocks lightly before letting himself in with the spare key under the mat.

It was after 7 pm, Logan had expected to walk into Virgil eating alone at the table or watching something on the tv, not sobbing loudly into the couch holding a cushion as though his life depended on it.

“Mr Pa-um, Mr Virgil?” Perhaps calling him Mr Patton’s Dad isn’t the best of ideas right about now, Logan thinks, stepping closer to the couch where Virgil lay.

“Logan?” The man sits up, wiping away his tears to look at the boy. “Are you alright?” His blue eyes scan the boy’s face, taking note of the scratch on his jaw and the small drops of blood still falling from his nose onto his shirt.

“Are you?” Virgil snorts, standing to usher the boy into the bathroom and pulling out the first aid kit. He quickly cleans up the cut, instructing Logan to hold a tissue to his nose until the bleeding stops.

“Have you had dinner yet?” Logan shakes his head, blinking up at the man through his still broken glasses. “Okay, how do sausages and chips sound?” He nods slightly, tilting his head so Virgil can put a bandaid over the mark and removes the tissue from his face, wiping any mess and disposing of it quickly.

“Come on, you can help me cook. I’ll teach you.”

It was safe to say Patton was scared from the moment he climbed into the back seat of the car. He watched his dad fade from sight, hands and face pressed against the window and tears pooling in his cool blue eyes.

“Um, it’s nice to meet you. What’s-”

“Shut it, this is my favourite song.” Meghann’s hand raises to hush the boy before turning up the stereo far above what a sane person could withstand.

“Ow. Can it be quieter, please? It’s hurting my ears.” Whether she hears or not is a mystery as she sings along to the pop ballad, turning just slightly dangerously through the streets.

The drive to her house isn’t too long, but with all the red lights and close calls, it feels like a lifetime to the young boy in the back.

Meghann pulls into an underground carpark, slamming on the brakes and stopping before Patton's eyes can adjust to the new lighting. She’s out of the car quickly, slamming her door shut and wandering off to the elevator, turning to look expectantly at the boy who was pulling his backpack off the seat next to him.

“Come on then, we don’t have all day.” Patton jumps out of the vehicle, closing the door nicely and running to catch up, ducking into the elevator seconds before the doors closed and watching as she swipes a card and presses the button labelled 9.

“What’s your name?” He tries again, adjusting the straps of his bag and holding out his hand like he’d seen the adults do.

“Ew, no contact. It’s Meghann.” She grimaces at his hand, stepping away slightly and staring at the door.

“Would you like me to call you Meghann? Or maybe Mum or Mama or-”

“Stop. Talking. Just call me Meghann, no Mum or Mother or whatever bullshit like that.” The door slides open and she saunters out into the hall, Patton running to keep up and meeting her at a door at the end of the hall.

She opens the door to a modern living room, all the furniture in matching blue and white, all neatly situated in nice squares and perfect lines. The room opens out into the kitchen where a solid white bar separates the space and a set of blue stools sit in front. The only thing that makes the room pop are the clothes littering the floor and the various takeaway boxes piled on the counter, dishes sit in the sink, undone. It looks like a very lived-in room.

“This is a very nice home.” Patton pipes up, following her down the hall and awing at a cute picture of a cat on the wall. She doesn’t answer, just huffs and pushes open the last door in the hall.

Inside is a small, beaten bed that looks a little older than Patton, pressed up against the back wall and a desk about the same size as the ones he uses at school. The room is barely big enough for both objects, with maybe half a metre between the end of the bed and the wall and a metre between it and the door.

“This is your room, make yourself at home, I guess.” She turns on her heel and walks back down the hall, opening another door and vanishing inside. Patton sighs and puts his bag on the bed, coughing at the dust it kicks up before remembering he hadn’t grabbed the boxes from the boot of the car. Leaving the room and pulling the door over, he wanders down towards where Meghann vanished, finding her in a large bedroom full of books and knick-knacks.

“Meghann? My toys and clothes are still in your car.” He knocks lightly on the door, choosing to look at his feet instead of her as she spins to face him

“Go get them then? It’s unlocked.”

Patton looks up, eyes wide with confusion. “By myself?” Virgil never let him go out alone, mainly because the last time he did he got lost and ended up crying in a park. Meghann just nods and turns back to her dresser, adjusting her hair.

Patton turns and leaves, stopping by his room to pick up his dinosaur for protection and heading out the front door. Taking a deep breath, he sets off down the hall, reaching the elevator and getting in. He presses the button with a car drawing and waits, watching the doors sit open. He presses the button again, and again, before looking up to the swipe pad next to it.

Wandering back to the apartment, he counts the doors, one, two three, stopping at the fifth and trying to open it, finding it had locked behind him. He knocks lightly, waiting patiently for Meghann to open it.

“The elevator didn’t work without your card. May I borrow it?” She looks down at him with distaste, pulling her cell phone from her ear to talk to him.

“There are stairs for a reason, kid.” She laughs loudly, slamming the door shut, just barely missing his fingers on the wall. Patton jumps, not used to the loud noise and steps back, tripping on his laces and falling to the ground in the hall.

“I don’t think I like it here, Fluffy.” He mumbles, picking up the plush dinosaur before heading back towards the elevator, finding the staircase to the left and starting his descent.

By the time he reaches the bottom, his legs hurt and he’s out of breath, so Patton takes a seat on the bottom stair and catches his breath. After a few moments, he steps towards the car park, staying close to the cars like his dad taught him and searching for the car amongst the others.

When Patton finally finds the right car- he recognized a sticker that had a bad word in the back window- he tugs on the boot, pulling at it roughly in an attempt to get it open.

“Hey, kid!” A voice shouts, Patton dropping his toy and spinning around to see an older man stalking over. “What do you think you're doing?” His hair is long and tied up in a bun like Virgil’s often is, but far greasier and untidy. A scruffy beard lines his jaw, and his dark eyes glare down at the small boy like a starved wild animal.

“I just moved here with my Mum, but my clothes are in the boot. Can you help me open it?”

“Oh, Paddy right? You’re Meghann’s brat?” He laughs loudly, the sound like nails to a chalkboard. “I’ll see you ‘round kid. Don’t scratch the car, it costs more than you’ll make in a decade.”

“Sir? Could you please help?” The man just cackles again and wanders off to the elevator, disappearing inside as quickly as he appeared in the first place.

Patton stares at the door to the elevator for several moments, slowly thinking through all the things he could’ve done wrong to deserve being left out here all alone.

Was it that time he didn’t hold the door open for Mr Phillips? He had his arms full of books but Patton was carrying his show and tell project and couldn’t get a free hand. Was it the time he didn’t let Archie borrow his orange crayon? The boy had shoved his green one up his nose the week earlier so it was probably justified.

Turning and kicking the car once, Patton sits on the ground against the wheel, Fluffy the Dinosaur sat in his lap. Why would you leave a child to collect his things from your car without telling him how to do so? Without warning, tears start to stream down his cheeks.

“I want to go home!” He cries loudly, furiously scrubbing at his cheeks.

“Hello? Is someone there?” A voice calls through the parking garage. Patton sniffs loudly, curling up in a ball around his toy and waiting for the person to leave.

“Hello?” They call again, footsteps echoing across the concrete. “I know you’re there, I heard you crying. My guess is you’re only a kid too. I promise I’m not gonna hurt you, ah, wait that sounds bad. Hang on, I didn’t mean it like I would and I’m tryna trap you but, um, dammit. This isn’t working.” Patton sits up, leaning his head around the edge of the car to find a familiar teen with bright orange hair and a studded jacket shuffling his feet between the rows of cars.

“Toby?” Patton calls, standing slowly and watching his babysitter look up.

“Patton? What are you doing here? Where’s Mr C?” Another sob leaves the boy’s mouth and, before he can step any closer, Tobias catches an arm full of sobbing child.

“Hey, little man, it’s okay. What happened?” The boy simply shakes his head, wrapping his arms tighter around the teen's waist. They stand there for several minutes, Tobias awkwardly smiling at passing cars as Patton clings to him for dear life.

“Pat? Can you tell me why you’re here alone?” He asks, crouching down to the boy’s height despite the stabbing of the spikes on the back of his boots.

“I live with my mum now.” He whispers, clinging tightly to Tobias’s jacket with one hand and Fluffy with the other.

“Okay, and why are you down here by yourself? I know you're a big kid but it’s not safe to be here this late alone.”

“Meghann, my Mum, didn’t bring my stuff up so I had to come to get it but I can’t get the car open and I just want Papa back.” Patton sniffs, rubbing at his eyes as the fatigue sets in.

“Which car? I can help you.” Patton takes the punk’s hand and leads him over. Tobias reaches inside the front seat, tugging on a lever insistently before returning to Patton’s side, tugging on the boot as well.

“It needs the key. Don’t tell anyone I did this okay?” Patton nods as he watches his babysitter pull a small pouch out of his jacket pocket, taking two metal objects and poking at the keyhole until the boot pops open.

“You’re a magician.” Patton awes, smiling as Tobias pushes the boot open further.

“Not a magician, sadly, just been in a few situations myself.” Together the two pull out the few boxes Patton had brought, stacking them at the bottom of the stairs. Tobias’s phone starts to ring, the boy sighing deeply before answering.

“Hey, yeah I know something came up. Can’t I just come later? Yeah, yeah, I know. Okay, I’ll be there soon.” He hangs up, taking a deep breath and clenching his fists a few times before crouching back beside Patton.

“Do you have someone to help you take these up?” Patton shakes his head and Tobias sighs again. “Okay. Let’s get these in the elevator.”

“But it needs a card.” He pipes up, pushing the box of clothes across the floor. Tobias pulled the remaining three on top, pulling out his own swipe card from his wallet. “Wait, do you live here too?”

“I do. What floor’s your Mum’s place?”

“Nine. She doesn’t want me to call her Mum.” Patton hugs his dinosaur tightly as the elevator rises, ignoring Tobias’s concerned look. When they reach the ninth floor, Tobias's phone rings again, this time with a loud bell ringtone that makes his eyes blow wide.

“Shit, Pat, I’m really sorry but I can't help you get these down there. This is my number- if you need anything, call me. I’ll come to check on you in when I can, okay?” Tobias gives him a tight hug, pressing a piece of paper into his hand and helping him get the boxes out of the elevator before saying goodbye again.

“Bye Toby.” Patton waves sadly as the doors close, leaving him alone in the hall again. He tucks the paper into his pocket, pushing the first box down the hall noisy and leaving it by the door, returning to find a child poking at the box of books like it’s a new type of animal.

“Oh, hello. My name is Patton.” The child looks up, startled, and scampers behind a pot plant, hiding almost successfully due to their small size.

“It’s okay, I’m not gonna be mean. What’s your name?” Patton steps closer, trying to get the child to come out but receiving a small hiss in response. “It’s okay if you don’t wanna talk to me. I have to take this box down to my new house so I’m gonna leave my dinosaur here to keep you company okay? I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

True to his word, Patton places the dinosaur on the ground around the other side of the pot, where the child can see it, before pushing another box down the hall. This one takes a bit longer than the first because of the weight, books and toys aren’t light.

When he returns, the child is back next to the remaining two boxes, playing with the dinosaur like it’s an aeroplane.

“His name is Fluffy. He’s a steg-o-saw-rus.” Patton sounds out the word, remembering how Mr Phillips had pointed to each part in class. The child looks up, mismatched gold and brown eyes staring up at him with curiosity. They have messy auburn hair falling over their eyes, long enough to reach their shoulders, and freckles dusted over their face and neck.

“What’s your name?” The child shakes their head, looking back down at the dinosaur in their hands.

“Can you not talk?” Patton asks carefully, gaining a small nod as their response. “That’s okay, I’ve been told I talk enough for me and my friend so I can talk for you too. Can you spell your name?”

The child looks up slowly, pulling a face before nodding. Patton steps up to the box nearest to him, pulling open the top and taking out his letter board. It’s made from a whiteboard and has a little basket of letter magnets attached to the side.

"My Papa got me this to learn to spell. You can use it to talk to me if you'd like?" He watches the child think a little, setting the dinosaur aside and taking the whiteboard, using a pen to write in shaky letters.

"Darwin? That's a nice name." Darwin smiles a little, looking down at the ground and playing with a pulled thread. "How old are you? I'm 9." Darwin slowly uncaps the pen again and draws a number 8, looking up through his fringe at Patton, who smiles softly down at him.

"We can have play dates then. My friend Logan and I do that all the time, we go to the park and he comes and watches movies with us, would you like that?" Darwin nods again, shyly playing with the dinosaur again. Patton smiles triumphantly, moving to the other side of the boxes and starting to push them down the hall.

After only a few metres, he's out of breath and tired, Darwin still watching silently with Fluffy in his hands. He stands slowly, shuffling over and putting his hands on the boxes, grunting a little as he pushes them forward.

"Oh, thank you, you don't have to help." Darwin nods quickly, pushing the boxes again with all his might. Together, the boys get them down the hall and place them at the door, panting with exhaustion.

"Thank you, Darwin, that would've taken me forever." Patton steps up to the door, trying the handle before knocking, just in case Meghann had been kind enough to unlock it for him. Only silence answers, so he knocks again a little louder, smiling nervously at Darwin behind his stuff.

"What do you, oh, took you long enough." Meghann rips open the door, glancing down at Patton before spotting his new friend behind the boxes. "Did you multiply, who's this?"

"This is Darwin, he's my new friend, can he come play?" Meghann looks between the two. Even with her cold, dead heart, she can't help but melt at the puppy eyes Patton gives her.

"Not tonight, Paddy, it's late and you look like me after a night out. Tomorrow, if his parents agree." Patton thanks her loudly and starts to ramble to the boy about all the things they can do, earning a groan from the woman at the door. "Okay, too loud, enough sappy shit. Get your stuff inside, there's shit for a sandwich on the bench for dinner." She turns and walks back inside, ignoring the kids once again but this time with the door open.

"I'll see you tomorrow? You can come over after lunch?" Darwin nods quickly, pointing at the boxes and then inside. "I can get them to my room from here, it's not nearly as far as the elevator." Patton holds open his arms for a hug, gaining a small shake from the boy as he holds up a hand. "High five then" Patton laughs, lightly hitting their hands against each other.

Darwin smiles beneath his hair, patting the dinosaur in his arms and handing him back, waving as he wanders off down the hall again.

With a smile on his face and his friend gone, Patton drags the boxes one by one into his new room, collapsing on his bed as soon as he's done and falling asleep instantly.

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mycatshuman · 4 years

Note

right I don't know if you do writing requests but could you write Virgil secretly being a father too a few kids (gender doesn't matter but please do totters) and one day he is making them breakfast and gets somned then the others find out about the kids and how Virgil is a single father. (P.S I really want Patton screaming I'm a grandfather at the top off his lungs) sorry for wrong spelling by the way...

I'm so so sorry this took to long. I hope you can forgive me. I hope you like it. Also, sorry, I changed how they found out. I didn't mean to. I hope you still like it.

Virgil was a father. Not biologically, he had found them one day when going through the imagination crying and screaming. Instinctively he had picked up the children to sooth them. It had struck him as odd that a parent would leave their child stranded someone alone let alone two of their children. It made him wonder if the children were left on purpose. Still, he sat with the children for the rest of the day and waited.

By the time night fell, Virgil decided that he wasn't going to wait any longer and picked up the two children and returned to his room. He had to stay in his room more to care for them. But it wasn't much of a change from usual. This time he had no choice, the other times it was just because he wasn't accepted by the others and it would be weird to spend time in the living room if the others didn't actually want him there.

After a few weeks of taking care of the kids, Virgil finally decided to name them. With no outraged Roman screaming at him and calling him villain for taking someone's kids, he concluded that his first assumption was right. The children were really left on purpose. So he named the two Elsa and Anna.

Give him a break, he had just watched Frozen with them and they seemed to actually watch the movie for once unlike the other movies he had put in. So Elsa and Anna it was. At least until they were able to comprehend words and names. Then he would ask if they liked their names and would like to change it.

And so the years passed. Elsa and Anna grew into an adorable pair of seven year olds. Virgil felt a little bad about them having to stay in his room, but thankfully he was able to modify a portion of his realm into their own personal play room. He was never more grateful for the fact each side had their own copy of Thomas's house. He hardly had to leave his room. He could cook for the girls right in his own space without having to dodge the other's questions.

Elsa and Anna were happy girls. Virgil doted on them every chance he got. He even made them their own princess dresses. It had taken him a long time but he was able to craft the perfect Frozen dresses after the two had dropped obvious hints at wanting them. And the hours spent pricking his finger and having to study every detail of the outfits proved worth it to see the adorable joyful faces as they lit up with endless sunshine as they had unwrapped the dresses. Of course he would have to make new ones has they grew and still wanted them but he would do anything for them.

However, a few days before the twin's birthday, (the anniversary of Virgil finding them) something changed. Virgil was accepted by the light sides. Now it would become even harder to keep the girls a secret. He was expected to spend more time with the light sides. His solution? Allow the girls to spend time on their own while hooking up a buzzer they could press that would alert his phone should they ever need anything.

He knew it was probably not something a good parent would due but he was scared. He had come to care for these girls and treat them like his own. He was scared if the others found out, they would take them from him. And with that they would hate him again and then he would be alone again. He didn't want to be alone again.

------

Roman was suspicious. Virgil had gotten an alert on his phone and suddenly he had to go back to his room. It confused Roman and made him concerned all at the same time. What could Virgil be hiding? What was the alert for? And so, Roman being Roman decided he would follow Virgil to his room the next time he got an alert.

It wasn't too long after that that the two sides were sitting together playing a game of chess that Virgil got an alert and excused himself. Roman didn't put up much of a fight and followed him after a few moments. He watched Virgil go into his room and snuck in a few minutes after. He got a shiver as he stepped in but shook it off and walked out the door leading further into the anxious sides realm.

Roman carefully made his way into the hallway only to freeze as he heard Virgil's voice from downstairs. He couldn't make out what he was saying so he crept carefully to the staircase and peered down into the living room only to stop and clamp a hand over his mouth as he saw Virgil standing in his living room with two young children.

The one looked as if they had been crying while the other hugged what must have been their sibling in comfort. Virgil was taking a small wet rag and cleaning up the crying child's knee where it seemed to have been scraped. "Okay," Virgil said softly. "There you go. Next time, call me if you're hungry, okay? Please don't try climbing onto the counters."

"I'm sorry, Papa."

Virgil's face softened even more and Roman realized he had never seen Virgil's face this sort of way before. "Its okay Anna. You're an adventurous little one! You just have to be a little more careful." Virgil reached forward and pulled Anna into his lap along with the other child. "How about, tonight, you two help me with dinner, does that sound fun?"

The two children nodded excitedly, the scrap forgotten. "Yes!! That sounds like so much fun! Can we make mac & cheese, please?!" They chorused.

Virgil laughed. "Of course we can my little gargoyles!"

"I HAVE GRANDCHILDREN!?!?!??!!" An excited and joyfully bubbly voice shouted from behind Roman. Roman screamed and tumbled down the stairs and landed with an "oof" and looked up to see an excited Patton and shocked and scared Virgil and children. Roman had forgotten to shut the door to Virgil's room.

-------

It had been about a month since the others had discovered Anna and Elsa but everything was good. They didn't try to take them from Virgil. In fact they voiced how proud they were of Virgil for saving them.

Ever since then, the girls had been allowed to leave Virgil's room and spend with the others in the living room in the main mindspace. They were doted on even more now that the others knew about them. In fact, Virgil had just left Roman's room after being yanked inside to be asked if the two would like a real life Olaf. Patton constantly wisked them away to bake cookies and make crafts. Logan read to them often and took up the role as their teacher. The girls were happy. And that made Virgil happy. He couldn't have asked for anything better to happen to him.

#mycatshuman fics #asks #writing requests #virgil sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #thomas sanders #children #logan sanders #anonymous #meep

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bleepblopbloop56 · 5 years

Text

Yall want some more blanket fort au? No? Too bad

Roman and remy are polar opposites as children

Remy would do nothing but sleep as a baby, a lil angel child who barely cried and was easy to settle down

Roman would be screaming constantly and it drove both of them to tears at some point or another like “ food, diaper, burped, nap, what do you wANT”

They had to call patton's parents quite a few times being like “what do we do”

Remy liked bath times as a child, just loved the water.

Roman to this day still doesn't LIKE showering or bathing but he stopped throwing fits about ut around the age of 10

The only way to get that child to stay in a bath would be bubbles and so many toys you couldn't actually see the water

When they were still young enough to take baths together reny Did Not Like™ when roman would splash water everywhere. If we're being honest neither did patton or logan.

While getting him into the water was a struggle, getting him out was just as bad. He would kick and say no until he was in it, then didnt wanna get out.

Remy was just a freakin angel but a bit of a picky eater. Roman would eat anything he could get his hands on. Logan has lost count of how many times romans had to be stopped from eating mud, various bugs, a worm, or paint

Really the boy has no filter he's just if i can fit it in my mouth i can eat it

Neither likes carrots. They hate them actually.

Roman had a phase where he would only eat chicken nuggets for a solid month. They were Concerned™

Roman would make remy and virgil put on plays for their parents that neither wanted to do. Complete with horrible costumes often including one of logan's ties they keep managing to steal (patton helps but login doesn't need to know) improv songs, and about 3 minute long death scenes were roman has all the attention as he's like “BLARG I'M DYING OH NO I SEE THE LIGHT”

Logan always laughs at how cute they are and patton fakes the appropriate reactions (very obvious gasps, somewhat genuine laughs, clapping at the end of the songs, and fake crying when someone “dies”)

The first time there was a fake death on “stage” and patton was like “oh no!!” Roman broke scene too tell his dad that its okay he wasn't really dead

Reenactments of disney movies were everyone's favorite

Virgil never remembered the songs lyrics so would stand there awkwardly mumbling almost to the tune of the song and patton would clap regardless

As different as they are, when remy decided to make trouble along with roman, it was hell.

Going to the store with both children? Torture.

They'd run in different directions and try and climb out of the carts, logan needing to catch them right before they fell and seriously hurt themselves.

Roman would always wanna go to the toys and would sometimes try and sneak them in the cart and logan would stare him dead in the eyes as he pulled it out and put it back on the shelves.

Remy and roman: MCDONALDS MCDONALDS MCDONALDS

logan: one black coffee

Once the boys got ahold of logan's coffee when he wasn't looking… patton immediately put a month long coffee ban on the house due to the disaster that was trying to get two sugar rushed toddlers in control

The boys have had screaming contests before that caused many headaches from their dads. I don't have anything else to say except the boys sitting in their room just shouting to see who could scream the loudest. Patton then had to explain that if they kept this up someone would call the cops and that would be a bad thing

The boys house has a second floor which means there's a staircase which means many shenanigans. Such as:

Trying to see who could slide down the railing the best

Seeing how far they could jump off the stairs

Getting in a cardboard box and sledding into a pile of stuffed animals at the bottom

And trying to crabwalk up the stairs

Needles to say the stairs were the cause if many bruises

Storytimes with logan were always a treat

Patton would usually take care of putting them to bed, but some nights they just wanted papa to read to them

Remy was always much easier to put to sleep since he acted like a normal human being and get progressively sleepier until it was time to nap

While remy was more like a dial, roman was a light switch. It was all or nothing with him

He'd be bouncing off the wall completely and totally awake and then just shout “OKAY I'M TIRED NOW” and you had about 10 seconds to catch him before he passes out in his feet or just straight up goes limp in your arms and sleeps for a few hours.

Logan still says teaching roman to walk was his biggest mistake. Walking led to climbing and running and trouble. While remy would giggle and waddle around trying to climb on couches and tables, roman would run as fast as he could until something or someone stopped him. Usually a table or an unsuspecting human.

And while remy always prefered to be covered, roman Did Not like clothes. 90% of the time he was a baby/toddler he was only in a diaper cause he managed to wiggle his way out of his clothes when people weren't looking.

Shirts were the bane of his existence and don't even get him started in pants. He spent a lot of time in skirts just cause he didnt want to wear pants and patton “compromised” with him.

It was less a compromise more “listen kiddo you gotta wear something how bout this”

Potty training was not a good time in any of their lives. Remy and roman had no idea what was going on and patton and logan also had no idea how to do this.

Parenting books galore, mixed with calls to every adult person with a child they knew

“But the book says-”

“The books say to do this but trust me, it doesn't work and most of those people grow up to have asshole children so listen just don't”

“Hey karen i know we haven't talked in 2 years but how do children work”

“Hey mom yes i know its two am but what did you do when i wouldn't go back to sleep?”

Car rides worked pretty well to get remy back to sleep but roman needed a lot of physical contact at all times.

For most of his life if roman wasn't either swaddled or being held, hed cry. Remy doesn't mind it but usually he's okay with just hand holding if he wants affection. Roman just needs to be fully octopussed around someone at all times

Family game night as children was actually pretty fun and tame. Until they grow up and it get more and more aggressive.

At first when it was just roman and remy they'd be teams (roman and patton, remy and logan. Sometimes they'd switch but you don't mess with tradition)

Then virgil started being allowed to play and they went to adults vs children

And as the boys got old enough to stop playing on teams that's when things got interesting

At first they worried how the competitive yelling would effect virgil but it seems like he joined in just as fast.

And then when dimitri joined… boy it was every man for himself and they were all out for blood.

Monopoly is banned from the house but uno? Uno is screaming and betrayal, and they always play for snacks. Winner gets to choose what we eat tonight, a full thing of oreos that they are not required to share if they win (they usually do. Except dee. He just says fuck you and eats them all)

Edit: this post isnt fucking showing up in the right order on my blog and im fucking upset

#thomas sanders #sander sides #roman sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #deceit sanders #tw deceit #remy sanders #blanket fort au #logicality #someone told me to edit the post and try again #and apperently add the tag #sfw #on my post to try and fix it #but im so fucking frustrated im gonna cry

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dullahandyke · 5 years

Text

One Good Deed Will Do

Summary: Cecil ‘Deceit’ Sanders isn’t often a good big brother, so when he is, it’s worth noting, or at least, Patton seems to think so.

Warnings: Sympathetic Deceit, there is a bit of swearing

Notes: Cecil is my personal choice for Deceit’s actual name - I have a whole post I can link people to if they ask. This is in an AU where all of the sides are siblings, and it doesn’t really matter much, but Deceit is 15, Logan is 13 (nearly 14, as he’d protest), Roman and Virgil are 12 and Patton is 8.

"Logan! Logan!"

Cecil watched through the sticker-covered doorframe as his younger brother knocked at the nerd's door. There had been some science fact in a show Pat had been watching, and he had long learned not to come to Cecil with questions unless he wanted to be fooled with lawyer talk that no 15-year-old had any right to be using.

"Logan!" Patton rapped on the door quickly, utilising both arms for Maximum Knocking Efficiency. Finally, after the knocking had gone from a novelty to a distraction from the liar's math homework, the nerd opened the door to his younger brother, eyebrows drawn and mouth burned into a scowl.

"What?"

It was at that moment that Cecil knew that Logan had fucked up. The syllable quickly fell from the stoic teen's mouth harshly, crashing to the ground and cracking like glass. Patton, bless his stupid fucking heart, didn't seem to notice his brother's agitation. "My show says-"

Logan bristled, and Cecil was almost regretting eating that popcorn earlier; he should have saved it for now. "Patton, I have an important test tomorrow, I can't waste time on things like this! Just… ask Cecil, ok?" Patton took a step back, but if Logan noticed that he was unnerved, he didn't show it. "But Cecil doesn't-" Logan looked backwards towards his desk, adjusting his glasses as a nervous habit. "Goodbye, Patton."

And with that, the door was closed and Pat was left there, before shuffling back into his and Cecil's shared room. He climbed onto his bed clumsily before flopping back onto the mattress, looking up at the ceiling dejectedly.

Cecil peeked at his disappointed brother, the Nice part of him suddenly whacking him in the head, which, like, now, bro? It's been months since I've seen you and this is the time you choose to drop in? Before he could regret it, he quickly looked back to his homework, scribbling down a new problem as covertly as he could, before surrounding it with an almost cartoonish amount of question marks.

"Hey, Patton?" He called for his brother in a manner that he hoped was nonchalant - the last thing he needed was someone thinking he cared. As his brother's head lifted from the bed, he plastered a confused look onto his face. "I need help with this maths question, do you think you could give it a shot?"

By now the kid was alert, looking at the super cool dude with a confused expression to match Cecil's. "Really? I thought you did Big Person Maths, I'm not good at that." Internally, the liar cursed his constant need to be better than everyone. Newsflash, ego, being smarter than an eight year old is not an achievement!

"No, this is Big Person Maths, but I'm stuck, and maybe you could figure it out." Patton tilted his head in curiosity, pausing for a moment before stumbling off of the very childish and not at all cool bed that Cecil didn't want for himself, padding his way over to the debonair man's desk.

"Here, can you figure it out?" Cecil pointed to the sum on the paper; 2+6. Patton looked between his brother and the book, almost in disbelief. "You don't know this one?" The liar shook his head almost earnestly, eyes on the boy before him. "Do you know it?" Slowly, Patton nodded, reaching for Cecil's cool as hell fountain pen before Cecil shoved a regular pen into his hands. It wasn't that Cecil didn't trust his brother with his favourite pen, but Cecil didn't fucking trust his brother with his favourite pen.

Sloppily, Patton wrote a 6 onto the page, setting down the pen carefully once he was done. He looked up to his brother as the man checked the page to see what wisdom Patton had bestowed onto him. Overdramatically, Cecil gasped, looking pointedly at the number written. “Is that really the answer?” Patton hesitated before nodding slowly, eyeing his brother with precaution. Quickly, Cecil reached for the graffiti-covered calculator sitting unused on his desk, thumbing in the numbers of the sum rapidly enough that it was a wonder he had even inputted the right numbers at all. As he pressed, the equal button with a very aggressive finger, he gasped again, going as far as to throw a gloved hand over his mouth.

“Oh my goodness! It is six!” He looked to Patton, flabbergasted, as close to having sparkly anime eyes as a human could be. “I didn’t know that! Patton, oh my gosh, you’re so good at maths!” Patton looked up to his brother, cautious of the praise; maybe constantly lying wasn’t the best thing to be known for when you were trying to compliment someone. “Really?” Cecil reached his arms out to the young boy’s shoulders, pushing enthusiasm into his voice. “Really! That was a total plot twist to me, and I do Big Person Maths!” Patton smiled up to him, clearly cheering up.

“Bro, you’re so good at that, thank you! I was really stuck on that one, for like hours, we had all week to do that one and I couldn’t get it done, you’re so-” As Cecil blathered on, turning his mouth to autopilot, he spent actual brain power on the decision as to whether or not he should hug his brother, and yikes, that was lowkey pathetic! Do it, you touch-starved snake bitch.

Whether he ended up doing it because of the Genuine Goodness In His Heart™ or because the voice inside his head was calling him a bitch, he ended up hugging the younger boy anyway, and like first off, whaaat????? Is this what hugs are like?? Oh boy, maybe Cecil should get some more body contact with people instead of hissing whenever people stepped near him. Secondly, Patton seemed to be enjoying it, if the tiny, tiny arms that were wrapping around him were any indication. Thirdly, Cecil should probably shut the fuck up now, please and thank you! The more he talked, the more Patton might doubt him…

As Cecil closed his mouth, there was precious silence for a moment- something hard to find in a house with five children in it at any given time.

The silence stretched onwards, Patton absorbed in the hug and Cecil just… sitting there. Is this what all hugs were like? They're boring once the initial shock wears off. Boooooooo! As he waited for Patton to break the embrace, the lawyerly bitch eyed Logan's door. If he hadn't already used up his One Nice Act For Family this year on Patton, he would probably go over and check on the dude. But he had, so fuck Logan.

Finally, Patton drew away from the hug, releasing Cecil from his grubby grasp. I mean, sure, Cecil was the one who started the hug, and for an eight-year-old Patton's hands were surprisingly clean, but the liar had a reputation to uphold, and if that meant never admitting to enjoying physical contact ever, then so be it.

Patton cleared his throat and Cecil threw his gaze back up to his brother's face instead of continuing to stare at the very interesting floor. "Thanks, Cecil. That was nice!" The liar quirked an eyebrow at the child; Cecil, nice? Preposterous. False. Incorrect. Fake news.

"No, I just let you do my maths homework for me." He drawled out slowly, avoiding Patton's eyes as he did and oh my god, was that wallpaper always there? Cecil eyed it warily, just in case, definitely not avoiding eye contact deliberately at all, no siree.

From the corner of his eye, Cecil noticed Patton's head bob as he nodded, and watched nonchalantly as the boy made his way back to his bed. Just as he was about to go back to his doodling in the margins of homework for the sake of Being Rebellious, he was drawn away by the voice of Patton, light and happy.

"Thanks for hugging me' It was nice." Cecil turned his attention back to the fountain pen in his hand, twirling it and watching the feather he'd taped to it spin. He made sure Patton was aware that he definitely wasn't paying any attention at all to him when he responded with a dull "Whatever."

Peace rang throughout the room, Patton making faint Patton noises while Cecil marked a 'deceit wuz here' note into the margins, because having an alter ego was very punk rock of him, if he did say so himself. If he strained his ears, Cecil would probably hear the sounds of Virgil and Roman bickering over something or other, but he couldn't be arsed to strain his precious ears, so he didn't, and the mystery as to what the two were probably arguing about would never be solved.

All of a sudden, out of the quiet came a voice that Cecil was sure didn't have anything else left to say. Transaction finished, no tip left, no small talk required.

"Does this mean I can hug you whenever I want?!"

"Fu-friiiiick no."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Fiiiiine."

Victory.

#deceit sanders #sympathetic deceit #patton sanders #sanders sides #thomas sanders #logan sanders #sanders sides au #sanders sides sibling au #this was my attempt at fluff......couldn't stop myself from throwing in some stupid jokes tho #i will elaborate on this au at literally any prompting................

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crookedlyoptimisticdestiny · 5 years

Text

Best Friends

Tell me if you wanna be tagged!!

Summary: Human AU, The day started out like any other, but what happens when the Sanders quadruplets are faced with a horrifying road bump while at daycare? Notes: The sides are 5, and Virgil has a lisp Pairings: Familial LAMP Warnings: One (1) swear, panic attack, choking, mentions an eating disorder Word Count: ~2450 words Read on Wattpad My Masterlist

The Sanders quadruplets had a routine, and they always stuck to it.

Wake up around 6:30, have breakfast at 7, get ready for the day, and head over to daycare at 8.

Once at daycare, the four did everything together. They played the same games, ate lunch and snack at their own little table, and, during nap time, they all slept in a giant pile.

Around 4:30, their father picked them up, and they spent the entire car ride plus dinner explaining everything they did. Roman and Patton did most of the explaining, as Roman was very dramatic and Patton was the bubbliest of the bunch.

Logan would chime in every so often to correct Roman and Patton when they got a little too carried away. He was the more grounded of the four, and he often helped reign Roman and Patton in at daycare.

Virgil would only speak when he was directly asked something, and, even then, he only gave one or two worded responses. He had always been the quietest of the four, but that was just his personality.

///

Roman was always the first to wake up, usually around 6:30, and he always started singing within five minutes of being awake. Each day he sang a different Disney song, because, even though he was five, he had an impeccable memory when it came to songs.

His singing always woke the other three, who differed in their level of annoyance.

Patton was always the most excited to hear Roman singing, and he often joined in when he knew the song. Logan... tolerated the singing, although he had made it known many times that Roman should be more considerate of the others.

And Virgil? Let's just say that he didn't appreciate Roman's daily eccentricities.

///

The day started out like any other. Roman woke up a little after 6:30. Sitting up in the twin sized bed he shared with Patton, he wrapped his red and white blanket around his shoulders and immediately started singing I'll Make A Man Out Of You, although it was quite off-key, considering that he was five. They had watched Mulan the previous evening, so the songs were still fresh in Roman's head.

Within seconds, Patton was awake, and he didn't hesitate to join Roman in singing. Instead of sitting up like Roman, Patton remained laying down on the bed, buried in the warmth of his pale blue and grey blanket, his favorite stuffed animal—a small black and grey kitten—held tight against his chest.

It wasn't too long before Logan was awoken by Patton and Roman's singing. Instead of joining them, he chose simply sit up and continue working on a Rubix Cube that was placed next to the bed he shared with Virgil, his dark blue blanket spread over his legs.

As always, Virgil was the last one to wake up, but he didn't make it known at first. Instead, he sneakily grabbed one edge of his pillow. He waited a few seconds before chucking the pillow at Roman's head.

"Roman!!" Virgil groaned from where he laid. "Why do you thing tho much?"

"Because," Roman exclaimed, stretching his arms wide. "Singing is a marvelous thing to do!!"

Virgil rolled his eyes before sitting up. "But ith tho loud."

"I do agree with Virgil," Logan said from where he was sitting. "It is rather loud, and it is not always pleasant to be woken up by singing."

Roman gasped and placed a hand on his chest. "Are you calling my singing annoying? How dare you!"

"Guys," Patton whined. "Don't fight. We gotta go have breakfast!"

Just as Patton finished, the door to their room opened, revealing their father, Thomas.

"I see you boys are all up on time," he grinned, looking at all four before focusing on Virgil and Logan. "I hope Roman wasn't too loud today."

The two boys smirked, looking at each other, and remembered what the two of them had talked about the night prior.

"Oh, he wasn't too loud, Father," Logan said, turning back to Thomas. "It was more the pitch that bothered us."

At his son's response, Thomas burst out laughing, along with three of the four quadruplets. Logan and Virgil shared a discreet fist bump. Meanwhile Roman sat on his bed, mouth hanging open and both his hands over his heart.

"I am deeply offended," he said to Logan. "You just don't appreciate how wonderful Disney is. I don't think I've ever yeard you try to sing."

"I simply prefer to spare myself the embarrassment," Logan retorted, leaning over to grab his glasses off of the table by his bed. Once he had put the glasses on, he turned to Thomas. "Is breakfast ready, Father?"

"Yes, it is," Thomas said, opening the door wide. "I made pancakes."

Upon hearing that breakfast was ready, Roman, Logan, and Virgil all climbed out of bed and headed for the door, but, when he heard "pancakes," Patton jumped out of bed and raced for the door. Before he could leave the room, Thomas scooped him up around his waist, letting the others file out of the room and into the kitchen.

"Whoa there, bud," he chuckled. "What have I told you about leaving without your glasses?"

Patton giggled, looking down at the floor. "That I need to wear them or else I'll run into everything."

"Ding ding ding!" Thomas said, setting the five-year-old down to get his glasses.

Patton quickly scrambled over to his bed, grabbing his pair of glasses and putting them in place. As soon as they were on, he ran back over to Thomas, who picked him up again and carried him to the kitchen. The two of them were just in time to see Roman fling a blueberry at Virgil, who was holding a spoon up in defense while Logan tried to make a catapult with his silverware.

"Boys!" Thomas called, and the three of them immediately froze.

"He thtarted it," Virgil called out, pointing at Roman. "He threw a rathpberry at me."

"But they threw a strawberry back at me!" Roman cried, waving a hand at Virgil and Logan while pouting in his chair.

Thomas glanced between the three of them. Roman looked like the most heinous crime had been committed against him. Meanwhile, Logan and Virgil both looked like they were trying not to laugh.

"Oh, my," Thomas sighed to himself, setting down Patton, who immediately scrambled to get in his chair. "It doesn't matter who started it. Just eat your pancakes."

With that, the tension was diffused, and the five-year-olds were eagerly digging into the pancakes in front of them. Thomas chuckled at their antics and ate the bowl of cereal he had made for himself at the island.

About five minutes into breakfast, Virgil, who had barely eaten any of his breakfast, got up from his chair and trudged over to Thomas.

"Daddy?" He asked tugging on Thomas' pant leg.

"Yes, Storm Cloud?" Thomas responded, picking Virgil up and setting him on his lap.

Virgil didn't respond at first, but, after a few seconds of twidling his thumbs, Virgil leaned closer to Thomas so that he would be the only one to hear what he said.

"I'm not hungry," Virgil whispered and immediately hid his face in his father's shoulder.

Thomas wrapped his arms around Virgil in a hug and rubbed his back softly.

"Are you not hungry, or do you not want to eat?" Thomas asked quietly. One of his high school friends had struggled with an eating disorder for a few years, so Thomas' mind immediately thought of all the worst case scenarios.

"'M not hungry," Virgil whispered, still hiding his face in Thomas' neck.

"That's alright squirt," Thomas whispered back, giving Virgil a quick squeeze. "I'll just tell Joan and Talyn that you didn't have a big breakfast. That way they'll have a bit of a head's up if you're starving at lunch."

At the mention of Joan and Talyn, a pair of Thomas' friends that ran the small daycare in their house that the quadruplets went to, Virgil immediately perked up. When Thomas saw Virgil perk up, he smiled, glad that his children got along with his close friends so well.

While the two of them were talking, Patton, Roman, and Logan had all finished their pancakes. Surprisingly, only two more pieces of fruit were thrown during that time. As Logan and Roman went to their room to get dressed, Patton ran up to Thomas and Virgil.

"Virgil!" Patton called, tugging on the sleeve of his brother's shirt. "We gotta go get dressed so we can see Joan and Talyn!"

Smiling, Virgil wiggled out of Thomas' arms and slid down onto the floor. Patton immediately grabbed his hand, and they ran back to their room.

///

About 5 hours later, the quadruplets were finishing their lunch at their private table. Virgil, having a strong liking for strawberries, noticed that Roman had a few more left on his plate. While Roman was looking the other way, he leaned across the table, snatching one of the strawberries and quickly shoving it in his mouth.

"Hey!" Roman cried, seeing what Virgil had done. "That was my strawberry!"

Virgil noticed Roman start to stand up, and he knew he was doomed. In an instant, Virgil was also up and running away from Roman.

As Virgil ran from the kitchen to the living room, he glanced over his shoulder to see where Roman was.

As he did, Roman's eyes widened and he called out, "VIRGIL! Look out!!"

But he was too late. Virgil hadn't been able to see that there was a toy right in his path, and he tripped and fell. The impact from the fall caused the half-eaten strawberry in his mouth to become lodged in his airway.

From their spots at the table, Logan and Patton had been watching Roman chase Virgil, but, upon seeing Virgil fall, they raced out of their chairs and over to where Roman was crouched over him.

When they got there, Virgil was gesturing to his throat and wheezing slightly. Logan immediately kneeled down next to him.

"Virgil!" he said calmly. "Can you tell us what's wrong?"

Virgil frantically shook his head and pointed to his throat.

"Fuck," Patton yelled. "Guys, he's choking! We gotta do the Heimlich!"

Both Roman and Logan turned to Patton, shocked that he had sworn.

Choosing to ignore it, Roman quickly asked, "What's the Heimlich?"

"No time to explain!" Logan cried, turning back to Virgil and helping him stand up.

Patton stood behind Vigil, placing one hand just under his ribcage in a fist and grabbing it with the other. Patton immediately started squeezing Virgil, trying to get the strawberry out.

After just a few squeezes, they all heard Virgil take a deep breath and proceed to cough up the strawberry.

Immediately, Patton jumped away from Virgil, hands held out in front of him. He stared at his hands, trying to process what had just happened. His brother had been choking, and he had used the Heimlich to save him.

Patton didn't even realize that he had started to shake or that his breathing had gotten shallow. He was too focused on the fact that his brother could have died.

Before he knew it, tears were slowly crawling down his face while he gasped for breath. He had sunk to his knees on the floor, his arms wrapped around his stomach to try and make himself stop shaking.

Virgil, who was in the middle of being smothered in hugs and questions, saw Patton kneeling, and was instantly concerned when he saw the tears.

Extricating himself from the group hug, he walked over to Patton, who was too out of it to notice his approach.

Kneeling in front of Patton, Virgil placed his hands on his shoulders. The contact made Patton look up, but seeing Virgil only caused him to cry more.

"Patton?" Virgil asked timidly, causing the other boy to look up again. "What'th wrong?"

"Y-y-you c-could ha-have died, V-Virgil!" Patton sobbed, curling in on himself. "Y-you c-could ha-have d-died i-if... i-if I..."

More tears prevented Patton from finishing his sentence, but Virgil could tell what he was trying to say.

"But, Pat," Virgil said, pulling him into a hug. Patton immediately clung to him in a death grip. "I didn't die. I'm okay, and it'th cauth of you."

Patton nodded weakly, but he didn't speak.

When Virgil had left the group hug to check on Patton, Roman and Logan had stood by, allowing the two of them to have their moment. After they saw Virgil hug Patton, they walked over and joined the hug on either side of Patton and Virgil.

It took a few minutes, but Patton eventually stopped crying. When he had, he pulled back from the hug to wipe the remaining tears off his face. While doing so, he saw Joan and Talyn watching the four of them from the edge of the room. Joan had their phone out and looked like they were waiting for someone to either text them or call them. Talyn looked like they were about to pass out.

When Patton had pulled back from the hug, Logan took that time to glance at the watch he had gotten for the previous Christmas.

"Guys," he said, gaining his brothers' attention. "It's nap time. Should we go to our spot?"

The three other boys agreed, and they all helped each other get up off the floor. They headed to the couch in the other corner of the living room, which was their designated spot for nap time.

Climbing onto the couch, the four of them laid down in a heap, limbs everywhere. None of them cared though, not even when Virgil elbowed Roman in the stomach.

They were just glad that they were still a group of four best friends.

Bonus scene: After seeing the quadruplets head over to the couch, Talyn pulled Joan into the kitchen by their arm.

"That's why I don't want you cursing like a sailor in front of the kids!!" Talyn scolded, arms crossed in front of their chest as they turned to face Joan.

"What's why you don't want me cursing?" Joan asked, confused about what Talyn was talking about.

"Patton swore! Didn't you hear him?!?!" Talyn whisper yelled, not wanting to wake the kids.

"Yeah, I heard him," Joan said. "But I don't see why it's a huge deal."

Talyn rolled their eyes, unable to believe what Joan just said.

"Good for you," they replied, starting to walk out of the room. "But you're gonna have to explain to Thomas when he asks why his five-year-old is swearing."

Taglist:

@patton-is-here-to-love

#lamp #virgil #patton #roman #logan #thomas #talyn #joan #tw food mention #tw panic attack #one-shot #sanders sides

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aoibaratraveler · 5 years

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UK Road Trip Week 2

Day 8:

We woke up and quickly packed up our stuff not wanting to spend another second in this airbnb especially since the bf got such a bad kink in his neck. We headed to Bournemouth as soon as we bought lunch and there we relaxed on the beach and ate it. The city centre of Bournemouth was unexpectedly busy but it makes sense since the beach there is so nice. We walked around for a couple of hours and played with the new feature on Pokemon go. After leaving Bournemouth, we took a detour to our next campsite and stopped at Lulworth Cove. This area was gorgeous and relaxing to sit and watch the waves at the top of a cliff but it was also packed and after an hour we decided to pitch up at the Osmington Mills campsite. This was the most beautiful campsite we had been to by far It had amazing views of a valley and rolling hills so it was understandably full of people. We pitched up and then drove into the nearby town of Weymouth for burgers. We enjoyed the beach views after dinner while writing a scathing review of our previous airbnb and then headed back to the campsite to tuck in for the night since we were exhausted.

Day 9:

Today I woke up feeling super excited because it meant that I got to see Kevin, the bf’s grandparent’s dog! I have been really looking forward to it! I got up at about 6:30 after having the most uncomfortable sleep by far (was tossing and turning all night) in the tent, got refreshed, looked in amazement at the gorgeous beach with a mini waterfall and there was hardly anyone there, win-win!! We explored for awhile and let the sounds of the ocean waves relax us. At about 11 we decided to head off to the Isle of Portland after getting the bf’s starbucks, we only had about 4-5 hours to explore and sightsee before getting to the airbnb cottage outside of Yeovil where I would be staying with the bf and his family as they prepare for his cousin’s wedding. We drove to the very top of a hill/cliff at the Isle of Portland and it was just fantastic, the sky was mostly clear with nothing but a few pure white fluffy clouds. There were also olympic rings up there since apparently this was the sight of the 2012 London Summer olympics. There was even an old torch which was cool. We explored the cliff area and found a rocky area that seemed to be the remnants of a Roman fort, it had a mysterious and intriguing atmosphere and felt like a rocky canyon of sorts as we walked through it before deciding to scramble up the rocks. The bf and I agreed that we both love a good scramble and talked about possibly doing a climb in Italy together called a via Ferrata which I’m very excited about. We decided it was time to head to the cottage which would be an hour and a half drive away. The cottage itself was beautiful with many rooms and washrooms and a lovely garden, i don’t know about you though but when family photos are up everywhere in a place you’re staying just staring at you, it can make you feel a but unnerved. When the rest of the bf’s family arrived we ended up having to settle for a room with two single beds because the only other option had a sofa bed which was too uncomfortable. The bf’s grandmother thoroughly disliked the cottage because of all the rules, I was just bummed because I couldn’t wash my clothes since apparently the washing machine was off limits. Oh, I forgot to mention Kevin, yes the moment I saw him I was so happy and couldn’t wait to play with him but he was much too energetic to focus on me and just wanted to run circles around the garden but who could blame him after spending four hours in a car. For lunch, the bf’s grandmother made a very carby, delicious assortment of foods. There was a potato salad, a rice salad, boiled potatoes, breaded chicken, and a trifle for dessert. After lunch, the four of us, the bf, his sister (R), and her husband (S), and I went grocery shopping, The bf and I were complete goofballs and had too much fun just messing about and being silly while getting cereal and milk. When we got back we all just talked for awhile in the kitchen and I thought we’d play games but by 21:30/22:00 i was super tired and the bf, R, S, and the bf’s grandad had all gone to the living room from the kitchen and were looking at Netflix while their grandmother and I stayed in there. i’m not sure why but I didn’t want to join them and I was so tired that I just wanted to be alone so I went upstairs, listened to some ASMR and fell asleep. I woke up about an hour later and noticed that the bf had moved some stuff around the room so I decided to get up and brush my teeth, properly say goodnight to everyone and then return to the land of sleep.

Day 10:

Today started off with a rush of excitement as I woke up early and I thought to myself that I needed to be productive and get all of the little things I wanted to get done like planning my blog and reading before going on our hike to Cheddar Gorge which I thought would earlier on in the morning than it ended up being but well everyone else seemed to be taking their time which I mean is understandable but I was just very keen to go and we didn’t end up leaving until 11. When we got there it was packed full of people which made me remember that it was a Sunday so of course it was busy. I had gone in S’s car, R’s husband, so I could sit with Kevin the dog but we got there too fast so we had lost sight of the bf and R and spent a good half hour trying to find them via phone and text but with poor signal all while defending a parking spot for the bf in a layby parking area that we found. I say defending because people were being very aggressive and trying to take it and I know it’s a faux paus to hold a spot but where else was he supposed to park in this madness. We eventually started the walk at 13:00 after finding them and boy was the beginning steep! But what a great butt workout! It was Kevin’s first time in this kind of situation so he refused to have anyone walking in front of him from our group otherwise he’d give out a very nervous sounding, high pitched sort of bark. He needed to lead the pack. Once at the top, the views were spectacular and the winds refreshing. The walk was supposed to take 1hour and 30 mins but we took our time and the 4 mile walk took about 2 hours and 30 mins. We hurried to the cheese shops before they were to close and bought a nice big chunk of extra mature cheddar cheese as a souvenir before heading back. Once we got back, i was delighted to see that the sleeping mats I ordered had arrived. I opened one up to test it out and then the 4 of us, the bf, R, S, and I sat around the table to play card games until dinner and afterwards until the evening.

Day 11:

Today I woke up knowing that it would be an uneventful day because the bf and his family were going to his cousin’s wedding. It was an easy going morning with them leaving at about 12:30. I spent the rest of the day with Kevin and got some things done from my to do list including uploading the first week of my blog! I read my book, had dinner and then took Kevin out for a nice long walk, so just a chill solo day.

Day 12:

Barely slept and woke up feeling exhausted at 6 in the morning because the bf came back drunk from the wedding at midnight yesterday and this was the most drunk I had ever seen him. He inevitably spent the night vomiting so I did what I could to help him and then spent the rest of the morning packing up both of our things while he rested but then I also got my period and felt just as crummy as he did because I was always have the most painful cramps. We had breakfast with R and S after leaving the cottage and then the rest of the day was a struggle for us both until we got to our campsite.

Day 13:

We both woke up freezing today, the weather seems to have turned it’s back on us. Our trip started off very warm, day or night, but the rain has been following us since we left the cottage which makes the nights cold and the days hot and humid. Today the weather wasn’t too good for sightseeing so since we had to anyway, we stopped in a Starbucks to plan the next portion of our trip. We unfortunately had to take the whole of Ireland out of our plan because the costs of this trip are starting to add up and truth be told, a month and 3 weeks isn’t enough time for us to do all that we want to do in England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and The Republic of Ireland and we were foolish to think it would be enough time. I’d say more like 2 and a half months to 3 months would be enough time to really see everything and take our time but we just don’t have that or the savings to be able to do so. So we’ll explore England, Wales, and Scotland this time and dedicate an entire trip for Northern/Republic of Ireland later on...once we had wrapped up our planning, we headed to the lush and filled with rolling hills Dartmoor National Park to camp for the night.

Day 14:

Woke up freezing again today at 4 am because I went to sleep without extra layers, very foolish mistake. Tried to do what I could to warm up, thought about staying awake for a bit, but then went to the car to try and and warm up to no avail. In the end, I put on some extra socks and forced myself back to sleep. Woke up two hours later to the morning chorus of “baaa” and “neigh”. To accompany this lovely tune was the sweltering heat from the sun that the tent has captured which was a signal to the bf and me that it was time to pack up and leave. From there we headed to Plymouth to exchange two camping gas canisters bought the day before. While we were there we perused the nearby Waterstones and then bought a delicious steak pasty to share before heading to St. Austell. Once we arrived, we bought flowers for Vanessa’s family and parked out on the road of her house and was greeted by Vanessa’s mother. We put our stuff in the room that we would be staying in and then walked down to Porthpean beach. The bf had been wanting to go to the beach for the longest time and was glad to finally dip his head in the water. On the walk to the beach, we bumped into Vanessa’s twin sister. I had never met her before, and even though I had seen photos before and was able to tell the difference then, I was surprised by how truly identical they are in person. At the beach, the bf played around in the water for a bit and we then skipped stones for a while before heading back. Vanessa’s mother had cooked a vegan lasagne for us all to have for dinner and we chatted with her and Vanessa’s twin until Vanessa got back from work. We then gathered some snacks, took the hood off their jeep wrangler and went to Caerhays beach for a late night drive in showing of Grease. It was the bf’s first time seeing the film and he found it ridiculous.

#travel #road trip #ukroadtrip #ukroadtrip2019 #roadtripeurope #blog post #firsttimeblogging #travel blog #camping #ukexploring #englishnature #englishcoast #southern england #cornwall #cornishcoast #moodyweather #cramps

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