Summary: The consequences of Deceit’s actions…

<<Chapter 2

Watch the animatic here.Check out the Downside au @robinsdownside!

Checking into the hotel had been almost tooeasy. He had learned quickly that if you just went about as if you knew what you were doing, people wouldn’t question you. He even enjoyed acting calm about the whole thing, despite how crazy his heart was racing. After signing the papers to check in and getting the card key, he brought his suitcase up to his room and locked the door behind him, letting out a sigh. 

“Finally…” Clyde carried his bag to his bed and picked it up, slowly unzipping it and checking the inside. He pushed his old clothes out of the way until he saw the familiar plastic bag sitting underneath. The stolen money he had taken from the bank sat inside the unassuming cheap bag. Both the bestandworstthing that’s happened to him over the past 24 hours.

Taking the money was the most stressful and exhilarating thing he had ever experienced. The new scale on his left forearm was easily worth it. Why didn’t Remy see that? Imagine what they could do together. This was only just the beginning! With their powers combined, they could do so much more, be an unstoppable duo.

“He’ll change his mind eventually,” Clyde mumbled to himself. He knew his own powers didn’t work on himself and there’s no way he’d believe his own lies. Even still, he hoped Remy would understand him sooner or later. He hoped everyone would see what he was trying to do. Especially Virgil, whom he didn’t even get a chance to say goodbye to properly. He wasn’t even sure when he would see his little brother again, but he hoped it would be sooner rather than later.

—

Two Years Later

—

Middle school was the literal worst for Virgil. He could see people looking his way and laughing at him, judging him and whispering amongst themselves about who knows what. People had come up to him all nice , probably to ask him questions before they used it against him. That’s just what people do. His older brother had taught him that years ago.

That wasn’t even the worst of it. The worst thing was all of the lies. ‘I wouldn’t do that to you, Virgil’or ‘you can trust us’ before the inevitable stab to the back. He had more than enough of it. It hurt and made him second guess everything and, worst of all, it made him think of his brother more and more. Clyde would lie, sure, but it was always jokes or something silly or unimportant. He never lied to hurt Virgil! It had been two years since his parents had kicked Clyde out. Two whole years without his big brother he always looked up to. Two years of not knowing what had happened to him and never knowing if he would see him again. 

His parents had tried to throw out all of Clyde’s things. Virgil was able to hold on to a few knickknacks here and there. The big one, though, was Clyde’s pet snake. His parents planned on bringing him back to the pet store or giving him away, but Virgil would have none of it. The snake was innocent and Virgil cared for it just as much as his brother so it was just as much as his pet in his eyes. So, after a few arguments, they had agreed to let Virgil take over caring for the snake completely. Virgil went and did a lot of research on the ball python that he could. While he wouldn’t realize why his brother decided to name the python Monty of all things for another few years, Virgil loved that snake since it was the last real thing he had to remember his brother by. As he grew older, he tried wearing a lot of Clyde’s old clothes as well. His parents were less than okay with that decision. They kept trying to take him out clothes shopping and removing the old outfits, but Virgil wouldn’t budge. There wasn’t a lot that still fit him, but black went with a lot of things and Virgil knew he could get away with wearing that at least until he fully grew into everything else. 

With Clyde gone, his parents being unusually cold to him lately and Monty now his only friend, Virgil grew bored rather quickly. Home felt more like a box he was forced to sit in than a place of comfort it had once been.

After one of his lamps for Monty’s tank died out, Virgil decided to fiddle with it and fix the problem to avoid telling his parents. He knew he shouldn’t be afraid to ask but knowing their distaste for the creature, he didn’t want to risk somehow losing Monty. Virgil unplugged everything and handled the bulb carefully, inspecting it. A change of bulb had done nothing and the old bulb still seemed to be in working order. After a short while, he was able to figure out that there was a loose wire in the plug that just needed a bit of adjusting. It was something so minor and so easy to fix, but being able to take care of it on his own made him swell with pride.

It had piqued his interest and only grew after that. He began to look for more things that needed fixing. He started taking simple things apart and putting them back together to see how they worked. While Clyde had a silver tongue and could get himself out of most situations, it seemed like Virgil was able to create. It only seemed logical that he had decided to build the one thing he wanted most.

His first batch of, erm, ‘friends’ didn’t come out the best. LED lights for an eye and awkward limbs, he went back to the drawing board multiple times to simplify the design. His brain wanted them to look cool and flashy, but he started making them simple and building up from there.

His new talent for tinkering still had a lot to be desired. Most of his new toys were more like puppets he still had to control and move around and were barely able to do that. They were stiff and lifeless but Virgil was determined to work on them for as long as it takes to bring his vision to life. 

Whenever Virgil had any spare time at school, he took out some paper and tried figuring out what to do next. The next thing he’d have to learn and what he wanted to do. He tried ignoring the bullies the best he could no matter what, speed walking through the halls and making himself look as small as possible to avoid any trouble. But sometimes…

“Hey!” Virgil had been too busy looking down at his feet as he marched through the halls to his next class to realize someone was talking tohim. “Wait a second!”

Virgil felt someone grab his arm and tug him backward, stopping him in place. He turned around and saw a kid, taller than him, slightly out of breath from running through the crowded hall to catch up to him.

“You dropped this,” the kid held out some papers Virgil had scribbled some ideas on in his last class. In a flurry of embarrassment, Virgil reached out and grabbed the papers before rushing down the hallway to his next class. “Hey! At least say thank you!” He heard the other kid call out to him. Virgil ignored it as he turned into his classroom to hide away and hope to forget the whole thing ever happened. 

—–

Chapter 4>> TBA

Summary: Clyde tries his hand at ‘robbing’ a bank.

<< Chapter 1

Watch the animatic here. Check out the Downside au @robinsdownside!

TW: Cursing, mental manipulation

Clyde was anxiously sitting in his trashy car in front of the bank. He wasn’t too sure of the thing he was about to do. But he needed the money and he couldn’t crash at Remy’s place forever.

Checking his face in the rearview mirror again, he gladly noted that the makeup still hid his scales that seemed to like to appear more often on his face than anywhere else now. He also let his hair grow out quite a bit to hide them a little behind bangs that fell over the left side of his face. By now he nearly looked like an emo. Working with that style, he wore a gray scarf that hid the scales that had appeared on his neck as well.

Looking down on himself he wondered if his yellow shirt and black leather jacket were casual enough.

Yeah, probably. He was thinking too hard about this. Or not hard enough.

Breathing in through his nose and letting the air slowly out through slightly parted lips, he got out of his car. He could see his breath in the air in front of him. It has gotten pretty cold since he left his parents with the most valued things he had, including his pet snake, a few weeks ago.

With a faked confident walk as he squared his shoulders, he got closer to the glass door and stepped into the building.

He was extremely lucky, there were only three other people inside. Two women who worked there as the tellers and one man who was talking to the woman on the left, so Clyde went to the other teller on the right.

“Hello, sir. What can I help you with, today?” the brunette in the white blouse asked with a sweet smile.

Clyde put on as much charm as he could muster as he smiled back. “Hello there, I hope you’re having a lovely day. I’m here to make a withdrawal.”

He was good at pretending to be a more likable person than he actually was. He always wanted to be an actor, but never went to any auditions for school plays because of his social status as one of the “cool kids” that smoked and drank alcohol behind the school. The entire thing was an act in his school days, but he was good at adapting to change.

“Very well, your name sir?”

“Oh, no.” He chuckled “I was under the impression that you just wanted to give it to me,” his smile widened a little.

The woman gave him an amused sound, taking it as a joke. Out of the corner of his eye, Clyde could see the other man leaving the bank. It was just him and the two tellers alone, now.

“Good one, sir, but this would be easier with a name,” The woman spoke with a chuckle. The other teller woman went into a back door and slipped away for the moment. Perfect.

“Well if you want to call me something, I think you could just go with Deceit,” He spoke with a calmness he wouldn’t have thought he could muster at this moment. He felt his hands shaking and start to sweat as he held down his nervousness.

The woman’s smile faltered a little. “Excuse me?”

Clyde looked back over her shoulder to make sure the other girl was really gone. Then, he looked back into the sweet face in front of him which got more confused by the second.

The perfect opportunity.

He looked in her deep blue eyes.

“You wanted to giveme $50,000, right? That’s why I’m here.”

His left eye shimmered and glowed with a light yellow and he noticed the familiar sensation of an itch on his left forearm.

He still looked at the woman who stared back with a face he couldn’t quite put into place. It was nearly blank but still a little puzzled at his words.

That happened every time but he always felt the nervousness at that moment again and again. A million thoughts rushed into his head, like what if it didn’t work (again) or what if he phrased it wrong? Happens to the best, and this scenario was new to him.

This was the first time he did something really bad. Usually, he used his powers to get out of trouble for smaller things or to get free booze, but stealing $50,000 directly out of a bank, in bright daylight? That was insanity!

He had felt a weird sensation in his gut since he began ‘planning’ this. Honestly, this whole ‘rob a bank’ thing was an idea he and Remy had the night before while they were balls drunk in the basement of Rem’s parents. His parents that had no clue Clyde was even hiding there.

Rem was two years younger than him but was a pretty chill dude he had hung out with in school. He was the only one he could count on that wouldn’t snitch him out to anyone about his powers and where he was, because, well, he had powers too. Powers Remy’s parents weren’t very fond of, so they generally stayed away from the cellar.

The woman blinked as she awoke from a daze. The moment surely wasn’t longer than a second, but to Clyde, it felt like years.

The brunette locked eyes with him again and put her smile from the beginning back on.

“Of course, I remember now. It will only be a second, Mr. Deceit.”

——–

“Fuck! I did it!”

Clyde opened the basement door so fast he nearly broke it out of the old, rusty hinges. A very startled Remy, who looked like he had just been woken up, fought his way out of the blanket that had been lying on him.

He had been sleeping on his disgusting makeshift bed, which was made of just two stacked mattresses on top of the cold concrete ground. The basement looked like it should have been finished years ago but no one ever bothered to finish the job. At night, they took one of the mattresses off and slid it onto the floor next to the other so that Clyde didn’t have to sleep out on the bean bag. They had tried that the first night, but it resulted in a stiff back and a very grumpy Clyde in the morning.

Clyde– er, Deceit moved a few steps forward, to click on the floor lamp that only had an old light bulb screwed on top and no lamp shade. The lightbulb was a normal, fluorescent bulb which somehow exclusively produced greenish light. Clyde had asked about that the second day he had stayed here but Remy too didn’t exactly know why either, not that he cared.

With the light, the messy room had become a little more visible. It was even dirtier than Clyde’s old room had been, especially since he had moved in. They both didn’t really care enough to clean all the filthy clothes of the ground except when they ran out of fresh clothes, in which case Remy had to go upstairs with a decent sized pile that was unsuspicious to his parents since they didn’t have to know about Clyde’s existence in Remy’s room.

If they found out about the other kid with powers in their basement? That would mean massive trouble for both of them.

Remy’s guardians were already not on best terms with their son since he had intruded their dreams by accident on more than one occasion. They didn’t hate him but Remy had sometimes messed up their sleep so much that they were first confused what was happening, then they screamed at him to stop and at last, they started to get him out of the way.

He was ok with that. He was just in his basement room, enjoying his life without the worry that his parents would storm in.

But if they knew that he invited someone else to live at their house without their knowledge, they would be very mad. They would probably scream at him again and would call Clyde’s parents, even though he was actually old enough to live on his own, as a 19-year-old. Clyde just didn’t have the money to live on his own. He had been fired a few months ago from his job at the pet shop.

He had to leave his home weeks ago in order to hide his powers from his family as the scales became more and more obvious, so he came to the only one he knew that would at least understand.

It wasn’t much fun sleeping next to someone who had the ability to go into your dreams whenever both of them slept at the same time. Rem didn’t do it on purpose of course, the closer you sleep next to him the more likely it is that he just stumbles into your dream by accident. That’s why he had to sleep in the basement, while his parents slept on the third floor. They simply wanted him as far away at night as possible.

What the two did all day now was lying around in the dirty cellar on the green bean bag and the mattresses and talked about everything and nothing. Somedays they played games on the old arcade machine Remy had or they had matches on his kicker, all while smoking pot or drinking beer Clyde brought back every time he went out.

But not this time. This time he brought something better. Money. And lots of it.

Remy tried focusing on the guy with the weird scales in front of him as he blinked the sleep from his eyes, “Wha-?”

Deceit ripped away the blanket and threw a full plastic bag him. It hit him in the chest, where you could read ‘Never SLEEP again’ on a gray shirt, and caused him to lay down again with the bag sitting on top of him.

“I said I did it! I actually did it, I stole the money!” Deceit stood proudly next to the ‘bed’, hands on his hips, with the broadest smile Remy had ever seen on the guy. It kinda creeped him out, to be honest.

Then the bank robber turned around into the direction of the old foosball table and lifted his arm triumphantly into the air and tilted his head back so he looked at the ceiling.

“Oh my god! I feel great! This was way better than drugs!” he screamed in euphoria.

Remy leaned up on his elbow and let the bag fall next to him on the bed.

“Flippin’ shut up, man! You’re gonna wake the whole street shoutin’ like that.”

Deceit turned his head back to his friend, puzzled.

“It’s 5 in the afternoon?”

“Oh really? I’m up early,” the sleepy head grinned.

Deceit made a face at him that could only have meant ‘you fu**king serious?’

Rem’s eyes fell on the plastic bag next to him. With one hand he lifted a handle and looked inside. His eyes widened, only now had he realized what Deceit had actually done. He shot up straight on the mattress and put the bag on the ground so he could take a bundle of hundred dollar notes out. He ran a finger across the stop slowly as the reality of the situation began to sink in.

“Jesus Christ, you actually did it?!” he looked up shocked at the criminal who now faced him again. With the head movement, the green shade sunglasses that had apparently been lying on his purple dyed and messy hair the whole time he slept, fell onto his nose.

“Hell yeah, I did! And it was so easy too! Like stealing a lolly from a baby.”

The seventeen-year-old sitting on the mattresses gathered himself enough to get a little of his sass back.

“Cliché.” He looked back down to the pile of money. “Jeez, how much even is this?”

“50,000 bugs,” Dee’s eyes sparkled saying that.

“Holy shit. Holy shit, I can’t believe it! I thought we were just joking around yesterday! We were drunk for fucks sake!”

Remy would have never thought that Clyde would actually do something this incredibly stupid. They just talked like idiots about how they could have anything they wanted if they used their powers more, not that he ever actually considered doing so.

“Come on, just imagine what we can do with that much money!” Deceit stepped closer to him, gesturing with his hands.

“With the stolen money.”

“No one knows that!”

“Babe, don’t you think 50k will be missed? Where did you even get that from? The bank like we said?” he took his shades with his forefinger and thumb on the rim of the glasses and slid them down a bit so he could look into Deceit’s eyes.

“Yeah and no, no one knows I took the money. I made sure the woman was the only one there and I just made her give it to me.”

“50k in cash. Someone will miss that! They’re going to notice that much missing! Did you think of the cameras?” Rem’s eyebrows furrowed as he put his shades back on properly.

“I do not like to repeat myself. She just handed it to me! It looks completely innocent on camera. And as far as she knows, that money belongs to me.”

Deceit got frustrated with his friend. Just the night before he also loved the idea and now he was lecturing him?!

“You can’t keep the money here, babe. I’m not ok with that much stolen cash under my roof!”

“It will be gone soon anyway.” He tried again to reason. This was a good thing, why couldn’t he see it?

“You need to leave,” The voice sounded monotone.

Deceit’s shoulders fell. “What?”

“Clyde, sweetie, don’t get me wrong. I’m totally up for all kinds of stupid shit but that’s a bit too far man and I really don’t want to get in trouble because of you.”

“So, you’re throwing me out?”

“You have enough money to rent a hotel room,” he said gesturing to the bag at his feet.

Deceit looked with disbelief into the green-tinted sunglasses that hid Remy’s emotions pretty well.

How could he just throw him out? He thought the other would be happy about the money. He would have even shared it with him for letting him stay here, but now…

He growled “Fine. I’ll leave. I don’t need you anymore anyway. I can do whatever I want without you. Just don’t come crawling back to me when I’m ruling the city.”

“Sure thing rip-off Disney villain.”

“You’ve seen the last of me.”

With that Deceit took his luggage, bound the bag of money to it and lifted a small terrarium with Terrence in it under his arm and left the basement.

Remy let out a shaky breath into the stifling air of his room.

For a second there, he had been afraid that Clyde- no, Deceitwould use his powers on him.

—-

Chapter 3>>

Master List—–Chapter 11

Chapter 12 - Dark Shadow

Warnings: negative thoughts, swearing, implied abuse, homophobic comments, alcohol abuse

Summary: Logan finally has a chance to confront Virgil and the encounter leaves them both shattered.

Word count: 1763

Note:reading on mobile can remove the paragraphing sometimes. Use desktop site or visit my Ao3 page if it bothers you as much as it bothers me.

____________________

It felt like Logan had only just closed his eyes when his phone alarm went off. He assumed he had slept through the night, but his mind and body were still exhausted from the emotional release of the evening. In a chain reaction, they all slowly woke and began cleaning the area in an exhausted but calm silence. Roman, Patton and E were the first to head out, leaving Logan and Katie to finish the cleaning and prepare the library for the day.

“Looks like Tate will be a little late this morning,” Katie commented after hanging up her phone. “That old car is giving them trouble again.”

With a sigh, she ran a hand through her oily hair and sat up on the desk.

“Go home, Katie.” Logan offered, placing a hand on the older woman’s shoulder. “I can watch the library until Tate arrives. You’ve done more than enough already.”

The rough sleep on the floor hadn’t served Katie well and she gladly accepted Logan’s offer with a hug  before leaving.

Hidden from view, Virgil watched Katie lock the backdoor and waited patiently for her to pull away before going to let himself in. His evening on the street had left him cold to his core and the warmth from inside the library was an immediate relief. Wasting no time, he headed straight to the bathroom to clean up; blissfully ignorant of Logan’s presence at the front of the library. It wasn’t until he came out and found a coffee sitting in the kitchen that Virgil realised he wasn’t alone.

“Katie and I cleaned up this morning, Virgil.” Logan’s voice was calm and pleasant, but it immediately put Virgil on edge. ”I didn’t think you were working today.”

“Just last night.” Keeping his head low, Virgil stepped passed Logan to head to his office. “If nothing is needed, I’ll just grab some things and head out.”

Logan watched cautiously, sensing something off about the other but unsure of the best way to approach. Ben’s message came to mind again as he watched Virgil leave his office with a loaded bag and head toward the back door to leave.

“Did I do something wrong?” Virgil stopped but didn’t turn to face Logan. “I know yesterday didn’t go well but-“

“I told you to let it go, Logan.” The harshness in his voice felt wrong, but Virgil wasn’t going to let Logan get caught up in his mess.

“If something is wrong, you can tell me.” Stepping closer cautiously, Logan noticed Virgil’s shoulders growing tense. “I only want to help-“

“I DON’T WANT YOUR FUCKING HELP!”

Logan quickly stepped away, taken aback by the others sudden anger.  “You might not want it, but you clearly need it.”

“Oh, would you take the hint, you fucking moron.” Virgil kept his face hidden by his hood when he turned around, words burning his throat as if each were acid leaving his mouth. “I’m not interested in your fucked up, gay ass. I got my free food, now leave me alone.”

The words stung Logan, but he kept his face neutral and firm; heart breaking as his mind cruelly brought an old fear back to the surface. Once silenced, the dark thoughts re-entered his mind with a vengeance.

“For the record, I am not gay.” It felt like Virgil’s heart stopped at Logan’s words. “I prefer to identify as a Panromantic-asexual. If you are going to insult my sexuality, at least do it properly.“

“Whatever,” Virgil turned and headed towards the door again. “Have fun with your dead boyfriend, faggot.”

The air was left sour and heavy with Virgil’s words. Neither man believed the words, but their burn was real enough to have an effect. Virgil carried the last of his belongings away to sell in hopes of spearing everyone from his burden; Logan on the other hand, sat in deathly silence until Tate arrived and mindlessly headed out to get ready for work. The old ghostly fear growing and twisting into a dark shadow, until  a soothing voice urged him to return to an old habit.

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

Nothing but the clothes on his back, Virgil walked the streets with a measly $50 in his pocket. Each step echoed in his ears and he felt disgusted by every breath he took past his cursed lips. Regret and guilt a heavy stone in his gut as Logan’s face and his words echoed in his mind. Staring down at his phone he had the urge to call Logan and tell him everything; his debt and his past, the heavy weight that held him back.

“Virgil Sparks?”

The moment Virgil paused and looked up in response to the voice, he regretted it. The men who climbed out of the black van parked beside him were not comfortingly familiar.

“Get in the van, Virgil.” Ben motioned to Virgil from his position in the back; his expression darkened by bruising to his cheek.

“You said I had till Monday. I haven’t got any-“

“Get in.”

A firm hand gripped Virgil’s forearm and he felt all sense of hope finally fade away before climbing inside. There was no running now. The only way out would be messy no matter which way he looked at it. But then again…it was what he deserved.

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

Patton was terrified as he ran down the streets towards his home. He had received Katie’s message 5 minutes prior and turned his calming walk into a complete workout.

Kit-Kat: are you okay?

Pit-Pat: fine. Just taking a casual walk home.

Kit-Kat: something has happened. Virgil’s office is completely empty, Logan isn’t answering his phone and his work said he left early to take care of you.  

He should have felt bad leaving Katie on ‘read’ but all he could think about was how broken Logan was last night. Even before he had shared Jason’s video, he’d seemed more distant than usual, but Patton had been so caught up in his own feelings he hadn’t even registered it until now. Worry gripped his chest like a vice while his feet beat roughly against pavement. Air rushed uncomfortably into his lungs with every breath until he finally reached the doorstep and shoved the key into the lock.

“Logan!”

Patton spotted his roommates bag and shoes roughly discarded in the entry and raced up the stairs; calling again until he reached Logan’s locked bedroom door.

“Logan? Logan, open the door.” He pulled at the door fruitlessly; the silence from the other side feeding his fear with every unresponsive second. “Logie, please, you’re scaring me.”

Hands shaking, Patton eyed the door lock and remembered the same locks on his childhood doors; his mother could always get in when he was sad by using a butterknife to unlock it from the outside. When Logan didn’t respond again, he raced downstairs and decided this was just the situation to invade his privacy.

The knife fell from Patton’s hands the moment the door unlocked and he rushed into the room. Bottles of spirits were discarded and spilling on the floor; the sight alone made Patton’s blood run ice cold. Logan’s glasses were shattered by the wardrobe with what had probably been a full bottle of alcohol. Worried eyes darted around until her spotted his friend crumpled at the far end of the room by his bed; eyes open but unseeing through a blur of tears. Patton was thankful for his shoes as he crunched into the room and cradled Logan’s head between his hands.

“Be honest with me, Logan, how much did you drink?”

Blinking, Logan’s features contorted as his fogged brain processed Patton’s comforting presence and realisation hit like a tidal wave sending sobs through his body again.

“I-I c-nnn-n-t”

“It’s okay. You’re okay, sweetie.” Pulling him close, Patton took in the intense scent of alcohol that he had not dealt with since the first months of Jason’s passing. “I’ve got you now. It’s okay.”

Though Patton would have loved to simply hold Logan, he knew it wasn’t safe to stay in the room as it was. Carefully pulling back, Patton locked Logan’s eyes and kept his tone level and calm.

“It’s not safe here, Logan. Can you stand for me?” With a small nod, Logan carefully rose to his feet with Patton as support. “Okay. There’s lots of glass around so I need you to just stand here while I grab you some shoes. Can you do that?”

Using the wall for support, Logan released Patton so he could retrieve a pair of slippers from the back of the wardrobe. Gingerly slipping them on, Patton guided Logan to the bathroom and sat him on the toilet lid while he went to fetch clean clothes.

When Patton returned, Logan had his face buried in his hands with fresh sobs shaking his shoulders. The déjà vu hit him hard as he felt himself repeating an old routine of helping Logan shower and dress, before shuffling down the hall to set him up in his bed. No one else knew of Logan’s brief struggle with alcohol after Jason. It was a short-lived but intense battle. Night after night of alcohol fuelled sadness and self-loathing was eventually brought under-control thanks to Patton’s support. Sadly, Patton was now reminded that it was a battle they would apparently have to always be aware of. A lingering shadow in their lives that would remain, even after Logan allowed Patton to coax him into an unsteady sleep.

Katie knocked on the door an hour later and Patton carefully shuffled off the bed; thankful that Logan didn’t stir from the movement.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this from the beginning?” Katie asked sadly, moving the wet-vac away so they could scrub the stained carpet further.

“You were grieving at the time.” Bubbles formed on the carpet as Patton began scrubbing, filling his nose with a scent to drown out the alcohol. “You didn’t need Logan’s added burden and we had it handled. For a while, I guess.”

“Had it handled?”

“He’s not an alcoholic, Katie.” His voice was defensive, hoping not to regret pulling Katie into their secret. “You know Lo. He has one drink and that’s it, but after Jason…he went too far. He’s been fine this whole time. I swear this is the first time since that he’s done this.”

With a solemn nod, Katie went back to scrubbing. She believed Patton; he had no reason to lie.

“Something happened with Virgil, Patton. I’m sure of it.”

“Any idea what?”

“No. But I’m going to find out.”

“Me to.”

____________________

End Note

Released at the end of the week, just like I promised.

Tag List (let me know if you want to be removed. It has been so long I understand if you don’t wanna hang around)

@notalwaysthebadguy​      @thequeensphinx​    @ollyollyoxinfree​   @celeste-tyrrell​     @pumpkinminette​    @ahyeahisurehopeit-does

_____________________________

Chapter 13 (coming later)   — MasterList

What else have I done:

The Perfect Ring(oneshot- analogical proposal)

You Promised(oneshot - prinxiety angst/injury/near death)

Sides of a Hero(Completed Fic - sides are fusions of impulses and aspects of Thomas. Virgil has a depressing past that he is forced to face thanks to Deceit and Rage. Was canon compliant at the time of completion)

The Shield to your Sword(WIP - A fantasy/magic au - Prinxiety (Royal Roman and orphan Virgil - they’ll admit to their love eventually), Virgil angst, non binary, healer Logan, *spoiler* Patton)

Writing Master Post

Check out my other blog for random fandom reblogs and stuff @snail-giggles​

Also now doing Cosplay and storylines on TikTok: 1_1snailxd

Master List—–Chapter 10

Chapter 11 - The library meeting

Warnings: negative thoughts, swearing, implied abuse, murder mentioned

Summary: A soft mountain of pillows and blankets, plenty of food, boxes of tissues, a few close friends, and plenty of unshed tears. Sounds like a recipe for a lovely evening in the library. 

Word count: 2013

Note:reading on mobile can remove the paragraphing sometimes. Use desktop site or visit my Ao3 page if it bothers you as much as it bothers me.

____________________

“Are you sure you want to sell all this, kid?” Pete questioned, eyeing the pile of electrical equipment, parts, a handheld gaming system and a chunky, old laptop. “Won’t you need most of this for work?”

“I need the money more.” The younger man snapped and pointed aggressively at each object, hood low and concealing his face. “The parts and tools are versatile, and any techie would be happy to use them. The laptop may be old, but it runs fine and is already wiped. Jesus, I even got the game working even though it only accepts one cartridge. There will be some nostalgic nerd willing to play only Pokémon blue for the rest of that systems little life. This is good stuff, Pete. What can you get me?”

Scratching his chin in thought, Pete tapped at his keyboard absently. In the few months Virgil had been around, he had never seen the man so desperate for money. The parts boxed up before him would certainly be useful for his other workers but would put Virgil out of commission.

“Kid, if you need the money, just pawn this stuff and come back la-“

“Take the hint, Pete, I’m not coming back.”

Glancing down at Virgil’s shaking hands, the older man sighed and opened the till to retrieve a collection of notes.

“If that’s the case, and this is farewell, take this.” He placed $500 in cash on the counter and slid it towards Virgil. “You do good work, kid. It’s a shame to see you go.”

“And it’s a shame you’re such a fucken cheapskate.”

It was meant to be an insult, but Pete saw a tear drip from his chin as he turned and stormed out with the money. It was nothing but an act to spare the kid from the pain of leaving. Grabbing the bag of items, Pete walked them out the back and placed them safely on a pawning shelf; writing a tag with Virgil’s name and only removing the gaming device to add to inventory. Despite what they had said, Pete wasn’t about to let Virgil throw everything away. He had been rough on him to teach him about the harshness of the industry, but he wasn’t completely heartless. He only hoped Virgil would find the strength to come back.

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

The once full plates of food were emptier as the group leaned back on beanbags in the library reading area. Patton nestled against Roman’s chest, eyes red from crying after he had spoken about his guilt and thoughts of being a bad omen. The group had listened as Patton finished with the points Roman and Katie had given him the days prior, before Roman pulled him close to his chest.

Logan remained silent. He didn’t know how to respond to Patton’s admissions, all of which were predominantly his fault.

“You are nothing but a good omen to me.” Roman whispered, planting a kiss on his head and continuing to soothingly stroke his shoulder.

“A-agreed.” Logan added, clearing his throat as his voice broke slightly. “I’m sorry if my actions ever made you feel less than what you are worth, Patton. You know how much you mean to me, right?”

Patton shifted on Roman’s chest and extended his hand out for Logan to take.

“I know, Lo. I’ll try not to let myself forget again.”

Giving their hands a final squeeze, the pair let their hands drop so Patton could return to his comforting position against Roman’s chest.

“Perhaps, I should speak next,” Roman offered and looked to the others for their nod of approval.

“Okay, little brother. What do you need to get off your chest?”

“Not Patton, for one.” He joked, giving his partner a squeeze before his tone became surprisingly sombre. “Well… I think it is time I apologised to you…Katie.”

The eldest looked confused as Roman met her eye with a small smile, before he lowered his gaze to focus back on the man on his chest.

“What do you have to apologise for?”

“You said your biggest regret was being…overbearing and overprotective. That your biggest accomplishment over the last few months was not messaging us every few hours religiously, but… I’m the reason you started that in the first place.”

“Roman-”

“Katie.” Logan warned, fixing her with a stern look. “Remember the rules. We speak openly and without interruption.”

After mumbling an apology, Katie gestured for Roman to continue.

“I was meant to tell you about Sasha’s party, but because I didn’t end up going with Jason, I never told you. And, to make matters worse… after Jason’s death, I…” taking a shaky breath, Roman found Patton’s hand to grip for support. “I acted rashly and caused you more stress. I put myself in unnecessary danger on multiple occasions and if it wasn’t for Patton, I’d probably still be party hopping and getting in car wrecks. It was selfish of me and I’m sorry it took me so long to get my head out of my ass and treat you like a human.  You’ve been there for me and I should have been there for you…I hope I can do better.”

The figurative weight slid off Roman’s chest as he looked up and saw his older sister smiling, a single tear trailing down her cheek.

“Thank you, Roman.” Swiping the tear away, Katie chuckled quietly to herself. “It really means a lot that you see me as a human.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not always a dragon witch.”

Logan felt his mind wandering; beginning to obsess over the message Virgil had sent. There was such an undertone of anger and he started going through what he’d done wrong.  Part of him hoped it was referring to his offers of food and monetary support, which he could easily back away from. Thinking more logically, he figured it was probably his sudden obsession with over sharing and using an acquaintance as a sounding board instead of going to actual therapy. Regardless, he didn’t know for certain and it was eating him up inside.

“Logan?”

Ethan’s voice cut through Logan’s thoughts like a hot knife through butter and he suddenly registered the silence in the room. Everyone else had shared now; their grief and guilt finally aired fully and unapologetically. He was the only one still left to share and it dawned on him just how afraid he was to do as he had planned earlier that afternoon.

“Are you ready to share?” Patton gave his hand a comforting squeeze before allowing Logan to pull away and begin shuffling through his bag.

“I don’t know if I’m ready but,” he pulled his laptop out and began loading the files Virgil had saved, “it would be selfish of me to avoid this any longer.”

The group had a silent exchanged of concerned glances and then moved closer so they would be able to see the screen after Logan set it down. Only Logan spoke as the images from earlier began scrolling across the laptops screen.

“We all remember that night before the fire vividly, I’m sure. Roman was roaming the streets in ignorant bliss; E was enjoying the alcohol Oskar had provided; Katie finally had her feet up; and I was driving a sniffly Patton home. We all know our sides, but I’ve kept one side a secret this whole time, and for that…I am sorry.”

Hitting play on Jason’s video, Logan moved aside to ensure everyone had a clear view of the screen. Colour drained from Katie and Roman’s faces as Jason’s ghostly voice filled their ears and they saw what he had been like in his final moments of life. As the screen froze on Jason’s face the library was left in silence; tears leaving their traces on cheeks as they soaked into the fabric of clothes and blankets.

Katie’s cracked voice finally broke the silence; “why?”

When Logan didn’t respond, Katie tore her eyes away from the screen and looked at him with harsh sadness.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Moving closer, she placed her hands on Logan’s damp cheeks and forced his eyes to meet her own. “What purpose did hiding this serve?”

“Nothing.” Logan’s eyes were void orbs, eyes red and strangely dried. “It only supported my belief that I wasn’t good enough for him and I didn’t want to be convinced otherwise.”

“You stupid man.” Fresh tears welled in her eyes as she pulled Logan into a crushing embrace. “Stupid, bloody, idiot. You were more than enough for him, you fucking fool.”

Though he returned the hug, Logan’s eyes remained glassed until more limbs began joining the embrace. Each body of warmth a physical reminder that though he had lost the face on his computer screen, he still had the family surrounding him. Sobs soon shook his whole frame; eyes squeezing shut as raw emotion was set free and all secrets were finally laid out. No more words were needed now. They had each aired their truths and now clung to each other, raw from it all.

Katie felt Logan’s weight growing as his sobs slowed, and she smiled to herself at the idea of Jason watching over them now. Roman moved back when Patton shifted and wiped his face before gesturing toward the soft spaces they had each been sitting before. Acting on silent instruction, Roman helped change their circle of  beanbags and pillows into one soft pile while the other two continued holding Logan’s quivering form.

“He’s asleep.” Ethan whispered in shock as the siblings helped guide Logan to a more comfortable position.

“I doubt he has really slept in a while, Ethan.”

Patton accepted the exhausted man from Roman and laid back on the makeshift bed, removing the other man’s glasses before he instinctively snuggled closer. “That’s it, Logie. Let us take care of you, now.”

“Good job, Pat’s.” Removing Patton’s own glasses, Roman kissed his forehead before settling down behind him.

Ethan watched the scene before him and felt a pang of jealousy at the closeness of the group before Katie’s hand was guiding him over to Logan’s other side. Laying the blankets over everyone, Katie finally took her place on the end; mentally saving the image of the group before relaxing back on the soft cushions. Sleep wouldn’t come easy as a sleepy sob escaped one of the others, but eventually the library was silent, and Katie drifted off in relative peace.

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

Leaning his aching body against the cold steel of the dumpster was a relief for a moment, but the cold was soon to leave Virgil shivering. Dried blood gripped his clothes, but he couldn’t bring himself to sneak into the library until a later hour; certain the meeting would still be going. Tears had blended with the blood on his face, making his skin stiff; the feeling uncomfortable as he grimaced and repositioned.

Virgil cursed his luck when the world spun again; head pounding harder than it had when Ben had shoved him into the wall. The $500 from earlier had done nothing to help his situation; only cemented the fact that he couldn’t stay any longer. After a visit to the bank he’d sent $150 to his aunt with an apology for being a burden; $250 had been sent to Ben and the final $100 would have hopefully gotten him through until he got a job in the next town.

“I’m such an idiot.”

Curling in on himself, Virgil sobbed. The memory of Ben and his friends faces haunted his mind as he drifted into a light exhausted sleep.

“Saw you found a new friend. Would hate for anything to happen to them in your absence.”

“I did work for him. That’s all.”

“Like we’d believe a fucken faggot like you.”

“It’s true! He’s just a clueless science geek with a busted computer.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it…I want my money by Monday. Got it?”

“That’s impossible. I’ve given you everythi-“

“If you enjoy pain, I’d keep up the excuses. Wouldn’t everyone love to know you’re the son of a murderer.”

____________________

End Note

Hi…It’s me…Snail. No, I didn’t abandon this fic (even though it was getting pretty close to a year since I updated). Why was I gone so long? Simple…I couldn’t keep up the dangerous cycle of sitting at a computer for hours to do work and then following that up with hours of writing and editing. It really turned unhealthy. So, I switched gears a little. I started writing in smaller bursts (actually have up to chapter 14 done) but I held off from posting until I reached a point were I could post within a reasonable time so you weren’t left on a major cliff hanger as this fic reaches its designated end (which looks to be at around chapter 16 or 17).

Anyway, I haven’t been completely out of the story telling game. I got into Cosplay and telling stories through TikTok (It’s Emily’s -stopitanxiety- fault. I loved her writing and saw her TikTok’s and wanted to be part of that world). It’s a little harder to tell stories using audios and acting out everything, but it’s a lot more on your feet. I actually realised I have the clothes to Cosplay Virgil from this universe and I am considering just vibing as Virge or making it an actual TikTok au story. I dunno yet.

Back on topic, next chapter should be up by the end of the week (just gotta tweak some things that I ended up changing). Warning for the next chapter – alcohol abuse is entering the tags.

Thanks again for reading. Happy timezone, friend

Tag List (let me know if you want to be removed. It has been so long I understand if you don’t wanna hang around)

@notalwaysthebadguy​      @thequeensphinx​    @ollyollyoxinfree​   @celeste-tyrrell​     @pumpkinminette​    @ahyeahisurehopeit-does 

_____________________________

Chapter 12    — MasterList

What else have I done:

The Perfect Ring(oneshot- analogical proposal)

You Promised(oneshot - prinxiety angst/injury/near death)

Sides of a Hero(Completed Fic - sides are fusions of impulses and aspects of Thomas. Virgil has a depressing past that he is forced to face thanks to Deceit and Rage. Was canon compliant at the time of completion)

The Shield to your Sword(WIP - A fantasy/magic au - Prinxiety (Royal Roman and orphan Virgil - they’ll admit to their love eventually), Virgil angst, non binary, healer Logan, *spoiler* Patton)

Writing Master Post

Check out my other blog for random fandom reblogs and stuff @snail-giggles​

Also now doing Cosplay and storylines on TikTok: 1_1snailxd 

Starry Eyed Boy, Part 5

Summary: Logan and Virgil explore the new planet.  (They go to a restaurant, basically.  We almost to the good shit, babes)

Pairings:  Pre-Romantic Analogical / Eventual Analogical, Established Royality 

Word Count: 1,419

Warnings:  Weird guy flirting (mentioned), Cursing, lmk if i need to add more.

Notes:  You’ve got a big storm coming.  ;)

Taglist:@shitpost-sides@gothybubby@rainbowbowtie@hikarisakurariver@singularthoughtofstatic@supersoftsupersleep@gabrieldoesstuff@justthatamount @judyismydog@star-crossed-shipper @high-ashell-hargrove

Knock. Knock.

     No, thank you.  Virgil thought and rolled over.

     Knock. Knock. Knock.  Virgil groaned and rolled over to face the ceiling.  Wait.  Fuck!

     Virgil shot out of bed, quickly calling out a loud, “Come in!”.  Logan opened the door and leaned against the wall.  He raised an eyebrow.  

    “Are you alright?” Logan asked as he watches Virgil open his luggage bag and sift through the clothes.  “The drawers are full of specially made clothes.”  Virgil nodded as he held up a t-shirt, then shook his head.  Logan smirked and walked towards the drawers.  He pulled one open, found suitable clothes, and then handed them to a confused-looking Virgil.  Virgil dropped the t-shirt he was holding and took the clothes.  A dark purple shirt with small rips in it, a black jacket with purple patches… and.. black jeans.  Oh, yeah.  The new clothes. He thought as the sluggishness swept away.

    “Are you–” He paused to yawn.  “Sure I can have these?”  He mumbled from behind his hand.  It looked like he was trying to hide his whole body behind his arm.  Logan had half the mind to stop himself from chucking at the shorter male.  

    “Yes, Virgil.  Emile was very insistent on what you would like to wear, and I knew you wouldn’t want to answer him.  So I answered for you.  Sorry for the intrusion, I may have looked at the sizes of your clothes.”   Virgil blinked, not unlike the cats on earth.  

    “Oh.”  

     Logan chuckled and hummed.  “I’ll leave you to get dressed, we have a long day ahead of us.  I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”  Then he proceeded to walk out of the lavish room.

—–

     Virgil slowly got dressed as he actually took in the room around him.  The walls were painted in a soft lavender color, while the trims were a solid black.  The bed had a large canopy, in black, although it was see-through.  The comforters were thick and soft.  Easy to sleep on.  He thought.  The floor was dark wood, one that he couldn’t identify because it was tinted… purple?  At the edge of the bed, there was a crate.  On the other half of the room was a large, paper-thin TV.  A weirdly shaped sofa and armchair.  There were floating balls of light floating around the whole room, almost like fairy lights, if they could levitate.  Everything looked a bit more round than back on earth.  At the end of the room, opposite the door, was a large window.  Virgil fully dressed now, went to the window.  Before he did, he smudged eye shadow under his eyes.  He pushed the curtain over slightly, just enough for a line of light to seep into the room.  

     Virgil’s eyes widened when he laid eyes on the city in front of him.  Cars, if you could call them that, zoomed through the air.  There was short grass everywhere, except for small roads, that Virgil assumed were technically sidewalks.  No cars drove there.  The roads bustled with people, while trees lined the sidewalks with grass beneath.  The buildings looked entirely natural and completely technological all at once.  

     “That is Arteska, Virgil.”  Logan’s voice said behind him.  Virgil spun around with his mouth hung open.  

     “Logan?! Fucking hell, dude… warn a dude next time.” Virgil muttered, his hand on his chest as he hunched over slightly.  

     “Apologies.  You took quite a long time, I began to get worried.  I knocked but you didn’t seem to hear me.”

     “I- it’s alright,”  Virgil whispered as he watched Logan run his eyes up and down his form. With a surge of confidence, Virgil shoved down the voices telling him not to, he said “You know, that’s considered rude on earth.”

Logan blinked before turning his head, a blueish blush creeping onto his face and pointed ears. “Again, my apologies.” He murmured.

“I didn’t mind it. It’s alright, Lo.” Virgil winked, as his face flushed a deep red. He coughed, “Let’s go..?”

Logan fought a smile and nodded. “Let’s.”

—–

Exiting the castle must’ve taken at least thirty minutes. The winding paths seemed to take forever to get out of. Thankfully, Logan seemed to know where he was going. Along the way, Virgil had drifted closer to Logan, as the hallways bustled with different people. Two people were carrying a large crate down the hall and suddenly, they dropped it, letting red and blue fruit topple out. Virgil jumped at this and grabbed Logan’s arm. He had yet to let go. Logan hadn’t told him to let go yet and it seemed to make people stop staring. (Logan was really glaring at the people as to not make them gaze at them.)

After the short excursion to get out of the castle, they reached a huge open door.  People walked in and out, chatting and laughing as they passed. Logan started to lead Virgil out the front door while Virgil slowly saw the world emerge before him. Everything was the same but so much clearer. Shops lined the streets and the roads, now clearly a grey brick pattern was bustling with people. Smells filled Virgil’s nose and he smiled. For some reason, it smelt like home.

—–

Logan and Virgil weaved through the streets until Logan decided it was time to eat. He stopped at a place called Patton-Cakes. Right next to the shop seemed to be another restaurant called J’s Coffee.

“Y'all have coffee?”

“A sort. It serves the same purpose as coffee, though I doubt it will taste the same as on earth.”

“Good, I hate coffee.”

“When at your apartment on earth, you drank it every morning..?”

“I needed my bean juice, Lo.”

“I’m not even going to attempt to understand what you just said.”

They walked inside and a short, chubby man with strawberry blonde hair and freckles littering his face exclaimed, “Logan! I missed you so much!” he said as he shot his way out from behind the counter and launching himself at Logan, dislodging Virgil’s arm away from Logans. Virgil was more than just a little disappointed. Logan felt safe and he liked the security of it. Maybe something else too. He wasn’t stupid, he knew what he felt, he just wasn’t the kind the make the first move. Logan would have to do that. Until then, Virgil would just let it be known he was interested.

The small man pulled away and started to rock on his heels. “Sooooo… you’re Sir Emile’s kiddo? I’m Patton!” He said brightly, as he held open his arms. Virgil slowly moved behind Logan and waved. He mumbled a small “No thank you, please.” People were staring and Virgil could feel the pool of panic settle in his stomach. Patton smiled and seemed to understand, which for Virgil was a relief.

“Virgil, could you go find us a seat? You don’t have to unless you don’t want to. I can go with you if need be.” Virgil nodded and said that ‘I’m not a kid, Lo.’

He found a seat near the counter, not unlike the booths at waffle house back home. It was secluded more than the other ones and when he looked at Logan for an okay, he got a thumbs up and an awkward smile as Patton grinned knowingly back at Logan and then at Virgil.

Logan eventually came to sit at the table, with blue blush creeping up his face. Virgil felt a pit in his stomach. 'What did Patton say to Logan that made him blush?’

—–

Leaving the restaurant with Logan’s arm around his waist was NOT apart or the plan, if Virgil was being honest.

When a man approached Virgil as he got up to get a refill from Patton, Logan had jumped in and put his arm around Virgil’s waist with a growled, “He’s taken.” Virgil didn’t understand what made Logan say that, and he wasn’t honestly complaining. What was more upsetting was the fact that Logan was now in front of him apologizing, bright blue, in his fucking bedroom.

“–gain, I’m incredibly sorry, the man was clearly being flirtatious with you and while you’re new to the planet, people know who you are–” Virgil put his pointer finger over Logan’s lips. He was speaking a mile a minute.

“I don’t care, L. I have trouble realizing when people are flirting with me at any rate, so thanks.” Then he moved his finger away with a smile. Then the windows covered themselves in thick metal, while a loud robotic voice announced “Electrical storm, inbound.”

Starry Eyed Boy, Part 4

Summary: Virgil settles into his room. Roman joins the picture. Logan and Roman have a conversation.

Pairings:  Pre-Romantic Analogical / Eventual Analogical, Established Royality (if you squint)

Word Count: 1,055

Warnings:  Anxiety over small things, dissociation, if i need to add, lmk.

Notes:  Sorry that this took so long, family things happened.  I had a death in the family and i dont really have much motivation to do much.  thank you for sticking around <3.

Taglist:@shitpost-sides@gothybubby@rainbowbowtie@hikarisakurariver@singularthoughtofstatic@supersoftsupersleep@gabrieldoesstuff@justthatamount 

     Emile was nice and somehow knew too much about cartoons from earth.  Once Virgil has asked his questions and only sometimes got his answers, he was shown to his room.  As the guard that escorted him to his chambers and he opened the door, Virgil let out a loud gasp.  

    “Is everything okay, sir?”  The guard asked.  The guard had ginger hair down to his shoulders emerald green eyes.  He was slightly tan and had markings on his face that seemed to glow red.  Virgil nodded and the taller man led Virgil into the room.  As Virgil looked around he mumbled, “Whats your name?” to the guard.

    “Mine?  Oh, my name is Roman P. Kingsleigh.  My purpose here is to make sure you and Logan are protected and safe as you adjust to Arteska.  Not that the kingdom is dangerous.  I am one of the head guards here, you see.  I’m positive that is why Emile appointed me this position.”

    “I thought Logan said he could protect us?”

    “He can, but that’s not his purpose as your tutor.  Emile didn’t think it fair for Logan to do multiple jobs when his first motivation should be your education on the planet, among other things.”  

    “Oh…”  Virgil said, as his eyes drooped slightly.  He didn’t have anything worthwhile to say and he felt a bit too sluggish to respond.  Roman seemed to understand, though.  

     “I’ll leave you be now, sir.  Please, get some sleep.  Tomorrow, you will get the tour of the palace and city.”  Roman said as he turned to the door and with one more, “Fairfarren!” he left the room and slowly closed the door. 

     Virgil only started to actually focus on how tired he was after he heard the click of the door shutting.  He thought it surprising how simplistic the castle was.  Maybe it was just old or maybe Emile liked the simpler things.  Virgil probably wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he was excited about the tour tomorrow.  Whether it was because he knew it would be Logan showing him the wonders or because of the actual city, he’ll never say.  

     Virgil found his luggage on the end of his bed.  He grabbed his suitcase and moved it to the dresser opposite his bed.  The dresser had a large, what Virgil assumed, TV on it.  The TV was paper thin and seemingly made of glass.  As Virgil opened the door, he found clothes already inside.  A thought shot through his skull.  What if Roman showed you to the wrong room?  Virgil quickly shut it down as he flicked through the clothes.  They seemed brand new, and Virgil found himself smiling at the colors of the clothes.  Purple, black, purple, black, gray, black and so on and so on.  Virgil assumed Logan had sent some sort of message to Emile on Virgil’s fashion choices.

     He decided to leave his other clothes in his bag and pulled out some pajamas from his suitcase, not willing to risk wearing something he wasn’t 100% was his.  He was 95% sure but not completely and he didn’t want to risk it.  The t-shirt had a few holes in it and the pants felt too small, but they were familiar.  They smelt like coconut and coffee body wash he used before he got onto the ship.  As he climbed into the too big bed, he thought of how odd it felt here.  It felt like home, and he hasn’t felt that since he was a kid.

—–

     Logan stirred the drink in his hand around the glass.  A knock on the door.  Confirmation to enter.  Red and white sitting in front of him.  Two snaps.

     Wait.  Two?  He blinked twice and his eyes focused again.  Roman was sitting in front of him with his head slightly tilted.  

    “–gan.  Hey, hi.  Are you back?”  Roman asked, his eyebrows furrowed together.  Logan nodded once and slowly took a drink of his tea.  Roman leaned back against the chair and nodded as his eyes drifted around the room.

    “Well… how was it?  Earth?  Is it like Sir Emile says?”  Roman asked quietly, a glint in his eye, and the corner of his lips twitched upwards.  Logan smirked and said, “There were golden fields, the trains puffed out smoke from their engines and the city lights looked like artificial stars.  Before me and Virgil left, he showed me around his city.  It started to rain and we were making our way back to his living quarters.  The cars on the road made the puddles splash onto the sidewalk and when one splashed my shoe, I looked away from him.  When I looked back up, he had his arms out and he smiled at the sky.  I’m sure I looked strange, standing in the rain with sunglasses on.  He–” looked at me strange.  Logan coughed, and Romans eyes glinted with something other than curiosity.  “Earthlings are quite strange.  I’d love for you and Patton to go one day.”  

     “Logan, I’ve known you for years.  He is quite…”  Roman leaned forward, settling his elbows on his knees and holding his hands together.  “Cute?  Is he not?”

     Logan paused for a moment.  He blinked.  Virgil had once compared this to a ‘blue screen’.  He still didn’t understand what he had in common with a screen.  He blinked once more.

    “Oh.  That’s what that is.”  Logan mumbled.  He slumped into his sofa more.  He heard Romans deep chuckling but ignored it.  The corner of his smile quirked upwards.  He took a drink.  

     “Now, that’s quite the development.”  He spoke, as he pushed himself into a healthier sitting position.  Roman huffed out a laugh once more and nodded.  

    “Only two weeks, it took, to woo you.  Fate, perhaps.”

    “You know I don’t believe in your silly little work arounds to pure chance.  I will admit, maybe he did woo me… but fate doesn’t exist.”  Logan sipped at his drink.  Roman shrugged.

     “So what are you going to do about it?”  Roman inquired.  Logan took another, longer drink from his cup.

    “If he shows signs that he reciprocates feelings, I will let it be known how I feel, but I’d hate to force anything on him.  He’s already so worried about everything.  I don’t want to overwhelm him.”  Logan said, matter-of-factly.  Roman nodded.  

    “Still seems to me that it is fate.”

    “It’s not fate, you oaf.”

     Roman laughed.

Starry Eyed Boy, Part 4

Summary:  Virgil meets someone special and Logan wonders whats happening to him

Pairings: Pre-romantic analogical / Eventual analogical

Word Count:  1,053

Warnings:  Slight panic, mentions of sickness, if I need to add more, PM me!

Notes:  Sorry that this took some time.  I have zero clue if when the next one will be out.  A lot of personal stuff has been going on so…

Taglist:  (if you want to be added or removed, don’t be afraid to ask!!!)  @shitpost-sides@aleiimm@rainbowbowtie@hikarisakurariver@singularthoughtofstatic@supersoftsupersleep@gabrieldoesstuff

     Two weeks passed in a blur.  Logan showed Virgil how to pilot and Virgil taught Logan more Earth terms.  (Yes, Logan was very happy about that.)  When they had arrived at Arteska, that’s when Virgil could feel the anxiety start to bubble in his stomach.  As the ship landed, Virgil was looking out the small window.  Virgil could see golden fields and trees of all shades and colors, and a building coming into view… with a city right in front.  The buildings looked almost like they did back home, somewhere smaller and others were bigger.  Some places were clearly farmland but Virgil doubted he would know any of the food on this planet.  As he pushed his face against the glass he noticed that the sky was an odd shade of purple.  Almost lavender, but also blue.  The ship shook as it hit the ground and that’s when Virgil snapped out of his daze of looking at the sky.  Logan was already at the door with Virgil’s bags in his hands (He insisted that he take them all, this time.).  He typed something into the keypad before he stepped back and watched the door slide open.  

     Logan beckoned Virgil to follow with a wave of his free hand.  Virgil awkwardly followed behind, almost scared he wouldn’t be able to breathe in the air.  Virgil stepped off the vessel before Logan and he looked around.  They were clearly on top of a building of some kind.  It was very tall.  It made Virgil’s stomach twist.  Logan stepped off the ship and the door closed automatically.  Logan then led them across the roof to a door.  Before opening the door, Logan turned his head and said;

    “Welcome to Arteska, Virgil.”

—

     Logan had stopped a person walking in the hallways and gave them Virgils bags.  Logan started talking to him about where they go, while Virgil looked around.  Virgil could practically feel himself shaking, and when he looked at his hands, he was indeed shaking.  He could feel every breath and he screwed his hands into fists and shoved them into his pockets.  While glaring at the floor, Logan had sent the person away with his bags and watched the struggle in the purple-haired boy’s eyes.  He didn’t know how to properly ease his companion so he awkwardly held out his hand.  Virgil glanced at it and he slowly took one of his hands out of his pocket and grabbed the other man’s hand.  Logan looked satisfied and started to walk again. 

     After five minutes, Logan stopped in front of a door.  A door with an actual handle, this time.  Logan knocked with is freehand and waited a moment.  Virgil unconsciously let go of Logan’s hand and hid behind him instead.  When the door opened, a tall man with glasses, a vest, and a pink tie smiled at Logan.  

    “Hello, sir.”

    “Hey-a Logan!”  The man said, rolling on his toes.  He glanced behind Logan and saw the deep brown eyes staring curiously back at him.  With a glance at Virgils eyes, both knew who the other was.

    “Virgil?”  The man said, his smile becoming softer.

    “…Dad?  Emile?”  Virgil said, stepping slightly to the right.  Still touching Logan’s shoulder, but more in eye line.  

    “Logan, can you leave us?”  Emile said, without looking at Logan.  Logan only nodded and gave Virgil a look;  “It’ll be alright.”  And he slowly walked away, down the way they came.  Without Logan, Virgil felt much colder and smaller.  

    “He is a very kind young man if I do say so myself.”  He said.  Before stepping out of the way and allowing Virgil into the room.  When Virgil stepped in, he noticed the tall armchairs in front of a fireplace.  While the fire crackled, Virgil heard Emile move to sit in the armchairs.  Virgil watched uncomfortably while he waited for direction.  Virgil was noticing now more than before that Logan wasn’t there.  Logan was a constant, he had been for two weeks.  

    “Hey, munchkin?  You can sit down.”  Emile said, gesturing to the chair.  Virgil hesitated for a moment before he slowly made his way to sit down on the chair.  It creaked as he sat down.

     Emile smiled, not at all resembling his mother’s smile, and deep down, Virgil could almost sense a small amount of familiarity.  “Want to tell me a little bit about yourself?”  Emile questioned with a small tilt of his head.  Virgil blinked and slowly shook his head and said, “You first.” as he pulled his legs in front of his torso and hid behind his knees.

     Emile chuckled, “That’s fair.” and he launched himself into the beginning of a long conversation.  

—

     Logan walked down the hallway with his hands behind his back.  The clack of his boots rattled off the walls and back into his slightly pointed ears.  He’s walked these halls hundreds– no, thousands of times before, and not once has he felt like this.  The churning in his gut, sweaty palms, getting distracted…  was he ill?

—

    “Well, my name is Emile Picani, and uhm…”  he paused, and Virgil could almost feel his eyes on him.  “Are you okay?” He questioned.  Virgil only nodded.  Virgil had his eyes firmly fixed on the floor.  

    “Hey, munchkin, can you look at me?”  Virgil looked.  He didn’t really understand why, but he did.  Was it because the older man’s voice had changed from cheery and excited, to soft… concerned..?  Now looking at the older man, Virgil noted the fact that Emile had… blue, lightning blue eyes.  His skin was a light pink, almost the shade of blush.  Light grey freckles littered across his face.  White hair framed his face, and when Virgil blinked he could’ve sworn that some of the hair glittered a lavender color.  Virgil saw where he got his hair texture from the slightly wavy hair Emile adorned on his head.  

     Virgil smiled.  “Sorry, the past few weeks have been stressful.”

—

     Logan had made it to his room, which was luckily right next to Virgil’s.  He was stood in front of the mirror.  His skin wasn’t discolored, he didn’t feel particularly sick at the moment, and his stomach was settling.  He ran his hand through his hair, letting out a breath.  He was a smart man.  He could figure out what was happening to him.  …Right?

broken vodka bottles

Prompt:“It’s six am, you’re not having vodka.” - @justanormalfoot

Pairings:RomanticLogince

Genre(s):fluff, AU/human AU

Word Count: 975

a/n:after a long start to my school year, i’m back and working on prompts! Thank you guys so much for being so patient with me and for giving me so much inspiration.

after they requested this one, foot wrote their own interpretation of it, as well! here’s their analogical version if you wanna go check it out :)

so let’s jump right into it, shall we?

***

When Roman went through heartbreak, he became an emotional mess.

This was not convenient, considering he fell fast, hard, and often. It was even more inconvenient for Roman’s roommate, Logan.

The amount of times Logan had come home from his day at his internship to see Roman sobbing on the couch was reaching ridiculous heights, especially considering they’d only been rooming together for eight months. The first time was exceptionally awkward - Logan had ignored Roman completely, not knowing what else to do, but soon realized this only resulted in Roman breaking down even more. After a while, they settled into a routine - Logan would grab ice cream from the fridge and toss it to Roman, throwing on a tv show. No words would be said until the next morning, when Roman would spill everything about the guy he was either crushing on or dating before whatever incident occurred that resulted in Roman’s heartbreak.

Though it was quite annoying, it taught Logan a kind of empathy he’d had yet to experience. Logan was not the most in-touch with his emotions as some people were. But after heartbreak after heartbreak of Roman’s, Logan was able to figure out the right way to listen, talk, and comfort Roman at the right time, a great accomplishment for him.

This heartbreak, however, was different.

Logan had come home to see Roman on the couch, sobbing, as usual. But when Roman looked up and saw Logan, he scrambled up and ran away to his room. Logan went to try to knock on the door, but the only response was a half-sobbed “Go away”.

An unusual occurrence. This one must have been particularly bad.

With the exception of that thought, Logan didn’t particularly think much of it. He gave Roman privacy all night. The crying eventually stopped, and everything seemed fine.

Until the next morning, when Logan was awoken at 5:35 am to a giant crash.

He ran out to their family room to see the pieces of what used to be a glass vase laying on the hardwood floor. Leaning on the opposite wall from the vase was an anguished Roman, his face buried in his hands.

Logan froze for a quick second before sighing. He grabbed a broom and a dustpan, swept the mess up, then threw it in the trash before turning back to Roman. “Mind explaining what’s going on here?” he asked as gently as possible.

Roman suddenly went from quiet to bursting loud, storming to the kitchen. “Everything’s fine, absolutely fine. I totally don’t have a completely unrequited crush that could never, ever feel the same way about me. Nope, not at all,” he snapped.

Logan raised an eyebrow and followed him. “Well, then, there shouldn’t be a problem, should there?”

Roman groaned and banged his head against the cabinets. “It’s sarcasm, nerd.”

“Ah. My apologies. You’ve been spending time around Virgil lately, I assume.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Roman turned around and moved to look at the ceiling, sighing. An uncharacteristic expression resided on his face, half scornful, half pained.

“Well, have you told said crush how you feel towards him?” Logan began, moving to lean against the counter on the opposite wall from Roman. “Perhaps your, quote unquote, ‘unrequited crush’ isn’t unrequited at all.”

Roman’s face switched to an anguished, hopeless, lovesick look. “I doubt that’s true,” he whined. “He’s so intelligent and sweet and he doesn’t always know quite what to say but he tries anyways and it’s so cute when he does so and I just, ugh.”

Before Logan could construct an adequate response, Roman grabbed a bottle of vodka sitting on the counter, staring at it inquisitively for a few seconds. Then, to Logan’s dismay, he moved towards the cabinet where the glasses are kept.

“No.” Logan sprung into action, hurrying to block the cabinet. “Roman, it’s six am. You’re not having vodka.”

Roman opened his mouth to respond, but Logan quickly yanked the vodka away. He began to turn and set the vodka down. “This isn’t an argument, Roma—”

Logan was interrupted by a sudden pair of lips on his.

Oh.

At first, he didn’t move, shocked by the entire situation. Just when he was getting a grasp on exactly what was going on, Roman pulled away and started to run back to his room.

An instinct in Logan took over. “Wait.”

The men both freeze and Roman slowly turned back around.

It was Logan’s every intention to set the vodka bottle - the one he was still holding - down on the counter and then have an actual discussion about what the hell just happened.

What he actually did was that he grabbed Roman by the front of his sleep shirt and yanked him in for another kiss. Roman smiled into the kiss, and the vodka bottle crashed to the kitchen tile.

Logan pulled away. “I’m gonna have to clean that up—“

Roman groaned playfully. “I’ll do it, nerd.”

With another kiss and another smile, Roman walked over to pick up the dustpan and broom. He left Logan leaning against the wall with a dazed look on his face.

“So, are we like, a thing now?” he stammered out, wanting to slap himself in the face for how he was acting.

Roman turned away from where he was cleaning the mess and gave Logan a smirk. “Do you want to be?”

“I—” Logan’s brain seemed to have crashed.

Error. Logan.exe has stopped working.

Even so, something in him was screaming yes yes yes.

“I, um, yeah. Yes.” Logan cleared his throat and forced himself to stand straight up.

Roman’s smirk grew. He finished sweeping up the mess and dumped it in the trash can. “In that case, be ready at seven tonight.”

Then he sauntered over to his room and shut the door, leaving a stunned Logan behind him.

***

general tag list: @ravenclaw-fangirl-7@aph-roma@anxious-but-whatever@kingalexdreaming@peanut0303@justanormalfoot@emonightmare12@damienswifeolicitydallysgirl@katatles-the-fish@midknight-mania@breloomings@littlemiracle05@anuninspiredpoet@entitydark@galaxy-warping@thnksfrthpinof@confinesofpersonalknowledge@a-pastel-pan@freezing-ashe@greeneggsandham1998@secretlyanxiouspersona@rosecxty@llamaavocado@nashiraneko@peacefulwriter@princeanxious@oof-its-sam@theresneverenoughfandoms@reba-andthesides@shesavampirequeen@moonstonefox12@black-king-white-knight@beach-fan@sylveon-lover-crazyfangirl1415@fluff-king@echomist13@aurinkari@justyncase@saphael-malec102@itsvirgil @violetvirgil @ipaniceverywherenotjustthedisco @iamsilentwolf

fic blogs: @fandersfic-logince@fandersfic-logan@fandersfic-roman

Word Count: 997

Ships: Prinxiety, logicality, remile, demus

part1/part2/part3/part4/part5/??

Warnings: Mentions of depression, self-hate, crying, coming out

Summary: In which Remy and Damien are supportive friends and care about Roman…

~~ I apologize for taking so long to get out =~=, I felt very unmotivated to finish this fic for awhile I’m so sorry- but expect many more chapters of this in the future!! :D (this one is a little short I apologize) 

Recap from part4: “Guys…. I’m gay”

-

-

He had been stripped of the air in his lungs, he felt exposed like he had cut open his chest and was showing them all the bloody parts of himself that he wished weren’t there. He looked down and stared at his thighs, a waterfall of cold tears fell down his face. He didn’t sob or shake, but his words wavered with an unimaginable fear laced within them.

“I’m j-just so tired of…. Lying, and p-pretending, and covering up…” He paused for a moment expecting Damien or Remy to interrupt him to say something like ‘are you sure?’ ‘Since when?’ ‘really? Nice one!’ He waited for them to laugh at him, or make jokes of it but … They didn’t, they waited patiently with eyes pleading for him to continue. They sat there and patiently let Roman take his time, they didn’t dare interrupt him. He couldn’t look at them, though, he was too terrified of what their expressions might be. Roman thought of their faces as disgust, hatred, amusement, or even boredom. Roman continued, “I’m just so exhausted and scared… I’ve been so scared for so long that no one would believe me if I came out, or just assume it was a-an attention grab,” he sobbed quietly, so relieved yet so devastated that this was out in the open “b-but I’m just too tired to care anymore…” He covered his face as he sobbed quietly. Waiting for them to say something, anything…. 

They were silent. Remy was the first one to move, wrapping his arms protectively and lovingly around Roman, then Damien as he hooked his arms around Roman’s waist in an attempt to comfort him. They both understood the fears of coming out, but they were absolutely stunned to see how long Roman had carried this with him. It had boiled within him for so long. They heard the guilt and self-loathing in Roman’s voice and it broke their hearts, they couldn’t stand to see their best friend in this state. Remy could tell that he had carried this like a weight on his shoulders for a long time, Remy was the first to speak.

“Ro, hon… We’re your friends, of course we would believe you. We know how hard it can be coming out. It’s okay, we still love you. You don’t have to pretend.” His voice was smooth and soft, like a parent comforting a child who scraped their knee for the first time, only Roman wasn’t exactly a child, and his wounds were much deeper than a simple scraped knee. Roman’s wounds were deep and emotional, wounds that he had hidden for so long and now he is finally lifting up his bandages for Remy and Damien to inspect the damage done by years of self hatred. Roman always acted so confident and over the top, they could have never imagined that he had been carrying this with him. He truly was an amazing actor. Remy rubbed comforting circles on Roman’s back.

Damien had no idea why Roman had felt he needed to keep this from them, he also had no idea what to say but he made up for his lack of words with physical comfort. He squeezed Roman’s waist, offering some grounding touch. He may not be the best with words or emotions but he did his best to give Roman what he needed. They sat there, huddled up against Roman offering words of encouragement as he sobbed quietly between their arms. Roman felt a weight lifted off of his shoulders, but that relief was short lived as a new found fear quickly made its way into his shaking bones.

“Please… Don’t tell anyone else… I- I don’t think I’m ready for that…”, Roman’s voice was soft and broken, almost a whisper as Remy and Damien had to strain to hear him. 

Remy gave Roman a comforting smile, it was sweet, true, worried, and caring and it almost made Roman forget how absolutely terrified of this he was. 

Remy answered him with unwavering support, “Of course, this is something very personal for you Ro. We would never tell anyone without your consent”  

Damien said nodding, “Yeah, we would never out you to anyone Ro.”

That sat in calm silence for a few moments as the only sounds that filled the room were Roman’s soft sobs and sniffles. The silence was soft, not demanding to be filled, they just enjoyed the presence of each other. Especially Roman, as he bathed in the short lived euphoria this acceptance had given him. It was warm and tranquil, Roman eventually calmed himself of sobbing as he settled into just quietly sniffling. The quiet calmness of the room eventually lulled Roman into a slumber. Damien and Remy shared a pained look, both equally worried about the mental well being of their best friend. Roman was so loved by everyone in their friend group, he always wore a smile, so loud and happy, they had no idea that his seemingly never ending happiness had been an act. He always talked about taking up acting as a future career, but they would have never guessed that he was already doing it full time. Neither Remy nor Damien were going to even broach the topic of Roman coming out to the rest of their friend group, they didn’t want to rush him with anything. Even though they could see that this secret was killing him emotionally. They would possibly encourage him that everyone would accept him, but nothing further than that. 

Eventually the calm silence had taken Remy and Damien off into slumber as well. 

Roman didn’t know what tomorrow would hold, he didn’t know how he was going to approach the idea of Remy and Damien knowing his secret, he didn’t know how he was going to deal with the feelings. The only thing that Roman knew for sure now is that the memory foam bed felt damn comfortable on his heart ache. 

~ To be continued

I am so so so so sorry for taking so long with this chapter, but I hope you enjoy it! It is a very hurt/comfort type fic, I hope you enjoy Remy being a mom friend lol :D This fic had been really fun to make so far and I look forward to writing more of it in the future, so I hope you’ll keep reading >///< I love you guys so much and I hope you liked this part!!

:3

Taglist~ <3

@cisnesincorbata

@lcrnbw 

@just-emotional-trash

@korsaromantic66 

@espepspes

@rats-this-username-is-taken

@mostpeopleannoyne

 @icequeenoriginal 

@www-dot-ohshit-dot-com