New Comfort Character Babee!!

New comfort character babee!!

Illinois  ✨

It’s about time I make art of this guy, I wouldn’t mind going on a few adventures with him 👀💖 @markiplier

Ima fight me a bitch ass clock

Reblog if you think it’s okay to platonically say “I Love You” to your friends

A Series of Adorable Events (chapter 1)

Virgil opened his eyes and, for a moment, frantically threw his arms in front of his face, bracing for an impact that he somehow knew wasn’t coming. He marveled at how quickly his panic melted away; it had never left that easily before. It was almost as though it had nothing to hold onto. With an eerily calm demeanor, Virgil ran through what he remembered about the last few minutes. 

He’d been driving. The turn. And then the other car…. The impact had come after all. And he….

Well he was dead, then, wasn’t he? 

Taking notice of his surroundings, he wondered where he was. This didn’t look like where he’d hoped he would end up. It didn’t look like the other place either. No, it looked… familiar. The ash blue walls. Hallways and hallways of doors. And the cribs. His eyes scanned over them, trying to remember which one had been his.

Pulling the sleeves of his hoodie over his palms, he stood, looking into each crib as he passed it. Most of the babies were asleep. One or two were awake, gazing into the space beyond Virgil’s head and cooing softly. They didn’t see him standing over them, he realized. It made sense. He didn’t remember seeing any dead twenty-somethings wandering around when he’d still been alive. Still, he did wonder about a few things. Why was he here of all places? He’d never believed in ghosts, but he’d heard stories of people who did, and they tended to say that ghosts haunted the buildings they’d been killed in. Virgil had died on the road. In a car accident. But his wondering was cut off as he reached one of the last cribs. 

Big brown eyes stared up at him. 

Straight at him.

The baby blinked. So did Virgil. Virgil moved to one side, and the baby’s eyes followed him. He moved back to where he was, and again, the little boy held his eyes. 

This kid could see him. 

That wasn’t supposed to happen, right? Not that Virgil was any authority, but none of the other babies seemed to notice his presence. 

The little boy smiled, and raised his arms playfully, little fingers uncurling and reaching up toward Virgil. The ghost smiled gently, forgetting his concerns and lowering a finger into the crib for the baby to grab. 

“I swear, Logan! He looked right at me!” the loud voice shocked Virgil, and he scrambled away from the crib.

“Patton, I told you. That’s not possible. You must be mistaken,”

The voices were coming closer. It didn’t matter that they probably wouldn’t be able to see him; Virgil’s instincts screamed at him to hide. So that's what he did, crawling under one of the other cribs and somehow managing to fit his entire body in the small space. 

“I am not! You’ll see.” Virgil saw two sets of feet round the corner, and walk right up to the little brown eyed boy’s crib.

Patton had fully expected the little baby to look up at him. What he hadn’t expected was for the baby to then look at Logan.

“Um,” Logan stalled, for once at a loss of what to say. Patton ran with it.

“Told you he could see us,” he said, leaning over the crib and making funny faces at the baby, who cooed merrily. Logan grabbed him by the shoulders and wrenched him away from the crib, making Patton hold his eyes.

“No, you said he could see you. That was impossible enough. But him seeing me is on another level,”

“How so?” Patton asked. 

“Ghosts can learn to control whether they are visible to humans at any given time. A skill which you do not yet possess, but is entirely impossible for me,”

“Soooo,”

“I’m not a visible construct, Patton! This is scientifically impossible!”

“I hear ya, but, well…” Patton shrugged. Logan grabbed his wrist and started to drag him out of the room. “We’re leaving?”

“Not entirely. We need to discuss this properly, and it is likely that I will end up using language that is inappropriate for an infant to hear,”

“Oh,” Patton said and then he was swept out into the hallway.

There was another man in the room, and he was confused. More so than he had been in probably a thousand years. He stood in the corner, watching as the other two left from where they had been. Standing over his newest charge. 

The baby.

It had never been a baby before. 

He stayed where he was, enveloped in the shadows he’d entered from, and contemplated his responsibilities. There had never been others before. Sure, he often had to do his job surrounded by humans, but never any others. 

And usually by now, he knew why he was there.

He scratched the scales that coated his left arm. This was going to be another one of those jobs, wasn’t it?

He was about to step forward and look into the crib for himself, when something new surprised him. A young man crawled out from under one of the cribs. He looked around cautiously, his eyes passing over the man in the shadows, before making his way over to the door, looking down at the baby briefly on his way. But he didn’t leave. Just hid behind the door frame and tried to hear the men in the hall. 

He could see them, which meant he must not be quite human either. The man in the shadows weighed his options. He could make his presence known, though the thought made him uneasy, and hope that he’d be able to carry out his purpose despite the complicated circumstances. Alternatively, he could leave, and take the punishment he knew would follow. But that was a sickening thought, and one he was not proud of. But maybe he could still do things his way. He could be silent enough that, as long as the young man didn’t turn around, he could get to the child and… and what? He still didn’t know what he was meant to do. He couldn’t make a deal with a baby. But the infant was definitely the one he was here for. 

Either way, standing around doing nothing was not productive. He shuffled silently over to the crib, not raising any suspicion from the other in the room. The baby looked up at him intently. 

So you can see me too, then, huh? The man thought. Then he remembered the scales that covered half his face, and his eye, whose pupil was a thin black slit. He braced himself, waiting for the child to cry and alert the others. 

But the cries never came. The boy just yawned and cooed, squeezing his tiny fists. The man was shocked. He smiled warmly. 

Ok, little brave one. I’ll do my best for you.

But now another complication arose, as if there weren’t enough. He could hear humming coming up the stairs. He took the example of his unknowing companion and dove under one of the adjacent cribs. The young man apparently also heard their third party, because he took cover in the same way. Which meant that they were now face to face. The younger reacted in abject shock, but the scaled man held up a finger, hoping his point would be clear enough.

You don’t give me away, I don’t give you away. 

Roman hummed goodnaturedly to himself, having no real intentions as he followed his feet wherever they might take him tonight. He bounded up the orphanage stairs with a musical beat and entered a large room lined wall to wall with cribs.

Babies!

He loved babies. Really, he loved humans in general, but babies were so small and curious! Their little hands always grew to create things, and tiny feet learned to walk, to take them on grand adventures. But even before all of that they were just so gosh darned cute!

He started to sing. A lullaby he’d learned in a language that was no longer used, but it still sounded pretty. The children couldn’t hear it, he knew, but he still hoped it was worth it. Maybe the song would make its way into their dreams that night. He was so engulfed in the melody that he didn’t notice the two men stalled at the door, nor the two huddled under the cribs, all listening. But when one of the infants started to cry, that got his attention. He walked over to the crib and glanced down at its tiny occupant. The baby looked up at him, and stopped crying. Roman’s eyes grew wide. 

“You… can you see me?”

“Evidently, he can.” Roman heard a voice behind him and turned around swiftly. A man in a black shirt and blue tie peered at him critically through a pair of black rimmed glasses. Beside him, a man in blue with a grey hoodie tied around his neck displayed a far less intimidating demeanor. “Based on that data, I believe it is safe to hypothesize that this child is able to see most, if not all non-human entities that exist,” 

“You’re not human too?” Roman asked, realization hitting him the second it left his mouth. Of course they weren’t. They could see him.

“Well, I used to be,” the one in blue raised his hand somewhat shyly.

“Yes. This is Patton, and my name is Logan,”

“Roman,” Roman provided. 

“Pleased to meet you, Roman,” the one in blue, Patton by name apparently, greeted. 

“And you, sir,” Roman replied. 

The one called Logan spoke again. “I believe a course of action, if any action at all, should be decided on. The child-,”

“Thomas.” Patton was looking down at the crib now. “His name’s Thomas.” Indeed, the word was there, painted in bright colors along the outer edge of the crib. 

“Ah, I see. Thomas,” Logan continued. “Could potentially be put in danger by this ability,”

“Danger?”

 “Yes. Not all non-humans are benevolent,”

“I’ll protect him,” Roman promised. It was a promise he intended to keep. If this child could see him, well then Roman would like to believe it was destiny. He decided that little Thomas would never be alone as long as he lived. Roman would see to that.

“Protect him? You intend to stay with him at all times?” Logan asked, surprised.

“Well, yes if that’s what it takes,”

“I don’t think we should leave him, Logan. What if he gets hurt? Or lonely?” Patton added. “What if he needs us?”

Logan looked between Roman and Patton for a few moments, his eyes landing on Patton and staying there for a while before he dropped his face into his palm.

“Oh my god, there’s two of you now,”

Patton smiled brightly. 

“I suppose there’s no reason for me to stay hidden.” A new voice caught the focus of the room, and they all whipped around to find the source. Patton yelped in surprise, and Roman flat out screeched from alarm. Half of the man’s face was covered in scales, and his left eye was that of a snake.

Roman drew a sword that didn’t appear to have come from anywhere in particular. “Who are you?” He demanded, placing himself between the man and Thomas’s crib. The man calmly raised his hands, looking a bit disappointed. 

“Would you like a name, or an explanation?”

“Um… both,” Roman said, uncertainly. 

“Which first?” 

“Uh.” He looked back at Patton and Logan, who shrugged in perfect unison. “Name,”

“For the purpose of a name, you may call me De. As for an explanation, it’s a bit hard to sum up, but you do need to know that I am here for the benefit of that child you’re guarding,”

“In what way?” Logan stepped forward. 

“To… protect him,” De finally decided. It wasn’t quite word for word. He was meant to show up before disaster was unavoidable and offer a deal. A get-out-of-pain-not-quite-free card. But he threw all of that out the door this time. This time he knew for sure, protecting was the right choice.

It would earn him another scale, but it was worth it.

Patton slid from his place behind Logan’s shoulder over to the crib as the discussion took form around him. Roman wanted to know if they could trust the new man. Logan wanted to know what exactly he was, and what his idea of protecting might entail. De seemed to just want to placate everyone. But Patton just wanted to play with baby Thomas. They all seemed like they’d forgotten he was there. 

He lowered a hand into the crib and tickled the baby’s belly, his eyes lighting up when Thomas took a finger in each of his tiny fists. It had been so long since he got to play with a baby. When he’d died, all of his children had kids of their own, but that was so long ago. Now all of those kids had grandbabies, and Patton couldn’t hold a single one of them. All these years, he’d stayed away, and it hurt to do so, but he knew from experience that it was far worse to pretend he was still alive. Still really with all of them. But this little one could see him. Touch him. And Patton was already in love. 

A slight movement caught the corner of his attention. He followed it, and found a pair of eyes staring at him behind plum colored bangs. The young man was huddled behind one of the other cribs, watching the scene with apprehension. He glanced down at the baby nervously. Patton smiled. 

“Logan,” he called, interrupting the discourse. “We have a new friend,”

All eyes fell on the young man, who stood slowly, trading hiding behind a crib for hiding inside his large hoodie. 

“Please, will someone tell me what’s going on?” He asked. Patton beckoned him to join the small circle, and he stepped forward suspiciously, pulling at his sleeves. “I heard someone say one of you is a ghost?”

“Yours truly,” Patton raised his free hand. 

“Why am I here?”

“What do you mean, kiddo?”

“I… I didn’t die here. I died in a car accident!”

Patton’s mouth formed a perfect o, and he gently freed himself from Thomas’s grip, going to stand by the frantic youth. 

“When did you die?”

“A-a few… minutes ago. Before you and, um, Logan showed up,”

Observant. 

“Do you recognize where you are? Ghosts usually haunt the place that felt most like home to them,”

“I grew up here,”

Patton’s heart went out to this kid. No wonder he was so rattled. 

“What’s your name?”

“Virgil,”

“Alrighty, Virgil. I’m going to help you, ok? I went through the same stuff myself. You can trust me.” Patton held out his hand, and after a moment of consideration, Virgil took it, letting Patton lead him over to the crib. They looked down at Thomas smiling up at them, and Patton saw Virgil relax.

“I don’t think this day could get weirder,” Virgil remarked.

“It CAN get weirder!” mocked a voice from the ceiling. 

Roman’s scream rang in Patton’s ears.

They all looked up at the… thing… clinging to the ceiling. It let go until it was hanging by one claw, changing slowly into a man whose appearance was no less off-putting, and finally let go and landed on the floor with a thud. Virgil clung to Patton’s arm. 

“The heck is that!?”

“No idea,”

“Party don’t start till I walk in,” the stranger answered, as if that was enough information. Five sets of eyes stared blankly.

“Ugh, I guess you guys all have names, right? Lemme see.” He began to point at them one by one. “Logan, Patton, Virgil… your name is soooo not De, aaaaand Roman. Wait!” His eyes grew wide as he got an idea. “Roman, Rome… ooooooo can I be Remus? Call me Remus!”

Roman stepped back in disgust. 

Logan recovered first. “What do humans call you?”

“Oh that,” he laughed. “They call me a lot of things. Bigfoot, Chupacabra, Nessie. They like coming up with stuff like that,”

“Cryptids?” Virgil asked. 

“There’s another one!”

“You’re a shapeshifter,” Patton realized.

“Um,” Remus changed back into the form he’d entered in and then returned to his humanoid form. “Duh?” 

“Oh. Yeah,”

“So you’ve clearly been listening for a significant time,” Logan piped up. “What are your intentions?”

“Intentions? Nah, you give me too much credit. I was just bored, and frankly you wet blankets are making it worse. But this little dimple-,” Before any of the others could react, Remus turned into a jet black cat and lept into Thomas’s crib. “Was worth the perilous three story climb,” he tickled the baby with his whiskers. Thomas giggled, and the cat laid across his belly, dangling his tail just out of reach. Patton went up to the crib and reached in, intent on separating the shapeshifter from the baby. Remus arched his back and hissed loudly, threatening Patton against coming any closer. The ghost stumbled back, and Roman stepped in front of him, sword at the ready. But then Thomas began to cry. Remus was startled. He looked down in concern. Tears pooled in the baby’s eyes, and Remus backed into the corner of the crib, feeling guilty. He looked up at Patton.

“Fix it,”

Patton looked apprehensive, but he obeyed, picking up Thomas and rocking him gently until the crying stopped. 

Remus changed back, still in the crib. It was so small that his attempt to sit criss crossed had his knees up to his chin. 

“We are still lacking a course of action,” Logan complained.

“Do you want to hold him?” Patton offered. Logan’s eyes grew wide, and he stepped away, shaking his head and holding his hands out defensively. “How about you, Virgil?”

“Oh, um… sure?” Virgil replied. Patton smiled and handed the baby over, showing Virgil how to hold him so they’d both be comfortable. The young ghost smiled. 

“Ok,” De spoke up. “By show of hands, who isn’t going to leave the kid alone?”

Patton’s hand shot up almost faster than Roman’s, Virgil shyly followed, and Remus raised more hands than he had before the question was presented. Logan looked away in an attempt to look irritated, but he wasn’t fooling anyone.

So this is the disaster I was supposed to stop, De thought. He could see this poor kid getting visits from people no one else could see. Trying to tell someone only to be called crazy. Resigned to his fate, he raised his hand, joining the haphazard group. 

“All of you? Really?” Logan asked. “Fine. The voice of reason has no place in this arrangement, but I suppose someone has to keep you all in line,”

 Patton smiled knowingly, trying not to chuckle, and De had to hold in a snort at the scene. 

“So, what now?” Roman questioned.

De spoke up. “Staying has its risks. Even visiting occasionally is a gamble. If Thomas grows up surrounded by people that no one else can see, and decides at some point to tell someone, that could put him in any number of bad situations,”

“But lots of kids grow up with imaginary friends,” Patton countered.

“And most grow out of that phase,” De explained.

Patton’s eyes dropped. “So you’re saying we should leave him?”

“Hey, I had my hand up, didn’t I?”

Surprisingly, Virgil was the next to speak up. “Does he have to stay?” he asked quietly, almost internally, still gazing down at the baby in his arms. The others looked at him in shock. The silence told Virgil that they’d heard him, and his eyes shot up. “I… I grew up here,” he defended himself. “It’s… not safe,”

“What do you mean?” Patton asked. The building seemed clean and friendly. He couldn’t imagine how it could be dangerous.

“I ran away once. I think I was five. I left in the morning and had to find my way back in the dark because no one came looking,”

Patton’s hands shot up to cover his mouth. His heart broke for the young man. How could someplace like that ever feel like home?

“They didn’t know you were lost?” Roman asked. Virgil shook his head. Humans had their failings, Roman knew that, but he’d never encountered such neglect to a helpless child. The injustice of it burned in his core. “Thomas cannot stay here,”

“Sick,” Remus remarked. “Always wanted to steal a baby,”

Roman whirled around and fixed the shapeshifter in a glare of pure disbelief. “What even are you?!”

“Oh get over it! Everybody already thinks I do! And people love being right!”

“Can we not bring him with please?” Roman asked, turning to the others.

“I don’t believe there is a way to stop him,” Logan admitted.

“Nope!” Remus answered gleefully. “Sorry goody-flat-ass, y'all are stuck with me,”

“Excuse me!?”

“Back to the matter at hand, if you gentlemen don’t mind,” De interrupted before the conflict could escalate. 

“Gentleman my backside,” Roman mumbled, but conceded to silence.

“Sure thing, snakeface,” Remus teased. 

“Thank you.” De ignored the attempted insult, settling for the fact that Remus had agreed at all. Remus looked at De like he’d just thrown up a couch. “If not here, where?” De asked.

“Patton,” Logan prompted the ghost.

“Oh. Oh! You’re right, Lo,” Patton said, apparently remembering something. Dee marveled at how two such opposites could seemingly read each other’s minds. “I have a house! Kinda,”

“Would you like to tell them how you obtained this place?” Logan continued, barely concealing the smirk in his eyes. 

“Oh,” Patton blushed, then started giggling. “It was an accident. Well, actually, it was a couple of accidents. I moved into the family’s guest room. I didn’t want to make a nuisance of myself, but, well… they kept moving the furniture. I was tripping over everything. Eventually they sold the house, and  then the same thing happened with the next family, a nice couple with three dogs, and the next and the next…. The realtors gave up,” he finished, rubbing the back of his neck and blushing furiously. Virgil laughed lightly. 

“The size is sufficient for raising a child, and has been functionally off the grid since the generator was installed. In theory, we would just need to be able to purchase the necessities.” Logan pulled out a notepad and began to write. 

“Probably could shop online for a lot of it,” Virgil provided. 

“We would need a debit card,” 

“What about mine?” the young ghost continued.

“Technicalities of identity theft from beyond the grave aside, how are your savings?”

“Eh,”

“We would need a way to make money,”

“Um,” Roman’s voice turned everyone’s heads. He held up his hand, a hundred dollar bill appearing between his fingers. 

“Wow,” Virgil commented, summing up the general attitude of the room. Roman pursed his lips and shrugged.

“There goes the value of the American dollar,” Logan grumbled.

“Or I could get a job, losers.” No one expected Remus to speak up. Less expected was his appearance. His salt and pepper hair was neatly brushed, his face was clean and reasonably charming to look at, and he wore a pale green button down tucked into ash colored jeans. Everyone stared.

“What?” Remus questioned, returning to normal.

“Let me get this straight,” Roman said, stepping forward. “You have the option of looking like that… and you choose to look like this?”

“What of it, pretty boy?”

“Good lord, you will never make sense,”

“Aww! Thank you!”

Roman pinched the bridge of his nose and walked away, waving a hand as if to swat away Remus’s chaos. 

“Well I suppose that takes care of finances,” Logan continued, picking up where he’d left off. “Schooling won’t be an issue for a few years, but I can conduct homeschool classes when Thomas is old enough,”

“There are a few more precautions to take,” De said. 

“Undoubtedly,”

“Get out of the crib, Remus. Help me find the offices.” De set off down the halls, shapeshifter at his heels. 

“Alright.” Patton lifted Thomas out of Virgil’s arms and transferred him over to a protesting Logan. “Come on Virgil,”

“Where are we going?” Virgil asked, following anyway. 

“Gotta teach you how to leave the building,”

“Huh?” They turned the corner and Patton skipped down the stairs two at a time. 

“Ghosts haunt one building at first after they die. The one that feels like home,” Patton explained. He wanted to ask Virgil why this place was home if it was so horrible, but he held his tongue. 

“Wait, so I can’t leave?” Virgil slowed down, stopping in the middle of the hallway. 

Patton turned around and walked back to him. “No, you can, you just need to learn. Some ghosts stay where they are, but a lot learn to leave. Usually they either go haunt people they had issues with in life, or just wander around, doing anything they want,”

“What did you do?”

That caught Patton off guard. He blinked like a deer in headlights for a moment or two, before sighing. 

“I tried to go home,” he admitted wistfully. “I had children. And grandchildren. I thought… I thought I could just be around them and pretend. But it hurt too much,”

Virgil looked at him sympathetically. Patton put his smile back on. 

“It's lucky that you and I found Thomas. He’ll need people who know what it’s like to be human,”

“You think he needs me?”

Patton tilted his head. “Of course, Virgil. Why wouldn’t he?”

“It’s just,” Virgil curled in on himself, hiding in his hoodie again. “I never had family. I barely even had friends. What if I can’t? What if I ruin everything?” 

His rambling was cut off when Patton engulfed him in a hug. Virgil tensed, but Patton persisted. Slowly, Virgil melted into the embrace, pressing his face into Patton’s shoulder. After a few long moments, Patton spoke gently.

“Some ghosts use death as a place to start over from. You have family now. I promise,”

The young ghost held tighter, and Patton started to gently rub circles on the back of Virgil’s neck. It was something he used to do to calm his son down. 

Some time later, the hug came to an end, and Patton rested a hand on Virgil's shoulder. 

“Come on,” Patton prompted. “Let's get you out of here,”

Logan was entirely unprepared to be holding a baby. Leave it to Patton to put him in a situation like this. 

No string of decades in Logan's incomparable span of existence had ever felt longer than the years since he’d met Patton. Or since Patton had stumbled upon his existence, more accurately. Since that day, the over friendly ghost had barely ever left him alone. He’d been summoned to Patton’s side more times than he could count; the man had unfortunately pieced together rather quickly that shouting false information would call Logan to him. Logan almost wished that he didn’t care so much about the spread of incorrect facts, an aspect of his purpose that he had no control over. 

He almost wished that he didn’t care so much about Patton. 

Patton was lonely. Dangerously so. Logan didn’t really understand human emotions, but he could recognize symptoms. So, when Patton muttered that the Earth was flat through tears at three in the morning, Logan might roll his eyes, but he always stayed. 

And he always would.

But looking down at the baby in his arms, he could almost pretend that this was the last straw. 

Roman took pity on him. “Ok, so you have no chill,” he laughed, lifting Thomas from Logan’s arms and sitting on the nursery floor. Logan remained standing, watching Roman’s effortless interaction with the infant. “You should do something for that. Would you be more of a yoga class guy or a go-out-in-the-woods-and-slay-something guy?”

“Neither, I can assure you,”

Roman looked up at him critically for a moment, before shrugging. “No, you’re right. I’ll figure something else out,”

“Might I ask what exactly you are?” Logan asked, eager to change the subject.

 “Oh,”

“I don’t mean to be rude,”

“I’m not offended. It's just that I don’t really know. I was alone at first. For hundreds of years, just wandering around. I didn’t know I was supposed to be something. I found out eventually that there was at least one thing I wasn’t. Human. I wanted to be, though. So badly. Sometimes I still do,” he said solemnly, bouncing Thomas on his knee. 

Logan was taken aback. Roman didn’t act with any of the weight of his years.

 “I learned a lot. Songs and stories. Cultures and languages. And so many words. Words for everything under the sun,”

“Yes,” Logan mused. “They have fascinating ways of understanding their world.” An unexpected respect for Roman made a home in Logan’s mind. He hadn’t expected to have anything in common with him.

“Do you think it’s our world, too?” Roman asked, catching Logan off guard. The bespectacled man found that he couldn’t answer. Roman smiled weakly. “They have a word for everything I wish I was. Knight. Prince. Hero. Not one word in any language for what I am,”

They sat in silence for a long moment. Logan was again at a loss for words. Then Roman spoke again, this time to the baby in his lap. 

“It’s your world, isn’t it, little prince? You’ll make the most of that, I just know.” He gently kissed the top of Thomas’s head, and then began to sing. 

The lullaby began in Spanish, before shifting effortlessly into Latin, and then a language Logan didn’t recognize. Roman’s voice was deep and smooth, and soon, the baby was asleep. 

Noise started to come from down the hall as Roman’s singing tapered off. Remus rounded the corner, followed by De. 

“Yeah, Dirty Jobs got nuthin on my average Saturday. You haven’t lived until you’ve lost a limb to a trash compactor, ” Remus bragged. De listened calmy, not interrupting. It baffled Logan that De could stand to hear the endless stream of drivel that came tumbling, unbidden, out of Remus’s mouth. But De was unbothered, only shushing Remus when he noticed that Thomas was asleep. 

“What were you two doing?” Roman asked.

“We found the offices. I deleted the orphanage's records of Thomas, and Remus ate the paper copies.” Remus burped to prove De’s point. “Where are the other two?”

“Patton is teaching Virgil how to leave his haunt,” Logan said. “That is the last thing that needs to be done,”

“Well let's go join them,”

Patton stood just outside the orphanage door, letting Virgil have his moment of frustration as he pressed his palms against the invisible barrier keeping him inside. “I can’t do it. It won’t move,”

“It’s not supposed to move, kiddo. You’re gonna go through it,”

“How?” Virgil asked without a hint of optimism.

“Well, here,” Patton said, stepping back inside. “Logan explained it like this when he taught me. The building you wake up in is where you’ve felt the most at home. The barrier is there to keep you in that safe space, and it won’t let you leave until how much you want to leave is more than your perception of danger on the other side,”

“So it thinks I’m scared?”

“Are you?”

Virgil didn’t answer. He didn’t want to be. Patton was so nice. He said Thomas needed him, and Virgil wanted to believe it. But he couldn’t help the sick feeling that curled up in his stomach as he wondered if he really could start over, like Patton had said. What if things didn’t really change, and it would turn out that he really was still alone? 

“The world doesn’t get any scarier on that side of the door,” Patton said. “Promise,”

“But what if…” Virgil trailed off.

“There’s more to ‘what-if’ about in life than death. It can be hard to get used to, but I’ll give you an If that might help. If you decide that leaving was a bad idea, you can come right back, and you don’t ever have to leave again,”

The thought wasn’t a pleasant one. As scared as he was to leave and still feel lost, the idea of staying in this place that was practically painted with bad memories, of trading what might turn out to be the first family he’d ever had for an eternity of actually being invisible like he’d felt he was for so long…. that didn’t sit well. Patton watched him think over the idea, and smiled encouragingly.

“Try the door again,” he prompted. Virgil looked at him sceptically, but walked to the door frame anyway, pressing his palms against the still solid barrier. Patton moved around him, standing outside again. 

“You’re touching it like it’s there. It’s not,” 

Virgil knocked on the surface under his palms, but was surprised that his fist didn’t make a sound, just stopped moving when it reached the door.

“See?” Patton reached past the doorframe and held his hands out, palms up. Virgil put his hands in Patton’s. The man in blue smiled. “You’re gonna get it. And I'll stay here until you do.” Patton dropped his hands and took a few steps back. “Don’t try to touch it. Don’t brace for it, just walk to me,” Patton instructed, holding his arms open and waiting. 

Virgil took a deep breath. He looked at Patton, waiting there on the other side, arms wide. This stranger that treated him with more genuine care than anyone Virgil had ever met before, waiting just a few feet away to hug him. He thought about the baby. Big brown eyes had held his gaze. He wasn’t invisible to Thomas. 

He was needed. 

Let me out, he commanded. 

He started to walk forward, his feet gaining momentum on their own as he ran outside, and barreled into Patton’s chest, the force almost knocking both of them over. Patton stopped them from landing in the dirt and held onto Virgil as they both started to laugh. The sound covered the approach of the other four, but it wouldn’t have made any difference anyway. Virgil finally knew what home was supposed to feel like. 

“You did it,” Patton praised.

“I did it,” Virgil agreed, breathless.

“I’m proud of you,”

Virgil laughed again. He’d never heard those words from anyone.

“Well done,” De said, coming up behind them, and he meant it. 

Virgil turned and flushed, realizing he had an audience, and pulled his hood over his head. 

“Thanks,” 

The others gathered around, and silence reigned for a few beats. The impact of their decision had hit them. Roman looked down at the baby he held, wrapped in his sash. Virgil watched Thomas breathing. De watched everyone. He was set in his decision. Finally, Logan turned to Patton. 

“This is set in stone. Are you sure, Patton?” he asked, concern managing to bleed past his equanimity. Patton held his eyes, before looking at the baby in Roman’s arms. 

“Yes,” 

Logan sighed. It was the answer he was expecting, but he still struggled to understand. Leave it to Patton. 

Roman spoke next, presenting an oath to the sleeping bundle in his arms. “A swift end to any who would come against you, little prince. You have my heart and my promise,”

Patton smiled and took Virgil’s arm. “Time to go home,”

He smiled at each of them in turn, and led the way down the street. Six men to whom the world was blind walked together, their worlds now entwined in an orbit around the impossible child.

No wonder

Old meme but I had fun

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