Sanders Sides Fanfic - Tumblr Posts

Hope With Me

Author’s Note: So hey!  I did a Big Bang this year, run by the blog @ts-storytime!  This work has been a while in the making, and I’m super proud of how it turned out!  Thanks so much to @vanilla-bean-buttercream for the amazing art, and a huge thanks to @korruptbrekker for beta reading, and @hit-or-mish for being my cheerleader, this story would not exist without you.

Summary: 

“Two weeks,” Patton said, holding out his hand. “And if I can’t prove to you that there’s good in humanity, I’ll leave you alone.”

“Or you could leave me alone right now,” Janus said, giving him a deadpan look.

“I could,” Patton said.  “But then I’ll just go on thinking I’m right, and you’ll never have another chance to prove me wrong, now will you?” He smiled, like he thought he had him.

…And dammit, he did.

“Come on Janus,” Patton said, smiling warmly, and stretching out his hand a little more.  “Come find hope with me.”

Seguir leyendo

calling all tss fanfiction readers!

hello, fellow sanders sides fans!

have you ever been curious about the habits of your fellow fanfic readers? got some opinions on favorite ships, aus, or what makes and breaks a fic? leave your comments here!

it's a 40 question survey asking a variety of questions about your fanfiction preferences. i would appreciate it if you took and reblogged this post to increase the sample size!

results will be posted on my blog in one big post; let me know if you'd like to be tagged!

I love it. Omg I love it so much!! X33

As always I love that it's so nice to picture the scenes, and you made them so very very soft that it becomes such a happy read! It's a incredible thing to see that that idea became such an sweet and wonderful work :D

Thank you so much for writting it! You're awesome!!

And here is me not being able to control myself XD

But seriously, to everyone that hasn't yet, check them out!! They're great and their works are just as fantastic!

Jealousy

Summary: When Virgil joined the light sides he left Dee behind, that may be the dumbest decision he ever made.  Word count: 1244 Ship(s): Anxceit and Roceit (main ship is anxceit)  Genre: Hurt/comfort Authors Note: @julia-loves-cupcakes helped me create this idea so this ones for her. Warnings: Kissing (well making out but not heavily descriptive), Let me know if I missed anything

-

It started a month after Virgil was accepted. The ache in his chest hadn’t disappeared with time and distance and every glance set his heart racing and his mind reeling. Dee was still as stunning as ever. His smile was different, sadder, more distant, his hair was probably just as soft though. His eyes seemed more miserable, but his lips would probably feel just the same against Virgil’s. He was familiar but so entirely different.

Dee stopped smiling at him like that. Their relationship was gone, he needed to leave it behind. He couldn’t remain with a dark side if he wanted to be accepted… so why did it hurt so bad when Dee flirted with Roman? Why did his heart clench when he watched Dee touch Roman’s hair and curl it around his fingers?

He turned around and fled the room, his heart hammered in his chest and his hands shook for reasons he couldn’t comprehend.

The days got worse. Roman and Dee cuddled on the couch. They held hands an sat close. Too close. Virgil couldn’t take it and he couldn’t tell why. He should be happy. He couldn’t have Dee. It should be fine. But why was Roman allowed to hang off his arm while Virgil had to loathe him.

The world came to an end as Virgil rounded the corner. He was looking for Logan, which was becoming a far more common occurrence as time moved on. He froze. His book hit the floor as tears sprang to his eyes. Why did it hurt?

Keep reading

!!!!!!!!

If you liked the snake berry comic please read this amazing fic♡ really a nice continuation of it!! And considerably more fluffy XD and if you haven't seen the comic, I still recommend you read this fic X3 and go show @cottonwoolsocks some love! They have other great fics and is a really fantastic writer!

Again, TYSM for writing thisss X33

Roman’s Berry Jam

AO3 | Masterlist

Summary: It was only a matter of time before the next Side was given their own Crofter’s Brand jam, and there was little surprise when it was awarded to Janus. Janus deserved it. No Side was more fitting. At least, that was what Roman kept telling himself.

Or; Remus makes his brother a present to try and cheer him up.

Word Count: 2969 Genre: hurt/comfort, canonverse Characters: Roman, Remus, Janus, others mentioned Relationships: Creativitwins, platonic Janus & Roman & Remus

Warnings: food theme, slight gory imagery mention

If I need to tag anything else, let me know!

inspired by this post by @julia-loves-cupcakes because there was no way i could just leave roman like that :(

disclaimer i am thoroughly confused by the correct terminology for this wonderful fruit spread (jam? jelly?? confiture????)(/j), so i shall be referring to it as ‘jam’. hopefully that clears up any related confusions!

———

It came as a surprise to no one when it was announced that Janus would be getting the next Crofter’s flavour. He was well liked, and quick-witted, and a Dark Side, which made for a diverse branding appeal following Logan, the stoic and straightforward Light Side.

When Thomas told Janus the news, Janus had shocked everyone by practically bursting into tears as he clasped the jar, eyeing it as if it may break and scanning the room for any signs of a set-up, a prank, a cruel fabrication. But Logan and Patton, the only other Sides present, had simply smiled, and congratulated him, and voiced their approval. The simple glass jar became almost symbolic of Janus’s acceptance and place in the group.

Janus deserved the achievement.

No Side was more fitting.

At least, that was what Roman kept telling himself.

Keep reading

Do you hate me?

Summary: The first question Virgil can remember asking is “Do you hate me?” He’s not sure why that had to be the first thing he asked - it just seemed like an instinct. Something he absolutely had to know. And it’s been a question he’s never been able to avoid. Eventually, he has to ask it to everyone. Or: Six times Virgil gets an answer to a question, and one time he doesn’t.

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Pairings: platonic Virgil & everyone except Janus

Wordcount: 3001

Warnings: Janus being portrayed in a negative light/hints at a bad past between him and Virgil, Remus being portrayed in a positive/neutral light, food, kinda negative self-talk(? it’s not positive anyway)

Ao3

~~~

This fic was written as part of an event called Cutthroat Fiction, inspired by Cutthroat Kitchen, where each round, all competitors get set a theme to plan a fic around, and then get to bid to sabotage each other! This round was the last round, so there were only two competitors, and the prompt was to write a fic about one or more of the Dark Sides. My sabotage this round was pretty hard too - I wasn’t allowed to use compound sentences. (I had to go find out what compound sentences were first, but then oh this is gonna be hard oof. It was, but it was definitely an interesting and fun restriction to work with! (My co-competitor had the worse sabotage, though, in my opinion - they had to include rhyme as a significant part of the story. It was very well done and their fic, written in a script style, was very entertaining to read, but I definitely couldn’t have worked with that nearly as well as they did.) The judging just finished today, and the event is over now - I ended up taking second place, which I’m happy with! This event was really fun, and I’d definitely do it again if given the chance!

~~~

The first question Virgil can remember asking Janus is “do you hate me?” It happened just after Virgil manifested. He isn’t really sure why that was the first thing he had to ask. It just seemed like an instinct. Something he absolutely had to know.

And Janus told him. “No, I don’t. Why would I?”

And Virgil believed him. After all, why wouldn’t he?

Later, Virgil learned what Janus embodied. And the seemingly honest answer to that very first question ended up haunting him to this day.

Was he lying?

~~~

Later, Remus manifested. (Or, well, he didn’t exactly manifest. It was more like he just…appeared. One day he wasn’t there. The next day, he was. He never explained where he came from. He was just…there.)

Remus turned out to be a… complicated case for Virgil. He didn’t exactly like him. The way he constantly fired off ideas that made Virgil’s (and thereby also Thomas’s) anxiety shoot through the roof was… not fun. Virgil definitely didn’t appreciate that. No, they weren’t going to jump out of a moving car. And that just was one of the tamer suggestions Remus tended to make.

On the other hand, though, it was kind of nice having him around. Existing in their part of the mindscape with just Janus did get lonely sometimes. And Janus wasn’t exactly great company, either. Sure, he was alright, but they did have their fair share of disagreements. Sometimes, Virgil privately found himself wishing for someone else to be there. Even just so he had someone else to talk to for a change.

Weiterlesen

Great work ❤️it feels so in character, also love the idea of the story, how Virgil is like carrying but feeling guilty about the whole thing is just so good!

Fear’s Perspective

Virgil was an observer. And he had observed a lot more than the others thought.

Especially Creativity.

He had seen a lot of Creativity.

Read on AO3

Masterpost | Taglist

Virgil remembered.

The others tended to forget that he had seen what they did, tended to think that he had been too young to remember who the first Creativity was, too young to comprehend what had happened that day.

But Virgil had not been too young. He knew Creativity. Pinky. That’s how he called him and Pinky had called him Purple. He had liked it. Just like the stories he told him, even when they sometimes were so scary that he started crying, after which Deceit always came to scold Pinky for making him cry.

It had never been Pinky’s fault. Virgil wanted the stories to be scary. He wanted to be scared by something he knew was made up. It somehow made him happy and Pinky was the best at telling them. The best to come up with fun ideas. That was why he and Logan were inseparable, besides the fact that they came into existence at the same time. Which was something Patton and Janus always seemed to forget or ignore.

Weiterlesen

So cute 💕 Love your writing style and the story idea so much.

My nieces are fanders

Summary: When you meet a super cute guy and land a date with him, you definitively want to gush about him with someone. In Nico’s case that someone is his oldest sister. The visit holds a surprise for him though.

Weiterlesen

Scream

A/N: Ahhh this is really really late and I’ve had this written forever and a day now but once again haven’t gotten around to editing it so yyyeeeaaahhhhh….sorry XD Also I wanna do more of kid Virgil and maybe Roman trying to fix his past mistakes with V??? So if you guys want that let me know!! 

Part one: https://ravens-rambling.tumblr.com/post/181799921613/sleepy

WC: 4,033

ships: Platonic Moxiety

warnings: Mentions of Abuse, Panic Attack, Implied Child Abuse, mentions of Deceit, Deaged Character, Mentions of violence, Crying, Abusive Deceit

Tag List: @punsterterry @stormcrawler75 @frostedlover @mutechild @mycatshuman @panicattheeverywhere15 @thewinterbookqueen @analogical-mess  @saddestlittlebabe

@thefightisntoverme @uwillbeefoundtonight  @shiphole-river @atseipl @max-is-tired @fiive-second-cookies @aroundofapplesauce @sanderssidestrash27  

The young boys’ purple eyes slowly blinked open as he woke up. The first thing he noticed was that he was holding something. He blinked down to see a purple cat stuffed animal against his chest, it was almost the size of his entire torso if you count the tail. Then he blinked at it more confusion clear across his young face.

To his knowledge, he doesn’t remember having one of these in his room. The only stuffed animal being that black cat face that he snuggles up to when he’s nervous. But not this??

Then he heard movement behind him and he sucked in his breath. The yellow man got him, didn’t he? He’s going to get hurt he’s going to die, he’s going to-

“Virge? You up sweetie?”

Wait… That didn’t sound like him…

Memories of what happened last night came rushing to him. The hug. The nice blue man what’s his name… Morality right? And falling asleep in his arms…

That made the child blush in embarrassment. And maybe anger of himself. He shouldn’t have done that. Now he properly owns him a favor for taking that comfort from him. Or now he’s trapped here. Will he let him leave? No, that’ll be impossible why would he just let him walk out of this without any bleeding or bruising? He’s only kidding himself.

“I can see your eyes moving kiddo. It’s okay. I’m here. I promised I won’t leave right?”

Virgil’s body tensed up and he closed his eyes. Stupid stupid stupid.

“Come here, my sweetie pie I’ve got you.”

He heard more movement from behind him and tensed up even more. His body hugged the pillow tighter as he curled up into a ball expecting a blow. When he didn’t get any pain for a bit he opened his eyes and looked over his shoulder to see…the man had his arms open and had a wobbly smile.

Wait… This is what he did last night right? He is asking for a hug…right?

That actually sounds great right now…

But should he? He might have to do another favor and he properly has a million stacked up by now…

But his heart ached for this so-called ‘hug’ he wanted that warmth back. He wanted that comfort back.

So with a very shaky breath and limbs, he slowly inched his way forward keeping a very close eye to the man’s arms and eyes in case he suddenly attacks him. When his face got up against the other’s shirt, feeling the calm cool fabric of the other’s onesie against his cheek, he smiled faintly. This does feel nice…

His body jerked in surprise when he felt the other arms wrap around him. He’s trapped now. He’s going to get hurt. His breath started picking up as he tried to get out. His lips parted open as whines came up from his throat.

“Shshs it’s okay it’s okay. There no arms see? I won’t hurt you, sweetheart. There you go keep breathing it’s all going to be okay.”

The arms left his frame and his breath shuttered in relief. His body slumped up against the others and he smiled lightly as he calmed down. This really did feel nice though the back of his mind screamed at him to run and get away from him as fast as he could.

“Would you like me to rub your back, kiddo?”

Rub? Rub his back? What will that do? That didn’t sound painful… He couldn’t say no though right? Well, he’s been okay so far…

Slowly he nodded though he sucked in a breath and clenched his hands on his shirt as if expecting something to happen. When the hand landed on his back he started shaking slightly.

That was until the hand applied slight pressure on his back, it started going in faint circles. And it made him feel…safe? Happy? Comforted? He’s not sure what the word is, to be honest.

All he knew was that it felt divine. His body leaned into the touch and he even found himself purring slightly as he cuddled harder into the chest.

“There you go, Virge. I’ll protect you I promise.” He felt…something lightly graces his forehead. It was soft and…cold? His eyes blinked open and he looked up to the other to see him smiling down at him. He looked happy, delighted even, though there were tears in his eyes?

Why was the man crying?

He’s never seen anybody else cry before… He didn’t know what to do…When he cries around others it normally ends in pain why would somebody dare cry in front of him?

“W-Why…crying?”

The man blinked as if in shock then chuckled, “Why, kiddo, I’m just glad you trust me enough to hold you is all. You are such adorable kiddo has anyone ever told you that?”

Adorable?…. Wha??

He shook his head.

The man leaned forward and pressed his lips against his nose then pulled back, “Well I’m going to keep telling you that then! You are the cutest thing ever sweetie pie!”

Virgil blinked than looked down at his nose. What did he just do to him? It wasn’t painful that he was certain he felt a certain…happiness in his chest at that touch? He looked up to the other in confusion.

“What’s wrong? You’ve never been kissed before?”

“K-Kissed…? What’s… What’s that?”

The tears came back in the man’s eyes and even a few dropped down his cheeks.

“Oh… O-Oh… Virge…”

Before he knew what was happening the man leaned forward again but his head stayed this time in his hair and he sounded like he was crying again.

“I-I’m so sorry… I- We should have been there… You must…have been so scared all those years… W-We only made it worse… I’m so so sorry…”

Virgil could only freeze as the man cried into his hair. Was there something wrong with him? He wasn’t in pain not that Virgil could see anyways. What was he talking about?

After a few minutes of him crying and mumbling some sentences, he finally drew away his eyes now blotchy and bright red with some tears still coming down his cheeks. But he smiled yet again, does he ever stop smiling?

“I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have cried on you like that.” He took a deep breath and whipped his eyes, “How about we get breakfast? How does that sound? Is my little guy hungry?”

He couldn’t read this guy at all one second he was crying the next he was smiling? You don’t smile through pain, right? But he didn’t seem in pain at all…?

Virgil’s brain hurt trying to solve this man out so instead, he shrugged. Sure he was hungry but that resulted in another favor right? Though his stomach had other plans as in that moment it grumbled loudly so loudly he was fairly certain it echoed off the walls. His cheeks flushed as he hid his gaze away from the man he hoped he won’t get in trouble for lying now…

Instead, the man laughed loudly his entire body vibrating with the laughs, “Okay kiddo! I can make my special chocolate chip pancakes how does that sound?”

Virgil smiled back and nodded faintly. Yeah, that sounds good…

“But first do you want to change? It must be hard walking around with your big hoodie. I can dig around to find something smaller if you like?”

He gulped he rather not separate from this hoodie. It wasn’t the same that he wore before, honestly, he has no idea where he got it from, but it was comfy. He felt protected in it. He felt safe…Safer than his old black hoodie that’s for sure.

But he knew he was right, there is no way he can walk around like this. Even the shirt under it was too big… Maybe he can keep the hoodie though? Would he let him do that?

Hesitantly he looked back up and gulped again once he saw their gazes met trying not to blink or tear it away.

“C-Can… Can… I um…” He paused uncertainty and slight fear coursed through him but the man only smiled, “Can I…keep the hoodie…?”

“Of course you can sweetie! I know that’s your special hoodie I won’t let you take it off if you don’t want to. Now I’ll go see what I can find.”

Slowly the man got off the bed taking the blankets off of him and moving his hands so Virgil can keep track of them at all times as if he’s done this before…

Then he went to his closet and the second he opened it a wave of clothes and what looked like young kids toys fell through and practically engulfed the man in it. Virgil shot up out of bed thinking he got hurt but he got up a second later and was giggling. “Whoops! I shouldn’t have so much stuff in there now huh kiddo? It’s going to be a whale of a time picking this up!”

With relief, he laid back down clutching the plush tight to his chest, though he smiled faintly and even chuckled under his breath from the pun. The man beamed at him and then started digging around.

Virgil’s eyes opened in awe though as the man stepped in the closet and all but practically disappeared! The closet didn’t look that big right? Where did he go??

When he got out of bed still clutching the cat to his chest he breathed. Then breathed out in relief when he saw the man’s grey onesie stick out of the side. So it just looked smaller but was bigger on the inside.

Morality seemed to notice that he was out of bed though once he came back with a thick bright purple long sleeve and had stitched purple cat on the front, “Now this might be big on you but I think you’ll like it.” He froze, “What ya doing out of bed kiddo? Something wrong?”

Virgil shrugged, “Couldn’t see you…”

“Aw don’t worry! I’m fine. Now the bathroom is right there. I’ll find you some jeans while you change to that shirt how does that sound?”

He nodded and grabbed the shirt he was offering him.

While he changed he had a smile on his face. Well, he hasn’t got hurt yet maybe he can trust this person? He seems nice enough… Though he knew he shouldn’t grow too attached after all this could be one of the yellow man’s tricks. Though again this is a super long and elaborate one but he won’t put it against him.

He heard a knock on the door and hummed in question, “I have your pants kiddo! I found one that I know you’ll love!”

He slowly opened the door but just a bit and poked his head out. Okay yeah, he did like those pants. They were darker purple than the huge shirt but they had holes along the knees.

The man smiled at his reaction, “I thought so! They were from when Thomas was a kid! Poor things have been through a lot but I knew you would love them! Here ya go!”

He set the pants in his arms and he slowly closed the door again smiling faintly as a silent ‘thank you’. It didn’t take long before he walked out of the bathroom his old clothes stacked high on his arms.

“Aawww!!!! Kiddo!!!!! You look so ccuuttteeee!!!! My little purple angel!!!” He blushed deeply at the comment smiling as he gave the man his clothes. Morality though had his hands up to his chin as if he couldn’t contain his excitement. Okay… Now he felt slightly uncomfortable…

He looked to the ground his hair blocking his eyes and he rubbed his arm. Now he felt…pitied? Little? He didn’t know the correct term but he didn’t feel good that’s all he knew. And the man picked up on it. He felt the clothes leave his arms and he was about to walk to the door before the man spoke up, “Kiddo what’s wrong?”

“I… I don’t like that….”

“Like what? Are you okay?” He felt him move forward but he didn’t dare look up. He closed his eyes, “Your…pity? Your…whatever that was…” He waved his hand a bit that was gripped on to his arm.

“The compliment? Or the nickname?”

Virgil gulped, “N-Nick… Nickname…”

“Oh, that’s fine sweetie. Whatever makes you comfortable okay? Is sweetie-pie okay?”

“Uhhhh… I don’t know…”

“That’s fine kiddo. That’s perfectly fine. Can you look at me.”

He didn’t sound upset so he looked up at him, Morality moved some of his purple bangs that got into his eyes when he did see him he could tell he meant it. He wasn’t lying to him or angry.

“Tell me if I ever make you uncomfortable okay? I wanna make sure you feel comfortable here. Since this is your family.”

“F-Family? I-I don’t…”

“That’s okay that you don’t know. But I want to show you what it means. Do you trust me?”

He lay out a hand in front of Virgil and his purple eyes looked at it then up to Morality. Sure he was still fearful. Sure he knew he shouldn’t trust him. Sure he knew that he could turn around and hurt him. But despite everything he found himself nodding and grabbing that hand.

“I love you kiddo.” Morality smiled.

“Uuhh… L-Love? Love is…?”

“When you feel an intense feeling of affection for that person. It could mean family love or platonic love, when you have a deep desire you protect that person and when that person makes you feel safe. Or romantic love when you want to love that person forever.”

“Oh… Oh… Then uh…” Did he like this person that way? He did make him feel safe…

“You don’t have to say it back kiddo I just want you to know I love you. Do you want to go eat now?”

He nodded then opened his mouth but closed it quickly, no he’s being too needy… He won’t…

“What do you want kiddo?”

He made grabby hands to him his eyes silently pleading, he wanted to be picked up. The man smiled and opened his arms, “Of course you can!”

He wrapped his arms around him than yet again went, “One, two, three! There we go!” Virgil giggled slightly as he was bounced on his hip, one hand gripping hard into his shirt while the other still holding on to the cat plushie. He didn’t want to let go of either.

“Okay! Let’s get this train rolling!”

Virgil giggled even more as he made more jokes and puns as they went through the hallway and downstairs. The entire way he had a smile on his face. That was until he saw who was waiting for them downstairs. At first, he saw…. L… Logic? He looked…different than before… His tie was a different color and he had something on his shirt?

But he didn’t seem to notice them at first being too consumed with his book in his hands though he did look up once they made it halfway to the kitchen.

“Morning, Pat. Virgil. How are you-”

He paused in his tracks as he finally looked up and caught sight of Virgil the boy wiggled in the others arms whimpering slightly. Logic wasn’t mean to him per se but he faintly remembers that they did bicker sometimes… And it wasn’t pretty.

Wait Logic didn’t like him did he? Would he throw him back to the yellow man? Would this ‘Pat’ allow that? Even Logic knew his name now and that terrified him.

“Oh yeah, Logan! Virgil regressed last night I guess? I found him last night and he slept in my room. Do you know why?”

Logan….? Why is his name different?

'Logan’ looked bewildered for a moment then cleared his throat and messed with his glasses a moment, “Well when we regress that means our purpose is being suppressed or of not as much use. Or at least that’s how it is for us I’m not sure what it could mean for anxiety. I’ll go talk to Thomas and see if he has any ideas.”

“Alright! Be back in a few I’m making breakfast!”

“No need I had leftovers.”

“Oh okay, that’s fine. See you in a bit then!”

Logan’s dark blue eyes glanced at Pat then back at Virgil which caused him to squirm in place some more. His intense gaze felt like he was searching his very soul for…something. And Virgil was afraid of what it could be.

Finally, he stood up and sank down without a word.

Patton looked down to Virgil with a smile, “See kiddo, he’s going to help you get big again! Cause he loves you and wants to make sure you’re alright.”

“I-It…didn’t look like…love…”

Patton chuckled a bit, “It might not look it but trust me Logan does love you. He has a hard time expressing his emotions is all. He’s getting better at it though. So! Let’s start breakfast shall we!”

Then they started heading towards the kitchen. Pat sat Virgil down on the counter while he brought out all the ingredients and laid it out. Virgil kept a close eye on what he was doing in awe. He’s never really seen something be made like this normally he just sticks stuff in the microwave for himself. This was fascinating for him!

Pat giggled at the boy as he kept getting closer and closer his eyes widening at every movement he makes.

“You want to stir kiddo?”

Virgil whipped up blinking hard as he was addressed. Then shyly asked, “Can… Can I?”

“Of course! I’ll tell you when you’ve stirred enough.”

He gave him the bowl and spoon placing it next to him and Virge set the stuffed animal down so he could grip the bowl with both of his hands, “Just like this?” He stirred it as close as he could to how Pat was doing it and he beamed.

“Yep! Just like that! You’re a natural!”

A faint blush appeared on his cheeks yet again as he smiled though he tried to hide his smile with his turtleneck hoping it was hidden enough.

They continued on like this for a bit Pat started humming under his breath, even dancing a bit as he hopped around the kitchen. Virgil chuckled at the sight and even giggled when Pat kept making puns. They weren’t very funny at all really but he couldn’t help but enjoy them.

Sudden loud footsteps came thundering down the stairs making Virgil jump hard, so hard he almost fell off the counter completely along with the bowl.

“Why hello my fellow sides! What a great morning this is! Why the birds are chirping the grass is singing the-”

Virgil didn’t hear the rest.

Creativity.

That’s Creativity.

He can recognize that cheery booming voice anywhere.

All color drained from his face in a snap of fingers. His body started shaking so hard he felt the spoon fall from his fingers and he couldn’t move to grab it. His entire body was frozen he couldn’t move a single limb no matter how badly his mind screamed to run. His chest was throbbing in pain as he tried to suck in air but nothing came in. All he could hear was his thundering heartbeat drumming in his ears. He couldn’t breathe. Every attempt resulted in more pain through his chest and lungs. He felt ice cold seep into his very bones.

He couldn’t breathe.

He couldn’t breathe…

Creativity….

Distantly he heard something beside him but it felt like he was underwater. He couldn’t understand a single word the sound was producing.

Then he heard a sound piercing scream shatter through the silence. Though he didn’t know where the sound came from one thing was certain, his throat now was killing him. Did he make that noise? He must of.

Wait…

He was backing up, his body finally decided to work! But as he did he suddenly felt nothing below his hand. Then his arm. Then his entire body went back with it.

He went down and he screamed loudly in fear. The yellow man’s going to come. Creativity will definitely give him to the yellow man without question. Pat properly won’t, Logan maybe not, but this side will definitely be glad to do it. Or if he doesn’t he would love to torture him himself most likely. He thought he could trust this Pat. He thought he won’t get hurt. Guess he was wrong. It’s what he gets for being trusting, for letting down his guard.

Just as he was about to hit the tile he felt strong arms and that he landed on something warm rather than the cold hard tile. A chest… A warm comforting chest.

“Virge! Virgil hey hey you’re safe. It’s okay. Pat’s got you. Dad’s here. Dad’s got you. It’s going to be okay. Breathe. In for 4. Come on kiddo let’s count okay? 1…2…3…4… Can you hear me?”

He couldn’t shake his head or really even move it all he could do was curl into a ball and expect pain to come his way. He didn’t want this. He didn’t want pain again. He didn’t want-

“Kiddo. Shshs… Roman’s not here now. You’re safe. Can you breathe along with me?”

“…D-Dad…?”

“Yes yes, dad’s here. Dad’s not going anywhere. You’re safe. I promise you, you are safe. Can you open your eyes for me? Keep breathing kiddo. Keep breathing in for 4.”

He tried to follow his instructions he really did. But his eyes for some reason didn’t want to open. With a tremendous effort he finally managed to open them up a little bit the lights from the kitchen making him wince at the brightness, then he breathed in for as long as he said though as soon as he did he coughed and hacked. His lungs were burning up in his chest. They left like they were collapsing in onto itself.

“There you go kiddo. I’m so proud of you. Can you look at dad?”

Every movement sent pain going through his body, it took so much effort from him but he managed to slowly itch his head towards Pat’s. Morality had tears coming down his cheeks yet again but he ignored them this time.

“There’s my sweet kiddo. Can I touch you?”

He nodded and a second later he felt a hand on his shoulder, “Keep looking at me okay? Can you follow me?”

He nodded again.

“Okay breathe in for 4. There you go. 1,2,3,4. I’m so proud of you! Okay, hold for 7. You’re doing fantastic.”

He couldn’t do it for the entire time his throat burned halfway through resulting in him hacking and coughing even worse than last time.

“It’s okay. You’re doing beautifully. Let’s start over okay?”

They had to do it quite a number of times, so long that if he left on the stove top the pancakes would be burned to a crisp by now.

When he could finally breathe okay by himself and his tears have dried up all he was left doing was hiccuping.

“You’re okay now?”

He nodded.

“I’m so glad to hear that. Want a hug?”

Another nod and he smiled when Pat opened his arms this time all but practically throwing himself into them. That warmth and comfort engulfing him once again letting the last bit of the tension in his shoulders relax.

“I’m here kiddo. I’m here. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’ve got you.” They started rocking side to side as he lay curled in his chest.

“Do you want your cat back?”

He didn’t trust his voice quite yet so he nodded.

“Gotcha. Hold on onnneeee second,” He kept one arm around him as he slightly stood up and grabbed the plushie. The second Virgil saw it he instantly grabbed for it whimpering as he hugged it close.

He felt another kiss in his hair, “I’ve got you. I love you so much.”

Virgil’s eyes looked up to the other and smiled. Yeah… He feels this…love now.

The Bookkeeper (Masterlist)

pairings: logicality, prinxiety word count: 37.4k general warnings: implied major character death(s) (that occur outside of the present story, though they are technically “alive” in the story – it’s magical), mentions of minor character deaths (i.e. parents, grandparents), existential crises, mild swearing, mild NSFW content, brief mention of past homophobia *see beginning of each chapter for specific warnings

summary:

“fray and far fables” has always been considered by its patrons as ‘magical’; the books always seemed more vivid, their spines seemed to breathe — every story seemed like it could be real, through and through. logan fray wishes this was not the case.

buried in his research, logan finds himself caring less and less about his magical inheritance, and more interested in unraveling a single question: what is the meaning of art in a meaningless life?

however, this is not helped by the store’s familiar and magical bookkeeper, roman, who—with the help of the store’s dedicated customer, patton morgan—is determined to convince logan that there is beauty in art and, hence, life: by opening one book nook at a time.

–

this beautiful art was made by the wonderful @cyan-silver, who i gush about more in the a/n!

[read on ao3]

Chapter 1: Wuthering Heights

Chapter 2: Red Rising

Chapter 3: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea

Chapter 4: The Starry Night 

Chapter 5: The Signature Of All Things

Chapter 6: 50 First Dates

Chapter 7: The Dispossessed

Chapter 8: Nihilism and the Death of Art (I)

Chapter 9: Nihilism and the Death of Art (II)

Chapter 10: One Last Time, Please

Chapter 11: The Midnight Forest 

Chapter 12: Epilogue

author’s note under the cut! :)

Lees verder

The Maze

Reader’s that are easily disturbed should read with caution and/or with a friend present 

Warnings (Please tell me if I missed any!): HORROR, Major Character Death, Gore, Body Horror, Unsypathetic!Remus (but character description is vague and you can pretend it’s not him), Monsters, Dead Animal, Blood, Descriptions of Death, Body Transformation, Throwing Up, Referring to someone as an ‘it’ (but he’s literally a monster so..) 

Characters: Roman, Virgil, Logan, (vaguely implied) Remus

Words: 2,101

Two years ago a wrote a few Sanders Sides spooky stories that I still love today, I thought I’d finally finish this one that I started but never got around to again after October 2018. Happy Halloween everybody!

—–

The haunted corn maze stood tall and imposing in front of them. It was some silly tourist attraction that was closed for the night, as it was nearing three in the morning of Halloween night.

“Guys, I’m not too sure about this,” Virgil said as they neared the entrance.

Roman was already jumping the little gate that was more just to people it was closed then it was to keep anyone out, “It’ll be fine! Just a fun little trip, in and out!”

“There is nothing to be worried about Virgil, while it is fairly easy to become lost in a corn maze of this size, there are tricks to easily greaten our odds of coming out quickly,” Logan added, simply opening the gate Roman had jumped and holding it open for him.

“No- No, they’re right. It’ll be fine. Let’s go,” Virgil finally agreed and followed Roman in, Logan taking the rear.

It was absolutely not fine. Nothing about this was fine. Something happened. The first riddle had been cheesy and goofy, a goofy thing he couldn’t remember now. The second had been a little harder and so had the third, and so on and so on until the tenth that hadn’t made any sense at all. The space was growing longer between each riddle, sometimes taking full minutes to get to the next sign. The corn had grown so high and thick that it was nearly impossible to see over and even harder to get through. They couldn’t hear the road anymore, something that should have been getting closer to. By the fifteenth riddle it was clear they weren’t in the same fun, cheesy tourist attraction, they would get out within the next hour, corn maze they entered. It was debatable whether or not any one of them would get out alive

Keep reading

A Party of Three Masterpost

Read the whole AU on AO3 here 

Christmas of Chaos 

Prologue: Septic Sides  Ch. 1 An Invitation  Ch. 2 The Party Begins  Ch. 3 Two Truths and a Lie

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.