Griffin's drabblings

fandoms I write for: Achievement Hunter, Sanders Sides, Harry Potter, Hadestown; I take requests!

[griffins-fanfic]

Me: *minding my own business*

My brain: "Human AU where all of the sides are genius rich kids who go to an elite boarding school in the Alaskan mountains and have screwy morals."

Me, opening Google docs: "fucking goddammit"

[rationalisms]

listen, there is absolutely nothing that gets me going like mutual seemingly unrequited pining like? i live for both people losing their minds over the other person in bitter silence. savoring every single accidental brush of their fingers, elbows, thighs, every stray glance, memorizing every gesture or expression they catch while the other isn’t looking, all while being absolutely convinced that it’s one-sided only to finally!! finally find out it wasn’t in a triumphant moment of bliss after years and years of delicious, soul-rending, torturous, heart-wrenching pining. i literally don’t care about the fact that this trope is predictable af and always plays out the same way i will still go wild over it every single time like they’ll be doing the same reveal scene i have seen a million times and i’m still on the edge of my seat gasping “are they gonna kiss???”

[lovelylogans]

double chocolate fudge

part of the wyliwf verse, though it isn’t necessary to read that first—a lot of the premise is spelled out in this fic, actually, so it’s a decent prologue

the sideshire files | read my other fics | coffee?

warnings: food mentions, complicated parental relationships, mentions of transphobia and homophobia, classism, crying

pairings: gen 

words: 9,258

notes: i actually originally was gonna stick this, as a flashback, in the middle of chapter nine, and then maybe in chapter eleven, but i ended up (grudgingly) cutting it because i couldn’t figure out a way to get it to flow, so, here it is! 

there’s a flu that scours throughout he town at a rate of absurd proportions that week, knocking out the vast majority of virgil’s part-timers, so he’s had to pull his third fourteen-hour shift in four days, waiting and busing tables and cooking, so at last when the diner’s closed, virgil’s making himself his first meal of the day. he’s taking a second to just breathe, because it turns out when people get sick, they really don’t want to cook, so he’d had to deal with dinner rush and take-out and call-in orders, the kind of days that would have been hectic even with a full staff, but with one that’s been absolutely decimated, virgil hasn’t had a moment of peace. and now he has it. 

so when the bell dings, cheerfully disrupting it, he’s less than pleased.

“we’re closed,” virgil barks out in the meanest tone he could manage, which is pretty damn mean. he’s expecting someone to get huffy, or pleading, or mad, and he’s gearing up to turn and kick whoever it is out of the diner without prejudice.

he is not expecting to hear that someone burst into hysterical sobs.

Keep reading

[griffins-fanfic]

*deep breath* AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS IS THE CUTEST SHIT EVER I WILL FOREVER BE THE BIGGEST WYLIWF FANBOY AND THIS REINSTATED THAT FACT IN MY MIND

[griffins-fanfic]

I've read too many fantasy au fics recently and have been getting fantasy au ideas because my writing mood is directly related to what I've been reading which is tough because the secret project is like the opposite of fantasy so if anyone has TSS fic recs that are domestic human aus feel free to shoot them my way

[eggsyemour]

that feeling when you’re addicted to your wip and it’s just so fun to write. you can’t help it, you can’t stop, and every moment you spend away from your keyboard you’re dreaming and scheming of what to write next…

[griffins-fanfic]

Kinda life update

First order of business: I'm dropping Finding Midnight. I wasn't that passionate about it in the first place, and writing it felt more like an obligation than something I enjoyed doing. I'm keeping the chapters I have posted up, because I'm a huge believer in not deleting works, but at this point in time its status is abandoned.

Second: I am not dead, I promise, and I have not lost my hyperfixation on Sanders Sides. The cause for my radio silence is the fact that I am working on a secret project that is taking up a lot of my time and writing energy.

Third: I am working on something that will probably be up in a couple weeks, because I don't want to disappear off the face of the earth completely. (I'm gonna try to get it up before the next episode is posted because I have a feeling that episode will ruin like...everything about the concept of this particular fic)

Fourth: requests are still open, as always, but keep in mind that my brain is a very fickle thing and if it doesn't find an idea interesting at all, it will not work. Nothing against the person making the request, but I will not force myself to write something I have not the slightest bit of passion it.

That's all, goodnight!

[infinityuserboxes]

[simonghostrileys]

Incredibly fucking slow at it 🤧

[slagginbitch]

i fixed it

[lovelylogans]

where you lead, i will follow

previous chapter / chapter nine / next chapter

start from the beginning!

ao3 | read my other fics | coffee?

warnings: hospitals, needle/ivs, coughing, fever, sick stuff, pneumonia, arguing, classism, pregnancy scare (in a flashback), mentions of dysphoria, death mentions (only mentions, don’t worry!) please let me know if i’ve missed any!

pairings: moxiety, logince

word count: 22,124

notes: hoo boy this chapter was a DOOZY and i’m v curious to know how it’s gonna go over, so, fingers crossed y’all like it!

virgil hates hospitals. well, arguably, patton hates them more, he always hates going to the doctor even if it’s just for a check-up, but the fact that patton is alone back there and delirious and in a place he’s afraid of without anyone who knows him to comfort him kind of makes virgil want to put his fist through a wall, so he doesn’t think about that, and instead he keeps pacing this stupidly tiny waiting room, clutching his hoodie, not even putting it on properly, because he’d given it to patton when he started shivering and shaking and succumbing to his chills and not breathing a word of complaint about the cold he must have been feeling and virgil had given him his hoodie and patton had sniffled and looked at virgil like he’d made everything okay, so he can’t put it on until everything’s okay again. right? (it makes sense to him.)

Keep reading

[griffins-fanfic]

This fic is my new obsession. Not to be dramatic or anything but this is the sole reason my hyperfixation on Sanders Sides is still as strong as it is four months since it started.

God it makes my heart so soft. Please read it.

[sanders-specs]

A Rainy Valentine’s

Summary: When Virgil wakes up on Valentine’s day to a rainy day and a pouty boyfriend, he wants to do something to cheer him up. Little does he know that Roman has a very important question to ask him. 

A/N: Happy Valentine’s day! I gift to you fluffy Prinxiety, a soft, cuddly Virgil, and a pouty Roman. I hope everyone has a good day and remember, I love all of you! 

Pairing: Prinxiety

Warnings: kissing

Read on Ao3

Tag List:    @tripleaaaqueer @lilbeanblr @helloisthisusernametaken @justanotherpurplebutterfly @alwaysmy-lilith @ilylogan @logically-trans @seas-space-and-stardust @generalfandomfabulousness @arentordinaryvillainsadorable @nico-holly

Virgil woke up to the soft clap of thunder outside and the sound of rain pouring down on the house. He stretched and smiled softly, snuggling back against his bed. The room was dark from the clouds, little light being able to get through the window. The sounds soothed him into a light sleep. He felt comfortable and content, at least, until the door to his bedroom was thrown open.

“Ugh, the whole day is ruined!”

Sighing, Virgil only looked up at his boyfriend, still too tired to move. “What do you mean Roman?”

Roman flops down on the bed and Virgil rolls over to wraps his arms around Roman’s, snuggling against him. “Valentine’s day! I had the entire day planned out and all that is ruined by the stupid rain.”

“Mmmm…” Virgil was nodding off again.

Roman huffed, but after a moment or two, he ran his hand through Virgil’s hair, making him relax even more. He freed his arm and wrapped it around Virgil, pulling him close. Virgil smiled and pressed a kiss Roman’s neck.

“You’re happy,” Roman muttered, but Virgil could hear a smile in his voice. Virgil smirked. He knew that no matter what Roman couldn’t stay upset when Virgil was cuddly like this.

“Mhm,” Virgil hummed, snuggling against his boyfriend’s chest. “You’re comfy.” Roman let out a chuckle and rubbed Virgil’s back.

“You’re cute,” Roman said and kissed the top of Virgil’s head, making him smile. For a while, they laid there in silence, Virgil floating in and out of sleep.

“M sorry your plans go ruined,” Virgil muttered, lifting his head to look at Roman.

“Nothing I can do about it now,” Roman sighs and started running his fingers through Virgil’s hair again, “though I don’t think it would’ve made you this happy, goodness. Rainy days really get to you huh?”

“It’s soothing,” Virgil said, and kissed Roman again before settling back against his chest, “and I would’ve loved whatever dramatic and romantic thing you had planned.”

“Yeah…” Roman said, though he sounded unsure. Virgil, however, was already dozing off again.

Seguir leyendo

[itmepaigeb]

Brewing Love

Warnings: Innuendo, flirting, kissing, swearing

Pairings: Remile; background Logicality, Prinxiety

Word Count: ~1k

Read from the beginning!

Previous Chapter

Chapter 11

Remy and Emile finished their drinks just before Roman came back to continue flirting with Virgil.

“Virgil, can I get a cinnamon bun?”

“Sure thing, Em.” Virgil swiped their card before heading over to the pastry case.

Keep reading

[griffins-fanfic]

You know it's a good chapter when it ends with "oh, shit."

[max-is-tired]

He (Tastes Like Apple Juice And Peach)

Pairing: Royality

Characters: Roman Sanders, Patton Sanders

Words: 424

Warnings: angst, Roman angst, hurt/comfort, pining, implied happy ending, can’t think of anything else tbh???

Notes: just,,, blame @romansleftshoulderpad for this one. He’s the one who, when I said “I kind of wanna write something based on this song” went “YES PLEASE DO???”

That’s all I have to say, really. I’m so sorry lmao.

Thanks to my amazing beta @tigertigertigger who makes sure the English language doesn’t kick my ass to hell and back, you’re the absolute best!!

Hit me up if you want to be added to the taglist and let me know if you liked this, reblogs, comments and asks are always very welcome and much appreciated! And if you consider buying this broke college student a coffee, you’ll have my eternal gratitude and a thank-you ficlet of your choice, so there’s that

Buy me a coffee!!!  Join my Discord server!!

Past Roman always thought of falling in love as something big, something breathtaking, something so life-changing that it would be next to impossible to miss.

Present Roman, however, can’t help but feel a little foolish about those thoughts.

Keep reading

[promptdumpster]

Reader: “Oh my God! I can’t wait to see what happens next!”

Me, the author, who has been winging this plot since chapter one:

[thehoneyedhufflepuff]

I mean

[softestvirgil]

Me with LTFB

[griffins-fanfic]

Finding Midnight-Chapter 3

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Pairing: Moxiety, background Logince

Warnings: none that I know of

Summary: Roman begins his lifelong rivalry with Midnight ft some cute platonic Royality

AO3

[[MORE]]

Roman was exhausted. If he never had to deal with another lady who thought she knew everything, or another table of frat boys who made not so subtle homophobic comments at his retreating back, it would be too soon. He had never been so relieved that it was movie night in his life. He arrived home, changed into clothes bordering on pajamas, ran a makeup wipe over his face, and nearly sprinted the four blocks he had to walk to get to Patton and Virgil's apartment.

Once there, he let himself into the apartment with his key. Patton was in the kitchen making popcorn, so he waved a greeting and walked into the living room. There, Virgil was sitting cross legged, on his phone, oblivious to Roman's arrival.

Roman took the opportunity to collapse onto the couch, his head landing on Virgil's lap, startling the man. He landed facedown, and started groaning immediately.

"Rough day at work?" Virgil asked, combing his hand through Roman's hair.

"Understatement of the century." He muttered. He stayed there, enjoying the affection, until he felt a prick of pain on his leg. He yelped and shot up, jumping onto the back of the couch.

"Midnight!" Patton yelled from the doorway. Virgil started laughter, small giggles quickly turning into hearty guffaws as he curled in on himself. Roman only squinted in confusion at the blur of black scattering across the floor, the obvious culprit of the pain. Patton scooped it up and started toward the couch.

"Sorry about that," he said, "I'm not sure why she attacked you."

"The demon has a name?" Roman gasped.

Virgil wiped the tears from his eyes and calmed down. 

"the demon is edging you out of your best friend spot, so I'd be careful what you say about her. She's a dumpster cat we adopted a couple days ago."

"And who's idea was it not to warn me?" Virgil raised a hand and Roman narrowed his eyes at him. He knew it.

"I'm sure you just startled her. She's still skittish." Patton said. "Here." He stepped closer. "Give her your hand."

Roman slowly reached his hand out and held it a foot from the ball of fluff in Patton's arms. He got hissing in return.

Virgil giggled again. "I guess she just doesn't like you."

Roman gasped, affronted. "How dare you! How could any creature on this Earth dislike me?"

Virgil gave him what Roman considered the side eye of the century. "I wonder."

Roman threw a pillow at him, immediately regretting it when Midnight launched out of Patton's arms and started attacking him again. After thirty seconds of pain and screaming, Patton managed to get ahold of her and shut her in Virgil's room.

"What the hell!" Roman gasped.

"She's usually really sweet, I don't know what's up with her." Patton said. "Are you bleeding anywhere?" He knelt down to check over Roman.

"I have an idea." Virgil said.

"Care to share with the class Emo Nightmare?" Roman sucked in a breath when Patton's fingers brushed over a wound on his wrist.

"You come in here, slam the door shut, act like your usual loud self as you make your way to the living room. These actions paint you as a threat in her eyes. Then, you jump on me. She must have interpreted that as you attacking me, and she wasn't about to let a stranger attack her dad without defending him."

"That, actually makes sense."

"I'm gonna go get Band-Aids." Patton got up to find them.

"Shock and awe, I was smart about something for once, I know. I grew up with cats. I'm pretty decent at reading them."

Patton came in with a box of Disney Band-Aids and Roman reached out to grab them. "Where's Specks?"

"Logan couldn't make it due to 'unforeseen circumstances." Virgil said.

"Oh." Roman tried to ignore the disappointment that settled in his stomach. It made no sense, anyway. He had known Patton for years, and met Virgil a couple days after they become roommates. He only met Logan a few weeks ago, when he came to movie night for the first time. So there was so reason he should be so disappointed that he wasn't there.

"Now quit moping," Virgil said, Roman hadn't realized he had been wearing his emotions so clear on his face. "We're watching Heathers."

Roman's mood was brightened instantly. One thing that Roman and Virgil had bonded over was their love for what Roman called "The Holy Trinity" of teen girl cult classics. Heathers, Clueless, and Mean Girls. Virgil had been working backwards in introducing the other two to those movies, working backwards chronologically whenever it was his turn to pick the movie. Heathers was Virgil's favorite and Clueless was Roman's.

Virgil turned the movie on and they settled into their spots. Through trial and error they had organized a way for four people to comfortably fit on the couch a few weeks ago. Patton sat on the left end of the couch, next to the side table. He had access to all their drinks. Roman sat in the middle of the couch, feet on the single foot rest, sometimes he leaned against Logan, sometimes Logan sat in the chair. Virgil curled up with his head in Patton's lap and his feet in Roman's.

They went through the movie, Roman quoting nearly all of Chandler's lines, Virgil quoting nearly all of Veronica's, Patton gasping at all the deaths. As the credits rolled and they realized Virgil had fallen asleep, and Roman realized that all the tension in his chest had eased. He loved his friends a lot, and they always knew how to cheer him up.

~~~

Roman returned the next day with a bucket of cat treats, he was determined to make amends with the cat. Patton opened the door, obviously surprised to see him.

"Roman!" He said.

"I've come to apologize to the cat."

Patton ushered him in. "well come in then. Virgil's at work, but maybe that will help. I think Midnight's in the living room."

She was sitting right next to her scratching post, looking out the window. There was a tree right outside their window that had a bunch of squirrels around it. It was September, so they were scurrying around gathering their nuts.

Roman walked over, taking a couple of treats out of the bucket. He crouched down when he got a few feet away from her and held out the treats. She only give him attention when he started clicking his tongue.

She turned her head, gave him a slow once-over, and turned back to the window. Roman moved so he was sitting cross-legged instead of crouching uncomfortably. Fine. If she was wanting to play the waiting game, he would win.

That lasted a total of 90 seconds until he got bored. He threw the treats in her general direction and got up, going to sit on the couch next to Patton.

"You just need to be patient." Patton said. "She'll warm up to you eventually."

Roman huffed and leaned back into the couch cushions. "Patience isn't exactly my strongest trait."

Patton sighed. "oh dear. I do hope she likes you eventually. I wouldn't enjoy it if mine and Virgil's child and one of my very best friends disliked each other."

Roman felt his eyebrow quirk involuntarily. Ever since Patton accidentally confessed, Roman never missed an opportunity to tease him about his crush on a certain embodiment of a dark and stormy night. He turned toward Patton and put his chin on his folded hands. "So you now have a child with him?" He asked.

"I mean yeah. He found her and brought her home, and we're taking care of her together. It's basically like we have a kid." Patton said, a slight blush already creeping up his face.

"Practicing for something?" Roman teased, earning a light smack on his wrist.

"Oh hush." Patton giggled.

"Perhaps practicing for when you have actual human children with a certain someone?" He kept pushing.

Patton burned red now, nervous laughter continue to spill from his lips. "Oh now really, I'm telling you to zip it."

"C'mon Padre, why haven't you told him?" The mood changed very quickly. Maybe he shouldn't have asked that.

Patton wrapped an arm around himself and averted his gaze so he no longer was making eye contact with him. He took a deep breath. "because I'm, I don't know, scared?"

Roman sat back up. "Scared of what?"

"His reaction? I know logically that he wouldn't react badly, but there's always that fear, you know? I don't want to lose him."

"But what if you not confessing is the reason that you lose him?" Teasing aside, they didn't really have that many serious moments where he could talk about stuff like that with Patton.

"There's too much of a risk. I can't, Roman."

"But what if-"

"Roman! Please." Patton finally looked him in the eye for the first time since the conversation turned serious. His eyes were filled with desperation, sad enough that Roman knew immediately he had gone too far.

He held his hands up in surrender. "Alright, alright. You're right. I went too far. Sorry." They sat in silence for a while, both watching the cat, who was watching the squirrels. Roman was desperate to salvage the situation, he didn't like leaving his friends on a bad or awkward note.

"Are you doing anything today?" He asked finally.

Patton shook his head. "No. I was planning on getting some writing done, but I've already reached my word count goal for today."

"Do you want to go to the art museum? I'm off today."

Patton hummed in thought for a second. "Sure! I've just gotta feed Midnight first."

Roman jumped up at that. "That's it!" He shouted, startling both Patton and the cat. "That's how I'll get her to like me! I'll feed her."

"That's a good idea." Patton got up and walked into the kitchen, Roman following. He grabbed a can of wet cat food, a pale pink food bowl, and a can opener. "Just put the food in the bowl, break it up a little, and set it next to the water bowl."

Roman held the can opener in his hand and stared at the closed can of food. He continued to stare for a while, too embarrassed to admit why he hadn't started you.

Luckily, Patton was good at reading people. "You don't know how to use a can opener." He said simply. Roman nodded. "Well, here, I'll teach you."

Patton quickly explained how to use the opener, Roman watching intently. He knew he was way too old to not know this, but he just didn't use a lot of canned food.

As soon as Patton cracked the can open, Midnight appeared in the kitchen, circling Patton's feet, yelling at him. Patton passed the can to Roman, who dropped the food in the bowl and set it down. Midnight approached cautiously. She gave Roman a dirty look before finally crouching down to eat her food.

Roman sat down next to the bowl and watched for a few seconds. Then he slowly reached a finger out and scritched Midnight's head. In a flash, Roman had another cut on his hand and Midnight was hiding behind Patton's legs.

Roman sighed and stood up. "Well, let's try again later."

Patton smiled at him. "Let's go."

They had lots of fun at the museum. The two of them were never people for staring at art and looking for meaning in them, Logan refused to go with them to museums for that reason. Instead, they wandered the halls, chatting casually, occasionally making jokes about the art on the walls, their attempts at hushed giggles getting dirty looks from a bunch of other people.

Roman did find one painting that spoke to him for reasons it couldn't explain. It was a portrait of a woman and two young girls, and something in one of the girl's expression stirred something in him. He stared at that single painting for way too long, until Patton pulled him away to make a dumb joke about a sculpture.

They returned home, spirits high, and Roman was so glad he had that impromptu day with his best friend. They were the first people to befriend each other of the four, and Roman loved Logan and Virgil to death, he truly did, but he sometimes missed when it was just the two of them.

Taglist (ask to be added or removed)

@whymustibedraggedintofandomhell @kosmicsides @ananonsplace @thatgaydemigodnerd @serenitythepanther

[griffins-fanfic]

Chapter Three of Finding Midnight will be up in a couple hours, but until then here's a meme to tide you over.

[tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors]

Faded With Uncertainty

It’s pretty common to come across Virgil being awake in the middle of the night

It’s not at all common to find him doing so while crying.

Pairing: Prinxiety (could be read as platonic if you’re REALLY trying but written as pre-romantic)

Word count: 1615

Warnings: SPOILERS FOR THE LATEST VIDEO (Dealing With Intrusive Thoughts) mentions of concussions/head injury, very vague mentions of Garbage Boy

Notes: the title is from the song “How Will He Find Me?” by Deb Talan. 

“Roman’s not real, he can’t get a concussion-” Listen. Listen. I don’t care. Also all of the concussion stuff is probably wildly inaccurate. I still don’t care.

Keep reading

[griffins-fanfic]

Finding Midnight-Chapter Two

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Ships: Moxiety, Background Logince

Warnings: none that I know of

Summary: shenanigans continue, featuring Midnight being a sassy little shit

AO3

[kosmical]

Keep reading

[griffins-fanfic]

Virgil's peak useless gay.

[griffins-fanfic]

Finding Midnight-Chapter Two

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Ships: Moxiety, Background Logince

Warnings: none that I know of

Summary: shenanigans continue, featuring Midnight being a sassy little shit

AO3

[[MORE]]

The vet was very kind. She told them that Midnight, shockingly, didn’t have anything wrong physically except for malnourishment. She gave her a vaccine, then suggested a meat-based wet food diet, checking Midnight’s weight regularly to see if she’s gaining weight at a healthy pace, and told them to come back in three weeks for a booster shot.

They were on their way with Midnight in a carrier and headed to the nearest pet shop. Midnight fell asleep on the walk there. Virgil had a sudden spike of worry as they walked through the door, wondering if cats were even allowed in there. But, he spotted someone with a leashed Great Pyrenees at checkout, and figured that if that giant ball of fluff was allowed, then the kitten the size of Virgil’s hand wouldn’t be kicked out.

Patton had the shopping list, but he was quickly distracted by the rodent aisle. Virgil took the list and walked over to the aisle with all the collars. He set the carrier down on the ground and picked a couple options from the shelf. Then, he crouched down and looked into Midnight’s eyes.

“Alright. What about yellow?” he held up the yellow collar. It was an eyesore, but he had to give Midnight options. Silence from the kitten. “Blue?” It nearly perfectly matched Patton’s favorite shirt, which was a bonus in Virgil’s mind. Still silence. “Purple?” Quiet, then one tiny mew. “Alright, purple it is.”

They moved to the beds, finding Patton already there, holding up a medium sized pink bed. He turned to Virgil and showed it to him. “This one!” He said.

“Isn’t it a little big?” Virgil asked.

"She’ll grow into it. I don’t know. I was drawn to it.”

Virgil chuckled. “Valid. Let’s see.” He studied the list. “Food, litter, litterbox. Probably some sort of scratching post.”

“And lots of toys!” Patton added.

“Divide and conquer? I get the food and litter, you can get the box and toys.”

Patton nodded and started skipping off to get the stuff. Right before he turned the corner, Virgil shouted, “Make sure she can get into the box!” earning a thumbs up. He then swung around to the front of the store to pick up a cart and went over to the food aisle. There, he located the brand recommended by the vet and picked up a few cans. Then it was over to the litter. There, his phone rang.

“Hey,” He said.

Logan’s voice came through the phone. “Virgil, it’s Logan.”

"I know, caller id exists.”

“Correct. Due to unforeseen circumstances, I will be unable to attend movie night this week. Please give Patton my apologies.”

“Will do. You’ll make it next week, right? Pat will be disappointed if you miss two weeks in a row.”

“Of course. As long as we are not required to watch another one of those abominations that Roman likes to call ‘classic Disney movies.”

Virgil laughed. “I’m putting a blanket ban on any Disney movie made before 1970 from now on.”

“Perfect. Farewell.”

“See you next week, L.”

As Virgil found the most budget friendly litter, the thought that he should probably warn Roman about the cat before movie night crossed his mind. He quickly ignored it. It would funnier to drop the idea of the cat on him when he got there.

He met up with Patton at the checkout line. As he eyed Patton’s basket, he was relieved that he had been payed recently. He considered asking Patton to maybe give up a couple of the toys, but he just didn’t have it in him.

It wasn’t until Patton pulled out his debit card that Virgil realized why he had gotten that many items.

“Pat, no.” He started, but was quickly shushed.

“I’m not going to ask you to pay for this much. Look, the newest freelance job just finished, and now I have a little bit of money to burn. Don't fight me on this.”

They finished and started their trek back to the apartment. “Hey, have you told Roman about her yet?” Virgil asked.

“No, what are you planning?” Patton said, squinting, his usual face of suspicion.

“Nothing!” Patton knew him too well. “Just don’t tell him until movie night. I wanna surprise him.”

They arrived at the apartment and set their haul down on the kitchen table. Virgil's arms ached, and he could see that Patton was rubbing his shoulders, grimacing. Virgil set the carrier down, letting Midnight loose to sprint around the apartment again.

He picked a bag and started pulling things out of it, looking through all the toys Patton had bought.

"We need to get her a tag." Patton said, joining him in going through the stuff. "Oh! You should have a photoshoot with her. Get all your fancy photography stuff out."

Virgil shrugged. "I don't usually work with animal subjects."

"I mean, it's our child! It's gotta be different." Virgil blushed slightly at the suggestion that they were co-parenting. "And you could post it on your Instagram!"

Virgil had an Instagram that he posted some of his photos on. It had a couple hundred followers, and brought in the very few commissions he had done so far, but recently he had been pretty bad at keeping up with it.

"That's certainly an idea. Did you get two of the same toy?" Virgil held up two nearly identical feather wands.

Patton grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. I couldn't decide which color to get."

Virgil smiled back. "Dibs on the black one."

Patton pulled something else out of the bags. "This is a puzzle toy. You put a treat in this." He pointed at a tiny box in the middle of the toy, "and she has to solve a small puzzle to get it."

Virgil inspected the toy. "Are you sure we should be teaching her how to solve puzzles?"

"Why not?"

"She seems like she's gonna grow into a little shit. I don't think we're equipped for a cat who's both a little shit and intelligent."

"Do you really think-ow!" Patton jumped and grabbed his ankle. "She scratched me!" He yelled. Virgil hadn't even noticed that she was back in the room.

"Oh jeez. Are you bleeding?"

Patton flopped down on a chair. "I can't believe! Betrayed by my own child!"

"You've been spending too much time with Roman. Can you go get a band-aid, or are you too injured to walk?" Virgil teased. "I'll set the scratching post up so she'll stop using you as one."

He carried the scratching post into the living room, setting it up under a window. Midnight came running to the post as soon as it was ready. Virgil crouched down and looked her in the eye. "I know you're energetic and you probably never had a healthy way to express it, but we've got all these toys for you for a reason. I love you, but hurting Patton is where I draw the line." He dropped his voice down to a whisper. "Cause I love him more." She meowed in response. Virgil was satisfied that she had gotten the message.

Patton announced his presence by walking into the living room and immediately banging his elbow against the doorframe. Virgil looked back at him. "Jesus Pat, I think we need to do less cat proofing and more Patton proofing."

"The world needs to be me proof. Do I need to reprimand her or did you?"

"I think she understands. Do you want to help me with taking a couple photos of her?"

Patton's eyes lit up, causing Virgil's heart to jump. He had wanted to help Virgil with his photography since it was revealed that he did it, but Virgil had a hard time working with other people, so he hadn't accepted the offer yet. "Get the collar on her and take her to my room. I'll start setting up."

Virgil went into his room and grabbed his photography box from his closet. The box contained two white sheets, one for pinning on the wall and one for laying on the ground, his portable lights, and his tripod. The camera was kept on his desk, he spent an entire paycheck on it once, he wasnt about to put it somewhere it could get broken.

Patton came in while he was rummaging around the box. "Shut the door so we can keep her contained, and come help me pin this sheet."

"Ok! I brought one of the feather wands just in case."

"Good idea. Now get your tall ass over here and pin the top of it. I have it marked where the pins need to go."

"How do you do this by yourself?" The marks were made at 6 foot, and Virgil, in all his 5'3" glory, definitely wasn't tall enough to reach it without help.

He shrugged. "chair."

"Are you talking about your desk chair? Virge that could get you hurt!"

"Yeah, I have enough bruised forearms and knees to prove that."

Patton's face set in determination. "Well, now you have me to help you. You'll never have to worry about injuring yourself for your job again as long as I'm here!"

"Thanks, but it's not my job, Patton, it's a hobby.*

"It'll be a job one day, I'm sure. I mean, you have a gift!" Patton hit the space bar of Virgil's laptop in a flourish, revealing the background that Virgil had set. It was from the one wedding he had done, a photo from the reception. The two brides were doing the first dance, one of them looking at the other like she was the entire world. It was a beautiful moment that had Virgil tearing up from behind the camera.

"That photo, and that's just one example, is perfect!"

Virgil blushed at the praise. He quickly cleared his throat and set his mind back to the task at hand. He was about to melt and wasn't sure what he'd do if Patton kept spilling compliments from his lips. Probably kiss him. And that was a bad idea. A horrible idea. Terrible no good brain giving him all these idiot very bad ideas.

He turned his attention to setting up the lights, plugging them in and adjusting them. Next, the camera. Patton was stretching his arms up to reach the marks, shirt lifting up to show a tiny strip of skin. Virgil ducked his head down and continued fiddling with the tripod, face as red as a cherry.

Finally, the only thing he had left to do was get the subject ready. Who was currently attacking his comforter. This was going to be a mess. He sent Patton into the kitchen to get treats.

"What kind? We didn't buy her specific cat treats?"

"I don't know. Some lunch meat or something. Just go." Then he turned to the cat. "Alright. Now, this may be a hard thing for you, but I'm going to need you to behave." Midnight yowled at him in response. "Point taken. Just don't fuck up my equipment and we'll try to get through this." He finished the lecture by picking her up and plopping her on the sheet. She immediately attempted to scramble off of it, but was intercepted by Virgil.

Patton came in then, carrying a few pieces of ham on a paper plate. Virgil sighed. "Great. You're back. Can you tear a couple pieces of that and put it on the sheet? She won't stay on it long enough for me to take a photo.

They proceeded to fill Virgil's SD card with tons and tons of photos. Midnight playing with the feathers, Midnight flopped on the ground, Midnight mid leap, every single pose a cat could do, there was a photo of Midnight doing it. About 45 minutes into the photoshoot, Virgil fiddled with the tripod, raising it up to human level. He then gestured to Patton. "Get on there."

Patton looked shocked. "Me? But I'm not camera ready."

"Shut up, you're always camera ready. I want to get a couple of photos of her with her pa, obviously. That took another 30 minutes, and left Virgil wore out. It was a decently short shoot session, compared to some jobs he's done, but Midnight was undoubtedly one of his worst clients, so he was exhausted.

Patton started taking down the set as Virgil plugged the card into his computer and starting looking at the photos. He stopped at one. In the photo, Midnight was curled up in Patton's arms, obviously content, and Patton had the softest look on his face, he wasn't looking directly at the camera, he was looking just above it, but other than that, it was one of the best photos he had ever taken.

"Oh wow." Patton sighed out behind him, causing Virgil to jump. "That's beautiful. You did a really good job."

"Uh, thanks. But you know, it was pretty easy when I had the two best clients in the world."

They ordered pizza and munched on it as the two of them went through the photos, choosing the best ones. Then they put on a dumb Netflix movie, ignoring it in favor of laughing at Midnight's antics.

As Virgil passed by Patton's room at about 2 in the morning, he saw Patton asleep, his curls the only thing visible above his quilt, Midnight curled up on top of him, purring in her sleep. The annoyed thought of "of course she wouldn't use the bed we bought specifically for her" crossed his mind, quickly shot down in favor of him just admiring the sight. He stood there for too long, staring, only snapping out of his trance when Midnight stretched out, letting at the smallest mew he had ever heard. He fell asleep that night the most content he had been in years.

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