Rescue
Chapter summary: Sanders Sides G/t AU where Virgil is a human and Patton, Logan and Roman are borrowers who live in his apartment building. Full summary in the masterpost (check notes!).
Word count: 2398 words.
Triggers/warnings: Panic attack, arguing, homophobia, fear, violence, blood, illness, death mention, assault mention, moderately detailed description of death (in flashbacks) and injuries, casual nudity (non-sexual), self-deprecation. Warnings for this chapter will be bold.
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In all honesty, Virgil should have expected something like this. The tinies had been living in his room for almost three weeks now, and he was starting to get used to seeing them do their own thing whenever he opened the door. Then again, the open jam jar on the counter with two sets of tiny legs sticking out of it was such a strange view that he forgave himself for not expecting it.
“Guys?” he called hesitantly.
“Oh, Virgil!” The rightmost pair of legs straightened and started to kick excitedly. Patton’s face appeared a moment later. He was looking over his shoulder as he balanced his hips on the edge of the jar, and Virgil noticed some jelly smears on his clothes. Patton smiled widely. “How was your day?”
It took him a second to process the question. “I- Good, I guess? What are you guys doing?” He wasn’t sure if he should laugh or rush to their aid. Patton’s attitude seemed to suggest the situation was not life-threatening, at the very least. He walked further inside and deposited his shoulder bag on the bed before turning his attention back to the kitchen counter.
“Oh, you know, we’re just trying to get out of a sticky situation here!” Patton chuckled sheepishly.
Virgil chuckled too, if only because he didn’t know what else to do. “Should I help?”
“No,” Roman grunted from next to Patton. Virgil still couldn’t see more of him than his white trousers. “We’re perfectly capable… hnggg… of solving this by ourse- whoa! Don’t pull me in!” He scrambled to grab the glass edge and moved his torso upwards. Virgil noticed his sleeves were covered in the sticky goop, and there were also smudges on his chest and even in his hair.
“If you say so, Princey.” A soft snicker escaped him.
“Wha- It’s true!”
“We’ve been unsuccessful so far, Roman,” Logan’s voice came from the jar. “I think-”
“No, you don’t think as long as you’re in there, Specs.” Roman bent forward again and, after casting a hesitant glance at Virgil, Patton followed suit. “We’ll get you out of here in no time flat. We just… hng… have to… Wait, don’t let go!”
“I’m slipping!” Logan protested.
“Are you sure I shouldn’t help?” Virgil hadn’t come closer because he didn’t want to crowd them, but he was anxiously staring from a distance.
“Actually, I think that might be preferable.”
Roman groaned in annoyance at Logan’s answer and pushed himself up on the jar, then jumped down. He sent a glare at his trapped brother, but the label made it impossible to see inside, meaning he was just glaring at the cartoon bear that was drawn there. “Fine, do as you wish.” He crossed his arms and huffed, smearing some jelly on a relatively untouched part of his clothes.
Patton hesitated a little longer. He looked up at Virgil and opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it again and lowered himself with a subdued expression. Virgil didn’t really pay attention to it. He stepped closer and peered down into the jar.
Logan was covered in a thick layer of jam. The only areas uncovered were his eyes and mouth, where he had wiped the jelly away. He was pressed against the glass, staring up at Virgil. Virgil tried to smile but he wasn’t sure to what extent he succeeded.
He grabbed the jar with his right hand to steady it and slowly lowered his left hand inside. The opening was too narrow to fit his whole hand, so he inserted only his pointer and middle finger, bending them towards where he’d seen Logan. “Can you come stand between my fingers and wrap your arms around them?”
There was no reply, but after a few seconds, he felt Logan’s small arms envelop his fingers, the tiny body pressing in between them. He shuddered at the strange sensation.
“Like this?” Logan asked just as Virgil started to lift him, and he felt the grip of the tiny arms tighten. He made sure not to lift the borrower too high and to put him down as quickly as possible. Logan kept clinging to his fingers, even when his feet touched the counter. Virgil wasn’t sure, but he thought he felt him shivering.
“Logan? Are you okay?”
“H-huh? Ah, yes, thank you very much.” Instantly, the borrower stepped out of his grasp, taking a couple of steps backwards. He tracked a trail of red, sticky goop across the counter, but Virgil didn’t comment on it. Patton and Roman quickly approached, staying close to their brother while keeping a cautious eye on him.
“So…” He shifted awkwardly, fighting the urge to wipe his hand on his pants. “What happened?”
Logan stood a little straighter, wiping the sticky goop from the side of his face. He swung his hand and the jelly dripped onto the counter. “My glasses fell.”
Virgil snorted softly and bit his lip to keep himself from laughing. He hummed instead, but his amusement was still clearly audible. “What were you even doing?”
“I…” the borrower trailed off and looked away, shuffling with his foot. He looked uncomfortable, Virgil thought. Embarrassed, even.
“Eh, Logan really liked that jelly?” Patton piped up. He earned a glare from Logan, but the eldest didn’t deny it.
“Hmm? And then?”
“I thought I’d take some more, but my glasses slipped as I leaned down and I lost my balance when I tried to grab them. I’m sorry. Patton and Roman only did what they did because I asked them to. Please don’t be mad at them.”
“I’m not mad, Logan. Not at any of you. I’m just wondering what we should do now.”
Logan twitched, something Virgil would have missed three weeks ago, but had gotten more attuned to recently. It had become quite clear that the tinies weren’t keen on telling him when he did something wrong, so he had learned to look out for signs. Even if Logan appeared quite relaxed, he must be more tense than he let on. “Do?”
“Well, no offence, but you guys are really dirty right now, and I’d rather not have you walk around like this. My apartment is messy enough as it is.”
Logan looked down at his jam-soaked clothes and sighed. “I suppose you have a point. Do you… have a suggestion?”
“I could fill up the sink in the bathroom so you three can wash up?” Virgil offered.
Patton gasped and clapped his hands. “We’d have our own swimming pool!”
“I suppose I could do with a little freshening up,” Roman said. Logan nodded along.
“Yeah, there’s just one thing… If you guys walk over there you’d be making tracks of jam all over my floor, so would it be okay if I…” Virgil trailed off, placing his hands on the counter with his palms up.
“If you…?” Logan repeated, although his expression told Virgil he already knew what he’d ask.
“If I carried you there?”
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Somehow, they ended up where they were now: in a sink filled halfway with warm water. Logan took some shampoo, which Virgil had squeezed on the edge next to the tap, and gratefully massaged it in his hair, appreciating how the sticky mess gradually smoothed out.
He shivered and quickly slid down the side of the sink until he reached the water again, which was heavenly warm. Part of him never wanted to get out, even though he knew there was a big risk, seeing as none of them knew how to swim. Virgil hadn’t mocked them for that, luckily. Instead, the human had made sure that the water was nowhere deep enough to completely submerge them, and he’d hung a dishcloth on one side to make it easier for them to climb out.
On the other side of the tap, there were two packets of paper tissues that they could use to dry off and cover themselves as Virgil washed their clothes. Logan was really glad they’d found a compromise. Virgil had allowed them to make their way to the bathroom themselves if they rinsed off under the kitchen tap first. The wet clothes had made them even colder during their short trip, but Logan still preferred it to being carried. His rescue from the jam jar had been the first time he was ever carried, and he wasn’t eager for a repeat so soon.
Initially, the kitchen sink had seemed like a good way to wash up without having to be carried, but in hindsight, he was happy they’d done it this way. The bathroom door was closed, and Virgil had promised to knock before he entered to give them the chance to cover up.
Logan glanced at Roman, who was valiantly fighting and clinging to a small rubber duck that Virgil had placed in the sink at his brother’s request. Especially for his sake, Logan appreciated the privacy.
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Virgil moved the tiny pieces of fabric between his fingers, careful not to tear them. He wasn’t sure if his tiny roommates had any spare outfits, and he didn’t want to risk it. Luckily, it seemed like the liquid detergent did its job well enough to remove the jam stains. He raised the current outfit out of the water, frowned at the slight discolouration still present on the whitish fabric and resumed his scrubbing. He glanced sideways to where Logan’s and Patton’s shirts and pants lay to dry on a hand towel.
Roman’s outfit was definitely different from the other two’s; not only the colour but also the fabric. Where Logan and Patton’s outfits were comprised of different patches of fabric, Roman’s clothes appeared to be made of the same cloth. Virgil had noticed the golden embroidery on the chest and sleeves before, but now that he got a better look at it, he realized the outfit had probably belonged to a doll before Roman “borrowed” it. He snickered softly at the mental image.
Once he finished, he wrung as much water out of the clothes as he could and hung them to dry on the radiator. Then he plopped down on the bed and scrolled through Tumblr for a bit as he waited for the tinies to finish up in the bathroom. When that moment came, he pushed himself up and headed for the bathroom, knocking softly and waiting for their verbal confirmation.
His eyes automatically went to the sink, but it was empty save for the rubber duck with the top hat. “Virgil!” he heard near his feet, and when he looked down- “Boo!”
Patton was swinging his arms up and down excitedly, literally clad in a paper tissue. He had made a hole in the middle and draped the rest over his body like a poncho. He looked like someone who’d had no budget for Halloween. Roman and Logan were wearing the same thing, standing a few steps behind him and looking a lot less enthusiastic. Virgil felt his lips twitch up in a smile. It looked like they were wearing cheap ghost costumes, but their size made them look more like walking tissues.
He considered making a teasing comment, but Patton looked so enthusiastic that he decided against it. “Did you enjoy the bath?” he asked instead, holding the door open for them.
“Yeah!” Patton beamed. His tissue fluttered behind him as he ran back to Virgil’s room. The other two followed after him at a calmer pace, each acknowledging Virgil with a quiet nod. He waited until they all had their backs turned before he allowed his smile to widen. Especially from a distance, they looked like three tissue ghosts roaming about his apartment. He snickered softly and stepped into the bathroom to let the water run away and put the rubber duck back on top of the cupboard.
“Where are our clothes?” Roman asked as soon Virgil closed the door behind him. He rolled his eyes at the urgency in the tone.
“Look up, Princey, they’re on the radiator. It’s gonna take a while before they’re dry.”
Logan nodded. “I expected as much. Virgil, if it’s not too much trouble, do you have some cellophane tape that we could use?”
“Yeah, sure.” Virgil grabbed the apparatus from his desk and placed it near Logan on the ground. “Oh, before I forget!” He grabbed Logan’s glasses, which he’d rescued from the jam jar and cleaned under the tap, and handed them to the logical tiny. His first instinct was to put them on him, but on second thought, he just held them out for the little guy to take. Logan rewarded him with a grateful smile.
After that, Virgil got to witness just how incredibly efficient borrowers were when it came to making clothes. Logan and Roman ripped pieces from each other’s tissues, and then they used tape to keep the edges together. Within three minutes, both were wearing a toga-like garment. Roman went on to fold what seemed to be shoes from the remaining tissue paper, while Logan rolled another piece until he had a small string, which he used as a belt.
Virgil stared with open mouth at the outfits that looked remarkably complete and refined, despite being made from tissues and tape.
“Patton, it’s your turn.”
“No!” said borrower giggled. “I’m gonna be a ghost!” He started running across the room.
“Patton, I swear…” Logan grumbled before he took off, running after his brother. Patton squealed and giggled. The chase didn’t last long. It wasn’t more than a minute before the inevitable happened and he stepped on his tissue, tripping himself. He was still giggling as Logan caught up to him and started working on his outfit. With the way he was squirming, his brother simply created two holes for his arms, wrapped tape around the waist and ripped off the edges so Patton could move his feet without tripping. The outfit looked like a dress, but Patton didn’t seem to mind. And why would he? It looked pretty good on him.
Virgil smiled to himself. At least one person in this room wasn’t afraid to defy gender roles in public. Then again, did borrowers have gender roles? And did his room even count as ‘public’?
“What are you smiling about?” Roman asked. Virgil turned to him.
“Nothing. I was just thinking I’m pretty hungry,” he said airily. “Anyone up for mac and cheese?”
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