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: 3016 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 are bold.
First Previous Next Check notes for navigation!
-----
Patton stared down at the sleeping form of his target, less than a foot away from him. The human was so close! He swallowed thickly, wanting nothing more than to turn around and run. He had never been this close to one, but he had something to prove. Granted, now that he was actually here, he started to second guess his rather impulsive decision to put a human in their place tonight. It was painfully obvious that he was outmatched, and doing something so reckless just to prove himself seemed, well, stupid.
But Roman had done it before. Many times, even, and he had never been caught! He always called it his way of getting back at the humans, and if Roman could do it, then he could too! He’d do it and show his brothers that he wasn’t a child anymore!
He tentatively stepped closer, distributing his weight so the human wouldn’t wake up. Climbing on top of the head was child’s play, but this time there was the added danger of waking the human up, so Patton made sure to take his time. He crouched down at the ear and took another deep breath to calm himself. Then he spoke.
“You… y-you think you’re so tough and strong, huh?” The words felt strange in his mouth. They did make him feel stronger, but also… bad, somehow. He wasn’t sure what it was exactly. Well, he could dwell on it later. “You think you can scare us away just because you’re bigger? W-well, think again! We’re n-not a-afraid of you. You’re mean and scary, you’re… you’re not nice!”
The man shifted a little underneath him and Patton saw how his forehead creased. A soft groan sounded from his throat and Patton was amazed… and a little ashamed. Had he caused that? He felt a little bad that he did such a thing to someone else, but… This was a human! This was someone dangerous, an enemy! Compared to all the bad things they did, this… this much was okay, right?
It didn’t feel okay, though, not completely. It felt wrong, being mean just because someone else was mean first. Patton bit his lip and glanced back at the ear he’d been talking into. This much would be enough proof for Roman and Logan, right?
“If you weren’t such a baddie, I wouldn’t have to do this,” he said into the ear, his glare softening a little, but not disappearing completely.
With that, he got up to leave but stopped in his tracks when he heard the new sound the human made. It was a soft whimper, and it sounded distressed. The human shifted a second later and Patton had to grab some hairs to stay in place. Had… had he gone too far? Oh no!
“I’m sorry!” he squeaked. “I didn’t mean that! I’m sure you’re not always a baddie, you can be nice too, right? I’m su-”
He yelped when something closed around him unexpectedly. Before he could even try to move away, he was lifted into the air. Both the pressure around him and the sudden fear that overtook him made it hard to breathe. The trap swayed and moved, accompanied by the sounds of rustling blankets and a sleepy mumble of “What the heck?” There was some more fumbling, a soft click, and then there was light.
-----
Virgil was a light sleeper. He was well aware of that fact. He didn’t have nightmares, not always, but his body could never fully relax for some reason. It seemed like, even when he was asleep, he worried about what could happen to him. He lost count of the times he’d woken himself up by tossing and turning.
He thought that it was the same this time. Or rather, he didn’t think at all, his mind too hazy with sleep. But then his waking brain registered that something was off, which of course sent his senses into overdrive.
There was an odd weight on the side of his head – not uncomfortable, but unusual – and he thought that he heard a voice, although that could have been the remnant of a dream. He reached for the foreign thing, frustrated to be awake when he could’ve been sleeping, but was unpleasantly surprised when he actually grabbed something. “What the heck?” A shiver ran down his spine at the thought of… whatever this thing was, being on top of him while he slept, and he used his free hand to feel around for the switch of his nightlight.
He had to blink a few times when his corner of the room was bathed in a soft yellow light, and then he looked at what he held in his hand. For a moment, he locked eyes with the... thing, and then he flung it away with a shriek. He scrambled up to a sitting position, keeping his eyes locked on the doll-like thing that was now at the foot of his bed.
What the heck was that thing?! How did it get on him? Was this a prank? Was someone filming his reaction? But who? Thomas? No, Thomas wouldn’t do something like that. And his door was locked, so how... And who... And why... W-what?
All his thoughts, overwhelming as they were, screeched to a halt when he processed that the doll was, in fact, moving on its own. It even made noise! He watched with growing horror and astonishment as the thing rolled over and slowly climbed to its hands and knees, panting and whimpering softly. The little head shook slowly as it leaned heavily on its limbs. Then the thing looked up at him. Their eyes locked and neither moved for seconds as they took in the other’s appearance.
Then the trance was broken, and Virgil jerked his legs up, wanting to be as far away from that thing as possible. His heart was thumping loudly, and his breathing was shallow. If he didn’t make sense of things soon, he might send himself into a panic attack.
The doll man yelped as its underground shifted so rapidly and fell back down. It didn’t stay down, though, but scrambled further towards the footboard. Virgil watched it happen and felt a pang of relief that it ran away from him, not towards him. Unfortunately for both of them, it had cornered itself between the footboard and the wall. It jumped against the wall a few times but kept bouncing back onto the bed. A part of him found relief in that as well. As much as he wanted to get it away from him, the idea that it could crawl over the walls and approach him again in his sleep sent an uncomfortable shiver through his body.
What the heck was it even?! It had to be alive… It was way too expressive to be a toy or a... whatever else it could be. It looked just like a human being, but... way too small to be possible, which gave it a creepy vibe. But who was to say it really was like a small human being? He didn’t know what else it could be, but what if... what if-
His heart beat rapidly in his throat, making it hard to swallow or breathe or think. He had to focus on something if he wanted to keep the growing panic inside him at bay. Focusing on the small human thing was probably not the smartest decision he could make, but he wasn’t about to let it out of his sight and have it disappear on him. Having it gone was better than having it near him, but having it somewhere close and not knowing where was much, much worse!
It seemed like the little thing had given up on climbing the walls (or whatever it was trying to do; who knew, maybe it wanted to break the wall altogether). It was now curled up in the corner of his bed, its back pressed against the wall and the footboard. It was hiding behind its legs and if Virgil strained his ears, he could hear the short, gasping breaths that it took.
That grabbed his attention, and he looked more clearly at the little guy in front of him. Even in the dim light and from this distance, he could see it trembling in the corner. Something akin to sympathy welled up in him. The little head shot up and Virgil watched as it... as he gaped like a fish, trying and failing to breathe. The little eyes were blown wide.
He instinctively realized what was happening. Before he could stop himself, he forced his lips into a soft smile and leaned forward slightly.
“Hey.”
-----
Patton whimpered when the human called out to him, curling further in on himself.
“I’m not going to hurt you, alright? Calm down.”
He didn’t calm down; the panic was too overwhelming. His chest hurt, and he couldn’t breathe and why couldn’t he breathe?! Had the human done something to him? No, no! Please stop, please! He didn’t want this, he wanted to breathe! It hurt, it hurt so much! He didn’t want to be here!
“I want you to breathe as I count, okay?”
Just let him go home! Please! He would listen to his brothers, he really would, so, please-
“In for two, hold for two and out for two,” the human instructed, then started counting in a slow rhythm. Patton didn’t know what to do, but his panic ridden mind instinctively latched onto the simple command. He winced violently when he failed to follow the directions at first, but luckily the human didn’t move from his spot.
Slowly, he regained control of his own body. His breath still quivered, but the ache in his chest and limbs subsided somewhat. In its place came a heavy weight that settled in his body. His racing thoughts slowed down and so did his heart rate, and then he realized just how exhausted he felt. His eyes started to droop, but he forced them open. He had to stay alert! He wasn’t safe yet!
The human moved, and Patton flinched, but it turned out he only pulled his legs closer. His eyes shifted between Patton and the rest of the room, and the borrower wished he knew what he was thinking. What was he planning?
Patton bit down on his quivering lips, so hard he tasted blood. This was bad, this w-was really, really bad! What was going to happen to him now? The human had stayed away from him so far, but that didn’t mean anything. He’d seen how fast this one could move. Patton was no match for him. He was stuck.
Would he ever see Logan and Roman again? Fresh tears silently streamed down his face at the thought. He didn’t dare to wipe them away. The human kept looking at him and he was too scared to draw even more attention to himself. His throat stung from the sobs he held back, but he tried to swallow the ache. It didn’t work, but at least he could breathe now, unlike before. His eyes flitted back to the human for a second, trying to predict what he would do.
“Ehm,” the human started, breaking the silence. “My name is Virgil. What’s yours?”
Patton made himself even smaller, but that didn’t seem to throw the human off. He just kept staring at him, clearly expecting an answer. He took a shaky breath and opened his mouth, but his straining throat didn’t let any sound escape.
“That’s okay, you don’t have to tell me.” Virgil was silent for a little while. “I’m going to move now, okay? Don’t be scared.”
The tears streamed down his cheeks as he watched the human move off the bed, much faster than he himself could ever hope to move. As soon as Virgil decided to reach for him, it would be over. Luckily, he walked right past him, disappearing from view. Patton heard him rummaging in another corner of the room.
This was his chance to get away, but… his b-body didn’t listen to him! The crippling fear had subsided, yes, but there was a tingling in his arms and legs that made it hard to get up. When he finally stood, a wave of dizziness forced him to his knees again. He knew he was wasting his chance to get away and sobbed in frustration, but then immediately slapped his hands over his mouth. He glanced up at the closet through his tears. He was in no condition to climb up right now.
The noises in the kitchen stopped and Patton’s breath hitched. He glanced up when the human reappeared. A giant hand reached for him and he braced himself, but it only placed something on the duvet and retracted. The human sat down on the floor next to the bed. “You should drink something.”
Patton eyed the object suspiciously. It was a bowl, about the size of his head, filled with a clear liquid. Water… or was it? What if Virgil had put something in it? What if it killed him? Or made him fall asleep, only to wake up in a cage? What if it was something that would make him talk about Logan and Roman?!
He weakly shook his head and sobbed softly when the human frowned. “It’s better if you drink a little. You must be exhausted after that.”
He wanted to refuse again, but how much of a choice did he really have here? Virgil could do anything to him if he really wanted to. M-maybe it was better to not make him angry…
He crawled closer to the bowl on his hands and feet and, after a wary glance at the other, he brought it to his lips. His arms trembled as he angled it and he did his best not to spill. It was hard to swallow with his constricted throat, but he managed to do so without choking. The liquid soothed his parched throat and felt delicious on his dry tongue, but he was too scared to really enjoy it.
“Good job. Come on, little guy, a little more.” A soft wail escaped him as he obeyed, taking three more gulps before pausing to breathe. Virgil nodded and smiled. “Good job,” he said again.
No further orders followed, so Patton placed the bowl down and crawled back on his butt. He didn’t take his eyes off the other. Virgil looked back at him and cleared his throat.
“I’m just wondering, can you speak? You seem to understand me, so… I don’t know, can you?”
Patton nodded, and then whispered, “Yes.” Virgil nodded.
“So, eh… I don’t really know what to do now. Do you have any ideas?”
A small spark of hope began to grow inside Patton. “C-can I leave? Please?”
“Oh, eh, yeah, sure. Is your body okay? Can you stand?”
Patton bit down on his lip and shakily climbed to his feet. He spread his arms trembling arms, showing himself to Virgil. “C-can I leave now, ple-ease?” he pleaded, his voice trembling.
“Of course.” Virgil shuffled a bit and his eyes zigzagged through the room. “Should I… I mean, do you want me to go away so I don’t see where you’re going?”
Patton’s mouth fell open, but he quickly nodded before Virgil would change his mind.
“Okay, hang on a second.” Virgil pushed himself off from the floor. Patton had a feeling he kept his movements slow on purpose. “I’m gonna stay in the bathroom, then. Is ten minutes enough or should I stay away longer?”
“I… I think that’s enough,” Patton replied, wide-eyed.
“Alright. Take care, and stay safe, okay?”
“Okay…” He watched as Virgil walked towards the door, disappearing behind the open closet door. “Thank you.”
He could barely believe this was real, even as he unsteadily scaled the wooden closet. At the top, he caught his breath for a moment, then crawled over to the other edge and peaked down. Nothing. Virgil had really left the room. He knew he shouldn’t trust a human, ever. Logan’s warnings and Roman’s tales were nothing to sneeze at, and heck, he wasn’t eager to relive his own encounter, either. But, despite all he knew, a tired smile formed on his lips as he walked towards the vent.
He didn’t plan on coming back to verify it, but he couldn’t help but think that maybe, just maybe, he had stumbled upon a good human.
Maybe.
-----
Virgil sat on the toilet seat, slowly counting to six hundred. After that, he took his time to do his business and wash his hands in case the mini man needed some more time. He chuckled humourlessly. Maybe he should be more freaked out about the fact that mini people existed in the first place, but he couldn’t really bring himself to do it.
His heart thumped as he pushed open his door and entered his room. He peaked around the closet and found that his bed was empty, save for a half-full bottle cap. He picked it up and emptied it in the kitchen sink, then crawled back under the covers. His eyes swept over the walls, his desk and his closet – anything in his room that could hide the tiny guy from view. Nothing out of the ordinary.
He sighed with a smile, clicked out his nightlight and settled deeper under the covers. He made himself no illusions that he would come back. He’d seen how terrified the other was, and if the roles were reversed, he’d stay as far away as possible from now on.
Not that Virgil minded. He was curious, sure, but he was also a sophomore in college. He didn’t have time to look for the small guy, and even if he did, what would he even do if he found him? No, it was better to just forget this whole thing ever happened.
He turned on his side with a yawn, trying to get in a few more hours of sleep before the alarm would blare.
-----
Check the notes for navigation!
Amazing art by @snekky-boi for this chapter (spoiler alert: also contains pieces for scenes later in this story) and by @b0y-guts about a scene in this chapter can be found in the masterpost (check notes!)
