For as long as I could remember, I’ve had a love for music. It has always been a big part of my life and whoever I listen to, expressed exactly how I felt at the time. It was my last three years of high school that I started to question who I really was. There are three main artists that played a big part in who I am today.
Up until my sophomore year, I mainly listened to Christian music and whatever music that was being played at the middle school dances. Throughout middle school, I mainly listened to what everyone was listening to at the time. I didn’t start to explore what music genre I really liked until my freshmen year of high school. I would always listen to what everyone else was listening to. In my hometown, there were two high schools that a majority of the kids would go to, one private, the other public. When it was my time to decide where to go, I chose the private school, I wanted to be with the people I knew in kindergarten. At first, it was fun and great, I was around people I knew since forever. As time on, my friends and I grew apart; I was so naive to think they would be my friends forever. Around the time my great grandma passed away, I found out when it was close to winter break, when my mom told me, my soul was crushed. I felt as if my heart was being ripped out of my chest. She and I were super close, and by the end of the year, I was slowly slipping into depression. Those last few months of my freshman year were pretty hard, but when finals started I had something to keep me afloat: music. The first band I really got into was, Paramore, all thanks to a friend.
That friend was named Rae, she always loved to dress in dark colors all the time. She was about my height, skin the color of clay, and had hair that was about my height, skin the color of clay, and had hair that was an ebony black. Her hair looked like the wings of a raven. Rae introduced me to her three favorite genres: pop punk, punk, and alternative music. One of the bands she showed me was Paramore and I fell in love with them. They instantly became my favorite; I related to some of their songs. As a birthday gift, my parents got me tickets to see them live a month before my actual birthday. When I went to the show I was having the most fun I had in months; I felt like was on cloud nine. For my next year of high school, I decided to go to public school, I wanted a fresh start. While I was still at the private school, towards the end my freshman year, I started to push people away. So I thought it was the best time to have a clean slate.
At the start, I didn’t have any friends, but then when I went to sixth period I ran into someone I have not seen since eighth grade. That person was Clover, I was his first friend. He moved from New York to Texas. In the beginning were good friends, but by the end of eighth grade, we drifted apart. Thanks to having at least one class together we started to reconnect, and by the end of sophomore year, we were closer than ever. Roll around to our junior year, and I became interested in the music he would listen to. One of his favorites was Halsey, he thought she was really cool. During our junior and senior year, we had a couple together, one being our favorite, Theatre. He introduced me to a lot of artists just like Hasley.
Two out of the many he showed me, Troye Sivan and Hayley Kiyoko, I really like them the most. At the I didn’t know why I liked them so much, that was until the school year was over. Over the summer after listening to them, I started to question who I was and wanted to be. The more I listened to Halsey, Troye Sivan, and Hayley Kiyoko, the more I felt I related to them somehow. As time wore on during my senior year, I start to realize who I really am. That I am not straight, but that I am queer.
NOTE: Fanfictions are arranged by series and type (incomplete/complete multi-chapter, one-shot, drabble, etc.). They are in order starting with the most recent for each section. Provided information is title (link to fic if it’s a one-shot), links (AO3 and chapters/TOC), universe (AU or canon), pairings, and summary. Other info such as trigger warnings and word count can be found within the fic’s individual posts.
NOTE ABOUT ROMANTIC PAIRINGS: eventual pairings are developed in the fic; established pairings pre-existed before the fic starts
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Sanders Sides
Incomplete Series/Multi-Chapters WIPs
Baby, You Are My Angel
Chapters (Tumblr): Ch. 1
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Angel/Demon & Human AU (…in which Virgil and Logan are angels and Roman and Patton are demons and they pretend to be humans)
Summary: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.“ Virgil, an angel destined to help humans make moral decisions, considered himself to be a lot of things, but never great. That is until he is sent to temporarily live in the mortal world with his friends and his partner, Roman (a demon more handsome than the devil himself), on a mission to repair the metaphorical line that divided the humans’ world and theirs, all the while disguised as humans themselves, the one thing Virgil hated more than being an angel. Though during this, Virgil begins to have revelations and questions his fate he seemed to have been born with, his morality and even finds himself falling for Roman, all while trying to save the world from crashing into the heavens and keep his spaghetti dinner inside of his stomach.
Witchcraft: A Sanders Sides Witch AU Webcomic
Table of Contents Link (Tumblr): x
Sideblog: @witchcraft-au
Universe: Witch AU
Romantic Pairings: eventual Logince, Moxiety, Remile; established Demus
Summary: Logan Berry is a human on the path to becoming a chemical engineer. That is until it is discovered that 2% of his blood is shared with that of witches’, a magical species shunned by society and one Logan never thought he’d ever had anything to do with. But now he has been swept away into the fantastical world of witches to become one, but that isn’t to say he won’t have a few people things in his way.
Completed Series/Multi-Chapter
Unhappily Ever After
Table of Contents Link (Tumblr): x
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Human, Coffeshop, & Soulmate AU
Romantic Pairings: eventual Prinxiety; established Logicality
Platonic Pairings: Moxiety, LAMP, Sleepxiety
Summary: Unhappily Ever After is the story of seventeen-year-old Virgil Hernandez and his life in the midst of his senior year in a world where everyone has a soulmate, but there’s a catch; you never know who it is and if you’ll ever meet them. Virgil knows better than to hope for the chance to be with his destined one and only, and thanks to the memories of what happened between his own two parents, he actually dreads that such a thing might happen and calls off love altogether. That is until he meets the dramatic and egotistical Roman Prince, who believes in everything he doesn’t, including happily ever afters. Between his own horrific past and Roman, Virgil is forced into a journey that will change his view on love and life forever. The only question is if his new-found story truly might have a happy ending or not.
Lessons Learned
Chapters (Tumblr): Ch. 1 / Ch. 2 / Ch. 3
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Human & Soulmate (soulmate tattoo) AU
Romantic Pairings: eventual Logince, established Moxiety
Platonic Pairings: Prinxiety, Royality
Summary: Roman is a hopeless romantic but has the worst soulmate tattoo he’s ever known. But when he meets his soulmate he begins to see things in a whole other light.
Summary: Roman could never have considered the possibility that he and Remus would grow apart. They were Creativity, and only them, together forever. A few arguments, however, and the inclusion of a little meddling from a certain snake leaves Remus going his own way, leading to a split between them that Roman never had expected before. (…In which it is not Deceit nor Patton that splits apart Roman and Remus, but Remus himself.)
Spaghetti Morning
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Human & Superhero AU (with Roman the hero and Patton the human)
Romantic Pairings: established Royality
Summary: Roman is The Prince, a well-known superhero who does what he can to protect people, but his lover, Patton, becomes worried for him and finds the real reason Roman keeps up his dangerous gig as a vigilante. Cue a three-a.m talk done over bowls of pasta.
Fish Sandwiches
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Human AU
Romantic Pairings: established Prinxiety
Summary: Roman brings Virgil to come to visit his family for a week during their winter break and spend Christmas with them. Virgil has agreed but finds the whole experience a lot more than he expected it to be, especially when he finds out Roman has special plans for them on Christmas.
The Best Time of the Year
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Human AU
Romantic Pairings: eventual Analogical, established Royality
Platonic Pairings: Prinxiety
Summary: Between putting up with Roman and his perfectionist attitude towards holiday decorating and conversations with–his friend? awkward buddy? one-sided crush?–Logan over hot chocolate, Virgil knew this Christmas was going to be different than the rest. (Christmas gift for @/virmillion)
Once in a Blue Moon
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Human AU
Romantic Pairings: eventual Prinxiety
Summary: Virgil walks Roman home after tutoring him and Roman can’t stand the quiet between them. (based on a tumblr prompt)
A Little Too Familiar with Rejection
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Canon Universe (post-Why Do We Get Out of Bed in the Morning? & pre-Crofters: The Musical)
Platonic Pairings: Prinxiety
Summary: Roman tries to explain his biggest fear to Virgil, the literal embodiment of fear.
Holding Onto You
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Human AU (with Haunted House workers Virgil and Patton)
Romantic Pairings: eventual Analogical, Royality; established Remceit
Platonic Pairings: Moxiety, Logince
Summary: Roman falls in love with a haunted house actor, and Logan… well, Logan may or may not do the same. Happy Halloween!
Must Be Dreaming
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Human AU
Romantic Pairings: established Creativisleep (Roman/Remy)
Summary: Soft one-in-the-morning kissing sessions are nothing unusual between Remy and his beloved boyfriend, Roman. However, when it’s obvious there’s something much heavier weighing down Roman’s mind Remy has to talk to him about it and help him in his own charming Remy-way.
Nothing To Fear
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Human AU
Romantic Pairings: established Prinxiety
Platonic Pairings: Royality, Analogical
Summary: It’s the day of Roman’s and Virgil’s wedding and both grooms are feeling a bit nervous. (request/idea by @/virmillion)
The Thing About Love
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Human AU
Romantic Pairings: eventual Royality
Summary: Roman is in love with Patton. Oops.
Plastic Flowers
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Fantasy & Royalty AU
Romantic Pairings: eventual Prinxiety
Summary: “We are all eventually either the victims or the victim’s family.” …aka Virgil is a half-dragon boy and Prince Roman takes him into his lovely kingdom, Imaj. Curse-breaking and surprising revelations ensue.
So This Is Love
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Canon Universe
Romantic Pairings: established Prinxiety
summary: Does Virgil?? In love??
A Thousand Dragons
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Human, Soulmate, & Summer Camp AU
Romantic Pairings: established Prinxiety, Logicality
Summary: Roman and Virgil are camp counselors at Sanders’ Summer Soulmate Camp for soulmates who don’t get along when Roman makes it his mission to rescue Virgil in some kind of heroic act before the day is up. However, his efforts succeeding may not be worth their consequences.
Hard Times
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Human AU (and single dad Virgil)
Romantic Pairings: eventual Analogical
Summary: Virgil is a single dad and Logan is his friend that gets him through the worst of times.
Between Blackberries and Their Bushes
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Human & Crofter AU
Romantic Pairings: eventual Logince; established romantic Moxiety
Platonic Pairings: Analogical
Summary: Logan, a worker at Crofter’s Organic, knows who he is and what he wants out of life. The only thing he doesn’t know, it seems, is what love feels like. Roman is a new employee at Crofter’s and changes that. Trouble brew and ensues.
Imagining Things
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Canon Universe
Romantic Pairings: established Prinxiety (sort of)
Summary: Virgil is reminiscing on the past and his time as a Dark Side and Roman comforts him… not.
Like Cats and Dogs
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Human & Soulmate/Soulpet AU
Romantic Pairings: eventual Moxiety
Summary: (based on @/officialwaterfairy’s au) Patton’s soulpet is a small black cat he named Cake who hates everything, and seemingly him as well. Virgil’s soulpet is a big blonde dog named Gerard who loves everything including him… which isn’t a problem aside from the fact that he gets insecure about how he can return that love back and if his method of doing so will make his actual soulmate turn away.
AUs I’ll (Probably) Never Write
Thieves: A Tragedy
Drabbles/Prompt Fills
Trope Mashup Prompts
Prinxiety + Coffeshop & Bookshop au prompt
Prinxiety + Fake Dating & Big Damn Kiss au prompt
Logince + Summer Camp & Everyone Thinks They’re A Couple au prompt
Angst Dialogue Prompts
Prinxiety + “You deserve so much better than me”
Prinxiety (abandoned Thieves AU excerpt) + several prompts
Kiss Prompts
Prinxiety + kissing in the snow, life or death (aka frozen au)
Prinxiety + kissing in the rain, missing one another
Prinxiety, Logince, and Logicality kiss requests done super late
Miscellaneous
Prinxiety drabble based on a quote by @perfectly-princely-emo-nightmare
Prinxiety w/ high school au prompt
Spooky Month Drabbles (link to masterlist)
Headcanons
Sanders Sides Ouran High School Host Club AU
sanders sides headcanons because I can
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Soul Eater
One-Shots
The Way Things Are
AO3 Link: x
Universe: Canon Universe
Romantic Pairings: established Soma
Platonic Pairings: MaKid
Summary: Maka is assigned to tutor the one and only Death the Kid due to his failing grades. Turns out the problem doesn’t lie with his intelligence but within his obsession for perfection.
Summary: Roman could never have considered the possibility that he and Remus would grow apart. They were Creativity, and only them, together forever. A few arguments, however, and the inclusion of a little meddling from a certain snake leaves Remus going his own way, leading to a split between them that Roman never had expected before. (In which it is not Deceit nor Patton that splits apart Roman and Remus, but Remus himself.)
Universe: Canon Universe, Pre-Canon
Pairings: Platonic/brotherly Creativitwins (Roman & Remus) *DO NOT TAG AS ROMANTIC REMROM*, platonic Dukeceit/Demus (could be read as romantic), and implied platonic Logince and Royality
Word Count: 2126
Trigger Warnings: Angst, Graphic Violence, Death (Animal Death, not major character), Blood, Intrusive Thoughts (obviously, because of Remus), Gore... again, most of this is due to Remus
A/N: Thanks for requesting @perfectly-princely-emo-nightmare !!! I had fun with this and with my first time writing Remus, so hopefully this will help with the off-and-on content drought I’ve been having. The second chapter to Baby, You Are My Angel will be coming soon too, so be on the look out for that! ^_^
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"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” -To Kill A Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Roman was never conscious of the fact that he had a brother. It wasn’t like Remus was hidden from him, or invisible, or under any other kind of cool spell the storybooks he always read depicted. Remus was always just a second part of him, his other half, not even another person. They were two sides of the same coin (as Morality would always joke). They were Creativity. Together.
“The dragon witch hovers over the castle menacingly!” Remus would shout, hunched over a makeshift the castle the two had made out of cardboard and tape and sneering as if he were the said dragon witch.
“The prince charges towards the castle unwavered and ready for action!” Roman would call back, holding up a prop, cardboard sword in defense. Then he’d jump at Remus so they landed in a pile of limbs, laughter, and flattened cardboard, the sharp corners of which would poke and prod into the boys’ bodies, but they never seemed to care.
Eventually, they’d wear themselves out and Roman would sit up, breathing hard but smiling nonetheless, and brush back some hair that had swept in front of his face. “The dragon witch is defeated once again!”
Remus, from his position on the ground, would scoff. “No! The prince was defeated by the mighty hands of the dragon witch!” Remus would pump his fist in the air for emphasis, but then his hand would immediately fall back on top of his chest, which was still breathing heavily.
“Nuh-uh!” Now Roman stood up, waving around his sword. “Morality said that princes always win and villains always lose!”
Remus’ brows knit together and he slowly stood too, glaring at Roman defiantly. “No! The dragon witch is a super-strong villain, though! And she always wins!”
This sort of feud was normal, even natural for the two parts of Creativity, and eventually would just end in more play-fighting and tackles interrupted by fits of giggles. It was ordinary, and it was never something Roman thought he would ever have to reminisce about.
Of course, like most things in his life, he’d find the case wasn’t at all what he’d thought it to be.
Over time, their arguments became worse. Although, they were never any longer than usual or even over different topics. When they came to a disagreement, Remus would simply just become suddenly more passionate about his side of things.
“The prince has won, Remus,” Roman would try telling him, “and that’s okay! Come now, don’t pout, let’s just go back and play!”
Roman’s rhyming did nothing to persuade Remus, however, and he’d stomp over to the door beside them and announce, “No! I’m going to my room!”
“You mean our room, dimwit!”
“Whatever!”
Remus then would step inside and slam the door behind him, and Roman was left in the hostile air he had created. The change in the air didn’t bother him, and he would continue playing by himself, something he wasn’t used to but nothing he certainly couldn’t handle. Everyday things seemed to intensify after this, and everyday Roman was left undeterred, completely sure Remus would come around eventually. He always did.
What wasn’t expected was how one day Remus stepped up to Roman, uncharacteristically serious. Roman didn’t let this affect him, and he held up Remus’ mace (which, like his sword, was also made of worn cardboard) for Remus to grab.
“Remus!” he said excitedly. “Wanna play?”
“No.” The tone Remus used spooked Roman ever so slightly, so dull and dark it was enough to make Roman shiver.
“Oh. Well, what do you want to do then-?”
“I’ve been talking to Deceit,” Remus said, ignoring Roman’s question. His eyes finally lifted off from their place facing the ground to meet Romans’.
Roman’s face scrunched up and he shook his head. “That snake? Why? He’s no fun, worse than Logic, I’d say. Why don’t you just hang out with me?”
“I want to play with Deceit from now on,” Remus affirmed, snatching his mace out of Roman’s hands.
“But-”
Roman was cut off when Remus growled and left, and he was alone with his confusion. Roman had to mull over his thoughts for a while before finally being comforted with the idea that Remus was just going through a phase and he was just going to experiment for a bit. After all, Logic had once said experimenting was healthy, especially for Creativity, and maybe Remus was going to take his advice to heart.
There! Now he knew there was nothing to worry about! Roman smiled to himself and plucked his sword from the ground before jabbing it through the air at the invisible dragon witch his imagination had conjured up for him.
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A year had passed, and Roman, to his surprise, continued to play alone. Well, Morality would join in sometimes, and if he begged Logic would too, but the other half of Creativity never did. Roman just assumed he was hanging out with that foul snake and possibly even—God forbid—that punk Anxiety. As bothersome as those thoughts were, Roman held onto the fact that they were Creativity, nobody else, and therefore they were inseparable. No matter what.
Or so Roman thought.
The start came when Roman was settling into bed one night, eyes sleepy after staying up to finish a drawing he had hashed out in crayon after a sudden idea had come to him not long ago. He was ready to rest, but his mind was still buzzing, and he knew whose fault that was.
Roman and Remus shared a mind, practically, as they were never really two separate people. So, reasonably, Roman could feel Remus’ energy and become more tired himself, wondering why these days Remus never seemed to want to sleep.
Roman pulled the sheets up over himself, doing his best to not mind whatever Remus was up to.
Another thing about Roman and Remus’ minds was they were always in tune, and sometimes that meant it wasn’t just their energies but their thoughts that were also shared. It was only practical for Creativity so their ideas were more easily and efficiently formed, of course, but lately Roman had only been getting thoughts of rage and despicable things from Remus’ side. Deciding to not confront his other half on this oddity, Roman just stayed silent (for once) about it.
But now, as soon as Roman’s head hit the pillow, Roman’s brain flashed and visions of spattered blood flooded inside it.
Roman sat back up immediately, eyes popped open and panting hard. He put a hand to his chest and tried to calm down, not even yet able to try and comprehend what he had just seen.
His eyes wandered to the other half of his room where Remus’ bed was, usually empty nowadays, and to his terror, Remus was sitting there. His legs were crossed and his back was towards Roman. Roman turned on the lamp by his bed and squinted, taking note of how Remus was dressed head-to-toe in black instead of his usual green (something he would mentally blame on that fiend Anxiety).
“Remus?” Roman asked, although he knew it was him. “What are you doing?” He wanted to add he hadn’t even heard him come in, but suddenly his mouth was too dry to speak.
“I’m thinking,” Remus answered.
The reply made Roman suddenly aware that was the first time they must’ve spoken all week, Remus too busy playing with the others as Roman stayed in his room, working on ideas and perfecting his appearance (which had started becoming more and more of a hobby to him).
Roman, no longer fearful, eagerly sat on the edge of his bed and smiled. “Oh? What about? Have any ideas?”
There was no response at first and then Remus darkly chuckled. “A few,” he said, followed by a strange sound.
Roman frowned and his eyes met the black, long object sitting his Remus lap. It looked like a long pole, but Roman’s eyes traveled further up it and realized it wasn’t a pole at all. At the end of it was a large, spiky ball. A mace, just like Remus’ cardboard one but real.
Roman gulped.
Remus’ hand moved up the mace enough to reveal to Roman the sounds he was hearing was the sound of Remus polishing his weapon with a cloth. He was being so tender with it in a way Roman had never seen him be before, and it made him relax a bit, enough to continue talking.
“Oh… cool! Like what?”
Remus finally turned around, and Roman’s eyes widened cartoonishly.
However big they were was nothing to compare with how Remus’ looked, so large they took up about half his face, twitching and quivering in their sockets. That was the least concerning part about him, though. Where Remus’ eyes weren’t his smile was, wide and curving upwards on the sides of his face, grinning like a madman. Even worse, each one of his teeth and all around his mouth was smeared in dripping, red gooeyness.
“Have you ever thought of killing and eating a squirrel?”
Roman instinctively scooted backward, taking a long breath in from his nose. “You- Remus what is that stuff?” he hesitantly asked.
“Blood, silly,” Remus grin twisted and widened more.
“W-What? Why- how?” Roman blubbered, tongue stiff in his mouth as he tried to process all that was happening.
“Like this!” Remus jumped up out of his bed, suddenly summoning a squirrel out of thin air. The furry little creature perked up and bounded around for a bit until Remus, staring down at it as if it were a work of art, lifted his newly cleaned mace over his head and then smashed it down on the squirrel.
Roman screamed, watching the blood splash onto Remus’ face, which eerily looked back up at him.
“See? Fun,” Remus said, but Roman was having none of it.
“You just killed an innocent squirrel! That is not fun! That’s evil!” Roman cried, standing up so that he and Remus were eye level.
“Evil and good are all relative, Deceit says.”
“I don’t care what Deceit says!” Roman said. He moved closer to Remus (his other half ) and tried to find some sanity in those large, haunting eyes that was worth holding onto. “What happened to you, Remus? We used to be so close!”
He ripped Remus’ mace out of his hands and threw it to the ground, and Remus was too shocked to fight back as Roman grabbed his hands and held them.
“Now you’re all… weird! What happened?” Roman was pleading now but Remus seemed unaffected, only squirming if anything.
“We’re in this together, remember? Like the song from High School Musical? We’re… we’re Creativity!”
“What do you mean?” Roman’s voice cracked with hurt and confusion. “Yes, we are!”
Remus picked up his mace, now red with blood for what Roman assumed was at least the second time that day. “I’m Remus. You’re Roman.”
“Yes, but-” Roman started, but stopped. His forehead wrinkled and he looked at Remus in betrayal. “Why can’t I hear your thoughts?”
Whenever Remus confused him (and that was a lot), Roman always did his best to hear the other’s thoughts. But his mind was just blank… like static, trying to find where Remus’ thoughts had gone to but in the end, it was in vain.
“I told you, we’re not Creativity. We’re not one, we’ve split,” Remus explained.
Roman was dumbfounded, unsure of what to say, only letting out small noises that sounded like the start of words that just trailed off. Remus watched him for a second and shook his head.
“Goodbye, Roman,” he said and swung his mace down on Roman’s head.
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When Roman woke up the other bed in his room was gone, along with all of Remus’ things, leaving the wall much closer to Roman’s bed than he remembered it being. Roman didn’t know exactly what had happened or how to feel—aside from the massive pain in his head, of course.
Logic, in an attempt to be consoling for Roman, explained that Remus was right. They had split. They were now two people, two sides. Two whole different parts of Creativity.
It was nothing Roman had expected, and as much as he tried to proceed on as if things were the same as always, grief for what once was his other half would always come back now and then. Alone now he could finally see how much he cared for Remus, it seemed, when before he had never really thought about the other. He took him for granted every day, and now look where that got him.
Chapter 1: Virgil, The Sloppy Gingerbread Man and Controversial Topic
Summary: "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them." ...Virgil, an angel destined to help humans make moral decisions, considered himself to be a lot of things, but never great. That is until he is sent to temporarily live in the mortal world with his friends and his partner, Roman (a demon more handsome than the devil himself), on a mission to repair the metaphorical line that divided the humans' world and theirs, all the while disguised as humans themselves, the one thing Virgil hated more than being an angel. Though during this, Virgil begins to have revelations and questions his fate he seemed to have been born with, his morality and even finds himself falling for Roman, all while trying to save the world from crashing into the heavens and keep his spaghetti dinner inside of his stomach.
Universe: Angels/Demons & Human AU (in which Virgil and Logan are angels and Roman and Patton are demons and they all have to pretend to be humans)
Trigger Warnings (for this chapter): Cussing/Cursing, Smoking, Food
AO3 LINK
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"This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man."
- William Shakespeare (Hamlet, Act 1 Scene 3)
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There were about a hundred different reasons why Virgil hated wearing the color white. He tried writing them all down in a list at one point, though he only made it to the twelfth reason before he got a headache that prevented him from continuing.
The first reason, of course, was food stains were horribly visible on white. The fifth was wearing the color made colder months insufferable—though even someone as stubborn as himself could admit summer was plenty more enjoyable when dressing head-to-toe in white. The forty-seventh reason? White didn’t bring out his eyes, and so on and so forth.
Unfortunately for Virgil, his uniform was white, and he had to wear it every day. Most people who wanted to keep their job did, after all. That meant he had to go through the torturous and frankly degrading process of slipping on his uniform whilst trying to keep himself from puking inside of his mouth every single morning. Albeit, by now it was something that he had grown used to, somehow gaining the ability between his years of experience to not even gag as he threw on his white shirt. Though that didn’t mean every now and then a sensation he couldn’t describe as anything else but pure hatred ran through him at the bear sight of the outfit.
Come to think of it, Virgil didn’t very much like his uniform as a whole all that much either, (revolting, excruciatingly bright) color aside. It was his technical size, sure, though the collar fits a bit too snug around his neck. The sleeves were pinched a little too tight over his armpit. The hems didn’t bend under his nails enough when he picked at them to be considered satisfying.
“I swear,” Virgil said as he ripped a chunk of his bagel off with his teeth. He chewed on it with one half of his mouth, the other half trying to spit out his words as he wagged his finger at the air threateningly. “One day I’m going to the Council and I’m making my case.” As if to make his point, he lit up a new cigarette with one hand—he had years of experience, kids, so don’t try this at home—and stuffed it into the unoccupied portion of his mouth.
He rested his hip against the cool metal of the balcony gate, savoring how it dug into the material of his jeans, which were, of course, annoyingly white. Virgil didn’t even bother to move his eyes from their current position trained towards his (white, ugh) sneakers out of the knowledge that if he did he would just be met with a face full of perfectly white, fluffy clouds, and that sight was debatably worse somehow.
He didn’t like eating outside—or being outside in general for that matter—but he knew if he was caught smoking inside his roommate would have a cow about it for the nth time, and that headache was something reserved for a day when Virgil felt a bit stronger in the morning to put up with such an ordeal.
“Is this about your stupid uniform again?” a voice behind him asked. Speak of the devil.
Before Virgil could answer Roman had walked the short distance between them and took the rest of his bagel from his hand. He ate it in one large bite, then smiled at his roommate innocently. Virgil simply glared at him, trying not to look at Roman’s fangs and how they now sprinkled with crumbs of his breakfast, because he knew if he did he’d be filled with enough rage to bitch-slap the man, and it was only seven in the morning.
“No,” Virgil drawled sarcastically. “I meant the case about me having to be stuck looking after you, you fucking spawn of Satan.”
Roman winked at Virgil and clicked his tongue. “You know it, baby.”
Virgil rolled his eyes and twirled his cigarette between his fingers, no longer enraged but suddenly glum. “It isn’t fair, Roman. You get to wear all black every day. You don’t have to worry about yellowing or… anything.”
Not only did Roman’s uniform entirely consist of the color black, but it was unfairly formal as well, being a tuxedo and all. So while Virgil in looked like he was a Best Buy worker taking one heck of an advantage of the day before Labor Day, Roman got to dress up every day like he was going to have dinner with a President—but like, a vampire President. Or like he was going to a Prom made exclusively for goths.
“I’d rather be there than here,” Virgil muttered under his breath as he thought about what exactly a gothic Prom would look like ran through his mind and he took a drag from his cigarette. “I’d rather be anywhere but here.”
“What?” Roman asked before taking a single, cold fry out of his pocket and munching on it.
“What?” Virgil echoed, turning to his partner, thoughts of white-clad Best Buy workers and vampire Presidents suddenly leaving him.
“Nevermind,” Roman huffed as he wiped his hands on the sides of his dress pants. “Well, anyways, getting into this every morning isn’t as fun as it may seem.” He gestured to his three-piece suit, and Virgil gave it a half-hearted once-over.
“So? Trying not to spill bagel crumbs on this isn’t ‘as fun as it may seem,’” Virgil said, looking down at his own uniform. Sneakers, jeans, polo, and jacket, all just practically begging to be stained in all their (horrible, torturing) white glory. “I know. It’s shocking.
Roman hummed, a noise that to foreign ears may seem to say he was now considering Virgil’s point. To someone who had known Roman as long as Virgil had, though, they would know it meant nothing. Roman’s eyes closed slowly, long lashes tracing the air, and Virgil knew their present argument was already wiped away from Roman’s stubborn mind when he opened them again.
Virgil theory was only further proven to be correct when Roman muttered, “Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great. Some achieve greatness. And some have greatness thrust upon them.”
The phrase was something Roman said so often Virgil had memorized it within five days of knowing him, and he knew right off the bat that if Roman had been a human that those words are what he would’ve had imprinted on his grave. It was like some kind of ritual to him, saying it, and it seemed to be his default response when he couldn’t think of anything else to say. He claimed it was how he won most of his arguments, but Virgil just thought it was stupid—and that wasn’t even considering the fact it was written by a long-dead poet for a play about just the most complicated love triangle imaginable and a fake love letter that had no right being so touching.
“Well, at least we have an easy mission today,” Virgil noted, breaking the silence that had followed Roman’s murmuring. Roman frowned as some of Virgil’s cigarette smoke curled around his face, trying hard to not cough before giving and coughing anyways.
“Thank the Devil,” Roman eventually replied. He sniffed the clean part of the air as he spoke. Heaven always had an odd smell to it, like fresh laundry but also spaghetti sauce, two ironic things that combined into one fragrance. “I need an easy day today.”
Virgil scoffed, but said nothing more on the matter, taking his cigarette and stomping it out. “I’m going to go talk to Patton before we head out.”
“M'kay. Remember me when you’re gone,” Roman teased, earning a smack to his head from Virgil but also a small laugh nonetheless.
“I’d rather not, Sir Dickwad,” Virgil said, walking away—backward, mind you—giving Roman a loose salute.
“You should really come up with some demon-themed nicknames!” Roman called after him.
Virgil smirked. “I will the day you give me some angel-themed ones!”
“In your dreams, angel!”
“And I thought you were the creative one.”
Virgil shook his head as he made it through the living room and out their apartment door. He mentally groaned when he realized he had forgotten to bring his cigarette box with him, though a sudden weight in his pocket told him he didn’t need to be so disappointed. He checked inside it and pulled out his box, smiling a little to himself. Besides some stupid policies and his horrid uniform, he was glad he usually got everything he wanted around here.
After all, this was Heaven. And Virgil was, quite literally, an angel.
-
But that didn’t mean Virgil entirely liked it.
That was the funny thing about Virgil Darrius being an angel. He didn’t fit the role, not really. It was as if angels had a cookie cutter mold to them, and Virgil’s dough never fit into it just right. So when he had come out of the oven, all the other gingerbread men were perfectly crafted while Virgil was just downright sloppy—his left arm slightly too wide, his right leg falling just a bit short.
Roman was more of the one for extended metaphors, but Virgil held onto his gingerbread idea. It was like a song, though the words weren’t defined and sequential, and he repeated it to himself inside his head when it got stuck in it, sometimes even catching himself whispering the words beneath his tongue.
When Roman heard him chanting it once, he snorted and asked, “What makes you think you’re a gingerbread?”
“I’m not a chocolate chip,” Virgil said plainly. The statement’s purpose was really just to make Roman more confused, who didn’t hold the knowledge that within Virgil’s metaphor demons were chocolate chip cookies. More specifically, they were cookies made with the world’s richest, most sinful chocolate, and Roman was just about the most perfect cookie of them all… though Virgil didn’t like to dwell on the fact any longer than he had to.
“Of course not,” Roman had responded, wrinkling his nose. He acted as if he understood what they were speaking of, and added, “You’re an oatmeal cookie if anything. With extra raisin. A raisin oatmeal cookie.”
Which was why Virgil couldn’t tell Roman about any of his doubts. Not only was he narrow-minded but he was ignorant, and he would take it the wrong way. Logan would tell him to get a grip on reality and bury his emotions deep down inside him, so solely based on his coping mechanisms Virgil ruled him out. The only person left that he trusted was Patton.
Patton didn’t do much but nod and listen to him, never offering advice as he claimed he never had any to give, which was fine by Virgil. He just liked having an ear to deafen with all of his nonsense. The day he told Patton about the gingerbread man analogy Patton laughed and started calling him Gingerbread Man, and it became a nickname-slash-inside joke Virgil couldn’t exactly live down or get rid of.
But Virgil didn’t mind. Such trickery was expected when he spilled his guts out to a demon.
Still, Patton was very open about everything, so much so it began to be a comfort for Virgil to have nearly daily chats with him about his anxieties. Virgil didn’t expect him not to be accepting, though, being one of his best friends for nearly five years now. It was important for people like him and Patton (and Roman and Logan) to stick together, being Afterlife Children and all.
Afterlife Children were something of a controversial topic around both Heaven and Hell since they were demons and angels born from parents who wedded each other after their mortal lives, but there were too many of them to do much about it. Damn right. Virgil was a sloppy gingerbread man and a controversial topic.
Virgil was born into the job of being an angel, admittedly, and although he didn’t like it, he’d rather be a voice or holy presence—as some would generously call it—on a conflicted human’s right shoulder than be one of the conflicted humans. Those poor creatures made up of nothing but squishy flesh and brittle bone led such petty lives, Virgil might feel real pity for them somewhere in the shadows of his heart… but he didn’t even have a heart, and that wasn’t just an emo-esque statement he liked to make. It was a literal one.
Being an angel wasn’t exactly something he could drop either, even if he wanted to. Once you become of-age as an Afterlife Child you were stuck being one until retirement, which was a very, very long time. So Virgil made it a game. It was one only shared with Roman at first, back when they were assigned as partners (and, by default, eternal roommates).
“How many days until retirement?” Virgil would ask sarcastically while munching on a burnt spot in his bagel.
“Years and years,” Roman would answer, “years and years.”
“Damn.” Virgil would say it as if he wasn’t expecting such a response, and then he would light a fresh cigarette.
Then when Logan and Patton joined their little friend group it became their own game too.
“How many days until retirement?” Patton would ask after a seventh round of Uno the friends were playing in Roman and Virgil’s cramped apartment.
“Years and years,” the other three would chime all at once.
“Damn,” Patton said with a slight smile, his cussing only reserved for this one tradition.
In truth, his and Patton’s morning talks were getting a bit harder to conceal. They usually held them on Patton’s balcony as Logan did whatever it was Logan did where he couldn’t hear them from inside, but that didn’t mean that smart-ass angel wasn’t suspicious. (Roman, meanwhile, always remained blissfully oblivious.)
Virgil assumed Logan thought they were talking about replacing him with Virgil as Patton’s partner, which was something Virgil certainly wouldn’t be opposed to. Patton was much more tolerable and not as loud as Roman, who didn’t know the meaning of silence even if it came up to him itself, slapped him right across the face, then kicked him in the groin for good measure.
But that, of course, was not the case. Virgil couldn’t imagine being partners with Patton since partners were expected to argue on a daily basis. It was their job, of course. Get assigned a human and a big decision they had to make that day, perch on their shoulder, and act as voices in their head involved in a moral debate over what the human should do until one side wins.
There was no reward, of course—aside from bragging rights, which Roman and Virgil both longed for dearly. That ironically made them a good pair, though, being able to argue so much. If they didn’t disagree then their jobs and the eternal afterlife would be meaningless. And Roman was very easy to disagree with.
Virgil’s thoughts slowly left him as he eventually found himself stationed in front of Patton and Logan’s door, and he knocked gently before slamming his fist a bit harder against the surface. His special knock.
As he waited he looked around at all the other apartment doors, bland and white just like the rest of Heaven. All apartments were stationed in Heaven for the angel and demon pairs along with retirement homes. Hell was strictly a residential area for the damned and specific demons assigned to be torturers. It wasn’t fair if you asked Virgil, especially since there were a bunch of demons running around angel territory causing who knew what kind of trouble, but it was just another way of life he had no control over.
Virgil watched on as the door in front of him began to open, but suddenly was slammed closed, then opened once more. His eyes widened as out stepped a figure. A recognizable figure. A very irritating, recognizable figure. Virgil’s mouth set into a deep snarl.
“Remington. What are you doing here?”
“Virgil! Darling! Hell-o!!!” Remy greeted him, wrapping him up in a big hug.
Remy was an angel, just like him, but he wasn’t born into the role since he wasn’t an Afterlife Kid. No, no. He had earned it during his time on Earth as a human by having one of the purest souls when he died. How such a man like Remy achieved that sort of feat was beyond Virgil, but every time he asked about it Remy would wave him off and change the subject.
“Remington. What. Are. You doing. Here.” Virgil was stiff as cardboard within the embrace, but that didn’t make Remy budge.
“I told you I go by Remy now! Maybe Rem if you’re feeling lucky,” Remy giggled, breaking off the one-sided hug. “Besides, honey, can’t I just visit my favorite angel—besides myself, of course, haha!—just because?” Remy blinked innocently at Virgil, whose face spoke for him and his disagreement.
“The last time you talked to me was a year ago,” Virgil pointed out after an awkward beat of silence.
“Hey! I’ve been busy, gurl! Managing angel affairs within Heaven isn’t exactly the easiest thing in the afterlife!”
That was another (annoying) thing about Remington, who not only was not an Afterlife Child but also was an official Angel Council Member, a title reserved for the most elite angels. (“I hate Remington,” Logan constantly reminded Virgil, “but I have to respect his position, especially if I want to achieve such a role myself.”)
“Busy? That’s your big excuse?” Virgil spat, crossing his arms. He tugged on the fabric of his (very white) jacket with enough pressure to make his fingers turn pale in the process. “What’s the matter with you, man?”
“Virge, I’m telling ya, being a Council Member has just taken up too much of my time. Lots of paperwork, coffee, more paperwork… you know the drill.” Remy adjusted his white-rimmed sunglasses so they rested on his forehead. It was his way of showing he meant business, but Virgil just turned away from him.
“Right. And that’s totally why I heard you became a Council Member one day and the next you had your tongue down the throat of some handsome demon.” Now, Virgil didn’t like indulging in rumors at the best of times, but at the particular moment it only spurred him on.
Remy’s face flushed, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, but said nothing to argue against Virgil’s claim. He just sighed, shook his head, and went on to say, “Well, as a Council Member—tongue down someone’s throat or not—I have come to give you a message from the Council.”
“So you weren’t just here to see me? Offended,” Virgil said stoically.
Remy’s lips pressed into a thin line, and in a moment after that, his usual, exuberant energy returned to him and he smiled. “I was actually here to deliver the same message to Patton and LoLo over here, hence why I’m leaving their apartment right now, hun. But you just made things more convenient for me when you bounded up here instead of making me walk all the way to your place!”
“I suddenly wish I didn’t decide to come over.”
“Oh, yeah, me too actually. I’m missing my chance to see your roommate, Hotty McHotty.” Remy bit his lip and winked at Virgil, who gagged a little but otherwise ignored Remy’s antics.
“Anyways. What was this message about?” Virgil asked. If Logan and Patton were receiving it too it probably had something to do with Afterlife Children. Great. The last thing they needed was a law ordering the execution of all Afterlife Children.
Remy cleared his throat and pulled a parchment out from his back pocket. He scanned it once, and then looked up at Virgil, reciting it from memory, “Logan Watson, Patton Moore, Roman Shakespeare, and Virgil Darrius. By order of the Council of Angels and Demons, you are to meet with the Council on the fourteenth hour of today discussing a new mission which the four of you will be undertaking.” Remy took the paper and crumbled it up, tossing it behind him dismissively. “Translation: you, Patty, LoLo, and Hotty McHotty-Pants—“
“You really didn’t need to add to that name.”
“—are going on an adventure, by order of the Council!” Remy lit up as he announced this, while Virgil instead went wide-eyes and suddenly had the sensation that he wanted to faint.
“B-but-! The easy mission!” Virgil whined. He and Roman were just supposed to debate on the shoulders of some kid deciding between studying or cheating on their test today, not take on some kind of new, thrilling adventure! “Can’t you get someone else to do it?”
“Nope!” Remington said, popping his ‘p’ with a grin. “Council’s orders!”
“But you’re a part of the Council!” Virgil argued. “You can do something about this, can’t you?”
“Kinda. Don’t wanna, though. Face it, honey, you’re going to be doing something fresh and exciting, so you better get used to the idea before 2 p.m.!” Remy began shoving Virgil along the long hallway and back to his apartment, leaving Virgil so shell-shocked he didn’t even remember why he was coming over to Patton’s in the first place to fight back. “Now you go home and let your devilishly handsome partner know the news or I’ll just have to let him know myself.”
Remy licked his lips at that, and that seemed to snap Virgil’s out of his surprised state. “No, no, no, I’ll go tell him. Please, just stop being such a perv over my partner.”
Remy rolled his eyes and muttered some kind of complaint as he left Virgil to go the rest of the way to his apartment on his own. Virgil watched the angel’s back as he walked the other direction until he eventually rounded the corner and left Virgil’s field of vision. Then he frowned and kept walking, trying not to think of the whole encounter too much.
After all, it wasn’t too good to reminisce on one’s childhood best friend who turned out to be a major pain in the behind later on. It could cause grief, and that was the last thing Virgil needed on his plate at the moment.
“I smoke to forget, but I always remember,” Virgil hummed as he lit a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth. If this day kept going the way it looked like it would, he might just need another box before it ended.
-
“This is utter bullshit. Bullshit! This isn’t Heaven! It’s- it’s the land of utter bullshit, Virgil!”
Leave it to Roman to curse loudly in the middle of a courtroom. Albeit, the courtroom was currently bustling with energy as Council Members found their seats. Some nosy angels and demons—who must have had easy missions that day like the one Roman and Virgil were supposed to get and were therefore finished with their work day before noon—were grabbing chairs to watch the announcement of this brand new, important mission.
Virgil didn’t realize this was supposed to be such a big deal, and he tried not to muddle on the subject as the courtroom began to slowly fill up. Half out of annoyance and half out of needing a distraction from the way his forehead began to become slightly wet with sweat, Virgil shushed Roman.
“You’re gonna bring even more attention onto us than we already have. As if we need that,” Virgil grumbled. Beside him, Logan nodded in agreement.
“I happen to like the attention,” Roman said with a pout, earning a rub on the shoulder from Patton.
The group of friends was split in two, Patton and Roman seated on one table and Virgil and Logan on the other. One could take a swift glance at the horns on Patton and Roman’s heads and the halos above Virgil and Logan’s and there wouldn’t even be a need to second guess on how they were chosen to be separated.
In no time the Court was calmed down and everyone had a clear view of all the Court Members, sitting high in their chairs with… mostly professional looks on their faces. Head of the Court of Angels, a kind angel named Thomas, sat in the middle, the Head of the Court of Demons, Joan, beside him. To the right of Joan was another demon Court Member, Deceit (which was just a nickname he had picked up at some time and it was used so often everyone had forgotten his actual one), and next to Thomas was Remington, who was stealing glances at Deceit from over his sunglasses and biting his lip. Very professional indeed.
The rest of the council members sat beside them, split between angels and demons, just like the boys at the front. In fact, the entire courtroom was split between angels and demons, a divide that was clear but not talked about it. Angels kept away from demons and vice versa, aside from partnerships and some friendships, which were rare.
“Order! Order!” Thomas called out, letting a smile slip out onto his face as everyone quieted down.
“Order. Order,” Joan repeated in a slightly more deflated tone.
Thomas began. “We’re here today-“
“-to discuss a new mission we’ll be assigning angels Logan Watson and Virgil Darrius as well as demons Roman Shakespeare and Patton Moore.”
“Yes,” Thomas said with a smile, folding his hands in his lap. Joan finishing their partner’s sentences wasn’t uncommon, and yet Thomas had never grown annoyed of the constant interruptions.
The two were near stark contrasts, with Thomas’ optimism and excitement and Joan’s cleverness and stoic personality, yet they got along so well. It was said it was only Thomas who could break through Joan’s shell of wit and negativity, and Joan was the only one who could ground Thomas and his own eccentricities.
Virgil smirked as Thomas shuffled around, trying to find a paper and Joan handed it to him without blinking. “Yes, yes. Thank you, Joan,” Thomas whispered to them, then turned back to the room with a beaming smile. “Today truly marks a day that will be put in our history books! ...That is if Heaven ever gets a history book. I doubt anyone would want to sit down and finally record thousands of years of history! Right, Joan?” Thomas elbowed his partner with a laugh.
“More like millions, soon-to-be-billions, but you’re correct, Thomas,” Joan said, almost amused.
“Right! So, now to the task at hand!” Thomas looked down at the paper and his hand and read its contents cautiously. “Logan Watson. Afterlife Child. Angel of seventeen years. Presence?”
“Here,” Logan said and rose out of his chair. His halo shone proudly on top of him. Virgil kept his eyes on its glowing mass until it created burning dots in his vision. He closed his eyes, trying to lose himself in the world of blackness only interrupted by the bright marks before they faded out slowly.
“Logan, you have served as an angel for four years now. Your parents were both humans born on earth until becoming angels here and giving birth to you, deeming you an Afterlife Child,” Joan said, leaning towards Thomas to read the paper still clutched in his hands.
“Correct,” Logan said. Anyone could see he wanted to say more but he kept his mouth shut. He could say anything he wanted in any other situation, but this was Court, and in a place like this even the air seemed stiff and controlled.
“And it looks like you have a fairly good record so far!” Thomas exclaimed, snatching a file into his hands and twirling around in his chair excitedly. “It seems if you continue on like this you could very well be a Council Member in the near future-!”
“Why, thank you, sir,” Logan said, a smile (a smile!) lighting up his face. After all, such was his dream, to organize angels and their work instead of being one of them.
“But you’re also an Afterlife Child,” Joan added, and disappointment washed over Logan’s face.
“Yes, that is… also true,” Logan said, folding his arms behind him. Virgil gulped softly as Joan carefully studied Logan’s reaction, but after that nothing was said on the matter. Logan sat down when Joan dismissed him and the next name was called.
“Logan Watson’s partner, Patton Moore!” Thomas announced as if it were a wrestling match instead of a court meeting. “Afterlife Child. Demon of nearly seventeen years. Presence?”
“Here!” Patton stood up and adjusted his tie proudly, and Virgil couldn’t help but smirk. No matter how twisted Patton’s morals were, everything he seemed to do was adorable.
Patton’s turn went on smoothly, Joan making it clear he was also an Afterlife Child just like they did to Logan, and Virgil was spoken to next. Despite the anxiety squirming around inside of him the whole time, there were little to no problems. In fact, everything seemed to be going on as normal as it could be going during introductions until Roman was called on.
“Roman Shakespeare. Afterlife Child. Demon of seventeen-” Joan started, but they were soon interrupted.
“-amazing actor, one of the best demons ever, and descendant of—yes—the William Shakespeare. Present,” Roman said, standing up with a hand on his hip and a dashing smile on his lips. Virgil could have snapped his neck off for being so casual in the middle of the courtroom, but luckily, Thomas only giggled.
“Wonderful! Now, you, Roman-”
“Also have a wonderful record on me, and I’m also, tragically-” and at this, Roman let out a long, dramatic sigh, because of course, he would, “-an Afterlife Child, we know, we know, we know.” Roman rolled his eyes, and the urge to kick him was starting to tempt Virgil a little too much. “But, please, can we cut to the chase here? I’m a little curious to know what kind of mission is so important that it had to ruin my spa evening.”
So that was why he was so excited about having an easy mission earlier. Mystery solved, but it really wasn’t helping Virgil and his itch to commit murder to his partner. And, after a quick glance towards Logan, he wasn’t the only one.
“Well, Roman, I promise you can have your spa evening soon, just not in Heaven!” Thomas laughed as Joan looked down at the boys with a small smile.
“Wha- what do you mean?” Roman asked, exasperated, leaning over the table in front of him. “Because if you’re trying to say you’re sending me to Hell to be a torturer, then that’s not the kind of upgrade I mean when I asked for a raise-”
“No, no, no,” Joan said, waving their hands at him dismissively. “He means you’ll be able to have your spa evening in the moral world.”
There was a bit of silence as Roman’s expression went from confused, to angry, to confused again. “That does not help one bit,” he huffed, and Patton finally yanked Roman down back into his chair, but Virgil didn’t care to notice. He was too busy looking at Joan with wide eyes.
The moral world? Were they sending Roman away? Oh, what relief that would be! Happiness began to bubble inside of Virgil at the thought of this meeting being about Roman becoming mortal and Virgil being switched to being Patton’s partner and Logan finally becoming a Council Member. Such thoughts were short-lived, however, when Thomas began speaking again.
“We were going to wait a bit before telling you boys, but this mission we have for you is… something no other angels nor demons have ever done before.” Virgil could practically feel everyone in the courtroom shift a bit further towards the edge of their seat.
“Yes,” Joan continued. “This assignment could very well determine the fate of all us angels and demons. You see, the metaphorical line between the mortal world and ours’ is in danger.” Some gasps in the crowd sounded off at this, but Virgil ignored them. Every word Joan and Thomas were saying was ringing in his ears, and he couldn’t really quite believe them.
“Very much so,” Thomas agreed, then took a look around the room at all the angels and demons gathered there. “You see, this is not much of a subject that we like to talk about publicly, but we figured we might as well. After what’s about to happen, it will most likely be all over the gossip in Heaven soon anyways, so it might as well come from us.”
“We’ll get right to the point then,” Joan said. “In Hell, we keep these creatures called demon boogers. They were initially designed to aid demons in torturing people, like servants, but they proved to be less helpful than we thought during our scientific trials.”
“The same thing happened with angel boogers. Instead of helping the angels and demons in Heaven, they only wanted to sit around and play all day.” Thomas laughed. “I don’t blame them, but we can’t exactly have them running around given the fact that they can be violent little critters.”
“So, the point is, they’re all in Hell now, being taken care of by our noble Grim Reaper. At least, they have been for the past hundred years now,” Joan explained. “Now they… may have found a way to the mortal world from their home.”
Shock coursed through the room and Thomas shushed everyone in an arguably fruitless effort to calm them down. “Hold on! Nothing’s happened yet! So far we’ve counted only two that have leaked out.”
“Yes, but if we wait any longer, these said two could cause a lot of trouble, and we can’t stop more from leaking out. We don’t know how they’re getting out since we’ve found no exits from Hell to the mortal world, but the two reports given to us by anonymous angels and/or demons are proof enough to us that we have a problem on our hands.”
“Which means we need a crew of angels and demons to venture to the mortal world and disguise themselves as humans for a total of three months and fifteen days to find the boogers that got out, bring them home, and fix the hole between our world and the mortals’ so this can never happen again,” Thomas announced, and then he looked between the four boys in front of him and nodded. “And the Council has chosen you.”
“Us?” Roman gasped, placing a hand on his chest.
“Yes, you,” Joan said. “As we said earlier, all of you have well enough records and are good at your jobs, but you are all also Afterlife Children. Given the recent debate about you Afterlife Children and such, we believe it might be a good idea to send a crew of said Children, half of them angels and half of them demons, to complete this important assignment. If you succeed, perhaps the name of Afterlife Children will be cleared and laws against discriminating against them can finally be passed.”
Thomas clapped his hands excitedly at this like a toddler, but Virgil just sat there, gaping at both of them. Joan realized this and said as soothingly as they could manage, “I know it’s a lot to take in, especially considering you’ll have to be packed and ready by tomorrow-”
“Tomorrow?!” Roman exclaimed. Virgil made a move to shush him, but before he could, Patton slapped a hand over Roman’s mouth. Logan and Virgil looked at the demon with surprise, but Patton paid no mind.
“No offense, almighties, but don’t you think that sending us down there without any instructions other than ‘save the world’ is a bit… I don’t know… spontaneous?” Patton giggled nervously.
“Oh, but you won’t be alone! Joan! How could we forget to tell them the best part?” Thomas asked, looking over at his partner with a large smile, making the announcement of this mission sound more like a cheesy T.V. commercial trying to sell cheap products than a serious ordeal that could change the very course of history.
“You will be aided by two of our here Council Members. One angel, one demon,” Joan said, gesturing around themself. Virgil’s eyes scanned the Council, purposely skipping over Remy’s smiling face. He was fine with every other angel there, so as long as Remington wasn’t the one going with him, it was fine-
“Remington Rochester and Deceit!” Thomas read off the paper in his hands, and Virgil groaned, letting his head fall against the surface of the table. Logan patted his back sympathetically, but Virgil still dared not to pick his head up until Thomas and Joan dismissed the meeting.
By then, Logan and Patton had gotten up to leave and Roman was still there, waiting for Virgil while processing everything that happened in the past half hour. Then Remy came up to Virgil and slapped his back. Virgil instantly sat up and glared at him, but Remy ignored his dark gaze.
“Isn’t this exciting, babe? We get to work together now!” Remy said, nudging down his sunglasses to look Virgil in the eyes. Virgil stared at him for a second longer before moaning sorrowfully and hitting his head against the table again.
It was about to be a long three months and fifteen days.
“Can’t get up,” Virgil mumbled against the cloth of the sofa. “‘M too tired.”
“Baby!” Patton pleaded. He had been trying to get Virgil up off the couch for the better part of the past five minutes now. The sides had been having another movie marathon and Roman and Logan had left earlier to “take care of business” as they so eloquently put it. So Virgil decided to put another movie on, despite Patton’s reminders that it was past midnight and Virgil would fall asleep midway through it, and he was proven right.
Now the credits to The Little Mermaid were rolling and Patton wanted to go to sleep, but he couldn’t without Virgil. Patton has only managed to wake him up to a half-asleep state, but now it seemed that’s as far as he’d get. Tickling didn’t even get Virgil up, surprisingly, which meant Patton had one last resort option.
“Please,” Patton pleaded and pressed a quick kiss to Virgil’s lips. Virgil stayed still. Patton huffed and leaned in closer, catching Virgil’s lips in his own for a bit longer than previously. Virgil was frozen in place.
Drastic times called for drastic measures. Patton began kissing all around Virgil’s face, and he knew his little emo wouldn’t be able to handle it for long. After kissing up the bridge of his nose and kissing the corners of his mouth open, Virgil began to laugh.
It was actually more like small, adorable little giggles, reserved only for Patton to hear in moments like these as Patton continued to kiss him lovingly and endlessly. Virgil snuggled up to Patton amidst his laughter, feeling soft and warm as Patton’s arms surrounded him and his lips found a still place in his hair.
When they left him it was so Patton could carry Virgil back to bed, who passed out as soon as he hit the mattress, but not before one last goodnight kiss.
requested by @pawtonsanders !! hope it’s ok I took some creative liberties with it, hun!!
pairings: romantic Royality
summary: Roman is The Prince, a well-known superhero who does what he can to protect people, but his lover, Patton, becomes worried for him and finds the real reason Roman keeps up his dangerous gig as a vigilante. Cue a three-a.m talk done over bowls of pasta.
tw: hurt/comfort, angst, crying, injuries, blood, food, kissing, homophobia (implied), insecurity (implied) ...honestly it is not as depresso as I’m making it sound, it’s pretty fluff
word count: 1338
a/n: Yo!! It's been awhile! This is my first official writing for 2019 I've posted, which is quite something considering that it is pretty much March now. So... long story short many things have happened in my life so creative block hit me hard at the beginning of the new year, which was a great start, let me tell you. It's been hard lately and writing and creating in general has been more difficult to do lately, but I'm getting through it. I'm hoping to have a new series out soon that I'm excited about (HYPEHYPEHYPEHYPE), and this was a warm-up I did for it. So, yes, I'm getting back into the groove of things, and hopefully 2019 treats me better soon. <3
Roman loved many things in life, despite what his constant complaining may imply. He loved the love of his life, Patton Blinkely, and the swell of satisfaction he got when he brought a villain to justice. That’s why he did it, spend his nights out on the streets that held houses belonging to people who judged him, mistreated him, and hated him all his life--but people, all the same, because deep down he knew they didn’t deserve to die.
Yes, that also meant he was risking his life every night, but it was also not really about saving lives when it all boiled down to it. Vanquishing villains like The Dragon Witch (a horribly tacky name, according to the local newspaper, but Roman took pride in his naming of her) filled him with a sense of pride he didn’t get anywhere else. Certainly not from the people around here, and yet in a twisted way, they were who he was doing it for.
Still, if there was one thing Roman Princely loved most in life it was the smell of warm pasta. It was something he hadn't smelt in a long time, so when he came after a long night of crime-fighting at three- three? Three in the morning, already! Well, he smelled that heavenly scent and he couldn’t help but become puzzled. He was used to coming home to drawn curtains, dark rooms, and Patton asleep in bed, no doubt planning to try and stay up waiting for his love but fell asleep on accident anyways, glasses smooshed between his face and his pillow.
“Patton? Dearest?” Roman called out, almost not expecting an answer.
“Roman! I’m in the kitchen, honey!”
Roman’s mind was swarming with questions, but every step he took to their small kitchen took one by one and plucked them out of his mind until the only thing he could think about was his love, his angel, his everything, standing right here in front of him, serving bowls of steaming hot pasta.
“I died didn’t I?” Roman gasped dramatically, throwing the back of a hand to his forehead. “I had to have! This is a scene right of heaven!”
Patton giggled at Roman’s antics, but quickly stopped when he took in the whole of Roman’s appearance. His Prince costume was still on, but it was hardly recognizable under all the shreds and tears it had gone through. Where skin showed Roman either had a bruise, growing and purpling, or a large, bleeding scrape. Roman looked as if he had been thrown into a shredder that was a bit too good at its job.
Patton squeaked and nearly dropped the bowls in his hand onto the floor with surprise, and Roman hurried (okay, he limped, but it was still done in a hurried manner) to Patton to take the bowls and set them on the counter, then cup Patton’s face in his hands. Roman shushed him and leaned his forehead against Patton’s, kissing his nose while whispering, “It’s okay, love. I’m okay. I’ll be okay.”
“But look at you!” Patton cried, brushing gentle fingers over all the marks on Roman’s body. “R-Roman, you look awful!”
“Aye, I know my hair’s a mess, no need to be so rude about it,” Roman joked, smiling in a way that tried to lighten the mood but it couldn’t, no matter how bright or how fake. Not this time.
“I’m serious, RoRo,” Patton said. He opened the pantry and came out with the medical kit, and Roman, used to this routine, sat on one of their chairs and waited as Patton pulled out several band aids and ice packets from the fridge. “Are you sure this is safe?”
“Of course it’s not! But I do it to make sure you’re safe, and that’s what matters,” Roman explained, but Patton just shook his head.
Patton applied bandages, cream, and burning alcohol in silence, Roman--whose brain was always buzzing too much for him to be quiet--humming to some song to some musical that didn’t seem to matter in the moment. There was nothing else to say, though, Roman thought, but he was proven wrong when Patton finished and got up from his place kneeling next to Roman.
“We need to talk,” Patton sighed. Roman wanted to say something, something reassuring like he was fine, they didn’t need to, he’ll try not to get as hurt next time, but from Patton’s tone he could tell he didn’t want to have this talk either. They just had to.
“At three in the morning?” Roman asked, though he knew there was no getting out of it. Still, he was curious as to why Patton wanted to have serious conversation time at an hour like this. “What are you even doing up this late?”
“Waiting for you!” Patton said. “I have to talk to you, so instead of falling asleep like I usually do I decided to stay up looking for recipes and experimenting! And I know pasta is your favorite and helps relax you so…” Patton trailed off and grabbed the bowls again, coming to the table and giving Roman one of them. Roman inhaled the smell of the spaghetti and fell in love all over again.
“Okay,” Roman giggled. “You have my attention.”
“Well... I get worried about you,” Patton said, and when he made no motion to sit down, Roman wrapped his arms around his waist and sat him on his lap. Patton accepted this, but didn't stop. “It’s just-! Roman! One day you could go out and not come back home! And then what?”
“Patton, I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again, you have no reason to worry for me.” Roman attempted eating, but with Patton in his lap it was difficult. So Patton took the bowl and fed Roman spoonfuls as he talked.
“You don’t know that though!” Patton said. “The cops are the ones that are supposed to be risking their lives everyday, not you! Not a young, charming man with so much life ahead of him! You can’t just waste it!”
“But ‘m saving other people!” Roman pointed out in between chews.
“Roman, you don’t even like these people!” Patton argued, tears glazing over his eyes. “They kicked you out when you came out as a kid, they tore you down because you wanted to spend your life on a stage to make money, they… they-!”
“They...?” Roman pressed on.
Patton placed the bowl down on the table to cup Roman’s face in his hands and kiss his lips gently. “They hurt you,” he mumbled.
Roman inhaled deeply. Deep down he knew Patton was right, but did he really just risk his life everyday to feel a thrill when he punched a baddie in the face? To watch them be escorted off to a cell that they will surely break out of later? No, that wasn't it. It never was it.
“And, Roman,” Patton breathed against his lips, “you can’t earn their acceptance by wearing a disguise and playing the hero every night while I worry sick about you.”
He was right. Roman knew it, but he didn’t want to admit. “Okay,” he finally said. “Fine.”
Patton got up, crossing his arms sternly. He was a ball of sunshine most of the time, but he could be scary if he wanted to be. “I need to hear you promise.”
“Promise what?”
Patton shot him a look and Roman nodded. “Okay, okay. I promise I won’t go out every night. The Prince has officially retired.”
A relieved smile spread over Patton’s face and he kissed Roman, lovingly and passionately, and Roman didn’t feel an ounce of regret at all in the decision he made. This was actually by far the best spaghetti night they ever had. Roman’s eyes caught sight of the microwave clock when Patton leaned away and he remembered it was technically not night anymore.
Okay, so it was the best spaghetti morning , but Roman didn’t like to think about technicalities, so instead he kissed Patton again.
so I have a lot of unfinished AUs like this one so why not make this a series? btw this is answered like months late I’m soo sorryyy
AUs I’ll Probably Never Write (Part 1): Thieves—A Tragedy
((lowkey based off of @coconut-cluster ‘s series for her own unfinished AUs which are fantastic but go off I guess,,, in other words, don’t quote me on that title lololol))
Prince Roman’s father is the monarch to an extremely wealthy kingdom, Sundrop, which is settled among eleven other kingdoms, some quite successful and some barely scraping by.
All the kingdoms live in harmony, surprisingly, until all the other eleven kingdoms start to slowly get the life sucked out of them, literally. People start to die from odd diseases, color is fading away, yet none of this is happening in Sundrop.
The other eleven kingdoms begin to threaten Roman’s father and war quickly breaks about between some purely for resources and others out of rage.
Roman believes nothing would actually happen to Sundrop, considering the many guards they had surrounding it, until one night he is kidnapped.
He finds himself in an underground hideout in the middle of Bloodmoon. A disguised thief–who he assumes is the one that kidnapped him–interrogates Roman, asking him where The Orb is, though Roman knows nothing any orb and insists as much.
The thief doesn’t believe him but whips off his hood anyways, and Roman finds himself looking into the face of one of the most beautiful creatures in all of mankind. He’s smitten, oh my lord
The thief threatens Roman’s life if he doesn’t tell him where The Orb is, but now Roman is horribly distracted *eyes emoji*, so the thief decides instead to put Roman up for ransom to the rulers of Sundrop in exchange for the Orb.
In the meantime, Roman is prisoner and gets to know his kidnapper a bit. It takes awhile for him to open up, but when he does, he unloads a lot of stuff over a period of days.
He goes by the name of Anxiety and he grew up in this band of thieves from Bloodmoon that has been rebelling against the monarchy for a long time now, stealing from the rich to give to the poor since Bloodmoon’s rulers were selfish and arrogant while leaving their citizens starving and sick.
News gets back from Sundrop and Roman’s dad decides to leave Roman to rot rather than give up the Orb. Roman begins to sob when he finds this out and Anxiety, who has grown annoyingly fond of Roman after caring for him for weeks now, comforts him by finally telling him his name: Virgil. It’s lovely, and a good fit for him, though he’s embarrassed of it.
Then Roman makes a deal with Virgil. If he breaks him out of his imprisonment, then he’s help him steal the Orb, but only if he told him what it did. Virgil agrees.
The Orb, he explains, is something won by Sundrop in a hundred year war done in ancient times, which is covered up now in known history. It gave unjust power to the kingdom that possessed it so that they always ended up on top, though it has very magical powers too. It could grant any death wish. It could very well kill off entire kingdoms, which was all the other eleven thought Sundrop was doing and wanted the Orb to save themselves. Virgil’s gang of thieves wanted it in order to finally be rich when they trade it to a lucky royal and find positions in whatever kingdom survived.
Roman processes all this before Virgil grabs his hand omgomgomg and opens a tear in the air: a portal. They jump through it and find themselves in a whole new world. It is The Inbetween, Roman finds out, just a windy field that was a plane that went on for infinity. Roman continues holding Virgil until he jumps into a new portal he made.
They jump out into Roman’s room, where Roman finds a map of the castle. He quickly finds a spot underground of the castle he was never allowed in and they decide to portal jump to there and find The Orb,, Roman grabs it and Virgil opens a portal, ready to escape, but he’s too late.
A guard takes Virgil away from him and knocks him unconscious and Roman feels he has no choice but to escape through the portal which leads back to the gang of thieves’ place.
Roman has to explain everything to the thieves and gives them The Orb, who begin to grow excited to see their plan coming together, but no one seems concerned about Virgil but Roman, so Roman decides to put his own plan into action, fueled from spite and absolutely nothing else. *wink wink nudge nudge*
The gang hold a big party that night in celebration of their plan coming together, and Roman makes sure they’re all thoroughly intoxicated before stealing The Orb (he’s kind of a thief himself now huh?) and running back home
He makes it to the castle where he finds Virgil in prison with his hands cuffed and secure so he can’t teleport, and Roman tells him he promises to get him out of there soon. Virgil argues Roman should’ve just brought the gang and asked for riches in return for the Orb, but Roman argues he wasn’t going to just leave Virgil alone, confusing the hell out of said boy.
A guard finds Roman, who shows him The Orb and demands he speak with the king, then tells the guard he is Prince Roman, who recognizes him and leads him to his father.
His father isn’t all too happy to see him, trying to get The Orb from Roman, who insists he won’t give it up without them letting Virgil free. His father jokingly asks if Roman would rather take his place, and Roman says he would, so he is thrown into prison for the price of The Orb and Virgil’s freedom. Virgil says nothing to him when they exchange places, which is more heartbreaking to Roman than being caged up.
But as soon as Roman’s alone, he knows what to do. He knew every bit of the castle besides underground, after all. and he knew that this particular cell had a weak spot in one of its bars after years of a bored, younger Roman gnawing on it. So he twists it loose and escapes from that hole.
When he does, though, Virgil is just in time to have a portal open and jump through it right in front of him, The Orb in hand, smirking and saying, “Dumbasses forgot I teleport without those stupid cuffs.” The two leave through the portal laughing.
When they get back to the gang’s lair everyone is asleep and Roman explains they can’t stay there anymore due to his breaking out with the Orb to save Virgil. So they brainstorm on what to do next, argue a little, until Roman gets an idea: full-out rebellion.
“Against the monarchy, against all the kingdoms, against everything! We’ll claim the Orb for our own and make everyone come together as one kingdom! We could rule it! Me and you, Virgil!” Roman exclaims, and Virgil points out that was a horribly risky plan, but he agrees to it anyways, saying they have nothing to lose.
But they do. They have each other.
After napping in a nearby alley, the two set off to the middle of all twelve kingdoms with the Orb, teleporting there easily. There is a podium which is crumbled and hasn’t been used in awhile, clearly, and guards from all kingdoms are surrounding it.
When Virgil and Roman appear they try to attack them, but Roman shushes them and announces he is Prince Roman of Sundrop. He orders all the monarchs to meet them in the center of the kingdoms, saying Sundrop is ready to announce surrender to the war, and the guards have no choice but to listen. Virgil and Roman wait as all the monarchs slowly come to the center, even Roman’s dad, who is outraged.
He tries to tell the other monarchs he never spoke of surrender but then Roman holds up the Orb, distracting everyone. He orders everyone to calm down after some initial screaming, and threatens his partner–while looking at Virgil–was a portal-maker and could send them to another dimension in seconds (which was not true, of course).
Thus they allow him to explain his suggestion of the joint kingdom, but the crowd dislikes this more and more as he goes on until a guard from behind him attacks him when Virgil isn’t looking and the Orb is knocked out of his hands.
It’s chaos as everyone goes running for the Orb and war quickly breaks out, armies coming to the center and killing other armies. The whole time Roman is searching for Virgil since they were seperated, praying to the deities that Virgil had not been killed. Then out of the corner of his eyes he sees Virgil opening a portal, and at the last moment he jumps in with him.
((I wrote out this following part actually as an ask prompt :p)) vvv
Virgil is in the In Between, sitting and thinking, and Roman tries to get him to get up and help him again, but Virgil refuses. He tries to open another portal to go somewhere far away from everyone, but Roman doesn’t let him and does perhaps the craziest thing he ever said in his entire life:
“I love you, Virgil. You’re not just a dirty, low-life thief. You’re also the thief of my heart.”
And Virgil freezes. And then smiles, kisses Roman, and says, “Alright then. Let’s do this.”
Virgil opens a portal like none he’s every created–one that leads to an object, and not one to a specific place–which takes up a good deal of his energy. Virgil nearly falls unconscious afterwards and Roman finds themselves in the middle of the war where the Orb has fallen to the ground.
Roman grabs it and Virgil, and is cornered immediately. He pleads for them to stop fighting and just let him help everyone after dodging their hits for a bit, but his father steps out from the crowd.
He orders Virgil and Roman to be executed and Virgil, who upon hearing this, weakly opens one last portal and shoves Roman into it.
Roman tried to resist but doesn’t, Orb still in his hand, and he realizes there is already another portal waiting for him in the In Between. He knows it will lead to somewhere far away, somewhere safe, so he can take the Orb and the kingdoms will plunge into more chaos and inevitably destroy each other, and Roman will be safe, but… Virgil would be dead.
Roman looks between the two portals, the one in front of him offering him safety and a miserable life, and the one behind him offering sacrifice but in the name of love.
He leaps through one of them. And finds himself in the middle of an empty podium.
He runs through the streets of Sundrop, trying to find where they could have taken Virgil to be executed when he sees a group of people on a far off hill. Roman runs up to the hill as fast as he can and stops the execution right as Virgil is about to be hung.
Virgil starts to cry when he sees Roman with the Orb and Roman says he will offer one last time the Orb for Virgil’s freedom, and his father does nothing but order Virgil’s death.
Virgil is hung, and Roman starts to cry.
His father tells Roman he can do nothing now, so he must hand over the Orb, but Roman refuses.
“A world without my true love is not a world I want to live in. This world is nothing but chaos. Loveless madness. Still, it is something I could’ve survived with Virgil. But now that he’s gone, there’s no point in me either? And I certainly never saw any point in you.”
Then he whispered something against the glass of the Orb, and before his father could move any closer to him, Roman says, “For Virgil.”
The Orb explodes. The kingdoms are taken over by blinding light. When it fades there is no one left. The Orb falls to the ground. And Roman–thief of lives–his sash, stained with tears permanent with true heartbreak, falls atop it.
Um, for the fic title thing... what would you write for something titled 'Aliens like coin tosses apparently'
Virgil and Logan were friends for a long time, but there was always something strange about Logan. Like he wouldn’t pick up on social cues, he’d wink to himself on occassion and mutter something that sounded foreign, or rub his eyes a lot and complain about them being too small. Then again, there were many things strange about Virgil, so he never really questioned his friend.
Until one day Logan and Virgil are having a sleepover hangout and the electricity goes off. Virgil goes outside to check the grid but is abducted by a UFO in the sky. Logan comes out and yells something foreign-sounding at the UFO and it beams him up.
Virgil watches in anxious captivity as Logan talks to a large green alien in the same tongue, and the alien looks frustrated and unwilling before flipping a coin he made out of thin air. Logan watched and smiles when it landed on heads.
Logan goes to help Virgil out, promising he’d explain everything later, and Virgil just smiles nervously and jokes, “Aliens like to coin toss?”
Logan responds, “Yeah. We really do.”
@virmillion you might like this
send me made up fic titles and I’ll tell you what I’d write for it!
