Summary: After the events of Putting Others First Patton isn’t the one to find Roman and offer support… someone else does
Pairings: None
Genres: hurt/comfort
Warnings: vague description of injuries, blood mention, self deprecation
Word Count: 366
Author’s Note: Prompted by THIS wonderful post.
Roman didn’t move to get up or lift his head even as he heard footsteps crunching towards him on the forest floor. He was winded, bruised and a bit bloody, Sure, Roman was still able to keep fighting, he’d had worse injuries and still prevailed before, but what was the point now? He could win in the imagination if he tried, but when it had really counted, for Thomas, he had failed. And Deceit had won.
The footsteps stopped directly in front of him, close enough to touch. From his vantage point, head bent and shoulders slumped, kneeling on the leaves and stones where he had fallen, Roman could see the tips of shiny black shoes and the cuffs of black slacks. Deceit. The prince tensed before letting out a small sigh of resignation. Oh great, he thought sardonically, just the side I wanted to see.
Sudden movement, fluid and deliberate, and then Deceit was on his knees in front of Roman. A flick of yellow and his gloves were on the ground beside them. Roman shuddered as Deceit carefully cupped his jaw and tilted his head up, brown eyes meeting brown and yellow. He waited for the dark side to gloat, to belittle him with a practiced victory speech. Roman waited, but Deceit’s eyes only flicked over his face, like he was looking for something. He felt Deceit’s thumb move and swipe away the trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth.
Deceit’s eyes wandered lower over Roman’s torso and his other hand, his scaled hand, came up and ran carefully over his ribs. Roman let him, unable to find the strength to jerk back or push his hands away. The hand on his side dropped away as Deceit apparently finished looking him over. When their eyes met again Roman saw what he would have described on anyone else as a look of concern. The moment was over quickly and Deceit’s eyes hardened, going from soft and… something of a moment before to rage in an instant.
His hand on Roman’s jaw was still gentle but his voice was little more than an angry hiss when he finally spoke.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
I HAVE ARISEN!!!! After being gone for Over A Year I have returned. And what’s a comeback without some content? Well, I have an AO3 where I’ve been posting a few things, old fics from Tumblr, old unpublished works, and a new story still in the works!
If you want to read an angsty hurt/comfort Virgil-centric fic that keeps growing and changing in ways I did not expect, click the link above!
Warnings: Remus Sanders, disturbing imagery, blood, I hate this and I wrote it so I can’t imagine ya’ll enjoying it
Word Count: 330
Author’s Note: I realized that my favorite talking cat would get along well with Remus and my brain made my hand slip.
Remus lay draped over the top of Thomas’ flat screen tv. It defied physics and was disturbingly erotic, so that was normal. What was more unusual was the large purple cat grinning over Remus’ left shoulder. The duke contorted to pet the cat with his right hand which prompted a purr from his feline companion.
“I can’t. I can’t keep ignoring this. We weren’t even watching Alice and Wonderland!” Thomas exclaimed irritably from the couch.
“Just focus on the film Thomas. Do not engage,” Logan replied, not even looking up from his sudoku puzzle.
“How come Remus gets to enjoy kitty snuggles without allergic reactions and not me?” Patton whined from his spot on the floor.
“Imagination has it’s perks, doesn’t it Chessy,” Remus grinned, matching the feline’s expression?
The Cheshire cat’s response was to bite Remus’ fingers, letting blood drip down his fluffy chin as he continued to purr. Remus cooed and purred back.
“You would conjure yourself a cat as crazy as you,” Roman spat from his spot on the far edge of the couch, as far from the tv (and Remus) as possible.
The Cheshire cat released Remus’ fingers and turned to look at Roman unblinking, his tail whipping back and forth behind Remus’ head. “I’m not crazy, my reality is just different than yours.”
Roman recoiled slightly, tempted to leave the room entirely to get away from his brother, that damn cat, and Thomas’ growing anxiety. Speaking of which...
Virgil was glaring daggers at the tv, doing his best to follow Logan’s advice and ignore the dark side laying atop it. The image bordered on comical, given that Patton had chosen the movie and they were watching The Many Adventures of Winnie The Pooh.
Thomas groaned in frustration and tried to refocus on the film as Tigger pounced on Pooh.
It was incredibly difficult when Remus and Chessy began to playact the scene, with Remus mouthing along with Pooh’s lines and the Cheshire cat imitating Tigger.
This also may or may not have strayed from the prompt a bit and gotten far longer than I’d intended but oh well.
Protective Kisses
Pairings: Lamp (romantic or platonic, you decide)
Genres: comfort, fluff
Warnings: Deceit mention (brief), thunderstorm, some negative self-talk, forehead kisses,
Logan had been over it with him a thousand times. It was a perposterous fear, if a common one. It couldn’t hurt them, especially since they weren’t ‘real’ and it wasn’t going to hurt Thomas. And still, Virgil huddled in the corner where his bed met the wall, hoodie pulled tight around him, as the thunderstorm raged outside.
It wasn’t even the lightning, the actually potentially dangerous part of the storm that he feared. No, it was the stupid, awful-
A crack of thunder rang out and Virgil whimpered, covering his ears with his hands.
Unpredictable, sudden loud noises always startled him, but thunder was a hundred times worse. It was scary. It was like a deity yelling at them, voicing their anger in a language no mortal could understand, and yet it yelled on.
Virgil wanted to protect the other sides from these awful noises, but strangely enough, none of the other sides were scared of thunder at all. Logan was fascinated by the weather and actually enjoyed thunder storms. Roman found them exciting, though since their first huge argument about it he didn’t rush out into them anymore to try and battle the elements. Patton found them soothing for some odd reason.
Well, if he couldn’t protect them, maybe just being near them would make him feel better. Carefully, as if one wrong move would trigger another clap of thunder, Virgil got out of bed and sunk out of his room to the mind-palace commons.
As soon as he entered there was another clap of thunder so loud it shook the window. Fortunately, it was also loud enough to cover the sound of his petrified squeak in response. The others didn’t even look up or react to the storm or his presence.
Roman was sitting on the couch, scribbling away some idea or other in a notebook Logan had given him. Logan was sitting in an armchair reading a mystery novel, a cup of piping hot tea on the table beside him. Patton was lying on the floor in his cat onesie scrolling through tumblr on his laptop.
Virgil stood at the foot of the stairs, stiff with fear from the storm and unsure what to do. He could see that they were all safe and completely unfazed by the hellstorm raging outside, but he still wanted to bundle them all up in his arms and hide them away somewhere safer.
A distant memory came back to him like the lightning flashes outside and Virgil flushed. He’d almost forgotten about his ‘protective kisses’.
When Thomas had been younger, and long before the other sides had come to accept him, he’d heard Roman telling Patton about his book of fairy tales and how there were magic kisses in them. The kisses could break curses and save princesses and were very special.
Young Virgil had thought that if kisses could do all that, maybe they could protect people too. But kisses were for people who loved each other, and while he loved and cared about the other sides very much, they didn’t even like him. Virgil thought, maybe if he just kissed their forehead when they were sleeping they wouldn’t know and it might help keep them safe.
He’d stayed up late, after the others were asleep for the night to give them their protective kisses. Now that Virgil was grown, he doubt those kisses had had any real effect, but as a child, Virgil had believed in those kisses and they’d made him feel better.
Another crack of thunder made Virgil jump, making Logan notice him. Their eyes met, Virgil’s wide with fright and embarrassment over his memories, Logan’s curious and calculating.
“Virgil, are you experiencing elevated distress because of the storm?”
Roman and Patton looked up at the sound of Logan’s question and Virgil blushed harder, eyes darting between the faces of the three sides he’d come to think of as friends. He didn’t want to ruin that now by being a bother or by lying, making the situation with Deceit worse. Virgil opened his mouth, trying to come up with a response, only to shut it again.
“You should use your headphones and the audio books to calm down. That’s what they’re for,” Logan said calmly, good. He didn’t seem annoyed with Virgil for not thinking of that sooner.
“Maybe a hug would help,” Patton suggested, sitting up and opening his arms for Virgil.
“Virgil needs a place to feel safe… I’ve got it! We’ll build the most epic blanket fort the mind-palace has ever seen!” Roman stood and posed dramatically, grinning at Virgil.
And Virgil couldn’t help it, a small giggle slipped out. Then another, soon he was laughing as tears streamed down his face. Logan looked alarmed, his thought of “oh no, feelings” so loud Virgil could almost hear them. Roman looked confused and a little put-out. Virgil tried to say he wasn’t laughing at him, but couldn’t catch his breath.
Patton seemed to understand, getting up and pulling Virgil into a warm hug and stroking his back, “It’s okay, there’s a lot going on. Just laugh it out and tell us what you need when you’re ready.”
Virgil managed to nod against Patton’s shoulder, still chuckling wetly while his tears slowed from a stream to a trickle.
He didn’t know how or when Patton had moved them over to the couch, but when he calmed down, he found himself sitting down, Patton on one side of him, Logan on the other, and Roman kneeling in front of him.
“What do you need, Virgil,“ Logan asked, squeezing one of Virgil’s hands.
“We’re here for you,” Patton said, one arm slung around Virgil’s shoulders.
“We won’t let anything hurt you,” Roman said, reaching out as if to touch Virgil, hesitating, but finally resting a hand on Virgil’s knee.
Virgil looked at all three of them around him and his fight or flight response kicked in. Too quickly for them to respond, he kissed each of them on the forehead.
“That. I needed that.” Virgil said quickly before sinking out back to his room. At some point in all of that, the storm had stopped, and he needed to lay down.
In the commons, three very stunned sides looked at each other.
I am in dire need of domestic romantic moxiety plz and thank. I mean stupid cute stuff.
I am so happy to provide this!!!!!
The Best Way to Wake Up
Pairings: Romantic Moxiety
Genres: Fluffy fluff with a side of fluff
Warnings: Food mention, implied bed sharing, morning, kisses
Virgil rolled over in bed with a semi-conscious grumble as light shone on his closed eyes. He was almost unconscious again when a gentle pressure on his cheek brought him back.
“Five more minutes,” he mumbled and pulled the sheet over his head.
There was a soft chuckle from somewhere near his ear and the sheet was pulled down again. This time, Virgil identified the soft pressure, on his forehead now, as a kiss.
“Rise and shine Sleep’n Stine,” Pat’s voice said, cheerful but blessedly quiet.
“Nooooooooo,” Virgil whined, pulling sheet and blanket over his head again.
“C’mon Virge, it’s a beautiful day and we get to spend all of it together.”
Virgil poked his head out to mumble, “So come back to bed with me.”
Patton laughed and pulled the covers completely off Virgil, “Not a chance. We already slept in, it’s after 9am!”
Virgil moaned and grabbed Patton’s pillow, putting it over his face.
Patton crawled onto the bed and straddled Virgil’s legs, “Are you going to make me tickle you awake?”
That made Virgil toss Patton’s pillow at him and open one eye in a half-hearted glare, “Don’t you dare.”
Patton laughed, loud and hearty, one of his laughs that even made a grouchy morning Virgil crack a small smile, “Okay, no tickling. How about I kiss you awake?”
Virgil sat up and wrapped his arms around Patton’s waist, completely awake, “That might just convince me to get out of bed and spend the day with you.”
Patton smiled and scattered sweet, chaste kisses over Virgil’s hair and face, making Virgil blush. When he was finished he took Virgil’s hand and crawled off the bed, pulling Virgil up with him.
“Come on my sleepy sweetie, I made breakfast and your coffee should be done by now.” Patton tugged Virgil’s hand, leading him downstairs to the dining room.
Virgil smiled and followed his boyfriend, thinking that this was the best possible way to wake up.
How about some good old prinxiety, the first sides ship I got into.... Or maybe some LAMP, I'm always up for LAMP.
How about both? Crap, now I want to make a series of dates between different pairings with overarching romantic LAMP…
Date Night: Prinxiety
Pairings: Romantic Prinxiety with background romantic LAMP
Genres: Fluff, Fluffy fluff, romance
Warnings: kisses, food, brief innocent use of blindfold,
Virgil smiled, heart pounding, as he lead a blindfolded Roman into the common room. It was their date night, and knowing how much Roman liked surprises, he’d decided to plan tonight’s date for them and surprise his royal boyfriend.
The four of them, Logan, Patton, Roman, and Virgil were in a romantic relationship. They had dates with all four of them, they cuddled together, but they also made sure that they all got one on one time with each other so that none of the bonds between them were neglected.
“Okay, sit down here, nice and easy,” Virgil said, carefully helping Roman to sit down on the couch. He grinned at the small smile on Roman’s face, so handsome even in the dim light of the room. Virgil couldn’t stop himself from pressing a quick kiss to those lips.
Roman pouted when Virgil pulled away, “If you blindfolded me just to kiss me, I’d rather see you, love.”
Virgil shook his head before remembering Roman couldn’t see him, “It’s not just for kissing, but…” he blushed, still a little nervous about expressing affection openly, even after months together, “we can keep kissing after, if you still want to. Just wait one more moment.”
Virgil got up and went to the kitchen, grabbing the tray of snacks and drinks he’d prepared before getting Roman and bringing them into the living room. He set them down carefully on the coffee table, and as an after thought, added a small vase with a single purple rose to the tray.
“Okay,” Virgil said, looking around the room one last time and hoping with all his might that Roman would like this, “You can take off the blindfold now.”
Roman reached up to remove the blindfold and paused, a smirk curving his lips, “Why don’t you take it off for me, Virge?” The prince leaned in a bit closer to where he’d heard Virgil’s voice.
Virgil blushed and sat down next to Roman on the couch and reached behind Roman’s head to remove the blindfold. as soon as the black fabric fell away Roman’s eyes were on him. “Beautiful.”
Virgil blushed again and was about to contradict him when Roman cupped his face in his hands, effectively making him too flustered to respond.
“May I kiss you,” Roman asked, looking between Virgil’s wide eyes and his lips?
Virgil opened his mouth and a strangled sound came out. He closed his mouth quickly and nodded.
Roman moved in slowly, careful not to startle his anxious boyfriend and kissed him tenderly. He watched Virgil’s eyes flutter shut before closing his own, smiling a little as Virgil kissed him back.
Roman pulled away a minute or two later, “Thank you.”
Virgil, who looked calm and slightly dazed, only nodded in response. It took him a moment to pull himself together. “You haven’t even seen your surprise yet.”
It was Roman’s turn to be surprised, he’d forgotten all about surprises after Virgil had kissed him while he was still blindfolded. “Oh,” he looked around the room, taking in the strings of white lights strung around the room, the electric candles, the tray of popcorn and mugs of steaming green tea, the lovely purple rose, and next to the TV, a pile of Disney movies, all with Julie Andrews in them.
Virgil smiled, watching Roman take in the room. It looked like he liked his surprise after all. Good. He grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, ready to start Marry Poppins.
“Virgil, this is so thoughtful of you. This may be our best date night yet.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Virgil replied, a blush tinging his cheeks, “if you start singing the entire soundtrack I’m leaving and you can watch it alone.”
Roman mock-gasped, feigning offense, “I can’t believe you would accuse me of doing something so dramatic!”
Virgil rolled his eyes fondly and was about to hit play when a light touch on his wrist stopped him.
“Actually, you’re quite right. I will be tempted to sing all the songs, but you could help me resist temptation if you cuddled with me.”
Virgil blushed, and just as Roman opened his mouth to backpedal, Virgil scooted closer on the couch and draped Roman’s arm around his shoulders. He handed Roman the remote and rested his head on Roman’s shoulder.
“I’d like that,” he mumbled softly, just loud enough for Roman to hear. “But no singing,” Virgil added, louder this time.
Roman kissed Virgil’s forehead and hit play. “No singing,” he agreed, settling in to start their movie marathon, his broody boyfriend cuddled into his side.
Pairing: Prinxiety (platonic or romantic, reader’s choice)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Warnings: Negative self-image, insecurities, lack of sleep,
Word Count: 1865
Author’s Note: This lovely fic was expertly edited by @jiyudreamer for the wonderful @nyxwordsmith . Happy birthday, sweetheart. I hope you like the fic.
Roman shut his bedroom door behind him with a gentle click and slumped against it. He rubbed a hand across his eyes and dimmed the lights in his room. Roman groaned and pushed himself away from the door, moving slowly and slightly unsteadily over to his bed. Reaching it, he flopped down onto it without his usual dramatic sigh or gesture, he was too tired for that.
He'd been so busy lately, writing scripts for videos, acting (and doing a bit of directing) in the videos, practicing for auditions and then auditioning for local shows, and so on. Of course, he enjoyed those things, but they still took a toll on him. And the most draining thing was pretending it wasn't draining him.
Even exhausted beyond belief, a prince still has got to slay. Roman had to wake up earlier than normal to make himself an extra cup of coffee and cover up the dark circles under his eyes, consequentially making the dark circles worse, but the other sides couldn't know he was struggling. He was their comic relief character, the one who could always be counted on for a dramatic reaction, high energy, and a playful nickname. Even if Thomas said Roman could never let him down, that didn't mean he couldn't let the others down, and he didn't intend to find out.
But it was finally (mostly) over. They were taking a break so no one would notice if he went to his room too early or slept in late tomorrow. Of course, he'd still have to wake up 'early' to do his makeup and get his extra cup of coffee, but they didn't have to know that. He'd still be their energetic dramatic prince.
Roman sighed briefly and quietly, unlike his usual dramatic huff of irritation or long sigh of exasperation. Who was he kidding? The other sides didn't even like him most of the time. If he stayed in his room for a while it'd probably be a relief. He didn't want to believe that, but he was the least favorite side for a reason.
He curled up into the fetal position against his pillows as he felt the first tear drip down his cheek. Roman held tightly to his knees and let the tears he'd been holding back for over a week start to fall.
There was a knock at the door and Roman held his breath.
“It's me, Princey. Let me in.”
Virgil really knew how to crash his pity party. Quickly (and reluctantly) Roman dashed away his tears, brightened the room and walked over to the door, opening it with a large smile.
“Virgil! What can Sir-Sing-A-Lot do for you today? Need some music that isn't filled with teenage angst?”
Virgil looked unimpressed with Roman's booming voice and princely performance as he entered Roman's room, letting Roman close the door behind him.
“Cut the crap, Princey. I know you're exhausted. You're not as good at hiding it as you thought.”
The words were accusatory, but the tone was not. On anyone else, he would have pegged it as concerned, but from Freak Out Boy? No way. His smile faltered before he plastered it back in place.
“What are you talking about, V?” Roman asked, raising an imperious eyebrow.
“For one thing, you're loud. I heard you get up earlier.” Virgil pointed to the wall separating their rooms. “For another, you're talking to the resident insomniac. I saw you making coffee before anyone else was awake. You also forgot to throw out your used coffee grounds a couple of times.” The anxious side put his hand up when Roman opened his mouth, “Don't worry, I covered for you, told Patton it was mine. He's worried about my caffeine intake now, but I told him I'd be kicking the habit soon.”
Roman's shoulders fell, and with it, his chipper facade.
“What do you want?”
Virgil narrowed his eyes. “I want you to get some rest. You've been working overtime for too long. We have a break, I want you to actually use it.”
Roman sighed and sat down on the edge of his bed. “I meant, what do you want to keep you from telling Logan and Patton about this?”
Virgil rolled his eyes and shook his head. “I don't want anything from you Princey, get that through your head.”
Roman cocked an eyebrow at Virgil who sighed, “Fine, there is something I want from you.” Virgil pulled out the The Nightmare Before Christmas posters Roman had admired in Virgil's room from behind his back. “If anyone sees these and asks, I want you to say that you bought your own. They didn't come from me.”
Roman gasped and took the posters when Virgil handed them to him. “These are...” he turned them over, hardly believing they were real. On the back of each frame was a quote. On the back of the Jack poster was: '“Take time off... The world will not fall apart without you” -Malebo Sephodi' and on the Sally poster was '”You're my hero” -Thomas Sanders (and V)'
Roman looked up at Virgil who was looking at the floor, a blush spreading across his cheeks, visible even through his foundation.
“Thank you, Virgil. I won't tell a soul.” Roman set the posters against his bedside table, deciding to hang them up later, after a nap. He yawned and Virgil looked up, gesturing his head towards the door.
“I'll get out of your hair, let you get your beauty sleep.”
Virgil turned to go, resting his hand on the doorknob, “You're a good guy Roman, you deserve a break.” He quickly shut off the lights and slipped out of the room, leaving Roman alone.
It was sort of ironic, he hadn't liked Anxiety for the longest time. He'd wanted to be alone in his room, but now that Virgil was gone, he felt a little lonely. Shoving the feeling aside, Roman kicked off his boots, removed his tunic, and got into bed. He'd deal with emotions when he was awake.
Roman woke up sometime the next day feeling more relaxed and energized than he had in a while. Smiling, he sat up in bed, remembering the wonderful dream he'd had. He'd been a Disney prince searching for his true love, singing songs, fighting dragons, out-witting wizards, making beloved animal friends. It had been fun and sweet and romantic, though he hadn't managed to find his true love. Maybe tomorrow night.
He nearly stubbed his toe on the posters when he got up; he'd forgotten they were there and last night's strange interaction with Virgil. Roman turned the posters over and looked at the quotes on the back more carefully. They were written in beautiful swirling script in metallic gold Sharpie marker. The ink was bold and bright, it looked like it had been written recently, but the posters themselves were slightly faded in their frames. Roman smiled, they were clearly the posters fro Virgil's room, but the quotes were new. Virgil had probably added them (and in gold script no less) when he'd decided to give them to Roman.
Then he read the quotes again, the one from Malebo Sephodi was a reminder to rest. It stung a little, to see that they didn't need him all the time, but it was also a bit of a relief. He could and should take a breather from time to time. The second quote was from the Am I ORIGINAL? Sanders Sides video, where Thomas said... In small script next to Thomas's name was '(and V)'.
Virgil had just called Roman his hero. After all the insulting nicknames, the arguments, his blind distaste for the other side in general, Virgil had still written that. He wanted to run out of his room and hug the other side. He wanted to cry and hide in his room, he didn't deserve this. He wanted-
Roman's stomach growled and reminded him that he hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday. He needed to put in an appearance and get some food before he did... well, whatever he decided to do about Virgil's kind gesture. But first, he needed to look like his usual regal self.
Roman got dressed in a clean set of his usual clothes, brushed his hair until it shone and stayed where it was supposed to. And for the finishing touch, a bit of concealer under the eyes. He didn't need as much as he had, but it would still be a while before the dark circles under his eyes went away completely. Looking as much the part of the handsome prince as he could, Roman exited his bedroom, heading down the hallway and stairs to the kitchen where something smelled very good and cheesy.
As he passed the living room, Logan briefly acknowledged him with a nod over the top of the book he was reading. Roman returned the greeting with a jaunty salute, no use trying to talk to Mr. Academia when he had his nose in a book.
Given the delightful smell wafting from the kitchen, he'd expected to find Patton there cooking something delicious. He hadn't expected to see Patton sitting at the kitchen table and Virgil of all people standing over the stove.
“Good morning, Roman!” Patton called cheerfully, looking up from whatever game he was playing on his phone to smile at him.
“Good afternoon, Patton! You're looking well,” Roman responded with his usual cheer, though it wasn't as forced as it had been the last few days. He looked at Virgil who hadn't turned around or acknowledged him at all.
“Hey there, V! I didn't know you could cook.” He tried to smile kindly at Virgil as the other side turned to look at him.
Virgil smirked at him. “Morning there sleeping beauty. I didn't know you knew what a stove was for.”
Roman rolled his eyes at Virgil's weak attempt at an insult. It looked like playful banter was still on the table then, and like they weren't going to publicly acknowledge what had happened last night.
“I may not be the brainiac or the father figure here, but I figured out basic household appliances a while ago.” Roman sat at the table next to Patton, who had gone back to his game.
Virgil turned back to stirring the pot on the stove. “Good, then maybe you can cook tomorrow. I made mac and cheese for lunch.”
Roman raised an eyebrow. What with the break and everything, he'd assumed each of them would be on their own for food or at least they'd be ordering pizza or something.
“I tend to burn everything to an inedible crisp or get overzealous with the chopping thing. How about I just set the table and do dishes afterward?”
“Fine.”
It wasn't perfect, Roman thought as he got up to get glasses, bowls, and forks out for lunch. He was still hiding most of his insecurities, and the truce between Virgil and himself was still tenuous, but it was better than it had been, and Roman only hoped things would continue to improve.
Prompt: Logan creates an entire presentation. There’s a PowerPoint. There are diagrams and charts. He uses a Lazer pointer.Virgil still isn’t 100% sold. He could be misinterpreting something! Maybe that graph doesn’t mean what he thinks it does??? (It’s not really a prompt, just an awesome comment @tinysidestrashcaptain posted on this post)
Pairing: Analogical
Genres: Fluff, romance, education
Warnings: None come to mind, let me know if any are needed, will add
Word Count: 978
Author’s Note: Coming up on the end of the semester at my University and I am swamped with homework, studying, etc. but this little ficlet demanded to be written and I couldn't say no. It may be a while before I’m posting content regularly again, but I have lots of fun fics in the works for you guys. Love you!
Logan had worked for the past month on this project, the most important lecture he would ever give. He had spent hours doing research, editing, making graphs, charts, and diagrams. There were parenthetical citations next to bullet points and a full bibliography to lend greater credibility to his final point. He had triple checked for spelling and grammatical errors and made sure to include points that would appeal to his audience’s logos and pathos. The PowerPoint was as good as it was going to get, and he was ready to present.
Logan looked at the lecture hall he had created in the mind-scape for this presentation, or rather, the section of a lecture hall. There was only one comfortable chair down in front with a flip up desk for taking optional notes. There was a small table in front a large projection screen for his laptop, laser pointer, and the follow-along packet he'd made to accompany the lecture. It was dimly lit, bright enough to take notes but not overwhelmingly bright, his audience would be most comfortable that way.
Satisfied, Logan sank out of his lecture hall and rose up in the living room where Roman was taking selfies on the couch. He could see Patton in the kitchen, baking and generally getting flour everywhere, but his focus was on Virgil coming down the stairs, his hair in that slightly ruffled state that either took seconds or hours to achieve. He looked relatively well-rested and relaxed, which was precisely the state of mind Logan had hoped for.
“Virgil?” Logan called softly, hoping not to startle him.
Virgil looked at him as he reached the bottom of the stairs.
“If you have some free time available today I'd like to share some valuable information with you.”
“Sure,” Virgil said with a shrug, “I was just going to get a cup of coffee.”
Patton came out of the kitchen holding a Nightmare Before Christmas mug full of coffee fixed the way Virgil liked it. He beamed a terrific smile at both of them, practically vibrating with happiness. A bit of flour fell out of his hair and dusted the carpet as he handed the mug to Virgil.
“Here you go, Virgil! One hot cup of coffee just the way you like it, and it's in a cool Nightmare Before Christmas mug, that was Roman's idea,” Patton exclaimed, clearly trying to keep a lid on his excitement. “You two have fun sharing that knowledge!”
Patton turned back to the kitchen with a wink at Logan that made him blush.
“Are you ready?”
Virgil looked in confusion from the mug he held, to Patton humming in the kitchen, and the blush creeping across Logan's cheeks.
“Uhhh, sure.”
Logan took Virgil's free hand and suck them out of the living room and into the lecture hall. Had either of them looked at the other two occupants of the mindscape, they would have seen Roman and Patton exchanging gleeful looks.
He held Virgil's hand for a moment after they'd arrived under the guise of making sure he wasn't too dizzy from rising up. Logan released his hand when Virgil started looking around.
“So, what are you teaching me this time? Breathing techniques? Zen meditation? Visualization exercises?”
“Ah, I see you're under the misapprehension that this lesson is centered around a technique to help you manage yourself.” Logan adjusted his glasses and turned on the projector, “This lesson is something a little different, but it is information I hope you'll find useful.”
Virgil sat in the plush chair and Logan handed him the note-packet that accompanied his power point.
“Please hold all questions until the end of the lecture. Feel free to take notes if you see fit.”
The title slide appeared in large letters on the projection screen 'Logan Loves Virgil'.
Virgil looked gobsmacked and Logan adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat, picking up his laser pointer.
“Let's begin.”
“And that concludes my presentation on why I, Logan, have strong romantic feelings for you, Virgil.” Logan switched off the laser pointer and faced his sole audience member. “Are there any questions?”
“Uhhhhhhhhhhh,” Virgil tapped his fingers on the armrest and fidgeted in his seat, likely unhappy about being put on the spot, even if Logan was the only other person there.“Could you explain the diagram again?”
Logan did not sigh or protest, he knew this wasn’t going to be easy, but his projected outcome is more than worth a little extra effort. He went to his laptop and clicked back to slide 84 to review the diagram.
“This should appear on page six of your handout.” Logan said, turning on his laser pointer again, “This diagram illustrates my relationships with each of the other sides and Thomas, in order to give a clearer picture of why my feelings for you are different...”
Logan checked his watch when he heard Virgil's stomach growl. It's five pm, they've been at this for four hours.
“We should break to refuel and hydrate. Would you like to have dinner with me?” Logan asked, looking a bit apprehensively at Virgil.
“Did, did you just ask me on a date?”
Logan smiled a sweet genuine smile.
“Yes, I did. Will you accept?”
“Yes!” Virgil slapped a hand over his mouth. His response had been loud and fast, similar to when he'd revealed his name.
“Excellent. Perhaps we can skip the presentation on why you should go on a date with me and move on to the more advanced lecture on why you should be my boyfriend.”
Virgil rolled his eyes at that and stood up, taking Logan's hand.
“Food first, lectures later.” Virgil said, tugging Logan toward the door marked 'EXIT', “And be patient with me, I'm a slow learner.”
