Chapter 1: The logical, the prince, and the… maybe zombie?
Summary:
Let us introduce you to Solarborn!
Notes:
Poor Logan, having to deal with two idiots (nnaahhh he loves them >:D)
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Logan never thought he’d be here.
The dreaded apocalypse that so many books and movies had predicted had finally happened. The air was toxic, and there were zombies everywhere.
And now, Logan was sitting between two of the strangest people he’d ever known.
He was living with them.
One had shaggy brown hair and green eyes. Little freckles were dispersed around his face, and he had darker skin. Logan assumed he was Hispanic, but didn’t feel like asking would be.. appropriate. He was very pretty, and Logan honestly wouldn’t mind dating him if it weren’t for the fact that he was so goddamn egotistical, self-centered, and annoying.
This was Roman Prince.
Roman was eating his breakfast, scrolling on his phone, and humming something to himself.
The other person… was strange. Logan wasn't entirely sure they weren’t a zombie, but they weren’t hostile..? They had curly, nearly white hair with streaks of faded color blurring into a pastel-grey mess. He had thousands of freckles all over what Logan could see of his skin and bright blue eyes. What confused Logan, was that he had heterochromia, but as a light blue and corn blue. He was also missing a few teeth. Logan wasn't sure.. how exactly. He was a mystery.
He also had bandages and band-aids covering his skin, as well as various scars. The most noticeable were the small ones on his face, and Logan could see a bigger one peaking out of his hairline and thin bangs. Logan was very curious to know how he got most of those.
This was Patton Foster.
He was reading the back of the cereal box intently, breathing the words to a song Logan couldn't make out.
Perhaps he had earbuds in.
Logan understood that Roman and Patton were best friends.
He understood that he was the odd one out.
He understood that he was only here for his medical knowledge.
So he won’t make himself too much of a presence.
Just keep your head down.
“Wot’s an animal who wears boots inna fairytale?” Patton suddenly asked the table.
Oh yeah.
Patton’s also British.
“Oooh, uh..” Roman perked up, making an exaggerated thinking face. “Oh!! It’s puss in boots! A cat.”
Patton’s usually foggy eyes widened with realization, and he gave Roman a wide grin, showing off the holes in his mouth. “Fanks!”
Roman chuckled, “no prob!”
Logan blinked.
Huh.
They returned to their own occupations.
Logan looked down at his soggy cereal.
It was very unappealing all of a sudden.
Patton abruptly stood up and went to the sink to wash his empty bowl out.
Logan always forgets just how tall Patton was until he stands up. He usually looks so small, as he slouches, making himself look smaller.
But no, he is 6’5 and extremely skinny and lanky.
And Logan thought he was tall at 6’0.
Logan decided he would stand up too, clearing his unwanted food.
“Hey Pat?” Roman looked up, “Where are your glasses?”
Patton paused, the water running over his hand. “Uhhh… I dunno.” He shrugged.
“That’s.. not good.” Roman’s eyebrows pinched together. “We can’t exactly order new ones, Y’know. Anywhere they could be..?”
Logan walked over to the doorway, peering into the rest of their abandoned apartment building.
It was.. strange.
He has an apartment with roommates, and a.. somewhat steady income.
Well.. as steady as it could be during the apocalypse. It isn’t exactly USD.
He didn’t even get to finish..
But here he is now. No point dwelling on the past.
Patton finished washing the dish and started to walk all around the apartment, searching for his missing glasses.
He even shuffled like a zombie.
Eventually, when he lifted a blanket off the couch, he held up a pair of circular-framed glasses victoriously. “Found em!”
“Sweet!” Roman hurriedly shoveled the rest of his cereal into his mouth and practically swallowed the bowlful of milk whole. He hopped up and bounded over to the sink as well.
He was much too energetic for Logan’s liking.
Patton put his glasses on his face and blinked rapidly to get used to having vision again.
He pulled the banjo that he always wore on his back and sat on the couch, plucking at it with his colorful fingers.
He always had nail polish coating his nails, as well as little pen drawings all over his hands. Logan was starting to wonder if some of them were tattoos.
Logan leaned against the door frame, closing his eyes and listening to Patton’s soft plucks.
It was oddly comforting..
He found himself fidgeting with the pocket’s zipper on his cargo pants. Just the closest thing he could get his hands on.
After a moment, Roman sat down next to Patton, smiling softly.
The air of the house was.. content.
Logan was content.
Which was rare these days.
They were actually living through a nuclear apocalypse with real zombies.
It was astounding to Logan.
After a while, Patton stopped strumming the instrument. He put it down on the floor, propping it up on the couch, and leaned back, pressing his hands against his eyes.
“You alright?” Roman asked gently, cocking his head to the right.
“Mmmhh… jus’ nee’ mo’ m…” Patton mumbled, standing up and walking down the hall to his room.
Logan blinked, trailing Patton with his eyes.
Roman just sighed and stood up as well, stretching his limbs out and grabbed Patton’s banjo.
He shot Logan an apologetic smile, and disappeared as well.
Logan was entirely and utterly baffled.
He barely understood what Patton had said, but Roman did??
Just another reason not to bother them.
Keep your head down.
He rubbed his eyes and sighed heavily.
Might as well retreat to his room too..
He looked around one last time, taking it all in.
Then, without a second thought, Logan was also gone.
He hurriedly made his way down the dim corridor and towards the apartment he made his office.
They still hadn’t finished clearing out this apartment.
Logan had to be weary.
There was a lingering fear in the back of his mind of unseen danger.
He cautiously walked through his empty halls, flipping on lights as he went.
He peered around the corner.
There was a closet at the end.
Something told him not to look in there.
So the only logical thing to do was look in there.
He opened the folding door and—
It was staring up at him from the floor.
A zombie, half of its jaw hanging off and its entire lower half gone, which was in Logan’s path now.
He squeaked in surprise, stumbling back and reaching for his quiver. He pulled out an arrow and jammed it into the attacking zombie’s head.
“How the fuck..?” He backed off, turning to sprint out the door.
He ran to the closest door he knew someone was residing in and knocked.
It was Patton’s. He had stickers and drawings all over it.
The door opened fairly shortly and Patton looked down at Logan quizzingly.
Logan felt very uncomfortable all of a sudden.
More so than usual.
“U-uh.. I found a zombie in my office.” He stammered out. “A-and I’m not the best equipped for close range.”
Patton’s eyes widened, and he ran back into his apartment, stumbling over his own feet.
He shortly came back with one of his axes, staring at Logan with urgency.
Logan motioned for him to follow and returned to his apartment.
The zombie had made its way to the main living room, leaving a trail of blue-tinted radioactive.. bodily fluids in it’s path.
Logan scrunched up his nose.
This’ll be quite the mess to clean up later.
“Wan’ me to kill it in ‘ere?” Patton asked, looking at the zombie with the same disgusted face that Logan was giving it.
“Uh.. not particularly…”
Patton nodded, lowering his axe and grabbing the zombie by the back of the collar. “Alright, c’mon, mate.” He started to drag it through the apartment.
It made a noise of protest, grabbing at Patton’s hands.
“Don’ get short with me. Yer no s’pposed ta be here. Shut your gob.” Patton scolded it, shaking its arms off. He went out the door to the apartment and disappeared down the hall.
Logan sighed heavily, gazing back at the faintly glowing trail of zombie juice on his floors.
How do I even clean this..?
—-->
Roman wasn’t sure what he was expecting to see when he left his apartment.
It definitely wasn’t a trail of.. something.
It looked suspiciously like zombie remnants, but why is there so much of it??
It started from Logan’s room, and trailed.. down the hall, down the stairs and outside.
Roman stepped outside to see..
Patton, axe in hand, blue blood splattered all over him.
“Patton!! What—?”
He turned to Roman with his—now—signature eerily blank expression. “Logan wan’ed me to kill it.” He pointed at the pile of gray and blue slime and bones that he was previously hitting repeatedly with his axe. “He foun’ it in his closet.”
Roman made a face at the mushy pile, “Well, you’ve got radioactive blood all over you, Pat. You should probably go wash it off.” He raised an eyebrow. “One paper cut and you’re dead.”
Patton looked down at himself like he didn’t know he was coated in glowing blue, radioactive zombie fluids. “Okeh.” He began to slowly walk inside of the building again.
Roman trailed behind him, making sure he made it back.
Once Patton was behind his sticker-adorned door, Roman sighed gently.
Logan’s room was open down the hall a little bit. Roman peered into the doorway, and saw Logan mopping up the same glowing fluids.
He sighed and returned to his apartment.
——>
It was dinner time once again. Logan and Roman were cooking some Mac and cheese and green beans from a can.
Roman had called Patton in for dinner, but he hadn’t shown up yet.
Just as they were serving the table, Patton walked into the room and sat at the table.
His hair was tied up in a bun, leaving his heavily pierced ears exposed. He was also wearing a baggy tank top, revealing various tattoos of characters, flowers, and eyes virtually everywhere.
They were very colorful.
“Heya Pat! We’re about to start.” Roman smiled warmly.
Patton grinned back at him. “Yay!”
Logan sat down as well, gazing at the empty seat across from him.
“So!” Roman started, “we’re just about a month into the apocalypse now, aren’t we?”
“I suppose we are..” Logan hummed.
“Ya evah f’ought the wo’ld would en’ like this?” Patton asked, picking at some of the bandages on his arm. He hadn’t even picked up his fork yet.
“Not in a million years.” Roman chuckled.
“It.. especially interesting that it’s.. zombies. I thought the radioactive fallout would’ve caused immediate death.” Logan mused, “This feels straight out of..”
“It feels like fiction.” Roman finished Logan’s sentence.
Patton nodded in agreement, tearing off a soggy band-aid on his arm and observing the scab. “I’ve watch lotsa zombie films an’ they all loo’ both very similar, an’ very different.”
Roman got up and grabbed a fresh Band-Aid from a cabinet, placing it in front of Patton. “Don’t pick at that.”
Logan gazed down at his Mac n cheese. “It was the solstice site that exploded, right..?”
Roman nodded, “I wonder what they were doing in there..”
“Prolly illegal exp-experi..m-ments.” Patton murmered, begrudgingly putting the bandaid back on his wound. “Somefing with animals and people. Radiation mutating fings ‘n th’like. Proper torture, I could imagine.”
Logan chuckled inwardly at Patton’s accent.
“Wild guess there, bud.” Roman laughed.
“It’s honestly not all that far off..” Logan hummed in thought, “maybe not exactly right, but we’ve seen animals around. It’s only the humans that turned…”
“Those animals are bloody horrendous! All th’ stuff in the air is makin’ them into monsters! I’ve o’ly seen a few, but they are horrifying.” Patton said distraughtly, finally picking up his fork and poking at his pasta. “Those blokes at Solstice claimed wot they were doin’ was safe. All tosh, they speak.” He mumbled angrily.
“Tosh?” Logan asked confusedly.
“Er, sorry. Bullshit.” Patton answered, taking a bite of Mac and cheese.
Roman snorted.
“Ah. They are.. quite interesting.. I’d love to run some tests on them…” Logan murmured to himself.
“I saw a deer with sharp teeth!!” Roman exclaimed.
“Wot??” Patton looked both intrigued and horrified. “The poor animals!”
“A carnivorous deer..?” Logan asked, bewildered.
“It was eating a squirrel. I think??” Roman made a disgusted face.
Patton put his head down on the table and mumbled something Logan couldn’t understand.
“What?” Roman asked, placing a gentle hand near Patton.
He turned his head to the side so they could hear him. “Deer are ‘posed to be herbivores…” he said quietly. “This ra-radiation shit is doin’ bad fings to the animals… and i’s makin’ m’ eyes itch an’ burnin’ my lungs!” Patton sat up again and gestured in front him aggressively.
Logan flinched slightly, not expecting the sudden movement.
“We should get gas masks.” Roman perked up.
“From where? The nearest store is a gas station.” Logan muttered sourly. “And even that’s a risk.”
“So tha’s one bad trip. Once we ge’ th’masks, we can anywhere!” Patton exclaimed, smiling at Logan, showing off the gaps in his teeth.
Logan blinked. “Huh..”
“We should go right now!!” Roman stood up, his chair screeching painfully.
“Yeh!” Patton stood up as well, running out of the apartment to his own, leaving his barely touched Mac and cheese behind.
“It’s almost nightfall!!” Logan called hopelessly.
He sighed and started to clean up the abandoned dinner.
Well, this will be an adventure.
Notes:
Good so far? I love the relationship between these guys XDD
I apologize in advance that Pat’s medicine system is not going to be accurate, but we’re all gonna just go along with it cause it’s fiction and just for fun!!
Chapter 2: Snickers from a Snake and a Duke
Summary:
Nullbound, one of the other well known factions, Have a nice(-ish) trip out on the town!
Notes:
Remus and Deceit!!! They’ve got some big secrets ;3
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Remus was lying upside down on the armchair, staring up at the others.
Deceit was bouncing his leg, sitting on the couch, gazing out at the stalagmites and stalactites in their grotto. Remus didn’t know which was which.
Ares was in the armchair, stoic as ever.
Remus was bored.
Deceit stood up and began pacing the room. “What are we supposed to do?”
Ah, good ‘ol Deceit. Never liked sitting around doing nothing unless it was one of his ‘me days.’
He was very small, barely coming above 5’0 with very long brown hair that he always keeps tied up. He always had his gas mask on, which was a snake, hiding something Remus was still trying to figure out.
He had a patchwork caplet around his shoulders with dark colors with yellow accents.
“Can we go outside and have some fun? I’m boorrreedddd!” Remus whined.
Ares growled low. “Whatever you two do, don’t lead anyone back here.” He shot Remus a glare.
Ares had a half mask with mushrooms and moss growing over it’s alligator-like eye, covering one half of his face. Remus could just make out skin discoloration behind it.. his scaled tail was swishing behind him angrily. He had one snaggle-tooth tusk poking up on the opposite side of his face, only adding to his intimidation.
“Don’t worry, we won’t! We’re responsible apocalypse survivors.” Remus grinned at him.
Dee shook his head disappointedly.
Ares gestured lazily for them to leave.
“Yippee!! See ya later, alligator!” Remus hopped up and quickly out in his mask, climbing up the ladder to the surface.
He twisted in the hot sunlight happily.
Deceit begrudgingly followed through the thin hole, shaking out his limbs and readjusting his hat.
He hissed, gazing around. “It’s too bright.”
“Awh, c’mon, Dee! It’s a beautiful day, so beautiful that it’s burning my skin!” Remus exclaimed cheerfully. “Lookit all those mindless zombies out there!” He gestured to the countless gray, brain-dead things that used to be people shuffling slowly all around them. “Can’t you just smell their rotting flesh from here? Mmmm, yummy.”
Deceit hissed directly at him this time. “I much prefer inside, where it won’t feel like the world wants to kill you. Because it does.” He stalked off in a different direction.
“What’s the fun in thhaattt!” Remus pouted, followed him, looking in every direction.
All of the vegetation had effectively been killed off by the horrendous amounts of radiation and chemicals in the air, leaving everything brown and dead, Save for a few glowing flowers here and there.
The sky was now a strange mix of red, orange, and green. The clouds were… unusual. Some dark, some white, and some an ominous shade of any color you could possibly think of.
Dee pulled out his weapon, a chain whip he found only a week ago.
He was fidgeting with his yellow gloves, looking around wearily.
Eventually, they made it to a store. It was an abandoned grocery store that still had most of its contents.
“I’m going into the back.” Deceit gave little warning before all but disappearing into thin air.
“Wha— why?? Dee, wait!” Remus followed him into the store, but immediately lost him.
He looked around for Deceit to no avail. “WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GO???”
He heard some faint snickering from somewhere behind him. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Remus spun around, not finding Dee behind him. “You are a fucking asshole.” He growled, turning on his heel to look at something else in the store.
After a few silent moments, the intercom chimed, and Deceit’s voice spoke clearly. “Hey, Dipshit in aisle 14! You—“ a zombie gurgled over him, then yelped in pain. “Ah yes, you’re very helpful. Thank you so much for the input.”
Remus flipped off every camera he could see, snickering at the zombie. “Wait, that guy was talking to me! I wanna hear what he has to say.”
Deceit growled something under his breath, and a few moments later, a pained gurgling rang out through the empty halls.
Dee’s sarcastic voice was muffled behind the din. “ I hope you’re happy. OW DON’T FUCKING CLAW AT ME YOU USED TAMPON. ”
Remus almost fell over with the force of his laughter. “Yes, I am!” He pushed up his gas mask so that it was on his head, pulling out a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth, struggling to light it as he was still shaking with giggles.
“FUCK YOU!!” Dee yelled through the intercom, and Remus heard various grunts of exertion and the sound of a zombie dying. “ Fucking asshole.”
Remus inhaled some smoke and, on the exhale, said, “Leave it alone, it's just trying to help!”
Deceit didn’t seem to be listening; the sound of squishing guts and bone continued to bore into Remus’ ears.
Then the intercom switched off, and Remus heard a door slam somewhere.
“Heh..” Remus chuckled, walking around and looking at the stock of the grocery store.
It was mostly rotten produce, though the packaged stuff seemed okay. There was primarily just produce and food.
There was a section full of miscellaneous things, as well as an alcohol aisle.
“Ooo!” Remus went up to it and scanned the selection. “Dee, I found the strong drinks!”
Deceit walked up next to him, readjusting his gas mask and gazing up at the display.
“Hm.” Despite not saying anything, Remus could hear the smirk on his face.
He immediately started browsing, putting his mask’s eye up close to the bottles, his head tilted like an animal’s.
Remus stood next to him and puffed out another cloud of smoke. “Do we need some?” He raised a mischievous eyebrow. “I’m not even old enough to drink, technically.”
“We need some.” Dee breathed, barely audible through the mask. “And you’re really gonna follow laws during the apocalypse?” He turned to look at Remus, an air of teasing in his tone.
Remus scoffed, “Hell no! I wouldn’t follow the rules even if it weren’t the apocalypse. We just don’t know how old we all are, snake daddy. Just curious.” He grinned.
“Don’t—“ Dee hissed “don’t call me that.” He went back to perusing the alcohol. “Well, why don’t you tell me how old you are, little man?”
“20!” Remus said, exhaling smoke into Dee’s face. “What? Are you an old man?”
“Mmh, only if you count four years older as ‘old age,’” he pulled down a bottle, inspecting the label.
“Absolutely. You’re old man. Senile old bastard!” Remus poked him.
Deceit flinched slightly at the touch, hissing, “Yeah, well fuck you, freckle face.” He held the bottle close to his chest protectively.
Remus cackled. “That’s the best you got, smartass?” He challenged, making exaggerated gestures at his face. “I happen to like my freckles.”
“That’s just the worst you can take.” Deceit raised his chin. He pulled another bottle off the shelf and looked at it. “Trust me, I could call you much worse things.”
Remus hummed, putting out his cigarette and dropping it in the ground. “Don’t be afraid, Dee-Dee, I can handle it.” He walked to the front of the store and stuffed as many chip and candy bags as he could in his backpack.
“Mmh, your downfall.” Deceit shrugged, following him. “I haven’t known you for long, have I? About.. a month now. But I know things you haven’t told anyone. So please , correct me if I’m wrong.”
“You’re 20? How long has it been since you moved here? I haven’t seen you around before solstice went up in flames, and yet you seem to know your way around here astonishingly well. Let me guess.. divorced parents? You went with one when they moved away, and now you’ve returned here in search of something. Nostalgia, a lost family member, I don’t know. Whatever it is, you only moved back here because you’re dependent. You find someone or something to keep you grounded. That and addiction.” Deceit stepped on the cigarette, smushing it flat. “It’s unhealthy. But I’d be a hypocrite to tell you off.”
Remus gaped at him, his cheeks heating up. He quickly pulled down his gas mask to hide his embarrassment. “Maybe… how the fuck did you figure that out?” He hissed the question.
“Well, considering the fact that you’re only 20 and already addicted to weed and nicotine, I don’t think you had the best childhood.” Dee shrugged, “like I said, you know your way around this dingy little nowhere town, so you most likely moved away at some point. You’re relatively young, so it would’ve had to have been in your childhood. But the one thing I can’t figure out is what you’re after.” He paused, gazing at Remus for a little bit too long to be comfortable. “I guess I’ll figure it out at some point.” He snatched a Snickers from the shelf.
Remus tried to be angry at Dee for reading him that well, but he felt more… remorse. Because it was all true.
All the bad habits, all of the wandering around town, searching for something he knew he definitely wouldn’t find.
Remus sighed, sitting on the floor and opening a package of Skittles, shoving a handful in his mouth. “Yeah. My dad sucked, okay? Alcoholic and addicted to weed and a bunch of other drugs. I was separated from my twin brother when we were about... 5, maybe? I was stuck with my father, who was torn up over the divorce. We moved to fucking Pennsylvania. And now I’m back!”
After a few moments, Deceit sat down next to him. He was faced slightly away, but still there .
He lifted his gas mask just slightly so he could eat his candy bar.
“Well.. you’re back..”
This was the clearest Remus had ever heard Dee’s voice.
“We really only have each other here… Ares doesn't give two shits about us.” He hissed.
A real hiss, fangs— actual fangs— bared.
Fangs???
Remus couldn’t help but stare in awe at his fangs. “Yeah… just me and you. I’m 99% sure that Ares is just waiting for the moment to kill us.” He snorted.
“Oh absolutely.” Dee ran his tongue—which was forked—over his lips, and hummed. “We don’t have long here.” He tasted the air, his thin tongue flicking rapidly.
Remus shrugged. “That’s okay with me.” He gazed at Deceit, not able to tear his eyes off the spots where his snake features were once visible. “You really are a snake, aren’t you?”
“W-what?” Dee snapped his head over to Remus.
He got the impression his eyes were widened, even though he couldn’t see Deceit’s face.
“You have a forked tongue and fangs!” Remus said, smiling genuinely at him. “It’s just cool. I like animal features.”
Dee was silent for a few moments, before—
He stood up without a word, looking pointedly away from Remus. “We.. better get what we came for.” And left.
Remus continued sitting down for a few long moments, confusion taking over his features.
Don’t mention snake features, got it.
He sighed and stood up, following Deceit and taking his skittles with him.
Dee was very tense for the rest of the trip, adjusting his vibrant yellow gloves constantly.
He grabbed whatever wasn't rotten or moldy from the shelves, stuffing it into his bag.
Soon enough, they were making their way back home in silence.
Remus desperately wanted to break it. He hated silence.
But he couldn’t bring anything up from before…
“What kind of soup did you get?” He asked Deceit experimentally.
“Tomato.” He replied flatly.
“ Just tomato? Please tell me you got bread and cheese.” Remus said, being sure not to sound whiny.
“All the bread and cheese is moldy. Or radioactive.”
Remus grumbled to himself. “Fiinnneee. Tomato is alright. I’ll eat it only cause it’s an apocalypse. All the good stuff is too toxic.”
Dee just hummed, never slowing his pace.
Remus internally groaned, shutting up for now.
Dee clearly didn’t want to talk, so Remus would be quiet for the time being until he decided that he wanted to talk again.
That might take a while.
The next time either of them spoke, it was Deceit.
“There’s a zombie behind you, Re.”
Sure enough, Remus heard a dry moan from directly behind him.
He whipped around, pulling out his Morningstar and hitting the zombie behind him directly in its head.
Through pure instinct and panic, his octopus arms shot out and ripped the zombie in half.
He breathed heavily and turned back around to face Deceit, smiling at him gratefully. “Thanks, Dee.”
“No problem..” Deceit hummed.
It was silent for another long moment before Dee said. “I’m.. Sorry about earlier.”
“It’s fine. Sensitive subject, I get it.” Remus rehid his extra appendages and continued forward.
“No, like.. I’m sorry for bringing up your past.” Dee murnured. “It was.. a dick move. You kinda brought it on yourself, though.” He hurriedly redirected the tone of the conversation from somber to his usual sass.
As if he didn’t want to show weakness.
“Oh.” Remus blinked, waving him off after a few moments. “It’s fine. I have nothing to hide. Now you know why I have issues! I asked for it.” He started to walk faster.
He wanted to go home as fast as he could. Even if it didn’t even feel like home.
Deceit matched his pace, but stayed a few feet behind Remus.
Remus heard what must’ve been what was left of Dee’s Snickers bar being pulled out of his pocket, and his mask lifted up like earlier.
He pointedly looked away this time, not wanting to cross any boundaries again. They’ve known each other for less than a month, he didn’t want to mess everything up so fast.
Though he’s afraid that he already has...
Remus won’t hold a grudge, but he knows that Deceit will.
If Dee miraculously forgives him, Remus will pretend none of this ever happened.
They made it to their cave soon after, and they both slipped through the small opening.
Deceit dropped the gathering in the kitchen, and went to sit down in the chair.
They could hear Ares rummaging around further into the house.
Remus decided to make residence on the ceiling, using his tentacles to hang from the rocky surface above them.
Dee gazed up at him. “I don’t see how you enjoy that.”
“It’s like lounging in a hammock!” Remus grinned at him, hanging upside down.
“Oh, and of course a hammock takes the same amount of energy to lay in.” Deceit deadpanned.
“Yeah, basically! My tentacles have suction cups that just stick to the ceiling without much effort.” Remus swung back and forth.
“Oh. Huh..” Deceit sounded genuinely impressed.
Remus beamed. “Yup! I’m liking my mutation. I’ve always wanted to be a hybrid.”
“Well.. that’s nice.”
He didn’t sound genuine anymore.
The faint noise that was supposedly Ares had stopped.
Now it was silent in the dim cave.
And cold.
Remus shivered, curling in on himself slightly.
Why is Dee so sensitive about being a hybrid?
I guess it’s not everyone’s dream…
I was a weird child.
A weird person.
Is it just me that’s enjoying these new features?
Remus sighed and climbed down from the ceiling, deciding he would rather just take a nap.
Notes:
Maybe.. The apocalypse isn’t as fun for others than it is for Remus..?
Chapter 3: Welcome to Solarborn!
Summary:
Virgil meets a very strange person. He gets invited to join Solarborn.
Chapter Text
Everything has gone to complete shit in the span of just a month, and Virgil almost wishes he was a zombie.
But no, he survived. Though he does have some… strange mutations…
He’s been on his own for a while now, and he’s been doing…
Fine.
Finding food wasn’t a struggle at this point. There were gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants everywhere.
Though that wouldn’t last long, he’ll take advantage of it while he can.
Currently, he was sitting on some bench eating.. well, he didn’t really know what meal this was, in a park that had previously been really pretty. Flowers and vegetation everywhere.
Now it was all dead or mutated.
In a way, the mutated and radioactive flowers were pretty. They glowed..!
His spider gas mask sat next to him, staring him down.
At first, he thought the designs were cool.
Oh wow! Our gas masks can represent our traits! Wouldn't that be nice.
But now it’s kicking him in the face.
A constant reminder of the monster he was.
His mandibles clicked, and he stiffened.
They were uncontrollable.
An instinctual reaction, a stim, but one that he hated.
He took another bite of his food, gazing around at the glowing flowers and toxic-blue pond.
There was suddenly the sound of a branch snapping that caused Virgil to shoot to his feet, quickly strapping his gas mask to his face.
He held his breath as he listened to the footsteps approaching.
A figure stepped out of the collage of trees.
Now, Virgil was very short. He was 5’0 flat, but this person was insanely tall and very lanky.
They had a sticker-covered gas mask on, only their heavily pierced ears—they had many all around the sides of their ears, as well as dangly earrings hanging from gauges—and a very colorful, very messy bun on the top of their head, strands of dyed hair hanging loose.
They had goddamn googly eyes stuck to their boots.
They lifted their mask to reveal their face, which had a confused expression.
Their face was even stranger, covered in freckles and several more piercings. A snake bite piercing, a circular one in his nose, and one in his eyebrow.
There was some kind of vine tattoo climbing up their neck, or at least what Virgil could see of his neck.
Their eyes were two different shades of blue.
“‘Ello. Are’ya a person?” They greeted in a very British accent.
“U-uhm.. yes. H-human.”
You aren’t human anymore.
Virgil’s voice was shaky and quiet.
Is this a friend or foe..?
They broke out into a wide grin, showing off their teeth.
Or… most of their teeth. They were missing a few.
“Wow, I din’ know anyone else was still ‘live!” They started to walk up closer to Virgil.
He stepped back slightly.
..They seem nice. If a bit eccentric…
“W-who are you..?”
It took a few seconds before they seemed to register what Virgil had said. “I’m Patton! Patton Foster. Parta Solarborn.” They held out their hand for Virgil to shake, and tried to give a comforting smile.
Their arm was so long that they didn’t even have to lean over to reach Virgil.
It was slightly intimidating.
Virgil hesitantly took it.
Solarborn, huh?
One of the most well-known groups.
The kindest as well.
Them and Nullbound.
Nullbound is.. much less forgiving.
“I’m.. I’m Virgil.”
“Nice ta meetcha Virgil!” Patton was looking at Virgil’s face—which was covered by his gas mask—but he seemed to just register what it was.
He let go of Virgil’s hand and stepped back, pulling his hands close to his chest. He looked scared.
It only lasted for a few seconds, though, as his smile came back, but it was less bright. More.. nervous and uncomfortable, his eyes pointedly flickering away from Virgil’s face. “Are ya all alone?”
“Uhm.. yeah?”
This could either be very bad or very good.
He hadn’t had any interaction with Solar before.. their reputation of being nice could be wrong.
Very wrong.
Virgil gazed at Patton’s uncomfortable expression.
I should probably get rid of this mask..
Not right now, though. I need.. something to cover my face.
“Well, d’ya wanna maybe… join us? Bein’ alone du’in an ap-apac— apocalypse don’ seem safe. I dun wanna leave ya.” Patton fidgeted with his large, bony hands.
They had drawings all over them.
Oh.
Oh!
“Uh.. yeah, okay.. I-if it’s not.. not too much trouble…” Virgil clenched and unclenched his own hands, which now had sharp claws on them.
They were hidden under long sleeves.
Patton broke out into a wide grin, looking at Virgil’s face again. He didn’t seem scared anymore, though Virgil suspects that’s not because he suddenly wasn’t afraid of his mask.
He got the impression that he had just forgotten and is not paying attention, or was trying not to think about it too hard.
“‘Course! Lo an’ Ro will be jus’ chuffed! Mmh, after a bit’a convincing.” Patton turned around and started walking in the other direction.
He had an axe and a goddamn banjo strapped to his back.
Virgil hurriedly ran to catch up to him, taking two steps for each of his.
What is happening?
“W-where are we going..?”
“ Ta our base! Issa big apa’tmen’ buildning— building. The bloody hell’s a buildning??” Patton scoffed at himself, gesturing his hands out on either side of him with exasperation.
Virgil chuckled softly.
He was starting to like Patton.
“You guys have a whole building??”
“Yeh!” Patton said proudly, turning around to face Virgil. “Snagged us a whole buildin with all th’ apartments to ourselves.”
“Wow..”
It was kind of hard to understand what Patton was saying..
“How many.. people do you live with..?”
Patton didn’t answer him. He was staring at the apartment building, unblinking with a dazed expression.
Virgil trailed Patton’s line of sight, gazing up at the tall building.
Wow…
“Sorry, didja say somefing?” Patton was suddenly staring at him with a confused expression.
This guy is very good at being sudden and startling the shit out of Virgil.
“What? O-oh uhm.. no…” Virgil looked down at his feet.
“Oh. A’right. Sorry. Imma little high on pain meds right now.” Patton sighed, starting to make his way to the building.
“W-what..?”
No wonder they’re so…
That’s mean.
Don’t think that .
“Loo’, it was a ‘eally bad one, okay? I kin’a… maybe… gave into tha urge to ta’e one more..” Patton said shamefully, twiddling his fingers.
He quickly turned around and looked at Virgil with desperation. “Please don’t tell Roman.”
Those were the clearest words he had spoken all day.
Oh…
“Uhm.. okay. I-I don’t think I’ll talk to anyone anyway..” Virgil murmured.
Patton tilted his head to the side. “No? Are ya scared, or do’ya jus’ not like people much?”
“Uhm.. Will you take both as an answer..?” Virgil asked timidly.
Patton chuckled, nodding. “Yes. I don’ like people much either. Or talking. I’s ha’der than it should be. This the mos’ I’ve talked in…” he squinted his eyes and thought for a minute. “A while.”
He stayed like that for a few more seconds before standing up straight and breaking out into another smile. “How ‘bout I a-do all tha— the talking fo’ yew. I li’e these people.”
“Uhm.. okay… thank you.” Virgil smiled up at him, then realized all Patton could see was a giant spider face.
Whoops.
Patton smiled wider at that and opened the door to let them inside.
He led Virgil down the hall, upstairs, and down another hall until they finally reached a door.
Patton knocked on it, stepping back and waiting for an answer.
There was some shuffling from inside, and a crash that made Virgil flinch.
The door opened a moment later.
There stood an average height man with shaggy brown hair and freckled skin. He had flowers in his hair and on his shoulders, and was surprisingly muscular.
He was currently shirtless.
“Hey, Pat.. what’cha want? It’s kinda late.” He rubbed his eyes, not seeming to register that there was someone else there.
Patton did not seem phased by the fact that a very good-looking shirtless man was standing in front of him.
Virgil was infuriated that he couldn't peel his eyes off of him and was blushing furiously.
“Hi, Ro! So… sorry ta bothah ya, bu’ I foun’ someone!” Patton gestured to Virgil excitedly, like he wasn’t this small pathetic guy that was trying very hard not to run away as fast as he could.
Ro (?) ’s eyes widened slightly, and he looked down at the intruder.
“Oh! Hello, you! I’m Roman!” He smiled warmly and held out his hand.
Virgil took it, still staring up at Roman. “I-I’m Virgil..” he forced out quietly.
“You can take off your mask in here, it’s not toxic, Y’know.” Roman cocked his head to the right, offering a helpful smile.
“U-uhm..”
“I fink he prefers to keep i’ on.” Patton said, staring wearily at the mask. “I f’ought that maybe he could live ‘ere? We coul’ unlock anothah atart—apartment.” He offered Roman a hopeful, slightly awkward smile. “I would offah you ta live wif me, bu’.. I wouldn’t advise it.” He winced.
“Oh yeah, totally!” Roman grinned, and Virgil swore he recognized that face from somewhere..
I’ve never met him before, though…
He is very pretty…
What am I thinking??
“—clear out the zombies though.” Roman was speaking when Virgil zoned back in. “I’ll help! Just uh.. gimme a sec.” He chuckled awkwardly, looking down at his shirtless chest.
He made a strange face and picked one of the flowers from his shoulder.
It came off like it was attached to his skin.
Huh..
Patton’s face slowly turned to confusion and curiosity as he scanned the flowers growing out of Roman. “How’re ya growin flowers on yer skin?”
“Uh.. I don’t know…” Roman inspected the little red flower. “They kinda just.. appeared. They don’t hurt though…”
Its green stem was shaped in a spiral, so the flower could rest close to his skin.
Patton stared at them with wonder, plucking one off of Roman’s skin and holding it delicately. “Pretty…” he mumbled.
He put it in his hair. “Now go ge’ dressed! We nee’ ta ge’ Vigi— Vi’gi— Vir—” he shut his mouth, stopping his struggling. He huffed and pushed Roman back into his room, walking off.
Virgil finally tore his eyes off Roman to watch Patton disappear.
“What pronouns do you use?”
“What?”
Roman was still there. “I wanna make sure I’m not misgendering you. It’s kinda hard to tell right now, honestly.” He chucked nervously.
“O-oh! Uhm.. Just He/Him.”
“Sweet!” Roman plucked another flower from his hair—a pinkish red, almost purple color—and handed it to Virgil. “A delicate flower for a teensy spider.”
And then he was gone.
For once, Virgil was glad his mask was covering his face. He was blushing furiously, half out of embarrassment and anger at being called a ‘teensy spider’ and half because he was flustered and honored that he was given one of Roman’s flowers.
What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck .
“Okey, I go’ the stuff!” Patton came out of a door—presumably his—and was messing with something in his hands. A cigarette was sticking out of his mouth and emitting a small stream of smoke into the air.
Virgil hurriedly stuffed the little flower in his pocket and turned to gaze up at Patton, eyes wide.
He was glad he was wearing a gas mask. He hated the smell of smoke.
“Which room is gonna be mine..?”
Patton shrugged, smiling down at him. “Whichevah one you wan’! We’ll open some doors and see wot’s there. I fink some of these are open still from when we di’ i’…” he tried the handle of the one closest to them, finding it locked.
He took one long drag of his cigarette, taking it out of his mouth to blow the smoke out, then putting it back in his mouth to use the lock pick on the door.
“The person who lived ‘ere b’ought a new date home almos’ every night. I could hear them at night. It wasn’t jus’ snogging they did, I’ll tell ya tha’.” Patton snickered.
Virgil snorted.
It was almost comical hearing snogging said out loud. Sure, he had read Harry Potter, but British slang all seemed.. disconnected. Oh so far away.
Yet here it was, standing in front of him and inviting him to live together.
“Well.. at least they’re zombies now?”
Patton snickered, then started to giggle, then broke out into slightly hysterical laughter. “They are, aren’t they? Crazy thought tha’ my neighbors are all zombies now. At least I won’t hafta hear ‘im fucking a new girl or guy every night! Tha’ bloke moaned loudly. ”
“Oh, greaattt .” Virgil laughed as well. “So you lived here before.. everything?”
“Yup. I’ve lived ‘ere since I moved from London.” Patton finally got the door unlocked and opened it, cautiously stepping inside.
“Huh.” Virgil stepped in, gazing around.
He could hear his breathing inside his mask.
It was..
Unsettling .
“Uhm…” Patton took the cigarette out of his mouth and looked around uncomfortably, kicking at a weird stain on the floor. “Maybe we shoul’ try a diffe’ent one. I dunno why I f’ought this was gonna be a good idea.” He turned on his heel and quickly walked out of the apartment.
Virgil followed close behind, glancing back at the apartment.
Yeah.. not that one.
He found himself absentmindedly fidgeting with the flower in his pocket as he followed Patton to the next apartment.
He pulled it out to find that some of the petals were bent.
Oh no..
He tried his best to straighten them back out.
Please don’t be ruined..
Patton scanned the hallway, glancing back at Virgil. “How ‘bout you pick.” He looked at the flower in Virgil’s hands and smiled. He opened his mouth like he was about to say something, but he rubbed his eyes instead.
Virgil gazed down the hall, hurriedly rehiding his discolored fingers, opting instead to hold the flower through his sleeve.
“Uh.. this one..?” He walked over to a random apartment somewhat close by, and tried the door.
It worked!
“Oh, wow! Don’ even hafta unlock this one.” Patton said, excitedly waiting to see what the apartment was going to look like with his cigarette stuck in one of the gaps in his teeth.
Virgil opened the door to find..!
A zombie. Directly in his face.
He yelped and jumped back, reaching for the holster hidden under his jacket.
BANG
BANG
BANG
He was breathing heavily when the ringing in his ears stopped.
I really need to stop wasting bullets. It was dead after the first hit…
Patton leaned next to Virgil cautiously, staring at the dead zombie with his mouth hanging open so wide that his cigarette fell to the ground.
“So… guns are yer weapon of choice?” He said after a few long, awkward seconds.
“Uh.. yeah…” Virgil reholstered his gun, tucking it back hidden away. “Sorry.”
Two doors opened down the hall.
One was Roman, running over to them, sword in hand.
The other must’ve been their other roommate, a person in a very baggy shirt, who peered out, a slightly scared look on their face. They had curly black hair and square-framed glasses
“Is everything okay??” Roman asked worriedly, looking in between the two.
Patton looked from the zombie to Roman to Logan and then back again, finally landing on Roman. “Yup! Virgil took care’a zombie. He’s gotta gun. Uhm..” he turned to Virgil with an apologetic expression. “Are he/him pronouns okeh? I keep using em wifout knowin…”
“O-oh.. uh.. yeah!” Virgil smiled.
Oh wait.
Spider face.
“You have a gun??” Roman asked incredulously.
“I-I have more back at my makeshift camp..” Virgil murmured.
Logan’s door closed quietly.
“Oh buggah, I forgo’ tha’ yew would have stuff…” Patton smacked his head with his hand repeatedly, though not very hard. “We can go ge’ i’ if ya need.” He offered with a small smile.
“U-uhm—“ Virgil gazed wide-eyed at Patton. “I-I was gonna go back in the morning… I-It’s fine.”
“Oh, al’ight! We can go in the mo’nin! O-or jus’ you. Yeh, tha’.” Patton sighed, rubbing his face again. He dropped his smile and turned around, picking up his forgotten cigarette from the ground. “Sorry.. I’ll be bettah tomorrow. Today was.. not great day. ‘Cept for meetin you, tha’ was pre’y great.” He smiled at Virgil one more time before walking down the hall and disappearing into his room.
Roman watched Patton go sadly.
“Well.. I guess I’ve got it from here…” Virgil murmured, “Sorry, Roman..”
“Eh, it’s fine..” it didn’t sound fine. “Welcome to Solarborn!” He smiled.
Solarborn..
What a crazy thought.
I’m part of Solarborn now.
“Thanks..” Virgil tried his best to convey a smile through his mask, though it didn’t fare well.
As Roman left, he turned to his new room and sighed.
This’ll be interesting.
How long until I’m shunned from here too..?
Notes:
Virgil has a home!!! And some weirdo new friends :3
Chapter 4: Kittypalooza
Summary:
Dee and Remus are goin out once again! This time, they find a crew of suspicious little critters.
Chapter Text
It’s just Remus and Dee again.
Ares was nowhere to be found when Re woke up.
Deceit was sitting near a little makeshift campfire, supposedly getting all the warmth he could.
Remus unfurled from the ball he was sleeping in on the couch and crawled over to Dee.
The warmth was nice..
For some reason, Remus was always unnaturally cold.
Just a side effect of the traits, I guess.
I wonder if Dee has the same problem.
“Remus, would you like to go out scavenging with me?” Deceit asked, finally breaking the longstanding silence.
“W-what? Yes! I would really love to, it’s so boring by myself.” Remus huffed, looking up at Dee from his crouched position on the ground. He tried for a small smile.
“Yes, I know. I’m tired of hearing you complain. And you can restock on whatever shit you smoke.” Dee rolled his eyes in his mask and stood up, gathering his supplies. “Be ready in five minutes.”
“Ooo yay!! I am running low..” Remus scampered back to his bed and grabbed everything he needed. His backpack, his gas mask, and his bat.
Not much..
He hoisted his bag over his shoulder and hung his gas mask on a belt loop.
Dee met him outside with his own backpack, gas mask on his face as always and his whip strapped onto the back.
“Put your gas mask on.” Deceit said, glancing at Remus through the side of his mask.
He could almost make out a brown eye.
“Awwhhhh but the air burns so goooddddd!!” Remus whined. “Makes me feel high.. Heheh”
Dee looked exasperated. “You are breathing in the very toxic air that gave you mutations! Put your mask on before I put it on for you.” He hissed.
“But they’re cool!! What if I want more? Maybe I’ll get bug eyes like Vir— uhm… like my mask was designed..” Remus winced at his slip-up. “I’ll put it on..” he pulled the mask from his waist and slipped it over his face.
Deceit sighed heavily, walking ahead. “Thank you. Now, do you know where the nearest gas station is?”
“Yeah! It’s uhh.. down on Vineland Avenue.” Remus pointed in that direction. “Super close to the old apartment buildings.”
Deceit nodded and started to walk in that direction.
They were silent for a little while, just walking side by side, before Dee spoke again. “I sort of wish we made residence in an apartment building. The cave is too goddamn cold this time of year.” He huffed, staring off at the buildings.
“Yeah.. something tells me they’d be crowded with zombies though.” Remus sighed, swinging his bat back and forth as they walked. “I’d be surprised if another group wasn't there already.”
“Mmhmm..” Dee hummed thoughtfully, still staring at the buildings in the distance. “Maybe we should check in on the residents sometime.”
“Smash their skulls in!” Remus exclaimed cheerfully, brandishing his weapon at nothing but air.
Deceit rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Yes, yes. Maybe not all of them. I don’t want us to be the last people in this area. Besides, they could be useful.” Remus could hear his smirk.
“Oooooo.. Blackmail? Grooming? Full ass slavery?”
“Blackmail, Remus!” Dee yelled quickly, sighing again. “That is the farthest I will go. They’re still people, you know.”
“My bad!” Remus held his hands up in a surrendering gesture, “my bad.. I haven’t had my meds for… a long while.”
Deceit stopped walking at that, turning to stare at Remus with that blank snake face. “Meds? For what?”
“Adhd. Got it real bad.” Remus replied nonchalantly, turning to gaze at Dee’s snake face. “Can’t really get meds during the apocalypse though, can ya?” He cocked his head to the left.
“Mmmh, I suppose not…” Dee was still looking at Remus, seemingly searching for something that he couldn’t quite find.
Something in Dee’s demeanor sparked. “I have heard of this one person… a pharmacist. Or at least he’s running a pharmacy. I don’t know how or even if he gets new exports, but we could try it.”
“Wait really?” Remus perked up. “Holy shit.. really!? Oh man, this could change everything! I wouldn’t have to feel like a kid anymore I could— I could actually exist as a person I could—“
He stopped himself.
“Sorry. I’m rambling again..”
Deceit lifted his mask up slightly, just enough to only show his fangs. “Do you really feel like that?” It was the most sincere Remus had ever heard him sound.
“Uhm.. yeah…” Remus looked down at his feet. Or.. as much as he could with the limited vision. “It’s.. just something I’ve gotten used to since I ran out…”
Dee stared at him for a few more seconds before pulling his mask back down and starting back on his way ahead. “Well, maybe you won’t have to feel like this. We’ll try to go to Emile.”
Remus smiled softly. Genuinely. “Yay! Thank you..”
Emile? Huh.. strange name.
Dee’s hand clenched and unclenched quickly. “I can’t have my members feeling too bad, now can I?” Remus could tell that he was smiling, but he was trying to hide the fact that he was.
It’s.. nice to know he cares. Even if he doesn’t want to admit it.
As they approached the gas station, Remus gasped excitely. “Oh! I’ve been here so many times, and yet I’ve never..!”
He rummaged around in his backpack, and pulled out a can of vibrant green spray paint.
Deceit looked at it suspiciously. “What the hell are you doing?”
Remus giggled mischievously. “How do you think people know about us if we’re never seen?” He shook it up, and started outlining what looked like a pair of fangs on the front of the building. Half of the design was on the window, the other half leaking off onto the wall.
“Fucking hell, Remus.” Dee groaned, stepping up into the gas station. “As much as I love people knowing all about us, do you have to put our name everywhere?”
“Yes!! How else will we compete with Solarborn?” Remus continued working on the graffiti he had committed to heart. “Plus, why let a design like this go to waste! It’s perfect.”
Once he was finished, there was an intricate design of fangs that read ‘Null’ on the top, and ‘Bound’ on the bottom.
“Ugh, Solarborn.” Dee scoffed. “I highly doubt they graffiti everything.”
“Oh definitely not.” Remus got a running start through the doors and vaulted directly over the counter. “But they talk to people. We don’t.”
“Mmmh, good point.” Dee stepped through the door and watched Remus mess around with the stuff behind the counter. “I will admit, it is a cool design.”
“Yeah? I found it in Virgey’s sketchbook with the masks’ designs.” Remus spoke before he could think, his mind occupied with grabbing every pack of good cigarettes he could reach.
Deceit tensed. “Of course you did. He was a.. very good artist.” He said through clenched teeth. Though he sounded more.. sad.
“Sorry Dee..” Remus said through a grimace, looking back at the serpentine man. He jumped onto the counter, sitting on it.
Deceit sighed and occupied himself with getting some bandages and other medical supplies. “It’s okay, Remus. My ex’s name isn’t banned .”
Remus just hummed solemnly, snatching one of the lighters from the little shelf next to him and lighting a cigarette.
He still tried his best to not bring Virgil up. It was a sensitive topic.
Deceit loaded up his bag with supplies and some more snacks. He walked around to the back of the store and stopped short, looking down at the floor. “Uh, Re? There’s cats.”
“WHAT??” Remus fell off the counter with a loud thud, but hurriedly scrambled over to where Dee was.
There was a litter of kittens, three grey two orange. They were all staring up at Remus and Deceit with piercing blue eyes.
“Oh my god Dee they’re so cute we have to keep them!! Where's their mama?? Oooohhh lookit all the eyeessss!!!”
“Yes.. quite a lot of them…” Deceit looked nervously down at them. He picked up one of the kittens gently, cradling it in his arms and observing all of the blue eyes.
There were eyes all over the kittens’ faces, and some trailing down to their body.
“Woah… that’s so weird…”
Remus scooped up two of the kittens who were pressed very close together. A grey kitten with white socks and an orange tabby.
A grey kitten that was still on the ground, the largest, hissed at them. It had white mismatched socks on it’s front paws and a distinct white marking on it’s chest.
“Hey, hey it’s alright..!” Remus spoke softly, a tentacle slipping around and laid near the kitten.
Surprisingly, it didn't immediately attack his dry tentacle. Instead it sniffed cautiously.
Meanwhile, one the kittens that were in his arms rubbed its face against Remus’ chest.
He felt like he was going to explode from cuteness.
Deceit chuckled, petting the gray kitten in his hand, being careful to avoid its eyes. “They are very cute…” he mumbled. He sounded embarrassed to be admitting that.
Remus sat criss-cross on the ground, setting the kittens in his lap. “Dee.. Dee I think I’m dying.”
Deceit laughed, the most genuine, loud laugh he had heard yet. “I think someone is a cat person. I can’t blame you, I’m a cat person as well.” He sat down on the floor next to Remus.
“Well they’re just so— they— I can’t—“ Remus let out an excited squeal—though it sounded slightly inhuman.
The last little orange kitten jumped into Deceit’s lap.
“Oh, hello there. Would you like to go home with us?” Dee pet its head gently, setting the gray kitten in his hand down into his lap next to the orange one. “Okay, Remus. You win this one.”
Remus giggled giddily and picked up his three kittens, hugging them close.
The brave grey one hissed, biting his tentacles.
“AH, OW!” He yelped, then gazed wide eyed at the kittens. All of their fur was on end, their little bodies tense. “Oh, I’m sorry little ones..”
Dee chuckled, reaching his hand out in front of the kitten that bit Remus. “Feisty, are we? I like you. I think I’ll name you Loki after the absolute legend.”
Remus snorted. “You would.” He gazed down at the kittens in his lap. They were still very close together. Almost like twins…
“These two.. will be August and Octavia. After the first Roman emperor and his little sister.”
“Oh, creative. Are those both female? I wonder if we can tell..” Dee picked up the gray one that was in his lap and lifted its tail to check. “Hmmm… this one is male. You are going to be named after Fizzarolli.”
“Fizzy!!” Remus exclaimed. He picked up the orange kitten in his lap—August— and Octavia started mewling. “August is Female! Okay okay, Octavia,” he chuckled, “your turn!”
Without Octavia, August seemed even smaller. She was shaking.
Octavia was still mewling.
“She is female.”
“Awhh, they don’t want to be apart.” Dee carefully took off the glove on his right hand to pet them both with his bare hand. “Sisters that don’t want to be apart for anything.”
“Yeah..” Remus sighed a bit sadly, though a smile rested on his face.
Once they were back together, they pressed up against each other again.
Their bond was making Remus nostalgic…
Deceit picked up the last orange kitty and lifted its tail. “Male. His name is going to be Mars. It’s the Roman god of war. Matches with Ares.” He glanced at Remus mischievously.
Remus tensed up slightly at Roman, but forced himself to relax.
It’s fine.
“Mars.. it fits.” He smiled at the little kitten, petting it with a dry tentacle tip.
Loki hissed softly at the tentacle.
“Looks like Loki doesn’t like your tentacles.” Deceit chuckled, attempting to pet his head. He reached out his hand slowly, stopping a little ways away from Loki’s face so he could hiss it back away if he didn’t want to be touched.
Loki, however, bounced up slightly on his hind feet to force Dee’s hand onto his head.
Remus pouted, but couldn’t help chuckle at little Loki.
“Oh, you just don’t like Remus, hm?” Dee pet Loki gently, scratching behind his ear. He looked like he absolutely adored this cat.
Remus snickered at Deceit, though hs was enjoying the snuggling cats in his lap as well.
Mars climbed out of Deceit’s lap and over to Remus with big steps for such a little kitten. He was even smaller than the rest of his litter.
“Oh hello!” Remus smiled, letting Mars clamber up onto his knee.
“He’s a tiny little thing. Very determined to get to your lap though. I like your style. You’re like me.” Deceit reached over as far as he could and pet Mars’ back. “Tiny, but determined and confident.”
“You hear that, Mars? You’re short. You and Dee both.”
Mars meowed at Remus, his little mouth opening as wide as it could, about half of his many eyes closing.
“Yes, yes, I’m short.” Deceit laughed. “Mars is smaller than I am though! Oh my fucking god, you are just the cutest thing.” He squeaked quietly at Mars’ face.
Remus picked up Mars with one hand. He fit comfortably, and could even stand.
He gently brought Mars up to his face, and booped the little kitten’s with his own.
Mars squeaked excitedly.
Remus then got Mars as close as he could to Dee’s mask. Which was very close. They were practically nose to nose as well.
Dee pulled away and lifted his mask slightly before leaning forward and almost touching noses with Mars again, though this time it was his bare nose. “Why, hello there. Aren’t you just precious?” He said so quietly, Remus almost didn’t even hear him.
Mars mewed in response.
“Yeah? I think you’re right.” Dee’s voice was a higher pitch. He was doing the classic ‘little animal baby voice’ for the kitten.
Remus was a little shocked.
“We should really take these kittens home. I don’t know when the last time they ate was.. do they need milk? Are they that small? Is there cat food here?” Deceit rambled off, still staring at Mars.
“I’m sure we could stop by a pet shop before going back to the cave.” Remus smiled, setting mars down back in Dee’s lap.
“Yeah… we can do that. Here—” Deceit gave Remus all of the kittens and stood up, emptying out his backpack. “They can go in my backpack. Put all of my stuff in yours. Maybe I can get a blanket for cushion..” he ran off to get a blanket or at least something soft.
“Oh– oh–“ Remus now had kittens scrambling to find footholds on top of each other.
He picked up the kitten on top, who just so happened to be Loki, and set him on top of his head.
The rest of the kittens found their place either clinging to a tentacle, or, in the case of August and Octavia, nestled comfortably in Remus’ lap, as he gathered up Janus’ stuff and shoved it into his backpack.
“We’re gonna make a nice home for you, kitties, just you wait.”
Deceit came back shortly, stuffing a small blanket into his backpack. “Okay.. I think this’ll do.” He set his bag on the floor and carefully started piling the kittens into it, making sure to pick up Octavia and August at the same time.
Once they were all piled in, Dee cooed at them before zipping the bag up and carrying it close to his chest. “Let’s go get some cat food. Maybe the soft kind..”
“Yeah! Oh boy, what’ll Ares think..”
Notes:
Oh boy oh boy, what will Ares think? :3
Chapter 5: Friend or Foe?
Summary:
Logan’s not doing very well. He decides to go outside and explore for a while. Surprisingly, he meets someone new.
Notes:
Be careful, Lo. Don’t be stupid. I love Pat and Lo’s time together in this one. It was very fun to write :3 and they’re cute!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Once again, Logan was sitting at the table for breakfast.
Patton was making something in the kitchen, and Roman was sitting on the couch messing with their tv.
Just as Logan was wondering about the stranger that he only vaguely remembered shooting a zombie the night before, that very same stranger walked into the room.
He had very long black hair flowing down his shoulders, very dark brown eyes with yellow around the pupil (Logan knows this as central heterochromia), and a few piercings in his ears.
He had a mask on, covering his nose and mouth, as well as long sleeves and gloves.
He was tiny, clearly having very short stature.
The stranger stood awkwardly at the entrance, looking at Logan with fearful eyes. “Uhm.. hi.” He waved.
“Hello.” Logan gave a small smile, “I’m Logan.”
“Virgil.” The stranger—Virgil smiled back, cautiously walking up to the table and sitting across from Logan, looking around the room.
There was a loud clang from the kitchen that made both Virgil and Logan jump.
“You alright, Pat?” Roman called from the living room.
After no response, Roman got up and walked into the kitchen.
Logan refocused on Virgil. “Well, It’s very nice to meet you, Virgil.”
“Uh, nice meeting you too.” Virgil said, glancing nervously into the kitchen. “Sorry for waking you last night…” he mumbled.
“You didn’t wake me. I was.. already awake.” Logan murmured, looking down at his clasped hands.
If only the apocalypse could have waited for him to go through the necessary steps..
But no, life had to hate Logan.
That’s..
Illogical.
He shook his head, looking back up at Virgil. “I.. apologize. I’m not having a good day so far.”
Virgil’s eyes softened slightly. “What’re you apologizing for? You’re good, man. Sorry you’re having a bad day.. anything I can do..?”
“I.. don’t think so. It’s a.. psychological problem.. I think..? E-Either way, thank you, but I’m afraid not.”
Virgil nodded sympathetically. “Well, just let me know if you do.” He smiled.
Patton walked out of the kitchen with four plates all stacked on his arms like he was a waiter serving them at a restaurant. He set the food in front of everyone’s spots, setting down his own and starting to eat.
He had headphones on his ears, presumably listening to music.
Patton made grilled cheese and tomato soup for everyone.
“Oh! Thanks.” Virgil said, looking over at Patton with a grateful smile.
The latter didn’t hear him, just staring straight ahead.
Virgil looked at Roman with slightly frightened confusion, but started to tear his grilled cheese in half nonetheless.
Roman shrugged.
Logan tore his sandwich in half and dipped it into his soup.
This was one of his favorite foods.
Maybe it’ll help him feel better.
“So, Virgil! How was your first night?” Roman asked.
“Uhh.. fine. It was nice to have an actual bed. And I found some clean sheets to use.” He replied, taking a bite of his tomato soup covered sandwich. “At least I think they were clean..”
“Well, we can get’cha some actually clean bedsheets today! Not.. mysterious grime-covered ones.” Roman chuckled. “There’s a few rooms at the end of the hall that were unoccupied that we’ve designated as storage, I bet there’s some in there.”
Logan listened to the two conversate, thoroughly enjoying his soup and sandwich. Though an odd choice for breakfast, it was certainly delicious.
Virgil chuckled. “Thanks. These ones were nice, actually. It’s a pretty clean apartment. And it’s not super ugly. Nicely decorated.”
“That’s good!”
Roman and Virgil continued chatting for a bit, but Logan got lost in his own thoughts.
He just..
Needed an escape.
Maybe I’ll go out today. I’ve been meaning to go down to the solstice site.
Maybe I could find some interesting animals.. or plants.
“—Logan.” Roman laughed.
They’re talking about me.
Patton was staring directly at Logan with that one piercing blue eye and the duller blue one, analyzing everything about him. His mouth was in its usual placid resting position.
They’re judging me..
Do they know..?
Logan looked down at his soup.
He suddenly wasn't very hungry.
Maybe I’ll just.. leave early.
“Er ya ‘k?” Patton asked him, concern in his eyes.
“W-what? Uh.. yes.. I’m fine.”
He sure as hell didn't sound fine.
Patton didn’t look convinced in the slightest. “D-da ya wam-mna b-be— g-ga-go ta.. o-oub-hsi-ide?”
Logan blinked
“What?”
Patton huffed in annoyance at himself. He pulled out his phone and typed something on it before sliding it over to Logan.
“Do you want to go outside? Go explore a little? That’s what I do when I’m having a bad time and don’t want to be with people.”
“Oh! Yes I was.. Mentally debating doing that..” Logan glanced over at Virgil and Roman.
He stood up, causing Roman and Virgil’s attention to be drawn to him.
“U-uhm.. I’m going to.. take a walk.” Logan choked out, feeling like a child under the other’s gazes, even though logically he knew they didn’t mean anything bad.
Patton smiled softly at him and gave two thumbs up.
“Oh, uh.. alright! Be safe..” Virgil looked at him worriedly, trying for a smile.
“Bye Lo!” Roman also looked worried, but still smiled warmly, “be safe!”
“I will..” Logan assured, and hurriedly left.
Part of him regretted not cleaning off his plate, but he knew Patton wouldn’t mind.
He hurriedly picked out clothes, readjusted his binder and got dressed. He put on his gas mask and goggles, letting the orinasal mask lay on his collarbone.
He grabbed his bow and quiver, slinging them over his canvas jacket.
Logan tried to avoid everyone and everything as he made his way out of the building, and started walking towards the exit as quickly as he could.
Thankfully, he made it out into the fresh..?
Out into the burning air without anyone stopping him.
He started south towards solstice.
—-->
The mutated birds were chirping when Logan approached.
It’s.. strange.
He couldn't help but wonder why the animals weren’t zombified too.
As he crouched down next to a small stream that once held life.
Now all it consisted of was growing radioactive blue water.
He picked up a stick. It looked.. relatively basic. There were a few knots here and there, but overall a good test subject.
He threw it in the stream.
The blue was slightly translucent, running over the stick like water.
After a few seconds, the tree bark split in multiple places, something green poking out.
Flowers were growing out of the stick, maturing at an astonishing rate.
Yet if Logan were to poke his finger in, it would be burnt instantly.
Strange..
A little black bird flew down and landed next to him.
Its wings and neck feathers glimmered a dull rainbow in the light, and it had two heads.
“Hello.” Logan offered a little smile for the bird he recognized as a grackle.
It chirped in response, as if to say “hi!”
Logan pulled out his phone his took a picture of the double headed bird, and then one of the flowering stick.
A twig snapped in the forest behind them, and the bird flew away.
Logan sighed, gazing back out at the stream.
Large footsteps crunched on the grass behind him and he spun around so fast his vision went black for a few seconds.
Once his gaze cleared, he saw a very tall, bulky man with tan skin and a dark brown mullet. He had a scar on his lips and neck and a piercing under his lip.
Half of his face was covered by a mask with an alligator design.
The side of his mouth that was visible to Logan spread out into a wide, wicked grin, which revealed a large tusk coming out of his gums.
“Hello there. Who are you?” He asked in a deep, growly voice.
Logan immediately didn’t trust this man.
Whether that was intuition or just Logan, he didn’t know.
“I’m… Logan. Who are you?” He didn’t remove his goggles or mask.
How is he breathing..?
“My name is Ares.” He walked closer to Logan, looking down at his face with a raised eyebrow. “Are you on your own?”
Logan immediately knew something was wrong.
“No, I have a partner somewhere nearby..” he never took his eyes off of Ares, a hand on his weapon.
No matter if it’s the apocalypse or not, there’s always going to be guys like this.
Ares hummed, stepping past him and staring at the river. “So, you’re a part of a group?”
“Yes. Solarborn. They know we’re out.”
“Mmh, that’s a shame. I’m a part of Nullbound, and I’ve heard that the two groups don’t get along very well.” Ares glanced back at Logan.
Ah.
“Yes.. although I don’t see the point in making enemies with people we don’t interact with..” Logan joined Ares by the stream, keeping him in his sight.
Ares chuckled. “I agree. Solarborn is this supposedly really annoying group of people that had alliances all over town. I think Dee is just scared of you all, which I never understood. If you’re so nice, you wouldn’t attack us. It would be an easy win.” He smirked slightly.
Logan stepped back slightly. “We can hold a fight for ourselves.” He growled.
Ares turned toward him and raised an eyebrow. “Oh? What special skill sets are you so confident about? I want to hear what we’re up against.”
Logan’s bow would be no use to him here.
He might be able to use it as a blunt force weapon, but he had no idea what weapons Ares possessed. And there’s no way to call for backup with ares being suspicious.
They really should set up a safe word.
“…why are you here?”
Ares looked back out at the water again. “I just wanted to talk. Being stuck with the idiots back at base is suffocating, you know. Is that why you’re out here?”
“..yes..”
Maybe I was wrong about him…
“I’m.. not having a particularly good day, and the noise of our base was too much for me to handle.”
Ares nodded in understanding. “Living with other people can be.. frustrating. Definitely loud. I like it to be quiet, but it almost never is. Sorry that you’re having a bad day. Do you need anyone to be beaten?” He offered with a grin. He sounded like he was only half joking.
“Uhm.. no I would rather no violence be taken.. Thank you for caring though..”
Logan let himself relax.
I should calm down.
Ares shrugged, though there was still a smile on his face. “Alright. Just tell me if you ever need me to, though. I’ll happily knock some sense into anyone for you.”
Logan chuckled. “Thank you..”
He gazed at the stick again.
“I was experimenting with the radiation. It seems to have a negative effect on humans only. And.. not on a select few? It’s puzzling.”
“Hmm.. that is strange…” Ares put a hand up to his chin. “You like to do experiments? Into biology, I’m guessing?”
Logan nodded, “I was going into med school, but biology was always one of my biggest passions.” He murmured, picking up a rock and dropping it into the water.
Nothing happened.
That made sense. It’s not a biotic creature.
“Wow. Impressive. Too bad it was.. cut short.” Ares sighed. “I was going to become a chemical engineer before..” his expression hardened for just a second before going back to its impassive position. “This all happened.”
“Oh! Then maybe you could help me? If we find some way to collect the acidic water, we could run tests on it?” Logan looked up hopefully.
Ares considered it for a moment before smiling at him. “I am willing to help. That sounds fun.”
Logan smiled genuinely .
Maybe this will be fun!
“Well.. I may have left in a hurry.. I should probably get back to the others. Can you come back down here tomorrow?”
“Absolutely. I’ll bring my supplies.” Ares waved to him before turning around and walking off in the other direction.
Logan smiled, and started back towards the apartment building.
It wasn’t a long trip. Their building was in the middle of what was a fairly populated area, so the city wanted various natural attractions, the stream being an offshoot of the massive river running just beside town.
When Logan got back, there was someone outside.
The strong scent of cigarette smoke became more and more apparent as he approached.
Patton stood on the entrance of the apartment building, which had a railing running around the outside of the building. He was leaning on that railing, smoking a cigarette and watching the sunset.
There were some tables and chairs around the entrance for people to sit in and eat at. There was a mug sitting on the table right next to Patton.
When he spotted Logan, he smiled and waved.
Logan waved back, a smile set on his face.
Though he couldn’t help but worry for Patton..
He made it up, and joined Patton, trying to ignore how the secondhand smoke burned his nostrils and throat. “How are you, Patton?” He offered a warm smile.
“Good.” He replied, grabbing his cup and taking a sip. “Was ya walk wotcha nee’ed?”
“Yeah! I met another survivor. How was your day?”
“Oooo, really??” Patton was so excited he almost dropped his drink. “Uh, m’day was okey. Roman and Vir-Ver-Virgil are uhm.. fightin.”
“Oh..” Logan sighed, “I’m sorry about that. The person I met was really nice. He uhm.. had some odd vibes at first, but I was wrong. He’s from Nullbound.”
“Oh! Tha’s… nice.” Patton looked slightly uncomfortable, but he dropped the look soon enough. “Bu’ be ca’eful ‘round them.” He said wearily.
“Yes, I know.” Logan sighed, “I will, don’t worry. I can recognize if he has bad intentions. I’ve been taught thoroughly.”
Patton grinned and nodded approvingly. “Tha’s good.” He dropped his cigarette on the ground and snuffed it out with his boot.
“D’ya wanna cuppa?” Patton offered, picking up his cup and stepping inside the apartment building.
“A what..?” Logan followed Patton, bewildered.
He’s never going to get used to British slang.
“Oh uhm.. sorry.” Patton chuckled, going into his room.
His room was, in one word, chaotic. Stuff was everywhere. Pillows, clothes, little keep-sakes and objects that Logan didn’t understand why someone would keep, and the whole house smelled like a weird mixture of cigarette smoke and a floral scent.
There were pill bottles strewn everywhere, some empty, some open with different amounts missing, and some spilled on the floor.
“Tea?” He pulled out a cat mug from the cabinet and held it out to Logan.
“Uhm.. sure!” Logan took the mug, gazing around at the mess.
Part of him hated the disorganization. The other part wanted to ask Patton if he had any trinkets or little metal things he had no attachment to.
Logan had started quite the collection.
Patton pulled a tea kettle off of the oven and refilled it with water, setting it back down on the stove and turning it on. “I don’ thin’ Ro an’ Vee like each othah much.”
“Well, you did invite what was essentially a homeless man off the street and into our home with no background verification. I’m not surprised.” Logan shrugged.
Patton sighed, leaning his forehead on one of the cabinets above the oven. “I know.. bu’ ya both ‘ccepted ‘im immedia’ely! I guess tha’ was wishful finkin’ on my part.”
“I’ve only had one short conversation with him.. that’s not exactly enough time to form a proper opinion.” Logan murmured. “Not to mention he hasn’t shown his face. And I have no problem with that! It’s just.. interesting.”
“Yeh.. it is…” Patton pulled away from the cabinet and grabbed a pill bottle, screwing the cap off. “I’s jus’ tha’ Ro and Vee were getten along great! Then, all of a sudden, they was yellin’ a’ each othah! I dunno what happened… I was listenin’ ta music and I coul’n’ speak. I jus’ watched em storm off inna rooms. Figu’ed I’d try to get em to talk tomorrow. Or at leas’ get the full story.” He stared at the two pills in his hand for a moment before swallowing them dry, recapping the bottle, and throwing it into his living room.
Logan winced at the pill bottle’s noise, and where it ended up. “Oh no… yes, I would like to see if there’s any way to help.”
Patton smiled as he took the screaming kettle off of the heat. “Tha’ woul’ be ‘preciated. I can do mos’ of the talking and uh, mos’ likely figh’in.” He chuckled, pouring the hot water into Logan’s mug.
He reached into a cabinet and pulled out several boxes. “Wot kind d’ya want?”
“Uhh.. just chamomile is fine. Sleepytime if you have it. It’s what I usually drink at this time.” Logan smiled gratefully.
Patton got an excited gleam in his eyes, tearing open the package of tea without even looking. “Me too!”
Logan smiled, “that’s cool!”
He looked around the apartment again.
There were hundreds of empty cans of various sodas just lying around.
They still had their tabs.
“Would you.. be upset if I went around and collected all of the pop tabs from your uhm.. various cans?” Logan looked back at Patton hopefully.
Patton looked up from putting the tea bags in the mugs with slight confusion, but had a bright smile nonetheless. “Shore! ‘M not usin any of those. I really nee’ to clean in ‘ere..” he handed Logan his cat mug and started to wade through the piles of trash and other trinkets.
He scratched his head and looked around. He had a ridiculous amount of curly white hair on his head.
Logan picked up the closest can within his range, which was on the counter next to him, and pulled the tab off.
He dropped it in his pocket along with the other trinkets he found today.
His tea forgotten, he started making his way around the kitchen, leaving all the cans in a single pile on the counter.
Then he ventured into the living room, making the rounds there, picking up Patton’s pill bottles as well.
Patton just stood by the couch, tea in hand, watching Logan make his rounds. “Jus’ curious, why’re ya takin all me pop tabs?”
“Uhhmm..” Logan felt his face grow hot with embarrassment. “I.. collect them. They’re shiny…”
Patton flopped backwards onto the blanket and pillow covered couch, reaching his long arms out to search through the bottles on the coffee table. “Tha’s cool! I din’ know ya collected fings. I do too, clearly.” He chuckled, sitting up again to search frivolously through the bottles.
Logan chuckled and continued to collect tabs.
Once he was done, his pocket was weighed down with all the tabs. There was now a collection of all the cans in a pile in Patton's kitchen.
“Thank you..” Logan smiled bashfully.
Patton was hanging upside down on his couch once more throwing bottles everywhere after checking the labels. He stopped to sit up and look at Logan with a smile, looking at the pile of cans in his kitchen. “I shoul’ be thankin’ you! You piled all m’ cans in one place s’ I ca’ pick em all up easily.”
“I also picked up your meds in the process.” Logan sighed softly, flinching at the bottles. “It.. was really no trouble.”
Patton’s eyes widened and he looked at all the bottles he just threw, horrified. “I’m so sorry.” He quickly stood up and started picking up all the bottles again. Once he had all of them in his arms, he stood up and began walking, but he only took a few steps before he tripped over his own feet and fell to ground, dropping all of the bottles onto the floor again.
“Fucking hell, I’m such a—” Patton sighed, resigning himself to the floor. “Sorry Logan… M’ too much of a klutz.”
“Woah, hey it's quite alright!” Logan crouched down and gathered the bottles up again, “I didn't have to in the first place.”
“Yeh, bu’…” Patton sighed again and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He smiled at Logan sheepishly. “There woul’n’ happen ta be any melatonin in tha’ pile, woul’ there?”
“Uhm..” Logan looked through the various bottles. Ironically, the last bottle he picked up was the melatonin “here you go.”
Patton grinned and took it from his hand, opening the lid and pouring a few into his hand. “Cheers!” He downed four of them.
Logan blinked.
That’s..
Fine.
It’s Patton, not me.
He stood up and grabbed his tea from the kitchen, then sat back down next to Patton, sipping it.
Patton stood up, chugged the rest of his tea, and then flopped back down onto the couch. “I’s gettin late. Imma call i’ ’ere. You can take ya tea wif ya. Jus’ make sure ta give me my mug back. Tha’s my favourite one.”
“Oh, alright! Thanks for inviting me.” Logan smiled and stood up.
“Anytime! G’night, mate.” Patton smiled and waved to him.
Logan waved back and closed the door quietly behind him.
Honestly, despite his dysphoria, Logan had a good day.
Notes:
Patton slowly speaks more clearly as the story goes on because I got lazy with the slurring (which will make sense later) so uh… sorry bout that XD
Let’s see how Ares turns out…
Chapter 6: Friend or Foe? Pt. 2
Summary:
Logan meets up with Ares once more! Ares makes a crucial mistake..
Chapter Text
The next day couldn’t come soon enough.
Logan grabbed all of his supplies and left with only a rushed goodbye to a groggy Patton opening his door.
He speed-walked to the river and put on very heavy duty gloves, scooping some water into a beaker.
He sat down on the side of the bank and waited for Ares.
It was only a few moments later when he heard the familiar crunching of dry leaves, and then ares was beside him.
Logan stood up and smiled at him, holding up the beaker of radioactive water. Ares was only a couple inches taller than he was, but he felt small next to him because of how muscular and bulky he was. “I got the water sample.”
A small smile graced Ares’ face. “Great! What kind of tests would you like to run?” He raised an eyebrow down at Logan.
“I want to find out what chemicals are in this water. What makes it blue? Why does it make flowers sprout from sticks?” Logan answered, setting the beaker back down with his other supplies.
“Well you’re in luck, I know exactly where to find the materials for that.” Ares grinned, “how about you go down to the gas station. That’ll give us a better surface to work with. I’ll meet you there, okay?” And he disappeared into the forest.
Well.. Logan had no choice now.
—-->
The first thing Logan noticed when area brought over a variety of instruments, was that they were all labeled “Solstice Power Plant”
Huh..
Either way, they ran various tests.
They deduced that the water glowed blue because of similar conditions as Cherenkov Radiation. This is caused by electrically charged particles, such as protons or electrons, travel faster than light in a clear medium like water
Ares produced a dead squirrel carcass, which he claimed was from the carnivorous deer, but Logan had other suspicions.
They dipped the corpse into a water sample, and a few seconds later, flowers grew out of the fur similarly to the stick.
The squirrel remained dead.
However, when Ares threw a live squirrel in the water—despite it splashing around and making an acidic mess of everything—no major change was apparent.
In the process, the squirrel received second degree burns.
Overall, Logan’s notes read:
Tossed stick into stream.
-Rapid bark splitting. Green sprouts appeared within 6 seconds.
-Flowers grew unnaturally fast from dead wood.
-Growth slowed after 30 seconds, then stopped completely.
-Flowers resembled local flora, but petals are slightly transparent. Some emit soft light.
Dropped rock.
No reaction. Conclusion: substance responds only to organic/biotic material.
Small two-headed bird landed nearby.
- Feathers shimmer with iridescent sheen. This is not atypical, as the species of this bird—a grackle—exhibited this feature as well.
-the two heads raised concerns, but the animal seems to be functioning properly.
-no other mutations observed. Possibility of changes in behavioral habits, but I was not around them long enough to conduct proper research
Water properties:
-Water glows faintly blue not due to dye or chemical pigmentation, but from particles moving faster than light through the liquid medium.
-Confirmed after passing the sample through light filters and a makeshift prism—glow intensified under UV and blacklight exposure.
-This implies intense radiation present. Yet… it doesn’t kill the flowers it grows.
Dead Animal Sample
Sample: Deceased squirrel. Limbs intact. Likely broken neck. Ares says it was dropped by a carnivorous deer.
-my personal suspicion: it was most likely killed for the experiment the wound looked too clean.. a broken neck, and minimal blood or other scarring. It seemed.. fresh?
Method: Lowered gently into full-strength water sample.
Observation (within 4–6 seconds):
-Water frothed slightly at point of contact.
-Fur along spine and tail ruptured—not decomposing, but splitting.
-Green sprouts emerged rapidly from pores and along the tail bone.
-Blossoms bloomed from eyes, nose, and mouth within 10 seconds.
-Corpse remained otherwise unresponsive. No signs of revival.
Conclusion:
Water triggers plant growth in dead organic tissue. But not reanimation. This is mutation, not resurrection.
Suggests interaction with decaying or inert cellular material.
Live Animal Sample:
Sample: Live squirrel, uninjured. Slightly malnourished. Caught in wooded brush next to gas station.
Method: Placed directly, although aggressively, into shallow pool of glowing water sample.
Observation:
-Immediate thrashing, shrieking. Severe stress response.
-Water around the animal began to hiss and bubble—acidity may be increased by living tissue contact.
-No floral growth observed.
-After 45 seconds, removed subject and examined.
-Slight burns on hind limbs.
-No mutations, no blooms.
Conclusion:
-Water does not affect living tissue in the same way as dead. Possibly due to cellular activity resisting infiltration.
Now Ares was gazing into the water, a small grin on his face.
“You know what this means, Logan..?”
“What?” Logan was slightly scared to hear the answer, but excited at the same time.
He had been very eager to finally experiment with someone and actually get promising results.
Roman isn’t very interested in that kind of stuff, Logan is frankly scared to try with Patton, and Virgil is too new to tell.
“We can use this to our advantage.” Ares said, his volume barely above a breath, but the grin on his face widening.
He looked.. menacing.
Logan’s smile dropped as he stared at Ares with horrified confusion. “W-what?”
“Don’t you understand? We have a weapon here!” Ares grabbed Logan by the shoulders. His grip was uncomfortably strong. “Anyone who goes against us? Acid water to the face.” He growled, grinning evilly now. “It’s foolproof!”
Logan shook his head, getting more and more scared by the minute. “Wh- I- No! What enemies?? We are in an apocalypse just trying to survive! This was purely for research purposes to see what kind of chemicals were here in the environment!” He tried to squirm away from the touch, but Ares’ grip was too strong.
“We have enemies all over the place. ” Ares scowled, his expression turning sour. He slung an arm over Logan’s shoulder, pulling him closer, and gestured grandly towards the forest with a clawed hand. “Who knows who could be out there! If we really want to survive, we have to handpick who we trust.”
Before Logan could respond to that—he wasn’t even sure what he was going to say—a loud, crackly voice sounded from his backpack.
“Oi, Logan!”
Ares startled, stepping away and scowling at Logan’s backpack.
“Logan!”
Logan quickly stepped farther away from Ares and slung his backpack off his shoulder.
“Lo—” There was a gross squelching noise on the other end. “LOGAN!!”
“What?!” Logan whispered loudly into the walkie talkie, his voice both annoyed and concerned.
“There you are! We got zombies in the building! Get your arse ovah ‘ere!” Patton yelled, a crunching sound following his words.
“Shit—” Logan swore, packing up his stuff as quickly as he could. “I’ll be over there as quickly as I can!”
“Hurry! I dunno how much longah I ca’ do this for.” Logan heard Patton scream, but it was cut short.
That’s not good.
Logan stuffed everything in his bag and stood up, looking at Ares with a mix of emotions he couldn’t describe.
Ares looked pissed.
He gazed at the water again, refusing to look at Logan.
Logan bit his lip, walking forward past him.
“I have to go. Bye.” He said, knowing full well that he did not want to talk to Ares again anytime soon.
This is for the best.
Ares growled in response. It sounded.. inhuman.
There was something strange about that man. Logan didn’t entirely know what yet.
He quickly got out of there, happy to have an excuse to get away from Ares.
Plus, his roommates needed him.
He ran back to their building, finding the outside swarmed with zombies. Everyone was fighting them off, but just barely.
There were too many of them.
Gunshots sounded through the air and Logan could see Virgil shooting every zombie he possibly could, Roman was using his katana to slice through the ones barely trailing into their building, and Patton was currently being tackled by a zombie, but effectively fighting it off. He threw one of his axes at a nearby zombie, hitting it directly in the face and slicing its head wide open.
Logan quickly pulled out his bow, grabbing an arrow with the other hand and fumbling to aim. He gazed around, looking for a target.
Roman yelped, catching his attention. A zombie had grabbed him from behind, and he was desperately trying to get it off.
Logan let the arrow go, flying through the air and hitting the zombie directly in the skull.
It startled, letting Roman go, and was promptly hit with Ro’s katana.
“Thanks Lo!” Roman called, waving.
“Logan!” Patton stood up, grabbing his weapon from a zombie’s head. He looked both relieved and annoyed. “Where ‘ave you been??”
“Sorry!” Logan called, shooting another arrow. “I got distracted with.. it doesn’t matter. I’ve returned.”
Patton looked like he wanted to argue, but he just took a deep breath, decapitating a zombie behind him without even looking, and nodded. “You’re here now! Thank you fo’ coming.”
“Of course. I couldn’t leave you to fight alone.” He shot a zombie behind Patton.
The perks of having a long range weapon is knowing that all the danger is far away.
The downside is that he had to yell to talk to anyone. And that hurt his ears.
Roman swung at a zombie, just nearly missing hitting Virgil.
“ROMAN!” Virgil yelled angrily, spinning around and glaring at him. “What the fuck??”
“Sorry!” Roman shrugged. He didn’t sound sincere at all.
Logan groaned inwardly.
Virgil snarled, shooting some zombies behind him before aiming them right at Roman. “How would you like it if I just fired right next to your ears?”
An axe came flying between their faces, barely missing their noses, and lodged itself into their apartment building.
Patton was glaring at the both of them with a death glare. “If you two s’art fightin’ again, I will voluntarily get bitten by one of these zombies!” He held out his arm as an offering.
Roman’s eyes widened, but he turned away, snarling. “Fine.”
Virgil looked at Patton like he was crazy, but lowered his weapons nonetheless. He shot more zombies coming their way.
Soon enough, they had killed off all of the undead trying to invade their building, leaving them exhausted and covered in zombie guts and blood.
Patton marched over to Virgil and Roman and glared at them again very intensely. “Wot the bloody hell were you two finking?”
Roman shrugged, “Just swung a little too close to Spidey, that’s all.”
Logan joined them, keeping quiet.
Patton shook his head, stepping closed to the two. He towered over them. “No, no, no, no. I meant before you both lured the zombie ‘ere in the first place .”
Virgil looked very uncomfortable, and very guilty. “Just a little… fight.”
“Wot could have possibly sta’ted a fight that brought a whole horde of zombies here?” Patton asked, exasperation in his tone.
Roman rolled his eyes. “A ‘little fight’ is a massive understatement, Virgil.” He turned to Patton, scowling. “He led a zombie to my apartment! How the fuck. Do you manage to lead a zombie into someone else’s home on accident, hm?”
As Roman seethed , Logan noticed a few flowers appear in his hair.
Woah..
Patton looked between them like he couldn’t decide who to strangle first. He sighed deeply and scrunched up his face, rubbing his eyes.
Logan had lived with him long enough to know his tells. Patton rubs his eyes and face a lot when he has a headache.
“So, Roman led a zombie to your room, so ins’ead of apologizing,” he pointed accusingly to Roman, “and moving on,” and then at Virgil, “you two went ou’side aftah chasing it away and started yelling a’ each other, which b’ought a massive group of zombies to the buildin’ instead of jus’ the one, which caused us all to ge’ covahed in zombie guts?”
Virgil looked at his feet, kicking the dirt with his toe, and nodded.
Roman ran his fingers through his hair, looking away.
After noticing the flowers, he pulled them out with more force than probably necessary, glaring at them in his hand.
“Cool. Jus’ makin’ sure I had the full story.” Patton sighed again, turning to Logan with a tired expression. “‘ow was your day? You loo’ absolutely knackered.”
“It was uhm.. okay. Good for the most part.” Logan tried for a smile. He had no clue what ‘knackered’ meant, but decided not to ask. Patton was already stressed enough.
He saw Roman drop the little flowers and stomp on them, his sour look never falling.
Patton nodded, rubbing his face again and trying for a smile himself. “Good. I’ve jus’ been trying to deal with the two knobs all day.” He gestured to Virgil and Roman.
Virgil looked offended, with some slight confusion shining through. He also had a sour look on his face, though it wasn’t nearly as potent as Roman’s.
Patton began walking back to the building, gruffly pulling his axe out of the wall and going inside.
Roman followed him, shooting a nasty look towards Virgil.
Logan sighed, watching them leave.
Virgil huffed, putting his weapons back into their holsters. He begrudgingly followed Roman inside of the building.
He turned around before closing the door and looked at Logan with concern. “You coming?”
Logan adjusted his grip on his bow awkwardly. “Yeah.. I’ll be right there.” His voice was quiet, and he looked back at the zombies on the ground.
Virgil stared at him for a moment longer before nodding. “Alright. Take your time.” He smiled and then waved before closing the door fully.
Logan gazed out at the horizon.
He had a friend.
Maybe it was for a day and a half, but he had someone.
Maybe he didn’t have the best intentions. Maybe it wasn’t double sided..
But.. Logan had a friend.
And now he was back to nothing…
Tears pricked the corner of his eyes.
Stop.
It’s fine.
He hurriedly wiped them, huffing frustratedly.
He made his way back inside, retreating to his room.
Everything hurt, and he needed a break before dinner.
He just..
Needed to not exist for a bit.
Notes:
Poor Lo.. You gotta give him some credit though, he did call out Ares’ bullshit as soon as he made a single mistake! I love ya, Lo.
Chapter 7: Music, cats, sweet moments, and burns
Summary:
Roman and Patton go out and find some flowers, a gas station, and a kitten?? Turns out, that kitten belongs to a certain someone who’s a member of a group they aren’t too fond of. After that whole mess, they have a heart to heart and a little bit of medical care from the resident medic.
Notes:
I love Roman and Patton’s friendship so much. They’re so adorable. And of course KITTY!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Roman hummed, picking a flower from his arm.
It was light blue.
He tossed it, continuing forward.
Patton and Roman were out gathering items. They were heading towards an abandoned grocery store, chatting along the way.
Patton was.. actually having fun, for once.
He didn’t feel like crying.
“Oooo, loo’it this flowah!” Patton stopped walking to pick a flower out of the ground and hold it up. It was a very vibrant red, dripping melted flower petals to the ground. It looked like blood.
He had a small speaker that was playing music. He was singing along to almost every song that came up.
“Woah!” Roman turned around and gazed at the flower. He gently touched the petal, careful not to get any of the drip on his hands. “That’s pretty..”
Some of the red liquid dripped onto Patton’s hand. He winced, staring at the spot it was running down his finger. “Ow. Tha’ burns.”
“Well don’t— Patton—” Roman made a distressed noise.
Patton got out his camera and took a picture of the flower before dropping it back into the ground and shaking the red liquid off of his hand and examining the spot it had burned. “I’s fine.”
It was only a little red! It might blister later, but really, it was probably fine.
Just another bandaid to add to the numerous amounts all over his body.
He continued to walk forward, cheerfully humming along to Movin On.
Roman hummed worriedly, but followed close behind.
After a moment, Patton heard Roman wince, and then grumble something.
Patton glanced back at him. “You okay, Ro?”
“Yeah, just..” he had a pink flower in his hand. Its stem was spiral and flat, so Patton could tell it was from him.
“Oh. Ya flowahs… does it hurt ta pull it out?” Patton walked up to him and took the flower, gently brushing it with his fingers.
“Not much.. feels like plucking a hair.” Roman shrugged, tossing it to the side. “More of a nuisance than anything.” He growled.
Patton’s eyebrows scrunched up in worry. “Tha’ kinda sounds painful. I fee’like it’s a bit more than a nuisance.”
“Eh.” Was all the response Patton got. Roman pushed forward, not looking back, but Patton got the impression he was blowing it all off
Patton couldn’t really push him to talk about it. That would be very hypocritical of him. So he just sighed and followed Roman, pulling out a cigarette, putting it in his mouth, and lighting it.
They made their way to the store in relative silence, only ever broken by Patton’s music.
When they got there, they were immediately met with a giant green pair of fangs spray painted on the front of the building.
“Oh..” Roman gazed up at the Nullbound symbol.
Patton scowled, exhaling smoke from his mouth and nose. “Great. This place has a’ready been raided.”
“Well.. there’s no harm in wandering around in there, right?” He never stopped looking up at the mark.
“I guess not…” Patton sighed and stepped into the store, scanning the place.
There was technically a lot of stuff left, but it was all old and moldy. He touched some of the things, testing out how good they were.
There wasn’t much.
“Ro, I dunno if there’s anyfing ‘ere.” Patton grimaced, taking another hit of weed.
Roman sighed, “yeah.. we’ll have to find another one..”
There was a faint meow.
Patton spun around, eyes darting around the room. He couldn’t decide whether he was excited or terrified. “Cat?”
“Sounds like it..” Roman murmured, looking around.
There was no sign of any life other than themselves.
“I don’t know where though..”
There it was again, a little, high pitched meow. Sounded like a kitten.
Patton squealed. “A kitten!! Awwwhhh where are you, li’l one?” He searched around the store excitedly.
“You’re allergic to cats, Patton.” Roman laughed, following Patton.
“Yah, but—” Patton checked under a self, “but kitty!! I ‘ave meds tha’ll make me not stuff— suffga— suffahcate. And hives. It’ll be fine!” He grinned, his cigarette hanging off his lip.
Roman sighed, “and how much of that do you have left? How much does Emile have? We can’t use up medicine, Pat..”
Something soft rubbed up against Patton’s leg.
A little grey kitten with a white patch on their chest and lots of blue eyes running down his entire face and front legs, and a few on their shoulders.
Patton’s pupils got bigger the minute he laid eyes on the kitten. His hands twitched like they did when he really wanted to touch something he really shouldn’t. “I ‘ave a buncha meds. I can..”
Roman didn’t argue. Instead, he crouched down and held his hand out for the kitten.
It gazed up at him, seemingly studying his face, and then hissed at him.
“Oh. Awh..” Roman frowned.
Patton practically melted where he was standing, crouching down so he could hold out his hand for the kitten as well. “Poor baby.. i’’s okay, luv. We won’t hurtcha.” He said in a gentle voice.
The kitten sniffed his hand, and then rubbed his face against it. He mewed up at Patton, some of his eyes closing.
“Ro, Roman. Roman. I might explode.” Patton sat down fully, putting out his cigarette and ever so gently picking up the kitten and putting it in his lap. “You’re jus’ so small… the cutest li’l thing..”
His eyes and skin were already getting itchy, but he couldn’t care less at the moment. Most of his body was covered up anyway!
Roman chuckled, rolling his eyes fondly. He sat somewhat far away, giving the kitten his space.
It meowed up at Patton again, reaching up to paw at his arms.
“‘Ello, sweet thing.” Patton petted its head, being careful of its eyes. “You ‘ave the sweetest li’l meow. Ya makin my face itch, bu’ you're just too cute ta ignore.”
He licked Patton’s hand, his little tongue like sandpaper.
Patton squeaked in delight. His breath was beginning to come out slightly wheezy. He sniffled to try to stop his nose from running. “Ro, why cou—couldn’t I ‘ave ‘ad any othah allah- allargy?”
“I don’t know.” Roman laughed, smiling at the little kitten.
“Loki get your fuzzy ass back over here! ” They heard someone hiss.
The kitten meowed, and hopped out of Patton’s lap, disappearing behind a shelf.
Roman stood up, drawing his katana and staring at the place where the kitten— Loki?— went.
Now Patton kind of felt like crying.
One, his eyes itched more than they usually have recently, snot was dripping into his mouth, breathing was difficult, and he wanted to itch his skin off.
Two, the kitten left his lap. He wasn’t done petting it yet!
“Kitty..?” He knew he sounded pathetic, but he didn’t particularly care.
Roman gazed back at Patton worriedly.
“Alright, who’s there?” He growled, a few flowers popping up in his hair.
Patton stood up with furious determination, grabbing for his axe, but accidentally pulling out his banjo instead. “Shit, wait—”
He decided it would do.
Someone slowly stepped out of the shadows, holding the kitten in their arms.
Like most people, they were a lot shorter than Patton, but they were even shorter than Roman, too. Only slightly taller than Virgil was. Their long brown hair was tired up in a bun much like Patton’s, though a lot neater.
Their face was covered by a gas mask that looked like a snake’s face.
Roman kept his weapon raised. “Who are you? Why do you have the kitten?”
The stranger looked at Patton. “Why do you have a banjo?”
Patton looked at his instrument and blushed from embarrassment. “I uhm.. grabbed tha wrong fing.”
“Why are you—” They shook their head, refocusing on Roman. “This is my cat.”
“And you brought him with you on an outing? And let him climb in a stranger’s lap? Who are you?” Roman asked firmly.
“I did not let him climb into a stranger’s lap.” The person hissed. “I didn’t want him to, but he’s a cat. He wanted to. There’s no stopping a cat.”
“An’ he was enjoyin it! I din’ know it was your cat, I’m sorry. Can I please pet ‘im?” Patton tried to smile politely, but ruined it with coughing.
The stranger looked at him with disdain. “You look diseased.”
Ouch.
He’s heard it before, but it still hurt to hear it every time. He already struggles with his appearance, especially after…
He also is having an allergic reaction right now as well.
Roman growled, and swung at the stranger with his sword “don’t fucking insult Patton.”
“Oh, they have a name?” The stranger teased, readjusting their grip on their cat. “I’m Deceit.”
Patton lowered his banjo. “Wot kinda name is Deceit??”
“That’s a bit rude.” Deceit said.
“Oops— sorry. Issa beautiful name.” Patton mumbled, sitting back down on the floor.
“No, no, no you can’t say ‘that’s rude’ while you just called him ‘diseased’” Roman scowled, “I will fucking kill you and your cat, Deceit.”
Patton gasped, coughing a little. “Leave the poor cat alone!”
Deceit stepped back and kept Loki in a protective hold. “Don’t you fucking dare hurt him. I was simply telling the truth! No one likes a lie, do they?” He said, his voice like venomous honey.
Loki hissed at Roman, baring his little fangs.
“You’re one to talk, Deceit.” Roman’s anger got more potent, somehow, red and blue flowers popping up in his hair.
Patton’s eyes widened at the flowers. He stood up and gently put his hands on Roman’s shoulders, leaning down to quietly say, “Ro, it’s okay. Really. We should just go home…”
Deceit looked at them curiously.
Roman growled, running a hand through his hair. It was a nervous tic of his.
He pulled out the flowers, dropping them to the ground and squishing them under his foot. They ended up torn up.
Patton hugged him from behind, putting his chin on his shoulder. “C’mon, mate. I’s okey. We don’ wanna make enemies. We can jus’ go home.” He sniffled so that Roman wouldn’t have as much snot on him.
He really needed to take his medication.
“Okay.” Roman huffed, glaring at Deceit.
“Thanks, Ro.” Patton nuzzled his nose into Roman’s cheek and then pulled away, digging into his bag and pulling out the proper meds.
A small smile graced Roman’s face, though he was trying to hide it.
“I’m sorry, Patton..” he murmured.
“I’s okay, Roro.” Patton smiled at him, swallowing the correct pills.
Deceit groaned. “Ugh, can we be done with the sentiment?”
Patton flipped him off with both hands.
Roman growled at Deceit and left, making his way out of the building.
Patton scrambled to pick up his stuff and followed Roman, glancing at Deceit as he walked out.
He smiled wider when he saw the kitten in the man’s arms. “Bye Loki!” He waved and ran out of the building.
Roman didn't slow down, making Patton catch up with him.
Once he did, Roman muttered, “I don’t like him. There’s something off about him.”
A few more red flowers popped up.
“Yah…” Patton fidgeted with some of the bandages on his arm. “He was pre’y dodgy…”
“Loki was cute though.” He chuckled softly. “Do you think they’re part of Nullbound? That gas mask looked pretty personalized.”
“That’s what I was finkin.. seemed like it fit. Bloody tossahs, the lot of them…” Patton grumbled.
Roman sighed. “I still can’t believe we survived the apocalypse.. and now there’s rivaling groups? Who comes up with this shit??” He threw up his hands.
Patton laughed quietly. “I’s unbelievable.. somefing that would be inna fairytale, like ya said. I’m very impressed we’ve survived this long. I wondah ‘ow my mum is doing..”
“She’s still in London, right?” Roman asked, “I doubt all this hit her. I guess it depends on how strong solstice was..” he hummed. A few more blue flowers popped up, but he didn’t seem to notice. “I wonder why we survived…”
Patton nodded solemnly. “Yeah… I hope not.. I miss ‘er…” he quickly wiped the tears that were gathering in his stinging eyes. “Sometimes I… no, no Patton, tha’s too sad of a thought.”
Roman paused, looking back at Patton with a worried expression. “No thought is too sad when we’re fighting for our life every day and the air is toxic. Tell me, Pat.”
Patton stared at Roman for a few moments before looking away and blowing out a quick puff of air. “I kinda wish this whole fing woulda jus’ killed us. Wot’s it worth bein’ alive for?” He kicked some dirt with his shoe and sniffled, squeezing his arm tightly. “Sometimes I wish m’ accident woulda jus’ killed me…”
Roman gazed at Patton with horror. “No! No, Patton.. it.. I know.. It’s hard not to wish this was all over, b-but you can’t! I.. We’d miss you!” He grabbed Patton’s hands, holding them gently. “You wouldn’t get to see your mom, you wouldn’t be here now to.. to rescue Logan! And Virgil! And.. and what would I do without you..? You’re my best friend.. I don’t think I could go on without you…”
“Tha’s really sweet of you, but…” Patton looked up at him, tears slowly trailing down his face. “I’m not the same person ya made friends with, am I? I’m almos’ completely different now.. why do you even bothah? I’m a mess! Tha—tha’ crash ruined me. I mean, jus’ lookit what it did..” he gestured to his.. entire self, really.
“You’re not..” Patton saw something akin to guilt flash behind Roman’s eyes. “But.. we’re still friends, aren’t we? I didn’t leave you!” He smiled hopefully, tears building in his own eyes.
Patton saw a flower pop up. Which had been happening this whole time, but this flower was different.
It was melting . Like the one from earlier.
Patton stared at the flower in amazement. It made him… sad. He made Roman sad.
He laughed hysterically and so so gratefully, wiping his tears. “Ya din’ leave me!” He pulling Roman into a tight hug. “Ya din’… I dunno why, but… thank you for sticking around and dealin’ with my sorry arse. I know imma clumsy idiot who makes stupid decisions, and I may no’ be the same person ya made friends with, bu’ the Patton I am now is really glad you're my best friend.”
Roman hugged him back wholeheartedly, burying his face into Patton’s neck. He didn’t say anything, but Patton could tell he was desperately trying to force himself to stay still as he silently sobbed.
Once they were both out of tears, Patton pulled away and wiped his face. “Whew, thanks fo’ lettin’ me share that. I feel bettah.” He gave a more genuine, grateful smile.
“Yeah.. I’m glad.” Roman smiled worriedly. He ran his hands through his hair and—
“OW—!”
It only took a few seconds for all the flowers that had been in his hair to be crushed on the ground, the melting flower only a puddle now.
Roman was breathing heavily, tears in his eyes.
“Oh my god Ro, are ya okay wot ‘appended are you okay??” Patton panicked, quickly, but gently, grabbing Roman’s arm to look at his hand.
His index, middle, and ring fingers were all burnt, along with some of his palm. It looked like he hit the melting flower head-on.
“I’m fine .” He huffed, wiping his eyes with the other hand. He didn’t look at Patton.
“No, you’re not.” Patton said firmly, but he let go of Roman’s arm. “We’re going ‘ome and speaking to Logan. He can help.”
Roman nodded. “Okay…”
—-->
“Oi, Logan!” Patton knocked on his door loudly, gently holding Roman’s arm again in his hand.
Roman sighed, rubbing his face.
Logan came to the door a moment later, peeking through the crack. “Yes? What is it? It’s late..” he muttered.
“I know, I’m sorry, bu’ Roman’s injured.” Patton said frantically, holding out his arm to show Logan the burns.
“Oh. Okay, uhm.. one second.” He closed the door again, and they heard some shuffling.
A second later, Logan opened the door. He had a hoodie on, which was strange to see. Usually Logan wore formal outfits.
“Come in.. I wish you two hadn’t missed dinner only to come back with injuries, but I’ll take care of it.” He sighed.
Patton led Roman into the room and onto the couch. “I’m sorry… bu’ it wasn’t his fault! I’s the flowers in his hair. One was melty cause of a..conversation…an’ the melty ones burn.” He defended.
“Flowers?”
Roman winced.
Patton immediately felt guilty. “Oops. Was I not ‘pposed to share that?”
“It’s fine.” Roman sighed, running his hand through his hair.
Logan came over with a plant. It looked like a bush of tentacles, with thick, fleshy leaves that ended in a point, and had little spines on the edges.
“Ooo, is tha’ aloe?” Patton asks excitedly, before realizing that Logan had no idea about the flowers. “Oh, righ’— flowers grow outta Ro’s skin.”
Logan hummed. “Strange..”
Roman felt his face grow hot in embarrassment.
“Do you know what causes that?”
Roman shook his head.
Logan set his Aloe Vera down next to Roman and pulled out a pocket knife, seemingly lost in thought.
“I touched a melty one earlah an’ it burned me. Roman ‘ad the real melty ones in ‘is ‘air an’ when he ran his fingahs through, it burned ‘im.” Patton said, brushing his fingers against the small burn he had acquired.
“You too?” Logan sighed. “Alright, well. This is Vivian.” He gestured to his plant. “Like Patton said, she’s an Aloe Vera.” He flipped open his knife, and, with surprisingly surgical precision, sliced off one of the larger leaves on the outer ring.
Roman gasped softly, "doesn't that hurt?”
“The plant? She’ll seal herself off, it’s fine.” Logan shrugged, and immediately moved to hold the cut leaf over a plastic plate that Patton hadn’t noticed before. “This is latex dripping out now. It’s poisonous. It’s used to defend itself from herbivores in the wild.” A small smile graced Logan’s face as he explained.
Sure enough, a few seconds later, Patton could see a transparent yellow substance that looked like it had the texture of molasses.
Once the yellow latex was done dripping, Logan cut up the leaf, removing the outer skin, and leaving just the transparent, sticky gel. “This is the healing part of the aloe.” He cut it into smaller squares—at least Patton thought so. It was hard to see—and motioned for Roman to give him his hand.
Roman did so, and Logan placed a gel square on the burned area, rubbing it around slightly, before taking it back.
“Work that gel into your hand, it’ll absorb through your skin.”
“Wow..” Roman massaged his hand, gazing up at Logan.
“You’re a bloody good medic, Logan.” Patton grinned at him, his eyes watching Logan’s hands work. “Ca’ I pet Vivian?”
Logan flushed, chuckling embarrassedly. “well uhm.. I just picked up things while working. It’s not much.” He smiled softly. “You’ve got a burn too, right? Let me treat that first.”
Patton huffed, but didn’t argue, holding out the finger that got burned. “I’s not tha’ bad. An’ then I’m petting your plant. I was snugglin’ a cat at the store, but then some wanker from Nullbound came and came an’ took his cat back and wouldn’ let me touch ‘im again!” He ranted angrily.
Roman chuckled. “You’re allergic to cats, Patton.”
Logan treated Patton’s small burn, and then picked up Vivian, setting her closer to Patton.
Then he disappeared into the kitchen.
“I still wanna pet em. They’re my favourite animal, y’know.” Patton grumbled, gently caressing Vivian’s leaves.
“And you’re deathly allergic.” Roman rolled his eyes affectionately. “What are we going to do with you?”
Logan came back a moment later, adjusting his hoodie.
“Did you have the proper medication for that?” He asked, looking at Patton sternly.
“Yeh, yeh, don’ worry. I got all the ‘quired meds in m’ system.” Patton grinned at him, giggling at Roman’s statement still. He continued to fiddle with the aloe leaves. They felt really cool.
“That’s good..” Logan sighed, adjusting his bangs.
His black curly hair was getting long. It fell over his face now.
Patton stared at it for a solid minute, probably longer than he should have. “I like ya hair, Logan. I’s pre’y.”
“What? O-oh, uhm. Thank you.” Logan smiled weakly. It sounded like he didn’t like it.
Patton’s smile dulled. “D’ya not like ya hair?”
“Not.. particularly.” Logan sighed. He sat down on the couch next to Roman.
“It’s curly though! It’s beautiful.” Roman protested, smiling warmly.
“Wot D’ya not like ‘bout it? The colour? The curls? The length? Whatevah it is, I can fix it.” Patton said, pushing the plant aside to look into Logan’s eyes comfortingly.
“Uhm.. the length? I guess..?” Logan answered quietly, staring at Patton with wide, scared eyes.
“Pat was supposed to be a hair dresser.” Roman stage whispered, grinning.
“Yeh! Tha’s why I can help. I’ve done a lot of exper’menting with my ‘air, as ya can see.” Patton gestured to the bun on top of his head and chuckled. “Whatevah ya need, Lo, I ca’ do it.”
“Oh uhm.. I don’t think.. I don’t…” Logan looked like he was having a mental battle.
Eventually he said, “it.. it’s fine. Really..”
Patton deflated slightly, but kept the smile on his face. “Well, if ya evah change ya mind, I’m ‘ere. I miss doin ‘air.” He sighed. “I been doin my own ‘air fa years, bu’ I ‘aven’t done anyfing with it for awhile. If tha’ wasn’t obvious.”
Logan chuckled. “yeah.. your hair is such a light blond.. it almost looks white.” He smiled softly, “it’s amazing..”
“Oh! Thank you..” Patton blushed sheepishly. “Ev’one called me a ‘fake bleached blond girl’ in school. So I dyed m’ hair! Then I was jus’ weird.” His eyebrows scrunched together as he bit his lip, but he looked up at Logan with a soft smile shortly after. “Nice ta know ya like it.”
“I wonder how it happened… Is it albinism?” Logan mused, his eyes sparkling with wonder.
Patton blinked, pulling down a loose strand of hair that was supposed to be bangs, but had grown out so much that it was.. not that anymore. “Maybe… I was ‘pposed to be a redhead. Tha’s my mum’s hair colour, as well as m’ grandmother’s. Tha’s why I got such pale skin an’ freckles.”
“Huh..” Logan hummed. He turned his gaze to Roman. “Your flowers are interesting as well. I ran some tests with the radioactive water.. it grew flowers on deceased animals and uh.. a stick. I wonder if yours have any correlation with that?”
“Huh.. maybe?” Roman, who had removed his jacket, had flowers on his arms and shoulders.
“Did’ja swin- swim in radioactive water, Ro?” Patton gave him a teasing grin, gently touching some of the flowers on his shoulders.
“No!” Roman pouted, a poorly concealed smile on his face.
“It’s possible that you were hit with the radiation when solstice went down and.. and instead of dying you.. you’re like a hybrid. But.. with flowers.”
“Huh..”
“The flowers seem to pop up on dead organisms..” Logan thought out loud. “I wonder if it’s possible the radiation took ahold of your dead skin cells.”
“I mean.. I do have chicken skin.” Roman rubbed his arm.
Patton snorted, slapping his hand over his mouth to try to stop his giggles. “Sorry, sorry— I’s jus’ funny when ya call it that.” He snickered.
He had… odd laughs. High pitched and squirrelly, he snorts a lot, his giggles are unsettling, and the gaps in his teeth whistle on occasion.
Or so he’s been told.
Roman’s laugh is so nice to listen to. Loud, hearty, and deep. Patton’s always loved it.
He has yet to hear a loud laugh from Virgil or Logan, but he can’t wait to.
Roman snorted. “It’s easier than Kara— Kerato..”
“Keratosis Pilaris..” Logan sighed, rubbing his face. “That’s a buildup of excess keratin in your pores, right? That could be what's causing the flowers to grow.”
“Huh.. cool.” Patton itched at a wound under a layer of bandages. “Maybe no’ so cool for you though, luv.” He said to Roman sympathetically. “Your flowers ‘r pre’y though.”
“Are they..?” Roman looked at his arms with disdain.
“Yah! I like em! All the different colours.” Patton lightly touched the petals of a blue one.
Roman hummed solemnly, running his hand over one of the petals. No matter how squished they were underneath his jacket, the flowers always bounced back up like new.
“I think they’re based on my emotions..”
Patton tilted his head to the side. “Oh?”
“They pop up whenever I’m.. angry. Or sad or.. I guess just when my emotions are running high…” Roman murmured.
“Wow..” Patton just let his head go limp, so it was hanging lower and lower. His long dangly earrings on his left side were resting on the side of his face, and the ones in his right ear were hanging in the air. “Tha’ does sound a li’l.. frustratin’. But it’s also pre’y int’esting.”
Roman chuckled, moving Patton’s earring. “We should probably get out of Lo’s hair. It’s late.”
“Right!” Patton sat up again abruptly, gathering his backpack and standing up. “Cheers for the help, Lo!” He said cheerfully, pulling Roman off the couch by his good hand. “Sorry ta bothah ya so late.”
“Yeah, thanks, Logan..” Roman smiled gratefully.
“It’s quite alright..” Logan sighed, readjusting his hoodie again. “I’m always glad to help.”
Roman and Patton walked out the door, closing it behind them.
Notes:
Logan's so awesome.
Chapter 8: Am I really worth it?
Summary:
Virgil’s worried about his worth in this group. Lo gets a bit choked up(it’s definitely from the campfire smoke guys!!) and they all learn a little bit about each other.
Notes:
Virgey and Ro are uh… not doin great :(
(largecat): I just named a buncha bands I love or have heard some stuff from and like it. So uh, there’s some of my music taste!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Roman and Virgil were yelling again.
Patton couldn't understand what they were fighting about.
His head hurt too much.
But they had just been peacefully eating breakfast, and then Virgil hissed, and Roman stood up and now.
Well…
Virgil didn't have a mask on today. Surprisingly.
Instead, he wore a dark purple cloth scarf over his face. It was slightly transparent, but layered enough that you couldn’t see through unless you were up really close. His hood was up, but his hair was down, cascading down his shoulders and throwing his whole head into a veil of darkness.
Patton managed to decipher Virgil yelling “I DON’T HAVE TO SHOW YOU ANYTHING .”
“BUT WHY ALL THE SECRETS?! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO TRUST YOU IF I CAN’T EVEN SEE YOUR FACE??!?” Roman yelled back, slamming his fists down on the table.
Some milk spilled from Patton’s cereal bowl.
He was just desperately trying to block out their loud shouts that were grating on his ears by covering them with clumps of his hair and his hands.
His head was pounding.
He had been trying to get them to get along for two weeks now.
Logan got up and walked out of the room, away from the noise.
“IF YOU DON’T TRUST ME THEN HOW ABOUT I JUST LEAVE, HUH?” Virgil hissed, louder than either of them had heard before. “I’ll get out of your hair! I don’t mind, really!” Patton saw tears prick Virgil’s eyes. “I wondered how long until I was kicked out of here too! I.. thought you all were different.”
And then he left, slamming the door behind him.
Patton’s eyes widened and before he could think, he stood up to run after Virgil.
That turned out to be a bad idea, as his vision immediately went black and he fell to the ground.
Ow…
“Pat! Are you ok—?” Roman started, quickly walking up to help him, but Patton smacked his hand away and stood up on his own.
“Sod off.” He hissed and ran out of the room.
He tried to focus his fuzzy eyes on the hallway.
Goddamnit, he lost his glasses again.
He zoned in on Virgil’s door and rushed up to it, desperately knocking on it. “V-Virgil! P-ple-ease don’t lea-eave! I-I can’t l-lose ano-othah friend…” Patton got quieter with each plea, sounding pitiful. He leaned his head on the door along with his fists, finally letting his tears fall.
He can’t lose Virgil.
But Roman is his best friend…
He… he can’t lose Roman…
But the thought of losing Virgil, even though they’ve only known each other for a few weeks, made him feel sick.
After a second that felt like years , Virgil’s voice spoke through the door.
“I.. really thought you were different.. where did I go wrong..?”
Patton frantically shook his head, choking on his sobs. He tried to swallow them down to talk. “You didn’t, you nevah did anyfing wrong.. well— y-ya do fight with Ro a lo’, b-but th-tha’s his fau-ault too. I wan’ you ‘ere, I do, I do, I do, please…”
“I-I can be wotevah ya need!” He said desperately. It sounded hysterical even to his own ears. “I can be different, I can!”
Virgil opened the door, gazing at Patton with watery eyes.
Four. Watery eyes.
His mouth was still covered, but Patton could see a pair of eyes set on his cheeks, right below his original pair. “It’s not you, Patton.. It’s not… it’s my fault. I’m sorry…”
Patton stared at him with wide, tear filled eyes that were still expelling salty water down his cheeks. “Why is it your fault? F’some extra eyes?? I don’ care wot extra appendages you ‘ave!”
Virgil shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. “You don’t— you don’t understand.. I’m not— I’m a monster! I’m not human… not anymore. I don’t ever stay anywhere long. I don’t know why I expected this to be different…” he sighed, turning to look at something just out of Patton’s view in his apartment.
Patton felt a pang of sadness for Virgil. He had been kicked out of so many places just because he was different.
Patton suddenly felt very angry at all of those people.
“No, you’re not. Everyone who’s evah told you that are all prats, an’ they can go fuck themselves.” He growled.
He took a breath and gained a softer look, gently grabbing Virgil’s shoulders and looking him in all of his eyes.
It felt a little awkward, as Patton was almost a foot and a half taller than him, but it worked.
“I don’ care if you’re human, not human, part horse, woteveah. You’re a part of this family whethah you like it or not. I’m attached ta ya now, so good luck gettin’ ridda me.” Patton said firmly, a tiny smile forming on his face.
Virgil didnt speak for a while. Just searched Patton’s face for something.
For any trace of deceit.
When he finally spoke, it was quiet and muddled with tears. “W-why..?”
Patton smiled wider, comfortingly. “Cause I accept mos’ everyone. Long as they’re a good person, which ya are. Plus, imma loser who ‘as two—hopefully three—friends total. An’ I like you. Ya awesome! Ya ‘ccepted me, why shouldn’ I do the same fa you?”
Virgil chuckled wetly, letting his head drop. “I still don’t get it.. but.. I’ll stay…” he sighed, “I’m sorry…”
Patton rested their foreheads together. “Someday, I’ll make ya. Don’ be sorry, I wanna get outta the house a lot . Ro’s the one ya shoul’ be sorry to. An’ he needs ta apologize too. You don’t hafta show us anyfing ya don’t want to. ‘less issa bad wound, I can’t condone that.”
“Okay..” Virgil laughed, and Patton saw him fidget with his sleeve. “I.. can.. can I have a hug..?” He asked quietly.
He sounded like a little kid..
It broke Patton’s heart a little.
Patton smiled softly and opened his arms. “‘Course.”
Virgil practically launched himself into Patton, wrapping his arms around the lanky man. He finally let his tears fall, making a wet spot on Patton’s front.
“‘S okay, luv. I’m no’ abandoning you. Evah.” Patton said in a hushed voice, running his fingers through Virgil’s long hair.
Virgil took a while to cry himself out.
It was probably the first real cry he had in a long time.
Once he did though, he pulled away and wiped his eyes.
“Sorry..” he murmured, and Patton heard him make a noise that sounded strangely like clicking? But it definitely came from Virgil.
“Quit ‘pologizing or I will fight ya.” Patton threatened, pointing at him with a scolding gesture.
“I’m sorry!” Virgil squeaked, then winced, “shit.. whoops. Uh—“ he laughed.
Patton laughed as well, which hurt his head. “‘S okay, Virge.” He rubbed his eyes, pressing into them. “Mmm, alrigh’, my ‘ead hurts. I’m gonna go overdose on pain medication.” He said cheerfully, turning around on his heel and making his way to his room on wobbly legs.
He heard Virgil’s door close with no protest.
“Hey Pat, are you okay..?” Roman’s voice sounded from behind him.
Patton turned around again, making his head spin and he stumbled slightly, but caught himself before he could fall. “Uh, yep! Jus’ bout ta take my medicine cause my ‘ead hurts.”
He suddenly got very nauseous. “Oh, gghh..” he leaned against the wall and closed his eyes.
Roman immediately ran over and helped support Patton, “hey, it’s alright! It’s alright, Pat. What do you need, bud?”
“M’ me’s…” Patton mumbled, resting his head on Roman’s shoulder. “So’y for snappin’ at ya ear.. earliah.”
“It’s alright.” Roman led Patton to his room. “I probably shouldn’t have yelled at Virgil… How is he, by the way..?”
“‘e’s okeh. Taf—tal’ed ‘im ou’a ‘is iq- issuah. ‘e’s a li’l be’ah now, hope.” Patton slurred, trying not to throw up his cereal from that morning.
It took a bit for Roman to decipher what he said, but once he did he hummed solemnly.
They made it to Patton’s room, and Roman sat him down on the couch. “Do you remember where you put your meds?”
Patton thought back to when Logan gathered them all up.
They didn’t stay organized for long.
“The’e’s bo’les evra— every..whe’e.” Patton gestured around the room lazily.
“Okay..” Roman sighed, running his hand through his hair and looking around.
He started rummaging through his apartment, looking at every bottle.
Eventually, he said a triumphant “aha!!” And handed Patton a pill bottle.
Patton lit up. “Cheeahs!” He opened it as quickly as he could and poured out four.
He was only supposed to take two, buuuut..
He was desperate.
Patton downed all four of them before Roman could say anything and flopped down onto the couch.
“Patton—“ Roman gasped, then groaned, “alright.. I’ll leave you be..” he stood up and made his way to the door.
“You’re da bes’, Ro. I love yoouuu.” Patton murmured into the couch.
“Love you too, Patton..” Roman smiled, and closed Patton’s door softly.
—-->
They decided to make a campfire and eat outside today. The air was relatively okay. Logan made sure of that.
Patton was cooking burgers, hot dogs, and Mac & cheese over the fire. His head was a little fuzzy, but it’s fine! He can still cook and be close to a flame without burning himself.
…maybe.
Virgil and Roman were still avoiding each other as much as they could; not looking at each other or talking.
So Patton just listened to the conversations they had with Logan separately, chiming in when he could.
“Okay, I’m realizing we don’t know much about each other.” Roman said after the other conversation had died out. “Except me and Patton I guess, but everyone else!”
“Oh.. I suppose we don’t.” Logan hummed, gazing at the fire.
“Exactly! So, ice breaker questions. The basic knowledge. We’ll go from there.” Roman said excitedly, practically bouncing in his seat. “First question: what’s your favorite artist and/or song?”
Oooo!!
Patton liked this question.
He was literally blasting music in one ear as they spoke!
“Hm.. favorite music..” Logan hummed. “Well.. I usually listen to classical.. But my favorite artist is Madilyn Mei.” He smiled softly, blushing.
“Oh, I love her!!” Patton exclaimed.
Logan beamed, but didn’t say anything more.
“I’ll go next!” Roman waved his hand above his head eagerly. “My favorite artist is Olivia Rodrigo.”
“Good choice.” Patton commented.
“I can’t believe Roman likes white girl music.” Virgil snickered. “Mmh actually.. that’s totally believable.”
“White girl music can be good!” Roman said indignantly.
Patton was very worried that they would start a fight again, and he was already dreading even bothering to drag both of them out here.
“What about you, scaramore? Favorite artist?” Roman raised a playful eyebrow.
“My Chemical Romance.” V answered simply.
Roman rolled his eyes. “Figured. Luckily for you, I already have a nickname for you, My Chemically Imbalanced Romance!” He said proudly, wearing a shit eating grin.
Virgil rolled his eyes, “Okay well fuck you, it’s not even my favorite.” He growled. “It’s just the only one you’d recognize.”
“Awh, c’mon! I wanna know your favorites whether or not I know them. Maybe I’ll listen to some of it.” Roman urged, walking his fingers across the bench he was sitting on.
Huh… this is going a lot better than I expected.
“Yeah right.” Virgil grumbled. “You don’t give a damn about me. It’s Rasputina.”
Roman pulled out his phone and messed with it for a minute before putting it back down. “Listening to them later.”
Virgil spluttered for a moment, then glared at the fire, not looking at anyone.
Patton spotted a bit of blush peeking out above his mask.
“Okay, okay. Your turn, Pat.” Roman wiggled in his seat with excitement.
“Oh! Eruummm… jus’ one? Bu’ I like so mannyyy.” Patton pouted, sitting down heavily. “I love AJR, Lotus, Will Wood, Grateful Dead, Arkansauce, Pert Near Sandstone, Greensky Bluegrass, Gorillaz, Blur, Cavetown, Ween, Talking Heads, Widespread Panic, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Madilyn Mei, Penelope Scott, Trampled By Turtles, Devil Makes Three—”
“Patton!” Roman stopped his ranting, chuckling fondly. “ One. ”
Patton sighed, slumping over and thinking for a while. “Gorillaz.”
“Good choice.” Virgil nodded approvingly, smiling.
Patton could see the smile in his eyes.
“That is.. quite a lot..” Logan looked slightly disturbed.
“Wot? I like music. Blocks out alla jumble in ‘ere.” Patton knocked his head, smiling back at Virgil.
Virgil’s approval felt really good for some reason.
“Alright! My turn to ask a question.” Virgil said with surprising authority. “Share a song that you relate to.” He grinned.
“Oooo, good ques’ion..” Patton murmured, thinking for a bit. It only took a minute though. He had one song that has stuck with him for a while. “Against the Kitchen Floor by Will Wood.”
“Awh man that was mine.” Virgil laughed. A genuine laugh.
He’s having a good time..!
“You two— what?” Logan looked bewildered.
“Really??” Patton gasped, grinning stupidly wide at him. “Well now I gotta change it!”
“No, that song fits you both pretty well I think!” Roman laughed, a smile forming on his own face.
“Nah, nah, nah, I nee’a change it.” Patton insisted, hunching over and thinking again.
“Nooo I’ve got another one!” Virgil laughed, “Shuffle by Penelope Scott.”
“Oh, oh, oh! I dunno if I know tha’ one…” Patton hummed thoughtfully.
“Okay, my turn! Are You Satisfied by Marina and the Diamonds.” Roman said proudly.
“ White girl music! ” Virgil stage whispered, snickering.
“You’re one to talk, emo.” Roman flipped him off, though the wide smile still stayed firmly on his face.
Virgil rolled his eyes. “I’m just sayin!”
“…Joan. By Madilyn Mei.” Logan murmured. “That’s uh.. that’s my song…” he looked down at his hands.
“Ohhh, tha’s a propah good one..” Patton looked at Logan in something akin to both awe and concern.
“Good question, Virgil!” Roman gave him a bright smile.
Virgil’s eyes widened in surprise. ”uhm.. thank you..” he murmured, gazing into the fire again.
“Okay, okay, I know I already asked a question, and none of you have to answer this, but I’m dying to know your sexualities. Who you love and all thaaatt!!” Roman clapped his hands together in giddy excitement.
Patton saw Logan tense slightly.
“Oh boy.” Virgil rolled his eyes, chuckling fondly. “Here we go.”
“Okay firstly, I’m gay. He/him pronouns! Cause I realized we forgot to do that.” Roman winced.
“Oops.” Patton said while he took the food off of the campfire. “I jus’ let people call me whatevah. ‘pparently it’s hard ta tell with me.” He shrugged.
“It kinda is.” Virgil laughed. “What would you prefer though?”
“Uhhhh..” Patton really thought about it for a minute. “He/him is fine.” He decided.
He feels okay with pretty much whatever, but he’s always been calling himself he/him in his head.
Virgil smiled. “I’m gay. He/Him is alright.”
“Ooo, another one.” Roman teased, smirking.
Virgil blushed, “yeah? fuck off.. you’re the gayest person here.”
“And I will proudly hold that title.” Roman sat back proudly, a cocky grin on his face.
“I’m aro/ace.” Patton said, his back turned to them as he was plating the food.
“Oh!” Virgil smiled, “that’s cool!”
“what’s that?” Logan asked hesitantly.
“I don’ have romantic or sexual feelings for anyone.” Patton answered, coming back over to them and giving plates of food to Roman, Virgil, and Logan.
“I’m surprised you didn’t already know what that was, specs. Though I guess it’s not represented a lot..” Roman frowned, taking a bite of his hot dog. “Hard to know of something if it’s almost never talked about.”
“Yeah.. I suppose so.” Logan murmured, looking down at the food in his lap.
He’s been.. strangely quiet tonight.
“Wot ‘bout you, Logan?” Patton asked, sitting down with his own plate of food.
“I’m gay as well.. He/him pronouns and uhm.. I’m transgender…”
Patton blinked in surprise.
Suddenly a lot more things made sense.
“Nice!! ‘ow long ‘ave ya been trans?” Patton said, his excitement sincere.
Roman looked a little shocked, but he broke out into a smile. “Woah.. I can’t even tell.”
“I fucking knew it.” Virgil laughed airily. “You pass really well though, Lo.”
Logan smiled softly, looking up at the others over his glasses. “Uhm.. since freshman year of high school, I suppose. It hasn’t been that long.”
“Oh cool! ‘ow old are ya? WAIT—” Patton put his arms out in a pausing gesture, his eyes wide and excited. “We ‘aven’t even told each othah our ages yet! Tha’s my question.”
“Ohhh, good one. We didn’t, did we?” Roman chuckled. “Well, I’m 20.”
“19.” Virgil answered.
“21.” Patton said, untangling some of his hair that got caught in his eyebrow piercing.
Logan’s answer didn't come right after.
It.. didn’t come at all.
“Logan?” Roman urged, worry in his eyes, but a reassuring smile gracing his lips.
“I.. why is it important?” Logan asked, gazing at Roman placidly.
“What are you old?” Virgil snickered, trying to lighten the mood.
“I won’ judge ya. I feel old an’ I’m only 21.” Patton chuckled, tying his hair back.
Logan shook his head, “it’s not important for our goal.”
“Bu’ i’s fun ta know!” Patton exclaimed.
“Why don’t you wanna share Lo? What are you hiding?” Roman squinted at him suspiciously.
“Knowing my age or not won’t change what I do for you.” Logan growled. “It. Doesn’t. Matter.”
Roman blinked in confusion. “Why would it change what you do for us? You’ve proven yourself very capable of being independent and resourceful. Look what you did for my hand!” He held out the hand that had been burned, showing that the burns were healed up and they had barely even scarred. “You’re amazing! I don’t care how old you are. We won’t think differently of you. It just.. it’s good information, Lo.”
“Yah! You’ve patched me up loads of times! My bandages are so neat and m’wounds don’ hurt!” Patton grinned and held out his heavily bandaged arms.
“So you don’t need to know how old I am.” Logan said firmly, glaring at the others.
Roman sighed. “Fiiine. Be that way.” He pouted.
Patton frowned, glaring at Roman slightly. “It’s okay. You’ve already shared one big thing with us. Thanks for sharing, by the way.” He smiled softly at Logan.
Logan shrugged, “that information will just make it easier for all of us.” He took a bite of his hotdog.
Virgil was still looking at Logan worriedly, but didn't press.
“I suppose it’s my turn to ask a question.” Logan murmured, thinking. “What.. was everyone’s job or.. what they were going to school for before the apocalypse hit?”
“Hair dressah!” Patton answered immediately, grinning widely. “And I was workin’ at an ol’ record place while I was goin ta school.”
“So that explains the hair.” Virgil laughed, smiling. “I was going to school to be a fashion designer. But! I worked at, wouldn't you know it,” he glared at Roman playfully, “a hot topic!”
“Oh, of course you did!” Roman groaned, covering his face with his hands. “But fashion designer is cool. Maybe I’ll ask you to design something for me.” He smirked, taking his hands off of his face. “I was going to college to be a special effects makeup artist! Getting involved in the movie industry! I actually worked at a fancy restaurant as a waiter. And I also did acting on the side!”
“Why am I not surprised.” Virgil snickered.
“I was going into med school.” Logan said. “Cardiovascular surgeon, to be specific. Although I know many kinds of treatment.”
“Wow..” Patton said, staring at him in awe. “So ya do like all the medical stuffs.”
“Damn, Specs. That’s cool.” Roman grinned at him, thoroughly impressed.
“It’s.. not much. I didn’t get very far.” Logan shrugged, “taught myself how to stitch though… and I worked at a local book store on the side.”
“You taught yourself??” Roman exclaimed with shock. “That’s a very useful thing to know now.”
“You were a’ead of the times!” Patton added.
Logan chuckled. “I guess so. I taught myself them in high school so I was more prepared for med school. Guess I never got to use that skill though.”
“Maybe you’ll get to! But uh— hopefully not.” Roman laughed nervously.
“I’s been close.” Patton said, tearing off one of the bandages on his arm and grimacing at the wound. “Ewie.”
Logan looked at the wound with placid disgust. “You should probably change out that bandage anyway, Patton.”
“Okee, I’ll be back.” Patton stood up, threw his plastic plate into the fire, and walked back inside the building.
Roman sighed as he watched Patton leave. “ How the fuck he’s still alive is a question I’ll never stop asking. Logan, you’re a lifesaver.”
“Just doing my job.” Logan shrugged, throwing his plate in as well. “It’s all I’m here for.”
“That.. healing isn’t all you’re here for, Logan.” Virgil gave him a concerned look.
“Yeah! You’re a cool guy! The healing part is just a bonus.” Roman said, grinning at him.
Logan sighed. “Okay..” He didn’t sound convinced at all.
Roman looked at Virgil desperately. His face conveyed the message, ‘I don’t know what to do about this.’
Patton came back shortly after, sitting down in his spot with his arm freshly wrapped. It was silent and they were all staring at him. He looked at them wearily. “Wot?”
Virgil sucked in a sharp breath. “We were talking about—“
“I hate myself. There. Are you happy now that you know?” Logan snarked, looking pointedly away.
Roman gaped at him.
Patton looked bewildered. “You… hate yourself?” He repeated, not really aimed at anyone. He opened his mouth and closed it again, beginning to chew on his snake bite piercings.
He stood up and sat next to Logan on the bench, looking at the fire. “Tha’s a hard fing to admit.”
“It’s.. it’s fine.” Logan choked out.
“It’s really not..” Virgil rubbed his face.
He didn’t look shocked. Just.. sad .
“I’s hard to admit it to a group of people. Maybe not ta yaself. I’s hard not ta hate yourself, being honest. “We’re our own biggest critics” an’ all tha’ shit. Hard not ta see the bad in yaself.” Patton said quietly, running his hand along his arm. “Sometimes ya needa reminder on how good ya actually are. Logan, can ya tell me wot ya don’t like about yourself?”
“..It’s not.. what I dislike about myself..” he admitted quietly. “I don’t.. know who I am… I’ve spent all my life working to get into college, but… now that I can’t, I don’t know what I’m like...”
Patton nodded in understanding. “Your whole life’s goal go’ take ‘way from you. Ya nevah… figured yaself out… An’ now i’s the fucking apocalypse and your stuck with a buncha weirdos. But cha’know what these weirdos can do?” He looked at Logan with a strange grin.
“What..?” Logan looked scared, tears in his eyes.
“We can help ya find out who Logan is.” Patton very lightly punched his arm, giving Logan his signature imperfect smile. “Anyfing ya need, we gotcha. The constant hate for yaself will mostly disappear eventually. It may nevah go ‘way completely, but it’ll get bettah.”
Logan gazed at Patton, his tears building up more and more each second.
His mouth opened like he wanted to say something, then he looked down at his lap, staying silent.
Patton saw his tears fall.
“Awh luv.. d’ya wanna hug?” Patton offered gently.
Logan nodded, not looking up.
Patton pulled him into a comforting hold, hugging him tightly. “Ya gonna be okay. I know how ya feel, maybe not exactly, but I understand the feelin’, an’ i’s hard, but it’ll get bettah with time an’ support.”
“T-thank you..” Logan choked out.
“You’re a really cool guy, Lo.” Virgil smiled, “I know we don’t talk much— mostly cause I don’t talk to anyone at all —but.. You’re cool.”
“You really are.” Roman agreed, trying for a soft smile. “I haven’t hung out with you much, but I love talking to you. You’re really knowledgeable on a ton of things and I’ve learned a lot from just listening to you.”
“All your expa— expei— eximents are well though’ out and give good results. You’re real smart and good with animals an’ people.” Patton said, resting his forehead against Logan’s.
Logan chuckled wetly, shaking slightly in Patton’s arms. “Thank you.. t-thank you all…”
“‘Course, Lo. We’re here for ya.” Patton kissed him on the top of the head.
Roman came over and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Anytime, teach.”
Virgil joined and leaned against Logan lightly, “you’re a great guy. Nothing can change that.”
Logan sniffled. “I’m.. I’m glad I’m with you guys…”
“And we’re glad you’re with us.” Patton patted him one more time before pulling away, smiling widely.
Logan wiped his eyes, “I-I’m sorry..” he murmured.
“It’s really alright, man.” Virgil chuckled softly, “I get not liking yourself. It’s not something you can hide from forever. Thanks for telling us.” He smiled warmly.
“Yah! Tha’s pre’y brave of ya.” Patton squeezed his wrist.
“It really was.” Roman nodded.
Logan smiled at his teammates.
His family .
Notes:
Poor Lo :(((
Chapter 9: Uhm… so… that’s my ex
Summary:
Deceit gets word of Virgil being a part of Solarborn and is absolutely furious. Nullbound go out looking for them, happening upon a mysterious car. Too bad those blokes in Solar are good drivers, or one of them at least.
After the whole car chase debacle, Solarborn goes to Emile’s to get their respective medications and some supplies!
Notes:
Anybody ever seen the movie Baby Driver? That’s where the epic driving skills came from XD It’s a really good movie, give it a watch!!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Ares knew this was going to piss Deceit off.
He also knew this was crucial information for his plan.
..which hasn’t been going very well recently.
Which is fine!
Ares knew he wouldn’t stop for anything.
So here he was, standing in front of a shocked Deceit, ready for the tantrum he knew was imminent.
“Virgil… in… Solarborn?” Deceit said low. Calm.
Angry .
His face was completely placid.
“Saw him.” Ares shrugged, desperately trying to stay nonchalant, fighting off a smirk. “He was parading around with that British fuck.”
Deceit’s expression turned to fury. “Of course.” He growled, marching out of the room.
“Soo uhh.. this weather, eh?” Remus spoke from the corner.
Ares growled at Remus, baring his tusks, then followed Deceit.
“Wait!” Remus got up and followed too.
They ended up at the car.
Dee’s truck.
Remus named her Skittles.
“And where are you planning on going?” Ares asked, an eyebrow raised in judgement.
“Out. Find Virgil. Light Solarborn’s base on fucking fire. ” Dee hissed, getting into his truck and starting the engine.
“Good plan.” Ares rolled his eyes, hopping into the passenger seat.
Remus hurriedly clambered into the cramped back. “Do we know where their base is??”
“No.”
“We’ll drive around and look. We all have functioning eyes.” Deceit floored it, jerking them forward and steadily going faster and faster.
Remus nearly flew into the front seat with the force, his dry tentacles hitting Dee in the face. “Whoops! Sorry Snake daddy.” he retucked his limbs.
Deceit huffed, refocusing on the road after his vision had been thrown off. “It’s fine. Don’t call me that.”
“Where are you going? You’re just speeding down random streets.” Ares furrowed his brow as they hit another zombie.
“I don’t know!” Dee snapped. “We’re going to search every building we come across until we find him.” He said determinedly.
“Whats that, then?” Ares asked deadpan, gazing at the car that just turned onto their street.
Skittles screeched as they slowed down to avoid crashing into them.
“WHAT THE FUCK?!?” Deceit shouted, staring at the car with wide eyes.
His expression turned back to cold determination as he sped up and moved the car so that he was right next to the other car.
Surprisingly, Logan was the first to spot them.
Ares grinned at him, and saw his eyes widen.
Then he turned to presumably telling the others.
Ares then saw Virgil’s masked face shuffling around in the back.
Then a voice—The Remus-looking one—shouted, “YOUR WHAT???” And then they sped up, turning a corner.
“I guess we found our guys.” Remus grinned from the back. “Follow them!”
“That was fast.” Deceit sped up and turned the corner just like they did, coming up beside them again.
Virgil looked terrified, the other guy Dee had met at the store, Roman, was glaring at them all, Logan looked relatively unbothered, but Ares could see hints of nervousness in his demeanor, and when Patton saw Deceit, he gave him a wicked grin.
Then, he suddenly turned a very sharp corner.
“SHIT—” Deceit braked, almost slamming his head into the windshield.
He turned the corner as fast as he could and pursued them once again.
“That cocky little— fucking bitch.” Deceit seethed, pressing harder on the gas pedal.
They went like that for a little while before the car sharply turned into an alley and stopped.
“AHA! Got you now, assholes.” Deceit grinned and pulled up close to the entrance of the alley.
Then, without warning, the car sped out of the alley backwards.
Deceit watched as it spun around to face forward back in the other direction and flew down the road.
“What the fuCK—” Deceit frantically turned around as fast as he could, following them again.
But this time, Skittles was a little further behind the other car.
It went around twists and turns to try and lose them, but Deceit kept a close eye on it.
That is until it disappeared between two buildings.
Deceit stopped the car as he looked into the alleyway.
There wasn’t anything there. Just a mound of dirt leading up to a fence.
“Where’d they go? WHERE THE FUCK DID THEY GO??!?” Deceit asked angrily.
“Damn.. ‘British fuck’ knows how to drive.” Remus laughed from the back seat, opening his door and sliding out, surveying the scene. “The guy in the passenger seat was cute. Do we know his name?”
“It’s Logan.” Ares answered duly.
“Shut the fuck up, Remus.” Deceit growled, slamming his door closed. “Now we lost Virgil again! I’m going to strangle that fucking guy— girl— person— I DON’T EVEN KNOW!!” Deceit pulled on his hair, ripping a few strands out.
“Hey, Hey, Dee, it’s alright. We’ll find him eventually.” Remus walked over and gently coaxed Deceit’s hands out of his hair.
“Why do you want him so much anyway? Didn't you guys have a huge fight?” Ares asked, coming up behind Dee. “He has a right to leave, Y’know.”
“He didn’t even give me a chance to explain myself and apologize.” Deceit said through gritted teeth. “He just left with no warning. I… I miss…” he trailed off, his expression turning sad.
“Ah.” Ares didn’t seem at all sympathetic. He sat back down in the car.
Remus, on the other hand, wrapped Dee in a tight hug.
“Wh- what? What are you doing?” Deceit hissed, though his voice was tight. He didn’t sound all that threatening.
“Givin’ you a hug. Cause ya need it.”
Deceit sniffled, giving in and wrapping his arms around Remus and leaning the top of his head onto Remus’ chest because his gas mask was in the way. “I don’t need it.” He weakly argued.
“Uh huh.” Remus ran his hand through Dee’s long hair, “it’s alright, Dee. You’re safe with me.”
Deceit cried silently in his mask, holding onto Remus like a lifeline. “I hate you, Remus.”
“I love you too.” Remus smiled softly.
—-->
They were all making their way to Emile’s.
Patton and Roman needed to pick up their medication and Logan needed more medical supplies and toiletries.
It was nice being in a car again, if Virgil was being honest. It had been a while.
Patton was driving, which, frankly, surprised Virgil a little.
They were all chatting quietly—Patton was mostly silent—when Patton suddenly perked up, looking out of the rearview window. “There’s a car behind us.”
Logan looked out his window as they pulled up next to them. “That’s uh.. that’s Nullbound.”
“WhAT??” Roman gaped from the back seat next to Virgil.
Virgil’s eyes widened and he looked out his window to spot—
Deceit. Fucking Deceit.
Virgil could recognize that gas mask from anywhere.
He also saw Remus staring at all of them with wide eyes, along with Ares, looking just as uncaring as ever.
“That’s… my ex.” He breathed fearfully, staring at Deceit once more.
“YOUR WHAT???” Roman shouted.
Patton sped up the car and rounded a corner, almost making Virgil slide into Roman.
“Deceit??” Patton asked, his expression scared and slightly disgusted.
“Uh, yeah.. we uhm… wait, you know him?” Virgil asked with surprise.
“Me an’ Ro met ‘im at a grocery store. He’s a fucking prick!” Patton turned his head to look at the truck that pulled up beside them again.
Virgil was terrified.
He couldn’t go back. He was happy in Solarborn.
Deceit looked furious.
Patton gave him a wide, toothy, evil grin before suddenly turning very sharply again.
Logan let out a yelp of surprise, though it sounded suspiciously like a chirp.
“YEAH PATTON!!” Roman cheered, hurting Virgil’s ears.
Patton made several more sharp turns, glancing at the mirrors to see if they’d lost Nullbound.
They were never far behind Solarborn.
“Your ex issa pre’y good drivah.” Patton said, his tone amused.
Virgil was slightly unsettled by his wide grin.
“Uhm.. yeah, he’s crazy when he drives.” Virgil replied nervously.
Patton glanced at him from his mirror, a mischievous glint in his eyes. “You ‘aven’t seen crazy yet.”
Virgil was afraid to find out what that was supposed to mean.
He made a couple more turns before he slammed on the breaks, sending Virgil crashing into Logan’s seat.
They were hit with a dead end alleyway.
Patton was perfectly still, his eyes focused on his mirror.
“Uh.. Patton..?” Logan’s voice was higher than normal. Scared .
Roman was giggling like he knew what was coming up.
Once Nullbound’s truck was visible in the rearview mirror, Patton put the car in reverse and shot out of the alleyway backwards.
When they were on the road, Patton spun the car around so that they were facing in the opposite direction, speeding off down the road away from the truck.
Virgil crashed into Roman.
He might’ve screamed, but he’s not totally sure.
Logan chirped loudly, hugging himself close.
Roman was laughing, almost hysterically now. He wrapped his arms around Virgil, holding him close. Virgil wasn't sure he meant to, or even realized what he was doing with all the excitement, but he didn’t even mind.
On the contrary, he was very grateful for it. He’ll take any security he can get.
He gripped onto Roman’s arm like a lifeline, his wide eyes staring forward at the road.
“He’s bloody determined ta get you back, Vee.” Patton sounded slightly annoyed now.
Virgil just squeaked in response.
Patton swerved and went around twists and corners to try and lose Nullbound, and even though they weren’t as close as before, they were still trailing behind them.
Patton grimaced as he poked at the truck behind him before his expression turned to determination, a grin solidifying on his face. “Hol’ on ta your asses!”
“WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?!?” Virgil screamed, digging his fingers into Roman’s arms.
Patton sped up and then turned into a small alleyway, heading straight for a giant mound of dirt that was up against a fence.
Logan chirped again, hugging himself tighter. “u-uhm Patton? Th-that— What are you doing??”
“Somefing a li’l… crazy.” Patton responded, his expression deranged.
He drove up the dirt and they flew into the air.
It felt surreal, being suspended in the air. And even though it was only for a few seconds, it felt a lot longer to Virgil.
It was like being in slow motion, Patton and Roman both had delighted, insane expressions while Virgil and Logan looked absolutely terrified.
Then they were back on the road, landing hard on the ground and driving off into the city again.
They were silent for only a second, shock heavy in the air.
Logan looked like he wanted to cry.
Virgil knew he wanted to cry.
And then Roman broke it.
“YYEAAAHHH PATTON!!” He cheered, pumping his fists in celebration.
Patton laughed slightly hysterically, his expression still crazy. “I ‘aven’t been able ta do tha’ in a long time.”
“Y-you— how. How the fuck—” Virgil was breathing heavily, still gripping onto Roman’s— very muscular— arms.
Patton shrugged. “Practice.”
“ When!?” Logan’s voice was strained and he was staring at Patton like he was insane.
He definitely was.
“I used ta compete in street racin’ back at home and when I first moved ‘ere. I stopped aftah m’accident.” Patton answered, his expression turning sad for a second, before his grin was back. “I missed it.”
“And you’ve still got it, Pat!!” Roman grinned. “You got them off our asses, holy shit!”
“Yeah. You did.” Though Virgil was grateful that he did, he felt like he was going to throw up. “Thanks, Pat.” He said, his voice quiet and strangled.
Patton waved him off. “No problem! It was fun! Sorry for tossin’ ya all ‘round.” He glanced at Logan and Virgil apologetically.
“It was absolutely worth it!” Roman grinned, holding Virgil again.
“Let’s just.. go to Emile’s.. please?” Logan choked out.
“Yep!” Patton said cheerfully and focused on the road.
When they pulled into the parking lot of the small building, Virgil untensed completely.
He realized Roman was still holding onto him.
He blushed and pulled away, climbing out of the car.
“Here we are!” Patton exclaimed as he stood up, smiling and looking at the building. He took out a cigarette and lit it before heading into the building.
The rest followed him, and were greeted with a friendly, “heya! Welcome in!” From the cotton-candy haired man himself.
Em’s store was set up in an old pharmacy. All the shelves were stocked full of their usual items, plus a few extra odds and ends he found while scavenging.
Emile was stationed in the back of the store behind the pharmaceutical desk so he had direct access to most people’s medication.
Today, there were also party streamers all around the store, and Emile had a ‘happy birthday’ banner above his window.
“Hey, Emile!” Patton greeted, grinning at him widely with his cig sticking out of one of the holes in his teeth. “Happy birthday!!”
Emile promptly snatched the cigarette out of Patton’s mouth, putting it out on the counter and throwing it into his trash. “No smoking in my store, Pat. You know that. Thank you, though.” He smiled sweetly afterwards.
“Hey!” Patton said indignantly. “I jus’ lit that!” He huffed, leaning on the counter.
Virgil snickered watching the two. He could already tell they were going to be entertaining to watch.
“You got m’meds?” Patton asked Emile.
“Yup!” Emile typed something into his computer, then disappeared into the back.
Roman joined Patton at the counter, calling to Emile, “get me my meds too!!” He winced when he leaned on it.
“ Wait your turn, Roman!” Emile responded, his voice muffled.
Logan had completely disappeared from the conversation. Virgil could see him making his way through the isles.
Patton was humming a song while he waited for Emile to get back.
“You have meds too, Princy?” Virgil asked, walking up to the counter as well.
“Yup!” Roman grinned, “Adhd.”
Emile came back out and set an orange pill bottle in front of Patton. “There ya go.”
He then got on Roman’s meds. “I had a new ‘Prince’ register with me recently..” Em hummed. “It’s not a very common last name, I was surprised to recognize it.”
“W-what?” Roman gaped, “who?? When??”
“Patient confidentiality, Ro. Can’t tell you.” And he left again.
Roman looked bewildered and a bit.. scared..?
Patton looked at him with an equally shocked expression. “Uhm, maybe that person jus’ had the same las’ name! I’s so unlikely tha..” he trailed off, his expression turning to worry. He took an ear bud—that Virgil didn’t even know was in his ear—out and offered it to Roman with a hesitant smile. “You wanna listen?”
Virgil looked between them, bewildered.
“Yeah.. thanks.” Roman sighed, taking the earbud and placing it in his ear.
Emile came back out and set Roman’s meds down.
Logan came up to the desk, setting various items on, including a new package of gauze, heavy-duty bandaids, antiseptic gel, and tampons.
Emile turned his attention to Virgil. “You’re a new face! Welcome in.” He smiled. “Did’ja have any meds before the apocalypse happened? I’m sure I could find em.”
Virgil gave Emile a small smile and waved his hello. “Uhm… I had anxiety medication.” He said quietly.
Roman gazed at Virgil, his eyebrows furrowed.
“Sweet. What's your full name so I can look you up?” Emile gave a comforting smile.
“Virgil Graves.”
“Oooo, spooky las’ name.” Patton wriggled his fingers at him, grinning goofily.
Virgil laughed and swatted at him.
“It’s on brand for ya, Hot Topic.” Roman snickered, patting his head.
“Hmm… yup! Here you are!” Emile said, “lemme grab that for you.”
Virgil smacked Roman’s hand away, glaring at him playfully. He refocused back onto Emile, his expression turning into surprise. “Really? Wow… that’ll be… really nice, actually.”
He doesn’t think he’s ever felt more excited and relieved.
“Of course!” Em smiled, and disappeared into the back.
“So, Anxiety, huh?” Roman asked.
He didn’t.. seem like he meant it to be mean. Then again, it’s always a gamble with Ro.
Virgil still looked at him wearily. “Yup. Pretty bad.”
Patton winced sympathetically.
“Ah..” Roman hummed worriedly. “Well, hopefully gettin’ your meds back will help?” He tried for a smile.
Virgil shrugged. “I hope so. It would be really nice.”
Patton nodded in understanding. He seemed like he suddenly remembered something and stood up completely, walking back further into the store.
That left Roman and Virgil alone.
Virgil had no idea what to say. He looked down at Roman arms and saw that they were scratched up, some dried blood coating them.
His eyes widened. “Oh my god, Roman! Did I do that to your arms??” He gently lifted Roman’s arm so he could see the wounds better.
“Uh.. yeah. During the car ride. It’s fine though.” He shrugged. Virgil could clearly see him wincing at every touch. He had been this entire time, now that he thought about it.
Virgil shook his head. “No, it’s not fine. Logan!” He called worriedly, cradling Roman’s arm as carefully as he could.
Roman’s eyes widened, “we don’t— it’s not—“ He groaned.
Logan looked over, and Virgil saw various emotions flash across his face. It landed on something akin to annoyance, and he walked over. “What happened?”
“I-I accidentally scratched him in the car…” Virgil said shamefully.
“Ah.” Logan sighed, “why didn't you tell me earlier?” He asked Roman.
“I-it’s not that bad, really..” Roman tried.
“Yeah. You’re still bleeding, Roman.” He deadpanned, grabbing his decorated bag.
Sure enough, there was a trickle of blood that appeared when Roman flinched.
Virgil felt guilt gnaw at his chest.
Patton came back and dumped some stuff onto the counter. Some shampoo and conditioner, some other hair products, soap, and two bottles of melatonin.
He blinked at the three and then looked down at Roman’s arm, his eyes widening. “Ro, what ‘append? Did I do tha’??!” He asked worriedly, pulling on his hair.
“No! I did it.” Virgil said, coaxing a hand out of his hair. “Though, it was because I was uhm… very terrified of your driving.
Patton looked at him apologetically, then down at Roman’s arms, guilt shining in his eyes. He chewed on his snake bites.
“It’s fine! I’m okay, really. I get it.” He tried to smile, pulling away from Virgil.
“No it’s not!” Virgil snapped, unwanted tears springing to his eyes. “I hurt you! You’re bleeding! ”
“It’s fine! I promise..” Roman looked at Virgil, hurt behind his eyes.
Virge wasn’t sure if that was because he was in pain, or because V was crying.
“If it were really important, I would’ve told you sooner! Or at least stopped you from doing it.” He took Virgil’s hands through his sleeves, squeezing them reassuringly.
Virgil wanted to argue.
He wanted to scream at him.
Tell him it wasn’t okay.
But the desperate look in Roman’s eyes, the way he was holding Virgil’s hands, made Virgil soften.
He was still mad at himself, but he could hate himself for it later.
Virgil deflated. “Okay… but you’re getting treated for it right now. ” He told Roman firmly, glaring at him.
Logan was also glaring. “You really need to tell us when you get hurt, Roman.” He scolded, starting to wipe down Roman’s arm with a wet rag, which was quickly stained red.
Emile came back with Virgil’s meds and surveyed the surroundings. “Uh.. here are your meds, Virgil. Everything okay?”
Virgil picked up his meds and smiled tiredly at him. “Thanks, Emile. Yeah, I just… scratched Roman’s arms in the car on accident..” he said guiltily.
Emile gazed at the two of them. “Oh.. alright. Is there anything I can do..?” He asked, walking around the counter to join them.
“No, I don’t think so. Thanks, though.” Virgil gave him a grateful look.
Patton came up beside him, looking like he was about to cry. “Wot do I owe ya for this s’uff?” He asked Emile, gesturing to his pile of supplies.
“Uhh.. well what’cha got to offer?” He gazed at their items. “Menstrual products are free, per usual.. but you’ll have to pay for the rest.”
Patton took his backpack off of his shoulder and set it down on the counter, rummaging through it. “Would a buncha empty pill bo’les be helpful? I also ‘ave food… fruit and non-perishables. Aannddd…” he glanced up at Emile. “I’ll redo ya hair dye.”
Emile chuckled, “sure. I’ve been meaning to redo it anyway.” He ran a hand through his hair.
“There.” Logan sighed and stepped away. “Tell. us. When. You’re. Hurt.” He snapped in Roman’s face.
Roman flinched away. “Okay.. I’m sorry…”
“It’s alright.. just don’t scare me like that again.” Logan helped Roman stand up. “Or Virgil.” He added firmly.
“Or me.” Patton added as he pulled out a pile of empty pill bottles of all colors and shapes.
“There’s people here who care about you, dickhead.” Virgil punched him in the arm.
“Ow..” Roman frowned, rubbing his bandaged arm “I’m sorry, okay? How many times do I have to say it!”
“Until you believe us.” Logan said firmly, repacking his first-aid kit.
“Yeah!” Patton agreed, turning his head to glare at Roman threateningly—the threat being to let them all love him. He dropped several apples on the floor in doing so.
Virgil laughed at Roman’s blushing face.
“Oh, I forgot!!” Patton said excitedly and very suddenly. He ran out of the store—almost tripping over his feet—before he had even finished uploading what he owed Emile.
“Patton—!” Emile laughed, shaking his head fondly.
Patton ran back into the store with a colorfully—and messily—wrapped gift, slamming it on the counter in front of Emile. He was wearing a toothy grin. “Ya birthday present!”
“Oh!” Emile looked genuinely surprised, a wide smile breaking on his face. “Thank you!”
When he tore open the present, he pulled out a crocheted beanie. It was clearly Steven Universe themed, as there were gem designs all over the hat. All of the major characters were there, along with quite a few of the minor ones.
The diamond’s symbol was a large design on the back of the hat, with all of their individual eyes fit into their diamond.
On the front of the hat was a large design of Steven’s signature star with his pink gem with one of his shields surrounding it in the middle. On three of the tips of the star was Pearl, both Ruby and Sapphire's gems overlapping slightly, creating Garnet, and Amethyst’s gems. On the other two was Connie’s sword, representing Connie, and a planet and a shooting star, representing Greg.
The main color of the hat was a light pink.
Emile gaped at the beauty. “Did you… did you make this??” He asked excitedly.
“Yep! Spent a whole lotta hours on it.” Patton flexed his hands to further make his point. “M’hands din’ ‘ppreciate it.”
For how messy everything Patton did was, the hat was extremely neat and well put together.
Em squealed excitedly, “oh my gosh thank you so much, Patton!!” He hugged it close, pure elation on his face.
Patton laughed, his own expression elated. “Glad ya like it! Only the bes’ for ya birthday.”
“Now I feel bad for not bringing a present.” Virgil said, smiling at Emile’s happiness.
“Yeah..” Roman chuckled.
“Oh you all are fine.” Emile laughed, still giddy. “I don’t know how Patton knew it was my birthday in the first place!”
Patton giggled mischievously. “I know all the birthdays. I’ve been workin’ on this for a bloody long time! I’ took a while. Now, who’s birthday is nex’…” he thought to himself.
“It’s Virgil’s! I saw it on your patient profile.” Emile snickered. “In two days.”
“WOT?!?” Patton spun around and stared at Virgil with shock. “An’ you din’ tell me??”
“I uhm… well… I didn’t think it was inportant..? You kinda just met me.” Virgil stepped back from Patton’s gaze.
Patton’s expression turned to determination and he pulled out his phone, tapping on it some and turning it around to show Virgil.
The calendar app was open and on December 19th, it read, “Virgil’s birthday!!!”
“I’m makin’ you somefing.” Patton said firmly.
“Wait, no you don’t have to—”
“Nope! I am.” Patton didn’t even let Virgil argue.
He pocketed his phone again and emptied out the rest of the payment for their goods, stuffing him and Logan’s supplies in his backpack.
“When d’ya wan’ me ta come an’ do your hair?” He asked Emile.
“Uhhh…” Emile was wearing the hat now. “Whenever you can make it. I’m here literally all day every day.” He laughed.
“Okeh. Imma jus’ show up one day.” Patton said, zipping up his back and giving Emile another smile. “Thanks for everyfing! Happy birthday again!!”
“Oh uh, yeah, happy birthday! Really nice meeting you!” Virgil waved with a smile.
“Happy birthday!!” Roman pumped his fists enthusiastically, then winced at the obvious pain in his arms.
“Happy birthday.” Logan smiled, holding Roman’s arm gently to force him to calm down.
Emile laughed genuinely, “thank you all! This has definitely been a good birthday.”
“Yay!!” Patton cheered as he opened the door to outside.
Soon enough, they were all piled into the car once again, making their way home.
Virgil subtly leaned against Roman on the way back, clutching his anxiety medication to his chest.
He was smiling.
Though his friends were weird, and a little bit crazy, they were good ones.
Notes:
I feel bad for Deceit :( He’s kind of an ass right now, but he’s still too sad.
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 1 Fri 29 Aug 2025 02:40AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 1 Fri 29 Aug 2025 03:04AM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 1 Sat 30 Aug 2025 12:53AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 1 Sat 30 Aug 2025 01:03AM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 1 Sat 30 Aug 2025 01:31AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 1 Sat 30 Aug 2025 02:22AM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 1 Sat 30 Aug 2025 02:50PM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 1 Sun 31 Aug 2025 02:12AM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 1 Sun 31 Aug 2025 02:23AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 1 Sun 31 Aug 2025 02:32AM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 1 Mon 01 Sep 2025 05:03AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 1 Tue 02 Sep 2025 03:05AM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 1 Wed 03 Sep 2025 02:27AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 1 Wed 03 Sep 2025 02:50AM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 1 Wed 03 Sep 2025 03:39AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 1 Thu 04 Sep 2025 10:35PM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 1 Fri 05 Sep 2025 02:16AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 1 Fri 05 Sep 2025 02:17AM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 2 Sat 30 Aug 2025 07:28PM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 2 Sat 30 Aug 2025 07:35PM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 2 Sun 31 Aug 2025 01:01AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 2 Sun 31 Aug 2025 02:11AM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 2 Sun 31 Aug 2025 02:20AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 2 Sun 31 Aug 2025 02:31AM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 2 Mon 01 Sep 2025 05:00AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 2 Tue 02 Sep 2025 03:07AM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 2 Wed 03 Sep 2025 02:28AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 2 Wed 03 Sep 2025 02:52AM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 2 Wed 03 Sep 2025 11:08AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 2 Thu 04 Sep 2025 10:36PM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 3 Wed 03 Sep 2025 02:06AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 3 Wed 03 Sep 2025 02:47AM UTC
Comment Actions
Kittybearclaws on Chapter 4 Wed 03 Sep 2025 06:41PM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 4 Wed 03 Sep 2025 07:46PM UTC
Comment Actions
SomeIdiot_WithADHD on Chapter 4 Thu 04 Sep 2025 01:16AM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 4 Thu 04 Sep 2025 12:49AM UTC
Comment Actions
SomeIdiot_WithADHD on Chapter 4 Thu 04 Sep 2025 01:20AM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 4 Thu 04 Sep 2025 04:18AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 4 Thu 04 Sep 2025 02:56AM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 4 Thu 04 Sep 2025 04:20AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 4 Thu 04 Sep 2025 10:37PM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 5 Sat 06 Sep 2025 12:19PM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 5 Sun 07 Sep 2025 04:46PM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 5 Mon 08 Sep 2025 11:17AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 5 Mon 08 Sep 2025 09:42PM UTC
Comment Actions
Kittybearclaws on Chapter 6 Sun 07 Sep 2025 08:06PM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 6 Sun 07 Sep 2025 08:40PM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 6 Mon 08 Sep 2025 04:05AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 6 Mon 08 Sep 2025 08:52PM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 8 Fri 12 Sep 2025 03:41AM UTC
Comment Actions
SomeIdiot_WithADHD on Chapter 8 Fri 12 Sep 2025 03:38PM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 8 Fri 12 Sep 2025 08:38PM UTC
Comment Actions
SomeIdiot_WithADHD on Chapter 8 Fri 12 Sep 2025 09:35PM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 8 Sat 13 Sep 2025 03:04AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 8 Fri 12 Sep 2025 09:49PM UTC
Comment Actions
Dawnieangel76 on Chapter 8 Sat 13 Sep 2025 03:03AM UTC
Comment Actions
Ihavealargecat on Chapter 8 Sat 13 Sep 2025 12:46PM UTC
Comment Actions