#borrower!virgil

[dillydallydove]

Recycling an old scenery piece I made a while ago and making it sanders sides related

#sanders sides #Virgil sanders #roman sanders #fairy!roman #borrower!virgil #g/t au #tss art #sanders sides g/t #apparenlty mushrooms r super easy to draw and shade

[icycove]

Borrowers Patton and Virgil visiting their human friends! They found Logan first~ Logan’s pleased to see them again

They’re just little stick guys

Original version under the cut!!

Time taken: 2.7 hours

The top one is the experimental version where I added more color and a background! I wanted to add hair but after 41 frames I decided I’d get em next time 😆😂😃 here’s the original ‘blank’ one

Virgil didn’t want Patt going to visit the humans again alone…he’s nervous but hey it’s telling he let them go again at all. They’re growing on him, me thinks~

#Virgil’s still shy #Patton’s sheepish #I made a detailed gif in the replies btw!! X3 prrhaps I should have Made it a separate post— #sanders sides #patton sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #animated gif #thomas sanders #ts sides #ts patton #ts virgil #g/t #g/t community #sfw g/t #borrowers #animated #icy art #detail is tedious with animation huh

[delimeful]

mere monstrosity (3)

warnings: spider, mild blood & injury, remus-typical death and gore mentions, misunderstandings

-

Remus knew this place was going to be the perfect new home the moment they entered the walls.

It hadn’t looked like much from the outside, sure, but the hollow wall interior was absolutely littered with enough cobwebs and old spiderwebs to mummify a borrower.

As someone with a twin brother to torment, Remus mentally tucked that visual away for future pranks and/or lifelong trauma.

“Oh, excellent,” said the unwitting future victim in question, looking at the nails driven into the wood in a classic borrower staircase pattern. “That’ll make exploring much easier. Maybe we’ll have neighbors!”

Roman was, as always, an incurable optimist. The two of them didn’t tend to have neighbors for long. Remus couldn’t imagine why; he was a delight, and Roman was funny enough to be tolerable.

Case in point, he ran a hand along the metal lining of one of the smaller support beams and grimaced at the thick coat of dust and grime. “Perhaps not the cleanest of neighbors.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Remus replied, shooting his brother an unhinged grin before hurling his pack directly at him, knocking him clean over. “Dibs on the biggest crevice!”

“Oh, you mudstained scourge of the earth—,” Roman started, shoving the bag off himself and scrambling to his feet.

Halfway up the wall, taking the precarious nail stairway two steps at a time, Remus made one of his top five favorite obscene gestures and continued up and around the corner with glee.

The spooky aura only intensified as he scampered down the narrow pathways, shadowy corners with the barest glints of spiderweb strands tucked into every nook and cranny. No corpses yet, but one could always hope.

Roman’s voice had already faded into the distance; Remus had always been the faster between the two of them, particularly with his complete lack of regard for safety when it came to parkouring around any and all potential obstacles.

His Royal Slowpokeness would catch up eventually. How long it would take depended on how soon he remembered to ditch his own pack now that they were out of the elements.

There was a little peephole cleverly carved into a knot of this wall’s baseboard, and Remus paused to take a gander.

A fairly normal living room, to his disappointment. With any luck, the humans would still be entertaining to watch. If they weren’t, Remus wasn’t above sowing a little discord and watching the resulting fallout.

Moving on, he noticed that there were corpses cropping up now, even if they were only of the small insect variety. They didn’t seem as desiccated as the earlier webs; was there still a spider living here? A whole cluster of them, even?

Roman would have an aneurysm. Remus grinned at the idea, hauling himself up onto one of the higher support beams and peering down at the musty dark below as he skipped along it.

There probably weren’t really that many, especially since Remus hadn’t seen even a teensy tiny one yet. Not that he had to tell Roman that.

“Um,” a voice ahead of him started, “please don’t freak out.”

Now, there was a sentence that almost always preceded something interesting and/or freaky! Remus’s head snapped around with eager anticipation.

It took a moment to spot them properly— Remus had assumed the voice was coming from another borrower, and had started scanning the area at his eye level or lower, since he was on the taller side for a borrower.

As it turned out, he should have started high.

Because lurking in the shadows over the next support beam was a stranger that was a good arms’ length taller than Remus. One that had about half a dozen too many legs to be your standard borrower.

“Holy shit, it’s Spiderman!” Remus crowed, nearly vibrating with excitement.

The stranger looked like something out of an old storybook, with a mostly normal upper half stacked on top of a sizable tarantula body. They were wearing a patched up hoodie, but from what he could see, the transition from human to spider was seamless, like one of those part-horse people from the fantasy movies their last house had been so into. A spider centaur.

They didn’t seem set to charge at him like some more aggressive breeds of spiders would, expression pinched but not angry. Their front legs were lifted slightly in defensive alarm, but their human arms were also lifted, palms out, in a ‘don’t attack’ sort of gesture.

Or a preparation to attack, if they could shoot webbing from their hands like the spiderguy from the movies.

Either way, Remus strode closer, his grin widening to painful. “What are you? Do you live here? Do you eat borrowers? Are you going to dissolve my organs?”

The spidercentaur skittered back slightly, eyes going wide. This was a fairly standard response to Remus, really, but he couldn’t deny a tinge of pride at the fact that he could induce it in even spider monster creatures considerably larger than him.

“No!” he blurted, spider legs lifting higher for a moment before they regathered their wits. “I mean, no, I don’t eat people. I’m— I’m not going to hurt you.”

Sounded like there weren’t any mummified borrowers already here after all. Bummer.

“Aw, boo,” Remus said, slowing his pace slightly in hopes of making his new friend less skittish. This was one neighbor he absolutely didn’t want to scare off. “You’ve really never wanted to bite any annoying new neighbors?”

Spiderguy blinked a few times, but ultimately answered, “I don’t typically have neighbors long enough to get annoyed by them. Not ones my size, anyhow.”

If most borrowers couldn’t handle Remus, it made sense that they wouldn’t properly appreciate a horrifying spidercentaur as a wallmate, either. Wait, did that last bit imply they’d felt the urge to bite annoying humans? Oh, this was going to be so fun.

First, though, they needed to be reassured that their days of accidental terror-induced isolation were over. They’d figure out pretty quickly that Remus was harder to scrape off than chewed gum on the bottom of a shoe. Grosser, too.

“Well, you’re in luck!” he informed them, bounding forward once more with the half-formed intention of standing on his toes and attempting to sling an arm around their shoulders. “I consider myself something of a professional nuisance, so you’ll have opportunities abound to get annoyed and—!”

Spiderguy’s expression went alarmed, and they reached forward with the first syllables of a warning on their tongue, but Remus had already stepped forward and found nothing but empty air.

He toppled off the support beam with a comical screech, and felt his downward momentum stalled for the briefest moment by the unmistakable sensation of clinging spiderweb.

The angle of his descent changed, but the velocity didn’t, and he barely even registered the change before he was slamming, skull first, into something solid enough to make him see stars.

Wow, he thought in his last half-second of consciousness, it looks like I was the mummified borrower corpse all along.

—

Roman had utterly and totally lost track of his wayward twin.

This was both a common occurrence and a deeply unfortunate one.

Especially since there might be other borrowers living here. Ones that were in no way prepared to face the full impact of Remus’s unexpected presence without Roman there to soften the blow.

“Remus!” he tried to shout, but it came out as more of a wheeze as he pushed himself up the latest set of stairs. “I’m going to write you out of my will, you atrocious little abomination!”

No response. Not even the distant ruckus of Remus flinging himself over lethal falls with gleeful abandon.

They were so going to get kicked out within the day. Roman was tired of running around in the muck and dodging errant wildlife at every hour, dammit! He wanted to take a day-long nap, drink some tap-cold water, and steal cute fabrics from humans! Probably even in that order!

Huffing in frustration, he strode forward, shivering with disgust as a web strand grazed his arm.

This place was practically cloaked in them; his desperate hope that they wouldn’t have to deal with any creepy crawlies was dying a slow, agonized death the further he went.

If anyone did live here, they might be just as content with the disgusting and distressing as Remus was. The thought made him shudder. One of his brother was more than enough for the world. In fact, he’d rather deal with the spiders.

Half a foot ahead, where the hall ended, movement caught his gaze. Roman stopped dead.

A single, huge, hairy appendage was poking out from around the corner. After a moment, another joined it. And another.

Roman took it back. He took it back so hard.

Despite his sudden realization that two of Remus would be fine actually, the unmistakably arachnid legs continued to edge out in front of him, bringing with them a round thorax that was almost as big as him on its own.

Swallowing thickly, Roman reached up to silently grab the hilt of his sword. He suddenly wished he had something more versatile than his classic sewing pin saber.

The tarantula crept further into view, and Roman blanched at the sight of a very non-arachnid head and torso attached to the spider, its form slightly bent over as it slowly dragged something along with it.

Forget weird neighbors. There were actual monsters in this house.

It was only years of practice keeping his volume down even in the most heated of arguments with his brother that let him wrangle down a shriek loud enough for humans three houses over to hear.

As a result, the actual sound he produced was something like a strangled yelp, too quiet to make it past the walls, but more than enough to make the monster’s head snap around.

“Uh,” it said eloquently, and dropped what it’d been dragging around the corner. “This isn’t what it looks like?”

The odd thump of it hitting the ground finally tore his gaze away from those too-many legs, and Roman looked down to see Remus.

His brother, uncannily silent. Face slack and body unmoving. Half of him covered in thick strands of webbing.

There was blood trailing down one side of his face.

Roman wasn’t sure precisely what his face did in response to the sight, but it was telling enough to make the monster scramble back a few steps, hands raising in faux-innocence.

His former terror had transmuted into something sharper. Something far more dangerous.

“Hold on, I swear—,” it started.

Roman drew his sword, and it was smart enough to stop talking and start running.

—

Virgil was going to die from the stupidest misunderstanding imaginable.

He scrambled down the nearest set of support struts so quickly he almost tripped over his own legs, ignoring the instincts shrieking in the back of his mind that demanded he go up.

A very determined borrower could get just about anywhere a spider could climb, and if Virgil got cornered, he was screwed.

A stab from a pointed skewer like that wasn’t guaranteed to hit one of his lower organs on the first try, but the odds were uncomfortably high. It would be a slow, painful, internal-bleeding sort of death.

No, what he needed wasn’t some shadowy nook to get trapped in. He needed open space, the unsheltered kind that most wall-dwellers avoided like the plague.

Mostly because it was just as likely to get one killed as the plague. If this had happened a month ago, Virgil wouldn’t have even dreamed of a plan like this. He would have gladly taken the inevitable stabbing over rushing out into the humans’ living room, scurrying over the exposed carpet for all to see.

Especially since he knew exactly who was sitting at the desk in the corner of the room at this time of day, right on schedule.

The other borrower was still following him with the sort of intensity that suggested he wanted nothing more than Virgil’s head on a pike.

Seeing as he looked eerily similar to the borrower that Virgil had been lugging around the bloody unconscious body of, the assumption was probably pretty spot-on.

The entrance he was seeking was dead ahead, and he couldn’t help the surge of relief as he bolted through it, tearing the wallpaper a little further in the process. It felt unnatural to reveal himself so brazenly, but Virgil imagined being stabbed would feel worse.

He didn’t actually have to go all the way over to the desk, not when any borrower with sense would surely stop at the doorway, but he didn’t know what else to do, and his nerves were already too fried to feel his usual anxiety about interacting with a human.

Wait. Any borrower with sense—

Virgil twisted to check over his shoulder, and yelped at the sight of his pursuer, still right on his tail.

“Are you crazy?” he demanded, his heart pounding as he scrambled away on half-numb legs.

“Nobody tries to murder my brother and gets away with it,” the borrower shouted at him, lifting his sword higher as he charged.

Virgil flinched back, sure that he was moments away from sharp, blinding pain—

A shadow fell over them, and he opened his eyes in time to see the borrower’s expression drop into sheer terror before a wall slammed between them with a ground-shaking thump.

Virgil’s limbs curled up automatically, even as he recognized the interceding wall— an oversized hand. He followed the connected arm up, craning his neck to stare up at the face of the human looming over them.

Oh. The humans looming over them.

“Stop that immediately,” Logan commanded, his expression just as thunderous as his voice. His other hand was cupped, hovering just shy of Virgil as though entirely prepared to bodily shelter him from danger.

It should have felt dangerous, but when Virgil’s legs moved, it was to shuffle just a little further under the shadow of that protective hand.

Standing behind Logan, Janus looked Virgil over intently for a moment before sliding his narrow gaze towards the borrower.

“I’d listen,” he leaned forward over Logan’s shoulder with a sharp-edged smile that promised nothing but trouble. “Unless, of course, you’d prefer to try your luck with a more willing opponent.”

Virgil felt a sense of foreboding as he watched the situation begin to spiral entirely out of control. He’d fled the walls in the hopes that with some distance forced between them, the situation would defuse enough to explain the misunderstanding. Instead, he’d gotten his pursuer pinned under the attention of two blatantly pissed humans.

So much for good first impressions.

#sanders sides fic #sanders sides g/t #ts remus #ts roman #ts virgil #ts logan #ts janus #borrowers #mere monstrosity #mm #my writing #writing

[frezshnoodles]

cuddle time @anquietas-sys

#g/t #sfw furry #sfw g/t #borrowers #hello my name is frezshnoodles and this is my avali their name is virgil and they are bed size

[ashs-random-writing]

Time from Inside the Clock

Ao3

REBLOGS>>>>LIKES

--

Virgil woke up that morning like usual, except the human found him. He wished for the day to start over so he could live without being found. It worked, and now things would be perfect if the human would just stop finding him every day.

--

When Virgil woke up, it was with a gasp. He couldn’t remember what dream had elicited this reaction, but he was still freaked out. 

He ventured out of his bedroom, and through his tunnel system towards the large grandfather clock in the human’s house. He could get inside the clock with the tunnels, and he would rather do that to check the time than venture out into the open.

The clock was taller than even the human himself, but Virgil knew how to climb quickly. He looked at the numbers in their mirrored state, and read that it was 3:13 am

The human usually woke up at seven, so he could do a borrowing run if he wanted. He would need to that day anyway; he was running low on food, and he knew he wouldn’t get a chance for the next few days at least. He exited the clock and walked towards the kitchen.

His human was loud, loved bright colours, art, was impulsive and was just about the exact opposite of Virgil. He had painted his kitchen different shades of red, with patterns on most cabinets. Some had rainbows, some had flowers, and other patterns that were far too bright when Virgil had just woken up.

It was an old house, so a lot of walls had texture to them, and so did a lot of furniture. It was perfect for borrowing, even the tunnels were a lot more practical than the newer ones. Though, that wasn’t blaming the borrowers that built newer tunnels, it was blaming the humans that were making their walls so thin nowadays

His tunnels were amazing; one passageway even led out to the garden for quick escapes. His only problem with them was the fact that the main portion of the tunnels (like the storage rooms and bedroom) were underneath the floorboards. And, with how loud the human was, this really disrupted Virgil’s sleep. Virgil almost wished that just once he could tell the human to shut up, to walk lighter for once, to not walk like an elephant.

He knew the human wasn’t doing it on purpose, but it was still majorly annoying and gave Virgil frequent migraines. He threw his hook onto the kitchen counter, and climbed. The food that would stay good for a while was in the cabinet with the flowers, so he threw his hook again

He shoved food into his bag, and slung it back onto his shoulders. When he was climbing down, he started to hear footsteps. His heart started racing, and his thoughts ran at a mile a minute. It was nowhere near seven o’clock yet, what was he doing awake?

Virgil was still very much out in the open, and there was no way he’d be able to climb down in enough time to hide or get back into his tunnels. He clung to his string and braced himself for whatever horrors awaited him when the human inevitably saw him.

He heard the human yawn and the light flickered on. He held his breath and prayed that he wouldn’t be seen. But, he knew it was pointless. The human gasped, and suddenly he was being grabbed in hands that were too big and too tight.

He yelped. One of his arms was restrained, but the other was outside of the grip. It was very uncomfortable, and very terrifying. He struggled, trying to figure out what to do. 

“What are you? Why are you in my kitchen? What are you doing? What’s your name? Do you have a name? If not I could name you, I suppose... I’m Roman” The human trailed off, and Virgil tried to ignore his discomfort at the idea of being named

He refused to answer the human’s questions, so he didn’t give away any sensitive information that could put other borrowers in danger. He was still struggling in the grip, and the human seemed amused at that. His captor started walking towards his bedroom, likely for something to contain him (assuming Virgil’s conclusion that he wanted to keep him to be correct)

Virgil didn’t like the feeling of being moved against his will. The human deposited him onto a shelf that (unfortunately) wasn’t connected to any tunnels and was too high up for him to jump down with his hook and string still in the kitchen. He shook, watching the human rummage through boxes until he found one with high enough walls that he wouldn’t be able to escape

He tried to calm his breathing down, and tried to think of a way out. Roman was still looking for a suitable box, so he had an undetermined amount of time to think

He had left most things in the tunnels, so he didn’t even have his needle, or his spare hook, or anything but his bag. He rummaged through his bag for something, anything, that could help. Nothing. Nothing but food that he had stashed earlier. Roman was walking back to him, box in hand. Virgil panicked, and threw a cracker at the human

Roman was only momentarily puzzled, before looking back at the borrower with a more annoyed expression. Virgil’s heart raced, and his brain was screaming to run.

“That wasn’t very nice” The human was still loud. Even more loud than usual, since Virgil was actually in the same room as him for once.

Virgil could barely hear him over the blood rushing in his ears and his brain’s screaming to run, to hide, to do anything except be out in the open. Roman reached out to grab at him, and he hissed.

Roman paused, a confused expression on his face. It didn’t last long and soon, he was back in that hand that was too tight.

He didn’t think. This was the thing he’d been training his entire life to avoid, all he could do was panic. He bit down on the finger closest to him as he was moved throughout the air

Suddenly he was falling. Straight into the box. He landed at an awkward angle on his arm, and couldn’t help the scream or sobs that forced their way out. He could make out Roman’s face above the box’s opening, looking concerned

Virgil didn’t care. He grasped at the arm that he was a hundred percent sure was probably broken. He could hear Roman frantically apologising above him, but all he could think about was pain

Why did he have to be so stupid, to borrow whilst the human was still in the house? It had seemed like such a good idea at the time, but everything went wrong so quickly. Roman was reaching into the box saying something about patching him up. Virgil scrambled away from the hand, which then lingered there for a simple moment

When the hand retreated, Virgil had curled up in a corner of the box and was desperately clutching at his arm as though he could magically stop the pain

Roman had left the room, so Virgil was alone with his thoughts. He knew it was still early morning, still long before the human would usually wake up. He let his eyes slip shut for a while, waiting until the human came back in. Virgil’s eyes opened when the door did, and he listened to the human, who was on the phone with someone. Virgil froze, was Roman telling people about him?

He tried to listen to the words being said

“Please come over as soon as you can, I accidentally dropped it -them?- and I think their arm is hurt and I don’t know if they can understand me or not but I think they’re scared, just please come over” A pause as the person on the other end responded 

“Okay, thanks Logan” The call ended

Virgil thought that name over in his mind. Logan, that was one of the humans friends, right? The smart one, he was pretty sure. Virgil tried to move his arm, only to bite his tongue to stop making noise. Roman went closer to the box, looking down at Virgil with a mix of pity and concern

Virgil stared back up, and Roman started speaking again, but softer and quieter this time

“I am super sorry about your arm, little guy, I didn’t mean to drop you. I don’t know if you can understand me, but I think you’re too scared of me to let me help you, so I’ve got my friend to help, okay? He’ll be here soon” Virgil just stared blankly

A while later, the human’s friend did show up, looking annoyed at having to wake up before five am for this. Virgil winced; annoyed humans were almost as bad as angry humans

Virgil didn’t let himself be picked up. He was still panicking, still running on his fight or flight responses. Logan sighed above him, sounded even more annoyed. Even more reason to not let himself get picked up. 

He had been running from the hand, every time it attempted to grab him. The hand retracted, and Virgil collapsed onto his knees. 

He had never seen a human this close up before, and now there was two. It was... overwhelming, to say the least.

The humans were quiet above him, before a hushed whisper started between them

“I fear we may have overwhelmed them”

“What do you mean ‘we’? You’re the one who was trying to grab them over and over”

Virgil ignored them. How did humans deal with constant interaction with others? The rest of the day went by in a blur of panic, crying and pain. He had fallen asleep at some point, pure exhaustion made from the overwhelmingness of the day catching up to him. That was probably why he didn’t wake up when the humans bandaged up his arm

He felt incredibly uneasy knowing that the humans had held him whilst he was asleep. He had stared at the sling his arm was in for a solid minute, and he had felt a lump growing in his throat.

Roman hadn’t gone to work that day, instead, he chose to marvel at Virgil’s existence the entire day. Virgil just wanted to go home. Roman had given him food, which was a relief, but Virgil would still much rather be in bed, or roaming through the tunnels. Or doing literally anything except sitting in a box. He wished he could start the day over again so he wouldn’t get caught

He let out a small sob, how was it that borrowers had been so unheard of for years and years, and then Virgil had to ruin it, like an idiot.

He sat there for hours, as the humans did their things around the house. The box was ‘carefully’ moved into the living room (it didn’t feel very careful to Virgil)

Logan left the house to go back to his own, and Roman said goodnight and went to bed. It was dark again now. Virgil went to sleep.

-

When Virgil woke up, it was with a gasp. He looked around the room, his room, not a box. Was that a dream...? He usually forgot his dreams by now, but that was just as present in his memory as it would’ve been if it had happened yesterday. His arm didn’t hurt anymore, so it couldn’t have been real, right?

He started to walk towards the clock, wanting to know the time and it it was worth it to go back to sleep. When he was climbing to the top, he made himself ignore the memories from his dream. He stared at the numbers on the clock, starting to wonder what was going on

3:13.

Probably just a coincidence, but maybe he would wait for Roman to go to work to do the borrowing. Just in case. His emotions were still running high from that (dream? Vision?) so he just waited inside the clock. The hands seemed to tick at a minute per second, and everything that Virgil did made him more tense, more nervous 

About twenty minutes later, he saw the human’s silhouette pass by the clock, he heard a yawn and a light switch turning on

He shuddered, that was when he was found. The human seemed to just have come down for a drink or something. Virgil climbed down from the clock, and into the walls. He didn’t know what was happening

His first thought was that maybe he had become a psychic, and could see the future, but he hoped not. That sounded like a horrible power to have with anxiety; never knowing when you’re panicking about nothing or if it’s actually something? No thanks.

He knew the human probably wasn’t gonna wake up again until his alarm went off, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He could still remember the pain that shot up his arm and had stayed there.

He climbed his way to near where Roman’s bedroom was. The human was back to being asleep.

Virgil didn’t know what was happening, almost didn’t want to know, but he did know that he had been given a second chance at the worst day of his life, and he wasn’t going to ruin it

He climbed back down to the floorboards, and back into bed. He had double checked that he had turned off all of the lights in the tunnels, particularly the light in the most obvious entrance in the kitchen

It was a mouse-hole type entrance in the corner of the kitchen, but he had put some borrowed fairy lights in there for when he wanted to see a little bit

He waited until he heard the loud footsteps directly above him (and he was developing another migraine, great) and the front door. He waited an extra few minutes, just in case, before going towards the mouse hole. He had brought his spare hook, his needle, and some other tools. He wouldn’t be as unprepared as he had been

The food wasn’t exactly where it had been the first time, but Roman had been in the kitchen before him this time, so that was to be expected. He shoved a few crackers in his bag, and started moving towards the next cabinet. This cabinet held sweet foods, like chocolate. Most of the packets had already been opened, and the human wasn’t going to notice three or four pieces missing.

Those went in his bag too. He started climbing back down to his tunnels, but, as if by magic, the front door opened. Virgil could feel the déjà vu overwhelm him as he clung to his string once again. Hopefully, he wouldn’t break his arm this time.

He wondered how he had been managed to be found twice, on two separate occasions that would usually be safe. Roman gasped behind him. Virgil didn’t need to listen to his rambling ball of questions to know it would be the same as the first time.

This time, however the questions came before the grabbing. When he did get grabbed, it was more gentle than the half asleep Roman had managed, though now both of his arms were restrained

Roman did the same thing of taking him to a different room (though, this time it was the living room) and placing him in a high place.

Virgil waited until the human was distracted, before getting out his spare hook, and climbing down. Roman chose that moment to have found a suitable place for Virgil to be kept, and looked up

He and Virgil made eye contact and the human jumped up, and practically ran up to where the borrower was swinging

Virgil squeezed his eyes shut, and Roman’s grip (tighter than it had been either of the times Roman had found him) enveloped him

It was painful, and he let out a small noise as all of the air in his chest was forced out. The human looked angry that he was trying to escape. He was talking to Virgil, but Virgil couldn’t make himself listen to the voice that was just a little bit too loud and he tried to move in the grip that was just too tight

Roman’s grip loosened a little while later, and Virgil took a deep breath of air. He doubted the human even realised how tight he had held the borrower.

Roman was still talking, but softer, and he sounded more concerned. Virgil tried to focus on what was being said

“-re you okay? I didn’t hurt you, did I?” 

Virgil made a small noise, neither confirming or denying the human’s question

He was placed in a box (similar height to the other one, but it was smaller in width and length). Virgil assumed that it was meant to be gently.

He retreated to the corner, almost thankful that he had no broken bones. He was definitely bruised where the human’s hands had been, but he was still in one piece; that meant that Roman wouldn’t have to call any friends, right?

Roman was watching him, and Virgil was still feeling every part of his body dissolve into panic. He looked back up to the human with a look he hoped didn’t look too helpless

Roman was holding his phone over the box now, and Virgil realised just a little too late that he was taking a photo. Virgil didn’t think that he would be able to bring himself to speak at all, even if he wanted to.

Roman seemed amused by him, in fact, this was probably the longest time he’d seen the human focus on any one thing. He hated that. He looked away from the human’s gaze. Roman didn’t even seem to notice how intimidating he was, how terrifying he was to Virgil

He was about fifteen times Virgil’s size, and was a lot louder, and not as attentive to detail, and so it was easier for Virgil to get hurt in his hands than it would be if someone with more of an attention span was handling him. He’d rather have no one handling him, to be fair, but Roman wasn’t the best option

He let out a humourless laugh, just quiet enough that the human didn’t notice. What had he done to deserve this? 

It turned out that Roman had messaged the picture to a group chat of friends, who each turned up within an hour. Logan was there first, then Patton, then Janus. 

They each wanted to see him immediately. They were loud. Logan wanted to know everything he could about Virgil, though didn’t pick him up or get too close, as to not overwhelm him. He seemed more interested than he did the day before, though that could be due to the fact he wasn’t woken up in the early morning this time

Patton squealed at first, though quietened himself down after Virgil covered his ears. Patton kept rambling about how cute he was, and reaching out to pet his head and ruffle his hair. Virgil tried to run from these interactions. After the first few failed attempts, Patton seemed to get the message and didn’t touch him. 

Janus simply stared at him with that silent, questioning gaze. He was somehow more intimidating than any of them. 

There were too many people, too many humans, and he couldn’t bear it. He started crying, retreating into his corner and bringing his knees to his chest. The humans seemed concerned for him, making small comments, and speaking in hushed whispers between them all

By the time they’d all left, Virgil just wanted to sleep. He wanted to go home, he wanted to have a nap, he wanted to never see another human ever again

He fell asleep.

-

When Virgil woke up, it was with a gasp. Home again. He remembered that on the first iteration of the day he had wished to do the day over again so he wouldn’t be found, maybe all he had to do was not get found?

It turned out that that was easier said than done. He knew that the human would be home from work early, so that might disrupt his plans, but he could try borrowing in between Roman waking up the first time and the second. 

His human was a heavy sleeper most of the time, and he didn’t wake up during that time last time...

He waited until he heard the footsteps above him go into the kitchen, and he waited until they retreated. 

He borrowed the same way he had the past two times. And this time, he made it without Roman making an unexpected appearance. He restocked his storage room, and he climbed up into the walls, and into a vent and he watched the human sleep. Virgil wondered just how much the human ever thought about his actions.

Virgil leant against the vent cover with a sigh. It made a creaking noise, and suddenly opened against his weight. Virgil tripped out, luckily landing on a blanket. Unluckily, that blanket was on Roman’s bed

Roman had woken up from the noise and his eyes landed on Virgil almost immediately. A startled sound made it out of Virgil’s mouth, and he tried to run away from the giant hand.

The uneven surface of the bed made him trip almost immediately. The hand closed around him, loosely this time and Virgil’s main worry became being dropped, rather than being squeezed too tight. 

When he managed to look at Roman’s face, he abruptly realised that the human hadn’t fully woken up yet. Roman was bad enough when he was awake, but a version of him that was even less aware of his surroundings? Virgil would rather not

Roman looked at him through eyes that were still half closed.

“Are you... real?” He slurred out, and Virgil, once again stayed quiet. Roman was starting to drift off back to sleep, still holding the borrower.

Virgil hoped that once he was asleep, he could slip away unnoticed and get his appearance written off as a peculiar dream. However, the grip tightened around him, and he was brought closer to Roman’s chest, as though he was one of those soft toys he often slept close to. 

Virgil squirmed, for the first time hating that his human was a heavy sleeper. 

Roman mumbled something nonsensical above him, and Virgil squirmed even more desperately. He looked at the digital alarm clock next to the bed. 6:27. He had just over half an hour to free himself from this mess before the human woke up 

He took a deep breath, and tried freeing his arms first. The grip was too tight by the smallest margin. He resigned himself to his fate. Hopefully, the day would reset again later. 

Suddenly, he was moved through the air again, as Roman moved his hand onto the pillow and Virgil was practically squished against the giant’s face. He squirmed again, but he had no luck. He couldn’t see the alarm clock from where he was held, but he hoped Roman would wake up soon, if only to get him out of this uncomfortable situation

When the alarm went off, Roman groaned, and (luckily with the hand Virgil wasn’t in) violently hit a button on the clock. He opened his eyes drowsily, before seeing Virgil

He stared for a few moments before seeming to remember his half-asleep kidnapping. He seemed to become excited

Virgil just waited to be put down.

“What are you? Who are you? What’s your name?” He paused, as if to let Virgil answer, and when the borrower stayed silent, he carried on speaking

“Do you not have one? I can give you a name if you want, but I will have to get back to you on that. Now, where to put you...” He started looking around the room, his eyes eventually landing on the pocket on his pyjama shirt. Virgil was placed in there the same way he had seen Roman do with interesting new objects. 

He could hear Roman rummaging through things, presumably boxes.

The pocket was uncomfortable, but Virgil endured it. He was pulled out a little while later, but he was placed in the same box he was the first time

This time it had a blanket inside.

The day progressed much like the previous two.

Roman seemed more confused about his existence this time, however, and he kept asking the questions over and over. Virgil still didn’t answer.

He was picked up again about half way through the day, and Roman grabbed his arm and started moving it, as though marvelling at how small Virgil was. . Virgil held his breath and tried to take his hand away

He was placed back into the box, and Roman started to ramble to him, not really talking about anything in particular. Virgil zoned out.

He went to sleep after that.

-

When Virgil woke up, it was with a gasp. This was the twentieth loop.

He was getting sick of the same things over and over. No matter what he did, Roman would find him.

So far, Virgil had been found by:

-Borrowing at 3 am

-Falling out of a vent

-Borrowing when the human was at work

-Staying inside the clock (Roman seemed to decide he wanted to know how it worked, very spontaneously)

-He went into the garden, only for Roman to decide a bit of spontaneous gardening

-He tripped over and fell out of a different vent

-and many more stupid ways that he was found.

The universe was obviously messing with him. What were the odds that every time he dodged previous findings, he was found in an increasingly stupid way?

He had sustained injuries from a few timelines. Namely, breaking his arm the first time, a lot of bruises from Roman holding him too tight, he broke his leg after falling out of the second vent, he gained a large cut on his arm from a rose thorn when Roman found him in the garden

He had hurt his foot trying to run in one of the timelines.

It was decided. The universe simply hated him. 

He would have stayed in bed all day, and stayed unfound that way, however, it was no good to escape a time loop if it meant he’d starve to death because he didn’t get food when he had even a small chance. Besides, with his luck, Roman would probably start taking the floorboards for impulsive art or something

Virgil groaned, hearing the human walk loudly above him. He wanted to tell him to shut up. Wait. He was in a time loop, there were no long-lasting consequences and Roman would probably find him anyway. He could take maybe a day’s break off of trying to escape the loop...

He got out of bed and climbed through the tunnels until he got to the kitchen. He glared at the human, who was suddenly staring at him

“What-” 

Virgil cut off his line of questioning that he had heard all too many times

“Hello. I know what you’re going to ask, so... I’m Virgil,” He smiled in a way that he hoped conveyed that he wasn’t happy to be meeting the human “I’m here just to ask you, if, for once in your life, you could walk quietly? You really disrupt my sleep when you walk as though you weigh as much as an elephant” He crossed his arms 

Roman’s shocked expression quickly changed to one of offense. 

“I don’t walk that loudly, how dare you? Besides, why are you even in my house? It’s,” He checked the time on his phone “It’s three thirty in the morning, aka far too early to be arguing with a probably imaginary tiny person in my kitchen” 

Virgil rolled his eyes “Oh yeah, real mature. Calling me imaginary rather than admitting that you are incredibly loud at everything you do”

The argument lasted a little while longer, and Virgil figured out how freeing it felt to finally voice all of his complaints. Roman surprisingly didn’t pick him up at all

Even when he tried, he, very surprisingly, listened when Virgil told him not to. Eventually, Roman went back to bed, and Virgil got his food and went back to his house

He was unsure whether Roman thought him to be dream or not after he woke up, but he did notice that he was walking quieter. That day was strange, but Virgil would probably do it again at some point if he had the chance

He got into bed

-

When Virgil woke up, it was with a gasp. By now, it was the thirtieth loop, at least. Something that Virgil had found out in the last few was that the loops went smoother and with less injuries and less migraines if he talked.

Roman even let him go in a few, even listened when Virgil asked to be kept secret. Virgil would never admit so to another borrower, but he would probably claim Roman as one of the few good humans.

Today, he had to keep away from Roman at all costs, he wanted to break the loop. 

First, he waited for the human to get up and back to bed, then he had to do a borrowing run, and then he had to go to the clock, because when Roman got home from work in the timeline that Virgil was awake under the floorboards, he started hearing noise under there and decided to check it out, and then he had to leave the clock before Roman decided he needed to know what was inside.

Then, he had to watch the human’s gardening to make sure he had the right timeframe to get something from his bedroom (he needed some paperclips)

Once he had the paperclips, he waited for Roman to start making food, and walked towards the living room’s tunnels and into the room-

Caught. Again, because why wouldn’t he be?

Roman reached out to grab him, but Virgil moved backwards slightly

“Don’t touch me,” He snapped, causing the hand to falter mid-air. 

Roman looked down at him, with an almost confused expression

“Why not?” He asked

Virgil rolled his eyes and started listing reasons

“You’re big, clumsy, you break things all the time, you’ll probably accidentally hurt me..” 

Roman seemed upset, in a way, but did respect Virgil’s space

“What’s your name?”

Virgil looked up at the human and mentally debated telling him his name. It had gone fine in the other timelines, but he was getting attached to the human. He said his name after a while of silence, Roman said his as well

He let out a soft smile.

Roman sat on the floor and just stared at him. Virgil sat down as well. It was almost the end of the day, it would reset soon.

“What are you? Are you some kind of fairy?” Roman asked quietly

Virgil snorted “Nope, nothing magical about me I’m afraid. As for what I am, if you find me again tomorrow, I might tell you,” 

He knew that this wouldn’t be the end of the loop. Roman wouldn’t remember that promise, but Virgil would. And if the next loop wasn’t the end, then he’d tell Roman then (did tomorrow count as tomorrow if tomorrow was today again?)

Soon, they both went back to their respective bedrooms and fell asleep

-

When Virgil woke up, it was with a gasp. Loop 62. Virgil would’ve liked to say that he was the same as how he was when the loops started, and that he wasn’t getting increasingly attached to the dangerous human, but that would ultimately be a lie.

True to his word, he did tell Roman he was a borrower in loop 31. 

Virgil had only got caught at the very end of the day yesterday, so he figured he could probably figure out how to avoid the human for the entire day this time.

He waited for the footsteps to go into and out of the kitchen, and  he borrowed his necessities. He walked to the clock, and hung out there for a while. The first part of the avoidance was like second nature to him now

He left the clock after a while, retreating to the walls to watch Roman take apart the clock. Once Roman got bored with that, he went out to the garden. Virgil watched for a moment, before going to get paper clips. Roman started making food, Virgil waited for him to finish doing that, and stayed in the wall.

After a while, Roman started playing games on his computer. Virgil had gotten caught last time when he wanted a slightly closer look at the game (it was just a bunch of blocks?)

He stayed in the wall. Roman would be playing for hours, Virgil had only been caught at eleven o’clock in the evening, and Roman only noticed him as he was going to bed, so Virgil just had to stay in the walls until Roman went to sleep, right?

He watched the human on his block game for awhile, and then went to his house. He lied in his bed with his thoughts. 

He had tried to stay awake in other loops, but he always fell asleep before midnight, like magic. He would wait for himself to either fall asleep or the clock to chime midnight

If the loop didn’t break this time, he didn’t know what he’d do. He’d evaded the human, he’d done what he needed, and if he was stuck waking up to the same day over and over, he wouldn’t let himself do anything

The clock chimed. He smiled. He went to sleep.

-

When Virgil woke up, it was to the sound of the human making breakfast. Virgil grinned, an uncharacteristic expression on his face. It was a new day. 

Every time he went borrowing after that, he wondered just why that day was so hard to evade the human; he had been doing it for twenty years with no problems. He wondered why he wanted to be found again

He wondered why he missed talking to someone, or even just being close enough to someone to touch their face. He even missed being held, somewhat. It occurred to him that this was the only contact he had had with another person in years. 

For the next few weeks, he was reckless in his borrowing. So what if he ‘accidentally’ left his hook on he kitchen counter, he had a spare, it didn’t matter. So what if he left a light on? The human probably wouldn’t notice...

He would never admit that he did these things on purpose, because he was doing things that shouldn’t be done. He shouldn’t let himself forget anything, but maybe, just maybe, he wanted Roman to find him. 

Maybe, they could be friends? He hoped so.

---

Taglist: @a-chilly-pepper​

#Time loop #time loops #time travel #time magic #borrowers #borrower virgil #human roman #sanders side fic #roman sanders #giant roman #sanders sides story #sanders sides fic #sanders sides gt #sanders sides #sanders sides au #virgil sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #Janus Sanders

[idyllphile]

Roman and Virgil co-wrote this song you can't convince me otherwise

#Sanders Sides #Roman Sanders #Virgil Sanders #Roman: hey Anxiety Thomas wants to write an 'I'm-mad-at-my-parents' song can I borrow your PG-13 music for inspiration #Virgil: *eyes glowing with emo power* I'll do you one better #sparksposts

[ax3-e0ns]

Had a really neat Idea for borrower Virgil, where he actively fights off any bugs trying to infest the home he’s in.

my favorite detail is the black widow butt pack.

#Sanders Sides #Virgil Sanders #my art #my artwork #borrower au

[general-gt]

G/tober Day 6- Jars

Warnings: Mild dehumanising behaviour. Let me know if I missed any

A continuation of day 3’s ‘Overgrown’ prompt, featuring sassy Virgil. The prompt comes from @aaytaro-gt’s prompt list.

When Virgil came to, he’d expected to be in his bed with afternoon light streaming through the window.

So why, when he looked around after his abrupt awakening, was he faced with a human?

It instantly set off every alarm bell in his mind and he yelped, wings fluttering in preparation to dart past the human. He didn’t get the chance when the lid of the box he was trapped in was slammed shut.

Virgil was then jostled around as the human, presumably, started moving.

After a long few minutes of being tossed from wall to wall inside his prison, he finally settled at the bottom as the box was set down upright. The lid opened and while Virgil was blinded by the sudden onslaught of light, a shadow fell over him and the human snatched him up.

The grip was like that of a scientist, firm in keeping his wings pinned as well as his arms. A thumb was wedged under his chin as if Virgil was going to bite like some animal.

He was dumped into a glass container, barely avoiding landing on his wings. Scrambling to his feet, he swayed unsteadily as the human lifted the oddly shaped bottle to his face, distorted through the glass. He briefly debated if it was worth a bent wing to try and fly out before he squashed the idea.

“What are you?” he asked and Virgil hissed in response, bearing his teeth in an obvious threat. While he could instinctually understand any human language, the warped form of English coming from the human was unusual to him. How long had he been locked away?

“There’s hardly need for that.” The human said and Virgil couldn’t feel more patronised if he tried. Being stuck in a human’s presence was more than enough reason to be angry. It was easier to be angry than scared.

“Maybe when you summon the manners to have a civil conversation without trapping the other involved, I’ll have the respect to treat you civilly in return,” Virgil spat, wings flaring in indignation. The audacity to expect civility when the human had been such a terrible host was laughable.

Surprisingly, a bashful expression came over the man’s face and he looked chastised at Virgil’s words. “Ah, apologies, I wasn’t quite sure how to go about this. I’ve never seen one of your species before: what are you?” he asked and Virgil furrowed his brow.

“The question should be what my name is, but since you seem to be skipping pleasantries, I’ll start. Who are you?” Virgil leaned back against the glass, aiming for an air of casualness while his hands fidgeted with the fabric of his tunic. So far he was fine, nothing had been done to him.

Red crept across the man’s face and again he averted his eyes, “My name’s Logan.” He mumbled, “And you are?”

“Virgil,” he introduced curtly. “Are you going to let me out or continue gaping?”

——

Yes, there is a reason Virgil speaks so formally. In this, he would’ve been a prince and begrudgingly he would’ve learned the proper manner.

#g/t #giant/tiny #g/tober #sanders sides g/t #borrower au #giant logan sanders #tiny virgil sanders #jars

[geekygeckogeeks]

Just thought of a fun prompt that I’ll probably develop After I finish my homework.

Sorry just trying to remind myself because I keep getting distracted.

Virgil recently discovered something in Logan’s room.

A network of practically un breakable locks lay on his door, he always assumed he was just nervous about intruders.

But on closer examination it could only be opened from the outside.

I promise I’ll work on it soon. As It looks like fun!

#logan sanders #sanders side fic #sanders sides #virgil sanders #logan sanders angst #feel free to borrow the prompt if you want to! #sanders side prompts

[sixoclockuty]

God ok I love the Starlo red giant star thing I need need NEED to know how the heck the people of the Wild East would react to the whole thing. Like, the obscure ones who aren't main characters but do know Star, like Virgil or Blackjack or Dina or something. Because they interact with Star semi-regularly I think and its nice and all to see the reactions of the ones closest to him, but everyone else? God thats just super interesting to me

Oh this is longer than I thought. Whatever thats fine.

EEEP i love talking about this tysm for asking about it. i’ll do the ones you specifically asked about

virgil isn’t exactly filling his role out anymore considering the sheriff who he was playing the villain against is. like that. but i think he pretty regularly if kinda awkwardly checks up on him, and i think star likes to talk about what he would’ve liked to do if it wouldn’t risk his health or anything. stuff he would’ve liked to do yk?? virgil feels kinda bad about it bc he frets that he may have egged him on a bit too much by playing into a lot of his antics. it sucks. it’s not a good situation for anybody. but starlo talks abt it to distract himself mostly although it ends up getting back to the fact that they can’t do that bc it’s too risky. so that kinda sucks.

blackjack is much more willing to let the guy into his shop now which is great and all. he’s not ENTIRELY thrilled seeing starlo so unusually quiet but hey!! now he can help with making stuff bc he can heat things up!! uh he DOES still ‘borrow’ stuff from him tho to give to his posse as a thank you of sorts. blackjack doesn’t appreciate that part but since he helps him make stuff now he only charges him 3/4 the price or something LMAOOO.

dina is. NOT happy. at all. because north star is different and he’s definitely not happy about it either. i think he had to fight tooth and nail jsut to get a drink one time after it happened because she was worried it would make things worse. and it might. but he gets some some times if he asks enough or something. but yeah dina is worried about him and if he doesn’t show up she goes and actively seeks him out. she’ll still entertain his little antics, albeit on a much smaller scale, but she’s definitely jsut. augh. ouch. a lot of things keep falling apart with the entire gang and she’s just trying to make it through

#asks #red giant starlo au #undertale #undertale yellow #art #my art #digital art #starlo #starlo uty #uty starlo #blackjack is the least upset about this. but he’s still unhappy with it #i forgot the lil scribble thing i use to indicate his nose kinda on the virgil one dawg it’s over #oh yeah #vengeful virgil #dina uty #uty dina #blackjack uty #uty blackjack

[dillydallydove]

I missed drawing these guys

#sanders sides #g/t au #virgil sanders #roman sanders #prinxiety #platonic prinxiety #borrower!virgil #fairy!roman #I adore brotherly prinxiety in this au #100% would fight eachother unprompted #100% would literally die for eachother

[sleepyvirgilprompts]

Logan: You seem tired, Anxiety.

Virgil: No shit, Sherlock... not that it’s any of your business.

Logan: You should rest.

Virgil: *snorts* Yeah, easier said than done.

Logan: Would you like some help?

Virgil: What?

Logan: I have a white noise machine that I find very helpful, you could borrow it. Or there are several podcasts made to be listened to while falling asleep, or some people find it easier to fall asleep with music. Also, it has been found that weighted blankets can be helpful for soothing anxiety. If you don’t have one already, you may want to try sleeping with one to see if it helps. Also...

Virgil, eyes brimming: Wait-- wait you’re being nice-- is that allowed--

#sanders sides #virgil sanders #ts virgil #sanders sides prompts #fanfiction prompt #logan sanders #ts logan #pre accepting anxiety

[delimeful]

taking the fall (5)

warnings: mentions of starvation/hunger, fear, food

-

Virgil sat blankly at the edge of the folded up washcloth, watching as the human in front of him wandered back and forth in the kitchen, attending several different simmering pots and cutting boards with ease, as though he had two more sets of arms.

He hadn’t been restrained or put under a cup or anything, probably because his leg was demonstrably bad off enough to prevent any realistic escape attempts. Janus had glanced over several times between cooking anyhow, which Virgil hated immensely.

Each check-in was met with the most loathsome glare Virgil could muster while still looking like a half-drowned raccoon. Even so, he couldn’t help but huddle down further every time the human’s gaze flicked over to him.

Being a wild borrower came with certain tidbits of knowledge. One of them was this: If a human spotted you, you were screwed. Outside, there weren’t any convenient walls to escape to, only the easily-uprooted nooks and crannies amidst the trees and brush.

When hunting a curiosity down, humans were far more willing to destroy nature than their own homes.

All that to say, the primal hindbrain that had kept him alive many a time in the wilderness was now floundering, shrieking, and leaving him on the brink of shutting down entirely.

He didn’t even know why he was out here. The human had said something about food, but that didn’t make any sense. The guy was definitely satisfied with the answer Virgil had given, a pleased curl to his mouth lingering even now, but he’d also had to pry even that much out of Virgil through a combination of bartering and distraction. Janus had to know that Virgil wouldn’t agree to another deal like that, not even if it was for medical aid.

He had given away all he was going to give— in truth, it was all the real information he had; he didn’t know where the others lived. Roman had come to him, not the other way around— and there was no point in keeping him around any longer.

Virgil checked that the door to the room with the snake terrariums was closed for a fourth time, a shiver working its way through him.

“There we are.”

The words were accompanied with a subtle clink of ceramic, and when Virgil whipped his head back around with a start, it was to the human setting a plate only a few inches from him.

He huddled down further, mimicking the low hiss of an agitated tarantula and only getting another one of those amused looks in response.

“The hunger strike ends now,” Janus told him with a mocking sort of firmness, and then paused to glance between him and the dish for a moment. “Hm.”

Virgil glanced in the same direction and actually noted what was on the plate this time.

It was some kind of pasta, he was pretty sure. The shapes were pretty distinct, though he’d only ever seen them in their hard, shell-like form. Some inside borrowers used the larger kinds as temporary bowls or containers, or as building materials for areas that weren’t liable to become damp.

They got soggy when exposed to liquid, a flaw which meant that Virgil had never traded for any. Nut shells were far more abundant and effective.

Apparently, though, the sogginess was by design, because the folded shapes in front of him didn’t seem rigid at all. They were saturated with a thick sauce, and the plate was dotted with colorful bits of what he thought were probably vegetables.

They also smelled really good. If this was a new method of psychological torment on Janus’s end, bringing him just close enough to food for him to remember how hungry he was, well… it was going to suck.

“I suppose that won’t work, will it,” Janus mused.

He lifted the dish back up an inch, and even though Virgil had been expecting it, tried to prepare for it, he couldn’t help the way his body twitched forwards just slightly.

Stupid. What did he even think he was going to do? Play tug of war with a human?

He bit down on his tongue to stem any potential noises of protest that wanted to escape, furious with himself, but Janus’s keen gaze had already caught on him.

“Hm.” He set the dish back down the few inches he’d lifted it, expression edged with thoughtfulness, and Virgil braced himself for another deal, a game, something that the human thought he could use to wrest more details from him.

Instead, Janus turned on his heel and returned to his former position to rifle through the cabinets, leaving Virgil unattended and the food directly within his reach.

Oh, that was a trap if he’d ever seen one. The moment he reached out for a morsel, the human would whip around and execute some sort of gleeful retribution.

Virgil stared at the plate miserably, wishing it was further away so he could at least use the pain of moving as a mental deterrent. At this distance, he could just reach out and… No, no, he wasn’t falling for it.

He glanced at Janus, who had shifted from the upper cabinets and now appeared to be sticking his head and both arms in one of the lower ones, accompanied by the sound of objects shifting around obnoxiously.

The pasta was obviously out of the question; it would take him too much time to figure out how to eat it, let alone actually finish a piece.

But the vegetable bits…

Almost without his conscious input, his hand swiped out and snatched one of the smaller green pieces, his eyes switching to lock on Janus the moment he had it in hand.

Still in the clear.

Knowing that could change any moment, he wasted no time in shoving the vegetable in his mouth as quickly as possible, his heart racing.

“Here it is,” Janus said triumphantly, withdrawing from the cabinet with something in his hand.

Too soon! Virgil froze in place, ice slipping down his spine.

The human turned back to Virgil, and paused.

—

Janus had to work to keep his face neutral, his lip twitching.

Even as small as he was, there was no way to miss the way his guest’s cheeks were pouched out, bearing an uncanny resemblance to a squirrel.

The pale-faced stare of guilt he was receiving was significantly less funny. He had told Virgil the food was intended for him in passing, but it seemed the message had been lost somewhere between panic attacks and interrogations.

Well. When he put it like that, perhaps he should’ve seen this coming.

Janus debated trying to convince the little guy that he had no intention of punishing the ‘theft’, recalled just how suspicious Virgil had been of Janus offering basic first aid, and decided it was better to just pretend he hadn’t noticed.

“Many thanks for your patience,” he announced with only the slightest trace of sarcasm, and set his findings down on the table with a flourish.

A soy sauce dish and a few toothpicks weren’t the customary tools for fine dining, but they were the best he had on hand.

Virgil stared between them and Janus with enough apprehension that one would think he’d brought a tray of neurosurgery tools over instead.

Resisting the urge to sigh— if he'd known Virgil was so twitchy upon first meeting him, he might not have been so heavy-handed with the ominous threatening behavior— Janus used his own spoon to scoop up a generous serving of the pasta and poured it into the sauce dish, stabbing a toothpick through the thicker part of a noodle before sliding the dish over to his guest.

“Go slow, or you’ll throw up,” he told Virgil, though frankly he had no idea if that rule held true for tiny people. Perhaps they had developed evolutionary advantages against starving, since they relied on scavenging?

Janus pondered on the matter for a long moment, casting his gaze elsewhere and ignoring the frantic chewing of his captive.

Of course, once Virgil had finished his pilfered appetizer, he proceeded to eye the dish as though it was a coiled-up rattlesnake, rather than an entirely benevolent gesture on Janus's part. It was pasta, it wasn't going to bite him.

Now that he thought about it, Virgil likely wasn't familiar with farfalle pasta. Janus couldn’t imagine these little people had enough scavenged scraps to put together a miniature electrical stove, after all. Particularly not if Virgil wasn’t even from this apartment, as he claimed.

...Unless they were lighting tiny fires in the apartment walls?

Janus shook his head, dragging his attention back on track. It seemed unlikely Virgil would verbalize the source of his confusion, having faded back into that silent reticence the moment they walked into the kitchen. Janus wasn’t willing to guess either, not when it could be misconstrued as another interrogation.

“Eat,” he told him, settling on a simple instruction, “or feel free to waste away on my counter, it’s not like I care.”

Deciding to follow his own advice, he then picked up the plate and moved over to the counter before taking a bite. Thus, he proved it wasn’t poisoned or drugged, and gave Virgil enough space to eat without feeling loomed over.

Janus sighed. It had been considerably easier to play the villain. Now, every action had to be thought over from three different angles before execution, or he’d accidentally drive the little creature's soul right out of his body from stress. It was almost like chess, except he was attempting not to corner his opponent.

It took enough time that he wondered if Virgil wasn’t running his own complex mental calculations, but eventually he saw a tiny hand reach forwards and grasp the toothpick, figuring out how to use it as a makeshift kabob stick with characteristic resourcefulness.

Virgil kept an eye on Janus the entire time, as if expecting the rug to be yanked out from under him at any moment, and Janus was careful to pretend like he wasn’t paying him a lick of attention.

That didn't mean he wasn't still watching, though. If he'd thought the stuffed-cheeks look from before was amusing, the expression Virgil made upon biting into the pasta was hilarious.

Janus allowed his lips to curl up into a more-smug-than-usual expression. His cooking was one of his finest skills, one he didn’t get to show off frequently, and it was clearly blowing the mind of his guest.

Virgil ate quickly enough that Janus hoped his earlier estimation was correct, not wanting to deal with vomit or the potential damage refeeding syndrome could do to that tiny digestive system.

Predictably, he didn’t manage to make a dent in his serving, though if Janus measured it to scale, it was still a rather shocking amount of food to pack away, especially on a shrunken stomach. Another survival adaptation?

“Finished?” he asked when Virgil’s movements slowed, and frowned at the way his tiny spine stiffened with panic.

He had eaten plenty. Why would he be so concerned about the meal ending—?

Ah.

“I’ll leave the remainder of it with you for the evening,” he said casually. “I wouldn’t want to wake in the middle of the night to find that you wasted away without my delightful cooking.”

There it was, a distinct relaxing of shoulders.

Lips thinning, Janus abruptly decided he didn’t particularly want to reflect on his captive’s food insecurity issues and how the past three days may have just worsened them.

Instead, he reached down and curled his hand around Virgil, keeping his grip significantly gentler than he’d bothered with before. Only because he didn’t want to risk jostling the little creature into nausea, of course.

Virgil curled up into a tense little ball regardless, the sight making something in the pit of Janus’s stomach squeeze oddly, but didn’t bother protesting. Thankfully, he no longer had anything sharp to try and stab Janus with.

Picking the dish up with his other hand, Janus returned to the old terrarium, settling the dish down first and then the tiny form down next to it.

After a moment’s hesitation, he dragged the bundle of plastic greenery closer so that it shielded his guest from view unless one was standing right next to the tank. And then draped his handkerchief on the tank bottom within reach, for good measure.

Virgil was watching him with a strange expression, and Janus cleared his throat shortly before withdrawing and turning away without another word.

If he was going to be cooking more frequently, he should go check the fridge to see how stocked it was. And perhaps see what non-perishables he could leave in the enclosure long-term. If he got creative, a makeshift bed for better rest could probably be arranged as well.

All in the self-interest of keeping his unwilling informant alive, of course.

#sanders sides fic #ts janus #ts virgil #ttf #taking the fall #writing #my writing #g/t #borrowers

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

A Budding Romance

Hey!!! I just reread one of your fics- I forgot the name but it's the one where Janus could hear the narration, I really enjoyed that and was wondering if you'd be willing to write something similar with another self-aware side? – anon

Read on Ao3

Warnings: none!

Pairings: intrulogical

Word Count: 1237

Roman has a pleasant morning observing his two favorite nerds flirting with each other.

It starts as simply as it could, perhaps: in the living room, with a handful of the Sides spread around the couch, the floor, and the chairs. Logan and Virgil sit at opposite ends of the couch, Remus sprawled at their feet.

“Bit exposition-heavy for an opening, isn’t it?”

“Huh?” Virgil pulls off one of his headphones. “Did you say something Princey?”

Roman looks up from his notebook and shakes his head. “Just talking about narrative development, my dear Emo, don’t mind me.”

Virgil looks at him suspiciously for another moment before going back to his phone. Roman glances around to make sure no one else is suspiciously eyeing him before looking back down at his notebook.

“You know, when you say it like that, it makes it sound far worse than it actually is.”

Thankfully, for his sake, Remus doesn’t perk his head up at the sound of making things worse than they are.

Roman rolls his eyes and goes back to scratching words along the page with a pen that really needs to be replaced, he has to reactivate it every other word.

“It’s a perfectly serviceable pen, you’re just jealous.”

“You know,” Remus remarks, not looking up from his assortment of gears and pipe cleaners, “if you want to borrow a viscera quill—“

“I do not, in fact, but thank you so much for the offer.”

Remus snickers. Logan looks up from his own notes, raising an eyebrow. “You have a viscera quill?”

Roman groans silently as Remus’s grin widens. “Oh, Lolo, I thought you’d never ask.”

“Now he’s done it,” Roman mumbles under his breath as Remus starts to go on and on about how he developed a quill that writes using the effluvia of various creatures— “wait, wait, wait, what the hell does ‘effluvia’ mean?”

Remus pauses in his tirade long enough for Logan to look over. “It’s bodily fluids.”

“Like shit and piss!”

“…technically, I don’t believe fecal matter counts as a ‘fluid,’ but…yes, among others. Saliva, blood, mucus, any sort of…”

“Body juice!”

“So why not just say bodily fluids?”

“It doesn’t sound gross enough,” Remus pouts, to which Logan only looks…mildly bemused about, “but wait, why are you asking about it?”

“Neither of us said it.”

“Came up in a story,” Roman says easily, which is technically not a lie so Janus doesn’t show up, “don’t mind me.”

Remus gives him one more strange look before going back to what he was talking about. Roman just settles further into the chair, a small smile blooming on his face as he watches the two of them talk. Logan’s grip on his notebook is slowly relaxing. Remus has all but abandoned the pile of scraps in favor of sitting up properly. Even Virgil glances at the two of them, does a double-take, and looks over at Roman, eyes wide.

Roman just shrugs with a very ‘what can you do?’ smile and keeps watching. Remus’s back is almost fully to him now, but he can see the way his shoulders rise and fall that his face must be as animated as ever.

”This is good for them,” Roman mumbles, “they’ve not gotten enough chances to be weird about the same thing.”

This is true: more often than not, when it comes to matters of discussion, the two of them are on opposing sides of the argument. Logan, as the steadfast voice of reason, which is something he doesn’t get nearly enough credit for—

Roman snorts.

—is often quite directly responsible for reining in Remus’s more…let’s say, ‘unorthodox’ suggestions.

”Nothing Remus does could be considered orthodox, that is true.”

“Aw, thanks, Roro.”

Logan chuckles, still looking at Remus with that softly fond look he denies having every single time one of them notices it. When Remus is done making sickeningly sappy faces at Roman, he turns back and fully freezes mid-word at the sight of it.

“I-uh—“

“Go on,” Logan says quietly, “I was enjoying that.”

“Uh—um—well, uh, I think that the, um—“

“Watch his ears,” Roman whispers, “they’ll start to go red.”

Sure enough, the very tips of Remus’s ears go pink, then a bright red, then a deeper red as he continues to stumble over his words. Roman leans to the side, hand over his face to cover his own snickering mouth. Logan just waits patiently, letting Remus try and get himself together, before taking pity on him and lightly prompting the last thought he’d been sharing. Remus takes the out and starts describing…whatever it was that they were talking about.

“Wow, way to keep a hold of the plot.”

But as becomes abundantly clear, the specifics of their conversation don’t matter. Rather, it’s the way Logan keeps straying his hand toward his notebook every so often, just to write down one little thing, before returning his full focus to Remus. It’s the way Remus will get caught off-guard by Logan’s expression and have to look away to refocus himself. And it’s the way that neither of them have noticed that Roman and Virgil have given up all pretenses of minding their own business and are now openly staring at the two of them.

They catch each other’s eyes and have a wordless conversation of their own, before Virgil shakes his head and sinks out. A second later, a text appears on Roman’s phone saying keep me updated.

Now, whether or not they ever decide to let Remus and Logan know they have a group chat devoted to the cute things the two of them do remains to be seen, but this is definitely a prime opportunity for sneaking an adorable picture of the two of them.

“Ooh, great idea.” Roman sneaks a shot of Logan smiling softly at a blushy Remus. “That’s a keeper.”

Within the bounds of Roman’s role as a Side, he so rarely gets to enjoy the softer aspects of his responsibilities. The majority of his time is taken up by being Creativity, which is of course his main role, but the glamor of it faded long ago. ‘Creativity’ is more drafting, redrafting, the grind of editing, than it is the actual performance of the results. And, of course, there are the parts of it that rasp a little too harshly against the more sensitive parts of oneself. To create is to be vulnerable, and that only gets so much easier.

Passion helps, of course, but passion is as fickle as candle flame if not properly nurtured. Passion, Romance, Ego, tragedy walks in their footsteps as easily as breathing. It speaks more toward the intensity of the emotions and experiences rather than the positivity or negativity. And for Roman, who lives and breathes as the embodiment of it, it can be difficult to catch his breath.

But of course, there are moments of softness. Like this one, where the two of them are sitting in their own little world and talking about nothing at all. The pleasant lightness of it all floats through the air, sweet as a summer breeze. So Roman can soak in it, for just a little while, as these moments grow few and far between.

“And whose fault is that?”

General Taglist: @frxgprince@potereregina@gattonero17@iamhereforthegayshit@thefingergunsgirl@awkwardandanxiousfander@creative-lampd-liberties@djpurple3@winterswrandomness@sanders-sides-uncorrect-quotes@iminyourfandom@bullet-tothefeels@full-of-roman-angst-trash  @ask-elsalvador @ramdomthingsfrommymind@demoniccheese83@pattonsandershugs @el-does-photography @princeanxious@firefinch-ember@fandomssaremysoul@im-an-anxious-wreck@crazy-multifandomfangirl @punk-academian-witch@enby-ralsei@unicornssunflowersandstuff@wildhorsewolf @thetruthaboutthesun @stubbornness-and-spite @princedarkandstormv  @your-local-fookin-deadmeme @angels-and-dreams@averykedavra @a-ghostlight-for-roman @treasurechestininterweb @cricketanne @queerly-fluid-fan @compactdiscdraws@cecil-but-gayer@i-am-overly-complicated@annytheseal@alias290@tranquil-space-ninja @arxticandy @mychemically-imbalanced-romance@whyiask@crows-ace @emilythezeldafan@frida0043 @ieatspinalcords @snowyfires@cyanide-violence@oonagh2@xxpanic-at-the-everywherexx@rabbitsartcorner @percy-07734@triflingassailantofmyemotions @virgil-sanders-the-gay-emo@cerulean-watermelon@puffed-up-bees@meltheromanstan@joyrose-fandomer@insanitori@mavenmush@justablah65@10paradox10@uhhh-hi-there-i-am-nervous@cutebisexualmess@bella-bugatti-frogetti-baguetti@ultrageekygirl

#dragonbabbles #fic #sanders sides #roman sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #remus sanders #sympathetic remus

[ashs-random-writing]

The Problem With Cameras

~~~~~

Roman didn't know much about human technology. In fact, up until about a month ago, he was an outside living borrower. When the weather shifted to the worst it got in that area, he couldn’t find any suitable shelter barring the human house that resided in the midst of hundreds, maybe even thousands of trees.

Aka, Roman makes a dumb mistake because he doesn't know what cameras are

~~~~~~

Roman didn’t know much about human technology. In fact, up until about a month ago, he was an outside living borrower. When the weather shifted to the worst it got in that area, he couldn’t find any suitable shelter barring the human house that resided in the midst of hundreds, maybe even thousands of trees.

Reluctantly, he searched for a potential entrance, which he luckily found in under five minutes, before entering the walls. He loved the warmth of the house, and quickly started learning the layout of the tunnels, and silently thanking the air that borrowers had evidently lived here before.

He had learned some things from other borrowers, during his travels. Mostly families that were moving from one set of walls to another, and while adults were giving warnings about if he was to ever live in a house, Roman was entertaining children with stories, both of his life and those of dragons and princes. He would offer the families extra supplies and shelter from wherever he lived when he met them.

Nothing could beat the thrill of telling someone stories, or reading things aloud or giving your opinion, even if it was to no one, perhaps to yourself even. So when he heard the human start to talk when no one else was in the house, he couldn’t help but watch.

Perhaps the human was a storyteller and was practicing for when he would show other humans’? The borrower sat on a shelf that was out of the human’s sight, and listened to the human speak. The human was looking into a weird device, and seemingly just talking to it, as if it were multiple people, all but solidifying the idea that he were practicing for something.

The things the human were talking about confused him, however. Half of what was being said sounded like gibberish but Roman supposed that it must make sense to the human, even if he, himself, could not understand what he was talking about.

Roman actually found it all quite intriguing, in the four weeks of secretly living the human, he’d only been left alone in the house a total of twice, when the human left to buy food. So if the human rarely left the house, what was he practicing for? Roman didn’t know, honestly, but he really didn’t know much about humans.

After a while of watching the human, he retreated back into the walls

-

Virgil posted his new Youtube video, and sighed, preparing for random hate comments, or people trying to get famous by claiming they know him. He went to go make food whilst waiting for his subscribers to watch the video. He wasn’t expecting to see all the comments complimenting him on the editing of something he didn’t add.

He re-watched the video, this time focusing on the spot the comments were pointing out, aka the top shelf of his bookshelf, where apparently a tiny person would appear about five minutes in. His breath hitched in a gasp when he saw it, sat there just watching him. That was kind of weird, he thought

Why wasn’t he aware of the tiny person living in his house? He watched until the tiny person left, and Virgil noticed the tiny doorway that opened up. He walked towards the shelf in question, and finally noticed the small imprint of a doorway in the wood.

Over the next week, he noticed more things, like tiny footprints in dust, or some of his food disappearing, or just where he noticed door-like shapes in the walls. At least two were in the kitchen, which kinda made sense?

The little guy probably needed food.. He decided to try capture it, wanting to hopefully get answers, or maybe get it to be in the background of more videos. This was the video with the least amount of hate comments so far, just because of the tiny person sat on a bookshelf, swinging its legs

-

Roman entered the kitchen, and his eyes immediately fell upon the seemingly abandoned bag of popcorn. Roman supposed the human wouldn’t notice if just one piece went missing, right? He took a step forward, not bothering to look at the ground beneath him.

That was a mistake. He felt his steps stop and looked down at what he had assumed was the ground, only to see a glue trap like those to catch mice. He cursed himself for not using the other entrance, but a quick look towards that area showed that he would’ve gotten himself trapped there as well.

For them to have been placed so perfectly, the human must’ve known what he was doing, and what he was catching. Roman’s breathing got quicker, and he struggled, trying to pry his feet from the stickiness of the makeshift floor before the human would inevitably come for his food, and for Roman.

He both heard and felt the human’s footsteps, getting closer as he was failing to escape. The kitchen door opened and the human stepped inside, making his way towards where Roman was still trying to escape

“Holy shit, that actually worked.. I didn’t think that would work” The human’s booming voice startled him out of staring

“Let me go, Fiend!” He shouted, hoping his voice didn’t reflect the amount of pure fear he was experiencing. The human merely raised an eyebrow

“Jeez, little guy, I just want answers about why you’re in my house, no need to scream at me” The sentence was punctuated with an eye roll, and Roman glared

“How did you even know I existed? I have been really well hidden” Roman glared up at the human, and crossed his arms

A chuckle escaped from the human’s lips “Well hidden? Are you sure?” He pulled out the weird rectangle that humans always had and showed Roman a picture of the borrower sat on a shelf

“How-how did you get this?” His voice was shaky, and he tried to think of what he could’ve done to make his face appear on the human rectangle things. Maybe he should’ve stayed outside like he was taught, where he belonged.

~~~~~ 

Taglist: @a-chilly-pepper

#borrower roman #sanders sides fic #sanders sides au #sanders sides gt #sanders sides #sanders sides g/t #virgil sanders sides #sanders sides story #thomas sanders sides #borrowers #infinitesimal sides #giant Virgil #tiny Roman #human virgil

[idontknowreallywhy]

Resurface 18 - Reverie

Previous parts here

A little forgetful interlude…

(Weighted blanket lore borrowed from @astranite’s gorgeous fic Rest)

💚💙🧡💚💙🧡💚💙🧡💚💙🧡💚💙🧡💚

The softly spoken and consequently often-ignored part of Scott’s brain that craved sleep whined pitifully as he dragged himself back towards consciousness. He was warm and his dream had been nice and ugggh… nope. He did not want to move. But the more vocal majority part of the same brain pointed out there were probably Things to be Doing, that his left foot was tingling, and that the side of his face was disconcertingly adhered to a hard surface.

An experimental twitch of his jaw then a slight frown as his neurons aligned and informed him he’d been drooling in his sleep… lovely. He sighed and dragged one eyelid open.

The moonlight cast familiar shadows at an unfamiliar angle. He was in the lounge, but not at the desk. His brain was taking an unusually long time to reboot which from past experience meant the nap had been a long time coming but had not been of sufficient length to negate the need for another. A vague sense of unease told him he should be doing something important, probably with a deadline he was about to miss… but why wasn’t he at the desk in that case?

He’d obviously crashed out on the couch, the curve of the wooden armrest pressing into his jawbone made that clear… but wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as he should be. A little shuffling investigation revealed a ball of soft, familiar material tucked into the gap between the armrest and his shoulder, meaning his neck was well supported. He smiled to himself as his sense of smell came online and the aroma of coffee, paint and a side note of engine grease revealed the padding to be one of Virgil’s shirts. At which point he also realised the other reason he felt so warm and contented was that he was snuggled under the weighted blanket Virgil had bought for him months ago. His brother had also apparently removed his shoes and tucked the blanket under his feet.

The only odd thing was that he was here at all and Virgil hadn’t dragged him to his actual bed. On one occasion his younger, shorter but not in any practically meaningful way littler brother actually threatened to literally drag him, seizing hold of one foot and forcing Scott to scuttle-hop across the floor after him like a three legged crab before he relented and agreed to leave the desk under his own steam.

And they called Scott the smotherhen! Sure, he tried his best but he was a pale, lanky imitation of the real deal. When it was stormy outside, Scott might strut and crow to try to scare away the darkness but Virgil could always be relied upon to gather all the chicks under his broad wings and keep them feeling safe.

Woah, he really was tired if he was getting poetic. He sighed silently, still unwilling to move and thus accept he was awake. All was quiet so maybe… maybe he could hang out here a little longer? Shifting his body down the sofa, he peeled his face from the armrest and buried it in Virgil’s shirt instead. Scott revised his already tortured metaphor - he wasn’t the cockerel but just as much a chick in need of shelter as any of them. It was possible he needed to get better at acknowledging that… poor Virgil had his work cut out trying to keep this fuzzy little chicken in line. He’d complained about it recently… what was it he’d said? “I can’t make him stop, he won’t stop…”

As if reality had thrown a bucket of iced water at his face, Scott leapt up still clinging to the flannel shirt. VIRGIL! Still bleary-eyed, he felt around desperately for the tablet but it was gone. How could it be gone? He stood, rifled through the heavy folds of the blanket, down between the cushions, and was halfway under the couch when a soft sigh caught his attention.

John was curled up on the seat opposite, another bundle of red plaid clutched to his chest with one hand, the other trailing to the ground, fingers just looped over the edge of… YES… Scott’s tablet.

Ninja-like, Scott tiptoed across the room and edged the precious device from John’s limp fingers. He looked apologetically at the ceiling, feeling EOS watching him with disapproval but she remained quiet.

The same moonlight flooded the infirmary making everything look cold and alien. Virgil looked deathly pale and for all Scott’s logical reasoning that moonlight drained the colour from everyone he just needed to be sure…

He replaced the tablet and stood looking down at John’s sleeping form, wishing he could do something to stop them all hurting so badly. Shaking out the red shirt he had tucked under his own arm, he laid it gently over John’s shoulders before sneaking out of the room to check on its owner.

🧡💚💙🧡💚💙🧡💚💙🧡💚💙🧡💚💙🧡

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #scott tracy #virgil tracy #john tracy #idontknowreallywhy fanfic #resurface fic