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#g/t sanders sides
badkatart · 2 years
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Hand Practice
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dillydallydove · 1 year
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Recycling an old scenery piece I made a while ago and making it sanders sides related
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delimeful · 4 days
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in sickness and in health (8)
warnings: captivity, arguing, remus talking about remus things, panic, gratuitous amount of puns, lmk if i missed any
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“What’s going on?”
The impromptu staredown between all three humans was interrupted by Roman hurriedly leaning obnoxiously far over the counter, bodily blocking Patton’s view of the two borrowers.
“Patton!” he blurted, clearly aiming for a casual air and instead landing somewhere in the realm of ‘stewing in blatant panic and guilt’. “Hello there, what an unexpected and lovely surprise to see you here, in… the kitchen of your own home.”
Next to him, Virgil heard the small, distinct thwap of his fellow borrower’s palm meeting their face.
“…What’s going on?” Patton repeated, sounding far more awake this time.
“Extremely normal, non-fairy-related things,” Roman answered, visibly sweating.
“Extremely bloody Dionysian orgies,” Remus said at the same time, considerably louder.
Virgil could see just enough of Patton’s expression to watch the way it crinkled in a sort of morose confusion.
“In the kitchen?” he asked, voice pained, as though that was his main problem with the suggestion.
“If there aren’t any knives involved, can any orgy really be called Dionysian?” Remus replied in a faux-wise tone, lifting his arm to make a deeply inappropriate gesture in accompaniment with his words. This technically cleared the way back to the wall, but as it turned out, only for a moment.
Before either of them could get too hopeful about any chance of escape, Remus ended the gesture by quickly clapping his hands over the both of them in a makeshift dome shape.
Next to him, the other borrower only flinched a bit, but Virgil couldn’t help the outright squeak he made at the sudden limbs dropping down over them.
There was another pause from the humans above them, this one distinctly more harried.
“Um, guys?” Patton’s voice had gone from confused to concerned. “What was—?”
“Broken whoopee cushion,” Remus insisted. “Filled it with mayonnaise, you know how it goes.”
“He sneezed!” Roman added, his voice sliding up a few pitches. “Gesundheit, Remus! Totally nothing strange about that— Padre, wait!”
There were big steps drawing closer, now, and Remus’s hands cinched in a little tighter around the two of them. They were forced to huddle even closer together, and the other borrower’s bony elbow collided with his side in a way he wasn’t convinced was accidental.
He shot them a glare, which they returned with an expression that was equal parts indignant and frantic. After a second, they forced a barely-there whisper through grit teeth. “It’s your human. Will he hurt us?”
“How am I supposed to know?!” Virgil hissed back, just as quiet. “I didn’t ever get caught before you showed up!”
Not while the human was conscious enough to remember it, anyhow.
The other borrower’s eyes narrowed into slits, reminding Virgil that he probably shouldn’t be antagonizing the guy that already proved themself willing to try and murder him once. Before they could respond, though, the conversation over their heads continued.
“Guys,” Patton said, sounding stern. “What have we said about wrangling critters in my home?”
“That it was a firmly banned activity after the Great Frog Croak-tastrophe?” Roman guessed sheepishly. “And, y’know, that was certainly a fair and just ruling for that situation, however—!”
“Nuh-uh, I don’t wanna hear it,” Patton replied, unwavering. Virgil could practically envision the way his human was standing from his tone alone: hands on his hips, eyebrows raised expectantly. “Frog or not, I’m sure whatever you two caught will be much hoppier once they’re released safely outside, right Remus?”
“Eh, you might not feel the same after you see them, Pattycakes,” Remus warned. “I know I’m usually the harbinger of pests, wrangler of rats, champion of centipedes, but not even I know what to do about these guys.”
There was the shuffle of clothing, like Patton was shifting in place, and he sighed. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to figure it out together, huh?”
There was a moment of hesitation where Virgil assumed the twins were exchanging a wordless meaningful look, as they so often did, and then the distinct slide of glass across a countertop.
The moment the hands around them twitched, Virgil shifted into a crouched position, drawing his legs under him and preparing to bolt the moment there was space, even if it was probably totally futile. Next to him, he could feel the other borrower doing much the same.
Rather than lift off of them, however, the hands shifted to pinch even closer together, forming the shape of a spade, like a pair of nut shells that had been glued back together at the edges, leaving a hollow space inside. The two of them were forced to scramble upwards into the hold or get limbs stuck in between the sides of Remus’s palms as he scooped them up off the counter completely.
Virgil’s stomach dropped at the upwards movement, completely out of his control, and he reached out and latched onto the side of the other borrower’s shirt with a white-knuckled grip. They were still at least a little concussed, and Virgil wasn’t letting them get separated now, not when he’d already gotten himself into the most terrifying situation in his life saving them. Wherever they were going, they’d at least be stuck in it together.
To his surprise, the other borrower gripped him right back.
After only a few seconds, they were lowered and deposited onto a familiar smooth surface. Virgil grit his teeth at the feeling, resisting the urge to scream in frustration. He’d just gotten out of this stupid glass pitcher!
He didn’t get much time to seethe indignantly, however, because the moment Remus’s hands pulled away, there were much bigger problems to face.
Three of them, to be precise.
Heart in his throat, Virgil slowly lifted his head to look up at the face of his human, warped through the curve of the glass.
With a confused furrow to his brow, Patton moved to take a step closer, and then stopped short as the sight before him properly registered. His hand flew up to cover his mouth, his eyes widening with surprise. “Oh my!”
“I toad you so,” Remus interjected unhelpfully.
Roman cuffed his shoulder, and Remus immediately jabbed two fingers into Roman’s side in retaliation. It was only a firm warning look from Patton that kept them from devolving into another slap fight during the most terrifying moment of Virgil’s life.
Virgil shifted to stand, shuffling back until he didn’t have to crane his neck so painfully to make eye contact. Humans were so big, and it had never been more evident than it was now, staring up at giants.
Staring up at Patton. He was pretty sure he’d had a nightmare that had gone exactly like this. Well, minus the concussed would-be assassin. And the frog puns.
Patton, for his part, had developed a genuinely distressed twist to his features as he took in the sight of the two of them. After a moment of wavering, his gaze settled firmly on Virgil, sending a prickling sense of alarm up his spine.
“Hello again,” said Patton, smiling at him.
Virgil froze. The borrower behind him froze. Even the twins froze for a moment, before their heads both snapped around to stare at Patton with eerie synchronization.
“You know them?!” two voices asked, in two very different tones.
Virgil felt dread drop into his gut like a stone down a sewer grate. There was no way.
“I know one of them,” Patton answered, unperturbed by everyone’s shock. “That’s the little guy who helped take care of me while I was sick!”
He lifted a hand in demonstration and wiggled his fingers, the healing burns on them still visibly shiny.
The twins gaped. “He what?”
Behind him, in a far more bewildered tone, the other borrower echoed them: “You what?”
“You shut up,” Virgil muttered sourly without turning to look at them. His heart was practically shaking in his ribcage, knowing that the human had remembered all along, that Patton had returned home well-aware of the intruder in his walls.
The realization felt chilling, like a thimble of icy water had been dumped down his shirt. Patton hadn’t acted strange at all, hadn’t cast any speculative glances at the walls or scanned any shelves for undersized intruders. The twins and their ghost-hunting equipment clearly hadn’t known the truth, so why would Patton? Virgil hadn’t even suspected.
Who knew what would have happened after Roman and Remus left, and it was only the two of them, with Virgil blissfully unaware of the danger he was in?
Well. Caught like this, he supposed he was going to find out soon.
Patton’s smile faded, carefully watching the way Virgil’s chest was visibly shuddering with too-shallow breaths.
“You thought I froggot, huh?” he said, looking inexplicably sad. “I thought about it while I was in the hospital, and I kinda figured we’re really not supposed to know about you guys. That means it was pretty darn brave of you to try and help me anyways.”
Virgil swallowed, fear sticking in his throat. He didn’t know what to say. He certainly didn’t feel brave.
The other borrower stepped up to be at his side, ignoring Virgil’s reflexive attempt to shoulder them back behind him.
“I suppose the saying is true, then.” They paused, narrowing their eyes in a silent challenge. “No good deed goes unpunished.”
The encompassing flourish they made was a little wobbly, as though their balance was still off, but it got the point across: Patton had recovered from his illness, and they were stuck in a pitcher on his counter.
Virgil’s incredulity at the other borrower was enough to snap him out of the worst of his frozen terror, his head whipping to the side to stare at them.
They were insane. They had to be, using such sharp words and an even sharper tone with a human. This was just about the worst time to instigate an argument. The two of them were stuck in a pitcher on his counter!
Unsurprisingly, neither of the twins looked particularly happy with the accusatory turn the conversation had taken. Patton had been their friend for a long time. They had always jumped at the opportunity to defend him from harm in the past, and Virgil doubted that would change now.
For all their tomfoolery, the two of them could be downright vicious when they were angry. If they were willing to tear fellow humans a new one for messing with Patton, it was gruesome to imagine what they’d do to a pair of borrowers. They’d already been terrifying enough when they’d only been curious about him.
Before either of them could begin to speak, however, Patton nodded once, almost to himself, and pivoted to face his friends.
“Howsabout you two get started on cleaning up the living room so we can settle down and get some proper sleep?” he asked, the request firm enough that it was clearly more of an instruction than a suggestion.
Both twins started protesting immediately, looking extremely put out at the idea of abandoning Patton with their exciting new find. They were talking over each other, the words tangling and becoming an indecipherable mess by the time they reached Virgil, but he was fairly certain he heard phrases like “—but I’ll only lie awake haunted by fairy law and order,” and, “—you can’t keep me away from my new pyromaniac bestie!” in the mix.
“Mhmm, yup, we can discuss all of that later,” Patton replied stoutly, ushering the two of them towards the entrance to the kitchen with insistent sweeping gestures, like a shepherd with his herd. “There’ll be plenty of time to talk over breakfast in the morning, but it’s getting late, so hop to it!”
“We’re being banished with frog puns! This is an amphibian atrocity,” Roman bemoaned.
“Froggin’ unbelievable,” Remus agreed. 
However, even with all their complaints, they seemed to understand that Patton wasn’t budging this time, and reluctantly allowed themselves to be shooed out of the kitchen like the world’s noisiest sheep.
At Virgil’s shoulder, the other borrower took the opportunity to lean in while the humans were across the room.
“You ‘didn’t ever get caught,’ hmm?” they asked, still far too smug considering the situation they were in.
A muscle in Virgil’s eye twitched. Despite everything, he wasted a moment considering the merits of trying to inflict another head injury on his fellow captive. They’d been a lot more tolerable with the beginnings of a concussion.
“Do you want to go back to trying to stab each other?” he snapped instead, stepping pointedly away even as he made the thinly-veiled threat. “Because it seems like you want to go back to trying to stab each other.”
“Oh, I’m so terrified,” they replied drolly, crossing their arms. “Won’t someone save me from the horrible Monoxide assassin and his entirely genuine threats?”
Virgil stared at them for a moment, disbelieving. “You know, I think I actually liked you better when you were trying to murder me in cold blood.”
“Don’t lose hope. Maybe I’ll try again later,” they retorted with a dangerous glint in their eye, and then they were both falling silent as Patton approached once more.
Out of the corner of his eye, Virgil caught the contemplative frown that flashed over the other borrower’s face, the only glimpse of their consternation at facing down a human. They may have had plans aplenty to deal with the twins, but Patton was clearly more of an unknown to them.
…Virgil knew Patton. He’d spent enough time watching the human to get attached, grown familiar enough with Patton’s life to cheer on his efforts and fret over his disappointments. He should be able to find the right words to get them out of this, convince his human the way the other borrower had effortlessly fooled Roman, but… he couldn’t.
It was impossible to think up a strategy for this situation. How could he possibly reconcile Patton, the guy who helped organize weekly PTA bake sales and volunteered to look after kittens he was allergic to and cried when he saw roadkill, with a human who knew, who would keep them trapped, who needed to be pleaded with for their release?
How was he supposed to bargain with a monster if he couldn’t even accept that the monster existed?
“I’m sorry if the twins frightened you,” Patton said, voice lowered to a softer volume. “They tend to be very exuberant, but they don’t mean any harm.”
The other borrower looked as though they were on the brink of scoffing at the very idea that they couldn’t handle Roman and Remus, a defensive slant to their shoulders.
“Why?” The word tumbled from Virgil’s mouth without his permission, his shoulders hunching under the undivided focus of Patton’s gaze.
“Why what?” he asked, tilting his head slightly like a confused dog.
“If you knew,” Virgil forced out, fingernails digging into his palms, “why didn’t you tell them? Or— or look for me?”
Understanding settled onto Patton’s expression, and he hummed thoughtfully, as though considering how to phrase his answer.
“If you wanted to be seen, you would have come out and said hi,” he finally said, simply. “You saved my life by calling for help. If you wanted to stay a secret, the least I could do is make sure to keep that secret safe.”
Virgil blinked up at him, trying to force the words into a configuration that made sense. Humans didn’t just let mysteries exist, especially not ones that were so easy to grab ahold of.
“I won’t lie and say I’m not awfully curious about you,” Patton continued, and his hand was reaching out for the handle of the pitcher and surely, this was the moment that it all came crashing down—, “but you can’t force a friendship. Especially not like this!”
Slowly, in gentle increments, the pitcher was shifted to lay on its side, the open end facing away from Patton. It was practically a straight shot to the closest wall entrance, their freedom waiting where the back of the counter met the kitchen wall.
They’d been prepared to make a break for it at the earliest opportunity before, but now, with escape dangled in front of them, both borrowers hesitated. Virgil exchanged a dumbfounded look with the other borrower, trying to stomp down the insane hope bubbling in the back of his mind.
“If you ever want to talk, you know where to find me!” Patton finished, making sure the glass was stable and settled before releasing it and stepping back. “Otherwise, my lips are sealed— and I’ll make sure Roman and Remus keep the secret, too.”
He made a zipping motion over his mouth, eyes crinkled with amusement at the edges, and then turned and walked out of the kitchen without a single glance back.
Virgil hadn’t uttered a single plea, and yet, the path back to the walls was right there. He looped the other borrower’s arm over his shoulder and led them, step by faltering step, across the counter, even scooping his bag up as he went. Nobody came rushing in, nobody stopped them from taking those last few steps into the safety of the walls.
He’d expected to face a monster, and instead he’d been offered kindness, unasked for and freely given.
They were both quiet as they shuffled further into the familiar cramped space, as though a single sound would shatter the illusion of this impossible release. The other borrower pulled away after a moment, their pain of their concussion likely more manageable in the dark. The silence stretched, relief and exhaustion weighing on them in equal measure.
Virgil yawned despite himself, absently wondering if they were going to continue that semi-murderous argument about cults and who wronged who, and if the other borrower would be willing to reschedule it to sometime after they’d slept.
Ahead of them, a third figure stepped out of the shadows, quickly looking them over as though checking that everyone was still intact. Oddly enough, they sort of smelled like gunpowder.
“Hm. That certainly didn’t go according to plan,” they said bluntly, the oversized pack on their back jingling slightly as they stepped forward. “Still, we all survived, so I suppose introductions are in order.”
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fandombead · 1 month
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Just a little Logicality 💙🩵
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icycove · 4 months
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Borrowers Patton and Virgil visiting their human friends! They found Logan first~ Logan’s pleased to see them again
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They’re just little stick guys
Original version under the cut!!
Time taken: 2.7 hours
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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~
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ashs-random-writing · 7 months
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House of oddities
Chapter 1
Ao3
Patton, a very optimistic borrower, traveled over a day’s journey that led him to this house. It was pretty far from other ones. It seemed normal enough, even if his new human was very loud, and liked to talk to themself. He didn’t mind. There was more than enough supplies here. Besides, he wasn’t too excited at the idea of making another long journey.
Two local ghosts start keeping a secret from their living friend.
Appearance wise, ghosts take on features that represent how they died. Janus died by a snake bite, and has snake scales over the side of the bite. Virgil, though I’m not telling you his cause of death just yet, has a whispy tail instead of legs.
I hope you enjoy this !!
Something was going on with his human, Patton noted. His human seemed more excited than usual, which normally would make Patton happy. However, as this was a new human, he wasn’t too sure what to expect.
Even the most optimistic borrower would be wary. It could be anything, from a vacation (bad for borrowers as it meant heavy rationing) or a ‘pay rise’ (great- human got more things that could be borrowed).
Of course, those weren’t the only options. As much as Patton loved the idea of pets, he knew that he would have to move if his human had gotten one. Well, depending on the pet. Dogs and cats, as cute as they were, were vicious creatures when faced with a borrower. That could also be an option.
He didn’t want to move only two weeks after finding the perfect walls. He sincerely hoped that whatever had caused his human to be so happy was something good.
He watched his human pace around giddily, like they had just won a giant prize. Perhaps they had. He couldn’t help but smile, despite his hesitation as to what could cause this infectious mood.
His human talked to themself a lot. Patton was sure he’d hear about the source of excitement eventually
He waited for his human to go to sleep before he gathered food supplies. It was routine borrowing for him, but he couldn’t help feeling uneasy about something. The human was still sleeping, he could tell that much, so he didn’t know what was causing this unease
He had been feeling similarly since he’d moved in. It was a different kind of unease than when he was at his last house. That unease was feeling like he was going to be seen, this felt like being watched. Like any borrower would feel, Patton felt very off about this whole thing.
He had checked about a thousand times that there were no cameras, before he had ever even left the walls. He should never have been feeling eyes on him.
He shivered. He didn’t know whether it was the fact that he could still feel someone watching him, or the coldness that seemed to radiate from different parts of the house.
He put all his food in his bag, and started running towards his entrance. This house made him feel more exposed than other houses did. He didn’t understand.
His human was still sleeping, he checked after putting away his supplies. He chalked up this unease to the fact that this was still a new house.
There was nothing wrong. He smiled. He sometimes felt the eyes on him when he was in his home in the walls, which was how he knew he was imagining things. There was only him in the walls. There was nothing else.
No sign of any other life in there, not even a single web (thank whatever was out there that was looking out for him) or rats nests anywhere in the walls. The only living things in the house were him, and his human, and occasionally his human’s friends.
They were loud. Patton didn’t like loud noises, but he liked seeing people happy. He organised his supplies and made sure his nest had enough fabrics. Winter was closing in, he would need more.
The fabric was in his human’s bedroom. They were unlikely to wake up whilst he was borrowing. He quickly grabbed the scraps he needed and ran back to his home.
He was tired. He had borrowed a lot today; all that climbing was tiring. He wrapped up as warmly as he could and closed his eyes. The walls were cold, but he was used to it.
If he felt eyes on him as he fell asleep, he ignored them. He woke up to the sound of his human talking. His human was loud. He took a look at the clock outside the wall.
He’d only been sleeping for a few hours, which was probably why he felt so tired. He yawned, but he knew his human would keep being loud, so he wouldn’t be able to sleep. He didn’t mind. His human would go to work, and then Patton would have the quiet, empty house to himself.
He wished there was another borrower nearby. Maybe he wouldn’t be so tired if he could split responsibility between him and a friend. Maybe he’d be less likely to watch the human so constantly.
He took to wandering whilst he waited for his human to leave. Having been a borrower since birth, he was well aware of the challenges and limitations of his life.
He just wished he could live somewhere where he could control the heating and where he could talk to people. He was always optimistic, however.
He’d probably find enough fabric to make himself a warmer outfit and help make his nest a little warmer.
His human had a ton of scrap fabrics lying around
His human was talking to themself. They always acted as though there was someone else there, even when there wasn’t.
This wasn’t the only human who he’d seen do the same. Humans loved giving into their imaginations and talking to themselves. Patton had the urge sometimes, but there was obviously the chance of being discovered if he gave in to the impulse.
He didn’t dwell on the human’s actions, and just focused on keeping himself busy with walking to prevent himself from crying. He was so tired. His human was getting ready to leave. He walked back home.
The sound of a door made it known that he was able to sleep again now, even though the eyes on him came back as he got back home. He wrapped up as best as he could and settled back in his nest.
He smiled, though he felt watched.
He fell asleep for another few hours.
Virgil was used to being bored; he was a ghost, there wasn’t much opportunity for him to talk to anyone except the one other ghost of the house, Janus, but they weren’t on the best terms with each other. Not for the past year, anyway.
The past few months had introduced two new living people into his home; Roman, who for some inexplicable reason could see him and Janus, and the newest addition to the house; the tiny person.
They lived in the walls, and scavenged for food or supplies. Virgil watched them a lot. The things they did were dangerous, what would’ve been a mild fall for Virgil would be a fall from tens of feet high for them, and still they climbed it close to daily.
Virgil had never seen anyone like them before. He could tell that they were jumpy, and they didn’t like the idea of people knowing they existed. Virgil never mentioned their existence to the living of the house.
He knew that Janus knew they were there as well. He’d caught Janus watching them more than a few times, but, with as skilled as Virgil and Janus were at avoiding each other, one of them would quickly leave the room to go back to their own.
Perhaps a little bit of hissing between them as the other left, but that was private business. Roman had since stopped trying to make them friends.
Virgil floated around the house, waiting for Roman to wake up. The little guy was sleeping.
Virgil couldn’t feel the cold, but he noticed the shivering and the extra fabric the little guy had been taking. He needed to convince Roman to turn the heating up. Someone that small was bound the feel the cold a lot more than someone human-sized.
Virgil heard when Roman woke up, because, what seemed like immediately, he heard Janus talking to him.
He scowled. Janus just had to ruin everything, didn’t he? He crossed his arms. Did they have to be so loud? He checked on the tiny scavenger
They were sat up, rubbing their eyes with their clearly makeshift glasses still next to their little nest. He frowned, face still through the wall.
Poor thing. Everything must be louder to them. Virgil took his head out of the wall tunnels and started to wait for Janus and Roman to stop talking, so he could talk about his (undoubtedly more important) problem to the person who could help.
Janus talked to Roman the entire time, until the human had left the house. Virgil’s scowl deepened.
He flew over to Janus
“What if I had wanted to talk to him?”
“I’d have no way of knowing that, dearest friend, because you don’t ever talk to me,” he said, scales shifting with Janus’s grin
“Well, my thing was important, and you’ve ruined it,” he hissed out, starting to float away
“Aw, important, was it? Needed another song added to the playlist he made for you? Or, perhaps your little nightlights ran out of battery?” Janus’s mocking voice echoed in his ears, and hell if he wasn’t able to push all of Virgil’s buttons. He wanted to slap that mocking pout straight off of his face
“First of all, they’re fairy lights, not nightlights, but I suppose that, being the baby you are, you’ve probably only ever heard of a nightlight. Second, my thing was actually important. I needed to convince Roman to turn the heating up,”
Janus raised his eyebrow
“Oh, my. I didn’t know that you had suddenly developed an aversion to the cold, that, might I remind you, you can’t feel ,”
“It’s not for me, you-” he took a deep breath that was entirely useless, “It’s for the little guy in the walls and, not that I expect you to care, considering you care for nothing but yourself, but they’ve been shivering non stop lately,”
Janus’s face had a brief moment where the mask fell, before coming back, and he looked down at his nails, which were covered by his gloves
“It’s too bad that you’d never be able to convince Roman. You wouldn’t be able to convince someone that ghosts were real, even if they were looking right at you,”
Virgil glared, clenching his fist
“Well, you do it then, if you’re so good at being convincing,” he snarled out, only for Janus to smile
“Gladly, thank you kindly for the offer,”
Virgil left with clenched fists and the thought that if he could, he’d’ve slammed the door shut.
He hated Janus so bad, he might as well have been in Hell rather than his house.
He floated down to the basement, his room, the only room in the house that Janus could not follow. Janus had never seen the basement as part of the house, and therefore when he died, he was restricted from it.
When Virgil had lived there, he’d chosen the basement to be his bedroom, so, when he died, he was able to go through there and the rest of the house.
Virgil floated above his bed and listened to the playlist that was constantly on loop in his room. He would actually need more songs on it, but he would never admit that in front of Janus.
He scowled, thinking about the snake of a ghost that occupied the upper house. Virgil wished he could kill him a second time.
It was hours later that Roman got home, and once again Janus whisked him away in conversation before Virgil could even greet him
Luckily, however, Janus seemed to be proposing that the heating be turned up. Virgil admitted reluctantly that Janus’ ability to convince people of things was impressive, no matter how much he hated it.
He left his room once he heard Janus and Roman finish their conversation
“Do you have to talk to him so much?” He asked, a sneer on his face
Roman didn’t even look at him before responding
“We’ve gone through this, Virgil. I am friends with both you and Janus. I can’t just not have conversations with one of you to please the other”
Virgil crossed his arms
“Alright, fine. How was your rehearsal?”
Roman went into a long rant about how they’d obviously chosen the lead correctly, as it was him, but that one of his cast mates had been making snide remarks all day, which obviously couldn’t happen
“Alright, I get it, you’re dramatic,” he rolled his eyes
Roman turned to stare at him
“And you’re not? Last week you told me you were going to stay in the basement forever so you would never have to see Janus again!”
Virgil looked away and muttered that he was not being dramatic and never having to see Janus again was the kind of happiness that required no extra dramatics.
“Yeah, okay, so why did you come back up, if you weren’t being over-dramatic when you said that?”
Virgil left the room, totally not dramatically, and checked on the little guy. They were organising things, probably supplies.
They didn’t look as tired anymore. Virgil went back down to his room. He obviously couldn’t let Roman know about the little guy.
Roman was… very excitable. The little guy seemed very skittish, and they seemed to avoid loud noises. It would be best to keep Roman in the dark about this.
@a-chilly-pepper @da3dm @betamash
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piliiiiiconfusionf · 3 months
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REMUS!! this was part of a gift for @icycove on her birthday I wouldn't have remembered to colour if she didn't send me the Zoom in 🤣 thank you for that again eheh
Hope you like!
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antisepticcrayon · 6 months
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Been holding off on sharing this doodle for a while.. I did it a couple weeks ago and have been way to bashful to share it. So now that I've got this account, I feel, safer I guess to share it.
Now this type of a doodle has way deeper a meaning, and that even has to do with the "size" difference between Dj and Patton.
I draw and write Dj as this borrower size because he also gives me a way to rant and vent out my emotions since I don't really talk to anyone about them. He helps me express how I feel with all the scary and troubling dark swirling continuous thoughts in my head without having to say anything.. I feel so small compared to the world around me. I'm so easily looked passed, so small that I'm just not noticable. I'm not big enough to make a difference. I feel so alone and in pain. A Small ball of mental struggles that nobody sees.
Patton just kinda gives me that comfort and parental figure I wish I could have. Sure he's a fictional character but the man behind the camera cares so deeply for the person behind Djs "mask".
Heck Thomas showed me during my first Patreon Livestream. He truely cares and loves me. I just feel seen and truely loved and appreciated by him. he is one of my beams of hope and happiness.
Not only that, Patton also harbors in the series of hoe he always have to be this bright ray of sunshine and happiness. He is supposed to always be the core of happiness and can't falter or weaken becos then Thomas suffers. Being his heart is a big deal, and he can't let it down. He's on this pedistal that he can't come down from. And I relate to that a lot with being who I am as a person.
I'm expected to be happy all the time. it's so exhausting and taxing to put on a fake front for everyone's sake. I'm not allowed to crumble or I become this small dissappointment that everyone overlooks or doesn't take seriously. And I feel that patton can relate to that headspace of having to be perfect and flawless. "The heart" of happiness and nothing else
Anyway, rant over. I appreciate anyone who read this far down 🩵
Patton belongs to @thatsthat24
Just wanted to say a huge thank you to Thomas for being who he is and being such a icon to me... Idk how else to even express it. Just wish I could give him a big hug and just say thank you over and over.
Love ya Thomas! 🩵
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shortshifter · 4 months
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Today I offer…a crossover that specifically caters to my current hyperfixation…I cannot stop
drawing them
smol
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Note
HETEROCHROMIA VIRGIL REAL
I think it would be one of the things Remus loves about Virgil! Having two different coloured eyes? That’s so fucking cool to Remus !!!
Bonus points if vigil starts to like his eyes more because of rem!
- Vee 💜
THAT'S SO FUCKING CUTE P L E A S E!!! Ree doesn't judge a single thing about Vee's appearance because that ball of chaos finds the Emo hot and badass no matter what and he can and will remind him on the daily and that's so damn sweet that it just boosts Vee's confidence more and makes him grow to love it <3
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general-gt · 8 months
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My Writing Masterlist:
My Hero Academia:
Foresight is 20/20-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/43853637 - Sir Nighteye accidentally mistakes Izuku for a doll and takes him home. 4 chapters, completed.
The Magnus Archives:
Are You Afraid of the Monster in the Woods?-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/43938712 - Martin is sent to investigate the statement about a giant monster in the woods. Part 2 in the ‘G/tober 2022’ series. 2 chapters, finished.
Feasting on Silent Screams-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/43915251 - Jonathan Sims can sense the fear of a borrower Sasha and proceeds to scare her. 2 chapters, finished.
Sanders Sides:
Anxiety and Rat Traps-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/45429106 - Logan accidentally trapping Virgil in a rat trap. One shot.
Candy-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/48630253 - Roman is a borrower trying to steal some Halloween candy, unaware he’s being watched. Part 3 in the ‘G/tober 2022’ series. One shot.
The Scientist and The Fairy-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/48630730 - Logan finds fairy Virgil in a box in the woods. Part 1 of the ‘G/tober 2022’ series. 2 chapters, finished.
Tiny Screws And Their Significance-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/43862274 - Logan has a prosthetic and he notices parts going missing courtesy of the 6 borrowers living in his walls. 1 chapter, unfinished.
Two Of A Kind-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/50784142 - Logan didn’t know the borrower he’d befriended, Remus, had a twin. One shot.
Transformers:
1, 2, 3, Switch!-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/54287878 - Megatron and Aster experience a size swap on an alien planet. Part of the ‘Stories Set in The YCRBYCH Universe’. One shot.
Accidentally Traumatising Someone is The First Step to Friendship-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/49641892 - Wheeljack meeting a human after crash landing to Earth. One shot.
A Not So Fictional Tale-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/52992415 - Orion gets a shipment of datapads and there’s something strange about them. One shot.
A Small Problem-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/47080186 - Optimus Prime helping his human friend write g/t by helping act it out. One shot.
A Teaching Moment-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/49577713 - Ultra Magnus giving a lecture on humans to Rodimus Prime and others with a live subject. One shot.
Don’t You Speak, Hide And Seek-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/54383089 - Jazz encountering a human during a hunting trip. One shot.
Down To Earth-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/48832984 - Megatron crashes into Earth and finds a human poking around his ship. One shot.
Failure and Flower Crowns-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/49616911 - Optimus Prime guiding humans away from danger. Part of the ‘In Which Magic Barriers Do Nothing To Stop Human Curiosity’ series. One shot.
How To Handle Your Cybertronian-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/50937124 - A blog post fic about dealing with being around Cybertronians. One shot.
I'd Run Away From You if my Feet Could Feel The Ground-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/48906124 - Rodimus Prime and Megatron with a human who’s come to rescue their kidnapped friend. Set as an AU of @callsign-relic’s ‘Too Close For Comfort’ series. One shot.
If We Can’t Rewind, We’ll Restart Instead-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/53433847 - Aster, immediately after the war, is tasked with undertaking a mission with ex-Decepticon Megatron. One shot.
I’ll Be Back-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/50808868 - Orion steals a shuttle to go investigate the supposed existence of an ancient relic on a far off planet called ‘Earth’. One shot.
I.O.U-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/48987337 - Tarn as both a tiny and giant bot feat. a brief Optimus cameo. Part of the ‘In Which Magic Barriers Do Nothing To Stop Human Curiosity’ series. 2 chapters, finished.
Is It Still A Mask If You Can’t Take It Off-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/54839833 - Optimus is living as his holoform amongst humans and the borrower in his home knows. One shot.
Not My Commander-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/47961757 - Ultra Magnus and a human crossing paths and the human is having precisely none of it. One shot.
Once Upon A Time-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/50886154 - An insight into Elua, the woman who sealed Drift away, and her experience with other giants. Part of the ‘Undoing The Past’ series. One shot.
Optimus’ Travels-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/47540602 - Optimus Prime is sent to Liliput in a Transformers/Gulliver’s Travels crossover. 4 chapters, finished.
Raindrops and Sparkbeats-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/46672807 - Soundwave and his cassettes during a storm on Earth. One shot.
Rumours Versus Reality-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/49368388 - Drift is woken up after hundreds of years by a human. Part of the ‘Undoing The Past’ series. One shot.
The One Who Helped-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/52582771 - Upon encountering Optimus, the protagonist begs to go with him. One shot.
The Sole Sentry-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/54656287 - Prowl protecting a human from a bully after centuries of being the protector of their village. 2 chapters, finished.
The Tinyformer Distribution System-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/48104755 - Blitzwing is a tinyformer found abandoned by a therapist. One shot.
This Is Totally Normal, Right?-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/54615661 - No one aboard the Lost Light has any idea what humans eat, and it shows. Part of the ‘Stories Set in The YCRBYCH Universe’ series. One shot.
To The Other Side-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/52326736 - A mirror connects Aster’s bedroom to the Lost Light. 2 chapters, unfinished.
You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/49902286 - Hitching a ride on Rodimus, away from the aliens who kidnapped them, Aster hides on the Lost Light. Part of the ‘Stories Set in The YCRBYCH Universe’. 8 chapters, finished.
Misc:
Monsterjäger und Beschützer-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/51082228 - A set of pilots find out that their Jaeger is sentient. One shot.
The Prideful Borrower-
https://archiveofourown.org/works/49767286 - A borrower gets too arrogant. A cautionary tale. Part 1 in the ‘A Giant Chronicle of Tiny Tales’ series. One shot.
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dillydallydove · 1 year
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I missed drawing these guys
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delimeful · 4 months
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give me mercy no more (2)
warnings: self sacrifice, mentions of hypothetical gore, fear/panic, misunderstandings, abduction, logan getting too excited about science and explaining Nothing 
-
Standing alone on the center of the barren sacrificial altar, Virgil felt as though he’d been wrung out like an old dishcloth.
The stress was still there, along with the terror and the dread and the misery, but after a while they’d faded into simple background noise. A low, ever-present hum, constantly reminding him he was going to die soon.
As though he could forget something like that.
Still. Better him than Janus, or, gods forbid, Thomas. It was the mantra that had carried him this far. He’d say it all the way to his grave.
Assuming he actually got one, that was. There probably wouldn’t be much left to bury.
The sound of distant wingbeats pulled his attention back to the world outside, the chorus of terror growing the slightest bit louder in the back of his mind. He could see the silhouette, growing larger as the dragon got closer, and twisted one of the decorative ceremonial cuffs he’d donned around his wrist nervously.
He glanced at where two of his knights waited at the entrance to the open-air cliff platform.
“You don’t have to be here,” he tried, glancing between them. “It’s dangerous, and you probably won’t want to see…,”
He trailed off, gesturing idly with a cuffed hand, because there was really no delicate way to say ‘I’m most likely about to get torn to bloody shreds.’
The two of them exchanged looks. “We’re staying, sir. The least we can do for you is see this through.”
“I trained you guys too well,” he snorted, but when he turned back to face the open sky, he felt a little less alone.
He hadn’t needed to explain much, not after he’d told them that he would be taking Janus’s place. It had earned him looks, ranging from solemn to pitying, but none dared to argue when Janus himself appeared to have conceded.
(The spell would unravel by nightfall. By then, he’d be long gone, one way or another.)
He might not be an advisor, but when he’d stepped into the role of bodyguard, he’d applied every bit of dedication in his body to the job. He knew more about the kingdom and how it worked than almost anyone else.
And if that didn’t end up being enough? He was fairly sure that being a mage would tip the scales in their favor.
Revealing that little tidbit was a last resort, since rumor had it that most dragons were attracted to magical power in any form, and in order to obtain it, the more ruthless of them would often hunt down and consume human mages.
The thought didn’t manage to perturb Virgil much. He’d felt pretty sure he was going to get bitten in half well before uncovering the truth about that particular rumor, possibly even before he got through the first sentence of his explanation, and he’d committed to the decision anyhow.
Overhead, the dragon began their descent.
An enormous winged shadow fell over him, and for a moment, the instinctual clamor in his head became deafening— YOU’LL DIE YOU’LL DIE YOU’LL DIE— but he forced the automatic tension from his legs.
He couldn’t run. Not from this.
A heavy thump, and Virgil lifted his head to see that the dragon had shifted into a massive humanoid form. Far less aerodynamic, but it was the most common form used whenever a dragon deigned to actually speak with a human. Draconic snouts weren’t ideal for speaking human tongues, after all.
The beast was hardly less intimidating this way. They had settled so they were standing on the ground far beneath the cliffside, but they were large enough that they could easily rest their arms on either side of the wide altar Virgil stood on as simply as Virgil himself would lean against a counter.
Virgil glanced up for as long as he dared, and then resisted the urge to do a double take. Was that… was that their dragon?
He hadn’t been present for the last tribute offering before the assassinations– mostly due to aforementioned identity as a mage– but the being before him didn’t look anything like the descriptions of the ancient, silver-scaled dragon that had Thomas’s ancestors had made a covenant with, back when the kingdom was little more than a well-defended duchy.
For one, their human form was relatively young-looking. For another, the scales and horns that decorated their hairline were a deep indigo.
… Well, Virgil was already on thin ice. He resolutely decided he wasn’t going to be the one to ask. They were waiting on a dragon, and there was one here, so he might as well proceed with the ceremony.
Large, slit-pupil eyes flickered over the scene set before them, a pair of thin, translucent eyelids sweeping over them in what almost looked like a bewildered blink. “This is… unusual.”
It wasn’t the enraged demand for an explanation that he’d been expecting, and Virgil struggled to remember exactly how Janus had phrased his argument, thrown off-balance. “Uh, with the damages–,” no, shit, wait–, “I mean, honorable greetings to the lord of this land,” he hurriedly corrected, bowing his head in deference. “We humbly welcome you.”
There was a pause, and Virgil bit his lip hard enough that he tasted blood. He’d never been the best at the whole social etiquette bit, and somehow the way he’d almost botched the entire thing in the first ten seconds was making him feel more stressed than the past half-hour of waiting for and vividly imagining his impending demise.
“I accept this welcome,” the dragon finally replied, still sounding more curious than angry. Naturally, they managed to make the greeting sound entirely professional and well-practiced. “I haven’t accepted a tribute from this kingdom yet, but I’m familiar with the general concept, and things seem… different.”
That was a definite yes on the new lord thing, then.
Their statement wasn’t phrased as a question, but Virgil recognised a demand for information when he heard one. He straightened back up, only barely keeping himself from falling into a Knight’s rigid upright posture on automatic. “Yes, my lord. There were significant damages to the kingdom during the invasions, and the– the livestock and harvest that would usually be offered don’t exist now.”
“Invasions?” the dragon asked, which was frankly not the part of that statement Virgil had expected their attention to catch on. “Was your previous lord negligent in her duties?”
“N–No,” Virgil tried tentatively, unsure what the right answer was here. “The matters were between humans, and our… previous lord… wasn’t to be bothered with trifles like that.”
The dragon’s brow furrowed, and when they huffed through their nose, a small puff of smoke escaped along with the sigh. “I see,” was all they said, their deep, rumbling voice sounding almost contemplative.
“Currently, our people only barely have enough to survive,” Virgil continued after a moment, trying to stick to the script he’d tricked out of Janus. “In the hopes of– of keeping the kingdom alive, so that you’ll have many years of tribute in the future, we ask that you show mercy and accept an alternative offering this year.”
The dragon’s ears pricked in interest, head tilting slightly. “An alternative offering?”
Deep breaths, now. “Along with heirloom treasures from the royal bloodline, you are offered the– the life of one of His Highness’s closest advisors, with knowledge of all in the kingdom.”
He lifted his chin and forced himself to step forward, spreading his wrists as far as the ceremonial cuffs would allow to make it clear just who was being offered, here. Janus would have made it look elegant, graceful even. Virgil was pretty sure he was only making it look like what it was: a guy in restraints pretending he was fine with his new status as a sacrifice.
The dragon reared back a little, thankfully looking more surprised than murderous. “Does this kingdom usually offer humans as tribute?” they asked, nose scrunching up in a confounded expression
“No, definitely no,” Virgil hurried to say, already grimacing at the idea of setting a precedent. “It’s only in this specific case. Only me.”
“I understand.” The dragon hummed thoughtfully, idly tapping clawed fingers against the stone. “Are any of these heirlooms magically-charged in any way?”
The sinking feeling in Virgil’s gut abruptly got a lot deeper. “No, my lord.”
They sighed in disappointment, clearly uninterested by the offering, and Virgil’s heart nearly seized in his chest at the idea of failing now, of the dragon claiming the original tribute by force and starving their people, of them demanding to see the king punished for the offense, or any number of other nightmarish outcomes.
He took another halting step forward, the sheen of sweat along his skin leaving him chilled in the face of the afternoon breeze. He was well within reach of those huge hands now. “However,” he managed, “there is still magic available in the tribute.”
Under the dragon’s sharp gaze, he couldn’t force another syllable past his clenched teeth. Instead, he held up a single hand and summoned a small orb of flame, shifting the color of the flames to an intense blue in the hopes of showing that he was a strong mage without needing to destroy anything.
His magic stores were considerable, after years of practice keeping them hidden and in reserve. He’d spelled Janus, but that hadn’t burnt through much. Really, it had only drained him emotionally.
The dragon’s pupils expanded as they leaned in closer, inspecting the display with a much more intense version of that same curious expression that they’d worn all along. Virgil swallowed, all his worries about being bitten in half abruptly surging back to the forefront of his mind.
“Oh, wonderful!” the dragon said, and there was a sudden warm weight curling around his back. Virgil turned his head to the side just slightly, and could see those huge claws curving around his shoulders. “Source magic will work much more efficiently than the remnants I could pull from most ancient artifacts, anyhow.”
Virgil forced himself not to try and wiggle out of the grip around him, even when it began lifting him clear off the ground, the dragon’s hand rotating to create a sort of curved cradle underneath him. He knew this would happen, he reminded himself. He’d wanted this over the alternative, and he only had to hang onto his composure for a little longer. Just until he was out of eyeshot of anyone who could tell Janus or Thomas afterwards.
“I accept the kingdom’s tribute and will act as its lord from now on,” the dragon intoned formally, lifting Virgil up further and further.
His heart dropped in horrible terror for a moment, but then he was lifted even higher, until he was staring down at a pair of curved horns. The hand under him tilted, and Virgil scrambled for a grip as he found himself promptly deposited on top of the dragon’s head.
“Hold on tightly,” the dragon warned, “I’ll catch you if you fall, but from this high up, you might pass out from the sudden change in altitude. Hm, I’m not certain humans know about altitude, actually…”
Virgil suspected he might pass out with or without outside interference, but saying as much wouldn’t help him. His gamble had worked, and now he was a mage in the possession of a dragon, as good as dead. He clung onto the horn next to him as the shape under him shifted to something far more reptilian.
They took to the sky, and despite the terrifying vertigo, Virgil turned and watched the kingdom grow smaller and smaller in the distance for as long as he could.
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fandombead · 5 months
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It’s the blue guys!
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ask-gt-roceit · 1 year
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Tiny!Snake!Janus: *coils around Roman's finger*
Roman: Now I have you around my finger, does it mean you'll do as I say?
Tiny!Snake!Janus: *nips*
Roman: Rude!
-
♥️ Like
🔄 Reblog
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ashs-random-writing · 10 months
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Anthropophobia
One-shot
Ao3
Every human knew the tales and legends of the mighty beasts that roamed the oceans, luring sailors closer and then murdering them in a violent rage.
As it turned out, Sirens also knew about humans. The tiny creatures that showed up everywhere with their uncanny little faces, and tiny eyes, and their general unsettling nature. If only anthropophobia was less common.
Anthropophobia- the fear of humans.
Virgil ran through the streets, hearing guards shouting behind him. He grimaced, imagining them catching up and arresting him. He ran through a crowd and took an unplanned turn towards the docks. The guards hadn’t caught up yet
He untied a small boat that had sat unused for months; no one would miss it any more than they’d miss him.
Virgil knew it was risky to take a boat, even if there were no siren sightings nearby. But, he had to get away. He’d take brutal but instantaneous death over getting arrested and wasting away in a cell for the rest of his days.
He rowed for a while, his food piled up on the other side of the boat. He could hear nothing but bird calls and the rippling waves as he moved the oars. And then suddenly the underlying panic that was always present in his mind disappeared, leaving only the want to follow the feeling reaching out to him. What was that sound…?
He rowed closer and closer, not thinking about how strange this was, how suspicious this was. He snapped out of it only when the song stopped, when he was unnervingly close to a pair of eerily large eyes, with no whites to them. Virgil knew that just a few metres below the water was a mouth with far too many teeth.
He felt himself go pale, suddenly feeling lightheaded. He looked around him; how far had he sailed? His boat was probably small enough for the beast to hold it in its hands
He shuddered as that assumption was proved correct, and the siren raised its upper body out of the water, two cupped hands under his boat and raising him closer to its face, giving him a perfect view of their sharp teeth and the way it was grinning. One of its hands curled around the boat and started tilting it, the other hand below.
Virgil tumbled out, too panicked to even think of holding on. This instantaneous death was not being very instantaneous. The monster made a series of noises that Virgil had no hope of interpreting, as Virgil lay in their hand.
He was trembling harder than he ever thought possible, staying as still as he could. It prodded him with one finger, gentler than he thought it could but still hard enough to hurt, and he scrambled away from the hand, unfortunately meeting the fingers of the hand he was in as he bumped into them
He glanced down to the water, would it be worth it to jump down and try to swim away? He saw for a moment that his boat was dropped and overturned in the water and his food was floating around before a huge hand showed up in front of him fast enough that he flinched harder than ever before. He doubted he could outswim a giant sea creature anyway.
It was making noise, presumably speaking in the garbled language. Far too loud, he thought, as his stress headache doubled.
He hoped it wouldn’t sing again any time soon, he quite liked having control over his movements. It was trying to block him away from the edges of its palm, similarly to how one would do with a bug.
The comparison made him nauseous as he recognised that he was that small compared to it. He was maybe only three inches compared to it, all too small, and far too fragile. He stood up, though was immediately knocked off of his feet as the siren shifted slightly
He looked at its face, finding it almost too big to look at it all.
He felt himself go even paler as a second pair of eyes opened beneath its normal ones. It brought him close enough that he could feel its breath ruffling his clothes. He shuddered.
It’s other hand lifted up, starting to cover him from the sky, like the motion to trap a firefly. The hands closed around him, leaving him completely in the dark and cold.
He could immediately tell when the giant took him underwater, even without the little bits of water starting to fill up the space between the two hands. They both stayed underwater for about ten seconds of dizzying motion, and then he was somewhat-gently deposited on a large rock shelf above a pool of water that looked hundreds of feet deep.
He backed away, still trembling. The siren had pulled itself out of the water mostly, and sat on a ledge in the cave, as though it hadn’t just kidnapped him. In this lighting, he noticed that it had ‘little’ glowing green patterns decorating its skin, blending in with the dull green skin
He sat down in a corner, watching the beast intensely. It came closer after a while, using one of its giant claws to scratch something into the stone.
Were those runes? It tapped the runes once they were finished being scratched into the stone, and a clear sphere started to form around the ledge. Virgil tapped it to test if it was dangerous and found that it was similar to glass.
He didn’t like this. He didn’t like this at all. It was still speaking, though muffled a bit now. It ducked under the water and swam away. Virgil looked for a way out, denying himself any tears to fall.
Nothing. Nothing at all. He hit the ‘glass’ with a fist, sitting down again. Why was he the exception to the fact that sirens usually murdered any human they saw? Why did he have to get trapped, the one thing he was trying to avoid?
He curled up in the corner. His prison was quite expansive, perhaps the size of a small house, but it was still a prison. He glared at everything in this cave, every single collected thing, every shiny thing on every ledge. One thing was screaming in his mind: that he was just another collected thing to the giant.
It came back a few minutes later, emerging from the water with speed that he could barely comprehend. Its hands were filled with plants that looked like they were from land, even though they were soaking wet. He came closer curiously, and looked at the strange handful- was that a whole bush?
His bewilderment overtook his fear for a brief moment, until it looked at him again, two pairs of eyes locked onto him.
He skittered back, heart beating so fast it might explode. What was even going on right now? He groaned, pushing his head into his hands and sliding down the rock wall to sit on the floor. It was still watching
It reached through the barrier as if it was not there, which it definitely was, and placed the bushes and soft leaves in the prison with him.
After a few days, Virgil still had no idea what was actually happening. The uncertainty was eating him alive. He had rearranged the plants in his prison, to give himself a hiding place. They were thick enough that he couldn’t see the siren through them, and therefore it couldn’t see him.
Sometimes it would sing to itself. Virgil hated those times. He didn’t even think it knew it was luring him from his hiding spot, it usually noticed him only after a while, stopping singing to speak to him (or at him- it wasn’t like he could understand)
He still couldn’t get over the fear. It was so big, so fast, so loud. He spent most of the time cowering in the corner, staring at the wall. His eyes had adjusted to the dark well
He peeked out from behind the bushes and watched the siren swim out of the cave system. It usually brought him food when it did that. He stood up shakily, once again inspecting his prison for any faults, anything he could use to escape. Once again, nothing.
His knuckles had become bruised by how much he had punched the magic glass when he got frustrated with his captivity. The siren was back soon, nothing in its hands. Suspicious. Virgil went back to his hiding spot.
Another siren was behind it, this one more red in colour. Virgil shuddered. There was a tapping on the glass, accompanied by some words that Virgil couldn’t understand. He knew that this meant it wanted him to leave his hiding spot, and that if he didn’t, it’d reach in and get him anyway.
He wasn’t coming out. Willingly showing yourself to a siren was a death sentence. He could feel the siren's hand getting closer until it wrapped around him, lifting him through the glass. He was still trembling every time it got near him.
It presented him to the red one with some dramatic gestures that made him dizzy. Its hand uncurled, leaving him sitting on its palm. The red one let out a shriek that Virgil was sure made his ears bleed, as it catapulted itself backward
Virgil covered his ears and squeezed his eyes shut. The hand he was sitting on was shaking, as he heard what he assumed was laughter from the green siren. His legs had drawn up to his chest, and he laid on his side as he tried to erase that noise from his mind
He could hear Red saying something, not entirely shrieking now, but not not shrieking. He wanted to leave- to go somewhere else, anywhere else.
It didn’t matter that he couldn’t go home, he could go somewhere else, and start a new life- except he couldn’t. He was trapped in the clutches of a giant siren, and there was no way he’d ever be able to escape the underwater tunnels without drowning.
Green prodded his side and Virgil curled up more.
He was placed in the prison again soon enough. The moment, the shriek, replayed in his mind over and over again as he stared into the darkness hours later
It reminded him of when a school child would find a spider in the grass and show their friends to freak them out. He had never thought about how it would feel to the spider, to be at the mercy of giants so much larger, to deal with the loud screaming and the complete lack of control. He wondered how many spiders had been traumatised by those school shenanigans.
The siren was under the waves, like it was for a lot of the day, but he could still see the glowing. He closed his eyes, but no sleep crept up on him.
He stared up. Was that what was happening? Were humans the spiders to sirens? He thought for a while
It would explain Red’s reaction maybe, and why sirens went into what seemed like murderous rage. Maybe it was just like when someone saw a spider and started panicking. He had certainly seen people go into what could be described as a murderous rage when seeing a spider.
So, why did they lure humans? He thought of his interactions with Green, how it would sing to itself and be surprised when he was drawn closer. His blood ran cold.
They didn’t know . They didn’t know their own power. The thing they were known for . He thought about all the casualties of siren song and he uttered the first word he said in days
“I’m sorry”
A single tear ran down his cheek and he looked around the cave. Of course he had to be found by the type of person who would keep a spider in a jar as a pet. Well, at least until it forgets about him. He wondered how long that would take; weeks? Months? Years? He would rather it happen sooner than later
He didn’t want to form a messed up attachment to his captor before it eventually forgot about him
He curled up behind the bush and waited for it to wake up.
Remus had been relaxing just above water for his daily fix of oxygen and sunlight, singing to himself as he slowly swam around.
A human floated into view a little while later. It hadn’t noticed him yet, and so he stopped singing, dipping his head further down into the water until only his eyes were above water. Well, at least his primary eyes; he didn’t need to see details just yet
It froze when it noticed him. Remus was wondering what it would feel like to be bitten by something so small. Roman said that it hurt.
He scooped the little guy up in its little boat. He wondered what it was seeing; an incomprehensible being? Was it feeling unimaginable terror? He grinned at the idea, though knew it was unlikely. Humans were too small for thoughts like that
He tilted the boat to get the human out, and it tumbled out, further than he expected. It laid unmoving for a few seconds in which Remus thought he might’ve accidentally killed it. That would’ve been disappointing, he decided, since he wanted to keep it as a pet.
He nudged it with his fingertip and watched as it scuttled back. That tickled.
It got closer to the edge and Remus dropped the boat and brought his other hand up to guard it away
“Woah there, little guy! If you fall off here you’re gonna die choking on water with no escape! I’m the better option, don’t you think?” He grinned, rambling a bit.
It stared up at him, and he opened his secondary eyes, bringing it closer. It was so small . Roman would be terrified, he realised, grinning harder.
So would most of his friends.
Remus gently placed his hand over his other one and tried to make sure no water would get in between them. He ducked underwater and swam home, placing the little guy on a ledge in the part of the cave above water and scratching some runes so it would have a place to stay.
He looked at it for a few seconds. It was empty, too empty to keep an animal in there.
The human looked up at him. He thought for a moment; what kind of plants grew where humans lived? Pretty much any plants from land would work, right? He set off to find some as the little guy explored the enclosure
He found some soft plants on an island nearby, and uprooted them to take to his new pet. It was a creepy little thing, like most humans, and immediately started moving the plants to create a little hide-away. Remus had always found humans strangely cute, in a way that made his brother extremely annoyed. Roman had never liked it when he brought humans home from his wanderings.
They were just so small, and pretty docile if they weren’t feeling threatened. Remus had heard a lot of people say that they were more scared of people than people were of them, and he had always wondered how much truth that held
He knew a lot of people who were downright terrified of the tiny little creatures. He wondered why humans always got so close to sirens if they were so afraid, but he didn’t dwell on it.
A few days later, he had begun to get very attached to the little creature. It stayed hidden a lot, only coming out when it was fed, and occasionally when he was singing or humming to himself. He named it Creepy, because it fit the description, primarily, but also because it would annoy his brother tremendously.
He suddenly remembered the fact that he hadn’t shown Creepy to his brother yet and grinned, swimming through his tunnels as fast as physically possible and towards his brother's cave.
“Roman! Roman! I need to show you my new pet! You’ll love it” he grinned, holding back a laugh
Roman sceptically followed him until they got back to the cave. Remus saw Creepy hide behind the plants and he got closer, tapping on the barrier and waiting for it to come out like usual, but it didn’t.
“Come on out, lil’ guy”
He reached in and grabbed it gently and dramatically presented it to his brother
“Ta da! My new pet!” He uncurled his hand and watched his brother’s reaction intently
The reaction was even worth the resulting scream. He laughed, bringing Creepy towards his chest and looking back up at Roman
“Remus! Why would you do that!? You know I’m scared of them!” His eyes were looking up at him and back down to the human like he was scared it was gonna leap at him
Remus looked down at Creepy, who had curled up like it did when nervous.
“Aw, look, you scared it! Say sorry,” he said, half teasingly, gently prodding Creepy’s side
“I scared it?” Roman asked, tone disbelieving “If anything, it should apologise to me! Or at the very least, you should” he crossed his arms, secondary eyes widening to show his mistrust
Remus shook his head, placing Creepy back into the enclosure and turning back to Roman as Creepy scuttled back to its hiding spot
“I mean, if you still fall for that, it’s on you. I’ve been pulling the same prank since we were kids” he shrugged and grinned
Roman glared at him, but didn’t argue
“I just don’t get how you can find that thing cute enough to be a pet,” he grumbled.
Remus shook his head, placing Creepy back in the enclosure.
“Oh, come on! How can you be scared of that little face!”
Roman stared at him. “I don’t know, they just show up everywhere and they just give me the creeps, ok?”
They talked for a while, before Roman inevitably left
Remus placed some food in the enclosure and ducked under the water to his bed. He wondered what Creepy was thinking about the situation.
He yawned, and fell asleep, head tucked into his arm.
When he woke up, the thing he did was swim outside for his daily dose of sunlight and basked in the light for about an hour, until the light got too much for him. Then he started swimming around.
The smaller fish avoided him mostly, but they were still annoying. He snuck a peek at one of the nearby islands, finding a lot of boats and a few humans.
Humans tended to be in groups of two or more, he noticed; was his human gonna get lonely? He thought about his human, pushing away the thought of how killable, how squishable, it was, and thought about its behaviour. It hid most of the time. Maybe another human would get it to be less skittish?
This routine was what he did every morning.
After yet another morning of this a few weeks later, he swam back to the cave and greeted his little friend by tapping on the wall of the enclosure. It walked forward towards him and sat down in front of the barrier. Remus’ tail splashed happily and Creepy skittered back, staring at the tail. Oh, right, humans didn’t really like water
He wondered how many humans had drowned in his lifetime, and what it would feel like to drown. He couldn’t imagine it. He had found several dead humans in sunken ships (Roman refused to go near them) and he had always wondered how long it had taken them to die.
He looked at Creepy consideringly. What would happen if he threw it into the water? He shook his head, and ruffled Creepy’s hair. He wouldn’t hurt Creepy.
He started singing to distract himself from his thoughts. Oddly enough, Creepy became more alert, staring up at him with more intensity, getting closer to the barrier.
Remus tilted his head. He had noticed that his singing would sometimes make Creepy come closer, but to see the immediate shift in the behaviour was interesting. He stopped singing and watched it back away a bit
He started singing again and it once again got closer, standing up straighter and trying to get to him.
This was so cool! He grinned. He wondered if it would work on other humans than Creepy. He experimented with the singing for a while, a few hours maybe, before deciding to stop the game and do something else.
Creepy ran back to its hiding spot after they were done playing, and Remus watched it arrange the plants again to completely surround itself. Remus imagined what would happen if it would respond to his singing while it was surrounded like this. It would probably catch its skin on one of the pointier branches and die a bleeding, painful death. It was a good thing he stopped, he decided
Humans were always so fascinating to him, how complexly they acted, but he was the only person he knew who had ever noticed that. Everyone else was too scared to even look at a human without screaming or trying to get rid of it.
But, Remus had always loved watching them.
A few days later, he swam out of the cave and up to the surface. He could see one human sitting on the shore of a nearby island. It froze when it saw him, and he tested his newfound ability.
Much like Creepy, it immediately changed in posture and ventured towards the water. Cool! It would even make humans go towards the water without a boat? He knew how dangerous that was, so when it got to the water he grabbed it and stopped singing.
He swam towards his cave, holding the human above water until they got close enough, then he ducked under water and swam as fast as possible through the tunnels and deposited his new human in the enclosure with Creepy.
The humans stared at each other and Remus had a sudden thought of them ripping each other apart, before they started making noises. He had heard Creepy make noise every so often, but very rarely and very quietly. He grinned.
The new human was smaller, so he named it Tiny. He watched them for hours, though they paid almost no mind to him. He wondered how it felt to be so small
Virgil hadn’t grown used to life in the cave. It had been weeks, and it had only gotten worse from then. The red one had visited semi-frequently, though practically did everything to avoid looking at him. Virgil was glad; he didn’t want to deal with even more screaming.
It still did what he called a mini-shriek if it caught sight of Virgil moving around too suddenly, or even at all. Virgil had never been able to shake the sound of the first shriek from his mind.
He shuddered. Red hadn’t come back since Green had discovered that it could draw him forward by singing. It would toy with him for hours at a time, grinning as it forced him forward, let him try to go back and bringing him forward again, until it eventually got bored.
Virgil hunched in the corner, and watched the siren swim away. He grit his teeth and started looking around the cave again. He couldn’t cry. If he admitted the hopelessness of the situation, it would only make it worse to bear.
He took a shaky breath and held his head against his knees. He was going to get away, somehow, somewhere. He was going to get out of this- he was going to get away.
The siren returned a while later, another human in its hands. They were placed behind the glass like him, and sat there seemingly in shock for a few moments. They looked around, squinting at the dark and adjusting their glasses.
“It takes a while for your eyes to adjust, you won’t see much yet,” he offered to the stranger, who seemed startled. Their eyes locked on Virgil after a few seconds of trying to find the source of his voice
“Where are we? Why did it bring me here?” The stranger had an accent to their words, one that Virgil recognised from further south on his home island
“Well, we are inside magical glass in a stupidly large cave for reasons that I only have a theory of” he offered, probably sounding bitter
“Hmm… would you mind telling me your theory? I’m working with almost no reference here” they came closer, and Virgil moved aside some plants for them to get closer to him
“You know how people are usually scared of spiders but there’s always that one person who keeps spiders in jars? Well this,” he gestured around him “is the jar”
The stranger looked at him with a contemplative look
“That implies that most sirens are scared of us,” They said after a few moments, looking at the siren, which was just there, staring at them both
“I think they are,” Virgil replied, thinking of the red siren and the unholy screech it let out at the mere sight of him.
“Think about it, how many people completely freak out when they see a spider and don’t calm down until it’s dead? That’s what sirens do!” He elaborated
“Do you have any definitive proof that they’re scared?”
Virgil once again thought about the scream.
“Just wait for the red siren to visit,” he didn’t offer any more elaboration for that statement.
They talked for hours, deliberately ignoring the giant face that was staring down at them.
The new guy was Logan, an aspiring scholar. Virgil didn’t mention his own line of work.
Virgil told him how most days were in the cave, and answered questions about the siren song situation. Logan seemed to absorb knowledge like a sponge.
The next few days were not as bad as they were alone. The green one had added more plants to the prison, and so there were more hiding spots. Logan had been subjected to the utter torture that was Green singing, stopping and singing again, which was less good, but Logan had yet to be subjected to the shrieking of Red.
Virgil had made sure to keep an eye out so Logan knew to cover his ears when the red one showed up.
Green was out of the cave at that moment, so Logan and Virgil had a precious moment to talk in peace. They weren’t talking about anything in particular, but Virgil still cherished it. He had never thought he’d miss human interaction this much.
Virgil didn’t talk much, instead he listened to Logan speak, and kept a look out for the siren returning. It was about an hour later that the green siren arrived, and Logan and Virgil went back into their hiding place.
It placed some food in their prison and started placing things on different ledges in the cave. It almost reminded him of when he would find something cool when he was on a walk and put it up in his room. He knew the comparison was pretty accurate, but he didn’t want to think about how the siren was a person.
A person who was keeping them captive for entertainment. It was easier to think of it as a monster or a beast than to recognise that it was just as sapient as him. He watched it, trying to ignore any familiar actions.
It swam towards them a few minutes later, Virgil was mostly hidden, and so was Logan, but they were peeking over the bushes to watch the siren.
It didn’t seem to notice them both, looking through the glass at different hiding spots. It gave up trying to find them and instead tapped on the glass to try get them out. It always was annoying if they didn’t eat their food immediately. He glanced at the tapping fingers with an emotion he couldn’t identify.
If it really wanted them to come out, maybe it should’ve stopped being annoying. He ducked down further and crossed his arms.
Logan looked at him with an unreadable look
“Are you okay, Virgil?” He asked, voice barely above a whisper
Virgil stayed completely still and silent. He was sick of this whole thing.
He wanted to get out. The tapping was getting quicker, louder, matching Virgil’s breath. He drew his knees up to his chest and gripped his hair in his hands. His breathing was getting worse the more he could hear the siren's insistent tapping.
Soon he could hear nothing but his own breathing, his heartbeat, and the blood rushing in his ears. Everything else was gone. He could feel movement next to him and he tried to ground himself.
It took a while for him to come to his senses, to stop hyperventilating, but when he did, he noticed Logan in front of him, holding his hands and gently talking him into calmness. Virgil smiled falteringly
“Thanks, and, uh, sorry… about that,” he mumbled lamely
Logan looked at him. Virgil felt like there was something he wasn’t telling him.
Virgil tried to peek out from behind the bushes, but Logan pulled him down
“Keep your eyes on me,” he instructed, which made Virgil only want to look out more. He had never been good at following advice from people.
“Virgil. Do not look out there. It will only send you into another panic. You’ve already hyperventilated enough that your lips are going blue, you don’t need more”
Logan’s voice was firm, but it was calming. Virgil nodded, realising that his lips did indeed feel weird. Then he realised just how lightheaded he felt. He looked at the food that was just in his line of sight. Logan followed his gaze, and looked back at him.
“I’ll get us some food, you stay here,”
Virgil resisted the urge to look out at the rest of the cave, and instead focused on Logan.
He rested his head on the stone wall behind him. This whole thing was so… fucked up. Everything was so fucked up.
He was going to live and die in a glass prison because giant monsters saw him as nothing more than a bug, or animal. He finally felt himself cry. Logan brought the food closer and Virgil noticed for a second that he glared at the siren (or sirens? He was sure he could hear more voices)
Logan didn’t ask about his crying, just wordlessly passing food. He was going to ask Logan what exactly happened whilst he was out of sorts, but later. Right now, talking didn’t seem like a viable option. He could hear splashing, muffled through the glass
He closed his eyes. He could think when he woke up, he was too tired to mope anymore.
When he woke up, Logan was behind a different bush than him, glasses askew as his face pressed against the ground. Virgil shakily stood up and looked out at the cave. He froze under the gaze of the green siren, and felt like nothing more than a deer in headlights.
His heartbeat had gone through the roof, and he felt the instinctual urge to hide, but his body did the opposite and he just stood there.
Green came closer, Virgil flinched back and his body was startled back into motion. He ran behind another bush, noticing Logan wake up. Virgil didn’t know what exactly had triggered his fear this time; he hadn’t been this scared in weeks .
Everything was amplified to him. He didn’t know anything, he had never felt more like an animal than that instance, hiding and relying on instinct. Logan approached him a little while later.
He just looked up, feeling more helpless than he had ever felt. How long had it been since he had seen the sun? How long had he been in this prison? How long would he stay there? The rest of his life? Would Logan stay there the rest of his life? He wanted to leave, he couldn’t take this anymore.
He would rather drown trying to escape than stay here. Nothing was worse than staying here. Well, staying here alone was worse, but at least now he had Logan to help him through it. Logan had sat down next to him and was whispering reassurance
Virgil could still see too-large movements outside the glass. He shuddered. He had bruises from where Green had grabbed, prodded and poked at him. He was never going to get out of this if something so big that it couldn’t even touch him gently was the thing trapping him.
He felt like he was getting worse. He felt like everything was getting worse. But most of all, he felt bad for Logan, who had yet to suffer the worst of the captivity
Remus was worried about his humans. Tiny was less skittish than Creepy, but it still hid often. They usually stayed close to each other, something he had noticed in wild humans as well. Humans liked being near other humans.
Remus wondered why Creepy was on its own to begin with, but he could never think of a reason. He came back from his daily swim and put some cool rocks around his cave, fins shaking out in happiness, before checking on the two little guys.
He had already put food in there for them.
They were obviously hiding, since he couldn’t see them, but he didn’t know where they were hiding. There were a lot of hiding places in their enclosure, to make them more comfortable and try to simulate a more natural environment for them, but that meant the times he saw them now were few and far between. He tapped the barrier, waiting for them to come out, but they didn’t.
That was weird. He tapped again, louder and faster, but there was no movement visible. Were they ok?
“Come on, little guys, come on out” he said quietly, but nothing moved. Wait- did something just move? He grinned. The little humans were still living, at least
He noticed that they still weren’t coming out. What if something was really wrong with them, and that was why they weren’t coming to the front of the enclosure? He mentally debated what he should do, and landed on singing to draw them closer.
It only drew Tiny closer, but Creepy still was hidden. Once he stopped singing, it all but ran to where it was before. If Remus really strained his eyes, he could notice a shape behind the foliage. So that was where Creepy was? Was it ok?
He swam in circles, accidentally splashing the barrier a few times. He muttered to himself with a sort of fear- what if he had accidentally neglected his pets and one of them died? His voice was probably echoing and his marks were likely glowing brighter than usual.
Remus was talking to himself now, voice getting more echoing, and marks getting brighter. He watched Tiny move across the enclosure, towards the pile of food, and start dragging it back to where Creepy was
Remus was still muttering to himself, still echoing loudly as he watched the enclosure. It was hours later that Creepy emerged from the hiding spot. Remus stared intently, noticing the way it froze under his gaze. He watched it skitter away again.
He frowned. It was back to how skittish it used to be. It had been getting better, what happened? He placed his hand on the barrier and brought his face closer, trying to spot Creepy in the mass of plants
He didn’t know what to do about the sudden behaviour change. Maybe his singing had had a negative impact on it after all?
He swam out of the cave and towards his brother’s cave. His brother, annoying as he was, was still someone he trusted with his feelings. Sometimes.
Remus could only think of every bad possibility, every gruesome thing that could happen to his pets, but Roman was often an optimist.
He burst into the cave, accidentally waking Roman up
“Woah! Remus, what the- are you okay?” Roman’s anger seemed to dissolve as he noticed Remus’s distress
Remus explained the weird behaviour to him, and watched Roman nod along with the face he made when he was thinking
“Look, I’m not gonna claim to know anything about humans, they give me the creeps, but I really don’t think that it’s anything to worry about. It’s probably just confused why you added a new human to the enclosure”
Remus nodded. He always wondered what was going on in the humans’ minds, but he knew that he would never find out exactly what they thought. Roman was probably right. Would it help if he separated them?
He brushed that thought away; changing things now would confuse it more. He breached the surface to clear his head, only to be faced with a boat full of humans. It was one of the bigger ships, the ones bigger than his head, absolutely filled with the tiny creatures.
He grinned, gently knocking into the side, careful not to make any of them fall. One of them threw something sharp at him. He knew that that’s what humans did if they were hunting, but that made Remus laugh
Was it trying to hunt him for food? He was bigger than the whole ship! He pulled the tiny object out of his face and got closer, watching the tiny little creatures run around.
He loved observing wild humans, they were so fascinating to him. He wondered why they were so close to each other, in a big crowd as he got closer. His grin grew as he looked each human up and down. They were all so different from each other.
He scooped up a few into his hand to get a better look, and felt them moving around. He laughed softly at the feeling. One of them attempted to jump off of his hand and back onto the boat, and he attempted to catch it.
He looked at the tiny body in his hand. Oops. He didn’t mean to catch it so hard, but their tiny little bodies were so fragile.
He dropped it into the water and put the others back onto the boat. They were all making a lot of noise, strangely.
He swam away, wiping the red blood off of his hand and onto a rock. He didn’t mean to do that. He swam back to his cave and checked on his humans again.
He could see them this time, though they weren’t looking at him. Creepy stayed close to Tiny, much like the humans on the boat, and he couldn’t help but compare them to the one he accidentally killed. He looked at them consideringly
What would be the least painful way to die if you were human sized? Probably not drowning, that looked like it took a while. Maybe getting squashed, that seemed pretty instantaneous, but then he thought about how it might feel to have your organs splattered across a rock. He shook his head of those thoughts and just watched them.
Nothing was really happening. He couldn’t explain the strange foreboding feeling in his mind.
Things went back to normal after a few more days. Roman came by to visit him, though once again dramatically avoided the enclosure like his life depended on it.
Remus rolled his eyes as Roman shrieked upon seeing Tiny move across the enclosure to get food.
“It’s not going to hurt you, drama queen. It’s just trying to eat,”
“Ugh! Stop teasing me, you-” he was cut off by Remus shoving him with a grin plastered across his face
“Oh, yeah, the tiny little creature is gonna get you, you should be worried that it’s gonna get past the barrier, somehow swim towards you and, I don’t know, gently bite your hand?” He teased, mock biting Roman’s hand as he tried to shove him in return.
“Stop it, Remus! I can’t help how scared I am,” Roman pouted
“But you can help screaming my ears off every time one of them moves!” He countered, grin growing
He and Roman had a mock-argument for about half an hour, one that only got partially violent, but immediately ended when Roman had to go. Just like normal.
He dramatically swam down to the bottom of his cave and lay in the darkness for a while. How well could humans see in the dark, he wondered. Probably pretty well, since they’d been fine in the cave so far.
His eyes drifted shut as he thought and he slept
Logan hated this. Well, mostly. The good part was that this presented a very unique opportunity to study sirens. Usually, sirens killed anyone who interacted with them, so not much was known about them. Now Logan had the upper hand, second only to Virgil, who had been there longer
He felt bad for Virgil. Virgil had evidently gone through something during his time in the cave, perhaps even just the effects of long-term stress, but Virgil could barely stop trembling even when they were both hidden
Virgil had some interesting hypotheses about why they were being kept, and Logan had to admit that the theories held up well as Logan observed the siren.
Concerningly, Virgil mentioned a second siren when bringing up the idea of sirens being scared. Even more concerning, Virgil turned pale at the mere mention of the red siren, which did not give Logan a lot to work with in terms of what he was actually dealing with.
Virgil constantly looked like he had never slept, which was incredibly impressive considering how much time he spent asleep. Logan thought it must’ve been the effects of stress.
When the Red siren finally showed up, Logan was sharply pulled behind a bush
“I advise you to keep your ears covered and try not to move” Virgil warned him, which intrigued Logan very much.
“I’m just going to get some food, I’ll be quick” he promised, watching Virgil curl up more and press down on his ears.
Logan went to get food, looking at Red intently. It spotted him after a few seconds of movement, both sets of eyes widening before it started shrieking. Logan flinched. So that was why Virgil told him to cover his ears.
Green and Red seemed to start arguing, shoving each other and even biting once or twice.
Logan watched with strange fascination as the sirens fought, and then as the fight immediately stopped as the red siren left. Logan’s ears hurt from the scream, but his brain hurt from the strange behaviour of the giants
He went back to his and Virgil’s designated talking bush and sat down
Virgil was silent for a few moments, while Logan looked out at the dimly lit cave.
“I think they’re siblings,” Virgil offered, strangely tonelessly. Logan didn’t have to ask to know who he was talking about
Logan thought for a while. The thought made him feel oddly nauseous, the idea that his captor had a family. He hadn’t thought about the siren's personal life before.
If Red visited more often, though, he might be able to translate a few words. He was pretty sure that Red had said ‘stop’ several times during the argument, and that would be an invaluable word to know when in this situation. He was somewhat sure that Green was not keeping them out of malice, that being backed up by his and Virgil’s observations of the situation, so he hoped that once he had the words, it would let them go
He shared his thoughts with Virgil, who did agree with the idea, but was worried it might take too long to get every word they needed correct. Logan wondered whether it was worth it, but decided on yes as he looked at just how tired Virgil seemed
It took at least a month and a half (he was pretty sure, anyway; it was hard to tell in the cave) for him to learn how to speak one word. He practised every time that Green was out of the cave. He could understand more than he could speak.
He was going to keep practising, but his vocal cords were not made for their language.
Virgil had bitten the siren a few times, which did reduce the grabbing frequency. Green had never grabbed him as much as he grabbed Virgil. He assumed that it was due to Virgil’s larger stature, and him therefore being less fragile than Logan’s smaller form.
He hummed, trying the word in his mouth again as Green left the cave
Virgil hadn’t been trying to speak, deciding that trying to speak to the giant was not his ‘style’, so to speak. Logan was pretty sure that just meant he was scared, but he didn’t say anything about that hypothesis.
It was a week later that he actually put his practice to the test, as the siren reached through the ‘glass’ to try to bring Virgil out. The panicked and pleading look from his friend was enough to convince him.
He looked into the eyes of the siren as best he could, took a deep breath and spoke
“Stop,” he said in the strange language, before gesturing to the siren’s hand, still looking to grab at Virgil
“Stop,” he repeated
Green’s eyes were all on him as he stood, trying his hardest not to look scared.
It widened its eyes, and those sharp teeth were on display as it started to speak
“What?” It asked, and Logan repeated himself once again, crossing his arms.
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