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Part 1 of I Can't Decide: All Works
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2021-10-27
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2021-10-27
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3/?
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I Can't Decide Whether You Should Live Or Die

Summary:

Janus is a world-renowned crime boss. Nobody can figure out what he is; is he a Fae? Maybe, but then he has the intelligence of a daemon, and the scales of a Naga and the natural powers of a born witch such as targeting, sensing, and honestly, nobody can figure out if he's been around for centuries or if he's just one person in a long line of very-similar looking descendants. He also happens to be pining for an old friend.
Patton is just trying to leave behind his old life. Why should that be so hard?
Virgil is a daemon who was born to a wraith and really can't stand his ability to manipulate shadows. He's just trying to get by without people finding out he's part-wraith, because wraiths are treated with such fear, and honestly Virgil can't blame them in the slightest. How the hell did that get him here, though?
Roman and Remus really need to stop butting into where they don't belong, and is it really Remus' fault if a certain teenage wraith ends up falling in with the criminal underground?
Logan can't stand any of these crazy idiots, althose he does have eyes for a certain daemon. Not his fault he's a teenager with hormones. He just also happens to be one of the best hackers in the world.

Notes:

Hi, welcome to my first fic! The title may end up changing, but for now, with what I have in mind for the story, I find it funny. There may end up being several irregular updates, but when they do happen, I try to make up for it with long chapters! Let me know of any typos. Also, this is (very loosely) based off of this fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25288051/chapters/61310959
Go check it out! With that out of the way, enjoy!!

Chapter 1: A Grand Introduction: Part 1

Summary:

A brief introduction to some of our characters.

Notes:

Hi, this is my first fic! Constructive critisism is greatly appreciated, any comments, anything. Yell at me if you want. This will have inconsistent updates.

Edit: ahahahaha I'M BACK
I'm first editing the first two chapters, then I'll be uploading new chapters
What, did you think I had died?

Also sorry for disappearing, I had some s t u f f going on but it's (mostly) better now. Have this rewrite of this chapter as an apology. It's more clear, more concise, and I had the help of Grammarly with it! I will (hopefully) be uploading an actually new chapter in the next two weeks.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The centaur in front of Janus was obviously quite nervous. Like every other centaur in the world, it had rather obvious  tells.   The stomping of the back left foot, the right eye twitching. The poor thing. It couldn't stop it if it wanted to; it was like asking a dog to stop wagging its tail, except that wasn't fair to centaurs. They were more civilized than that, although not by much. More akin to a daemon with tics or a human with OCD.  

Janus relaxed back into his chair. He  loved  watching people who, for whatever reason, were about to be late paying him what they consider  their  money and what he considers  his. W hether it be people who owed him because they took a loan, or perhaps they worked for him and certain sums weren't  adding up , or any of the other million reasons people owed him money - well, he just delighted in watching those people  squirm.   This ruffian, in particular, worked as a fae trafficker for Janus in the European region but his overall horrible grammar and accent identified him as American. Although each fae was worth about ₤400,000, exactly ₤5,000 was missing from every purchase that went through this guy. Hardly any, really, but enough to draw the attention of the head of Basilisk Loans and Deposits. Nobody  ever  stole from Janus, and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to deal with each creature who thought they could get away with it individually. (Granted, he was  already  damned in the eyes of most, but he loved that particular expression because it implied that the Devil could have any semblance of control over Janus Basilisk. The Devil wasn't real, and even if he was, he'd have absolutely nothing on Janus.)

"Listen, man, I'll have the final 50 in 3 days. It's not my fault some people are skimping on payments," the centaur pleaded, and  oh , how Janus loathed the casualty with which the man spoke to him. Time for some mild intimidation. Not like a police investigation, oh no: Janus just loved seeing people quaking in their boots.  

Janus leaned forward in his seat and grinned. The simple revealing of his snake-like fangs made the centaur take an unsure step back. "Is that so? Because nobody else who handles trafficked fae deals is having any loss of income. Isn't it just so interesting that  every single  one of your dealings has some light  skimping? A nd that every one of your dealings has a loss of exactly five-thousand euros? I recently checked your bank account, and I have to wonder where the sudden surplus of money is coming from. I know I pay you a lot, but I certainly don't pay you  that  much. Truly fascinating."  

The centaur, Jeffrey Richter, began trembling with fear, but his next words were almost... firm. "Yes, well, you know what I think? I think you are a crooked man. You're right, I'm taking the money. I'm taking the money and I'm putting it back into fae trafficking relief organizations. You imprison and sell off people of your kind, Deceit, and it's...it's horrible! You Fae are heartless creatures!" Jeffrey huffed. Janus, or Deceit, as he was known by most, raised a single eyebrow, still smiling. 

"That's quite the statement to make. First off, a generalization about Fae being heartless. That's a logical fallacy. Second off, you assume I'm Fae. Are you so stupid as to guess my species? Third off, humans had been doing the same thing for millennia before we magical creatures came around. So if you're going to make a logical fallacy about all Fae being heartless, you'll have to do the same about all humans being heartless. Correct me if I'm wrong, but centaurs are quite closely related to humans, are they not?" Somehow, the entire time, Janus's voice was a low  purr . The centaur backed to the door, clearly about to bolt, and Janus mentally swore at himself. He had gotten rusty; his  dramatic monologue  was clunky. He supposed that came of not having many people to practice on; after all, not many people had the courage (or stupidity) to double-cross Janus in a few  years . He pulled a gun from out of under his desk, shot the centaur in the center of its forehead without really looking where he was aiming, and pressed a button on the intercom at the corner of his desk. "Nexis, darling, I have a body needing to be gotten rid of. Have his phone gone through by Berry; he claims to be working with fae trafficking relief, and apparently, that's why he got the money."

A groan came from the intercom. "The answer to everything isn't to shoot it, J. Is this is the centaur who went in earlier?"

"Not everything, Nexis, but for this particular situation, it was. Yes, it was the centaur. I know it's difficult to get rid of centaur bodies, so rest assured you'll be getting a bonus."

"I don't need a fucking bonus, Janus; you know this. I've already told you to  not  pay me. We live in the same house. We share a kitchen. I have jumped in front of a bullet for you, so I feel like we're past the point of you needing to pay me."

"It's your  job  to jump in front of bullets for me. Therefore I should pay you for it. And anyway, hiding a centaur's body is  not  part of your job description. You should get paid a little extra for it. We've had this conversation a million times before, darling, and in the end, your bank account always ends up with a little extra packed in. Just take care of it, please!" Janus released the button and grabbed a nail file from his top desk drawer. He removed the yellow gloves that usually covered his hands, and he began filing away at his nails. Nexis came in after a few minutes with a centaur-shaped body bag, and Janus smiled.  

"Thank you, dearie. Best to throw it in the incinerator, then the trash. His uncivilized ways don't deserve remembrance." 

Nexis rolled her eyes and began patting down the centaur's jacket to find his phone. She grabbed it once she found it, stored it in her jacket pocket, and began moving the body into the bag. Janus didn't offer to help: he didn't need to. Nexis was a daemon, a particularly strong one. While her amazing daemonic mind was great for keeping up with who owed what, she was his bodyguard for a reason. The body was gone from the office in five minutes, and Janus sighed happily.  

Time for the next poor soul behind on his debt to be terrorized.  

Patton was walking his dog down the street. Such a simple act. It was a nice neighborhood, and it was a nice evening, and it was a nice dog, and Patton considered himself to be a fairly nice person when he chose to be. He was also one of the best assassins in the country, but he had  retired , honestly, three years ago, and he had since changed his ways. He adopted some pets, tried to be nice to everyone, and most importantly, he didn't  kill  anymore. He looked back on his past self and  shuddered.  He had developed  morals , something he'd been severely lacking for a solid ten years of his life, and he tried to make up for his mistakes constantly.  

(There was no way to make up for the hundreds of people he'd killed, some for a paycheck but most of them just because they had been a minor bother, but he sure as hell would try.)

A siren sounded in the distance, and Patton sighed, adjusting the bracelet around his wrist. It had a singular charm on it, which was shaped like a snake, and sometimes seemed to glow slightly. Hunting hour. Was it really already 8 PM? The vampires were allowed to drink whoever was stupid enough to be out at this hour, the fae were allowed to steal names, etcetera, etcetera. All manner of creatures were allowed to do all manner of whatever they needed to do to survive. Patton was a human, and in this world, that was dangerous. He just needed food, water, and shelter, and he had all of those! Not that he blamed creatures in the slightest, you had to do what you had to do to survive. That was why when a vampire attempted to sneak up on him and bite his neck, he had no problems touching the bracelet again, and the vampire turned into dust. You had to do what you had to do to survive. Did it really count as killing when it was in self-defense?

Patton's dog, whose name was Fluffy, was trembling because he had smelled a vampire, and Patton knew the dog wasn't going to be willing to continue with the walk. Sighing, Patton scooped Flufffy up into his arms and continued along on his walk.  

It really was a beautiful day outside.  

Wraiths were considered fearsome creatures, and they fed on other people's fear. They weren't welcome in polite society. They were aggressive, and people avoided them like the Plague. Most people could tell if someone was a wraith on sight because of the pale features, the overall sickly look, the ability to manipulate shadows and dissolve into them, and so on, so forth. Nobody had ever considered that some wraiths didn't like being wraiths.  

Daemons were honestly just regular people with enhanced brain power and just a bit of crazy and could come from literally any creature. Nobody had figured out exactly what caused a daemon to be born. It just happened. Somewhere in the pregnancy, the genes altered themselves, and suddenly you had a daemon. What was the difference between a daemon and a really smart person? There wasn't, at least when it came to humans, centaurs, wraiths, and a few other creatures. Humans weren't like that naturally, and any person that human history has marked as incredibly smart or creative or intuitive or crazy or just a little eccentric was a daemon. Most humans were like sheep. They followed. They stuck with the crowd. They didn't stand out, and they refused to put their beliefs out there unless they had certifiable knowledge that other people agreed with them. The few exceptions tend to be murderers or idiots. Granted, in human history, people hadn't known all those strange, not-quite-fitting-in-with-the-crowd people were daemons until about 2050. That was when the magical world unanimously decided to reveal themselves. Humans were ruining their planet, and that needed to be taken care of. Daemons weren't exactly magical, but they weren't exactly not magical.  

Okay? Okay. So here's the thing.  

Virgil hated being a wraith. He hated it even more when he took the test at five years old that determines whether or not you are a daemon. He was. Daemons were rare among wraiths, and because of the common wraith mentality to punish anything different  for  being different, Virgil had had a hard childhood. He ended up leaving the Shadow Dimension at age twelve, and went to Earth, where all creatures mixed, only to find that Earth was fucking  cruel  to people who didn't have a way to pay for stuff. Capitalism still ruled supreme despite creatures taking over Earth.  

(Actually, capitalism only still ruled in the Southern States of America, but the part of the Shadow Dimension where Virgil had lived corresponded with that part of Earth, so that's where he ended up. He didn't know things were better elsewhere.)

So, at the tender age of twelve, he was homeless and had to learn how to defend himself. He knew a fair amount from his childhood among his fellow wraiths, but turns out, revealing his powers as a wraith only made things  worse . So, using that amazingly-fast daemon brain of his, he learned how to get out of situations  without  using the shadows to his advantage.  

Anyways.  

He now 17 years old, had established a small little 'home' in a nice alley that didn't get too cold in the winter, he had a library card, he had a phone and a phone plan because he needed to listen to music even if he didn't have a roof over his head, he had regular meals provided by the restaurant next to the alley he lived in (even if the restaurant wasn't aware they were providing him with regular meals), he had a job at McDonald's, and he was pretty sure he was living the dream, as far as being homeless could get. Nobody knew he was a wraith: he was just a homeless teenager daemon who loved music enough to spend what little money he had on a phone. It was all good.  

Living the dream.  

Notes:

SO, we have met our first 3 characters, kind of. The next three characters (Remus, Roman, and Logan) will be the next chapter, and then we're going to actually get into the story in chapter 3. Please leave comments, and let me know about any spelling/grammar mistakes! Critiques? I'll take 'em! The word count will be higher in the future, but for the introductions, it will...not be. I aim for about 5,000 words per chapter once we get into it!

EDIT: I recently discovered rhetoric and that is going to be one of the things that I will have Janus using CONSTANTLY bc I now love rhetoric and I feel like Janus would love rhetoric, too. Him pointing out the logical fallacy is just- I love it so much and I had to do it. Also, While I didn't change much for these intros, I'll be heavily changing Remus, Roman, and Logan's intros bc I CAN and also I just want to.

Chapter 2: A Grand Introduction: Part 2

Summary:

We meet some more of our lovely cast of characters, but definitely not all of them *evil author laugh*

Notes:

Sooo it's been a few hours since I uploaded the first chapter and now I'm uploading this because literally only two people commented but it made me feel ecstatic and inspired. Here ya go, if I get more inspiration the first actual chapter my be uploaded by Saturday.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

LoganberryCroftersAndBooks56 was considered one of the best hackers in the world.  He worked mainly with Basilisk Loans and Deposits, which was a front for an international crime organization.  He could dig up information on anyone, hack into just about any system (one time, when they were bored, Remus had suggested that they Rick Roll the entire Internet.  He only managed Google and Bing, but hey.  Better than nothing.), and could leave anonymous threatening messages for people who were behind on their debts, among other things. 

His actual name was Logan Smith, he was 17 years old, a daemon, and based out of a small town in Florida.  He spent most of his time at the library, because he loved books, and also, cute guys were there sometimes. 

(Not that he would ever admit he would go there to look at cute guys to his only friend, Remus, a Fae prince with an annoying brother, because that would mean letting Remus be right, and who wanted to live in a world where Remus was right?  Listen, he was 17 years old, and if he could shut down the hormones in his body, he would, but life just wasn’t nice enough for that.  Never mind that being a daemon only worsened the hormones.)

He had lived on his own since he was fourteen, running away from his parents’ house.   He had no siblings.  He had a surplus of money because being a hacker for an international crime organization paid well, and he had a nice house in the middle of a rich neighborhood.  Not that anyone except for Deceit himself from the criminal underground knew his age.  Oh no, he kept that a secret.  If people knew he was a kid and not a fully grown adult behind that screen, he would be, as Remus would say, royally fucked.  (And then he would offer to let Logan actually be fucked by royalty, and Logan always said no.  He loved Remus - although he would certainly deny such a thing if asked - but not like that.) So Logan kept his age a secret because people who trafficked living, breathing creatures would certainly have no problem killing him for exposing something they didn’t want exposed. 

Logan tried not to focus on the less-than-moral business dealings of Basilisk, because money was money, and he claimed to be emotionless, so therefore he had to act like he was, and that involved pretending to not care about the trafficking and assassins and all the other stuff that made his gut churn.  No, it wasn’t pretending.  He didn’t care.  He didn’t. 

Emotions were such useless things. 

Remus was Prince Remus Thomas III of the Winter Court, First-In-Line Heir of the Unseelie Lands, brother to Prince Roman Thomas V of the Summer Court, First-In-Line Heir of the Seelie Lands. 

Fae genetics were fucking weird, okay? It was better to not question how a Seelie and Unseelie were twins, and of course these two were the fucking heirs to all of the Fae Lands.  Neither of them were prepared for ruling anything, especially not Remus, who was much happier performing weird experiments on Earth with a strange little daemon named Logan.  Logan’s scientific knowledge and Remus’ chaotic curiosity led to some strange things.  Don’t even get him started on the slime mold races: now that was fucking chaotic.  He loved Logan like a brother who was better at being a brother than Roman.  Roman was great and all, but he was just too...rainbow-y.  Oh, together, they could formulate the best pranks and tricks and what-have-you, but Remus wanted something just a bit more, which Logan provided. 

Anyways, Remus was involved in the Earth criminal underground because he was friends with Logan, and Logan was a prominent hacker in the Earth criminal underground.  He didn’t really do anything, but he was great at annoying the people Logan worked for.  Especially Deceit.  Remus, before meeting Logan, had much preferred to stick around the Shadow Dimension, because when wraiths weren’t too busy having a stick up their ass, thy were fucking fun to party with.  Earth hadn’t really interested him before that: it was just a gross amalgamation of people, on a completely ruined world because before everyone else had shown up, humans had absolutely fucked up the ecosystem, and while human-watching was sometimes fun, it became less fun when suddenly, their world was filled with less humans and more creatures.  Remus saw plenty of creatures on a daily basis, so he didn’t need to go to a smelly planet for that.  He liked smelly things, but an entire planet? 

...Okay, yeah, so maybe that was appealing to Remus, but this planet wasn’t smelly in a good way; it was stinky in a way that was killing the animals that lived there, and Remus loved the animals of all dimensions and worlds.  Especially octopodes and rats. 

So, to recap: Remus was a Fae Prince, going to one day rule all Unseelie lands, not prepared for it, Logan was a way better brother than Roman, Earth was stinky, octopodes were cool, and wraiths had the best parties.   Cool?  Cool.  Now to go to the Shadow Dimension and get high off of Elixir. 

Roman was not just Roman, he was Prince Roman Thomas V of the Summer Court, First-In-Line Heir of the Seelie Lands, and he would prefer it if you used his full title, thank you very much.  He was not really ready to rule, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t demand the respect he deserved for being a prince.  A gorgeous one, too.  Best fuck you could have this side of the Fae Border, in his humble opinion.  Most people would think Remus was the one out every night, giving absolutely ecstasy to random beings, but no.  It was Roman.  He loved to galivant around Earth bars, usually ones with lots of flashing lights and drinks and plenty of Elixir, seduce a human if he could find one, give them the best night of their life, and then return to his comfy bed in the Seelie palace before it was even nearing dawn.  The person at the receiving end of his affections would be left wondering if it was all just a dream, and Roman would be on to the next. 

He was more than that, though.  He was also a mischievous Fae that loved a good trick or two, as most Summer Fae were, and was able to pull some of the best pranks with the help of his brother, Remus.  Granted, lately Remus had been spending a lot of time with a daemon named Logan on Earth, but that wasn’t too problematic.  The daemon would be dead soon anyways, in only a few decades really, and then Roman would have Remus’ full attention again.  Remus used to get attached to humans every few centuries, before daemons started popping up everywhere, and then he started getting attached to daemons every few centuries, because those were significantly more intelligent and fun to play with.  His attention always came back to Roman, although this was probably the first time Remus wasn’t attached to a mortal in a romantic way.  Usually, he fell head-over-heels for his little pets, but this time, he only really seemed attached to the daemon in a platonic way.  A new thing, for sure, but not concerning.  Not concerning at all.  No, Roman was absolutely certain that Remus would let go of this daemon in a decade or two, because platonic love for a mortal could only last so long before it got boring, and also just a bit existential, because then they’ll die and you’ll just keep on living, and better to detach yourself before you get too attached. 

Roman wasn’t scared of losing his brother at all, what are you talking about?

Notes:

Please comment, it makes me feel validated and will push me to post. Yell at me for any grammar/spelling mistakes you see. Let me know what you think!

Chapter 3: Welcome to The Criminal Underground, how may I help you?

Summary:

Virgil meets some...interesting people, and makes some life-changing choices.
Janus is not creepy.
Patton is confronted by someone who belonged in his old life, not his new one.

Notes:

WOOOOO
So I was supposed to get this out Saturday but then I didn't finish it until now so HERE YOU GO, ALMOST 6,000 WORDS.
Also, I've literally only posted two chapters and neither of them should have even really counted as chapters but the love I am getting from the comments is amazing, thank you all so much. Every time I got a comment, I ended up writing just a little more, until we got here.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Virgil walked into the library, like he did almost every day.  He nodded at the receptionist, Debra, and she smiled back at him.  She constantly offered him shelter, but he didn’t want that.  If she found out what he really was, he wouldn’t be welcome back at the library, and he needed the library.  And if one person found out, then more people found out...then he’d be fired from McDonalds, then he’d lose his access to music, and it would just be a catastrophe if people found out that he was actually part wraith.  He remembered being twelve before he figured out that other people absolutely hated wraiths and he learned to hide that part of himself.  He never accessed his shadow powers, and he definitely never fed on people’s fear.  He very intentionally avoided homeless shelters for that reason, because everyone there was scared shitless, and he wasn’t sure if he could control himself if presented with that much fear.  Because as much as he hated to admit it, fear was delicious.  It was the only thing that satiated that hunger that he pretended was because he was homeless.  And when around that much fear?  When he was so hungry?  Not.  Safe. 

He walked to the computers to browse the eBooks.  They were easier to browse that way: he could find something he liked there, then go find it out in the shelves.  He could organize by genre on the computers: he couldn’t with the shelves.  He narrowed his search down to horror and fantasy novels, and eventually decided on something by a human author from about 50 years before the Fae Takeover.  Coraline, by Neil Gaiman.  An old book, to be sure, but still a good one.  Virgil wondered if Neil Gaiman had been a daemon: most humans didn’t have the level of creativity necessary for fantasy and horror writing. 

Virgil logged out of the computer, because he didn’t want anyone doing stuff on his library card that wasn’t him, and he went to go find the letter ‘G’ in the fiction section. 

Virgil wasn’t really paying attention to where he was going, much more interested in letting his feet guide him (some daemons could close their eyes and go where they needed to without worrying about bumping into people.  It was called ‘Intuition’ by witches, and ‘Happy Feet’ by daemons.  It was a rare trait among daemons, and was much more common among witches, but Virgil was one of the daemons who could do it.  Normally, most daemons wouldn’t worry about where they were going if they had Happy Feet, but Virgil worried about everything.  He knew Fae could be a massive blind spot for people with Happy Feet.), so when he bumped into someone, he jumped a good three feet into the air. 

“Oh, shit!” Virgil immediately began swearing.  “Fuck, are you alright?  Normally my feet don’t run me into people, sorry about that-” Virgil actually looked at who he had run into.  A...honestly, who the hell knew how old this guy was?  He looked to be about 25, but his features said he was definitely not a daemon or a human, and age worked differently for most other species.  He had glowing green eyes, and his arms had suction cups, similar to tentacles, and he was about 3 inches taller than Virgil.  He was wearing a black sleeveless crop-top with a hoodie, black jean shorts and neon-green fishnets, black combat boots, and his legs and stomach were covered in swirling black tattoos.  His hair was a wild mess of a sickening shade of neon green with a single grey streak, and the guy had a black handlebar mustache, along with eyeshadow that made his look like a racoon. 

Fucking hell, Virgil just ran into a Fae.  An Unseelie, if the animal traits and tattoos were anything to go by.  “A-ah, shit, I’m super sorry, I’ll just...I’ll just go-” Virgil made to turn around, but the Unseelie grabbed him by the hood of his jacket. 

“Not so fast!  I’m Remus, nice to meet you!  You smell like you need a meal: most wraiths don’t smell this underfed.” 

Virgil froze, and slowly turned around.  Remus studied him.  As A Fae who was most definitely in the higher courts, considering he was the literal Unseelie Prince, he could tell immediately what each creature was.  This was a daemon-wraith, and it really needed to have a meal, because it smelled underfed.  Most likely a teenager, wearing a black hoodie with purple patches.  The daemon-wraith had large bags under his eyes, and if the state of his clothes were anything to go by, he was probably homeless.  He had purple eyes, and a mop of black hair that was purple at the tips.  That wasn’t unusual: ever since the Fae Takeover, daemons had been getting more colorful physical traits.  Something to do with the mixing of magics: Logan would probably know the specifics.  He was smart like that.  The daemon-wraith was currently scared shitless, but after a few seconds, his natural wraith aggression took over. 

“If you tell anyone that I am part wraith, you are dead,” Virgil growled.  He didn’t actually have it in him to kill anyone, and honestly, he was just trying to not have a panic attack, but he figured that if he pretended to be aggressive, the Fae would leave him alone.  Wraiths held a lot of power, and even Fae were scared of what a wraith could do.  Virgil smelled the air, but there was no fear in this Fae.  Fuck, he saw through the act, oh fuck, Virgil was going to lose everything-

“Calm down, I get it, technically, I’m not supposed to be here either.”  Remus giggled.  Virgil looked at him incredulously.  “What’s your name, little daemon?  I already told you mine and it’s not between 8 and 9 PM, so I’m not exactly allowed to steal or own a name.  I mean, being a Fae prince has it’s benefits, but there are some rules that even I can’t get away with breaking.”

A Fae prince? Sweet Erebus, what had Virgil gotten himself into? “You’re a Fae prince?  Oh, fuck, I’m really sorry then, I’ll just be on my way-”

Remus put a single finger to Virgil’s lips to shush him.  “No need for all that, I don’t care, I just get to make a new friend!  You could probably use some help, huh?  My friend Logan is loaded with Earth money, I’m sure I could convince him to share some.  Anyways, if you’re not gonna give me your name, I’ll have to come up with a nickname!  That’s more my brother’s forte, really, but we’ll figure it out together!  How about Sewer Rat?  Ooh, or-”

“Virgil,” Virgil interrupted him, because there was no way he was going by Sewer Rat.  “My name is Virgil, I don’t need any help from your...friend, and if you don’t mind, I really want to just go find my book-”

“Oh, of course, Virgie, I’ll come with you to help you find it!” Remus said excitedly, and that was that.  Virgil was stuck with an Unseelie Fae Prince named Remus who smelled of something unpleasant, and was now walking with Virgil towards the ‘G’ section because the Fae Prince couldn’t seem to take a hint.  Oh, Erebus, help him. 

Remus did most of the talking.  He told Virgil about his brother, a Seelie Prince who was an annoying prick, and Remus’ best friend Logan, who was a daemon who came to this library all the time, and do you know him, Virgil? No¸Virgil had replied, I don’t know anyone besides the librarian and the receptionists. Remus had replied, Ah, a loner, I see.  That’s cool, I get it.  My friend Logan is a loner too, he doesn’t like making friends, but I convinced him of the merits of being my friend, and maybe I can do the same with you!

Finally, they arrived at the G section (when did that get so far away from the computers?), and Virgil began hunting for his book, Remus’ chatter fading into the background.  Once he found what he wanted, he went to a reading table, Remus following him like a puppy dog. 

“I’m, uh, gonna read this now...,” Virgil said, interrupting whatever Remus had been rambling about. 

“Oh, of course!  I’m gonna go bother Logan!” Then the Fae Prince was gone, and Virgil was left wondering what the hell just happened. 

Logan was rather busy reading The Murder of Roger Ackroyd when Remus came bounding up to him in his casual clothes.  He didn’t even look up; he could tell it was Remus by the sound of the footsteps. 

“I’m reading, Remus,” he said shortly, his eyes never leaving the pages of his book. 

Remus was bouncing on the balls of his feet.  “But Logie!  I met another daemon, and you both like reading, and both of you are mildly annoyed by me, so you could be friends!”

“More friends is a pointless endeavor on my part.  I have you and your objectively idiotic brother, and that is all the socialization I need.  Daemons do not require the same levels of socialization as Fae, witches, humans, or Naga.  Also, commonly finding one person annoying is not a good joining factor for friendship, and reading is such a widespread hobby, that it isn’t a good joining factor, either.  Now please, allow me to read.”

“But Loooogiiiiieeee!  He’s kind of hoooot, and he totally looks like your type!  Also, I’m pretty sure he’s homeless, so like, you guys could move in together and it would be for the greater good!  AND, and, and you could get some!  He looked like he could be a kinky freak in bed, you know-”

Logan groaned.  “If I meet this guy, will you leave me alone?”

“Absolutely, let’s fucking go already!” Remus yelled, and Logan made a mental note of the page he was on.  76.  He didn’t correct Remus on his shouting despite being in the library because that would likely only cause the yelling to get worse.  He then closed his book, stood up, and let Remus drag him to what looked to be the reading tables of the fiction section.  There were only three people over there, and two of them were females, so Logan focused on the singular male.  Black hair that faded to purple at the tips, massive eye bags, a thick black jacket with purple patches and string, probably from repairs made.  His shoes were black leather boots, but not quite combat boots.  The boots were worn and scuffed, and seemed to honestly be falling apart.  No facial hair, and despite the eye bags, the boy seemed to be young, probably right around Logan’s age.  He had an extremely pale complexion, and seemed to be a bit...thin.  Also, his face and hands had several dirt smudges.  The boy was reading a book, completely immersed in whatever he was reading. 

“Oh, Virgil!  Virgie!  I have someone for you to meet!” Remus started yelling the second he caught sight of the boy, and he looked up, startled.  His eyes narrowed upon seeing Remus, before his gaze travelled to Logan. 

Fuck. 

The boy (Logan assumed he must be Virgil) had stunningly bright purple eyes that matched the tips of his hair.  Logan immediately started reciting the digits of pi to calm himself, because he was pretty sure his brain was shooting out hormones like it was nobody’s business.  3.141592653589...

Virgil, meanwhile, was also doing a gay panic.  A tall boy with dark brown hair and dark blue eyes that were framed by black glasses and also matched his dark blue turtleneck and was wearing black slacks with black shoes and literally everything about him screamed rich was walking up to Virgil with that annoying Unseelie Fae Prince, Remus, and he looked exasperated, and when did someone looking so exasperated also look so hot?

Remus, meanwhile, was oblivious of both boys and their individual gay panics, or at least he didn’t say anything about it, and continued to drag Logan over to the table Virgil was sitting out. 

“Salutations,” Logan said in the best formal voice he could muster. 

“Uh...hi,” Virgil said after a second of staring, then he looked at Remus.  “Am I allowed to ask what’s going on?”

“I wanted to introduce my two best friends!  Virgil, meet Logan.  He’s really fuckin’ smart.  Logan, meet Virgil.  I met him about 10 minutes ago and he seemed cool.”

Virgil awkwardly raised a hand and waved.  “Uh, hi.  Again.  I’m Virgil, a daemon, he/him, please.”

“Salutations, I am Logan, also a daemon, also he/him.  I apologize for Remus.  He is extremely outgoing, and is not afraid to...assert himself.  If you would like, I can corral him into leaving you alone,” Logan said apologetically, which was rare for him.  He did not apologize.  Ever.  Tir, why couldn’t he ever function normally around cute boys?

“Hey!” Remus said in mock offense.  “I’m right here, ya know!”

“I was aware of this while I was speaking,” Logan replied, shooting Remus a glare.  Remus huffed. 

Virgil watched the interaction with mild amusement before he realized that it was his turn to talk, and then he had to hide his panic.  “Uh, you don’t need to do that, I’m fine...” Virgil replied, and he began to shrink into himself.  Goddammit, why couldn’t he just be confident and shit so that these two boys, one of which was very cute, left before he got attached?!

“Hey, I have an idea!  Virgil, you’re homeless, right?” Remus blurted out suddenly, and Virgil shrank into himself even more.  He could feel an itch at the back of his head telling him to just disappear into the shadows, but then they would know, and he would be banned from the library...

“I-I don’t really see how that’s any of your business, and that was rude, and y’know what, I’d prefer it if you could just, um, leave-" Oh god, Virgil was a mess, he just failed so horribly at trying to assert himself and now they would bully him for all of eternity and probably kill him and hide his body in a ditch where nobody would find him, fuck.  He found himself missing his mom, which was ridiculous, he hadn’t thought about her in years. 

“I agree in that what Remus just said was extremely rude, however, his statement does appear to be correct in that you are either homeless or are in a poor housing situation.” Logan straightened his shoulders: Deceit had taught him better than to be flustered over some boy.  Take advantage of the situation, get this person in his debt, something, anything.  He was a master manipulator when he wanted to be, and if it got this boy to be close to him more often?  Bonus.  He was a homeless daemon, and daemons were always quick to pick up the criminal underground.  Deceit could always use a new runner boy, anyways, and there weren’t many that were willing to work in the same area as LoganberryCroftersandBooks56, as if physical distance would stop him from destroying their lives if he so chose. 

“Yeah, okay, maybe I am homeless.  So what?  I manage for myself well enough, and I don’t need a rich prick like you offering me charity,” Virgil snarled.  Accepting help was highly frowned upon in the wraith community, and while Virgil didn’t agree with that practice, he was getting tired of this conversation very quickly, and anyways, whether he agreed with the practices or not, the wraith guilt was instilled deep into him.  Seriously, what was up with this guy?  He was nice a few seconds ago, but now he had a weird glint in his eyes, and where exactly was this conversation going?  He may be cute, but Erebus, this conversation was getting strange, and anyways, Virgil only had a few rules for himself, one of them being: don’t get attached, you stupid fuck.  Virgil just wanted these people to leave. 

“it wouldn’t be charity.  I would have work for you, in a sense.  Although this kind of work is best not discussed in public,” Logan explained.  Virgil was pretty sure he was about to punch this guy. 

“Excuse me?  Do I look like I’m that kind of person?  You can go fuck yourself, because I’m sure as hell not going to!” Virgil hissed, and Logan blinked for a few seconds before he understood. 

“Oh, you misunderstood my intentions-”

“Wait, you thought Lolo was asking you for sex?  Ha, he’s too shy for that kind of shit.  No, he was probably going to ask you to-”

Logan slapped a hand over Remus’ mouth.  “As I said, my kind of work is best discussed not in public,” Logan hissed through his teeth, and he had to fight to not give Virgil an apologetic look.  He had to remember Deceit’s training.  The problem was he was trained to keep a cool façade through a screen, and while he had also been taught in social interactions, he was out of practice.  Tir, he felt pathetic.  Deceit would have plenty to scold him for later.  Deceit always seemed to know about Logan’s failures. 

Virgil narrowed his eyes at him with suspicion.  “I’m not sure I want to be involved in anything behind ‘closed doors’,” he said, using his fingers as air quotes when he said ‘closed doors’. 

Logan kept his cold expression pasted on his face.  “Then that is a narrowness of mind on your part.  Business behind ‘closed doors’, as you say, can mean any number of things, and this work would provide you with a residence, as well as regular meals and other creature comforts,” he said coldly. 

Virgil groaned internally.  Seriously, what the hell was up with this guy?  Why did he care?  This guy was extremely suspicious, and acting strange, and none of his behavior seemed to fit a recognizable pattern.  It was like an author had written a book, and Logan was a character who clearly hadn’t been thought out very thoroughly.  It was like the author was just trying to push the plot forward without any real thought for character relationships. 

“Why the hell do you give a fuck?” Virgil asked bluntly, and Logan nearly smiled.  Nearly.  He could respect bluntness. 

“I’ve been needing to recruit someone for a while, and here you are.  You likely have no connections, and this kind of work requires a fair amount of secrecy, so there would be no one for you to feel guilty for lying to.  It would benefit you, because you would be provided with housing, regular meals, and fresh clothes, and it would benefit me because I would have what I need when it comes to what you would be doing for work.”

“Uh-huh.  And of course, you won’t tell me what my job would be.”

“I never said that.  I merely said I would not discuss it in public.  If you would like, I could take you to my place of residence and we could discuss it there,” Logan offered, except it wasn’t really an offer, because it certainly wasn’t a concession.  Logan offering to bring Virgil back to his own home territory was absolutely good for Logan and Logan only. 

“And if you’re a serial killer?” Virgil asked.  At this point he was just making ridiculous claims to hide the fact that he was, for whatever reason, actually considering whatever this offer was.

“Remus is a Fae, and therefore cannot tell a direct lie.  Remus, am I going to kill Virgil?” Logan asked as he removed his hand from Remus’ mouth, because of course he did.  This stupid cute daemon was determined to get Virgil to work for him, for whatever reason, and he was shooting down Virgil’s doubts one by one.  Granted, Virgil was always doubtful about everything, but this guy was making it at least slightly harder to say no without admitting that he didn’t want to work for him, which would have been a lie, and while Virgil could sometimes bluff his way out of a situation, he was not very good at directly lying. 

“I mean, I can’t predict your actions, but you’ve never spontaneously killed someone before, much as I’ve tried to convince you to do otherwise, so I see no reason why you would kill Virgil!” Remus said as he bounced on the balls of his feet.  Virgil still looked uncertain.  “Oh, whoops, that wasn’t a direct answer, was it?  Sorry, habit, so uh, Virgil, Logan will not kill you unless given a reason to do so along the lines of self-defense, probably!” Remus amended his statement, but that last sentence made Virgil freeze.  A wraith merely existing could be considered an act of aggression, which was a generally true statement for most wraiths, but Virgil was not most wraiths, and if Logan found out he was a wraith, any attack could be considered self-defense.  This only reminded Virgil of why he should not be even interacting with these people, let alone considering working for them and possibly living with one of them. 

But then there was that very small part of him that was too curious for its own good, and if Virgil was just a regular wraith, that wouldn’t have been a problem, but was a daemon­-wraith, and that was a problem because it gave him this damned curiosity. 

“You know what?  Fuck it.  I’ll come with you,” Virgil said, and Remus whooped, earning him a glare from the other people at the fiction reading tables.  Remus ignored their glares, grabbed onto Virgil’s arm, then Logan’s, and before either of them could protest or Logan could make a comment on Virgil’s sudden willingness to come to his house, Remus had teleported them to Logan’s house, and Virgil, who had never been teleported by a Fae before except across dimensions (which was a totally different and somehow much less unpleasant experience), was suddenly very dizzy.  Logan, on the other hand, was used to Remus’ shenanigans, and merely dusted himself off out of habit. 

“Ooh, are you gonna be sick?  Please be sick over there, on Logan’s very expensive rug made from Arachni silk,” Remus said excitedly, and Virgil flipped him off.  Yes, he had been considering getting sick, but now?  He realized that anything he could puke in or on was probably worth more than his life, if this guy had an Arachni silk rug.  The Arachni didn’t give out their silk for cheap, and enough for an entire rug?  And of course Arachni silk was very hard to work with for anyone who wasn’t an Arachni, so it was probably hand-made by an Arachni, and that probably added to the cost a good 3 million dollars, because Arachni were pricks who hated giving out their services for anyone and the only thing they valued more than being pricks was being pricks with money.

Basically, there was no way Virgil was going to get sick, no matter how dizzy and disoriented he felt from the Fae teleportation. 

Logan, Remus, and Virgil all just stood there for a few minutes while Virgil waited for the room to stop spinning.  When his vision was somewhat steady, Virgil looked up at Logan. 

“So.  Uh, are you going to kill me now, or can you explain exactly what you had to be so secretive about?” Virgil said with a fair amount of snark, which would have been very effective if he hadn’t just spent the past five minutes holding back vomit. 

“Ah, right.  You would be a runner boy for me, as well as the people I work for.  They don’t have many runner boys in this area, or well, any, actually.  You would deliver goods, for the most part, to paying customers.  The goods in particular are none of your concern, but rest assured you would have legal protection if any unfortunate incidents were to happen,” Logan explained, and Virgil looked at him like he was insane. 

“You want me to deliver possibly illegal goods to people?  Why the fuck would I do that?” Virgil asked with wide eyes.  “And what is going to stop me from reporting you to the police if I choose to not do this?”

“Well, for one thing, I never explicitly stated they would be illegal goods.  Also, just as much I can offer you legal protection, I could make it so that you’re faced with legal hell.  It wouldn’t matter in the slightest if you’ve ever done anything illegal or not: I can frame you for any number of things with flawless figuratively air-tight evidence.  Of course, someone of your position in life has a higher chance of having already committed something illegal, and it wouldn’t take much digging on my part to find something.  Of course, you can still refuse the job, but your silence would be required for you to leave without consequences.  You would do this because it will provide you protection, shelter, and food, and overall safety.  If that isn’t reason enough, then you clearly have quite the low sense of self-preservation,” Logan said with a raised eyebrow.  He looked...smug?  Fucking hell, Virgil was slowly growing to hate this guy while also growing all the more attracted to him. 

Virgil almost said yes then and there.  Almost.  His rules were stopping him: Don’t get found out.  Don’t get attached, you stupid fuck.  Of course, as far as Logan and Remus were concerned, there was no logical reason for Virgil to say no.  And of course, while Logan had said that it was the smart thing to do if he had a sense of self-preservation, Virgil knew that being found out was top on his list of Things To Not Do Today™, and he felt like not getting found out was important in his current plan of self-preservation. 

But then there was that damned daemon curiosity.  And of course, saying no could potentially lead to more suspicion, which would lead to Logan trying to find out more about him, and honestly if he could do what he said he could it probably wouldn’t take that much effort on his part to find out that Virgil was part-wraith.  Then again, he might do the same if Virgil said yes to the offer.  There really was no avoiding this, was there?

Well, might as well live the high life while he can.  Fuck the rules.  “You know what?  Sure.  Although I’d like to know more about what constitutes being ‘runner boy’, and it would be great if I could find out more about who I’m working for, y’know, besides you.  Other than that, I have no problems saying yes.  When do I start?” Virgil said with a sudden burst of confidence, and Logan nearly smirked.  Virgil wad cute, confident, snarky, and smart (I mean, who had ever met a daemon that wasn’t?), and now was going to be working for him.  It was moments like this Remus forgot that Logan was just a mortal, and a young one, at that.  He simply seemed to radiate I am better than you, but in a way that usually only immortals could pull off, in the sense that when most mortals gave off that energy, it seemed fake, but when immortals, or Logan, did it, it was simply accepted as fact.  It was what had made Remus notice him in the first place, and only a few years later, they were as close as brothers. 

Virgil had different opinions on Logan’s whole ‘I am better than you’ energy.  It’s best left at that. 

“Well, technically speaking, you aren’t hired yet.  You, of course, have to meet the head of the company you will likely now be working for, Basilisk Loans and Deposits,” Logan explained, and Virgil had to fight off a groan.  Lovely.  He went through all that emotional turmoil, only to find out it might have been for nothing?  Today had been a lot for Virgil.  Social interaction on its own was draining, and add life-changing decisions on top of that?  Virgil really just wanted to curl up into a ball and listen to music at this point. 

Logan noticed the exhausted glint in Virgil’s eyes.  Perhaps it was not best to introduce Virgil to Deceit today.  After all, most daemons had very little energy for social interactions, and based on what he’d seen of Virgil so far, he was likely no different.  “However, that can be tabled for another day, I suppose.  The look in your eyes suggests that you are tired.  Perhaps it would be best if I allowed you to get used to your new surroundings?” Logan offered. 

Wait, what?  Virgil didn’t even have the job as a guarantee, and Logan was still letting him stay here?  He expected to be turned back out on the streets for the time being until he got the approval of whoever the head of Basilisk Loans and Deposits was, which some small part of Virgil’s brain identified as an international bank, yet it wasn’t actually used that often.  Only by the truly desperate, or something like that. 

When Virgil realized Logan was waiting for an answer, he shrank into himself.  “Oh, right, uh yeah, that sounds...fine.  That sounds fine.  Just show me where the bathroom and kitchen are, I think that’s all I’ll be needing...” Virgil managed to force out.  Seriously, he was out of social energy today.  He wanted to sleep. 

“I’ll also show you a bedroom, seeing as that would probably be useful to you,” Logan said, and Virgil mentally berated himself for the slip.  Of course he had forgotten about a bedroom, the thing actually needed for sleep. 

“Right,” Virgil replied quietly.  “Well, uh...lead the way?”

Janus leaned back in his chair, waving away the vision on his desk that showed Logan leading this Virgil kid through the house.  Oh, he definitely needed to berate Logan for some emotional slip-ups, and what even was that earlier in the library, but for now, he would leave it be.  Logan was obviously smitten with  this boy already.  Ah, to be young and in love.  Such foolishness, really.  Granted, Janus could hardly talk, not when he was about to check in on Patton, but one could certainly pretend that Janus didn’t have any weaknesses.  And he didn’t, in a way.  Nobody except for Janus himself and perhaps Nexis, depending on how observant she really was, knew about his minor...affections for Patton.  Nobody even knew Patton existed anymore, at least not anyone who mattered.  They all assumed he was dead, and in a way, he was.  The Patton that would kill anyone who so much as looked at him wrong was gone, although that murderous spark certainly still resided in him.  Janus wasn’t sure he’d be able to stand Patton if he wasn’t at least somewhat a bastard. 

Janus muttered a few words under his breath, and an image appeared over his desk.  Patton was walking his dog, like he did every evening around this time.  Janus just liked watching him walk.  It was such a simple thing, really, walking.  Personally, Janus preferred slithering.  Yet when Patton did it, Janus found himself wanting to walk with him. 

Patton, of course had no clue about Janus checking in on him.  If he did, well, that would be creepy, at least in Pat’s eyes.  Or maybe he would find it endearing, or any number of things, because honestly, Patton was so unpredictable in his emotions, yet when he felt something, he felt it with all of his heart. 

Janus was interrupted from his stalking watching of Patton when he heard a knock on the door.  He sighed, waving the image of Patton away.  Was it really already time for his next appointment?

Patton enjoyed walking his dog, like he always did.  The snake charm on his wrist started glowing, and Patton could never quite figure out what it meant.  Janus had gifted it to him a few years back, and it worked well as a protection charm, but the glowing always unsettled him.  It simply didn’t have an explanation, and Patton had never bothered to ask Janus what it meant. 

Patton was startled from his thoughts when his dog, Fluffy, began growling.  Fluffy was a very specifically trained dog that was able to smell vampires, and while he was basically useless when faced with one, he was a good warning.  It was only good sense to have a dog that could smell vampires when Patton’s blood type was AB-negative. 

Patton immediately began checking his surroundings.  He was alone on the sidewalk, and none of the houses near him seemed to be occupied.  Of course.  The one area of neighborhood where almost no people reside, and this is where Fluffy had smelled a vampire.  What were the chances of that happening?

Patton chuckled to himself.  The chances of that happening were pretty much nonexistent.  Well then, it was a vampire who thought it could get away with breaking the 8-9 PM rule.  Guess it’ll just have to deal with being turned into dust!

Patton debated continuing on his walk as though nothing were wrong when a dark figure stepped out from behind a bush.  Patton didn’t have so much as a second before the figure was less than five feet away from him.  Ah.  The vampire.  They had at least a few inches on Patton, and was wearing a leather jacket with sunglasses.  Was that...a coffee in their right hand?  Patton moved to touch the charm on their wrist, but nothing happened.  No turning to dust.  Patton looked at it, confused, and the vampire gave him a grin. 

“Ah, looks like we’re twinsies, babes,” He said, holding up his own wrist, which held an identical protection charm.  No.  Janus had promised him that he would be left alone.  He was retired, he didn’t want back in the business. 

“Tell Deceit I’m not coming back,” Patton growled, which would have been a very funny noise coming from the 5’9” man wearing a light blue polo shirt with a cat-hoodie wrapped around his shoulders, a man who simply seemed to give off Dad vibes.  It would’ve been funny coming from that man if he wasn’t a very infamous assassin. 

The vampire held up his hands in concession.  “Janny doesn’t know I’m here, and he would kill me if he did.  Name’s Remy, and while yes, I am here for business purposes, this falls outside of any orders Snake Boy has given me,” The vampire, or Remy, explained. 

“That really doesn’t change my answer,” Patton replied.  He just wanted to get home to his other doggos.  He didn’t need to deal with this right now. 

“I had kinda figured you were gonna say that, babes, which is why I brought this along,” Remy replied, and he pulled something out of his jacket pocket.  Patton squinted for a second to see what it was, but once he did, his entire body stiffened. 

“So,” he started, “what exactly do you need?”

Notes:

SOOOO idk if that counts as a cliffhanger but if it does, then get ready because THAT WILL BE HAPPENING A LOT

Also Idk if you noticed but I was calling myself out when Virgil was like "hmm it seems like I'm stuck in a book with a lazy author". I hope that got some laughs, because when I was rereading it, I laughed. Yes, I laugh at my own jokes. I make no apologies.

Please comment, it pushes me to write more often and therefore post more often :)

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