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Logan fucking hated magic. You can’t study it, you can’t create it without a certain set of skills that are invisible to a non magic users eye, and people relied way too heavily on it. Somehow, at the same time, no one used it for things that they should. Certain things people needed to survive weren't “allowed”.
Sure, that enchantress can grow a million roses at the snap of her fingers, but Athena forbid she do the same for hemp, which could save lives. Even with cannabis being legal. Sure, that warlock could heal that small cut or heal a vein without any tools, but even with the ability, you know for damn sure he’s not allowed to kill the cancer festering inside a poor man's brain.
Logan fucking hated magic. Almost as much as he hated his fucking body.
“Lillian, dear, come downstairs! We need help with groceries,” Logan’s mother called, causing him to sigh heavily. Sure, his parents both had magic and had the ability to make the groceries go where they belong themselves, but why not make their son do it? Why not come up with a new way to deadname him since he came out?
“LILLIAN!” His mother called again after Logan didn’t move. He knew his mother knew exactly what she was doing. He would be yelled at for being disrespectful, yelled at for not being punctual and so much more. He finally got up when he heard the car door slam, but he did so slowly, and descended the stairs the same.
“There you are! What took you so long? If I go into that room I better not find a boy!” His mother spat. Oh joy, Logan was going to have to deal with getting his room checked. Again. For the third time in a month. Joy .
“We already brought in all the groceries.” His father said, apologetically, not looking Logan in the eye. Logan once again sighed, running his fingers through his hair, seeing turquoise sparks around the food that was being put away into the way to clean cabinets and fridge.
“Sorry for being slow.” Logan said, trying to keep all emotion out of his voice. He got a scoff from his mother and a swift nod from his father, before his mother just decided to walk up the stairs rambling. It was the same thing all the time. How she owned this house and her property and she gave birth to Logan and how dare Logan be anything but perfect.
Logan knew exactly what the room search was going to be like before his mother even slammed open his door. He was able to grab his globe before it fell, but it was instantly taken from his hands.
“Are you hiding drugs in this?! What’s important about this?!” His mom basically spat as she tried and failed to rip open a globe. She failed. “Ugh! Whatever!” She said, and threw it on the ground, yet again failing in breaking it as she turned her sight on Logan’s bed.
“Stop getting stuff like this, too.” She huffed, throwing Logan’s pillow to the ground. It was covered in planets and stars with the colors of the nonbinary flag, and while that is how he identified, he would never come out with it, considered he still wanted to at least be taken seriously as a man.
She looked through his entire room, tearing things to pieces while Logan could do nothing but stare by the doorway. She ripped down his posters, investigated and moved things around on his desk, looked through, unfolded, and dropped most of his clothes, and opened and rummaged through many of his books. All Logan could do was stare.
“You don’t have anything interesting in here. Live a little hun! I’m getting my nails done tomorrow. You’re coming. Toodles!” Logan’s mom said sweetly, acting like a completely different person despite standing in the center of the room she just destroyed. She left with her fingers waving and a genuine smile that made Logan want to bash his head against his wall.
He didn’t cry as he restored his things. Tears flowed down his cheeks, but he made no noise. There were a lot of easy fixes, and the rest he just needed more tape for. Mostly. He put his globe back on his shelf, the other books there simply on the floor below. The lava lamp was left untouched. He remade his bed, the galaxy being depicted in nonbinary colors making him feel much better, the thought of leaving not leaving his head while fixing what remained of his things, restoring them to their rightful places.
If he had magic it would be easier. If he was born a different person, his life would be easier. It was rare to be born to two magic users and have no abilities of any kind, especially with the kinds his parents had and had access to. With his genes he should be able to do more magic than anyone in his school combined, or at least more powerful than them all. With his private tutors he should be able to. With his dedication to the craft he should be able to.
He had the fucking traits of a magic user. He had the genes. He looked like he should have either elemental or emotion driven magic, two of the most powerful in the world. He had deep brown skin softer than any fur he’d ever count, but he knew it came with the antlers that are not quite grown and the eyes that were unlike any of his family. He had monolids and deep brown eyes, but that wasn’t what was different. What was different was the lack of pupils that made his eyes rounder and more doll-like. His nose was also smaller and blacker than any of the rest of him, as well as the freckles on the tops of his arms, leg, and back that shined whiter than any color found in nature. His tail was striped black brown, the underside the same white as his freckles, and his antlers were small, much like a baby deer.
His lack of magic only made his parents more cruel. His mother had elemental magic, air being used to help with groceries earlier. She was a doeborn. His father had senses magic, the ability to know what others could see and hear and taste. He was a geckoborn. All his siblings were extraordinary, Logan was the one who actually raised them, he nurtured their talents and magic. His father seemed to be just there, not interfering with his mother's hatred or bigotry.
Logan’s siblings all respect Logan as they would a parent, though less when they got stronger. His youngest sibling, Matilda, could perform the perfect levitation by age 5, her being an eagleborn. The second youngest, Thomas, could conjure more of himself than anyone Logan had ever known by age seven, him being a butterflyborn. The third, Hermione, could do a host of things at age eight that even with tutors Logan suspected he wouldn’t be able to do in a lifetime. She was an owlborn.
It goes on, and on, and on, up to the sibling just younger than Logan, at 16. At least it did, during what was known as the “Before”. Before Chealsea couldn’t handle being a parent at Logan's age. Before she knew she had the ability to get rid of it and tried. However, she could make a spell that would've ended the growth of the cells inside her. It worked too well, and Logan was left alone. With children to raise rather than siblings to care for.
Remus fucking loved magic. The exact moment he decided as much was when he was looking down his pants after watching way too much hentai. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to keep what was there or not. The tentacles he made as a dick, that is. Or those were. Whatever. They kept wiggling down his underwear. There were a lot of choices he could make.
“REMUS!!” His mother, Fiona, called loudly. Remus reversed the transformation quickly and went downstairs cheerily, wondering what he could have done to cause a reaction out of her this time. Being a child psychologist, she rarely gave Remus reactions, in hope it would get him to stop doing such things. He did, for the most part, stop doing things that could hurt others in any way, however, because of his mother Shelby’s reactions, he couldn’t resist small pranks.
He wasn’t expecting his mother to be putting groceries away by hand, and rather violently too, when he came downstairs. “YOU!” She said loudly and pointed when she saw him standing in the center of the staircase. “You know Logan Sanders, right?” She demanded.
“I know of him.” Remus chirped, confused, thinking back. He knew the Sanders. He knew there were a few boys, Thomas being the only name he remembered. The one he knew of best was the oldest, considering they were in the same grade. Remus took them for a girl, but now he wasn’t sure.
“Okay. I’m sorry for the harsh tone. I’m just. Extremely frustrated right now. How are you feeling?” Fiona asked, her tone not changing, but it very clear she wasn’t reacting to anything Remus had done.
“Same as before.” Remus nodded with his usual deranged smile. His mother was there when he cast almost a hundred spells in succession and changed his body in so many different ways in a hit of anger. He didn’t know what he wanted to look like, just different. He ended up without tits and with tentacle dicks, so he now felt well.
He was already squid like, so it was fun for everything to match for that little bit. His eyes and mustache both resemble squids, in the tentacles in place of hair and the pupils being just like that of a squid. His hair was the color of seaweed, and sometimes during important events he’d actually turn it into seaweed. He’d do it all the time if it didn’t make him so tired. His eyes were usually green, and his emotions shone in them sometimes, but he rarely changed those. His skin was dark but carried a faint light blue undertone similar to the sea.
“Alright. Logan. I don’t care how you feel about him. Well, I do, but, just, UGH! Y'know what? I don’t care how you feel about him, you are going to be his friend. You will do whatever it takes to make him comfortable, and be his friend. Got it?” Fiona said, very seriously, anger still strong in her voice.
“Yeah sure. I understand.” Remus said, equally as serious. His mother was usually so cautious with her wording, he couldn’t remember a time she ever said she doesn’t care how he feels. He knows it’s not what she meant by that, but what it meant now was that he was going to listen. And apparently, he had a new friend to make!
“Good. Be a good boy and grab your brother, alright?” She asked, less serious looking, but still clearly in thought. Remus smiled brighter, this time happy with his mother's choice of words. He nodded quickly and bounded up the stairs on all fours.
Roman woke up to thumping, hard thumping, and depending on the closeness it was probably the stairs outside his room. His suspicions were confirmed with the attic door slamming open, revealing Remus, because, who else.
“Good morning brother!” Remus screamed, his smile wide and deranged like usual, however unlike usual, it didn’t seem very real.
“Good morning. What’s the matter?” Roman asked drearily. He tried not to show his concern completely, knowing if he did Remus would likely deflect, but it was strange to see such a lack of chaotic energy oozing from Remus right now.
“WELL. Mom just pretty much demanded I become friends with someone I’m not even sure I know of. So. That’s fun. She also said it like it was the most important thing in the world. So. I’m not sure how worried I should be about the guy. At least I think they’re a guy.” Remus said honestly, infinitely worrying Roman more. He didn’t even make a single innuendo.
“Let’s go find him.” Was Roman’s first thought and response, making the chaotic smile truly return. Remus squawked like a pterodactyl, turned around, and once again descended the stairs, on all fours, leaving Roman to get dressed.
He doesn’t really have time to dwell on his outfit much but, come on, he’s Roman. He picks out a gorgeous white binder with silver and gold crossing swords all over it, an original white “could be gayer” tank top that he sewed himself, one long enough to show the binder, fabulous white jeans, dark red fishnets showing through the large rips, and black doc martens with rainbow seams and laces. He grabbed some horn polish and lightly rubbed it against the golden swirls protruding at the top of his head, doing the same to the golden scales running up the upper sides of his arms. He grabbed some cocoa butter and rubbed that against the scales on his sides and hips that are hidden by his clothing, not even trying to reach for his spine.
He kind of hated the contrast of his dark skin with red undertones to the brightness of his horns, as well as the shimmer of his fire red hair. The orange undertones of the scales almost covering him weren’t exactly pretty, but he could live with it. Standing next to Remus almost always made them look like two halves of a rainbow, so it was acceptable.
When he gets downstairs where Remus is already sitting, he’s surprised to see the other has changed. What was once a simple large tee shirt and boxers was now more elaborate. Where his chest was flat now wasn’t and he wore a sheer shirt with octopi suspiciously placed, as well as very short black shorts, the front and back pockets being longer. He wore dark green tentacle stockings and high heels with what looked to be real swimming fish that Roman didn’t want to think about in the front thick of the heel. His octopus looking eyes were now accentuated by purple eyeshadow, thick neon green eyeliner, and a rainbow on each cheek. His mustache remained squirming on his face as he brought things to his lips for the small arms to grab and push away. Roman sighed upon seeing him, but simultaneously didn’t expect anything less.
The two walked into the kitchen where Fiona was joined by their second mother, Shelby. She took one look at Remus before taking a deep breath. Everyone gave her some time to breathe and take in Remus, even Fiona, being much more used to this considering she spent more time in the house and around the boys. When Shelby adjusted, she was the first to speak.
“Hello boys! What’s up?” She spoke, her voice level, though it was clear her eyes wanted to twitch.
“We heard something about Logan. We were wondering where we could go find him?” Roman asked, clearly having not remembered that their mother was the one who told Remus about the other.
“Ah. Yes,” Fiona started, glancing at Remus moderately proudly. “I heard his mother talking at the store, which is what brought me home in a bit of a huff. I’m still sorry about that,” She paused, waiting for Remus’ nod before continuing, “but I’m not incredibly sure to find him. I’m certainly not sure that I’ve seen his father’s car in the parking lot of the house on the top of the hill.”
Both Roman and Remus’ eyes widened as they glanced at each other and back at their mother. The people that lived on the top of the hill were known to be distant and incredibly rich, as well as incredibly mysterious, incredibly hot, and have never been seen ever. No one knew who lived at the top of the hill. Remus has known the Sanders, and while he agreed on the attractive and mysterious part, he had definitely seen them. Remus smiled wide as he realized that his new proclaimed friend lived there, and that he would be able to find out rich people's secrets.
Logan didn’t really have friends. He knew other people, for sure, but he didn’t really have people he could actually call friends. After his sister died and he started shouldering full responsibility for his siblings. What little friends he did have faded soon after. He was sad about it, incredibly, but he didn’t really have time as he was getting used to new responsibilities. The closest thing he had to an actual friend was a lab partner that was in most of his classes.
“LILLIAN! ANSWER THE DOOR!” Logan’s mother’s voice called loudly, despite the fact she was in the living room and Logan was in his room in the basement. He did as he was told anyway, wanting to meet his quota of his mother calling him his deadname today.
He walked down slowly, forever frustrated. With his mother, with his chest, with his magic, with his fucking antlers. They yet again slammed against the top of his doorway on the way out of his room, giving him an ache in his head. They weren’t tall enough to do anything useful, they just were more opportunity to get hurt.
He opened the door. He closed the door. He opened it again to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. Then he promptly shut it, slammed his eyes closed and pressed his hand to his chest, hard. Fuck, he was gay. He was very very gay. He was apparently specifically gay for dragon horns. Fuck, he’s fucking gay.
“Who was that? Were you just rude to guests ?” His mother demanded, seeming to coincidentally forget the fact that she was the one who instituted the policy that no one should be opening the door to strangers. He made a mistake by not looking, he’ll admit that. He knew the rule, he knew no one knew where he lived, and shouldn’t. But still.
“How dare you! Who was that? You used to be such a good girl. What happened to you? You’re rude to guests, you’re delusional with this ‘Logan’ stuff,” she spat more than said the name, going on an even longer rant, despite the fact there were still guests outside, that she found to be extremely important. Guests Logan didn’t know. And based on their ages, guests his parents didn’t know either. At least he hoped they didn’t.
Logan wanted to think he didn’t know how it happened, what shut her up. One second she had her hands on her hips while she spat transphobic and generally horrid things, the next, she was screaming in agony. The knife that pierced her hand and her side wasn’t even sharp, but it was Logan’s favorite. A gift from his father to show his silent support after Logan gained the courage to come out. A rainbow-esque metallic kitchen knife with no matching set. The knife that led to him and all his siblings getting their own pride flags on custom knives, all to show support, while his mother’s was a simple silver. The knives of course didn’t actually have the flags, but the knives were ordered from a website specializing in hidden pride things. His father’s was similar to Logan’s, minus the trans flag handle, surprising Logan and his siblings to no end. His mother just thought there were pretty meshed colors.
It took eight solid seconds of his mother's screaming before Logan’s father did anything. He didn’t pull the knife out, but he brought a cloth for the blood, and opened the door to see the dragon teen with a worried look, the other with piqued interest. No one said a thing as Logan’s mother cursed wildly, acting nothing like she would ever in front of her guests, screaming about how useless Logan is and how he was going to be punished when the two got back home. How she would punish him. Things she had never said outside the house.
Logan had emotion based powers, apparently. He always was a late bloomer. It always made the reward better.
“Well! Hi there!” The boy on the left said cheerily, drawing Logan’s eyes, but he knew his face and emotions remained blank. He could feel that he was being rude, but felt he just couldn’t do anything else.
“Hello. I’m afraid I don’t know you. May I ask your name?” He turned to Roman, “Names?”
“I’m Roman! This is my brother, Remus.” The right boy with the gorgeous horns, Roman, introduced happily. Though his eyes gave away his fear that he was introducing himself to someone violent. Remus’ didn't have the same fear.
“It’s wonderful to meet you!” The other boy purred, wagging his eyebrows. Normally, this would make Logan keel over and have to take a couple deep breaths, or shut his brain down. But his brain was already shut down. Right now he just stared. Normally a lot of different things would be happening. Normally he would have gotten in that car his mother and father got in. Normally he would be on route to the hospital and still getting screamed and cursed at. Right now, though, he was talking to two cute boys.
Being best friends with Remus was an interesting experience that included a lot of interesting things. One of those apparently included texts like the one he received this morning. “tentacle cocks !!!” was all it read. There was no follow up, not that Janus truly expected any. They didn’t respond, and they didn’t know if they truly wanted to portal to his house to investigate further.
“Janus, dear, please get down here.” Janus’ mother called, effectively answering their question of leaving the house. They swung their legs over the bed, standing with their knees and sinking below his bed still in their pajamas, sinking into a crouch above the refrigerator.
“Hello mother.” They announced, their mother reacting with a yelp and spinning around to face them. They stared down at her and wanted to cringe, looking at such horrible inaccurate resemblance. They were happy they were adopted, they were. They also appreciated how their new parents tried to understand them as a person. They weren’t sure they wanted them to. They didn’t suspect their parents would anytime soon.
“I’m going to Remus’ house.” Was all Janus said, before sitting than sliding off the refrigerator and onto the floor of Remus’ bedroom, where the hentai lover was stunningly gone. Janus doesn’t remember a time Remus wasn’t in his room. Something important had happened. They had missed something very, very important. Fuck.
“Hello Mrs. and Mrs. Kline. Remus sent me a confusing text. Sorry for coming in unannounced.” Janus explained as they entered the kitchening, knowing and seeing that the others’ parents would be there, despite the two being more mysterious to Janus. While they spent a lot of time at the house, authority figures were a no from them, thanks.
“Remus and Roman went on an adventure to befriend Logan Sanders.” Shelby explained easily, shooing Janus with her hand humorously. Janus nodded and turned around, turning the kitchen doorway into a portal that placed them inside of the Sanders’ gate. They arrived at the scene of a woman getting into a car screaming and Remus and Roman standing side by side in front a the front door.
“Hello Logan.” Janus called easily as they slithered up next to Remus. They weren't in his true form, but their walking was still classified the same.
“Janus.” Logan replied, his eyes blank, though seemingly from somewhere in the back of them, there lied unbridled joy. So much joy. Logan did something bad, and it was proud of himself. As he should be. Janus really had missed something. FUCK. Remus and Roman stood there, watching the exchange, Roman with confusion, Remus with his usual cackling smile shining brightly, though his octopus looking pupils shined orange in the flickers of gold and surrounding the green of his eyes, the color of confusion, from him, at least.
“So. You two know each other. That’s a lot better than coming here and just trying to convince you to be my friend. You had a nice house. I don’t want you to think I want to be your friend because of your house.” Remus rambled quickly, trying to break the tension. He was cut off by Logan’s ear flicking slightly, showing his confusion in a way he hated. Hated more than regularly being confused.
“ Had a nice house?” Logan asked confused, not exactly angry.
“Well. You just did something to your mom. Enough to make her curse you out. In public. You clearly just went through a whole thought process. I don’t know you yet, but, if you stabbed your mother with something in the house when angry, then, I can’t imagine what your house looks like right now. From the inside.” Remus said, exercising extreme control as he didn’t make a joke about his last words.
Understanding crossed Logan’s face before surprise, and then Logan’s eyes rolled back slightly and he fell to the ground. His antlers made a loud clang as they hit the hardwood floor he fell back to, yet his head didn’t touch the floor.
“Well. Hmm. This was a different conversation than I imagined.” Roman finally interjected, earning understanding nods from the two still conscious.
“Welp. Let’s go.” Janus leaned over Logan, grabbing the smaller magician by the armpits and grabbing shoving him through a portal like you would a bowling ball.
“I thought you’d never been here and thought that you wanted to find out who lived inside.” Remus questioned, though followed Janus without question through the second portal, this time walking directly into Logan’s room, Roman right behind him.
“I wanted to find out what was--. I wanted to find out what made Logan tick. As a person, what made his mother the way she was. I’ve been inside here, many, many times. Never through the front door, though.” Janus answered, giving both Remus and Roman more questions than answers.
“You wanted to see what was inside Logan huh? Wake him up and let me talk to him.” Remus winked, not being able to resist, though his words lacked his usual creativity.
“Is he going to be okay?” Roman asked cautiously, radiating clear discomfort being in a strangers house without their actual permission. And it was clear he was thinking about what Remus his said, and apparently Janus as well, considering they didn’t even step into the kitchen, everyone just seeing the outside of the house, and now Logan's room.
Being able to go into the shadow realm was not a useful skill. It just wasn’t. Being able to be invisible wasn’t exactly better. Especially when the condition was so embarrassing. All magic comes with a price and everything, and for some, the power of being invisible for as long as you wanted and as invisible as you wanted was fine, especially if the only condition was wearing no clothes whatsoever. Virgil did not share these feelings, even if his certain brand of invisibility wasn’t even visible by others equally invisible.
Virgil was extremely lucky he could throw his clothes into shadow realms and pocket dimensions only he could access, but still, it was horrifyingly risky to try and get dressed and conceal the fact he was there in public. Especially when he was barely outside his house, but this time, his dad was inside. He also wasn’t climbing his house naked, no matter how powerful his invisibility is.
Not being able to think, he sneakily opened a portal and walked through, inside, not registering the fact he could get dressed there, just curling into a ball and pressing on his chest as much as he could, wanting to cry at the fact he was born without transformation magic. He just wanted his chest gone. He would voluntarily get his magic ripped from him for it.
He knew of someone who did have transformation magic/ Remus Kline. The two had never talked, but Virgil knew from seeing him interact with anyone how powerful he was and how dedicated he was to perfecting his craft. He also knew that Remus wrote his own phone number and snap on every bathroom wall in the school, and that phone number was saved and untouched in Virgil’s phone.
Virgil wasn’t going to text him. He didn’t want to text him. He had more important things to worry about right now. Like putting clothes on and then finding a way inside his home. He wasn’t going to text him. He was probably doing something right now, and they didn’t know each other. Well. They’ve never talked to each other. They knew each other. Through Janus. But still.
v >“hey.”
Fuck.
Wait . As Virgil realized he could put his clothes back on inside the portal, he slammed his face into his hands quickly, groaning, before forgetting the fact he sent the text to get back into his outfit. He wore black stockings that were almost impossible to find when accounting for long blonde tails, and even harder to put on considering he had to be gentle to not rip them, having his claws freshly sharpened. The binder was so satisfying to put on, his chest instantly flatter, though he tried not to think about how it was without. He slipped on his black and dark purple striped shirt, topped off by the baggiest black tee shirt he owned, all before getting a response.
Before he checked his phone, he was thrown out of his pocket dimension, clearly visible as he was thrown into a tree, his ears turned back in irritation. His phone dinged again and he checked, once again conscious of his chest as he read the conversation he had started.
r >“hey ;)”
r > “busy atm, but free whenever wherever ;)”
Virgil scoffed at the messages, unsure if he should be offended by being perceived as easy, if that was just how Remus was, or if Remus thought he was someone else.
v > “this is virgil.”
r > “i’m aware darling ;)”
v > “sorry for bothering you. you already said you were busy so. yeah. sorry.”
r > “actually, he’s asleep. so. whats up cabbage?”
r > “*kitten”
Virgil didn’t know what to respond with, or why the fuck he was blushing against the tree he still rested against. He hated the animal he looked like, he hated the fact he was the only one he knew alive with two tails, and he hated being called anything referring to either. Virgil also didn’t know how to actually explain his predicament. He knew Remus was also trans, so he doubted he’d be judgemental, but you could also never be too sure.
You could also never be too sure Remus wouldn’t turn his problem into something truly horrible for a time because he wanted to. Virgil decided not to answer at all. He didn’t think Remus would truly be cruel, but. You couldn’t be sure. Fuck, Virgil just wished he could punch his problems.
He picked himself up and tried to begin walking to his house, realizing he was in the completely wrong part of town extremely quickly. There were white picket fences everywhere, one specifically drawing his attention because of the height of the house in general. His portals hated him. His own magic fucking hated him.
“Virgil!! Well look at that. The gang’s all here!” Remus called from out of a window, Virgil wanting to face plant into the dirt. He created a portal quickly, not realizing as he made it it quickly turned from his purple to Janus’ gold, and all of a sudden he was kicking someone’s side table. It hurt. Bad.
“FUCK.” Virgil yelled, grabbing his foot, causing the deer boy who seemed to have been previously asleep to shoot up out of unconsciousness. Virgil, quickly overwhelmed, let go of his foot and allowed himself to fall backward. This time, Janus allowed him the piece of mind, but not letting the pocket dimension close completely. Now Virgil was stuck he didn’t know where, seemingly in the room of a guy he didn’t know, with Janus and Remus, together. Fun times. Fun fucking times.