#arosidesweek2023

final day and prompt for @aro-sides-week is celebration

It's an interminable, unstoppable question, seemingly everyone can find a way to bring up. "Are you dating anyone"

Janus has heard all the variations, all the many ways people can find to bring the subject up or subtly ask about it, and they only get more creative after they've said they're uncomfortable talking about their relationships.

So they make plans, and thankfully have the group of friends just ready just jump in and say this is something they've wished could happen.

They make a 'no romance party' and lay down forfeits for anyone who comes if they bring up relationships accidentally, or decide to flirt.

Remus even starts a betting pool over who will do forfeits the most, starting high with bets that Roman or Janus will do multiple for flirting as they both fall back on it sometimes, but Patton will do the most by bringing up the relationships of people he knows and forgetting that it's a party to forget all that and the expectations everyone needs someone that comes with it.

The first 'party game' if it can be called that, is writing down one complaint over amatonormativity and two topics of conversation that could replace it in everyday conversation for the better.

Everyone laughs when as the evening goes on and forfeits like eating weird combinations of food, or trying to climb as high as possible are done that their answers from that game are now in a hat and shaken in front of whomever had to do a forfeit to encourage something else to be spoken about.

Roman is the one who ends up accidentally flirting the most, and also who argues with the forfeits the most even while doing them. Quite reasonably he points out that flirting can, or at least should, only be classified as such when there's an intent behind it rather than just enjoying himself or wanting to compliment his friends.

They all agree with his point, but still insist on the forfeits being done just for the fun of it.

Patton does and up with the most forfeits for mentioning the romance of other people in ways that with anyone else would lead to questions about the relationships of people there. He finally starts gripping his latest page of a few other subjects after a dare to go a week without his cuddly toys on his bed. He would try, but definitely got permission to stop if it's too difficult to go without that source of comfort

By the end of the night Logan is suggesting ways they can bring more conversations like this around them without making full events to avoid it

He's not amused by Virgil's suggestion to scream at anyone who does and release the stress from the questions in such an unavoidable way it makes the person trying to ask them as uncomfortable as the questions make them

For @aro-sides-week prompt of romo-aro I have 2 ideas written down that would work, so damn, I'm gonna type them both and see if either actually fits

This feels like who I've been, someone who dreams of the fairytale ending then find their skin crawls when they get close to it. If I'm understanding it wrong then oh well

Virgil would fit this, want the connection with other people without being crowded and desire romance as a form of limited socialisation.

He might convince himself the discomfort is social anxiety, until his partner sits him down to discuss why he's avoided some things or snaps at others seemingly at random.

If Virgil is dating Janus then they'd discuss boundaries and what exactly he wants out of a relationship, Virgil only remembering later he should probably have asked the same of Janus but finding his attempts to do so are dissuaded by Janus focusing on giving him no way to put pressure on himself to do anything they might enjoy in relationships.

Roman is definitely someone who's romo-aro to some extent all of the time. He loves disney and happily ever afters and probably focuses so much on wanting that dream ending, he doesn't realise when the desire conflicts with things he either dislikes or actually wants.

So he'd mesh well with someone, probably get along like a house on fire with Logan, because even if they're arguing they both know it's good natured, to the point that if Roman's enjoying an argument enough he'll help Logan if he stumbles over an insult

It takes a while for Roman to start thinking in happily ever afters and realise Logan is getting included in them

But then Logan asks him out and it feels like the best and worst thing at the same time.

He says no

He keeps on saying no when Logan brings it up again, now with points over shared interests, desires, and confessions of feelings

Because on the level, it's everything Roman wants, it's a chance at a happily ever after

But just beneath that it the expectations of romance of things that are expected in relationships, and fears, because they do get along brilliantly, but what happens when he can't be something for Logan, when things he's uncomfortable with come up?

Logan stops asking when Roman tries to explain this, eventually describing the two of them as bonfires, next to each other they'd lovely, a haze of warmth around each other, but put them too close and the fire is big enough to spread and destroy everything around them.

They're better off as friends for each other anyway.

And later he accepts something else after more talks with Logan each time letting Roman see he doesn't understand something more about these disney romance he dreamt of.

Roman didn't understand. These relationships everyone got into confused him. How was he supposed to know who he could or couldn't date? How was Logan so understanding but bewildered when he said that it feels wrong, that it itches under his skin uncomfortably each time he asked him out?

Soon enough he puts a necklace on, just a show piece he liked, and declared that he wouldn't date while he wore it. That he'd take time to understand his own wants and wear the necklace to remind them he's not going to date anyone.

for @aro-sides-week day 4 Free Day, I'm just gonna project on Logan some of my frustrations about finding things to read

Logan just wanted to relax with a new story that doesn't have needless romance pushed in

He'd tried looking at history books and found it unavoidable, was uncomfy with kids books, both as too easy to read and definitely not including him in the target audience

Trying to read murders and mysteries could occasionally work, but weren't something he wanted constantly. Especially when one too many motives boiled down to love or sex.

It he wasn't sure there were other people out there feeling like this too, he'd wonder if spending hours looking through bookshops, libraries, and searching through online recommendations pages was absurd when all he wanted to avoid for a while was romance.

Fiction is meant to be an escape for people, not another way that societies views pushed and pushed onto him the importance of love and romance everyone swore was there.

Hell, after the first few times this had happened, he didn't even care if a love story did turn up, just so long as it didn't take over the entire fucking thing. He'd find a book that sounded so interesting, only for the concept to slowly dissolve into a way to inconvenience two people the author wanted to date

The world doesn't revolve around love and Logan was damn tired of the narrative trying to make it do so.

For @aro-sides-week prompt Flags

Let's see if I can still write while exhausted and in pain cause my leg hurts

Remus making them from scrap fabrics?

Logan enjoying the colour specifications and easy understanding he can get from knowing flags, wearing just 1 or 2 pin badges to show his, indicating to them in awkward conversations

It becomes a small joke among their friends that if Logan wants a subject changing he'll gesture to his badges

But don't doubt that if he's speaking to a stranger or got approached when out with them, the minute the badges are indicated to everyone is there to help him

Roman and Remus especially will go on an offensive, anything they can do or say to turn the discomfort back on the person talking to Logan will be done,

Roman including for people too pushy, or still trying to chat Logan up, naming colours from their out fit and musing on why they needed to embody a flag for something unpleasant and acting confused when told there's no such flag.

Logan mostly out of amusement the first time he did this wrote down the colours and insult given so sometimes actually corrects Roman if the colours coincide with one called out before.

I'm going through it at the moment, so not going to do this week as I'd usually do it. Rather I've got my ideas in my notebook and I'm just going to bullet point ideas or possible scenes beyond that while my attention stays on this.

Happy Aro Sides Week everyone

This is for day one prompt from @aro-sides-week of realisation

Remus loving to talk and tease about all sex and romance tropes or expectations but never quite understands or believes people actually want that stuff

Roman calling him out on it eventually and Remus questions why he's taking jokes so seriously

"Of course I don't joke like you! I really want this!"

The thought throwing Remus for a loop because they weren't speaking about any person in particular, just romance as a whole

And he has no clue how that works, how can you want something, when he barely knows anyone he'd want to share that stuff with at all

Though picnics are nice and meeting people when getting into or out of trouble seems fantastic, it's definitely not a date thing that he expects from either of those

He questions it further, nose wrinkling and a dozen or more jokes being made only to reveal those are things Roman and the friends that end up walking into their argument over romance actually being wanted fully do desire some if not all these things Remus had been sure were just made up for fiction or to sell things.

Roman coming out with some weird metaphor about Remus making a joke out of his feast of desires and Remus counters with well maybe that's not sustenance for me then and I'd starve if I ate it.

Logan and Janus by then being there interrupting, Logan to say that could mean Remus is aromantic, and Janus to mutter something about thank god Remus doesn't desire it cause they'd never prevent him from a dozen romances at once

Remus agreed then demands an explanation of what Logan means, only for them all to realise that given the nature of identities the metaphors helping him to understand aren't things Logan is good at using in explanations.