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shima-draws · 4 years

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FINALLY NEW OC TIME BABEY

The boy is Emrys, a prince from the Mirrorplane who is on the run from his own kingdom! The girl is Lacie, an orphan who was raised by a guild that rescued her from a somewhat abusive/manipulative friendship as a child!

More (incredibly long) info about these kiddos under the cut~

Emrys (or Em for short)

Age: 23

Hair color: Golden orange

Eye color: Red

Element: Lightning

Emrys is from the Mirrorplane, the parallel world to ATS. His kingdom is caught in a huge power struggle between all the other kingdoms, and Emrys’ mother, a queen who only seeks power from others, is leading them straight into ruin. Emrys is destined to receive the Crest of the Crowned, which is basically a huge emblem of power, as soon as he’s officially crowned as the king. Except that the queen plans to utilize the emblem’s power to start a grand war, which. Is not good!! The night Emrys finds this out, he plans to escape the kingdom along with his childhood best friend Lixin, a regular human who’s basically being used as a pawn to be married off to Emrys’ younger sister in order to create powerful elemental children. Yikes! Emrys is also engaged to a princess from another kingdom, but it’s an arranged marriage, and he doesn’t have feelings for her (so there’s another good reason for him to leave). Lixin is caught during his escape, and Emrys leaps to his rescue, but in the scuffle things get tense and he accidentally kills the guards sent after them. Hands stained with blood, Emrys stumbles into a portal leading to the other side of the Mirrorplane.

Emrys decides that he might as well stay there since he doesn’t know how to get home and he probably shouldn’t go home--he’ll be safer here, and this way his mother can’t use him to start a war. This goes alright for a couple months as he adapts to a world that isn’t constantly fighting with each other, until he realizes that his mother somehow sent people to come look for him and capture him so he can be dragged back home. He also hears word that Lixin is in this world as well. Emrys goes on the run, never sticking around one place for long, and tries to search for Lixin along the way. This is when he meets Lacie!

Personality traits

• Has a hard time trusting people in general. Refuses to get close to people in fear of them getting hurt. Because he's on the run and is a target he tries to keep to himself. A very lone wolf type. Doesn't want other people to get dragged into his problems so he tries to handle everything alone

• Very quiet, observant, INCREDIBLY intelligent--gets really absorbed in books when given the chance. One of the few times his facade falls and he gets Soft and passionate is when he's immersed in reading/studying. Loves absorbing knowledge from this world since it’s different from the Mirrorplane

• Makes scathing remarks often. Doesn't get riled up even when people tempt him. Is able to keep a very cool head most of the time. When he does get angry he gets STUBBORN. Refuses to let people try to talk to him or calm him down. Brushes people off and ignores attempts at support

• You know that he trusts you when he teases you or pokes fun at you

• Very wary. Always keeps an eye out for an escape route

• Careful around people. Knows his strength so he tries not to hurt others

• Deep down tho he's utterly selfless, unbelievably loyal to the people he cares about, and is a truly kind and generous person. He would sacrifice anything, even himself, to keep his friends safe, and beats himself up constantly if one of them gets hurt. Once he learns to open himself up to others he becomes Tender and is able to express himself easier. He's truly a gentle person at heart

• Is awful at romance because he has no experience (even being engaged) and gets flustered easily when it comes to anything with romantic intent. This is like the one thing he has zero confidence in. Lacie usually has to take charge in this department because he’s too hesitant and nervous to figure anything out himself, so he tends to follow her lead, which sometimes leads to disaster but they figure things out one step at a time!

• Was attracted to Lacie immediately but didn’t want to get close to her bc he knew she’d get hurt because of him. WELP

• Develops a huge guilt complex after Lacie loses her arm

Elemental abilities

Lightning elemental: Uses a thin sword/rapier to fight. Is VERY fast and agile. Usually starts by hitting pressure points and jolting them with electricity to numb the nerves. Doesn’t really like using his lightning directly so he tries to stick to the rapier as often as possible

He’s not a huge fan of fighting so he’d rather avoid conflict if necessary (especially after he killed someone on accident before). However he should not be underestimated in battle--he’s been trained how to fight from a young age so he knows what he’s doing. He uses a lot of tactics and smarts to get himself out of sticky situations

Lacie

Age: 21

Hair color: Gray/silver

Eye color: Brown

Element: Metal

Lacie’s parents died when she was very young, so she was sent to an orphanage shortly after. Her parents were bandits, labeled as outlaws, so a lot of the kids teased her and ostracized her. This caused her to hold a grudge against both them and her parents, even though they’d only resorted to thievery to provide for her and themselves. There was, however, one person who reached out to her there--an older girl named Gwendolyn. Gwen was very standoffish and didn’t care what the other children thought of her. She was the first person to treat Lacie normally, so Lacie grew attached to her. However, Gwen used Lacie and treated her as a tool to do what she wanted, but Lacie, too terrified of losing the only ‘friend’ she had, never spoke up about it. Gwen did care about Lacie, and there was a genuine friendship there, but that was overshadowed of her tendency to manipulate Lacie.

Gwen eventually hatched a plan to escape the orphanage and strike out on their own. Lacie agreed and together they snuck out in the middle of the night. (Sounds familiar? Wow, parallels!) The next day, Gwen tried to steal from a person in town, which ended up being a member of the guild nearby. Gwen managed to get to Lacie before getting caught and shoved the stolen items onto her, making her a target. Lacie realized how awful this was and finally gathered the courage to yell at Gwen. The guild member caught up, saw their interaction, and took Gwen in for questioning. He escorted Lacie to the guild, where she was pretty much adopted by the members.

Lacie grew up with the guild and learned compassion and how to forgive her parents. As an adult she’s a very kind, friendly and confident person. She is still burdened by her past but she tries not to let it get to her.

Personality traits

• Not the most polite person since she doesn't really have a filter

• VERY curious. Somewhat naive. Asks a lot of bugging questions if she doesn't know something

• Hot-headed and stubborn. Gets riled up easily, but can control herself when she's angry. Argues a lot but isn't fond of it

• In reality, a very kind person who cares for her friends and would do anything to protect her family. Spirited and determined

• Can be kind of silly, especially when she's trying to cheer others up. Emrys finds her amusing and calls her a dork

• A leader type character...one that can take charge of the situation when everybody else is losing their heads

• Willing to step out of her comfort zone and dive into new adventures without hesitation. She lives for the thrill. Is spontaneous and willing to take risks/chances. Drags Emrys into her fun a lot bc he’s so sheltered as a prince lmao

• Self confident on the outside, insecure in reality (a lot of this comes from the emotional abuse she went through as a kid). But not enough that it's crushing--just enough to make her second guess things sometimes, ESPECIALLY when it comes to Emrys because he's a rubix cube of emotions and she's always afraid of overstepping her boundaries--this is only when she finds out more about him tho. She doesn't mind being an ass to him when they first met because he’s kind of a jerk so her first instinct is to lash out at him

• Isn't necessarily a rule breaker until it's brought up, and then she gets excited about doing daring things. Is almost too enthusiastic about it sometimes

Elemental abilities

Metal elemental: Uses throwing knives infused with magic to fight. Being a metal elemental, she’s able to control their trajectory and can toss them around and have them zip right back to her like boomerangs. She mostly uses these to unbalance enemies and strike them hard enough that they get too dizzy to stand. After she loses her arm, she also utilizes the metal it’s made out of to temporarily transform it into usable weapons.

She’s fine with fighting and is hasty enough to throw herself into battle without thinking, but is fine with peace talks most of the time.

AND NOW onto how these two cuties meet ;)

If it weren’t obvious by now Emrys is a loner and therefore hates guilds and being associated with them. So naturally, after running into Lacie, he treats her with a lot of attitude and snark, which she retaliates against. After Lacie helps him chase off a couple thugs that he stole stolen goods back from (not the people actually chasing him), she somehow coerces him into the guild for a couple days, and he’s unsettled yet warmed by the friendly atmosphere. Emrys eventually admits he has to stick around town for a while to make some money, so Lacie offers to help him out by going out on official guild missions. Emrys is like I don’t need or want your help and she’s like alright fine then try making money on your own, guild missions pay WAY better and you can’t do one without an official member escort. So he’s like. Jesus fine okay I’ll go on the damn mission with you LOL

They go on a couple missions together and start getting close. Emrys is like oh no this is not what I want so he panics and tries to leave town, but Lacie catches up to him and yells him for leaving without saying anything. Unfortunately during this whole mess the trackers sent to follow Emrys find out where he’s hiding. He and Lacie go out on one last goodbye mission together and they get ambushed. They’re horribly outnumbered and even when Emrys resorts to actually fighting his hardest, Lacie gets terribly injured. Emrys manages to fight off the attackers, getting his hair cut off shorter in the process (which is why it’s shorter and in a cute little half bun in the second pic), but Lacie’s losing so much blood at this point--so he stumbles into the closest building in the closest town and GUESS WHO’S IT IS.

YEAH. IT’S THE ROBO FAM!! (Take note that this is like, 2-3 years after they return from the Mirrorplane themselves, so they’re around 25 at this point.)

Elias and Gifre are enjoying a nice evening prosthetic check date when Emrys stumbles into the mechanic shop, covered in Lacie’s blood, and begs for help before passing out. Both of them go OH SHIT and immediately leap to the rescue. As Elias, Gi-bot, Ava and Ignis (who were called in) work on patching up Lacie’s wounds, Elias realizes that her arm is too far gone to be saved. And this is kind of a sad moment for him since you know. He also lost his arm. So he can relate. Ava’s like you’ll just have to make her the best goddamn prosthetic in the world then and he’s like alright yeah, so they have to remove Lacie’s left arm and it’s. Not pretty.

Emrys wakes up several hours later to find that Gifre treated his wounds. When he asks where Lacie is and Gifre shows him, he immediately breaks down, because she got hurt SO badly because of him and this is why he didn’t want to get close to her in the first place. He laments over dragging her into his mess, and Gifre gives him a nice long Pep Talk, coming from a similar situation with dragging Elias into his personal issues with Python’s Blood. It helps a little, but Gifre can tell Em’s gonna be blaming himself for this for a WHILE (hence the guilt complex comment).

As Lacie recovers and gets used to her new prosthetic (and keeps smacking Emrys whenever he looks guilty about it), the two of them become closer despite Emrys’ attempts not to--but Lacie is stubborn and refuses to let him distance himself. They also get really close and bond a lot with the robo fam, having bunked with them for a while. The main part of the story is just these domesticity moments with the robo fam and their two new dysfunctional houseguests LOL

Eventually Emrys does find Lixin and decides to return to the Mirrorplane to sort things out with his mother, and that brings up a whole bunch of crazy drama, but the robo fam and Lacie come with him (and by that point he’s gone Full Tender and leans on them a lot for support so it’s NICE and CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT), so things get sorted out one way or another. There is a point where he and Lacie have a huge fight because Lacie...finds out something about the Mirrorplane that she does not like, and it nearly shatters her entire relationship with Em, so that’s a big oof. But they get it all sorted out and it’s fine. The reason why their fight hurts even worse is because at this point they’re full on in love with each other but are both too awful at romance to actually say anything. They’re stupid and they can’t communicate and I love them

Yes they end up together because *points at self* I’m a hopeless romantic loser. Lacie becomes a princess of the Mirrorplane which is WEIRD as hell to her but she gets used to it. Also they actually don’t stay there, Emrys hands the kingdom over to his younger sister, who’s always been better at handling royal affairs, and comes back to the regular verse with Lacie to live with her there. They get a house in Spinel Town near the robo fam and LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER THE END

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hardyimagines · 5 years

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Scarred

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Hi there can I get anything to do with season 5 alfie feeling insecure about his face and thinking his s/o would no longer love him😫can be fluffy or nsfw or both🌚it’s honestly up to you, thanks! xx

( not my gif, credit to the rightful owner )

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“I thought the doctor said the bullet wasn’t even close to your brain?” You murmured from your knelt position on the tattered sofa. Hunched over your boyfriend, you sat on your knees with your fingertips lazily tracing the length of his soft skin. You were caressing the parts of his face that weren’t injured, careful not to get too close to the tissue that was still healing. Alfie was speechless now, merely furrowing his brows in a cute expression of pure confusion. He pressed his lips together, beard poking out just a little further than normal because of the action. When you made no movement to speak any further though, the man adjusted himself on the sofa beneath you, grumbling incoherently before he spoke up audibly.

“You fucking what? Bullet, yeah went through my cheek, here, didn’t it, yeah, so..” Alfie lifted his hand. Placing his palm over the scarred part of his face, he set his elbow on the arm of the furniture and pretended to be leaning instead of merely hiding. His want to finish his sentence was cut short when you parted your lips and began to talk over him.

“Well you’re asking foolish questions so I’m just trying to make sure a little piece of that bullet didn’t somehow hit your brain.” Lifting your hand to the side of his head, you brushed your thin fingertips through his soft locks, lazily stroking his scalp before you grabbed ahold of his wide palm and removed it from his face.

“Pet,” Alfie’s voice deepened considerably. “I made a fucking statement, right?”

“Then you asked for my opinion.” You pointed out. Shaking your head because the man was actually beginning to frustrate you, you laid your hands back on his cheeks and turned his head toward you fully. “I don’t think you’re ugly in the slightest.”

Prior to this, Alfie had been shying away, poorly attempting to hide the scar on his face because he knew what he looked like — he knew he was hideous. He wasn’t sure why you were pretending to still find him attractive or why you were sitting at his side, knelt so close to him with that doe-eyed look.

“You wouldn’t fucking tell me the truth, right, why on earth would you agree to that. See, yeah, because you’re fucking dating me, I can’t hear you agreeing to me saying I look fucking disgusting. Right, and I wasn’t exactly the most handsome beforehand so this fucking scar has really gone and fucked me over hasn’t it?”

It was almost impossible to swallow down the amusement bubbling in your stomach. Alfie really was an idiot.

In all honesty, you didn’t see a damn thing wrong. Of course, you preferred Alfie without the bullet wound — but that was only because the scar was a reminder that he’d been shot by someone he’d considered to be a mate for a while.. someone who could very well come back and try and finish him off. It reminded you that Alfie lived a very dangerous life and he could be taken from you at any given moment. Your fingers twitched and then tensed, falling from his warm cheeks instead to the thick fabric of his coat. Clutching on to it, you wiggled closer. Appearance wise, it didn’t affect you at all. You knew it ordinarily should’ve, you should’ve been somewhat repelled by the scarring that lined half of his face.. you knew anybody would be a little hesitant or distracted. That was normal.. what wasn’t normal was finding the man even more handsome. There was still no flaw, despite the one staring you dead in the face.

The realization of why you still found Alfie to be as attractive as he was dawned on you. And it simultaneously scared you and excited you.

You loved him.

The space between the two of you vanished. Placing your small hands on the back of his hot neck, you drew him forward and into you so you could kiss his rambling lips. He went silent instantly, apart from the little hums of enjoyment that escaped him subconsciously. Alfie relaxed against the cushions, tense muscles growing to be loose. Your mouth was slow, soft, careful as it moved against his own. He could tell you weren’t just kissing him, you were trying to tell him something without having to use your words. He almost smiled against your lips, but found it easy to bite back when your tongue pried past your plump, pink mouth to venture into his own.

“I’m sorry.. Mr Solomons?” The woman he’d hired to keep his home tidy poked her head into the small den. Accidentally ruining the little moment the pair of you had been sharing, she brushed her fingers along the length of the doorway — a shy action to relieve some of the awkwardness her presence had created. “I’m all finished.” Right after the accident, you’d hired Emily to help out around Alfie’s. He wasnt capable of making dinner or keeping his house clean, he was always so tired from the medication he was on and stressed because he worried about Cyril and his business. You were busy with work on weekdays so it was really only at night, when you shared his bed, and on weekends that you got to spend a lot of time with the handsome man.

Prying yourself out of his secure grip, you brushed your fingers through your hair and inhaled deeply before looking in the woman’s direction. You’d helped pick her. She was very sweet, kept to herself, did her duties and then went on her way. Alfie let out a hoarse grunt before nodding his head once in her direction. His thick fingers ran along the length of your back, caressing it before he stood from his slouched position on the sofa.

“I’ll be paying you tomorrow, yeah, instead of on Friday. Going out of town that day, remember, fuck ton of stuff I need to get done.” The man shoved his hand into the deep pocket that lined his trousers. Dragging the gray slip of paper which had all her hours written on it, he shook the flimsy thing before setting it down on the desk so he could write down her hours for the day.

You shuffled on the couch. He wasn’t going anywhere. You thought it was cute, how much he wanted to go back to work and resume with where things had left off, but that was too risky. You weren’t going to let him go off to Camden Town, tell everyone he’d returned from the dead and then let Tommy Shelby show up announced to put another bullet wound on the opposite side of his face. Your lips twitched south, heart sliding down, down, down and into your tight stomach. The second Emily had confirmed he’d written down the right amount of hours, she grasped her coat from the rack in the corner and sent a short wave in your direction. You tipped your head toward her sweetly, but the kind gesture didn’t match the worried expression on your face. You didn’t want anything to happen to Alfie.

Rising from the couch, you crossed the length of the room without hesitation and while the man was tucking the piece of paper away in his pocket, you slipped your arms around his waist and nestled your front against his broad back, catching him offguard. Alfie stiffened for a moment before peering over his shoulder and down at your sweet face. Your lower lip was pouted, eyes big and watery as you gazed up at him. Try as he might, you both knew when Friday came around, he’d be lounging in the armchair and you’d be perched on his lap — no care in the world to hold your own job if it meant ensuring Alfie wasn’t getting into any trouble.

He twisted around and locked his strong arms around your small shoulders. Holding you against him securely, his mouth skimmed the top of your head. He’d never be able to understand why you cared about him so much or why you were so eager to stick around. His unanswered questions though, were about to be answered. Those three words were burning the tip of your tongue, but you took your time blurting them out.. your heart was beating so fast and your tongue felt swollen.

Alfie, in all honesty, hadn’t expected you to hang around after he was pronounced dead. Nobody else had come around, banging on the door of a deceased man. But you had. And you’d come daily, hitting the wood with your tightly curled fist in order to just be around Alfie’s belongings. The scent was comforting, the familiarity of his home. He was in the hospital, unbeknownst to you and you were curled up on his sofa, unbeknownst to him. Before he had a maid, it was easy to sneak into his home, knocking cautiously beforehand to ensure nobody was inside — cleaning it out, ridding of his things. Then one day, you’d come around and when you’d knocked, the gangster had answered. He was stood broad and tall with a hard expression on his face. He looked worn and exhausted, much paler than you’d remembered. You’d both been speechless for what felt like forever.

“Pet?” Alfie drew you from your thoughts. The words you’d been about to confess were forgotten for a moment. He was staring at you with such care glistening in those enrapturing blue eyes of his. You sent him a soft smile before leaning up on your tiptoes to steal a very soft kiss. “Alright?”

“Hm?” You nodded. “Why wouldn’t I be?” You felt like you were suddenly floating. The man in front of you was all yours and it was only hitting you now what that truly meant. Before this whole ordeal, when Alfie was going to work and his face was void of any scar, things had felt like they were just for fun. The pair of you fooled around, despite where you were, on the job, at the park, at home, it didn’t matter. Course, it didn’t feel like your relationship was strictly sex, but you hadn’t exactly envisioned being tied down to this man at any point. Now here you were, swallowing thickly in order to silence the heavily hammering beat of your heart. Nothing had ever been casual between the two of you. The minute he’d invited you around, it should’ve been a given that your heart was being given over to him. You didn’t do casual things. Casual sex wasn’t who you were. You were too emotionally invested in people. In him.

“Alfie,” You whispered breathily, when your head was beginning to pulsate from all the raging thoughts. You tipped your head back in order to see him fully, stomach twisting nervously despite the fact that you were sure he returned the feelings. “Alfie, I love you.” You told him softly. The whisper was almost inaudible, but he’d heard you clearly. His hands was delicately tracing your warm skin, absentmindedly caressing your soft flesh before he stilled at your confession. His mouth ran dry and his face felt hot. He knew the words weren’t too surprising, he’d been waiting to hear them for forever.. but now that you’d actually said them, it made everything all the more real. He blinked once and then twice, before his fingers resumed their soft strokes. You shivered beneath the warmth of his fingertips and the cold graze of his rings.

“Bout fucking time you told me, innit?” He joked. The man’s grip tightened in only the slightest so he could securely drag you into him. Your chest hit his silently as you lifted your arms in order to wound them around his neck. He grunted breathily, hunching forward in the slightest so his mouth could brush your cheek. “I love you.” He murmured. His breath tickled the side of your neck, and his words made your heart skip a beat. You let out a quiet sigh of delight before turning your head and catching his lips for a slow kiss.

His pink lips were warm and wet as they moved against your own. He laid his hand on the back of your head, holding you in place so he could kiss you as deeply as he pleased. He always took the lead and you always followed his every movement with your own. Alfie took a small step back, waiting patiently for you to follow along with him. It didn’t take long at all, your body was practically glued to his own, desperate to remain close and refusing to part for too long. He fell back on the arm chair and you collapsed instantly on his lap. Straddling his thighs with a slow smile and a shaky exhale, you broke the kiss long enough to sit up. Setting your hands on the arms of the furniture, you peered down at the man before biting on your bottom lip. Nothing felt as nice as telling someone you love them, and being told they felt the exact same.

Your fingertip lifted to the scar on his face and without hesitation, you caressed the tender space. He didn’t wince or flinch, for he felt comfortable and safe beneath your touch. You felt him stiffen momentarily, a sign he wanted to turn away and hide the impossible to remove patch of skin. You leaned in and kissed the space, reminding him that though he may feel self conscious about the injury, it didn’t bother you at all. Kissing up to his forehead, you drew his head forward and into your chest, cradling him as if he were a small child. You kissed his brown locks, ruffling them momentarily. His hair was shorter than it use to be. You used to almost suffocate between his shaggy brown strands when the pair of you made love. Now, it was short and easy to escape when you brushed your face against the top. Smiling to yourself, you pulled him in just a little closer.

“I love you.” You whispered into his strands before drawing back and hiding your face against his shoulder. He locked you in his embrace then, securely trapping you in place. You didn’t mind, neither of you going to be willing to move for a while.

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A/N: I feel sick, and I know this is absolutely shitty.

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itsme98z · 6 years

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Not so Prince Roman

Summary: Roman is non binary and tries to hide it. But his causes problems.

Warnings: I don’t think there are any, but message me if you find one!

Ships: Platonic LAMP

Word count: 3,251

Wattpad

Roman just got back from saving his kingdom…again. He was covered in blood and dirt from fighting, and he was severely scratched up. But when he came into his room from the imagination section of the mind palace, that all faded. If an injury occurred in the imagination, it disappears once you leave. But his exhaustion stayed. This had been the third time this week Roman fought in the imagination.

He had some personal issues. Usually, he would talk to the others to get help and advice. But this particular ‘issue’ was too big. And it consumed his mind so much that it was filtering into his work. At first, he thought going into the imagination would help spur new ideas, but it didn’t. But he realized it was a good escape. Every now and then he went to his kingdom to distract himself. But recently his trips have gotten longer and more frequent. It wiped him out, but it was worth it, at least to him.

As he entered his room, he went to lay on his bed, but his stomach stopped him. “Ugh. Guess I gotta go get some food.” He opened the door and made his way down to the kitchen. He was at the top of the stairs when he heard the others. He tried his hardest to put on his prince persona. He stuck his chest out a bit, stood tall, and held his head up high. He breathed, then made his way downstairs.

“Roman!” Patton yelled. He was always happy when he came back.

“Hello, padre.”

“Hello, Roman. I hope your trip helped create some new ideas,” Logan said from his spot on the couch. He always cut to the chase.

“Uh, yeah specs. It sure did.” He felt bad for lying, but he needed to. He didn’t want to tell them the truth.

“You good prince underarm stink?” Virgil tried to play it off as a joke, but he noticed the bags under Roman’s eyes. He had been in there for a few days… “How much sleep did you get?”

“I’m fine worry wort. Fighting a dragon witch alone is tiring.”

“Well, maybe you shouldn’t fight her.”

“I have to! I’m the prince!”

Virgil rolled his eyes.

“Here.” Patton placed a plate of food on the table. “We just finished dinner. Now eat,” he said pointing to the chair.

“No need to tell me twice.” Roman sat down and dug in. When he finished he pushed the plate forward to signify that he was done. “Thank you, Patton. That was spectacular.”

“Aww, thank you, Roman.”

“Of course, my fellow comrade.” He was definitely feeling better, but he was still tired. “Now if you all will excuse me, I will retreat to my room early. Goodnight.”

“You sure you okay princy?” Virgil was still not convinced. This was happening more and more lately. They barely saw the creative trait. He was either working or in the imagination. And when he got back, he would retreat to his room.

“Yes, edge lord. As I said before, fighting a dragon witch is tiring.”

“Then why do you fight her?”

“Because I’m- “

“-the prince, yeah we know.” Virgil was irritated. “Because you’re ‘the prince’ is your answer for everything.”

Roman glared at the anxious persona. He wanted to quip back but held his tongue. He didn’t want to accidentally let something slip. Something he desperately needed to keep hidden. He shook his head. “I’m going to bed.” And with that, he left.

Patton glared at Virgil. “And what exactly was that?! I thought I told you to get along with him more!”

“It’s not my fault his mindset is the 1950s.”

“What do you mean by that kiddo?”

Virgil sighed. “He does things because he’s ‘the prince’. He thinks he has to do certain things because of stupid stereotypical gender roles.”

Logan’s head perked up at that.

“What do you mean?” Patton knew Roman was a bit... eccentric, but he didn’t think Roman felt like he had to do things because of gender.

“Whenever he’s in imagination, he always saves a princess who’s a damsel in distress.”

“He’s trying to save her.”

“He makes up the scenario Pat. And he creates the same outdated one every time.”

“Maybe he likes that story the best.”

“And he has made fun of my makeup many times.”

Patton frowned. “But he hasn’t done that recently.”

“Yeah because I almost left. It took a huge thing like that to get him to stop making fun of me.”

“Kiddo, I don’t- “

“And aren’t you worried about him?”

“You worry about him?” Logan asked, surprising the two. They forgot he was in the room. Logan knew Virgil was anxiety. But he realized how much Virge cared for the creative trait, for them all. But Virgil would never admit it.

Virgil blushed but tried to hide it. “I’m the literal embodiment of Thomas’ anxiety. I worry about everything.” He paused and quickly composed himself. “But lately he’s always working or in his kingdom. And when he comes back he stays in his room. We barely see him anymore.”

“You have to admit Patton, that is odd behavior.” Virgil wasn’t the only one to notice Roman’s actions. Logan noticed everything, but he thought it was Roman being Roman. But now he realized it was something more.

“I’m just worried that him being in that stereotypical environment has clouded his ideas of the world.”

“Virge, I understand the concern but- “

“Thomas already gets treated like shit because of stupid stereotypes about being gay." Virgil paused to breathe, then continued. “And I know that Thomas is very accepting and understands that gender roles are a bunch of bull. But I also know that he’s anxious about being comfortable with every aspect of himself. And that’s not coming from me. Also, Thomas sometimes overcompensates. He acts more ‘masculine’ to get people off his back. And the only one of us that does that is Roman.”

Logan And Patton were shocked, to say the least. “Kiddo, I didn’t know you worried about that.”

Virgil shrugged. “It’s my job.”

“I will say, Virgil is completely correct.” The other two turned in Logan’s direction. He stood up and walked over to them. “Roman is more than Thomas’ creativity. He is also self-esteem and self-confidence.”

“Thomas has been self-conscious lately,” Patton admitted.

“If Thomas is feeling insecure, then Roman is as well. And if Thomas feels the need to act more ‘masculine’- “

“-Then so does Roman,” Virgil finished for him.

“But why would Ro feel like that?”

“I’m not sure, Patton,” Logan answered.

“I’m telling you two, it’s imagination.” Virgil had convinced himself.

“But you said yourself that he creates the scenarios. Why would he do that?” Logan was thinking through every possible reason.

“Maybe he's imitating what he sees in Disney. He is freaking addicted to the franchise. “

“I’m not sure Virgil. We should conduct an experiment,” Logan suggested.

“Ugh. I do not want to do any work.”

“We just need to observe him for a day or two. Then go from there.”

“I guess we could nerd.” Virgil did want to know what was going on with Roman.

The two looked at the moral trait. “Pat?”

Patton felt guilty for going behind his friend’s back like this, but he knew it should be done. If secrets are bottled up for a long time, they end up over spilling and causing a bigger problem. He didn’t want that to happen. “Alright. We’ll observe him.”

Roman woke the next day with a pounding headache. He groaned. “I really need to take a break from fighting. But it’s the only thing that helps me hide the truth. Maybe if I just go in the imagination but don’t fight-no. I need everything to be exactly how it’s supposed to. I need to do certain things as the prince. I cannot differ from that. I cannot let it get through my work. I cannot let it get through to Thomas. I would never forgive myself for that. I’ll just have to power through it.” He got up from the bed and padded downstairs to get the medicine.

“Good morning Ro!” Patton practically yelled.

Roman winced. That didn’t help the pain in his head. “Good morning.”

“You okay Ro?”

“Yeah. Woke up with a headache.” Roman walked to the medicine cabinet and grabbed a pill.

“Here.” Patton gave him a glass of water to help swallow the pill.

After taking the pill, he downed the water, getting a few drops on his chin. “Damn. Sometimes I forget how delicious water is.”

“You should try it in the middle of the night.”

The other two turned their heads towards the stairs. Virgil had come down.

“I’m surprised you’re up this early Virge.”

“After you being in your kingdom and fighting for three days straight, I could say the same about you.”

Roman ran a hand through his hair. “Headache woke me up.”

Virgil entered the kitchen. “Probably from fighting.”

“Probably,” Roman admitted.

“You need a break. Don’t go back in there for a while.”

Roman would love to take a break, but he couldn’t. He needed the imagination. He had to remind himself. “Since when did you care?” Roman didn’t mean to seem too upset, but he was just so tired. He needed to keep his emotions in check.

Virgil wanted to yell back but knew it would make things worse. And from the looks of it, things were quickly getting there. He cleared his throat and said in a calm tone “I always worry. I’m anxiety.”

“Well, maybe you should stop worrying.”

Virgil was surprised, to say the least. “That-that’s not how it works.”

“Stay out of it Virgil. Just leave me be,” Roman said with disdain in his voice. And with that, he left back up to his room.

Virgil and Patton stared at him as he walked out. He passed Logan on the way up but didn’t even acknowledge him.

Logan turned to the others. “What happened?”

“He came down with a headache then got upset at Virgil.”

Logan shrugged his shoulders. “What else is new?”

“Okay, I didn’t raise my voice. I calmly suggested that he take a break from fighting. Then he got all defensive and told me to stay out of it. Then he left.”

Logan gave a look of confusion. “Why does he value fighting in imagination so much? I don’t understand.”

Roman started pacing his room. He knew he just woke up. He hadn’t eaten anything yet. But he had to go. The thoughts were back. He needed to remind himself that he was a prince and more importantly a man, and he needed to act like one. He couldn’t be nonbinary. He couldn’t be trans. He needed to protect Thomas. But he was so tired. It was risky, but it was necessary. He walked in his closet, pushed his clothes aside, and walked into his kingdom.

“I thought we should observe him, but something is clearly wrong. We need to go talk to him,” Logan said worriedly.

The other two nodded, and they made their way upstairs to Roman’s room. They stopped at the door and knocked. “Kiddo? You okay? We just wanna talk. Can we come in?” No response.

Logan tried this time. “Roman? Are you having an issue with coming up with ideas for videos? We can help you.” Again, no response.

“Let’s just go in.” Before the others could respond, Virgil pushed forward and opened the door. “He’s not here.”

The three looked around the empty room.

“Where could he have gone?” Patton worried.

Logan noticed the open closet. He sighed. “Imagination.”

Roman entered one of the magic tunnels that got him to the castle quicker. A few minutes later he opened a door in a tree and stood in front of the castle. “Evil dragon witch!” he exclaimed with his sword raised in the air.

Luci’s head snapped up. When she heard Roman, she rolled her eyes. “He just left yesterday.” She got up and flew down right in front of the creative trait. “What are you doing back here Roman?”

“I am here to fight you!”

She sighed. “You left yesterday. At least rest some more.”

What neither one of them noticed was Logan, Patton, and Virgil. They had found the magic tunnel by pure dumb luck. They were now eavesdropping behind nearby bushes. (I didn’t want to write a convo between Ro and Luci and then have to repeat it with the sides. I’m lazy, let me be.)

Roman dropped his arms. “Please Luci, just go along with it,” Roman asked.

She rolled her eyes. “Fine. Oh no, the brave, manly, prince Roman is here to defeat me.”

He looked at her annoyed. “Better than that.”

“You know what? No.”

Roman was baffled. “No?”

“You heard me. N. O. No. Roman, you fought for three days and left yesterday. You got almost no sleep, and knowing you, you most likely haven’t eaten anything yet. Go back to the mind palace.”

Roman looked down dejected. “I-I can’t.”

Luci felt bad. She was one of the few who knew the real reason he fought so much. She put her hand under his chin and raised his head. “Look at me. If you have to continuously convince yourself that you are a certain way, then That’s not who you are.” She dropped her hand. “You try to convince yourself you are a prince. But listen to me when I say this: you are NOT a prince.”

That made Patton quietly gasp behind the bushes. He didn’t want anyone hurting his friend. He almost got up to tell her off when Logan’s hand on his arm stopped him.

“You base being a prince off of the stereotypical fantasy, cartoon version of a prince. The kind you read about in children’s books. But that is not you. You are a part of Thomas, a human. You do not have to be perfect. You do not have to be someone you’re not. be yourself.”

Roman sniffed trying to hold back his tears. “You don’t get it.”

“You think I don’t get it? You created me to be evil, not that I’m blaming you. But now everyone sees me as a horrible evil creature, though I know I’m much more than that. I’m called evil when I get mad. I’m told to stop faking when I’m happy. My feelings are constantly invalidated. The only one who doesn’t do that is you.”

“I-I didn’t know that.”

“Of course, you didn’t. I kept it from you. But what I learned and what you need to learn is that it’s okay to be yourself.”

“Bu-but what if they don’t accept me?”

Patton stood up at this. “We will accept any aspect of who you are!” because of this outburst, Logan and Virgil stood up as well.

Roman and Luci jumped. They didn’t realize they were being listened to.

“I didn’t know you three were here.”

The other sides made their way to Roman and Luci.

“We needed to figure out what was going on with you,” Logan said bluntly.

Luci smiled. “Well, I’ll leave you four to talk it out. I’m Luci by the way.” And with that, she flew back up on the castle.

“Kiddo, what’s going on?”

Roman breathed. He had no choice, he had to tell them. “I’m not a prince.”

“Well yes. You play as a prince character. The dragon wit-Luci explained this.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “That’s not what I mean Microsoft nerd.”

“Then what do you mean kiddo?”

He didn’t want to say it outright. He needed to figure out a way to say it without actually saying it. To beat around the bush. “You know in the behind the scenes video Thomas did with Joan and Talyn?”

The other three nodded.

“Do you remember what Thomas said about me?” After checking their faces for any recognition of the memory, he found nothing. “He said that I somewhat represented his femininity.”

“We noticed how you have become more masculine. Do you feel the need to hide the feminine aspect of yourself?” Logan asked.

Roman looked down dejected. He nodded.

“Oh kiddo. Just because you are somewhat what society would deem feminine doesn’t mean you’re not a man.”

Roman clenched his fists. “That’s not it Patton.”

Virgil was confused. What could be the problem? Could he be-no. That can’t be it, right? “Roman, you said you’re not a prince. Are you a princess?”

This surprised the other three.

Ro sighed. “No.”

“Then sorry, I don’t understand.” He thought some more. What could be going on? “I know I eluded to it earlier, but are you trans?”

Roman opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. “I-I…” He didn’t know what to say. But him saying nothing was enough.

“Kiddo.” He placed a hand on his shoulder. “We accept you no matter your gender.”

“You-you don’t think it’s bad? I’m apart of Thomas, a man.”

It was Logan’s turn to talk. “Roman, if that’s what you want to be called, just because you are not a man does not change Thomas or his gender. You accepting who you are may have an influence on him, but I do not believe it will affect his gender. You have been this way since we have known you. The only time you changed was recent, I presume to hide it.”

Roman looked down. “Y-yeah. I only recently found the words to describe it, m-my gender.”

“Roman, we’ve established you’re not a prince. And you’re not a princess. Are you nonbinary royalty?” Virgil asked calmly.

Roman pressed his lips together and nodded.

There was a short silence before Virgil spoke again. “So, do you want to be called Roman or something different?”

Roman looked up and smiled. “Uh, just Ro is good.”

“Alright just Ro,” Patton joked.

Virgil facepalmed. “Oh my god Pat.”

“You are insufferable,” Logan said causing the others to laugh.

Thomas knew something was up, so he called the four sides. When explained what happened, his first question was “So name and pronouns?”

Ro smiled. “Ro and they/them.”

“Cool.”

“I’m proud of you, kiddo,” Patton said.

“Thanks.” Then they remembered something. “What about the fanders?”

“Are you okay with telling them?” Thomas asked.

“Yeah. It’s better to be open with them.”

“What about now?” Thomas motioned to the camera equipment he left on the floor from the last time he filmed.

“Oh! Sure.”

Thomas started setting up when Virgil spoke. “Are you sure?”

“This would be the third time you have come out within the hour,” Logan informed them.

Ro nodded. “Yeah. I’d rather get it done sooner rather than later.”

Though Patton knew they meant this, he also knew they would be mentally exhausted. They didn’t get much sleep last night and still haven’t eaten. “Well, afterward we can relax. How does a Disney movie marathon sound? Also, I’m making you some food.”

Ro smiled. “That sounds great Pat. Thank you.”

Patton smiled. “Of course.”

Thomas had finished setting up the camera. He clicked it on. When it showed it was recording, he did his signature intro. “What is up everybody?!”

Ro was nervous, but they smiled knowing their friends accepted them for who they were. They knew they were gonna have to go through the whole story again, but they were ready to finally be truly happy. They would finally be themselves.

@kanejandkruge

@littlemiracle05

#thomas sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #sanders sides #lamp #fanfics #fanfic

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