#brotherly creativitwins

[always-anxious612]

When Imagination Takes Over (redone)

A/N: As the title suggests, this is a revamp of a fic I did a couple years ago. I normally don't post redos as I'm literally always revisiting and revising fics but I really like this one and I'll never pass up the opportunity to write these two interacting.

Description: the imagination is a very powerful thing that can create something out of nothing but thin air and a simple thought. But what happens when those thoughts are unwanted and a bit too persistent? In other words, it’s time for Roman angst once again, kiddos. Is anyone really surprised?

Pairings: brotherly Creativitwins

Genre: hurt/comfort

Warnings: Intrusive thoughts, paranoia, crying, panic attack, food mention, violence and injury mentioned but it doesn't actually happen just in Roman's head (let me know if I missed anything or if you want anything tagged!)

Word count: 2,955

            It had been quite a tiring day in the imagination. Roman had been busy all day trying to stop the dragon witch from terrorizing one of the smaller villages in his kingdom. After a long battle which he, of course, inevitably won the people insisted on having a feast in his honor; and well, how could Roman refuse such a kind offer. It would be rude of him to refuse, really. And sure, maybe the food in the imagination was…well, imaginary; and maybe it would just end up leaving him feeling emptier rather than fuller, but it certainly did taste as good as the real thing and Roman was famished. Besides, it would be distasteful to just leave and deprive the townspeople of his presence, not to mention their joyous celebration would have to be put on hold. What kind of prince would he be if he did that? A bad one, obviously; and he was anything but a bad prince. He wouldn’t stay long anyway, he reasoned. Just long enough to greet everyone and take a few bites of the meal. Surely it wouldn’t take that long....

In hindsight, he really should have known better. He never could seem to get away from conversing with all of his people. Who could blame him? They were quite good company, and they always had a way of convincing him to stay with them for “just a little longer.” By the time he finished celebrating with everyone and insisted that he really should be on his way, the sky had grown dark and was tinged with the fiery reds and pinks of the setting sun. So much for not staying long.

As he bid goodbye to the last of his citizens, Roman sighed dreading the thought of the long walk he had to get back to the mind palace. Silently, he cursed himself for staying as long as he did when he knew he’d be too tired and hungry to properly create a steed or anything to get him back home. The door to the imagination was still quite far off on foot. To be fair, he really had intended to only stay for a short while this time. He sighed again before shrugging off his regrets. What’s done is done he supposed.

Roman started to whistle as he walked, a merry tune to cut through the silence that draped itself over the landscape as he entered the forest. It certainly was much more…creepy than he remembered it being out here. Taking a deep breath, Roman shook off his discomfort, looking around to admire his creation instead. His whistling slowly faded as he looked around and tried to keep his mind away from the less than pleasant thoughts that kept floating around his mind. However, as the sky became steadily darker and the trees shaded the moon, Roman’s uneasiness only grew.

Walking a bit faster, he tried to block out the soft whisper of the wind through the trees that sounded like voices filling the air. It was just his imagination, He told himself, aware of the fact of how ironic that was. The hairs on the back of Roman’s neck tingled with the sense that he was being watched by something just out of sight. It—It was nothing, just his overactive mind. Those were certainly not footsteps behind him, no matter how much he thought he could hear a second step just a beat behind his. It was just his own boots stomping against the ground and kicking up the leaves. A momentary gasp escaped Roman’s lips as he thought he saw eyes glinting out from behind a tree, but no, wait. It was just the barely visible moonlight catching on the dewdrops of the leaves.

Get it together, Roman. He chastised himself, shaking his head. Creepy and horrifying things were Remus’s territory, and Roman knew his kingdom well enough to know he was nowhere near Remus’s part of the imagination. So, there was nothing to worry about, and that was that. He was just too on edge after a long day and a fierce battle. That’s all there was to it. There wasn’t really anything lurking in the shadows, waiting to jump him, it was just his own thoughts running around and making him jumpy. Roman took another deep breath as he tried to push away the thoughts that were plaguing him.

This was ridiculous. He wasn’t scared of the dark or the trees. He was a prince for crying out loud. He—Roman stopped in his tracks. He could have sworn—those weren’t footsteps behind him…were they? Drawing his sword, Roman carefully started back up, his mind racing, his body tense. Again, he heard a definite second pair of steps behind him, but when he whirled around, sword at the ready, no one could be seen. Gulping, he walked faster, just trying to get through the woods. The rational part of his brain screamed that he controlled this place—that he could make it stop, that it wasn’t real, but that part of his brain was starting to drown in his fear. He just needed to get home.

Roman picked up his pace, trying to keep his breaths even and his eyes ahead of him. It was darker now, the leaves above completely blocking out the moon. The breeze had disappeared, but the whispers of the trees had not. They were whispering words that Roman had to strain to hear, and even when he caught a few snippets, he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. But they were whispering.

Roman was running now, desperate to get out. Desperate to get home. He’d dropped his sword somewhere along the way and couldn’t clear his mind enough to summon it again. His thoughts whirled around his head, any semblance of rationale getting caught up in his panic. A flash of yellow eyes behind the trees caught his attention—a flash all too wary and constant to be dewdrops this time. The eyes followed him, moving alongside him and keeping pace with ease. Yet the creature behind the eyes remained completely silent even as Roman’s feet pounded loudly on the earth, cracking twigs and rustling leaves.

The footsteps behind him increased their pace as he increased his own. Roman could feel them gaining on him. He could feel it. He could hear it. Twigs snapping right behind him, leaves rustling against the ground just a second after his own stirred them up. He chanced a glance behind him, but there was still nothing there. There was nothing there, yet he could hear the steps getting closer. They were getting faster, even though he was going the same pace as before. He wasn’t going to be fast enough. The trees, the eyes, the footsteps. They were gaining on him. They were—they were going to get to him. He was too slow. They were too fast. Everything was too much. With a pained cry, Roman stumbled to his knees and curled into himself, covering his ears and squeezing his eyes shut.

Logically, he knew he was in the imagination. Logically, he knew that he could stop this. It was just thoughts come to life. That was what the imagination did. And the imagination was his domain after all. He was the one that was causing all of these things to become real. But those thoughts were drowned out by his fear as quickly as they surfaced, and since when had imagination followed the rules of logic anyway. He was too disoriented to think rationally. Too tired to defend himself. Too scared to do anything other than curl up and desperately cover his ears.

Then there were arms around him, and he was shaking. It had caught up. Whatever was making the footsteps had caught him. Or maybe it was whatever had lurked in the trees, watching his every move. It had finally made its move and pounced. Or maybe the trees had finally had enough of him disturbing their home and had reached out to trap him forever in their embrace.

Roman gasped, trying not to cry as thoughts flew across his mind faster than he had time to fully process them. Thoughts of him decaying here forever alone. Thoughts of being torn limb from limb by the mysterious monsters in the woods. Thoughts of things he couldn’t see twisting their hands around his neck. Thoughts that he couldn’t manage to escape. Thoughts that swirled around him sweeping him deeper into his panic. But then he felt a gentle hand on his back. He felt himself being pulled into someone’s chest and felt the person begin rocking back and forth gently. This was…this was nice?

When nothing immediately tore him apart or wrapped suffocatingly around his body, he risked taking a shuddering breath. The hands around him tensed slightly before one of the hands came up to gently cup his head and press it to the scratchy fabric beneath his face. It took a while, but slowly, Roman relaxed and uncurled himself a bit. It took even longer for him to remove his hands from his ears, choosing instead to grip the figure in front of him and bury his face in the costume. Taking another shaky breath, he started to hear soft words of encouragement being muttered.

“It’s ok, Ro bro. I’ve got you. You’re ok. It wasn’t real.”

Remus. Roman tried to call for his brother, to assure him that he was ok now, but he only managed a whimper. Alright so maybe he wasn’t ok quite yet.

“Hey, it’s ok. I’ll get you out of here, k?” Remus promised, standing and hauling Roman up with him. Once they were standing, Remus draped Roman’s arms over his shoulder and pulled him onto his back before Roman could even protest.  He was too tired to argue anyway, and still too shaken to care much as he buried his face in Remus’s scratchy costume, not daring to look up at the surrounding darkness.

A few minutes later, they finally reached the door out of the imagination. Remus bust open the door and shook away Roman’s tight grip before tossing him onto something soft. The familiar glow of the fairy lights in his room immediately calmed him as he finally let himself breathe in full.

“You ok, Ro bro?” Remus asked, voice unusually quiet. “Those were—that was unusual for your side, huh?”

Roman shuddered at the thought of the dark forest and of the creatures lurking there.

“I’m—I’m ok,” He sighed. “Um, thank you, Re.”

“Ew, don’t thank me, you’ve never said thank you in your life,” Remus scoffed, tone shifting immediately as he plopped down next to Roman on the bed. Roman huffed indignantly, trying to shake off any lingering panic.

“Well, excuse me, for being grateful,” he tsked, rolling his eyes.

“You’re not excused,” Remus grinned, reaching over to flick Roman who quickly ducked away.

“You ruined the moment. We were having a bonding moment,” Roman complained swatting at Remus as he continued trying to flick him.

“Gross,” Remus gagged. Roman tsked again, pouting as he turned away. Remus just snickered, falling backwards onto the bed and not getting up. A short silence followed their bickering until Remus sat up and stared at Roman, studying his face uncomfortably closely.

“You know that it’s dangerous to be in the imagination after dark when you’re this exhausted Ro Ro,” He remarked, poking at Roman’s cheek. “I thought doing stupid things was my specialty.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Roman defended, pushing his brother’s hand away with another eyeroll. “I mean, I was busy fighting the dragon witch and then the people wanted to celebrate, and I couldn’t just refuse them, and—and…I guess I ended up staying a bit too long.”

“Please, ‘a bit too long’ my ass. If I hadn’t sensed something was up, you’d be caught in your own head until morning,” Remus pointed out, looking pleased with himself.

“You’re not helping,” Roman grumbled, glaring at his brother. Remus grinned and shrugged.

“Well, brother dear, if you’re ok, I have an appointment with a certain snake and a bag of rats.”

“A bag of—ok, I don’t want to know. It’s—yeah, I’m fine.” Roman replied, waving him off as Remus stood up. To be honest, he wasn’t keen on being left alone again, but he wasn’t about to admit to his brother of all people that despite his efforts, the thoughts still lurked in the corners of his mind. The dark corners of his room had never seemed to intimidating before, and he still couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched. Sometimes, things from the imagination could leak out into the Mindscape. It had happened before, granted only when one of them had left the door open, but what if the thing in the woods was still here? What if Remus hadn’t shut the door all the way when they came back? What if whatever had been making the footsteps had followed him? He'd never know until it was too late. The thought of roots writhing up from the dirt and trapping him to the ground as they suffocated him flashed through his mind and he quickly tried to push it away. But what if it happened this time? What if whatever was in the woods would drag him back before he could reach his sword? What if the monster with the yellow eyes was waiting in the shadows for him to let down his guard? What then?

Remus tilted his head, studying him for a moment before throwing himself back onto the bed, snapping into softer clothes and beginning to burrow into Roman’s nest of blankets.

“What the—" Roman muttered, pulled out of his thoughts at the motion.

“On second thought. It’s too comfortable here. Guess good ole Jan will have to wait,” Remus grinned, wiggling around to make himself comfortable.

“You don’t have to stay, Remus. I told you I’m all good,” Roman insisted, not really sure why he was arguing but feeling the need to anyway.

“Too late. You’re stuck with me for tonight,” Remus shrugged, conjuring up a deodorant stick and popping off the lid. Roman cringed slightly as he watched his brother take a huge bite of the deodorant.

“You—I’m really fine, though,” Roman tried again weakly. Remus gave him a weird look before rolling his eyes and sitting up slightly.

“Did you forget already? I can hear what’s going on up there Robro. I know that you don’t wanna be alone right now,” he said, poking at Roman’s forehead as he spoke. Roman paled, looking away. How could he forget that Remus could hear intrusive thoughts. He winced when he thought of what else he might have heard since they’d started getting along again.

“We can have a movie marathon like we used to. As long as I get to pick a few,” Remus suggested when Roman didn’t say anything, lighting up at his idea. Before Roman had the chance to answer, Remus had already grabbed the prince’s laptop and was pulling up movies to watch

“As long as you don’t pick anything with gore,” Roman gave in quickly, sighing softly. At this point, he knew Remus probably wouldn’t leave no matter how much he argued anyway.

“Boo, no fun,” Remus pouted, backspacing whatever he’d been typing in the search bar.

Roman only snorted before quickly running to the bathroom and getting changed out of his dirty prince costume. Instead, he put on some silky pajamas and settled himself beside Remus as his brother started the movie he’d picked, Frankenweenie. Roman glanced at Remus with a raised eyebrow receiving an unhinged grin in return. He knew Remus only picked such a tame movie for his sake; and he felt a wave of appreciation wash over him, almost drowning out the lingering fear that floated in his head. He settled deeper into the blankets and grinned softly.

“Hey, Remus.” he whispered, as the beginning scene began to play.

“Hmm?”

“Thank you.”

Remus glanced over at him and made a face.

“I thought I told you to stop that.”

Roman shrugged, pulling the blankets closer around him. Now that he was finally warm and the fear and adrenaline were fading, he felt the weight of his exhaustion hit him.

“Thought you should know,” he mumbled with a yawn, “You’re—You’re a good brother. I’m glad you’re back.”

Remus was quiet for a while—a feat in itself. Roman would have been worried about the abnormally long silence had he not been on the verge of falling asleep already. Instead, he simply let his head bump against Remus’ shoulder and let his eyes slip closed with another yawn. In fact, he had almost completely drifted off when Remus finally spoke up.

“You’re—You really think I’m a good brother?” he asked, voice unusually shaky.

“’Course,” Roman answered automatically sitting up a little, “but if you ever repeat that, I’ll murder you with my bare hands...and my sword.”

Remus snorted.

“You can try. Sounds like a good time,” he snickered reaching over to flick Roman’s head successfully this time.

“Rude,” Roman mumbled in response rubbing the sore spot on his forehead.

“You’re so sappy when you’re tired,” Remus cackled, noting the fact that Roman didn’t even try to get back at him for the flick. Instead, his brother just huffed, letting his head fall back against Remus’s shoulder. Remus rolled his eyes but let him get comfy again. At least he could no longer hear the swirling thoughts that had plagued Roman since he’d reached him in the imagination. As everything settled down again, Roman drifted off quickly. So quickly that he almost didn’t hear Remus’s next words.

“You’re a good brother too, Robro,” he whispered. “I missed you.”

Roman smiled. The thoughts didn’t come back that night.

#I am a sucker for soft creativitwins #but also writing Remus will never cease to confuse me #roman sanders #remus sanders #sanders sides #my fics #cait writes #fanfic #fanfiction #sanders sides fics #ts creativity #brotherly creativitwins #creativitwins #tw violence #tw injuries mention #tw panic attack #tw intrusive thoughts #tw crying #cw food mention #hurt/comfort

[fangirlwriting-stories]

Protector

Summary: Virgil’s entire job is to protect Thomas, and he takes that job very seriously.  The core sides might argue too seriously.  The core sides don’t know that there are actual dangerous sides he needs to protect Thomas from.  But there’s another side he needs to protect too.  He used to be able to count on help from Janus, who did the job without even knowing it back when he still lived with them.  But now Virgil and Remus are alone, and they have to look out for each other, which means the last thing that Virgil should do is leave his brother by himself.

Too bad it’s not exactly his choice.

Author’s Note: Hey, read the trigger warnings for this one.  Not everything comes up in every chapter, but when it does, I’m not messing around.  Please be very careful with this one if the warnings are something that’s going to bother you, and if you don’t read it, I won’t be mad.

That being said, welcome to my massive love letter to brotherly dukexiety.  These two are such amazing brothers and if I have to write my own monster of a fic to make everyone else see it, that's exactly what I'll do.  It's finished already, so welcome back to your regularly scheduled Sunday morning updates.  Hope you enjoy!

And as a last note, absolutely all the credit to @shadowling-guistical, who was there for me to scream to and who cheered me on and got just as excited about this story as I did the whole time it was being written.  Mishii, I am not exaggerating in the slightest when I say this story would not exist without you.

...

Virgil was not at all excited at the prospect of meeting with the core sides again.  That video was supposed to be a one time thing!  Okay, well, Thomas had said something about him being potentially used in future videos, but that was going to be something that happened once in a while, whenever they needed a villain to defeat or wanted to talk about the dangers of anxiety.  Why on Earth would they need to talk to him again so soon?

Remus hadn’t seemed to get it either, but he at least had been willing to get Virgil’s mind off of it by suggesting all sorts of ways he could annoy the core sides when he went to talk to them.  Most of his ideas involved dropping blood, saliva, or other bodily fluids on them, to which Virgil had laughed and pointed out the way that he definitely wouldn’t be able to conjure that much of anything.  He wasn’t Creativity, after all.

“Eh, you could at least spit on Janus,” Remus said, waving his hand dismissively.  “You’ll be right next to him.”

Virgil laughed again.  “Yeah, spitting on Thomas’ Self Preservation.  That’ll get me invited back.”

“I thought you didn’t want to go back,” Remus pointed out with a grin and raised eyebrows.

“Well, if I’m not invited back, how will I ever work up to being able to spit on Janus without consequences?”

It was Remus’ turn to laugh now, and he flopped down on his bed while continuing to grin.  “You make an excellent point.”

For how lighthearted the conversation seemed, they were both ignoring the undercurrent of fear tucked under the entire thing.  Because for how much Virgil and Remus didn’t love the prospect of him talking to the core sides again, there were still three sides that very much did.

It had been long known by the two of them how badly Malice wanted a way to get to Thomas.  Why he thought Thomas would listen to him was anyone’s guess, but he’d managed to get Positivity and Cruelty on board with the plan decades ago.  They had thankfully gotten pretty much nowhere, due in no small part to the fact that the side they’d need to convince to let them talk to Thomas was a core side who almost never came to their side of the mindscape in the first place.

Of course when he did come down here, he usually talked to Virgil, which didn’t make Virgil super popular.  But him having a direct line to Janus more often would be exactly the kind of thing that Malice would want.  Far easier to pressure Virgil into pressuring Janus into pressuring Thomas for something, as convoluted and complicated as that sounded.  So whether it was what Virgil wanted or not, Remus wasn’t too far off.  The safest thing for Thomas in this situation was to be as antagonistic as possible— which wouldn’t win him any points with Malice.  Whatever.  He was used to hiding bruises whenever Janus came down here.  It wasn’t that hard.

Virgil stayed in Remus’ room for most of the morning, as it was better for brainstorming and coming up with a game plan, especially when Remus was in there with him.  Of course, the game plan often ended up involving a lot of sex jokes and spitting on other sides, but Virgil could edit those parts out.

It was just after what would have been lunchtime if they were eating today that Virgil felt the tugging that meant he was being summoned by Thomas.  He glanced over at Remus with a tense smile that probably came out more like a grimace.

“Ah, time?”

Virgil nodded.

“Spit on Janus for me!”

“No,” Virgil said, as he sunk out in order to appear in the real world.

If he was going to be antagonistic with this thing, might as well get a head start.  Virgil appeared leaning on top of Janus’ hat, picking at his fingernails.  “I’m told you want to talk to me for some reason?”

“Get off of me,” Janus snapped, shoving Virgil towards the other side of the stair platform they were standing on.

“Oh, shoot, were you standing there?  Sorry, I didn’t see anything important.”

Janus gave him an unamused look, and Virgil turned from him to face Thomas before he could reply.  “Is there something you wanted?  I did have things to do today, you know.”

Most of those things probably involved hiding and running for his life, but that could come after he ended this conversation on a bad note so Thomas would never want to talk to him again.

Thomas sighed.  “Well, there was a bit of a surprising reaction to the video you were in,” he said.

Oh, god.  “What?  Are people lining up with torches and pitchforks?  Hate to break it to them, but they can’t actually affect me, I’m imaginary, they’re not—”

“Actually, everyone loved you kiddo!” Patton said brightly.

Virgil blinked and turned to face him.  “I’m sorry?”

“Yes, unfortunately, the fanbase seems to have adored you,” Roman said, crossing his arms and looking very unhappy with the situation.  “You are the second favorite character.”

“Second favorite?” Virgil asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course!  After me!” Roman proclaimed, adding a flourish with his hands.

“Oh, of course,” Virgil grumbled, leaning against the banister to his left.  “So why exactly does that matter?”

“Well, we have adjusted our plan slightly to align with what the viewers seem to be enjoying,” Logan said.  Virgil glanced down at him.  “And you will of course be included in more videos.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Virgil asked, raising an eyebrow.

“You’re gonna be a main character!” Patton called.

“I don’t want to be a main character,” Virgil said, crossing his arms over his chest.  That would be way too much pressure, were they insane?

“Oh!” Janus said brightly, clapping his hands together.  “Well, that decides that then!  Alright, Anxiety, if you wouldn’t mind heading back to—”

“Janus,” Thomas said in a low warning tone.  Janus groaned and looked up at the ceiling in clear disapproval, but stopped talking.

“You didn’t have a problem doing the last video,” Thomas said, turning back to Virgil.

“That was one.  Do you honestly think I’m okay with showing up in multiple videos?  Probably almost all of them if you’re saying I’d be a main character!”

“Anxiety, I can understand the idea of filming can be a little unnerving,” Patton said.  “And so can the idea of moving over here—”

“Wait.”  All of Virgil’s arguments came to a screeching halt before most of them had finished forming.  “Moving over here?”

“It would make it far easier to film if you could be around most of the time already,” Logan said.  “We can hardly expect Janus to make a trip to the other side of the mindscape every time we need to make a video.”

Virgil took a moment to process the irony in that statement, blinking at Logan.

Well, that changed things.  If he helped with the videos, he moved over here?  For a second, Virgil considered what that might mean.  He’d get away from Malice, Positivity, and Cruelty.  From what he understood, the core sides didn’t do things the same way they did.  Maybe he wouldn’t have to watch his back every second.  Maybe he could actually sleep easily for once.  But the problem there was, Virgil didn’t only have to watch his own back.  And if he left Remus alone…

It would be a huge disservice to the creative side to say that Remus couldn’t defend himself.  He was far from helpless.  He’d saved Virgil’s own ass more times than he could count.  But there were two of them and three of the others.  On a good day they could hold their own, but if it was just Remus against the three of them, he’d be pretty exposed.

Virgil was a protector.  That was his job, to protect Thomas.  Remus was a part of that.  And he needed Virgil far more than Thomas did most of the time.

Besides, there was a pecking order to the mindscape, as had been explained to Virgil very clearly the time that Malice and Cruelty had thrown Remus at him, unconscious and bleeding from where his mustache was supposed to be.  They wanted to get to Thomas.  But in order to do that they first had to get to Janus.  And since Janus wasn’t an easy side to get to, their best chance was to fuck with Virgil, the person Janus talked to if he ever came down there.  And if you wanted to fuck with Virgil you fucked with the people he was supposed to protect.  If Virgil left Remus alone and exposed, it would be giving them an even more direct line to Janus, and in turn, to Thomas.

Virgil paused as another option struck him.

He looked directly at Thomas.  “On one condition.”

Thomas blinked in surprise.  “You changed your mind?”

“On one condition,” Virgil repeated.

“What?”

“I get to bring someone with me.”

“Absolutely not,” Janus said instantly, glaring at Virgil.

“Janus,” Thomas said, crossing his arms.

“That’s my job!” Janus snapped.  “He doesn’t get to decide when you meet sides!  That’s my territory!”

“No one said he had to meet Thomas,” Virgil said, smirking as he slipped effortlessly back into the asshole persona.  “But if I have to deal with all of you idiots, I want some actually enjoyable company.”

“Hey, be nice,” Thomas said, raising an eyebrow at Virgil.

“Sorry, buddy, nice isn’t in my job description.  You should talk to Patton about that one.”

“Kiddo,” Patton said, sounding a little disappointed.

Virgil ignored him and looked back over at Janus.  “That’s my deal.  You want me to be part of this stupid video series long-term, you want me to come over here and be on-call for whenever you want to film, I get to bring one side with me.”

Janus narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.  “No.”

“Janus,” Thomas said in exasperation.  “Come on.”

“I am not allowing a hostile side up here,” Janus said, still looking directly at Virgil.  “I decide when you’re ready to meet new sides.  I know all of the other sides down there, and trust me when I say that you’re not ready to meet any of them.  Letting one of them come over here is dancing too close to that line, and I will not allow it.”

Patton started to say something else, probably an attempt to change Janus’ mind, but Virgil recognized the expression on his face.  He wasn’t going to be swayed.

And Virgil wasn’t going to leave Remus by himself.

“Fine,” he said, straightening a little as he shoved his hands in his pockets.  “Then I suppose we’re done here.”

“Wait a second, Anxiety—” Logan started.

“I suppose we are,” Janus said, not moving his glare.

Virgil sank back out to Remus’ room without another word, despite the protests he heard follow him down.

Remus wasn’t there when Virgil got there, which was definitely a bad sign.  Virgil headed for all of their usual hiding spots first, as they’d decided years ago.  If they went to the others first, they would unquestionably get hurt, and if they already were being hurt, it was okay, they could last a little longer in order to not give away hiding spots.

This time, however, Virgil didn’t have to make it through all of the hiding spots, because he was passing the third when he walked in behind Cruelty holding a knife up to Remus’ face.

Remus must have seen him, but Cruelty was the only one in the room and they were both well practiced with not acknowledging the other’s presence.  Virgil summoned his scythe, made with Remus’ help a long time ago, and crept up behind Cruelty, silent on his feet.

“And another thing—” Cruelty started in a low voice.  Unfortunately, his other thing would be lost to time and space, because that’s when Virgil slammed the handle of his scythe into the back of his head, and he crumpled.

“You okay?” he asked, looking at Remus.

“Yeah,” Remus said, waving a dismissive hand, even though after doing so he moved to clutch at his other shoulder.  “Just a stab wound.”

“Ah.” Virgil shoved down the anxiety that always came when Remus was hurt, whether it was hours of grueling torture or just a simple stab wound.  “You want help?”

“I can patch myself up just fine, thanks, I don’t need help.”

“Oh, yeah?  Because it looks like you got cornered by just Cruelty,” Virgil said, smirking at him.

“Ah ha ha ha,” Remus said.  “But come with me, I want to hear what the heck the core sides wanted to talk to you about.”

Virgil followed Remus to the bathroom, looking him over as he did so to make sure he wasn’t hiding worse injuries.  He had a tendency to do that if he thought it would make Virgil nervous.

“You checking me out?” Remus asked as they both stopped in the bathroom.

“Yeah, you’re still smoking hot,” Virgil said, rolling his eyes.  “Don’t worry, your new scar will not take away from how attractive you are.”

“Virgil, please, everyone knows scars make someone more attractive.  Movies say so and therefore it must be true.”

“Uh huh, yeah.”

Virgil set Remus’ shirt and sash to the side to be washed later as Remus inspected the knife wound in his shoulder.  He was right, it didn’t look bad at all, and he cleaned and wrapped it in under a minute, then snapped a new shirt on over it.  “So, what did the core sides want?” he asked.

“Oh, apparently the fanbase loved me, and they wanted me to move over there to be in more videos,” Virgil said, waving his hand dismissively.

“Hang on, what?” Remus exclaimed, leaping up from his spot sitting on the toilet.  “What did you say?”

Virgil stared.  “I said no,” he said in bafflement.  “Duh.”

“You did what?  Are you nuts?  And I don’t even mean the fun kind, Virgil!”

“Oh, please.”  Virgil crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall.  “What am I supposed to do, leave you over here by yourself?”

“Um, yes.”

Virgil stood up straighter and dropped his arms.  “What— Remus, I’m not going to do that.”

“You get offered a chance to leave this hell hole behind and you turn it down for my sake?  Jesus, Virgil, I love you too, but come on.”

Virgil stared at Remus for another minute.  Was he serious?  It sounded an awful lot like he was serious.  “You… Remus, you’re joking, right?  This is a really poorly timed joke?”

But Remus was seeming to realize that Virgil was serious the same time Virgil was realizing that Remus was.  “Virgil.”  Remus reached out and put his hands on his shoulders.  “I just got stabbed in the shoulder, and we’re reacting like it’s a normal Tuesday around here because it is.  Listen to me.  You are going to get out of here.”

“Not without you,” Virgil said instantly.

“Yes without me,” Remus replied just as quickly.  “Have you thought this through at all, idiot?  Remember when Janus first went up there?”

Virgil scowled.  “What about it?”

“Everyone hated him at first.  Don’t you remember?  Remember why he went up there in the first place?”

“Yeah, of course.  Laura Singer.”

Thomas had met Laura when they were both in eighth grade, when he had found her crying behind the school because she was worried her parents were going to find out she was a lesbian.  Janus had shown up on a whim to make a suggestion, and that was how Thomas got his first girlfriend and came out for the first time simultaneously.  And through that, overtime, Thomas had gained a lifelong friend in Laura, and a core side in Janus.

“But what’s your point?” Virgil continued, crossing his arms.

“No one liked Janus at first,” Remus said, crossing his own back.  “He won them over overtime.  Who’s to say that can’t happen again?”

“It’s not going to happen fast enough,” Virgil insisted.  “I can’t leave you down here by yourself, you idiot.”

“What, you think I can’t handle myself?”

“I know you can.  But I also know three against one isn’t a fair fight.  I’m not going to leave you here, Remus.”

Remus narrowed his eyes.  “Yes you are.”  He sank out before Virgil could protest.

“What— Remus!” Virgil cried, sinking out to follow him wherever he went.

He ended up in the core side’s commons in front of all four core sides themselves, and most of them were already looking either very surprised or very displeased to see both of them.

“Hello, all,” Remus said with his too-wide smile.  “There’s been a change of plans.  Anxiety will in fact be coming up here to assist with more videos!”

“Remus!” Virgil hissed, trying to kick him while being subtle about it.  It’s not like he was going to outwardly disagree with him in front of the core sides, and Remus knew that.

“Oh, really?  That’s great, kiddo,” Patton said with a smile, standing from his spot next to Janus.

“I’m not your kiddo,” Virgil snapped.  “Don’t call me that.”

“Well, we’ll have to see, won’t we, maybe you’ll warm up to the idea while you’re up here,” Remus said, giving Virgil a large blindingly bright grin that made Virgil reach behind him and pinch him on the back of the neck.

“But he’s so thrilled for the opportunity,” Remus continued.  “He just needed a moment for it to sink in, you know, it was a bit overwhelming is all.”

Patton’s smile turned a bit confused.

A second later, Janus stood up, already scowling.  “You seemed very against the idea earlier,” he said lowly.

“Yeah, what the heck is with the change of plans Hot Topic?” Roman asked, crossing his arms from his spot against Janus’ other side.

“I just told you,” Remus said, tilting his head just enough for his neck to crack.  “He needed some time to process.  But he’s more than willing to move up here to join you all.  Aren’t you, Anxy?” Remus asked, turning his smile back onto Virgil again.

Virgil gave Remus a large smile back that poorly hid the fury of a thousand suns, and turned to face the others again.  “Yep.  Just thrilled at the prospect,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Oh,” Patton said, still sounding confused.  “Well, that’s wonderful ki— Anxiety,” he amended.  “Do you know how long you’ll need to move up here?”

“He can do it right now!” Remus called brightly.  “He already has all of your begrudging permission, right?”  Remus snapped his fingers and there was a loud crunching sound followed by Virgil’s room appearing down the hallway right next to Janus’ room.

Virgil grabbed one of Remus’ hands and yanked it behind his back so he could bend the fingers back, even though it was clear at this point that Remus wasn’t going to change his mind.

“Well, that looks perfect!” Remus said brightly.  “We’ll just make sure everything looks good, and then I will be out of your armpit hair!”

Remus sunk them both out again, and reappeared them both in Virgil’s bedroom.

Virgil immediately whirled on him and shook him by the shoulders.  “Why did you do that?” he snapped.  “You asshole, I told you no!”

“And I told you I’m not letting you turn down the one chance you have to get away from the others,” Remus said firmly.  “You’re staying here, Virgil.”

“Remus, it’s not just about that,” Virgil said.  “Don’t you get it, you just gave them an easier way to hurt you and pressure me into doing something to get them to stop.  You know what they’re capable of.  They could seriously hurt you.  They could kill you.”

Sides couldn’t die permanently, but they were way more vulnerable while reforming from death.  Getting hurt during that time was the kind of thing that caused permanent damage.  Virgil and Remus had always been there to watch each other’s backs when it happened before.  If they managed to kill Remus, while Virgil wasn’t there to help…

“It doesn’t matter,” Remus said, pulling Virgil from his thoughts before he could really start spiraling.  “Just don’t do what they say.”

“What— oh yeah, I’ll just do that,” Virgil said, stubbornly ignoring the tears welling up in his eyes.  “I’ll just knowingly let my only family get badly hurt while I live in the lap of luxury.  That won’t make me a huge fucking asshole.”

“You’re right, it won’t.  Because that’s exactly what I’m telling you to do.”

“Remus.  I can’t just leave you there.”

“Okay, fine.  Don’t.  Get them to like you, just like Janus did, and ask them to let me come over here once they do.”

“I said that isn’t going to happen fast enough!” Virgil snapped.  “How am I supposed to get them to like me?  I’m not exactly a likable side, Remus!”

“Virgil,” Remus said, raising an eyebrow.  “I get that this might be a difficult concept for you to understand.”  He leaned into Virgil’s face as if Virgil was missing something obvious.  “Play. Nice.”

Virgil scowled.

“Don’t be confrontational.  Maybe agree with another side every now and then and don’t constantly bring up the negatives to everything they say.  Try not glaring at Janus every time a word comes out of his mouth.”

Virgil opened his mouth to protest, only for Remus to shove his hand over it, which Virgil leaned back from instantly.  He didn’t want to know where that thing had been.  “Virgil, Janus is the main side you have to win over.  You do get that, don’t you?”

Virgil took a step back and let out a groan.  “Yes,” he mumbled, glaring down at the floor.  “I just… Remus, I don’t want to have to deal with him to get you out!”

“I get that.  I’m with you, okay?  But that’s just how it is.  Get Janus to like you, and he’ll be much more likely to let me come over here.  And that’s the only way to ensure that I’m not kicked out almost immediately.”

“I know,” Virgil grumbled.  “I…” he sighed.  He was being unfair, wasn’t he?  Remus was the one who would have to deal with the others alone, if he could do that, Virgil could manage to not scream at Janus every time he saw him.  “Okay.”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll…” Virgil glared away.  “Play nice with Janus.”  He looked back at Remus.  “But I can’t just suddenly start being the friendliest side in the world to him, that’s just going to make him suspicious.”

“Okay, then try slowly working up to sucking his dick.”

Virgil winced.  “But Remus—”

“I can handle it.  I’m a patient side.”

Virgil snorted.  “Oh yeah, when I think patience, I think of you.”

“I know I won’t be able to get out immediately,” Remus said.  “It’s okay.”

Virgil looked back up.  Remus was biting his lip while frowning and not even pulling off a finger to chew on.

Virgil looked down and laughed bitterly.  “When did you get so serious?”

“Excuse me, is that a challenge?  I’ll strip naked right now.”

“Ew, no!” Virgil called, leaning forward enough to shove Remus’ back.  “You’re disgusting!”

“Thank you, I try.  And don’t ever call me serious ever again.”

Virgil looked over at him, smiling even as he shook his head in exasperation.

“I just trust you,” Remus said.

Virgil stopped smiling.  “Oh.”  He looked at Remus for another moment, then walked forward and pulled him into a hug.  “I’m not gonna let you down,” he mumbled into Remus’ sash.

“Yeah,” Remus said, hugging him back.  “I know.”

Remus pulled back after a minute and smiled weakly at Virgil.  “Okay.  I’m gonna go and add more traps to stop anyone trying to get into my room.”

“Let me help you,” Virgil said instantly.

“No,” Remus said, pushing Virgil back a little more.  “I’ve got this.  I’m gonna be on my own for a little while, I can—”

“Remus,” Virgil cut him off.  “Let me help you with this.”

Remus swallowed, and nodded.  “Okay.”

They both sunk out together and headed for Remus’ room, and Virgil tried to ignore the fear that was cropping up at all of this.  Remus would be fine.  He was Remus, he could handle himself.  Three against one still wasn’t fair, but that just meant he would have to move as quickly as he could.  He’d start tomorrow.  He could make everyone breakfast of some kind.  Pretty much everyone likes pancakes, right?

...

Chapter Two

#sanders sides #virgil sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #character thomas sanders #brotherly dukexiety #platonic dukexiety #platonic anxceit #platonic moxiety #platonic analogical #platonic prinxiety #platonic thvi #creativitwins #platonic roceit #tw injury #tw violence #tw violent imagery #tw violent death #temporary character death #for multiple characters #tw torture #tw manipulation #tw abandonment #wow there's a lot in this one #virgil angst #remus angst #my fic

[helpless-leading-the-clueless]

Introductions

Roman: Welcome to this blog! Don’t mind the blog URL, I’m here to offer romantic advice to anyone to sweep their partner off their feet!

Remus: Yeah, yeah, yeah... and I’m here to help you around with doing the do.

*Remus waggles his eyebrows suggestively and makes an obscene gesture.*

Roman: Unfortunately my dear SIBLING insisted on co-running this blog. So I’m afraid minors shouldn’t be interacting with this space - especially as it pertains HIS posts.

Remus: Jannie and V TOTALLY got a running bet for how long we can keep this up. Eh? Eh?

Roman: Yes, this is quite new for us. Adventures abound!

#sanders sides #roman sanders #remus sanders #creativitwins #(asks open) #(this is mostly gonna be a brotherly shitpost askblog) #(this space is technically under construction but yeah) #(mod: soy)

[anxiouslyfred]

Footprint

Summary: Remy doesn't know whether to be concerned or impressed when his soulmate mark forms as a footprint on his neck. His soulmate however has been aiming to have an unusual first touch with his soulmate since first learning about them in schools.

/\/\/\

When children turn 10 they have a class, sometime in that year, dedicated to explaining soulmates. It covers what the marks are, and the types of connections they can have together as well as when they'll appear. Almost all of the children know about soulmates long before then, their parents or relatives explaining it to some degree. A lucky few even know about the platonic connections that form roughly 20% of bonds and haven't had those situations dismissed as torn connections.

For Roman and Remus however it was their first time being told about the phenomenon. Their parents had realised early on that informing their children of soulmates existing outside of Disney films was likely to encourage some thoughtless behaviours in each of them. They'd wanted the schools resources to support the twins understanding and discovery of it in the hopes they wouldn't respond with an over romanticised ideal or whatever bizarre reaction Remus might have.

“I'm gonna have a soulmate someday!” Roman explained the afternoon after getting that class. “How do Princes meet their soulmates? I'm sure, even in Snow White they'd already touched before true love's kiss.”

His mother looked over, smiling a little, “I believe that the most spoken about first meetings Princes in films have are dances, but interrupting someone's day with that seems discourteous, don't you think?”

“But then how should I be greeting mine? And is it something that will reveal easily if I'm fated for them?” Roman pouted, head tilting in thought.

“How about a kiss on the hand? It is a gentleman's greeting, after all.” She offered, trying to think of a gesture that wasn't likely to cause too much trouble. “And if it's a man you're meeting you can easily adjust it to a handshake if they seem the type to take offence.”

He looked at her before walking over and bending to kiss her hand without trying to take it first. “Like that?”

She smiled at her son, before moving to kneel, “No, like this.” She took his hand, pulling it up to meet her kiss, before starting to tickle him with her other hand, refusing to stop as giggles broke out.

“I'M GONNA BE A GYMNAST! LOOK I CAN DO A HANDSTAND!” Remus interrupted the game, barging into the room and throwing himself upside down.

“No, you need to be nice to your soulmate, Re! Stop that!” Roman protested, using the distraction to escape his mom's hands.

She blinked between the two, well used to connecting seemingly random responses together to learn what had been said between her boys. “I see no reason why I can't get you some gymnastics classes. Is it the flexibility you'd want to focus on or doing flips and such like?”

Remus looked at her, squinting for a moment before asking“Does flexibility mean I could tie myself in knots?”

“Yes.”

“Flexibility then.” He nodded.

That was that so far as both twin was concerned over learning about soulmates and how they might meet them in the future. Their parents took turns in taking Remus to his gymnastics classes and Roman to theatre practices and both tried to remind their boys that soulmates can have platonic relationships of different varieties as well.

…

Remy learnt about soulmates from his much older brother, Logan. He'd asked a million questions on the day Logan took his top off at the beach revealing a finger print sized dark mark on his side and had let that be the end of wondering about them. He didn't care if other people wanted specific marks or created ways to greet everyone in hopes of rapidly identifying them, so long as he got a mark once he turned 15.

That morning he called for Logan without leaving his room, stuck on the change in his reflection still. “Logarithm! I need you!”

“My name is Logan, Remy and what's so important it can't-” His brother's words broke off upon seeing just what had Remy sounding so confused.

“It's a footprint on my NECK!” Remy gestured wildly between the mirror and himself. “I don't know whether I should be concerned or impressed.”

Logan's jaw dropped before he marched over to tilt Remy's head back, “Concerned! You're literally going to be kicked in the neck by your soulmate for your first touch! How is that not concerning?”

“Maybe it's some total hottie and my introduction is gonna be 'step on me, Daddy.' I'm not gonna argue if they agree to it.” Remy countered, smirking.

“Is that supposed to be flirting? It makes no sense at all, and trust me, flirting needs to have some reason behind it to be understood.” Logan ranted already checking him over as if a kick had already hit Remy's neck and he needed medical care.

Remy batted the hands away. “To you it does. Not to me or my soulmate, I bet.”

“You literally called me up here for help.” Logan stated.

“Yeah, cause Dad's gonna try wrapping me up in cotton wool and refuse to let me see the world if he sees this mark and we both know it. You got any scarves in amongst your tie collection?” Remy glanced into the hallway before hurrying over to Logan's room, thankful that it wasn't until next week that his brother moved out.

Logan followed, rolling his eyes. “Yes, I have a scarf and you should too given it's winter.”

“Left it at school, besides this is 5 scarves, not just one.” Remy plucked out the brown one, wrapping it around his neck and heading down for breakfast before any reply or agreement to let him have it could be given.

…

“I CAN'T FIND IT!” Remus's yelled made Roman jump where he'd been twisting his hand from side to side admiring his soulmate mark. He wandered through to the living room with a sigh, just as another cry came from his brother. “My gymnastics classes worked!”

He looked down at the tangle of limbs called his sibling and shook his head. “Nobody, literally nobody, should sound that excited about being unable to find a soulmate mark. Even the people who realise as the grow older that they're happier without generally want to find a soulmate mark when they're fifteen.”

“They're boooorrrrring and so are you! I bet yours is just on your hand or something equally dull.” Remus retorted, shifting his head as if trying to look at the back of his thighs while remaining the twist.

“With a kiss to their hand, my soulmate shall be revealed.” Roman gave a small bow as he repeated his preferred way to greet everyone, noticing Remus's mark as he did so. “And if instead of whatever you're doing, you had just sat cross legged, you'd see that your footprint is your soulmate mark.”

That at least got Remus to unfold from his pose, now poking at his feet. “So no more shoes for me! I need to greet everyone upside-down.”

“You are not doing that!” The protest came on instinct almost, as Roman scrambled for something that wouldn't have his brother actually trying to do that. “Perhaps it's someone trying to do a lift with you?”

“BOOOORRRRRRINNNNNNNNNNNGGGG!” The yell was loud enough their entire family assumed they shouldn't suggest more societally acceptable ways for Remus's foot to be the first place to touch his soulmate.

…

Since meeting Remus, Janus had learnt to be careful what they said, especially if their words could ever be misunderstood in such a way for Remus to flip upside-down. They'd still use those phrases but always ensure they couldn't be connected with Remus too easily should he take the opportunity.

They were the reason that Remus was in a handstand, trying to pick up his plate with his toes. They'd make a sarcastic remark about wait staff being able to balance plates no matter what position they have to be in to lean around customers in smaller restaurants.

Given they'd been having a picnic and frankly more people should get to enjoy the contortionist performance that Remus could start any second, Janus wasn't too worried about being noticed this time.

They were watching the passers by at least, and tried to pull Remus out of his stand when someone paying more attention to their phone passed quite closely. Unfortunately that destabilised Remus enough that his wobble fell towards the stranger, foot landing on their neck for a second before he registered enough to flip out of it.

“Sorry, didn't see you there. Jan-jan said I needed to pick the plate up with my toes.” Remus cheerfully explained, now holding a hand out to the person.

Remy slowly raised his hand to his neck, frowning between the fool who'd been waving his legs in the air moments before and his friend sat at the table. “This mark better be lit up like a Christmas tree now, or I'm going to start screaming at you for carelessness and nonsense.”

The man flipped himself over again, back bending enough he could look up and see his feet. “Well my foot is, but if I refuse to mention your neck, can I still be screamed at?”

“I'm Remy, he/him and are you going to be upside-down for the entire time we get to know each other?” He reached out to pull the foot up enough to see the evidence there.

“Remus, he/him and that's Janus, they/them, unless they've used meeting you as an excuse to run for their car.” He raised the foot in Remy's hands up and down a couple times as if they were shaking hands. “And if you want me to stay upside-down I'm happy to oblige.”

Remy looked his head to toe and back down, before snickering, “Gurl, I don't care, but you are going to drive my brother insane if you ever meet him. I'm going to get coffee. You coming?”

“Only when you say I can.” Remus followed as he set off, still walking on his hands, and his leer audible.

#creativitwins #dukesleep #rem sqared #platonic losleep #brotherly losleep #remus sanders #remy sanders #logan sanders #roman sanders #Janus Sanders #soulmate au #soulmate marks

[moonbeam-dragon]

I would make a playlist for the Creativitwins in a brotherly way.

#sanders sides #sanders sides playlists #ship playlists #thomas sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #virgil sanders #logicality #prinxiety #analogical #royality #moxiety #logince #loceit #moceit #roceit #princeit #anxceit #dukeceit #dukexiety #intrulogical #intruality #creativitwins #LAMP #DLAMP #DRLAMP #logicaliceit

[lio-the-chaotic-nonbeanie-weenie]

A Prince and His Subjects

Title: A Prince and His Subjects

Summary: Or five times the other sides were a simp for Roman and he never noticed. Meanwhile Remus suffers as he tries to protect his brother.

Warnings: none, no smut but there are spicy implications.

Pairings: LAMP, BROTHERLY CREATIVITWINS

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

            Roman always thought that he wasn’t anything special. Yes, he had his own special abilities and magic. He was confident and extra confident on good days. He was brave and kind. Yet, Roman felt as if he was no different nor did he stand out. He tries to with his prince role but he knows he doesn’t always have to put on the costume. He was just Roman. Thomas’ Creativity, Ego, and Passion. Nothing more and nothing less. That’s what he saw and thought of himself. Of course, there’s his big tower of insecurities but he’d rather not address them. To him, Roman is just Roman. The prince isn’t aware that his subjects, or rather the other sides see so much more. Remus does and he gags every time. He’s glad they’re treating his brother nicely but they could be simping less. A lot less.

1.

            It’s another slow day with Thomas free for the day so that left the sides with not being needed in a meeting for the day or until their host summons them. In the Mindpalace, Patton called everyone together to do some cleaning since the common area had become a mess. The place was used for many movie nights and sleepovers during the past few weeks. So, now they stood in the messy common area. There was trash on the couch, books on the coffee table as well as abandoned coffee mugs and empty cookie plates. There’s probably something behind the couch where Remus pops up to join them.

“Okay, everyone! Are you guys ready to clean?” Patton asks, grinning. “I know it would be easier to snap the mess away but it’s also tricky since we don’t know exactly where those things go.”

Roman nods, always eager to help with a little cleaning. He doesn’t look like it but he does like organizing things so they match and look neat plus the extra space is satisfying to him.

“I’m ready, Padre!” he grins, doing his usual royal pose.

Patton claps happily.

“Good! Has everyone decided what they’ll handle?”

“I’ll clear up the books. I apologize for leaving so many of them here.” Logan volunteers.

“That’s alright, Lo. We know you can’t put your books down. If you want, you can leave the book you’re currently reading here.” Patton replies.

Logan blinks and smiles small, his cheeks slightly pink.

“Ah. Thank you, Patton.”

“Of course! Okay, who else is doing what?”

“I’ll handle the cobwebs, dust, and the trash so Princey doesn’t whine about dust allergies.” Virgil answers, taking off his hoodie and tying it around his waist.

“Please do vanquish every speck of dust. I refuse to sit through another movie night with watery eyes.” Roman huffs cutely, feigning a pout. He does appreciate Virgil taking him into consideration.

Virgil chuckles, averting his gaze with a light flush.

“I’ll vanquish all of them, Princey.”

Remus rolls his eyes at that as Patton nods.

“Good! Roman, Janus?” Patton asks, turning to them.

“I’m going to rearrange the furniture back to where they were. We haven’t moved them since the last sleep over as well as reorganize the movies.” Roman volunteers. “Plus, this place is majorly due for redecorating.”

Patton giggles at that.

“Have fun, Ro! Oh, and don’t strain yourself!”

“I’ll be alright, Padre. I don’t just train to vanquish the Dragon Witch.” Roman grins, waving his hand to change the top half of his costume into a tank top.

            Roman used to be ashamed of showing his arms since they were covered in plenty scars but with some assurances, he found some bravery. Lately, especially on hot days, Roman can be found in tank tops or completely topless. It’s definitely not unwelcome. Roman trains a lot and works out for his Imagination adventures and because he likes keeping his body fit and toned so he’s got quite a pair of muscly arms as a well as a nicely toned chest. It makes the others minus Remus glance at him for a moment. Roman just blinks obliviously.

Meanwhile, Patton stops himself from getting any redder as he tears his gaze away from Roman and his arms before turning to Janus.

“What about you, Jan?”

Janus hums, stealing a second glance at Roman because he can and he’s the most shameless next to the twins.

“Hm, I suppose I shall assist Roman. Someone has to pick up the mess when he moves the furniture. Plus, there’s bound to be something interesting under the couch.” he answers, smirking at Roman.

Roman only smiles innocently at Janus and nods.

“Sure! I could use someone to watch my back in case I bump into something.” he chirps, the poor thing unaware of what was going on.

Virgil, having known Janus long enough to spot his schemes, squints and glares subtly at Janus.

That sneaky fucking snake. That was clever.

Remus nearly gags. He had been surprised when Janus admitted he was attracted to Roman. He’s glad his brother is getting love but also wished he hadn’t had to see stuff like this. He’s not the mushy gushy love guy here. He’s the gross, icky intrusive man. That, and his brother was just so innocent and dumb, more so than Patton. Remus wanted to keep him that way. Not that he cared, nope.

Patton just smiles, flustering more. He seems to know too.

“Alright, Janus. I’ll help Virgil with the dusting then I’ll take care of the dishes.” he nods, summoning a feather duster. “Remus, can you help clean too? You don’t have to handle soap.”

Remus secretly is relieved to hear that and looks around. Well, someone’s gotta keep an eye on Roman and make sure the others don’t make him uncomfortable by accident.

“I’ll clear out my stuff from behind the couch because if I don’t, Janny’s gonna make me do it anyways.” he huffs.

Janus chuckles.

“Perhaps you should stop bringing your things to movie night.” he teases. “We don’t need any more…toys.”

Roman tilts his head in confusion. He may handle romance but he tends to miss innuendos and the like.

“But we always bring our plushies to movie night?” he questions.

“Oh, those toys are okay. Remus can’t bring his toys though.” Janus grins, resisting the urge to ruin his innocence.

“Why? What kind of toys does Remus have?” Roman asks, even more confused.

Remus glares at Janus who has a smug grin on his face.

“Don’t worry too much about it, RoRo.” Remus intervenes.

The prince blinks.

“Oh. Okay then.”

Patton clears his throat awkwardly at that and summons his cleaning apron as well.

“Okay, let’s get cleaning, everyone!”

            With that, the sides went off to go do their tasks. Roman immediately went to the beanbags he left piled in the corner from the last movie night. He hums and bends down, scooping up the blankets on top along with the pillows, setting them aside. Then he picks up his Beast onesie and waves his hand to send it back to his room. With that done, Roman bends back down and gathers the beanbags, unaware of where Janus’ eyes were.

            Janus had followed Roman, waiting for him to move something so he can watch-help Roman pick up any items that had been hiding under the furniture. When he saw Roman bend ever so perfectly, he couldn’t help but smirk at the new view. Roman was quite toned, even from the back. The snake side’s eyes slowly travel lower and lower and…

Roman stands up and Janus hides his smirk.

“Good work, Roman. Oh, and you even found the missing TV remote.” Janus praises, taking that moment to pat Roman’s arm.

Remus squints.

Is the snake seriously feeling up his twin? Gross.

“Oh, thanks, Jan! Could you grab it for me? I need to move these.” Roman grins back at the yellow side.

Janus squeezes Roman’s arm and nods.

“Of course.”

Roman nods his thanks and waddles away with the beanbags.

Remus huffs and stands up from where he was looking for his things behind the couch.

“Really? Feeling up my brother in front of me? You might as well grope his ass too, you horny fucking snake.” he growls, huffing.

Janus merely chuckles and smirks.

“Tempting but we have cleaning to do, Remus. Besides, it’s not like Roman’s going anywhere anytime soon~”

Roman, who had returned just then, blinks in confusion.

“Where would I be going?”

Remus says nothing and glares at Janus.

2.

            Virgil doesn’t often wander into the Imagination, especially alone. When Roman asked him to come along for a walk, he couldn’t really say no. Roman had busted out what he dubs as the “princey pout” and Virgil was a weak side. So now, Virgil finds himself strolling along beside Roman in the Enchanted Forest. It’s nice and peaceful. Or as peaceful as Virgil can tell. Being the embodiment of someone’s Anxiety always reminds him that anything bad could happen. So, Virgil is still a little on guard. He tries to distract himself and glances at Roman.

            Roman is humming as he walks along, his katana sheathed at his side. He had assured Virgil that they’re not going to fight anything but he decided to bring it along. Just in case. Bright emerald eyes gaze at the forest path head, counting the little yellow daisies that dot the way. A blue jay then flutters from its nest and flies down to Roman with a chirp. The creative side smiles fondly and holds up his finger, chuckling as the bird perches for a moment. He takes that moment to pet the bird’s tiny head.

“Hello, little one. I see your injured wing is feeling better. Have your eggs hatched?” Roman asks, gently stroking the bird.

The bird chirps and shakes his head.

“Ah, I see. I’ll try to be here when that does happen.” Roman replies, chuckling as the bird hops and chirps happily.

Meanwhile, Virgil blinks out of his stupor.

“Huh. So, you can talk to animals, princey.” he teases, smirking slightly.

Roman smiles and lets the bird go, watching it return to its nest.

“I love my creatures, big and small, so I used a spell to give myself the ability to communicate with them.” he explains, waving to a passing rabbit.

Virgil hums at that.

“Or maybe you’re just actually a Disney prince.” he mutters.

Roman blinks.

“What?”

“N-Nothing, shut up!” Virgil flustered.

“Oh. Well…I guess we should just keep on walking then.”

Virgil sighs and nods.

Nice job, Virgil.

            As they continue to walk, neither notice the rustling tree branches behind them. Up above in the thick of the tree branches is Remus, watching them walk. He was going to jump down as a sneak attack on Roman but held back when he saw Virgil. Out of curiosity, he stayed back to watch them walk. Huffing, Remus hops to another branch to follow after them. Remus isn’t being overprotective towards his little brother. Nope. He’s just…making sure Roman is okay. Yeah.

            Meanwhile, Roman leads Virgil to big clearing in the forest. A beautiful lake sits in the center, shaded by the canopy above. Off to the side and further back is a beautiful cottage with lavender vines growing down the sides of the roof. Playful creatures like rabbits and squirrels scurry by. A small duck family lounges at the side of the pond. Dragon flies dance around and across the lake. There’s also a log to sit on nearby. This place is one of Roman’s favorite places to go when things are too much or when he wants to be alone. He then leads Virgil to the log bench.

“This is what I wanted to show you. One of my favorite places.” he explains, gazing at the water.

Virgil follows his gaze and watches some waterlilies float by.

“It’s…beautiful, Ro.” he replies, perching on the log bench.

Roman smiles softly, watching the ducklings splashing in shallow of the lake.

“I’m glad you think so. It’s where I sometimes go to unwind after a long day or just to think. Sometimes I come here to nap.” he smiles, chuckling.

Virgil nods along.

“Yeah? That sounds pretty relaxing. I don’t think I could nap out here. A bug might crawl up my nose or mouth or ears. Or I’ll somehow roll into the lake and die even if it’s shallow.” he replies, laughing too.

Roman chuckles again.

“That’s understandable but if you do ever want to give it a try, I’m here to accompany you. I’ll make sure no bugs crawl inside you or that you don’t roll into the lake. Or we could do other things.”

Remus, who had followed and watched from the branches, squints.

Virgil flusters, smiling shyly at Roman for a moment.

“L-Like what, Princey?”

“Swimming!” Roman grins, standing up.

“Oh.”

Virgil lets his heart calm down. Bless Roman, he’s just so damn innocent.

Meanwhile, Remus frowns and huffs.

“You really thought you were going to get dicked down by my brother, huh? Naughty emo.” he whispers, knowing damn well that Virgil can at least hear him.

Virgil does hear him, his head whipping to the side. He squints but sees nothing though he swears there’s glowing eyes in one of the trees and-

“So, do you want to swim with me, emo?”

Virgil looks back to Roman and nearly falls off the bench, his face reddening.

Roman had changed into a pair of swim trunks, giving Virgil an eyeful of his chiseled abs and toned arms. It doesn’t help that he’s got…quite the chest or a sexy-

“Virgil?”

Virgil jolts and averts his gaze.

“Uh, sorry, what?” he answers dumbly.

“I said, do you want to swim with me?” Roman asks again, head tilted in confusion.

Virgil flusters.

“Oh, uh, I’m good. Don’t want to ruin the eyeshadow and I’m too pale.” he replies.

It’s not a lie but he didn’t want to tell Roman he actually couldn’t swim or that he’ll combust, staring at Roman’s abs and arms.

Roman just shrugs and smiles.

“Okay then. I’ll just go on ahead.” he hums, turning around.

Once again, Virgil is blessed with the view of Roman’s backside. Damn, even his back muscles are hot.

Remus growls lowly and huffs.

“That’s not where his eyes are, Virgil.” he hisses.

Virgil jumps again and turns red, glaring at the eyes in the trees. Dammit, Remus.

3.

            Logan doesn’t often hang out in Roman’s room. It’s not that he doesn’t want to, no. It’s just…a little harder to function normally being in the same room as Roman. Especially in his bedroom. He’s Logic, after all. He’s not supposed to be feeling stuff…or thinking about…certain things.

            And yet, Logan finds himself outside of Roman’s room with some books under his arm. It’s a brainstorm session and Roman invited him over. The logical side figured that he could use the books as a distraction, so he didn’t have to look at Roman too much. Sighing, Logan stands tall and knocks at Roman’s door.

“Be there in a moment!” comes Roman’s voice.

The door then opens.

“Ah, I hope I’m not-oh.” Logan’s words die on his tongue.

Roman is back in his tank top and it seems he’s been experimenting with his makeup again. He’s always had the prettiest face despite all of them looking similar to each other.

“Um, Logan? What were you saying?” Roman tilts his head cutely and Logan has to clear his throat.

“Ah, I was saying, I hope I’m not late.” Logan stammers, adjusting his glasses.

Roman smiles.

“You’re right on time, Specs! Come on!” he chirps, taking Logan’s free hand and tugging him inside before shutting the door.

Logan lets Roman lead him. Even his hands feel strong.

“You wanna join me in bed?” Roman asks.

Logan nearly chokes but saves it with a cough.

“E-Excuse me?”

Roman plops down on his big, royal bed with some books piled in front of him and his beloved red binder.

“Do you want to sit here and brainstorm? It’s comfy and soft. It’s okay if you don’t want to. You can also take my desk chair.” he asks, blinking innocently.

Oh. Right. That’s what he meant.

Under Roman’s bed, Remus squints and huffs as he chews on one of Roman’s old boots. Even nerdy wolverine had naughty thoughts about his brother. Gross. It makes Remus summon a shuriken. Just in case.

Logan regains his composure and nods, clearing his throat a second time.

“I-I’ll join you, Roman.” he replies.

He then toes off his shoes and sits on Roman’s bed before setting his books down.

“Yay!” Roman cheers before grabbing his binder and summoning a pen. “So, do you want to hear what I have so far?”

Logan finds himself staring for a moment before refocusing and nodding.

“Of course.”

For next hour, he and Roman share ideas and thoughts. They wind up chatting a lot and talking about books they’ve been reading, upcoming things on Thomas’ schedule, and other little things. It’s nice and Roman cherishes the moment because it’s not often they can settle down and just talk without bursting into arguments. They’re working on arguing less though. It’s a…long process.

“Ooh, I’m so excited for Thomas to do the Crofters tasting video!” Roman then squeals.

Logan finds himself tugging on his tie for the millionth time this hour. Roman’s just so sweet. So bright.

They had moved onto video ideas and the conversation evolved into discussing already planned videos. Most of them were to be fun little shorts for Thomas to do as a break from his usual stuff.

“I agree though I wish we didn’t have to rank them. They all taste exquisite.” Logan replies, a small smile on his lips.

Roman giggles and Logan feels like he’s been blinded by the sun.

“Definitely! But I’m curious to see what Thomas’ opinion is. He only gets certain flavors and there’s probably a lot more he hasn’t tried.” The prince grins, bouncing up and down.

“Of course.” Logan replies before flustering and averting his gaze. “And I appreciate the fact you invited me into this video.”

Roman nods happily.

“I wanted to, Logan! Crofters was your thing first and I merely got inspired to try. Plus, it’s your turn in the spotlight, my dear nerd.” he winks.

Logan has to breathe through his nose to stay calm. Damn, that handsome prince and his handsome face.

“T-Thank you, Roman.” he manages to say a moment later.

Roman nods again and Logan takes a moment to calm himself down on the inside. The two then go back to talking and brainstorming. At some point, Logan found himself gazing at Roman’s face again as the prince was talking.

Logan couldn’t help it. Roman had such a pretty face. The scars made him look extra handsome. His eyes were just as pretty, sparkling like a pair of emeralds. If Logan looked closer, he could see that Creative spark in those eyes. He could see passion and wonder. Sometimes Logan wondered what the world was like through Roman’s eyes.

“Uh, Specs? Logan?”

Logan blinks and realizes he’d been ogling Roman for some time now. Oops.

“A-Apologies, Roman. I…got lost in thought.” he answers, face flushed.

Meanwhile, Remus who had moved to watch from his twin’s massive closet, rolls his eyes.

“You’re so lucky it takes more bullshit than that to summon Janny.” he hisses under his breath.

Back to the two, Roman just smiles and pats Logan’s shoulder.

“It’s okay! Anyways, I was asking if I could practice my makeup skills on your face. Thomas wants to do another makeup video and I want to be on top of my skills so I can help!��� he replies.

Logan doesn’t mind makeup though he doesn’t wear it as often as Roman does. He’s not really that good with the art. Yet, he can’t find himself to deny Roman. Not with that smiling, pretty face looking at him.

“Sure, but nothing heavy, Roman.” he nods, a little flustered.

Roman perks up and claps happily, bouncing up from the bed.

“Oh, thank you, Logan! Wait there! I’m gonna get some stuff from the bathroom.” he squeals before dashing off to his bathroom.

Once the door clicks shut, Remus takes that time to slip out of the closet.

“Watch yourself, nerd. I could hear your nasty little thoughts from there.” he whispers in the logical side’s ear, holding up a shuriken.

Logan blinks, composing himself from being startled.

“What do you mean? I haven’t done anything wrong.”

Remus squints.

“Uh huh. I saw you eye-fucking my brother.”

Then he sinks away while Logan is left standing there with a red face.

4.

            Patton loves to bake a lot. It’s calming and fun and he loves giving treats to everyone. He loves it more when he bakes with someone. This time, he’s baking with Roman which has him super excited. Roman is often busy in the Imagination, helping Thomas, or doing some creative work so he doesn’t always have time to do this kind of stuff. With Thomas having another slow day and things being quiet in the Mindpalace, Patton was able to invite Roman who happily agreed to join.

            And now here they were in the kitchen, utensils and bowls scattered around the counter. Flour covers the surface. Patton is in his sky-blue apron and Roman in his white apron. Roman also has his bangs pinned away from his face with a cute little hairclip that’s shaped like a crown. Right now, the two were mixing cake batter.

“Mm, I can’t wait to have these for dessert later. We deserve a little treat!” Roman grins, eager to have some cake after dinner.

Patton nods happily.

“We do! How’s your batter coming along?”

Roman holds up his red bowl.

“I think it’s almost ready!” he answers, mixing a few more times.

“Good! Mine’s almost ready too! Once we get these in the oven, we can work on the frosting and icing!”

Roman nods.

“Oh, I love that part!”

The two laugh and they keep mixing. Soon the batter is ready and they put it in the cake pans. Once that’s done, they place it in the oven to bake. After shutting the oven door and setting the timer, Patton moves and opens the cabinet to get more bowls while Roman gets the ingredients needed.

Patton then sees a problem. The rest of the big mixing bowls are on the top shelf of the cabinet and he can’t reach them.

“Oh dear.” he frowns.

Roman sets down the box of icing mix that he was looking at.

“Is something wrong, Pat?” he asks.

“Could you reach up and get those bowls for me, Roman?”

“Oh, sure!”

Before Patton can move aside, he feels something solid behind him and he blinks. He looks up and nearly squeaks. Roman’s pressing up against him, reaching up into the cabinets. Patton quickly turns away, looking at the counter instead. He can feel Roman’s chest behind his head.

Roman is much taller than him and Patton has no complaints. He’s…very strong too. If Patton leaned back enough, he could feel Roman’s chest against the back of his head and-

“One of the others must have put the bowls up here after movie night.” comes Roman’s voice from behind him. It makes him shiver as Roman’s basically talking in his ear.

Then the solid and muscly wall that is Roman is gone from behind him, now standing beside him instead with the bowl.

“Here you go!”

Patton blinks and hopes he isn’t blushing too much before taking the bowl.

“T-Thank you.”

Roman nods and goes to the other side of the kitchen with the icing box to read the instructions.

Meanwhile, Patton calms himself down. As he moves to put the bowl down, he feels something grab his ankle and he almost squeaks again. The fatherly side looks down and has to hold back another squeak when he sees Remus’ head sticking out of the sink cabinet.

“Don’t even think about it, froggy.”

Then Remus lets go and disappears under the sink.

Patton shudders at that and continues with baking, totally not thinking about Roman’s body against his earlier.

5.

            It’s another slow day in the Mindpalace. Everyone had been hard at work, assisting Thomas last week so this time they agreed to just chill out for the time being. They gathered in the living area and put on a movie though no one really paid much attention to it. Patton was doing a word search for fun, Logan sitting next to him on the couch with a book. Virgil was next to Logan, gaming away on his Switch. Roman and Remus took up the beanbags beside the couch, the twins doodling and brainstorming in a shared sketchbook. Janus sat at their feet, also reading.

Though Janus was getting bored. He’s already read his book and despite it being a mystery novel, the plot was predictable. He sets his book down and glances around before seeing Roman. He hides a fond smile as he hears him giggle at something Remus says.

Janus has heard from the others about their…encounters with Roman. He’s very tempted to try something to get Roman to…show off a little. He looks around some more and spots the thermostat.

Hmm…

Janus then grins and nudges Virgil’s leg.

“Fuck off, Janus.” Virgil huffs without looking up.

“Okay but you’ll miss the show, my dear emo.”

Virgil pauses his game and looks over to Janus.

“What show?”

“Just wait and see.”

Janus then subtly waves his hand to turn up the heat on the thermostat. It takes a few moments but soon it’s starting to get warm. Patton and Logan hardly noticing, being used to the warmth of the Mindpalace. Virgil is used to sweating in his hoodie and Janus himself likes heat. Remus already runs warm so he doesn’t notice much change.

Soon it’s even more warm and Roman is feeling a little uncomfortable in his costume. He loves it and all but the thick material makes it hard to stay cool. It’s why he has a different costume for his Imagination trips. Sighing, Roman sets his pencil aside and stands up.

“Oh, it’s just so hot in here! Sweltering!” he huffs. “I apologize but a prince must shed his costume!”

Roman then waves his hand and he’s now shirtless again.

Janus smirks. Lovely.

“Holy shit…Nice one, Jan.” a flustered Virgil mutters beside him, fist bumping Janus.

Janus nods, enjoying the view.

“Very.”

Patton squeaks, adjusting the sleeves of his cardigan around his neck as his face reddens.

“O-Oh my goodness…”

Logan nods, fixing his glasses as he flusters.

“Quite…”

Meanwhile Remus glares and huffs.

“I hate all of you.”

No one replies, too busy staring at Roman who had decided to fan himself for the moment.

Remus glares more.

“Hey! Quit drooling all over him, you fucking weirdos!” he growls, not liking how they’re ogling his twin.

Sweet, oblivious Roman blinks.

“They’re not drooling all over me. That would feel gross, Ree.” he frowns, head tilted in innocence.

Remus resists the urge to smack the others or knock Roman out just to spare him.

“Don’t-Don’t worry too much about it, RoRo.” he sighs, getting up to go check the thermostat.

Roman just blinks again. The others sure have been acting weird lately and he wonders if Remus knows why. He won’t tell him though.

“Oh. Okay then. Wonder why they’re staring at me…”

Oh, if only Roman knew what they saw.

THE END

#sanders sides #sanderssides #sanders sides fanfiction #roman sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #LAMP #creativitwins #sanders sides fluff

[i-will-physically-fight-you]

#thomas sanders #sanders sides #logan sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #and yes i see rivals to friends & enemies to friends as two separate things #dont ask me how the vibes are just different #i actually do enjoy stuff involving c!thomas but i dont personally write him a whole lot #(mainly because I've never gotten over my apprehension over rpf even if c!thomas is essentially a fictional representation of real thomas)

[blackoutbugza]

I'm sorry, I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but I have more, so yeah! This question is about your won't list. It says R3mrøm in the won't list, which, I don't do that either, but what about creativitwins? Like that's that's the platonic one. Sorry about this again, I'm full of questions. 🥲

r*mr*m i will not ever, ever do. however, i will do platonic brotherly creativitwins! I remember my first art request was remus and roman getting up to no good lol. ty for asking! :)

#sanders sides #ts sides #remus sanders #roman sanders #thomas sanders #tumblr asks

[creativia10]

Punk with Lavender

Summary: Roman is ready to spend Halloween with his usual group of friends. He finds himself more surprised by their costumes than he expected to be.

Relationships: romantic Prinxiety, platonic brotherly Creativitwins, background romantic Dukeceit, romantic Logicality

Wordcount: 1010

Warnings: some mockery (but it's light-hearted teasing among friends)

Notes: Tuliptober Prompt 30-Oneshots

Part of one-shots. Will have more than one.

Set for Halloween

@transexualfoxprince

Based on @tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors Pastel/Punk verse

Roman smoothed out his costume and looked himself over in the mirror. He smiled. He thought he cleaned up rather well and made for a great dark prince if he did say so himself. The style looked like that of a typical fairytale prince costume. Except the color scheme was black and red. It fit him better anyways.

There was a knock on his door.

“Is his highness ready to come out yet?”

Roman snickered at Virgil’s unintentional irony.

“It’s funny you say that.”

Roman opened his apartment door only for his jaw to drop when he saw Virgil.

Virgil smirked. Virgil made fists and posed.

“Oo, look at me. I’m punk Roman. Totally a tough guy.”

Virgil was dressed like a punk. He was all in black. Roman didn’t think he’d ever seen Virgil lacking so much color. And he was wearing Roman’s jacket, a clothing item Roman let him borrow more on purpose now. He wore a mini skirt over fishnet stockings unlike Roman’s usual leather pants though. Still with boots though, just a bit more angular. The only thing that matched Virgil’s usual aesthetic, was his lavender-colored hair.

Virgil was still preening at Roman’s reaction. Roman blinked a few times.

“You don’t look completely like me,” Roman said. Virgil rolled his eyes and gestured with his head. They started walking out.

“Yeah, I thought it would be more fun this way.”

He shyly looked up at Roman.

“And uh, you look good too. Even if you couldn’t get a good roast in from your costume.”

Roman let out a little huff and put his arm around Virgil.

“I was perfectly fine with just looking good. Especially for you,” Roman said with a wink. Virgil shook his head.

“Idiot. You don’t have to do it for me.”

Virgil grumbled but leaned into Roman anyways. Roman hmmed.

-

The poetry café has been their group’s meeting spot anyways. The cafe didn’t officially have a Halloween event going on. But, it had become an unofficial tradition to dress up and hang out there around the spooky day anyways.

Apparently this year, Roman was not in on a group coordination effort though.

Remus was also dressed like a punk, but with neon green to replace Roman’s typical reds. He too smirked at Roman.

“Hey Ro, do I rock leather better than you? I bet I look so tough. Oo all this black totally means I’m extra and special.”

Roman rolled his eyes. “I think your neon exterior ruins your point.”

Janus hmmed.  His style was closer to Virgil’s current one. Janus wore a dark purple but with a leather skirt, and spiked heels.

“It is fun to see who could be intimidated by this though,” Janus added. Remus cackled and nodded in his agreement.

“Why did you all find it necessary to mock my style tonight?” Roman asked.

“Not everyone,” Logan said.

Roman looked over. Patton giggled. He was wearing a pastel blue sundress, the only one in pastel this time for some reason, which was an odd sight. He also had on blue converse. Patton’s hair was still dyed turquoise though, and his piercings were still in. Patton grabbed the ends of his skirt and spun around with a giggle.

“Oh, I love dressing so differently today! I feel like I look so cute! No wonder you all love to dress like this.”

“I wouldn’t exactly say cute is the correct descriptor for them usually,” Logan said. Indeed, the usual pastel wearers, Janus, Remus, and Virgil seemed offended.

“But uh,” Logan coughed, “You certainly do.”

Roman cooed at them with a smirk, getting a glare from Logan at his efforts. Remus mimed barfing in the background. Logan was the only other one who didn’t seem to be a part of this style-swapping scheme though. He was dressed as…a teacher maybe? Logan dressed like a professional, including a tie.

Janus gestured to the style swappers. “First it was just Virgil who wanted to, he thought roasting his new boyfriend was a good time. Something I can appreciate. Then Remus wanted to join as well. I thought the style sounded fun so I joined of my own volition. Patton didn’t seem to realize the intention was mockery and just wanted to have fun.”

Patton gaped at them.

“Of course, I’m not making fun of you! If anything, I’m honoring your look.”

Logan adjusted his glasses. “Yes, I did not understand it myself. But, it is apparently in good fun.”

“Speaking of, why did you choose to dress in that?” Remus asked. Logan huffed.

“It is different than my usual getup.”

“Yeah, but why a teacher?”

“It was different enough. I didn’t want to put too much effort into this when it is merely for going to our usual venue. I’m not exactly the costume type. Be grateful I dressed up for Halloween at all.”

 Patton cooed at him and linked arms.

“Well, I think it still looks good honey. I can see you being smart enough to be a teacher.”

Logan blushed a bit, “Thank you, dear.”

Janus and Remus made disgusted faces again.

Roman looked back to Virgil. “You’re the only one who went far enough as to change your physical appearance for this though, I noticed.”

“Ah, yeah.” Virgil brushed some of his now lavender hair back behind an ear and looked away.

“I thought it worked with yall’s typical punk aesthetic. Plus, I had kind of been considering getting it colored like this anyways. What do you think?”

Roman smiled at Virgil. He gently tangled some of his fingers into the lavender hair as he brushed it out of Virgil’s eyes.

“I think it really suits you.”

Virgil smiled and shyly looked up at him again.

“Yeah?”

Roman nodded, “Of course.”

Roman leaned in for a kiss.

“Alright lovebirds, let’s get going before yall start falling into tunnel vision again.”

Virgil rolled his eyes, but the two of them turned to join the rest of the group to head to their favorite venue. It should be a good Halloween.

#Tuliptober2022 #ts roman #ts virgil #prinxiety #sanders sides #ts remus #ts janus #ts patton #ts logan

[starshard17]

Happy Valentines Day from the Valentwins!

Actually it's the creativitwins but shhhhh

Valentines Day may be about celebrating love but love can be platonic! And here we have the twins celebrating brotherly love!

Roman and Remus Sanders everyone! ❤️💚

I'll post a fully colored version later (maybe)

#sanders sides #moonbladeart #my art #roman sanders #remus sanders #Happy Valentine's Day

[glacierruler]

Sooo sharing some dlampr(platonic creativitwins, think of it as Roman and Remus are dating everyone except eachother) au ideas because @cutebisexualmess asked. Idk if these will ever come to fruition but:

Fantasy AU:

-Virgil is a shadow fairy

-Roman is a phoenix fairy

-Remus is an octopus dude -can breathe underwater and talk to octopi

-Janus is part snake -can detect most lies

-Patton is half wood-elf

-Logan is a human who stumbled into this magical world recently

--starts out with Virgil, Janus, Roman, and Remus fighting

--end of story, everyone is snuggling in Logan's house

--absolutely no middle of story yet.

Band AU

-Anxceitmus is a band

-Logan, Roman, and Patton are another band (don't know the three's ship name, so sorry about that)

-Both bands are touring at the same time

-They end up touring together at some point

-Remus and Roman have brotherly reunion, and proceed to bond over cute gays(again they do not date each other, they just happen to have the same boyfriends as each other in the end)

-They end up dating the boys that they like, y'know, the other four mc's

I have some more au's in my head, but I gotta finish this dukexiety and prinxiety fic before 3 am my time

#dlampr #patton #roman #remus #logan #virgil #janus #au ideas #i might make these later #if i have the time #and feel free to use these as info #inspo #i meant inspo lol

[nandysparadox]

hot chocolate and pinterest boards

Pairing: romantic royality; mentioned brotherly moxiety and creativitwins

Word count: 681

cw: just pure, tooth-rotting fluff😆

Summary: Roman gets a bit overwhelmed with all the wedding planning — good thing Patton's around to help

—

fic for day 1 of @royalityweek ! this year i wanted to do something for most days, and thankfully ive managed it :D all the fics and art i make for this week will be in the same verse as milkshakes and checkered diners, showing various moments in roman and patton's life — they won't be in chronological order, but ill arange it that way on ao3 when all of them are posted

prompt: celebration/invitation

“Oookay, I think it’s way too early for that much pacing, mister.”

“Hm?”

Roman looked up from his binder as if broken out of a trance and Patton had to stifle a chuckle. Ever since the proposal, Roman had been swept up in a whirlwind of vision boards, checklists, and everything else wedding planning — that morning had been no different.

Though judging by the wild look in his eyes and how he dug his nails into the leather-bound cover, Roman probably would’ve paced their carpet to the ground if Patton hadn’t stopped him.

“C’mon,” he took Roman’s arm and gently pulled him towards the couch, carefully balancing the mug in his other hand.

“Alright, honey,” he said as he handed the other a cup of hot chocolate. “How about we put the binder aside for a little bit and you tell me what’s got you so nervous, hm?”

Roman sighed and pushed his hair back.

“Well- I was looking through some venues I thought were absolutely gorgeous, but then I realized to book a venue you need to know the amount of guests so I started writing down the guest list. But it’s been a while since I’ve seen everyone, and you know my family’s big, so I had to start texting people and figuring out how to send out the invites, and then my brother texts me and asks if I need help with the wedding planning, and I love Remus, you know that, but I have to give him something to do that won’t turn out a complete disaster and—”

“Okay, I think I see what’s going on,” Patton cut Roman off, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. “I know you’re very excited about this, honey, but if you try to do everything at the same time you’ll tie yourself up in knots. You have a checklist, don’t you?”

Roman nodded, taking a sip of his drink.

“So let’s follow that, one thing at a time.” Patton smiled, opening the binder to the ‘to-do’ page and pointing to one of the first items. “Let me write down the guest list, with the addresses and everything, since that’s stressing you out. Then you can write and decorate the invites.”

“Are you sure?”

Patton chuckled, putting his hands on his hips.

“Honey, it’s my wedding too.”

“I guess so,” Roman rolled his eyes, though the sarcasm was broken by the snort that followed it. “…Sorry, darling, I really didn’t mean to exclude you, just— tunnel vision.”

“Don’t worry, I know how you get,” Patton teased, coming up to wrap his arms around Roman’s shoulders and nuzzle his cheek. “My beautiful fiancé with his head stuck in the clouds.”

In response, Roman stuck out his tongue adorably and Patton couldn’t resist pressing a kiss onto his hair.

“…And about Remus,” Patton said. “We could always send my brother to keep him on track. Should prevent any disasters.”

“If you think that’d prevent disasters you got another thing coming.”

“What? You think Virgil can’t handle wrangling your brother?”

Roman huffed.

“It’s not Remus I’m worried about.”

“…Is this about last halloween?”

“Your brother is a menace and you know it!”

He wasn't wrong, Patton had to admit that. When he and Roman started dating Virgil had, in true older brother fashion, antagonized Roman quite a bit, which ended up both parts sweet and infuriating. Though with time any animosity had morphed into his weird way of showing affection, which consisted mostly of texting Roman memes at 4 a.m, and making elaborate plans to scare the crap out of him.

So yeah, maybe Patton could see how setting him loose with chaos incarnate, Remus, might be a bad idea.

“… We’ll think about it. Now! How about you show me those pinterest boards you’ve got saved up?”

Roman smiled bright as day as he pulled up the pictures, and as he rambled about color schemes and decorations, all Patton could focus on was the radiant glow that shone through when Roman was in his element.

He really couldn’t wait to marry him.

—

AN: just for reference, this fic takes place about a year after patton has graduated from vet school, so about 6 and a 1/2-ish years after milkshakes and checkered diners

and if you're curious about the proposal, let's just say we'll see that ;)

#sanders sides #royality #roman sanders #patton sanders #royalityweek2023

[creative-lampd-liberties]

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Light angst and hurt/comfort. Gratuitous Holiday fluff. Mentions of ducking out. Hugging. Mild gore and language typical of Remus. Brotherly Dukexiety and Creativitwins and Platonic Prinxiety.

Summary: A little clearing the air on what it means to be a brother, by circumstance or by choice.

For my giftee @anxiouslyfred I really hope you enjoy it 💜

@sanderssidesgiftxchange

#sanders sides gift exchange #tss fic #sanders sides fic #virgil sanders #remus sanders #roman sanders #platonic prinxiety #creativitwins #platonic dukexiety

[werewroammin]

my favorite brotherly “ships” (is there a better word for familial relationships) are probably prinxiety and logince (which ofc means i also enjoy brotherly dukexiety and intrulogical). maybe anxceit too but i like the idea of janus being virgils dad more. brotherly logicality is also amazing

and creativitwins ofc but that’s a given

[naminethewriter]

Skater Dark Sides AU (bullet fic) 6

Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4  Part 5  Ao3

It’s been a year and I finally finish this thing! The other Sides finally make an appearance and it kinda has an ending, I guess? But I never had a proper ending for this, so I guess this’ll have to do. Maybe one day I’ll add onto this, maybe not. If you want to do something with this, feel free to but please inform me, I’d love to see it 💛💚

Again this will include: romantic Dukeceit, platonic Dukexiety, brotherly Creativitwins, everything else is open to interpretation so far

No trigger warnings I could think of, if you want me to tag something, send me a message/ask/tag/comment 🥰

let’s finally meet Virgil

he’s new in town after one of his mom’s got a new job

basically he’s in the Gabriella Montez situation where he’s moved around a lot but now his moms made him a promise that they’ll stay in this town until he graduates

they move during the last two weeks of vacation so he has some time to explore the town before school starts

he started skating when he was quite young and it helped him find some place to hang out in whatever town he moved to

so after they’re moved in and he has some free time he goes on a drive around the city to find a good skate park

that’s when he comes across Remus’ gang (Janus isn’t there that day)

similar to how Janus was initiated, he was noticed by some members of the gang and they started asking questions about his skills

being on a skateboard is one of the few things that let’s Virgil forget his worries, so as he shows of his tricks he relaxes and soon is comfortable with the guys

eventually Remus comes over and they start talking and getting along

Virgil becomes fast friends with the gang

Remus might just be a bit enthusiastic as he tells Janus about him and he gets a bit jealous

(it’s his first relationship and it’s the first time Remus met someone new since they got together and he has a hard time convincing his brain that his boyfriend won’t just fall out of love with him)

when Janus meets Virgil he might just be a bit snippy so they get off on the wrong foot

Remus talks to Janus about it when they get home and Janus admits to being in the wrong and simply worried, Remus plans to reassure him more often

Janus apologises to Virgil and while he accepts it they still aren’t friends

school starts again and Remus moves in with Janus who now feels more secure, knowing that he can spend time with his boyfriend even when he can’t make it to the hang-out

Virgil is nervous about school but since they’ve done it so many times already, he and his mom are quick to get him registered and shown around and he’s on time for his first class

once he sits down there’s a boy in front of him immediately who introduces himself as Patton

Patton welcomes him and offers him a more detailed tour and explanation of the school which Virgil accepts

at lunch he’s then introduced to Logan and Roman, Patton’s best friends

Virgil is very much confused when he sees Roman, considering he’s been hanging out with Remus for at least a week and has been told that he dropped out of school

he decides not to say anything since Roman acts very differently from Remus and showed no signs of recognizing him but he keeps a close eye on him

Virgil gets along great with Logan; Patton is a bit much but he kinda enjoys his peppiness but he and Roman get off on the wrong foot and it quickly turns into bitching at each other

after lunch Virgil has a class with Logan and asks him about Roman

he tells him that Roman is scared of failure since his parents always held such high hopes for him and that he fears they’ll treat him like his brother if he fails to meet their expectations

Virgil uses the opportunity to ask about said brother and gets confirmation that it’s Remus

while Virgil likes Logan and Patton fine, he decides to keep it to himself that he knows Remus even when Logan tells him that they’ve been looking for him since Roman’s worried

with even that little information he can guess why Remus left but he will talk to him about it first

however since starting at a new school is stressful even when you make friends on the first day, Virgil doesn’t manage to meet up with Remus and his crew until the weekend

he just talks with Remus a while before bringing up Roman

Janus is with them, himself exhausted from his first school week and the assholes of his class

Virgil and him bond a bit by comparing the amount of assholery they had to deal with so far

eventually Virgil mentions that he’s met Roman

Remus gets unusually quiet and even Janus doesn’t know how to react to that, he hasn’t really talked to Remus about his family since he learned that he had a brother and his parents didn’t search for him

what neither of them know is that Remus has been thinking a lot about his brother lately

since so much has changed for him in the last few months and he now feels like he build up a steady life for himself (he has a job, a boyfriend, and a home), he was thinking about maybe contacting his brother but wasn’t sure how

but now Virgil’s there and apparently became friends with Roman’s friends

he asks a few questions about how Roman’s doing and Virgil complains about him a bit more which helps Remus relax

they decide to mess with him for a while

Virgil will drop increasingly more obvious hints about Remus until Roman catches on

he starts by calling Roman ‘Princey’ as a reference to Remus nickname ‘Duke’

then he makes comments about appearance like saying that maybe Roman should try growing a moustache or dye his hair – at which point Patton asks him to stop because Roman is sensitive about things related to Remus and that Virgil might not know better but should not bring it up again

so he has confirmation that they get the connection to Remus now even if they think it’s coincidental

this continues for a while

Logan is the first one to actually ask Virgil if he met Remus which he doesn’t hide but Logan simply nods and says that he doesn’t want to get involved with the twin’s conflict so he won’t tell Roman but he’s glad to know that Remus is doing well

it takes Roman about a month before he blows up and accuses Virgil of conspiring against him

which he had been doing so he doesn’t deny it

Roman demands to see his brother but Virgil says no which leads to Roman chasing him but like Remus’ teammates, Virgil manages to lose him

he tells Remus that the jig is up and they agree that they’ll tease Roman a bit longer with the chases but that Virgil would eventually lead him to their hang-out spot

it’s Patton’s pleading that makes Virgil stop around a week later

Patton hasn’t really interfered much until that point since he felt like it wasn’t his place to but Roman’s been getting really frazzled and angry and he didn’t want him to lose it

Virgil agrees that that would be going too far

so he lures Roman to the hang-out spot with Patton and Logan in tow

Remus knew they were coming and was prepared but Roman didn’t know he would succeed after failing so many times, so he’s stunned when he’s actually face to face with his brother which gives Remus time to make an overdramatic speech

Roman stops him after around a minute by pulling him into a hug

Remus freezes at first but hugs him back after a few seconds

Roman admits how worried he’d been and that he was glad that Remus is okay

Remus tries to play it off but that just makes Roman mad and the yelling starts

they accuse each other of being selfish, of breaking the family and a lot of other stuff

Janus and Patton have to pull them apart before they start hitting each other

the other members of Remus’ gang excuse themselves so the brothers can resolve their issues

Logan steps in to moderate their talk, ensuring that they can finish without getting interrupted and no more yelling starts

Remus starts by explaining how bad he felt at home, how he was sick of their parents comparing them, how school made him feel worthless and that he was starting to hate Roman a bit and he didn’t want that because it wasn’t fair, none of it was his fault and he was just living his life but Remus needed to get away from that or he would do something he’d regret

Roman is quiet for a bit which is weird considering how much he wanted to say before

but he does eventually talk about how he was feeling pressured by the comparisons as well, that he could see Remus was struggling but didn’t know how to help, that he was scared of what would happen if he did say something and that he was scared when Remus left

it hurt him a lot that Remus’ friends wouldn’t tell him where he went, that Remus would just leave him behind like that without even trying to talk to him first but that he now understands why he didn’t

he asks Remus if he will come home with him to talk to their parents and maybe resolve their issues

Remus refuses, he doesn’t want them to try and force him into a life he doesn’t want again if they know he can survive on his own and won’t come running back to them, he’d like to wait until he’s 18

Roman doesn’t think they would do that but Remus is adamant that he doesn’t want to risk it

Roman asks him where he’s living then and Remus finally properly introduces Janus as his boyfriend and roommate

he’s shocked to hear that not only did Remus get a boyfriend before him but that they’re already living together which leads to more bickering between the twins but more good natured this time

Janus, Virgil, Patton and Logan watch and agree that the new school year’s going to be a lot for all of them, having to keep the twins in control and graduating

They’ll try to help each other out and are officially all friends

#namiswriting #my writing #bullet fic #dukeceit #demus #creativitwins #skater dark sides au #ts virgil #virgil sanders #ts remus #remus sanders #ts janus #janus sanders #ts patton #patton sanders #ts logan #logan sanders #ts roman #roman sanders #the end #asks and reblogs are very welcome

[lio-the-chaotic-nonbeanie-weenie]

Prince of Hearts

Summary: Each side has a special sight, allowing them to see things according to their function. Like Virgil being able to see fears and worries physically or in someone’s mind. Roman can see too. As the prince of romance, he can see his fellow sides’ hearts, able to know when they’re heartbroken or healing. He’s grateful only he can see hearts though. Roman’s own heart is broken and he has yet to let it heal so no one needs to see that yet.

(A/N: It took me a long time but I've finally written this idea down! I'm dedicating this to my lovely dear @enigmasalad who stuck with me when I wanted to rip my own heart out. Thank you for healing my heart, mi amor!)

Pairings: Prinxiety if you squint, BROTHERLY CREATIVITWINS

WARNINGS: slight mention of blood, implied gore but no actual gore, slight description of a cut

Each of the sides have a special sight. They each can see things according to their functions.

Logan can see the logic of things and the factual aspect of things, allowing him to learn here and there as well as guide those who need it. Patton can see the others’ inner warmth, allowing him to see who is cold and hurting and in need of warm love. Virgil can see fears and worries, able to detect what’s scaring or worrying his little family so he can fight them off.

Remus can see the worst and darkest of thoughts and sometimes it’s delightful while other times…it’s just kinda sad. Of course, Janus can see lies and truths and through disguises that aren’t his. He can tell when something is even the slightest bit off with a person or object.

And Roman? He can see hearts.

Roman not only handles Thomas’ creativity, but he’s also romance and passion manifested. So, he is able to see the others’ hearts. He can see who’s low on love and passion. He can see where they’re healing, where they’ve been broken, and its little cracks and scars.

Roman has seen all of the others’ hearts and he’s glad they’re all healing little by little after everything that’s happened. He can still remember the many times he’s seen those precious hearts falling apart in pain and in dark times.

Roman remembers Patton’s heart and how it would crack more and more as he bottled up his feelings. He remembers how it burst in the end and it came back together when Patton accepted that he wasn’t okay and took some time to heal.

Roman also remembers Logan’s heart and how slow his heartbreak was, the logical side too stubborn to admit his feelings. He recalls how the heart throbbed more and more, wanting to burst but ending up crumbling into tiny pieces instead before slowly reforming again as if it had stronger reinforcements.

Then there was the time Roman saw Virgil’s wounded heart pounding in worry and fear. He remembers feeling pity for the poor thing, seeing such a scarred heart. It made Roman wonder what Virgil had gone through.

Then Roman saw Janus’ heart and half of it was broken and the other half was scarred. It made Roman feel guilty, wondering if he did that or if Janus had his own dark past. And then there’s Remus. Roman was a bit surprised to see Remus even had a heart but that surprise turned into heavy guilt as he saw Remus’ heart. It was heavily scarred and broken…and it looked like it had been mended over and over.

Then there was Roman’s own heart. It was…well…It was the biggest out of everyone’s, full of passion and love for his work and his family. It was loud and pounded with bravery and joy, exuding the creative energy he uses every day. At least that’s how it used to be when everything was okay. Then things weren’t okay and they never were again.

Roman’s heart weakened and shrunk as if were hollow. Then it shattered loudly like glass. Roman hadn’t know what to do or who to ask so he repaired his own heart.

But just as he had healed it…his heart had been broken again. So the vicious and painful cycle started. His heart would get broken and he’d repair it again.

Over and over and over it continued until Roman grew tired of trying to repair his heart. He accepted that it was broken forever and it couldn’t be healed so he gave up trying, taking advantage of the fact that no one can even see it.

Sometimes though…Roman looks at his heart and wishes he could rip it out along with his real heart. It’s a thought Remus would be proud of and concerned about but it’s one thought Roman can’t stop thinking of. It’s just…why keep something broken? Why have a heart if it only breaks over and over and it hurts?

Maybe Logan was right about not feeling things. Sadly, Roman can’t rip his heart out. He’s needed by Thomas. Or, well, his ideas are needed. His creative work is needed. Roman himself? Well, clearly the others have made it clear he isn’t needed.

            The thoughts alone make Roman’s heart crack again. He’s lost count of how many cracks and scars he’s got across his heart. He doesn’t know anymore how many times he’s felt it throb and ache in pain. He’s used to all of it by now, ignoring the pain and the scars. He has an image to uphold and no one needs to see his battered, aching heart. Besides, they’ve all held his heart and left it destroyed. Why would he let them hold it again?

This is how Roman finds himself sitting in his chair at the dining table, having tuned out today’s discussion as he wasn’t needed yet. That stung a little but he doesn’t argue. Making a scene won’t do any good here. Instead, he keeps staring at his heart as it rests in his palm. It beats slowly, almost tiredly.

It used to be a bright red but it’s long faded over the years as his passion and love dwindled. His eyes then travel across the cracks and scars. His fingers twitch with the urge to crush the little thing into pieces until he can feel nothing. His thumb just barely digs into the surface. He doesn’t notice Remus or Janus watching him subtly.

Remus had long grown bored of the discussion as Patton babbled on and on about whatever. The intrusive side had stopped paying attention a while back. He had been chewing on the pen he stole from Logan when he glanced over at his twin. He can see him pressing at his palm with his thumb and he hums curiously, wondering what his brother is thinking of.

He usually doesn’t look into the others’ thoughts much since they’re often boring but he’s been peeking in on Roman’s lately. They’ve been growing more and more dark each day. It’s worrying though Remus will never admit that to anyone. So, Remus peeks into Roman’s mind and-

Just one squeeze…

It’ll hurt less…

Can’t trust them…

Want to rip it out…

It hurts…

Don’t want this anymore.

No more.

No more.

No more.

No-

Remus pulls out of those thoughts with a soft gasp which he quickly hides with a cough. He knows Janus saw him though and he shakes his head at Janus, mouthing a ‘later’ at him before glancing at Roman. The creative side is still staring at his hand, running his thumbnail across his palm over and over. It makes Remus grow a little concerned for his twin. Sure, he doesn’t act like it but he does care for Roman in his own ways.

Meanwhile, Roman is oblivious to everything, still running his thumb over his heart. It beats weakly, slowly, tiredly. He so badly wants to squeeze it until it breaks and bursts. He wants to rip it out and tear it into shreds. He’s tired of having a broken heart. It hurts too much and the others have no idea. Of course they don’t. They can’t see it. They can’t see his heart. They can’t see-

“Roman?”

Roman jumps, blinking as he’s pulled away from his darkening thoughts.

“Y-Yes?”

“I was asking you a question. Are you lost in your daydreams again?” Logan asks, that stern look on his face.

“I-I’m sorry, Specs. I suppose I was.” Roman smiles sheepishly.

Janus hides his one glowing eye as him and Remus glance at the prince.

Logan merely adjusts his glass.

“I’m not surprised. Please do pay attention. This discussion is beneficial for our next meeting with Thomas. Even if Creative input may not be needed.” he lectures before returning to the original topic.

Remus has to resist throwing another shuriken at the logical side’s forehead for that harsh comment. He glances at Roman again. His twin is staring at it his hand again and he frowns. The intrusive side peeks into his twin’s thoughts again.

No daydreams.

Daydreams are bad.

I’ll rip my brain out too.

After I rip my heart out.

My heart hurts.

I don’t want my heart.

No more heart.

No more pain.

They can’t see anyways.

They can’t see.

They don’t see-

Remus pulls out of those thoughts and glances at his twin. Is that what he sees? His own heart? He blinks and gazes at Roman, eyebrows slightly creased in concern. He doesn’t see what heart Roman is thinking about. He’s still…staring at his hand, dragging the nail of his thumb across the dry skin of his palm over and over as if he were trying to cut something.

It makes Remus want to say something but not even a little nasty thought comes to mind. It’s quiet in his head and it terrifies him. Remus can’t do much but squirm in his seat out of restlessness. As he shifts in his seat again, he hears Janus hiss softly.

“Janus?” Remus whispers, glancing at him in worry.

“Roman…he’s lying.” Janus mutters, pulling the brim of his hat down to hide the glow of his eye once again. “I can hear them.”

Janus looks over to Roman again. He hadn’t meant to tune into the prince’s dark thoughts but he could practically hear the lies screaming inside the Creative side. He’s heard the others’ lies but they were more like hushed whispers. Secrets not meant to be ever, ever told.

Roman’s, however, sounded like a cacophony of cries. It’s like the prince was hoping someone would hear them if it screamed loud enough. And it seemed to grow ever louder.

IT DOESN’T HURT

IT DOESN’T HURT

IT DOESN’T HURT

IT’S OKAY

IT’S OKAY

I’M OKAY

“Shit.” Janus hisses softly, biting his lip.

“Jan?” Remus squeezes his arm.

“His lies. They sound so agonizing.”

The two glance at Roman.

“Oh, RoRo…what’s going on in that messy head of yours?” Remus whispered.

The rest of the meeting continues as Logan lectures on and on. Remus and Janus continue watching Roman as said prince continues to remain oblivious. He barely registers if anyone is watching him. He hasn’t noticed Virgil glance his way with an anxious look or Janus letting out another soft hiss. He doesn’t hear Remus whimper softly out of worry for his twin. He doesn’t even move when Patton says his name or when Logan gives him a disappointed glance that makes Remus want to rip the logical side’s face off.

Roman just keeps staring at his heart. His thumb running over the growing cracks and digging deeper with each line. Just one rip or squeeze. Anything to rip this old heart apart. Just one tear or two or three and maybe it won’t hurt anymore. He starts to count the lines with each trace.

One, two, three more times he drags his thumbnail, driving it into the ravine of his glass heart.

Four, five, six more and he hardly notices the angry red line he’s creating on the palm of his hand.

Seven, eight, nine lines he’s traced, trying to dig even deeper. Deep enough to severe this wounded heart into pieces.

Ten-

“RoRo, stop, you’re bleeding!”

Roman blinks and gazes down at his hand. The heart isn’t there anymore. Just his hand…His bloody hand…Roman stares at his hand again a little longer, wishing it were his heart instead. He frowns and runs his thumb over the line again, barely flinching at the sting. He’s felt much, much worse anyways. He just wants it to stop. He doesn’t like hurting anymore. Obviously, he can’t duck out but-

“RoRo!”

Roman looks up and Remus is right there in front of him, hands on his shoulders, the others behind him staring at him.

“RoRo, are you…okay?” Remus asks, voice unusually soft and worried.

It makes Roman want to cry and give in but what do they care? They’ll just do the routine again. He’ll cry, they’ll worry and prod, he’ll tell them his burdens, they’ll assure him and comfort him, and then once he’s on his feet, the others will leave again.

Roman smiles weakly instead.

“I’m okay.”

And then he sunk out as tears pricked his eyes.

Roman sinks up into his room and the tears fall along with the weak smile as he crumples to the floor. How could Remus ask him that? He never cared. He should be happy with the bloodshed. That’s what he wanted right?

And the others…they wouldn’t care either. Roman chokes, stuck between broken laughter and agonizing sobs. It hurts so much, realizing that he’ll always have a broken heart. It hurts even worse, knowing he’ll always have it inside him…unless…

The princes stands up, not caring that he’s still bleeding or crying. His other hand presses at his chest as he drives it deep inside. There’s a reason why the sides’ bodies weren’t as real as Thomas’. For once, Roman’s glad they’re metaphysical. It’ll be less messy.

Roman digs around and around. It’s here somewhere…there! He feels his heart’s fragile glass, threatening to crack any second. He’s tempted to leave it there until it breaks again so the shards can stab him from the inside but really, he’s sick and tired of feeling it beat and throb and break. So with a growl, he pulls.

And he pulls.

And pulls.

And pulls.

And…

The prince finally rips his heart out with an agonizing cry.

Roman nearly sags in relief, finally free of the heavy pain and ache. He nearly falls again and his wounded hand grips at the sink. He feels tired now but he glances at his heart. It beats ever so weaker and it’s become so small. But that’s okay. He doesn’t need it. Not anymore.

Roman stares at the damned thing and…he laughs. He laughs and laughs until it hurts. Until tears start streaming down his face. He laughs as he staggers back to his room, falling to the floor with one final thought.

I’m finally free.

And Roman’s heart stops beating as it falls to the floor and shatters into pieces.

----

Before he could even sink out of his chair, Remus screams in pain and doubles over.

“Remus! Remus, what is it?” comes Janus’ voice from his beside him.

Remus hisses, clutching his chest.

“H-Hurts!”

“What hurts? Are you hiding an injury again?”

“N-No! R-Roman, I can feel him! He’s-ngh!” Remus cries out again. “He’s hurt!”

“Remus,” Janus tries to ask only to be cut off by another cry.

“N-Need to help RoRo! Now!”

Before Janus can ask further, Remus tears out of his hold and braces through the pain, dashing out of the kitchen and up the stairs. As he stumbles up the final steps, Remus tries to listen for his brother’s thoughts but he’s only met with dead silence. This terrifies him and makes the intrusive side hurry down the hall.

When he gets to the door, Remus doesn’t even bother knocking. He musters some strength and bulldozes right through. Then Remus freezes up.

“RoRo!”

Roman lays unconscious on the floor, his colors now dull like his dead eyes. The wound on his hand had long stopped bleeding but has yet to heal. His room felt cold and dark. It’s as if something or someone were missing from it. Like the life of the room itself was…gone.

Remus is immediately at his twin’s side, pulling his body onto his lap. Shaky hands move to turn Roman’s face towards him and for the first time, it makes Remus actually sick to see his twin like this. No silly smile, no excessive glitter, no rainbow blush or even his glow. It’s completely wrong. It’s not Roman at all. It makes Remus sick and angry. With a low growl, Remus summons everyone to Roman’s room.

“Remus, I told you not to-oh. Oh no.” Janus steps forward, kneeling down.

“I hate it when you-oh shit, Roman!” Virgil is immediately on Roman’s other side.

“Remus, you know it’s rude to-oh goodness!” Patton’s hands fly to his mouth in shock.

“What did you have to summon me here for-oh. Oh dear.” Logan falls speechless.

Remus sniffs and glares at the others, eyes glowing red as he holds his twin protectively.

“What happened to him? I. want. Answers.” he growls.

“W-We don’t know, Remus. Honest. We haven’t noticed anything off with Roman.” Patton replies with a gulp.

“Yeah, Princey said he was fine yesterday.” Virgil stammers, wringing his hands.

Remus huffs and looks to Janus.

“They’re both telling the truth.” Janus hums then frowns, looking up with a glowing eye. “But there seems to be a lie in there.”

Remus glares at Patton and Virgil again then to Janus.

“What is it? What’s the lie?” he asks.

Janus looks at Roman and shakes his head.

“That Roman is fine. He is very far from fine.” he sighs. “He lied to Virgil.”

Virgil blinks and frowns.

“But he…he looked fine…Didn’t he?”

Janus shakes his head.

“Our prince is a better actor than we give him credit for.”

“Oh, Roman…have we been hurting you all this time?” Patton sniffs, taking a step closer.

Remus only growls ferally and holds Roman closer, making Patton yelp and jump back.

“It’s alright, Remus. They won’t harm him.” Janus assures him, squeezing his shoulder.

“They already did. I don’t trust them not to do so again.” he huffs. “The only reason they aren’t splattered all over my mace and across the walls yet is because I know RoRo doesn’t want me to hurt them.”

Janus gazes at Roman’s face, guilt pooling in his stomach. Despite their rocky relationship, the prince never once wished harm towards him. Not even through Remus. And in return, Janus could only keep hurting him. What had he done?

“Roman’s been hurt a lot. I think…he’s been carrying so much weight that he’s buckled over from it.” The snake side sadly mutters a moment later. “He’s exhausted.”

Remus sighs and fixes Roman’s hair the best he can, tucking in that one stray curl.

“He looks more than exhausted, Jan. He looks fucking dead. Like the life has been ripped out of him.” he mumbles.

At the same time, Patton gasps softly and all eyes are on him.

“Roman…he’s…he’s so cold inside. How did I not see?” he sniffs, his tears falling.

“Cold?” Remus tilts his head.

“I can see when one of you are feeling cold inside from feeling bad or hurt. It helps me know when to provide warmth and love.” Patton explains, hands shaking with the want to warm Roman.

That’s when Virgil realizes something too.

“Oh fuck…Yesterday when I asked Roman how he was doing…I felt something off but I didn’t question it. I thought…fuck, I thought he was nervous about his trip to the Imagination or today’s meeting.” he explains, pausing to take in a shaky breath. “I didn’t know how much he was hiding until earlier today when he cut his hand. He panicked and he was scared about us finding out something then…it was just…gone. Like he wasn’t scared anymore.”

“You can see things too?” Logan questions.

Virgil nods, a hand hovering over Roman to touch him. When Remus approves, Virgil holds one of Roman’s hands. It feels cold.

“I can. I see fears and worries but I try not to pry unless I needed to.” he mutters. “I should’ve looked into Roman’s though.”

Remus huffs.

“Don’t blame yourself too much. Roman was just too good at hiding things.” he mumbles before sighing. “I saw his thoughts though. They…They were fucked up. Like, super fucked up for someone like Ro who usually has sunshine and love coming out of his ass.”

The intrusive side still remembers Roman’s thoughts from earlier. So dark. So painful. So loud.

Logan gazes at Roman and frowns.

“I can’t see anything logical. Or any facts.” he gasps before flustering and clarifying, “I can’t see anything there to help me with Roman other than his title and traits. I do see insecure, burned out, and…oh. Oh, Roman…”

Roman Sanders is brokenhearted.

And Logan averts his gaze as guilt sinks in. He’s hardly felt this much guilt before. But now, it feels like a growing weight as he wonders how much Roman internalized his words. All of it.

“Logan?” Patton shakes him out of his trance.

“I…I have hurt Roman a lot…haven’t I?” the logical side whispers, a lump in his throat. “Everything I’ve said and done to him…I didn’t think Roman took it that much to heart. I-I thought—"

“You thought you were knocking RoRo down a peg or two? Oh, you did. You knocked him down so hard his self-esteem is fucking broken.” Remus cuts in with a growl.

Logan bows his head in shame, his dignity long gone.

“Sometimes I forget that Roman is also The Ego. I never realized how much my words had impact on him. Did…Did I push him too far?”

“I think…we all did. We all hurt Roman in many ways and we didn’t realize it.” Janus hisses. “But we still don’t know what he did to himself.”

Remus sucks in a breath as he feels another wave of pain.

“Whatever it is, it really fucking hurts. It’s like something’s…missing. Something’s gone from Roman and it feels like something’s missing from me too.” he shudders, a free hand on his chest. “Ugh, it feels like something’s been ripped out of me.”

Janus blinks and glances between the twins.

“Like…a heart?”

“Yeah…wait what?” Remus asks, confused. “What are you talking about, Janus?”

Janus places a hand on Roman’s chest, shuddering at how he can’t feel the prince’s once mighty heartbeat. Not that he knew what his heartbeat was like.

“Everyone here mentioned what they could see. For you and me, Remus, it’s quite obvious. For Roman, we can’t see what he does. So what if Roman can see hearts?”

“It…It makes sense.” Logan gasps, eyes widening in revelation. “Roman is not only Creativity or the Ego. He is passion and…love…”

“S-So Roman could see our hearts? Even when they were broken?” Patton squeaks, tears pricking the corners of his eyes. His poor, poor kiddo.

Janus and Logan nod.

“He always did know what to do when we were hurting. We never realized how…or that he did it to hide his own heart.” Janus whispers, turning away as a single tear rolls down his cheek.

Roman was always there for everyone, comforting them and cheering them up. He set aside his own broken heart to be there for the others. No one even bothered to help him. No one noticed how desperate he was for someone to hold his heart and fill it with love and warmth or how scared he was to even give his heart away. Roman made sure that everyone came first.

Now, here was Roman. Lifeless. Loveless. Empty. And they all blamed themselves. Janus had manipulated him, threatening him with every weakness he could find like it were blackmail.

Logan knew what words to use to keep Roman in line, to shut him down and put him in his place.

Patton pressured him too much, piled expectation upon expectation and never gave the prince a chance to defend himself. Whenever Roman tried to express himself or voice his opinion, Patton would unknowingly guilt trip him back into compliance.

Virgil belittled him every chance he got, throwing insults at Roman and never once apologized because Roman was always being told off. Even if he was hurt all the same.

Remus tried so hard to be a better brother but The Voices often got too loud or he’d hit him too hard.

It's dead silent for a moment before Remus sniffles. Remus never cries so it’s almost an alarming sound to the others.

“How do we fix it? How do we fix his heart?” he asks, his voice painfully small and broken. His eyes looking Roman over. He misses his loud, colorful brother.

“Well…Broken hearts need love, right?” Patton replies. “We just have to love Roman more.”

Remus can’t help but huff and scoff at that.

“Oh, now he says that.” he mutters.

He knows Patton wants to help but after seeing how the fatherly side betrayed Roman at his weakest, even the intrusive side himself couldn’t trust him. It makes Remus hold Roman just a little tighter, another tear rolling down his cheek and onto Roman’s face.

Janus, however, knows Remus well and squeezes his shoulder.

“Remus, you have to let them in so they can try to help. They won’t hurt Roman anymore. Not now when they know the truth.” he sighs before gazing down at Roman’s pale face. “Besides, we’re both guilty of hurting Roman too.”

Remus droops and sniffs.

“You’re right…I just…I want to be a better brother for RoRo so we can be friends again. I swore he’d never be hurt again but I failed.” he whispers brokenly, running a thumb over one of Roman’s scar on his cheek. “I want to help too.”

Janus dries Remus’ tears.

“You already are, Remus. Now,” he gestures to the others who were standing by and waiting. “Let them in.”

Remus looks up at the two, breathing in shakily. He glances at Roman then back at them.

“Fine.” he huffs but puts a hand up before they could move. “But I’m watching all of you. And not a word about what I said earlier. I still have a reputation to keep because you shitheads need to learn when to back off from RoRo.”

Virgil chuckles softly, face hidden in his hoodie.

“We know, Remus. Your secret is safe with us.” he promises, squeezing Roman’s hand.

Remus, slightly flustered, huffs and looks back at his twin.

“Let’s just help Ro already.” he mumbles.

It’s awkwardly silent for a moment before Janus decides to step forward, kneeling down in front of the prince. He removes his right glove and takes Roman’s other hand, squeezing it gently.

“I may have apologized before but I’ll do it again. I…I am so, so sorry, my dear prince. I never noticed how much harm I have caused you. I never saw your broken heart. I was meant to protect you.” he says, gazing at Roman’s sash then his face as if he were reminiscing. “I promised myself I would and I didn’t. For that, I’m very sorry and I know mere words may not fix everything but know that I will do what it takes to earn your forgiveness. Know that you are very much loved. You are our prince. Our Roman. We need you more than you think.”

Janus squeezes Roman’s hand and leans over, planting a kiss on his forehead. When nothing happens, Janus lets go and replaces his glove as he gazes sadly at the sleeping prince.

It’s then that Virgil feels brave and swallows his nerves, taking a deep breath.

“Fuck, uh, I’m going next.” he gulps, moving closer to Roman and pulling his hood down.

A clammy hand moves to caress Roman’s cheek.

“Hey, Princey…I’ve been a shitty friend, huh? You’ve made up with me and always did your best to make me feel welcome and included here on your side. You always fight off my worries and…” Virgil pauses and flusters. “You were the only one who really knew how to calm me down. And yet, I hurt you without realizing it. You never really did get an apology or even a chance to defend yourself. It was always me that got away with it. I guess I should’ve pumped the breaks too.”

Virgil takes in a shaky breath, eyeshadow darker than ever. He then continues.

“I’m so fucking sorry. For everything. For hurting you. For all my awful words. For constantly making fun of you when you work so hard.” he mutters before smiling softly. “You know…we were an awesome team at the mall. Yeah, I freaked out but if you weren’t there, I don’t think I could’ve pushed Thomas into meeting Nico. Literally. You were always so much braver than me and I wanted to be just as brave too. I…We love you, Roman. Flaws and all. I wish you could see that. I wish you could see how much you do for us.”

He then leans down and kisses Roman’s cheek, face flushed.

Janus can’t help but chuckle a little.

“How cute. Though, were you going to say something else there, Virgil? I thought I heard something else…” he teases.

Virgil blinks and reddens, glaring at Janus for a moment.

“S-Shut the fuck up, asshole.”

Remus raises an eyebrow at that.

“We’re talking about that later, emo.” he says, grinning slightly.

Virgil swallows again and nods, letting Roman go so Remus can hold him again.

“R-Right, yeah. Whatever. Who’s next?”

Logan steps forward, kneeling beside Virgil.

“May I, Remus?” he asks first.

Remus huffs but loosens his hold on Roman.

“Thank you.”

Logan then takes Roman’s hand, gazing at it. Oh, the poor thing’s hand looks so worn. So tired.

He can feel the callouses on his fingertips and the scars on his skin. He wonders just how much Roman often pushed himself to meet everyone’s demands. Especially the logical side’s own requests. He can’t help but feel guilty. Both he and Roman do a lot of work for Thomas and everyone but he always treated Roman like he was never working enough or that he was only worth 0.5% of Thomas’ day.

Glancing around the mess that is Roman’s room, Logan realizes just how hard Roman works.

There’s stacks of papers piled on the desk and a big cork board above it, covered in notes and reminders on top of a calendar filled with scribbles. Several books are stacked on the other side of the desk with sticky note tabs jutting out from them in different pages. Logan realizes too that he should visit Roman more often and brainstorm here. He then turns back to Roman, squeezing his hand.

“Roman…I’m sorry. For every word I said. For underestimating you. For using your weaknesses against you whenever we argued. For making you question your worth. You are worth so much more and I failed to notice.” he sniffles regretfully, failing to keep his voice from breaking. “You work just as hard and I understand what it’s like to see your efforts go to waste. I should have been there for you. Especially since you’ve worked so hard to be better for us. You don’t have to. You were enough. You were so good enough. I apologize for never realizing how much my words have broken your heart. You’re not stupid or a fool or worthless. You are Prince Roman of Creativity. You are important and needed.”

Logan kisses Roman’s hand because he’s unsure of what else to do before letting go.

He then turns to remove his glasses and scrub at his face before turning back.

“I…I hope Roman can hear us.” he stammers, clearing his throat.

“I hope so too.” Patton nods. He had been lost in thought. He kneels beside Logan, tears already rolling down his cheeks. “C-Can I go next, Remus?”

Remus nods.

“Just watch yourself, froggy.” he mutters.

“I will. Thank you.”

Patton then takes Roman’s hand, squeezing it too.

“Oh, kiddo…I’m so, so sorry. I’m supposed to be the dad that takes care of everyone but I failed to take care of you. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!” he sobs, hiccupping and sniffling. “I should’ve been there. I should’ve listened to you too. I shouldn’t have weighed you down with all those expectations. You always make us feel happy and loved. You know how to cheer us up and you make us feel so safe. In return, we made you feel as if you had to hide. As if you had to play your role perfectly. You can take a break, Roman. You can let your guard down. You aren’t weak for your mistakes. We still love you. You are part of our family and we can’t be whole without you. We need you too!”

Patton then breaks down and sobs harder into Roman’s hand, kissing it. When he manages to calm down a bit, he reluctantly lets Roman’s hand go.

Silence falls back in as everyone watches Roman. Remus then realizes it’s his turn and sighs, staring at his twin. He then glances at the others who are waiting for Remus to speak.

“Look,” Remus huffs. “I…I don’t usually do this mushy, gushy shit so don’t fucking judge me if I say all the wrong stuff, okay? RoRo and I have our own brand of showing we care.”

“Of course, Remus. Your secret is safe with me.”

“Yeah, Remus. You’ve always been more of an action guy. I know.”

“We know, Remus. You’re a good brother, kiddo.”

“Understandable. This is between you and your brother.”

Remus nods his thanks and turns back to his brother, taking a deep breath. One hand holds Roman’s and the other tugs at the sash, turning it so a messily embroidered “R” in green is shown at the bottom.

“RoRo? Why didn’t you tell me you were feeling bad again? Why do you keep hiding? I know I’m not always the nicest brother but I’m trying. The voices are assholes sometimes, y’know? Yeah, I said I wanted you dead but I didn’t mean it. I still need you here. You’re my literal other half.” he whispers sadly, his hand moving to tug at his own sash which has its own embroidered “R” but in golden cursive this time.

Remus breathes out shakily, more tears rolling down makeup-streaked cheeks as he continues.

“Even though you were jealous of me. Sometimes I was jealous of you. You could create without fail. You could heal and fix whatever I messed up. I…I always thought you were amazing, little brother. Even when everyone else didn’t think so or were too blind to see it. Please come back, RoRo. We royal promised we’d be brothers forever and you can’t break that promise. We still gotta annoy Logan and mess with Virgil. We were supposed to hang out with Janus too so you guys can be friends. S-So wake up already you dramatic fuck. Wake up!”

Then Remus sobs and it’s…actually gut wrenching to hear. No one besides Janus and maybe Virgil has ever heard the Intrusive side cry like this. Sure, the twins don’t get along but it’s clear now that they really need each other.

“Shh, he’ll be okay, little squid. We’ll love him as much as he needs.” comes Janus’ soft voice, a hand rubbing Remus’ shaking back.

Then…

As everyone cries over their fallen prince, there’s a golden spark in the corner of the room and warm glow fills the room as that spark rises from the floor. The sides gaze at the spark as it rises higher and higher, moving towards the center of the room.

Then glass-like shards appear one by one in different colors. Green, Yellow, Purple, Cyan, Navy blue, Red. They spin around the spark and come together forming…a heart.

Sometimes, metaphorical hearts are compared to glass, tough during the hardest moments and fragile during the weakest moments. Easy to shatter, harder to put the pieces back together.

But love makes it easier to keep the pieces together and it seems it did for this heart. The heart spins and lowers, moving towards its home. To Roman. It stays there though. Ripping out a heart is difficult and it would be just as hard to put it back in.

Remus then blinks.

“I-I can see it. I can see RoRo’s heart. What do I do?! I don’t know how to heal. I’m gonna mess it up.” he stammers.

Janus squeezes his shoulder.

“Hey, it’s alright, Remus. You can do it. You want to help your brother, yes?”

Remus nods.

“I do but…” his hands hesitate above the heart. It looks very fragile. “I don’t want to hurt him again.”

Oh Remus…

Janus smiles softly and puts his hand over Remus’ shaking pair.

“You won’t, my dear. I’m right here too.” he soothes, squeezing Remus’ hand to still his shaking.

Another pair of hands join, pale and clammy and just as shaky.

“I-I wanna help Roman’s heart too.” Virgil nods.

Remus nods.

“For Roman.”

Patton and Logan step forward, both nervous and still guilty.

“C-Can we help too, Remus? We want to make this right.” Patton asks, wringing his hands.

He owed Roman lots of love and care after lacking the past years.

Logan nods too.

“I want to atone for what I’ve done. For what I’ve said. I want to remove every awful word I must have buried in there.” he manages to choke out, not even caring that his face is wet with tears again.

Remus breathes in and nods.

“You can but it’ll take more than this for Roman to heal so you both definitely have a lot to make up for. Fuck that up and I’ll have your heads before Roman can even stop me.” he growls, glaring at them.

“We won’t hurt him anymore, Remus. We promise.” Patton assures the dark twin.

“We’ll be kinder to him. Give him the love he needs.” Logan adds.

“You better.” Remus huffs. “Now get over here.”

The two nod and place their hands over Virgil’s.

Then they gently push the heart down into Roman’s chest, slowly and carefully.

“Wake up, RoRo. Please don’t rip your heart out again.”

“Come back to us, little prince. We need you so much.”

“We’re here, Princey. We see you and hear you.”

“Please take your heart, Roman. It is a vital part of who you are. Our dear prince.”

“Oh, kiddo. Don’t worry, I’ll be here to help you if your heart hurts again. I’ll give you all the warmth you need.”

They push down more and more and slowly the heart sinks into Roman’s chest. Once it’s fully in, a golden ray of light blooms from Roman’s body as if the heart were thanking them for returning it home. Then-

“RoRo!” Remus gasps.

With a sparkle of magic and gold, Roman’s color slowly returns. It starts from his feet and climbs up, his sash bright red again and his skin turning back to its beautiful tan color. Even Roman’s eyes regain life, the dull green brightening back into a lovely emerald.

Then Roman gasps for air.

---

Roman doesn’t know how long he’d been out but he hadn’t expected to wake up. When he does, he gasps for air and squirms in the pair of arms he’s in before looking about. His eyes widen. They’re…They’re all here. Why are they here? This isn’t right. This isn’t how it’s supposed to end.

No, no, no. Why did they fix it again? They’re just gonna break it. He’s gonna break it again and-

“RoRo! Hey, hey, it’s okay. You’re okay.”

Roman shakes his head, squirming out of whoever is holding him.

“No, no! It’s not! It’s not okay!”

He stumbles to his feet but someone grabs his arm.

“Roman, look at me.”

Roman whips his head around and he sees…Remus?

“R-Ree…”

“Hey, dumb dumb. It’s okay now. It’s okay.” Remus soothes, his voice unusually soft.

Remus doesn’t look like it but he can be soft during the right times. It’s not often he shows it though. It’s often reserved for his brother since the poor thing doesn’t do well with tough love.

Roman, stubborn as ever, shakes his head as his breath hitches.

“It’s not! I-It wasn’t supposed to be fixed! It wasn’t supposed to go back inside!” he cries, clutching at his chest.

Janus takes that moment to take Roman’s hands in his, the snake’s gloves nowhere to be seen.

“Roman, my dear prince, look at me.”

“J-Janus?” Roman gazes at him, confused and lost. Poor, poor thing.

“There’s that pretty face, beautiful rose. You look so tired. So weary. We’ve hurt you a lot, haven’t we?” Janus replies, caressing Roman’s cheek.

Roman can’t help but lean into his touch. It makes Janus’ heart ache.

“W-What’s…What’s happening?”

“That’s what we want to know, my prince.”

Roman blinks.

“We…?”

The prince then looks around and he’s startled to see the others here too. His head feels dizzy as he looks between every face in front of him.

Patton looks antsy as if he were itching to give a hug. Logan looks remorseful, gaze averted in shame.

Virgil looks very worried, eyeshadow messy and dark while his hands twist into the fabric of his hoodie. Remus and Janus are the closest to him, smiling small but sadly in concern.

It makes Roman pull away from Janus, hugging himself as if it was going to protect him.

“I…How did you even know I was here?” he asks.

Remus squeezes Roman’s shoulder.

“Twin bond. I knew you did something to yourself the moment I felt like I was stabbed.” he sighs, a hand over his own heart. “I felt your pain, Roman.”

Roman swallows and shrinks in on himself.

“Oh…I…I forget that you often feel what I do, Ree. I’m sorry.” he mumbles.

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault, RoRo.” Remus sighs. “So, do you want to tell us why your heart was outside of you?”

Roman hangs his head in shame. The words are on his lips and he so badly wants to tell them everything. Yet, he feels hesitant. What if, after they comfort him, they go back to what they were doing and they end up breaking his heart again? What if they’re only doing this to make sure Thomas still has his Creativity and not Roman himself? What if they’re doing this make themselves feel better and they’ll drop him later?

“Hey. Princey. Roman, look at me.”

Roman looks up and blinks, seeing Virgil standing in front of him.

“V-Virgil…”

Virgil cups his face and wipes a stray tear.

“Let us in, Roman. We want to help you.”

“Y-You do?”

“Of course. We all do.”

“But…But it’s rotten work…”

Virgil chuckles. He missed Roman’s little movie references.

“Not to me, it’s not. Not if it’s you.”

Roman blinks and takes a deep breath.

“Okay.”

Virgil takes that moment to let Roman go.

“Take your time, Princey.”

Roman nods, still hugging himself.

Then after a moment of silence-

“I ripped my heart out.” Roman whispers like it’s still a secret. “I ripped my heart out because it was broken and it hurt inside. I was tired of feeling it break and be fixed over and over. I was tired of feeling hurt all the time.”

Soft gasps fill the room.

“Oh, Roman…”

Roman places a hand over his chest where his heart his now.

“I guess you all figured it out but I can see hearts. I can see who needs love or passion. I can see broken hearts. I knew none of you could see mine so I never bothered to fix mine. I thought it was too broken and…”

Roman gazes at Patton then Logan and then Janus, the three of them wilting in guilt.

“I was scared.” Roman whimpers. “I didn’t want to give my heart to someone who might break it again and again. I’ve put my heart into all your hands and…”

“A-And we broke it, didn’t we?” Patton whispers with guilt and anger at himself in his voice. “I’m so sorry, kiddo. We didn’t know how fragile your heart already was.”

Roman sighs.

“It’s okay—”

“Stop right there. It’s not okay, little one.” Janus cuts in. “We all hurt you and made you feel as if you couldn’t show your heart to us. We should be apologizing to you.”

“B-But what if you break it all over again?”

Oh, Roman…

Janus can’t help but feel guilt churning in his stomach again. Part of him feels like he’s majorly to blame for the prince’s trust issue.

It’s no wonder the poor thing can’t reach out or open up. He’d become too afraid to ask for love let alone even try, thinking he’d be slapped in the face with rejection or be called out for being overdramatic again.

It’s a horrifying realization to Janus and he holds up his right hand.

“I promise you that we won’t. Not anymore, my prince. We all love you more than you’ll ever know.” Janus swears. “I know you might not believe it but it’s true.”

Roman feels his heart and…oh. It’s…It’s beating so much. It really wants to be loved. He wants to be loved. So much.

“Please be careful with my heart.”

Janus smiles softly.

“I will, my prince. We all will.”

Remus squeezes his shoulder again.

“We won’t let you feel the need to rip your heart again, RoRo.” he adds.

“You’re okay now, Princey. We’ll take care of you.”

“We love you so much, kiddo! We’ll always love you!”

“I may not be the best with love and affection but I will do my best to be here for you too, Roman. You are worth more than you think.”

Roman blinks.

“Oh.”

Overwhelmed by all the sudden love, Roman forgets all his words and his legs give out as he falls to his knees. Oh dear.

Remus is immediately at his side.

“RoRo?”

Roman trembles.

“I just…you all…I…”

Then the prince finally lets out the tears he’s bottled up. His broken sobs fill the room like a sorrowful song.

Remus whimpers and holds his twin tight.

“You’ve been keeping that in for so long, huh? Just let it out, RoRo. We’re right here.” he whispers. “You’re going to be okay, little brother.”

Janus decides to join too, kneeling and wrapping his arms around the twins.

“You’ve been through so much, little prince. Let yourself cry. We’ll dry your tears.” he murmurs.

Virgil crouches in front of them and squeezes Roman’s shoulder this time.

“You’re safe, Roman. I’m here to protect you and your heart.” he assures him.

Logan and Patton join too.

“We love you, Roman. We love you.” Patton repeats over and over to remind Roman as he promised.

“We’re here, Roman.” Logan adds.

Roman cries and cries until he can’t and it dwindles into soft hiccups and sniffles. He doesn’t pull away from Remus though, not wanting him to leave. He desperately wants to believe this all real.

As he holds onto Remus and feels his family around him, Roman feels his heart beating peacefully now. Of course, the pain is still there and will be for a long time. Yet, he can feel some of it ebb away.

It’s difficult to heal a broken heart but with enough love, it can be free of its pain little by little. It’s definitely going to be a long time of healing for Roman and his heart but each side makes a silent vow to help him along the way.

And maybe in the future, Janus steps up as the Ego’s protector and carer. He’s there to hold him when he cries and to stand up for him when the world seems against him. He helps Roman be more open with his feelings and takes care of him when his days start to get dark. He does his best to silence the lies in the prince’s mind.

Virgil is a little more careful and kinder. He still banters with Roman but apologizes this time when he goes too far or says something hurtful. He’ll be more alert, slowly helping Roman tell him all his fears and worries so he can help him through it. At some point, Virgil and Roman even sit down and go over what insults might be too far or a sore spot, both promising never to use them against each other.

In the future, Patton is softer around Roman, doing his best to be understanding. He makes sure to hear Roman out and checks in on him when he sees him feeling cold inside. He loves him a little more and puts out a big effort to listen to Roman in discussions and works more with him to find compromises or better ideas to dilemmas. And if Patton hears Roman say an ‘I love you, padre” one day, he cherishes it.

Logan is a lot less harsh with Roman, helping him with his work and being understanding when Roman asks for a break. He’s more careful in giving Roman feedback to his ideas, starting with what he liked and ending with suggestions for improvement. He also makes sure to remind Roman that he’s very much worth a lot more than he thinks. And when they start arguing, Logan reminds himself of Roman’s heart and pauses to let them both cool down before talking to Roman again.

And as for Remus, he tries the hardest out of everyone. He’s still his chaotic self, often pestering Roman but also getting along with him better. They do still fight like siblings but when Roman’s hurt, Remus is there to pick him up and hold him. He does his best to cheer Roman up when he’s sad and they take more trips to the Imagination to just hang out when Roman doesn’t want to be overwhelmed by the others.

With all this love for the prince, Roman’s heart would feel fuller than ever. It would finally be on the mend and Roman would come to see that it won’t ever be broken again. Not with his family there to keep the pieces together.

For now though, Roman lets his family hold him as his heart keeps beating inside him where it’s meant to be.

#sanders sides #sanderssides #roman sanders #roman sanders angst #janus sanders #patton sanders #remus sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #tw blood #sanders sides fic #this fic was totally not inspired by undertale and deltarune's ending idk what ur talking about