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moss-sprout · 7 months

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Trails Of Roses

I wanted to make something for prinxiety week and really felt inspired by todays prompt: Roses!

Tags: @prinxietyweek

Summary: Roman goes to the imagination a lot to go on his creative and adventurous journeys. Sometimes he’s only gone for a while, a few hours or days. But other times he could take weeks to return, the longest being 2 months without returning. Virgil develops hanahaki while Roman is away, and in order to preserve his own life, goes after Roman.

Word Count: 3,864

TW: Hanakahi Disease, Slight blood, Swear words, Description of animal death

_ _ _

Tim Burton has always been Virgil’s pick of movies, so it was no surprise that the other sides surprised him with Corpse Bride and some pizza for his birthday. What was a surprise, was that Roman conducted the whole thing, being the most insistent on performing grand gestures. It shouldn’t’ve been unexpected really, but Virgil was still not fully used to their blooming friendship after they used to be so hostile towards each other for months, only to finally find common ground and slowly build their acquaintanceship to form a strong friendship. Corpse Bride wasn’t his favorite movie by Tim Burton, but it made sense that Roman picked it -- being the most romantic of the sides. Currently the sides were all sitting together on the couch, Logan leaning against the arm of the left side of the couch with a mug of coffee, making occasional critiques on the movie's inaccuracies and logical solutions that could’ve been made. Patton was sitting on the couch next to Roman and Virgil -- Roman being the closest to Virgil, their shoulders almost touching despite there being plenty of room on the couch for more space. But Virgil didn’t mind for some reason, Roman was a good movie companion to murmur songs and snicker about inaccuracies with. Roman was currently tapping along to the Piano Duet on Virgil’s wrist, which made the movie slightly more difficult to pay attention to.

The movie eventually ended and they all talked about as normal for a while before Roman squeezed his wrist gently and let go to stand, walking to the center of the room. The conversation fell quiet as they all stared expectantly at Roman.

“My friends! I am sorry but I must announce my departure! The Imagination calls to me once again. There is no telling when I will return, but I leave tonight.” This wasn’t unusual. Every so often Roman would announce he’s leaving for another adventure in the Imagination.

“Oh! Good luck, Roman!” Patton squeaked hopefully.

“I never understand why you depart yourself to these frivolous adventures-”

“Lo, be nice! This is important to him!” Patton cut in and Logan sighed before attempting to pull his face into something that looked something like a face of agreement.

“Not that I’m offended,” Roman said in a very offended tone, “but I do it because I have citizens to save, witch dragons to slay, nothing that your math equation filled brain could comprehend anyways.”

“It’s an imaginary state of mind there are no real peop-”

“Anyways,” Roman cut him off, earning an unsatisfied grunt from the other, “I have an important project to tend to in the imagination and I won’t be here.”

Virgil wrinkled his nose, “weren’t you just there last week?”

“Well.. yes…”

“And imaginary citizens can’t wait for their prince to slay their imaginary dragon?”

He sighed, “I understand it’s your birthday Virgil, but I assure you this is of the utmost importance. I’ll make it up to you when I’m back.” he said with a wink. A flustered expression flashed across Virgil’s face before he turned away, attempting to hide it with his bangs.

“Wh-whatever.” he murmured.

_ _ _

A few hours later, Virgil was in his room when he heard chatter in the hallway. Looking at the clock on his wall he realized it must be time for Roman to go – making it dramatic as he always does by formally saying goodbye to everyone beforehand. He figured he should go say goodbye and sunk down to join the others in the corridor.

Rising up, Roman stopped mid-conversation upon seeing Virgil, his face lighting up “Virge! You never come to see me before I leave.”

“Yeah well, someone’s gotta tell you not to get eaten by some demon bunny when you step into the unknown.”

Roman gasped, a dramatic hand flying to his chest, “you have so little faith in me?”

“Not since you almost died trying to approach a hallucinatory cow.” he smirked smugly.

Logan turned to him, confused, “how do you know it was hallucinatory?”

“He was in a boat. In the ocean.”

Roman sputtered, his face turning red, “T-that only happened once! And you try being stranded on a boat for two days! Things happen.”

“Well you better start to mooove it before you’re late for your journey, Roman.” Patton grinned, and behind him he heard Logan heave a deep sigh.

“Thank you, Patton. I bid you all farewell until our next fateful moment!” he called, beginning to step back toward his room. They all said a final goodbye before the door shut. Logan said something about having to check on something in the oven, and Patton followed closely behind him. Virgil lingered in the hallway for a moment, just staring at Roman’s door before sighing, shaking his head and turning to walk away. But just as he did his eye caught sight of something shiny. He immediately halted and turned to look again, making sure his eyes weren’t just playing tricks on him. On the floor by Roman’s door was something small reflecting in the moonlight from the window. He bent down and picked it up, revealing a small jar of.. Something.

His eyes widened with the realization that this was probably important and fell out of his pocket when he was leaving. He quickly burst into Roman’s room, only to find it empty.

He was already gone, and probably wouldn’t be back for a while. Time in the imagination worked differently than in the mindscape, he wasn’t sure if even Roman knew how it worked; so he’d be gone for a while. Virgil just hoped that the bottle was nothing important. He clutched it into his palm, staring quietly at the door that led to the imagination.

Virgil vaguely wondered for a moment what Roman would be doing on his journey, and what was so important that he needed to do it tonight. Normally, he would be preparing weeks in advance but he just suddenly mentioned it tonight.

He suddenly became very aware that he was inside of Roman’s room. He hasn’t been in Roman’s room very much, and never for very long. The room was casted by moonlight by the large windows, the red curtains and bed set glowing amongst all the white and brown in the room. The room also smelled heavily of Roman, with his rose water perfume and lingering scent of fresh paper. It caused him to relax a bit, the familiarity creating a safety net over him from his anxiety. His friend had now provided more comfort for him, feeling strangely safe and content whenever he was nearby.

He coughed, shaking his head before heading to Roman's door. It would be awkward to explain why he was just standing in Roman’s pristine room if he was caught here. Roman’s room was beautiful but he felt so odd in there, his black and purple clashing with the soft whites and reds. Elegancy against ruggedness.

He reached the door before doubling over into another coughing fit. He quickly went straight to the bathroom to grab some cough medicine from the bathroom before Patton could notice and force Virgil to take another “sick day”. He shuddered upon remembering what happened last time Virgil showed the slightest sign of sickness. He opened the cabinet grabbing the cough medicine and shut the cabinet. He glanced at himself for a moment but looked back when something caught his eye. He squinted at himself in the mirror when he spotted a splash of red on his hoodie. Slowly, he brought his hand to it and gingerly touched it. He grabbed it in his fingers and pulled it off, examining it.

He stared at it for a moment, confused. It was… a petal? Or something like that. It was red and soft and when he hesitantly smelled it, it smelled like a flower – probably a rose or something like that. Virgil figured that Roman had a draft in his room and he probably had a flower vase in there that caught the wind and blew a petal onto his shoulder. He brushed it off, pushing the odd petal to the side of the sink and resumed with the medicine.

He downed the cough medicine, cringing at the strong taste of artificial cherry flavor that Patton got before coughing more. He groaned, not wanting to deal with being sick. He hung his head but froze when he saw the sink. Slowly, he lifted his head, not taking his eyes off the sink as he stared. There… There were more rose petals, about 6 of them in the sink bowl. Virgil rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn’t seeing things but they remained. He stuck his hand down and grabbed one, making sure it was real. It looked almost identical to the one he pulled off of himself earlier. He felt something on his tongue and pulled one out of his mouth. He stared at the bowl as he began to comprehend what this all meant.

The word “hanahaki” flashed across his mind and he blinked, remembering the infamous fanfiction trope. He’d vaguely wondered if this applied to him, but shook his head dismissively. He didn’t fully understand what was happening but it was late and he was sure to be fine tomorrow. He scooped up the petals and threw them in the trash before brushing his teeth and going to bed.

Everything will be fine tomorrow.

_ _ _

Everything was not fine.

The day after coughing up the first petals – his throat felt a bit clogged and throughout the day he would cough into his palm to see more of the obnoxious red flower petals.

He did some searching on the internet, and after a brief Google search he found he obtained the symptoms of Hanahaki Disease… somehow. The petals were red and of Roman’s favorite flower, so he put two and two together and realized his affections must lie in Roman.

Only problem was Roman wasn’t back yet, and there was no telling when he would be back. According to a fanfiction site, if they didn’t get something done about the flowers soon, then whoever had it would die of suffocating on the flowers. But Virgil was still shy and didn’t know what to do, so he waited, figuring Roman would probably be back soon enough so he could confess and rid his lungs of them.

Unfortunately, waiting didn’t work. He waited three days and checked Roman’s door frequently to see if he’d returned. His hanahaki hadn’t gotten any better, and his petals became harder to hide and more frequent.

During breakfast on the third day, they were all eating the pancakes Patton made when Virgil fell into a coughing fit, the red petals falling from his mouth in front of his other two roommates. When they asked about it, he gave up on hiding it, explaining the story to them.

And that led to where Virgil is right now, at Roman’s door to the imagination. After a flustering conversation with Patton and Logan, they agreed that waiting would be risky, and it would be a good idea to look for him in the imagination. They weren’t too happy about it, seeing as Virgil has never been inside the imagination, and would have no idea where to find Roman. But it was either that or waiting, which proved itself to be unsuccessful so far. They had packed a bag together, one with a first aid kit – including some medicine that Logan thought could slow the hanahaki. It also had food and water for his journey. He stared unmoving at the door, fingers fidgeting with his sleeve before he took a deep breath and opened the door.

The other side was bright. A soft white glow illuminating from the door, sparks of colors floating out of it. He took a step in, and suddenly he was falling.

Virgil woke up on a soft patch of grass. He groaned, sitting up and scanning the realm.

“So this is the imagination..” he muttered softly to himself as he surveyed the area. It was pretty, with valleys under a cloudless sky and a large body of water off to the right side of him. He stood and walked forward toward the edge of the hill, revealing a small town below. He couldn’t tell if there were people there – even if fake, the thought of being surrounded by strangers made him shudder in fear.

“Well,” he said to no one, “I better start going if I’m going to find Roman.” He chose a direction on where he guessed Roman would be and began walking.

It quickly occurred to him that he had no idea what he was doing. He didn’t know where anything was and there wasn’t a definitive path he could’ve taken. He even got the courage to walk to town and see if there was any information he could get from the villagers, but they weren’t programmed to answer Virgil’s specific questions – so they either broke or went back to their repetitive task.

The first day went by fast, and Virgil set up a spot to rest near the forest, planning to travel through the forest the next day.

Virgil woke to the sound of something being dragged. He blinked at the harsh sunlight in the sky and turned over, only for the dragging sound to stop for a moment before continuing. He blinked, sitting up, wondering what that noise was. All sleep left him as he faced a small dragon dragging his bag.

“Hey! Stop that! That’s mine!” he shouted, spooking the dragon. It hissed at him and grabbed his bag, flying away before Virgil could catch it.

“Seriously?! That was literally all I had.” he sighed, wondering how Roman put up with this place. “Well, better go through the forest before it gets late..” he sighed, turning to face the forest and head in.

It didn’t take more than a day and a half for Virgil to realize that the forest was either really big, or he was just walking in circles, because it seemed endless. His illness wasn’t doing great either – he’d read about the full flowers and hoped he wouldn’t get any, but he wasn’t so lucky. Every so often, if it wasn’t petals he’d be coughing up, it would be a full flower that he’d choke on, confirming it was in fact a rose.

Multiple days went on like this. After he’d escaped the forest he’d went on to more valleys and mountains. The imagination was much bigger than he anticipated, his hope draining fast. He was beginning to think it would’ve probably been better if he just stayed in the mindscape.

He was hungry, not being able to find much food since that dragon went away with his bag. He was leaning against a wall in one of the towns he tried passing through. It was always the same answer he got whenever he asked: “did Roman come through here?” and the villagers would shower the prince with praise but wouldn’t confirm when they last saw him. That's what he gets for trying to make sense of fake people.

Right when he was about to give up for the day, he spotted a bunny hopping not too far from him – having a snack on the grassy pasture. He licked his lips, it wasn’t much, but it might work. He crept towards it, freezing whenever it looked his way. He was so close when he felt his throat close up again. He mentally begged his lungs not to, but before he could stop it he was coughing again, startling the bunny. It snared its row – no, maybe two rows of sharp unnatural teeth at him.

“Demon bunny?!” He cried out as it made its way towards him angrily. If he wasn’t so stricken with confusion and fear this situation might’ve been funny.

But before it caught up to him something flashed in front of him, pinning the rabbit to the ground. It was the dragon! “Wait, you stole my stuff!” he shouted at it, but it ignored him, and began ripping the rabbit apart with its teeth as Virgil gaped, trying to process what just happened.

After a few bites it looked back at Virgil and made a weird gesture for him to follow. Virgil hesitantly started following it, not knowing what it was doing. Every few moments, he coughed again, a spew of flowers and petals trailing the ground, along with the untasty savor of copper thanks to the thorns that would rise in his throat. The dragon didn’t seem at all fazed by Virgil’s sickness however, and would keep coaxing him in a certain direction that Virgil felt compelled to follow.

After walking for what felt like hours, Virgil and the dragon reached a tower. It looked old but not terribly run down. It made a chittering noise and flew inside through one of the windows. Virgil slumped against the wall, feeling weak. Of course he follows a stupid dragon out to some tower where it probably just wanted to be fed or something. His dramatic sigh got interrupted by a series of more painful coughs. Virgil could still hear the dragon. Its chittering got louder and it was standing on the edge of the roof on the tower, making some calling sound.

Before Virgil could puzzle out what it was doing, he heard a louder, deeper version of the cry in the distance. Before long, there was a bigger dragon flying towards them. He choked on something between a gasp and a cry as he scrambled for his sore and tired legs to work so he didn’t get burned to a crisp by the dragon for being close to its baby.

He couldn’t though. No matter what he screamed at his brain, he still sat there on the grass against the tower wall staring at the big dragon becoming bigger as it came closer, becoming more visible. It felt like his heart was in his throat and he squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the moment the flames hit his skin as the flapping of its wings approached. This was it, he was never going to say goodbye to the others, or tell Roman how he felt, or ever watch Thomas grow up or-

“Virgil?!” his eyes snapped open at the familiar voice. There, on the back of the big dragon, was Roman, sitting on a saddle as he gazed baffled at the sight, obviously not expecting Virgil to be there.

“R-Roman!” he started, trying to get up, but his jelly legs sent him straight to the ground again with an oof.

“Wait, don't move, I’ll help you.” he heard Roman say as Roman unsaddled himself and approached him. “Virgil, what on earth are you doing here? The imagination is dangerous for someone as inexperienced as you.”

“Roman, I-” he was cut off once again but hacking coughs, feeling his throat close up with something rising through.

“Virgil, breathe.. By the Gods of the Sun, how long have you been out here?” he heard him scold as he examined him. Virgil wanted to bite back but couldn’t even speak with the rose forcing its way out of his throat. After several painful moments it broke free and dropped to the ground along with some loose petals and Roman’s talking stopped as they both stared at the blood soaked flower in front of them.

“Is… is that-”

“A rose. Yup, been getting them all week.” he replied, his voice still raw and raspy.

It was silent for a moment and Virgil heard Roman was about to say something but a chitter broke the sound instead, the small dragon came between them, saying something in some sort of dragon language to Roman.

“That’s where you went off to?! Y'know your mother and I have been looking all over for you this past week.” he scolded, but there wasn’t any anger in his voice.

The dragon chiddered some more before Roman rolled his eyes playfully and shook his head, “yes I can get it for you give me a moment.” he dug through his bag but seemed to realize whatever he was looking for wasn’t there and began to panic slightly. Virgil remembered the glass bottle a few days prior and reached in his pocket, relieved to find it still there.

“Are you uh, looking for this?”

Roman glanced up, “oh thank you, Virgil! I feared I had lost it. It’s her medicine I prepared for her so she would get over her sickness. Unfortunately, she’d snuck off and her mother was worried. We went looking for her, but it seems you found her first-” he rambled, but cut himself off, his eyes glazing over an emotion Virgil couldn’t read.

“Oh. Right. Virgil, what are you doing here?” he said in a soft tone, simply curious but not annoyed.

Virgil shifted, and if on cue, began coughing again, sprouting up more rose petals – thankfully not a flower this time.

“Um, well, you see – I have hanahaki.”

Roman blinked, “the fictional disease based on unrequited love?”

Virgil shyly nodded. He waited for a reaction, maybe Roman would reject him politely, or would swoop him into a dramatic kiss, or perhaps would play koy. But he didn’t expect Roman to laugh.

Virgil watched as Roman laughed, stunned at the unexpected reaction. But before he could figure out what that meant Roman lit up, “who ever said it was unrequited?”

“I..”

“I thought I was quite obvious really.” he said before his expression dimmed to a softer one as he locked eyes with Virgil. The emo side shifted in awkwardness, for he didn’t know how to handle the soft affection.

“I actually came out here for you. I planned to be back sooner but the imagination never rests.” Roman said as he began digging through his bag. After a few moments he pulled out a small box and placed it in his hand, their fingers touching briefly as Roman pulled back his own hand.

“Technically, I could’ve made that in my room, but it was easier and faster to create it here. It’s kinda why I come here a lot.” he shrugged, soundly oddly timid.

Virgil’s fingers smoothed over the wooden box before lifting up the lid. Immediately a soft familiar tune began playing from it.

“Is this..” he breathed, barely loud enough for anyone to hear as the music box continued to play.

“It’s a small collection of Tim Burton songs! It was a little challenging to make because I had to really focus on the tunes in order to get them perfect but-” he stopped when Virgil looked up at him, small pools forming in his eyes.

“Oh goodness, do- do you not like it? Sorry I-” he was cut off by Virgil wrapping his arms around Roman’s neck and pulling him into a kiss.

“Of course I love it, dumbass.” he chuckled. “It’s sappy and thoughtful and… totally you.” he smirked and Roman returned with a beaming smile.

For the first time in days, Virgil thinks he can breathe again.

#prinxiety week #prinxietyweek2023 #prinxiety #sanders sides fanfiction #lemme know if I missed any tw!!!

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lio-the-chaotic-nonbeanie-weenie · 8 months

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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-

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’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…

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

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yourchemicallyimbalancedromance · 6 months

Text

Discoveries

Prompt: “We can work this out, okay? Just come back here, it’s not safe there. You know that too.” (Credit to @me-writes-prompts for this prompt!!)

Ship: romantic Prinxiety

CW/TW: slight self harm, panic attacks, swearing, unsympathetic Virgil, unsympathetic Janus

Summary: Finally deciding to leave the “Dark Sides” Virgil leaves Janus after a heated argument, leaving him begging for him to come back.

__________________________________________

Virgils glare burned a hole into Janus’ irises, face hot and wet with incessant tears, voice hoarse and unbearably scratchy from the yelling that echoed off of the walls of Janus and his room.

Janus looked back, expression tender and begging, sincere. He stepped closer to him. “Virgil, please. I know we have our differences but I think if we just talked it out we could—“

Virgil’s shoulders were up to his neck, his entire body felt like it was burning from the unforgiving rage boiling inside of him. “Save the shit Deceit, I don’t wanna hear it.”

Janus’ expression changed in the blink of an eye, going from pleading to stone cold anger. “Yknow what? Maybe Thomas was right about not wanting you around, after all, Paranoia isn’t very healthy…” he said, seething pain and irritation dripping off his tongue.

Virgil wrapped his arms around himself tightly, knowing from past experience that the grip would leave bruises, but the pain grounded him enough to help him leave his expression the same, not letting Janus have the satisfaction of knowing he got to him.

“You’re nothing but a manipulative sack of shit. I can’t believe I trusted you.” Virgil growled. The statement was only half true; Of course Janus had his moments—all of them did, inevitably, although some more than others.—but he and Remus were the first to accept him with open arms, although recent events said otherwise.

Janus scoffed at the statement, not saying anything else in response.

Virgil let go of himself, summoning a bag and shoving whatever that was nearest to him into it; A blanket, headphones, his phone, his poetry collection that consisted of Sylvia Plath, Edgar Allen Poe, and Emily Dickinson.

Janus watched silently as Virgil sunk out, not bothering to give him a second glance.

———————————————————————

Virgil walked through the border between the light and dark mind palace, feeling his emotions shift from completely enraged with no ending in sight to mildly irritated. His body relaxed, the released tension leaving him fatigued. His jaw unclenched and his nails found their way out of his palms.

He sighed before twisting the knob and letting himself into a world of new possibilities. He stepped one foot into the common area and all noise was stripped from the room. He found Logan on the couch, Patton asleep next to him. He heard Roman singing Hamilton from his bedroom. Logan was the first to notice his presence.

“Anxiety? It’s odd seeing you here, is there an issue?” Logan looked at him the way he looked at every other side, an impassive expression all over his face.

Virgil sat on the floor facing the couch where Logan was sitting, flipping through a “History Of NASA” magazine.

He shook his head. “I might need to stay here a while..I don’t know.” He said faintly, taking his headphones and phone out of his bag, not wanting to make eye contact.

“For what reason in particular?” Logan responded, bookmarking the page he was on and setting it down next to him.

“Deceit. He..” his voice trailed off as he stared at his phone, searching through multiple different playlists for a certain song to match his mood.

“He what?” Logan prompted, confusion in his voice.

Virgil looked up, “We got into an argument, an extremely heated one, that’s it. I don’t want to be there anymore. Can we please drop this?”

Logan nodded “Yes, Of course. I suppose I should let the others know you’re here then?” He asked.

Virgil blinked in surprise at the compliance with dropping the subject before slowly nodding a “yes”.

Logan disappeared for a minute into the hallway, leaving Virgil to his music, letting the words sink in and calm his nerves.

He reappeared once again, Virgil taking out his headphones, noticing Roman had stopped singing.

“I have let him know. I am sure that Patton is fine with you being here, so no need to worry.” Logan said.

Virgil nodded, getting up and sitting on the couch next to Logan.

———————————————————————

Hours passed before Roman finally left his room, coming into the common area where Patton and Virgil were watching Lion King.

“Hiya, Kiddo! Wanna join us?, we’re binge watching Disney movies” Patton said giddily, the TV illuminating his a multitude of different colors.

Roman looked to the TV, watching as Scar let go of Mufasa, and nodded. “That sounds delightful Pat, sure.” He seemed a little hesitant before sitting down beside Patton.

“Logan’s working on some big project in his room so if you’re wondering where he is that’s where” Patton clarified, hoping to ease his confusion a bit; luckily, it worked, and Roman settled into the sofa. “He also doesn’t like Disney movies” he added, giggling a bit.

Virgil stayed silent, staring at the TV; trying to make it seem as if he was focused on the movie when in reality his mind was elsewhere. Guilt coursed through his bloodstream, leaving him feeling hollow. His phone buzzed and he picked it up, the screen practically blinding him due to the darkness of the room.

It was a message from Janus. He hadn’t even been gone a day and Janus was already begging for him to come back.

“We can work this out, okay? Just come back here, it’s not safe there. You know that too.” He had written.

Virgil tried ignoring him, acting as if he’d never seen the message, god how he tried, but within seconds he found the lack of response too anxiety inducing to ignore.

He stood up, walking into the nearest room absentmindedly, and closing the door, calling Janus.

He listened to the phone ring and ring and ring until it went to voicemail. He texted Janus back, fingers flying over the screen.

“It’s a lot safer here, actually. You were wrong Janus, you have to let it go. I’m not coming back, and I don’t want to work anything out, give it up already.”

The message was a lot nicer than intended, but he sent it anyway.

Janus left him on read.

He was about to leave the room before he was struck with the sight in front of him. Silky red curtains, star decals everywhere, Disney characters plastered on the door— shit. He was in Romans room.

He would’ve laughed at the decor of the room had he not been so tense.

A knock at the door made him jump, and he opened it quickly, coming face to face with Roman.

“Do you wanna explain why you’re in my room?” He said, confusion and Irritation apparent with every word.

Suddenly, the room was spinning and nausea hit him like a truck. Too many things were happening at once. The control once ever so present in his life was slowly crumbling like sand in his hands.

Roman caught him before he fell, holding up all of his weight with ease. “Woah, hey.” he said, taken off guard. Virgil didn’t respond, couldn’t respond.

“Breathe, take deep breaths, can you do that?” Roman said

Virgil took a breath and exhaled a shuddery one, leaning against Roman, the knowledge that Princey was seeing him like this only made it worse.

“Good, that’s good. Can you do a couple more for me?” Roman cooed

Virgil repeated the cycle a few times before the room became less and less blurry and the nausea subsided slightly.

Roman led him to his bed, both of them sitting down next to eachother.

“What is going on? You just…showed up here suddenly” Roman looked away from the side next to him, his eyes fixated on the floor. He was hesitant to speak; apart from his usual cockiness, truth be told he was really afraid to say the wrong thing.

“Ja— Deceit…I left the others.”

“You..oh okay..” he said softly

“So does this mean…”

“That I’m one of you?” Virgil finished the sentence for him.

Roman nodded, looking up at him.

“I doubt you guys would want me to be.” Virgil mumbled, messing with the loose seams of his jacket.

“Hey, no. You do a great deal for us and Thomas. You mean a lot, Anxiety.” Roman responded sweetly.

“Virgil.” Virgil corrected.

“Virgil..?” Roman parroted, eyes widening a bit.

“My name, it’s Virgil.” He repeated.

While he was still weary about trusting the Others, he didn’t see the pain in telling atleast one of them his name; if he made fun of it, then so be it.

“I think that’s wonderful.” Roman said, slowly taking the other sides hand in his.

Virgil’s face heat up with surprise and happiness and he immediately hid it with his hoodie sleeve “thanks, I guess” came the muffled reply.

“You’re one of us, I’ve deemed you so, right here, right now, and if anyone has a problem with it they can talk to me” Roman said confidently, taking Virgil’s hand away from his face and kissing it.

Virgil couldn’t stop smiling and Roman loved it.

“You have a beautiful smile, Virge” Roman said, hoping to egg on the side infront of him.

Virgil practically fell apart, pulling Roman close and kissing him, smiling into it.

Roman returned the passion, holding Virgil gently as their teeth accidentally knocked together from the uncontrollable smiles.

Roman pulled them apart, forehead pressed against Virgils.

“You can stay here for as long as you need, alright?” Roman whispered.

“I could stay here forever.” Virgil responded.

‘and I will’ he thought to himself.

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wh3nturtlesfly · 1 year

Text

Set Him Free (Chapter 4)

First | Previous | Next

Relationships: Slow burn prinxiety and logicality

Word Count: 2892

Summary: Virgil is sent out on a new job, though things go unexpected when he runs into the wrong person…

The sky was still pitch black when Virgil awoke. A morning chill seeped through the windows, allowing his dark purple quilt to appear much more enticing. He pulled the covers over his head, trying to gain a few more minutes of sleep, though his mind had already been awoken by several thoughts.

Groaning, he shuffled out of bed, intent on finishing the day's tasks early to avoid confrontation. As he passed through the doorway, he was immediately met with the sound of clinking metal and the soft scribbling of pencil on paper.

A small candle shone upon the kitchen table, casting a soft glow upon the inventor’s face. Janus turned to face Virgil, having heard him walk in, “Wonderful morning, isn’t it?”

“Could be better,” Virgil grumbled, rubbing his eyes and taking a seat in a nearby chair, “It’d be nice if I could actually gain some sleep for once.”

“That was your fault in accepting work as a thief.”

“I assume you already have your requests ready?”

“You know I’m never one to disappoint,” Janus held out the piece of parchment he had been scribbling on, “Location and items are on the list.”

Virgil took it, carefully tucking it into his pocket and sliding on his boots.

“You may need these as well,” the inventor held out a case filled with several lock picks. Virgil accepted the small box, clipping it to a loop within his belt.

“Thanks.”

“I am solely providing you with the necessities for your assignment, you have no need to thank me.”

“Alright, no thank you then,” Virgil snagged an apple from a bowl centered within the kitchen table, knowing Janus would scold him if he left without eating, “You’ve taken care of me since I was a kid. Seriously Jan, you can stop pulling all this merciless acquaintance crap.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Janus’ face displayed a mock innocent smile, “Though be safe out there, it may be dark but that doesn’t present an excuse to be careless.”

“Aw, looks like someone really does care,” Virgil smirked, heading towards the door, “I’ll be back in a few hours, try to keep Remus from destroying the house while I’m gone.”

“That’s like asking me to keep day from turning to night, though I suppose I could prolong the inevitable.“ He met Virgil’s eyes, his expression softening just slightly, “Try not to get caught while you’re out.”

“As if those royals could catch me anyway,” Virgil gave a final wave, then vanished behind the closed door.

The cold air brushed against his cheeks, Elden not yet warmed by the morning sun. He reached to pull his hood up before realizing he was currently without his cloak.

Roman still had a hold of it after his last near-escape. Just another reason for him to despise the prince. Virgil shivered, running faster to escape the chill.

He swiftly made his way into town, slipping through alleyways and ducking within the shadows. Each small footfall brought forth a slight uneasiness, the possibility of being found growing more likely with the soon rising sun.

Virgil retrieved Janus’ list, skimming the cursive letters. They wove through the page, listing directions to a silversmith’s shop located a mere streets away. It shouldn’t be too hard of a job, especially since the silversmith would most likely still be asleep. Virgil followed the orientations, hastily winding his way through the cobblestone roads before reaching the workshop.

The cream stone building towered above him, lined with wooden accents and wedged within two other establishments. It consisted of two stories, the bottom holding various silver craftings and the top dedicated to housing for the silversmith.

This made Virgil’s job somewhat more difficult, though it was nothing he hadn’t done before.

Silently, he crept to the door, retrieving the lock picking kit he had been given. He carefully inserted one of the rods into the lock and turned it with no avail. Perfect.

Virgil clutched a larger rod in his hand, again placing it within the lock. After a few experimental turns, a small click surfaced from within the bolt, bringing a sly smile to Virgil’s face.

He gently pushed the wooden door open, sliding inside without so much as a creak from the worn hinges. Inside lay various silver trinkets, each polished to a crystal clear. Scanning through platters and kettles, Virgil crept past the shelves, searching for what Janus required.

Nothing of great importance had been placed in sight, causing the thief to have to seek more hidden areas. He pushed aside cabinet doors and pulled open drawers until he finally came upon what he had been hunting for.

Three circular washers had been placed within a cedar cupboard along with metallic gears of varying sizes. Virgil quickly swiped the parts, setting them inside one of the pockets that lined his belt. Closing the cupboard doors to avoid suspicion, he wordlessly slipped back outside, leaving nothing but the missing supplies to indicate his presence.

Virgil clicked the lock shut, then turned to face the waking city, though came face to face with a pair of emerald green eyes instead. Janus was going to kill him.

The prince smiled down at him with something that could only be described as triumphant bliss. Virgil wished greatly to wipe that grin off his face and make a run for it. Such options were an impossibility now.

Virgil locked eyes with the prince, assessing his surroundings as he attempted to stall, “Fancy seeing you here princey, I didn’t take you to be one for early morning strolls.”

“It seems I am full of surprises then. Mind telling me what you’ve stolen?”

“No-pe!” Virgil popped the ‘p’.

“Typical,” Roman muttered under his breath, “I suppose I’ll just move on to apprehending you then. I do have expectations to uphold.”

The thief rolled his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, we get it princey, you’re a valiant prodigy.”

“Allow me to bask in my success for once, would you?”

“I think I’d rather just be out of your way altogether,” Virgil stepped to the side, aiming to get past the prince, though coming up short as he was immediately pulled backwards. Roman once more grinned, and Virgil glared at him in return.

“Now, just where do you think you’re going?”

Virgil resisted the urge to step back, his face only inches apart from Roman’s, “I don’t know, anywhere but around your irritating self.”

“I hate to break it to you, but it doesn’t appear that you have much choice.”

“It’s all on your perspective,” Virgil proposed.

“I beg your pardon?”

“Observe,” the thief quickly advanced forward, causing Roman to shrink back in surprise.

The obstacle-crowded streets did provide one advantage, allowing Virgil to leap atop a stack of crates. Swerving to the right, he nearly avoided Roman’s grasp. Now, Virgil was about twice the prince’s height, smirking down on him with a triumph of his own. “How’s the weather down there princey?”

“This is all just so amusing to you, isn’t it?”

“Sure seems that way,” Virgil admitted, pulling out a stolen washer and mockingly inspecting its surface, “Not only that, but you tend to use a bunch of fancy words when you become frustrated, which is hilarious.”

“Thine words hold no truth!” Roman exclaimed, flushing as his statement registered within his mind.

“I hate to break up this lovely little conversation we’ve started, but can I go now? It would be much appreciated if I could continue on with my day in peace.”

“You don’t get such pleasantries as a wanted criminal,” he sighed, “Now, I order you to get down from there-“

“Nah. I don’t think I will. The skyline actually seems pretty great,” Virgil took a step backwards, advancing up to a higher crate.

“Don’t you dare,” Roman warned.

“Don’t I dare what? This?” Virgil took another step back, almost in line with the roof of a carpentry shop, “I thought the queen taught you to use your words when you wanted something, Averille.”

Roman scowled, taking a step forward before freezing as Virgil backed away. He was a step away from the roof now. Any farther and Roman would lose the chance of apprehending Virgil altogether.

“Aw, what’s wrong princey?” Virgil taunted, observing his rival’s sullen expression, “Can’t bear to see me leave so soon?”

“Psh- you wish!”

“I see. I suppose you wouldn’t mind me taking off then, I’ve probably taken enough of your time already,” the thief stepped atop the roof.

“Wait!” Roman called, causing Virgil to stop. He sighed, retrieving something from his side, “If I can’t arrest you, then will you at least allow me to make a trade?”

Virgil raised a brow, suspicious, “What kind of game are you playing?”

“I’m serious! If you return the items you stole to me, then I will return something of yours.”

Virgil perked up at this, eyes growing wide as Roman held up the jet black cloak. He stepped partway down from the crates, but froze just before he reached the prince’s eyes level, “How do I know this isn’t some trick?”

“In all honesty, you don’t. I just need you to trust me.”

Several doubts ran through Virgil’s head at once. Who was he to randomly trust the same person he had been running from moments before?

All he had to do was step up to the roof and make a break for it, though Virgil greatly wanted his cloak back. It was the one thing that grounded him when he felt his mind was spiraling out of control.

Virgil, groaned, rubbing his temples and muttering something along the lines of, “I am so gonna regret this.”

He slowly descended from the crates, stopping just above the first. Virgil was a mere arms length from the prince now. He retrieved the items from a pocket within his belt, motioning to Roman, “Give me the cloak first.”

Though hesitant, Roman tossed the garment to Virgil, quickly catching several metallic parts thrown his way.

As they both held their bounty, Virgil pinched his brows in confusion, “You’re not just going to arrest me anyway?”

“As wonderful as that would be, I asked you to trust me and you did,” Roman sighed, “Technically, since the goods have been transferred to my hands before you reach whoever you deliver these to, you haven’t necessarily stolen anything. I won’t take you into custody, this time.”

He was met with a look of disbelief, followed by a more gentle smile, “Y’know princey, you aren’t as bad as you seem.”

“Why thank you- wait.... What’s that supposed to mean!”

All Roman received was a smirk in return, before his longtime rival had disappeared from sight. The sun had just begun to rise now, the sounds of townsfolk waking up serving as a reminder that it was still only early morning.

Roman desperately wished to remain in the streets a little longer, though he was probably already going to be in enough trouble for leaving the castle without informing his mother or any of the staff beforehand.

How was he supposed to explain that a sense of adventure had led him to patrol the streets this morning? That and Logan had informed him that criminals like Virgil typically worked within the dark, trying to avoid confrontation.

It was only a short stroll to the castle, allowing Roman to arrive upon the gates within mere minutes. He snuck in through one of the back entrances, passing through the kitchens on his way. The sweet aromas always brought a smile to his face, and he needed a little bit of joy after having to deal with Virgil so early in the morning.

A familiar face greeted him in the kitchens, “Evelyn!” he exclaimed, “Such a pleasure to see you!”

“You as well,” the woman smiled, flour covering everything from her apron to the tips of her strawberry hair, “I see you’ve already been out this morning.”

“Indeed I have. It seems to be both a blessing and a curse as head of the royal guard.”

“Understandable.”

Roman glanced down to the wooden bowl clutched in her hands, “What are you making?”

She glanced down to the bowl, smiling, “Oh nothing special, just a spiced bread using a recipe from an old friend.”

“I see,” the prince took note of the open recipe book on the counter, “I assume Nakita will be the official taste tester again.”

A soft smile settled on Evelyn’s lips, “I’m sure she would love to, but she’s out on an assignment right now. She’s been really busy ever since she was tasked with scouting the northern realm, though she somehow always finds time to write back about her adventures.”

“I’m sure she does. Nothing can stop that girl from doing what she wishes, she’s too stubborn,” Roman chuckled.

Nakita was his right hand soldier, the two fighting side by side until Queen Elena had allowed Roman to patrol the kingdom himself.

Now Nakita had been tasked with protecting Elden from enemy nations, all while occasionally managing the dungeons. She claimed she handled the second job to ensure Roman didn’t screw it up, but the prince knew it was really to be able to spend more time with Evelyn.

It was always amusing to watch the hardened soldier become flustered at the mention of a certain baker, especially since she was usually so serious. Seeing the soldier come out of her shell for Evelyn was nice though. Roman knew Nakita needed a chance to laugh a little.

“She should be returning soon,” Evelyn added, a delighted spark flashing in her eyes, “She wrote that she would return to the palace in about a month’s time as a special visit.”

“Well that is absolutely wonderful!

“Indeed it is,” Evelyn beamed, eyes catching sight of someone in the doorway, “I don’t mean to stop our conversation, but it seems your advisor is waiting for you.”

Roman took a peek behind his shoulder, “It’s alright, I can address him later.”

“Go on Roman, you needn’t keep him waiting for my small talk.” Evelyn waved him forward, ushering him towards the door, “Knowing Logan, you could be missing something imperative.”

“Everything is imperative to him! Though if you insist, I suppose I should go. It was lovely getting to talk to you!” Roman called behind his shoulder, “I hope the bread turns out well!”

With that, he had passed through the kitchen doorway, entering a broad corridor. Towering windows lined the entire hallway, providing the perfect dose of natural light, especially with the morning sun.

Roman turned and was met with thick rimmed glasses and quizzical expression. “I know, I know,” Roman lamented, “I said I would catch him this time, but here I am, without success. Go ahead, tell me everything I did wrong”

Logan simply chuckled, “I was merely here to inquire as to if you were victorious this morning, though I guess that question has been answered for me. Still, if you wish for a piece of constructive criticism, I would recommend informing the queen of your intentions before leaving without a word next time.”

Roman groaned, “Oh no, she’s-”

“Worried, distressed, disgruntled, vexed? Yes, very much so.”

“I could suspect as much. I am going to have a lot of explaining to do.” His mother never liked him leaving the palace without her knowing. Another layer of protection, she had called it.

“Not if you hurry. She may forget about all your morning endeavors if you simply apologize first.”

“That’s true,” Roman admitted, “how are you always so smart?”

“Using common sense is usually an important first step,” Logan deadpanned.

“Ha, ha, very funny- but how did you know the purpose of why I left this morning? There was no one in the corridors this morning when I snuck out.”

“Inductive reasoning. That and the fact that I was awake at that hour, and I did notice you sneak out,” The advisor rolled his eyes, ”You simply didn’t catch sight of my presence because your mind was too focused on other tasks.”

“Of course it was,” Roman snickered to himself, glancing towards the door to his mother’s study, “Any send offs before I face my interrogation?”

“I hardly believe her highnesses concerned questioning could come close to an interrogation.”

“You must not know my mother’s true potential then,” The prince smirked, giving a wave before meandering towards the white and gold door, “Wish me luck!”

“That would be worthless as luck does not come to play with life’s doings, though I will hope for the best if you so wish me to.”

“Good enough for me!” Roman arrived at the door to his mother’s study. He raised his hand to knock, though hesitated.

The white rimmed door seemed much more lofty than usual, towering over him with a pressing intimidation. Gold detailing that lined the priceless wood screamed cold regalness, almost persuading Roman to avoid knocking altogether.

What was there even to stress about? It was only his mother, there was nothing to fear.

Taking a deep breath, Roman stood as tall as he possibly could, rapping against the door three times. Clear and crisp. Just as he had been taught.

A voice called from the other side for him to enter, and exhaling with a final courage, Roman opened the door.

#turtlewrites #fic #sanders sides #prinxiety #logicality #royal au #set him free #set him free ‘verse

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iclaimedtobethebetterbard · 2 years

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if you’re going my way, i’ll go with you - chapter 9

Fandom: Sanders Sides Characters: All the sides, character!Thomas, minor/background OCs Rating: Teen & up Relationships: Analogical, Dukeceit, platonic Loceit and Intrulogical, platonic/parental Prinxiety and Logince Warnings: Language, very non-graphic injuries, a few extremely vague references to child abuse. Word count: 3384

Read on AO3!

My writing masterpost

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Chapter 9

Logan made quick work of his investigation of Count Ruthless’s lair. He didn’t need to bother with minions, of course—no minion who valued their skin would ever challenge a superhero, let alone Dr. Logic. Besides, most of them seemed to be concerned with vacating the premises at top speed and could not care less about Logan making his way to the heart of the lair.

The Count, Logan was unsurprised to discover, owned very little tech that was of real interest to him, but there were several pieces Logan deemed it best to remove from circulation among the villainy of Sandersville. Virgil would no doubt be unhappy with this, but he had promised Logan first pick.

Once he had selected the items he wanted, Logan loaded them into a cart and took it back to the rooftop. He’d scheduled a bot earlier in the day to arrive here precisely when he needed it, and sure enough, it was right on time. Transferring the cart to the bot and sending it back to his lab was a simple matter. After sending it on its way, he crossed the rooftop back to Virgil’s prone form to check on him.

Virgil was still unconscious. His pulse was steady, and his breaths were long and even. The device Logan had used to knock him out, a new model he’d been working on that was small enough to conceal in his hand, had worked beautifully; it should leave him with no unpleasant side effects upon awakening. However, it would likely be another hour or two before Virgil came to—in order to eliminate all unwanted side effects, Logan had had to increase the minimum time the device affected its victims for.

Having been prepared for this, Logan clipped one of his stock invisibility devices onto Virgil’s belt. He arranged Virgil’s arms into a more comfortable position, so that they would not cramp by the time he woke up, and tucked a note into his hand. On it, he had printed the dictionary definition of the word “prank.”

He turned on the invisibility device so that Virgil would not be discovered in his vulnerable state, then took off from the rooftop and flew across the city back to his lab to wrap up his duties for the day. All in all, everything had worked out beautifully.

***

The bot and the cart full of tech were both waiting outside the outermost set of doors to his lab. Logan frowned to himself. Remus ought to have seen the notification that something was outside and let the bot in by now. That was odd.

But the reason for the delay became evident when he made his way into the lab proper and discovered Remus, perched in Janus’s lap, cupping their face in his hands and trading soft words and giggles and kisses with them.

Logan rolled his eyes and cleared his throat loudly. Janus started so violently the chair went skidding a few inches and Remus fell right off of it, landing on his tailbone.

“Oh, hi Doc!” Remus greeted cheerily from the floor without so much as a wince. He waved up at Logan as Janus composed himself in an excessively dignified manner, trying to act like he hadn’t been startled at all.

“Reflection, I have no desire to revoke your access to my lab, but every day you find new ways to test me,” Logan told Janus as Remus got to his feet and brushed himself off. “We just discussed this.”

“Actually, it’s just the same way a lot of different times,” Remus pointed out, taking an instinctive-looking step to the side that put himself in front of Janus. It was a remarkably subtle movement—the casual slide seemed perfectly natural. Only the slight line of tension in Remus’s shoulders gave his anxious state away.

Logan frowned to himself, a protective feeling nudging away some of his irritation with his intern. He knew what this type of behavior stemmed from, and though he’d offered what he could to help remedy it, that made him no less angry on Remus’s behalf for what had caused it.

“It’s mostly my fault, anyway,” Remus added, greatly increasing the strength of the emotion Logan was experiencing. “Don’t get her in trouble. Please.”

“Neither of you are ‘in trouble,’ Remus,” Logan assured the younger man gently. “I am merely exasperated.” He directed the bot towards one of the storage rooms and went to power his main computer all the way down for the day. “And you certainly do not bear a higher share of responsibility in this matter than Reflection does—you never leave your workspace to seek him out. But, to be clear: I would appreciate it if you would incorporate my feedback into future actions, but I have no intention of meting out unpleasant consequences for you, now or ever.”

“Okay,” Remus said after a considering pause. “Thanks.”

“So I can do what I want,” Janus put in, sounding very pleased.

“No.” Logan pointed at her. “You I am annoyed with. If you continue testing me, I may actually revoke your access to the lab for a day or two to make my point.”

Janus pouted at him. “Meanie.”

“I feel I have been extremely lenient on this matter up to this point in time, actually,” Logan informed her.

“Well, I could just put on your face. Or his.” Janus pointed at Remus. “You can’t ban yourself from your lab, so you can’t keep me out.” He grinned triumphantly.

“I’ve actually developed bio-scanning capabilities that can detect the shapeshifter gene,” Logan informed them. “So I can, in fact, keep you out if I should desire to do so.”

“What?” Janus all but shrieked, absolutely scandalized. “You said it blends in and hides! You said that mimicking DNA was one of my key strengths!”

“Precisely,” Logan said, greatly amused. “That is why it took me a decade to develop something that could consistently and reliably identify it.”

“And you just didn’t tell me you had this?” Janus flung his hands in the air.

“I was planning to save it for an opportune moment.” Logan gave them a teasing smile. “But drawing this reaction from you is in fact entertaining enough to suffice.”

“You’re awful,” Janus told him, which Logan knew was a compliment. “Can you show me how it works?”

“I would be happy to. However, not today.” Without further preamble, Logan took off his labcoat and hung it in its place on the wall.

“…Whatcha doing, Doc?” Remus asked, clearly unsure if he was supposed to know why Logan was preparing to leave or if his confusion was well-founded.

“I have some personal matters that need my attention, and will be unavailable for the rest of the day,” Logan explained. “I should be back to a normal schedule tomorrow. Anyone trying to reach me should be directed to try again in the morning. For now, I’d like you to put off your normal work for the remainder of the day and instead begin cataloguing the assets I’ve just brought in. They are various pieces of supervillain tech reclaimed from the lair of Count Ruthless.”

“Got it,” Remus said with a nod, getting to his feet at once and heading for the back room where the cart was. For all his time spent flirting with Janus on the clock, he was a busy worker once he set himself to a particular task.

Sometimes too busy. Logan had not forgotten the day, a month or two after he’d initially taken Remus on, when he’d arrived at the lab in the morning to discover that Remus was still busily working away, having forgotten to go home at all or even to sleep.

“Remus,” Logan called.

Remus paused and looked over his shoulder. “Yeah, Doc?”

“Remember to go home on time and to prioritize fulfilling your need for food and sleep,” Logan said. “It is more than fine if your task is unfinished today.”

“Sure, sure,” Remus said dismissively, then visibly reined himself in. “I mean—okay. I’ll try and remember.” He hesitated. “Thanks, Doc.”

“Of course,” Logan assured him.

***

After bidding goodbye to both Remus and Janus, Logan made a quick stop at his official Dr. Logic apartment, which he kept in order to maintain the privacy of his actual apartment. He shed his work attire in favor of a simple turtleneck and pair of slacks and replaced his contact lenses with glasses, then left the apartment by the secret exit. From there, he then made his way to the overdramatic tower that Virgil made his home in.

Waiting until there was nobody on the street to witness him—though this was not a long wait; people generally avoided the Nightmare’s lair at all costs—Logan stepped onto the grounds, waiting just a second before continuing. The security system should recognize that he was out of costume, and therefore had clearance to access the building, but it was always best to make sure. Having satisfied himself that he was not about to be obliterated via laser, he made his way up the steps and let himself in.

He knocked on the door of Virgil’s penthouse-style living quarters as he let himself into that a moment later.

Roman’s head, the only part of him visible over the back of the couch, swiveled at once. “Oh!” He waved as Thomas reached to pause the television. “Hi, Doc—tor…” Roman trailed off, little brow wrinkling in confusion as he clearly remembered mid-sentence the instruction not to use Logan’s hero name when he was out of costume.

“Good afternoon,” Logan said. He glanced around. “Virgil has not yet returned, I take it?”

“No,” Thomas said. Something in Logan’s tone must have been off, because Thomas squinted at him. “Do you… know something about that?”

“I have no idea what you are insinuating,” Logan said blandly. “I’m sure he will be back soon. Perhaps in approximately three and a half minutes.”

Thomas raised an eyebrow. “Fine. Fine. Be like that. Supers,” he mumbled under his breath, rolling his eyes.

Logan made his way to sit beside Roman on the sofa. “How are you doing physically?” he inquired.

“Um, good. I had more of the painkillers at lunchtime.” Roman bounced a little. “I’ve been watching so much She-Ra! Because Virgil said you said I should rest. And not go to school. But Virgil says he’s going to make it so I can just go to school again later without getting in trouble. Have you seen She-Ra? Besides what I showed you yesterday? Do you know Sea Hawk?”

“I do not,” Logan said. “May I—“

“He’s a very handsome man,” Roman said eagerly, “and he has a shiny mustache and he sings! He’s my favorite. Um, one of my favorites.” His eyes widened. “Oh, I—I think I interrupted, sorry.” His shoulders drew inwards.

“It is fine. He sounds fascinating,” Logan said politely, though to be honest he could hardly care less about the show or its characters. “May I examine your bandages?”

“Sure.” Roman stilled his bouncing, allowing Logan to lift the child’s t-shirt off his belly and assess the state of his bandages.

“They seem to have held up well,” he commented, pleased. “You bathed with them on, correct? How did they hold up against exposure to water?”

“Good. I don’t think the water got in at all,” Roman said.

“Excellent. They still need to be changed, at the very least so I can examine the wound itself, but that is good to know. How are—“

The door opened.

Roman lit up. “Virgil!”

“Hi, kid,” Virgil said lightly, closing the door behind himself. He fixed Logan with a pointed stare and crossed his arms. “Hi, babe.”

“Hello, dear,” Logan said, struggling not to laugh.

Virgil tossed something through the air towards him. “I think this is yours.”

Upon catching it, Logan discovered it to be the invisibility device. “How thoughtful of you to find that for me,” he said innocently.

“I feel like I’m missing something here,” Thomas interjected.

“Oh, Virgil is just very happy to see me,” Logan said, forcing down a smirk as he went to set down the invisibility device on the kitchen island for safekeeping.

Virgil came up behind him and wrapped his arms around Logan’s waist, hooking his chin over Logan’s shoulder. “You, my love,” he murmured, punctuating his words with a tender kiss pressed to the side of Logan’s neck and speaking too quietly for Roman or Thomas to hear, “are an asshole.”

“Hmm.” Logan felt he had to concede this point. “Perhaps.” He paused. “But it was funny.”

He felt Virgil smile against his neck. “It was kind of funny,” he allowed. “After I woke up and figured out what had happened.”

“And you did say I could have first pick of the technology in the lair,” Logan added.

“Well, I somehow imagined that, like, you would let me know what you wanted and I’d give it to you,” Virgil said, sounding greatly amused. He pressed his cheek against Logan’s. “Not that you’d knock me out and go get it yourself.”

Logan turned his head to peck Virgil on the lips. “I am nothing if not proactive, dearest.” He tugged Virgil’s hands gently away from where they were still clasped around his waist. “I would like to continue attending to my patient now.”

Virgil whined in half-joking protest, but relinquished his hold on Logan with one final kiss on the cheek. “I’m going to go change out of this,” he announced, gesturing at his supersuit, and made his way down the hall to his bedroom as Logan rejoined Roman on the couch.

In short order, Logan had unbandaged Roman’s wound and begun examining it to ensure that there were no signs of infection, Roman watching with fascination all the while.

Virgil stepped back into the room moments later, now clad in a t-shirt and jeans. After an assessing look at Logan and Roman, he evidently came to the correct conclusion that Logan had matters under control. Instead of immediately joining them, he beckoned Thomas to the side and began a hushed conversation about the morning’s events.

Logan ignored this in favor of giving his attention to his young patient. Roman’s wound was doing well—exceedingly well. In fact—

“Were you aware you have superhealing?” Logan inquired of Roman.

“What?” Roman said. “I do?” He stared down at the stitches in his stomach with renewed interest and reached to poke at them.

Logan caught the child’s hand, suppressing both his initial flash of panic at the action and his sigh of relief at successfully preventing it. (Was this what parenthood was like? No wonder Janus could be so high-strung.) “Touching your injury with your bare hands could infect it. Please do not,” he instructed Roman.

“Oh.” Roman bit the inside of his cheek. “Sorry.”

“It is alright. No harm has been done, and now you know,” Logan assured him. “But to answer your question: yes, you clearly have superhealing. I would have expected this amount of progress to take a week under normal circumstances.”

“Cool!” Roman enthused, visibly forcing himself to keep his hands away from his injury as he continued to examine it.

Logan nodded, refraining from telling the boy that this was not at all an uncommon power. His state of delighted wonder was endearing, and Logan felt strongly inclined to preserve it. “How are your pain levels?” he asked instead.

“Fine,” Roman said quickly. “I’m okay. It wasn’t that bad. And I had painkillers anyway.” He hesitated. “I think it’s better today than yesterday?”

“That is encouraging news,” Logan said, filing away the it wasn’t that bad to discuss with Virgil later, because it certainly had been that bad, particularly for a child who barely qualified as tweenaged. He pulled out a cleaning wipe and began sponging carefully at the wound. “Have you noticed any other powers that you are in possession of?” he asked. Roman’s main power was clearly the glitter ability, but his secondary powers could be anything, and the number of them could vary.

“Um. I can fly?” Roman shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t—” He hesitated, looking away; Logan suspected he was deliberating how to word his sentence. “Didn’t think it was a good idea to experiment and try and find out.” He looked back at Logan. “I just knew I could fly and make glitter stuff because I found those out by accident.”

“Hm. Well, no matter—the assessment new students undergo at Brennan is quite thorough. They will compile a full list of your powers when you enroll.” Logan glanced over at Virgil, who had just finished debriefing Thomas and sent him to do some task relating to the business with Count Ruthless. “He is being enrolled there, I assume?”

“Obviously,” Virgil said. He came over to sit on the sofa near Logan and Roman. “I was thinking we could work on that tomorrow, Roman?”

“That’s the powers school, right?” Roman asked.

“It is indeed,” Logan confirmed. He set down the wipes, satisfied with the state of Roman’s injury for the time being. “Let’s bandage this back up and check on it again in another day or two.”

“Mmkay.” Roman sat still as Logan began to rebandage the injury.

It was quiet as Logan worked. His thoughts, however, were whirring back and forth with an indecisiveness and hesitancy he rarely experienced.

His identity was secret; that was the point of it. The fewer people who knew anything about him, the better. And a child had far less secret-keeping ability than an adult.

All the same, Roman had to call him something. At this point, it seemed certain that that Logan would continue interacting with this boy on a regular basis. And he’d proven himself to be capable of discretion.

He drew in a long breath, making up his mind at last. “My name,” he said to Roman, voice quiet because he was taking such care to keep it steady, “is Logan Crofter. When I am out of costume, you may use it to address me.” Logan held Roman’s gaze and spoke firmly. “I expect that you will keep this private, and do your utmost to ensure that my name and my personal information are never associated with the title of Dr. Logic. Clear?”

Roman nodded several times, eyes wide. “I won’t tell anyone. Promise.”

“Good.” Logan examined the bandages one last time. “These should be sufficient for the time being.”

“Thank you,” Roman said, tugging his shirt down from where it had been rucked up under his armpits. “Why is your watch trans?” he asked, staring at Logan’s hands.

Oh. That was right; the strap of Logan’s watch had the trans pride flag running along it. “Because I am a transgender man,” he said simply, shrugging.

Roman’s eyes went huge. “Wait, really?” he gasped, delighted.

“Yes.” Logan hesitated for a moment. “That is another piece of information that I expect you to keep private,” he added. “I prefer for people to know as little identifying information about Dr. Logic as possible.”

“Oh. Gotcha.” Roman nodded. “I get that,” he said, far too seriously. “You just gotta keep things secret sometimes, you know?”

Logan felt a sharp, strong ache in his chest at the seriousness of the little boy’s tone and the solemn look in his brown eyes. He reached over and cupped Roman’s warm little cheek in his hand. “Sometimes,” he agreed. “It’s better when you have friends to confide in.”

Roman made a noise of consideration. “That makes sense,” he agreed.

“Is he all good, L?” Virgil inquired.

“Yes,” Logan confirmed. “He is doing very well.”

“Cool. Sounds great. Can I grab you for a minute?” He drummed his fingers on his thigh. “I want to talk with you about something.”

Logan raised his eyebrows at the vagueness of this phrasing. “Certainly,” he agreed.

“Awesome. Hey, Roman,” Virgil said, “why don’t you finish up this episode of She-Ra while I talk with Logan?”

Roman frowned for just an instant, and then it was gone. “Okay,” he said, voice sweet and blandly accommodating.

Virgil hesitated, brow furrowing, but did not press matters, beckoning Logan down the hall to his bedroom as Roman picked up the remote.

Taglist (ask to be added/removed!): @theimprobabledreamersworld @the-sympathetic-villain @just-a-little-anxious @your-local-crackhead-gremlin @remy-the-lemon-berry @midnightstorm-underthe-moon @crazydemigod666 @did-he-just-hiss-at-me @virgil-is-verge @simplestoryteller @oblivionartworks @so-youre-a-rock-with-issues @emoprincey @theblackcatscratchpost @biwithapie @poettheythem

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d4rkwr1t3s · 2 years

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Three Written Loves Chapter 6

Romoxiety and Intruloceit soulmate au where you are given a notebook to communicate with your soulmate at 16. You cannot say your name, address, place of school/work, number, etc.

TW: Mentions of Child Abuse Chapter is written in Logan’s POV with slight Intruloceit and mentioned Prinxiety

Re: Attention Jan: Hello to you too dearest Re: Hilo. Aren’t you at work? Jan: Yes. Just know how you get

Re: :{P

Re: Where’s nerd? Lo: Right here. We stopped at a gas station. I will be driving again shortly.

Re: Awwwww. Guess I’ll annoy Roturd then about why he’s screaming

Jan: Seriously? Re: Mhm! I screamed back :{D Jan: Of course you did Re: Must maintain dominance >:{D Jan: Suure. I have to get back to work but I have break in an hour

Re: Thats so looooong

Jan: You’ll survive

Lo: Based on our GPS we should arrive by 2 am. We will make one more stop for dinner and to refill our tank.

Re: You’re gonna be up at 2 am? Lo: Possibly. My brother will be driving after dinner. Re: Yes! Lo: I have to go for now. I will talk to you both at dinner. Re: Awwwww ttyl gay bitches Logan shook his head fondly as he stepped up to the counter to pay for their snacks. Well Virgil’s snacks and energy drinks and his own water and gatorade. It was getting rather close to dinner so he didn’t want to spoil his dinner with a snack. He would need the water and gatorade to stay hydrated as well.

He walked to the car once everything was paid for. They were almost free. They were so close. Their family would never know where they were. He sighed before sliding into the driver’s side. He handed Virgil the bag before buckling his own seatbelt. “Is something wrong?” “Yeah?! No?!” “Take some deep breaths Virgil,” Logan instructed, watching his brother do so, “now would you like to explain what’s going on?” “I have another soulmate.” “Other than ‘Ro’?” “Other than Ro. He just said hi! Ro’s overwhelming him and-” “You’re thinking of worst case scenarios again?” Logan slightly teases his brother while pulling out onto the road. “Of course! Why haven’t they written before? Are they still in danger?” “Virgil,” Logan warned, noticing his brother spiraling. “I know, I know.” “They will explain in due time. For now I would suggest making them feel welcome.” “Yeah. I’ll try to calm the situation,” Virgil let out a deeper exhale, “want your Gatorade or water first?” “Water. Also you may want to look ahead for what may be appetizing for dinner. Preferably some place we can eat inside.” “Okay. In a minute.” “Alright,” Logan confirmed before starting their roadtrip playlist. Virgil had spent a while on it and it should perfectly line up with when they get there if not a few seconds off. It had been an interesting blend of their differing music tastes.

Logan would often ask Virgil if he wanted to go into the more musical field. It usually ended in a splutter and a denial. He had seen it himself, Virgil’s guitar, the cds, the playlists. He was more musically inclined than Logan was, and he would give anyone hell that squashed Virgil’s dreams. Well that’s part of the reason they were here now.

Their parents didn’t believe in anything that wasn’t profitable 100% of the time. They never had any hobbies. They forbade hobbies for their sons. Logan was able to get Virgil to do some hobbies where he had joined a band. Logan had been so proud to know they were going very far with it, then one of the members had to move away. It crushed Virgil’s heart but Logan knew that Virgil would find another group and grow just as close as before.

Virgil had picked up other hobbies but none of them stuck as well. Logan supported him in each of them and made sure their parents never found out about it. It often ended in more “punishments” but it was always worth it to see the light in his brother’s eyes and smile. His own had been dimmed a long time ago.

He set a hand on his left shoulder for a moment with a wince at the memory before exhaling slowly. No need to reminisce of something he never had. They’d be much stronger now. They’d be safer. He could finally rest with no worries or fears for whenever their parents woke up next. Just a few more hours in the car. It’d be worth it.

#logan sanders #logic sanders #virgil sanders #anxiety sanders #janus sanders #deceit sanders #remus sanders #dark creativity sanders #intruloceit #demus #loceit #intrulogical

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richie-trashmouth-toizer · 2 years

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Hey my moon drops so I know it’s early but here. Yea this is my first ever fanfic so please ONLY constructive criticism if you choose to comment

(This is a Sander Sides Fanfic. It involves the ship Prinxiety hopefully not to stupid)

Warnings: cursing(minor), Insomnia, Denial, hinted/actual panic attacks, kissing, self deprecating comments, these are all the ones I found, if you find anymore let me know and I will add them

Word count: 1,917 words

Notes: hey so I started this fic at 9:22pm on a Thursday and finished at 12:10 on a Monday night almost 2 weeks later so bare with me in the beginning I am told I’m very good at writing and I try my best but like I said at the beginning Constructive criticism only. This fic personally is just an OC one because I found it hard to write in Janus and Remus into what I had in my mind. On that note, onto the fic.

12:00am on a Monday night!

God Virgil was screwed. He couldn’t believe how late it was, but no matter what he did to try and sleep, he simply couldn’t. All the; incense and soft music and dim lighting was just not enough anymore. I mean it’s not like he hadn’t experienced this before, in fact (though he would never admit it to Patton or Logan) this had been going on for three agonizing days.

“ Three days no sleep, not even a fucking nap.” Virgil said out loud to himself in a small fit of anger and exhaustion.

Why was this so hard! He wasn’t anxious or deprived of anything that he could think of. Not anything but sleep. If he could just close his eyes for a minute he would be fine, not happy or content but he would be fine.

“Breath, just breath” he said to himself in a half whisper.

In for four, hold for seven, then out for eight. As long as he kept this up he would be able to contain his frustration.

“Just breath”

He made a quick glance around his room until something caught his eye. A medium sized rectangle held upright by its other half, scribbled softly into its face legible just by the slightest dim lighting that covered his room read the word “family” Virgil repeated the word out loud remembering the day that the cutest little puff-ball they had, had given him the card.

Patton, how could he keep this from Patton. If felt horrible, almost sickening, I mean Virgil had worked so hard to feel as though he was finally in the other's good graces but here he was, betraying that trust.

But, the truth was that if he told Patton then, Patton would tell Logan and then Logan would bring it up at breakfast and that would continue to Roman finding out. Needless to say Virgil just didn’t need the concerning looks from Patton, and the lecture on proper sleep and mental health from Logan, and to top it all off the endless teasing from Roman.

Uugh Roman stupid, annoying, dream full, antagonizing, handsome, Princey.

“Whoa!” He let slip a little too loud. I mean he didn’t feel that way about Roman. Did he?

No no no, there was no way he felt that way about Roman! He had been making fun of him since day one, calling him demeaning nicknames like; Emo Nightmare, Hot Topic, Sunshine, My Chemically Imbalanced Romance, Negative Nancy, Doctor Gloom, J-D-lightful, Marilyn Morose, Panic! At the Everywhere, Incredible Sulk, and the list goes on and on.

How could he like someone who hated him? Somewhere around 2am Virgil decided that it would be best if, for now he shoved these feelings down until he couldn’t remember having them.

The rest of the night went exactly the same. Virgil’s alarm clock went off at 7:00am just like it always did, giving him just the right amount of time to get ready for breakfast at 8:00am. He showered, bushed out his wet shaggy hair and quickly straightened it before it started to curl, layered on his pail foundation and finished doing the rest of his makeup.

7:59am, Logan would be knocking on his door in

“Three”

“Two”

“One-“

“Virgil, Patton asks that you join us for breakfast as usual” Logan voiced in a his ever-so-slight robotic tone

“ Be right there” Virgil returned back in a mocking voice

“Excellent, see you then.” Logan said in the same voice as before

Soon after Virgil made his way down to the kitchen, empty, he must have been the last one down. He made his way to the side, entering the dining room and sure enough there sat; Patton, Logan, and Roman. Patton had made pancakes with blueberry sauce. The other three greeted Virgil with a subtle good morning, one right after the other. Virgil grabbed a much too small share of food. Considering that he got shared looks from both Patton and Logan.

“You feeling okay kiddo?” Patton said in a concerning tone

“Yeah you know it Pop-Star”

“Alrighty then just checking”

“Thanks pops”

It’s not that these kinds of conversations didn’t happen often. Of course they did, Patton is… well, Patton, and he’s just checking up on what he claims as his dark strange son.

“Virgil, it is necessary that you eat a proper amount of food” Logan said almost as antagonizing as usual

“Hey I’m watching my figure pocket protector”

“ What are you talking about?”

“ My stick figure”

This statement from Virgil caused little giggles from the other three.

“Seriously Virgil, it is important for your mental health and to help with insomnia.”

Well… Virgil had been eating increasingly smaller and smaller amounts.

Virgil struggled through the day growing more and more tired as time went on.(which he wasn’t sure was possible) and finally it was 10:00pm. He made a quick excuse to go to bed early and made his escape. Again like the past four nights he had no luck in the sleeping department. Until he heard the ever-familiar sound of the ping of his phone. He looked over at his clock.

“11:00pm?” He muttered to himself

Who on the earth would be texting him this late? He slowly picked it up. Roman!? Why was he texting him this late.

Sir Sing a lot: Are you asleep?

Virgil mumbled a laugh at the nickname he had set for Roman, he always did before replying.

Virgil: No

Sir Sing a lot: WHY NOT!?!??!??😡

Virgil: I can’t

Sir Sing a lot: What?

Virgil: another insomnia thing

Sir Sing a lot: oh umm I’m sorry I guess

Virgil: uhh yeah just umm don’t tell Pat or Lo. Okay?

Sir Sing a lot: What why not?

Virgil: because I just don’t want them to know

Sir Sing a lot: uhhmm

Virgil: Look it’s just… a really long story

Sir Sing a lot: okayyyy, I won’t tell them

Virgil: Thanks

Sir Sing a lot: Yeah just try to go to bed and if…

Virgil: Ifffffffff?

Sir Sing a lot: If you ever need someone to talk to I’m here. K?

Virgil: yeah yeah okay thanks Princey

Sir Sing a lot: Anytime my chemically imbalanced romance, see you tomorrow.

Virgil: see ya.

Damn, he couldn’t lie Roman was,… something. I mean he checked up on Virgil just to make sure he was sleeping. He was so… so, cute-

“Shut up!” He said harshly to himself

He had said that he was not going to let himself fall for Roman. He couldn’t let himself fall.

This continued for the next three nights. Virgil would wake up at 8:00am get lectured by Logan at breakfast, spend the entire day in agonizing tiredness then go to his room at 10:00pm and get texted by Roman at 11:00 pm to make sure he was at least trying to sleep and spend the rest of the night denying his feelings for Roman in fear of falling so deeply and madly in love just to get rejected.

He was on day nine of no sleep and was pretty sure he was dying. Then as usual the denial set into play. But something else was happening, his breathing was unusually fast and he began to sweat. “Oh fuck” he was, he was having a panic attack. He began to shake and he fell on the floor just as he heard his phone ping “shit”.

Little voices began to fill his mind.

He could never love someone like you

You are so ugly

How could you ever think that you are worthy of someone like him?

Then there was a knock on the door

“ Hello Virgil it’s me Roman”

“ If you don’t answer i'm coming in”

Virgil just couldn’t bring himself to answer, he tried but with the mix of panic and tears and hyperventilating he just couldn’t answer. Then the door cracked open the only reason he could tell was because he heard it open, the tears were too thick to see through anything. He looked up and saw through blurry eyes a figure dressed in red,gold, and white rush over to him.

“Virgil! What happened? Why are you crying?!” Roman blurted out hastily

“I-I-I-I’m f-fine R-Ro really.” Virgil choked out in a mix of congestion, tears, and panic

“You have to be joking Virgil. How on earth could you be in the state that you are in now and be fine. How stupid do you think I am.”

“ I DONT THINK YOUR STUPID!”

“Woah calm down virg”

“I-I-I-im s-sorry” Virgil said, starting to cry even more.

“Hey, hey it’s okay. There’s no need to get upset” Roman said, starting to hug Virgil “Now, tell me what’s going on.”

“ I-I well umm it’s I”

“ Hey calm down, just breathe and tell me why you are having a panic attack.

“ I-I-I- I c-can’t”

“ Come on Emo, breathe with me. In for four, hold for seven, and out for eight.”

“I-I”

“ you can do it Virg”

“ i like you” Virgil said in a whisper

“ What?”

“ I LIKE YOU!”

“ You like me?”

“ I mean yeah, how could I not.”

“ oh wow Virgil I-”

“ I-I know. It’s so stupid of me, I mean how could someone like you like someone like me.”

“ what are you talking about”

“ Oh come on Ro your, your perfect and I’m well I’m just me-”

Virgil was cut off by a soft pair of lips connecting to his. He sat there his eyes closing, he felt Roman push into him a little more. Then after what felt like a lifetime, Roman pulled away.

“ You are perfect” Roman said in a blood sucking tone

“You- you kissed me.” Virgil said in a shocked voice

“ Yeah” Roman laughed “ I did”

“Why!?”

“Because, because I like you to”

Maybe, just maybe Virgil would give this a chance. After all, Roman liked him too, and this was a relationship that Virgil was willing to let happen for as long as it could.

That night was the first time in a long time that Virgil slept. It was probably because he did it snuggled up to Roman. And to think that this was thanks to all those sleepless nights.

Thank you for reading. Again this is my first fic and I take constructive criticism and if you couldn’t tell I have personally never kissed someone so I’m really sorry for that scene but I am also excited for everything that is to come up so PLEASE give me ideas hope you enjoyed.

#sander sides #remus sanders #thomas sanders #janus sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #sander sides fandom

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shsl-fander · 2 years

Text

Lake House~Prinxiety

Pairing: Roman/Virgil,romantic prinxiety

Summary: Roman and Virgil arrive at Roman's lake house and spend the way in the water

Au: Human, College

Tw: Yelling

A soft breeze swept over the treetops, cooling the familiar area as Roman exhaled, closing his eyes as the clear smell of nature really sunk in. "See Jd-lightful? This is what I'm talking about!" he remarked blinking his eyes open again. "Oh my gosh peck, I haven't been here since I was a kid!"

Virgil scoffed, a short snort escaping him, "Please Roman you are so dramatic ya know that right? How can you be appreciating nature this much when you literally brought so much from home its insane," he commented, shoving his hands into his hoodie pockets.

Though, to Virgil's dismay Roman's attitude had not changed in the slightest. "Just because we're in Maine does NOT mean a prince does not have to slay!", Roman argued in counter.

Virgil tensed the moment an arm was wrapped around him, scooting himself closer to Roman, soon though he relaxed once again. "Lemme guess? You want to skip actually getting relaxed and go right to the water?" he teased raising an eyebrow.

Roman just grinned, a stupidly charming Princey grin. One that replayed rapidly in Virgil's mind, and god he hated it. He hated how loveable Roman was, how much Virgil went weak in the knees and melted in his presence.

Roman rushed towards the lake, dragging Virgil close behind him squeezing his hand as he did so. "Oh come on! We're here to go in the water are we not?" he exclaims in defense. Roman slipped his shirt off before tossing it on a nearby chair, "plus It's still light out," he adds, though he wasn't entirely sure Virgil was still paying attention.

Virgil was paying attention to Roman...just not exactly to his words. He blinked, cursing at himself for staring at Roman but he couldn't help it, he was so pretty and he rarely saw him with his shirt off and all that dumb prince training actually payed off and AUGH.

Roman froze, gazing at his boyfriend for a moment before a smile just tugged at the corners of his lips. He stepped closer towards the other, his head angled at a slight tilt. "Distracted or something my dark daydream?" he cooed, reaching forward to ruffle Virgil's soft, fluffed up hair.

Virgil stammered, his eyes widening as a blush just spread through his entire face like a fire. Virgil inhaled, his breath hitching and he could feel the heat rising in his cheeks, he just knew he was red. He groaned, glancing away from Roman, "oh shut your mouth-" he mumbled all he could muster.

However despite Virgil's attempts Roman wouldn't quit, which of course made Virgil's feelings grow. He grumbled, Roman's soft light hum hovering right above his ear. "God," he whispered, "you are so lucky I love you," Virgil huffed before playfully shoving his boyfriend away from him.

Roman gasped, stumbling backwards as to play further into the dramatics. "I can very easily push you in the water emo," he reminded the other. Roman then glared in front of him, before leaping towards the water with a loud splash.

Virgil yelped, the water flying through the air as it seemed to grow, and before Virgil could rush away-

He was drenched in a splash. "Alright Princey, is this what you wanted?" he asked sighing as he mindlessly threw his hoodie next to Roman's shirt.

Though, even Virgil couldn't be upset for long omce his eyes found there way towards Roman once again. He glanced up, meeting Roman's gaze which came with his glimmering eyes and eager smile. Wow , he was adorable.

Roman's face somehow lit up even more, the shimmer in his eyes increasing. "Come on Gerad-Gay! It'll be fun just come in the water with me," he offered reaching his hand up to the dock.

Though, the moment Virgil's hand even grazed Roman's his feet were lifted off the ground as he was dragged towards the water. Virgil squeaked, tumbling into the water.

Virgil growled, glaring up at Roman as he shook his head, drip of water flying out of his hair. "Jesus FUCKING christ Ro!" he yelled, flipping water into his face. "You're lucky I love you."

Roman wrapped his arms around Virgil, peppering kisses over his face before he whispered a reply, "I know I'm lucky, and I love you too," he cooed. "However, your shirt is absolutely soaked-"

"BECAUSE YOU PULLED ME INTO THE WATER"

"YOU COULD HAVE JUST TAKEN YOUR SHIRT OFF-"

"Roman you just want to see me without a shirt."

"WHAT! NO HOW DARE YOU ACCUSE ME OF THAT-"

The two spent the night laughing, splashing and yelping in the water together. Just the two of them alone, only accompanied by the starry night sky and quiet rustling of the wind.

Word Count: 797

#sanders sides #prinxiety #tssides #ts prinxiety #roman sanders #virgil sanders #prinxiety fanfiction #prinxiety fanfic #fanfic #sanders sides fanfic #sanders sides fanfiction #roman sanders fanfic #virgil sanders fanfic #oneshot

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patton-cake · 4 years

Note

for the face fic title, what about “light of my life”?

Pairing: logicality (wow what a suprise) and some side-prinxiety

Hi Koko! :D

Logan: *walking into their living room*

Patton: *standing there, wearing a lightbulb costume*

Patton:" I'm the light of your life Lo :D"

Logan: * turns around, leaving the house *

I'm kidding, here is the actual fic

Logan had a bad feeling when Virgil led him away from his apartment.

"Uh-hey Logan! W-what are you doing here? I thought you had to teach 'till 5?"

"It got cancelled. Virgil what is the matter? You are behaving strangely."

Virgil looked away from Logan and anxiously bit his nail

"Don't worry Logan. Do you perhaps maybe want to g-go to the library with me? I-You said they had some stuff about space?"

Obviously, Logan knew that his friend tried to stop him from going into his apartment, but Logan's love of books and especially space books, won over his curiosity.

So that's how Logan found himself in the library, collecting space books.

"I am aware that something is going on Virgil, but I won't make this harder for you, so I won't ask why you're keeping me distracted"

Virgil sheepishly grinned at him and turned his focus back on the book he was reading.

An hour later, their calm reading was loudly interrupted,

"VIRGIL?? I'VE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR YOU! PATTON NEEDS YOU TO- oh hi Logan"

His entrance earned Roman some angry stares from angry ladies a few tables next to them.

"Salutations Roman, so, you are aware of the secret situation too? Virgil is reluctant to tell me what exactly is going on"

Logan closed his book and put it back on a shelf, before looking back at his two friends. Roman soflty hit Virgil's arm

"Great job V, now he knows something's up!"

He whisper-screamed at Virgil,

"It's not like you were that subtle either Ro!!"

"Virgil, Roman, if you aren't going to inform me about this whole situation, could you please just be quiet."

Virgil rolled his eyes and checked his phone,

"Actually, we just got our signal, you're a free man again Lo"

"Ah finally, our task is finished! We shall be rewarded soon! Do you think that he will allow me to take his best friend on a date?"

Roman pretended to faint and leaned all his weight onto Virgil, who could barely hold him.

"In your dreams pretty boy"

Logan collected his stuff and watched the two interact with a smile.

"Well, if you two don't mind then, I'll be returning to my apartment"

Virgil gave Logan a small wave before pushing his boyfriend towards the exit.

"Come on himbo! You promised me some good coffee!"

When Logan walked towards the door of his apartment, he heard faint footsteps and soft mumbling. He didn't worry that much, Logan knew that the only people with a key to his apartment were Virgil, Roman and Patton. Virgil and Roman, in case of an emergency (Logan didn't think running out of coffee counted as an emergency, but he didn't complain when he found Virgil in his kitchen around 5 in the morning)

He opened the door and was met by a wonderful suprise. His apartment was turned into a replica of a planetarium. On the ceiling he could discover his favourite constellations and the walls were covered in stars.

In the middle of this little galaxy, lay lots of pillows and some fluffy blankets. Logan started at his living room with wide eyes, until suddenly, he heard a soft voice behind him.

"H-hi Lo, do you like it?"

He turned around and saw Patton, his wonderful boyfriend, standing there anxiously playing with the sleeves of his sweater.

"Patton, this is absolutely amazing, I-did you do this?"

He nodded and a slight blush spread over his face.

"Happy early-anniversary Lo"

"Y-you did this all for me? But why? I mean I love it so much, but I don't deserve this Patton"

Patton giggled softly and intertwined their fingers.

"Of course you do honeybee! I really care about you, you know that? I guess you could say that you're the light of my life" he move his gaze up at the star-covered ceiling and giggled.

Logan tried to be annoyed by the pun, he really did, but he felt so much love at this moment, that he just kissed him instead.

And that's all folks

Also: I have a taglist now! (Thank you Gabi) you can always ask to be added, tho I don't think many people like my writing, it's worth a try!

@irritating-lady-knight

#pattoncake writes #logicality #patton x logan #logan x patton #logan sanders #patton sanders #slight prinxiety #prinxiety #background prinxiety #romantic logicality #they love eachother #Gabi i love you #Koko this is for you!!#hope you like it!!#koko tag!

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vampirebriar · 4 years

Text

Okay so like...this is my first time posting one of my fics...it’s only a bullet fic so it’s not super in depth or anything but I thought it was cute...so here it is...I guess 👉👈

Also I apologize I’m on mobile so I can’t do the cut thingy

Romantic Demus/Dukeceit (Nothing too extreme though), Background Prinxiety (I guess?), Warning for spoilers, and trigger warning for snakes and swearing and slightly OOC Janus and Remus

-Takes place after FWSA

-Janus has been avoiding the other sides (mainly Ro and Virg for obvious reasons)

-He’s been hanging with Remus mostly

-And when he’s not he’s all alone

-Remus has to practically drag him out of his room because he’s booooooooored goshdarnit

-Janus is not amused ™

-Anyway, Rem and Jan are walking around the mindscape, taking little detours.

-Janus keeps subtly (not very subtly cause Rem can see right through him) trying to nudge away from the areas the light sides usually occupy.

-Remus thinks ‘fuck it let’s go to the imagination’

-Janus and Rem are exploring and Jannie is keeping an anxious eye out,

-He gets distracted by snakes

-Usually he wouldn't let his guard down but they’re snakes and ‘aww look how cute Remus’

-He gets pulled away by Remus after placing the snake around his shoulders (Her name is Cleo!!)

-Remus is glad it cheered him up a bit

-Then they hear footsteps

-Oh shit it’s Ro AND Virge?!

-Can’t Janus catch a break???

-Janus pulls Remus this way and that, desperately trying to avoid the pair.

-Remus gets annoyed after a while

-”You can’t avoid them forever, Jan.”

-”I can try!”

-Cleo and Remus are done ™

-After another failed escape attempt and then getting nearly caught (or actually caught and Roman and Virge leave) Remus finally confronts him.

-”Enough is enough. I like dicking around, but this is too much.”

-”What do you mean?”

-and Remus is DONE ™

-he goes off about: “You really hurt them.” “You’ve been avoiding all your problems.” “And you’ve been a TERRIBLE friend...to Thomas...to Roman...to Virgil………

-....”to me”…..

-...oh

-oh shit

-fUCK YOU REALLY STEPPED IN IT NOW JANUS

-Janus is surprised and offended and...guilty?

-huh...that’s new…

-He doesn’t get a chance to apologize, because Remus is already running away.

-And now he’s alone.

- fuck

- He has to get out of here with only Cleo for help

-And she can’t even talk…

-...great....

-after some reflecting and struggling to get out of the imagination he finally realizes how much of a jerk he’s been

-Before he reaches the end of the imagination he spots Remus in a tree, sitting on a branch for support.

-Janus doesn’t really want to get his clothing dirtier but Remus is more important

-He climbs up with as much dignity and grace a thirty year old half snake man can have while climbing a tree

-”Hey…”

-Remus isn’t looking at him

-”What do you want?” It comes out more strangled than angry

-Janus feels terrible

-”Someone told me that it’s better to face your problems than run away from them.”

-He laughs...Remus doesn’t respond…

-Well plan B it is

-Janus says he truly regrets what happened between him and Roman and Virgil and...well…

-Guess that brings the total of people Janus has hurt to...everyone

-Remus turns to him

-”You really fucked shit up, huh?”

-Janus lets out a small chuckle

-”Yeah…”

-There’s a few seconds of silence that stretch between the two

-Janus sighs and decides to break it

-”Look...I don’t know if Roman or Logan or…”

-Remus smirks at him

-”Oh shut up. You get the picture!”

-Remus laughs

-Well...that’s certainly a good sign

-”I don’t know if I’m ready to apologize to them...and even if I was...I’m not sure they’d even want me to.”

-Remus frowns

-”But...there is someone I am ready to apologize to...even if they smell like a sewer rat.”

-Janus laughs and then turns to Remus

-”I’m sorry, Remus. I truly have been a terrible friend.”

-oh…

-Is he…

-Is he crying?

-uh oh this is weird

-Janus doesn’t cry

-While Remus is having a mini freak out Janus starts to as well...but for a different reason..

-”Y-you don’t have to forgive me of course...I understand why although I hope I can make it up to you...but take your time and ohgoshi’vebeentalkingfortoolong,”

-Remus gives him a freaky look. Like he’s holding back so much laughter he’s choking on it.

-Janus flushes

-”Stop looking at me like that! I’m trying here!”

-Remus finally lets out his laughter and lays a hand on Janus’ arm

-He looks at him with a soft smile

-and wow Janus’ face is still completely red

-He looks like a tomato

-Remus almost bursts out laughing again but…

-”I forgive you.” He says instead.

-Janus’ eyes light up and he gives the faintest of smiles

-Remus feels an unfamiliar flutter in his chest

-oh noooo

-now who’s fucked?

-Pushing those mushy feelings down for a later date

-He grins

-”Want to go play a prank on Patton?”

-Janus’ soft smile turns into a devious smirk

-what a bastard

-”It wouldn’t be my pleasure…”

-and everything is good...for now..

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shapa-likes-art · 4 years

Text

Remus found Roman talking to a certain emo and made it his mission to find out- by annoying his brother

#art #sanders sides #thomas sanders #creativitwins #roman sanders sides #ts roman #sanders sides remus #ts remus #prinxiety mention #slight prinxiety

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fandomfan315 · 4 years

Text

https://wroammin.tumblr.com/post/186269087609/sarcastic-anxiousvirgil-why-is-my-ice-cream

DO NOT REPOST

@wroammin

@hermitcreature @harleyquinnamiright @sadgayisme @awkwardthings6 @schrodingers25 @midnightmagicmusings @fotros

#virgil sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #slight prinxiety #ts sides #thomas sanders sides #dee speaks #my art

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wh3nturtlesfly · 1 year

Text

Set Him Free (Chapter 20)

First | Previous | Next

Relationships: Prinxiety and Logicality

Word Count: 2075

Summary: The dungeons await Virgil…

A maze of hallways greeted the thief as he was brought to the dungeon. Elric, who Virgil had personally come to hate, escorted him through the castle, though escorting was putting it nicely.

Every few feet, the guard would shove Virgil forward, ordering him to move faster as he stumbled.

One time, Virgil couldn’t right himself fast enough, and he helplessly collapsed to the floor. With the shackles pinched tight around his wrists, he had no way to shield his fall and ended up scraping his cheek against the hard stone of the corridor.

As he was yanked to his feet, Virgil felt the warm trickle of blood trailing down his jaw.

The dungeon lay on the far side of the castle, tucked away behind a large iron door. Virgil was handed over to another guard there, who wrestled him through the doorway and slammed the door shut with a deafening bang.

Though the outside of the prison was not a pretty sight, the inside was much worse. Cold, dark, and compact. Everything Virgil despised, all in one place.

They passed multiple cells, each possessing thick iron bars and a multitude of locks. At the end of the corridor lay the smallest of the already cramped spaces, and Virgil’s stomach dropped as he realized that was where he was going to be detained.

He dug his heels into the ground, the guard at his side coming up short. He couldn’t be stuck there. It was too small, too tight. Virgil backed up a step, straining against the guard’s hold.

“No-” he choked, pulling back, “I can’t go in there.”

“You don’t get to make that choice,” the guard snapped, tugging Virgil’s restraints harsly. The metal bands cut into his wrists, though he didn’t budge. He tried to twist out of the guard’s grasp to no avail.

“Please-” he gritted out, “Please don’t do this.”

The guard ignored him, easily overpowering the thief and dragging him closer to the cell. He kicked and fought to get free, though nothing could break the iron grip around his forearms.

The cell door swung open, and Virgil was shoved inside, landing hard on the stone floor. He turned just in time to see the iron bars slam shut, a deafening click filling the room as the lock was clicked into place. The guard smirked at him, a crooked sort of victory crossing his features. Virgil was too panicked to care.

He was trapped. There was nowhere he could go. There wasn’t even a bed in the cell, just hard stone floors, dirt-worn from age.

Virgil backed into the farthest corner, hugging his knees to his chest. This couldn’t be the end. Roman would do something, he had to. Virgil had been the good guy, why couldn’t anyone else see that? He buried his head in his knees, trying to shake off the chill that accompanied the dungeon walls.

“Would you take a look at that? I think someone’s a little cold,” A guard chimed, emerging from the shadows to gaze into Virgil’s cell.

“I think you may be right Jasper,” another guard responded, and Virgil recognized him as the one who had forced him into the cell. “The kid’s been a nightmare ever since the Queen took his favorite accessory.”

“Is that so?” The one called Jasper raised a brow, “My Tyson, he must have done something horrible to deserve such a thing.”

Tyson nodded, “Oh yes. We were told he was the one who kidnapped the prince.”

“I can’t believe he would do such a thing. The Queen ought to be furious.”

Virgil curled in tighter on himself. He could hear the mockery in the knight’s voices, echoed by their derisive laughing.

“Did you see that?” Jasper pointed to Virgil, no doubt noticing the slight tremor of his hands, “The little thief's nervous.”

“He should be, especially with everything the Queen’s going to do to him!”

Virgil glanced up at this, his eyes wide as saucers. He reached for the hem of his cloak, something he always used to calm his worry, though his fingertips brushed against air.

Right. The royals had taken everything he held dear, just like Janus had said. Virgil cursed himself for not heeding the inventor’s warnings.

“First, she’ll take away all your food and water,” Tyson continued, “She’ll order us to leave you like that until you can barely stand.”

Virgil felt sick to his stomach. He gripped at the edges of his sleeves, pressing deeper into the corner despite the feeling of cold stone on his back. “Then, her majesty will have us take you back to the throne room, where you’ll watch that scrap of fabric burn to ashes.”

“Ooh, good one Ty!” Jasper cackled, though all Virgil could hear was the pounding of his heart in his ears. He was breathing so fast it hurt. “There’s got to be something else, what do you think Elena will do for the finale?”

Tyson pondered this for a moment, “You know what? I think she’ll leave him there, begging for mercy,” he turned to Virgil, his eyes alight, “Watching you break will be the best part. It’s always the spirited ones that cry out the loudest as they die.”

“No-” Virgil breathed, clutching desperately at his sleeves.

“Are you denying a top knight? Such disrespect will only earn you more suffering.”

Virgil’s breaths were ragged, coming in short bursts, “That’s not- stop- just stop!”

“His guilt is taking over!”

“No- stop it! Stop!” He pulled at his hair, hiding his head in his knees. They were lying, that couldn’t happen. Queen Elena wouldn’t go that far, not when she had no evidence other than a forged note.

Virgil squeezed his eyes shut, wincing at the thoughts swarming his mind. He was never going to get out of here. They were going to let him crumble. They were going to savor it and he wasn’t going to be able to do anything.

Virgil gripped his forearms, holding tighter until his nails sunk in. He barely felt the pain, all he could hear was the guards’ echoing laughter.

“Aw, is the thief gonna cry? Guess he can’t take the life of a criminal anymore.”

“We should’ve known,” Jasper grinned, “He’s nothing but a wretched little failure.”

“Stop it!” Virgil cried, “Leave me alone!”

“Look at that, he’s already falling apart.”

“Such a shame…”

“No,” Virgil muttered to himself. There was nowhere else to go in the too-small cell, and the chill of the walls seeped into his skin. “Please,” he whispered, pressing the heels of his palms to his eyes, “don’t-”

Tyson stepped closer to the barred door at this, teeth glowing white with his crooked smile, “Don’t you wish I would-”

He was cut off as the dungeon entrance swung open, followed by stomping footsteps. The guard instantly paled, looking to his friend in fear. They both swapped a look of alarm, flinching as a shout cut through the hall.

“Jasper! Tyson! Get away from him this instant.”

Both silenced, stepping back and saluting to the woman who entered the corridor. Unsure what to do, Virgil sat up, looking the woman in the eye just like the other guards.

She was tall, dressed in an emerald tunic with her sword still hanging at her belt. From the looks of Tyson and Jasper, she held some kind of power.

She pierced them with her gaze, turning with her hands on her hips, “Mind telling me what you two were doing?”

Neither answered, and the woman nearly raised an eyebrow. Tyson elbowed Jasper in the side, pushing the guard forward. “It wasn’t my idea, Jasper started it.”

“What exactly did he start?”

“Nothing really. We were just making sure the new prisoner felt welcome.”

“I see,” the woman turned to face Virgil, and he curled tighter on himself. Her expression softened, “Were these two actually being friendly?”

“I- um-”

“It’s alright, you can tell me if these two were acting like jerks. I’ve been itching to give someone stable cleaning duty.”

“Oh,” Virgil muttered, “then yes.”

“You little snitch-”

“Not a word Tyson.” the woman snapped, narrowing her eyes. “Nowhere within our walls are you ever permitted to harass a prisoner, no matter what they’ve done.”

She shot Virgil a pointed glance at those last words. “Now get out, both of you, before I add to your chores.”

Jasper and Tyson groaned, but didn’t object as they trudged out of the dungeon. With the new silence in the corridor, the woman smirked, moving to sit criss-cross on the floor.

A weight lifted from Virgil’s shoulders, though a small fear lingered. By the look of the person in front of him, he wasn’t quite out of the water yet.

“Thank you,” Virgil muttered, looking to the floor, “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Well, as much as I don’t like what you did, I don’t think you deserve to suffer more than you’ll already have to.”

Virgil paled, “Is it true, will the Queen really kill me?”

“What? Heck no, Jasper and Tyson were just trying to scare you,” she ran a hand through her hair, sighing “there are too many imbeciles in this place.”

“Tell me about it.”

The woman chuckled, holding out a hand through the bars, “Good to know someone agrees, despite your crimes. I’m Nakita by the way, second knight to the prince.”

He shook her hand, but he was forced to do so with two hands as his wrists were still shackled together. “Virgil Rayne, though I’m sure you already knew that.”

“Everyone knows your name now, it’s all the castle has been speaking of ever since Roman got back. You’d be famous if it weren’t for the whole kidnapping thing.”

“Yeah, I wish,” Virgil sighed, dropping his gaze to the floor.

Even if he hadn’t been framed, he would still be criticized one way or another. That’s what happened when you were anywhere but on top. People scowled at your presence, judging before they even got the chance to know you.

Virgil wrapped his arms closer around himself. The only people who hadn’t been like that were gone now. Janus and Remus had to be far from the city walls, possibly out of the kingdom altogether.

Then there was Roman, who had actually listened to him. Who had tried to understand his side of the story. Roman hadn’t even looked him in the eye, hadn’t cared to say anything as he was dragged away.

He glanced at Nakita, “If those guards were lying, then what will they do to me?”

Nakita looked away, a sorrowful expression overtaking her features. “It’s hard to say,” her thumb brushed the hilt of her sword as she searched for the right words, “In formal cases, a trial would be the first action. That way we may weigh if you are truly guilty.”

“Oh.”

“You’ll be alright,” Nakita quickly added, sensing the panic in the thief's eyes, “If you are truly innocent, then you should be set free. Logan, the advisor, acts as the mediator in these situations and is quite calculating when it comes to deciding.”

That did nothing to ease Virgil’s worry. He had not exactly had the best first impression with the advisor, and no doubt had arisen several suspicions within the man.

“How long do I have until then?”

“I don’t know for sure. Let’s hope the Queen permits a trial in the first place, she appeared furious when she heard of what you’d done.”

“But what if it didn’t do it-” Virgil blurted before he could stop himself. Nakita froze, raising an eyebrow as she met his gaze.

She was silent then. There was a gleam to her eyes at that moment, almost as if part of her believed him, though it was gone in an instant as her expression again grew somber. “Well then,” she said, moving to stand, “I guess only time will tell.”

“I’m sorry-”

Nakita stopped in her tracks, facing the exit as she spoke, “Don’t be. Not yet..”

Those words circled Virgil’s mind over and over, and whether they were meant for assurance or warning he didn’t know, for Nakita had already gone.

Virgil tried not to fret about it too much as he sat in the corner of his cell, alone. He tried to convince himself that everything would turn out alright, though Virgil knew he would be a fool to believe such lies.

#turtlewrites #fic #sanders sides #prinxiety #logicality #set him free ‘verse

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