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xts-reverse-bangx · 9 months ago

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Seek the Man that Hydes Within

Sanders Sides Reverse Bang 2024.

Hey everyone! It's been a long time coming, but I finally get to share another SaSi fic I've been working on for @xts-reverse-bangx's Reverse Bang. A huge thank you to my partner in crime Sam (@thebonesnacher) who made some awesome artwork that inspired this Jekyll and Hyde AU.

Please beware the content warnings for this fic, as it does venture into mystery horror territory. For those tempted and brave to give this one a shot, I hope you all enjoy <3

[Ch. 1] - [Next]

Summary: In humble Utterson, nothing ever happens.

One day, stray psychology student Patton Summers stumbles upon the notebook of his secret crush Logan Frost. Seduced by curiosity (among other feelings), Patton uncovers the mysteries surrounding Logan's sudden dissapearance from campus and a sentient entity who starts to scribble thoughts in the margins of Logan's notes.

For the first time in fifty years, something is very amiss in Utterson.

Warnings: Major Character Death, intrusive/violent thoughts, medicinal/pharmaceutical drug abuse, swearing, blood and injury, ghost possession.

Word count: 2,696

[Read on AO3]

...

Chapter 1: The Duke of Sullivan

A crisp crunch of dry leaves announced the start of dusk.

Patton had taken a detour on his way home today, through the local park near his apartment. He was just blankly trotting along the dirt path that led out onto the main ‘shopping’ street, if one could call it that. All the while, he mulled over in his head what leftovers he had stocked to heat up for dinner.

Patton didn’t have the luxury of visiting his parents for a family comfort meal, after all. Thanks to his decision to attend a university on the other side of the country. Now he had to make do with the minimalistic kitchen offered by his small shady residence, in a town neighboring the city where his campus was located.

Well, surely it was better than living in on-campus dormitories. He had heard from classmates that those students accumulated thrice as much living expenses each month as Patton had.

Admittedly, Patton would be lying if he said there weren’t times when he wished he could trade the daily commute by bus for an actual social life with his peers. Nevertheless, he had learned from home that saving money while in college would pay off once he’d enter ‘proper adulthood’.

As secluded and lonely as life could get in humble Utterson, the town did have things to remind Patton that he was fortunate to live here.

For one, he lived close to the local park, which featured a tranquil lake and a view of the fancy Sullivan estate overlooking the scene. The mansion was a staple of the town, an allegedly popular tourist attraction around the 80s and 90s.

Townsfolk even talked about the estate being haunted, at some point…

Ghost stories were not particularly Patton’s cup of tea, though. That’s why he conveniently ignored it, when he saw Utterson advertised on a listing for student housing a year and a half ago.

Rather, speaking of Utterson pleasantries, just across from the local park there was an adorably quaint cafe called Cookie Crumbs. It had become Patton’s established afternoon pit stop ever since he first moved here as a freshman. It was a delightful highlight after his routine commute: enjoying Crumbs’ Signature Triple Chocolate Latte to recover from study-related stressors.

In the end, Patton had concluded that he cumulatively profited from the tranquility and peace that Uttersson offered him. It was a perfect prescription to declutter his mind each day, after spending so many hours cramming to become a children’s counselor.

By the time he lands a stable job in a few years’ time, he would think back fondly and proudly of how he persevered through his studies, living humbly and economically.

Surely, he would.

One day, he would.

The loneliness… It was just a temporary fee. Nothing but a small price to pay for the convenient truth that Utterson was a peaceful place.

Where nothing ever happened.

Obliviously, Patton hummed to himself as he crossed the street. He walked along the pavement and scanned the shops, looking for his little afternoon haven.

The center of town was as crowded as it could be, signaling the end of a workday and the beginning of the weekend.

A bus passed by the nearest stop along the main street. Out came an influx of business men and ladies who, just like Patton, returned home from working in the bustling city next door that never slept.

There was really no way to avoid them, since Cookie Crumbs was just a minute or so down this road.

With an affirmative huff, Patton pushed his way through the flock of folks. He muttered the occasional “excuse me” and “coming through” when he saw some sets of judgmental eyes staring down at him.

If only he could actually pass as a somewhat proper adult. He had a feeling he was still often lumped together with the ‘eccentric students’ the locals seemed to have such a distaste for.

Then again, given his round, plump face, unkempt locks of blond and a sweater with the university logo printed on it, Patton couldn’t blame the locals for making assumptions.

Or breathing down his neck. Or scoffing when they so much as glanced at him.

…Maybe Patton would treat himself to an extra serving of chocolate chip cookies, along with his beverage today.

An extra dose of sugar would surely smother that social starvation and itch of isolation crawling up and down his spine.

Sometimes it even would get so bad Patton felt like he would jump out of his skin if he so much as brushed past someone who –

“O-Oh, I’m sorry..!”

A stiff shoulder bumped against Patton’s with such force that it made him stumble back. Another scoff and breath of bystanders huffed down his neck, making his little hairs stand up straight.

For a second, Patton thought the locals surrounding him had stolen his air. His chest tightened strenuously, taking away his ability to breathe gently. He could do nothing else but stammer apologetically and wave his hands towards the person he had bumped into.

…And it wasn’t just any person.

It was arguably the one person in front of whom Patton didn’t want to be seen fumbling like a buffoon.

Even from a side-profile view, this guy made Patton want to sink into the floor the longer he made a fool out of himself.

Logan Frost.

His intimidating yet undeniably attractive classmate, whose features and personality he’d been studying obsessively for the past three months. Behind him in the lecture rooms or next to him during seminars, he was impossible to miss.

The sharp edges of his face and his sleek nose would always contrast the slight blush on his cheeks, along with his dimples when he happened to smile. Behind shiny glass frames that were always spotless, his blue pupils often betrayed an unwavering sense of curiosity and kindness that were waiting to be uncovered.

And Patton would have done so.

Definitely. He would have built up the courage to ask Logan out, if he’d had the chance.

But… right when he had set his mind to it, Logan had vanished out of sight.

Three weeks, he had been missing in action. No participation in seminars, no submissions of assignments, no notice to any professors who kept trying to check his name off the attendance list.

What’s worse, no one else seemed to notice.

Except Patton.

And now, when their gazes met again after nearly a month, Patton saw something truly worrisome shimmering in Logan’s eyes.

Hostility.

It flashed fiercely and unfamiliarly across his eyes, when Patton obstructed Logan’s way through the crowd. While the flock of strangers slowly began to disperse, Logan kept standing there with his pupils frantic and tiny – the white in his eyes turbid with little burst veins.

The hood of his sweater caused a shadow to cover the upper half of his face, except for the undeniable paleness in his cheeks. His neck muscles had tensed and his shoulders drowned in the oversized garment.

Had Logan always looked this frail?

“Hi… It’s me, Patton? We share a psychology major at Enfield, and some classes?” Patton pointed at his own face and laughed sheepishly. He hoped he was able to hide the tremor in his voice. “Maybe you don’t know me– That’s okay, though! I know you. I mean– I… I know– I noticed that…”

Rubbing a hand in his neck awkwardly, Patton averted his gaze to stare at his feet. His gut and his head convinced him right away that he’d bothered Logan, bumping into him here. Everything about the hollowness in his voice and sunken expression told Patton that Logan was not in the mood to socialize.

And yet, he couldn’t stop talking.

“I noticed that you’ve been… gone, for a while. You haven’t shown up in seminars, and…”

Patton dared to glance up again.

Which he quickly realized to be a mistake.

Logan’s face had paled further and he tucked his hood down more over his head with his hand. The distance between them grew larger.

“...and I’ve been worried. Just worried, I swear I’m not a stalker, or anything..!”

Patton waved his hands dismissively, pretending as if he could brush off a statement that practically vocalized a hidden truth in his head. Logan must have thought the same; he frowned and shook his head lightly, taking another step back.

“I just– Are you…” A moment for both of them to breathe created a welcome tranquility in the air between them. Though it could be easily interpreted as isolation or aversion instead, Patton used it as a moment to settle his composure.

“Are you okay?” he said, his voice softened and his expression as unoffensive or unassuming as he could muster.

Logan’s eyes shifted again.

He tucked both hands in the front pouch of his sweater, after which he pursed his lips.

“I am… Yes. Yes, I am.”

He murmured, his head bobbing in little spasms. “I’m fine. I… will be better soon. To go to class again. I just need…”

As Logan’s volume got lower and quieter with each syllable, Patton leaned in closer and closer. He could discern a glimmer in Logan’s eyes and compulsive swallowing.

“...little longer.”

A dark realization echoed in his voice as Logan uttered the word.

“Hold out a little longer, and he’ll grow tired again. He needs to sleep, he…”

Logan’s voice trailed off as his breathing grew unsteady. His pale complexion accentuated the dark blue bags under his eyes, even through his smudged glasses.

“Yeah, you… You look like you could use some sleep,” Patton answered awkwardly. The few huffs and scoffs from strangers trying to pass him, had once not bothered him in the slightest.

“I could walk you home?”

Perhaps too forward of a request, but Patton couldn’t help it. Not only was he naturally inclined to prove his worth by lending a hand whenever possible, he couldn’t possibly turn away an opportunity to land in Logan’s good graces.

Patton smiled softly to temper the tension between them, “It seems like you’re running quite the fever–”

“No! …No, I….” Raising his voice, Logan attracted attention from fellow passersby. It similarly pulled on Patton’s senses, the unwelcoming nerves running up and down his spine again.

Making a scene about this in public was not going to do much for reassuring Logan, that was certain.

Patton was about to reconsider his approach, when he suddenly caught the corners of Logan’s lips… twitching into a smile. It was crooked, but more importantly, unlike him.

It made him appear to be a different person altogether.

“I don’t have a fever, it’s…” A weak chuckle made the thickening tension between the young men tremble.

Logan then inhaled sharply, “...It’ll be over, soon. Don’t worry about me. I’ll put him to rest.”

With that cryptic message, Logan tightened the hands in his sweater’s pouch and turned to leave.

“What… Logan, wait!”

Without regard for the strangers passing by, Patton leaped forward and stretched his hand out, trying to reach for Logan’s arm.

His fingers merely brazed the sleeve of his sweater. The firm muscle tissue Patton felt under the fabric, though, was startling enough to make him retract his hand.

Those arms didn’t proportionally match his posture, Patton realized as his heart dropped.

He saw Logan’s figure quickly dissolve among the nameless masses, faster and faster. Instinctually, Patton urged his legs to make him move along in pursuit of him.

He didn’t get far.

On his third step, the sole of his shoe caught something.

It slid forward and crumpled under his weight, disrupting his balance for a moment. After another skipped heartbeat, Patton lifted his left foot to find what he’d stood on.

A notebook.

Spiral, A5, plain carton-colored cover. Titled with bold, capital letters.

THE DUKE OF SULLIVAN.

As if the mere utterance of the famed ghost estate was a bad omen, Patton swiftly snatched the notebook off the ground before anyone else laid their eyes on it.

Had he only noticed this stray booklet on the street just now? Did someone lose it?

Frustrated, Patton sighed at his own insistent curiosity. He kept peering over the heads of the strangers walking across the street to try and spot Logan, all the while turning and flipping through the notebook.

He stopped looking at the people when he saw a familiar name written on the back cover, though.

Logan Frost.

Along with a phone number.

With sudden clarity in his mind, Patton reached into his pocket to grab his phone. As he dialed the number written on the notebook, he hurriedly marched his way through the crowd along the main street.

Maybe he could still catch up to him.

The further Patton walked, the more people began to disperse. He listened to the hauntingly repetitive beep from his phone, holding the device pressed to his ear, as he continued to scan his surroundings.

But… it was as if Logan had vanished.

Again.

The road carried on straight ahead for ten more minutes by foot, Patton knew by heart. If Logan had kept walking straight through, Patton would have spotted him by now.

“The number you are trying to call, is–”

Patton hissed a muffle curse, before hanging up. He let out another breath, stopping in his tracks, looking out at an increasingly empty sidewalk.

Logan was out of sight.

“...What was that all about, Logan?” Patton muttered to himself.

He locked his phone, then turned the notebook in his hand. The bold, capitalized title taunted him with private but foreboding knowledge.

Ghost stories weren’t Patton’s cup of tea.

Besides, he had no idea what Logan even used this notebook for. It could be an innocent historical research project, or inspired musings for his own creative writing.

Whatever it was, it wasn’t Patton’s to read.

Pondering over what to do for a minute, the blond student glanced next to him. Cookie Crumbs welcomed him with wide open doors and the smell of freshly baked pastries.

The two baristas visible after the counter mumbled amongst themselves, looking at him funny. Shaken, annoyed, or… put off?

Right, Patton shouldn’t keep blocking the sidewalk and gawking at this notebook. It wouldn’t summon Logan any faster - he might as well get away from the buzz and chatter of the sidewalk to try and contact him somehow. Chances were he wouldn’t be able to reach Logan by phone right away… He must notice he lost his notebook at some point though, wouldn’t he?

…At some point, Logan must realize the strange number calling him was the awkward classmate who found his lost notebook.

“Okay, then.”

With a huff, Patton decided to enter his haven. He clutched the notebook in his hand, then stepped inside. A signature drink and a complementary sweet would help calm his nerves.

Surely, it would.

…It didn’t.

Logan’s demeanor. The things he said, the way he was dressed. The strange notebook he must have dropped in front of Patton’s nose, before disappearing into the masses.

Patton couldn’t wrap his head around it.

His hands had gotten sweaty and itchy as they enclosed his generously filled glass of chocolate latte. The blueberry muffin had remained untouched for five minutes, longer than it ever had on any of Patton’s previous visits.

The ominous notebook beckoned Patton’s eyes not to steer away from it.

One more time, Patton unlocked his phone laying on the table next to his coffee.

No missed calls from Logan’s number.

Was there really nothing else he could do but wait?

…Of course not.

A mischievous voice in his head had already whispered to Patton what he could do, as soon as he picked up the book. What he secretly desired to do.

Like a moth to a flame, the skittish boy couldn’t help but peak through his fingers as he shielded his face from the forbidden knowledge.

“The Duke of Sullivan,” the title read, engraved upon the cover in thick black marker.

Ghost stories weren’t Patton’s cup of tea, nor his mug of chocolate.

And yet, be it from misguided concern or morbid curiosity…

…Patton opened Logan’s notebook and began to read.

#Go check this out!!#It's an awesome fic and I had the pleasure to check it over!!#Ts-Reverse-Bang2024 Entry #Team 10

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xts-reverse-bangx · 9 months ago

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Shatter the Glass

I was paired up with @diamondwind99 for the @xts-reverse-bangx! I picked up this as a backup writer, but I went ham all the same! (Special Thanks to @spiritwell-sides-i-guess for beta-reading!)

Setting: Sanders Sides Canonverse side-story type situation Characters: All canon sides & c!Thomas Shipping: None Word Count: 11,014 (22 Pages) Rating: Teen Warnings: Standard for Sanders Sides, mostly. Mild Dirty Humour, Violence, discussion of eating things that shouldn't be eaten. Standard "Remus Being Remus", as well. Heavy Depression is Depicted as well. Tags: Mild Angst, Bittersweet Ending, Roman is Incapable of letting Other Sides finish a sentence, Bratty Creativities, Catty Janus, Someone give Logan a hug, Patton is trying really hard, C!Thomas is too but depression flavoured

You can see the art that inspired the piece here:

The first thing he could see in the darkness was the colorful lights shimmering on the floor, like a smattering of each colour on a messy painting palette. Roman blinked twice, looking up to find the source of the rainbow refraction, scanning the darkness for any sign of the light. Looking high up, a stained glass window suspended in the darkness. He half-wondered if he was picking his class in Kingdom Hearts before he processed what the colourful blocks of glass depicted, and then his heart stopped.

He would have thought it was Remus at first. The black clothes, the sinister expression, those things reeked of Remus. But the red sash and jewels on the crown made it clear—it was Roman. Creativity, passion, even ego, all gone dark. The room darkened as Roman cried out in confusion, a strangled noise of loss echoing in the empty chamber. The stained glass cracked at the soldered seams, light breaking through into a blinding flash blasted out as the window shattered completely.

Roman gasped, his eyes opening up to the familiar sight of Thomas’s living room across the dining table. He blinked a few times, looking down at his hands. He grasped them a few times and looked around the room. Thomas blearily picked at a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, scanning his phone as Logan harped on him to review the schedule. Virgil sat on the top of the fridge, chewing his thumbnail and Patton begged him to come down. A very normal morning. Was that a daydream? Or some kind of nightmare? Roman wasn’t sure.

“He always does this, Patton, there’s no point. He must like it up there,” Roman pointed out into the kitchen, and Patton turned to look at Roman.

Patton smiled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. “Oh, ah, Roman. Well, I still want him to sit at the table like a family.” Virgil pulled up his legs and looked away. “Aw, Virge, don’t be like that!” Patton knocked on the fridge, but Virgil just ignored him.

Roman sighed and ran his hand through his hair, glancing at Thomas struggling through his oatmeal another time. He didn’t seem to notice Roman. That was a motif, lately. Logan didn’t look up either, too focused on trying to get Thomas’ attention. Patton was back to ignoring him, pleading with Virgil to come down. Virgil just pulled up his hood and put on a pair of headphones. Virgil didn’t even have to be here. It was just breakfast. What was Thomas even worried about?

“Patton, wh—”

“Virgil, that’s not good for the fridge,” Patton insisted.

“He doesn’t weigh anything, Patton. He is imaginary,” Logan reminded Patton with a weary tone, putting down his clipboard on the table with a clatter. “Thomas, there is nothing wrong with your food, and it is getting cold. You are going to fall behind schedule if you keep procrastinating like this.”

“Logan, please,” Thomas pleaded desperately, causing every side to look at him. “… I just need a minute.” Thomas just slumped further, holding his head down on the table. The oatmeal spoon was knocked out, leaving a mushy trail on the table where it fell.

Ah, well, that’s what Virgil was doing here. Would have been nice to have someone tell Roman that, but it seemed he was just in the way here. He didn’t tarry any longer, just sinking out on the spot. He knew when he wasn’t wanted, unlike some sides. Roman didn’t bother showing up the rest of the day. If they couldn’t appreciate his greatness, they didn’t deserve his presence anyway.

—

If Roman knew he’d be stepping directly into a minefield, he wouldn’t have tried to come out today. When Roman rose up to suggest an idea to Thomas more directly, he caught Patton’s eye. Patton looked stressed, a weak smile and shooting his eyes over next to him where Janus stood and mouthed ‘leave’. But it was too late, Janus caught the cartoonish gestures and turned from talking to Patton to see Roman standing there.

“Oh, you again. You know, as much as I love to see you, I think we’d all be better off if you and your ‘sense of humour’ took a little break, hm?” Janus suggested, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms. Patton sighed heavily, looking conflicted.

“I wasn’t here to make jokes, Janus. Thomas wasn’t paying attention to me,” Roman stated in annoyance, fixing his hair with a sweep of his hand.

“Probably because he already has plenty of creative suggestions at the moment,” Janus said haughtily, flicking his gloved fingers over to the couch, where Thomas sat with his head in his arms, a TV show going on ignored in the background. Remus was sitting there rambling off things in an animated fashion that talked through a shadowy figure in front of Thomas, crouching on the top part of the couch like a gargoyle over Thomas’ left shoulder. The debris of one of his insidious (and overcomplicated) traps lay all over the living room floor and across the back of the couch.

Roman bristled and clenched his fists. “I assure you, my suggestions would be leagues better than his,” he shot defensively, motioning widely over to Remus who just ignored him as he continued to prattle off horrible, disgusting things as usual.

“Buddy, I think I’d prefer to hear what you had to say, too, but it’s more fair if we listen to everyone, isn’t it?” Patton said weakly, fidgeting with the sleeves of his sweater.

“Nobody has even heard what I have to say yet, how is that fair?” Roman insisted, stamping his foot.

Patton almost looked hopeful for a moment, but Janus’ sharp tongue sliced that away in an instant. “I’m sure we’ve all heard enough of you. I’m sure I have,” Janus scoffed, turning away from Roman to face Patton directly. Patton looked like he was about to object, but bit his lip, looking between Janus and Roman.

“I mean, Remus will be done soon… Right?” Patton said warily, holding up a finger just for it to sag as he watched the gross green gargoyle gallivant over the top of the couch, just out of sight of Thomas.

Roman recoiled at the idea, then again at Remus who was now topping his arm with deodorant to eat. “There is no way that those suggestions are anything worthwhile,” Roman insisted firmly, but nobody reacted to his loud frustration.

“Hm? Did you hear something, Patton? Anyway, as I was saying, a little sunlight does wonders. Perhaps a little sunbathing,” Janus said airily, twisting his hand in the air. Clearly he was not wanted. Once again. Roman groaned, his head suddenly hurting horribly. He sank out, feeling the blood pounding under his fingertips as he held his skull.

Roman’s hand nudged something on his head that was not there earlier, which he rubbed in surprise. It was hard and solid. He created a hand mirror and pulled back his hair to check what was hiding in his perfectly styled hair. A sharp white horn was sticking out of his skull. Roman panicked, shifting his head to check the other side. There was a horn sticking out there as well. The same size, evenly spaced, a beautiful curve. The perfect horns if they weren’t so deeply unwanted. Horns were always a sign of an evil character, and Roman was sprouting the devil’s accoutrement!

He gasped, shifting the mirror again to examine them. He tried to simply shift them away like he was changing clothes. The horns stayed, sticking out of his hair. Was this some sort of prank? A trick? Roman tried to push them down back into his skull, but it only hurt his head worse. He summoned a comb and tried to style the hair up around them, but Linda continued to fight him and he just looked ridiculous with the only style that hid them. Roman reset his hair with a huff and summoned a crown. It hid the horns well enough, but an involuntary shiver ran down his spine when he realized the crown was familiar. He thought he had come up with it on the spot, as he often did, but it looked like the crown from his dream.

The crown slid, and Roman huffed and adjusted it. It’s just a crown with red jewels. He’s overthinking it. Who is he, Virgil? No. It was fine. It hid the horns and it looked good. It wasn’t that deep. Whatever was causing the horns might not even be that deep, either. Maybe this was a prank from Remus. Or payback from some other side for a slight they imagined. Well, no matter. They were easy to hide and he always deserved a crown. Things just fell off of his head easily. The horns would hold it on for him, though. A blessing in disguise. Surely. Roman has a cool new crown and other than being purposefully ignored, things were fine. He would talk to Thomas later. And make him listen. ‘Fairness’ his royal hindquarters. Right now, though, his entire body hurt and he needed a nap.

—

It made sense Roman ended so bruised up, if he took the time to think about it. But when he woke up, yawned while he stretched out like the Disney princess he was, then summoned a mirror to check his hair, it surprised him so much he let out a very unmanly screech and dropped the mirror. It broke, of course. While Roman was preening and whining for help, he stepped on it by accident. But no one came, and the weight of it all sunk in slowly in the silent room.

Roman slumped to the floor and gingerly picked the mirror back up, checking again. A yellowing bruise around his eye. A pale blue on his cheek. Barely noticeable, but there. A massive green bruise on his neck. So his ego was bruised. And nobody cared to come take care of him. Unreasonable, really. Here he is trying so hard to keep Thomas distracted and delighted with all of his greatest creations, and nobody can even spare a pitiful ‘there, there’ with a pat on his very sore head. Roman reached up to check, and the horns were still there, though. Perhaps even bigger, but still hidden by the combination of the crown and hair. Maybe not a head pat, then. He grumbled and adjusted a loose strand back into place through the cracks of the mirror.

This is how people get hurt. Not that that was a threat. But maybe it should be. No, that’s not who he was as a side. Well, who was he? Because he wasn’t being creativity, lately. Remus was doing that, much to Roman’s chagrin. His ego was too bruised to exist. His desires aren’t being listened to in the slightest right now, even if he knew all too well he wasn’t sure what he even wanted at the moment. But normally someone would at least listen to Roman ramble out vague feelings of yearning. There’s nothing but a hope of romance on the horizon, and all of his romantic schemes keep getting shut down as ‘premature’. His dreams are also shut down as ‘unrealistic’. All there is left is passion, and at the moment there was nothing anyone would let him be passionate about.

If the universe (or at least Thomassphere) was trying to send him a message, it needed to be a bit more clear. Like a shimmering golden scroll with a dyslexic-friendly font. Or perhaps some mystic herald. Ideally, an extended and fantastical musical number. That would really be grand. Roman tapped his chin, and it twinged in pain. He groaned loudly, still feeling like he just couldn’t win.

Carefully getting up, Roman started to pace the room again. It felt cold, and he wanted some comfort, so he summoned a red blanket to wrap over his shoulders as he walked, holding it tight over himself. It was honestly strange that no one came to visit. Patton would have been helping Roman in a heartbeat before. Patton loved helping. And yet he never answered any calls?

“Patton?” Roman tried again, but it just felt like his words rammed into the wall and turned into dust that dumped all over the floor. He slogged through the debris of his words and sighed, pulling the blanket tighter. He kicked the dust and choked on his dead words, the coughing wracking pain through each and every bruise dappling his skin.

This was truly unfair. What, was one catty remark enough to earn such revile? Well, not even that. That would require someone to even speak to him. He’s being completely ignored. Spurned, even. Is just one mistake all that it takes? If so, what a cruel double-standard to be held against him. Janus and Virgil are often making snide remarks, but Roman is somehow better than that? Were they not all Thomas? Even Logan gets to be a judgey bitch. And honestly, he didn’t even want to consider the types of things Remus said. And if Patton can make mistakes and apologize, then where was Roman? A unique doghouse made just for him. Unfairly. Cruelly. He wasn’t even given a chance to apologize, if that was indeed even the problem. No one ever even said what he did wrong to earn this exile. There’s no guidebook for this.

Roman tried his hardest every second of his life to be who he thought Thomas needed. Creative, stunning, passionate, strong, dashing. A prince of fantasy writing scrolls of genius literature. But what was any of it worth if no one listened. If no one cared what he had to say or the works he wanted to put into the world. Why was Thomas putting so much time into listening to Remus and ignoring his glorious self? One who was objectively better in every way! For one, Roman could take the damned hint. If he wasn’t wanted, fine. He would be unwanted. If people—well, sides, at least, he knew the fans loved him—can’t want a good thing, that’s their problem. But he still had a job to do, even if they never gave him the chance.

He looked like hell. Felt like shit. Honestly, not at his ‘A game’. But none of that mattered. It was time to make that hell someone else’s problem, whether they liked it or not.

Roman rose in Thomas’ bedroom, ignoring the looks he got from the other sides already in the room. “Thomas!” The man himself looked up from the edge of the bed warily. Remus was building another one of those god-awful contraptions across the bed. Roman raised his hand and Remus disappeared with a stinky gasp, clearly caught off guard. “Stop. Ignoring me for him. Make some time for me or I will do it myself. And I am right now.”

Patton held up his hand and opened his mouth, Roman just shushed him and zipped his mouth shut with his free hand, still holding the blanket around his shoulders. “Get your bodacious ass to that desk and write this down. I’ve been trying to tell you this idea for days and I don’t want to forget.”

Thomas just stared blankly at Roman, not seeming to follow. He looked where Remus was, and his eyes shot to Patton who was trying to pull the fiddly zipper back open. “I don’t—”

Roman’s laughter cut Thomas off, gripping the crumpled bedsheet and leaning back in surprise. “I’m sorry for making that sound like a request somehow. I will turn this bedroom into a children’s hospital, so help me god. Desk.” Roman pointed at the desk with his unsheathed katana as he stared Thomas down. After a heavy pause, Thomas swallowed heavily and got up to go to the desk.

“I really don’t have the energy for this, Roman,” Thomas said weakly, and his exhausted face spoke that leagues more than his words did. Creases under his eyes, dry lips, a sag of the skin. Ugh, what he wouldn’t give for a spa day. But he sat at the chair and looked at Roman like he wished he did. The telltale pound of their shared heart in anticipation. A wave of nausea from needing some sleep and a good meal.

Roman steeled his heart for Thomas, and smacked the desk with the katana. “That’s what happens when you only make time for him. But I’m not letting any of you”—Roman pointedly glanced to the other sides in the room—“kill me. So it’s my time now. Open the damn notebook. And then we’re going for a shower. Have some pride, for god’s sakes,” Roman hissed out bitterly.

“But the schedule—” Logan tried.

“Was I even on it?” Roman shot, the sword now under Logan’s chin. Logan held up his hands and backed off. There was a look in his eye full of anger. But he bit his lip like he had something to say and sunk out, not another word. It seemed Logan understood how to choose his battles.

“Oh, hold on, change that word choice. This is better,” Roman hummed, waving his hand. Thomas scratched out the previous sentence and wrote the corrected version. He made notes of direction and key, and the corner of his mouth turned up ever so slightly before another sigh knocked through his chest, exhaustion not playing any games with this poor man’s body much longer.

“Isn’t this a little…” Patton trailed off. He must have worked that zipper open.

“I’m done being little,” Roman huffed, using the hilt of the katana to knock his crown back into place.

“I can see that,” Janus hummed, crossing his arms.

“Oh, shut it, snake boy,” Roman snipped, Janus holding his hand to his chest and gasping in response.

“Perfect. Finally, that’s written down. We’re not filming anything like that, though, gorgeous, so to the shower with you,” Roman commanded.

“We have other—” Virgil tried to object.

“Sh. Actually, strip the bed first. These sheets are disgusting. Touching them after a shower is nightmare material, and I’ve had well enough of that, I think,” Roman ordered. Thomas looked confused and looked to the other sides.

“You want to get that bee out of your bonnet?” Virgil huffed, his hands shoved deep in his hoodie pockets as he sat on the edge of the bed. The sheets were pulled off under him by Thomas, but he didn’t shift from his spot as they phased through him.

“Someone else put it there, and it’s made its new home. And if I have to deal with this forsaken bee, then you can all deal with me dealing with the bee,” Roman insisted firmly.

“What?” Virgil’s stiff posture dropped to look at Roman sideways.

“Oh, you know what I mean.” Roman waved Virgil off. Thomas deposited the sheets in the hamper and looked to all the sides again.

“Well, we do kind of smell. I thought that was Remus, but…” Patton trailed off again, looking to the floor and wringing his hands.

“Hot shower. Now. We’ll listen to Dear Evan Hanson for the emo, but we need some cleaning and hydrating, tout de suite,” Roman said, sending his sword away. Janus just rolled his eyes and Patton kept staring at the floor.

“I can’t call that musical anywhere near alt rock, princey,” Virgil said, leaning back on the bare mattress.

“It’s about all those sad loser things, close enough.” Roman grinned, leaning with one hand on the desk.

“Speaking of being a sad loser,” Janus said derisively.

“I’m sure you’re a professional at it, but I don’t have time for nonsense like that. Shower time is when I shine. Keep the phone close for notes, Thomas!” Roman motioned with his free hand and Thomas sighed, doing as told. Janus said something back, but Roman just ignored him and followed Thomas into the bathroom.

The hot water was divine. Life-giving, really. He could see what all those metaphors were about. Surely he could come up with a better one, though. Thomas gargled the hot water before just standing under the hot waterfall. Virgil appeared sitting on top of the toilet tank, surprising Roman. Everyone else seemed to have backed off. But if Virgil wanted a fight, he could get one.

“We’re not worrying this shower through, Virgil,” Roman stated flatly.

“Maybe you’re not,” Virgil scoffed, leaning on his thighs. “No, what’s with…” He motioned in Roman’s direction. “All of this?”

“The perfection? I know.”

“I more meant the shiners.”

“I am sparkling, aren’t I,” Roman said with a fond sigh.

“I’d rather be shiny,” Thomas sang in the shower. Oh, they forgot to turn on the tunes. Well, any musical is a good one. Virgil looked over to Thomas for a moment, humming along.

“Is that why the crown and the cape, too?” Virgil asked, turning back to look at Roman.

“Cape. Yes. Right. This is a cape.” Roman blinked and quickly turned the red blanket over his shoulders into a proper cape, hooked in the front with a golden embellished cape hook, sporting a red amulet in the design. He dropped his hand from the nape of his neck to lean with both hands on the bathroom counter.

“… That’s what I said,” Virgil stated oddly, looking over Roman again. “Are you sure you’re okay? Even other than the full spectrum of bruise going on,” he asked with a suspicious twinge.

Roman turned over his shoulder to look into the bathroom mirror at himself. There were massive cracks along the surface of the bathroom mirror. That was odd. When did that happen? The breaks in the surface distorted and fragmented the image of himself from behind. He saw a small version of his face give himself the once over. Small hairs sticking out from under his crown, littered with bruises, but still standing tall. Perhaps not ideal, but ideals were Pat’s territory. Creativity and passion could be messy. Wrought with mistakes and burdened with criticism, however heavy either are, these things move on. Perfection is an idea, but passion is a force of nature, not to be reckoned with. Creativity is the divine spark that brings new life to the world. Maybe ideals and such were beneath him all along, even.

“Princey?” Virgil asked again, shaking Roman from his reverie.

Roman looked back to Virgil and cleared his throat. “No. No, I’m not. I don’t think I’ve been okay in a long time, even. I may never even be okay again. But I can’t keep waiting for someone else to fix things. And I’m certainly not going to put up with being shoved aside any longer.”

“Uh, Ro—”

“Honestly, it’s been hard. And I’m tired of all this gaff and faff. Really, it’s too much for any side to handle. I shouldn't have been the side who who had to stepped up.”

“Roman—”

“I simply couldn’t handle all that mess any longer,” Roman said, with a hot huff through his nose, reaching up to adjust his crown again, since he shifted while he spoke. “And if no one is going to take care of my poor bruises, I will. And if that makes me a problem, I’m afraid that’s a you-problem. Not a me-problem,” he said resolutely.

“Princey,” Virgil insisted loudly.

“What is it, nightmare on whine street?” Roman narrowed his eyes at Virgil. If he was going to object…

Virgil pointed behind Roman, which was odd. There was just a sink there. Roman turned to look over his shoulder and just saw the shattered mirror again, the red cape misshapen along the breaks of glass. Fog spread along the edges of the glass as the steam from the shower heated up the bathroom, giving the visage a dreamlike appearance. Virgil grunted, attracting Roman’s eyes once more, and motioned with both hands to Roman’s body.

“Yes, I’m here, Virgil, spit it out already!” Roman’s head lolled back, and the crown caught on the horns this time instead of sliding off his head like it probably would have. He’s so not used to hats.

“How’s the amazing technicolour dreamcoat?” Virgil said, returning to leaning on his thighs with a big smirk.

“You know, I considered going full rainbow plenty of times, but it just gets clashy. So classic was the way to go. At least for now, anyway. Though getting someone over here to dye our whole head rainbow really would be a fun way to mix things up, wouldn’t it?” Roman hummed, rubbing his chin as he pondered the idea. Thomas pulled at a wet lock of hair and looked at it in the shower with interest.

“Classic villain?” Virgil asked, sounding amused.

“Now’s not the time for jokes, Virgil, don’t be silly,” Roman waved him off, still thinking about rainbow hair. Wasn’t that what people did when they wanted a change, anyway?

Virgil snorted. “Hey, Princey, what colour is your tunic?”

“Black, of course,” Roman joked, figuring he may as well play along. He stood up straight again and it was too fast, causing the crown to shift on his head, so he reached up to adjust it. The sleeve of his arm caught in his eyes though, and it was genuinely black now. Roman’s breath caught as his eyes locked on the fabric. Virgil tilted to look at his face, but Roman just grinned, rubbing the amulet on the cape hook with the sleeve to a shine. “It was time for a change. Isn’t it great? I’m a dark side like you used to be!” Roman enthused.

“Dark side? Roman, you made up that name. We never—”

“So? Everything real starts as an idea!” Roman defended. “What, are you jealous I look better in it than you?”

“More surprised than anything,” Virgil said, covering his mouth.

“You really did wuss out, Virgil. I think you were right all along. Being horrible and demanding gets things done,” Roman pondered on.

Virgil’s back shot straight, gripping his knees. “Excuse me?”

“Ugh, we still have to make the bed to actually go to bed,” Roman realized with a whine. “Oh, wait, that scene! Thomas, phone!” Roman waved at Thomas frantically, and Thomas reached for the phone to write it down, leaving wet marks on the screen. “Well, maybe since we’ve been staying up late already, it would be fine to write a little more…”

“Roman, what is going on with you,” Virgil demanded, standing up and hopping down from the toilet seat.

“Nothing that wasn’t a long time coming,” Roman huffed, crossing his arms and looking away.

Virgil jabbed at Roman’s chest with a finger and stared him in the eyes. “Do you really think—” Virgil started, and Roman snorted out an angry sound, heat licking at his face as smoke rose past his eyes in the fogged bathroom. Virgil’s eyes widened and he stumbled back, looking over to Thomas before looking back to Roman. “Creativity,” Virgil said, sounding taken aback for some reason. “Right,” Virgil muttered flatly and walked through the bathroom door, fading out and leaving nothing but the humid haze of the small bathroom to keep them company.

Roman turned quickly to look back into the shattered mirror, but the fog had completely overtaken the mirror, leaving nothing but a black and red smudge staring back at him. He could barely make it out as himself, but he knew it instinctively to be true. Roman gripped the counter top and stared where his eyes should be. This was what he wanted, right? Though having two dark creativities was a bit much to handle for his brain. That didn’t make sense. They needed new names. Roman was still passion, love, and hope. He wouldn’t be doing this if he wasn’t. And he’d be damned if he wasn’t creativity, as well. That’s not a phase he’s growing out of. Remus being called ‘creativity’ is an affront, in Roman’s opinion. Perhaps the poopoo-stinky side still worked. Or the murderwhore. Buttface? Well, he could workshop that.

“Roman! That’s an unexpected look from you,” Thomas stated warily, sliding open the shower curtain.

Roman turned around with a flourish. “Fortune favours the bold, darling, and I will be bold and fortunate if it kills you,” he said confidently, stepping out of the way of the sink.

“I’m sure Virgil has something to say about that.”

“Face, body, and hair moisturizer, Thomas, the emo already scampered off. We can get back to writing now that everyone is off my back, and I’m not wasting a second of my time,” Roman insisted, pushing Thomas closer to the sink to get to his beauty routine.

—

“Well, one of us will have to change,” Remus said cattily as Roman rose up to enter the room.

“I already changed. Since you��re the stagnant skidmark in question, how about you?” Roman snipped back, putting up a hand to block his face. He ignored Remus’ gasp and faced Logan. “When am I on the schedule today, my walking, talking spreadsheet of a side?”

“My opinion matters today?” Logan asked shortly, his fist tightening at his side.

“Oh, like anyone else was listening to you either,” Roman scoffed, flicking his wrist to hurry along with the indignation and answer the question. Logan didn’t say anything, just continuing to glare. What a drama queen. “I’m asking now. Have you made time for moi, or am I taking time for moi?”

Logan paused as if considering something, before responding, “a half-hour in the evening,” between gritted teeth.

“That will absolutely not do, Logan. We’ll barely get started in that amount of time,” Roman objected right away.

“Well, you kept Thomas awake late with that stunt, and we are very behind on other responsibilities. We need to clean. Get proper groceries. Update our budget spreadsheets. Do some exercise. There is only so much time in the day, and as you are well aware, we still need extra sleep. Be reasonable,” Logan stated flatly.

Reasonable? Roman glowered back at Logan, who summoned a notebook to write something down. He didn’t think he was being unreasonable. Not that he was even ‘reason’ to begin with. That was so stupid it didn’t even dignify a response. And from Specs of all sides. Really.

Roman looked over Thomas, who looked like a zombie as he tried to eat some dry cereal. “Out of milk?” Roman asked.

“Out of nearly everything,” Patton piped up. “I think—”

“Hm, well, I don’t think I care that much about all the minutia. I’ll let you all handle that and be the artiste I am and just do what I need to as the moment demands,” Roman said haughtily, feeling joyously indulgent in himself. He reveled in Patton’s gaping stare, Virgil throwing back his head in a groan, and just ignored whatever Remus was doing as usual. “Ta ta for now!”

Roman wiggled his fingers and sank out of the room, letting himself get caught up in a fantasy of not having to deal with all those things and simply get to be the star of the show. Oh, getting into another production was also a good idea. He had Thomas pull out his phone to check for auditions while he crunched on dry cereal and considered the options. The other sides had gotten into an argument, but it wasn’t about anything that mattered, so he left them to it and focused on more important things.

—

“Hello again, my adoring audience!” Roman rose into the room with a twirl, his arms in the air in a pose. “Oh, not so much an audience today,” he said, examining the room with no one but Thomas. So many sides have been very present lately. “Finally feeling a little free of conflicting feelings, Tommy-Salami?” Roman put his hand on Thomas’ shoulder, who was splayed on the couch like a starfish.

“Not really… feeling.” Thomas’ head lolled over to Roman, looking up at him. “The cape is neat. What made you change your mind?”

“Ah, well, just an impulse, really,” Roman dismissed, not caring to even think about that himself. He looked around again, looking for Logan. Logic made it sound very important, and While Roman didn’t particularly care or agree on the methods, their life needed a bit of organizing. Who better than Logan to help? “Wasn’t there some schedule you were supposed to be keeping? I thought I’d be having at least a little rebuff here,” Roman stated, scrunching up his face in confusion.

“Happy to provide,” Janus hissed, appearing with his leg crossed over the other and his hands folded in his lap in the chair. Thomas’ head rolled over to look at him, but didn’t react otherwise.

“That wasn’t an encouragement,” Roman objected.

“Funny thing! Neither is this. I thought you realized we had a problem here and were doing the gracious thing,” Janus said pointedly, staring Roman down.

“I’m not feeling particularly gracious at the moment.” Roman rolled his eyes, motioning to the bruises all over his face and neck.

“We did always have an easy to bruise ego, didn’t we,” Janus remarked banally, as if he couldn’t be less interested. Roman just narrowed his eyes at him. “We’re taking a breather.”

“We’ve been doing nothing but taking a breather. Trust me, I understand a good spa day. But we’re not even recuperating! Look at him!” Roman motioned to Thomas who looked up lazily at Roman and shrugged. “Go do something good, or stop wasting me time.”

“What’s this really about Roman?” Janus said flatly.

Roman startled, pulling up his hand to his chest as his jaw dropped. “Excusé moi?”

“All… this.” Janus motioned to Roman, who looked down and looked up so fast he nearly launched his crown. It caught on his horn and he pushed it back into place on his head with a huff. “I’ve always known you were bitchy, but plagiarism? Come now, that’s supposed to be beneath us. Other than that whole… Inside Out situation,” Janus said insultingly, twisting his gloved hand in the air. Roman bristled, a thousand insults all fighting to bubble out at once, leaving him speechless and stammering. “No more zingers? Thank god,” Janus scoffed, looking away to Thomas and opening his mouth again once more, but Roman beat him to the punch.

Literally.

Janus stumbled back, holding his face and looking utterly and completely aghast.

“I have listened. And struggled. And tried. And I get all these conflicting requests and messages. Give me fun nicknames and quips Roman, they’re good for comedy! Oh, but not right now. Express yourself, Roman! But not that way, no no! That will not do! Perform right now! Ope, the moment’s passed, too late. Stop acting afool!” Roman shouted out as Janus stumbled back to fall on the couch next to Janus. Thomas seemed to be coming to, the haze in his eyes clearing as he looked over to Roman. “Or how about even just you, no other side involved? Doting on me with sweet compliments, playing along with my jokes, having a gas. Just to throw me out of the damned air balloon the first disagreement we have! I’m not buying what you’re selling anymore, Sanctimonious Snitch!”—Janus gasped loudly at that one—“If you have a problem with me, tell me. I’m not a damned mind-reader.”

“We’re literally the same person, but go off, I guess,” Janus muttered, rubbing his face. He knocked his hat back into place and tugged at the caplet to remove the rumples. But that wasn’t an answer.

“Oh, you can dish it out, but you can’t take it?” Roman said cattily, crossing his arms. His tail flicked behind him, knocking over a trinket on the shelf. Wait, tail?

“I could ask you the same question,” Janus grumbled, looking away. Roman shot his tail to fall down the back line of his legs to hide it in a panic. “Fine, I’ll leave you to these wet mashed potatoes. He’s so responsive right now, I’m sure it will be a breeze,” Janus drawled and disappeared from the couch.

Thomas looked up at Roman, seeming to slip back into that daze. Roman snapped. “Bup-bup-bup! Look at me! Best side, most handsome, easy on the eyes, shouldn’t be a problem,” Roman said confidently, striking a pose. But Thomas waned again. “Wake up, bitch!” Roman shot, clenching his fists and stamping his foot on the floor. The tail flicked again, but it was no matter. “Thomas!” Smoke billowed from Roman’s mouth and the room heated.

“Someone’s throwing a little temper-tantrum,” Remus hummed, placing an empty can on a precarious pile in his latest abomination of a Rube Goldberg machine. “What, do I get no invite to the pity party? You know how much I love balls,” Remus preened, leaning forward with a manic expression distorting open his eyes and lips.

“I already made that joke. But better. And ages ago. Get with the program,” Roman huffed, looking away. He let his tail swish freely along with the frustration, not caring if Remus saw. Roman took the chance to look at it as well. A red-scaled dragon tail with a spade at the end. On the thinner side. The base had some golden-white scales on the underbelly. At least the color-scheme made sense. Suddenly having a dragon tail didn’t.

“Aw, did nobody wisten to your tales and you got so constipated with them, they shot out of your ass instead of your mouth?” Remus joked, flicking his fingers in Roman’s direction.

“More action than you’ve gotten,” Roman scoffed, his arms crossing again as he paced the room. He turned on a foot and faced Thomas pointedly, ignoring whatever machinations Remus had going on pointedly. Roman tugged at his tunic and cleared his throat, looking directly at Thomas who was still utterly dazed. “Thomas. You are getting up off this damned couch. We are making a mug cake for a little sugar so I can think in this hell hole we call an apartment, and we are writing, do you hear me?”

Thomas just stared at him. Or maybe through him.

“Listen to me!” Roman shot, fire passing from his lips, the carpet smoking beneath his boots.

“Did we upgrade to temperature-tantrum?” Remus mused playfully, rubbing his mustache.

“Weak, Remus. And you call yourself creativity,” Roman scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Eh, we’re sleep deprived.” Remus waved off, unfazed, and Thomas seemed to have caught himself tittering. Remus adjusted the remote control right next to Thomas’ hand, teetering to get knocked off to start the trap.

Roman sighed heavily and pulled Thomas off the couch by his left arm, away from the obvious set up all crafted behind him.

“Spoilsport!” Remus shot, knocking down the remote himself. The trap set off, but Roman simply pulled Thomas away into the kitchen and away from all that mess.

“I’m not really hungry, Roman,” Thomas objected, but Roman didn’t care and sent a single arm flying, tugging him through the kitchen to the cabinet and pantry to make a mug cake.

Logan rose up with a tired sigh, the other hand going into Thomas’ pocket for the cell phone, looking up a recipe for one. Roman was just going to wing it—honestly, how hard could it be—but with Logan’s help they had a mug brownie in hand with a spoonful of frost-bitten ice cream no one remembered buying on top in short order. Roman stuck the tail to the back of his pants and tried to hide it there, but Logan didn’t seem to be looking Roman’s way at all. He wasn’t sure if he was offended or relieved about that.

There was a bit of fight to eat the sweet treat, Thomas stubbornly dodging with his head when they tried. The poor fool got a big smear of brownie on his face. But after a single bite, his stomach woke up and he was eating it in no time.

Roman felt incredibly self-satisfied with the victory, but Logan looked just as stale and unimpressed as before. “Geez Logan, it’s not a funeral,” Roman huffed, Thomas tossing a glance to Logan in-between bites. He handed off a wet paper towel to Thomas for him to clean off his cheek.

“Do you even care what I have to say?” Logan asked flatly, looking stoic as usual. Thomas took the paper towel automatically, and then did a double-take between Roman and the wet rag before cleaning off his face.

“Not really, but it’s not like you care at all,” Roman said dismissively, and Logan’s eye twitched. “But I don’t think that matters. When is dinner time on that schedule of yours again? I wasn’t paying attention,” Roman asked. Logan’s arms dropped to his side and he stood there blankly for a moment. “Logan?”

“Earth to the ass-tronaut!” Remus shot from the living room.

“Remus I will cut you into bite sized pieces and feed you to the birds!” Roman shouted back angrily.

“What, not enough of a man to vore me whole?” Remus teased, wiggling his ass in the air.

“Logan, what time do we need to go and make dinner,” Roman asked again, just ignoring Remus. Then glanced around the kitchen to all the dirty dishes. There wasn’t even a clean counter to work with. “Er, well… order out dinner, actually,” he amended his question. Even if they started cleaning the kitchen now, he didn’t think they’d be done in time to make dinner. And they certainly didn’t have the energy to clean up after making dinner, either. Roman glanced over to the garbage, and even that was full of take out containers. Roman groaned inwardly as his head sagged. He knocked the crown back into place and looked at Logan who still stood there like a robot.

“You’d think he’d be hopping on the opportunity to answer a question like that,” Roman remarked.

“Maybe that scheduling fetish doesn’t have the same spark anymore,” Remus suggested, leaning over the counter to look into the kitchen. “Let’s add roaches to the mug cake. Ant sprinkles. A little bit of sh—”

“No,” Roman and Thomas said simultaneously, but Thomas was still struck with a shudder.

“Rude,” Remus whined.

“I… don’t understand the purpose of this question,” Logan finally said, and to his credit he really looked lost.

“And I don’t understand the confusion. What, did you shred it up? Feed it to the neighbor’s dog? Did Remus light it ablaze?” Roman asked incredulously.

“Oh!” Remus cackled with delight at the idea.

“Well, obviously not that one, then,” Roman groused, shoving some food in Thomas’ mouth since he got distracted from eating again. “I know you have redundant schedules. And those back-ups have back-ups. Just give me a time, I don’t care about the specifics or some sob story about how one of Remus’ little brain demons at your day planner,” Roman said, leaning on the counter lazily.

“… Why?” Logan asked.

“Ugh. I see now that too much chaos and disorder is a problem. And while I don’t want it cutting into my me time, I’ve been cut all the same. I’d rather stop early than not get to be myself at all. Did you think I wanted this fashion flip? No! It sucks!” Roman tried to explain but fell off into complaining.

“Sure suits you though,” Remus said with a high teasing tone. Roman raised his arm and tried to send off Remus again, but the gremlin’s smile only widened. “That trick will only work once! You can’t surprise me with the audacity anymore when you have nothing but!” Remus announced brightly, leaning in and shackling himself dramatically to the counter, the chains loudly clanking and he posed like a waif dying in a dungeon. “I’m here forever,” he sighed miserably.

“No one is allowed to call me over-dramatic ever again,” Roman said flatly. Remus collapsed to the counter and coughed out blood, his cheeks growing hollow and dark as he coughed. “You act like you’re trapped and withering, but you’ve always had it good,” Roman stated darkly.

“Oh ho?” Remus looked up from the counter with high eyebrows, wiping the blood from his lips with his hand. It smudged all over his face, only looking worse.

“You’ve never been stuck listening to all these stupid rules,” Roman started. “Do it this way, Roman. What about what’s popular, Princey? That won’t sell, Roman. Don’t be mean, Roman. You can’t talk about our current project, Roman, that’s spoilers! Why don’t you stand up for what’s right, aren’t you a prince? Distract me, Roman!” He said with increasing volume in a mocking tone, his hands yapping along with him. “You’ve always just done whatever you wanted without ever considering another soul, and nobody blinks an eye. If I was anywhere near as bad as you, I’d get chastised from all sides!” Roman ranted out, slamming his fist into the counter. Thomas put down his mug and considered Roman carefully, looking aware of him for the first time this afternoon. “I didn’t even ask, and you helped me,” Roman said quietly. “Which is more than I can say about any other side right now!” He shouted to the ceiling. Remus cackled loudly, echoing eerily in the room. “So. When are we ordering dinner on your schedule? Or have you been shut up by Janus again,” Roman insisted in a hard tone.

“You. You started that,” Logan said in a baffled tone.

“Be the fun side, Roman. Come up with a joke, Roman. Keep it light-hearted, Roman,” he hissed through his teeth as he reiterated, glaring at Logan through the words forcing their way through the walls of his pearly whites.

“That’s rich,” Remus said with a dreamy sigh.

“If we were rich, the kitchen would be clean and our private chef would be making us a meal right now!” Roman shot angrily, his tone nothing short of bitchy and done-with-it.

“Soak the mug, Thomas,” Logan said quietly, pointing at the empty mug Thomas held as he gaped at the other sides.

“Please do.” Roman waved him to the sink. “I thought it was a joke. Between friends. But here we are and I fucked up again if you’re holding something that stupid against me. Sorry. Should I hold a sign,” he grumbled out, flicking his head side to side.

“I would appreciate that,” Logan said, suddenly holding the day planner in his hands.

“That was a joke, but you know what, sure,” Roman agreed with exasperation. “Time!” He snapped impatiently again.

Logan regarded Roman through thin eyes. “We should order dinner in around two hours. Ideally, something nutritionally sound. And since we’ve been eating out or having pre-packaged meals, we should be drinking plenty of water to be mindful of our sodium intake,” Logan said warily, like he expected to get cut off any minute.

“Ugh, boring,” Roman groaned, his head falling back. “Alright then. Thomas, a glass of water and to the desk, right now. We’re going to color a little to wake you up from whatever fog you’ve been in and then writing for the rest of the time. Let’s go! We have a limited amount of time! Look alive, Thomas!” He stood up straighter and pointed, adjusting his crown.

“Unlike me!” A zombie Remus conjured said at the same time as Remus.

“The cross on the wall will handle it, go!” Roman insisted, and Thomas grabbed a glass from the cabinet with wide eyes and filled it from the pitcher in the fridge.

Roman thought he saw Logan smiling out of the corner of his eye, but he was just stoically taking notes in that stupid spiral notebook as he sank out of the kitchen when Roman looked at him properly. More zombies appeared, but Roman just made a bolt-action holy water stake launcher appear in his hands and shot them all in the head before Thomas had a chance to notice them as he took his glass of water upstairs. He passed Virgil, who shot Thomas a quizzical look, but didn’t say anything as Thomas passed.

The zombies all fell over into dust, which Roman gathered and washed down the sink with a sigh as Remus threw a massive fit on the floor, thrashing his arms and kicking his legs. “One of those days, huh?” Virgil remarked.

“Oh, like you wouldn’t believe, sister,” Roman agreed with a tired whine. He looked at the stake-launcher in his hands and where Remus threw a fit on the floor and took aim. Roman paused and sagged, walking over to Virgil and dropping off the gun in his hands as he passed upstairs to follow Thomas. “If you use it, I won’t say a word.” Roman winked and headed up the stairs with a flourished wave, turning away from the nonsense.

—

Roman lounged in the chair, munching on one of the cream cheese wontons they ordered as a side to the mushroom stir-fry and watching the film. It wasn’t exactly his choice of media, but it seemed that Thomas somehow got it in his head that a zombie movie would be fun. He couldn’t imagine where.

Virgil sat on the top of the couch, gripping his knees, while Remus laid on the floor far too close to the screen, propped up on his palms and kicking his legs as he watched the carnage with rapt attention. At least it was distracting the little bastard. Roman didn’t pay much attention to the screen. He really only wanted a wonton.

Thomas, as usual, wasn’t a big horror fan. Especially watching horror movies alone. It was honestly a terrible idea. Virgil may be extra ‘vigilant’ all night. Roman didn’t see much merit in these kinds of shows, and they also freaked him out, but he didn’t really want to be even more alone by going back to his room, either. Sitting there was close enough. Janus checked in from time to time, but otherwise there were no other sides there, and Thomas wasn’t paying attention to them. It may be the closest they were going to get to ‘relaxed’ for tonight, anyway. After Roman wrapped up with writing, it sunk in with Thomas that he laid around and did nothing all day when he could have been writing or cleaning or organizing or catching up on any number of other things and Roman didn’t quite know what to do with that.

These little dilemmas where Virgil goes between stating the obvious and being helpful to being part of the problem randomly seem to be tricky waters. Roman honestly would have rather been writing than moping. Logan would agree that it would have been a better use of his time. Patton was the one most wrought with guilt about it sometimes. Putting on a scary movie as a distraction was Janus’ suggestion in the end. Something about leopards. Roman wasn’t paying attention, he was busy picking what he wanted to eat. He’d been struggling with wants lately and just needed to feel sure. Thankfully, the wontons hit the spot, so he was right.

“Are you even watching?” Virgil whispered, and Roman just hummed in response, pulling out his phone to play on it. “Why even be out here if you don’t want to watch, Princey?”

“Logan’s probably busy with Patton at the moment. That whole ‘effective use of time doesn’t include guilt, so it is unproductive to mourn time you wasted’ spiel we’ve heard a million times before that never seems to click. So sitting alone while our heart is pounding out of our chest from this zombie nightmare is not how I would like to spend this evening. May as well sit here if I’m just going to sit somewhere, anyway. Our brain is proper mush after today, I’m not wringing another word out of it no matter how fine the cheesecloth,” Roman explained quietly, swiping through the apps to pick what he wanted to play. Oh, the prince dress-up app seemed nice.

“And the tail?” Virgil asked, leaning over to look around Roman’s side, to the red scaled tail wrapped around his side.

Roman glanced at it briefly to see the end flicking like an annoyed cat before returning to dressing up his dream prince. “Like I’m in control of that,” Roman huffed distractedly.

“You’re literally the mos—” Virgil started, but jumped when there was a sudden noise, stopping to look around suspiciously. “Zombies!?” Virgil hissed in surprise.

“Shotgun?” Remus asked, as if in a daze.

“Sides, Virgil,” Logan said, standing with Patton in the kitchen as they gathered a drink of ice water. Roman summoned a throw pillow right away and slammed it over his tail.

Virgil looked over, seeing Roman’s hot face and his hand gripping over the red throw pillow to hide the tail. Virgil snorted, flicking his eyes between Roman’s face and the white-knuckled grip on the pillow. “Princey—” Virgil started, but Roman shushed him quietly and sat up straighter, smiled a bit, and quickly checked to make sure his crown was in place.

Logan looked into the living room, a bored look on his face when he saw the TV. Patton said something quietly, and Logan returned to conversation with him and they both sunk out a moment later. Roman’s shoulder’s relaxed and he sighed as he sunk back into the chair.

“Kiddo, can I talk to you?” Patton asked, rising up, and Roman screamed, falling over sideways on the chair.

“Okay, maybe this movie was a bad idea,” Thomas admitted, looking over to them. Roman’s face grew hot again and he knocked his crown back into place. He coughed and sat up straight.

“Shut it or I’ll shut it for you,” Remus sang out, waving a hand above his head.

“Let’s go elsewhere,” Patton suggested warily, grabbing Roman’s shoulder. Roman nodded and swallowed heavily, and the pair sank away from their spots and Roman found himself sitting in the same spot in Patton’s room. Though the throw pillow that hid his tail here said ‘there’s no place like home’ in sky blue instead of the plain red one he summoned before.

“I’m quite done explaining myself, Patton,” Roman defended when Patton didn’t talk to him right away. Patton just wrung his hands and stared at the floor.

“No, you’re right, I think I heard enough. I am on a streak, lately,” Patton said despondently, trailed by a weak laugh. “It’s not about that. But I am sorry for the mixed messages I had a part in. It’s not as simple as ‘do this but don’t do this’, though. But that’s besides the point.” Patton waved slightly, looking nervous. “You did a good job.”

Roman froze at that, not expecting those words out of his mouth. Honestly expected some kind of long-winded discussion about nuance with that starter. Compliments, though? He couldn’t believe that for a second. He’s been doing nothing but fighting for the last few days. “Spare me the platitudes, Patton,” Roman dismissed, looking the other way.

“Really, kiddo. You did. We’ve done something other than sleep and distract ourselves for the first day in months. You somehow got Thomas out of that fog yesterday that no one else could shake,” Patton said with a soft smile. “Hoo boy, I was there before Janus. And I just don’t know how you did it, champ! Must be magic,” he added, putting his hands on his hips and laughing lightly.

“I did my job. And I haven’t exactly been the most pleasant prince to parlay with,” Roman said, blinking up at Patton. His tail tried to twitch out of the pillow, but he slammed it down harder. “And I’m still mad at you for not coming when I called for help,” he added, his tone biting.

“Sorry again, Roman. I just… didn’t know what to say. I was worried I’d do it again, say the wrong thing, and just… contribute to the mess instead of fix it,” Patton said, contrite with his palms wide open. “And I still don’t know what to say.”

“I’d rather you stand there mute then leave me to rot, Patton,” Roman hissed out softly, looking up at him.

Patton’s smile sagged slightly, but he spread his arms wide. “Then would you like a hug?” He asked, and Roman’s arms shot around him faster than he even realized that yes, he desperately did. Patton’s arms wrapped around him slowly, rubbing Roman’s upper back as they embraced. “I’ve been learning a lot lately. Especially a lot about what it means to be good. I used to think that kindness was always the right thing to do. There’s no situation that a little kindness would hurt. At least, that’s what I thought. But…” Patton trailed off for a moment, and Roman looked up to see him looking to the ceiling, deep in thought.

The hug loosened, and Roman reluctantly let go for Patton to back up. He dropped onto the floor and looked up to Roman instead, crossing his legs and summoning himself what looked like a mug of hot cocoa. Patton sipped it silently for a moment, and Roman was at a loss for what could possibly come after that. That was what made sense. Every scene could use a hero. A dashing prince whose kindness and generosity helped the many, and people supported that prince in return.

Patton swallowed a gulp of cocoa before putting the mug on the floor and folding his hands in his lap. “Well… sometimes the kindest thing to do is be firm. And insistent. And sometimes that will end up looking a little mean.” Roman scoffed at that. “Okay, more than a little. You’ve been very mean. But Roman? I tried every kind word and encouragement under the sun. I tried to be soft. I tried to be patient. I almost tried bribes! But Thomas never moved. He just sat there like a rock while Remus worked on his next contraption. Janus literally came to take bets to see how long until you give up. But you forced your way through it, got us some food, and got us out of that funk. I’ve always been pro-peace, and I still am, don’t get me wrong. But I see now… in situations like this… an unwavering force can be good. And you did more good for Thomas than anyone else did with it.”

“I… How can I be unwavering if I don’t even know what I want, Patton?” Roman said weakly, letting go of his vice grip on the pillow to sag back into the chair.

“You wanted some time to write. You wanted a sweet to get the brain going. You wanted people to pay attention to you. Those seemed to work plenty!” Patton said brightly, going back for the cocoa.

“But those are so small and meaningless,” Roman objected, dejected.

“Rainbows start out from raindrops,” Patton said wisely, holding up a finger. “We’re just… starting small. While we figure it out. But we need to be resolute, I think. And forgiving,” he explained, his hand dropping back to the mug to hold it. “Speaking of, I think you have some words to say, mister.”

“Explaining how light refracts is a Logan-type situation.” Roman waved off, lolling his head to the side.

“No, no,” Patton chuckled. “The mean behaviour? The dismissing? I think you can be firm without being so rude,” he chastened.

“Can I?” Roman drawled, summoning himself a cocoa to hold on his lap.

“We’re re-learning our priorities from the ground up. I can’t say that it’ll always be a walk in the park. But I can say the stroll will be more merry”—Roman winced at that—“if we all start out with being kind… then perhaps be a bit more forceful if it’s important and we’re being bull-headed,” Patton explained.

Roman sighed heavily, feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. “How am I supposed to know what’s ‘important’?” He asked, raising a hand to do finger quotes around the weightiest word.

“I… don’t know. I guess we’ll have to find out, huh,” Patton said, his gaze dropping to the floor.

Roman’s arm fell to his lap, and he took a deep breath in as he looked up to the ceiling. “I’m… Sorry, Pat. I shouldn’t have zippered your mouth shut. I felt like you wouldn’t have my back and was too tired for a fight. But… I can see now that wasn’t fair of me,” Roman said genuinely, his eyes growing uncomfortably warm and wet. “Who am I, teenage Virgil?” He joked with a weak laugh.

“Very moo-ving apology,” Patton dropped a delayed pun, and Roman shot him with a finger gun along with a half-smile. “And?”

“Sorry for steam-rolling you, too,” Roman sighed, lifting up his mug to his face.

“You’ve been a real steam-powered dragon like—”

“How did you know?” Roman shot, gripping at his tail under the pillow. “Who told you?” He demanded.

“Like… like in one of those coolio steampunk novels?” Patton finished with a completely lost expression, and Roman’s face heated worse. “Roman, your head is smoking.”

Roman cleared his throat and swished at the air to clear up the fog, the tail now sticking out from under the pillow at the corner of his vision. “It… does that?” Roman said. It wasn’t necessarily a lie.

“Well… you’re going through some things. We all are. Change can be… difficult. But it’s good, this time. You did good. That’s my point,” Patton followed up, ignoring the Roman’s obvious failure to mask the draconic situation.

“… Things were easier when they were black and white,” Roman admitted quietly. It felt hard to take the praise, for once. That used to come naturally to him. But he had to admit that considering how long they’ve all been wallowing, it was a victory worth claiming.

“Speaking of,” Patton hummed over his mug of cocoa. Roman slowly pulled his head off the chair to look at Patton who bounced his eyebrows and looked down, then back up to Roman’s face again. Roman sighed and looked down, seeing his tunic had turned back to white somehow. He lifted the pillow, but he still had the dragon tail underneath it. “Oh, neat!” Patton declared excitedly.

“I have no idea what I’m doing. But I also think I need people to respect me for what I am doing. Is that something that’s even possible? To respect someone with no control over themself?” Roman asked tiredly.

“I respect you, champ,” Patton said softly. “Especially if you apologize to everyone else as well,” he added in a chiding tone, and Roman rolled his eyes. He’ll apologize for punching Janus if he asks. And he wasn’t even sure what he did wrong with Logan. Or Virgil. He also couldn’t mean Remus, could he? Roman was knocked from his reverie as Patton continued. “We’re all just doing what we can, and myself in particular learned the hard lesson that doing what you can when there’s still so much more you could do isn’t some kind of moral failure. Maybe you can take a page out of my book on this one. It wasn’t a fun lesson to learn,” he suggested, sounding very battered and worn.

“Patton, darling, I’m sure it was very poignant or whatever, but I don’t see how that applies,” Roman stated tiredly, leaning back again to drink his cocoa.

“Judging someone for not doing something they can’t do isn’t helpful. So If you don’t know what you’re doing, but you’re trying… that’s enough. And that will probably always be enough. We just keep… trying,” Patton said, sounding like he was coming to the conclusion at the moment rather than explaining what he meant. Maybe it didn’t quite matter. All this morality discussion was hurting his head.

Roman looked to Patton again, who seemed to be deep in thought now. Figuring out some big answer to the meaning of life no doubt. Roman looked down at himself and took stock. Still had a dragon tail. Tunic turned white again. The cape bunched up under him on the chair. Roman knocked at the crown, and it still bumped against the horns. Well. Maybe being part dragon wasn’t so bad. As long as he wasn’t a dragon witch. That would be awkward to explain. Made him more interesting than Remus, at least. Damned side put so much thought into his outfit’s small details it was embarrassing to look so plain next to him. But no matter.

“I think I’m keeping the cape,” Roman said resolutely. At least he could follow that. Want what you want whole-heartedly. Even if it’s little.

“It looks very fun,” Patton said happily.

“And Remus still sucks.”

“R—” Patton was cut off right away.

“Dick!” Remus screamed, reverberating through Patton’s room.

They both sighed together and sipped some cocoa, and the moment grew quiet. It was comfortable, though. Patton’s loud and eccentric room glowing softly. Some familiar music played distantly in the background, and Patton hummed along.

“And wouldn't it be nice to live together in the kind of world where we belong?” Roman sang along, starting out a bit meek before leaning into it and adding a riff. The mirror above the couch also looked shattered, still, but he just moved on and let his eyes roam all the other pictures on the wall.

“You know it's gonna make it that much better, when we can say goodnight and stay together. Wouldn't it be nice if we could wake up in the morning when the day is new?” Patton joined along for the next line, and they sang together to the Beach Boys with their cocoa. Roman’s tail flicked against the chair, Patton having slipped on his cat hoodie and moving to lean against Roman’s legs. They swayed together to the tune, and Roman let his brain wander to nice places, ignoring the random zombie noises and letting himself hold onto this little joy in the orangey-glowing colours of the sunset flooding in from the sliding patio door.

#This is such a good fic!!#Go check it out omg #I love the theming with the glass/mirror #Ts-Reverse-Bang2024 Entry #Team 3

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xts-reverse-bangx · 9 months ago

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Here's my entry for this year's Reverse Bang Event (@xts-reverse-bangx)!! Special thanks to my epic writing partner @onthevirgeofdestruction for the wonderfully amazing accompanying story!!!

Image ID: A vertically mirrored image of Roman from Sanders Sides is depicted in stained glass, bordered by red phoenixes. Across the center, cracked glass breaks underneath (and above) Roman. On the top half, Roman is depicted in his usual color scheme and prince outfit, with the addition of a red cape and golden crown with red jewels. Roman stabs into the glass with his sword, where the break radiates out. On the bottom half, Roman is in a dark version of the same outfit, the white turned to black, and the reds in darker hues.

#Oh look at that art!!!#I Love the stained glass look omg #And the phoenixes!!#Ts-Reverse-Bang2024 Entry #Team 3

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xts-reverse-bangx · 10 months ago

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Go check out the fic entry aswell!! (link)

Here it is, folks! my piece for the @xts-reverse-bangx event where I was paired with the very awesome @starlocked01!

Go check out the story they wrote inspired by my art, Twisted Tongues Around Our Souls.

Be sure to zoom in to get a close-up of all the little details I've put in, especially on the demon designs of Remus and Janus💚💛

I'm so in love with the designs I've made for this piece, so you lot better believe that I defiantly going to draw them again at some point (along with dear little human Virgil💜)

Image ID below the cut.

[ID: A five Panel comic with a brainlicking.tumblr signature. Panel 1: A close up of a dilated purple eye surrounded by dark makeup and black bangs. Panel 2: A hand with dark purple nail polish dripping blood from a black sleeve. Two drip sounds. Panel 3: A shot of Virgil's lower face with long black hair from the side. Virgil is wearing a black-and-grey plaid hoodie, saying "I—". Panel 4: The view pulls out to show Virgil with a manic grin looking up into the darkness shouting "It worked!" Panel 5: The camera pulls farther back to show the full scene, showing Virgil with a bloody knife in a summoning circle made of blood surrounded by candles. There is a bucket of blood off to the side, along with a bloody paintbrush and backpack laying on its side with a book spilling out of the top. In the background on the left is a massive demon made up with writing, twisted green tentacles in various shades. The demon has a head with six completely black eyes and a mouth full of long, sharp fangs. There is a single grey tentacle across the forehead. To the right, a two-headed snake demon with a yellow underbelly and black scales in a caplet and wide-brimmed hats looks to Virgil with amusement. The left head of the snake demon has yellow scales and an eye with black sclera and yellow iris on the left, with the inverse eye on the right. The right head has the flipped pattern. Virgil is shouting "It finally worked!" as they look up at the demons, Remus and Janus.

End ID]

#LOOK AT THE DESIGNS #And the composition??#Absolutely top tier #Go check out the fic too it's Such an intresting concept #Ts-Reverse-Bang2024 Entry #Team 4

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xts-reverse-bangx · 10 months ago

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Go check out the fic entry aswell! (link)

[ID: Logan from sanders sides is standing next to a window, expression a mix of surprise and fear. He is standing inside a building and looking at the writing done in blood thats written on the inside of the window. The writting spells 'RUN'. Beside the text there are additional bloody handprints surrounding the letters. There is a bush on the outside of the building. The bush's leaves look very similar to hands. The picture is in grayscale, except for the writing, which is in red.]

I had the pleasure and honor partnering with @starlocked01 for the @xts-reverse-bangx . Can't wait for you to read the story! They did a phenomenal job!!!!

#Oh the art is So cool #I love that angle #And the fic sounds so intriguing!!#Ts-Reverse-Bang2024 Entry #Team 11 #We will ignore how tumblr fucked up and posted this on my main the first time around-

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xts-reverse-bangx · 10 months ago

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Monstrously Simple Days at College - Masterpost

I am participating in the @xts-reverse-bangx! This story is based on artwork of @prince-rowan-of-the-forest who supplied me with the Sides species and pronouns as well as the setting. She helped me brainstorm some worldbuilding and I ran everything by her, which was a lot of fun! I hope you enjoy what we cooked up 🥰

Summary: Humans and Monsters live together in harmony and that means they all get to go to college together. Roman, Remus, Janus, Virgil, Logan and Patton are big group of friends that may be a bit chaotic with all the different monster cultures they hail from. College itself is hard too, but with them all supporting each other, it can't be that bad, can it?

A collection of lighthearted scenes from their second year at college!

Tags: Platonic DLAMPR, Romantic Anaroceit, Romantic Intrulogical, Fluff, Slice of Life, Monster AU, College AU, No Hurt All Comfort, Genderfluid Roman, Nonbinary Remus, Nonbinary Virgil, Nonbinary Logan

Here's the link to Rowan's Artwork and the link to the story on Ao3!

Chapter One: Welcome Back

Chapter Two: Platonic Cuddling at Midnight

Chapter Three: Don't Disturb The Witch

Chapter Four: An Unusual Trade

Chapter Five: Dragon Scales

Chapter Six: Entirely Scientific Interest

And a last thank you to @edupunkn00b, my beta reader for this story! 🍀

My writing masterpost

#Everybody go check out this fic!!#Snippets are soo fun #Ts-Reverse-Bang2024 Entry #Team 6

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xts-reverse-bangx · 10 months ago

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Monstrously Simple Days at College

Hello all!!! This is my final piece for the @xts-reverse-bangx !!! It was so absolutely awesome to be a part of such a cool event, and of course to be partnered with the amazing writer @naminethewitch <33 I'd recommend checking out the fic she wrote for this! It's so cutw

!! check our the fic here!!!! !!

Image IDs in alt text!

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This was my main piece, for chapter 6 of the fic!

As well as some extras for you under the read more!

Character designs:

Some art for chapter 3:

Thanks for taking a peek!!!

Reblogs are greatly appreciated<3

#Look at this art!!#The shading is so cool!!#And the designs omg #Ts-Reverse-Bang2024 Entry #Team 6

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xts-reverse-bangx · 10 months ago

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Fandom:Sanders Sides

Rating: Teen

Pairing: Prinxiety

Warnings: Canon typical violence and language

This is the first chapter of my Fic for the @xts-reverse-bangx . It was based off of this incredible artwork by @prince-rowan-of-the-forest , which is stunning and really inspirational. I hope you enjoy

#Go check out this fic!!#It's awesome!!#Ts-Reverse-Bang2024 Entry #Team 9

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xts-reverse-bangx · 10 months ago

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Where we Will, We'll Roam

Hello everyone!!!

This is the art I've done for the @xts-reverse-bangx !!! I am so happy with how this piece come out and also so so excited about the fic that goes with this art by @creative-lampd-liberties Please check it out!!! It's so awesome!!

[Image ID: A scene set in a dark sea backdrop at night. An AU Roman from Sanders Sides in medieval pirate wear is leaning over the edge of a small boat with a lantern, looking surprised. Roman is dressed in white and brown with a tricorn hat, plus a red bow and gold jewellery in his long, curly auburn hair. A Mermaid Virgil holds an oar with his hand on the boat. Virgil is purple and white, with large fins on his head, hips, and tail, and some smaller ones on his arms. Virgil has dark spiky short hair and a mildly concerned expression as they swim aside the small boat. End ID]

#This is so pretty!!#Look at the water omg!!#Ts-Reverse-Bang2024 Entry #Team 9

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xts-reverse-bangx · 10 months ago

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We Might Not Have A Tomorrow (Please Let Us Have a Tomorrow)

There was a prince from another kingdom that Roman’s parents wanted him to marry. He’d meet him at the Royal Ball in a days time, the same night they were to be engaged. Roman didn’t want to date - let alone marry - someone he didn’t even know. Not when he already had someone he loved right here.

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| Ao3 |

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Warnings: Fake blood, faked death.

Pairings: Prinxiety, Demus

Word Count: 4327

Notes:

Hi everyone!! This is my first piece for the @xts-reverse-bangx !! My partner for this fic was @its-the-cat-queen !! Go check out their awesome art with that link there! Trust me it's so beautiful <3

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“Stay?” Roman asked, voice small and desperate as he clutched at Virgil’s hand as the knight went to walk away, “Please?”

An indiscernible look crossed Virgil’s face, something sad and strained as he stopped in his retreat, looking back at his Prince. For a moment Roman thought he really would come back. It was never that easy.

“You know I can’t, your highness,” Virgil said softly, “We knew this wouldn’t last forever.”

“I know,” Roman said, still holding tightly to Virgil’s hand, “I know, just - one more night? Please?”

Virgil faltered, he could hardly resist the expression on Roman’s face, that sad look, “You are to be engaged, Roman,” Virgil said, “How many ‘one more night’s will you ask for?”

“You know I can’t answer that,” Roman said softly, looking up at him.

“You’re highness-”

“Don’t call me that,” Roman said, bringing Virgil’s hand up to lay a kiss to his knuckles, “We’ve been through too much together for you to call me that, Virgil.”

“Roman,” Virgil corrected himself, “If this continues - I’m afraid we’ll get in more trouble than we can get out of.”

“I’m not engaged tonight,” Roman said, squeezing Virgil’s hand, “Please?”

In the end, Virgil knew he could never say no to him.

“Okay,” Virgil said softly, “Okay - but, really, this is the last time, okay Roman?”

“Right,” Roman said with a soft sigh, “The last time.”

Roman felt his stomach twist at the idea, but he still let Virgil’s hand go when he said he wanted to get out of his armour. He tried not to cry as he was left alone in his room, he knew Virgil would come back, he always did, Virgil had been there for him ever since he could remember.

“This isn’t fair,” Roman whispered to himself as he changed into softer sleep clothes. There was a prince from another kingdom that Roman’s parents wanted him to marry. He’d meet him at the Royal Ball tomorrow night, the same night they would be engaged. Roman didn’t want to date - let alone marry - someone he didn’t even know. Not when he already had someone he loved right here.

When Virgil got back, Roman pulled him into a tight hug and Virgil ran his fingers through his hair twirling and ever so gently pulling at the long loose strands in the way that made Roman melt into the strong arms that carried him back to his bed, laying him down gently whilst his beloved knight climbed in after him. Turning, Roman buried his face in Virgil’s shoulder and wished he could stay here forever.

—

“Five more minutes,” Roman said softly, keeping his nose buried in Virigl’s shoulder as light from the sunrise streamed in from the open curtain at his bedside. Virgil’s hand rested at the small of his back, lightly gripping his clothes. His knight sighed, heavy breath ruffling Roman’s hair just a little.

“You have to get up, Roman, we have responsibilities,” Virgil said sadly.

“What if we didn’t?” Roman asked, squeezing Virgil a little around the waist in hopes of getting him to stay a little longer, “What if we ran away together? We’d be able to stay like this forever, we wouldn’t have to be apart.”

“Oh, Princey,” Virgil said sadly, “You know it isn’t that easy.”

“But what if we could?” Roman said, “Would you want to?”

“...Of course I would,” Virgil said with another deep sigh, “I… I love you.”

“I love you too,” Roman said, voice soft and quiet.

“I’m sorry we can’t be together.” Virgil brushed his fingers through his long hair, untangling knots that had formed overnight, “I’m sorry things can’t be the way we want them.”

With a deep sigh, Roman sat up, pulling Virgil with him, “Will you help me get ready?” He asked.

“Of course,” Virgil nodded, “So long as you help me too.”

“Always,” Roman said with a smile, cupping Virgil’s cheeks and pulling him in for a kiss. He would take every moment he could get before tonight.

—-

The suit Roman wore felt tight in all the wrong places. The shimmery white material pulled at his thighs, forced his shoulders back, the collar choked his neck and the gloves he wore pinched the webbing between his fingers. It was a perfect fit, naturally, but still it felt suffocating. The gold glimmered, the jewellery set with rubies and rose quartz shone in the light, the crown atop his head sparkled. He looked beautiful, there was no doubt about it.

“There you go,” Virgil said softly, patting down the suit jacket he was wearing, “You look amazing.”

“So do you,” Roman hummed, “Did you polish your armour?”

“Of course,” Virgil said, rolling his eyes, “Are you ready?”

“No,” Roman said, “What if he’s awful, Vee? What if I can’t stand him?”

Virgil sighed, “Well, hey,” he said, “I’ll still be here - you know we can’t… but I’m not going anywhere, okay? I’m still your guard.”

“I wish we could keep being more than that.”

“Wishing for things we can’t have will only cause us more heartache, my love,” Virgil sighed, cupping Roman’s face. Roman gave a soft, sad smile before pulling him in for one last kiss.

—

The only thing keeping Roman from flying apart into a million pieces right now was Virgil's strong and sturdy presence behind him.

Filled with people, the ballroom buzzed with an energy that settled on Roman’s skin and made him feel nervous. He could see handfuls of royals and nobles dotted about the room, he had no clue who or which one he was going to be getting engaged to tonight.

His presence was announced as he descended the stairs and heads turned. Everyone knew what they were here for tonight. Even his younger twin brother was already there despite being renowned for his lack of punctuality, it was like Roman was the last to arrive despite him being right on time.

As it turned out, though, he wasn’t the last, because shortly after him, another prince was announced. The Prince came from a kingdom not far, but not exactly close either. It was a kingdom Roman hardly knew anything about. Their royalty was elusive and secretive and their Princes the most of all. Roman had never even seen this man before, in his fancy cloak and big feathered hat that covered most of his face. Roman shivered - he had such an… oppressive presence, almost scary. Roman really hoped it wasn’t him.

It was him.

Not even twenty minutes later his mother approached him with the mysterious prince in tow and Roman’s heart dropped.

“Good evening,” Roman greeted with a polite bow. The other Prince gave a nod and returned the bow.

“Prince Janus, this is my son,” His mother said, gesturing to Roman, “Roman, this is Prince Janus, from the kingdom of Nathair.”

“It’s good meeting you,” Roman said stiffly, holding out a hand for a polite handshake that was returned swiftly.

“You as well,” Janus spoke for the first time, dropping Roman’s hand quickly, “It is a pleasure.”

Roman noticed at that moment that Janus seemed a little distracted by something behind him, but Roman didn’t have the time to dwell on that right now.

The conversation moved on to how they were to be married, the announcement of their betrothal would happen later this evening. The royalty from both of their kingdoms had agreed to give them this time to get to know each other before they were swamped with the other guests attempting to talk to them.

That was how Roman found himself standing with Janus on the balcony that overlooked the ballroom. It wasn’t so crowded up here and Janus had brought him up here so that they could talk in peace. Aside from their guards of course, they were completely alone up here.

For a while neither spoke. Roman leaned on the railing and placed his chin in his hand. He was sure he looked awfully glum, but he couldn’t bring himself to force a smile. Janus must have noticed, because eventually he hummed.

"Dearest betrothed,” Janus started. Roman winced - normally he would’ve been able to control such a reaction, but right now he was struggling, “I’ve come to assume your feelings on the situation we're in happen to be similar to mine."

"That depends darling,” Roman said, the nickname tasted rotten on his tongue, “Do you happen to loathe the way we were set up with no way out?"

Janus laughed, “I wouldn’t have worded it so colourfully, but this situation is certainly unfavourable, I’m glad you agree.”

“I don’t know how they can expect us to marry someone we hardly even know,” Roman sighed, shaking his head, “I understand the political gain - our kingdom and yours would make a wonderful alliance but… I don’t even know you.”

Janus nodded, “I quite agree, though you do not upset me as much as I expected you might… I do have my eye on another.”

The last part was a whisper, Roman’s eyes widened.

“Oh really?” He said, raising an eyebrow with a small grin, he glanced back at Virgil - who’s expression almost made Roman laugh, he clearly was just waiting for Roman to do something stupid, “Well - if we’re stuck together for now, the least we could do is engage in a little gossip - will you tell me who it is?”

Janus hummed, swirling his finger in the ballroom, “I’ll let you guess,” he hummed.

“May I ask questions?” Roman asked, tilting his head.

“Hm… you may have three.”

Roman smiled, “Hm, okay, are they here tonight?”

“Indeed,” Janus nodded.

“Do I know them?”

“Very well,” Janus nodded again.

Roman glanced around the room, eyes lingering on everyone he knew especially well, he assumed that meant they were from his kingdom…

“Are they royalty?”

“A yes once again,” Janus grinned, though his eyes were fixed on one spot. Roman followed his eyes to where his own brother was standing near the buffet table, no doubt stealing a heap of food. Roman almost burst out laughing.

“You like my brother?” Roman asked, before being shushed. Roman did feel a little bad about being so loud, “...Really?”

“Well,” Janus said, “Of course I couldn’t know for certain - but I’ve seen him around the ballroom and he seems quite endearing, I’d like to get to know him at least.”

“Well..” Roman says, frowning, “If you’re supposed to be marrying me you’ll have plenty of time to do so, we are brothers after all.”

“And what about you?” Janus asked.

“What about me?” Roman asked.

“I’m not attracted to you - I’m sure I’ve made that quite clear - but I still would feel bad leaving you for your brother when I’m supposed to be your fiance.”

Roman rolled his eyes, “Don’t worry about it - I…” he glanced back over at Virgil, who frowned but shrugged, “I already have someone, anyway.”

“Oh?” Janus hummed, turning to him with a small smirk, “What a scandal, Prince Roman! Who might that be? I told you mine.”

Roman smiled, before glancing over at Virgil again, more obviously this time. Virgil gave a small, awkward little wave when Janus followed his gaze. Janus’ eyes widened.

“Your guard?” He asked in a whisper, Roman nodded, “A secret relationship! Well I am one for a good drama.”

Roman smiles a little, “Well - I suppose you will get some, if you wish to pursue my brother.”

“Will he not be upset?” Janus asked, a little astounded.

“Upset by what? You being my fiance?” Roman asked, “If we’re not interested in each other I don’t think he’ll care less.”

Janus frowned - it was a thinking type frown, not an upset type frown, which Roman was grateful for - and they fell into a somewhat comfortable silence.

Eventually, Roman’s mother stood from her throne to make the announcement and Roman and Janus had to return to the ball hand in hand. Roman somehow felt that he could breathe just a little easier after their talk, he couldn’t help but sneak glances at Virgil, a newly hopeful feeling in his heart.

If Janus wanted to pursue Remus, then maybe he wouldn’t be upset if Roman wanted to stay with Virgil.

They would have to talk about it, Roman knew that, but he was hopeful that this may not end as painfully as he thought it would.

—-

Once the ball was done, Roman pulled Virgil into a tight hug. Neither of them let go for a whole five minutes, but eventually Virgil gently detached himself.

“That was really dangerous, Ro,” Virgil said softly. Janus was staying in the palace - their wedding would take place in a week and they had that time to really get to know each other.

“He told me he liked my brother first,” Roman huffed, “And it ended well, so what’s the harm? Especially if it means I can still have you.”

“But what if he was tricking you!” Virgil said, gripping Roman’s arms, “This is Janus - he has a reputation for deceit! I wouldn’t be surprised if he was just trying to get to you!”

“Virgil,” Roman said softly, “I saw the way he looked at Remus - he was so distracted the whole time, that sort of thing can’t be faked - I just - this could be our chance, love, if he’s willing to let me have you -”

“Roman,” Virgil said softly, cupping Roman’s face, “Look - I’m hopeful too, okay? I know you want this to work but just - please don’t get your hopes up too high, okay? You’ll just - I don’t want to see you even more heartbroken.”

Sighing softly, Roman nodded, “I won't,” he said, “But - but I’ll do my best to make this work.”

—-

They got Remus involved.

Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to do so immediately. Roman knew better than anyone how volatile Remus could be, but Janus had apparently sought him out the day after the ball, and now the three royals were sitting around a low table with tea and afternoon cakes to talk.

“So…” Remus said, breaking the awkward silence that had settled over them the longer they had sat there, “Lemme try and understand what the fuck the situation here is.”

He stood up, holding his teacup - which Roman was not sure actually contained tea - and began to pace. Roman raised an eyebrow and shared a glance with Janus, who only looked fond.

“You two are engaged,” Remus said, “But Janny likes me and Roro likes Virgil, and you two are coming to me because….?”

Roman shrugged, he had no idea.

“Well - of course, you found out about my feelings this morning,” Janus said, rolling his eyes, Remus nodded, “So I thought that perhaps you would be able to help with this… situation.”

“Well,” Remus said, taking a sip of not-tea before putting a hand on his hip, clearly he had an idea, “If RoRo went missing, then they’d probably try marry you to me instead to keep the political alliance, right?”

Roman frowns, “But then you’ll end up being King, Ree, you’ve always hated the idea, and we wouldn’t be able to see each other.”

“You think I can’t sneak out of the castle to come visit you and your boytoy guard?” Remus huffed, “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t want to run off and live in the woods with him.”

Roman couldn’t exactly argue with that, it was true after all. Running away with Virgil was something they had talked about time and time again.

“And the first point?” Roman asked instead of trying to argue.

“Well being king would stink but I’d have Janny.”

“I would be happy to rule your kingdom if it meant everyone would get their happy ending,” Janus said with a small smile. Roman looked at the two of them.

“So… you two really do like each other?” Roman asked, tilting his head.

“Who knows!” Remus said, walking over to sling his arm around Janus’ shoulders, almost spilling his tea, “Guess we’ll find out!”

Roman made a face, “You’d risk ending up not liking him for me?”

“Well,” Remus said, “Look at it this way: you get what you’ve wanted for like years, I get to try out dating this cutie and even if it doesn’t work we can just be besties and it’ll still be great, everyone’s happy either way.”

“Indeed,” Janus nods, “Even if it turns out we do not enjoy each other romantically, I still think I would value Remus as a good friend - And I would enjoy running a kingdom with him - I would not have gotten to do so in my own kingdom after all.”

Roman nodded slowly, “Okay - um - if we’re going to discuss this plan further, could we bring Virgil in?”

“Course,” Remus shrugged, “Go get your boy-toy RoRo.”

—-

The plan was strangely simple.

Roman was supposed to fake his death. The night before the wedding, with Remus’ help, they were going to stage a murder scene. Roman would escape with Virgil and the palace and kingdom would think he had died. They’d make it look like an outside attempt - an assassination.

On top of that, Remus planned to set Janus up too, have him be present for Roman’s ‘murder’ so that he could verify the story and help to convince them that it was true whilst also proving his innocence - if Janus barely made it out then he couldn’t possibly be at fault for the murder after all.

It was the perfect plan. Roman wasn’t exactly enjoying it as he packed up a bag - only the essentials, and stuff that would reasonably be stolen. Having fake blood smeared across his bedsheets and floor made him feel queasy and disgusting. Honestly he was just glad he wasn’t Janus, who was having the stuff smeared across his clothes and face.

“It’s weirdly artistic,” Virgil said as he appeared at Roman’s side, scrunching up his face all the while, “In a really gross way.”

Roman made a face back, “You can say that again.”

“Hey RoRo!” Remus said, bounding over, “How's it going?”

“We’ve got our stuff,” Roman said, shrugging his bag onto his back. Virgil had already done the same, “And this looks like a murder scene.”

“Great! That’s what we’re going for! You think it’s believable or do we need more blood?”

“As long as Prince Snakeface over there can do his job then I think we’re good,” Virgil said. Janus glared at him though it was light hearted.

“Of course I can do my job,” he rolled his eyes, “Playing a damsel in distress has never been awfully hard, I act as though I’m grieving for a lost lover and find solace in his grieving brother, from there we grow a connection and the Queen will marry us instead, it’s practically foolproof as long as you two can get out without being spotted.”

“Speaking of,” Remus said, “Here, put these on, you’ll need ‘em.”

Two cloaks were tossed to Roman and Virgil respectively. Roman nodded and put his on quickly, though Virgil took a second longer.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” He asked quietly to Roman, who took his hands.

“We’ve talked through this plan a thousand times,” he said, “We can do it.”

“But if they don’t believe us - and we don’t know how to run a homestead by ourselves-”

“Vee,” Roman said softly, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to his beloved’s cheek, “We have more than enough gold and jewels to get ourselves a house and plenty of supplies, we can buy books and seeds and food and we can figure it out, okay?”

“And if it doesn’t work you’ll still have us to help!” Remus said brightly, Roman smiled.

“We’ll be sure to send word once we’re out safely,” Roman said, before going over to give his brother a final hug. Remus wrapped him up so tightly he could barely breathe, but both of them pulled away with a smile on their faces.

“Go live the life you want, dumbass,” Remus said, slapping Roman on the shoulder.

“Thank you for everything,” Roman said to Janus, who gave a small nod and a smile in response, “No really - you had no obligation to do any of this for any of us - I still barely know you - but I’d consider you a great friend for this.”

Janus smiled a much more real smile at that, “I would consider you a good friend as well, I’m grateful to have you as a brother in law rather than a fiance.”

Roman laughed and nodded, “You as well, I think this will be much better for all of us.”

“Indeed,” Janus nodded, “Now, cut the sap, we need to get this done before someone comes in here and sees this mess.”

“Right,” Roman said with a laugh. Remus nodded quickly.

“Yes, yes, you two gotta go,” Remus said, “Make sure you don’t get seen, I’m gonna go as well - a different way, I’ll head back to my chambers from the library. Janny, you wait at least half an hour until you make a fuss, ‘kay?”

After murmurs of agreement all around, the plan was set into motion.

Once Janus raised the alarm, the palace and surrounding kingdom would be swarming with guards looking for the non-existent assassin, so Roman and Virgil had to hurry. Hand in hand the two of them rushed through servants' passages and down staircases. The palace was quieter at night, thank goodness. Less people hurrying about meant less chance at being spotted.

Before long they had made it out, the two of them were almost giddy as they bounded through the surrounding city. The plan was to get out of the city by morning and head for one of the surrounding towns where hopefully they could buy a pair of horses. They would have to travel further out from the capital whilst the hunt for the assassin took place, the further out they got the safer they would be, but eventually they planned to settle in the forests a day's ride from the palace.

Half a night’s walk got them to a nearby town where they were able to rent out a room once the sun had risen, not wanting to draw attention to themselves by appearing in the early hours.

By the time they had gotten settled and bought some basic supplies, word had begun to travel of the Prince’s death by raven. It wouldn’t be safe to send a message to Remus yet. For now they would have to lie low.

Virgil had suggested that they cut Roman’s long hair in order to conceal his identity. Roman’s face was recognisable and his hair even moreso. At first the idea had upset him, but Virgil promised he could grow it back and Roman knew it would be for the better. No-one would be looking for a dead prince, but someone who looked exactly like him would surely catch attention.

—

A week passed and slowly the buzz began to die down. A funeral was held, a big ceremony involving all the capital city. Many people went, Virgil and Roman were not among them. Janus and Remus were at the front of the procession, right behind the current King and Queen.

The kingdom mourned for weeks, but still things moved on. Roman sent a letter to Remus telling him of their safety and journey so far. They travelled back up towards the capital and found a carpenter and stonemason willing to assist in building them a new home out in the forest.

A month later a new wedding announcement was made. Janus and Remus were to be wed the next week and the whole kingdom would turn out for it. Of course Roman and Virgil would be there. Roman wouldn’t miss his brother’s wedding for the world.

—-

Life was good, for Roman.

He never imagined he could live a life like this as he drew water up from the well behind their new house, using half of the water bucket to feed the garden he and Virgil had been cultivating together over the last three months. Some of the things they were growing had started to get big, some of the plants even showing signs of fruit and vegetables getting ready to harvest. Roman was proud of how far they had come.

“Oh Virgil!” Roman sang as he walked into the house, wiping off his boots and setting the now half full bucket down on the table, “I’ve brought the water for the soup!”

Virgil appeared through the archway that led into their kitchen with a smile, “Thanks Ro,” he said, kissing Roman’s cheek and making him blush. The easy shows of attention were something he thought he would never truly get used to. No-one was here to catch them out or punish them for behaving improperly.

“You’re welcome of course,” Roman chuckled, “What are you making?”

“Just a simple vegetable soup with stuff from the market this morning,” Virgil said, smiling, “Hopefully it’ll be good, I got a good deal.”

“Yeah?” I’m sure it’ll be great, your cooking always is,” Roman laughed - they had learned quite quickly that Roman couldn’t cook if his life depended on it, his first attempt had resulted in the near destruction of their new house, Virgil had done all of the cooking from now on.

“Well good, because Remus and Janus are coming tonight, remember?”

“How could I forget? I’ve been excited all week,” Roman said, wrapping an arm around Virgil’s waist. Virgil leant into him, smiling.

“Hopefully the soup will be done in time,” Virgil said with a small chuckle.

“Im sure it will be,” Roman said, resting his chin on Virgil’s shoulder.

“Well it’ll be done a lot faster if you let me go and work on it, love,” Virgil laughed, “I have to boil this water hon, come on.”

Roman laughed and let him go. Yeah, he was happy with this.

----

Tags: @full-of-roman-angst-trash @your-local-random-dino @cutebisexualmess @glacierruler @roseianxiety @bella-bugatti-frogetti-baguetti @scalesfeathersnfur @oatmeal-stans-the-trash-rat @littlerat2 (if anyone wants to be added, let me know!)

#Go check out this fic!!#It looks so cool 👀#Ts-Reverse-Bang2024 Entry #Team 7

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