Fandom: Sanders Sides
Characters: Janus, Roman, Remus, background Logan
Relationships: Platonic Roceit; heavily mentioned romantic Dukeceit; background Analogical.
Warnings: Language, one vague reference to sex
Word count: 996
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My writing masterpost
Starlight Universe masterpost
Summary: It's Janus and Remus's first anniversary. Roman helps Janus get ready, and the two friends share some bonding time while they're at it.
Notes: A oneshot taking place in my Starlight Universe, a slice-of-life human!AU taking place during and after college. Most pieces in the ’verse can be read without context. For this one, all you need to know is that Janus, Roman, and Logan are roommates.
Remus’s pronouns are he/they and Janus’s are they/them.
–
Janus stared at themself in the bathroom mirror, carefully applying black lipstick.
“Ooh, you look fancy,” Roman commented, pausing in the hall outside. “What’s today?”
Janus glanced over at their roommate, considering making a snarky remark. “It’s Remus’ and my anniversary,” they said instead, capping the lipstick and examining their makeup with a critical eye. “We’re going out for dinner.”
“Oh, right, I knew that. That’s why Logan made me do all your chores.” Roman smacked his forehead. “Congrats!” he added with a bright grin.
Janus gave him a small smile. “Thank you.”
“Will you two be going to his place after, or coming back here?” Roman asked.
Janus thought about it. “Probably theirs.”
Roman relaxed just slightly. “Cool. I will not spend the evening somewhere else to avoid being here, then.”
Janus flushed. “Fair enough,” they said. “How do I look?” Roman’s opinions, though they were many and loud, could generally be trusted when it came to fashion and appearances.
“You are an absolute vision and any man ought to count himself lucky to have you,” Roman said at once with a grandiose gesture. He paused and appraised them more critically. “The outfit’s good. Add a hat, you look cute in those.”
Janus nodded. “You don’t think the makeup is too much?” They had only picked up makeup a few months ago, and while they liked it very much and Roman had been more than happy to teach them everything he knew, it still took some getting used to.
“Jan.” Roman stepped into the door of the tiny bathroom so he could reach to put his hands on their shoulders. “Remus has gushed to me over how you look in eyeliner at least five separate times. Plus three over text. You’re perfect, they’ll love it, I promise.”
“Thank you,” Janus said quietly. They reached up and felt at their hair, which was loose about their shoulders. “Does the hair… work?” They didn’t quite feel satisfied with it, but weren’t sure what to do with it.
“I think you look great, Jan,” Roman assured them again. He paused, examining the look on their face. “But if you want me to put it up for you, I can do that.”
Janus repressed a sigh of relief. “Would you?”
“Sure! I have a fun sparkly bobby pin thing I can put in it, it’ll look real classy, let me show you—” Roman pulled Janus out of the bathroom and across the hall to his bedroom.
Ten minutes later, Roman snapped a picture of the back of Janus’s head to show them. “Here’s how it looks from behind. Good?”
Their light brown hair was swirled into a neat, elegant twist, with no stray hairs or flyaways. The promised bobby pin was speared neatly through the whole affair, a decorative silver flower affixed to the top nestling just at the top of the twist.
“That looks… good,” Janus said. They glanced back over their shoulder at him. “Thank you.”
“Of course! Do take a hat with you, one of your black ones with a brim, I promise it will look so good. When are you leaving?”
Janus checked the time. “Fifteen minutes.”
They spent the time remaining in the living area, Janus sitting at the tiny kitchen table and drumming their fingers, while Roman, for reasons known only to himself, opted to ignore both the sofa and the armchair in the living room and instead to lie on his back on the coffee table, his head dangling upside-down off the end so he could stare across into the kitchen. He proceeded to talk a mile a minute in Janus’s general direction.
“Do you need me to pay attention?” Janus cut in to ask.
“Huh? Oh, nah, I’m processing my thoughts or whatever.” Roman gave them an upside-down thumbs up. “Zone out at will. So, like I was saying, Cassidy’s an asshole—”
Janus, who had no idea who Cassidy was or what she had done—knowing Roman, it could be anything from “worn a color he didn’t like” to “murdered his family in cold blood” and he would respond with more or less the same level of indignancy—freely took the permission to zone out, tracing the pattern of the wood grain on the tabletop with their fingers.
The front door rattled, but it was only Logan, heavy blue-and-gray hiking-quality backpack slung over his shoulders. He entered the apartment just long enough to pour himself a cup of coffee out of the fridge—it was five in the afternoon, that couldn’t be good—and say “Good evening, you two. Lovely outfit, Janus, my congratulations to you.” He was gone again almost as quickly as he’d arrived, making a phone call as he set his drained coffee mug in the sink and heading for the door again; Janus caught an “I’m on my way over now, Virgil,” as the door closed behind him.
Roman paused in his ramble and sat up. “Okay, this might be just me, but do you think Logan and Virgil are, like, into each other?”
“Oh, you’ve noticed?” Janus said idly. “Well, I do believe that brings the total number of people who know that to literally everyone except them. Good job.”
“Thank you! Wait—wait, you knew?”
“Everyone knows, Roman, didn’t you just hear me?” Janus was cut off by a knock at the door just at the same time as their phone buzzed.
“Hi Remus!” Roman called over as Janus opened the door.
“Fuck off,” Remus responded cheerfully, catching both Janus’s hands in his and pulling them down for a kiss. “Oh, you look so pretty, baby,” he breathed, stepping back and looking them up and down with delight.
“I helped!” Roman put in.
“Fine, un-fuck off or whatever. C’mon, Janny, let’s go!” Remus laced his fingers through Janus’s and pulled them towards the door.
“See you tomorrow,” Janus called over their shoulder to Roman and followed Remus down the stairs and out of the apartment.
-
Taglist (ask to be added/removed!): @the-sympathetic-villain @theimprobabledreamersworld @peruviandesertfox
from someone who was actually a theatre major for a while... these are based on true stories lol
Deep breathing exercises are the bane of his existence.
Relaxed readiness isn't a thing. He's bursting with energy! He's ready! Let's just act!
He's not the best dancer in the world, but he makes up for it in charisma.
"Roman. Open your eyes when you say that line."
When Roman has an audition, he's so stressed out for such a long time that he collapses when he gets home. Patton always knows to draw him a warm bath the moment he gets the text he's headed back. Virgil lets him borrow his weighted blanket. Logan talks to him for hours helping him to feel good about his performance and to accept whatever results may come.
"ROMAN stop touching the PROPS"
He has far more little out-of-character movements than other people when he's acting - pulling at his sleeves, bouncing his leg, picking at his nails, scratching at the fabric of his pants. His director is driven up the wall trying to get him to stop it.
WILL go off-script during the last show. Who's going to stop him.
He's the absolute best at improvising/yes-and/covering up mistakes on the fly
His endorphins and cortisol are so wild on show nights that a six-hour chunk of time becomes nothing but a happy blur
"Roman. Open your eyes."
PRE-SHOW WARMUPS.
Shake it out!!! He stims using this all the time!! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight! (And it's a great excuse to do flappy hands without anyone thinking he looks strange)
He rehearses the line he's going to sing during mic check way too much
Everyone in the cast loves him. He has so much energy and he's so nice. He's the popular talented kid that all the girls have a crush on but none of them say it out loud.
Not a musical? Not auditioning.
He can work for hours without noticing that the time has flown by, and he's usually the only one that still has energy by the end of rehearsal
He will learn new skills specifically for the role. They become hyperfixations
"Are you willing to change an aspect of your appearance?" *shaver in one hand, hair dye in the other* YES
If he's had a long or bad day, it's nearly impossible to make himself stand quietly and listen to his stage manager.
Roman constantly worries that he's not good enough. His director delights in the fact that Roman is constantly looking for guidance and feedback.
What did the SM say? Where are the mics? What's the change with the costumes? What time is it? How many till places?
Thank you five!!!! *zones out for three and a half*
Memorizing lines and lyrics are his personal nightmare. Songs come much easier to him, thankfully.
"Roman??? OPEN your EYES??"
He Cannot Stop Talking In The Wings. He almost got sent home for it more than once
When That One Part of the song hits and Roman's smile looks like it's going to fly off his face.
Characterization is both ridiculously easy and ridiculously difficult. He can play a convincing role, but why does his character respond this way? Would they fidget if they were nervous?
He's always the first one to start talking about the cast gift to their director
Sometimes it's hard for him to meet and greet with the crowd after a show, but praise is a strong motivator and it keeps him on his feet
Is responsible for most inside jokes/good memories of a show
He has about a billion ADHD headcanons for his favorite characters (join the club, Roman)
He had an anxiety attack during intermission once. He was so grateful for his castmates, who got him water and tried their best to comfort him.
(It didn't hold a candle to Patton helping him through the "5 Things" technique, but his heart was bursting with love by the time he got back onstage.)
AN: Not explicitly stated but I did write Logan to be autistic and Roman to have ADHD
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Roman had always been a dreamer. That had been obvious even before he was Roman, when he was just Princey, even when he was the King. Patton tended to comment on him having his head in the clouds, but he payed it no mind. His dreams kept him going. They always do, but it didn't feel like it right now...
His thoughts had drifted during breakfast, the now cold waffles sitting on his plate untouched.
The other three had already left apparently, he hadn't noticed their departure but the kitchen was now empty. He huffed and ate a few bites of waffle, eyes drifting to the living room.
Logan, Patton and Virgil were all curled up on the couch together, still in their PJs, chatting about something or other. The three of them were always so...sweet with eachother. It was to be expected, they were dating after all. But, Roman couldn't help but feel jealous. Every hug, every peck on the cheek, every arm around the shoulders and his chest burned with feelings and longing.
Roman knew what he wanted, of course he did. The real question is, what did they want? Would they love him back or would they cast him aside forever? They already seemed keen to ignore him...
___________
There was a knock on his door. No one had bothered to even look at him for days, probably becuase he barely left his roo-
"Roman? It's Logan, we want to talk to you." His voice said through the door.
"Why? Are you gonna send me to the darksides? Get rid of me? Just wait for me to lose it and duck out?" Roman bit back, anger laced into each word.
"Why would we do that?" The poor nerd sounded genuinely confused.
"You seemed rather intent to ignore me so I assumed you didn't like me anymore and it was just a matter of time before you got rid of me..."
"It appears we have more to discuss than I anticipated..."
___________
Roman found himself sat in the living room in front of the others before he knew it. Logan cleared his throat.
"So, Roman seems to think we hatevhim and that we're going to send him to the darksides." He explained calmly.
If you couldn't see Logan's face, you would've thought he didn't care but his expression said otherwise. His mouth was turned down into a frown and his eyes were filled with tears.
"Why..?" Patton finally asked, voice cracking.
"You were avoiding me..." Roman mumbled.
"Ro, we...we never meant to do this...we just...we didn't know how to tell you!" Virgil blurted out.
"Tell me what?" the prince asked, hands running over his sash.
The three turned to eachother and started whispering while Roman's heart pounded out of his chest.
What were they talking about? He already knew it wasn't anything bad but he still worried.
After what felt like hours but probably only a few minutes, they stopped talking and turned back to face the creative side.
"So," Logan began, rocking side to side in his seat, "I suppose there's no more hiding it..."
"We want you in our relationship." Patton stated hesitantly. Roman's face was an expression of shock.
"O - Only if you want to! I don't-" Roman's soft sobs cut Patton off. Virgil moved to sit with Roman, wrapping his arms around the other.
Roman gasped, sinking into the emo's chest with a soft sigh.
The other two soon joined them, the poor prince breaking down into tears as he trembled in their arms.
"I - I love you, y - you know..?" Roman whispered, voice muffled from it's place buried in Virgil's hoodie.
"Yeah...we just weren't sure how to tell you since you always wanted to stay in your room." Virgil admitted sheepishly as Roman sighed.
He had been hiding away and the others had interpreted as him not wanting to talk, but he was just stressed. His inspiration had run dry and he couldn't force himself to work. The more he tried the worse it got.
He'd thought the others didn't like him. It seemed preposterous in hindsight. He'd been the one hiding and avoiding but he had assumed the others were rejecting him...
"So, do you consent to being in the relationship?" Logan asked. He'd always liked clarification.
hello hi it is me back on my ADHD Roman hype train:
he starts talking sometimes and just. stops. and stands still for a second, before he zones back in and keeps going with whatever he was talking about
when he’s walking, he tends to pause and stare into the distance and the others are just like “what are you doing you’re in the middle of the walkway Roman please”
because of both of those things, he comes off as very absent-minded, but honestly his brain just goes faster than the rest of him so sometimes he has to let everything catch up
he has days where he feels restless and understimulated and he just kinda wanders around the house looking for something that can entertain him for a while
that ^^ results in him sometimes standing in the middle of the living room just frowning while he tries to think of something to do and the others are just like “why is roman glaring at the tv”
either he jumps into things immediately (when he doesn’t necessarily have everything he needs to complete them) or is dead set on gathering all the materials for a project before he even THINKS about starting
both of those scenarios mean there’s a lot of half-finished projects and random materials scattered around his room at all times
cleaning fluctuates between being the bane of his existence or the only thing that makes him feel alive. there is no in between
sometimes he just. smushes words together to describe the thing he’s thinking of just right
(it drove Logan insane until he realized that’s basically what people have been doing since language was invented)
stimulation!! is vital!!! especially like sharp or crisp things, crunchy foods and clicky objects and percussion and such. very important
(although I also think he’d love like orchestral crescendos, that kind of mounting musical moment yknow)
he has moments where he is so overwhelmingly emotional that he feels like he’s gonna implode if he doesn’t express it (it’s usually him seeing something beautiful and getting really excited about it)
on that note he is so enthusiastic which is CANON babey!!!
