first Cinderella Complex AU ficlet! it only took 84 years lmao
if you’re new to this au, take a look at my pinned post for more info!! hope you’ll stick around!! :D
this is set pre-divorce, id say roman and remus are about eight. if i had to describe this id say “wholesome angst” lmao hope y’all like it!!
Summary: Roman takes a fall while he and Remus are playing and he gets a bit scraped up
Characters: Roman, Remus, Logan (Pa), Patton (Dad), Colin (a dog)
Pairings: implied married logicality but there’s not exactly romantic moments, creativitwins, familial logince, familial intrulogical, familial royality, and familial intruality
Warnings: mentions/descriptions of injury (scraped knees), character blaming themself for an accident, crying, and i think that’s it but lemme know if I missed anything!!
Word count: 1,091
~
Roman chased after his brother as they played in the backyard with their cardboard swords and shields. They were playing a game of Rogue Knights, and as usual, Remus was the rogue.
Finally, Remus began climbing up the ladder to their treehouse, the one they used as a makeshift castle. Roman came up after him and they each stood in a defensive stance.
“Let the princess go!” Roman declared, gesturing to the family dog Colin, who wore a crown from a dog costume.
“Never! She never gave me the respect I deserve! Now she’ll pay the price!”
“You’re hardly worthy of respect!” Roman spat. “You’re nothing more than a kidnapper!”
“Now I’ll be a kidnapper and a murderer!” Remus swung at Roman, who took a step back, but he was too close to the ladder.
His foot slipped, but before he could fall to the ground, he grabbed hold of the first rung on the ladder, letting out a short shriek. He heard Colin bark and whine in concern.
Remus dropped his cardboard weapons and ran over. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry! Here, grab my hands!”
Roman was able to get his footing on the ladder as Remus helped him climb back up into the treehouse. Remus gripped him in a tight hug once he was secure, and he numbly hugged Remus back, feeling Colin sniff him to make sure he was okay.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to murder you for real,” Remus apologized.
“It’s okay,” Roman murmured. “I’m fine.”
He sucked in air through his teeth when he felt a sudden sting in his knees. Remus sat back and Roman looked to see what it was. Two big scrapes on both his knees, presumably from the fall.
“We need Dad and Pa,” Remus said.
“No, it’s fine, just a little scrape.”
“Two of them, and they look bad!”
Roman was stubborn about it, but Remus managed to get him to go down the ladder, Colin following down the dog-safe stairs. Roman didn’t want to admit that it hurt to walk, but it did.
His pain didn’t seem to go unnoticed by Remus, who helped keep him stable on the way inside.
Pa was sat at the living room couch reading a book, looking up and doing a double take as the twins came in. He quickly set his book down and got to his feet kneeling in front of Roman.
“What happened?”
“Roman almost fell out of the treehouse and it was my fault!” Remus cried.
Pa paused for a moment. “Okay, Roman, sit down, I’ll get the first aid kit and get this cleaned up, okay?”
Roman nodded, trying not to cry. He got sat down on the couch, trying not to think about the pain too much.
Remus sat next to him and hugged him again. He seemed to be crying and Roman didn’t really know what to do with that. Colin jumped up onto Roman’s other side and rested his head in his lap.
Pa came back with the first aid kit and a wet washcloth. “Does it hurt, little prince?”
Roman sniffled. “A little.”
“I’m sorry. Someone should’ve been out there keeping an eye on you two,” Pa said, somewhat to himself, as he knelt down to gently touch the washcloth to Roman’s scrapes.
“Sorry. We got excited.”
“No, no, it’s okay,” Pa assured. “I’m not upset with either of you.” He seemed to emphasize the word “either”, possibly to comfort Remus as well.
Pa got the scrapes cleaned, applied ointment, and bandaged them. He placed a kiss on both knees, which got a smile out of Roman.
“And don’t worry, Patton will be here soon to give you more healing kisses than you’ll know what to do with.”
Roman leaned forward to give Pa a hug, Remus finally letting go of him. Pa hugged him back, running a hand up and down his back.
“Let’s all watch a movie, does that sound good?” Pa whispered.
Roman sniffed. “Can we watch Cinderella?”
“Of course. Remus? Do you wanna watch Cinderella?”
Roman didn’t hear a response but Remus must have nodded, as Pa then got the movie started. Just as the opening credits ended, the front door opened.
“Honey, I’m home!” Dad announced in his usual exaggerative way, chuckling to himself.
Roman perked up the moment Dad walked in. “Dad, come watch Cinderella with us!”
“I need to put groceries away, kiddo!” Dad said, putting several bags on the kitchen counter.
“Please?” Roman asked, his voice breaking.
“Patton, there was a bit of… an incident,” Pa explained vaguely.
Dad’s smile faded into a look of concern, his attention pulled away from groceries and onto the family. “What happened? Is everyone okay? Is anyone hurt?”
“Roman scraped his knees, but—"
“Oh my gosh!” Dad quickly came into the living room to kneel in front of Roman. “I’m so sorry, kiddo! What happened?”
“Almost fell out of the treehouse. But I’m fine, Remus helped me.”
“No I didn’t,” Remus snapped. “I’m the one who almost killed you.”
There was a long pause, during which Pa paused the movie.
“Remus, whatever happened—"
“It was my fault!” Remus interrupted. “Roman barely grabbed onto the ladder! If he didn’t, he would’ve fell on the ground and broke all his bones and bled—!”
“Slow down, slow down,” Pa cut in. “Deescalate. None of that happened. Roman is safe.”
“What if he wasn’t?”
Pa paused and Dad jumped in. “Kiddo, you’re thinking too much about things that didn’t happen. You need to focus on what did happen, instead of focusing on worst case scenarios.”
“But Roman got hurt and it was my fault! That did happen!”
“It… it was an accident. You can’t blame yourself for an accident.”
“I forgive you,” Roman quietly spoke up. “I know you were just playing. You didn’t mean for me to fall.”
Remus scrubbed at his eyes with his fists. He looked away from everyone, sniffling quietly. “Okay.”
“You need a hug, kiddo?” Dad asked softly. Remus nodded, and Dad moved over to hug him close.
“It’s been an emotional day, huh?” Dad asked.
“More like an emotional hour,” Remus corrected, which got a laugh out of Dad.
“Can we all watch the movie now?” Roman asked quietly.
“Just let me put the milk away, then I can worry about everything else after the movie,” Dad replied.
Everyone sat on the couch, Roman between his dads and Remus on Patton’s left side. As always, it was a good movie.
