Sanders Sides AU One-Shots

3 - The Calm Before The Storm (Sanders Sideskicks AU)

After bidding the Sleep Character goodbye, Roman and Virgil set off again to look for the anxious Side's counterpart.

The little fennec fox, Lady, sniffs the air and huffs when a particular smell reaches her nose. Roman takes notice of her demeanor and cranes his neck to look at her.

"What's wrong, Lady?"

A sudden harsh breeze blows past the trio, accompanied by the loud rumbling of thunder.

Roman and Virgil look up towards the sky and visibly gulp at the giant, dark, brain-shaped cloud hovering above them.

"Uh... Princey?" The anxious trait utters quietly, fear evident in his eyes.

"Yeah, Virge?"

"Should we like, you know, run?"

Roman gasps when a lightning bolt strikes by their feet, so he quickly picks Virgil up bridal style and makes a run for it.

"Wha– Roman!" Virgil squawks, not expecting the sudden move from the fanciful Side.

"No time for complaining, V! That's a Thought Cloud soon-to-be Brainstorm!" The Prince informs, running as fast as he could with the anxious Side in his arms, Lady making a quick move to settle in Virgil's arms so she wouldn't fall off of her owner's shoulder.

And to give you guys a bit of info, Thought Clouds are exactly what their name states: clouds of thought.

They either form when Thomas is in deep thought, or when he's frequently thinking about a particular idea.

Brainstorms happen when a bunch of Thought Clouds conjoin with one another. All the ideas that are being thought up by Thomas will swirl into one huge mass until it eventually becomes too much and a storm breaks out. (Logan is actually able to create one himself. But only when he's overdriven by his own thoughts)

It is very unsafe for anyone to be outside during a Brainstorm because a single braindrop can cause someone to over-think.

Roman knew this.

Which is why he's doing his best to keep Virgil away from it. Who knows how bad it would affect the anxious Side...

To his relief, Roman spots a giant, dead tree with a cave-like opening big enough to shelter all of them from the storm, so he begins sprinting towards it.

But just as he's only a few steps away, braindrops began falling.

So Roman, in an act of panic, tosses Virgil into the tree-cave, tripping on his own feet in the process but saving his friend and Lady from the storm's effects.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to save himself.

"ROMAN!" Virgil shouts, attempting to reach out for the fanciful trait but Roman holds up a hand to stop him.

"Virgil, you can't let the braindrops touch you!" Roman warns, picking himself up and finally taking refuge from the storm, "I don't want you over-thinking this situation that might lead you to having an attack and– "

Shit. Roman curses in his mind as he feels the braindrops effects setting in.

What if Virgil has an attack? I can't let him get hurt! I might not be able to help him oh gosh– and what about Patton and Logan and Janus?!  They'll be so upset cause I couldn't calm Virgil down! They'll hate me for sure and it's all my fault–

Virgil and Lady share a look of concern as the princely trait shakily curls in on himself and starts crying silently.

Fortunately, Roman had only gotten a few drops on himself so he was practically dry by then. Virgil knelt down next to his distressed friend and tried calming him down, Lady nuzzling herself into Roman's Side so she could as well aid her owner.

"Ro? Princey, hey." Virgil attempts to soothe, taking Roman's hands in his, "Look at me, please?"

The Prince's eyes were unfocused and filled with tears but he managed to do as told.

"V-Virge?" He weakly mutters, desperately trying to block out his racing thoughts but they just keep on coming.

"Yeah, Ro. Can you focus on your breathing with me?"

"I– ... I don't think– no, I... I can't think straight– wait no, I'm not straight."

"Roman..."

The Brainstorm had passed after a few minutes, so now they were left in silence.

Well, except for Roman's quiet murmuring.

And a soft mewl that startled both Virgil and Lady.

The fennec fox went into a defensive stance in front of her owner, while Virgil only blinked and glanced down at his, now, glowing necklace.

A small four-legged figure then emerged from the shadows, its eyes glowing the same color as the orb resting against the darkly clothed Side's chest.

In an instant, they were surrounded by a bright light.

When Virgil finally opens his eyes, he finds himself staring back at his counterpart companion.

"...Storm."

Before he could say anything else, the black furred cat makes his way over to the creative Side and nudges his head on Roman's arm. Immediately, the princely trait begins to relax as his thoughts cleared up.

"...Thank you, little Storm Cloud." Roman says while smiling down at the cat, before turning to his fellow personality facet, "And thank you, my Dark and Stormy Knight."

Virgil tilts his head to the side in confusion, "Me? But, I didn't do anything..."

Roman shakes his head and holds one of Virgil's hands in his own, "You kept yourself safe like I told you to, so... I'm pretty sure that's an act worth thanking for. I would have never forgiven myself if you ended up going through what I had just endured. I'm just–... I'm glad you're okay."

Virgil blushes but shoots Roman a smile.

"I'm glad you're okay, too."