Sander Sides One-Shots

Sick

Roman hadn't come out of his room for days, and Janus was really starting to worry.

Logan was in his element with final exams around the corner, helping Thomas come up with study guide after study guide, pens and highlighters swirling around him rapidly like in a cartoon, imbibing the information like a nerdy sponge. Patton helped Thomas to reach out and study with his friends, which made him super bubbly and happy, filling up Logan's ever-depleting mug of coffee with a spring in his step. Even Virgil was doing alright, the therapy and medication allowing him to stay a motivating, rather than paralyzing, force, being easily calmed by Patton whenever his eyeshadow started to become too gloomy. Remus was surprisingly asleep and quiet for the time being (probably because the sleep deprivation hadn't set in yet). But Roman, in all this mess, was nowhere to be found.

That's it, Janus thought, I need to check up on him.

Normally, Janus didn't go around knocking on the light sides' doors, but this could be an emergency. Along with Virgil, Janus was Thomas's sense of self-preservation. If an aspect of himself wasn't okay, it meant that he wasn't doing his job. It didn't have anything to do with the fact that he missed the Prince's singing ringing through the halls, or the way his laugh made Jan's cold exterior melt instantly, or the way his cleavage peaked from under his ~tight~ shirts—

No, no, no, Janus told himself, this is just to help Thomas. Nothing more, nothing less.

For the king of lies, he was sure bad at lying to himself.

Sighing, Janus weaved through the chaos of the light sides' study session unseen and climbed the stairs to Roman's room (it was hard to miss since there was a huge gold star with his name on his door), holding a plate of oatmeal craisin cookies, Roman's favorite. He ~totally~ hadn't found this out by listening to the light sides' conversations for months unable to bring himself to come over despite being "accepted" even though he was 98% sure everyone still hated him. God, maybe I'm the one that needs some cookies, Janus thought, chuckling to himself. Hesitating, he knocked gently on the door.

"Go away...," Roman said, voice dry and strained. It sounded like he hadn't drank water in a while.

What could be wrong with him? Janus thought, growing more concerned by the minute.

Thinking quick, Janus transformed into Patton and tried to replicate his voice. I can't believe I almost forgot to change. Why did I think he would even want to look at me? They all hate me.

Getting into character, Jan plastered on a smile and said cheerily, "Well, kiddo, you've been stuck in your room for the last few days and I figured you were hungry. I brought some cookies, oatmeal craisin, your favorite!"

Roman opened the door looking like hell. The bags under his eyes hung almost down to his chin, dried up tears channeling his face like tributaries from a fertile crescent. His usually soft hair was a rat's nest of tangles and he only wore a worn-out red robe and mismatched slippers. Poor Roman was more zombie than prince at this point.

"Patt?" Roman said, confused, before collapsing to the ground. Panicked, Jan used his extra set of arms to quickly catch the prince before he hit the floor.

"Oh, Ro, what's happened to you?" Janus muttered to himself, tears starting to sting his eyes.

Stepping into the room, he quickly set the plate of cookies down on Roman's dresser before cradling Roman in his arms. He placed him gently on the bed and felt his forehead which was beading with sweat. Janus knew instantly that it was a fever, and ran to the bathroom for a wet washcloth and some Tylenol to break the fever. Poor, poor Roman, Janus thought, stressed out, He looks terrible! Why didn't anyone check on him sooner?!