Sanders Sides One Shots

Calm Adventures

Roman was an adventurous free spirit. Being the passionate trait he was, he would often have goals that were unrealistic and his extroverted nature caused him to be forceful; this was well-known. Something that wasn't as well known about him was that he could actually be pretty independent.

One of his favorite things to do, aside from singing, was to go on jogs in the real world. As he was just a figment of imagination, nobody real could actually see him, causing no problems.

It wasn't until much later it started that Virgil noticed he would disappear for hours at a time, and ended up becoming curious. He knew the well-known saying that 'curiosity killed the cat', and was all for taking precautions, but this was Roman. What could possibly go wrong?

Roman was in the kitchen, acting silent and questionable, when Virgil stumbled upon him. He stood in the doorway watching as Roman quietly mixed together fruit for a smoothie. When Roman turned to see him standing there, he just nodded in greeting, but otherwise made no attempt to talk to him.

He stuck the finished smoothie in the fridge to keep cold and stuck both of his earbuds, previously hanging around his neck, in his ears. Leaving the mind and Thomas' house, Roman stretched his muscles out in preparation of his jog, scrolling through his phone to get to Spotify, looking for his jogging playlist.

Hearing the door behind him open, Roman turned around, surprised to see that Virgil had followed him out. Virgil came to stand next to him, already listening to music on his headphones. Roman gave him a questioning look, receiving no answer, but would otherwise not protest.

So Roman goes about his business as he normally would, figuring that Virgil would give up following him eventually. Although, he didn't. Roman had been jogging, listening to several songs, and when he turned back, Virgil was still jogging slightly behind him.

Although panting and hot despite the cloudy day, Virgil didn't quit. Roman continued on his run, but sometimes he'd slow down a little to allow Virgil to catch up. These were the only times he'd see Virgil wearing his hoodie tied around his waist.

Sunsets were Roman's favorite. He'd enjoy the fresh air and breezy night as colors washed across the horizon. He'd stop and stare from wherever he was, appreciating the show the sky would provide every night, despite the lack of people truly watching.

Sometimes he would jog for long enough to be able to see the stars more clearly. During night jogs, he would travel as far away from man-made light to see them in their true beauty, often masked by the citylife.

Roman was the kind of the person to lay down in a field of grass. The straw-like lushness of it somehow being comfortable. He would lie there, buried in his person-shaped indent and stare at the sky.

These were all things Virgil realized without him even saying anything.

A specific place Roman would like to go was the playground. It wasn't all that close, but distance didn't seem to matter to him, so it was his favorite escape. Especially at night where he'd play soulful music through his earbuds, he would make his way over to the swings. Old and relatively unused, but still his favorite.

Virgil could practically see the joy he was feeling as he swung back and forth, his momentum causing the whole swing set to shudder as he'd kick as high as he could.

Although Roman had no fear, Virgil was always fearful. He would sit in an adjacent swing to Roman, but wouldn't kick very high, usually only swaying ever so slightly side to side. He was afraid to go too high.

Little known fact, Roman's favorite kind of footwear was nothing, as he would go barefoot anytime he wasn't wearing the boots that matched his princely outfit. Especially when he was at the playground, he would kick off his running shoes and walk through the sand.

As he swung his legs back and forth on the swing, Virgil could see how grey the bottom of his feet would get from walking in the sand, but his youthful skin hadn't yet begun to create sores or blisters.

Much to Virgil's dislike, Roman would sometimes lean as far back as he could as he swung and seemingly plunge face down towards the ground, but would always swing just past it. Despite knowing he wouldn't hit the ground, it didn't stop Virgil's heart from dropping into his stomach everytime Roman did it.

Virgil following Roman had become routine despite them never talking. Ever. The occurrences were an unsaid thing between them, and to be fair, Virgil quite enjoyed a quiet Prince, who was actually quite calm and peaceful when he wasn't blathering on.

Roman would listen to his own music, both earbuds in his ears, knowing Virgil wasn't there to talk. Virgil would cover both of his ears with his own headphones, listening to his own music. It didn't take too many times of them jogging together that Roman shared his Spotify playlist with him, and Virgil had to admit, his music choice was surprisingly ambient and enjoyable.

Not too long after that, the smoothie Roman would make and leave in the fridge to stay perfectly cold and ready to drink for when he got back, became two. Roman would prepare two smoothies instead of one, not even having to ask Virgil if he wanted one. He appreciated the gesture.

A day similar to every other, Virgil walked outside after he'd seen Roman mixing smoothies. Roman was standing a few steps from the door, wearing sweatpants and a long sleeve, as it had become chilly out. He was fiddling on his phone, opening up his Spotify playlist while waiting for Virgil to come out after him.

When Roman saw him approach, he stuck his phone in his pants pocket and began a slow jog. Instead of following like he normally did, to wherever Roman wanted to go that time, Virgil took the lead.

He saw Roman give a surprised look as he passed to jog slightly ahead of him. Although it was his intentions, he was still intrigued to notice that Roman had actually followed him when he took a turn, without even a complaint.

Virgil lead their jog somewhere he had only ever been alone. Roman had shared some of his private places with him, making him want to do the same.

It was much later, both of them sweating and breathing heavily, that they arrived at a small creek. Far enough away from civilisation, they were able to clearly see many stars through the break in the trees above the creek. It was quiet, not even crickets were chirping yet, when Virgil removed a side of his headphones. They'd even passed the sunset on their way here, gracing over the tops of the trees in the distance.

Despite the spot having everything Roman should like, based on Virgil's observations, he was still anxious that Roman wouldn't like it. He avoided eye contact for as long as possible, but when he finally looked over, Roman was sat down next to creek, running his hand through the slow-moving current and looking up at the stars.

As cheesy as it sounded, Virgil could almost see a twinkle in his eyes as he looked up in wonder and amazement.

Roman looked over at him upon seeing his glance, and he smiled. No words were needed.

...

I like calm things, dangit.

Also, Thomas posted this (calming) Instagram story today, and I just...

I love this movie (The Greatest Showman) so much.

On a different note... here's some analysis for you:

When you look at all their camera frames... Patton is in front of a closed window, as if he's shutting off his emotions and there's so much behind it. Roman stands in front of the TV, and it's off, it's like the whole picture of how he feels, nobody can see. Virgil is on the staircase, and he's got a lot going on upstairs (lmao). Logan has the most behind him- the stairs, the hallway, the kitchen, the dining room, the couch, the front door- and it's all visible, but yet no one pays attention to the stuff in plain sight (his 'baggage' is in plain sight, but no one realizes).

Just thought that was an interesting observation I wanted to share.