Archive of Our Own ^beta

Everyone loves when they have that creative burst, right? Right? Not really, Roman hates them. Ironic, isn't it? The creativity itself hates creative bursts, well... is not a unfounded hate, to be kinda honest. Everytime one of those happen, everything gets messed up and, even exhausted, Roman is the one left to deal with all the mess and fix everything. All of the sides have the same motto. 

"Your mess, your problem, you deal with it."

But is not Roman's fault that he has creative bursts and sure as hell isn't his fault it gets so out of hand. Creative bursts are like losing control to the fancy side and not the good one, he doesn't have any control and is really easily influenced by other around him. Is like all is buzzing in his ears at the same time and the smallest idea creates havoc. Is so easy to destroy everything and build a cemetery above it in the middle of one of those. Ideas overlap, voices interlock and nothing is just itself, it always comes intertwined with something else. So when Thomas talk about traits of personality, tropes of stories and characters his mind quickly begins to change things around the mindscape. More characters, which means more personality traits portrayed. And soulmates... soulmates. He doesn't know what he's doing when he applies it, he doesn't understand anything quite right while Thomas talks and talks about his favorite soulmate AUs. 

"You know... 'Nd... Matching tattoos... find... other." And that's how he changes things, he doesn't notice, he isn't in tune with things at the moment. 

Seconds later – even though Roman doesn't notice the time passing around him, just stays that and works outside his "office" – a voice reverberates in the living room. "What... 'uck... you do... man!" He can't understand who it is or why they're so angry, he just hears screaming and feels when someone pulls him by his shirt collar. Is he wearing his 'I'm not in my right mindset' shirt? 

"Vir... go of... im... sure we... work it... ut!" Another voice chimes in, much more sweet, but clearly worried. He can't place who it is or why they're worried, but his mind supplies that he should do something to calm them, but what? 

Things start spinning around Roman and he feels dizzy and disoriented, the urge to just curl up and fall into a deep, never ending sleep pungent in his chest and he just... let go of consciousness. 

🥀

When Roman wakes up the creative burst is gone, but there are about 10 people surrounding him and he does not feel comfortable with it. 

"Hm... excuse me? Why are you all staring at me like I just stole your phones?" The prince asks, backing off from them. 

"Oh, Roman, we totally didn't wait 7 house for you to wake up." Janus rests his head on his hand, sited on the back of the couch. 

"Oh kiddo, thank god you're ok." Patton sighs, relief dripping from his voice.

"He's gonna be soon enough, if he doesn't fix this!" Virgil stands by Patton by the end of the couch, both standing and Virgil has his arms crossed. 

"Fix what? What are you talking about and... who are they?" He notices the unknown 5 people around him. 

"That is what we need you to fix, besides something else, but I think that something else isn't very clear what it is." Logan says, besides where Roman's head was laid. 

"How... how can I fix it? I don't even know what you're all talking about." He exclaims, confused and very tired. 

"I told you we should just kill them." Remus shrugs. 

"No!" Roman voices reverberates ominously and powerfully while his eyes shine in a beautiful swirl of red and gold. "You dare to touch my creations and I'll rip you apart!"

"There it is! Now we know what they are!" Remus answers happily, like he already knew what buttons to push and like Roman stance isn't like a wolf who's ready to maim anyone who poses a threat to his cubs. 

"He seems like he'll kill you..." Virgil states. 

"Nah, is fine, as long as I don't touch his creations for now he won't hurt me." The Duke dismisses the other side's worry. 

"How do you know that?" Logan asks. 

"I threatened to kill one of his kids once, not literally, it's one of the kids of his village on the imagination, but still." He sighs before continuing. "I threatened it but did not intended to kill it for real, until he retaliated and did just like now. I thought it would be fine and went for it anyway." He stops for a moment and his eyes look away, like he's remembering something, wandering off. "It was a blood bath, I never saw something so brutal like that before..."

Each side blinks, shocked by the idea that Roman, of all people, can be so threatening and aggressive. 

"So how do we stop him now?" Patton worries again, looking at Roman's stance and the pure peril in his eyes. 

"Hm... I have no clue... I never tried that again after that." He shrugs it off. 

🥀

After some time, Roman comes back to his senses, still looking at his friends – or whatever Remus and Janus consider him – like they committed the worst of the crimes. Like talk shit about Disney. 

"You said we had 2 problems, but only complained about my babies." He crosses his arms, glaring daggers at them. 

"You're not oddly found of these... things." Janus sighs, pointing towards the other versions of Thomas that haven't spoken since they appeared. 

"First of all, not things, they're almost like us, but they were made by me and me only, not influenced by morality or logic or anything." He makes a dramatic movement and rises one finger. "Second... where is my other baby?" He turns to look at the unbothered "sides".

"The kitchen, with Thomas, hungry." One of them says, clothes in different tones of grey. 

"You're not much verbal, everything ok?" He turns completely to him, offering a hand, which the other lays on happily. 

"Mhm, 'm 'kay." They say, eyes closing. 

"How did you know there was another side?" Logan interferes 

"I created them, of course I know how many they are and a basic notion of where they are, I just didn't notice before because I had just woke up." The prince shrugs. "Now, for the other important thing. What else you me to, quote-on-quote, fix?"

"Hm... that's the thing... we don't exactly now kiddo." Patton fiddles with his fingers, nervous. 

"They appeared with your babies." Virgil voice shows his anger and frustration. He shows the inner part of his arm, close to his armpit and a mark, similar to a tattoo, is made visible. It's a little doodle of a spider with a mustache, wearing roller skates. 

"Hey, yours is exactly like mine!" Remus rips his pants and shows the same tattoo centralized on his thigh. 

"I also happens to have one, even if is completely different than the one you two have." Logan shows his shoulder blade, a tattoo – also a doodle – of a little kitten wearing glasses and, apparently, trying to flip over a book. 

"Hey, hey, lo! We match!" Patton shows the back of his left hand. 

"Wha...." Roman stops, sinking out quickly. He enters his room and takes off his clothes, searching in his skin to be sure nothing is different. Sadly enough, he finds a doodle of a snake entangled in a red rose in his ribcage, with the frase "Acting is just another way of lying."

He hates it. Not the doodle, the doodle is perfect and he can see that, somehow, the snake changes color depending on the way you look at it, but the green spots on their faces never change. The doodle is perfect, but the frase brings him memories he rather forget. 

He changes to his 'Fuck off, I'm emo' shirt, which basically consists of a black oversized shirt with a dying red rose in the middle of it. He also puts his dark red sweatpants and goes back to the living room. 

"Yours is a snake with a rose, isn't it?" He barely looks up when he asks Janus. 

"How do you... Oh." He stops before concluding. "It's in my low back, if this can help in anyway."

"Nah, I don't think it can, right now I need to remember what Thomas was talking about." He sighs and one of his sides crawl to his lap, the pink color coded one, hugging him sweetly. 

🥀

He discovers what each of his new babies are, but can not remember what he and Thomas were talking about. Pink is Empathy, which Roman named Adonis; Grey is kind of difficult explaining, – first of all, he's actually white and, when weared out, he becomes grey – he's like that need to interact with someone, and Roman decides his name is Eros; There is Brown – which he thought would be a terrible color to wears, but is indeed gorgeous on his kid – that stands for integrity and is named Pollux; Then there's Nude – which, again, surprisingly good looking clothes – that says he stands for calmness, Atlas; The last one in the room is gold and silver, he says he stands for innovation and prosperity – and if Virgil says "So he's like a human new year's day?" Roman just ignores it – that receives the name Cadmus. Just as Roman finishes, Thomas and his last baby enters the room. He's beautiful, color coded like the night sky, full of constellations, and Roman just knows he is Morpheus, there's no doubt. 

"What's going on here?" Thomas ask, mouth full of food, he surely didn't do alone because it looks divine.

"Roman was naming his... whatever those are, while trying to remember what you two were talking about." Virgil says, ignoring how Roman snarls at him. 

"Oh, we were talking about soulmates, some characters I like from the most recent story I read and their personality traits." He shrugs. 

"So that's why this happened." Virgil turns to Roman. "Fix it. Now."

"What do you want me to do?" He defensively answers. 

"Your mess, you have to fix it, not me or the rest of us." He crosses his arms. 

"Not my mess, more like Thomas mess, I don't control creative bursts, they are like energetic bursts, they just happen. And I fucking hate it, so annoying." He pouts. 

"Oh, you sure do, Roman." The snake says, filled with sarcasm and a bit of distrust. 

"I do! I can't control shit with it, I barely can understand what anyone says or does, I just... I'm just there. That's it." He lays back, pulling out a notebook. 

"What are you doing?" Logan asks. The new sides quickly sunk out, one by one. 

"Did you kill them?" Patton fusses about it. 

"No, of course not! They're my babies! I just gave them a room in my castle on the imagination." He sighs. "I'm gonna have to work a lot to understand and fix this."

🥀

It's been months and none of the sides has even began to understand how to solve the problem that that one creative burst caused. Sadly enough, another one comes. This time stronger and more confused. 

Roman spends the whole day on his room, creating and creating, restlessly. By the end of the day, when his creative burst subsided a bit, a yellow blue enters the room. It gets him out the cold floor, feeds him, tucks him in and murmurs sweetly to him. He's still not totally conscious, but is conscious enough to understand most of their words. 

"We barely talk... 'nd I messed up a lo... bu.... any other wa... I'm gla... it takes u... 's soulmates. I love you." And just like that, he isn't awake anymore. 

The next day, he wakes up blushing, heart pitter pattering and completely speechless. He can't possibly believe that someone as amazing as Janus likes him back. Without courage to tell him that he likes him, he quickly doodle their mark on a paper, writes a bit on it and sends it over with magic. 

"Acting is just another way of lying and I would be lying if I said I didn't like you."