Chapter Text
Roman remembers the day he was born. In an explosion of colors and harmonies. He didn’t know it at the moment, but he would bring inspiration and passion to Thomas’ life.
He remembers the excitement of creating a new world, for the sake of adventures. When Thomas was a kid and too excited about everything. Thomas’ mind was full of princes and princesses, knights and dragons. He was able to play all day.
He also remembers the day he broke a vase in one of his little adventures.
He was too focused on chasing the Dragon Witch. And before Thomas had time to react, the vase was on the floor. The others were not happy about this.
“What if mom hates us?” Patton was sitting on the couch, hugging himself and trying to avoid the tears from falling, “What are we gonna do?”
“That’s unlikely,” said Logan, trying to comfort Patton, “Thomas’ mother will not stop showing affection just because he broke a vase.”
Roman was pacing back and forth. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
“I told you to stop playing inside the house!”, said Anxiety in a trembling voice, “This is bad, if someone discovers that we broke this, we will get grounded!” He had his arms crossed and a scowl on his face, but Roman could see the way his lips were trembling.
Roman stopped. He needed to stop worrying that was Anxiety’s job! He needed to fix this. It couldn’t be that hard, right?
“Do not worry!” Roman gave a confident smile, remembering the princes of his favorite movies. “I will solve this problem, just as I always do!”
“Is that so?” Anxiety didn’t seem too convinced, and Roman could feel the glare directed at him. “Because you are the problem here. If you just listened this could’ve been avoided. Stop being so reckless!”
“I was just trying to have a little fun!” Roman said, “You don’t even know what that means, Mr. Gloomy Face,” and with that, he decided to walk to his room, leaving a distressed Anxiety behind him.
What was that guy’s problem? Sure, Roman didn’t know what to do, but he would think of something amazing to solve this! He knew this was his fault, and he knew the other Sides were to busy to think of something. Thomas just needed to explain to his mom that it was an accident, that-
“This is not your fault,” a voice said behind him.
Roman didn’t recognize that voice, and a quick glance to his surroundings told him that he had been wandering around Thomas’ unconsciousness. He turned around, and there, he met a peculiar Side. Sure, he had Thomas face, but half of it was covered in scales. It reminded him of the Dragon Witch he played so much with.
But what he was saying didn’t make any sense, so Roman tried to explain himself.
“But I did break it. We were playing and-”
“The Dragon Witch pushed it,” snake face insisted.”You were just trying to stop her.”
That was not true. Roman remembered he was the one to stumble.
“Come on Roman, you are the hero in this. You were trying to stop her,” the Side smiled at him, almost in an admiring way, “Don’t you wanna become a brave knight?”
He was getting close, too close for Roman’s liking. But he was right, he was Thomas’ brave knight. But Patton always encouraged them to tell the truth, no matter what. And this Side seemed a little… off.
“I’m sorry,” Roman gave a smile, after all, this guy just wanted to help him, “but I’m afraid I can’t do that.”
The Side looked mad for a moment, but then-
“Oh, my bad. I just thought that with that magnificent outfit, you were some sorts of brave knight.”
“Of course I am!” Roman couldn’t help but smile. “Do you like my clothes? I made them myself!” And to emphasize, he gave a little twirl on his place.
“Yes, I absolutely adore them.” He waited until Roman absorbed and took pleasure in those words. “It’s a shame you are not doing them any justice.”
“But I am!” Roman bit his lip, a little nervous about what he was doing to do. “I just have to prove that I am worthy, right?”
“Of course,” the other practically hissed. “You will be able to help Thomas that way.”
“Then I will!” Roman gave a big smile.
“See? Now go tell everyone how brave you were when trying to stop the Dragon Witch.”
And he did. The others were a little mad, specially Anxiety. Isn’t this what he wanted? To get out of trouble? He would never understand him.
After this, Roman invited the new Side to play in his room. He came up with wonderful stories, and he was the perfect villain for Roman to fight. They would also watch Disney movies and have sleepover. This is how he learnt his name, Deceit. What a peculiar word, perhaps he should have asked Logan about it’s meaning.