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If someone were to ask Thomas Sanders whether or not he loves his sides, he wouldn’t hesitate to answer with a resounding yes.
He loves their personalities, similar yet somehow so different to his own. He loves talking to them. He loves Roman’s encouragement and enthusiasm. He loves Patton’s jokes and care. He loves Logan’s calm guidance. He loves Virgil’s sweet (though he’ll never call him that to his face again, lest he once more have a blushing, ranting side on his hands) concern. He loves how they’ll check on him throughout the day.
He loves seeing Logan in the morning. Sitting and reading a book at the table, a cup of tea or coffee in front of the logical trait. He loves the how Logan is impeccably dressed, clothes ironed without a single wrinkle and tie perfectly straight (the only straight thing about him of course), even when Thomas himself is still in pajamas with his hair a total mess. He loves the mornings when he actually gets to see Logan in his own pajama’s or his onesie, seldom as they are. He loves how Logan never fails to ask him if his sleep was optimal. He loves how there’s nearly always a simple, balanced breakfast already laid out for him on the counter or in the fridge. He loves how Logan will always give a brief overview of his schedule of the day, and a few not-so-subtle hints to remember to stick to said schedule. He loves the mornings of companionable silence. He loves the mornings of quiet talk. About the book Logan’s reading currently. About a shared interest. About an interesting fact one of them has recently learned. He especially loves how the logical side will promise each and every morning to let Thomas do the crossword alone, as it’s good for his brain. He loves how Logan can never stick to that and inevitably ends up solving it himself. He loves the slightly guilty but clearly content smile Logan has when he’s finished, as he hands the solved puzzle back to a chuckling Thomas who adds it to a collection of similar completed puzzles.
He loves seeing Patton in the late morning, just before lunchtime. He loves how the paternal trait never fails to crack a joke (usually a pun) within thirty seconds of his arrival. Yes, Thomas has timed it. He loves how Patton always has a snack for him, despite lunch not being very far off. He loves how Patton will always ask how his day is going so far, and listens carefully to whatever he has to say, good or bad. On good mornings, he’ll make as many puns as possible with Thomas’ description of his morning. On bad days, he’ll silently listen, an arm around his host, offering words of comfort or encouragement after Thomas finishes his explanation. He loves the days when he get to return the favor, much as he hates to see his normally cheerful side feeling down. He is so relieved to see Patton bottling up his emotions less and less. He loves the mornings when he’ll rise up and sit by Thomas’ side, seeming to just be taking in his company. He rarely talks about what’s bothering him, but he doesn’t hide it and that is a huge step forward. Thomas makes sure to let him know how proud he is of this progress. It’s Thomas who will crack a joke on these days, after an appropriate amount of comfort and silence for the moral trait. He has a special list of the corniest puns he could either come up with or find saved specially for these occasions. He loves when Patton finally gives him a small but genuine smile and laugh, and he loves how he’ll squeeze Thomas’ shoulder in a silent show of gratitude, his eyes holding more of their familiar light than when he came in. He especially loves the times when Patton stays long enough to help him make lunch, usually ending in laughter, big grins, the kitchen being far messier than was strictly necessary and a meal that bore no resemblance to the one they’d originally intended to make.
He loves seeing Roman in the afternoon. He loves how the creative trait will always show up with some kind of elaborate coffee or an energy drink for him (where he gets them, Thomas has no clue), ready to help him work. He loves Roman’s boundless energy as he helps Thomas work. He loves having a rehearsing partner. He loves how Roman manages to add his own dimension to any character he reads for. He loves how he tries and fails to hold back a laugh at Roman’s many self-made voices he uses, never using the same voice twice even when practicing the same lines. He loves how his laughter continues even as Roman goes on an overly dramatic rant about how this would totally ruin an onstage performance and how Thomas needs to hold himself together. He loves how it only makes him laugh harder, and how Roman always ends up laughing with him in the end. He loves how the creative side will practice with his sword as Thomas works as diligently as possible, trying not to get too distracted by his favorite prince. He loves how Roman will regale him with fantastical tales of his adventures when Thomas takes a break. His eyes locked on the prince as he weaves vivid images of dragon witches, manticore chimeras, and gorgeous princes in need of rescue by a certain Prince Roman always ending in a climactic and romantic kiss. He especially loves how Roman will always turn on music for him, just loud enough to hear but not too loud as to be fully distracting. He loves how whenever he inevitably starts to sing along, Roman will sing back up for him or sing the duet part if there is one, never complaining about not being the lead despite his usual craving for the spotlight. He loves they way their voices entwine, almost identical, yet somehow distinct from each other.
He loves seeing all of them in the evening. Patton insisting on dinner being famILY time. None of them have the nerve to try and argue with his Patton-ted dad stare and puppy eyes that he had rotated and given in intervals until everyone agreed when he first brought the idea up. He fixes up his own plate and brings it to the table while each of the sides appear with plates of food from the mind palace. He’s not sure if that food is real, or if they even really need to eat but he’s just grateful he doesn’t have to have a grocery bill for all of them and happy to spend time with them. He loves the way he can chat with each of them. He loves hearing about all of their days and talking about his own. He loves watching Roman banter with Virgil. He loves watching Logan desperately trying (and usually failing) not to set himself up for any of Patton’s puns. He loves watching Logan start a debate with Virgil, himself usually being the moderator while Roman picks a side to back (usually switching back and forth several times before the debate is over) and Patton cheers both sides on. He loves watching Roman and Logan talk about their points of view on his day, growing more and more compromising and aware of each other with each night. He loves watching Patton and Roman animatedly discuss which cartoon or show they should all start next. He loves the one night Patton convinces Virgil that since Roman and Logan had a rap battle, they should have one too, except Virgil, while decent at the rapping itself, refuses to insult Patton in any way instead falling back on his old standard of insulting himself (“Your smile shines bright, and you’re such a good ‘father’. Don’t know how you put up with me being a bother.”). This results in Patton very aggressively rapping compliments back at him (“You always have something insightful to say. Just seeing your face keeps me grinning all day.”). This goes on for quite some time leaving the other three torn between laughter and wondering what in the world is happening. He loves how they’ll watch a movie or play a game when they’re all done eating. He loves the competitive spirit the wells up in all of them when they play together. He loves how they’ll each use their own traits to their advantage with him trying to use a combination of them all. Roman’s creative thinking. Logan’s intelligent understanding of the game. Patton’s determination to never give up. Virgil’s careful strategy. He doesn’t love the fights that sometimes break out between them, but he loves how they all end up making up and laughing at each other within ten minutes max. He loves how they’ll all squeeze together on the couch to watch movies. He loves how Patton makes a bowl of popcorn for each of them just the way they like it (not that it stops them from stealing popcorn from each other anyway). He loves singing with Patton and Roman for all the musical movies. He loves how he can sometimes hear Virgil’s quiet voice join theirs. He’s desperate to compliment the anxious trait on it, but afraid he’ll stop if he’s called out. He loves the very rare times Logan will join in with his own poetic ‘singing’ and he loves the once-in-a-blue-moon times Logan will actually sing. He especially loves the night they watch the original Star Wars trilogy together and Roman conjures up lightsabers for an epic battle competition. Thomas beats Patton, though the fatherly trait was excited by how cool the lightsabers are that Thomas isn’t entirely sure just how hard he was trying. He ends up losing to Logan who had apparently read a book on sword techniques at some point. He is enthralled by Logan and Roman’s battle which lasts a good while, Logan’s knowledge and execution of technique matching fairly evenly against Roman’s experience. Eventually Logan slips up though, using a good technique that just so happens to unfortunately leave an opening for Roman to take him down that the prince takes full advantage of. Virgil, who had been on his phone during the first three fights, faced Roman as the ‘boss battle’. Virgil doesn’t use his lightsaber much, but manages to evade and block all of Roman’s attacks before finally going in for a ‘kill’ strike when the opportunity arises. He explains to a semi-shocked room that despite being on his phone, he was watching the other battles and had taken note of all their fighting styles and how to best combat them in his head. A pouty Roman had perked up a little upon hearing this and actually asked Virgil to teach him how to do it. A slightly red Virgil had shrugged and mumbled about how he just kind of did it before Roman’s put out look made him grudgingly agree to try and teach the princely trait sometime. He loves how he and Patton make identical noises of delight as the two shake hands. He loves how Logan rolls his eyes at the host and moral trait though sporting a small smile. He loves how his creative and anxious sides both glance over at them with a bit of embarrassment and try to play it off (“You‘re not gonna be bitter I beat you, right Princey?” “Please, I wasn’t trying my best against an unskilled swordsman anyway.” “Surrrrrreeeee.”). He loves how even Logan can’t help bursting out laughing with Patton and himself as the other two realize that during their oh-so-cool playing it off they had never let go of each other’s hand.
He loves seeing Virgil at night, after he’s already wished the other three sweet dreams. The emo side always sits the same, up by Thomas’ pillows, back against the wall, with his signature hoodie off for once and behind his neck acting as a cushion. Thomas never asks why he doesn’t just use a pillow, figuring maybe he just likes keeping the hoodie close even when he’s not wearing it. He loves how the anxious trait will make comments about Thomas’ day (not all of them negative anymore) and what he has to do tomorrow. He tries to let the side know how proud he is of him for how far he’s come since Thomas first met him, whether with words or a smile or a gesture. He wonders, as he watches Virgil try to hide his pleased smile at Thomas’ praise with mumbled ‘whatevers’, how he ever found him so intimidating. He loves how Virgil saves all his favorite tumblr posts he’s read throughout the day and reads them to Thomas as he’s getting ready for bed. He loves laughing along with the anxious trait at the funnier ones and quietly appreciating the message of the more serious ones. He always listens carefully, looking out for any posts that seem out of place. A couple of times when Virgil was feeling particularly anxious and all around bad, he’s slipped in an extra dark post. Almost a way of communicating that he could use some help without having to actually say the words. Thomas is proud of him for that too, but doesn’t choose to voice it, knowing dwelling on it would only make Virgil uncomfortable and might even prevent him from alerting Thomas the next time. He hopes it’s an understood thing. On those nights, he tries to get the side to talk and failing that, turns on a lighthearted show and sits as close as he can in comfort while sending a mental message to Patton to let him know it may be a good night to bake some cookies. He really hopes it helps. He loves how Virgil makes sure he turns on his nightlight (that Virgil made him get because “It’s bad enough if someone or something breaks in but you’re putting yourself at even more of a disadvantage if you keep it too dark to even see Thomas.”) every single night without fail. He also loves how the totally for practical purposes and nothing else nightlight that Virgil picked out for him just so happened to be a ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ one that could change color. He loves climbing into bed with his laptop and turning on his usual late night conspiracy theory videos. He loves how sometimes Virgil will be totally enraptured listening to the videos, eyes wide and intrigued. He loves the other times when Virgil will talk over the videos, coming up with his own (usually even more intricate and fascinating) theories. Thomas loves to watch the passion in his eyes when he discusses or comes up with a theory he is so absolutely sure of. He loves how Virgil can convince him of just about any theory’s validity no matter how crazy the theory is or how skeptical he is. He loves when the emo will relax enough to allow Thomas to place a hand on his arm, or an arm around his shoulder. He loves the times when Virgil will actually initiate contact, sitting close enough for their legs to touch or leaning against Thomas, even more. He especially loves the rare (but increasingly more frequent) times the anxious side will actually fall asleep beside him. He feels so honored by the trust Virgil places in him, knowing that a mere year ago the anxious trait would rather have changed his all black ensemble to bright neon yellow than show such vulnerability in front of him. He thinks the sleeping trait is adorable (another thing Thomas should probably never call him to his face), usually falling asleep at a slightly odd angle with his bunched up hoodie curled to his chest. He looks far more peaceful than in his waking hours, and Thomas makes a vow to himself to one day find a way to get that expression on the anxious side’s while he’s awake if it’s the last thing he does. He loves the times when Virgil will wake up, still not quite fully aware, and give Thomas a sleepy hug before sinking out to his own room (Thomas is also determined to get a proper hug out of the trait while he is fully awake one day). He loves the times when he’ll wake up in the morning and have to very carefully get out of bed to avoid waking the still sleeping trait. He usually fails, Virgil’s natural alertness making him a fairly light sleeper, but occasionally he succeeds and he trots down the stairs to where Logan waits in the kitchen with a sense of accomplishment.
So in short, Thomas Sanders loves his sides. Unequivocally, undeniably, and wholeheartedly. He loves who they are. He loves spending time with them. But more than anything else, he loves knowing and feeling that (even though they aren’t ‘technically’ full people), with them, he will never be alone.