The Aberrations of S.I.D.E.

No. 1: Phone Call

There are few joys in life that compare to steamrolling your boyfriend in Mario Kart, and Virgil had just experienced that four times in a row.

"This is illegal!" Roman exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. "You can't get that many mushrooms at once!"

"Believe it, Princey," Virgil said. "Want another round?"

"No, actually, I don't."

"You two should take a break from the video games, anyway," Yuko added, walking in. "Go take a walk or something. Get outside. Experience some fresh air."

"Mom, it's eighty degrees outside," Virgil told her. "I'm not taking a walk in that."

Roman raised an eyebrow. "Wow, Portlanders really are wimpy."

"Shut it, Romano," he said, elbowing him. "You couldn't deal with the rain."

"Hey, it rains in New York, too! Especially in the summer!"

"Still, I'm not wimpy. I just prefer the grey weather."

Roman sighed and got up. "I'm going to go make us some lunch. Grilled cheese sandwiches okay?"

Virgil raised an eyebrow. "Uh, do you even need to ask me twice?"

"Fair enough."

Spending the summer with Virgil and his family had apparently rubbed off on Roman, as he'd gotten a lot better at cooking than he used to be. When he'd first arrived, he had no idea how to get around a kitchen, but now, he could make a pretty good grilled cheese, and he'd learned how to make instant soup. Dinner was still something that was left to Yuko, Frank, and Virgil (mostly Frank and Virgil), of course.

Roman was actually a pretty good houseguest. He'd always offer to pitch in on chores, even when they were doing a birthday celebration for him (his and Remus's birthday was on June 11th, and they hadn't gotten the chance to do anything big during the school year). He was also always interested in whatever Frank and Yuko were doing... which confused Virgil, since there wasn't really anything interesting about Frank's work. Roman had even gotten accustomed to the fact that the Hayashis ate in the living room (which his rich-kid self had been extremely shocked about when he first arrived).

"So, after lunch, you two are going to do something other than play video games, right?" Yuko said. "Like, maybe read? Or walk down to Fat Straw and get some bubble tea?"

"I dunno, whatever works," Virgil answered, shrugging. "I kinda like the Fat Straw idea, TBH."

"Good. You need to get out more."

Virgil flopped his head back. "Moooooooooom---"

"Honey, you cut your daily walks out of your routine for no reason, and now you're just lounging around the house."

"I'm trying to get used to this!" he protested, spreading his hands. "I come back from the Academy to find that you've rearranged the entire living room and repainted the kitchen! What else do you want me to do?"

"You want cheddar or Provolone, Hot Topic?" Roman called from the kitchen.

"Provolone!"

"Coming right up!"

Virgil turned back to Yuko. "Can you blame me for wanting to get reacquainted with my entire house after it's been turned upside down?"

"School's starting back up in three weeks, and you're still getting reacquainted," she reminded him. "You need to get out there and do something, or Combat Training is going to be a rude awakening for you."