You're The Only One - Prinxiety [COMPLETED]

Chapter Six: Getting To Know Each Other

Roman walked into a familiar small room in the stable building. It was the same room he and the stable boy had talked in the day prior, so he made the assumption that this was going to be the home of their lessons from here on out. 

He wandered around and inspected the details of the room. The prince noticed that for a stable full of dragons, it wasn't that dirty. There were some tell-tale signs of animals and the things that came with them, but other than some dirt here and there, the room looked well organized. Brian immediately came to mind; he knew that the old horse caretaker was a bit of a neat freak. His advisor Logan was the same way. 

Taking a seat, his thoughts shifted to the new boy and the scars he'd seen on his back. There had been many marks. Some of them resembled burns, while others looked like clean and deep cuts. He had seen a couple of teeth indentations, but there weren't many of those.

Roman was curious to know how long Virgil had been working with dragons and if it was the dragons that had been responsible for the scars. Perhaps they weren't and the stable boy had a dark past to him that he would have to uncover in order to gain his full trust. Maybe he was over thinking this just a bit. 

The stable boy he was thinking of walked into the room, his shirt thankfully covering his torso. "So, how are you today, your Highness?" he asked him as he took a seat across from him at the table.

"Uh, I'm okay, but I thought we established yesterday that you could call me Roman," the prince pointed out, testing out a smile. 

Virgil arched an eyebrow and nodded. "Right, you don't like the formal title thing, got it," he mumbled. He leaned back in his chair and gave him a blank look. The air suddenly felt a little warmer and charged. Their eyes were locked and Roman wasn't quite sure why. Fortunately, the stable boy broke the tension by speaking. "Okay, so I told you yesterday that I was going to test you today. Well, I didn't mean I was going to quiz you on dragons. I meant I was going to test your personality."

"My apologies, what?" he asked, brows furrowing in confusion. 

He leaned forward with a slight smirk on his lips. "I mean, I have to spend several hours with you, almost every day, for who know's how long from now," he pointed out. "I want to know what kind of person I'm going to be dealing with."

Realization fell over the prince as his eyes widened. "Oh, that makes sense. I suppose you wouldn't want to make assumptions about me."

"Yes, that would be unpleasant in your particular case," Virgil said, rolling his eyes slightly. He scowled, not quite following along with what he meant by that, but the stable boy moved on without missing a beat. "Therefore, I've got some questions for you. I want you to answer them as honestly as you can and you can pass on a question if you feel the answer would be too personal to share. You can ask me anything in return, but know that I am allowed to pass as well. Okay?"

Roman locked eyes with him once more. There was something in his tone that was hiding something he couldn't put his finger on. It was almost like he had rehearsed this. Sweeping his gaze up and down the stable boy's appearance, he noticed that his hands were twitching a little and that he was gnawing on his lip nervously. 

He must be more anxious than he's letting on, he thought to himself. I should try and make him feel more comfortable around me. I'm really not that intimidating, right?

"That sounds fine to me," he said. He flashed a bright smile that he hoped showcased his enthusiasm and eagerness. 

"Right, so first question: favorite color?"

"That's a pretty easy and unoriginal question," Roman teased, laughing a little. When the darkly dressed man opened his mouth to protest, he held up a hand. "Relax, I was kidding. We're starting off simple. I get it. I like red personally, how about you?"

Virgil seemed eased by his words as he replied. "I like purple."

"That's a lovely color, I must say," he agreed.

"Second question: would you rather spend your free time reading or training?" The question made the prince pause as he tried to think. "You can take your time answering. Some of these questions might be a little hard to answer quickly."

Roman nodded; this was a bit of a tough question to answer. He loved reading fantasy novels written by authors from far away kingdoms. He found them exhilarating and inspiring to his own writing interests. Though, he'd been told when he was younger that it was ridiculous for him to pursue any interest. He was a prince; that should be his sole interest. 

He didn't dislike training either. He was extremely talented with a sword if he allowed himself to brag a bit. Glancing at the boy's face, he somehow got the impression that he wouldn't be impressed if he said training.

"Well, since I suppose we're trying to get to know each other, I should be truthful," the prince said, taking a breath. "I really love reading and writing."

Virgil blinked. He definitely hadn't been expecting that response. He felt a warmth spread through his chest that he couldn't describe. Roman had decided to trust him with the truth rather than what was expected. Of course a young male royal like him would train in some sort of fashion he found enjoyable, and of course he would be expected to pursue studies as well, but for him to admit to reading for entertainment and having a passion for writing felt like he'd just been trusted with a secret. 

"That's really cool, Princey," he said, letting the corner of his lips quirk up in a slight smile. "I appreciate you being truthful."

"Yeah, I figured that I should be honest," Roman said. He smiled warmly at the stable boy, feeling hope flare up in his chest. "I want my tutor to know the real me, you know? We're going to have to learn a lot about each other if we're spending hours upon hours together from now on, like you said."

They shared a small laugh as the last bits of remaining tension diminished.