Bad Rumors

11

"I don't agree to this." Roman grumbled angrily as he stood there beside Virgil, who just sighed.

"We know, and I don't care." Virgil waited as Patton laid back on a couch holding a stuffed dog tightly in his arms, while Logan situated himself on a chair. "You should really sit down too, Princey."

"Oh don't worry about me, Vladimir Todd. Your influence won't even affect me. I'm not afraid of anything." Virgil couldn't help but laugh which only made Roman madder.

"Everyone is afraid of something, Roman. Everyone, regardless of who you are, experiences anxiety in some form. No one is immune to it." Virgil smirked sassily over at the prince only to laugh again seeing just how stubborn he was. "I really think you should sit."

"And I think you should shut up and forget about this plan entirely but you don't see that happening do you?" Virgil just gave up. He was done with his attitude. If he ended up having an attack and fell on his ass that was his own damn fault. 

"Whatever, Prince Prideful." Roman's eyes snapped over as Virgil turned his attention to the others. "Are you all ready?"

"Go for it, kiddo." Virgil glanced over to see Logan nodding and he bit his lip slightly to calm his own nerves. 

"Well, ok then. Here we go." Virgil took a deep breath before letting his energy branch out. Patton sucked in a breath at first before laughing anxiously as he squirmed. Logan frowned as he narrowed his eyes in thought, with no other outward reaction. "So?"

"Not bad. I'm ok." Patton smiled as he snuggled close to his stuffed dog.

"In all honestly, I had assumed it to be... far worse than it was." Virgil chuckled softly as he shook his head.

"I didn't want to overwhelm you."

"Overwhelm? Look at them it's like they can't even feel it." Virgil frowned as he glanced over to see Roman just watching everything with narrowed eyes. "Are you sure you're even strong enough to even do this?"

"Says the man tapping his finger nonstop." Roman's tapping stopped instantly as he growled quietly making Virgil roll his eyes. He took another deep breath before increasing the pressure only to stop again as Roman started to tap again. He ignored that for now just trying to focus on the others who still seamed pretty ok. 

"Again, it's... not that strong." Logan muttered with slight confusion.

"Again, I didn't want to overwhelm you. I didn't want to risk a sudden attack. I'm trying to establish a connection, not to hurt you..

"Whenever you're ready kiddo." Virgil blinked making it jump several notches this time and just frowned as everyone seemed to suck in a breath. Well, not Roman, he just stopped tapping, choosing to grip his arm tightly as if Virgil wouldn't notice.

"You good there, Roman?" Roman frowned as he nodded not bothering to look over at him.

"I'm fine. I told you... I'm not scared of anything." Virgil's frown only grew as he saw Roman's eyes twitch a bit.

"Are you sure? As I said before I'm not trying to cause an attack..."

"What part of 'you can't affect me' do you not understand?" Roman snapped making Virgil jump and turn away in order to keep himself calm. "Stop focusing on me and focus on them. They're the ones feeling your influence."

"I'm ok, Kiddo. It's still not that bad." 

"Affirmative, please continue." Logan smiled slightly as Virgil nodded.

"Ok then... I'm going to make it jump so... let me know if it's too much too soon." The two nodded as Virgil took another deep breath to keep himself calm. As much as he didn't like the situation he was in he didn't hate them and Logan himself had been pretty kind to him since his... arrest? He didn't want them to get hurt. Even still he was doing this for a reason. He had to continue. 

"Why are we doing thi-..." Roman cut out just as the pressure jumped bad. Patton squeezed his puppy tightly as he tensed and Logan bit his lip as he tapped his foot, both clearly starting to feel a bit anxious. Roman... Roman went silent. He just stood there, hand gripping his arm so tight it went white as he stared blankly off at nothing. Virgil knew something was wrong. Even if he refused to acknowledge it. Roman WAS being affected, and it was faster and stronger than the other two. Where the other two were just starting to feel anxious, Roman had felt it the moment Virgil started. 

"Roman?"

"Don't." Roman muttered as he just continued to stare off at nothing. "You keep forgetting, Virgil. You're my partner. That means you can't affect me negatively."

"Except I clearly am!" Roman twitched as he quickly shook his head making Virgil groan in frustration. That man and his stubbornness are going to be the death of him.

"Keep going, Virgil." Logan called out making Virgil tense.

"But Rom..."

"Keep going, Virgil." Logan repeated. The only response he got was the pressure jumping up once again. Virgil's eyes flashed purple as the energy around them buzzed with electricity. Patton buried himself into his dog pressing against the couch as Logan continued to just tap his foot with a grimace. Virgil's focus was on Roman, however. 

"Uh..." Roman let out a shaky breath as he forced himself to sit on the coffee table as his body started to shake a bit. He frowned as he hugged himself and tried to calm his breathing. "Ok... I might... I might have a problem." Roman whispered as he glanced up with this fearful look in his eyes making Virgil snap. His eyes shined a bright florescent lavender as this intense fear washed over him and he knew right off the bat who it came from. "I-I... I can't..." Roman choked a bit as he gripped his shirt and suddenly all the pressure was gone. "I can't breathe."

"Roman?!" Patton was up within seconds pulling the other into his arms as Virgil just stumbled back. This was exactly what he didn't want to happen. It was too much at once and it triggered an attack. Virgil frowned as he felt a hand go to his shoulder. He looked up to see Logan just watching the scene with narrowed eyes. 

"Something's going on with him." Logan muttered as he sighed and shook his head. "I just wish his pride would let him talk about it."