Magenta

Ch. 19

"Roman~" He heard Virgil sing song. "Wake up~"

"Five more minutes." He grumbled, swatting him away.

"Can't do that I'm afraid, Princey." Virgil said.

Roman cracked an eye open, finding a fully dressed Virgil, ready to leave.

"What time is it?" Roman asked, rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes.

"5 AM." Virgil replied.

"On a Sunday?" Roman groaned. "Can you just let me sleep my problems away?"

"You can sleep in the car." Virgil rolled his eyes.

"Where are we going?" Roman sat up, yawning.

"That's a suprise, Princey." Virgil winked. "Get dressed, I wanna make it back before noon."

---

The car ride was three hours long. Roman drifted in and out of sleep, a mixture of stress and exhaustion overtaking of him.

"Ro? We're here."

Virgil was gently rubbing his finger against Roman's cheek. That was the first sensation he was aware of.

Roman stirred, eyes fluttering open.

Virgil was looking at him with a fond smile on his face. "Hey there."

Roman looked around, finding that they were on the side of the road. Forest surrounded them on both sides.

"Where...?" He murmured, looking back at Virgil.

"It'll make sense in a second." Virgil chuckled, unbuckling himself and getting out of the car. "Come on."

Roman nodded, unbuckling himself and getting out as well.

When he got out, Virgil was looking towards the forest with a small smile on his face.

He turned to Roman, offering him a hand.

Roman was confused, but he hesitantly took it.

Immediately Virgil pulled him into the forest.

"Wha--Virgil--" Roman stammered, dodging branches. "What if there's snakes or--"

"Never took you for the anxious type!" Virgil laughed. "I've done this a million times, it's fine!"

Roman didn't respond, focused on not tripping over.

A few minutes later, Roman gasped.

Virgil had taken him to a clearing. A beautiful tree loomed in front of him, rocks layed in a decorative manner around it.

"My dad used to take me here when I was a kid." Virgil told him. "As far as I'm aware, no one knows this exists. Just me." He turned to Roman. "And, well, you."

"It's beautiful..." Roman whispered in awe.

"I come here when I have a lot on my mind." Virgil sighed. "And I have a feeling that you have a lot of things on your mind."

"Virgil..." Roman pursed his lips. "You didn't have to--"

"I wanted to, Princey." Virgil squeezed his hand. "I hate seeing you so stressed out."

"How can I not be stressed out?" Roman asked. "Janus is--Logan's in the hospital, and Patton refuses to hang out with us anymore!"

"I know, Ro. I know." Virgil sat down in the grass, gently pulling Roman down with him.

"Am I just bad luck or something?" Roman asked, sighing heavily. "Maybe the one responsible for Janus...and Logan...has something against me?"

"It's probably coincidental." Virgil quickly assured. "You shouldn't blame yourself, Roman."

"Still, maybe Patton's right...." Roman ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe I've ruined everything..."

Virgil flicked Roman's forehead. "You're not allowed to think like that here."

"...isn't this a place for me to vent?" Roman asked, rubbing his forehead.

"I never said that." Virgil smirked. "It's just a place to...relax. Get away from the stress. You think I dragged you three hours away from my home to hear you rant?"

"Uh, kinda?" Roman chuckled awkwardly.

Virgil gently placed a hand on Roman's cheek. "Ro," He delicately kissed him, making the butterflies in Roman's stomach flutter. He pulled away, a small smile on his face. "I could do that anytime."

He got up, walked over to the tree, and layed down under it, hands folded on his stomach. Roman followed his example, sitting down next to him..

"While I do think you should talk to someone," Virgil closed his eyes, relaxing into the grass. "That someone should be a therapist, definitely not me."

"Well...what should we do then?" Roman asked, looking around.

"You can do whatever you want, I'm going to take a nap." Virgil hummed. He peeked an eye open to glance at Roman. "I would offer to let you join, but I doubt you're tired."

"Yeah..." Roman sighed. Virgil closed his eye again, letting out a yawn. He hummed.

Roman hesitated, but began to run his fingers through Virgil's hair.

"Oh yeah, that feels nice." Virgil smiled, sighing. Roman chuckled.

Roman leaned back, onto the tree. He contemplated going back to sleep, but there was too much energy inside of him to that now.

A few minutes passed. It was peacefully silent, the only sound being the soft rustling of leaves as the wind softly blew.

"...I really like you, Ro." Virgil murmured, drifting off. Roman wasn't even sure if Virgil was aware of what he was saying.

"I like you too." Roman smiled, still running his fingers through Virgil's hair.

Virgil didn't respond, and Roman instantly knew he had fallen asleep.

Roman kept running his fingers through Virgil's hair anyways, finding comfort in Virgil's warmth.

Roman wished he could say he sang or looked at the scenery. He wished he could say that he didn't something really angelic and peaceful.

But no, he pulled out his phone.

The first thing he did was take a picture of Virgil, knowing that he might not have many of these moments in the future.

He began idly scrolling through various forms of social media, feeling truly relaxed for the first time in weeks.

He looked back down at Virgil, a small smile forming.

He would have to thank him later.

A/N:

This took forever because fluff is hard for me 😔