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ask-fantasy-sanders-sides · 3 years

Note

Virgil!! Check out Roman's curly hair!!!

After Roman is dry and dressed back into his usual vestments, Virgil knocks at the dressing room door. Roman lets him in, and takes a minute to take in his new outfit.

The clothes Virgil’s wearing now are thin and colorful, paired with a dark grey robe and some silver jewelry. He’s even divided and braided his hair, though it looks like he gave up a third of the way down and just tied them off. This new look certainly blends in with the other people Roman has seen around this city, though Virgil looks oddly unlike himself, without his dark makeup and black clothes.

“That’s…a look.” Virgil smirks to himself, no doubt talking about Roman’s hair. Roman gives a short laugh, nervously rubbing his neck,

“So is that!”

Virgil shrugs, reaching a hand out to him, “Let’s get some food.”

“Oh, thank goodness.” Roman sighs, very slowly taking Virgil’s hand. Virgil gives him no time to be flustered, marching them around the manor.

Virgil leads them to a large lounge. It’s full of small circular tables, and net-like chairs that are hanging from the ceiling at different lengths. Each is surrounded by mesh fabric, making them look somewhat like spore pods growing out of the roof. While Roman marvels at the alien furniture, Virgil slips past him into the next room.

When he returns, Virgil parts the mesh around a lower-hanging chair like the door of a tent, then gracefully lifts himself up and into it. The fabric closes behind him, but Roman can still see his silhouette as he reaches up and swats at something hanging from the inside of it; a fungal plant that almost looks like a wind chime. When he touches it, the hanging rods start to glow softly, swaying like a children’s toy. Once he’s satisfied, Virgil lays down, and beckons for Roman to join him.

“C’mon, get in here. We can just hang out while we wait.”

“Does everything here have to be so high up? I thought you lived underground!” Roman whines, trying his best to maneuver his way into the swing without completely turning it upside down. Virgil tries not to laugh at his reluctance.

"Gravity doesn’t really work the same in a lot of the Underdark.” Virgil shrugs, “Something to do with crystals? There’s a lot of levitating shit. This is sorta the same.”

“Why did it not even move when you touched it?”

“Because I don’t weigh as much as you, and I’m graceful.” Virgil grins, “Just jump, it’s not gonna fall.”

“It will hurt when I land on you, though!”

“I’d prefer that to watching you struggle to climb up for ten more minutes.”

Roman huffs.

He finally just lifts himself up by his arms and rolls forward, terrified for a moment when it looks like the whole thing is going to swing away again and he’ll end up face-planting on the floor. Luckily, he lands on Virgil’s legs instead, with his own hanging out of the door. Virgil laughs while Roman crawls inside, rolling onto his back next to him.

“This thing is pretty cool once you’re in it, I’ll give you that.” Roman sighs. Virgil shuffles upward a bit, and pats his chest,

“Come lay down on me.”

“Pardon?”

“Lay down. On my chest.” Virgil nods, “Like I did on you the other day, before our sparring match. It’s comfortable, and it will help with your touch thing. If you want to?”

Roman doesn’t take very long to consider the idea, once he remembers who he’s talking to. Trying his best not to think of it as anything intimate, Roman rolls over again, laying on top of Virgil’s torso with his head on his chest.

Roman tries to let himself be comfortable, but his face goes up in flames when his cheek touches Virgil’s almost-bare chest, and he can’t manage to shut his brain off.

“Are you sure this is okay for you? Aren’t I heavy??” Roman mumbles, starting to push himself back up on his elbows. Virgil stops him, pressing his hand between Roman’s shoulder blades.

“Stop worrying, that’s my thing," Virgil hums, “I wouldn’t have suggested it if you were too heavy. Besides, you’re warm.”

Roman hesitates for a moment, though he feels like it's more for appearances then it is being nervous about crushing his friend. (Which is odd, he thinks, since there is no one in this room but them.) He lays back down, making a real effort to relax this time. He doesn’t know what to do with his arms, so he shuffles them under Virgil’s torso like he would with a pillow.

Virgil’s hand stays at his back, scratching at the still-exposed skin through the window cut out for his wings. (Something he does frequently, Roman silently notes to himself, instead of thinking about how intimate it feels being close enough to hear Virgil’s heartbeat.)

Virgil seems content just to sit there like that, kneading his back and enjoying the sway of their couch-pod… But, Roman can’t stand the silence. He clears his throat,

“We should play a game!” Roman blurts, a bit louder than he had intended, “One of those word games you play to get to know people better. I mean, we have plenty of time to waste~!”

Virgil grumbles, as if tired of the idea already.

“What sort of game?”

“Well, the whispers are suggesting ‘never have I ever,’ but you can’t really play that with two people.” Roman muses, “‘Truth or dare’ isn’t as fun with two people, either… Oh! What about twenty questions? We don’t have to explain where the idea for the question came from, and we can’t judge each other’s questions!”

“What if I don’t want to answer something?” Virgil grumbles lowly. Roman sighs; despite their closer relationship, Virgil is still shrouded in mysteries he seems intent to keep…

“Then say so, and I’ll ask a different question. —But! Unanswered ones don’t count towards my twenty! You can’t skip every question.”

“Fine, alright.” Virgil sighs, amused by how quickly Roman’s grown attached to the idea.

“Excellent~! We’ll take turns.” Roman smiles, looking up at him as best he can from their reclined position. “Since I suggested it, you can ask the first one. If you have an idea…?”

“Mhm,” Virgil hums, “What happened to your hair?”

Roman blushes and splutters, self-conscious all over again.

“Y-You’re supposed to be asking questions about me— Like, about my past! Not about my hair!”

Virgil quirks his brow at him, tone unimpressed.

“Is that a skip?”

“…No, no,” Roman chuckles, shaking his head for a second to displace a few curls, “It just does this after it dries. I usually smooth it out, but you grabbed me before I got to a brush! Pardon me if I look a bit disheveled…”

“A little.” Virgil smirks, “It’s more cute then it is messy, though. Can I touch?”

Roman reels a bit from the compliment before it registers that he was asked a question.

“Uhh… Sure?”

Virgil’s hand moves to Roman’s hair. Roman feels the now-familiar sensation of Virgil’s claws gently scratching against his scalp, and he lets himself relax into it, closing his eyes.

“Don’t try and knock me out again to get out of the game.” Roman mumbles, melting into Virgil’s chest. He feels the tiny purr rumble against his cheek before he hears it,

“Damn. Foiled again.”

“Ha~!” Roman grins, trying his best to ignore the little sparks of pain when Virgil catches on a tangled curl, “My turn! …Why are you so afraid of riding horses?”

“Again with the horses?” Virgil scoffs, “Why are you guys so afraid of spiders?”

“You can’t answer a question with a question,” Roman scolds him, "And there's nothing scary about riding a horse! It can't inject you with lethal venom, for a start! —I'm sure if you tried horse riding you would enjoy it."

“Fine. Fine! You know what?” Virgil huffs, though Roman can hear the poorly-hidden amusement in his voice, “When I’m well enough to sit straight for that long, I’ll let you show me how to ride a horse.”

“Really!?” Roman grins, his eyes open and sparkling with excitement. They’re quickly dulled, however, when he catches a glimpse of the wicked smirk on Virgil’s face,

“If,” Virgil grins back, “You ride a spider.”

Roman pales at the idea.

(Sure, he’s not as terrified of them as Patton, but even Roman is a little afraid of spiders. Not the little household ones, but the Giant Spiders that are so friendly with Drow? There’s plenty of good reasons to fear those!)

At the pallid expression on his face, Virgil laughs. He probably didn’t expect Roman to actually consider the idea, with how lightly he’s taking his silence as an answer… But, fear be damned, Roman has never been one to back down from a challenge!

“Fine! I’ll do it.” Roman smirks, ignoring the nerves crawling up his spine at the thought of the monstrous creatures. Virgil’s laughter is cut short.

“Are you serious?”

“Absolutely.” Roman nods, “I’ll do it! You ride a horse, I’ll ride a spider. Fair’s fair.”

For a second, Roman thinks Virgil is going to back down. Either over concern that Roman will hurt himself, or out of his own fear of horses…

(And, of course, there’s a small part of Roman that’s hoping he will. But the much larger, more stubborn, competitive part of him cheers when Virgil’s smirk returns tenfold,)

“Oh, this is going to be awesome.” He chuckles, “Deal.”

“You still haven’t answered my question, though.”

“They’re big!” Virgil huffs, frustrated, “They’re big, and it hurts a lot when they kick you, and they’re easily spooked, and I’m spooky. And they’re about as fast as I am, which is not true for spiders and lizards! I can’t jump off and run if things get dicey, it won’t do any good!”

“Giant spiders and lizards are slower than horses?” Roman frowns. Virgil nods,

“They’re about half as fast as horses, but our mounts can and will try to kill you on their own. That’s the trade-off.”

“How delightful.” Roman mutters, trying to imagine a carnivorous horse.

They’re back to silence again, Virgil still messing with Roman’s curls while Roman waits for another question. Virgil hums a tune to himself, and Roman feels himself getting slightly dizzy from the sound, added to the feeling of the hand in his hair.

“Do you drink?”

“Well, yes,” Roman scoffs dramatically, “But I still don’t think you’re getting the point of this game.”

“Hey, you’re the creative one, not me.” Virgil snorts, “And, I was mainly asking because I want to, while we eat. I didn’t want to leave you out. I’m pretty sure we have…something here that won’t poison you.”

“Oh how fun!” Roman laughs, “Seriously, I am curious to see what sort of weird staple cuisine you enjoy here. And I am no stranger to meads and such, so I’d be willing to try anything~!”

“Mead might kill me.” Virgil scoffs, “You know mead is made of honey, right? I don’t know how you can stomach it so easily.”

“Well, what hurts us humans is the alcohol, not the honey!” Roman muses back, “So, to my tastes, Elven wines tend to be very sweet, but not very strong~”

“Well, that’s darthiir for you. You haven’t tried Drow wine.” Virgil snickers, “But we will rectify that~ So long as I can find one that won’t poison you.”

“Speaking of food,” Roman transitions oh-so-smoothly, laughing, “…Okay, it’s not super related to food, but you’ll see how I get there when I ask— Do you really bleach your teeth?”

Virgil immediately stiffens, and Roman props himself up on his elbows to look at him more directly, ignoring how very close their heads are right now. Virgil is giving him a look of very thinly veiled contempt, and Roman knows it isn’t necessarily directed at him.

“I just mean…that sounds dangerous, and…! Okay, yes, the whispers snitched on you.” Virgil hisses at him, and Roman rolls his eyes, “But!! I just wanted you to know that you shouldn’t feel pressured to do that! I’m sure you look just as dashing without it.”

Virgil huffs out a laugh, almost sounding shocked. Something about the sound of it doesn’t sit well with Roman, but once again, Virgil relaxes before he can ask. His faux confidence revived,

“So, you’re saying seeing me with sharp, jet-black fangs wouldn’t scare the shit out of you?”

“It would not!” Roman asserts confidently, “I would be a little startled at first, but that’s it! —Darkly pigmented teeth isn’t the strangest trait in the world. I’d much prefer you be healthy as yourself then damage your teeth to fit in with the surface.”

A moment of silence, and Roman hopes it’s because Virgil is really considering his words. Eventually, Virgil sighs, back to playing with Roman’s hair.

“All three of you, huh?” he grumbles, “Fine, I’ll let it fade out this time. We’ll see how it goes…”

Before Roman can celebrate the small victories, Virgil mumbles, “What’s your favorite color?”

“Cop out question~ I’m pretty sure we’ve already talked about that.” Roman scolds him lightly, but still laughs, “If you must know, it’s red!”

Virgil reaches down to tug at Roman’s sash.

“This red, right?”

“What do you mean ‘this’ red? That shade?”

“Like, the light red, not the…” Virgil waves his hand in the air, looking stressed for a moment, ”…Heat…red? You aren’t going to know what I mean, you have human eyes— Where did you get that, anyway?”

“That’s two questions in a row~”

“Technically, you just asked a question~”

Roman gasps loudly at Virgil, who sticks his tongue out at him teasingly. Roman scoffs, trying not to smile as he lightly swats Virgil’s arm,

“That shouldn’t count, it wasn’t even a question about you!”

“It was a question, and I answered it~” Virgil coos, “Now, sash. Where?”

“From a friend!” Roman whines, “Well, from a Lord, but he is also my friend. I’m supposed to wear it in the capital as a symbol of my role as an apprentice knight~”

“Apprentice knight? …You can just sign up to be a knight?”

“That is definitely two questions in a row.” Roman smirks. Virgil pouts and flicks his forehead,

“You ask me two questions next, then! I’m curious.”

“Well, yes, you can just go for it.” Roman chuckles, “You just need a mentor to teach you, and someone to sponsor you. As a Paladin, I have both at my temple~! But I’m not done with my training yet, so I haven’t been sworn in or anything. And once I’ve done something to warrant the official title, I can be knighted!”

“How close are you?”

“Almost done now~” Roman grins, breast swelling with pride. He closes his eyes lightly, humming, “I need to go on a mission to destroy some higher-level undead or something, and then I have to beat my mentor in a duel. After that, I’m free to call myself a true Paladin!”

“…And you’ve gotten no battle training in this process?” Virgil deadpans. Roman laughs nervously at that, “Well… I started my schooling as a kid, and then Remus and I ran away. When I returned as an adult to pick it back up, I told them I had gotten plenty of battle experience in the years in-between! They…didn’t really press me on it.”

Virgil gasps dramatically, and Roman can hear the smirk in Vigil’s voice as he continues to comb through his hair,

“Angel boy lied~? And to his superiors, at that?? Scandalous. Maybe you’re the rebel in this relationship.”

“It was not a lie! Not entirely!” Roman grins, “I had gotten lots of experience!! It just…wasn’t very productive~! —I mean, we Suneites are supposed to be more like social workers and healers than warriors, anyway. Violence isn’t the important part of our training, it’s just the last test I have yet to complete!”

“Well then, we better get you ready for that test.” Virgil nods resolutely, and Roman feels warmth flood his chest. (Roman may just be reading too far into it, but that almost sounded like Virgil was hinting that he may stay with them longer than he had originally claimed…)

“There’s no one I trust more to teach me~“ Roman croons, ignoring Virgil’s following laughter, “…Well, except for Mama, maybe, now that she’s… Now, hey, there’s a question~! What is your Mother like?”

Virgil frowns, hands going still. Roman immediately worries he’s asked something too personal.

“Oh, gosh, I totally forgot about the whole… uhh… Y-You don’t have to answer, if—”

“It depends on who you’re asking about.” he finally sighs, going back to teasing Roman’s hair.

“I never knew my birth parents. I was raised by a spider. Then with my class, by the older soldiers… Then, I was selected by my Priestess.” Virgil’s voice sounds hollow when he mentions her. Roman can hear his breathing even slightly, like he’s focusing on it, “She took over my training from there. I’m not…"

Virgil's chest tightens for a moment. He takes a slow, shuddering breath,

" … She was an excellent High Priestess.”

�� Roman doesn’t really want to ask what that means. He reaches up to find Virgil’s hand, laying his own over it. Virgil's hand is shaking.

Virgil huffs out a short laugh at the gesture, and takes hold of Roman's hand, bringing it up and leaning his head down to kiss Roman’s knuckles. (Roman tries his best not to scream at the gesture, since this is clearly not the time.)

“A while after we escaped, I came here, and Ilharess Faer’va took me in.” Roman can hear the slight smile in his voice, and relaxes in turn.

“The red-haired woman?”

“She’s good. I like her a lot,” Virgil nods. “She’s touchy, like I am, and she’s patient with me when I freak out. Or when I’m being mean…”

Virgil trails off, apparently done with that subject. Roman smiles,

“She does seem lovely! But, I must ask; earlier, you said ‘we’ escaped. Do you mean…you and Kai? When did you two split up, after that?”

“No, Kai ran away a few years after I did,” Virgil shakes his head, “I was talking about Remus.”

“Pardon?!”

“We met in the Underdark, and left it together. He got me to the surface.” Virgil shrugs, “I’ve stayed with him since. Until recently, obviously.”

Roman isn’t so sure he likes the direction this conversation is going, but…he’s too curious not to ask.

“…And you said you two…split amicably, right?”

“…That was a lie, actually.” Virgil winces, “I mean, I still consider us to be friends… But our group split up after a fight. They’ve been looking for me, but I’ve been avoiding them.”

“Can I ask why?” Roman mumbles, swinging his feet to distract himself a bit from the conversation. Virgil sighs,

“I don’t actually know. —I had just come back again, like just now, and there was something…off.” Virgil grumbles to himself for a minute, clearly trying to figure it out himself,

“It felt like… How I was yesterday, and this morning? When I felt like I would die again if I let you leave my sight? But backwards. I just… The thought of seeing them… I was terrified of them. I feel like an asshole, but I couldn’t fight it.”

“It was probably the same effect.” Roman nods, ”And it got reset when you came back this time. Before I removed it, anyway.”

“Well, thank you.” Virgil chuckles softly, “I wish I knew that sooner… Though, it’s not like you would ever catch me turning to some church for help.”

“I can’t imagine you turning to anyone for help.” Roman grumbles, making Virgil laugh.

“Fair.” Virgil nods, “Now we’re even again. My turn; Is a waltz the only dance you know how to do?”

“Again. Not the sort of questions we are aiming for here.” Roman scoffs, though he's secretly relieved for the change of pace, “And I am not fond of you treating waltz as a single dance and not a category of—”

Virgil groans loudly, letting his head lean back against the arm he has folded under it.

“That’s so boring. You guys are so boring!”

“I would not mind being taught something new!” Roman laughs, “And for the record, the waltz is not the only style of dance I know, but I’m sure you would say the rest are just as ‘boring.’”

“Please tell me one of them is line dancing? Or two-step~?” Virgil giggles, “By the way, what is a ‘do-si-do?’ Remus refuses to tell me.”

“…It is no longer your turn to ask a question—”

“Oh, we abandoned the back-and-forth rule a while ago! Answer me!” Virgil laughs.

“You have no right being as amused by this as you are,” Roman grumbles, and Virgil grins, eyes glowing pink.

“Is that a yes?”

“So what if I know how to line dance?! That is a perfectly commonplace—”

Virgil bursts into laughter. Roman props himself up on his elbows, resting his chin in his hands. He watches him tear up and giggle, trying his best not to laugh with him.

“Are you pleased with yourself, city boy?”

That just starts him laughing again, of course, but Roman may have done that one on purpose.

(Roman isn’t really as offended by the accusation as he insists he is — he played it up the first time because being dramatic is sort of his thing — but he’s more than willing to keep exaggerating, if it means Virgil will get this much of a kick out of it.)

“You have to show me!” Virgil wheezes once he’s calmed down a bit, wiping stray tears from his face, “Ask me your next question before I lose my mind.”

Roman takes a moment to think, though it’s easy to get distracted in glowing pink eyes and sharp-toothed smiles. Before he can think much of what he’s saying, the words escape of their own accord,

“Who was your first love?”

Virgil’s calmed down now. And, for just a moment, a ring of yellow flashes around his pupils. He seems to suppress that, though, and Roman is made immediately aware of how much quieter the room is in the wake of his laughter.

"It depends on what you mean by that.”

Roman’s gathered by now that this response is probably a bad sign.

“Uhh… I guess I mean…” Roman fumbles, “…The first person you liked in a romantic sense? Or the first person you dated, if that’s an easier question to answer.”

“I dated a lot of people when I was younger, but none of that had any romance involved.” Virgil grumbles, “Well, except for one of them, but he died immediately after that.”

“Oh. I’m sorry I brought that up,” Roman frowns, but Virgil shakes his head,

“No, it’s ok.” he shrugs, though Roman can tell from his strained tone that he is hiding something. Roman doesn’t press him on it; just waits for him to continue.

“There are…two guys I’ve ‘dated’ on the surface.” Virgil muses, “One of them was a total dweeb, but he was hot. I went into it thinking it was more of a friends-with-benefits situation, and totally ditched when I found out he’d caught feelings.”

“Virgil! That’s terrible!” Roman whines, and Virgil winces,

“Cut me some slack, it was before I knew you surface-folk took it so seriously!” He groans, “Besides, he was insanely clingy! It might sound mean to you, but I wasn’t ready for that. He scared me!”

“Alright, alright, I’ll stop judging.” Roman scoffs, waving his hand dismissively, “What about the other guy?”

Virgil sighs deeply, and Roman worries he’s opened another can of worms.

“The second guy is the only one of them I’ve actually genuinely liked. He’s a total dweeb too, but he was the bearable kind, like you dorks.“ Virgil smirks, and Roman sticks his tongue out at him.

“I think you might know him, actually. He travels with your brother.”

“You dated Dee?!” Roman cries, propping himself up again to stare at him indignantly. Virgil sighs as if annoyed,“

“Yeah, but he wasn’t feeling it like that, so we decided to just be friends again instead. That ended up being for the best, really.” Virgil laughs, sensing Roman’s frustration, “He’s cute and funny and we lived together! What else was I supposed to do?? —What, are you jealous~?”

“A little bit!” Roman snickers, “I mean, I barely know him, but I have eyes. I was kinda jealous when my brother introduced him as his boyfriend.”

Virgil is silent for a moment. Roman feels a chill seize his veins at the silence, wondering if he’s gone too far.

(His last partner did not like him talking or looking at other people. Has he overstepped again? Is Virgil angry that he’s brought up another man?)

“You’re into twinks? Noted.” Virgil teases, wiggling his eyebrows at Roman. That…is not a negative reaction, Roman realizes belatedly. Relieved, he banters back,

“It was more the personality, if you must know!” Roman shoves his shoulder, “He radiates this confidence, like he’s always in control. And he compliments me a lot, which helps~ —And he’s very suave! I don’t know what he’s trying to say half of the time, but I do like the way he’s saying it.”

“I know exactly what you mean. Damn that voice.” Virgil nods, encouraging Roman to continue.

“He dresses nice, too.” Roman muses, “I don’t know how he hasn’t died of heatstroke in that black suit and hat, but it looks good on him! I understand suffering for style, in any case.”

Virgil nods again… Though, after a minute, his sleep-deprived brain makes a connection, and he sits up with a sudden gasp. Roman watches in awe as Virgil bursts into giggles again,

“Oh my god— Between me and him!? You have a thing for goths!“ Virgil cheers, “Goody-two-shoes religious cowboy wants a big tiddy goth girlfriend~?! Kill me now, holy shit that’s so funny!”

“What?!” Roman protests, blushing bright crimson.

“You’re into bad boys, huh~?”

“I am no— Wait!” Roman grins, “If that’s true, then between me and him, you ‘have a thing’ for drama gays!”

Virgil tries his best to kill his grin, but he can’t manage to subdue it. He turns his head to the side, letting his hair hide his face as much as it can,

“I do not.”

“You totally do!!” Roman nods, “If there’s one thing me and him have in common, it’s our flair for the dramatic~! —I watched him trip on a stair, and he acted like he had broken all of his bones. I’m absolutely sure he would have pretended to take his last breath and die there on the floor if I hadn’t caved and helped him up!”

“Oh no, that does sound like him…Fuck.” Virgil curses, “Why am I into that?? It’s exhausting.”

“That’s a question for you, not for me~” Roman shrugs, and Virgil sighs deeply.

“How about yours, then?” Virgil grumbles, still trying not to smile.

Roman had expected him to ask the same thing in return, when he stated the question. It didn’t stop Roman from asking it… Now, though, he kind of wishes it did. Hoping its not entirely a lie, Roman sheepishly mumbles back,

“Haven’t had one.”

(Nope, that was awful. Way too high-pitched. With his elven ears, Virgil has to have heard the difference.)

“Huh.” Virgil shrugs, expression relaxed. Not fake-relaxed, like he’s waiting for a better answer; just relaxed.

“…You’re really gonna let me slide with that?” Roman asks incredulously. Quickly realizing how that sounds, he stumbles, “—I mean, it wasn’t much of an answer!”

“It was an answer.” Virgil smiles softly, turning his head to look directly at him. Roman searches his eyes, finding no judgement there. At this point, he’s not even sure why he keeps expecting to find any.

“Your turn.”

“O…kay,” Roman muses, letting his shoulders relax again. He can feel Virgil’s eyes on him, which is making it a little hard to think, but he doesn’t know how to comment on it without sounding flustered.

“Stop me if I cross a line,” Roman hums, “But… you mentioned a few days ago that you have kids? Can I ask about them?”

“Not their names. But anything else, sure.” Virgil chuckles.

“I just want to know… about them? I don’t really know what to ask. I mean, asking about someone’s family is a good early step, right?” Roman frowns, “Here, let’s start with…how you…had them?”

“Adopted. All three.”

“Three?!” Roman blinks in disbelief, “I thought the whispers said they were twins?!”

“They aren’t twins.” Virgil closes his eyes lightly, “And now there’s Annie, so that makes three.”

“Wait, Annie? Just like that?? —Isn’t there a process to this?”

“Not for Fae. Her mom died, then the Harpy claimed her. I killed the harpy, so, now she’s mine.” Virgil nods resolutely. Roman scoffs,

“Actually, I delivered the final blow to the harpy. You passed out halfway through the battle.” Roman corrects him, and Virgil’s eyes snap open again.

“…Oh.” A catlike grin stretches across Virgil’s face, and he covers it with one hand, “Oh shit.”

“Wait,” Roman frowns, shaking his head, “That doesn’t make me—?!”

“It does.” Virgil laughs, eyes glowing faintly pink in amusement, “A challenge for Annie’s guardian was issued, and you killed her. That makes you her new dad.”

“What?!” Roman yelps, “I— I’m hardly qualified for that!! Can’t I just transfer her to you?!”

“Nope.” Virgil gives him a sympathetic smile, “Nothing can be freely given. I would owe you something worth the life of a child. I would make a deal with you, but I kinda already have that contract filled as long as…the Hag is alive…”

Suddenly, Virgil shrinks in on himself a bit. He’s clearly nervous. Roman frowns; he had stated this entire conversation in an attempt to keep them both from thinking about that whole situation.

“Hey, now, it’s alright!” Roman assures him softly, leaning his chin on one hand so he can brush Virgil’s hair out of the way with the other, “If she’s not yours, then doesn’t that mean the Hag and her minions can’t take her? Isn’t there a rule about how a Hag can’t attack a child unless it offers itself to her willingly? That means she isn’t hunting Annie!”

Roman tucks a bit of Virgil’s hair behind his ear, and Virgil leans into the touch, so his cheek is cradled in Roman’s hand. Roman smiles, letting his thumb brush Virgil’s cheekbone, hoping the gesture is comforting in some way. A stray thought crosses his mind, and he grins,

“—Which also means that Patton and Logan probably aren’t in any danger!” Roman laughs lightly, finally believing it himself, “Her hounds don’t know to watch out for them, they won’t stumble into her territory on their way to Annie now that we know where it is, and she’s not hunting Annie! There’s no reason she or her minions should run into them. They’re all going to be fine, I just know it~!”

“I wish I could agree.” Virgil frowns, laying his hand over Roman’s, “She knows what Logan looks like, remember? And she wants nothing more than to watch all of us suffer.”

“You armed them as well as you could, and neither of us were fit to travel.” Roman reminds him, and Virgil shakes his head,

“It would be against her nature to hunt Annie, sure, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t using her to lure Patton and Logan into a trap.” Virgil closes his eyes tight, trying to keep tears from escaping, “I wasn’t paying enough attention, and I played right into her fucking hands. If anything happens to them…”

"We can’t think like that!” Roman shakes his head. He turns onto his side again, this time tugging Virgil’s shoulder, encouraging him to follow suit. Virgil turns towards him, shuffling down to nestle his head under Roman’s chin.

Virgil wraps his arms tightly around himself, and Roman wraps his arms around Virgil, speaking softly,

“There’s nothing we can do from here but wait for Logan to call. Worrying about their chances won’t do us any good. It will just make us upset, and I don’t want to see you upset.”

Virgil scoffs at that, but there’s no bite in it. Roman builds up his courage for a moment, then leans his head down and plants a kiss on the top of Virgil’s head,“

And getting yourself worked up will keep you from sleeping, which will just make your recovery take longer, and I don’t want to deal with your ‘but I’m not tired’ whinging any longer than I have to~”

That finally gets a snort out of him. Virgil unfolds his arms and snakes them around Roman, and stretches his neck for a moment to press a kiss to his barely exposed collarbone (a move that set’s Roman’s face ablaze again, of course).

“Hey, it’s not my fault you weirdos like to sleep at the wrong time of day. And hatred of sleep comes with the goth package.”

“Of course it does.”

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Ask 105 (( @wolfyraged ))

Game Start

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Rules

Most Recent Recap, in case you feel like you missed something!

Available for questions: Roman and Virgil!

Virgil and Roman are hanging out while they wait for their food to be prepared. In the meantime, they’ve started playing 20 questions~!

They learn some things about each other some of you may have already known, as well as some possible discoveries about how the other party is fairing, and a new fact about Annie that has Roman a little distressed...

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((If you missed the blog announcement, check it here!))

#please tell me if i need to tag anything else!#lets roll #ask rpg sanders sides #ttrpgau art #sanders sides rpg au #alcohol mention #rpgau prinxiety #asks open #long post #long answer

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ask-fantasy-sanders-sides · 3 years

Note

Lemme fix this. Roman, do you truly love V?

(Roman startles, blushing deep red.)

(He lets go of Annie's hand, letting her twirl off to go dance with the crowd, while he leans against a wall to catch his breath.)

(The more he thinks about the question the more he blushes, fidgeting with his hair and his gloves while he thinks,)

Roman: Well, that's a complicated question! In what way do you mean?

Roman: I hope I've been obvious about how much I care for him as a friend and teammate! I mean, we just had a conversation about that... And, I meant it! I didn't think we would get along so well while left alone like that, honestly, but he was...different then I imagined.

(Roman sighs and rubs the back of his neck, blushing bright cherry-red, challenging the glow of the falling sunset outside.)

Roman: Heartwarder Hanon always tries to warn me that I make it too easy — I tend to fall in love hard and fast and get my heart broken, haha... But, I don't know! It seems like he might feel the same way, right?

Roman: I mean, he's confusing as all hells and hard to read, but he seems to like me, a little?? I don't think he's being sarcastic when he says he finds me attractive, and he told me before that he liked me but I don't know if that meant romantically...

Roman: One minute I think I should confess and make it work, but then he's actually looking at me with those infernal pink eyes, and I lose my nerve! —You saw me today, I almost kissed him! What was I thinking?! I mean I know what I was thinking, but still!

Roman: Anyway, my answer is yes, but... Well, you know me, I'm helpless! I have no idea how to approach him!

#lets roll #please tell me if i need to tag anything else!#rpgau prinxiety #Heartwarder Hanon

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ask-fantasy-sanders-sides · 3 years

Note

Xukuth?

(Virgil nods)

Virgil: Xukuth d'natha Elg'hasek. The Heart of a Ranger. I was born with it, and it manifested really strong, too... Or, it did, in the Underdark.

Virgil: It’s like...a skill, sorta? But it’s a spiritual thing. It allows you to connect to nature, to read plants and animal’s minds and have them understand yours, make soul-connections to animals, stuff like that.

(Roman nods as well,)

Roman: Logan taught me about that! The ‘Find Familiar’ spell came from wizards studying it and trying to replicate it~! But, they can only do it to one creature at a time, and more often than not it’s not even a natural animal.

(Virgil smiles,)

Virgil: Well, I could do it with any animal, plant, or monster I met, even as a baby. It’s weaker now that I’ve spent so much time on the surface, because Sunlight makes it harder for me to do literally anything, but back home I could even trade minds with animals that liked me; See through their eyes and ears, even if they went far from me. I had armies of little spiders who would spy for me, warn me if anyone moved... That’s how I survived, for a long time.

Roman: I’m not sure if I should be more impressed or terrified!

(Virgil preens. Roman hums for a moment,)

Roman: Hey, isn’t there that operation you can do here to bring back your energy without going back to the Underdark? Why don’t you do that?

(Virgil shrugs,)

Virgil: I guess I could. I don’t know, I’ve just never done it before, so I’m a little intimidated... And, I don’t like letting people see my uncovered back. My scars...

Roman: Hm? You let me see them! What does it matter if a doctor sees?

Virgil: But-- For the operation I’d have to lie down on a table and expose my back, and that feels really vulnerable. Besides, it’s different when it’s you...

(Virgil looks away, hugging the hanging sleeves of his coat. Roman blushes at his admission, but barrels on,)

Roman: ...I could come with you? I always felt better, when I was younger, getting intensive operations like that done when my br-- Mother was in the room.

Virgil: ...I’ll think about it? It does sound...less terrible...

(Roman gives him a reassuring smile,)

Roman: I won’t pressure you into it, just weigh the pros and cons! I don’t like seeing you so exhausted all the time, but you handle yourself well, and it’s your decision. I’m just there if you need me~

(Virgil gives a tiny nod. He does seem to like the idea, though he seems embarrassed by it as well...)

#lets roll #tw scars mention #rpgau prinxiety #please tell me if i need to tag anything else!

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ask-fantasy-sanders-sides · 3 years

Note

So like... Did Ro want to kiss Virgil when they were dancing or are we ignoring that?

(Roman blushes deep scarlet all the way from the crown of his head to the base of his neck, and answers in thought,)

Roman: We are ignoring that!

#lets roll #rpgau prinxiety #please tell me if i need to tag anything else!

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ask-fantasy-sanders-sides · 3 years

Note

For now you and Roman should really get some sleep.~🍫🍓

Virgil and Roman head back to Virgil’s room to rest for the night. They both take out the earrings they were wearing, getting ready to sleep. As Virgil’s asked another question about the Faewild by one whisper, another confronts Roman about a certain topic he’s been avoiding like the plague.

Roman looks away from Virgil, angry and annoyed, while Virgil nods in response,

“Remus and Dee have been in the Faewild with me before, yes. Dee remembers three of our trips, Remus only remembers two. And they aren’t the same ones,” Virgil huffs out a breath, grumbling, “We’ve been here ten times, at least.”

“Ten?” Roman frowns, “How do you find yourselves in the Faewild so often??”

“My family lives here.” Virgil shrugs, “And, usually, Remus just stumbles his dopey ass around until he falls through another crossing. We’ve gotten here by mistake more than once because he was chasing will-o-wisps, like a big child.”

Virgil snorts, laughing to himself at the memory. He sits down on the mattress, and Roman joins him, trying to sound less annoyed than he is.

“So they’ve met your family before?”

“Yeah, plenty of times.” Virgil sighs, smirking, “My family doesn’t like them, but that’s never bothered those two~ Pft… The Empress doesn’t even like having them around! It doesn’t help that they never show her an ounce of respect, but it’s not like I can convince them to play nice. Dee’s one pompous asshole, and…well, you know Remus.”

Roman can’t help a small smile at Virgil’s tone, turning to look at him for the first time since they entered the room,

“You sound incredibly fond for someone who’s insulted them both for the past minute.”

“Hey, I can’t really lie here, remember?” Virgil smirks back, sticking his tongue out teasingly for a moment, “They’re my friends, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be mean to them.”

“It's how real friends show their love, truly.” Roman nods mock-respectfully. Virgil mimics him, and they both grin at each other for a moment.

Roman breaks their eye-contact first, casting his gaze to the ceiling. He tries to chase his own nerves away, reminding himself where he is and who he’s with. He clears his throat,

"…Do you miss travelling with them?"

"I mean, yeah? All the time." Virgil answers honestly, because he has no other choice.

Virgil can see it in his face; Roman’s displeased with that answer. Unable to parcel out why, Virgil continues,

"…Does that upset you?"

"What?? No," Roman squeaks, embarrassed he was caught. When Virgil's steely gaze doesn't relent he sighs,

"Maybe. I don't know… It shouldn't! I'm awful, I'm sorry I brought it up—"

"You aren't awful." Virgil shakes his head. He's noticed a pattern here, and it's starting to worry him enough to actually bring it up,

"Do you want to talk about this weird thing you have with your brother?"

Roman doesn't respond. His expression is unreadable. Virgil himself is already extremely uncomfortable, and the conversation hasn't even started.

"Ro?"

"If, now that you're better and all," Roman sighs, folding his arms over his chest, (It's a self-soothing gesture for humans, he knows, but Virgil can't help but be set on edge by the posture)

"If they came for you, would you go with them?"

"Probably?" Virgil answers slowly, watching his expression. He can feel the barely-suppressed stress from being forced to answer questions in this plane start to resurface when that, again, seems to be the wrong answer.

"That doesn't mean I want to leave you behind,” Virgil is quick to add, “You could come with us."

"I don't think he would want me there." Roman mumbles softly.

(Roman's not honestly sure if that's true anymore, with how their relationship has changed over this last year, but the thought still lingers whenever he thinks about visiting his brother.)

Virgil rolls his eyes at that, like there's something in that statement that upset him, but not enough to waste time refuting it. Roman is inexplicably annoyed by the gesture.

"Then I'd come back to visit you guys! I mean, we don't do much aside from wander aimlessly, and I know where to find you. Besides, Logan’s still teaching me." Virgil concedes, and he sounds annoyed too.

(He's not angry at Roman, of course; as he has been this whole trip, he's angry he's being compelled to spill his secrets. Roman doesn't take it that way, though.)

"And, if I'm being honest?" Virgil sighs, something sad in his tone,

(Roman softens at the sound of it, both nervous he's taken it too far again and worried Virgil is going to suddenly confess that he's 'honestly' never really liked him the whole time. Wrong place, wrong person—)

"I think Dee is getting too old for our usual gig.” Virgil frowns, “He’s got more stamina than expected for a guy his age, but he’s too weak for extended travel, and he’s got that injured leg… We need to settle down soon. It will be harder to convince Remus about it, but I think he knows, too." Virgil finishes quietly. He has a distant look in his eyes, like there’s something else to it, but he doesn’t say anything more.

"’We?’" Roman asks, a bit more pointedly then he had meant it to sound, though he can't deny that he's definitely thinking it. Virgil, blissfully unaware, just nods,

"If I have my way, it'll be somewhere the kids' troupe stops often… Somewhere like your city," Virgil muses, hoping Roman is taking the hint. But he can't be open about anything, gods forbid, so he drags it on with as much sarcasm as he can muster,

"A little too pompous and populated for my tastes... But, as long as I can find a spot on the edge — close to some hunting ground — I could make it work."

Virgil sneaks a look at Roman. Roman still looks annoyed.

He knows he should stop dancing around it and just ask Roman what's wrong, but he's scared to have that conversation. He barrels on, hoping Roman gets the hint so the tension in the room can go away already,

"Besides, depending on where we end up taking her, I want to keep an eye on Annie. And she'll want to be close to you, considering—"

"And you?"

"Hm?" Virgil hums, trying to appear nonchalant. He doesn’t like that tone, and if Roman’s about to start the conversation Virgil thinks he is, he hopes Roman will take the opportunity to drop it.

"Do you want to be close to me? And Patton, and Logan?" He asks, still sounding set off in some way. (He did not drop it.)

Virgil frowns to himself, fussing with his hair and looking away from him.

"It was implied."

(Implied. Of course, Roman glares at the ceiling. He knows he's probably mischaracterizing it, deep down. But, he's been on edge about this whole conversation for a while now, and he might — just maybe — be starting to downspin.)

"You really want to spend the rest of your life with those two, huh?" Roman asks. He doesn't mean it to be an accusation, but somehow it comes out sounding like one. Virgil glares at him, confused and angry,

"Their lives."

His tone is cold, sharp as a knife.

Roman's vindictiveness is momentarily shelved by the gloomy look in his eyes. His concern is enough to override his own downward spiral as he fusses,

"Virgil, I didn't mean to…” He sighs, “We have to talk about that. How can you word it that way?"

"No, we 'have' to talk about how often this fucking jealousy thing comes up with you!" Virgil snarls, much like an animal that's been backed into a corner. Roman snaps right back into anger at the provocation,

"Jealousy? What are you talking about?!"

"Every time I even mention one of my friends — especially your brother — you get so defensive!”

“I do not get defensi—”

“I have room for more than two people in my life! Why do you always seem to assume it doesn't work that way?!" Virgil shouts, exasperated,

What said had been a lie. Roman knew that, even before he said it, but he was too geared up to think that hard about it.

Roman knows this game; He waits for Virgil to bite back, ready to keep this going until they're both drained of all their anger. Then they can start to take everything back, and it will all be okay again. But right now, he wants to fight… Or, at least, he thought he did. Then the fire in Virgil's eyes went out, and Roman realized with nauseating clarity what he was doing.

A vile, dizzying swirl of dread knocks all of the anger out of Roman's body at once. In the split second that Virgil’s hand touches the doorknob, two things hit him like a truck; He’s scared of being alone in this room, and he’s terrified he’s just ruined everything they've built together so far.

(They had both let their guards down, and Virgil had shown him a side of himself he was clearly scared to share. It was the first almost-romantic relationship Roman had been in where he really felt something there! He doesn’t even remember why he was doing this, it’s never played out this way before, it wasn’t supposed to end like this—)

"No, wait!" Roman croaks, jumping up to grab Virgil's hand.

(And suddenly, they're back in that shitty inn room in some port town. Virgil's just realized that he knows Roman’s brother, and he's about to run away before anything's even started, eyes yellow with fear,)

(“I have to go.”)

"Please, Virgil, wait! Don't leave!"

The desperation in his voice must have gotten through to Virgil, whose shoulders sink immediately.

“I don’t want to talk about this.” He hisses, the muscles in his arms tensing as he tries to pull his hand away.

“I’m sorry!” Roman pleads, hoping it sounds as genuine as it feels, "Please don’t leave. I-I know I was out of line, I wasn’t thinking—”

“Roman,”

“I lashed out at you because I wanted to make you as angry as I was!” Roman whines, “I know, I shouldn't have done that. I won't make an excuse. I-I won’t keep you, just… I wanted to explain that. I don’t want you to think I really meant any of it. I didn’t."

Roman lets go of him, true to his word. He still doesn’t want him to leave, but he’s not going to stop him. He knows he deserves it.

Virgil takes a deep, steadying breath, and grits out through clenched teeth,

"That fucking sucked."

"I know,” Roman rubs the back of his neck, trying to ignore the ache in his chest, “I’m sorry. I know it doesn’t sound genuine, from how I just acted, but I really am…”

Virgil sighs.

He takes another few breaths, gathering his nerves, before he turns to face Roman. He's picking at the edges of his nails — claws? — like he can't keep his hands still. They already look red when he scoots forward and leans his forehead against Roman's chest with a dull thud,

"I crossed a line, too. I shouldn’t have called you conceited, I was just angry. I didn’t know that was a sore spot for you.” He frowns, “I knew you were upset about something, but I wanted to ignore it, like always…”

Roman wants to dispute that claim on impulse, upset that Virgil’s talking poorly of himself, but he bites his tongue; He doesn’t want to snap at him and start another argument.

“I should have stopped to ask when I realized you were upset. We both fucked up." Virgil finishes, still fussing with his hands. Roman takes one of Virgil's hands in each of his own, squeezing his fingers to get him to relax them.

"It shouldn’t have been your responsibility to stop me, I shouldn’t have let myself get so mad in the first place.” Roman frowns, closing his eyes to chase away that stinging feeling that comes before tears, “I am still a little worried that you might leave, honestly, but I shouldn’t have worded it like that… I should have just told you I was upset."

Virgil doesn't respond to that.

Roman just keeps lightly holding his hands, waiting for him to say something and break the tension.

(It was a short fight, but it snuck up on them much too easily. Clearly, their "let's not talk about our problems cause we don't want to" approach is not the best idea. Virgil is, of course, reluctant to admit this.)

"Can we talk about it?" Virgil groans reluctantly, looking back up at Roman with an expression that could only be described as queasy, "I know it sucks, but I don't want this to be a huge problem… I want you guys to get along. Especially your brother, he's your family!"

"It's not about them," Roman sighs, releasing Virgil's hands. (He almost calls him “darling” again on impulse, but he catches himself. He’s not sure if Virgil really wants to hear that anymore.) He sits back down on the edge of the bed and sighs,

"I may not have been completely honest with you, when I implied I had never dated anyone before."

Virgil sits next to him, close enough for their arms to touch. Not reaching out to him, but staying close enough so Roman can, if he needs to.

"I did have one long-term relationship," Roman scowls, "She isolated me from my family, gaslighted me, and actually ended up being a cultist at war with my Mother who was trying to kill me— It’s a long story. And she’s still up to that now, actually, albeit at a distance."

"Yikes." Virgil smirks softly, "She sounds like a bitch."

Roman laughs, "Yeah. To make a long story short, I… I have a fucked up idea of what relationships are supposed to be like, from her. I mean, I know by now that what she wanted from me wasn’t healthy, but some of it still sneaks up on me from time to time, you know?"

"Like?"

"Well," Roman sighs, twisting the sheets in his hands, "She always said that if I was happy spending too much time with someone else, that meant I was going to cheat on her. 'Too much time,' of course, was always up to her discretion,” Roman rolls his eyes, waving his hand dismissively,

“‘If you loved me like you say you do, you wouldn't need anyone else.’ Stuff like that."

"Roman…" Virgil gasps, instinctually reaching up towards his face with a gentle hand. Roman is shocked by the sincerity in his eyes — he knows that what she said was wrong, but he’s still winded by how much it affects people when he tells them about it. He supposes the gravity of it never really hit him like it was supposed to.

Virgil sees him flinch and quickly retreats, scared to push too far, but Roman shakes his head,

"No, go ahead, if you want! I'd appreciate the comfort, right now."

Instead of answering, Virgil reaches up and cups Roman's face in his hands. His thumbs trace soothing circles along his cheekbones, in the same way he was doing to Logan days ago. It feels very nice, but it is also making it startlingly hard not to cry, and Roman really doesn't want to start crying on him right now.

"It's hard for me to pursue romance without feeling guilty, or worrying about losing everyone else I'm close to.” Roman sighs, sinking into the touch, “I’m fine with flirting and posturing, but actually pursuing someone is…scary.”

Roman tries his best to look Virgil in the eyes as he continues, so he can see how much he means what he’s saying. It’s hard, through, when Virgil’s got that concerned look on his eyes, his pupils wide like he’s trying to take everything in,

“When you say you want to stay with them, it makes me nervous. And I know it doesn't make sense to be nervous— You don't secretly hate me just because you have other friends! And you probably don’t think my brother’s better than me,”

Oh god. He hadn’t meant to be that honest. Now Virgil’s staring at him with wide eyes, and his hearts are beating rapidly in his chest, and he has to change the subject right now—

“A-And I know that you won't hate me for having other friends, either,” Roman continues, (Now looking anywhere but at Virgil, which is difficult considering he’s basically sitting in his lap)

“I'm working on moderating these thoughts, I really am! But, when you worded it like I was just being jealous and petty, it made me really angry."

"You talk like you've seen a professional about this." Virgil prods softly. Roman winces, and Virgil immediately backtracks,

"I'm not bringing it up as a gag! —I'm proud of you, if you did. That takes a lot of courage. More than I have."

"I did, actually. But,” Roman shrugs, “Talking to them and putting everything in retrospect made me feel really vulnerable, so I…"

Roman closes his eyes, trying his best not to laugh or cry, (He fails a little at both. The resulting sound is a bit like a bark, which is embarrassing and amusing,)

"…I ghosted my therapist. Like an asshole."

"Hey, I super get that. Absolutely no shame from me." Virgil smiles, relaxing just slightly, "But, I am glad you told me this. Do you think we could brainstorm some ways to get through it?"

"Umm…" Roman sighs, "I guess I just…"

Roman gestures vaguely for a moment. Virgil watches him dumbly, like he has any chance of understanding his floundering. Roman groans,

"I don't know, it feels like it's a problem with me! I just need to remind myself that I don't need to constantly fight for your attention to prove that you actually enjoy my company. You aren't doing anything wrong, it's all in my head!"

"Maybe," Virgil laughs, more at his dramatics then his anguish, "But I still want to help. And, it sounds like you need attention and affection, which I can do."

Virgil releases his face to gently grab Roman's forearm, lifting it so he can scoot in close and huddle against Roman's side again. He drapes Roman's arm back down around his shoulders,

"If you're feeling neglected and want me to come dote on you, you just have to ask."

"You keep saying that, but asking isn't easy!" Roman blushes and mumbles, "I don't want you to do it just because I asked you to…"

"I'm not doing it because you asked me to, I'm doing it because I want to! You asking just gives me permission." Virgil rolls his eyes, "Talk-y affection is not my forte, but my old team was a lot more touchy-feely then you guys are. I miss that; That I understood. I mean, we even had secret codes."

“Secret codes for what?” Roman laughs, confused by how quickly Virgil’s gotten over their ‘fight,’ but not at all upset by it.

He reaches over and brushes the back of Roman’s shoulder with his hand,

“That means ‘I need attention,’”

He touches Roman’s wrist,

“‘I need comfort,’”

He taps the back of his hand against Roman’s shoulder,

“And ‘you look upset.’” Virgil nods, “You can use them, if you like. If it gets hard to ask out loud.”

“Is this what you were doing before, in your reverie? Talking like this?”

“Yep.” Virgil sighs, reaching up to trace his thumb along Roman’s cheekbone, “And this one is super important, so so don’t use it if you don’t mean it.”

“Well, what does it mean?” Roman frowns, thinking back to when Virgil has used it. He’s done it to all three of them — I mean, he was just caressing Roman’s face for several minutes like that — but he can’t imagine a common thread.

Virgil smiles teasingly at Roman, and Roman's face goes up in flames. He doesn’t even know what he’s embarrassed about this time, but he can’t help it. Virgil reaches up and taps one knuckle against Roman’s temple, then stands and walks over to the other side of the bed.

“Hey, now, wait a minute! You can’t answer one gesture with another— What does that mean?!” Roman whines.

“You’re smart. Figure it out.”

“How?! You’ve never done that one before!”

“No, that’s what the second one means.” Virgil grins. He crosses his legs and sits, leaning forward towards Roman,

“So, is that all your reluctance to talk about Remus hinged around, or is there something else you're not telling me?"

Roman frowns.

Virgil sighs,

"Okay, what is it?"

"You're going to think I'm being weird and oversensitive again!"

"I don't care." Virgil shakes his head, "We'll talk through it, so we can be done with this. C'mon."

Roman groans into his hand. Ready to get this whole conversation over with, he blurts out as quickly as he can,

"DoyouonlylikemebecauseIremindyouofmybrother?"

Virgil blinks.

"Vel'bol?”

"Remus. You know,” Roman pouts, feeling his face burn as he grumbles with as much faux sass as he can muster, “He's like me, but stronger, and braver, and funnier, and a better fighter, and he can grow facial hair, and I hate him."

Roman stares at his feet again, afraid to see the look on Virgil’s face. He doesn’t want to be proven right, but he doesn’t want to see Virgil judging or pitying him, either…

And then, Virgil laughs.

Roman whines and looks up at him, but Virgil is smiling at Roman with a warm expression, which is not what he expected at all.

"Do you only like me because I remind you of Kai?" Virgil teases through giggles, one arm wrapped around his gut like he’s physically holding back laughter.

"No? —For the record, I barely know him." Roman mumbles, not entirely sure where this is going.

"Because I pose a challenge, then~?" Virgil muses, dramatically stroking an imaginary beard in thought, "I play hard to get. I'm catty. Dark and mysterious, but I'm blunt and up-front about my attraction to you. Lets you enjoy the chase without wondering whether or not you're actually being a creep. Yeah?"

Roman's laughing before he even knows it; either at the conversation or out of stress, he's not sure yet.

"No."

"Hmmm… I'm running out of ideas here…" Virgil snickers, "Is it my fat ass? Don’t be ashamed about it, I get that a lo—"

"No!" Roman wheezes out, "Virgil, please tell me what we're talking about."

Virgil sighs. He lays a gentle hand on Roman's cheek, giving him a soft look with half-lidded eyes that makes Roman's stomach flip.

"Roman, your brother is my best friend." Virgil murmurs lowly, like he's worried speaking too loudly will scare him away,

"He helped me escape the cult I grew up in. He's seen me at my worst, and still refused to leave me the fuck alone. We've been through shit together that I can't even begin to describe to you— I love him.” Virgil sighs, wishing he wasn’t compelled to speak so earnestly (it’s embarrassing), but knowing that holding something so important back would really hurt his throat, “I don't like him a lot of the time, but I love him."

"I feel like you're going somewhere with this, but can I just say—" Roman blurts suddenly, his voice cracking like a nervous teen’s. He breaks their overwhelmingly intense eye contact, staring at the floor again as he fiddles with his hands,

"I mean, I do want you to get along with my family if we're going to have some sort of relationship! But, in this specific scenario, this really isn’t helping my confidence—"

"No, honey, listen to what I'm telling you!" Virgil hisses, exasperated. He takes Roman's face in both hands, making sure he has his undivided attention,

"We lived together for nearly two decades. I have had every opportunity. If I wanted to date him, don't you think I would already be doing that?"

…

Oh.

"That…" Roman squeaks, nearly blushing purple from embarrassment, "…Is an incredibly fair point. I am frankly humiliated that it did not come to mind before now."

Virgil snorts, letting go of his head. He flops onto the bed, looking exhausted. (More so than he has been the rest of the day, anyway)

"You don't remind me of Remus, by the way." Virgil sighs, "In case you haven't noticed, eyesight is not my primary sense, like it is yours. You might — barely — look like him, but you don't sound like him at all. Hell, I had to be told you were twins! Your personalities and styles are pretty different, too, if you don’t pay close attention.” Virgil nods to himself, “The fact that you are Remus's brother is something that affected our relationship from the get-go, but not in the way you think."

"How so?"

Virgil sighs, turning his head towards Roman’s,

"Like you said, I want them to get along with you. Remus and Dee are my House. You don't really have something quite like it on the surface, but it's kind of like a family. If I ever ended up being romantically involved with someone, I want it to be someone they approve of." Virgil grins, “And you’re his brother, so Remus has to approve of you~ He has no choice.”

Roman snorts, crawling up to lay down next to him, “He has to approve of you, too, if you’re his best friend. So, if it comes to that, I’d say we have him cornered!”

“Oh, no, he is going to raise hell about me,” Virgil shakes his head with a smirk, “He’s witnessed my bullshit first-hand. I’m a chronic playboy with a bad temper, and general hatred of being emotionally open with people. I am an objectively bad boyfriend for his ‘darling baby brother.’”

“Well, I don’t need his permission, anyway.” Roman pouts. Virgil laughs at that, reaching over to ruffle Roman’s hair.

“What?! I’m an adult!” Roman protests and turns towards Virgil,

“I’m not his ‘baby brother’ anymore, he can’t tell me what to do~”

Virgil shrugs and starts to comb through his hair, lightly scratching his head in that dizzyingly pleasant way,

“He’ll probably chase me away with his morningstar. He’s a good big brother, you should at least give him that.”

“He never understood what we have~” Roman coos with a sly grin, pretending they’re characters in a cheesy young-adult romance novel. He wraps his arms around Virgil’s middle, closing his eyes and relaxing into the sensation,

“I’ve told him you’re nicer in private, but for some reason, no one in town believes me? Everyone tells me I should go for someone else.”

“Well, maybe they’re right,” Virgil sighs, a distant look on his face, “Maybe you should have listened.”

Roman wonders if that last statement was still just them playing around, or something more worrisome. By now, though, Virgil’s found that spot on the back of his neck that knocks him right out. Roman doesn’t have the energy to ask as his eyes drift closed.

As soon as Roman starts to snore, the fake smile Virgil’s been sporting all night falls away.

He shuffles out of Roman’s arms, putting a pillow in his place so Roman has something to cling to, and silently slips out of the room…

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Ask 110

Game Start

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Rules

Most Recent Recap, in case you feel like you missed something!

Available for questions: Virgil! (Roman is asleep)

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All of those little comments that have been stewing between Roman and Virgil finally reach a boiling point. They have a small fight! (The sleep deprivation, lingering pain from the past few days’ fights and rituals, and buzz of alcohol probably did Not help)

Roman seems to be over it as quickly as it started, but it seems to have affected Virgil more than he let on...

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((UPDATED: If you missed the blog announcement, check it here!))

#🍫🍓#lets roll #ask rpg sanders sides #asks open #sanders sides rpg au #ttrpgau art #please tell me if i need to tag anything else!#long post #long answer #tw abusive relationship #mentioning one at least #tw gaslighting #tw manipulation #tw fighting #Roman talks about his past relationship experience #rpgau prinxiety

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ask-fantasy-sanders-sides · 3 years

Note

Mango I'm a bit confused, I thought Vee and Roman got together after Logan and Patton left? Did I forget something or am I misremembering what happened?

They did not get together!

Virgil admitted to liking Roman, but he was just vague enough about it that Roman doesn’t know if he means ‘romantically’ or not.

Roman hasn’t yet responded to Virgil’s psudo-confession, because Virgil told him to take his time and think about it before they put a name to anything.

Roman seems eager to confess his romantic feelings for Virgil, but, again, he’s worried he may have understood what Virgil meant.

But, it seems that Virgil, since that first conversation, for some reason, has decided he’s too scared to pursue a relationship with Roman. Though he still seems to like Roman just as much as before, he’s hinted that he won’t accept a relationship proposal from him anyway. Virgil will not explain why this is, but he’s made hints...

(Including the hint that he thinks Roman wants a fairytale romance, and Virgil doesn’t think he’s capable of giving him one. Still, this doesn’t seem to be the ONLY reason he’s made this 180.)

#lets roll #rpgau prinxiety #please tell me if i need to tag anything else!

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ask-fantasy-sanders-sides · 3 years

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Babe, I dont know if you realize this, but he totally wanted to kiss you when you were dancing. So is it really because of him or is it because youre afraid of a relationship too?

(Virgil scoffs,)

Virgil: I’m not so sure about that. But, even if he did, he doesn’t...see that sort of stuff the same way I do.

Virgil: I’ve been careful with him ‘cause I know we’re working off of different mindsets here. I’m a lot more easy with physical stuff, but he sees that sort of thing as explicitly romantic. I don’t.

Virgil: He might think he wants something romantic between us, but he doesn’t. He’s just excited because he craves affection, and I’ve been giving it. It’s not real for him, he’s just confused. He wouldn’t be happy with me, expecially not after we leave this city, and I’m not going to do that to him...

(Notably, Virgil is refusing to bring up his own feelings about Roman. But, he is genuinely telling the truth when he says Roman wouldn’t want him; He seems to truly believe that...)

#lets roll #tw negative self talk #kinda #he is not confident in his ability to make other people happy #rpgau prinxiety #i wonder what he means by that last comment #a nervous enigma #please tell me if i need to tag anything else!

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ask-fantasy-sanders-sides · 3 years

Note

Hm I see your point Roman, except no I don’t. What if it is pressing, what if it is relevant, and yeah you can’t do anything about it if it’s happening with Logan and Patton right now, but it will help to understand more. So maybe we can think about the dream more than just absentmindedly keeping it in the back of your mind? ~⚙️

Once they’re done playing dress-up and dancing around, Virgil leads Roman back to that weird little dining room to catch another meal. Once there, after some coaxing from all of you, Roman is (reluctantly) convinced to tell Virgil about his vision…

“I still can’t get over how much you guys need to eat.” Virgil scoffs as they return to one of those blanketed tables. It is set with more water, that soup and bread Roman liked, as well as a plate of charcoal-colored disks about the size of saucers. Virgil picks one up to munch on, and Roman realizes it’s actually a large, flat mushroom cap.

“I mean, you eat two or three times a day, then you sleep the entire time the sun’s down! No wonder humans make such shit warriors, you don’t have enough time to meaningfully train.”

“First of all, rude,” Roman scolds him. Virgil just rolls his eyes. Roman takes the break in eye-contact to look away from him, somewhat nervous,

“And second… Speaking of sleep,”

“Gi yah. What is it?” Virgil winces, watching Roman carefully, “I know that tone, that means you have bad news.”

“It’s not necessarily bad! At least, I don’t know yet.” Roman offers with a smile, but Virgil clearly looks unconvinced.

Roman continues to explain the concept of deific visions, and then the vision he received… Or, at least, the parts of it he deems relevant. He doesn’t mention Remus at all, or the segment of snakes and dragons that seemed targeted at him.

“…And that’s when I woke up, and you did your lightning thing again.” Roman sighs.

Virgil blinks at him. Roman forces a chuckle,

“By the way, what was that? You didn’t tell us you could teleport!”

“I didn’t know either. Don’t change the subject,” Vigil snaps, “So, some roses wilt, and then a little garden under them gets ripped up by a wolf, and then the roses come back?”

“One rose, and it was a different sort of rose.” Roman shakes his head, “The first bunch are red roses, which are usually supposed to represent me. The Blushrose that comes later is either my Mother or one of her followers, and I have no idea what the marigold or mosquitoes that accompany it are about.”

Roman waves his hand, summoning an image of the flowers he’d seen in his vision. He points them out in turn,

“Red rose, water lily, baby blue eyes, cranesbill geranium, morning glory, blushrose, and marigold.”

“Why is the blue one called morning glory, instead of the orange one?”

“Because their flowers only bloom in the morning~! They close up the rest of the time.” Roman smiles, “…I don’t know if that’s important to the vision, though?”

“And the roses died when you touched them?” Virgil hums, waving his hand at the projection of the flowers. (He tries not to look surprised when his hand passes right through them; he should have expected that he can’t actually touch them.)

“There seemed to be a delay… But once my blood touched the bush, they all wilted. They haven’t done that before.”

“Yeah, that’s really creepy.” Virgil nods… “So, if the flowers are supposed to be people… Are these supposed to be people you know? Who are they?”

“Well, I’m worried they’re you guys! I mean, there are five of them, and five of us.” Roman frowns, “But, what worries me most is that they’re shredded the moment I — or, the roses — disappear.”

“By a giant ghost wolf?”

Roman nods. Virgil sighs, tapping his claw points against the table.

“…I don’t know, man. It seems pretty cut and dry,” Virgil scowls, “The wolves are coming for us, and they’re going to kill us.”

“Try to kill us,” Roman adds with a stern look at Virgil, who just shrugs him off.

“Tomato potato.”

“That’s not the phrase,” Roman sighs, “And, it can’t be that simple. I mean, we practically already knew that! She wouldn’t feel the need to show me something I would realize on my own the next day.”

“Well, didn’t the whispers only ask about Annie being in danger from the wolf pack because they saw your vision, too? Maybe we wouldn’t have known she was in trouble otherwise.”

“But then we debunked that theory, remember? It has to be something else! The Hag and her minions can’t touch Annie unless they go through me first.”

“They do go through you first, apparently.” Virgil mumbles to himself, a distant look in his eyes.

He seems like he’s planning something.

Roman doesn’t like it.

(He may not know what Virgil’s thinking, but something deep down in his gut is saying he needs to break that train of thought right now, whatever it is.)

“This is the first time in years she’s shown me something like this, it has to be more than that.” Roman shakes his head. He runs through the vision one more time in his mind, then grins,

“The wolf doesn’t show up until after the roses have died, remember? So, they can’t be the one who attacks me!” Roman nods, “I don’t really know why the roses wilted, but it sounds like all I have to do to avoid all of this is stay alive. I’m pretty good at that~!”

Virgil gives him a scalding glare.

Roman tries not to be offended, but he can’t hold back an incredulous gasp,

“I am! —I’ve certainly got a better track record than you!”

Virgil rolls his eyes,

“Fine, but until everyone gets back, you aren’t going outside the Colony barrier. I can’t let you get yourself ‘wilted’ before Logan and Patton come back. Whatever we’re missing here, they’ll find it sooner than we can.”

“I hate to admit it, but that’s probably true…” Roman sighs, “We should really invest in some sending stones for the four of us, so we don’t have as many problems splitting into groups.”

Virgil nods, seemingly done with the conversation, though he still looks worried about what he’s learned. Roman hopes he’s not planning to worry about it for the rest of the week, knowing Virgil is so reluctant to ask for help about his nerves…

After a moment, something he said is still uncomfortably sticking in the back of his mind. Roman hums,

“…So I can’t, but does this mean you intend to leave the barrier at some point?”

“Yeah,” Virgil nods, as if that were obvious. When Roman just continues to stare at him, he relents,

“I should be well enough to join the next Hunt. I need the practice, and it’s tradition that all able-bodied adults participate once a month. We only have a few days left in this month.”

“Oooh, that sounds fun! Are you sure I can‘t join you?” Roman grins, mustering his puppy eyes again. Virgil blushes and smiles slightly, but shakes his head ‘no.’

“It’s nice that you want to, but I already said: No leaving the barrier. We don’t know what’s out to get you right now, and without a guide you could stumble through a twilight bridge — or back into the hag’s territory — without knowing it.”

Roman frowns, pouting slightly. Virgil frowns back, worried he’s really upset, and ties to think of something else to say…

Virgil smirks,

“Besides, I don’t think you would catch anything~ The last time I carved an animal you threw up, and even without your armor you’re way too loud!”

“I am not!” Roman laughs, “And why wouldn’t I wear my armor? There are monsters out here!”

“That’s not how a Hunt works!” Virgil scoffs, “You can’t wear armor; Just your clothes and your blades, that’s it. Sometimes less, depending on how far you want to take it.”

“So you can’t use your bow?” Roman frowns. Virgil shakes his head,

“Eilistraee doesn’t like archery.” He curls into himself a little bit, looking either agitated or embarrassed. It doesn’t look like he wants to elaborate.

“Well, that sucks. You’re really good with that thing!” Roman shrugs, giving Virgil a bright grin, “I mean, that harpy had to be hundreds of feet away when you landed your first shot— I hadn’t seen or heard it until you’d already hit it twice! By the time it reached us, it was practically already dead.”

“It was six hundred feet away, on the first shot.” Virgil grumbles absentmindedly, eyes flicking back and forth like Logan’s do when he’s doing math in his head.

“My mistake~” Roman chuckles. It dies in his throat when he tries to imagine just how far away that is. He may not be great with numbers, but that seemed like way too many of them.

“Wait, holy shit, how far can you see in the dark??”

“Twice that. And, still, that wasn’t good enough,” Virgil shakes his head, “I was just too slow to land four shots… If I was faster, she would have been dead before she got within melee distance. I need more practice.”

“Are you joking?!” Roman wheezes, eyes wide, “Being able to rapid-fire at a moving target from that far away, in the span of a few seconds, is practice enough!”

“I should have gotten four. I was close.” Virgil shakes his head again. Roman scoffs,

“She was flying at you full-speed and weaving through trees. You didn’t miss a single shot! And, might I remind you, you were legally considered asleep at the time,” Roman balks, throwing his weird little water-mold-ball at him (which Virgil easily deflects),

“How is it even possible to train past that?! —You know, I’m starting to think she told you not to use your bow because she knew it would make the whole thing too easy on you~!”

Virgil scoffs and turns away from him, but Roman catches the hint of a smile on his face. Roman smiles back.

“What sort of beasts would you hunt in a place like this, anyway? Don’t animals get weirder in the Feywild?” Roman asks, sipping at his bowl of soup. Virgil nods softly,

“Not weird, just more…intense?” Virgil hums, “The fast ones are faster, the strong ones are stronger, most of them are bigger than they are on Prime, so on. We have a lot of normal forest animals like boar, birds, and rodents, but there are also a lot of them that can do magic, which can make things tricky… And then there’s the big ones, like dire-wolves, dire-bears, et cetera. And we don’t just hunt beasts, there’s a fair amount of monsters he—”

“Wait, did you say dire wolves?! Dire bears?!” Roman pales. Virgil laughs at his horrified expression,

“Yeah? So what?”

“I thought those didn’t actually exist!” Roman gasps, “They’re just bigger, scarier versions of already dangerous animals! They sound like something your parents would make up to keep you from feeding stray dogs!”

“Of course they’re real, why wouldn’t they be?” Virgil rolls his eyes, “You believe in angels, but you don’t believe in big, angry dogs?”

“I am an angel, I am not a large wolf!” Roman pouts, and Virgil smirks in return. Roman turns back to his soup, but he can’t stop his imagination from running wild,

“Do they really have fangs the size of tusks? And spikes growing out of their spines?”

“I mean, dire bear teeth are tusk-like, but that’s just because they’re the size of fucking mountains.” Virgil shrugs, “Why? Are you scared~?”

“I am not!” Roman huffs, “Remus’s just…told me some stories, so I’m curious!”

Virgil grins at that, turning back to his plate of mushroom caps. He seems content to let Roman stew in his fearful musing for a while, reveling in his uneasy stare.

“…And you’ve handled them before, right? They won’t go crazy over the dark season and eat you?” Roman asks, trying to sound less concerned than he is.

(As much as he wants to appear confident in Virgil’s ability, he can’t deny the thought is leaving him with goosebumps. They just got Virgil back, and now he wants to go traipsing around in twilight woods with nothing but a sword?? Honestly, Roman wouldn’t like the idea even if Virgil wasn’t injured and exhausted!)

(Of course, Roman’s certain his concern stems purely from his instinct as a Guardian Angel, and not because he’s scared to lose him again.)

Virgil seems to catch on to Roman’s worry, though, and relents,

“No, it doesn’t really affect them. They’re beasts, not monsters,” Virgil smiles softly, trying to reassure him, “It’s almost Halloween, anyway. Our dire-bears are finding their hibernation spots, if any of them are still awake, so they’re pretty docile right now. And the dire-wolves are less active; they either need to start conserving their energy, or the teens are splitting off to find their own partners. Lone wolves don’t approach people.”

“So, you know a lot about animal behavior around here?” Roman prods gently, hoping to coax Virgil into a rant.

Roman’s not honestly all that interested in animals and hunting and whatever, but he can tell Virgil likes it, and wants to learn more about the things he likes. Besides, Virgil always seems so happy when he has an opportunity to talk about his skills. (It is one of the few times Virgil looks like he wants to be speaking)

“Of course I do,” Virgil nods resolutely, “It’s part of our culture. We’re hunters; you have to be sustainable about it. And, there’s the whole thing with us and whelps… So, we’re basically the guardians of the area. We eat what we need, but we help raise and protect them, too.”

“What ‘thing’ with whelps?”

Virgil looks away from Roman, the tiniest blush on the tips of his ears,

“Y’know, the baby thing?” Virgil shrugs, “I don’t know the science behind it, but young creatures are just…drawn to us? Our spiders, too; You leave a nurse spider alone for one minute, and she comes home with an abandoned fox cub she found in the woods.”

“Funny, I think the whispers had the same to say about you.” Roman chuckles under his breath. Virgil ignores him,

“And if an animal’s having trouble with an injured baby or something, they’ll come find us. I got snatched up by a Purple Worm once, ‘cause it’s pup had swallowed a quartz cluster and started choking. Needed someone to cut it out.”

“That’s incredible!” Roman blinks, “Does that happen often??”

“You mean around now?” Virgil huffs, folding his arms, “It’s about time for fawns to be growing in their adult coats and antlers, which means the young bucks are getting themselves into trouble, and the runts aren’t disguised for the cold months yet. I’ve been nudged around by more than one doe who needed her idiot son’s leg patched up.”

Virgil grumbles something to himself, and Roman can’t help but laugh. Virgil glares at him,

“I’m serious! You guys think nature is so graceful and shit, but it’s not. It’s just as stupid and gross as everything else!”

“No, it’s just,” Roman chuckles, “You sound so inconvenienced about it! —I can’t imagine you letting a bunch of deer herd you around~!”

“Well, they’re lucky I’m too much of a wuss to say no!” Virgil blushes and folds his arms, “It’s the fawn’s own fault for trying to jump a ravine that wide!”

“I need to see you playing doctor with a bunch of reckless baby deer before I die, that sounds adorable.”

(After Virgil gives him a scalding glare for even hypothetically daring to call him ‘adorable,’ Roman continues to goad Virgil into teaching him about different animals, behaviors, and hunting practices. He didn’t expect there to be so many different procedures for dealing with wild animals — or for the procedure for Dire Bears to be “Tell them to kindly fuck off and they will. No, seriously, just talk to them” — nor did he expect Virgil to look so exited to tell him about them.)

“…As long as you’re careful not to take them out of the nesting parent’s sight, you’ll be fine. The hardest part is keeping it warm, and not hurting the hatchling on accident.” Virgil frowns, “And those shells are harder to crack than you think they are, when you’re being careful. They can really get stuck in there, if they wait too long for the shell to dry after their first attempt.”

“You really go around checking owl nests for tired chicks?” Roman coos, imagining the tiny, fluffy things. (He knows they really look like wet, gross little imps when they first hatch, but he’s choosing not to remember that right now.)

“We wouldn’t have to if folks around here stopped hunting them so hard! There’s a monster-hunting base in Loford, and they seem to think every damn feather component in the spellbook has to come from silvertalons.” Virgil rolls his eyes. He flicks his head to the side to rustle his hair, blushing as he mumbles, “And, besides, they’re…kinda cute. If I have free time early Nightal, why not? It doesn’t hurt anyone…”

“Not going to lie, I had underestimated what you meant when you called yourself a survivalist.” Roman grins, propping his chin on his hand and trying his best not to call Virgil ‘cute’ again. Virgil huffs a short laugh,

“When you spend all your time outside and you’re constantly worried about how everything around you can kill you and/or die, you get really good at dealing with animals.” Virgil shrugs, “And, they’re easy to read. I can give a raccoon some berries, let it cuddle in the crook of my arm, and watch it for hissing and squealing, and I know I’m making it happy. People aren’t as easy as food, water, and physical contact. They expect me to say shit, and be nice and…whatever.”

Virgil shuffles in his seat, arms folded against his chest. Roman snorts, giving him a sarcastic smirk,

“So you’ve been treating me like some wild animal, is that it?”

Virgil pales and stares at Roman with wide eyes, completely caught off guard. Roman laughs and shakes his head,

“I’m kidding! I’m kidding~ Don’t worry, I know you’re really trying.”

Virgil nods, slowly, as Roman turns back to his now-almost-empty bowl of grey soup. He seems to wrestle with something for a few minutes, looking back and forth between Roman’s face and staring blankly into the table.

He hangs his head slightly — letting his face hide behind his hair — and speaks, softer than before,

“Yeah. This is new for me, too. I wanted you to assume it wasn’t, but…” Virgil gestures vaguely with his hands, holding his breath like he’s waiting for the words to appear on their own. He sighs,

“Fuck, I wish I was better at this— Just— You’re really nice to talk to! You don’t mind when I talk about weirdo shit like animals and weapons, and you don’t get mad when I give bullshit short answers to your weird game questions—”

“They aren’t bullshit! They’re your answers!” Roman is quick to shake his head as Virgil’s nervousness spreads through the room, “If you don’t like to talk much, that’s okay! I mean, the gods know I like to talk,”

“I like listening!” Virgil blurts. He stares down into his lap, blushing furiously, “You speak really passionately, so I don’t get bored, even if I can’t tell what you’re saying. Your accent is kinda difficult, actually, but that’s okay! It sounds nice! Especially when you’re ranting about your paladin stuff, or your family, or acting, and you stop being so careful about using your ‘fancy’ voice. —A-And, anyway, it means I don’t have to say anything.”

“Certainly.” Roman blushes, ignoring Virgil’s backslide into sarcasm to save face. He just keeps his eyes on him. Roman’s trying to look open and non-judgemental, so Virgil doesn’t shut down, but it’s hard not to grin like an absolute fool when Virgil’s showing this side of himself.

“I’m trying to compliment you, jackass!” Virgil growls in frustration, covering his face with his hands. He mumbles through his palms, “This shit is so hard! There’s no way to just slip these things into a normal conversation without sounding like a stalker— I look ridiculous, how do you do this?!”

“With brazen confidence~!” Roman laughs, spouting the same Suneite advice he always has,

“If the person in question doesn’t like it, they’ll tell you! It’s better to be bold and told ‘no’ when you need to hear it, then to try and be covert about your affections and lead yourself on. Don’t worry about the timing feeling ‘out of nowhere,’ as long as the words are coming from the heart!”

…Once Roman remembers that he’s not giving advice to some hopeless teen and is, in fact, consoling the incredibly cute boy that has a not-so-secret crush on him, he adds on,

“Ah, but don’t be compelled to if you don’t want to! If you’re not comfortable saying such things, you don’t have to!”

“No, I want you to hear it, I just don’t want to have to say it,” Virgil groans, like he’s spilling an embarrassing secret, “It’s not that I don’t want to compliment you, I’m just scared of doing it badly… But I already look like a damn fool, so why stop now, I guess?”

Virgil finally peers through his fingers, and the two make incredibly shy eye contact as the world’s most awkward silence stretches between them.

“…So,” Roman mumbles, trying to scoot closer as subtly as possible,

“Are you going to say anythi—”

“Not right now!” Virgil whines, covering his face again, “Now I’m embarrassed!”

Ask 108 (( @sjrose1217 , @sparkleydoggy-main ))

Game Start

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Rules

Most Recent Recap, in case you feel like you missed something!

Available for questions: Roman and Virgil!

Roman and Virgil catch a final meal, over which they discuss Roman’s vision, animals, and Virgil’s relationship problems. They’re still a bit intoxicated, which is making them both a bit more open than usual!

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((UPDATED: If you missed the blog announcement, check it here!))

#please tell me if i need to tag anything else!#lets roll #ask rpg sanders sides #asks open #sanders sides rpg au #ttrpgau art #⚙️#sparkleydoggy-main #sjrose1217 #tw hunting #tw drunkenness #long post #long answer #long ask #rpgau prinxiety

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