A week had passed since Virgil's first transformation display. He no longer had to hide away in his room when in Panther form, and spent most of the time on the couch with the TV on while the others were at work.
Roman and himself had become a little closer; he could see that Princey was trying to make up for the past, even though Virgil had forgiven him. Yet he still made an effort to make Virgil feel as comfortable as possible, even if he did like to tease and annoy him.
Patton had made meat dishes a lot after finding out that Virgil was practically a carnivore, and Logan had spent a lot of time researching way's for Virgil to be able to communicate when in panther form.
When Logan had returned from work that day, he suggested that Virgil use Morse code to communicate with the others. However, Virgil, nor Roman or Patton, knew Morse code, and even after spending 3 day's trying to teach it to them Roman lost interest and Virgil had started getting frustrated.
Thus the new system was born; Logan, with a joint effort of Patton, bought a large corkboard and placed it on the floor leant up against the wall. On this board were the letters of the alphabet on large 5x5" notepads, and lining the top were the common essentials 'Hungry', 'Thirsty', 'Entertainment', 'W/C' & 'Air'. {A/N: Here is a link to an example of the board I made if you wanna see it: image/180897945473 }
Today was the day the board would be introduced. It was a Friday night, and Patton had just finished sticking the pieces of paper to the board in his room, with the help and guidance of Logan.
Roman and Virgil sat on the sofa in the living room, Virgil now in human form on his phone, while Roman was humming along to 'Tale as old as time'.
"Did you really have to watch beauty and the beast…" Virgil spoke, clearly not amused. Roman could only blink, not connecting the dots "What do you mean? It's a great Disney movie! It's even got 'dark undertones' as you like to commonly point out" he said with a huff.
Virgil raised a brow 'does Princey really not see the uncomfortable similarities?' he thought before pulling his hood over his head and tugging on his sleeves to cover his hands more. Roman had taken note that this was a nervous tick Virgil had when he wanted to share something he found uncomfortable to talk about.
"Virge?" Roman spoke after a minute of silence. Virgil sighed, "Well… think about it… a dark, selfish guy is cursed to turn into a b-beast…" Virgil had difficulty getting out the last word, but as soon as he did Roman's eye's widened; finally connecting the dots. Virgil just curled in on himself more "And… The only way to break the curse is by… t-true… true loves…k-kiss-…" He trailed off at the end, almost to complete silent but Roman knew all too well how curses were broken in Disney movies, however, for Virgil to use that as a comparison too took him by surprise.
"Firstly… You're not a beast, nor are you selfish" Roman said crossing his arms over his chest in a lecturing manner. Virgil glanced at him only to look away again, his hood hiding most of his face.
"Secondly… Are you telling me that your curse… can be broken by true loves kiss?" Roman asked, disbelief evident in his voice, but also amazed, having never heard of this before or even considered Virgil's curse, or as Logan put it 'evolutionary anomaly', being able to be broken.
Virgil chewed on his lower lip silently before nodding his head, Roman gasped and stood "Oh my god! I am literally in a Disney movie right now!" He gleamed, making Virgil look up at him with a slightly amused, yet confused expression. "Fear not my precious damsel! Your prince will save you!~" Roman smirked looking down at Virgil's blushing face, the latters eyes widening as he got up and backed away with his hands up "N-No… Roman… That… That's not how it works-"
Roman that took a large stride forward, taking a hold of Virgil's upper arms. Virgil's eyes widening further, his cheeks burnt red, and his Adams-apple visibly moved as he swallowed heavily.
Roman appeared momentarily confidant as he looked down at Virgil's expression, he was only playing the part of prince for fun, he enjoyed teasing Virgil but… When he looked into the others chocolate brown eyes and their bodies were mere centimetres from each other Romans heart rate suddenly began to increases.
Suddenly the confident expression fell as Romans cheeks also began to blush a pink shade, opening his mouth to speak but his word choked, stuck in his throat. They both stood there, wide eyes looking at each other, hearts beating fast and palms becoming sweaty. Unconsciously the two leaned closer to one another slowly, their eyelids closing and lips only millimetres apart.
"Roman! What are you doing to my strange dark son!"
Patton's voice broke the silent tension in the air from the stairs, both gasping in unison and in an instant they had separated 5 feet, Virgil's head hung, his hood and fringe hiding his bright red face, also having brought his sleeves up to cover his mouth.
Roman looked at Patton with wide eyes, his face also bright red and shaking a little from the adrenaline running through his veins "N-Nothing!" Roman defended.
'I… I nearly kissed… oh my god… and he leaned in too… what… but why… does he?-… or was it just a spare of the moment thing?' Romans mind was reeling as he glanced at the folding up Virgil who had now made his way onto the sofa.
Patton blinked seeing the awkward scene in front of him. He had just heard Virgil telling Roman 'No' and came down to see what was going on, to then see Roman grabbing Virgil, of course Patton thought that he was teasing his son again, but from the looks on both their faces he had been wrong.
Patton wasn't stupid or as innocent as he seemed, he rubbed the back of his neck when he realised he'd just interrupted an intimate moment "A-Ah… Sorry kiddos…" he apologised. "Patton, your assistance if you would…" Logan's voice echoed from the top of the stairs having the large board in his hands.
The moment was over, Virgil still stayed curled up on the sofa, having an internal panic attack, ignoring his surrounding for the moment while he just tried to process what just happened.
Roman calmed himself and let Virgil be for the moment whilst stepping towards the stairs hearing Logan, Patton gasped and dashed up the stair "Right! Sorry!" he squeaked and helped Logan carry the board downstairs.
Roman moved out the way and rose his brows at the board "Oh wow, you finished it then?" he chuckled as they placed it up against the only blank wall in the living room.
Patton nodded his head and Logan pushed up his glasses "Yes, we think this will be an idea way to communicate with Virgil during the day" he spoke glancing at the boy who was still having an internal freak out.
Roman bought more time for Virgil to settle as he walked to the board and hummed "I was kind of expecting it to be all decorated since it was Patton helping you out, Logan" he chuckled. Logan simple sighed, "Yes… Well…" He glanced at Patton who in turn giggled awkwardly. "He attempted to do so, however, there was no space available for the actual notes" Logan rolled his eyes.
Roman could only laugh, expecting that much from Patton. He nodded his head before looking at the words at the top of the board "Hungry, Thirsty, Entertainment, W/C… and … Air?" Roman raised a brow clearly confused.
Logan nodded his head before giving an explanation "Upon the frustration of having to spell everything out, Patton and I agreed that we should give Virgil the main needs in words, this way less effort is needed, thus a more comfortable communication" he spoke "Food, Water and Entertainment are basics, as for the water closet… We weren't sure where or… how… Virgil…" he trailed off clearing his throat "Anyway, he may need help if the situation calls for it, like opening a door, or such, so this one is still necessary" he then moved on to the final one. "Air can be split into two meanings, perhaps Virgil wants to go outside, though unadvised, he is not a prisoner here and may do as he wishes, as long as he is careful. The other meaning is if he happens to be having a panic attack, air is what he lacks during those times, so if and when he points to this one we must assist him" Logan finalised.
Roman nodded in understanding, glancing over at Virgil who seemed to have calmed down and was looking at the board, listening to them discuss it. Patton spoke up "Virgil? You mentioned before that if you have a panic attack in panther form then it is much worse… so umm… could you tell us how to help you so we can be prepared?" Patton asked nervously, taking a seat next to the uncurling purple boy.
Virgil smiled softly at Logan, offering a silent 'thank you' to him, in return Logan nodded his head and took a seat on his armchair. Virgil then lowered his hood and looked at Patton "U-Umm… well the breathing exercises work sometimes" he informed before chewing his lower lip and putting his hands in his pockets "A-Also…" he trailed off.
Patton tilted his head "Also?"
Virgil looked down before clearing his throat "S-Stroking my… my f-fur…" he stuttered quietly, embarrassed, but was mildly surprised to not hear any teasing. Patton smiled and patted Virgil's back "Okay~ we can do that~ I also hope this board will help you communicate with us Virge" Patton began beaming again making Virgil smile sheepishly.
"It will, Thank you Patton, thank you all of you… I-I…" Everyone's eyes were on Virgil when they heard a small sniffle.
"Virgil?" Roman leaned forward from his place on the sofa to look at him, sat on the other side of Patton, his expression worried like the rest of them.
Virgil chuckled softly and lifted his tear filled face, surprising the rest of them. His cheek glistened with tears, his eyes half-moons and a genuine smile on his lips, the most they'd ever seen Virgil smile. It melted their hearts, even Logan's.
"I-I just, I'm so happy, and it's all thanks to you guys" Virgil explained, lifting his sleeve to wipe the tears from his cheeks, and with an 'oof' Virgil was assaulted with a large, tight hug from Patton; who now had tears of his own.
"Of course! You're part of our family Virgil~" Patton exclaimed, Virgil laughed softly, his eyes panning to the other two, who were smiling at him with a warmth he'd never felt before meeting these guys.
Not to mention the strange, new and slightly scary feelings he had when he looked at Roman. The moment they had shared began to resurface in his memory, making him hide his face in Patton's shoulder, to hide the blush.
Maybe… Maybe Roman was the beauty to his beast…
Not that he'd ever admit that out loud!
