Roman was already sitting on the floor and setting up the game when Virgil rose into princey's grande and stupide room of showy, billowy nonsense. He had changed things around in here again, as usual, but it was still over the top and conceited, just like Roman was.
"Let's play some co-op first so I can warm up," Roman said, holding out a controller for Virgil. Virgil took it and laid down in Roman's lap with his head on Roman's sternum to see the TV. Roman didn't seem to mind and summoned a big, thick reading pillow to lean up against behind him. Roman loaded up the 2 player story mode and started the game.
They ended up playing together for much longer than Roman needed to warm up. Roman was a jumper when he got into the games and it felt a bit like riding a roller coaster with only the upper half of his body. It was a pretty fun ride other than the fact that sometimes his sight would get blocked by Roman's controller as he flailed.
"Princey, you didn't need that power-up, why did you take it! I'm at half-health!" Virgil objected and nudged Roman in the leg with his elbow angrily.
"Well, if you're such a good player, you don't need it!" Roman huffed and flipped his hand dismissively. Virgil pouted up at him, and he just looked smugly down at Virgil.
"Don't be a bitch, Ro, we have shared lives, if I die you also lose a life," Virgil said, rolling his eyes, pointing to the life count on the TV. "See?"
"Oh, shit really?" Roman sounded confused and read the TV screen for a moment. He shook it off quickly, scoffed at Virgil. "Well, good thing you're a cheater!" He said with a haughty laugh. There was a small explosion on a screen, and a big guy came out. Roman ran up and engaged it right away, bouncing and tilting slightly as he fought a mini-boss. Virgil hung back to fight the smaller units to keep his health up instead of taking the damage from the boss, but when he ran out of units, he got impatient and went over to combo the boss. "Hey, that's kill-stealing!" Roman objected and punched Virgil in the arm pretty hard. Virgil winced from the punch and grimaced up at Roman.
"It's not my fault you were taking your sweet time killing him," Virgil said humorously. Roman groaned and punched him again. "If you'd quit taking your hands off the controller to punch me, maybe you wouldn't suck so bad," Virgil laughed.
"I just am not as practiced at these games as you are," Roman objected airily, making an expression that was so arrogant Virgil considered punching it off his face.
"I haven't played many games since I 'left the dark sides', Princey, I just think faster than you," Virgil said with another roll of his eyes. "I'm fight or flight, remember? I'm built with better reflexes," Virgil said dismissively.
"You do not, I definitely would be winning if you weren't a cheater!" Roman shot back, scowling down at Virgil.
"Do you see me cheating, princey? I'm literally in front of you," Virgil said shortly, motioning to the screen with his hand.
"Yes, you are brazenly doing it in front of me!" Roman proclaimed sourly, pouting his lip out.
"Prove it, princey," Virgil challenged Roman with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't know how you're doing it! But I could kick your butt outside of the virtual world any time!" Roman said loudly, sounding very cocky along with the obvious indigence at the whole situation.
"Prove it, princey," Virgil repeated, the threat was obvious in his voice. He stared Roman right in the eyes to let him know he wasn't backing down. Roman glowered back at him scornfully. "Oh, I think my bunny slippers just ran for cover," Virgil sarcastically quoted Mulan. Roman paused the game and gently put down his controller and took Virgil's out of his hands, also placing that one delicately to the floor with slow and fluid grace.
As soon as the controllers were cleared, Roman made his move. He pushed Virgil off his lap and tried to land a hit, but just barely missed as Virgil pivoted his body and tried to make a grab at Roman's torso with his legs. He managed to get a hold of Roman for a moment, but Roman broke out before Virgil could attempt to flip him. Roman tried to pin Virgil's arms down on the ground while he recovered from the failed attack. But Virgil just bucked off the ground with his legs and pushed him right back off. Virgil launched off the ground to tackle him over before Roman could retaliate again. Princey landed on the ground, pinned underneath Virgil who sported a triumphant grin.
"Tap to concede rules, Roman, unless you really want to go," Virgil proposed confidently. The bravery atmosphere in Roman's room had already affected him and at the moment he couldn't care less. Roman worked his knee under Virgil and shoved him off, sending Virgil stumbling back.
"A prince would never pull a blade on his subjects! And I should warn you, I duel with my brother often!" Roman declared and posed proudly. Virgil lunged back at him and grabbed his tunic, pulling him into a fist instead of extending to a punch to trick Roman into dodging the wrong way. Roman looked affronted at the landed hit to his face.
"I'm only impressed if you beat him at chess, princey," Virgil grunted as Roman punched him back in the chest and caught himself before stumbling again. He went low when Roman lunged at him and grabbed Roman across the waist and brought him down under him again. "And for some reason, I just can't imagine you outwitting Remus's tactics," He said with a cynical laugh and sat at the edge of his ribcage, holding down his arms.
"How dare you!" Roman shot an objection and tried to use his legs again to force Virgil off, but he couldn't get an opening to fling him again.
"You tapping yet, princey?" Virgil said with a fake yawn. That must have really riled up Roman because he forced himself up on one side and launched Virgil off again.
"We're only just starting, Death cab," Roman growled and dove to pin Virgil.
"Are you calling me a cutie?" Virgil taunted him as he dodged Roman's lunge. Roman must have anticipated the dodge and twisted Virgil's arm behind his back, preventing him from moving farther away. Virgil wasn't willing to tap yet, though, and he kicked his foot under Roman's ankle and tripped him, giving Virgil just enough leeway to escape. "Because I'm flattered," Virgil said with a chuckle and stepped back and braced himself for Roman to go at him again. Roman swept at Virgil's legs instead of lunging again, and Virgil toppled hard onto the floor. He managed to roll to his back and grapple with Roman instead of being pinned outright again. He yanked to one side to get Roman to roll and went with the inertia, and now Roman was pinned and grappling underneath.
Roman let out a frustrated grunt and tried the same trick, but Virgil was prepared and he was only rocked instead of doing a full 180. Virgil laughed and kissed Roman's knuckles while trying to push his arms down. Roman's face was shocked for a moment, but despite the blush on Roman's cheeks, he managed to roll and pin Virgil under him with his hands against the ground. Virgil laughed again, impressed that Roman found a weak angle to throw him again. He probably needed to stop before he hurt Roman, though. He was probably getting too into it.
"I tap, princey, I tap!" Virgil conceded loudly, his voice tinged with humor and respect.
"Say it!" Roman hissed behind a crooked smile. Virgil blushed slightly and looked at him with wide eyes.
"You can whoop my ass for real!" Virgil announced to the room. "I concede this victory to the prince," Virgil chuckled lightly.
"You're damn right you do!" Roman cheered victoriously and released Virgil's arms to fix his hair that had gone askew while fighting. He didn't get off of Virgil though. They were both breathing pretty hard from the effort of the battle, and Virgil would have loved the extra lung space if Roman got off him, but he didn't seem to want to. Roman reached over and picked up the player one controller and saved their progress.
"Are you going to let me up, princey? Or do I just live here now?" Virgil grunted slightly at the pressure on his chest, but he didn't make the effort to push Roman off.
"I won those rights when I kicked your ass, Virgil," Roman said haughtily, posing slightly on top of Virgil.
"Come on, jerk-butt, I can't breathe well, you don't want a freakin' anxiety attack right now," Virgil sighed and pushed at Roman's knees. Roman's eyes widened slightly, probably in acknowledgment, and rolled off of Virgil. When he stood, he offered his hand to help Virgil up. Virgil slapped it for a victory high five and then took it. "You can take your rights to the couch, right?" Virgil asked tugged Roman's hand in that direction.
"Of course I can, I can take them anywhere," Roman said with a smirk, and Virgil turned away to hide another blush. Roman didn't miss it, though. "You're a bit of a masochist, huh," Roman laughed. Virgil blushed harder.
"I'm pretty certain I already said that Princey," He mumbled sat in the couch's nook, and pulled Roman to sit in front of him so he couldn't see his face. Roman paused for a moment, processing what he said, and then broke out laughing.
"I thought you were joking!" He said and pulled Virgil up again. "I'm tops," he said in a half-whisper and Virgil's entire face burned like it was on fire.
"To put up with you, I think I'd have to be," Virgil muttered sourly and got up to let Roman switch places with him.
"Payback is a bitch, isn't it," Roman purred into Virgil's ear and had Virgil lay on top of him instead.
"I think you're a bitch," Virgil mumbled and settled down on Roman's chest. He could hear Roman's heart still racing from the tussle.
"I think you are the only bitch in the room I see," Roman said with a quiet intensity and Virgil shrank in his arms, his face now hurting it was so flushed. Roman laughed even louder at his reaction and pulled Virgil tighter against him. "Let's watch a movie," Roman said, the remote flying into his hands. Man, thinking of that earlier would have been much easier than fighting to get it close when Patton was on him.
"How about Inside Out?" Virgil suggested with a dark chuckle. Roman glared at him slightly.
"We'll be watching Wall-E," Roman said, sounding annoyed that Virgil brought that up.
"Oh, you don't have to pout, princey," Virgil said and angled his head up to kiss Roman's cheek. "You're still my hero even if you aren't 100% original all the time," He turned as red as Virgil probably still was. "Guess there are two bitches in the room after all," Virgil laughed airily. Roman squeezed Virgil tightly. "I give! I give!" he shouted and Roman loosened up again.
"Aren't you tetchy," Virgil said with annoyance and wrapped his arms around the one holding him down to the couch. Virgil snuggled in and nuzzled his face on Roman's chest. He glanced up, and that made the redness in princey's face glow a little. Looks like now they know each other's weaknesses, and the fights are fair again. Oh, well. It's not like his weakness is anything important to hide. Deceit and Remus already knew. Except…
"Never tell Patton," Virgil muttered. He didn't want to have to explain it or get weird looks from him. That's not information you can unlearn about a person, and if they're not already cool with it, then it's weird for everybody involved.
"Agreed," Roman said with a little knowing smirk. Virgil rolled his eyes at Roman and turned to watch the movie.
They were both entranced by the film in short order, probably because that fight had been very draining even if a lot of punches weren't thrown for damage. Fighting with Roman was much less stressful than fighting Remus. All those fight-or-flight instincts worked in Vigil's favor, instead of against him like they normally did. When he was fighting, and it made him feel strong and capable for once. Though, maybe the room amplified that a bit. Roman seemed to enjoy lower stakes fights with Virgil, too, or he wouldn't keep taking the bait. He really didn't mind losing to Roman, either. Probably because Roman didn't make demands of the loser like Remus normally did. Not that there's wasn't something to be said about going absolutely berserk with his brother. He probably shouldn't start launching spiders at Roman or pull his glaive on him, but that's Remus approved behavior.
Virgil tittered when Roman said 'eeva' along with Wall-E on the TV and curled into him more. Roman was warm from the tussle and the tunic was surprisingly comfortable to lie on. He felt content, and at the moment he never wanted to leave. Roman would assuredly piss him off again soon, or he would piss off Roman. It was an eventuality with them. They were bound to disagree over something or other because it was just their natures. But Virgil wouldn't mind if all their fights ended this way. Roman gave him a gentle squeeze and kissed his hair. Virgil sighed contentedly and nestled into Roman further.
Virgil closed his eyes and listened to Roman's heart against his chest. The smooth, even beat was even more restful and when he opened his eyes again, they were probably another 20 minutes in the movie from when he last watched. He shook his head lightly to shake the sleep from his eyes.
"Getting tired, cuddle monster?" Roman asked affectionately and gave Virgil's hair a stroke.
"Yeah… tired of you," Virgil said and yawned mid-sentence, his eyes fluttering closed again for a moment. He snapped them back open. It wasn't that he shouldn't sleep in here as much as he didn't want the cuddles to end. Roman was so warm and he felt so safe. Roman's room plus being wrapped up in his arms made him feel like he could conquer the world.
"Just like I'm tired of your shit," Roman said with a chuckle. "Movie's almost over, gotherella, you can put up with the rest of it,"
Virgil yawned again. "'Kay. Don't let me fall asleep here or there will be another Roman with better makeup than yours tomorrow stealing all your limelight,"
"You could never even begin to try, discount drama queen," Roman with a laugh from his throat and squeezed Virgil for a second. Virgil buried his head in Roman's tunic for a moment before looking back to the TV to finish the movie.
—
Virgil came up into Deceit's room and snapped into some pajama pants and a different hoodie before quietly crawling into bed.
"Virgil," Deceit said smoothly and Virgil's eyes shot over to the chair where Deceit was writing something down in one of his folders. "You've very arrived early,"
"I wasn't as tired today," Virgil said with a soft exhale of exhaustion. Sitting on top of Deceit's bed was cold compared to the warm couch.
"Indeed," Deceit said and snapped into a pair of regal pinstriped pajamas himself. "You had a terrible time today," Deceit said smoothly as he pulled back the covers on the other side of the bed. Virgil rubbed his arms.
"Yeah, almost everybody was nice to me. I learned how to knit. I didn't have an anxiety attack about anything unimportant," Virgil said, almost wistfully. "Did you have an agreeable day?"
"I had some successes today," Deceit said and laid down flat. "If things continued like this, it wouldn't be objectionable,"
"Speaking of things continuing-" Virgil started but was interrupted by a sigh.
"No, Virgil, stay frozen above the sheets for all I care," Deceit said, rolling his eyes. Virgil slid under the same covers as Deceit and laid down, holding on to the snake doll he conjured before.
"Thanks, I'm really cold…" Virgil said trailing off and mumbling it into his plush. Deceit's sheets were silky smooth and smelled so nice. Virgil settled in but kept his distance from Deceit. He didn't want to annoy him further. Virgil was a little worried that Deceit would be mad about all the close contact he had with the other sides today. And that he literally fought with Roman today. But Deceit didn't bring up anything, and they had laid silently while Deceit dimmed the lights. Maybe that stuff was already accounted for? Deceit was very thorough.
Or maybe he really messed up and Deceit didn't want to deal with it today. Or maybe he was too clingy, and the other sides think he's extra weird. Or maybe he missed something important while he was knitting. He had been distracted for an hour or two of him counting repetitively. Oh god, what happened in that time span?
"I love the new temperature, Virgil, do keep it up," Deceit said with heavy exasperation. He opened his eyes and noticed he had icy webs on his fingers.
"Shit, sorry," He muttered and strained to pull it all in. Virgil hadn't noticed how cold he made the room until it had warmed back up. The effort exhausted him and now he had to try to reign in his thoughts to stop it from getting bad again.
"Jusst assk, next time, Virgil, you don't have to do that to yourself," Deceit hissed, and he felt something crawl up his shirt on his back. Oh shit, he really did piss off Deceit. Fuck, Shit, He had to… Oh- The snake bit him and he took a deep breath. Oh, he was breathing again. What was he freaking out about? It didn't feel like it mattered.
"You're at least half cold-blooded, right?" Virgil said sleepily.
"Of course not," Deceit said, sounding slightly confused.
"Does that mean half of you is cold?" Virgil said, his exhaustion making him sound a little loopy.
"No?" Deceit asked and looked over at Virgil with an odd expression he couldn't parse.
"Do you want me to warm you back up?" Virgil said with a little yawn. Deceit rolled his eyes and lifted up his arm. Virgil scooted in with another yawn and draped himself over Deceit's snake half. He could feel the cool scales through the pajama top, but Virgil was no stranger to a little cold.
"Cuddle monster is a completely inaccurate way to describe you," Deceit mused with a little humor in his voice.
"Yeah, well, that's probably all you," Virgil said with a deep yawn. He slid his hands over the scales through the fabric. They felt really cool. He felt Deceit take a deep breath.
"Virgil, go to sleep," Deceit said, sounding a little annoyed. Virgil chuckled against his chest and secretly rolled his eyes.
"What? You feel nice," He said quietly and closed his eyes.
"Good night, Virgil," Deceit said, sounding exasperated. Virgil was lost to oblivion moments later.