#*screeeeeches*

Logan finished patching up the hole in the castle wall and wiped the sweat from his brow. Thomas walked to his side and gave a nod of approval, and Logan sent him a light smile. The king strode over to his window and looked out.

“The town still needs a lot of work, but I’m sure if we work together, we can get it fixed up in no time,” he commented. Thomas turned his attention back to Logan, who joined his side soon after.

“I’m sure I could make quick work of it,” Logan mentioned.

“I don’t want you to exhaust yourself. Besides, I want to help return my people back to peace. It’s the least I could do.”

Logan hummed and nodded his head. “You are a good king indeed.”

Thomas smiled out of the corner of his lips. He thought for a moment before asking, “You think she’ll be back?”

“I’m unsure,” Logan answered. “I have no idea where she went, nor do I know her whereabouts. I’m assuming that wasn’t the last we will see of her, but I cannot draw a concise conclusion.”

Thomas’s grimace proved that was not the answer he wanted, but he accepted it.

Someone cleared their throat loudly in the doorway, and both Thomas and Logan turned their heads.

Roman strode into the room, dressed in a loose white tunic with rolled up sleeves and black pants that clung to his black boots. It took a moment for Logan to realize he was staring.

“Morning, Ro,” Thomas greeted. Roman came to his side and crossed his arms as he stared out the window.

“Noble Joan is awake and asking to see you,” Roman informed. “I notified them you will be there to speak to them and Noble Talyn as soon as possible.”

“Thank you,” Thomas replied and sighed in relief. He turned back to the window and looked out. “Are the knights out?”

“All that are available. Leo wanted to speak with you as well. He was rather concerned we didn't locate the witch after the battle.”

“As am I, but all we can do is be ready if she does decide to come back.”

Roman nodded his head in agreement.  “I plan on joining the other knights soon to repair the town if you wish to stand by my side.”

“Wouldn’t dream of doing otherwise,” Thomas sent back.

“Good. I’ll meet you down at the palace gates in a few minutes. Don’t be late.” Roman looked over Thomas’s shoulder and caught Logan’s expression. He sent a coy smile before winking and walking out of the room.

Logan watched him exit. It should be against the law to look that flawless this early in the morning.

“So when are you going to tell him?”

Logan snapped his attention back to Thomas, who sent a knowing smile. His body stiffened, and he took in a deep breath.

“I’m unsure I know what you’re-”

“He’d probably say yes, you know.” Thomas took a step back and added, “Just do me a favor and treat him right, okay? He’s got a pretty fragile heart.”

Logan, for once, was at a complete loss for words. Thomas followed Roman out of the room and left Logan to his thoughts in the throne room.

Tell Roman?

Talk about his feelings?

What would he even say?

How would he even do it?

Logan ran a hand through his hair. If anyone could help him with this dilemma, it had to be Virgil. His friend was a walking ball of nerves, but he still managed to open up to Patton. Maybe there was a trick?

Logan strode out of the throne room doors and toward the guest room he and Virgil were currently occupying together. He knocked three times on their door and heard a moan on the other side.

“I’m coming in,” Logan announced. He opened the door, not caring if he got an answer.

Virgil sat up in his bed on his elbows, his eyes half open and an annoyed curl in his lips. Emile stretched at the foot of his bed.

“Morning already?” Emile asked with a yawn.

“Virgil, I realize it is within your normal resting hours, but I have an infinitesimal problem.”

“Then why do you need me?”

“I need your advice.”

“Sounds like a big problem if you’re coming to me.”

Logan paused. Yes, that’s what he said, wasn’t it? Nevermind-

“Virgil, how did you confess your feelings to Patton?”

Virgil blinked at him twice before letting out a light laugh and rolling over to go back to sleep. Logan stiffened.

“Virgil, please, I need-”

“I’m not gonna be your wingman,” Virgil mumbled and yawned. Emile shook his head and stretched. He laid down on top of Virgil, earning a long grunt from the sorcerer.

“Come on, Virge. You owe him.”

“Guess again.”

“Well, you know, if it wasn’t for Logan, you’d still be a wolf and Patton wouldn’t be-”

“Ugh, fine,” Virgil grumbled and attempted to push Emile off of his side. Emile rolled over and allowed Virgil to sit up. Virgil rubbed a hand over his face and glared at Logan through his fingertips.

“Well first off,” Virgil continued, “he was gonna die, so it didn’t really matter if he rejected me.”

“I’m not putting Roman in harm’s way to confess to him.”

“No, I’m not-” Virgil groaned. “I wasn’t trying to say-”

“Then what were you insinuating?”

“I didn't really think about it, you know? I'm not good at talking about feelings.”

“So the trick is to not think and just speak?”

“I guess.”

“What do I even say?”

“Well, I don't know! What do you like about him?”

Logan thought for a while. “Even if he is loud and obnoxious, I still enjoy his company.”

Virgil couldn't contain the snort that escaped through his nose.

“Man, listening to you two talk about love is like listening to two birds squawking at three in the morning,” Remy moaned from Logan’s bed. He stretched and shook his fur. “It’s painful.”

“Well, I don’t see you helping,” Logan mumbled.

“I’ve only been shipping you two since he came to the house,” Remy purred. He chose to ignore the question that formed on Logan’s lips. “Just be upfront and honest with him.”

“Yes, but you remember how well that worked in my favor the last time.”

“You scared Damian half to death. I’d be scared if you asked me to copulate with you too.”

Virgil rose a brow. “What?”

“A minor setback. Apparently, that’s not how humans work.”

“No one works like that, Logan.” Remy jumped off the bed and walked toward him. Logan picked Remy up in his arms and ran his hand across Remy’s back. Stroking his soft silver fur always calmed his nerves.

“Okay, well, how about something romantic?” Emile offered. “I mean, Roman seems the type to like poetry and whatnot.”

“Nothing like getting all tongue tied while you’re trying to be romantic,” Virgil mumbled.

Logan sighed heavily through his nose. “If Roman so obviously has these feelings for me, why hasn’t he said so yet?”

“Chances are,” Emile informed, “he has and you missed it.”

Logan rubbed a hand over his face. Remy crawled out of his arms and curled up into his hood.

“Don’t worry, Lo. I’ll be your wingcat,” Remy mused. “I’m pretty good at this romance stuff.”

“And when have you had practice?”

The back of his hood settled into silence, and Logan let out an exasperated sigh.

Now realizing he wasn’t going back to sleep- and somewhat curious to see just how badly Logan messed this all up- Virgil got dressed before following Logan out into the hallway. Emile followed at Virgil’s heels. The two walked out toward the courtyard, and they noticed a lack of Roman or Thomas.

“They already left,” Logan mumbled. Great, there went the idea of a private confession.

Virgil hummed and crossed his arms. “So where did they go?”

“Probably out to help people rebuild their homes.” Logan started forward again and exited the palace gates.

The sound of hammers conversed with the tweets of early birds. People chattered as they assisted their neighbors. The morning dew still sat in the air and blew a cool breeze over the smoldering town. The scent of burnt wood still floated in the air, but they were sure the smell would never truly leave.

“Virgil, Logan!” a voice called off in the distance.

Patton approached and waved his arm into the air. Around his neck sat a light gray cloak, and if one looked close enough, cat ears popped out of the top of the hood.

“Good morning!” Patton chirped as he came to a stop in front of them.

“Salutations,” Logan greeted him. “Is Roman around?”

“Yeah, he and Thomas are fixing some roofs a few streets over, I think.”

“You’re wearing gray today,” Virgil noted, for once very pleased to not see a red cloak around Patton’s neck.

Patton looked down and smiled. “Oh, yeah, this is my favorite. I didn’t want to rip it in the woods, so Roman gave me his, and now that I’m home I can wear this one.” He spun in a circle, and the cloak flared out around him. “You like it?”

“You’re beautiful,” Virgil spoke through reflex. He only realized it when Patton stopped spinning, and he turned away with a flush of his cheeks.

Patton scooped up Virgil’s right arm in his own and responded, “Aww, thanks. I think you’re beautiful too.”

If Virgil wasn’t red before, he was really red now. Patton pulled Virgil off through the town, chattering away about something. Virgil looked over at Logan for help, but all Logan did was smile and wave his friend farewell.

“See, that’s how you do it,” Remy purred, but Logan shushed him. He scanned through all the working people for any sign of Roman or Thomas. Surely where one was, the other wasn’t that far behind, right?

Logan ducked under a log carried between two women when he spied Roman hammering away on a roof. Obviously, he didn’t care about modesty, because at some point, he lost the white shirt he was wearing. Logan didn’t miss the way Roman’s muscles rippled with every hit of his hammer, or how the sweat resting on his skin made him shimmer like a thousand gold coins. Logan swallowed the bile rising through his throat.

“Nice,” Remy purred, and Logan shoved the cat’s head back in his hood. Logan cleared his throat.

“Roman,” he called out, “may I have a word with you?”

Roman didn’t hear him at first over the hammering, so Logan tried again. The second time, Roman wiped the sweat from his brow and looked over the side of the roof.

“Oh, good morning!” Roman called down. “It’s about time you showed up. I was afraid you were skipping out.”

Logan hummed and looked around. He was overthinking this. Roman was obviously already interested, so he had no logical reason to be this nervous. Besides, it wasn’t like this was his first relationship.

Roman seemed to forget about Logan and started conversing with another person on the roof. Logan groaned and ran a hand through his hair. Apparently, the most difficult part of this was going to be keeping Roman’s attention.

Thomas stopped at Logan’s side, carrying a few stones in a large metal bucket, and cleared his throat.

“Well, how’s it going?” Thomas asked and raised a brow.

“I’m working on it,” Logan snapped.

Thomas let out a light laugh. “Okay, sorry to rush you.” He nodded up to Roman, who turned to send a greeting to his brother, and started back down the road.

Logan watched Thomas leave. He heard Roman yelp. Logan turned and glanced up. Roman fell backward. Logan’s hand shot up. A rune flashed in his hand, and he barely finished the spell in time to catch Roman mid-air. He let out all the air in his lungs at once.

That was way too close.

A few people murmured as Logan lowered Roman carefully into his arms. Roman’s eyes melted from panic to adoration.

“Guess I’ve fallen for you once again,” Roman purred. Logan resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Oh, wait, this is what they meant when they said Roman had told him already. He was using badly worded romantic lines. “We have to stop meeting like this.”

“Like what?” Logan asked.

“Oh you know, me falling from high places. You having to rescue me before I die. It seems to be a reoccurring theme.”

Logan cleared his throat and set Roman back down on the ground. However, as Roman’s right foot touched the dirt below, he sucked in a breath and fell back into Logan. Surprised but catching him in time, Logan assessed the situation.

“You’ve hurt your ankle.”

“I’m sure I merely turned it wrong,”

Roman tried to stand on it again, but if he was trying to hide his pain, he failed miserably. Logan put one of Roman’s arms over his shoulders.

“Relax. You’ll hurt yourself worse,” Logan grumbled.

“But I can’t just let them alone,” Roman whined. “They’re counting on me.”

“They can’t count on you if you cannot stand.” Logan led Roman over to a vacant area and sat him down in the dirt. He positioned Roman’s leg out in front of him, and Roman sucked in a breath through his teeth as Logan jostled his ankle. “My apologies.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Roman replied. He leaned back on his hands and watched Logan’s fingers move to produce a spell. The concentration that settled over Logan’s brow moved every organ in Roman’s body in different directions. He shifted to sit up closer but moved his ankle and winced.

“Patience. I’ll have you back on your feet in no time,” Logan murmured.

“Oh, you have no idea how much restraint I’m using,” Roman responded.

Logan’s eyes jumped up to Roman, and he wondered if Roman was talking about his ankle or himself.

The silver ring around Logan’s rune wrapped around Roman’s leg, and his ankle felt like he stuck it in fresh snow. Roman shuddered and swallowed a breath. The icy feeling disappeared as quickly as it came.

“There,” Logan mumbled. “That should fix your ailment.”

Roman tested Logan’s theory by rolling his ankle. There was a slight bite of pain, but it was nothing Roman couldn’t tolerate.

Logan stood and offered his hand. Roman took it, and Logan helped pull Roman onto his feet. For a moment, Roman stood as close as he could and soaked in Logan’s overheating body.

“You know, I thought you said you weren’t leaving me out of your sight?” Roman teased.

Logan opened his mouth to speak, but the only thing that escaped was static. Roman laughed and shook his head. He patted Logan’s shoulder and started back toward the roof he was working on.

“Roman, wait,” Logan called out. He grabbed onto Roman’s wrist. Roman slowed to a halt and turned around to look at him. His eyes met Roman’s, and his whole body went as cold as Roman’s ankle.

Oh, there went all the words Logan planned on saying.

Logan cleared his throat. “I don’t think you should go on any more roofs for the rest of the day.”

“What, afraid you won’t be there to catch me next time?”

Logan pursed his lips, and he took in a deep breath. The serious tone melted away the coy smile on Roman’s lips, and Logan feared his silence gave the wrong impression.

“Roman, I merely care about your safety,” Logan responded. “I don’t want any more unfortunate accidents to befall you.”

“I’ll try to be more careful,” Roman replied. His fingertips lingered as he slid out of Logan’s grip. He sighed before disappearing behind a group of people leading a cart of lumber.

Remy poked his head out of Logan’s hood. “What are you doing? You practically had him right there!”

Logan picked Remy out of his hood and set him roughly in the dirt. Remy let out a gasp of shock, and Logan chased after Roman.

The prince had started giving directions to a group of knights when Logan approached. Logan cleared his throat, and he had more eyes upon him than he wanted. He pushed past them and stood directly in front of Roman.

“Yes, what is it?” Roman asked. The air around him was much colder than before, but the warm gaze in his eyes told Logan it was all a front. He did remember someone mentioning Roman disliked showing weakness in front of others.

“I need to speak with you,” Logan replied. Roman quirked an eyebrow. “In private, if I may.”

Roman shrugged and excused himself. Logan led him to a secluded alley, coincidentally the one Virgil and Emile reunited in, and turned to face him.

Roman put his hand on the wall and stood awfully close to Logan. Logan panicked at the close proximity, but he noticed Roman made sure there was space for Logan to move away if he felt uncomfortable.

“What is so important that it can’t wait?” Roman asked, a wide smile pulling on his lips.

“I-” Logan started, but found himself at a strange lack for words once again. He swallowed his nerves and took a deep breath. “I need to confess something to you.”

Roman’s eyebrow popped up in curiosity, and Logan swallowed his stomach back into his gut.

Logan continued, “I seem to have developed romantic feelings for you along our journey together, and I was wondering if you have felt the same.”

The smile from Roman’s face slipped away, and Logan froze. Did he examine Roman’s body posture wrong? Was he not feeling the same way? Were those words just banter and nothing to be taken seriously?

Logan opened his mouth to speak again, and Roman put a finger to Logan’s lips.

“I’m hurt you had to ask,” Roman responded. “I thought I was making it clear enough- is this why you were avoiding me?”

Logan guided Roman’s finger away from his mouth “I was not avoiding you.”

“Not physically, but you haven’t spoken to me much in the past day.”

“Roman, we were asleep, and before I could contact you this morning, you already set off to work.”

“Still-” Roman ran a hand through his hair- “I would’ve assumed you’d be better at confessing your feelings than that. You don’t seem to be the nervous type.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve allowed myself to be vulnerable.”

The words brought both of their eyes together, and Logan concluded the feeling was mutual.

“Roman, if I may, I’d like to offer you a kiss.”

Roman let out a breathy laugh, and Logan wondered why what he said was amusing.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

Roman put his finger under Logan’s chin, tipping his head up slightly to meet his. Roman’s breath heated up Logan’s cheeks, and his lips were surprisingly soft. The kiss was light, but it hit Logan’s heart hard and caused his gut to explode into a sizzling fireworks display.

Roman pulled back, and Logan allowed his body to rest against the wall. He didn’t trust his legs to stand on their own.

“I have to return now. A prince’s duty is never done. However, I’m not opposed to continuing this conversation in my room later tonight.”

Logan gave a weak nod. Roman winked and turned on his heel. Logan watched him go before allowing his body to slide down the wall.

Remy whistled at the end of the alley, and Logan turned his attention to the cat. Remy’s tail twitched as he strode forward.

“So, did he taste good?” Remy asked.

Logan rolled his eyes and snuffed. Remy curled up in Logan’s arms and rubbed up against his face.

“Better than I imagined.”

“Ooooh, girl I need details... like now!”

Logan sighed and shook his head. He picked up the cat and allowed Remy to crawl over his shoulders and into his hood.

The rest of the day was spent fixing the town. The dragon witch- as the sorcerer was now dubbed- may have broken half the town, but she inadvertently managed to fix two very lonely people in the meantime. Whether she’d be back to break what she had formed, they didn’t know nor did they care at the moment.

However, they did know, if she decided to show her face again, they’d be ready to take her on. It was going to take a lot more than dark magic to separate the bonds that were formed.

They had more than just a kingdom to fight for now.

The End

Author’s Note: 

Isn’t it amazing how one song sparked a whole AU over 57,000 words? I wasn’t even planning on it getting this long, and it went in a totally different direction than I expected!

And as always, thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for reading this far in! I’m always floored when people take this much interest in my work, and it’s humbling to know so many adore and read every word.

That said, there will be a sequel, and I plan on Deceit being a chaotic neutral antagonist in it, so I’m eager to write it. I love writing fleshed out antagonists, and his character is gonna be a trick to treat you. I understand if that’s not your cup of tea, however, and I thank you for finishing at least this journey with me if this is our last meeting in this AU.

And again, thank you so much for all your support. I really couldn’t have done any of this without you <3

-Cat