#interview nerves

Still. The whispers of frantic conversation starting up in his wake didn’t concern him as he pushed open the glass doors, walking out into the Florida heat. 

Logan frowned, feeling sweat already beginning to prickle on his forehead. If the boy had been out here for the entire two hours in that suit as Reese had claimed, perhaps his hunched position on the bench was more from heat exhaustion than nerves.

Or worse. 

What if it was heat stroke? The boy’s inability to enter the building could be from confusion--Logan quickened his pace to reach him sooner. “Are you alright?” He asked, barely getting the question out before the boy jerked, a soft yelp leaving his lips as he tumbled backwards off the bench.

Logan reacted instinctively. Years of having to save Roman from similar predicaments giving him the proper reflexes to catch the kid by the hand before his head could hit the ground. 

“Apologies” Logan said, pulling him back onto the bench. “It wasn’t my attention to startle you.” He had thought his approach quite obvious. 

Perhaps Reese was right that the boy wouldn’t last long--no, he wasn’t going to judge the cover of the book, not yet. People were often nervous before interviews. Logan had been a bundle of nerves himself when he and Roman had first approached Thomas about being hired on and Roman’s portfolio had been a third of the size of the one this kid had.

“It’s...fine.” The boy--no the young man had to be in his early twenties--said, pulling his hand free, rubbing it against his pants. 

An odd move. The man’s hands hadn’t been sweaty. A self soothing gesture? Or did he not like being touched? 

“I highly doubt you’re fine.” Logan commented, relaxing a little as the stranger looked up with red stained cheeks, meeting his eyes with mismatched ones.

Huh. Green and Purple. Heterochromia. Unexpected, but fitting for the story boarding idea the others had tossed around upstairs. At least the pupils weren’t dilated and the man didn’t appear dazed, only embarrassed. 

Logan offered a small smile, adjusting his glasses. “As it has been noted that you’ve been out here for quite some time.” 

Not long enough to get heat exhaustion, thankfully. 

The man stiffened, mismatched eyes flicking up to the building behind Logan before he groaned, dropping his head back into his hands. “Let me guess...they sent you out here to escort me off the property?” 

Logan blinked as the young man suddenly flowed to his feet, cradling his portfolio protectively in his arms, already half turned away to the parking lot. 

Had it been a mistake for him to come out here? The boy seemed quite eager to leave---No, if it wasn’t heat stroke, it had to be nerves...a lot of nerves if Logan was being mistaken for security. He wasn’t wearing anything at all like Chris or Ellyn’s uniform. 

“You would be incorrect.” Logan glanced to the bulging portfolio, gesturing to it. “I merely saw you pacing and thought I could offer some assistance. Am I correct in assuming you are here for an interview?”

The man scoffed, pressing the portfolio against his chest. “Well yeah, Sherlock. Pretty sure the portfolio gave that away--” He flinched, eyes going wide. “--Wait, please don’t tell me that you’re Roman Prince and I totally just ruined this!” 

Bingo.

Logan smirked, adjusting his glasses as the interviewee paled. “I’m not Roman, no.” He reassured him. 

Thank Crofters for that. The world wouldn’t be able to handle having two Romans wandering about.

No, he much preferred this guy’s Sherlock comment than being mistaken for his brother.

“But your hesitancy to enter the building makes much more sense now.” Logan said, folding his arms. “He can be rather intimidating and difficult to impress when it comes to interviews.” 

The interviewee ran a hand through his purple tinged hair, pushing his bangs back over his eyes, his heterochromia less visible in the shadows. “Great.” He shook his head. “That doesn’t help my nerves at all, dude. Why not just cut my agony short and tell me it’s pointless to even go in there and face him?” 

It probably was. Roman was very picky about who worked with him and if they couldn’t take his figurative heat---

But this was pre-interview nerves, Patton hadn’t done much better, speaking so fast that Logan had barely been able to follow his words and now he was an integral part of StoryTime! with his ability to tell just what was needed to get their viewers to feel the intended emotions within the film. 

And this man had an interview scheduled with his brother, which meant that Remy had passed him on not once but four times in the stringent pre-interview requirements that Roman had stated were necessary to keep him from ‘wasting his time.’ 

There was potential here.

Adjusting his tie, Logan raised an eyebrow. “I can’t give a fair judgement on that unless I can see your portfolio first.” He said, holding out his hand to the bulging portfolio. “May I?” 

The man narrowed his eyes, fingers tightening on his work. 

Possessive. Just like Roman when he was reluctant to share a new idea until it was ‘fully realized.’ 

“You’re going to be brutally honest with me?” The man asked, jaw set. “No sugar coating it just so you can see me suffer The Prince treatment inside?” 

Prince Treatment? Was that what forums were calling it now?

“You have my word.” Logan said without hesitation, wiggling his fingers. “I will be honest in my assessment of your potential.” After all, he’d been Roman’s sounding board growing up. He knew what his brother would be looking for. 

The man stared him down for two more full breaths before he exhaled, giving a jerk of a nod as he held out his portfolio. “Alright.”

Finally.

Reverently Logan took the man’s work, and moved to sit on the bench, gesturing with his free hand next to him. “Why don’t you sit while I look?” He invited.

Somehow, he wasn’t that surprised when the interviewee refused with a shake of his head. “I prefer to stand thanks.” He said again glancing to the parking lot. 

Already expecting Logan to say no, apparently. Was the pessimism from nerves or the kid’s general outlook? He shrugged, pushing up his glasses as he flipped open to the first page, skimming over the resume, knowing that Roman would be less interested in the degree and the amount of jobs the kid had had and more focused on seeing his skills as an artist. 

“So...Virgil is it?” He asked, glancing at the name at the top of the page. For all the effort Logan was putting into convincing this kid to stay long enough to see Roman, his work better be phenomenal. “Why do you want to work for StoryTime!?” 

He flipped to the first piece of work which, at first glance, looked like it could have been lifted from StoryTime!’s Jericho & Apollo. Not that impressive, especially when they were looking for other styl--wait. He leaned in closer, tracing the lines of the characters with his eyes. Was this...all one unbroken line?  

Virgil scoffed, shoving his hands into the pockets of his suit, looking as uncomfortable in it as Roman did in street clothes. “Are you interviewing me?” 

“Officially? No.” Logan said absently, following every curve. It was unbroken. He couldn’t tell where Virgil had begun or ended. Logan looked up. “But a bit of practice before the actual interview doesn’t hurt now does it?”

The last time he’d tried to interfere with his brother’s hires…well...it hadn’t ended well. Logan was only intervening now out of professional curiosity--and because of the Crofters bet going on upstairs. 

But his curiosity only grew as he turned to the next page, fighting not to smile at a rendition of Baby Bird Watch done only in fingerprints. Creative. Patton had mentioned wanting to try something like that on their date last week. He hadn’t thought anyone else--

Virgil licked his lips. “I...suppose not.” His mismatched eyes flicked to the building and back to Logan as he exhaled. “Well, cliche as it sounds. I’ve followed StoryTime! since the very beginning when Thomas Sanders just had his phone and Vine to work with.”

Vine? “That’s quite a while.” He remarked, keeping his tone neutral as he turned to the next page. “Most people wouldn’t know what you meant if you brought up Vine now.” He was pretty sure none of their newest hires knew of Thomas’s humble beginnings in film. 

Virgil chuckled, a sound that was actually quite pleasant to the ear. “Don’t I know it.” He agreed, tense shoulders relaxing as he gave a small genuine smile. “His videos there were cheesy but good natured. The fact that Thomas could create such a positive impact in six seconds was...well it impressed me. Honestly, those videos were about the only thing that got me through some of my darkest days back then. Still do even now.”

Logan hummed in agreement. He and Roman had their own Vine compilations of Thomas that they would revisit on particularly bad days. Patton was in the middle of composing his own, having only recently been introduced to the short videos by Logan. “He does have a knack for knowing how to make people smile.”

Virgil nodded, pacing back and forth in front of Logan as he slowly thumbed through the portfolio, studying each page with an interest that he didn’t have to fake. It was deceptive. A quick glance through would make one think that Virgil had been working for StoryTime! for years, yet there was always something that set his work apart. Something that begged Logan to take more time to look at each piece than he normally would have. 

He barely stopped himself from jumping as Virgil unexpectedly sat down beside him only realizing he had stopped listening to the man at that moment as Virgil tapped on a willowy version of Sir Sing-A-Lot with the bear cub from Crofters: The Musical. “Thomas kept his roots when he started StoryTime!, kept the positivity, the hopeful messages within and I just…” That small smile played on Virgil’s lips again as he brushed the edges of the page. “I admire it. I want to be a part of it. Help others like he helped me.”

Logan drew in a breath, this kid sounded so much like Roman when he talked like that. “That’s a good goal to have, Virgil.” He said, his fingers hovering over the drawing as he followed the swirls in the cubs fur. “But you are correct with it being cliche.” 

More than cliche. ‘Wanting to help others like Thomas has helped me’ was practically a catch phrase in interviews. Remy and Callie had an ongoing licorice bet on how long the streak would last. 

It was already very apparent that Virgil had the skills to work at StoryTime!, but there still was the question of him being able to fit in. And while Roman may not care about job history--- 

“However,” Logan continued, looking up. “StoryTime! prefers to hire people with the intention that they’ll stay on. We’re a FamILY here.” A phrase that Patton had coined that Thomas had immediately made their company motto. “We support each other, and would prefer to have individuals that don’t give up at the first sign of trouble.” 

That was the failing point of most of Roman’s interviewees. They came in all starry eyed, expecting the work at StoryTime! to be all sunshine and petting kittens, only to end up ill-prepared to handle the pressure of deadlines or bond well with the rest of their peers. Virgil kept looking for an exit before the interview had even happened...would he be willing to stick it out through the bad moments as well as the good? 

Logan adjusted his glasses, glancing from the corner of his eye to Virgil, noting that an odd look had come onto his face. It almost looked like...longing--but no, it vanished as Virgil turned to him, hands clenching. “I’m not the sort to give up after one setback, sir.” He stated, firmly. “You can believe that.” 

Logan frowned. “You don’t give up--” What about all that talk of leaving? What about wanting Logan to tell him it was pointless to go in to the interview? What about-- He thumbed back to the first page, jabbing a finger at the job history. “Yet, here, it shows that you’ve held quite the series of jobs in the last six years.” He looked up, staring Virgil down. “Why is that?” 

Virgil audibly swallowed, panic flashing across his face. “I--” He slumped and stood, running his hands through his hair. “I don’t give up.” He repeated, shoulders hunching to the point they nearly touched his ears. “I took most of those jobs in the first place to save up for classes to improve my drawing and animating techniques.” He mumbled, kicking at the grass. “It wasn’t my intention to stay with them long.”  

Logan leaned in, watching the microexpressions on Virgil’s face as he spoke. There was more of a story there than was being told. Anger, sadness, frustration. Why had he felt the need to switch jobs so often? He’d barely lasted longer than six months in most of them. It could be a sign that he didn’t work well with others and working for StoryTime! involved a lot of collaboration. No one could lone wolf it for long here. Not even Roman despite what he proclaimed  

It wasn’t a good sign. Despite his skills, Virgil would need to be a team player and it didn’t look like he could do that. Logan pursed his lips. Closing the portfolio. “I see.” 

Virgil stiffened, eyes flashing with fire as he whirled to Logan, crouching down in front of him, his breath coming quick and shallow as he flipped his portfolio back open. “I’m a hard worker, sir.” He stated forcefully, keeping eye contact with Logan as he jabbed a finger at the education portion of his resume. “I don’t slack off. I don’t quit a job until it quits me first.” 

Quits him first? Logan opened his mouth, surprised at the sudden turn around in Virgil’s attitude. What did--

Virgil didn’t let him say a word. “You can see here that I graduated last year with a double Bachelors in Illustration and Animation, Summa Cum Laude.” 

A difficult feat. Roman had struggled to do a similar thing with Creative Writing and Illustration without the Summa Cum Laude. 

“So you have.” He murmured, though he wasn’t sure Virgil heard him as the interviewee flipped through his portfolio to later pages that Logan hadn’t yet reached, stopping on an image of a dragon made from smoke. 

“It took me a week to perfect this technique.” His mouth twitched upwards as he stared at the image. “I burned through two sketchbooks, singed my eyebrows, and set off four fire alarms before I could get the paper to blacken correctly and create this smokey texture.” He turned multiple pages, each showing the same technique.

Logan couldn’t help but smile at the fervor in Virgil’s tone, the light of accomplishment that danced in his eyes. It was so much like Roman’s, down to the nearly burning down of apartments. He hadn’t expected such passion to be found within--but of course, he should never have doubted that it existed. Not with how thick and varied Virgil’s portfolio was. It just needed to be encouraged, allowed to flourish.

“Or even this!” Virgil continued, flipping further back to a shimmering green basilisk. “The scales? Their shimmer?” He looked up and faltered, the fervor dying in a flash as he wilted, his cheeks again going red upon catching Logan looking at him. 

“Go on.” He encouraged, hating to see the flame of passion go out as quickly as it had sprung up. 

Virgil took a breath, breaking eye contact. “I-I-went to every store in the valley to find the right composite of pearlescent ink to put on these scales.” He continued, worrying his bottom lip as he kept his tone soft. “I spent hours getting it to flow just right and look.” He tilted the page, the green scales shifting to a brilliant white.

Of all the--Logan couldn’t help a gasp from escaping his lips as he took the page, brushing Virgil’s hand as he tilted the image back and forth. “Amazing.” He murmured. “A casual viewer wouldn’t know you used two different shades until they moved the page. It’s a…pleasant surprise.” 

Though he didn’t know how it could be used in animation...it was a stroke of genius. Logan could easily picture his brother locking Virgil in a room with him to teach him the method. He adjusted his glasses, looking up. “Well done, Virgil.” 

He ducked his head, his face getting redder. “Uh..tha--thanks.” He mumbled, pushing to his feet, rubbing his fingers against his pants as he looked away. 

Huh. It didn’t seem like Virgil was used to praise if he reacted like this. Most applicants would preen and boast further about their work. And while Virgil had a clear passion for his art...it still didn’t answer how well he’d work in a group setting. Especially with Roman. 

“So.” Logan said, patting the bench next to him to encourage Virgil to sit back down. “Hypothetically. If Roman were to harangue you because there is a storyboard due in fifteen minutes for presentation and you’ve drawn the main character all wrong because the MC’s look had not been made clear to you, what would you do?”

Virgil gaped at him before giving the slightest shakes of his head, cautiously sitting. “I---I um---” 

“An honest answer, Virgil.” Logan said, leaning forward, watching his microexpressions intently. “Your true reaction. Not what you think I want to hear.” 

Virgil hesitated, running his hand through his hair, before shrugging, a defiant flicker in his eyes. “Honestly….” He clicked his tongue, glancing to the building. “Honestly, I would call him nine types of an idiot for not checking in with me sooner to make sure I was fulfilling his vision. 

Logan barely kept himself from gaping, forcing his expression to remain neutral. The boy had seemed so worried about making a bad impression on his brother, and now he was willing to call him an idiot? 

But also--” Virgil grimaced, rubbing his fingers against the cuffs on his sleeves. “I would be calling myself the same names for not making more of an effort to clarify the MC’s key characteristics with him.” He gestured to the portfolio. “I would make an argument for keeping the current version, since the look of a character doesn’t have to be set in stone for storyboarding ...and if I couldn’t convince Princey to go with it then...well… I would-- 

“Walk out?” Logan asked, tilting his head. Others had done so for lesser reasons. Roman was as stubborn as a mule most days when it came to realizing his vision---

“Wha--no!” Virgil jerked his attention back to Logan, eyes wide. “For how hard I’ve worked to get here I wouldn’t walk over something like that! I want this! My dream of working here is the only reason I---” Virgil huffed, tugging at the collar of his suit. “If Princey remains as stubborn and perfectionistic as the forums paint him then I would fix the MC’s design. If I had drawn it on the computer, I would simply sketch a couple of quick replacements and copy/paste. Easy enough.”

Easy enough? Logan had seen more experienced artists yell at Roman that what he wanted was impossible and this kid was saying---”Easy enough indeed.” He murmured, fighting back a smile as he flipped through the portfolio, pausing at a market scene similar to the original Aladdin. “And if it had been hand drawn?” He asked. Storyboarding wasn’t as difficult as the main animation, but the boy had emphasized computer sketches. “Roman usually likes the first storyboard presentation to be drawn on paper first.”

Virgil made a face. “Of course he does.” He said under his breath, barely loud enough for Logan to hear. “If that’s the case--” He exhaled. “It would be a nightmare to redo, but I would make it work.” His lips twitched as he ran his fingers through his hair, mismatched eyes glimmering with mischief. “Though I would be calling Princey a variety of bad nicknames under my breath the entire time I was redrawing to make myself feel better.”

Logan covered his mouth with his hand, failing to hide the laugh that burst from his lips. If what the kid said was true, he may end up being just as stubborn as his brother. “I hope that they would be creative.” He remarked. 

Roman would be offended at anything...simple. 

Virgil rubbed the back of his neck, again giving that warm laugh. “Considering my past track record with nicknaming, I’m sure I could come up with a few good one--Oh hey!” He snapped his fingers, standing. “Come to think of it.” He pulled out a battered phone. “I actually had to do a similar scenario to yours in my second year of college.” He confessed, showing Logan the cracked screen, swiping quickly through a mosaic of stained storyboards. 

“Half an hour before our final project was due for presentation, a cotton-headed ninny muggins spilled their stale coffee all over my group’s storyboard we’d spent the last month working on and we had to quickly draw replacements.” 

A group project? So Virgil could work with others. “Really?” He asked, quickly taking the phone to scroll through the images himself, pausing at the ones that showcased the worst of the coffee stains, but at the same time, showed Virgil with four others. The members of his group if Logan wasn’t mistaken. 

There was also no question that most of their work had been ruined, Logan couldn’t help but wince in sympathy. “I’ve been there myself.” He said, smoothing down his tie. Though he had had three days to fix his project instead of half an hour. It had been a nightmare. He paused, studying the replacements. “How did you do on this project, after the redraws, if I may ask?” The new sketches still had most of their cohesiveness, showing that the group had worked together to merge their styles, but Logan could still pick out quirks, slightly differentiating each artist from the other. The question was...which of these were Virgil’s? 

Virgil shrugged, gesturing offhandedly, ducking his head. “We managed an A-” He said, his tone tinged with pride. 

An A- after all that? Logan whistled, handing back the phone. “Impressive. And out of the ruined ones, how many did you personally redraw?” 

“How man--ummm” Virgil chewed his bottom lip, frowning down at his phone, his fingers tapping against his thigh. “Me, personally...I took around twenty.” 

Logan straightened. “Twenty?” He repeated, not sure he’d heard correctly. “In half an hour?” 

Virgil flushed, nodding as he kicked at the grass. “Yah. I was the quickest at the line art in that group. The other four divided up the remaining thirty between them.” 

Logan blinked, mentally calculating before giving a soft laugh. “Once again, Virgil. Impressive.”

The young man’s face went even more red as he hunched his shoulders, looking at the ground. “It wasn’t--well….um...Thanks.” 

He definitely wasn’t used to receiving compliments. 

“It is impressive, Virgil.” Logan repeated, leaning forward with a smile, wishing he hadn’t handed the phone back so soon so he could recheck the images. At least he still had the portfolio in his hands. “Not many people here could do such a quick turn around after such a disaster.” 

Even his brother wouldn’t have been as quick. He thumbed through more of the artwork, stopping at a Sallyized version of Jack Skellington and smirked. Oh. He recognized this particular image. Had Remy known--- probably not. 

Logan looked up tapping the picture. “Nor would many dare to call Roman an idiot to his face. He could probably use more of an ego check.” Crofters knew how often Logan had had to do it to his brother. Most of the company worshiped the ground Roman walked on.  

Virgil offered his own conspiratorial smile, spreading his arms. “Well, I’m sure I could give Princey that ego check if needed. I’m quite used to being the villain.” 

A villain? Logan jerked his eyes to Virgil’s mismatched ones, searching his face, looking for any hint as to why the young man before him would refer to himself as such. 

Virgil paled under his scrutiny, his eyes widening with fear, his hands lowering as his feet shifted.

Preparing to run. 

Logan couldn’t let that happen, not when he didn’t know the full story. 

“Your drawing style is rather unique compared to StoryTime!’s usual stuff.” He said instead, tilting his head down to the portfolio in his hands.

The portfolio he knew Virgil would not leave. Not from how possessive he’d been of it in the beginning. 

“You tend to draw in darker color schemes, use thinner lines, and showcase typically good characters as your villains. He flipped back through the portfolio to point out a Princess dressed in green and black, holding a fractured scepter before turning the page to a thin angular baker pulling skull cookies out of the oven. “While using the typical hero shapes of circles and squares on your villains.” He gestured to a square jawed vampire, pulling children from a burning home. 

It was an odd take, a different take. Very different from StoryTime!’s usually brighter motif. “Why do you think this sort of thing could be a fit for StoryTime!?” 

Virgil clenched his shaking hands, drawing in a shallow breath, focusing in on the artwork Logan held. “There’s--” He swallowed, clearing his throat. “There’s been a surge in people empathizing with the bad guys recently.” He said, quietly. “Wanting to know their backstory, see what caused them to go...well…” He shrugged. “Bad.” He cautiously sat next to Logan on the bench. “Even Disney’s caught onto that fact.” 

Really? Logan hummed, nodding for Virgil to continue, intrigued by the explanation. “Go on.” 

The young man licked his lips as he reached out, flipping through the pages to a different series of works, all villains. 

“You can see it with Disney choosing to retell Sleeping Beauty with Maleficent’s backstory as the main focus.” He said, gesturing to a softer smaller version of Maleficent in her dragon form, curled around a broken spindle. “They already have firm plans to do a similar thing with 101 Dalmatians and Cruella and maybe with Ursula in the Little Mermaid or the Evil Queen in Snow White. It’s a trend that StoryTime! should jump onto and take charge of.”

That was true. With their live action retellings of their older tales, Disney had given more life to their villains, giving them a richer background that hadn’t been explored before. Even Patton had been taken by the altered version of Sleeping Beauty, empathizing with Maleficent’s plight. 

Virgil tapped his portfolio as Logan stayed silent. “Because no one and I mean No. One. Else. is better at turning tropes on their heads than StoryTime! is.” 

Ha. Logan smiled fondly. Thomas had a knack for that for sure. Gaining sympathy, proving points. Roman struggled sometimes with the black and white mentality, but Thomas? Yes. Thomas had that vision to think outside the box.  

Virgil gestured to the building. “From the very beginning, you’ve twisted plots into unexpected directions, created morally grey characters that the audience should expect to hate, only for them to come out of the theaters ardent supporters of them, praising your plotlines and attention to details and I...”

He looked up, faltering as he caught Logan’s intent gaze and jerked his hand back, flushing once more.

“And you?” Logan asked, keeping his tone gentle. He could see the fire within Virgil. See his passion for StoryTime! It just needed to be fanned a little more. Allowed to flourish. 

Virgil looked away, placing his hands in his lap. “And I think telling stories from the villain's point of view could be StoryTime!’s next big break and…” He bit his lip, taking a steadying breath as he looked back up. “I would love to be a part of it, if given the chance.”

Logan nodded thoughtfully, slowly closing the portfolio, holding it lightly in his hands as he stared at StoryTime!’s front doors. 

If given a chance. 

His artwork proved Virgil was more than capable. His apparent quick turnaround when a problem arose was impressive. His willingness to put Roman in his place, refreshing. And yet---what would his brother think? Would Roman even see the Jack Skellington that he’d had spent hours fawning over to Logan when he’d first come across it online?

No. If Virgil didn’t give off the right impression, didn’t show his confidence. His brother would dismiss him without a thought, sending potentially refreshing talent out the door. 

Virgil fidgeted, his shoes scuffing against the rocks, pulling Logan from his thoughts. “Well?” He asked, holding out his hand to take his portfolio back. “Do you think I have a chance in my interview with Princey?”

Logan made no move to return Virgil’s work. Instead slowly looking up, meeting his eyes. 

This could be exactly what the company needed, and Logan wasn’t willing to leave it up to chance. Leave it up to his brother. 

“Virgil.” He said quietly. “I’m going to have to say-”

Virgil tensed, shoulders already hunching, expecting rejection. 

Logan gave him a warm smile. “That you’re hired.”

To Be Continued Chapter 4