#parental royality

Once the professor made her way in, she announced the beginning of class and it was only a couple minutes before she informed them that their next project would need to be completed in pairs. There were collective groans, but the teacher simply went on to explain the gist of the assignment before letting them have some time to find a partner.

The sound of talking filled the space as the large group of students began to work on partnering up. Virgil didn’t move, simply looking down at his notebook and jotting down notes about what needed to be completed. Maybe he’d get lucky and the class had an odd number of students, then he wouldn’t have to work with anyone at all.

It actually seemed like he may get his wish, seeing as the murmuring had quieted somewhat and no one had come over to ask him to work with them. But, of course, that was when the door near the front of the room opened up and another student came in. The door squeaked when it opened, loudly enough that it could be heard even with the class talking amongst themselves. Virgil glanced up at the sound, seeing that the teacher had called the late student over to give them a quick recap. He let out a sigh, subtly peering through his bangs to see that the teacher and student were scanning the room to find someone who didn’t have a partner, and they both eventually settled their gazes on him.

With a gesture from the teacher, the student began his way up the steps, past the rows of their stadium style class room, and all the way to the seat next to him. Virgil steeled his nerves a bit, not only because he was going to have to interact with someone new and he wasn’t exactly a huge fan of that in general, but because he knew a few things about this classmate in particular.

He’d been late a few times to class, but the teacher tended to give him a bit of leeway as long as he wasn’t more than five minutes or so behind the bell. He was... Hot, for one. That was undeniable. But for two.. All evidence pointed to him being straight. Not that Virgil had any kind of a chance with him anyway, but in some fantasy world where he did... He still didn’t. And what was the evidence in question?

“Hey there, uh.. Do you have a partner for this project? Sorry I’m late, I had to drop my son off at the daycare across campus.” He’d turned to him once he had set his bag down and pulled out his notebook.

Virgil had actually seen his classmate’s son before, there’d been a few times where he’d had stopped in with the boy still with him, generally only if they’d had an assignment due right at the beginning of the class and he couldn’t be late handing that in. Then he’d leave to go take him to the daycare and be back a few minutes later. Of course him having a son didn’t mean he had to be straight, but.. It was easier to just believe that was the reason that he didn’t have a chance rather than feed into his already impressive levels of self deprecation.

“Hey... No, I don’t. And that’s cool, no problem.” Virgil shrugged, turning to look at him.

“Cool, so I guess we’re partners then. I’m Roman. Roman Prince.” He smiled warmly.

“Uh, Virgil Weaver.”

Roman nodded and jotted his name down on the page he’d opened his notebook to, looking back up with a smile. “Alright, so let’s figure this out.”

They only had a few minutes to talk before their professor pulled the attention back to the front of the room to explain more about deadlines and requirements, letting them all know they only had a couple weeks to work on this assignment. Luckily they both had a fairly free afternoon, and they decided to head to the library after class to work out a few details.

Of course Virgil was kicking himself the whole time, finding that walking around and talking freely with this unfairly attractive man was only making this inconvenient little crush a good deal worse. Roman had been catching his eye for a good while now, but that was when he didn’t know him and he was generally on the other side of a room. Now they were actually talking and he was right beside him, and he was definitely quickly proving himself to be sweet and funny, far more than just being hot.

Thankfully they had a project to focus on, and Roman could only stay and work for so long before he had to head to go pick up his son from the on campus daycare. This did end up leaving Virgil glancing between the newly added phone number in his contacts and the broad back that was walking away from him, him standing like a statue in front of the library. But this was just the first time they had to interact, certainly it would get easier, right? This had just caught him by surprise, was all. He could handle this.

Or perhaps not. Their next class Roman came and sat down beside him, asking if he’d be up to actually head back to his place and get some work done there instead of at the school, as the daycare was closing early that day. He internally cursed himself, but of course the words that came out of his mouth were, “Yeah sure, dude. That’s fine with me.”

“Awesome, thank you so much for being understanding. I can give you a ride over if you want? Unless you’d rather drive yourself.” He offered.

“Oh, uh.. I can just follow you. So you don’t have to worry about giving me a ride back.” Virgil shrugged.

“Alright, sounds good to me.” Roman smiled that perfect million dollar smile, the one that totally didn’t make Virgil curse all of his gay ancestors for condemning him in this way.

Somehow that charm seemed to make time pass in an instant, and before he knew it he was walking side by side with Roman toward the daycare. It didn’t hit him until the moment before they’d walked into the building that he was about to meet Roman’s son and he had absolutely zero idea how to talk to children.

The sound of a small voice gasping and then calling “Daddy!” followed by the rapid pounding of feet on the floor was plenty enough to pull him from his thoughts, his eyes refocusing as he saw a small blur run right into a laughing Roman. Roman had crouched down to catch him in a hug, clearly this was rather in the small boy’s character.

Once Roman pulled back to look at him, he began to explain. “Alright Buddy, one of my friends is going to come back to the house with us and help me do some school work, okay? I promise he’s very nice. His name is Virgil and he’s right here.” Roman looked back over his shoulder to Virgil, him realizing quickly he was about to be put on the spot.

Virgil watched as the small boy’s expression split into an even more excited smile, however impossible that had seemed, and he pulled away from his father to rush in front of him instead.

He really did look just like a tiny Roman, their eye color, skin tone.. His hair was a good few shades lighter and he had an adorable smattering of freckles across his nose, but beyond that.. They were basically identical.

The small boy took in a big breath, Virgil rather unsure about what was about to happen. Then he began to speak up at him very quickly. “Hello! My name is Patton Prince and I’m four years old! Would you like a hug? It’s okay if you don’t, we could high five!”

Virgil blinked, taking half a second to absorb the clearly rehearsed little introduction. “...It’s nice to meet you Patton, I’ll.. Take the high five, if that’s alright?” Virgil gave him a soft, nervous smile, holding up a hand where the boy could reach.

Patton nodded excitedly and gave Virgil the best high five he could, him bouncing on his toes as he turned to look back at his dad. Roman was watching fondly. He quickly signed Patton out and grabbed his little backpack before he walked up to join them, reaching to playfully ruffle his son’s hair before handing him the bag to slide on his back. “Good job, Buddy.”

They made their way out, Patton holding Roman’s hand as they headed toward the parking structure. Roman turned to Virgil as they went, quietly speaking. “...Thank you, personal space is something we’re working on right now.” He explained with a soft laugh. “He’s very friendly, and definitely big on hugs.. But he’s learning to ask first.”

Virgil just nodded, that made a lot of sense. “...No problem.”

They made it to the cars, luckily they were both parked fairly near one another, and Virgil followed behind Roman as they made their way to their apartment. They met up again in the parking lot, Roman leading the small group up to the door and inside.

It was a fairly nice little place, a two bedroom that definitely seemed more than equipped for one man and his son. It only hit Virgil at that moment that he’d been assuming Roman was actually single, but their place didn’t seem to have any evidence of occupants besides the two of them. Especially seeing as there only seemed to be pictures of the two of them or just Patton up around the place. ...Why was he still dwelling on this?

“Alright, Patty. Do you want me to set you up with a movie while we do some work? Or do you want to go play in your room?” Roman asked, dropping his own backpack at the table before turning to look at his tiny mirror image.

“Umm... Can you put the music on? And I’ll play legos?” He asked, bouncing on his toes as he thought.

“Of course.” He nodded and then turned to Virgil. “We can work at the table, I’ll be right back, okay? Feel free to make yourself comfortable.”

“Yeah, sure thing.” Virgil nodded, watching as Roman followed Patton into what had to be the boy’s bedroom, it only taking a minute or so before Virgil heard some music kick on. It wasn’t especially loud, he could only just make out that it was a Disney song.

Roman emerged a moment later, leaving the door cracked open behind him as he went to join Virgil at the dining table. “Alright, all good. ...Thanks again, man. I really do appreciate you being so cool about this. I know this isn’t the most ideal.” He said, seeming apologetic and appreciative.

“Yeah, of course, dude. It’s not a problem.” He shrugged, doing everything in his power not to blush as Roman’s expression became more fond at his response. Virgil just began to pull out his notebook and laptop, putting all of his focus on setting things up.

They got to work, easily meshing together to get it done. They balanced each other well, finding they excelled in what the other didn’t seem as talented in. Roman handled more of the actual writing while Virgil was much better at the note taking and research. Virgil could find the sources and jot down a few things, then Roman took his notes and turned them into their actual paper. It went swimmingly. They were having such an easy time, falling into a good rhythm, that they hadn’t even realized how much time had passed until Patton appeared at Roman’s side.

“Daddy?”

“Huh? Oh, hey Patty. Everything okay?” Roman asked, turning to give him his full attention.

“Uh-huh. The music looped all the way around.” He explained.

Roman blinked, quickly glancing to the time. “Oh. Alright, I didn’t realize we’d been working so long. Uh..” He turned to Virgil. “It’s getting a bit late...” He began, Virgil already preparing for the polite ask to leave the home. “..Do you want to stay for dinner?” Roman finished, surprising him.

Virgil paused, taking a second to respond. “...Uh, I mean, I don’t want to intrude or anything. I can get out of your hair for the night.”

“Oh, it’s not intruding at all. I can order a couple pizzas, its no problem. Besides, its the least I can do to thank you for being so chill.” Roman explained, moving back to his laptop to open another browser tab and pull up the delivery website.

The guest was going to politely give him one more out to get rid of him, but Patton’s excited little squeal at the plan of pizza interrupted the thought.

Roman just laughed, turning to scoop his son up onto his lap and ruffle his hair again before looking back to the computer to get their order in. “I had a feeling you’d be excited about that plan, Buddy.” He gave him a little kiss to the top of his head, holding him there in his lap. He glanced back to Virgil. “What kind of pizza do you like?”

“...Anything is fine with me, uh.. Anything but mushrooms.” He said, a slightly embarrassed laugh following his answer.

Patton made an exaggerated little “Bleh” noise at the mention of mushrooms, only getting another laugh from his dad.

“I guess I’m just the only one around here with taste.” Roman joked with a little exaggerated eye roll.

“Daaaddy nooooo..” Patton whined, looking up at him.

“I’m not, I’m not..” He held up his hands in an innocent gesture. “One pepperoni and one cheese, okay?”

Virgil couldn’t help but smile. “Looks like we win this one, huh Patton?”

Patton looked to him with a huge smile. “Yeah! We win!”

“I can’t believe I’m being outnumbered in my own home.. What is the world coming to?” Roman dramatically lamented.

Patton was giggling up a storm, smiling from ear to ear. “Yeah! It’s two to one!“

Virgil was smiling wide, this was so weirdly easy and comfortable.. Just fun and sweet and..

“We finally have a third vote around here and this is what happens? Well, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve.” Roman said, pulling Patton back against his chest and softly tickling his sides in playful retaliation, laughing as the boy began to laugh harder and start squirming away from him.

‘...finally have a third..’ Those words were going to echo in Virgil’s head for the rest of eternity, he was pretty sure. Oh god, what was... No, calm down. He still didn’t have a chance. It just.. It just wasn’t realistic. Yeah. Nothing changed.. Nothing at all.

The rest of the night continued in its ridiculously comfortable fashion. The three of them ended up on the couch, eating pizza and talking a bit. Patton took to Virgil very quickly, talking to him and asking him questions, excited to have him to interact with.

The small boy ended up having to go to bed while Virgil was still there, him surprised that Roman still hadn’t kicked him out yet. Virgil decided to head out at that point, saying goodbye once Roman had come back from tucking Patton in for the night. He hadn’t expected the visit to be so long... Or so nice.. Or so comfortable.. But they said goodnight and Virgil headed home.

He didn’t plan on getting too much sleep, not with how much he had to overthink about once he got home. It was definitely going to be a long night of internally screaming at himself, he may as well get started.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on what section of Virgil’s brain you were asking, the project ended fairly soon.. But their friendship did not. Roman and Virgil remained pretty good friends, Virgil even starting to swing by the Prince’s to hang out with the two of them sometimes. It was killing him in the best possible way, but he could tune out some of the self deprecation most visits, and just focus on the nice time he had with Roman and Patton.

At least until one night, a few months later. Roman had texted Virgil, asking if he wanted to come by that evening to hang out, but also if he would be willing to watch the house for a couple hours after Patton went to bed, in case he woke up. Virgil was a bit confused, but he agreed and went over as usual, hanging out as usual until Roman put Patton to bed and then went into his own room for a few minutes.

Virgil was still largely in the dark, planning to wait for him to reappear before he asked what was going on. But when Roman walked back in in a nice outfit, looking cleaned up, Virgil temporarily forgot how to language.

Roman was looking himself over, making sure he looked alright before he looked up to his friend sitting on the couch. “...Do I look okay?”

The other man blinked, rebooting his processors as quickly as possible. “...Yeah, dude. You clean up pretty nice.” He said, as nonchalantly as possible.

“Thank you.. And thanks for hanging out for a bit. I shouldn’t be gone too long, but I couldn’t just leave him here alone.” He explained, going to get his shoes on.

“Yeah, no problem. Uh.. So where are you going?” Virgil asked, watching him and not checking him out from the back as he turned away from him even a little bit.

Roman huffed, Virgil able to hear the eye roll in his tone. “...Blind date. I have a friend who feels the need to set me up, and honestly just going and getting it over with is so much easier than listening to her complain that I didn’t even give it a chance.”

Well there it was, exactly what he didn’t need to hear. But who was he kidding? This made sense, Roman was gorgeous, of course he’d have dates and.. Oh right, conversation. “...Gotcha. Well.. I hope it goes well.” He said, trying to sound sincere.

The older one just huffed in disbelief again. “...Yeah, I’ll let you know. I’lll be back soon.” He grabbed his wallet and keys, slipping out the door and leaving Virgil to his gay despair.

But Virgil didn’t even have time to get through the first movie in his “wallowing in his sorrows” list before he heard the sound of the key in the lock of the front door. He turned around while still on the couch to see Roman making his way back inside, kicking off his shoes and hanging his coat on the hook.  

He glanced up and caught eyes with Virgil for a split second before he turned and made his way into the kitchen. “Hey I’m back, do you drink?”

Virgil blinked. “Uh.. Yeah? I’m, uh, twenty one.”

“Cool.” He heard Roman say, it only taking a minute or so before he came out of the kitchen with a bottle of wine and two glasses. He made his way to the coffee table, wordlessly setting the glasses down and filling them before taking his glass and settling back on the other end of the couch to get a large sip.

Virgil didn’t really know what to do at this point, also getting a sip of the wine he’d been poured before deciding to break the slightly uncomfortable silence. “Soooo..”

“So what?” Roman asked, looking up at him with an eyebrow raised.

“How’d it go?”

He simply huffed and took another sip before answering. “Like it always does. It doesn’t really get any further than ‘I’m twenty three and my son is four.’”  

“Oh.. Uh, I’m sorry.” Virgil responded, a bit lamely.

He just shook his head with a slight shrug. “Nah, it’s alright. I only go to get my friend off my back, I don’t ever plan on it going anywhere. She just gives my name and my picture to like any guy she meets who’s gay and smaller than me.” Roman rolled his eyes and got another sip, gesturing sarcastically with the glass. “You know, really strict criteria.”

Virgil’s heart rate immediately skyrocketed. What. He was.. What. “...its something to do at least?” He tried, doing his best to keep his voice even.

But Roman just shook his head. “I’d rather have been here with you honestly, it’s just... It’s so uncomfortable. He’s... Patton is my number one priority. That and the fact that, shockingly, I actually like him. I hate it when some guy who’s only out with me because of my picture is trying to like... Give me sympathy and pity that I have to ‘deal’ with taking care of him. It’s just immediately like ‘yeah, we’re done here. I’m just gonna go.’” He explained, still gesturing with the glass.

Virgil slowly nodded. “I mean, yeah. He’s family. He’s.. Your son. He has to be the most important to you.”

“Exactly. I don't know, I don't get why no one understands that.” Roman agreed, slumping back against the couch.

“...maybe because we’re all so young? It’s not something.. That a lot of people understand at around our age.”

Roman let out a breath of laughter. “I guess that’s fair. I know I definitely didn’t at first.” He glanced down at the glass for a moment before he added, “...I actually almost dodged the teen parent thing but his birthday is a few months before mine.” His tone somewhat amused.

He gave another slow nod, asking the question on his mind before he could talk himself out of it. “...Do you mind me asking? About that?”

“About.. How I have him?” Roman looked back at him, somewhat searching his expression.

Virgil nodded.

He just shrugged. “It’s.. Not that complicated, really. I had convinced myself I was bi in high school because girls are pretty and I’m a huge romantic... I’m probably actually panromantic or something, if I had to think more on it. But definitely gay. ...Anyway, I had a girlfriend through the end of high school, and we were getting through our first year of college when.. Accidents happened. ...She wanted to give him up for adoption, and I just.. I just didn’t. We got into a huge fight about all of it and we broke up... And I kept him.” He explained somewhat slowly, like he hadn’t thought about it in a long time.

“Oh my god, Ro.” Was all he managed, eyes wide.

“Yeaaah.. Haven’t even heard from her since we got the paperwork and stuff filed. I took a break from college for a couple years to get our shit together, and now here we are.”

“Well... damn. You.. You’re really strong, Ro.” Virgil said softly, looking at him with awe.

Roman blinked and looked over his expression, slowly giving him a soft smile. Virgil could have sworn he was a bit pink in the cheeks... But that was probably just the wine.

“...Thank you. I.. I’m trying my best.”

“You’re doing great. You’re.. A good guy and a great Dad.” He said with a small smile.

Roman’s cheeks were undeniably darker at that, a bigger smile breaking through but he glanced away from Virgil and let his gaze rest on the couch between them.

The silence that followed wasn’t uncomfortable, per se. But it was full of emotion and unasked questions, warm but feeling like that warmth could slip away at any moment.

The father brought his gaze back to his drink, unsure what to say, but perhaps thanks to the comfortable and safe atmosphere along with a little bit of alcohol in his system, what ended up slipping past his lips with a soft laugh was, “...Man, why can’t I just find a guy like you?”

Virgil felt his heart fall right into his shoes. There it was, that confirmation he’d been waiting for, dreading, and expecting. He didn’t know how to respond, but the glass of wine he’d been sipping on throughout the conversation had loosened his lips just enough to let his first thought escape. “...I’m a guy like me.”

Roman just about froze, his eyes going wide. “...I mean, yeah. But like... Gay? And also into me?”

“That is... I am that guy.”

The wine glass that had been in Roman’s hand was immediately, dramatically placed down onto the table, almost spilling the contents onto the carpet. “Wait. Wait wait wait. Like this entire time?”

He nodded a bit shyly. “...yeah.”

Roman lifted both his hands, gesturing somewhat wildly along with his words. “We’ve been being cute and domestic this entire time and we could have also been being gay?! How did this not come up!?”

Virgil blinked, letting those words sink in and feeling a laugh escape him, mostly due to relief. “I don’t know.. I guess we just.. We didn’t talk about it?”

“Goddamn it! Think about the missed opportunities!” Roman continued to react dramatically, but he was smiling now, more amusement leaking into his tone as he went.

The smaller man was pink, but his smile was nearly ear to ear. “...Maybe they’re not completely missed? I mean.. We have time, right?”

Roman smiled softly. “...Definitely.”

Epilogue —-

Virgil was shaking with the anticipation, the package he’d been waiting for had just arrived and that meant that today was going to be the big day. He was flitting nervously around their apartment, waiting for his boyfriend of a couple years now to get home from picking up Patton from school.

Thankfully it wasn’t too much longer before he heard that familiar key in the lock, him doing his best to act natural as he idly straightened a picture frame for the third time.

The door opened and he heard one of two his favorite people call out to him. “Veee! Veee I’m home from school!” Came the excited little voice, Virgil turning around just in time to catch the small blur in a hug with a little laugh.

“Welcome home, Patty. I can’t wait to hear all about it.” He smiled, standing after giving him his hug, leaning in as Roman came over and gave him a kiss hello. Virgil smiled over the both of them before he turned to Patton again. “Actually, before we do that, Patty.. I ordered something in the mail that I want to give you.”

“Really? What is it?” The boy asked curiously, following him back to the table where Virgil picked up a storybook.

“It’s a new book. ..I was thinking maybe your Daddy could read it to you.” He smiled, handing it to Patton.

“Okay! Thank you Vee!” He said excitedly before he quickly spun around to look up at Roman. “Will you, Daddy? You’re the best at stories!”

Roman looked at Virgil fondly before he nodded and walked over to the couch to settle with Patton in his lap. He took the book in his hands and skimmed over the cover before giving Virgil one more quick glance. His boyfriend simply joined them on the couch, watching with a soft smile.

“Alright let’s see...” Roman began, starting with the title. “The Prince and The Secret Quest.” He held the book up so Patton could get a good look at the cover, seeing that there was a prince - that coincidentally looked a lot like Roman, riding a horse away from a castle. He began to read, sure to give Patton plenty of time to look at the pictures. “Once upon a time there was a kind prince who would go on quests to help the people of his kingdom. He was brave and would travel any distance to ensure that everyone was safe and happy - even if sometimes it meant he didn’t always make it back at the time he was supposed to.” That line earned Virgil a fond little pout, but he continued on. “Sometimes he had to ask for help, turning to others around him when he needed them. One day he was asked to find someone in town who could help him on a special secret quest. He asked the Baker, but he was too busy making bread. He asked the Smith, but he was too tired from metalworking. He asked the Potter, but he was too dirty and covered in clay. He finally went to the Weaver, who had just finished making his cloth and said he could help the Prince.”

That was the line that got Virgil another little glance, it taking until the mention of a “Weaver” to more wholly get Roman’s attention. But he just continued on.

“The Weaver was scared of the secret quest and didn’t think he would be much help to the Prince, but the Prince was kind and strong, telling him that no matter what he’d make sure he was safe. The two of them had to figure out how to work together, helping each other whenever they could and always making sure the other was safe and happy. They returned from the secret quest, and the Prince was very thankful for the Weaver’s help. The Weaver decided to ask the Prince for something in return for his help, and the Prince told him he could have anything he asked for. The Weaver asked if he could stay by the Prince’s side forever, and always go on his quests with him, because he knew that the Prince was his happily ever after.”

Roman barely breathed out the last few words, nearly shaking as he looked up to see that Virgil had knelt down before him and was holding out a ring. “...So.. Can I?” He asked softly, his smile small and nervous.

______________________________

“How about something like this?” Roman asked, the images and visuals of the imagination shifting and swirling as he proposed another idea.

“Nah, something not quite right about it. Maybe try shifting that up, and to the left,” Virgil suggested as he pointed to one portion, curled up into a little ball in a beanbag chair that Roman conjured up for him. Roman flicked his wrist at the request and the image changed accordingly. Virgil scrunched up his face. “Nuh-uh.”

“Gosh, I don’t know why we just can’t get this one right!” Roman let out with a huff, plopping down heavily right next to Virgil.

Virgil leaned over and kissed him before tucking his head into the crook of Roman’s neck. “We’ll figure it out, Princey. You know Logan sets deadlines early because he knows we won’t meet them right?”

“What?” Roman asked, startled a little.

“Yeah, he knows how long you like to mull things over so the deadlines he sets are actually sooner than he actually expects the work,” Virgil snorted.

“That jerk!” Romano huffed out, brushing some curls out of his eyes. Virgil couldn’t help but laugh at his annoyance and kissed him again, laying himself over Roman. Roman gave in, pulling his hips closer. The ideas flickered away due to Roman’s lose of concentration but he decided it was for the best.

A head peeked into Roman’s room and both Roman and Virgil turned to see Patton. He smiled brightly.

“Someone’s up early huh?” Patton laughed.

“What do ya mean, Dad?” Virgil asked with a slightly amused smirk.

“You guys are getting an early start to the day you know!”

“We’ve been working all night on a project, Padre!” Roman offered, watching as Patton looked at them with surprised concern.

“Yep,” Virgil popped as he went back to his seat next to Roman. “Not quite there but it’s lookin’ pretty good,” he said, fist bumping Roman’s waiting hand.

Patton looked at them hopelessly, sighing. “What am I ever going to do with you too?” he asked both of the boys in exasperation.

“Mmmmm, get us food?” Virgil asked, Roman piping up with a request for hot chocolate.