Roman laughed awkwardly and ran a hand through his fringe. "You really wanna know?" He asked.

"If you're okay with telling, of course," Virge said quickly. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Roman shrugged. He could feel the weight of the Ruling Ring against his hand, a heavy sort of anchor to the world, to Virge.

To be able to nick the Sultan's ring... Virge was smart. He'd probably understand.

Roman shrugged again. "I mean," he watched a purple firework boom against the stars and crackle into nothingness, "it's not exactly a glitz and glamour story but..." He sighed, pausing. Virge gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

Roman allowed himself to smile. Damn, he'd really gotten a hefty helping of that New Year's luck, huh?

"I was practically born in an orphanage," he started with a small laugh. "Me and my brother we, well, we lived with our parents for a few years. I was 5, I think. There was a house fire. Don't remember it." He ran a finger over his forearm subconsciously. "Woke up outside a pile of ashes, only my brother in sight. He was 4, he don't remember it at all."

He didn't look at Virge, he could picture his expression already.

"People at the orphanage were angels but there wasn't really ever much to eat. Or do. We were over-run with kids, see, so..." Roman broke off to drop both legs off the edge of the tower. He leaned back on his free hand. "Me and Re - that's my brother - we tried nickin' a few things from the market every so often. And we got pretty good at it. One of us played distraction while the other did the work. We used to take turns an' all." His small smile dropped. "Then we got caught."

"Oh." Roman almost laughed at the small noise of surprise.

"We ran to the orphanage but they said we couldn't hide there, the Guard'd come lookin' for us." Roman sniffed a little. "They were right, course. So, we ran somewhere else. Ended up here an' lived here ever since."

"How old were you?"

"Eleven." Roman said it like a blunt fact. How else could he say it, it was just that. He cleared his throat and blinked. "I'm gonna look at you in a second and I don't want that same expression on your face that everyone has. I'm not broken, it ain't exactly a sob story. People've had much worse."

"People have had much better too."

"Yeah, I got the short end of the stick, I know," Roman said, perhaps a little too defensively. "But I didn't get the quick. I've still got my brother. I've got a roof over my head and my own business. Pretty damn good."

Virge laughed. "I don't think stealing is an ethical business model."

Roman laughed and turned his head to look at Virge. Virge wasn't looking at him like he was broken. He was smiling slightly, head turned down. God, he was handsome.

Roman shuffled a little closer. "Yeah, well..." He ducked his head a little and shrugged.

"It's risky, too," Virge continued. He moved closer too. "What if you get caught?"

Roman smiled with a confidence he didn't feel. It was like there was a pit in his stomach, swallowing every and throwing up stars and butterflies in their place. Virge tilted his head slightly and glanced down at Roman's lips.

"Maybe I enjoy the risk," Roman muttered, his throat suddenly running dry.

Roman swore that Virge leaned closer than ever before as another firework exploded with a huge bang, making them jump apart. Virge's head whipped round to stare at it, eyes wide with excitement. Roman would've minded if he hadn't been able to see Virge's gorgeous smile.

The display didn't stop at that one firework. They were all being set off. Brilliant flashes of orange, pink, red, yellow, green, gold all lit up the sky. Whoops and cheers floated up from the square below, mingling with the booms and crashes from above.

"What time is it?" Virge asked. Roman let go of Virge's hand to pat himself, trying to find a watch of some kind. He managed to extract a fancy one on a silver chain from his waistcoat pocket and checked on it.

"Midnight," he said. Virge's eyes widened, this time with fear.

"Shit, I forgot!" Virge started looking around himself wildly, trying to find a way down from the roof. "I've got to get my friend and we've got to get back to the palace. We've stayed away too long, they'll-"

"Virge," Roman said gently. "It'll be alright. We've got time."

"No, we-"

"We have time," Roman repeated. Virge stared at him. "Stay and watch the fireworks til they're finished. I'll help you down afterwards and help you find your friend."

"And give me back my friend's bangle."

Roman had honestly forgotten about that.

"If I've got it, yeah," he said. Virge's face contorted in confusion.

"What do you mean 'if you've got it'?" He asked. "I saw you-"

A crash from the room below cut him off.

Damn, we're starting the almost kisses early, alright
Bye,
Blaize