Pairing(s): Prinxiety and implied Logicality

Warnings: Strong language, and like... literally one smack, so maybe a tiny bit of violence (?)
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Once again, he was in the closet.

The stationary supply closet, that is.

The requirements Virgil had needed when applying for this boring office job were minimal. Could he read? Yes. Could he write? Yes. Could he see the difference between a ballpoint pen and a gel pen? Yes. Did he have a fair amount of knowledge and understanding on the consequences of throwing yourself out of a window? Unfortunately, yes.

What do you know? He was perfect for the job!

Bitterly unpacking a large box of newly ordered mechanical pencils, Virgil huffed out an irritated sigh and felt his back crack after bending down to pick up the twentieth box of pencils. He stood back up and rolled his tongue to keep his anger at bay. Of course he'd have to start stacking on the top shelf.

He wasn't all that short, five foot eight inches and bordering on five foot nine inches, but this building had apparently been designed for behemoths, so the top shelf of the stationary supply closet had to be more than six feet high.

Alright. He could do this.

As he gripped onto the edge of the shelf, he mumbled incoherent curses to whoever had designed the building and stuck his tongue out as he thought carefully about how he would balance himself well enough to place the other boxes of pens on the shelf.

'Dear God. Why wasn't I born a contortionist?'

Swallowing down his hesitance, he placed his right foot on the second to bottom shelf and reached down to grab one of the small boxes of pens. He then stood up straight and placed his left foot beside the right, taking a deep breath as he gripped the second to top shelf. After another few seconds of shallow breathing, he climbed onto the third shelf and squeaked when the structure began to wobble rapidly.

The shaking caused him to curse repeatedly under his breath and hug the shelving structure tightly. How the hell was he going to climb down? It wasn't like he could attempt to stack the pens on the shelf either, and with all of the wobbling, he couldn't simply step down.

Before he could topple backwards to his inevitable doom, two hands shot out to push the shelves back against the wall. "Woah! Are you alright?"

At the sound of an unfamiliar voice from behind him, Virgil dropped down from where he was and turned around, feeling his breath catch in his throat. The man in front of him was cute!

His eyes were a honey-glazed brown and filled with both an innocent twinkle of surprise, and a warm blanket of amusement. Virgil was impressed at the perfect styling of his chestnut brown hair, especially since it clearly wasn't shining with hair gel or any other styling substance. His fringe was long, but curled over the side of his head. Usually, Virgil would immediately try to push away these flustered feelings because he had a soulmate, right?

Whoever had the same mark in the same place as him was his soulmate. That's just how life worked.

"I'm okay, thanks."

The attraction Virgil felt towards him had obviously shown in his voice and expression, because the pretty employee's lips twitched up into a smirk. "That's good to hear. Now, is there any chance I could get your name?"

He had taken one small step closer, and Virgil felt something in his stomach jump. "Uh- Sure..."

Dammit, when had his voice gotten all breathless? The employee flipped his hair back sharply and then returned to grounding him with his warm gaze. "Well? What's your name?"

Oh shit, he hadn't given it to him already? Clearing his throat quickly, Virgil held out a hand for him to shake and offered him a nervous glance. "I'm Virgil. You can call me Virge."

Dear God- When had anybody called him 'Virge'?! Ever?! He must have looked like such a moron. Smirk growing wider, the cute employee took his offered hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Virge. I'm Roman Sanders."

His hand was so soft and comforting, especially with his fingers so delicately wrapped around his own. Skin lightly tanned, but much darker compared to Virgil's pale vampire-like skin.

Unintentionally, Virgil mumbled out the cute employee's name, and flushed pink as he spotted the smile on his face widen. "Roman... Uh- Sorry, that was weird. It's just a nice name. Kinda unusual, but nice. Sorry again."

Roman's brushed his thumb softly across Virgil's knuckles, and he shrugged loosely, explaining that he had no reason to be sorry, and that it was actually incredibly cute. "Your name is lovely. Virgil."

Oh boy. Virgil felt his heart skip and trip over a beat in his chest. The way that Roman had said his name in his velvety smooth voice froze his entire body, and only then did he realise that their hands were still clasped tightly together.

From the doorway, both heard their employer, Logan, call out to Roman and ask him why he was standing in the supply closet. Roman hurriedly let go of Virgil's hand, which the shorter man was relieved about, and smiled over at the confused man. "Oh, I was just helping Virgil with his... stacking."

Logan took two seconds to look them both up and down suspiciously. "Mr Sanders, stop flirting and get back to work, please."

Ah, so this guy was a regular player. Virgil knew he seemed too good to be true. No guy that Virgil ever had flirt with him was genuine and sweet, they were all jerks in some way or another.

Roman whined after his boss. "I wasn't flirting!"

He then turned back to Virgil and winked, taking his hand once again and smiling, his voice a mere whisper. "I was, but don't tell him that."

Pulling his hand out of Roman's grip, Virgil hummed and shrugged loosely. "Well, it's not going on my resume."

Damn. The befuddled expression on his flirty coworker's face would have been priceless if the strong weight of disappointment hadn't been pressing down on his shoulders. Rolling his tongue and looking the shorter man up and down, Roman attempted to figure out what had happened.

Before he managed to however, he gasped in fright as rather heavy boxes on the right side of the top shelf began to tumble down towards Virgil. On instinct, he grabbed Virgil from around the waist and dragged him backwards.

Hearing the sudden collection of loud thuds, Logan hurried back and shook his head with an exasperated sigh. "Are you two alright?"

"Other than being traumatised by a bunch of fucking cardboard cubes, yeah."

Roman snorted at Virgil's comment, and was floored to see Logan stifling a laugh of his own in the sleeve of his black dress-shirt. "I'm sorry to hear that, Virgil. Luckily, it is your lunch break, so go shake off the stress and eat a sandwich."

Virgil grinned. "Gladly."

He then turned to face Roman and gave him a somewhat shy, grateful smile. "Thanks for... saving me, I guess? See you around."

Missing the dumbstruck expression on his coworker's face, Virgil made his way to the nearest sandwich shop and bought his lunch, returning back to the building he worked in and yelping in fright when an arm linked through his and pulled him sideways.

After a moment of processing what had happened, he realised who had 'kidnapped' him. "Pat, you really need to stop doing that. That's the fourth time this week-"

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, but look at how cute Logan looks today."

Virgil chuckled lightly at his coworker and best friend, Patton as he tugged at the sleeves of his grey cardigan, which was always tied loosely around his shoulders. He was less-than subtly gesturing to their employer, who was eating his lunch with a couple of other superiors, and commenting on every single aspect of him that he could.

Sliding an unoccupied chair over to his friend's desk, Virgil sat down and took a bite out of his chicken sandwich, listening to the usual rant from his friend before slumping over the desk.

Immediately, Patton noticed his unhappiness and focused completely on his best friend. "Hey, what's up? I heard you met a guy this morning, was he cute?"

With tired eyes, Virgil leaned his head on top of the desk and sighed heavily. "He was, right up until Logan informed me that he was a notorious player."

Patton winced. "Roman?"

"Oh, for fuck sake!"

Placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, Patton frowned and nodded sadly. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that, Virge. I'm sure he's just struggling to find his actual soulmate, though! Maybe you guys-"

Virgil shook his head and smiled weakly up at his friend, silently thanking him for trying to cheer him up with his eyes, and leaning his elbow on the desk as he rested his chin in his hand. "I don't understand people like him. Why not just wait for your soulmate? We're all destined to be with one person, or whatever, so why bother with all the bullshit before the real thing?"

As he looked across the desk at his somewhat frustrated friend, Patton shrugged. "Maybe to get some experience?"

A curt shrug. "Maybe..."

Suddenly, Roman popped out from inside of the building and grinned widely at the two of them, skipping over to their table and taking a seat beside Patton, making sure tonne directly across from Virgil. "It's a beautiful day, don't you think?"

Patton smiled warmly over at his friend and nodded. "It is!"

When Virgil didn't reply, Roman raised an eyebrow and his smile faltered. "Is there a problem, My Chemically Imbalanced Romance?"

At the nickname, Virgil could help but smirk. It was good, very creative. He shrugged and shook his head, deciding to just be completely blunt and honest with the guy. "I was just asking Patton why you seem to flirt with everyone at the office despite already having a predestined soulmate. Can't be bothered to wait?"

He watched the two men from across the desk out of the corner of his eye, taking a sip of his drink as he did so. Patton seemed tense, whilst Roman simply looked partially amused, but mostly nonchalant. "Is that so? Could it be that you're jealous?"

"Jealous?" Virgil questioned, trying to will away the thoughts in his head that supported the theory. He had only met the guy that day! "Why would I be jealous?"

Roman snorted derisively and shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Oh, please. Don't you remember what happened this morning?"

Virgil shrugged and ignored what Roman was definitely suggesting about their meeting. "We met in the supply closet since I was about to be murdered by a shitty stack of shelves, thanks again for that."

Smiling lightly at the 'thank you', Roman shrugged and rolled his tongue in an attempt to stifle an amused laugh. "Yes, but there's also the fact that you were star struck the moment you saw me."

"Excuse me?"

Roman nodded and brushed his fingers through his hair, smirking wider when Virgil's face warmed up to a sweet shade of pink. "That's right. You could barely speak when you first saw me. Stumbling over your words and staring at me, you were seriously obsessed with me."

Sharply, Virgil stood up and grabbed the remains of his sandwich along with his half drunk orange juice. He ignored the pair's desperate pleas to keep him at the table, and glared down at Roman as he passed them. "I hope you know you're one of the biggest asshole's around."

And with that, he threw the rest of his drink over Roman and stormed back into the building, biting back humiliated tears and pretending that the baffled and amused stares of those around them didn't exist.

He saw Logan watching him curiously as he rushed back into his office, making a mental note to speak with him about whatever was bothering him later. For that moment, however, he decided to trail back down the stairs where the distressed worker had ran up from, and pay his friend Patton a visit.

One look at Roman told him what he needed to know. He had gone too far.

Logan always warned him about doing so, expressing his concerns as a friend, since they had known each other far longer than they had been working at the same place. He knew that Roman was really a sweet guy, but he just liked to push people's buttons and get a reaction. Little did he know, that Virgil was a force to be reckoned with, and that Patton wouldn't stand for anybody picking on his 'kiddo', 'champ', best friend, and 'sweet, misunderstood shadowling'.

Once he arrived over at the table, Patton was somehow kindly scolding Roman on what he had said. Logan smirked at this, but stepped in, wanting to use his authority to kick his friend's ass for hurting Virgil.

Although he'd be reluctant to admit it, Logan had a sort of soft spot for Virgil. He was shy, and along with the fact that his rather unprofessional crush on Patton bringing him slightly closer to the man, Logan felt genuinely guilty for giving him such a dull job and wanted to help him however he could.

Sighing heavily, he took a couple of tissues that probably wouldn't be much help, out of his bag and passed them to his friend. "What did you do?"

Roman huffed angrily at the accusatory tone of his friend. "Why do you always assume I did something?"

"Well," Logan placed a hand on his hip and raised an eyebrow, "considering the colour of your shirt now resembles something close to vomit, and the embarrassed and guilty flush on your cheeks, I would say you did something stupid to upset Virgil."

Patton somewhat bitterly informed Logan about what had happened, whilst trying to sound as sweet and innocent as he could. This earned a half hearted glare from a pouting Roman, who soon received a swift smack upside the head from Logan.

Hearing the irritated man yelp in pain, Logan rolled his tongue to keep from smacking him again. "Are you a fucking idiot? That is now a genuine question, and I want to answer it with as much information about any incidents of you hitting your head as a child as you can. I swear, if we weren't in public, and if I wasn't your employer, I'd be kicking your ass right now. How could you think humiliating someone like that was okay? Virgil is strong, and he can manage himself well enough, but I don't think you realise how easily this could tear all of that away."

"I know I fucked up, okay?! I'm sorry, but I barely know the guy." Roman cried, rubbing the back of his head as if to protect it from any future blows to the head Logan would try and inflict on him.

In response, Logan slammed his hands on the table and caused Roman to jump backwards slightly. "That didn't stop you from being a complete and utter asswipe to him, did it? Now, go and apologise or I swear I'll tell Patton all about the great ice-cream incident of 2015."

At his threat, Roman visibly paled he sighed loudly once again, standing up and brushed a hand through his hair. He offered Logan a quick glare before turning on his heel and setting off towards the building, only stopping when Logan called his name and told him about the spare shirts he kept in his office. Roman thanked him stiffly before returning on his journey to Virgil's little supply closet.

There were a few seconds of silence before Patton spoke. "The ice-cream incident of 2015?"

"Oh yeah, you'll love this-"

Patton giggled and interrupted him. "Shouldn't you wait until we know whether Roman actually apologised to Virgil or not?"

With a scoff, Logan shook his head. "Roman has never apologised when I've told him to, and this is his punishment. Okay, so we were at the movies with this guy and..."
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When he got to Virgil's little closet, he felt his angry demeanour fade at the sound of sniffling and mumbled curses. Oh shit, he'd really done it, hadn't he?

Knocking quietly on the wooden door, he chewed at his bottom lip nervously, thinking about how to word his apology well enough for Virgil to forgive him. He wasn't incorrect in what he said, but he was wrong in how he had said it. Aha! Good source material for his apology!

Hm... He was also incredibly enamoured with Virgil as soon as their eyes had met, so he hadn't been the only one. Yes! Another thing to add on to his apology.

The door slowly opened, but as soon as Virgil caught sight of Roman, he attempted to close the door again. Luckily, Roman had thought of this possibility and speedily threw his arm against the door to keep it open. "Virgil, let me in-"

"Fuck off."

Roman sighed and pushed harder against the door, causing Virgil to grunt and slide backwards until his annoyingly strong coworker slipped into the room. Trying to keep some space between them, Virgil paced over to the back of the room where the shelf structure was positioned.

"Virgil, please allow me to apologise for my behaviour." Roman asked, taking a few hesitant steps towards him.

The embarrassed man wiped at his eyes with the hoodie he kept hidden in the supply closet for when he was upset or cold, and sniffled quickly, clearing his throat and then shaking his head. "Just fucking leave me alone, Roman. If you're so uncomfortable around me then-"

He cut himself off when he heard his voice begin to crack. Irritated at himself for getting so humiliated, he mumbled more curses. "Fucking dammit..."

Roman felt his heart aching at the sight and frowned deeper, taking a few steps forward and placing a very gentle hand on his shoulder. The shorter man flinched, but allowed the contact, even as he turned around. "I'm not all upset because you don't like me or whatever, so don't start getting that into your head."

Why wouldn't Roman like Virgil? "Listen, you have it wrong-"

"Just let me finish, and then you can say whatever you want."

Falling silent, Roman nodded and waited patiently for Virgil to continue. When he did begin the next part of his explanation, Virgil finally managed to get his voice steady enough to hide the fact that there were still tears glossing up his eyes. "It was in front of so many fucking people, Roman. And we barely know each other! I just- I don't really understand why you'd say something like that. Was it the question? Did I... I don't know... offend you somehow? If I did, then I do apologise because I didn't mean to. But... But I wasn't obsessed with you, or whatever. You're just... pretty, I guess. I assume you know that, though."

Yeah. He did.

Roman made the assumption that Virgil was finished with his explanation, so he decided to start with his apology. "No, Virgil, it's okay. You simply... struck a nerve, I suppose. Brought back bad memories."

Virgil looked at him anxiously. "Bad memories?"

"There was... this guy." Roman started, feeling his mouth begin to go dry with nerves. "He, Logan, and I would go to the movies all of the time... you know, just to watch dumb movies we thought could either be really good, or could easily be just as terrible. It was kind of like a hobby. Well, anyway, this guy told me he was my soulmate. He even showed me the mark! It was exactly the same, and in the same place. For the first month, everything was absolutely incredible. I really thought I was falling for him."

He paused, trying not to let past memories bring bitter tears to his eyes. "I should've known he wasn't... He faked the mark. I found his real one around a month into the relationship. Logan had immediately threatened to kick the guy's ass, but decided not to. You know him, all logical and stuff. Luckily enough, I did it for him and kicked him out of my apartment. I guess that hearing you assume that I was too lazy to wait for my soulmate when I thought that I had already met him just..."

Then he trailed off, shrugging loosely and letting out a deep breath, crossing his arms over his chest protectively. He waited for Virgil to respond, but felt too embarrassed and upset to look at him. "Oh God, Roman, I'm so sorry."

The next thing he felt was arms around his neck, pulling him to another warm body that he immediately huddled close to. So warm.

Roman smiled weakly at the very unexpected affection he was receiving from the shorter man, but he soaked it up happily, letting it surround and comfort him. After a minute, Virgil tightened his grip and sighed. "Look, I just want to-"

"Don't you dare forgive me when I haven't even given you an apology yet."

Virgil chuckled lightly at the friendly demand and shook his head. "I was actually going to say that, as soon as I let you go, you can apologise and this will all be settled. But for now, we're just going to forget about it and stay like this until you feel a little better, got it?"

At the extremely unpredicted reply, Roman laughed and rubbed his coworker's back before holding him tighter. "You are something else, Virge."

"Okay, confession time. Nobody calls me 'Virge'."

He couldn't help it. Another bark of laughter slipped past his lips and he swayed from side-to-side, feeling his chest light up with both relief and fondness. "Well, now I do."

Virgil snorted. "Alright, touché. I'll call you Romano."

Roman grinned. "Let's hope that nickname doesn't last."
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Two months later and Virgil was in the same spot, stacking the middle shelves this time, so it wasn't likely that there was going to be any accidents. He stuck his tongue out slightly and concentrated heavily on getting the plastic files in coloured coordination.

Suddenly, his door swung open and a stomach-flutteringly familiar voice echoed into the room. "Hello there, Virge!"

Virgil smirked and waved at him over his shoulder. "What's up, Romano?"

Yeah, the nickname had lasted. "Come to stare at me again?"

"Always."

Virgil shrugged nonchalantly and grinned, trying to ignore the warmth in his cheeks. "What a surprise."

Chuckling in amusement, Roman skipped to his friend's side and clasped his hands together so that they were behind his back. He patiently waited for Virgil to finish stacking the last few boxes, and then smiled as he turned around. "So, what do you need? Oh wait, I bet I can guess-"

"Yes, yes, I need another pen. But I swear someone is stealing them!"

As he watched the desperate expression on his coworker's face, Virgil shook his head and smirked. "Seriously? A pen thief? That's what you're going for here?"

He felt Roman's hands abruptly placed themselves on both of his shoulders, and the heat caused his heart to jump-start yet again. Dramatically looking into his eyes, Roman shook him lightly and pouted. "As much as I would definitely use a 'pen thief' excuse to stare at you all day, I promise that someone is stealing my pens, and I'm guessing that that person is Patton."

Virgil was confused for all of two seconds before remembering how much Patton theorised that Roman was Virgil's soulmate. "Yeah, that makes sense. I'll get you a couple of pens this time, if you want?"

"I don't mind." Roman replied, resting his chin on Virgil's shoulder when he turned to grab the box of pens from the higher shelf. "It's infuriating, sure, but I do like having an excuse to see you so often."

Desperate, Virgil tried to ignore the pounding in his chest and shakily reached up with one hand to grab the box, and with the other, he patted the top of Roman's head. "Yeah, I... I like seeing you too, Romano. How many pens do you want?"

He hummed for a moment. "One."

A shy smile twitched at Virgil's lips and he nodded, taking out a single black ballpoint pen and turning around to hand it to the man that was now standing way closer than Virgil thought he was! His breathing hitched as he took a tiny step backwards in surprise. "Uh- Here. Pen."

Roman smirked, his eyes twinkling in amusement. "Yes, Virgil. Pen."

Before they could acknowledge how awkward Virgil truly was, Patton suddenly burst into room with the widest grin and brightest eyes either of them had ever seen. He was panting, so he had clearly ran as fast as he could to the supply closet, but why?

"Guys! Logan- Logan just made a huge deal with a huge company, and we're all going to get huge pay rises and-"

Virgil arched an eyebrow, folding his arms across his chest, entertained but also irritated by his friend's big speech. "Patton, if you say 'huge' again, then we're going to have a huge problem."

Without warning, Patton giggled ecstatically and rushed forward, wrapping his arms around Virgil's waist, picking him up, and spinning around excitedly. "Virgil, my amazing, sweet, absolutely adorable, wonderful, best friend!"

"As much as I love you, put me the fuck down!" Virgil cried, holding tightly onto Patton's neck as he spotted Roman snickering in the corner."

Patton kept his hands on his friend's shoulders, but placed him back on solid ground, squealing with delight as he watched Virgil twiddle his thumbs awkwardly. "Logan has a surprise for you! It's such a good surprise, you're going to love it! Oh my god- I love him for giving this to you."

A low chuckle suddenly sounded from the doorway. "Why, thank you, Patton."

Logan stepped into the room and shut the door behind him, one hand on his hip as he made his way over to the three of them. "Okay, as you've heard from Patton, I have made a deal with a major company. This means that there may be longer hours for some people, but all employees will get bigger pay checks. And as for you, Virgil, I have finally been given permission to offer you a well paying job here. Would you like it?"

This was not happening. There was no way. Holy shit. Virgil's mouth hung open in shock and he smiled, nodding vigorously. "Well, yeah. Thanks for this, Logan."

Shaking his head, Logan smiled kindly and even somewhat smugly back at him. "There's no need to thank me. You deserve this more than some people who already work here, and I'm just sorry that I couldn't give it to you sooner."

Virgil instantly felt every doubt about whether his hard work being recognised disappear, and he felt his smile widen, despite wanting to keep it hidden to protect his reputation. Just as he went to say something, Patton squeaked in joy once again and, overcome with adrenaline and happiness, threw his arms around Logan's neck to press an enthusiastic kiss to his cheek.

As soon as he pulled away however, he seemed to realise what he had done, and felt his face reddening in embarrassment whilst his heart drummed in fear. Doing that kind of thing to his employer in the workplace would have terrible consequences, surely.

But Logan's stunned and flushed face made it more worth it.

"Uh- Sorry, I've got to.. to do some work. Bye!" And with that, he raced out of the room and down the stairs to his desk, throwing his arms over his face and slumping over the table. So, he had just kissed his boss. Great.

Logan stood there for a minute in complete astonishment. He saw Virgil and Roman looking at him, clearly stifling laughs and waiting patiently for him to snap out of whatever revere he had been thrown into. "So- Yes, you've been given an actual job and... and I am throwing a party at my home. I have a pool, so I would recommend bringing the appropriate attire for... Okay, did Patton just kiss me?"

Snorting loudly, Roman tucked some hair behind his ear. "Yes, I was wondering when you'd notice."

"Well..." Logan adjusted his glasses and tried to think of something to say in response to what just happened, but found that he couldn't. "I hope to see you both there. Have a good day."

Then he left, index and middle finger lingering over a specific spot on his cheek.
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Virgil felt his stomach twisting nervously as he arrived at the large house belonging to his employer. There was going to be so many people! But it isn't like he could have skipped it, Logan offered him an actual job, so it was the least he could do.

He'd stay for an hour or two, then leave, go home, and watch Park's and Recreation until 4AM. Perfect plan.

When he had knocked on the door, he had immediately been pulled in by a stressed out Logan. Clearly, he'd drunk quite a bit, but Virgil was still unnerved to see the genuine confusion and fear in his eyes. "Virgil, he's my soulmate. What the fuck am I supposed to do?"

Woah, what? Virgil place a hand on his shoulder to keep him standing in one place. "Hold on for a second who is your soulmate?"

"Patton!"

No. Fucking. Way.

Virgil's eyes widened in amazement as he vaguely heard Roman's voice calling to the two of them, and eventually, a hand shaking him until he finally responded. "Oh my fucking God. You're serious? Patton's your soulmate?"

Immediately, Roman gasped loudly and bounced on his feet. He begged Logan to tell Patton the truth, and to just be happy. But Logan was hesitant. "Isn't it a problem because I'm his employer?"

Virgil shrugged. "Maybe... Are you going to give him beneficial treatment because he's your soulmate?"

"No, of course not-"

"Then, what the fuck are you waiting for?!" Virgil shoved him towards the door to the room he had briefly seen Patton in. "Go, you stupid nerd!"

With that, Logan stumbled out of the room and towards the room where Patton was seen.

Roman chuckled at his friend's unusual clumsiness and wrapped an arm around Virgil's shoulders, complimenting him on his sternness with him. With a shrug, Virgil his a smile behind the sleeve of his hoodie and explained that Patton had been crushing on Logan since he had been hired.

They moved towards the pool room and changed into their swimming trunks before getting in. Virgil carefully climbed down the steps, whilst Roman decided that diving in would be the best way to enter the pool. He let out some sort of battlecry before making a gigantic splash in the water.

Hiding his face away in embarrassment, Virgil swam to the end of the pool and ignored the strange looks he was getting from other guests at the party. Roman noticed this and cackled, drawing even more attention from the other coworkers. He then swam over to his friend and leaned backwards so that he was floating on his back.

Virgil huffed out a small laugh and leaned against the wall of the pool, folding his arms across his chest. "You're a moron."

"And you look good in your trunks."

Caught off guard, Virgil narrowed his eyes and felt the warmth in his chest spread to his stomach, then to his cheeks. "Wait- You can't just counteract my insult with a compliment!"

Roman smirked over at him and winked. "Oh, and you are adorable when so flustered."

As he opened his mouth to protest against that comment, Virgil noticed the familiar black painted skin on his chest that signalled to him that there was a soul mark. He looked more closely at it. It was cute. A tiny crown stuffed comfortably inside of a little fluffy cloud. Cute. And kind of familiar, where had he seen- Holy fucking shit, that was his soul mark.

Roman was his soulmate.

It didn't even seem real for a few seconds. Just a couple of muffle splashing noises, voices, and internal screams of 'oh my god, Roman is my soulmate'. At first, he thought he was wrong. That, maybe, he was just seeing things and that Roman's mark was actually a rabbit hiding in its little burrow. But no. It was Virgil's.

What was he supposed to do?! What did people do when they finally met their soulmates?! Did they just walk up to them and say 'hey, soulmate'? How could it be that easy?! God, he had no idea what he was doing, but Roman was starting to look worried about him and- Oh yeah, 'cause kissing him wasn't going to cause any confusion at all!

Roman made a muffled hum of surprise and slowly stood back up normally, letting Virgil push him back against the wall of the pool, arms around his neck, lips pressed against his. They were soft, and warm. He ended up savouring the moment, ignoring the soulmate system for just a few seconds, and just... feeling.

After a minute or two, they finally separated and were left panting softly. Roman reached out a hand and tucked some of Virgil's hair behind his ear. E smiled warmly. "What was that about?"

"I just..." Virgil swallowed nervously and desperately tried to meet Roman's gaze. "I just didn't know what to do."

A surprised laugh escaped through Roman's lips as he pressed his forehead lightly against Virgil's, keeping his hands tightly held to his waist. "So, you thought that kissing me would be a good way to pass the time?"

Virgil nodded and felt his heart thudding anxiously against his rib cage. What would Roman's reaction be, considering his past with the soulmate subject? "Well, yeah. I've always... always wondered what kissing my soulmate would be like. Just thought I'd find out."

It took a moment for Roman to fully process what Virgil meant, but when he did, his eyes flew open wide and he pushed the shorter man backwards so he could check his chest. And there it was. Right over his heart.

He looked up slowly at Virgil, and saw a small smirk forming on his face. The smile was warm and full of mirth, and with just a tiny hint of shyness that pulled harshly at Roman's heart strings. "Hey, soulmate."

A beaming grin gradually grew on Roman's face as he sharply drew Virgil close and buried his face into the crook of his neck. His warm breath and stray strands of hair tickled his skin, causing Virgil to laugh loudly and tighten his hold on the delighted coworker's neck. Of course, that wasn't the only reason he was laughing. He'd found him.

"Hey Virge?"

Virgil smirked and played with the tiny strands of hair at the nape of Roman's neck. "Yes, Romano?"

A breathy laugh. "You wanna know a secret?"

With a nod, Virgil pulled away slightly to look at Roman's face, and saw him grinning widely at him, mischief painted clearly in his beautiful honey-glazed eyes. "Yeah?"

"There was no pen thief."

"I fucking knew it!"
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Hey! This was yet another request from StarOfLightning !
It did not go how I think it was supposed to, but oh well, I hope you all like it anyway!

Yeah... It was supposed to be all simple, but I decided to add too much backstory to Roman's character, and then add a tiny speck of angst.

WHY DO I ALWAYS ADD ANGST?!

Oh well. I still have more requests from Star to finish, lil fucker (I'm joking I swear), so hopefully Ill have them done soon and WHOOPS THIS ONESHOT JUST GOT TO 6000+ WORDS A FEW SECONDS AGO OH DEAR IM GONNA GO NOW, BYE Y'ALL!

Love y'all! Stay cute!