"Wait, what?!" Virgil heard the yell from about halfway down the corridor. He couldn't help but smile a little.

"Hey, hey, no, no, no!" Roman called after him, his voice punctuated by heavy footsteps. He grabbed Virgil's shoulder to stop him. Virgil bristled at the touch and whipped around, his musket already in hand.

It took him a second to see through the haze of panic and realise it was only Roman. He wasn't a threat, even if he was annoying.

"What's the problem?" He asked, slipping the musket back into its holster.

"You can't be serious about," Roman seemed to fumble over the words, "sharing a room."

Virgil blinked. He tried not to laugh, tried not even to smile. "Princey, what's the problem?" He repeated, trying to keep the snickers out of his words. "Your reaction is telling me you've never shared a room with a man before and honestly that's just sad-"

"I'd rather share a room with my crew than with you," Roman interrupted. Virgil's laughter died in his chest. So it wasn't so much embarrassment as much disgust. Virgil tried to mask a sigh.

Why he even cared what Roman thought about him was beyond him.

"No can do." He turned around and started walking again. Roman kept in step with him. "I'll need to talk to you about the maps and I have random spurts of energy in the night. Hope you're not too adverse to candlelight-"

"I'm not ruining my sleep schedule for you," Roman said firmly.

"It's sweet that you think you have a say in any of this." Virgil reached his room and pulled the door open. "If you want, I can always just kill you. Then you won't have to ruin your sleep ever again."

He was over by his desk when he realised Roman hadn't followed him. He glanced back. Roman was hovering in the doorway. He met Virgil's gaze and rubbed his hands.

"Am I allowed in?" He asked. Virgil blinked in confusion.

"What?"

"Am I allowed in?" Roman repeated, sounding actually... patient for once. He shrugged and rubbed his hands together again. "It's your room, I just..."

Virgil waited for the end of the sentence. It didn't come.

"Sure. Yes," he said, realising it should probably sound like he wasn't being forced, "you can come in."

Roman actually smiled at him - Lord, that was an odd sight - and stepped inside. He seemed to lose some of his awkwardness and came over to where Virgil was standing by his desk. Virgil moved instinctively to hide his plans but stopped short of covering them like he usually did.

Roman didn't seem all too interested in the plans, however. He was looking at them but nothing seemed to be sparking. He just looked confused.

Virgil turned back to his desk, trying to pick up where he'd left off. "Um..." He drew a map towards him. It wasn't important but it gave him something to look at.

Roman was very close. It was odd, like a spell had been cast over him.

"You won't be seeing too much of me, anyway. At least not for the first week," Virgil said, finding the loose thread that led him to his previous thought. "I'm putting you on night shift."

"You're doing what?!"

There it was.

"I beg your damn pardon?" Roman said, so indignant Virgil thought he might explode. "I am not going on night shift! It'll completely ruin my sleep."

"It's so I can assess your leadership skills-"

"Leadership skill?! Querido, I am the Masked Prince of Piracy!" Roman snapped. "My mere name strikes terror into explorers hearts! My ship has sailed the seas for almost two decades and you want to test my leadership skills?! I am more formidable than any pirate ever known, everyone has heard of me!" He dropped his tone to an angry hiss. "And who are you, exactly?"

Virgil gripped the side of the desk, his knuckles turning white. He turned around slowly, wondering if it was really worth it to not put a bullet in this pirate's pretty mouth. He shifted his weight to his back foot, ready to kick if he needed.

"I am Captain Virgil Summers," he said slowly. "I run the Captain's Chaos, a ship that you are now on. I have evaded capture ever since I was 17. You, on the other hand, have had to lie your way out of prison multiple times. I don't do such things. If someone is in my way - be it prison guard, foe or co-captain - I will not hesitate to strike them down for what I need." He glared down at Roman. Roman jutted his chin out, as if that was going to make him look less afraid. "You may be formidable but I, Princey, am dangerous."

I'm very happy with this chapter, it's making me giggle excitedly
Bye,
Blaize