*Roman*

*Angst*

*TW: sympathetic deceit

*****

"Hey Roman, you alright?" Virgil asked as he sat next to the prince. Roman pretended to be watching the movie that was playing. 

No. I' m not ok. I'm never ok.

"Yeah, I'm good," Roman replied quietly. He put on the best smile he could muster and forced himself to sing along to 'I Can Go The Distance'. He hated forcing himself to do stuff like this but he had to. 

—

"Salutations Roman, I have noticed you seem upset lately, may I ask what's wrong?" Logan approached Roman. The prince tensed up and put on another smile. 

Someone noticed? Please let them save me! Please let the pai—

"I'm excellent, Logan, thanks for asking," Roman walked away, off to the imagination to defeat a dragon witch. 

Dammit Roman! You need to—

They wont care. They never do..

—

"Hey kiddo.. Wanna make cookies to cheer you up?" Patton asked as he spotted the prince sitting alone in the empty living room. Roman sighed, putting on a smile again. 

"No thanks Patton, I'm going to head to bed. I'm a  bit tired." Roman left the room, going to who knows where.

Please let someone save me from this, make it end!

—

"Roman, we need to talk.." Deceit murmured, appearing in Roman's room. 

"No we don't. I'm—" Roman got cut off by Deceit silencing him. The look on Deceit's face held sadness and sympathy. Roman's eyes teared up as Deceit stepped towards him. 

"You're not fine, Roman," Deceit murmured. He unsilenced Roman and have him a gentle hug, allowing the prince to soak his cape in salty tears. "it's ok to not be ok.."

Deceit picked the hurting Roman up and carried him to the bed. He laid them both down and cuddled Roman, rubbing his back soothingly. Roman held onto him like his life depended on it. Deceit ran a hand through the prince's hair, humming quietly to calm him down. 

You don't deserve the comfort Roman. You're wasting his time!

Roman tried to force himself to calm down but that only made him feel worse. "I-I'm s-sorry.." He choked out. Deceit shushed him gently. It took a while but the prince slowly managed to calm down.

Deceit held him close and watched over him as he slept. They were so going to have a talk with others later.