the flowers in my hand(the crown on your head)

two

Roman had always been the responsible one between him and Remus . His brother was the one staying up 'til morning, letting poisonous snakes run loose around town, accidentally (Roman greatly doubts it) helping an assassin escape from prison and all that. Heaven knows how much money and time Roman had wasted to pay for the damage he had done.

He still wasn't sure how Remus had managed not to get locked up to never see the light of day. Roman assumed it was a joint effort of the family's money and Logan's influence around the palace.

Despite not always being in good terms with his brother, Roman cared deeply for him, so naturally he was worried when Remus hadn't arrived before 2am last night. Sure, there were days when he wouldn't come until sunrise, but that didn't stop the anxiety building up gradually inside Roman.

He sighed as he turned around in bed, dragging the blankets along with him. Roman could see the rays of sunlight peeping through the curtains, falling beautifully along the bedside table. A small twinkle caught his eye, as he looked at the nightstand. A black pin sat there, a small red stone on the top. Roman hesitantly picked it up, twirling it around. A smile teased his lips, his heart fluttering as he watched the sun reflect against the stone.

***

Roman blew the strand of hair from his face for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. He hadn't managed to catch it in the loose braid he made in the morning and now it was driving him crazy. He heard Virgil's laugh and soon after he turned around. The prince was sitting cross-legged on the on the fountain ledge, his right palm holding his chin, a one-sided smile on his lips as he stared at Roman.

"What?" Roman asked, groaning when the hair fell out of place again.  He was really considering cutting his hair short right now (that he had been growing since he was 15). Virgil shook his head, displaying an emotion Roman could only describe as fondness, got up and walked towards him. He crouched down next to him, so close that Roman could count every faint freckle that appeared on his face (if he wasn't too busy trying to calm himself or looking into Virgil's eyes. the two kind of cancelled each other)

Virgil took off his gloves, leaving Roman time to tilt his head and frown.

"Here. Let me." he whispered, gently taking the strand of his, twirling it between his fingers. Roman was both physically and mentally panicking at this moment. He was frozen on the spot, he couldn't move even if he wanted to(he really didn't). The only thing he could concentrate on was Virgil's hot breath hitting his skin, his grey eyes never wavering from his own. Roman's heart started beating faster, the sound echoing in his eardrums, nearly deafening him.

He watched helplessly as Virgil pulled a pin from his own hair, letting his fringe fall over his eyes yet again. He put it in between his teeth, upper lip slightly upturned and Roman was certain he was going to explode at the sight. He positioned the strand of hair and finally put the pin in Roman's hair, his fingers hovering against the spot longer than they should've

"There." Virgil smiled, pulling back to admire his work. "All done." Roman's hand clumsily felt at the pin in his hair, nodding.

"Yeah. Thank you." he breathed out, his voice higher (at least in his mind).

"No problem." Virgil got up slowly. "Red really is your color."

Roman's mouth went dry, dragging his eyes to the ground, absolutely certain he was a blushing mess, dearly hoping Virgil wouldn't think of him as rude. He settled on giving another small nod, turning back to his job.

Maybe if he hadn't been desperately trying to calm down from being in such close quarters with the prince, he would've noticed Virgil's shaking hands, his slightly blushed cheeks and the look of pure adoration he sent Roman as he walked back, resuming his book.

***

Roman nearly fell out of bed at the loud knock on his window. He listened carefully, as it came again, recognizing the familiar pattern.

Remus.

He cursed as he got out of bed and threw the curtains open. Just as he had predicted, his brother was sitting on the windowsill, tapping the glass(Roman had long stopped questioning Remus's ability to climb walls). He sighed, opening the window, letting him in.

"Couldn't you have used the front door?" 

Remus grinned wickedly at him, taking off his coat and throwing it on the bed despite Roman's protests("Really? I finished washing everything yesterday!").

"But it's so much more fun this way! If I had used the front door, I wouldn't have woken you up!" Remus threw himself on the bed while saying those words and Roman promised himself he would force him to do the laundry next time.

"You didn't wake me up! I was already awake!" Roman insisted, crossing his arms across his chest. Remus rolled him eyes, pointing at him. 

"You have bedhead." he said nonchalantly. Roman bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from slapping the idiot. He shot Remus a look as he ripped the headband off his wrist, putting his hair in a low ponytail, making it as tidy as possible.

"Well, not anymore!" Roman hissed back, raising an eyebrow. Remus just looked at him in false amazement.

"You're petty in the morning."

"I'm always petty." Remus just shrugged, not bothering to disagree. "I hope you had fun last night, because you're on house duty today."

Roman watched in amusement as Remus stuck out his tongue childishly, but begrudgingly stomped to the kitchen.

"You better not burn breakfast!" Roman called after him, rolling his eyes at the mocking sounds from the other room.

Today was going to be a long day. There would be a new shipment of purple roses and they had to be planted by Tuesday. As much as Roman loved his job, he couldn't help but groan internally at the amount of time he would spend hunched over the ground.

A part of Roman hoped he would see Virgil again. It was always far better when he was there, his presence was comforting and safe. Roman would've beaten himself up for being attracted to a prince, but really who could blame him?

His eyes, his smile, his hair, the way he walked. Everything about him was...beautiful.

Roman wasn't about to deny that.