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

nine

a/n : this is my apology

"Are you alright?"

The question was answered by Virgil whipping his head up and looking beside him, as if startled. He blinked hard a couple of times, nodding slowly.

"Yeah, why are you asking?" 

Roman quickly realized he was holding back a yawn. He frowned, tilting his head.

"How much sleep did you get last night?" he asked, shuffling closer, slightly hesitant to touch the other's shoulder. In the past weeks or so, they had gotten far more comfortable with physical contact, but that didn't mean Roman didn't still feel out of place. 

For the longest of time, he had seen Virgil on a pedestal, on a level he couldn't reach no matter how hard he tried. After a few months of nearly constant company, Roman finally felt like he could brush his hand against Virgil's, like the space between them had shrunk a bit. 

"Enough." Virgil replied. The statement was quickly followed by a yawn Virgil tried disguising by dragging his notebook to cover his face.

Roman gave him a look, putting down his sandwich. Virgil rolled his eyes jokingly.

"About three hours." he admitted, resting his chin on the palm of his hands. The look in his eyes was wild, as if it was provoking him to do something about it. That was one of the expressions that made Roman want to grab Virgil by the collar, pull him in for a kiss and nibble ever so gently on his bottom lip. Unluckily for him, it was a look Virgil wore with pride every day. 

"That's not healthy!" Roman exclaimed, waving his hand at the air to further prove his point. Virgil simply shrugged-shrugged - as if it wasn't very important. 

"What does it matter? It's fine, really."

"You've barely talked and you keep zoning out. That doesn't seem fine to me." Roman raised an eyebrow, responding to the challenge. If it meant his ... friend (is that what they were?) was well rested, then he could add a bit more time to his lunch break. 

"What are you gonna do? Send me back to the castle?"

"No. You wouldn't get any rest anyway."

Virgil shrugged, not bothering to disagree with him. Roman sighed, adding a mental note to bang his head against the wall multiple times when he got home if he acted upon his thoughts.

"Come here." he said, wrapping an arm around Virgil, who stiffened at first. Roman felt him relax, shuffling closer to him.

He looked up at Roman through his lashes, but didn't pull away or give any signs that he was uncomfortable. 

"What are you doing?" Virgil asked, though it didn't actually seem like a question. 

"I found you sleep better when you're in the presence of someone you trust." 

Roman's heartbeat skyrocketed at the half-amused, half-fond expression Virgil had on his face. 

"And you decided to wrap your arm around me. How galant of you. I bet you're quite the charmer. " he teased, moving his face closer to Roman's, who looked away, not wanting to acquire a blush at such close proximity.

"Don't make me regret this."

Virgil let out a small amused huff, wrapping his arms around Roman's middle. 

"I won't. Make sure you don't do that on your own."

He threw his legs over his lap, placing his forehead in the crook of his neck. Despite his unalarmed outer attitude, Roman could feel how fast his heartbeat was and how tightly he gripped Roman's shirt, as if he didn't want to let go.

Roman decided not to think much of it. 

"I wouldn't dream of it"

Roman secured his arm around Virgil's waist, carefully placing it so he wouldn't fall over, the other went to play with his hair, resting his chin on the top of the prince's head. 

"Is that okay?" he whispered, only getting a pleased hum as answer. Soon enough, Virgil’s breaths were getting slower and his body was growing heavier on top of Roman.

"If you keep that up, I might fall asleep." Virgil murmured and his hot breath tickled Roman's neck. His lips were merely brushing against his skin, but that seemed too close to a kiss for Roman to react normally. It took him a second to recover, another to remember that English was the main way of communication and a third to put together a sentence. 

"That's the plan." his voice sounded far too strained for his liking. Virgil didn't seem to register it though, shuffling slightly and getting more comfortable. He moved so that he was almost in Roman's lap, but sighed contently at the change.

Roman smiled, marveling at how adorable the man in his arms was. He was shocked that Virgil had reacted so openly to this, 

The realization that he was holding Virgil in his arms hit him so suddenly because - oh god, Virgil was in his arms, not anyone else's. Roman was suddenly aware of every place they were touching, every layer of fabric separating their skin. He felt like he was on fire, every touch making his stomach flip, each puff of warm breath on his skin left an unbearably hot feeling behind.

This seemed so intimate and loving, Roman wasn't sure what he would do when it all ended.

Right now he supposed he would enjoy the moment, pretending they weren't on the grass and that the bench wasn't poking him from behind. Pretending that this wasn't going to go away as fast as it came and that Virgil wasn't going to leave at the end of his shift and he wouldn't see him for a few days. 

For now, he could imagine the late autumn sun was just peaking through the curtains of a room. He could pretend they had gone to a town assembly and immediately fallen asleep in an uncomfortable position because they were too tired to care whether they were comfortable or not, the other's company enough for them.

He could pretend this was one of the small moments from a life in which Virgil was his.

After all, if an actor can't pretend, are they any good?