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Chapter 3 - New

Roman sprinted through the office building, quickly ducking behind a desk.

"Come on, Princey, I know you're in here," Illusion teased. "Where are you?"

Roman flinched as a chair crashed into the wall right beside him. Much too close to be a mistake.

He ignored that fact that it must have taken a lot of strength to throw an office chair a good... How far away was he? Twenty feet? Thirty? Whatever. He didn't notice that, and he wasn't impressed or crushing or blushing at that fact. None of that was happening.

And either way, he didn't have time to focus on Illusion's incredibly seductive- incredibly dangerous strength. He had suffered a particularly nasty blow to his ribs, and every breath felt like he was getting an entire block full of kitchen knives to his chest.

He crawled away, thinking about an escape route. Just get to the stairs, back to civilian clothes, maybe go down to the hospital. Yeah. Doctors. They'd know what they were doing.

"Prince," Illusion dragged out, "maybe if you show yourself, I will cut you some...what is the word? Slack?"

"Yep," Roman chuckled, too delirious to realize that maybe - just maybe - he shouldn't say something and let his enemy triangulate his position from his voice. He whimpered quietly in pain from laughing, leaning back against a desk and partially wishing he could give in to the sweet, sweet release of death. 

There was something against his cheek and he gasped quietly, opening his eyes. There was Illusion, kneeling in front of him, one hand cupping his face and the other pressing against the cut on his side. "Are you alright?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

That was one of the features of the supervillain's mask. It turned his eyes from whatever colour they normally were to black spheres. It was... disturbing, yes, but also interesting.

Roman shook his head. "I'm fine-" he tried, before pain writhed through his core and he groaned loudly, pressing his lips together in a futile attempt to keep the sound from escaping.

"I will take you to medical services-" Illusion said before a loud, large explosion caused him to slightly loose his balance. He turned his head, both seeing the explosion bubbling up from the other side of the river. He stopped for a second. "Would you be alright if I go checked the disturbance?" he asked.

Roman shook his head. "No- No, you're the bad guy, I'm the good guy- I'll go-" Illusion covered his mouth, a small, sad smile visible from beneath the small, dark blue fabric around the edges of his eyes.

"You are injured, Prince. I will go." Before Roman could argue any more, Illusion flickered. 

And then he was gone.

~

Roman finally got back to the apartment, back in his civilian clothes. He had managed to keep a straight face coming out of the office building, down to the subway and back up his street, but his ribs were now throwing a fit. He got inside, collapsing against the door as a low, guttural sound of pain spilled past his mouth.

Pressing his hand to his side, he went up the stairs, hands shaking too much for him to grab the keys out of his pocket. He was just about to knock when the door flew open.

There stood Virgil, in the midst of pulling on a jacket, his hair sticking out in every direction and his eyes were exhausted, nervous. He froze, scanning Roman up and down before pulling him inside. "What the actual fuck, Roman, I-"

Roman hissed in pain as he stumbled through the door, his fingers clenching over his ribs. Virgil's eyes widened and he guided Roman to the couch in a much more gentle fashion, gripping his shoulders and letting him use Virgil as a stabilizer. Once he was seated, Virgil hesitated, wanting to get help but not wanting to leave him. "I- I'll grab Mrs. Patty," he said quietly. "Just chill here for a second, alright?"

"Sir, yes sir," Roman said, attempting a smile that really was just a small grimace.

The door leading into the apartment opened and shut, and Roman was left with his thoughts.

It was one in the morning, so Remy was likely asleep. Or at least, he should be. Roman did not want the boy worrying about him.

Virgil was one of the four people who knew about Roman's double life, the other three being Remy, Remus, and Mrs. Patty. If he had to guess, Virgil had gotten worried about him. He glanced up at the TV.

"The supervillain known as Illusion was seen fighting someone new in the downtown area half an hour ago." The newsanchor then split the screen, sharing it with some very shaky footage. Roman picked out the shape of Illusion and someone else fighting in the middle of Donovan Square. It went to zoomed-in shot of Illusion's face, frozen as he silently glared at his enemy. "The public is roaring with questions. Where is Prince? Has Illusion turned to the side of good? Or is this another one of his schemes?"

The door opened again, and Roman turned, seeing Virgil and Mrs. Patty discussing something quietly. Virgil's eyes fell on his and he nodded, still talking to their neighbor. "His ribs, ma'am," he said.

The lady walked briskly over to Roman, inspecting his side. "What happened?" she asked.

"Walked into a desk," he lied.

Virgil crossed his arms from his place a few feet away from Roman, raising an eyebrow as a warning. Tell her the truth.

"Got thrown into a desk," Roman admitted, and his roommate let out a satisfied sigh, smiling a bit, his eyes still hazy with concern.

"Oh, dear." The three of them knew that if Roman was talking in cohesive sentences at this point, he was probably fine. "Virgil, would you help this young man to his room? I'll go grab some supplies from downstairs, fix him up. He should get some rest."

Virgil spoke up before Roman could argue. "Of course, miss."

The lady nodded and left quietly, leaving Virgil to slid his arm under Roman's shoulders, lifting him up and letting him use him as support again.

"I...I don't need your help, Virgil, it's one o'clock. You must be tired-"

"I'm not sleeping until you're out," he argued softly as the two went into Roman's room. "It doesn't hurt too much, or...?"

He shook his head. "Other than breathing too much, no."

Virgil bent forward, cupping Roman's face gently and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "Get some rest, Princey," he said softly, smiling a bit in the darkness. "I'm proud of you, but you have to take care of yourself. You promised, remember?"

Roman chuckled softly, quiet enough that it didn't hurt. "Thank you, Virgil."

"Of course."