Virgil's thumb was poised over the text, trying to convince himself to send it.
Roman's phone was larger than his, and fit awkwardly in his hand. But he wasn't about to indirectly give Janus his number.
He reread the text one more time.
You: Hey. Roman's feeling sick today, so he won't be at work. I'll take care of him, don't worry. -Virgil.
The pointed bottoms of a strong of heart emoji's from the right side caught his attention. He glanced over at Roman, asleep on the couch.
Surely he wouldn't mind if Virgil just checked.
He went back to the phone, scrolling up.
Damn.
The last few texts - around twelve total, if Virgil had to guess - were just different series of heart and kissing emojis. Progressively getting longer.
A pang echoed in his chest and he shook his head, sighing and scrolling back to the bottom. He was going to look farther, but he knew he shouldn't. Rereading the text one last time, he shut his eyes and hit Send, turning the phone off and going to find a pair of headphones he'd been meaning to paint out of his room.
The phone chirped, a strange, deep sound echoing as it buzzed against the wooden table. Virgil sighed, walking back over, glancing at the screen.
Janus <3: I'll be over in a few.
He frowned, blinking quietly at the screen before marking it as read, setting it down again and going to his room, grabbing the headphones and some paint.
True to his word, there was a quiet knock at the door a couple minutes later. Virgil got up, checking the peephole before letting Janus in.
The shorter boy already had a slight frown on his face, which deepened slightly as he saw Virgil, who held the door wide open and stood a good four feet away from Roman's boyfriend. Once Janus was inside the apartment, and Virgil was able to shut the door without getting closer than his four-foot radius, he did so.
"Roman's on the couch," he said tiredly. "Sleeping. "Do you want anything to drink...?" he added, trying to be hospitable.
Janus' face switched to a small smirk. "What, so you can poison me?" he said, his eyes giving away his surprise.
"Guilty," Virgil chuckled softly. If Janus was going to be here for a while, he might as well do what Roman had told him. Try to be nice. "Seriously, though."
"Uh..." Janus blinked. "Water, I guess."
Virgil quickly poured Janus water, feeling his eyes over his shoulder. He turned, handing it to Janus with a forced smile. "Stay as long as you want," Virgil muttered, replacing one pair of headphones on his head and studying the second one, trying to decide where the purple would go. Eventually, he decided on a jagged, electricity-like design, quietly sketching then painted as Janus busied himself with Roman. Not that there was much to do; the boy was asleep on the couch and not even Disney music could wake him now.
After around half an hour, Janus came over to sit across from Virgil. The edgy buy silently looked up, waiting for Janus to say something. But the quietness stayed, and eventually Virgil just went back to what he was doing, glancing up every so often to make sure Janus wasn't frowning.
After finishing the lightning design on one side, he set down the pair, studying the colours in front of him.
"Virgil," Janus said smoothly, causing the emo to jump.
He sighed. "Yes?"
"How were you able to text me through Roman's phone?" he asked, his eyebrows lowering in either curiosity or concern. Virgil couldn't tell.
He shrugged. "I was going to do it from mine, but I didn't want you to have my number-" Virgil glanced up as Janus struck an overly offended pose. Virgil offered a small laugh - a real one - as he continued. "So I might have just done it from Roman's."
"So how did you get into it?" he frowned.
"Roman and I traded passcodes just in case. I've never used his until today," he added in an attempt to reassure Janus.
It worked. "So he knows yours as well?"
"Swore on his life to not tell anyone what it is, but yes," he answered.
"Interesting," Janus said, attempting to hide the fact that he was going to do something with this information.
And doing a really bad job. "I'm watching you," Virgil snickered.
The two smiled at each other, finally having found common ground. It was stiff, and tense, and probably not gong to last, but it was there.
Then Janus must have decided that he was supposed to dislike Virgil, because the smile faded and he didn't talk anymore.
Virgil frowned, wanting to leave this awkward moment behind him and hopefully kill it, and watch it have a long, painful death that he didn't have to see or be a part of.
He silently went back to his headphones.
YOU ARE READING
Linked
Fanfiction[multishippers, get your asses in here. this one's for you 💖] Roman Trente has a few things. A roommate that he's gotten fond of. Well, as fond as you can be of a short, emo nightmare. Fond nonetheless. They're as close as he'd like them to be. Whi...
