Bad Rumors

9

"What the f-... heck were you thinking?!" Roman yelled out the moment Logan opened the door to let Virgil back inside. Virgil's eyes narrowed as Roman glare over at them both.  Logan just shot the prince a very numb look of annoyance as he fixed his tie.

"I took Virgil out for a bit to converse."

"You went against the rules is what you did!" Virgil flinched slightly feeling the rage rolling off of the other but Logan just frowned in concern.

"But I didn't actually. Virgil was with me, thus chaperoned. We didn't go into town or anything, not that that should ever matter. He was with me the entire time and all we did was converse. So what's the problem, Roman?" Roman's eyes narrowed challengingly as Logan sighed. "Roman, did my choice to let Virgil out with me hurt Thomas?" 

"No but..." Virgil frowned slightly noticing how Roman seemed to falter, his eyes twitching slightly as if trying to work through his thoughts. "You still shouldn't have done it."

"Did my choice hurt Patton?" Roman shifted back as he shook his head clearly trying to hold himself back. "Did it hurt the mindscape in any way?"

"No it didn't but..."

"Then what is the problem?"

"YOU WENT BEHIND MY BACK!" Roman yelled only to freeze up instantly. Logan smirked slightly seeing the understanding in Roman's eyes. "You hurt my pride."

"I can promise you nothing happened Roman. Now... If you'll excuse me, this conversation is draining." Virgil tensed as Logan started to leave only to pause and give the youngest a soft look. "Remember what we spoke about."

"Yeah, sure." Logan smiled before walking off leaving the two of them alone. Roman frowned as he glanced over to see Virgil shifting anxiously and he sighed. 

"Look, Virgil..."

"Don't bother." Roman tensed as Virgil just waved him off. "We all know how you feel about me and frankly the less time I have to deal with your anger and hate the better." Roman's eyes darkened as Virgil scoffed and turned away. "I much prefer the lies I've told myself... instead of the rumors you all just keep proving are true."

"Tell me them?" Virgil froze up in shock as Roman just smiled awkwardly. "The rumors, I mean. I want to hear them from you."

"No, you don't." Roman frowned in confusion as Virgil started for the living room.

"Yes, I do." Roman followed closely behind as Virgil just laughed.

"No. I'm not going to get attacked because you didn't like what you heard." Roman's frown only grew as Virgil sat on the couch grabbing the remote for the tv only to freeze as Roman took it out of his hand. "Roman..."

"I want to hear them from you, Virgil."

"No, you don't. You only think you do because you just want to prove they aren't true." Roman shifted back as Virgil glared over at him. "You just want more acknowledgment that you're just and righteous and not proud."

"I am very proud." Virgil's eyes went wide as Roman smiled sadly. "I am... very very proud. I am pride. I can't disprove what is true. I just... Virgil, I've heard at least some rumors in the words of a little girl to terrified to even say one thing bad about me. I... didn't like that."

"Well, I can't fix that."

"Virgil, I want to hear it from you because you won't sugar coat it. Plus... I know that... at least before you didn't believe it." Virgil's eyes narrowed as Roman flinched subtly

"You're right. I didn't... before." Roman sighed as his head dipped slightly seeing the anger in the younger. "But then I came here and had EVERY SINGLE one proven to me, ending with me getting locked in a cell for anxiety caused outburst that at the time I did not actually mean. I was scared and you proved me right to be."

"Virgil, please?" Virgil groaned as he turned back to the powered-off tv ignoring how Roman sat down beside him. "I... I want to know."

"If you so much as look at me with contempt I will snap." Roman smiled as he nodded as he sat back patiently waiting for Virgil to try to calm his nerves. "What do you want to know first?"

"Whatever you're comfortable telling me. I don't care." Virgil felt like he was getting whiplash. Compared to how Roman ALWAYS was with him and how he was now this was incredibly jarring. "It's ok."

"Well... I guess we could start with the basic line that... You're a proud man." Roman nodded as Virgil tensed and clenched his fists to help ground him. "I've been told many times over that... You cared more about your image than any of us. Dee... He was adamant that I was never to leave the dark side. He was scared of how you would treat me being that I'm... well." Roman sat there in silence listening to every word as Virgil tried to scan his expression for any sign of anger. So far he didn't see any. "Then there's the rumor that you kicked out your own brother."

"I didn't." Virgil flinched as Roman quickly put his hands up in surrender. "That wasn't me snapping. I swear. I was just... I never kicked him out. I wasn't exactly kind to him but I didn't kick him out. Remus left on his own. He left me." Virgil's eyes narrowed as Roman visibly deflated.  "It was his choice."

"Regardless, that's the rumor. You kicked him out because despite being your twin, he didn't fit your 'perfect' kingdom." Roman's eyes fell in thought as Virgil tensed a bit feeling his anxiety bubble up in him. "People over there are really scared of you."

"I could tell." Virgil frowned as he looked away and just nodded.

"Their vision of you is a man too focused on perfection that anything, and I do mean anything, that goes against it or is just the slightest bit different would set you off. You don't care about any of us. You only care about how people perceive you and... that doesn't include the Darksiders. We're to fend for ourselves. We're the outcasts. We're where the trash goes when you've deemed it unworthy of your Disney-esk world." Roman frowned as he noticed Virgil starting to shake. "You just don't care about any of us. The Great Prince Roman who came to power far too soon and segregated his own people, leaving us to wallow in the..." Virgil snapped over suddenly as Roman gently pressed his hand on top of Virgil's right fist.

"Sorry." Roman smiled softly as he moved his hand away seeing the fear in the eyes of the other. "I just didn't know how to snap you out of it."

"O-Out of w-what?" Virgil frowned as he choked finally noticing how hard it was for him to breathe. "O-Oh. I-I uh... I have to..." Roman's eyes darkened as he watched Virgil run off towards his room. He just sat there lost to everything he had heard. He could feel his mind battling and waring in him. Part of him felt like absolute shit. These were his people and he was letting them down. He really wasn't meant for this. He wasn't good enough. He...

"Snap out of it, Roman. You're a prince." Roman growled to himself as the other side won out. "You've done nothing wrong. You're the absolute best you can be and those people just don't appreciate what you've done for them all. Just ignore it. You have a job to do. That emo nightmare just doesn't know what the fu-... heck he's talking about."