Cinderella

How to Find an Emo

"What kind of Cinderella bullshit is this?!" Roman cried, slamming his hands down on the table. "Language," Patton reminded, scratching their dog behind its ears. "Magic isn't real, he didn't have to go at midnight. He didn't check a clock or anything. Why did he run?" Logan fixed his tie. "Can you please describe the events?" he asked. Roman's face went a little hot as he looked down. He didn't want to tell his parents about kissing and dancing with someone, but it was for the best.

"Well... I talked with him outside for a little, then I taught him to dance. Once the song ended... we kissed," Roman explained, blushing. "Then the answer is obvious, the kiss wasn't welcome," the logical king deadpanned. "No! He kissed me back! It lasted a good amount of time!" Roman insisted, remembering longingly how the other's lips had moved against his. "Hmmm. How did you two break apart? Was it abrupt?" Roman shook his head. "What happened right after the kiss?"

"He looked like he was deep in thought, he started pulling away from me. I asked him if he was okay a few times before he said he had to go, then he stepped away. I grabbed his hand, then his glove came off and he ran," the prince recalled. "Ah, I think I know what happened here," Logan decided. "He panicked. Think about it; you're a prince. He's just a citizen." Roman flinched; he wasn't just any citizen, he was a beautiful and unique one. "Okay, I see then."

"So how do we find him? If this is anything like Cinderella, I don't want to go door to door asking random people to put on a glove or something. I know what he looks like," Roman said, throwing up his hands. "Did he tell you anything about himself?" Logan inquired. "Well," Roman looked up, thinking. "I think he mentioned that he lived with some friends because his parents died when he was younger. Umm... oh! He works at a tech store!" he exclaimed, snapping. "Did he tell you the name of the store he worked at?" Roman shook his head. "Well, that's still a good start. If we're going to scour the kingdom, we might as well be smart about it. We'll get a list of all tech stores' male employees and visit each of their houses," Logan decided. Roman rushed over and hugged him. "Thank you father." "Your welcome. Now, as my husband likes to say-" Logan shot a glance over at Patton, "let's get this show on the road."

———

"Hey babes!" Virgil looked up from the tablet he had taken to the back room to work on. Remy stood in the doorway sipping a Starbucks coffee and in his uniform. "Hi Remy," greeted their other coworker, Emile. He was just walking in as well, but coming from the front room. Virgil just gave Remy an upwards nod in response.

Emile grabbed a cellphone and headed back out, Virgil following him with the newly fixed tablet. They tended to customers, soon being joined by Remy. Some hours passed until they were finally alone in the tech store.

"So," Remy began, holding a coffee that seemed to magically appear from nowhere, "Have you heard about Prince Roman?" Virgil froze, the night of the party flashing before his eyes. "No, what happened?" Emile asked. "Well, apparently he's looking for some dude he kissed at the party last night. The guy works at a tech store, so he's visiting the houses of everyone who works at stores like this to try to find him. Roman said he has a glove from him and if he can produce the other one, he'll date him."

Virgil felt slightly dizzy. Prince Roman was... looking for him? I guess he didn't get in trouble- but what if they're looking for me because they want to get me in trouble? No, Remy said he would date him. Oh my god. He wants to date me...Virgil didn't realize the other two were looking at him as he internally panicked.

"Hon, you good?" Virgil looked back up and nodded. Emile raised an eyebrow, "You sure?" Virgil waved it off. "Yeah, just trying to remember if I locked the fish tank," he lied. Emile and Remy's expressions twisted into confused ones. "Remus likes to use the fish for his weird experiments, we've already lost Finn and Bubbles." It wasn't entirely a lie; Remus had meddled with their fish population twice, but Virgil knows he locked the top.

"Well anyway, how cool would that be?" Remy fangirled. "Oh, to have a prince pursue me." "Nice reference," Emile remarked. Seems I'm not the only one with Into the Woods on my mind Virgil thought, smirking.

"It's like in Cinderella, but with a glove! Oh, could you imagine? Prince Roman putting that glove on, then asking me to date him!" Remy swooned. Virgil rolled his eyes; Remy had a bit of a celebrity crush on him. "Either way, I would still be happy for whoever does end up dating him. He'd have to be pretty amazing for Prince Roman to be searching the kingdom for him." "Well, I dunno, he's probably not that great..." Virgil muttered, but the others didn't hear him.

Their conversation ended, though, as a customer walked through the front door. For the rest of his shift, Virgil was distracted by inconclusive thoughts of the Prince.