SECRETS AND AGENTS ~ Sanders Sides

[T W O]

Just so you all know, I love simping Roman, so Roman is going to be a very well-established simp in this story. Warning you all, he puts in some flirty and endearing comments in Italian and does enough pining to fill up one of my usual mutual pining books UwU

The apartment was giant. It had fifteen floors and quite a few randomly numbered rooms. It was part of a giant, apartment complex, and it was the second building in the collection. Virgil walked up to the front door, bouncing it open with his hip as he took a sip of his drink and checked his phone. In Roman's' eyes, who was locking up his car, it was a beautiful thing to watch.

Yes, Roman had a major crush on his roommate. Yes, he'd randomly compliment him or flirt with him in Italian. Yes, he knew Virgil would never be interested in him in any way more than a friend. Yes, that didn't stop him. Yes, he was going to pine after Virgil until someone told the emo about some weird theatre kid watching him from across the room with an odd look in his eyes and Virgil finally realised. No, he didn't care that it was all pretty desperate. He was a desperate man.

Then, Roman suddenly realised Virgil was heading inside without him and he panicked. "Aspettami, tesoro!" He yelled out, before switching quickly to his second language. "I mean, wait for me, emo!"

"Jeez, give the Italian a break, will ya?" Laughed Virgil, but he held the door open for Roman anyway.

"You know it's not my fault," Roman pouted as he quickly made his way to his roommate. "I lived in Italy until I was sixteen, it's my natural language." The two entered the polished, shining floor of the apartment's' 'lobby'. It was more of a grandized floor that only had the elevators, stairs and janitor's' office to show off.

Virgil rolled his eyes. "I guess that's fair. But you gotta stop if you don't want me to start speaking in Polish whenever I address you."

Roman raised his eyebrows. Jesus, and he thought this man couldn't get any better. "You're Polish?"

"No," Virgil admitted, making his way to the elevator. Roman winced when he remembered that Virgil obviously wasn't Polish, he had a pretty stubborn Irish accent. "But I took a few lessons. Więc baw się z tym."

"Wick balm tea ten?" Frowned Roman.

Virgil snickered as he pressed the buttons on the lift. "Not even close, princey."

Roman crossed his arms. "Well, name a time and place, and I will challenge you to a battle of languages."

Shaking his head, Virgil smiled coyly up at Roman. "Oh, prince, I've already been picking up words from you." 

For a moment, Roman panicked but he kept his cool. "Do you know what I mean, though?"

"No," Shrugged Virgil. "But I can repeat a few of them pretty well, I think." He thought for a moment. "Tesoro? Did I say that right?"

Roman spluttered and broke out laughing at Virgil's' terrible Italian accent. It had been incredibly comical, hearing the young, Irish man try and imitate him. "Oh, my god, that was funny. That was priceless!"

Virgil glared. "Not like your Polish was any better, idiot."

"I know," Roman grinned, looking down at the emo. "Your attempt was still hilarious, your accent was all off."

"Hey, at least I said the word properly," Virgil grumbled, crossing his arms, and Roman remembered that wash of normality that probably brought his affections to the scrawny other.

Virgil was that breath of unexceptional, usual every-day life. Compared to Roman and his friends, he was so naive and unexperienced in the real world. He was a damsel who didn't know he was in distress, like so many others in the city, but, unlike them, he atleast had a sense of the danger around him. But, he probably had no idea how massive the real world was. He definitely hadn't seen as much as Roman, Patton and Logan had.

You see, Roman, Patton and Logan acted normal. They had the normal, part-time jobs that other men their age worked. They had a normal apartment in a normal complex, in a normal part of a normal city. They looked pretty normal, they behaved pretty normal, on the exception of a few quirks that everyone has, and they definitely weren't going to be number one on a suspect list of high profile agents working to worm the corruption out of the government and cvreate an equal world. Which they totally were. Cool, right?

So, that's why Virgil was different. He actually was normal, even if he was different from normal standards. His anxiety made for interesting interactions in the middle of the night that was just the sort of scenario normal people would have with normal roommates in normal lives. And all of the normality was a stable anchor, a beacon, a steel, unmovable rift that Roman had latched onto. He knew his friends had too. Logan and Patton both babied Virgil in their own, subtle way. They both showed their love for the emo in tiny, personalised versions. 

Logan would be the one who'd often start random conversations with Virgil and fetch things for him. He'd sometimes stop Virgil from cooking if he saw it going in a midly unsafe way, often reaching the point of extreme by advising Virgil to wear longsleeved oufits when cooking pasta. It was all in that motherly, controlling, safe-guarding way that came out stronger during missions. Patton definitely made sure Virgil knew how important he was to him. The dad-like man treated Virgil like a son and often reminded the emo that he was always there when he needed him.

And although they all adored Virgil, Roman was definitely the only one who loved him in a romantic sense. He wasn't very subtle about it, in all honesty, but that was how he was.

The elevator doors pinged open and Virgil stepped out first, picking his phone from his pocket and watched the notifications come flying in as it connceted back to the router.

"You've got keys?" He asked Roman absently, opening up Tumblr as he scrolled through his dashboard.

Roman hummed in confirmation, pulling his keys from his jean's' pocket. He flipped through a bunch of keychains, photographs and other keys, like his car keys, before finally settling on a rectangular, arched set, sticking it into the door and swinging it open. 

The smell of boiling pasta filled his nostrils and he grinned. "We're ba-ack!" Roman trilled, bouncing into the decently sized apartment. Logan sat in an armchair, reading a nerdy book with an even nerdier title. He glanced up, narrowing his eyes at Roman's' unwelcome loudness,  but greeted the two politely with a nod of his head.

"Greetings and salutations, Roman and Virgil. Virgil, I'm sorry I didn't pick you up from the gym today. When you wanted to return, I was in the shower."

Virgil shrugged. "Don't sweat it, specs. I can put up with princey, even if he is a total pain."

Roman gasped.

"Now, okay, kiddos, pasta's nearly ready, so, Roman, can you get your books off the table?" Patton asked from the kitchin, preparing a collinder in the sink.

Roman nodded and scooped up his copy of, 'A Midsummer's' Dream', which sat opposite Logan. Logan's' hair was usual dark brown and thick, but now it was black and a little stringy, as a result of him having been in the shower. His eyes were hazel and he had well-tanned skin, left over from summer. He nodded to Roman and Roman grinned back as he walked into his room.

Yeah, he loved this place. They had moved in two years ago, a month or so after Virgil, and it was a good place. Roman got to his room and had just put the book down on his desk when his phone started ringing. He hurridely looked at the caller ID, only to see an emoji of a leaf.

"Jesus," Roman whispered and he shut his bedroom door, after giving Patton 'The Look', then answered the call.