*Discontinued* The Cursed and Gifted

32

"Yea. Well..." Everything seemed to crash around them as Roman curled into himself a bit. "It's my curse." The room filled with an eerie silence that made Roman cringe. You'd think after having most of his life be filled with the lack of sound that he would be ok with it but no. The silence made his whole body break down. "C-Can someone say something?"

"What exactly do you want us to say, Roman?" Thomas choked out as tears formed in his eyes. 

"I-I don't know... just something." Roman hugged himself a bit as he put the headphones around his neck, wanting the comfort of the music but knowing now wasn't the time. "You're all just... staring at me. Say something... please?"

"This whole time..." Thomas shook his head as he raked a hand through his hair. "You said you didn't have a curse anymore."

"The only way you can break the curse is when you find your soulmate, Thomas." Thomas frowned as Roman just shrugged. "Do you really think I would be here if I had? I... Nevermind. We never explained it to you."

"Explained what?" Thomas frowned as everyone just shook there heads. It was pointless to go over it all that second. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Thomas, I'm a prince! I'm supposed to protect everyone! How can I do that if I'm deaf. That's a weakness that can be used against me!" Roman laughed at himself as Thomas paled. "I just... I'm sorry if I upset you by not saying..."

"No, Roman. I'm upset because I forced things on you without knowing." Roman faltered as Thomas finally started to cry. "All those songs I had you sing. I could never understand why you struggled so much on them. Not even Virgil had that much of an issue and he literally couldn't sing."

"Yes, well curses do that to a person." Virgil fired back quickly only making Thomas pale once again.

"Oh, not you too." Virgil smiled softly with a slight nod. "You both didn't tell me."

"I didn't see a reason to." Virgil shrugged as Roman's eyes darkened a bit. "I didn't flaunt my gifts so why would I tell people my curse? It wasn't that I was lying, I just didn't see a point in it." Thomas could only give the anxious one a look making Virgil sigh as he glanced over to see the panic in Roman's expression. If the prince was forced to come clean then it was only fair that Virgil did too. "My curse is a lack of expression." Thomas's eyes went wide as Virgil nodded. "For as long as I can remember I could never show what I felt. I couldn't sing or dance either. I can cook as you know. I can paint and draw. But... smiling and laughing and all that... I couldn't do. Hence why I always appeared apathetic and uncaring."

"I'm sorry." Virgil waved the host off with a bright smile only serving to make Thomas all the more confused. 

"Don't be. I told you. I didn't see a point to it all. It wasn't anything important to me. It wasn't this big kept secret... not my curse anyway. I just didn't care." Virgil smiled even more as he looked over at Roman who was just staring at the ground in thought. "We all have our reasons for the choices we make. Logan just needs to learn how to handle his new found emotions before he starts spouting questions that some might not to anwser." Logan cringed as he looked away in understanding. Logan knew. He shouldn't have asked it but he couldn't help it. His confusion and need for answers have been really intense lately and he's found it nearly impossible to ignore.

"I'm ok." Roman mumbled finally as he looked up with a slight smirk. "I didn't have a problem with it all before. So what if I couldn't hear... I made do. Yes there were issues like... when I zoned out and you couldn't get my attention... or when you startled me because I couldn't hear you walk up to me. Or when I'd miss information because I didn't know you were talking to me. I still managed though."

"Roman, that's not the point..." Thomas started only to stop as Roman shook his head.

"I'm ok though, Thomas. Really, I am. Besides, it's getting better!" Everyone seemed to falter once again with varying degrees of expression at the grin the prince gave them all. "My hearing is coming back. I promise. I'm ok."

"You found your soulmate?" Thomas whispered making Virgil curl up a bit as Roman nodded. "Who?"

"I'm... not 100% sure but..." Roman's eyes darted over to see Virgil looking away and he sighed happily. "I have someone I want it to be so... I can only hope right?"

"I just hate that I didn't know. I could have done so much differently, Roman. Like with the whole song thing. You were pressured into helping me and I... Roman?" Roman was just lost in thought watching Virgil with this fond look in his eyes. He was so lost he didn't notice the sound going out again. "Ro? Uh oh... ROMAN! Nothing... I thought he said he could hear again." Virgil frowned as he looked up to see everyone's worried expression. Roman noticed the confusion on Virgil's face which made him look over too only to freeze seeing Thomas say something without any sound. "Roman, are you ok? " 

"Oh, shit." Roman snapped as he fumbled for the iPod his panic burning through him and making him drop it, still no sound to be heard. Virgil was quick to run over and grab his hand. "V-Virge?"

"Breathe." Roman whined clearly upset which only made Virgil's nerves worse. Virgil took the headphones from around Roman's neck and gently covered the prince's ears with this seeing the tears that fell from Roman's eyes. "Breathe Roman. It's ok." Roman nodded shakily as he did his best watching as Virgil picked the iPod up from the floor. Virgil couldn't help but laugh at the several new playlists Roman had made before he picked the Disney one pressed play. The reaction was instant. The second the music spilled through the speakers Roman's hands went to the headphones as he let out a breath of relief. As mentioned before, as long as there was one thing Roman could still hear, he could calm down. "There we go. I told you to keep my iPod for a reason." Virgil teased despite knowing Roman couldn't hear him.

"Virgil? What happened?" Thomas quickly asked seeing how Roman relaxed into the song. 

"His curse pulled him under suddenly. Between the seven of us, Patton and Roman's curses are the ones that could cause the most trouble when in this stage." Thomas just looked like this confused kid who was just told that purple was somehow the new red. Something really stupid like that that his mind could not grasp. "Before the curse is broken it's in a stage of on and off. Depending on where it is in this stage the curse can randomly come back full force and fuck with your mind. So Roman who was just telling you he could hear again suddenly not being able to hear anything at all again..."

"Oh." Virgil nodded finally seeing the understanding in Thomas's eyes. "That sounds like torture."

"That's what a curse is. Be glad you don't have one Thomas."