Coffee, Words And Fists

Coffee, Words and Fists

Characters: Roman, Virgil, Janus, Patton, Logan, Remus

Trigger warnings: a fair amount of abuse, toxic relationship, negligent parenting, some incredibly low self esteem, forced starvation

Ships: toxic Prinxiety, not romantic Princeit

Summary: Roman loves his chemically imbalanced Romance, but does Virgil love him back? Also Janus is a pretty important character.

AO3 Link

Roman was sitting alone in his room. He was practically praying that Virgil wouldn't come into his room tonight. Of course, when the two began, all was well. They still argued but that was just par for the course for the embodiments of Anxiety and Creativity, but hey, they usually made up afterwards. Usually. But as Virgil became more and more part of the group, Roman found himself being pushed further out. This did nothing to help his already low self-esteem, but he held a brave face. The others didn't need to deal with his issues on top of everything else. Virgil, however, grew more confident as the weeks turned to months. He shared his thoughts more and the others would stand up for him if Roman dared call him any sort of nickname. So it seemed Virgil had noticed, though it was hard not to, and began giving Roman the exact same treatment the creative side gave him pre-accepting anxiety. The nicknames, the lot. It started off small enough, nothing Roman couldn't handle, but things never stay small when this was the way things were headed with the sides. Roman still loved the anxious side, his little smirk when he heard a pun, the way he blushed when Roman flirted with him, all those little things. So of course he could handle it, right? Right. He was a prince, after all. Princes handled far worse than a few nicknames. He thought over this as he cuddled his stuffed Simba plushie close to his chest. Then he heard the dreaded sound of the door opening. He quickly put the toy onto his pillow as he made eye contact with the smirking side who now stood in his room.

"Really, Ro? A toy? Woulda thought you're too old for that shit." Virgil chuckled, closing the door behind him. "I-Simba's special, Virge. He was a birthday gift from Patton, you know that." the prince replied, almost stumbling over his words. His heart was pounding. "Yeah, I know. Just teasing, geeze, Princey." that nickname again. Princey. Why was it always Princey, and in such a mocking tone? Roman chuckled, though there was no joy to the sound. "I guess. So, uh, what brings you to- to my room, of all places?" he asked. Virgil flopped onto the large four-poster bed. "Aren't I allowed to say hi to you? You're such a jerk." he said in a tone that he couldn't tell if it was serious or joking. "Of course, love, I'm sorry. I would have gone to see you tonight, honest, I'm just in a bit of a state. You know, after that whole ordeal with Janus. It has me in a bit of a certain way, you understand?" he explained, reaching for his Simba once more. "You'd better not be interested in him, Roman." Virgil said, his tone soft and menacing. "No, I would never. You're the only one I could ever want." he replied, hoping that was what he wanted to hear. Virgil was silent for a moment. "I should think so." he said. Before Roman could object, the man snatched his Simba out of his arms. "If I see anything that suggests you might be second-guessing us, you're not gonna see this again, you hear?" he said, the lion held in a firm grip. That 'toy' was one of his most prized posessions. He gulped. "Y-yes, love." he said, his voice shaking noticeably. "Good. Sweet dreams, Princey." Virgil said, walking out of the room. Roman nodded, but knew he wouldn't be having any of the sort tonight.

He curled into a small ball on his large bed and, despite his attempts, could not stop the onslaught of sobs that racked his body. Those sobs quickly escalated, and this time there was no Simba to help him calm down. He buried his face in his pillows to attempt to hide his pitiful weeping, but it did little. He barely heard the sound of his door opening once more. Although this time, he could tell it wasn't Virgil. Virgil would have made a snarky comment on his sobbing. Instead, it was the voice of Patton. "Are you alright, kiddo?" he asked, walking over. Roman lifted his teary face out of the pillows. "Virge took my Simba." he managed to choke out. The father figure simply tutted. "Come on, Ro, that's nothing to be so upset about! After all, it's only a toy!" he said, pulling the creative side into an embrace. Simba wasn't only a toy, why could no one see that? Roman could do nothing but cry into Patton's shoulder. Maybe the father figure was right, it probably wasn't something to get so worked up about. He shouldn't get so upset over his simba. It was just silly and childish to get upset about a toy, even if that toy was pretty much the only thing that got him to sleep at night anymore. He pulled away from his father figure and rubbed the tears away from his now-red and puffy eyes. Patton gave him a smile. "Better?" he asked. "Better." the prince lied. "Goodo, well I've got some cookies in the oven so I'll catch ya later! Sleep well, kiddo!" the father figure beamed as he left the room. Roman felt the tears welling up in his eyes again. Darn it, why couldn't he just get over a damn Simba toy? He heard another set of footsteps in his room. Who was it this time, and why couldn't they just leave him alone? "You are aware, yes, that you are allowed to feel negative emotions about things you care about being taken away from you?" a familiar, smooth voice came. Janus. "Oh. I'm fine, you know." Roman replied, rubbing the stubborn tears out of his eyes. "Please, I am the literal embodiment of deception. You can't lie to me." the reptilian side stated softly, taking a seat on the bed. "I told you, I'm fine. If I wasn't I would be with Virge." he said firmly. Janus sighed. "Are you certain?" he asked skeptically. "Positively." the prince replied. Janus stood up once more. "Well then, I guess I can't force you to tell what's wrong. I won't be back, Roman." he said, sinking out. Roman grabbed a pillow and hugged it tight. It wasn't his Simba but it would have to do for now. He buried his face in it and fell into a restless sleep, waking up every so often thanks to the nightmares that now plagued him.

When dawn finally arose, he was thankful to get out of bed. He decided to wander down to the kitchen to find a snack. Patton had said he was baking cookies last night, where would those be? He pondered this as he wandered down the stairs. He entered the kitchen and quickly spotted the cookie jar on top of the cabinet. Being one of the shorter sides, he did have to use a step-stool to reach them but it was a small sacrifice to make for his delicious treasures. He took the lid off and relished in the heavenly scent for a moment before grabbing one of the treats and munching on it. If there was one thing Patton was good at, it was baking. He finished off his first cookie and started on a second. A second turned into a third, which in turn led to a fourth. He was in cookie heaven. Then he heard a voice he really did not need to hear this early in the morning. "You may wanna slow your roll on those cookies, you've been packing on a few pounds recently." the deep voice of Virgil came. Roman almost jumped. "Sorry, Virge." he said, putting the cookie jar down. Was he really gaining weight? Come to think of it, his frame did look a bit bigger when he looked in the mirror. "No 'good morning'? Rude." the emo said with an eyebrow raise. "I apologise again, I'm tired." he replied. A hot liquid suddenly splashed over his face. "Wake up then, Princey." Virgil said. Roman found it hard to be sleepy any more with the scalding coffee burning his face. He attempted to ignore the sensation and wiped it with his sleeve, which didn't do much in terms of easing it. "I will do better next time." he said softly. Virgil snorted suddenly. "Talk about creative burnout-" he said, falling into a fit of laughter. Roman cautiously chuckled with him, backing out of the room. As soon as he was out of sight, he began power-walking back to his room. As he was speeding through the hallway, he bumped into someone, knocking the both of them over. That someone was Logan. "Sorry, teach." the prince muttered, picking himself up off the floor. "It is alright, Roman. Perchance watch where you are going next time." the Logan said, straightening his clothes and continuing his walk in the other direction.

Roman slowed his pace and reached his room, and stepped inside. He shut the door and headed over to his beloved writing desk. He pondered what he should write, before settling on a play. He began brainstorming ideas on what to write about, and ended up deciding on a story of a prince and his quest to find true love. He needed that sort of energy right now. As he began writing what came to mind, his room shifted to match the setting of his play. He was now in a beautiful stone castle with sturdy oak beams and elegant furnishings. Through the window, the moonlight came streaming in, and his wooden desk was illuminated by a few wax candles. He always enjoyed this sort of setting. The more he wrote, the more detailed his surroundings became until he could almost see an entire village out of his window and beyond that, a great forest. Past the forest were tall, rocky mountains in which sat the dragon-witch's tower, the place the prince was reluctantly headed to. This prince was not a fighter, he was a lover. But little did he know that was exactly what he would find, but not in the tower and not anywhere else. For the prince did not know it yet, but this dragon-witch was not a hideous monster but in fact, a handsome man with dual-coloured eyes who, much like the prince, had no desire to fight. He had merely been cast out from the village as a result of his nature. Once the prince arrived at the tower, he was indeed greeted by this stunning man who did not mean him harm. Instead, the dragon-witch invited him inside and the two discovered something richer than victory or wealth or power. They found the one thing that could bring peasants and kings alike to their knees. They found romance. True romance. A romance so powerful, neither could deny they felt it. The prince soon decided to stay with the dragon-witch, this man who took care of him. And the two would live happily, forever after. Roman smiled as he went through the story a few times, it was a fine piece. It was always nice to write something he was truly proud of. "What'cha up to, Princey?" a distinct voice came from the doorway, snapping him out of his whimsy and returning his room to its natural state. He looked up from his work and saw his lover leaning against the doorframe. "Just some writing." the prince said, his voice infuriatingly quiet. Virgil stalked over to the desk. "Mind if I take a look?" he asked. Before Roman could respond, the gothic man had picked up the script and began flicking through it, his face painfully blank. Roman wished he knew what the man was thinking, hopefully good things but more likely judgements. That was just Virgil's nature, to be skeptical and judgemental, right? Right. The man occasionally would make a small 'hm' sound as he read, but apart from that he was expressionless. And honestly, Roman would have been less afraid if Virgil responded negatively as he read. But eventually, the man finished reading and shoved the script carelessly back onto the desk. "Eugh, charming." he said distastefully before taking a seat on Roman's bed. The malice in his words reminded Roman of his facial wound and re-lit the intense pain. He gingerly touched the wound, quickly deciding to retract his hand. He should probably ask about it. "Hey, Virge? Why'd you have to throw that coffee at me?" he asked. The man in question met his eyes with confusion and anger. "I didn't throw it, Ro. You accusing me of assault or something?" He snapped. "Well no, that's not exactly what I mean-" "Are you saying I'd just hurt you for no reason?" "No no, of course not! I just-" "You are accusing me! I would never without reason, why can't you see past your own ego for five seconds? You're pegging me as the bad guy again, you always do!" "I didn't realise I was, I'm so sorry Love, I would never intentionally." "Yeah sure. You keep believing that stupid bullshit. Great, now I need a break." the emo stormed out of the room with great haste. "Wait, no, Virgil-" but it was too late. The man in question had already slammed the door behind him. Roman looked over at his script with despair. Why couldn't he do anything right? Not his writing, not loving his boyfriend, not even his own job. Virgil didn't even like his script one bit, but was that really a surprise? After all, it was just a mediocre plotline partnered with sub-par writing skills. Of course he hated it, it was completely childish and far too fantastical and whimsical and unrealistic and who said those happy endings even existed in real life? It was everything Roman was. Oh goodness, it was everything he was. Virgil must absolutely hate him, and that conversation just earlier did nothing to disprove the matter. He picked up the useless script and shuffled over to the wall that he always kept bare. It was bare for a reason, he could do with it what he wished. And what he wished to do was summon a large fireplace with a crackling fire inside. It soon materialised, large and grand, and he threw the script in, leaving it to the mercy of the vicious tongues of the flame. He watched as hours of work was reduced to ashes in mere minutes, and while it absolutely tore him up inside to do so he would not show it. He sighed and returned the blank wall to its natural blank state, then climbed into his bed. If he got to sleep, maybe he wouldn't have to see anyone today. He could almost chuckle at how much he sounded like Virgil right now. Maybe the two weren't so different. He pulled his pillow into his arms and curled around it, and squeezed his eyes shut. He lay there for a good few minutes before he felt a gentle hand, rhythmically stroking his hair. He was tired and just wanted to sleep and besides, it was relaxing. So he let it continue. Whoever it was started singing a soft lullabye in french, which confirmed his suspicions that it wasn't Virgil. But who was it then? Patton could only speak english, Logan was in the process of learning Spanish, so it couldn't be either of them, right? Unless they knew something that he didn't. Remus knew a bit of french, but this definitely wasn't his distinct nasally voice. That left Janus. But Janus wasn't the type to do such a thing, right? Of course not, the man was a villain. So who could it be? Maybe it was a product of his own imagination. Either way, the voice was deep and smooth and rich, and had a certain honey-like quality to it. It was nice to listen to, at for the first time in forever he drifted off into a peaceful and nightmare-free sleep.

When he awoke, the person was gone. He felt a pang of disappointment that the figure was not there to bring him that relief he had felt last night, but he brushed it off. He was most likely late for breakfast, and Virgil was never happy when Roman was the one who overslept. He groggily climbed out of bed and realised he had fallen asleep in his costume, which was now horrendously wrinkled and stunk like he had worn it for two days straight. Probably because he had. He pulled off the suit and threw it haphazardly toward the laundry hamper, and opened up his closet. He picked out something comfy, in this case a red t-shirt and a pair of white sweatpants, and cautiously left his room. He shuffled downstairs and into the kitchen, where he noticed the other three light sides were already sitting and eating breakfast. His spot was set with a portion of Patton's famous chocolate chip pancakes, which he gleefully sat down to. "Morning, sleepyhead!" the father figure said playfully. "Good morning, Padre." the prince responded. Virgil cleared his throat rather obviously. "Of course, a wonderful morning to you, my chemically imbalanced romance," Roman added with a bit of a smile. He was in a good mood this morning. "Morning, Princey." the emo responded before returning to his breakfast. The prince picked up his fork and grabbed a mouthful of pancake. He was about to place it in his mouth when Virgil cleared his throat again, with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer. He put the fork down. "Are you not hungry, Roman? I did not see you at any of yesterday's meals." Logan stated. "I probably shouldn't, teach." He responded. The teacher looked at him with skepticism. "Just eat some. I do not wish to see you get too thin." he insisted. Roman sighed and picked up the fork again. His stomach was definitely growling. He took a deep breath and lifted the food to his lips. Swallowing seemed a definite chore. "Right, that's enough, Ro! Weren't you gonna do something today?" Virgil said louder than usual. That first mouthful of pancake only made him feel more noticeably hungry. "It's just one meal." he said. He couldn't be sure if he was talking to Virgil or himself, but nonetheless he took another forkful of the delicious breakfast. Virgil had gotten up and was walking over. The man's very gaze was enough to send shivers down his spine. "Roman, stop that." He said coldly. Roman glanced to the two figures sitting across the table, but they just kept eating and not paying attention. "It'll only be this one meal today, I promise." he said, putting the second forkful in his mouth. Virgil slapped the fork just as it reached the prince's mouth, scraping across his cheek. It wasn't that bad of an injury, nothing he couldn't take. He swallowed. That was when the emo had hit the last straw. He grabbed Roman by the throat and pulled him to his feet. Virgil was surprisingly muscular. He began throwing punches at the prince without relent, repeating over and over how he had been warned and he deserved this. The prince felt tears running down his face and called feebly for the other two to do something, only to be met with more reasons as to why he deserved this. Breathing was becoming a strain and he had to stop in order to preserve air. He squeezed his eyes shut as the blows got harder and faster, when all of a sudden they stopped. Although that could have been because his senses had numbed. He could tell there was talking going on around him, but he couldn't pinpoint who was talking. The tight grip around his neck ceased and he collapsed to the floor. More talking. Then he felt something unexpected. Two pairs of arms wrapped around him gently and one hand gently stroked his hair, much like the mysterious figure from last night. He so desperately wanted to lean into the touches, but that probably wasn't a smart move.

The noise around him faded and he felt the familiar sensation of rising up. The arms were still around him, which was odd. Usually only one or two people could rise up at the same time. "You can open your eyes, Roman." that smooth as honey voice said softly. Slowly he peeked his eyes open, and noticed he was in an unfamiliar room. This room was a darker, more comfortable brightness and shifted gently around the edges. The arms wrapped around him were scaly and clad in a yellow sweater. "I don't apologise for taking you out of the mindscape but my room is safer." the voice said. The prince turned his head to see who his rescuer was, and was shocked at his discovery. The man was none other than Janus, the disney villain. Wearing a sweater with a snake on it. The villain gave a small smile. Well, it would have been smaller and softer if the man's mouth on his snake half did not reach right across his cheek. But it was a surprisingly soft gaze nonetheless. Roman sat there in that embrace for a good minute, attempting to think of something to say. "Why did you stop him?" he managed to ask. "Stop who, Virgil?" the snake asked in a curious tone. "Mmn. I deserved all of that." the prince responded. "Listen to me, Roman. That was abuse. You do not deserve abuse, and you do not deserve to see your so-called family stand idly by while you are being physically and verbally assaulted. Why did you never tell anyone?" Janus asked, his spare sixth hand raised with the thumb and pinky tucked in to show he was not lying this time. "I tried at first. It was always my fault." Roman said, his body shaking again. "I mean someone who cares, dear. Like Remus and I." "Neither of you care about me though." "Of course not, I rescued you out of pure spite." "Well Remus hates me, at least." "Remus wishes more than anything that you could be friends with him again." "He'd probably murder Virge." Roman stated. Janus chuckled. "I suppose that is true. But neither of us think ill of any of you. Well, perchance there is some spite aimed at Virgil. But my point is, we are here to help you." he said with a wide, fangy smile. The door suddenly swung open and a certain duke bounded in. His eyes drifted immediately to the prince in Janus' arms. "Roro, who tried to murder you?" he asked, launching at his twin with open arms. "No one you should worry about." Janus said softly. Remus pulled his hug back and began examining his brother for notable injuries. He scanned the face and squinted. "That's not good, you look like Jan but worse!" he noted, eyeing the burn mark. Janus cleared his throat. "Maybe do that later, Rem." he said. The duke sat back on his feet. "Oki then." he said, his stache twitching. "Now listen here, Roman." Janus said softly but firmly. "You will always be safe here."

Coffee, Words And Fists

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