Work Text:
Virgil was just sitting down at his vanity to do his makeup when he felt the pull of Thomas summoning him. Groaning in annoyance he allowed himself to pop up in Thomas' living room. "Seriously Thomas, you have the worst timing dude."
Thomas smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Virgil. Do you need a bit more time to do something?" He questioned, not wanting his anxious side to be upset. Virgil shrugged. "It's fine, I can do my eyeshadow after you're done."
Roman rose up next to him, stretching with a yawn. "Good morning my friends, I hope everyone is well rested and ready for another grand adventure." He smiled at them charmingly, and suddenly Virgil regretted not having his pale foundation on with the blush he was valiantly fighting off.
Virgil coughed awkwardly, pulling up his hood to hide his face. "Yeah sure, whatever you say, Princy" He mumbled, not looking at him. Roman threw him a slightly questioning look but didn't ask, shrugging it off.
They had been slowly fixing their relationship since Accepting Anxiety, and Roman would go as far as to call them friends, but that didn't mean they never reverted back to petty arguments and childish insults. Maybe Virgil was just in a mood today.
Virgil looked at Thomas, bored and a little annoyed. "So, you've got all of us here now, what do you want?" He crossed his arms, leaning against the stair rail.
Thomas shifted from foot to foot. "Uh- well, I thought it would be fun to go camping!" He smiled awkwardly, not sure what was going on with his sides. "It would be fun to do some bonding exercises, and I haven't been in a while, Talyn and Joan would be coming too."
"Camping?" Logan repeated, frowning. "But Thomas, what about-" He was cut off by Patton's excited squeal. "Oh yes! That will be so much fun Thomas!!"
Roman, caught up in Patton's excitement, nodded quickly. "Yeah, this sounds like a perfect opportunity to have fun and de-stress a bit! Let's do it!"
Virgil was reluctant, he wasn't really an outdoors person. He glanced at Logan for a second opinion when he noticed he was scowling at the ground, silent. They'd ignored him again.
"Guys, shut up, Logan has something to say." He spoke harshly. He knew the other two didn't mean to be rude or cut Logan off, but they were oblivious and sometimes you had to be firm to get through to them.
The two immediately went quiet and looked at the logical side. Logan flashed Virgil a grateful look. "Thomas, you have projects to do, you promised we would get them done this week."
Thomas half-smiled. "I know, I know, I will. I'll bring them with me." Logan seemed reluctant but agreed, much to the disappointment of Patton and Roman. "Ugh, what's even the point in going if we're just going to be lame and do work the whole time!?" Roman complained.
"Be nice, Ro." Patton scolded. "But he does have a point Logan, can't you just let it go this time?" He sounded so disappointed, even Virgil cringed away from the fatherly side. Logan held his ground though, frustrated. "No, because we planned this before your stupid camping trip."
Patton took a step back, startled by his hostility. "Okay, okay kiddo, that's fine." Roman looked between the two, biting his lip. He'd been on the receiving end of both Logan's anger and Patton's disappointment enough times to know it really sucked.
Virgil sighed, this was stupid. "Alright guys, let's wrap this up, I want to put my eyeshadow on." Thomas relaxed a little at the darker side's intervention. "Right, yeah, and make sure you all change into good outdoor clothes." He added.
Everyone agreed and respectively sank out to their rooms to pack and get ready. They could always summon anything they forgot, but it was harder outside of the mind palace unless it was one of the creative twins. So, packing.
Once everyone was back in Thomas' living room and ready to go, they all piled into Joan's van in their assigned seats. Roman and Virgil ended up next to each other in the back row since Logan and Patton were up front with Thomas behind Joan and Talyn, and Remus and Janus needed 'adult' supervision so they were in the middle row.
Virgil didn't mind the arrangement too much, since he could just sit and chill with his headphones and Roman would mostly leave him be. What he did mind though, was when Thomas added that whoever you were sitting with would be your tent-mate.
A whole night spent sleeping next to Princy? No thanks. No, nope. Not happening. He will literally combust and die. What if Roman slept in tight shirts? Fuck, what if he didn't wear shirts to bed at all? Virgil's eyes drifted down Roman's chest, imagining what he'd look like laying on his back in Virgil's sleeping bag. He’d have that cute little smile he got when he was genuinely happy, messy hair, maybe a soft blush.. His eyes went down a little further. Maybe Roman would be completely na-
A snap in front of his face startled him out of his thoughts before they could get too carried away. Roman was looking at him with concern. "You okay, Virgie? You've been weird all morning and you were just hard core zoning out staring at me.."
Virgil forced down another blush, nodding quickly. "Yeah, I'm fine, just tired." He lied, looking away from Roman and out the window instead. He knew he liked Roman. He had always found him attractive, even back when they were still at odds. But that.. It almost felt wrong. It had been so.. Dirty. He almost felt like he had violated Roman, imagining him in that way. Especially when he was fairly certain Roman would never like him back. He definitely needed to put a stop to that, what kind of friend would he be if he allowed that to continue?
Eventually the van pulled up to the campground and everyone was allowed out. Talyn and Joan would be sharing a big 3 to 4 person tent with Thomas, while the sides paired off into smaller 2 person tents.
It took a bit to set everything up, but luckily a few people knew what they were doing. Joan had helped Thomas and Talyn with the tent, teaching them how to put it up, while Logan had his book on how to properly assemble a tent, it turns out practical knowledge and execution aren't always the same thing. Surprisingly, Roman ended up being the one to help the sides with their tents. He had explained that his adventures in the imagination often required he set up camp for a night or two.
He pointed out that Remus knew how to as well, he was just unhelpful and found it funny to watch the others struggle, which Remus didn't deny.
There was about an hour left before sunset, Remus and Janus decided to head down to the river and look for any cool bugs or animals, while Logan and Patton opted to stay at the camp with the other three to relax by the fire, or in Thomas' case work on projects with Logan's occasional help.
That left Virgil and Roman alone for the time being. Roman looked bored, glancing around the campsite for something to do. Virgil chewed his lip lightly for a moment. "Hey Ro, I'm going to go check out the sunset from the cliff, wanna come?" He finally offered, deciding he had nothing to lose. They were friends after all, it didn't have to mean anything more. He ignored the ache in his heart.
Roman shrugged. "Sure, why not." He agreed. Virgil stood there awkwardly for a moment before turning and starting to walk towards the cliff. He didn't know what was wrong with him today, he'd been crushing on Roman for years, why on earth was he only now making things weird between them? He needed to get his head on straight. Well, as straight as a gay man can get.
Roman followed close behind. He watched Virgil closely, concerned for his friend. Virgil had been acting so weird today, Roman hoped Virgil knew he could talk to him if he needed to.
They approached the cliff and Roman decided he would need to be the one to bring it up. "Hey Virgil? Are you okay? You've been acting strange all day." Virgil froze up, turning quickly. "Yeah! Why wouldn't I be? You worry too-" In his panicked distraction he hadn't been paying attention to where he was stepping, his foot slid on the loose rocks and he cried out as he tipped backwards.
Roman lunged forward. "Virgil!" He reached for the other, barely managing to grab a fistful of his hoodie. Virgil clawed desperately at the dirt and rocks, trying to pull himself back up. Roman didn't have a very secure hold on him, so he shifted as best he could, reaching his free hand down. "Take my hand!" He stretched it out as far as possible.
"Wh- No!" Now, Virgil knows damn well this wasn't one of his finest moments, but give him a fucking break his brain was scrambled from the absolute frenzy of a panic attack he was having, and he'd been trying his darndest to avoid his crush on Roman all day. So really, can he be blamed for such stupidity? If you think about it, it was kind of Roman's fault.
Roman looked at him like he'd grown a second head. Okay yeah, maybe it was kinda Virgil's fault, so sue him. Roman stretched his hand out farther. "Look I'm not asking you to marry me, I'm trying to save your life! Just take my fucking hand!"
Virgil didn't know if it was the embarrassment or the desperation to have his feet on solid ground but he snapped out of it, reaching for Roman's hand. Roman held on tight and hauled Virgil back up to safety. The two collapsed on the firm ground, looking up at the sunset. Roman still hadn't let go of Virgil's head. "Well.. that's one way to spend a camping trip." He tried to lighten the mood.
Roman turned his head to glare at Virgil. "You're an idiot, and you're lucky I was here to save you." Virgil pouted. "Technically it's not my fault, you distracted me with your pretty face." He mentally slammed his head into a wall, internally screaming. Why the fuck would he say that!?
Roman blushed. "Ass hole." He looked back up at the sky, slowly filling with stars. Slowly, barely noticeable until the action was completed, Roman laced their fingers together. No more words were spoken, but Virgil understood the message. He might not be ready yet, but they'd get there. They could take it at their own pace. Roman cared about him, he was there whenever Virgil needed him. Virgil squeezed his hand gently, watching the stars with him.