Virgil winced again as he tried to draw, his hand throbbing. He'd been an idiot when he punched Augustus; he'd used his left hand. He was left handed, so that mean everything he normally did with his dominant hand now hurt to do. Drawing was going to suck for a few hours at least.

He didn't know why he had done that. Virgil wasn't his boyfriend or anything, why had he gotten so protective?

They have to be messing with me right? They wouldn't actually try to get into the palace and- Virgil stopped the thought before it could continue, forcefully putting his pencil down as he tried to even his breathing. I really want to see him again.

"Hey, you alright kiddo?"

Virgil jumped a little at his father's sudden appearance. "Y-Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he said hastily. He kept his face turned away from him.

"Then why aren't you looking at me?" Patton asked, concern in his voice. The artist keep his face away, and didn't reply. "Virgil, please look at me."

Sighing in defeat, he turned to look at his dad, who gasped in horror. "Oh my gosh, Virgil what happened?" he asked as he inspected his busted lip.

"Nothing! I'm fine!" the artist exclaimed, inconspicuously hiding his hand. Patton gave him the look that meant 'You better tell me the truth right now mister' and he sighed. "Okay! Okay... Barry's back in town..."

A wave of realization and understanding washed over Patton's face as he pulled his son close. "Please, just don't encourage him," he murmured as he held him close. "Walk away, call for help, please, we'll help you, please..."

Virgil hugged his dad back, knowing he would but couldn't. He couldn't burden him with this; he'd just wait it out, like he always did.

What the artist boy didn't know, what that Roman had been standing across the street watching him inconspicuously. He hid the smile on his face as he looked at the attractive boy. He still didn't know his name he realized with a frown. He looked up at the sky, frowning even more as he realized he'd have to return to the palace. He took one last look at the boy before starting back.

When he reached his room once more, a thought struck him. What did he enjoy doing? He hadn't thought about it before. What were his interests? He had an extensive education, and access to almost everything, but he didn't know what he enjoyed doing.

Maybe I like drawing, like that boy, he thought. Roman went over to his desk, grabbing a small stack of papers and a pencil. What can I draw? Maybe him...?

He recalled his face perfectly, but as he stared at the paper, he was lost. The prince couldn't figure out how to put the image in his brain onto the paper. He tried to pick something simple to draw first. Roman started doodling a flower, frowning at how unrealistic it looked. Scribbling it out, he grabbed another piece of paper and attempted again. Another failure; he groaned in frustration.

How does he have the patience for this? he thought in frustration as he continued to scribble out drawing after drawing. He thought of the boy, how he'd seen him drawing the first day. Sighing with a small smile, he realized something. I'm going too fast; I need to breathe and take it slow.

Taking a deep breath, Roman started sketching a flower. He took his time, humming to himself as he did so. When he'd finished, he looked at it with a surprised smile. It wasn't amazing, but it looked, decent.

Roman continued to draw for a while, just sketching different things and eventually moving on to attempts on drawing people. However, he found that to be difficult, even when he took his time. He crumpled up another piece of paper with a frustrated growl. The prince leaned needed a break so he'd headed out to his balcony. He leaned on the railing as he looked up at the sky. He let a smile slip onto his face as he felt the cool night air on his skin.

"Well, if it isn't his Highness."

The voice was so sudden, Roman jumped in surprise. Across from him on the railing, balanced a familiar looking boy. "You," he said quietly, taking a step away. "W-What are you doing here? How did you even get up here? I-I'll call the guards if you do anything."

He shrugged, that smirk he'd seen before still there and still breathtaking. "I've been around, and you can relax," he said in amusement. "I'm not here to hurt you or anything, I was just curious."

"About what?" Roman inquired. The boy smiled, shrugging cryptically, causing the prince to frown. He turned away. "I think you should leave, before somebody sees you and assumes your some criminal."

"Alright, as you wish," the boy said, turning to climb back down the roof. He was about to when Roman looked back at him.

"Wait!"

The boy was frozen, a small smile on his face. Roman's hands were fidgeting again. "I-I wanna know how you draw the way you do..." he said softly. "Do... Do you think you could show me?"

He nodded, climbing back over the railing and stepping foot on the balcony itself. The prince lead him into his room where they sat down on the floor in front of the low table. "So, how do you draw a person?" Roman asked curiously. "Like, if you were going to draw me, what would you do?"

The boy stared at him for a moment before sketching guidelines of a bust drawing on one of the pieces of paper. "The first thing I would do would be to sketch the guidelines, like I just did," he said, gesturing to them. "Then, I would draw your nose, like this."

As he said something, he would do it for Roman to see. "I normally do the mouth next, like this," the boy said, sketching in a smile for the drawing. "Next up is those pretty eyes of yours."

Roman's breath hitched in shock as he took in the fact that he'd just complimented him. He looked at his face as the boy remained neutral. He drew in the eyes before moving on. "Eyebrows, nice and easy, and then that flawless, only-a-freaking-prince-could-achieve-this-gorgeousness hair," he said, sketching in the strands of his hair perfectly.

The prince's cheeks were bright pink as he watched him finish up the drawing by add the clothing and sign it with his signature. "And there," he said.

"Could I try drawing you?" Roman asked timidly. The boy looked shocked for a moment before shrugging and nodding. About twenty minutes later, there was a gorgeous drawing of Roman beside a fairly decent drawing of the boy. "For my first try, I don't think that went that badly."

The boy laughed a little, nodding in agreement. The two of them continued to talk and joke with each other for another hour without realizing it. When Roman finally did, he gasped. "Oh my gosh, I totally forgot," he said, face palming. "You should probably go now, it's getting really late and I'm supposed to be asleep."

The two of them walked out to the balcony where the boy climbed onto the railing once more. "Thank you, for teaching me how to draw," Roman said with a small smile. The boy nodded, returning it.

"It was a pleasure," he said as he started to climb. Roman bit his lip, watching him get half way down before calling for him to wait. He climbed back up, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, your Highness?"

"What's your name?"

"Virgil," he replied with a small smile. The prince look at every detail of his face, feeling hopelessly lost with feelings for him.

"Will I see you again?" he asked him.

"Just say the word, your Highness, it would be my pleasure."