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Roman stood at the edge of his front yard as thunder rumbled above, calling him on a new adventure. He held no umbrella, for he needed no shield from the rain. All he needed was his wits and his bag. He started his trek down the road, the chill of the rain on his head and face sending an excited shudder down his spine. After a while of walking, he ran across the road to an actual sidewalk that led down the major street that broke off to form his road. He marched down that sidewalk, singing a merry little tune loud enough to drown out the rumble of the thunder and the pitter-patter of the rain. He hopped over each crack in the sidewalk, and pushed aside each dangling leaf that dared get in the way of his adventure.
But soon enough, he came to another crosswalk, this time across the bigger, busier road. He pressed the button to activate the cross lights, grabbed a flag, and marched across the crosswalk, waving the flag like it was the insignia of his kingdom before placing it in its rightful little bucket. Then, he marched across the little stone path that interrupted the sidewalk like it was the stone path to the castle, holding the same energy for the gravel road that led up to the sign that marked his destination: the park.
Once he saw the grass in the distance, he ran through the parking lot and burst onto the park with excited vigor. He bounded through the grass as thunder rumbled above him, freeing himself from the weight of his bag by tossing it against the trunk of a nearby tree. He tilted his head up towards the cloudy sky, watching lightning flash across the sky, the accompanying thunder seeming to welcome him to the park. He spun and spun beneath the rain, laughing brightly to the clouds and trees. That was of course, until his legs slipped out from under him and he landed face down in a puddle of mud.
He moved his hands to push himself into a crouch when an amused chuckle reached his ears. Offended, he turned his head towards the sound, only to see a boy around his age in a patched jacket and makeup sitting at a picnic table beneath a tree, a hand covering his mouth, though his dark eyes betrayed the smile beneath.
“Haha, very funny.” Roman pushed himself onto his feet with a jump and a grunt.
“Sorry, dude.” The boy spoke in a deep, husky voice not unheard of for boys his age. He lowered his hand, revealing a wavering, and awfully cute, smile.
Roman sighed as he wiped the mud off his white and gold crown shirt. “It’s alright. I was getting tired anyway.” He walked back over to that tree and grabbed his bag, then glanced at the boy sitting at the table. “May I sit with you?”
The boy blinked in surprise. “Uh sure, I guess.”
Roman sat beside him, placing his bag on the table and pulling out his sketchbook before glancing at the stranger. He was even cuter up close, his eyebrows furrowed and red lips pulled down with focus as he scrolled through his phone. He seemed to select something, then placed his phone face down on the table, revealing all manner of stickers decorating the case. Roman inched closer, examining them. He noted various punk bands, the occasionally anti-social note, a gay flag, and even-
“Nightmare Before Christmas?”
“Hm?” The boy looked up from his drawing. “Uh yeah. You like it too?”
“Of course I do! Jack and Sally were so flippin’ cute together! Not to mention the story and the character design! Ugh, it’s all so good!”
The stranger only smiled a little in response to Roman. Initially, Roman thought that the pale stranger had dark brown eyes, but now that they were closer together, Roman could see that he had heterochromia, with one ocean blue eye and one forest green eye, the dark shades beautifully emphasized by the black eyeshadow on his lower eyelids. As he realized this, a flash of inspiration lit up in his chest and head, driving him to pull out his pencil pouch and pull out a classic no. 2 pencil. Letting that familiar energy guide his hand, he began drawing the sketch of a head with sharp features and a body in a long, sharp suit. He occasionally glanced over at the boy, partially for reference purposes and partially to see that cute, focused expression. He began to mumble without thinking, letting his arm and pencil guide his lungs, mouth, and tongue. “ Boys and girls of every age, wouldn’t you like to see something strange? Come with us and you will see- ”
“This, our town of Halloween~”
The sudden, hoarse voice startled Roman out of his drawing, thankfully not messing him up. He looked at the stranger, who raised an eyebrow. “What? It’s a good song.”
“I know, you were just awfully quiet so I didn't expect you to start singing.”
The stranger shrugged. “I’ve been known to do that. Startle people, I mean.”
“Oh? What do you mean by that?”
“Well, unlike you, I tend to walk pretty quietly, so people don’t tend to notice I’m there unless I say something.”
“Wha- I can be quiet too!”
“You sure about that, Doctor-Do-The-Most? Because all I’ve seen of you is loud.”
“I’ll have you know, Lilac and Stitches,” Roman crossed his arms indignantly. “I can be quiet when I’m planning surprises for birthdays, and when I’m up late drawing.”
“Okay then,” The boy raised his hands in surrender.
Suddenly, Roman paused, frowning.
The boy tilted his head, letting his bangs fall into his face a bit, to Roman’s disappointment. “Something wrong?”
“Well, it’s just that, we’ve been talking for this long and we don’t even know each other’s names yet.” He extended his free hand to shake. “My name is Roman.”
The stranger looked at Roman’s hand, then his grinning face, then back at his hand. After a moment’s hesitation, he shook it once before dropping it, saying “My name’s Virgil.”
Roman’s green eyes widened slightly with surprise, before his expression settled into a smile. “Not one that I’ve heard before, but it’s nice.”
“To be fair, I’ve rarely ever heard Roman, either.”
“Hm, fair enough.”
A ghost of a smile crept across Virgil’s lips. “You can call me Virge.”
Roman nodded. “You’ve got it, J. D-lightful.”
“I just said-”
“I nickname people, it’s my thing.”
Virgil grumbled in frustration, but didn’t say anything more on the matter, only picking up his pencil and returning to his drawing. Likewise, Roman turned his attention back to his own drawing, humming softly to himself as he drew the sharp edges of the character’s hair and the lines of his skeletal teeth. Before he knew it, the sketch was done and he was onto the linework. He decided to use simple black linework with this one, careful to trace over his sketch perfectly. Line by line, the body began to take full form, long and gangly with his legs crossed and his cheek in his hand. And with a single stroke of his pen, the smirk was set into place. Now onto the bones.
Working steadily, he drew steady lines through that smirk, simulating a lack of lips through that wide, cheeky little smile. Once that was done, he moved onto the sharp cheeks and the simple bones of those long, pale fingers tipped with sharp claws. With a satisfied smile, he dug through his colored pencils, pulling out his darkest blue and green, stealing a quick glance at Virgil before coloring his irises, the only pop of color in a monochromatic character design. He then pulled back and proudly examined his work.
A skeletal version of Virgil smugly stared back at him, eyes lidded as he slouched forward. His cheek rested lazily on his left palm, long nails creeping around his face and elbow resting on his knee. The suit was a play on Jack’s, with more of a spider web design on the tie and more frayed sleeves. Everything from his hair to his toes was pointed, adding a stylized edge to the almost black-and-white drawing, with the only color drawing attention back to his face. He scribbled a signature on it before turning to the real Virgil, who was still drawing.
“Hey, hey Virge.”
Virgil tilted his head up, eyebrow arcing. Roman only smiled and handed Virgil his sketchbook. Virgil took it, examining the drawing closely. “Wow. This is…cool, I guess.”
Roman was about to scoff at that when he noticed Virgil’s expression. His lips were pulled up in a soft smile that lit up his eyes, one that made Roman smile, too. “Thank you, Virgil.”
Virgil opened his mouth to respond, when suddenly Roman’s ringtone blared from his bag. He pulled it out and fumbled to answer it. “Hello?”
“Where have you been?” The voice’s sternness poorly masked an undertone of worry.
Roman groaned. “I forgot to leave a note, didn’t I?”
“Yes, you did. Where are you?”
“I’m at the park…with a new friend.”
“Ah. Well, it is good to hear that you’re expanding your social life, but please, leave a note next time.”
“I will, mom.”
“I told you not to-” he trailed off with a sigh. Roman could almost picture his dad adjusting his glasses. “You know what? Just be back before it’s dark, alright?”
“I will. Love you, Dad .”
“You too, Roman.” With a beep, the call was hung up.
“Was that your parents?”
“One of my Dads, yeah. I was in such a hurry to get out that I forgot to leave a note.”
“Oh. When are you heading back?”
“Hm, probably a couple hours, sometimes before it gets dark.” He smile spread across his face as an idea materialized in a flashbang. “You know, you could come by my place. We could have a sleepover!”
“Hmm, I dunno. I just met you like an hour ago.”
“Come on, it’ll be fun! My other dad can bake cookies and everything! We could watch Nightmare Before Christmas!”
Virgil frowned thoughtfully for a moment. “Okay. I can stop by, but I’m not staying the night, alright?”
“That’s perfectly fine, Virgil.” He smiled, looking past the pine needles above them and up at the clouds. Virgil followed his gaze, jumping ever so slightly as lightning flashed across the sky. Though, he didn’t seem scared by the rumble, more…comforted, relaxing in the corner of Roman’s eye “You like the storms too?”
“Yeah. The rain’s nice, and the lightning’s cool. That and thunder and lightning always come together, even if you can’t always see it. It’s something you can count on, y’know?”
“I never really thought of it that way. To me, it’s more like a call into the rain, into adventure! And sometimes when I’m in the rain, even if I get dirty like I did today, I know I’m right where I need to be. Like, if I had just stayed inside, I wouldn’t have met you. And even if you do seem like a bit of an emo nightmare, you’re still cool.”
“Wow. You…cannot talk without flirting, can you?”
“Hm, well-”
Virgil just chuckled, never taking his eyes off the sky. Roman smiled as another lightning and thunder pair flew across the sky, knowing now more than ever that he was right where he needed to be.