Sanders Sides Pride One Shots

Day 7 - Shadows (Royality and Moxiety)

"Uh... it's Virgil."

"That's so cool! I'm Patton."

"Yeah, I heard Roman say it." The shadow chuckled.

"Oh, right. So how old are you? I don't know if shadows age."

"Well, we don't, but I've not existed for long. Only a few years. In human years I'm 23."

"How are shadows born? Sorry if I'm asking too many questions, I've never met a shadow before."

"No, it's alright. I've not talked to a human in ages." Virgil paused, and Patton patiently waited for his answer.

"You don't have to tell me if you're not comfortable. I could tell you about humans!"

"Well, I know quite a lot about them anyway, but you can tell me what's been going on recently. I'm about three years behind. 

"And in terms of shadows being born, we kind of had to swear not to tell any humans, so I can't tell you."

"That's alright!" Patton chirped. "Now, the last three years..."

~~~

Patton and Roman were walking back from work together again. Their main route went via the alley now. Usually, Patton waved Roman off as he walked home, while Patton lingered back to y'all to Virgil. On this day, Roman stopped and turned to Patton.

"Why do you stay behind?" He asked. 

Patton was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"You always stay behind, but this is just some dark, dingy alleyway. Why do you stay behind?"

Patton bit his lip. He knew about Virgil's anxiety, especially towards speaking to strangers. He also didn't entirely trust Roman to keep Virgil a secret. But Roman was his boyfriend, and he deserved to know.

"I might show you, but you've gotta wait 'round the corner and cover your ears."

"Why-"

"Do you want to know or not?" Patton snapped. His hands flew to his mouth. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay... I'll go wait." Roman walked around the corner, and Patton turned to the wall, knowing Virgil would appear.

"Virge, do you want to meet Roman?"

The shadow slid into the light. "I don't know. Can we really trust him?"

"He's my boyfriend, of course we can."

Virgil fell silent.

"Did you just raise your eyebrows at me?"

"Oh, right. Yes I did."

"I only see your silhouette, remember," Patton said, with a light chuckle. "So, can I go and get Roman?"

"Sure."

Patton bounced out of the alley, calling out a quick 'thank you', and dragged Roman back in.

As Roman saw the shadow, he looked around for anyone who could be casting it.

"You've been talking to your own shadow?"

"Wow, rude."

Roman screamed and jumped back from the shadow.

"What the fuck was that?"

Patton chuckled and gestured to Virgil. "This is Virgil, he's a shadow."

"It spoke. A shadow just spoke to me."

"Yeah, it scared me too. But he's actually really nice."

"I highly doubt that."

"Thanks," Virgil said, sarcasm dripping off his words. "You're not too pleasant yourself."