Virgil didn't like this. He just wanted to go back and draw, being outside with all these other kids was making him nervous. Sure, Roman, Patton, and Logan were here with him, but he could feel the eyes of the kids he didn't know that well as he stood by himself. He knew why they were staring; it was because he rarely ever out at the playground and because he dressed weirdly when compared to the others. Technically speaking, Logan was dressed weirdly too, wearing a polo shirt and a miniature necktie, but they knew better to mess with him. It would get them nowhere to insult him. Virgil, on the other hand, was known to be sensitive, which made him an easy target for the bullies that were currently approaching him right now.

"Hi Virgil," the ringleader, Billy, sneered, clearly making fun of his name. He flinched, keeping his gaze lowered. "What are you doing out here?"

The darkly dressed boy rubbed his arm. His skin was crawling under their intimidating gazes and his voice shook as he replied. "Mr. P-Picani said it would be good- good for me to get fresh air..." he managed.

"Well seeing as this if your first time out here, why don't we show him the dungeon?" Heather suggested, cackling. His heart rate increased as Billy considered this and nodded with a smirk. She grinned too, moving around to grab his arm. Another kid grabbed his other arm as he was forced forward. "Don't worry, it's dark! Just like your clothes freak!"

"She's right! You'll love it!" Billy laughed, leading the way as they pushed him toward the jungle gym.

There was a small interior section with a child door and it was dark and cramp, making Virgil panic as they shoved him inside. "Please don't!" he cried as they closed the door on him, trapping him in the darkness. His heart was racing and tears were welling up in his eyes as he curled in on himself. "P-Please let me out!"

The kids all cackled as he sobbed into his knees. He was terrified of the dark and extremely claustrophobic, so this was his worst nightmare. Considering he was only in fourth grade, this was extraordinarily scary to him. He imagined all the monsters and creatures that lurked out of sight in the shadows and it terrified him.

What was only a minute or two felt like forever until suddenly two hands were cupping his face. "Virgil!!" a familiar voice gasped. He was too out of it to be able to tell who it was, but they pulled him out of the dark and wrapped his arms around him. He suddenly recognized the fresh scent of Roman's t-shirt. "Oh my gosh, Virgil! What happened?!"

"B-Billy and Heather- they- it was so d-dark and-"

"Okay, okay, I've got you, you're alright, I'm here," Roman told him, running his fingers through his hair as he held him close to his chest. The darkly dressed boy continued to shiver and sob into his chest for a few minutes. It was long enough for Billy, Heather and the other bullies to return. He glared at them as he held Virgil closer. "What do you want?"

Billy raised an eyebrow. "Wow, he's such little cry baby!" he said, snickering.

The princely boy felt enraged as the other kids started to laugh. The boy crying into his chest curled into him even more as he tried to hide his face from the pointing kids, feeling his cheeks redden with embarrassment. Roman couldn't contain himself, releasing him for a moment to stalk up to the bully.

"Try something like that again and I'll make you the cry baby!" he yelled, shoving Billy.

The other kids gasped, backing away fearfully. They ran away as he took another threatening step toward them. Once they were gone, he turned back to the darkly dressed boy. "Virgil, are you alright?" he asked him softly as he wrapped his arms around him again.

"I'm- I'm just so... useless... they're right! I am a cry baby!" he sobbed, wiping at his cheeks as he hiccuped. "I can't even sit in the dark without being scared of monsters that aren't real!"

"Hey, hey! Who cares what they say?" Roman said, pulling away to cup his face. They looked each other in the eye as he continued. "And if you're scared of monsters then... then I'll be your knight! I'll be your knight in shining armor that'll protect you from all the scary bullies and beasts! I'll protect you Virgil."

Virgil looked at him with wide, teary eyes, a tentative smile appearing on his face. "Forever?" he asked quietly. The princely boy grinned, pecking him on the check innocently and nodding as he connected their foreheads together.

"Forever."