Color His World

Virgil was never really sure if a higher power existed, but he was certain that if said higher power wanted to punish his mother for marrying someone she never even loved to begin with, then they made a horrible decision defecting the kid. When Virgil's mother, Bethany, was younger, her parents see that much of a future for her, so they married her off to the first rich guy that showed interest in her, which went as well as one would expect. What she saw and what others didn't see was a sexist man who preferred Bethany to be seen and not heard, would threaten to cheat on her if she didn't give him sex, burn her with a skillet if he didn't like the food she made, etc. When Virgil was born and was later found out to be colorblind, Bethany was blamed for it immediately. Apparently from needing accommodations for colorblindness and feeling powerless as his father berated his mother, Virgil's life wasn't too bad. He accepted that nothing could really be done for his colorblindness, but he had dreams in his life of a voice telling him not to make his parents' mistakes and to find someone who would "color his world". He always found the claim ridiculous, but hope did linger in the back of his head.

Virgil wanted to be an artist as he grew up, but he didn't think he'd actually accomplish such a goal due to his defect. However, he felt warmth in his soul when he saw a video of Bob Ross making a painting that could be possible for someone with colorblindness. He was able to make various paintings in multitudes of what he guessed was gray and, unbeknownst to his father, sold his works of art online to hopefully find a good lawyer for his mother. He got himself a scholarship for a college with an art program and was able to help his mother divorce his father before he lived on campus.

Virgil was going through with preparations before painting. He heard a bit of noise that came from the door, but was too wrapped up in his painting of Cthulu to really take notice. Out the corner of his eye, though, he saw someone sit next to him and turned to take in the person completely. Virgil would be lying to himself if he said the man wasn't gorgeous, but what really grabbed his attention was that he was able to take in that the man was wearing a white shirt, red jacket, and black pants. He also saw that the man had brown hair and brown eyes before becoming fascinated with the colors surrounding him.

"Art is everywhere, isn't it?" he heard the man speak.

Virgil turned his attention back to the man and felt embarrassed.

"Oh, yeah. Are you...new to this class?" Virgil asked.

"Oh yeah, they mixed up my registration with my twin brother, but everything is better now."

"Well, I'm sure you'll be a worthy addition."

"I'm Roman Ellington, by the way."

"Virgil Vanta."

"Wait, aren't you on DeviantArt?"

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I saw a bunch of your works there. You have quite a gift."

"Wow, um, thanks. Honestly, I wouldn't have picked up a brush if not for Bob Ross."

They continued chatting and painting throughout the period until they exchanged contact info and dorm numbers. Virgil knew there would be many new things he'd have to deal with when moving on campus, but he never would've thought that spending time with a guy that made him feel comfortable and safe and exploring the various colors around him would be amongst them.

In the middle of the semester, Virgil and Roman were in Virgil's dorm discussing messages in Disney movies and sharing a few laughs. However, Roman looked down nervously before glancing at Virgil.

"Roman? Something wrong?" Virgil asked with concern.

"No, everything's fine. It's just... there's a good chance that I like you...a lot. You're great to talk to, you make me want to know more about you, you've given me new perspectives on our shared interests, and you're quite handsome. How would you respond if I asked you to go out with me?" Roman confessed.

Virgil recognized the red soaked into Roman's cheeks and smiled softly. He felt that would be a great time to express some reserved thoughts.

"Well, all I would say is within my personal project," Virgil answered.

Virgil brought Roman to an easel with a tarp over it and carefully removed it to reveal a painting that included a heart in the middle that was black on one side and rainbow on the other. The black side had miniature parts of Virgil's life such as toxic marriage and personal isolation painted in gray while the rainbow side consisted of various parts of his college life such as art and Roman painted in various colors. Roman was amazed and looked at Virgil with shock.

"Wait, so, that actually...and now you can..." he stumbled in awe before carefully hugging Virgil.

"I'm still not sure how to explain it to others, yet," Virgil alerted.

"Until then, I won't tell a soul," Roman assured.

"So...how do feel about the jazz show Friday night?" Virgil asked after a while.

"That would be great. Maybe we can see if you have synesthesia," Roman joked.

Virgil playfully shoved Roman as a response before being stopped by a kiss on the cheek. He couldn't help but think of the dreams he had and have the idea that maybe a higher power had the right ideas for him after all.