Virgil wished he didn't have to be himself. He wished it was easier to change. He sighed as he thought that whatever deity looking over him from above had a sick sense of humor to give him the body of a Lane Bryant model. His best friend, Patton Truffle, would try to comfort Virgil by telling him that that a bigger body meant there was more of himself to love, yet, despite the small smile Virgil would give as a result, his much skinnier step family would insult his size and tear down the small tower of self esteem the two best friends were trying to build up. He knew his father meant well when he married Virgil's stepmother, but it seemed that you can only keep up a loving facade for so long before bigotry begs to be released. Virgil's stepmother and her son and daughter had plenty of things in common besides being skinny and that includes not wanting to work due to the worry that it would "rid them of their beauty." At first, Virgil worked around the house just so they wouldn't live in a sty, but it became a daily habit of his just so it would be hard for his poor excuse of a family to find him and insult his size (and he was glad his biological parents were considerate enough to modify the thresholds and rooms for his size).

One day, the whole town received invitations to a party to end Prince Roman's bachelorhood. And by "the whole town," it meant that multiple genders in the town received invitations since it was prided that the Prince was pansexual. Obviously, Virgil's step family was eager about going to the party, but Virgil didn't feel like going to the party until Patton asked him to go. Even when Virgil found a newfound hope for going to the ball, Virgil's stepmother claimed that he would be more suited in a pumpkin patch. Virgil was speedwalking towards a tree behind the house and Patton was following behind by the time everyone else left for the party.

Patton walked closer to Virgil and noticed there were tears in his eyes before sitting next to him.

"Aren't you going to the party? I mean, you've always said that the Royal Advisor looked hot," Virgil lightly teased.

Patton rested his head on Virgil's shoulder.

"That may be true, but you need me more," Patton responded.

The two of them shared a hug and looked up at the stars. Without much confidence, Virgil looked up at one star before closing his eyes and mentally wishing he could be skinny. By the time he opened his eyes, it seemed as though the star was moving around on its own until it made its way to the ground and turned into a friendly-looking man with glasses and a robe of bright colors.

"Virgil Rake and Patton Truffle. It's nice to officially meet you both," the man said with an equally friendly tone.

"Umm... how do you know us?" Virgil asked cautiously.

"Well, Virgil, I'm Emile, your Fairy Godfather," Emile introduced, as his wand slipped out of his sleeve and into his hand.

"So... you've watched over Virgil for his life?" Patton asked.

"Yes, but I wasn't necessarily needed until now. Trust me, if I could make my own rules, I would've appeared much sooner and more frequently. Anyway, I'm here to grant your wish, Virgil."

Virgil looked at Emile with hope when he heard the last sentence.

"Wait, so... you can make me skinny?" Virgil asked.

"Well, that's part of it," Emile responded.

Before Virgil could ask, Emile waved his wand and, before Patton's eyes, Virgil's body became thinner and he was wearing a formal outfit of black and purple. Virgil looked down in amazement and was surprised to see and more of his body than he initially could without straining himself.

"Oh my god! I'm stunning!" Virgil proclaimed.

"You deserve to at least enjoy yourself at the party, but just know that you'll regain your initial appearance once midnight comes," Emile warned.

"Why midnight?" Patton asked.

Emile whispered something in Patton's ear and Patton silently expressed understanding before the fairy said, "Just wait 'til Virgil figures it out."

"Well, if we want to explore before midnight, then we should get going," Virgil remarked.

"Oh, I've got you covered," Emile proclaimed.

Without any time to ask, Emile waved his wand and made a horse-drawn carriage appear before them, much to the amazement of Virgil and Patton.

"Thank you so much, Emile," Virgil spoke, "I owe you big time."

"Not really, just have a great time," Emile stated.

The two entered the carriage and, while Patton was expressing excitement, Virgil looked out the window in bewilderment that they were actually going.

They soon made it there and Virgil stood close to Patton for the sake of comfort. Virgil never found it in him to leave the house unless few enough people were around, so the few double takes made were drowned out by everyone else focused on each other and hoping to get Prince Roman's attention. The two wandered around for a decent while and bypassed other dancers until Virgil told Patton that it was okay for him to go find the Royal Advisor.

Virgil gathered some finger food and decided to do some people-watching by a window. Among the people he watched, he recognized his family, but never noticed how entitled they really were until saw it in a public area. He couldn't help but chuckle at some of the people who seemed to be there just for fun. Virgil glanced out the corner of his eye and noticed a man in red and white approach his way.

"Not much of a party animal, huh?" the man asked.

"I came here with my best friend, but crowds make me a little nervous," Virgil explained to himself.

Virgil wasn't sure what else to say, so he offered some finger food to share with the man.

"There's a garden in the back that is unoccupied right now. Would you like to go there with me?" the man asked.

"You want me to go with you? I don't even know your name," Virgil cautiously claimed.

"Oh, my apologies. My name is Roman Adolay," the man introduced.

Virgil became extremely nervous as he realized he was talking to the Prince and it took him a few seconds to take in the fact that the Prince wasn't as strict as he always imagined.

"Virgil Rake... and, yes, as in the urban legend," Virgil shyly introduced.

They made their way to the garden to explore the diverse array of flowers and started to talk each other's ear off. Roman was told of Virgil's family, ideal wardrobe choice, his ways of being alone, and even his musical talents that he thought faded away overtime. From Roman, Virgil learned about his musical passions, his brother who ran off to explore his most deviant, his love for the arts, and his own reason for trying to find a place to be alone: many of the guests aggressive flirted with Roman and clearly wanted a future of royalty instead of him. They were steadily enjoying each other's company, but sadness dragged Virgil down as the night continued.

"What's wrong, raindrop?" Roman asked.

"I... I think I want to spend more time with you, but I don't think you'd feel the same way," Virgil admitted.

"Why wouldn't I? Talking to you feels refreshing," Roman retorted.

Virgil paused in order to choose his words very carefully.

"Well, it's kind of a long story, but the abridged version is that I got a lot of work done for this night that will wear off tomorrow. You might not recognize me and I don't even know if you'd want anything to do with me if you found me," Virgil explained.

Roman thought for a little while before escorting Virgil to a group of atropa belladonnas, which Roman learned were Virgil's favorite flowers.

"When I find you tomorrow, I'll give you a bouquet of deadly nightshades, then you'll see how much I really enjoy your company," Roman promised.

"You're a really stubborn man, you know that?" Virgil chuckled.

"I'd do anything just to spend more time with you, I mean, if you want the same thing."

"If anyone asked me earlier in the night, I never would've anticipated wanting that, but now, I really hope you'll find me without being repulsed," Virgil answered.

The two shared a kiss before Virgil looked at how high the moon was and bid Roman farewell before running off. As Virgil vanished into the night, Roman gathered a bunch of the deadly nightshade flowers and carefully brought them up to his room inconspicuously. As he was in his room, he carefully wrapped the flowers together with a black ribbon gently. As he placed the flowers in water, the King entered his room.

"Son, we haven't seen you for several hours. Have you found a partner?" he asked.

Roman gazed at the flowers as he rambled about Virgil and how comfortable he felt around the man.

When morning came, there was announcement that Prince Roman had found his partner. Unfortunately, the vagueness made most of the town too hopeful, so Prince Roman was suffocated by a crowd of suitors from the party as he was trying to find Virgil. None of the people had Virgil's brown eyes, purple streak, or even his adorable smirk, and when he was able to ask for him, the disappointed suitors turned away.

Roman made it to one house and gently knocked on the door. The occupants opened the door and squealed when he saw the Prince. He recognized them as a very entitled group from the party and kept those thoughts to the back of his head.

"Umm... does Virgil Rake live here?" Roman asked.

Their expressions went from cheerful to upset to sinister.

"I didn't know your family was looking for pigs," the daughter answered.

"Was he at the party? I didn't feel the ground shaking," the son added on.

Roman backed away and felt that he was nowhere close achieving his goal. As he backed away, he bumped into someone and turned to apologize. As he turned, he was greeted by a chipper man with glasses.

"Prince Roman? What are you—" Patton stopped when he noticed the flowers.

"Deadly nightshades? Those are Virgil's favorite flowers," Patton muttered.

"Wait! You know Virgil Rake?" the Prince asked with hope.

"Yes, he's my best friend. I was headed over to his house so we could talk about the party. Is he the one you were looking for?" Patton responded.

"Yes! Those whom I presume are his family weren't helpful. Will you please bring me to him?"

"Absolutely, I'm sure he'd be on the verge of excitement when he sees you."

"Umm... are you the 'pun lover who's too precious to process' my advisor told me about?"

"Well, I did spend time with him last night, so I guess so."

Roman chuckled at the coincidence before Patton brought him around the house he initially backed away from. They walked closer to a tree in the back and saw a bigger man sitting against it while looking down. They walked closer without the man's knowledge and Roman recognized the purple streak and the ideal color of his attire. Roman looked at Patton, received a smile and a nod, and walked in Virgil's direction quietly.

"Not much of a party animal, huh?" Roman asked.

Virgil was startled as he heard the voice and was surprised to see Roman with a vase of deadly nightshades and a black ribbon in the vase.

"You... you actually came," Virgil said in shock.

"Of course I did. After dealing with the other suitors and folks that insulted you, I couldn't have been happier that I was finally led to you," Roman said as he handed the vase to Virgil.

Roman sat next to Virgil and rested his head on his shoulder.

"Virgil, did you feel something when we were together last night?"

"I... yes I did. But, you know, after the remarks from my family, I didn't think you'd feel the same way after finding out what I really looked like."

"Are you kidding? I came into town to look for you and now I found that there's more of you to love. You're still the same you that I talked to last night, right?"

"As it turns out, yes. I was skinny and still a loner."

Patton watched as the couple chatted with each other like they've known each other. He was smiling as he could still hear Emile tell him that, though Virgil claimed to want to be skinny, his main wish was that he would be romantically loved for who he is.﻿