#tw caplocks

Because Virgil looks so sad, lonely, so uncomfortable between his own siblings and the other campers.

Patton takes one look at the son of Aphrodite and decides, come hell or high water, that he’s going to become his best friend.

Patton barrels into Virgil’s life like an overexcited puppy, dutifully following him everywhere and always coming back when Virgil tries to get him to leave him alone -never with harsh words because, as much as the son of Hades’ behavior may baffle Virgil, he can’t find it in himself to actually make an effort to hurt him.

Virgil is very annoyed, very confused and mildly afraid. But that doesn’t stop him from begrudgingly following Patton when asked -in his defense, the boy’s puppy dog eyes are very difficult to say no to.

While it is true that “love at first sight” may not be the best expression to describe their relationship, the realization itself surely hits Patton like a ton of bricks.

It happens suddenly, in the blink of an eye. One moment they’re talking, enjoying some relaxing time in Hades’ cabin. Then Patton throws in a pun, without even thinking about it, and suddenly Virgil is giggling merrily on the bed, eyes twinkling in amusement as he tries -and fails- to hide his smile behind his hand.

Oh, is the only coherent thing Patton’s mind is able to formulate, all of his other thoughts drowned by the thunderous beating of his heart and the blood rushing in his veins.

Because Virgil is so, so beautiful, messy and fluffy dark locks falling over his eyes and that shy smile has absolutely no business making Patton’s insides flip like that-

Oh, gods. He’s screwed.

For Virgil, there’s no big realization, no sudden “oh shit I’m gay-” moment. One day, he simply looks at Patton -Patton, his best friend. Patton, the first to ever believe in him. Patton, with his endless enthusiasm and a smile that easily outshines the morning sun- and just thinks “yeah, I wouldn’t mind spending my whole life with him”, something warm and fuzzy blooming in his chest.

Somehow, that line of thought doesn’t scare him as much as one would think. There’s no sudden anxiety, no rush of what-ifs cluttering his brain until he can’t think straight anymore -pun absolutely not intended. On the contrary, it makes him smile, a quiet sort of happiness dancing in his heart.

Because it’s Patton, and for Virgil falling for him feels like the most natural thing in the world.

The whole camp knows, of course. It’s clear as a day for them, how much those two care for each other. They see it in stolen glances, in fingers brushing not-so-casually, in friendly touches and pats in the back lingering even when there’s no reason to.

Everyone sees it but those two, of course. There are bets going on all around camp, about who will break first and finally make the first move.

Also Logan may or may not be three seconds away from slapping some sense into Patton next time he comes gushing to him about Virgil’s stunning smile or cute laugh -it amuses Roman to no end, to see the usually calm and collected child of Athena completely lose it as soon as the son of Hades is out of earshot.

“I might not understand feelings but -pardon my crude language- those two are dense as fuck hOW IN THE NAME OF ATHENA HAVEN’T THEY FIGURED IT OUT YET I SWEAR I AM GOING TO HIT THEM BOTH WITH A BOOK IF THEY DON’T WORK THEIR SHIT OUT SOON-”

Roman has never laughed as much as when Logan went on an hour-long rant about their two friends’ foolishness, to be honest.

If you went and asked anyone on camp how they thought Virgil and Patton would finally get together, they’d probably answer with some cute, fluffy scenario, something so adorable your teeth would probably start rotting -aside from Logan, who would go on a very long, very detailed rant about his masterplan to trap the two in a closet until they figure shit out and stop making him lose his mind with their obliviousness.

Nobody could have predicted, however, how it really happened.

Nobody could have predicted the camp being attacked by a horde of monsters.

Nobody could have predicted the screams, the fear, blood and golden dust alike covering the ground as the battle wears on.

But most of all, nobody could have predicted Virgil frantically pushing Patton away, a dagger piercing into his stomach instead of the son of Hades’ back. For a moment -a single, fleeting moment in the chaos of the battle- time seems to stop completely, silence falling as Virgil’s trembling hands move to brush over the growing red stain on his shirt.

Then, he crumbles to the ground, Patton desperately screaming his name from the top of his lungs.

Something old and powerful rushes through his veins, and under the feet of every monster the earth. Opens. Wide.

The first thing Virgil sees when he comes to is the ceiling of the infirmary, before immediately shutting his eyes because ouch someone turn down the lights right the fuck now-

He tries to cover his face with his hand, only to discover something is keeping it down. Virgil moves to sit up as much as he can and turns his head a little to the side, vision still a little fuzzy, his gaze immediately falling on a familiar figure curled on a chair beside his bed, fingers interlocked with his even in his sleep.

“He never left your side, you know,” a voice murmurs from behind the two, startling Virgil. The son of Aphrodite turns around, eyes falling on Roman’s figure approaching the bed.

“Princey, please stop trying to give me a heart attack,” he groans, flopping back onto the mattress with a huff.

“Only when you stop giving us a heart attack every chance you get,” the son of Apollo counters, sitting on another empty chair, “you scared us a lot, V. Patton was inconsolable for days.”

Virgil sighs, turning around to look at his friend, still curled up to his side and sleeping soundly. Looking more closely, Virgil can easily spot the other’s disheveled appearance, from his crumpled clothes and messy hair to the dark bags under his eyes and the tear tracks on his cheeks. He looks like an exhausted, grieving mess. But Patton’s alive, chest moving steadily up and down as he rests, and Virgil knows that, if given the choice, he would jump into that dagger’s path all over again.

Then, Roman’s words register properly into his mind. “Wait, what do you mean days?” he asks, moving to sit up again, “how much time has passed exactly?”

“Stop moving so much, Surly Temple,” Roman chides, gently pushing the other back down on the bed, “you were unconscious for a week. Your injuries were really bad, you almost didn’t make it.”

“Oh,” is all Virgil manages to say, mind reeling as he tries to come to terms with his all-too-near encounter with death, “I’m… sorry?”

“No, you aren’t,” Roman counters, shaking his head, “and don’t even try to deny it, you’re so gone for that boy you would fight all the gods themselves for him.”

Virgil opens his mouth to retort, more than ready to defend his honor, but promptly closes it again when he realizes he would, in fact, challenge Zeus himself to a fistfight for Patton’s safety and happiness.

“I hate it when you’re right,” he grumbles instead, lips scrunching into a pout.

“I know,” Roman grins, clearly smug, “now, I’d love to stay and hear more about how right I am-”

“Yeah, you wish,” Virgil scoffs, chuckling.

“-but I think that’ll have to wait,” Roman finishes, completely ignoring Virgil’s interruption, “our sleeping beauty is waking up, and I believe you two hopeless gays have some things to talk about.”

“Wha-” Virgil starts, confused, before a movement to his left stops him right on his tracks. Gaze shifting automatically to the curled figure on his side, Virgil’s eyes widen as he watches Patton start to stir, eyes scrunching and mouth settling into a little frown. It’s quite adorable, actually- goddamnit Virgil this is not the time to be a useless gay.

“Princey wait, you can’t-” the son of Aphrodite hisses, turning back towards Roman only to realize -to his dismay- that while he was busy having a mini gay crisis, the son of Apollo had merrily strolled out of the infirmary, leaving the poor demigod to fend for himself.

Quietly panicking on the inside, Virgil can’t do anything more but stare as Patton slowly wakes up, chocolate brown eyes still fuzzy with sleep. The boy lets out a huge yawn, clearly still half asleep with his glasses sitting crookedly on his nose, and stretches his arms over his head, letting out a satisfied groan when he hears a quiet but distinct pop.

That’s, of course, when Patton’s gaze falls on Virgil, very much awake and looking at him like a deer caught in the headlights. Dumbfounded, he stares, blinking owlishly at the other as his brain tries to register what exactly he’s seeing.

Then Patton lets out a sudden shout, throwing himself onto Virgil to drag him into the biggest hug the son of Aphrodite has ever received.

“Virgil!” Patton wails, tears already streaming down his face, “Gods above, you’re awake! You’re okay!”

“Hey Pat,” Virgil says, a faint smile appearing on his face as he returns the hugs as much as he can -he may have slept for a whole ass week, but he still feels exhausted as fuck.

“Don’t you dare do that ever again!” Patton exclaims, hands grabbing onto Virgil’s shoulders as he moves back to look at him, “Never again, got it?!”

“Pat,” Virgil sighs, looking away, “Pat, I- you know I can’t promise that.”

“But why?!” Patton asks, distraught, “I don’t want you to die, V! I just- I can’t even think about it, it just-” sobbing, the son of Hades crumbles into Virgil’s arms, forehead onto the other’s chest, “every- every time I close my eyes I see you on the ground, covered in all that blood- I don’t want to see that ever again!”

“Patton,” Virgil calls, voice soft and gentle as he cradles the other to his chest, “Patton, I can’t promise you that I'll never do it again because I know all too well I would never be able to keep that vow, most of all if it means you’ll be safe from harm’s way.”

Patton shakes his head and lets out a strangled sob at Virgil’s words, his grip on the son of Aphrodite’s shirt tightening even more.

“But,” Virgil keeps going, hand softly stroking his friend’s back in comfort, “what I can promise you is that, doesn’t matter what happens or how desperate the situation is, I’ll always, always come back to you.”

Sniffling, Patton looks up at him, eyes red and puffy as he searches Virgil’s face for any hint of lie or deception.

“Do you… do you really mean it?” he asks, voice small but hopeful. Virgil smiles, nodding his head, and that’s all the confirmation Patton seems to need before his hands are of the other’s cheeks, something akin to determination suddenly burning in his gaze.

“Pat? What’s-” Virgil tries to ask, blushing slightly under the other's scrutiny, but gets interrupted halfway through by a pair of lips suddenly covering his.

Patton is kissing him.

Patton -Patton Medina, son of Hades, his best friend, his fucking crush- is kissing him.

Virgil's brain -as soon as he realizes what is actually happening- short-circuits on the spot, eyes wide as dinner plates as his thoughts become an absolute mess of oh my gods oh my gods ohmygodswhat- and general gay panic.

The kiss is very short, Patton drawing away a few seconds later, but Virgil feels like an eternity has passed. He keeps staring at Patton, blinking owlishly at him with his mouth slightly open in surprise, mind drawing a complete, absolute blank -which is, of course, a totally normal reaction for a child of the goddess of fucking Love to have when their crush kisses them, goddamnit Virgil get a fucking grip for once-

“Sorry, I-” Patton mumbles, looking away, “I acted on impulse, I didn’t want- I mean, I wanted to but- I should have asked-”

“Pat, no-!” Virgil exclaims when the other starts to move away, grabbing onto his arm on instinct, “I mean- it’s okay, really.”

“It- It is?” Patton asks, looking at him with careful hope in his eyes. Virgil gulps, heart beating wildly in his chest as he forces himself to maintain eye contact.

“Y- Yeah, I-” he takes in a slow, steadying breath, trying to will his cheeks to stop burning so much and failing miserably, “I really liked it, actually.”

Patton blinks at him words registering into his head as a smile starts to spread onto his face. “Really?”

Virgil nods, his lips curling into a little, shy smile and that’s all the confirmation Patton needs, his expression breaking into a wide grin as he tackles the other into a hug, a bewildered laugh escaping his lips.

Virgil immediately returns the hug, finding himself laughing alongside Patton, giddy with happiness.

“So, can I call you my boyfriend now?” Patton asks, eyes sparkling with delight as he looks up at Virgil -and gods if that vision doesn’t make Virgil’s heart do funny things in his chest, something so warm and fond seeping into his expression without him even noticing.

“Sounds pretty cool,” he says, his face muscles aching from how much he’s smiling. Patton laughs, a sound so beautiful Virgil is pretty sure not even the Muses themselves would be able to replicate, and shuffles until he’s basically sitting on Virgil’s lap, eyes locking onto the other’s.

“I really want to kiss you again right now,” he murmurs, eyes half closed as he starts to slowly lean in.

“I wouldn’t be opposed to that,” Virgil answers, closing the distance between them.

They kiss for what feels like ages, giggling like school children and sharing sweet smiles and totally smitten looks, the world around them vanishing until there’s just them, and nothing else matters.

Enveloped as they are in themselves, none of them notices the barely muffled squeal coming from the doorway, Roman standing there bouncing on his toes as he takes in the two lovebirds cuddling on the bed.

Trying to be as silent as he can -which is probably an unnecessary caution since he’s pretty sure Zeus himself could make lightning fall from the sky and the two would be none the wiser, but it’s still of a child of the Big Three and a charm speak user we’re talking about so Roman is not about to take any chances here, thank you very much- the son of Apollo slowly closes the door, before throwing his hands in the air in silent cheer and merrily strolling towards Athena’s cabin.

THEY HAVE PROX MOD

THEY’RE LIVING NEAR EACH OTHER

Also, my favorite interaction so far.