#viremile

One fucking text message and he was at it again. He wasn’t even sure what prompted him to answer the sudden incoming text message from “Tall, Dark, and Dickish.” Virgil knew exactly what he was getting into when he answered the sudden “Hey” with a similarly vague “Sup?” Before he knew it, Virgil was getting into a familiar black car that he knew, but only as Remy’s car—he’d never been a car person, beyond color and general shape, they all looked the fucking same—that was inbound on an equally familiar route. They stopped at an apartment that he’d absolutely been to before and as good as the sex was, it never made up for how much he felt like shit afterwards in the quiet of it all. 

Virgil could see Remy asleep on his back, paying no mind to him, even with the little movements as he snoozed. No, Virgil had done his job and he’d known it. Honestly, he’d half expected Remy to have turned away from him by now and simply lay there, sleeping—for real or not—until Virgil left of his own accord.

There was just one thing… Remy was still on his back. It would be so easy for Virgil to just scoot in a little closer, nestle into the crook of his arm. Lanky and small, Virgil didn’t take up much room compared to the other man who dwarfed him by nearly a foot. Chances are that it would hardly disturb him, if at all. Virgil could just slip into that little space between Remy’s arm and hip, nestle in, and pretend he belonged there for a quiet hour in the early morning before he was inevitably sent on his way again. It was damn tempting. 

Nibbling on the inside of his lip, Virgil caved after a moment and shifted up to his knees, crawling on all fours to shift about a foot across the expanse of the bed. He was careful about making his way over the top of Remy’s arm, doing his best not to shift it as he nuzzled into the promised land of being cradled the way he desired. 

For a beautiful moment, he thought it worked. 

“What are you doing?” a quiet, pointed voice asked him, still heavy with sex and sleep. Beneath messy bangs, he could see dark eyes pointed in his direction with a laser-focus that made him squirm in place. 

“N-noth…” Virgil started, swallowing as he tried to push down the bile that had begun to creep up his throat alongside his panic. “Nothing,” he said, steadier, but no less panicked with him frozen in place. “I just… wanted to get cl-closer.”

Remy stared at him for a long moment, before extracting his arm from around Virgil’s back. “Don’t,” Remy said as he pushed to sit up. He didn’t even bother to look away as he bluntly told him, “You’re not really relationship material, Virgil.”

It had been five years. 

Virgil wasn’t sure why his mind was lingering on ancient history this morning as he sipped his tea in a coffee shop that felt frozen in time, sending him back to sitting at the same table during exam week as he tried to cram in another chapter’s worth of knowledge. Maybe it was the place, the fact that he was back in this little college town again, the hellhole he’d gotten away from with his graduation. Ending up here again half a decade never part of the plan; no, he’d gotten out of dodge at the first opportunity with a desk job. Data Entry. It was easy and mindless stuff where he could make up the difference and build his portfolio during evenings and weekends in hopes to land a graphic design role somewhere. He’d been trying at it for just as long and hadn’t really gotten anywhere, until he suddenly received a call, he hadn’t expected regarding an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. 

With single determination and a lot of dumb luck, one of his roommates had made it big in the game industry with an indie title after they’d graduated. After the hours spent pouring tirelessly over the game, wasting away years of his life trying to do every part of it himself, Remus started making calls for a bigger team for the sequel and Virgil had been at the top of the list. He’d wanted Virgil there first to take things all the way from storyboarding to in-game art and design. 

Who was he to turn down that kind of opportunity?

Five years and it was like a time portal, the counter hadn’t changed, the smell of coffee and the goldie slopping away at the bowl on the floor was a familiar sight in a community where dogs were usually served before a line of customers. Honestly, Virgil was pretty sure that if the freshman at the counter could swing it, she’d close the shop to everyone but dogs with the way the girl was doting over him. 

It wasn’t a surprise to hear another cooing voice enter the scene along with the sound of a bell as the front glass door swung open. Normally that wouldn’t have been enough to draw Virgil’s eyes beyond the normal, cursory, anxiety-driven glance at the new person that had entered Virgil’s general area, but broad shoulders and a bright toothy smile pulled his eyes for a prolonged look. Their hair was pulled back and neat, pink framed glasses sat on the bridge of their nose that only drew his attention in a bit more of just how pretty the person was in front of them with wide, bright eyes behind those lenses.

He wasn’t expecting rich sepia irises to catch him in his stare. Virgil ducked a little further into his hoodie, shrugging further into the fabric as a wink was aimed in his direction. Sure, that his cheeks matched the color of their glasses, he did his best to disappear into the corner of the sweet shop as the other person turned around to order. It was only too bad that the shop was too small for either of the two to be truly out of sight of the other. 

“I’ll take a large, iced vanilla latte, a medium hot chocolate, and… what pastries do you have today?” He heard them ask. Their voice was more chipper than he would have expected just looking at them, but with their upbeat aura and shoulders up like they were both willing and able to distribute hugs at any given moment, it helped complete the picture of a jigsawed savior complex. 

“Of course!” the cashier replied, queuing in the items to the register with a few clicks of her hand. “The eclairs are fresh, and the croissants should be out of the oven in just a couple minutes.”

“That sounds lovely,” they replied, looking far too joyful and sweet, even for a place like this, as if they should be stashed in the display alongside the other sugary confections. “One of the croissants when they’re ready and I’ll take two of the eclairs, thank you, ma’am.”

“Can I have a name for the order?” The cashier asked, and Virgil’s ears perked up even as he tried to make a point not to pay attention. His mind and ears were in some kind of standoff as he stared down at his chai and kept listening in spite of himself. 

“Just use Emile,” they said cheerfully, moving even closer as they shuffled to the delivery counter to wait on their order.

Virgil continued to watch them in his peripheral, making a point not to stare directly lest he draw attention to himself. Surely, they would only be a few more minutes, and then he could start breathing again. He figured they would start fiddling on their phone or something the way most people did, but instead Virgil saw them pull something out of their pocket. It looked as if they were scrawling out some kind of note, just in time for their order to arrive in front of them. 

Emile, as they told the cashier, smiled at the worker just as brightly as they had when they first entered, even as they reached for their items. It seemed that the drinks were easy enough, but adding the bag of goodies, along with whatever else it was the person had in their hand overburdened them slightly as they tried to balance everything in their grip while glancing forward at the door, as if they were plotting for it. 

Though he wasn’t really certain what prompted him to do it, but without a word, Virgil stood and pushed it open before they had to figure out how to juggle everything and the door atop of it. 

Whatever berating was pestering him from the back of his mind about being both nosy and perceived, melted when that stranger’s smile was aimed in his direction. It left him feeling rich and warm, like whip topped coffee as the cream started to melt into the otherwise bitter drink. 

“Thank you,” they said, their honey-rich voice sticky enough to catch his ears again as they gave him a polite nod, moving towards him and the open door. 

“N-no problem,” Virgil said, low and mumbled into his hoodie, but he thought they heard it anyway as their expression seemed to only grow warmer, something about the way their eyes crinkled at him, like they were sharing a mutual secret.

As they slid past, it was definitely only the tight fit that had them brushing against him as they made their way through the doorway. He held out a hand for them to balance on if they needed it down the entrance step, but instead he felt something placed into his palm as they gave him a little wiggly wave of their fingers, another wink, and that pretty grin before they turned and made their way down the cobble street. 

For a moment Virgil was frozen, trying to figure out just what happened, but when he finally tore his gaze away from their retreating, distant form he blinked and looked down to see a pastry in his hand, a fresh eclair with something sticking out of the side of the wrapper. It was a pale pink info card with a QR code on one side and contact information on the other. 

What caught his attention even more though was the messy, handwritten scrawl at the top of one side that just said. 

“Want to do brunch?”

“-it’s just a shame how quickly they had to wrap up the show with all the controversy. I think they could have gotten another couple of seasons out of it if they had really started to dive into-”

Chin in his hand and elbow on the table, Virgil was certain that he could keep listening to Emile explain their opinions on their favorite cartoons for hours and never grow bored of the conversation. They had a passion about their arguments, and he found himself easily agreeing with many of their points. Though, the rare disagreement had been even more fun as the two then were able to parse their thoughts out and debate back and forth with different perspectives until they reached some midpoint conclusion. 

“It would have been nice to see them go a little deeper into some of the character’s trauma,” Virgil agreed. “It would have validated Lapis’ journey and even Bismuth as a character overall.”

“Exactly,” Emile agreed, waving an arm in his direction in a way he knew he’d said something particularly right. “It’s just disappointing that the network was too cowardly to keep exploring some of those deeper themes and showed their hand by canceling the show when it came to displaying a bit of queer representation.”

“Bury your gays?” Virgil asked, though rather than it being a thematic character trend, it was literally the show being stomped to a close IRL.

“Unfortunately,” they agreed solemnly. “Still, I’m glad the creators took the stand they did, it opened new doors.”

Virgil didn’t say anything in response, just staring for an extended moment. He could feel a smile tugging on the edge of his lips as he watched them, certain that he must have had a dopey, doe-eyed, love-struck look on his face again. They were incredible. 

“What?” Emile asked, blinking at him, a nervous smile coming to their face as they looked back. “Do I have something on my face?”

Virgil shook his head as they started to pat around their cheeks, looking for some missed morsel of something or other.

“You’re amazing,” Virgil said after shaking his head.

Their mouth opened, then closed again, burying it in their hands. “How are you this sweet?” they asked, looking up at him with helplessness in their expression when they knew he meant every word. Of course, he did. 

They were both taking a chance on each other. Virgil was taking a chance on a relationship at all after the series of flings he’d been through. It was easier when there were no feelings involved and the last time that he’d gotten attached in any real capacity… it didn’t end well for him. From what he gathered from Emile; they were taking a chance on another relationship. He knew he wasn’t their only one, they’d had a long-term partner who they’d known since they were both kids. Though it sounded as if they only truly started a romantic relationship in the last few years, as far as he could tell the two had been mutually pining for the other one for decades before then. It was honestly sweet as hell and exactly the kind of situationship that Virgil could imagine Emile getting themselves into completely by accident.

Though Virgil only knew the gist of the situation, he didn’t even know the other partner’s name yet. Emile had been quick to reveal that they were poly and Virgil was quick to agree. He wasn’t looking to be the center of their world, just a moon orbiting their space, a partnership. In truth, it took off some of the pressure that came with perfectionism, the idea of being everything that someone needed was kinda a terrifying prospect, really. 

So no, he didn’t mind sharing. 

He couldn’t say the other relationship didn’t have an impact, Emile talked about it sometimes, even though thus far, they’d kept names out of the conversation as they were both gauging how seriously their relationship was progressing.

“You’re the sweet one,” Virgil insisted, “or were you not the one that refused to give up on that fair game until you won me a prize?”

“I did it, didn’t I?” Emile asked, sticking out a tongue, still giggling around it as they did. 

“Mothfrog and I thank you for it,” Virgil said, their laughter was contagious, “but even you have to admit you were terrible at that ring toss.”

“And you have to admit that it was rigged,” they countered.

Honestly with the amount they spent on new rounds, they probably could have just found the plush online for cheaper, but Emile insisted they wouldn’t be leaving the fairgrounds without the stuffie, simply because it had caught Virgil’s eye for a double take. But really, who could resist a mothman frog?

The laughing kept on for a moment as they both caught their breath and there were mutual smiles between them, that hadn’t quite faded when Emile turned to him with something serious coming over their face. There was hesitance that made his own smile faulter as he wondered just what could have suddenly gone wrong. 

“Can I talk to you about something?” Emile asked. 

“That depends, are you breaking up with me?” Virgil asked. Their eyes widened in panic, like they hadn’t expected that answer and he hoped that meant it wasn’t what they wanted to do. “Because if so, is it okay if I say no?”

“No!” Emile said quickly, holding up a hand, “w-wait no, yes, I mean-” 

They held up both hands, as if asking for both mercy and a slowdown. “Please listen.”

Virgil nodded, even as anxiety started to knot in his stomach, at least it didn’t sound like they were trying to suddenly leave him on the roadside like an unwanted house cat that had gotten too needy. 

“You know I’m in another relationship, right?” Emile asked, waiting for Virgil to nod. 

He did immediately because of course he knew, it came up in conversation between them on their very first date together. 

“I was wondering if the three of us could maybe go out somewhere as… friends maybe?” They said, casting pouty eyes in his direction that made Virgil realize that he’d never be able to deny them anything. “It’d be nice to know that my partners at least get along amicably.”

Virgil thought about it a moment, he and Emile had mostly been going on outings together, it’d felt just as much of dates as any other actual relationship he’d had in the past, but even he could admit that it would be nice to be able to swing by their place without a sense of awkwardness of some random stranger being there that could potentially end his and Emile’s entire relationship if he disapproved. Truthfully, he didn’t know if that’s how it worked, but Virgil figured he had to probably get the boyfriend’s approval at least to some extent, considering how close the two were. 

Though, the prospect of meeting him didn’t lessen that possibility necessarily, instead it just sped up the process. Still… for his own anxiety’s sake, he’d rather know than not. At least having an idea of where he stood could help him get a game plan for what might come next. 

“Can you tell me a little more about him?” Virgil asked. 

“Oh! Absolutely,” they said, reaching for their phone as they started to scroll through it for a minute. “Let me just-” they suddenly frowned, and Virgil’s head tilted to the side as he waited to hear what was wrong. “Oh shoot, sorry Virgil. I forgot I never transferred over my data from my old phone.”

He was about to reassure them, before something lit up in their eyes and Virgil already knew them enough to know some kind of idea had clicked its way on in their mind. 

“How about this, when I get home, I’ll send some pictures and we can talk more about some of the details?”

They looked so hopeful, staring up at him from over the bridge of their glasses. What else could he do but give them a slightly awkward smile and a nervous “Sure, why not?”

And so it was, their date continuing from there as the topic switched to activities that would be appropriate for three people trying to get to know each other. When it was time to go home, it always left him a little warm that Emile sent him a text when they made it home safe, sending cute, animated gifs of cheek kisses and hearts when he’d confirmed that he’d made it back alright too. 

It wasn’t five minutes later that he heard his phone blowing up with a stream of messages and Virgil smiled, hearing the familiar ring-tone he’d set for them specifically playing on repeat as he reached through his bag. 

Though, as soon as he clicked it to life, the image that stared back at him made the phone slip from his hand and clatter back into the heap of his bag. Virgil had to grab for it and double check he hadn’t just been seeing things as he unlocked it a second time. 

No. 

Staring back at him was a picture of Emile and Remy standing side by side, Remy’s arm was wrapped around their shoulder as the top of their head nestled into the round of his cheek. It looked new, they were wearing the same outfit that they’d worn out today and though it could have been coincidence, Virgil thought it was more likely that the picture was just taken. 

“Virgil, sweetheart, meet Remy, my other partner,” the message beneath read. 

Notes:

Virgil shifted from one foot to the other.

 Cars on the streets were passing by, making the air smell of asphyxiation and acidic powder. Their driving filled Virgil’s head with noise and he sighed softly as he held onto Casper’s legs. The kid was perched up on his shoulders and hummed happily, gently teetering while Virgil tapped one foot, then shifted onto it and started tapping with the other.

He sighed once more and turned into the other direction of the street, his eyes wearily checking the surroundings before, once again, turning back and looking up the street.

 “Virgie!”

 The youth looked up at Casper, his grip on his legs slightly tightening.

His heart was beating up to his chest even more so than just a few seconds ago.

 “Yes, Cas?”

 The kiddo leaned down, arching his back over Virgil’s head and gently put his hands over his eyes.

 “Guess who?”

 Virgil giggled, his chest easing up a bit.

The world seemed to choke him a tad less now.

 “It’s me, ya BITCH!”

 His wrists were grabbed on each side and Casper retreated on his shoulder. The punk screeched in reply, flinching away and taking a step back as he processed the sudden amount of touch out of nowhere.

 Remy carefully tugged him back to him and Emile and Virgil slowly accommodated to reality once more.

 His heart was nearly out of his ribcage, drumming mercilessly against his chest.

 “Holy f-...fricking sh-daMN, Remy!”

 He hissed at the wannabe biker and approached the cinema as he backed away.

 “Sorry, Virgil”, Emile offered apologetically as he gently let go off him and took Remy’s hand instead, “sometimes I forget how anxious you get.”

 Casper was hugging Virgil’s head and whined.

 “Are you mad?”

 The emo looked up at him, sighing once more. He breathed out the tension in his shoulders and smiled a bit.

 “No, just shook. Em, take Cas for me, a bit?”

 His legs were still weak from the scare. Actually, his whole body felt as if it was made of jell-o by now instead of real flesh and bones and blood. Emile nodded and gently took Casper off his shoulders and nudged Remy.

 “Sorry, honey!”

 Virgil shrugged and shook his head.

 “Jus’ gotta stop being so anxious, I guess.”

 He carefully wobbled over to hug Remy and then Emile who was holding Casper. The child was more than happy to embrace Virgil again. His giggles rung in Virgil’s ears a bit but it was okay because Casper was happy and Virgil was slowly calming down again.

 Emile gave him a warm smile.

 “Let’s get in? Remy, you pay. You were mean.”

 Remy pouted.

 “You scared him with me!”

 Still, he scuffled his feet over to the ticket booth.

 “Wait”, Virgil interjected, digging into his pockets, “I pretended to be a rich bitch and got us tickets.”

 He pulled them out and showed them to the three others. Casper already knew but nodded at the information still.

 “Can we see the butterfly film now?”

 Emile chuckled.

 “Yes, please, I would like to learn more about butterflies.”

 The trio had been more than lucky to realise there was an actual butterfly “documentary” on the local cinema. Yes, some cinemas did play documentaries and films that were not purely about blockbusters, Hollywood delights and similar productions.

Mister Galiu had pointed it out to Casper who had promptly asked Virgil to see it with him, considering they were both enraptured with these creatures.

 Virgil liked their symbolism and Casper liked the funky facts about them and the happy colours!

Remy and Emile just joined to be with Virgil and Casper. Mostly Virgil, though, for several reasons.

 “Me too, darlings. Let’s go seize these snacks.”

 They got in, got some snacks that now Remy and Emile shared the costs on. Casper got his funny skittles and they all shared a small bucket of popcorn together.

Every kind of sweet snack was covered and they had more than enough to share when they got two drinks. One big soda for the three adults and one little bottle of juice for Casper.

 Once inside, they cuddled up, Casper next to Virgil who was sandwiched with Remy between Emile and Casper. The kid was closest to the exit.

Everyone knew kids might need to pee during a film, so they provided for reasonable solutions and accommodated him by putting him in this space and going to the bathroom with him while Remy had bought snacks.

 “When will it start?”

 Casper gently snuggled up to Virgil who gently cuddled him.

 “In a bit, don’t you worry.”

 The advertisements started playing to which Virgil only rolled his eyes and scoffed, Casper perked up.

 “You’re very punk, Virgil!”

 The addressed youth squeaked and sunk into his seat, a bright blush on his cheeks.

 “I am punk and I am right”, he mumbled and carefully reached into his backpack, “yo, I got snacks for us all-”

 Emile’s face turned to him at once, staring into his soul like an owl.

 “Eat the rich”, Emile responded and Remy rolled his eyes with a smile before repeating it.

 “Eat the rich.”

 Virgil nodded and continued the chain, “eat the rich”.

 “Eat Richard?”

 Casper slowly shifted closer to Virgil, nearly sitting on his lap by now until he pulled him on his thighs. The kid stretched up as if to make himself taller.

 “It is called ‘Eat the rich’, Cas. Can you see better, now?”

 The kid cuddled up to him and nodded happily while Remy and Emile took turns on the backpack before returning it to Virgil who slowly fished a pack of skittles out and gave it to Casper.

 “Here ya go, don’t tell your dad. It is just a small one.”

 Remy has some licorice and Emile helped himself to some chocolate drops while Virgil himself pulled out some chocolate nuts. They were great and looked a bit like skittles, so he gingerly shared them with Casper.

Emile shuffled over to sit in Casper’s seat. The cinema was nearly empty, so nobody would really mind, he thought.

 The advertisement was finally over and the film started.

 Emile nudged Remy who looked at him while Virgil and Casper stared at the pretty butterflies on screen. The smitten duo grinned at one another, hands intertwining behind Virgil’s neck. Remy gently shifted a bit to put his arm around Virgil’s shoulders, this time touching his neck on purpose.

 “?”

 Virgil looked at him, confusion all over his face.

 Remy smirked and gently brushed over his face. The emo blushed but smiled as much as he could despite his flustered state.

On the other side of his seat, Emile’s hand reached out for his and gently squeezed it. Virgil sucked in a breath, the red tint taking over his face as he slowly entangled his fingers with Emile’s warm hands.

 His heart was beating against Casper’s unassuming back, this time for any reason that was neither fear nor shock.

 “It’s a date”, Emile whispered, leaning in and giving Virgil’s temple a kiss with his soft words. He nodded softly.

Remy gently shifted closer and was surprised to find the warm Virgil had previously wrapped around Casper for extra stability to slowly move onto his knee.

 He smiled.

 It was a date.

 Remy leaned back, licorice rope hanging from his lips as he focused his attention on watching a film with his dates and their precious little Casper.

Without a word, the first thing Remy did was switch off the faucet, smoothly slinging up the handle of the kettle to place it on the stove to heat. He gave Emile a little hip bump as he slid past. Emile looked up at him with a sheepish expression and apologetic grin as they finally looked up from the little screen. 

“Sorry, starlight,” Emile said, placing their phone flat on the counter as they reached up a hand to brush it over his shoulder. 

Their smile softened, and he stayed in place, reaching an arm around their waist to tug them just a little bit closer. He could feel the way they melted into his arms, leaning their soft cheek against his shoulder just the way he expected. Emile was already dressed for the day in a long pleated beige skirt, a soft satin blouse with a gray cardigan nestled over their shoulders, but Remy was still in a t-shirt and flannels. He hoped it made him a little bit cozier for them and Remy was half-tempted to try and coax Emile to call off ‘sick’ to work and come back to bed so he could keep them in his arms for a few more hours and away from whatever it was that was causing them early morning grief. 

Did it matter that he didn’t know what it was yet? Not really. He was sure they could figure out the who, what, when, where, why, and how once he’d helped them through a bit more relaxation. 

As much as he wanted to ask, he didn’t, knowing they’d never agree, not with the fact that they’d just taken a few days off the other week with a flu. No, he’d just have to get the touch and grounding in that he could that morning before they left for the day. 

“What’s on your mind, north?” Remy whispered into the quiet of the early hours. 

Really it was far too early for either of them to be up as far as he was concerned, with the approaching winter months, the sun hadn’t even risen yet. What godforsaken morning person decided that any human being should be up before even the birds?

“It’s V,” Emile admitted, lifting their head to look up into his eyes, as if searching for some kind of reassurance. They usually weren’t the type, but something was up. 

“Your other partner,” Remy confirmed, keeping a steady gaze as he tried to keep his expression from wavering. 

He couldn’t say there wasn’t jealousy there, of course there was a little bit. Emile and he had started their relationship with the mutual agreement that they wouldn’t be exclusive, that neither of them really believed in it, but…

…Well for Remy that had always meant non-emotional relationships. He’d never even considered the prospect of being able to fall in love with someone else. Emile had never once seemed jealous, only confident of their place in his life, and he did his best to reconfirm just how much they meant to him. 

It was just that when they came home one day and not only admitted that they had started taking an interest in someone, but that they had started to have strong emotional feelings for this other person, Remy didn’t know how to feel. There was a lot of anguish in the beginning. He’d done his best to try and keep that from Emile, not wanting to burden them with the emotional fallout of something that he technically should have always known was a possibility.

Facing the insecurity of the reality of it was a whole other situation. 

It took a lot of self-reflection on his part, a lot of facing his own limitations and insecurities. He couldn’t say that he was all the way there all the time, but… well, every time they talked about this new mysterious guy that had entered their life, the way they lit up with joy, he loved that for them. He wanted to keep seeing that smile, the way that they bubbled with excitement when their phone dinged with a message or the way they spent extra care in choosing their clothes before a date with him. 

No, he couldn’t take that joy away from them, rather, Remy just wanted to keep being a part of it, keep being another source of it, something else to keep that soft smile on their face. He was certain that his North Star was far too good for this world, and if someone else was seeing that, someone that made them happy…

He couldn’t see that as a bad thing, not really, not when he pushed past the initial reaction to realize any thoughts otherwise were just stemming from his own rooted insecurity. They had done nothing to cause any doubt in his mind that they loved him, not with the way they smiled at him, reached for him, nestled into his arms like he was thier safe space. 

If it wasn’t abundantly clear, Remy had done a lot of thinking, a lot of introspection recently, wanting to ensure he entered into this situation from the best perspective that he could muster. 

What he hadn’t considered was the sudden lack of control he was feeling. 

It had just occurred to him that Emile was hanging their heart on this whole other person and that they had the power to break it, if they wanted to, and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it. Not really. That made a panic rise in his chest that he wasn’t really sure how to handle. All he could do was tighten his grip a little bit more. He couldn’t protect them from this, but he could support them at the very least. 

“What happened?” Remy asked in a hush, nuzzling in against the back of their crown as he pressed a kiss to the very edge of their hairline. He wanted to maintain the early morning peace just a little bit longer for them. 

“Nothing really,” Emile said, pulling their arms in and wrapping them over his. “It’s just that I messaged V about meeting you last night after our date, and he’s just felt a little distant since then,” they said, looking as if they were doubting their own words. They knew, logically, that there could be a lot of reasons that could cause someone to get quiet for a little while, but sometimes timing could be a scary thing when you were used to having a mind that was quick to analyze cause and effect. 

He could see where Emile was going with this.

“Maybe he overslept?” Remy asked, doubting it himself. With the way he’d seen the pair of them messaging back and forth recently, he was certain that Emile would have already known if that were the case. “Try not to overthink it until you get the facts, North?”

Despite him asking, despite Emile’s hesitant nod, he knew they would anyway, they couldn’t help it, overthinking was just in their nature. 

“It’s probably nothing…” Emile trailed off, even as doubt and worry lingered on their face as the very first rays of dawn started to break over the horizon. The way the sunrays slipped through the kitchen window and illuminated his North Star from behind made for such an ethereal sight that he was a bit taken aback by the way they could just simply glow. 

They looked at their phone again and Remy hoped this wouldn’t become a nervous habit as they scrolled over the screen again, looking for a message that just wasn’t there. There was a odd juxtaposition between how humanizing Emile’s worry was compared to the way they looked in that first break of dawn. He was sure they didn’t notice the effect they had. They never did, that their strange and giddy outlook on the world had swept him up in a whirlwind of adoration for as long as he could remember. 

“Do you want to see a picture from yesterday?” They asked, holding out the little screened device to him at an angle for him to take. He’d always appreciated how readily they offered access and answers to anything and everything without a thought, like it never really occurred to them to hide things from him. He knew the shorthand of the new partner’s name was in respect of their boundaries as he and Emile started to figure out a new relationship and where Remy fit into it all. “I really like this one,” they said, a soft smile overtaking their face and he could feel them relaxing beneath his arms just the tiniest bit.

Remy accepted the offering and held up the phone, getting a better look at the new angle as he held it for them both to see. And there Emile was, side-by-side with a ghost.

“Oh, fuck-”

-----------

Virgil wasn’t sure when he went from successfully avoiding Emile for a few modest hours, to his phone blowing up with a number of texts and calls that he was struggling to process, much less respond to. Someone wanted to talk to him, be it Emile or Remy, he wasn’t sure, but he didn’t know what to do in the current situation. 

A little afraid that Emile might try knocking on his apartment door to seek him out, Virgil slunk away that morning, grabbing drive-thru coffee, rather than his usual at the bakery he’d frequented since coming back to town, and slipped into the building on the end of main street that his “boss” was renting out for the sake of collaboration, and equipment, more than it being a true work space. 

Virgil had only been in the place a handful of times in his weeks since returning, specifically for meetings and the like of where they wanted to go with the story. His first time here, Remus had him play through the previous game, start to finish, to get a sense of the vibes and a working knowledge of the storyline. Once he was able to get a summary of where they wanted to go next with the project, Virgil was able to come back with some concept sketches for environments, levels, characters, and other scenes.

But really, almost all his work could be done online, even the meetings technically. Remus was a very physical person though, especially when it came to creative ventures, so nothing beat the kind of feedback he got when the developer grabbed a pen and started jotting down notes directly on his concept work. 

Speaking of Remus…

There was a clattering in the hall as some equipment that Remus was carrying in suddenly slipped from his arms as soon as he caught sight of Virgil, chillin’ in the corner with his tablet with the lights off. There was a series of expletives cursed out, in what sounded to be at least three different languages, but it ended on a satisfying “Fucking, dammit!” as Remus dragged a hand down his face, before moving to grab all of the pieces. What looked like sound and recording equipment scattered to the floor and Virgil hoped that Remus got some sort of warranty on it all, because it seemed pretty fucking expensive to just be dropped the like that. Maybe the packaging would hold up and prevent any of it from being broken in ‘transport,’ but really, that wasn’t his business. He wasn’t getting involved in the VA of the game. 

“What the hell are you doing here at bum fuck in the morning?” Remus asked in a much calmer tone once the boxes were placed (hopefully) safely on a table to be sorted and dealt with. Virgil only gave him a cursory glance, knowing he was welcome. He might be less so in the coming weeks, when they were further along in the project and as Remus’ brother recruited more talent, but for now, with him being only one of three employees in total, not including the brothers who ran the project, they had the space to spare and he barely took up a corner anyway.

“Avoidance,” Virgil said with a shrug before looking at the time on his tablet. “What are you doing here? I don’t usually see you on the grind until at least noon.” That wasn’t completely true, usually Remus seemed to take care of things out of office, the boring stuff like networking, talking to people, corporate meetings, and other stupid stuff that Virgil wanted to avoid like the plague and knew for a fact that Remus hated nearly as much. Virgil knew that Remus had a brother that took care of most of the social side of things, but as a co-owner of their game development company, Remus couldn’t stay completely uninvolved. 

“Setting up for interviews,” Remus said, looking sour at the prospect. Ah yes, more talking to people to get things done. If Virgil was evidence of anything, he was a friend of a friend kinda a guy and didn’t seem too fond of the idea of working with strangers. “Avoiding what now?”

Virgil just shrugged and passed over the phone that he’d set on the table beside him, after putting it on silent. He could still feel the phantom sensations of the near-constant buzzing as a string of messages all came through at once. 

Remus accepted it with little fanfare. The device was still locked, but he could access the notification center on the lock screen. 

“A bunch of shit from Em…” Remus noted, eyes half-lidded as he glanced over the popups. He looked up at Virgil again for a moment, as if things were clicking into place behind his weirdly calculating eyes. For being a game developer with an avoidant personality, he sure could fucking read people. “Isn’t that your new beau?”

Virgil didn’t respond, didn’t have to, by the look on Remus’ face the other man already knew. Virgil just pulled his legs in, feet flat on the edge of the chair as he buried himself as much as he could into his hoodie like an amorphous blob that definitely wasn’t a person that was procrastinating on hard conversations. 

Who him?

Never. 

“You know what I’m going to tell you, right?” 

“Don’t let it affect your work?” Virgil asked in a deadpan, glancing up at Remus from beneath the hemline of his hood in a challenge. 

“First of all, fuck you, I didn’t choose this capitalist hellscape any more than you did,” Remus retorted immediately crossing his arms, Virgil may have hit a nerve there. “Second of all, get your ass out of here and go talk to them you dumbass.”

Virgil stared a moment longer, pulling his tablet in against his chest as he stared at Remus petulantly. Absolutely like fuck if he was just going to talk about things and try to resolve them because his boss told him to, it’s not like Remus had any real say on his personal life. 

“Out,” Remus said, pointing at the door as he shooed him towards it. “Go take care of your mental health things and come back once you have. Your work will be shit until you get this resolved anyway.”

Virgil made a disgruntled and offended noise, if they hadn’t been friends for years before the weirdness of their employee/employer situation set in, he might have held back from blowing raspberries at Remus but given their friendship and Virgil’s security in his place, he didn’t hold back, getting the same mirrored back in return as he stomped out the freshly painted front door and onto the cracked cobblestone street.