Virgil had been skittish all day. It was really cute, honestly. He didn't want to mess it up, or something. But They didn't actually have to do anything this new moon ceremony. They just had to stand pretty while Damien led it. There was some brief ritual stuff, but it was mostly libations and celebrations. They were going to get robe accents like Damien had, too. They'd still be apprentices under him for a full year but they were welcome to sit out of rituals until they were ready to join. Apparently it was more important to not be nervous than do everything perfect. That may be a lot to ask from Virgil, though.

Remus kept Virgil close today. Virgil was reading the journals, and Remus was whittling out in a gazebo near the sanctuary. It was completely empty, which was surprising since the day was pretty nice. Many of the people here worked up until dinner, though. They probably had an hour left until dinner. It was an off-day for them, but Damien had to make sure things were prepared. There was a stone-plaza type thing between the 4 elemental sites it was going to be held at.

Remus and Virgil had both gone a little overboard yesterday, according to Damien, while they were trying to pin down what the wind dragon wanted. Neither of them really remembered much by the time they woke up this morning. This job must have been hard on Damien to do alone. Maybe that's why he seemed so genuinely relieved and excited to have company. It would explain why he was so patient with them, anyway. Remus wasn't really used to this kind of treatment, but he never wanted to go back. People being patient and considerate with him hadn't happened since he was a little kid.

Before there was an official seer and Damien took over, the dragons would just take out somebody during full moons with a vision that would put them out of commission for a week. It sounded brutal. Virgil probably understood it better. He was confident Virgil would help him when he was ready. Virgil seemed to want to read more ahead before giving Remus a low-down. He said there was both redundant and conflicting material he had to parse through. Remus could just read it himself if he got impatient, but Virgil was a great teacher and Remus got bored easily. Remus was thankful he was feeling drained enough from yesterday to be able to sit here calmly with Virgil. Remus caught him shaking in the shower this morning, and not because the water was ice cold.

"How's seer Ira?" Remus asked.

"Competent. He's a seer of the sun, which was as close as D could find to mine. Though it's really not close at all. He basically didn't do anything at night and that was his answer. That seer Melody of the moon might have been a little closer. But she also didn't solve anything since the sun doesn't mess with her, she just could only work when the moon was out. I can do things in the day, I just get overwhelmed,"

"The sun's a star," Remus said.

"So?" Virgil asked, not taking his eyes off the book.

"Maybe you get all overwhelmed in the day because it's just too much star," Remus offered.

"Aren't the titles mostly, I dunno, symbolic?"

"Damien said when I found out mine I blacked out, too. I think it's important," Remus shrugged. "It takes a lot of vision to black me out,"

"I think it's pretty funny your intuition called mine before I saw mine," Virgil smirked.

"It was probably more of a judgment call," Remus said dismissively.

"That's a kind of intuition. You know I don't really get where the line is yet," Virgil rolled his eyes. "That… discovery thing D made us do yesterday was intense, though. D said we both had to be carried back to our quarters. That vision mead blackout me made is some serious fucking shit," Virgil said seriously.

"D seemed stoked about it, though. I think he might have joined us if he didn't have to do things today. I bet he tries it soon," Remus said airily.

"What's there left to see right now?" Virgil asked curiously. "I can't think of anything other than, like, general welfare type stuff they don't really need dragons to deal with. At least not for a few days,"

"He probably wants to work on dragon communing and make his own text. He studies these things all the time," Remus suggested. "You think we can do the dragon communing thing? Actually talk to a fucking dragon?" Remus bounced slightly with excitement. Virgil gripped the bar of the gazebo as Remus shook him.

"Stop, dude, you've got a knife," Virgil snarled. Remus settled down to tapping his foot and chipped away quickly at the block. "I dunno. I only get one vision a day, tops, and it's blacked me out every time now. You can get like 3 or 4, though you don't remember all of them yet. I think if anybody could handle it, you could,"

"That would be so. Fucking. Awesome," Remus said excitedly.

"I'd wait until you exercise your third eye more or whatever, it would be shit to talk to a dragon and not remember it at all," Virgil said.

"Oh, no! What if that's already happened?" Remus moaned in concern and disappointment.

"I think you'd blackout if that were true. It's supposed to be really fucking intense. Damien said the first time he talked to a proper dragon and not just a received a message he went out for 3 days," Virgil said, nonplussed.

"Oh, man, that would be like the worst need to piss ever," Remus said, in awe.

"No, he was bedridden and his sight was blasted. If he didn't eat or pee for 3 days, he'd probably die or something," Virgil groaned. "I'm not a fucking doctor,"

"Exactly. Maybe the sun being too much star for you is a thing," Remus insisted again. "We'd have to ask a dragon, probably. I'll ask for you," Remus offered. "I wanna ask if we're one super seer or two seers for the price of one because it's been killing me,"

"Maybe the original prophecy was off. It's not like our interpretations are infallible," Virgil offered.

"That's the boring answer," Remus huffed. "Do you think getting prophecies is like a downtime thing or dragons just… chose to send 'em sometimes?" Remus asked curiously.

"I think it's the latter, but the former happens sometimes," Virgil replied. "I'm more curious about the robes. I have found no mentions in the text and nobody's explained it… you think it's just a traditional thing? I mean, they're hella comfy, I ain't mad at them," Virgil asked, holding up his arm to look at the sleeve.

"Maybe it's that they're hella comfy, and that's why it's tradition," Remus smirked.

"Ah, truly, sometimes the wisdom of our elders is the gift of the present," Virgil chuckled.

"Boy, I'm triple glad I'm not reading the texts if they read like that," Remus exhaled in relief.

"They're… an effort. I think some of it's a translation error. Some older ones were written in Draconic. Which is a real language that they will use at the ceremony and we will have to learn," Virgil shuddered. "Some of D's books are written in it. I think he has copies of originals,"

"Ugh, studying," Remus groaned and leaned back.

"I mean, it's studying you have to do to talk to dragons," Virgil offered temptingly.

"Okay, well, that's fine then," Remus perked up. Virgil laughed pretty hard.

"Son of a bitch, I lost my spot," Virgil hissed. He sighed. "I'm getting too distracted, anyway. The robe thing is right at sunset, right?" Virgil asked nervously and slid his bookmark in place to close the book.

"Yeah. We can head back to the sanctuary if you want. They might be starting to cook dinner soon. They're supposed to be having it early today because of the robe thing," Remus said thoughtfully.

"Ugh," Virgil held out his tongue. "I can't even imagine eating without getting sick,"

"I'm not letting you drink on an empty stomach. I will tell D on you," Remus warned.

"Fine… I'll try. Dinners are vegetarian anyway, they're not as hard to stomach," Virgil huffed.

"I stomach meat just fine," Remus said dismissively and flipped his knife closed. He was trying to make a little acolyte, but his skill wasn't really there yet. It was more like a peg in a dress. But Remus was determined to make a killer dragon statue and would not give up practicing. Virgil was checking his map for the way back to the sanctuary.

"I've got it, V, you can put that away," Remus said.

"I… like to know either way," Virgil mumbled.

"You know, I was joking, but the dragons really add something to the map," Remus laughed, looking at the dragon illustrations that weren't there the first day they remembered. Virgil nodded and folded it back up. Remus helped him off the bench and Virgil grabbed his robes and followed Remus back to the sanctuary.

Virgil was quiet through all of dinner and was pacing around their quarters, impatiently waiting for someone to come get them for the ceremony. Or maybe trying to figure out how to run away from it. Remus couldn't be sure. Remus had tried to reason with him that it was just some decorative thing and they just had to stand there and bow at the signal to receive them. Blackout them had already done the speaking and vows stuff for the milk-thing. But either Virgil wasn't listening or Remus didn't understand the real problem, since he kept pacing. Remus watched him make another three laps around the table before he couldn't take it anymore and stood up to go stand in his path. Virgil walked right into him, and Remus grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Hey. Look at me. Whatever it is you're worried about. I'm here. We've got this. We get some robe thing, stand around, and then get drunk. It's cool. I'll punch anybody who tries to fuck with you. And they know it. I'm pretty certain I mentioned that last night," Remus said firmly, looking Virgil right in the eyes.

"I…" Virgil started and trailed off right away, looking to the floor. Remus tilted back up his chin.

"Talk to me," Remus insisted firmly.

"What if he never wants to see me again," Virgil mumbled. Oh. Oh. Remus pulled Virgil in for a hug, and Virgil weakly reached up and held him back.

"Virge, we gotta work one day at a time, okay?" Remus stroked Virgil's hair. Virgil shook his head into Remus's chest and held him harder. Ah. He can't drop it. "The last thing he said to you was 'Love you, too, babe,'" Remus reminded him. "I think he wants to see you again. He will probably be mad. But I don't think he wants to leave you forever," Remus said softly, trying to console Virgil. But Virgil was already crying. Sometimes people just needed to cry. Remus led them to his bed and sat down, pulling Virgil up with him as he cried into his chest.

He would not lie to himself. He never could. Get deluded, sure, but he knew he missed Remy, too. Missed him like the dickens. But things were just so much easier here for Remus. He hadn't had that melty or bubbling hallucination in days. He wasn't getting as suspicious of people. His non-vision related hallucinations were down, too, and he felt like he could deal with them. They were odd things he could easily confirm since Virgil was basically with him 24/7. And since things were easier here, he felt like he could parse things easier. He never really thought Remy would be out of their lives, either. And maybe that part was a delusion. But he was pretty positive he'd see him again. So he didn't really feel like Remy was actually gone. Virgil's anxiety, on the other hand, might have already have convinced him of the worst.

Remus's parents had fucked him up, for sure, but not in the same way Virgil's did to him. They gave him new fears along with all the things Virgil was already dealing with. And one of the few people who loved and cared for him in the world abandoning him was probably Virgil's greatest fear. It destroyed him when he realized his parents had abandoned him. Remus wasn't sure Virgil could come back from Remy abandoning him. And Virgil had been berating himself about it for days. Remus felt like an idiot for not noticing sooner.

He'd been over the moon about being accepted somewhere and thought Virgil felt the same. Virgil did, but he didn't have the impression that Remy would be with them again, and it must have been eating him up inside. But there really was nothing Remus could do but be here to support Virgil. He didn't know what Remy was feeling right now. Or if Remy would want to join a dragon hippie cult. And giving Virgil that hope might make it worse if… Maybe they could visit him in town or something after they're 18 and won't get brought home anymore. Remus still knew he'd be in their lives. He hoped he knew, anyway.

Virgil's crying slowed down finally. Remus rubbed slow circles on his back and waited out the sniffling and aftershocks.

"Hey, Vi-vi. I know it's just a consolation prize, but we kicked ass yesterday and we get rewarded for it today. And you got your proof that you are a seer and that we weren't just drunk and bullshitting those days we lost. So things are pretty good tonight. And we don't know for sure yet if they're going to be good tomorrow. But we've got today. Just pretend it's like a test tomorrow. We're gonna have fun tonight, stresses and worries be damned. And what happens tomorrow will happen, because we've done everything we can," Remus offered softly. Virgil sniffled and nodded, looking up to Remus shakily.

"I… yeah… you're right. I wish I could see what he'd say," Virgil sniffled and rubbed his nose on his sleeve. "It… is kind of like a test. It's just not one I even thought I'd have to take. But I won't let D down. Or the dragons. They… we kind of answer to them to now, in a way. I still kind of can't believe dragons are real," He chuckled nervously. "I've just got to get through today and I can break down all I want later,"

"There he is. Let's get into clean robes and splash some of that witch-tit-water on your face," Remus said, releasing Virgil and standing up, offering Virgil a hand. He took it and sniffled one more time and they headed into the bathroom to change. Remus didn't mind the snotty robes, but probably everybody else would. Sacred robe ceremony and all that.