"Still tired from the ritual, Reamy-roo?" Virgil tittered deliriously as he stood behind Remus, throwing his arms around Remus's neck as he sat on the edge of the patio.
"Nah, I'm doing okay. I think you took the brunt of it," Remus chuckled. "It's just the birthday thing in itself," Remus looked down and kicked at the tall grass, and held at Virgil's arms to return the hug.
"Awe, Ream!" Virgil cooed and Remus leaned forward and stood up, grabbing Virgil's kicking legs when he tried to stabilize himself. "Eep!" He squeaked as Remus moved him.
"I had a great time. The dragon's gift is really fucking cool," Remus told him somewhat flatly compared to his usual fervor.
"I wish I could see it!" Virgil whined tiredly, hanging from his arms off of Remus's neck.
"Depends on what the dragons do for your birthday, or how hard you practice," Remus replied airily, continuing to walk ahead. He still seemed distracted, though.
"I doubt I'll get natural sight, though," Virgil grumbled, pouting out his lower lip. "What's wrong, then?" He shifted to try to see Remus's face, but he couldn't reach.
"It just… feels wrong to celebrate my birthday without Roman. I never thought I'd miss those stupid stuffy dinners," Remus shrugged, and the action made Virgil bounce. "Come on, there's one over here," Remus motioned with his head. "It's dancing around the fire. Do you remember when we listened to one near the fire before? It's not playing right now, but it's jamming to the drums," Remus explained, his head moving around. Virgil looked expectantly near the fire, but still saw nothing where Remus looked. He didn't know why he looked. Virgil pouted and pulled himself up higher on Remus's back, and Remus adjusted his grip.
"What's it look like?" Virgil asked expectantly, pouting with disappointment.
"It's hard to describe. There's probably a word in Draconic for it I certainly couldn't pronounce," Remus chuckled sourly, still watching something Virgil couldn't see.
"Be as abstract as you like," Virgil suggested, feeling incredibly curious about how it looked. They hadn't gotten that far in training yet.
"Ethereal. It doesn't really have a single form. Sometimes it's opaque and sometimes it's translucent. But it's like… the colour of a mossy rock with flowers on it. And its vibe is like… cinnamon bun, but it could actually kill you," Remus responded considerately, pausing while he talked to think about what he said. He didn't sound certain with any of it, but Virgil followed it well enough.
"Oh, mood," Virgil grinned and rubbed his head on Remus affectionately. "How can you tell the difference between a spirit and a hallucination, though?" He asked before he had time to consider if that was a rude question, but Remus didn't seem phased, so it was okay.
"The spirits are kind of glowy? I think? It's more like… luminescence. Hallucinations are more mundane or something. When I have a vision or there's a spirit, it's really saturated and surreal and when you look at it, it feels more… otherworldly," Remus motioned with his hands, trying to illustrate what he was talking about before reaching around to support Virgil's legs in a proper piggyback ride.
"It's kind of weird that the hallucinations are normal instead of surreal and unbelievable, but something that is real and possible looks more out there," Virgil mused airily, nestling against Remus's neck. It was a warm summer night, but Virgil never passed a chance to enjoy Remus's body heat. He was so damn tired after the ritual that he just wanted to curl up on Remus and fall asleep. But it was Remus's birthday and Remus was feeling off and Virgil wouldn't leave Remus alone if he could help it.
"The dragons probably have a sense of humour," Remus chortled lightly, shifting to support Virgil better.
"I bet they do," Virgil slurred a little as he laughed, gripping at Remus's robes to maintain balance.
"Hey, where's Remy? Shouldn't he be babysitting you?" Remus asked, glancing at Virgil over his shoulder.
"It's the one time he's allowed to go ham as our consort, he's in a drinking contest with Morgan. Thorn literally was drunk under the table. He threw back some mead and just slid down the chair to the floor. It was the funniest shit ever," Virgil giggled, covering his mouth. He nearly slipped when he stopped holding on to Remus, but his tank of a best friend had no issue holding him upright. "Remy said I'm already faced on dragon and wouldn't let me drink," He whined pitifully, pouting out his lower lip at Remus even though he probably couldn't see. "But he said I could get a joint if I shared it with you," Virgil added brightly, pulling at Remus's robe hopefully. He scooted Remus's hair over his other shoulder so he could rest his head on it.
"You're probably going to pass out if you have a joint, little guy," Remus pat Virgil's leg with his fingers, sounding amused.
"Eh," Virgil whined slowly, feeling offended even if it was the truth. "Rude. Then, fine, I was lonely without you and we need to go to cheer on Remy," He stated another truth without saying he was troubled about Remus moping alone and feeling bad.
"Is Damien with the old dudes again?" Remus asked as he pivoted around to head towards the building. Virgil sighed in relief that Remus accepted this one, his chin bobbing on Remus's shoulder as Remus stepped up the stairs on the veranda.
"He's in the sanctuary with us, but he'll probably go to bed soon. I think fucking us up instead of you was another gift to you," Virgil tittered, playing with one of Remus's twists that Virgil missed moving to his other shoulder. "Drinking contests aren't really his jam, but he was curious to see who'd win. They're waiting for us," He explained as Remus walked across the veranda, dodging the various drunk and drinking people, and headed towards the door. People waved or raised their glass to Remus as they passed, often cheering.
Virgil hummed happily along to the music echoing through the air as Remus carried him inside. Honestly, he was glad to not be walking. He was sore all over and wanted to sleep for a week. If he looked up at the stars, he might blackout, so he just closed his eyes and enjoyed the ride.
The summer night was still hot and Virgil could tell right away when they entered the sanctuary just by the change in temperature, even if he couldn't hear the big-ass wooden door scraping on the stonework. People cheered when Remus entered, congratulating him or drinking to him. Remus normally liked positive attention, so hopefully, this was nice for him.
"Ah, Remus, good to see you," Virgil heard Damien coo and Remus leaned in to give Damien a one-armed side hug. Virgil tilted a little and gripped on to Remus's robe to not fall over. He didn't want his nap-ride to end.
"Hey, Lord Damien, who's winning?" Remus sounded amused while Virgil rubbed his eyes sleepily. Opening them back up was hard.
"I am!" Morgan and Remy both called out, holding up their hands. Virgil and Remus laughed through their nose with a small snort in unison. Damien was just plastered with his patented annoyed expression.
"Remy is one drink ahead," Damien corrected them, crossing and uncrossing his legs on the loose chair. "Let's just say he'll be lucky if he loses only a week if he decides to join us," He laughed darkly. Damien was not holding back as usual, but he sounded more awake than Virgil. He was probably more used to dealing with this than Virgil was.
"Hey!" Remy shot indignantly. Remus sat on the bench next to Remy and Virgil shuffled to sit between them. Virgil pressed a kiss to Remy's cheek while he picked up another drink to chug. "Three, two, one, go!" Remy chugged the shot glass immediately and flipped it, moving on to the next one. He worked swiftly down the line, throwing each back professionally. Remy chugged like a fucking champ, and Virgil watched his Adam's apple bob as Remy barely breathed to get his drinks down.
"Go, Rem!" Remus cheered and Virgil gripped the table with anticipation.
"One more," Remy hissed as he picked up the final glass and chugged it, flipping it on the table when it was empty and holding up both his arms victoriously. "Fuck yeah!" Remy cheered. Morgan sputtered into her last drink angrily.
"Damnit! Fine, I'll make you the things you want," Morgan grumbled, throwing back the last glass slower than before.
"Thank you," Remy purred triumphantly and pulled Virgil in, peppering his face with kisses. Virgil cackled delightedly as Remy's lips tickled him. "You were close, though, I'll give you that," Remy gave credit where it was due as Virgil was dazed from affection after the kiss assault. Morgan put her glass down on the table hard, causing a loud hollow sound from the wood. It sort of shook Virgil out of it, but he was still feeling warm and tingly. He nestled into Remy's arm lovingly.
"Yeah, you better watch out," Morgan winked at Remy and pointed menacingly.
"You better watch out! You better watch out!" Virgil and Remus chanted automatically and Damien groaned loudly, running his hand down his face.
"I think I'm going to bed," Damien grumbled, crossing his arms.
"No!" Virgil whined. "Let's play three-way dragon hands! It's his birthday, you gotta!" Virgil pointed at Remus and pouted. He needed help with monitoring Remus, and Damien was the only one who was able to knock Remus out if he had to.
"Huh?" Virgil heard Thorn's confusion from under the table.
"It's his birthday, and he picks what he wants to do," Damien replied firmly, looking annoyed.
"I want to play three-way dragon hands," Remus responded smugly, a mischievous grin looking like it was ready to break out. "I'm feeling a little melancholy and zapping your tired asses will help," He stuck out his tongue and picked up Virgil as he got up from the bench.
Virgil squeaked again as he got carried off and set on the floor. He crossed his legs and sat where Remus deposited him. Virgil and Remus patted the last spot to fill out the triangle on the floor and looked pointedly at Damien. Damien sighed dramatically and his shoulders drooped before getting up and sitting on the floor with them, crossing his legs and looking every bit as poised as he always did.
"Please do your best to dial it back, Virgil," Damien warned and Virgil frowned at Damien.
"I'll try, but I haven't really figured it out yet," Virgil said sheepishly, gripping at his robes draped over his knees.
"Okay, Virge? You gotta look at all those chickens. Then you gotta blow them away like Adam. And you look deep through the lineup of cars and guys dodging away to see the butt. And you step in the bathroom singing the halo theme and you find yourself among brothers," Remus put his hand on Virgil's shoulder and listed off vines intensely, locking eyes with Virgil.
"Remus, what the actual—" Damien tried to protest, but Virgil felt like he was understanding what Remus was getting at.
"No, no, let him finish," Virgil objected, shaking his hand at Damien, returning to lock eyes with Remus again, and nodded.
"And you need to get a dash of every soda. If you miss the putt, you can't throw yourself in the pond," Remus shook his head deliberately.
"But that's how I do!" Virgil protested loudly, pulling at his robes once more.
"No, you are the sand guardian, guardian of the sand!" Remus shot proudly, holding both of Virgil's shoulders as he made his declaration. Damien made a variety of exasperated noises in the background.
"Poseidon quivers before you!" Remy tackle-hugged Virgil from behind, and it would have knocked him forward if Remus wasn't holding him.
"Fuck off!" Damien shot, rubbing his face in his hands. Morgan fell off the bench, holding her sides, laughing so hard her face went red. Virgil wasn't sure Thorn could breathe under the table, he was cackling so hard on the floor with her. The serendipity was too perfect, and Remus and Remy were roaring, too. Virgil was too tired to do much more than cackle a bit. "Are we going to play or am I going to bed to let you meme in peace until Virgil blacks out?" Damien rolled his eyes and held out his hands.
"Hey!" Virgil shot bitterly. "I'm peachy-keen," He stuck his tongue at Damien and held out his hands, palm down on Remus's side and palm up on Damien's. Remy picked up Virgil and slid under him, and Virgil ended up sitting on Remy's lap, which positioned him higher up. He appreciated it since Remus and Damien were both excessively tall and he held his hands at a more comfortable height, now.
"At least tell me you won't shock me so hard," Damien sighed in resignation.
"I think I got the gist of it. Push away the bullshit, dig deep, and be more confident in myself," Virgil said, though he wasn't entirely sure how to do that. At least he knew it maybe wasn't that he was shit at it and he just had to figure some stuff out first. So much of this awesome dragon crap was about working on yourself. It was frustrating since Virgil felt like he had been stuck right where he was and he didn't know where to start to ask for help.
"Why… didn't you just say that," Damien rubbed his face and held out his hands again, hovering over Virgil's hand.
"You speak ancient Draconian and we speak ancient vine," Remus snickered and held out his hands, interlocking with them.
"How are you doing with that, by the way?" Damien raised a questioning eyebrow at Remus. He already knew the answer, so asking seemed silly to Virgil.
"Bup-bup-bup! Dragon hands," Remus tapped up a finger over his mouth before putting his hands back in position. Not wanting to talk about it on his birthday sounded fair to Virgil.
"Sir Remus wins for vegetable washing duty," Thorn whispered behind his hand to Morgan, but he was drunk and bad at volume control, so presumably everybody heard his attempt at a whisper.
"Lord Damien wins. Deal," Morgan whispered back with an impish expression.
"Rude!" Virgil glared at them. Morgan just snickered, but Thorn turned red for a moment.
"I mean… Sir Virgil, you look like you're about to pass out. I've seen you win before, I know you can, but…" Thorn started rambling and Virgil stuck his tongue out at them and grimaced. Morgan laughed out loud and jostled Thorn with her shoulder.
"Three, two, one," Remus counted down and immediately went for Virgil. Virgil dodged and went for Damien at the same time, but Damien avoided him. There were another few rounds of dodging in time until Remus tagged him. Remus jumped when he hit Virgil's hand and Virgil winced sympathetically, feeling bad. He honestly was trying.
They switched positions with Virgil trying to hit Remus and Damien at the same time with his hand. Thorn was apparently right about Virgil's ability to hold out, seeing as was already getting fucking fatigued. Virgil wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out.
Virgil finally tagged Damien, but Damien didn't react as if Virgil shocked him at all. Damn it! He was supposed to shock them with tags, not shock them when they tagged him. But he couldn't ever seem to shock them willingly unless he was mad, and he wasn't able to turn off zapping anyone who touched him unexpectedly. Trying to push some out and hold it back was even more exhausting than the game was. It wasn't long until he was five tags out and he collapsed back against Remy in defeat.
"It's… alright, Virgil. You didn't get me that last time," Damien reassured him, sounding strained while he dodged Remus.
"See, you're getting better," Remy reassured him softly.
Virgil felt incredibly drained. Remus and Damien barely zapped him when they tagged him, but trying to stop his stupid self-defense thing was much harder than playing the game. If he could just figure it out, he'd stop getting so depleted.
It made sense Remus and Damien were able to do it so easily. They were possibly the most confident creatures on the planet. If self-assurance was part of it, then that was a hurdle he'd have to overcome. But he wasn't great at the 'focusing' thing either. Virgil wrapped his arms around Remy's hands, pulling them in closer to himself, and pressed his head to Remy's shoulder.
"Oh!" Thorn cried out suddenly, shaking Virgil from nearly passing out. "Tied!" Virgil looked to Thorn on the floor with his fists balled tightly and staring intensely at Damien and Remus. He bounced his fists on the floor as he watched them intensely "Go Sir Remus!" Thorn shouted excitedly.
"Show 'em who's boss, Lord Damien!" Morgan cheered, twisting one hand in the air and holding herself up with the other. Remus and Damien were staring at each other's hands with unparalleled attention. He wouldn't be surprised if neither of them even heard Thorn and Morgan with that kind of focus.
"How about I walk you to bed, starlight?" Remy kissed Virgil's head.
"Will you stay with me 'till I pass out?" Virgil muttered quietly. Remy nodded and Virgil gradually got up out of his lap.
"G'night," Virgil gave a small wave to the group after adjusting his robes.
"Night, Sir Virgil!" Morgan and Thorn called back at the same time.
Damien and Remus definitely didn't notice them, but Virgil didn't care as long as he woke up with somebody. He still didn't like being alone in this giant old church thing. Virgil leaned to rub Remus's shoulder affectionately as they passed to head to their room. Perhaps Damien will want to sleep in and join Virgil. Remy probably will be hungover for sure. Remus seemed fine, but Virgil was worried about him. He got Damien to spend time with Remus and hopefully wear him out a bit, so Virgil felt okay going to bed now. Well, he needed to make sure of one more thing.
"Hey, will you stay up with Remus? He's… I get why he's upset but…" Virgil trailed off awkwardly, leaning into Remy a little as he walked.
"I was going to stay up with the birthday boy. Lord Damien can stay with him while you fall asleep," Remy nodded confidently and twisted his hand as he spoke.
"Thanks. I think if I had siblings, I'd probably be melancholy on their birthday, too. It's not like Roman was an ass all the time. We played together when we were little. I have good memories of him along with the bad. Remus has to have that ten times worse," Virgil muttered, leaning against Remy in the hallway and gripping on to his shirt. He was having a little trouble staying upright.
Remy pushed open the heavy door to their room and took off Virgil's stole as soon as the door was closed. Virgil shrugged off his robes into the laundry basket and Remy passed him a soft long-sleeve shirt and pants from the dresser. Virgil slipped into it with a sigh behind the screen and kicked off his shoes. Remy picked him up and tossed him gently into the bed, and Virgil landed with a protest from the frame and rebounded. Remy kicked off his shoes to come to cuddle Virgil. Virgil got jostled again when Remy threw himself on the bed.
"I don't think I've ever been to a birthday party that… involved before," Remy laughed lightly, sounding slightly confused as he pulled Virgil in to cuddle.
"Is watching us trance out still funky?" Virgil asked after he fought a giant yawn and settled on Remy's chest.
"That's a word for it," Remy huffed. "It's weird to be… fantasy-element adjacent, I guess," Remy admitted with a discouraged tone.
"Are you still considering the whole initiate thing?" Virgil asked hopefully.
"The whole 'indefinite' thing sort of spooks me. I get that it's all to build a connection to the dragons and all, and there's a certain threshold you have to hit before you're ready for the ceremony," Remy grumbled, sounding unsure. "But like… how awful would it be to be the guy who is an initiate for years because the dragons don't want him?" His voice wavered as he admitted what he was actually terrified of.
"There's literally zero history of that happening, Remy. The longest time frame was three years, and the guy had some personal issues he basically refused to address that was stopping him," Virgil explained, patting Remy's chest reassuringly with his fingertips.
"Maybe dealing with my shit first would help me feel better," Remy proposed, not sounding convinced. "Though I have to admit the gig is cushy and I don't want to be an intern. It's cool being a consort. People respect me. I don't want to lose that," He added, staring up at the ceiling with an odd expression.
"I guess that's fair. You'll still have the respect and the title despite the intern tasks, probably. I just… you'll live longer and be healthier with the ceremony. The miracle milk fixes up all kinds of issues. I just don't like the idea of… well, losing you," Virgil admitted under his breath, stroking Remy's hair out of his face.
"I know. I heard Masterson does therapy sometimes. I might talk to them. Don't hold me to that, I'm drunk enough to acknowledge my issues at all," Remy laughed airily.
"That is a thing you do," Virgil sighed, shaking his head languidly. "Well, maybe if you work through some personal shit, you can get through the initiate phase faster. I know about what the texts say you need to do, we can… just work on that a little? They probably do this with the kids before they choose to become initiates, so it's not cheating, right?" Virgil asked, trying to justify it to himself.
"Babe, you used to write the answers on the inside of your water bottle labels during tests so you could read them when you drank down the water," Remy laughed heartily, shaking Virgil on his chest.
"I got scared and forgot everything!" Virgil shot back defensively.
"I'm just saying something that doesn't even circumvent the system is barely even cheating, so you don't have to worry about it. Part of the initiate thing is building a connection to the community and a respect for the things you have. I can't skip that part. If I get how to meditate a little easier than someone off the street, I don't think it's a big deal," Remy explained, reassuring Virgil. That made sense.
"You know, me trying to word things in a way you understand them easier helps me with my project, too. You can be my test dummy or something for the effectiveness of what I'm saying," Virgil suggested brightly, though all the energetic responses made a big painful yawn ripped through Virgil again.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Remy chuckled and kissed Virgil's cheek. Virgil turned his head to give Remy a proper kiss in return. Remy hummed in delight and kissed him back enthusiastically.
"I love you," Virgil murmured after he settled back down on Remy's chest.
"Love you too, babe," Remy smirked and by the dragons, he was beautiful in the moonlight. "Any advice for helping Remus out?" He asked, still looking down at Virgil.
"I think just keeping him distracted and staying close. He's surprisingly stealthy for a guy his size. I'd hang off him as much as you can. If I was missing somebody, I'd feel clingy, anyway. I was clingy when you were gone," Virgil mused tiredly, shifting to see Remy better.
"That's very doable," Remy sounded confident as he spoke. "You're always clingy these days, though," He chuckled and played with Virgil's ponytail. "Are you going to cut this? Not that the baby ponytail isn't fetching," He added.
"No, I won't be able to go purple again! If lavender tips are all I can have, I'll take it," Virgil shook his head. "How are you so cognizant? You hammered 10 shots of mead in a row," He asked, furrowing his eyebrows at Remy.
"I had the watered-down stuff they give teenagers. I really needed to win," Remy stuck out his tongue playfully.
"Oh, R.I.P. if Mo ever finds out," Virgil giggled faintly.
"She won't," Remy shook his head with a determined grin. "You doing okay?" He added, stroking the back of Virgil's head.
"Yeah. I'm just… stupid fatigued. The birthday ritual is involved. It's hard to tell, but… Something feels different," Virgil shook his head. "I don't know how to describe it. I have a feeling I'll understand it better after my birthday. I just need to make sure I practice hard," Virgil replied resolutely.
"Don't overwork yourself, starlight," Remy looked at Virgil with a no-nonsense expression.
"I—" Virgil got cut off with an enormous yawn. "I know," Virgil reached up and rubbed his eyes. "Can we go on a date sometime soon? Go on a picnic in the garden or something?" Virgil asked, sounding just as drained as he felt as he rubbed his face.
"I'd love to. Is that your way of saying you're going to need the break?" Remy arched an eyebrow at him.
"I just like flowers and kissing you, that's all," Virgil yawned again. Remy leaned over to give Virgil another kiss, but he was so tired he barely kissed back.
"Speaking of, quit fighting it. I'll be back with the space heater and maybe even Lord 'speaks Draconic in his sleep' to fill the nice big new bed," Remy kissed Virgil's forehead and he slowly closed his eyes.
"Y'think… if we declared you Damien's consort, too, we could… implode the entire gossip circle?" Virgil struggled to stay awake, now.
"Oh, yeah, when we declared me to be Remus's consort it was like a wildfire. I think people might run screaming. Damien, the most eligible bachelor in the whole compound, hooking up with an outsider who is already seeing two people? Madness," Remy's voice was bordering mischievous into wicked with delight.
"We should do it," Virgil slurred as he started drifting.
"Get some sleep," Remy stroked Virgil's cheek affectionately.
"'Kay, love you," Virgil whispered nearly silently, but in the dark quiet room, he was positive that Remy heard him.
"Love you, too," Remy held Virgil close, his voice full of tenderness. The soft smell of the night air and the sweet mead from Remy intermingled with the warmth and lulled Virgil swiftly into the void of sleep as soon as Virgil gave up trying to stay awake.
