"We're here. You ready Virgil?"

Virgil nodded absently as he reached over to run his fingers through the soft fur of the dog pressed against his side. He could feel the car pulling up into a parking spot and hear it being shifted into park.

"Hang on honey, I'll come around and open the door for you," Virgil's mother said as she unbuckled herself.

"Mom, it's just a car, I can get out myself," Virgil replied.

"Virgil, it's really busy right now, I'd feel much safer if I was there to help you watch out for any of those ridiculous drivers," she argued.

Virgil let out a sigh of defeat, still smiling.

"Alright, if it makes you feel better I'll let you help me," Virgil replied.

His mother and father both exited the car, his father heading to the trunk and his mother coming up to his door. He unstrapped himself before patting around for his cane and the leash of his dog.

"Come on girl," he ordered once the door opened.

He could feel the seat shifting as his seeing eye dog got up to go out the car with him, staying close to his legs. He tapped his cane along the ground finding the curb with a bit of unneeded guidance from his mother and waiting up on the sidewalk for his parents to retrieve his bags. Other students walked by with their parents, suitcases rumbling across the uneven concrete surface. He could hear a few people, particularly females, squealing not so secretly about how cute his dog was.

"Ember," Virgil said softly.

She laid down beside him, pressing against his leg comfortingly so he knew her location like she had been trained to do.

"Ready to go, Pumpkin?" His mother asked when she returned with his father.

"I… Ember seems to be drawing a lot of attention. People aren't allowed to have pets in the dorms. What if someone reports her and they say I'm not allowed to have a dog?" Virgil fretted.

"Honey, she's not just a pet, she is a service animal licensed for both blindness and anxiety. They legally cannot separate her from you. Besides we already filled out all of the forms to allow you to have her in your dorm and enroll you in a program with a volunteer student who is going to help you with anything you end up needing, everything is going to be fine," she promised before kissing the top of his head. "Now let's get you inside and all settled in."

Virgil reluctantly nodded before clicking his tongue, making Ember stand up.

"Do you want me to carry something?" Virgil asked, feeling badly that his parents were taking care of all of it for him.

"No, no, we've got it, Bud," his dad replied.

Virgil gave another nod before turning to head off in the direction the others in the parking lot seemed to be heading to. He could hear the sound of his mother's hard soled shoes walking protectively close to him.

"Welcome to Doves Landing!" A couple of volunteer upperclassmen said as they came up to the doors they were holding open.

Virgil ducked his head in a shy greeting before quickly slipping through the doors, narrowly avoiding the metal pole in the center in his rush. The sound below his cane seemed to now be from some sort of thin carpet or rug. He approached what sounded like an information center before stopping when he heard running on two sides of him.

"Virgil, please stop rushing in unfamiliar surroundings, this isn't your house anymore," his mother said worriedly as she and his father came up behind him.

He really did know she wasn't trying to belittle him or anything, she was just protective of her only child who'd been handicapped ever since he was born. He wouldn't however say it seemed a bit overbearing at times.

"Sorry mom, just wanted to get insides," Virgil replied.

The quick steps approaching him from the front slowed a bit as they drew closer.

"Hello, do you need your ID and room key?"

From the sound of the voice he was assuming it was another volunteer who was working at the desk. She had probably noticed he was quite obviously blind and wanted to help since his parents hadn't come in yet when she first started approaching.

"Yeah, I do," Virgil replied.

"Alright, just tell me your name and I'll go get them for you," she said chipperly.

"Virgil Burza."

"Alrighty! Just give me a quick sec and I'll have it right out for you," she said before scampering away again.

True to her words it didn't take her long to find his things handing him a small plastic card and a key with a rounded top, the number 114 indented at the top.

"Here you are. You're going to be in room one fourteen so you are just going to scan your card at the door to your left, take another left at the first hall and your room will be the last room to your right. Feel free to come and ask for any assistance you need," she instructed and then left to return to her job of helping the other students.

This time he decided it was probably best to let his parents lead him in the right direction, carefully counting his steps so he wouldn't get lost trying to find the door at a later point when he would be alone. As she said he had to put his card up to a box on the wall near the door so the magnetized strip would tell the lock he was allowed into that portion of the building, which was a little frustrating that he'd now how to stress over remembering even more things before leaving his dorm because there was no way to really get back in to grab it because of all of the doors requiring it. His parents found the room and despite their offers to help he fiddled with the key on his own to open the door.

"Hey, you're moving in pretty early," an exhausted voice said from within the room as he sat up from his bed and cracked his back.

"You must be my roommate. You also chose the first day of move-in?" Virgil asked.

"Nah, the program I'm part of has us move in earlier than any other students so we can get accommodated before our roommates arrive," he replied, slipping out of bed and walking over to greet the family.

"I'm Remy, nice to meet you Hun," he said, a grin obvious in his tone.

"Virgil."

Unbeknownst to Virgil, Remy was awkwardly drawing back the hand he had offered to Virgil for a hand shake, not having the heart to make the situation uncomfortable to the obviously nervous kid. Instead he quickly went to give a firm handshake to both of Virgil's parents.

"Do you all need help with unpacking or do you have it handled?" Remy asked.

"I've got it, I have a system for my things so…" Virgil trailed off, not wanting to be offensive about not liking people touching his things.

"Cool, then I'll let you get settled in, After that if you don't have any plans with your parents I can take you for a walk around campus, or we can do that later or tomorrow if you want," Remy replied with a chill shrug as he walked away and plopped back down on his bed.

"Do you want our help?" His father asked.

"I think I've got it all handled. We sorted everything in bags and boxes before we left," Virgil replied.

"Alright, then I guess we better be getting back on the road. Are you sure you are going to be okay here?" His mom fretted.

"I think so. I've got Ember to look out for me and Remy too. Plus we chose one of the safest colleges around," Virgil reassured her.

"And we are just a phone call away. If you ever need to talk, or have us come down, or take you home for a bit, or anything, we will be there. I love you so much baby, be safe," his mother said, pulling him into a big hug.

"I know mom. I love both of you so much and I know you're there. And you can always call me too if you feel lonely or anything," Virgil replied, hugging her back.

Once they pulled apart his father pulled him into a hug as well, saying his own goodbyes and reassurances. Then, both of them left Virgil. He swallowed a bit harshly as he fought off any second thoughts that wanted to creep in about being in a small room with a stranger an hour and a half away from his parents. He opened up his boxes and sorted through the contents ordering the clothing into their designated drawers, using the bottom one for medications and hygiene products that wouldn't be able to fit in the small bathroom attached to their room which had very little shelf space. He was midway through organizing his desk so he'd be able to find everything when Remy let out a bored sigh and let his phone flop down onto his bed.

"So Virgie, tell me about yourself," Remy prompted.

"Oh, uh, well, what do you want to know?" Virgil replied, tensing a bit at the sudden question.

"I don't know, random stuff? My soulmates are busy so now I'm a lonely bitch who wants attention and entertainment," Remy pouted.

"Plural?" Virgil questioned, catching the exact wording.

"Yep, I've got three soulmates and we all are attending college together. Bad part is we are literally all freshmen so they are all busy packing and last minute shopping instead of talking," he sighed. "How about you, any lovers on campus I should know about?"

"Oh, no, I actually am platonic soulmates with mine. She doesn't want a sexual or romantic relationship so we decided not to meet," Virgil replied.

"What about you?"

Virgil frowned a bit at the question, not really wanting to answer. It had been a year and a half since he'd realized he was gay but he still had never admitted it to anyone but Patton. He chose to stay silent, finishing the organization on his desk and moving on to the final box with his bed stuff in it. Remy caught on to the silence, figuring it must be a sensitive topic.

"Your service dog is pretty cool, what is it? A lab and retriever mix?" Remy asked.

"Oh, she's actually a purebred, the breed is called a flat coated retriever. Her name is Ember by the way," Virgil replied with a soft smile, glad he'd changed the subject.

"Nice. You know, my soulmate Emily loves dogs, he probably would have known the name of the breed without having to ask," Remy chuckled.

"Always a nice quality to have," Virgil chuckled a bit. "You know, I used to think that like multiple soulmates was, like, super rare, but you're actually the third one I've met."

"Yeah, I know one other polyamorous group besides my own. I don't think it is as rare as people try to make it out to be. Honestly I think that it is just that a lot of them choose not to deal with all those narrow minded bitches out there who think you can only love one person and they just kind of pair off or keep their relationship in the shadows. And I swear if my soulmates tried that, I'd force them into a public space and make out with them in front of everyone, because hell, if they are around me, we are not just going to pretend to be 'friends', I be needy and they shall give me loves and coffee. Mostly coffee," Remy smirked.

Virgil couldn't help genuinely laughing at the comment, his cheeks hurting from grinning so much.

"You're really cute when you relax. You should let me be your wingman to find your special someone," Remy hummed playfully.

"Oh, I don't really know about that," Virgil replied, shrinking in on himself a bit again as he finished attaching the fitted fleece sheets.

"Babe, you're hot and adorable. There are no parents around for miles and teachers honestly don't care about shit. Like, this is your time to get out there and reinvent yourself and just have some fun. Like, seriously, I know your sexuality seems to be a sensitive topic, but don't you deserve to be happy? No matter what anyone else says, it's still your life to live so screw them," Remy reasoned.

This guy really had no filter. Virgil kind of appreciated it though, he was pretty withdrawn about his own opinions, maybe this Remy fellow would be a good influence on him.

"We'll see. I doubt you could find me a partner though. I'm disabled, gay, and have no romantic soulmate, that kind of puts me in a small pool of people who would even have a slight interest," Virgil pointed out.

"Mmm, the first thing I need to do is to teach you to be confident. Confidence is sexy, remember that," Remy smirked.

"Good luck with that one," Virgil snorted as he finished setting up his bed.

"You doubt my abilities?" Remy gasped in mock offence.

"Only a little," Virgil replied.

"I want coffee," Remy said.

"What?"

"I. Want. Coffee. Wanna go to the coffee shop in mid campus? I can help you find all of your classrooms from that point," Remy replied.

"With how early some of my classes are, I'm going to need that coffee to start my day," Virgil replied.

"Yes!" Remy said excitedly, bouncing off his bed to grab his keys and wallet from his own desk.

"So, you're a freshman right?" Virgil asked following out the door after retrieving his cane and Ember's leash.

"Yep," Remy replied.

"So like, are you sure you already know where everything is? It's only been like a few days for you on campus, right?" Virgil reasoned.

"Yeah, I've got this. Probably. My soulmates seem to think I have an issue with getting lost, but it's not that big of a deal. I always figure out how to get places… Eventually."

Virgil could feel his eyebrow ticking a bit. He had a feeling this was going to be a much longer than necessary tour.