Plenty of Treasures

and some scrapes will be scars (little moth)

"Good. Be cool."

Once again, a voice that never failed to remind Virgil that he did belong somewhere and that it wasn't dangerous to be vulnerable sometimes and so many other things called to him. "Virgil, over here!"

And again, those arms held him in a tight embrace before Patton's brown eyes focused on the man lurking behind his best friend. "Oh, hi! I'm Patton! Virgil didn't tell me you were coming."

"Ah," the man seemed to falter for a moment, sparing Virgil a quick glance before just barely holding back an eye roll and returning Patton's smile. "I wanted to surprise him. I'm Roman, Virgil's, uh... boyfriend?"

Patton giggled. "You don't seem so sure of that, bud!"

Ignoring the damn near homicidal glare he was receiving from his 'boyfriend', Roman chuckled and held out a hand. "Yes, well, Virge and I are keeping our relationship low-key for now. I didn't know whether it was alright to tell you, but since you're his best friend, I figured..."

He trailed off and shrugged, still grinning at a now ecstatic Patton Davies. "You should've told me you had a boyfriend sooner!"

Virgil was livid. Absolutely fucking livid. How was he going to explain his parents' sudden lift on the 'no boyfriend ban' despite him being 20? He shot a look over at Roman that screamed a subtle threat of an extremely painful death before forcing a smile at his friend. "Well, you know what my parents are like. I guess I was just paranoid that they'd find out, y'know?"

Patton's smile withers as he nods. "Yeah."

Oh, how Virgil wished he had thrown that tall, dramatic bastard out of his bedroom window, but there was a strong possibility that he wouldn't be able to undo it, so he had refrained from doing so. "So... you wanna head off? Roman," he paused for a second and met his 'boyfriend's eyes with a look that immediately dismissed any questions he'd most likely have been desperate to ask. "You're gonna ride the train with us, right? You said you wanted to hang out after my classes."

Luckily, Roman seemed to catch his drift and nodded, somewhat awkwardly wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Yeah! I'll just... you know, go to the library and do some work in the meantime."

As they slowly make their way to the train station, Virgil's spine as stiff and rigid as he thought it could possibly get, Patton furrowed his eyebrows, looking confused. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-one."

Virgil thanked every deity in existence that the man was only a year older than him, and sagged in relief as Patton grinned, satisfied with his answer. "I noticed you said you were going to do work, are you still at college? Or do you have a job?"

With a smile that could make even the coldest of humans swoon, Roman explained that he'd finished university not too long ago and had started a full-time position at a local theatre, and the arm around Virgil's shoulders seemed to tighten slightly. Perhaps he was getting more comfortable with their situation, whilst Virgil was plotting ways of severing the arm off Roman's shoulders without anyone noticing. He wasn't coming up with any ideas.

But he couldn't focus on his possible murder attempt.

The railway was coming up in front of them and Virgil had to find a way to take Patton's worksheets without it seeming suspicious. They were in his bag, but when they sat down, he'd take them out and they'd be blown away. He glanced, hurried and frantic, between the two of them and Patton's backpack. Yes, he could just ask if Patton wanted him to hold his papers for him, but would that seem like a normal thing to ask? What if he said no? He couldn't force Patton to give him his papers. A dull thudding sent icy sparks down his spine, he was overthinking everything, he had been for years but having an audience increased the weight on his shoulders, pressing down on his lungs until his breaths shook past his parted lips.