CW: dried blood, intense memories?? But not in detail
Virgil groaned when he woke up. He curled up, hugging the blanket close as he tried to ease the pain he felt in his leg. His eyelids were heavy, and the rest of his body really didn't want to get up. Stupid iron, stupid hunters. Honestly he just wanted to stop all business with them, but taxes were still very much a thing.
His eyes opened when he heard the squeak of wheels right outside his door. Did Patton wake up before him? That was weird, Virgil always woke up before his brother.
Patton knocked before pushing the door open as the fairy sat up in bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"Better," Virgil lied. Well, okay, his wing felt better and he was feeling stronger, but his leg still felt like hot coals were being pressed into it.
The human came closer to the bed. "And your leg?"
"Still not healed, but it's fine. Roman treated it, probably used some magic to keep away infections and so it heals fine." Virgil shrugged.
Patton's eyes lit up at the mention of the witch. "I can't believe we met him! I mean, it could have been in better circumstances, but he's such a mystery."
The fairy smiled, at least his brother was distracted. "He's not that much of a mystery anymore. We know the truth now." And so did the witch. Hopefully they can trust him.
"And he was so kind! And kinda cute."
"Patton! You have a boyfriend!"
"And he'll always be the only one for me, I love Logan to bits. But... that doesn't stop me from admitting when someone looks cute."
"Okay, yeah sure he's kind and cute. So was Darrell."
"Aw! And Darrell!" Patton held his face as he squealed slightly. "You got a little fox friend! He was so fluffy, did you see his tail?! I just wanna hug him!"
Virgil pulled his blanket back, swinging his feet off of the bed. He grabbed the stick he used to walk last night before carefully standing up. The bandage Roman had wrapped around his leg was stained red by dried blood.
"Are you sure you can walk?" Patton asked as the two left his room. "That still looks nasty."
"I should change out the bandage, but I promise it's fine! It doesn't even hurt that much."
Patton pouted. "I'm just worried. And you need to let me help you, I may be disabled but I can still help you."
"And you do! But I don't need your help all the time. My leg will heal, and everything will be back to normal in no time. Now come on, I'm hungry."
The human sighed as he followed. When will Virgil learn that he can tell when the fairy's not okay? When will he learn to ask for help?
~~~
Patton wiped away some sweat, accidentally smearing some dirt across his forehead. He threw some weeds into the bucket before digging some more out from the ground. He glanced over to Virgil, who had insisted on helping. Virgil's bucket was half way full, his face was flushed from the heat. At least, Patton hoped it was from the heat.
He turned away from him as he remembered when he first saw Virgil sick. When Virgil first arrived, they owned a lot of iron. There was so much in the barn that he wouldn't even go in there.
He didn't trust Patton or his parents at first, but during the first month he started living with them, he got weaker. They didn't notice at first, mostly because they wanted to give him space to process what he had gone through before they found him. Then one night during dinner, he passed out. He had a fever, and when he woke up he could barely move. They realized what was happening and moved everything made of iron to the barn, and cared for him until his strength returned. He trusted them a little more after that, and they got closer.
It had taken a week for him to recover from iron poisoning. It was clear that it wasn't as bad as it was before, but iron hadn't actually been inside his body the whole time he stayed with them. The bear trap had cut deep into his leg, and neither knew how long it stayed in there.
Virgil frowned, looking over to Patton who's movements seemed robotic. He could sense something negative coming from him, and sighed and asked, "You're worried about me, aren't you?"
Patton deflated, holding the weed he just pulled out between his fingers. "Of course I am. You would be if I was in your situation."
The fairy looked away feeling guilty. "Okay, then I'll stop for today."
The other brightened. "Really?"
"Yeah, just don't do too much today, alright? If you're not feeling good, then come inside."
"My legs are weak, that's it, I'm still strong. But thank you, Virgil."
"Just come in for lunch soon, okay?"
Patton smiled at him. "Don't worry, I will. You just get your rest."
Virgil grabbed the stick next to him and stood up, taking the bucket of weeds with him. As he made his way to the house, he put it outside the door before going in. He'll take care of it later, if Patton doesn't do it for him.
He walked to his room, grabbing an apple on his way. He didn't care about the dirt on his hands, it didn't really matter. He bit into it when he walked into his room, holding it with his teeth for a moment as he reached into a drawer and pulled out a sketchbook.
He sat down at his desk, opening to a page before setting the sketchbook down to bite all the way into the apple. He grabbed a charcoal pencil and went to draw, but found himself drawing a blank. He tapped the pencil lightly on the wood of his desk, thinking about what he usually draws. Plants, people, sometimes animals, but he didn't really know what to draw now.
He sat back and looked at the stick he had been using to walk, it was the one Roman gave to him. He remembered the slight green glow around Roman's hand as he made it grow from the wall of his home, the fucking wall! And he did it like it was nothing. He clearly knew what he was doing, he's had plenty of experience with magic. Meanwhile Virgil was twenty four and he couldn't do anything.
He thought about the way the wood had twisted and grew, patterns carved into it as it turned into the staff he had now. Virgil hadn't seen magic like that since... since he had been with his fairy parents. And the last time he saw them use their magic was the night he lost them. When they were chased with the rest of the fairy colony by the monster hunters, the screaming and crying, the gunfire, the hunting dogs chasing them and-
Virgil jumped when the apple fell from his hand and rolled off of the desk onto the floor, he didn't even realize he was holding it in a loose grip. He groaned at the loss of his snack, but bent over and picked it up. He set his pencil down and sat back up.
He frowned before grabbing the letter opener he had at his desk, digging out a seed from the apple. He held it between his fingers and tried to focus on his magic, a part of him that felt so small and distant.
After a moment, his fingers glowed a slight green and his eyes widened as the seed cracked. A small green sprout grew from it and he sat up in joy, a smile on his face. But then it fell when the bright green sprout turned darker till it was gray and brown, twisted and dead.
"No," he groaned, laying down on his desk as he continued to stare at the dead seed. Why couldn't he do it? He saw the witch do it, his parents had done it for as long as he could remember. So why couldn't he use his magic properly?
He set the seed down and picked up his pencil. Well, at least he had his inspiration now. He drew the seed first, exaggerating the twisting of the dead sprout. Then he drew a tree in a similar fashion. After that, he finally felt motivated to draw more things.
He drew Darrell, a bear trap, an apple with a carved face, and then an outline of a person with a cloak. Then that person became Roman before Virgil knew what he was drawing. He didn't mean to draw the hair so similar to Roman's, but somehow it made the drawing look so similar to the witch.
He just couldn't pin him. He had full control of his magic, so it was clearly his. He was really nice, but Logan found him annoying. And whatever he was feeling, Virgil couldn't figure it out. Virgil didn't exactly feel the emotions that the people around him felt, he can just sense it. Each emotion felt different, and he can feel emotions that were repressed deep down inside a person.
Happiness felt bright and yellow, when he was around someone who felt happy he could feel it radiating from them like sun rays. Love was pink and was like the taste of fruit flavored candy. Sadness was heavy gray blue, it came in clouds and could feel suffocating. Virgil couldn't stand it. Anger was dark red, the angrier the person the darker it was. It was worse than sadness, anger was sharp and burned at the same time, it hurt. Fear was purple and yellow, foggy and electric, it suffocated all thoughts and zapped him with fearful energy. None of this was what Virgil felt deep inside the witch, but whatever emotion Roman felt it was old. It was heavy and felt like a dark muddy green. It was familiar, but only in the way that Virgil has felt the emotion himself, so why couldn't he figure out what it was?