Multi-fandom roleplay @fire-star-9 - Tumblr Blog

Feb 24, 2023

Faeries In The Forest

Virgil promises Roman a day where they'll do whatever he wants, even if that means spending the day hiking in the forest.

When the pair stray from the path and find themselves lost, Virgil worries that it might be the end- that is until they meet a seemingly friendly fae who promises to lead them back to the path free of charge...

----

| Read it here! (AO3) |

Warnings: Panic attacks, minor references to manipulation and enslavement but nothing actually happens.

Pairings: pre-established Prinxity, implied anaroceit (as a note nothing is actually said straight up, but these are the intended ships)

Word Count: 6971

Notes: I really want to write more of this so expect a part two at... some point I'm not very good at writing fast... considering I've written like four fics in this fandom now I'm wondering if I should start a masterlist... Anyways enjoy!

They were everywhere. That’s what Virgil had always been told, they lurked in the trees and in the water, they waited on street corners and outside stores. They walked dirt paths and cobbled streets, everywhere you look they could be waiting.

Be careful, they said, to not give your name to strangers no matter how trustworthy they may seem, no matter what they offer you in return. Names hold power. Don't eat their food or step into their circles either, because it's all an elaborate trap.

There were many things to remember about the fae, all of which Virgil had had drilled into his head from the moment he was born, from his parents, his teachers, the shopkeeper, even the barista in the coffee shop had gone on a tangent when he was fourteen, while he was making his coffee.

Of course, there was a reason for these stories, rumours and such, people going missing, Hell, a girl in his sixth grade class- Marie- had disappeared one day, and since then he had listened a little more carefully when the adults told their stories. He had grown up in a small town in the middle of nowhere right on the border of a thick forest from which people rarely came back, and often they came back changed.

To say the least, Virgil had been overjoyed to leave that town behind, having moved to the city to attend university. He shared an apartment with another student who he’d met right at the beginning of the semester- not exactly the scenario he had been hoping for, but he’d realised pretty fast that he didn’t have the money for rent, so having Roman move in with him was the only choice he had really.

Speaking of Roman, Virgil had been wary of him for a long while after they’d moved in together. Roman had been confused when Virgil refused to give Roman his name, and didn’t understand the charms Virgil had up around the house. Even now that he was away from his hometown, Virgil wasn’t about to be lulled into a false security just because it was a city. Eventually, though a lot of persistence from Roman, Virgil had opened up to him, told him his name, and luckily nothing had come of it.

In a place like this, a busy city where you could see a hundred people in just one day, a regular person might forget about the possibility of the fair folk. There was no forest on your doorstep, just a park and trees planted on the pavement at equal intervals. If you asked, most people around here would say that there was no way that fae existed, people would say that they were just a scary bedtime story to keep children in line, or even if they were superstitious, they might say that they were safe here, further away from nature. But Virgil knew better. Fae were everywhere.

—-

“Hey Virge!” Roman yelled, running down the hallway towards him, waving a paper around dramatically, “I got it!”

“Princey,” Virgil nodded his head with a huff, turning and starting to walk and trusting Roman to catch up and start walking at his side, “You did?”

“Yes!” Roman cried, “Oh I’m so excited! I got the part I wanted!”

“Well done, can we go home now?” Virgil asked with a huff, he had been waiting out in the hall of the theatre- he’d promised to wait to support his friend- and he was starting to get paranoid. He didn’t like being out in public for so long, he couldn’t help it- and he was almost out of spoons for the day.

“Oh come on hot topic! We should celebrate!” Roman grinned, though his smile fell when he saw Virgil’s face.

“I’m sorry Princey,” Virgil said as they left the theatre, heading towards the bus stop, “I think I'm all out of spoons, but uh- I have a free day tomorrow… I know you do too, we could- I mean- eugh words,”

“Take your time,” Roman said as they sat down to wait for their bus, he took a moment to glare at the timetable, "We certainly have time to spare,"

“Just- Whatever you want to do, we’ll do it tomorrow, ok?” Virgil promised, “And hey, it’s your birthday next week, consider this a celebration for that too, so um, I’ll go along with whatever you want to do tomorrow,”

“For the whole day?” Roman asked, looking hopeful, Virgil understood at least a little, he usually didn’t like being out of the house longer than required for his lectures or his job, so of course Roman was interested, “Even… if it involves the forest?”

Virgil considered backing out then and there, but he'd promised, and he knew that Roman had wanted to go hiking in the woods an hour from town for years, though he'd never wanted to go alone. Virgil hated lthe idea of going into the forest, but… maybe it wouldn't be so bad with Roman, and they'd take precautions, it… should be ok.

"It's alright if not," Roman said, though he sounded slightly disheartened, "I know you hate the idea of going off on a forest adventure - I can choose something else-"

"No," Virgil interrupted, "No we- I said whatever you want, so the forest it is,"

"Yay!" Roman said, happily clapping his hands, "I'll make sure everything is perfect for you ok? We'll bring a picnic and- oh you make me a list of everything we can bring that'll help you feel safer and we'll bring that too- oh and-*

"Princey," Virgil patted Roman on the arm, gently pulling him from his ramble, "We can get everything together once we get back home,"

"Right, right! You're right," Roman nodded, though he was obviously trying to contain his excitement- Virgil could see it in the way his leg bounced and his fingers tapped out a rhythm on his thigh. He hoped he was making the right decision.

As they were waiting for the bus in comfortable silence, a stranger wearing a hat that shadowed their eyes joined them on the bus stop, immediately Virgil felt the wave of suspicion that always came from being near strangers. He tried not to look creepy as he glanced at the guy every now and then, turning one of his protection charms over and over in his pocket as they waited.

"There's the bus!" Roman announced way too loudly, making Virgil jump before he stood up. Sure enough their bus could be seen from down the road.

The stranger didn't get on the bus after them, and Virgil tried to push them out of his mind as he and Roman spent the evening preparing for their trip tomorrow.

—-

"Here we are!" Roman grinned as the forest finally came into view, they'd already been walking for half an hour since the last spot where the taxi was willing to drop them off, Virgil brought a hand to fiddle with the pendant around his neck as they approached the tree line.

"We're finally here! I'm so excited, aren't you excited V?" Roman said, with the level of energy that Virgil could only compare to one of those puppies that never stops going.

"Woah, you're going to tire yourself out before we even reach the trees," Virgil huffed, walking with his hands out of his hoodie pockets for once, though he had a fidget cube in hand, one Roman had handed to him as they left this morning.

"Oh shove it Robert Downer Jr," Roman rolled his eyes, but did slow down a little.

"... alright," Virgil said with a deep breath, "Here we go, as long as we stick to the path… everything should be fine."

They managed to stick to the path for all of twenty six minutes before- upon hearing the sound of a stream nearby, Roman had immediately veered off the path with a call to Virgil that he was going to find it and of course Virgil had gone after him. For some odd reason, he'd rather be lost and screwed over with Roman than alone on the path in the woods.

When they'd turned back from the river to find the path again, it was as if they were in a completely different part of the woods, no path to be found.

"I told you!" Virgil said pacing as he tried to stave off the impending panic attack the only way he knew how, by being angry, "I told you not to leave the path and what do you do! You leave the goddamn path! Now look at where that got us-"

"V, I-" Roman started, only to be cut off by Virgil's rambling.

"And now we're lost somewhere and I don't know how to get out and we're in the woods and- and- anything could happen and I can't believe I agreed to this! I should've said no! I knew this would go wrong I knew-"

"V- I need you to breathe," Roman instructed, trying to keep his voice soft, he had taken hold of Virgil's wrists without his notice, "Just take a deep breath,"

Virgil did as instructed, before Roman led him over to their bags and handed him a biscuit. Virgil nibbled it gratefully.

"We still have the map and the compass," Roman said, "I've already checked my phone and there's no signal, but the compass will work, and hey, at least we have each other, right?"

"Yeah- yeah you're right," Virgil said, taking a deep breath, "Sorry for snapping at you,"

"I get it," Roman waved him off, before unfolding the map, Virgil peered over his shoulder, "Well uh- here's the river but… it says the path should be right here…"

"Well, the river comes out of the forest here," Virgil pointed to the map, "so if we just keep following the river southeast we should reach the edge of the forest no matter where we are right now,"

“Ok, ok good, right,” Roman nodded, grabbing their compass, “I… I’m really glad you’re here, V,”

“Huh?”

“Yeah uh- I think I’d be screwed if this happened to me alone,” Roman said quietly, Virgil shrugged.

“Me too, so- we’ll call it even I guess,” Virgil smiled, “Which way?”

“The uh… the compass is going haywire…” Roman said, eyes going wide as he watched the compass needle spin uselessly round and round and round…

“Perfect,” Virgil said sarcastically, “So we’re stuck with no clue which way to go?”

“Seems like it,” Roman shrugged.

And not only that, but it was just about noon, so they couldn’t even use the sun.

“So I guess we just…” Roman glanced around, “Well choices are to stay here or start walking, so… which should we do?”

“Well- ok- it’s 50/50, so… i guess we’ll start walking, I don’t want to be here when it gets dark,”

Roman visibly shivered, “Same, lets go, we can eat on the way,”

—

“Princey!” Virgil cried, grabbing the back of Roman’s jacket and yanking him back hard enough that he toppled over onto the grass, Roman fell on top of him.

“V! What the heck was that for?” Roman cried, Virgil took a couple of deep breaths to steady himself before standing up and pointing at something in their path.

“Look, mushrooms,” Virgil said, leaning forward to see better, “It’s a faerie circle,”

“You pulled me over because of a couple of mushrooms?” Roman asked, standing up and dusting himself off.

“It’s not just a couple of mushrooms, princey!” Virgil hissed, “If you step inside the faerie who owns the circle could trap you forever, idiot,”

“Oh jeez, well that doesn’t sound too great,” Roman huffed, “Thanks then, I guess,”

“You’re welcome,” Virgil huffed, looking at the circle thoughtfully, “How are we going to get around it?”

“Uh- we could just go around the edge?” Roman said, phrased as a question, “It’s a pretty big circle though,”

“Yeah… I don’t want to lose sight of the river…”

“That does sound bad,” Roman nodded, “And the river is pretty deep here too so we couldn’t walk through the water…”

“I don’t know if we could climb the tree and get over it- I’m not sure if it works like that…”

“You could always just go through,” Said a new voice, making Virgil jump so much he crashed into Roman’s side, thankfully Roman was able to catch him so they didn’t fall again as they both turned to face the stranger. Virgil stared at them, eyes wide.

The stranger wore a bowler hat, which made them look incredibly fancy. Their face was angular, all sharp like it had been chiselled from stone. They had pointed ears, chestnut brown hair that fell to their waist, held back and intertwined with delicate looking yellow flowers. His eyes were stunning, one a deep shifting turquoise that reminded Virgil of the ocean and the other a piercing yellow, with a slit pupil like the snake. Not even to mention the beautiful golden scales that covered half of his face, this stranger was very obviously fae, and if Virgil took a guess he’d say that the circle they stood next to belonged to this fae in particular. He had to elbow Roman to stop him from gawking after he’d managed to shake himself out of the same daze.

“Um, hello,” Virgil said, trying to seem less awkward than he felt, the faerie raised an eyebrow and smirked, “We’re just- passing through, we won’t be here for long if- uh- if we disturbed you or anything,”

“No bother, darling,” The faerie said with a grin, Virgil noticed fangs, “Really, I’m only curious what two lovely mortals are doing so close to my ring, say, might I have your names?”

“I’m R-” Roman started, before Virgil turned and slapped a hand decidedly over his mouth.

“You can call me V,” Virgil said, “And you can call him Prince, excuse my abrupt actions, he can act an idiot sometimes,”

“You are a smart one, V,” The fae said, taking a step forwards, “You two can call me Deceit,”

Roman licked his hand and Virgil couldn't help but yell.

“Ew prince what the hell!” Virgil yelled, snatching his hand back and wiping it on his shirt, Deceit just raised an eyebrow, Virgil mentally thanked whatever deity was out there that the fae seemed amused rather than offended, “That’s gross, you’re gross,”

“You weren’t letting me speak,” Roman said with a pout, “Hi Deceit, Isn’t that a kinda ironic name?”

Virgil facepalmed.

“How so?” Deceit asked, both eyebrows raised now, Virgil thought he may as well just ask the guy to kill them now.

“Well… fae can’t lie, right? At least V says so, and your name’s Deceit- which is all about lying!” Roman said, pointing as if his statement was an accusation.

“There are many ways to deceive that don’t involve outright lies. darling,” Deceit smirked, stepping even closer, he was close enough to touch now and he did just that, reaching forwards and trailing a finger down the bridge of Roman’s nose, Virgil’s heart sank as Roman’s face went red.

“Now is not the time for this, your royal gayness,” Virgil huffed, rolling his eyes.

“Oh, as if you’re any better, sweetheart,” Deceit turned to him with a coy smirk playing on his lips, the fae’s fingers traced a path across his cheeks, and Virgil felt his cheeks heat up no matter how hard he tried to fight it, Deceit was… really pretty, and way too good at flirting.

“Look um- we just got lost, and we’re trying to figure our way out of the woods by following the river, if we could continue on our way…” Virgil said slowly, trying to pick out words that hopefully wouldn’t offend the faerie, that was the last thing he could possibly want from this. Deceit almost looked disappointed.

“Oh but I was having such fun,” Deceit sighed, “Won’t you two let me accompany you, at least? So you don’t have any run-ins with… less amicable fae? I can guarantee you safe passage through the forest, if you want it,”

“And what exactly would that cost us?” Virgil asked, “Not to sound suspicious but… nothing ever comes for free with the fae,”

“You’re smart to be cautious, little one,” Deceit whispered, walking around them and dragging a hand across Virgil’s shoulders- and then Roman’s as he went.

“I don’t know what you’re so suspicious about V, he seems very nice and he’s offering to lead us through the woods!” Roman smiled, leaning into where Deceit was now cupping his cheek with a delicate hand. Virgil quickly grabbed Roman’s hand and tugged it gently.

“You know why, Princey, just because you’re gay and he’s cute doesn’t mean he’s trustworthy,” Virgil huffed.

“Awe you think I’m cute,” Deceit smirked at him, Virgil huffed, “So how about your journey, then?”

“You never answered my question,” Virgil said, “What will it cost us?”

“You really think so low of me, my darlings? I’m sure your company will be payment enough,”

“Yeah right so you’ll take us back to the city in exchange for what? Us keeping you company until we get there?” Virgil asked, “What’s the catch,”

“No catch, promise,” Deceit said, taking one of Virgil’s hands and one of Roman’s, smiling as he gently but insistently tugged them around the faerie circle. Virgil huffed, but let himself be gently pulled along. The fae had promised, which definitely meant something. But why would he promise there would be no catch? Weren’t fae supposed to be tricksters? Weren’t they supposed to make deals and promises and snatch mortals and such? Why was this faerie being so… generous, it didn’t make any sense.

At least Roman was enjoying himself. He had decidedly kept hold of Deceit’s hand after he had let go of Virgil’s, and Roman was happily chatting away about theatre and art and whatever on earth he could find to talk about. Thankfully Deceit seemed interested in entertaining him, or at least the way he continued to hold his hand and bump against his side every so often made it seem so. Virgil was happy enough to trail along behind them, listening in to make sure Roman didn’t say anything too stupid.

Until apparently that wasn’t enough for Deceit.

“V, darling, why don’t you join us instead of trailing behind like a shadow, hm?” Deceit called, looking over his shoulder, “I’m sure you have some interesting stories to tell too.”

“Oh no, not really, I’m just your boring old emo who works at a coffee shop and otherwise never leaves his house,” Virgil shrugged, though he did jog forwards so he was just shadowing Deceit, rather than walking a few paces behind, he wasn’t going to argue with a faerie.

“Well that can’t be right,” Deceit shook his head firmly, “The way you dress seems to tell a story all on it’s own, surely you have something worth sharing,”

“No I… I really don’t,” Virgil said almost sadly, he shook his head, “Princey is much more interesting than I am, why don’t you um- why don’t you keep listening to his stories?”

Deceit stopped walking and Virgil did too, immediately worried he’d offended the faerie, but Deceit just cupped his face gently, leaning close enough that Virgil could feel warm breath fanning on his cheeks.

“You say you’re so uninteresting,” Deceit said softly, “But everyone has a story to tell, even if you believe you don’t… there’s always something,”

“I’m not sure anything I have to say would interest someone like you,” Virgil said quietly, looking away.

“Oh be quiet, V, he was interested in hearing me ramble about my musical theatre roles! No-one wants to hear me ramble about musical theatre!” Roman said, patting Virgil on the arm, “Talk about your music!”

“Music?” Deceit asked, full of curiosity, he turned to keep walking, but kept hold of one of Virgil’s hands this time, “Tell me,”

"Well I-" Virgil huffed, "I don't really like talking about it, but I produce music I guess, though I'm self published so it's not going so far at the moment…"

"You should hear some of the music he's made," Roman said with a grin, "It's amazing,'

"I would love to hear some of it, darling," Deceit smiled, linking their fingers more firmly together, Virgil blushed.

"Well um- I don't exactly have my guitar with me, so…" Virgil looked away.

"A shame, surely," Deceit sighed, "I'm certain you would have a lovely voice,"

"Like an angel," Roman said almost dreamily, "But like, a dark and stormy one,"

"Shut it, princey," Virgil muttered.

"No, no let him speak, I would like to hear you sing," Deceit said, brushing a hand through Virgil's hair. He jumped, because Deceit was still holding both Roman and Virgil's hands- he wasn't prepared for the faerie to have a third hand.

Virgil shook his head to clear his thoughts, embarrassed about the idea of Deceit hearing him sing, the Fae were known to have beautiful voices after all and he was sure he'd never compare, "I um- I'd rather not… if that's ok…"

"Later, then," Deceit said surely, as if there would definitely be a later.

"Aren't you leaving once we get back to the city?" Virgil asked, confused, because as far as he was concerned, they'd never see this faerie again after he left.

"Did I say that?" Deceit said mock thoughtfully, "You may have to remind me, I seem to have forgotten,"

Virgil spluttered for a second before taking a breath and trying to string the correct words into the right order, "You promised no catches,'

"I wouldn't say him accompanying us home is really a catch," Roman said with a smile and a shrug, well, at least Virgil knew he wouldn't be getting any help from his roommate any time soon. Deceit had him wrapped around his finger.

"I'd just like to spend a little more time with you both," Deceit said, ruffling Virgil's hair, "You're both obscenely adorable, and very very interesting,"

—-

"Could we stop for a break? We've been walking for what feels like hours, " Roman practically whined, by the looks of the sky, they really had been walking for a long time, the first streaks of the pink sunset were beginning to light up the sky. Virgil groaned.

"It's getting dark…" He said, wrapping his arms around himself. He didn't want to show weakness in front of Deceit, but he also really didn't want to be trapped in the forest at night.

"Maybe we should stop for the night? Set up some kind of camp?" Roman asked awkwardly, they hadn't brought any camping equipment with them, and all they had for a blanket was the picnic rug they'd packed.

"You needn't be worried," Deceit told them, coming to a stop in a small clearing, "You should be safe from anything else roaming the forest with me here,"

"...right?" Virgil nodded, not trusting the uncertainty that the 'should' left them with, "So do we stop or keep going?"

"It would be unwise to travel at night," Deceit told them, "We will stop,"

Virgil nodded, hunching his shoulders and glancing around at the trees, they suddenly looked a lot more sinister, As Roman and Deceit started to bustle around the clearing, Roman looking to see what they had left over from lunch- thank goodness Virgil had asked to bring some extra food- and Deceit using some sort of magic to make the clearing nicer. As time passed Virgil didn't move, he simply became more and more uneasy.

"Hey V?" Roman called from across the clearing, Virgil's head snapped up with a short breath, his eyes darted around again, when had it gotten so dark? And who had built the campfire? Why was it so cold…? "Are you ok there buddy?"

Virgil tried to breathe, but he looked around at the trees again and another wave of panic hit him, it was getting so dark now, it would be easy for something to reach out from the shadows and grab him, drag him off with a hand over his mouth so that he couldn't scream, they probably wouldn't even notice.

"I'm gonna hug you, ok?" Roman asked, a lot closer now, Virgil nodded and felt Roman's arms wrap themselves around him, he buried his nose in Roman's shoulder, drawing comfort from the only familiar thing around. He and Roman had done this so many times before, Roman hugging him while he panicked, it helped, it really did. But here, Virgil still felt vulnerable, with the forest at his back.

“What’s going on here?” Virgil heard Deceit’s voice from somewhere to their right, Virgil shifted, worried, but his tone sounded concerned, rather than accusatory.

“V is panicking,” Roman said, squeezing Virgil a little tighter when he tensed slightly, “He doesn’t like forests, or the dark, all that much,”

“I see, does this-” Virgil could assume he gestured to them in the pause, “-Help?”

“Usually yeah, V?” Roman asked, Virgil just shook his head into Roman’s shoulder, “Not this time though, somethings still stressing him out…”

Deceit hummed thoughtfully, before speaking softer than Virgil had heard all afternoon, “May I hold you as well?”

Virgil hesitated, but slowly nodded. After a moment, he felt a presence at his back that made him flinch, something was coming for him- he knew it!

“It’s alright sweetheart,” Oh, it was Deceit, Virgil suddenly felt really stupid, “You’re safe, we’ve got you,”

Another pair of arms wrapped around him, this time from behind, he felt Deceit’s nose nestle in his hair, Virgil repressed a shiver, he felt Deceit smile.

“Any better?” Roman asked, chin on Virgil’s shoulder.

“A little,” Virgil whispered, tightening his arms around Roman, Deceit hummed, and another pair of arms wrapped themselves around his middle.

“That's good,” Deceit practically purred, nuzzling his hair, Virgil sighed, leaning more heavily on Roman.

“Woah,” Roman huffed at the added weight, “I might be strong, but I can’t hold up both of you,”

“It may be best if we sit down, that is if you want to continue in this way,” Deceit said, pressing a kiss to the top of Virgil’s head, this time he did shiver.

“Well I- I guess it is cold out, so- that might not be so bad…” Virgil muttered.

“Admit it, Hot Topic, you’re just as gay as I am,” Roman said with a grin, Deceit chuckled.

“Come, let us sit by the fire,” Deceit said, drawing away just to take Virgil’s hand, gently pulling him, and thus Roman, towards the fire pit that had been set up, he lead them to a surprisingly comfortable bed of moss that Virgil was certain hadn’t been there when they arrived at the clearing. When had that gotten there?

“It’s so cold,” Virgil muttered, pulling his hoodie jacket closer around himself, scuffing his foot and hesitating to sit down, “We should light the fire…”

“How do you light a fire?” Roman asked, glancing around, “I’ve never been camping before,”

“I didn’t pack a lighter or matches or anything,” Virgil said sadly, scuffing his foot, turning back to the fire only to find it lit and burning away happily, Virgil glanced at Deceit, who just smirked at him.

“I’m summer,” Deceit said. By way of explanation, Roman looked confused, but ultimately shrugged and sat down on the moss.

“That would explain why you’re so warm,” Virgil said quietly, sitting down as well, Deceit grinned.

“If I’m so warm, and you’re cold, why aren’t you over here?” Deceit smirked at him, Virgil sighed, pulling his knees to his chest.

“You’re deceitful charming tricks won’t work on me,” Virgil muttered, looking away.

“I’m not trying to trick you, sweetheart,” Deceit said softly.

“He has trust issues,” Roman stage whispered, Virgil glared past Deceit at him, before shuffling a little closer to the fire and staring into its centre, the crackling sticks, Roman wasn’t going to stop spilling his secrets to the faerie, so he may as well not bother. Roman had never been good at keeping secrets, so really it had only been a matter of time.

“He was kinda like this when we first met too,” Roman explained with wide gestures, “He wouldn’t tell me his name for the first three months we were living together, even though I did everything he asked to prove I wasn’t a faerie the first week we met, so um, I can imagine he’d have more issues with you- because- you are- you know,”

“An actual faerie, yes,” Deceit nodded, “i am aware,”

“Sorry,” Roman said with a cringe, “V’s just… I’m not sure why but he struggles to open up to people,”

“It is understandable,” Deceit said, before gesturing to himself, “Considering,”

“What’s so wrong with fae anyway? You’ve been really nice to us this whole time,” Roman asked, shuffling a little closer to Deceit and looking at him as if to ask if it was alright, Deceit smiled softly at him and wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

“I am not your average faerie,” Deceit hummed, trailing a pattern across Roman’s shoulder with his gloved fingers, Virgil watched the movement from the corner of his eyes, covered by his hair, “V is right to be wary of us, most would have tried harder to take your names or lure you into their circles, or make a deal and trick you, there are many things I could have done that I didn't, that many others would have,"

"So why didn't you?" Virgil asked bitterly, "What's so different about you?"

“I… don’t really know,” Deceit shrugged, “I suppose I was simply… intrigued by you both, and it does ring true that I have been lacking in adequate company as of late so… it seems that perhaps fate brought the two of you to my circle, I wasn’t about to waste that, now was I?”

Virgil huffed, he wasn’t sure what to do with that answer, he shivered again, even with the warmth of the fire close by, the forest was still all around him, no shelter, no safety, no security…

“I’m not gonna be able to sleep,” Virgil said instead of answering.

“Are you not tired?” Deceit asked, “You look exhausted,”

“Thanks,” Virgil glared, “I’m too anxious to sleep, my brain won’t let me switch off, I’m too jumpy, too vigilant, do you need more reasons?”

“I didn’t think humans were supposed to be this afraid all the time,” Deceit said quietly, Roman shifted.

“They’re not,” He said almost sadly, Virgil curled further into himself.

“I get it, ok,” Virgil snapped, surprising even himself, his anger was more directed at Roman than Deceit, of course, Roman was the only one who was talking about it really, “I know it’s weird that I do my courses online because I hate leaving the house, I know it’s weird that I refuse to wear a nametag at work, I know it’s weird that I barely talk when we’re around other people, I know I don’t like to talk about myself or start conversations, I get that it’s not normal, I know being so anxious about everything isn’t normal just- leave me alone,”

Virgil turned around so his back was facing them, he wasn’t about to cry- he wasn’t. Where the hell had that outburst come from?

To be honest, he knew it really had been a long time coming. Roman tried so hard to make sure he was comfortable, but he never really understood, he didn’t get why Virgil wouldn’t want to go to the campus or meet his friends, he often put pressure on Virgil to come and watch his shows or go to some party- he didn’t understand and he never would, because Virgil was different. At least in the little town he grew up in his superstition wasn’t questioned, now, living in the city, it seemed like everything about him was out of place.

“Would it make you more comfortable,” Virgil choked on a sharp breath as he heard Deceit’s voice right next to his ear, he didn’t lift his head from his knees- he wouldn’t let the faerie see him crying, Roman was one thing, Deceit was a whole other, “If we continued travelling through the night? We’re close enough now that we’d reach the border in just a few hours,”

“You- you said it was more dangerous,” Virgil forced out, “Don’t- don’t want to put Princey in danger…”

“Hm,” Deceit said, the grass crunched next to him and a warm hand was pressed to his back, between his shoulder blades, despite the spike of fear he first felt, he found the hand rather comforting, grounding, “I possess the means to protect you both from anything we might come across,”

“I-” Virgil said, before trying to take a deep breath- it stuttered on the way in, “We need to- to rest…”

“So you’d be more comfortable staying here?” Deceit asked.

“Think so…” Virgil nodded, “We have- we have light here,”

“Alright then, we’ll stay,” Deceit nodded, “Would it help settle your nerves if I kept watch while you and your prince attempted to sleep?”

Despite the situation, Virgil found himself blushing furiously, “He’s not- he’s not my prince! He- I- We-”

“No need to get so flustered, darling, I’m only teasing,” Deceit said, smirk carrying through his voice, “My question?”

“You’re- oh, uh… not really,” Virgil admitted quietly, “I still don’t trust you not to stab me while we sleep,”

“Hm, I plan to keep watch regardless, so, in that case, would you like to join me in watching over your… friend?”

“Yeah I- I guess that works,” Virgil nodded, finally lifting his head up and hastily wiping the tears from his cheeks, Deceit didn’t comment and Virgil was… really glad about that.

Roman fell asleep with his head in Deceit’s lap, with the faerie running fingers through his hair not even ten minutes later. Virgil still sat a little ways away, knees still tucked to his chest, but he was looking out into the forest now, making sure nothing was going to come for them.

“Is he always this- touchy?” Deceit asked, voice quiet even though it sounded loud in the surrounding silence.

“I’m glad to have a break,” Virgil answered with a huff, Deceit raised an eyebrow, “Yes, he’s always like that,”

“And you?” Deceit asked.

“Me?”

“Yes,” Deceit nodded, looking over at Virgil, his scales glinted in the light of the fire, and Virgil was captivated for a moment, “How do you feel about touch?”

“I uh- well I guess I’m more reserved than Princey, uh- I don’t really like being touched by people I don’t trust, especially strangers,” Virgil said with a shrug.

“But you allowed me to help when you were overwhelmed earlier,” Deceit pointed out, “And didn’t seem bothered by my touch otherwise, yet you continue to say that you don’t trust me?”

Virgil realised he’d been backed into a corner, albeit what seemed to be a padded fluffy one by someone who really didn’t seem to want to hurt him.

“I just-” Virgil said, before sighing, “I don’t trust anyone, really,”

“I will not harm you,” Deceit said, meeting his eyes, “And I will do my best not to let anything else do so either,”

“That… helps, a little,” Virgil whispered, “Fae can’t lie,”

“Does knowing that help?” Deceit asked, twisting Roman’s hair into a braid as he spoke, almost as though he didn’t realise he was doing it.

“Yeah,” Virgil nodded, “When you say definite statements like that, at least.”

“I shall aspire to do so more, then,” Deceit smiled at him and goddamn it Virgil was so gay- so gay, “Would you like to come over here? I swear not to hurt you.”

Virgil hesitated, but eventually gave in- he really wanted to hug the faerie, even if he wouldn’t admit it. He shuffled closer and Deceit wrapped an arm around his shoulder. Virgil sighed happily and dropped his head onto Deceit’s shoulder- he was so warm- he felt the faerie chuckle more than heard it.

“How many hands do you have,” Virgil questioned quietly as a third hand brushed through his hair in a way that was so comforting.

“Six,” Deceit said with a quiet laugh, “i’m surprised you didn’t ask sooner,”

“Didn’t wanna offend,” Virgil murmured as the hand around his shoulders squeezed him a little tighter, he felt another hand around his waist, settling on his hip.

Deceit hummed, “Just relax little one, I’ll keep you safe.”

Despite his previous hesitations, Virgil found it easier to relax now, he was surprised to find that he really did feel safe. After barely any time at all, he fell asleep.

—-

Virgil awoke with a yelp to the sound of a bird cawing way too close by to be a pigeon outside of his window. He heard a sharp hiss before the bird screeched and seemingly flew away.

“What the fuck,” Virgil muttered, blinking his eyes open only to find he was looking at the morning sky, the sunrise making the clouds pink and basking just the tops of the trees in a warm light. The events of yesterday came back to him in an instant and Virgil groaned, flopping back onto the cool grass, he was going to miss his lecture this morning.

“Stupid creature,” A voice hissed from somewhere to his right, literally, it sounded almost like a snake- if a snake could talk, he heard the bird caw again, further away this time “You woke him up, you fiend, yes get out of here, I don’t want to see you again until you think about what you’ve done,”

“Shut up,” Virgil slurred rolling over, “Wanna go back to sleep,”

“I brought you breakfast,” The voice- Virgil placed it as Deceit’s, it certainly wasn’t Roman’s, “If you want it,”

“Not eating faery food,” Virgil said tiredly.

“Told you,” Roman said from somewhere across the clearing, “He won’t eat it,”

“V, you’re going to be walking for a few hours and you havent eaten anything substantial since before you arrived at my circle yesterday,” Deceit reasoned, “This food was gathered from the forest, it does not share the properties of food from faerie,”

Virgil groaned and pushed himself up, rubbing his sleeve across his eyes to try and wake himself up a little, he’d have to go without coffee today, “What have you got?”

“Berries, mainly,” Deceit answered, “And a few apples,”

“Gimme the apples,” Virgil said, holding out a hand, an apple was tossed to him and he inspected it carefully before taking a bite. Thankfully it was a good apple, he really was hungry. Roman spluttered.

“Woah ok so what did I miss, what happened while I was asleep?” Roman asked, sounding astounded, “Cursed? A spell? Bribery?”

“I have done nothing to V,” Deceit answered, “I assure you, nothing bad has happened without your knowledge,”

“Yeah Princey, nothing happened,” Virgil said, standing up and brushing himself off as he took another bite out of the apple, “So uh- which way do we need to head?”

“Southeast,” Deceit said, when they both stared at him confused, he pointed off into the forest, “That way,”

“Excellent!” Roman grinned, before starting off in that direction with all the bravado of a real life fantasy prince who’d had four doses of coffee. Virgil sighed, stretching with a yawn.

“Is he always that enthusiastic in the mornings?” Deceit asked, raising an eyebrow as Virgil stood up, he shrugged with a tired grunt.

“Somehow,” Virgil nodded, before trailing off after Roman, pulling up his hood and hunching his shoulders as he marched off after his more normal companion, somehow Deceit managed to catch up to walk between them. Well, at least he knew that the faerie was still coming with them.

—-

It really did only take a few hours of walking before the trio arrived at the edge of the forest, right at the point Virgil and Roman had entered around the same time just the day before.

As they approached the treeline, Deceit stopped, looking back at the forest, Roman caught on quickly, since he had been holding Deceit’s hand again, it took Virgil a second later to notice, when he almost crashed into Roman.

“What’s going on?” Virgil asked, eyes darting around, suddenly more aware than he had been previously, “Is something wrong?”

“You’re fine, darling,” Deceit reassured, “Nothing is necessarily going on,”

“Well that was a statement,” Virgil said, looking at Deceit with an eyebrow raised, he looked much more awkward than he had at any point before, “What happened to being direct?”

“Well, we’ve arrived at the edge of the forest,” Deceit said. Instead of answering him, Roman and Virgil shared a glance, he was redirecting, “I trust that you can both get wherever you’re going from here?”

“...Yes we can,” Roman nodded, shifting from foot to foot, “But… I was under the impression that you were coming as well?”

“Princey, call us a taxi so we don’t have to wait forever,” Virgil commanded, Roman pulled out his phone, looking at the screen for a moment before gasping.

“Oh my goodness!” Roman cried, “Sweet sweet phone signal! Oh instagram I missed you so much-"

“Princey, focus,”

“Oh right,” Roman nodded, pulling up something on his phone.

“We’re still gonna have to walk a while to get to the point where the uber can pick us up,” Virgil said, turning to Deceit and holding out his hand, “So, are you coming?”

“I am not particularly aware of the route from here,” Deceit told him, eyeing his hand.

“Don’t worry about it, Princey and I have that covered,” Virgil said with a half smile.

“Alright then,” Deceit said, taking Virgil’s hand, “Lead the way, darling,”

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