[basically post marriage (with their respective partners) Virgil and Logan talking. This is a few years into the future]
It was warm out, but not too hot yet. The type of sun that makes you want nothing more but to just sit in the grass and take your fill of its rays.
As a dhampir, Virgil hated days like these. It was worse when he was younger, his softer skin he had in his adolescence was always singed before even noon could hit.
But…as he got older, he learned to bear it, mostly for his friend…
He looked to the right of him, an elf. Someone he wouldn’t have ever been friends with back in university.
Though, he did quite enjoy his calm demeanor, and the way he could bask in the sun.
Logan sat with his legs crisscrossed and leaned alllllll the way back, using his forearms to hold up his torso.
His chin was tilted up towards the heavens, letting the warmth hit as much of his exposed body as possible.
Virgil sat with his knees hugged to his chest, trying not to look up at the sky too much. A parasol rested on his back, shielding his head from any more toasting.
“So we’re kind of like…brothers in law, right?” Virgil asked, picking at the grass. Logan took a moment to give him his attention, he tilted his head down a bit and just barely opened one eye. He looked at the other.
“I guess you could say.” His voice was gentle, like honey drawn from a tap.
“I never really understood…” Virgil began, then chuckled a bit. “You’re an elf, and at that, you are a hot elf. I’m sure you could have charmed your way into royalty with just that smile.” His words weren’t flirtatious, he spoke as if dealing in absolute truths.
“Why would you choose Remus?” He asked. Logan gave a blank expression for a moment, then sat up, putting his hands in his lap.
He thought for a few seconds, as if he had never considered there to be a gap between their leagues.
“I suppose what you said is true, in early adolescence I did receive a lot of attention from potential suitors, but…” Logan paused, letting out a sigh.
“They never cared for me intellectually.” He admitted, Virgil’s face scrunched up in confusion.
“What? I thought elves were typically really smart.” Virgil crossed his arms over the top of his knees, Logan laughed.
“Yes, that is correct. Elves are among the highest intellect of all common species.” Logan confirmed.
“So, what was their problem, then? How come there were so many stupid elves?” He questioned, Logan let out a sharp exhale before chuckling a bit.
“They were all fine. I was the dumb one among them.” Logan admitted, Virgil’s eyes widened for just a second before he quickly masked his shock.
He had a million questions, but in his friend’s face, he saw hurt. As if he was reliving his yester years right there. He cleared his throat.
“That night—“ He said abruptly, “When you three joined us. When we set up camp, Remus and I got to talking.” Logan let out an embarrassed laugh through his teeth. “I got to talking, Remus just stared at me the whole time, completely dumbfounded.” He smiled as he told the story, Virgil was shocked he had never heard this before.
“I realized how much I had been talking, and how little he must have comprehended, so I started apologizing. After a few minutes, he grabbed my arm—“ Logan sat up a bit, getting more into his story.
“Which scared me, because of the fact that he had tried to kill me earlier on. I digress. He seemed to think real hard before he said to me, ‘Remus listen forever. One day, Remus understand.’” A large smile plastered Logan’s face, while a small one just barely tugged at Virgil’s lips.
“How do you remember so much? That happened so long ago.” Virgil asked, his voice filled with awe. Some days he couldn’t even remember what he had for breakfast.
“In the grand scheme of things, it wasn’t that long ago.” Logan corrected, Virgil rolled his eyes.
“Yeah yeah, just wait until you’re my age. You’ll be forgetting everything.” Virgil joked, but the warm air between them suddenly felt quite cold. Logan’s face dropped.
“When I am… do you think I’ll forget Remus?” He asked, his eyebrows furrowed downwards. Virgil chuckled and patted him on the back.
“No. You don’t. Early memories stay, they just don’t leave much room for the new ones to move in.” Virgil told him, Logan looked at him with concern.
He felt better to hear that, but worse for his friend. His conflicted emotions made him quite awkward.
The elf looked down at his hands, he fidgeted with a ring that adorned his left hand. He snickered, quickly dusting away that thought for a more pleasant one.
“You know what he said to me during his vows?” Logan asked, the dhampir shook its head.
“He said to me, ‘I will listen to you forever, for every day I know you will help me understand.’” Logan quoted, sighing dreamily.
Virgil’s jaw dropped a bit, he hadn’t really thought about how Remus’ speech had changed over the years. He had forgotten how primitive the orc’s language skills had been when they were younger.
“It took me so long to get him to start using I’s. I nearly cried just from that alone.” Logan drew in a deep breath, a mellow smile sticking.
“To finally have someone who thinks I’m the smartest in the world after a whole life of being doubted and second guessed? That’s why I picked Remus. To him, I’m as smart as the other elves are to me.” Logan explained, Virgil couldn’t help but crack a full smile. It was cute.
“And, of course his unwavering loyalty towards me combined with his eagerness to not only execute, but perform any and all, sometimes disgusting,” Logan paused for a moment, he nodded suddenly before continuing, “And almost always humiliating requests I might have…. Yeah that sold me too.” Virgil’s face dropped almost immediately, he fake retched.
“Oh my god. You’re insufferable. And disgusting.” Virgil barked at him, Logan rolled his eyes.
“Oh yeah? Why’d you fall for Roman?” The elf asked in an accusatory tone. Virgil scoffed, taking a moment to think.
“Pffft.” He let out, covering his mouth. “I fell for him…cuz I bit him and he liked it. And I liked that he liked it.” Virgil told him, Logan lightly punched his arm.
Virgil laughed it off, waving his hand in the air.
After their chatter died down, there was an awkward silence between them. Neither knew what to say next.
Between them, they both prayed for something to break the tension.
“Hey guys! I didn’t know you were hanging out here today!” A voice called out, footsteps quick moved towards them.
Patton soon plopped down next to them in the grass.
“Whatcha guys talking about?” He asked, he was nearly perfectly timed to break the ice. Like an angel sent from god.
“We’re talking about why we fell in love with Remus and Roman.” Logan told him, the satyr awed.
“Care to share what made you fall in love with Janus?” Virgil asked, twirling his parasol by rolling the handle between his hands.
“It was never really a moment. No arrow through my heart, no butterflies. At least, not at first.” The satyr laughed. “We got off to a rocky start.”
“Rocky start? You wouldn’t be alone with him for like six months!” Logan reminded. Patton chuckled awkwardly.
“I was just cautious of a stranger in our group!” He defended, covering his face slightly.
“You showed up in my tent the night we met!” Virgil shouted, Patton scoffed.
“You had both Roman and Logan!”
“HE KIDNAPPED ME!” Patton shouted, then let a huff out of his nose. “He stuck a needle in me. And once I knew what he was capable of, he scared me.” Patton crossed his arms, leaning back against the grave.
“But he won me over. Slowly. Very slowly. He would do things that I never asked him to. He would tell me things would be okay. And he never EVER got bored of listening to me play music.” He sighed dreamily.
The silence Patton had broken previously was more than happy to return.
Logan stared down at the floor, he gripped his pant legs tightly.
“Does it ever start to feel okay?” He gritted his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut.
“Of course it does, kiddo!” Patton assured, his voice sincere. Virgil wrapped his arm around the elf’s shoulders and gave him a squeeze.
“The first one is always the worst.” Virgil told him, Logan fought back tears.
“I don’t think…I don’t think there’ll be another.” Logan cried out, shoving his face into his hands.
“It gets easier, Logan, it really does.” Patton assured, moving to sit on the other side of the elf. He gently placed his hand on his back, just under where Virgil’s arm rested.
“How am I supposed to do it? How can I live so long and manage losing everyone close to me?” Logan asked. Virgil and Patton shared sad glances.
“At some point, it just becomes routine. You get used to your loved ones dying.” Virgil explained, though his words provided little comfort. Patton shook his head.
“Or, you learn to see the beauty in it. Fleeting love, ephemeral joy, heartwrenching pain.” Patton rubbed the elf’s back in circles, “You think, if I’m gonna be alive for so long, I might aswell love as many people as I can.”
Logan let out a shakey breath, then a small pained whimper.
“There has to be another option.” He brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them tightly.
“You can always fill your life with people who will live longer than you. That way, it doesn’t end with them leaving you. It ends with you leaving them.” Virgil drew his arm back, leaving his hand on the elf’s left shoulder.
Logan looked over at him, realization in his eyes. The dhampir nodded gently, his eyes holding kindness.
“You would do that?” Logan asked, shock painting his face. Virgil chuckled.
“Yeah, I’ve got a couple thousand years to kill.” He shrugged, as if it was nothing. “But only if you do one thing for me.” Virgil lifted a finger, Logan nodded.
“Paint me a portrait. Since your memory is better than mine. I don’t want to forget his face.” Virgil’s eyes lost a bit of light as he stared off, Logan furrowed his eyebrows sympathetically.
Logan looked over to Patton, who had been staring into the sky. The elf’s gaze caught his attention.
“I’ve got a few hundred years left in me, I could stick around too!” He smiled, Logan returned the look back to him.
They were quiet for a few moments again, this time it wasn’t awkward or heavy. Logan felt a pang in his heart.
“What happens when we die?” He asked, looking to Virgil. He hummed a bit.
“I find new meaning in life, and I come here and clean everyone’s graves until I forget who you are.” Virgil told him, Logan looked ahead of them.
“Don’t clean Remus’. He likes the dirt.” Logan instructed, Virgil let out a chuckle.
Logan glanced between the two before finally taking in a deep breath, relaxing himself. He exhaled.
“I think I’ll start writing books. Retellings of our adventures, so that you never have to forget.” Logan decided, the dhampir rested his head on the other’s shoulder.
Oh did I meantion that a couple years meant like 70-80?
