(title pending) Ghost Logan in Poly
Virgil had been planning on moving into a house with his friend/crush Roman. However, when Roman realizes Virgil found an actual haunted house to move into, Roman refuses to live there. Virgil tries to get to know the honestly not dangerous ghost and tries to convince Roman that it really is ok to join him in the house. All the while a blooming relationship is forming between human friends and ghost.
Relationships: romantic Analogical, romantic LAMP, background Dukeceit
Wordcount: 8491
Warnings: ghost Logan
Notes: Tuliptober Prompt 31- Free day
I considered just switching who in Dukeceit was the ghost, but I wanted to put more of a spin on it than that. Plus, I don’t often write Remus’ pov. It still intimidates me. I also considered making Virgil the ghost, but that almost seemed too obvious. Plus, he was the other one of the sides’ characters I could see actually being excited about living with a ghost. So with that, I thought Logan matched closest to ghost Janus’ vibe and thought this way sounded interesting.
(end note for Tuliptober series will be separate post. )
Based on @tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors Ghost au
@transexualfoxprince
Virgil hadn’t been trying to find a haunted house to live in. No really, he wasn’t. He just found himself curious about them with his interest in ghosts. He tried to look up the history of the houses he was looking at living in anyways. The adult son, Logan, of a family who had owned the turn-of-the-century house had contracted the Spanish flu and died in the house. He was supposedly buried on the property somewhere. Virgil wasn’t sure how they’d be able to put the house on the market without listing that in the records somewhere. So he didn’t really have any confirmation for that.
Someone young died before their time in this house? Yeah, Virgil had to find out if the guy’s spirit was still around. It was better to know that sort of thing anyways so he could prepare himself. Virgil was pretty sure his real estate agent, Mindy, thought he was some sort of Freak. She hadn’t said anything, of course, considering he actually wanted to look at her least desirable houses.
It was nerve-wracking to ask her if they could do the walkthroughs at night if possible, he knew it was strange. But he also figured it would give him a higher of figuring out if there was an actual ghost on the property. This time though, she obliged him of his strange request.
Virgil didn’t bother trying to hide the spirit box he brought with him as he walked up to join Mindy in front of the house. Like pretending he wasn’t holding the contraption would eliminate the weirdness of it. Virgil coughed.
“Uh, ready.” Then he flipped the spirit box on.
Mindy glanced at the device but chose not to comment.
“…Right,” she said, unlocking the door and leading him inside.
Mindy chatted about the houses’ features. Two bedrooms, good for his roommate situation. Virgil’s attention was divided though as he also listened to the spirit box. So far, it was just static.
“You mind if I walk around on my own for a bit?” Virgil asked.
Mindy eyed the contraption again and then slowly nodded.
“The owner doesn’t live here, and it’s between tenants, so there’s nothing you shouldn’t touch. Just-be careful.”
Virgil nodded. “Yeah, of course I will.”
Virgil hurried his pace carefully up the set of stairs.
There was a widow’s walk up there that had the most reports of apparitions. Virgil figured he had the highest chance of seeing an apparition there.
“H-hello?” Virgil asked. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “Are there any spirits here willing to speak with me?”
The box cycled. Virgil didn’t hear anything.
“Is Logan here?” he tried, “Will you talk to me?”
“No,” hissed the box, “Go away,”
Virgil jumped with a gasp, fumbling the box for a moment.
“Whoa…so cool.”
He actually got an intelligent response…on his second try! And then a full, if short, sentence. That exceeded his expectations.
“Uh, don’t worry! I don’t mean you any harm. My name is Virgil!” Virgil exclaimed. He was practically vibrating. “Did you mean no as in you’re not Logan, or no, you don’t want to talk to me?”
Virgil shook himself. That was probably too complicated of a question. He should know not to go for more than yes-and-no-
“Talktoyou,” spat the box.
“Oh my gosh,” said Virgil. “Oh my gosh, you’re an actual ghost in here. That is so heckin’ cool! You’re so cool oh my gosh! And you’re having a whole heckin- full blown conversation with my oh my gosh you’re so smart! You must be. Okay, okay, so you are Logan then?”
There was a longer pause this time. Virgil held his breath.
“Yes,”
Virgil jumped again slightly. Less so than the first time though. He then pumped his fist in the air.
“Awesome! Logan, you have totally just made my day- week, month, year, oh my, you are just, literally actually just talking to me! This is so stinkin’ cool!”
Virgil paused to take a breath and reign himself in. He was getting very excited, but he didn’t want to scare Logan off.
“Okay, Logan. I won’t make you talk to me if you don’t want to. Just know your very existence here, to me, is really cool. I hope you don’t mind me looking into this house. The last thing you need is more residents disturbing your peace. I’m hoping I can find some way not to disturb your ghostly existence if you’ll give me the chance though. I’ll try my best to make accommodations for you. You did live here first after all.”
Virgil winced at his last sentence, he probably could have worded that better.
Virgil waited a moment to see if he’d get anything else, then he started to turn around. But then, Virgil noticed in the corner of his eye, the delicate outline of a hand, a partial apparition-
On instinct, Virgil reached for the hand, but it vanished before he even got close. His hand closed around on nothing but cold, empty air. Virgil caught his breath again.
He made his way down the stairs. He was smiling when he made his way over to Mindy. For some reason, she jumped upon seeing him there suddenly.
“I think this might be the one.”
“…Yeah?” said Mindy, looking cautiously excited.
Virgil nodded.
“Yeah, like you said. Sometimes you just feel the perfect one in your heart. I am sure feeling that.”
-
Logan watched as the latest human chattered with the real estate agent about buying the house as they left. Logan felt…well, strange. This was not how these typical interactions went. Not that Logan had very many, especially not as of late. A potential buyer bringing in a spirit box was odd. Most people who had heard the house was haunted and still wanted to buy it were the ones who didn’t actually believe that it was haunted. But this man-Virgil- had been looking to see if he was there. He seemed to be relatively sure about Logan’s potential ghostly existence there. He spoke to Logan…and seemed very excited to speak to Logan.
Gosh. Logan could barely recall the last time someone actually wanted to talk to him. It must have easily been decades then. Granted, much of it came from the fact that Logan was well a ghost. But even still though, he’d take what he could get. Virgil still seemed to treat Logan with a certain level of respect, from what Logan could tell.
Logan tried to humor Virgil the next few times he came to his house. It started to become easier to use that little screaming box the more he did. He could still only manage short sentences though. That would not fly. Logan hated his communication is so limited. It was one of the most frustrating parts of being a ghost. Logan had been known for his long-winded contributions to a conversation when he was alive. It was something he missed honestly. Like another part from his life lost.
At least Virgil didn’t seem to mind though. The other did his best to keep up a conversation with Logan, even if it was just a retelling of his day. He always seemed delighted to simply be able to chat with Logan at all. Even if with this restriction Logan was a truly abysmal conversation partner.
Logan found he wasn’t dreading this new roommate though. Unlike how he usually was.
Renters didn’t seem to want to stay in the house very long. Logan rolled his eyes as he thought about it.It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the fear of ghosts. That just didn’t make it any less annoying when at times he would hardly do anything. There had been a constant rotation of irritating, skittish families. It was exhausting.
Especially when Logan would find himself fading to almost nothing for a few weeks. He’d wake up to find the entire house full of new furniture, people, and everything. There was only so much he could do to avoid scares when he wasn’t fully in control of where he faded into. There was a time he tried to be more accommodating. He just didn’t see the point anymore.
Logan was someone who liked to have more control of things in his life when he was alive. Getting sick and having to deal with the nebulousness of being a spiritual entity was not fun. The way he was unable to grasp onto time and the newer technologies was frustrating as well. He used to love new technology. He loved being very knowledge about what was considered intellectual knowledge of his time. Yet, now he was very much not on top of things.
So he tended to hate the new things on the sheer basis of no longer being in on knowing about their function. He actually got headaches for these new things when he tried to wrap his brain around them.
But Virgil- he came several times before he moved in. He greeted Logan politely and sometimes shared fun facts about himself while being generally cordial. It felt like Virgil was waiting on something though.
Maybe even…waiting on Logan.
Ah. Maybe he was hoping for some sign of approval that it was okay for Virgil to move in? Logan would almost think it was out of protective instincts. But Virgil has loosened up more as their almost conversations had continued. Logan didn’t think Virgil was scared of him. More likely, Virgil wanted to respect his wants. Respect Logan’s claim on the house he had died in. It was very considerate, and something Logan had not received ever since passing.
He thought it fair to give Virgil the permission he was seeking.
The next time Virgil arrived, Logan watched as he set up the little box on the kitchen counter. Logan summoned all his energy and tapped the little box to speak first as soon as it was ready,
“Salutations,” He said. Logan tried his best to enunciate, but it seemed distortions were inevitable with the creaming machine. Perhaps communication would continue better if Logan practiced speaking out loud on his own. He hated how this thing screeched.
Virgil gaped and his eyes widened. He looked around the area, before directing his gaze back to the box.
“Uh, hey Lo!” Virgil said enthusiastically. “You usually don’t start so chatty when I come by. Are you glad to see me?”
Logan took a breath he didn’t really need.
“Yes,” he said. Virgil gasped and then his face split into a grin.
“…Yeah? It’s good to hear from you too.”
Logan felt like he could smile too. Perhaps this was something new that he could be ok with.
-
On move-in day, Virgil brought in his ghost equipment first. He hoped this wouldn’t seem like it was going against his promise of meaning no harm. But Virgil wasn’t going to do anything to Logan from this of course. He couldn’t help his curiosity. Virgil set up a camera system and thermometers in each room. Also, an EMF recorder in the widow’s walk and the two bedrooms that shared a wall, which seemed to be the spots Logan had the easiest time talking in. Virgil couldn’t leave the spirit bow on all the time, but he wanted to try and catch any glimpse of Logan that he could even when it was off.
“I’m just doing my gear right now,” Virgil spoke into the phone as he hooked up the camera in the kitchen.
Roman sighed on the phone. “When will you be done then? Pat wants to be sure you won’t try to move in yourself.”
Virgil huffed. “Just come tomorrow. I’m too much of an anxious mess to do that anyways. Remy is gonna lend me the truck tomorrow to start bringing in my actual stuff,” said Virgil.
Roman hmmed.
“Roman, it really is fine.”
“No Virgil, it is not.”
In Virgil’s excitement about meeting an actual ghost, there was something he forgot to consider. He was planning to move into this house with someone else. His friend/crush Roman. Roman pretty much refused to go near the house as soon as he learned it was haunted. It was disheartening. Virgil was excited about the house, but he had also been looking forward to moving in somewhere with Roman. He hoped he’d be able to eventually convince Roman to give the place a chance. For now, Roman crashed with his brother Remus who was living with his boyfriend Janus. Since they lived near the new house.
“You moved into the most haunted house you’ve ever successfully recorded something in, said Roman, “On purpose. You chat with the ghost like it’s your friend.”
“Hey,” said Virgil, “I think he is my friend. It’s really not bad. Nothing has really seemed dangerous about this.”
Virgil heard Roman scoff. There was an abrupt hissing sound from the other room, and Virgil stilled.
“Hold on,” he said. Virgil moved into the living room. He found that Logan slid his box containing the camera set-up Virgil hadn’t gotten to yet in this room from one corner to another.
“Whoa,” Virgil couldn’t help but still be amazed every time he saw something new from Logan.
“Why did you do that, Lo? Is something wrong?”
“I hear you talking to it,” groused Roman. Virgil sighed.
“Him, Ro,” Virgil corrected, “Okay, Lo, I’ll put the camera in that corner instead. I’ll get out the spirit box in case you want to tell me why you even care.”
There was no response, but hopefully, Logan still heard him. So Virgil moved back to finish in the kitchen.
“Fine, he,” said Roman, “He who is dead, and probably not all that there. He could totally pull a Poltergeist on you. Then I will have to live with knowing my b- friend experienced the plot of a horror movie.”
“Ro..,” said Virgil, “Lo’s cool. He’s actually, kinda sweet.”
Roman paused for a long moment.
“Virgil,” Roman said with a hint of something unreadable.
“What?”
“Please tell me you are not developing a crush on this ghost.”
Virgil sputtered. That was the last thing he wanted Roman to think.
Someone spoke on Roman’s end of the line too indistinct for him to make out. Roman sighed.
“Yeah yeah, I’m aware you don’t believe in ghosts, Janus,” said Roman. “When Virgil is ready to let us over to his new place, I’m sure you can share you skepticism to your heart’s content.”
“Oh, I think Lo make a believe out of him yet.” Said Virgil, “He talks to me just like anyone, there’s no way to explain it away.”
There was another sliding noise, this time in the back hall. Virgil went over to where he’d heard it, and found that Logan had again moved his box of equipment, this time toward the back door.
“And, he has opinions on the camera setup, apparently.”
Roman made a distressed noise at that. Virgil sighed again.
“I’ll find a way to show it really is ok here, Ro. I’m gonna go for now to see what he wants. Don’t panic. I’ll check in with you periodically.”
-
Virgil hoped that getting other friends to see that Logan wasn’t bad would help him to eventually convince Roman to move in with him. He didn’t know if Logan would be comfortable with that either, but maybe this would convince him.
-
Virgil’s…equipment set Logan’s teeth on edge. Virgil had explained that these were more devices like the screaming box, things that would help him to see and talk to and interact with Logan. It’s just that, it felt like a lot. Something in every room, and facing out in the yard where Logan’s urn was buried somewhere. He didn’t really remember.
Virgil was doing everything he could, it seemed, to meet Logan properly. But this wasn’t just for Virgil apparently. Virgil had brought over a friend. Logan wasn’t sure how he felt about it. This person seemed nice enough, and didn’t completely freak out when Virgil mentioned wanting to show him that his new ghost roommate was nice. Logan didn’t want to be some sideshow, but he didn’t think that was Virgil’s intention anyways.
Logan had been trying to figure out what the issue was, with context clues and a bit of eavesdropping. Virgil wanted someone named Roman to join him in moving in. Logan didn’t understand the significance. Clearly, this was a relationship Virgil valued, with this person. And yet he wasn’t just leaving Logan either. It was nice in a way, even if Logan didn’t understand it.
So this current friend visiting, who wasn’t Roman. He wore glasses, like Logan’s own. He smiled but with uncertainty. Not outright skittish like some Logan had seen in the past, but not as open as Virgil. Logan didn’t understand the point of this.
“It’s possible nothing will happen, of course. I get the feeling he’s shy around other people, which is honestly understandable.”
The friend nodded. “Lo?”
“Oh,” Virgil blushed and shuffled.
“Yeah, his name is Logan. I probably should have made sure a nickname was ok first, hm? Here. Hey Lo! Do you like it if I call you Lo as a nickname? Knock once for no, twice for yes.”
Logan didn’t hesitate to almost immediately double knock, just inside the wall of the room they were in. Both Virgil and the friend startled. Then Virgil smiled fondly.
“Sweet,” he crowed.
“Oh my gosh,” said the friend, “I heard that.”
Virgil rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh yeah, he hasn’t done that before. It’s probably easier than using that spirit bow.”
Logan had been practicing when he had the space to on his own, to talk out loud. Because he found that, for the first time in decades, he really wanted to talk to someone. To properly talk to Virgil.
Virgil placed his hand on the spot Logan’s knock had come from. Logan found himself longing to be able to press his hand right alongside Virgil. Virgil ran his thumb over the old drypaper with a smile.
“Oh! That reminds me.”
Virgil guided Patton over to where he could watch the videos from the cameras set up. Logan of course followed.
“Wow,” Virgil breathed. Logan hovered over their shoulders to get a look at whatever it was they were seeing, “Ghostlights everywhere. In every room, and a lot of them. You sure do move around a lot, Lo.”
Yeah, thought Logan fondly, I was following you.
“But you seem to like this room best. It probably used to be yours, didn’t it?”
Logan didn’t really need to respond. He noticed though that Virgil seemed to like it better when he did. He knocked firmly on the floor twice, figuring Virgil would remember it had meant yes earlier. The friend jumped again and looked at the spot on the floor where Logan had knocked.
Virgil smiled and nodded. “Yeah I thought as much.” Then his face fell slightly.
“Wait, is it okay for me to still stay in this room? Oh, why didn’t I think about that earlier? Logan decided then that Virgil’s distress was a higher priority than possibly spooking the friend.
Logan knocked twice again, even louder. Virgil relaxed.
“Ok, thanks. Just let me know if that changes. I don’t want to seem like I’m taking anything of yours, even if I technically own this house now,”
“Virgil,” The friend gently put a hand on Virgil’s shoulder.
“This Lo-or Logan, made an effort to reassure you that sleeping here was ok when you were in distress. As far I’m concerned, that’s a sure good sign that this is okay. And uh, I trust your judgement about this. He seems nice. I look forward to getting to know him more with you.”
That brought a warm feeling to Logan. Warmth. Gosh, had he ever felt warm since he died? Considering his last living moments he was wracked with chills, it had likely been even longer.
Virgil smiled at his living friend. “Thanks Patton, I really appreciate it.
Patton. Maybe he could use this. For his friend and potential other friend, Patton, who also seemed nice. Logan focused on the warm feeling, putting all his focus into it, and spoke,
“Hello, Virgil…friend,” He said. Logan watched Virgil’s face light up even as he instantly felt drained and exhausted. Patton looked shocked for a moment before his face lit up as well. That had definitely been worth it. Being able to make someone he cared about smile again.
-
It was nice when communicating with Logan became easier and more normal. Almost like living with any other roommate. Virgil could call out across the house and almost always get an answer in response. Which was so wild and amazing. Virgil was glad he had gotten distracted from his initial plan to document everything to take to the public as proof of ghosts’ existence. He wouldn’t want to do that now. Logan was special. Logan could be a normal ghost or something completely unique.
It was nice to share this special thing with Patton for now as well. Patton was starting to come over more. He didn’t always have an experience with Logan, like that first time with the knocking. Ghostly events, you could almost call them, took energy out of Logan. Patton was there for a lot of them though. Virgil was starting to feel a softness for Patton as well. He was gentle, kind, understanding, and patient with ghostly circumstances.
On the increasingly rare occasions Logan couldn’t call back, he’d know to let Virgil know he’d heard him. Virgil would switch to yes or no questions until Logan’s voice came back. Patton was good with these adjustments as well. Neither of them had seen Logan yet though.
There had been more glimpses like that first day. Shadows in the corner of Virgil’s eyes, the shape of a wrist, the swirl of a coat disappearing around the corner of another doorway. These were usually with Virgil alone. But as Patton started to come over more, he saw a couple of glimpses as well.
Each one left Virgil’s heart pounding. He fought to keep his voice steady every time he turned to the shape and greeted Logan, even after it had vanished from sight. Virgil wanted to see Logan so badly. He suspected Patton did as well.
(Not to mention, he had some level of self-awareness. He knew what it meant when he felt the flip in his chest when Logan called out to him. The way his breath stuttered when he saw glimpses and the way he ached to Logan’s face like he was missing something desperately. He was definitely screwed.)
There had been more glimpses closer together that day-the full shape of a sleeve. When Patton was over earlier, he mentioned seeing something that might have been a wave. Then that fraction of a moment where they both thought they saw a face. Virgil could tell because they both silently exchanged a look Virgil’s heart had nearly leaped into his throat. At one point, Virgil had been sure Logan was simply standing in a doorway, but when he turned to look it had been empty.
Virgil didn’t point it out though, no matter how excited each time made him. Virgil could practically feel how ghost him would be self-conscious about such a thing. If Logan was trying, if he was doing it on purpose, it could have embarrassed him into stopping. It could make him feel bad if he didn’t manage it today.
So Virgil would be patient. For Logan. It was worth it to wait. He continued about his day trying to be subtle about the way he watched and hoped.
Virgil didn’t know how he would have expected it to go.
Logan simply walked into their bedroom. There was figure standing there, plain as day.
They stared a each other for a moment. It had to be Logan. Logan’s eyes widened a little as their eyes met.
“…Lo?” asked Virgil, voice cracking.
Logan’s eyes widened even further. His lips flickered into a smile as he nodded.
“Salutations,” he said, the same voice Logan had been hearing for weeks.
The moment was here, and Virgil could barely manage speak. He took a shaky step towards Logan.
“You’re…it’s really you. I’m really seeing you.”
Logan was a little see-through, not quite gray-scale but his colors were washed out toward silvery. It was pretty in an ethereal sort of way. Logan looked down and shuffled a bit.
“…yes.” They both walked towards each other slowly. Logan reached out a hand as though to meet his hand like Virgil had pictured with that time in the kitchen. Virgil mirrored him and stopped his hand just in front of Logan’s. Then he pushed his hand forward as though to complete the almost high five.
Virgil’s hand passed right through Logan’s. Virgil felt a shock of sensation, like dunking his hand in a bucket of ice water. Logan’s face flickered into a frown. Logan lowered his hand.
“Hey” said Virgil soothingly, “It’s ok, Lo. I’ll live without a high five.”
Virgil had a brief moment of wanting to facepalm from his own word choice when Logan smiled again and laughed. A dazzling, and half-echo-y and beautiful oh. Yeah, Virgil really couldn’t deny it now. Virgil had definitely fallen for his ghost roommate.
-
The more Logan appeared to another, the easier it became. On his best days, he simply walked around the house visible without having to think much about it. It was a wonderful experience he continued to favor.
It was almost heady, to with another again. To spend time with Virgil in silence and know that even when he didn’t speak Virgil knew that he was there and cared that he was. Wanted Logan there.
Even though Virgil’s friend Patton had seen signs of Logan, and didn’t look scared anymore, Logan was still hesitant to visibly show to another.
Logan walked between rooms of the house to find Virgil instead of simply appeared. He spoke without prompting, asked him questions, told him things even when he hadn’t been asked. Not to mention now Virgil could respond to Virgil based on something he observed with Logan.
Logan hmmed audibly. Virgil looked up and quirked his brow in curiosity.
“Yes?”
Logan looked up.
“I didn’t say anything.”
Virgil set down what he was doing.
“Yes, but you have that ‘I’m annoyed with technology’ glare on your face. What is it this time?”
Logan frowned. He didn’t realize he had been obvious in his glaring at Virgil’s device.
Logan sighed and gestured at it.
“My tablet? Do you know why?”
They’d figured out that if they could identify what annoyed him about the object, Virgil could often explain it in a way that it became less frustrating.
Logan shrugged. “I don’t know. The laptop doesn’t bother me anymore.”
Virgil hummed and looked it over.
“Could it be the touch screen? Does my phone bother you too?”
Virgil got out his phone as an example. Logan thought it over and then nodded. Virgil waved him over.
“Maybe if I show you some of the gestures it’ll help.”
Logan walked across the room and sat beside him. Close enough that he could feel the heat radiating off of Virgil’s body. Another returned sensation. Logan had slowly been able to distinguish temperatures, despite sucking all the heat out of the air around them like a sponge himself.
Virgil demonstrated several gestures with the tablet. What helped was the explanation on how touch screen worked by detecting things that conducted electricity. Like a bare human finger.
It helped Logan to relax. He let Virgil’s voice wash over him, feeling warm, real, and well almost alive.
-
Virgil found he had a bit of a problem. He definitely had a crush on Logan. A pretty big one. But he already had a crush on his friend Roman. And now, Patton was starting to get added to the mix. Virgil wasn’t really sure what to do. But Logan was the one Virgil lived with. He was the one Virgil was around the most and therefore caused the gushiest heart palpitations. The one he was surer of with how he felt at the moment, for some reason. So, he could start there.
Virgil was almost nervous to head over, but he wasn’t sure who else to talk to about this. Virgil gulped. Janus raised a brow as he let Virgil in.
“Roman’s not here,”
“I’m uh, not here for him.” Virgil kept walking before Janus could question him further.
Virgil sighed and let himself into Remus’s room.
“I need your help…but I need you to not tell Roman about it.”
Remus gave him a curiosu look.
“Ohh? Sounds spicy if you’re keeping a secret from brother dearest.”
“It’s like, not a secret or anything, just, I dunno. Just don’t tell him, please and don’t tell him I told you not to tell him.”
Remus rolled and tsked at him with a headshake.
“Well now you’ve piqued my interest.”
“It’s related to like squishy feelings and stuff.”
Remus wrinkled his nose. “I am not giving you dating advice related to my brother. Believe it or not, I have standards.”
“What? No! Nothing like that, gosh!”
Okay, Virgil was definitely blushing now.
Remus hmmed, not seeming convinced.
“Alright, are you ditching my brother then?”
“There’s nothing to ditch! We’re friends.”
“Mhm, just get on with it then.”
Virgil huffed out a breath.
“I think I might like my ghost roommate.”
Remus’s eyebrows raised. Then he gave Virgil an unhinged grin.
“Hell yeah dude, get that ghost bod!”
Virgil groaned. “You don’t have to say it like that! Anyways, you seem likely to have some idea how to do that. And don’t just recommend uncomfy things! Give me actual advice.”
Remus hmmed and stroked his mustache.
“First, let’s eliminate the impossible. Can he leave the house?”
Virgil thought.
“I don’t know actually,” He said slowly, “I don’t think he’s ever tried?”
“Probably not then,” said Remus, “So you can come up with something indoors, no eating, or electronics, that could limit you to Netflix movies…”
Virgil nodded. “That could work. That’s like go to stuff for me, although it would be nice if we could leave the house though.”
Remus nodded.
“Yeah he’s incorporeal and bound to the house, so he’d need a body.”
Virgil blinked, “What?”
Remus gave him a look.
“Are you actually suggesting I purposefully let him possess me? I mean, I don’t doubt he wouldn’t hurt me, but I’m still not sure,”
Remus started giggling and clapping his hands, “Oh that sounds like so much fun. Please let me know how it goes. I can only imagine the super kinky stuff that could happen from that. Hey, if you don’t want to, can I be his meat bag?”
“No!” Virgil exclaimed. Remus merely giggled again.
Janus sighed as he stopped by Remus’s door. “Really? Virgil this is truly getting ridiculous, I hardly think-“
“Whoa, what’s going on here? Who is congregating by Remus’s door?” Roman asked as he came back into the apartment.”
Remus was jumping up and down now. “Virgil’s gonna offer to let Logan posses him because he’s thirsty for ghost dick, apparently,”
Virgil screeched. “No, I’m not, I didn’t say, I mean,- aghhhh!” Virgil just fled the apartment after that, hiding in his hood and unable to look Roman in the face. He was definitely blushing. Maybe going to Remus for advice had been a mistake.
-
When Virgil arrived home from the frustratingly vague “hanging with a friend”, Logan could tell something was up right away. Virgil slammed the door and he was currently hiding in his hood. A sure sign that Virgil was in distress. Well that just wouldn’t do.
“…Virgil?” He asked carefully.
Virgil huffed a breath. “Yeah, Lo?
“Are you okay?”
“Mhmm,” Virgil practically mumbled, still refusing to look at Logan. “Totally good, yeah.”
Logan sighed. “Is that why you’re avoiding looking at me?”
Virgil sighed. “Nothing get’s past you, huh Lo?” Virgil looked over, but his face was still somewhat covered. Logan gestured for him to continue.
Virgil took a deep breath and let it out.
“I want to a friend for advice. He was horribly obscene in his responses, but I still got an idea from it.”
Logan tilted his head. Well that sounded, curious.
“I, well, I thought maybe-“
He paused and bit his lip. Logan refrained from telling him to stop that.
“Have you ever, like, possessed anyone?” He blurted.
Logan blinked. Well, he hadn’t expected that question.
“Uh, I cannot say that I have,” said Logan wasily.
“Have you ever like wanted to?”
Logan stared.
“…Why?
“I was wondering, if you’d like want to possess me?”
“W-why would-“
“I was just thinking,”
Virgil started to ramble, fidgeting with his fingers, “that we or you could, and then we could like- you know go somewhere, maybe a movie, or to eat some easy casual food and walk or-you know.”
Logan again almost came across a sensation that was surely not possible as a ghost, such as his chest thrumming with something. A yearning of some kind, a warm inflation of some sort of glee.
“Virgil,” Logan croaked, and then cleared his throat, “Are you asking me on a date?”
Virgil slumped in relief and smiled nervously. “Uh, yeah, that’s-that’s exactly what I’m doing.”
“…I’m dead,” said Logan.
Virgil looked at him.
“So?”
Logan let out a laugh at that.
“Okay, but, I thought you were already with someone?”
Virgil blinked, “Who?”
Logan shrugged. “I wasn’t sure, but it seemed like you were.”
“No, I’m not.”
Logan nodded, thinking on that.
“We could, like, go with Patton or something though,” Virgil said. Logan blinked and looked at him.
“Oh?”
Virgil shrugged. “Yeah, like, we trust him. And you know, wouldn’t have to pretend like I’m having a date with one body. Not that I’d be embarrassed to go with just you or anything!”
“No, it’s ok. I understand…I would not be opposed to that, actually.”
Virgil met his eyes then. They seemed to communicate the same thing there. After a moment, Virgil smiled.
Logan crossed the room and Virgil’s arms opened as he reached for him. Logan longed to feel arms wrapped around him, he could almost feel it. But instead-
Their chest met, and the room spun viciously. Logan found himself facing the opposite direction.
“What?” he-they?-said.
“Oh my gosh,” and that must have been Virgil, but Logan felt the shape, flow, and voice of it with his own mouth.
“This is-fascinating,” said Logan. Virgil lifted his hand to touch their lips. Oh. Thar was certainly a sensation. So Logan ran his finger over the soft swell.
“This is so cool,” breathed Virgil. Logan laughed, in Virgil’s slightly lower voice than his own.
“So…what do you wanna do?” asked Virgil. He swung their arms some. “We can go see a movie or just walk in the park. Maybe a restaurant? It can be just the two of us at first, or we can go with Patton, I can give him a call, whichever is more comfortable. Anything you want,”
Gently, Logan ran his hands down through the soft hair on Virgil’s forearm, and then clasped their hands together, palm to palm in front of them.
“…Lo?” Asked Virgil, quiet.
“Could we go another time?” asked Logan, unfortunately unable to hide the shake to his voice, “This is-a lot.”
“Yeah,” said Virgil, soft, “Of course, Lo. Do you want-we wear something soft. Or take a relaxing bath.”
Logan squeaked, “Virgil!” He could actually feel heat flood his cheeks in a blush, “I’m not going to take a bath like this,”
“…oh, right.” Virgil shuffled self-consciously, “Didn’t uh, really think that one through.”
“Wearing something like pajamas sounds nice though,” Logan said.
Virgil nodded. “We’ll still have to get somewhat undressed to get in pajamas, you know.”
Logan sighed. “Yeah, it’s fine.
Logan made his way over to their bedroom, their heart thrumming, hands still clasped.
-
Logan still pretty much avoided most people except Virgil when he had guest over. Virgil figured it made sense. A hundred years of almost been exclusively ignored or feared was bound to make anyone a little standoffish. Virgil was hoping it would eventually get better, as he hadn’t given up on trying to convince Roman it was safe enough to move in. But Virgil wasn’t going to push it.
Remus and Janus took up part of the couch. The other half had Roman and Patton. And Virgil, not trusting how he would be around either Roman or Patton, had banished himself to the chair. They were chatting about, Virgil thought something academic related to Janus. He had honestly missed what the exact topic was. It probably went over his head, but Virgil would not admit it around the other.
So it arrested his full attention the moment Logan walked out of the kitchen doorway.
“Virgil, dear, have you seen the silver mirror, my reflection is being spotty again and I wanted to check-“
Logan froze in the doorway, like he startled to see the other people there. Which was…odd. Logan was usually always aware of all the life in the house.
“…hello,” said Janus, “Virgil, you didn’t tell us you had another guest over. That’s poor host etiquette there.”
“No way,” said Roman, gaping.
“What was that you said about your reflection?” asked Remus.
Logan stayed frozen for another moment, before he simply winked out of existence.
Roman and Patton screamed. Janus leapt up from the couch with complete shock and some panic. Remus looked torn between awe and terror.
“Whoa, guys! It’s alright! Everybody calm down. You’re gonna freak him out.”
“I’m going to freak him out!?” Exclaimed Roman. Virgil winced.
Patton took a breath. “Sorry Virgil, and sorry Logan. Just caught me off guard.”
The others turned to him.
“You knew about this?” Roman asked, voice strangled. Patton made a so-so motion.
“Virgil has invited me over a few times to meet Logan, but I’d never actually seen him before.”
They had been meaning to have a possessed date accompanying Patton, but neither Virgil nor Logan combined had worked up the nerve to yet.
Virgil took a deep breath and nodded.
“Yeah, so it’s fine. See?”
Patton nodded. “Yes.”
“Okay. So everyone, sit back down. No more screaming. And we can continue this calmly without anyone scaring each other. Alright?”
They sat back down on the couch. Virgil turned and cleared his throat.
“Hey, Lo?” He said gently, “it’s really fine. They’re not gonna hurt you, it’s fine to come out.”
There was a wavering minute. Virgil started to think maybe Logan was gonna stay invisible, but then the air in front of the wall opposite the couch shimmered and Logan appeared.
“Salutations,” said Logan.
“Virgil,” said Janus, strangled. “If you’re somehow playing a practical joke on us, I ask you please pull your ‘gotcha’ now.”
“No practical joke,” said Virgil, “Logan, this is Roman, Patton who’ve seen before, Roman’s brother Remus, and his boyfriend Janus. Everyone, this is my boyfriend Logan.”
At which point Virgil realized that in spite of their possession-based dates that was the first time he’d ever actually used the word boyfriend.
He had a few reasons to worry about his usage of that word then.
Sitting in the chair, Virgil gestured for Logan to come closer. Slow, almost ginger, Logan moved across the room and sat on the arm of Virgil’s chair, smiling hesitantly.
“I’m Logan,” he said, “I’m dead, as you may have noticed. It’s nice to meet you,”
“Uh yeah, Likewise,” said Janus, his voice still choked with confusion and panic.
“…Well!” said Patton, bright. “It’s nice to finally see you! How long have you been together now?”
“Since September,” said Logan. Virgil’s chest filled with warmth at how they were apparently on the same page in spite of the lack of verbal communication.
“Soo,” Remus started, “You actually went through our seduction via possession plan?!”
Logan’s face shimmered like a holograph. Virgil pursed his lips and made a smothered noise in embarrassment.
-
In spite of himself, Logan found that as the night went on, he was able to relax.
Since Logan had gotten a taste of what it felt like to be treated simply like another person, a friend, someone loved again, after so long. From being with Virgil. He’d been dreading the possibility of returning to that cold, ignorant fear, if he revealed himself to anyone else. He acknowledged to himself that longing, even if he hadn’t been thrilled by it before.
And they had been afraid-at first. Patton was the first of them to get comfortable with Logan since Virgil had slowly introduced him. Remus hadn’t really seemed scared, but that didn’t make him any more comfortable to be around. It was hard to get a read on him. Luckily the more Logan spoke, the more the others relaxed. It became easier to speak and exchange social pleasantries and feel normal.
There was a twinge when Janus offered to shake his hand before they left. Logan had to tell him it wasn’t possible but it was small, compared to the warmth in his chest.
Roman hung back from the others for a moment before they left. He fidgeted some before looking at Virgil.
“Okay…I’ll concede it’s fine to live here. Do you still want me to move in? Or has the offer passed from me being a stubborn ass.”
Virgil grinned wide. “No, of course you can still move in Ro! I’m so glad you came around.”
Virgil pulled Roman in for a hug, a move a bit unlike him, before chattering about moving in plans and how quickly Roman could get his stuff in. Logan saw the soft way Roman looked at Virgil. Well, Logan had expected as much. Even if he hadn’t actually seen the other in person til that day. He did overhear things. It was a good thing he trusted Virgil’s judgment about another potential roommate to their situation. It was still nerve-wracking. They looked at eeach otherwith adoration as Roman left. Really, how were they so oblivious?
Then Logan got distracted from bringing it up. Virgil started showering Logan with praises over how proud he was for how Logan was around new people for the first time in a while.
Logan turned away to hide his face in embarrassment. He heard Virgil cross the room to him, cooing.
He wasn’t expecting to feel the faint, warm pressure of Virgil’s hand passing through his. Logan turned to Virgil again to see him frowning at the spot where his hand hovered, just inches away.
“You know you can’t touch me, Virgil,” Logan said gently.
“Yeah...,” Virgil said and shrugged. “I’m not gonna stop trying, though.”
Virgil leaned in, slow and careful, and brushed his nose and mouth against Logan’s cheek. It was warm. Both like and yet not quite like touching something while sharing Logan’s body, and also something uniquely all its own.
“I love you,” said Logan, quietly. He almost couldn’t believe he’d said it, but wouldn’t take it back.
Virgil inhale sharply and pulled away to look Logan in the eye, face shining.
“I love you, too.”
-
Roman moving in went smoother than expected. He was still wary at times around ghostly things, but he bounced back quickly. It helped that Logan could lightly needle him into a lighthearted debate on something. Virgil would smile softly at those moments, reminded of his own banters with Roman. So that pining hadn’t gone anywhere yet. Virgil and Logan did finally work up the nerve to go on possession dates where Patton joined them. It was nice. Patton was around even more than before. Before anyone even said anything, he had sort of joined Virgil and Logan so now they were three.
Virgil still got nervous about Roman knowing, but he seemed supportive. It was a bit hard to tell how he felt. Although little did he know, Logan did notice all the shared looks between all of them. The ghost was just not the best at figuring out how to get to the next step. The final bridging od the gap came from an unexpected situation.
-
Virgil was going to be away for a couple of days. He was nervously repeating things for Logan to remember, in an honestly cute way.
“Having Roman around will help you not to lose time. And Patton can probably come around often, like for times when Roman isn’t here.”
“I know. Virgil,” Logan laughed and came towards him.
“You’ve told me everything a dozen times. I did exist in this house for a hundred years before you got here, you know.”
Virgil let out a slightly nervous laugh. “Yeah, I know,” He said, rubbing the back of his head, “I just-hate leaving you. I don’t want to come back to find you’ve lost a bunch of time, it-feels like I’m abandoning you or something.”
Logan gave him a small smile.
“You aren’t,” he said softly, “I know you’re coming back. And you’ve got me wonderfully set up here.”
Virgil nodded. “You’re right,” he said. “You’ll hardly notice I’m gone, will you?”
“Almost,” said Logan, “I will scarcely register your absence.”
Virgil shook his head. He stopped to grab his band and heaved it over his shoulder.
Roman came out to wish him goodbye as well.
“Don’t worry dark and stormy, we got you covered here. Don’t take too long now.”
“Alright,” said Virgil. “See you both on Monday. Love you,”
“Love you too,” said Logan. Virgil leaned in to hug Roman and kiss him. Then he leaned in to press a quick, light kiss to Logan’s mouth. They separated with a little smack, and Virgil waved with his free hand.
“Bye, babes,” he said, walking out the door.
As Virgil climbed into his car, he furrowed his brow. He was forgetting something. But he couldn’t figure out what is was. Used to feeling like he forgot something, Virgil shrugged, and pulled out of his parking space and drove away.
-
Both Logan and Roman spent several minutes after Virgil left staring at the door, moths agape. Logan could still feel the phantom press of Virgil’s lips.So warm and a little chapped and so gentle where they’d touched his-leaving a barely-there aftertaste against his.
Hesitantly, Logan pressed his fingertips to his mouth.
Roman made some sort of squeak, but Logan was hardly paying attention. Virgil had kissed him. Virgil had kissed him, and it had been real, nothing ghostly or facsimile about it.
Logan turned to Roman and felt overcome to test something. He walked up to Roman and poked him.
“Did you feel that?”
Roman blinked at him. “Uh…yes?”
Logan tried again. He set his hand on Roman’s arm. Roman’s breath caught. Logan was really touching him. It felt nice. He moved his hand away, and then focused on his hand and Roman’s arm. His hand passed right through. Roman jolted back at that and he gave Logan a pout.
“Hey, don’t do that.”
Logan was more distracted by this new discovery though. He tested this a few more times on Roman and every object he could get ahold of in the house. Roman just watched. When Logan wanted to touch things, he did. When he wanted to be incorporeal, he was.
Logan came over to the tablet, lifting if from the side table and sitting on the couch with it held in front of him, the way he’d seen Remus do so many times. He managed to find the correct icons, clicking it. He set up a group call.
Patton spoke first.
“Virgil, I know you want us to check on Logan but you just left, and-“
“Hello, Patton,” said Logan.
Patton stared at him through the video call.
“Logan? Is Roman there?”
“Technically yes, but,”
Roman waved his hands in front of the screen to show he wasn’t operating the tablet.
“Virgil just left. And he kissed me,”
“And me!” Roman chimed in.
“but don’t tell him, because I want to see how long it takes him to realize,” Logan said with a smile.
“He kissed you?” gasped Patton.
“Yes,” said Logan, unable to help but smile wide and besotted.
“And I’m currently holding the tablet, which is novel. Janus and Remus will probably want to come over, I’m sure they’ll have a wonderful time figuring out what the hell is going on.”
Janus and Remus arrived with half an hour, and when they did put Logan through all manner of experiments.
“It seems you are truly able to be either corporeal or not, entirely at will,” said Janus.
“and this had never happened before?” Remus asked.
“I’m pretty sure I would remember something as notable as this,” said Logan.
Remus then offered to give him a hug. The firm warm arms squeezing around him was a pleasant experience Logan hadn’t realized he was missing before.
“I believe I have a theory,” Janus said.
He went on to explain how, as Roman put it, love made Janus solid. A realization that Patton and Roman both loved to jump on, in order to ‘charge him up’.
Monday arrived. Virgil had called no one in a fit of confusion. He seemed totally unaware of the way he’d completely changed Logan’s afterlife before walking out the door.
He was looking forward to this. Logan could tell that Roman was as well. Maybe the last pieces to their dance would stop and all the pining could be resolved.
Logan smiled as the front door opened.
“Hey Lo, Ro. I’m home,” Virgil called.
Logan stepped up to him. “Hello dear,” said Logan fondly, before throwing his arms around Virgil’s neck and kissing him square on the mouth.
Virgil froze for a moment, before wrapping his arms firmly around Logan’s waist and pulling him so close Logan’s feet were barely touching the floor.
Breaking away with a gasp, Virgil frantically pressed one hand firmly to Janus’s face.
“Wha- Lo-“
“I’ll explain in a minute,” said Logan breathlessly.
“Only I’ve just figured out that kissing you feels quite a bit like flying, so I’d appreciate it if we could do a bit more of that first.”
Virgil let out a slightly hysterical laugh. He moved to seal their mouths together, but then,
“Hey, give me a chance!”
Virgil turned to give Roman a wide-eyed look. Roman smirked at him. “Lo isn’t the only you surprise kissed before leaving.”
Roman came over to him, and they were both touching Virgil now. It was a lot. It was wonderful. They would still need to talk about this, but Logan could tell though, for the first time in a long time, this would all be happy.
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