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typically-untypical · 2 years

Text

Through the Screen

Hello everyone! Here is my story for @sandersidesbigbang I was originally going to separate it out into single chapters, but I have decided not to, please enjoy it in its full ~40k words

Also thanks to @thecrowslullaby & @badkatart for providing artwork!

And Thank you to @antisocial-xxxpert & @jaderj1209 for betaing!

Prologue

The forest floor crushed underneath Patton’s feet as he ran towards safety, desperately trying to find a place where he could hide. He had never ventured this deep, knowing how easy it was to get lost amongst the trees. He could hear the sound of frogs punctuating the eerie calmness of the night, they seemed unphased by the fear that thundered in Patton’s heart. “I just need to make it until he wakes up. He’ll notice if I’m not there.” His voice was shaky and it cracked slightly. It was possible, even if his love noticed he was gone, that he wouldn’t know where to find Patton, wouldn’t be able to track him down. Patton stepped around a tree, trying to break the line of sight for his pursuer. Even if the chances were minimum he had to try.

“You can’t run from me!” The anger in her voice echoed in her chest

Patton kept running, turning back to look at the voice. That was his fatal mistake. The roots of the trees were dense here, one catching Patton’s foot sending him tumbling to the ground. His pursuer stood over him. Queen Ophius stood over him, a glass mirror in her hands.

“You have been a thorn in my side for far too long. It’s time to remove you from the picture.” She began chanting, the looking glass in her hand shining with a terrifying light. Patton could feel himself drawn into it. He clawed at the dirt, desperately trying to keep himself from being pulled in.

“No, please, I don’t want to leave him!”

“Too late!” Patton was pulled into a dark empty space, his only view of the world a glass mirror that he could not break.

“No, please, let me out!” He pounded on the glass, knowing it was no use, tears streamed down his face. “Please, please let me out.” He saw the world fly by him in a way that made his stomach turn, it spiraled and spun until it suddenly stopped and Patton was looking up at the moon. Its beautiful shine started to be obscured by the murky water as Patton sank, pounding on the glass but even he could hear as the water muffled his cries.

“Please,” he cried out to whatever higher power there might be. “I don’t want to leave him alone.”

Chapter 1 - Haunted Phone

There was still a bit of time before his first class started. He had to remind himself of that despite the growing anxiety in his chest over being late to his first class. Virgil fiddled with the string on his new phone, focusing on the way it felt in his fingers. It was heavier than he was expecting, but that was probably pretty normal for the older phones, at least it was still able to download most of the apps he wanted. He didn’t need it for everything, but he did need to make sure it at least worked for the basics, a web browser, discord, and an alarm. Anything else was a luxury. Some people might tell him that a web browser and discord were also a luxury but not when you had anxiety. Not when you needed to be able to talk to your friends to remind yourself that people didn’t hate you, or you needed to look up information for the fourth time to remind yourself that you did know what you were talking about.

“It’s old, but it will work,” He muttered to himself, running his finger over the side of it. He had thought about downloading everything he needed while he was connected to the coffee shop wi-fi but he wasn’t sure if he had enough time.

Speaking of time, he looked at the clock and swore, realizing just how late it had gotten. It had taken him a while to get the phone from the guy who had been selling it, the man just kept talking and talking about how it had been glitchy and there was an app that wouldn’t go away, but he had scrubbed the phone and ensured Virgil it would be fine. Of course, that probably would have been more reassuring if he didn’t mutter something about the phone being haunted. It was fine. Virgil could deal with a little glitchy as long as it functioned.

Once he was back on campus, he knew he could relax a little bit. He still had 15 minutes before class, but he was worried that he still might not make it. It was only a five-minute walk to his class. He knew he would make it, but the anxiety stayed. His roommate and classmate, Logan, was still sitting on the bench with his boyfriend, and they had the same class next, so of course, he would be fine.

He continued to walk briskly until he finally got to the classroom. It was only at that point he was able to relax, leaning against the wall and letting out a heavy sigh.

“Okay,” he muttered to himself, “got a new phone, got to class, it’s good, I’m good.” He let out a puff of air, looking up at the ceiling. His classroom was in an alcove, so the hallway was covered but not quite inside of a building. It actually meant he had a nice breeze that blew through the area and helped cool him down after his brisk walk.

Virgil looked down at the phone in his hand. It had been a while since he had bought himself something so expensive. His last phone had decided to completely die just a few days before class, it wasn’t surprising, the thing hadn’t held a charge for a long time. Still, I t had been really stressful trying to find a new one in his price range. He had gotten lucky. The guy who was selling this phone kept claiming it was haunted and though Virgil didn’t believe in ghosts, he was happy to play along if it meant he was able to get a smartphone for cheap. After all, no one would want a haunted phone, right?

“Even if you were haunted, wouldn’t that just make things more interesting?” He shrugged, starting to go through his routine of signing in to what he wanted on his phone, school email, discord, and he checked to see if he could download his school’s institutional app, smiling at his phone softly when it did.

“Are you smiling at a meme? I would like to learn more about that culture,” Logan asked, walking over. Virgil wasn’t sure how Logan always seemed so calm and put together, even when he was being fawned over by his boyfriend, Logan had seemed completely impassive. Though, Virgil thought he might have noticed just the barest hints of an awkward smile on his roommate’s face.

“Nah, just got a new phone, and it’s a bit old but I was able to download the school’s app, small miracles.”

Logan nodded, "I do hope it serves you well."

The two of them had been randomly assigned as roommates and Virgil liked Logan well enough but he didn't know him. It had been hard to initiate conversation when Virgil kept second-guessing everything. Not to mention, they had been complete strangers up until a few weeks ago. Even now, as Virgil’s mind desperately wanted to form a friendship with Logan, it seemed as if his roommate was more focused on his boyfriend. Virgil had been hoping to make a friend here. He knew roommates weren’t guaranteed to be friends, in fact, he should be thankful that Logan wasn’t anything like any of the horror stories he had read so far, but a small tiny part of him had still hoped. Virgil had picked this college because he had gotten a scholarship for it for his creative writing, but it was further from his home than he was originally anticipating, so he didn't have any friends in the area, not that he had many friends, to begin with. Who wanted to be friends with the weird writer kid who jumped when you talked to him?

‘Look V, I realize that you have anxiety, and that is a bitch, but sometimes you are going to have to make the first move. What if they also have anxiety?’

Virgil could imagine the words printed in his DMs by one of his friends, and he swallowed.

"Hey, would you maybe be cool with us being accountability buddies for this class? Like, sometimes I struggle and it would just be cool to have someone to study with."

"Of course, I always appreciate having someone who I can figuratively bounce ideas off of, and as long as you prove yourself not to be a slacker who is just trying to take advantage of me I would be happy to have a companion in this class." As Logan spoke he stood tall, and his body took on a bit of a defensive stance, which of course, made Virgil also feel defensive.

"What? No, of course not, I don't want to take advantage of anyone," Virgil stuttered, "Do I give off that kind of vibe?” What if he did, what if that was another reason people didn’t like him? “I don't mean to, I mean I have anxiety, and talking to people can be hard but I try to be really studious. It’s still a struggle sometimes though."

Logan held up his hand, "You have given me no such indication, however, I have had issues in the past regarding people assuming they can take advantage of my kind nature when it comes to academics. My boyfriend has been trying to get me to set better boundaries for myself, so this was all that was, an attempt to set clear boundaries at the start. I do not want to put in the work and effort into a friendship that is doomed to end, again.”

Virgil swallowed again, that made sense, but also, possible friend, that was good. That was really good. "Oh... um okay, that's cool. He's like, your high school boyfriend right?"

"Yes, we met in high school, he was attempting to get information about my family and originally befriended me under nefarious purposes but I won him over with my charm and wit."

Virgil snorted, "Yeah, I can see that." He relaxed a little bit as he looked up at Logan, slowly standing. "I think it's cool that he stands up for you." What kind of family did Logan have that someone specifically targeted him?

"Have you had people in your life who will stand up for you?" He asked.

"Not much in the past, I've kinda had to figure things out on my own." He slipped his phone into his pocket, "But I mean it hasn't been too bad." Stay present in the conversation, no distractions.

"It is still unfortunate that you have had that experience. If you find yourself needing a bit of assistance in setting boundaries, I am sure my boyfriend would be willing to give you a few pointers. Though I will let you know, he takes his job as guardian over me very seriously, so he may be mildly aggressive when you first have a conversation with him."

"Good to know the glares I have gotten from him aren't personal."

"Oh, not in the slightest. I promise you he is very sweet under his prickly exterior."

"Like a cactus."

Logan tilted his head to the side as if he didn’t understand the joke, but he didn’t get a chance to ask.

The door to their class was thrown open as their professor, at least that's who Virgil assumed it was, started ushering everyone in. "Come now come now, no time to dawdle, we have a lot to discuss on our first day!"

Virgil looked at their professor, his messy curly hair and crooked glasses made him look like a mad scientist of some sort, even if he was supposed to be teaching history.

"Alright, that looks like the right number of heads so I'm gonna go ahead and start. Welcome everyone, I am Professor Remus, y'all can just call me Remus because time is an illusion and honorifics are for people who care. You might have noticed that there wasn't a book on your list for my class, that is because I don't like the book that my colleagues use. It is riddled with inaccuracies, so not only am I going to teach you the proper way but I'm going to show you where to find all of the information to shove it in those prissy academic's faces. So, if you check your emails I sent you all a list of books you need to have access to. I also sent you the PDF links for online versions, as well as where to get them from a local book store, and you can check them out at the school library, but there are only so many copies at the library so you need to get them fast if that's the way you want to go. If you need a paper copy for accommodation reasons and the ones at the library are already gone, talk to me, we'll figure it out."

Remus slammed his hands on the desk. "As per the syllabus, if you are able to bring me a report on the lost mirror world and the people in the in-between you will receive extra credit. You may also present me a paper on any other conspiracy you would like to try to prove and if your side is well researched enough that it makes me question my existence you won't have to take the final. Does that all make sense?"

Everyone in the class was quiet, obviously still trying to absorb everything that Remus had said over the past two minutes. It was a lot of information to take in and most of the students seemed completely lost.

"Okay goo-" He stopped mid-sentence, eyes flickering over to Virgil, at least, in Virgil's panic, he thought it was him, but he quickly realized that Remus was actually looking at Logan.

"Yes, name, pronouns, honorific, and question."

"Logan, He/Him, sir or mister is fine, and you said any topic is acceptable, correct? I just wanted to clarify that if I chose to write a paper on the immortal king and his brother that would be an acceptable paper?"

Remus cocked his head to his side, an amused smirk on his lips. "I don't think I've heard someone talk about the Immortal King's brother, yes, if you can write a satisfactory paper on that, with sources, then I will happily count it."

Logan nodded, writing something down as Virgil bit at his lip. Who was the immortal king's brother? The Immortal King was supposedly the king of this land, a monarch that never aged and never left the throne. Virgil didn't believe in that, but more importantly, he had never heard of the Immortal King having a brother. He had overthrown Queen Ophius and taken the throne, at least, that's how the story went. "You gotta tell me more about that later," He muttered to Logan who absolutely lit up.

"With pleasure."

Chapter 2 - Everything New

The mirror had been Patton's prison… Patton’s home for multiple centuries. He sat inside, watching as it got passed from person to person as a gift or an heirloom, hoping for someone who would willingly listen to his voice. Sometimes he would be stuck on a shelf, forgotten and alone for years, sometimes he would actually be used, the handles on the mirror polished, some good, some bad. However, even the worst of the worst couldn’t compare to what he had been through in that lake. Twenty years of isolation, alone with only the sound of his water-muffled voice. Patton tried to be thankful for every moment he got being out in the world, figuratively, because he knew it wasn't that lake. However, even with his boundless optimism, it was hard. The first few generations had been amazed that there was a person in a mirror, they talked to him as if he was some great secret, then he was treated like a party trick, there to delight and entertain. Later, some members of the family thought he was a vengeful genie refusing to grant their wishes, but eventually, Patton was passed off as a fairytale or a delusion, a mental break caused by the material of the mirror. He was tossed aside as people refused to believe he was real, and Patton didn’t want to hurt anyone.

In his most recent years, he learned to be more selective with who he presented himself to and how. If he decided that his current holder wouldn't be willing to get to know him, then it would be another generation or so before he was handed down to another. It was a long lonely existence, but it was so much better than the fear of being smashed or broken, because Patton didn't know what would happen if his mirror was destroyed. He had a sinking feeling that the only thing it would do, is destroy his window to the world around him, and he would not go back into isolation again.

In the most recent years, the world had been shifting. Magic was replaced with technology, not completely, but enough. Patton just didn't realize it would mean a shift for him. His current holder liked to use the mirror as a way to frame photos. Apparently, his small box had the ability to do that, which was amazing. Patton had been there when cameras started to become popular, and now it seemed everyone had a camera in their hands. Patton had been interested the first few times, but did his best to keep out of the photo. He knew that this holder didn’t do well with the arcane or mystical, but he hadn’t moved out of the way in time. One moment, a blinding light was causing him to hide his eyes, and the next, he was inside the phone.

Patton had been terrified at first, suddenly in a new place, very much unlike the mirror world that he had felt trapped in. This was a place made of information and electricity. It was terrifying and confusing. Patton had had so many slip-ups. His holder got suspicious, constantly trying to find the app that Patton was connected to so that he could delete it, and eventually, Patton was able to control himself better, and he fell silent again.

He knew he couldn’t communicate outside and started to look inward. The phone had so many interesting options and abilities, Patton found games that he could play and the internet. That was a fun experience for him. He spent hours searching up puppies and kittens, and all kinds of cute pictures. He was able to look up pictures of his home, and the home he should have had with Remus. It was bittersweet, finally able to see those places again, but to see how they had grown and changed. It made him feel even more losses in time. Maybe that’s what led Patton to the darker side of the internet, a place he at first didn’t even realize existed. When he had found it, he immediately shut himself off from it, pushing as many blocks between himself and the parts he didn’t want to see. It was a little harder for him to trust what he was researching after that, but little by little he build up more confidence. Eventually, he found himself a small haven in the chaos.

It was a website called geopets. He could take care of little pets, most of them looking like actual animals just painted in fun colors, and it helped him feel useful. Patton had made an account, started making friends and now watched over a few accounts of people he had been close to but had eventually moved on. Having this little solace helped him get through the day since he couldn't talk to his holder, well, he hadn't been able to.

As long as the microphone wasn't covered, Patton could hear practically everything that went on around the phone, for better or for worse. Which meant that he knew the phone was being sold off. Wallace, his previous holder, kept complaining about the phone being possessed and how it was best to just get rid of it so that he could get the new model anyway. Patton didn't like the idea of being sold off so easily, but maybe it would be better, maybe it would be an adventure. Though, he had thought he had been careful before. It was surprising that Wallace still thought the phone was so haunted.

'It's old, but it’ll work.'

Wasn't that true for a lot of things? Patton thought, looking at the human with fringe bangs over his eyes, were those still in style? Patton thought they had gone out of style a few years ago, not that he was able to keep up with a lot of the trends. People were just so creative nowadays.

His new holder bit on their lip, and Patton had to hide behind the screen a bit, watching carefully as they typed in some of their information and then started to run. Patton wasn't sure what to think yet, but he wanted to learn as much as possible, maybe even make a new friend for the first time in a very long time. He kept himself busy, but kept an ear out, not hearing much other than the sound of shoes on concrete, at least, until they finally stopped.

Patton dared another peak, looking at the building around him. It was made of the red bricks he had seen some years ago, always one of Patton's favorites. The coloring felt warm and cozy, and Patton just felt like it was a great base for a sturdy home, a home he should have had with Remus. Patton shook the thought off. Things like that just weren’t helpful.

"Even if you were haunted, wouldn't that just make things more interesting?"

His holder was talking to the phone, talking to Patton. That caught him off guard and there was a moment where Patton almost revealed himself right there, almost showed up on the screen to ask if his new holder actually meant that, but he had learned. He sat back quietly, listening and observing, hoping that it was real. He really really hoped that he could have another friend, someone to share stories with, someone to share life with.

Patton didn't get much of a chance though as the conversation changed and a new voice appeared. Someone that his holder knew had walked up and started talking about class. At least it was nice to know that despite how nervous his holder’s hand seemed, they also seemed to have good friends.

It probably wasn't good to eavesdrop on their conversation, but it was hard not to when he could hear everything so completely and so clearly. Thankfully, that problem was fixed too as Virgil put his phone in his pocket. When the mic was covered, Patton couldn't hear anything, it all just sounded like a jumbled mess. So, he went into the internet, going to his favorite site to check on all of his pets, happily feeding them, reading to them, and brushing their coats.

Though Patton technically only had one account, there were a few that he specifically took care of, friends that had abandoned the platform, and friends that had passed away. It was his own way of showing that he still loved and cared for those people even if they weren't in his life anymore.

"Alright Bunny, eat up," He said, feeding one of the pets that looked like a cartoon version of a rabbit, happily scratching its belly. It took nearly an hour for Patton to take care of all of the pets, and even then he knew he would be back again later in order to brush them and read them all stories. The books in the game weren't real, but Patton liked to make up what he thought would be in the books, anything to keep him from thinking about the prison he was in.

"Oh shit, sorry L, I have to get to my next class, I'll see you later tonight."

His holder had pulled the phone out of his pocket, apparently, his friend's name was L, or at least it started with an L.

"Don't be a snoop Patton, Don't be a snoop." He told himself over and over again, but it was no use. He bit at his lip and opened up the contacts, looking for the person with an L in their name. There weren't many so it wasn't too hard to find, Virgil only had one contact in his address book.

Logan Taika.

Why did that name sound so familiar?

Chapter 3 - Logan’s Presentation

After opening up the door, Virgil threw his backpack on his bed, flopping down on it beside the discarded torture device. Professor Remus was pretty cool letting them have the PDF copies if they wanted to use that but a lot of Virgil’s other professors had assigned a lot of books, and Virgil couldn’t just not take them all to class. What if he left one at the dorm and that was the exact one that they needed that day?

"Oh, Virgil, you're back, I was hoping to get a second opinion on this." Logan seemed excited. Ever since they had started working on class work together, they had gotten a little bit closer. At least, Virgil thought they had gotten closer but he really shouldn’t assume. He hoped they were getting closer. He really needed a friend here.

“I have been working on this and wanted to discuss it with someone.”

Virgil turned his head to look at Logan, watching as the nerd pulled out a projector, pointing it to the blank wall on the opposite side of their dorm room. At least Virgil knew why Logan never hung up any posters now.

"L, where did you get a projector?"

"I brought one from home, it is always good to be prepared."

That didn’t really answer Virgil’s question… or it did in a literal sense, but not in the underlying notion of ‘why’. Was it normal for his family to just bring projectors places?

"Alright," Logan loaded up his computer and a PowerPoint presentation shown on the wall. "I know that Professor Remus stated that this was supposed to be a paper but I will convert it into that format once I have decided that I have made a compelling enough case. Now, what we know to be facts regarding the immortal king. History records show that he took the throne in 1376, the same year that Queen Ophius was chased out. History also tells us the people rejoiced when she was no longer queen. Multiple accounts, from journals, record her as being a stringent queen who was not loved by her people, thus it seems very few people had any desire to reinstall her as queen.”

“Her husband at the time was King Remus and even the year that he reigned on the throne with her, showed marked improvements to the social structure of our kingdom." Logan began to flip through a few slides that discussed the changes that had been made, most of it so far was basic history, things that everyone learned as a kid.

"However, once Queen Ophius disappeared, many of the new policies that were put in place were different, far more structured, and thought out. Our country entered the age of change." Again Logan began to flip through some of the policies that had been made. "Many people attribute this to Queen Ophius' disappearance, stating that without her oppressive control King Remus was allowed to push for better reforms and he was allowed to think things through. However, I don't believe this is the case." Logan flipped to a new slide that looked like it was a journal entry.

"There are multiple first-person accounts of King Remus being called a mage, or magic wielder, stories of him walking through the town and showing off his powers to children and the like," he flipped to another slide, "also stories of him using powers to scare of bandits and such. There are actually far more stories of that than anything else but that is neither here nor there."

Logan clicked to the next slide. "It is also recorded that Queen Ophius was power hungry, that she would do anything to get the power she needed and wanted."

He flipped to another slide again, and though Virgil was following he didn't find the evidence very compelling.

"However, once Queen Ophius is no longer a part of the monarchy, stories of King Remus' powers begin to peter off. There are of course a few stories here or there but nothing that can be substantially cooperated. Which is why I hypothesize that King Remus was replaced by his twin brother, Roman. There is no mention of King Remus having a brother, at least not in his years as king, however, census records did list a source of two twins being born in the town King Remus grew up in during the year 1351. The records are abysmal, but the timing lines up with King Remus being 25 years of age when Queen Ophius disappeared. Also, I could find no other mention of twins that didn't link up to at least one person named Remus being in the set."

Logan looked at him expectantly, like he had provided undeniable proof.

"Look L," Virgil said as he sat up more, scanning his eyes over the pictures on the PowerPoint. "This is all well and good, but most of your sources for this sound like they are from crazy people. Everyone knows that good magic doesn't exist. I mean, it would be cool if it did but it doesn't work like that. Not to mention, wouldn’t it be a better idea to compare how the different laws are worded and phrased? People have unique writing patterns typically.” He didn't want to just shoot Logan down, he wanted to help.

“This is exactly why I wanted to run it by someone. Your insight is invaluable.” Logan said as he started to make notes. “Comparing different linguistic choices could be invaluable. However, I will also have to compare it to anything I can find from Queen Ophius to see if there was any influence in the earlier writings."

"As for your concerns over the journal owner’s legitimacy, I have a counter for that.” He quickly scrambled on his laptop to pull up information. Pushing it onto the projector. "Y'know how many people who are exceedingly wealthy do not use that wealth to help other people?" Logan asked pulling up a chart.

"Yeah,"

"Well, it would still be incorrect to state that there is no good money. As we have also seen, when used properly, money can be used a multitude of ways." Logan pulled up a few more pictures of charities and planning developments. "Our king himself is rather wealthy if you simply count the taxes that come in, however, he also uses that wealth to take care of his people." Again Logan was prepared with pictures and statistics. "Which would lead to the conclusion that it is not the money that is bad, but the people who wield it. I believe the same is true for magic. We have simply had too many examples in modern times of people and beings that use the tool of magic to a bad end."

That... made sense, in a way, but Virgil still wasn't completely convinced. "Okay, say magic is a tool, and it can be used for good or evil. Why are we seeing such a spike in "evil" magic now?"

"I... I have two theories for that, however, one is completely unsubstantiated so I hesitate to tell anyone because I can't prove my hypothesis."

"L, I'm not going to judge you, what do you think?"

"Magic is tied to belief." Logan turned the PowerPoint off, sitting on his bed, cross-legged. Virgil could tell this was a serious topic, something that was important to Logan. "The stronger the belief the stronger the magic, and one person's belief can affect another person's reaction to magic. I think the brother of the immortal king, Remus, the true king, is losing his belief in something. Normally, one person wouldn't be able to sway an entire country, but one person who has been alive for many hundreds of years, interacting and living among other people, I think that that could have a major impact."

Virgil sat quietly, just looking at Logan for a bit. It was an interesting sentiment, and obviously very well thought out, more well thought out than the few weeks of college could have afforded Logan. Not to mention the thoughts about magic. Virgil couldn't say he had thought about magic since his introductory course in middle school. "You've studied this before, haven't you?"

Logan blushed a bit, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah," He said softly. "It's kind of a special interest of mine. I've always wanted to know more about this topic so I decided to study it."

That was an understatement. Logan was downplaying what he thought about all of this, but Virgil wasn't ready to ask and dive deeper into what made Logan shy to share his interests. That was rude while they were still building a friendship, right?

"And you are excited to show it to the professor because you think if you do, he might actually be interested?" Because Virgil had realized this was about more than just not taking the final.

Logan nodded. "I've never heard someone mention the mirror world before, at least, no one other than my mom. It's a fascinating concept that when people are trapped inside of a mirror, like is possible in a lot of fairy tales, they actually have more access than they might realize. Also, there's rumors that escaping the mirror world will make you immortal."

Virgil wasn't sure if he believed any of it, but he did believe one thing. This was a passion of Logan's and it deserved to be fostered. "That's really cool, L, and I think your passion for the topic shows."

Logan smiled at Virgil, "Thanks," his voice was so much softer than anything Virgil had heard so far in their weeks together and Virgil was beginning to feel like he really made a friend.

"Of course, I'm not fully convinced, but I'll be happy to listen to you lecture about this topic anytime and if you want help on the paper, I don't know what I can do, but I'm happy to offer it."

"Again, thank you, and if you need any help with class I'm happy to offer that as well."

Virgil nodded, "Actually, there is one thing." He took in a slow breath. "I... do you know anything about accommodations? Professor Remus mentioned it and I was just thinking what that might mean and if maybe it could help me or something." Talking about this made him nervous. He didn't want Logan to think any less of him, though it had probably been obvious that he had anxiety of some kind.

"I don't know very many details, but I can send you a website that might be able to help, a few actually. Janus is partially blind in one eye so he has had to do accommodation research for his own needs. Was there something specific you needed it for?"

"I... I don't know, anxiety I guess. I haven't really been tested or anything like that, I just know that I sometimes get in my own head during lectures and I miss out on information."

"Might I suggest starting with a recorder?" Logan asked. "It might help you be able to go back and review the lecture, and I doubt Professor Remus would mind. I don't know if the school will do accommodations without a diagnosis, however, there is a school psychologist that will work with you for a semester to determine if accommodations will be helpful, but that can be a bit lengthy."

Virgil looked at him dumbfounded, "Yeah... yeah a recorder is actually a really good idea." He began to fish his phone out of his bag, opening it up and starting to make a list.

"Let me send you that link," Logan said, grabbing his own phone and sending Virgil a text.

As he opened it up, Virgil thought he saw a shadow pass over his phone, like there was a presence he was missing but lingered in the back of his vision. It sent a shiver down his spine and he tried to rationalize to himself that he was just tired, but the comments about his phone being haunted rang through his mind. A yawn ripped itself from his lips; okay, so tired was more likely.

"I should not have stayed up so late last night," He muttered as he began researching the information that Logan had sent him. He just needed to push the shadow to the back of his mind. It was more important that he focus on the accommodations. If he could get them, he might actually be able to do pretty well at college. It had been a worry that sat in the back of his mind but now it was like he saw hope at the end of the tunnel.

Virgil made a few notes of what accommodations might help him. He would try asking Professor Remus first because he was probably the easiest person to talk to about it, but if it went well, he wanted to try to ask some of his other professors about the accommodations.

Feeling like a weight had been lifted off of him, Virgil opened up discord, looking to see what other people were saying about the news of geopets. While he was scrolling through a new notification popped up.

"Papa Patton has joined the chat."

Chapter 4 - Making Friends

When Patton had realized that Virgil also played geopets, he immediately joined the same discord server. There was a nervous excitement that went through him as he realized that this could be a really good opportunity for him. It would provide a way for the two of them to be able to talk without it just being like 'Hi I live in your phone want to be friends.’ It was also nice because Patton was able to make a few friends on the server as well. He knew online friendships could be tricky but there were a couple of people he kept in contact with in order to maintain his sanity, and though he had been a bit hesitant about meeting new people online, it was turning out fairly well in the discord server. Some of them had been playing geopets since it first came out, a rather long time ago, and some of them were new, just like Patton. It had helped him foster a small community and since trading items was allowed on the site as long as you had been friends with someone for over 2 weeks, Patton had a feeling he would be able to trade around until he found the items he wanted and needed most.

This was how he was going to try to befriend Virgil. He had seen in one of the previous server messages that Virgil was looking for a void paintbrush for one of his pets, something Patton had easily acquired. Now all he had to do was hope that he could find a way to give it to Virgil without seeming suspicious. That had never been his specialty, time had taught him patience, but it could never erase his knee-jerk reaction of wanting to share good news. However, he and Virgil had only talked in passing so far. Patton didn't feel like he had really built a rapport with the college student, and Virgil was a bit closed off online so he wasn't sure how he was going to build that friendship. He really really wanted to though.

Things were made harder because Patton kept learning things he wasn't supposed to. He had just been trying to feed the pets when Virgil started to research "anxiety accommodations for college students". He could keep himself inside his own tabs he had opened up, but his desire to be helpful led him to do his own research late one night. Patton had gone through his own rabbit hole trying to figure out how he could help Virgil if he ever needed to. He wasn't sure that the disembodied voice in the phone would help, but he wanted to at least try. Even if it wasn't necessarily his "job", Patton needed to be helpful, but he also wasn't supposed to learn that information. Admitting to something like having anxiety was sensitive right? That's what it seemed like from the people he had been meeting in the discord server, some of his new friends had been so patient with him and it really helped. So many of them were such kind and sweet people, it broke Patton's heart to know he would never get to meet them in person. He didn't like being reminded of the prison he was in, but sometimes the memory just hit him like a brick. He would be going about his day and then all of a sudden, like an alarm he couldn't escape, he would be reminded.

"Virgil, are you okay?" The bag that Virgil normally kept him in had been thrown to the side, and Patton slid across the floor, the world above him spun a bit, and then he was looking at the underside of the desk. He couldn't see what was happening with Virgil, but he could hear it clearly. The alarm went off in his brain for a completely different reason. Something was wrong.

"I know telling someone to breathe in these situations often isn't helpful, but Virgil I need you to breath. Slowly in and slowly out."

That voice sounded like Logan, he was counting and occasionally repeating the need for Virgil to breathe, and Patton could hear the raw gasps for air. It made his own eyes prick with tears that refused to leave his eyes, stuck in his heart by the glass that confined him. He pressed against the screen, trying to see them, wishing he could provide comfort. There was nothing he could do stuck in this phone and it hurt, but not as much as he knew it had to have hurt Virgil to experience all of this.

"There you go," Logan muttered again, an air of relief falling on all of them once Virgil's breathing had evened out. "It's okay if you can't talk right now, but do you need anything?"

Virgil must have responded somehow, but Patton still couldn't see. He hated this.

"Alright, I'll get you something to drink, you just sit there and keep trying to breathe. Focus on something in this room and think about what interests you about it, be it the sheets or a particular spot on the wall, just focus, let your mind be drawn to that item and that alone."

Logan's soft voice helped Patton who also focused on something, pulling up a picture of a sunset. He loved the beautiful colors that exploded from the horizon, and the way you could see the wind in the bend of the flowers. He focused on the shine of the sun, the warmth he could barely remember.

"Th-Thanks L, I'm feeling a little better."

"I am glad to hear it. Please know I am willing to support you whenever your mind decides to figuratively travel down perilous paths." At least there was someone who could help him, even if Patton couldn't at least Virgil had Logan.

He hoped that Virgil's smile mirrored his own, something soft and gentle, thankful for the other man who Virgil had befriended.

"Yeah, yeah, I appreciate it."

"Might I ask what sent you down this spiral?"

"I went to ask Professor Remus about the accommodations and he said he would have to review it. I know it's stupid but I just immediately thought about how bad it would be for me if he said no, and what might happen if I have to try to repeat the first year of college again, I don't think I could do it." Remus, that was a name that brought back memories. Unfortunately, it was also a name that had gained a lot of popularity in recent years as they approached one of the country's larger anniversaries.

"Slow breaths Virgil, I understand why this would cause you anxiety, but we both know that Professor Remus is very understanding, albeit strange."

"Yeah, yeah, I know I just..." His voice faltered off and Logan and Patton both knew what he meant. He couldn't control it, and learning to mitigate the attacks was part of growing, but the actual thoughts didn't go away so easily.

"Would you like to hear me rant more about how I believe our professor is actually the immortal King's brother?"

Virgil snorted, and something in Patton's chest unwound. "Yeah, yeah I'd like that a lot. But I'm totally gonna pretend I'm ignoring you and play on my phone."

"Considering how much more you are attentive when you have your phone to use as an anchor, I don't mind at all."

Patton scurried back into his tabs, petting one of his geopets. He was glad that Virgil was feeling better, but the care and friendship that he and Logan had made Patton desperately miss Remus. The geopets and his discord friends were fun, but it didn't stop how completely alone Patton felt.

Chapter 5 - Making Friends Part 2

Virgil would never, in a thousand years, claim that Professor Remus' class was boring. In fact, it was probably one of the most entertaining classes that Virgil had for the entire semester. Still, just because the class was interesting didn't mean that Virgil was able to focus all of the time. He had been struggling with his anxiety this morning, and no matter how he tried to focus his mind would get pulled to a million other things that he needed to be doing or just was worried about. Thankfully, Logan was a very good distraction.

The moment his roommate had realized he was struggling, Logan started passing Virgil notes, conspiracies about Professor Remus that ranged from plausible to wildly outlandish. It was a good distraction because it gave his brain something else to try to focus on. He was building a story in his head, a way to work in all of Logan's different conspiracies. The distraction was welcome, and he knew he wasn't going to learn much from this class period, but it was better than having a panic attack in the middle of the class. Logan had been a great help in that regard. Even if they had only known each other a few weeks now, Virgil could already tell that Logan was a really kind person who was willing to help the people he cared about. At least, Virgil hoped that Logan cared about him. Otherwise, Logan was just a nice person who helped anyone, which wasn't bad but it also wasn't what a friendship was based on.

A different kind of anxiety began to rise in him, and he looked over at Logan who raised his eyebrow, already scribbling a new note to check on Virgil, but it was his turn to make the first move.

'Hey are we friends?' That was probably a stupid question to ask. Virgil wasn't even sure he wanted to know the answer. Wasn't it better to just assume and enjoy the time they were having together rather than asking for specifics?

Logan immediately looked puzzled by the note and Virgil regretted his life choices. He was right, he should have just left it, ignored his own insecurity, and just enjoyed what he had. He was terrified when Logan slid the note back, still looking at him in that way a scientist might look at a frog they are about to dissect.

'I believe we are, but is there a reason we should not be?'

That was not what Virgil had expected. Shit, okay, he had totally read this current situation wrong. He scratched out and rewrote the note a few times, only finally passing it over when Logan gently put his hand on Virgil's leg, an assurance that everything was okay. 'No, I just wanted to make sure. I tend to do better with a bit of definition and labels and such cuz they give me a sense of structure and we never really agreed to be friends or anything.'

'Oh, of course, that makes sense, yes I believe we are friends. That is how I would define our relationship, and if you are amiable, I would very much enjoy putting that label on ourselves.'

Good. Good. Good. A lot of the worry that had been pooling in Virgil's stomach completely dropped and he was left feeling a bit drained, albeit happy.

His relaxation came just in time for class to end. At least he had recorded the lecture. He hadn't asked if it was okay, he probably should have asked, but he had asked about accommodations and he still hadn't heard anything back about them. Though it had only been about a week, and Virgil hadn't really been specific. He had kind of panicked about the whole situation. So, it wasn't a bad idea for him to record the lectures until he got an official answer, right? He wasn't invading Professor Remus' privacy, right? What were the state laws about recording people in public settings?

In that instant, Virgil was torn between two thoughts. The first being that he was an awful person, the second being that his anxiety was going to be especially bad today. He was about to reach out to Logan, to let his roommate... his friend know that he might need extra support today, when he heard his name.

"Virgil, can we speak?" Remus asked and his anxiety shot up.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Was this where he was told he couldn't have his accommodations? Was he in trouble for passing notes in class? This was college though, not high school. He couldn't get in trouble for that, yeah, okay, it was fine. Every step towards the front of the room felt like an eternity and the pit in his stomach grew into a chasm. He was preparing for anything he needed to apologize for, but refused to open his mouth first, not wanting to interrupt Remus.

"Sorry, it took me so long to give you an answer about your accommodations. I haven't had a student who has anxiety before, so I wanted to do a little research on my own." Remus sat on the desk, letting his legs dangle. There was always something about him that both excited and weirded Virgil out. It was obvious that Remus was completely comfortable in his own skin, that he never struggled with it not being right, and that comfort was amazing and off-putting. "Also, I wanted to make sure that everything you ask for would be something I could do, though you were actually really sparse on what you were asking for. You know you can ask for more right? Maybe I'm being presumptuous but I added a few other options that might help as well." He handed over an accommodation packet and Virgil went to grab it but almost collapsed. He had been so terrified and it was just that easy. Remus said yes and offered other options. What he hated though was that his anxiety didn't dissipate, it still buzzed under his skin and he saw the way his fingers shook as he went to grab the packet.

"Sorry, thanks, wait can I... I need a second." Virgil took in a few deep breaths. He tapped a pattern on his leg, over and over and over until the pattern overrode the buzzing. He could feel the drain that was setting in. He was gonna need to rest after this, or... he knew himself all too well, pound an energy drink. He would be too anxious about missing class to not go to the next one.

Once he felt like things were better managed, that his breathing had slowed and the buzzing had turned into a soft hum, he looked up. Remus was now standing there like a deer in the headlights, eyes wide obviously wanting to help but lost. His hands were reached out a little bit, but not enough to touch anything and Virgil couldn't help but snort. "This is normal for me, the inside of my head is like a fight all of the time. I just kinda need space to work through it."

"Are you... are you feeling better now?" He asked, reaching his hand out further and then retracting it.

"Yeah, I'm feeling better. Exhausted, but a bit more centered." The buzz was still there but it was at least a little quiet. "So, yeah, um, does this mean you are accepting my accommodations?"

"I mean yeah, but we need to discuss exactly what you are going to need. I did research, but you are going to be your own greatest advocate." Remus looked him over, and it looked like he was debating something, but Virgil didn't want this to turn into any kind of charity case.

"That's a lot of pressure," he laughed a bit sarcastically, though there was also some truth to it. Making decisions about his own health felt really daunting at times.

"Yeah, I guess it would be. Hopefully, the packet I gave you will help. Also... it's a bit of a superstitious thing that my family used to do, but can I try something that might make you feel better?"

Virgil looked down at the packet in his hands, realizing that it was probably a bit too thick for something as simple as approval papers. He wasn't ready to think about that, so he nodded to Remus' request, watching as he said an incantation... a prayer? Virgil honestly wasn't sure, but as Remus put his hand on the top of Virgil's head, he honestly felt a lot better. The hum was quiet, and he had a little bit more energy. He wanted to ask about it but didn't even know where to begin.

"Thanks, Prof, this really helps."

Remus beamed, actually beamed, and Virgil felt his heart speed up for just a second. He was self-aware enough to know what it felt like when he fell in love, but he wasn't stupid enough to pursue a relationship with his teacher, not to mention how old was Remus even?

"Why do you need to know my age? Are you interested?" Remus asked, wiggling his eyebrows before laughing a little bit. "Or are you just impressed by my baby face? I do moisturize in the blood of my enemies."

Virgil hadn't meant to say that out loud but at least Remus had taken it well, even made a joke out of it. It didn't stop Virgil from blushing as red as a tomato.

"Well, I'll do my best not to make you into an enemy, and I guess I asked because I'm surprised to see someone so young looking at a professor."

Remus laughed, "Don't worry, I'm not dumb enough to hurt a student." He ruffled Virgil's hair, even being shorter than Virgil he stood on his tippy toes. It was probably meant to make Virgil feel like a child, but if anything, it made Virgil want to pick Remus up and set him on the desk. "Can't have them tracing you back to me, and I'm older than I look."

"Alright, cool, I'm gonna go ahead and head out now." Virgil was not going to put himself in a situation where he was the love-struck college student falling in love with his professor. That was a really, really dumb idea, and he fucking refused. What's worse was the normal buzz of anxiety that would make him completely oppose the idea was quiet. He was not okay with that.

As he quickly walked out of the room, Logan was waiting outside the door. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, it was um... it was fine, he approved my accommodations, but I just am having an issue."

"Is your anxiety bad?"

"Yes, but no, um... I think I might be falling a bit for Professor Remus, so I'm just gonna ignore that and pretend that didn't happen, and then we should be all good."

Logan looked at him and Virgil wasn't sure what the look was for. Eventually, Logan said, "I am no stranger to falling in love with someone you shouldn't so, if you need to talk about anything, I'm here for you."

"Thanks." He was saying that a lot, and it kinda felt nice.

[Section Break]

Remus looked down at his copy of the packet he had given Virgil, several hours of research and study on anxiety, yielded nothing but more questions. How did psychologists do it? How did they study the human brain without the rush of intrusive thoughts? It probably didn't help that every time Remus found a page that linked anxiety to PTSD he thought back to Patton. His love would never have abandoned him, something had to have happened and Remus was convinced that Patton was stuck in a mirror somewhere in this vast world. He would continue to study psychology. It was hard on him, but he needed to be prepared if he ever found Patton, but after almost 700 years of searching, he was beginning to lose hope. Walking back over to his desk, Remus pushed his glasses up, knowing they would tangle in his curls. "I need you Pat, you always knew what to do when things got tough, and I don't know how much longer I can hang on without you." That was the thing about immortality, it was completely useless if you didn't have someone to spend it with, and though his brother was fine company every now and again, it wasn't the same as having his beloved by his side.

'I will be your strength.'

Remus smacked his hands on the desk, no moping. He had papers to grade and research to do. He always gave out that extra credit to students in hopes that they would find something he had missed, some small detail that would help him find Patton. Roman told him that he should move on, but Remus refused. He would do whatever it took to get Patton back.

'Wait for me.'

Chapter 6 - Helping Friends

Getting trapped inside of the phone instead of the mirror had been a blessing. It came with its own challenges but Patton was having a lot more fun than he had before. He watched as Virgil snorted at the joke he had made, pulling his hoodie up to his mouth as if he could hide his amusement. It was gorgeous. Patton had found that making jokes was the best way to make Virgil smile, and his smile was a brilliant thing. Virgil might not like to admit it but the emo had a very punny sense of humor, and his smile was so incredibly warm. Everything about him made Patton want to be closer to the other man. He was still taking things slow, trying to make sure Virgil was comfortable with their relationship. It was hard because Patton knew far more than he was supposed to, and it would be weird if he just cherry-picked the things they both enjoyed talking about. Even their current conversation had taken time. Patton had sent Virgil a private message about one of his comments in the server. One thing led to another and they were now talking about Geopets and the crash of their in-game currency. Although it was still a popular website for a lot of people, it was also obvious that many people had abandoned the website. Virgil said that he preferred it this way because he felt like he wasn't so overshadowed by the thousands of people using the site.

'Yeah, I've been on it since it first launched. The site being smaller now helps a lot but I've seen how bad the inflation got. The worst part is if you weren't savvy with how you sold things or could pay for some of the money generators, you kinda got screwed.' Virgil messaged, 'Like, I wish I had gotten myself a void brush back when they were first released, but I was having a hard time participating in some of the events during that time and now it's so expensive I don't think I'll ever be able to get one. It's kinda disappointing.'

'Oh yeah! I saw that you mentioned that previously. I actually got a void paintbrush from someone who needed help getting something for a quest. I'm stuck at home a lot so I've been able to get a few items just by being at the right place at the right time. I've mostly been trading stuff and trying to help people out so I've gotten a few nice things since then.'

'Really?! You have one!' Virgil sat up in his bed excitedly, and Patton smiled at how excited he was. He wanted to reach out, to brush Virgil's hair out of his face, but he was stuck.

'Yeah, of course! Would you like it? It's not really my aesthetic.'

Patton knew it wasn't going to be that easy to convince Virgil to take it. Virgil didn't like being indebted to strangers, and he didn't like feeling like he was taking advantage of his friends. He was kind-hearted like that, even if he tried to hide it, but Patton wanted him to have this. He was building a full aesthetic with his different pets and his home, and Patton knew that it was going to look amazing. Patton also wanted Virgil to have nice things because he deserved to be able to enjoy life's little pleasures. Sure it was a virtual color pallet for a virtual pet, but Patton was really beginning to understand the importance of things that weren't actually tangible.

'I really don't know if I can just accept this, those are really hard to get.' Virgil was rubbing at the side of his phone, something he did when he was nervous. Patton could just barely see the side of Virgil's finger over the screen and he wished he knew a better way to assure Virgil. The best he could do was just smile softly, not that Virgil could see that.

It had been a bit hard to get the paintbrush, but when you were literally stuck in the internet it was easy to find the time. Not to mention, Patton couldn't sleep, even if he wanted to, so he had extra time on his hands. He didn't want Virgil to feel guilty for getting something he wanted, especially not something that Patton had gotten for him.

'I don't mind, and if you are worried about paying me back or something you could keep your eyes out for a mini halo, I've been looking everywhere for one.' Patton liked the way that the little halo looked. He had been building himself a small wardrobe from different clothes. It helped him feel a little more in control of his appearance and thus himself. It felt like with a virtual wardrobe he had a little bit of autonomy, something he hadn't had in far too long.

It was funny, Patton liked soft colors and pastels, Virgil liked deep blacks and bolder styles, yet they still had so much in common. Patton thought it suited Virgil, he would never wear that much black, but it made Virgil look cozy.

'I can keep a look out for it, but I don't know if I will ever be able to find it.' Virgil was biting his lip as he responded. Patton wished he knew a way to make it easier, to assure Virgil that he really didn't need to be paid back. As long as Virgil was happy, that was all that mattered.

'If you can't find it that's still okay, like I said, just keeping an eye out is fine. I know how rare they are. I'm not sure I'd be able to afford one even if they did hit the marketplace.' Patton added a slew of emojis, smiling when Virgil relaxed a little bit at that.

'Awesome, okay, sure, just let me message you on Geopets so that we can be friends.'

Patton jiggled excitedly. He had helped, he had actually managed to help, even if it was something fairly small. After they exchanged the item, Patton told a slew of puns, just to keep the good feelings going. He got Virgil to smile and laugh, and they talked for the rest of the night until Virgil eventually had to go to sleep.

'This has been really fun Pawton, it was cool being about to talk to you, but I have to head to bed now.'

'Of course! I hope you get a lot of rest, and you can call me Pat. My real name is actually Patton.'

'Even your username is a pun?'

'Yeah, I thought it added a bit of fun to things.' Patton watched as Virgil yawned, nodding before typing his reply.

'It does. Talk to you tomorrow.'

'I'll be here! Sleep well.'

Patton watched as Virgil turned off the screen, plugged in the phone to let it charge and set the phone face down on the nightstand. Patton hated this part of the night. He could retreat back into the world of the internet, but there would always be the oppressive darkness just behind him, hiding him from the world, trapping him in this place. He went about his chores, feeding the abandoned Geopets, messaging some of his friends in other countries, but he could still feel it, looming just behind him, the darkness that he couldn't escape. "It's better than the lake." Patton reminded himself, memories of the murky lake burying him in sand and sediment with the shifting water. Anything was better than that.

It was strange to not have a body and yet to be able to feel the tightness in his heart, the hold on his limbs. Patton pretended to breathe the way he had heard Logan coach Virgil through breathing. The light tapping that Patton had just barely been able to hear he focused on that thought, on that memory, relaxing into the idea of a past.

'Hey Pat!' He saw the notification and immediately scrambled to answer it. If he couldn't sleep, the least he could do was focus on helping people out, talking to people and being sociable.

'Hey! What quest are you on today?'

Chapter 7 - The Echoing Silence

Midterms were right around the corner and Virgil was not having it. Remus' accommodations had been great, but that didn't mean that he was doing alright in his other classes as well. Just knowing that there was another test around every corner had him very on edge. He knew he needed to focus on the positives and honestly, he was doing better than he could have hoped, but his mind also told him he needed to do better. It was a constant war of trying to remind himself that he was enough, and his mind attempting to tell him he wasn't. The only solace he had was the two friends he had made thus far. Logan was nice and grounding, and Patton made him laugh, pulling himself out of his own head. Patton typically seemed to know just when he needed a meme or a joke to pull him out of his own head, and Logan had been helping a lot with grounding techniques. Even his occasional after-class conversations with Remus had helped him relax into being a college student. It wasn't all bad, it was just that midterms were hell.

If Patton were here, he would probably offer to make Virgil a snack and get him somewhere comfortable to study...

No.

Being gay for a guy he had never met in person was also a bad idea.

Virgil shook his head, he needed to pull himself out of his thoughts of Patton. Even still, he could probably use a break and Logan had asked him to see if there were any books on the immortal king. More specifically, Logan had said "If you have time, can you compare what books the library has about the immortal king against this list" and had texted Virgil the list. Since the drumming of anxiety wouldn't go away just from him studying, Virgil decided to grab his bag and look through the books. Maybe, one small accomplishment would hopefully push him towards studying in hopes of completing another accomplishment.

Looking through the books was easier than Virgil had expected, partially because Logan had organized his list the same way the library organized their stock. It left Virgil with a small stack of books that would hopefully be new to Logan, one of which was actually a kids book about the immortal king. He wasn't sure why a kids book had ended up in the reference section, maybe one of the child development majors left it there, but Virgil was curious. He thumbed through it as he went to sit down, pulling his phone out of his pocket and putting it on the table. He really should be studying. He needed to be studying.

Biting at his lip, he looked down at the book and flipped it over, looking at the synopsis.

The country of Palze was founded very long ago. Its people fought through strife and fear, never knowing who they could trust until one king appeared and brought an age of prosperity. King Remus didn't start in his noble station. This is the story of his rise into power and his torrid love affair with the baker's son.

Virgil hadn't known that King Remus had been into multiple genders, that was pretty cool if this book was to be believed. However, it was a kid’s book... well a young adult book. Who believed those stories nowadays? Everything was exaggerated for dramatic effect... and Virgil did love drama. He cracked the book open and began to read it out loud, quietly absorbing the words. The start was a bit slow, giving a lot of background information, but then Patton was introduced. Funny, that was his new friend's name. Apparently, the Patton of the past was quite a flirt when it came to future king Remus, following him around and chasing after Remus' attention. Virgil's Patton didn't seem like that. In fact, Patton was extremely respectful when Virgil said he needed space. He wasn't sure he liked the Patton in the book, but eventually, Remus began returning his affections and Virgil was a sucker for a love story. Then his phone buzzed. He opted to ignore it, continuing to mutter the words out loud, but his phone buzzed again. What was so important?

He picked up his phone and for a moment he thought he saw a crying man, but it was so quick, it had to just be his imagination. Virgil looked back at the book sitting on the table, then back at his phone. Patton had been messaging him a slew of dog memes, so probably nothing too important, but it ended with 'I'm having a bad day, can we talk?' and Virgil immediately put the book down, messaging his new friend back.

"Yeah, of course, what's up?"

Virgil watched as the 'Pawton is typing...' message on the bottom kept popping up and going away. It made him a bit anxious. Patton was normally his fun-loving friend. He had yet to see Patton in a bad mood, so to see him struggling was a big thing. He bit at his lip until finally Patton finally sent his message.

'I'm feeling really lonely today, like in a really bad way.'

Virgil looked at the message sympathetically. He understood how hard it could be to just feel alone. 'Well I'm here, want to talk about something?'

'Yeah, can we talk about how your classes are going? It makes me feel like I have normal irl friends rather than being stuck.'

'Sure, I was actually supposed to be studying right now but I got dragged into reading something else. It was interesting.' He looked over at the books he had pulled out for Logan. 'I'm about to be going through midterms.'

'I'm glad you found an interesting book. Midterms sound really difficult. Have you had a hard time dealing with midterms before?'

'Sort of, I've had a hard time with tests in general. I get a little caught up in everything and I worry about not being able to show the different things I've learned. Like I know how to do a lot of things and I've learned a lot in this class, but I worry that it's all gonna disappear when I go to take the test.'

'Wow, that sounds really tough. Are your teachers helping?'

'One of them has,' he messaged, thinking about Remus, 'and I'm struggling talking to some of my other teachers. I wish it was easier to talk to people.'

Patton went back to attempting to type something out, erasing it, and then attempting again. It took a bit before he finally messaged, 'I wish I was there to help you. I'd fight for you.'

He then sent a gif of a kid holding up his fists in a fighting stance. Virgil was taken aback by that and he looked at the phone fondly, smiling and shaking his head. It was nice just having someone offering to be on his side. It meant a lot to see that Patton would have been willing to do that for him. He wasn't sure if Patton actually would if they were friends in real life but the idea that he might be willing to was great. Virgil imagined that Patton had to be rather short, so maybe he was imagining a chihuahua attempting to attack his teachers for being mean.

'Thanks,' Virgil messaged back, relaxing back in his chair. 'It helps a lot, but this was supposed to be about you. What have you been up to?'

'Really not enough,' Patton messaged back and the hesitance before his next message really showed Virgil how much Patton had been struggling today. 'I have been keeping on Geopets most of the day. I did a little bit of research and learning but other than that really not much else.'

'Sounds really boring,'

'It has been. I'm so bored, and I don't know what to do with myself.'

Patton sent a gif of someone flopping into their bed, 'I can't go outside and so this is kinda all I can do, message friends online and hope it's enough.'

'I'm sorry, that really sounds like it sucks,'

'Yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to dump all of that on you. I think I'm just super raw today.'

Patton didn't say anything else for a bit, and Virgil wasn't sure how to make it better. He thought about a hundred ways to respond but none of it sounded like enough.

'I appreciate having you as a friend.' Patton messaged, and Virgil smiled weakly. It sometimes felt like he couldn't do enough, but it was nice to know that Patton was thankful to have him around.

This was probably a bad idea. This was probably a very bad idea, but Virgil bit his lip and sent Patton a message.

'Do you want to voice chat?'

Chapter 8 - Alone Together

'Do you want to voice chat?'

Patton looked at that message in surprise, mouth hanging open. 'Yes.' He responded before he even thought things through. 'Yes, please.'

He could see Virgil's hesitation and almost wanted to take it back. He knew how wary Virgil was about strangers on the internet, but Patton needed this, he really needed to talk to someone, to have some kind of companionship, to be able to use his voice.

Virgil hit the call button and Patton held his breath as it connected.

"H...hello?" Virgil asked, battling his own anxiety Patton was sure, but someone was addressing him. For the first time in such a very long time, someone was expecting to hear his voice.

"Hello!" His voice choked as he spoke and Patton had to quickly suppress the shaking of his voice because someone could finally hear him.

"I can't talk much because I'm at the library, but at least this way you won't have to be alone for a little bit, right?"

"Right." Patton would have been crying if he could. He clung to whatever he could, thanking the gods that this worked. He finally had someone to talk to after so long.

Virgil couldn't talk right now though, so he would have to be quiet so that Virgil could study, but this was a good thing.

"Can I just stay on while you study? Then you will have someone to keep you accountable?"

"Yeah, sure, that sounds good," Virgil responded, and Patton watched as Virgil's headphones were plugged in and he set the phone off to his side. Patton tried to sit back, tried to let his mind just focus on the sounds of Virgil studying. He didn't want to disturb his friend, and he didn't want to be told he couldn't be on the phone anymore, but being left alone with his thoughts wasn't great. His mind kept going to that stupid book, that book that knew nothing about what was real and what the story was actually like. The book that didn't understand that Remus had been the one who had pursued Patton, even if Patton had been very receptive to his advances.

Remus had been so sweet back then, back when they were both young and the world felt like it was theirs to conquer. He was the blacksmith's son, he and his brother Roman. Roman showed very little interest in anyone, but Remus constantly seemed enthralled with people and relationships, and Patton felt the flame between them the minute they locked eyes. Remus had decided to make himself a nuisance, but at the same time, Patton had become indispensable to the bakery. He made sure that every item he made was perfect, and it helped Patton gain favor with the baker who had taken him in as help after his parents had died. As Remus passed off the items for the bakery he would whisper dirty things in Patton's ear, causing him to flush red. Patton was the one to ask him out first, and they became inseparable. Remus challenged him to loosen up and he challenged Remus to see the value in some of society's rules. Remus had been his everything. Those were memories that Patton both cherished and dreaded.

'They want me to marry the queen,' Remus had whispered when they were just about twenty, laying in a patch of grass in the forest. When Patton let his mind wander he could still just barely feel the wind on his face, see the rustling of the leaves in the trees, the way that Remus held his hand.

'And like, maybe if she would be cool with a poly relationship I would be fine with it, but she wants to take me away from you.'

Patton had hesitated, because Remus deserved the best, and he really just wanted Remus to be happy, but the way he phrased it, Patton knew that Remus wanted him, that he wasn't the thing stopping Remus from saying yes.

'Run away with me?' Patton whispered, turning to look at his boyfriend, threading his fingers through Remus'. 'Let's run, we can go searching for Roman, find him and live in a cottage in the forest, you can scare off any adults who try to find us, and I can rescue any kids who are lost.'

Remus turned to look at him, eyes sparkling, 'would you really do that with me? Run and leave this world behind?'

'Yes,' Patton didn't have a lot that tied him to this town, this city, or even this country. All he had was Remus.

His boyfriend pushed himself so that he was now on top of Patton, pinning him to the forest floor. 'Really, like you are really sure?'

Why was this so surprising? Of course, he was sure. 'Yes,'

'Wait, wait, this wasn't how I wanted to do this.' Remus scrambled off of him, and a bit of fear started to spread through Patton as he slowly sat up, but when Remus pulled out a candle, shoving it into Patton's hands, and his eyes immediately lit up as he knelt down on the ground, watching Remus snap his fingers to create a small flame between them.

'Patton Baker, will you become the light of my life, and allow me to bask in your warmth and glow? Will you allow me to provide for you as you provide for me? And when the night is dark, will you let me be your strength?'

Patton choked as he nodded, holding the candle carefully as Remus began to light it. 'Yes,' He whispered, 'I will be your light and your strength, your shelter, and your home.' It was hard to get the words out because Patton was crying such happy tears. 'Remus Smith, I will marry you.'

The memory was seared into Patton's memory, no matter how many nights passed or how many dawns he saw, that memory was as clear as the day it happened. They went home together that night, a small place they had called theirs for a while, but it had suddenly felt like so much more. They started planning their life together, and Patton had fallen asleep thinking that he had the world in his hand. His world.

That was the night the queen had captured him, and one of the first things that Patton learned when he finally escaped the lake, was that Remus had married Queen Ophius within the year. It took everything in Patton not to bitterly sob at the memory. He tried to be quiet for Virgil's sake. He didn't want Virgil to know what he was going through. Didn't want Virgil to know what he was facing.

"Hey Pat, are you okay?" Apparently, he hadn't been quite enough.

"Yeah, yeah kiddo of course I'm okay," he lied and immediately regretted it. "Sorry, no, I'm not." Patton sniffled. "It's just been really rough this week. I really didn't want to be a bother, and you being on the phone helps a lot, but it's just a bit too much right now."

"Is..." he was hesitating, and Patton felt guilty for that too. "Is there anything I can go to help?"

"I don't know that there is." At least Patton could be honest about that. "Actually, can I do something for you?"

Virgil was silent, obviously confused by the question.

"I want to feel useful, I want to feel like I've helped somehow. Can I do something?"

Virgil remained silent for a little bit longer before Patton watched him nod. "Yeah, if um... if that will make you feel better, do you want to quiz me for one of my midterms? It would help a lot to get the practice. I could send you the questions and then you can ask me them."

"I can do that!" Patton said with a bit of excitement, his voice still a bit watery and his soul a bit heavy.

"Awesome, let me forward you the question list, and then we can start working on it together."

It didn't make the memories go away. It didn't make Patton feel whole again, but at least he was useful, at least he had a purpose.

Chapter 9 - The Logan/Janus Interlude

Midterms normally meant cool weather, cozy sweaters, and Logan absolutely thriving. His boyfriend, on the other hand, was curled up in his lap, periodically cursing the cold weather and whatever person decided that fall had to mean a chill. Janus had never been one for the 'freezing tundra' of late autumn, but Logan couldn't complain considering it meant that he was able to keep his boyfriend on his lap. The studious man would never admit it, but he enjoyed holding someone and cuddling them, which made Janus a perfect partner as he also wouldn't admit that he loved being held and cuddled.

"Shouldn't you be studying for midterms?" Janus asked with a grumble, his face buried in Logan's neck as he, as Janus once put it, 'attempted to steal all of Logan's warmth.’

Logan had been spending his time working on his project for Professor Remus' class, intending on doing a very deep dive into the lore and conspiracy of the lost brother. "I'm quite confident in my ability to handle anything that my teachers throw at me."

"So you've decided your time is better spent working on something that you are probably already an expert on?"

"Yes," Logan said in a very confident tone, giving Janus' side a bit of a pinch. Janus squirmed in Logan's arms, giving his neck a small bite in return. After their small war ended, Logan could feel Janus rolling his eyes and it made the other man smile fondly.

"Except you aren't studying the mirror dimension this time?" Janus asked, it sounded as if he were surprised, but Logan knew that he wasn't. The two of them had spent so long with each other that there were certain nuances to their conversations. In this instance, Janus wasn't looking for actual information, but rather a confirmation of information he already knew. Logan didn't mind indulging him.

"No, as you are aware I have learned quite a bit about the mirror dimension and it wouldn't be a challenge to study it further or to write a paper on it. Not to brag but I feel as if I could write a dissertation on the subject, its history, its use, and its spell work." Logan adjusted his voice, pretending he was giving a lecture. "The mirror dimension is a prison, those with powers are able to manipulate it a bit, travel in and out of it, but for anyone who doesn't have magic flowing through their veins, they would be stuck in one mirror for all of their existence. Because a single mirror is not actually the whole world in and of itself, destruction of a mirror for those without magic will tend to send them into madness as what little interaction with the physical world they had would be completely cut off."

Janus hummed lightly, encouraging him to continue, though Logan was fairly sure his boyfriend was using this as an excuse to hear his voice, to relax, and fall asleep.

He would indulge the smaller man. He would always indulge Janus.

"Other than those basic qualifiers, there is some speculation that people who escape the mirror world will have immortality, and I believe that is what happened to the immortal king and to his brother, though I'm not confident about that." His voice had calmed back into his normal tone, a bit excited to be discussing something that he was passionate about. "The person we believe to be the immortal King is Remus, but it would make far more sense for the position to have been taken over by his brother. His twin in fact."

"You know this is all conspiracy and you have no proof right?"

"I was told to complete a paper on a conspiracy, besides I have proof, just not proof that I can share with other people."

"Why do I have a feeling you are planning on sharing that information with your professor?" Janus attempted to pull himself up, to see Logan eye to eye, maybe to have a more serious discussion about this, but Logan wouldn't let him.

"Because you know how reckless I can be in my pursuit of knowledge." Logan began to gently stroke Janus' shoulders working his way down to work out the stress. Logan leaned back on the bench a little bit as he looked up at the tree above them. Despite constantly being cold, Janus didn't like being in direct sunlight. Many of their dates occurred under the light of the moon, and Logan couldn't complain. He loved the moon and the stars, there was a strength in the light of the moon that couldn't be explained by science. Some things in this world were just magic, and that was the only explanation you would get... Well, that was partially true. Even magic came with its rules and structure, and Logan had learned all of it, practiced all of it. He wasn't joking when he said that Janus had only been after him because of his powers at first, though their story was much sweeter than that of the Queen and her Immortal King. Logan chalked that up to Janus being far more respectful, and Logan being far more receptive to the advances of his would-be manipulator.

"You promised me you wouldn't put yourself in unnecessary danger," Janus mumbled and Logan softened. His boyfriend had grown up in a very strict household. They had all been taught that magic was far too powerful to be in the hands of the unqualified and that it was their duty to strip it from the undeserving. Janus had tried. He had tried to steal Logan's magic junior year, tried to strip Logan of what made him powerful and special. Logan had told him it wouldn't make him happy, that all it would do was add more strife to Janus' life. They had been friends, and Logan knew that this had always been an inevitability. He hadn't even been mad. He had watched Janus with kind eyes as the other man attempted to perform the ritual, and Janus fell apart.

"I told you I would protect myself, and you. I have no intention of going back on that promise." He kissed Janus' cheek gently, letting his hands continue to explore the back he already knew so well.

After that day, the magic hunter had run, had attempted to disappear from Logan's life, but Logan had already fallen in love. Logan had fallen in love by the time they were sophomores. It wasn't that he’d had any kind of oracle abilities, but he had seen the future for the two of them, and Logan would do whatever he needed to make that future happen.

He followed Janus, found him at his house 'punished' for his failure at capturing Logan's magic. That was the one and only time that Logan used such a large display of magic, typically preferring to fly under the radar. He had turned everyone who hurt Janus into stone, adding their now solid figures to long forgotten gardens where they would not be found. He had exhausted himself, and Janus had had to help him back home. After that, they were inseparable, tied together by a bond of secrecy and protection. Logan would never let anything happen to Janus, and that meant he wouldn't tell Professor Remus about his own powers and history unless he knew it would be well received.

"Then don't tell him," Janus said, not realizing that he didn't have to convince Logan. "Lie, make up some other reason, but if you tell your professor the truth it could end up being very bad. I don't want you in that situation. I don't want you hurt."

Janus was right, it was a high-risk high-reward situation. "I still have half a semester. I will attempt to find another way of supporting my claim."

The man on his lap nodded, "Besides, I think it's an unfair advantage that you have family knowledge of this type of thing. Mages are far too powerful." He was joking of course.

Logan couldn't help but chuckle, hiding his face in Janus' hair. "You are just jealous because I grew up with a mother who let me stay up past my bedtime every full moon." A soft change of topic to help both of them focus on better times.

"That might be part of it." Janus loved Logan's mother, she was sweet, kind, and sent from hell. There was a reason Logan had been able to perform the spell that he did, and it was because she had been the one to teach him how to protect himself.

Janus was relaxed on top of Logan, completely boneless as he continued to rub his boyfriend's back. This was something worth protecting. It didn't matter if his legs were tired, or if he couldn't focus on his work like this. It didn't matter if Janus fully fell asleep in Logan's arms. He loved being able to hold his boyfriend in his arms like this. As long as they were together, that's all that mattered.

Chapter 10 - Dinner Questions

Something weird was going on. Virgil had noticed it slowly at first, small flashes on his phone, his battery not seeming to drain nearly as much as it should for an old phone, and when he dropped it, it didn't shatter or break at all. Once he started looking for it, it was everywhere. His search history would either be wrong or would randomly delete. He would often be signed out of geopets even though he told it to remember his password and there were a few passwords in his saved list that he knew weren't his. Sure, maybe he was being paranoid. Maybe there was data still left over from the previous owner, but after they had talked about the phone being haunted, Virgil couldn't help but wonder. Maybe his phone was haunted. Maybe something was going on with it. It wasn't really a bad thing, a little creepy at times, but it wasn't like any of his data had been stolen. All of his credit cards hadn't been used for anything other than what he used them for, so maybe he was overreacting. Still, for the first time since he had gotten it, he left the phone in their dorm room while he and Logan went to dinner.

"Hey L," they were going to be meeting Janus soon and Virgil wanted to ask about this before then. He and Janus weren't really buddies. It wasn't that they disliked each other, they just didn't like each other. "You know a lot about magic stuff and all of that, right?"

Logan looked at him quizzically and Virgil felt embarrassed. It felt like such a childish thing to ask about. "Yes, I know quite a bit about the history of magic, why do you ask?"

Probably the biggest factor in Virgil asking was that when he had been panicking about his midterm, his phone buzzed right as he was about to spiral. It made him think about Patton and he had been able to pull himself back together and sure coincidence was a thing but it just felt like there was more to it than that.

"I think my phone is haunted," He finally blurted out.

Logan stopped walking, looking at Virgil with his eyebrow raised. "Haunted?"

"Yeah, well," he was so embarrassed. This sounded so dumb. He knew it sounded dumb, but Logan would believe him right? Logan was his friend. Still, he refused to meet his roommate's eyes, "I know it sounds silly, but there's just little things about it, and I just wanted to know if that was even possible. Like, maybe it's just my anxiety or whatever but you know about magic, so it would help to know if it's possible for phones to be haunted."

"While there is plenty of documentation to show that ghosts may be real, I've never heard about a ghost inhabiting a phone but I'd be happy to look into it if you would like." Logan had that look in his eyes. The same look he got when he was working on his projects, Logan was interested, and he had a few ideas. It helped Virgil relax.

Virgil nodded. He genuinely thought his friend would laugh at him and tell him that ghosts weren't real and Virgil was being ridiculous, but he should have known better. Logan wasn't like that. "Yeah, would you be willing to?"

"Of course, I already have a few websites bookmarked that I was meaning to look through anyway. Would you like me to try to resolve this tonight or do you think your concern will wane after some food?"

Virgil looked up at Logan surprised because he wasn't just taking Virgil seriously, he was offering to take care of things right away. "I... I'd like to take care of it tonight, but I mean midterms just finished so if you need to rest...."

Logan waved him off. "I am blessed in the fact that the classes I am taking are rather simple for me, so midterms weren't a big deal. In fact, I would enjoy a break from my current research project, and as your friend, it is important for me to be able to help where I can."

"Thanks, Lo. Like seriously. I couldn't have asked for a better roommate."

"I am fairly fantastic, aren't I?" If he didn't know Logan, Virgil would have thought it was arrogance, but his roommate's lips were twitched up just a bit and there was a twinkle in his eyes to show that he thought it was hilarious. Logan was, in his own way, joking. Honestly, Virgil felt himself picking up on this habit a little bit, exaggerating his own worth and value when trying to joke. It felt better than his self-deprecating jokes, but at the same time, it was hard. He still fell into the habit of knocking himself down sometimes, but it never felt good, so he always ended up trying again to follow Logan's style of joking.

His roommate's silly little smile didn't last long as he was suddenly pulled down by his tie, a surprise to both of them. Virgil was taken aback, mind attempting to catch up to what happened until he noticed the shorter man who was now locked at the lips with Logan. Janus had made it no secret that he was territorial over Logan, and Logan seemed to revel in the attention. He was the first to pull the shorter man onto his lap when they were studying and Logan often spoke of Janus' overprotective nature as being adorable. Virgil wasn't a fan. He preferred a more open and communicative type of relationship, but he was glad that Logan was happy.

"Hey, J," He muttered once Janus finally pulled away from Logan. They didn't have a bad relationship, but it was obvious that Janus was jealous that Logan and Virgil were rooming together. Logan had told Virgil that Janus' family had provided him an apartment but Logan wanted to spend a year living on campus as it was 'integral to the college experience.’ By the time he had told Janus, room assignments had already been sent. Virgil thought that in and of itself was probably indicative of a strained relationship, but Logan had further clarified that having access to the dorm allowed them to participate in certain activities they wouldn't be able to otherwise, then he sheepishly admitted that he was concerned that living with Janus would make it too difficult to focus.

Overall, Virgil ended up giving their relationship half a seal of approval, and that was mostly because he personally thought Janus was too clingy.

"Virgil," Janus replied and the two began to stare each other down until Logan leaned down and whispered in Janus' ear. Virgil wasn't sure what he said, but it made Janus melt and he nodded his head towards the cafeteria. Technically Janus wasn't supposed to be eating in there, but he had done something, and it certainly wasn't his charming personality, that made all of the workers there adore him and turn a blind eye. Virgil knew so little about Janus and honestly, he wasn't sure he wanted to know anything.

After the three of them got their food, Logan and Janus sat on one side of the table, their legs intertwined as Logan told Janus his plans for the evening, pulling up his phone.

"Do you think it's possible that this is a mirror world spirit?" Janus asked, and Logan's eyes grew wide. He obviously hadn't thought about that yet.

"I mean, no one has explored the idea of someone in the mirror world interacting with technology. Theoretically a soul could be transferred, electronics do have their own soul at this point. Why didn't I bring a notebook?"

"Because I told you that you shouldn't take notes while you eat." Janus looked so soft when he talked to Logan. "Take a deep breath, we will continue working on this after dinner, for now, just eat." As Logan began to eat some of his food, Janus began to make notes. Logan looked over his shoulder, occasionally making comments regarding what else they needed to include and Janus shook his head with a fond smile.

"I know, I know," he said softly.

Virgil watched the two of them interact, slowly chewing on his chicken tenders. Okay, maybe they could have a full seal of approval. Maybe.

Chapter 11 - An Exorcism?

“Spirit of the phone, if you can hear us, show your face and speak to us.’

Patton could hear Logan talking to him, actually talking to him. How long had it been since someone attempted to get his attention since someone had wanted to talk to him as him? His conversations with Virgil had helped, they had helped so very much, but this was different. This wasn't Virgil interacting with a friend who lived far away, this was Logan, addressing him, the person who lived inside of the phone.

It was weird.

Honestly, Patton wasn’t sure what he should do. On one hand, he longed to show himself, to get someone to understand that he had been trapped in here, to cling to the idea that he might finally have an exit option; on the other hand, Patton was afraid of what might happen if he did show himself. If he verified that there was indeed a spirit that lived in the phone, what would they do? Even a century ago there had been people willing to try to get rid of him. He wasn't ready to disappear. Living in a phone had become such a saving grace for him. He felt like he actually had a life again. He wasn't ready to give that up. He wasn't ready for someone to try to get rid of him again. How did Logan even find out about him?

‘Do you really think this will work Lo?’

Patton's heart sank. Virgil had told Logan, which wouldn't normally be a problem except Patton knew what that meant. Virgil had gone to someone else because he thought something was wrong. He had been trying to give Virgil his space and slowly befriend him, but something went wrong. If Patton could he would be shaking. Virgil didn't want him here. He had gotten tired of having Patton in his phone. He felt the need to cry again. Sure, Virgil probably didn't realize that the reason his phone was haunted was because of his friend, but that didn't stop Patton from spiraling. After so long of not being able to talk to his holders, he had found a way, and now he was stuck like this, trapped in a situation where he had worried someone he cared about by simply existing as himself.

Patton wanted to whimper, to cry out and remind everyone that he wasn't malicious magic, that he was a victim. He wasn’t just some spirit in a phone! He had had a life at one point. He had wanted to have a family. Instead, he stayed silent. Patton hid deep in his new home, wondering if maybe he should close himself off from Virgil completely. He thought that maybe it would be different this time, that Virgil would be able to accept his phone being 'haunted'. Patton's little slips would have been forgiven as quirky.

'I'm not certain, but it would be better to try to talk to the spirit first, right? We don't even know how they got into the phone. Also, I will admit that my curiosity is piqued.'

Virgil laughed, and he had such a soft and gentle laugh. It made Patton's heart hurt to know that that laugh wasn't for him, that it was reserved for his actual friends. No, no, he was spiraling, maybe it wasn't as bad as he was making it out to be. He needed to try to breathe, needed to count, focus on what was real. There was nothing to touch, nothing to smell, not really. He pretended with the pets but it wasn't really there.

'It's fine Lo, maybe I was just imagining everything. It wouldn't be the first time.'

'That is a concerning statement that we will address at a later time, but I don't think that you are incorrect in believing that something is here."

Patton was realizing that there was no way for him to be careful, no way for him to hide in a phone without arousing suspicion especially when Virgil was just naturally suspicious and cautious. He had been trying. He had thought he was being good, but he raised enough suspicion that Virgil felt the need to bring someone else in to help fix the problem. The problem being his existence.

'It doesn't seem as if the spirit wants to talk to us though.' It sounded like Logan was pouting like he had been hoping for a conversation but Patton wasn't ready to be cast out, and people had become so scared of magic in recent years.

'Virgil, I would like to try something, but I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone what you have seen.'

Patton didn't hear Virgil's answer, but he did hear a new voice. 'Darling, do you really think this is a good idea?'

The new person's voice was sly and calculating, it sent shivers down Patton's spine, reminding him of another person who had had that type of personality. No, he didn't want to think about her again. He didn't want to think about that day again.

'I don't see the harm in it, Virgil is my friend.'

Their voices were drowned out in the static of Patton's mind, he found himself curled in on himself, or the most he could be in this phone. There was no way that she had a child, no way that any of her descendants were still living, right? Remus had kicked her out, gotten rid of her for good, but maybe she had found someone else, maybe she had had a child. If that was the case could Patton trust this new person who had her mannerisms? He was projecting. He had to remember that he was projecting. There was no possible way that she was still hunting him. She had thrown him in a lake, left him to rot, and probably forgot about him. Right? Right. It was fine. He was fine.

There was an argument going on outside of the phone. It only made his own thoughts worse. He needed to hide from it, needed to just know that things were going to be okay. He didn't want to do this.

"I understand your concern, and I love that my safety is always on your mind, but you can't keep protecting me from everything, sometimes discovery takes risks."

"I realize that but this risk might be-"

"Virgil?" Logan's voice pulled Patton back just a little bit. Virgil was apparently also starting to panic, and the angry voices lowered to soft caring ones. Virgil was getting help, and the argument was over. That was good, that was good. Patton curled up, trying to disappear, trying to hide somewhere safe. He needed to go be with his geopets, the soft digital comfort of something he could pretend loved him. Patton was sure if he had a physical body he would be on the edge of collapse right now, vision swimming, dark spots on his eyes.

"You can't protect me from everything," Patton whispered to Remus as he was held by his boyfriend.

"No, but I can protect you from this."

"Please," Patton whispered. He just wanted someone to protect him from her, someone who would protect him from his loneliness and solitude.

The phone went dark.

Chapter 12 - The Man in the Phone

It wasn't like one of his normal panic attacks, where he felt the need to combust. This was something slightly different, just the prickle of fear and shame that something was his fault, that this was his fault. He didn't want to cause any fights between anyone or any issues. He just thought it would be funny to investigate his phone, and maybe it would help it run better, but Janus and Logan had started fighting. More specifically, they were fighting about something that Virgil didn't understand. What was Logan going to do that made Janus so concerned for his safety?

Before it could go too far, their argument stopped, their focus on him, and Virgil felt even more shame as Logan helped talk him down from the panic attack that had obviously been building.

"Are you feeling better now?" His roommate asked, and Virgil nodded his head, a blush of embarrassment on his face.

"Yeah," Virgil whispered, "Yeah, sorry."

"You do not need to apologize for panicking, we both should have realized that our arguments could have been a trigger for you." Logan shot Janus a look, it wasn't harsh or cruel, but rather understanding and Janus sighed, flopping onto the floor where they were now all sitting.

"Fine, yes, I should have been more observant."

"I'm still sorry, I didn't want to start an argument between the two of you," Virgil said as he pulled at the sleeves on his shirt. "I just thought it would be interesting to take a look at my phone and maybe figure out what was going on.

"This argument isn't your fault," Logan said softly, "It is the one thing we have never been able to reach a consensus on. My amazing little garter snake is just trying to protect me, and I understand that, but I trust you, Virgil.

Janus hissed at that but made no move to stop Logan as he reached out to give Virgil his phone, picking it up from the center of the room. He gently set the device into Virgil's hands.

"Will you swear to me that if I tell you a secret, you won't tell anyone else?" He asked softly.

Virgil swallowed hard but nodded. He wouldn't tell a soul.

"Good," Logan took in slow breath, apparently a bit more nervous than he wanted to let on.

"You don't have to tell me," Virgil blurted out, "I mean you probably already know that but I just want to let you know that you don't have to tell me. Like, I get how important secrets are, and I don't want you to feel like you have to share a secret if you aren't ready."

Logan smiled, and shook his head, sharing a look with Janus who rolled his eyes.

"You know how I said that magic is a tool, and it is the people who use it that makes it either good or bad?"

Virgil nodded. He had a feeling he knew where this was going but it still surprised him and he wasn't really sure what to think.

"Well, I use magic, and I like to think that I use it for good."

Janus snorted and Logan rolled his eyes fondly.

"At the very least I use it for neutral reasons."

That was exactly what Virgil was expecting and yet he hadn't been prepared for it. Part of him thought he was just over exaggerating it and that he was being paranoid, but nope, he had been spending his days with a witch... wizard... whatever moniker Logan used, but nothing had happened, and honestly Logan was one of his best friends at this point.

"So, that's how you know so much?" Virgil was surprised by how calm his voice came out and he watched Logan nod. "And you want to perform magic on my phone to see if there's spirit inside?"

Logan nodded, "That is about the gist of it, though I guess we will have to wait until later as your phone died."

"Yeah," Virgil whispered, trying to absorb everything before he shot up, "Wait what?" He looked down at his phone.

"It is quite alright, you most likely just forgot to charge your phone yesterday. "

"No," Virgil said, shaking his head, "I mean yeah it's possible that I forgot, but this phone has always had an unnaturally long battery life. I didn't question it but I know that it was at full charge this morning."

"Maybe the battery finally gave out?" Logan asked, though his voice shared Virgil's edge of concern. They were both thinking it, but neither of them wanted to say it. If there was someone possessing the phone, maybe they had shut it off because of what was about to happen? Virgil bit his lip, trying to power the phone back on. It didn't work immediately, and when it did, the phone flickered awake, like someone awaking from consciousness. There was a man on the screen, someone that Virgil had almost seen before. He was blinking himself into consciousness, but as soon as he saw Virgil looking at him, he squeaked and was gone from the phone.

Virgil knew that squeak.

"Patton?" He asked softly. "Patton is that you?" There was a long silence until finally, the man appeared on the phone again.

"Hey," he said softly, "I... yeah, I'm sorry." Patton's eyes darted around as he smiled sheepishly, obviously still a bit shaky and tired.

"Deep breath," Virgil said, looking up at Patton and then up at Logan and Janus. "Slow deep breaths, Pat." Virgil's mind was on autopilot, there was far too information happening right now. Logan was a mage, his online friend actually lived in his phone, what was next, his professor actually was the immortal king's brother? Virgil was glad midterms were over because he wasn't sure he would be able to handle all of this happening at once.

He helped Patton calm down, but it was obvious that the man in his phone was attempting to smile through the fear.

"Sorry again," He said and Virgil again looked up to Logan. "I didn't want to scare you, and I wasn't trying to spy or anything, I'm just kinda stuck, so.... please don't try to expel me or something I don't know what that will do and I really don't want to die.

"Pat, I'm not going to kill you," Virgil responded horrified. "You're my friend, I wouldn't dare try to do that to you."

Patton gave Virgil a weak smile but it was obvious he wasn't convinced. Virgil wasn't sure what he had done wrong to make Patton believe that he wasn't going to protect him.

"I know that I don't know you well," Logan spoke up, putting a hand on Virgil's shoulder and leaning over so that he could look at the phone. "But my intention is not to harm, and I doubt that is Virgil's desire either. I cannot imagine how hard it must have been with other people but we aren't here to harm."

Patton's shoulders relaxed a bit.

"Can you tell us how you got trapped in there?" Logan asked, which was the million dollar question wasn't it?

"I... I was stuck in a mirror, and somehow I got stuck here when someone took a picture."

"I knew it!" Logan scrambled to get up, grabbing a book off of his bed and his laptop, flinging clothes out of the way.

"You said your name was Patton, correct?"

"Yes?" Patton sounded confused and concerned.

"By any chance did you live in Ta-aika over seven hundred years ago?"

Patton froze a bit and Virgil adjusted the phone so that it was easier for Patton to see Logan. "I... I mean I don't know how long ago it was but yes that was the name of the village I lived in." Virgil didn't know what was going on, but Logan smiled and nodded to Patton.

"I am assuming you know my last name?"

"It was in Virgil's contacts." Patton's voice was so soft and so low.

"When my mother separated us from the rest of the family she took a new last name, something they would be too proud to think we would ever take as a last name. The town King Remus was born in." Logan opened his book up to a specific page, "Did the mirror you were trapped in look like this?"

Patton was silent, and Virgil had a feeling he knew the answer to that question already.

"Yes," came the soft whisper. "Yes, that's it."

Logan looked triumphant, then he looked at the phone and gave it a sheepish almost apologetic smile. "One more quick question, are you Patton Baker? King Remus' fiancé?"

Again there was a quiet silence, the answer to the question that was already known but couldn't be spoken out loud.

"Yes," Patton's voice was watery, and Virgil remembered that day when he had been reading the storybook out loud, when Patton had distracted him and got him on another topic and guilt pooled in his stomach.

"Fuck," Janus muttered, "He's real?"

Chapter 13 - Candid Conversation

Patton didn't want to answer these questions anymore, it hurt to think about the past. He had tried so hard to put it behind him. He thought if he ignored it then it would all go away, but that just wasn't going to be a possibility. How did anyone even know about him? Shouldn't his story have been lost to time? There was a quiet voice in the back of his mind that told him Remus wouldn't have forgotten, but the voice got quieter with each year.

"I can't believe this is real!" Logan said and Patton was pulled back to watching the exuberant man with the dark hair. "I mean I always thought it was real, but the proof, the confirmation!" He shut the book, quickly writing something down on his laptop. He looked like he had just discovered the secrets of the universe. He didn't understand, he really didn't. Why was his existence something to be excited about, was it because he had been trapped in a mirror? No, Logan had already known about the mirror world, which meant there had to have been others. Then what? Why was this a big discovery? Something about it worried Patton, but he didn't have the energy to be scared anymore.

He was still so raw.

"I'm glad you are excited kiddo, but I don't think I understand." He was so tired. He wasn't sure how to handle all of this. It was obvious there was more to the story and he wasn't being told what it was. He was drained after his previous panic, and he didn't want to have to wonder.

It felt silly now, that Patton thought they were going to try to get rid of him. Knowing they weren't made him relax but then all of the fear and adrenaline just dumped out of his system. Did he actually have adrenaline anymore? He wasn't even sure if he had any form of body.

"Sorry, of course, I should fill in some of the gaps. I'm-"

Janus, that was his name right, reached out to stop Logan. "Starlight?" His voice was pleading and if Patton didn't know that look as well as he did, he probably wouldn't have realized that there was fear in the other man's eyes, fear and love. Janus was trying to protect Logan from something, and with the world becoming less and less accepting of magic, Patton understood. He understood because he had seen that look on Remus so many times, and he was sure Remus had seen it on his own face a few times.

"It's okay, what is he going to do?" Logan asked with a soft smile, "Besides, it's Patton. Do you know how amazing of a discovery this is? I had always hoped but I wasn't even sure if he still existed." He was trying to reassure his boyfriend and Patton missed that. He missed the soft touches, the sweetness of care. He missed Remus so much and this was only making it worse.

"I'm sorry, to interrupt, but it's not nice to talk about people in front of them," Patton reminded and Logan at least had the decency to look sheepish. He nodded before turning back to Janus.

"I won't tell them everything," Logan reassured, "Just enough to provide context." He leaned in and kissed Janus softly and the aching in Patton's chest deepened. He had been able to ignore it for so long but now it had taken over again. He missed Remus so much. Logan turned back to Patton. "I am one of the few people who still have magic in their bloodline, as many people know magic becomes dormant after a few generations of not being used."

"I... I actually didn't know that," Patton said as he watched Logan. "I don't know much about magic."

"That actually makes a lot of sense. Did you know about the layers of the mirror world?"

"What?"

Logan straightened up and his eyes began to sort through things. It was interesting to see him try to sort through everything as if he had a file folder in his head that kept all of his information. Also, almost as if he had a conversation with himself regarding how he should proceed. "The mirror world has multiple layers, and I would be happy to tell you more about them, but after we have found a way to get you out of the phone."

"You really think there is a way to get me out?"

"Of course, the merging of magic and technology isn't anything new to me, in fact there is a reason I was able to hide a projector in my bag to bring with me. Otherwise my mother never would have let me take it."

Virgil snorted, and Patton relaxed a little bit. It helped to know that Virgil thought everything was going to be okay. Virgil was his friend, at least Patton still saw it that way, and he hoped Virgil did too. They would have to have a discussion about it.

"It may take me a while though, your situation is tricky. I have heard of plenty of ways to get someone out of the mirror world, but you are no longer in the mirror world, however, now that we know you exist in the phone, you don't have to be alone."

Patton's shoulders fell, and his eyes misted. 'You don't have to be alone.' Logan hit the nail on the head. So much of his life he had been alone, stuck in this mirror just hoping that someone would find him, that someone would care. Then he had to actively hide his existence and it just made him feel more and more like he was alone. Patton knew he couldn't cry. There had been so many time when he wanted to cry and this existence just wouldn't let him, but if he could, he would have so many tears of relief. He wasn't going to be alone anymore, and maybe, maybe he would be able to escape this awful place.

"Thank you, thank you so much. I didn't think that anyone would be willing to talk to me again. Things have gotten so hard in recent years and I was so afraid that if I just showed who I was I would get tossed out, but you listened, and there's a chance, there's a chance I can get out, and I can exist again." Patton wasn't sure why he was so willing to believe it. Why he immediately knew that Logan was going to help him, but he knew. He just completely knew. It was probably because so few people used that town name, but maybe it was also because Patton hadn't seen a good mage in years, and he could very much tell that Logan was a good mage.

"I am excited for the challenge." He was already making notes again. After a bit he looked up, past Patton to Virgil. "I am going to be working on this for quite a while, would you like to have a conversation with Patton in that time? It seems he might be able to provide some clarification on your phone glitching and having issues."

"Yeah, that might be a good idea." Patton was pulled back to the fact that Virgil was still holding him, and he suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. Virgil had been very kind to allow Patton to have that conversation with Logan, and holding his phone up like that couldn't have been comfortable. "Thank you Virgil." He made sure to add, wanting Virgil to know that he was appreciative, and hoping that their conversation wouldn't be a difficult one.

Patton watched as they began to move, being lifted and carried out the door, flipped around so he could see Virgil who was taking his headphones out of his pocket. "Not sure if this will work but might make it less weird to talk."

"I think so, I've traveled through your headphones for that one conversation during midterms. So this shouldn't be a problem."

"Right." Virgil was quiet and it made Patton so terrified that this was going to go wrong. He tried to take a few deep breaths. It had to be okay.

Chapter 14 - Virgil’s Interrogation

Virgil sat against Logan's bed, listening to the conversation between his friend and... his friend who was trapped in a phone. This was a strange situation and he was overwhelmed. His phone didn't have a malicious spirit in it, which was good to know, but his friend was trapped inside of his phone and that sucked. How could anyone stand being stuck in a single space? Was it small? He slowly made his way out of the room, putting his headphones in.

"Not sure if this will work but might make it less weird to talk." Virgil had just been muttering to himself, but Patton responded anyway.

"I think so, I've traveled through your headphones for that one conversation during midterms. So this shouldn't be a problem."

"Right."

It pulled him back to the fact that Patton was here, Patton was real. And sure, he had always thought his friend was real but this was different.

"So... um..." he had no idea where to start. What did you say when you found out that your friend was trapped inside of a phone? Your phone?

"I'm sorry kiddo, I didn't want to lie to you, but I also didn't know what else to do." Patton's voice shook and Virgil knew that it had to have been terrifying, not knowing who you could trust, not able to be yourself, to be stuck in a small space where you could only communicate within the confines of what might be accepted.

"I get it Pat. I don't like that you lied to me, but I know why you did it," He said softly, walking down the hall until they made it to the common room where Virgil curled up on one of the couches, thankful that it wasn't as busy as it normally was. "I can't blame you, after all, I might have done the same thing if I was in your situation.

Virgil looked at the phone where Patton was. It almost felt like a video call, like Patton was just somewhere else in the world, but he was actually here, trapped inside of that little box. Virgil hated the idea of it.

"Did you cheat to get me the paintbrush?"

Patton was silent for a moment and then he laughed, a hearty laugh that made something unknot in Virgil's chest as he smiled softly.

"No, no I didn't cheat, well not really. I'm stuck inside here so it's much easier for me to get all of the dailies. So it's not really cheating but it is an unfair advantage I guess. But I really have been making friends and trading stuff with them. That's how I got your paintbrush, but I was also trying to intentionally get it. I wanted to be friends and I wasn't sure how else to make a name for myself that you would remember."

"Pat, we were already starting to become friends when you gave that to me. You didn't need to make any kind of large gesture for me to have noticed you." Virgil's brow furrowed, because what had made Patton think that he needed to get a void paintbrush of all things just for Virgil to remember him. How long had he been in that mirror? The tales of King Remus were from the 1300s... that was a really long time. His heart broke for Patton all over again. He might have gone down an entire spiral of worrying about Patton if he didn't blush at that moment, reacting to Virgil calling him a friend, or maybe the whole paintbrush thing. Honestly Virgil didn't know.

All he knew was that he couldn't help but smile at how adorable Patton was.

"You do understand that we are friends because I find you cool right? It's not because you give me something, and it's not because you are a talking cell phone." Patton gave him a weak smile and a nod. Virgil knew that look, it would take time for Patton to believe him. It would take a lot of reassurance. Virgil knew that all too well.

"I'm glad that I found you." Virgil said quietly. "And hey, if Logan is right maybe our professor is the Remus you are looking for."

Patton gave him a soft smile, but there was sadness behind it. "That would be nice, but I'm not counting on it," He said quietly. "It's been hundreds of years. If he's still alive I would figure he's forgotten about me. Even if he hasn't I hope he has found happiness outside of me. He deserves it." His voice was watery as Virgil just wanted to hold him, but he also didn't want to interrupt.

"I spent so many years hoping he would find me. Hoping he would fix this, but I think that's the problem. I spent so much time hoping that he would fix things, that he would make it better. I really should have been trying to figure things out on my own. I... I should have fought harder, learned protective spells or something, anything that could have stopped this." Virgil could almost hear the sentence that Patton didn't say next. "I didn't deserve him."

"Hey, Patton, take a deep breath," Did that even work for some one stuck in a phone? Even if the air wasn't real, it seemed like the act itself helped. "Could you have done things differently, yeah, but it's not your fault you got stuck in a mirror, and if King Remus loved you as much as you love him, then he hasn't forgotten. I don't think anyone could forget someone like you."

Patton looked at him, another light blush on his face. The soft warmth in Patton’s cheeks made his eyes sparkle even more, eyes full of curiosity and a question that Virgil wasn't sure how to answer.

"Look Pat, you are kind, and smart, and funny. And don't tell me that you don't think you are smart, you have been trading up a ladder of items to get me something I wanted and then you just gave it to me. You are also compassionate and caring." He shook his head lightly. "I can see what he sees in you." It was Virgil's turn to blush but he hoped it wasn't super visible. "You also are tenacious. The moment that you saw an opportunity to escape, you clung to it. Do you know how amazing that is?" Virgil gave him a soft smile. "I think you are fantastic," he said. “So try to believe in yourself a little more.”

It was nice to be able to see Patton while they were talking. He blushed so much, and it was beautiful. His eyes sparkled as if Virgil had said something amazing.

"Thank you," He whispered, "Thank you for being my friend, and being here to support me. I really appreciate having someone like you."

"Yeah, I am pretty cool," Virgil said a bit sarcastically and Patton laughed.

"You really are. I'm not sure if you realize it, but you really, really are Virgil," He was smiling and Virgil felt his heart flutter. Cool, so he was falling for his teacher and a man trapped inside of a phone. He really knew how to pick them, didn't he?

"So are we cool?" Virgil asked, surprised at how easy that conversation was. Honestly he had been expecting a lot more. He thought maybe he would be upset at the invasion of privacy, but how could he be when Patton obviously didn't want to be stuck where he was at?

"Yes, of course, you've been so understanding, and again, I'm so sorry that things worked out like this but I'm also really thankful that it was you who found me. Now that you know I'm in your phone if there are any boundaries you need to set, or if there is anything that you want me to know, I'm here to listen!"

Yeah, fuck, he was really cute like this. Virgil was a big fan of people who respected him.

"Yeah, cool, let's talk about that. Um... what can you do, like do you see everything? Can you hear everything?"

"I can only hear things if the mic isn't covered up, same with the screen. I don't have access to the cameras, just the screen, but if you take a picture or if the video software is open then I can see that. As for hearing, I can hear through the mic, but if it's covered up I can't really hear anything. It gets muffled." He laughed a little, "I think that actually helps because I try so hard to pay attention to the world around me that when the mic is covered it's like I get to rest."

"Speaking of rest, do you sleep?"

Patton shook his head no, "but um... apparently I can pass out. That was... new."

"Yeah, it actually shut down the phone, I was really concerned."

"I'm sorry, I don't even know how it's possible considering I would have to have a lack of oxygen right?"

"I think... but honestly I don't know. That might be a question for Logan, he seems pretty knowledgable on this subject."

"He does," Patton added, but his voice got a far off sound. "I... I think it's great he has a boyfriend that wants to take care of him, but I'm also concerned about the implications of him being from that town, well descended from it. That's where I lived with-" his voice hitched, as if thinking about that time pained him too much, "with Remus. It can't be too hard to find that information though and I just... I'm worried he's one of her descendants. If that's the case, what if he wants to hurt me? What if he wants to see me fail and falter?" He asked.

"I don't think Logan is like that. He's more like a hunting dog. Too curious for his own good."

Patton hesitated but nodded, "If you trust him then I will too."

It was nice to know that Patton trusted him so much, and it made him feel a bit soft.

"One... one more thing?" His voice was soft and quiet and Virgil worried that it was going to be something bad.

"Sure, what is it?"

"At night, can you leave the screen up? I'll make sure you don't get any notifications but... I don't like the dark."

Virgil's intrusive thoughts immediately thought about nightmares in the dark, closets with no light, and he wondered how long Patton had been subjected to things like that. He was sorry he ever had a hand in it.

"Of course," He said without hesitation. "I have no problem leaving the screen up for you." He really hoped they could figure out how to help Patton. No one deserved to be stuck like that.

"Thank you Virgil." Patton said softly. "Thank you so much."

Chapter 15 - The Shoe Drops

Things between Patton and Virgil were going surprisingly well, Patton was no longer left in the oppressive dark throughout the night, and Virgil was able to let Patton know when he needed privacy. They learned little ways to work together and Patton was so thankful. It had made existing in the phone so much easier and he appreciated every moment of socialization that he got. Virgil was also fantastic. Now that the college student knew that his friend was living in the phone and not just someone living on the other side of the world, the two of them talked a lot more. Patton felt excited each time they had plans for the night and there was just an energy that he couldn't shake. He was beginning to realize that he might have a bit of a crush on Virgil. It wasn't anything big, and he certainly didn't want to disrupt Virgil's life, but it was there, sitting in the back of his heart like a precious creature to protect. The only other person he had been able to tell about it was Logan. Virgil had given them the chance to talk alone together, not because they were hiding secrets or anything, but because Patton and Logan had started to discuss magic and after a while, Virgil got bored. Patton was still a little wary being left alone with the mage, but the more he learned about Logan's history with magic, the more he was able to calm down. It became very obvious that Logan wasn't going to try to sell him or anything, because he also felt the need to protect his magical secrets. Patton wanted to help take care of him, to help fight for him. If... no when he got out of this mirror, he was going to hug everyone so hard.

Patton's hope for escape had been reignited, but he also knew that he needed to be patient. Things were taking longer than he wanted, but after a few hundred years, could anyone blame him for wanting to get out sooner rather than later?

The phone alarm went off and Patton began to go through some of his normal routines, waiting for Virgil to pick up the phone and head off to class. During class, Patton typically still stayed in Virgil's pocket or backpack, otherwise he might be a distraction accidently, which was completely fair, but today wasn't following the same schedule.

"Shit, no no no." Patton heard the words and immediately appeared on the screen, the phone now in a little stand when not in use so that Patton could see the room rather than just the ceiling.

"Hey Kiddo, is everything okay?" He asked, looking at Virgil who was frantically tossing about the room. Logan had already left, he normally left early so that he and Janus could have a breakfast date before class. They were sweet together.

"No, no it's not. I cleaned yesterday and now I can't find my recorder for class, and I need it. Shit, what am I going to do." He was already beginning to panic and Patton wished again that he wasn't stuck in the phone.

"Virgil, deep breath, please," He wanted to be there, to gently place his hands on Virgil's shoulders and lead him through breathing exercises. "I think I might have an idea."

Virgil's head snapped up, sometimes the deep breath thing worked, sometimes it only made things worse. Thankfully after a moment of staring at Patton with frustration and anger, he took in a slow deep breath. Then another. He was still shaking but he seemed a little more calm. "What plan do you have?"

"Your phone has a recorder on it right? You could use that, and I can help take notes. I know you worry about having your phone out because it might be a distraction, but I'll keep the notifications at bay! It's just for today or until we can get you a new recorder, and I'll do my best!"

Virgil walked over slowly, and Patton could see the way his chest rose and fell with the slow measured breaths. He opened and closed his mouth a few times as if battling with himself, convinced it wouldn't work, but eventually he gave in. "Are you sure? You haven't been able to hear the lectures so you might not know what's going on."

"That's okay, I just have to take notes on everything that sounds important right? Plus you getting the recording will be very helpful because you'll be able to listen to everything again. That's what you always do."

"Yeah, but..." He faltered, falling to his knees so he was eye level with Patton. "Yeah, you're right, it's a good idea." He could see Virgil spiraling again, and Patton wanted to reach out and hold him.

"Hey, don't do that, you were panicked, your brain is processing too fast for you to think clearly when that happens and it's not your fault," Patton said, even more desperate to wrap his arms around Virgil.

"I know, but it is what it is when the panic fades so does the energy."

Patton nodded. He had noticed that, and he had to say that was probably one of the worst parts about having a panic attack or anything of the sort. Sure the actual event sucked, but it also sucked that once you were feeling better you couldn't just brush it off and go about your day, you instead were left with a heavy weight that you had to carry around until you could properly rest. "I get it," he said sympathetically. "And there isn't much that we can do about it, but at least for class, I can help. I'm here to support you." Patton gave Virgil a reassuring smile.

Virgil returned it, but it was a weak half smile. He picked up the phone as he stood. "Thanks Pat, I appreciate you, and I owe you."

"If Logan can find a way to get me out of this phone, neither of you will owe me anything for the rest of your lives." He was clinging to that hope. Honestly, it was all he had left.

Virgil let out a half laugh, setting Patton back down as he repacked his bag before grabbing his phone again and making his way towards his class.

When they made to class, Virgil sat Patton on the desk, unable to sit him up like he would in the dorm room, but with the screen up so that Patton wouldn't be in the dark. Patton didn't mind, he took what he could when it was available, and honestly the small things were often the most helpful.

Logan must have been a bit confused though because he heard Virgil say, "Lost my recorder," Before hearing a soft affirmative grunt, and then, a sound Patton wasn't expecting.

"Good morning fuckers, how are all of you today?"

Patton was thankful that Virgil thought to start the recording on his own, because he couldn't move. The voice rang in his ears as if it had only been a few days and not hundreds of years. The tone was older, more mature, but he knew that voice. He knew that voice better than he knew his own at this point. There had been days where he had worried that he would forget it's cadence, forget it's melody, but he hadn't. Patton had to fight not to sob, not to scream. He had to wait until after class, had to wait until he could ask Virgil to show him the professor. He tried to pay attention, tried to take notes, but it was suddenly far harder than he was expecting.

Every second was too long, they ticked by like they had in that lake and if Patton could be pacing he would. He needed to know, had to know. What if he was wrong? What if it wasn't him? Virgil had said his name was Remus, had joked about him being that Remus but Patton had never really believed it, never accepted it. Now his sentimental heart was begging for it to be true.

"I have to meet up with Janus," Logan said as soon as they were being released and Patton felt his heart stopping. Now or never, he needed an answer to this, he needed to know.

"Virgil, I need you to show me your teacher, please I need you to point the phone towards him." He was trying to keep his voice quiet but there was desperation in his words. Was this it? Had he finally found Remus?

Virgil looked confused but nodded, pointing the screen towards Remus causing Patton to squeak, immediately hiding. It was him. It was really him. After so very long trapped waiting for Remus to appear, here his was, alive and real.

"Patton?" Remus asked quietly, but Patton could hear it, Patton could hear it like a ringing bell. If he still had breath to breathe it would have stopped.

"That's Remus," He whispered to Virgil, not sure how much the man would hear. "That's my Remus." Virgil looked at the phone confused, but then turned to Remus whose face looked a bit downcast as he started to pack up his things. Patton wasn't sure what Virgil was about to do. He wasn't sure what he wanted his friend to do, but Virgil had a look of determination on his face that was such a rare sight. Patton clung to the screen as it was pressed against Virgil's chest and he could just barely hear Virgil's footsteps.

Remus was here.

Chapter 16 - Reunited… sort of

"Um... Professor?" Remus looked up from his notes that he was gathering. He had been teaching for a long time now, yet being called professor never really felt right. He was just... Remus. He had been raised in a small village, spent his afternoons playing in the dirt, that was probably why King had also felt wrong to him. Unfortunately, very few of his students were willing to call him by his name, just like very few of his subjects had been willing to do the same. He wished they would. He wasn't one for formalities and ceremony. If someone was going to call him an honorific, it should be in a funny way, or a sexy way. Either would be fine.

Looking up he saw it was Virgil, and a stupid pesky voice in the back of his head pouted that Virgil specifically wouldn't call him by his name, but his rationality cut in and reminded him that Virgil was a student and although Remus was a kinky bitch, power imbalances were not sexy. Not to mention, Virgil had anxiety, and Remus never wanted to put him in a situation where he might say yes to something he didn't want because of stupid social constructs.

"Oh, hey Virge, how can I help you today? Do you have another professor that I can throw under the bus for you? Figuratively or literally?" Virgil laughed a bit, his cheeks lighting up. They had had a few conversations over the semester, mostly about Virgil's accommodations, but Remus also found the emo to be funny and sarcastic when he was given the space to do so. He was interested in conspiracy theories but didn't research a lot of them because of the pressure to know everything. Apparently his friend was also into conspiracies and the two of them had started to discuss them more often. Virgil lit up when he talked about Logan, though, from Remus' understanding they weren't dating. It made sense, Remus didn't really get date vibes off of both of them.

Virgil was also a writer, and although the paper he turned in for extra credit wasn't what one would call 'academic' it was riveting and extremely entertaining to read. Remus wanted to hear more of his stories, but he also wanted to try to keep Virgil at arms length. Maybe a few years after he was graduated, once he had experience with the world, Remus would find a way to reach out to him. When Virgil was a famous writer. Remus could show up to a book signing, copy in hand and say something smooth.... He shook his head. He had to focus.

"Nah, thanks for the offer, I do really appreciate the support in my fight against tyrannical teachers but this is a bit different and I guess more important." Virgil seemed really nervous, despite the confident edge he tried to add to is voice, his fingers were rubbing the side of his phone like a life line. Remus frowned, reaching in his bag for a stress ball, just incase it would help.

"Nothing is more important than your-" Instead of getting some kind of explanation, the man just shoved his phone towards Remus who took it with a bit of surprise. He was looking at Virgil and not the phone until he heard a soft voice that had almost been lost to time.

"Hey Magi."

Time stopped and Remus almost dropped the phone. He probably would have if he wasn't completely frozen, only his eyes moving down to look at the device in his hands. His mouth hung open as he saw a puff of curly hair and a set of beautiful blue eyes that he hadn't seen in far too long. Patton. He was here, he was actually here. No... no he couldn't get his hope up... what if it was a trick.

"You're in a phone," his voice was flat and quiet as he looked Patton over. He was searching for something, searching for anything that would prove that this wasn't real.

"Yeah, that was kind of a surprise," He said softly, "But you're here." Patton's voice was just as full of emotion as he was.

"You're real?"

Patton nodded, pressing himself against the glass as if just being this close to Remus he might be able to shatter it and get out. "I am, I promise I am."

Remus could hear the desperation and he had to sit down on the ground, holding the phone close to his face. He would have sat on his desk but honestly he didn't have the wherewithal to think about it. All he could think about was Patton.

"I... I don't know how to get you out of the phone. Were you in a mirror? I could have gotten you out of the mirror. I... I haven't studied a lot of technological magic. I thought you were going to be in a mirror. She put Roman in a mirror. I fixed that."

"I'm so proud of you! I know how hard it was to break other people's spells." Patton pulled away from the screen a little bit to get a better view of Remus. "I was in a mirror, for a very very long time, but things changed. The phone hasn't been too bad, and Virgil is good company."

"Good, yeah, good." Remus rubbed the edge of the phone with his thumbs, just staring at Patton. He had dreamed of things like this. He had thought that maybe he could find Patton and their reunion would be perfect and sweet, just like Patton would want, but there was still a wall between them. Remus was sure his eyes were leaking water but he didn't care. He finally had Patton back in his arms, after so long... or at least, kind of.

He just stared at Patton quietly, Patton staring back, until Virgil cleared his throat. "My roommate is working on finding a way to get him out of the phone," He said and Remus looked at him, a wave of defensiveness filling him. His hands pulled the phone closer without thought, wanting to shield Patton. Virgil was cute, and he seemed cool, but Remus didn't know his roommate, and Remus was also well aware of what people thought of magic.

"Your roommate knows?" This was a bad idea, magic wasn't adored as it had once been, people who knew about magic were far and few in between and there were so many who sought to destroy magical objects. Remus had even heard of families who spent their entire lives training to get rid of magical objects and magical people. He didn't want to risk Patton. He was an innocent who had gotten caught up in a war that should have never existed, but not a lot of people would see it that way. They would see him as a magical object to be destroyed, or a necessary causality. Remus was about ready to launch into a protective tirade, but Patton must have seen the look on his face. His boyfriend did always know how to read him pretty well.

"Don't worry, Virgil trusts him, so I do too." That soft sweet voice drew him back. Patton was kind hearted, but he was also emotionally intelligent. He could normally tell when someone was a bad person or when they had bad motives. Remus wanted to trust him. Wanted to make sure that Patton knew that Remus would always believe in him, but he also didn't want to risk his love.

More this six hundred years he had been searching, for more than half a millennia he had been searching for Patton. He wasn't going to lose Patton so soon after finding him. Remus couldn't help himself, at one point Patton had been his everything. They had discussed a more open relationship, but Remus had never found anyone who held a candle to Patton, at least not anyone he would be willing to date, not yet.

Remus pulled the phone from his chest, looking into Patton's eyes. "Are you sure? I don't want to put you in any kind of danger. I've waited for you for so long."

Patton reached out and touched the screen, his eyes shining as he nodded, “I promise. I won't put myself in unnecessary danger.” He could see a slight shadow of fear pass over Patton's face, but he chose to believe his love.

“Alrighty then, I want to meet him,” Remus responded as he looked up at Virgil, jumping back up to his feet. “If you have a roommate who thinks he can rescue Patton, I want to meet him, really judge his caliber as a mage.” Remus didn’t like the idea of trusting his boyfriend to another mage, especially not in such uncertain times. He should have been researching the way technology interacted with magic, but he hadn't thought he would need it. Hindsight was like that sometimes. Maybe if he met the other mage then he would feel a little bit more comfortable. Maybe.

“I mean sure I can introduce you better," Virgil said as he pulled at the strings of his jacket "but you’ve already met him, he’s the one that sits next to me in class.”

“Wait what, Logan is your roommate? I thought the two of you were just like study buddies, or friends, or whatever?” Remus felt a bit dumb to have not realized that, but thinking back, they rarely showed up at the same time, even if Virgil always kept a seat available for Logan. The nerd had submitted a well documented paper on the existence of "the immortal king's brother", which was impressive and terrifying. Remus had actually been the one who attempted to destroy most of those records, to make it easier for him to move and travel about. The paper had been entertaining, but also far too on the nose. It was weird reading a paper about your life and 90% of it being right, especially when it was a life you were trying to hide from.

“Awesome, cool, okay.” Remus straightened his shoulders, clutching tightly to Virgil’s phone. They were going to see a mage that knew far too much about Remus in hopes that he might know more about breaking a spell that he had been the cause of. Everything in this situation felt wrong, and not in the fun way. Remus desperately felt the need to protect Patton. He knew he couldn’t keep the phone, but for just a little bit longer he wanted to hold onto his boyfriend. He regretted not having done more research. He could have even done the minimum. If he could swap Patton over to a phone that belonged to Remus, then he could give Virgil his phone back. He could keep Patton by his side while he worked on figuring everything out. “Take me to him now.”

“What?” Virgil looked confused.

“He’s your roommate and I’m sure that you know his schedule by this point in the semester if the two of you are friendly, so take me to him, then we can all discuss this together, right?” He asked looking at Patton who was just smiling softly. Remus ran the back of his knuckle against the screen, wishing he could actually touch Patton.

“It’s okay, Re,” Patton’s voice rang out of the phone. “Do you think Logan would mind if we joined him for a bit, Virgil?”

Virgil shrugged, “It’s not Logan I’m super worried about, it’s Janus. He's a bit over protective when it comes to Logan and if anyone is going to have a problem with us interrupting their time together, it's going to be him." That was a student that Remus didn't know, must not have been in his classes.

"That is a risk I am wholly willing and ready to take," Remus said, grabbing his bag and throwing it over his shoulder, adjusting his glasses as they were thrown askew by the strap. "Where are they normally?"

Remus needed to be holding Patton like 600 years ago, he didn't want to have to wait another moment longer.

"Um the quad, there's this table that is partially shaded and partially in the sun. They have to rotate where they are sitting because Janus gets cold." That was a bit more detail than Remus was expecting, but he knew the table Virgil was talking about. He turned to walk towards the door, but that wasn't Remus' plan.

"Adorable," Remus chimed in, pulling Virgil close to him. "Let's go."

Chapter 17 - A Knife? NO!

Remus didn't hesitate to teleport all of them. For him it was like breathing air, a quick moment and he was gone from one place and was in another. He followed the magical path ways in an instant and let himself be carried to his destination. Apparently, it was not so normal for Virgil who was clinging to him. Looking down he noticed that Virgil was looking unsteady so he wrapped his free hand around the emo. He didn't mind being clung to. He forgot sometimes, but teleporting could be rough, especially your first time. Virgil would be fine, but there was a far more pressing matter for the time being. They had teleported in an instant, but the boy on Logan's lap had moved just as fast and suddenly Remus was looking at a blade being pointed right at him. It was more entertaining than threatening, and the short man holding it didn't ping Remus' usual concerns and sensors. "Hello short stack you must be Janus. Cool toy you have there but I don't have time for that." He was about to move to take it, sure it would start a fight but he was confident that he could easily take out an ankle biter. Virgil stopped him, clinging tighter and speaking up.

"Jay, it's chill." Janus flicked his eyes over to the other student, checking him over. Remus had to fight not too snort in amusement. The mild annoyance and protectiveness were written all over his face but he seemed half satisfied as he put the knife away.

"Excuse me for attempting to protect my boyfriend when people suddenly teleport in front of us." Well that was strange. Remus had expected the attack because of the surprise. He wasn't expecting for Janus to knew about teleportations. Beyond that, his voice was far too calm, obviously used to the existence of magic. Suddenly it was Remus who was on high alert. He wasn't above getting rid of people who were a threat to magic, he had been doing it for years. No one who would be willing to hurt Patton was allowed to continue. His fingers sparked, but he didn't do anything, not yet. He needed to figure out what kind of connection Janus had to magic, was it because Logan knew and they shared everything, or was there something else?

"That was quite the entrance," Logan finally spoke, his eyebrow raised with a slight smirk on his face. He knew too much and Remus felt the need to interrogate him, figure out how deep his knowledge was. His paper had been too close to reality, and he carried himself with a deep self assurance that made Remus' skin prickle. The inside of his head was screaming that he needed respect from this man. It screamed that he should demand to be respected, but there was a reason he had left his crown behind.

"Alright, Virge brought me partially up to speed, start spilling the beans," He said as he pointed the phone to Logan. He was fairly sure the nerd would understand quickly, what else did he have going on in his life that involved someone trapped inside of a phone.

"Hi Logan!" Patton said and most of Remus' stress was replaced with love and adoration. He was so cute. Remus couldn't wait to mush his cheeks together and remind him of how amazing and adorable he was. It soothed a lot of the stress that Remus was feeling.

"Gladly," Logan's voice pulled him out of his day dreams of the future, snapping him back like a reed pulled too close to the ground. It wasn't just that he was mirroring Remus' strength and power, it felt more like he was proving he had more. He held himself high, jaw set in a confident tightness that didn't betray stress. He held onto his boyfriend on his lap, not like a shield but as a comfort to Janus. Remus was very much not used to people basically challenging him.

"A few questions first." Remus felt like he was on trial. "Were you aware that Queen Ophias was pregnant when you threw her out of the kingdom?"

Remus' brain stalled.

He had no clue that the Dragon Bitch had been pregnant. She had mentioned that she wanted an heir to the kingdom, but she hadn't told him that one was already baking. Remus would never abandon family like that, once someone was important to him, that stuck for life. He almost felt guilty for running the queen out, having lost the chance to meet his child. There was a part of him that would be weighed down by that regret, but he stood by the choice that he had made. She deserved to be run out of the country. She had hurt Patton. She had hurt Roman. His child was innocent, and that's the only part that he regretted. Roman had been stuck in that mirror for over a year, and now that his fears with Patton were confirmed, she didn't deserve the throne she had once sat upon.

Remus chewed on his lip. To be honest, he wasn't even sure he was being told the truth. It made sense and there was a part of him that wanted to deny it. However, there was a part of him that knew that is was very possible, and that made his stomach sink

"What sources did you have for that conspiracy, it's an interesting one."

"Oh just my family's journals. Our spell books double as journals so as I was devouring them as a kid I was also learning about our past. Though I have a feeling there are a lot of misconceptions and lies in those journals. You know how unreliable angry people are as narrators."

"What?!" Patton and Virgil asked at the same time and Remus had to set Patton down for a moment, propping him up on the table. He took in a deep breath, pacing a little bit. Okay, this was possibly real, and he knew how to test it, but what did this mean? And what did Logan want or expect from him. "So, what you are attempting to tell me," Remus started, trying to make sure he understood right, "Is that you are one of my descendants? Or at least, one of hers?"

"Both, yes but I am also asking if you knew, though I am assuming you didn't considering your expression."

"Of course I didn't, I would have never left family if I knew." He might have left her out in the cold but if he had known he had a kid he would have raised them. Remus was surprised she never tried to use a kid as leverage, she wasn't really known for her grace, but she was known for her manipulative tendencies.

"Wait," Virgil said, "Are you actually saying that you are the immortal king?" He asked, surprise covering his face.

"Was." Remus just shrugged, "I haven't held the title of King in a very very long time, my brother Roman takes care of the management of the throne. He's honestly a lot better at it than I am. I might be powerful but power does not make a king. For that you need like diplomatic skills and paperwork, and just a lot of things that I do not have the skills or abilities to do."

Virgil's eyes were wide as he turned to Logan. "You were right," He said breathlessly and in disbelief, and it was kinda cute. Apparently the nerd had known a lot more than he let on, and even that paper had been scarily on point.

"Of course I was right, my family history and genealogy is actually a specific interest of mine, I told you that during that first presentation, though I might not have said it like that exactly."

Janus snorted at his boyfriends antics and Remus shook himself out of the shock that had its hold on him. "I still need to verify that you are telling the truth. If you had her journals what was her favorite spell."

"Her favorite, or the one she used most often?"

"Favorite."

"There's a mind control spell she had, it took base trust with someone and could be shattered if she didn't play her cards right. That was her favorite, but she didn't use it after you shattered yours." Remus balled up his fists, that was all right, and very much information no one else knew. Not even Roman.

"She put a spell on you?" Patton asked sadly, and Remus nodded.

"Don't worry love bear, it wasn't that bad, not as bad as what you went through." Remus gave Patton a reassuring smile, seeing the doubt in his boyfriend's eyes, before he turned back to Logan. "So what did you plan to do with that information?"

"Exactly what I just did. I wanted to confront you and learn more about your side of the story. I am well aware that she was very one-sided and would have only taught her children about your negative qualities, however, having you as a teacher I could tell there was more to you than that. Learning that you didn't intentionally throw us aside I feel as if I can let go of a long standing grudge that wasn't even mine to hold." Logan nodded as if he was satisfied. "You unintentionally answered my other questions as well. So, now that that is done, I'm assuming you have come for my help with Patton? And I am willing to offer in."

Remus' shoulders fell in relief, in fact he almost felt his legs give out from under him. This was a lot more information that he wasn't expecting to get right now. He had his boyfriend back, and he had a descendant. Would it be weird to skip the lineage and just call Logan his son? No, he didn't like that, it made him feel old. What about brother? That probably wasn't great either. He'd figure it later. For now he needed to focus on Patton, and Logan was offering. Remus reached up and forcefully slapped his cheeks, trying to get himself back to a normal state. "Perfect."

Logan didn't miss a beat. "I've already started doing some research, but the biggest issue I'm running into is a magical power source. For a spell this large I'm going to need something that is a lot stronger than what I can muster right now, not to mention it needs to be external anyway and I simply don't have access to artifacts like that." Remus could see Logan reaching into his bag, probably for a notebook or something, but there wasn't time for that.

"If that's all you need...." Remus pulled all of them close, including grabbing Patton. If it was a power source Logan needed, that Remus could supply. He blinked, and they all teleported.

Chapter 18 - The King’s Castle

Virgil was not a fan of sudden teleportations. He had thought the disorientation from the first one was because of that exact reason, it was his first one. However, after the second time, Virgil was not excited about the magic, but rather sick to his stomach. He took a step back, hoping to just take a breather and get his stomach under control.

"Are we where I think we are?" Logan's voice was filled with a giddy awe that Virgil had never heard before. He hadn't gotten the chance to look around so he wasn't quite sure why Logan was so excited, but it had to be a pretty good reason.

"Remus, what have I said about coming in unannounced?" That was a new voice, someone who was strong, confident, and maybe a bit egotistical.

"Awe bro, you act as if this wasn't my house too at one point." Virgil looked up at the man who definitely looked like Remus, wearing an extremely expensive and well tailored suit, a circlet crown of white gold on his head. Oh gods, this was... he was.... Virgil turned to look at Remus, who gently put a hand on his shoulder. For a moment he thought he was supposed to bow, but Remus kept him upright.

"Deep breaths emo, he won't hurt you, I won't let him." His voice was soft and comforting, and Virgil nodded. It was probably best he got his emotions under control, he could get a bit snappy when he was stressed.

He wanted to be snarky and sarcastic but also, this was the king. "I.. um..."

"Don't worry, he's not as amazing as the picture books make him out to be."

King Roman held his hand to his chest, letting out a devastated and offended noise that only caused Remus to snort.

"You bring strangers into my house, unannounced, unintroduced, and I am the one who isn't amazing? Well, where my brother does not have manners, I do." He held out his hand to Logan first, "A pleasure to meet all of you, I am King Roman."

"You are the king, and this is your castle, I am in the castle!" He ignored Roman's hand and turned back to Remus. "Do you still have your work space here? Where you perfected some of your magic? I was told that you literally teleported the space from your hometown here. Is it still here?" His excitement was palpable.

"Logan, calm down," Janus said softly, running his finger up Logan's spine and Virgil watched as his roommate physically melted. Yeah okay, they were cute, after a semester he was finally willing to admit it.

"Yes, I still have my work space and that's where we are going," Remus told Roman before holding up the phone. "We found Patton." Roman didn't protest, his mouth hanging open. There was a silence between them, something tense and quiet until it broke all at once and Roman flung himself at Remus.

"You found him, you actually found him! I'm so happy for you. I have many other questions but that can be done over dinner, how about I get some rooms prepared for all of you. I'm assuming the two of you will want to share a room." He said to Logan and Janus. Virgil watched as Janus opened his mouth to say no, but Logan cut him off.

"Yes, please."

That was a new development, and Janus' surprised face was something fantastic to behold.

"Wonderful!" Roman clapped, walking off to get everything prepared.

Remus began to walk off as well and Logan followed immediately behind, leaving Virgil with Janus, and no phone. No Patton. The two stood in silence for a bit, watching as the others dispersed. Janus' arm still hung in the air from where Logan had walked away, and he looked at it as if he was completely lost. For a few more moments, the silence hung, until finally Janus spoke.

"Want to do some exploring?"

"Aren't you worried about L?"

"I trust him, besides I don't want to watch him experiment, it always makes me a bit nervous." Janus shrugged, turning to look at Virgil, sizing him up and down. "Besides, we haven't gotten a chance to know each other one on one."

"I figured you hated me," Virgil responded with a nonchalant shrug. He was okay being Logan's friend and just knowing that his boyfriend wasn't a fan.

"How could I ever hate the man who was spending the nights alone with my boyfriend?"

"I'm not interested in him like that, you know?"

"Oh, I'm aware, otherwise you would already be out of the picture, however, I can be a bit possessive. I'm not a fan that he chose to spend his first semester in the dorms as opposed to the apartment his mother was offering to buy for us. That doesn't mean I dislike you as a person. It simply meant that my temper was a bit too short to be dealing with you, but I sense a tide changing."

That wasn't the only thing that was too short, but Virgil kept his mouth shut. He shrugged and nodded, letting Janus lead the way to see what mischief they could get into. It was better than standing around like an idiot with nothing to do. The two stayed quiet as they walked; it gave Virgil time to think. That was a bad idea. That was a very bad idea. Suddenly he stopped and he knew Janus was looking at him but he couldn't seem to get his feet to go forward.

"Yes, I would much rather stand here than do something interesting," Janus said with a roll of his eyes and Virgil didn't answer at first.

He just stood there still, breath caught in his throat before he finally whispered, "I have a crush on the king and his fiancé."

"What?"

Virgil felt the world around him caving in as he fell to his knees.

"Like, I knew the crush on my professor was a bad idea, and as long as I didn't do anything about it, it was fine, but then I also have a crush on Patton and at first that was fine, but then I found out he was stuck in a phone and that was less fine, because how can I date a dude who doesn't have his own freedom but he's not just some dude he's the Immortal King's fiancé."

"Not really," Janus muttered as he walked back, "But I don't think that will help right now. How did Logan handle this?" He asked to no one in particular as his hands floundered a bit. "He... he counted breathing right?" He asked, "Right." He started to try to coach Virgil through counting and the actual counting wasn't helping as much, but having Janus try to help him was nice.

After a few moments, he laughed and held up his hand. "Thanks, I'm okay now." He was still shaking and the nervous energy was still there but he felt like he had better control over it.

"You sure? I would like to say that I am a master of self care but that does not give me much input on how to help people." Janus took a step back and looked at Virgil with his piercing gaze, and it was obvious he was out of his element.

Virgil snorted.

"Yeah, I'm good," he said quietly. "I wasn't expecting you to be so soft."

"You can't prove it," he said as the two of them sat down against the wall. "Now that you are calmer, I would like to clarify something. You have a crush on Remus and Patton." That was not a conversation that Virgil was ready for as his face lit up red.

"Yeah," he said quietly. "Yeah, I have a crush on Remus and Patton, but I don't want to go out with either of them, I mean not under these circumstances."

"But under different circumstances?"

"I mean, under different circumstances, maybe. I wouldn't be against it, but I would have to take a lot of time to get used to things and to get to know both of them outside of the way things are right now. Patton and Remus are both funny in different ways, and I would love to get to explore that a bit more, and yeah, but... but Patton's stuck in a phone and he shouldn't be tied down and he needs to explore the world and they are together so it's not like I could have them anyway."

"Why not?"

"They are together!"

"And polyamory exists."

Virgil blushed a little bit, "But I don't know if they are poly!"

"Have you asked?"

Virgil shrunk in on himself. "No," he muttered quietly, hiding himself in his jacket.

"Then you have to ask before you say nothing can happen."

"But... what about the circumstances?"

"Change the circumstances."

"What?"

"Change the circumstances, ask them if they are poly, if they say yes and you're still worried than change the circumstances, make yourself a plan. I know that my relationship with Logan isn't the model fo how people should act, but it's exactly what Logan did. He changed the circumstances and I ended up falling head over heals for his stupid face."

Virgil was quiet for a bit longer, just looking at Janus in astonishment. "That's actually really good advice."

"I'm aware."

Virgil snorted out a laugh again. "Yeah, I can tell that the two of you were meant for each other." They were both a bit arrogant, a bit too self assured, but it worked for the two of them. Virgil's shoulders fell as he began to relax more, his head resting against the wall. He didn't see Janus roll his eyes, but he did see a bit of a smile. Virgil felt his body relaxing and he realize he had a question that he wasn't sure if it was appropriate to ask. Hopefully if it wasn't, Janus would just tell him off.

"Hey, do you mind telling me more about how you two got together?" He had gotten glimpses of their past, but he still didn't know the extent of it.

Chapter 19 - Janus’ Mission

Janus had a mission. It was the only thing that he had known growing up.

In his family there was one thing that he had been taught and trained to do. He had to eradicate anyone who used magic. People with that power were nefarious, conniving, and dangerous. Their mission was one to protect the country, and Janus had been very proud of that. He was excited when he was given his first real mission, the first time that his abilities would be put to the test. It was a very important moment in his life. He had hunted with his father before, but this time he was doing all on his own. He would make his family proud.

There had been rumor that there was someone in this city was using magic. The stranger part of the rumor was that it was a younger man, a high schooler or maybe even middle schooler. Janus' family had transferred him to the only high school in the area, a freshmen starting over in a completely new town. Janus rolled his neck, walking towards the front gate. He knew the drill, pretend to be kind, pretend to be everything everyone ever wanted and it would be easier to gather information. Also, if he was popular enough, people would believe him over anything else. It was easier to take over the world when you were surrounded by friends as opposed to enemies. Even if he knew all of this, it was still nerve wracking. He took in a breath, closing his eyes for a moment as he curled his fingers tighter. He was representing his family, he needed to do his best. Caught in his own thoughts, he didn't notice the student right in front of him, and he crashed into them, thankfully not too hard. He could recover from this. "Sorry," he muttered.

The other boy caught him before he fell, holding his arms gently to help stabilize him. He was smoother than Janus was, and it just made the concern that he wasn't enough spike more, but he would overcome that fear. Janus opened his eyes and watched as the other teen's eyes flashed. It was a spark he could only recognize from his years of training. This was the mage. He had found him already.

"It's quite alright. First days make us all nervous." He helped Janus up, stabilizing him before stepping back and holding out a hand. "My name is Logan, and it is a pleasure to meet you."

This was the person that Janus was supposed to take out, the person who was supposedly a danger to society. "Janus," He said, taking his hand and shaking it. "And hopefully I'm not being too awkward, but could we be friends?"

"Of course," There was something about his smile, something that put Janus' nerves on edge. "I would very much appreciate that Janus."

It was like he already knew.

[Section Break]

Janus sighed and sat back, looking up at the ceiling of the castle. "I'm not sure how much Logan told you, so I will start from the beginning, sort of. I grew up in a family of mage hunters, people who believed that magic was dangerous and could only bring about destruction. We were taught how to find and irradicate mages. I found Logan." He let out a soft sigh, resting his head back on the wall.

"Things can get tricky if you don't wait until the right moment, so I thought it would be best to befriend him, figure out his weaknesses and then take him out and make it look like an accident. However, I kept waiting, and waiting, and waiting." Janus would never admit it, but by the time he knew that he could take Logan out, he had already fallen in love. "It never felt like the right time, I just had this sneaking suspicion that something was wrong. I didn't want to turn around and destroy him, not without probably cause. Not when it meant destroying someone who had become a friend. It was surprisingly easy to convince my family that I was just biding my time. After all, they had taught me to be cunning and charming, but also very cautious. By the time I made it to the beginning of senior year, they knew something was up. I couldn't keep up the charade any longer and I knew I had to make a choice. It was either my family or my friend."

Janus felt his jaw was tight. Remembering this was always hard because he knew he had chosen wrong. The moment his family chose to cast him aside because he couldn't do what they wanted, he knew that he as a person hadn't mattered to them.

"I cornered Logan after school, after the clubs had all gone home. I waited for the perfect time, when there would be few people around, and he would be left to be found by the janitor. I could make it look like an accident. I had a plan, but that didn't mean I wanted to go through with it. I had grown attached. I told him I was sorry, my hands shook when I looked at him, and do you know what that man had the audacity to say?"

Virgil raised his eyebrow. "What did he say?"

Janus could still see the look in Logan's eyes, the soft smirk on his lips. Even now it made his heart jump as he thought about that day.

"'Do you want to go to the fall formal with me?' I was about ready to kill him and he asked me to go to a dance with him. The sheer audacity." Janus threw this hands up and Virgil attempted not to snort in amusement. "I dropped my weapon because I knew I couldn't, I knew he wasn't evil and I knew he wasn't a menace to society and I couldn't hurt him. I started to yell at him for being too perfect and being a goody-two-shoes know-it-all, and he pulled me into a hug, buried his head in my hair and asked if that was a yes. After that I didn't have much of a choice did I?"

Logan had smelt like rain on a fall evening, paper, and ink. He smelt like lazy days and all of Janus' walls had crumbled that day as he was held in his boyfriend's arms.

"No," Virgil said, shaking his head slightly. "I don't think you did."

He hadn't. That day Janus had known that he was in love, deeply and irrevocably. That didn't mean their relationship had always been easy, honestly, Janus had thought they were going to break up when they fought about the dorm situation, but the thing about loving someone was that you wanted to repair any damage, because you wanted them to be by your side.

"My parents weren't happy that I defected, and even less happy that I was protecting a mage. I assume they still aren't, but I've completely cut contact, and was able to convince Logan and his mother to go to this college and move away. It won't protect him forever, but it's a start."

"Which is why you didn't really like me at first, because you were trying to protect Logan?"

"Oh no, I just don't like that another man is sleeping in the same bedroom as my boyfriend and stealing my cuddles." He hit his shoulder to Virgil's showing he didn't actually think that anything was happening between the two of them. He was jealous of course, but he also didn't fully understand why Logan had insisted they couldn't live together for their freshman year of college. He didn't understand why he couldn't stay by his boyfriend's side.

"If I hadn't fallen in love with Logan he would have died that day, and sometimes he acts like he's invincible. I can only protect him from himself so much."

"I think it's going to get worse now that he's met King Remus, have you met him? He's like chaos incarnate."

Janus groaned. He was well aware, it was a thought that had been sitting in the back of his mind since Logan had run off. "Don't tell me that. My heart can only handle so much." He knew that meeting the immortal king was not going to make Logan's dangerous experimentation any better, but maybe the experienced mage could teach Logan something about proper precautions... he didn't have his hopes up.

"My job, as his boyfriend, is just to support him for as long as I can. Even if that means giving myself an ulcer. He will most certainly be hearing me complain about it."

Virgil laughed and Janus began to stand up. "Shall we keep going?"

The other man took his hand and nodded. "Yeah, let's."

Chapter 20 - Two Nerds in a Lab

"I'm sure you are aware that in some of the dark ages of magic," Logan was of course referring to a period of dark experimental magic and not a period of missing history. "people were experimenting with the way that magic interacts with electricity. They actually discovered a lot of valuable information during that time and that's where a lot of my studies focused.” He was obviously proud of the work he had already done. “One mage from that era proposed that magic and electricity flowed in much the same way, going from one source to another. I think we can work backward from that to figure out how Patton's soul is interacting with the phone."

It had been a long time since Remus had been as excited about magical discovery as Logan was. Years of repetition, hoping to find something different, something new that would help him find Patton, it left his joy for magic hollow. Even worse was the fact that Logan was right. Taking knowledge from that era would probably have been extremely helpful in this situation, but Remus had sworn off studying that type of magic for a reason. He had been a major player during the dark times. The desperate things he did out of love.

He knew how quickly magic and electricity could go wrong, but then again, maybe that was just a product of his mindset at the time.

"If you are trying to figure out how his soul interacts with the phone, that’s gonna require a lot of experimentation," Remus cut in, "And I would rather not experiment on my boyfriend." There had to be another way they could approach this problem. One that wouldn’t put Patton in so much danger.

"Oh no, I would never suggest experimenting on Patton. He has been through enough, and Virgil would cry if I hurt him, possibly also attempt to beat me up depending on his flight or fight response that day, and I'm rather fond of him so I have no intention of doing anything that would trigger either response."

Remus was thankful, at least they were both on the same page regarding Patton’s safety. Though, he was a little curious about Logan's statement. It didn't sound like he had a romantic interest in Virgil. It was something more akin to 'this is a fascinating experiment.' That was a bad head space to be in. Remus would know, and he really hoped that Logan wasn't planning on dehumanizing Virgil. That wouldn't go over well. "It sounds like you have a plan."

"It's not a perfect facimaly, but I created a living virus during my summer between high school and college. I am hoping that it will be similar enough that we can compare it's interactions to what we might expect with Patton." That still wasn’t the direction Remus was hoping to go with this. There had to be something else, another way they could help Patton.

"Not to be rude, but I am still in the room." Patton's voice came through the phone and Remus almost felt bad forgetting that he was holding Patton in his hand. This was all for him, it was all about him, but at the same time, Patton knew how he was when it came to magic and his experiments. Logan was adding to that. It almost felt like he had found someone he could match him in the curiosity he had long abandoned. It was like a stray ember stoking a fire that had once gone out. Logan was more than he had expected, especially from what he had seen in class. "Here, let me prop you up Pat, that way you can watch the two of us work." He would do his best not to talk about Patton like he wasn’t here. Patton was his boyfriend, not an experiment.

Patton seemed to agree to that and pressed himself up against the glass once Remus had gotten him situated in a nice phone holder. Then he turned back to Logan. "Alright brainiac, tell me what you had in mind."

"Real quick," Remus cut in. He still wasn’t sure he wanted to pursue this method but a question had been sitting in the back of his mind. "I'm too curious not to ask. Why exactly did you have to create a living virus in between high school and college?"

Logan answered without hesitation. "To make sure all information about Janus was scrubbed from the internet. He acts as if he is the one protecting me, but the moment he came to my house that day in high school, I knew it would have to be mutual. His family members aren't the best people and they don't take kindly to a 'tool' escaping, but I don't take kindly to someone hurting my boyfriend. Especially not after it took me just about 3 years to woo him." Remus liked the fire and determination in his voice but was still a bit surprised.

Logan pulled his phone out of his pocket, acting as if what he had said was completely normal. He could tell a lot about a person by what they would do and had done for their partner, and Logan’s insistence in protecting Janus made Remus feel a lot better. Logan wasn't even flinching at the very illegal action of wiping out other people’s private data. He even admitted it to the king's brother. He was the type who protected those he cared about, and Remus could approve of that.

His paranoia was eased a bit and they could move forward, or at least he could. Logan was already making a move, pulling a book out of his phone. It looked like your typical leather journal, but it hummed, and Remus just knew.

"Wait, if you just did that, couldn't we do that with Patton?" He had pulled his spell book out of a phone, couldn't they do that with a person?

Logan shook his head. "This book sits on my laptop at home, it's never been trapped inside of the laptop or phone, I just reach through the cellphone connection to my laptop to pull it out. It's kind of like teleporting but through assisted relays. Patton is probably trapped inside of an offshoot of the mirror dimension or something similar. I don’t think this method would work. "

That made too much sense, to use the electrical currents and the cell services as relay points. Remus was both excited, and disappointed. It was amazing that Logan had thought to do that. Remus’ experimentation with electrical currents had been far less… benign. It seemed like in his quest for the extreme he sometimes forgot the rudimentary. Still, it sucked that this method wouldn't work for what they needed. He was not a patient person and he had waited for far too long. "Alright, so that is your spell book, right?" It was unusually thick for someone his age. It was almost as bad as Remus' when he was that young.

"Yes it is."

Remus' eyes lit up as his appeared into his hands. "Let's compare notes." It was amazing how apprehensive he had been to start. Just a few interactions and Remus could already tell that he and Logan were going to get into a lot of trouble together in the future, but for now, they needed to save Patton. There would be so many other things to come afterwards, so many things he hadn’t expected.

He hadn't expected Logan to be one of his descendants, which was still a bit strange, but it was also exhilarating to know that he had a family. He hadn’t expected to meet a mage at the same caliber as him, but Logan was proving to change that as well. He also hadn’t expected to see Patton ever again. He had hoped, but that had dwindled so much over time. He was thankful that Logan had brought that hope back again. Hope for a family, and hope for a future.

He caught a glimpse of Patton out of the corner of his eye, his boyfriend was smiling, it was that soft smile he always had when he thought Remus wasn't looking and it made his heart jump. Remus propped open his spell book and he began comparing notes with Logan. There were obvious spells they both knew that they were able to mostly gloss over, but Remus was really impressed when you could see where the deviation began to happen. He affectionately called it the "experimental" phase of a spell book, the part where someone knew most of the basics and were really trying to make magic their own.

Remus' experimental phase had been during a time when technology didn't exist in its current form. Things that had been cutting edge for him where now obsolete, and he could see how Logan had grown and improved with what the world was now.

"Wait, what is this here?" He asked, pointing to a section in Logan's book.

"Oh, that's my in-depth study on the mirror world."

"I knew that there was more too it than just the mirror but I didn't realize it was so expansive... do you think this might apply to the internet? That a sort of pocket dimension has been created due to the mix of magic and technology. I know you mentioned an off shoot but I thought you were referring to something more like a train track branch and less like the roots of a tree."

Logan's eyes grew wide. "I wasn’t thinking pocket dimension, but that's very possible, and if that's the case, then all that we would need to do is create a portal into the pocket dimension." No one had ever created a full sized portal into the mirror world, but if anyone could figure it out it was probably the two of them.

"Yes, and then we could go in and pull Patton out!"

"But if that's the case, why is Patton bound to a single phone?" Logan asked, and it was a fair question but Remus already knew the answer. He looked over at Patton.

"My love is amazing, but he doesn't have much magical prowess." He blew Patton a kiss, "Which means that he can't travel fourth dimensions very well. If you or I were stuck in the mirror dimension we could find other mirrors, travel through the world, but that's only because of the magic inherent to ourselves." Honestly Remus only knew about that because of Roman. He had been trapped in a mirror but Roman had a slight bit of latent power. Not enough for him to practice magic regularly, but enough for him to be able to travel among the mirror spaces, which again Remus hadn’t realized was as expansive as it was.

Logan nodded before also looking over at Patton, Remus’ eyes followed. He was so cute, his brow scrunched up like he was attempting to understand what Remus and Logan were talking about, trying to follow along and be a part of the conversation, but this was one area that Patton just wouldn’t be able to wrap his mind around.

"I love you," Remus said casually to the man trapped in the phone, and Patton blushed, the stiffness in his face easing as he gave Remus a soft smile.

"Love you too." His voice was so soft, and Remus really needed Patton in his arms centuries ago.

He then turned back to Logan, "So, let's work on getting this portal set up." It was the change of plans he needed, something that felt like less of a risk to Patton.

"Even creating a small portal to pull someone out of a mirror is a great strain on a mage. We are going to need something that has a lot of external power. Some kind of magical generator or artifact.”

Remus smirked, walking over to something covered in a white sheet, quickly and dramatically pulling it down. "Thankfully, that’s not a problem."

He revealed a magical generator he had built 4 centuries ago that had been accumulating power since that time. Logan’s eyes lit up.

Yeah, they could do this.

Chapter 21 - Reunited, actually

Watching Logan and Remus work was a marvel. The two of them had such tenacity and everything they said sounded so smart. It made Patton proud to know that his boyfriend had such in depth knowledge about a subject, even if it mostly went over Patton's head. He had not a single clue what they were talking about, no matter how he tried to keep up. Magic had never been his specialty, even in the past when Remus would talk about his magic and about all of the things he could do, Patton couldn't follow. He would get distracted far too easily, mesmerized by Remus' voice. It was hard to think about anything else when you were listening to your beloved speak about something they cared about. Normally it relaxed him to just watch Remus enjoy himself, to watch him change the world one magic spark at a time. This was different though. Patton could feel the buzz of energy and he knew that his fate was in the balance. He trusted Remus, but he was still afraid. The whole situation made him antsy and nervous.

He wished Virgil was here.

Virgil wasn't great with magic either. That was obvious any time that he and Logan had talked about it. If Virgil had been here, they could sit and talk while Remus and Logan worked. Patton wouldn't feel so alone in his ignorance, and maybe it would help Patton's nerves to have someone else who was as lost as he was. He hadn't realized how much stress this whole ordeal was causing him until he thought about Virgil, and about maybe getting out. He felt like he was so close to the end, but at the same time he was still so far away. His mind was bombarded with the what-ifs and the sudden idea that he would have to be stuck in this phone for years longer while Remus and Logan attempted to figure things out was terrifying.

"I think that's the last piece we will need. Should we test this first?" Logan asked. He felt his shoulders sink in thankfulness, even if he couldn't actually feel anything. They just had to test it and everything would be fine, right?

"Yes please," Patton immediately shouted, but he heard Remus' voice over lapping with his own.

"No," Remus said, "I have waited too long, and I'm not going to wait another moment." Patton understood that, he really really did, but he couldn't lose Remus. He couldn't lose his beloved, not after finally finding him again. Remus walked over to him and knelt down so that they could look each other in the eyes. He knew that there was no way he was going to be able to convince Remus to not take this risk no matter how terrified he was. His beloved has already made his decision. It was a stupid terrible dumb decision, but it was Remus' decision. "I'm coming in to get you out."

Patton's mouth just fell open, a strangled protest stuck on his lips. He knew he couldn't object or argue, no matter how much he wanted to, he wasn't able to, not with the way that Remus was looking at him. "Re...." What did he say to that? It was such a sweet declaration of love, but he didn't want Remus to get hurt. "Please, I can wait a little longer."

"I can't." There was a fire in Remus' eyes and Patton's breath caught in his throat. He was so afraid of losing Remus, but he wanted to see him.

The other man kissed his pointer and middle finger before tapping the screen, looking at Patton with such love and adoration. "I'll be there soon." And after that he left the frame. Patton could feel his panic rising. He wanted to trust Remus but this was also the exact thing he was worried would happen. What if he lost Remus again, what if it didn't work and Remus got trapped? Remus was reckless, he didn't always think things through. The worst, however, was when he had thought things through and still made poor choices. He was fueled by a drive and a need to do things the way he saw fit.

"Please!" Patton shouted, "Please be careful."

He couldn't see Remus, but he could imagine the smirk in his lips, the way he used to say 'trust me, I know what I'm doing'. Patton held his breath. He had gotten so close, he threw a prayer out to the universe, begged that it would hear him and return Remus to him safely. He hated the idea, but he would trade his freedom for Remus' safety. However, it wasn't his choice anymore. All he could do was wait.

So, he waited.

And waited.

Every second felt like it stretched into an eternity. Then he heard it, like the shattering of a window that lets in new air. Something had shifted. Something had changed. Patton pulled from the screen, looking around, flipping through the open internet tabs to find what was different. He was trying to remain hopeful, but he was terrified. What if the world collapsed? What if Remus was in here and the whole world fell apart with him inside. Patton tried to remain calm, but after so long in the phone it was hard. He went to dry his tears, still searching through everything, when his wrist was grabbed.

He whipped around; the grip held tight. It felt warm, it felt like pressure, it felt real. Remus was there. His sobs caught in his throat and he flung his arms around his beloved, holding him close.

"Hey dewdrop, ready to go home?"

There was a tether around Remus' middle. He was here, and he had a plan. Patton smiled, holding Remus tighter as he nodded. He sobbed, "You're here, you're here and you're real!" Patton said, shaking as Remus wrapped his arms around him. He hid his face in Remus' neck, taking in a slow deep breath as he happily held onto one of the people he loved.

"I'm here love, and I'm real." Remus reassured him, running his hands over Patton's back, and Patton relaxed into the touch.

He yanked at the cord and the two of them were forcefully pulled away, through thousands of tabs and browsers and things Patton had been avoiding, and then through a gateway. He hit the ground hard and it hurt, but wasn't that the most beautiful thing in the world? He could feel pain again, not just emotional pain but physical pain. He could hear, he could smell, it was all so much. He let out a sob, overwhelmed with everything that was suddenly flowing through his sense that had long been dampened or erased completely. He thought he could feel his own body when he had been in the mirror and the phone but it was nothing compared to reality. It was so much. Too much. He was shaking and he felt a heavy weight cover him with the darkness, but Remus' hand was still in his. "I'm still here." Remus spoke. "You've been through a lot darling, take a deep breath and try to relax."

Patton followed his instructions, taking in slow deep breaths, trying to get used to all of his senses being used again. Sense of smell, sense of taste, sense of touch. "Keep talking," he asked softly, "Please." The sound of Remus' voice was relaxing, it helped him focus on one sense, one input after everything that had happened.

"Of course," Remus said softly and quietly. "Anything you need Patton."

And that's what Remus did, he talked and talked and talked. It was soothing and Patton squeezed his hand. He held on for dear life, anchored himself, and let Remus' feelings wash over him.

Patton wasn't sure when he had lost consciousness, but when he woke up, he was in a much softer bed. His hand was still wrapped around someone else's, someone who was laying in the bed next to him. He knew it was Remus. He shifted a bit, wrapping his arm around the other man, hiding his face in Remus' neck and taking in a deep breath. Remus stirred, running a hand through Patton's hair.

"I'm right here, I'm not letting you go." He whispered, and Patton knew it was true. He knew that Remus wasn't going to let anything bad happen to him. Patton relaxed more into Remus' hold, closing his eyes again. He hadn't slept in centuries, and he was sure that he could sleep for just a little bit longer.

"Stay with me?" Patton asked quietly.

"Always." Remus answered, pulling Patton in closer, and the man who used to live in a mirror, who used to live in a phone, began to relax once again, burying his nose in Remus' neck and falling back asleep. He would worry about tomorrow's troubles in the morning.

Chapter 22 - The Logical Choice

After helping Remus get Patton out of the phone, Logan felt completely satisfied. He made his way down the hall, looking for Virgil and Janus, or more specifically Janus. After seeing the way that Remus and Patton had molded into each others arms his own felt empty– far too empty. Janus had made a place so strongly in Logan's heart, that he really didn't know how to handle things without him anymore. It seemed Logan hadn't been the only one who had made sure to get his way. Eventually he was able to find the two college students and the king in the dining room. It was about that time wasn't it? Yet, Logan didn't find himself hungry, though he assumed the two extra plates that had been set out were for him and Remus. Each of them had a magical buzz about them, but that investigation was for another time, right now his arms were empty. He took a seat next to Janus, listening to the conversation pause, but not minding it, as he pulled the other man onto his lap. He hid his face in Janus' neck, taking in a slow deep breath as he relaxed. This was right, this was what he had been missing. He didn't say anything or do anything, just continued to hold Janus close. He was only here for Janus at the moment.

Eventually, the others seemed to get that cue as they continued their conversation again. King Roman seemed to decide to be the one that glossed over Logan's frankly needy entrance. He appreciated it.

"As I was saying," and one of the covered plates slid over to Logan, apparently Roman had more magic than Remus gave him credit for. "I'm sure the rest of them will be wrapped up in everything for a bit, so I use those to keep food warm. Anytime Remus visits he gets completely distracted. I don't believe I will ever understand how the most powerful mage in the world, who has volumes of knowledge in his head, can forget about food."

"Logan is the same way," Janus said, leaning against Logan, drawing a gentle circle around his leg. It made him feel warm and happy. He knew that he got caught up in his own projects, but he also knew that Janus would always be by his side. They had grown to depend on one another. It was terrifying in one of the best ways.

Part of the reason he had wanted to live separately from Janus during his first year of college was to get a better understanding of their relationship and also to see if he could live without being a burden on Janus. Logan feared he was relying too much on his boyfriend's focus on self preservation. This year had been an experiment of sorts, and Logan had only really learned one major thing. He didn't want to live without Janus, even if he had the capability, he didn't have the desire. He wanted to spend as much time with his boyfriend as possible. He wanted to be close to him, like this.

"If that is the case, does that mean that you have had a breakthrough?" Roman asked and Logan nodded. If they hadn't have had a breakthrough, Logan would probably still be working, but now was his time to rest.

Well, first he apparently had to inform the others what was going on, then he could rest.

"I didn't want to interrupt your earlier conversation, however, yes we have had a major breakthrough." Honestly, he was even surprised by how quick it had been for them, but combining his and Remus’ knowledge, things just fell into place. "Patton has been rescued. Remus took him to rest as being back in the world seems to have overwhelmed him."

Virgil shot up from the table, his chair clattering to the floor. Logan understood, but he was a bit tired, and Virgil's actions did seem a tad dramatic for someone he had only known a year. Virgil opened his mouth up as if to apologize, but then shook his head. Logan probably shouldn't judge, he had known in that first meeting that he wanted Janus as his boyfriend.

"I need to go check on them." Virgil made his way to walk off, but Logan reached out and attempted to stop him.

"Patton is currently unconscious, it may be best for you to wait for him to wake up. I understand he is very important to you, but this might not be the best time to reach out to him."

Virgil did stop but Logan could see by the look on his face that he wasn't happy about it. After a few tense minutes of silence, Virgil sat his chair back up hesitating before he sat down. "Fine, just until he wakes up." There was a bit of frustration in his voice, very easy to hear and notice.

Logan didn't like being spoken to with that kind of hostility but he allowed it. If it had been Janus he probably would have done the same. "I can at least provide you with a status update. He is unharmed, I'm sure Remus will want to run some tests to make sure his body is functioning properly after being in the mirror world for that long," also the fact that Patton had been trapped inside of a phone. That was different and new and Logan had no idea where to start asking questions about that, not that Remus would have answered. It seemed like Patton had really been in a pocket dimension which opened up a completely new field of study.

"It seems he passed out from sensory overload after coming out of the mirror world, or fell asleep, I'm not really sure where the line is drawn in this case. He was conscious when he came out of the mirror though so I doubt we are going to be working with a coma like situation. Most likely we are just going to be dealing with some rehabilitation."

"How can you say all of this so calmly?" Virgil asked, his own voice deflated and defeated. His leg was bouncing and Logan reached out to provide him a supportive hand. Virgil took it and seemed to calm just a bit.

"Patton is... he was... that's probably a lot for someone to go through." He could hear the tremble in his friend's voice, and Logan wanted to help more, but he was exhausted. Artifacts or not, they had had to use some of their own power.

"We can show compassion but our own pain will not help him. Sometimes, you have to be strong for the people you care about." Logan wasn't trying to be callous, in fact he knew that Patton had to be going through a lot right now. He wanted to be supportive, but until he knew what Patton needed, this was Logan's way of doing that.

King Roman cut in, "That doesn't mean you don't have to feel it. Now might actually be the best time for you to feel and experience your pain, since Patton isn't here to be affected by it." He gave all of them a light smile and Logan could already understand why Remus had chosen his brother to take over the throne. He was intelligent in his own way.

"Yes, of course, I'm not trying to dissuade you from feeling your feelings, it is simply that to me... this is how I process."

"Don't worry, he'll probably be a mess tonight when we're alone," Janus teased and Logan's face went completely red. Betrayal, that's what this was, absolute betrayal as the boyfriend currently sitting on his lap sold out his secrets. He buried his head in Janus' neck again. It was the truth though. Logan didn't often feel his feelings in front of other people, it felt dangerous to be that vulnerable. Janus and his mother were notable exceptions.

"Why don't you tell me about something you like?" Roman spoke up again, apparently directing his comment to Virgil. "It might help while you wait for Patton."

"Yeah," Virgil muttered quietly. "Okay."

He started talking and Logan held Janus closer. Things were calming down, but they had just done something that Logan was sure hadn't really been done before? He had thought himself superior to Remus, having studied all his life, but that moment, as Remus pulled himself back into the world of the living, bringing along someone who shouldn't have been able to exist in the world anymore, or who should have at least had complications, Logan realized something extremely important.

He had so much more to learn.

And he was excited by those possibilities.

Chapter 23 - Together

The second time Patton awoke, it was dark out, the lights turned off and the candles long since burnt out. Remus was snoring next to him and that was probably the only thing that kept him from panicking, that and the warmth of Remus' arm around him. When he first saw the darkness he thought he was still in the mirror, still trapped, but he felt Remus' warmth and heard his sounds of sleep and it calmed him. Then, for a brief fleeting moment he wondered if the past 600 years had been a dream, if it had been a terrible nightmare to warn him against the Queen, but the mattress was far too comfortable to be the one in their home together. They were in the future, but he was free.

Patton turned to get as good of a look at Remus as he could. In the darkness it was hard to see a lot of his defining features, but his mustache was still easy to see. He couldn't help but smile as he took in his love for a moment longer, but the hunger was catching up to him. He didn't want to wake Remus, and hopefully he would be back before the man even noticed, he just needed to find a quick snack.

Carefully slipping from Remus' arms, Patton left the bed, giving his boyfriend a quick kiss on the temple. He wasn't going to go far, but Patton needed more than just food. He wanted to roam, to feel the ground under his feet, to smell the air. Food was also needed, but it wasn't needed in the way his freedom was. It was different.

Stepping out of the room, Patton closed the door gently before turning around and seeing a form laying on the floor, he almost squeaked until he noticed that familiar leather jacket. He wasn't sure if he could ever explain it in words, but that jacket was a comfort to him. Despite its black and purple motifs, Patton could feel the warmth of the sun when he looked at it, the warmth of hope. It reminded him of his friend, of someone important, but why in the world was it, and its owner, curled up on the floor in front of his room?

"Virgil?" He asked, still a bit shaky on his feet, his body not quite adjusted to existence. As he went to kneel down he almost stumbled, having a hard time staying balanced, thankful he was able to catch the wall to keep himself propped up, but the sound woke Virgil. Patton felt kinda bad about the look of terror in his eyes and Patton wanted to wrap him up, tell him he was safe. Physically, that was something he could know, but he wasn't sure if Virgil would be comfortable with that. He didn't want to over step boundaries as they were attempting to figure everything out.

Thankfully, Virgil made the choice for him. The taller man shot forward, wrapping his arms around Patton and Patton held him back. He took in a slow deep breath, holding Virgil close. "Hey, Hey... it's me."

"I'm so glad," Virgil said quietly. "I was worried and Logan said I should just let you rest, but I wanted to make sure you were okay, and you smell like vanilla." Virgil's shoulders relaxed as he held Patton close, and the smaller man was reminded of just how small he was, barely up to Virgil's shoulders.

He smiled softly, running his fingers along Virgil's back. "Do I really?" He asked. "Good to know. Remus always told me I smelled like lavender but maybe it's different to everyone. I'm okay, I promise I'm okay and it's all thanks to you. You trusted Logan to help me, and you showed me to Remus. I appreciate you so much Virgil."

"I did the bare minimum." Virgil rested his head on Patton's head, holding him so close, one hand splayed against Patton's upper back, the other wrapped around his hip, just at a perfectly respectable level. It was so warm. Patton knew he had missed hugs, but he had forgotten just how much. This felt like home, like safety. Patton could see himself sandwiched between Virgil and Remus, falling asleep as he was surrounded by warmth. No, he couldn't get ahead of himself.

"You don't realize how much the minimum can mean to someone who hasn't had that much for a long time," He said softly, rubbing his head in Virgil's chest, only to hear a soft laugh. It was a nervous and shy sound, but warm nonetheless.

"Can I... I want..." He began to stutter and Patton wasn't sure what Virgil was trying to say, but he was sure it was something important, so he pulled away slowly.

"Come on, why don't we go find a kitchen, and you can supervise me while I try to bake. It's been a long time but I watched a few videos while I was in the phone and I think I deserve something sweet. Don't you?"

"Yeah," Virgil nodded, "Let's go." He still looked nervous, but Patton could see him starting to relax as they searched the castle. It was dark but somehow still felt warm. Patton was thankful, from the outside it had always looked cold, but maybe Remus had changed things. How much time Remus had spent here in the palace? Had he enjoyed his life here? How long ago did he leave in search of Patton? Did he ever regret it? Patton didn't want to focus on those thoughts.

"Walking is so weird," He said with a light laugh, trying to ease the fear that he was feeling and the nervousness that still poured off Virgil. "If I fall will you catch me?"

It was supposed to be a soft little joke, but the way Virgil's voice rumbled as he said "yes," almost made Patton fall. There was something about hearing Virgil's voice in person. It was different, and he couldn't imagine it would have been so different. Maybe he should have known, because Remus' was different too, more distinguished, deeper.

"Thank you," Patton whispered, giving Virgil's hand a gentle squeeze. "I know going from being 'stuck in the phone' friends versus in 'real life' friends might be a bit awkward, but I really do want to remain friends with you Virgil. I... having you around has meant so much to me. You're kind and supportive-"

"And sarcastic, and rude."

Patton laughed, "Not as much as Remus, honestly, I think the two of you will get along very well." Patton knew there was more to Virgil than the exterior he put up when he was nervous and scared. Yeah he was sarcastic, but that didn't mean he wasn't also kind and caring. It was the duality that Patton fell in love with. He didn't know how to explain that though, so he kept quiet.

The silence between them wasn't bad, both of them were thinking, but Patton was almost thankful when Virgil spoke up. He had found he didn't like the silence.

"Is friendship all you want between us?" Though, that wasn't a question he was fully prepared to answer. There was something in his voice that Patton didn't fully understand. He wanted to, but he just couldn't get past Virgil's mask. He thought maybe he could figure out what Virgil was expecting so he could phrase things properly but he was at a loss, maybe honesty was the best option.

"I don't know, maybe... maybe more. I'm still getting used to things honestly. I didn't really think about dating anyone other than Remus while I was in that phone but I know what polyamory is. It's amazing what you can find on the internet when you are stuck in it all day." There hadn’t been a name for it back when Patton and Remus had discussed it, and even back then, Patton didn’t really think he would find anyone he would want to be with. He had been thinking about it a little more with Virgil. He could picture himself dating both Virgil and Remus, very easily.

"That... that makes sense. Hopefully you didn't find too much in that phone that you didn't want to see." He was trying to keep the conversation light despite his nervousness. Patton appreciated it. "And I don't want to rush you, but that means there might be a chance right?"

"I don't want to string you along, but I think yeah, maybe once I have readjusted to everything, and I've had a conversation with Remus, I might want something more with you. I really do think you are fantastic, but communication is important, and so is going into a relationship honestly right? And I still have to adjust to being a part of the world again."

Virgil looked like he was about to say something but Patton's foot caught on the step as they were about to head down the stairs. He thought he was going to pull Virgil down with him, he attempted to let go but Virgil held on tighter, pulling Patton in closer and taking one step down to steady himself. Patton felt like he was being dipped like in those old dance movies, he felt his face heat up.

"You okay?" Virgil asked, his eyes flittering over Patton as he searched for injuries and Patton's whole body melted. Like he had said. Virgil was caring; Virgil was kind; and Patton was apparently falling for him, quite literally.

"Yeah, I'm okay," he finally responded, looking up into Virgil's eyes. He didn't think he needed to think about things too hard.

He certainly could see himself having a future with Virgil. Remus was the only other person who ever made him feel this safe.

Epilogue

About seven years after his world got turned upside down, Virgil entered a completely normal coffee shop. There was no magic here, nothing that would throw the world into turmoil, nothing powerful. There was just the mundane. The air was warm and smelt like freshly roasted beans, a comfort that echoed through his soul. The barista knew his name and waved at him as he entered. He had a smile that shone brighter than sunlight on a summers day, brighter then fresh snow in the winter. Virgil waved back, smiling as he walked over to a table and sat down. This coffee shop was as normal as normal could be, except, it wasn't.

Patton had insisted on getting a job as soon as he was able to walk on his own without fear of falling. Remus had promised to get him any job he wanted but Patton had chosen a service industry job. He was just as much of a sweetheart as Virgil thought he had been, and he was amazing at his job. Over the past years, Virgil had watched Patton turn screaming irate customers into soft spoken patrons, helping them find a resolution to what they needed. Logan and Remus insisted that Patton didn't have magic, but Virgil was pretty sure that wasn't true. Patton's magic was of a completely different kind.

"Hey handsome, what can I get for you?" Virgil smiled as he looked up at the curly haired man, hooking an arm around his neck and pulling him in for a kiss. Seven years and Virgil was now a published author. Seven years and the two of them had been dating for four of them. It had been hard to wait so long, but he understood, and honestly, he was glad they had. Patton had needed time to heal, and Virgil had needed time to grow up. It was fascinating what three years had done for him, and even more what seven was doing.

"My usual, if you don't mind." When he spoke, Patton's knees buckled a bit. The first time Virgil noticed it happening, he had worried that Patton was having issues because of the mirror, but later it was explained that it was actually because Patton swooned at the sound of his voice. Now, every time it happened, he couldn't help but smile. If Patton loved his voice that much, Virgil had no problem weaponizing it.

"Of course, one chocolate mocha and a dark chocolate brownie." Patton gave him one more kiss before pulling away. "Are you meeting him today?"

"Yeah." Virgil gave Patton a soft nervous smile. "Here's hoping it goes well." Four years ago, Virgil had started dating Patton, but there was another factor to their little equation, something that Virgil had been holding onto for years.

"You know it will." Patton's reassurance was sweet, but Virgil didn't share his confidence. Then again, Virgil had always been skeptical of happy endings, but if anyone deserved one it was Patton, and if Virgil happened to be a part of that, who was he to complain.

Virgil was early, he knew he was, but that had been on purpose. When things were overwhelming, he did what he always does best, he wrote. Waiting for his meeting, Virgil continued to work on his next story, typing away at the notes on his phone, listening for his other guest to arrive. It didn't take long as the coffee shop filled with the excited chatter of two men talking, they sounded like two scientists, but Virgil knew better. He didn't even need to look up to know that there was a third man with them, his heeled boots trailing after the excited men.

"Virgil please take this heathen off my hands as he is attempting to steal time with my husband." Janus shoved Remus into a chair and the used to be professor laughed. His laugh was unlike anything Virgil had experienced and it shook him to his core every time.

"I can't help that your husband is so smart," Remus responded, "We are going to have a breakthrough soon, I just know it.

Janus looked about ready to fight, but before he could say anything in return, Logan cupped his face, a golden ring gleaming in the soft light of the coffee shop. A coffee shop that was mundane, but filled with a different kind of magic.

Dazed, the shorter man was led off without a fuss and Remus and Virgil turned their attention to each other. It felt like the air suddenly grew tense, the lights over head growing brights. Virgil was anxious, but no, that wasn't really the right word. Nervous? Excited? Whatever it was, his whole stomach was doing a flip.

"So..." Remus started sparing Virgil the horror of having to speak first.

“So…” Virgil continued, a light smile and a blush on his face.

“I hear you've been making out with my boyfriend.”

Virgil smiled, trying to hide the smirk on his lips. "Yeah, I have," He responded, leaning in towards Remus. "What do you plan to do about it?" His relationship with Patton wasn't anything new, but this was, the promise of something between them.

Remus also leaned in a bit, a smirk on his own face. "I don't know, maybe I should make out with you to make up for it. Y'know, eye for an eye kinda thing."

Virgil's eyebrow quirked. He knew this was something they were headed towards. There had been a plan for them to revisit his attraction to Remus at a latter date. Remus was strict about needing enough time for Virgil to grow into his personality, whatever that meant. He hadn't understood it back then, but he got it now. They had set a date to revisit things, a date to assess where Virgil's feelings were, and where Remus' were. Honestly, Virgil figured that Remus just wanted to make sure there was no lingering remnants of their student teacher relationship, he respected that, but now Virgil wasn't a student. He was a successful author, a mature adult, he understood what he was saying yes to. He realized that he had maybe been a bit immature being a college student, but he knew who he was now, and he still wanted to say yes.

"Are you waiting for an invitation, or are you going to do it already?" Maybe he was being just a little bit antagonistic, but he couldn't help himself.

"Consent is key kitten, I need a yes."

Virgil pushed himself out of his chair, sitting in Remus' lap. "This is me saying yes." Maybe public indecency wasn't the best way to go about things, but Virgil was friends with the king. He was sure he could get out with a bit of a make-out session in public.

Remus smirked at him, shaking his head lightly. It wasn't obvious who leaned in first, but the both ended up leaning in for the kiss, and it felt like magic. Maybe it was, Virgil knew Remus' abilities, but honestly, it didn't matter to him one way or another, because after everything all of those years ago, things finally felt perfect.

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