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As a Lupus, a being that could freely interchange between the form of a human and the form of a wolf, Virgil was always cold when in human form. Having become accustomed to the thick warmth his fur gave him, it was a shock to his system when it disappeared suddenly. No coat that he ever tried could keep him protected from the harsh frozen air, not even in summer, and the grey hoodie that he always wore, while being the thickest material Virgil could ever find, still barely did anything.
For this reason, Virgil despised winter. The rain itself freezing up and cloaking the ground in a thick sheet of snow made it almost impossible for Virgil to hide his presence in the forest, something that terrified him as he had no idea what would happen to him if he was discovered in his wolf form. Of course, the first time it had happened had ended well, but Virgil didn’t expect something that akin to a miracle to happen twice.
Ugh, just saying that in his mind made him realise just how much his life had changed, as he trudged through the snowy streets, shivering hands stuffed deep into his pockets. A few years ago, Virgil had imprinted on someone, the very someone that he was now weathering the extreme cold to go and see, and it had torn apart the very mundane life he and Patton had built for themselves and added a new breath of life, as much as the cynical part of Virgil’s brain wanted to deny it. Imprinting, a stronger connection than even the closest of lovers, a connection that had Virgil tied to Logan whether he liked it or not. Thankfully, he didn’t mind it.
When Virgil reached Logan’s apartment, which was almost as large as both floors of Virgil’s house combined, he immediately let himself in, as he had been given the key almost a year ago, and was welcomed by a string of rainbow flashing lights across the walls and back window, which caused Virgil to let out a tiny snarl of annoyance. Christmas, the other reason why Virgil hated winter. Completely commercialised, and a holiday that Virgil had existed before, and, before he had met Logan, was expecting to outlive by several thousands of years. Virgil couldn’t understand it, not the often gaudy decorations, nor the questionable tale of God and Jesus that fueled the religious side of the holiday. And especially not the tradition of gift-giving.
Logan had tried to give Virgil gifts, oh he had tried, but often times Logan could tell that Virgil was displeased with the whole idea of exchanging presents, so much so that the Lupus had only ever kept three presents; the anniversary gifts Logan had gotten him, which included the thick, silver scarf that was wrapped around his neck, doing a surprisingly good job of keeping his nape and lower face warm as he looked around the apartment. Apart from the festive decor, of which there was almost none save for the lights, the apartment seemed to be empty, which was strange, as Virgil thought Logan would be here. The university Logan worked as a Professor’s Aide was closed for the winter, after all.
“L?” Virgil called out as he closed the door and fully realised how warm the apartment was. Nerd… Virgil thought to himself. Logan had most likely cranked the heating up for when Virgil got here, as he knew how cold he got in winter by now. It had been three and a half years since they met, after all. There was silence for a few moments before Logan came through from the hallway that led to the bathroom, ruffling his damp hair with a small, black towel. Logan was wearing a baggy, short-sleeved blue shirt and black shorts, and his glasses were slightly askew, and a soft smile graced his face when he saw Virgil standing by the door, which had a very familiar tingling sensation rippling through Virgil’s body, the feeling he always got when he looked at Logan, whether he liked it or not. Huh, he found himself thinking those words a lot lately as well.
“Virgil, you’re here,” Logan spoke as he dropped his arms. “I made sure the apartment would be warm enough, I hope you aren’t too cold.” Virgil sighed and tugged slightly at his scarf, feeling his body warm-up, although maybe it was just his Imprint reaction. His Imprint mark, a now long and winding tattoo that twisted around his entire right arm and had started extending over his shoulder blade, always seemed to softly burn whenever Virgil was in Logan’s presence.
“It’s warm,” Virgil agreed, fully pulling his scarf away from his neck and carefully folding it, grateful that he didn’t experience a sharp chill run up his spine as he did so. Logan smiled again before moving to the kitchen, presumably to make some food as Virgil’s stomach had growled loudly as he had spoken, and Virgil followed, more due to the dumb Lupus instinct of being near his partner than any actual curiosity as to what the bespectacled human was doing.
“You remember that I’ll be leaving next week to go see my family, right?” Logan spoke again as he began slicing some bread, and Virgil nodded before he opened his mouth.
“Yeah. Patton said he’s happy to have his other roommate back for two weeks.” Despite the slight laughter in Virgil’s voice, he was very not okay with Logan leaving, even if it was for a human holiday season. As each year had passed, Virgil had found himself becoming more and more clingy towards Logan, probably due to the ever-growing Imprint bond between them, at least on Virgil’s end, as Logan could not feel the bond at all.
“About that,” Logan put down his knife and turned to face Virgil again. “I was wondering if you wanted to come with me this year, to meet my parents.” If this had been anybody else, Virgil would have scoffed and called them a liar. However, as this was Logan, Virgil merely stared blankly at him, unable to believe his ears.
“You want to take a Christmas-hating mythical wolf creature to meet your parents?” As Virgil said that out loud, he realised how strange their relationship was, at least to other humans, and a sudden anxiety spike shot through his core.
“I want to take my boyfriend to meet my parents, Virgil.” Virgil felt his face burn bright red at that, and he fell silent. Sure, he and Logan had gone through the awkward stage of dating and were comfortable calling each other boyfriends, but that didn’t stop Virgil’s nervous heart from reacting every single time. Stupid Imprint. “However, if you would rather not, I can tell my parents that I’m unable to see them this year and we could spend the holiday here together.”
“Are you serious?” Virgil had found his voice again. Logan was really about to abandon tradition for him?
“Of course. I recently bought that cartoon you’ve been watching, Nomad of Nowhere, so we could watch that together to avoid the more Christmassy films, and I still have more than enough food-” Logan cut himself off as Virgil collided into him, wrapping his arms around the former’s middle. “V-Virgil?”
“You’re too nice to me…” Virgil murmured, before sighing. “I suppose… we could watch at least one Christmas film…”
“Are you sure?” Logan asked, eyeing Virgil’s expression as he pulled away enough for them to lock eyes. Virgil simply nodded.
“You do still celebrate it, after all.” Virgil rested his forehead against Logan’s, and neither could stop the smiles forming on their faces. Their first Christmas together, and despite Virgil’s previous Scrooge-like tendencies, he felt that this holiday season was going to be a special one.