Chapter Text
December is one of the best months for stargazing. The winter nights are not only longer, but also clearer because of the cold and dry weather.
Out of all the spectacular night views that the month of December offers, a favourite of any stargazer, amateur or professional, is the geminid meteor shower. One of the most prominent showers in the northern hemisphere, the ideal conditions make it a sight one cannot miss.
Logan was quite excited, which was odd. He wasn’t usually the enthusiastic one, but Virgil knew how he felt about astronomy. Logan was the kind of person to stay up till four in the morning because he couldn’t look away from the stars. He could spend hours on end talking about the history of astronomy and how the scientists developed the knowledge they have today. Logan loved to explain things, but the cosmos brought a unique light into his eyes. One word about space and Logan would turn into a child again.
Logan had been going on about the meteor shower for weeks, just like he did every year. The difference was that they were out camping during the geminids this year. They were away from the city, under a sky that would light up with more stars than could be counted once the sun went down. It was Logan’s idea of paradise.
Logan suggested that the two of them should go to sleep so they could enjoy the night sky without feeling too tired. They would miss the sunset, but it was alright. To Logan, it was absolutely worth it.
It was around one-thirty when Logan shook Virgil awake. Virgil wasn’t thrilled at the idea of losing his precious sleep, but this meant a lot to Logan. He pushed himself out of the sleeping bag. Logan was waiting at the front of Virgil’s tent, pointing a flashlight at him.
“I’ve got coffee,” Logan said, holding up the flask in his hand “in case you get drowsy, but you might want to hydrate first.” Virgil pushed himself up and Logan passed him a water bottle. The only light in the room was from Logan’s flashlight, but that was enough to make out his mood. He wore a goofy grin. His free hand was tapping against his thigh in excitement. His glasses needed to be pushed back, his hair was messy, and he didn’t seem to notice at all.
“Easy there, L. You look like you’re about to explode.” Virgil chided, reaching for a water bottle. Logan chuckled lightly.
“I just might.” He said softly. “Ready?”
“Sure,” Virgil replied, standing up. Logan waited for Virgil to walk to the front and then went outside.
The first thing he noticed was how dark it was. In front of him, the trees and the rocks and the path in front of him seemed to have blended into one black canvas. It was unsettling and at first, Virgil wanted to go back into the tent and sit there with the lantern until the sun rose. Then, he decided to look up.
Virgil didn't get out of the city very often and he hadn't been camping since he was eight. A true starry sky wasn't something he had ever seen before.
The stars seemed so much bigger out on the field. They were bright, and there were so many of them. He had read somewhere that the stars were simply holes poked into the surface of the night sky and that their light came from heaven. Looking at the sky then, it was very easy to believe why. The stars looked like they had to have been made with all the care and love the universe had to offer and to think that they just existed was incredible. In the truest, most complete sense of the word, they were beautiful.
"Holy shit." Virgil breathed out. He couldn't tell in the darkness but next to him, Logan smiled.
"It never gets old" Logan's voice sounded softer than it usually did. He sounded like he was smiling "To the right"
They walked over to where Logan had laid out a picnic blanket and sat down. Logan pulled out a laser pointer and aimed it at a point in the sky to their right.
"Do you know what that is?" He asked his companion.
"Uh, no?" Virgil answered.
"Well, that's Castor and this one," he moved the pointer below the first star "is Pollux. Do you recognize the names?"
"The twins?"
"Correct!" he moved the pointer through a series of points that Virgil couldn't make out very well "Those two stars are associated with the constellation Gemini." he turned off the pointer and continued talking "the radiant, or the point where all the meteors come from, lies within it, hence the name 'geminids'."
"Why do you have a laser pointer?" Virgil asked. Logan blinked a couple of times.
"Well, it's a handy tool to have while stargazing" he replied "you can point things out without drowning out the starlight"
"Huh, smart." Virgil heard Logan mutter something about how he didn't come up with the idea. "How do the meteors form?"
Virgil's eyes were starting to adjust to the dark, but he couldn't make out any details of Logan's expression. Still, he knew that Logan was probably making that face he made when he was excited about something, with his eyes widened and the corner of his mouth curling up into a smile.
"That's a great question, Virgil." He replied, enthusiastically "The geminids are one of the only meteor showers that don't form because of comets. There's an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon with a slightly comet-like orbit. Some fragments break off when it passes by the earth. They burn up when they enter the atmosphere, and we see them as meteors."
Virgil tried to think of something to say when he was cut off by an exclamation from Logan.
"Oh!" Virgil could make out Logan pointing his finger at their sky, towards the right. "Did you see it?"
"Nope, maybe-" Virgil was distracted by something bright streaking across the sky. It disappeared too quickly for him to react "Oh, wow"
"The rate of meteor sightings should be peaking around now."
"They're so fast." He said under his breath just as another meteor streaked across the sky, causing Virgil to hold his breath for a second. "How am I supposed to make a wish when I can barely see them?"
"Well, wishing upon a meteor won't make it come true,” Logan answered, “So I suppose the answer to that is that you don’t.”
Virgil chuckled in response.
They sat there for a little over two hours, time that felt like nothing at all. It felt like an eternity, but the good kind. Like time had frozen so the two of them could look at the stars.
Logan broke the silence now and then with little bits of trivia that Virgil would probably forget soon, but was fascinated by anyway. For the most part, the night was quiet in the most comfortable sense of the word. The two of them had known each other long enough to be alright simply being in each other’s company.
Virgil found it strangely calming. He wasn’t particularly scared of the dark. On the contrary, he had always felt strangely comforted by it. Looking at the sky, it was very easy for him to feel small. There were too many stars, too much stuff in the universe. He was one person on one planet in one part of the universe, he wasn’t very special. Some part of his brain told him that he should feel uncomfortable. The universe was too vast, too full, and somehow too empty at the same time. In defiance of everything he thought he should feel, Virgil had been quite calm that night. Despite its ridiculous vastness, the universe was quite beautiful. It was a quiet, peaceful night and he was with one of his best friends. Things were alright.
“It’s too bad the others had to miss this” Logan had tried to get all four of them together on the trip but the other two couldn’t make it. Roman was visiting his aunt Patty over the weekend and Patton had fallen sick. Logan had ordered him to stay in bed and get some rest.
“True, but there will be other showers,” Logan replied. He paused before speaking again “It’s good having you here, though.”
“Is it, really?” Virgil asked, half-expecting Logan to make some sort of joke.
“It is.” Logan answered, “I like having you around.”
Virgil didn’t know how to respond. His friends meant the world to him, and he treasured their company but he never really knew how to respond to any real compliments.
“I like having you around too, L.” He said, after a period of silence just a hair away from turning awkward.
Neither of them was sure of the time when Logan suggested they go back. They couldn’t see any meteors anymore and he figured that it would probably do them good to get some sleep. Virgil didn’t feel very tired for the whole time they were outside; taking a nap earlier and sipping on coffee all night had done him good, but it only took Logan saying the word “sleep” for him to notice the heaviness in his muscles, forcing him to listen to Logan and go to sleep. He muttered a goodnight to his friend, pulled himself off the ground, and walked back to his tent to crash until the morning.
Virgil thought he was going to stay asleep for all of eternity but, much to annoyance, he was wide awake at around quarter to seven. He decided to pull himself out of the sleeping bag and walked outside. If he wasn’t going to be able to sleep, he might as well catch the sunrise.
Unexpectedly, he noticed a familiar figure outside. It seemed as if Logan had the same idea. His back faced Virgil. His hair was messy and he hadn't bothered to fix it, probably because he wasn't expecting company.
"Morning, Logan." Virgil greeted, walking up to stand next to him. Logan turned around and smiled in response, his eyes followed Virgil as he walked up next to him.
"Why are you awake?" He asked.
"Not sure," Virgil replied, nonchalantly "I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. What about you?"
"Never fell asleep." He answered, "I couldn’t stop thinking."
"What were you thinking about?" Logan smiled to himself for a second, as if he had forgotten that Virgil was right next to him.
"Nothing important." He finally answered. Virgil knew that Logan was quite obviously lying, but he didn't push. The sky was still mostly a dark shade of blue, with some streaks of orange starting to appear in the sky.
Standing next to Logan as the sun rose, Virgil felt strangely light. He wasn't sure, some part of him felt anxious. Anxiety was a constant struggle for him; even if it had been getting better, he was almost always on edge. He had gotten quite good at recognizing the way his body felt almost ghost-like, too light to feel real.
This was different, in a way he couldn't understand.
Beams of yellow light started to rise from the horizon. Sunrises are so much softer than sunsets, Virgil thought to himself. He wondered if there was a reason. There probably was, and Logan would probably know. He didn’t ask him. He kept silent, taking in the view.
Virgil felt a sense of calm, despite the discomfort in his chest. He had barely gotten any sleep, and he knew he would probably crash once he got home. Home was where he was at his most comfortable, where he felt the safest. Virgil wanted to be home but somehow, he didn’t want to go. He felt surprisingly awake, he was present and he didn’t want that to change. He didn’t want to go just yet.
A part of him, one that he did not fully acknowledge or understand at the time, was starting to demand attention. Maybe it had been there all night, maybe even longer. All he knew is that it wanted him to stay; frozen in time, right where he was.
It wanted him to stay for as long as he could.