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Logan looked at Roman, eyes dark. "I need you to really think about what you're saying, because you're going to hurt Virgil even more if you do not."
Roman bit back a retort, glancing down to where their little human crouched on the table, watching them with eyes that held a cautious intelligence that only became more apparent the longer Virgil was in their care.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t thought this whole plan through, but the protectiveness of his mate over the boy was something unexpected.
Of course, how could Logan have not grown fond of their little foundling after nursing the poor human back to health after they had rescued him from his dismal living conditions?
They had been through every setback, every scare with the small male in working to keep him alive. Even pulling all nighters researching the best methods to ensure that their human could return to full health and safely achieve his full metamorphosis from scrawny, boney, four limbed Human into his final form of a full grown Fae.
Not that Virgil was full grown yet. Roman was still hoping that he would end up with a tail, but he had successfully formed his third pair of limbs, a beautiful pair of black and purple wings as soft as the hide of a baby Seleen , during their last cycle of Garvit’s Ring.
Wings that their human needed to use in order for them to gain enough strength so that he could eventually fly.
Roman ran his fingers over his horns, sitting back in his chair with a sigh as he turned to his mate. “I’m just saying, a mindlink would make this easier.”
Far easier than the pantomiming they’d been doing up until this point. He could sense how wary Virgil was of them. Feel the panic swirl of the boy's thoughts whenever Roman or Logan had to physically move one of his limbs to get him to understand what they wanted from him.
“Or it could send him spiraling further than he already has.” Logan retorted, indigo waves flashing across his dark skin as his ears twitched, his attention too on Virgil. “You saw how he reacted to his wings! He doesn’t understand what is happening to him and if we introduce too much--”
“But talking isn’t the same as learning how to use a new set of limbs, Lo. He’s exercising his brain not his muscles!” He spun to his mate, tail twisting to wrap around Logan’s. “If we could just communicate our intentions clearly to him we could--”
“I know.” Lo exhaled, resting a hand on Roman’s shoulder. “We could show him we mean no harm, that we merely mean to aid him as he grows. But, Ro--” He grimaced, showing a brief flash of his fangs. “He’s quite timid compared to the reports of other Humans.”
“Timid?” Roman snorted, touching a small lightning shaped scar on his wrist. Virgil had managed to draw blood from them more than once in the early days of their guardianship over him. He had been quite feral until he realized that he was safe--well safer here with them.
“You know what I mean.” Logan said, carefully placing a book down on the table, the pages flipped open to a hologram of a Waie fledgling flapping her wings. “He could have another relapse. I can’t--”
He knew. He didn’t want another relapse either. The screams the human had let out when he first saw his new wings still haunted them both
At the time Logan had had to physically restrain Virgil to keep him from destroying his new limbs with his own hands and had received quite the series of bites to his fingers in the process.
But those actions, that lack of communication between them had cost them dearly.
Virgil had reverted to being just as feral as when they’d first rescued him after that. Refusing to trust them with anything. They’d had to start back at square one and it was frustrating. So frustrating to see all their progress lost in the matter of minutes.
“He didn’t relapse five days ago though.” Roman said, tail flicking to wrap around Logan’s.
Five days ago when their human’s eyes had finally shifted from their baby brown coloration into the more adult shade of a shimmering galaxical violet.
Five days ago, when Roman had successfully formed a telepathic link with their human and clearly communicated to Virgil and had him understand that Roman was only trying to help him and not hurt him further.
Understand and be…leery of it. Okay. Frightened by it. Roman could still feel the slight headache behind his eyes from how forcefully Virgil had slammed the ‘figurative door,’ as Logan would say, on their mindlink.
But he hadn’t relapsed. No, if anything, Virgil was looking at them more frequently now, brilliant eyes wary, but no longer scared.
Though….He glanced down to see their human had moved to his feet, wings trembling where they were folded tightly against his back as he glanced to the holographic image of flight before deliberately turning his back on it.
Roman pressed his lips together, running his fingers over his horns. Honestly, they couldn’t make it any clearer than that that they wanted him to learn how to fly. Was he purposely not understanding? Purposely refusing? A mind link would do wonders in clarifying the human’s thought process.
Cautiously he sent out a tendril of reassurance to him and was rewarded as the human jerked, wings half spreading before he snapped them shut.
Huh. Virgil was getting better control of that at least. His wings remained folded most of the time now instead of hanging limply from his back dragging across the floor like an oddly shaped cape whenever the human tried to walk anywhere.
Of course, from the swirling tumult of his thoughts, Roman could gather that Virgil was trying to not think about his new limbs. An ‘if I can’t see it then it’s not there’ philosophy that was...well silly. He doubted the human could just forget the new weights on his back, not when they were a part of him now.
No, it would be better if Virgil would just accept this change and move his wings more. Spread them out at least if he didn’t want to flap them yet. Stretch. He could only imagine how cramped the wings had to feel being constantly folded like that.
Roman raised an eyebrow, smirking as the human turned, purple eyes taking on a soft glow as he glared up at him. “He seems fine to me.”
Couldn’t Logan see that the shifting in Virgil’s eye color and therefore, the maturing of his brain to accept a telepathic link could only be a good thing for them?
It meant he and Roman could now communicate their intentions directly to the human-- if he would let him --rather than having to rely on pantomine and sifting through Virgil’s tumultuous color and pattern filled mind to interpret whether or not their intentions were understood.
Granted, he knew humans didn’t normally use their minds to talk, but if theorists were right, whether he wanted to or not, it would only be a matter of time before Virgil’s brain matured enough to automatically instigate telepathic links with those around him.
His mate huffed as he too watched their human, before sending out his own tentative wave of thought to the human to see his reaction. “Well yes, but we haven’t yet seen the full ramifications of that yet.”
Roman fought back the urge to roll his eyes. “Because you’re not letting us do more than brush the edges of his mind!”
He could get not wanting to overload their human with even more changes. Agreed with it actually. It was better to not force Virgil to run before he was ready to walk when it came to telepathic links...but the anticipation of what they could have was killing him.
Logan exhaled, scooting his chair closer to Roman’s so he could lean against him. “Patience, Ro. While I agree a mind link would be easier, we have to take into consideration how Virgil will react. How he’ll feel to have such a method of communication presented to him. We can’t just force him before he’s ready.”
He knew. He didn’t have to like it though.
But surely, Virgil had to realize that those brief seconds of clear communication was a good thing.
If their human would only--but no, he knew their human wasn’t fond of change, his near hysterical reaction when he’d seen his newly formed wings for the first time proved that. But it didn’t stop him from hoping that Virgil would accept his new telepathic ability far quicker than he was accepting his wings. If only--
He sent out another light tap to the human’s mind. Like a knock on the door. Asking to be let in.
“Just think of the possibilities, my love. How he could answer all our questions. How we wouldn’t have to guess at what he needs. He could just tell us.” Roman whispered, a small smirk flicking on his lips as he felt his mate’s own careful knock on the human’s mind. “We can’t know how he’ll react to a mindlink if we don’t give him a little stronger push--”
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Roman cut off, breath catching in his throat as he felt a responding knock brush against his thoughts. Could it be?
Logan twitched, sitting up, his tail flicking into a question mark as another swirl of blue danced across his skin, his dark eyes lighting up. “Ro?”
He held up a hand to silence his mate, crouching down in front of the table to make eye contact with the human.
Virgil didn’t flinch away this time, small hands clenching into fists as his purple eyes took on a brighter glow at the same moment Roman felt another tap tap tap at the edges of his mind.
Logan inhaled sharply, leaning forward. “He’s!”
“SHH!!” He hissed, well aware of how both their heart rates had skyrocketed. Their human was reaching out! He was attempting to communicate! He!
Roman drew in a shaky breath as he tilted his head, carefully sending out a tendril of thought towards the presence he could sense hovering just outside his mind and waited.
Waited for something to happen.
This could be their only chance at having their human reach out. Their only chance to finally establish--
Almost like the roll of thunder in the sky, another’s presence warily entered his mind forming a tentative connection. Then like the sound of waves breaking against the distance shore. He heard him.
~...Hello?~
Virgil.