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Virgil coughs into his hand, wincing as yet another red petal fluttered and stuck to the side of his palm, the edges tacky with blood. Shit. At least no one else was around to observe his pathetic performance. He shoves the petal into the pocket of his jeans, joining the others, a cacophony of red and dark blue. He's not stupid. He knows who he's in love with.
He also knows he can never, ever join them. Roman and Logan? The cutest couple in the Mindscape (at least according to Patton, who automatically disqualified Remus and Janus on the basis of Remus placing a live eel on his pillow the morning of the judging)? They'd been together for years. Virgil had no chance waltzing up to them and being like "hi, I'm slowly dying because flowers are growing in my lungs- yes I realize Hanahaki disease is supposed to be fictional- and it turns out I'm gay for the both of you, wanna give it a go?"
Virgil sighs, skulking back up the stairs. He had planned on getting a snack, but not if he was going to cough up flower petals in the kitchen. There's just too much risk of Roman or Logan walking in, and that would be the worst possible-
"Where are you going, emo knightmare?" Roman inquires, as Virgil runs straight into him. Virgil's eyes widen as the ever-present tickle at the back of his throat grows stronger. Oh no. He can't- he can't cough now, that would-
He bends over with the force of his cough, driving Roman back a few paces by how explosive it is. Red and blue petals flutter to the floor, slick with blood, and Virgil freezes. Roman leans over, studying the petals with curious concern.
"Virgil?" He asks, his voice gentling. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Princey," he says hoarsely, through gritted teeth, as he snatches the flower petals off the floor and stuffs them in his pocket, almost on autopilot.
"Are you sure?" Roman persists. "Because if you're coughing up flower petals, that very much suggests that you are in fact not okay, actually."
""Give it a rest, Princey!" Virgil snaps. His throat aches, his lungs constricting. It feels like thorns are stabbing their way through his lungs. Maybe they are. Hell, he doesn't know. If it's progressed that far, he's probably done for.
"What is all this commotion about-" Logan asks, looking irritable as he opens his door. Concern quickly blooms on his features when he sees Virgil's all too pale face, blood still flecking his lips.
"Virgil?" Logan asks. "Are you all right?"
"He coughed up flower petals," Roman says, before Virgil can get a word out. Logan's brow wrinkles.
"Hanahaki disease?" Logan asks in disbelief. "But that is-"
"Fictional, I know," Roman says. "But as you would say, we aren't human, we're metaphysical, so why can't we get a fictional disease?"
"Can you please stop talking about me like I'm not here?" Virgil grits out. He feels very wobbly all of a sudden, and all he wants is to escape to his room.
"You have to confess to whoever your affection is for," Roman says, as if it is the simplest thing in the world. Virgil barks a tired laugh.
"I don't think so," he says. "There's no way I could tell them-"
"Them?" Logan interrupts. "As in, more than one?" Virgil feels cold inside. He hopes this is some kind of terrible nightmare, that he is not really confronted with both the people he's in love with, who are together.
"Of course not-" he tries to say, but he's interrupted once more by a harsh, tearing cough, one that fills his fingers with dark blue and red, damning him. He tries to blunder past Roman, but the creative side holds him easily, pressing him to his chest.
"Oh, Virgil," Roman says. "Sweetheart. Why didn't you say anything?"
"You're together," Virgil chokes out. "You wouldn't- I'm just me, you can't-"
"Can't what?" Logan asks, as he comes closer, bracketing Virgil. Virgil's shoulders slump, defeated.
"Love me," he mumbles. "You can't possibly love me."
"Virgil," Roman murmurs, touching Virgil's jaw and directing his gaze upward. "Darling. Logan and I have wondered how to approach you for months."
"What?" Virgil asks in disbelief. Logan nods in affirmation.
"But you always seemed so skittish around us," Logan says "We didn't want to presume- but it wasn't that, was it. It was your Hanahaki disease." Almost against his own wishes, Virgil nods.
"We love you," Roman says plainly. "Both of us, Virgil. We-"
Virgil's knees buckle and he nearly falls, held up only by Roman and Logan as the worst cough of all bends him double. His hands fill with red and dark blue blossoms, then- His eyes widen.
His lungs are clear again.
He smiles, giddy, as Logan carefully wipes the blood from his lips with a handkerchief and Roman plants a tiny kiss on the corner of his mouth, both of them murmuring sweet nothings the entire time. Roman picks Virgil up, encouraging him to put his arms around Roman's neck, and the three of them end up in Roman's room.
"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry that you've suffered for so long," Roman says in Virgil's ear, cuddling him tight. "If I have my way, I'm never letting you go."
"He means it," Logan says dryly. "But you have to share, Roman. If that's all right with you, Virgil?"
"More than," Virgil says blissfully. All thoughts of rejection have fled the building entirely. "I love you," he says. Logan kisses the back of one of his hands and Roman kisses his forehead.
"We love you too, Virgil," Logan assures him.
"So much," Roman says.