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Virgil was walking back to his apartment when he heard a noise behind him. Naturally, they freaked out and froze. Then unfroze and kept walking. It was just the wind, or an animal, right? It definitely wasn't a mugger or something worse or ohmygodhewasgonnadiewhatwastheythinkingwalkingalonesolateatnightheywassuchaidiot. They sped up their walking and fished for their phone, hoping which ever friend he decided to call would pick up. Maybe who ever this was would fuck off if they knew there would be a witness.
He heard footsteps quickly approaching them and fumbled with his phone, dropping it on the ground and letting out a quiet curse. They bent down to pick it up but whoever this was was faster and got to it before him. And before they knew what they was really doing they lept back and went to try to get their phone back. No one ever said he was smart, even though he was a self-preservationist at heart. But his phone had his whole life on it, and it cost 300 hundred dollars to get. They couldn't just give it up without a fight.
So he did the very dumb thing and grabbed for it. The mugger froze. At first Virgil thought it was just because they wasn't expecting that but then they threw the phone back at him and took off.
That was weird.
Virgil took a few seconds to calm down and shakily made a phone call, "Hey, Pat, I need you to come pick me up."
When they got back to the apartment the first thing Virgil did was collapse on the couch. He felt someone, Patton, sit on the other end, "Do you want me to call the others?" Virgil shook their head. No, as good of friends they were they would be too much right now. "Should we call the police at least?"
"And say what? Someone robbed and then unrobbed me? Besides, even if they had gone through with it what could cops do?" Virgil, and all his friends really, were firm believers that cops only did more harm than good. It said something when villains did more for society than they did. Speaking of, "I'm pretty sure that was one of those new villains, Nightowl. They had the emblem. But then why did they throw the phone back and flee?"
"Maybe they were having second thoughts?" Patton suggested. But that didn't make any sense really.
"They only did it after they saw my face, like they knew me somehow. But that," They sucked in a breath. "That has to be impossible, right? They can't," His hands started to shake. "They can't know me. How would that even be possible? I don't, I talk to like three people, and none of you are villains." Something grabbed his hand. They jerked their head up.
"Breathe, kiddo, you're okay." Right, right he was starting to spiral again. He went through his breathing exercises and slowly calmed down. "I don't think they knew you knew you, but we can look into it if it would make you feel better." Patton said once they regained their senses.
That was a good idea. And if anyone could get information on anything it was Logan. "I think we should call the others after all."
"I will personally fight whoever attacked you, scare-a-more!" Roman said as soon as he walked in the door. Virgil rolled his eyes and turned his attention to Logan while Patton attempted to tell Roman why that would not be a good idea. It wasn't that Virgil didn't believe Roman, it was that he did, and the last thing any of them needed was for Roman to go do something stupid. Again. Besides, it wasn't like he was actually hurt. This was just something else to scar him for life.
At least Logan was more practical. "Okay, tell me exactly what happened. As many details as you can recall." And so Virgil did. He told xem as much as he could remember, which was somewhere between too many details and not nearly enough. They simultaneously remembered everything and felt a haze that wouldn't let them recall anything. Anxiety was fun.
"Well," Logan said once he was done. "I agree that was abnormal, however since Nightowl is such a new villain there is little to no information on them. Certainly nothing that would allude to their real identity." Great, just what he didn't want to hear. "But perhaps you're fixating on the wrong thing. If they saw your face and fled they were most likely scared of you for some reason."
"But... why?" Virgil didn't think of themself as scary. Sure, they dressed a bit abnormally and gave off an energy that tended to keep people away, but why would any of that matter to a villain?
"That's what I attend to find out." And so Logan got to work. While xe did that Virgil decided to turn his attention to the other two who were still arguing and joined their conversation.
"Princey, if you do something stupid I'm gonna attack you." Roman let out an offended noise. Virgil ignored it. "I'm fine, okay? Just wanna figure out what's going on."
Roman gave them an unsure look, "If you're certain."
"The important thing is that Virgil's okay."
"Patton's right." Logan said without looking up from xyr laptop. "This could've ended up a lot worse than it did. That is to say," Xe gave Virgil a look. "There is no use in dwelling on what could've happened." Which, fair, but did Logan always have to be right about everything?
"Do you want me to drive you home from now? Or the others? Whatever you need to feel comfortable, Panic! at the Everywhere." Virgil hid a smile, he may of made a mistake not wanting them to come over until now.
Not that he would ever admit that. "Maybe just for the next few days." They discussed arrangements while waiting for Logan to find something out. But thankfully they didn't have to wait long.
"Hmm." The rest of them looked at xyr. "Virgil, are you aware you're on a list titled: 'hurt them, and I'll kill you?"
What? "What?" Who would care about them enough to make a list like that? "Do you know who's behind it?"
"Yes, I can-," Xe paused. "Dolus: Janus Adder."
Janus Adder. He hadn't heard that name in ages. They had met Janus back in high school, back when they were a loner who didn't know anyone. Janus had swept into his life and turned it upside down in a matter of weeks. They could still remember the long talks on nights one or both of them couldn't sleep, the dates that had to be at one of their houses because Virgil was too anxious to go anywhere else, how patient and understanding Janus always was with them. He remembered it all. Virgil had never felt as close to someone as they had been to Janus. He thought, well, what everyone who entered into a relationship during high school thought- that that was the one. They knew better now though.
But why would Janus....? It wasn't like they ended the relationship on bad terms, quite the opposite actually, but they didn't think voi still thought about them. And certainly not enough to make a list like that. Maybe their relationship still meant something to void too. Maybe it was enough that Virgil was the first person to truly see void.
But Dolus was... the most powerful villain in the world, and the idea of that being Janus... they didn't really know how to think about it.
"Virgil?" He heard someone say. They blinked. "Are you okay?"
"I.. don't know."
Virgil, predictably, hadn't gotten much sleep last night. They was too wrapped up in their thoughts, as usual, but this time his worries had substance. Reconciling the Janus they knew in high school with Dolus was difficult and yet also not. Janus had been kind to him, sure, but voi never had any patience for any assholery, or pretentiousness, or authority figures. Actually it made a lot of sense. And it wasn't like Dolus was evil, just someone who had less morals than Virgil was comfortable with. But knowing that it was Janus... made a lot of that make sense. Janus had always had reasons behind voids mentality and they always made sense.
No, most of their thoughts had been about the list. He didn't know what to think about it, didn't know what to think about the fact that Janus still cared about them almost five years later. Virgil still cared, of course Virgil still cared, but knowing voi still cared... That was a different story.
It made Virgil wanna do something stupid, it made Virgil wanna see void again. But how would they even do that? It wasn't like a supervillain's base was a well-known thing. He just had to move past it, had to accept the fact they would never get the answers they was craving.
They had to get up.
The smell of breakfast was luring him out of his room and that was the only thing that would willingly get him up. They got ready for the day and went to the kitchen, where they were the last one to get up, beaten by people who didn't even live there. What the fuck were Logan and Roman doing there? They didn't spend the night. "Why?" Was all he could say when he got in the kitchen.
"Good morning to you too, sunshine." Roman said as Patton handed them a cup of coffee. "Since none of us have classes today, we thought we could all do something together."
"And you discussed this without me... why?"
"Well, if you had gotten up earlier..." Patton replied, only half teasingly- to which Virgil rolled his eyes at. 10am wasn't late, he didn't know what he was talking about. "But we haven't decided anything yet, any ideas?"
They grabbed some breakfast as they thought. Despite the four of them being pretty good friends they had very different interests. What would entertain one would probably bore the other three to death. What could work...? "I heard the Observatory had something going on."
Logan lit up, "The Mythos hall has opened. It talks all about the mythology associated with the planets and stars, as well as the artistry depicting said myths. I've heard excellent things about it in my classes." Made sense, considering xem was minoring in astronomy.
Roman shrugged, though they could all see he was getting excited. "I'm in."
"I'm looking at 3 stars right now, but I suppose I could go see some more." Logan groaned at Patton's pun while the others snickered. "Let's make a day out of it!"
Virgil smirked, "You just want ice cream from the food area in there."
"Yup!" Well, they wouldn't complain about that. Ice cream did sound good. And he deserved it after the day he had yesterday.
No, their mind had not let them forget they almost got robbed.
In fact, the fact that he wanted to go out and do something was surprising. But they couldn't live his life in fear, no matter how much their anxiety tried to convince them he could. Besides, his friends would be there, they wouldn't let anything happen to him. Still, he hoped his excitement would keep overriding their more negative emotions. He hoped today would go better than yesterday.
The Mythos hall was bigger than Virgil thought it would be. It seemed to cover an entire floor, as opposed to a section of it. When they asked Logan about it xe explained that space played a big role in mythology, bigger than most people thought. "Specifically Greek, which was also known for its different types of art and their abundance. In other words, it was probably a good call for Patton to make a day out of this."
"So this exhibit has every piece of art ever made that has something to do with space and mythology?" Virgil raised an eyebrow, "Sounds fake but okay."
Logan gave them a stern look, "No, of course not, that would be preposterous. Just whatever was willing to be donated." Right. He turned to say something to Patton when they noticed both him and Roman were already gone. "Of, course." Logan said, speaking their thoughts perfectly. "But this might be a blessing in disguise, I can't imagine being able to truly appreciate this exhibit with them. Roman's thoughts on art are too fanciful for my taste." Xe added on at Virgil's confused look. Ah, that made sense. You'd think they'd know that by now.
"I wanted to ask you something." Xe said after a few minutes of them silent admiring of the exhibit. Virgil hummed. "About Dolus. Janus." Xe said quieter. They froze for a second.
"What about void?"
"You seemed to have a lot of unresolved feelings there, am I correct?" He nodded. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened between you two?"
If they didn't mind xem asking, that was the question. It wasn't that Virgil didn't like talking about it, it was just hard, they had never done it before. Other than telling his friends he had an ex when they asked. But maybe it would help. "Uh, let's see, I met Janus sophomore year of high school, we were friends for a few months before we started dating, we broke up senior year when we realized we got into separate colleges- they were too far apart to make it work. It was all amicable, but it was hard, it felt like voi was the best thing that ever happened to me." They confessed. Was it still true? They didn't know, but he did know it was the hardest thing they've ever gone through.
And finding out Janus was Dolus, brought up a lot of things.
"Do you still love void?" That was one of them. It's been five years, he should be past that relationship by now. And they thought he was- until last night. But hearing voids name brought all those feelings back.
"I was over void, but now I'm not sure." They said honestly. "No offense, L, but what's with the 20 questions?"
"Apologies. I was simply curious, I believe I may know a way to find Janus and wanted to know if that was something that would interest you."
Xe could actually find Janus? Virgil could see void again? Actually get his answers? Was... that something that really did interest them? Past the emotions of thinking of void for the first time in years, did he actually want to do that?.....
Yes. "It is."
Nothing really changed over the next few days. Virgil went to his classes, hung out with their friends, and spent his free time rewatching Steven Universe for the 40th time. Logan gave them updates on how xyr search for Janus was going, but not having a definitive answer was making him more and more anxious. Until Logan came running into his and Patton's apartment, then they were anxious for a different reason.
"I have reason to believe I was followed here." The others shared a look and Roman lept out of his seat. Virgil pulled him back down. "I apologies for coming here, but I was, admittedly, not thinking straight. It appears that when I was looking into Janus I was looking at information I wasn't supposed to. Again, admittedly not surprising."
"I'm sorry." Virgil was the reason xe was in the situation and they dragged the rest of their friends into it. "I shouldn't have agreed to this."
But Logan shook xyr head, "I was the one who decided to look into it, this is on me."
"Okay, can we stop the blame game and figure out what we're going to do? If this is one of Dolus', Janus', whatever, minions then they probably have a power of some kind. And we do not. So what do we do?" Roman asked.
"Logan, are you sure you were followed? I don't see anything." Patton said, peering out the window. Roman yanked him back from it. "Maybe we should call someone."
"No!" The others shot down.
"A hero." Patton amended. Virgil pursed their lips in thoughts. If someone with powers really was here they needed someone with powers to deal with it, but Janus had him on a list like that voi was probably keeping tabs on them. Which meant voi knew this was their apartment. Which meant whoever was outside probably figured out Logan knew Virgil and wouldn't do anything. But, that wasn't certain and Virgil wasn't willing to risk his friends on it.
But they still trusted Janus. "No." His friends looked at him. "I'm sure who ever it was is gone by now."
"You're sure?" Roman said surprised.
"Oh, right, coming into a crowded apartment complex is such a good idea, I forgot." He said sarcastically then told them his thought line. "I don't think voi would let one of my friends get hurt."
"You know them best, kiddo, but maybe you guys should stay here tonight."
"You don't have to tell me twice! Ooo, can we make a blanket fort? It'll be like a giant sleepover!" Patton lit up at that and Virgil shrugged, that did sound nice. They all looked at Logan who sighed. "Oh come on, specs, don't act like you don't want to." Logan smiled a bit and the others cheered.
Then they all got to work.
Once the fort was done Roman raced in as Logan and he rolled their eyes. Then he checked his phone and realized how late it was. And that none of them had had dinner yet. "Uh, Pat, do we have anything to eat around here?"
Patton turned back to him, "I haven't gone to the store yet." He said hesitantly. "Chinese?"
Virgil offered to get it, since he was the least likely to be attacked and delivery costed money none of them could afford to spend. "Be safe." Patton told them about a thousand times as he was leaving the apartment. He promised he would be, even though they had no control over that, and told the others to call him if he wasn't back in ten minutes. Here went nothing.
They could admit it was not the brightest idea to go out after what happened, but everyone needed to eat and they wasn't gonna let something else happen to their friends because of a decision he made. So he was making a new decision- to do something stupid. Well, not stupid stupid, but not the smartest. Besides, they was under the most powerful villain in the world's protection, that was basically immunity from any assholes out there. And the chinese place wasn't even 5 minutes from the apartment, the only thing that was bad about this was the walking. They hated walking.
When they got to the chinese place he was surprised to see it mostly empty, at this time of night he'd expect it to be packed. He walked up to the counter, "Order for Patton." He told the cashier.
"It'll still be a couple of minutes, hope that's okay." They said it was then sat down in one of the waiting chairs, texting his friends to let them know. He busied themself with scrolling through tumblr until the heard the bell above the door chime. They looked up out of curiosity more than anything, but was stunned when he realized he recognized the person.
"Janus."
"I heard you've been looking for me." Voi was exactly how Virgil remembered void. They had to fight back a smile at that. "Can I know why?"
"Privately maybe," Virgil snorted. "Stalking me?"
"Keeping minor tabs." Voi evaded. "I admit this is not the setting I had in mind for this, can we go somewhere else?" And how Virgil so wanted to say yes to that but,
"I'm picking up food for me and my friends, sorry."
Janus hummed, "Sorry for the scare earlier, wasn't aware you knew that guy." So Logan was followed. That... didn't make them feel better. It did make him wonder about what exactly voi had been up to the past couple of years though. Of course, that wasn't the only thing going through his mind, but it was easier to focus on one thing at a time. Otherwise.... well, they'd probably have a panic attack.
"Order 37!" Virgil jumped.
"That's me." They somberly told Janus. He really didn't want to go. But he knew he would start worrying their friends if he stayed out any longer, and he had their dinner. "Oh! That wasn't a guy by the way, xe's nonbinary."
"Apologies. You... should get back to them. Your friends. I'd hate to keep you." Virgil wasn't sure what to do really so he just went to collect his food. "Oh and, Virgil?" Voi said as they got near the door. He turned around. "I'll see you again, there's a lot we need to talk about. Nothing bad of course." Voi hastily added on before they could start panicking. "Just... catching up." Virgil smiled and walked out of the restaurant.
After all the years, Janus still knew him well.
They called their friends as they headed back to the apartment, it was definitely past ten minutes. It only lasted a few seconds so for the rest of the walk he was forced to think about what had just happened. Which was the worst. Okay, they saw Janus again, that was... good! Definitely good. And voi seemed to be the same old Janus so that was also good, even though it was like a ten second conversation and you really couldn't gauge anything from that. Okay! Calm down, Virge, you're already overthinking this. Seeing Janus was good, it didn't have to be anything more than that.
It was like they didn't know himself at all.
But, it seemed like Janus was struggling just as much as they was, and that admittedly helped. Especially since that was always a side of void only Virgil got to see. Whatever happened, whatever their feelings were, hopefully they could be in things together again. It did seem like Janus wanted that, that their meeting wasn't a coincidence, no matter how much voi would play it off as one. So that was already working in their favor. They just, had to wait to see what would happen. Which was also the worst.
He opened the door, "You aren't going to believe what just happened."
The next time Virgil saw Janus was at a cafe on campus, which was weird because they was pretty sure voi didn't go there. He wondered how voi got in before deciding they didn't want to know. But voi was clearly looking for them and he didn't know how to feel about that.
"Are you sure you're not stalking me?" He said unimpressed.
Janus huffed, "Very sure. Can I sit?" Virgil nodded, surprised voi felt the need to ask. But five years did change things. Even if he wished it didn't. "Thanks. Is this private enough, or should we go back to your apartment?"
"You would love that, wouldn't you?" They snarked. "This is fine." He paused and started playing with his sleeves. Janus smiled understandingly and reached for their hand, though voi didn't end up grabbing it. They sighed. "Why did you make that list?"
Voi didn't seem surprised by that question. "Why do you think?" It was Virgil's turn to huff,
"I don't know, that's why I asked."
Janus pulled voids hand back, and he didn't know how to feel about that. "Because I still care about you, because you're still my favorite person and the idea of something happening to you kills me. I just want to make sure you're okay, Virgil."
"Then why didn't you stay?" Virgil tried to demand, though they knew it came out as more of a plea. That was the thing that had been on his mind ever since the break up. It was mutual, but there was no reason they couldn't have gone back to being friends after some space. Yet he had never heard from Janus again, not until a couple of days ago.
"It was too hard. I'm selfish, Virgil, you know that. The thought of being friends with you when I couldn't have more... I couldn't stand it. And I know! I know us breaking up was the best decision, that we never would've lasted that far apart, but it felt like I was losing the best thing that ever happened to me. But meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me, I know that now. I grew up and I realized that I just wanted you in my life."
"And then you became a villain." They summarized.
"And then I became a villain. I didn't mean to, really, but you know how hard being a college student is." Virgil nodded. He really did. "So I took advantage of my power, robbed a few banks- just people who wouldn't miss that money, and got labeled a villain. Figured I'd roll with it at first, but then, I fell in love with the role. Realized I could use it to my advantage, realized I could protect you. And I never looked back."
That... was actually really sweet. Dammit. "So then why did you wait for me to find you? Why didn't you find me yourself?"
Janus let out a humorless chuckle, "Honestly I thought you wouldn't support it. I still don't think you will, but finding out you were looking for me... I couldn't let that slip by." Did they support this? Janus wasn't a bad person, he knew that, and honestly if Virgil had a power they might've considered it too- just to get through college. So it wasn't like they didn't understand. And Janus wasn't doing anything too bad really, people had just always been scared of void and it must've translated over into voids villainy. But not Virgil. Virgil had never been scared of void.
He was kinda mad though, but he could've reached out before this too, so it wasn't like they had no blame at all.
"I can support it. As long as you don't go too far, and I trust you won't."
Now Janus was surprised. "You still trust me?" Voi asked softly. Virgil grabbed voids hand.
He could count on one hand the people he unconditionally trusted. And Janus was still number one. "Yeah. Always. Which is weird for me, you know that, but," They sighed. "I don't know, you've always been different. I've told you things I haven't even told my friends yet. And... You're still my favorite person too."
"So, now what?" Voi asked breathlessly.
"How 'bout we just play it by ear? And don't leave me again." His tone became hardened at the end, but it was necessary. Janus was a flight risk sometimes, much more than Virgil ever had been.
"Promise."
Everything changed after that. Janus being back in their life was amazing and voi immediately filled a hole that had been there for five years. They caught each other up on everything they missed, Janus talked about how voi was still going to college to be a lawyer, but had switched campus's a few months ago for something more specialized that was coincidentally close to Virgil's own campus. Voi really did swear it was a coincidence, this was the first time Virgil believed void on it. Virgil talked about almost being done with his art degree and not knowing what to do once they was finished, but his friends had all assured them he'd find something and they was starting to believe them.
He told Janus all about his friends and Janus admitted Virgil was still the only person to actually like void. Virgil said voi could meet his friends if voi liked and voi said voi'd think about it. Janus told them what being a villain was really like and just like Virgil suspected voi had perfect reasoning for all of it. It was kinda scary, how much he trusted Janus, but they knew void, and knew voi wasn't as bad as everyone thought.
His friends took a little longer to be convinced.
Well, not Logan- once Virgil gave xem voids apology xe had no qualms, explaining that concepts like morality were arbitrary. Virgil said xe and Janus would get along great. Roman and Patton, however, weren't so adaptable. They were happy for Virgil of course, they saw how happier he had been lately and they approved of that, but they definitely didn't like Janus as a person. Which, fine, whatever, Virgil was used to that but he wished they'd at least agree to meet void. Eventually he was able to get them too, with both promising to be on their best behavior.
Patton he believed.
They decided to meet at his and Patton's apartment, since they had food for once and none of them could afford to go anywhere, well Janus probably could, but Virgil wouldn't make void pay for people voi didn't even know- they didn't even let void pay for him. No matter how much voi insisted. And voi insisted. So yeah, the apartment. Which made Virgil a little nervous since it was Janus' first time seeing it. But both voi and Patton said it would go fine, and if he were to believe anyone on anything it would be those two.
He was jostled out of his thought by a knock on the door and fought the urge to start panicking. Janus was here. They went to the door, shooting a warning glare at Roman as they did so.
"Why do I get one and not Patton?"
"Because Patton's an angel." Patton beamed at that.
"Fair enough." Virgil took a deep breath and opened the door, smiling as soon as they saw who was on the other side. God they still had it so bad. But judging by Janus' own smile voi did too. Sap.
"Hey. Can I come in?" Virgil quickly moved out of voids way with a blush.
"Hey, sorry, yeah, come in." Voi did so and looked around before settling voids eyes back on Virgil. He gestured over to the couch. "This is Patton, Logan, and Roman." They said, pointing at each of them as he said their names. "Guys, this is Janus."
"Nice to meet you." Logan was the first to say. "I'm Logan, xe/xem pronouns."
Patton bound over to them and stuck his hand out, making Virgil smile. "Patton! He/him for me." Janus gave him a polite smile and shook his hand. Patton gave Roman a look once the handshake was over and he plastered on an obvious fake smile. Well, better than what Virgil thought would happen at least.
"Roman, also he/him. So you're the person who's been taking up all of Virgil's time lately, huh?" Virgil glared at him. He raised his hands, "I meant no harm by that! It makes perfect sense! Of course they would wanna spend time with you, he just goes on and on-" Virgil nudged him harshly.
"Okay, that's enough out of you!"
"Janus, voi/void." Janus said then grinned. "No please, continue. What were you saying?"
Roman glanced at him, "I will decline to continue since I do not have a death wish." Janus snorted.
"Trained him well, did you?"
"Had to, he wouldn't shut up otherwise." Roman let out an offended noise at that which made Virgil laugh. What he didn't see was Janus' eyes falling on him and instantly softening, nor Logan and Patton's knowing look. "Alright, beat me at Mario Kart and I'll take it back."
"You fiend! You know I can't do that, you cheat too much!"
"You still have no proof of that." Virgil said as they all made their way to the couch.
"Virgil, cheating, I expected more out of you." Janus fake admonished. He laughed again. "I guess some things don't change." Voi added on with a pretend sigh. Virgil raised an eyebrow at that as he sat down.
"What are you talking about?"
Janus took the spot next to him. "You used to cheat at chess all the time, Darling."
Whatever Virgil was about to retort was interrupted by Roman's pointing and shouting at him, "Ah-ha! Proof!" Virgil waved his had away.
"I had to, you could give Logan a run for xyrs money." Logan looked intrigued by that. Virgil turned his attention to Roman, "I don't have to with you, you suck." Roman made another offended noise and Patton giggled.
"Now, now, kiddo, we all have our strengths. I'm sure Roman could beat you at anything to do with theatre." He couldn't even argue with that. Patton looked at Janus, "So, what's law school like?" He asked void with genuine curiosity. Yeah, Virgil didn't have anything to worry about there.
He relaxed as Janus explained. Things were going well so far, a lot better than they thought they would. Maybe this would work out after all.
Did Janus call them Darling?
Virgil had a stupid smile on his face after Janus left, and they knew it because his friends wouldn't stop grinning at him. "What?" They said with a glare.
"You still love Janus!" Patton said with an excited noise.
"Whoa, hold on," Virgil tried to backtrack. "I thought you didn't like void?"
Patton sombered up and grabbed their hands. "I judged void without getting to know void, that was wrong of me. And I'm very sorry for that. Voi's actually really nice and I can tell voi cares about you a lot, that's all that matters. But, Virgil, don't let our opinions get in your way." He led them over to the couch. "Why haven't you two gotten back together?" Roman and Logan looked at him curiously and he sighed.
"Because, five years is a long time. We can't just jump right back into it."
"Why not?" Roman asked.
Virgil opened his mouth, "Because!" He repeated, then closed it. Why weren't they back together? Was he afraid they were now too different to make it work? Was he afraid their feelings were no longer romantic? Or was he just scared of things going south again? "I don't wanna lose void again." They admitted.
"Well, we can't promise you won't. But we can promise to make it easier if you do." Virgil smiled at xem. "You just have to ask yourself if it's worth it? Is Janus worth it?"
God, he didn't even have to think about that. "Of course voi is."
"Then go for it!" He looked at Roman. "I, too, jumped to a judgment too quickly, and I am deeply remorseful for that. Janus is a lovely person and I can't think of anyone better suited for you. You never do anything for you, hot topic, be selfish for once."
Virgil smiled tearfully, "Aw, you think I'm hot." He let out a laugh and wondered how they got so lucky to have such wonderful friends. He couldn't remember the last time he felt this happy. Even when it was just them and Janus, something had felt like it was missing, and now that he had void and his friends they felt complete.
Well, almost complete. There was just one more thing for them to do.
"Why did you want to meet up so soon? Is something wrong?" Janus asked as soon as voi saw him the next day.
Virgil grinned at void, "Just the opposite actually."
Voi raised an eyebrow, "Care to share?" Voi said with their own grin.
"Yeah. Last night was... perfect. My friends really like you. But even if they didn't... I want to be selfish for once. I've missed you, more than I've ever missed anyone, and having you back in my life has been amazing. I still love you, Janus Adder, and I want to be with you again." Janus didn't say anything. "Janus? I didn't bring this up too quickly, did I?" They asked in concern. Janus unfroze.
"No, heavens, no. Virgil, you.... You took the words out of my mouth." Voi said breathlessly. "You really want to be with a villain?"
Virgil shook their head, "I want to be with you. I don't care how people see you, I know the truth, I always have." Janus' smile was priceless.
And their kiss felt like coming home all over again.