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It was supposed to be a lovely vacation, Virgil was supposed to surprise his lovely fiancé and kid in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Have a fun time making up for the time they spent apart, visit cool places, take a bunch of photos to make all his friends jealous . So where did it go wrong? Why was he here on the beach crying with a missing phone and wallet, not knowing where his future husband and kid are and extremely lost.
Virgil first mistake was not knowing any Portuguese
Okay it's not like he isn't trying, he’s taking Portuguese classes at his university and he’s ace-Ing that class. But it's more like he remembers the lesson than actually absorbing the material. This first arose when he got a taxi from the airport; it had been a grueling 24 hour flight with 1 overlay in Hawaii from Tokyo. With his zero knowledge of the language and his drowsy mind it took a while to reach the hotel he booked but nonetheless he made it and slept till the next day.
That was when Virgil really regretted not paying attention, as it turns out it wasn't his drowsy mind that made it difficult. It took a lot from Virgil making gestures, typing rapidly in google translate and trying to remember phrases from his classes to reach amias apartment. The apartment was a 20 floor building, from what amias showed him during their weekly calls, it was quite spacious. It had a large living room with a balcony attached with a sliding door, the kitchen was right next to the door in a small hallway with a wall window to see into the living room. There were 2 square bedrooms with one bathroom.
Now Virgil stood outside the door on the 15th floor, he didn't know why he was nervous. It's not like they never talked , they didn’t even break up. It was just the first time they saw each other since they both left China for their respective countries. Virgil took a deep breath and knocked. Nothing. Nothing happened for a few minutes, Virgil knocked again, a little louder, and called out to amias. Again nothing happens, Virgil scowls as he takes out his phone to check the time, it was around 1 pm. Now amias did have a job but it was mostly a night time job as a bartender and boo had online school so it's not like he was picking him up from school.
Virgil knocked for the final time this time amias neighbor came out to yell at him, Virgil internally panicked and tried to the best of his ability to explain that here to visit amias but that just seemed to make the girl more angry, soon enough more people started coming out of their apartment to check out the commotion. Feeling embarrassed, Virgil quickly apologized and ran to the elevator.
Virgil second mistake was not paying attention to his belongings
As he rode the elevator down he contemplated calling amias and ruining the surprise, but he refused! He worked so hard he wasn’t gonna quit now, instead he looked up a cafe for food. He was so excited to see amias he might’ve skipped breakfast, he found a little cafe but it's quite far away, a 15 min walk. Normally Virgil will call a cab or an uber but he was in a good mood so he decided to walk.
Now Virgil wasn’t stupid he heard all the stories about Brazil's crime rate but he wasn’t nervous at all . I mean he has wind powers and he has been training with one of the best warrior goddesses in his opinion, one of his best friends Neoma! She taught him so many things, from getting quick reflexes ( thanks to his cat form) , to controlling his breathing and paying attention to his surroundings, and actually learning defense moves. So he wasn’t nervous walking by himself to this cafe.
So why was he being stupid ?
He just knows Neoma is frowning down at him from the celestial realm. As a woman stops him trying to talk to him, Still not knowing any portuguese Virgil was trying to tell the lady that he had no idea what she was saying, not paying attention to a man walking behind him swiping his wallet from the back pocket from his jean shorts. A moment later the same man turned around and bumped into Virgil, making Virgil turn around giving the woman a perfect opportunity to steal his phone from his other pocket. Without even noticing Virgil apologized and quickly left not feeling he was a bit lighter.
When he finally did notice he was already lost, Virgil claimed to have a great memory so all he had to do was look at the route on the map and he was golden. But he didn’t consider that he did not know sao paulo, so he had no clue where he was going. When he went to reach for the phone, he panicked when he didn't feel it. He pat himself down concluding that he also lost his wallet , no he assumed he was robbed. He quickly thought back to that woman and faced palm, was he really that gullible ??
He turned and started to walk back trying to see if he remember how to get to amias apartment, he knew subconsciously he started praying to neoma for guidance, it just a thing he started doing after he found out his friend was god, even though it would make more sense if he prayed to elio since it was day time, but that didn’t work, he ended up in a beach even more lost and confused than before. Virgil sat down in the sand and brought his knees to his chest putting his head down, feeling overwhelmed. Virgil did the one thing he knew what to do perfectly since he was little, he cried.
At first it was silent but the more he thought, the more he cried. Why was he being so stupid? Why didn't he come with a friend, why didn’t he learn portuguese, why didn’t he put his stupid pride aside and tell amias he was coming, at least if got lost amias knew he was here and would look for him. Why was he so gullible? He literally battled demons and other magical beings but he was naive enough to get stolen from 2 human beings? Virgil just wanted his fiancé ,to cuddle in his arms, Sit at the couch with his son as boo recounted all the things he has done here, to fall asleep in amias arms, have a domestic moment in the kitchen where they are all making breakfast together but instead he was here at a random beach crying his eyes out with no money or any form of communication.
“ Hey, what's wrong?” If Virgil was in a sane mindset he would’ve recognized that someone was speaking to him in his native language, Chinese, but virgil didn't care. All he cared about was that someone was giving him out for all the feelings he was feeling. So without moving he began to sob out his situation. “ I- I came here to… surprise my fiancé, i haven't seen him in forever and i just miss him so much and i hate that we live so far away, but when…. I reached his apartment. He wasn't there and there was this lady who started to yell at me and I got scared so I left. And then I got hungry so I looked for a cafe to eat at but when I was walking there my phone and wallet got robbed and my dumbass didn't realize till I was already lost, so …. So i tried to walk back to his apartment but- but i got more lost AND I JUST MISS MY FIANCE AND KID” virgil was full on sobbing now.
Virgil subconsciously noted that the stranger started to rub his back, trying to soothe him. “ Aw i'm sorry that happened to you, i miss you too darling” that was what snapped virgil out of his trance “darling” he heard it so many times that he practically has it imprinted in his mind, that was amias the favorite pet name for him. The way the stranger said it too was the exact same way amias said it to him with the fondness and softness with a slight giddiness. Slowly Virgil lifted his head to look at the stranger only to see his lovely fiancé's face smiling softly at him.
They stared at each other for a few seconds before Virgil pounced on amias, making them fall back to the sand. Amias laughed as he fell, kissing virgil hair as virgil hid his face into amias neck smelling his cologne, honey and firewood. They laid there for a hot minute just enjoying each other's presence, amias moved them so he was sitting up with virgil in his lap straddling him, again they said nothing but just enjoyed each other's presence. It was Virgil who broke the silence “ how did you find me?” it was amias time to tell his story.
—
When Amias woke up he felt that today was gonna be a good day, he had the day off and he had exciting plans for his son today. They were gonna visit a children's museum and then go to the beach and watch some fireworks. It was when he returned to his apartment around 1;30 pm from the museum to get their beach clothes, that something or rather someone disturbed his plans. His neighbor , marcia, came and yelled at him. “ Hey!! next time you have a guest over, make sure you're home, okay?!”
Amias gave her a puzzled look , guest? What guest? Sure amias wasn't friendless, he had some friends in brazil but none of them were that close that they can come over unannounced.
Amias didn’t know why but he opened his apartment door to let boo in so he can talk to marcia in private, normally amias would’ve chuck this as someone getting the address wrong but something in his guts told him to investigate further. When boo was in he closed the door and turned to marcia. “ Describe them for me, maybe i know them” marcia rolled her eyes but began to describe them anyway “ well he was a shortie around my shoulder, um he had dark brown hair with cat like eyes, oh he had freaky dark red eyes too. Oh yeah he was a cat boy just like your little boy but instead of just black and white he had also spots of orange. Lets see what else” marcia close her eyes trying to remember more details.
The more Marcia described them, the more amias was in disbelief. No it couldn’t be, amias opened his phone to see his and virgil last messages. Maybe he missed something but no, there was nothing but evidence that they had a 2 hour call 2 nights ago. Maybe virgil said something during their call but amias remembers nothing. Amias went to his gallery and pulled up a photo of Virgil from the thousands he has. “ is this him?” showing the photo, marcia smiled at him “ yes that's him !!” amias felt warmth around him, his beloved is here in brazil visiting him, quickly that warmth turned into fear. He doesn’t know where he is in Brazil, probably all alone. He gripped marcia's shoulder, startling her.
“ Do you know where he is ?” he demanded, marcia shakes her head. “I came out because he was being so loud and he just ran to the elevator, i don’t think he knows any portuguese” this didn’t calm amias down in any way shape or form. Amias gave his apartment key to marcia “ can you do me a favor and watch boo for a while, i'll pay you!!” Marcia didn't know what was happening but she could tell this was important for amias, so she just nodded, taking the keys as amias sprinted down to the elevator.
Going down and through the lobby, he called Virgil's phone many times but no answer. Virgil was the type to answer in the first 2 rings so this either means he lost his phone or it was dead. Amias switched to plan b, showing Virgil's photo he started asking the locals if he had seen him. Thankfully some have and led him into a wild goose chase though it ended up in a dead end. Feeling hopeless he tried to call virgil again but yet again no answer. That's when in the corner of his eyes he saw something particular, a Chinese lunar moth. Now amias knows nothing about moths but he does know that those types of moth are definitely not native to Brazil, so there’s only 2 options: either that moth is extremely lost or is his dear friend neoma, the moon moth, trying to help.
When amias got around 2 feet near the moth, the bug began to fly away in a certain direction. Every few feet the moth would stop and turn to make sure amias was still following it. The idea of neoma helping was confirmed when a strong gust of wind hit the bug and amias but the bug was unaffected, amias smiled and hurried up his step. When he lost the bug he was in front of a beach, someone crying near him. When he got near he could immediately tell it was virgil, not wanting to scare him he prioritized comforting him.
—-
Virgil just stared at his future husband as he retold his story. Virgil started to get sleepy, he rested his head in amias shoulder but never taking his eyes off him, amias sense this too, so he tapped virgil's thighs, this was their signal that amias wanted to stand up but wanted to carry virgil, so virgil will wrap his legs around amias torso. Standing up amias carried virgil to his apartment, every now and then he’ll kiss virgil neck or cheek to reassure him. They were definitely getting stared at and even some whistles but amias didn't care not when he had the love of his life in his arms.
When they reached the elevator, Virgil requested to be put down, he didn’t want boo to see him like this. Amias opened his apartment with his second key, and as soon as boo saw virgil, he ran up and gave him a bear ( or cat) hug. Marcia gave amias a smug look as he blushed, taking his key back. Virgil got everything he wanted, he was cuddling with amias in the couch as boo badly reenacted as the stuff he and his father did. He got his domestic kitchen moment as they cooked dinner and after they tucked boo in and read him a bedtime story. Virgil slept soundly in his lover arms
It may not start out lovely but Virgil knew this vacation was gonna be awesome.
Bonus !!
Virgil was the first one to wake up, he stared at amias for a few moments. It could have been seconds or minutes or even hours, But eventually he got up to prepare breakfast. When he stepped into the living room he noticed some stuff that was definitely not there last night. First of all there was his luggage from the hotel, Virgil forgot his luggage yesterday, he was just gonna go today with amias and hope no one stole them. Second of he saw his stolen wallet and phone, next to them was a note written in Chinese:
“ This is what you get for not inviting me to Brazil, you fucker. The next time you let your guard down and get your shit stolen, I’m kicking your ass. I’m not doing you any more favors for you. Hope you have a nice vacation, elio and i will definitely be visiting.
-Neoma”
Virgil smiled, making a mental note to make an offering and personally thank neoma for this.