AN//: *Back two years late with an Associates degree in hand and a Bachelors on the way*

Sup?! 

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Roman froze, an almost dopey smile appeared on his face before he could stop it. The Shadow remembered him!

"Are you following me?!"

The smile disappeared instantly.

While he was happy to see the other, it appeared that the- now human- Shadow wasn't too happy to see him. If anything he looked mad.

Quickly Roman shook his head, his words failing him for a moment.

"Then why are you here?"

The skeptical tone made him flinch, bit it was just enough to get his words working again.

"I-I was feeding a deer, when I saw you-"

The Shadow looked at him pensively before pointing somewhere behind him.

"You mean that deer?"

Roman spun around to see that it was in fact the deer he had been feeding. With an enthusiastic smile, he gave the Shadow a nod before kneeling and holding a hand out. The deer tilted it's head curiously and then tentatively came towards them.

----

Virgil watched in silent awe as the timid creature came closer and closer until it all but rubbed against the Lightbeam's chest.

He was furious, at first, to have seen the other in his Mentor's territory and even more so that the Lightbeam had seen him in his state.

But now-

Now he just felt tired.

Looks like he'd be going to that meadow after all.

Virgil sighed internally, the Lightbeam obviously had no mal-intentions, if he did, the Domain's seal would have activated, preventing him from entering in the first place. Even so, the Dormant Reaper didn't want to deal with the other at the moment.

Bracing himself, Virgil trudged forward, the meadow was in the North and the closer he was to it, the easier it would've been on him when once he teleported.

The Young Reaper knew very well that he'd be unconscious the moment he tried, but at the very least he'd wake up a lot earlier if he walked closer rather than spontaneously transporting himself there. So with head down and shoulders hunched, he kept moving. Sighing internally, he resigned himself to his fate.

----

As he walked he watched the green grass move under his feet. He had gotten so used to simply floating above it, that the mere bending of the blades brought back a tiny sense of fascination in him-that or he was just really tired.

He chalked it up to the later.

So hyper focused was he on the grass, he almost forgot about the lightbeam-actually he had completely forgotten the other. It was the sudden addition to hooves in his line of view that stopped his movements.

Startled by the change he took a step back into an automatic fighting stance. Logan had drilled so many into his head that it took a moment for him to process that there was in fact no danger in front of him. He relaxed just as quick as he had tensed, curiously observing the lightbeam's deer.

The creature came up close to him as if to sniff but began prodding his sides for pockets instead.

Virgil blinked, utterly puzzled for a moment before realizing what it wanted.

"I-uh, I don't have any food", he held up his hands, stepping back and shaking his head, hoping to convince the young buck that he truly did not have any food on him.

But the deer was having absolutely none of it.

The creature kept nudging him, for every backward step the Dormant Reaper took, it would move closer and closer until Virgil ended up tripping on the very grass he was enchanted by previously.

Now thoroughly shocked and flat on his bottom, Virgil scooted backwards, the deer was still approaching.

----

Roman watched confused as the deer he was feeding seemed to be pushing the Shadow...towards a tree? It kept moving the other forward until he fell and even then it kept pushing him, leaving the darker one no choice but to back up. He was about to separate the two but then the Shadow's back brushed up against the tree. Instantly the deer relaxed, leaving Roman still very much confused and the Shadow even more so.

----

Virgil tensed, the deer drove him back all the way to a tree. Now that he could not back up any further, the creature came closer and did something even more confusing than before.

It licked him on the cheek before crawling on his lap and settling itself comfortably.

Still utterly confused, and slightly relieved that the small-ish creature didn't actually want to bite his face off, Virgil gave a glance to the equally confused looking lightbeam.

"I guess he thought you needed a break?" Supplied the other with a weak shrug and nervous smile as he tentatively sat down next to them.

Virgil watched the lightbeam sit, a slight glow appearing around him, seemingly keeping the dirt off his clothes. What color was it even, white-grey-silver? Honestly he couldn't tell, the other's glow made it hard to pinpoint what exact color it was, though the vivid red cloak he wore was hard to miss. It tied around his neck and was slanted leaning to one side.

It reminded him of one of those red cloth things he remembered Roman's wearing across their togas. Or at least he thinks it's a Roman style, Gods he hasn't seen a history book since forever. Well not forever per-se, just since Pat-

"Hey, are you ok?"

Virgil blinked, only to find the Lightbeam looking concernedly at him. Realizing that he spaced out and was almost about to spiral- the Reaper nodded absentmindedly.

"Y-yeah, just a bit surprised, that's all", he gestured to the animal now asleep in his lap.

The Lightbeam smiled a bit before stretching his hand to pet the sleeping deer for a few seconds.

Virgil waited until the other had withdrawn his hand before tentatively petting the creature himself. Absolutely amazed at how soft it's fur was.

-----

"Hey, hey! Wake up!"

"Mnh?" Virgil blearily opened his eyes to find the Lightbeam shaking him. "...'m wake...wha-?"

"It's getting dark, I don't think it's safe for us to stay in this part of the forest any longer-"

The Dormant Reaper blinked...and then blinked again.

"...ok..."

He rubbed his eyes but made no effort to move.

Gods he was tired, all he wanted to do was...just...sleep..

----

Roman watched as his Shadow practically drifted off right in front of him. He felt bad. The other obviously needed his rest and any other time he'd be content in letting him sleep- but a strange feeling in his gut said that here would not be the best place to do so come night fall.

Sighing, he went to rouse the Shadow. This time he grabbed the other's hand and pulled him to his feet. The deer jumped gracefully off and stood next to the now swaying shadow.

He would have laughed at how cute and sleepy the other looked...but now was not the time.

Once again he grabbed his Shadow's hand and gently pulled him forward.

"...hey!..wait, we're we goin'?"

"There's a meadow not to far from here. With a big tree in the middle, it's a blessed sanctuary I believe-"

"Oh...yeah. I was-", he yawns, "I was...headin' ther-"

-----

The Lightbeam kept pulling him. Not hard, but enough to keep him moving.

Virgil was startled at first, but there wasn't enough adrenaline left in his system to fight the exhaustion he was feeling, besides the Lightbeam just emanated warmth and safety...could you blame him for just wanting to curl up next to that light and sleep for days?

Still, he had to at least try to keep his wits about him. Asking where his Lightbeam was taking him was a lot harder than it should have been. His tongue was heavy and his mind felt muddled...he's sure he managed somehow.

The Lightbeam had said they were going to the meadow...good, he was going there anyway...

With the full moon right there and easy access to water, it was the perfect spot to lay down under the tree and sleep...

"...hey, do you want me to carry you?"

"...wha-?...no, 'm fine...I can... walk"

----

Roman frowned.

His Shadow had been trudging so slowly behind him. He looked even more exhausted than before.

Maybe it had to do with the Elder taking his shadows away? The Blue one did tell him to rest after all...

When the Other almost tripped, for the third time, he had offered to carry the poor Shadow; but he had refused.

They pressed on, though slowly they managed to make it to the halfway point where the meadow was visible.

And then the Shadow tripped.

----

The Lightbeam caught him before he could hit the ground. Gods he was so warm!

Virgil shook his head, "...srry...", he slurred, "...din' see...the branch"

"Are you hurt?"

"...no...jus' tired..."

"The meadow's right there, you sure you don't want me to carry you?"

There was a pause.

"...okay..."

And without much preamble, the Lightbeam slung him onto his back as if he weighed nothing.

He tried his best to hold onto the other but he barley managed to get his lead heavy arms around the Lightbeam's neck .

Thankfully he said nothing, instead he just shifted to accommodate practically all of his dead weight.

Like this, Virgil's head could slump against the Lightbeam's shoulder, which it did. His heavy body could only revel in the blissful warmth that surrounded him.

The last thing Virgil could see, was the large tree in the meadow coming closer...

Roman paused, trying to get a good look at his passenger. Unfortunately for him, the way his Shadow had slumped kept his face from view.

With a sigh, he looked down at the deer beside him.

"He's asleep isn't he?"

To his surprise, the deer nodded.

----

AN//: Hey Guys! So Sorry this took so long, I almost forgot this existed?? Lol.

It wasn't till a few really cool peeps asked for an update and well, here ya go ;)

Sleepy Virgil is adorable ok? XD

Anyway Y'all, If you haven't Read it yet, I've also finished updating "Innerworks" go check it out!

There's plenty of angst for everyone ;)

See y'all in the comment section!