"Oh wow, it's getting late," Patton said as he checked his phone. "I should get going. My roommate is probably wondering where I am."

"Mine likely is as well," Logan agreed. He checked his phone, seeing a couple of messages from Roman.

ROMAN: How's your not-date? Is the guy mad at you?

LOGAN: Not at all, surprisingly.

ROMAN: I'm at home with emo.

LOGAN: You brought him home after one date?

ROMAN: Nothing has happened. We've just been talking.

ROMAN: Hey - idea! Why don't you bring the guy over for dinner, and emo can stay too?

LOGAN: You're just asking because you want to spend more time with him.

ROMAN: . . . maybe. But pleeeeeease?

ROMAN: Pretty please??

ROMAN: With a cherry on top?

LOGAN: You're intolerable. Fine. I'll ask.

ROMAN: Thanks Lo! You're the best :D

Logan looked up from his phone to see Patton typing something, likely to his roommate. "Patton, my cousin has asked me to have you over for dinner. Would you be interested in coming?"

Patton glanced up, seeming to be somewhat lost in thought. "I'll have to ask my roommate. I feel bad for already being gone for so long." He typed something else on his phone, immediately getting a response.

"What a coincidence, he's staying at someone else's house for dinner too!" He turned to Logan, smiling brightly. "In that case, sure! I'd love to!"

Logan smiled. "Excellent. Let's get going, then."

---

"You're adorable when you're like this," Roman muttered under his breath, smiling as he scratched cat-Virgil. "Not to say that you're not as adorable as a person. Wait, can you understand me when you're like that?" The cat bobbed its head as though it were nodding. "Fuck."

Cat-Virgil got up and walked away from Roman, back toward the sweater left by the foot of the bed. "Wait, no!" Roman complained, reaching out toward Virgil. "Come back! You're soft and fluffy!" The cat made a noise that sounded almost like laughter and shifted back into Virgil, only now he was sitting on his sweater instead of wearing it.

"So I'm adorable, am I?" Virgil smirked, his voice a little scratchy. Roman flushed bright red, searching for something to say.

"Your hair," he managed to stammer out, mentally cursing himself for not being able to think of anything he could say to redeem himself.

"My hair?"

"It's messed up." Virgil walked over to a mirror hanging on Roman's wall, cringing at his reflection.

"That's your fault," he said, leaving it as it was. He coughed into his sleeve a couple of times, trying to clear his voice. "Could I get some water? Transforming always makes me thirsty."

Roman smirked. "If you're thirsty, I could always-"

"Not that kind of thirsty. I meant dehydrated, thirsty, you dirty-minded idiot."

"Shame." Roman walked out of the room and ran down the stairs, going to grab a glass of water. He ran back up the stairs, glass in hand, careful not to spill any of it. "You don't need it in a bowl, do you?" He teased as he reentered the room. Virgil rolled his eyes, snatching the cup from his hand and taking a long drink. Roman grabbed his phone from off his desk and sent a couple of texts to Logan, asking if Virgil could stay over. Logan agreed reluctantly, saying he'd ask the person he was with if they wanted to come, too.

"Hey Virgil," Roman started. "I know we literally just met and this is really sudden, but would you want to stay over for dinner?" Virgil breathed a sigh of relief, placing the now empty glass down on Roman's desk.

"I was so worried you were going to ask something else, like 'will you marry me' or whatever."

Roman laughed. "I don't move that fast."

"I'll ask my roommate. He might have plans for tonight," Virgil said, pulling out his phone. He sent a couple of texts and got a few in return. "Turns out he's going to someone's house for dinner, too. Guess I'm staying, then."

"Yay!" Roman exclaimed, hugging Virgil tightly. Virgil hissed, clawing at his arm like a cat.

"Can't breathe," he said, his voice strained. "Let go."

"Sorry," Roman apologized, letting go. "Random question, but do you always act so much like a cat?"

"Yes. For obvious reasons."

"Good to know." He paused for a moment, giving Virgil a chance to go and sit on the same chair he'd fallen off of earlier. "What's your roommate think about the shapeshifting thing?"

"Oh, he loves it," Virgil said, stretching his arms over his head and pulling his legs up to his chest. The chair started to tilt back but he quickly leaned forward, keeping it from falling. "He's a little allergic to cats, but I'm mostly hypoallergenic, seeing as I'm not biologically a cat." Roman nodded, sitting on his bed as he had earlier.

"Have you always been able to shapeshift?" Virgil nodded simply.

"For as long as I can remember, I've been able to shift. My mom used to say when I was younger that I would shift to get out of doing things I didn't like." He smiled, staring up at the ceiling. Roman thought he could see tears in his eyes, but he blinked and they were gone. "Enough about me. What's something interesting about you?"

Roman looked around his room, trying to think of something as interesting as shapeshifting. "I don't know. I'm a pretty boring person."

"You can do magic. You have wings in the colours of the pansexual pride flag. There's got to be something," Virgil pushed, catching Roman's eye and raising an eyebrow.

"Um. . . I can time travel, actually," Roman admitted. Virgil's jaw dropped, leaving Roman feeling an odd sense of pride.

"You can time travel and you say you're boring!?"

"Well, I don't really talk about it much-"

"You're going to talk about it right now. Are you the type that can just hop through time as you please or do you need to cast spells?"

"I can just, as you put it, hop through time."

"Favourite period of time you've visited?"

"Oh, that's hard! I like the Victorian era, especially with all the vampires around. It sucks that most of them are in hiding now, they're actually super cool when they're not trying to kill you."

"Have you ever gone to the wrong time period? Like, you were dressed for the nineties and you went into the future?"

"Oh yeah, all the time. I prepare myself so I don't stand out too much and then I go to the complete wrong time and I stick out like a sore thumb." Virgil laughed, attempting to lean back in the chair again, albeit more carefully than he had earlier. Roman smiled, thinking of all the time travel stories he could tell.

"Is it possible to bring others through time with you? Can you travel to a specific place from the time period? Have you ever gotten stuck? Does time pass in the present while you're gone? Do you like visiting the future?"

"Woah, chill with the questions!" Roman laughed. "I think it's possible to bring others back, but I haven't tried in a long time. I can travel to a specific place, but it takes a lot of focus and energy. A couple of times I've gotten stuck in different periods, mostly in the past. Time does pass in the present, but it seems to pass more slowly. What's three days in the past might be an hour in the present. And I do like visiting the future, but I only visit the distant future, after I'm dead. I try not to mess with time too much, so the near future is a big no for me."

"Wow," Virgil said, sounding astonished. He ran a hand through his hair as he thought, messing it up further. "I would trade shapeshifting in an instant if it meant I could time travel."

"Really? I mean, I love time travelling, but turning into a cat is pretty cool, too."

"I guess." Roman watched Virgil closely. He seemed to be struggling, fighting with himself over something. At first glance, Roman had figured out that he wasn't the type to open up easily, so he thought himself lucky for having heard as much as he did. Still, he wanted to help Virgil, and though they'd only known each other a short while, he didn't want to see him in pain.

"Okay, changing the subject," Roman said suddenly, knocking Virgil from his thoughts. "Would you rather date an eighteenth-century vampire or a fey from the future?"

"Vampire, no competition," Virgil laughed. "Fey are great, don't get me wrong, but there's something weirdly appealing about undead bloodsuckers, especially the fancy old-timey ones."

"I mean, I can't argue with that logic," Roman laughed along.

"Would you rather know about magic but be completely human, or be a fey in a world of humans who would kill you if they knew you were different?"

"Wow, that got dark quick." Roman pondered the question for a moment. "I think I'd take the risk of humans killing me. I can't imagine a life without magic. What about you?"

"I'd be human. Life would be different, but I don't want to be afraid all the time."

"Makes sense. Would you rather live in a fantasy world but your favourite character is dead, or live in the real world and fictional characters are real, but your favourite character is trying to kill you?"

"Fantasy. I don't like death threats," Virgil answered immediately.

"You say that as if you have experience with them. . ."

"Trust me, you don't want to ask about that," he warned. "Your answer?"

"I'd live in a fantasy world, too. What's the point in meeting the characters if you don't get to experience their world?" Roman opened his mouth to say something else but heard a lock turning and the front door opening. "That must be my cousin. Come on, you've got to meet him!" Roman grabbed Virgil by the arm and dragged him downstairs, despite Virgil's repeated protests that he could walk on his own.

They made it to the front, where the person he assumed was Logan and someone else stood with their backs to the pair. Logan was taking the other person's jacket, half-smiling at them. The two turned around, and Virgil's jaw dropped.