*Virgil POV*

It's Friday afternoon, and school just ended. I'm even more exhausted than normal and all I want to do is sleep.

I walk through the halls with my backpack slung around one shoulder, hood up and earbuds in. I briefly imagine what it would be like as a normal highschool student, without magic and isolation from the rest of the world. 

"SCREEEEEEEE!" Remus shouts out of nowhere.

And then I'm brought back to reality.

"Remus, please shut your mouth forever," Janus says.

"No you," Remus says.

"I will snap your neck," Janus snaps.

"And I will beat you so hard you will have PTSD flashbacks every time you see a stick of deodorant," Remus says.

"You don't even have one on you!" Janus argues.

"Nobody is snapping or beating anyone," I cut in.

We pass through a busy hallway, so they quiet down and I shrink myself down. I end up getting pushed over to the wall, and I just decide to stay there until the majority of the crowd passes. I can't move in those without feeling like I'm going to be attacked anyway.

After the crowd FINALLY disperses, Janus and Remus spot me hunches against the wall.

"There ya are! You didn't get trampled and get dirt in your everywhere, did you?" Remus asks as Janus looks me up and down.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine fine," I say.

They both nod.

"Hey, poster behind you," Janus says.

I turn around to see a very bright rainbow poster.

"'Hot cocoa and reading night, giant sleepover at Friday at seven in the observatory'," I read, "We have an observatory?!"

"We do?" Janus asks, taking a few steps backward and studying at the poster.

"Oh cool, is this an event where I can throw boiling water on people and tell them gruesome stories about the stars?" Remus asks.

"No to the first part," Janus says.

"Rightttttt- sorry-" Remus says.

I check the time and date and put it in my phone calendar. It sounds nice.

"So we're going to attack this place with snowballs, right?" Remus asks.

"Oh for sure," Janus says.

"Oh- uh- I guess," I say.

Janus beams.

"Sweet. I'll start preparing the snow," he says.

---

In the late afternoon, I go over to the library. Surprise surprise, Logan is there. Which is good for me, I want to talk to him.

But I'm too nervous to iniate a conversation, so I kind of just wander around him, looking through books.

"Salutations, Virgil," Logan says eventually.

"OH- hi-" I stammer.

He smiles a bit and I swear I go bright red. 

"Do you need something?" he asks.

"Uh- yeah- there's a reading night thing tonight and I know you like reading so-" I say quickly.

His eyes perk up in interest.

"Oh? That sounds enjoyable, I will see you there. Do you want to meet up before it starts?" he asks.

"Yes," I say, my thoughts trailing off a little bit. It's just so easy to talk to him.

"Virgil," Logan says after a few seconds.

I snap back to focus.

"Huh?" I ask.

"You sort of continued repeating the same word," Logan says, "Is there something else you need to say?" 

"Oh, yeah. The thing is in 'the observatory' at seven," I say.

He nods.

"I suppose we will have to find that then," he says.

I nod and we go back to whatever we were doing before.

---

At six thirty Logan and I meet up on the third floor. There's actually a medium-sized group there, but we distance ourselves from them.

"So where is the place we're supposed to meet?" he asks.

I shrug in response.

"No idea," I say.

"Oh."

We make small talk for a bit, which feels more natural with him, until it's seven. Then we kinda just go with the flow of the crowd, to wherever we might be going.

*Logan POV*

The observatory, as it turns out, was an exaggeration. It's just the roof with a couple people manipulating the temperature, and some clear tarps as walls. But the view is absolutely stunning, with extremely clear skies.

"How is the sky seemingly always clear and full of stars?" I ask.

Back home I can barely see the stars.

"Oh, a bit of light and air manipulation. Something with temporary light pollution removal and the fact we live in close to the middle of nowhere," Virgil says.

I nod.

"Fascinating," I murmur to myself.

Virgil nods.

"Yeah, it really is. Makes me glad we have this power sometimes," he says.

We look up at the stars. He leans on my shoulder a little bit, and that simple gesture makes my heart beat faster.

"Move it, lovebirds. I'm sitting here," a kid says.

Virgil and I quickly move and set down our stuff in a corner before going back inside to get some drinks. We get in line at the long strip of tables, full of drinks and snacks.

"Tea or cocoa?" Thomas asks once it's our turn.

"Cocoa. Dark, with whipped cream please," Virgil says.

Thomas nods, writes it down, and pass the order down to another teacher.

"Tea or cocoa?" Thomas asks me.

"Tea, please," I say.

"Hmm, you strike me as a jasmine man!" Thomas and Dr. Picani say at the same time.

"What?" I ask.

I'm very puzzled as they both laugh. But they see my lack of reaction, so Thomas says, "That's a no, then?"

"No, I am not a fan of jasmine. Do you have matcha or apple cinnamon?" I ask.

"Apple cinnamon. We just raided the local Target," Thomas says.

I nod.

A walk down the line with Virgil and we get our drinks at the end of the line. He sips on his hot cocoa, a little whipped cream getting on his lip.

"There's something on your lip," I say.

"Oh-" he says.

He wipes it off and we go to sit down in a corner. He rolls out a blanket and I unpack a few books. With a little change of setting, this could almost feel like a camping trip.

After we finish setting up, Virgil and I sit back to back, each reading a book. I'm reading a murder mystery classic, and he's reading a dystopian novel. Occasionally, he'll mutter his thoughts about the book.

"Dammit, why can I see this as an actual future here?"

"Oh, you did not just fu- freaking say that."

"Shut up you little backstabber, nobody likes you anyway."

"I ship it."

"Virgil, what do you mean by 'I ship it'. Is there something you are excited to see sent someplace in the book?" I ask.

He snorts. I blush. Both from embarrassment and the fact he has an adorable snort.

"I think two characters would be good in a relationship together. Buttttt I doubt this book will have representation, but I think the two characters are pretty gay," he explains.

"I see. Interesting," I say.

We go back to reading.

A few minutes later, he sets down his book.

"Shield yourself," he says suddenly.

"Huh? Why?" I ask.

I grab my backpack regardless.

"Well, Ja-" Virgil starts to explain.

He's interrupted by a large number of snowballs being pelted on the roof. Only a few actually land and most hit the makeshift walls.

"Well, I guess those can resist something other than wind," I hear Dr. Picani say.

"I guess so. Hey, T! Can you go find who's throwing snowballs?" Thomas asks.

I turn back to Virgil and stop eavsdropping. 

"When should we go to bed?" he asks.

"It would be best for our health if we started to try to fall asleep at around nine to ten," I say.

"Hmm. Well, eleven is the earliest I fall asleep and tomorrow is Saturday, so let's just stay up really late," he reasons.

"But- our physical health-" I say.

"Mine was thrown out the window years ago, and my book is interesting." he chuckles a bit, "Wow, I'm a nerd."

"Okay, I'll stay up late. But only for you," I say.

Is this how flirting works? It must be because his cheeks go ever so slightly pink.

"Sounds great. Now, I have a character to rage at for being stupid," he says, opening up his book again.

I nod and go back to mine as well. We sit in the dark peacefully, reading with the aid of flashlights for hours on end.

There, I did a fluff. Are you proud? School is still a jerk, which is why these are taking 3-5 days to get out, so yeah. Not much I can do about that. I hope you enjoyed reading, feel free to leave any thoughts or feedback in the comments, and have an amazing day/night you magnificent peep!