12:03am

As you can see I am throughly enjoying the female sides

Au
—

Virgil was running. Running faster than he had ever ran in his life. His feet hit against the floor harshly, his lungs burned, his heart thumped rapidly, but he couldn't stop, not yet, they were still chasing him, he could hear their taunting laughter behind him, they were catching, he couldn't keep this up forever.

He daren't even glance over his shoulder as he knew that would slow him down, but the more he ran, the more he moved away from civilisation. Why didn't he at least try and venture of to town!? At least then he could've hid inside of building, or garnered the help of an adult!

He could feel tears falling away from his face as fear struck his stomach painfully hard, he could see their shadows coming up closer to his, they were nearing, so close, their hand reached out to grab the back of his collar, but in that same moment one of the boys yelled and they stopped, almost instantly, but Virgil didn't, he kept on, incase it was a trap.

Before him was a hedge, a thick one at that, covered, crossed and tangled with large, sharp spikes poking out from the plants they were attached to. A special type of bramble. Virgil didn't care; he also didn't care to remember this type of bramble only grew on a certain hedge they were all ordered to stay away from.

He fell onto his stomach and crawled through a small gap towards the bottom he was sure an animal dug through, he hissed and cried out when the spikes would drag and cut his skin, but he pushed forward, closer and closer to the light at the other side. He couldn't hear their voices anymore - he knew they wouldn't follow him.

Eternity and more passed before Virgil reached the end; at least that's what it felt like. He rolled onto his back, blood seeping out through his wounds, but as he stared at the blue sky above him, he sighed out. Safe at-last.

But the feeling didn't linger long; for he realised something that shook him to his core. He was outside his world. He had crawled through the hedge. The forbidden hedge. He then realised the two of them standing tall either side of him, going up for miles; it was said no one has ever seen the top of them before, they grew up higher than the clouds, and it was impossible to cut down.

They also went across the world in a very straight circle, two of them, parallel to each other, never once touching, just curving around the earth, cutting one side off from the other.

The side of men and the side of woman.

The two genders hadn't interacted for millions of years, as all history books state. It was illegal to do so thousands of years ago, but Virgil didn't know if those rules still held up. Nothing has really happened for those rules to be needed, really. There hasn't been a case of a man and a woman of interacting since the old ages.

Virgil stood up, shakily looked at the gashes on his arms and winced, feeling hatred enhance for the boys that decided to chase him; that torment his everyday, turning it into hell, why? Because he's an orphan; an easy target with no one that cared.

For awhile he wandered between the gap of man and woman, it was a long strip of land going the entire way around the Earth, nothing grew there apart from grass, and nothing from the hedge hung out over it, as if it was continuously cut and kept neat, but Virgil knew that wasn't the case, no one touches the hedge. No man, anyway - he didn't know what the women did.

He didn't know if he wanted to find out, either. They had no way of telling how women acted; some say their ruthless, cruel, horrid people, others say they're nurturers, kind and loving. He didn't know what to believe.

He walked for what seemed like hours; and he was quickly becoming exhausted. Sitting on the ground again, he quickly realised the place he was in was very disorienting, and from his tired state, he completely forgot which side was the one he came through. Turning around again and again, he tried to make sense of it all, but after awhile he didn't even know which way he walked down!

He could feel panic arising up in his stomach until he began running in a random direction, only stopping when he saw a small gap in the hedge. The place he crawled through. Relieved, he fell onto his stomach again and manoeuvred his way through, this time to be more careful, pushing away the spikes and making it across with little to no new cuts.

When he stood up, he looked around the forest he ran through prior, sighing out when he couldn't see the group of boys anywhere. Shakily, he moved across the vegetation, twigs and plants, flinching whenever an animal would dart by, or a bird would beat their wings.

He couldn't tell how long he walked for; time had basically escaped him, but when he stumbled through the edge of the forest, he could see the sun setting in the distance.

"Oh my god..." he heard a whisper. A whisper connected to a type of voice he had never heard before. Why was it weirdly so...high? Light?

He turned his head and nearly passed out on the spot in fright, shock, fear and surprise mixed into one. Skin loosing all the colour it retained before hand.

Before him stood not a man; but a woman. A girl. A female. Someone he should never, ever interact with.

She stood there silently, too, dumbfounded by what she had found, until she slowly held out a hand towards him.

"Hey" she whispered, "it's okay, I won't hurt you, I'm Leto, come with me, okay? I'll get you patched up" she reassured, smiling a smile so soft, so trusting, Virgil found himself trusting her. He didn't know why but...he had never felt this before, felt so safe in someone's presence. Moving forward, he gripped her hand and allowed her to lead him through the expanse of land covered with beautiful flowers and tall, thriving trees.

It was the exact same to his world, which was weird, he was told no life grew here, the women were so evil even nature was scared of them, but how could that be when this woman was so...nice?

He sighed, sniffling a little, too. He wanted to go home but...he didn't have one.

When they found themselves on a path, and finally onto a street, Virgil tensed and pressed into Leto's side, staring at all the other woman who were walking across the pavement peacefully before their eyes landed on him; a boy. Their movements paused, gasped and hushed whispers filled the air.

They didn't look like monsters, Virgil remembered overhearing a conversation from a few boys, they said that women were monsters, and would eat boys that would crawl onto their side of the world.

"Come on" Leto encouraged, hurrying down the side of the road until they reached a certain house. She ushered Virgil inside and shut the door behind her.

"Mom? You're back earl-oH MY GOD!" A new voice yelled, another girl, someone similar to Virgil's age, stopped in the hallway before them, jaw slacked, eyes widened. "Calm down, Desire, inside voices" Leto lightly scolded, bringing Virgil to the bathroom where she told the boy to sit on the counter, he did so.

"Athena! I need your help!" Leto called from the doorway. Desire watched on with caution but curiosity, staring at Virgil with sparking eyes.

"What is it, Love?" The third woman living in this house didn't have a reaction at all like Desire, instead she just paused, her face the epitome of shock before it swept away and returned to neutral.

"Well, this was bound to happen sooner or later" she stated, adjusted her glasses before standing beside Leto, using their first aid kit to clean up the wounds and bandage them all up.

"How could I have been brought to believe men were ugly!?" Desire exclaimed after she realised the boy her age wasn't a threat. "Disney! He's hotter than a desert in the summer!"

"Desire!" Leto scolded, glaring at the girl who held up her hands in surrender, sending Virgil a smirk when Leto turned away.

"What's your name, honey?" Leto's calm voice returned as she spoke to the teenager who slid off the counter and ran his hands over the bandage. "Uh... Virgil" he stated, swallowing thickly, wanting to try and keep her panic eternalised as much as she could.

"I'm sure words already spreading" Athena commented, "not long the Leader will arrive"

The Leader was basically the ruler over each side of the Earth. It was one person who was chosen from a very small amount of people - they had to be strong, determined, and know what to do in stressful situations - they were ruling over half a planet after all. But most of all, they had to be kind, never hateful towards a certain group of people, they had to love all. Otherwise they couldn't rule.

"Sh-she won't kill me, will she?" Virgil had to ask, worried, for the stories his brain was clogged up with over many years mixed and clashed, making him think all sorts of crazy things. "Oh, Honey, no!" Leto was quick to reassure, holding her hands on the boys shoulders. "She'll know what to do, but never, ever, will she try and hurt you, I promise"

Virgil nodded, nothing was telling him not to believe her. He followed behind the three to their living room and he sat on the furthest corner of the couch. While Athena sat down on her armchair, Leto disappeared to the kitchen to grab a drink for the boy.

Desire sat beside him, but not too close, grinning. "I can't believe your an actual boy" she mused, leaning forward and scanning him closely. Virgil shrunk in on himself shyly. "Leave him alone, Desire" Athena gave her a warning glance, resulting in her sighing over dramatically, but she wasn't done with the boy.

"Is it true that men eat birds for breakfast? And can grow to nine feet tall?" She began a bombardment of questions. Athena pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Uh-no-"

Desire suddenly gasped, "Do you have a...y'know...front-tail? If so, how many-!?"

"That's enough, Desire!" Athena's voice shot through Desire's, it was strong and stern, her eyes narrowed into a glare that shut Desire up instantly. "We do not ask those type of questions to anyone; even if they are male. Whatever you have heard from your friends is false; we do not know anything about them and vice-versa, so leave it alone"

Desire pouted and slouched in the seat, crossing her arms and mumbling to herself. Virgil gave Athena an appreciate glance.

"Here you go, honey" Leto returned moments later with a glass of water. Virgil took it and thanked her quietly, sipping quite a lot of it down in the first gulp. "Do you mind if we ask a few questions?" Leto asked and Virgil agreed, anything that wasn't like Desire's ones he was fine with.

"How did you get here?"

He paused for a moment of hesitation, "I was uh-being chased by...bullies...and I crawled through the hedge not-not realising it was the hedge and accidentally crawled through your one, too..." he trailed off, now it showed to him how much of an idiot he seemed.

"Why were you being chased?" Desire asked.

Virgil shrugged. "They think it's funny because I'm an orphan"

Athena's eyes widened at the new information, Leto gasped while Desire's eyes softened with sympathy. "Oh, Virgil, I'm so sorry"

"It-it's fine...really" He shrugged off, for it truly was. He has had enough time to get over the fact he was alone, and no one was adopting a fourteen year old anytime soon. Orphans were a rare thing in his world, if a child lost their parents they were sent to different ones who had been longing for a child for so long - children were in high demand for parents who couldn't have them - admittedly the men's side of the world was in a bit of a crisis due to the fact more and more men are losing the ability to become pregnant. So orphans over the many years were dropping in numbers rapidly, yet still, no one wanted him.

"What happened? To them?" Desire asked. Leto glanced sharply at her for asking such a question, but Virgil responded quickly in hopes they do understand he still wasn't upset by it anymore. "When I turned twelve we were taking a trip to my-uh-my grandads and...there was a deer on the road, my dad swerved but hit a tree, they both...died" Virgil's voice lowered in volume towards the end, eyes closed for a moment to control his emotions.

Suddenly, Leto was beside him, an arm around his shoulders, whispering condolences and soothing things into his ear. Virgil leaned into her side - he had never gotten this sort of comforting before. Boys can be comforted, reassured, but usually not like this, they were never really...coddled. And Virgil liked it.

Desire, guilty that she made Virgil remember what happened, slipped off the couch and onto the floor in front of the boy who sniffled and watched her. "Look" she said, grabbing her phone and hurriedly tapping on the screen before showing Virgil something. It was an animal wearing a hat.

"Isn't it cute?" Desire gushed, grinning. Leto looked at it and couldn't help but coo. Virgil cocked his head, drawing his eyebrows together. He had never seen that type of animal before. "What is it?" He questioned and Desire gasped, holding a hand over her heart as if the question offended her.

"Why, it's a cat! Don't you have these?"

Virgil slowly shook his head, this interested Athena greatly. "They are pets" she explained, standing up and placing the newspaper onto the coffee table. "Do you know what pets are?" Virgil nodded, "yeah, we used to have one, a dog"

"Ooo! What's a dog?" Leto asked excitedly. Now Virgil was shocked. So, these guys had cats while he had dogs? He thought that unfair; dogs were the best. Bringing out his own phone, he went far back in his camera roll, past the memes, past the pictures of scenery he had taken when he walked down the streets and through the woods alone until he stopped on the first picture he had ever taken. It was his dog laying on his stomach, tongue out, eyes alight.

"Here.." he murmured awkwardly and turned the phone to them. Instantly Leto let out a squeal and grabbed Athena's arm, shaking it vigorously. "Oh. My. GOSH!" She yelled, jumping up and admiring the animal closely. "Look at her, Athena! Look! Look how cute she is!" She was practically bouncing up and down, "I want one! Can we have one? Please!?"

Virgil didn't feel it right to correct Leto on the fact the dog was a boy, so he let it slide, showing it to Desire who whined that she couldn't see it. "Oh, Disney" she whispered, "how adorable is that!?" He exclaimed, "I want one! Mom! Mom! Mama! Can we have one!?"

Athena sighed and placed a hand over her face. Virgil bit his lip to conceal a chuckle at the sight, pocketing his phone again. "What're they like!?" Desire jumped from looking at Athena and demanding for the dog to Virgil who shrugged at the question. "They can be friendly or mean...depends how they were raised, I guess"

"Do they bite?" Leto asked. Virgil shrugged again. "Sometimes they bite when they play, but it never really hurts, but if they were taught to be a guard dog, I guess they would attack trespassers and stuff...or they can bite out of fear, stuff like that"

"So like any other type of animal; only tamed?" Virgil nodded to Athena's question.

"Do you want to meet a cat?" Desire changed the subject and out of curiosity, Virgil nodded. They left the house and walked over to their neighbours, during the time Virgil spent here word had gotten around, and there was a growing crowd in the street. "My best friend has one" Desire explained to why they were here before knocking on the wooden door.

Not a moment too soon the door opened, revealing a girl taller than Desire, wearing sunglasses and sipping through a straw inside a cup. Her eyes landed on Virgil and she froze up momentarily, not at all what she was expecting. "Damn, girl, I guess I should've believed you" the girl let go of the door and stepped out onto the porch.

"Yep! This is Virgil, and he's never met a cat before!" Desire quickly turned to the boy, "this is my friend, Remy, they're non-binary" Desire winked before the two rushed inside the house, yelling incoherently. Virgil had heard about 'non-binary' before - it was very, very rare on his side, but he thinks he could recall one of his teachers being non-binary. Meaning they were no set gender, and used they/them pronouns. Virgil didn't mind it, and neither did his gender, it was just another way of living, yes unpopular, but why should anyone care?

He stepped into the house after Leto curled an arm around his shoulders and led him in. "Where is your mom, hon?" Leto asked Remy who came back with a bundle of fur in their arms. "Out - her friend said there was a hot single in the mall" they winked, then turned to Virgil who stared at the fur, mesmerised.

"Here she is - her names Bitch"

Athena rolled her eyes at the remembrance to the cats name. The only reason why Remy called her that was so she could yell 'bitch' out to the street whenever it was time she came back inside and ate. Suddenly, Bitch's head rose and her dark green eyes landed on Virgil who flinched back into Leto. He hadn't seen anything like it before - it was odd, never before had an animal look at him as if they were looking down on him, knowing they were better than him. Nothing like a dog who either stared at you as if you were a friend or foe.

"Can I...pet...her?" He asked timidly and Remy nodded, pushing the cat closer to Virgil who with one hand gripped onto Leto's arm for reassurance, the other slowly lifting to pet her head. When he did, she met him halfway, pushing her head against him and closing her eyes, a low rumbling nose coming from her throat.

"What was that?"

"You made her purr" Leto grinned, reaching up and petting her, too. Bitch loved attention and savoured every last drop of it. "Hold her" Desire encouraged, standing beside her best friend. Hesitantly, Virgil slowly took Bitch from Remy who carefully handed her over. Her claws were sharp and it made Virgil hiss, but her body moved quite flexibly, unlike a dog who mostly stayed the same shape, with cats you could pull them up and their body will bend. It was weird but rather extraordinary at the same time.

"So" Remy turned to their friend, "does he have a front-tail-?"

"Okay, no more questions about 'front-tails'" Leto scolded with a chuckle, running a hand through Virgil's hair, raising it away from his eyes. "Love, she's here" Athena suddenly piped up, looking out the window on either side of the front door. Leto looked too, watching the Leader step out of her car. She wore a flowing dress that fell around her body beautifully, it glistening against the sun as she walked barefooted up to Leto's and Athena's house, not knowing Virgil was now next door. A really large crowd of woman and girls were watching on now.

"I shall get her; why don't you all sit in the living room?" Athena suggested and Leto nodded, leading them all into the room. Virgil sat with the cat on his lap, running a hand along it's fur, somehow it helped calm his nerves raging his stomach. Leto took the spot beside him while Remy and Desire shared an armchair opposite, basically on top of each other but neither seemed to mind.

A few minutes later Athena returned with the Leader. Virgil finally had a good look of her. She was tall and petite, with pale skin that seemed to somehow shine. She also had long, white-blonde hair that cascaded around her down to her waist. He hesitated to meet her gaze, but relaxed when he realised it was the same as Leto's when he first met her; worried, curious and concerned.

"Oh my" she whispered, drifting across the room and squatting down in front of Virgil who gripped Leto's hand. "So; you really are a boy" she murmured, lifting a hand and cupping his cheek, stroking his jawbone lightly before removing it and standing up to her full height. "This is a problem" she agreed with the people who spoke to her in the past but weren't currently in the room, in fact no one had followed, it was just her.

"Don't the rules say interacting with the opposite gender has the punishment of death, or something?" Remy just had to say. Virgil felt all air leave his lungs from that statement alone, hand gripping Leto becoming tighter as panic crawled up his throat, suffocating him. "What? No-well, yes, however that was years ago, centuries ago" the Leader returned to Virgil and cupped his cheeks again, both this time. "Hey, hey, boy, look at me" she spoke firmly and he did so, his breathing wavering and hitching.

"I will not let anyone or thing hurt you, understand? This was a mistake, you have no bad intentions, either, we'll just have to contact your Leader" she reassured strongly, letting him go a few moments later. Remy mouthed an apology to the boy who shook his head, silently telling them it was nothing and not to worry about it.

"Don't worry, Virgil" Desire piped up, waltzing over to Virgil and plopping down beside him. "I'm pretty good at protecting people" Virgil rolled his eyes, hiding his amused smile behind his sleeve.

"Well, Virgil" the Leader held out her hand, now knowing his name. "I think it's time to return you home" at the insinuation Virgil felt his stomach weigh down sorrowfully. Why? He didn't know. Was he starting to like it here? Well, he shouldn't lie, he really liked it from the start. Never before had he been treated with such kindness like this. He didn't want to return to his old life; running and hiding away from the people that landed him here in the first place.

Still, he knew he couldn't stay, so he let Bitch down and stood up, holding onto her hand. "Can-can Leto come?" Virgil asked timidly before she could lead him out the house. She looked at the family and nodded with a smile; "why not them all? They seem to like you" she suggested and that was how him, Leto, Athena and Desire were sitting in the back of the Leaders limousine, Leto and Desire expressing their awe at all the candy laid out.

Some of these candies Virgil had never seen before, and he searched around to see what was new, and what they both shared. Pretty quickly Virgil realised something big that he had, but they didn't.

"Looking for something?" The Leader asked Virgil who nodded a little sheepishly. "Do you have any chocolate?"

"Oo, what's that?" Leto asked. Ah, of course. "It's uh-it's this candy, I guess, but it's brown, and...sometimes white, uh-it..." how does he describe chocolate!?

"Candy? What's candy? Is it like sweets?" The Leader questioned, just as curious as everyone else. Virgil gestured to all the candy laying around, "this is candy" he explained, Desire and Leto 'ooo-ing' in awe. Anyway, returning to chocolate, he continued. "It's kinda like this food, really, and it can come as plain or mixed with...different types of chocolate, as a chocolate bar, you chew it and it melts in your mouth, I guess..." he cringed inwardly, holding up his hands in an exaggerated shrug to show that was all he had.

"Don't worry; I'll ask your Leader to bring some over with him" the Leader grinned at the idea, suddenly very excited. "Ooo! Tell him to bring a dog, too!" Leto requested, and after explaining and showing the Leader what a dog was, she instantly agreed.

It was a long drive but their destination was met, and they all stepped out. Before them was a tall palace that glistened under the sun, towering over them like a mountain. "Follow me" Leader called to the family and led them through the building, everyone inside watched as they passed, eying the boy who shrunk into Leto's side. The woman wrapped an arm around his shoulders securely.

They reached an elevator and Virgil hesitated, staring at it uncertainly. "What is...that?" He asked quietly.

"It's a moving, metal box that takes you to different floors!" Desire explained, gesturing to it grandly. Virgil guessed he had something similar, but they were called stairs, or escalators. When he said that they replied they had stairs but had no idea what escalators were.

"Moving stairs!?" Desire exclaimed once Virgil explained and they were inside the 'metal box'. "That sounds amazing! Can you ask your Leader to bring one?"

"To bring an entire escalator?" Virgil confirmed, then shook his head. "Dude, just walk up a normal set of stairs and use your imagination" he rolled his eyes than paused, realising his normal self shone through for a moment there. Guess he was getting used to their presence. "Dude? What is a dude?" Athena asked.

"Oh-it's like...just a word to address someone by"

"Like girl?" Desire asked, Virgil nodded. "Yeah, dude, girl-"

"Sis, Queen"

"Man, bro"

Desire laughed at that, "bro! Oh Disney, I'm calling everyone bro" Virgil chuckled at her amusement. She looked at her mom and grinned, "hey, bro" She empathised the word, and for the umpteenth time that day Athena sighed and pinched her nose. The Leader watched on, amused by it all, a smile forever lasting on her lips.

Finally, they reached the floor they needed, of course it had to be the top one. They stepped out and walked across the large room, the wall opposite consisted of mostly window as it over looked the city around them. Virgil walked over to it, gazing at the hedge lining the horizon - it seemed so far away, and it was extraordinarily tall, he hadn't seen it from this perspective before.

"Don't worry" Leader spoke from beside Virgil who looked up at her, "we'll get you home soon" she reassured, turning back to whatever was in the middle of the room. A machine of sorts. Virgil sighed, that was kinda what he wanted to avoid.

"What is this?" Athena asked, walking up to the machine. It was a large circle protruding upwards on the ground, with four poles around it, creating a square. Just before it was a control board where Leader flicked and pressed buttons and leavers. "It's a teleportation device" she exclaimed, and after looking at it for a long while, she sighed and leaned on it.

"I'm going to be completely honest with you; we haven't needed to use this thing for centuries. I'm taking a really long time, so long your grandparents probably were just being conceived!" She exclaimed, then stood up straight and walked with a natural poise to a large, long and tall bookshelf lining the wall. The girls and Virgil watched as she searched and skimmed over the covers, trying to find the right one.

"What do you need?" Desire asked, gazing curiously at the teleportation device, timidly pressing the pads of her fingers against the one of the poles that were half her size. "An instruction manual" responded Leader, sighing afterwards. "Take a seat - we'll be here for awhile" she spoke up as if it an afterthought, with a touch of airy-ness to her voice.

They all did so, sitting on the couches on the other side of the room. Well, apart from Desire who was now standing on the teleportation pad, twirling around, somehow interested by the thing that wasn't even powered on yet.

"Will you be okay back home?" Leto decided to ask, an arm loosely curled around Virgil's shoulders. He didn't want to lie to her, but truly he didn't know. Living in an basically empty orphanage was gruelling enough, with the added fact every time he leaves or goes outside, he's harassed by the neighbouring boys who find such comedy from it. His life would presumably return to normal, so he guessed it wouldn't be okay, but he didn't want to worry the two, so he nodded.

"Yeah, the boys were a one-off thing" he dismissed, but something flashed across Leto's face, something that told Virgil she didn't believe him, but she didn't say anything more, so he hoped she'd let it go. He couldn't see why they wouldn't; no one cared for him, especially people he just met that day.

He relaxed into the seat and closed his eyes, listening to Leto's and Athena's conversation. It was mostly trivial topics, sometimes Leto would add in a pun to the mix, and every time Athena would sigh and presumably die a little inside. Virgil tried to bite back his smile every time, he enjoyed listening to them, it was a really nice experience, something he hadn't had before.

Time passed before Leader actually found what she was looking for. "Aha!" She called, grabbing the manual and hurrying back over to the panel. Athena stood up and walked over to watch while Virgil stayed situated by Leto's side, almost purring like that cat when she absentmindedly played with the strands on his head. It was so soothing he found himself shutting his eyes and drawing his legs up onto the couch, slowly drifting until his head rested on her chest.

She looked down at him in surprise, then smiled and cooed silently, wrapping her arm that was playing with his hair around his waist, using the other to return the attention to his soft locks. While he was basically being pampered, Desire leaned on one of the poles, watching curiously as her mama helped Leader work out the manual - she presumed it was old and hard to read as the Leader has to be very intelligent to be able to be a Leader.

Desire smiled at the thought; Athena would make a great Leader.

"It says here, if we do this..." Leader clicked a button, "this" she then flicked a switch, "and then..." she grabbed a big lever on the side and pulled it with all her might. Suddenly, the pad Desire stood on shifted and she yelped as it rose in the air, but it stopped pretty quickly after it moved.

"Desire, come off from there" Leto called, standing up and holding Virgil's hand as she hurried over. Desire jumped off and stood beside her mom, still slightly shaken but smiling nonetheless.

The room was silent for a few moments before a low buzzing erupted through the room, and the poles suddenly lit up from light that began at the bottom and shot upwards, the spike at the tops of them opening up so the light could escape and hover in the air. On all the poles, it moved like the head of a snake, until it turned to see the other lights and shot upwards as if making a triangle, meeting in the middle, directly above the teleportation pad.

"Extraordinary" Athena just had to whisper, and everyone silently agreed. "I should come in here more often" Leader commented with a grin, not having a second to look at the manual before a ringing noise echoed throughout the room. The noise a phone makes when you call someone and they haven't picked up yet.

"Are we calling them?" Virgil asked, them referring to the males. Leader nodded, but looked slightly uncertain. "I believe so, little boy"

They wondered if anyone would pick up, but not too soon the ringing stopped, and the light spread to create a rectangle in the air, inside a live picture of the male Leader! He looked cautious until he saw the women on the other side; jaw dropping as he did.

"Holy shit" he whispered, then turned to someone who was out of the line of sight for the video-call-thing. "Yeah, this seems bigger than us running low on lemon filled muffins, Karl"

"Listen!" This supposed 'Karl' responded, sounding ready to defend himself. "Those muffins are the fucking bomb, you sodomite"

"First of all" the man held up his hand, eyebrows raising in offence. "I'm a virgin, second we're not having this conversation right now!" He then thrusted his arm in the direction of the women before he turned back to the camera, smiling politely.

"Hello - and who might you be?" He asked, leaning against his counter.

The female Leader smiled in response, "I am the Leader"

The male Leader paused for a few moments, realisation flashing through his eyes. "Holy shit! The female Leader? Holy shit! One-uh-one moment!" He then vanished off camera, hushed whispers could be heard, but none could make out what they were saying.

"Men sure swear a lot" female Leader noted and Virgil grimaced, "yeah, we do, but whatever the fuck, right?" He shrugged, leaning his head on Leto's shoulder. In the midst of this, Desire couldn't stop staring at the screen, once she caught sight of the male Leader she couldn't function. She has never felt this before and wanted to reach out to one of her moms but dropped it, thinking it was stupid, and probably just shock from this whole thing.

Suddenly, the male Leader returned and in the background someone disappeared through a door. "Sorry about that - why might you be calling?" Male Leader answered his own question when he finally glanced at everyone else on the screen, taken back when he saw there was a boy in the mix.

"Well, that's odd. You have one of ours" he commented. "Yes" female Leader agreed, gesturing for Virgil to stand beside her. After he looked up at Leto and receiving a nod, he slowly moved across the room and stood beside her, staring at the control panel timidly. "This is Virgil. He found himself on our side by accident and we need to send him home. This teleport should work, you just need to turn on yours" female Leader explained, all while rubbing the side of Virgil's furthest shoulder from her comfortingly.

"Ah, right! Yes, no problem" he looked down at the control panel for a few minutes until he looked back up. "How does one work this?" Female Leader deflated. "Oh my, I thought you would know!"

"Surly there would be something on it in the instructions" Athena motioned to the book and female Leader gasped, "you're right! I would say you're a genius but I'm in the room" then she flicked through the pages until she came across the page tilted 'Teleportation'.

"Apparently we need to hit the outstandingly red button" she began, and did so. Male Leader nodded and copied her instructions, they pressed a few different buttons in certain orders, both hitting a smaller lever at the same time at the end. Suddenly, at the top of the control panel a board appeared, containing the numbers 0-9, the letters N, E, S, W, the little degrees circle and a full stop.

From the male Leaders small lean back, they knew he had the same. "What's that?" Leto asked, glancing at her wife and the Leaders.

"From what it is it looks like it should be for coordinates..." female Leader drifted, adding a groan onto the end. "Who uses coordinates anymore" she whispered under her breath with a shake of her head.

"Do you know your coordinates?" Athena asked the male Leader who rose his right eyebrow, "ah yes, that's always useful knowledge to have on hand—no I don't have them! However I'm sure my phone does" he then pulled out his phone and tapped away on his screen.

Leto wrapped an arm around Virgil's waist and kissed his forehead. "Awh, I'll miss you, Honey" she smiled sadly, brushing away Virgil's bangs from his eyes. Virgil felt his cheeks warm and he whined lightly, pushing out of Leto's grip all the while she laughed. "I'll miss you too, or whatever" he shrugged, desperately trying to hide his smile behind the collar of his jacket.

"Ah, teenagers" female Leader mused, glancing at the screen when the male Leader made a noise of triumphance. "Here they are, okay.." they could hear the clicks from the keyboard as the Leader typed in his coordinates. He then stepped a few feet to the side to allow Virgil enough space. After he finished, the teleportation on their side lit up even further, and the screen moved back, allowing Virgil enough space to stand on it.

He turned to Leto who smiled and gave him a giant bear hug. "Stay safe, honey" she whispered. Virgil held her tightly but didn't say anything in response, fearful she might notice the wave in his voice. "Safe travels, Virgil" Athena spoke up once Leto let him go. "I will" He then turned to Desire who finally snapped from looking at the screen.

"Come here a second, Virgil!" Desire encouraged, hurrying across the room. Virgil shrugged and followed after her, more time here was worth it. "If I hear one inappropriate question, I swear young girl!" Leto called, crossing her arms and giving her daughter a look, but Desire just laughed heartily and pulled Virgil in front of her, hiding him from their view.

"Trade numbers, quick" Desire whispered, holding her phone which was protected from sight. Virgil rose his eyebrow suspiciously, but gave in and put his number onto her phone while she did the same to his. "Text me when you arrive, then we'll talk. I have some questions. Serious ones" she reinforced, and after staring Virgil down for a few seconds, a bright smile landed on her lips and she skipped back to her parents, saying;

"I knew you had front-tails!" In glee.

After saying their last goodbyes, Virgil timidly stepped up onto the pad, waved and disappeared. He was blinded by a bright flash, but after blinking a few times and gazing around him, he realised he was back home, where he belonged.

The male Leader smiled and helped him jump off, "there you go, you little scamp" he ruffled his hair, then turned to the female Leader. "Well, lovely meeting you, you are all very nice people"

"Thanks, Leader!" Female Leader grinned, waved and shut down the call. Virgil felt his heart fill with sorrow, but brushed it to the side. They wouldn't want him to stay, anyway.

"Well, boy-o, looks like that's enough adventure for one day. Need a ride home?"

Virgil shook his head, "nah, it's alright. Thanks"

"No problem!"

While Virgil walked home, he felt the weight of his phone in his pocket, nervousness creeping up his back.

Communication with the opposite gender was a crime; it was against the rules their lands had been built on.

But why do the rules feel so...wrong?

—

Eh part two coming inside of you

7:50pm