Someone left a comment saying "2 genders" on a fic of mine months ago and wdym I just wrote this as a fuck you to them? 

Nooo not at all

Virgil: Bigender, they/them, he/him
Logan: Agender, they/them
Patton: Genderfluid, any/all
Roman: Nonbinary, they/them, she/her

Warnings: none?

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"Roman, I don't know if this is a good idea." Virgil said for what must have been the hundredth time in the last half an hour.

"Nonsense! It's really nice here, you'll see. Maybe you'll even make a friend." Roman said excitedly, trying to push Virgil forward. The two of them were stood in front of a door, a door that led to a lgbt+ hangout for teens. Virgil had never been there before, but their friend Roman and her datemate Patton usually spent many afternoons there.

Virgil wasn't all too tempted, but Roman had asked them to join many times and they could not say no any longer. It made them feel bad so they'd, for once, agreed to come. If only to make Roman stop asking them to join.

Roman opened the door, dragging Virgil inside. It was, well, it didn't look that scary. Different pride flags were hung on the walls. Teens were sat in groups by tables, talking and enjoying themselves. Virgil spotted some doing arts and crafts. A couple of others seemed to be doing schoolwork (assumption based solely off of the confused and tired expressions on their faces). 

"V, take your shoes of." Roman said, already having done so herself. Virgil bent down to untie their shoelaces, then looking up and realizing Roman had disappeared, already. They groaned, kicking their shoes off and awkwardly taking a few steps into the unfamiliar place.

They scanned around the room. There seemed to be a doorway leading to another room, maybe Roman had gone there. Virgil didn't really have the courage to just go and check for themselves, instead they stayed where they stood, standing there and discreetly staring at everything before eventually going up to an empty bean bag that they spotted in a corner.

They flopped down on it, pulling their phone out and began to mindlessly scroll through the explore page of instagram while ignoring the fact that they were alone and didn't know where their friends were. They especially ignored the fact that there were at least fifteen teens in this room that they had never met before.

They'd love to go onto youtube, but it was useless to waste data on that, it used up all of it immediately. Thought what if... They quickly went to the phones settings, just to check. Virgil sighed in relief and thanked all the gods they didn't actually believe in. 

There was free wifi.

They put their headphones on, watching youtube for a good fifteen minutes while occasionally glancing up to see if Roman would appear again or if she was gone forever. Virgil wasn't anxious, no, not at all.

They lowered their gaze, eyes fixing on his screen where Dan Howell was shrieking in laughter when Phil died once again in the game they were playing.

"Virgil, hi!" An overly excited voice said, and Virgil looked up to smile at Patton. Finally, a familiar face.

"Hi, Pat." They said as Patton bent down to give them a bone crushing hug. Patton might be one of the nicest people to ever exist, but Virgil couldn't breathe, so they wiggled out of the embrace.

"Today's a him day." Patton said before Virgil could ask. Then Roman appeared next to Patton, taking his hand before turning to Virgil.

"Sorry, Virgil. I got distracted. I didn't mean to leave you alone for so long." She said, giving Virgil an apologizing smile which Virgil knew meant they'd be getting free coffee tomorrow before class. Roman was forgiven.

"It's fine, there's free wifi." Virgil said, then taking Roman's outstretched hand and were helped to their feet. Then as they were all standing up Patton asked if they should play a game, maybe UNO, or Ticket To Ride, or Scrabble, or cards, or-

Virgil was going to be honest, they stopped listening as their two friends continued listing every game they knew of, surely not even knowing if this place had these games. They instead looked around, looking a bit closer at the other teens.

A group were sat by a table in the corner, listening to music on a speaker and talking and laughing. Some were sitting on the floor with their phones or playing games. By the other end of the room there were about three people sitting within safe distance from the others, seemingly sat with textbooks.

Virgil's eyes fell on a guy very busy with reading something surely boring in a Biology textbook. Then Virgil remembered that they shouldn't ever assume someone's gender. Especially not somewhere where there were literally only lgbt+ people.

Chances were that this... human person wasn't cis.

But, they were cute.

This person with glasses and a dark blue button-up and a tie. What kind of person Virgil's age wore a tie? No matter, it did suit them. And their hair was neatly combed on their head an-

"What are you staring at?" Roman asked, following Virgil's eyes, no doubt spotting the person Virgil had had his eyes on.

"What, no. Um, no. I'm not- not staring. No." Virgil said, smooth as ever. Roman laughed and Patton gave them a knowing look that Virgil responded to with a sigh.

"Their name is Logan, I've spoken with them a few times. They usually go here to do their homework without being bothered by siblings." Patton said. Virgil wouldn't be surprised if Patton knew everyone here by name. They especially noted the pronouns that Patton used for Logan.

"Well..." Virgil said, unsure how to respond. They really hoped neither of the others thought they'd go over and talk to Logan. Virgil did not do that. Walking up to people they did not yet know and starting a conversation did not work. Not for Virgil.

They glanced at the cute stranger again, and maybe it was just their luck that the cute ...person looked up just then and their eyes met. Virgil's eyes widened slightly and then they quickly turned their face back to their friends.

"Oh no, Ro, they saw me looking at them! What do I do?" Virgil hissed out, standing rigid as ice and trying to not freak out. Oh dear, what if they came over? Or just thought of them as weird. God, Virgil was such a weirdo. Roman grinned, looking over Virgil's shoulder. 

"Looks like they're coming this way. Good luck! Get their number! Fall in love!" Roman said and she took Patton's hand, the two of them hurrying away and leaving Virgil there.

"Roman!" Virgil whispered as loudly as they could without attracting the attention of anyone else. Roman just waved goodbye. Virgil was very tempted to run after them. How dare they leave Virgil there with some stranger? Who knew what could happen? 

They then felt someone poke their shoulder and they only felt slightly mortified to see Logan stand there with a polite smile.

"Salutations. My name is Logan and my pronouns are they." They said, holding their hand out for Virgil to take. They stared at it for a second before remembering that the normal thing to do were to respond.

"Oh, um, hi. I'm Virgil. Pronouns are they I suppose. At- at least today. Otherwise he and him is fine too." They said quietly, hoping to not be making a too nervous first impression. They took the outstretched hand, shaking it.

"Sorry if I was bothering you, I didn't mean to stare." They then said. Was that a faint smile on Logan's face? Virgil quickly forced themselves to look anywhere else than Logan. They let go of Virgil's hand and Virgil put both their hands in their hoodie pockets.

"Oh, it's quite alright. I needed a break from studying anyway, it was beginning to get quite tedious. And why not get to know someone new." Logan said. Virgil raised and eyebrow.

"Is it that obvious it's my first time here?" They asked. Logan gave him a short nod.

"You look about as nervous as the new people usually do." They said and Virgil let out a quiet, awkward, laugh. This is why they hated meeting new people, they never seemed to succeed in acting casually.

"Oh. Well, I'm always like this." Virgil said, forcing something that was supposed to be an amused smile but might've looked more like a grimace. Virgil closed their eyes for half a second, silently asking themselves why they would say such things. Especially to strangers. It wasn't as if Logan could easily respond to that. What was anyone supposed to say? 

An expression of uncertainty showed on Logan's face, but only for a moment. Then they took a step back and held a hand out, gesturing towards and empty table.

"Would you like to sit down with me? We might as well get comfortable for the little time before I have to leave." They said. Virgil nodded a bit, following them.

"Yeah." They said, and the two of them sat down together. Virgil was already a bit nervous about if they were the one supposed to keep the conversation going.

"So, Virgil. What's your identity? If that's an alright start to this ...talk? Conversation?" And Virgil almost believed Logan was a bit nervous too. Almost only because Logan didn't look to be nervous in the least.

"I'm bigender. And queer." Virgil said, one second from beginning to babble about how sexuality was so hard to figure out and that Virgil couldn't actually have less of a clue, especially as they weren't a binary gender, and that that was why they chose the word 'queer' as a label, because it was the only thing that seemed to fit at least a little bit.

"I'm agender. And I prefer the word gay to describe myself, it's just the simplest in my opinion." Logan said. Virgil smiled to themselves, having come up with a joke that they were going to tell before thinking it through.

"It's almost as if, like, since you are without a gender I retaliated with having two." Virgil said with a small chuckle. Maybe they'd been spending a little bit too much time with Patton lately. But apparently the joke wasn't as bad as they thought because after Logan having stared at them for a moment they let out a laugh, shaking their head with an adorable grin.

Virgil felt a flutter in their chest and they cursed their useless, gay brain. 

Roman would never let it go if she'd told Virgil to go and fall in love and they actually did just that.

"-and I don't want to force you away from your friends if you'd rather be hanging out with them." Logan finished and Virgil realized they'd been talking while Virgil had had their internal gay panic.

"No, I'm fine here with you." They said, hoping to be answering all of what Logan had been saying, and Logan smiled cutely.

"So, Virgil. What brought you here?" Logan asked and Virgil contemplated attempting to tell another joke simply to make Logan laugh again. But, let's face it, Virgil wasn't very funny. Better stick to sincere replies.

"Other than the fact that I'm neither cis nor het? A pair of very convincing and persuasive friends. And my inability to say no repeatedly without feeling bad." Virgil said, wondering if that was a too honest answer. Maybe they should've simply said it was to meet other queer people.

"Those are understandable reasons. Personally I find this a quite nice place to study. I've got loud siblings at home. This is also a good place to simply be yourself, either it be surrounded by others or perhaps sitting by yourself in some corner." They said and Virgil didn't doubt they were both people who'd rather spend time alone than in the middle of a crowd.

"You're here with Patton, right?" Logan then asked and Virgil gave a short nod.

"Patton and his datemate Roman. They're my two best friends." Virgil said. They wondered if that made it sound like they'd only got two friends. Which was true, but it sounded sad. Virgil realized they really were overthinking much today, were they not?

"My turn to ask a 'get to know you' question, I suppose. Uh, are there any tv shows you like?" Virgil said, having several in mind that they hoped Logan would mention. Fandoms was a language Virgil could speak.

"As a matter of fact, yes. I have a special appreciation for the shows Doctor Who and Sherlock. I do also enjoy Friends."

"I haven't actually seen Sherlock yet. But I really want to." Virgil said. It was true. They did not have Netflix or any other streaming service which made it more difficult to watch all the shows they'd like to watch. Plus, they had so many shows on their 'to watch' list that they didn't know where to start.

"Oh, you must! The show is amazing and every episode is so clever. I can never choose a favorite." They said excitedly, seeming like they had to restrain themselves from beginning to babble about the plot of each episode. Virgil thought they maybe wouldn't mind listening to Logan ramble. 

"I'll make sure to give it a try sometimes soon." Virgil promised. Maybe if they met again they could discuss the show. 

"How about you, Virgil. What shows do you like?" Logan said, and Virgil really wanted to list all the shows they'd watched, because all of them had been really good and all of them deserved appreciation. But Virgil controlled themselves, deciding that naming a few would suffice. Then maybe it'd give the illusion that Virgil actually had a life beyond watching tv.

"Well, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and One Day at A Time. As well as Doctor Who, which is a fantastic show." Virgil said, unsure if Logan's approving glance was because of the fact that they liked Doctor Who or if they noticed Virgil's purposeful use of the ninth Doctor's catchphrase.

"Since you'll be giving Sherlock a try, maybe I should watch one of those other shows you mentioned." They said, and Virgil was definitely excited over the possibility of having someone who shared their fandoms.

Logan pushed their sleeve up, looking at their wristband watch.

"Sadly I have to be getting home soon, I need to pick my two younger siblings up from daycare and then cook dinner." Logan said, giving their watch a look of disapproval as if they didn't agree with the time it was showing. Then they looked up and maybe saw the slight surprise Virgil was trying to hide, because they continued.

"My mom works the late shift at the hospital, she's a nurse, so I have to help around a lot at home." They explained, leaving it at that, and Virgil didn't want to intrude so they didn't ask about Logan's dad.

"Oh. That sucks, it was really nice talking to you, actually." Virgil said, realizing a little too late that that might sound as if they hadn't thought talking to Logan would have been pleasant. Virgil was just surprised they hadn't managed to embarrass themselves fully.

"Yes." Logan said, then pausing for a moment before continuing.

"I was just wondering, um, because you're... well, I might as well just say it, you're really pretty, Virgil, and I'd like to meet you again. May I have your number? You can say no, of course." They said, and Virgil sort of gaped a bit at them but quickly nodded, pulling their phone out of their pocket and letting Logan add their number to Virgil's contacts. Virgil then adding their number into Logan's contacts.

"Thank you. I will text you as soon as I have the time tonight." They said and Virgil only slightly freaked out internally because oh god this person was going to text Virgil tonight and shit they'd have to not embarrass themselves over text either, and several other thoughts that Virgil attempted not to listen to. They could stress later.

"I'm glad I met you. And, uh, for the record, you're really pretty too." Virgil said, and Logan blinked in what might be surprise before smiling.

"Bye." Logan said, standing up and walking over to where they'd left their textbooks and whatever tools they'd needed for their homework and packing it all down in a backpack before beginning to leave. Virgil got up quickly, trying not to run into the other room where Patton and Roman were probably waiting for them to recite every thing they'd said during their conversation.

Virgil found them quickly as they'd seemingly been spying on them from the doorway to the other room, and Virgil was pulled aside as soon as they entered.

"Well?" Patton said excitedly. "Did you make a friend?"

"I think so? I mean, they want to see me again and we exchanged numbers." Virgil said and Roman near squealed.

"You got their number! Did you fall in love too?" She said, as if she actually expected Virgil to be the kind of person to ever manage to fall for someone in less than thirty minutes. Hell, Virgil wouldn't fall in love in a day either. Probably would take more than a week.

"No, of course not! But..." Virgil crossed their arms over their chest.

"But?" She asked, the both of them ignoring Patton as he whispered 'butt' to himself and giggled.

"Perhaps I think they've got a really adorable smile." Virgil said almost reluctantly, making Roman gasp and not being surprised over the reaction.

"You're so smitten, dude. Just wait!" She said, hitting their arm playfully and making Virgil scowl and stick their tongue out at her. Childish, they know.

"Wait, you made Logan smile?" Patton said with that glint in his eyes that made Virgil feel a bit uncertain about their response.

"Yeah, so what? Logan smiles all the time." They said, but Patton only laughed.

"I don't think I've ever seen them smile, actually." Roman said, being unhelpful as always. It was lucky for her that she was actually a really good friend and generally funny and nice.

"Yeah, well... whatever, let's talk about something else." Virgil said, as always disliking their friends interest in Virgil's ( so far non-existent) crushes.

"Let's play some board games now, kiddos." Patton said, clapping his hands together.

"Don't call me 'kiddo', I'm your datemate." Roman said with a pout. Patton cupped Roman's cheek and kissed the pout away.

"Fine then. But Virgil is my little kiddo." Patton said, grinning at Virgil. They shrugged, not going to point out how they were actually only two months younger than Patton.

"Whatever, let's just find that UNO." Virgil said, trying to keep their mind of Logan. Cute people rarely called Virgil pretty. Cute people did not ask Virgil for their number.

But this cute person apparently did. And they also made Virgil feel those stupid butterflies Roman and Patton always spoke of. Fuck. Roman was never going to let them live this down if they actually got a crush on Logan.

Both Patton and Roman were already giving them amused looks as they found an UNO and began dealing out the cards. Roman only made seven slightly suggestive suggestions for what Virgil should say once they and Logan began texting.

Patton made two comments about Virgil and Logan's future wedding, and Virgil really thought they were getting (far, far) ahead of themselves. For all they knew those butterflies in their stomach might've just been their anxiety acting up.

Or maybe not.

--

Written: 11th March & 21st & 26th, 27th & 28th July 2019
Published: 11th September 2019
Words: 3349

Look,,,,,,I like bbc sherlock

Also I'm sure I messed the pronouns up somewhere so pls point that out if u see it

Anyway I cant write human interaction to save my life :/ they're so awkward lmao