The Demon and the Child

A Chance Encounter

This is not fine, Virgil thought as he tried to hide in his hands.

After one long boring hour in detention doing his homework, Virgil was finally being picked up by his uncle. They would have been going home right now if Patton didn't start flirting with his teacher!

"So, how does dinner sound?" Patton asked, holding a hand to his own cheek in an innocent and flirty manner.

Virgil put his hood on and tried to disappear in it, pulling his hoodie strings.

Logan, he had properly introduced himself to Patton not long ago, was bright red as he stammered, "I-it sounds lovely! I don't go out much so it would be really nice. To go out to dinner. With you."

"Patton can we go home now," Virgil mumbled, tugging at Patton's cardigan.

"In a moment," he said, pulling out a small notebook. He scribbled something down, handed it to Logan, and winked to him before saying, "Feel free to call or text me, we can plan something later."

Logan read the note before folding it. "I look forward to it, Mr. B- Patton."

"So do I. See you later, cutie," Patton waved, leading Virgil away.

"Bye." Logan waved awkwardly.

"Oh my god," Virgil groaned as they got into the car, "that was so embarrassing."

"He's hot! Can you blame me?" Patton defended himself. If Virgil didn't just see him in action, then he would have thought he was completely innocent and soft.

"You didn't have to do that in front of me!"

"I don't want to wait until teacher parent night to get a chance to talk to him alone," Patton pouted as he pulled out of the parking lot. "I'm just glad that he likes men, because wow he looks gorgeous!"

"That's my teacher! Please don't talk about him like that in front of me! That would be as awkward as him talking about you to me."

"If I'm lucky, he'll be your future uncle."

Virgil groaned, pulling his hood over his face. "This is worse than detention."

"Okay I'll stop. Do you think he likes flowers?"

"I don't know! Just- look I know he likes blue. Also his favorite food is the crofters jam. That's all I know."

"You're the best nephew I could ask for! I'm getting you some fro-yo on the way home."

"Okay that makes detention worth it."

"And I promise I won't embarrass you anymore. At least, not about Logan. I'll still tease you about any boyfriends you bring home."

"Jokes on you! Nobody will romantically love me! Everyone's scared of me."

"Well I heard your school has a GSA club, maybe you can find a nice guy there."

"I'm not big into clubs, though that might be something Roman's interested in."

"He did give off some gay vibes. Guess we really do attract each other naturally."

"Yeah, he says he's pansexual."

"Good for him! I'm glad you found a good friend like him."

"Yeah, oh and Cindy. I have to introduce you to her sometime, she's aro/ace. She's pretty cool to hang out with, but she's always busy with a lot of after school activities."

"Some people just manage to juggle full plates, it always amazes me when I see people manage to do that."

"I mean I guess you manage to do that now too, today was the second time you had to leave work for me."

"It's fine, my boss is pretty understanding. And if they weren't, I would have left anyway because nothing is more important to me than you."

"Yeah but I've just been attracting trouble everywhere I go now. Maybe it's my outfit?"

"I don't think changing your clothes would do anything. This place can be really dangerous sometimes, and from what I've heard the kids at school get into fights often. It's not your fault."

"I just don't like worrying you."

Patton pulled into a parking lot. "You're a kid, I've always been worried about you. From the moment you were born, I did what I could to support you and your mother. I baby proofed my own house!"

Virgil laughed, "I remember. We still have some pictures."

"Alright, let's go get some fro-yo!" Patton grabbed his wallet from under the ashtray.

They got out of the car and walked towards Sweet Frog. They greeted the person at the cashier and made their way towards the bowls.

There was only one other person in there, a young boy about Virgil's age. He had brown hair and his ears stuck out slightly. He had a lopsided grin that didn't really make him look troublesome, it mostly made him look goofy and kind.

He turned away from the fro-yo machine as it finished and bumped into Virgil, luckily not spilling anything on him.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" he apologized.

"It's no problem, I should have watched where I was going anyway," Virgil replied.

"No it's fine, it was really my fault. My name's Ethan by the way, I'm new here." He held his free hand out.

Virgil cautiously took it. "I'm Virgil."

"Virgil? That's an interesting name."

"I've heard that before." He couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"No, I meant interesting as in good! It's a nice name. It kinda has an old soul vibe."

"Thanks, Ethan's not a bad name either. It was nice meeting you."

"Yeah, nice to meet you too!" Ethan gave him a smile as he walked towards the toppings.

Virgil got himself some chocolate and vanilla ice cream as Ethan paid and left.

"He seemed pretty kind," Patton whispered.

"Yeah, I guess. But it's not like I'll ever see him again."

Patton shrugged, "Maybe. Anyway do you think I have enough toppings? Or could I go for more?"

Virgil looked at Patton's bowl, seeing all kinds of toppings from sprinkles and nuts to brownie parts and chocolate chips. "Hey, you're the adult and the one paying here."

"I like the way you think!" Patton turned back to the toppings and started to put some gummy worms into his bowl.

Virgil laughed slightly, he didn't see how gummy's and chocolate went well together but he didn't say anything. He put his own toppings on and let Patton pay.