Reapers

Chapter 17: Roommates? Roommates

"Okay," Virgil yawned, stretching his back. A few weeks have passed since Virgil's argument with Ren in front of Roman's friend's home, and she hasn't seemed to bother any of them. "Let's get your training over with tonight."

"Are you doing okay? You seem tired," Roman noticed.

"I'm fine, it's just been awhile since I've slept. Maybe you'll be able to get a good hit on me today?"

Roman rolled his eyes with a slight smile, they both knew that wasn't true. "I wasn't aware that reapers could sleep."

"We have to sleep at least once a month. I hate doing it though because I don't want to be attacked by phantoms while I'm so vulnerable, and the only place I won't be attacked by phantoms would be one of the afterlifes. Death has a place set up for us to sleep, but I have trouble sleeping there since there's a lot of reapers around and it can be noisy."

"You can sleep here! I'll keep you safe!"

"Yeah sure, sleep in the apartment where the phantom magnet lives. What a great idea!"

"What? You don't think I can protect you?" Roman crossed his arms, keeping the dagger in his hand facing away from him.

"Nope." Virgil popped the p. "You have yet to defeat a single phantom."

"Please! We can be roommates! My friend Logan keeps bugging me to find one, and if I don't find one soon he'll find one for me to help pay for rent!"

"That sounds like a you problem."

"That means someone else will be living here with me, someone that we'll have to navigate around when we're hanging out."

"Training, and I think I'm good."

"Fine, then I'll be sure to find the most annoying roommate ever."

"Seems like you're shooting yourself in the foot there," Virgil scoffed with a slight smile.

"Dude, I lived with Remus most of my life. And in an orphanage as well! I think I can handle an annoying roommate just fine. Question is, can you deal with it? You come here every night after all." Roman shimmed his shoulders slightly, making Virgil laugh.

"Ugh, but that means I need to get a bunch of identification stuff! I haven't gotten an ID in forever! It's so much work."

"So you'll do it? You'll be my roommate?" Roman asked, smiling wide.

His eyes were shining so brightly that Virgil didn't have the heart to say no, it would seem like a crime if he did. He sighed reluctantly and said, "Yeah, sure, whatever.

"Yes! Thank you!" Roman tried to hug Virgil, but since he was still in his body he went right through. He shivered before blushing in embarrassment, sheepishly saying, "Oh, right..."

Virgil couldn't help but laugh as he turned to face Roman, making him blush deeper. "Yeah, we can't touch yet. Just give me a week to get what I need, I know some reapers that are good at forging those kinds of papers."

"If I didn't know any better then that would be concerning!"

"Yeah," Virgil agreed, still smiling. Gods, he hardly smiles this much around other people. Guess Roman was starting to grow on him. "Okay, let's move onto your training."

"Alright!" Roman quickly sat on the couch. "Oh, I want to try to leave my body on my own this time!"

"Are you sure you'll be able to do it?" Virgil tilted his head slightly.

"I did a bunch of research, even though half of it was probably fake. But I still want to try it! There has to be some truth to all of it, and I'm getting stronger too!"

"That's true, you've been lasting much longer outside your body. Alright, let's see what you have."

"Roman nodded excitedly before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. A few moments passed and his breathing evened out, deepening slightly. Virgil's eyes widened when he saw Roman was slightly glowing, only for his body to relax completely as his spirit stepped forward.

"Woah! You actually did it!" Virgil congratulated. "I thought it would have taken you longer to figure out how to do it."

"It took longer to leave my body than I thought, but it still worked!" Roman said. "I just had to completely relax myself, and I felt myself get lighter and that's when I moved."

"Cool, and now we can commence your training."

"Don't you mean torture?" Roman teased.

"Yup. Get in your fighting stance." The human did so and Virgil nodded. "Good, just like that. Now give me your best hit."

Roman took a deep breath, but before he could move Virgil grabbed his wrist, twisting it so the dagger was turned away, and put his hand under Roman's chin.

"Hey! I didn't even get to move!" he complained.

"Do you think phantoms are going to give you a chance to get ready for the fight? You have to move fast, or you'll be killed by the Germania."

"The what?" Roman asked as he pulled away.

Virgil froze when what he said finally hit him. "Nothing, just slipped back into training mode from when I was alive. Ignore it and focus on training."

"Were you at war with the Germanic people when you were alive?" Roman immediately regretted asking since Virgil's hair turned a darker shade. The reaper grabbed his arm and flipped him over.

"I said ignore it and focus on training."

"Yup, yup, you're the boss," Roman wheezed, the air was knocked out of him. "I need to learn to not make you angry."

"I would appreciate that." Virgil stepped back and let him get up. "Now, let's try this again. Give me your best-"

Roman moved forward before Virgil could finish his sentence, striking for his chest. Virgil pushed his arm away with his palm before grabbing his wrist and twisting it. Even though Roman didn't hit him, he still smiled. That was the closest he's ever gotten!

"How's that?" he asked, pulling his arm away and twisting it around to lessen the pain that was quickly fading away.

"Much better, almost caught me off guard. Almost."

"I don't think I'll be able to catch you off guard. If I'm going to beat you in a fight, then it'll have to be from pure skill alone."

Virgil laughed with a slight shake of his head. "Or just get really lucky. But if you take that factor out, then it'll take you a few centuries to beat me. Or maybe never, who knows, I was the best fighter in Rome in my time. Which is why- ah, nevermind." Virgil scolded himself slightly, why was it so easy to talk to this human?

Roman frowned. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, my mind is just stuck in the past tonight. Just try to ignore it, and let's go over your techniques."

"Alright, if you say so. Oh, when do you think I'll be able to actually fight? You know, fight phantoms I mean. It would make my training better since they're all different."

"We're not even at the stage of thinking about that. Also, I'm reluctant to let you fight them at all since this-" Virgil hooked Roman's spirit cord with his finger. "-is the biggest target I've ever seen. Phantoms will go straight for it. Remember, even though this is strong, it can still break, and if it does you will die."

"Right, right, I know. I just wish there was a way of hiding it."

Virgil shrugged. "You're a special case, so there could be. Just don't get your hopes up."

"I don't know if being called a special case in this situation is honoring or terrifying."

"Let's just go with both. But for now before we get distracted again, let's continue, lollipop."

Roman smiled wide and nodded, getting into a fighting stance. He couldn't help but feel some kind of pride, he knew he was getting stronger.