Reapers

Chapter 41: Let's Take a Moment To Reflect

"Where is he?!" Virgil heard Remus shout. "I'm gonna fucking kill him!" The green reaper ran into the room, Janus on his heels. They both stopped when they saw Virgil on the couch, Roman laying on top of him and holding him tight. Sal was off to the side, still picking off pieces of hardened pink spit from her clothes.

Virgil gave Remus a small wave, not wanting to pull away from the hug Roman had him currently trapped in. The human clearly needed it, and Virgil felt guilty enough for hurting him in the first place.

"You asshole!" Remus shouted. "Where have you been?!"

"Home," Virgil answered bluntly, not appreciating the anger Remus showed him. Well, it wasn't like he was expecting a parade or something for his return.

"Real great, yeah, except you hurt my brother!"

"Remus that's enough," Roman told him, holding Virgil closer. "He came back, that's all I care about."

Virgil sighed sadly and ran a hand through Roman's hair. "I'm sorry, Roman. I know I have a lot of explaining to do."

"You bet your ass you do!" Remus agreed.

"No he doesn't," Roman argued. "I know everything now. I understand. I dreamed Romulus's last memory last night, when he had reincarnated." Virgil stiffened. "I'm sorry Virgil, but Romulus was an idiot."

"He was when he wanted to be." Virgil hesitated, taking a deep breath. "Do you... do you know why he reincarnated?"

"He... he hoped that he would see you again, and become a reaper alongside you. He knew it was risky, but I don't think he realized how risky it was. And yet, somehow, it almost worked."

"Almost?"

"Romulus thought that I would be him, that he would be with you again. But... I'm not. I'm not Romulus, I'm Roman. A completely different person."

Virgil nodded sadly. "I know. I've had 28 years to get over it, and I've accepted that he's not coming back. It still hurts, but I know I won't see him again. You're not him and I don't expect you to be him."

"I still want you to stay, but if you really want to leave-"

Virgil tightened his grip on Roman. "I'm staying, I already promised that I would."

Janus sighed and folded his arms together. "You have some trauma that you need to work out, Virge."

"I'm perfectly fine." Virgil held Roman closer. "It's time I let one idiot prince go, and hold onto a new one."

"I might not be Romulus, but he was still my past life! Don't call us idiots!" Roman complained.

Janus looked over to Sal who was scraping stuff off of her still. "What happened to you?" he asked.

"Oh you know, a class four phantom," Sal said with false joy. "Hey! Now that we're past all the drama that these two love birds had-"

"We're not love birds!" Virgil argued.

"We can be even more dramatic if you want!" Roman added.

Sal continued as if she hadn't heard them. "Can we talk about why two class four phantoms showed up back to back like that?" Everyone in the room tensed up at the reminder.

Janus frowned. "Even more interesting, the first one appeared close to Remus and I, then the next one appeared close to you all."

"Where was Ren during all of this?" Virgil asked with a suspicious tone in his voice.

"You don't seriously think she's to blame, do you? She's a rule follower if not anything else."

"She probably hates me more than she wants to follow the rules."

Janus put his hand under his chin. "I'll need to investigate, and I will question her on why she wasn't there while we were fighting. First, is everyone okay?"

"No infections, just a sore chest," Roman said. "It's healing quickly anyway."

"I have a few scrapes, but no infections. I'll live," Sal agreed. "Also I moved Roman's body to his room, so he's okay. You should probably stay home today anyway."

"I'll call in sick later. My boss will be upset at the late call though."

"I need to report to Death that I'll be staying here after all. I don't want them to worry when they realize that I disappeared."

"You have a really bad habit of doing that," Remus growled. "I will get you back for doing that."

"I'm going to head out," Sal said. "There are still other phantoms to be taken care of. Can't let anymore get strong enough to turn into another class four."

"We should go too," Janus agreed. "I'll look around the areas where the phantoms appeared, see what caused it."

"Good luck," Virgil told him. "You know what the summoning circles look like, right?"

"I've seen some before, though I doubt that I'll find them. I'll see you both later."

"We better!" Remus added, glaring at Virgil.

"Buh bye," Virgil said, waving as the other three reapers left. He sighed when he was left alone with Roman, letting his hand fall on his back. There was an awkward quiet before he broke it, "I'm sorry, again."

"I don't care anymore, because you're here now," Roman told him.

"I really hurt you, huh?"

"I would have lived."

Virgil frowned in worry. "Still doesn't make it any better. I didn't mean to hurt you, I just freaked out. I want to do something to make it up to you."

Roman nuzzled closer. "Just stay."

"I will. I'll stay with you for as long as you want."

"I don't know if you would want to do that."

"Why not?"

"I want you to stay forever," Roman quietly mumbled.

Virgil smiled softly as he continued to run his hand through Roman's hair. "I would love that. Staying with you forever sounds really nice."

"Even when I die and become a reaper?"

"Even if you don't become a reaper, even if you cross over to your afterlife."

"That won't happen. I won't leave if you don't."

A warm feeling filled Virgil's chest as his eyes burned with tears. "Thank you. I'm really happy you want to stay with me. I..." He hesitated. No, he shouldn't tell Roman right now. "Why don't we watch something? What movie do you want to watch?"

"Lilo and Stitch? I want a good family movie."

"Man, you apparently want to see me cry again," Virgil laughed, trying to break the tension as he reached over to the remote.

"You didn't cry last time! Don't exaggerate!"

The reaper laughed, sitting up. Roman leaned against him as he started to set up the movie. Virgil had an arm wrapped around Roman's waist and held him close, wanting to make him feel safe. He wanted to make sure Roman knew that he wasn't going to leave him ever again.