Misinformation Can Be Deadly

Chapter 14: There's the Beloved Iconic Hoodie!

CW: small talk of gangs and death

Sewing was harder than Virgil expected, but he was getting the hang of it just as Roman returned. The demon was surprised to find the purple material being sewed onto the black jacket, not expecting such bright patches, but Virgil seemed to make it work.

He had black scraps of burned fabric cut off and thrown in the trash can, which was moved next to his bed. Black thread was sewed against the patches, but Virgil also had thick white thread pulled out and set aside.

Virgil looked up when the demon teleported back into the room before going back to his work. Roman tilted his head curiously as he watched, sitting down on the floor next to the bed.

"Delores only had purple and pink fabric, but the purple isn't too bad. I like the design of it," Virgil explained.

"I see," Roman hummed. "If you would like, I can do it for you. That way it can be done faster and easier."

The human shrugged. "I actually want to do it myself. It'll be more meaningful, and it'll keep my hands busy. I need a distraction anyway." He tied off a knot and grabbed the scissors, cutting off the thread.

Roman smiled brightly, watching Virgil's hands as he moved to cut the elbow of the sleeve, which had melted into the side. Yeah, that had to go.

The demon liked it when the person he was bound to was okay with doing work. It wasn't like he hated having more work to do, human trifles were easy to deal with, but it showed what kind of person they were. Those who were snooty and rude refused to step over a puddle, while those who were kind and hard workers only asked for things they couldn't do.

Although Virgil was sarcastic and didn't want a demon, he was kind to others and insisted on dealing with things on his own. Still... his soul was soaked in misery, and he seemed to always put himself down. If only he could see his own strength and bravery.

"So, what did you do?" Virgil asked. "You said you had an idea? Or do I not want to know what you did, considering you said you needed to ask Remus something."

"Can't it be a surprise? It won't be bad, I promise."

"Will I like it?" Virgil looked up from his hoodie and squinted his eyes at the demon.

"I hope you do. But... of course when I talked to Remus about it he thought it would be fun to do the same thing. That you won't like, but I can't do anything about it, only Janus can."

The human sighed, turning back to sewing his hoodie in thought. "When will I see this surprise?"

"Tomorrow, at school."

"God, what is it?"

Roman pouted. "Fine! I enrolled at your school as a student. I figured if those bullies saw you with someone they would leave you alone. And if not, I could lightly fight them for you, I won't do anything like break bones or kill them but just push them back."

"Oh..." Virgil froze for a moment. "Th-that's uh... I'm not sure how I feel about it. That's really thoughtful, though."

"Let's just see how it goes tomorrow, if it helps and it doesn't bother you then I can continue to go to your school as a student for as long as needed."

Virgil nodded before his eyes widened. "Wait Remus is going to be a student! In my school!"

Roman winced. "Yeah... he thought it would be fun. Sorry about that."

"As long as he doesn't bother me." Virgil was going to ask Roman to keep Remus from him, but with how unpredictable the demon's brother was, he didn't want to risk Roman accidentally 'disobeying' his command. Sure he wanted to kill him, but not like that. It felt wrong, dirty. "Do you know what your schedule is going to be?"

"The exact same as yours, I don't want to leave you alone for a moment. It had taken forever to come up with previous school information, fake family, and a million other things! But with a good illusion, Remus and I tricked the counselors easily."

Virgil laughed, making Roman's heart shine bright at the sound. "So you're going as brothers?"

"Twin brothers, yes. Actually, no, Remus is pretending to be a year younger than me to fit into Janus's classes. In reality, we are twins, since should any demon have a sibling or more, they would be twins or triplets."

"Sounds like a nightmare."

"It is. I'm just glad Remus's schedule is a copy of Janus's. You two only share P.E. together."

"Oh that's going to be a lot of fun," Virgil said with sarcasm poisoning his voice. "Well, I imagine you're going to be an A plus student. I guess it could help me with my own homework since we're going to be sharing."

"That's right! Another bonus! And yes, with my vast knowledge, I'm sure I will do just fine in class. My main focus will still be keeping you safe. Should I need to get in a fight with you, I doubt the teachers will like me very long."

"You're still probably going to be an angel compared to Remus."

Roman made a face of disgust. "I'd prefer it if you never called me that again. Angels are uptight little pricks who think they're better than anyone else."

"Sounds like bullies." Virgil went back to sewing his jacket again. "I hope to never meet them." He blinked when he realized what he just said. He knew several people who would have gasped in offense, or in fear from the words that had left his mouth. "Hm... Patton wouldn't have liked that."

"Hopefully you won't have to play Christian with them. No offense to Christians, but they do worship those that we demons are against. Plus, if you had to go to church then I wouldn't be able to follow you without suffering through some pain and weakness. Church floors burn." Roman shivered.

"Well... hopefully if I do end up doing that I'll be safe. After All, it's a church, isn't there a thing about blood being spilled on holy grounds? I don't think I'm going to be in danger."

"I suppose, the world seems... almost safer since I had last left it."

"Well, there hasn't been a proper duel in several decades. Unless I'm wrong, but either way I'm sure I'll be safe if I go into a church."

"How safe is this town anyway?"

Virgil looked up from his jacket, but not at Roman. "Well... hm..."

"I don't like that." Roman frowned.

"There um, are two gangs in town. The media calls them the Reds and Yellows, though I don't know their proper names. They hate each other, but mostly keep to themselves. Sometimes they get into fights and kill each other, and sometimes civilians get caught in the crossfire. I'm lucky enough to not have seen them. I'm honestly surprised I haven't heard any gunshots at all, considering whenever a death caused by them is reported it's always because of a gun wound."

"If they are human, then I'll have no problem protecting you from them. Besides, I'm able to heal normal injuries with little to no energy."

"Normal injuries?"

"Injuries not inflicted by holy or damned weapons."

"Ah, that makes sense." Virgil finished sewing on the last two patches. Roman thought he was going to put everything away, but he only put the black thread back in the sewing kit. He grabbed the thick white thread before struggling to put it through the eye of the needle. Roman flicked his wrist to help him, but only with that. "Thanks."

"Of course. What are you planning to do with it?"

Virgil looked up at him with a smile. A genuine smile, one that was just perfectly Virgil. It was soft, but it wasn't sad or angry, it was almost a smirk. "I just had this idea... you'll see."

And suddenly, that wasn't such a bad phrase anymore.