Spindle Wood (COMPLETED)

Chapter 75

Roman winced at the creak in Pat's bedroom door. The light from the hallway cast a golden glow over the sleeping teenager. He was turned away from the window - towards the door -, Smoke's wing clutched in his hand as always, his curly hair already a mess from the pillow.

Roman grinned gently and closed the door. He made his way down the stairs as quietly as he could.

"Alright, he's asleep."

Virgil let out a breath. "Right, great. Now," he dropped his voice, "what on the Earth's core are we gonna do for Pat's 16th?"

Remus wrinkled his nose. "That's ages away, why d'we gotta worry-"

"It's next month, Remus." Virgil interrupted. Remus' mouth dropped open.

"Next month?!" He asked a bit too loud. He was shushed viciously. He shook his head, eyes wide with confusion. "But he was only a baby yesterday!"

"Yeah, time's gone fast." Roman agreed. "But what are we gonna do for him?"

"I thought," Virgil pulled a book towards himself and flipped it open, "we could do something like this."

He was pointing to a dress. The design was simple enough and the material would be relatively cheap to get but the embroidery-

"Vee, you can't make this in a month." Roman said.

"Could too!" Virgil twisted the book around to look at the design. He traced the neckline with a finger. "I could raise this a bit - he's got to look respectable when he goes to the palace - and the poof on the shoulders has got to go. That's way too old-fashion-"

"Darling." Roman said, making Virgil look up. "You won't be able to do this in a month."

"I'll do it." Virgil said in a confident way that was odd for Virgil. He glanced at Remus. "Considering I'd be able to use magic?"

Remus shook his head. "Nu-uh, absolutely not!"

"Why not?" Virgil asked. "I've got a protection spell and it's not like Janus is going to do anything! He already knows, he's not going to do anything about it."

Roman stared at him. "This isn't you." He said slowly. "What's going on?"

Virgil sighed. He held up his right hand. All around his nails was a crust of dry blood, black and lumpy.

"It started a couple months ago." He said. "Around December time. I think it's from the lack of magic use. It's just... built up." He leaned towards Roman slightly, something almost pleading in his posture. "You know I've never been good at storing it. I'm going to die, I can't live like this. The protection spell was a last-ditch resort and it's built up again and..." He shook his head. "I can't."

Remus looked shocked, bordering on horrified. That he could've inadvertently caused this... Roman knew what was going through his head. He knew he felt awful.

"Virgil, I'm so sorry." Remus stuttered out. "If you'd just said, I could've-"

"Well, I didn't." Virgil snapped. "And it's fine." He glared down at the book. "I can do this and then I'll be fine and we'll all be fine and Pat... Pat'll be..." His shoulders shook and he covered his face with his hands.

Roman was around the table in a flash. He sat next to Virgil and hugged him close. "Hey, hey, it's okay." He said. He repeated it again, a bit firmer. "It's okay. We all knew this... this had to happen. He was never gonna be Pat forever."

Virgil lifted his face out of his hands. His eyes were glossy with unshed tears. "I don't want to do this." He said. "I don't think I can. Roman, he's my kid." He looked around at Remus. "He's our kid. I never thought... He thinks I'm his dad, Roman. His papa, he's always called me his-" Virgil swallowed and shook his head. He wiped his eyes quickly and pulled the book forward again. He seemed determined to ignore all of this. "I'll need to get his measurements. He's grown so much... And we'll need to see if the Aristal market stocks this kind of material in blue."

"Blue?!" Remus repeated.

"Bright blue." Virgil said. "Baby blue, powder blue, sapphire, sky, anything that's not dark blue. It goes with his hair. Bronze and blue. It works." He glanced up at Remus. "It's always worked."

Remus sighed. "I'll see what I can get. And you can just ask the kid to measure. Say you're doing a... dress for someone of his sorta size or something."

"But that can wait." Roman said. He needed to be the voice of reason for once. He gave Virgil's shoulder a squeeze. "You need sleep, darling. We can start this tomorrow, yeah?"

Virgil sighed but nodded. Remus tapped the table.

"I'll send the kid out for some flowers tomorrow. He'll go wild, be out for ages."

I LIVE, BITCHES! And he's nearly 16! Finally!!
Bye,
Blaize