Snake Boy

~ Chapter Twenty-Five ~

{Possible trigger warnings: swearing, mentions of abuse

If I miss something, I apologize and please let me know}

~~~ Two Months Later ~~~

Dorrian's first day at school was a wild ride. Logan got permission to be with him all day, and the reactions were quite interesting. He made sure no one was going to pick on his boyfriend.

His friends were all super excited to see Dorrian out and about, and their lunch table was the loudest in the entire cafeteria for once. Logan spent most of the period grinning at Dorrian as he and Roman had an extensive ASL argument about the necessity of broccoli in one's diet.

The best part of the first day though, was introducing Dorrian to Thomas.

"You must be Dorrian." The biology teacher practically buzzed with excitement. "I've heard you're a very smart boy."

Dorrian shrugged, offering a hesitant smile. 'Logan seems to think so.'

"Well Logan knows more about this stuff than I do, so I'm inclined to believe him." Thomas offered his hand once Logan had translated. "I haven't brushed up on my ASL yet, I apologize for that, but I'll work on it okay?"

Dorrian blinked, then nodded and shook Thomas's hand. 'It's okay. Most people I've met today don't know anything of it.'

Thomas chuckled. "I'm sure. I'll tell you what, Dorrian, I'll make you a deal."

Logan backed off a little as the two began to discuss the next chapter of the class, Thomas giving Dorrian an early rundown so he could keep up with his classmates. He smiled to himself, watching as Virgil's older brother slipped into a half-sign-half-speech conversation, knowing he really didn't need to be involved as much here.

~~~ A Month Later ~~~

"Binks, Aysten."

Applause.

"Black, Alicia."

Applause.

"Black, Kai."

Applause.

"Blanche, Dorrian."

Uproar. Cheers, applause, whistling. Logan stood up from his seat and yelled Dorrian's name at the top of his lungs as his boyfriend walked across the stage to receive his diploma. He could see Dorrian smiling harder than he ever had before, and it looked like there were tears running down his face.

The diploma was a specialized case, since Dorrian hadn't gone to school before, but the administrative board had ruled that he could walk because of his impressive-considering-the-circumstances scores on the qualifying tests they'd had him take.

Logan knew the world would still be hard on Dorrian. Sure, the circus had been disbanded and several members arrested. Sure, Vanessa Blanche flew out once every couple months to spend a day with her nephew and make sure he was okay. Sure, Logan and his family fought tooth and nail to make sure the snake boy from a painful background was treated fairly and with respect. That didn't stop a**holes from being a**holes.

But d*mn it all if he wasn't going to take care of Dorrian to the best of his abilities for the rest of their lives. He'd said as much in his valedictorian speech. "I've lived my life by the idea that I should not let people suffer for the ignorance of others. And now that I will be taken a little bit more seriously as a high school graduate, I'm only going to push harder."

This world had nothing on Logan Emory's determination to keep his loved ones safe.

~~~ Four Years Later ~~~

"I've rewritten these vows a dozen times, and each time I read them I feel the urge to add something else. There really are no words for how much I love you, and how much I'll fight the world for treating you the way it does."

Logan kept steady eye contact with Dorrian as he spoke. He'd memorized his vows a month in advance, because he wanted to look at the love of his life while he said them.

"You were dealt a sh*t hand, if we're honest with ourselves, but I'm not going to let that take you. You know I love you more than anything in the world, and I try to show you that every day. If you'll have me, Dorrian Blanche, I'd like to fight the world for you for the rest of my life. I'm all yours, and I always will be."

Dorrian beamed at him, tears trickling along the human side of his face. Logan smiled and wiped them off gently.

'I'm not nearly as proficient with words as you are, love. I wanted to keep this simple, because I know nothing's going to tell you I love you any more than this will.'

"I love you so much, Logan Emory."

The gasps from the assembled who hadn't heard Dorrian speak before made a perfect background for Logan's own soft gasp of happiness. He'd never get over this man.

F*ck the world. This one was his.

~~~ Five Minutes Later ~~~

"By the power invested in me, and with more excitement than when Hadestown swept the Tonys," Roman said into the mic, grinning as both Logan and Dorrian rolled their eyes at him. He grinned at them and addressed the audience. "I pronounce these two dopes husband and husband. You may now kiss your husband."

Dorrian pulled him in before Logan could even react, and by god he wasn't complaining. The room filled with cheers as they held each other close.

"Ladies, lords, and nonbinary royalty present, I give you Mr. and Mr. Doctor Logan Emory-Blanche!" Roman grinned. 

"I highly doubt that's the correct way to say that, Roman." Logan laughed as he and Dorrian turned to face their friends and family.

"I don't care, that's how I'm saying it."

~~~ Twelve Years Later ~~~

"Before we get into this interview, Doctor Emory-Blanche, if I could ask you a more personal question?"

Logan adjusted his tie and nodded. "Go ahead, but I will reserve all rights whether or not to answer."

His interviewer, Elliot Wallace, smiled. "Completely understandable... what question do you hate getting asked the most?"

That was certainly not what Logan had expected. He sat up a little, composing his thoughts.

"People ask me way too often whether my husband is of interest to me because of his biological anomalies."

Elliot looked surprised, and Logan nodded. "Apparently I come off as a more callous person than I am. Dorrian is a survivor of abuse, physical, mental, psychological, and biomedical. I have made it very clear in multiple interviews that I would never and will never even consider treating him in a way that would reflect the actions of his abusers."

Elliot smiled. "That's admirable."

"It's common decency." Logan replied. "At the end of the day Dorrian is a man, and he may look different but no one should be treated as an object due to their being different. I do not answer questions about my husband anymore, but I do firmly believe that his physical appearance did nothing to affect my attraction to him, and had he been a quote-unquote normal person, we would have fallen in love and married regardless."

"Very well, Doctor Emory-Blanche. Let's get into the interview properly, shall we? You discovered a new species of venomous constrictor snake in the Amazon a few months ago, and believe this snake may have in its venom a cure for several skin conditions?"

Logan nodded, beginning to recount the tests he'd been doing with his team with Blanche Constrictors, falling into his natural element as he discussed his findings.

He was done answering questions about Dorrian. He had promised to fight the world for him, and d*mmit he would do that.