The Smell Of Vanilla (Sander Sides Fanfiction)

Chapter 2

I wrote was having a serious writing block while trying to make this chapter longer. I wrote it all while chugging capri-sun and eating a lemon muffin I made. It's just kinda fluff of Virgil and Thomas while he gets settled into his new home. Luca Lineare is Italian and Felix is his son. I promise Virgil will meet the other sides in the next chapter.

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When Virgil finally woke up his room was brightly lit, he must have forgotten to close the curtains before he went to bed. He quickly changed into a new black tee and brushed his teeth before making his way downstairs and into the kitchen. Thomas was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee reading the daily paper. Virgil stood awkwardly in the doorway before clearing his throat.

"Oh, hey bud!" Thomas smiled, "wait, is it okay if I call you bud?" Virgil shrugged and Thomas's smile faltered a little. "I understand you aren't comfortable yet here, Virgil, so how about I tell you some things about myself and you can tell me about you when you're ready?"

"That sounds good," Virgil mumbled.

"Okay then," Thomas began, "My name is Thomas Sanders and I'm 30 years old. I like to sing. My favorite color is red. My favorite food is probably, um... burritos. I'm sorry, I don't really know what to say." Virgil smiled lightly as Thomas laughed. "Okay. Somewhere in this house there's a grey cat named Catalie Portman, you can just call her Cat. I have a friend named Joan and they'll come over pretty often. I think you'll like them."

"Catalie Portman." Virgil whispered lightly. Thomas' smile grew a little more as both of them laughed.

"Okay, okay," Thomas refocused, "the neighborhood is pretty quiet. There are some nice kids down the street that are your age. I'm really happy to have you here, I hope everything is pretty comfortable so far."

"It is." Virgil murmured, relishing in the warmth of Thomas's smile.

"Okay then. Oh gosh, you're probably hungry! I can make some breakfast burritos and the wifi network and password and my phone number are on the little piece of paper there." He said, pointing to a sticky note on the counter.

This was nice, normally they just give me a list of rules and their names, Virgil thought as he and Thomas dug into their burritos. Never just a normal introduction, like friends. He remembered the last foster home he'd been at where they didn't even introduce themselves, just wrote the rules down and handed them to him. And the one before that where they had actually bothered to introduce themselves but he had been kicked out a month later when he told them he was gay. He'd been in a few homophobic foster homes and that one was definitely not the worst. One of them, when Virgil had been extremely young, was the worst. The foster mother of this family had been ranting about the "awful homosexual scumbags" in the world and he had wondered allowed "what's bad about homosexuals". The next day, when Virgil had shown up to daycare with a bruise across his cheek, he had been removed from the home.

"Oh, I never asked. Do you want anything to drink?" Virgil nodded, "Okay, coffee, tea, um... I'm not sure what else we have."

"Tea, please," Virgil said, "coffee heightens my anxiety."

"Anxiety, ay? Maybe we can get you some medication for that. I used to take anxiety medication." Thomas told him softly. Virgil nodded lightly.

"Maybe." No one had ever offered to get him medication for his anxiety before.

They heard a loud meow from the entrance to the kitchen and there sat a rather fat grey cat. It made its way over to Virgil's chair and purred as it rubbed against his feet.

"Hey girl," Thomas crooned at the cat, "I fed you earlier so I know you aren't hungry." Cat purred a little louder and tried to climb onto Virgil's lap. "You're lucky. She doesn't like that many people."

"I don't like that many people either," Virgil cooed at her, "you and me, Cat."

"Hey, Virgil, I'm going to the mall later and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me. We can get some snacks and stuff and maybe some posters for your room."

"Yeah, I'd love to come, Thomas. You really don't have to get me anything though." Virgil insisted. Thomas waved him off, telling him that it's no trouble.

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At the store Virgil awkwardly followed Thomas around, unsure what to do. Thomas hummed a tune to himself as he shuffled down the aisles with a cart, waving and chatting with people as he went. Virgil was beginning to feel very out of place as he watched Thomas talk with a tall man with dark skin who looked to be Italian.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," he exclaimed, "Virgil, this is Mr. Lineare. He has a few kids around your age. Luca, this is Virgil."

"It is good to meet you, Virgil," Luca said as he shook Virgil's hand with a firm grip. His accent was very thick. Virgil mumbled out a response and watched the floor as the two men said goodbye and Thomas looked once again at Virgil.

"I'm sorry, Virge, you must be feeling weird just standing there while I talk to people. How about you go pick out some chips," He suggested, "if you want to." Virgil shrugged and moved over to the chip aisle, where he ran straight into a boy a few years younger than him.

"S-sorry." He stuttered out as the boy grabbed his arm for balance. He had dark skin, but one half of his face was splotched with a paler color. He had more splotches along his neck and arms.

"It's fine," the boy muttered, giving Virgil a once over. "I don't recognize you. You new in town." Virgil nodded as the kid introduced himself. "I'm Janus."

"Virgil." He said, picking a bag of chips off the shelf. The two stood awkwardly for a second before Virgil left to go find Thomas.

A while later Virgil found himself curled on his bed with Cat on his lap and a book that Thomas had gotten for him when they went grocery shopping, Coraline. He had read it a few years ago in a library and it was one of his favourites. He had had fun decorating his room with Thomas and was thankful that Thomas had let him get some decorations, some band posters and a new plum purple comforter. Thomas had, so far, been once of the nicest foster families he had been in. This was actually starting to feel like a home instead of a house.