It has been 50 days since they last interacted, which is 50 too many

Polaroid #101 Simplicity can be a virtue.

Books and Anxiety: Dating edition

a/n: sooo, I know this isn’t actually in the right order BUT. This story absolute slaps, like I’ve never been prouder of my writing. Historical AUs my beloved. If you enjoy this shit to give it some love folks, pls. 

Parings: analogical,  very background brotherly prinxiety and dukexiety as well as platonic logicality 

Warnings: a little bit of self deprecation, anxiety (this is Virgils pov), and one sex mention at the very end (just skip the bonus to avoid it) 

Word count: 1,260

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Virgil tapped his foot. Why had he thought this was a good idea. Stupid. Too many things could go wrong, they could get kicked out of the Library, Logan could decide he wasn’t worth the energy, Logan might not even show up! Maybe he had already realized how awful Virgil was and never wanted to see him again.  

He glanced at his watch, 4:46. Okay, Logan was 15 minutes late, there are worse things to be. Plenty of things could have happened between the printing press and the downtown library. 

Virgil watched as the horses trotted happily down the cobblestone street. Oh to be a horse. Free of cute boys who make your heart feel like it's gonna explode and then stand you up. 

It was shocking that Logan even saw something in Vigil. He didn’t particularly like standing out. His dirty grey trench coat and cap helped him blend into the grimy shadows. He wasn’t good-looking or particularly smart and worked in a factory. Whereas Logan was a brilliant budding writer who was, to put it lightly, ridiculously gorgeous. Yet he had asked Virgil out.

Virgil rubbed his face, in his rush to get to the library he had forgotten to wash it (shut up, he was excited). He had used a ‘borrowed’ kerchief from his brother Roman but there was probably soot covering his entire body. If Logan was to show up who’s to say he wouldn’t take one look at Virgil and leave.

  The man leaned against the tree behind him. Nodding to passersby and trying to look like he wasn’t screaming inside. 

Few more minutes of torture later, Logan made an appearance. His worn brown jacket and blue tie flapped behind him as he sprinted across the street towards Virgil. He was missing his hat and his brown hair was disheveled. “I am so sorry” he panted. 

Virgil put a hand on his shoulder, “s’ fine, I wasn’t here long” he said softly. Logan smiled, catching his breath, “thank goodness, I- well, I got caught up in an article and time escaped me, again” Virgil chuckled gently, “I could tell” he said, pointing to Logan’s ink-stained hands. 

Logan flushed a little and accepted the offered kerchief, wiping his hands vigorously. “So uh, the library” Virgil nodded, “after you” he murmured and smiled down at Logan as the lovely man’s blush only deepened. 

The downtown library was much smaller than the uptown one. It housed more rebellious volumes and the librarians were far nicer. It was an old brownstone that had been sold to the town a few years ago. The once lovely building was sorely neglected and had fallen into disrepair. The town didn’t want to spend much money on it, so they stuck some books inside. 

All in all a perfect first date for two gay men in the early 1900’s.

The librarian waved happily at Logan as he entered the building, “well how do ya do Mr. Berry” Logan smiled “I’m quite well Mx. Heart, this is my um- this is Virgil Storm” Mx. Heat beamed. “Oh my! I heard so much about you, would it be alright if I hugged you. Ohhh” Virgil looked at Logan, baffled, who shrugged. Mx. Heart wrapped Virgil in an impressively strong hug before ushering the two away. After all, it was a date. 

Virgil carefully walked through the crowded rows of books. Books were placed haphazardly on every available surface, the few desks had piles of books on and/or underneath them. 

Despite the chaos, Logan seemed to know exactly where everything was. Virgil nervously looked away from his date towards one of the books on top of the pile. 

‘The wild olive; by the basil king,’ someone liked food, goodness. Virgil put down the book and continued his search. His attention was caught by a big black book ‘spiders’ which was printed on the back in spindly silver font. Virgil’s breath caught slightly, as he picked up the heavy volume. 

“Found something?” Logan asked, Virgil startled and nearly dropped the book, “sorry,” Logan said scratching his neck, Virgil shook his head, “It's fine, I did, uh- it’s a book on arachnids. When I lived in the country I had a pet spider but it was um- killed…” 

“I’m sorry,” Logan said touching Virgil’s arm softly, “s fine, I mean- I wasn’t fine then” Virgil laughed awkwardly, “but it’s fine now” he shrugged. “Are we gonna find a desk or..” Logan shook his head, “no, I want to show you something”. He held out his hand, Virgil took it without hesitation.

Logan led Virgil across the room and into a small corner blocked off by a shelf. With his free hand, he pushed on the panels and it swung open like a door. 

The stairs going down were broken and blocked off but those going up seemed sturdy. Virgil stayed alert and ready to grab Logan should something was to go wrong. That would be a great way to spend a date, falling through a staircase and dying. 

The two made it up the stairs without incident. The room the staircase led to was also in disrepair but it had been patched up enough that no-one would be falling through the floor, though you never could tell. Virgil's brother Remus had taught him that. 

There was a cracked stained glass window that let in shards of colored light illuminating the room with beautiful hues of blue and purple. Cushions lined the room as well as quite a few blankets. A coffee table pressed up against the wall held an assortment of pens and pads of paper all decorated with the same slanted handwriting. There were also quite a few cups of cold tea across the room which made Virgil smile. 

“Well?” Logan asked a little nervously. “It’s beautiful” Virgil beamed. Logan looked very pleased with himself and led the man to a well-worn spot directly beneath the window. 

Virgil followed dutifully sitting just close enough to Logan for it to be flirty without invading personal space. He was adamant about respecting boundaries and at this point, Logan hadn’t set quite enough for him to initiate anything, though he wanted to. 

Logan shifted towards him (yeeessss) opening his book, it was on psychology, one of Logan’s many interests. Virgil opened his book, and let himself relax a little. 

Virgil’s watch ticked past 12, Logan was fully seated on Virgil’s lap and was reading excerpts from his book out loud. Virgil was smiling like a fool, absentmindedly branding the longer parts of Logan’s unruly chestnut hair. 

“While dreams are the compilation of memories and fantasy when studied mean- meaning can be derived from them *yawn* furthermore” Logan mumbled sleepily. 

Virgil laughed lightly, “Lo?” Logan hummed, letting the book fall onto his lap. “You need to go home?” Logan shook his head, “not really I- *yawn* no one’s expecting me” he said grinning up at Virgil who smiled right back down, “no one’s expecting me either” Logan hummed happily and leaned back into Virgil’s chest. 

The added weight surprised Virgil. He held Logan tightly as he lost his balance. They slid down the wall and landed with an oof onto Virgil’s back. The two tired men dissolved into giggles. 

Logan flipped onto his stomach and tucked his head into Virgil’s chest. “Night verge” Virgil smiled, “good night” he pressed a kiss into Logan’s hair and closed his eyes. 

*Bonus

“hem-hem” Logan blearily opened his eyes and was met with an angry Patton Heart. “did you have sex in my library!!!!”

ph ig @notrayson

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