Chapter 217

"V?" Hayden pads over to his study room in fluffy slippers and PJs after taking a shower. 

Virgil immediately looks up, giving him his full attention. "Yes, love?"

"Well, it's time for dinner and Yanis might be coming over." He says sheepishly.

Virgil blinks at this abrupt change of topic. "I'm sorry what? He's coming over for dinner?"

Hayden laughs at this. "No, silly, you said I should talk to him about Old man Mason, didn't you?" He asks walking over to him.

"Well, yeah." Virgil affirms, pulling him down to sit on him with which Hayden easily goes, throwing his arms around his neck. "But I thought he was in Asia."

"He is but he planned on a surprise visit which got ruined when I made the call so he's coming in a week." Hayden explains.

"Oh, that's nice." He murmurs, kissing his forehead. "What did he say about Old man Mason?"

"He says he'll email the necessary documents, that it should satisfy the Realtors till he comes over with the hardcopy. I don't understand why can't you both have this conversation? Why does it have to be through me?"

Virgil makes a face, getting up with Hayden in his arms to make his way to the dining room. "The first words I might have said to him was that we were married."

Hayden whips his head up at this. "You did not? No wonder he kept asking if there was anything I wasn't telling him."

Virgil just shrugs unrepentantly. "He's still not my favorite person."

"How's Candy doing? How's the baby?" Virgil asks, proceeding to feed his fiance who he doesn't let up from his hold.

"Perfectly fine, energetic as usual." Hayden shakes his head fondly. "Honestly, I still can't get my head around how she can bounce around with her tummy so big."

"I don't know, she seems like the kind of person to." 

"Virgil?" Hayden murmurs, absently kissing off the sauce from his lower lip.

"Mn?" 

"I was thinking about children today." He says shyly, wringing his hands.

Virgil glances at him at this, surprise etched on his face, while he hadn't thought about that, he was down with whatever his baby wanted. "Mn." He hums again, returning to his task of feeding them both.

"You want children?" Virgil asks bluntly when it seems like Hayden's record is broken.

Hayden chokes at the way the question is phrased, like Virgil could give him actual children, face burning a bright red.

"I-I w-was th-thinking we could m-maybe adopt?" He suggests nervously when he gets his breath back.

Virgil hums again. "Sure, whatever you want." He agrees easily.

Hayden's eyes light up. "Really? We could get a little baby girl…"

Virgil watches silently as his lover spends the rest of dinner monologuing about getting the right shade of lavender bowties with love in his bright blue eyes.

He had lucked out getting someone as wonderful as this to fall in love with him and he was going to remember that every time he had to wake up at night to catch Hayden before he fell off the bed.

Hayden's face falls for the fifth time in a row when Virgil just settles in bed for cuddles before they slept, he was a chronically shy person, that didn't change much even though they have been living together for a while now.

So nothing short of getting drunk would give him any semblance of courage to ask Virgil why he never touched him like that anymore.

Did he do something wrong? Was he too drunk to notice?

The bruises on his skin had long faded but Virgil didn't look too eager to start up anything again, content to give cuddles and chaste kisses like they were twelve.

It bothered him but he wasn't a nymphomaniac, he could also understand that maybe Virgil was too occupied with the Realtors threatening their safety.

He falls asleep cocooned in the comforting warmth of Virgil's bare chest, worries easily forgotten.

He wakes up to find Virgil gone, which is odd considering he had woken up early enough, he considers rolling around in bed all day just being lazy but Jennie would probably hunt him if he didn't make it down to work.

He decides to go looking for his fiance, husband? Same difference.

"V?" He rubs at his eyes, waddling out of the bedroom. "Virgil! Bab… oh!" He blinks in surprise when he pops into the kitchen to see Virgil in a fistfight with the pan.

"No, no, don't… ow!" He winces when Virgil tries to flip the egg and just whacks his head with the pan, the half goey egg dribbling down his face.

"You're up already?" Virgil notes with a poker face like egg yolk isn't coloring his nose yellow. "I wanted breakfast to be ready before you did."

"You're too sweet for your own good." Hayden coos, snatching up a hand towel to wipe his face. "You could have just gotten something brought up from the kitchens." He half scolds him, checking his head where the pan had hit him rather hard.

He ends up getting on his tiptoes to do this.

Virgil frowns, leaning forward to make things easier. "I wanted to cook for you, you work so hard."

"Not really." He shrugs, trying to play off his blush and the fluttering in his stomach. "I like cooking for you... Oh my God, there's egg in your eyes!" He cuts himself off, panic bleeding in his voice as he grabs Virgil's hand and pulls him in the direction of the bathroom, remembering to turn off the stove.

Virgil is unperturbed while Hayden panics around him, letting him fuss over him and rinse off his face.

"Does it hurt?" He finally asks after washing Virgil's face so thoroughly his hair gets wettened. "Can you see?" 

Virgil stares blankly at him, eyes dark and Hayden panics harder.

"I'm pretty sure I washed it all out but it could have already... mmph." His words get cuts off as Virgil leans forward to claim his lips, tongue putting an end to his worrying.

He wraps both arms around him to pull him closer, pajama top melded to his skin from the water.

"You talk too much and you'll catch a cold." Virgil says when he breaks off, taking his hand so he can help him out of the wet clothing into something preferably dryer.

Hayden rolls his eyes at this. "If you had just told me your eyes were fine like a normal person."

"What's the fun in that?" Virgil shrugs, helping him in the new shirt. "Besides, I like kissing you, it's a win-win." He says bluntly.

Hayden reaches for his ears, wondering how Virgil could say things like with a completely straight face. "Go shower, I'll prepare breakfast before you burn the kitchen down."

"You don't want to shower with me?" Virgil says and Hayden can't tell if he's being serious or not.

"W-What?" He splutters.

"Fucking adorable." Virgil mutters under his breath, leaning over to kiss his nose before making his way to the bathroom.

Hayden just wanders into the bathroom wondering how he's still alive with Virgil cruelly teasing him like that so often.

Mentally he catalogs his schedule for the day, excitement thrumming under his skin at the thought of Yanis coming to pay a visit.

All the while preparing breakfast and humming under his breath, multitasking was something he needed to survive at the bookstore.

It took having the ability to multitask to attend to customers, stop Jennie from getting turned into a songbird by Mae, and also stop Dream from overfeeding his cat, Apple.

That all happened at the same time and now he could say he was a master at multitasking.

He kisses Virgil goodbye and goes to prepare for work, he's decided to let his hair grow out since Virgil said he liked that.

His hair still hasn't lost the ability to rapidly grow and it was nearing the time for his monthly haircut so his hair is the longest it had been in a while, he couldn't say he didn't like it.

It a little bit shocking to get to the bookstore and Jennie isn't ninja jumping on him, she makes an appearance not long after though.

"Did something happen Jen?" He asks in concern when she makes her way in with her usual box of bagels and cappuccino in hand.

"I took your advice, Hay." She bundles in happily, somehow always holding too many things when she shows up in the mornings.

"I'm sorry, what?" Hayden frowns, confused.

"While we were texting, you said I should go visit a pet store or something?" She reminds him, slipping in the backroom to place her handbag in her locker.

"Oh." Hayden mutters under his breath, petting Apple who kept asking.

What Jennie meant to say was what he told her to stop her from spamming him.

"Turns out there's one not very far from where I live."

"And you went there this morning?" Hayden asks for clarification, wondering just at what time the elf-like girl got up in the morning.

"Yes." She nods seriously. "Suzie knows I work for you and she's extra nice."

"And chaotic as you are, it would add up that you'd become best buddies." 

"I know right." Jennie nods seriously. "Suzie totally gets me and the animals too but I don't want to work there, it'll hit different if I did."