Chapter One

The inside of Virgil’s small room at the orphanage felt brighter than usual, even though the day outside was gloomy and grey. Rain drizzled down the thick old glass that he peered through. He hardly cared to notice. 

In the six years he’d been up for adoption it had become increasingly rare for anyone to pay him any mind. He was sure the only people that remembered he existed sometimes were the owner of the orphanage, Thomas, and his roommate, Tobi. The furthest he’d gotten with any potential parents was an interview before they forgot about him and adopted someone smaller instead. A baby whose first steps they could catch on camera. Even when he was younger that was the case—he’d become an orphan at two, already a toddler.

He hadn’t left the seat by his window since he’d had breakfast. Tobi was talking about some new video game they liked behind him, and he was listening, he just had other things on his mind too. There was a couple visiting today and Virgil had overheard Thomas talking to them on the phone. They were looking to adopt an older child.

Virgil’s eyes flicked up to the road and watched as a car slowed down to turn into the driveway. It looked old—nothing like the ones Virgil was used to seeing everywhere—but well-kept. It was painted a soft blue that appeared almost grey in the washed-out daylight. Someone stepped out of the driver's side, quickly putting up a black umbrella then going around the car to open the door for their partner. Virgil’s eyes stayed on them until they got too close to the front of the building for him to follow.

“Virge?” Tobi said. “Have you been listening to me at all?”

“Huh? Yeah, you said something about a purple cat?”

“Right. Are they here yet?”

“Uh… someone is. Dunno if it’s who Thomas was talking to.”

He felt Tobi walk up behind him and peek over his shoulder. “Ooh, nice car. My dad would’ve loved that, he liked old cars.”

That was only the second time Tobi had mentioned their parents in the year or so that they’d been at the orphanage. They were a few years older than Virgil, and unlike him they weren’t up for adoption at all.

The two of them moved away from the window, instead sitting on Tobi’s bed to wait and see if Thomas came to get Virgil. Virgil watched Tobi play their new game for a while. He didn’t quite understand it but he found the colourful animal characters pretty cute. They didn’t have to wait long for the knock on the door. Tobi gave Virgil an encouraging pat on the head and promised they’d show him more of the game when he got back.

Virgil’s stomach was in knots as he followed Thomas downstairs, where two men were talking quietly in front of the reception desk. When the shorter of the two spotted them he gasped, eyes lighting up and hands cupping his cheeks. A grin spread across his face and Virgil heard him whisper something to the other man that ended in adorable. 

“Virgil, this is Patton and Logan Blackwood.” He gestured to both of the men in turn as he said their names. Logan was much calmer, with a serene but amused smile.

Patton was all bright colours, with curly strawberry-blond hair and bright blue eyes that matched the polo shirt he wore. Logan was practically the opposite; dark clothes, dark hair, dark skin, and kind brown eyes.

Virgil took a deep breath and waved to them. Patton waved back with a cheerful greeting and a smile so wide his eyes squeezed shut. Logan gave a single nod.

Thomas led them into the small room next to his office. An old table in there had been repurposed into an interview desk and each chair around it was mismatched with the others, all donations from over the years that didn’t fit in anywhere else. Logan and Patton sat on one side of the table with Virgil and Thomas on the other. Virgil’s shoulders barely reached the top of the desk.

“You up for talking today, Virge?” Thomas whispered. Virgil looked up at him then down to the floor and shook his head. “That’s alright. I can do all the talking if that’s okay?” He directed the question towards Patton and Logan.

“Oh!” Patton exclaimed. “That's perfectly okay! Logan doesn't like talking sometimes either, we totally understand.” 

Virgil sat there listening to Thomas answering Patton’s questions for a while. There was the hint of an accent in Patton’s chipper voice, though Virgil couldn’t pick out what it was. Maybe Canadian? They lived far enough north that it was probably Canadian.

Occasionally he would be tapped on the shoulder and asked something, to which he’d nod or shake his head before going back to staring down at his lap.

He glanced up when he took notice of a soft tapping on hard wood. Logan was drumming his fingers on the table. Virgil watched for a minute, though couldn’t decipher if there was a pattern or rhythm to it. 

“It’s Morse code,” Logan said, voice quiet. It was the first time Virgil had heard him speak. His voice was low and smooth, lilted with the same accent as Patton’s, though a little stronger. Patton glanced between them with a smile before turning back to Thomas.

Virgil tilted his head with a frown. He’d never heard of Morse code before.

“It’s a type of code people used to use to communicate over long distances, via something called a telegram,” Logan explained. “I like to use it to recite poems when I’m feeling restless.”

Virgil squinted at Logan’s hand. Logan obligingly tapped out a word on the table—Virgil still couldn’t see a pattern besides some taps being shorter than others. Logan did it again, this time saying each letter as he did it.

By the time the interview was over Virgil had a rough grasp on what Logan was doing. He couldn’t quite figure out how people actually talked like that—it seemed far too complicated to be useful in that regard—but he understood why and how Logan used it.

An hour later, after Tobi had littered Virgil with questions and calmed his nerves with more Animal Crossing, Thomas came back up to their room. He had a smile on his face as he delivered the news:

Virgil was getting adopted.

The next fortnight dragged on and flew by all at once. The Blackwoods visited multiple times over those two weeks to fill out paperwork and get to know Virgil, making sure they were truly the right fit. Virgil’s anxiety around his prospective parents slowly melted away until he was almost as comfortable around them as he was around Thomas. Patton was funny, and silly, and had quickly figured out every way to make Virgil laugh. Logan was quiet, and considerate, and always checked to make sure Virgil wasn’t overwhelmed. He couldn’t have asked for better parents and it wasn’t even official yet.

When the day finally arrived, Tobi hugged Virgil as tight as they could on the front steps of the orphanage.

“You’ve gotta promise to visit, okay?” they said. They pulled back and held him by his shoulders at arms length. “Okay?”

“Okay.” Virgil held up his hand with a small smile on his face. “Pinky promise.”

Tobi smiled and hooked their fingers together with a decisive nod. “Pinky promise accepted.”

“Aw, I’m gonna miss you, Virgil,” Thomas said. He ruffled Virgil’s hair, much to his annoyance.

“I’ll visit you too!” Virgil said, giggling while he tried to flatten his hair back down.

“I know you will. You should get going now, though. I’m sure you’re excited to see your new home.”

“You ready to go, kiddo?” Patton said. He stood at the bottom of the steps, patiently waiting for Virgil to finish up his goodbyes. Virgil nodded and bounced down to him.

He waved to Thomas and Tobi, then followed Patton to the car. He quashed down his nerves—this was going to be good, and no little voice of doubt in his head could tell him otherwise. Logan was waiting in the driver's seat with the engine running, warming up the interior before they left. Frost clung to the grass outside despite it being well into the morning, the sun doing little to stave off the chill in the air.

Virgil didn’t have much; his single suitcase sat under his feet in the back of the car. It was dark purple, his favourite colour. Patton and Logan had bought it for him just for this, along with some clothes that he’d get to see when they got to his new home.

“It’s a bit of a drive to get there,” Patton said when they were just outside the gates. “We live a bit out of town and into the woods up the mountain, but it’s not super far.”

“We’ll be there in about three quarters of an hour,” Logan added.

“That is super far.” Virgil screwed up his nose and Patton laughed.

“It’s shorter than you’d think.” Patton turned back to smile at him. “Especially if you wanna nap through it. Ya look a little tired, kiddo.”

Virgil did end up sleeping through most of the drive, face smooshed against his seatbelt. He was woken up by the bumpy drive into the woods jostling him. He blinked and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes so he could look out the window and see where they were. The car was going slowly along the dirt and gravel driveway so he got to take in every part of the forest that they passed. The trees were a mix of reds and yellows and greens painting a warm, earthy rainbow outside.

“Have a nice nap, Virgil?” Patton asked. When Virgil looked over at him he was looking back in the rear view mirror with a smile. Virgil nodded then turned back to the window. 

They broke through the treeline a moment later. They were in a large clearing with a house right at the centre of it.

It was an old two-storey cottage that looked like it had come out of one of the books Virgil had read back at the orphanage. One about children going on adventures with faeries and talking animals. Adventures that always ended with them coming home to a nice hot meal and parents that would tuck them into bed with a kiss on the forehead.

The second Logan stopped the car Virgil scrambled to get his seatbelt off so he could get out and take a proper look. Patton was standing next to him a moment later, a warm hand on his shoulder.

“So, what do you think?”

“‘S pretty.” 

Virgil took it all in; the creeping vines up the walls, the large, shuttered windows, the flower bushes that would fill the area with colour come spring. The faded siding was painted the same soft blue as the car. The fiery orange foliage behind it made the blue stand out all the more. Logan grabbed the suitcase out of the car and followed as Patton led them into the house. The walls inside were painted a deep navy colour, paired with warm wooden furniture and a wide array of houseplants crammed everywhere they could fit. Virgil peeked into the living room and his jaw dropped open.

There were stars painted in bronze all along one wall and on the mantle above the fireplace. It looked like the kind of chart an astronomer would use, labels and coordinates on most of the significant stars, planets, and constellations. Patton laughed quietly behind him.

“That’s all Logan’s doing,” Patton said.

“It’s entirely accurate to the sky here, and it took me forever.” Virgil could hear the smile in Logan’s voice before he turned to look up at him.

“It’s so cool,” Virgil said, voice full of awe. Logan smiled wider and cleared his throat.

“Y’know what else is cool?” Patton asked.

“What?”

“Your room! C’mon, it’s upstairs.”

Virgil had the smaller of the two bedrooms, only a bit bigger than his old room. The walls and bedding were a similar colour to his suitcase but everything else was in warm light greys. The curtains were open to let the cold sunlight spill in.

“D’ya like it?” Patton asked.

Virgil didn’t answer, too preoccupied scurrying around to look in every corner and read the spines of every book on his small shelf. Looking over to his bed he spotted a plush black cat, sitting in the sun much like a real cat would. He walked over to pick it up, turning it over in his hands and stroking its soft fur.

“Guess I’ll take that as a yes, then.”

Logan brought his suitcase over to his bed and parked it by him. Virgil looked up at him like he’d forgotten he wasn’t alone.

“Would you like us to help you unpack your things, or would you rather do it yourself?” Logan asked.

“Um…” Virgil looked over to his wardrobe. It was open and already had some clothes in it. “I think I want help, I don’t know where everything goes…”

“Very well.” Logan nodded and lifted the suitcase onto the bed to open it.

“Ooh, and we can show you all the clothes we got for you!” Patton clapped his hands and bounced over to the wardrobe. “Logan picked a lot of it out, he thought I was getting a bit too silly with it.”

“If Virgil wants a rainbow pom-pom beanie he can get his own when next we go out,” Logan said without looking up.

Virgil didn’t want to be mean so he didn’t say it out loud, but secretly he was glad Logan had intervened. He wouldn’t have worn something like that in a million years. He didn’t mind bright colours, truly, however he was also very fond of blending in to the background. It was what had stopped him from getting picked on by the older kids too much before Tobi was around.

Once everything was packed away Logan and Patton went downstairs to start making lunch, leaving Virgil to settle into his room. He flopped back onto his bed and cuddled the plush cat to his chest. Its fur sparkled a bit in the sun.

He was still having some trouble wrapping his head around it. He had parents now. Parents that bought him clothes and who lived in a house from a fairytale. He lived in a house from a fairytale.

The sound of Patton singing in the kitchen drifted upstairs. A slight breeze rustled the leaves outside. He could hear birds cawing in the distance somewhere. The peace of the forest calmed him, grounded him. He smiled and giggled to himself. He was home.