The two of them had been right on one matter; it was long past time that they had another calm and relaxed day like this. Yes, they needed to make sure they made the most of daylight to go out and gather supplies and the like, but even though the world was gone that didn't mean everything had just stopped working. Virgil wasn't sure exactly how the electricity, gas, and water all still worked, but they did, so he wasn't about to spend too long thinking about it. The internet and phone lines were still working as well, so those two were yet more things that really should have stopped working because there was no-one left to maintain the systems that ran them. They still worked, because of course they did. Again, Virgil had no intention of questioning these things. When someone threw you a life raft you put it on, not worry about how it was made or who had made it.
Because of all of that, it meant that they could find the time to get comfortable every now and again and just enjoy being with one another. The rest of the world was gone, the streets were coated in fog and moss and ivy, but they were all still together. Sometimes it was nice to make use of that and remind each other of that fact.
Virgil had slept in late that day and woke up at a time matched only by Wesley, who often slept in later than the rest of them, but he knew roughly how the day had gone. The first ones up were Madison and Cygnus, the latter taking great care not to wake Virgil as he left the bedroom, and the two of them would have enjoyed some quality time with one another as they worked on making breakfast for the rest of them. Pancakes had been made from scratch, and a variety of toppings prepared depending on what they all liked the most. Sterling had been up next, and had made his way into the kitchen to help Cygnus and Madison with fixing up breakfast by cooking the bacon for Wesley's pancakes at about the same time that Cygnus had begun preparing the second pot of coffee. Lyla had been the forth one up, and had spent a good deal of time making herself busy by cleaning up around the kitchen and living room whilst making sure that the small pillow and blanket nests in the corner of each room were clean and comfortable in case Wesley collapsed at any point in the day.
After her it had been Virgil himself who was next to wake, sluggishly putting on his binder and making his way to the kitchen where he knew that the delicious and life-giving elixir known as coffee would be waiting for him. He had been right of course, and his boyfriend had handed the mug to him with a smirk. Virgil had drank deeply, the coffee mixed exactly as he liked it for Cygnus knew exactly how much sugar and milk to put in it by now, then Wesley had joined them and they'd all set about the business of eating breakfast together.
Their pancakes had been a mixture of types and flavours, the likes of which they weren't able to indulge themselves in on the day to day anymore. He'd gone for scotch pancakes with strawberries and a chocolate spread, which he still maintained was the correct way to eat pancakes no matter what the heathens around him believed, but the others had all had different types and toppings of pancakes for their own.
Madison had joined him in eating scotch pancakes, though she'd opted to completely smother hers in maple syrup instead of chocolate spread. It wasn't as correct as his method of pancake eating, but at least she was eating the right type of pancake. The rest of them did not eat the right type of pancake.
Cygnus and Lyla had both opted for crepes instead, with Lyla actually putting honest-to-God treacle on hers. How she could stomach that Virgil had no idea, but even he had to admit that Cygnus' personal favourite was a good one. His boyfriend had opted for one of the most classic crepe toppings, that being lemon juice and sugar, and whilst they didn't have the luxury of fresh lemons available to them they did still have a few bottles of lemon juice, so that was all fine.
The two of them had picked the wrong type of pancake for breakfast, but at least they weren't quite as wrong in their choices as Sterling and Wesley were with the monstrosities that they enjoyed.
Potato pancakes. Who put potatoes in a pancake mix? And they'd been made with gratings of onion and garlic for that matter; who put onion and garlic in a pancake?
Wesley had moved a small stack of them onto his plate along with the rashers of bacon that had been made for him, though not without offering it to the rest of them first, along with a fried tomato and some goat's cheese. His was by far the most savoury of the breakfast meals that the six of them had, for he'd always preferred savoury foods to sweet ones for as long as Virgil had known him. According to Lyla he'd always been like that, and seeing as she was his older twin he was inclined to believe her.
As for Sterling, he'd simply helped himself to a few of the potato pancakes and topped it with a hearty dollop of apple sauce. Given how much Wesley had complained about not having had any apples since the disappearance, Virgil was half surprised he hadn't gone for apple sauce as well.
The other five of them had all been some degree of wrong with how they preferred their pancakes, but it made them happy so Virgil was willing to look past this egregious and major flaw in their personalities.
After breakfast, which had been more of a brunch really, they'd all helped Cygnus and Madison clean up the kitchen no matter how much the two of them protested. Wesley had almost collapsed against the table after it had been cleared of food and cleaned, so Sterling had helped him to the small nest of pillows and blankets in the kitchen and sat there with him until he fully woke back up. Apart from that, nothing had really happened. Virgil and Lyla had all but chased Madison and Cygnus out of the kitchen and into the living room, adamant that the two of them would stop trying to find things to work on and instead come and spend some time with her.
Sterling had given them a quiet nod and wave as they walked out of the kitchen, letting them know that he was happy to stay with the napping Wesley, and so the four of them had broken out a boardgame to play in the living room whilst some random action flick Madison had picked out played in the background.
After a little while Sterling and Wesley joined them, the latter rubbing his eyes with a sheepish smile as he made to join in with the board game. Seeing as it was monopoly that was being played and it was both physically and mentally impossible to finish a single game of the wretched capitalist simulator, they'd all just agreed to let Sterling and Wesley join whichever team they wanted and carry on as normal. Sterling had ended up with Cygnus, which was perhaps unsurprising seeing as the youngest member of their group did tend to look up to the oldest despite the relatively small age gap between them, and Wesley had sat himself down next to Virgil and started playing.
And so the six of them stayed like that for quite some time, not really sure how long they'd been sat there and not really caring either. After a little while Sterling and Madison had moved into the kitchen to start working on dinner, which had been a shepherds pie with a side of broad beans and cauliflower cheese, and it had all been absolutely delectable. Virgil had helped with dinner as well, though by helped he meant he'd poured some gravy granules and boiling water into a jug and then whisked it with a fork until he thought his arm was going to fall off, and then they'd all sat down to eat once more.
Days like this were nice. To be treasured. It was something that, just like both he and Cygnus had said, was sorely needed.
Right now they were all sprawled out on couches or the armchair, save Cygnus who was pacing between the kitchen and his and Virgil's shared bedroom, and the tv had been displaying the 'are you still watching?' message for quite some time. Cygnus had walked back in the room with an impossibly soft expression on his face when he looked at all of them, and sighed contentedly as he moved to make some final preparations before they all went to sleep.
"You all seem to be sufficiently tired." Cygnus said, grabbing the remote lowering both the volume and brightness of the TV. "So I'll put on something relaxing you can fall asleep to. If anyone has any other suggestions feel free to chime in, but if not would you all want to try a nature documentary? If I'm ever tired or distressed I find them to be quite calming. There's one here on the lives of blue whales. Would you like to watch that?"
Virgil nodded, not ashamed at all to admit that he was already dozing off in Madison's arms. Sterling gave Cygnus a thumbs up as well, to which Cygnus just nodded and pressed play on the episode.
"Okay. Since you'll almost certainly all be falling asleep here, we should probably try to make sure the sofa and chair are as comfortable as possible."
Virgil watched, only half awake, as Cygnus walked down the hallway and opened a linen closet. Over the course of four journeys he brought back armfuls of extra blankets, comforters, and pillows. "These should do the trick. Virgil dear, would you wish for me to go and grab your weighted blanket?"
Virgil paused for a moment and thought about it, then shook his head. The pressure on him from having someone hugging him worked just as well as his weighted blanket did on days like this. Cygnus nodded, his eyes soft, before continuing.
"Alright, thank you for clarifying. Remember I can grab it at any time. The brightness of the tele has been turned down to one of the lowest settings, so it shouldn't hurt your eyes as much or keep you awake Wesley. Let me know if you need it turned off at any point however—Lyla, take off your glasses, you'll wake up with a headache otherwise, there you go—and I can turn off the lights throughout the apartment and lock the door on the way out. Is there anything else you need?"
Sterling took a sip of his tea, which must somehow still have been warm for it was visibly steaming even from where Virgil was sat, pulling a blanket over his legs. "Um, I think we're good, Sea."
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"Sea?" Lyla shifted, hair covering her face. "Can I- um, I'd like-"
Cygnus smiled a small and yet brilliantly warm smile, appearing to Virgil as though he didn't even realise he was doing it. "Let me guess. Your racoon pillow?"
Lyla smiled warmly back. It was all the confirmation any of them needed.
"Of course. I'll be right back."
Cygnus walked into Lyla's bedroom and took the soft racoon pillow from the bed. Lyla immediately brightened when she saw it and tucked it under her arm, nestling into her place against Sterling with a soft sigh.
The three of them were entangled now, Sterling, Lyla, and Wesley, legs intertwined. Lyla rested on Sterling's shoulder, Wesley curled into the sofa, and Sterling's arm stretched across the back of the sofa and behind Lyla so he could rest a hand on Wesley's leg in a grounding motion.
"Is everyone all set to go?"
Wesley sleepily nodded from where he lay. The television showed whale calves swimming effortlessly back and forth through the water in a graceful display of nature at work. Virgil's headphones were on again, his eyes trained on the screen but slowly drifting shut as he enjoyed the white noise coming from both the tele and his playlist. Sometimes too much noise could be overwhelming, but when it was just two quiet noises it was a good way for him to keep his mind off of everything else without losing the ability to focus in on any actual conversations that were happening.
"Good." Cygnus turned off the kitchen lights and closed the open bedroom doors, grabbing a few bits and pieces of his scavenging equipment. "Then I will be going. There are still a few more hours left before the night grows dangerous, and I think it would be best if I were to top up our supplies as much as possible. I hope you have a pleasant rest, and know that you can call me if you need me or any reason whatsoever."
Virgil shifted a little, frowning. He wasn't the only one. "You're... leaving?"
"Well, yes." Cygnus said, pressing his lips together as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You are all soon to be well rested and sleeping. Any problems we may have previously had involving rest and recuperation have been concluded to the best of our abilities, so I assumed I would take my leave and continue mapping out the city."
Virgil met his boyfriend's eyes once again, breaking out a trick he'd been taught by both Wesley and Lyla in the form of what they had called 'puppy eyes'. "Stay? Please?"
Heat visibly seared across Cygnus' face as Wesley joined in, reaching out and making little grabby hands in a motion that managed to be both extremely effective and absolutely adorable.
Sighing heavily, though with an adoring smile on his face, Cygnus set down his equipment and re-locked the door. He took off his own glasses and delicately set them down on one of the small tables off to the side of the sofa before proceeding to nudge Wesley forwards somewhat and nestle in behind him, the half-asleep young man giving a contented sigh before somehow managing to relax even more, pulling Cygnus' arm around him in a gesture that Virgil knew really was the final nail in the coffin when it came to keeping Cygnus with them for the night. There was no way Cygnus would have it in him to leave when Wesley was this happy and content being cuddled by him tonight. Virgil knew he wouldn't have been able to move if he was in his boyfriend's position, and so he was content in the knowledge that at least for tonight they would all be able to rest together and sleep in comfort, even if an armchair or a sofa wasn't most people's idea of a comfortable night's rest.
Virgil knew he'd probably have a backache come the morning, but right now he honestly didn't care. At the pointed look he received from Cygnus he nodded, letting his boyfriend know that he wasn't going to sleep in his binder and had taken it off already, to which Cygnus smiled sleepily and nodded. Soon enough Virgil felt himself nodding off, and as he fell to sleep he thanked whatever higher power was up there that he'd found a group of people that he felt so lucky to call his family every single day.
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When he next woke up, Virgil couldn't help but smile at the sight before him. Everyone was just... they were cosy. They were together. They were able to endure life and still find time for each other every now and again. 'Days like this are important to keep the morale of the group high', that's what Cygnus had told him when he'd asked the normally quite reserved boy why he of all people would be the one to suggest this, but the fact that he could never quite seem to stop smiling on these lazy days told Virgil all he needed to know about how much his partner genuinely enjoyed these warm and hazy days.
At this very moment Cygnus was sprawled out on the couch, acting as the big spoon for a sleeping Wesley whilst running his hand through the boy's hair. His legs were entangled with Madison's, who herself was fast asleep and resting her face against Sterling's arm. As for Virgil himself, he was curled up in the armchair with Lyla. Whatever nature documentary was playing on a low volume in the background had long since been forgotten, acting now more as a source of background noise so that Wesley might get some sleep of a marginally better quality than he normally managed instead of capturing any of their attentions, and Virgil allowed his eyes to close for a few moments longer in a very slow blink. Days like this were always his favourite. Days where they would all just cuddle together and take turns picking something to watch on the television, days where they'd cook together and make some real food instead of surviving off of non-perishable cans and powdered foods, days where they would set out bowls of snack foods and cans of pop and just pretend for a moment that they were all just normal teenagers having a sleepover or something, and not the last survivors of a world that had was lost to fog and madness.
Virgil opened his eyes again, feeling as though he was being watched, and gave a dopey grin to Cygnus when he realised that the man was staring at him with a look that could only be called adoration. Cygnus blushed and looked a little sheepish, but he didn't look away even for a second. It was as if Virgil had him transfixed. Virgil huffed out a silent laugh. This was Cygnus. The same man who'd basically kept them alive throughout the last six months, who had helped train him in whatever skills it might have been that he lacked for a life of urban exploration and survivalism, who had gone out of his way to scour the pharmacies on the other side of town despite the inherent danger that came with leaving the safety of their home for such a long period of time purely to find modafinil to help with Wesley's narcolepsy and testosterone pills for Virgil's own situation. Cygnus might have appeared to be cold at times, and certainly struggled with verbalising his love for all of them, but no-one amongst their group had ever once doubted the fact that the loved them all fiercely and unconditionally.
Verbal affirmations weren't Cygnus' strong suit, but he was getting better at showing his care through physical actions besides gift-giving as well. Days like today were a perfect example of that.
Realising he'd been staring at Cygnus for a little while now, and that the man was giving him a raised eyebrow, he quickly turned his head away almost on a reflex before turning it back. Yes, Cygnus was very loving. All six of them were, in their own ways. Wesley and Lyla were perhaps the easiest to discern, because for as long as he'd known the two of them they'd basically showered everyone in affection constantly. Madison, though not at all struggling to verbalise her love, certainly preferred to show it through her actions like Cygnus did. Perhaps it was something about the two of them being the oldest in the group, even if it was marginally, but whatever the cause the two of them mother-henned the rest of them constantly. If it ever got too much they'd back off with an apology and a sheepish look, but it was a very rare occurrence that any of them asked the two nineteen-year-olds to stop. It was sweet in a way that Virgil suspected the twins and even Sterling had missed these last few months, and to some extent the years before everything had disappeared, and that by itself was reason enough for them to allow Madison to worry and fret over them like a mother who's children were headed off for their first day of school.
Never mind the fact that the oldest member of their group, Cygnus, was only two and a half years older than the youngest, Sterling. It was hardly a huge gap in age, and the gaps for the rest of them were even smaller, but the two of them still fretted over the rest of them nonstop.
That just left Sterling. Sterling was the one who certainly struggled the most to show them all that he cared, but that was less because of any learned struggle he'd undergone and more because he was just in quite an awkward period in his life, one in which showing affection like the rest of them felt free to do was a sure-fire way to get yourself bullied at school. He was starting to come out of that phase a bit now though, ironically probably helped by the fact that the complete disappearance of society meant that school was out permanently, save whatever the six of them taught each other about their interests or skills that they felt would be important.
Even so, Sterling had been actively trying to better himself when it came to showing affection with them. There was nothing wrong with wishing to show or display less affection than the others, and Virgil knew that Sterling had been told as such by no less than three different members of their group, but he was still trying nonetheless. He was making an active effort to be less standoffish in conversations, sometimes resulting in him throwing his hands up in the air in frustration as he grew more and more annoyed at his own belligerence whilst speaking, giving a mixture of apologies and fed-up statements on what he felt was his own inability to speak normally with the rest of them.
To Virgil, that just made him more endearing. He was struggling with it, but he was actively making an effort to be less defensive and let his guard down around them, so much so that he was now seemingly fine with Lyla falling asleep on his shoulder. The Sterling of a year ago would never have let that happen, no matter how much he might have wanted to. There was too much risk of ridicule in his eyes. Perhaps in that way everyone else vanishing was something of a blessing for him, if a rather small one. Well, small in the grand scheme of things. To Sterling it was important, and so it was important for the rest of them as well.
They'd all had their fair share of hardships even before the world disappeared, each and every one of them, but they'd found a family in each other. That was all they needed. To know that they would always share a bond that was stronger than any the ties of birth could make was something special, and though they all mourned what they'd lost in the disappearance of the rest of the world none of them were overly concerned by it, for even when feelings of loss threatened to overwhelm them they all had each other. Sterling was now surrounded by people who were patient and willing to help him better express himself in a healthy manner, Wesley had people who accommodated for his disorder and ensured he was never left alone to try and get through it himself, Lyla had people who would not only help her take care of her brother but also take care of her when she needed it as well, allowing her to rest when needed and ensuring that she was never treated like a glass child again.
As for the rest of them, Madison had a group of people who she was able to simply act like herself around and Virgil had found a group of people who'd accepted him for who he was without hesitation instead of trying to convince him he was wrong and needed to stay the person he was born as. Cygnus, well, Virgil knew for a fact that he now had everything he'd ever wanted. He had a home, a family, and in Virgil he had a boyfriend. There was no more risk of him needing to couch-surf or sleep rough, nor would he need to fight anyone to prevent himself from being carried off in the night if he was caught out on the streets around the wrong people. With the five of them Cygnus was safe, and perhaps more importantly he knew he was safe. The six of them were a family, and though they may not have been particularly conventional they were all happier than they ever had been before meeting each other.
With that final though settling comfortably in his mind, he fell into a deep and warm sleep.