Feathers & a Dash of Magic

Chapter 14: Virgil's Happy? That's Rare

When Patton woke up, he looked outside to see the sun was starting to set. He had fallen asleep while knitting, but he didn't mean to sleep for so long. He set aside the knitting needles and half made scarf that were on his lap, pulling his wheelchair closer. It took a moment, but he was able to get his legs moving and switched to his chair.

"Virgil! Are you home?" he called, though he didn't receive an answer. Frowning in worry, he made his way to the fairy's room. "Virgil?" He opened the door and saw that it was empty.

Patton's heart dropped as he remembered how late it was when Virgil got home last time, barely able to walk by himself because he had run into an iron trap. Where is he? Is he okay?

He quickly left the doorway to Virgil's room, wheeling over to the front of the house. He looked out the window and sighed when he saw a familiar figure walking down the road to the house. It was Virgil, and he seemed okay.

The human held a hand to his chest in relief, trying to calm his beating heart. He opened the front door and went onto the porch, stopping the wheelchair before it went down the ramp.

Virgil clearly saw him because he waved before his step picked up speed, rushing over. Patton tapped nervously on the arm of his chair as he waited, the fairy never comes home this late, what happened?

As he got closer, he saw that his brother was practically glowing. He had a giant smile as he quickly ran up to Patton, it looked like he was about to burst with excitement.

"What happened to you?" Patton asked, the worry quickly being replaced by joy at the state his brother was in.

Virgil grabbed his hands and shouted, "I can do magic!"

The other laughed, "Haven't you always been able to do magic?"

'No! Well, yes, what I mean is Roman taught me magic! I was able to use my nature magic! And I was able to do it! It didn't die this time!"

"Oh so you were able to control plants?"

"Not yet, but I was able to make it grow! Here, I'll show you!" Virgil opened the door, gesturing for Patton to follow before ducking inside and rushing to the kitchen.

The human closed the door behind him before following him to the kitchen. Virgil grabbed a tomato and knife, cutting the red fruit in half. He held up one half in front of Patton, using his magic. His brother watched as green leaves sprouted from some seeds, growing into a small plant only a few inches high.

"See!" he said. "I've never been able to do it before because I always used dry seeds. I needed water, and the water in the tomato helped it grow!" The fairy's wings were fluttering with excitement.

"And Roman taught you this?" Patton asked.

"Yeah! Though, once I started to get tired he made me stop. Apparently doing a lot of magic at once is tiring. But it's so fun!"

"I guess you're really going to sleep well tonight, huh?"

Virgil chuckled, "I'm not that tired! But we were at my spot all day, I didn't mean to be out so late."

"It sounds like you had fun. What did I tell you? You're going to have a beautiful friendship with Roman!"

The fairy groaned, "Fine! We might end up friends. But I wouldn't call it beautiful."

"Then weird! There's nothing wrong with being weird, so it'll be an amazingly weird friendship!"

"I don't like being weird, it alienates me." Virgil rubbed his arm, setting aside the tomato half. "I would rather be normal."

"Well, if it helps, you're not the only different one. I'm certainly not normal." Patton moved his chair back and forth to demonstrate. "And even though that makes things very difficult, for one I can't go into the forest like you, I'm still content with who I am. At this point, being able to stand longer than ten minutes with no problem will just feel wrong, suspicious."

"I guess, but it's different for you. You're disabled, and that comes with its own problem, yes, but I can't even go anywhere without hiding my wings. If I do, then I'll be captured, my feathers and wings will be torn away or I would be kept as an exotic pet, or worse!"

"You know that no one here would let that happen to you." Patton told him, taking his hand.

"If they knew, would they really protect me? Or would they just be afraid." Virgil couldn't help but think about how Miss Kayda would react if she knew. Would she accept him? Or would she look at him with fear or disgust?

"Hey now, people here love you! They wouldn't just give you away like that. Besides, that's only if you ever feel comfortable showing your wings to them. You don't ever have to show them if you don't want to. Anyway, we shouldn't be focusing on that, we should be celebrating your growth with your magic! Will Roman teach you more?"

The fairy smiled slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, he told me that he would teach me how to have more control with nature magic, but he didn't offer other kinds. I'll probably end up trying to figure it out by myself, maybe with his help though? I-I don't know."

"Ahh that's so cute! My little brother is going to finally learn how to use his magic! This calls for a celebratory dinner."

"Does it?" Virgil laughed.

"Absolutely it does! Okay, do you want to make it or do you want to go out and eat?"

"It's already late, so let's make it."

"Yes!" Patton went around Virgil to the cabinets, opening them. "What are you thinking?

"Um..." The fairy looked at the tomato on the counter that he cut open. "Something with tomatoes so this won't go to waste, though the one with plants growing out of it probably can't be savaged."

"We can just plant it, and hey maybe Roman would like a tomato plant?"

"You can't keep sending him gifts like that, that's weird."

"You're technically the messenger, so you're the one giving him the gifts."

"That makes it even weirder!" Virgil's wings flapped slightly.

"Well we have no room for another tomato plant, and Logan doesn't either! I get that they're relatively small, but Roman's got that whole forest!"

"How about this, we'll grow it in a pot and if he ever comes over we can give it to him. I am not going to make another trip out there just to give him a plant."

Patton shrugged. "Whatever you say! You're the one that made it grow." He smiled brightly with a small squeal, "My brother is learning magic!"