Sanders Sides Parenting/Kids One-Shots

(167) On The Other End of Zoom Part 3 - Analogical

Summary: Logan takes Virgil out to a hiking trail on their first meet-up after talking for weeks during online class. They chat and Virgil, who believed himself to fit the 'norm' in terms of attraction, falls in love with the nerd.

Words: 1392

When Virgil was packing his life away for the move to Arizona from Virginia he didn't think much would happen. He'd just do his online school and not talk to anyone, waiting until his parents were moved to another post or he got enough credits to go to college and have some level of stability.

Instead of that he was now in a slightly-dodgy car ride with a teen he met over Zoom towards a random hiking trail his father spotted on Google Maps. The ride wasn't silent, the pair were talking about what classes they were taking and overall just getting to know each other. "Well, I most certainly recommend the Shakespeare English credit. It's just one essay comparing two Shakespeare plays so quite an easy A."

"I'll definitely consider it as the American Modernism course is giving me a headache." It was nice for Virgil to finally have a friend that understood home schooling. With his friends in Virginia they were all shocked every time Virgil mentioned he could somewhat choose what books he wanted to read in English class, and they always asked questions about it. But Logan didn't.

There was in fact no stress around being with Logan. Even short moments of silence weren't awkward or needed to be filled. Logan looked so relaxed while driving the car he completely fixed himself, even though he joked it could explode at any moment if he got the alternator mis-fitted or something along those lines. The car seemed to be getting smoother as it was driven though.

The pair soon arrived at the hiking trail Virgil had heard about. The atmosphere was absolutely beautiful as soon as Virgil got out the car, a slight wind in his face and long brown grass rubbing against his jeans as he found the hiking entrance. Virgil waited under a dusty brown tree for Logan to catch up, as he needed to check the oil filter, but Virgil didn't mind as he loved looking around Arizona. It looked so dead and dry but so full of life, even the dusty brown tree was exploding with green leaves at the top of it that gave metres of shade around it. The hiking trail wasn't a steep incline, just a large dirt path that went up to the top of a green mountain that only had patches of brown. There weren't many reasons to walk anywhere when Virgil lived in Virginia - so he was excited to hike.

"Are we ready?" Logan piped up as he approached the amazed Virgil, handing him the purple backpack he must have forgot was in the car. "The signs mention we should bring clean water, I assume that's in the bag?"

"Mhm, race you to the mountain!" Virgil ran off like a child in a candy store with excitement written all over his face, Logan lagged behind him but tried to catch up. His eyes couldn't leave the excited, running teen even if Logan wanted to look away. He was so aesthetically pleasing to the eye... and Logan was most definitely gay when he looked at someone like Virgil.

The race didn't last the entire hike up to the mountain as Virgil began to run out of breath between two separating paths, so he allowed Logan to catch up. He was still laughing though. "Sorry, I haven't been hiking since I was a kid. God I'm unfit now..." Virgil gulped an entire bottle of water like he was about to die, allowing Logan to just stand (and admire) the view in silence. The view of Virgil. "Oh wow look at that view!" The hyper-ness in Virgil's voice appeared again after the water, although it still had a slight pant to it, but now Virgil seemed invested in the view of the dry forest with trees contorting at unusual angles.

Logan guessed that since Virgil was home-schooled he would have a lot of hobbies and talents just as Logan did. But Logan didn't believe Virgil would bring his camera with him on a hike. The teen was completely focused as he knelt down, changing light setting and angles to get the perfect picture. A deer came into the pair's view which made Virgil smile and chuckle softly. If he kept on acting like this Logan might lose his cool soon.

But while Virgil was concentrating he was oblivious to a dead leaf that blew off one of the trees and into the teen's curly hair. Usually Logan would just wait for Virgil to find the leaf himself, but he couldn't help himself this time. He just sat beside Virgil and brushed a hand through his hair.

Virgil was completely focused on his camera lens until he felt the softness of Logan's hand through his hair, making him pause and try catching his breath. "Sorry, it was a leaf." Logan said nonchalantly, moving his hand as soon as the small action was done, making the world silent. When Virgil finally had the courage to move his head his gaze met Logan's. Both boys' eyes were wide and blown out and both boys' cheeks were pink.

And only one thing was on Virgil's mind - he wanted to kiss Logan.

"Um... Sorry, uh, I think I've got good pictures now." Virgil rasped and packed the camera away quickly, then began walking across the path again. The pair decided to take a diversion towards the nearby canyon to see more beautiful views. Now the silence was awkward since Virgil was asking himself why he so suddenly wanted to kiss another man that should be his first real friend.

Soon Logan began speaking again to reassure Virgil from his anxious thoughts. "I don't think you ever told me why you're homeschooled, is it just because your parents are military?"

"No, no, my little siblings all attend public schools here. I just... get anxious around new people so I'd rather just learn independently than having to make and abandon new friends year after year." Virgil laughed a little nervously at that, remembering the first day of sixth grade where his family was getting ready for the school bus while all he had to do was log online. He got used to it - it was just a little weird though. "What about you?"

For a second Logan's calm and confident demeanour seemed to disappear, instead Logan's voice matched the soft whisper Virgil's voice was always at. "I was pretty badly bullied in elementary school. And I was academically ahead as well, so my parents decided it would be better if I learn at my own pace with things I want to learn."

"You were bullied too?" Logan's face lit up as the 'too' was added into Virgil's question. "I swear you're like the coolest person in the universe, and I sound super uncool saying that."

"It came with practice." When Logan smirked Virgil's eyes were glued to his friend's face, so much that he didn't realise the pair had reached their destination of the canyon until Logan fixed his glasses. The canyon was beautiful, and lead to a waterfall that shadowed Logan's voice slightly. But Logan still seemed prettier than any phenomenon of nature. "I think I was bullied because of my sexuality too, small town issues. I always knew guys were prettier than girls and was confident about that as a naive child. Other kids weren't that accepting."

The pair went into a silence at that, just watching the waterfall and the animals surrounding it. Virgil brought out his camera and started taking pictures again to distract himself from the realisation that he probably found guys a lot prettier than girls too. Or at least Logan was prettier than any girl in the universe.

But eventually Virgil had to let his thoughts slip, casually even though he knew Logan would not react negatively to his friend saying anything. "I think I find guys prettier than girls too, y'know?"

Logan smirked slightly and ruffled the curly parts of his chestnut hair, his eyes shaping to a mischievous glance. There was a silence as the pair just looked at each other like they could read each other's mind for a moment. "Well, that's nice to know." Logan's smile caused butterflies to erupt in Virgil's stomach and his cheeks to slightly pinken. "I'll keep that in mind."