Plantbender

Virgil wasn't an ordinary person. Sure, emos are whom people would associate the "Normal People Scare Me" shirts with, but that's not what kept Virgil quiet around a lot of people, especially his crush/best friend, Patton.

You see, when you look at Virgil, you see a man in college splashed with black and purple. However, what one would fail to acknowledge the first time they see Virgil would be his love for plants. He didn't just love plants, though, he had powers to manipulate the growth of different plants using his hands. In fact, whenever he heard his friend, Emile, ramble about Avatar: the Last Airbender, Virgil would silently joke to himself that he was a plantbender. Whenever he was forced to go outside or snuck outside when it wasn't crowded, he would manifest a tree to sit in if he couldn't find any. No matter if said tree already existed or something Virgil created, he would control if the branches would bear fruit or flowers. As for the plants and flowers he grew using simple hand waves, whenever Virgil would manifest plants into existence, he couldn't help but feel his environment is a bit more pure, something that can only be accomplished, in his perspective, by the plants and Patton. He didn't want to tell anyone else, since he figured he would be used somehow or he would be drowning in questions from everyone who found out. Although Patton was the person he trusted the most, he didn't want to things to be awkward if he felt bold enough to tell him.

Virgil went to a social gathering with Patton only because Patton was trying to help Virgil find an activity outside of the dorms that he might be interested in. Of course, Patton was a social butterfly towards everyone he came across, but the only other person Virgil didn't feel pressured to come out of his shell towards was the self-proclaimed scholar with the dark blue tie. After talking with that guy, Virgil decided to step outside due to social anxiety and claustrophobia. He didn't think anyone would really notice his absence, but he'd soon find out he was wrong.

Virgil made it to a tree he had manifested months ago and climbed it. Once he sat on a strong branch, he manifested some flowers to calm himself down and took some breaths as if he initially had his head underwater.

"Virgil?" he heard a familiar voice say while making cherry blossoms appear next to roses.

He looked down from the tree to see Patton in awe. He was stunned once he fully acknowledged that Patton might've seen him using his powers. He felt he wasn't able to escape or hide without needing to confront Patton about the matter.

"Patton? How long have you been there?" he asked with his voice shaking.

"For a few minutes. I couldn't see my favorite sour plum and, well, I missed you," Patton answered.

The two were in silence for several minutes not knowing how to approach the knowledge that they both shared. They didn't make much eye contact and Virgil couldn't bring himself to jump down from the tree.

"Um, room for one more up there?" Patton asked.

Virgil was surprised that Patton didn't make his powers the center of attention, although, he didn't know why he was surprised since Patton was his best friend.

"Oh, sure. You need a lift, too?" Virgil asked while extending the branch.

"No, I've got that taken care of," Patton answered.

Much to Virgil's shock, Patton rose off of the ground and sat down on the branch next to Virgil.

"Oh my god, you really are an angel," Virgil muttered and, judging by the blush on Patton's face, the subject of the statement heard him.

"So... I guess we both had something we were hiding," Patton said with a chuckle.

"Let me guess, it also comes with super strength?" Virgil asked.

"Actually, yes. I didn't think it was that obvious," Patton retorted.

"Oh, no, it's just that it means we're like Will and Layla from 'Sky High'. Well, I mean we would be, except..." Virgil trailed off.

Patton looked at Virgil with concern on his face. One of the prior comments reminded him of his desire to be Virgil's guardian angel, but he didn't think he'd be able to help without the risk of prying information out of Virgil.

"What's the difference between us and them?" Patton asked gently.

"Well, they actually get together," Virgil softly answers while looking away from Patton, "They even share a kiss and everything."

Patton gently moves Virgil's face so that the latter was looking at him.

"You mean like this?" Patton asks with a smile before gently kissing Virgil.

Virgil was frozen in shock before he regained his composure enough to kiss back. While enjoying the moment, Patton was clinging to Virgil while rising close to the stars and moon and a multitude of flower petals exploded around them like fireworks. By the time they needed to breathe again, they were surprised that they were in the sky. Once they returned to the ground, they both shared two secrets, one they were more willing to reveal than the other.

Part of this story was slightly inspired by the #TeamTrees movement. So, what better place to tell you all to go donate to teamtrees.org than here?