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Chapter Text

That was the summer of 1963 when everybody called me “baby” and it didn’t occur to me to mind it. That was before President Kennedy was shot before the Beatles came when I couldn’t wait to join the Peace Corps, and I’d never thought I’d find a guy as great as my dad. That was the summer we went to Kellerman’s.

Virgil's family drove into the resort and could see nothing but fancy buildings, green grass, and families and couples alike basking in the summer sun. They slowly came to a stop in a line of other people getting out of their cars and having their bags unloaded to be brought to their rooms. As the family got out of the car Thomas, Virgil’s brother, locked his gaze onto a man hauling luggage into the hotel.

“Oh my god, look at that!” Thomas leaned down to their mother who was still in the car “Oh, Mom I should have brought those coral shoes. You said I was taking too much!”

Their mother started “Well sweetheart you brought ten pairs!”

“But the coral shoes match that suit!” Thomas responded.

Thomas’ and Virgil’s father heard Thomas’ dilemma and put his sense into the conversation by saying “This is not a tragedy. A tragedy is three men trapped in a mine or police dogs used in Birmingham.”

Virgil, who was leaning on the hood of the car said “Monks burning themselves in protest.”

“Oh butt out Baby,” Thomas said, annoyed

Virgil rolled his eyes and turned to face the fat balding man walking toward them with a young man at his side. The fat man was wearing a gray suit and a cheap tie, the young man walking with him had golden curly hair that was neatly cut and glasses. He was also wearing a simple white T-shirt and a blue jacket with the sleeves rolled up. A name was embroidered on the jacket, Virgil squinted to see what it was. Patton? Yeah, it said Patton.

“It’s doc!” the man in the suit said as he approached.

“Max!” Virgil's father said.

The two men greeted each other with a handshake as Max said “Well, Doc, after all these years I finally got you up on my mountain!”

“So how’s the blood pressure, Max?” Virgil's dad asked.

Max turned to look at both Thomas and Virgil and said “I want you boys to know that if it were not for this man I’d be standing here dead.” The man seemed to remember that he had another person with him and turned to the worker next to him.

“Patton, get the bags!” he said to the worker.

Patton looked up and nodded “Right away Doc, right away!” Patton shook Doc’s hand and jogged to their trunk and began taking out bags.

“I kept the best cabin for you and your beautiful boys! I made sure…” Virgil got tired of that quickly and decided to help Patton unload their bags. As he pulled out bags Patton turned to face him.

“He-Hey, thanks a lot! You want a job here?” Patton said, with a joking tone at the end. He smiled thankfully though, showing a small gap in between his two front teeth.

Max, still talking with the rest of his family, said “There’s a merengue class in the gazebo in the next few minutes. The greatest teacher. Used to be a Rockette!”

“It’s his first real vacation in six years Max. Take it easy!” Virgil’s mom said.

Max leaned in and said “Three weeks here and it’ll feel like a year.”

That was how Virgil got stuck in a dance class. A dance class that was fairly boring and stressful at the same time, if it even made sense. The dance teacher was a tall man, around his age, maybe a little older, and had formal black hair and square-framed glasses. He wore formal beige pants but his whole look was set off by a blue floral shirt. This man was also talking loudly in a semi-monotone voice about how to dance.

“One, two, three, four! Stomp those grapes and stomp some more! One, two, three, four! Listen to the music! One, two, three, four! Start the train!” The man said. Virgil wasn’t paying much attention since all of it was focused on not stepping on people's feet, which he was still failing at.

“Now come on men follow me into a Round Robin!” the dance teacher said as all the men formed a dancing line behind him. “Ladies, the inner circle! Okay, now ladies when I say stop you’re going to find the man of your dreams! Stop!”

Virgil found himself standing in front of the oldest woman he’s ever seen. The lady looked sweet and all but Virgil was awkward as could be as they danced. He gave a quick smile and looked behind him to see if the class was giving any signs of stopping. No signs were to be found.

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Eventually, the class did end and by now it was late in the evening. Virgil walked outside into the cool evening air and said “Mom, Dad, I’m going up to the main house to look around.” He got the okay and began to walk down from their cabin and into the neat trees and woodland that made their way to the main house.

As he was walking through the breezeway of the main house he heard talking from a familiar voice coming from inside the dining hall. Virgil walked quietly to the open crack of the door to listen.

Max was talking to a group of waiters inside as he said “There are two kinds of help here. You waiters are all college guys and I went to Harvard and Yale to find you. And why did I do that? Why? I shouldn’t have to remind you! This is a family place. That means you keep your fingers out of the water, your hair out of the soup, and show the daughters a damn good time. All the daughters! Even the dogs. Schlepp ‘em out to the terrace! Show ‘em the stars! Romance ‘em any way you want.”

Virgil looked away from Max to see a young man walking into the room. Standing out because of his casual wear amidst the formal waiter's uniforms. He was wearing a red T-shirt and jeans, holding a leather jacket behind him. Along with plain sunglasses that he managed to pull off so damn well. His hair was brushed back and was a deep brown that probably looked red under the sun. God damn he looked so hot- No! What was Virgil thinking?

“You got that guys?” The man said with a voice that was smooth and just deep enough.

Max whipped around and said “Hey hold on! Hold it.” The man did stop and turned to face Max “Well if it isn’t the entertainment staff? Listen wise-ass you got your own rules. Dance with the daughters, teach ‘em the mambo, the cha cha, and anything they pay for. That’s it. That’s where it ends. No funny business, no conversations, and keep your hands off!”

Another worker began joking with the man “It’s the same in all these places. Some ass in the woods baby, but no conversation!”

“Watch it, Rodriguez,” Max said as he walked out of the dining hall and into the back.

Another waiter began talking to the man “So, you think you can keep that straight Roman? Whatcha can and can’t lay your hands on?” The man, now known as Roman to Virgil shook his head.

“You just put your pickle on everybody’s plate, college boy, and leave the hard stuff to me,” Roman said. As he walked off he knocked all the folded napkins off the table the other waiter was working on. Virgil snuck away at that and went back to the cabin to get ready for a dinner they would be having there in the hour.

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Virgil’s family was seated by Max by the time dinner had arrived.

“Sit down, sit down, I’ll get you some wine!” Max said as he pulled out a seat for Virgil and Thomas’ mother.

“Why thank you Max.” their mother said.

“This is Dr. and Mrs. Houseman, Baby, Thomas, this is your waiter Remus Gould. Yale medical school. Remus these people are my special guests. Give them anything they want.” Max said and walked away to tend to other guests. However Virgil remembered their waiter. He was the guy who talked to Roman before he got his napkins knocked on the ground. He was also giving Thomas a flirtatious look. Remus walked off and winked at Thomas but something about that guy was giving Virgil a bad feeling.

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The Houseman family finished eating as their mother said “Oh look at all this leftover food. Are there still starving children in Europe?”

Virgil responded with “Try SouthEast Asia, ma.”

“Oh right,” she said.

Their waiter, Remus, walked back over and Virgil's father said “Remus, Baby wants to send his leftover pot roast to SouthEast Asia, so, uh, anything you don’t finish you wrap up.” His father turned to Max and said “Our Baby’s gonna change the world.”

Max looked at Thomas and said, “What are you going to do Mister?”

“Thomas is going to decorate it,” Virgil said before Thomas could even get any words out of his mouth. Thomas glared at Virgil.

“He already does,” Max said offhandedly. He began motioning someone over before the most stuck-up-looking boy Virgil had ever seen in his life walked and stood next to Max.

“Doc, I want you to meet someone. This is my grandson Janus. Goes to the Cornell School of Hotel Management.” Janus nodded.

At that time Virgil got a good look at Janus. He had slicked-back blonde hair and vitiligo that covered most of the right side of his body. He also had the most striking eyes Virgil had ever seen, with one to be a deep brown and the other a bold green, almost a yellow.

Virgil was startled out of his thoughts by his father “Oh, Baby’s starting Mount Holyoak in the fall.”

“Oh, that’s lovely,” Janus said, sarcasm biting at his words. He smiled and nodded at Virgil. Virgil gave a half-assed smile before continuing to be lost in his thoughts.

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The Housemans were at a party being hosted by the Hotel and Virgil seemed to be the only one to be having a shitty time. Why you may ask? He got stuck dancing with Janus.

“Are you going to major in English?” Janus asked, fake smiling.

Virgil responded with “No, the economics of underdeveloped countries. I’m going into the Peace Corps.”

“After the final show, I’m going to Mississippi with a couple of busboys, freedom ride,” Janus said and smiled smugly.

Virgil just nodded and smiled before they danced in silence. They clapped at the end of the song, a solace for Virgil, glad to not be holding hands with Janus anymore. A fast and romantic song began to play.

“Hey, Mambo! Come on.” Janus said and brought him and Virgil together again. Virgil looked at the crowd and spotted the hot waiter from earlier.

“Who’s that?” Virgil asked.

Janus glanced at them before going “Oh them. They’re the dance people. They’re here to keep the, uh, guests happy." Virgil watched as Roman and the dance teacher from earlier danced energetically and sensually. The crowd had begun to leave a circle for them, and everyone was staring in wonder. Virgil was speechless. Roman looked amazing. He looked so fancy and beau-

“They really shouldn’t be showing off with each other. That’s not going to sell lessons.” Janus said, breaking Virgil from his thoughts and back to reality. Virgil felt jealous of the dance teacher but couldn’t explain why. Their dance moves were becoming more and more amazing. Roman had even picked up the dance teacher. Though they both stopped dancing together after that and Virgil looked to where they were to see Max giving the stop gesture to the two of them. They both then danced with other people and the crowd was together once more. Virgil’s mother and father came by to talk.

“Hey kids, having fun?” Virgil's dad asked.

“Yes sir. Um, I must excuse myself. I’m in charge of the games tonight.” Janus said. Finally, a chance to get away from this guy- “Say,” shit “would you like to help me out?”

Before Virgil could politely decline his father said “Sure he would!”

You’ve gotta be kidding me, Virgil thought.

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This was how Virgil ended up inside a magician's box in front of a crowd of people. Not exactly his forte.

“This’ll only hurt for a minute!” The magician said loud enough for the audience to hear. People laughed at that one but Virgil just rolled his eyes. As the trick came to a close people clapped and the curtains closed to give him time to get out of the box. He walked off stage and went outside. Talking to more people would give him a headache and he just needed to be alone. He opened the stage door to be met with a slight breeze and the twinkling of stars in the deep night sky. He began walking on a faint trail for a while to be met with a sign that said ‘Staff Quarters. No Guests Please’. “They only said "please” didn’t they?” Virgil thought before continuing. He walked in silence before hearing the faintest music. As he continued walking the music became more clear and he could see where it was coming from. A semi-large building stood shining in the darkness. Lights are on and people occasionally walk in. Virgil stopped when he saw the guy who unpacked their bags earlier walking toward the building. Patton was his name. Patton was struggling to hold three watermelons as he was walking to the building.

Virgil decided to help and walked toward him. “Hi,” he said

“What the- How’d you get here?” Patton asked with confusion on his face.

“You don’t exactly keep the place locked up,” Virgil said and smiled.

Patton still looked confused but now just a little scared “Go back!” he said.

“Let me help you,” Virgil said as he tried to take a watermelon from Patton.

Patton shuffled away from Virgil still struggling but managing to keep all the watermelons in his hands. “No!” Patton said.

“Well, what’s up there?” Virgil asked and pointed to the building.

Patton replied “No guests allowed. House rules! Look, why don’t you go back to the playhouse? I saw you dancing with the little boss man.” Patton began humming a tune and shuffling his feet to resemble dancing but was so out of breath it just looked sad. A watermelon slipped from his hands just as Virgil moved to catch it.

Virgil put the watermelon back in his hands and began to walk away before Patton asked “Can you keep a secret?” Virgil nodded and walked back to the struggling Patton and grabbed a watermelon to carry.

“Your parents would kill you. Max would kill me.” Patton looked down nervously and Virgil put a hand on his shoulder. Patton looked up and Virgil smiled at him. Patton smiled back and began to walk towards the building in the distance.

Chapter Text

Both Patton and Virgil made it to the staff building, no doubt with some struggle, and stood in front of the doors. The music was almost as clear as day by now and Patton smiled at Virgil before opening the doors by ramming his body into them, almost dropping the watermelons in the process. Patton looked around the room from the entrance with Virgil and smiled brightly. Virgil looked more in awe, he had never seen people dance like this before. There were no posh dances or fancy clothing, instead, it was close and erotic. You could almost feel the happiness coming off these people, they were free.

“Where’d they learn to do that?” Virgil asked Patton, still gazing upon the crowd.

“Where? I don’t know, kids doing it in their basements back home I guess. Wanna try it?” Patton said, smiling goofily and shuffling around. Virgil shook his head vigorously.

Patton chuckled and said “C’mon Baby.” before walking into the sea of people.

Virgil followed behind him and continued to watch the people dancing. He was trying to make himself small to not bump into people but still did. People began to look at him, probably realizing he wasn’t meant to be there. Virgil averted his gaze and just looked at the floor as he walked. Eventually he and Patton made it to a table and placed the melons down.

“Can you imagine dancing like this on the main floor, home of the family fox-trot? Max would close the place down first!” Patton said. At that moment cheers erupted from the people in the crowd. Virgil looked up to see Roman and the dance teacher walking in the doors together smiling. Roman and the dance teacher began dancing similarly to how they did during the Mamba but this was even more energetic. They were both smiling and laughing and Virgil felt a pang of jealousy in his chest.

Patton pointed towards Roman and said “That’s my cousin, Roman Castle! He got me
the job here.”

“Who’s the other guy?” Virgil asked.

Patton responded with “Oh! That’s Logan. He does dance lessons here.”

“They look great together,” Virgil said eyes fixated on Roman.

“Yeah. You’d think they were a couple, wouldn’t you?” Patton said

Virgil was confused by this, they certainly looked like they loved each other. “Aren’t they?”

“No, not since we were kids,” Patton said. After that, the two stood in silence as they watched Roman and Logan dance. Eventually, the song ended, and most cheered and exchanged greetings with Logan or Roman. A new song began to play and all cheered once more and continued to dance. Virgil watched and Roman danced away from Logan and danced with others briefly as he made his way across the dance floor. Roman jumped towards Patton and ruffled his hair.

“Yo, cuz, what’s he doing here?” Roman said and nodded toward Virgil.

“He came with me! He’s with me.” Patton replied. Both looked at Virgil.

Out of nervousness, Virgil said, “I carried a watermelon.” Roman walked away, joining the sea of dancers. Virgil realized just how dumb he sounded.

“I carried a watermelon?” Virgil said, looking down with embarrassment. Roman danced again with Logan before making eye contact with Virgil. His eyes were a brown color that almost resembled honey. Virgil felt a fiery blush color his face. Roman sauntered towards Virgil and did the ‘come here’ motion with his finger with a smirk. Patton gave two thumbs up to Virgil as he was being dragged to the center of the dance floor.

Virgil stood awkwardly with Roman, not knowing what to do. Roman watched as Virgil glanced around nervously, maybe he also saw a blush on Virgil's cheeks but it was hard to say under the hazy pink lights. Roman watched as Virgil fiddled with his fingers, maybe an anxious habit. Roman chuckled, his voice smooth and soft.

“C’mon, bend your knees. Down.” Roman directed. Virgil did as Roman had said, however, he still was awkward and clumsy. Roman broke into a grin and began to shake his hips. Virgil tried to do the same. He glanced around briefly, trying to hide his embarrassment.

Roman noticed. “Watch. Watch my eyes,” he said. Virgil met Romans' eyes immediately. Virgil almost forgot to dance, so captivated by the others’ eyes. Virgil shook himself out of his trance and began to dance again, this time letting himself move more freely.

“That’s better!” Roman said. Virgil felt a smile creep up on his face. Roman brought Virgil and himself closer, their hips knocking together. Virgil supposed he did something wrong because Roman took it upon himself to help him.

“Look,” he said and put his hands on Virgil's hips. Virgil could feel electricity where his hands were, his hips now tingling. Blush shot up on his face, and Roman appeared oblivious. Roman shook his hips, hand still on Virgil’s hips. Virgil tried to do the same, with an issue since his legs felt like jelly. Roman nodded once Virgil pulled himself together and he motioned Virgil to put his arms around his neck. Virgil did so, now they were so close that Virgil could smell Roman cologne. Apples and cinnamon. His hair felt as soft as it looked, perfectly styled on his head. Virgil was now smiling uncontrollably and wished this moment would last forever. Their faces were now so close if Virgil leaned any closer they would kiss. Virgil felt no nervousness, no anxiety, nothing. Opposed to his normal on-edge feeling he felt light and free. He and Roman moved completely in sync.

The song faded out and Roman spun him before walking away. Virgil giggled and smiled and he danced until he realized Roman was no longer there. Virgil looked around trying to find him but he seemed to have disappeared into the cigarette smoke and hazy pink lights. Virgil felt a pang of sadness as he realized he was no longer there.

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Virgil and Thomas sat with their family by the lake the next day, Virgil's mind stuck on the previous evening.

Close

Pink Lights

Apples and Cinnamon

Roman…

Virgil felt his face get hot just thinking about it.

“Ask not what your waiter can do for you, but for what you can do for your waiter,” Remus said, seemingly having to have appeared out of nowhere. Thomas giggled and Remus walked away confidently. Virgil looked to see Logan staring at Remus with an odd look. Next to Logan was Roman, who was looking at Virgil.

“Baby, would you cover for me tonight? Tell Mommy and Daddy I went to lie down.” Thomas asked, fixing his hair.

“Um, where are you going?” Virgil asked, his eyes still on Roman.

“To the golf course. There’s a pretty view from the first tee.” Thomas walked away at that, probably to go talk to Remus. Virgil watched as Roman had finished talking with Logan and walked away. Virgil got up to talk to Logan.

“So… you were a Rockette? I think you’re a wonderful dancer.” Virgil said sincerely.

“Yeah? Well, my mother kicked me out when I was 16. I’ve been dancing ever since. It’s the only thing I ever wanted to do anyway.” Logan said.

“I envy you,” Virgil remarked.

Logan smiled and sighed before walking away briskly. Virgil watched with disappointment. Had he said something wrong?

Chapter Text

Dusk soon fell onto Kellermans, and another party had started. Virgil stood quietly with his family watching others dance in the soft lights of the gazebo. However, he was particularly interested in a certain young man who had smelled like cinnamon and apples. There Roman was, dancing with some older woman, and he hadn’t even spared a glance at Virgil. The woman Roman was dancing with had short black waves and was wearing a revealing deep blue dress.

“Hi Max,” the woman said and Roman turned her slowly. Virgil looked at Roman, he was stone-faced and looked just a tad uncomfortable, his movements stiff.

“You look great Vivianne!” Max replied to the woman, now known as Vivianne. Vivianne then turned back to Roman and smiled at him before slowly caressing his cheek. Virgil felt his face configure into a scowl after that. Roman looked stiff as ever after that.

“Vivianne Prescott, one of the bungalow bunnies,” Max said quietly to his father. “That’s what we call the women who stay here all week long. But husbands only come up on the weekends. Moe Presscotts a big card player, he’ll join our game.” Virgil hadn’t moved his gaze from Roman like he could tell Roman to get away from Vivianne telepathically. Just then Janus came by and pulled Roman away by the arm.

“Where’s Logan? Everybody’s been asking for him.” Janus asked in an impatient tone.

“What do you mean where’s Logan? He’s taking a break, he needs a break.” Roman said frustratedly. Vivianne was still caressing his back, clearly trying to be seductive or something of that manner but considering how much older she was than Roman Virgil felt nothing but alarm bells.

“As long as it’s not an all-night break,” Janus said before walking away. He then made his way to Virgil.

“C’mon baby, let’s go for a walk,” Janus said, slinking his arm around him and taking him out of the gazebo. They stood on a small bridge connecting the gazebo to the main area of Kellermans. Janus and Virgil stood quietly, and Virgil felt anxious, eyes avoiding Janus like the plague.

“I love watching your hair blow in the breeze,” Janus said before running his fingers through it. Virgil could think nothing but ‘this feels wrong’. A pit formed in his stomach and Virgil shifted away from Janus’ hands.

“Maybe my parents are looking for me,” Virgil said in a tight voice. Virgil felt his heart beating aggressively, and it shook his chest.

Janus put his hand on Virgil's shoulder “Don’t worry baby, it’s okay. If they think you're with me they’ll be the happiest parents at Kellerman's.” Virgil shifted away again.

He wished Janus would just leave him alone