Chapter Text
Virgil Gray wished he could say he didn’t believe in ghosts, but he was a realist. He believed the things he could only see, and for as long as he could remember, he had been able to see them.
The world was full of natural magic, everyone instilled it with it. Sometimes, the magic took form as a power, and sometimes it stayed as magic in the body. For Virgil, it became a power to see ghosts. Mediums were only about 10% of the population, and so most ghosts tried as hard as they could to find the mediums and annoy the hell out of them.
Ghosts, upon meeting Virgil, were different. Some were nice, and some were horribly mean. Either way, Virgil found ghosts annoying, especially since he wasn't one for social interactions. However, they became his only sense of company as he found the living more annoying than ghosts.
Being able to see ghosts ran in his family, and so he was taught when he was younger why ghosts existed. They were people who died, who couldn’t move onto the afterlife until they had completed their unfinished business. That business could range from making up relationships with their family to even becoming famous.
Virgil, annoyed by how many ghosts resided in the living world, swore that he would help every ghost he became friends with move onto the afterlife, because he knew that everyone deserved closure.
-+=~=+-
“Heads up!”
Virgil looked up from grabbing a box from the UHaul, only to duck again once seeing a ball fly over his head.
Standing back up, he shifted the box to become more comfortable as he put it into the house. When he got back outside, he found a group of tweenage boys glancing at the football that had just skimmed by him. They were currently being scolded by Virgil's mother, their heads down as they apologized for almost decapitating Virgil's head.
Turning towards the UHaul again, he went to grab another box only to find a teenage boy about his age sitting on the truck, smirking. Jumping, he blinked, staring at him. “What? Why are you smirking like that with me?”
“You’re new here, aren’t you, sunshine?”
Virgil rolled his eyes, “And who might you be, pretentious asshole? Get off the truck. I don’t want you dirtying the UHaul that we rented.”
“The name’s Roman. Roman Sanders.” The boy bowed.
Virgil took a good look at Roman. He was wearing a white shirt with a red and gold jacket and some brown jeans. On his head was a paper crown, nicely pinned to his head with his hair nicely groomed. Virgil practically contrasted the boy with black jeans, a black t-shirt, and the purple jacket he wore everywhere. He could practically see the number of insults running through Roman's head about how he was dressed. Virgil would be lying if he said that the same was going through his head.
Jeez, Roman was going to be an annoying little prick, wasn't he?
“Uh huh…” Virgil drawled, grabbing a box, “Still haven’t answered my question.”
“Looks to me like you’re a medium.” Roman hummed as he jumped onto the UHaul with Virgil, going to face him.
Virgil rolled his eyes, “Hey, if you’re going to annoy me, can you at least help me move in?”
“Sorry, no can do, emo nightmare.” Roman snickered.
Virgil sighed, placing the box to his side, “And why is that?”
“I think you forgot to ask one little thing about me.”
Virgil raised an eyebrow before he heard his father.
“Who are you talking to, Virge?”
Virgil turned towards his father, who he knew was the only one in his family to not have the medium powers and blinked before turning back to Roman.
“You’re a ghost.” Virgil groaned as he stared at Roman.
“Right you are.” Roman clicked his tongue, winking at him, “Virgil's a pretty name. Just like you.”
“No chance.” Virgil glared at Roman before he handed his father the last box on the truck and answered his father's question, “Just a really annoying ghost.”
“Ah, you always say that.” His father snorted, “Maybe he’ll be your new friend. You had a lot of those in Costas.”
“Yeah well, I’m trying to turn a new leaf and not look like I’m insane, Dad.” Virgil snorted as he jumped down the truck to bring the last few boxes in with his family.
“Oh come on! You’re handsome, I’m handsome, we’d make a good pair!” Roman yelled.
Virgil ignored Roman as he walked into the house, not paying attention to what the ghost had to say.
-+=~=+-
It was evening when Virgil had finally gotten his closet unpacked and put into the correct places. Granted, he didn't have many possessions, especially in terms of clothes, in the first place. Upon turning around, he sighed in content and accomplishment, taking out his headphones.
“Finally!”
He yelped at the voice, turning around to see Roman sitting on the chair lavishly. Of course.
“I thought you’d never take them off.” Roman gave Virgil a loopy grin.
“What are you doing here?” Virgil yelled, “How long were you watching me?”
“Only about half an hour.” Roman shrugged, “You’re the first medium that I’ve come across ever since I died. What’s your full name? How old are you? What’s your favorite color? Do you have any hobbies? What-“
“Jesus fucking Christ, shut up and slow down.” Virgil groaned, trying to calm his heart. Roman did just that, closing his mouth and looking at Virgil expectantly.
“My name is Virgil Gray, I am 17, my favorite color is purple, and I like to draw. How old were you when you died?” Virgil answered all his questions calmly, knowing that many new ghosts become a little excited upon seeing a medium.
“I’m 17 too, and I died almost 3 months ago.”
For a fairly new ghost, Roman seemed to be more knowledgeable than most. Most were unable to gauge time or even what happened until they came across a medium. It seemed that Roman knew enough that he wasn't completely clueless.
“Do you mind me asking what happened?”
“Ah, car accident. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and some drunk driver swerved and killed me.”
“Jeez, that’s brutal. Sorry you had to deal with that.”
“I’m glad it was a quick death, at least.” Roman shrugged before going back to his energetic and cheerful personality, “Well, no matter…how’s being a medium like?”
“Well…there’s this super annoying ghost that continues to bug me.” Virgil joked.
“Ha ha, very funny.” Roman stuck his tongue out.
“What power did you have?”
“Teleportation. It was really handy for school.”
“And yet you still died in a car accident.” Virgil remarked as he collapsed the empty boxes that used to hold his clothes.
“Ouch, too far.” Roman acted wounded, “I enjoyed the freedom of driving, even if I could teleport everywhere. You know…it still works in the afterlife. I tried it when I first died. I met a lot of ghosts, and they told me the same thing. I apparently can’t move on…”
“Yeah, until you find your unfinished business and complete it.” Virgil remarked. “Do you have any idea what it might be?”
Roman shrugged, “I keep thinking about it, and I really don’t know.”
Then, Virgil realized that even if he always pretended like ghosts were an annoyance to him, his heart would always be 10 times too big for him to keep in. He knew how it felt to not have anyone to depend on or to have anyone to help him. He never wanted anyone else to feel like that, not even a ghost, who always felt alone. So he said something that he knew he would regret later.
“I’ll help you.”
“Wh-what?”
“You heard me. I’ll help you find your unfinished business and then I’ll help you finish it.”
“Really?”
“You seem like a good person, and I know you’re probably not going to ever leave me alone, so I might as well help you to get you to not be so annoying all the time.”
Roman snorted, and Virgil watched as his eyes crinkled. Virgil knew that behind that cheerful demeanor, Roman hadn’t genuinely smiled in a long time. He was glad he could make the royally-dramatic boy genuinely smile, and then he knew he wanted to help Roman smile like that more.