How these two meet
Leo offers warmth and Virgo, who cannot receive a gift with no task in it, quietly starts looking for something to do in return. Virgo offers a hundred small services and Leo, who wanted to be adored rather than administered, misses being simply looked at.
It goes unnamed for years, because naming it means admitting to a need you have both decided you should not have.
The split is not about taste. The Sun gives presence: I am here, warmly, and that is the gift. Mercury gives service: I did the thing, and that is the gift. Same word, two currencies, no exchange rate.
For about a year Leo finds it endearing that Mercury re-reads everything, and Virgo finds it restful that the Sun never does. What survives the year is that Virgo keeps the life running so Leo can be expansive inside it, and Leo insists Virgo is worth something before doing anything, which nobody has ever told them.
For Leo, the work is receiving one service as love rather than as maintenance. Say what it meant, specifically, and offer nothing back.
For Virgo, the work is accepting one piece of warmth without repaying it inside the hour. Notice the pull to do something. Let it pass.
And a third, which is the hard one: neither of you gets to keep score of who started. Both of you will want to.
The question
Which of you is earning what was already given?
One conscious action
one gift with no return
Leo gives Virgo pure attention with no task attached and Virgo does not repay it that day. Then Virgo names one thing they did this week and lets Leo thank them for it without deflecting.
It is small on purpose. It is also the whole argument about worth, in one evening.
The Sun is worth something for existing and Mercury is worth something for helping. Only one of you was ever told which.
Both of you were told wrong, and you are each holding the correction the other one needs.