Chapter Text
This had gone on long enough. When Deceit had pretended to be Patton to try to convince Thomas to lie to Joan about not coming to their staged reading of a play, it was fine. When Deceit pretended to be Logan, it was forgivable. Heck, even when Deceit had basically forced them to perform the argument on whether he should attend his friend’s wedding or not in a legal setting, it was funny, even if he did prove his point and won the case in the end. What was not forgivable was the fact that he basically caused Thomas to lose the trust and borderline friendship of one of Thomas’s close friends. This obviously sent Thomas into a great distress which resulted in the current situation that was before the four sides.
Thomas was laying on the largest couch in the living room, right in middle of the view his audience would have if he was recording a video. He had been laying there for the past couple hours, tear tracks staining his cheeks starting from his still red eyes. It looked like, at the moment, Thomas wasn’t even spatially here and was probably spacing out; thinking of the moment when it all went wrong. All in all, he was a wreck and the sides, being a part of him and all, could feel every once of misery he was feeling in their own way.
Patton was obviously crying during the ordeal as he could feel his heart breaking, leaving his with small cuts all over his body. Every word his friend spat at Thomas felt like a vicious punch to Roman as his ego took blow after blow. Logan felt the surge of ‘negative’ neurons and adrenaline as the words kept coming and coming. Virgil would also feel every drop of adrenaline and was borderline hyperventilating during the exchange due to the stress and disbelief due to the situation that was happening before them. It had not been a pretty sight to say the least.
Hours later, they here now, tears long dried, bruises and cuts starting to fade, stress still high but manageable, and neurons traveling about as they should as normal as they could. Yet, there was still this lingering feeling that all five were feeling despite the fight happening hours ago. Thomas was the first to speak. “Guys I’m fine, really. Just…tired.” The other four seemed to disagree. “Thomas, you know for a fact you’re not fine. Don’t feed into him any more than what has already been given.” Roman started, looking to the others to help him. “I have to agree Thomas. Roman and I don’t see eye to eye on many matters, but this is an exception. If you don’t believe it, just have a look at us, especially Roman and Patton,” Logan continued, waiting for Thomas to confirm he was listening, “Although it affected all of us, it affected them the most physically. If you were truly alright at his point, the bruises and cuts that are still on them would have disappeared.” That remark, although true, caused both sides to hide any exposed skin they had.
Virgil, ever the perceptive one, noticed. “Hey L, maybe phrase that a little nicer next time. They might not be proud of them.” He said, trying to look indifferent. Logan realized his mistake and promptly apologized, knowing that his need to be bluntly honest might not be the best thing right now. Thomas, on the other hand, didn’t seem to care about the things being said. “I know guys, I’m just…really tired. I just wanna go to sleep for a bit okay?” he said to the four, not waiting for their response before turning over on the couch to fall asleep. The four in question all looked at each other before sinking out.
Once each was back in their respective room, the four took the time to themselves to repair any lingering damage done and relax before coming together in the common area later. Logan was the first once there, ‘chilling’ as the kids would say and waiting for the others to arrive. Patton arrived shortly after, small puppy and kitten band-aids covering some still lingering cuts. Patton noticed him looking at the band-aids and smiled bashfully. “They make me feel bit better Lo.” He explained to the other before sitting down on another couch. Logan hummed in acknowledgement as he watched the moral side sit down. Virgil was the next to show up, hood up and headphones on to ground him. He looked at Logan and Patton and gave each a small nod before sitting down on the other end of Logan’s sofa. Roman was the last to join, skin now clear of bruises. It was clear he used make-up to cover them, but no one said anything to prove it. He sat on the couch with Patton after giving everyone a small smile as if to say he would be fine soon.
They all sat there in total silence, not knowing what to do, what to say, or how to even start conversation. Patton was the first to speak. “We’re all tired and stressed, so I’ll go make us some tea.” With that, he excused himself to the kitchen to start. After a moment, the silence was broken by Virgil grabbing a nearby pillow and shoved his face into it, sufficiently muffling the screams that quickly followed. Neither Logan nor Roman tried to stop him, instead letting him finish venting his frustrations to the pillow. He only stopped when he felt a hand gently place itself on his shoulder. He looked up from his pillow and saw Patton giving him a reassuring smile.
He put the pillow down on his lap and let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding. “Sorry. I just needed to get it all out.” Virgil started before feeling the hand on his shoulder give him a gentle squeeze. “Its ok kiddo. Its…been a day. I just wanted to make sure you drank something before exhausting your voice too much.” Patton said as he moved his hand from Virgil’s shoulder to supporting a cup of warm tea. He handed Virgil the beverage and waited until he took a sip before going to take a drink from his own cup, having already given Logan and Romans theirs before going to give Virgil his. They all drank it in an almost serene silence, all relishing in the tranquility in the room before they had to address the elephant in the room.
“Given the circumstances of what happened, I believe a Socratic seminar like talk would help ease the frustrations I’m sure we all have,” Logan started, not looking up from his cup yet conveying the discontent at one particular side with his voice, “With that, who would like to go first.” The other three stayed silent for a moment before Patton spoke up. “Now I know we’re all a little upset at Deceit but I’m sure he had a good reason?” He tried to sound convincing but the usual cheeriness he emitted was dimmed a bit to say the least, making him sound the opposite. Virgil put his cup down in the coffee table between the couches at that. “Patton buddy, I know you’re trying to see the best in him, and I know you’re trying to convince yourself that he didn’t mean it, but trust me, he meant it.” “I hate to admit it, but New Found Gloomy here has a point.” Roman added while giving Virgil a look of solace. “Indeed,” the logistical side agreed before continuing, “Deceit usually has been an…inconvenience… to say the least at most times whenever there’s a problem that Thomas needs solving, usually disguising himself as one of us so he can, in theory, use our habitual and familiar influence to put his own input in the matter at hand.” Logan stood up from the couch with his now empty cup and collected the other empty cups before turning to go to the kitchen. “However, I must agree with Roman and Virgil on this Patton. Deceit usual tomfoolery has gone to far and more than likely cost Thomas a very good friend.”
Patton opened his mouth to try to say something but realized he couldn’t really defend what Deceit did when Logan put it that way. He sighed to himself more than anything in defeat. Patton always tries to look for the good in people and hey, it works sometimes. He showed kindness to Virgil and now look at him, he’s part of the group now and works with them all now instead of against them as Thomas says. He even told them his name, his real name for pete's sake. They had gotten so far together as a family. He just wanted the ‘Dark Sides’, as Roman called them, the same kind of family he could give to the others, despite whatever negative aspect of Thomas they represented.
“Well I’m gonna go talk to him.” Patton said as he picked himself up from the couch with newfound determination. “I know there has to be a reason he did what he did and I’m gonna get to the bottom of it.” This declaration caused all three heads to turn to him, each with varying reactions. Virgil seemed to be wary, if not scared, and hesitant on whether he should say something or not, but the clear disagreement was there. Same for Roman but he looked more worried for Patton over anything since he knew what it was like to feel Deceit toy with your ideals and feeling in order to string you along to his whims and desires. Logan, surprisingly, looked astonished and dumbfounded at what Patton has just said breaking his (usually) calm demeanor.
Patton, despite the negative reactions given, continued. “I know you guys think he’s a bad guy but he’s not all bad. He’s still a part of Thomas and Thomas is an angel who tries his best. Besides, I know for a fact he doesn’t tell lies just to tell them.” He unknowingly slipped into his disappointed parental voice with each new word he spoke which was funny since he didn’t use it all that often, which spoke how serious Patton was. “I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but each of us exists to protect and help Thomas, no matter how good or bad we seem at first. Take a look at Virgil for example and I’m really sorry for this Virgil because I know how bad you felt before.” Virgil on the hand, tried to look indifferent but you could still see the smallest hint of regret in his eyes when remembering how he acted before.
Patton still felt a bit bad, but he had a point to prove and when no one usually listens because you’re just the moral side, you take your chances when you can. “Before we got to know Virgil all that well, we just thought he was anxiety. That he was bad and making Thomas’s life harder but then we learned that wasn’t true. He would always make Thomas really anxious and panic sometimes but then we realized how bad it would be if Virgil was gone forever. He was a mess and you all saw that. We had to go to Virgil’s room and convince him to come back because he’s that important, despite looking like the bad guy at first. Now that we know more about him, we know how much he helps Thomas on a daily basis and how important he is. Yes or no.” He asked the three before him and waited until they all shook their heads in agreement. “Then why is Deceit any different. He lies to protect Thomas. He’s an inner coach that acts with the one intention of self-preservation. We all know this. He protects Thomas in his own way and although I don’t approve of it, he does it to protect Thomas.” Patton finished his little speech with a small huff and looked to the others to see how they would respond to it. Neither Virgil nor Roman showed any indication that they were going to answer, even if it was clear they wanted to, and Logan was to busy considering all of what Patton just said to argue back just yet.
With that, Patton started to walk towards the main door of the commons that lead to individual rooms to visit Deceit to get some answers. “Wait!” A voice shouted out and broke the silence, surprising all and stopped Patton in his tracks. Virgil gave a large sigh as he started to stand up from his spot on the couch and beginning to walk towards Patton. “I’m… coming with you.” He said as he scratched the back of his head to avoid the looks, he got from all three. “Are you quite sure Virgil?” Logan asked. “We all know how you’re not quite fond of him.” Virgil nodded in agreement at Logan’s remark. “Yeah, I’m not his biggest fan but I can’t let Patton go on his own. Besides, I wanna know why he hurt Thomas like that. I expect answers.”
Roman drew attention to himself by practically bouncing off the couch to join the two at the door. “I shall accompany you two too then. What prince would I be if I left my two friends to face him alone.” He announced before saying the rest of his intentions in a much quieter voice. “And I also want to know why too.” That left Logan, who was still sitting down on his spot in the couch, looking at the three at the door while they looked at him. There seemed to be a silent conversation going on between Logan and Patton, the other two noticed, because the moral side and logistical side had yet to break eye contact. It was assumed by the other two that Patton had won when Logan let out a defeated sigh before straightening his tie and going to join the others at the door. Roman and Virgil gave him a surprised look before they shrugged and looked back towards the door that was temporarily stopping them. “You’re absolutely sure you want to do this Patton?” Logan asked. “Positive.”
With that, the door to the other side was opened and Patton pushed through, quickly followed by the others. They heard the door close behind them and knew there was no turning back now. They all trekked through the mindscape, passing each of their rooms before the ‘natural’ light illuminating their path began to darken. This is when they knew they had crossed into the place where Thomas keeps all his negative aspects pushed away. They ventured farther and farther, passing occasional doors that housed some of these aspects. They weren’t here for them however, they were for a particular side, whose little yellow twin-headed snake logo could be seen on a door they were approaching.
“I have a really bad feeling about this…” Virgil said quietly yet still loud enough for them to hear. Nothing else was said as Patton knocked on the door to the snake’s room, before they all walked in when they realized it was eerily unlocked.