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Remus has a plan. It's a terrible plan but being terrible is the only thing Remus can do right. He wants a full stomach of friend but Deceit declined, saying he had something to do. So he might as well try with his brother. Remus plops down next to Roman, who's holding a ball of creative energy in his hands. "Hi, Roman."
"Hello Remus," Roman says absently.
"Whatcha doing?"
"Creating." Roman twists the energy in his hands, stretching it. "Do you need something?"
"Maybe a snack. Like you."
"Don't flirt with me I'm your brother."
"No, like an actual snack. Like eating you."
Roman pauses, turning that phrase in his mind. He sticks out his tongue. "Gross. Save it for Deceit." He turns his attention back to the energy in his hands, shaping it into a creature. By the look of it, he's making a giant rabbit.
"I already asked Deceit," Remus says, rolling onto his back. "He said no. But I still want something. You could make a great replacement."
Roman snorts. "If you're so obsessed with it, why don't you just eat me already?"
Remus grins, jumping to his feet. It's not a direct yes but it's a dare. "Okay!" He grabs the back of Roman's shirt, hooking him in place.
Roman gags, putting his hands to his neck, dropping the energy. "Remus, you're going to choke me!"
"Not for long!"
"What do you--?" Roman is suddenly very small, about three inches tall. "Hey!"
"You said I could!" Remus holds Roman up and opens his mouth.
"Hey, I was kidding!" Remus drops Roman into his mouth, shutting it around him, enveloping him in darkness. "Remus!"
Remus presses Roman to the top of his mouth with his tongue and mumbles, "Don't dare me to do something if you don't want me to go through with it." His voice is loud.
Roman wriggles, pushing on Remus's tongue. The only effect is his hands sinking slightly in the soft muscle. He's a little surprised to find that Remus's breath isn't bad. "Let me out!" He kicks the back of Remus's throat. Doing so causes him to kick Remus's uvula, causing the latter to gag. Remus presses Roman to the top of his tongue and swallows him with a quick gulp. "Rem--!" Roman's voice gets cut off by the saliva and tight muscles.
Remus pauses as he feels Roman go down his throat. He wasn't actually going to swallow him, he was going to spit him out. But now he has somebody in his stomach, someone to keep him company as he creates. He shrugs and sits, picking up the ball of creative energy Roman dropped.
Roman lands in Remus's stomach with a small splash, covered in saliva. He wipes the slime off his face, opening his eyes. It's completely dark and the only things he can hear are Remus's steady heartbeat and breathing. "Remus! I'm going to kill you when you let me out of here!" Remus's stomach growls slightly, adding another noise to the few Roman can hear.
"You can kill me now if you aren't a coward," Remus says, his voice a bit muffled but still loud.
Roman makes a face. "And have you dissolve around me? That sounds more gross than actually being in here."
"Then suffer." Remus starts to hum, the sound muffled.
Roman sits up, hands sinking slightly in the soft walls of Remus's stomach. Liquid fills the space up halfway, soaking him. He kicks and elbows the walls, trying to get Remus to let him out. Remus just hums in acknowledgement. Something presses in on Roman from the outside. "Remus, let me out!"
"Later. I'm busy now." Remus removes his hands, because it must be his hands, and goes back to creating. Roman kicks Remus one last time for good measure then cups his hands, summoning a small light so he can see. The pink walls around him move slightly, pressing on him a little. Remus's stomach groans around him. Remus giggles. Pressure is put on Roman and he realizes Remus is wrapping his arms around his stomach. "What are you doing? That tickles!"
"I'm not doing anything!"
"You are! You're doing something Dee hasn't!"
"All I did was summon a light so I could see!"
"Dee hasn't done that, it tickles." Remus removes his arms, shifting his position, causing Roman to slide deeper into whatever this liquid inside his stomach is. Roman gags as it splashes on his face. "Relax, you'll be fine."
"It's gross in here!" And the growling sounds of Remus's stomach don't make Roman very eager to relax. "Why'd you swallow me?"
"I was hungry," Remus says. Roman doesn't like the sound of that. He would appreciate not being dead. The thought comes to mind that if Remus really was hungry, he'd be dead and reforming by now. That doesn't calm Roman much, but at least he knows he's not going to die. "And Deceit said no when I asked him earlier," Remus continues. "So I came to you. You kinda dared me to eat you, so I did."
"Why do you listen to Deceit?"
"He likes me," Remus says matter of factly. "I listen to people who like me."
Roman blinks and frowns. "I like you." Silence again, other than Remus's bodily functions. "I do," he says louder. "I mean it."
Remus wraps his arms around himself, putting pressure on Roman. "Really?"
"Yeah," Roman says. "You're gross and disgusting and you swallowed me whole for some reason but you're still my brother."
"I was hungry."
"If you really were hungry, I'd be dead by now."
"Hey!"
"It's true! I'd be dead and reforming in our room and be back in a few hours to complain about how you killed me."
"...Yeah." A pause. "I'm still not letting you out."
Roman sighs. "That's what I thought," he mumbles. "Just do what you usually do," Roman says. "I can't do anything in here."
"Alright! I'm making your bunny into a jackalope by the way." Remus lets go of Roman to grab the creative energy.
Roman huffs, crossing his arms. Remus goes back to humming, the sound soothing. Roman shifts, the walls of Remus's stomach massaging him slowly. It's warm in here, surrounded by the pink of Remus's insides. Sure, the growling that Roman knows isn't going to hurt him still makes him a bit nervous, but other than that it's quite nice. Despite the fact he's inside his brother's stomach. Which is weird to think about. Roman yawns. He didn't get a very nice sleep last night, having a burst of manic creation can do that. It's warm and nice and safe inside Remus, a place that Roman never thought he would be.
Roman hears something crunching above him and looks up, confused and a bit scared. He hears Remus swallow and not even five seconds later the top of his stomach opens to let in pieces of a chewed up chip. Roman blocks his face with his arms. "Are you going to be eating while I'm in here?!"
"Only a little," Remus says. "Not much." He swallows another chip.
Roman summons his shield so he can block his face from the snacks. "That's gross."
"I know! What do you want to talk about?"
Roman lowers his shield. "What?"
"Creating while someone's in my stomach is boring if we don't talk," Remus says. "So what do you want to talk about?"
"Uh... How about favorite things?"
"Perfect!" Remus pops another chip in his mouth and swallows. Roman blocks it, making sure it doesn't splash on his face.
The two chat for a bit until Roman, tired from last night's frantic creating spree, falls asleep, surrounded by partially digested potato chips.
Remus says a bit more before noticing Roman isn't saying anything. "Roman?" Silence. He fell asleep. Remus shrugs to himself and stands up, placing one hand on his stomach as if that would keep Roman still. He tosses his bag of chips into the trees, making sure that they'll appear on his bed. He walks home, the warm weight of his brother welcome inside him.
Deceit, sitting at the table, looks up from his book at Remus when he enters the house. "Hello, Remus." He notices the hand resting on his stomach. "Who's in there today?"
"Roman," Remus says. He pats his stomach and tunes his hearing towards his stomach to hear Roman breathing slowly and evenly. "He dared me to eat him so I did." He flops down on the couch, laying down on it. He pushes on Roman softly, the slow movement of his stomach walls keeping him from waking up. "He's safe."
Deceit sighs. He knows part of the reason Remus likes to hold people in his stomach is because he finds people thinking it gross is hilarious, but the major reason is that when Remus can feel the people he cares about inside him, he knows none of the intrusive thoughts he has about them getting hurt can come true. "Do the others know?"
"Nope!" Remus says, hugging his stomach. "I went to him right after you said no." He tunes his hearing back to his stomach again, listening to the quiet groans that surround his sleeping brother. "He's a lot warmer than you are!"
"I'd expect so," Deceit says, looking back at his book. "Have a nice nap."
"Okay!" Remus lays his head down on the pillows, arms resting on his stomach, and quickly falls asleep. Deceit smiles to himself, turning the page.
Virgil has been looking for Roman for two hours. He's not in the Imagination, he's not reforming in his room, and no one in the kingdom knows where he went. Patton and Logan have been looking too. He can't find Remus either, so he has the feeling Remus has something to do with Roman's disappearance.
"Come on," Virgil says to the two, walking towards the darker version of their house.
Virgil opens the door to the house that once was his, causing Deceit to look up from his book. "Hello Virgil," he says. Virgil walks up to Deceit and pulls him out of his chair, pinning his arms against the wall. The other Side tries to move his arms from his grasp for a moment before stopping. "What is it this time, Virgil?"
"Where is Roman?" Virgil demands.
"With Remus, they're sleeping." Deceit wriggles free and ducks under Virgil's arm. "Is that all?"
"Show us."
Deceit rolls his eyes and gestures over to the couch, where they can see Remus curled up slightly, arms crossed over his torso, sleeping. "There. Sleeping."
"But... Where's Roman?" Patton asks.
Deceit raises his eyebrow, his face remaining stoic. "Where do you think he is?" The three stare at him in confusion for a moment before Deceit sighs and pats his stomach.
"He's INSIDE him?!" Patton covers his mouth. "He ate him?!"
"I thought Remus only did that with you," Logan says.
"Yeah, because I'm the only one he asks. Roman must've said yes."
Virgil walks over and shakes Remus. "Hey. Get up." Remus hums in response and curls a little more around himself, around Roman inside him. "Remus, get up."
"Fifteen more minutes," he mumbles.
"Now."
Remus sits up, rubbing his eyes with one hand, the other resting on his stomach. "I'm up, I’m awake."
"Now spit out Roman."
"How do you know that I ate him?" Remus asks.
"Deceit told us," Patton says. Remus glares over at Deceit. The other Side shrugs and looks down at his gloves to adjust them, clearly not interested in the situation.
"Just let him out," Logan says. "We'll leave you alone after you do."
"But he's still asleep..."
"Spit him out," Virgil says, shaking his shoulders.
"Hang on, I've got to wake up a bit more unless you want him to get hurt."
"Let Roman out, Remus," Logan says.
"Hang ON."
Roman hears someone say his name, albeit muffled, and stretches slightly, stirring from his nap. His movement is restricted by the fleshy walls around him. He rubs his face, opening an eye, only seeing darkness. The light he summoned earlier must have fizzled out while he was sleeping. His outfit is soaked with the liquid around him. The snacks Remus ate earlier are gone, evidently digested around Roman. Roman shifts slightly, yawning.
"Roman, are you awake?" Remus asks, applying pressure to his stomach. "It's time to come out."
"Just let him out," Virgil says, voice muffled by Remus's body.
"I need him to be awake, okay? It's easier!" Roman disappears his shield, allowing it to return to his room. He doesn't want to leave, surprisingly. It's nice and safe inside his brother. He knows he'll have to leave eventually, but he wants to go back to sleep. "Roman?"
"I want to go back to sleep," Roman mumbles, rubbing his face on his soaked sleeve.
"I know, so do I, but it's time to come out now."
"...Okay." Roman shifts, looking upwards at the top of the stomach he can't see. "I'm ready."
Remus talking to his stomach while there's someone's in there isn't new, but having it be Roman is. Remus puts his hands to his mouth, ready to catch Roman once he comes out. He gags before retching loudly. His muscles clench around his middle before relaxing again. Remus pulls Roman out of his mouth, the prince three inches tall and soaking wet. Remus lets out a gross burp and grins. He hands Roman to Virgil, who is clearly disgusted but can't really drop his friend without killing him. "He'll be back to normal in a few minutes!" Remus says with a smile. "See you later!" He sinks out, disappearing into the Imagination. The four leave, Roman waving goodbye to Deceit.
As promised, Roman returns to his regular size in five minutes. His first thought and the one he says out loud is, "I need to take a shower." His second thought, the one he'll keep quiet until he admits it to Deceit later, is that being inside Remus wasn't all that bad.