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2020-06-12
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2020-06-19
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Collapse

Summary:

Virgil braced himself against the counter, allowing the glass to fall back into the sink with yet another crash. The kitchen blurred in and out of focus. He just wanted to close his eyes and give in. It would be so…comfortable to not have to think for a little while. Virgil allowed himself to fall.

A seemingly normal morning goes hopelessly awry when Virgil collapses, weak from sickness, after breakfast. The others are left scrambling to figure out how to help.

Notes:

Hey all! Welcome to Collapse! This is the first story I've posted in a while, but I still think it's pretty good. Hopefully you guys do too!

This'll probably be updated every day or so, so stay tuned for that!

Again, thanks for reading!

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: Breakfast Time

Chapter Text

It was early in the morning, but for Virgil, it was more like /very/ late at night, even for him. He'd been up late listening to some true-crime podcasts, and then what little sleep he had managed to acquire was interrupted by nightmares, not to mention the fact that he felt pretty crappy by his normal standards. So here Virgil was, sitting on his bed all alone, waiting for the clock to reach eight-thirty so that he could go downstairs to get some food without Patton or Janus nagging him about being up so early.

Finally, the time changed. Virgil could hear Roman's monstrously loud chiming alarm clock, as well as Logan's just-as-annoying incessantly beeping clock from a little further down the hall. Virgil, however, "lovingly" called them Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber (the first time the clocks had been called that in front of their owners, Logan had chuckled at the reference while Roman had pretended to be insulted).

Virgil was startled from his reminiscing by Roman pausing the grandiose chiming and queuing up his Disney playlist. Logan, on the other hand, most likely hit the snooze button and burrowed further underneath his covers. Surprisingly enough, despite all his harping on the others about getting the proper rest, Logan never seemed to be willing to follow his own advice.

Once again, Virgil was startled from his thoughts. This time, however, Virgil was distracted by Roman's customary "shave-and-a-haircut" knocking on his door.

Virgil pushed himself out of his bed, stretching his aching back and picking his way around the few sweatshirts littering the floor. He opened the door just as Princey was about to knock again, fist still raised. "Yeah, yeah, Princely Pauper, I'm already up. You're just gonna have to deal with my wonderful self."

Roman pouted, though Virgil could see a hint of a smile at the corner of his mouth. "Well then, Finding Emo, if I /must/." Virgil stepped past Roman, gently bumping shoulders with him, which caused Roman to gasp dramatically and brace himself against the doorframe. "Alas! I am dying!"

Virgil only snorted and continued on, pausing only once to knock on Logan's door, "C'mon, Lo, even I'm up. You've gotta get up too." Virgil heard muttered grumbling and the creaking of bedsprings. That was good, as long as Logan got himself vertical, he'd come searching for caffeine sooner or later.

Virgil rolled his eyes at Roman and made to go down the stairs, only to be hit with a wave of dizziness. "Whoa…." Virgil screwed his eyes shut against the spinning world and waved Roman off. "'M fine, Princey. Just dizzy. It'll pass." Sure enough, Virgil opened his eyes only a few moments later to a no-longer-heaving staircase. He smirked up at a worried Roman, "Aw, don't go showin' you care about me, Princey, it might make me feel wanted or somethin'."

It was Roman's turn to roll his eyes, shoving lightly at Virgil's shoulder and ushering him down the stairs.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, they saw a rather familiar sight. Patton was wearing a bright blue apron and flitting around the kitchen, checking timers and mixing things in bowls. Janus had on a yellow apron and two oven mitts, but was content with holding Patton's various bowls and spoons. It turned out that the snake-like side was just about as good at cooking as Thomas was (that is to say, he couldn't cook for shit). Meanwhile, Remus was sitting on the table licking a banana like a popsicle.

Roman hopped up onto the table next to his brother while Virgil made his way into the kitchen.

"Felicitations, my fellow figments!"

"'Sup Pat, Jay, Ree."

Patton beamed over at Virgil, swooping past to plant a kiss on his cheek and ruffle Roman's artfully messy hair. As Patton came back into the kitchen and Roman squawked, Virgil poked Janus on the nose affectionately, eliciting a hiss. Virgil only snickered and carried on, gathering the various items of cutlery and making his way back to the table. The twins were wrestling with one another, but paused long enough to clamber off of the table.

Virgil snickered again and began setting the table. The repetitive motions always managed to ease his mind. Plates, napkins, fork, knife, spoon, fork, knife, spoon, cups. Just as Virgil was setting down the last of the cups, he caught a glimpse of Logan stumbling his way down the stairs.

"Morning, Lo." Virgil drew the attention of the others in the kitchen, who all called out their greetings as well. Logan only groaned in reply, heading straight past Patton and Janus and making for the coffee machine. Virgil chuckled again, coughing into his arm as something tickled at the back of his throat. "Table's all set, Pat. Want me to get the drinks?"

"Yes please!"

Virgil grabbed the cartons of milk and juice, following Patton and Janus as they left the kitchen and carried the meal to the table. Logan followed behind, still sipping at his mug.

Finally, everyone sat together at (not on) the table. Patton and Janus were at the head and foot of the table respectively, Janus the closest to the wall. On Patton's right was Virgil, seated next to Roman. Remus was unhappily seated across the table from Roman, having been forcibly separated by Janus after Remus had attempted to stab his brother with the butter knife one-too-many times. Logan was between Remus and Patton, completing their little circle around the table.

Soon enough, everyone started serving themselves. Pancakes, bacon strips, and various pieces of fresh fruit were piled onto plates all around. Even Remus had some of the food (he admitted that Patton's cooking wasn't the worst thing he'd ever eaten). However, when Virgil looked down at the plate in front of him, he felt his stomach turn over at the thought of eating any. He didn't want to disappoint Patton, though, as he had worked so hard on the food.

"You alright, Virge?" Virgil snapped his gaze up from his unappetizing meal and met Patton's gaze, Patton frowned and continued, "You haven't touched your food and you've been staring at it for ten minutes."

Ten…ten minutes? Really? How had it been that long?

Virgil shook himself from his thoughts and smiled thinly at Patton, "Yeah, Pat, I'm fine. I…" Virgil coughed, turning his face away from the table, "I guess I'm just tired, is all."

Patton leaned over slightly and laid his wrist against Virgil's forehead, "You're pretty hot there, kiddo. Why don't you go and take a nap after breakfast? You should try and eat something, though."

Virgil nodded, shifting his stare back to his plate. Was he really getting sick? Was that why he felt so…off? No, it was probably just the lack of sleep. He'd be fine. It would all be fine.

He picked up a piece of bacon and hesitantly bit into it. He could practically feel his stomach rebelling at the food. Nevertheless, he continued choking down his breakfast until the plate was clean.

Virgil stared at his plate, willing himself to stand and clean up, but he was just so /tired/. He coughed again, this time hacking up a bit of phlegm into his hand. That…that was pretty gross.

He discreetly wiped his hand on his jeans, pointedly avoiding Roman's concerned stare.

"I'm…I'm gonna go take a nap for a bit. I didn't get much sleep last night." Virgil stood and braced himself subtly on the table as the world spun again, "Good breakfast, Pat."

Virgil barely acknowledged the concerned goodbyes and hushed whispers coming from behind him as he tried not to stumble on his way to the stairs. He climbed them slowly, finding himself more winded than he really should've been. Finally, he found himself in his room. He'd never been so happy to see his dark and shadowy room than right then.

Virgil shivered. Normally, the Sides' rooms would automatically adjust themselves to whatever temperature they wanted, but his room was usually a little bit on the cool side. This, however, was /cold/. He quickly threw on a pair of sweatpants in place of his jeans and zipped up his oversized sweatshirt. Then, Virgil burrowed under his weighted blanket and plaid quilt, hoping to gain back some warmth.

Why was everything so /cold/? And…why was he still sweating? Maybe Patton was right, maybe he really /was/ getting sick. Damn, that would really suck.

Virgil closed his eyes against the light of his bedside lamp, not having the energy to even reach up and turn it off. He had no trouble dropping off into a fitful sleep after that.

Chapter 2: The Fall

Summary:

Virgil wakes, then wakes again.

Notes:

Here we go, chapter two!

Again, thanks for reading!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Virgil jolted awake, throat dry and eyes watering. He could barely even remember his nightmare, but the terror still lingered. His blankets were tangled around his ankles, and the sheets were drenched in sweat. Still, Virgil shivered.

Despite what Patton had said earlier, Virgil's nap seemed to have only managed to make his condition worse. Virgil attempted to take a deep breath, only to be struck with coughing fit so intense that it made his head spin.

Water. He needed water.

Virgil kicked the blankets off himself to the floor and heaved himself to his feet. The world spun. Virgil nearly stumbled, but managed to keep his balance long enough for his room to stop spinning.

Out the door, to the stairs, pause for another coughing fit. Stumble down the stairs while trying not to fall flat on his face.

At this point, Virgil was focusing only on keeping his balance while on his quest for a drink, so he didn't notice the others gathered in the living room, nor did he notice the concerned looks they shot him.

Virgil made his way into the kitchen, grabbing for the glass on the lowest possible shelf in their cupboards. He roughly jammed it under the faucet, wincing at the harsh clanging noise that seemed to echo in his skull.

For a few moments, Virgil amused himself by swirling the water around his glass, only stopping when water finally sloshed out of the glass and onto his hand. He shook his head, doing his best to focus on the task at hand, when dark spots began to dance before his eyes.

Virgil braced himself against the counter, allowing the glass to fall back into the sink with yet another crash. The kitchen blurred in and out of focus.

Oh, this really wasn't good.

He was tired, though. He just wanted to close his eyes. Just give in. It would be so…comfortable to not have to think for a little while.

Virgil allowed himself to fall.

--------------

The only things that Virgil was aware of were a light weight on his shins and something stroking his hair. He was still cold, but something else was surrounding him with warmth. It was…nice.

Slowly, Virgil became aware of voices murmuring in the background. Virgil did his best to focus on them.

"…he'll wake up? I'm…I hate to admit it, but I'm getting worried."

Was that Roman? Who was he worried about?

Patton responded, "I know, Roman, I'm worried too. He'll be okay though. We just need to stay strong for him."

Wow, Patton was worried too? Whoever they were worried about had to have been pretty special.

Soft, strained laughter came from Virgil's right, off the side of the couch. "I think we're all a bit worried, Pat."

Thomas?

Soft footsteps entered the room, "Salutations," Logan said softly, settling himself somewhere over near Thomas, if Virgil could hear correctly. "Janus and Remus are keeping busy in the kitchen. I believe Remus is attempting to convince Janus to allow him to add bleach to his soup. He made it a point to note that he would avoid everyone else's portions, so I believe Janus is considering it, if only to get Remus to stop worrying."

Wow…just, wow….

Patton giggled from above Virgil, not pausing the stroking of his hair. "We really can't blame Remus, though. I think…I think we're all worried about Virgil right now."

They…they were that worried about /him/??? Oh, god. Virgil was the reason they were all so scared. He needed to do something to help them - to help his /family/.

Virgil tried to move, tried to lift his head or open his eyes, but all he was able to manage was to curl his fingers a little tighter in the quilt.

“Please wake up, Dark and Stormy Nightmare.” Roman. “The others won’t admit it - they don’t want to worry you - but we’re falling apart without you.” Roman squeezed Virgil’s ankle again, “Thomas is fine, don’t worry about him, we just miss you.” Roman paused, and Virgil worried for a moment that he was going to leave, “Please…” He was /sobbing/. “You have to come back to us, Virgil!”

Virgil wrenched his eyes open.

Above him, as had been expected, was Patton, still running his fingers through his hair. At Virgil's feet was Roman, who had Virgil's legs settled across his lap. Like he had thought, Logan and Thomas were settled nearby, leaning a bit on one another.

They were /all/ crying.

Virgil blinked slowly, "…guys?" His voice was croaky and his throat was far, far too dry, but in the silence of the room, his voice still carried.

Patton jerked, staring down at Virgil with wide eyes. His face split into a wide grin, even though Virgil could see tears gathering in his eyes. "V-Virgil? Oh, Virgil, you're awake!"

The others startled as well, Logan and Thomas rushing to be closer to the sofa and Roman leaning forward slightly in order to see his face.

Virgil smiled, "Heh, yeah, I'm awake." Virgil suddenly turned, burying his face in the quilt covering him, coughing violently. He could feel the others doing their best to support him as he focused all his energy only on attempting to catch his breath. A bottle of water was pressed into his hand and he was helped to take a small sip. Finally, he felt he could breathe again. He stared up at the others, vaguely registering the bags under their eyes. "What…what happened?"

Patton stroked his bangs back from his face for a moment, trading worried glances with the others before moving to answer, "Why don't you tell us what you remember, sweetheart, then we'll fill in the rest."

Virgil pressed further into Patton's hand, "'Member breakfast…and takin' a nap…an' I think I came down f'r water…but that's it…."

Roman gently squeezed Virgil's ankle, "It's alright, Finding Emo, we can explain."

Notes:

Thanks again to everyone who left kudos or bookmarked this, and also to everyone just reading. Thank you!

And don’t be afraid to comment or message me, I don’t bit lol :)

Chapter 3: What Really Happened

Summary:

Patton tells the story of what happened after Virgil collapsed.

Notes:

Okay, so lil bit of context here, this is basically a flashback in Patton’s POV as to what happened just as Virgil collapsed in the kitchen.

Also, thank you to everyone who has left comments/kudos/bookmarks! I love love /love/ reading and responding to comments and seeing that people really are liking my story. So thank you to everyone reading this!!!! You’re the best!!!!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Patton glanced over Roman's shoulder at Virgil, who was stumbling from the stairs into the kitchen.

That wasn't good. It looked like his kiddo's nap hadn't really done anything to help him. He still looked really sick.

Patton stood, patting Roman and Logan on the shoulders. "I'll go check on him. He doesn't look very good, does he?"

Concerned murmurs answered Patton as he carefully made his way to the kitchen. Patton approached the doorway just in time to see a glass slip out of Virgil's grasp and quietly thunk into the sink. Virgil swayed on his feet.

"…Kiddo? Virge, are you al--" Patton cut himself off with a gasp of horror. Virgil had wavered for a moment before crashing to the ground, still shivering, but clearly unconscious. "Virgil? VIRGIL!"

Patton rushed forward, skidding to a halt just in front of his dark, strange son. He vaguely registered the running footsteps of the others as they came to help, focusing only on Virgil's labored breathing.

Logan fell to his knees at Patton's side, pressing two fingers to Virgil's wrist. "His heartrate is higher than average, and he seems to be running a rather high-grade fever. I believe he fainted from the energy he must have expended while reaching the kitchen."

Janus and Remus cussed in the background, and for once, Patton didn't have the heart to chastise them for it.

Roman knelt beside Logan, never moving his gaze from Virgil's too-pale face. "How can we help, Logan?"

"First, we should move Virgil. The couch will do for now, I don't want him possibly becoming worse due to the effects of his room. Roman, Patton, would you mind?"

Before they could even acquiesce, Remus was stepping forward and carefully lifting Virgil into his arms. He set his jaw against the stares and shifted Virgil so that his head was cradled in the crook of Remus' neck.

"I've got him."

After another moment of staring, Logan nodded and stood, leading the way to the living room. Remus followed close behind with the others trailing along after him. With a gentleness that Patton didn't know he possessed, Remus laid Virgil in the center of the couch, tenderly arranging the other's limbs.

Abruptly, Remus stood again, "He's gonna need food when he wakes up. I'll make soup.” Remus left without another word. Clangs and crashes echoed from the kitchen, along with muffled cursing.

Janus, without looking away from Virgil's limp form, spoke, "I'll…make sure Remus is okay." Another moment passed before Janus actually moved - not that anyone blamed him.

Patton sat on the edge of the sofa, carefully brushing Virgil's hair from his forehead. Virgil, still asleep, frowned and pushed into Patton's hand. "Hey, Virgie. It's okay, it's just me, Patton-cake. You're gonna be okay. We'll take care of you. Promise." Virgil's frown disappeared, but he still leaned into Patton.

Patton registered someone kneeling beside him on the ground and looked over, only to see Logan holding out a damp washcloth. "Virgil needs to be cooled down," was the only explanation that Logan gave. Logan turned his gaze to Virgil's unnaturally slack face as Patton gratefully took the rag from Logan's hand. "I sent Roman to get a thermometer, along with Virgil's weighted blanket, a water bottle, and basic medications." Logan continued to ramble on, talking about the medications he had asked Roman to either find or summon.

Just as Logan was beginning to rant about the unfairness of the medical industry, Roman reappeared with a rather unexpected guest. Roman had Virgil’s favorite blanket slung over his shoulder and a canvas bag in his hand. Thomas was standing just behind Roman.

"I told Thomas what had happened, and he wanted to check in on our anxious little emo there."

Thomas stumbled forward and settled against an ottoman just across from Virgil. "Oh my God…" Thomas ran a hand through his hair, staring at Virgil's prone form without truly seeing it.

Roman set the bag down heavily on the coffee table and sat near Virgil's feet. He carefully maneuvered Virgil's legs to rest in his lap, gently draping the blanket over Virgil in the process. He clenched his jaw, brushing his hand up and down the blanket covering Virgil's ankles. "Why? Why Virgil?" Roman's voice was rough and whispered, obviously trying not to wake the still-sleeping side. "All he's ever done is try to protect us, why does this happen to him? Why not me? I was so horrible to him…and now he…and…" Roman glared away from the others gathered in the room.

Virgil turned over in his sleep, muttering under his breath. The others held their breaths, hoping against all hope that he might be waking up. "Ro,'" Roman squeezed Virgil's ankle again through the blanket. "Where…no…'s'not right." Virgil tossed again, settling his head on Patton's thigh. "Pat'n…can't….."

Patton settled further into the couch and blinked away his tears, "It's okay, Virge…we're all here, with you. We're not going anywhere."

As Virgil settled again, the others breathed out a collective sigh. Whether it was a sigh of disappointment or relief, they weren't sure.

Logan stood from his reclined position against the couch and stretched slightly. "I believe you all have this handled. I'm going to check in on Janus and Remus. Call…" Logan cleared his throat, "Call for me if Virgil's condition changes." Patton voiced his agreement and Logan walked quickly in the direction of the kitchen.

There was silence for a long, long while, only broken occasionally by curses from the kitchen or Virgil murmuring under his breath again.

"D'you…do you think…." Thomas was unable to finish his thought.

"Thomas," Roman smiled waveringly at the other man. "He's going to be fine. Don't worry - that's Surly Temple's job, here."

The giggles tapered off into more silence after a while.

"When…" Roman began again, "When do you think he'll wake up? I'm…" Roman scoffed again, looking away, "I hate to admit it, but I'm getting worried.

Patton responded, "I know, Roman, I'm worried too. He'll be okay though. We just need to stay strong for him."

Thomas laughed, "I think we're all a bit worried, Pat."

Again, chuckles filled the air.

"Salutations," Logan entered the room, stepping carefully so as to not wake Virgil. "Janus and Remus are keeping busy in the kitchen. I believe Remus is attempting to convince Janus to allow him to add bleach to his soup. He made it a point to note that he would avoid everyone else's portions, so I believe Janus is considering it, if only to get Remus to stop worrying."

Patton laughed wetly again, "We really can't blame Remus, though. I think…I think we're all worried about Virgil right now."

Logan had sat next to Thomas and, in an all-too-rare moment of vulnerability, had leaned against Thomas. There was quiet for another moment.

Roman was the one to break it. “Please wake up, Dark and Stormy Nightmare. The others won’t admit it - they don’t want to worry you - but we’re falling apart without you.” Patton began crying, muffling his tears in order to hear Roman better. Roman was crying, the stress of the past few hours finally taking their toll on him. “Thomas is fine, don’t worry about him, we just miss you. Please! You have to come back to us, Virgil!”

By that time, everyone was crying.

"…guys?"

"V-Virgil?"

Notes:

I’m almost sad, lol. There’s only one real chapter left, then the epilogue. :(

Anyways, I know I’ve said this a lot, but thanks so much for reading my story! It means a lot!

Chapter 4: The End...?

Summary:

The aftermath

Notes:

Hey y’all! This is technically the last chapter in this lil fic, and I know I’ve said it a lot, but thank you all so much for even just clicking into this, not to mention all you lovelies who leave kudos or comments.

I really can’t explain how much that means to me.

Anyways, I couldn’t resist myself lol, there’s a hint/mention of LAMP near the end, but nothin too specific.

Enjoy!!!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

"And that was that." Patton finished his retelling.

Virgil hummed, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. "…That was one hell of a tale, Pat. Normally the storyteller's Roman."

They all snickered at that, though the laughter died down again as Virgil muffled another cough.

"Storytelling aside," Logan began, reaching for the canvas bag still sat on the table, "You are still rather sick, Virgil. You need medicine." Virgil stuck out his tongue at Logan. "No, I don't care whether you want it or not. You're taking this medicine if I have to force it down your throat myself."

Virgil's jaw dropped and he couldn't help but blush and hope the others assumed it was because of his fever. "Damn, Lo, you kinky son of a b--"

"Language, Virgil!" Patton interrupted Virgil's comment with a blush of his own.

Virgil had to guess Roman would be blushing just as much as he and Patton were.

Logan continued, steadfastly ignoring both his own growing blush and Thomas' smug grin. "I believe you to have a particularly bad strain of the flu, and the stress on your body was greater than it could handle in it’s weakened state. As for medication, DayQuil, for now, and some Tylenol for four hours from now, along with NyQuil for much later." He pulled the medicines from the canvas bag as he said their names. "Then a thermometer, though that's more so that we know if we need to cool you off any more. Of course, there's also some more water bottles here, although I do believe that--" Logan cut himself off, squinting into the bag and huffing out a slight laugh. He looked up to Roman's suddenly very distracted face. "I see, Roman. Would you like to /present/ this /present/ or shall I?"

Patton was unable to contain his squeal at Logan’s pun.

Roman huffed and made grabby-hands for the bag, which Logan handed over with another laugh. Roman pouted at Logan and reached into the depths of the bag (which seemed to be far deeper than any normal canvas bag could possibly be). Roman grumbled once more and pulled out a surprisingly normal-sized teddy bear, which had a heart-shaped balloon saying "Get better soon, honey-bear!" with its string tied to the bear's hand. The bear itself was a light brown, with one purple and one green button eye carefully stitched above a small smile.

Roman glanced from the adorable little bear to Virgil before holding it out for Virgil to take. Carefully, ever-so-carefully, Virgil took the bear into his arms.

Tactfully, nothing was said about the tears that leaked down his face.

"Thanks, Princey, it's…good. It's really good."

Roman smiled, eyes wide and full of joy. "I'm…glad, Virgil…truly."

As Virgil laid there, smiling stupidly, he was sure, he took in his fam-ILY.Suddenly, he frowned, “Where are Janus and Remus?”

Logan was the first to move, laughing a little bit as he shook his head. Virgil could only watch, still vaguely confused, as Logic approached the doorway to the kitchen. "He's awake!"

Almost before Virgil could realize who Logan had been talking to, a yellow and a green blur shot towards him from the doorway.

"Virgil!"

"VIRGEY!!!"

Janus had been first out the kitchen door, and stopped at the back of the couch, grin full of hope and happiness.

Remus, however, launched himself over the back of the couch to land mostly on top of his brother, wrapping his arms around Virgil's lower legs and ignoring Roman's indignant squawking.

Virgil laughed, smiling so widely it made his cheeks hurt and his slightly chapped lips stretch almost-uncomfortably. He closed his eyes and smiled, finally allowing himself to relax into the care and comfort the others seemed so willing to provide. Virgil knew, no matter what might happen to him next, what sickness he had or obstacle he had to overcome, his family would help him through it.

He'd be alright.

Notes:

God, I’m getting emotional again, damn.

The real mushy gushy stuff I’ll save for the epilogue, but in the meantime, thanks for reading!!!!

Chapter 5: Epilogue

Summary:

A quick conversation

Notes:

“It’s fine” he said “it’ll be up in a few hours!” He said “I definitely don’t need sleep whatsoever and I definitely won’t pass out after almost forty hours of not sleeping! I’m not that sleep-deprived!” He said

Read: I was Tired TM and was asleep

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

"Why the HELL didn't you call for us right when he woke up?!"

"Yes, I am rather inclined to agree with Remus on that account. I would've liked to have been informed."

"We didn't want to overwhelm him, kiddos! That and…well, I guess it slipped all of our minds. We were all pretty relieved when he woke up."

"No, I'm pretty sure we just forgot, Padre."

"Roman, have you no sense of /tact/?"

"I'll give you all some /thumb-tacks/ on your chairs if you don't shut up! I'm tired and sick, let me cuddle and nap in peace!"

"Aww, I'm so proud of you kiddo! You made a pun!"

"Say, Dark and Stormy, am I ever going to be allowed to have my legs back? With you and my /idiot of a brother/, I'm losing feeling in them."

"…No."

"Yay!!! I knew I was your favorite, Virgie!"

"I believe the expression is 'Savage,' yes?"

"…Also a no, Logan, sorry."

"Everyone shush. Virgil, you need to rest, stop antagonizing the others while you're sick."

"Sir, yessir, Thomas sir!"

"…Brat."

"I've been trying to tell you all that for years."

"Shuddup, Janus…y' heard Thomas…lemme sleep…."

"Whatever you say, Virgil…sweet dreams.”

Notes:

Thank you all once again for reading this! The update schedule got pretty wonky because a) I’m nocturnal now lol and b) I’m preparing to travel in a day or two. It’s been hectic to say the least.

Anyways, this story means a lot to me, so thank you all so much for interacting in whatever way you have. Yes, that’s about the tenth time I’ve said it, but it needed to be said again lol.

If you liked this, feel free to check out my other stories! It seems as though I’m unable to write anything that has any true angst in it.

Thanks again!!!!

Notes:

This chapter was pretty fluffy, but the angst does come soon, I promise. However, just like all my other stories, this /will/ have a happy ending!

Thanks again for reading, and stay tuned!