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It was too damn cold.
Virgil grumbled to himself as he tried to find something warmer to wear, before giving up and deciding to just take the whole duvet with him. Whatever, the only people who would see him were Remus and Deceit, and he didn’t care what they thought of him.
It had been cold for days, ever since Thomas and his parents had arrived at his aunt’s house, which was up north. And Virgil had been working overtime, keeping Thomas safe, making sure he didn’t make a fool of himself, letting him know which of his cousins hated him. He’d spent the whole flight up by Thomas’ side, reminding him of everything that could go wrong so that he wouldn’t get complacent, wouldn’t relax so much that when the plane crashed he’d be unable to save himself.
And then there was Deceit, who wasn’t doing nearly enough. Thomas had almost told his aunt what he really thought of her cooking because Deceit hadn’t been there to stop him. It was only Virgil that managed to keep his mouth shut, and when Virgil had complained about, Deceit had snapped that he was worrying too much. Somehow, that conversation had ended with Virgil storming off to his room.
Deceit had better apologise to him today.
Virgil only made it partway down the hall before he tripped over something solid. He pushed himself up quickly, just in case whatever tripped him was about to try to eat him, and froze.
Deceit was curled in on himself, eyes closed and completely still.
What the hell was he doing asleep in the hallway?
Virgil reached out and shook Deceit gently. No response. He shook harder.
“Wake up, asshole, you tripped me up,” he said.
Still, nothing. Panic began to clutch at his chest; was Deceit even breathing? There had been a school assembly about what to do in an emergency, hadn’t there? What had that said?
He pressed two fingers against Deceit’s neck, but he had no idea where the pulse was even meant to be. The speaker had said something about checking the breathing, right? Virgil was pretty sure she’d recommended using a mirror, but there weren’t any mirrors in the corridor. He placed his hand just above Deceit’s face and waited.
For an eternity, there was nothing, and then Deceit’s breath tickled against his skin. Virgil relaxed, but only slightly. That still didn’t explain why Deceit was still asleep, or why he’d passed out in the first place.
Virgil draped the duvet over Deceit, because his skin was cold to the touch. He sat back, and stared. Everything was too quiet, too still, and he couldn’t bear it.
“Remus,” Virgil called.
Remus’ door swung open instantly.
“What is it?” Remus asked. “Want me to show you how to hang from the ceiling? Or how about I-” He trailed off when he saw Virgil and Deceit.
“I don’t care what you do,” Virgil said, “Just wake him up.”
Remus shook Deceit; he shouted at him, he made a variety of loud and disturbing noises. They even threw water on top of him, because it always worked in the movies, but all it did was make Deceit unconscious and wet.
Finally, they carried him into his room and lay him on his bed.
“It could be a curse,” Remus said, from where he was standing on the ceiling. “True loves molestation or something.”
“It’s meant to be true loves kiss,” Virgil corrected. “And how would he get cursed, anyway?”
Remus shrugged. “Beats me. Maybe it’s not a curse; maybe he’s stuck like this forever. Hey! Maybe this is going to be what happens to all of us when Thomas stops needing us.”
“Thomas needs us,” Virgil insisted.
“Sure, until he figures out a way to not need us anymore. Then he’s going to get rid of us, and it’ll just be the goody-two-shoes. Do you think he’ll stay here or will he fade away? Or maybe he’ll starve and starve until he dies.”
“Stop!” Virgil shouted, and Remus fell silent.
He rubbed his hands across his face. Remus could be right. It wasn’t like either of them knew what they were doing, what if they tried something and it made things worse? What if they had to watch Deceit waste away, until he was gone completely?
If it was one of them, Deceit would know what to do. But Virgil wasn’t any good at coming up with ideas, and Remus was too good at it. And now he was going to die, all because he was stuck with the two of them.
Unless he wasn’t stuck with them.
“I have an idea,” Virgil said.
Remus tilted his head. “Is it a good idea?”
Virgil laughed ruefully. “Not really.”
“Good! Good ideas are boring.”
Virgil took a breath. “I’m going to find help. You stay here and look after him.”
Remus looked curious, but Virgil didn’t wait long enough for him to start asking questions. If Virgil told him what he was planning, Remus would tell him all the ways that it was a stupid idea, and then Virgil would agree with him. Right now, Virgil needed to be brave, and the only way for him to do that was to not think.
So he didn’t hesitate before stepping out the door of the house, and into the strange, empty space behind it. In the distance, he could make out the bright red and blue paint of the other door. Virgil took a step forward, and the door was suddenly a lot closer; another step, and he was half way there. By the fourth step, he had reached the door, and was able to see that the paint was pristine, unlike the door to his house, which was cracked and peeling.
Virgil raised his hand to knock, and then stopped. Here, in the space between spaced, his thoughts came flooding back.
He’d only ever spoken with the Light Sides in the real world, whilst protecting Thomas from whatever hare brained scheme Princey had come up with. He’d never sought them out, and he’d certainly never asked them for help.
They probably wouldn’t listen. They’d probably tell him to get lost, because why would you help your enemy. But Deceit would die if Virgil didn’t do this, and if they didn’t want to help, then maybe he could offer them something in return.
Steeling himself, he knocked twice at the door, and then waited. For a long time, there was just the silence of the void, and he figured that they probably weren’t going to answer. Why would they? Virgil wouldn’t, if one of them came knocking.
Before Virgil could turn away, though, the door slid slowly open, and a face peered out. Virgil heart sunk immediately. Out of all of them, it just had to be Princey.
Princey didn’t look any happier to see him. “What do you want?”
Virgil hunched his shoulders and did his best to convey don’t mess with me in a look. “I want to speak to Logic,” he said.
Princey’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Why?”
“Let me speak to Logic and I’ll tell you.”
Creativity looked about to slam the door in his face, but then someone said something further inside the house, and Creativity sighed and pulled the door fully open.
“It’s Anxiety,” he called.
Someone stepped into the hallway behind Creativity. Morality.
“Oh, Anxiety,” he said, fiddling with the sleeves of the cardigan around his neck. “What are you doing here?”
“He wants to see Logic, apparently,” Creativity said before Virgil could answer. “It’s probably a trick. We should just get rid of him.”
“He is standing right here,” Virgil snapped.
“Logics inside,” Morality said, and he gave Virgil a shaky smile. “Why don’t you come in?”
Virgil glanced suspiciously at Princey, who crossed his arms and scowled, but didn’t say anything. Virgil figured he probably wasn’t going to chop his head off when Morality was right there.
Creativity twitched slightly when Virgil stepped over the threshold, but he didn’t make any movement. So far, so good.
Inside was warmer and brighter than their house, and the smell of pancakes hung in the air, making Virgil’s mouth water. It was as perfect as their stupid lives.
Morality led the way into the kitchen, where Logic was sat at the table, which was piled high with pancakes.
“We were just having breakfast,” Morality said. “Do you want any, Anxiety?”
Virgil shook his head, even though the smell of pancakes made his mouth water. He’d spent enough time around Remus to know not to accept food someone else had made. Besides, he had a job to do.
“Well, there’s Logic,” Creativity said sharply. “Now tell us what you’re doing here.”
Morality frowned but didn’t say anything.
Logic tilted his head, turning his intense gaze to Virgil. “You were looking for me? Why?”
No point in stalling now. He kind of wished he could speak to Logic alone, away from Creativity and Morality, but there was no way Creativity would allow that.
“I need your help,” he said.
“Absolutely not,” Creativity said immediately.
“Princey,” Morality scolded. “You don’t even know what he needs help with.”
“He’s our enemy,” Creativity argued.
“Hey, I’m looking out for Thomas, same as you,” Virgil snapped.
“Looking out for him? Please, more like-”
“Enough,” Logic said, drawing the attention back to him. “Anxiety, what is it you need our help with?”
Virgil swallowed. “It’s Deceit. He’s sick.”
“Oh no,” Morality cried. “What’s wrong with him?”
Virgil narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out if Morality was mocking him, but Morality just looked concerned.
“I don’t know,” Virgil answered. “But I- I found him in the hallway and he won’t wake up.”
“Strange,” Logic said. “And you have no idea what could have caused it.”
“I wouldn’t be here if I did,” Virgil snapped, and then winced when he remembered he shouldn’t be acting like himself if he wanted their help.
Logic nodded, apparently unbothered. “Then I will need to inspect his condition. I assume he’s on your side of the mindscape?”
Relief rushed through Virgil. “So you’ll help?”
“Yes,” Logic said, sounding confused that Virgil would even ask that.
“I’ll come, too,” Morality said. “I know I’m not as smart as Logic, but I still want to help.”
“Well, if you’re going, I’m going,” Creativity said before Virgil could object. “What if it’s some kind of trap?”
Virgil considered trying to insist on only Logic going with him, and then realised that arguing with them would just take up time they might not have. “Fine, whatever. Can we just get going?”
Logic nodded, and opened his mouth to say something, which Virgil took that as his clue to teleport them all to Deceit’s room. Morality gasped and Princey grumbled at the sudden change, but Virgil was focused on Deceit, asleep on the bed, exactly how Virgil had left him.
He hadn’t even realised that some part of him was expecting Deceit to be awake when he got back.
“Ah,” Logic said from behind Virgil. He began to cross the room towards the bed, only for something to land on him from above and knock him to the floor. Princey swore and drew his sword.
“I knew we couldn’t trust you,” Princey hissed.
Virgil ignored him. “What are you doing?” he snapped at Remus, who now had Logic pinned to the ground.
“Not sure yet! I could carve him into itty bitty bits, or make him sleep forever. Or make him sleep forever and then carve him into itty bitty bits. Which one sounds like more fun?”
Princey stepped forward, his sword pointed straight at Remus. In the background, Virgil was dimly aware of Morality looking between the three of them.
“Given that I am here to help Deceit, that would be counterproductive,” Logic said, way to calm for someone Remus was upset with.
“It’s true,” Morality said, causing Remus to twist his head unnaturally far to look at him. “Anxiety asked us to come.”
Now Remus was staring at Virgil, and looking unimpressed.
“I did tell you it was a bad idea,” Virgil pointed out weakly.
Remus hummed, and then turned back to Logic. “Can you fix him?”
“I can’t promise that without knowing for certain what’s wrong with him,” Logic said. “But I will certainly try.”
“Fix him,” Remus insisted, “Or I’ll eat your liver.”
And then, he sprang off of Logic, rising straight up into the air like a startled cat.
“Well, what are you waiting for, nerd?”
Virgil glanced over at Princey, wondering what he made of Remus’ threat, and realised why he hadn’t actually attacked anyone yet – Morality had stepped over to him and was holding him back. Logic pulled himself to his feet, and straightened out his shirt. He nodded once, and then went to Deceit’s bedside. Virgil followed.
Logic began his examination; he placed two fingers on Deceits neck to listen to his pulse; he peeled Deceits eyes opened and squinted at him; he summoned a thermometer which he pushed into Deceit’s ear. The whole time, Virgil hovered nearby, wishing there was something he could do to help, afraid to say anything in case it ruined Logic’s concentration.
“He’s asleep,” Logic said slowly.
“Uh, I know?” Virgil said.
Logic shook his head and glanced over, as if he’d only just realised Virgil was there. “His heart rate seems slow – though I don’t know whether that’s normal for him, many snakes do have slower heartrates than humans after all.”
“Yeah, but what’s wrong with him?” Remus asked.
“Nothing, as far as I can tell. Except he is asleep, which means something must be wrong.”
Logic looked rather perturbed at the idea of not having all the answers.
“So you can’t fix it,” Remus said, his voice dangerously even.
“I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out,” Morality said.
“Preferably somewhere less freezing,” Princey muttered. “How do you stand it?”
Virgil rolled his eyes. “It’s not like we can help it. In case you missed it, it’s kind of cold out.”
“Well, maybe if you took the time to heat place-“
“Stop,” Logic snapped, straightening. He turned his intense gaze to Virgil. “This temperature is unusual?”
“Yeah,” Virgil said, resisting the urge to shrink back from everyone’s attention.
“And were there any changes to Deceit’s behaviour recently?”
“Uh, he’s had a stick up his ass,” Remus chimed in.
“Not what I meant,” Logic said. “Has he been eating more?”
Virgil and Remus both shook their heads.
Logic sighed. “That is… unfortunate. It appears he is in some form of hibernation. Ordinarily, he would have prepared by increasing his food supply, but it seems the abrupt change in temperature made him enter this state quickly.”
Virgil racked his brains trying to think of what he knew about hibernation. There wasn’t a lot.
“So he’s going to sleep all winter?” he asked.
“That would be incredibly dangerous. But no, most likely he will wake in a couple of days. What is important is preventing him from re-entering hibernation. You will need to keep this place warmer than it currently is.”
“I could set some things on fire,” Remus suggested.
“Absolutely not,” Virgil snapped. Remus pouted, so Virgil added, “If you do, you’ll set the whole place on fire.”
“Which will be warm!”
“I’d advise raising the temperature slowly,” Logic said. “You will also need to provide food and fluids when he wakes up.”
“I can help with that,” Morality spoke up from the back of the room. “I’ll go find something to give him!”
“And I,” Princey said dramatically, taking a step forward as if stepping into a spot light, “Can help with your heating problem.”
“I can manage the heating just fine,” Remus snapped.
“Because you’re doing such a good job at it already.”
“Maybe we like it chilly!”
“Deceit is literally unconscious!”
Ignoring the bickering, Virgil grabbed Logic’s arm and dragged him to one side. Morality had already left the room, presumably to try and find something edible in the kitchen.
“Look, thanks,” Virgil said.
Logic blinked at him. “It’s quite alright,” he said.
“So, uh what do you want?”
Better to get it over with, whatever it was. Still, Virgil couldn’t think of anything he could give. Surely the Light Sides could have everything they wanted?
“Want?” Logic echoed. “I’m not sure what you mean. I have already provided instructions for Deceit’s care.”
Virgil almost rolled his eyes, and then stopped himself. This wasn’t the time. “That’s what I mean. What do you want in return?”
“Ah,” Logic said. “You expect this to be a transaction.”
Virgil shrugged. “What else would it be?”
“There is nothing I require that you could give me,” Logic said, making Virgil bristle, because yeah, they all knew that, but it’s not like Logic had to call it out. “And I certainly wasn’t expecting payment when I agreed to help.”
Wow. For the embodiment of logic, he sure seemed stupid. Why would he just give something like that away for free? Didn’t he know that Virgil was in a corner?
“I’m pretty sure the others won’t like that.”
Logic looked confused. “How so?”
“Because you don’t just… do things for people for free!” Virgil flung his hands in the air.
“I see. Might I ask what Deceit will pay you for this?”
Virgil gaped. “That’s different!”
“You are doing a favour for another side so that he will return to health. I fail to see the difference, especially as it is the same favour for the same side that we are both doing.”
“Yeah, but I like Deceit. Besides, we need him around.”
“I completely agree,” Logic said. Wait, what? “We still don’t know how this will affect Thomas, after all.”
That sent a jolt of unease up Virgil’s spine, but he pushed it down. “I figured you’d want us gone.”
Logic’s mouth fell open. “Why would you assume that?”
“Isn’t it obvious? You don’t exactly like having us around Thomas.”
“You are all still a part of him,” Logic said. He glanced over Virgil’s shoulder and added, “Albeit at times an unorthodox one.”
Virgil looked at where Logic was looking to see that the two Creativity’s seemed to be fighting over something in the corner.
“You – stop it! You’re going to mess it up,” Princey scolded, pushing Remus away.
Virgil tensed at the sight of the fight, but nobody had their weapons out.
“It’s my side of the mindscape,” Remus argued.
“Yeah, and it’s my creation! You’ll just turn it disturbing.”
“Well yeah, what did you think I was planning to do?”
Finally, Princey managed to push Remus away. “It’s done!” he proclaimed. “This should help heat the room up – yes, slowly, I heard you the first time, Specs.”
“Well,” Logic said, “That is adequate.”
“So your great invention,” Virgil drawled, “Is a space heater?”
Princey flushed. “You – how dare you! I do all this work – out of the goodness of my own heart, might I add – and this is how you repay me?”
“Yeah, you’re a real martyr,” Virgil said, rolling his eyes. And then, because Princey could probably make the heater go away if he wanted, “Thanks, though.”
Princey looked suspicious, as if it was somehow a trap he was walking in. “It was nothing. I wasn’t going to let Remus be in charge of it, you’d be all dead in minutes.”
Remus didn’t seem bothered by this remark, but Virgil bristled at the insult. “We’ve managed with him for this long,” he snapped.
Princey glanced between the two of them, frowning. “Well, yes, but-“
“I’m back!” Morality called, stepping in the room before the argument could get any further. “I made soup! I figured that would be the best for him.”
In Morality’s arms were thermoses. A lot of thermoses. Virgil couldn’t remember finding a single thermos in the dark side, ever, so he wasn’t sure where they all came from.
Morality must have noticed Virgil’s incredulous look, because he added, “I wasn’t sure what kind he liked so I made a bunch! Um, is that okay?”
“That, uh, great,” Virgil said. “But where did you get everything for them?”
“Oh, I found the ingredients in your kitchen,” Morality said.
Virgil frowned, and sidled closer to Remus. “You didn’t disguise anything as food in there, did you?” he asked.
“Why would I disguise it? No, I left those maggots exactly as they were.”
Across the room, Logic looked exasperated. “You cannot have made all of that in the time you were down there,” he said.
“Why not?” asked Morality.
“Because it takes hours to make soup from scratch!”
“It only takes Thomas a few minutes to make soup, though,” Morality pointed out.
“That’s not from scratch!”
“Well, this conversation is clearly going somewhere,” Princey remarked, moving over to Virgil and Remus. “They do this all the time,” he added.
Virgil was tense watching them, because what if one of them got really mad, and tried to hurt the other. Or if they ended up hating each other for ever, or refused to help Thomas any more.
“Do they ever have hate sex after?” Remus asked.
“What the hell?” Virgil snapped. Princey looked deeply disturbed.
Fortunately, Virgil’s outburst seemed to have drawn Logic and Morality’s attention.
“Right,” Logic said. “It appears we have done what we can for now. Would you like us to help watch over him?”
Virgil shook his head quickly. “It’s fine, we’ve got it.”
Logic looked doubtful, but didn’t say anything. “Very well. He should wake in a couple of days, just keep an eye on him until then. If he doesn’t, come find me again.”
Virgil really didn’t need to be told to go find Logic if Deceit didn’t wake up, but he nodded and said, “Got it.”
Morality put the hoard of thermoses on Deceits desk. “I labelled each one,” he added. “Are you sure you don’t need any more help?”
Virgil really, really wasn’t.
“I’m sure,” he said, and tried for a reassuring smile. Morality didn’t look very reassured.
“Well then,” Princey said, “Let’s get out of here.”
As soon as the others had left, Virgil sank down on Deceits bed. He felt exhausted. Remus flopped down next to him, still managing to avoid jostling Deceit. Virgil barely paid attention to him, focusing on Deceits still form. It felt wrong to see him like this, so vulnerable. Like walking in on someone praying.
“I’ll stay with him,” Virgil said.
This was the point where Remus should disagree, or make some inappropriate joke, or do something disgusting. Instead, all he said was, “Find me when you want to take a break.”
The room was as silent as a morgue after Remus left. Virgil watched Deceit’s face, hoping for some kind shift, some kind of hint at cunning that was normally there if you looked closer, even when he looked open and relaxed.
“You’re an asshole,” Virgil told him, because he was. “What, you’re just going to leave me and Remus alone because you want to take a nap? You’re lucky I didn’t let Remus just smash all your stuff. Bet that would have woken you up.”
There was no reply. Of course there wasn’t, Logic had said it would take days, and that was if it worked. He’d also said Deceit should have eaten more before going to sleep, what did that mean? Was Deceit going to get sick? Could he die?
“You can’t just do this,” Virgil snarled. “You can’t go and make me care about you and then just – collapse in the middle of the hallway, you dick. What the hell would you have done if I’d slept in?”
Virgil slumped back and rubbed his hands across his face, groaning. “Just hurry up and wake up,” he muttered.
He stayed by Deceit until Remus came and threw him out. Literally – he tossed Virgil into the hallway and then grew a wall of thorns blocking off Deceit’s door. By that time, the sun was beginning to set. Somehow, Virgil hadn’t noticed the hours pass.
Remus and Virgil swapped places throughout that day and the next. While not watching over Deceit, Virgil tried to focus on Thomas, making sure that he was safe, that he didn’t humiliate himself, letting him know when he did.
He couldn’t do that when he was with Deceit, because he needed to be ready for when something went wrong.
So he just sat by the bed and waited, alternating between needing to know that he was still breathing and bored out of his mind.
“What are you doing in my room?” a voice asked, making Virgil jump.
Deceit’s eyes were open. He started to sit up, frowning.
“You’re awake,” Virgil said, unable to think through the relief that flooded through him.
“Obviously,” Deceit replied. “I understand why you’re surprised, though, seeing as it’s not something I do every day.”
“It isn’t, actually,” Virgil said.
Virgil could see the moment when Deceit realised what had happed; his face smoothed from a look of confusion into a blank mask.
“How long?” he asked quietly.
“Two days,” Virgil said, and then he couldn’t stop talking. “We found you in the hallway. Logic said you were hibernating.”
“Logic?” Deceit repeated, and Virgil winced when he realised his mistake. He looked away, his eyes catching on the mound of thermoses on the desk.
“You should eat something.”
“Did Logic suggest that, too?” Deceit asked, his tone deceptively light.
Virgil grimaced. There was no escape from Deceit’s gaze. “Logic, uh, agreed to help.”
“He just agreed. Out of the kindness of his own heart?”
“I don’t know!” Virgil snapped. “The light sides are weird; who knows why they do anything?”
“And finding that out would have been beyond you, I’m sure.”
Virgil bristled and stood up. “What the hell was I supposed to do? You weren’t any help.”
“Ah yes,” Deceit drawled. “How inconsiderate of me to not provide advice whilst unconscious.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Virgil grabbed a random thermos off the desk and threw it at Deceit. Deceit looked down at where it landed in his lap, startled. “Drink that.”
“Virgil,” Deceit said.
“I’m going to get Remus.”
“Virgil,” Deceit repeated, but Virgil ignored him and marched out into the hallway.
He leaned against Deceit’s door and forced himself to breathe. It was over; Deceit was fine; his chest could stop feeling so tight now.
“What’s slithered up your butt and died?” Remus said from above.
When Virgil blinked, he could see Deceit’s still form in the corridor; what had he been doing when he collapsed? If he’d managed to get into his room, it would have been hours before Virgil noticed anything was wrong, and even longer for Virgil to investigate.
“Who do you think?” Virgil asked, forcing him to focus on Remus.
Remus dropped down with a thud. “Is he-?”
“He’s fine,” Virgil said quickly, because that had probably been the worst way he could have worded that. “He’s awake. It’s just-”
Virgil never got to vent his frustrations to Remus, because Remus was already pushing Virgil aside and barging into Deceit’s room.
“Sneaking beauty!” Remus called. “Finally!”
Virgil closed his eyes and counted to ten. And then, because he was petty, he counted to ten again. Let Deceit deal with Remus alone for a while; he deserved it.
Twenty seconds ended up being the limit for how long Virgil could stay there before the overwhelming need to make sure Deceit was okay forced him to step into the doorway. Deceit was sat up in bed now, his fingers curled around the thermos. Remus was sprawled next to him, one tentacle wrapped around Deceit’s waist, another rested on his shoulders.
“Are you going to come in?” Deceit asked. “Or are you going to keep sulking?”
“Screw you,” Virgil snapped, even as he went further inside.
“I don’t know why you’re so upset. I’m the one who had the Light Sides in my room.”
“I thought you were dying, asshole!”
“It’s hardly a big deal,” Deceit said, as if Virgil was freaking out over the consequences of Thomas’ socks not matching.
“You could have died!” Virgil shouted, and suddenly the room seemed very still. “Logic said that it could have been dangerous. And none of this would have been a problem, if you’d told us what was happening.”
Deceit said nothing. Remus was strangely still beside him, eyes flickering between the two of them as if he was watching a tennis match.
“I knew exactly what was happening,” Deceit said, staring at his comforter. “It’s certainly happened before.”
“Oh,” Virgil said weakly. He sat down on Deceits bed.
“Would you have?” Virgil asked. “If you knew what was going on, would you have told us or just-?”
“Will you believe any answer I give?” Deceit asked ruefully.
“I don’t know,” Virgil admitted.
“I can’t give you what you want,” Deceit said. “But I can give you this.” He closed his eyes as he spoke. “My name is Janus.”
Virgil stared at him for a moment. Deceit – Janus – didn’t meet his gaze.
“Ooh, first name basis!” Remus said, “Things must be getting serious.”
Janus rolled his eyes, and finally met Virgil’s gaze. Virgil swallowed.
“Don’t you ever do that again,” he said.
Janus’ shoulders loosened, and it was only then that Virgil realised he must have been holding himself tense, as if ready to make an escape.
“I’ll be sure to remember that,” he said. “Now, please tell me you kept Remus away from the Light Sides.”
Remus cackled and began giving his best impressions of each of the others. Virgil sat down on the bed, positioned so that his arm was brushing against Janus’, and let the sound of his family wash over him.
He should probably go back to the Light Sides at some point, to let them know that Janus was better. For all they might be clueless morons, they weren’t as terrible as he’d once thought; perhaps he could even tolerate being around them for more than a few minutes. He might even be able to like them, given enough time.
That was later, though. Right now, he wasn’t leaving his family’s side.