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"Virgil, why are you staring out the window?"
"I'm looking at the stars Roman!, through the window! Like a caged animal!" Virgil said sharply.
"Virgil please, it's for you own good..." Patton whimpered "why don't you try to get some sleep?"
"Because I can't sleep" Virgil stated with a sigh " I usually watch the stars every night before I go to bed to relax and lower my anxiety, but I haven't been able to do that lately, so I've been unable to sleep the past 3 days"
"Virgil!" Pattin cried "why didn't you tell us!"
"You wouldn't have listened" Virgil muttered under his breath.
"Virgil please be fair about this" logan began before Patton cut him off
"Why don't we all go up and watch the stars together for a while before going to bed?"
Virgil's eyes lit up. Maybe he wouldn't be able to fly, but hopefully, the fresh air and stars would be enough to tide him over.
Logan nodded, and pulled out the key to the roof hatch, climbing the ladder and unlocking it. Followed by the other sides. Virgil was made to sit down almost immediately, right next to the hatch the rest sat down right next to him. Even in the fresh air, their presence was starting to make him claustrophobic. Virgil hugged his knees and stared forward. He wasn't sure how much longer he was going to be able to stand this.
"Wow verge, this place is beautiful, I've never seen it at night" Parton commented, trying to lighten the tense mood.
Virgil gave a small smile. "Yeah, the fresh air always calms me down. I love watching the fish in the pond at the bottom of the waterfall in front of us."
"I can't even see that from here"
"I usually sit on the edge with my feet hanging down so I can see them" Virgil muttered "That's what I was doing when Roman came in"
No one said anything, clearly not fully believing him.
Virgil stood up, pulling Patton up with him, and causing the other two to jump up.
"There's a tree over there" Virgil started, point out across the lake, "If you look above it, there's a ledge that's covered in flowers that only bloom in moonlight, you can follow it up behind the waterfall to a rock ledge that sticks out over the lake" He continued, guiding the sides eyes with his finger as he talked. "That's my favourite spot"
"Wow" "Flowers that bloom at night? That's fascinating"
"But Virgil, how do you even get over there?" Patton asked
Virgil looked around. Roman and Logan were distractedly staring up at the ledge, and Patton was a foot away from him.
"Like this" Virgil replied casually, turning away from the lake and toward the row of neighbouring houses, taking an extra step away from Patton before taking off toward the edge of the roof. The 3 sided let out cries as they took off after him, but to their surprise, Virgil jumped the gap onto the next roof.
The sides glanced between each other before taking off after him.
Virgil smiled as he continued running, jumping from roof to roof as he went. Maybe he wouldn't be able to fly, but feeling the wind on his face and hearing it rush past his ears was close. He made sure to stay far enough ahead of them that there was no way they could catch him, but close enough that they could follow.
Soon Virgil was approaching a large gap in houses over the river. He picked up one of his hooks off the roof and ran toward the zipline he had set up over the river. He jumped, using the hook on the line to sail across the river, landing on the following roof.
The 3 sides still in pursuit of him skidded to a stop before going over the edge, looking up at Virgil with wide eyes.
"Virgil please!" Patton cried. Virgil smirked, looking across at them.
"Are you guys coming?" Virgil asked "the extra hooks are hidden in the chimney over there," he said as he pointed, before turning and taking off again.
The sides looked between each other again, baffled that Virgil wasn't just running away from them after all, but wanted them to follow. One by one the zipped across, Roman, of course, going first, followed by Patton and Logan.
By the time they got across, they had lost Virgil, before Roman noticed a wooden plank from the roof down to the top of the stone dam to the base of the mountain, glancing up to see the silhouette of Virgil running across it.
The side in question was currently in heaven, or at least as close as he would get while he was grounded (both physically and metaphorically from the other sides.) He was running with his arms out, hoodie blowing in the wind behind him. He felt the wind on his face and in his hair as he went, hearing the sound of crashing water get closer as he neared the base of the waterfall.
A couple of minutes later the other 3 sides arrived at the end of the damn and began to follow the small trail through the trees and into the rocks. They continued climbing, turning the corner to find a ledge covered in pale purple flowers. they had to keep going, however, and continued behind the waterfall into a small cave, and emerged even higher, up on a ledge almost at the top on the cliff, the waterfall crashing down past it right beside them.
"Whoa" Patton gasped, taking in the view from this high up. "This is incredible!"
"You should see it during a meteor shower," Virgil said, voice coming from behind them and causing them to jump. They turned to see he was sat up on a rock that was sticking out of the wall just above the cave. He was looking down at them with one of his rare gentle yet genuine smiles.
"Wow Virgil, your realm is incredible," Roman said as Virgil jumped down onto their ledge.
"Nah, nothing compared to yours princey" Virgil smiled, putting his hands into his pockets casually. Roman blushed.
"You come all the way up here a lot?" Patton asked surprised
"Usually almost every night before I go to bed. I can't really sleep without it..." Virgil shrugged. The other sides looked at each other with guilt.
"We apologize, Virgil, we were unaware this was such an important routine for you" logan replied.
"It's whatever" Virgil shrugged "even if the situation was misinterpreted, it's nice seeing that you guys care so much"
"Of course we care Virgil! Patton cried, "We love you! We will always love you no matter what!"
"Yeah..." Virgil deadpanned, clearly not fully convinced.
"Virgil nothing could change how we feel about you" Roman replied firmly
"Really? Nothing?" Virgil replied, his heart suddenly pounding.
"Nothing." They all replied in unison.
Virgil blushed uncomfortably, fidgeting with his hands and glancing away.
"I still stand by what I said earlier though..." Roman muttered "you really didn't look like you were about to sit down, you looked like you were about to jump"
"Of course I was going to jump..." Virgil muttered under his breath.
"What?" Patton asked, not quite hearing him.
"I said" Virgil replied louder "of course I was going to jump. But again, it's not what you guys think! You wouldn't believe me" he sighed, crossing his arms.
"Okay..." Roman stuttered, still processing
"Virgil If it isn't what we're thinking it is. Then tell us. We will believe you" Patton said softly.
Virgil glanced up with fear in his eyes "promise?"
Patton looked at the other two sides, and all 3 nodded "promise"
"I-..." Virgil swallowed a lump in his throat, which felt like it was swelling up. He glanced at the stars and took a deep breath. "I was about to fly" he forced out.
There was a moment of silence.
"Virgil if this is some attempt at dark humour...." Logan began
"Its the truth!" Virgil pleaded. Looking between the sides desperately.
"Okay okay," Roman tried to calm him "I believe you, but then how? You didn't have anything with you"
"W-with" Virgil pinned his eyes shut and clenched his fists "with these!"
Suddenly there was a loud snap of feathers as two huge pitch-black wings erupted into existence from behind the dark cloud.
Virgil kept his eyes shut, too afraid to open them. All he could hear was silence for a few moments before he felt a tear run down his cheek. He began to raise his hand to wipe it with his hoodies when something stopped his hand. He opened his eyes in shock, to find roman standing in front of him holding his wrist with a soft smile.
"Still love you," Roman said with a slight teasing smile as he used his other hand to wipe Virgil's tear with his sleeve.
Virgil just stared, his mind racing a thousand miles a minute as he tried to process what was happening.
"They are beautiful...." Patton said in awe from over Roman's shoulder, taking a step toward them with his hand out before stopping himself and pulling his hand back.
"w-what..?" Virgil managed to sputter out. Another tear appearing in his cheek, which roman also caught with his sleeve.
"I don't understand... how is this possible" Logan stated.
"I... I used to be a dark side..." Virgil replied, a third tear appearing, which also found a home on Roman's sleeve.
"Stop it..." Virgil muttered, Reaching for the sleeve in question "you're getting my makeup all over your sleeve." He said, attempting to wipe it off but only making it worse.
"Ah yes, though you've tarnished my fine robes with your filth, they will survive," Roman said with a teasing tone and a smirk, before adding a softer "worth it" and pushing Virgil's bangs away from his face. Virgil turned even redder.
Virgil glanced over to Patton.
"Can I....?" Patton asked, pointing to his wing.
Virgil nodded extending his wing toward Patton, who immediately lit up and reached out and brushed through the feathers.
"W-why"
"Why what?" Roman asked
"why... why don't you hate me? Why are you still being nice to me? Why are you all so okay with me being a monster?! Why... why..." Virgil cried, tears running down his face more. He was doing his best to keep himself composed.
Suddenly Virgil was pulled from his racing thoughts when he felt something wrap around him tightly. Virgil's eyes shot open to see Patton had basically thrown himself at the other, locking his arms around Virgil's neck and burying his head into Virgil's shoulder.
"We could never ever hate you, Virgil!" Patton whimpered, hugging the side even tighter. "We love you kiddo! Your part of this family!"
"Your not a monster storm cloud," Roman said from over Patton's shoulder.
"I agree, Virgil why would this development make us feel any differently about you?"
"I-I don't-..." Virgil choked out, he felt like his throat was closing up, he didn't understand, he was a monster!!! why did they love him?!
"Shhh, it's okay" Parton soothed, continuing to hug him tightly. Virgil nuzzled into Patton's shoulder, wrapping his arms around the fatherly side and crying quietly for a few silent moments.
Virgil pulled back and Patton let go. Patton reached up to Virgil's face, using his thumbs to wipe the leftovers of Virgil's tears, holding Virgil's head gently. "Your family kiddo, we will always love you no matter what"
Virgil felt another tear fall as he nodded, wiping his face with his hoodie sleeve as Patton dropped his hands.
There was an awkward moment of silence before Virgil spoke up, energy coming back to his voice.
"Ya know I lied before, it's not stargazing I need before I sleep, there's a different thing that I love doing above all else," he said conversationally as he walked over to the end of the ledge.
"Yeah? What's that?" Roman asked, looking at Virgil, who was now stood at the edge, back to the dropoff of the ledge, water far below behind him. He met Virgil's eyes, which sparkled with mischief as the anxious side smirked.
"This," Virgil replied, giving a two-finger salute before he stepped backward off the ledge.
The other 3 sides yelped and froze. This had to be a nightmare. Right? This couldn't be real... Virgil couldn't be... this was a nightmare this was a-
Their racing thoughts were cut off when suddenly a black blur shot up from the cliff, flying up into the sky.
The 3 light sides let out different gasps of disbelief as they watched Virgil doing flips and swirls in the air, wearing the biggest and largest genuine smile they had ever seen grace the anxious sides lips.
Virgil swooped over them before stilling his wings, letting himself plummet toward the water before shooting back up, laughing to himself at their shocked faces. After a couple more tricks, Virgil landed effortlessly on the edge of the ledge, large smile shifting to a smirk as his eyes sparkled.
"What?" Virgil teased, "you didn't think they were just for looks did you?"