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Virgil was very frustrated.
His week had been, for lack of a better word (because Patton wouldn’t let him use it), awful.
For starters, (and possibly the worst of all of his problems) he found that his hoodie appeared to have shrunk in the wash. Thankfully it hadn’t gotten too much smaller, as it still fit him fine, but it wasn’t the same comfortingly too-big garment that he was used to. Now, he was going to have to bug Princey until he made him a new one, because the unfamiliarity of it all wasn’t helping his anxiety levels!
Additionally, COVID restrictions were finally lifting, and their host was ecstatic.
…But also terrified.
They had spent so long locked in the safety of their home that the prospect of being shoved back into the outside world was practically eating Virgil alive. He liked avoiding social situations before there was a global pandemic thrown into the mix.
What if Thomas’ friends didn’t want to see him again yet? (Or ever?)
Or what if they did, but tried to break the guidelines still left? Virgil (and Patton) couldn’t let them break the law !
What if Thomas caught the virus?
What if he gave it to his friends?
What if he gave it to his family?
What if he spread it to someone who then died , and then the blood was on his hands?
Thomas had never killed anyone before (and he never planned to)! What if that counted as manslaughter? Would Thomas go to jail? He wasn’t tough enough for that! He couldn’t even sit through half of their Disney collection without crying his eyes out!
There were just so many things to be anxious about that Virgil felt it near constantly, the unending worry biting at him and making him snappier than usual. It definitely didn’t help that he kept bashing his head on stuff.
First, it had just been little things, like that he hadn’t noticed one of the kitchen cupboards were open and had knocked his head against it when reaching for a bowl. Things like that weren’t too bad, just surprises that had him spilling his cereal everywhere.
(Darn it. That had been the last bowl of lucky charms too. Maybe Remus would still want them after they’d been on the floor?)
Next, he managed to knock his head on Roman’s chandelier when he went into his room to grab something. That wasn’t too unbelievable -Roman’s chandelier was simply way over the top and in a room that wasn’t tall enough for it- but Virgil found it odd that it had never happened before. He told the creative side to do something about it, or so help him Virgil was going to cut it down himself! This was, of course, a complete lie as Virgil couldn’t be bothered to figure out how he would go about doing that to begin with, but it prompted the other side to do something about it.
But it all went a little too far when, as Virgil left his bedroom, the room he walked out of every single day , he knocked his head on the doorframe hard enough to form a large-ish bruise.
That wasn’t normal at all.
“How’d you manage this kiddo?” Patton asked, handing Virgil a pack of peas as he hovered protectively around the injured side. He shifted in his place on the kitchen counter so he could comfortably sit without having to cling on, ignoring how his hair was brushing slightly against the roof if he moved too much.
Oh god, would Patton think he was stupid for somehow getting hurt on his own door? Of course he would, it was stupid…
Virgil swallowed, shifting uncontrollably again as he mumbled “‘dunno, just walked into a doorframe I guess…”
“You- you walked into a door ?” Roman asked, coming into the kitchen and doubling over with laughter. “I though I was the one with my head in the clouds, but even I’ve never managed that .”
Logan, who was standing next to Virgil checking him over for a concussion (what if he did have a concussion? Could people die from those? Would he die? What would happen to Thomas if he died?), turned to face Roman in confusion.
“Why would you say that you had your ‘head in the clouds’? You’re not nearly tall enough for your head to extend past the celling, let alone-“
“That’s it!” Patton suddenly cried, interrupting Logan’s confused rant. Virgil jumped at the sudden sound, hitting his head again on the roof. “Oh, sorry Virgil, sorry Lo… but ‘tall ’! My son’s had a growth spurt! That’s how he keeps hitting his head!”
“Falsehood, all of the sides are the same height as Thomas, unless, of course, Roman is wearing heels again, which don’t actually increase his own height. Virgil’s not wearing heels, is he?”
Virgil shook his head. He had never even tried walking in them. What if he fell over? He could hit his head again.
“Even so, Patton appears to be correct, for once… Virgil, have you somehow grown recently?”
“What? No.”
But then Virgil thought about it.
Slowly, he pushed off the table, and was surprised when he found himself towering over both Patton and Logan, and once Roman stepped closer to get a good look it was obvious that he was towering over him too.
“Woah…”
“Interesting… on a regular day you are the same height as any one of us, correct?” Logan asked, slowly circling Virgil like a shark or something. The taller side found himself wanting to collapse inwards under all this scrutiny. What if they were judging him? It wasn’t normal to be taller, was it? Was something wrong with him?
But wait, if he was taller that meant…
“My hoodie didn’t shrink!”
“Uh, not unless everything else shrank along with it! Oh, this is priceless.” Roman was laughing so hard he had to clutch the kitchen side. “And you banged your head be-because-“ he kept spluttering and Virgil found himself getting redder with embarrassment and annoyance.
“-because you sold yourself short!” Patton finished, giggling too. “Or rather, you didn’t.”
Logan sighed, rubbing his temple as if the mere presence of puns created a migraine for him.
“It appears you do not have a concussion, but you are still at risk of developing one if you do not somehow reduce your height. Are you aware of the source of it?”
Virgil considered. He hadn’t done anything different at the moment, had he?
“Roman?”
“Nope! We promised not to force anyone to shape shift, remember?”
“…Remus?”
“This doesn’t seem to be his ‘aesthetic’. Is that right?” Logan asked, producing his vocabulary cards out of nowhere.
“I don’t think he had anything to do with it kiddo,” Patton offered. He had that look in his eyes that meant he had another pun in store. “It’s probably your heightened anxiety!”
“Hm … though Patton undoubtedly meant that to be a distasteful pun, it may be a rather astute observation. After all, I am the strongest side due to the saying-“
Roman suddenly groaned loudly. “We get it. You’re the strongest! That’s, what, the 100th time you’ve bought it up?”
“37th,” Logan amended, “but this is serious. Perhaps reducing Thomas’ anxiety will, well, reduce the height of his anxiety.”
Virgil considered this. He had been especially anxious lately, but…
“How are you supposed to me feel less anxious? I’m literally anxiety.”
“Gasp! I’ve got it!” Roman announced, flinging his arms up dramatically, accidentally knocking Logan’s and Patton’s glasses off simultaneously in the process.
“We never have this problem when we’re with Thomas.” Logan muttered, adjusting his glasses.
“Uh… anyone else have an idea?”
“Come on emo-tional rollercoaster-“
“I swear those nicknames get worse every time…”
“It’s fun! A movie!”
“Only if Virgil gets to pick!” Patton announced, already going to the cupboard and pulling out a packet of microwave popcorn.
“I think a vote is more fair-“
“Falsehood. You are well known as someone who rigs the votes.”
“I don’t need to choose-“ Virgil began, not really wanting the pressure of choosing for them all. What if his choice annoyed the others, or he picked something stupid?
“Nope! It’s your turn Virge! Roman, can you show him your collection?”
“Fine… you better pick something good, no… what do you watch? Horror films?”
“Oh, sure, I definitely want to add to my anxiety right now!” He snapped.
“That sounds like the exact opposite of what you desire…” Logan commented, going to set up the TV to the right settings… or something. Virgil never bothered to learn how to do it, and he wasn’t about to now.
They eventually settled on watching Luca on Disney plus , surprisingly a film Thomas hadn’t watched yet. Something completely new took away the pressure of choosing something that he liked already that could be judged by the others.
At first, Virgil was distracted by the constant thrum of anxiety running through his veins that had been there all week, but slowly he found himself being drawn into the story.
Roman kept commenting that two of the main characters were “definitely gay” and that it “ couldn’t be gayer,” Logan was enchanted by the lore of the sea-monsters and their abilities to transform in water (once he got over the quote: ‘ridiculous premise’), Patton seemed pretty pleased with the story in general and the fact they were doing a ‘family movie night’, and Virgil actually found he was enjoying it. Luca was simpler than a lot of Disney films, but it was sweet (and most definitely queer). His anxiety slowly stopped dominating his every thought, replacing them instead with ones regarding the amazing animation or sweet storyline (and god did he want to eat pasta now or what?)
Just as the film was coming to an end, Patton suddenly squealed with excitement.
“Virgil! You’re shorter again!”
“I… am?” He looked down, but didn’t seem to be any different. But then he realised; his sweater was back to (almost) normal! “I am! But… what if it happens again?”
“Then we’ll watch another movie! Disney cures all ailments, disagreements and creates world peace!”
“There are so many reasons that that statement is incorrect…”
“I can’t think of any, and I’m literally Creativity!”
“Half of it, anyway…” Virgil muttered, and Roman pouted. He and his brother had been trying to get along slightly, but it was definitely slow-going.
“Silenzio bruno!” (Virgil realised he was going to hear that one a lot) “I’m the good half! Anyway, Disney worked. You do feel better, don’t you Virgil?”
“Uh… a bit…” The anxious side couldn’t help but grin.
Suddenly Patton’s smile widened, and he sat up straight (well, as straight as any of them could, anyway…)
“I guess your ‘heightened anxiety’ is why you always sleep in, huh Virgil?” Patton offered slyly. Everyone looked at him, confused.
“If this is a set up to one of your inane jokes I will-“ began Logan, but Patton continued.
“Because tall people sleep longer in bed!”
“Is there any way to make certain that Patton is the next one to hit his head against a blunt object?”