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It’s been a rough week for all the light sides, especially Virgil. They have been blaming him for every small thing that went wrong. Virgil is still on edge from the fight from last night.
Virgil sat on the top of the steps eavesdropping on his fellow sides. He angered them and couldn’t face them yet. “Fuck Virgil. We know you are there,” Oh no. He’s annoyed again. “Come down here and talk to us like an actual human. Listening in on our conversations is very rude.”
“Now Roman, be nice. It isn’t Virgil’s fault he is a very anxious person.” Virgil made eye contact with Patton but quickly looked away as he crept down the stairs. “Come on, kiddo, we don’t bite.”
Virgil silently made his way down to the table, “I guess I’ll help set up for dinner.” He hoped his offer would help ease the tensions. Virgil took 4 plates out of the cabinet. He began carrying the plates to the table but tripped over the kitchen mat before getting the plates safely to the table. Virgil doesn’t remember exactly what happened next but there was a huge bang, then shouting. He ran back to his room hysterically crying before the others could confront him.
Well, that’s how Virgil remembered last night but his anxiety let him believe things happened differently than they actually did.
“I think we were a little too harsh with our kiddo.” Patton sighed, “I need to apologize.”
Virgil quietly sat on the top of the steps, trying to see if the other sides are still mad. Roman made eye contact with Virgil right before exclaiming, “Oh, fuck Virgil! You startled me. I didn’t expect you to be sitting there.” Roman lightly laughs, “Come on and join us. You know listening in from another room isn’t very nice.” Virgil tensions from what Roman said.
“Don’t worry, kiddo. Roman’s only kidding around with you. We know jokes like that can sometimes make you a bit anxious.” Patton beckoned Virgil closer, “Come on kiddo, we don’t bite.”
Virgil came down the rest of the steps and meekly said, “I guess I’ll help set up for dinner.” He grabbed four plates from the cabinet but tripped and dropped all the plates. The porcelain crashed onto the floor and shattered. The next few moments were very loud. The three other sides were making sure Virgil was okay, but their concerned tone came out very loud. Before anyone of them could calm Virgil down, he bolted to his room and slammed the door shut.
It’s been 24 hours. Hopefully, that was enough time for the other sides to forget about how badly Virgil fucked up last night. He already skipped two meals today, so he figures he has to come down for dinner.
“Oh! You actually came. We weren’t sure if you would.” Logan pushes up his glasses and looks up at Virgil. That was a bit passive-aggressive.
Virgil sulks his way to the cup cabinet. He needs to make up for breaking the plates and not cleaning them up yesterday. He stacks four glass cups, even though he knows holding that many cups at once is probably not the best idea. Don’t drop anything. Don’t drop anything. Don’t drop anything. He repeats over and over in his head. But luck isn’t in Virgil’s favor today. Tying your shoelaces is a good idea before carrying breakables. Before he realizes what happened, Virgil is on the floor surrounded by broken glass.
No. No. No. No. No. No!
Broken glass is much worst than broken porcelain.
Not again! Virgil’s mind runs at a hundred miles per hour, his feet can barely keep up. Virgil’s breath staggers as he gets to his room and fast as he possibly can.
“This stress cannot be good for Virgil.” Logan glances up the stairs but the youngest side is nowhere to be seen anymore. “We need to help him learn techniques to better deal with his anxiety.”
“I agree with nerdy. Here Patton let me help you with the glass.” Roman snaps his figures and the cups are put back together in an instant.
“Thank you, Roman. Should we go check on him?”
“I believe it would be best if we left Virgil alone for tonight. He needs time to decompress. Let’s go to bed. This day has been stressful for all of us.” Logan offers his partners a hug, knowing they all desperately need one.
…………..
Virgil had a weird night. He is usually a horrible insomniac yet he has never slept better. Everything feels bigger from his blanket to his clothes to the room as a whole. His head is a bit fuzzy but that’s a problem for the morning. Virgil ignores the feeling of something being off and enjoys his sleep for at least one night.
…………..
“Hey, Virgil. I’m here to check on you. I know yesterday was rough but we are a family and family’s always help each other.” No answer. Roman sighs. Virgil is probably just sleeping. A part of Roman didn’t feel right leaving Virgil without talking to him. “I’m coming in. If you tell me to stop I will.” Still no answer.
Roman rushes into the room and frantically looks around, “Come on Virgil. Answer me. Are you alright?” Is that sobbing? “Virgil, why are you crying?” Roman makes his way to Virgil’s bed. Does Virgil seem smaller?
“Who who are you? Why are you in in my room?” Virgil ducks further under his covers, “Did you kidnap me? Where is Janjan?”
“HOLY SHIT!” Roman runs out of Virgil’s room in shock, “PATTON! LOGAN! WE GOT A PROBLEM.”
“Can’t you use your indoor voice?” Logan grumbles into his mug of coffee.
“No time for that!” Roman looks freaked out, pale, like he’s seen a ghost.
“Roman. Take a deep breath.” Patton places both of his hands on Roman’s shoulders to ground him, “Is everything ok?”
“No! It’s Virgil! He is a child. Like only 7 or 8 years old.” Roman desperately points up the stairs.
“Logan, can you please help Roman calm down?” Logan nods and goes over to Roman to comfort him, “I am going to check on Virgil and find out what is going on.”
…………..
“Breathe in and out.” Logan calmly instructs Roman to get his breathing back to normal, “Now that your brain is thinking rationally again. What happened when you went to check on Virgil.”
“I knocked on his door a few times but he didn’t answer. I was about to leave him alone just in case he was sleeping but then I heard sobbing. Luckily the door wasn’t locked or I would have broken it down to see if Virgil was alright. I get into the room and Virgil seems so tiny underneath his blanket. I know Virgil’s short but he just seemed so much smaller than usual.” Logan squeezes Roman’s hand to keep him relaxed, “Then he just completely freaked out and started asking where Janus is. Out of all people why Janus? Did Janus do something? Is that why Virgil is now a child again and asking for that snake hell-spawn.”
“Before we jump to conclusions, let’s see if we can deduce any other possible answers.” Roman leans into Logan and closes his eyes.
“I love how you are always so rational and can think through any stressful situation with a clear mind.” From upstairs, Roman and Logan could hear distant panicked crying, “Oh poor Virgie. He seems so freaked out.”
…………..
“Hey, kiddo.” Patton peeks his head into Virgil’s room but doesn’t see him anywhere, “Are you in here?” No answer but soft sobs give away Virgil’s hiding place under the bed, “Don’t cry Virgil, it’s just me!”
“Please let me go home!” Virgil pulls his hoodie over his face and curls into a ball, “Why why is everyone claiming I know them? What did I do? Is this a cruel joke?” His sobs got louder and more distressed.
“Hey, kiddo. Everything is ok, you are home remember?” Patton crawls under the bed next to Virgil trying to comfort him. Virgil nervously backs away to the corner of his room. Patton sighs and climbs out from under the bed, keeping his distance.
“I was told not to talk to strangers. Go away!” Virgil starts to shake from fear of the much larger person trying to talk to him.
“It’s me, your peppy pappy Patton. Come on Virgil remember me.” Patton says sadly, not knowing what to do.
“JAN. JANJAN. JANUS. DADDY! HELP! JANUS!” At the top of his little lungs, Virgil screams for the snake-like side.
Patton runs back down to the other light sides, clearly distressed from his interaction with Virgil.
…………..
“He has no clue who I am.” Patton’s eyes welled up with tears. Logan pulls him onto the couch whispering comforting words.
“Based on what you two have told me about Virgil I have a hypothesize or two on what exactly is going on.” Roman and Patton listen intently, “First of all I believe that Virgil becoming a child again is due to stress not anyone’s conscious intention. Second I believe not only is Virgil back to the size of a child his mind and therefore his memories are those of a child. If my theory is correct, Virgil does not recognize us since he only met us when he was 14.”
“Oh! What a lovely living room. Too bad I am never invited over here. What a pity.” A chilling voice fills their living room.
Roman summons his sword, “Begone you fiend!”
“Now, Roman. We wouldn’t want to hurt your invited guest with a sword, now would we?” Janus pushes down the sword. Roman is still ready to attack if Janus takes another step closer to his partners.
“Why are you here? We didn’t invite you, snake boy.” Anger drips from Roman’s face.
“Why I was summoned of course.” A false sense of sweetness laces Janus’ voice, “That was honestly quite the surprise. You three don’t seem that fond of me. Now care to explain why you called me?”
“No. One. Here. Called. You.” Roman growls at Janus, “Just. Go. Away!”
“No. I distinctly heard someone here calling for my name. But if it wasn’t anyone of you that must mean it was…”
“Virgil.” Patton interrupts Janus quietly before he can finish his thought.
“Oh? What suddenly changed now?” Janus’ tough facade drops, “He hasn’t bothered to say a mere hello in 5 years. Something must be wrong.” His fatherly instincts kick in and he rushes up to Virgil’s room. The other sides quickly follow to make sure he doesn’t send Virgil into a deeper panic than he already is in.
Janus runs right into Virgil’s room but stops short when he sees a seven-year-old.
“Janny!” A cheer of excitement and relief leaves Virgil’s mouth.
Janus is stunned for a second but quickly pushes that feeling aside to comfort Virgil. “Hi, baby. It’s alright. Daddy is here.” Janus scoops Virgil into a tight embrace, overwhelmed with the emotions of having his kid back in his arms. Virgil clings onto Janus, wetting his shoulder with tears.
“I woke up and and you weren’t there neither was Rere. I I thought I was kidnapped and I would never see you again. These random people kept saying I know them.” Janus runs his fingers through Virgil’s long and messy hair, “P-please take me home.”
“Of course, baby!” A few sounds of protest come from the light sides. Janus turns to them, telling them in a stern but quiet voice, “Here is what is going to happen. I am taking Virgil back to the dark side. No arguments. He is clearly distressed being here with people he does not know. Remus will look after him while we have a much overdue conversation about what the actual heck is going on.” The light sides nod and don’t bother to argue with Janus except for Roman.
“What the hell? You think we will just be ok with you taking a defenseless child. And leaving him with Remus out of all people? Absolutely not!” Roman huffs and reaches to take Virgil out of Janus’ arms.
Virgil tries to hide further in Janus’ caplet, “First of all don’t use that type of language in front of my child! Second, a stranger reaching for him certainly isn’t helping. Third, don’t you dare insult my boyfriend and Virgil’s other dad!” Janus took a breath to keep his composure, “I will return after I drop Virgil off with Remus.”
…………..
“You’re finally back! I was so bored. If you didn’t come home within a few minutes I would have decapitated something or someone.” Remus hangs outside down from the couch, counting and recounting all the ceiling tiles to pass the time.
“Tone your Remusness down to a 3, honey. We have company.” Janus speaks softly, trying his best to not upset Virgil.
Remus’ eyes light up, “Company! We haven’t had company in so long.” He looks up and sheds a tear of joy, “Virgil?” He does a back tumble to get off the couch and rushes over to Janus, “Virgil! I’ve missed you.” Janus passes him over to Remus. Virgil looks just as glad to see Remus as Remus is to see him.
“I will explain everything later. Before you ask, I have no clue why Virgil is a kid again but this is the best place for him until everything is figured out. I will be back soon. I need to have a chat with our dear light sides.” Janus kisses Virgil on his forehead, making him giggle, and kisses Remus on the lips before sinking out.
…………..
Remus takes Virgil back to his old bedroom, before he ran away to the lights, and places him on the bed, “I will be right back, little emo.”
The second Remus was out of Virgil’s line of sight, Virgil begins to hysterically cry, again. The lack of noise freaks Virgil out. It makes it seem like he is abandoned and no one is ever coming back for him. Days passed and no one comes back for him. Or maybe it was just five minutes; Virgil’s perception of time is awful.
Remus darts back into Virgil’s bedroom as soon as he hears the cry. “Is there a monster trying to eat you? Or are you trying to eat the monster?” Usually, a joke like that would calm Virgil’s nerves, but this time it makes Virgil tenser, “It’s alright. There aren’t actually any monsters here. I scared them all away. What’s wrong pint-sized emo?”
Virgil shrugs, continuing to blankly stare at his feet.
“Hmmmmm. Let me take a swing at this? It is the separation anxiety?” Judging by Virgil’s shocked reaction, Remus is right on par. “You know when Janny is away for too long, I start to get anxious too. I get afraid that he will like the light sides better than me and never come back. Like how y-. Like how someone did a few years ago.” Virgil’s sniffling distracts him from Remus’ weird comment at the end.
“I know just what will cheer you up!” Remus catapults off Virgil’s bed and heads to the door.
He stops short in his path after hearing a soft, “wait.” Virgil gives the saddest pouty face ever. One that screams ‘please don’t leave me alone again.’
“I need to get something from Janny’s room for you.” Virgil reaches his arms towards Remus and tries to grab for him. Remus takes the hint and picks Virgil up, “Why didn’t you say you wanted to come with me, dark and spooky?”
Virgil holds on for dear life on Remus’ shoulder. Like if he lets go, he will fall to his death. Remus takes a bobby pin out of his hair and picks the lock to Janus’ room. “He doesn’t really like me going in here without permission but he’ll forgive me since I’m stealing something for you.” Sitting right in front of Janus’ pillow is a fluffy green and yellow teddy bear, “This bear is special to both me and Janjan. I summoned it for him a whole lotta years ago when he was having trouble staying warm cause of that cold snake blood. There is a small magical heater inside. When hugged, the bear becomes nice and warm. Jan won’t mind if I give it to you. I think you need it more than he does.”
Remus passes the bear to Virgil then heads back to Virgil’s room. Virgil hugs the bear tightly, nuzzling his face against the fluffiness of the plushie.
“What happened over on the light side of the mind palace?” Remus sits on Virgil’s bed with Virgil in his lap, keeping a comforting grip around him.
“It was really scary. They keep staying I knew them but but I didn’t. And I just wanted to go home. But I didn’t know where I was. One of them said he was my dad.” Virgil wipes his tears on the teddy bear. “I’m never leaving our home again!”
A part of Remus is happy to hear Virgil wants to stay with him and Janus. Remus has resented the light sides ever since Virgil moved in with them. He has never understood why they are so much better than him and his partner that they could steal his child away. Another part of Remus isn’t so happy that Virgil is back. He loves Virgil and wanted him to come back but not like this. Remus hates seeing his baby in pain. He spends the rest of the evening keeping Virgil calm, hoping Janus will be back soon.
…………..
“Great, he’s back.” Roman huffs as Janus reappears in their living room.
“Oh, yes I know. My presence is that horrible.” Janus rolls his eyes, “Let’s get straight to business not time for this dramatic enemy’s shit.”
“Language!” Roman is not looking at Janus but he can almost hear the sarcastic eye roll.
“A situation like this allows a bit of cursing, Patton. Anyone care to explain why the fuck Virgil is seven again?” He sits on the coffee table, making the light sides uncomfortable under his concentrated stare.
“We are not completely sure but there are a few theories.” Logan keeps his calm composure while his partners are visibly shaking for Janus’ stern glance, “I believe it might have been stress-related. Virgil recently has been more anxious than usual. Right before we realized he was no longer 20, there was a bit of a spat at dinner. All his pent-up stress might have caused a physical reaction of reverting back into a child. Although, I cannot completely rule out it was not done intentionally in an attempt to steal Virgil back.”
If ears could produce smoke, Janus would have set off the fire alarms by now. “I understand we haven’t seen eye to eye lately but why would I EVER do something to Virgil that would cause him anxiety intentionally.”
“Calm down, Janus. It was only a suggestion. The possibility that Virgil ran away from your side of the mind palace gives evidence that you and Remus did not provide a good home or upbringing for him. It would not be uncommon for you to be resentful that Virgil chose us over you.” Logan’s cold and calculated voice pierces through Janus.
Janus’ stoic face drops and a tear falls down his cheek, “How dare you assume we would ever hurt Virgil. He is our baby and we love him. Remus and I would sacrifice everything to make Virgil happy.”
“I’m just saying even if it was not intentional, Virgil clearly has a lot of issues he developed from being raised by you and Remus.” Keeping a straight face becomes harder and harder when the side across from you is seconds away from full-on crying.
“WE WERE ONLY THIRTEEN WHEN VIRGIL CAME INTO EXISTENCE.” Janus snaps at Logan, unable to keep his calm facade any longer. He lowers his voice a little bit, but the anger is still clearing seeping in, “We did not ask for Virgil. We were only kids! But we still did the best we could to provide Virgil with a good life. And for having a lot of issues. VIRGIL IS LITERALLY THE EMBODIMENT OF ANXIETY! OF COURSE, HE HAS ANXIETY ISSUES.” Janus takes a deep breath before continuing on his rant, “You think you three would have done such a better raising Virgil? Well, where were you when Remus and I needed help with him? Oh yeah. I remember. Patton repressed us since we were bad for Thomas’ mental health.”
The light sides have no clue how to respond to Janus. They want to kick him out and be annoyed at him for yelling at them in their own living room, but Janus is correct and had every right to be mad.
…………..
Remus’ ear twitches and he gets tense.
Virgil peeks up at him, “You okay, stinky dad?”
“It’s Janus, I can sense his stress.” After being together for so many years, Remus and Janus developed a bond where they could sense if the other side needs help, “I need to get Janus back from the light sides. Are you okay staying here or do you want to come with me?”
Virgil violently shakes his head no. He hates being alone but seeing the light sides again is way worse.
Remus slides Virgil off of his lap and wraps a blanket around him, “Now you are safe from any monster til I get back.” He kisses Virgil on the head before sinking out.
…………..
“Dammit! Another one.” Roman points his sword at Remus.
“Not the fucking time.” Remus’ words come out as a growl as he smacks the sword out of his brother’s hand.
Overwhelmed by the confrontation, Janus shakes in a ball in corner of the living room. The light sides keep their distance, not sure how to handle Janus’ breakdown. Remus slowly approaches his love and places his hand on Janus’ shoulder. He whispers to Janus, “Come let’s go home. Our little emo is waiting for us.” Janus crumbles into Remus’ arms as they sink back into the dark side living room.
Remus carries Janus back to Virgil’s room. “Is snake daddy alright?” A tiny concerned voice asks Remus.
“Don’t worry little emo. He will be just fine. Janus just needs some quality time with his family.” Remus gently sets Janus down next to Virgil before pulling Virgil into his lap and snuggling into Janus. They spend the rest of the night as a happy family once again, not thinking about what will happen tomorrow.