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He remembered even as far back as to that plain black outfit he used to wear, the one that matched the current dark clouds definitely forming outside of Thomas’s home and within the mindscape, Virgil hated the rain. He hated what it would eventually turn into- more danger. Danger that maybe better matched his checkered hoodie now actually, being more grayish, clouds swirling together ever closer- or- whatever. Whatever. He was trying and failing hard to not let all this consume him again.
Looking out side the window wasn’t helping.
He looked back into the open restroom, then back outside.
Maybe he could touch up his eyeshadow. Yeah.
Virgil shut the curtains, and walked into the restroom.
Now, he was instead trying to focus on smudging on more eyeliner below his eyes, leaning into the bathroom mirror.
Rain started pattering down outside the mindscape home, still mimicking the outside, real world. Because of course it had to.
He carved the eyeliner pencil under harder, flinching slightly at the pressure.
“Hiii, if you break it again can I have it this time?” Remus suddenly appeared next to Virgil. He screamed, dropping the pencil to the bathroom floor. Remus swiftly bent down to pick it up.
“Jesus- fuck Remus!” exhaled Virgil through his teeth, trying to hide his tempest tongue.
“Is that a fuck yes?” asked Remus, waving the pencil in front of Virgil. “I want to try something new…not let it go to waste...my compost pile is great but it gets bor-ing eating out of there sometimes.”
He rolled his eyes, nabbing the pencil from him. “If it breaks I can still use it.”
“The bottom half?”
“I can use that too, just need to sharpen it.”
“I wonder if you could use it as a shank...” Remus went to perch on the closed toilet seat.
Virgil looked to the dull end of the pencil thoughtfully. “Honestly, fresh out of the freezer and sharpened? That could work. Like, okay, not really that great but-“
“STAB it into his eyeballs…”
“If Thomas even carried eyeliner I’d suggest it to him. Maybe I’ll suggest him anyways…”
“To stab it into his wet and juicy orbs?”
“What, …no.” Virgil glanced at him. “No- no, it’d be used like an easy weapon if Thomas ever got attacked, and running to safety failed, you never know. They’re so easy to store, easy to pull out,”
“Oh, like people using car keys as claws!”
“Exactly, you get it Ree.”
“Car keys work for gouging better actually.”
“Yeah but they make a lot of noise, eyeliners don’t. Plus it’s less bulk to carry. Again, assuming it could work?”
“It’s also easier to wash the blood off of keys than eyeliner you know, since I know Tommy-good-shoes wouldn’t want to keep the sick blood stain look.”
The rain outside got more audible, heard slamming down against the roof. Virgil flinched, but disguised the motion as a summon for an eyeshadow palette. He offered it to Remus, who looked hungrily at the pallet.
“Uhm, y’know if you actually want to keep hanging around and stuff…wanna do makeup together?”
The duke’s eyes lit up to Virgil, then back down to the pallet. He summoned his own makeup brush and products. He then got on his knees to lean over to the mirror, still on the toilet seat, staring hard to figure out what he wanted to do. Virgil looked back to his own reflection. Makeup. They could do makeup together, he supposed.
“You boys alright?” asked Janus, slightly defying Remus’s unruly appearing habits by instead opting to come outside the restroom door, at a slight distance.
Virgil huffed. “Remus scared the shit out of me.”
“I just had a simple question!”
“You already knew the answer was going to be no.”
“No I didn’t!”
Janus stepped into the restroom, seeing the clutter of makeup. “So you’re all having a fun girl’s night,” his gasped rolled out with feigned insult. “Without me?”
“I was literally just touching up some eyeshadow it’s not a big deal-“
Janus looked to him, cocking an eyebrow with a smirk. “All this looks like the start of a truly relaxing night to me.” With a pop, his usual outfit turned into a snake onesie. “Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Hell YEAH!” exclaimed Remus, popping into a gray rat onesie. “Let’s get this orgy started!”
“No-“
“Weather is dreadful outside anyways,” said Janus, looking sincerely to Virgil. “Let loose a little bit, relax. You need it.”
“Yeah yeah whatever.”
Janus picked up a tube of lipstick that had rolled over from Remus’s horde, wedging himself deeper into the restroom between Virgil and Remus. “So what were you discussing beforehand?”
“Best easy shanking tools for Thomas!” said Remus, smudging red on his eyelid, up below his eyebrow. “Car keys is the obvious option but Virgy thinks his eyeliner would be easier to carry.”
Janus responded back with a hum of intrigue.
Virgil leaned on the counter, looking directly towards Remus, and past Janus who was currently applying on some golden lipstick. “I’m not saying I completely disagree with you, okay. Also you literally gave the idea for the eyeliner shank. Thing. So.”
Janus let out of amused chuckle between application, Remus continued.
“To the noise thing you said, wouldn’t it be better for the keys to jangle and shit? Be loud as fuck so people hear Thomas? Then one of his friends can locate him even better after the scream of agony the person would let out!”
“…Shoot, good point actually.”
“Effectiveness then coolness factor. I still stand by eyeliner shank, eyeshank, being cooler out of the two which is why I came up with it.”
“Why would Thomas even be in this situation?” Janus inquired.
“People are nuts.” responded Virgil. “Especially now since he’s been famous online or whatever, people are very dangerous. Random people at that, thinking they know him, and definitely knowing where he lives.”
“At least that’s manageable?” Janus shrugged, and grabbed a tube of primer to dab on his right eyelid. “I get the worry, but we’re earning a nice living off those people. We can’t control them, but we can control ourselves.”
“And the weapons we carry!” included Remus.
“We can get Thomas a nice pocket knife if you really want to be both discreet and deadly…” suggested Janus.
“Get one with carvings on it! I got the perfect idea for one.” said Remus.
Virgil snorted. “What, with a dick on it or something?”
“Mmmh no,” Remus considered the idea a moment. “I’ll keep that in mind actually that’s a great idea…but no I was thinking a sick ass skull on the handle. Or multiple, like the catacombs.”
Thunder grumbled off in this distance. Virgil grimaced, and Remus grinned. “Ohh hear that, I hope it’s another big thunderstorm!” he emphasized with a clap. If it is I WILL be going outside to feel that wind and rush of wind.”
“Just don’t get completely blown away into the mindscape again.” sighed Janus. He pointed to Remus’s eyeshadow pallet, who lent it over to Janus. Janus raised the pallet up slightly, a silent ‘thanks’. “We searched forever just to find you stuck on some random bush.”
“Psh, that was during a hurricane, it won’t be that bad unless I make it be one…I could…but anyways, could you blame me for being cozy?”
“Oh yes, you looked so snug bleeding onto that bush.” Janus dabbed on gold to his right eyelid.
“I was!”
“Is this one going to be a hurricane?” interjected Virgil. The other two sides looked over to him.
“No.” responded Janus. “We would have heard Logic across the mindscape planning and whatnot feverishly by now if it was one.”
“Doesn’t mean it won’t happen. There’s always a chance. Thunderstorms can turn into tropical storms, then tropical storms into hurricanes,” Virgil tugged and picked at nothing on his hoodie sleeve, vision focusing in on water droplets in the dirty sink. “Hurricanes into unavoidable danger and Thomas won’t have enough time to evacuate as the house floods and then we’ll be stuck inside, I don’t think we have enough emergency food let alone sandbags or, or tarps something as SIMPLE as tarps and- and I’m going to kill him because I didn’t warn him soon sooner and well enough-“
A hand touched his shoulder firmly, interrupting his spiel but making him suddenly aware of his horrible hyperventilating. He struggled to suck in a breath.
A second hand reached out to hold his, he could at least focus on the scaly texture gently stroking his hand. He looked towards Janus, but not necessarily in the eyes.
“Breathe in for four seconds.” Janus calmly instructed.
Virgil choked on the second.
Janus breathed in himself, guiding again by raising his hand. Virgil tried to follow along.
“Good. Now, hold in seven seconds.” He counted outloud from seven to one, a steady pace.
“Breathe out for eight seconds.” He continued, now lowering his hand as the seconds ticked by less loudly within Virgil’s mind.
“In four.”
Again. Though only now did he realize a third person was breathing alongside him.
“Hold for seven.”
“Out eight.
Again. His shoulders relaxed slightly, and he sighed. They continued the cycle a time or so over, before Janus let go of his hand. “Better?”
Virgil nodded. Then he turned to see Remus’s hand still on his shoulder, arm stretching across from his perch. Virgil raised an eyebrow at him…then a friendly smirk. Remus returned the smirk, and retracted the arm.
“Thanks.” Virgil said simply. “I’m-“ he let out a small sigh. “I am still going to warn him though. It’s important.”
“Everything will be fine.” said Janus just as simply. “Everything will be just fine.”
“How do you know that?”
“Can you hear the thunder in the distance?”
“Do I have to?”
“Just listen.”
Silence. Thunder calmly rumbled off into the distance after a moment, Remus let out an excited squeal.
“Does it sound like a hurricane whooshing near?”
“Well, no.”
“Doesn’t the thunder sound peaceful, like a song?”
“…no?”
“Does it to you Remus?”
He thought on it for a moment. “It’s like drums. Ooo or cymbals! The loud ones that CRASH through your skull though. This…isn’t really that.”
Janus nodded, Virgil waved his hands to the side, trying to waft through the confusion. “Okay so, your point with this is?”
“Think about it differently.” said Janus. “A hurricane is not coming, a simple thunderstorm is. Everything will be okay, you can hear the thunder out there and not in here. The thunder is calm, and it’s alright here, within our bubble, together. We are alright, dear.”
Virgil turned to peer out the bedroom window- or a would-be open window if he hadn’t shut the curtains closed. Another rumble seemed call out from outside.
“We got the best night to get back to, wouldn’t you much prefer that?”
Virgil turned back, and nodded. “Okay. Okay then.”
“You want a onesie too?” asked Remus.
He chuckled. “I don’t even have one. Give me whatever I don’t care.” He then realized how dire it is to relinquish that sort of freedom to literal Creativity but before he could reverse his statement he-
On popped on a onesie. A black rat onesie.
Huh. Considering the crazy shit he’d seen Remus make, this was Princey-levels of tame. Not bad per say, though.
“Now we can match!” said Remus. “Dee…you want in…”
“Oh, what the hell, sure.” He instantly changed into a cream-colored rat onesie.
“Ratking bitches, forever!”
Janus and Virgil returned the ‘forever!’
Janus paused. “Hey Remus, can you tell me more about that?”
“?” Remus tilted his head.
“Tell me more about what those are, rat kings.”
“No don’t get him started on that Thomas already sat through a whole video explaining those before-“
“I thought you’d never ask!”
Later that night, Virgil laid in bed still onesie-clad. A sense of calmness hugging him.
It actually felt weird, ready to sleep, instead of pulling an all-nighter. Especially tonight.
More thunder in the distance, rain as backing vocals to this song, or whatever bullshit Janus had told him to try out.
It kinda worked.
Rolling over and trying to listen in that sort of way, it did work. Minus the few jumps from the lightning that would flash through the blinds.
Virgil rolled away, hiding under the covers, and drifting away to this new music.