Minor references to rape/abuse/injury. As always take care of yourselves and thank you for reading!

Virgil stood in the hallways, staring at that blank wall. It was strange. He still hadn't quite accepted the reality that it was gone. Even after a week and a half had passed he still felt like this was just a dream, he'd wake up and his room would still be there. It seemed impossible to trust Remy's reassurance that everything was closed this time. It's over now. Everyone is safe. Those words seemed so easy to say but so empty of meaning. There was a small voice inside his head reassuring him that this was the truth, he was finally going to be free for real. He knew with time it would grow and he'd move on. He just hoped the others would too. Things had been different since he got back.
"Ah, Mi Gatito! What are you doing staring at that wall? Are you heading down to breakfast?" Roman asked with a large, cheerful smile.
Roman pretended nothing had happened, avoiding the topic like the plague.
"Yeah, Logan's in the bathroom so I'm just waiting around up here until he finishes up," Virgil replied, stuffing his hands into his hoodie pockets.
"Then I shall keep you company until he arrives," Roman said with a bow, the stretched out collar of his shirt slipping a bit to reveal his bandages.
Most of the blood on Roman's shirt had been his own, he nearly passed out from blood loss before Logan got to him.
"I've already arrived," Logan replied, coming up behind him. "Is everything alright Virgil? You left the room without any warning, did something make you uncomfortable?"
Logan had been handling the recent events the best out of all of them, but he still had become overly concerned with every possible thing that might make Virgil uncomfortable.
"I'm alright, I just got bored and wanted to walk around. Sorry if I worried you," Virgil replied.
"There is nothing to apologize for," Logan moved closer and looked down at him warmly. "May I?"
Virgil nodded already knowing what Logan wanted. Upon receiving consent Logan leaned down and pressed a chaste kiss to the top of Virgil's head.
Logan asked permission for nearly every small sign of affection.
"Well let's not keep Patton waiting on us. I can already smell the waffles from here," Roman said ruffling Virgil's hair.
Virgil's tail and ears were gone. They no longer came with extreme emotion, he could only summon them in on purpose.
The three of them headed downstairs to the kitchen where Patton was busying himself with making breakfast. A massive, growing pile of waffles were featured in the center with plates of toast, eggs cooked in various different styles, bacon, breakfast sausage, hashbrowns and freshly cut fruit.
"Dang Padre, I think you made enough to feed an entire town for a month," Roman laughed.
"I might have gone a little over the top. I woke up a little early so I thought I'd make everyone a big breakfast since I had time," Patton replied with a cheerful smile.
Patton looks exhausted, Virgil's sure he hasn't slept well if at all recently.
"Well isn't that just the sweetest. Thank you for all of your hard work, Patton," Roman said, pulling Patton by the hip towards himself.
Patton looked stepped onto his tiptoes and kissed Roman for a long moment before leaving his embrace to place the last of the waffles on the table.
"I agree with Roman's sentiment, I am appreciative of all of the time and work you put into making this meal for us," Logan stated.
"Thanks Patt, it looks delicious," Virgil added.
A bright smile crossed Patton's face.
"Aww, thanks, I'm glad you like it, Virgil," Patton chirped before pressing a kiss to Logan's cheek. "And thank you too Logan,"
Patton doesn't touch Virgil anymore, much less kiss him.
Patton took his seat next to Logan and everyone began taking their own food. Virgil hadn't lied before, the food really did look great but his stomach twisted with nausea. He hadn't been able to eat much lately, he forced himself to make it through two small meals but there were days when even that was hard. Today seemed to be one of those days. He took one waffle and slowly tried to force down a few bites but it was making him feel unwell.
"You doing okay, Kiddo? You're not eating much again," Patton asked.
He wasn't Patton's "Baby" or "Kitten" anymore.
"Y-yeah, I'm fine. My stomach is just bugging me today. Sorry it's striking again after you've done so much work," Virgil apologized with a guilty laugh.
"No worries, you can't control it," Patton replied.
Virgil bit his lower lip for a moment, contemplating if he should ask Patton the same question he'd been asking Patton for a while now and risk yet another disappointment.
"So Patt, are you busy today?" Virgil hummed, trying to act casual.
"Sorry, I can't hang out again. I'm gonna be busy again," Patton replied, his smile obviously forced and his voice hiding a nervous chuckle.
Virgil's presence made Patton uncomfortable, he'd been avoiding being alone with him since Virgil got back.
"It's fine, Thomas needs you, right? Can't control that," Virgil replied being his best not to show any of his emotional pain.
Virgil looked down at his plate, picking and tearing at the mostly uneaten waffle. He let the conversation draw on a little longer before excusing himself from the table. He knew he was disappointing them by walking away from his issues, he'd done it so often since that day.
He headed upstairs and turned towards the newest door in the hall, tucked close beside Roman's. It was a gift from Roman. Because Virgil no longer had a proper room supplied to him by the mindscape Roman had made another portal to the imagination and summoned in another door frame to surround it. Only, unlike the other portal, this swirling mass of light didn't take him anywhere he wanted it, it was fixed on a single location, a room inside Roman's castle that he had decorated specifically for Virgil. It was fashioned similarly to his old room but with a very "princy" flair. The massive windows filling the wall opposite of him were open, letting in a warm breeze that tugged at the purple sheer curtains. Positioned at the center of the left wall was a large bed with a black canopy, obviously designed with the intention all four of them could fit in it comfortably if Virgil desired. There was also the walk-in closet filled with the clothing Virgil used to keep in Logan's room as well as some outfits Roman made for him. It was a very thoughtful gift in Virgil's view but it felt so empty. Everything was so large, so new, it just didn't feel right to be there without someone else.
Virgil pulled at the hood of his hoodie, tugging it over his face as he turned to leave out a different door, heading out into the castle and making his way out to the stables. There were several guards posted around the castle, greeting him with a bow as he passed. He wasn't sure if he was grateful there were so many capable people around in case something went wrong or extremely uncomfortable that he couldn't leave his room without being constantly watched. He was just glad none of them ever tried to spark conversation unless he was with Roman. He could make it to the stables and get Dawn ready for a ride without anyone trying to make conversation.
Virgil had gotten quite used to riding his horse by now, having done it nearly every day just to get away from everyone else. He loved them, there was no denying that, he just struggled with all of the change that was going on. He didn't want to be a part of it. He was happy with what he had, he was afraid of not being able to be that happy again. Luckily, Roman's realm of imagination was a rather good means of forgetting it all. The little meadow Roman had shown them on their group date a little while ago was easy enough to get to and getting to cloud gaze in that soft grass always helped him escape reality for a while.
Virgil flopped down in his usual spot in the meadow, the daisies bobbing around his head in the breeze. He knew Dawn wasn't going to run away so he just let her graz and get some water from the quietly babbling stream. Leaves trembled in the tree tops and Virgil drew in a long, peaceful breath to take in the rich earthy scents. Birds whistled their songs overhead, fluttering into his view once in a while as he watched the clouds.
Roughly ten minutes later hooves slowly approached just like everyday. No one ever approached to come talk to him, always choosing instead to keep their distance and just watch for a few dozen minutes before taking their leave. Virgil wasn't an idiot. He knew it was Samson and he knew Roman was watching him from behind the thick screen of foliage. It didn't bother Virgil much, he just wanted to know why Roman always followed him but never actually said anything.
Virgil's brow twitched a bit when he heard the footsteps drawing closer. He watched out of the corner of his eyes as the princely man walked over and plopped himself down in a seated position beside Virgil. He was quiet, joining Virgil in staring at the sky. Virgil moved his hand to touch Roman's who understood the silent message to twist their fingers together.
"You decided to join me today," Virgil stated when the silence became too heavy for him to bear.
"So you knew?" Roman asked, not sounding entirely surprised.
Virgil let out a hum of confirmation, never taking his eyes off of the sky.
"Sorry, I know it's probably weird," Roman apologized.
"Nah, it's your way of coping, right? Everyone's got their own little weird things," Virgil replied with a sigh.
Virgil could hear Roman audibly swallow a lump in his throat.
"I've noticed that too… It's the reason you've been so uneasy, right?" Roman asked.
Virgil paused a moment before responding, biting his lower lip.
"Yeah. It's part of the reason at lease. D-don't get me wrong, I don't blame any of you or hold it against any of you. I just... It's all different and different can be scary."
"But it's not the only reason?" Roman stated in a quizzical tone, notes of a knowing sadness bleeding through the words.
"What happened isn't just something I can forget and move on from, it's always going to be there. So much happened, things that hurt… Things I regret…" Virgil replied, finally looking over at Roman.
He could see the fact that Roman looked physically uncomfortable with the conversation. Virgil felt guilty for bringing it up and was about to find a way to change the topic when Roman spoke again.
"You're referring to what happened to Deceit, right?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I am."
"Virgil…"
"Look, I know what you're going to say. 'I didn't do anything wrong, he deserved it' but he didn't. No one deserves to be hurt. There is no reason to hurt people no matter what they do," Virgil said passionately.
"You're right."
"I… Wait, you agree?"
"Well, partially. No one deserves to be hurt, I understand where you are coming from with that. I personally think he had it coming, but I won't argue that with you. I will say however, what you did was far more merciful than anything he has ever done to you," Roman said.
"I literally sentenced him to face something none of us know anything about. We don't even know what he is going through, how is that merciful?" Virgil exclaimed, sitting up.
"Because what you did was a one time thing that happens and mends itself. Thomas has said himself that he can feel Deceit slowly forming again already. He's going to be fine. Who knows maybe it could have even fixed that head of his and made him a decent human being. Meanwhile, what he did to you… You're still suffering even after it is over. I can't even begin to comprehend how kind hearted you are to be able to still feel empathy for someone who abused you the way he did."
Virgil gave Roman's hand a gentle squeeze, unsure of how else to reply. Roman smiled over at him before he paused a moment, lost in thought and then began to dig through his pockets.
"I can't believe I forget to give this to you until now," Roman chuckled to himself, pressing an item into Virgil's hand. "I had to fix the string but I thought you might want it back."
Virgil looked at the object in his hand and emotion welled up inside his chest, spilling over into quiet tears. He wasn't really sad or happy, he was more so stuck in some sort of emotional in-between. The beautiful black and purple ring felt so right in his hand, he had thought he'd never see it again.
"Deceit told me he got rid of it," Virgil said, clutching the ring to his chest.
"He probably thought he did. Logan found it in Patton's room after all. I doubt he expected us to be able to get it back to you," Roman chuckled.
"Thank you, Roman," Virgil replied.
"It's nothing. I just replaced the string and gave it back. I didn't do anything," Roman chuckled.
"It's not just that. Thank you for everything. I know it'll take a while but I promise, I'm gonna keep doing my best to get better," Virgil said, looking up again.
"We'll be waiting for you when you do, no matter how long it takes and we are prepared to help you with anything you need," Roman replied with a reassuring smile.
Virgil gave a small smile in return. Change was scary and they all had things they needed to work through but it wasn't impossible. They'd get through this. He'd made great progress before, now he just had to keep moving forward again.