Virgil wasn't feeling good today, which wasn't unusual. His stomach hurt from worry. The only way to get rid of the pain is to calm down. The only problem is, it's hard to calm down when you are the literal embodiment of anxiety.
He pulled out his phone and looked at his contacts. Logan was great for bringing him back to reality when his paranoia was out of control. Patton helped him in a lot of different ways, that's usually his go to. But he went to him the other day, so he didn't want to seem too needy. Janus and Remus were unsurprisingly no help. Roman...well Roman is Roman. He bit his thumb as he tried to decide what to do. He started to worry that he was being a bother to the other sides. Sure it would help but if he called on them too much maybe they would get tired of him. He held his stomach in pain. He really wanted to see Patton.
Suddenly his phone rang. He jumped.
"H-hello?" He hated phone calls.
"Virgil!"
"Oh hey Patton." Virgils heart thumped a little bit harder.
"I noticed you seemed a little down today kiddo. Wanna come over to my room? I have your favorite movie ready." Patton always had such a chipper voice.
"Uh, yeah I can come over."
"Great!"
He was nervous about going over. What if eventually Patton got tired of him? Or what if he messed up when he was over there and Patton started hating him?
Virgil took a deep breath and counted backwards from ten. A trick he was taught by Logan. He took one more deep breath then popped up in Patton's room.
"There's my cute spooky son!" Patton exclaimed as he saw Virgil. Patton was allowed to call Virgil cute and other pet names while they were alone. In fact Virgil really liked it, not that he would ever admit it.
Patton gave Virgil a big hug. Virgil froze up. Patton quickly let go.
"Oh sorry. I'm suppose to ask first. I got excited and forgot." Patton apologized.
"It's okay, I'm used to it." Virgil lied. He wasn't used to it fully. He still had a hard time believing someone would be excited to see him.
"Well how about we get some popcorn going and start watching that movie." He pointed over to an old tv with a vhs player set up to it. There was a big couch with lots of blankets on it.
"Um actually Patton. Do you mind if we do something's else today?" Virgil started fidgeting a little bit.
"Well of course kiddo. What did you want to do? I'm all yours." Patton was kind of glad Virgil didn't want to watch the movie. He never quite understood the appeal of the Jack Skellington fella and why he wanted to mess up Christmas. Plus the movie scared him.
"Can we instead...just hang out." Virgil was feeling more vulnerable than usual.
"Hang out and do what?" Patton knew that there was something specific Virgil wanted but need a little push to say.
"You know." Virgil avoid eye contact.
"I don't know unless you tell me." Patton honestly didn't know.
"I thought maybe we could...cuddle?"
"Well of course, my little dark winged angel!" Patton beamed with glee. He transformed into his cat onesie.
Virgil still felt nervous but a little bit better now that he was honest. He shifted into his spooky Skelton onesie and followed Patton to the couch.
Patton sat down and wrapped himself in a blanket. He motioned for Virgil to come over. Virgil came over and laid his head on Pattons lap. Patton threw a blanket over him. It was a big fuzzy purple blanket, that he always saved just for Virgil.
"You worked hard today and you did such a great job. Do you want me to pet your hair?" Patton said.
Virgil nodded. Patton smiled at Virgil and started petting his hair. Patton worried sometimes he wasn't doing enough for him.
"You're such a good boy. You are loved and wanted." Patton loves giving praises to Virgil.
"I'm so glad you're here Virg."
"Really?" Virgil looked up at Patton.
"Really really." Patton just wanted to squeeze Virgil.
"But why? What do you get out of this?" Virgil honestly couldn't see why Patton would do this, besides out of pity. Tears started forming in his eyes.
"You know Virgil. Even if you don't believe it. I enjoy doing this. Having you here is comforting. I like knowing you're safe and being taken care of. I like being around you." He held Virgils face and wiped away the tears. Patton had to give Virgil consent reinsurance but every word he said is true. Virgil laid his head back down. They stayed in a comfortable silence as Patton stroke Virgils head.
"You know, I actually find your presence to be really calming." Patton said breaking the silence.
"Hold on, are you actually deceit." He sat up and looked out Patton suspiciously.
"No you silly billy. Come lay back down."
"Hmm, okay." He gave Patton a suspicious look up and down but laid his head back down.
"I'll be honest, sometimes some of the things you say can be a little scary. Especially when you're talking bad about yourself. But moments like these, are so precious to me. And you do calm me down. You know I get excited pretty easily, and sometimes it's a little much. You being here reminds me that I can be happy without bouncing of the walls. I feel I can be honest with you too and not have to cover up my feelings with jokes. I feel safe with you." He mindlessly stroked Virgils hair as he talked. Virgil stayed quiet and just listened. He wasn't sure how he felt. It was a mix of emotions but he felt safe too. In fact part of him even felt calm as well. The worry he had before was washed away. He didn't think about the day he had or the stress he had been feeling. He was in this moment with Patton. With his friend.
The two of them soon drifted off to into a peaceful sleep.