Virgil hissed quietly as he repositioned himself on his pillows. He hadn't slept. No surprise there. He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep until he let the last of the built-up anxiety go.

It had been a few hours since Roman had left him to rest in his room. Virgil had tried to slowly release the anxiety from within bit by bit. He had managed to hold back some of it that morning so that it didn't completely overwhelm Thomas and the others. The pain of it still sat in his stomach, but he was willing to endure that a little longer.

He shifted again and adjusted his headphones. He wasn't really listening to the music, but the noise helped a little. As he rolled over, a movement in the corner of the room caught his eye. He yelped in surprise as a figure rose up. "Roman!" he said through gritted teeth as he removed his headphones. "Could you warn a guy before showing up in his room?"

"Ehh . . . sorry, Virgil," the prince said awkwardly. "I just wanted to check in on you. See how you were doing."

Virgil sighed. "Thanks for checking up on me, but-" He interrupted himself with another yelp as Logan rose up in the opposite corner.

"Jeez, L!" he snapped. "You guys can't just pop in without any warning!"

Logan and Roman shared an amused look but didn't respond to Virgil's hypocritical comment. "Perhaps," Logan said, "I should inform you that-"

"How're you doing, Kiddo?" Patton said, much too loudly, as he rose up. Virgil managed to contain his yelp this time, barely.

"Patton's coming," Logan finished.

"Thanks for the warning," Virgil said sarcastically. He pushed himself into a sitting position. The movement caused a small flare-up in his stomach, but Virgil did his best not to let the others see the pain. He settled himself back against the headboard and looked up at the other sides.

"So?" Roman said expectantly. "How are you?"

Virgil shrugged. "I'm fine."

"Really?" Logan said, raising an eyebrow. "You look a bit . . . pale."

"I always look pale," Virgil pointed out. "It's not a big deal. I just need to rest."

"Well," Logan said. "I brought along something that I thought might help." He summoned a small black device and handed it to Virgil. "It's a white noise machine," he explained quickly. "It's programmed with hours of various sounds, including rainforest, ocean, thunderstorm, birds, soft piano music-"

"Logan!" Virgil interrupted. The logical side was rambling, probably a side effect of the anxiety that Virgil was still slowly releasing. "It's great. Thanks."

Logan nodded with a small smile. "You're welcome. I hope it aids in your recovery."

"And when you're feeling up to it, Kiddo," Patton added, "come and find me. I'll make you the best gosh darn chocolate chip pancakes you've ever had. Or maybe blueberry! Oh, do we have blueberries? I think we have bananas. I could make banana pancakes. Or I could make all three, and-"

"Thanks, Patton," Virgil said before Patton could get too worked up. "Chocolate chip sounds good." Patton nodded and smiled.

"I suppose we should leave and let you rest," Logan said. "Feel better, Virgil."

"Thanks, guys." Virgil started to sink back into his blankets when he realized there was still someone else in the room. "What's up, Princey?" he asked.

"Is there anything I can get for you? Anything you need?" Roman offered, being uncharacteristically thoughtful.

"I'm good, Princey. Thanks." Roman nodded and started to sink down, but Virgil changed his mind just before the prince disappeared. "Roman?" he called.

Roman paused. "Virgil?"

"Can I ask you a question?" Roman rose back up into the room and nodded, waiting for Virgil to prop himself up again. "When Janus cut me off from Thomas," Virgil said slowly, "he cut me off from you guys, too, right?"

Roman nodded. "Yeah. It was weird. It was like your whole corner of the room didn't exist! We couldn't see or hear you."

Virgil looked at Roman from underneath his bangs. "But you did. You heard me. You . . . noticed me. How?"

Roman shrugged and gave Virgil his usual charming smile. "Well, I was right next to you!"

"So was Logan," Virgil pointed out.

Roman's smile fell. "Oh, yeah." He paused momentarily and then sighed. "The truth is, I don't know why I was able to hear you. I only wish I had sooner. I should have saved you! That's my thing! I'm the prince! I'm supposed to save damsels in distress!" He paused as he looked at Virgil and then started sputtering. "N-n-not that you're a damsel, of course! No! You're . . . you're a . . . a lord! A . . . lord of . . . darkness! A dark lord! NO! Wait, no! I-I-I didn't mean-"

"I get what you mean, Princey." It was no secret that Roman wanted nothing more than to be a dashing hero, and for once, he actually had saved someone. But he wasn't bragging about it like Virgil would have expected him to. He seemed genuinely disappointed in himself. "Roman," he finally said, "the fact that you were able to do it at all is . . . well . . ." He trailed off, but Roman seemed to understand. "Don't feel guilty because it took you a little while. You saved me."

Roman gave Virgil a small smile. "I wasn't the hero today, Virgil. You were. You kept all of that anxiety balled up inside of you, despite the pain-"

"I didn't have a choice," Virgil interrupted.

"Maybe not at first, but you could have let it go the moment I saw you. You didn't."

"Lot of good that did," Virgil said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I still had to release that anxiety. I . . . I couldn't stop it. I couldn't protect you guys from it."

"But you did!" Roman insisted. "You warned us, and you gave us time to prepare. If you hadn't done that, we could have been overwhelmed, but we weren't, all because you held back that anxiety with no concern for yourself!" Virgil blushed, but Roman didn't seem to notice. "And you're still doing it, aren't you?"

"What? What are you talking about? Doing what?"

Roman moved closer to the bed and sat down on a nearby chair. "Did you honestly think we wouldn't notice that all of us have been on edge since this morning? Did you think we wouldn't be able to feel the nervous energy subtly radiating through Thomas? Did you think I wouldn't notice that you've been in pain since I came in here?" Virgil shifted uncomfortably, still trying to hide his grimace, but he didn't reply. "You held back, didn't you? You didn't release all of the pent-up anxiety this morning. You've been releasing it slowly all day, haven't you?"

Virgil didn't really want to admit to it, but after their run-in with Janus, he wasn't about to lie. So, he nodded. "I should have done more," he said softly. "I should have been able to hold back more. I should have-"

"You've already done more than any of us could have asked of you. Virgil, today, you were the hero, a knight in emo armor!" Virgil smiled at the nickname. "Now, how can I help?"

Virgil looked at Roman, confused. "Help?"

"Sure! Every hero needs a sidekick!" He waved his hands emphatically. "Not that I'm offering full-time. Just for today." The prince settled down and put his hand on Virgil's arm. "You still have some of that built-up anxiety?"

Virgil nodded. "A little."

"Can you channel that anxiety into me?"

Virgil looked up at Roman with wide eyes. "I mean, yeah, but-"

"You need to rest, Virgil, and you can't do that until it's gone. Let me do this."

"Are you sure?"

"A true prince doesn't back down in the face of fear!" Roman said, puffing out his chest. "Besides, I'll have you to help me."

Virgil pushed himself away from his pillows and sat up straight. Then, he hesitantly lifted his hand, and Roman clasped it in his. "Ready?" he asked. Roman nodded, bracing himself against the back of the chair.

For the second time that day, Virgil prepared to let go of the anxiety that was holed up within him. He considered holding back, but he had a feeling that Roman would notice. No, this time, he would release everything that was left. He felt guilty, but he looked forward to getting rid of the pain in the pit of his stomach.

He inhaled and exhaled deeply. Once. Twice. One more time, he inhaled, and as he exhaled, he released every last shred of anxiety into Roman.

Then, he collapsed. He hadn't meant to, but just as before, he was left feeling light-headed and dizzy. He felt an emptiness in him that wasn't entirely unpleasant, especially in the absence of pain, but it left him hollow and weak.

He laid against his pillows breathing shallowly. He should be doing something, shouldn't he? He should be worried about . . . something. Or concerned at the very least. But there was no worry left in him at the moment. Oh, it would return eventually. But for now, there was only his bed, his pillows, the ceiling, and Roman's hand-

"Roman!" Virgil sat bolt upright. Or rather, he tried to. He couldn't find the strength to sit up all the way, so he settled for pushing himself up on his elbow, careful not to pull his hand out of Roman's grip. Not that he could have if he wanted to. Roman's hold on Virgil's hand had tightened, and Virgil wasn't sure if he'd have been able to pull his hand away even if he was at full strength.

Roman's expression had changed very little. His eyes shone with the same determination they had before. But he was tense, as if he was flexing every muscle in his body. His unblinking eyes stared past Virgil, but Virgil was pretty sure he wasn't looking at anything. "Roman?" he asked uncertainly. "Are you . . . okay?"

"I will be," Roman said through gritted teeth. "How . . . how long is this supposed to last?"

"Depends. Not too long if you can get it under control." Virgil struggled to sit up, but he couldn't find the strength. He grunted in frustration as he fell back into his pillows.

"Virgil?" Roman squeezed Virgil's hand in a random pattern, and Virgil could hear his foot tapping on the floor. "Do . . . do you think we could try that . . . that breathing thing?"

Virgil nodded. He didn't have the strength to do much, but he could do that. He led Roman through the counts, squeezing his hand as they breathed together. For a few moments, their breathing was the only sound in the room.

Slowly, the tension in Roman's body began to subside. It was still there, and his foot was still nervously tapping away, but the anxiety was manageable. "You know," Virgil said, looking up at the prince, "you probably shouldn't be in my room. It'll only make you more-"

"Shut up, Emo." His voice was quiet, and Virgil was afraid he had upset Roman. But then he saw the prince's sideways smile and the twinkle in his eye.

"Yeah, okay."