Deceit slammed the door when he got back to his Uncle's house. He couldn't help it; all his frustration needed to escape somehow.
"Hey!" He heard from inside the kitchen.
"Shit." Deceit hissed, pulling his hat lower to try to cover his bandages. He heard as Uncle Frank approached, already lecturing him.
"Where in Sam's hell have you been, boy!?" Frank stopped in front of him and crossed his arms. He was an established man who never married or had kids. But when Deceit's parents had split, and neither wanted custody of their little liar, Frank stepped in. He wasn't a bad guardian. But there's a reason he never had kids.
"I was with my friends." Deceit said.
Frank pulled his hat away and scowled at his eye. "And did your 'friends' do that?"
Deceit glanced away and muttered, "Yes."
"Give me the keys." Frank held his hand out. Silently, Deceit gave them back. Frank sighed, "I'll give you another chance to tell me what happened."
Deceit glanced up at his Uncle and explained slowly, "There was a bar fight. My friend patched me up in the bathroom. I didn't start it."
Frank studied him, clearly trying to decide if he's lying or not. Finally, he sighed and said, "C'mon, there's dinner on the stove."
Deceit glanced at the time, "It's the middle of the night?"
"And you snuck off with my car and come back hours later a mess!" Frank turned on him, his voice rising. "You be thankful I made you some hangover cure and go to bed!"
"Yes sir." Deceit said under his breath. He made himself a plate of mashed potatoes, baked beans, and a burger. Frank gave him a dirty look when he reached for a beer. But screw it, he had a night, he deserved one.
They sat in silence for a long moment, eating. Deceit could hear the crickets outside. He wondered if Patton was still awake.
"Hey, Frank?"
"Hm?"
Deceit set down his burger. He frowned, "Did all your Sides like each other?"
"Hmm." Frank chewed slowly in thought. He swallowed and said, "Nah, two of 'em fuckin hated each other."
"So… what did they do? To become you?" Deceit asked.
Frank shrugged, "They figured it out. You know, got drunk, made a bet."
Deceit nodded thoughtfully, "I see…"
"Why you asking?" Frank didn't take another bite, choosing to watch him instead.
Deceit shrugged, looking away. He knew when to play the kicked puppy card, and he cranked it up as he said, "Just preparing for when my Sides decide they don't want me like Mom and Dad did."
"Jesus kid." Frank muttered, awkwardly avoiding eye contact. He quickly cleared his throat and said, "Well, that just don't happen. Sides need each other. Don't worry."
Frank quickly stood up and grabbed his plate. He gestured to his room, "It's getting late. I got work in the morning."
"Alright." Deceit said, sitting back in his seat. He pouted and looked down at his hands.
Frank sighed and said, "Hey, kid, I'm glad you're ok." Then before he turned down the hall, he added, "Don't touch my car."
Deceit waited until he heard Frank's door close. He sighed and stood up. He walked to the trash can and scraped his entire plate clean. Then he set the dish in the sink and silently snuck down to the basement.
The basement was just a large concrete square with a tiny bathroom in the corner. But with enough rugs, posters, and stolen trinkets, you can make any place a home.
Deceit flopped in the middle of his bed and sighed. He stared at the water stains on the ceiling next to the exposed pipe.
He turned to see his hermit crabs crawling in their enclosure. He climbed to their tank and quickly fed them. He watched their long legs slowly move across the fake rocks. He had two; a larger one named Sasha and a smaller one named Rose.
"Hello, girls." He sighed, gently reaching in to stroke one of their shells. "Can you help Daddy figure out what happened?"
The crabs clacked, making their way over to their food.
"Patton doesn't like me anymore." He told them sadly. Sasha tapped the rock below her in annoyance.
Deceit sighed, "I know. I did nothing wrong. So, Mister was being all 'yeah we're cool' and I believed him, my mistake. Then, he turns and is all 'actually you're a dumb pervert' and I decked him. Then Patton was running out of there, mad at me!"
Rose chewed on a leaf, staring blankly into the void.
"I feel the same." Deceit told her. He glanced from one to the other, "So, girls, what do we do?"
Sasha slowly climbed over Rose, trying to get more food. Deceit watched them teeter together, clacking wildly.
Deceit frowned at them, quietly deciding, "We should fuse again?"
There was a knock on the door at the top of the stairs. Deceit quickly said goodbye to his girls and bounded up the steps. He pulled the door open to see Frank. He was holding a paper.
"Sorry, er, I forgot to tell ya earlier. But I think I mighta found one'a your Sides." Frank rubbed his neck and held out the paper.
"What?" Deceit said quietly, looking down at the flyer. It was a colored print of the musical the local University was performing. It had a picture of the cast, and standing front and center, was Deceit. Frantically, he flipped the paper over and over, searching for a name. But none was given.
"I think he's the main character." Frank said, "I dunno, I don't wanna get your hopes up. He just kinda looks like you, is all. I say the ad down at the gas station this morning."
Deceit stared at the date, the musical was this weekend. He looked up at Frank, determined, "I have to go."
"You can buy tickets onli-"
"Thanks Frank!"
Deceit closed the door and ran back down the stairs. He grabbed his laptop and jumped on bed. As quickly as he could, he was pulling up the school's website. He found where to buy his tickets and quickly bought one for each night. He had to make sure. He wasn't going to have any repeat experiences. He wouldn't fuck it up this time.
"We have a chance, girls!" Deceit told the crabs. Sasha had fallen off of Rose, and was upside-down. Deceit carefully righted her before he returned to his screen.
After the purchases were confirmed, he searched the theater department's website until he found a page about the cast. His picture was the first to pop up.
Deceit sat back, suddenly out of breath as he read the little blurb next to the photo. He breathed, "Roman."
He turned to the crabs and grinned, "His name is Roman, girls."
Rose clacked, turning away from him.
"Oh, who cares about Patton. He's a thing of the past." Deceit said, waving his hand in dismissal. He ignored the sharp migraine and simultaneous twist in his chest as he said that. "We can circle back to him once we have this one."
Sasha dropped one leaf to grab a bigger one.
Deceit nodded, "That's right, we never would have worked with Morality anyway."
Deceit looked down at the photo of the man in a prince costume. He touched the screen, his eyes traced over the photo. Roman Side.
He could work with that.
Tell me what you think!
