Patton was in the kitchen when Logan came down the staircase, looking – as much as the logical side tried to hide it – rather distressed. The moral side set down the apron he had been midway through putting on, and followed Logan into the living room, where the logical side sat down slowly on the couch, huffing slightly.
"Logan? You okay kiddo?" Patton sat down beside him, putting a hand on Logan's shoulder.
"I am…concerned." Patton tilted his head. "For Virgil." He clarified.
"Why's that?"
In the span of a few minutes, Logan told him about the observations he had made of Virgil and Deceit during the latest video, and Patton nodded along as he spoke. He hadn't noticed any of that, but, to be completely fair to himself, he hadn't actually been there to make any such observations, though he had noticed how intensely Virgil had been glaring at Deceit before the lying side had made his departure, but he had chalked that up to Virgil being angry on his behalf.
When Logan finished recounting what he had observed, Patton sighed. "It makes sense." He said. "Virgil probably lived with the other Sides, Deceit included, before he came here. It would stand to reason that he and Deceit were…familiar with each other."
"I know, Patton, but I think there is more to it than just familiarity between the two of them." Logan adjusted his glasses slightly. "Perhaps you could talk to him. Virgil is closer to you than he is to me…perhaps he would be more willing to open up to you. I know I am not particularly good at dealing with emotions, as you are, but he needs to talk to someone about whatever it is that is plaguing him. It is not healthy to keep things bottled up."
"You're right, Logan." Patton agreed. "I'll give him a minute, then go see how he is. He didn't look too good when I rose up in the video."
"No, he did not, and I believe I may have made the situation worse for him." A flash of guilt passed over the usually stoic side's face. "It is possible that I was too…confrontational…towards him. He thought I was being accusatory, when that was not my intention." Logan seemed genuinely distressed at the idea that he had made Virgil feel worse. Patton gave his shoulder a gentle rub, and stood.
"I'll go check on him." He assured the logical side.
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it." He gave Logan a smile, and then made his way to the staircase. As he began to climb the stairs, he passed Thomas' fanciful side on his way down.
"Hey, Roman. How're you feeling?" Patton inquired gently. Roman hadn't had the best day either, he knew.
"Oh, I feel just awful!" Roman exclaimed, hand over his heart in a dramatic gesture. "I feel so used! Deceit played me so…so easily!"
Patton pulled the creative side into a hug, giving him a gentle pat on the back that he knew Roman found comforting. "Oh, don't worry about it, Roman. I know Deceit can be very…convincing when he wants to be. That's his nature. It's not your fault."
Roman pulled away, and Patton nearly gasped. The other Side was almost on the verge of tears. Deceit had really gotten to him. "Oh, Roman."
"Don't worry about me, I'm fine-." Roman started, and Patton deflated – just a little. He knew Roman wasn't fine at all. "I'm sorry." The creative side said almost instantly. "We literally just talked about how it is better to be honest not even ten minutes ago, and here I am, trying to convince you I'm fine, when we both know that I am not."
"Well, that's alright. Just try to be more conscientious of what you say."
"I'll try, Patton."
"That's all you need to do, Ro." The two went in for another brief hug before continuing on their original pathways. Roman descended the stairs into the living room and Patton ascended the stairs into the upstairs hallway, where he passed three doors before stopping at the last door at the end of the hallway. Patton knocked on the black door three times, before pausing a moment and calling out.
"Virgil? You okay buddy?"
No response. He tried again.
"Virge, it's me, Patton. Can I come in?"
Still nothing. Patton began to worry.
"Please let me in, Virgil. I'm worried about you. Can we talk? Please?" After a moment, he heard shuffling, the sound of rustling blankets, and a faint sniffle. The silver doorknob twisted and the door opened to reveal a clearly distraught and distressed Virgil. Oh Virge… Patton thought. His poor little anxious baby had tear tracks streaking down his face, and he could see the exhaustion practically radiating off the youngest side. Patton had to physically restrain himself from grabbing Virgil and pulling him into a tight hug; he knew Virgil didn't like being touched suddenly.
"What's wrong, kiddo?" He asked instead.
"Nothing, Pat. I'm fine." Virgil responded.
"Not to offend, but kiddo, you look horrible." Patton said honestly, and he really did. The moral side could see the exhausted bruises under anxiety's eyes even through the thick layers of eyeshadow. Virgil let out a long breath.
"Do you…wanna come in?" The anxious side asked, opening the door a little wider.
"If that's alright with you, I'd love to." He replied. Virgil opened the door fully and gestured for Patton to come in. He did so, and when Virgil sat down on the bed, Patton sat down beside him, close enough that their shoulders just barely touched each other. They both sat in silence for a minute, Patton trying to figure out what to say, Virgil most likely just stressing about whatever it was Patton might be thinking. The moral side then realised that the longer he sat here without saying anything, the more anxious Virgil was going to become. Tact or no tact, Patton had to say something now. He went with something simple.
"How're you feeling, kiddo?" he asked.
"Fine." Virgil answered.
"You don't have to lie to me, Virgil." Patton said. "I know you're not okay. It's okay to not be okay, but you can't bottle it up. It isn't healthy." Virgil was silent for a moment.
"What did Logan say?" He eventually asked.
"He said that he tried to talk to you. He's worried about you, Virgil."
"Really? I thought Logan stayed away from emotions like that." Virgil huffed.
"He may not admit it, but Logan isn't just some cold, emotionless robot, Virge. He has feelings; he just pretends he doesn't because he doesn't know how to deal with them from a logical standpoint. He may not always understand his emotions, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't have any." Patton looked at Virgil sitting beside him. The youngest side was hunched in on himself, his head hanging.
"Listen, Virgil, I know you don't like to talk about what happened with your life before you got here, but I'd like to talk about it now. I think you've been repressing whatever it was that happened for far too long, and I'd like to hear everything from you, before Deceit decides to spring any more surprises on us that you might not like sprung." Patton didn't miss how Virgil flinched when he mentioned the 'Dark Side', as Roman liked to call him.
"Virgil, honey. I know it might be hard to talk about. I have no idea what your past was like, but I know that Deceit was a part of it…and this may sound harsh, but…eventually someone is going to tell us – me and the other two – what happened to you. But would you rather it be you, or Deceit?"
Virgil really did flinch then, and Patton felt horrible. He had no idea what Virgil's life had been like, and here he was trying to worm the information out of Virgil like some sort of interrogator. He knew it had to be said eventually, for Virgil's own wellbeing, but he still felt guilty for being the one to ask him to reveal his past. He was about to apologise, but then –
"You're right." Virgil's voice was low and husky, but not in the sexy romance novel way. It was more as if he had screamed himself hoarse. Patton's chest tightened at the thought.
"I do…need to talk to someone, I think." He looked up to face Patton then, and Patton felt so proud of his dark strange son for finally trusting him enough to open up and share his burden. "But not the others. Not yet. I know Logan tries, but I don't think he'd understand –it won't make sense to him, logically, and Roman…" Virgil took a breath, and Patton waited patiently for him to finish his sentence. "Roman…has always found it too easy to cast me as the villain, and…this story will make it even easier for him." Patton shook his head slightly, but didn't say anything. He knew that Roman still harboured some guilt over the way he treated Virgil for all these years. The creative side had learned from his mistakes.
He wanted to tell Virgil this, but he knew right now it didn't matter to the anxious side as much as Patton's support did.
"I won't pressure you to tell either of them anything," he swore, "and I won't tell them anything either. I promise."
"Thank you." Virgil breathed, leaning into Patton's shoulder a little bit.
"Don't mention it, kiddo." Patton smiled warmly at him, trying to give the anxious side a little more confidence, even when his own heart rate was slightly higher than normal. He was both excited to hear Virgil's story, because he would finally find out what Virgil's life had been like before he had joined the three of them, but he was also dreading the story to come, because he knew that whatever had happened before Virgil had come here, whatever had transpired between Virgil and Deceit, wasn't good.
He gave Virgil a moment to collect himself before asking, "So, where do you want to start?"
"At the beginning, I guess."