Mosaic Windows

Chapter 8: Nico is No Fool, But Thomas Might Be

Remus threw a bag onto his bed, grabbing the rope Roman had cut in two, a knife, and whatever else he could find that would be useful. He isn't sure what he is going to do, he doesn't have a plan, but he knows that he needs to do something.

Yeah he and his brother fight a lot, but Roman is still his brother! And if that dragon witch has done anything to him... It doesn't matter how powerful it is, Remus will destroy it. Nobody gets to mess with Roman but him.

Once he had everything packed, he pulled on his boots and his "Frankenstein" jacket. It was dubbed that by Roman, since it was a bunch of different jackets cut up and sewn together. Part of the jacket belonged to one of Roman's old jackets, so of course he hated it, which made Remus love it more.

He quietly snuck out of his room. It wasn't early in the morning, Remus had accidentally slept in. He wanted to get up early to sneak out, now he's going to have to be extra careful. He doesn't go to work with a bag on his back, so he couldn't lie about that. Miss Delores will have to run the bakery by herself.

Fortunately when he got downstairs, he saw that it was empty. The stove wasn't on, there wasn't a single scent of food, Thomas and Nico were nowhere in sight. Remus didn't think much about his luck and went straight for the door, quietly opening it and slipping out, carefully closing it.

He made his way around the house to the stable, only to freeze when he got there. Nico was putting on Guinevere's reins and Thomas was setting up her saddle. There was a bag set on the back of her saddle, buckled on.

"Oh, Remus, what are you doing?" Nico asked.

Remus quickly hid his bag. "I was about to head to the bakery. What are you doing?"

His father gave him a disbelieving look. "I'm going to visit Janus, to ask him to find Roman. Because he is going to bring Roman back home, and not you."

"Why would I go save Roman? He got himself into that mess, he can get himself out." Remus gave Nico a smile. Nico however did not smile.

"Go get something to eat, drop that bag in your room, and go to work. You better not go into that forest."

"Fine, I'll leave it to mister double dick," Remus growled, turning around and walking into the house.

He went to the kitchen and set his bag down next to the window. Then he grabbed a muffin and went back to the door, looking out the window to see Nico on Guinevere, slowly trotting out from the stables, Thomas next to them.

Nico glanced back to the house and saw Remus in the window. He waved and Remus returned it with a half hearted wave, taking a bite from his muffin. As soon as Nico went out of sight, Remus ran back to the kitchen and grabbed his bag. He glanced at the window by the door and saw Thomas walking back.

"Shit," he cursed, throwing open the window in the kitchen. He tossed his bag and muffin through it before shutting it.

He ran to the door and reached for the handle just as Thomas was opening it. Remus gave him a smile and opened the door wider.

"Alright I'm off to work, bye!" he said, squeezing past Thomas.

"Oh, uh, alright? Have a good day." Thomas responded, turning around to watch Remus leave. The mayor frowned. "I don't trust him. I don't have the time to deal with that though, I just hope he doesn't try to prank me again."

Remus snuck around the house, crouching as he passed the windows until he got to where his bag and muffin were. A opossum already grabbed the muffin, and Remus squinted at it in anger, but he's learned that fighting with a opossum is quite loud and it would take too much time. So he grabbed the bag, throwing it over his shoulder before dashing for the woods.

~~~

Patton popped his head into the treasury room after hearing some noise, seeing Virgil looking through a box, several other boxes on the table in front of him. "So... whatcha doing?"

The prince shrugged. "I don't know... Logan said I should make Roman feel more comfortable so I'm looking for some gifts." He held up a clunky necklace full of gems, frowning at it. "Besides, we don't need these anymore."

"Ooh you like him don't you?"

"How... does that even make sense to you?" Virgil gave him a confused look.

Patton put his hands together. "Prince. Vee. You gave him a rose. I know you've read romance books. Plus he isn't really that bad looking."

Virgil's face heated up. "It's not like that! I just- Logan said to show him my interests? And you know I like taking care of my garden so I thought... Well... roses!"

"Aw your face is so red, that's so cute!"

"Patton..."

"Oh, so you're out of your boy phase now? What, are you going to go back to pretending to like girls?"

"Ew no, I just don't like him. I barely know him! But this is my castle, and he is my guest, so I need to be kind to him." Virgil set down the necklace and looked at a few others that were in a small box.

"You know you can be kind to him in more ways than gift giving, right?"

"I'm not a kind person, so gift giving is all I got."

"Why don't you, I don't know, talk to him? Let him get to know you? And you learn more about him?"

Virgil groaned, "I don't like talking to new people. Besides, this is compensation for the trouble he's gone through since he got here. I wanted him to avoid seeing me the entire time, but that failed."

Patton put his hand on Virgil's arm. "You could turn this into a good thing. I know you get lonely, even with me and Logan being here. Maybe he could be a good friend?"

"You mean I get lonely whenever you and Logan 'hang out?'" Virgil made air quotes.

The gardener frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?" He gasped as his eyes widened. "Oh you're trying to tease me about my crush, aren't you?"

That made the prince smile. "Yours and Logans. When are you two finally going to make it official? You're both adorable. And you two were sharing cupcakes yesterday, weren't you?"

"It wasn't like that, we were having a snack together! Oh... I see what you did, you turned it on me!"

Virgil chuckled, "No, because unlike you and Logan, I don't have a crush on this guy. And I doubt I ever will. I've accepted a long time ago that I won't ever have a partner."

Patton sighed, his smile turning sad. "Not if you don't try talking to someone new. Not if you don't show people you're not a monster."

The room was silent for a few seconds as Virgil's smile dropped. Arguing that he is a monster is useless. "I don't think that last bit is possible, Pat. But... I'll try talking to Roman."