Sanders Sides One Shots & Shorts

Beneath the Hoodie (Analogical)

Trigger warning: Cutting is mentioned, there's some shirt removal, gender dysphoria, a sad Virgil, and an extremely sweet Logan. Thank you. You've been warned
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Date Published: Feb 13, 2018
Word Count: 2466
POV: 3rd Person

"Virgil, it's hot. Why are you still wearing that thing?"

Virgil sunk further into his patchwork hoodie. Even though it was 32 degrees Celcius outside (almost 90 degrees Fahrenheit), he refused to take it off.

"Yeah, kiddo. You must be overheating!"

Yes. He was sweating from the heat the black fabric pushed onto his pale skin, but he couldn't take it off. He shook his head, and managed an "I'm fine." as he stuck his hands in his pockets.

The others looked at him nervously, but didn't press the subject. They continued their walk through the park, Virgil, Logan, Patton, Roman, and Thomas, that is.

Patton was the one who'd suggested getting out of the house, insisting that they could just 'pretend to be siblings' if anyone noticed their identical features. Thomas agreed, and Roman considered it somewhat an adventure, so he was on board. The three of them dragged Logan away from his desk, where he'd been working for hours on end, much to the dismay of the logical side. Then, they invited Virgil to join them. The idea of walking around with four lookalikes had spiked up Virgil's anxiety, and he didn't want to go. However, being left at home alone didn't seem like a great option, either.

So here they were, walking around the park in extremely warm weather, Thomas leading the way with Patton beside him, and Roman on the other side, eyes scouring for any beast that dare harm them. Logan and Virgil walked at the back. Virgil occasionally slowing down, trying to melt into the shadows. But, Logan would always notice, and slow his stride to remain side by side with the anxious trait.

At this point, the others had noticed how far back Logan and Virgil were getting, and stopped to wait for them to catch up. Once they did so, that's when they noticed that Virgil still had his hoodie on, hence the sudden interrogation. But, Virgil knew that he couldn't take his hoodie off, not out here. They would see, and he couldn't bear to see their reaction.

There were certain things that Virgil did to protect himself, such as not giving out hugs, in fear that if any of the others wrapped their arms around his waist, that they'd feel the inconsistencies there. He wore looser clothing, to hide his body from the others. Little things like that. But, there was one thing that was most important to keep up his illusion: his hoodie. He wore it originally to hide himself momentarily when he ran out of bandages, but, now it's become a sort of security blanket, something that made him look, and feel... right.

With his hoodie, he didn't have to wear the constricting bandages every day, but he usually did anyway. It just made it easier for days that he only came out of his room for minutes at a time, just to grab food or something. Without it, he felt exposed and wrong, and with it, he felt he could be a little more himself, without having to worry about what was on his body.

He had gotten so attached to his hoodie, that if he ever considered not wearing it anymore, he would worry that the others would find out, he worried that they'd think he was wrong, or broken. Roman definitely would. He couldn't look in their eyes if he ever took it off. Even on a hot day like today. Even though he was wearing his bandages. Because bandages, Virgil knew, could help hide them somewhat, but they can only do so much. They would notice them, what it was he was hiding.