Deceit's Hunger

Part 7

As reluctant as he was to admit it, it took Deceit a good while before he was able to stand on his own two feet without being supported by Virgil and without that annoying lightheaded swimming sensation in his head every time he got up from his bed. Above all else, he hated to admit that he was physically weak given how long he had gone without food, juice, and the soup was something that Virgil constantly made runs for. To the point where it almost made him feel guilty for asking for them, but Virgil seemed to know that just from a glance alone what he needed in the exact second that he needed it. Besides, it was much simpler for Virgil to go than for Deceit to ever step foot into the kitchen ever again.

Just the idea of being in the same place where he had been cornered and terrified, like a mouse before a cat was enough to make his skin crawl and his grip increase on the covers. The way that Patton had loomed over him, had made him feel so small and vulnerable. The sharp steely glare hidden behind the other's glasses had made him feel like he was about to face off against his death, like Patton could and actually would physically hurt him. His words had been painful enough, but the manner in which he had been jerked back by his cape only led his imagination to go crazy, imagining what the moral side was truly capable of if he seriously wanted to hurt him.

He was just...scared.

The idea of staying in his room for the rest of Thomas' natural lifespan didn't seem like such a bad idea, especially if it meant that he wouldn't ever have to run into Patton again. He could survive here, he could live with Virgil and occasionally Logan bringing him back food and keeping him company, that was if it didn't bother them too much to ask for such a thing.

Looking over to Virgil, the anxious side had oddly enough grown a tad bit more comfortable with him, in the beginning when he had woken up Virgil had stiffly stayed in the chair beside his bed, using the excuse of getting him something to drink to get out as often as he could. It had made him feel even more guilty for keeping Virgil from doing what he honestly wanted to do, instead of doting on him while Logan was away.

Now though, now Virgil was sitting up on his bed with a book tucked into his lap and his headphones on.

It was one of Deceit's books, one of his most read ones at that. '200 Ways to Make Magic' it was full of all kinds of ways to pass lies off as magic, like Thomas so eagerly done during one of his earlier plays as a child. Deceit had soaked up that knowledge as the first book that had appeared in his bedroom, in an odd way it was the first ever thing that Thomas had given to him before he had even known Deceit was even a thing. When it had first arrived, filling up the barren bookshelf in his room. A warm feeling had bubbled up in his chest, and for the first time he had felt like he wasn't completely bad, and to see Virgil reading it made him happy as well.

"Hey...Dee." Virgil's voice snapped out of his internal musings as he hastily blinked his eyes to meet Virgil's as the anxious side slid his headphones down so that they rested on the pale curve of his neck.

Deceit's mouth felt dry all of a sudden, Virgil was looking at him with a look full of curiosity, worry, and something else in his gaze. He hadn't been staring for that long had he?

"Yes?" He managed to choke the word out without sounding to much like an absolute idiot.

Watching Virgil worrying his bottom lip Deceit felt that same pang of guilt again, this time mixed with a dash of fear. Virgil probably had to go and do something now, he was probably just keeping him from doing that, and now he was trying to tell Deceit that in a way that wouldn't hurt his feelings. He was an impressive liar, especially when it came to himself. Of course, Virgil wasn't enjoying himself here, he was just passing the time and-

A hand on his knee made those thoughts skid to an absolute halt.

The scales on his face tingled, and Deceit knew himself well enough to know that they had probably changed to a light rosy-green color instead of their usual solid green. Almost immediately Deceit looked away, physically turning his head from Virgil so the crime couldn't be seen all over his face.

'What am I even doing blushing like someone who has a...'

Oh...oh no.

Those thoughts soon too came to a screeching halt, from the corner of his eyes he could see Virgil's mouth moving and it was only when he paid attention to him that he realized what was being said to him. All he had to do was act normal, yeah normal...he could do normal.

"Would you like to come downstairs and watch a movie?" Before Virgil had even finished the sentence Deceit felt himself stiffening up a little.

Downstairs was where the kitchen and likely Patton was, but Virgil was only interested in watching a movie. A part of him wanted to decline and to just stay here in his room where he was safe from anything and anyone, but Virgil's surprisingly warm hand remained on his knee. He could feel that warmth seeping through his thin pajamas.

His mismatched eyes slowly crawled up from Virgil's hand before locking eyes with the anxious side, and meeting the warm chocolate brown orbs he felt his resistance chipping away like an ice cube on hot concrete. Really there was never any doubt about whether or not he'd go and watch a movie with Virgil, but be that as it may he still felt scared. It clogged up his throat, and it made his limbs seem extra heavy.

Although he was sure that as long as he stayed near Virgil he wouldn't be hurt, but he had to make sure that he stuck by Virgil's side and Virgil stuck by him.

"I..." Deceit's voice came out as a barren whisper as once again he dropped his gaze from the other's, his fingers clenched the covers tight as he seemed to recede into himself little by little.

A look of understanding came over Virgil's face, and the hand on his knee gave him a little squeeze.

"You're scared aren't you? That's why you never went down to eat and that's why you never told us..you were scared into silence." Virgil said, his voice matching Deceit's whisper, as if it were a crime to speak too loudly now.

Deceit though, barely had time to nod his head before he felt Virgil's hand leaving his knee, and he barely had any time to feel any amount of disappointment before the anxious side's hand slid into his. Glancing up he noted the smile on Virgil's face, all be it a painful looking smile.

"I'll protect you then, come down to the living room with me and..and I promise that I will make sure nothing bad happens to you. If you start to feel scared for any reason..I'll get you out of there. No questions asked." Virgil's surprisingly warm gaze flickered back and forth meeting Deceit's looking for any sign.

So when Deceit nodded his head, another feeling of warmth blossomed in his chest at the little smile that quirked on the anxious side's lips. Before he knew it he was being tugged up to his feet out and out of his bed, towards his door for the first time in months.

Virgil's hand, as it happened to be, was still clasped in Deceit's.