Intrusive Parenting

8

Remus burst through the door nearly dropping cookies as he ran inside the dark side's living room. He made it only a foot before he heard someone crying. It was like a slap in the face. He ran to Dee's room only to find the kid curled up clutching the bear tightly in bed. Maybe leaving him was not such a good idea.

"Dee?" Deceit jumped up the moment he heard his name scrambling off the bed and tackling the green man in a hug. He had woken up alone and scared in a room he didn't know again. The man wasn't there anymore and he didn't know what to do. He wanted his brother... He wanted his best friend. Hell, he'd even take Morality at this point. He just didn't want to be alone. The man was stiff in his arms as they slowly nudge Dee away with a concerned frown. Deceit was still sniffling as he held the bear tightly. "Cookies... I managed to snag some from Patton." Dee nodded as he carefully took one but only one. The man wouldn't let him take another. "Pat said we have to watch the sweets so... no more for now, ok Dee?"

"What do kids do?" His eyes scrunched up a bit as he slowly took the young side out of the room. "We don't have much in the way of toys... unless you count mine... yeah, no." Dee laughed a bit as he finished his cookie. "I do still have that playground." That caught Dee's attention. He was jumping a bit which made the man laugh. "Ok then... playground it is."

Patton was still a little confused over all that in the kitchen. He had finished the cookies up and was walking out with them all when he spotted Roman and Virgil on the couch cuddling. Those two are so adorable. He carefully placed the plate of iced sugar cookies on the table in front of them and smiled hearing Virgil 'oooh' as he took two. Roman, however, wasn't looking at the cookies at all. He looked lost in thought.

"Hey, kiddo? Is everything ok?" Roman shrugged as Virgil cuddled up into him again nibbling on a cookie. He handed Roman the second one, who just stared at it for a bit.

"Am I a bad brother?" Everyone seemed to freeze at that. It wasn't the first time Roman thought about it. He thinks about it all the time actually. He always combats it with Remus being a bad person but... Is he? They're all facets of Thomas's personality... bits of a whole. Virgil told Roman what happened when Remus dropped in on Thomas that one video. 'You made me like this, Thomas.' Well... He wasn't wrong about that. 

"Well, you do tend to target him." Virgil whispered with an awkward smile causing Patton to gasp. "I'm not saying he's... actually yeah, I am. You're a bad brother." 

"Virgil, I am surprised at you." Roman only stuffed the cookie in his mouth drowning in the guilt as Virgil and Patton went at each other. "Roman is not a bad person."

"I never said that. I said he was a bad brother. He's too hard on Remus. Way too hard and you weren't here to hear what he said to him." Roman wanted to disappear. He really hadn't expected an answer much but now that he got one he was drowning in it. He wasn't going to fight it. Obviously, Virgil was right. He just wished it wasn't true. 

"What about Remus? He literally attacks Rom..."

"Yeah, but he doesn't mean to." The room went completely silent causing Virgil to tense up. "Uh... I mean... Wait, did I say something I shouldn't have?"

"What do you mean he doesn't mean too?" Roman's voice shook as Virgil sighed pushing himself off of Roman and giving him this look. 

"Do you really not know? He's your brother..." He shook his head pulling himself from his thoughts as Roman finished his cookie only to grab another one to stuff his mouth anxiously. "Roman, he's got no impulse control... coupled with his intrusive thoughts things get hard for him. Deceit and I both learned to accept that in him. Sure he used to scare the shit out of me but that was more of the things he said then what he did."