Changing Sides and Heaving Sighs

15

     "Wow, this should not be as big a deal as it is."

     Virgil faltered, nearly entirely done spinning his tale of distress and perched on the dumpster lid beside his cousin. He had just started talking about how violent Remus had been at the fight. Remy had sat there, completely silent, the whole time and listened intently. Clearly he had not listened properly if he thought the whole debacle shouldn't be a big deal.

     "What?"

     "You heard me, girl. I don't mean you're overreacting- not this time anyway- I mean some of this is just, like, molehills y'all turned into mountains. Who gives a fuck if you make another friend or two?"

     "Deceit gives a fuck; sure as hell doesn't help that one of those people is Roman Prince Royal, either."

     "Well, you think Roman's a prick for the most part," Remy didn't say that with much conviction nor without a smirk. "At least, that's what you think you think."

     "What I think I...?" What did that mean? "Whatever, you know damn well that they'll lose their shit if they find out I'm even talking to those three, let alone getting coffee with them."

     "Which means Dee and the green bitch are in the wrong here, not you. You know that, hun." The caffeine addict huffed. "What are you even afraid of? You're big bad Paranoia, and even if you can't leave the gang you sure as hell can talk to whoever you please. Hell, you own their asses, technically; you're talking like it's the other way 'round."

     That hadn't actually crossed Virgil's mind, he had mostly been thinking of the gang as a looming monster. A devil he had sold his soul to. He hadn't recognized it as a tool to face his other demons with, aside from his struggle with poverty. When one sold their soul to the devil, it came not without benefits. Still...

     "Maybe if it was just Patton and Logan- even if I had decided to start hanging out with Emile or something- that would be fine. Roman, on the other hand, is a bigger problem." Roman would always be a bigger problem, Virgil guessed.

     "So, take some steps. This Emile guy- you said he's Patton's brother?- figure out what days he works and openly chill there alone or some shit. Tell the snake he's gotta deal with it, he ain't the boss of you. Hell, bring me if it makes you feel better."

     That made sense. Remy tended to serve as Virgil's common sense filter, judging the reality of a situation from a distance and explaining why Virge needed to calm down. Virgil did almost the opposite for Remy; he told his laid-back, laissez-faire cousin when he needed to freak out.

     "That literally only solves one problem, but sure."

     "Yeah, the twins went through some bullshit. Remus was told- and supposedly shown- that his brother hated him, which apparently wasn't true. Then the kid acted up about it and their parents threw him in the funny farm to get rid of him. They wanted one perfect heir and fucked up a perfectly good sibling bond for it- am I getting this right?"

     "Yeah, and I could tell them both that if it would do any good."

     "What, you don't think Roman's gonna believe it?"

     Virgil snorted. "Who'd you believe, the edgy guy who hangs out with your evil twin or your doting, rich parents?"

     Remy hummed. "Fair. Can't help you with that one, kid. Maybe get some evidence? Speaking of evidence, the necklace..."

     Virgil pulled it out of his hoodie, watching the oddly sinister glint of that large jewel in the center. It weighed a lot -even for its' size- maybe 70 grams, which was how Virgil had identified it relatively easily. The minimal light made the gems look darker, almost dangerous. If any piece of jewelry were to truly be cursed, it would be that gorgeously haunting necklace. Remy's breath left him in a rush, and Virgil empathized. 

     "You're gonna pay for Aintín's treatment, then?" the Irish nickname brought a slight smile to Remy as he said it. "It's really finally happening?"

     "Yeah, she'll have whatever she needs. She probably won't get any better, but she'd be safe and supervised by someone who can handle seeing her like that." Virgil sighed. "She needs that; I'm almost never home and I feel like a horrible person for it but-"

     "-But you can't handle it. That's fine, bitch, nobody can deal with their mom forgetting who they are. Look, you still do your best to keep her safe, even if you don't watch her all the time. You padded everything, took away what's dangerous for her, gave her harmless stuff to do, child-locked the doors, left out food in child-safe containers, everything. You literally started a gang to make sure you can pay for shit, girl."

     "I started like a thousand problems to only half solve one."

     "You're gonna full-solve that first problem the moment you sell that necklace and head to the hospital." Remy took a long sip of his drink. "Recap: your friends don't own you, if you wanna get involved with someone's familial shit you best have evidence, you're on your way to solving your problems, and you should totally take over that pimp's place because the Dark Sides are your ticket to pretending you can function."

     "How are you so stable?" Virgil smiled, albeit a little sadly.

     "Well, see, my baby cousin always has a dilemma and it helped me learn to calmly evaluate a situation." Remy nudged Virgil with a grin.

     "You're only like three years older than me, man."

     "Yeah, but you're still my baby cousin. Tell you what, I'll buy you food."

     "You don't have to do that, I know you're broke."

     "I know you haven't eaten in fuckin' forever, I'm buying you food."

     "But-"

     "Bitch."

     "Fine."