Bad Rumors

7

"Now, Kiddo. As I've said before, there is absolutely no swearing in this house." Virgil laid there on his bed not moving or speaking as Patton went through his lecture. It was getting tiring. He hadn't even been there long and yet Virgil had spent most of his time locked in his room. Their rules were insane. No swearing. No lying. No saying anything mean... even though Princey does this all the time. Virgil can't yell. He can't 'intimidate'. He can't leave the palace without supervision as to not taint it... not that anyone would word it that way but Virgil knew. Basically they wanted him to be 'perfect' and that meant he couldn't be him. Well... Deceit and Remus both taught him to never be anything but himself. 

There is NOTHING that they can teach him. 

"Patton, may I have a word with Virgil?" Virgil frowned as his door creaked open to reveal the nerd himself. "Also... Roman may need your assistance. He's in his room."

"Oh, shoots. Ok, Logan. Just remember to lock the door on the way out."

"Of course, Patton." Logan smiled slightly as the father figure rushed out. Logan waited a few seconds before turning back to Virgil who was already trying to tune him out. "Let's go, Virgil. We have much to discuss."

"Excuse me?" Logan chuckled softly as he opened the door wider making Virgil frown in confusion. "But... You just told Patton..."

"That I would lock the door on the way out not that you would be inside the room when I did so." Virgil smirked as he jumped up and followed Logan out of the room. "Patton's rules are a bit much in my opinion. Plus with Roman's added concern over everything they are going rather harsh on you." Logan locked the door just as he said before turning back to Virgil and gesturing them on. "You'll have to... No, that's not the correct phrasing. We aren't as... perfect as people think we are."

"Obviously..." Logan frowned as he shook his head, leading Virgil out of the palace altogether. 

"No, what I mean by that is... We KNOW we aren't perfect." Virgil's eyes narrowed in confusion as Logan slowly brought him to this path through the woods. "Virgil, we three don't think we're perfect... or well, Roman might, but that's more his pride taking over than anything. When Pride isn't at the forefront Roman's fairly understanding. Unfortunately as of late he's really ONLY been pride. What I'm saying is we are all aware of our faults."

"It doesn't look like it."

"That's because we are adamantly trying to hide them." Virgil's eyes went wide as Logan pulled back this branch to reveal a large hut in a clearing.

"What?"

"It's my home away from home." Logan smiled as he stuffed his hand into his pockets. "It's where I don't have to be... Logic. You weren't wrong, Virgil. My Emotional knowledge is non-existent and therefore damaging. Patton's Moral code is... to simple. Roman... He struggles in his own rite.. Especially with his pride. Just as I'm sure you have anxiety, Roman can't quite manage his pride."

"Doesn't explain shit." Logan laughed as he nodded. 

"Of course it doesn't. I wouldn't dream of making an excuse for any of us. I am the only one, who seems to have the brains to..." Logan stopped with a groan as he ran his hand through his hair. "I was doing it again."

"Boasting your mental superiority? Yes, you were." Logan laughed as he stared up at the sky and smiled. "Logan, why did you bring me here?"

"You did my job today, Virgil." Virgil frowned in confusion as Logan continued just to stare up at the sky. "With Thomas... You did my job. As Logic one of my core functions is to provide Thomas with information he can use to help him in some way. You were right. Emotional knowledge should be taken just as seriously as any other and thus should fall under Logic... However, when Thomas was provided a possible way to help with his stress, even if it wasn't at the exact moment that he needed it, it was not I who provided it to him." Logan met his eyes and Virgil crashed. "It was you."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I did my research and found it accurate. You provided a stress reliever that has been proven. A reliever that did not fall under what any of us would have thought of. Patton would have never allowed such a thing and I would never have thought it would have mattered. See... our faults." Logan frowned as his gaze dropped. "I'm a very smart man, so I know that sometimes the smartest thing you can do is to admit when you are wrong or in need of help."

"I-I am v-very l-lost." 

"There is no need to be frightened, Virgil." Virgil's eyes widened slightly as Logan started for his hut. "What I am saying is you may not be the one Roman is trying to teach."

"Wait, what? That makes no sense." 

"It does if you know the prince as well as we do." Logan opened the door letting Virgil inside as he just chuckled. "Let's forget about that for now, Virgil. As I have a few questions I would like to address with you."

"I just don't know what to do, Patton." Roman sat there on his bed cuddling his pillow tightly as he stared off at nothing. "Something feels... off."

"Well, kiddo, maybe..."

"It's not Pride." Patton frowned as Roman just rolled his eyes. "You guys talk about it as if it isn't still me. But that's... Not what I was referring to. I know what it feels like when Thomas's pride is low. I know how it affects me. Just as I know how it is when Thomas is drawing more on my other assets. I don't feel off. Everything else feels... off."

"We do have a new side staying here. It could just be that we aren't used to him..."

"Virgil is my partner, Patton. It shouldn't be possible for him to negatively affect me. Just as I shouldn't be able to mess with him. Our core functions are supposed to work together." Roman groaned as he pushed the pillow off of him and threw his head back. "I honestly do not understand what it is about me that's so off."

"So it is you then?" Roman frowned as he glanced over at the other. "You just said it was about you. Are you sure it isn't..."

"It's not my pri-..." Roman stopped as his thoughts went to all the rumors he had heard and he groaned dramatically in frustration. "Maybe it is my pride. Pat? Have you ever taken the time to walk the dark side?"

"Of course not. You explicitly said you didn't want us to intermingle. To go behind your back would be immoral."

"I never made it a law. Patton. The two sides can interact... the separator is literally just a road sign. I just personally didn't want anything bad happening." Patton frowned as Roman's eyes darkened. "I... did though, Patton."

"Did what?"

"Walked the Darkside." Patton's eyes went wide and Roman only crashed more. "And I can't say I'm very proud of what I found."

"So? What do you want to do about it?" Roman shrugged as he turned away and just stared at the wall. "Kiddo?"

"I'll figure it out tomorrow. For now, I just want to rest."