Erased - Analogical

[Chapter Thirty-Three]

|POV Logan|

A small groan could be heard from Paranoia as his eyes begun to slowly flicker open.

Like my heart jumped a beat right then and there, I felt myself frozen over the sudden noise and movement from the seemingly sleeping side.
At first it was just his eyes that were flickering open, but eventually more movement was becoming apparent. It wasn't long before he was clearly more awake, his eyes squinting to adjust to the sudden 'brightness' of the room around him. He seemed so peaceful in his wake, not really how I'd be expecting paranoia to act right after he woke up. That is, peaceful until he saw me.

I had honestly seemed to let my thoughts drift for a moment as I had forgotten my own presence in the room. But like a switch had been flipped, the blank and generally calm demeanour the side had held was now completely wiped away as his pupils dilated in shock. For a split second, his eyes looked me up and down, presumably him trying to examine me and make a conclusion about how much of a threat I would be if i was here to attack him, but neither of us moved a single muscle. You'd honestly be able to hear a pin drop in this atmosphere.

The silence felt suffocating, every fibre of my judgement telling me I needed to make a move or say something to ease the discomfort and fear that had suddenly formed in the room around him, but god was my judgment wrong .

Not only did I begin to stretch my hand out to him in what I thought was a friendly manor, I also spoke in my typical cold voice.
"Virgil..? Are you well-"
I cut myself off as I noticed the subtle fearful movements he was exhibiting even more now. His hand trembled as all six of his eyes seemed to glow ever so faintly purple, as if he was trying to suppress the fear he felt in exchange for an intimidating exterior.

"H-how do you know my name.." he hissed out in a distorted voice as a sudden wave of uneasiness fell over me , most presumably his aura was affecting me in the same way it would if I was to be in his room.

Another lapse in my judgment caused me to try reach out my hand again, only for him to violently flinch back. Slowly but cautiously, he began to back up, off of the sofa, and over to the wall to put distance between us, never once taking his eyes off of me. The more distance he put between us , the calmer he seemed.

Well, that was until...

CRASH

Virgil immediately yelped and pushed himself back to the wall , falling down to his knees and hiding his eyes in his hands & arms. As if his fight or flight reflex had kicked in, his aura now exuded a violent feel to it, most probably due to his defensive hostility.

Looking closer, I finally noticed what had made the crash noise , Virgil had backed up and accidentally bumped into an empty vase that sat as decoration near the side of the room. It now lay, smashed in pieces on the floor.

I couldn't even bring myself to take another step closer to him in fear I'd only make the situation worse. Emotions begun to mix with my logic and clouded my rational thinking. Pinching the bridge of my nose slightly to try and get my thinking back on track, I came to the conclusion I needed to go and get Janus and Remus, the two people who probably had an actual clue of what to do in this moment. But as if on cue, the door to the living quarters burst open and in came the two dark sides, a worried yet defensive look on each of their faces.

Janus seemed to be the first to grasp the situation at hand as he immediately just ignored my presence and directed his focus to the fearful side that was currently curled up on the floor. One of the first things I noticed was how different his approach to Virgil was in comparison to me. He made sure both of his hands were visible at all times and made himself seem as unthreatening as possible.

Before I had the chance to observe Janus' actions further, none other than Remus seemed to appear infront of me with a mixture of  serious yet concerned look on his face.

"So- he woke up huh?"
I nodded.
"What the hell happened in here though? You didn't push him did you~?" The comment sounded like something Remus would normally say as a joke, but he didn't say it with the same carefree tone he usually would, almost as if he was forcing the comments out.

"No, that's not what happened at all," I shook my head and let my gaze fall to the floor, trying to have faith that Janus was dealing with whatever state Virgil was currently in, "he woke up and I- I was quite startled in all honesty , and I'm ashamed to admit that in my panic I didn't handle the situation as well as I could have and I believe I only helped to scare Virgil.... my apologies, Remus."

"Meh, it's chill," he shrugged casually and looked over to Virgil while I kept my eyes down for the moment. I couldn't help but slightly contort my brow in confusion at Remus' response.

"It's... 'chill'? But I would have assumed you'd atleast be... less than appreciative to hear I may have possibly made things worse to a further degree?"

"Nah. I mean like, he's fine," Remus gave a light chuckle and turned to me, "pocket protector, look up and be a bit more aware."
The carefree tone seemed to return to his attitude as he seemed to relax a bit.

Doing as he said and looking up, I noticed what he was referencing. Virgils aura was now much calmer and less panicky as he remained on the floor. Janus was sat by his side, allowing Virgil to lean his head on his shoulder, their hands next to eachother as both of them seemed to recite a tapping pattern over and over which was presumably a breathing and/or calming exercise. I couldn't help but allow an invisible smile to reform on my face seeing it.

Virgils breathing seemed to have returned to regular as he gazed up at the deceitful trait who now had such a fatherly & reassuring smile that could rival Pattons. And then, Virgil finally spoke again in his regular, non-distorted voice. His tone raspy yet a mix of appreciative and exhausted.

"T..thanks dad.."

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Woo, she's alive!
-MM 💕