Like Patchwork

Chapter 9

Trigger Warning: Please check the end note for more details.

Tuesday, December 12th, 2017: 2:10 PM

"You want a new name?" Roman asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," Agni said, kicking his feet. He was avoiding Roman's stare by pointedly looking out the window of the car.

Roman almost asked why Agni would want a new name, but stopped himself, realizing how stupid a question that would have been. "Alright, a new name it is. What ideas do you have so far?"

"Um, just one." Agni shrugged, "I was thinking about Virgil."

Roman snorted before he could stop himself. Agni curled up more in his seat, glaring at Roman. "Hey, no, I'm sorry." Roman said, looking at Agni as much as he could without drawing his attention completely from the road, "I like Virgil, I promise, I didn't mean to laugh."

Virgil let out a muffled, "Whatever," not looking at Roman. Roman mentally berated himself for laughing at a traumatized 13-year-old who just wanted another name when the boy in the seat next to him spoke up again, "So are you gonna call me Virgil or what?" he spoke, voice heated although, Roman could distinctly hear the nervousness hiding behind the anger.

"Yeah. I like that. Virgil."

———

Saturday, September 26th, 2020: 5:37 PM

Virgil tried to burrow deeper into Remy's chest, hoping it would do help distract him. Remy was still asleep, but Virgil had woken up ten minutes ago and was already overwhelmed. He was probably crying again. He felt so stupid. Because he had proven everybody right, hadn't he? He was absolutely useless, and entirely dependent on others. Harvey was right. Alastor was right.

He was an asshole. He was being oversensitive and relapsed, then gotten angry at his family, and run away from people who were only trying to help him. And Remy had been nothing but encouraging. He hated it. He hated himself, and the way he acted, and the way he looked, and the way he...

"Babe?" Remy asked, voice deep from sleep. Virgil didn't respond, hoping that Remy would go back to sleep. Instead, Remy pulled Virgil away from his chest, frowning when he saw the tears streaming down Virgil's face, "Hun..." he said softly, cradling Virgil's face and wiping the tears away gently. It didn't seem to matter, however, as the tears didn't stop, only seeming to come faster as Virgil hiccuped and looked away from Remy, embarrassed. Here he was again: Being a baby. It was fine, it should be fine. It wasn't fine.

"Remy," Virgil sobbed, gripping Remy's shirt in his hand tightly,

"Darling, it's okay, I promise, let's take a few deep breaths, okay?" Remy said, rubbing his thumb against Virgil's cheek.

Virgil shook his head rapidly, hiccuping, "Can't, can't!" He cried frantically.

"That's okay! It's okay Virge!" Remy reassured, concerned about how frantic Virgil was, "Can you name 5 things in my room for me, sweetheart? You don't even have to tell me if you don't want, just think about them! Okay, honey?"

Virgil nodded, clenching and unclenching his fist that held Remy's shirt, "Po-poster," Virgil stammered.

Remy slowly moved his hand up by Virgil's hair, waiting for Virgil to nod before moving to gently stroke his hair, "Good job, V, can you do four more for me?"

Virgil clenched his eyes shut, gripping Remy's shirt harder, "No, it's fine, I'm fine."

"Okay Stormy, that okay," He said softly, continuing to stroke Virgil's hair, quietly waiting for Virgil to talk.