#deceit!logan

“Now then,” Deceit smoothly drawled as soon as Patton had pushed him into the hallway so that they were neatly tucked out of sight and definitely far away from the others so that they wouldn’t be able to hear a word that was being said between the two of them. He would have commended the moral side for his excellent ability to at least think ahead this time, had it not been for the fact that his foot was impatiently tapping against the floor getting less and less patient with each second that ticked on by. “What exactly did you wish to discuss with me Morality,” And before Patton could even open his mouth to speak he quickly added, “I’ve got an asleep lover to go back to, and he doesn’t like it when he’s ignored, so… try not to doddle.”

Deceit’s narrowed but equally sharp eyes managed to pick up the slightest flinch from Patton, as even he seemed to get at what he was saying.

And it stung.

Patton tried to not the silvery barb of salt and sass get under his skin, especially the fact that the one word that Deceit had used to describe Logan was… lover. He tried to not let it affect him whatsoever, but it did, as it sunk beneath his skin like a hot wave of red tugging at the edge of his vision until he held his breath counting back from twenty until he didn’t feel that overpowering sensation of protectiveness anymore. Logan had made it quite clear, he had squandered his title as his friend, and he most certainly wasn’t family. So.. so he had no right to sit Deceit down and tell him that if he hurt Logan, that Patton would come for his bones.

He’d already hurt Logan more than Deceit ever could.

So clearing his throat he forced those petulant emotions down and down, “It’s about Logan-”

And before he could even get another word out, Deceit had tensed. His shoulders had gone stiff as his fists clenched as if he were preparing himself for a fight, he didn’t even know who Deceit was preparing to fight. But the dark venomous look in his eyes that screamed the dangers of anything happen to Logan, alone told Patton so much more than words ever would, if it came down to it… the dishonest side would fight first and ask questions later if it ever came down to Logan being in trouble.

The thought almost made him warm.

“No no no,” He quickly said, holding his hand out almost touching Deceit’s shoulder, but not quite getting there. “I.. He…” The words bunched themselves up on Patton’s tongue like a tube of toothpaste that was just… stuck, he knew what he wanted to say and he knew what he needed to say. It was just that nothing was ever easy for him when it came to confronting his own faults, he really was just… bad at it, in every way imaginable. “He made something very clear to me when he did what he did,” The words began slow, “And even more so when he showed up with his new look and when he.. when he told us how he felt hurt by all of us. But.. but mostly me.” Reaching forward again, Patton finally laid his hand against Deceit’s shoulder, his heart twisting painfully as the dishonest side tensed up the moment that he touched him. “I.. I don’t know how not to be too strict anymore, but I do know… the separation between your sides and my sides never should have happened.”

Deceit owlishly blinked in pure shock, his mouth hanging open just slightly enough that Patton could see a little fang poking out over his bottom lip.

“I want to put things back, like how they were before. No separation, no light sides, no dark sides, just… Thomas’ sides. All of us together.”

If Deceit was being honest, he hadn’t expected much to come from his little chat with Patton. Maybe to be grilled for the fact that he had turned their dearest logical side into a dark side, much less another deceit when they were already being forced to deal with one of them already. He had thought that maybe just maybe… he’d let out a few barbed insults, for what they had pushed Logan to do and Patton would punch him in the face. Or that perhaps Patton would try repressing his presence again, forcing and ordering Thomas to be a more honest person no matter what the cost was to his personal mental health. Or maybe… he hadn’t known what he had expected from the likes of their moral side, but whatever he had expected…

It most certainly wasn’t this.

“R..really?” He breathed the words out, unable to stop himself from stumbling over that one word. “No lies.. and no secrets?” Deceit could feel himself shaking as he scrutinized every little movement that Patton made, as that would give away whatever secret evil plan he had concocted in order to lower the dishonest side’s guard down before striking him down too. “You actually mean that?” He hated how utterly desperate he sounded, but… ever since the separation had happened, he had felt the sheer unfairness of it. All he had ever wanted to do was help Thomas, to make sure that he wouldn’t be hurt, and.. and even if they only listened to him once… it would at least be better than this. He didn’t want Thomas to lie all of the time, and yet the fact that it was Deceit that is what he was known for and not anything else…

Well, it had condemned him.

Each uncertain word that fell from Deceit’s lips felt like the stab of a knife deep into his chest, he looked so.. so scared, like any second now Patton would retract what he had just said and burn any semblance of Deceit’s hopes down to the ground in a wave of ash and tears. It wasn’t even a matter of trust between them like it was with Logan, he’d already burned Deceit once by separating them all, and then again by continuously telling Thomas that lying… period, was wrong. It was no wonder that he couldn’t be sure about trusting him, Patton wouldn’t even trust himself had their roles been reversed. Nevertheless, still gripping Deceit’s shoulder firmly he looked the dishonest side right in the eyes, his expression as open and honest as it ever could be before he nodded his head in a single gesture.

Yes, he had meant every word a-

Without even a second needing to pass, Patton’s back slammed against the hallway wall as six arms wrapped around him, honestly… in his opinion, giving him the ultimate hug. Deceit’s face had buried itself into his shoulder as his body trembled and wetness seeped into his shoulder, really.. he guessed that he didn’t really take into account just how emotional something like this would be for Deceit. Someone who had never been given hope of rejoining them, merely stuck to the life of an outcast and a villain due to someone else’s actions with no choice but to act the role to get noticed. And without even knowing what he needed to do, Patton raised his arms up and hugged him back gingerly rocking them both back and forth.

Deceit didn’t sniffle, he didn’t so much as let out a sob in many of the ways that one would expect from someone. The only indication that he was even crying was the tears that had soaked into the fabric of his shirt as well as the faint shivering from the other side, and nothing else. And… it tore at him, it honestly tore at him just how adept Deceit was at crying without being noticed, the guilt that he had been continuously been trying to push back only made itself more known.

How many times had Deceit done this? Cried with no one being the wiser because he had learned to shut himself up?

“It’s okay,” Patton’s voice cracked as he ran his hand up and down Deceit’s back calming those violent tremors until he was barely even shivering. “I was wrong Dee, I was so very wrong to keep us all separated, its not your fault. It never has been and never will be your fault, everything is going to change for the better from now on. I will never ever separate us ever again. I can promise you that.”

Eventually, Deceit pulled away, his six arms changing to two as he tried to subtly wipe away the tears that were streaming down his face. And Patton let him, he let him put himself back together, as he straightened his caplet and pushed his bowler had even more firmly onto his head so that his fringe would cover up his red puffy eyes and the evidence that he had been crying in the first place. Let alone in the arms of someone like Patton, and despite all of this, the moral side in question didn’t say a single word against it. He had been there more times than he would have liked to count, days where he was having to hastily wipe away tears so that nobody would suspect him of breaking down when they needed him to be the cheerful one. Unless Deceit wanted it, he wasn’t going to tell anyone shit about the tears that had just happened between them.

They’d have to pry this secret out of his cold dead hands.

“So,” Deceit awkwardly cleared his throat, as he looked everywhere but at Patton as an embarrassed flush spread over the human side of his face. “How is this going to happen?”

The tiniest of smiles wormed their way onto Patton’s lips, “Well,” He began, leaning gingerly back against the wall. “I’m going to try and combine my side of Thomas’ mind, and your side. I know that if I just moved your guys’ rooms here, then it would be draining for you, Virge had an awfully hard time adjusting when he moved here. So.. the best of both worlds right?” Patton cheekily said as he somehow resisted the urge to lean forward and poke Deceit, right now was serious adult time and he needed to act like it… a little at least. “You won’t get exhausted just being here, and it won’t hurt us if we ever just need to talk to you. Equal exchange.”

It would have been cruel to just ask them to move into their side of the mind space, whilst abandoning the home that they had lived in for years. It would be asking them to move, and not giving anything in return. He… he needed to be better if he wanted all of this to work out, and for that to be the case he needed to give a lot more than he was currently giving.

That much was glaringly obvious.

“Nice to know that Virgil gave away all of our secrets,” Deceit mumbled without any real heat behind his words as he scratched the back of his neck, even he couldn’t help the slight pout on his face at the anxious side having revealed one of their major weaknesses as dark sides. “Then I guess I’ll going to check up on Logan again, and let you go your work then.” He mumbled, moving to sink out and head right back to Logan’s room, just to stop himself before he could as he caught Patton’s arm before he could so much as walk away. “One more thing,” The dishonest side added, “Tell the new Logic that he can keep the hat, and…” With a terrifying smile in place that showed one too many teeth, “And try not to hurt him, if you do… Logan and I just might adopt him right under your collective noses.”

And just like that he was gone, leaving Patton completely and utterly alone in the hallway so that he could begin his work.

“Oh boy…” Patton sighed with a half affectionate smile as he ran his fingers through his messy hair. “Time to get to work.”

Rising back up in Logan’s room, Deceit felt the exhaustion of lingering too long in the light’s space hit him like a punch to the gut, that along with every emotion he had spilled out onto Patton’s shoulder. The bone weariness crept up on him next, as he neatly unclasped his caplet letting it hang on the chair he had been sitting in when he had been waiting for Logan to return, and his gloves and shoes soon followed. Creeping over to the other side of the bed, Deceit summoned his sleepwear before he submerged himself in the igloo of warmth that was Logan’s covers. Nestling himself against Logan’s back, he felt all of the worries and fears he had carried with him up until then fall away, leaving him so much more tired than he ever could have imagined such a stress would leave him feeling.

He had gotten so used to that stress, to having it pressing on his shoulders to the point that now… he felt oddly light without it.

“Dee? Wha happened?”

If it was possible, Deceit’s expression softened anymore at the tired sluggish voice of his lover starting awake the moment that Deceit’s much colder body came into contact with him. Leaning in, he pressed a gentle kiss against the scales that looped around the back of Logan’s neck, he felt completely and utterly boneless as he laid there in the comfort and safety of another’s bedroom while soaking up the warmth of another body. Logan, in turn, mumbled happily at the lazy kiss, squirming a little until he managed to turn over, his arms languidly curling around the other side drawing him in until he was close enough to tuck his face against Logan’s collarbone. A warm and lazy hum filled the arm, as Logan too pressed a tired kiss against Deceit’s messy hat hair.

“Go back to bed dearest,” The dishonest side in question mumbled into Logan’s scaled skin, “When we wake, I will tell you everything. Everything is going to be just fine.”