#duxiety

Thomas had been enjoying himself until Logan and Roman had started another argument. They were working on it rather well, and both were starting to calm down and see the other’s point of view, when Remus suddenly announced his presence by rising up and yelling at the top of his lungs. It startled everyone in the vicinity.

“Good afternoon!~” he cheered loudly with a laugh; there was a collective groan from most of the others. “I heard you two dorks fighting, and I thought, ‘Hey! Here’s an opportunity for me to add some insight!’”

“What insight could you possibly add?” Roman sneered, clearly miffed by his brother’s random entrance. Patton nodded along with him, and Logan just sighed irritably.

“Why, a conversation about creating content! How could I not show up?!~ You all clearly don’t understand what I...I can bring to the...table...Are you okay, Virgil?”

The uncharacteristically gentle tone snapped the others out of their annoyed state, and they all turned to the stairwell, including Thomas. There was Virgil, who hadn’t spat out a single insult upon Remus’ arrival, with tears dripping down his terrified face.

Instantly, the three Light Sides went into a panic; Patton frantically asking what was wrong, Logan trying to get him to calm down while calming down himself, and with Roman threatening Remus for hurting their beloved Stormcloud. However, Remus paid no attention to his aggressive brother, and instead focused on Virgil, who shrank from all of the noise. Then, without a warning at all, he sank down and fled.

The sides panicked even more, saying quick farewells to Thomas and going to find Virgil if they could. Remus, feeling guilty for the whole thing, followed. Needless to say, Roman threatened him some more and practically ordered him to stay away from the anxious side at all costs. He claimed that it was all his fault.

Remus simply agreed and went looking in a different direction.

Patton searched all over Virgil’s room and the different corners of the Mind Palace he liked to mope in. There was no sign of him. Logan turned the living room upside down, searching every small spot he could think of. Still nothing. Roman even checked the random little places, like the inner shelves of closets, in the pantry, and underneath the stairs. He was nowhere to be found. And at this point, neither was Remus.

Remus was trudging through the darker corners of the Mind, past Virgil’s room and into Dark Side territory. He didn’t bother to check anything along the way, and he didn’t need to go far. Turning a corner, there was a tiny closet, and upon opening the door, his eyes met Virgil’s.

The place was an old hideout the two of them used to share -- they had a very confusing relationship when they both were younger, which resulted in them switching between best friends and worst enemies. And yet, for as many times as Remus picked on the smaller side, he never attacked or destroyed this place. They would both hide from the others in that place, and spend hours talking and playing games together. It was adorned with fairy lights, small little curtains, and plenty of pillows and blankets. Childhood toys and notebook diaries were all over the floor, and in the innermost part of the hideout, Virgil was curled up and crying.

The anxious side’s eyes bulged upon seeing Remus, and he made a strangled gasp as he tried to scoot backwards. Unfortunately for him, he was already so far back that he couldn’t move any farther, making him stuck between Remus and the wall.

Remus instantly went onto his knees, trying to keep what he hoped was a gentle expression. “Woah, woah, chill. I’m not here to hurt you...jeez, how did you even get in here?” The creative side began to crawl into the little closet, which was cramped, but still left enough room for both of them to move. The ceiling of the closet was much higher than the little entry point gave away, which is why Janus had never thought to check it in the first place while looking for them.

“W-wha-what do you want?!” Virgil attempted to snap, though it came out as more of a whimper. Remus only sighed and managed to wriggle his way into the closet...somehow.

“Relax, Virge... I can tell you’re upset...what’s wrong?”

Virgil shuffled and shook his head, refusing to admit that anything was wrong in the first place, but his teary eyes gave him away. He pulled his knees up to his chest and curled up, burying his face and hiding as best he could.

Remus sighed and scooted closer to Virgil, trying to avoid being invasive while also feeling an aching need to comfort the other. “Look...I...never meant to make you upset… I just wanted to be a part of the discussion, ya know? Be included for once. Though with how the others treat me, I guess that’s too much to ask for.”

Virgil remained silent, but he glanced up at Remus for a moment. His fearful expression shifted to one of slight concern and...almost pity. The Duke sighed quietly.

“A-and...maybe I wanted to see you again. It’s been such a long time…”

The anxious side was beginning to unfurl, looking at Remus with much more warmth than before. The sharp, frightening aura in the air began to dissipate, and Virgil slowly began to relax.

“D-do…” He swallowed, almost afraid to speak to Remus. “Do you re-remember all the time we spent in this place? How m-many times Janus would go looking for us, and never be able to find us?”

Remus chuckled fondly at the memories. “Yeahhh...He’d always hiss when he got frustrated, it was amazing…Oh, and the games we used to play…!”

“You’d always win,” Virgil added softly, unable to stop the smile that came with it.

“Well, yeah! I always got you to cheer up!” Remus smiled for a moment, then paused as he had an idea. “Speaking of…” A playful grin spread across his face, and he turned to Virgil with a devilish expression. “I just remembered one we could play~”

It took Virgil a moment to register what the Duke was saying, but once he did, his face flushed. He instinctively tried to move farther backwards, but as before, he was already pressed up against the wall, and therefore, trapped.

“W-wait, R-R-Remus, no--”

“Aw, c’mon! You used to love it as a kid!~ A little bit won’t hurt…~” Remus leaned in to the anxious aspect, wiggling his fingers menacingly for a moment before pouncing. The startled yelp that resulted was followed immediately by muffled snickering, as the creative side wasted no time fluttering his fingers against Virgil’s stomach.

“R-Rehehemus!” he squeaked, trying to bury his soft laughter in his hands. He looked taken aback, but not uncomfortable in the slightest, so Remus saw it as a sign to continue.

“Whaaaat?~ You love this game, don’t you?~” Deciding to up the ante a bit, the light fluttering on Virgil’s stomach quickly turned to clawing and squeezing. This produced an adorable squeal, which Remus couldn’t help but smile at.

“W-wahahahaiiiit!” Virgil giggled, kicking a little as his face went cherry red. “T-thahahat’s nohohot fahahahir!” He squirmed to get out of the reach of Remus’ fingers, but it seemed that no matter where he went, his belly was going to be tickled. He started trying to push Remus’ hands away, but the creative aspect took advantage of it and grabbed Virgil’s wrists instead.

“Well, looky here, Virgie~” he chuckled, holding Virgil’s arms above his head. As the anxious side watched, he summoned four oily, greenish-black tentacles that immediately dove for the unprotected stomach. Virgil absolutely erupted with laughter.

“REHEHEMIEEE!”

“Aww, you haven’t called me that in years!~” Remus purred. With an adoring look in his eyes, he swapped one of the tentacles with his hands. Now unable to bring his arms down at all, the anxious side squirmed and tried to hide his face. This didn’t really do anything -- his laughter was still adorable and still perfectly clear to hear.

Remus decided to be a little devious at that moment and lifted up Virgil’s shirt, scribbling his fingers into the emo’s stomach and poking at his ribs with the tentacles. The squealing and giggling that followed was music to his ears.

One of the tentacles swirled into Virgil’s belly button, causing the anxious aspect to literally scream with laughter. He bucked and arched his back, his face somehow going redder than before. “NAHAHAHA! NAHAHAT THEHEHEHERE!”

“Oh, awwwww!~ You’re so cute, Tickle-Me-Emo!~” The Duke was grinning smugly at the scene before him, and he was very clearly enjoying himself. Virgil was in a similar situation -- while he certainly wasn’t smug, he was leaning in to Remus’ tickles.

It was time to deliver the final blow, something that had always broken Virgil in the past. Remus slowed his tentacles to give him some time to breathe, inhaled deeply, and then leaned in to blow a deep raspberry into Virgil’s exposed belly.

The anxious side shrieked and cackled loudly, flailing side to side. Remus came up to Virgil’s face, then blew a similar raspberry into his neck. Normally, Virgil wouldn’t be that sensitive there, but the Duke’s bristly mustache was leaving him in stitches.

“OHOHOKAY, OHOKAHAHAY! EHENOHOHOUGH! P-PLEHEHEAHAHA--!”

Grinning, Remus ceased his attack, and his tentacles retracted. Satisfied with his work, he sat upright and waited for the anxious aspect to recover.

Virgil was taking a few minutes to catch his breath, still giggling ever so slightly and tearing up a bit. He sat up after a moment, then leaned into Remus’ arms. He was shivering from ghost tickles, but he was calmer than he had been earlier.

Remus gently rubbed his head, his triumphant grin slowly morphing into more of an adoring smile. “I win~” he murmured, pulling Virgil a bit closer and cuddling him. The latter gave a breathy chuckle and looked up.

“T-thank you, Remus…”

“Aw, it’s no trouble at all…” the creative side responded, a softer tone in his voice. “Whaddya say we get back to the others? They’re all probably worried sick about you.”

Virgil nodded, taking one more deep breath and heading towards the exit. Remus followed, happy with the outcome of his decision and glad that he had found Virgil in the first place. The whole thing was very nostalgic -- he had missed hearing Virgil’s laugh.

“H-hey, um, Remus?”

The Duke looked up in surprise to see that Virgil had paused right before leaving. He gave him a quizzical expression.

“C-could we...do this again...sometime soon…?” The anxious side’s voice was trembling, full of embarrassment and apprehension. He didn’t meet eye contact with Remus for a bit, but his fears were eased as the creative side ruffled his hair playfully. His body untensed, and he let out a small sigh.