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Creativity was proud and arrogant and a bit naive. But he wasn’t naive enough to not admit that he majorly messed up when he saw the thing he messed up.
And boy did he mess up! Big time!
What happened You ask? Well, Roman would say, I don’t know!
So let’s take a step back and see what Roman did to mess up big time!
It all started when Thomas was very little, about three or four years old and Creativity met Anxiety- wait not that far actually.
It actually started just a few hours earlier when Roman convinced Anxiety to go on a grand adventure. Now, Anxiety has been Virgil for ages now and with the change in title came the knowledge of his worried nature. Thus Roman assured Virgil that it would be all safe, nobody could get hurt!
So out they went to The Great Unknown of the imagination. Not that unknown to Roman who created it but he could still have fun with his friend! And knowing the terrain would surely make Virgil feel more secure!
It did indeed make Virgil feel more secure for a while. They went on a ghost hunt, perfectly tailored to both their interests and preferences.
An old abandoned castle, filled with mysteries surrounding a royal family, a vengeful ghost rumored to haunt the halls, out for revenge. Intrigue and infighting ruined the old monarchy and they, Roman and Virgil, would uncover the truth!
That was the plan at least. Sure, they went in and explored the castle and read some old scrolls of parchment, found some evidence of an uprising, had generally a spooky fun time! Until they found what looked like a study and Virgil found a strange, cracked vial.
Apparently, the vial still had a drop of whatever potion was in it once and when Virgil cut his finger on the broken glass the liquid must have gotten into his bloodstream for, in the time it took Roman to hear his little yelp of pain and turn to him to check if he was okay, a glow filled the darkened room.
Roman saw it right in front of him, with his own two eyes. Virgil was surrounded by that red-ish glow and fell to his knees, curling up on himself until he was just a tiny little ball on the dusty ground and Roman was frozen in terror, unable to come to his friend’s help. He was only able to force himself to move after the light had vanished.
“Virgil?”
He didn’t get a reaction, not even a twitch that would indicate that the other side had heard him. He approached cautiously.
“Virgil, please. Are you okay? Answer me, you’re worrying me.”
Virgil groaned, voice sounding strange and strained. By the time Roman knelt down by his side and reached out his hand Virgil was stirring. Roman brushed back the hood of the familiar black and purple hoodie at the same time that the other side raised his head and that was the moment Roman realised that he had majorly fucked up.
“Roro?” the tiny little voice that escaped Virgil was strange and high pitched like a little toddler’s. Just like the little toddler face that looked up at him from within the hoodie.
Roman very nearly screamed at the sight but managed not to. No, screaming was a no-no right now, it would scare Virgil on a good day but if Virgil was a toddler now, that was sure to scare him even more. So no screaming.
Okay. screaming was out. What was he supposed to do now? There was a tiny toddler in front of him, who was probably VIrgil, and he was starting to cry. Damn.
“Uh- oh shit, please don’t cry, Virgil, it’s okay, it’s me, I got you.” he babbled frantically, reaching out to pluck him off the ground and into his lap in hopes of calming him down before he could start crying for real.
There was a tense moment before tiny skinny arms wrapped around Roman’s neck and he let out a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding.
“Wha’ happn’d?” tiny Virgil asked, voice muffled by Roman’s sash.
“I’m not sure, little nightmare. Let’s get you back to the mindscape proper to get you taken care of and then I can come back and see what can be done about this.”
He received a little agreeing hum in response so he slowly got to his feet, placing Virgil into his sash so he wouldn’t need to support as much of his weight with his arms.
“How much do you remember? Know how old you are?” he managed to take a few steps before a little hand almost hit him in the face. Three little fingers were presented almost proudly and Roman honestly couldn’t help the little coo at how adorable Virgil was.
“Dunno what happened. Think I was… uh… in- maybe in my room? And uh…. I got here? Dunno, Roro.”
“That’s okay, Verge. We’ll figure it out. Hey are you hungry? I bet by, the time we get back, Logan will have lunch ready.” he continued to keep up some light chatter to make sure the little side was too distracted to get scared.
—
Roman was right. By the time they got out of the imagination, the smell of food had even gotten into his room. He put Virgil down when the toddler squirmed and resisted the urge to squeal when he took off his hoodie and immediately picked it up again to snuggle to his chest as he walked towards the door.
Instead of getting out however, he waited by it and looked back at Roman as if he was waiting for him, which he probably was.
They made their way to the kitchen and Virgil insisted on holding Roman’s hand as they descended the stairs. With one hand occupied, the sleeves of his hoodie dragged behind him as he walked. For some reason the hoodie and Virgil’s shoes were the only items that didn’t shrink with their owner. Roman just wasn’t going to question it.
Roman had just caught sight of the other sides when he felt the little hand slip out of his grasp with a gasp.
“Patpat! Patpat!” Virgil squealed and ran towards the dining table, trying to climb into Patton’s lap only to be helped by the older side who seemed to get over his shock much faster than Roman had.
“Aw hi, buddy. Weren’t you with Roman? I thought you’d stay longer.” he cooed at the little toddler curling into his chest.
“Got little so we came home! And I got hungry.”
“Oh, okay. Let’s ask Logan if he can find some cutlery you can use.” he offered. Logan didn’t seem to be able to process what was happening too well but shook himself out of it at the mention of his name.
“Of course, Patton is right. I shall see if we have child appropriate eating utensils.”
They luckily found a plastic plate and a fork for Virgil. While the boy ate at the table, the adults congregated to the kitchen to Have Words.
“What did you do?” Logan demanded as soon as Virgil was out of hearing range.
“I didn’t do anything! We were exploring the castle and he picked up a vial and suddenly he’s glowing like a glow stick and then he’s little!”
“Now now, kiddos, let’s not get upset, it’s gonna be okay. We can take care of Virgil until we find a way to make him big again.” Patton placated them. “Now let’s get food for us so we can join Virgil.”
Logan and Roman shared one more glance before obliging. By the time they joined Virgil his little plate was already almost empty.
“‘S yummy” he declared, waving his little fork at them with a wide, adorable smile.
“That’s great! Lo did a great job cooking today didn’t he?” Patton cooed, ruffling the toddler’s hair.
“Thank you, Lolo!”
“Oh. I- thank you, Virgil. I am glad to know that you enjoyed the meal.” Logan seemed surprised but immensely pleased at the praise.
And Roman had to admit, Virgil was right. The food really was good. So it was no wonder that it was all gone by the end of the meal. No left overs for later, sadly. Roman wouldn’t mind having more.
But oh well. The food was all eaten and Virgil looked like he was going to fall off his chair at any moment with how sleepy he looked.
“Alright sweetie, let’s get you settled down for a nap yeah?” Patton announced, picking the toddler up and cradling him against his chest. He put Virgil down on the couch and went to find a soft blanket for him but by the time he got back Virgil was already asleep, his hoodie snuggled to his chest like a loved stuffed toy or a baby blanket. He was quick to carefully spread the blanket over the sleeping side and then took a couple pictures… or maybe a couple dozen.
He sent the pictures to Roman and Logan to make sure they were aware of how adorable their little Anxiety was being. Then he left the common room to let Virgil sleep in peace without any interruptions.
An hour later, Patton would learn that this was a mistake when he heard crying down the hall. He rushed to the toddler to comfort him but found him standing in front of Logan, hoodie hanging down from where he was still holding it.
Logan was crouched in front of him, awkwardly pulling him into a hug. He sent Patton a helpless look over Virgil’s messy curls. “He woke up alone and thought we’d left him” he told Patton softly once he was close enough to hear him.
“Oh kiddo, I’m sorry. It’s okay, we’re here, we got you.” Patton plucked Virgil out of Logan’s arms since he wasn’t as comfortable with physical touch.
Virgil for his part went willingly, snuggling into Patton’s chest and rubbing at his eyes with his hoodie. “Got scared you didn’t like me anymore so you left me all alone” he cried into Patton’s shoulder and Patton felt his heart break a little.
“Oh sweetie, we could never not like you. We all love you so much, you hear me? We love you and we wouldn’t ever leave you. I’m sorry we weren’t there when you woke up.”
He rocked back and forth gently to try and soothe Virgil, continuing to whisper reassurances and sweet nothings. It took quite a while for little Virgil to calm down. He stayed slumped over Patton’s shoulder like a particularly sad sack of flour.
All energy he might have gotten from his short nap had been used up and honestly he wouldn’t mind going back to sleep but what if he woke up all alone again! He didn’t want to be alone again.
He’d been alone for so long already.
He wanted to stay with Patton. He wanted to stay with Patton and Logan and Roman. He just didn’t want to be alone again.
Patton seemed to know that he didn’t want to be alone and carried him back to the common room’s couch and settled down with Virgil still on his chest.
“Let’s take a nap together okay? That way you won’t be alone again. I got you. Love you Verge.” he mumbled, running his hand through Virgil’s hair.
Virgil drifted off to sleep again, finally calm and relaxed. He felt Patton wrap the blanket around them and he pulled his hoodie close so he could bury his nose in the worn, familiar fabric. The last thing he noticed was Patton pressing a kiss to the top of his head.
And finally he slept.
And when he woke up again he was still resting on Patton’s chest and Roman had found out that the spell would wear off on its own in a few days.