Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Patton was doing a little spring cleaning when he found the box, actually spring cleaning wasn't the right way to phrase it. Patton would never throw away any of the memories he kept in his room, they were all too precious, but he loved sifting through them from time to time. Unearthing old birthday cards or forgotten photos taken by family or friends.

Speaking of photos, the box was full of them, from Thomas being around eight and playing on the swings to the start of his teenage years and him heading off to his first day of high school. Patton had no idea how he'd never come across these photos before, they were all such fond memories! They must have appeared in his room without him knowing because he'd never have buried photos that reminded him of such great memories of the past this deep. He hadn't forgotten how adorable Thomas had been when he was a kid but this was a pleasant reminder.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, "come in!" The door opened and Virgil entered the room. Patton perked up "Hi kiddo, did ya need anything?" Virgil wouldn't look him in the eyes, "just thought you might want to know that I'm probably not going to be at dinner tonight." Patton frowned, "why not?" "Just.. not feeling very well". "What's wrong? are you sick? Do you want me to make some chicken soup?" Virgil shook his head "don't worry about it Patton, I'm just not feeling up to it tonight, figured I'd tell you so that you didn't make too much food". "Oh, well feel better soon and if you decide to join us we've always got leftovers!" Virgil still wouldn't meet his eyes "Yeah, I'll keep it in mind". Virgil closed the door behind him as he left and Patton directed his gaze back to the box of old photos.

Gosh he wished everything could be like it was back then, when it was all so easy and Patton got along with everybody. Everybody had needed Patton back then, to tell them what was right and what was wrong. To bake cookies for lunch or to take care of them when Thomas (and by default everyone else) got sick. Now sometimes he doubted Thomas even needed him. Patton wished there was someone who needed him again, who would come to him for everything because they wanted him to help. Standing up Patton grabbed a scrapbook and a glue stick out of his deskside drawer. Turning the book to the nearest empty page Patton began sticking the newly found photos into the book, telling himself he would decorate the pages accordingly after he made dinner. Looking through the older pages of the scrapbook Patton looked at all the old photos, some were of Thomas though the majority were of the sides themselves, 12-year-old Roman bowing after performing his one man rendition of The Lion King, 14-year-old Logan so engrossed in Thomas's reading for chemistry he hadn't even noticed Patton had his camara out. A few incredibly old Photos of before Janus had left and that hurt to look at sometimes. Even one green stick figure drawing that had been shakily slid under Patton's door late one night when he was 11.

He didn't have any photos of Virgil in his scrapbook, well that wasn't completely true. He had plenty of photos of him in his scrapbook, the oldest being right after Virgil had been accepted with Patton insisting on taking a photo to celebrate, but there were no photos of when he had been a child. Patton had asked Virgil if he had any once, with Virgil shaking his head upon being asked why Virgil had just responded with "who would have cared enough to have taken one?" Patton would've cared enough, if he had met Virgil when they were children, but he didn't. Virgil was probably a cute kid, he thought. If Patton wanted to go about it realistically then he could have guessed exactly what Virgil looked like when he was a child due to the fact that they all looked the same as parts of Thomas's personality, but thinking realistically was Logan's job. Even though they all technically looked the same there was something different about everybody. Virgil's thing was probably his eyeshadow or his bangs. Patton just wished he'd met Virgil earlier, he was his Kiddo after all.

Wow, boy was there was a lot on Patton's mind tonight, but he had had plenty of things to think about recently. Everything was turning out to be so grey instead of the black and white he had thought it was, everybody was so complicated and it felt like all his relationships were deteriorating and he didn't know what to do. He just wished he had someone who needed him again... or someone who had to need him, someone who didn't have a choice in the matter. Like a kiddo of his own to take care of. He thought back to how Virgil wasn't feeling well tonight and probably wouldn't be as vigilant as usual if somebody tried to do anything. He was just about to go check if Virgil was feeling drowsy when he realized what time it was. 6:00, he had to start making dinner! He could check on Virgil later but for now he had to put on some Mac&Cheese. Patton grinned, everything was going to turn out fine. He would have to finish his scrapbooking later though.

Chapter Text

When Virgil woke up the first thing he noticed was how scarily bright it was, scarily bright for if he had been in his room anyway, but after looking around he could pretty easily tell it wasn't. He groaned, lifted his head off the softer than usual pillow and looked around at the new area. 

He was definitely in a bedroom of some sort, he could see a dresser and a door to what he presumed was a bathroom, but everything was so pastel and cutesy that it looked more like a dollhouse bedroom than a real one. There was an actual dollhouse but it was mostly empty, all the furniture and dolls being in a see-through plastic container on top of the dollhouse’s roof, right next to the dollhouse was a weirdly large toy chest. Come to think of it, everything in this room looked bigger than it should have. Kicking off the sheets he was tightly tucked into, he got up to inspect everything closer.

Everything seemed so much bigger than it should have been, not ridiculously bigger or anything just.. bigger. He turned around to the bed he had woken up in, it looked like the right size bed but also not? Like it should've been too small for some reason. He inspected it closer, it had the same pastel coloring and cutesy vibe everything else here did, the only non pastel thing was a black stuffed cat that Virgil had knocked to the ground while getting up. His black stuffed cat. The one he had in his room. What was it doing here? Why was it the only thing of his that was here? Did he bring it with him whenever he had somehow gotten here? 

  Enough exploring, you need to get out of here. Some voice at the back of his head chimed in.

Right, he should be doing that, why didn't he think of that sooner? Usually that would have been the first thing he'd have done. Now, if this was a bedroom there should be a door to the rest of the house, or just.. out of this room at least. There were two doors, one with a sign hanging off of it that read "Bathroom" in bubbly lettering. How young did the owner of this bedroom need to be to need a sign telling them where the bathroom was? Whose room was this anyway? With all the children's toys and the general aesthetic Virgil would have thought of Patton's room, but he didn't feel any more anxious then he usually would, he felt fine, quite confused but overall he didn't feel very anxious at all so this couldn't be Patton's room. Had he somehow managed to get all the way to the imagination and into some random fake child's bedroom?  Was there a perfectly normal reason for this that he had just forgotten somehow? Whatever, he'd find his way out first.  

Virgil began to make his way over to the unlabeled door, hopefully the one out of here. He was hurrying along quickly, not because he was particularly anxious, something about this room was making him feel strange and he couldn’t figure out what. 

WHUMP! 

Fuck.. He’d tripped on something, after getting up and making sure he hadn’t ripped his clothes or anything he looked around to see what he’d tripped on. Nothing was laid out on the floor and while the carpet was quite fluffy and thick it wasn’t long enough to trip on, looking down he realized the issue. One of the legs of the onesie he was wearing was a bit too long for him and he’d slipped on it. He pulled the pants half to his knees and started walking to the door at a slower pace before stopping completely.

A onesie.

He was wearing a pastel purple onesie, a pastel purple onesie he was absolutely sure he had not put on before he had gone to bed last night. Meaning someone had changed him into it. What was going on? Maybe he had put the onesie on and didn’t remember? He tried to think of last night, anything that might’ve happened.. He’d stayed in his room the majority of the day, he’d gone to tell Patton not to make him anything for dinner, Patton had left some mac and cheese outside his door anyway, which he’d eaten (begrudgingly) because he was hungry after all. After that he was pretty sure he’d just gotten really tired and went straight to bed in his regular clothes, nothing out of the ordinary, aside from the staying in his room all day part, he hadn’t really done that for a while, but who wouldn’t want to stay in their room all day with the possibility of Janus and Remus constantly showing up looming on the horizon anyway? He really tried thinking of something that might have been off yesterday. The mac and cheese made him fall asleep earlier than usual, so someone took this as an opportunity to kidnap him? Even Virgil could tell that seemed like grasping for straws. 

Just get out of here, you can figure this all out once you’re back in your own room. That voice chimed in again

Yeah, he’d gotten sidetracked, he turned his attention back to the door. God on top of everything the literal “flight” part of him seemed to be malfunctioning or something. He should be panicking hard right now, but instead his brain keeps trying to change the goddamn topic, make him forget he needs to leave. 

Virgil gets to the door and tries the handle, it’s locked. Of course it is. Who locked the door to a children’s bedroom from the outside? The doorknob is weirdly high up on the door too, not too high to reach but higher then it should be on him. Are the people who live here taller than they should be? Is he shorter than he should be? He rattles the doorknob again, like it’ll just click open with enough shaking. 

Footsteps.. Fuck, someone’s heard him. 

Virgil stumbles back, he falls on his arse and scrambles around to look for somewhere to hide. Just be passing by, please just be passing by, please just be passing by. There’s a clicking noise from outside the door. Dammit. He stares at the door, he really doesn’t know where else to look, and squeezing his eyes closed could make him vulnerable. The door glides open and Virgil stares in horror at the figure that stands in front of him, the one that as far as he’s aware has kidnapped him, changed his clothes while he was sleeping and for some reason is standing so much taller than he is. 

“Good morning kiddo! You’re up earlier than I thought!”

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Patton was grinning at Virgil, standing in the doorway looking down at him. "Didn't even give me time to make waffle batter, but don't worry kiddo, we can make it together! I'll let you mix the batter." 

What the hell was going on? Virgil takes a step back, staring up at Patton in horror. Did Patton think he was his kid? How? Why was Virgil so small compared to him? Did Patton do this? Was it someone else?

Patton's expression falls, stepping forward and bending down. "Is something wrong my little angel? Did you have a bad dream?" He looked concerned, opening his arms and gesturing Virgil to hug him.

"Don't call me that!" Virgil backed away, hitting the bed and flopping onto the covers. "What's going on? Why are you so tall? Why am I so short? Where are we? Why am I wearing this?" He gestured to his onesie. He stared at Patton, who has furrowed his eyebrows, still reaching out for Virgil.

Patton walked closer towards Virgil, forcing him to press his back against the wall. He slowly sat down on the bed and scooted towards Virgil, he picked the cat stuffed animal off the floor and held it out towards Virgil. "Ohh, that's what this is about, I understand this might be a little confusing but you don't need to worry kiddo! Daddy will explain everything to you!" He shoved the cat into Virgil's arms, once again grinning.

Daddy? Why the hell would Patton be calling himself daddy? And why was he calling him kiddo? Not only had Virgil asked him to stop doing that, calling himself daddy was just weird. He awkwardly let the cat sit in his lap, staring up at Patton still, hoping for some kind of explanation that made this seem not creepy.

"Everybody's been growing apart and I really don't feel like we're a proper FAMily anymore. So I thought, what's a perfect way to get my FAMily back together again? And then I thought, wouldn't it be nice to have someone depend on me again? And then I thought, it's so sad I don't have any childhood photo's of Virgil to put in my scrapbook." Patton was listing things off on his fingers, having moved to be uncomfortably close to Virgil. "So I came up with such a nice little idea, we have our own little family! I can be the daddy and you could be the son! We can have family movie nights and do baking together! And I can take so many cute little photos to put in my scrapbook! I've already got such a cute little one of you snuggled up with your cute little stuffie! He grinned at him, patting Virgil's head like a dog.

Virgil does a double-take. "You took photos of me while I was sleeping? And you changed me while I was sleeping! Patton that's really creepy, what the hell?" 

Patton furrows his eyebrows, frowning "Hey! No swearing mister, I don't wanna have to give you a time out. And besides, you were so cute cuddling your little kitty stuffy, and I wouldn't be a good daddy if I let you go to sleep in your day clothes. I'm just doin what's best for you, kay kiddo?" His expression brightens again and he boops Virgil on the nose.

Virgil winces away from Patton's touch, this is weird, this is making him really uncomfortable. "I'm not going to play family with you Patton. I'm sorry we're growing apart, but this is really creepy. I've asked you to stop treating me like a child and instead you kidnap me!" 

Again Patton's expression darkens, he reaches over and grabs Virgil's arm, not painful but firm enough Virgil can't escape. "I don't like that tone kiddo, there's no need to be stroppy. Come on, I'm going to make us waffles for breakfast, with syrup and strawberries and even chocolate chips. It'll be so perfect, but you can't ruin this kiddo. I won't let you." He pulls Virgil into a hug, kissing his forehead and stroking his hair. "Okay kiddo?"

Virgil struggles in Patton's grip, squirming around. "Let me go Patton! I'm not going to just let you treat me like a baby!"

Patton just hugs Virgil closer, chuckling at his discomfort. "You have to promise to be a good boy for your daddy first kiddo, and I just can't help treating my little angel like the cute little muffin he is." 

Virgil continues squirming, uncomfortable as hell. "Patton I'm not going to say that! And don't call me a 'cute little muffin' or 'your little angel'! Let me go! Please!"

Again, Patton ignores Virgil's protest and hugs him closer. "You aren't? That's fine. I'm content to spend the entire day cuddling with my innocent little kiddo! Maybe I'll take a break to get into my onesie as well but otherwise, cuddle fest!" 

Virgil keeps shifting around, but he's unable to escape Patton's grasp. Five minutes pass, Patton's still hugging him. Shit. Begrudgingly he moves his neck to be looking up at Patton "I.. I promise to not cause a fuss or whatever. Can you let me go now?" Please let me go, please please please just let me go, this is so uncomfortable.

Patton still tightly hugs Virgil to his chest, he giggles and looks down at him. "I promise not to cause a fuss who?"

Really? Internally Virgil rolls his eyes, still staring up at Patton he speaks again. "I promise not to cause a fuss Patton"

Patton shakes his head, he chuckles and strokes Virgil's hair again, making him shiver. "That's not how children address their parents is it kiddo? Do you know what all small cute kids like you should be calling their fathers?" He boops Virgil's nose again. 

Virgil's eyes widen. Patton wouldn't be making him say that right? Who was he kidding, Patton kidnapped him, made him the size of a child, changed his clothes while he was sleeping and took photos of him while he was sleeping. Of course he would also make him humiliate himself. Fuck..

"I promise not to cause a fuss.... daddy" It felt strange on his tongue. Virgil could feel his face heating up in embarrassment, he was completely mortified. This was so embarrassing, he needed to get out somehow.

Patton cooed and let go of his grip on Virgil, releasing him from his embrace but still holding his hand firmly. Virgil was half thinking of trying to yank his hand away and running out the door, but Patton was stronger than he was in the weirdly young state and he would absolutely trip on that damn onesie he was wearing. 

Patton seemed thrilled Virgil had given in, shoving the cat stuffie into Virgil's free hand, making him hold it. "I knew you'd come around kiddo! Now who wants to make waffles with their daddy?" 

Just wait until Patton lets you out of his sight, or until he gets summoned for a video, or until someone notices you're missing. 

That voice in the back of his head was back, with actual solutions this time. It was right, just play along and wait. As humiliating as this was he just had to wait for now. Reluctantly he muttered "I wanna make waffles..." 

Patton grinned and pulled Virgil off the bed, having Virgil trail behind him, holding his hand. He gushed to Virgil about all the fun things they were going to do together.  "You can help your daddy scrapbook, and I've got you so many toys to play with, and we can have family game nights, and I can teach you how to bake, and I've got you so many cute little clothes, and we'll be such a beautiful perfect little family! Right my innocent little angel?"

Dragging the stuffed cat Patton had made him hold behind him, Virgil grimaced, he was already unsure how many cutesy nicknames he could handle. "Yes... daddy" God this was humiliating. Virgil wanted to sink into the floor. He just needed to wait until the right time.

Chapter Text

Virgil didn’t know how much more he could take of this, his plan of “play along until Patton lets you out of his sight for long enough you can run away” was proving to be harder than he thought, as Patton didn’t seem to be letting him out of his sight anytime soon.

True to his word, Patton had forced Virgil to make waffles with him. Sitting him on the counter and making him stir the batter with a wooden spoon, slipping in comments like “You’re such a good mixer kiddo!” and “These will probably be the yummiest waffles ever! Isn’t that right my little baker?” 

Virgil nodded along and mumbled yes, doing the least he could to play into this weird fantasy but still letting Patton think Virgil was being an obedient child.

When Patton cut up the strawberries and bananas he’d asked Virgil to “set the table like a helpful little helper!” Virgil had set out cutlery, glasses of water and syrup onto the table in the dining room.

Patton had told him to “go play” in the lounge while he put the waffle mixture into the waffle oven, reluctantly Virgil had sat on the ground and half-heartedly moved his stuffed cat around, muttering “whoosh” under his breath. Embarrassing as it was, it seemed to please Patton.

Now he was sitting at the table, almost having finished his third waffle. Patton had insisted on cutting all of them up for him, Virgil was almost surprised he wasn’t trying to spoon-feed him too. 

He glanced up at Patton for a second, who was staring at him lovingly, there was really no other thing to call it. The entire time Patton had been nothing short of an adoring parent, as embarrassing and humiliating as it was. Acting like this was the day-to-day life of him and Virgil, like he hadn’t kidnapped him at all. 

That concerned Virgil. What was making Patton act like this? How had this idea crossed his mind? Why did he listen to it?

He also hadn’t let virgil out of sight once, he barely let him leave his side.

Virgil swallowed the last of his waffle, turning to look at Patton. “Can I get down now?”

Patton smiles down at him, he wags his finger. “What’s the magic word kiddo?” 

Virgil sighs in relief, Patton just wanted him to say please. The last two times he had tried to get down Patton had denied him and made him eat another waffle because “Small kiddo’s like you need plenty of food to grow up big and strong!” He rephrased his sentence “May I please get down?” 

Patton grinned in satisfaction and nodded. “Of course kiddo! Don’t forget to take your dishes over to the sink!” He stood up, still watching Virgil. Patton began putting away all the toppings for the waffles, and taking his own plate to the sink as well.

Virgil followed behind him, standing up and putting his dishes by the sink. Due to his now short height, the sink was a bit hard to reach and his face flushed red when Patton swiftly picked his plate out of his hands and put it by the sink for him. 

“There you go kiddo!” Patton bent down onto one knee, getting himself to Virgil’s level. “Now, I think one of us needs to get dressed!” 

Virgil looked down at the fluffy pastel purple onesie he was still wearing, blushing slightly. While getting out of this overly childish thing would be great. He’s not too thrilled at the prospect of Patton dressing him up in anything else either. 

Patton just grabs his hand “Come on kiddo! I have such a cute little outfit planned!” 

Obediently Virgil follows behind him, dreading what might be next. Thomas has to summon Patton eventually though, and besides, the other sides will get worried if neither Patton nor him show up for breakfast. He just has to wait.

Patton has dragged him back to the bedroom he woke up in. Virgil sits down on the bed as Patton rifles through a dresser opposite the dollhouse. Internally he hopes Patton isn’t going to pick out something too embarrassing.

Soon Patton triumphantly pulls out all the components out the outfit, laying them out on the ground in front of Virgil. “Ta-da! What do you think kiddo?” 

Patton had picked out a collared, short sleeved, white shirt with Virgil’s logo in pastel colors embroidered on the left chest area, a pair of pastel purple shorts with little cats on the pockets, a pair of knee-high white socks and some lavender velcro sneakers. Virgil winced, definitely not as bad as it could have been but still pretty embarrassing. “..It’s great daddy, I really like it.”

Patton’s face lit up even more. “I knew you’d like it kiddo! See? It has your emblem on it, and some cute little cats on the pockets. No spider’s though, sorry about that kiddo but I just think you’re a bit too young to be so fascinated with such a scary creature. But I knew you’d like it anyway! You’re going to look so adorable wearing it, I swear!” 

Virgil nodded along, his face turning slightly red. It had only just occurred to him that if he managed to get away, he would have to run up to the others explaining what happened in that outfit, looking like an eight year old. Which would be quite possibly the most embarrassing thing ever, he would never hear the end of it from anyone he was sure. 

Patton closed the dresser “Now, do you need daddy’s help to get dressed or can you be a big boy and do it on your own?” 

Virgil’s face was absolutely a beetroot by now. He quickly shook his head, no way was he letting Patton help him get dressed. “No thank you, I can do it myself.”

Patton frowned slightly “Are you sure? You’re so little, you might not know how.” 

Virgil again quickly shook his head, this was already humiliating enough. “No, I can do it by myself daddy, …I’m a big boy, I swear!” Fuck, this was mortifying. 

Patton raised an eyebrow “If you say so kiddo, but I’ll be waiting just outside your room in case you need me okay?” 

Virgil nodded, breathing a sigh of relief as Patton left the room. He was alone now at least, he obviously couldn’t run off because Patton was guarding the door, but being alone in this room was better than nothing. 

Reluctantly he began putting on the outfit Patton had laid out for him. Buttoning up the collared shirt, zipping up the shorts, pulling on the socks and doing up the velcro on the shoes. Reluctantly he knocked on the door to the hallway “You can come in now daddy..” 

Virgil stepped back from the door as Patton entered the bedroom. He braced himself for the endless cooing.

Patton’s eyes lit up as soon as he saw Virgil, he squealed and hugged Virgil tight. “You look so adorable kiddo! I just knew you’d look precious! Don’t you think you just look like the cutest little thing?” 

Virgil squeaked in shock when Patton grabbed him out of nowhere to hug him tight to his chest. Refraining from squirming around he awkwardly stayed still until Patton released him and set him back down fully on the ground. “I don’t know daddy, there isn’t a mirror in here.” 

Half of him didn’t even want to know what he looked like, the other half wanted to see how humiliating the clothes looked on him. 

Patton looked around the room for a moment, he frowned. “I hadn’t noticed there wasn’t a mirror in your bedroom kiddo! Don’t worry, I’ll just take a photo instead, but first.” He picked up the stuffed cat off the floor and picked a hairbrush off of the dresser. “Stay still, okay kiddo?”

He began brushing Virgil’s hair. As far as Virgil was aware he still had a bedhead from waking up, and he obviously hadn’t been given the chance to style it into bangs. Virgil winced as Patton quickly and roughly brushed the knots out of his hair, styling it out of his eyes. 

Patton then handed Virgil the stuffed cat, smiling. “It matches your shorts! You can hold it while I take a picture!” 

Virgil nodded, forcing a smile as Patton held up the camera, he’d pulled it out of his pocket. Virgil held the cat loosely in his left hand and really hoped he didn’t look too stupid. 

Patton awed at Virgil’s smile “Say cheese kiddo!” He snapped a photo and bent down to Virgil’s height. “Come and see how cute you look my little angel!” 

Virgil nervously looked at the photo. His hair was fluffy and had been brushed down, parting and showing off his whole face, his smile was obviously an uncomfortable one though Patton just cooed and said “My shy little boy.” The color coordinated, pastel outfit really brought attention to how pale he was. He genuinely looked like a cute eight year old. 

Virgil was horrified. That was what he looked like? Even if he did manage to escape Patton, how the hell would anyone help him if he looked like this! They’d probably all laugh and give him right back to Patton, maybe they’d even join in. He’d be stuck like this forever and everyone would just laugh at him and make him do baking and put him in a time out corner and make him wear stupid cutesy outfits and- and-

He was breathing pretty heavily and of course Patton noticed, he turned to look at Virgil, concerned he pulled him into a hug. “Hey kiddo, what’s wrong? Do you not like the photo? We can take another one, and I can delete the first one entirely off my camera, you’ll never see it again I promise.” 

Virgil started squirming, this was uncomfortable, and tight, and wasn’t helping! “Let me go! Let me out!” 

Patton didn’t listen, he held Virgil closer and stroked his hair. “Hey, it’s okay kiddo. Daddy’s gonna make everything all okay, I swear.” 

Virgil kept squirming “Let me go! Please, please! Let me go! Please daddy!” This wasn't helping! This was insane! Patton was insane! 

Surprisingly, Patton listened and let Virgil go. Leaving him alone as his breathing returned to a regular pace again. Still bent down, he was hovering slightly over Virgil but mostly leaving him be.

After virgil had mostly calmed down, Patton slowly approached him. “Hey Virgie, Daddy just wants to help alright? Just tell me what’s wrong and I’ll try my best to fix it right away.” 

Still calming down slightly, Virgil contemplated what to do. Patton obviously wouldn’t listen to the actual issue, that had been made clear, but Virgil wondered if Patton would let him change his outfit. Probably not, considering how excited Patton had been about the outfit, but it wouldn’t hurt to try right? “I just.. feel like I look silly”

Patton frowned, he sat down next to Virgil and placed what was supposed to be a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Come on kiddo, I promise you look absolutely adorable. And if you feel like that photo makes you look silly, then I promise I’ll delete it and we’ll take as many photos as you want until you can see how cute you are. Okay?” 

Virgil internally sighed. Oh course Patton would assume it was the photo and not the clothes themselves, as stupid as the photo looks, taking more photos would be worse. He shakes his head. “It’s not the photos, I just thought I looked silly. But because you said I don’t, I don’t think I look silly anymore so it’s okay.” 

Patton raised an eyebrow in suspicion at Virgil’s horrible lying skills, he held out a pinkie towards Virgil. “Pinkie swear you’re feeling okay now kiddo?”

Virgil internally rolled his eyes, bringing up his pinkie and hooking onto Patton’s he nodded. “Pinkie swear” 

Patton’s expression immediately brightened, he pulled Virgil to his feet and grabbed his hand. “Great kiddo! Now that that’s solved, and you’re all dressed. I think you deserve some well-earned, non-interrupted playtime with all your toys!” 

Virgil stumbled and followed behind Patton, it was like Patton was always in a state of happiness that he’d occasionally turn down to comfort or chastise Virgil, and as soon as Virgil agreed or calmed down he’d return to that state and drag Virgil with him.

Patton practically dragged Virgil to the lounge, sitting him down on the carpet. “You just stay right there until daddy comes back okay? I’ve got the perfect game for you to play, you’re going to love it.” 

Virgil obediently sat still, worried Patton was going to make him play “dress-up” or something. This was humiliating enough, and it really didn’t seem like Thomas was going to summon Patton or him for a while. The others were going to notice neither of them were at breakfast right? He just wasn’t sure how much of this he could take.

“I’m back kiddo!” Patton stepped back through the archway, he’s holding a woven bag, Virgil can’t see what’s in it. Please don’t be embarrassing, please don’t be embarrassing, please don’t be embarrassing. 

“You have to close your eyes while I set everything up, okay kiddo?” Virgil gulped, he nodded and closed his eyes. He could tell Patton was taking things out of the bag and setting them up around him, he could hear clinking and rustling, as well as the occasional scuff of plastic. 

When everything was set up, Patton grinned. “You can open your eyes now!” 

Virgil tentatively opened his eyes, really hoping it wasn’t something too humiliating.

Patton had set four stuffed animals in a circle, leaving a place for a fifth person too. There were little cups and saucers sitting in front of each stuffed animal as well as in front of the place that was no doubt for Virgil. Some plastic food on plates and a teapot were sitting in the middle. 

Patton grinned at Virgil, gesturing to the circle. “Look! You can have a fun little tea party with your friends!” 

Chapter Text

Virgil was going to die of embarrassment long before he ever got out of here.

Patton led him over to the circle, sitting him down in the fifth spot. He leaned down to Virgil and stage-whispered “You should serve everybody now kiddo, wouldn’t want your guests to think you’re rude.” 

Virgil numbly nodded and picked up the teapot, pouring “tea” into each of the five teacups, he then moved a plastic croissant onto each of the little plates. He just needed to play along until Patton leaves, just until Virgil was let out of his sight. 

He couldn’t tell if it was getting harder to do because of how increasingly humiliating the tasks were getting, or easier to do because eventually he’d get numb to it. He took a pretend sip of his teacup and sat cross legged, staring into the cup, hoping it could hide him from this. 

Patton had sat himself on the couch, he was staring down at Virgil with a stupid dopey grin, like he was expecting him to start babbling away to the toys like a toddler. Virgil’s grip on the teacup tightened slightly, this was so fucking stupid. 

Patton would never leave him alone if he thought he was constantly trying to bolt though, so he just had to play along a little. He focused on the stuffed toy across from him, a yellow stuffed snake, and tried to think of any conversation starters he knew. “How are you feeling today?” 

The stuffed snake obviously didn’t answer, but Virgil nodded like he had. “That’s nice.. I had pancakes for breakfast… What about you.. Bird?” He turned his attention to a dark blue stuffed bird of some sort sitting next to the snake.

This continued awkwardly around the rest of the circle of stuffed toys, a red dragon and a green octopus. Virgil was horrible at having conversations, and considering he had to lead this one because all the other people sitting in this circle weren’t real was proving hard. 

Every so often he sipped some “tea” or took a pretend bite of his fake croissant, relieving him from having to make conversation with toys for a few seconds each time. 

Virgil really couldn’t think of anything to say, he looked to Patton, checking what he seemed to think of this. Patton was still staring down at him like a creep, watching him with a satisfied grin. 

Noticing Virgil’s uncertain manner, Patton gave him a bright smile and moved from sitting on the couch, to lying on the floor behind the stuffed snake. He spoke in a silly voice that sounded vaguely like a far more exaggerated, far more goofy version of Janus’s “Ssso what are you doing for the weekend? Have any plansss?” 

Virgil's mouth tugged into a slight smirk at the horrible Janus impression, though he quickly stifled it because this was not the time. “Um… Me and my daddy will be having a movie night?”  Usually Saturday was movie night in the light side of the mindscape, Virgil hoped Patton intended on keeping the same schedule, though he assumed with a new “kid-friendly” tone. 

Patton grabbed the snake plush and nodded it back and forth, still speaking in the same goofy impression of Janus. “Oh really? How fun, what moviesss will you be watching?” 

“Oh, um..” Virgil tried to think of a family friendly movie Patton would like. “Toy story! The first one, that’s what we’ll be watching” He nodded his head to confirm, Toy Story wasn’t bad, he could sit through Toy Story. 

Behind the toy, Patton’s expression brightened and he nodded the toy snake back and forth again, before he lowered its mouth to the tea cup sitting in front of it and made slurping noises. Patton raised the toy's head back up to Virgil, “Could I have sssome more tea pleassse? I don’t where mine hasss all gone.” 

Uncharacteristically for both this situation and for himself, Virgil giggled. “Okay mister snake!” 

He was halfway across the circle with the teapot before he realized what he’d done, with his face heating up, Virgil quietly and quickly poured some more “tea” into the teacup and sat back down.  That was.. weird, but just a fluke, or an unknown effect of being in Patton’s room, or him finding that stupid Janus impression funnier than he thought.

Patton had clearly noticed the uncharacteristic childish joy too and grinned at Virgil with a look that said “I knew you’d get it eventually”. He moved on to the dark blue bird, grabbing it and changing his goofy snake impression to an overly serious voice. “The only movies I like are documentaries, what about you?” 

Virgil internally rolled his eyes at Patton’s slightly insulting Logan impression, Patton was probably just dumbing it down for him though. “I like Disney movies, like Black Cauldron and stuff..” 

Again Patton nodded the stuffed toy back and forth “Well I think Disney is unserious and far too childish for a serious bird like me!” 

This went on for a while, Patton moving the toys back and forth doing stupid impressions. He staged a mock-fight between the octopus and the dragon stuffed toys over which movies were better, Disney, or spooky movies, in Patton’s words.

Virgil wasn’t enjoying this, occasionally he’d release a giggle or a smile, but he wasn’t enjoying this. This was still terrifying and humiliating, and contrary to what Patton seemed to think, he wasn’t just going to let Patton treat him like this. 

Patton had moved him on from the tea party, after taking about a million photos because of course he did. Now they were playing Guess Who, Patton had gotten Virgil a plate of cookies to eat while they played. Patton, it turned out, was horrendously bad at Guess Who, everytime Virgil won he’d grumble and ask Virgil how he had surpassed him, it was strangely domestic. If Patton hadn’t kidnapped Virgil and wasn’t forcing him to do this, Virgil might have enjoyed it.

Then he felt it. The pull. Thomas was summoning him.

Patton clearly felt it too, his sheepish expression from losing another game of Guess Who had been replaced with an exasperated sigh.

Virgil immediately tried to follow the pull, tried to find his way to Thomas or whoever else was summoning him. Escape this place and get back to normal, but he couldn’t. 

It felt like someone was trying to drag him through a concrete box, he just couldn’t, he couldn’t go through it or around it, he was trapped. Virgil knew what it felt like to ignore someone summoning you, but it didn’t feel like this. Something.. No, someone was stopping him from going.

Patton reached over and ruffled his hair. “Hey kiddo, daddy’s just gotta go somewhere for a little bit okay? Can you be a little helper and clean up the Guess Who while I’m gone?” 

Right, Patton had probably been summoned too, except Patton could leave. Virgil nodded, there had to be another way out of here right? “Okay daddy.” It was a little surprising how quickly calling Patton daddy started to roll off his tongue, it still made Virgil uncomfortable, it was just easier to say now. 

Patton’s expression brightened a bit, though he still looked annoyed to be summoned. “You just go play in your room once you’re done tidying up okay kiddo? Daddy’ll be back soon.”

Virgil nodded again, he was sure he could clean up the Guess Who and look around for a way out before Patton got back. 

With that, Patton sunk out, probably to go to see Thomas. Leaving Virgil alone to look around for a way to escape.

Chapter Text

Virgil figured the best place to start would be the rooms he hadn’t seen yet.

Looking around he could only see two of them, one with a shut door, one hanging open. The open door led to a bathroom, with tiles and sink and all that junk. The other, Virgil didn’t know what was inside. 

This was aside from the front door, A door with a stained glass window that seemed to be leading out of this house, wherever that was. Virgil hadn’t seen Patton use it on his way out and after some pulling, could tell it was locked.

Going into the bathroom first, Virgil could see a light blue step stool that he begrudgingly stood on to get a better vantage point. Ignoring his reflection in the mirror, Virgil looked around. 

The bath was an old fashioned bathtub with a shower curtain and those weird feet things. A low-hanging shelf held shampoo, conditioner and soap. The air felt damp and hot, like right after a shower when the glass is all fogged up and everything is misty. 

Everything about the bathroom felt old and nostalgia inducing, but nothing that was out of place or worth mentioning There was a tube of toothpaste and a blue toothbrush in a cup on the sink, next to a soap dispenser and a hairbrush. It was all very lived in and homely.

As he hopped down from the stool Virgil caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, he winced. God he looked stupid. With his sticky out hair, and his pale skin, and his mortifying outfit, and his wide innocent looking eyes. He scowls, he has to get out of here. 

Walking out of the bathroom, Virgil closes the door behind him. He tried not to focus on the fact he can barely reach the door handle.

The second door was hard to open, it wasn’t locked and it clicked open quite easily once Virgil caught the door handle and turned it while standing on his tip-toes, Virgil just spooked himself into thinking about all the horrible things that could be behind this door. It could be a torture room for if he misbehaved, or a nursey for if Patton thought he should be even younger, or literally anything else and Virgil would not be surprised because it had been the weirdest and most humiliating day ever. 

But it was either this or go play in his room like a good little boy until Patton came back and that was enough to snap him out of it because Virgil did not have good enough acting skills to deal with Patton.

Virgil pushed open the door and looked inside, hoping it wasn’t too bad.

Inside was a bedroom, looking around Virgil realized, this was Patton’s bedroom. It should’ve been obvious Patton would have a bedroom too, but Virgil had just assumed he’d been sleeping in his room, or maybe on the couch. 

He walked around the room, looking for anything that he could use to escape, this place seemed much more likely for Patton to keep a way out of here. 

The first place he looked was the bedside table, he shuddered at a framed photo on top of it, next to Patton’s bed. It was a photo of a sleeping Virgil, wearing that fluffy lavender onesie from earlier, cuddling the stuffed cat and sucking his thumb. Patton was kissing him on the cheek in the photo. Thinking about it made Virgil uncomfortable and he flipped the photo to lay on its front. 

Looking inside the bedside table Virgil found nothing but a scrapbook and some crafting supplies, as well as a camera. The scrapbook didn’t hold any secret codes or keys, and Virgil didn’t really want to go through a camera most likely filled with humiliating photos of himself. So that was a dud.

Moving onto the wardrobe wasn’t any help either, inside was just clothes, a suit, a bunch of shoes, and some wrapping paper. All the things you’d expect to find in a parent’s wardrobe, Virgil was sure if he looked further he’d find hidden birthday presents Patton had brought.

Looking around and under the bed and covers, there was nothing except dust and a hidden pair of slippers pushed under the bed, the rest of the furniture in the room proved no help, just being shelves to hold Patton’s many trinkets. Virgil couldn’t find anything out of order, no hidden keys, or secret doors out of here, nothing.

Virgil sighed in defeat, there really was nothing here. He should probably clean up that Guess Who then, wouldn’t want Patton to spank him or something for not doing it. 

He dejectedly walked back to the lounge, sitting on the ground and putting the Guess Who back into its box. Picking it up, he tried to remember where Patton had taken out the Guess Who from. He had still been very awkwardly talking to the stuffed toys when Patton had emerged holding the box. 

Virgil tried to remember, Patton had come out from the kitchen so probably a cupboard in there. Walking into the kitchen Virgil was struck by how short he was when compared to the counters, he blushed a little as he walked around, looking for some sort of game closet. When he spotted them.

Right above a counter that was against the wall and next to a cork board filled with things Virgil didn’t care about, were some keys on a hook. Two keys, one a light purple color and the other a regular bronze. At least one of them had to be the key to the front door. 

They were far too high for Virgil to reach on his own, and the counters were also too tall for him to climb onto, but he had to get them.

The stool in the bathroom, that was it, that was probably tall enough. Virgil ran back to the bathroom and pulled the stool after him, setting it in front of the counter and climbing onto it as fast as he could, terrified Patton would be coming back soon. 

He climbed onto the counter, and standing on his tip-toes he managed to get the keys, triumphantly he got down and walked up to the front door. 

He had no idea what would be behind the door, he obviously hadn’t seen the other side, but it couldn’t be anywhere completely isolated could it? It didn’t matter, as long as the key worked Virgil was sure he could get out and find someone who would help.

Virgil looked between the two keys, trying the purple one first. 

… 

Nothing, he changed to the bronze one, tentatively slotting it into the door. His breathing quickened as he heard a definite “click!” Reaching up to grab the door handle, Virgil took it and turned it as fast as he could. He was going to get out, then he just had to get back to his normal size and he would never have to think about this again. 

He opened the door, it swung open.

Only to reveal a very disappointed looking Patton staring down at him.

Chapter Text

Virgil was frozen. Fuck! He was so damn close and Patton just had to get back exactly as he unlocked the door. Not only that, now Patton was going to be mad at him and probably make him do some really humiliating punishment, like a time-out, or maybe he was going to make him even younger, or maybe he would just let Virgil leave and watch as everyone made fun of him. 

Patton was looking down at him with his hands on his hips, a very typical “disappointed parent” look, and Virgil couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. He had very quickly closed the front door behind him, which in the few seconds Virgil had seen beyond it showed Patton’s room, the nostalgia one, not the bedroom opposite Virgil’s playroom. 

Patton sighed to himself, only emphasizing the silence, he then bent down to Virgil’s level, put his hand on Virgil’s shoulder and spoke in a calm yet slightly disappointed tone “I know you must miss your daddy when I’m not here, but you can’t steal the keys and try to leave the house. You could get hurt.” 

Annoyed, Virgil nodded, he had been so close to leaving this weird-ass day behind him. He figured he might as well at least act like he was in the wrong. “ ...I’m sorry daddy, I know I shouldn’t have.” 

Patton nodded back and patted Virgil’s shoulder “If you do this again I’m going to have to take serious measures to stop you, okay? It’s very dangerous for you to do this.” 

Virgil hung his head low, trying not to clench his fists, at least Patton wasn’t going to like, padlock him in the bedroom or anything. “I know daddy.” 

Patton offered him a comforting smile and pulled Virgil into a tight hug, Virgil very awkwardly hugged back, trying not to think about what he was going to do now that Patton was absolutely going to be watching him more closely. 

Patton let go of Virgil, still holding his shoulders. “You’re very lucky daddy got back from work when he did.” 

Work? Did Patton mean whatever Thomas had summoned him for? Why was Patton acting like Virgil didn’t know what that was? Not important, what was important was playing along. “I know… I’m really sorry daddy! I promise!” 

Patton ruffles Virgil’s hair “oh it’s okay you angelic little muffin, I forgive you.” He picked Virgil up, holding him to his chest. “Now, because you did something you weren’t supposed to, you do have to go to time-out, but afterwards, daddy will tell you all about what he did at work and make you a very yummy dinner! Okay kiddo?” 

Virgil nodded begrudgingly, he had no clue what time it was, so he didn’t know if it really was dinner time, or if Patton was just working through this weird fantasy at whatever pace he wanted. “..okay daddy.”

Patton walked back to the fake bedroom Virgil was pretty sure he had made for himself. He seemed confused when the door was open but didn’t comment. He placed Virgil down on the bed, walking over to the closet and rummaging through it. 

Patton pulled out a wooden stool, Virgil had seen it while looking through Patton’s room but hadn’t thought much of it at the time. 

Patton sat the stool in the corner of his room before pointing to it. “Come and sit over here kiddo.”

Virgil got up and sat on the stool, he was facing Patton. Patton shook his head “Turn around kiddo, face the wall.” 

Slightly more embarrassed now, Virgil shuffled around to face the wall. 

Patton began lecturing Virgil, telling him about how disappointed he was in him and how irresponsible he had been. He could understand why actual kids hated this so much, sitting on a stool facing the wall while someone lectures you really didn’t make you feel great. The tone in Patton’s voice almost made Virgil ashamed for trying to escape. 

Before Virgil could stop himself, his mouth opened to speak again, sounding small and whiney “... I really am sorry daddy.” He cursed himself internally for sounding so remorseful and pathetic. Why hadn’t he stopped himself? Why was he actually feeling bad? What was going on? 

Patton ignored him, continuing to lecture Virgil. Virgil didn’t really know how long this was going to take, he hoped not long, this was far more humiliating than he would have thought. 

Soon, after ten or so minutes of Virgil feeling humiliated, the lecturing stopped. Virgil jumped slightly at a hand tapping his shoulder “You can turn around now kiddo.”

Finally. Virgil scooted around to face Patton, who had kneeled down to look at him. Patton looked surprised for a moment, before he wiped Virgil’s cheek with his hand. “Hey you don’t need to cry kiddo, I’m not mad.” 

Virgil felt his cheeks in surprise. He hadn’t…? His cheeks were wet, he had. Virgil had been crying. Over being put in time out. What was going on with him? He felt so.. Small. Not in the sense that Patton had shrunk him, he already knew that. Just in the sense he felt weak and stupid and dependent. He hated it. 

Patton cooed at him and scooped him into his arms. Much to Virgil’s chagrin. “Come on kiddo, we can make some cookies together now, they can be for dessert!” 

Virgil just nodded and stared at the ground. He didn’t really have the time to deal with Patton while his body kept doing strange things. 

Patton noticed Virgil’s lack of response, he bounced Virgil a little in his arms. “Hey Virgie? I promise I’m not mad okay? I’ve given you the consequences and now it’s all in the past alright? Do you understand?” 

Virgil nodded dejectedly, trying to seem more upbeat this time. “I understand daddy.”  

Chapter Text

Patton had been keeping a close eye on Virgil ever since he had tried to escape from him. He had made sure Virgil couldn’t leave his sight at all, keeping him by his side at all times. If Virgil needed to go to the bathroom or get changed, Patton would stand outside the door, and there obviously weren’t any windows anywhere for him to climb out of, whenever Patton got summoned, which had been a very small amount of times, he would lock Virgil in his bedroom. Making sure he couldn’t get away or walk around the house. 

Virgil wasn’t sure how much time had passed while he was here, sometimes Patton would spend hours focused on one thing, and sometimes he would seem to do a full day speedrun in what couldn’t be more than three or four hours, dragging Virgil along with him too. Patton had put him to bed three times since he had gotten here, though Virgil didn’t think it had been more than two days.

What scared Virgil the most was how much his mind and body seemed to be adapting to it. Patton’s demeaning nicknames, as much as they made him feel weird, also gave him a warm feeling in his body. By the second time Patton had read him a bedtime story and put him to bed, the prospect of falling asleep without the stormcloud shaped night-light plugged into his wall was terrifying, though Virgil hadn’t been scared of the dark in almost twenty years. And every so often some childish want or phrase would slip from Virgil’s mouth right in front of Patton, and he'd have to pretend he was just a good actor. 

Virgil had been playing along, doing what Patton said even when he wasn’t having one of his… moments, but he really didn’t know how much longer he could do this. The inconsistent sleep and schedule, and how childish Virgil was becoming at times, was causing him to get slightly paranoid, worried that soon he was just going to slip away and be stuck like this forever. He needed to escape before anything like that happened, but with Patton constantly having one eye on him at all times Virgil couldn’t think of how.

Currently Patton was making some form of brownies, in the weird day schedule that they’d been following it was now Saturday, and therefore movie night, so Patton was making brownies to eat with the popcorn while they watched Toy Story. Virgil had been placed on a stool and made to stir things occasionally and be a taste-tester, it wasn’t bad, just as humiliating and degrading as everything else here. 

Patton handed him a spoon “Take a lick kiddo! I promise it’s really chocolatey!” Virgil nodded and took a small lick of the spoon, Patton hadn’t been lying, the recipe he and Patton were making was “triple chocolate chunk soft squishy brownies” and it definitely lived up to its name. Virgil continued licking the spoon until none of the batter was left, if he was forced to be baking he at least was going to enjoy the chocolatey rewards. 

Patton grinned “Guess it’s a bit too late to ask you to save some for me then kiddo? It’s fine” He stuck his finger in the batter and licked it clean. “Oh that really is good! Think we should put this in the oven now?” 

“Yes daddy!” Virgil smiled, he did want brownies, they were really tasty. If he had to sit through a children's movie with Patton’s commentary, he at least wanted nice snacks. 

Patton smiled and got out the baking tray he’d prepared earlier with baking paper, he held the bowl of batter over the tray before handing Virgil a spatula. “Think you can scrape all of this out my cherub?” 

Virgil nodded, pointedly ignoring the nickname. Using the spatula, he dolloped all of the brownie mix into the tin, scraping out the last of it and licking it off the spatula. 

Patton ruffled Virgil’s hair “Time to put this in the oven! Stand away honey, wouldn’t want you burning yourself.” He opened the oven door and put on the oven mit, moving to place the brownie tray in the oven when a loud echoey knocking sound rang through the house. 

Virgil squeaked and instinctively covered his ears until he was sure the knocking had stopped, it was soon replaced with a voice. Booming down the hallway and to the kitchen.

“Patton? Roman said you were in your room and I have something I must discuss with you.” Boomed the voice of.. Logan? Right, they were still in the mindscape, hidden somewhere in Patton’s room. Virgil had almost forgotten. 

The knocking sound came back and Virgil covered his ears again, looking up, Patton had turned off the oven and put the brownie tray back on the bench. He was removing his apron with a frown. He looked down at Virgil and his gaze softened. “Hey kiddo, it’s okay. Loud noises aren’t scary, they won’t hurt you.” 

Virgil nodded and removed his hands from his head, placing them in the pockets of his jacket. Patton smiled and kissed his head, Virgil leaned into the touch before he pulled himself away. “Somebody from daddy’s work just came to visit daddy, so I’m going to have to take you to your room for a bit kiddo.” 

Virgil pouted, he had wanted to finish making the brownies. It’s not like Logan would be able to help him, best case scenario he notices the door and asks Patton about it, worst case Patton makes him a kid too. He made puppy eyes at Patton, asking him not to go. 

Patton chuckled and ruffled Virgil’s hair. “Sorry sweetheart, daddy has to go, but I swear we’ll finish making the brownies as soon as I’m back! Does that sound good kiddo?” 

Virgil nodded as Patton led him to his room, not bothering to take off his apron. Patton sat him down on the bed and kissed his forehead again, before locking him in the room to go talk to Logan. 

Virgil sat on his bed, waiting for Patton. He didn’t want to play with the many toys scattered around the room, as fun as they looked, that would be giving in. 

He clutched his stuffed cat closer, he liked being alone, being free from Patton’s coddling for even a short period of time, even if he couldn’t spend that time trying to escape, but he felt so… icky about it. What was this place doing to him?

He stared down at the cat in his lap, its felted on eyes staring back without blinking. He pressed its nose down with his finger. “Meow!” This didn’t count as a toy, he had this before Patton kidnapped him, so he wasn’t playing with a toy, he was just killing time. 

He giggled at the silly face the cat made while its nose was pushed in, pushing it further. “Meow!” 

He continued on with this, booping the cat and pushing its felted features back and forth, meowing every so often to the cat. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed until he heard audible cooing from above him. Looking up showed Patton making gooey eyes, he looked like he thought Virgil was just the cutest widdle thing ever. 

Patton ducked down to Virgil’s level and booped his cat stuffie too “Aren’t you such a cute little guy! I didn’t know you liked your kitty so much kiddo!” 

Virgil pulled the cat closer to himself. He couldn’t believe Patton caught him doing that… He couldn’t believe he did that! He really needed to get out of here. 

Patton chuckled and looked at Virgil fondly. “Oh it’s okay kiddo. It’s great you like to play with your little kitty, it’s a very cute kitty.” 

Virgil’s face flushed in embarrassment “..promise?” 

Patton grinned at him and kissed his forehead. “I promise Virgie. Now how about we finish making those brownies?” 

Virgil mumbled an agreement, taking the hand Patton held out to him and following him out into the hallway, leaving the stuffed cat behind on his bed. 

Patton pulled Virgil to the kitchen, smiling and talking about how he couldn’t wait for movie night. Virgil wouldn’t admit it, but he was a little excited too, Toy story was a good movie, and the snacks were going to be great, there really wasn’t much to dread. 

As Patton resumed placing the pan filled with brownie mix in the oven, Virgil off-handedly glanced towards the hallway Patton had come from. Not looking for anything in particular, just looking around. Then he noticed it.

The door to Patton’s room, and the rest of the mindscape was open. Not hanging open, a tiny sliver, just letting in the warm yellow light and nostalgia particles. Virgil looked back to Patton, who was preoccupied with setting the timer on the stove.

This was his chance, no key to find, Patton had his back turned to him, he could get out now. This was his chance.

Chapter Text

Virgil dashed down the hallway as fast as he could, trying exponentially hard not to trip or stumble over himself, because then Patton would catch him. 

Somewhere behind Virgil he heard a very distressed Patton yelling after him in surprise, but he ignored the voice in his head telling him to turn around and toddle right back into his arms. Virgil was going to get out of here.

He grabbed the barely open door and fumbled it open just wide enough for him to slip through, like the extra second of Patton swinging the door open would buy him time. 

Virgil emerged into Patton’s room, his real one, and was instantly hit with that weird combination of incredibly anxious nostalgia, replacing the childish voice in the back of his head telling him that daddy would be mad at him for running. Trying his best to ignore it, Virgil ran straight to the door to the hallway of the mindscape, grasping at the door handle, begging it to be unlocked.

It was locked, of course it was locked. Virgil hoped that someone was walking by as he took a deep breath in. “HELP! HELP! PLEASE! LET ME OUT! PLEASE!”

He banged on the door, shouting and screaming at the top of his lungs. Begging the universe to have someone walk past, anyone, even Remus or Janus, just someone who would get him out of this mess. “ANYONE! PLEASE! PLEASE HELP ME!”

Somebody grabbed his arm, Patton obviously, and Virgil fought with all his might. Still screaming as loud as he could, pleading with anyone who might hear him. Stomping his feet, struggling and scratching the hand that had grabbed him in a rather childish manner. “PLEASE! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME? I’M IN PATTON’S ROOM! I’M IN PATTON’S RO-”

A large hand went over Virgil’s mouth, muffling his cries for help slightly, and both of wrists had been grabbed and held together in Patton’s other hand. Patton glared down at Virgil, no longer cherry, or patronizing, or disappointed. He looked furious.

Once Virgil’s cries died down, Patton slowly removed the hand that was covering Virgil’s mouth. Staring at him with a look that dared Virgil to cry out for help. 

Virgil let out a small involuntary whine “Please Patton, please don’t do this! Please just let me go, I-I’ll just go back to my room, and… and I won’t tell anyone I swear! We can just pretend this never happened and I’ll tell everyone I was just.. moping in my room for two days! And I’ll be the one who everyone gets mad at and nothing will happen to you I swear! Please Patton! I’m begging you to just let me go. I am begging you Patton, please!” Hot tears are streaming down Virgil’s face, he can’t keep doing this, with how he’s been acting recently, Virgil doesn't know what'll happen to himself if he stays here longer. He might as well be pleading for his life.

Patton stared down at Virgil, his eyes widened, they looked… brighter, and less clouded than they had been before. His grip on Virgil’s arm loosened and for a second he just looked at Virgil with a mixture of expressions Virgil couldn’t read, he was sure guilt was one of them, but the rest? Virgil had no clue.

Then Patton’s eyes grew dull and foggy again, how had Virgil not noticed they were different before? His grip tightened even more than it had before, making it practically impossible for Virgil to move either of his arms. He glared down at Virgil silently. 

Patton practically dragged Virgil back into the “house”, then, back to Virgil’s bedroom. He stood Virgil just in front of his bed.

Virgil whimpered, tears were still flowing down his face. He didn’t want to get in trouble, he didn’t want to make Patton mad. All the mad, sad and desperate to get out thoughts were gone, all replaced by a fear of Patton.  “I don’t wanna go to time out daddy! I’m really sorry! I won’t ever do it again I swear!” 

Patton sighed and shook his head “Time out is for when you do silly things and daddy needs to punish you quickly. I gave you two warnings not to do this kiddo, so now I have to do something a lot more serious to make sure you never do this again” 

Virgil was shaking in fear. Patton was going to spank him, he was sure of it. It was going to hurt so much and it would be so humiliating and horrifying that Virgil would never try to escape again. 

Patton used his spare hand to grab one of Virgil’s wrists, separating them in each of his hands. “This might hurt a little kiddo, but I promise that when everything is over this will have been for the best” 

Virgil’s lip quivered. Patton really was going to spank him, he braced himself to be lifted over his knee, but Patton didn’t make any moves. He seemed to be concentrating on something, staring at Virgil with a focused look in his eyes.

Then the pain started.

Once when Virgil was an actual kid, he’d broken his leg because Remus hadn’t been paying attention to where he was throwing boulders. In an attempt to not get in trouble with Janus, Remus had quickly molded Virgil’s leg back together. It had felt like hell, Remus’s hands pushing down exactly where the crack was, it felt like Remus was crushing every bone in his leg on purpose, bashing them all into dust. 

This was worse.

 It was everywhere, every limb and bone and nerve in Virgil’s body burned. It felt like every time Thomas had gotten growing pains ever combined into one, everything felt too small for Virgil’s body, or too big to fit inside his skin. 

Virgil writhed in Patton’s grip, as if trying to shake the pain off. Patton’s grip remained strong, not faltering. Virgil dropped to his knees in agony, he wanted to vomit. He screamed and begged Patton to make it stop, but he doubted anything he said was actually understandable, probably being loud, terrified garble. His throat, like everything else, felt raw and on fire, but he didn’t stop. 

His cries got quieter and weaker as the pain went on, Virgil felt like his throat would tear into tissue if he tried to speak again. Virgil pitifully looked up at Patton, having given up on thrashing or screaming and just trying not to pass out.

Patton was staring down at Virgil with a look of pity on his face. Noticing Virgil’s “calming down” he pulled Virgil in closer to him, shushing his last remaining sobs and kissing his forehead. “Just a little longer baby, than all the hurt will go away” 

Virgil didn’t even have the strength to shake his head, at this point he was just whimpering pathetically into Patton’s arms. 

Patton ran his fingers through Virgil’s hair, failing to soothe him. “It’s almost done, then everything will be so much better” 

That was the last thing he heard before he passed out.

Chapter Text

When Virgil finally woke up again, he realized he was in the lounge. Toy Story was playing on the TV and yummy snacks like popcorn and the brownies he and Pat had been making were sitting in bowls on the coffee table. 

He looked around for Pat, who he realized was snuggled up next to him, holding him close, a crocheted blanket covering the both of them. 

After shuffling around a little, Virgil managed to free himself from Pat’s clutches, carefully sliding down the blanket onto the floor. 

When Virgil reached the floor he tripped backwards and fell onto his back, but he rolled onto his tummy and grabbed the table leg, pulling himself up into a standing position. He looked around the space he was in. 

The lounge looked mostly the same, some more toys were scattered around. Weird foam pieces of tape covered the edges of the coffee table, TV, and all other things that could have been considered sharp. Everything looked even bigger too, Virgil barely reached the top of the coffee table, and unless he grabbed the ledge and stood on his tiptoes, he couldn’t see what was inside the bowls. 

“Oh...” came a sleepy voice behind him “..I didn’t realize you’d woken up baby, do you want some popcorn?” 

Virgil turned around to face Pat, who was also bigger than Virgil remembered. Virgil squeaked and bent down slightly to hide under the table, away from him. Pat was scary, he made Virgil hurt, he made him small, and he made it hard for Virgil to think. 

“Oh don’t be like that little one, we’re watching a movie. There’s no time to play hide and seek” A chuckle came from above. Virgil grabbed one of the table legs and clung to it, to make sure he wouldn’t fall over. 

Virgil watched Pat get down to his knees so he could see under the table, his face appeared and he smiled at Virgil. “Peekaboo!” 

Virgil whimpered and clung even tighter to the table leg, shaking his head. He attempted to tell Pat to leave him alone, but something got in the way, a pacifier. 

Pat chuckled again “Do you wanna say something my cherub?” He reached out to help Virgil take it out, but Virgil just leaned away and shook his head harder. “Okay kiddo, I’ll let you try to do it yourself.” 

Virgil tried to spit it out, he didn’t want a paci, but his mouth wouldn’t let him. He reached up to take it out, but he was wearing mittens and that proved to make it difficult. With Pat waiting patiently by the side he finally got the thing out of his mouth. “Not daddy.”

Pat frowned “Well that isn’t a very nice thing to say, what’s brought this on my little peanut?”

Virgil stomped his foot, he didn’t wanna be called that. “Hurt me! Made me sad!” Pat’s gaze hardened and Virgil shrunk back on himself, stopping the stomping “..sorry”

Pat sighed “I know I hurt you buddy but it was only for a little bit, you don’t hurt anymore do you?” He shuffled a little closer to Virgil, careful not to hit his head on the coffee table. 

Virgil shook his head, trying to lean away from Pat but not having anywhere to go unless he let go of the table leg. “.....no…” 

Pat nodded “I told you it was to make everything better, and you were the one who didn’t listen to what daddy told you. Now that you aren’t hurting anymore, we’re just having a fun little movie night! You’re in your pajamas, I’ve set out the tasty snacks, everything’s just how it’s supposed to be! Okay?” He smiled at Virgil, though it was slightly tense.

Virgil thought about it for a second, staring at Pat with his lip quivering, before he once again shook his head. “Sup- Sup- Sposed to be big” He was sure of that, Pat was the reason he couldn’t be big. 

Pat sighed “Not anymore baby, we talked about this remember? You were big, but now you’re just my widdle cutie pie! Hm… maybe the shrinking made you forget that.. But no matter! You know now!” 

Virgil whined and stamped his foot again “No! Wanna be big!” People who were big didn’t have to have paci’s, and they didn’t have bedtimes, and if they wanted to leave they could. Pat wasn’t so scary when he was big, big Virgil wasn’t scared of him. 

Pat shook his head “You can’t be big, you’re supposed to stay here with your daddy, and we’ll do so many fun things together. Don’t have a tantrum sweetpea.” His voice was firm, and he was reaching out for Virgil, no longer leaving him alone. 

Virgil kept stamping his foot, slowly letting go of his tight hold on the table leg. “NO! BIG!” Big people didn’t have tantrums, and they only had to do things if they wanted to. 

Pat stood up, he was still talking to Virgil, but he was walking around to the other side of the coffee table so he could pick up Virgil. “Come on lemon drop, are you hungry? Do you want one of your toys? There’s no reason to start crying” 

Virgil panicked and awkwardly wobbled away from the side Pat was approaching, moving into the middle of under the coffee table. He stumbled a bit and shook on his feet, trying not to fall over without anything to hold onto for support. “NO! WANNA BE BIG!” 

Virgil couldn’t see Pat’s expression, but he didn’t sound pleased. “No yelling young man. We’ve already been over this. This is better, and I’m not going to change it. If you didn’t want to be so little, you should have listened to me. Now, come to daddy kiddo, you’ll fall if you don’t hold onto something.” 

Virgil stamped his foot once again before he wobbled and almost fell over, he didn’t do anything else after that. “NOT DADDY” He rushed out from under the coffee table, toddling away as fast as he could. Which, him being so very small, wasn’t very fast. 

Pat yelped in surprise and walked after him, trying to catch Virgil “Kiddo, don’t go so fast you’ll get hurt.” 

Virgil ignored Pat’s warnings, trying his hardest to go anywhere, but walking felt so much harder than he remembered it being, his legs were clunky and wobbly. 

There were baby gates much taller than Virgil that were stopping him from going into both the kitchen and the hallway, so instead he just tried his best to toddle around and not to fall over.

Unfortunately, Virgil tripped on one of his booties. He crashed to the ground, landing on the carpet and letting out an ear-splitting screech. “NO! NO! NO NO NO NO NO!”

Pat caught up to Virgil, scooping him up and cradling him in his arms. Ignoring his childish thrashes and wails, letting Virgil scream until his throat was sore. “NOTTA BABY! BIG! NO NO NO” 

Pat carefully put Virgil down on the couch, placing him on his back with nothing to roll over and pull himself up with nearby. Sighing as he waited for Virgil to tire himself out and stop screaming. “NO! NOT DADDY! BIG! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!” 

Hot tears ran down Virgil’s face as he cried, he shook with anger and terror. “PLEASE! NOTTA BABY! NOTTA BABY… BIG!” 

As Virgil paused to take his breath, Pat took the opportunity to talk to him. “Come on Virgie, you know daddy just wants to help. This is better, there’s no need to throw a tantrum” 

Virgil’s throat hurt, yet he persisted with the wailing. “NO! NOT BETTER! NOT DADDY!” 

Pat began wiping Virgil’s tears away with his left hand. “Don’t say that Virgie, or daddy will get upset with you”

Virgil’s cries died down to whimpers, he was terrified of Pat. He was mean, and scary, and he wouldn’t let Virgil be big, and he wouldn’t let him leave! “Notta-” Virgil sobbed, it was getting harder to talk by the minute, his throat burning like it had been scratched raw. “Notta baby! No!”

All Virgil could do was whimper now, once Pat saw that he had calmed down enough to stop screeching, he picked Virgil up. Holding him to his chest and whispering into his ear. “There we go, all the crying hurt your throat didn’t it baby? Don’t worry, daddy will get you a nice sippy cup filled with ice cold water to soothe your poor little throat”

Virgil weakly continued to wriggle and squirm, but his throat hurt too much to make any noise. Pat just ignored his struggle and unhooked the baby gate leading to the kitchen, simply cradling Virgil in one arm while he got the sippy cup out of the cupboard and filled it up with water from the fridge. “Here you go my cute little nugget! That’ll make your throat stop hurting for a bit” 

Virgil gratefully sipped on the sippy cup as soon as it was handed to him. Visibly relaxing once the ice water started to numb his raw throat and soothe it, though he still weakly kicked his feet, trying his hardest not to give in. 

His daddy carried him to his room. Virgil absentmindedly noticed that his bed was a toddler bed now, one with a gate that could be locked to stop him from escaping. 

Daddy set him down on his back in the bed, smiling down at Virgil as he sipped on the ice water. “There, isn’t that better?” 

Virgil didn’t respond. Daddy was still scary and mean, Virgil was just hurt again and he didn’t want daddy to hurt him more.

Instead Virgil momentarily placed the sippy cup to the side, ignoring how immediately the fire in his mouth returned, and rolled over onto his tummy. He then crawled over to a corner of his bed that was against the wall. Where daddy had put all of his stuffed toys and pillows. 

After he had grabbed his sippy cup again, Virgil held his stuffed snake right in front of his line of eyesight that showed daddy, hoping that it meant daddy would leave him alone.

Daddy sighed “Are you really still doing this kiddo?” After he got no answer except a shaky arm, tired of holding up the stuffed toy for so long, he seemed to accept Virgil still didn’t want to be around him. “Fine then, I’ll leave you alone until you’re done being stroppy.” After a while Virgil heard the sound of feet walking away and a door shutting and locking behind them. Sighing in relief, he tentatively lowered the snake to reveal an empty room. 

Continuing to sip on his water, Virgil tried his best to bury himself in the pile of stuffed animals and pillows surrounding him, hugging the stuffed snake from before tightly to his chest. He didn’t like being so small, he wanted someone who wasn’t his daddy to come and help him. 

Soon, Virgil began choking out sobs again. 

Chapter Text

Patton was hiding something, Janus could tell. Janus could always feel an aura when somebody was lying or hiding something, and it was coming off of Patton in spades. 

Now usually Janus couldn’t have cared less about whatever measly secret Patton was keeping from the others, if it didn’t benefit him to know, he didn’t plan on being invasive, and he doubted any secret of Patton’s could be too incriminating anyway. 

Normally if Janus looked into it he was sure all he would find would be inconsequential things like  “My brownies were slightly underbaked” and “I told Roman his painting was really good but I only thought it was fine” but this time was different. 

About a week ago Virgil had disappeared without a trace, and while Janus couldn’t care less about what happened to Virgil, the aspect in charge of Thomas’s anxiety seemingly poofing out of existence was not great. 

Thomas hadn’t been acting any differently than normal, he was still operating as mediocrely as ever and it was clear he still had anxiety, even more now that one of his sides had disappeared. It was just Virgil who was missing, and Janus could tell Patton was hiding something related to the disappearance. There was no other reason the unmistakable stench of lies wafted around him anytime the subject was brought up.

Now, did Janus think Patton had kidnapped, or possibly killed Virgil? Of course not, that would be absurd, but did he think Patton definitely knew something? Yes. 

Even without Janus’s ability to tell when someone was lying, he would’ve noticed anyway, everyone else had, Patton was being obvious about the fact he wasn’t being completely truthful. 

Whenever the topic of Virgil came up in conversation, Patton grew clammy, insisting he was sure Virgil was just spending a bit of time in his room, though they’d all gone there to check and there had been no Virgil in sight. 

When that was proven false, he’d said that Virgil was probably exploring the imagination and had lost track of time, which was easily disproved by the fact that, one: Going into the imagination without either of the twins was a mix between an annoying fairy tale with far too many death-defying tasks to complete, or an actual deathtrap, depending on what side you were on. And two: Both twins would have easily been able to tell if one of the sides was in the imagination, and neither had been able to glean Virgil’s presence, implying that if he was there, he’d become an one of the actual residents of the imagination, similar to an NPC. 

Neither of these being plausible actions, it had been made clear to everyone Patton was either hiding something, or lying about something. 

Logan and Roman seemed to think it was a “Moving On” scenario, that Patton was pretending things were okay and disregarding his feelings in the process, he had been spending a lot more time in his room after Virgil’s disappearance and while that theory seemed likely, Janus could tell there was more. Something about how the positivity Patton kept up while he tried to convince the others there was nothing wrong didn’t seem forced, and it clearly wasn’t from seeing everybody. Janus could see Patton’s mood, while still happy, go down every time he was summoned for whatever Thomas or the others needed. He was doing something in his alone time, and it correlated to Virgil, Janus could tell that much. 

He hadn’t told anyone about these suspicions, aside from the fact none of them deserved to know, Roman and Logan would surely report back to Patton, and Remus was never any help with these things, if anyone had kidnapped Virgil it would absolutely have been him.

On Saturday night, Roman convinced Patton and Logan to have a movie night with him, insisting it would “relieve tensions”. Roman hadn’t invited him or Remus. Janus wouldn’t have been inclined to go anyway, seeing as this was the perfect opportunity to go see what Patton was doing in his room almost all the time. 

So, while the three of them were downstairs watching some Disney classics on the TV, Janus crept up to Patton’s room to take a small look around, to see if anything caught his eye. He hadn’t been in Patton’s room in years, but Patton never did hide things very well. 

He quietly appeared in Patton’s room and began looking around, Patton would quickly sense someone in his room and with how secretive Patton was being, Janus was sure he’d freak out if he found Janus in there. 

Looking around, nothing seemed too out of character or place, Patton’s room being as importantly cluttered as ever. Drawings and pictures were hung all over the walls, Patton seemed to have everything Janus could remember about Thomas’s childhood stacked on a shelf somewhere, and everything seemed just as Patton-like as it always was. At a first glance anyway.

Looking closer Janus could see things that seemed strange, the bed didn’t look touched at all and upon looking closer, a layer of dust had settled on the headboard. The same appeared to be true about the dresser and a bookshelf full of Thomas’s old school books, untouched for a while, at least a week.. Looking around more Janus noticed two doors, tucked away amidst Patton’s many shelves and furniture and pictures. 

The first was ajar and clearly revealed a bathroom, as homey and nostalgic as everything else in Patton’s room. An old-fashioned bathtub with a shower curtain scrolled to the side, a medicine cabinet attached to the wall above the toilet. A plastic cup with a light blue toothbrush and a half-empty roll of toothpaste sitting peacefully inside, also covered in a thin layer of dust, unused. It was like Patton hadn’t even been living in his room at all. 

The second door, strangely, was locked. Janus had experience with picking locks and this one seemed easy enough to unlock, the real question was what could be behind it. Janus would assume a wardrobe, but Patton already had a dresser to keep his clothes in, and why would you need to lock a wardrobe? Not unless you were hiding something.

Carefully and slowly picking the lock, Janus unlocked the wardrobe. Not expecting to see Virgil tied in there or anything, but something. 

Opening the wardrobe with a quiet creak, it was revealed to Janus that the wardrobe wasn’t a wardrobe at all. It was a pathway to a whole other house. There was a hallway leading to what looked like a kitchen, and lounge. Two doors lined the hallway, though it was long enough multiple more could’ve fit there. Janus shut the door behind him and ventured into the hall. 

The first door Janus encountered was hanging open, inside was just a regular bedroom, it was clearly inhabited by Patton, judging from the many shelves holding meaningless trinkets and photos. A few furniture items also sat in the room, looking far more used than the ones in Patton’s room in the mindscape.

A hastily-made bed was pushed against the wall, and surprisingly, only two stuffed animals were tucked in. A wardrobe door was leaning open, and a quick glance inside proved this one was actually a wardrobe, and not another door hidden in plain sight. A small wooden stool was shoved into the only corner of the room not adorned by pictures and shelves, making it look rather isolated. 

Janus walked forward, looking around the room for anything suspicious, judging from how well Patton had hid the door to the house in plain sight in his mindscape room, he was going to have to look closer than he had originally thought.

While he was sure the meaningless trinkets on the wall were just what they looked like, he even recognised a few of them from Thomas’s childhood, looking closer at the photos that had been hung up on the wall revealed something.

He’d assumed they were just photos of Thomas as a child when he’d first glanced around the room, but looking closer at one hung next to the wardrobe, Janus realized it couldn’t have been, because Patton, fully adult Patton was in the photo.

The photo in question showed Patton taking a selfie with a pint-sized toddler napping on his lap. The toddler did share some features with Thomas, same skin tone, same hair color, same general face shape. Janus wouldn’t have been surprised if Patton had just made a toddler version of Thomas to care for, he was the self-proclaimed dad side after all. 

Having a secret toddler to care for would explain how distant Patton had been, but it didn’t explain why Patton got so guilty thinking about Virgil, or why Patton had only recently started spending long periods of time away from the other sides to (presumably) come and care for this child.

Janus opened Patton’s bedside table, rummaging through it to look for anything useful, like more photos, or anything that might relate this to Virgil besides the fact that Patton had used to call the anxious side “Kiddo”. 

Instead he found a key ring with two keys hanging on it, as well as a keychain. The first key was a lavender purple, and the second was a warm bronze. Janus assumed one of the keys must have been for the front door, and the other for the second bedroom, which he now assumed to be the toddlers.

Nothing else was in the bedside table, and Janus quickly shut the drawer. His gaze drifted to a photo frame lying face down on the bedside table, it was one he’d ignored before, but he must have knocked it over while opening and shutting the drawer. He flipped it upwards, it was just another photo of Patton coddling an asleep version of the Thomas clone. 

This time the clone was much older, looking around seven or eight, and far less like Thomas than he had before. The clone’s skin was more pale, and his hair was darker and thicker. He looked less like an eight year old Thomas, and more like an eight year old…. Virgil. 

Janus shook his head, clearing the ludicrous idea from his mind. 

While Janus had found out about the random child Patton seemed to have, and the keys to the second bedroom, he still hadn’t found anything out about why Patton had been lying about something concerning Virgil, aside from the fact that the clone seemed to look like him. It felt like time to move onto the second door down this hallway, and now that Janus had what could only be the key to it, it was going to be easy.

He slipped out the door, leaving it half-open behind him, and approached the second door in the hallway. 

The second door was painted a bright Lilac, and a small silver lock was attached to the doorknob. Janus looked down at the lavender key he was holding, jutting it into the small key hole and turning it sideways.

It jammed for a moment, but after some rattling Janus heard the lock open with a small clicking noise. He was about to step in when he remembered he couldn’t exactly walk in looking like himself.

Ignoring the fact that most people who met Janus didn’t exactly like him from first impressions alone, as countless trips to the imagination had proved, children were usually scared of his face. Not to mention the fact that this child, who he had to assume had never met any sides except for Patton, probably wouldn’t be up for an interrogation by a random snake man. 

He took a moment, before shapeshifting into Patton. He looked down at his now gloveless and scale-less hands, before he re-opened the door.

He walked towards the crib nestled against the wall opposite the door, transitioning into the peppy, upbeat stroll Patton used, resting a cheerful smile on his face.

The toddler was half-buried in the pile of stuffed toys in the crib, hugging a black cat plush that used to belong to Virgil, Patton must have gotten his hands on it when Virgil threw it away, via it being something nostalgic. 

The toddler looked up at Janus as he leaned over the crib, blinking a little before he turned his gaze to the cat in his arms, staring at it intently. 

Janus giggled in the same dopey way Patton did, reaching down into the crib and ruffling the boy's hair.

“Well good morning to you too, kiddo! Did you have a nice nap?”

Chapter Text

The child wasn’t proving to be much help. Everytime Janus tried to ask him a question or interact, he’d mumble or hide his face in the stuffed cat he was holding. If he did answer, it was as short as possible. With a rather limited vocabulary though, Janus couldn’t blame the toddler for that.

The boy was currently situated in his lap, staring resolutely at the blue polo shirt instead of Janus’s face. Janus was getting fed up, he didn’t have time to wear the toddler down, as Patton would surely be back soon. He honestly doubted Patton had told the kid anything, but it had been worth a shot. It seemed Patton both had a secret child, and a secret about Virgil’s whereabouts. 

He pet the boy's head, Janus needed to keep up the facade of being this toddler's father until he was out of the room. “Well, kiddo. Your papa’s gotta go and finish doing his adult tasks, okay? I’ll let you play on your own for a bit, and soon I’ll come back to tuck you in and say goodnight.”

The toddler was still staring at the polo shirt, more purposely now. He was patting the emblem design over and over again, but Janus was sure he had heard him. 

Janus chuckled, the same way Patton would, a giggle with more purpose. He picked the kid up under his armpits, taking his arms out of reach for the shirt. “Yes, yes, my shirt is very interesting kiddo. I’ll let you play more patty-cake with it later.”

The toddler hid his face with the cat again, though his eyes were still visible. He squinted at Janus, and Janus could tell something was going through the boy’s head. 

It was time for him to go, the movie could only have 20 or so minutes left, and Patton would be back any minute. He slowly lowered the toddler back down into the bed, who was still squinting up at him. Janus pet his head one last time, smiling down at him.

“See ya’ soon kiddo, have fun playing with your toys!” He stood up, turning to leave, when he heard a questioning tone.

 “....Janus?” 

What. 

He turned around, an incredulous and surprised look on his face. How did the child even know who “Janus” was? Let alone enough to tell it was him even with a disguise? “What do you mean kiddo? I’m your happy papa Patton!”

The boy shook his head, clapping his hands and sounding a lot more sure this time. “Janus!” 

Janus walked back to the bed, leaning down at the now energized and very ready to interact boy, who was making grabby hands up at him. “Janus! Help!”

Sorry? What did this child need help with? He couldn’t help him, if Patton came back and this child started running his mouth about how he’d been helped by Janus, Patton would of course know he’d been in his room. He tried for an apologetic smile, shaking his head. “I really am just just your papa Patton, kiddo. But I can still help! What do you need help with?”

“Help gettin’ away!” The toddler was gripping onto the bars of his bed, trying his best to stay completely upright. There was no convincing him this was Patton, no matter how good Janus was at acting.

“Getting away? From what, kiddo?” Janus picked the boy back up again, he could stay a little longer, to convince this kid not to snitch to Patton. 

The toddler looked confused for a moment, like he had expected Janus to know something. He pointed at the polo shirt's design/emblem again. “Daddy!” 

Had Patton kidnapped this toddler from the imagination? Was that why he wanted to “get away” from him? Which still didn’t explain how this boy knew who he was. Janus dropped the Patton act, as it clearly wouldn’t convince the toddler. “Why? Did Patton take you from your real parents?”

The toddler looked as frustrated as a toddler could, he gripped his cat plushie, the one that had been Virgil’s, and pointed to it. “Me!” 

Janus sighed, was this really the time to be pointing out his cat onesie? He didn’t understand children. “Yes, you’re wearing a onesie and looking just like your stuffed cat. But did Patton take you from your real parents?”

The boy grew more frustrated, he began making motions to be put down, and Janus obliged. He then crawled over to the pile of plushies, and began digging through it, much to Janus’s annoyance. 

He would have liked to believe this kid had some sort of note explaining everything, hidden at the bottom of this pile, but all it seemed like the child was doing was lining up five stuffed animals. 

Soon, a stuffed frog, snake, bird of some sort, dragon, and octopus were lined up next to each other, the kid pointed to all of them, and then to the stuffed cat again. “Me!”

It was clear the toddler was trying to tell him something, Janus just didn’t know what it was. He tried to go for a gentle approach, so as not to incite a tantrum or something worse. “All your stuffed toys are wonderful and I truly care about looking at them, but could you explain to me why they are important?”

The boy huffed, he pointed at the frog. “Daddy.” Then the snake. “Janus!” Then the bird. “Logan.” Janus could see what was happening now, as the boy moved onto the dragon and octopus. “R-oman! ‘Emus!” 

Finally, he pointed to the stuffed cat again. Staring at Janus in a pleading sort of way, like please understand this . “Me.”

Chapter Text

Janus had been thinking for a while, making Virgil wait. Virgil was tired of waiting, he wanted out. 

He thought Janus was thinking of a way out, but it was taking too long. Virgil was sure Daddy would be coming back soon, and he didn’t want Janus to get made small like him. He didn’t think Janus could sink out, or maybe he couldn’t bring Virgil with him if he did. 

He’d been left to do what he wanted, and he’d decided to plop himself down in front of his door, keeping watch in case Daddy was on his way. 

He was happy that Janus was here, now he could get out and be big again, but he also… wasn’t happy. When he was big he didn’t like Janus, and he didn’t think he liked him right now either, he just didn’t have any options. 

Though, when Virgil was big he had liked daddy, and he wouldn’t like him anymore, even when he was big again. Maybe he didn't like anyone. 

He shuffled around to look at Janus, who was un-tying his mini cape. He had grown his two other pairs of arms while Virgil wasn’t looking, and he was holding one of them behind his back.

Janus set the cape down over Virgil’s crib wall. He noticed Virgil staring, and made a ‘come here’ motion with one of his free hands. “Virgil, don’t come over here.” 

Obediently, Virgil struggled to his feet and toddled over to Janus. He stared up at him, were they going now? 

Janus leaned down and picked Virgil up, holding him under his armpits. Virgil yelped and wriggled, kicking his little feet uselessly towards Janus’s chest and waving his arms. He didn’t like being picked up. 

Janus’s face turned annoyed, he rolled his eyes. “Yes Virgil, please continue to resist while I make an attempt to rescue you from being kidnapped. It’s very helpful.”

Virgil’s legs and arms fell limp. He pouted at the ground. He couldn’t see how being trapped in anybody's hold would help. “...Sorry.” 

Janus didn’t respond, simply transferring him between sets of hands. Soon enough he was being held in a sort of piggyback behind Janus, being cradled by his middle arms. 

Janus picked his cape back up, if Virgil leaned around from Janus’s back he could see him begin retying it around his neck. 

Virgil attempted to make himself comfortable as the black fabric covered him and his surroundings completely. He peaked out from under it as Janus looked at himself in a mirror that daddy had set up to make Virgil look at himself. 

The cape covered both Virgil and the middle set of arms fully, if Virgil stopped looking he was sure it would be impossible to tell he was hidden under there. But why was he hidden? He tugged on Janus’s sleeve until he had his attention, before tilting his head in questioning. “Why?”

Janus seemed to understand his question, he adjusted his hold so Virgil was now leaning against his back instead of being cradled. “Well, it’s not like the only way out of here is through the areas Patton very commonly frequents. And I’m sure if he saw you wandering after me, he wouldn’t have any problem at all with that.” 

Virgil nodded. He pressed himself closer into Janus’s back. Hidden under the cape, it was very dark. He whimpered a little, the dark was scary. Daddy always made him take naps with a nightlight illuminating his room, and sometimes even that wasn’t enough and Virgil would just lie in the dark awake for an hour to make sure nothing got him. 

Janus had heard his noises of discomfort, and responded with a sharp. “What?” 

“It’s dark.” Virgil could no longer peek around to see the light outside of the cape, so he kicked it up with his foot, making it slightly brighter, but now surely obvious he was under there. 

Virgil heard Janus scoff. Then he felt himself tilt upwards as Janus bent down to get something. Soon, a hand emerged under the cape, holding.. His cat! 

Virgil had forgotten he’d dropped it in the excitement of seeing Janus. He grabbed it and giggled, gleefully hugging it to his chest, for a moment his fears were gone. “Thank you!”

With his cat safely in his grasp, Virgil felt a little braver, more ready to take on the dark. 

He took his foot back, enveloping him in darkness again, and squeezed his cat to his chest, squeezing his eyes shut too. This was okay, he had his cat, Daddy was nowhere close and he was leaving. 

As Virgil calmed down, Janus seemed to deem it time to go. He began walking, and Virgil felt himself go up and down as Janus walked.

Virgil stayed quiet, he didn’t know how long it would take to get out. He didn’t wanna talk and then find out they hadn’t even left his room yet.

Though, soon enough, the small sliver of light that still came through Janus’s cape turned to a warmish yellow hue. Virgil blinked, wondering if his mind would start thinking normal again, it had last time, but no such luck. 

And then, Virgil heard a door cautiously creaking open. He felt Janus slip out, and then close the door behind him. The sliver of light turned normal again.

Virgil grinned, they were out! Now he could get big again and his mind would think properly, and Daddy couldn’t get either of them. 

As he internally celebrated, Janus was still carefully walking down the hallway. Virgil wondered why he didn’t just sink out, but he didn’t particularly find it an issue. 

Then, he heard some footsteps behind them, he didn’t know where in the mindscape they were, but they couldn’t have already gotten to the dark side or wherever Janus was planning on taking him. 

He tugged on Janus’s sleeve, trying to alert him without talking. He didn’t know if Janus had turned around, but a second later, Virgil’s small hand slapped over his mouth. 

Virgil bristled, why had Janus done that? He hadn’t been saying anything, he continued to pull on Janus’s sleeve with his free hand, now a little more out of spite. That was, until he heard Janus speak, not to him, but to the footsteps behind him.

“Hello Patton, I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Chapter Text

Virgil was grateful Janus had covered his mouth, as he kept letting out involuntary little squeaks. 

He had half-curled up, trying to seem as small as possible, and was squeezing his cat to his chest. 

“Well, it’s getting late so I was just heading up to my room. What are you doing up here Janus?” Virgil heard Daddy reply. He squeezed himself tighter, scared. Daddy wouldn’t notice him, he couldn’t, Janus had done such a good job of hiding him and he was being very still!

Janus seemed to be playing this off better than Virgil was, his voice was calm and almost sounded like he was bored of this conversation. “Remus didn’t steal my hat and barricade his bedroom door, and I didn’t have to go through Roman’s to get it back.” 

Virgil heard Daddy let out a small understanding chuckle. “Ah, I guess you don’t want me telling Roman then? Though I might have to if you’ve messed with his stuff. You haven’t, have you?” 

“Yes I did, if you go in there you’ll find everything strewn around. I doubt he’ll ever be able to tidy it all.” Virgil gripped onto the back of Janus’s shirt, almost hugging him. 

Silence was heard for a moment, Daddy was probably doing something Virgil couldn’t see. 

“Alrighty then, I’m heading to bed. It’s been a rough couple of days, y’know? I’ll see you tomorrow Janus.” Virgil heard a couple pats that he was pretty sure came from Daddy patting Janus on the shoulder, before he felt someone brush past him. 

He let go of a small sigh as Janus let his hand drop from his mouth. He felt Janus begin walking again, slightly faster this time. 

Virgil was still gripping Janus's shirt, but he relaxed his grasp to just enough to safely stay put. 

It was a relief that Daddy was no longer talking to Janus, until Virgil realized that that meant he was now heading to his bedroom. That meant he would surely come to check if Virgil was asleep yet, and there was no way he wouldn’t notice he wasn’t there.

Panicked, he began to tug on Janus’s sleeve again, urging him to walk faster. 

Janus didn’t make any response to Virgil’s tugging, but continued power walking, which led to him thinking Janus had probably figured out Daddy would find out too. 

While he was sure it would take Daddy more than thirty seconds to figure out someone had helped Virgil escape, he was bracing to hear a door bang open and Daddy to walk out demanding to know where Virgil was at Janus. 

He shrunk back down into timidly wrapping his arms around Janus’s back as far as he could get them, which wasn’t far. 

He heard the creak of a door open, were they there? 

Janus had slowed his walk down to a normal one, so they were definitely somewhere Daddy couldn’t get easily. 

He tugged on Janus’s sleeve again, he was sure it must be annoying, but he didn’t want to say something out loud and ruin his hiding place if there was anyone around. 

Soon though, another door opened. Janus entered and Virgil heard the door close behind him. 

The cape covering him dropped to the ground and Virgil was carefully set down on something soft. 

He looked around, trying to figure out where he was, before he gasped in surprise. He had thought Janus would take him to his own room, or maybe to Logan and Roman. Instead, he was in Janus’s bedroom. 

Not the room that made everyone lie when they entered it, that just mirrored Thomas’s surroundings. This was Janus’s own bedroom, decorated and lived in by him.

Virgil had barely ever been in here, Janus kept everything very private. He took very few people there and him and Virgil hadn’t been close for a very long time. 

It was quite an elegant room, the soft thing Virgil was sitting on was a four-poster bed, a small couch was tucked against the wall, an ornate shelf that held many boxes and knick-knacks rested next to it, and a fuzzy yellow rug was on the ground. 

Janus was staring down at him. Virgil clutched his cat a little closer in his lap, was Janus going to make him big now? Could he make him big? 

Virgil’s tummy rumbled quite audibly. He hugged his cat tighter as his face heated up. He hadn’t had dinner yet, Daddy had been going to give him some applesauce before he had to leave for work and so Virgil hadn’t gotten anything. 

Janus raised an eyebrow, still looking down at him. “Are you hungry Virgil?”

Virgil nodded, not meeting Janus’s gaze. He hadn’t noticed earlier over the excitement of getting out, but his tummy ached and he wanted something to eat. Not to mention he was pretty sleepy too. 

Janus sighed, he snapped his fingers and a plastic cup filled with what Virgil was pretty sure was apple juice, and a banana appeared in his hands. 

“Thank you!” Virgil reached his hands up, grabbing the banana in both of his hands and leaving the cup with Janus. He fumbled with the peel, Daddy always fed him and his hands were covered by mittens. 

He brought it to his mouth, he didn’t wanna ask Janus for help. Janus had already got him food, rescued him, and hidden him from Daddy, he didn’t like feeling so needy and dependant for help. 

Eventually, he split the banana open. He fidgeted with it until the sides peeled down, revealing the edible insides. He couldn’t help but look up at Janus in pride at figuring it out himself, Daddy never let him do anything by himself, he was always holding Virgil and doing it for him and telling him he was too little like it wasn’t Daddy’s fault he was like that in the first place. 

Janus looked slightly unimpressed as he kneeled on the ground, still holding the cup. 

Virgil’s eyes fell down, he took a bite of his banana. He guessed Janus didn’t care, he just wanted him to eat. 

He took bites of the banana and chewed it quickly. Soon enough, there was only a peel and the yucky brown bits left. He held them in his hand, looking around for a place to put them. 

He heard a sigh as Janus snapped away the remaining bits of banana, before the cup of juice was held in front of his face. 

He took it, holding it as carefully as he could. His hands shook a little and the mittens made him worry it would slip, but once he was sure he had it in his hands he held it up to his mouth and took little sips one at a time. He was right, it was apple juice. 

The cup wasn’t very large, and was only filled up to about halfway, so it didn’t take long for Virgil to empty it, with the only spillage being a small dribble down his chin that he’d done by accident when he’d overestimated how big of a sip he could take. 

He handed the cup back to Janus, who once again snapped it out of existence. “There. I assume you’re even more hungry now?”

Virgil nodded, his tummy was full. His cat sat in his lap and he stared up at Janus. What were they going to do now? It was probably late, numbers had started to hurt Virgil’s eyes to look at a while ago but he still had a general sense of time awareness. If Daddy was coming back from a movie night, then it probably meant it was night. 

Janus nodded back, before his eyes flitted to something behind Virgil. Virgil swiveled his head around to look at it, but it was just another clock he couldn’t read. 

Virgil rubbed his eyes, now that he was full it was making him even more sleepy. He was pretty sure the last time he slept had been hours ago, cause it was just before Daddy had given him breakfast. He cuddled his cat closer, trying to make sure he stayed awake. 

Virgil was pretty sure Janus was thinking again, probably about how he’s gonna get big again. He thinks Janus could shapeshift him back to his older body, cause he’s never been very good at shapeshifting by himself anyway. But what about his thoughts, he’s fairly sure he thought much differently than this when he was big, but maybe that will come with time. 

Virgil kept rubbing his eyes, with nothing exciting happening, all the adrenaline running off, a full tummy, and a soft bed that Virgil's sitting on, he’s really getting tired. 

Without thinking, he lets out a tiny yawn, which brings Janus’s attention back to him. He scoffs. “Yes Virgil, what a perfect time to take a nap.”

Virgil tries to stay awake, but his eyelids are droopy and everything was so soft and comfy. 

He drops to his side, curling into a little ball and cuddling his cat stuffy under his chin. Above him, he’s distantly aware of Janus muttering something about him not sleeping in his bed.

He’s picked up, and he’s really too tired to kick this time, and dropped back down on something less soft as the bed but still fairly nice, maybe it’s the small couch he saw earlier. Something fluffy is draped over him, and he lets out a content hum as a thank you. 

The lights were on, making sure the room wasn’t dark at all. And so Virgil contentedly drifted into a warm and safe sleep.

Chapter Text

Patton stalked through the halls of the mind palace. 

Roman and Logan had each gone up to their rooms hours ago, and Patton had already searched them thoroughly for his baby. 

He’d gone up to his room straight after the second movie had ended, he didn’t know what it was, he’d just been thinking about how he hadn’t given his little angel dinner yet and he must have been so hungry. 

But when he’d gotten back to check on his little one, he’d been horrified to find him missing. He could barely imagine how scared his baby must be right now, all alone, or maybe with someone who wanted to hurt him, who wanted to take him away from his daddy. 

He’d wanted to run out right there and then, gather everyone in the same place and demand to know who’d stolen his cherub, but then he wouldn’t be able to keep him. They’d take him away from him and ruin his family. So instead he swore to deal with the kidnapper personally once he found them. 

Roman and Logan were both innocent, he’d been with them when it must have happened, unless it had actually been Janus sitting on the couch with him, but no, he’d already searched both of Logan and Roman rooms, and he’d seen Janus in the hallway while coming back from the movie. 

Wait a minute, Janus! He knew that the excuse of getting back his hat from Remus had been flimsy. Janus had to have been the person who took his baby from him, the only other option was Remus, and he didn’t want to have to think what could have possibly happened to his poor scared little one in Remus’s clutches. 

He couldn’t believe Janus had taken his little muffin, he didn’t even like him! And Patton had nobody else he adored more.

It wasn’t like his baby could have escaped on his own, he had safely been put down in his crib by Patton before he’d left for the movie night he couldn’t get out of. And he refused to believe his cutie pie would ever leave him. 

Oh, his baby must have been so scared right now. Away from his daddy, with a mean snake-faced man, and far too helpless to make it home himself. Patton would have to make sure Janus knew never to do anything like this again.

While Patton knew where Janus’s room was, and that there weren’t any special defenses aside from a regular door lock. He couldn’t tell what Janus might have set up specifically to make sure he couldn’t get to his kiddo. 

He headed down the hallway towards Janus and Remus’s segment of the mindscape, it was behind a locked door at the end of the hallway.

It was probably locked, Patton couldn’t imagine why it wouldn’t be. Considering they were hiding the most important thing in the mindscape away from a proud papa bear who would do anything to get him back.

As he prepared to rattle the doorknob, he tried to come up with a plan, he couldn’t simply ask to be let in, and he wasn’t strong enough to break through the door, unless any adrenaline kicked in soon. 

He grabbed the doorknob, and was surprised when the door swung open. It was unlocked? How could they have forgotten to lock the door? 

He walked through to the darksides hallway without much fuss, closing the door behind him. Patton couldn’t believe that getting through the first door had been that easy, did Janus want him to come and take his baby back?

No, that couldn’t be it. Nobody could ever look down at his little angel and want to give him up for anything in the world, there must have been some other reason. 

He quickly headed down the hallway to the door he was pretty sure was Janus’s, since the only other bedroom door had “Remus” written on it in green paint. He attempted to be as quiet as he could, he didn’t know if either of the dark sides were awake right now. They should be, considering they were hiding Patton’s baby from him and should be expecting him to come crashing through any second now. 

He quietly grabbed the doorknob and rattled it as discreetly as he could. Locked, which made sense. It had been a mistake to not lock the door to the dark side in the first place, but Janus had been smart enough to lock his own door. 

But now, how would he get in? He certainly couldn’t knock and ask, or try to break down the door, or unlock it. Janus would hear that, and then he’d get away with Patton’s baby before Patton could get in to save him.

What could he do? He looked around, maybe there were some keys or something put somewhere, though he doubted it. Patton had learned the hard way you couldn’t leave any sort of important item out in the open, or small hands could grab it. 

His eyes drifted to Remus’s door, which he could tell wasn’t locked due to the fact there was a splintered hole where a doorknob would be. 

Could Remus get him in? He always found a way to pop up or get in everywhere, it wouldn’t surprise him if Remus had little passageways and holes to every area in the mindscape. But Remus wouldn’t let him in, Patton had no doubt in his mind that Remus had been part of stealing his little angel too. Remus was hardly ever in his room though, as Roman complained about frequently. “He never even sleeps in there, yet he insists on stinking the whole place up and keeping all his disgusting paintings and creations on display!” 

Patton would bet Remus wasn’t in his room tonight either, or he would have heard Roman complaining about it before he went to bed. 

He approached the door. Patton peered through the doorknob hole and looked around, trying to gauge if anyone was in there. 

Aside from a concerning pulsating and writhing thing chained to the corner of Remus’s bed, it looked like there was nothing Patton had to worry about. He pushed the door open, wincing when the hinges practically screeched. He had to be quiet.

While Remus wasn’t in his own room, Roman was, and Patton had to make sure he didn’t wake him up. The prince would surely have questions as to why Patton was creeping through his brother's half of the room late at night. But a quick glance to the other half of the room, sectioned off by neon pink duck tape, showed that Roman was still fast asleep. 

Patton had been right about Remus having passageways, as he could see many trapdoors and crumbly holes in the drywall through the wall, and even a few tunnels were dotted around the floor. He approached the trapdoors first, pulling on their handles. 

They all seemed to spit out at some random point in the mindscape. Right under his bed, Logan’s ceiling right above his desk, some unknown dungeon that was probably in the imagination, there was even one that managed to pop up right inside Roman’s wardrobe, though Patton didn’t know how. But none into Janus’s room. 

He moved onto the crumbling holes in the drywall, not wanting to crawl down through the holes in the floor. There were only two of them, both blocked by some sort of object in the room they led into. 

The first hole had a blanket loosely draped over it from the other side. Patton poked his head through to find a dark and dusty room, it looked to be a bedroom, though it had long been rid of any personal belongings. Spray paint, eggs, toilet paper, and other things had been strewn around the room, presumably by Remus. Patton didn’t know whose room this was, but it certainly wasn’t Janus’s, and his little one was nowhere to be seen. 

He pulled his head back into Remus’s room, turning to the second hole in the wall. It was covered by something wooden from the other side, Patton couldn’t tell what, but he could tell it was going to be strenuous to move. 

He stepped through the hole and began pushing the heavy wooden object out of his way. Patton was grateful whatever it was was on a rug, and not something wooden, metal, or even concrete. Soon he had pushed the object out enough that he could peek over it.

The room was elegant, ornate, and well-decorated. Not to mention it was decorated with mostly black, brown, and yellow. Patton grinned, this was Janus’s room! His baby was so close and Patton was so close to saving him. Oh his poor little muffin, so scared and trapped, the mean snake keeping him captive. 

Patton pushed the wooden object out further, enough so that he could slip by. Janus had surely put this here to deter him, but he wouldn’t be so easily kept away, not from his lemon drop, his little cutie pie. 

He emerged from behind the object, which was now revealed to be a dresser. And looked around frantically for his baby. He couldn’t see a cage, or anything that could hold a small infant, though he could see what he had to assume was Janus sleeping in his bed, his chest rising up and down under the covers. 

Patton couldn’t believe that Janus had fallen asleep, he had to have Patton’s baby trapped somewhere, yet he just fell asleep? What was wrong with him? Did he not think Patton would come and get him? 

Patton ignored that thought and continued looking around the room, until he saw something tiny curled up on a loveseat, chest pulsing up and down. 

Patton was overjoyed, he rushed forward and scooped his little one up into his arms, pecking him on the face over and over. His baby was wrapped in a small blanket, which Patton quickly changed to swaddle him. At that, the kiddo whined a little. Patton shushed him and stroked his hair, kissing him on the face again. “Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay kiddo, daddy’s here, daddy’s saved you from the mean evil snake, daddy’s got you all safe and sound in his arms. My little baby, I bet you were so scared without daddy weren’t you? But it’s alright, daddy’s here now. And the bad scary snake who did this is in so much trouble with daddy, daddy’s gonna make sure he never does anything like this again.” 

His angel had settled down again, fast asleep. Patton smiled, looking him over. He didn’t look injured, completely untouched and still in the same clothes as yesterday, he even still had his cute little cat cuddled in his grip. But looks were deceiving, his baby must have been terrified, and there was no telling what Janus had been planning to do to his small, terrified little Virgie. 

He turned back to Janus, still asleep in his bed, and his face dropped to a frown. He couldn’t believe it, how had Janus even found out about his precious little nugget? He had kept him hidden so well. But now Janus would tell the others, and they would take his baby away from him. He couldn’t let that happen, but what could he do?

He grabbed Janus’s wrist, making sure he wouldn’t stir. He couldn’t sink out in here, it wasn’t his bedroom, but he could do a little bit of shapeshifting. 

Just to make it easier to carry both of his kiddos home.

Chapter Text

Thomas really didn’t know what was going on. 

When Virgil first hadn’t shown up, he’d thought that maybe the side was just taking a break. He had just received a rather important email, and while the email had been rather positive, confirming that he still had a plane ticket after the flight had overbooked, Virgil had been stressing about Thomas missing the holiday he had been saving up for for a while. 

So the day afterwards, when Thomas had summoned all of his sides for something or other, it had been unexpected, but easily explained that Virgil was probably just resting from what had gone on yesterday. And so he’d moved on, he was still feeling anxiety, so there was nothing to worry about.

But according to the others Virgil then hadn’t shown up for dinner, and when Logan had gone up to check on him in the morning to make sure nothing was wrong, his bed was empty and he was nowhere to be found. Which wasn’t normal, and couldn’t be explained away very easily. 

All the other sides were fine, and they all seemed to be just as equally confused as to where Virgil could have gone. Thomas didn’t think any of them, him included, were taking it very well. 

Logan had made it clear he planned to solve the mystery of where Virgil had gone, quizzing sides he found suspicious and trying to get Thomas to look as far deep into his mind as he could, like Virgil may have gotten lost or been forced down. 

Roman seemed absolutely positive that Janus or Remus had done it, moreso the latter, and had loudly proclaimed so when it first came out Virgil was missing. And even though that had quickly been disproven, he was distrustfully glaring at them every time either side showed up, despite the fact it clearly wasn’t helping anyone. 

Patton was ignoring the issue. He would say he was sure Virgil just felt like being alone right now, or that if they checked Virgil’s room again they’d probably find him, confused as to why everyone was worried. But he sounded less and less convincing each time, and even Thomas could see he clearly didn’t believe what he said. He’d thought that Patton had gotten better at sharing his feelings, but the side was barely even showing up when Thomas called him, just popping up to confirm he was still here and say the same two suggestions before making an excuse to go to his room. 

Janus and Remus were certainly reacting differently than the others to what was happening, but Thomas was still sure they cared. 

Janus didn’t seem to care about Virgil at all, but he had admitted that the embodiment of all of Thomas’s anxiety missing was less than ideal, and he at least seemed to be worried about Patton, considering thomas could see him shooting what he thought were concerned glances Patton’s way. 

Remus had been acting just as out and loud as usual, which combined with Thomas’s added anxiety over Virgil being missing was awful. While he’d been the first suspect for the idea Virgil had been kidnapped, he’d proven he hadn’t done anything. 

And Thomas himself? He wasn’t doing well. All of his anxiety and worries were still swirling around his head, more now that an entire side was missing, and there was no Virgil for him to talk to and help calm the both of them down. Thomas had taken to summoning all of his sides at least twice a day, he’d come up with excuses at first, but now had defaulted just to the fact he didn’t want to only find out another was missing almost a day after the fact. 

He’d tried to stay level headed, as Logan had advised him to, but it was hard and frustrating how he couldn’t do anything to try and help find Virgil aside from trying to summon him every day. 

Currently Patton, Logan and Roman were hanging around Thomas while he ate his breakfast. It was around midday, which wasn’t a great time to be having the first meal of the day, but it was better to wake up late than to pull an all-nighter. Probably. 

He’d tried summoning the other three earlier, but Janus and Remus were no-shows, and Virgil continued to be missing. 

Thomas was still a little bit half-asleep, and he wasn’t really paying attention to what the three were talking about, but he was sure he’d get brought back in if anything important got brought up. 

As he finished his oatmeal, a large bang came from under the table. Thomas flinched as his table continued jumping up and down, though his bowl remained untouched with all of his food still inside. 

Logan, Patton and Roman had all ceased their talking too, staring at the thing under the table. At the position Thomas was at, he couldn’t see it, but his sleepy and delirious mind had panicked and assumed some sort of rabid animal or robber had decided to make a ruckus to scare him. 

Rather than looking freaked out however, Patton just looked a little uncomfortable, Logan looked annoyed, and Roman looked disgusted, so Thomas could pretty easily guess what, or who, had popped up under his table. 

Remus crawled out, covered in some sort of muck, it was brightly colored, and it looked a little like it was moving out of the corner of Thomas’s eye. He grinned and pleasantly waved as he scampered to his feet, taking pleasure in kicking at everyone as he did. 

Thomas pointedly tried to ignore Remus, he knew it wasn’t healthy, but somehow everyone had managed to convince the duke not to take advantage of Thomas’s state while Virgil was missing, and Thomas didn’t feel like “Accepting it and waiting for it to tire out” not when he was already tired and didn’t have the energy to wait.

Remus however, didn’t seem to want to be ignored. He jumped and slid onto the table, which finally knocked Thomas’s bowl off, and continued to grin up at him. “Hi Thomas! Any news on our precious Virgil? You found where I’ve hidden his body yet?”

It was a joke. Logan had assured Thomas that sides couldn’t die, and if Virgil somehow had, there wouldn’t be a body to bury due to the fact that none of them were actually physical beings, which was very comforting. But no matter how much of a joke it was, everyone around the room still tensed up. 

Roman was the first to speak, his voice full of malice. “Unless you plan on actually helping look for Virgil, leave. Nobody wants you here anyway.” 

Remus rolled his eyes, staring incredulously at Thomas like “This guy?” Thomas just got up and moved further away from him. Remus sighed. “Fine. I was hoping we could engage in some witty banter, but clearly all of you are so busy getting fisted by the sticks up your butts that we can’t have any fun. I do actually have something related to Virgil’s disappearance I feel like sharing.”

If all of them hadn’t been staring at Remus before, they certainly were now. And no more looks of annoyance or unease, everyone was staring at Remus with genuinely shocked and serious expressions. Patton was the first to speak. “What? How? Did you-”

Remus interrupted Patton, waving him off like he was a nosy reporter. “Please, please. Keep all questions to a minimum, it’s not like I’m handing you a map to the emo’s burial site or anything. I was just looking around the mindscape this morning, and guess what?”

After a few seconds of silence, it became clear Remus was actually waiting for them to guess. He sat patiently on the ground, before Thomas mumbled out “Um.. You found a note left by Virgil? Telling us where he is?”

Remus shook his head, wagging his finger in Thomas’s direction as a no. “Nope! The last note I got from Virgil detailing why he’d left I got eight years ago, and I doubt that’s what we’re looking for! You got four more tries before I just tell you!”

That was good. It would take forever to guess if Remus just made them keep going and going. But Logan already looked frustrated enough to snap at Remus’s antics. “Remus we do not have time for this, if you have information about Virgil I implore you to share it.”

Remus sticks his tongue out, blowing a raspberry in Logan’s direction. “God, all of you are boring. Fine.” He goes silent for a second, doing a drumroll on the floor. “I couldn’t find Janus this morning.” 

There’s a noticeable silence before Roman prompts “And..?” 

“And that means that someone is picking us off! Virgil didn’t run off or get lost, somebody took him! And now they’ve taken Janus too!” Remus grinned, he seemed thrilled at the idea that some mysterious entity in Thomas’s mind was kidnapping sides. 

Thomas was a bit skeptical of Remus’s claim. “Are you sure Janus isn’t just.. Out Looking for Virgil, maybe? Or he’s just not hanging around you right now?”

Remus shook his head. “Please, there’s no way that snakey would go and search for Virgil, he barely cares he’s gone. And I’ve already checked every room in the mind palace, summon him if you don’t believe me.”

Obliging him, Thomas held out his hand and mentally tried to make Janus appear. Even though Janus could very easily ignore being summoned by Thomas, being his embodiment Deceit after all, he’d been humoring him for the past couple of days. But right now.. Nothing. 

He tried again, and he could see Patton, Logan and Roman all trying too. He looked to Remus, who was currently trying to extract one of his kitchen tiles with his feet. When he noticed Thomas staring at him, he shrugged like “I told you so”. 

Thomas needed to make sure he could still lie, maybe something completely different had happened to Janus. “The color of grass is pink.” He sighed in relief, it was pretty basic, but he wouldn’t have been able to lie at all if Janus had ducked out or done something similar. 

Logan addressed Remus again. “So Remus, you believe this to be proof that some sort of monster or aspect of Thomas’s subconscious has kidnapped Janus and Virgil?”

Remus shook his head, surveying everyone else. “Nah, I don’t think that’s it.” He looked around again, squinting at everyone in a mock suspicious fashion. “I think it’s one of us.”

Chapter Text

Janus wondered why Patton hadn’t come to get him yet. The clock on the bedside table read twelve past eleven, and when he’d woken up it had been somewhere around seven thirty in the morning. 

He’d already dressed himself in the outfit Patton had laid out on his bed. A white collared shirt, yellow sweater, dark jeans, and some yellow converse. No gloves, he’d noticed. He doubted Patton realized what he’d done in taking them away from him. Which annoyed him, but he’d have to deal with it until he managed to get out of here. 

Despite the fact he had no gloves, his left hand looked suspiciously normal. Usually without his gloves his left hand looked more like a scale covered claw then anything human, but as of now it just looked like a regular human hand with scales on it. It was probably an effect of whatever shapeshifting magic had been used on him, but it felt strange.

The room he’d been locked in was beyond dismal, it looked like Patton had made the most basic teenager room he could muster before slapping a black, white and yellow color scheme over it. Though he supposed it had to have been made on short notice.

There was a bed, bedside table, desk, desk chair, large bookshelf, and a table that held a terrarium. There was no snake or any sort of reptile in there, it either was for show, or Patton hadn’t managed to find one yet. 

The desk had what looked to be stationary and workbooks set up. Janus didn’t know what they could be for, as there was no way for Patton to try and make him learn any sort of schooling, they had to be for show. 

The bookshelf was surprisingly filled with real books, mostly pre-teen mysteries, but Janus had to admit it was impressive Patton had managed to get all of these all in one night, if he had only been planning this for one night. He had to assume Patton had, as he certainly hadn’t seen any more rooms while he was looking through that fake house. 

His fingers skimmed the book spines, before he pulled one out at random. He looked down at the title. “Reasons why lying is totally uncool for young teenage boys and multiple ways to combat a loose tongue.” 

……Janus slotted the book back into the bookshelf. As he did, he heard a door lock click open. 

He turned to the now open door, seeing Patton standing there and smiling at him. He seemed pleased Janus was already dressed. “Good morning kiddo! Sorry it took me so long to come and get you, but it’s nice to see you’re already up and at em!” 

Janus stared at him, before he changed it to a neutral expression. “I figured there was no point in waiting, especially since my outfit had already been put out anyway.” 

Patton smiled wider and put his hand on Janus’s shoulder in a strong clamp. “How helpful! I was worried you’d be an uncooperative Nancy, didn’t wanna make the baby wait any longer for breakfast.” 

Janus looked up at him, trying to appear unbothered and okay, the quicker he could gain Patton’s trust the better. Patton began to lead him out of the room, almost pushing Janus out by the strong grip he had on his shoulder. “We can’t have breakfast until the whole family’s there of course, I’m making pancakes for you and me!”

Janus walked down the hallway, looking back he found that there was a new door in the hallway, right next to Virgil’s. It hadn’t been there when he’d first found this place, but it was there now. 

Patton continued to lead him down the hallway, through the kitchen, and into the dining room. Janus hadn’t seen it when he had been digging around, as he’d had bigger things on his mind, but it wasn’t much to look at. A large table with a fruit patterned tablecloth and five chairs and one highchair sitting around it, it reminded Janus slightly of the idealistic nostalgia that Patton’s room embodied. 

There were two place settings with water and cutlery, but no food. And the highchair had a bottle of milk, a bowl of some sort of muck that Janus assumed was apple sauce, and a plastic spoon. Virgil was sitting in the highchair. 

His eyes were rimmed red and he was kicking his legs back and forth, he was strapped to the highchair and didn’t look very happy about it. 

Patton cleared his throat. “Virgie, Daddy’s back, and I’ve got someone with me~” He squeezed Janus’s shoulder tighter, surely bruising it.

Virgil’s eyes snapped up to them. Janus saw him freeze, his face a shade of red, before he went back to staring down at his applesauce with a small pout, refusing to meet Janus’s eyes. 

Patton chuckled, he finally let go of Janus’s shoulder to walk forward and ruffle Virgil’s hair, kissing his forehead while he did it. “Well somebody's feeling shy this morning, how adorable~” Janus rubbed his shoulder, avoiding looking down at the display. He slipped into the seat opposite Virgil. They both sat next to the head of the table, where Janus assumed Patton was going to sit. 

Patton had let go of Virgil, and was now standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He addressed Janus, staring down with his eyes uncomfortably fixed on him. “I’ve already got the pancake batter made, why don’t me and you go and flip some pancakes.” 

Janus tried to figure out how to decline. He wanted to talk to Virgil in private, or at least without Patton hovering nearby. “But I was hoping I could help Virgil with his breakfast, since he can’t do it himself.” 

Patton chuckled, he seemed to consider it for a while, before shaking his head. “As cute as that is, I feel me and you need some Father-son bonding time! You can spend some time with Virgil while daddy’s at work.” 

Janus nodded, getting up and following after Patton into the kitchen. He turned back to look at Virgil, who was still staring downward, not acknowledging him or Patton. 

The kitchen had a similar air to the dining room and Patton’s room. It was cluttered and covered in knick-knacks. Janus could see decorated spice rack sat next to the oven, a hook holding up too many cheesy aprons to count, and a Winnie the pooh cookie jar hidden up on top of the fridge. 

Patton handed him one of the earlier mentioned aprons, and Janus obediently put it on and tied it up around his waist. 

True to his word, Janus could see that Patton had a bowl of pancake batter sitting on the counter. It was accompanied by a bag of chocolate chips, a large bottle of whipped cream, a container of cherries, a few sliced bananas on a plate, and tins of maple and golden syrup. They were definitely going to be ornate pancakes. 

Grinning, Patton directed Janus to stand in front of the stove, which he did. Behind him, he could hear Patton opening drawers and such. “Janus Honey, would you mind putting up the left stovetop to five or six?” 

Janus nodded, turning up the dial to six. “Of course. Do you need any help getting anything?” He could still hear clattering coming from the cupboards behind him, Patton had never been an organized person, and it didn’t surprise Janus that the in-character klutziness remained even through this kidnapping family scheme. 

“Oh no thank you darling, your old man can get everything down himself, but it’s so nice of you to ask.” As if on cue, Janus heard a cupboard slam shut. Patton popped up next to him, holding a saucepan in one hand and a spatula and ladle in the other. 

The saucepan was placed on the turned on stovetop, and a spatula was shoved into Janus’s hands. He watched as Patton ladled up pancake batter and dumped it into the saucepan, sprinkling chocolate chips all over. “You flip it whenever you feel like it, kay kiddo? These pancakes are gonna be your vision.” 

The pancakes were most decidedly not Janus’s vision. While he certainly wasn’t a bad chef, and could definitely be trusted to make pancakes, everytime he didn’t flip a pancake over in the allotted time that Patton was okay with, the side began to make comments about how it might burn, or how he’d flipped it even though it was still goopy on one side.

Janus had picked up on the pattern and had just started flipping the pancakes every three minutes according to the clock. This worked well enough. 

The conversation between him and Patton had been completely taken over as well. Patton had raved about all the things they were going to do as a family, how he could probably give Janus some cooking lessons, and how glad he was that he had an “Older kid” to help out. 

Janus had simply agreed with everything Patton said and threw in a few compliments every now and then. Asking Patton about what he could teach him to cook, or how he could cook, or what games they could play for family game nights. Patton had grinned at that. 

Soon enough there were two plates stacked with chocolate chip pancakes. Patton told Janus how to decorate them. Drizzle maple and golden syrup, then dollop the whipped cream on top, then stick banana slices in the whipped cream, sprinkle some more chocolate chips over them, and finally stick a cherry on top. 

Janus felt Patton put his hand on his shoulder again. He turned to look up at him and saw Patton smiling warmly down at him. “You know kiddo, I’m so glad we got to make pancakes together. I’m so proud of you.” 

Janus smiled back, purposefully leaning into the touch. “Thank you. That means a lot dad.”

Chapter Text

The pancakes were honestly quite bland. Janus was sure Patton was enjoying them, he kept saying as much, but the texture was spongy in the middle and chrisp on the outside. While someone who could taste the chocolate, syrup, cherries, bananas, and pancake itself probably could get past that in favour of the flavour, Janus couldn’t, because he didn’t have taste buds. 

Next to Janus, Patton was gushing about how great everything was. About how well the pancakes were made, and how happy he was that both of his “Kiddos” were up and ready to face the day. Patton seemed to have taken Janus being cooperative and listening to him as a sign that he was completely onboard with everything he was doing. He’d even brought up how happy he was that Janus and Virgil didn’t have to “Pretend” to be adults anymore. 

Speaking of Virgil, he’d refused to look at Janus the whole meal. For almost an hour straight he’d just been staring down at the bowl of applesauce sitting on the high chair tray. Patton had occasionally taken a break from blabbering on at Janus to patronizingly scoop up applesauce and feed it to Virgil, but even then he kept his eyes fixed on anywhere other than the two other people in the room. 

Janus was waiting for a moment alone with Virgil. He wanted to talk with him. He knew that Patton had still shown up multiple times in the day when he only had Virgil, and so he had to assume Patton would still have to leave them alone for a bit to go and talk to Thomas. 

As Janus finished the pancakes, Patton cleared his throat. “So boys, what should we do today? Daddy will have to leave for a short work thing soon, but we still have plenty of time to do something fun together!” He grinned as he stared at the both of them.

Janus swallowed his mouthful and thought to himself. He imagined Patton probably already had an idea he was just waiting for prompting to share, and then they’d end up just doing that. He feigned being stumped, shrugging and looking up at Patton with sheepish eyes. “I can’t think of anything.. Do you have any ideas dad?” 

Patton’s grin widened, Janus had been right in that this had been the reaction he was waiting for. “Well, I was thinking maybe we should all play a board game! We’ve got so many in the lounge I’m sure we can find one for everyone to enjoy! How about you go and put your dirty dishes away and then pick out a game while I finish feeding the little guy his breakfast?” 

Janus nodded. He stood up, holding his empty plate and cup in his hand, and walked over to the sink in the kitchen. He dropped them in and spied a pair of yellow dishwashing gloves sitting on the counter. His hands inched forwards to snag them and hide them in his pockets, before he heard Patton call out. “Darling! Have you put your dishes away yet?”

He turned away from the kitchen. Patton had either noticed him or just had great intuition. He walked through the dining room, nodding to Patton. “I’m just picking out a board game out now.” 

There was an impressive stack of board games in the lounge. They were stuck behind a baby gated cupboard, but Janus could see through the glass. He tried to think of a board game that wouldn’t take too long to play, and wouldn’t be too uncomfortable. He spied the cardboard box of hungry hungry hippos, and figured that it was short and easy enough. 

Just as he finished setting it up, Patton entered cradling Virgil closely to his chest. He now had a pacifier in his mouth, and a crocheted raccoon beanie with ears on his head. Patton smiled at the game Janus had set up, bouncing Virgil a little to make him look at it. “Look baby, Janus has set up a fun game for all of us to play!”

Virgil predictably didn’t look very thrilled about that. He still refused to look anyone in the eyes, just hanging as limply as he could in Patton’s arms. Once Patton set him down on the ground in front of the blue hippo, he just stared at it. 

Patton situated himself in front of the pink hippo next to Virgil, and Janus sat down at the yellow one. The red balls were poured in, and Janus watched as Patton overly carefully placed the yellow ball exactly in the middle. He began a drumroll on the ground, grinning as Janus pretended to get ready, and Virgil seemed as uninterested as he could look. “Three… Two… One… Go!!”

Janus began vigorously beating the hippo stick down, trying to pretend he cared about this stupid game. He could see Patton doing the same in a more carefree and amused way, and Virgil had just grabbed the hippo stick and seemed content not to do anything. Janus could understand that, frustrating as it was. 

Soon enough the game was over. Janus being the only one who had actually been trying had gained the coveted yellow ball and most of the red ones too. And the next three rounds proved the same.

As he was about to ask Patton if they could pick out another game to play, the side got a troubled look on his face. He sheepishly grinned at Virgil and Janus before picking Virgil up and pulling Janus to his feet. “Sorry kiddos, but Daddy just got let know he has to come to work now. So let’s get the both of you to your bedrooms.” 

It was smart of Patton to keep them both in their bedrooms while he was out, probably to stop him or somehow Virgil from finding some sort of escape route or key. But Janus needed to talk to Virgil alone, and this would probably be his only chance. He tried to seem as wholesome as possible, staring up at Patton with an “I just had an idea” sort of grin. “Hey dad? Why don’t I stay with Virgil in his room? That way if he gets upset about you being gone, I can be there! And we can have some bonding time like me and you did this morning?” 

Patton seemed to think for a bit. Janus could tell he was unsure, but he hoped he had done enough acting to at least make Patton think he was a willing participant in this. Sure enough, Patton nodded, grinning sappily. “I think that sounds like a great idea, Janus.” He began to patronizingly coo down at Virgil. “Do you think that sounds like a great idea? Spending some time with Janus so you don’t get scared while Daddy’s away? It is a great idea, yes it is, yes it is!” 

Janus looked away as Patton continued to condescending coo and aww while leading them to Virgil’s bedroom. Soon he grabbed the doorknob and took Virgil in, Janus following behind him. The room looked the exact same to when he had last seen it, stuffed animals, crib/cage for a bed, disgustingly pastel for a room made for Virgil to sleep in. 

Patton chuckled, before suddenly thrusting Virgil into Janus’s arms. He grinned. “There we go, isn’t that nice? Aww this is so cute, I’ll have to take a photo when I’m back from work.”

Janus nodded, trying to hold Virgil in a slightly more respectful way then Patton had. Patton smiled and waved at the both of them, kissing Janus’s forehead and Virgil’s head. “Daddy will see you soon, have fun kiddo’s!” And then the door closed and Janus heard a small click, locking them inside. 

As soon as Patton was gone, Virgil started kicking him, clearly wanting to be let down. Janus obliged, sitting down cross legged and putting Virgil down opposite him. When Virgil still didn’t look at him, he sighed. “Virgil, can you not acknowledge me please?”

Virgil still wouldn’t look at him, grabbing onto the carpet. Janus wanted to make a comment about how maybe Virgil shouldn’t be distressed at being kidnapped and treated this way by Patton if he seemed so perfectly content acting like an actual helpless toddler, but upsetting Virgil probably wasn’t the way to make him talk. “Virgil, can you... not try and be.. not..? helpful.” 

Janus silently cursed. He knew this would happen sooner or later, without his gloves, his lies were getting jumbled, and he was mentally having to think out the opposite of everything he said before he said it. “Virgil… Don’t talk to me like a.. Not an adult right now.” 

It would just be easier to tell the truth at this point, but that would also cause Janus an annoying amount of discomfort, and he wasn’t sure if it was worth it or not. After a few more attempts to make Virgil look at him, he relented. At the very least he’d be itchy for a day and shed a little earlier than usual. He took a deep breath, preparing to tell the truth. 

“Virgil. If you don’t want to stay here for longer than we’d both like, please cooperate with me.”

Chapter Text

Virgil stared up at Janus. He couldn’t tell if Virgil believed or was listening to anything he said, but Janus certainly had his attention. Speaking in truth instead of tongues had certainly seemed serious enough that Virgil could be bothered to look at him. 

“Virgil, I know you’re upset about how you’re being treated, and that Patton managed to find you again, but if you don’t cooperate we’re both going to be stuck here a lot longer than preferable.” Virgil pouted, his bottom lip jutting out as he continued to stare up at Janus. He had been acting so much more childish and helpless than he usually did, even when Patton wasn’t around. 

He had been doing this when Janus had first found him in Patton’s room, and when Janus had taken him out of Patton’s room, and now he was doing it too. Janus had to assume Patton had done something to his head, which made Janus wonder if eventually he was going to start thinking and acting like a teenager. It wouldn’t be as debilitating as thinking like an infant, but having mood swings and puberty wouldn’t be fun things to go through again. 

It was frustrating how Virgil was acting, even though Janus knew it most likely wasn’t his fault. He kept having to stop himself from making snarky remarks about Virgil’s childish reactions, since making him insecure and upset probably wouldn’t convince him that Janus was on his side. 

Aside from how Virgil looked like he might cry, he was also picking and squeezing at his stuffed cat and clothes, a trait he had had since as long as Janus had known him. They stared at each other for a solid minute before Virgil timidly mumbled. “..You let daddy get me..” He sniffled a bit before continuing. “...why?” 

Janus blinked incredulously. Did Virgil… think that he had let Patton take them both? He knew that they didn’t have a good relationship, and Virgil’s mind certainly wasn’t working properly right now, but he couldn’t believe that he had immediately assumed Janus was in on this. Or worse yet, let himself be turned into a pre-teen. “I didn’t let Patton get us, he snuck in and took both of us. I don’t know how he got in, I locked the door and set it to wake me up if anybody opened it.” 

He did have a few ideas as to how Patton managed to sneak into his room, his main one was Remus’s tunnels. No matter how many of them Janus found, blocked and then got rid of, he almost always made a new one right after. It’s not like it was hard to get into Remus’s room, he never locked it, you could get in from Roman’s side, and if you managed to find one of his trap doors or holes you could just easily crawl through to the other side. And once Patton was in Janus’s bedroom he would’ve been easily able to sink out and take Virgil and Janus with him. 

Either that or Patton’s will over the mindscape was a lot more powerful than he had ever let on. Which due to their situation, Janus hoped wasn’t true, but considering recent events he wouldn’t be surprised if it was.

Virgil gripped his stuffed cat tighter. “Bein’ so nice to daddy.. I didn’t know.” He had averted his eyes again, but this time it seemed more out of awkwardness or guilt than ignoring Janus. 

Janus sighed. “I’m acting nice and complying with him because if I gain his trust and make him think I’m into this, he’ll give me more freedom and lower his guard. I’ve been being polite all day and he’s already let me spend time with you unsupervised despite the fact we’re obviously plotting an escape plan.” His wrist began to ache and itch, and Janus could already tell if he looked down there would be an ugly rash forming. 

That was the drawback to not speaking in tongues. Despite the fact that it made him easier to understand in dire situations, the mindscape almost seemed to punish him for it. Whenever he told the trust for more than a minute or so, ugly rashes would pop up all over his body, and most would turn into new scales he had to treat. The worst had been the giant patch of scales currently on his face that had arisen after an entire week of not telling a single untrust when he was a child, and from then on he’d known better. As much as he wanted to switch back to untruths right now to stop the rash from spreading, he would just have to satisfy himself by scratching at it furiously with his other hand.

Virgil nodded, though he obviously noticed Janus itching himself like a madman by the way his eyes not so subtly drifted towards Janus’s wrist. He didn’t make a comment, but he looked strangely worried. Janus ignored him and continued on. “I need you to start being nicer to Patton too. The more he believes he’s actually got a happy perfect little family, the easier it will be for him to slip up.” 

“No!” Cried Virgil, at Janus’s suggestion he’d tightened his grip around the cat so hard he looked like he was choking it. “I don’t wanna!” His voice was whiny, and he kicked his feet a little. Janus internally grimaced, he didn’t have the time to deal with something like this, he had no clue when Patton would be getting back from “Work”. 

Janus slowly reached out and patted Virgil’s arm, trying to think of ways to make sure he didn’t actually start crying. “I know it’s annoying, especially since he’s being so smug about it, but Patton barely lets you out of his arms right now Virgil. If you act more like an actual infant or toddler or however old he’s made you, he’ll probably leave you alone with me more often. It doesn’t have to be a lot, maybe just actually look happy when he speaks to you, or coo and babble when it feels appropriate, just to sell his illusion.”

This did not make Virgil calm down in the slightest. Janus could see some tears beginning to well up in his eyes, and Virgil’s tone got even whinier. “No! I don’t wanna! Daddy picks me up an makes me do silly things! I don’t like it!” At that, the tears began to fall, and the stuffed cat was thoroughly choked to death. 

Janus had absolutely no clue what to do. Virgil had only ever been a big cryer when they were very young, and Janus had no clue how he’d managed to calm him down back then. Once they were older Virgil had mostly just kept to himself when he was upset, and Janus had been fine letting him process his own emotions without bothering anybody. Virgil was still whining and blubbering about things Patton made him do, even though what he was saying was barely comprehensible at all. Tears were streaming down his face and Janus cursed whatever was making Virgil like this. Normally Virgil would have certainly put up a fight but in the end conceded to Janus’s plan because he knew it would work, this did not appear to be the plan for Virgil right now. 

As much as he wanted to shush Virgil, or forcibly shut him up, that would probably only make him way more upset. Instead, Janus awkwardly reached out and began stroking Virgil’s back. He’d done this once for Patton when he’d been crying a few months ago, and it seemed to have worked alright then. Rather than making Virgil calm down like Janus hoped, he flinched and moved away from Janus’s touch, though his sobs did begin to quiet down. 

Janus took his hand back. That clearly didn’t work, do what else could he do? Lie? Lying usually worked, but he’d break Virgil’s trust when the side quickly found out he was lying. But having Virgil be upset at him was better than Patton coming back and finding his “sensitive baby” sobbing uncontrollably. So lying it was. 

He held out his hands in surrender. “Hey, Hey look at me. I was just kidding, it was only an idea I was bouncing off of you Virgil, you don’t need to get all upset. I’ll figure out a way to make Patton way more happy and fulfilled in this without including you in it, alright? I’ll even come up with something to make him put you down more, if you please, stop crying.” He repeated the sentiment a few times until he was sure Virgil had heard and understood it. 

Virgil’s sobs turn to whines that turn into hiccups, and the tears slowly stop dripping down his face. Now that he’s calmed down, he goes a beetroot red, hiding his face in his hands. Janus would probably be embarrassed too if he had practically thrown a tantrum in front of somebody. He can hear Virgil mumbling something behind his hands, but Janus can’t quite hear what. “Sorry?” 

Virgil splayed his fingers out and repeated what he’d said. “Sorry… Didn’t mean too..” He looked truly ashamed and resourceful for starting to cry, which led Janus to believe that Virgil’s control over himself and his emotions had been chipped down to almost nothing. He could slightly understand why Virgil didn’t seem all that keen to act like an adoring son around someone who had completely taken away his sense of self. 

“It’s fine Virgil, at least you stopped crying before Patton showed up.” And Patton would be showing up any second now, Janus was sure of that. “Dry your eyes completely, we can’t have Patton knowing.. that happened or he might get even more overprotective and cuddly.” 

At that minor threat Virgil had begun to pat his mittens against his eyes, drying them completely while Janus listened for footsteps. He hadn’t gotten to form a plan due to the outburst, but at least he’d managed to convince Virgil he wasn’t working with Patton and get him on his side. He was slightly concerned Virgil might not be on his side again after realizing he had completely lied about making Patton leave him alone a bit more, but Janus had always lied to make situations better, so at least he probably wouldn’t be surprised. 

As Virgil finished drying up his eyes and returning his breathing to normal, Janus heard the unmistakable sound of a door opening and closing, and somebody walking down the hallway. He locked eyes with Virgil, who had tensed slightly and shoved the pacifier he had taken out to talk back into his mouth. Janus grabbed a random toy, some colored blocks, and scattered them around in front of the both of them to make it look like he had been playing with Virgil. 

The door swung open and Patton’s cheery face grinned down at them. “Daddy’s back! I’m so lucky that work was short, I’ve barely gotten any time to spend with my darling kiddos today~” He stepped forward, opening his arms for a hug that Janus reciprocated warmly. Then he walked past Janus and scooped Virgil up into his arms, cradling him and speaking in that annoying baby talk people did that Janus couldn’t stand. “Did you have fun with Janus? Did daddy’s two precious boy’s have fun together? Did Janus play lots of games with you? Did my baby have fun with all of his toys and games and Janus?” 

Janus could understand why Virgil neglected to act like he enjoyed Patton’s company. 

As Patton patronizingly and condescendingly played with Virgil in his arms, the side began to squirm. Janus rolled his eyes, he had hoped Virgil wouldn’t do this, but maybe he did just like being difficult. But instead of just squirming in general, it soon became clear Virgil was making little grabby hands towards Janus. Patton hummed in confusion. “What about Janus, my cherub?”

Patton leaned down, holding Virgil in front of Janus’s face. Virgil reached out and put his hands around Janus’s neck, holding him so tightly Janus thought Virgil might be trying to murder him as an escape strategy. He had no clue what Virgil was doing, but Patton chuckled. “Oh! Do you want Janus to hold you? Must have been some good bonding time!” And without another word Virgil was left fully in Janus’s grip. Janus adjusted to hold him against his chest, and Virgil released him from the chokehold. 

Patton cooed and pulled out a camera from his pocket, snapping a few photos as Janus adjusted Virgil in his arms to be more comfortable. “Isn’t this cute! How about you hold little Virgie for the rest of the day, Janus? It’s adorable!” 

Janus nodded. “Of course.” He looked down at Virgil, who looked remarkably more comfortable in his arms than Patton’s. Janus supposed this was one way to make Patton stop fussing over Virgil all the time, he had to at least respect his quick thinking.

Chapter Text

As it turned out, Virgil didn’t really do anything. 

Janus had been holding him for almost the entire day, and he mostly just rested his head against Janus’s chest and looked around passively. It was strange just having this warm weight against his chest that occasionally wriggled and yawned, but Janus could deal with it. 

To Virgil’s credit, when he was doing something, he was being friendly with Patton. During lunch he’d actually giggled at the both of them when Patton had done the airplane bit, and when he’d been put in a baby cage for “playtime” he’d made a small effort to stack some blocks, so Janus had to thank him at least for that.

Currently however, Virgil was resting with his head tucked just under Janus’s chin. Patton had turned on Matilda almost an hour ago and they were all “watching it as family” together. Janus hadn’t particularly been paying attention to the plot or acting, he was more trying to think about how he could get him and Virgil out of here, or at least send a message to Roman, Remus, or Logan. Though he was having some trouble over focusing on that too because of the fire in his shoulder. 

His truth rash had settled on a place to burn and itch, and it was his left shoulder. He probably could have ignored it until he was alone, he’d done so before, if it weren’t for the fact that Patton had wrapped his arm around Janus and pulled him close, affectionately massaging his shoulder as they watched the movie. With the constant friction of being rubbed and pet, not scratching his skin raw felt almost unbearable. 

As the movie neared its end, Patton patted Janus’s shoulder resolutely and cleared his throat. “Mind getting off me kiddo? I should go and run a bath before it gets past anyones bedtime.” 

Janus nodded, he wanted to point out that Patton had made him cuddle against him first, but it was mostly the pain in his shoulder talking. “Yeah, sure.” He scooched away from Patton and leaned against the other side of the couch, adjusting Virgil to make sure he wasn’t in an uncomfortable position. 

Patton got up and walked off, leaving Janus and Virgil watching as Miss Honey signed the adoption papers. Janus wondered if this was how Patton saw himself, as the Miss Honey who “saved” him and Virgil from having to act so grown-up and adult, that was the moral of the book wasn’t it? It didn’t matter, but it was an interesting comparison. He heard water beginning to run from somewhere else in the house. 

He felt Virgil shuffle around in his arms and looked down, the side was now staring up at him, an unenthusiastic look on his face. Janus set Virgil down in his lap, Patton would have an aneurysm if he came back into the room to heaven forbid see Virgil sitting on the couch, and raised an eyebrow questioningly. “What’s wrong?” 

Virgil spat the pacifier out, and grumbled under his breath. “I hate baths” Janus nodded in acknowledgment, he quite enjoyed baths in general, and this one would give him a proper chance to look at the rash and relieve himself of the pain for a bit, but he could see why they must be horrible for Virgil while he was like this. Or at the very least humiliating. 

He hummed in sympathy, unsure of how to respond. Eventually Janus sighed. “I’ll come up with a way to get us both out as quickly as I can. Unless there’s anything you think you should tell me I’ll look around while you’re in the bath.” Patton would be too preoccupied then to keep an eye on Janus.

Virgil crinkled up his face like he was thinking before saying. “Don’t let Daddy find you in his bedroom.” He thought for another couple seconds before adding. “Or the front door. Then you’ll get in trouble.” Janus nodded, he didn’t have to ask how Virgil knew that. Virgil had been here completely on his own for roughly a week, Janus doubted he spent the entire time just being compliant with what Patton said. 

As Virgil stuck the pacifier back in his mouth, Patton walked through the door. The rushing water noise had stopped so Janus had to assume the bath was now full. Patton walked up and rubbed him on the head. “Mind passing Virgie over now Hon? You’ve been a giant help holding him for me today but Daddy can do this part.” 

“Oh, yeah. Let me just..” Janus moved Virgil around in his grip for a little bit before he placed him in Patton’s outstretched arms. Patton quickly moved to cradle him against his chest and bounced him a little, chuckling as Virgil instinctively gripped onto his shirt to stay upright. He booped Virgil’s nose. “Don’t worry baby, Daddy won’t let you fall.” Janus rolled his eyes. 

Patton walked off with Virgil in his arms, presumably back to the bathroom. Janus didn’t know how long baths usually took with a toddler, but he’d have to be quick no matter what. First he should look around for anything Patton might have been hiding. He doubted anything would be in his or Virgil’s “Rooms”, and the kitchen, bathroom, dining room, or lounge didn’t seem too lucky either, but the bedroom Patton had set up for himself would surely be the place for any sort of key or written down code. 

He crept down the hallway, past the currently locked bathroom and other bedrooms until he got to Patton’s. It was right next to the stained glass front door. Though the glass was murky and colored, Janus could just barely see something through it, the outline of a few furniture items in Patton’s actual bedroom. It was infuriating being so close to a place he could easily escape from and yet being still stuck here, it was almost like Patton was mocking them by making it see through. 

Trying to ignore the door, he quietly opened Patton’s bedroom door and slipped through. Though he’d already looked through it when he’d first discovered this place there might have been something he’d glossed over before that he’d notice now, considering he had more context about what was actually going on. 

It was still decorated the same as last time. Bed, wardrobe, stool in the corner, crap ton of photos of a kid Janus now knew to be Virgil. The only noticeable difference was that now there were a few photos of Janus hung up as well, though Janus had no clue when Patton had had the time for setting them up. Though as he looked closer he noticed something else, Patton’s bedside table drawer, wardrobe, and also a chest sitting by his bedside table were all locked up with small bronze padlocks. 

They certainly hadn’t been when Janus had first looked through here, which meant that now that Patton had someone in the house who was tall enough to reach the locks and drawers, he wanted to make sure nobody could open them. No matter, Janus could pick locks, whatever new objects Patton had put in the drawers couldn’t be kept from him that easily. 

He reached out to see how heavy and sturdy the locks were, and immediately recoiled in pain. They had burned him? He looked down to his hands, aside from his twitching fingers nothing looked injured. More cautiously this time, Janus reached out with his right hand, and recoiled once again. It had been even more painful this time, stung like one of Remus’s handmade wasps. But again his hand seemed completely fine. 

Janus could already tell that without a pair of gloves this lock, or any of the others, wouldn’t be coming off anytime soon. He stepped away, quickly slipping out of Patton’s room again, there was no point in staying and risking getting caught if there was no way for Janus to look through anything. 

What could he do now? He should use any unsupervised time to try and figure a way out. He couldn’t sink out, he’d tried when he’d first woken up, couldn’t shapeshift, and couldn’t summon any objects or sides, so whatever he did he’d have to get the way to do it from around this place. And if he couldn’t find any way to get out, what could he do then?

He distantly thought back to a conversation he’d had with Patton almost two months ago. He’d entered Patton’s room unannounced looking for something, and had completely startled the other side. 

~~~~~~~

Janus helped Patton to his feet, pulling him up with a few of his hands. “I don’t apologize Patton, I didn’t assume you wouldn’t be in here right now.” He was aware that made him sound a little more suspicious, but he truly only was in here because Remus had set an annoying amount of intrusive thoughts loose around the mindscape, and Janus wanted to round them up before they affected everyone else. 

Patton chuckled, running his hand through his hair and waving Janus off. “Oh it’s fine, really. Everyone's welcome to come into my room whenever they want! I’d just like it if you knocked and waited for me to answer, and if I don’t, you’re free to let yourself in and wait for me!” 

Janus raised his eyebrow. He couldn’t tell if Patton was just being overly nice, or if he really did have the slightly foolish mantra of “My door is always open.” 

At his look, Patton doubled down. “No, really! I can’t think of a day in the past couple of years someone hasn’t just come in! It’s no issue at all, no matter what you need!” 

~~~~~~~

If what Patton had said then still held up today, then at the very least Roman and Logan had to come into Patton’s room very regularly. Janus could send some sort of message. But how? He only had the objects in this house, and if he slid a piece of paper under the front door that said “Patton’s kidnapped me, be on high alert and help.” Patton would almost definitely find it before anyone else did, no matter how often they invaded Patton’s privacy in a day.

But a piece of paper was the right direction, there was sure to be some arts and crafts supplies around here somewhere. But whatever Janus put on it would have to be something that would alert whoever found it that something strange was going on with Patton, and be something Patton could believably think was just his kiddo drawing and being cute. 

He didn’t have time to think as he heard the bathroom door open and Patton step out. “Janus! It’s your turn for the bath!” As he spotted Janus standing in the hallway, he smiled. “Ah! No need for me to yell then. You might want to add some more hot water though, it might have cooled down.” 

Janus nodded. As much as he hated this situation, a nice warm bath would soothe the horrible fiery ache in his shoulder for a little, and he could survey how much damage the rash had caused. 

He could think over what to draw or write on paper later, he was tired and could put it off until he was in bed. 

Chapter Text

Janus had never particularly liked cheerios cereal. There was nothing he particularly disliked about it, but he had simply always favoured other breakfast foods. Eggs, smoothies, just eating what he wanted regardless of the time restrictions put on certain foods. Cereal was always neutral and boring, easy to make and easy to eat. 

Currently he was spooning the food into his mouth, eager to finish his breakfast and move onto his plan. Late in bed he’d figured out what he could do, he could create some sort of childish drawing and slip it under the front door out of here. To make sure that whoever found it wouldn’t think that it was a drawing from years ago, he also put his name and the date. That way, if Patton found it he could just say it was a present for getting home from work, and if someone else found it, they’d probably at least be confused enough to check why Janus had been making drawings and leaving them in Patton’s room if he was missing. 

As he finished his bowl of cereal, Patton and Virgil both finished their food too. Though to be fair Virgil had finished ages ago, he was just strapped into the high chair and couldn’t really leave. Patton pet Janus on the head and smiled. “Anything you want to do today kiddo? Or should daddy pick something out?” 

Janus pretended to think for a bit, before brightening up like he had an idea. He turned to Patton, hopefully looking giddy. “I’ve got an idea! Could me and Virgil do some drawing today?” From behind Patton, Virgil looked confused, but Janus could explain later. Patton’s grin got wider, and he nodded enthusiastically. “Of course! How about you put the dishes away and I’ll rustle up some paper and coloring pencils from somewhere.” 

Janus gave him a thumbs up and picked up their three bowls, cups, and spoons, stacking and balancing them together while Patton walked off somewhere to presumably find paper and pencils. Janus set the dishes down by the sink, eyes flitting up and noticing the dish-washing gloves which had been there yesterday were now nowhere to be seen. So Patton had noticed him eyeing them. 

Patton hadn’t returned by the time Janus came back to the dining room, so Janus himself undid Virgil and hoisted him into his arms. Virgil stared up at him, still in confusion. “Said you were making a plan.” 

Janus nodded, walking to the living room. “I have, we’re going to do some drawings, label them with our names and the date, and slip them under the front door. Patton told me once that someone invaded his room without permission almost daily, so unless he was lying, we’re counting on that.” Virgil seemed to contemplate the idea for a moment. “Yeah. R-oman and Logan go in all the time. Really loud.” 

Janus didn’t know what the last comment was about, but confirmation from Virgil was helpful, since he’d wracked his brain last night for any other solution in case this didn’t work and hadn’t come up with anything. He sat cross legged and placed Virgil down in his lap, leaning against the couch as they both waited for Patton to come back with drawing supplies. 

He wondered if he should draw anything in particular, probably nothing too adult or graphic, or anything that directly mentioned Logan, Roman, or Remus by name or picture. He could probably draw Patton, him and Virgil though, or maybe a snake and spider if he wanted to be extra cautious. What was most important was making sure that it would be noticeable to someone entering the room, and would be suspicious enough to raise a few questions from whoever found it.   

As he thought, Virgil pulled on his sleeve. He looked down. “Can I help you?” Virgil put a hand in front of his lips before whispering. “No spiders. Daddy doesn’t like me and spiders.” So Virgil could tell he was thinking of something to draw. It made sense that Patton wouldn’t like any drawings of spiders or Virgil being associated with them in his perfect family world. Janus mentally swapped the spider he was planning on drawing out for some other animal. A cat would work though he was half-tempted to draw a raccoon, he doubted anyone would get the reference he was making. 

Just then Patton walked in. He held a stack of colored and regular paper in one hand, and a large assortment of pens, colored pens, pencils and colored pencils in the other, as well as a few glue sticks and other craft objects. Janus noticed there was also a small smock over his arm, probably for Virgil. 

The objects in Patton’s arms were set down in front of them as Patton picked Virgil up from Janus’s lap and began to drape the smock over his head. He chuckled as he forced a visibly reluctant Virgil’s arms through the armholes. “Now. I have got some scissors too if you need to cut anything up, but I’m too worried one of you might hurt yourself so if you need anything cut just come to daddy and I’ll do it for you, alright?” 

Janus and Virgil both stared up at him and nodded. Virgil was placed down opposite Janus and handed a pink crayon, which he took, albeit reluctantly. Patton leaned back on the couch and pulled the god forsaken camara out of his pocket, pointing it at the two of them as Janus picked up a piece of bright yellow paper and a black pen. 

He decided to draw a simple snake and cat first, and then he could move onto other things. His art skills weren’t the best, but it wasn’t like it was hard to draw two roughly animal looking animals, and soon they were done. Across from him, Virgil seemed to be having more trouble, but Janus could probably chalk that up to his mittens and general decreased sense of motor control. He had still managed to draw two stick figures in yellow and purple, which would be obvious enough anyway. 

He grabbed a ballpoint pen and wrote down his name at the bottom of his drawing. His handwriting was worse than he remembered, but still readable and understandable. He made sure to make it big enough to notice at a first glance. A big “By Janus” down on the left hand corner. He went to write down the date before he stopped. What was the date? He was sure it was still May, and obviously the same year too, but his mind went blank when he tried to think of a concrete number, though he was relatively sure it was somewhere around the 15th. He turned back to Patton, who was now going through his camera reel and making progressively annoying cooing noises. “Hey dad?” 

Patton looked up, locating Janus on the floor and smiling warmly. “Yes? Do you need me to cut you something?” Janus shook his head, holding up his drawing. “I’m trying to write down the date of my art and I can’t remember the date, what is it?” Patton chuckled. “Let me go check, it’ll be on the calendar in the kitchen.” He rose to his feet and walked off, leaving Virgil and Janus waiting. Virgil was frustratedly trying to write his own name on his drawing, but he kept putting his crayon to paper before removing it with a confused look in his eye. 

Patton walked back in, holding the calendar in his hands. “I’ve just checked darling, it’s the 27th of May, 2025.” He sat himself back down on the couch and began writing stuff down onto the calendar, either ignoring or missing Janus’s absolutely horrified expression. He rid his face of it quickly, but that didn’t stop his inner monologue from freaking out. The 27th?! Sure he hadn’t known the date today but the last date he could remember had been the 15th, and he certainly hadn’t been stuck in here a week and a half long, it had only been a few days, the date shouldn’t have been past the 20th of May! 

He tried to sound calm, if not slightly unsure. “Dad.. Are you sure it’s the 27th? Just, feels like the month has gone by so fast..” Patton looked confused for a bit, checking the calendar again. “No? I’m absolutely positive it’s the 27th, and honestly I think the month has been crawling  along, I’m not sure why you’d think anything else..” He rubbed his chin before snapping his fingers. “Oh! I know what it is! Right after I’d gotten the both of you situated and into your beds there was a big work thing that came up, nothing you two need to worry about, but a few accusations about very serious topics were thrown about. I had to be out and doing stuff almost constantly to prove I wasn’t the cause of the suspicion, so to make sure I wasn’t neglecting either of you because of my work, I just made sure both of you had some extra long naps, just for a week or so. That’ll be why sweetie!” 

Patton had…. what!? How had Janus not noticed anything when he’d woken up? No stiffness in his joints, no headache, no pain from not properly doing anything for almost half a month. Virgil looked almost as horrified and surprised as he felt. With shaky hands he was barely keeping still he nodded, gave Patton a tight smile, and wrote down the date on his drawing. He forced himself to stare at the carpet until he was in proper control of his emotions and mannerisms again. Why was he so outwardly affected by this? Sure it was a horrifying thing to find out, but Janus was better at acting and lying than this! His lack of control over the emotion he gave off was almost more concerning than the fact he’d been missing for a week, because it proved Patton’s room was affecting him in some way. 

He grabbed Virgil’s drawing and wrote down “By Virgil. 27/5/25” on it for him, as he didn’t seem to be having any more luck writing than he had a minute ago, and Janus didn’t feel like waiting. He’d originally planned on making quite a few drawings, but he just wanted to put it off now. This one and Virgil’s would be good enough for now, since for all he knew Patton would tell him not to slide another drawing under the door at all, and then it would have been pointless to have made so many. 

As he folded his drawing in half, Patton tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey buddy, Daddy’s got to head into work now, could you go to your room while I get Virgil out of his smock?” Janus raised a hand. “Actually dad, I forgot to brush my teeth this morning, could I just go and do that now?” 

Patton raised an eyebrow before he nodded. “Of course kiddo, keeping yourself healthy is very important. Just don’t take too long, okay?” Janus gave a thumbs up and scrambled to his feet, darting down the corridor and getting to the front door. He put the folded up drawing under the door and pushed it out as far as he could. He knew Patton sunk out when he was summoned, then walked the front door in, so he wouldn’t see this until he got back from “work”. 

With that completed he ran back down the hallway to the bathroom and let the tap run for a few seconds before he saw Patton turn the corner carrying Virgil, now back to wearing what he was before. Patton grinned at Janus as he turned off the tap. “Great, you're done! This little guy got really tangled up so you got some extra time.” Virgil looked at him with a face that said. “You better have gotten that drawing out there.” and Janus subtly nodded in return.

He walked to the bedroom Patton had made for him and collapsed onto his bed, absentmindedly grabbing a book from the bookshelf and opening it to a random page. Patton walked in, smiling. He pecked Janus on the cheek and waved goodbye before he exited his room and Janus heard a lock click. Janus put the book on the bedside table and buried his face in his pillow, resolving to try and psychologically reverse any of the effects Patton’s room had had on him while he was in here. 

——————— 

Janus raised his head to a knock on his door before it was swung open. Patton stepped through, holding a noticeable piece of yellow card. He sat down on Janus’s bed, hands in his lap. Janus couldn’t quite tell what his expression was, but it didn’t look negative. “Hey Janus, did you push this card outside the front door?” Patton’s voice was quiet. 

Tentatively, Janus nodded. It seemed he was right about Patton not liking the gesture. “Yeah.. I thought it would be a nice surprise when you got home from work… But I’m sorry if you don’t like it.” Patton’s eyes widened in surprise. “This was a gift for me?” 

Janus nodded again. “Yeah, I thought it would be fun for you to come home and find a drawing I made for you, but I’m-” He sniffled, his hands were behind his back and he’d been roughly pinching himself this whole time, and his eyes were finally starting to water. “-I’m sorry you don’t like it..” Tears began to fall down his cheeks. 

Patton pulled him into his chest. “Oh no! No no no no no! Daddy thought it was something else, something much more silly and stupid! But it was a lovely thing to come home to! I really like the animals, honey, they’re amazing!” He rubbed Janus’s back and made small shushing sounds as Janus made himself believably “calm down”. “I love it so much! It was so thoughtful! Why, I’d love to come home from work to a new drawing every day!” 

Against Patton’s chest, where he couldn’t see his face, Janus grinned. He sniffled again, looking up at Patton with big glossy eyes. “You aren’t just saying that? Cause Virgil made one too, and I was hoping I could make some more..” 

Patton gave Janus a reassuring smile, hugging him tighter and kissing his forehead. “Of course darling! Now every time I come home from work I’ll get to see a wonderful drawing by you two! And I can take the ones you’ve already made with me to work each day to remind me of you! It’ll be a lovely thing to look forward to!” 

Janus looked up at Patton with relieved eyes. Slightly removing himself from the cuddle. “I believe you dad, if the papers are still out maybe I could go and make some more right now?” Patton grinned brightly, he looked relieved and gave Janus two strong pats on the back. “Oh absolutely! I can’t wait to see them in a few days! I’ll be looking out for a drawing every day, so make as many as you can!”

Janus grinned, getting up and walking out the door. “Yup dad! I’ll try my best!”

Chapter Text

Logan did not listen to Remus’s mad ravings. He truly didn’t. If there was one thing he knew about the side, and he knew quite a lot more than one thing, it was that most words that came out of his mouth were words of fiction, albeit dangerous ones. 

He didn’t think Remus was a liar. If anything he was the opposite, considering that he blurted out whatever was on his mind with no regard to anything else going on. But Logan did not and never would humor any of his insane or harmful ideas. If Remus hypothetically ran up to him saying “I’ll rip off your skin and wear it myself if you don’t come with me right now!” then Logan would know it was just scare tactics. Remus could not simply rip off all of Logan’s skin, that wasn’t how skin worked anatomically for a start, and it was the same reason why he couldn’t wear it. So if Remus did hypothetically run up to him saying that, Logan would just walk away. He would pay Remus’s fabrications no mind.

In the moments Remus did tell the truth, he often exaggerated for fun or “Flair”. Roman did this too. Logan didn’t hold it against either of them, it was in their natures as Thomas’s creativities to describe. He had simply learned to fact check most things either of them said, or to at least be dubious of any claims they couldn’t prove.  

This was what he had been doing for years. There was no good reason for him to stop doing it. Remus made jokes and said things for shock value constantly. There was no reason for Logan to start unquestioningly believing and agreeing with him. Especially considering the crisis that was already happening in the mindscape. So Logan couldn’t understand why Remus’s “One of us is a kidnapper” accusation was plaguing his thoughts. 

It was a ludicrous thought. Logan certainly hadn’t kidnapped anyone. He wouldn’t put Roman past doing it to the villain in one of his imagination fantasies, but to a real sentient being? Unlikely. And the idea of Patton kidnapping two people was almost laughable. There was zero reason to humor such a ridiculous claim. But they had humored it, for a week they had all humored the crackpot claim that Remus swore was true. 

They had searched everywhere. The imagination, their bedrooms, their regular rooms, as deep into the subconscious of the mindscape as Logan or anyone else could safely get. And as Logan had thought, Virgil and Janus were in none of these locations. If Logan had more emotions it would’ve made him furious at how delighted Remus seemed to be to waste their time in the search for looking for the two. He wasn’t even remorseful. When confronted, Remus had just grinned and shrugged. 

“If you don’t believe me, fine. I’m invested in where this story is going anyway.” And that had been that. Logan had moved on to other actual methods and hypotheses of where Janus and Virgil could be, and so had the others.  

But weeks had passed, nobody else had gone missing, but no sort of clue had surfaced either. And Logan’s mind seemed fixated on what Remus had said. He had seemed so sure at the time, and as much as Remus seemed happy to make jokes about Virgil's disappearance, he seemed at least minorly affected by Janus’s. It was troubling how much Logan was thinking about it. He should have been coming up with actual ways of finding the missing sides, or urging Thomas to try harder to force Virgil or Janus to appear, but his mind wouldn’t focus. It was infuriating. How was he supposed to help Thomas and find Virgil and Janus if he was focusing on the wrong things?

Logan needed to do something to rid his mind of any lingering suspicion that Remus was correct, otherwise he would never get back on track. The only solution he could think of would be to look through Roman and Patton’s rooms a second time, without them knowing. It was idiotic he felt he couldn’t even trust them, but his mind told him they might have hidden something when they knew the room’s were going to be searched. It was a stupid thought, but it would be better to quickly indulge it and get rid of the annoying voice in Logan’s head than continue to try and fight it. 

Patton and Roman were both downstairs, talking about something or other. Logan had noticed Roman trying to spend as much time with Patton as he could more recently, he supposed that despite how awkward their relationship was now, whatever bond Roman had with Patton was certainly stronger than whatever bond Roman and himself shared. But no matter, it would buy him at least an hour to go through their rooms. 

Logan locked his bedroom door behind him. He would go to Patton’s bedroom first, and after that Roman’s. Then he could put this behind him, and work on helping productively. 

Chapter Text

Patton was a good person. Of course he was, otherwise Thomas wouldn’t be, and Thomas was a good person, even though Patton had been finding him less and less important as of late. 

Patton was a good father too, his little ones were happy, healthy, and adorable. What he was doing was good, Janus was happy, Virgil was happy. Even if Virgil had been a little stroppy when the change had been made, he was perfectly content to be in his Daddy’s arms now, and Janus had always been keen and polite. Patton had known best, he was sure of it. 

He fidgeted with the little family drawing Janus had made him, smoothing it out while keeping it trapped in his fist. Patton loved the little drawings his darlings would make for him for when he came home from work, finding a new one every day was euphoric. He desperately wanted to show the other sides, or maybe Thomas, and gush about how talented and adorable his little goobers were. But then they would take his babies away, and then Patton’s heart would shatter into a million pieces and he would never recover. Patton wasn’t even sure he’d be able to live without his kiddos to fuss over and care for, they were almost everything he thought about. 

As soon as Roman stopped extending their conversation, Patton was going to rush straight home and make some lunch for his precious ones. Speaking of Roman, he’d been a bit of an issue. He was always asking Patton to do things with him, it was annoying and time-consuming. 

“Hey padre! Feel like making some brownies for movie night? I’d be honored to help you!” This and “I’m not sure which of my newest paintings looks the best, think you could help me pick which one to display in the imagination?” That. Patton was all for everyone retaining a sense of normalcy without Janus and Virgil around, especially since they were happier where they were now anyway, but he had been hoping Logan, Roman and Remus could just go about their business without him. He had children to look after for heaven's sake!

Currently Roman was going on and on about some sort of magic locating spell he was making in the imagination. “I’ve put a lot of thought into this padre. If I make this in the imagination and then take it out into the mindscape, it’ll surely be strong enough to locate at least Virgil’s location.” Patton gave him a tight smile, nodding along with what he was saying, but Roman either sensed he wasn’t fully happy about the idea or he was feeling a lot more insecure than usual. “And I know I’ve tried this before, but this time I’m sure I’ve perfected it! And.. And if it’s still not strong enough I’ll try and convince Remus to collaborate with me! It’ll have to be strong enough then!” 

Patton continued nodding along. He didn’t know if a thing created by Roman and Remus in the imagination would be strong enough to find his secret home, but he didn’t like his chances. Could he scoop Roman up and add him to his family before anything happened? No, then he’d have to get Remus too, and that would be too much of a hassle for him to hide it from Logan. He’d have to wait to rescue any more kiddos and take them home with him. “You’re sure? Well, that’ll be swell if you manage to make it strong enough.” 

Roman nodded, awkwardly fidgeting with his hands. Patton couldn’t tell if he was avoiding his gaze, or trying to get full eye contact with him. “Yeah. I mean, it’ll be like a late birthday present for me.” There hadn’t really been much of a celebration for Roman’s birthday a few weeks ago, nobody had felt like celebrating. Patton had spent most of Roman’s birthday fantasizing about what sort of birthday party he would throw for whichever of his kiddos had a birthday next, and also what type of birthday he would have thrown for a small kiddo Roman. It would have been Disney themed and there would have been a dark chocolate cake and they would have had a movie marathon and all of the cards would have been drawn by his other kiddos and it would have been precious! But it was too late now, unless he scooped up both Roman and Remus and made them share a date. 

Imagining his kiddo-Roman’s birthday party again had put him in a better mood, and Patton smiled genuinely as he fantasized about the more finite details while continuing his conversation. “We could even throw you a late birthday party! Put Janus and Virgil in a big cardboard box and wrap it with wrapping paper.” Roman half-heartedly chuckled at the idea. “Maybe just Virgil, I feel like Janus might take the opportunity to get back at me for secret Santa.” 

Patton nodded. “True, maybe we can save Janus for Remus’s birthday.” Or maybe he could do that for his own next birthday. His kiddos were already the best gift he’d ever gotten, opening up birthday paper wrapped cardboard boxes to find them waiting for their daddy in there would be adorable! 

Roman half-heartedly chuckled again, fidgeting with some jewelry on his wrist. A golden bangle with small pieces of gems as charms hanging off of it. Amethyst, topaz, sapphire, diamond, a barely visible piece of emerald. It matched the other bangle Roman was wearing that was studded with rubies. Roman hadn’t really been dressing up as much as he usually did lately, it made sense considering that aside from harassing Patton into spending time with him, he was holed up in his room or the imagination trying to come up with a plan to find Virgil and Janus. 

Even if Roman had been dressing up, he still wouldn’t have looked well. Since the sides could control their appearance, Patton knew that Roman preferred to have himself look in tip top shape at all times. But after his fifth plan to find the missing sides had failed, he’d let himself go a little. His hair was slightly greasy, he had eyebags, his clothes had been loosely pulled on and done up. Patton would have felt bad if it wasn’t for the fact that the reason Roman was so tired was because he was refusing to accept Janus and Virgil were somewhere better now. But still, Patton just wanted to shrink him down and get a cute onesie and cuddle him up nice and sound and safe and keep them all nice and sound and safe. They all should have been a part of his family by now. That way he could keep an eye on everyone all the time and they would all be happy and small and- Wait. 

Someone was in his bedroom. Someone was in his bedroom!

He could sense it. Some presence rooting around through his things. He couldn’t quite tell who, he wasn’t close enough. It couldn’t have been Roman obviously, but who else? Logan was suspicious of him, he had been looking at him funny all week, and Remus knew he had done something, who’s to say they hadn’t teamed up and sent Roman down here as a distraction? Or even worse, what if his kiddos had gotten out? What if they had been waiting for him too long and had gotten worried and managed to get out to look for him? But now they would get over excited and run about. He knew he shouldn’t have talked to Roman. He had to leave and get everything under control. He had to leave now. 

As he moved to get up, he heard a cough. “Patton.. Can we talk about something?” Patton didn’t have time for emotional and deep conversations, he had to get back to his kiddos. But he couldn’t exactly turn Roman down. He pulled a tight smile. “Sure kiddo. What’s up?”

Roman awkwardly looked around. “I.. I know that this is going to work. I’ve perfected it, I’ve saved up as much mental and creative energy as I ever have before to guide it through the mindscape, and even if somehow that’s not enough I’m going to make Remus help me power it whether he wants to or not. You don’t need to worry about anything on that front, but.. Even though it will work. I’m a perfectionist, and I have been perfecting this for weeks, and it cannot go wrong. And-” He was rambling, Patton didn’t have time for this. Someone was in his room, and he either had to get them out to the hallway, or into their home. He needed to end this conversation and get to his room!

“Roman? It’s great how sure of yourself you are but what did you need to tell me?” Roman’s gaze snapped to Patton, he began to fidget with his bangles again. “Right. Right, yes. Well, even though I know this will work, I’m worried about you! I can tell just by looking at you that you aren’t sure what I’ve made will work. It might not be powerful enough! I.. might not be powerful enough… to help.” Patton didn’t think he looked like he was worried the spell wouldn’t work, he honestly wished it didn’t, but he didn't have to be a genius to tell that this wasn’t about him. 

Roman continued. “And then what? Even with my and Remus’s full ability and the best thing I could make we can’t find them. What do I do then? You’re asking. And Virgil… and also Janus… I suppose.. Are just gone? Locked in some dungeon being tortured until Thomas dies…. Well Patton, I… I share your worries.” Patton silently nodded. Roman seemed content to talk to himself, maybe he could just slip away..

“I’m not sure what I’ll do if we can’t find Virgil. It’ll be my fault, for not being good enough, and he and everyone else will be suffering for it. And I just feel like neither of us have fully… acknowledged that that might actually happen.” Patton was almost insulted. Nobody was going to suffer! Virgil and Janus were both happier than they’d ever been now! Patton was making them better! This was getting annoying! He needed to get to his room, this was taking way too long and he needed to leave! 

Patton moved to get up. “Really, Roman? I’m sure you’re going through a lot right now, we all are! But you can trust I’m still doing just as well as always! And speaking of me being in tip-top shape, I just need to go check on my bedroom to make sure it’s the same!” Patton’s smile couldn’t have looked real, but he needed to leave! He had wasted enough time on Roman’s foolishness and he needed to make sure his babies were okay. 

Roman’s face fell even deeper. He clasped Patton’s hand in his, not strongly, but enough to keep him from leaving. “No! Patton, I know that this is awful. But I’ve just been telling myself over and over “This is what will get him back” for weeks! And I know Virgil isn’t dead, he’s coming back, I’m sure of it. But, it feels like you haven’t even accepted that he got kidnapped in the first place! I just..” Roman let go of Patton’s wrist and stepped backward, wiping his forehead. “If we want to rescue Virgil and Janus from whatever happened to them I need your support. I feel like you’re constantly avoiding me.” 

Patton stumbled backward, clutching his hand to his chest like he had been burned. He could sense whoever was in his room had stopped rooting around for now, but who’s to say it wasn’t because they had found something important, like Patton’s babies! He needed to leave. He needed to get to his bedroom. “Roman.. I mean.. Who’s to say Janus and Virgil even want to be rescued? Maybe they like it where they are? Maybe there’s no reason for anyone to care at all?” 

That was the true answer. Whatever dungeon or torture master Roman was imagining was as far from the truth as possible. Patton wasn’t torturing his kiddos! He was fussing over and loving them like any good daddy should! And they certainly didn’t need to be rescued. Patton was sure if he gave his little ones the chance to leave or the chance to stay with him, they’d pick him a million times. But Roman didn’t know that, and from the look he was giving Patton, he thought something very different. “Patton. Do you.. Not want Janus and Virgil to come back?” 

Patton shook his head. “No no no! If they were happiest coming back here then of course I want them to come back! But maybe, they might be even more happy staying right where they are?” He didn’t want Janus and Virgil ‘coming back’ at all. He had them right where he wanted them, right where they were always supposed to be. 

This was not the right thing to say to Roman apparently. He took a step back from Patton and looked at him with an emotion he couldn’t quite place. “Are you even listening to yourself Patton? Oh yeah, I’m sure Virgil and Janus are both having the times of their lives hidden away in the subconscious with only each other! Do you think they’ll let me join in on the slumber party or is it a best friends only event?”

Roman’s getting agitated, and Patton isn’t quite sure what to do. He can’t stay here for this. Something’s happening in his room and it’s so much more important than this. He could just agree with Roman and quickly leave, but he refuses to say something that isn’t the truth. “Listen Roman, maybe we just need to look at this from a different perspective? There’s been so much arguing between all six of us recently, I know I’d certainly like a break and some time to reflect. And if I’m looking for an upside for us, it’s generally been quieter.” 

Roman’s face scrunches up into what looks like.. Disgust? That can’t be right. What has Patton done to elicit such an expression except for simply telling the truth? Would Roman prefer he lie? And if Roman would then Patton isn’t the one who’s in the wrong here. Roman gets off of the island chair, standing a few inches above Patton, since he’s not really that tall. “How can you say something like that! I thought you were maybe having a hard time coping, we all are, but how on earth could you possibly think that!? Are you happy they’re gone!?” 

His voice is getting louder, angrier, more frustrated. Patton almost wants to break out the dad voice and tell him how stroppy he’s being. It’s not like he’s been doing anything wrong! He thought Roman wanted to hear his opinion on the matter? And he’s got the most accurate one because he knows where Virgil and Janus are, and they’re fine! And he needs to go see them because someone’s in his room and that someone might hurt them and he needs to go deal with it! He doesn’t have time for this! He gets up from his seat, standing taller than Roman. “I’m not happy! Just.. I’ve been feeling so much more euphoric and fulfilled lately! I’m not saying them being gone caused it but.. Maybe it’s something related to it? And I haven’t felt this good in so long!” 

Somewhere in the back of Patton’s head, there’s a small voice telling him he shouldn’t be saying this, that it's wrong that he has to take other people away to feel good, but he ignores it. What’s so wrong with feeling good? Besides, Janus and Virgil are happier like this too, it’s a net positive. Roman’s the wrong one if he’s too self-centered to see this is better. 

“What’s wrong with you!?” Roman is shouting. “If Virgil and Janus being gone makes you “euphoric” did you even like them in the first place!? With how much time you’ve been spending in your room I’d bet you’d love it if we all went missing! That way, even if we’re all locked in some torture room, at least you get to feel nice! Is that what you want? Do you even like any of us?! Do you like me!?” He looks upset, and Patton feels more annoyed than threatened or scolded. 

“Don’t throw a tantrum Roman. Calm down. I’m allowed to feel things! You’re taking this too far.” Patton takes a step towards the stairs, maybe he can just run up them and leave Roman to cool off by himself. He shouldn’t have to deal with this, he’s good, he’s doing nothing wrong. He begins taking small steps up the stairs, his back to Roman. 

“How can you even say that? You don’t even sound like yourself anymore Patton! You sound different, you talk different, and now you’re just ignoring me!? How selfish can you be! That you think people should stay kidnapped for your happiness! How morally correct of you! Are you even a good person?!” Patton stops, and turns around to face Roman. He’s not selfish! He’s the opposite of selfishness! Roman seems to realize what he’s said too, because as Patton stares at him he deflates. 

“Patton.. I- I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean..” He steps forward, holding his hands out in what looks like surrender. “You’re.. You’re.. I shouldn’t have said that.. It was the heat of the moment..” 

“Roman.” His face grows a little bit hopeful. He takes another step towards Patton. “Yes?”

“I’m going to my room, think you can make yourself dinner tonight?” Roman is awful at cooking, but if he wants to be rude and make assumptions and comments, he can suffer through making himself something to eat tonight. 

Patton doesn’t hear Roman’s dejected agreement, he’s too busy jumping up stairs. Someone is still in his room.

Chapter Text

The wardrobe door wouldn’t open, and Logan had been trying to get it open for almost thirty minutes now. 

The rest of Patton’s room looked the same as ever, if not concerningly dusty, but from the paper he had found on the ground, it was clear that something had to be in Patton’s wardrobe. Not to mention it was locked, and though Patton was fully in his right to lock his own things, never once had he locked his wardrobe before. 

Currently the paper was folded and stuck in his pocket, that way, if Patton found him and asked him to leave his room, Logan could still examine the drawing afterwards. It didn’t look like much, just a childishly bad drawing of Patton himself, but it was the name and date in the corner that had caught Logan’s curiosity. 

It read “By Virgil. 23/6/25.” There were many things about this that Logan found troubling. For one, Virgil had been missing for weeks, and yet here was a child’s drawing with today’s date on it supposedly made by him. He was sure this was a sign from wherever Virgil was, and he was sure it had something to do with Patton. 

Not only was the drawing of Patton, he’d found it neatly coming out from under his wardrobe door, and the color of the paper matched a folded piece of paper Patton had been looking at a week ago, before Logan had caught him and he’d shoved it into his pocket. Logan hadn’t brought it up then, but he probably should have. Since the drawing had clearly come from the wardrobe, Logan intended to find out what was in there. 

He wasn’t quite sure how a drawing Virgil had made, wherever he was, had gotten into Patton’s room, but he could find that out once he opened the wardrobe door, which stayed frustratingly locked. There was no keyhole anywhere on the door, leading him to believe Patton had locked it through a manipulation of the mechanisms that usually opened when the handle was turned, using his abilities as a side to keep it shut. 

Logan certainly wasn’t strong enough to contest it, this was Patton’s room after all, he had the most influence over his own objects. It felt useless, and Logan was tempted to give up and move onto Roman’s room for investigation, but he had promised himself he would be through, and the drawing was far too suspicious for him to stop.  

As he fidgeted with the handle, the door behind him creaked open. Logan froze, turning around. Patton stood in the doorway, staring at him and looking bewildered. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Then Patton took a large step closer to him. “What are you doing in my room Logan?” 

Logan obviously couldn’t tell Patton the true reason he was in his room, that defeated the point of sneaking around completely. He’d come up with an excuse for if he had been found, and now seemed like a good time to use it. “Well. I believe that as Thomas has not been feeling very well emotionally since Virgil and Janus went missing, that looking through some scrapbook photos of Virgil and Janus might help him feel slightly better. I assumed you’d have some somewhere, but I can’t find them.” 

Patton looked at him inquisitively. After what had happened the last time Thomas had delved into nostalgia, Logan wouldn’t have actually suggested using it to cope again, but he wagered that Patton wouldn’t realize that. Patton didn’t say anything, but he looked like he was thinking. Logan obviously didn’t know what he was thinking about.

After a silent thirty seconds, Patton grinned. He took another step closer to Logan. “Oh yeah! I’ve got so many photos of Janus and Virgil, I’ve got a bunch of them as little kids and a few as adults! I’ve just been keeping them on me to help keep my morale up. But I could probably lend a few to you for Thomas.”  

Logan nodded. He could take the photos Patton lent him, and return them after Janus and Virgil returned. He could wait to search Roman’s room for a later date. “Thank you Patton, the most recent photos of Virgil and Janus would be the most helpful, but whatever you can spare would be fine.” 

Patton’s eyes brightened. “The most recent? Sorry Logan, I can’t give you those.” Before Logan could respond, telling Patton that it was fine, Patton took another step closer, their faces annoyingly close together. “But I can do you one better.” 

Logan raised an eyebrow. What could Patton mean by that? He was aware that if Patton took a photo of a particularly emotional moment, the photo could play like a video, so was that what he meant? He took a small step away. “How? And you do not need to feel pressured to show me anything Patton.” 

Patton shook his head. “No, no. I want to! Though you can’t show this to Thomas, Roman, or Remus. It’ll be a secret just between the two of us.” He was grinning, and despite the fact that Logan hadn’t actually been interested in any nostalgic photos originally, his curiosity got the better of him. “Yes Patton, I can keep this between us.” 

Patton held out his pinkie finger, and Logan scoffed. It was a childish gesture, and Patton should have known that he’d always kept his word before, but regardless, he hooked his little finger around Pattons. Patton grinned wider. “Perfect! Hold on to me though, I don’t want any wandering.” 

In an instant, Patton maneuvered the pinkie hold into a proper hand hold. Logan grimaced, he wasn’t a large fan of physical touch or comfort, and he didn’t like the way Patton was acting like he needed to keep Logan on track, as if he was an easily distracted child. But before he could mention it Patton swung open his wardrobe door, revealing that it was definitely not a wardrobe. 

Inside of what should have been a small rectangular space, was a long hallway. Patton quickly pulled him inside, swinging the door shut afterwards. Logan heard a noticeable click, but before he could ask Patton why he’d locked the door, the side began to excitedly talk, half leading/half dragging Logan down the hallway. “This is my secret home! Now, I know the bedrooms are the first thing you notice, but I'll show you those last since they’re the best thing about here!”

Logan looked around the hallway, it looked like Patton’s nostalgia-influenced room, except an entire house. “Why do you have a… secret home?” Patton made a grating shushing noise, holding his index finger over his mouth, it was infuriatingly condescending. “Don’t worry, don’t worry. You’ll find out soon.” He continued pulling Logan along, before stopping abruptly in front of a door. 

“This is the bathroom. I know it’s not much to look at, but I figured you should get the grand tour, and that includes everything!” The bathroom was a small room that contained an old fashioned bathtub with ornate feet, a similarly decorated toilet and sink, a medicine cabinet, a light blue step stool, and a small plastic toddlers learning toilet. Patton was right in that it wasn’t much to look at, but the toddlers toilet concerned Logan slightly. What could its use possibly be aside from aesthetics?

Patton continued to lead him down the hallway, and then out of it. They walked through a small arch into a lounge. There were baby gates at each exit, which Patton insisted on unlocking and relocking when they walked through, instead of just stepping over them. The lounge itself felt similarly decorated to the corridor, nostalgic and fuzzy in a metaphorical sense. Toys were strewn around the floor, there was a cabinet filled with board games, and every corner that could have potentially been sharp was covered with some sort of puffy white tape. It added to the strange intuition he’d had with the toddler toilet. Why was this here? What use could Patton possibly have for having all of these childish decorations and precautions if there were no children anywhere in the mindscape? Patton didn’t offer any explanation, simply picking up various toys and holding them in front of Logan. “What do you think of these? I made them really high-quality, and any kiddo would adore playing with them!” 

Logan nodded. He didn’t really have anything to say about the toys. “Very nice Patton. But why do you have all of these? It seems a bit far for simple decoration.” Patton chuckled, booping Logan’s nose and ignoring the way his face wrinkled up in discomfort. “They’re there for all the kiddos to play with obviously! It would be a bit boring for them during playtime otherwise.” 

Playtime? Nothing Patton was saying made sense. What kiddos? There were no children in the mindscape. And even if they were, they were imagination NPC’s, certainly no sort of being Patton had control over. And even if Patton hypothetically did have some “Kiddos” to look after, what could they possibly have to do with Janus and Virgil? 

Patton unhooked the baby gate and began to drag him to the next room, but Logan kept his feet grounded in place. He wasn’t moving through this strange house until he got some answers. Patton turned around, tugging Logan’s hand forward. “Come on Little-” He stopped abruptly, and Logan couldn’t quite hear what he had just said. “Come on Logan. I have to show you the rest of the home. It wouldn’t be a grand tour if I didn’t.”

Logan shook his head. If Patton’s grip on his hand hadn’t been concerningly strong, he would have let go. “Patton, as much as you have your right to make whatever you want in your own room. What does this have to do with Janus and Virgil? You said that you had something better than photos of them, if I remember correctly. Can we get to the tour part of that?” 

Patton chuckled again. “Don’t get overexcited Logan. We’ll get to that part very soon, but I just have to show you the rest of my secret home first! I’m ever so proud of it, and of my kiddos, and I’ve been waiting to show someone who can really appreciate it around forever! Come along now.” Patton continued walking, and this time, Logan walked with him. It was infuriating how vague Patton was being, but Logan could wait, it seemed he would have to get through the full house tour to leave anyway. 

Patton led him into a dining room. Once again, it gave off a similar vibe to the other rooms. The tablecloth was woven and had colorful fruit and vegetables as a pattern. There were more childish objects in here too. A high chair, and the place settings at four of the other chairs were rather childish. “Here’s where me and my kiddos eat breakfast, lunch and dinner! If you lived with us, you would sit there.” Patton pointed to the seat next to the high chair. 

Logan nodded curtly. He certainly wouldn’t be living here or sitting in that chair anytime soon if he had anything to say about it. He and Patton left that room, and entered the kitchen. 

Logan was getting bored of all of these rooms. It seemed that the kitchen wrapped back around into the hallway, which was a relief. He didn’t even particularly care anymore about how this related to Virgil and Janus, he was more waiting for Patton to finish the tour and let him out. The kitchen looked like a normal nostalgic kitchen, though Patton was gushing about how he and his “oldest kiddo” had been doing so much baking together. He side-eyed Logan. “I suppose he won’t be my oldest kiddo for forever though.” That wasn’t how having children worked. 

Finally, they walked back into the hallway. Patton grinned at him. “Time for the best part of this tour! I’ll show you the bedrooms, and the special thing about Janus and Virgil you can’t tell anyone else about. Are you ready?” Logan nodded again. “Yes. I’m sure I’m ready.” 

Patton smiled, pulling him forward to the first door. It was lilac, and as Patton grabbed the doorknob he turned to Logan, another finger over his lips. “I don’t know if he’s asleep or not, but be quiet just in case, I don’t wanna wake him up and have to deal with a tired little baby.” Logan nodded as Patton slowly pulled the door open. He was beginning to think Patton did have some form of imagination NPC in here, acting as his child. 

Inside the bedroom was a nursery. There were giant stuffed animals, pastel furniture and fluffy and baby proofed everything. The main color scheme seemed to be purple and white, though quite a few toys were brightly and neon colors. Patton excitedly led a bewildered Logan to a crib against the middle of the back wall. He put his hand on the back of Logan’s head and made him look downward, which he didn't appreciate too much. 

There was an infant in the crib. Wide awake and staring up at the two of them. Dressed in a heart patterned purple onesie. Their eyes widened at seeing Logan and Patton, and the infant’s eyes stayed fixated on Logan. Patton cooed, kissing his fingertips and pressing them to the infant's forehead. “Why hello Angel~ Daddy thought you would be asleep, but I suppose you must have been waiting for a goodnight kiss. Daddy can give you one after he shows Logan around, okay?”

Despite the fact it was Patton who was talking, the infant's eyes stayed firmly on Logan as if they had a purpose. The infant began blinking repeatedly, waving their arms up at Logan and making sure his attention was on them. The rhythmic nature of the blinks almost reminded Logan of morse code, but that was a stupid thought, an infant could not be smart enough to do that, and the word the infant was spelling out was just a mindless string of letters. 

Patton cooed again. “Aww! Do you like Logan? Well, I’m sure you’ll get to spend some more time with him later.” He pulled Logan’s head away from the crib. “But we’ve got to go now, bye-bye my cherub!” Logan didn’t know what Patton meant by spending some time with the infant later, but he certainly never planned on coming back here. Patton led Logan away, but the infant continued staring at Logan, now reaching out through the bars of the crib for him. 

As they walked back into the hallway, Patton locked the door behind him. It felt like overkill to lock an infant in a crib in a room, even if you wanted to keep a baby safe. And the way the baby was staring at him concerned Logan, it felt way too aware for a child, though Logan didn’t know enough about children to be sure. Patton unlocked the door across the hall, once again pulling Logan through the door. 

This room was clearly designed for an older child. There was a desk, a bookshelf, and a much larger bed. There was a child curled up under the sheets, not moving, his back to him and Patton. Patton chuckled. “Well this is my current oldest. Looks like he’s asleep.” 

No he wasn’t, he was much too still to be asleep. Logan had studied sleep patterns once and nobody on earth could possibly sleep like that, tense and constricted, unless they were physically bound in that position. This teen? Was awake. But why wouldn’t he let Patton know? Was he not supposed to be awake? It was only mid-day. As he thought, the boy rolled over in his bed, his back now to the wall. 

He had something strange on his face, though it was slightly obscured by how he smashed his head into the pillow. Logan took a small step further, trying to get a better look at the boy’s face. Was it a birthmark? Some sort of scar? It looked yellowish and cut up. But only when Logan took another step closer did he realize what was on the boy’s face. Scales. 

Scales that looked exactly like Janus’s. Logan took a step back. Was this some sort of clone? Had Patton stolen and redecorated someone from the imagination? Or…? Patton had mentioned having a bunch of photos of Janus and Virgil as children, even though Logan knew he hadn’t properly spent time with either of them until Thomas was an early teen. Had this been what Patton meant? And that meant the baby was… Virgil? Logan couldn’t even imagine the situation they were in. This was inhumane. 

He looked back at Patton, who was staring at him. He looked like he might have been trying to gauge Logan’s reaction. Logan almost wanted to shout at him, ask him what he was thinking doing this. But he didn’t. Janus was in the room, and while Logan would have liked to believe he had fully consented and was simply feigning being powerless and unable to help, he didn’t want to take any chances. 

He took another step backward, towards the door. “This… certainly lives up to being ‘better than photos’ Patton. You were not lying about that.” He was as close as he could get to the door now, considering Patton’s grip on his hand was a lot tighter now than it had originally been. “But we should leave, I don’t want to accidentally wake him up.” 

Patton shrugged. “Alright, you two will have plenty of time when he’s awake to play I suppose.” Once again, he led Logan away and out of the room, locking it behind him. 

Once they were out, Patton smiled at him. “Soooo, What did you think? Aren’t they adorable? isn’t this amazing!” Logan stiffly nodded. As soon as they were out of here, he would confront Patton, but in a subsection of Patton’s room like this one, Patton would have far too much control over the conversation. That was never good when you were trying to confront a side. 

Patton smiled wider, taking a step towards Logan. “Well I’m glad you like it, because I have a surprise!” Logan stood his ground, with everything that had already happened he doubted this ‘surprise’ would be for him. No, it would probably be something for Patton disguised as something for him. That was what people with a similar mindset to Patton’s right now commonly did, give other people gifts solely to feel benefit themselves. And with what he’d already discovered, Logan wasn’t particularly thrilled to find out how he was going to benefit Patton. “Really? You don’t have to Patton, this tour has already been enough of a surprise.” 

Patton shook his head. “Nonsense! I want to! And we’ll all get to enjoy this one.” He let go of Logan’s hand and began doing a small drum-roll on the wall, before clapping his hands excitedly. “You aren’t leaving! You get to stay here forever with me and my kiddos!” 

Logan took a step backwards. Of course. Of course Patton was planning to keep him here. He should’ve realized the second Patton had locked the door to his room behind him. He wasn’t about to let this happen, but Patton had the advantage of this being his room, and being the only person who could open the doors he’d locked. He had to reason with him, it was likely the only way to have a chance of getting out. 

“Patton. This is inhumane, and very mentally unhealthy. It’s bad for you, Virgil, Janus, and Thomas.” He took another step backwards, as Patton’s face fell into annoyance and confusion. “Oh come on now Logan. You liked my home! You said the rooms were nice! And Virgil is already eager to spend time with you! Won’t it be awesome? You won’t have to do any complicated stuff with Thomas, I mean, we’d listen to you in here! I always listen to Janus’s ideas for playtime!” 

Logan grimaced. It filled him with.. Something akin to uncomfortableness that Patton had noticed his discomfort at being ignored, and was trying to use it to convince him to do this. Logan would prefer nobody ever listened to him again than a lifetime where he was only listened to about what plastic toy he wanted to play with. How far would he have fallen then? “No, Patton. In no possible universe would this be the preferable answer to anyone except you. And even if by some chance someone did, People need stimulation to function properly. An adult could not go about their days fully without getting the mental stimulation an adult needs. It would be very unhealthy.” 

Patton sighed. He took another step closer, as Logan took a mirroring step back. “That’s really unfortunate kiddo. I was gonna have you be my oldest. Someone who could help babysit and make dinner when I’m at work with Thomas, if you had negotiated well enough you could have even been the fun uncle! But…” Patton took another step forward, roughly grabbing Logan by the wrist before he could step away. “I suppose I can rethink your role in the family dynamic.” 

Logan yanked at his arm. His shapeshifting skills were subpar, and if Patton managed to force him into some shape, he would not be able to get out of it without help. “Let go of me! Patton, this is unacceptable!” Patton chuckled, keeping a tight grip on Logan. “What a big word for such a little kiddo! How cute.” 

Patton's condescension infuriated him. “Don't talk to me like that Patton. I am not a child, and I will not let you treat me like you. Whatever you do to me, I will not comply or play along with your delusions!” Patton kept chuckling, walking closer to Logan. “That’s what Virgil said at first too! But look at him now, happy as pie!” Logan very highly doubted that, considering the amount of comments Virgil had made about not wanting to be babied, especially by Patton. 

Logan threw himself backward, ripping his arm from Patton. At the very least he could run, trying to buy himself some time since Patton clearly was not in a proper state to listen to reason. But he stumbled, tripped over his own feet and pants and fell backwards. Or he would’ve if Patton hadn’t caught him. Patton expertly grabbed his wrists, before pulling him into his arms, tucking Logan’s head under his chin. “There we go! Wouldn’t want you to fall and hurt yourself by being clumsy, would we?” 

Logan fumed. He wasn’t clumsy! It was circumstance! He would’ve corrected Patton had his tongue not felt dead and limp in his mouth, and his arms and legs felt the same. Patton must have been doing it to him. He fought back as best he could, barely lifting his limbs and pathetically mumbling nonsense. But as his vision got progressively darker, he could tell there was no use. Patton shushed and cooed at him. “Don’t worry buddy. It won’t hurt at all, I’ve perfected it. It’ll be over in no time.”

At some point, Patton scooped his legs up and held him against his chest. That wasn’t right, Patton couldn't have done that. Logan was much too tall, and Patton certainly wasn’t strong enough to carry a man of similar height and weight to him, but that was what it felt like. Patton stroked his hair, and made a content hum when Logan weakly grumbled in response. “There we go, little astronaut, all done. Why don’t you go to sleep while Daddy changes you into your jammies? That would be nice, wouldn’t it? I’m sure you’re very sleepy.” 

Logan’s head hurt, and whenever he tried to open his eyes or move anything his vision got blurry and static-like. It shouldn’t have been, he was wearing his glasses, but whatever Patton had done to him didn’t seem to care. Patton continued stroking his hair, speaking in a low and slow tone and shushing Logan, who’s mind was progressively getting fuzzier and fuzzier. 

He wanted to go to sleep, he was tired, his head hurt. But he couldn’t. He couldn’t because… because…? He couldn’t remember. He got a small feeling he had been mad at someone? Who? He also couldn’t remember. Patton stroked his hair again, speaking in that soothing tone that made Logan want to forget anything anyway. “Come on Logie, don’t you just wanna fall asleep in Daddy’s arms? Doesn’t that sound lovely?”

Logan snuggled into Daddy’s chest as his arms held him tighter. It did sound nice, and he was tired. He wanted to go to bed. He didn’t care who he was upset at, Daddy’s grip was nice and he was so so tired. As the thoughts in his mind faded into black, Daddy kissed his forehead. 

“Goodnight little astronaut. Daddy knew you would listen to him eventually.”