Switching Sides

Chapter Four

  Just for clarification, this would happen before flight or flight, hence why Nico isn't brought up at all.

  Thomas looked around at his apartment. It was a terrible mess and he knew he had to do something, but he couldn't hype himself up for it.
  Was something wrong with Patton? Any time he had searched for a moral boost he would hear Patton's encouragement at the very least. Most of the time he would pop up and help him stay motivated.
  Sometimes they would get distracted and Logan would pop up to help them get back on track. The father figure would blush and tell Logan they'd start working again.
  They had such crushes on one another. The thought made him smile, they were so cute together.
  But thinking about that was a mistake as his mind started going through all of his friends relationships.
  It made him feel a stab of jealousy. They all had someone and here he was alone without a boyfriend.
  Again he felt a stab of emotion, this time guilt as he thought about how he should be proud of his friends. Then both stabs of emotion cancelled each other out and he felt the overwhelming urge to do nothing.
  He scrolled through YouTube and saw how well his Sander Sides series was doing and smiled. None of his friends had done anything this special to so many people.
  Then he slammed his laptop closed realizing that he was acting like a monster. A shock of fear and realization went through him.
  Thomas didn't want to be the jerk he could feel himself becoming, but he didn't know how to stop it.
  He didn't see Virgil in the corner of the room as he watched Thomas start to question what was happening.
  Then Virgil sank out, more determined then ever to fix this.

~O~

   The Monopoly game yesterday had gone horribly off the rails. It started out great and went terribly from there.
  Most of the game was Roman and Logan arguing and trying to trade and get the better Monopolies. Patton and Virgil tried to stay out of it, but of course, it wasn't that simple.
  "Hey Patton, would you like to trade Pennsylvania Avenue for Kentucky Avenue. I'll also throw in 250." Roman asked him.
  Patton smiled good-naturedly. "Red is your color. I'd be-"
  "Patton that isn't a good deal on your end. That gives him a Monopoly and it just gives you a property and spare change." Logan interrupted him.
  "This isn't how the first game we played all together went. We each helped each other get our own color remember? Roman gave you Broadway and you gave him the whole red Monopoly, and if I remember correctly we had quite a few laughs this time." Virgil replied huffily. He was tired of Logan and Roman ruining the fun in the game.
  "Well it was a trade and he ended up winning that game. Monopoly is a game about serious business. Something none of you seem to understand." The less logical side told him.
  "Hey! I have two Monopolies with hotels and houses! You only seem to have one!" Roman pointed out angrily. "I wouldn't be insulting my hand."
  "I'm sorry but you forgot to mention location and I seem to have all four railroads. One of your great Monopolies hasn't made you a single buck. Has it Princy?"
  "None of this is the point!" He stood up, angry that they would fight like this over a board game. They were upsetting Patton and poisoning themselves. "The point is we're meant to have fun and neither of you seem to be doing that! Now Patton is really upset, I've nearly had 3 panic attacks, Roman is probably going to get a creative block again, and our very own since of logic is acting like a self-obsessed idiot!" Virgil didn't mean to yell at them, but now he saw their shocked faces and realized that it was probably the best course of action.
  "I guess you're right Virgil. We should probably stop playing." Logan said and Virgil sat back down in his chair.
  He tried to look over to Patton, but he saw that the father figure had ran away from the shouting. "Can you two stay here on your own without fighting more and causing a ruckus?"
  "Of course. We'll put away the game. After all we were the ones to cause the issue. Usually when I do make a scene I make it a good one." Roman smiled at Virgil.
  "And are you two over not trusting me?" Virgil asked the question a little more hesitantly, afraid they would switch back.
  "Of course, we were unreasonable and rude. From now on we'll trust you, secrets and all. We do all have them." He wiped his glasses off on his shirt and started to collect all them money.
 

He looked at their eyes and smiled a little bit as he saw the color go down a little bit. Maybe this had helped in a different way.
  Virgil climbed up the stairs and went into Patton's room. "Hey Dad, how are you feeling?"
  The room felt different this time. Patton's room usually gave anyone a burst of nostalgia and made their emotions a little stronger.
  This time though, the initial entering of the room made him feel like he entered a space where fun and activity were discouraged. He didn't feel like life mattered. Life didn't exist here. Only a feeling of never wanting to try again.
  And in the middle of the room was Patton, surrounded by darkness. A darkness he couldn't see. Small things in his room were starting to change as well. Little things like the disrepair of Patton's little sticker collection.
  "What's going on? Patton-" Just then a yellow glove covered Virgil's mouth.
  "Don't talk here. We definitely don't need to discuss this." The snake side dragged him out of Patton's room and closed the door.
  "For once I agree with you. Are we talking to Logan and Roman too?"
  "No." Deciet hissed and dragged Virgil through a dark tunnel. One which he knew he could escape if he needed to.
  But for now he didn't need to. They both sat down and Janus put his hands discover. "Let's talk about Patton."