Plagiarism

Ch. 8

We hit 1K! 🎉🎉

I honestly wasn't sure if we'd be able to hit it but y'all pulled through!

"Wrong?" Remus choked out. "Nothing's wrong!" He laughed, trying to ease the tension.

Virgil furrowed his brow. "I dunno, Princey...you just seem really stressed lately."

"Stressed...?" Remus repeated, sighing slightly in relief.

"I thought I was the only one who noticed!" Patton exclaimed. "Has something been bothering you, kiddo?"

Having Patton talk to him made Remus' skin crawl, but he pushed down the urge to vomit.

Then again, vomit WOULD make this pretty interesting.

Remus shook his head slightly. He had to focus on the task at hand.

"Uh, yeah, yeah no everything's fine." Remus told them. "I've just been, uh, concerned about my brother!"

Technically not a lie, so Deceit shouldn't appear.

"Remus?" Patton asked. "Why are you concerned about that...interesting side?" Patton asked, cringing slightly.

Remus frowned a bit. He knew Patton didn't like him but yikes.

Well the feeling was mutual anyway.

"He's just been really upset lately." Remus said. "We have a bond, so I can sense when he's feeling a strong emotion."

"An empathy link?" Logan asked. "Fascinating, so what has Remus been feeling?"

"I thought you'd be more skeptical about this." Virgil asked.

"It's Roman." Logan said.

"Well, he's been feeling rather...upset? Disappointed?" Remus mumbled.

"Dissatisfied?" Logan supplied.

"That's the one!" Remus nodded. "Dissatisfied with everything lately."

"Remus? Dissatisfied with everything?  Virgil asked. "We're talking about the same Remus who turned your floor into meat and then laughed about it for a week straight?"

"I guess even intrusive thoughts can have intrusive thoughts." Thomas shrugged. "Hey, Remus, bud? Come on out, huh?"

Remus's eyes went wide. Obviously, there would be no response to that.

What should he do? Go back to Roman's room, make Roman show up himself so Remus could pop up?

But what excuse would he have to leave?

"Roman said he was in the Imagination." Virgil hummed from the stairs. "Only the creativitwins can go in."

"Creativitwins, I like that." Remus smirked.

"So, you're okay, Ro?" Thomas asked. "Just worried?"

"Yes, Thomas. I am fine." Remus hummed. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his whole body.

Remus released a sharp inhale in suprise.

"Ro? Are you okay?" Virgil asked.

"I-I just remembered that I was in the middle of a very important project--" Remus stammered. The pain had turned to a dull ache, but it felt distant.

Like the pain was there, but he wasn't feeling all of it.

Roman.

Deceit rose up.

Everyone stared at Deceit, then looked back at Remus. "You just lied." Deceit mumbled, looking unimpressed.

"I-I have this thing I need to check up on." Remus laughed nervously. "I gotta go."

"Is everything alright, Ro?" Patton asked.

A difficult question, really.

If Remus said yes, then Deceit would sense he's lying and call him out. If Remus said no, then they would keep him here longer and he wouldn't be able to check on Roman.

So he said nothing as he sank out.

He appeared in Roman's room, where Roman was flickering and he shivered on the floor.

"Hey, Ro-Ro." He said quietly, crouching down next to him. "Please tell me this is a really intense orgasm?"

Roman gasped as the flickering suddenly came to a stop, as well as the dull ache Remus felt.

"Remus?" He asked. "What happened? I thought you were filming?"

"Well I couldn't just stand by while my little prince charming was in pain." Remus pinched Roman's cheek.

"Don't call me that." Roman swatted his hand away weakly. "I'm not little."

"Yeah, but your self esteem is itty bitty." Remus said.

"Why'd you have to leave? Now the others will be suspicious." Roman whined, sitting up from his position on the floor.

"Oh, so I should've just left you to fade?" Remus scoffed. "Not gonna happen, Ro."

A knock sounded at the door. "Kiddo? You in there?"

Remus stood up and opened it. "Hey Padre! Yeah, I'm fine! My brother was in pain, and I could feel it. That's all."

"Oh, I see!" Patton smiled. "...y'know, Ro?"

Remus shifted uncomfortably. He didn't like the sudden shift in the mood. "Uh, yes?"

"I don't see why it's necessary for you to care about Remus." Patton said, a bubbly smile still on his face. "He's a dark side, Ro! I got rid of him for a reason."

Remus gaped in shock. "Wha--"

"I get he's your brother, but he's just another dark side. Thomas would be better off without him." Patton didn't falter in his cheery tone once.

"B-But--" Remus wasn't quite sure how to respond. Sure, some sides had made subtle comments about how he wasn't needed, but no one had ever told him outright that they'd be better off without him.

"He's just so vulgar and dirty. Thomas even said he was scary!"

"I-It's just my instinct to care, I suppose?" Remus mumbled, feeling a bit faint.

"Hmm, well just think about it. Love ya, kiddo!" Patton ruffled Remus's hair and skipped away.

Remus felt sick as he stepped back into Roman's room.

Roman, who had been listening, closed the door behind him. "I'm so sorry, Rem."

"No no, it's fine." Remus shook his head, sitting down on Roman's bed. "Just took me by suprise, is all. Patton really hates me, huh?"

"What did he mean by 'I got rid of him for a reason'?" Roman asked. Remus' head snapped up.

"He never told you?" Remus asked. "Kind of stupid of him to say that to 'you' then."

"Tell me what?" Roman asked, sitting down next to him.

"The story of when I became a dark side?" Remus tried.

"He just told me you left one day. He said you hated me and that you wouldn't be coming back." Roman mumbled.

"And you believed that?" Remus asked incredulously.

"I was young." Roman shrugged sheepishly. "And we fought a lot, I just figured you got sick of it."

"Well, buckle up Roman. I have a story to tell." Remus smiled weakly.

A/N:

Sorry for the delay! I'm in the middle of a move lmao

Again, thank you so much for 1K! You have no idea how much it means to me, considering most writers have only one popular book on this app!