Plagiarism

Ch. 23

"Dee-Dee!" Remus exclaimed. "I missed you--"

Deceit punched Remus in the face.

"You're an asshole, you know that?" Deceit hissed, his voice shaky. He pulled Remus into a tight embrace, suprising the other side immensely.

"Deceit--"

"Don't you ever do that again, you hear me?" Deceit mumbled, burying his face in Remus' shoulder.

"Do you know what he did, Deceit?!" Virgil yelled, causing Remus to tense up. "What that sick fuck did?!"

"Virgil, language!" Patton and Deceit exclaimed at the same time. Patton glanced at Deceit and giggled. Deceit scowled in return.

"No, I don't." Deceit said, focusing his attention on Virgil again. He pulled away from Remus, who felt like he was a kid watching his teacher report his misbehavior to his dad. "What did he do?"

Roman suddenly stopped flickering. He blinked up at Virgil. "Wha--Virgil?"

"Roman!" Virgil exclaimed. "Are you okay?! What did your monster of a brother do to you?!"

"What--monster--?" Roman stammered. Roman sat up, looking around the room in suprise. "...so that cat's out of the bag, huh?"

Suddenly, Thomas took a deep breath. "You're back." He said, standing a little straighter. "I missed you, Ro."

"You don't need to worry, Remus can't hurt you anymore." Logan said. Roman recoiled in suprise.

"Hurt me? Remus wasn't--"

"You don't need to put on a brave face for us, Princey!" Virgil exclaimed. "You're allowed to feel fear!"

"But--"

"What is going on here?" Deceit interjected, a very serious expression on his face.

"You need to control that fucking animal!" Virgil spat, pointing at Remus. "Keep him locked in a cage or something! I don't want him anywhere near Roman again!"

"What?" Remus mumbled, more confused than anything.

"What happened, Virgil?" Deceit asked, preparing for the worst.

"Your little raccoon has been holding Roman hostage for days now. Have you even been letting him eat?" Patton asked.

"Of course I have! I've been summoning him food every day! And food he likes too! Do you know how exhausting that is?! To create something Roman would?!" Remus exclaimed.

"Remus has been ducking out for days." Virgil slapped a hand over his mouth. "He could've died!"

"He's perfectly fine!" Remus retorted, though he knew Virgil had a point. "And you don't understand at all! I did it for a Roman! I-I--"

"You what?!" Virgil yelled.

"I love him! He's my brother!" Remus did his best not to look at Roman's stunned reaction. He was embarrassed about admitting out loud already.

"You're the shittiest brother I've ever laid eyes on." Virgil sneered. "You remind why I left."

"Virgil," Deceit snapped.

"And you!" Virgil stood up, marching over to Deceit. "I bet you were his accomplice in all this! What was this?! Some scheme to turn me against Patton and go back to you?!"

"Despite popular belief, not everything is about you." Remus spat.

"Can you guys stop? You're not helping." Thomas frowned. Sadly, Remus seemed to be the only one who heard him.

"Right when I start to trust you again, I find out what I've always known." Virgil laughed humorlessly.

"...and what is that?" Deceit asked, his expression carefully neutral.

"You're just a fucking snake." Virgil hissed.

"Virgil!" Remus snapped.

"Remus," Deceit said sternly. Deceit paused, taking a deep breath. Remus didn't point out how shaky it was, not that he would ever. "Virgil, Remus is right. This isn't about you."

"Then what is this about?" Patton asked, arms crossed.

"Yeah, what is this about?" Deceit asked, cocking his head. Remus swallowed nervously.

He glanced at Roman, who nodded. "The...empathy link." Remus began slowly, frowning. "I had been feeling that Roman was feeling...bad."

"Bad?" Thomas asked, a concerned expression on his face.

"Thomas, be quiet." Patton snapped.

"Oh shit--"

"I wanted to find out why." Remus continued. "So I told Roman of my plan to disguise myself as him and see how he you guys treated him on a daily basis."

"And the flirting?" Virgil asked, scowling. "Was that also to see how we treated him?"

"...no." Remus admitted. "That was to...help Roman out."

Roman turned a violent shade of red.

"Bullshit!" Virgil yelled. "You expect me to buy that?!"

"It does seem rather farfetched." Logan mumbled. "You and Roman have lived with bitter feelings towards each other all these years, but Roman suddenly feels bad and you come running?"

"I don't think you understand how bad he felt." Remus snapped, glowering at Logan. "Oh, and that reminds me. I owe you a beatdown."

"Remus--" Roman tried to interject.

Remus moved to punch Logan, but a snap resounded through the room and Remus found he could move. "Wh-What the--?!"

"That's quite enough." Patton said, stepping foward. "Deceit, keep your dog at bay."

Deceit said nothing, just stared blankly at the taller side.

"And Remus," Patton turned to him. "I expect this to never happen again. Am I clear? No harm will come to Logan, I'll talk with him myself."

Remus scoffed. "You better make sure none of you says a word to Roman again, or I won't be as lenient."

"I don't doubt your words." Patton said.

"You're just going to let him walk free?! After what he did to Roman?! After what he did to me?!"  Virgil exclaimed.

"He's definitely not walking free." Deceit said, and Remus' heart sunk to his shoes.

Patton snapped again, and Remus could move once more. He shot Logan a venomus glare.

"I've got my eyes on you." He snarled.

"Now, get out." Patton demanded.

"What?!" Roman exclaimed. "Patto--"

"As you wish." Deceit smirked, grabbing Remus' shoulder.

They both sunk out.

A/N:

So I bet you're wondering: what now?