#and yeah i’m sure people have turned their vitriol against a particular character onto the shippers—

[danielnelsen]

i’m not cut out to be a fan of something while new info is being released. any time i see a remotely negative or bad opinion i want to eat my own eyes

[spacechild-glitchypix]

Cookie Crumbs and Tears - A Sanders Sides Fic

So, I wrote this a long time ago and I’m only posting here now because of course I am

Summary: Virgil, in an attempt to get away from his room and from the ever invading thoughts of a particular character, manages to find himself talking with Patton (the real one) about how the events that transpired earlier today had affected his relationship to the other sides. Now, Virgil was expecting Roman and Logan to be slightly suspicious but he wasn't expecting outright anger from either of the two sides

And he certainly didn't expect one of them to try to physically confront Patton.

Takes place shortly after the events of 'Can Lying Be Good?'

Pairings: Minor Prinxiety, Minor Logicality

Warnings: Near violence (no violence actually happens but someone nearly punches someone and light violence is described), Virgil suffers a panic attack, Patton cries, someone grabs someone’s butt (it’s an accident and treated as comic relief)

Read on AO3 here

Sequel fic (There Are Voices In My Head (Not The Normal Kind Either)) here

Second sequel fic (The Healing Heart Fixes the Cracked Crown) here

Virgil was sat in his room, arms hugging his legs and eyes stationed on a face-down picture frame. The purple-clad side had no clue why he kept it, it just served to make him feel worse but, then again, his room was the dark corner of Thomas's mind where you indulge in problematic thoughts so the picture wasn't exactly out of place now, was it? Virgil shifted, curling in on himself even further at the thought of his past. He was beyond this, he was getting better, he was one of Thomas's main sides now. The other three liked him too, he was doing good now and he was going to keep improving.

So why did he still feel like a hindrance?

Virgil got up; began pacing. He felt self-conscious- no, wait, he felt jittery- no, not that either. He felt something bothering him, something bad, something that he needed to control. What was it? Worry? Terror? Anxiety? Anxiety! Yes, he felt anxiety- anxious! He needed to leave the room, it was only gonna get worse while he was there and he honestly didn't want it to get worse. Virgil quickly rushed away from his room, down the halls into the mind lounge. No one was there, an unusual occurrence. The room usually had at least one side in here at a time but not this time apparently. Virgil gave the absence of the others a quick notice before settling down on the four-seater couch that laid in the middle of the room. He took this time to take deep breaths in and out before grounding himself. Five things he could see. The floor, the walls the screen where the sides could watch what Thomas was doing, the memory access panel that allowed the sides to access Thomas's memories when need be and Patton standing in the doorway.

Wait.

Virgil looked directly at the side that was hesitantly standing on the threshold of the halls and the mind lounge. It looked like Patton but Virgil was uncertain of if this really was Patton or not and didn't want to risk letting a snake get any closer to him than necessary. The side that looked like Patton gave a weak wave and a smile, a sweet and rather innocent smile but it was also a little weak. Virgil could also vaguely make out tear tracks but that wasn't enough to ease his worries that this Patton may not be genuine. The side clad in blue slowly but surely made his way towards the couch, going to sit down only to be interrupted by Virgil sprawling his legs out to cover a good chunk of the couch. Virgil was sure that this side would just attempt to sit in the unoccupied area but he apparently got message Virgil was trying to give and just stood, a sombre look spread on his face for a brief second before the side went back to smiling. That brief look would've usually softened Virgil up on any normal day but, instead, it just made him put his guard up further.

"Sorry to bother you kiddo but d'you think maybe we could talk?" The blue-clad side asked. Even his voice was a little weak and Virgil couldn't properly pin a reason. It could be Patton, maybe the whole situation had gotten to the sweeter side more than he'd let on earlier but, at the same time, it could just be the snake pretending to be Patton and feigning upset. Virgil didn't know what to do. After a good five minutes of Virgil's silence, the older side's weak smile shattered and a look of utter despair covered his expression. A distraught from covered his face and his eyes looked utterly broken as a pair of limpid teardrops threatened to escape from his ducts. It was a face Patton rarely put on, one Virgil had studied adamantly when he was left to console Patton on his own one day while the fatherly side rambled on about how he was feeling particularly troubling feelings towards the one side who didn't seem to have any of those sorts of feelings. Why had he studied Patton's face while the elder side talked about his feelings? Well, simply put, this was around the start of their friendship and Virgil still found it hard to keep a consistent amount of eye contact with him, let alone comfort him. He did get to study his face for the three hours Patton rambled and Virgil always remembered a face.

Virgil knew for a fact that it's a face that the snake couldn't possibly hope to imitate entirely, the fool could barely imitate Patton well enough to get by the three other sides just hours before. This was undeniably Patton. Now Virgil was just left curious about what happened to him. Virgil swung his legs off of the couch and motioned for the older side to sit down.

"Sorry about…" Virgil swivelled his hand, hoping that Patton would get the message.

"It's alright, I've been getting that all day. Roman and Logan never got that it as really me though…" Patton's voice was still rather small, the side was trying not to make it crack. Virgil assumed that he was trying not to make himself sound anymore upset than he already was.

"I can try to convince them that you're not...him if you want," Virgil could hear his voice grow bitter at the mere mention of that snake. He would try not to bring him up too much, Patton didn't need the grief. "Don't worry kiddo, it'll sort it out later hopefully," Patton gave the darker side a tiny smile of gratitude. Virgil decided to let the older side do as he said, not wanting to argue with him.

"You still wanna talk?" Virgil asked.

"Yeah," Patton rubbed at the tears that were trying to escape, worried that a dam was going to break if he didn't. The side then tugged a little at the cat hoodie tied around his shoulders, loosening the knot but not enough to remove the tie entirely.

"Roman wouldn't even look at me,"

At the mention of the princely trait and his cold attitude, Virgil held a look of disappointment. He didn't know why he was disappointed with Roman but he was. Maybe he was expecting more from the heroic prince, maybe it was just that tiny portion of his brain that had grown fond of the charmingly eccentric dreamer was rather hurt with hearing how he'd just treated a close friend with such disdain. Then again, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

"I went to his room to give him some cookies. Like, I iced them so that they had his emblem on them and everything because I wanted him to feel special after what happened today. Then I got to his room, knocked on the door and waited for him to let me in. So, he opened the door but, as soon as he saw me, he went to close the door again. I tried to tell him that it was just me but he just ignored me. After that, I just left the cookies at the door and left," Patton stared towards the hall, Virgil following his gaze and found a little stack of cookies wrapped in cellophane with a red and white bow to tie the gift together just sitting outside of the prince's room.

He was utterly baffled, shocked at Roman's utter lack of kindness towards Patton. It took a split second before that silence turned to anger and he felt a burning desire to deck Roman in the face. He decided against actually trying to deck the prince in the face since he was pretty sure the prince was stronger than he was and would just punch him back. Virgil didn't really want a broken nose and he also really didn't want to set his friendship with Roman back to stage one. Sure, Roman was still a major jerk to him but they were at least vitriolic buds now as opposed to being enemies to one and other. Plus, Roman was trying to cut back at the slights, that much was obvious. Virgil proceeded to glare at the door, maybe hoping Roman would possible come out and notice the utter fury Virgil had. It wasn't going to happen but Virgil could dream damn it.

"Virgil?" Patton's voice managed to snap Virgil out of his stupor and sudden desire to beat the red and white prince in with a rusty, metal pipe. The darker side looked towards his friend who looked a little concerned. Whether he was concerned about Virgil himself or Roman's fate, Virgil wasn't sure but he put that aside for now.

"You said you talked to Logan, right?" Virgil began to regret his question as soon as he saw the tears starting to well up in Patton's eyes. Considering Logan's hatred of the snake and Patton's complicated emotions for Logan, Virgil figured the encounter must've been brutal.

"Well, I tried to. I went to his room after Roman shut me out because I thought that maybe I could at least get a conversation out of him, even if it is a little harsh. You know how he is," Patton started. Virgil could tell he was rambling, he didn't want to recall what had happened. Virgil didn't do that, he just kept his mouth shut and avoided talking about whatever it was that he didn't want to remember but he could tell when someone felt particularly sore about an event.

"Did you?" Virgil was rather hesitant to ask, a little worried about how Patton would react and what would happen if he retold the events.

"Kinda. I also made cookies for him with his little brain-logo thing iced onto them. I didn't know how much he'd appreciate them though since he does go on about how we should be eating healthily and not snacking out on things like sweets but then I thought 'well, a treat once and a while won't hurt you' and decided I'd tell him that if he went off on me for making him cookies instead of getting him carrot sticks or something and-"

"Patton, you're rambling,"

"...Oops. Well, anyways, I knocked on his door, got the cookies out and waited for him to open up. Once he opened up the door, I went to give him the cookies but he just gave me this...look. Like, he looked angry and suspicious. I tried to keep talking to him since I had no idea why he was looking at me like that but then he told to go away...well, I mean, he didn't word it as nicely as that but that's basically what he said," Patton glanced back to the hallway again, looking at Logan's door this time. Virgil followed his gaze but noticed there were any cookies there. The purple-clad side doubted that Logan would've taken the cookies if he had such a vehement reaction to Patton just giving him cookies. Virgil also doubted that Logan would react like that because of cookies and the logical side wouldn't be likely just to assume that this Patton wasn't Patton unless-

"So, wait, did he just see you and give you that look or did you say something?" Virgil questioned.

"I mean, he seemed fine when he first saw me I guess. I just said hi and that I had cookies for him and then he started giving me that look," Patton fiddled with his fingers as tried to recall what exactly had happened. "Specifics Patton, what did you say to him exactly?" Virgil had an idea of what might've tipped Logan off but he needed to know if Patton had actually done it.

"Like, exactly what I said?" Patton looked really confused. Virgil nodded. "Well, I said 'Hey Lo!' first. Logan his usual look and then I said 'Guess who just made the bestest batch of cookies for the bestest teacher in the world!' and he gave me the angry and suspicious look," Patton explained.

"Yep, that'd do it," Virgil mumbled, prompting Patton to give him a confused look. Virgil noticed and sighed. "Look, he said some pretty nice compliments to use while he was pretending to be you. One of the things he told Logan was that he was everyone's favourite side…"

"Oh…" Patton's face filled with guilt as he looked back towards the dark blue door that led to Logan's room.

"Anyways," Virgil had another thought on his mind, another point to bring up considering the fact the cookies seemed to be missing. "What happened after Logan told you to go away?"

Patton snapped his gaze back to Virgil, a look spread across his face that was practically the embodiment of hurt. Virgil became a little worried. What on Earth could Logan have done that would cause Patton to look like that? To see the usually upbeat father so downcast was a pretty big shock anyways but the pure sorrow on Patton's face was like a blow to the stomach. What on Earth had Logan done?

"Well, I told him to watch his language. He just repeated the phrase again but harsher. After that, I just said that I'd ignore the strong language for now as long as he apologised by taking the cookies I made him. He, well...he didn't exactly take that very well," Patton paused, his voice starting to quiver and his eyes starting to water. He took a deep breath before continuing. "Logan opened the door fully, took the cookies I'd made, walked to the back of his room and stood beside the trash can, turned to look at me with his hand with the cookies I made him over the trash can and then threw the cookies I made for him in the bin,"

Virgil was about to comment on Logan's unnecessary rudeness but Patton held his finger up as if to say 'gimme a second'. The poor guy was incredibly close to crying and Virgil feared that the spec-wearing side was going to break down into sobs by the time he finished telling the tale. Virgil decided to quickly rush to the kitchen to get tissues before sprinting back in. Patton seemed to be ready to continue by the time Virgil had come back.

"So, after Logan did...that, I said that what he did was a little rude but I'd make him salad if he really didn't want cookies that badly. Logan…" Patton paused, his voice breaking a little and tears finally dripping down his face. He quickly scrubbed the droplets from his face before continuing. "Logan grabbed me by the collar and pushed away from his room before slamming the door in my face," Patton finally spat out, tears rushing faster and faster from his tear ducts as his voice grew into weak sobs. He sniffled a bit before getting back to what had happened. His voice was meek and feeble "I was ok after he shoved me, I just bumped my back against the wall but, even if it didn't really hurt, I started crying and just went to my room to sulk and look at pictures of us when Thomas was a little kid. I came out a bit later and went looking for you,"

If Virgil was tempted to deck Roman before, he was outright ready to beat the ever-loving $@#% out of Logan.

What the actual hell was Logan thinking?! Virgil understood that he's always been a little self-conscious of how well-liked he is and that the snake's comment probably got to him deeply but did he really shoved Patton into a wall like that just because he assumed it was him?! Virgil hated the damn snake more than Logan did but even he wouldn't have potentially have hurt poor Patton under an assumption! Virgil wasn't letting this one go, he was not about to let Logan get away with that. Patton doesn't deserve that after all joy he brings to the group. Plus, Virgil was also peeved at Logan for joking that the snake was preferable to Patton when the latter was just making dad jokes and puns.

This was gonna feel cathartic as hell.

Virgil stood up, stalking towards the dark blue door that led to Logan's room. Behind him, he could faintly hear Patton worriedly asking what he was doing. Virgil didn't respond. Once the darker side had reached the door, he bashed his fist against it, the loud thumps echoing through the halls of the mindscape. Logan opened the door, a sliver of guilt found on his face along with a startled expression. Once the eyes behind the thick-rimmed glasses met Virgil's own, the purple-clad side proceeded to push Logan's door open, his hands curled into fists and his teeth bared into a snarl. Logan looked bewildered, fear starting to mix into the bewilderment as he took a good step back. Virgil went to reach for Logan's collar, his fist pulled back as he did so.

"Virgil, stop!"

Arms pulled Virgil back, grabbing at his own arms and forcing him away from Logan. Said side looked on in a mix of confusion and terror. Virgil could hear Patton muttering into his ear, comforting him with words of 'its okay', 'calm down kiddo', 'I'm right here' and 'We don't need to fight'. At the commotion, Roman decided to peek out of his room, witnessing Virgil in this compromising position. Any previous anger that had run through Virgil's veins died away as he saw the prince looking at him with confused, almost horrified eyes.

Virgil suddenly realised what he'd nearly done and broke down. His knees gave out and his breathing became shallow as Patton, ever the fatherly hero, supported him through the whole thing, holding him up and trying to give comforting words. This wasn't right, Patton deserved to be supported right now, not Virgil, Virgil had nearly punched Logan in the face. Patton was still hurting, Virgil wasn't, why was Patton so content with making him feel better right now? Self-deprecating thoughts ran through Virgil's head as his lack of oxygen started to make him dizzy. Eventually, Virgil passed out.

Light flooded his vision. Virgil was unsure of what he was looking at but he knew he was lying on something soft. He decided whatever that light was, it could wait, he could sleep in for a couple more minutes. Eyes closed, Virgil shifted into a sideways position. His pillow seemed to flinch at his movement, it warmness radiating against his head. He lifted an arm to grab whatever he was sleeping against, grabbing something soft and decently squishy before a shrill screech filled his ears and hands whacked his away.

Wait. Hands? Flinching pillows? screeches?

Virgil opened his eyes again, rolling onto his back to look up at his surroundings. The light came back, blinding him for a good few seconds. He blinked multiple times, attempting to wipe the brightness away with his eyelids. Muffled voices spoke simultaneously in the background as he tried to regain his senses. After a minute, his sight came back to him.

He was met face-to-upside-down-face with a frowning, slightly flustered Roman. Virgil held a rather confused look as Roman attempted to tell him off for something but most of his attempts boiled down to scoffs and groans of embarrassment. Virgil was left confused for a second before looking to his side and realising the problem.

He was lying atop Roman's lap.

That most likely meant that the soft, squishy thing he grabbed while 'sleeping' was Roman's-

Virgil shot up, whacking foreheads with Roman. He instantly pulled away from the princely side, finding himself lying in said side's lap beforehand. Virgil decided he hated all the terrible life decisions he made that lead up to this. It certainly didn't help that Virgil actually found Roman extremely attractive (as in his confidence is something Virgil...admired so to speak. The outfit helped some too) and he- Virgil craved death, that what he did at that moment, he craved death’s sweet, supple embrace. And he decided to spite Roman. Mostly spite Roman.

It was a while before Logan and Patton walked into the room and, at the sight of a rather dejected-looking Patton and a hesitant and oddly quiet Logan, Virgil seemed to suddenly remember exactly how he passed out. He could recall every bit of anger that had prickled his skin, anger aimed towards the usually unaggressive Logan. He could remember Patton's distraught tale of how his beloved had essentially flung him against a wall out of assumption. Virgil also vaguely remembered wanting to deck Roman for being rude to Patton. Either way, considering Patton and Logan's rather awkward silence, Virgil assumed the both had avoided talking while he was out.

God damn these two.

"I see my assumption that the series of peculiar noises that I assumed to be coming from Roman was a sign that Virgil was awake was correct. Great, now we can get onto questions because I, for one, have several," Logan commented upon seeing a conscious and seemingly active Virgil.

"Shoot," Virgil tucked his hands into his armpits as he braced himself for what he assumed would be like a police interrogation.

"Why on Earth did you try to punch me?"

Virgil knew it was coming, he knew that Logan was going to ask that question first and foremost. It was obvious why he would, Virgil nearly beat him to a pulp without warning or, seemingly, any provocation. The problem was that Virgil wasn't sure how to answer. He wasn't going to lie but, at the same time, he didn't want to out Patton to his crush. After all, it's not like he could just leave that part out, that's another version of lying plus Virgil was pretty sure that, if Patton hadn't been in love with Logan, he wouldn't have been so utterly broken by what Logan had done. He'd be upset, sure but he probably wouldn't have been as upset as he was. Virgil was pretty sure that Patton not loving Logan as much as he did would've made the situation better but he knew that this was partially his own fault as well. They should've talked this out without violent confrontation, if they'd have done that, Virgil wouldn't have passed out or grabbed Roman's…, he wouldn't be conflicted on what to do in this situation. This was his fault.

"Logan, look. I know you probably don't believe me and you probably think it's not even me but please listen to me for a minute,"

Virgil looked towards Patton who'd nervously been fiddling with his cat hoodie for the past few minutes. The eldest side was seemingly looking for the words to admit what he was about to say or maybe he was just trying to work up the courage to talk to Logan after everything that happened or maybe he was waiting for Logan's approval. Virgil wasn't sure but he was, at the very least, grateful that he didn't have to answer this alone.

"...Alright. I don't trust you completely yet but I'll listen," Logan held a harsh look at Patton but Virgil was almost certain that the black-clad side was looking for any hint that this Patton was the real, genuine Patton. Patton didn't seem to get that tone and instead thought the hardened gaze was meant to be harmful.

"Well...after you...you know…" Patton, fixed his gaze back on his hoodie that was tied around his shoulders.

"Yes?" Logan prompted harshly.

"After that whole...thing, I went to look for Virgil. Long story short, I found him in the mind lounge, I told him what happened when I went to give you and Roman the cookies I made. After I said what you did, he got really angry. I'm sorry for nearly getting you hurt, I wasn't expecting Virgil to get so angry," Patton grabbed the paws of his hoodie, feeling his finger along the grey fabric, tracing along the paw shape.

"But why did Virgil get so upset? I mean, what I did was rather despotic-"

"English, Logan,"

"What I did was rather harsh and ultimately unnecessary, I'll admit to that fault but Patton didn't seem extensively hurt after the incident. Also, the retelling assumably took place an extended period of time after the incident took place considering the fact that there was about a two-hour gap between when I confronted Patton and when Virgil had attempted to attack me so any minor injuries left after the confrontation would've been nulled by that point, correct? I just don't understand the seething anger that caused Virgil enough distress to attack me," Logan held a look of honest confusion, he legitimately didn't understand Virgil's anger despite displaying such anger once before, anger that was directed at an incredibly rude Roman. Well, it was downplayed anger but still, Logan held a discontented look and the emotion reflected in his tone, it was clearly there. It was then that Virgil remembered that this was Logan, he didn't understand emotions and it was the one thing he never seemed to want to understand. Of course he didn't get it.

"Logan, you shoved Patton into a wall and made him cry. Why wouldn't I be angry?" Virgil held a glare with the older side.

"Wait, why was Patton crying?" Logan asked.

The question had managed to shut Virgil up and Patton was clearly holding his attention to something else or, at least, he was trying to. Neither wanted to lie, neither wanted to tempt the serpent into their home. After all that had happened, none of the sides felt comfortable with lying at the moment, even if it was the smartest option in this instance. Virgil just fastened his head down, not talking. There was no way he was telling Patton's secret, that was for Patton to do, not him. The poor eldest side wasn't exactly able to lie though, he couldn't just say he wasn't a snake and then hiss. He was trying to get Logan to listen to him, trying to make the logical side believe that it really was Patton he was talking to. Lying was just going to set him back to first base.

But how was he supposed to reveal the truth, Patton couldn't just come out with his near lifelong crush right now! Not only did Logan not know if he was really Patton or not but Patton himself wasn't ready to admit his feelings. Logan had long been the main source of teasing comments about the emotional side and Patton wanted to at least know that Logan just liked him as a mutual before he came out with anything like a crush. And it's not like asking would be easy, it'd just seem really awkward (or maybe that was more a Virgil thing). Either way, the eldest side was stuck between a rock and a hard place and Virgil could just see how much anguish was building up within Patton. It didn't help that he'd have to answer quickly otherwise that's a lie of omission. He can't just lightly leave the crush part out either, also a lie of omission. Virgil let ideas form and subsequently die within his head as he tried to get Patton out of this. Unfortunately, the blue-clad side seemed to handle stress incredibly harshly.

Patton started crying.

It was a shock for both Roman and Logan to witness the joyful, parental and usually emotionally stable side just burst into legitimate sobs. To them, Patton was always the soft yet strong side, he was a parent after all and most parents pride themselves on being gentle enough to be kind to their kids yet strong enough as to withstand the storm of distressing and disheartening situations that the family would occasionally get into. Patton was good at hiding any pain he may have harboured, he took to grinning and bearing like a duck in shark-infested water. It was dangerous but Patton was a natural. The only side able to handle situations like this quite as well was usually Logan mainly because of his lack of emotions leading to either a calm-minded Logan figuring out a solution the others were too stressed out to find or a frustrated Logan due to the situation bringing out frustration at the lack of a solution.

Either way, Roman rushed to get tissues while Logan tried to, somewhat awkwardly, comfort Patton with simple pats on the eldest side's back. Virgil, at this point, had also gotten up to get some comfort food for the upset side, picking out a tub of ice cream he specifically had hidden away for himself from the freezer and a few cookies from the cookie tin. Settling back in the room, Virgil sat beside the blue-clad side, noting that Logan had upgraded from patting Patton's back to wrapping one arm around the fatherly side with the other one on his shoulder, Logan's thumb rubbing circles into his shoulder in an attempt to calm Patton down. Roman eventually came back with tissues, which Patton gratefully took.

It took awhile, most likely fifteen minutes but Patton eventually stopped crying and was just content to lay his head on an uncharacteristically bashful Logan's shoulder as said side kept his arms around the weary side using his shoulder as a headrest. Virgil's ice cream had been all but demolished and not even just because of Patton. Apparently Roman thought it appropriate to sneak a few spoonfuls for himself. Virgil couldn't do much more than glare at the arrogant prince who, immaturely, stuck his tongue out at the purple-clad side in response. All had become mostly calm with Logan requesting someone put some calming music on to make sure that the atmosphere stayed relaxed.

Apparently, relaxed wasn't what Roman was feeling after another five minutes had passed with Patton and Logan practically cuddling (though ask Logan and you would get an entirely different opinion).

"Roman, what're you pouting for?" Virgil asked after he'd noticed the princely side getting weirdly grumpy for seemingly no reason.

"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired and I missed my beauty nap earlier because of this and I didn't sleep well last night and-"

"Ok, geez, sorry I asked. Watch out, you might get scales if you keep all that lying up," Virgil rolled his eyes at the over-dramatic side. It was a simple question, he didn't need the prince's life story.

"Excuse you, I'd much rather assume that my nose would grow thank you very much!"

"So you admit you're lying? Also, you're made out of wood now? I mean, I guess that would explain your wooden acting,"

An offended gasp pierced the air. It was at that moment Virgil knew he'd screwed up.

The offended prince had taken a leap towards Virgil, grabbing him by the waist, before pulling the unsuspecting side into an angry hug. How could a hug be angry you ask? Virgil has no clue but Roman managed to make one and Virgil was squirming to get away from the sudden physical contact before Roman possibly tried giving him angry cheek kisses. Not that either Logan or Patton were particularly helpful at all as they watch from the side, Logan with a baffled expression and Patton with a grin. The eldest side was probably getting enjoyment from watching Roman and Virgil, he'd always mentioned to Virgil how he thought that the two of them would make a cute couple which prompted Virgil to reply with something similar with him and Logan. Virgil and Roman continued to argue while the prince held Virgil in his arms if this wasn't strange enough.

"What the $@#%?! Why?! Why hugging?!"

"Patton and Logan are snuggling, I need some love too and you're the only side available!"

"And you didn't ask my permission first?! What's with you princes and your lack of consent with intimacy! What's next, you gonna kiss me too?!"

"Need I remind you that you grabbed my tush! This is retribution for that misdeed!"

"I'm sorry, Virgil did what-"

"I was asleep! I had no idea what the hell I was grabbing!"

"And you call me out on a lack of consent? Pot calling the kettle black I see,"

"You know, I think that cactus over there would appreciate this more than I do. How about you go attack him with a hug,"

"Excuse you, I'm not hugging a cactus, Mr Snide!"

And so the four sides spent the rest of the day together, laughing and joking and having and Roman even got their respective packs of customised cookies to munch on with Patton revealing that he made similar cookies for Virgil. The four even decided to help the eldest side make more when they realised that said side didn't make cookies for himself. No mentions of a specific serpent were made, no lies threatened their friendship and the mindscape was at ease at last.

For now at least.