Deceit was relaxing on the couch in the mind palace, one earbud in as he listened to a podcast. He and Remus had been... Mostly accepted. Things were still sometimes really tense, and he knew it would take a while for everything to settle. But Deceit took advantage of the calm day they were having. Roman and Patton were baking, if their laughter and the strong scent of chocolate was anything to go by. Virgil was still napping, or maybe just quietly scrolling on his phone. Deceit hadn't heard a peep from him in a while. And Logan was reading nearby on the couch, the only indication he was there to Deceit being the frequent sound of pages turning.

And Remus was nowhere to be found.

Deceit guessed he was in the Imagination, preparing a prank for Roman. Or perhaps in his room, conducting an experiment.

And so Deceit closed his eyes, seeing the darkness that he saw all the time anyway, and lost himself in the voices of those on the podcast. He might as well enjoy this rare day of peace.

He didn't realize he had fallen asleep until Remus was shaking him awake.

Deceit blinked, rubbing his eyes and looking in Remus's direction. Deceit instantly knew it was him and no one else by the scent of fresh blood lingering in the air around the side.

"Yes, Remus?"

"Good! You're up!" Deceit felt some stuff being pushed into his hands as he sat up. "I was digging around some old stuff, from when Virgie and I were really really young, right? And I found these!"

"Why would you even want find those old books, Remus?" Virgil asked tiredly, and Deceit could feel his gaze on the pair. In fact, Deceit could practically feel everyone looking at them. "They aren't worth much."

Remus stuck his tongue out at Virgil, glaring half-heartedly. "I thought you of all sides would be excited, considering they were always your favorite whenever Dee read them to us!"

Virgil's surprise was evident in his voice. "You don't mean-"

"They're the old Disney classics." Deceit finished, running his fingers over the covers lightly and feeling the familiar bumps of the title.

"Yeah! And I thought it'd be fun to read them myself, but I literally couldn't understand anything. Dee, why're they all in braille?"

"Because I'm blind?" Deceit stated simply, opening one of the books and tracing his fingers over the words. His eyes widened slightly. "Wait- didn't I ever tell you?"

Remus was gaping at him. In fact, everyone was. There was a beat of silence, before Remus tackled him into a hug.

Deceit yelped as he suddenly had a duke clinging to him, laughing almost hysterically. Deceit blinked in confusion, but still held Remus close, because why would Deceit not? Remus was his family, as good as Deceit's own child.

He tilted his head in Patton's direction as the moral side began to speak. "You mean... You read to them when they were younger?"

"Don't sound so surprised, Patton." Deceit stated, running a hand through Remus's hair as the side slowly calmed down. "They were young, and afraid. They had nightmares constantly. What was I supposed to do, just tell them to suck it up and just go back to bed?"

Remus squeezed him tighter.

"I can't believe you know braille and never taught us!" That was definitely Logan.

"I can't believe I never noticed, I just thought you had good eyesight!" Virgil, and Deceit could imagine the look of shock on his face. He sounded closer though. Deceit nearly reached out, to beckon him into his arms as well, just as they used to. But he thought better of it. They still hadn't made amends, and he doubted Virgil would want Deceit to hug him.

"I did not realize it wasn't obvious, it wasn't something I was trying to hide from either of you. The rest of you, yes, but not you or Remus."

He heard Roman's signature princey gasp. "Hide it from us!"

Deceit just shrugged, feeling Remus move to sit next to him instead of on top, which Deceit was definitely a bit grateful for. The suffocating smell of death was a bit more bearable when Remus wasn't directly on him.

"Wait- how are you even blind? Thomas isn't blind!" Roman added, glancing to the others.

"Logan and Patton need glasses, do they not?" Deceit pointed out. "Yet Thomas doesn't need glasses all the time."

"He should wear them more often though," Logan mumbled.

"Well, I guess Deceit never saw this conversation coming, huh?"

The others groaned as Patton laughed, and Deceit felt the small bit of tension in his shoulders disappear, smiling gently.

"Oh! Roman and I made brownies for dinner if everyone's hungry?" Patton asked, glancing around. Deceit could tell Logan was about to lecture them that it wasn't healthy, and he was right. Deceit still got to his feet to join them all for brownies though.

-

Deceit was just about to fall asleep. He had stayed up listening to some show most of the night to unwind, and he could tell it was getting late. The others had all been asleep for a few hours now, if the silence of the house was anything to go by.

Just as he had pulled the blanket over himself, Deceit heard his door creek open and close softly. Deceit frowned, sitting up.

"Deceit?"

Virgil?

Deceit tilted his head. "Can I help you?"

Virgil hesitated, before taking a deep breath.

"I know... That we haven't exactly made up, and we should probably talk things out soon and come to some sort of agreement, but I... I can't sleep."

Deceit raised a brow, confused. "Why are you coming to me then, and not Patton, or even Logan?"

"Because..." He could hear Virgil fidgeting. "I just, Remus bringing up those books reminded me of how nice things we're. I had a nightmare and couldn't sleep. And, and I don't think Patton or Logan could stomach reading one of the classics. Certainly not Roman. And Remus is too loud. And you always had such a soothing voice, but I get if you would rather not and I can go and we could forget this ever happened-"

"Virgil, do you want me to read to you?"

Virgil swallowed, and his voice came out meek. "Yes...?"

Deceit bit his lip gently, before shifting on the bed. Virgil's eyes brightened slightly as he climbed into bed beside Deceit, feeling some of Deceit's arms wrap around him. He handed Deceit the book he wanted read to him- The Little Mermaid.

They both got a bit more comfortable, Virgil curled into Deceit's side as Deceit began to read. His fingers traced the pages slowly as Virgil lost himself in Deceit's voice, and soon Virgil drifted off back to sleep.