Warnings : Remus angst, child Remus, mentions of pain/past pain, abandonment, please let me know if I should add any others!

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Deceit always kept his lamp on when he slept.

It wasn't because he was afraid of the dark. In fact, the deceiving side much preferred the darkness or dim lighting, as it wasn't much of an eye strain for him. He could fall asleep easier in the pure abyss of shadows too.

But he always kept his lamp on.

Why though?

His reason was quite simple.

When you wander the endless stretch of gray that is Thomas's subconscious, you find yourself in a loop that would drive the most sane person mad. Always back where you started with no sign of having ever changed the path you walked. You could walk in a straight line and still wind up at your beginning.

And that's how Deceit spent his days, waking the length of the subconscious as far as he could until he inevitably made it back to his room in the hidden commons of Thomas's mind. After a while, the deceiving side grew bored of staring at the infinite stretch of gray that grew darker and darker with each day.

Eventually, Deceit stopped walking the subconscious, in favor of sitting in his room reading, reading, and reading. He barely even ate. Not that he needed to, being imaginary he didn't actually need food. Anxiety had long since left him to stay in the limbo between "light" and "dark". Not that Deceit blamed him. Anxiety seemed happier there than in either category of their host's mind.

But that still doesn't explain the lit lamp.

You could wander the abyss of the subconscious for years and never come across another being, or spend hours pouring over any and all books you can get your hands on or watch a TV which was about as real as you for months and nothing will ever change in this cycle.

Except for Deceit, it did. Everything changed drastically.

The vast shadows were always silent, and it had been so incredibly long since Deceit had heard even a peep. The TV remained mute, no stereo blasted his favorite musicals, no idle humming or turn of a page as he sat on his floor, mind as quiet as the world around him. Until it suddenly wasn't.

Suddenly wasn't a mind-numbing quiet that you wanted to fill, and suddenly wasn't a silence so thick not even a burning knife could cut through. The silence was shattered, as though it were merely glass and someone had simply pushed too hard against and it collapsed on itself.

Crying. What Deceit heard was crying. Wails for someone to come, words jumbled and desperate and filled with terror.

Deceit keeps his lamp on when he sleeps.

This is because when you find a new side, trembling and sobbing about the shadows with their pitchforks and swords ready to slaughter them, weeping about a pain that Deceit could never know to exist, when you find a child like that-

You learn that one simple lamp being off isn't so simple anymore.

Duke of Creativity was found shrouded in darkness, abandoned and frightful and hurting all over. He flinched when Deceit first spoke in a raspy voice from so long of so little use, but he collapsed into the scaly arms anyway, holding on as tight as he could.

The third night the Duke was with Deceit, Deceit had been startled by the gross sobbing coming from the room adjacent. He wasted no time in entering Creativity's room, finding the boy curled on the floor among torn up drawings and writings and wailing once more about how they'd come and get rid of him for good, the shadows would drag him back and keep him locked away forever, he didn't want to go back he didn't want to be hurt again-

Deceit had flicked on the light switch, unsure of what to do as he settled beside the Duke. It seemed to help, the bright lights of the room so sudden they startled the Duke from his thoughts.

That's why they created a light that Remus could control, dim to as dark or as bright as he wanted.

But the light didn't drive away nightmares, or the memories of being ripped apart, or the agonizing thoughts of never seeing his brother again. The idea that he was horrid and evil and an outcast and wrong haunted him whether the lights were on or off.

So the Duke wandered to Deceit's room, worrying at his lip and hugging his mangled stuffed animal close to his chest. What if Deceit didn't want him there? What if he were to get mad, and shun him back to the shadows? What if he hurt Deceit in his sleep? The Duke would never forgive himself, not after how kind Deceit had treated him.

Just as he was about to leave, maybe sob himself a river to drown in to get some sleep, Deceit stirred. "Duke...? Something wrong?"

The Duke stiffened, then shook his head. Deceit frowned. "Yes there is. C'mere." He patted his bed, and the Duke shuffled over to Deceit, before clambering onto the high bed. The room, once shrouded in darkness, was now illuminated by the bedside lamp. "Did the lights burn out in your room?" Deceit asked, extending his arms in case the Duke wished to be embraced. God, he really really wanted to.

So the Duke leaned against Deceit, letting the older side pull him close and his arms seemed to drive away all the monsters that had followed the Duke from the shadows, haunting his thoughts every waking moment. The Duke shook his head, burrowing himself into Deceit's side.

"Nightmares?"

"So many..." the Duke mumbled, and a wet spot began to grow where his face pressed against Deceit. "I can't- I- they just won't go!" He cried, gripping onto Deceit's shirt, knuckles going white quickly.

Deceit began to card his fingers through the Duke's hair. "How about now?"

The Duke was quiet for a moment, tears still streaming down his cheeks but he shook his head. "Gone."

"How about you sleep in here tonight, then, okay?"

The Duke looked up. "Really?"

Deceit nodded. "I'll keep the lamp on, too."

The Duke smiled bright, though his eyes were still glossy with tears as he nodded. Deceit pressed a gentle kiss to the boy's head before they both shuffled under the covers, the Duke wrapping himself tightly around Deceit's middle. As Deceit began to hum softly, a solemn tune the Duke loved dearly during the day, the Duke soon slipped into a calm slumber.

And so, Deceit keeps his lamp on when he sleeps. If only to make sure his son slept peacefully.