Mass Emotions

Loving Embrace

Patton with Virgil in hand have entered into the fort to find Roman and Logan. Surprisingly, it's actually Roman who finds them first. As they first stepped inside they catch a glimpse of him zipping down one of the distant corridors, only to pivot back around and begin sprinting towards the two. Roman seemed to be out of breath and frantic for some reason. Patton began to worry something drastic had happened while he was talking with Virgil in the facility. Roman was now in front of him with both hands gripping Patton's shoulders.

"Patton! Where have you been?"

"Roman, I'm sorry I had something to do for a little bit inside the facility. You look really worked up, is everything okay?"

"What? Oh, yeah everything's fine I just kind of overdid it with the workout and then Logan asked me to go looking for you since you hadn't returned. I've been running all over! I had no idea you'd still be inside the facility."

"Goodness Roman you had me worried there for a second. I'm sorry I didn't report in for so long, but everything's okie-dokie...or at least most of it. We do have a bit of a puzzle on our hands. More specifically in MY hands."

Roman gave Patton a confused look until he turned his attention down towards the elevated hand that carried a shrunken Virgil inside. Virgil the whole time had been gripping Patton's thumb as Roman's shoulder grab had caused him to shift around. Roman quickly released his grip and jumped back in surprise.

"AH!"

"Roman! There's no need to shout."

Roman couldn't help it! How else was he supposed to act when the last time he saw Virgil was as a 1000 feet tall giant? It was a huge surprise to now see him so tiny and sitting on Patton's palm. He gingerly moved back over to get a closer look.

"Virgil? Ho-how did this happen?"

Virgil tilted his head up to meet Roman's gaze and gave him a weak smile. He still wasn't sure how to act around Roman after hearing about how he acted during and after the experiment. He knew to trust in Patton's words that Roman really cared for him, but it was still hard not to think back to those more painful moments. He hesitated before answering.

"I-I'm not sure actually. I don't remember a lot of what happened afterwards."

"You don't remember? Then you have no idea how big you grew?"

"I didn't at first so I asked Patton and he told me. I-It still sounds unbelievable to me but I know deep down it's true."

Roman didn't know what to say, for once. If Virgil knew about how massive he had become then there was no way he wouldn't have asked Patton about their reactions. Roman felt like he had failed to keep his word to Virgil, to see him as family and not as a monster. He could feel the guilty lodging itself in his throat. Virgil noticed this and felt a nudge from behind. Patton was rubbing his fingers against Virgil's back to encourage him to speak up.

"I heard that I might have rattled you back inside the facility. Instead of saying sorry I want to let you know that it's okay to be scared of me sometimes."

"You can't mean that Virgil!"

"I do. After shrinking down like this I've come to understand that you can't help it. Even though you know you're not in any danger, you have this instinctive feeling of fear when in front of something that big. It subsides quickly though so I know that right now instead of being constantly afraid of me, that the guilt you're feeling right now is what's eating you up inside. I don't like to see you like that Roman so please know that I forgive you and it's okay to forgive yourself too."

Roman's face filled with relief at those words and he gave a loud sigh.

"Thank you Virgil. I really needed to hear that. I was going crazy from the guilt of how I felt after that testing session. I thought I was no good, that I was a bad person for being afraid of my friend. You've saved me from those dark thoughts."