Chapter Text
Virgil slowly cracked open his eyes to look up at the ceiling. Shortly after filming another video for the channel, he had retreated back to his room, crashing into a nap that lasted into the late hours of the evening. Still groggy, he started to become aware of his surroundings.
He could hear muffled chatter coming from the commons as the television played lightly. There was the faint clanking of metal and the clicking of the stovetop, meaning it was probably almost dinnertime and Patton was effortlessly working in the kitchen. There was the all too familiar humming coming from the fatherly cook in the kitchen, this time to the tune of a Beatles song.
Virgil sat up slightly and noticed his door cracked open a tad, the warm lighting of the hallway shining through. He slowly pushed himself out of bed and shuffled his way to the door, pushing it open a bit further and picking up the note left by the door.
“Hey kiddo! We’re having spaghetti and meatballs if you wanna come join us for dinner :)”
Virgil let out a breath in relief. Pasta he could do. He grabbed his hoodie off the carpet floor and stepped out of his room, one dark, mismatched sock at a time. He strode down the hallway and entered the living room, taking in the scene in front of him.
Roman was lounging across the sofa, singing along to Frozen on the TV whilst Logan was sitting cross legged in his chair quietly reading his novel. Patton was still in the kitchen, pulling out a tray of garlic bread from the oven. Remus was nowhere to be found, but Janus was finishing setting the table, intricately folding the napkins into little origami animals. Virgil had always wondered how he did that with bright yellow dish-washing gloves on his hands. Roman noticed the emo from the corner of his eye, turning away from the Disney movie to look at him.
“Well, well, well, looks like sleeping beauty has finally awakened from his slumber!”
Virgil blushed at the sudden attention. Patton turned around, hearing the Prince’s remark.
“Oh perfect!” He beamed, “I was just about to check if you were awake. You’re just in time, supper’s ready!”
At that moment, everyone started to make their way to the table, except for Janus who quickly slipped out of the room to fetch Remus. Virgil started towards the kitchen, to get himself a helping of pasta straight from the pot, but frowned when he noticed the pot was empty.
He looked to Patton, “I thought you said you were making pasta?”
“I did! I already got it all served up for ya!”
Virgil looked to the table to see all of the food already sitting out on 6 different plates, apart from the garlic bread Patton was just now dumping into a basket in the center of the table.
Oh.
The spaghetti was already in a bowl with chunky sauce and meatballs on top. Virgil tensed, Patton usually didn’t make people’s plates for them. He was hoping to eat some plain pasta with some butter, and just the sight of that meaty red sauce made Virgil want to gag. But at this point, he was already in the dining room, people were sitting down, and a door opened to reveal Janus dragging a slightly bloodied Remus to join them.
Well shit, I can’t leave now. I guess I can at least try sitting with them for a bit. At least there’s garlic bread.
He hesitantly sat down with the others as they began to eat.
Remus was grinning, “Oooh nice, spaghetti. I always love an opportunity to get a lil’ messy~”
“You already look like you’re covered in sauce Remus.” Janus deadpanned.
“What can I say, I’m a saucy boy Janny-” he replied with a wink and a wiggle of the shoulders, then grabbing a fistful of the food and shoving it in his mouth.
“Remus,” Patton scolded, “remember what we said about manners at the dinner table. Why don’t you try using utensils?”
“Ughhhh. FINE.” Remus rolled his eyes, then pulled out a straw from his pocket and proceeded to slurp his food.
Patton seemed confused but sighed, happy he was at least making less of a mess, that was until he wiped his marinara stained hand on Logan’s shirt, earning him a look of distaste and annoyance from the logical side. Roman soon began detailing the epics of his latest adventure in the imagination as the others listened intently.
Everything was normal, but Virgil was full of anxiety.
(Well, right now more than usual.)
He was nibbling at a piece of garlic bread, but the smell of the sauce on his plate just below his nose made him nauseous. He finished the piece but with the pasta right there, so close to him, he couldn’t bring himself to eat more than one. After a few more minutes of sitting in silence, staring at his plate, he finally picked it up and went over to the sink.
“Hey guys I think I’m gonna head back to my room now,” he said as he attempted to inconspicuously dump his uneaten food into the trash before bringing his disk to the sink. Patton gave him a concerned look.
“Are you sure kiddo? You didn’t really eat much-”
Crap he noticed.
“No it’s fine Pat. I’m just… not feeling that hungry.”
Well it wasn’t a total lie.
These past few months, Patton had started preparing almost every meal in the mindscape and hosting “FamILY Dinners” as a way to encourage bonding between everyone, now that Remus and Janus have been getting accepted. Because of this sudden change, Virgil could really only eat what he wanted in between those times, but he’d usually be too tired to care- it’s easier to just skip the meal entirely. Even if he did eat something, it’d be suspicious to get too much more than a snack. But that doesn’t even matter, because Virgil just didn’t get that hungry anymore. The nights he was actually able to eat a full meal, he’d be so full he’d walk away from the table with a stomach ache.
Eating was always too much trouble than it was worth. He never intentionally restricted food, but eating wasn’t high on his priority list, and it never really was. In the past he’d be able to get away with strolling to the pantry and grabbing comfort foods throughout the day, never really constraining himself to a schedule. Even then it'd usually be small starchy foods, never something of substance. And it’s not like he did much around here anyways, he was a self described loner, so he didn’t need the energy or fuel of food and eating. Virgil couldn’t remember a single time in his life that he ate three square meals a day… and that’s fine! That’s how it’s always been. That’s how it always would be. It’s not a problem, and it wasn’t a cause for concern.
So, he just smiled at Patton, trying to ease his concern, and proceeded to rinse off his plate. Patton’s eyebrows remained furrowed.
“Alright then, but if you get hungry later I’m putting leftovers in the fridge, okay?”
Virgil gave a nod, then silently walked back to his room.
There was a pit in his stomach from hunger, but it was small. He hadn’t eaten anything else today, except the garlic bread, but he could still smell the red sauce, and that nausea overpowered any ounce of hunger he felt. He’d throw up if he attempted to eat anything with that sensation still in his brain and all in his nose and his mouth. So he just laid back down on his bed, waiting until he was able to drift off into sleep again.