Author's Note: Ho ho ho! Coming at you with another collab piece here. You remember that loceit fic right? Well this is a collab with the same person ticklish-sides on tumblr! This was fun to make and I hope you enjoy it too. Fair warning, there's no happy ending! We at first didn't intend for it to happen that way, then it just sort of crept on us and we loved it so much that we kept it. I'm enjoying taking the tickle fic genre and making them angsty! Fluff is nice and everything, but it's always nice to see this type in my opinion. Again, check out ticklish-sides on tumblr, and enjoy this fic we made together!

Nervous Memories

Ship: Platonic Anxceit

Words ~2,279~

Warnings: Could be seen as sympathetic deceit or unsympathetic deceit. No happy ending. Mentions of panic attacks.

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     Virgil sighed, playing with the fidget cube in his hands absentmindedly. He was so bored. It was a do-nothing day for Thomas which meant that it was a do-nothing day for his Sides as well. Nothing at all to do but relax. Patton was making cookies, Roman was off daydreaming, Remus was doing... something, and Logan was busy fixing Thomas' schedule. And they were all perfectly relaxed. Everything was just fine. Virgil's fingers tensed around the fidget cube.

     Yes, everything was just fine. There was no reason to feel anxious or scared. They were just relaxing when they could be doing important things! And yet here they were. Doing absolutely nothing. It was enough to make Virgil's anxiety rise and make him shake. He had been trying to stay calm but... nothing he did was working.

     Deceit was not one for relaxation either. His mind was always winding around the possible endings and loopholes of Thomas's everyday life. In order to keep himself busy during this lazy day, he popped up in random places attempting to keep all of the sides on their toes. It did not work most of the time, they were all too engrossed in the idea of relaxing that not one side he visited was unnerved by his appearance. And that's when he remembered the edgiest one of all. How could he have forgotten the poor little anxious baby of the mindscape?

     Without another word, he sunk down with an evil glint in his eyes and reappeared right behind the facet himself by standing behind the couch. "Well hello there," He hissed sweetly. "It's nice to see that not everyone on this slow day in Thomas's life is taking it easy." He chuckled and leaned his head on his head and his elbow on the couch.

     Virgil immediately tensed, sneering at Deceit. "What do you want, Deceit?" The fidget cube in his hands was gripped tight in his shaking grasp.

     "Ooh, so defensive." Deceit jested before he gracefully walked to the opposite couch to sit and face the shaking anxious aspect. "Well, to be frank, you've already given me what I want: A side who isn't taking this lazy day as well as he should have." Deceit chuckled, but his normal smile curled into a frown. "But, to be completely honest, I'm not sure I like the lazy day either, Virgil. There is nothing to do, but sit and pretend you are being productive as time flies idly bye." He waved his hand in the middle distance for effect.

     "For once, I agree with you," Virgil muttered, gripping the cube tight. "I swear, I'm just supposed to sit where when we could be doing something productive! How is this helping Thomas in anyway?!"

      Deceit paid close attention to the signs of the tension begging to be released in Virgil's body. He noticed his hand, tightening around the cube much like Logan's did when he threw that crumpled note card at Roman over a year ago. "Well, I'm not the one to point out the flawed logic in many cases, but do you think shaking like that will help Thomas anymore than not being productive?" He crossed his legs and looked at Virgil expectantly.

     A hiss escaped Virgil and he glared at Dee. "What, like I'm doing it on purpose!?"

     "I know you aren't, Virgil. It's more of a...subconscious nervous tick, I would say. Not your fault at all." He chuckled, letting Virgil decipher the meaning of his words. Virgil was just too fun to toy with sometimes. "But, if you want to stop feeling like this and actually enjoy the day, I'm sure the master of false security can help with that. That is if you ask," He grinned evilly at Virgil and appeared directly in front of him, sitting on the floor with a second pair of hands steepling his fingers. "Nicely."

     Virgil hissed in alarm, pressing himself back against the couch. "Ask? And how could you help me enjoy the day?"

     "Well. After going through Logan's entire collection of books on anxiety and relaxation, he drummed up a few solutions to anxiety and panic attacks." Deceit summoned a book, got to his feet, and began walking around while humming as he flipped a few pages. "He already found the solution for me and as you know I am never one to steal credit for someone else's work." He laughed gently and traced his finger along the sticky note made by the logical side himself. "Ah. Here we go." He sat back on the couch. "So first, we need to identify-...Wait. This feels wrong." He snapped his fingers and the spitting image of Logan appeared before Virgil and the only difference was that yellow snake-eye. Deceit!Logan became sullen face then gently smirked. "Convincing?" He asked.

     Virgil jolted up, tense as a board. "Turn back," he snapped. "Right fucking now! You can't just take on Logan's form!" He took a step forward. "Turn back now."

     Deceit did as he asked and collapsed onto the couch practically giggling. "Oh, your face was priceless!" He allowed a snort to escape and rubbed his eyes, sitting back up straight to face Virgil. "Alright. Alright, my apologies. But, that actually helped me decipher how you are feeling about the day, believe it or not. On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your jitters?" Deceit smirked and summoned a pad and paper for taking notes on.

     Virgil huffed, sitting back on the couch. "Fucking- ten, alright? What the hell does it even matter? I still doubt that you'll be able to do anything about it."

     "And that is where you are wrong Virgil." Deceit closed the notebook. "I can do something about it. Well, before every single performance Thomas has, this is how you feel correct?" Deceit took his pen in his hand and began to shift-shape it into a fluffy feather.

     Virgil heaved an annoyed sigh, eyeing the feather warily. "Yeah, so?"

     "Do you recall a particular anime Thomas had watched just under a year ago about a group of young boys playing baseball? Some of them had to be the first batter, but it was an extremely nerve-racking task because no one wants to go first. So, do you remember what they promised to do to the person who had to bat first in order to quell their nerves?" He flicked the feather gently in Virgil's direction.

     "Yeah," Virgil said slowly, batting the feather away from him. "I remember that. Didn't they decide to," he trailed off, eyes locked onto the feather. He slowly started to get up. "Hey, would you look at that, I'm feeling better," he lied, a shaky smile growing on his lips.

     Deceit grinned and stretched his second pair of arms to grab onto the biceps of anxious side and brought him back into his grasp. "Oh, Virgil. You are just as horrible of a liar as the rest of them." The third pair of arms wrapped around Virgil's middle as Deceit backed up to the couch he was sitting on earlier and rendered Virgil defenceless. "Now, let's see about tickling those jitters out of you, hm?" He started by flicking the feather teasingly along the side of Virgil's neck. He trailed up to his ear and back down, using only the feather, for now, to warm him up.

     Immediately, giggles started to leak out of him and Virgil could only shake his head back and forth, trying to get rid of the feather. "Dehehee! Deheehe! Stahahap!"

     "Now, aren't those the sweetest giggles?" Deceit purred into his ear. "It must have been years since you've had a good laugh. It's true there are times dark and brooding is needed, but I think laughter is very much needed for you right now," He booped Virgil's nose gently with his pointer finger. "Is a giant, wide smile." The feather tickled a little faster, now rotating to the other side of his neck and under his chin. The hands around Virgil's middle slipped to his sides and began to squeeze lightly, feeling through the thick jacket where he thought the most ticklish places would be hiding. "Let me hear you giggle, Virgil."

     And giggle Virgil did, snorting when Deceit got to the part right below his bottom ribs. He flushed bright red, trying to hide his face in his shoulder. "Nahahahaha!"

     "Hm?" Deceit grinned at Virgil's reaction. "Right here?" He tweaked the place where he heard Virgil squeak. "it seems this is a place that needs a bit of attention. Let's get rid of this cumbersome jacket first, yes?" A hand not restraining Virgil snapped and the jacket teleported off of Virgil's body and appeared just a few feet from the couch. Deceit began drawing small circles along his bottom ribs with his thumbs just above his shirt. The hand that held the feather discarded it and now two hands were fluttering along his neck and behind his ears.

     Virgil squealed and his feet started to kick and he squirmed, trying to get out from under Deceit. "Deheheheheit!" Snorts mixed in with the laughter, especially when Deceit hit the spot right under his ribs.

     "It seems this is a good spot. And you know what Virgil? I'm not hearing a 'stop'." One hand had one finger continuously brushing that cute, little tickle spot right underneath his ribs while the rest of the fingers wandered around his ribs and sides. The other hand was a bit more adventurous. It dove underneath Virgil's shirt and scuttled lightly across Virgil's bare tummy. "Tickle tickle." Deceit breathed into his ear. His tongue darted out and flicked along the inside of his ear and across his neck.

     "NAHAHAHAHA, NOHOHOHOHO!" Virgil struggled in Deceit's grip. He snorted and shook his head furiously."DEE, DOHOHON'T STAHAHAHAP!"

     Now Deceit wasn't quite expecting that, but he rolled with it? "Don't stop? Why I wouldn't dream of it!" The other hand went under his shirt as well and began playfully scritching right underneath his ribs at a faster pace. The hand on his belly trailed to his side, then to his tummy, and back again attempting to switch up how he was going to tickle the anxious aspect. "Are you enjoying this?" Deceit asked, bringing his face close to Virgil's smiling warmly at his abnormal happy expression. Oh, it had been years since anyone had seen Virgil like this. Not even Patton would be blessed this wonderful image that been reserved for the dark sides for many, many years.

     Virgil giggled, looking away. He closed his mouth, trapping the laughter inside as he pressed his face in his shoulder. "Nahaha," he giggled, muffled. He trembled with repressed laughter.

     "Oh? It appears we have some giggles that are trapped inside there." Deceit marvelled, tapping at Virgil's hips. "I think I have a way of getting them out." Deceit quickly flipped Virgil around, until he was laying with his back against Deceit's legs and across his lap. Deceit smiled down at him, and one hand coiled around his arms to keep him out of the way. Four others flew down to his feet to restrain his ankles and remove his footwear. The very last hand slipped under Virgil's back and lifted his tummy to Deceit's face. Before Deceit did anything, he grinned at Virgil allowing him to determine exactly what it was that he was going to do with him. For effect, he licked his lips.

     Virgil's eyes bulged out of his head and a shaky smile grew on his lips. "Wahahait, wait!" He squirmed in Deceit's arms, his belly trembling hard. He sucked his belly in as far as it would go.

     Deceit cackled evilly. "I've waited too long for this." He dove in and blew the first of what would be a slew of raspberries along Virgil's tummy, ribs, and sides. He didn't even take a break between them, switching between spots that he knew would throw the darker aspect off. Once the hands by his feet worked off the footwear, they began scribbling along the bare soles. Every once and awhile they would tease the sensitive skin underneath his toes.

     Cackles echoed throughout the Mindscape. Virgil could barely even move as Deceit tickled him and soon he was lying limp in Deceit's arms, snorting and squealing as Deceit blew raspberries into his stomach. "DEHEHEHEHECEIT! DEHEHEHEHEE!" He squealed and, using an old nickname that he'd use for Deceit when they were younger, "NOHOHOODLE! NAHAHAHAHA!"

     In an instant, everything stopped and a frown appeared on Deceit's face on hearing it. He released Virgil, stood upright, and laid him across the couch gently to rest. He ran his hand through his hair a bit, before returning with the iconic nickname as well. "Sleep well, Anxy." With that, he turned to leave, tears pricking in the corners of his eyes. After all, some feelings were best kept close to the chest.

     Virgil watched him go with a sad look in his eyes. He looked down at his lap, hands clenching. Fuck, of course, Deceit would have to make him feel shit. Great. He stood up and offered his hand. "Deceit, wait."

     "Don't." Deceit warned, his back still facing the ex-dark side. "You made your decision when Patton chose you." He felt a tear slip down his face. "Don't you dare go back on it now. I'm fine. We're fine without you." And with that, he faded into the background, vanishing without a trace into the background of the mindscape. Somewhere else he might have wailed or dragged Remus up for a cuddle session, but Virgil would never know what would become of the deceitful aspect's emotions, after that night.

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Author's Note: Oof. Yeah. A little heavy at the end there. I still hope you enjoyed. Alright, Ceffy out. <3 Peace!