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“Whatcha thinking about?” Remus asked, resting his head on his hands. It was a little past dawn, which was nearly time to sleep for the dark sides, who tended to keep nocturnal hours. But Deceit was sick, and with Anxiety gone that left only Remus to take care of him, and Remus wasn’t going to fall asleep no matter how many times Deceit said things like “go away” or “you’re not my nurse” or “you didn’t poison this, did you?” Of course he didn’t poison the soup!
(It didn’t help that the last time the dark sides had watched a movie together before Anxiety left, it had been a rewatch of The Sixth Sense, and Remus had been a little too interested in the concept of making someone sick so they could continue to be nursed better - it was interesting, and you couldn’t fault Remus for wanting to talk about interesting things!)
Anyways, Remus knew where the lines were (no hurting the other sides - attacking them with his morningstar didn’t count because it didn’t do any real lasting damage) and what the penalty was for crossing them (Losing Deceit? Maybe getting split again? he didn’t dare risk either consequence). So, no matter how much he might talk about ghastly things, he would never do things like carving out another side’s eyeballs and popping them between his teeth like grapes.
“Nothin’.” Deceit muttered, his eyes closed and snuggled deep into the blankets.
“I can see your eyes moving below your eyelids.” Remus said. “That means you’re thinking about something. Why do you have eyelids anyways? Snakes don’t have eyelids, and you’re like half snake. Are you half snake? I’ve only seen the scales on your face and arms - do you have other snaky bits?”
“Remus…” Deceit’s patience was obviously wearing thin.
“These are the things that I think about! If you want me to think about something else, then you gotta tell me what you were thinking about!”
Deceit sighed, and cracked one eye to peer at the other side. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“Nope!” Remus grinned, showing off all his teeth.
Deceit frowned, turning to stare at the ceiling as he tried to explain. “I was just… it’s the holidays, and Thomas was walking past a Salvation Army bellringer - and I know they’re a horrible charity, I know they’re homophobic and transphobic and everything, but it got me thinking about charities, and how Thomas tries to donate money to every year to a good cause, but does his own actions create a moral duty for him to continue to give? Do the charities’ expectations of Thomas impose a duty to continue his philanthropy?”
“You and your ethical questions,” Remus said fondly, booping Deceit on the nose. Deceit blushed, looking away. “You get yourself all tangled up in a big knot, which is dangerous for a danger noodle like you, because you can’t cut the knot out without everything becoming a bloody mess! Plus, you missed the answer.”
Deceit’s eyebrow rose, “Oh yeah? What’s the answer?”
“It’s obvious,” Remus rolled his eyes. “Thomas is under no obligation to conform to anybody’s expectations of him but his own. Fuck everybody else, and fuck their imposed duties. Society is jut a lie, right? So Thomas can keep donating, or stop donating, and it’s his choice, made of his own free will. Because he cares about people - he wants to be a good person, and help others.”
Deceit grinned, lifting up the edge of the blankets. Remus slipped inside, and was immediately enveloped in heat and several of Deceit’s arms. “You’re pretty smart, huh?” Deceit murmured.
“I know you are, but what am I?” Remus sang in a joking retort.
“Brat.” Deceit chuckled, and kissed Remus’s hair. “You know I’m probably going to get you sick like this, right?”
Remus shrugged as best he could, pinned down under the pile of arms and blankets. “I’ve come to terms with it.”
“Good.” Deceit smiled, kissing him again and letting himself drift off to sleep. Remus eventually fell asleep too, lulled by his boyfriend’s steady heartbeat.