Cursed Dukey

Though he may not be as big of a Disney fan as his brother, Remus had to admit that if there was anything he was fond of in Disney movies, it has to be the sorcery. One of the best things about being the twin who didn't have have a gallant reputation was that he had easier accesses to the resources for all the voodoo, hoodoo, and stuff he had yet to try. However, the bad thing about him being the embodiment of Thomas's intrusive thoughts that would even concern the other Dark Sides was that acting without thinking things through brought harm to others, including himself.

While Thomas was well-guarded, Remus was working on a formula without paying much attention to the ingredients. To him, looking into the ingredients and the outcome beforehand would take up too much time and "ain't nobody got time for that." The formula, eventually alternated between having a sweet odor and a foul odor and the Duke interpreted it as satisfactory enough to be ready. Naturally, he summoned his signature deodorant and dunk it into the formula before taking a bite. There was a taste to it that he couldn't easily identify. After a while, he coughed up bits of some type of dark rock, but it wasn't even within his control that time. Not only did he cough up the dark rock, but his chest was hurting and he couldn't cease it either.

Remus wasn't sure if he should be concerned, but, as much as he hated to admit it, he figured the one person that could determine what his reaction should be was Logan. He snapped his fingers and appeared close enough for Logan to bump into him while he was reading Tumblr posts from many SuperWhoLockians. Logan groaned as he lifted himself up to see whom he bumped into and he was less than happy to see the Duke in his presence.

"Not the first time I've been under someone, you know," Remus remarked while getting up.

"What do you want?" Logan asked in a bitter tone.

"You're the medic in this mind. I need your help," Remus responded.

"Don't tell me you 'need a medic for ma-dick' again!" Logan proclaimed.

"Seriously, Logan! I've got chest pains I can't stop and," Remus started before coughing up the dark rocks again, "that keeps happening. I need to know if it's lethal."

Logan was surprised by how genuinely concerned the Dark Side appeared. Then again, the big thing about Remus was that he's unpredictable.

Logan brought Remus to his room and turned it into a hospital room with more equipment than normal. Several times, he had to deal with Remus either complaining or making random remarks that weren't completely innocent. The teacher even had to alter a CT scan so that he could not only see the source of the rocks Remus was coughing up, but he could also get a good look at Remus's memories, since the Duke was hopeless at describing the ingredients in the formula. After a long time, Logan was able to provide answers for Remus.

"What were those rocks, teach?" Remus asked.

"Well, according to my research, your heart has become encased in stone and the effects are starting to spread throughout your body from the inside out, hence why you're experiencing chest pains and bits of stones going up your throat," Logan explained while trying to sound nonchalant.

"How long is it 'til..." Remus didn't continue since he wasn't sure how to make a crude joke without dismissing his fate.

"According to the time, the transformation will be complete at midnight tonight."

"Please tell me there's a cure. I'll do anything," he ended while sounding perverted and desperate.

Logan looked through the paperwork with Remus's results.

"From the looks of it, if you were to encounter something that can be worth fighting for according to your heart, then it could beat fast enough for it to no longer be encased stone and it will undo the further effects," Logan responded.

After trying to mentally translate Logan's words into terms that could be understood, the Duke gagged with more stone bits being hacked out of his throat.

"Don't tell me I have to find... true love's kiss."

"I'm afraid so. Look, you provide filler for Thomas's dreams and without you, there won't be creativity from you that can be filtered into the creativity Roman introduces Thomas to, so if we are going to cure you, we're going to have to go through with the modern fairy tale cliche," the nerd said honestly.

Remus was surprised that Logan wouldn't let him just go through with his fate. However, even though he wanted to cooperate, he wasn't exactly sure if the man on his mind was his true love or not. The two went around the area to see if they could help with figuring out whether or not the love between Remus and the man on his mind was true. When they asked Roman, due to his interest in true love, he couldn't provide help due to the fact he has tried to keep a great distance away from Remus. When the two approached Virgil for answers, he got defensive and drowned himself in an Asking Alexandria album. When they reached Patton, Remus had a stomach ache and it was harder for him to walk. Unfortunately, Patton couldn't provide the answers they were looking for, since the other Dark Sides managed to keep their emotions to themselves.

When the two headed back to Logan's room, Remus had a somber expression that Logan never associated with him before.

"Hey, why don't you confront him in order to save yourself?" Logan asked.

"And risk my feelings being unrequited? He's probably still upset that I went off the rails during my introduction. Besides, at least he can control himself," Remus proclaimed in a defeated tone.

The pair remained in silence for what felt like an eternity.

"Thank you for trying, anyway. Umm, mind if I say—"

"Go ahead, if it'll make you feel better."

"Okay, I thought four hours was the longest I've been hard."

Remus weakly chuckled before leaving Logan's room and heading for the living space of the Dark Sides. On his way there, he couldn't help but think of the deviant ideas he gave Thomas during arts-and-crafts and Creative Writing assignments. He thought about the bickering between himself and Roman for superiority that were always his version of bonding with his brother. He thought about the times where he felt accomplished whenever he made Virgil's voice go demonic whenever he executed an idea. He thought of Deceit. Deceit; so smart and charismatic, had urges of his own, but managed to control them. He didn't have Kaa's hypnotic abilities, but Remus was always under his spell. Unfortunately, though he wasn't a Light Side, he still wasn't able to tell what Deceit genuinely felt about him, especially after all the times he would give in to his own thoughts, rather than follow well-organized plans.

As much as the Duke wanted to be left alone, he didn't want to go to his room. He sat on the couch and summoned a clock in front of him. To him, it was basically like New Year's Eve, but a countdown to an era without his interference.

Before Remus could react, Deceit popped up right next to him.

"First, you've been isolated in your room for the morning, then you spend the afternoon and evening on the Light Side of the mind. Is something going on?" the snake man asked.

Remus didn't really say anything. He used his extra arms to satisfy him as he was shivering and coughed out of Deceit's sight.

"Why must you rely on your extra arms for an embrace?" Deceit asked.

"Can you imagine? A Dark Side wanting a warm, loving embrace?" Remus mimicked the words of his brother from the past with the same bitter basting.

Deceit was taken aback by this indirect request from Remus. On the other hand, being held tightly by his own boa constrictor wasn't always enough for him, so he can somewhat tell where Remus was coming from. He slithered his arms around Remus's torso and felt the Duke's arms go from six to two. Remus was surprised and snuggled into Deceit's chest while looking at the clock. He sobbed as more of his insides were turning into stone.

"Hey, what's wrong, Squidbilly?" Deceit faintly asked.

"This is the first time this is happening, but it will be the last time," Remus admitted while sobbing.

"Hey, if you wanted to snuggle, you could've always told me."

"If I kept my mind organized, maybe. If I told you why this would be my last time, you'd roll your eyes and think it was typical."

Deceit sat up and turned Remus to face him. He took in the sight of tears coming down Remus's reddened cheeks. As he went to wipe the tears, he could feel that his cheeks were hardened, as if they were part of a marble statue painted to look like part of a human statue.

"The fact that you are so unpredictable shows how brave you are and how little you care about the thoughts of those who oppose you. You are full of surprises and every day with you around is an adventure. I don't what they said to make you think you'll be alone, but I know exactly how you feel."

Remus looked at Deceit's eyes and could tell that he was being truthful due to his eyes containing a brown hue.

"But... with the failures to keep me under control, surely someone like you wouldn't want to waste time with—" Remus started before being cut off by a gloved finger on his lips.

"Maybe I wouldn't tolerate anyone else, but you... I wouldn't trade time with you for anything," Deceit whispered as his eyes remained brown.

He placed his lips on Remus's lips and Remus froze before kissing back. As predicted, Remus's heart ended up beating intense enough to free itself from its stone prison and the rest of his body was no longer stone. As a result, Remus had the freedom to wrap his arms around the man he was kissing (he developed limited movement in his arms before). Deceit pulled away gently to look at a smiling Remus with tears sliding down his face again. As he wiped the tear, Deceit noticed Remus's cheek felt normal again.

"You... you love me," Remus whispered with a smile.

"Of course I do. Stroking your cheek felt different, though. Are you okay?" Deceit retorted with concern.

"I'll explain in the morning. Just know that I'm staying away from sorcery for a while."

Deceit felt confusion and concern, but decided to not focus on it as he felt the garbage man snuggle into him like a puppy. As Deceit wrapped his arms around Remus again, Remus felt his heart doing flips from the realization that the man on his mind had mutual feelings for him the whole time.