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The Ski Trip Part 2

TW cursing

Wed Jan 13

Virgil stared at Remus as he shoveled eggs into his face. It was disgusting, yet he couldn't look away.

"Remus! Do you have to eat like that?" Roman asked.

Remus wiped his mouth with his sleeve and turned to face his brother.

"I can eat however I want, Bitch!"

"Language!" Patton scolded him.

Bill chuckled.

"You pay more attention to their language than I do," Bill said. "A little cursing isn't going to hurt anybody."

"They're called bad words for a reason," Patton said.

"Cursing has actually been proven to help relieve stress in some cases," Logan said.

"But they're bad," Patton said.

"No cursing in front of Dad, Remus," Janus said.

Logan hit his hand on the table. Bill looked around confused.

"It's what we call Patton," Roman explained to his father, who nodded.

"Right," Bill said placing a hand on Patton's shoulder, "then you're in charge of making sure my sons don't kill anyone."

"You never let us have any fun!" Remus protested.

"Yeah! Yeah! I'm a boring old Dad!" Bill said.

They finished their breakfast and went upstairs. They all got dressed for the snow and headed outside. Virgil mostly watched the others ski and recorded them when asked. Patton convinced him to try riding down on a sled with him. After an hour, Virgil went inside to drink some hot cocoa with Patton and Logan by the fire. Logan was reading and Patton was leaning his head on Logan's shoulder. Virgil stared at the fire while he tried to regain feeling in his fingers. He breathed in the warm air filled with nothing but the crackling fire and the occasional flipping of a page.

"So, what classes are you taking this semester?" Patton asked breaking the silence.

Virgil and Logan both turned to look at him.

"I convinced Logan to take an astronomy course with me," Virgil said.

Patton perked up sitting up straight.

"You're taking an astronomy course?!" Patton asked excitedly bouncing slightly in his seat.

"Yes, I'm mostly doing general studies this semester, but Virgil convinced me to try a basic astronomy course. My parents think it's just an interesting choice for one of my general study courses. I also managed to get a part time job in the area already."

"You already have a job in the area?" Virgil asked.

"I interviewed last week. I'm starting next weekend."

"Wow! You make the rest of us look like we aren't getting anything done!" Virgil said.

Logan sighed and closed his book, marking the page with his finger.

"Even so, I do sometimes envy the times you get to just sit and relax. My family believes we should never waste time doing such frivolous activities. I'm surprised I convinced them to let me go on this trip."

"Logan, I love you and I respect your decisions, but you have to let yourself have a little fun sometimes," Patton said. "You can to cater to your inner child."

"Some of us are more childish than others," Logan said staring directly at Patton with a smirk.

"I am a perfectly capable adult, thank you!" Patton said giving Logan a playful nudge.

"I'll believe it when I see it," Logan said.

"Aw, don't let him get to you Pop-Star," Virgil said.

Patton's face lit up.

"You gave me a dad-themed nickname!"

Logan groaned.

"Why do you all insist on calling Patton 'dad?'"

"Well, he acts like the dad of the group. He was always the one who reminded us to go to bed and get something to eat. Plus, he was the one we talked to when we were upset," Virgil explained. "Also, it's just really fun to annoy you!"

"Lovely," Logan sighed as he opened his book.

Patton giggled and bumped Logan's shoulder.

"Logan," Patton said. "Hey, Logan."

"Hm?" Logan hummed without looking up from his book.

"What do you call a flat fish?"

"A what?" Logan asked looking at Patton.

"A flat fish."

"A flat... fish?"

Patton nodded.

"I don't know... I guess there's the-"

"A 2-D fish!"

Logan stared at Patton for a second before closing his book and standing up.

"Logan?" Patton asked as Logan walked away. "Where are you going?"

"I need some air!" Logan said as he left the room.

Patton and Virgil looked at each other for a second before bursting into laughter.

"I missed that," Patton giggled. "He's so cute when he's mad."

"That joke was horrible, but Logan's reaction was worth it."

"It wasn't that bad."

"It was awful. I cringed."

"It's okay, they can't all be winners."

Logan returned a while later with the others. They all got changed, grabbed some hot cocoa, and found a place to sit. Roman sat down next to Virgil and wrapped an arm around him. Logan cautiously sat down next to Patton again.

"I'm not going to bite you, Logan," Patton giggled.

"What happened between you two?" Thomas asked.

"Patton made a really bad joke and Logan flipped out and left," Virgil said as he made himself comfortable.

"It wasn't that bad!" Patton said.

"Patton, I love you. I really do, but if I ever hear a joke like that again, I'm not coming back."

"Now I want to know what the joke was," Thomas said.

"I'll text it to you," Patton said pulling out his phone.

A minute later Thomas' phone dinged and he looked at it.

"Oh," he said. "I don't know. I think it's kind of punny."

Logan groaned.

"Let me see," Joan said.

Thomas showed them his phone and they read the joke.

"Oh," they said. "That's... that's bad."

"It's not that bad!" Patton said.

"It's okay, Dad. We still love you. Even if some of your jokes are... cringy," Janus said as he read the joke over Joan's shoulder.

"I want to see it," Roman said reaching for the phone.

Thomas handed it to him and he looked over it.

"Oh wow," Roman said. "Yeah, that's not your best."

"I mean... I've heard worse," Remus said. "But this isn't your best."

"Logan help! They're making fun of me!" Patton whined.

"You incurred this wrath upon yourself," Logan said not looking up from the book he had started reading again.

"My boyfriend won't help me," Patton pouted as he crossed his arms.

"Well, maybe you should have thought about your joke before saying it," Logan teased.

"I'll come up with an even worse one just for that! Just you wait!"