Put back together

35. Where did they come from, we wonder

Patton was pretty sure that Logan hadn't blinked since Elliott had called him 'mom'. Or stopped smiling.
He wondered if Logan being Mom made him 'dad'. The thought alone brought a small smile to his face.
Then he remembered that Virgil had called him dad.
So he was part of their weird little 'family' too. Though Patton doubted that Virgil saw Logan as his mom.
He also felt that Roman should be part of the family but wasn't sure where he fit in.
Maybe also a child?
He did respond to Patton calling him 'kiddo' by now.

But some part of Patton didn't want to think of the prince as his son. He couldn't quite explain it but it was the same kind of feeling that made him smile at the thought of raising Elliott together with Logan.
It made him want to stay close to the two men, reach out for them, take their hands in his own and run his fingers through their hair. Logan's short and dark hair and Roman's longish red locks.

Was this love?

Patton had never been in love before. He had had crushes, too many to count because he couldn't seem to stop making heart eyes at almost every attractive and nice man he met until they turned out to be not that nice at all.
But somehow he was convinced that this was different.
Or maybe his heart had just decided to take a liking in the most unavailable men he'd likely ever meet.

Roman was a prince. Not only that but the crown prince. He was going to rule an entire kingdom one day and Patton would be just one of many peasants who looked up to their king. Roman would marry some woman of royal standing. There was no changing that.

Logan might not have been a prince but he still hasn't seemed to forgive Roman and Patton for dragging him into this. He seemed to keep his distance, keeping all of his emotions locked up except for anger. And Patton was pretty sure that he wasn't interested in other men either.

The baker sighed quietly.
He hoped it was just a crush and that it would go away soon.
He didn't want to end up hurt again.

Roman caught his glance and smiled at him. It was a tired yet genuine smile and it made Patton's heart skip a beat.

He quickly looked away and chose to stare at Virgil's back instead.
He tried to count the messy stitches that held the plaid patches in place. They seemed to be spelling out a name in one spot but Patton wasn't sure. It wasn't Trouq and didn't really look like Slyn either but seemed too deliberate to be just random stitches.

Patton only realised that Virgil had stopped walking when he collided with the others back.
Surprised he stumbled back a few steps.

"What-?" he was cut off by Virgil lifting a finger to his lips and pointing at something to their left, not taking his eyes of it.
Patton followed his stare.

Between the tree stood the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
Its white fur seemed to glow in the darkness.
It had the majestic body of a horse and from its forehead an elegant horn sprouted.
Its dark eyes were focused on them, framed by long beautiful eyelashes.

Next to Patton Roman swore breathlessly but the baker couldn't bring himself to scold him.

He couldn't take his eyes of the Unicorn infront of them.

The tales he had heared as a child and the paintings he had seen had all failed miserably to describe just how breathtaking and mesmerising the creature was.

"Hello," a voice clear as a bell sounded in his head. "It has been a long time since we've seen so many humans around here. Where did they come from, we wonder. Why are they here?"

"None of your fucking business," Virgil spat. There was anger in his voice and Patton was sure that if he would have been able to tear his gaze away from the Unicorn he would have also seen it on the mages face.
He couldn't understand why.
How could anyone feel anger towards something so wonderful and perfect?

"We wonder what gave the dark one the right to speak to us."

"My Islands, my rules," Virgil retorted. "Now go the fuck away."

"The dark one is foolish. Surely he must know that the Islands belong to us, now that there is no king anymore. But we have better things to do than teach him a lesson," the Unicorn threw it's head back. "The humans have stolen a child of a scaled beast."

It dawned on Patton that the Unicorn meant Elliott.

"We-" he stopped abruptly when the Unicorns focus landed on him.

"We allow the human to continue."

Patton swallowed. His mouth suddenly felt dry.

"We didn't steal them. Their parents were dead. We just took them in," he told the Unicorn.

It leaned it's head to the side.

"Scaled beasts have to take care of their offsprings on their own. It is not the humans duty. We wonder why they were so foolish as to do it anyway."

It shook it's head again and it's perfect white mane flew around it's head.

"But that is not why we let the humans see us. The dark one is guiding them over our home and we do not want the dark one here. We wonder how we can get rid of him. Quickly."

"Fucking kill me, you coward," Virgil hissed.

"We need him has a guide but if you want to get rid of him, maybe you could help us get to Terona quicker!" Logan suggested before the Unicorn could decide to follow Virgil's advice.

"Is the human suggesting that we give it and it's companions a ride? We hope it is aware that we don't just let any human onto our backs and that even we can not carry four humans at once."

"Maybe you could call help then?" Roman spoke up.

The Unicorn was quite for a few moments.

"We have thought about it and come to the conclusion that perhaps the humans suggestions aren't too foolish. We advise them to wait here until we return," with that it turned around and disappeared into the shadows again.

The light of Virgil's lantern glowed in a dangerous dark red.

First of all I'd like to apologize that this chapter took so long. (Well, it was worse on AO3. Here it's not so bad.)
There's been a lot of stuff going on lately and I couldn't really find the time or motivation to write.
I'll try to bring the next chapter out soon but I can't promise anything.

Second, feel free to comment anything, ask questions or roast me for spelling errors! I read all the comments and try to respond to them too! Also I'd love to hear your thoughts and predictions where the story might go!

Have a nice (gay) day!