Put back together

43. Truly Human

Hope you are all safe and healthy!

Warning: slight identity crisis, mention of death, stealing

I swear it's not very bad I just wanted to be safe. Please tell me if I forgot something!

Patton woke up early the next morning tangled in Logan's long limbs.
He felt comfortable like this with the soft blue glow on his skin wrapping him in a blanket of contentment.
But his shirt still smelt of sweat and he felt dirty so he carefully extracted himself from Logan and headed out to the lake he had seen while practicing last night.
His arms and shoulders were sore. He hadn't expected it to be this hard to fire a single arrow.

The lake had clear and cool water and even if it took a moment to get used to the temperature it felt nice against his skin.

He took the opportunity to wash his clothes then himself.

It had been longer than he wanted to admit that he had actually had a bath.
His hair was way too dirty for his liking so he held his breath and completely submerged his head in the water.

His fingers brushed over the back his neck.

There was no cut, no bruise not even a scratch.

He wasn't sure how he felt about this fact.

They had tested whether he could be harmed with Roman's silver sword too but it hadn't worked either.

Without the calming effect of touching Logan the knowledge of what he was felt like a boulder crushing him underneath itself.

Was he even an actual human?

He rapidly stood up and gasped for air.

The lack had begun to burn in his lungs.

That was something very human, wasn't it? An artifact didn't have to breathe. Right?

He didn't want to be anything but a normal human.

Patton left the lake and realised that he had no dry clothes with him so he pulled on the wet ones again and hurried back to the inn with the wet fabric clinging uncomfortably to his skin.
A breeze tussled his wet hair and he felt cold.

Shards didn't feel cold. Only living beings like humans could shiver. He was sure of that.

Logan was still asleep when Patton entered the room they had rented for the night.
Roman was up polishing his sword and raised an eyebrow when he saw Patton come in soaked in water.

"Did something happen or...?" he trailed off leaving the question open.

Patton just shrugged and searched his bag for dry clothes.
He found pants and underwear and even some socks but to his disappointment no shirt.
Did he really have only one shirt with him by now?
Darn it.

"Do you happen to have a shirt I could borrow?" he asked Roman sheepishly.

The prince once again looked up from his sword with a raised eyebrow.

"Please?" Patton added.

Roman set the sword besides and sauntered over to his own bag: "I should have one. Let me check. It's probably too big for you though."