Put back together

55. Oh, so sick of this mortal shell

Patton woke up slowly.
When he realised that he was awake in the first place he had no idea for how long he had been but it felt like an eternity.
His throat felt dry.

Rain was still hammering against the roof and he wondered if he had even slept at all.

Elliott was curled up against him and playing with one of the edges of his blanket. They were about as big as a young chicken now.
With one leg they scratched at their side and Patton gently stopped them.

"Don't do that," he whispered and pressed a soft kiss against their neck. "You might hurt yourself."

"But it itches," they complained. "I itch all over."

Patton frowned. That didn't sound normal.

"Is your Mum awake?" he asked.

Elliott nodded.

"Why don't you go and tell him? He might be able to help you with that," Patton suggested. Between Logan and Emile someone <em>had</em> to know what was wrong, right?

"Okay," Elliott agreed and jumped over Patton, staying in the air longer by flapping their wings a few times.

He wasn't sure why but it almost made Patton cry.
They were beginning to learn how to fly.
His baby was making their first attempts at flying...

Before he could actually tear up he sneezed loudly.

"Are you alright?" Roman asked sleepily from behind Patton.

"Yeah, I-" he cut himself off with another sneeze. "I may have caught a little cold."

He chuckled and looked over at Roman who was still mostly hidden by his blanket.

"What time is it?" Patton then asked hoping it would make Roman stop staring at him like that because having those eyes, dark with sleep, fixated on him like that did thing's to him he didn't want to think about.

"Er... I'm not sure. But it's morning," Roman shrugged and looked over at the nearest window.

Outside it was brighter than it had been last night but the sky was still dark and grey. It didn't seem like the rain would stop anytime soon.
Patton didn't look forward to getting on the road again.

"Linda said that the cable railway isn't far from here," Roman said and gave Patton an encouraging smile. "She said we should be able to get there in just a few hours and then we won't have to walk for at least three days!"

"The ride is three days long?" Patton asked. From what he had heard cable railways weren't all that fast but that still sounded like a long distance.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward for a chance to rest," Roman smile widened slightly and Patton wondered what those lips would feel like against his own.

Maybe Emile and Linda had been right about the staring thing.
He just hadn't realised it was that obvious.

Patton sat up and waited until the lightheadedness disappeared before he trusted himself not to fall over and stood up. His legs protested but he ignored that.

By one of the windows Logan sat with Emile, both men leaning over Elliott. They were talking quietly.

"Yeah, definitely," Patton caught Emile say.

"You know what's up with them?" he asked hopefully.

"Elliott is shedding," Logan answered and pushed his glasses up. "Considering how much they've grown it's astounding that they didn't do so earlier. So, while it's not pleasant, it's nothing bad. I believe warm water should help the scales come off easier."

"I get to bathe, Dad!" Elliott added happily.

Patton smiled and pat their head.

"We need to get you something to bathe in first, sweetheart, and-" he cut himself off with a coughing fit.

By the time he managed to stop, his head hurt.

"Are you alright?" Logan asked with a frown.

"Fine," Patton rasped. His throat hurt. "Can I have some water?"

Logan got up quickly and handed him a small flask just a moment later.

The water was cold enough to hurt but he still downed it greedily.

"Thanks," Patton breathed heavily and wiped over his mouth with his sleeve.

A cool hand touched his forehead and a wave of calmness washed over him.

"You're warm," Logan noticed and moved his hand to his own forehead. Patton almost whined at the loss of contact. "Way too warm."

"Why is Dad warm?" Elliott asked. "Is that bad?"

"How about you go and ask Roman what a fever is," Logan advised them before turning back to Patton. "How are you feeling?"

"I...," he trailed off. How was he feeling? "Bit tired and... my head kinda hurts. It's not bad thought."

"Do you think you can walk to the railway station?" Emile asked suddenly. "It's about a two hour march away. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yeah, yeah I think so. Roman said we can rest afterwards, right?"

"Exactly, then you'd have three days to recover. Otherwise we'd have to stay here until you're in good condition again."

"I can do it," Patton confirmed.

Logan insisted that he took his coat on top of his own and when both Patton and Roman protested that he would just get sick too he settled for simply wrapping a blanket around his shoulders.

They thanked Linda again for the night and for letting them bathe Elliott in her tub but she just shook her head and told them to take care of themselves.

"We live in weird times. If you ever need shelter you're welcome to come back here."

Patton wondered if he'd ever even be on this Island again but didn't say anything.

Elliott took their place in Logan's bag again after declaring that rain was horrible and even worse because it had 'made Dad bad-warm'.

Roman had taken Patton's bag and shut down any protest by simply saying 'No' whenever Patton tried to say something against it.

Ever since Logan has tested Patton's temperature Emile had been staring at them weirdly. He'd probably ask about the glowing markings sooner or later but for some reason he waited. Maybe he didn't want to do it during their hike?

In all honesty, Patton hadn't expected it to be this exhausting. Everything hurt, his head was swimming and despite how much he was sweating under the two coats he was also freezing.

He had no idea how long they'd been walking or how much longer they'd have to walk but he really wanted to take back what he had said earlier.
He couldn't do this.

The cough was getting worse to the point where he had trouble getting the chance to breathe between fits.

They came to a set of old stone steps and Patton was vaguely aware of his feet being lifted of off the ground and a touch against his cheek that felt like sunlight on a summer evening. Or maybe like the taste of fresh honey. Or like the heat of a campfire.
He wasn't sure but he liked it.

He leaned into the sun-honey-fire touch and let his heavy eyes drift shut.

Just because I can't injure him anymore doesn't mean that I can't hurt him in other ways...

Fun fact: Patton's Mama inherited a farm from her father where she still lives with her wife. They keep bees and Patton associates honey with a lot of happy memories of his childhood.

As always feel free to comment, ask questions or roast me for spelling errors!

Have a nice (gay) day!