In the Shadows(Sander sides fanfic)

12:Similar Backgrounds

TW:Gay panicking, reference to past normal panic, emoji use outside of text speech,

dtp

By the time Virgil was clocking out it was 5:33, the sun was starting to sink, and Patton had showed up. Wait, Patton had showed up?

"Oh, hey. I thought we'd just meet up?" Virgil said, walking over to his friend.

Patton shrugged and smiled. "I got off early and wanted to come down! Plus, it's really great in here!" They looked around, grinning.

Virgil smiled a bit and nodded. "Yeah, it-"

Piper cut him off from behind. "Oh, V! Is this one of your friends?" She said, smiling at Patton. "How good to meet you."

Patton smiled back. "It's great to meet you two!" They said, giggling. "Whatever your name is."

"Piper," She answered and tilted her head. "Patton, correct? V is very fond of you."

Virgil frowned, trying to remember when she could have learned Patton's name. It was probably back when Patton and Roman had came in, yeah, that made sense. Virgil has zoned out, and came back to find Patton and Piper deep in conversation. Patton seemed a bit upset, and Piper did seem off.

"Uh, Pat, we should probably get going." Virgil said, nodding at the door.

Patton blinked and nodded. "Right... It was nice meeting you!" They said to Piper, before hurrying out the door.

Virgil followed, nodding good bye at Piper as he went. Once outside Patton seemed to relax. With a grin they ran at a small pile of leaves and stepped on it, giggling at the crunch. Virgil smiled and felt his heart try to choke him, but in a different way the normal.

Patton turned and looked at Virgil, blushing a bit. "Sorry, the crunch just makes me happy!"

Virgil shrugged. "It's fine, honestly that was," Cute he stopped himself from voicing his thoughts and opted for, "a mood."

"A mood?" Patton asked, returning to Virgil's side as the two started to walk back to their apartment. "Oooo! Is that internet slang? I really gotta learn to keep up!"

"A mood is like when something is relatable," Virgil explained. "Like making a joke about depression or something."

"Oh, that makes sense," Patton nodded. "Thanks VV!" They said and grinned at Virgil.

"No problem." Virgil managed to say. Because goddammit Patton was cute-

Patton started to skip, and Virgil had to speed walk to keep up. Not that they weren't speed walking before, cause, you know, 🌈. They walked(and skipped) in silence, once in a while one of them would step on a leaf and get a crunch. But other than that it was quiet.

Until Patton saw a dog up ahead and literally squealed. "V look!" they said, grabbing on to Virgil's arm. Virgil stumbled a bit and nearly pushed Patton out of instinct. He managed to stop himself though and looked at the dog.

"Uh yeah, dog?"

"It's so cute! I wanna go pet it." Patton stared at the dog like it was the most perfect thing to ever exist. In the enby's eye,s it probably was.

"Why don't you then?" Virgil asked, raising an eyebrow.

Patton lit up even and pretty much dragged Virgil over to the dog and it's owner. "Heya, is your dog friendly?" Patton asked, bouncing like a child.

"Normally yeah..." The owner said, looking down at their dogs. "He's been a bit agitated lately."

Patton crouched near the dog, tilting their head as though talking to it. It took Virgil a second to realize they probably were. Patton started to pet the dog, smiling. "He's probably just been bored, his type's normally super energetic and you know, having built up energy can't be good."

The owner seemed surprised. "Oh, yeah that makes sense," They watched as their dog licked Patton's hand. "You're really good with dogs I'm guessing."

Patton giggled and stood. "People have called me an animal whisperer." They said with a shrug. The owner smiled at him.

"Really? That's a talent there," They said, petting their dog. "It was nice meeting you!" They continued on their way, dog seeming a lot more happy.

Virgil looked around before looking at Patton. "Pat that was risky," He hiss-whispered.

Patton looked at him, confused. "What? How?"

"Using you powers like that! Imagine what could have happened if they'd noticed!" Virgil said, voice raising a bit.

Patton frowned. "V... What use are our... abilities if we don't use them to help people? Don't the small things matter just as much as the bigger ones?"

Virgil sighed, shaking his head. "Still, you need to be more careful. Please promise me you will avoid doing things like that?"

"I don't want to lie to you V, that would make me a bad friend." Patton said, shaking their head. Virgil seemed taken aback, sinking backwards a bit. He shook his head and switched back to normal, but still, it had happened.

"Whatever... Let's just keep moving." Virgil turned and kept walking. Patton followed, staying close by his side.

After a few more minutes they reached their apartment, to be greeted by Ginger who was sitting outside. "Ah, there are my two favorite neighbors!"

The old lady hobbled over, grinning. "I haven't seen you two around lately, how have you been?"

"Great!"

"Alright..."

Patton and Virgil answered at the same time. Ginger smiled, nodding. "You two seem to be friends? That's good, I knew you'd get along."

Patton giggled. "We sure do!" They nodded, grinning and Virgil who gave a small smile back.

"People with similar backgrounds always get along," Ginger said, nodding and resting both her hands on her cane. "I've seen it time and time again."

Virgil and Patton tensed a bit, glancing at each other before quickly looking away. "What... What do you mean?" Patton asked, staring at Ginger.

Ginger raised an eyebrow. "You haven't reached that point yet?" She waited, as if expecting a response. "Understandable, apologies dearies."

Patton looked over at Virgil who pointedly was looking away. "We uh, should get going!" Patton said, gently taking his friends hand and rushed towards the entrance. Ginger watched them leave, a sad expression on her face.  

The old women tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear and sighed, walking back to her chair slowly. "If only they knew.... If only they knew..." She mumbled to herself, eyes flashing a bright purple.