Getting it Together

Moving day

TWs: Not letting someone have an abortion, emotional manipulation, basically anytime Patton talks to Virgil there's some underlying creepiness, plans for torture, drugging, and child developmental delays.

Patton had been planning the move for about two weeks now. Of course, they had to move, they couldn't just stay in Jason's house with his blood staining into the bathroom tiles. Besides, it would be nice to be closer to Patton's family, maybe even get to take his family out into the community!

They had stayed for a few days at one of Patton's college friends, Nico's house, which had been absolutely splendid! Nico was so accommodating for Roman, even though Patton had to lock him in Nico's guest room a few times for continuing to babble on about killing an innocent life.

By which of course Patton meant the baby and not Jason.

Ugh...Even the name gave him shudders. How could he have trusted such a meanie?

Even so, Nico had been nice enough to give Virgil some pins when he noticed Virgil's interest in them.

But now everyone was finally at their new home, all set up of course by Beatrice, and with plenty of lovely accommodations to fit his unique families need.

Patton couldn't wait to try some of them out.

And of course, what better way to celebrate moving out of that cramped house then with presents?

Virgil had bounced up and down on his toes, a shy smile gracing his features as Patton gave him some glittery purple eyeshadow.

"Now, I know black goes with everything, but I'm sure purple can go with most of your dark toned dresses!" Patton says excitedly.

"Thank you dad!" Virgil practically leapt into Patton's arms, and the man held him tight.

"Roman? Logan?" Patton turned to the two. "Your gifts are upstairs in your rooms. You'll know which one's yours when you see them."

Logan and Roman exchange a glance and then head up the stairs together. From the top of the landing, they could see four doors, each one painted, and one plain white door. The one down the hall was painted with a black nights sky, littered with stars.

"Are these our presents?" Logan asks quietly, gently running his fingers over the painting on the door that was surely his.

"Patton said in the rooms." Roman steps towards the door next to Logan's, decorated with a painting of a huge tower, a small figure on horseback approaching.

Looking to each other nervously, they took a deep breath and pushed open the door.

Stepping inside, Logan's hand flew up to his mouth to muffle a gasp of shock. In the middle of the room, wrapped with a dark blue bow was a telescope, already pointed up at the huge skylight.

"Stars..." Logan whispered to himself.

Even though it was daylight, he wanted to look through, hoping foolishly that if he just looked hard enough, he might spot a twinkling light in the sky.

Roman let out a small cry of excitement when he saw the typewriter sitting on a desk under a window, wrapped in a red bow.

Patton handed his next gift to Damien, a double headed snake pin and a book on cooking puns.

"Thank you dad." Damien grits out, plastering a fake smile on his face.

Looking over at the still sleeping Kai and Remy, Patton giggles and places a blanket with a coffee cup pattern and a small Gameboy onto the drugged young-adults laps.

Thomas shrieked from where he was sat on the silent Remus's lap, reaching out to grab a fistful of Virgil's dress.

"No, I didn't frog-get you silly billy." Patton winks, moving over to the almost one year old.

The pun makes more sense as Patton pulls a stuffed frog out of the bag and lets Thomas grab it.

Virgil gasps and bends down. "Look Thomas!" He coos, pointing to the frog. "It's got two green hearts on it!"

Patton smiles fondly and ruffles Virgil's hair. Virgil plays with Thomas and the frog for a minute before looking up at Patton in confusion.

"What about Uncle Remus's present?" He asks innocently.

"Ohh, I was going to get him a colouring book." Patton shrugs offhandly. "But it would be useless, wouldn't it Virgil? His hands can't grip a pencil anymore."

Remus's hands lay at his side, the fingers bent forward as if they were holding something, frozen in place except for when Remus's hands twitched.

"I just don't think Remus wanted a present." Patton shrugs.

Virgil's face falls. "Oh...Well maybe I could-!"

"Why don't you go upstairs." Patton cuts in. "Go see your room and get settled. Try to stay quiet while Logan is working on getting the lesson plans together please, okay hunnie? You're going back to school tomorrow and he has two new students."

Virgil pouts, sighing a soft 'okay' before moving upstairs. Looking between all the doors, Virgil opens the one painted with a slightly cloudy sky, the UP house painted beautiful against the soft blues. Inside looked to be a nursery with lots of toys and two cribs inside.

Virgil shuts the door and moves over to the door painted with a night sky, pausing when he heard voices from within.

"-quite worried about it, Roman! Before all this Thomas was speaking almost twenty words! Now that he's almost one, his vocabulary should be in the forties or fifties, even the one hundreds if he took after Remus. But now he barely says two words...I just..."

"I'm sure he'll be fine Logan." The voice of Uncle Roman said softly. "He'll catch up. Remus hardly ever spoke until we were seven."

"This isn't a matter of a slight developmental delay, this is a child speaking twenty words in a loving household to resorting to communicating through shrieks. That's not normal! Children are figuratively sponges at that age, he's supposed to be learning! What if...What if...I-I can't help him?"

Virgil pushes open the door and the two stop in their tracks.

"Is something wrong with Thomas?" Virgil asks.

"Hello..." Logan stops, trying to decide on a word. "Kiddo...What are you doing up here?"

"Is something wrong with Thomas?" Virgil repeats, the eyeshadow still clutched tightly in his palm. "You'll be able to help him, right dad."

"Of course Virgil." Logan gently bends down and cups the side of Virgil's face like he had seen Patton do when Virgil was scared. "Thomas will be fine. He has a great...Older brother like you to look out for him."

Logan pauses unsurely, before gently circling Virgil's face like his mother had done to him as a child. Tracing over in a circle as Virgil closes his eyes, down the bridge of his nose, over his mouth, his eyebrows, his eyes, before returning to circle once more. Stopping, Logan taps Virgil's chin, and moves away.

Virgil's eyes open, more dulled and calm then panicked. Roman had watched them with interest, and almost a soft fondness and Logan's attempts to bond with? Soothe? Virgil.

"How about I show you your room, and then we go down to have dinner?" Logan suggests quietly.

Virgil nods and reaches up to grab Logan's hand as Roman goes back downstairs to be with Remus. The two go out into the hallway and Logan opens the door painted with a vast jungle scene, a yellow snake hanging from a tree near the front.

Virgil smiles excitedly when he sees the two bunkbeds in the room. "Just like in the house on the mountain!"

"...Yeah." A flash of sadness crosses Logan's face and he quickly replaces it with a smile. "Are you hungry? Let's go eat."

"Okay!" Virgil chirps, bounding downstairs. Logan stares around the room before abruptly shutting the door.

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