Chapter Text
Cross his heart and seal it with a pinkie promise, Patton was not falling asleep on the job. No sir, not he! He was just…trying to very slowly blink the dryness out of them.
“Patton?” Patton’s head snapped up and he turned to face Thomas, who was wiping one of the counters with a quirked brow.
“Stay up too late watching Parks and Rec again?” Thomas laughed. Patton laughed along with him, refilling the napkin dispenser.
“You know me, Thomas,” Patton said brightly, feeling the amusement rolling off Thomas in steady, soft waves. Patton hated lying, but he technically didn’t. Lie, that is. Thomas did know him. He just happened to be wrong about Patton’s nightly pastimes. His ribs still ached dully from where an unruly gang member had decided to kick him.
“Sure do, Pat,” Thomas’s gaze flicked up at the sound of the bell above the door jinggling merrily. “Though, I think someone knows you even better.” He gestured towards the man who had just walked in, decked in a leather jacket, messenger bag, and dark sunglasses- an iced coffee dangling losely from one hand.
“REM!” Patton shouted, suddenly very awake. He launched himself over the counter- a shock to Thomas apparently- and threw himself in his arms. Remy chuckled warmly, contentedness, affection, and love bubbling around Patton.
“What’re you doin here, kiddo?” Patton asked, walking over to let himself back behind the counter, inviting Remy along as well. “I doubt it’s more coffee, as you said the aesthetic of Starbucks outranks even the actually good tasting stuff we make at Sanders Delights.”
“Mmmm, yeah, you’re right as always Patty,” Remy took a sip of the coffee he did have, placing it on the counter, “I came for two reasons. The first: I need a job.” Patton blinked, feeling Thomas’s confusion as well.
“Why? What happened with your last job I thought you loved it,” Patton said, worry churning in his gut. Remy offered him a soft chuckle, ruffling his carmel curls.
“I did, kinda. I got fired for ahem,” Remy made air quotes, “‘misusing and tampering with dangerous equipment.’” He scoffed, crossing his arms, “Like, if you didn’t want me using the equipment, then don’t make it so easily accessible. So, yeah, you got a job opening or two?” he turned to Thomas who thought.
“Well, we are always open to hiring family. Wait…why two?” Remy shrugged nonchalantly.
“My buddy Helen quit, a little before I got fired actually. She’s been lookin’ for a job. She’d have most of the same qualifications as me, y’know?” Thomas bit his lip, thinking.
“Well a couple kids won’t be working here much longer since they’re graduating so I suppose…”
“Awesome, thanks TomTom, love ya! I’m stealing my lil bro now though, bye-bye,” Remy, grabbed Patton by the arm and started to drag him away.
“Wh- Remy, I have opening shift starting in ten minutes. You can’t just take the only other person working!” Thomas protested. Patton pulled his arm away with a laugh.
“Yeah, sorry Rem. I’m actually currently employed.”
“Wow, okay, first, I’m wounded. Second: can I at least take you into the back? I need to show you something, like right now. Or I will die. And then you’d lose me. Which would suck, Patton.” Patton giggled, feeling the light teasing bounce across his skin.
“That sounds fine, right Thomathy?” Patton turned to Thomas. He sighed, equally dramatic, and leaned against the wall.
“I suppose I can live without my best barista/cashier for five minutes,” he said, throwing a wink at the two. Patton laughed and Remy saluted, dragging Patton into the back room. It was small and cramped- clearly not meant for being more than a storage room. Despite this fact, a rickety old card table and a couple beanbags were tossed on the floor for employees who wanted a quick break between rushes. Remy threw himself down into one of the beanbags and rifled through his bag.
“So, what is so so important you had to show me right now?” Patton asked, plopping down in the beanbag across from his brother. Remy grinned sharply, excitement and mischief sparking and poking at Patton as Remy pulled out what appeared to be a strip of fabric.
“Tada! It’s a new mask,” Remy tossed it to Patton, who caught it with one hand.
“What’s wrong with my old mask?” Patton asked, looking for eyeholes and finding none. Remy scoffed, taking another sip of his coffee.
“Patty Patt, you got real noticeable eyes. We’re lucky no one has caught a closeup view of you on camera yet. Plus, with this one you can’t skimp out on putting in contacts, and I think that’ll help with your glasses budget” Patton blushed, studying the mask again.
“So…how am I supposed to see out of this?” Patton asked. Smugness danced across his skin as Remy leaned forward, removing Patton’s glasses and tying the mask around his face like a blindfold. Somehow, Patton could still see through (well, see as well as he could without glasses or contacts), with only a slightly dark tint to everything blocking his vision.
“Woah, how did you manage this?” Patton asked, flexing his fingers. Even though the fabric was light, the clarity of what he was seeing was still quite impressive. Remy shrugged, but that smugness was still there.
“Lotsa coffee and a couple late nights. You’re welcome,” Remy pulled a notepad out of his bag and made a few checks, “Only 36 left.”
“Oh no, how will I live when you run out of owed favors,” Patton deadpanned, taking the mask off and shoving it in his apron pocket while he slid his glasses back on. The prodding teasing was back as Remy slung an arm across Patton’s shoulders.
“You won’t. I’m going to kill you,” Remy pinched Patton in the side, causing him to squeal, “zap zap you’ve been tased.”
“No tasing allowed! Sanders Delights is a safe zone,” Remy playfully smacked his forehead.
“Ah, how could I forget?”
“That’s one extra favor- you’re back to 37.”
“What? Boo!” Remy shoved Patton’s shoulder as they exited the back room. Patton froze, the air around him crackling. His skin began to crawl and itch and prickle and tingle and burn and freeze. He looked up slowly to see the cafe already had a large amount of patrons present.
“There you are!” Thomas said, making a latte, “we got really busy the second you left and- Patton are you alright?” Patton shook his head, attempting to clear the cobweb feeling of emotions clinging at him.
“Y-yeah. Just gimmie a sec,” Patton had to mentally shove away the worry gnawing at him coming from Remy’s direction as he breathed in through his nose. He breathed out slowly, focusing on himself- his ears to be specific. When switching to his enhanced hearing, it always felt like his ears popped. The sound seemed to go from muffled to unbearably loud. The sudden cacophony was almost as bad as the sticking, itching, burning, freezing feeling of emotions all around, but as Patton found a target of focus, the difference was immeasurable.
“Journalism just ain’t working huh?” he let his focus be on a couple of girls on the opposite end of the cafe, the other sounds muffling in comparison.
“Ugh, it’s just so dishonest. I swear if I have to do one more phony story I’m gonna lose it,” the woman stabbed her straw into her drink. Patton closed his eyes and let his hearing slowly trickle back into empathy, trading sounds for emotions. The feeling was much less intense now that he was expecting it. The whole ordeal felt to him like it took an obnoxiously long amount of time, but considering everyone just went along with it, he assumed it was in actuality much closer to thirty seconds.
“Okay, sorry about that!” Patton trotted over to Thomas, who simply shrugged, and kept making his order. He and Patton fell into a steady rhythm for a few minutes before Thomas spoke up again.
“Wanna train your brother? Since we’re hiring him and all that,” Thomas scribbled a name on the cup in his hands while Patton bagged a doughnut- subtly trying and failing to lick the glaze off his fingers without being caught.
“Sure!” he said, turning to Remy and bumping shoulders with him. Remy snickered and menacingly reached his fingers out to brush Patton’s sides. Patton squirmed and stifled his giggles with a half-hearted glare before diving in.
Another few minutes, and the rush had died down notably. Remy seemed to quite easily get the hang of making coffee and bagging pastries, so Patton let him genuinely help out a little with Thomas’s okay. It wasn’t the most thrilling job, but Patton figured if Remy wanted excitement he should’ve cared more about keeping his previous job.
Patton, lost in his thoughts to help fight off the monotony of his job, startled at the bell above the door announcing a new arrival. The cup he’d been holding jumped from his grasp and tumbled onto the floor, rolling away from him. If Patton were the type to swear, he would’ve just then as he got down on his hands and knees to chase after the darned thing.
He was so focused, he hardly heard the customer’s smooth, monotone voice as he ordered from Thomas. Patton paused a second, swearing it was a voice he’d heard before. He shrugged it off, however, because it wasn’t uncommon for people to come in multiple times, even if they weren’t regulars. Patton finally succeeded in retrieving the cup, making a victorious sound in the back of his throat.
“And your name?” Thomas asked.
“Logan,” the man said. Patton jolted up suddenly, slamming his head on the counter and letting out a strangled hiss. He looked up, rubbing the back of his head, and saw Remy pull his shades down a hair.
“Hooooooly sh-” Patton pinched Remy’s leg, making him yelp. “I was gonna say holy, uh, sharks. Yup,” Remy said, popping the p before he took his shades off the rest of the way, green eyes like fire, “Logan Lehrer?”
“That would be correct. Do I know you?” Patton definitely recognized Logan now, as he could sense the strange, muffled buzzing against his skin. Patton never could figure out how his emotions were so dulled down to the point he could hardly pick them up, a factor that had drawn him to the other time and again during high school. He couldn’t dwell on his newfound wonder, however, because Remy was looking down at Patton, a wolfish grin on his face as he slid his sunglasses back up his nose. Patton shook his head wildly.
“Ohhh my God, gurl, you don’t remember?” Patton knew Remy was probably fluttering his lashes as mischief began poking at Patton once more, “I was the annoying one who asked you way too many personal questions that one time you had a project with my brother!” This was the first time Patton was hearing about this and he glared up at his brother from where he was still crouched, vowing revenge and a very lengthy lecture on privacy.
“Oh. Remy,” Patton felt clear annoyance break through the dull buzz, scratching down his arms. He winced, but was glad it wasn’t as extreme as it was when he felt it from other people, “Of course you work here.”
“Nah, I don’t quite yet,” Remy started making Logan’s order, dodging around Patton as he did so, “this is free labor, baby.”
“Right,” Remy set the drink down and put his elbows on the counter, raising his eyebrows. “Speaking of your brother, though, how is Patton?” Patton’s legs were getting tired from being crouched for so long, and Thomas was giving him questioning glances from where he was standing.
“Well,” Remy’s hand landed at the base of Patton’s neck, bunching the fabric of his shirt in a fist, “why not ask him yourself?” Remy yanked up, and for the five seconds before Patton was still blissfully hidden he managed a tiny internal mantra of please don’t still be hot, please don’t still be hot, please don’t still be hot.
Gosh. Darnit.
Logan blinked his warm, golden brown eyes in shock that was like sudden static against Patton’s skin as he adjusted his glasses.The shock melted back, but Patton could hardly care as his internal functions were all screaming abort abort, still hot! Still hot!
“Patton? What were you doing under the counter?” Logan asked. Patton coughed, holding out the styrofoam cup he had been chasing after when Logan first entered.
“Dropped this!” Good start, good start, Now, play it cool, Sanders, “Soooo. We have the same glasses?” Nailed it.
Logan gave another surprised blink before narrowing his eyes at Patton.
“You would be correct. Odd, did you have those frames back in high school?”
“Uhhhh,” Patton looked to his brother for assistance, who shook his head slightly, “No?” Patton had never hated not being able to feel Logan’s emotions clearly more than he did in that moment, as Logan arched one of his stupid, perfect eyebrows and leaned against the counter.
“You sound unsure. Do you honestly not recall if you’ve bought new frames since then?” Logan asked. Patton opened his mouth then paused. Because he suddenly remembered-
“This is my fifth pair in the last month. I lose track.”
“What? Patton, how do you break five pairs of glasses in a month?”
Don’t say beating up bad guys, don’t say beating up bad guys, don’t say-
“I am just. So, clumsy,” Patton put his palms flat against the counter, staring at it in mild horror. Remy sympathetically patted his back and slurped the last of his coffee loudly.
Patton was saved from further embarrassment when the bell rang again and Remy let out a loud gasp, soft, featheriness coming from him as he darted around Patton and threw himself into the arms of the man who just walked in. Said man looked extremely done despite having only just arrived as he curled his arms around Remy, who planted a loud, obnoxious kiss on his cheek.
“Hey Ethey-pooh,” it was slightly mocking, but fond. The man rolled his eyes.
“I despise you.”
“Love you too! Come to see me at work? You’re the bestest,” Remy climbed out of his boyfriend’s arms, and Patton watched him warily. Ethan Serpent was a notorious liar, and known to occasionally swipe small objects. Patton didn’t really like him (which was saying something- he liked everyone), but he made Remy happy, so he kept his complaints to a minimum.
Ethan lounged against the counter, ignoring everyone as Patton focused his gaze back on Logan. He was looking above Patton’s head, brows furrowed. Patton turned to see Logan was watching the television they kept above the counter for people to watch if they wanted. The audio was off, but subtitles were on. A reporter (Patton thought it might be one of the women he saw earlier, actually) was shown, her lips moving slightly off from the words at the bottom of the screen.
“In recent news, the hero dubbed Morality has recently aided in taking down the gang the…” the woman squinted “babbling baboons? Police and Scientists still marvel at the strength, speed, and abilities of flight this superhero displays.”
“Fascinating,” Logan breathed, another precious emotion breaking through the cloud and washing across Patton. Wonder, pure and clean. Patton was probably sweating, so he ducked his head and scrubbed a little more aggressively than necessary at the counter.
“Oh. Him. That’s no big deal,” Patton let out a hysterical little laugh, “guy showed up a few months ago and beat up some criminal who was trying to rob a couple. It just so happened the boyfriend of the lady he assaulted was a vlogger or something so, uh. Yeah. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of him yet.”
“Oh, I moved out of state for college. I only came back because a job offer was given to me about a month or so ago, and the local news has not exactly been my top priority.”
“Nor social interaction, if you haven’t heard any gossip about Mr. Morality,” Remy called from where he was running his hands across the chest of Ethan’s yellow sweater.
“Stop having eye sex in my cafe,” Thomas said, carrying a sack of sugar out from the back. Remy pouted, folding his arms and scrunching his nose.
“So. A real life superhero, huh? I wonder how his powers came to be. Also, where did he get the costume? And why is it cat themed- that seems rather silly.”
“Hey! That costume is awesome, excuse you,” Remy said, leaning against Ethan, who looped an arm across his shoulders.
“You have excellent tastes,” Ethan informed Logan. Remy beamed.
“See? Ethan agrees with me,” Remy curled a hand around the back of his neck and tilted his head down to kiss him.
“You two are repulsive,” Logan deadpanned, turning back to Patton. Remy huffed.
“You won’t be saying that when you get a boyfriend, Logan,” Remy said. Logan ignored him.
“Well, I best be off then. It was a pleasure to see you again, Patton. Can not say the same for your brother.” Patton laughed, and, in a moment of impulsiveness Patton was quite well known for, he stopped Logan from leaving by reaching over the counter and hooking onto his arm.
“W-wait!” Logan turned, and Patton turned pick as he raised one of his stupid perfect eyebrows again. “I, uh, want my phone number?” Logan blinked, a softness growing around the edges of his emotional buzz.
“I would not be opposed to that.” Patton scribbled his number on Logan’s coffee cup, handing him a small bag with a doughnut in it.
“For luck, y’know?” Logan’s smile was soft.
“Thank you, Patton.”
~~~
Patton really, really needed to lay off the sweets. He grunted as he struggled to yank on one of his boots. One would think running around 6 out of 7 nights a week would help him lose weight, but apparently not.
He really hated how thick his calves were, especially now. He didn’t want to wear his crocs either, because he was pretty sure they would fall off if he needed to fly at all. Along with that, Remy had informed him he was probably one of the last people on earth who wore them because they were a, quote, “fashion disaster”. Plus, his pair had cute little jibbitz that looked like cookies, cats, dogs, and rainbows, so someone would probably find it suspicious if the renowned hero Morality had the same crocs as the culinary arts major who worked at the little cafe in the heart of the city.
Grunting, Patton finally managed to get the dumb thing on, only to realize he had yet to put on the other one. He sighed, wedging his foot into it after much trial and error. He stood up, walking in small circles to adjust, before heading over to the mirror in front of his door. He ran a hand through his curls, trying to tame them somewhat before he pulled up his hood. He couldn’t suppress a giggle as he fiddled with the ears on the top. Of all the costume designs to get stuck as his brand, Patton was glad it was the cat. He tied on his mask, looking at himself one last time. Remy was right, he looked way different when his eyes weren’t visible.
Taking a deep breath, he turned and walked to the window, slowly opening it and looking around. No one in sight. Good. Patton pulled himself up onto the window sill, nearly purring as the wind whipped around his face, making his cape flap around him. He leapt into the air, feeling his flight take effect as he floated up and landed lightly on top of one of the buildings.
Patton stared out across the city. There was something about being a hero that Patton loved, even when he wasn’t helping people in the moment. Just the rush of knowing what was to come. It made Patton feel just a little bit braver.
With a grin, Patton thundered across the roof and leapt into the air. His stomach dropped, and it felt like the world was going in slow motion even as his heart rate increased. Then, the moment was over as his feet made contact with the top of the next building. Call him an adrenaline junkie, but there were worse things to get high on.
He landed in a crouch after a couple more rooftops, taking a moment to catch his breath. Sweat dripped down his forehead, and he stood up straight to wipe it off. He looked up, seeing the tallest building in town a little ways ahead. Patton flew up towards it, landing on the top and gripping the lightning rod, hanging over the edge and scanning the town. This was his favorite place to perch and look for trouble, as it gave him a great overhead view. Patton did wish one of his powers was super vision, but he guessed his ears would have to do.
Patton let his super hearing take over, scanning across town. A group of teenagers here, a few drunk guys there (he’d keep an ear on them), but nothing terribly out of the ordinary. Patton sometimes wished there was more interesting stuff happening, but he would immediately scold himself and remind himself that boring was good. Boring meant no one was getting hurt.
Patton was just about to give up and start just doing his regular patrol, when there was an explosion from the outskirts of the city. He jolted, the sound rattled around in his skull, making his head throb painfully. He couldn’t even tell if it had really been loud, or if his super hearing just made it seem that way. Maybe both? Either way it was still more excitement then he’d seen in months.
Despite the guilt and worry gnawing at his heart, he couldn’t help the tiniest smile from curling on his lips.
“Alright then, let’s go.”