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Patrick didn't really know why Pete couldn't have done this himself...the shopping. For him, when he regressed.
It wasn't that he wasn't ungrateful for Pete bringing him along to pick out toys and pacis, but it didn't mean Patrick wanted to go to Walmart with him at two in the morning. This was the only real good time of day they could go without possibly being discovered by fans...that would’ve been downright horrible.
"It'll be cool, Patrick, just say that you're shopping for a friend's kid?" Pete says, clapping him on the shoulder as they get out of Pete's car and into the nearly deserted Walmart parking lot. Patrick would rather be asleep, preferably cuddled up with Pete.
"Sure, Pete. That will totally work until they ask who's kid and I won't even know." Patrick mumbles, pulling up his jacket hood as they pass the electric doors at the front of the store.
Patrick can tell that Pete's rolled his eyes, but he's not going to entertain Pete anymore on the subject, because he might as well be helping with the shopping.
"So, just pacifiers and coloring stuff? Or do you want to get food too?" Pete asks, going over to a bin in the middle of the clearance isle which is filled with coloring books and off-brand crayons.
"Could I have...Playdoh?" Patrick suggests in response, leaning over beside Pete to inspect the coloring books himself.
"Don't see why not. Might keep you from getting into everything when you're little."
"I don't get into everything, Pete!"
"Okay, okay!" Pete laughs, glancing up at Patrick with one of his crazy grins. "Almost everything, then."
Patrick shakes his head and pulls out a Disney coloring book from the bin and starts to flip through it, smiling fondly when he sees pictures of familiar characters. He decides he'll get that one, and drops it ungracefully in the shopping basket Pete's carrying.
It goes like that for a time, Patrick sifting through various coloring books, and putting them in the basket if he likes it. Pete sits on the floor close enough to keep a watch over him, fiddling around with his Sidekick until Patrick tells him that they're ready to move on. It's silent work, and Patrick starts to slip into a younger headspace without either of them realizing it.
"You know where the playdoh is, Daddy?" Patrick murmurs out, getting down on the ground beside Pete, seeming to forget in that moment that they were in the middle of Walmart and they were extremely famous.
Pete's head whips up so fast he nearly knocks into Patrick, because that was unexpected. He narrows his eyes at the younger man for a moment before answering. "Uhm, probably where the other toys are, Trick?"
"Comeon then, Daddy! Play-doh awaits!" Patrick says in a loud whisper, grabbing Pete's free hand and helping him up before tugging him down the aisles of the super-store.
Pete knows that Patrick's not really letting himself out all the way, or he'd be much louder and his hood would definitely be pulled down. He was definitely regressed though, with the way he clutched Pete's hand tighter than usual, and the lighter feeling Patrick was giving off. That's when Pete remembers that this is the first time Patrick's been little outside of their apartment.
"Tricky, slow down a minute, would you?" Pete says, and nearly regrets it when Patrick comes close to knocking over a shelf of badly placed vases.
Patrick notices it too, and bites his lower lip in near anticipation as the four colored vases tremble on the shelf, but don't fall. He lets out a relieved sigh as he looks at Pete, waiting for his word.
"You need to slow down, squirt. Don't want to crash into things, right?"
"But the Play-doh, Daddy!" Patrick pouts, withdrawing his hand from Pete's and crossing his arms.
"We don't need attitude, Patrick." Pete says firmly, fingers ghosting over his jeans pocket.
Unbeknownst to Patrick, Pete had actually brought one of his pacifiers with him, in the rare event that he would need to break them out. He didn't want to use them at that moment, but he had to remember that they were there should he have to.
Patrick lets out a low whine, but complies with Pete, allowing him to lead him to where the kids’ things were, near the back of Walmart.
The only person they've seen since they came into the store was a half-asleep employee in the clothes section, and they take that as a blessing considering other times they've gone into a store since they became famous. Pete even allows Patrick to go into other toy isles, and pick out an item of his choice. He stays back with the crafts and keeps an ear open in case something happens. Which it does.
Pete had been going through his fifth sticker book when he heard a loud crash coming from the isle where he'd left Patrick, followed by crying that became quickly muffled. Pete dropped the sticker book and shopping basket, rushing over to the next isle.
There, he found Patrick on the floor, curled into himself and crying. Around him was a mess of action figures, and one of them had been nearly ripped out of its zip-tie bounds. Pete kneeled down beside Patrick and pulled him close, realizing what had happened.
"It's okay, baby. I'll just tell the cashier that I broke it trying to get it down, and I'll get it for you. Don't worry, don't worry at all." Pete hums into Patrick's ear, because Patrick's too upset with himself to do much more than cry.
Patrick looks up at Pete with his reddened, now tearstained face, and with the hood still over him. Pete's heart probably shattered at that point, because Patrick looked absolutely vulnerable and a little bit pitiful. He then goes to his jeans pocket and pulls out the bright red pacifier he had brought with him. "You want your paci, baby?" he quietly asks, rubbing his thumb across Patrick's jawline, feeling the wet tears on his skin.
Patrick weakly nods, so Pete slowly gives it to him, and the moment Patrick gets it he starts to work on it quickly.
Later on, Patrick's calmed down considerably, and he follows Pete back to the craft isle where he had left the shopping basket. He catches eye with the sticker book Pete had also dropped, and picks it up with wide eyes. "'ats, 'addy!" he says, words muffled by the pacifier between his lips.
Pete turns to look at the sticker book in Patrick's hand, and grins when he remembers it. "You want the cat stickers, Trick?"
Patrick nods excitedly, hugging the sticker book to his chest with a huge smile behind the pacifier. Pete chuckles as he makes his way to the self-checkout line, hoping to avoid people while Patrick's using his pacifier.
As Pete rings the items up and bags them himself, Patrick leans into his shoulder, humming a familiar song and rocking back and forth on his heels.
"Moon River, hmm?" Pete laughs, kissing Patrick on the top of his head.
Patrick nods and giggles, nuzzling into Pete's neck as they make their exit from Walmart, much more content than they were when they came in. This was what they both wanted.
We're after the same rainbow's end, waiting, round the bend.....
end.