Chapter Text
Patton and Virgil sat side by side on the couch, Virgil typing away on his laptop trying to get an assignment done and Patton playing with two of his favourite stuffed animals. Of course, they were all his favourite, but these were two of his favourite favourites. His head perked up as he heard the front door open.
“Dad’s home!” Patton yelled, placing his two stuffed animals down carefully beside him before jumping off the couch.
Virgil barely lifted his head until the scent of food drifted into the living room. He sniffed. “Is that pizza?”
Their father Roman lightly kicked the door shut behind him, a briefcase in one hand, pizza box in the other, and a laptop bag slung over his shoulder. Patton, ever the helpful seven-year-old that he was, eagerly took the briefcase from his father’s hands.
“Thank you, Patton sweetheart. You got it?” Roman asked, glancing down to make sure the briefcase wasn’t too heavy for him.
“Uh-huh!” Patton affirmed, although he was barely able to hold it up for more than a few seconds at a time before having to rest it on the ground as he waddled forward.
Roman quickly placed the pizza down in the kitchen before retrieving his briefcase from Patton’s tiny, struggling hands. “Won’t be a moment!” Roman called, and then disappeared upstairs to put the rest of his things away. Patton, meanwhile, sat down where Virgil was already waiting at the kitchen table.
“Wow, he was actually home on time today,” Virgil muttered.
“With pizza!” Patton exclaimed, unphased by the sarcastic undertones of Virgil’s voice.
A few moments later, Roman joined them at the table. “Alright boys. Pizza time!”
As they ate, Roman listened intently as Patton rambled on about his day. Beyond simply finding it endearing, he was secretly grateful for how Patton filled the silence. Roman wasn’t sure if he could stand silence for too long these days.
As Patton took a bite of pizza, Roman took the opportunity to address his other son. “How about you, Virgil? How was your day?”
“It was fine. It was school.” Virgil, though only twelve years old, was already starting to take on typical teenager mannerisms.
“Got to school on time?”
“Yeah.”
“Ate lunch?”
“Yup.”
“Done your homework?”
“Working on it.”
“How’s your boyfriend?”
“My boyfr- Dad! ” Virgil groaned.
Roman gave a triumphant laugh. “So there is a boy!”
Virgil covered his face. “No! No there isn’t! Stop doing that!”
Roman gave him a playful nudge. “Relax, I’m joking!” He leaned towards Virgil with a serious expression. “But if there is a boy, I’d be the first to know, right?”
Patton chimed in. “Nooo, Virgil has to tell me first!”
Virgil grabbed another slice of pizza and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’m not telling either of you.” He paused. “...But if I did, I would tell Pat first.”
Patton cheered while Roman placed an indignant hand to his chest and gasped. “Betrayed, by my own family no less! Has it really come to this? My own sons, keeping secrets from me?”
Patton giggled at Roman’s dramatics, and though he was trying to hide it Roman could see a smile creeping onto Virgil’s face as well. Good , Roman thought. These moments had been far and few between over the past year, and Roman cherished any moment the three of them could smile together.
Before long, all of the pizza had vanished from the box and Virgil disappeared upstairs into his bedroom. Patton and Roman stayed in the living room for a while longer, until Patton began to fall asleep on the couch.
Roman smiled at him fondly, pushing aside the papers he was working on and standing up. “Come on, little prince. Time for bed.”
Patton gave a sleepy nod, before rolling off the couch and onto his feet. He followed Roman up the stairs, only pausing outside his bedroom door to tap Roman on the back. Roman looked down at him expectantly.
“Can you read a story from the book?” Patton asked, his voice muffled through a stifled yawn.
Roman perked up. “Oh! Why, of course little prince! How about this? You go and get ready for bed, and I’ll go find my storybook.”
Patton gave a tired nod, before wandering off to the bathroom. Roman, meanwhile, went to his study to retrieve the book. He didn’t keep it with Patton and Virgil’s other books, as this particular one was very special to him. He had owned it since he was a child, and had spent many a day immersed in it. He picked it up from its usual spot on the shelf, then turned it over in his hand a few times. It was a beautiful book. The soft purple cover was embellished with gold flourishes and had a keyhole in the centre of it, and a long red ribbon that acted as a bookmark was wedged between its pages.
His eyes drifted down to his desk, where a family photo sat front and center. There they all were, a family happy and complete. Roman, Patton, Virgil and…
“Logan,” Roman said in barely a whisper. Though he’d only seen him at the hospital a few short hours ago, he sorely missed being able to converse with his husband. Sitting next to Logan’s hospital bed and holding his hand, talking to him as if he hadn’t been asleep for a year was the closest he got these days. It just wasn’t the same.
Down the hall, he heard the water turning off, which was a good indication that Patton had finished brushing his teeth and was now ready for bed. He pulled himself away from the moment and left with the storybook in his hand.
He found Patton eagerly awaiting him in his bed, freshly changed into his blue, heart-spotted pyjamas.
“Now, which story would you like to hear, Patton?” Roman asked, already flipping through the pages.
“The one about the Dragon Witch!” Patton said confidently.
Roman smiled. “Aaaah, the Dragon Witch, hmm? We seem to read that one a lot! It is a good one though, it used to be your brother’s favourite too.” Patton snuggled further into his blankets as Roman began reading.
“In a castle, long before a young prince ruled over the land, there lived a Dragon Witch…”
As Roman read Patton the story, he acted out each scene dramatically, complete with silly voices and wild gestures. Patton seemed absolutely mesmerised. Story time had always been one of Roman’s favourite things to do with his kids, but even more so now that he didn’t have as much time for acting. At some point during the reading, he saw Virgil watching from the doorway, but said nothing so as not to scare him away. It warmed Roman’s heart to know that his kids still enjoyed this as much as he did.
Finally Roman reached the end of story, which was just as well because Patton was barely able to keep his eyes open. “ And, with the Dragon Witch banished from the kingdom, the brave young boy was crowned as the people’s champion, and as the new prince of Reverie. But that was only the beginning of his adventures, for there were many more to come…” Roman switched back from his narrator voice to his normal speaking voice. “And that’s all for tonight, my little prince!”
Patton pouted in protest. “Nooo, one more? Please?”
Roman chuckled and shook his head. “No, I don’t think you’ll be able to stay awake for another story. Besides, I’m sure you’re ready to have your own adventures while you dream!” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Virgil slip out from the doorway and head back to his own room.
Patton didn’t seem entirely convinced, but he didn’t protest anymore. “Okay…” he said, a little disappointment seeping into his voice. “Can you sing me goodnight?”
Roman smiled, then kneeled beside Patton’s bed. He began to sing A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes, a song he’d always had a soft spot for. He was grateful that his kids seemed to like Disney movies as much as he did (as much as Virgil liked to nitpick them). Patton snuggled into his blankets, Roman’s soft voice lulling him to sleep.
Roman finished the song and kissed Patton on his forehead. “Sleep well.”
----
The next evening, Roman was home late from work, so Virgil took care of making dinner for Patton and himself. The afternoon had been spent with the boys doing their homework, supervised by their babysitter Elliot. Virgil didn’t feel like he needed a babysitter, but luckily they were pretty cool and left Virgil in his room for the most part while they helped Patton with his homework.
After a successful dinner (Virgil counted any time he didn’t burn the house down as a success), he and Patton watched TV for a while to occupy themselves. Virgil glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. His dad should be home soon, but it was getting close to Patton’s bedtime. He grabbed the remote and switched the TV off. Patton whined in protest.
“Okay Pat, time for bed,” Virgil said firmly.
“Nooo, five more minutes?” Patton pleaded. “I’m not even tired!”
Virgil sighed. It was gonna be like that tonight, huh? “Nope, it’s a school night. Dad isn’t home yet, so I’m still in charge. And I say it’s time for bed.”
Patton didn’t seem to have any intention of moving. “But I don’t wanna!”
Virgil through his hands up in mock-resignation. “Alright, fine! Have it your way! I guess I’ll just go read your bedtime stories without you.” He slowly starting walking away from Patton towards the stairs. “Here I go, off to read stories on my own! Too bad you’re not gonna be there.”
Patton hadn’t gotten up yet, but Virgil could hear him getting restless on the couch. His plan was working. He’d barely put one foot on the stairs before the thudding of small feet came running after him.
“Wait!” Patton called. “I’m here!”
Virgil couldn’t help but let out a snort. “I thought you weren’t tired?”
“I’m not, but…” Patton played with the hem of his shirt. “Don’t read without me!”
The rest of the bedtime routine went a lot smoother. Patton still didn’t seem to be tired, but he didn’t put up too much of a fuss. Virgil retrieved his dad’s storybook out of his study, then went into Patton’s room and sat on the edge of the bed.
“Alright, which one-” he started to ask, but he didn’t get far before…
“Dragon Witch, Dragon Witch!” Patton cut in loudly.
Virgil held up his hand in defense. “Okay, geez, Dragon Witch.”
Patton giggled and muttered an excited “Dragon Witch” under his breath. Virgil didn’t read it with as much enthusiasm as his dad did, but Patton still seemed to enjoy it. Before too long they’d reached the end of the story. Virgil started to close the book, but Patton had other ideas.
“Again!” he shouted. “Read it again! Please?”
Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Uh, no. You gotta sleep now.”
Patton crossed his arms. “But I’m not tired! Again?” He made a reach for the book, but Virgil held it out of his reach.
“Dude, no,” Virgil said, the arm with the book still held up in the air. Patton pouted and stretched his arm a little further. “Hey! No. Sleep.”
Patton withdrew his outstretched arm. “Are you gonna sing me goodnight?”
Virgil groaned internally. He didn’t really like singing. “Yeah, uh… about that... I think my singing would give you nightmares, so I’m gonna hold off on that. How about you just try and sleep, okay?”
Patton considered it for a second, throwing another glance at the book. “Okay… but I’m not-”
“Yeah, yeah, I know, you’re not tired.” Virgil got up from the bed, still keeping a firm grasp on the book in case Patton made a dive for it. He walked over to the doorway and put a hand on the lightswitch. “Night, Pat.” He flicked the lightswitch off.
“Night night, Virge!” Patton called from his bed.
Virgil closed the door behind him, hoping Patton would fall asleep before long. He dropped the storybook off in his dad’s study before returning to his room. He had to get tired eventually, right?
Patton did not. After about ten long minutes of trying to fall asleep, he decided to take matters into his own hands. As quietly as he could, he slipped out of bed and opened his bedroom door. If nobody was gonna read that story for him again, then he’d just have to read it himself! He tiptoed over to his dad’s study and pushed the door open with a creak. Patton hoped Virgil hadn’t heard it, but he’d come too far now to stop.
He spotted the book on a shelf above his dad’s desk. Even as a growing boy, he still couldn’t quite reach it, even on his tippy toes. He pulled out the swivel chair that was pushed into the desk and stood up on it. It wasn’t completely steady, as it moved beneath his feet, but still he reached for the book. His fingers managed to grab the top of the spine, so he pulled. The book came out, but unfortunately other books came out with it and crashed loudly onto the desk.
Patton winced and held his breath. He heard his brother’s bedroom door open. Uh oh. He looked down at the mess he’d made, then back at the book in his hand. There was a keyhole on the front of it. His eyes drifted around Roman’s desk, until his eyes landed on a key sitting next to a family photo. Keyhole… key… wait! He sat down on the chair, then picked up the key and lined it up with the keyhole. What if…?
Unfortunately, at that moment, Virgil appeared in the doorway. “Okay, what the heck did you do? When dad gets home, I’m gonna tell on you.”
Patton stared at Virgil with wide eyes. “No, don’t tell! Just wait! I gotta…” He pressed the key into the hole.
Virgil’s expression changed from disgruntled to perplexed. He took a few steps into the room. “What are you…?”
Patton turned the key with a click!
Suddenly the room became much brighter as light streamed from the keyhole and started to fill the whole room. Patton and Virgil both stared at the book as the light started to envelop them. It swirled faster and faster, and then all at once it vanished. But when the light was gone, so were the two boys.
At that moment, Roman arrived home.