Chapter Text
“Daddy?”
Patton woke up to two tiny hands pressing into his back. He blinked, fumbling for his glasses on his messy bedside table. As he pulled them on, blinking the sleep out of his eye, he couldn’t help but break into a large smile at the figure standing next to his bed.
Virgil was always small for his age, and the giant purple hoodie he insisted on sleeping in practically swallowed him in its soft, thick fabric. It made him look, in Patton’s professional dad opinion, even more adorable than he already was.
He had obviously just woken up— his dark hair was sticking out in all directions, and there was a small line across his cheek that Patton suspected was dried drool. His oversized hoodie sleeves idly swung by his sides. Patton would give almost anything to wake up to that sight everyday.
“G’morning, stormcloud,” he murmured, reaching out to stroke Virgil’s hair. “How did you sleep?”
“Um, good.” Patton frowned a little at the short response.
“What’s wrong, kiddo?”
The little boy gnawed on his lower lip— a nervous habit that Patton had never been able to get him to break.
“Um, um, um— I’m sorry I woke you up, but—”
“Hey, Virgil, what’s the sorry rule?” Patton interrupted, grabbing Virgil’s hands to pull him closer.
Virgil looked down at their clasped hands, their fingernails painted a matching shiny purple.
“Don’t say sorry unless something bad happened,” he recited. It was a highly oversimplified rule, but a seven year old could only handle so much nuance.
Patton nodded, leaning forward to plant a kiss on Virgil’s head. “That’s right, kiddo. Nothing bad happened, so no need to say sorry, right? And in a minute I’ll get dressed, and we can go make waffles for breakfast—”
“But that’s on Saturdays!” Virgil interrupted.
Patton frowned again. The words ‘it is Saturday’ were on the tip of his tongue, until something clicked in his sleep-addled brain and— oh, fuck.
“Oh, bother,” he said aloud. “It’s Friday, isn’t it?”
Virgil continued to chew on his lip, nodding. “I woke up and I went to the, the kitchen, and the clock— the big hand was on the nine and the little hand, the little hand was almost on the seven, and—”
6:45. Patton cursed internally again. Virgil was meant to be dropped off at school by 7:00, and although Patton was rarely on time, he was supposed to be at his first job by 7:30. So much for that.
“— so I came, I came in here to wake you up,” Virgil finished, looking at his dad with wide eyes.
Patton took this all in, sighing as he ran his fingers through Virgil’s messy hair.
“Well, it’s a good thing you did, kiddo,” he finally said, smiling softly. “Because somebody—”
He poked Virgil’s cheek, giving a little laugh when his son giggled and batted the finger away.
“—Needs to get to school, huh?”
Virgil eyes lit up, bouncing on his heels. “Dr. Picani said, he said, he said we’re gonna play with clay today!”
Patton gasped as he stood up, reluctantly letting go of Virgil’s hands to get to his closet.
“Oh my gosh, that’s gonna be so much fun!” he cheered, pulling out two polo shirts and holding them up for Virgil to see.
“Grey or blue?”
Virgil pondered, brow furrowed in concentration. “Blue,” he finally announced.
Patton grinned. “I was thinking the same thing,” he whispered with a wink. “Now how about you go get dressed— I’ll help you with your hair and teeth in a minute— and I’ll throw some bread in the toaster, and you can eat it on the way, okay, stormcloud?”
Virgil nodded. He started walking towards the door, but stopped, fiddling with his sleeves.
“Um—” he blurted. “Can I, can I have a hug, please?”
Patton melted a little at Virgil’s tiny voice.
“Aw, Virgey,” he cooed, “you never need to ask me that!”
He scooped Virgil up into his arms, pressing a wet kiss onto his cheek to make him giggle.
“Ew!” He squirmed in Patton’s grip, laughing maniacally. “Daddy!”
Patton laughed, setting Virgil down. “Now go get dressed, I’ll be with you in a minute.”
He straightened up and watched as Virgil left the room, his smile dropping almost immediately.
Of course he had to go and forget to set his alarm last night. Ever since Sunday night, when he had picked up a last-minute shift at the bar, Patton’s internal calendar had been thrown off by a day.
He ran a hand through his hair, sighing again as he picked up his phone. Today was not off to a great start.
~
“All good?” Patton asked, twisting around to check the seatbelt on Virgil’s booster seat once more. Virgil nodded, his mouth full of bread and jam.
“Okay, let’s hit the road!”
With that, Patton pulled onto the street a tad bit faster than he normally would, a ‘Best of Disney’ CD playing in the background.
Patton sang along, but his attention was not on the music. Rather, it was on his son, who was getting more and more fidgety the closer they got to the school.
At the next stoplight, Patton turned down the music, catching Virgil’s eye in the rearview mirror.
“Vibe check?” he asked. It was a silly joke, some meme Remy had started quoting that Patton had picked up without even really knowing what it meant, but it soon became his and Virgil’s code word for talking about scary stuff like feelings.
Virgil didn’t answer right away, but Patton was patient.
“I don’t… I don’t want people to look at me when I walk in,” Virgil eventually muttered, eyes on his lap. “‘Cause they’ll think it’s weird that I came in late.”
Patton’s heart sank.
“And… and what if I miss something important, and I won’t know how to catch up, and Dr. Picani will get mad at me—”
Virgil’s voice broke a little as the boy started sniffling.
“Oh, kiddo,” Patton murmured, reaching behind him to grab Virgil’s sticky hand. “Virgil, honey, can we take deep breaths?”
He inhaled loudly enough for Virgil to hear him, and after a few seconds the two exhaled together. They did this for a few breaths, in and out, in and out.
When Patton was confident Virgil wouldn’t start crying, he let go of his hand, bringing it safely back to the steering wheel.
“Are those all the bad things that could happen?”
Virgil nodded in dejection.
“What are the good things that could happen?”
Now the child paused. “Um, um, um, I don’t know.”
Patton thought for a moment. “Well… I think Kai will be pretty happy his best friend came to school, even if you’re late, right?”
He looked to Virgil for confirmation, and after a beat the boy nodded.
“And if you miss any classwork, then maybe Dr. Picani will let you go to the library during playtime to finish it.”
Virgil nodded again, a little more enthusiastically. He hated the chaos of playtime; children screaming and running around and roughhousing with each other— the library would be a welcome boon from all of that.
“And…” Patton racked his brain for a third example. “And you won’t have to listen to the morning announcements, ‘cause they already happened!” he finished triumphantly, knowing that the ancient speaker system was especially grating on Virgil’s ears.
“Plus, have you ever thought someone was weird, just because they came in the classroom late?” he continued. Virgil shook his head. “So I don’t think anyone will think you’re weird.”
Virgil hesitated. “I guess.”
Patton winced.
“I’m really sorry you feel nervous, kiddo,” he said softly. “And I’m sorry I put you in this position.”
Virgil looked up at him, eyes wide. “It’s okay,” he replied automatically.
Pattons smiled a little. “Are you saying that not to hurt my feelings?” he asked, kindly but sternly.
Virgil looked torn. “Well… I mean— I guess I mean I’m not mad at you, because everybody makes mistakes, and I love you.”
Patton gave a surprised laugh. “I love you, too,” he responded, once again thankful beyond words that Dr. Picani was teaching his son healthy ways to express complex feelings.
“It’s very kind of you to be considerate of my feelings,” he continued, pulling into the school parking lot. “But I’m your daddy, and it’s my job to take care of you. I made a mistake, and I’m sorry, and I’ll be double sure it’ll never happen again.”
He looked at Virgil in the rearview. “Can you forgive me?”
Virgil nodded, eyes wide. “I forgive you.”
Patton sighed, looking at his son with adoration. How he got such a great kid, he’ll never know.
As soon as he turned off the car, he hopped out to help Virgil unbuckle his seatbelt and get his backpack on. The young boy clambered out of the car, but made no move towards the large school building.
Patton knelt down to his eye level.
“Do you wanna walk in by yourself, or do you want me to come with you?”
Virgil fiddled with the string on his hoodie. “Aren’t you late for work?”
Patton paused, checking his watch. “Yeah,” he admitted. He always tried to be honest with Virgil when he could. “But I called my boss and told him what happened, so I won’t be in trouble.”
He wasn’t gonna get paid for the hour of work he was going to miss, but Virgil didn’t need to know all that.
“Plus,” he added in an encouraging tone, “you can show me that drawing you told me about? The one Dr. Picani put on the wall because it was so good?”
Virgil flushed a little at the praise. “He put everybody’s drawings on the wall, Daddy,” he insisted, but there was a small smile on his face now.
“Yeah, but I’ll bet there was only one person who thought to draw a robot shark and a sabertooth tiger being best friends. I mean, that’s so creative!”
Virgil shrugged, smiling down at his shoes. “I guess you can see it, if you wanna.”
Patton laughed and held out his hand. “Let’s go, kiddo.”
Hand in hand, the two made the long walk up to the building. As they got closer, Patton squeezed Virgil’s hand.
“What do we say to the door?” he asked— another little ritual between the two.
Virgil giggled, throwing his arms out in front of him like a wizard casting a spell. “Open sesame!”
Patton laughed as he grabbed the handle.
“Thank you, kiddo,” he said, and pulled.
The door stayed shut.
Patton frowned. He pushed it instead. Nothing.
Virgil lowered his arms. “What’s wrong, Daddy?”
“Nothing,” Patton hurried to say. He pulled again, then pushed again. “I think… I think it’s locked.”
Immediately Virgil’s smile dropped.
“Why is it locked?” he asked, a little bit of anxiety returning to his voice. Patton pulled the door yet again, but it stayed firmly shut.
“I don’t know, kiddo.” He scanned the wall for anything that would unlock the door. There was a keycard scanner on the metal doorframe, but Patton didn’t have a clue how to activate it.
He could sense Virgil was about to get upset again, and he rubbed a hand against his son’s shoulder.
“Okay, let’s take some deep breaths. We’ll get you into class, one way or another.”
“Why would they keep the stupid door locked?” Virgil demanded, and normally Patton would remind him to use nicer language, but to be honest, he was thinking words that were a fair bit harsher than ‘stupid’ at the moment. He didn’t look at his watch again, but he knew that he really didn’t have the time to wait around for someone to walk by the door.
He turned around, about to suggest they try to find another door to get into the building, but found himself face to face with… another pair of glasses?
He gasped, hand flying up to his chest as he stepped back from the figure who was suddenly in his personal space. The other man— tall, sharply dressed, with square framed glasses perched on his nose— looked appropriately guilty at Patton’s reaction.
“Apologies,” he commented in a clipped tone. “I was in a hurry and I did not realize you weren’t entering the door.”
Patton was having a little trouble bringing his focus away from the man’s deep blue eyes, until he felt Virgil squeeze his hand, bringing him back down to Earth.
“No worries!” he responded faux-cheerfully, as the blue-eyed man moved around him to approach the door. “We, uh, we think it’s locked.”
He paused, looking back at Patton as he pulled something out of his pocket. “I have a keycard.”
With one swift motion, he swiped the card, pulled on the door, and moved to the side, holding it open as he looked at Patton expectantly.
“Oh, um, thank you,” Patton stammered, gently pushing Virgil through the door in front of him. “Come on, Virgil.”
The two made their way into the hall, Virgil pulling Patton by the hand through the unfamiliar building.
“The office is over here,” he whispered, just loud enough for Patton to hear. Patton nodded, picking up his pace a little bit but still lagging behind Virgil.
They walked a few feet before a voice chimed in again.
“It’s a safety protocol.”
Patton turned in confusion, finding Blue Eyes walking nearly next to him with long, confident strides. He opened his mouth to ask for clarification before he realized that the man was not looking at him— he was looking at Virgil. Patton turned around just in time to see Virgil give the man a suspicious look.
“What?” Patton winced a little at his bluntness, but Blue Eyes seemed unbothered.
“You asked why they keep the door locked. It’s a safety protocol. It prevents unauthorized people from entering the school building during the day.”
Virgil frowned and curled in on himself. Patton waited two beats before realizing he wasn’t going to reply.
“Oh, yeah, that makes sense!” he jumped in, not wanting to be rude to the man, who turned his gaze onto him.
“Yes,” Blue Eyes replied after a moment, “although I suppose there should be some way for parents and visitors to enter the building without having to wait for someone with a keycard to happen by. I will be certain to address this in our next staff meeting.”
Patton blinked, a little bit unsure if the man was still really talking to him or just thinking aloud.
“Probably a good idea,” he replied anyway.
He suddenly felt himself jerk as Virgil turned a sharp corner, pulling him into a nearly identical hallway. Blue Eyes continued to walk with them, speeding up to keep pace with Patton.
Patton gave a sheepish smile. “We’re running a bit late,” he said by way of explanation.
“As am I,” Blue Eyes replied. “Almost ten years of teaching and this is the first time I’ve been late to work.”
Patton’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh! Well, I hope— I mean, obviously, I don’t want to keep you from your class, if that’s the reason you’re walking with us—”
He fumbled through the sentence, trying to politely let the man off the hook if he was already late for work, but he stopped himself as Blue Eyes shook his head.
“No, no, it’s nothing to do with you. I need to pick up some photocopies for my class from the main office. I would be going this way regardless,” he stated. Patton felt himself blush a little.
“Oh, okay. Good.”
The trio arrived at the office, again with the blue-eyed man holding the door open for Patton and Virgil. As soon as they were inside, Virgil bolted to the back of the office where the late entry sign-in sheet lay. Patton meandered towards him, but stopped when he heard the man clear his throat.
“After some… reflection,” he began with consideration, “I realize that my behavior might have seemed off putting, or perhaps even rude. I apologize.”
Patton blinked in surprise at the sincerity in the man’s voice. “No, are you kidding? You definitely saved our butts back there, getting the door and all. You’re my hero!” he joked, choosing to ignore the potential awkwardness of the statement.
Nevertheless, Blue Eyes smiled. “Well, then, you’re welcome.”
Again Patton expected that to be the end of the conversation, especially considering the man apparently needed to pick up some papers for his class, but Blue Eyes continued to look at him.
“Logan Croft,” he said suddenly, sticking out his hand. Patton was picking up on the man’s— Logan’s— tendency to jump between conversation points.
“Patton Hart,” he responded, shaking his hand. Logan’s grip was firm in his, and Patton became very aware of the jam residue Virgil had left on his palm.
Despite this, Logan made no move to pull away for a few more beats, eventually dropping his hand.
“How old is… Virgil?” Logan asked, eyes darting to the young boy again.
Patton smiled on reflex. “Seven.”
Logan seemed pleased with his answer. “Ah. A good age. Hopefully not too rebellious yet.”
“No, no, he’s a great kid,” Patton assured, laughing lightly. The two watched as Virgil stood on his tiptoes to fill out the sign-in sheet, his pencil gripped tight in his fist as he wrote his name in careful, blocky letters.
“Do you have any children?” Patton asked on a hunch. He smiled to himself as he saw Logan’s eyes light up. Bingo.
“Twin boys, age ten,” he replied in a voice full of pride.
Patton laughed again. “Oh, gosh!” That made a lot of sense, given how Logan was currently watching Virgil with a mix of amusement and nostalgia. “Twin preteen boys, that can’t be a walk in the park.”
“Yes, they can be… more than a handful at times,” Logan admitted. “My husband—”
He faltered for a brief moment.
“... My ex-husband handles their fluctuating emotional states much more delicately than I do,” he finished.
Patton knew not to comment on Logan’s slip up, or the change in his demeanor. Instead, he smiled softly.
“Well, you’ve been nothing but kind to me and Virge here,” he said, shrugging lightly. “So I reckon you’re probably a really great dad.”
Logan met his eyes again, giving him a smile that made Patton feel a little flushed. “Likewise.”
Patton felt a tugging at his hand again, causing him to look down.
“You ready, kiddo?” he asked. Virgil nodded, a tardy pass clutched in his fist.
Patton turned to face Logan again, but he wasn’t there. Confused, he looked around, just in time to see the other man duck into a back office space.
That was… surprisingly disappointing, but Patton couldn’t dwell on it. He turned his attention back to his son.
“Let’s get you to class, stormcloud,” he chirped briskly, moving them both towards the door. He had just started to push it open when he heard a voice behind them.
“Virgil?”
The two turned in sync. There was Logan, watching them from the doorway he disappeared through, a stack of papers in his arms.
“I like your hoodie,” he said.
Patton felt Virgil abruptly squeeze his hand tighter, a slight distraction from the way his own heart seemed to skip a beat. He smiled, opening his mouth to respond on his son’s behalf, and—
“Thank you!” Virgil replied.
Virgil… replied? To a stranger? Without Patton prompting? He felt his eyes bug out of his head, and he tried not to openly gawk at his son, who was— oh my Gosh. Virgil was smiling at Logan, and suddenly he raised the hand not holding onto Patton, and he waved!
Patton whipped his head back to Logan, watching in shock as he waved back at his son. He met Patton’s eyes, and his friendly smile turned into one of understanding. Patton couldn’t help but grin a little too wide as he waved as well, the two of them finally exiting the office as the door swung shut behind them.
“Daddy! He said, he, he said he liked my hoodie!” Virgil was practically jumping up and down. Patton didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or cry.
“I heard,” he finally managed, his smile somehow growing even wider as he added, “And you said thank you, just like you’re supposed to when someone compliments you! You did such a good job, kiddo, I’m so proud of you!”
Maybe he was making this into a bigger deal than it was, but Virgil was almost cripplingly shy when it came to strangers, especially grownups; and yet within five minutes with Logan, he had been able to smile and speak and even wave.
Patton changed his mind. This was one of the best mornings in his memory.
“Alright, kiddo,” he said, urging Virgil to pull him down the hall. “Lead the way!”