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Patton walked into the living room holding a bowl of popcorn, buttered and salted to suit everyone’s tastes. It’d taken a while to figure out the right ratios, but it paid off, to everyone’s satisfaction.
He leaned down and set it on the small table in front of the couch, making sure everyone could reach (though it was slightly closer to Janus. He would never admit it, but he was definitely the one who ate the most popcorn.) and looked around to make sure everyone was settled and ready to begin.
Virgil and Roman were sitting in the armchair, curled around one another. Roman was stroking a very sleepy Virgil’s hair, looking down at him fondly. Virgil’s eyeshadow was a light purple, not sparkling, but content. His anxiety always seemed to decrease under Roman’s attention, and this time he had been lulled completely to sleep.
Patton smiled at them. They’d finally figured everything out, their feelings and relationship, and it was quite obvious that they were happy together. And if they were happy, well, he was happy too.
Then there was Janus, who was sitting calmly on one end of the couch, gloved hands folded in his lap. He was in more casual clothes, but the gloves and hat remained. Patton hadn’t known Janus to take them off except when making promises or important truths, like telling them his name. The snake’s tranquil image was upset, however, by Remus sitting on the arm of the couch next to him like an extremely large, flamboyant cat, fiddling with his new boots.
Remus had been, and still was, delighted. Janus had gotten him a pair that had sharp silver spikes studded all along their sides. They went nearly up to his knees, and matched Remus’s overall aesthetic quite well. They were a very bright acid green and black, but he adored them and had taken to standing much closer to them all in an attempt to “accidentally” make them brush his legs. Roman had stumbled away quite a few times now, swearing that he was going to burn them, but he never had. (Patton doubted that he’d ever take away something his brother genuinely enjoyed this much.)
Patton had conceded to let Remus wear them on movie night, but he’d said that if Remus also wanted to come participate in the cuddling or popcorn, he had to take them off so he didn’t stab anyone.
That left Logan, who was sitting on the other end of the couch from Janus, looking just as tranquil. Patton sat in the remaining space between them. “Alright, kiddos, what movie did you all decide on?”
Roman grinned, throwing a smug look at Janus and Logan. “We’re watching the Lion King.”
“Disney, as always,” Janus grumbled.
“You know you love it too,” Roman smirked. Janus rolled his eyes, but didn’t deny it.
Patton smiled. “Anyone need anything?” When everyone’d confirmed that they were fine (besides Virgil, who was now half-asleep on Roman’s lap and incapable of speech beyond vague mumbles), he sat down and picked up the remote, pointing it at the TV and starting the movie.
As the first notes of Circle of Life played softly, Patton relaxed back into the couch. He’d had a particularly exhausting day. Not that he’d done much! Not compared to everyone else. His job was much less intensive and impressive than anyone else’s.
But Roman’d had a project he needed help with, Virgil had a bit of a scare that Patton talked him through, and Thomas had needed his help to decide more than a few moral dilemmas. Not that any of that was a problem, of course, he was always happy to help his kiddos! But still, he was tired.
After a while of Roman singing along to every lyric, Remus going behind the couch and spinning and spinning and spinning until he knocked over a chair - “what do you expect me to do, sit still???” - and Janus rolling his eyes at everyone (while eating all the popcorn), Patton’s eyes fluttered closed.
He leaned over until his head was resting on Logan’s shoulder, who readjusted to make sure Patton was comfortable. Gently removing both his and Patton’s glasses was the work of a moment, and he set them on the table, out of the way.
Logan stroked Patton’s hair for a while until his breathing slowed, then wrapped an arm around him. He wasn’t very tired, but Patton’s warmth and the general calm of the room (Remus had finally collapsed dramatically across Janus’s lap and passed out, which was likely most of why everything was quiet) were putting him into a quiet haze.
Now it was only Roman and Janus who were fully awake - Roman because he insisted on singing every part to every song, and Janus because he was quoting all of Scar’s parts in a very good melodramatic villain voice. He particularly liked the lines “I am surrounded by idiots” and “Long live the king.”
Logan drifted awake around halfway through, smiling to see Patton leaning completely collapsed against him. He always said that his job wasn’t difficult, that he didn’t work hard, but sometimes Logan thought that he worked the most out of all of them. He was the one to make sure they were all safe and happy at the end of every day, helping them with anything and everything they needed. Even if he never admitted he was tired, Logan would always let him rest with him at the end of every day.
Logan carefully shifted down so he was almost horizontal, head resting on the pillow against the armrest, then adjusted Patton so they were interlocked comfortably.
Patton half-woke up during the movement. He gave an incoherent grumble and buried his face in Logan’s chest again, but not before flopping his arm against Logan’s in a silent request. He smiled fondly and gave Patton his hand. He immediately pulled it closer to him, wrapping both arms around Logan’s and tangling their fingers.
Logan pulled his other hand out from underneath him and rested it on Patton’s back. He rubbed the tense spots gently, marvelling at the warmth that radiated from him. It might be part of his occupation as the Heart, or just Patton being himself, but he was the warmest side by far.
Sleepy Patton was incredibly endearing - he let himself be more clingy, and he gave warm, thorough hugs. Logan didn’t normally think of himself as a cuddler, but Patton was the exception. He could come jump on him while he was in the middle of a book and curl up in his lap, and Logan wouldn’t complain (that exact situation had actually happened. multiple times).
He’d come to the conclusion that Patton needed and gave physical comfort as a form of affection, and when deprived of it he quickly became depressed, though of course he tried never to show it. Logan was always happy to give him the physical attention he required, and as such never complained when Patton came to him for what he needed.
He’d also noticed that pressure (blankets or hugs) was a comfort to him as well, and implemented it whenever Patton needed calming down. He wouldn’t admit it, but he also enjoyed the comfort of Patton’s cuddles.
Logan noted the part of the movie they were at (Nala convincing Simba to return and take over the pride from Scar) and everyone else in the room before closing his eyes again, settling down and feeling Patton do the same, snuggling down even closer.
Janus and Roman were bickering over the themes of the movie, and Virgil, Remus, and Patton were sound asleep. Janus had eased Remus’s boots off and set them on the ground at some point, so they weren’t a concern.
He let it all fade into the background as he let sleep take him over again. He knew that sleeping one a couch wasn’t optimal for their general well-being, sore muscles and wrong positions and all that, but he was willing to sacrifice a bit of comfort tomorrow if it meant he could fall asleep here, with Patton, today.
He would be perfectly happy to sleep anywhere, in reality, if it meant that he could do so holding Patton’s hand and holding him this close. (If he were going to be sentimental, he could say that he would be willing to do anything, if he could do it with Patton. He wasn’t the sentimental type, so he wasn’t going to say it. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t thinking it.)
