Chapter Text
Remus was many things. Most derived from the fact that he was the powerful dark side of Thomas’ Creativity, like his charms and his originality when it came to drawing horror across everyone’s faces. And while that was fun, the duke had many other different talents, hidden only because he hadn’t found an unsuspecting victim with whom to unleash them.
Until now.
He was just going about his day, thinking about the ways he could rearrange the Common Room to surprise the Light Sides with his particular sense of fen shui, but to his displeasure, Morality was already there, sitting on the couch pushed against the wall. It abruptly stopped him in his tracks, his body walking ahead of him as his head got stuck admiring Patton’s concentration, and he only fully understood it as his eyes dropped to his lap, a smirk on his lips.
- Are you watching porn?! – he shouted, a wicked smile on his lips cutting through his cheeks as Patton jumped off the couch, a hand over his heart as he stared wide eyed at Remus’ rapidly approaching figure. – Can I join?
Despite the question, he didn’t let the other answer it, dropping right next to him as the father figure attempted to both hide and stay put, pretending like he hadn’t simply been caught with his hands in the cookie jar. It instantly deflated Remus’ good mood, however, once his eyes landed on a web page with too many tiny words to follow, the glaringly white background burning his retinas.
- Ew, what is that? – he shoved an offended finger against the screen, hard enough that the thin layer that created the colors bended, the indentation around the pressure turning metallic shades of blue and green, before Patton all but grabbed at his laptop, jerking it away from the dark side.
- Hi, Remus – his voice dripped with tired politeness, and the moral side awkwardly leaned away from him, apparently only now realizing just how close they were.
- It’s good mannered to answer the question when someone asks it, you know? – Remus said, completely ignoring him.
But he hadn’t done it on purpose, not exactly. The words on his mind simply transferred off into his mouth before he could really stop himself, but that was a plus in many ways. Like right now, for example. Since he didn’t need to waste energy trying to piece together a coherent sentence, he could instead climb into Patton’s lap and just as quickly snatch the laptop from his hands, getting comfortable against his squishy body despite the flustered protests of the other side.
His eyes jumped haphazardly from one paragraph to the other, only trying to get the general idea for what was happening, but the names caught his attention, particularly, the amount of dialogue breaks that the side he was currently squashing seemed to have, weirdly in character too.
- Wait, you’re reading fanfic about yourself??
After struggling for so long underneath him, suddenly feeling Patton going still was awkward to say the very least, encouraging the duke peek back at him. He had been ready to ask if he was okay, maybe try to tease him on some other, less physically invasive manner, but to his surprise, the moral side was blushing, all the way up to his ears, head off to some point to his right as he nervously adjusted his glasses.
- Hey, aren’t you going to answer me?
- If I don’t say anything, then you can’t make fun of me.
Well, that hurt. Even if it was kinda true...
- Who said I was going to make fun of you?
Patton’s eyes curiously raised to look up at him, while the rest of his expressions kept tightly hiding his emotions on the matter.
- You... always make fun of me.
- Aww, that’s not true, Patty cake – Remus carelessly threw the laptop to the side, suddenly finding a much more important topic of conversation as he turned around in Patton’s lap, straddling his legs instead. – Sometimes I tease the shit out of you until you moan my name!
It always surprised him how easy it was to rile him up, make him go all pretty and pink with just a few words and careful touches. Granted, sometimes the cuteness ran out a bit too fast and Remus would find himself in the bad end of a scolding, but his actions would still be worth it if he got Patton’s attention.
- Don’t, speak so loudly! – he hushed, waving a nervous hand around, and Remus effortlessly caught it in his, smirking before pushing it against his clothed chest.
- Why? Afraid someone will catch us~
And while his reactions were adorable, the way Patton stammered and stumbled over his words softening the duke’s smile as he anxiously peeked over Remus’ shoulder, the dark side didn’t exactly want to get him all blushy and weird. Right now, he wanted an answer to what the moral side was reading, and if he didn’t get it while being his lovable, well behaved self, he was going to find other, more creative ways to go about it.
- Fine! – Patton snapped before dread drained all of the color in his face, his head hanging low as the hand over Remus’ chest slowly lost its strength. – I’m sorry, that was... I just wasn’t expecting anyone to be awake just yet. It’s not because it’s you.
- You’re not helping your case right now, Daddy.
Patton’s frustrated sighs ringed in his ears, but Remus’ smile wouldn’t budge. It was another endearing thing about Morality that people never cared about. The annoying ways he always kept trying. Even if you beat him into a pulp and spat in his face, he’d most likely blind you with his kindness and try to figure out why you had assaulted him in the first place. He could also get angry, sure, but that was boring and unproductive because he couldn’t handle it well. Years of repressions did that to you.
Personally, Remus liked him better as he was now. Just trying, always trying.
- Thomas’ fans make all of these neat things and well – his expressions relaxed a bit once Remus finally allowed him to pull his hand away, but the moral side chose to stick around instead, softly eyeing his suit before gently straightening it up as he talked. – I’m always happy when they feature me.
- Even the smut?
The words had escaped him even though the duke hadn’t wanted to interrupt the other, but Patton didn’t seemed too phased by his interference, just turning a bit more bashful before pulling his hands away.
- I... haven’t had the courage to check that one out just yet, but I’m sure they are all lovely!
Remus’ shrieking laughter pierced through their ears in reaction to Patton’s uneasiness. It always made his voice high pitched and fast, and the poor little meow meow was so bad at hiding it, he could only try to slow himself down.
- That, is the last word I’d use to describe-
He couldn’t handle it, wheezing through his mockery. It should not be this funny- it wasn’t this funny, but Patton was drowning into the cardigan around his shoulders, sticking out his bottom lip as he attempted to look mad, and the whole picture just sparked the exact opposite reaction out of Remus.
- I’m not, the best when it comes to words – the moral side crossed his arms over his chest, perhaps trying to set a barrier between them as he held his sour feelings out for just a little while longer. – And! Those types of stories are more of a you thing.
- Oh, thank you! – Remus excitedly agreed, even if he was fully aware that that wasn’t a compliment. – There’s so many good ones, like-
- Ah, uhm – Patton waved his arms around, visibly uncomfortable now. – Maybe some other time, okay kiddo?
That’s what had done it, hadn’t it? The gentleness, the sense of belonging. If Patton called you kiddo, you were part of the group, one of the bros. The duke had never fully understood it, how Virgil denied to like the name so much and then go around and smile every time he told Dee Dee about his day with the Light Sides. He wanted to know why it was so special. And he knew now.
Remus was still jittery as he eagerly nodded in understanding, too focused on the way his whole body felt light and warm to fully notice the look in Patton’s eyes.
The words had gotten stuck in his head, for once, going around in loops before he realized his lips weren’t moving, but as the duke opened up his mouth to speak, nothing more than a pathetically confused whimper came out, simply disorienting him further. He hadn’t even managed a goodbye wave or a dramatically inappropriate gesture before he was back in his room, a single blink of an eye dissipating his existence out of Patton’s lap and into his own deranged, chaotic realm.
It sure felt crowded inside of his mind, as he paced around. Remus had even screamed at the top of his lungs to get rid of some of the words that hadn’t come out before, but his brain was collapsing onto itself, blocked and stuck like a car accident on a main avenue. It took him a second longer than usual to realize the cause of the crash, his eyes wide as he scrambled his desk into existence, books and body parts flying off the sides and into the floor as he looked for loose sheets of paper where he could write.
He wanted to return the gesture, make Patton feel as light and special as he had made him.
Remus convinced himself it was all a trap, of course, a tricky way to persuade the moral side into thinking he was getting better before Baam!, he crushed all of his hopes and dreams with his morning star. After all, he had already knocked Roman off once, and Patton hadn’t reacted too badly to it. But to tell the truth, he knew he wasn’t fooling anyone, not even himself.
Besides, he had been putting this off for a while! It was far too deep out of his comfort and discomfort zone to simply attempt to do without a reason, but he had one now. And by Satan, he was going to make it good.
Remus was going to write fluff.
It always felt too icky when he found Gen works across any platform, where his glorified friends would all be one giant, boring family, smiling and singing like the duke wasn’t right there. He still hadn’t been invited to a single sleepover, not even once!
But wait, maybe he could do just that. Desperately searching for a pen in the drawer where he kept all of his bones, Remus simply allowed for the ideas to flood him, his butt dropping on the nearest chair shaped thing. It was grossly domestic, but there was nothing he couldn’t do, especially when the challenge in question was something Roman enjoyed. Remus could barely hold back his excitement, his smirk wide enough that the ends of his mustache tickled his cheeks.
He was going to create such a cute, lovely story Patton would never want to read any of Roman’s shit ever again.
Or so he thought, before kicking his chair shaped thing across the room, promptly shattering it to bits. This was nearly impossible! The duke had not taken the smart route, he was aware of it, but jumping into writing and only researching as he went along was the best way to get through a story, everyone knew that! Instead, here he was, growling at an inanimate piece of paper and the third pen that had exploded in his hands, splashing ink everywhere. Remus had been open about being somewhat okay with it if the ink tasted good, but it was disgusting! It had coated his teeth in seconds, and then his throat, and not only had the black stained his hands and his sash, he was also nowhere near cleaner than before. And he had only written one sentence.
But he wasn’t about to give up now. Snapping his fingers to get rid of the metallic, sticky feeling in his tongue and hands, Remus grabbed his papers before dropping onto his bed, getting comfortable as he pulled out his phone. If this is how things were going to go, he was bringing out the big guns.
And so he did, lying upside down on his mattress with his feet kicked into the air. The growing discomfort was making him sick to the stomach, vomit threatening to corrode his throat as Remus tried to read through a Coffee Shop AU that didn’t make one lick of sense, but this was the price he had to pay. This was the research. Remus wasn’t getting out of his room until he finished this, so that meant no seeing Patton until he could make him proud.
He could do this. He had to.
Which he accomplished, almost a full day later. The duke hadn’t caught a single wink of sleep, the eyebags hanging heavily from his lashes as he read through the shit he had achieved in the last 24 hours, and the regret would be starting to pour into his stomach if it wasn’t so empty, happily thanking Remus for the feelings it promptly incinerated, rumbling loudly as it churned around. Right, he was hungry.
The simple thought of it was enough to shove him into the kitchen, his sore eyes burning more than before as the lights flashed down on him, but Remus was not getting defeated so easily, impulsively exploding the lamps above his head with a fleeting thought. The noise was exhilarating enough to have him laughing as the sharps of glass showered him in attention, crunching loudly underneath his feet, and Remus would have skipped and jumped around them like a kid full of mud hadn’t something moved out of the corner of his eye, a wretched breathing suddenly coming to a halt.
- ... You can see me still, can’t you? – Patton’s stupid voice wavered through the air, instantly stopping Remus in place.
- I couldn’t, but you gave yourself away anyways.
There was a beat of silence before the lights were back to normal, an embarrased snap of fingers robbing him of the dangerous broken glass he had been playing around with. Remus would have pouted, quite enjoying the new sense of darkness that he had created, but he noticed with surprised wonder that Patton had fixed the lights, in a particularly interesting way. They came out weaker from above him, not hurting his eyes even when the duke stared at them directly, so not only were the bulbs of a different voltage, but Morality had gone out of his way to make the coverage encapsulating the lamp just that bit thicker when he had regenerated it.
It made Remus’ eyes water, from how much he was affected by the gesture over his lack of sleep.
- H-Hey now, what’s wrong? – Patton carefully approached him, hands already stretched in his direction before he could think twice about it. – I can turn off the lights again, that’s okay too-
And the dark side would have thrown himself into Morality’s arms if his tired mind hadn’t glitched for a second, his calloused hands rubbing the tears away as a smile crept into his lips.
- No wonder even the emo likes you – he mumbled incoherently under his breath, taking comfort in the fact Patton didn’t seem to have heard him all that well. – You’re so sweet you made me cry!
He had tried to speak louder because well, Remus had wanted the father figure to hear him this time around, but instead, his voice only seemed to startle him, confusion bleeding out of his expressions. Wait, that was literal. There were red smudges staining his cheeks.
- I’m, not sure if that’s a good-
- BLOOD!
- W-What-
His figure launched at the Light Side then, the medical kit appearing in his hands in a frenzy as they stumbled backwards against the fridge.
- Remus, just what-
- Fucking calm down, everything is just fine!
- Remus, language!
It was nerve wrecking to everyone involved, but Remus’ mind quickly kicked into motion, and before he knew it, he had grabbed at Patton and pushed him onto the counter, making sure he was comfortable despite the words of protest. The cuts weren’t deep, but they were bright enough to be inflamed, and that was no good. Just the thought that they would leave marks on Patton’s skin was enough to make his hands shake harder.
Remus still managed to dodge the guilt over the mess he had caused as he threw the kit open, messily pulling out bandages and cotton disks to take care of the blood that was still pouring, blatantly ignoring the couple of other things in the small box that had fallen out onto the floor from his frantic movements. The moral side seemed upset over it, if just for a second, before intensely watching him every step of the way, only hesitating away from his touch once his hands started dabbing around the wounds. It was a quickly dying fear, however, the confusion in Patton’s eyes not stopping Remus from trying again, more gently this time, careful with each cut.
Although, from Patton’s perspective, it was becoming extremely difficult to catch up with everything that was happening. He was assuming the shards of the bulbs had accidentally cut his cheeks earlier without him realizing it, but if that was the case, there was no need for the look of horror in Remus’ eyes. Surely he had seen worst? The things he summoned at times were definitely much, much worse.
It was not that he was complaining. The attention was nice, despite the context. And Remus’ hands were surprisingly kind, so tenderly taking care of him. It brought a blush to his cheeks while the other worked, his eyes following his fingers as he sticked the last band-aid onto his face, and it almost made him sad to notice that he wasn’t bleeding anymore, needing an excuse to get him to keep touching. Thankfully, the duke had gone still, silently inspecting the band-aids, and when Morality least expected it, he gently pocked each of them one last time before looking into his eyes. Perched up on the counter like he was, the acquired height he had over Remus made him weirdly dazed as they stared at each other.
- You gotta tell me if you’re dizzy – he spoke in such a serious manner that it rattled Patton’s bones. – Nevermind that, I’m definitely shoving something down your throat.
The medical kit was clicked shut with a determination that made Morality jump from his skin, his mind too caught up by Remus’ last words to know what to expect. The way the duke suddenly looked at him again made the blush return tenfold, his heart racing in his chest, and he couldn’t help but try to move away from the other as soon as he leaned closer, prepared for the worst.
It was almost audible, the way Remus’ heart shattered, but something cold was being shoved into Patton’s hands before he could apologize, and the feeling instantly brought his eyes down to the cup of questionable green liquid sitting in his lap, foaming just enough to seemed spoiled. It had a straw in it, at least, one of those semitransparent ones that went around multiple loops before it reached your mouth. It was blue too.
- Smoothie – was all Remus managed to say while pointing at the tall cup, grumbling around his sadness before dropping to the floor in front of him, and Patton could barely handle the guilt clawing at his chest.
From the way he was avoiding him, arms crossed over his chest, the dark side suddenly looked like a child; a very small, defenseless one, that had just told his dad he had lost his favorite toy that could never be found again. He had looked before Patton just like that once, a long time ago. The vague memories wrapped around his chest felt like a jacket that was just a bit too tight, making it harder to move.
- Thank you...
It was quiet while the moral side inspected his drink, giving it one doubtful look before grabbing at the straw and sticking it in his mouth. Knowing himself so well, talking and explaining his reactions would only make things worse, so maybe, he could try this uhm, smoothie Remus had made for him and boast about how good it was as a way to apologize to the duke. Even if the drink was bad. Especially if the drink was bad. Oh god, it was bubbling...
Gulping down his fears, Patton took a big sip of the concoction in his hands, screwing his eyes shut for a moment from the effort. He still saw the straw filling up, the dread slowly building up in his stomach the closer it got to his lips, but then all together, the liquid sat in his tongue, and went down his throat.
- Oh wow, that’s... – Patton blinked, staring at the cup. – That’s really good!
Remus seemed surprised as the moral side happily took another sip, throwing his feet into the air as he hummed.
- Y-Yea?
- Mhm! – he gave him the brightest smile he could muster, feeling the band-aids wrinkling from where they had been glued to his skin. – What did you put in this?
- Oh, you know – the duke suddenly turned bashful, audibly scratching at his head. – Just, some berries that grow on my side of the Imagination.
That was enough to make Patton hesitate, the straw slowly leaving his lips, but it was hard to focus on the negative suspicions radiating from his eyes when Remus’ focus was all centered on his mouth, on the tongue shyly peeking out, just the barest of a glint of his white teeth. Out of all the sides, Morality was undoubtably the cutest one. He definitely took care of himself, keeping his cheeks all round and puffy, his lips smooth and kissable.
- Remus?
- I’m t-totally not thinking sexual thoughts about you right now – he spoke a few notches higher from his spot on the floor, startled into looking back into his eyes again.
- Uh – Patton huffed out a quiet laugh through his shaky smile, twirling his straw around the cup. – I was just asking how that works.
- I’m sorry??
- The, uhm. T-The berries. How do you grow them.
That was the last thing he had expected to come out of his mouth. Patton could have easily spat on his face, at best. Fearfully ask if the berries were safe, at worst. Never, in his wildest dreams, would Remus expect Morality to be interested in him, on the things that he could do. It brought that sense of belonging to the forefront of his mind again, a pleasant tingling going down his arms.
So Remus talked and talked, about how he had attempted to decorate his tower one time and how, on the next day, berries sprouted from the bushes that had attacked him the previous morning. And because Patton was listening still, he decided it was a good idea to fill him in on all of the theories he had about it too. From the one where it had simply been done it by accident, all the way up to the one he was most fond of, the idea that the berries had bloomed from the thorns of the bushes because their prickly branches had cut him all up.
It made Patton’s smooth lips let go from the straw again, concern itching around his band-aids, but Remus was too caught up on the fact that he had actually been drinking the smoothie all along to notice that, even more shocked once he realized there was barely any left.
- So you got hurt by them??
- Eh, just a few wounds – the duke quickly hid his shock, shrugging his shoulders so that all of his frills could shake a little bit. – They tried to go for my leg but I left a decoy in my place! ...Another leg! That I summoned on the spot. It was gushing blood like crazy- well, before the bushes pulled it in, that is.
Morality nodded carefully as he set his cup aside, staring down at Remus with his brows pulled together.
- Oh, all done?
- Y-Yea – Patton offered him a soft smile, resisting the urge to bite at his lip as he lightly felt at the band-aids on his cheek. – Thank you, kiddo. I, hadn’t had breakfast just yet. You gotta bring me some of those berries next time you go there!
The sounds of the fridge working louder for a split second ringed inside of Remus’ mind as nothing else came to him but Patton’s words. He had called him kiddo, again! It hadn’t been just a slip of the tongue or an accident, Morality actually liked him enough to-
- The story! – he screeched as he looked around, clumsily getting out of the floor to walk back into his room before he remembered he could simply summon the pages into his hands.
It wasn’t Remus’ proudest creation, nowhere near the top ten even, but it had filled a few loose sheets of paper, all of which were resting in his palms right now, tied together with a random string he had punched through some holes on the side. His thought process had followed something along the lines of making it presentable despite the shitty contents he was about to curse Patton’s eyes with, but somehow, the duke was only now noticing the multiple stains that littered the pages, from smalls smudges of ink that had managed to get onto the paper, from other unidentified liquids that he had no memory of consuming or spilling, for that matter.
Thankfully, the moral side didn’t seem upset over it, only more curious about what he was holding the longer he dragged this out, his eyes shining brightly through his glasses. It almost made Remus drop his oneshot, weren’t for the sound of Patton’s feet hitting the floor promptly frightening him again.
- A story? – Morality tilted his head to the side, resisting the urge to look at the pages again. – You want to show me something?
And all at once, the fear quickly rose up on his throat, choking him up as he gripped at the pages more tightly. He couldn’t do this, it was not ready! The ending had been super rushed, and that one paragraph needed serious restructuring. Now that he thought about it, the whole middle section of the story needed another proofread before it was ready. Yes, he should just crawl back into his room and-
- Golly, I’m so excited! None of the others ever share their things with me!
He hadn’t meant to be pushy, his voice had been too light and airy for that, but even if Remus had any doubts before, the man in front of him instantly shattered through them at the speed of which he was vibrating with excitement, his cute baby hands closed into tight fists as he pushed them under his jaw. Like he always did when he was genuinely happy about something.
It didn’t extinguish his fears, not even close to that, but... if Patton, of all sides, was willing to deal with him then, this was the least that he could do to thank him for it.
That also doesn’t mean the duke was being polite about it. He might have some values, but they were randomized at best, like pulling prizes from a bubblegum machine with the spare change you had found in the bottom of your pocket, so the way he had given Patton his story was... refreshingly new and eccentric.
He had shoved it against his chest and then accidentally ran into a wall while trying to escape.
- I’m fine! – Remus declared through his pain, more concerned with his bruised ego than the nose he might have just broken, but it really was fine. His best friend was a liar, he had unlimited lies to use.
And while that didn’t fully convince Patton, it slipped his mind as he stared down at the yellowed pages in his hands, Remus’ messy handwriting bringing a smile to his lips.
He had then coached the man baby after him as he walked into the Common Room, the early morning sun pleasantly illuminating the area once Patton snapped the curtains open, and they both fell into the couch as the father figure cradled the story Remus had written, being extremely careful with it as he shifted around, keeping it at arms distance as he straightened his back.
It was a bit hard to focus when the duke was staring at him so intensely, breathing heavier with each page Patton read through, but deep down, the moral side found it strangely endearing, how the dark side was somewhat behaving until he was done. The uneven discoloration of the paper and the generous amount of commas Remus had decided to use also made things a bit harder to understand at times, Patton’s eyes squinting as he frustratingly started a sentence from the beginning yet again, but he forcefully pushed through, the plot slowly building up in his mind.
By the time he reached the last word, the moral side was... very confused, to say the very least.
- Remus-
- Yes?! – the side in question shrieked, his wide, unblinking eyes on him as all of his pent up energy rapidly fizzled out, the crossed legs in front of him on the couch bouncing up and down as he impatiently waited for him to keep going.
- Just let me speak, okay? – Patton giggled at his excitement, resisting the urge to pet his head. – I... can’t help but notice a few things.
- Uh huh.
- Like, uhm, how we are the only two characters in this.
- Uh huh.
- And how uh, we are cuddling, through most of it.
- Uh huh.
- Do you, by any chance...
- Ugh, just get on with it!
- Okay okay! – Patton replied just as loudly in reflex, raising his hands in the air. – This, was not what I was expecting out of you- but that isn’t to say it is bad! It’s, uhm, d-definitely interesting. I really liked the part where you uhm, where your character... picked the movie for us- them, to watch.
The silence fell around them like a tone of bricks. Patton really didn’t know what to say! He had read so much fanfiction, about so many different scenarios, but reading through Remus’ work made him realize just how he had never found a story about them before. Or, more specifically, a story where him and Remus got along. So suddenly having one shoved into his chest, and so sweet too, it just- it broke him, it broke his brain.
- ... You didn’t like it, did you?
- No- NO! I-I liked it!
- Then why are you reacting like that? – his tone was rapidly growing darker, the excitement melting away from his expressions.
- I... I’m sorry, Remus, I didn’t mean to make it seem like I didn’t like it.
His words didn’t seem to have much of an effect on Remus’ scary energy, but Patton pushed forward, glancing at his story once more before carefully hugging it to his chest. He just had to be honest.
- It was a surprise, but it was a very good surprise – he gathered the courage to look his way again, standing his ground even as the chills broke through his skin. – It worries me a lot that it took you writing this for me to realize... we have never really had a sleepover before, and that is just not fair.
The negativity brewing in Remus’ chest ceased then, not because Patton had told him it was a good story, but because there needed to be space for the confusion to sit and grow as he kept going.
- If it goes like this when we do it in real life, I’d be more than happy to hold you.
- Wait-
- I found it really cute, how you described my room. You haven’t been there in a while and you still remember it? You remembered that I kept the doll you accidentally ripped the head out of, and the bunny that Thomas’ mom had to sew back together?
That look instantly defused whatever argument Remus had been scheming to throw at his head. Patton was smiling, an easy, gentle smile, like he was high off the berries he had given him earlier, and for all he knew, maybe that was possible! Maybe he was finally losing his shit and fully lying to his face, because there was no way in hell Morality actually liked the amount of garbage he had wrote in one sitting.
- Of course I did. Who do you take me for?
Despite the grumpiness, the confirmation made the smile in Patton’s face grow, enough for him to squeeze the story against his chest for just a second, and then he was letting go, gently resting it in his hands before handing it back to Remus.
- What do you think you’re doing? – his voice cracked as he glared at Patton.
- I’m giving it back to you! – the moral side replied in the most innocent tone possible. – This is your story, right? You were just showing it to me-
- No, you dumb fuck, I wrote it for you!
He spoke loud enough for his voice to echo across the room, loud enough for the silence to seem foreign once it settled down. Remus instantly regretted it, knowing he had probably just shattered Patton’s heart into millions of tiny pieces, and those were always so hard to glue back together.
- Oh.
Morality had been so quiet it almost brought tears to his eyes all over again, but his swirling thoughts quickly came to a halt once he caught a glimpse of his burning cheeks, promptly making everything come crashing down.
- Well uhm, if that’s the case then – Patton poorly held back a smile as his arms retreated, hugging the loose pages to his chest with one arm as the other hesitated before reaching for Remus. – Thank you. I’ll cherish it forever.
The duke did cry then, fat tears rolling down his cheeks as he hung his head down. He was promptly bawling his eyes out for a solid minute, confusing Patton from the way his tight figure was shaking so much, but just as the moral side finally rested his hand on his shoulder to better look at his face, Remus’ crazed eyes locked onto his, not even a single tear in sigh.
- Erh-
- You better!
Despite the fairly normal expressions, Remus’ voice gave it away, trembling around the edges with the water he had spilled, and Patton simply couldn’t ignore that now. Disregarding his own beating heart for a second, he gently patted his shoulder before reaching a hand for his head, and it was quiet for a moment, as his fingers ran through his strands.
Anyone that walked into the Common Room right now would definitely think they were hallucinating, upon the sight on the farthest couch. The relaxed expressions on Patton’s face as he essentially tamed Remus with head pats sure would make everyone stop in their tracks, but thankfully, it was too early for anyone to interrupt them, and Morality was appreciating every second of it.
- We, can make this a reality. If you’d like – Patton softly whispered under his breath, hugging the pages more firmly against his chest. – I haven’t made a pillow fort in a while.
And Remus could only stare at him with the biggest eyes the moral side had ever seen, glistening brightly from how close he was to crying again.
- S-Someone has to be there to destroy it, after all!
- Yea yea – Patton mindlessly agreed with him as he kept petting his hair. – I’m sure you will, kiddo.