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He wasn't avoiding him. Patton would never avoid anyone! Least of all one of his famILY. So obviously, no, he wasn't avoiding him.
…
Except that he totally was, that is exactly what he was doing. Right now, in fact! Patton is currently holed up in the kitchen under the excuse of cooking dinner for everyone. Which he was actually doing! Mind you. It's just that dinner wasn't the only reason he was in here.
Patton had hoped he was being subtle, but let's face it, squashing down emotions was not Patton's strong suit. The action was quite literally not written in his dna. If anything, it surprised him that a confrontation hadn't happened yet.
“Hey popstar, can we talk?” He heard Virgil say behind him. Oh there it is. Looks like he jinxed it!
Patton slowly turned his head around, seeing everyone but Remus standing in the entrance of the kitchen. He blinked a few times before setting the tray holding their chicken dinner into the oven and set it to cook, because he can at least have this taken care of before his attention was whisked away. He quickly washed his hands before turning to face the group with a smile.
“Hey there kiddos, what's the haps? Dinner will be ready soon!” He started and could already see the no nonsense expressions everyone started getting.
“Actually Patton, that's not why we're here.” Logan explained, adjusting his glasses, “We wanted to talk about your recent behavior.” There was a spike of panic that went through him and he could see Virgil straighten his posture a bit.
“Listen, we'll just cut to the chase.” Janus continued, “We know you've not been avoiding Remus, and we don't want to know why.”
Patton started intertwining his own fingers and fidgeting with them, his eyes darting everywhere but at his friends. He could practically feel Janus’ gaze drilling into him. It screamed ‘Don't try to lie, I'll know’, but alas…
“I… haven't been avoiding him.” A chorus of sighs and groans echoed through the kitchen, and Patton flinched.
“Listen, padre, I get wanting to avoid my brother as much as the next guy, he can be a bit much.” Roman grunted as Janus elbowed him in the side, “However, this is a little mean coming from you… we get that you hate him but–”
“I don't hate him!” Patton suddenly yelled, a look of shock and worry on his face, “I don't! Does he think that?? Oh no, oh no, I didn't even consider, I'm such a… b-hole!”
“Whoa… watch the language there buddy.” Virgil raised his eyebrows. “So… wait, you don't hate Remus??” Everyone else looked surprised as well, and yeah, now that Patton thought about it, that made sense.
“W-well no! Of course I don't! Sure he can be a bit… crass… and… uh, well he sure knows how to get under people's skin but… I don't hate him!” Patton gulped, “Quite… quite the opposite actually…”
Logan tilted his head slightly, “So you like him?” Janus squinted at Patton. “Well, I guess that solves the problem, now we can get back to other things like planning Thomas’ new vid–”
“Hold on.” Janus interrupted, which made Logan pout in frustration ever so slightly. “When you say the opposite… what exactly do you mean?”
“Oh um… j-just like what Logan said, I like him!” Patton stuttered out, and he internally cringed at the look Virgil gave him. Man, it is really hard to hide your anxiety from Anxiety.
“Patton… you can talk to us… remember what Roman said in the puppet video, we're here for you.” Virgil said, giving Patton a small reassuring smile and Patton let out a shaky breath he was holding. He glanced over at Roman who looked very confused, and tried to mentally hype himself up.
“I… may have… a bit of a uh… crush on Remus?” Patton said and suddenly there was a gagging sound. Everyone turned their heads just in time to watch Janus punch Roman's shoulder, causing the prince to choke on his next gag.
“Hey! Watch it two-face!” Roman huffed before realizing all eyes were on him. “Oh what?? Of course I'm gonna be grossed out by someone wanting to kiss my brother! He's my brother!”
“Roman, I–” But before Patton could say anything, there was a startling cackle and everyone jumped. Well, everyone but Janus who was looking over at the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room.
When Patton looked over he jumped again, his heart beat picking up pace. Remus was currently on the counter laying on his stomach, with his feet in the air and his chin resting in his hands. “How long have you been there!?” Patton practically screeched.
“Long enough~” Remus sing-songed, glancing over the crowded kitchen. “I heard you guys talking down here so I decided to check what all the boogaloo was… and I definitely didn't expect this!” The cryptid man grinned as he hoisted himself off the counter and into the kitchen.
Patton had to take a step back to make room for the other side and felt his hip knock against the counter behind him. Before he could move away, Remus leaned his hand on that same counter so he was in Patton's space, looking at him. Patton gulped, “Uh… h-hello Remus.”
“Hey there daddy~” Remus purred and another gag was heard, along with more groans of annoyance.
“Okay, well I'm glad we got this settled, I'm leaving!” Virgil stated, immediately turning and sprinting from the kitchen. Logan didn't even make a comment, he just sunk out.
The only two who remained were Janus and Roman, but Janus merely gave the two of them a “Use protection.” before he walked out of the room. Which sent Roman into a spiral that he quickly broke himself out of so he could address the situation currently happening right in front of their chicken!
“Ugh– Fine! I support you guys! But I can't promise I won't have an intense reaction whenever I see you two being gooey with each other!” Roman shouted.
“Ooooo, gooey with each other?? Roro, you're giving me ideas~” Remus teased and laughed at the offended gasp his brother let out, before Roman hastily exited the kitchen, leaving just Patton and Remus alone.
“Wait… what's happening?” Patton asked, his face flushing at the close proximity between him and Remus.
“What's happening is that I just hit the jackpot with boyfriends, who woulda thought, huh??” Remus laughed.
“B-boyfriend??” Patton's face got even redder if that was possible.
“Uh, duh! Unless you didn't mean what you said about having a crush on me?” Remus asked and Patton noticed the light furrow of the other's brows.
“N-no! I mean! Yes I did mean it! I… I do have a crush on you, I just didn't think… that you would have one on me back?” Patton confessed, looking down slightly.
“Now why would you go and assume something stupid like that??” Remus scoffed.
“It's just… I'm not…ya know…” Patton gestured vaguely and Remus rolled his eyes, not answering. “I'm not at your level!”
“My level?”
“Yeah! You… you can say and do all these things… spiders don't absolutely terrify you, you aren't ashamed to speak your mind, no matter how weird the subject is… and I–” Patton frowned, “I know it'll be annoying having to turn all that down just for me, cause some of it does make me uncomfortable and I know you don't like being limited.…”
Patton expected a lot of reactions, really, but Remus just straight up laughing at him was not one of them, and quite frankly, it was a bit hurtful. “Who said I'd be annoyed??” Remus asked, incredulous.
“I– well I mean, who wouldn't be annoyed by that?” Patton asked, starting to get confused.
“Uh yeah, dumb people maybe!” Remus threw up his hands as if to emphasize his point, “But isn't that what a relationship is?? Compromise or some shit that Janus talked about!”
“I… suppose so…”
“Besides! It's not like you're gonna make me completely stop being myself right??”
“Of course not! I like who you are! If anything, I want to have more of you!” Patton shouted, and then hiccuped, nervousness shooting through him at his words.
“Exactly.” Remus grinned, turning to grab a glass and pour Patton a cup of water, “I'll tone down some of my more… juicy wordplay~” He giggled as he handed Patton the cup, “And you will work on getting more used to some of them~ See? Compromise!” Remus clapped his hands together and Patton drank his water thoughtfully.
“That… yeah that sounds nice.” Patton managed to say after the water settled into his stomach. “Relationships are a two way street…”
“Exactly!” Remus hopped a bit before wrapping his arms around Patton's waist and pulling him close, “What do you say we go celebrate this occasion, hm~?”
Patton held his cup to his chest, as a flustered drop of sweat went down the side of his face, “H-how about we just start with holding hands?”
Remus grinned and let go of Patton, reaching over to gently take the cup from Patton's hands; setting it on the counter before slipping his hand around Patton's newly freed one. “Better?” He asked, and Patton could practically feel the warmth radiating from Remus’ eyes.
“Y-yeah… perfect.” Patton gave Remus a smile.
“Great! Then how about a movie? First date!” Remus’ eyes lit up, “Or! I can show you my garden of flesh eating plants! They just started to bloom!”
Patton chuckled, “How about a movie for our first date, and for our second date, you can show me some of your side of the Imagination.”
Remus gripped Patton's hand a little tighter, “Sounds like a plan, sunshine!” Patton suddenly found himself being led out of the kitchen and he had to plant his feet to stop them.
“Remus! I'm cooking dinner!”
Remus looked back and blinked, “Oh right!” He said as if he just remembered, which honestly, he probably just did. “Okay! Then you stay here… I'll put the living room tv on and we can watch from the kitchen counter!” Remus said, nodding to himself before releasing Patton's hand and running to the living room.
Patton snorted and turned to check on the chicken, the sound of Remus shuffling through their dvd collection acting as background noise.