Patton woke up to the smell of something good cooking, in his grogginess it took him a moment to connect the dots, but once he did; he pulled a face. His boyfriend, Roman, was cooking breakfast. It smelled like bacon, and even though the smell was pretty nice, he didn't like the texture, so he wrinkled his nose, shifting into a sitting position. The
movement awoke Diego, one of Patton's other boyfriends, who sat up and pouted at him.
"Where going Pat?"
"Just seeing what Ro is making for breakfast Dorry." Based on the way he was talking, Diego had woken up as one of his alters, and probably one of the littles, since he didn't call Patton padre, he assumed it was probably Dorry.
"I go with." He wiggled out from under the blankets, grabbing his favorite blanket from the end of the bed.
Patton smiled at him, reaching out and taking Dorian's hand with a smile. "C'mon ma cherie, let's go see what RoRo is making and then we'll get you dressed for the day."
He laughed, a small sound coming from such a big man. "I wanna wear my duckie."
Patton's brow furrowed suddenly. "Cherie, I don't know if it's clean or not, I'll ask Logie when I see him okay."
As if on cue, Logan came stumbling in, the door being pushed open slowly as he tried to navigate the house with the basket in hand. His head swung back and forth, his light blue eyes slightly unfocused as he tried to situate himself so that he could see. Patton pulled Dorry out of the way so that he could set the basket down.
"Is Dorian's onesie in there?"
Logan turned to him as he struggled to put the basket down. "Yes, washed, dried and folded." He frowned slightly. "I advise you to be more careful next time you go out to play." But there was no real disapproval in his tone.
Patton made sure the basket was secured. "Thanks Lo," he leaned in and pecked him on the cheek. He pulled out the onesie. "Let's go to breakfast now, okay cherie."
Dorian linked pinkies with Patton, even as Patton placed a guiding hand on Logan's wrist. He didn't want it to seem like he was trying to help him, because Logan doesn't like to be helped, but he hated to see Logan littered with bruises from tumbling into various furniture and walls.
They made their way towards the breakfast nook, and as they entered the kitchen, they found Virgil and Roman arguing in the kitchen. No words were exchanged, but hand gestures flew and body language changed. The little bit of sign Patton could understand led him to believe that they weren't really fighting, and the smiles on their faces furthered that theory.
Patton got Dorian settled into his seat, and made sure that Logan was seated too so he couldn't get hurt before he turned to talk to his other two boyfriends.
"Breakfast almost done?" He eyed the stack of pancakes hopefully, that was one texture that he actually liked, that Roman was exceptionally good at making.
"Yes, except Virgil here thinks I should make french toast." He spoke slowly and loudly, partially because he couldn't hear himself but also so that Virgil, who was reading his lips, could understand what was being said.
Virgil signed something back, much too quick for Patton to be able to understand, but Roman seemed to catch it. "Don't you take that tone with me."
"What's he saying?" Patton asked hesitantly.
"He told me I had to make french toast. He didn't ask me, he told me to do it."
Patton laughed as Virgil stuck his tongue out and Roman signed something very quickly. "I told him to make it himself." He translated for Patton as soon as he was done.
Virgil signed back, mostly some playful swear words, but grabbed the platter of sausage and bacon to carry out to the table. Roman smiled softly as he watched him walk away, Patton was happy to see one of the few emotions he could understand in his eyes.
Roman shut off the stove and griddle, grabbing the plate of pancakes as he made his way out of the kitchen to the little nook over towards the back. "Breakfast is served." He practically bellowed, but Logan was the only one who flinched. His sensitive hearing made it difficult for him to listen to Roman for too long.
Dorian furrowed his brow at the presentation of the pancakes, his eyes closing for a moment, he didn't say anything for a long while, and Patton was just about to nudge him to see if he was okay, when he opened his eyes again and smiled at them all, it was clear it wasn't Dorrian anymore. Diego looked around at them all with a frown. He let go of the blanket he was holding, a severe blush taking over his face.
"Would you like some pancakes love?" Logan asked, he couldn't see the embarrassment, but the drop of the blanket and the sudden silence at the table told him that Diego had returned.
"Yes please." He tried to push past the embarrassment.
Logan swung his head towards where he had heard Roman set it down. His long fingers skittered across the plate and he found the spatula with little trouble. He held out his hand and Diego handed him his plate gently. He took the plate, and settled a pancake on it. He set the plate down long enough to reach up and readjust his glasses. His glasses didn't really do much, but it was habit for him to put them on and they helped what little bit that he could see.
Diego took the plate as soon as Logan set it down, handing it off to Patton to settle some sausage on it. Patton put the bacon and sausage on Diego's plate putting it on his own plate as well. He didn't like sausage, the texture upset him a lot but Roman had cooked it and his mother had taught him to appreciate nice things that were done for him.
He ate his breakfast with a downturned face, he didn't want to pull a face or cry or anything and caused everyone at the table to be concerned, and heaven forbid he upset Roman because Roman had worked so hard on breakfast and he shouldn't feel like he did something wrong.
Maybe Roman was just good at reading people because he reached across the table and placed a gentle hand on his wrist. "You don't have to eat it." He was being as quiet as Roman could be.
Patton smiled a relieved smile, digging into his pancakes. It was just a few simple words, but hearing Roman confirm to him that he didn't have to eat it was like a breath of fresh air. It's only just this time though. His mind warned him, using the nasty little tone it did to make sure Patton knew exactly what he was or wasn't allowed to do. He still felt bad, knowing that he'd only get to be out of it one day but at least he got out of it for now.
He finished eating, and was standing up to go put his plate away when disaster struck. Hearing someone stand up, Logan had attempted to get up as well and take his plate. Except he must've misjudged the location of the table because he didn't scoot out quite far enough. He ended up stumbling over the table leg, plate in hand and tumbling to the floor. There was a crunch as he landed on his plate, and Patton and Diego immediately rushed to his help.
Diego lifted him up and pulled him out of the way, but at the sight of blood, he stumbled back, his gaze going unfocused. Patton knew he was experiencing a switch so turning to Virgil, who was watching the scene confusedly, he quickly did the sign for help, hoping that Virgil would understand his poor signing abilities well enough to help.
Thankfully, Virgil quickly moved to his assistance, helping him to pull Logan out of the way, and then as soon as he had made sure there wasn't anything serious going on, squatted next to Diego to make sure he was okay. Logan had a cut across his palm and a few on his arm from hitting the ground and the plate breaking, but nothing too serious. And Roman was quickly next to them with a small wrap of bandages and the broom in his other hand.
Patton took the broom from him, and Roman helped to wrap Logan's bandages. "Are you okay?"
Logan once again flinched at his volume but responded as best he could. "A little shaken, but otherwise I am fine." He frowned. "Is Diego okay?" He turned his head towards his other partners in hopes one of them could give him an answer.
"It seems he's trying to switch but I'm not sure who he's trying to switch to." Roman replied, reading Virgil's signs.
"Roman, can you go get a washcloth?" He waited for a response, and when none came, repeated himself louder, realizing he must've spoken too softly for him to hear.
"Of course, let me get this cleaned up. Take Logan and D into the living room will you?" Patton nodded, helping Logan to his feet and offering Virgil the sign for Living room. He didn't know enough to translate exactly what Roman had said but he was trying.
Virgil helped to half carry Logan into the living room, going back into the nook to help Diego. Diego was kneeling on the ground half swaying as he muttered to himself, an argument seeming to break out between two alters. Virgil wasn't sure what he could do, all he could see was Diego's face contorting and his lips moving slowly. He wasn't sure what he could do, so he slung his arm around Diego's waist and pulled him up, Diego rested all of his weight on Virgil, who basically carried him into the living room. By the time he had him situated in the living room, he had blinked open his eyes and looked around. Patton was preoccupied with Logan so Virgil did what he could.
Baby? He signed carefully, giving whoever was in charge right now time to read. Diego and Virgil were the first two that had started dating, and as such, they had developed a system for Virgil to understand who was who.
No. He signed back, blinking his honey colored eyes softly.
So it wasn't Dorian then. Lovely? He tried.
No. He pouted at him, he didn't understand what any of these signs meant, but he was looking for the familiar one.
Sweetheart? If it wasn't lovely then it wasn't Damien.
His face split into a smile, and he signed yes several times over.
DD? He fingerspelled as a question, wanting to make sure he had it right.
He signed yes again, imitating the motion of knocking. Virgil smiled at him, and got up, moving to flip on the TV for DD.
DD seemed overjoyed at the prospect of having the TV on and settled in front of it in excitement. Roman entered the room not long after, signed at Virgil to see what he'd missed. Roman could hear, and he could speak too but it was much more comforting to sign to someone because then he knew he wasn't going to miss anything.
It's DD who's in charge right now, just so you know. Virgil signed as a warning, DD didn't always like Roman, he was a little too loud for his taste.
Thank you he signed back, before going to settle himself on the couch next to Patton and Logan. "Everything okay?" He asked, wincing as he saw Logan jump.
"Yes. I'm okay anyway." Logan squeezed Patton's hand.
"I just need a moment." He said squeezing Logan's hand in response. "I was scared for you."
"I know you were love, but I'm okay." He frowned. "I should've been more careful and known where the table was, that was foolish of me." Patton opened his mouth to argue, but Logan wouldn't hear it. "No, no, no, love, I should've paid better attention, what if I had harmed one of you guys when I fell? It's bad enough that I triggered D." He seemed to be berating himself more than he was arguing with any of them.
Roman threw his arms around him, and tried to not be so loud as he said, "No Logie, its not your fault, we should really move stuff around- -"
"Absolutely not." His tone was clipped. "I am not going to make you all struggle to move things around just because I'm not smart enough to remember where everything is."
"It's not about whether you're smart enough." Patton urged, worrying the material of Logan's sweater vest between his fingers. All this back and forth was stressing him out. "It's okay to need help."
Logan got up suddenly, seeming distressed. "I do not need help." He readjusted his glasses and started to walk away. "Now if you'll excuse me, there are a few chores that need done, and Roman, don't forget you have work today. You too Virgil."
Patton sighed, he hated when Roman and Virgil went to work, because it got really quiet. He didn't mind some quiet now and again, but several hours of silence as D watched his cartoons and Logan stumbled around the house in pain, it was torture. Instead of thinking about it, Patton decided to start planning what he was going to make for lunch today. The boys would be home on their lunch hour and he wanted them to have something to eat.
His mind ran through a few things his mother would make for lunch, but most of them had some type of meat in them, and even though the texture didn't bother him much when it was cooked right, Virgil was a vegetarian. His mind ran through a few more dishes, before he fixated on one specific one. Ratatouille. It was the perfect season for it, and his garden should yield all of the vegetables they'd need.
His face broke into a smile, it would be great. And he'd probably even be able to get DD (though he didn't get much sign, the alphabet was something that made sense to him) to eat it. He got up, trusting Virgil to be able to keep an eye on him while he checked the fridge.
They had olive oil, and a lot of herbs hanging up in the cupboard (Dorian and Virgil had started an herb garden together), all that was missing was the produce from Patton's garden. He checked the pantry, to make sure they had flour and yeast so that he could make bread to go with it. He was so excited to be able to make something he loved for the people he loved, and started genuinely giggling in excitement.
He went back into the living room to grab his jacket and put on his boots. "I'm going out to the garden, bring DD out with you if you have to leave so that I can watch out for him." He directed his words at Roman, who threw a pillow at Virgil to get his attention, before relaying the message in sign. Virgil responded with a thumbs up before returning to facing the TV that he and DD were watching.
Patton went out to his little garden by the house, opening the creaky gate with more excitement than anyone had probably ever opened a gate. He stayed to the paths that Roman had carefully helped him maintain. Squatting down next to his zucchini plants. He picked a few, shuffling on to his squash and pulling a few of them as well. There were plenty of tomatoes, so he grabbed a small basket from beside the gate and filled it with ripe tomatoes, placing the other two vegetables on top of it. He set the basket down right outside the onion patch he had.
The onions were always a little tricky for him, but using his hands, and trying to twist carefully he eventually got a few of them out. He set them in the basket, running through the mental checklist of everything he needed to make the meal. Peppers, I need bell peppers. He had to walk to the other end of his garden, but there were plenty of yellow peppers for him to choose from. He grabbed a few, before hefting the basket up into his arms and carrying it into the house.
When he opened the door, he found Virgil and Roman shrugging on their jackets to head to work. Virgil was a psychologist for deaf and hard of hearing people and Roman worked in retail. Coats on, and prepared to go, they stopped to kiss Patton on the cheek before heading out. Patton smiled and waved them goodbye, before heading into the kitchen.
He set the vegetables down, before heading back into the living room. He settled into his place on the couch, letting DD settle into his usual place on the floor. As soon as he sat down, Patton had a brilliant idea to go get DD's favorite blanket so that he could watch his favorite cartoons in comfort.
He snuck off, slipping into the bedroom. He looked around on the bed and in the closet and when he couldn't find the blanket he was looking for, he moved on to the other bedroom. The door was slightly ajar, and as he pushed it the rest of the way open; he found Logan sitting on the bed, with his face in his hands. He looked immediately at the sound of the door, wiping what looked suspiciously like tears off of his face.
"Can I help you Patton?"
He didn't want to push Logan, so he just left it where it was. "Do you know where DD's blanket is?"
"I believe it's in the dryer." He frowned for a moment, like he was trying to think. "Though I am not sure."
"I'll go check." Then, tentatively; he said, "Are you okay Logie?"
He smiled "Of course, I'm fine love. Thank you for your concern."
Patton nodded, offering him a soft smile, so soft, that for a moment, he was almost tempted to tell him. But of course he couldn't, couldn't hurt him like that.
Patton left him to his, okayness and went in search of DD's dog blanket.
Logan was right, the blanket was in the dryer. And by the time he found it; DD had already got up in search of him. He found him standing in the hallway with tears in his eyes.
"You left me." He sniffled out, his lips quivering.
"I went to get your blanket danard." He ruffled his hair, handing it to him, and immediately drying his tears.
"Oh." He held the blanket tightly. "What does that mean?"
"What mean?" He tried to think of what he might have said that would confuse DD.
"The D word you called me." He furrowed his brow, like he was trying to think or something.
"Denard? It means duck, lovely." Patton had been raised to speak both English and French but he only used french nowadays to give people pet names.
"Oh, I like that."
"I'm glad you do." Patton reached out to take his hand. "Let's go watch cartoons okay denard?"
They settled down on the couch to watch TV, flipping channels at DD's request. After running through half the channels they had and deciding that it there wasn't anything good on, Patton flipped to Roman's Netflix and put on Paw Patrol for him instead.
The german shepherd (DD informed him his name was Chase) was just wrapping up another adventure when Patton's phone buzzed. It was a text from Virgil reminding him that if he wanted to make lunch that it was almost noon. Patton was thankful for this message because he wasn't very good at remembering things and time could be a little tricky for him. He sat up, pausing the TV.
"Want to come with and help me cook DD?"
"Okie." He smiled and stood up, following him into the kitchen.
Patton set the basket on the counter, and turned on the water. "Can you wash the vegetables for me love?"
"Yes, yes, yes." he giggled, grabbing the zucchini and squash.
"I don't need you to wash all of the tomatoes canard; just a few of them." He turned on the oven, coating a few pans with olive oil as he plugged in the blender.
As soon as DD had finished cutting vegetables, he let him go sit at the table and play with the trucks he'd just retrieved from his toy chest. Patton cut up the zucchini and squash and put them on the pans to go in the oven, before cutting up the rest of the vegetables and throwing them in the blender. Now came his least favorite part, he didn't like the sound the blender made; so furrowing his brow, and shaking slightly in the hands, he pressed the button to start the blender.
The noise was just as bad as usual, and trying not to panic was causing him to shake and his vision to seem fuzzy; but soon the vegetables were pureed enough and he could turn it off and pour the sauce into a bowl. Then, he turned back to the oven and opened the door. The vegetables were nice and caramelized so he pulled them out of the oven and dumped them into the bowl with the sauce. Somehow managing to avoid incident despite his shaking body.
He finished mixing it up just as Roman and Virgil came in the door, they stopped to put their coats on the tree and then followed the sound of people and the smell of cooking to see Patton and DD in the kitchen.
"Do you want to go get Logie, or have V get him?" He called over his shoulder to Roman as he set down the bowl and started to grab bowls out of the cupboard. "I'll get DD settled down."
He grabbed a sponge from beside the sink, and went into the dining room. "DD go put your toys away okay Denard, I need to wipe down the table and then it's lunch time."
He clapped his hands at the mention of food, before going into the living room to put away his toys, coming back a few moments later to settle himself at his favorite place at the table. Virgil came back, leading Logan. Roman was carrying the stack of dishes Patton had gotten out of the cupboard. He set them down and everyone settled into their places so that Patton could serve up lunch.
After lunch, They all sat and watched some TV together, something that they could all agree on with the captions on. Then Roman and Virgil had to return to work, thankfully though, Logan didn't go back to the bedroom and instead stayed out there with DD and Patton to watch TV.
Halfway through their watching, DD switched back to Diego and joined them on the couch with a sigh, sitting on the opposite end of the couch (which upset Patton a little but he wouldn't say anything). Eventually Roman came home from work, and went into the kitchen, recruiting Logan to help him decide on ingredients and meal plans. Virgil came home not long after and joined Diego and Patton on the couch, getting them to draw in close and relax with him.
They had meatless lasagna for dinner, and after eating they watched a little bit more TV, before eventually splitting up to head to their own rooms and get some sleep.