Roman growled at the knock that came at his door the next morning. He hadn't slept well most of the night, and for god's sake, he just wanted to sleep. He was so fucking tired. He felt like he only just got to sleep, damnit. Morning people should be shot with tranquilizer darts.
"Come on, Roman, get up, we've already let you sleep in another hour. It's not healthy to sleep in too much," Thomas called through the door. Roman didn't remember them coming earlier at all. He also barely remembered where he was so that probably didn't mean much.
"Neither is not sleeping," Roman groaned back sourly, rolling over in bed.
"You'll feel better after some breakfast, come downstairs. Patton's making breakfast sandwiches," Thomas suggested through the door. Roman buried himself under the blankets and ignored him. "Fair warning that if you don't get up soon, Patton will come to wake you up," Roman couldn't care less. He nestled in the warmth of his blanket cocoon and tried to go back to sleep. Roman drifted back successfully after a few minutes.
"Rise and shine, sunshine, there's a whole day ahead!" Roman heard Patton call right over his head and the curtains being yanked open. Oh, now he wanted to leave the blankets even less. There was assuredly awful morning sun out there. Roman was not prepared for sunshine or sunny dispositions.
"Did you know that otters can only stay underwater for 4 minutes? They actually spend the majority of their time on land," Patton said cheerfully. Roman was baffled. What was happening? He nearly popped his head out to shoot a very bewildered look at Patton until he remembered the sun was out there.
"Cat anti-depressants also work as appetite enhancers. Sometimes when pet food companies switch their formula, cats won't eat it, so we have to give medicine so that they're so hungry they can't stand not eating! Honestly, it's really sad. I wish pet food companies wouldn't do that! You wouldn't believe how often I see cases of it! Oh, some pet food companies are the worst. Bits of plastic and glass in the food! High sugar content! It's a nightmare! Not that unbalanced people-food diets aren't also dangerous," Patton whined emphatically, and it sounded like he might be pacing the room.
"What exactly is happening here?" Roman asked, his voice creaking from tiredness, pining the blankets carefully around himself.
"Yanno I've seen people with pristine white teeth come it with dogs whose teeth were rotting. You'd think they'd understand the importance of proper dental hygiene, but apparently, that doesn't extend to pets," Patton said sourly.
"Am I being hazed?" Roman asked cautiously and rubbed his head under the blanket.
"I'm not hazing you, kiddo! I'm just wakin' up your brain by talking about work," Patton said buoyantly. "Most new bird owners don't know you have to clean their water bowls twice a day. The water gets bacterial build-up since they bathe in it and drink from it, so it's really important,"
"Thank you for that tidbit," Roman grumbled. That's pretty gross. Those poor birds.
"We're waiting for you for breakfast, Roman, and I'm not leaving until I see a sunny smile and your happy feet on the floor!" Patton chirped.
"You don't treat otters, do you?" Roman asked, slowly pulling himself out of the blankets into the blazing morning light. He regretted everything ever, immediately.
"Nope! I'm a domestic vet. I just think they're adorable," Patton said, beaming at Roman as he rubbed his eyes from the oppressive morning sun. He briefly wondered how much trouble he'd get in if he just got back under the blankets.
"Is a smile in the sun good enough? Because I don't think I have the energy for the level of smile you're pulling at me right now," Roman groaned, shielding his eyes as he shifted to the edge of the bed.
"I suppose," Patton mused, not sounding satisfied with that compromise, though. Roman flung his feet off the bed and gave Patton a half-hearted smile. "Oh, that's not much of a smile!" Patton pouted.
"It's all I've got right now," Roman grumbled. He still so tired. He was never a morning person. Who wakes up this early on weekends?
"Well, okay. Whatcha want in your breakfast sandwich?" Patton asked.
"I'm not picky," Roman said and slowly stood up and tried to stretch the last of the haze away.
"You're gonna rip that shirt if you stretch much more, Roman," Patton observed. His pajamas were kind of old, so he probably wasn't wrong. Roman didn't like it being pointed out, though.
"Then let me change," Roman groaned.
"Alright, I'll whip you up one of what I'm having. You've got 5 minutes, or I'll be back up here to talk about proper reptile care," Patton said boastfully. Roman was actually kind of interested, but he'd rather just get dressed at this point. He could see why Thomas warned him. It wasn't invasive, but it was a little abrasive. Patton stepped out with a little wave, and Roman pulled out a pair of jeans and a dark red-v neck shirt and changed, then headed into the bathroom to wash his face and fix his hair.
Roman came into the kitchen and was met with a smarmy grin from Thomas at the table.
"You knew exactly what you were doing, didn't you," Roman narrowed his eyes at him.
"I did warn you," Thomas said blithely and sipped some orange juice. Virgil was somehow sitting cross-legged on the dining chair.
"How do you not fall off, dude?" Came out of Roman's mouth before he could stop himself. Virgil gave a quick half-smirk and shrugged. He shot a quick glance to Thomas, making sure he didn't mess up, but Thomas didn't even look up from his plate. Roman sat down at the empty place setting and his feet were rubbed against by the dog.
"I thought Lita was shy around new people," Roman commented. "See, I'm confused because she's licking my feet," Roman shivered when her tongue went between his toes and pulled his feet up, shuddering.
"Oh, so she is! She must like you," Patton said, checking under the table. When Patton leaned down, Lita ran over to him expectantly. "No, this is for Roman! I'll make your egg next,"
"Is this why you sit with your feet up? Dog saliva?" Roman asked curiously, still kind of grossed out. Virgil just shrugged again.
"You can just wear slippers or socks," Thomas suggested, bemused. If this was a normal thing, he wouldn't have minded a warning.
"I'm tired, you're lucky I remembered a shirt," Roman groaned. Virgil surprisingly nodded. Possibly in solidarity? Roman accidentally talked back either way, though. Thomas looked like he'd let it go for now. Roman winced slightly in concern. It would probably come worse later. It usually did.
"Yours is ready! Go ahead and eat it while it's hot. I already ate, I've just got to make Lita's egg. It just takes a moment then I'll join y'all," Patton said happily and placed a breakfast sandwich in front of Roman. It was bacon and egg with cheese on grilled sourdough toast. This was fancy as fuck. Did they mean to give him this? This wasn't like a mistake? This was adult food.
"Thank you," Roman sniffed it and looked around again nervously. Nobody corrected him that it wasn't his. He took a bite, enjoying the flavours. This was killer. Virgil finished his breakfast sandwich and stood up from the table. He walked over to the fridge and took out the orange juice and promptly waterfalled a few giant gulps into his mouth.
"Virgil, we've talked about this. Use a glass," Thomas said firmly. Virgil just pulled a face briefly and put it back in the fridge. He left the kitchen right after with a lazy salute.
"If I get a glass, can I have some?" Roman asked, kind of amused at Virgil's antics, but mostly was interested in orange juice.
"Of course, you can help yourself to anything in the fridge. But, well, Virgil just drank out of it," Thomas said, looking a little grossed out at the concept.
"Oh, like I'm scared of a little emo backwash," Roman shrugged. Eating after other people in foster homes was just a fact of life. Roman had long since stopped caring. "Which cabinet is the cups?" Roman said, looking around the kitchen in confusion.
"Next to the sink, kiddo," Patton piped up and scrapped a half-cooked egg into a dog dish near the table. Roman got up from the table and pulled out a glass. He poured a cup, and it emptied the container by only three-quarters of the cup. It made him kind of nervous, so he double-checked.
"Um, this is the last cup. Is it okay if I finish it?" Roman asked tentatively. Finishing a container of something was something he'd gotten in trouble for plenty of times before, even if he had permission to take some. It was one of those weird arbitrary lines he never understood.
"I'm definitely not drinking it," Thomas said with a little chuckle, looking a bit disgusted, eyeballing the glass on the counter as if an octopus or something might come out of it.
"Of course it's okay," Patton answered and sat down next to Thomas at the table. Roman rejoined them with his glass of OJ after rinsing out the container for recycling.
"So what do you usually do on weekends, Roman?" Patton asked, holding his head in his hands and watching Roman resume eating his sandwich. Roman looked a little confused at him as he swallowed.
"Um, whatever I'm supposed to do," Roman said, not really understanding the question. He just does what he's told.
"What are you supposed to do?" Patton asked curiously, swaying a little, possibly kicking his feet under the table.
"Whatever you tell me to do? Chores, homework, babysitting, that kind of thing? I don't really get what you mean," Roman supplied. "What are my chores, anyway? I cleaned the house on Saturdays at the Finley's,"
"Oh, just making sure your things and the things you interact with are clean. We'll ask you to do specific things sometimes, but we don't have a chore schedule," Thomas explained. "Your bedroom is fully your responsibility, but we'll split all the rest. It's not fair to make just one person handle the same thing all the time. You did your own dishes without us even asking last night, so I think you can handle it. We have a maid service come once a month to deep-clean out all the dog fur," That was a surprisingly laid back chore scheme. Roman didn't mind that, though. Well, unless he gets in trouble for not doing something he didn't know he was supposed to do. Roman kind of cleaned better with a schedule. He was glad he wouldn't have to deep-clean out dog fur, though.
"I, uh, don't have much to do this weekend, then," Roman shrugged. He wasn't sure what to do with himself. "Unless you have a babysitting job lined up for me I don't know about," Roman asked, weirdly hopeful about it. The money would be nice, but for some reason, the idea of a free weekend unnerved him and he'd rather work like he always did.
"Of course not, that'd be silly. You just got here, why would we find you a job before we asked you about it?" Patton said, chuckling. That didn't sound unreasonable to Roman. "Well, would you like to walk Lita after breakfast and get to know her a bit?" Patton smiled and titled his head.
"Okay," Roman said, shrugging and taking another bite of his sandwich. Lita bounded over to the table and shook excitedly, her tail wagging fast enough it blurred..
"You excited for walkies, girl? Go outside?" Patton asked in a high-pitched voice. Lita basically was so excited she vibrated, bouncing around the kitchen. Roman figured should probably finish his breakfast before she vibrated off this plane of reality altogether. He picked up the pace to finish off his sandwich, eyeballing the dog who was maybe fighting shadow demons or something, she was so excited. He tried his damnedest not to laugh and choke on his food.
Roman took his last few bites and chugged the rest of the OJ and got up to rinse his dishes. He grabbed Virgil's abandoned plate while he was getting up since he was already headed to the sink. He remembered the caseworker mentioned Virgil hadn't been in the system long. He probably didn't have it ingrained in him like Roman had to leave as little impression as possible in a foster home. Maybe a little annoying, but probably a good thing. Roman was so used to doing dishes for 3-6 people and rinsing a second dish barely registered with him, though. He'd save another kid from punishments any chance he got, even if it was a pain in the ass. Roman dried off his hands, and Patton handed Roman the leash with doggy bags tied onto it.
"We go up and around one block and back to the house. Lita knows the way," Patton explained. Thomas pulled a water bottle out of the fridge and handed it to Roman with a smile. Roman squatted down to Lita with the leash in hand. Lita stopped shaking and slowly scooted forward to sniff Roman. Roman held out his hand carefully, and Lita sniffed it for a few moments, but didn't bite and just backed up expectantly.
"Good girl, Lita!" Patton cooed. Lita started bouncing again, and Roman struggled to hook the leash onto her collar. Lita basically yanked him out of the kitchen to the front door once it was on.
"She's surprisingly strong," Roman commented as he was pulled away. Roman knew he wasn't that strong, but it was a little ridiculous that a dog her size could yank him around.
"Jack Russells were bred for hunting," Patton stated simply, smiling and waving.
"Be safe and call us if you need us," Thomas called from the kitchen.
"It's just a block, Thomas," Roman called back, rolling his eyes.
"My statement stands!" Thomas called loudly. Roman laughed to himself. Thomas was kind of a worrywart. It was just a block with a dog. What, was he going to get swept up by a drug cartel or something?
Lita shoved her face against the door and pulled him outside quickly. He was barely able to lock the door with her trying to staunchly pull him ahead. Despite her short legs, Roman had to jog to keep up with the hurried pace Lita took as she pivoted to the right out of the driveway.
"We can run if you want, girl," Roman told Lita. She looked like she wanted to go faster. Lita must know the word 'run', since she yanked him ahead and Roman ran along with her. They didn't slow down until they pivoted the end of the block where Lita used the restroom on a stop sign. She trotted along happily after that for half the block up. She used the restroom again and got caught up sniffing a mailbox and barking at another dog until Roman convinced her to move along. Roman took a drink and Lita picked back up the pace.
After another sprint as they pivoted the corner of the next block, Roman understood why Thomas handed him the water bottle. She liked to get going really fast. Roman kind of liked it, though. Roman and Lita jogged at a moderate pace back to the house, Lita now panting joyfully. Roman unleashed her as soon as he closed and re-locked the front door and Lita basically Tokyo-drifted to her water dish in the kitchen. That was sick. Thomas waved from the couch.
"Welcome back, Roman. That was pretty fast," Thomas smiled. Roman relished the A/C for a moment and finished off the water bottle, then headed to the kitchen to rinse it for re-use.
"That dog could break Mach 5 if she tried," Roman commented blithely, wiping his forehead before washing his hands.
"Yeah, Patton taught her how to use the treadmill, and she really gets going on that thing. She can nearly handle the fastest setting," Thomas said. Roman whistled, impressed. "I've set you up on the game systems now if you want to play. I've got to get back to work soon, but you're welcome to play something or watch TV. Virgil doesn't come out of his room much, so you probably have the TV to yourself for the morning,"
"Um, okay," Roman muttered.
"The games are in the cabinet to the left of the TV. Don't pick anything rated M or I'll never hear the end of it. I've got an idea and want to write it down before I forget," Thomas said, pointing to the cabinet near the TV and walking into his office. He left the door slightly open, possibly to check on Roman, but he could see Thomas already typing away on the computer. Roman wasn't quite sure where Patton was, but he probably wouldn't admit he'd already played a ton of games rated M at friend's houses or on older foster sibling's game consoles. He particularly liked Assassin's Creed.
Roman perused the games and found an adventure game, one only rated T and not M, that looked cool and put that in the system to play. Roman sat on the floor in front of the TV and got sucked into the adventure pretty quickly. Lita had actually joined him in the living room but kept her space. Probably because Roman was bouncing around while he fought off thieves and picked fights with the lich. It annoyed other people, too, so Roman couldn't blame Lita for judging him. But nobody was in here with him, so he didn't try to hide it.
"Bud, you've been playing for a few hours, how about you take a break?" Patton from behind him. Roman jumped. He didn't realize Patton had entered the living room at all. Holy shit, how long had he been in here? Roman paused the game and turned to look at Patton.
"When did you get here?" Roman asked, feeling kind of discombobulated.
"When you saved that caravan from the wild boars," Patton said. Roman thought back. Oh, that was a while ago. Maybe. He wasn't too sure. It was a few quests ago, at least. Maybe he should get up. He had trouble pulling himself from the game, though. He really wanted to know what would happen next and he couldn't seem to pull his thoughts from it.
"Can I come back to it?" Roman asked hopefully, watching Patton carefully for a negative response.
"I think you should at least eat lunch first," Patton said with a little smile. That wasn't a negative response, but it was kind of confusing.
"We just ate breakfast," Roman objected incredulously.
"It's past noon, Roman," Patton said, sounding a little concerned. It was? Roman's eyes looked around the walls for a clock. There was one near the entryway. Holy crap, it was. Roman felt his face grow a little hot. He did it again. "Take a break, yeah?" Patton requested instead of suggested this time. Roman really didn't want to, but he nodded and went to the save menu and shut off the game and the TV. Roman stood up off the floor and stretched. Lita hopped off of Patton's lap and bounced around his feet as he got some blood back into his legs. He touched his toes and pet her head when she passed between his legs.
"I've never seen a shy dog warm up to someone as fast as she warmed up to you," Patton observed, watching Roman pet Lita as she passed by while he stretched in the living room. He was pretty stiff from sitting still all morning. Dogs made stretching out better. And running, too.
"Animals love me for some reason. Scared to death of my brother, though," Roman said as he pulled back up and stretched his neck out. Roman walked over into the kitchen, Lita at his heels. He got a glass to down some water. He was astoundingly thirsty. Probably because he had nothing to drink for hours. Patton followed Roman into the kitchen and leaned against the entrance.
"Animals are very sensitive to moods and energy," Patton offered in explanation. Though it didn't really explain much for Roman. His brother was sweet with animals, too.
"So animals vibe with me?" Roman asked with a little chuckle.
"That's one way to put it," Patton sounded a little amused, too. Roman chugged two glasses of water and glanced around the kitchen. He was starving now that he had drunk something and woke up his stomach.
"So… is there something specific I have to eat?" Roman asked nervously.
"Whatever looks good, bud. I can't get everybody to eat lunch at the same time on weekends, so we just forage. I can whip you up something if you like," Patton offered, joining him in the kitchen.
"I, no, I can cook, I just wasn't sure if there was something I wasn't supposed to touch," Roman supplied. "Or if there was kid food and adult food here,"
"No, we have nothing like that. Virgil came in for a sandwich a while ago. Thomas and I had some leftovers from Thursday," Patton said. Roman didn't notice a single one pass him. Geez. He felt like an idiot.
"A sandwich sounds great," Roman mumbled and went to the fridge for ingredients. It was pretty hard to fuck up a sandwich, at least. And with how dumb he felt, he needed the safety net.