Virgil opened his door to reveal a bouncing Patton. He threw himself into Virge's arms. Virgil froze up, leaving his hands in the air. Patton let him go quickly and stepped back with a shy grin.

"Sorry! I forgot!" He laughed awkwardly and said, "No touching."

"Right." Virgil replied, his voice tight. He cleared his throat, feeling heat rising in his cheeks. "Come on in."

Patton handed him a little box as he walked into the apartment. Virge closed the door, eyes on his present. He glanced up at Patton, "What's this?"

"A gift among friends." Patton responded, taking his shoes off. "How was your day?"

Virgil opened it up to find a chocolate muffin inside. He smiled and took it out of the box. He had forgotten to make lunch for himself today, so he had gone without. He mumbled, "It was fine. I did a handful of tattoos."

Patton gasped at that, while picking up Shadow. "What did you draw?"

"Um," Virgil swallowed around his bite of muffin. "A tiger, a couple flowers, someone's name. Pretty typical stuff… How was your day?"

It was weird having someone to talk to after work. He usually watched TV until he got tired and went to bed. Sometimes he would make himself dinner. Patton sat down on the couch, giggling when Shadow squirmed. It was weird, but Patton made the air in his apartment feel lighter.

"Pretty good! Little Shy was having a bad day so she stayed by my side the whole time. It was so cute! And then she and Autumn had a really nice coloring session." Patton went on for a while, detailing all the different things the toddlers had learned or done. Virgil glanced away when he caught himself staring for too long.

Patton was just a friend. He probably wasn't even his Side. There's no reason to get dumb and mushy.

That was getting harder to remember as each day passed.

Patton came by most days, but sometimes he offered for Virgil to come to his apartment for dinner. Those nights terrified him. Being at his apartment, watching Avatar, was pretty easy now. It had become routine. But when they went to Patton's apartment, the vibe was waaay different.

"You look handsome." Patton whispered as he passed Virgil his plate. He almost dropped it in surprise. They were sitting around the table, knees bumping irregularly.

"W-what?"

Patton beamed at him, as if he hadn't a care in the world. "Do you want some garlic bread?"

Virgil squinted at him, watching as Patton tried to hold back giggles. He poked Patton's side and muttered, "Stop that."

"I'm only telling the truth!" Patton said as he pushed his food around his plate. His eyes trailed up Virgil's black button-up. He always dressed up when Patton cooked, and he always ended up feeling a little awkward for it. "That shirt suits you."

He glanced down at it, before muttering, "I got it for band."

"You were in band?!" Patton leaned forward, clearly wanting more information. "What instrument did you play?"

"Trumpet." Virgil sighed, avoiding his eyes. "It was years ago, I don't think I can play it anymore. My parents made me do it. I think they were hoping I was a Musical trait or something."

Virgil wanted to curl up and disappear. He didn't look fondly upon his teenage self. He wished he had learned a cooler instrument like drums or guitar. But he never had the coordination for it. Somehow, the trumpet stuck. But Patton didn't seem to find it embarrassing at all. He stared at Virgil with wide, excited eyes.

"That's awesome! Maybe you can play for me someday." He said.

The thought immediately made him nervous. He shook his head, "That's alright."

"Don't worry, it doesn't have to be perfect." Patton said, but thankfully dropped the subject. "So the last time I was at your place, I saw a record player?"

He relaxed and said, "Yeah, I like the way vinyl sounds."

"I've never heard a record before." Patton admitted with a giggle. "I mean, I know what they are, and I've seen them in movies and Tv and stuff, but…"

"We can listen to them next time." Virgil said with a little smile.

Patton grinned at him, taking a bite of his pasta. Virgil felt something warm gather in his chest. He pulled his legs up onto his seat. He had to look away from Patton or else he'd explode. His smiles were too powerful.


"Which one do you want to listen to?" Virgil asked as he pulled out his record collection. He had about thirty or so records, and most of them were bands he listened to when he was a teenager. He wasn't sure Patton would like any of these. He held up some of the more popular bands. "Do you know any MCR?"

"Yeah, my brother liked them." Patton said, sitting on the ground next to him. He leaned closer to Virgil to look at the album cover. "I know a couple of their songs, I think."

Virgil took Black Parade out of its sleeve and put it in the record player. They listened quietly as the first few notes of The End started playing. Virgil watched Patton's face for any signs of distaste.

Patton hummed as the guitars grew louder. He caught Virgil's stare and smiled, "I like it."

"It's okay if you don't. You can tell me." Virgil said, letting out a small sigh of relief.

"No, no! I do!" Patton laughed, "I like his voice! And the music is nice."

Virgil shook his head, smiling. "We can change the music whenever you want. I'm sure you like something else."

"That's true, I do. But I also like learning more about your interests." Patton nodded to himself. He stood up and held out his hands, grinning down at him. "How do you dance to this?"

Virgil took his hands, letting himself be pulled to his feet. He shrugged as he said, "You don't really? I mean-"

Patton pulled them back and forth, keeping their hands connected. "You can dance to anything if you try hard enough. And this band is popular! You can't tell me you've never danced to them before."

"Well- okay," Virgil laughed as he let go of Patton. His hands felt cold without his touch, but Virgil tried not to think about that. He stood in front of Patton and demonstrated his typical dance style for emo music. "You kind of, like, bang your head and jump."

Patton awkwardly copied him, raising a fist above his head as he bounced off-beat. "Like this?"

"Kinda." Virgil smiled, watching as Patton wobbled on one leg. He took Patton's hands again, and helped him bounce on beat. Patton's hair flopped as he danced, making him look even cuter.

Virgil shook his head, cursing under his breath. Patton laughed at him, and spun in a circle. Shadow the Hedgehog the Cat watched them jump around in circles from his spot on the couch. It felt stupid and awkward but thrilling and fun.

The song switched to the next one, and the next. They kept dancing and Virgil felt his unease ebb away. He stopped caring what he looked like after the third song. Patton's face lit up when he recognized lyrics and it was adorable to watch. Virgil shook his hands as he jumped, a wide grin stretching across his face.

After Teenagers had finished playing, the record needed to be flipped. The room fell into silence except for the repeated beat of an empty record and their breathing.

Patton gasped and fell into his space, taking his hands once more. He giggled and panted, his nose just inches from Virgil's. Neither of them could keep the stupid grins off their faces. "That was so fun! I thought you said you couldn't dance!"

"Yeah," Virgil breathed, a hot flush spreading across his cheeks. "I-"

He sucked in a sharp gasp as his fingertips burned. Looking down, their hands lit into a bright, glowing light. He heard Patton yelp and they both pulled their hands free.

Virgil stumbled backwards, his hands shoved under his armpits. His face burned as he tried to gather his racing thoughts. He wouldn't look at Patton, too embarrassed. "Oh God, I'm- sorry- uh-"

"S-so s-sorry!" Patton piped, his voice high pitched and fluttery. "I didn't- I mean-"

Slowly, Virgil gathered his breathing, then looked over to Shadow. The cat blinked at him, undisturbed by the humans' weird behaviors. He glanced over at Patton, who was standing on the other side of the room now. He had his hands covering his face, but he was staring at Virgil through his fingers.

"Sorry." They said at the same time.

It was quiet for a few tense seconds. Virgil held his breath, frozen in an invisible spotlight. Patton lowered his hands, a hesitant smile forming on his lips. He started giggling, which sent a surprised little tingle through Virgil's body.

He felt himself chuckle as well. He stood up straight and said, "No touching."

"Right," Patton giggled, clearly overjoyed, "No touching."

They continued the rest of their afternoon carefully avoiding each other, while still staying close by. A new type of dance; where they play with fire, getting as close as they can before flickering away.

And Virgil loved every second of it.


The next time they hung out together, Patton spent the whole time holding Shadow, as if that would stop him from poking Virgil. And while Shadow seemed annoyed over being held like a baby, Patton wouldn't stop smiling. When he wasn't looking, Virgil snuck a picture of them.

As he was saying goodbye, Patton surprised him with a quick palm-kiss. Virgil blushed as he left, speechless and warm.

By the time Friday came around, Patton was exhausted. He confessed as such after his third yawn. Virgil smiled at him, feeling a little worn down himself. He had a difficult client today, and he desperately needed some relaxing time.

Patton made them a pizza, which they ate while watching Avatar. After the food was gone, Shadow hopped up onto the couch in between them, curling in a ball. Patton pet the kitty distractedly, leaning closer to Virgil as he did.

After a while, Virgil yawned, glancing away from the TV. Halfway through the episode, Patton had slumped against his shoulder. Shadow was laying across both their laps now, having stretched out. Virgil hesitantly reached up and brushed his fingers through Patton's hair.

The other Side mumbled softly, scooting even closer to him. Virgil glanced around, as if someone else would appear in his apartment and yell at him for touching Patton. But no one showed up, and Virgil was tired. Patton's warm breath felt so enticing against his skin, he wanted to pull him closer.

Virgil wrapped an arm around Patton's shoulders, shifting so their hips were pressed together. Shadow wiggled in their laps, blinking up at him. Virgil pressed his other hand against the cat's back, smoothing out his fur. Shadow closed his eyes and started purring.

With Patton's soft snores in his ear, and the gaang on their way to Ba Sing Se, Virgil drifted to sleep.


When he woke up, Shadow was gone. That wasn't too surprising, Shadow always got annoyed by Virgil's squirming. He stood up and stretched his arms over his head, enjoying the burn from his muscles. His back popped and he sighed in relief.

He pulled his jacket closer to himself as he walked through his now-dark apartment. He could hear crickets outside, and the sound almost made him crawl into his bed.

But he had gotten up because he had to use the restroom. He did his business and washed his hands. He stared down at his painted nails. He didn't remember painting his nails black. It looked pretty.

He turned off the water and stared down at his hands. Wait. Virgil had painted nails. He was Virgil? He wasn't Virgil.

He looked up, seeing his reflection for the first time. He looked like Virgil. And Patton. He looked really cute, with purple bangs that faded into brown roots and barely-there freckles. His glasses sat crooked on his nose, and his lips seemed fuller than he remembered. He stood there, taking in every inch of his face.

"Patton!" He gasped, stepping away from the sink. He stared at himself in the mirror, watching his own mouth move. "We fused!"


Tell me what you think! :)