Patton had been sleeping in Logic's room every night since he unfused. He hasn't been dreaming, which was a little weird for him. He usually dreamt about happy adventures with his friends. But since Kyler, it's been crickets. Even though he's been sleeping more and more lately. He even took a nap during the kiddos naptime at preschool! He's not sure why he's so tired and dreaming so little. But he simply crashes into Logic's bed after dinner.

Patton likes sleeping with Logic. It's not the same as sleeping with Virgil, though. Logic doesn't wait in bed for Patton to wake up. But that's okay, he's a Busy Side that has things to do.

But that doesn't mean Logic is bad at cuddling. He's actually a very good cuddler, and lets Patton fall asleep with his head on his chest. It's just a bummer being the only one left in the bed. Early mornings, Logic can usually be found in the kitchen, devouring coffee by the mouthfuls. Patton's alright with that. Logic has his own schedule to keep to.

It leaves Patton waking up alone, staring at the ceiling. It gives him a quiet time, before the day has started and he has to listen to toddlers scream for the next six hours.

In the silence he thought of faded pillows, and light reflecting off the plastic eyes of stuffed animals. He thought of being so full of emotion he could only burst. But somehow, beyond his desires, the emotion only held him firmer in place. It should be a good thing, right? To feel that stable? So why did Patton get an uneasy feeling in his chest when he thought of Kyler?

Maybe it just felt different this time because Kyler stuck around for so long. He had only lasted a few days before. And this time, it was weeks. Patton was gone for weeks. That wasn't right! Right?

Fusions were supposed to be temporary… right? Patton loved being Kyler. And Kyler seemed to like being around. So being Kyler was the right thing to do.

Right?

Patton rubbed his eyes. His head was starting to hurt from the confusion. He could do this. He could figure it out. Being Kyler and having Kyler around was getting them closer to Establishment.

But gosh, did it make him tired.

"Turn into Mr. Kyler!" A kiddo named Henry said, pulling on Pat's shirt.

"Oh, I can't just do it, buddy." Patton told him, lifting his hands in an 'I dunno' gesture. "I need my Side with me to do it."

Henry said, "Then go get him!"

"No no no! Stay! I don't like Mr. Kyler!" Luke said. Only he couldn't pronounce his 'K's very well, so it came out as 'Tyler'.

Patton placed a hand on his chest and said in a sad voice, "Hey, that's not very nice. Mr. Kyler is a part of me, and if you don't like him, that makes me sad."

Expression, who was playing with toy blocks a few feet away, gave him an unimpressed look. "So you like all the Fusions in your pod?"

"Shh." Patton didn't look at them. He kept talking to the kiddo. "Why don't you like Mr. Kyler?"

Had he does something wrong?

Luke threw his hands in the air and shouted, "He's too big!"

Patton immediately relaxed. He smiled and said, "Inside voice!"

"One day you'll be that big." Expression said.

"Nu-uh." Luke said, "Not me, never!"

"Sure, you'll find your Sides and then you'll fuse and grow as big as Mr. Kyler!"

Henry asked Expression, "Can you get big too?"

"Well, yeah. We all can. If we have our Sides with us." Expression said patiently. The two of them have explained to the kiddos about the Fusion multiple times. But many of them were at the age that they didn't retain anything, and lessons had to be repeated.

Patton loved his job, and the kiddos that he looked after. But sometimes, it had its downsides.

Like the mother of the twins that stayed with them every other week. She was, well, Expression would be able to describe her more accurately.

When she came to pick up her twins today, most of the kiddos were gathered around the small TV, watching it quietly.

"Mr. Side that is hardly appropriate for children!" The mother shouted, pointing at the TV playing behind them. Patton looked over his shoulder and frowned.

"Sesame Street?" He asked.

"Look at that thing!" She pointed again, and Patton tried to see the issue. On the screen, Elmo and an Established celebrity were talking to a new puppet … character … thing. But the new puppet had four arms instead of two. It's the first Fusion puppet on the show. Patton vaguely heard that they had made a new character for representation purposes that made people mad. He didn't know it was a Fusion.

"Oh." Patton looked back to the expectant lady. "Uh. Don't worry ma'am they never show the character actually fusing! It's just a Fus-"

"I cannot believe you would shove this lifestyle in my children's faces! I'm going to be speaking to the school board about this!" She said, grabbing both the kiddos arms and pulling them away.

Patton rubbed his neck, watching her go. "We're not affiliated with the… okay."

"What a bitch." Expression said, appearing beside Patton. He jumped in surprise.

"I just…" Patton looked back at the screen. The Fusion puppet was singing a song and playing a tiny guitar with two of its arms. He watched the show for a little bit. "I liked the new puppet."

Gender Expression gave him a tiny smile and placed both their hands on his shoulders. "That's a good thing, Patty. The new freaky puppet is a good thing."

Patton chewed his lip. If he was Morality, and he was supposed to know what was right - how come everyone else always seemed more confident in their beliefs than he was? Why was he so unsure?

Patton came home early, since Expression got annoyed with him yawning. He wasn't expecting Logic to be home already, too. While Roman usually walked to the college campus, Logic tended to drive. His car was in the parking lot when Patton pulled in. As he walked the house, he heard someone in the kitchen. He could hear the water running in the sink.

Patton smiled to himself as he walked over to the kitchen, thinking of how he could ask Logic for cuddles. His arms were surprisingly strong and it made Patton feel all warm and snuggly.

"Hey- oh." Patton stared.

Because at the sink, wearing yellow rubber gloves, doing the dishes, was not Logic, but Janus. Janus turned. He froze when he saw Patton. Pat opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Janus cleared his throat and said, "Can I help you?"

"You're… doing the dishes." Patton said.

Janus looked away and shrugged. He went back to cleaning. Patton walked up to him and watched. Janus glanced over his shoulder, glaring at him.

"Dude, what?" Janus turned off the water and faced him fully. "Am I not scrubbing hard enough?"

"I just… didn't think you did the dishes." Patton said lamely.

Janus scoffed and took the gloves off his hands. "You're welcome to take over. I'm sure you can do it better."

He shoved the wet gloves into Patton's chest. Patton caught them and held them close, shaking his head.

"No no no! I was just, just surprised! That's all!" Patton shouted as he followed Janus out of the kitchen. "I wasn't judging your dish-cleaning abilities, I swear!"

"It's whatever, I don't care." Janus said, almost to the stairs.

A new voice spoke, "Don't care about what?" It was Logic.

Janus made a grunting noise and crossed his arms. "Nothing."

"Janus is upset because I caught him doing the dishes." Patton said, morosely. "I thought he was you."

"That was a foolish thought." Logic said in that flat tone that made his insults not hurt. "I avoid doing the dishes. Someone in our pod doesn't scrape their plates and I don't enjoy touching wet food."

Janus tapped Patton's chest, where the gloves were still held tightly. Patton felt his lungs tingle a little at the touch. "That's what those are for."

The front door they were standing beside started opening. Patton and Janus stepped aside to avoid getting hit.

"It's Roman, by the way." Janus told Patton in a stage-whisper, which felt weirdly personal. His cheeks started tingling too. He cleared his throat and nodded shakily.

"What's Roman?" Roman asked as he walked through the door. Virgil looked inside after him, a frown on his face.

Virgil spoke before anyone could answer Roman. "What's going on by the stairs?"

"Patton discovered Janus does the chores for the household."

"Oh." Virgil said, shoving past Roman and going to sit on the couch.

Roman tilted his head, "What chores?"

Janus shrugged, "All of them?"

Patton froze. He grabbed Janus' wrist - his head snapped over to look at Patton quickly - and he said seriously, "What do you mean?"

Janus glanced at Logic, and answered, "I do all the chores, while you guys are at work and class."

"But…" Patton looked to Logic, who nodded. "But I thought Logic was the one doing my laundry?"

"I thought it was Patton," Roman said with a laugh. He didn't see the problem in this at all?

Logic crossed his arms, "I thought we all knew it was Janus."

Virgil called from the couch, raising his hand, "I knew!"

"Wait, wait!" Patton squeezed Janus' wrist a little and said, "That's not fair!"

Janus seemed startled, "What?"

Patton let go of him to shake the rubber gloves he still held, "We should be able to clean up after ourselves! It isn't fair to you to make you do all the work while we-"

"While you are also at work?" Janus said. He shook his head and said, "I don't get- I thought you'd like this? I'm trying to earn my place here?"

Patton shook his head, "Why would you have to earn it?"

"Because I'm - ! " Janus' mouth shut tight. He glanced away, and shook his head again. He finally said, "Because I don't pay rent. So I might as well help out."

Patton felt his world turn sideways a little. He heard himself say, "You don't pay rent?"

Janus didn't respond.

"No," Logic spoke gently, stepping off the stairs the rest of the way. He said, "Roman and I pay for his half of it."

"But…" Patton looked at all three of them. Roman shrugged, well aware of Janus' financial arrangement. Patton looked to Logic. "I want to help. Let me pay for it, too."

"What?" Janus said.

"Neither of you have jobs!" Patton said, "I do! I can afford to pay for more of it."

Roman waved him off. "Please, both my parents deposit hush-money in my account every week. I'll be fine."

"Hush money?" Janus raised an eyebrow.

"They pay me to not talk to them." Roman said with a shrug.

Logic spoke up, sounding confused. "I have a job."

Everyone looked at him with equal levels of disbelief Logic glanced around, growing unsure.

"I'm a student." He said.

Roman laughed, "Yeah, we mean shit that pays you, you nerd."

"I do get paid." Logic glanced at Patton, "Do non-Logical traits not get paid?"

"Oh my god." Janus whispered, covering his face with his hands. "Oh, my fucking god."

"You get paid for going to school?" Roman asked. "Like, our school?"

"Yes. Most Logical traits do." Logic adjusted his glasses, "Why do you think I take so many classes? My job is to make the college look good."

Janus shook his head and walked away. He moved over to where Virgil was sitting at the couch. The two began to whisper, and Patton couldn't help but be distracted by them. He stared for a tad longer than he should. Weirdly… he wasn't that upset by seeing Janus' hand on Virgil's thigh, or Virgil's smile pointed in Jan's direction. Patton looked away with a hot face. That felt new.

"I still want to help pay for Janus." Patton said firmly. He looked into Logic's eyes as he said, "It's only fair."

Logic nodded. A small smile played on his lips and Patton wondered what he did to cause it. He looked back at Janus and Virgil.

"Oh, Roman, don't forget, your diagnosis appointment is after your history class. I'll be picking you up by the front doors." Logic said.

Roman made a groaning noise and pushed past Logic to stomp up the stairs. Patton frowned as he watched him.

Patton looked to Logic, "Why is he upset? I thought he wanted to be diagnosed."

"Wanting to be diagnosed and wanting to be dissected for personal information so you can be shoved into a tiny box are two different things." Virgil said from his spot on the couch.

Patton frowned, walking over to him. Logic followed close behind. "But that's the only way to do it."

"So it must be right, right?" Janus said, rolling his eyes.

Patton frowned, "Well, how would you do it?"

"What if it wasn't something assigned to you?" Janus asked back.

Logic scoffed, "And what do you propose instead? Something genetically based?"

"That's still assigning a trait. It's not different just because it's blood instead of an interview."

"I… don't see the problem." Logic said.

"Of course you don't." Virgil shrugged and looked away.

Patton chewed his lip and looked to Janus. "Why does it upset you?"

Janus hesitated. Then Patton saw something cross his face; a look of determination. He squared his shoulders and said, "Those in charge have a reason to keep a specific group of society below everyone else."

Patton wasn't sure how that was related to the conversation. "Uh, wha…?"

"Pat. Just drop it. Roman's mad because he's done this a thousand times already. It's not a big deal." Virgil said, waving him off. "It's like. Just really annoying to have to do a lot."

Patton crossed his arms. He didn't like how dismissive Virgil became. He looked to Logic, who was clearly lost in thought. Then he looked to Janus. His eyes were wide, searching, in a way that made Patton's heart tug. He thought, maybe…

Maybe Janus knows what he's talking about.