Ashes to Ashes

Here We Go

  Patton awoke to the light streaming in through his curtains. Looking around he found himself in his bed. He didn't remember coming to bed last night, or even making it to his room. Memories from the previous day flashed back and he was immediately hit with sadness and grief. And then he remembered-

"Roman!" Patton said quickly, throwing the covers off and fixing his appearance. Glancing at the clock, it read '10:23'. He'd slept longer than normal, usually he'd be up way before anyone else, ready to make them breakfast. But Patton wasn't feeling as energetic or happy this morning.

He left his room and crossed the hall to a red door lined with gold trimming. He knocked and waited patiently. 'No Response'. He knocked again a little louder. "Roman, it's me Patton. Can we talk?" he heard a little shuffling and clicks of the door unlocking before the door swung open.

Roman quickly grabbed Patton and pulled him into the room, locking the door again. "Thank goodness it's just you. Sorry but I'm not ready to face the left brain yet." he said quickly walking to the couch he had in the corner. He pat the seat next to him for the parental figure. "Come join me."

He crossed the room and sat next to the prince. He'd been in such a rush to check on Roman, he hadn't even thought of what to say to him. The silence was short lived and Roman broke the tension. "Are you feeling any better Patton?" He asked. Patton shook his head and pushed back the tears trying to form.

"No, but what about you? How are you feeling now?" Roman avoided eye contact and held his hand up. Looking at it slowly as he spoke.

"Honestly it hurts and now I regret not saying anything to Virgil. But I think what hurts most is that I had told Logan. He knew and yet..." Princey trailed off, forming a fist as tears fell into his hand.

The moral trait leaned over and hugged Roman, providing as much comfort as he could at the time. Roman hugged back and let the tears fall. Patton was the father, the adult, and he loved them all. It hurt him to see Roman cry. He felt bad for being upset himself. Princey started to calm down, the tears stopped and the sobs seized. "Thank you Patton." Barely over a whisper.

"Hey Princey?" Someone called knocking on the door, it was most definitely Virgil by the tone of voice and nickname used. Both right brain traits stopped, practically holding their breath. Virgil knocked again. "Look I just wanna know if you have seen Patton."

Patton nearly moved to open the door, but crumbled in Roman's arms. They could hear a sigh before footsteps started to shuffle away. All at once they both breathed a heavy breath of relief. Patton started to laugh a little.

"What are we gonna do?" he asked. He sounded almost panicked, on the verge of tears himself. Prince placed his hand on Patton's shoulder causing him to stop laughing.

"We are you to act like we always have. They are still important to us."

"I know but it's like, all those happy feelings turned to-"

"Ash." Both looked at each other in surprise. They started laughing, letting it die down after a moment.

"We should get going, they probably already know something is up." Roman stood from the couch and made his way to unlock the door.

"Roman?"

"Yes Patton?"

"Thank you."

Roman nodded as he yanked open the door. Both traits made their way to the common area, immediately spotted by Logan. He stood from his spot next to Virgil on the couch and closed his book. Virgil noticed too and pulled his headphones off, turning to look at them. 'Here we go.' Roman thought as the conversation started. 'This is simple' He moved to the kitchen and started pulling out stuff to fix everyone lunch. Patton followed and started pulling out plates. 'Just don't look at Virgil.' he repeated. 'That's all I've gotta do.'