Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

    No one’s quite sure how Patton got his hands on the phrase. To the best of everyone’s knowledge, Patton had never actually watched Marie Kondo’s show.

    Logan was the first ‘victim.’ It had been a long, senseless day for Thomas, and the toll of ignoring logic throughout it had not fared well for Logan.

    In a physical stance (as physical as Logan could be as a figment of another’s personality), he was fine. It would take weeks of Thomas stubbornly refusing to be intelligent in any way to truly weaken him.

    Mentally, however, he was… also fine. Yes. He was fine. He was tired, but not exhausted enough as to affect his mental processes, he was not attempting to act in any way that could be perceived as illogical, and his ability to reason was still fully functioning.

Logan was careful to keep these factors in mind as his thought process veered into more negative territories. Though perhaps they were not as negative as he might have wished.

Today may have simply been one day, but the experience of being spoken over and ignored, pleasure and impulse being favored over rationality, was not a new one in any way. There had been days like this before. There would be days like this again.

Logan knew better than to try and duck out. Even without Virgil’s example to follow off of, he was well aware of the adverse effects to such an action. He was fairly certain his host would forget how to breathe without him. Or, worse, how to file his taxes.

No, Logan wouldn’t duck out. Instead, he would simply remain in his room more often. Of course, for important decisions, Logan would always take his figurative seat at the table, and he wasn’t going to ignore Thomas if he was summoned.

But there were plenty of instances where Logan had found it made very clear to him his presence was unwanted. Removing himself from those situations preemptively could be very beneficial to the overall happiness of Thomas and his fellow Sides.

The same rule would be favorable to be applied to non-decision making events as well, Logan decided. He had the decency to admit to himself that he would miss pointing out the logical fallacies in Disney movies with Virgil and Deceit, would miss baking with Patton that often produced more of a mess than a product, would miss being dragged into the Imagination by Roman and watching him bravely fight creatures that made as much sense as a four-sided penny.

But sometimes, sacrifices had to be made for the good of the host. A happy mindscape meant a happier mindset for Thomas, and if Logan removing himself from it allowed that to happen, than that was exactly what he would do.

There. Logical conclusion reached by a logical thinking process. Point A to point B. The fact that the thought of actually enacting that plan twisted his stomach unpleasantly was unimportant.

“-gan? Logan, can you hear me?”

Startled, Logan looked towards the sound of the voice he only now realized was calling him. He found the source to be Patton, who was standing a few feet from him, worried frown being replaced by a worried smile when he saw Logan had noticed him.

“Apologies, Patton, I was distracted by my thoughts.” Logan apologized automatically. “Ah, what were you saying to me?”

“Nothing, love, I just wanted to know what you were doing.” Patton replied. “You’ve been in here a while. I think you may be over-stirring your tea.”

Logan glanced down at his tea, one hand still mechanically moving the small spoon he had used to put the sugar in with around in a near-perfect circle. How long had he been stirring his tea? Better yet, how long had he been lost in his thoughts? “You can’t over-stir tea.” He said, ignoring his thoughts as he remembered Patton was standing right there.

“If you say so. I’m certainly no authori-tea on the matter!”

Logan wondered if he would miss Patton’s puns. Groaning while the other man grinned like he had just seen a puppy, he found it doubtful.

Still stirring, Logan started to head out of the kitchen, towards his room. He was fairly certain his interaction with Patton had reached an acceptable termination.

In response to his attempt to leave, however, Patton called out, “Where are you going, Lo?”

“To my room.” Logan didn’t stop his walk, heading into the hallway. He heard Patton’s persistent footsteps behind him.

“Don’t you normally like to have your tea in the Commons?”

“I have work that needs to be attended to. I simply wished to get a head start on it.”

Patton sighed. “Logan, please stop.”

Logan considered, for a moment, continuing his walk, fairly certain he could reach the safety of his room before Patton could catch him. However, the part of his mind that was illogically attempting to convince him his plan was a bad one won out in this matter, and Logan dutifully stopped and turned back to face Patton.

The moral side’s brow was creased in clear concern, eyes soft and searching. He took a few steps forward so that he was right in front of Logan, gently placing one hand on his cheek.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” He asked, quietly.

“Nothing.” Logan’s response was much too quickly given. He meant to leave it there- a simple, clean statement of fact. But Patton was still watching him, tenderly and so distressed, and he couldn’t help the extra words that tumbled out. “I have simply come to the lo-logical conclusion that the mindscape may benefit from some minor absences from me.”

He pretended not to notice how his voice broke on ‘logical.’

What Logan had hoped would put Patton at some ease did the opposite; Patton’s confused worry turning almost horrified. “That’s not logical at all!” He exclaimed. “Why- why would you think that? Is it because of today? Lo I’m so sorry, we didn’t listen to you at all, did we, I-”

“Patton, please, it is alright.” Logan interrupted, ceasing his stirring for a moment to take Patton’s hand off his cheek, holding it reassuringly for a moment before letting it drop back to Patton’s side and returning to unthinkingly, yet calmingly, stirring his tea. He was relatively sure if he allowed Patton’s hand to remain cupping his face he would lose the will to go through with his plan.

“But it isn't!” Patton protested. “Not if you want to isolate yourself in your room over it!”

“It is not a new occurrence.” Logan replied, as neutrally as he could manage. “I have simply taken the data available to me and determined that Thomas may benefit more from less of a logical approach to… to most aspects of his life. He certainly ignores logic enough…” Logan added, bitterly, under his breath.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Patton reached to cup Logan’s face again, this time with both hands. “I’ll admit that, me and the others, we’re not too logically inclined. We just get so caught up in the excitement of the extreme possibilities that we forget to think about what’s actually likely to happen. But that doesn’t mean we’re not Logan-ly inclined.”

“That doesn’t make any sens-” Patton moved one of his thumbs so it rested on Logan’s lips, silencing him.

“We may have a tendency to ignore your function, dearest, but that doesn’t mean we want to ignore you, and it certainly doesn’t mean we want you gone.” Patton smiled, only love in his expression. “You spark joy.”

Logan stopped stirring his tea.

The sentence was rudimentary, the concept behind it extremely simple and technically illogical. But the idea it put forth, paired with the adoring gaze Patton was still treating him too, was enough to break his resolve.

The realization of what he almost did, the moments he might have missed, and the possible toll it could have had on his loved ones brought at least one tear to his eye. Patton wiped it away immediately, cooing as he carefully took the now shaking tea cup from Logan’s hand and placed it on the ground, more occupied with Logan than it. He then shifted, wrapping an arm around Logan’s shoulder and holding him close as he lead him back towards the Commons.

“Y’know what I think we need?” Patton asked, still speaking quietly as he maneuvered them towards the couch. “A cuddle pile.”

“Doesn’t- doesn’t a cuddle pile require more than two participants?” Logan asked as Patton pulled him onto the couch, immediately wrapping himself around Logan.

“The others will come.” Patton said confidently before burrowing his head in Logan’s neck. “Now shhh. Cuddle piles are quiet piles.”

Logan quieted as ordered, closing his eyes and curling up just a little. Eventually, the others did join- even with his eyes closed, Logan could identify it was Roman who laid on Logan’s other side, wrapping his arms around both him and Patton; that it was Deceit who curled up near the top of the pile, not cuddling so much as he was comfortably present; and that it was Virgil who just flopped on top of all of them, apparently able to guess that Logan was the one most in need of comfort based on the fact that most of his body mass was pressed against Logan.

Despite what he might say about cuddle piles (his most scathing comment being they were ‘silly’ which absolutely none of his boyfriends took seriously), Logan did enjoy the feeling of security they provided. And right now, happily surrounded on all sides by a warmth that was somehow not oppressing or overpowering, Logan had never felt safer.

Or, for that matter, happier.

Chapter Text

Roman was next.

He had been in the Imagination, traveling the forests and fighting every beast he could successfully taunt into a battle. After taking out a surprisingly strong skeletal winged basilisk, he glanced up.

The sun was still high in the sky, sitting at roughly noon. Roman sighed and wiped his brow. He would have figured the day would be over by now. Then he could return to his loves, glorious, and hopefully, by then, brimming with ideas.

But not yet. He could go a few more hours, and then noon would be six, and he could leave feeling accomplished, and not like a failure. Not again.

There was a rustle in the bushes from behind him, and Roman swirled around, sword drawn quicker than the eye could follow. The rustling stopped, clearly having heard the audible swish of the weapon being pulled.

“Show yourself, fiend!” Roman called out valiantly. “Or are you a coward of the shadows?”

The bushes moved again, and Roman steadied his grip, only to find a felt paw stick out of them, waving as the rest of the person attached to it also came out. Roman sighed and lowered his sword as Patton brushed himself off, taking the cat paw off again.

“Sorry, padre, I wasn’t expecting you.” Roman said, pushing the sword into its sheath and plastering on charming smile. “May I inquire as to what has brought you around to my wonderous corner of Thomas’s mind?”

Patton came over to Roman while the creative side spoke, Roman surprised when he realized Patton was frowning, light bags under his eyes. His hand fell back on the hilt of his sword.

“Who’s hurt you?” He asked, voice tight. Was this his fault? Had a creature escaped the Imagination? Was that even possible? It didn’t matter- Patton was distressed, and he hadn’t been there to help, to defend him, what if the others were hurt? Some boyfriend he was-

“No one’s hurt me, Ro.” Patton assured him, pulling Roman out of his rapidly spiraling thoughts. “I’m just tired. And concerned.”

“Concerned?” Roman repeated. “Whatever about?”

“You.”

“Me? Why would you be concerned about me?” Roman asked, confused.

Patton’s frown deepened. “Roman… you’ve been gone for two days. We haven’t heard so much as a single Disney song coming from your room, and you haven’t shown up to any meals… we thought you had gotten hurt out here.”

“Two… two days?” Roman said, slowly. Patton nodded. Roman glanced at the sky again, sun unmoved. “But- but that’s impossible, the sun hasn’t set once-”

“I think your sun’s broken, darling.” Patton replied. “It’s seven pm in the real world right now.”

“Seven pm?” Roman glanced once more at the sun, but it didn’t change to reflect the proper time. “No- I- that can’t be-”     “But it is.” Patton reached out slowly, going to grab Roman’s shoulder. “Roman, I-”

Roman flinched away before Patton could hold him, however, still watching the sky. His eyes widened a moment later and he stumbled backwards, turning from Patton as he dug his fingers into his hair.

How could he forget? The sun of the Imagination didn’t track time in the real world- it tracked how far he had gotten on the work he needed to do. The sun only set when he had quested enough, gathered enough ideas, to be truly worthy of going home.

Two days. He had been here two days and he had barely gotten half of what he needed. And his boyfriends, bless their souls, had gotten worried where he was, worried about him , a failure at the only thing he was supposed to be good at. Why were they worried? Shouldn’t they be ashamed of him? Maybe even happy he was busy and gone? Why would they be worried about such a disappointment-

“Roman!”

Roman opened his eyes, unaware of when he had shut them. At some point he had also fallen to his knees, Patton kneeling before him, holding his hands to keep them away from his hair. Patton was more worried looking then before, and Roman could have sworn he saw tears at the corners of his eyes.

Just like him. To bring the happiest, kindest of his boyfriends to tears.

“I-I apologize, again, Patton, I don’t know what-”

“Roman, honey, what’s wrong?” Patton interrupted him, his own voice sounding rough, as if he was ready to cry.

Me . Roman bit back his first response. “Nothing, dearheart.” Roman replied instead, hoping he didn’t sound too fake.

Patton shook his head. “Please, baby, don’t- don’t lie to me. Something’s hurting you.”

“It’s… it’s fine, Pat, I’m fine.” Roman tried again, this time attempting to pull his hands from Patton’s grasp. The other wouldn’t let go, however.

“Roman.” Patton said, firmly. He still looked worried, but a new emotion had also arisen- dedicated resolve. “I know you’re hiding something, and whatever it is, I promise you, you can tell me. I just want to help you.”

Roman sniffed. When did he start getting teary-eyed and snot-nosed? “You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to.”

“You shouldn’t want to either!” Roman replied, a little hysterically, Patton’s grip tightening in response.

“Why shouldn’t I want to help you?” Patton asked, gently. “Please, Ro, why wouldn’t I want to help you?”

Roman took a breath, trying, and mostly failing, to prepare himself for however Patton would respond. He nodded his head upwards, drawing Patton’s attention to the sun. “That- that sun doesn’t track the day.”

“What does it track?”

He took another barely helpful breath. “My progress. I-in here, in what I still need to fight so that I’ll- I’ll have enough good ideas to be, to be…”

“To be what?” Patton pushed as Roman trailed off.

Roman looked down, refusing to meet his love’s eyes as he said, almost low enough the other didn’t hear him, “To be worthy of you.”

Patton made a pained noise, and Roman flinched again, moving to pull away, run into the forest, and probably never return, but Patton still wasn’t letting go.

“Worthy of us?” Patton said, hesitantly, as if he didn’t believe it. “You- you don’t have to do anything to be worthy of us. Why would you even think-”

“Because I’m failing at the one thing I have to do!” Roman snapped, eyes still on the ground, the energy he put into that exclamation gone as quickly as it had come. “I-I’m Creativity, I have one job, and-and I can’t even do half of it within two days- two days - and I’m-I’m failing Thomas, and I’m fa-failing you, and Virgil, and Lo-gan, and D-Deceit and you all ju-just don’t deserve that, shou-shouldn’t have to d-d-deal with such a scr-screw-up, and-”

Roman didn’t get any further before Patton was tugging him against his chest, wrapping him in the biggest hug he could manage. Roman didn’t have enough energy to fight him; instead wrapping his own arms around Patton in what must have been a loose hold at best, sobbing in a rather undignified manner into Patton’s shoulder.

“You’re not a screw-up, Roman.” Patton said unquestionably, resting his head on top of Roman’s and rubbing circles into his back. “And you’re not ‘failing’ anyone. Creativity… creativity isn’t always easy. You can’t expect to come back everyday with as many ideas as the last, and trying to is just hurting you.”

“But I don’t- I don’t even have one idea-” Roman started, quickly cut off as Patton pressed a gentle kiss to his forehead.

“And that’s alright too.” Patton assured him. “Sometimes you’ll be overflowing with neat ideas, and other times you won’t have any. And that’s okay. What isn’t okay is locking yourself in here until you’ve reached your self-imposed goal. Working like this- you might just get stuck here forever. And I know four people who would be very, very upset if that happened.”

Roman cracked a small smile at this. “Oh, really?” He asked, managing to sound playful despite how rough his voice was.

Patton smiled as well. “Yes! We’ve all been missing our dashing, valiant prince.” Patton told him brightly, his voice turning just a touch more sincere as he added. “You spark joy, honey, and we’ve missed that so, so much.”

Roman finally raised his head from Patton’s shoulder at this, finding not only the moral side smiling affectionally at him, but also that the sky was dark, the sun replaced with hundreds of pin-prick stars.

“The sun’s gone.” Patton commented unnecessarily, still not looking away from Roman. “That means you can come home now, yeah?”

Feeling a small spark of his creative confidence, Roman’s smile grew as he held Patton’s face in his hands. “What do you mean the sun is gone, my sweet? He’s right here.” Patton giggled. “And, as they say, the home is where the heart is. So, my dear heart, I suppose I am already home.”

Patton giggled again, smile only getting brighter, and, well, Roman really was helpless to do anything other than kiss him, both of them ignoring the barely dried tear tracks on their faces, instead focusing on the sweetness of the kiss, tasting like cotton candy and fairy dust.

They pulled away after a moment, Patton still wearing a smile radiant enough to challenge any star. Roman was certain his own was only a little dimmer.

“Thank you, Patton.” Roman said earnestly.

“No problem, my precious prince.” Patton replied, standing up as he did so. He offered a hand to Roman. “Ready to get out of here?”

Roman barely hesitated before he took the hand. “I suppose it would be a crime to deprive the others of their most magnificent boyfriend.” He said, genuinely confident, allowing Patton to pull him up.

They left the Imagination together, Roman not giving a second thought to the ideas he might have left behind.

Chapter Text

Virgil had been in his room, wrapped up in every blanket he owned when Patton came at him with his new favorite catchphrase.

Thomas was at a convention, which already had all the sides on alert if Thomas needed to make a quick decision. Virgil felt like he was on triple alert, trying not to think of everything that could happen despite being incredibly unlikely.

The worst part was how cut off Virgil was. His room was designed to contain anxiety, which meant the best place he could be for Thomas was in it. And while he would never do something to purposefully hurt his host, it sucked that he couldn’t be sprawled in the Commons, annoying Princey or debating Logan or doing anything to keep his mind off the stress.

He was in the middle of desperately trying (and failing) to convince himself that the chance of the fifteen year old who just said hi wanting to kill Thomas was practically nonexistent when he heard a series of knocks at the door.

“Who is it?” He more grumbled than called out.

“Patton!”

Virgil hesitated before flicking his hand. The door swung open, revealing Patton in the doorway carrying a covered tray. He came in, closing the door behind him before taking a seat next to Virgil on his bed.

“Heya, love.” Patton said, placing the tray down to the side before reaching forward, pushing past the blankets so that he could run his fingers through Virgil’s hair. The motion was calming, and Virgil leaned into it. “How are you doing?”

“Mmfine.” Virgil hummed in response. It wasn’t a complete lie. Having Patton there was definitely improving his mood. He was now pretty sure the fifteen year old was only looking to heavily embarrass Thomas, not kill him.

Patton frowned a little, seeing past just Virgil’s answer. “I wish you didn’t have to be stuck up here the entire time.”

Virgil shrugged. “I’m used to it.”

“Still.” Patton said apologetically before smiling. “I know you don’t want me to stay with you, so I brought you a replacement me!”

“A… replacement you…?”

Patton’s smile grew as he pulled the tray in between him and Virgil, pulling its cover off with his free hand. Inside were short piles of pancakes, shaped like smiley faces and hearts and one lumpy stormcloud.

“They’re Patton-cakes!” Patton said energetically. “They’ll remind you I’m rooting for you, even if I’m not here! Well, until you eat them anyways…”

Virgil chuckled. “Isn’t it a little late for pancakes?”

“Maybe so.” Patton replied, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. “But Patton-cakes are good at any time of the day! At least, I hope they will be. I think I cooked them through-”

Virgil frowned when he realized what was happening. He gently untangled Patton’s hand from his hair, instantly missing the warmth, but knowing the currently faint bags underneath Patton’s eyes would only get worse the longer he was in there.

“I’m sure they’ll be great, Pat.” Virgil assured him, pulling the tray a little closer to him to illustrate his point. “But you should probably rejoin the others now.”

“Are you sure? Patton asked, the eyeshadow darkening as he looked harder at Virgil. “You’ll be all alone- and I won’t be able to help you- or-”

Virgil reached out a hand to grab one of Patton’s, smiling as reassuringly as he could. “I’ll call you if I need something, promise. Can you please leave, though? For me?”

Patton hesitated a moment before nodding. He got off the bed, pausing for a moment to pull a fork out of his pocket it and carefully handing it to Virgil, smiling a touch nervously as he did so.

He had gotten to the doorway when Virgil asked, “Oh, uh, Patton, do you have any maple syrup on you…?”

Patton turned to look back at Virgil, smile brighter now that he was technically over the threshold of Virgil’s room. “Check under the stormcloud.” He answered in stage whisper before closing the door and heading off.

Virgil fondly rolled his eyes before moving the stormcloud over, finding a small tupperware filled with syrup underneath. There was a little sticky note attached to the lid, as well:

You spark joy! :)

Virgil’s little smile grew wider, carefully placing the note next to him and out of the possible mess zone as he started pouring the syrup.

And if he kept one of the smiley face pancakes uneaten, sitting to the side with the note until Thomas got home and he was able to flop into the Commons and demand cuddles from all of his boyfriends, then that could be his little secret.

Chapter Text

Deceit had been the last to be caught.

He had been sulking in his room, angry, disappointed, and a little hurt. Thomas had called him and the other sides to help him figure out the problem of the day- what to tell the fans that the most recently promised video was a week late.

Thomas and Virgil had been on edge, worried that if they told the truth- that Thomas had just been feeling rather tired and unproductive all week- the fans would get angry. Roman, Logan, and Patton were all happy to assure Thomas that wasn’t true, but given they didn’t seem as concerned about the matter as Virgil was, Deceit thought the idea of telling the fans he had been stuck pet-sitting for the week- not entirely untrue; he had been petting sitting one day, and he had pictures if the fans really demanded proof- was a fairly reasonable one.

Given the disappointment from Patton, the offended shock from Roman, and the accidentally mean lack of understanding from Logan, apparently it wasn’t. At least Virgil had seemed to like the idea.

By the end of their talk, Thomas had decided to stick with the truth, and even Virgil seemed satisfied with the choice. Deceit just bit the inside of his cheek and waited until an acceptable time to sink out.

It wasn’t like he needed to have the chosen idea every time. And Thomas and the other sides had been gradually getting better at accepting the necessity of him and his function. But days like this never failed to remind him exactly how they saw him in the end.

And Deceit knew that was cruel, especially given he was dating four of the five buffoons, and despite all the lies they might tell their love for him had never been one. But his suggestion had been shot down particularly harshly today and he wasn’t feeling all that reasonable.

Which was why he had not been expecting to see Patton in the doorway, quietly knocking on the open door to announce his presence.

“What do you want?” Deceit spat. Patton flinched slightly at the tone but remained looking at him.

“I wanted to check on you.” Patton answered, glancing down the hall before asking, “Can I come in?”

Deceit shrugged, and Patton took it as a sign he was alright to enter. He came over to where Deceit was sitting on his bed, waiting a moment before taking a seat next to him when he wasn’t told not to. Deceit focused on the opposite wall.

“How’re you doing, Dee?” Patton asked, quietly.

Deceit didn’t bother to keep the sarcastic bite out of his tone when he replied, “Peachy keen.”

Patton sighed. “I want to apologize-”

“There’s no need.” Deceit lied. “It’s my fault, really, for thinking you might actually give my idea even just a chance. ”

He felt a little bad when Patton flinched again, but he didn’t try to take the words back.

“That’s what I came to apologize for.” Patton said, waiting a beat for Deceit to interrupt again before continuing, “We were harsh. I was harsh. Your opinions and ideas for how Thomas should deal with a situation, especially one like this, are just as valuable as any of ours. Even if we- even if I didn’t like the idea of lying to Thomas’s fans, shooting your idea down like I did wasn’t fair to you, and it wasn’t a very responsible way to respond to it, and I’m truly sorry for that Dee.”

Deceit shifted his gaze from the wall to the floor, itching at the back of his neck. “It’s alright, Patton. I know you don’t like lying-”

“I don’t.” Patton agreed, cutting him off. “But it doesn’t excuse how I reacted to your suggestion. We’re all supposed to be a team, and part of being a team is compromise. Your idea was really good, especially how it calmed Virgil, and refusing to even entertain it on the premise of always being honest wasn’t even close to being a good teammate. I’m… I’m not trying to excuse what I did, and you don’t have to either. I was in the wrong, and I just wanted to apologize for that.”

Deceit finally looked at Patton, the moral side smiling sadly. He searched his face for a moment, wondering if he’d find that Patton had been lying, but his expression was only open and genuine. 

“I… thanks, Pat.” Deceit settled on after a pause. Patton’s smile grew a bit, and he gave Deceit a brief kiss on his human cheek before getting up and heading for the door. He paused before he left, turning back towards Deceit.

“I’m going to guess you still want some space, but if you want to join us at any point, me and the others are going to be Disney marathoning in the Commons.” Patton said, before chuckling. “Although at some point it might just turn into a sleepy cuddle pile. Virgil’s already out.”

Deceit smiled at the mental image. “I’ll keep it in mind.” He said, already planning to join them in exactly nine minutes, to establish that he was still brooding but willing to be social.

Patton smiled like he had already seen through Deceit’s plan. “Alright. Oh, and Deceit?”

“Yes?”

“You spark joy.” Patton said happily before finally walking down the hall. Deceit felt his human cheek heat up.

Maybe he’d join them in eight minutes.

Chapter Text

“You guys all spark joy. Did- did you know that? You all spark SO MUCH joy and-and you could NEVER stop sparking j-joy for me-”

Roman wrapped his arms around Patton, holding him tightly despite the tears in his own eyes. “We know, sweetling.”

Virgil hugged Patton from behind, ignoring his running eyeshadow as he added, “Don’t worry, Pat, it’s alright.”

On the other half of the couch, Logan frowned and commented to Deceit, “Patton is aware that we take more after Riley’s unforgettable emotions than her imaginary friend she hasn’t thought about in roughly a decade, is he not?”

“He is.” Deceit answered, voice choked. Logan glanced over at him in mild confusion.

“Are you crying?”

“ No .”

Logan sighed before placing an arm around Deceit’s shoulders, patting the other’s arm. “It’s alright. Emotional responses are often illogical.”

Roman glanced over from where he was comforting Patton, frowning before yelling, “How are you not crying Logan?! A man is dead!”

“Technically, Bing-Bong is only a figurative construct of Riley’s imagination.” Logan corrected, using his non-Deceit-comforting hand to adjust his glasses. “I do not believe he is a man at all, actually, given he is an animal hybrid.”

Roman gasped while Virgil covered Patton’s ears. “How could you say such things!?”

“I am simply reiterating the facts as the movie has presented them to us.”

“Bing-Bong doesn’t deserve this disrespect.” Virgil added, frowning at Logan, who looked more amused by what was happening than anything.

“Actually, considering he outlived his usefulness to Riley a while ago, Bing-Bong doesn’t really deserve to be in this movie-”

“And we are switching to puppy videos!” Roman declared, barely having to blink before the screen changed to a video of a swarm of puppies rushing at the screen.

“We haven’t even finished the movie yet.” Logan pointed out.

“We’ll finish it later when we’re less emotionally unbalanced.” Roman replied before burying his face in Patton’s hair.

“If you can’t see the screen it defeats the purpose of putting on puppy videos.”

Roman didn’t respond outside of a muffled response into Patton’s head, the still teary-eyed moral side giggling.

“Puppies spark joy.” Patton mumbled before looking over at Deceit and Logan, freeing his hands from Roman and Virgil’s lovingly crushing embrace to make grabby hands at them. “Cuddles spark even more joy.”

“You already have Virgil and Roman.” Logan pointed out, even though he and Deceit were already scooting over to pile in.

“I know.” Patton responded, cheerfully wiggling as Logan and Deceit joined, creating a circle of arms around him. “But cuddling all my boyfriends brings the most joy.”

Roman ‘awwww’-ed in response. Virgil, Logan, and Deceit all rolled their eyes at their romantically emotional boyfriends.

But they also blushed and buried themselves deeper in the cuddle pile, so maybe they weren’t as immune to those emotions as they pretended to be.

Chapter Text

It was a bad morning.

No reason for it, which is what annoyed Patton the most. Thomas was happy, the other sides were happy, he had been happy when he went to bed the night before- everything and everyone was fine.

Everyone except for him.

He had woken up feeling immediately like burnt pancakes, and the fifteen minutes he spent pep talking himself out of bed had turned out to be for naught when he ended up just dropping onto the floor, leaning his back against his bed. He didn’t even have the energy to stand. Wasn’t that just sad .

Patton felt tears prick at the corner of his eyes, too tired to even reach up and wipe them away before they were running down his cheeks. He knew he had to get up soon, had to clean his face and get outside before someone questioned his absence.

But in the moment, the effort needed to so much as shuffle towards the bathroom seemed monumental. Patton let his head sag against his bed. He’d give himself five minutes, five minutes to cry and sit and be a useless mess, and then he’d pull himself together and face the day.

Except five minutes turned into ten, then twenty, then forty, and before Patton really knew it an hour had gone by, and he was still as ready to stand up as he had been when he woke up. He wondered if the cold floor was seeping what little energy he had along with his warmth, since by the time he could hear knocking at the door he couldn’t even be bothered to call out to tell them he was fine.

Maybe he just didn’t have the strength to lie.

Eventually the knocking died away, shortly followed by Virgil sticking his head in.

“Pat? Pat are you-” Virgil stopped talking when he spotted Patton on the floor, silently crying and watching Virgil with empty eyes.

Virgil entered the room fully, coming to crouch in front of Patton, smiling sympathetically. “Bad morning?”

Patton managed a nod. Virgil nodded with him, slowly reaching out to cradle Patton’s face, gently wiping the tears away.

“Well, you can’t stay in here.” He said after a moment. “Otherwise the sad emotions will just keep getting amplified. How long have you been up?”

Patton half-heartedly shrugged. “An hour, maybe?”

There’s a flash of more serious worry in Virgil’s expression, gone in a moment as he continued to offer Patton a small smile. “Yeah, we need to get you out of here. Can I assume you don’t want to walk…?”

“I don’t want to move.”

“You know I’d do almost anything for you, Pat, but I really need to get you out of here.” Virgil replied, glancing uneasily around the room. “It’s already too sad in here I guess. And that’s not just because I’m here.”

Virgil glanced back at Patton, expecting the moral side to threaten to physically fight him for bad talking himself. Patton didn’t say anything, however, and Virgil sighed.

“Really bad.” He said, more to himself than Patton. He worried his lip for a moment, wondering what to do, before he got an idea. He moved a hand to brush through Patton’s hair, hoping it would have the same calming effect it did with him, before saying, “Hey, Patton?”

“What?” Patton mumbled after a second.

“You spark joy.” Virgil said, pressing a light kiss to Patton’s head after he said it. When he pulled back, he noticed to his delight that Patton seemed more aware of his surroundings, now actually focusing on Virgil, even if his eyes were more watery than they had been a moment ago.

“There’s my Pattoncake.” Virgil murmured. “Do you mind if we leave now, Pat?”

“No, but I- Virge, I don’t think-”

“Shhhh.” Still carding fingers through Patton’s hair, Virgil glanced towards the door, which he had left ajar. “Princey! Get in here!”

The sound of running feet was heard almost immediately, getting louder as they approached the door, dying off as Roman skidded to a stop in the doorway, sword drawn.

“WHAT HAS DARED TO AIL YO- Oh.” Roman quieted when he saw Virgil and Patton, sheathing his sword.

“My dashing prince.” Virgil drawled.

“I thought you were being attacked.” Roman replied as he came to crouch on the other side of Patton. He took one of Patton’s hands and tenderly kissed the back of it, before saying to Patton, “I see now what ails you is not something to be fought with swords.”

“Mind carrying him to the Commons for me? It’ll be better if he’s somewhere a little more joyful .” Virgil stressed the last word, going as far as to wink at Roman, hoping he would understand.

Roman winked back before responding, “Ah, but Virgil, with someone who sparks as much joy as our dear sunbeam here, anywhere we go is joyful!” He exclaimed, getting a small smile from Patton. He also managed to elicit a little giggle when he scooped Patton up, spinning him around twice as he headed towards the Commons. Virgil rolled his eyes at Roman’s dramatics as he followed, but there was a smile tugging at his lips he didn’t bother to cover.

Up ahead, Roman had just missed running straight into Logan, who jumped back into the kitchen, grumbling about almost spilling his coffee before he registered Patton was in Roman’s arms. He set the mug down on the nearest counter, coffee forgotten as he followed them into the Commons.

He found Roman collapsed on the couch, Patton on his lap and leaning against his chest. Logan noticed the tear tracks on Patton’s face, momentarily stopping him in his tracks. He was standing just behind the couch when Virgil joined him.

“What has distressed Patton?” Logan asked, eyes still on his boyfriends on the couch.

“Bad vibes in his room.” Virgil responded. He nudged Logan towards the couch. “You should go tell him he sparks joy.”

Logan glanced at Virgil, clearly unsure how that sentiment was going to help, but Virgil just nodded towards Patton again.

Hesitantly, Logan walked around the couch, taking a seat beside Roman. He pulled his legs up so he was sitting crisscross, turning so he was facing Patton and taking the moral side’s hands firmly in his own.

“Good morning, C12H22O11.” Logan said quietly. “Are you aware that you cause reactions in the brain that release chemicals such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins?”

Patton’s small smile turned into a confused frown. “Honey, you know I love your science-y talk, but-”

“It means you spark joy.” Logan interrupted, hoping to bring the little smile back. He succeeded, Patton’s smile a little wider than before as he lunged (or more flopped) from Roman’s lap into Logan’s, the logical side quickly letting go of Patton’s hands to catch him.

Patton pulled himself up to rest his chin on Logan’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around Logan’s back. Logan did the same after a moment, chuckling a little as he noticed Roman was pouting.

“No fair!” He said, voice more playful than childish. “I was hugging him!”

“You can keep hugging him if you’re not a coward.” Virgil pointed out, sliding over the back of the couch to land beside Logan and Patton, wrapping his arms around both of them. “Tada.”

“Are you calling me a coward, dearest stormcloud?”

“I guess it depends on whether or not you are one.”

Roman dramatically gasped. “Never let it be said that Prince Roman was a coward!” He declared before flinging himself into the group hug. He placed his head on Patton’s shoulder, pressing little kisses to the other’s cheek.

Patton giggled a little before asking, “Where’s Dee?”

Virgil glanced towards the hall. “I think he’s still asleep. I can go get him if you want me to.”

Patton shook his head, though his mood seemed to have damped. “No, it’s fine. I’ve got you three. I’m good.”

His boyfriends exchanged disbelieving glances, seemingly ready to get Deceit anyways, when a voice spoke up from in front of the couch, “I was called?”

Craning their heads as they needed to, the sides found Deceit slouching where he stood, blinking tiredly. He was wearing pajama pants with little snakes printed all over them and a ridiculously oversized yellow sweater Patton had knitted him for Christmas.

“You shouldn’t lie to yourself so early, Patton.” Deceit chided lightly.

“It’s ten.” Logan pointed out.

“Too early.” Deceit replied, yawning as he ran a hand through his messy hair. “It’s also incredibly rude to have a boyfriend hug without all your boyfriends.”

“You going to come and join it, then?” Roman asked, almost as if it was a dare.

Deceit more or less stumbled the few steps he needed to take to actually reach the couch, slumping into the hug. He rested his arms over Roman’s and Logan’s shoulders, lying his head on Patton’s free shoulder.

Patton smiled and pressed a little kiss to Deceit’s forehead. “Good morning, sweetheart.”

“Good morning, love.” Deceit replied, lifting his head for just a moment to return the forehead kiss. “Do you know why we’re having a group hug at such an outrageous hour?”

“I felt sad.” Patton answered.

Deceit’s head fell back down to rest on Patton’s shoulder. “That doesn’t seem very fair of the universe. You already spark so much joy for it. It really shouldn’t be giving you bad feelies.”

Patton’s smile grew to a grin at Deceit’s sleepy words. Virgil scoffed. “Bad feelies?”

“I’m tired; lay off.”

“I do not think you have the higher ground in this matter, Virgil.” Logan added. “Considering you told me Patton’s room was giving off bad vibes.”

“Bad vibes?!” Roman repeated, grinning at a now looking extremely annoyed Virgil.

“Shut it, Princey.”

“Make me.”

Virgil leaned his head over Patton and caught Roman in a kiss before the other could move. He pulled away after a moment, smirking when he saw Roman’s expression had frozen, cheeks steadily turning red. “Aw, I broke him.”

“Darn.” Deceit said, glancing at Roman. “I liked that one.”

“Hey, guys, I think I know a way to fix Ro.” Patton spoke up, the others immediately quieting to listen. “Disney movies.”

“For a moment there, I thought you were going to say true love’s kiss.” Logan admitted, sounding relieved.

Patton turned his head around to look at the starting-to-splutter Roman. “That’s what broke him. Disney will fix him.”

“If you insist.” Logan said, though he didn’t sound very annoyed. “Who’s going to get up and fetch the remote?”

Roman, slightly out of his stupor, snapped his fingers in response. The tv turned on, playing Maleficent. He rolled his eyes at the stares he got from Virgil and Logan. “You guys were just talking about true love’s kiss!”

“I’m just surprised you didn’t go for the original, Princey.”

“The true love’s kiss in this film makes much more sense.” Roman defended.

“The concept of any true love’s kiss is-” Before Logan could finish his own thought, Deceit cut him off, saying,

“Guysssss, as much as I love boyfriend hug, it’ssss not very great for movie watching.” He pointed out, slurring his ‘s’s. Realizing that, in their current positions, Deceit couldn’t see the screen and Patton was forced to crane his neck to do so, they all quickly shuffled into a new configuration.

Patton was lying across the couch, his head in Virgil’s lap while the anxious side carded his fingers through Patton’s hair. Deceit was curled up next to Patton, falling asleep within minutes of lying down and using Patton’s chest to try and hide his face in while he slept. Near Patton's feet, Roman and Logan were sitting with each other, quietly debating what Logan deemed the ‘nonsensical’ logic of the film.

“Hey, Virgil?”

Virgil looked down at Patton, his fingers still running through the moral side’s hair. “Yeah?”

Patton turned his head so he was actually looking up at Virgil, smiling sincerely. “Thanks for getting me out of my room. This all… this all sparks a lot of joy.”

Virgil returned Patton’s smile with a gentle one, leaning down to press a little kiss to Patton’s nose, happy when Patton’s smile got even brighter.

“It’s what you do for all of us.” Virgil responded. “You deserve to get just as much joy as you give.”

Patton smiled the biggest he had all day before turning back towards the TV, more than happy to spend the day surrounded by people who never failed to spark joy for him, and for who he’d never stop sparking joy for.