#fae!patton

    “Dude, come on, I need this.”

    “Do not ‘dude’ me. There are plenty of other rings in the forest.”

    “Yeah, but I already found this one. You don’t have to hog it.”

    “I found this one first.”

    “Oh, wow, so special. Now, can I use the damn ring and get this over with? I have a maths final tomorrow I need to study for.”

    Logan huffed, crossing his arms. He was currently standing between the ring and the college student- who had introduced himself as Virgil- who apparently needed to interact with a fae as part of his senior final in ‘myths and magics.’ Logan knew the assignment (he had taken the same class just two years ago, after all), so he wasn’t completely surprised to learn of Virgil’s reason to be out there.

    The problem came in the fact that Virgil refused to find another ring to get his credits in. The fae were notoriously shifty, sly creatures. It was possible that whichever fae came to this ring would be willing to entertain two humans right after each other… but it was also possible the fae would suspect a trick and leave after only talking to one of them.

    Logan had been preparing for this chance to study the fae closer, ask them a few questions, and etc. for a while now, and now that he was here, he didn’t feel particularly inclined to once more reschedule. He didn’t want to go through all his measuring and tests of the ring again, either, which meant he was going to stick with this one, thank you very much.

    “Why don’t you just come back tomorrow? Or later?”

    “Did you not hear me say ‘maths final’?” Virgil asked, annoyed. “I have to study later, and this thing is due tomorrow anyways.”

    “Then why didn’t you handle it sooner?!”

    “I’m lazy. Sue me. Most of the time, fae circles aren’t being claimed by some uptight self-important nerd.”

    Before Logan could respond to that, likely with a snap of his own, there was the sound of rustling and crunching leaves. Both Logan and Virgil looked towards the noise, and after a moment someone walked into their sight, having up until then been hidden by the trees. He was dressed up, wearing pressed black slacks, a white button-up, and a velvet red jacket. He was also carrying a bouquet of roses and a jar of honey.

    The well-dressed man was smiling to himself, looking very self-assured, though the grin dropped when he saw Logan and Virgil. “Who are you?” He asked, glancing between the two of them.

    “Virgil. Stressed and depressed college student just trying to finish my homework.”

    “Logan. I’m a scientist studying the fae, and I got here first.” He glared at Virgil as he stressed the ‘first.’

    “O-kay then.” Roman said, clearly confused by the two’s distaste for each other. “I’m Roman.”

    “Yeah, hi, great to meet you.” Virgil deadpanned, turning from Logan to stare down Roman. “Why are you here? Come to seduce the fae?”

    Roman straightened up at that, tilting his chin up as his grin returned and he said, “Why, yes, actually.”

    Logan turned to look at Roman now, expression quickly shifting into one of disbelief. “You’re not serious.”

    “I’m more serious than Maleficent's curse upon the princess Aurora.” Roman answered, sounding miffed at the thought that he was joking. “Why else would I have come in such glory?”

    “Got lost on your way to the wannabe princes convention?” Virgil suggested, eliciting an offended gasp from Roman.

    “Bold words from a rejected My Chemical Romance member.” Roman snapped back.

    Logan pinched the bridge of his nose. “Would you two mind taking this elsewhere? I have work to do.”

    “Nice try, pocket protector, but I ain’t letting this ring out of my sight.” Virgil said, once more looking at the researcher. “I need to do my final and I am NOT letting you mess that up just because you got here first or whatever.”

    “If you hadn’t put off your work this long, we wouldn’t be in this situation.” Logan replied. “It’s not my responsibility to let you waste all of my day’s work just because you couldn’t be bothered to come here a week earlier.”

    “Wait- you guys both need this ring, too?” Roman asked, roses and honey jar drooping as he lowered his hands. “Cause I kinda need it to reach my new sweetheart…”

    “You haven’t even met them yet.” Virgil pointed out.

    “I’m too charming to be turned down.” Roman replied defensively before awkwardly looking to the side. “Plus it’s a fae, they tend to like taking random humans away forever, so I feel like my chances here are pretty good.”

    “Uh huh.” Virgil said. “Well, doesn’t matter. You can’t use this ring, because I need it.”

    “So do I!” Logan exclaimed. “And I was here first!”

    “Girls, girls, you’re both pretty.” Roman said, stepping around the circle so that he could stand between Logan and Virgil. “Seriously. If this thing with the fae don’t work, hit me up. One of you. Both of you. I am single and very ready to mingle.”

    “Are you going to find a point any time soon?” Logan questioned.

    “Why can’t we just share the circle?” Roman asked. When he was met with stares of bewilderment and annoyance, he explained, “It’s a decently sized ring, so it can definitely hold all of us, and it’ll give us all a chance to talk with a fae without risking them running off before we all get a turn.”

    “That’s…” Logan paused, thinking before he finished, albeit reluctantly, “not an entirely awful idea.”

    “I mean… I just need to interact with the fae.” Virgil said slowly. “And this would be interacting.”

    “And I could still ask all my questions.” Logan added.

    “And when you two are done, I can seduce and woo them!” Roman enthused. “And then they’ll take me away to fairyland, or we’ll just talk into the night, or something, but whatever happens they’ll be so focused on me you two can make a get-away!”

    Logan frowned. “You really are set on being more or less kidnapped by a close to all-powerful being, huh?”

    “It’s not kidnapping if I let them take me away.” Roman corrected. “Plus, fae are hella pretty, and I am hella in need of a partner as lovely as me.”

    “And yet you said you’d date one of us.” Virgil said, smiling cynically.

    “That’s because you, dearest killjoy, are absolutely exquisite.”

    “I was trying to say you’re ugly.”

    Roman gasped in offense while Logan furrowed his brow. “You know that, by saying that, you have called myself and yourself ugly as well?”

    Virgil finger-gunned at Logan. “Yep.”

    Having gotten over his indignation, Roman glared at Virgil. “Just for that, I’m going to woo you so hard within six months you’ll be too busy thinking about our wedding to insult yourself OR our other fiancé, the nerd.”

    Logan blinked at Roman. “You’ve known us for less than five minutes.”

    “You’re pretty and I’m gay. This was bound to happen sooner or later, so I just decided to make it sooner.” Roman said by way of explanation. “Now, who’s ready to summon a being so powerful they could force us to dance until our feet fell off just by knowing our name?!”

    “When you put it like that, I want to say never.” Virgil responded, taking a step away from Roman before he sighed and continued, “Though I guess if I don’t want four years of college to go to waste…”

    “I am ready as soon as you two are.” Logan said curtly. This wasn’t the best of circumstances, being forced to ‘share’ the fae he’d be talking to, but it was better than having to either fight for the right to go first or go another day.

    “Great!” Roman moved away from the two as he spoke, coming to stand across from them, at the edge of the circle. He gestured at them. “Spread yourselves out a bit, make an even circle here.”

    Begrudgingly, Logan and Virgil did as they were told, shifting so that all three of them were roughly the same distance away from each other, all standing right at the edge of the fairy ring. Once they were positioned, the group looked around at each other.

    “Count of three?” Roman suggested and, being met with no objections, began, “One… two… three!”

    Roman hopped into the circle on the three while Logan and Virgil simply stepped in. They stood in place for a moment, completely silent, waiting for something to happen.

    “Maybe it doesn’t work with more than one?” Logan suggested after the silence had stretched, in his opinion, too long without any sign of unearthly life.

    “Don’t tell me we still have to fight over who…” Virgil trailed off as he looked down, finally noticing that the sprouts were swaying to a nonexistent breeze. “Alright, that’s weird.”

    Logan looked down at Virgil’s comment. “If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say that the ring still functions with three people.” Logan commented.

    “I think I second that.” Roman said, though his voice was more awed than it really should be over some strangely moving plants. Logan looked back up, going to ask Roman if he had seen something else, when the question was answered for him.

    Because swirling in the exact middle of the circle was a mini-tornado. It was picking up the leaves directly around it, but it never picked up any of the leaves just outside of the ring. As the three of them watched, the tornado went faster and faster until it was impossible to see into or through it. Then, suddenly, the tornado fell apart, the wind blowing outwards and forcing the three humans to look away.

    When they turned back, their group was one of four.

    Standing where the tornado had been was a being that easily had a foot over all of them, likely more. While they seemed proportionate, all their limbs were slightly too long, making them look simultaneously lanky and terrifying. Their skin was pale to the point it might have been worrying were it not for the fact that it glowed, very slightly, like the first rays of morning sun. Their long hair, which gleamed like gold, was pulled into multiple braids that fell over their shoulders and were littered with forget-me-nots. Complemented by bright blue eyes, a dazzling smile, and pristine, flowing white robes, their overall appearance was ethereal.

    They were facing Logan at the moment, carefully looking him over. “Hello there!” They greeted, their voice high-pitched, making their words sound like they had been spoken by the ringing of silver bells.

    For the briefest moment, Logan suddenly had the urge to forego his entire experiment, his entire reason for being there, to simply tell the fae his name and disappear into their world forever. He had to shake his head to refocus himself, shifting his gaze from the fae’s eyes to their chin.

    “Hello.” He replied mildly, wanting neither to antagonize the fae or to react overly positive to them. 

    They didn’t reply for a moment, still just looking Logan over. When Logan started to shift in place, uncomfortable, they finally spoke with, “Oh, I apologize. All this staring must be weird. I just haven’t had someone so powerful in my ring before. Did you know your presence carries the weight of three people?”

    Logan cleared his throat. “That may be because there are three people in this ring at the moment.”

    “...What?”

    “Just uh… look to your side? Or behind you?”

    The fae frowned, clearly confused, but they still turned around. They quietly gasped as they were met by the faces of both Virgil and Roman, the former waving awkwardly while the latter put on his most charming smile. “Oh. There are… three of you?”

    “We all needed the ring.” Virgil explained, looking down at his foot as he kicked lightly at some leaves. “So we figured we’d just all use it at once.”

    The fae nodded slowly. “Interesting.”

    “Is that a good interesting, or a bad interesting?” Logan asked. The fae turned back to look at him, once more grinning.

    “Good interesting!” They said happily. “I haven’t had any sort of interesting in decades. This is great!”

    “Oh. Good, then.” Logan said.

    The fae nodded before their eyes widened. “Oh! I almost forgot!” They said, quickly looking all around the circle before asking, smile growing, “Can I have your names?”

    “You may call me leaf.” Virgil said.

    “And you may call me branch.” Logan followed. It was, after all, more or less rule number one of interacting with the fae: don’t even give them a nickname to work with. The more random of a name you could give them for yourself, the less power they held over you.

    Likely because following that rule required some basic common sense, however, Roman answered the fae with, “You may call me however you wish, though many know me by Roman.”

    Roman ignored the appalled expressions Logan and Virgil directed at him as the fae turned towards him. They were giggling, their skin seemingly glowing brighter. “Someone’s a charmer.”

    “I think that must be you, my dear, given how your mere appearance already has me charmed.” Roman responded, his words smooth and his tone elegant. “Might I have a name to call such an enchanting beauty by? Or would you prefer I stick to one of your many others- sweetheart, sunshine, thief of my heart?”

    The fae giggled again, clearly enamored with Roman. “You may call me all of those and more.” They said cheerily. “As to my name, you may have it as well… so long as your friends will tell me theirs.”

    “We have already told you what you may call us by.” Logan said, tugging at his sleeve uncomfortably. 

    “Yes, but those clearly aren’t your names.” The fae said, turning from Roman to face Logan and Virgil. “I may know little of human naming conventions, but I am certain they don’t name children ‘leaf’ or ‘branch.’”

    “Yeah… uh, you’ll forgive us, but I don’t think that’s really a good idea.” Virgil spoke up, immediately looking away when the fae’s attention focused on him. “No offense, but there’s kinda a power imbalance here already, and I don’t think giving you our names is going to help even it out much.”

    “But that’s the thing! You don’t have to actually give me your names! Just tell me them!” The fae said excitedly. “I promise not to use them harmfully against you. I just want to be able to call you by them properly.”

    Logan pursed his lips and glanced over at Virgil. On one hand, offering a fae your name, even if you didn’t truly give it to them, was a horrible idea. Even the littlest bit of power traded over was dangerous. On the other hand, name or no, angering a fae never turned out well. Especially when you were in their ring.

    Finally, Logan haltingly said, “You may call me Logan.” It was a stupid thing to do, he knew, but he was trying to pick the best of two evils.

    “And you may call me Virgil.” Virgil followed after Logan, shooting him a look that very clearly said, ‘if this goes horribly, it’s on you.’

    “Roman, Logan, and Virgil.” The fae said, as if they were trying out the words, ignoring the slight grimace the three of them made when their name was spoken. Even if it was weak, there was power in those names. “You all have wonderful names.”

    “Not as wonderful as yours is, I’m sure.” Roman said, once more smiling like he owned the whole world.

    “You flatter me so.” The fae said, clearly very pleased with the flattery. “I fear that none of you could actually say my true name, but you may call me Patton instead.”

    “Patton.” Roman said, testing the name, before once more breaking out in a grin almost big enough to break his face. “I was right. Your name is wonderful- though, I fear, not nearly as wonderful as you yourself are.”

    Patton clapped their hands together, squeezing them together as they smiled even brighter at Roman. “Oh, I really must keep you.”

    “So long as you remain more beautiful than a meadow of freshly bloomed flowers, I shall be more than happy to be kept.” Roman returned smoothly.

    Patton didn’t respond to that, but they did take a step closer to Roman, lowering themself so that they were on eye-level with Roman. Their smile was still wide, and Roman was fairly certain their cheeks hadn’t always been dusted a rosy pink. They did nothing but stare at Roman, but Roman felt the stare was an adoring one, and was more than happy to do little more than smile adoringly back.

    Realizing that the fae was ready to completely write him and Virgil off, Logan lightly cleared his throat. “If you don’t mind, ah, Patton, I have a few questions for you?”

    Without altering their position, Patton turned their head to look at Logan, looking confused and slightly suspicious. “Questions?”

    “Just about average fae life and the such.” Logan said, hurriedly adding (for fear the fae would take his questions as a threat), “I’m simply curious as to the inner workings of your species, you see.”

    “Oh.” Patton said in understanding. They didn’t respond immediately, clearly thinking about it, before they smiled once more and said, “I’ve got it!”

    “Got… what?” Logan asked, perplexed. “The answer to a question I haven’t asked yet?”

    “No, silly. I know the easiest way to get what everyone wants!” Patton answered. “You can all come home with me!”

    “Sounds like an absolutely perfect plan to me.” Roman said without missing a beat, once more recalling Patton’s attention to himself. “Though any plan involving you and me is perfect.”

    “Yeah, although maybe not a plan involving us.” Virgil said, glancing at the sides of the fairy circle as if he were just realizing how little space there was with four beings within it. “I’m sure fairyland’s great and all, but I doubt it’s very human-friendly.”

    “Well, it isn’t if you’re not careful.” Patton acknowledged. “But as long as you’ve got someone watching out for you, you’ll be fine! And I’ll be there to look over you! So everything will be fine!”

    “Says a fae.” Logan pointed out. “Respectfully, going to fairyland is dangerous for humans, with or without fae protection. I’d rather just ask my questions here and be on my way.”

    “But think of all the questions you could answer, the things you could learn, the experiences you could have… that has to be worth more than a few flat answers on dry paper?” Patton reasoned, moving away from Roman (who pouted the moment Patton shifted their focus) to stand in front of Logan.

    Logan forced himself to keep his gaze away from Patton’s eyes. “It’s dangerous. And I have studies here.”

    “Studies you can conduct better when you’re right at the source.” Patton said. They gently placed one of their hands against Logan’s cheek, though they didn’t try to force him to look them in the eye, which Logan appreciated. “And the greatest discoveries always come with a bit of danger.”

    “I-” Logan paused, considering what Patton had said, before slowly admitting, “You have a point…”

    “I’m surrounded by human idiots.” Virgil mumbled as Logan looked down from Patton, still pondering.

    Patton turned to Virgil at his words, coming over to him. “I take it you have a great interest in remaining in the mortal world?”

    Virgil shrugged. “Not really. I just know that going to fairyland is, like, one of the stupidest decisions a person can make. No offense.”

    “None taken.” Patton responded. “But don’t tell me you have nothing you’re looking to avoid? Nothing you’d like to escape? To be free of?”

    “I mean, it’d be pretty rad to skip out on my maths final tomorrow because I mysteriously vanished off the face of the earth.” Virgil said. “But I also know that most people who go to fairyland never come back, and as sucky as tests are, they’re better than being dead and/or tortured for eternity.”

    “Maybe so.” Patton conceded. “But there’s something I don’t think you understand.”

    The fae once more bent down so that they could look Virgil directly in his eyes. For the first time since they had appeared, their expression was completely serious, and even the light radiating off of them had dimmed.

    “If you choose to come with me to fairyland, I promise you, no one will dare to so much as look at you funny without facing severe consequences.” Patton pledged, voice deadly serious. “You- all of you- would be my guests. If anyone should bring purposeful harm to you, I swear that they shall never regret anything more.”

    Virgil swallowed after Patton finished speaking, looking slightly paler than he had been a moment ago. “You’re really serious about this, huh?”

    “Of course.” Patton said, tone still solemn. “I do not take infractions against my guests lightly.”

    “And how can you be so sure a fae won’t ignore what you say?” Logan asked skeptically. “Fae are powerful, even against their own. And the majority of them rather enjoy… eh, toying with humans. What if they refuse to listen to you?”

    “Most fae don’t consider it wise to cross their prince.” Patton answered as they stood once more and returned to the center of the circle. “And if they decide to anyways, I assure you, I am plenty powerful enough to take care of them.”

    “Oh my Athena. I’m in love with a prince.” Roman said, voice hushed as in awe. “A strong prince. A beautiful, ethereal, strong, magical fae prince.”

    Patton’s smile returned as they stepped away from Virgil, returning to the middle of the circle and turning back towards Roman. “I suppose it’s a good thing, then, that a beautiful, ethereal, strong, magical fae prince is also in love with you.”

    Roman’s face quickly coloured red at Patton’s words. “Marry me?”

    Patton giggled. “Moving a little fast there, don’t you think, honey?”

    “I’m gay, impatient, and you just called me a petname after saying you loved me too.” Roman pointed out, face even redder. “I’m pretty sure the only next gay-logical step is marriage.”

    “I’m touched.” Patton said, only smiling brighter. “But I think we should still take it at least a little slow, don’t you? Wouldn’t want to miss out on all those- ah, what do you humans call it- young love moments?”

    “You can call them whatever you please as long as you also call me yours.” Roman said, prompting Patton to squeeze their cheeks and let out a small, short squeal. Roman grinned at that before he said, “Oh! I almost forgot!” He raised his hands, pushing the bouquet of roses and honey towards Patton. “I bring you gifts! To celebrate not only our young love, but also your perfect beauty.”

    “Gifts? Aw, sweetheart, you didn’t have to.” Patton said as they looked at Roman’s offerings. “After all, you are the only gift I need.”

    “I swear Patton if you don’t take me home right now I’m just going to collapse on this forest floor.” Roman said, looking like the poster child for ‘dying of gay,’ with how red his face was and adoring his expression was. “I swear, I will die of pure beauty.”

    “Then how did you survive seeing your reflection?”

    Roman wasn’t able to respond to that one, though he did try, mouth moving even as the only sounds that came out were more or less strangled shrieks.

    “You broke him.” Logan commented idly.

    “That I did!” Patton said cheerily. “Guess I really should get him home now, huh.”

    “Probably.”

    Patton nodded. “Well then. Guess you’re out of considering time.” Patton turned to look at Logan and Virgil. “Coming?”

    Neither responded at first. After all, neither of them were idiots. They knew it was dangerous to go ‘home’ with a fae, even one who giggled too much and swore to them no harm would befall them. Fairyland was dangerous. Fae were dangerous. Saying yes was dangerous.

    But at the same time… it was a tempting offer. It offered discovery and excitement and freedom. If Roman continued acting like, well… Roman, it would likely offer something sweeter, something closer too. And as dangerous as it was to trust any word of a fae, Patton had seemed nothing less than deadly serious when they promised to keep them safe if they came with them.

    “Danger for the sake of discovery and the acquiring of new knowledge is acceptable danger.” Logan finally said, slowly nodding. “If you truly don’t mind having me… I’d be glad to come with you to fairyland.”

    “Of course I don’t mind.” Patton reassured him before looking towards Virgil. “And you?”

    “I mean… if the nerd’s going to do it I might as well… or whatever…” Virgil answered, kicking once more at the leaves.

    “So that’s a yes?”

    “...Yeah, it’s a yes.” Virgil said, looking back up. “Gets me out of finals, right?”

    “If that’s how you want to think of it!” Patton said. “Oh, this’ll be so much fun! I can’t wait to get to know you all.”

    “I’m certain the same applies for all of us.”

    “Almost all of us!”

    “All of us minus Virgil.” Logan corrected. “Now, how do we get to fairyland?”

    “I’ll take you.” Patton said before they extended their hands towards each of them. “Just make sure to hold on.”

    “What about me?” Roman whined, face slightly less flushed than it had been earlier, his words now actually coming out as words. “You only have two hands…”

    Patton smiled softly at Roman. “Do you think you’ll mind if you have to hug me all the way to fairyland?”

    Before Patton had even finished their sentence, Roman was wrapped around their chest, his grip tight as he easily nuzzled his head against their shoulder. “Mind hugging you? Darling, don’t be absurd- it’s my pleasure.”

    Patton chuckled. “Perfect.” He looked from Roman to Logan and Virgil. “Ready?”

    Logan took a breath before he nodded, taking the hand Patton had offered him. “Completely.”

    Virgil took a moment longer, and a couple extra breaths as well before he more or less shoved his hand into Patton’s. “Not at all, but I’m never ready for anything so… this is as good as it’s going to get.”

    Patton didn’t say anything else, instead simply smiling as they gripped Logan’s and Virgil’s hands.

    The whirlwind from earlier started up again, this time not simply surrounding Patton but also the three mortals the fae had so quickly bonded with. As it sped up, the world outside of them disappeared, blocked out by the quickly moving winds.

    Preoccupied by holding Patton and being gay, Roman didn’t notice as Logan and Virgil once more exchanged glances, worry about what they had just agreed to sinking in again. There were a lot of pros to what they were doing… but there were also just as many cons, ones with even more severe consequences.

    Despite all the wind, it was easy for Virgil to raise his arm, offering Logan his free hand. He also half-smiled, clearly feeling awkward, but the offered hand remained.

    Logan returned the smile as he took Virgil’s hand.

    Maybe what they were doing was dangerous. Maybe what they were doing was stupid. Maybe they should have more thoroughly thought this whole thing out before they said yes. They were facing a lot of maybes.

    But they did have three things they could know for certain: firstly, they had made their choice, and they were stuck with it now, for better or worse.

Secondly, they were the only ones with any functioning brain cells. And that might not be that much, especially against a powerful fae prince, but it was something.

Thirdly, they weren’t alone in this. They had each other. Even if Patton turned malicious, or Roman refused to ever use common sense, they would still have each other.

“Not if everyone Likes it! Cause then it’s fun stuffs!”

He does have a point. “Yeah I guess so…..Maybe the fairy world isn’t so bad,” Virgil hummed, shrugging.

“Does that mean you’ll come with me!?”

“No.”

Patton let out a loud cry, burying his face into his arms. “Why Why Why?! I want you to come with me!” He sobbed out, crystal clear tears falling down his cheeks. “Why won’t you come with me?!”

Anxiety cringed, sighing. “I do want to come with you but I don’t want to get trapped there,” He explained, pinching the bridge of his nose. I can’t believe I actually considered it.

“I can bring you back!” Patton cried out, looking up. “I promise to bring you back!”

Anxiety tensed, before shaking his head. “No...My answer is no Patton.” And with that he stepped out of the circle and left. He heard Patton screaming and crying out for him, but he couldn’t turn around. If he did, he feared he would dive into the fae’s arms and his name would end up spilling from his lips.

Patton waited for Anxiety to come back. He watched as the leaves began to color and fall. His cool blue eyes saw the colder, fluffy snow fall and cover his circle from view.

Patton studied the patterns of every snowflake that passed by him, noting their gorgeous patterns. Not as pretty as my Anxiety! He let out a small huff, pushing the one he had been studying away.

When the snow melted and spring appeared, is when he saw Anxiety return. He was tending to the flowers that bloomed around his ring, when a familiar person appeared from out behind the treeline.

He went to call out to Anxiety, but before he could Anxiety collapsed right in the middle of Patton’s ring. “H-Help I….help me,” He coughed weakly, curling up.

Patton flinched, flying down and hesitating to touch Anxiety. That’s when he realized Virgil didn’t have his silver band on. I can touch him...I can hold him. He landed on top of the human’s nose, purring contently when he didn’t get burned.

“V-Virgil Ann Storm….My name,” He whimpered, willingly signing himself over to Patton. “P-Please...Help me.”

“Don’t worry,” Patton cooed, nuzzling into Virgil’s cheek. “I will take great care of you.” He felt Virgil slowly getting smaller underneath him, cooing. “My precious human, Virgil Ann Storm. You’re mine.”

Virgil’s heart shuddered in fear but he himself felt satisfied with his decision. He felt Patton lift him into his arms, nuzzling against him.

“My human, all mine. You’re mine Virgil Ann Storm, Mine,” he cooed, his teeth and ears slowly growing longer. His eyes grew brighter and his nails grew sharper. His wings grew longer and the previously rounded edges grew sharper and jagged. “Mine.”

Virgil’s body grew even smaller, Patton’s hands scooping him up the second he was small enough. When he went to respond or scream or something, his head started to grow fuzzy. A moment later, his vision went dark. He could have been out cold for hours, days, he had no clue. But when he did awake, he noticed that it was mostly dark in this room. Only a soft candle light was being used as a source of light, leaving a majority of the room encased in darkness.