#patton snaders

Patton gasped astonished, “Diego!”

“What?” The boy asked, ”It wouldn’t hurt anyone!”

“It would in fact ‘hurt anyone’, specifically the shop owner and possibly you and the rest of us if you’re caught.” Logan pushed up his glasses with an eye roll. 

“Come on! V, Ro, you’re on my side, right?”

“I-” Roman cut himself off as Logan glared at him, daring him to answer. Roman paused for a moment, before grinning back, “Actually, I’m on Diego’s side.”

Virgil smirked, leaning his elbow on Roman’s shoulder, “3-2, Lo.”

Logan’s shoulders hunched, and Roman was positive that if he had his wings out that they would be fully extended.

“Fine. Yo three...hooligans do whatever you please. Patton and I will do something else.”

Patton bit his lip, “Okay. Don’t get in trouble and meet us here in an hour!”

Diego grabbed Virgil and Roman by the arms, leading them away as he called over his shoulder, “We won’t,” before flashing a grin at the other two, “We will.”

---

“Excuse me, ma’am, how much would this necklace happen to cost?”

A woman in her middle age turned towards the boy, an eyebrow cocked as he looked at the necklace. It was a boring pink heart, shining with glass crystals embedded into the metal, “A few hundred, why?”

Roman hummed, “Well, I was thinking of buying something like it for my love, but I don’t know if she’d be happy with me spending just that much, how much would that one in the back be?”

He pointed at none in particular, and she turned to see, the heart necklace in her hand. Quickly, Diego popped up and grabbed two pendants, one with a serpent and a purple dragon, that she had laid out far away from Roman.

As she turned back, Diego popped down, handing the necklaces to Virgil who smirked from where he sat under the table.

“Which one?”

The woman asked around her cigar, holding up a necklace of a beautiful pale blue fish sculpted from glass and a small bird molded from thin metal. Roman’s eyes lit up, “How much are each?”

“Ehhh, twenty gold for them both.”

“I’ll take it!

“Great,” She huffed, bagging the two and holding her hand out. Roman fished exactly twenty pieces of gold from his pouch and handed them to her. She counted them out and nodded, handing Roman his purchase. He grinned and walked away, Diego following him.

They had gotten around fifteen feet away when they heard a screech, “Who are YOU and what are you doing under my table?!”

Virgil bolted out, the necklaces dangling from his fingers as he ran, a large grin plastered on his face. Roman and Diego began chasing after him, laughing as they went.

No guards followed them, there were none in the village. Roman hadn’t felt as free as he did then in years. The three boys eventually stopped running, right at the meet-up point. 

Diego bent over to catch his breath while Virgil loudly cackled, tears running for his eyes and his free arm wrapped around his stomach. They both looked back up at Roman together, and Roman’s face grinned the same way their's did. A pink flush lay on his cheeks, and he didn’t know what caused it, the running or their smiles.

“What’d you buy, Ro?”

“Just some necklaces, thought I’d give them to Pat and Lo.” He held up the bird and fish necklaces, and Virgil cackled, “Oh my god, Logan is going to hate that.”

“I know.”

Diego smirked, “Well, I got the dragon and the snake for us two, but I got something for you too, Ro.”

Roman cocked a brow, “Really.”

Diego nodded, “Yep,” Holding up a necklace of a small red crown, “Your boring ass deserves something special.”

Roman paled at the sight of the crown, but smiled anyway, “T-thanks, Dee.”

Diego handed Roman the necklace, and he shakily put it around his neck, hiding the crown under his shirt.

Diego and Virgil did the same, and as they did, Patton and Logan walked up, Patton happily eating an ice cream cone as Logan grumpily walked forward.

Patton waved, “Hi! Whaddya guys do?”

“We stole things.”

“Virgil!” Roman whisper-shouted as Patton paled.

“Really? Oh gosh, did you get in trouble? Oh no, are there any guards or anyone? Oh goodness, we’re-”

Diego stepped in, “Don’t worry, we were caught but we’re fine. There aren’t any guards or whatever, plus…” He motioned towards Roman with his hands.

“Oh, yes.” Roman held the necklaces out towards the two, “We got these for you.”’

Patton looked at them and then at Roman’s face, a smile splitting his face, “Really?”

Roman smiled, “Truly.”

Logan glared at the piece of jewelry, “Hmm. Fine, thank you, human.”

Roman gave a fake look of shock, “What do you mean human, Logan? Aren’t we all?”

Virgil snorted and Diego just rolled his eyes, ignoring Logan's huff and Patton’s tired sigh. Roman cocked a grin,“It’s no problem, Logan,” And the avian rolled his eyes, turning away from him after slipping the necklace on.

“Oh good, you're all still here!” Emile walked up towards the five, “We rented a house for the week, follow me!”

—-

Hours later, the three thieves were sitting at the dining room table, as Emile lectured them, Logan and Patton standing in the corner watching. The glamours had worn off, and so Emile’s very rustled wings were very easy to notice.

“You did what now?” Emile asked, his eyebrows far up his forehead and eyes wide.

“It’s fine, all we did was steal some necklaces, Em.”

“It’s not fine, Diego! You all could've been arrested, and then what would've happened if your glamours wore off? You’d’ve been hurt, or killed!”

He pinched his brow, pacing back and forth, “Everytime I ask you boys to follow any simple rules, they’re immediately broken.”

Roman, Virgil, and Diego all stared at the table in front of them, guilt bubbling like a potion in Roman’s stomach as Logan snickered in the corner.

“Oh and don’t you two be acting all high and mighty over there!” Emile turned to Patton and Logan, Patton looking just as guilty as Roman felt as the smirk melting off of Logan’s face.

Logan raised an eyebrow, “Why are we in trouble? We didn’t do anything, the three of them were the ones who stole.”

Remy placed a hand on their shoulders, “It’s because you didn't stop them, guys.”

“B-but we attempted to! Votes were 3-2 and they were persistent so we decided to let them be!”

“We told you guys not to split up, and you’ve met Ro, he’s a push-over.”

Roman’s head shot up, “No, I’m not!”

Logan’s head swiveled over, “You do whatever someone tells you to, because you’re scared of them.”

Roman stood up, “No, I don’t!”

Logan’s wings rose high, “Yes, you do, you cowardice human!”

“Oh, that is it, bird-boy! I swear to-”

Emile stood, shouting and slamming their hand on the table, their winged spread even further and higher than Logan’s, “Enough! We will not fight at this table! We are going to be polite and not use other’s races as an insult! Do you understand, boys?”

Roman stared at him, his eyes narrowed, “Fine, we made a mistake, okay? We were bored, don’t drag Logan or Patton into it, they were doing the right thing. I’m going to my room.”

He stalked out the room, knocking his shoulder purposefully against Logan’s as he walked out and up the staircase. Logan growled, but it wasn’t heard over Remy’s shout, “Hey, we’re not done talking!”

“I am!”

A door slammed upstairs, and the room went silent. Emile pinched their nose bridge and sighed loudly, their wings drooping to their side.

“Alright, then. Boys,” The four teenagers turned to look at Emile, Patton and Virgil sheepish while Diego and Logan annoyed, “Please go to your rooms.”

“Which ones are our rooms? How many are there?”

“We have three, one for Rem and I, and the rest of you divide amongst yourselves. I’m done.”

Emile slapped the table with their free hand and stalked up the stairs, wings taught, and Remy followed him, shaking their head at the teenagers as they walked away, the entire room silent as they closed their door.

Virgil looked at the others, “Who wants to room with the grump cause we’re gonna have to go three to a room.”

Diego looked up, “Virge, you and I can.”

Patton spoke up, “Nope! I’m not gonna let y’all run off again!” He crossed his arms, firm.

“We’re not gonna run off, Patton! We’ll be fine. Come on, V.”

Diego grabbed Virgil’s hand, who blushed as he was pulled up the stairs by the scaled boy, “Uh, okay! Sorry, Pat!”

Patton and Logan stood alone, and Patton huffed, annoyed. “Fine then. It’s not my fault if they get in trouble. I’m just trying to help, can’t they see that?”

“I think they can, but they unfortunately don’t want it and it’s then our job to have to babysit our peers.”

Patton rested his head on Logan’s shoulder, the avian stiffening before relaxing, resting his own on the merperson.

“I think it’ll be alright eventually though. Remy and Emile are still mad at all of us for some reason, however. We should just start unpacking.”

“Okay.” Patton stood, stretching his back and groaning as it popped.

The two walked into their room ignoring the annoyed voices coming from both of the other rooms and quietly entering their own.

-o-