Work Text:
Patton flipped a pancake, as they hummed a small tune. They couldn't wait for Roman to wake up and see what they'd done for him. Patton flipped another pancake. The sunrise peaked through the curtains, sending fiery streaks of yellow, red, and orange light across the room. It was beautiful. The day was new, a clean slate to make their own. With a positive attitude, and Roman by their side, they felt unstoppable!
Suddenly, without warning a crawling, burning sensation erupted from their hips. Patton stiffen in the grip, they wanted to get out, they wanted to move. They felt their heart rate swelled as the touch migrated from their hips to around their torso. Their breath quickened, and eyes welled up with tears. They were trapped.
Patton wanted, needed, to get out of this. They dropped the spatula they had been holding. They tried, desperately, to remove the hands from around their stomach, but they stayed firm. Patton managed to whip around, and through tears shoved the person back. They felt the burning pain go up through their wrist. Patton stepped back, and unconsciously set their free hand on the stove behind them.
Patton couldn't tell who screamed, but they felt too weak to remove their hand from the stove. The immobilizing burning on their other hand stopped, but it transferred to the other side of their body. Patton's hand was yanked from the stove, and then they sank to the floor.
Patton curled into a ball. They scrunched their eyes closed. They tried to get the tears to stop. They tried to calm their breathing. They tried not to let their hand, which felt raw with pain, bother them.
Patton felt something brush their shoulder, and they flinched away. Suddenly something cool was on top of their hand. The pain died down slightly. Patton felt like they could breath again.
A while passed before Patton opened their eyes. Roman sat in the living room on a chair, he was talking to someone over the phone.
Patton looked down, and saw a wet cloth positioned just on top of their hand. Patton sighed, and Roman glanced over.
Roman said a few more things to the person on the phone, before hesitantly making his way over. Roman stopped a few feet from Patton, and he sat down.
"How's your hand?"
Patton gave Roman a weak smile, "It feels a bit better than before. I'm sorry, this is my fault."
Roman stared at them in confusion, before responding, "How is this your fault? No, I needed to play more attention. I shouldn't have kept touching you. I should have noticed you were getting uncomfortable."
Patton smile wobbled, "But none of this would have happened if I wasn't broken. If I wasn't such a freak."
"No! My love, please listen to me. You are not broken. Not wanting to be touched does not make you a freak. All it means is we need to have better communication. But you are not broken. This was not your fault. Your feelings, thoughts, any and all emotions you experience are valid."
Patton started to cry. What had they done to deserve Roman?
Roman kept talking, "I wasn't sure what was happening, so I called Logan to ask for help. I hope that's alright. They said you might be touch sensitive, so maybe that's something we should look into."
"Roman, thank you." Patton sniffled, "I thought I was crazy for not wanting this."
Roman shook his head, "Please Patton never think you're crazy for an experience you have."
"Thank you Ro, I love you."
"I love you too. Now we should clean that burn, or else both Logan and Virgil are going to kill me."
Patton giggled, "Alright my prince, thank you really."
Roman smiled, "Darling, you really need to stop saying thank you. I'm just doing what's right."
Patton smiled. They were so lucky to have Roman in his life. Today might not have started perfectly, but Patton was sure it would end well.