Wonderland

Chapter 5

"Morning kiddo!" Patton greeted with a smile as Emile entered the kitchen.

Emile had awoken that morning and found himself rousted the next morning by the golden sun. He recalled the day previous when he had helped Virgil calm down. He changed quickly and walked into the hallway and knocked on his door but got no response. Virgil hadn't left his room since yesterday, which Emile was assured by Roman was normal for the "emo nightmare". Emile sighed and debated going back to bed. It was surprisingly early for him, and he found no one was up besides whoever was in the kitchen. He'd decided to investigate, and as he had predicted, it was Patton beginning to make breakfast.

"Morning dad!' Emile greeted, using the nickname awkwardly. He'd heard the others, except Logan really, use some sort of variation of a parental name for Patton. Roman tended for padre, Remus often called him daddy, which Emile had quickly learned was for the sake of making an innuendo that Remus didn't actually mean, he just found it hilarious Patton never understood it. Virgil called him popstar frequently, and only on one occasion had Janus called him father. That may have been his sarcasm though. Emile felt odd reffering to Patton as such. It had been a long time since he'd called anyone dad, and reawakened an ache in his chest, but it faded some and the awkwardness was forgotten as Patton's eyes lit up with pure joy. Emile smiled back. "What are you doing?" Emile asked curiously.

"Well, I'm gonna start breakfast soon," Patton explained, gesturing, "but I decide to make some cherry pie first, for those who want it. Its one of my favorites, and I know that Roman enjoys it a lot too! And Janus, even though the little bugger always lies about having a sweet tooth." Patton giggled.

"I've never made cherry pie before," Emile admitted, "or any pie, really." The fatherly figure gasped dramatically with a hand over his chest. It seemed like something Roman might do.

"Really?" he asked. Emile bashfully nodded. "Tell me you have at least tried it before?" Patton pleased with wide eyes. Emile nodded again, and the other seemed to relax a little.

"Yeah, once or twice. I did really like it the few times I had it." Patton lit up.

"Oh I have the most wonderful idea! Come here, Emi, I'm going to show you how to make one!" he exclaimed, seeming immediately quite set on the idea.

"Are you sure? I might mess it up," Emile murmured, rubbing his hands together nervously.

"Nonesenese!" Patton exclaimed. "I'll help you, it'll be perfect, I'm sure of it!" Patton assured him. "There's a second apron in the pantry. It's Remus' but I'm sure he won't mind you borrowing it!" Patton smiled. Emile opened the door and took down the dirty green apron, clearly having been used before and perhaps in need of a wash.

"I didn't know Remus could cook," Emile mused as he slipped it over his head and tied the strings to secure it, though he struggled some doing so. Patton had silently offered help by reaching out his hands but just then Emile had gotten it.

"He can! He cooks even better than I do," Patton giggled, "but he only cooks on special occasions like birthdays or holidays."

"You celebrate holidays here?" Emile questioned as he walked back over to the counter where Patton was.

"Yeah. We celebrate Christmas and Easter and such. We picked up a lot from souls over the years." Emile nodded.

"And birthdays? How does that work?"

"Well, we were never really, uh, birthed," Patton made a weird face as he forced out the word, "but we do kinda know around when we appeared. Calendars didn't exist for a long time so we guess the month based on the season and chose the date we wanted. They've changed a little over the years as calendars changed, but yeah! Logan doesn't really get into it much, but I know for one Roman and Remus love celebrating birthdays, especially their own."