The Melting Pot Complex

Chapter Fifty-Four ~ Patton

{Possible trigger warnings: don't think there are any but

If I miss something, I apologize and please let me know}

Patton blinked in surprise as he stepped into the apartment. The living room smelled like bacon, but he knew Roman and Logan were at the hospital because of a text he'd gotten the night before. Apparently whatever Roman caught that was making him so sick had gotten worse over the course of the evening, so Logan had taken him in and the doctor suggested they stay overnight.

Which meant only Virgil was home. But Virgil definitely wouldn't be up this early.

"Oh, hello! You must be Patton."

A man wearing one of the aprons from the cabinet peeked out of the kitchen. He grinned and wiped his hands on the fabric, coming into the living room.

"Virgil said you'd be back early. I usually don't sleep well on the first night in a new place, so when I woke up I figured I'd make breakfast. Do you think the others will be back to eat?"

Patton blinked and shook the hand that was offered to him. He smiled, this guy seemed nice enough.

"I'm Emile, by the way. Sorry, I should have started with that."

"No, it's all good." Patton shook his head. "By all means, I'm starving. Airports don't exactly offer the best breakfast food."

Emile laughed and led the way back into the kitchen. He was indeed frying bacon, and another pan was heating up on another burner. A couple eggs were sitting in a bowl, scrambled and waiting to be cooked up.

"So you're a friend of Virgil's?" Patton asked as he went over to start a pot of coffee. Logan and Roman probably would be back soon, an hour at the most.

"Um, kind of?" Emile chuckled as he flipped a few pieces of bacon. "We met last night."

Patton sat up, grinning. "And he let you stay here overnight? Some night."

"Not like that- well, we did meet at a pub." Emile flushed a little, making Patton's smile widen.

"He was clearly upset, and I went to go check on him. He said he was having a bad night, so I asked him to come hang out with us."

"Aww, that's so sweet of you." Patton smiled. "He's sort of... antisocial."

"I noticed, but we were playing Smash so he seemed okay enough with that." Emile went to the fridge.

"Oh of course." Patton chuckled, pouring himself half a mug of coffee. 

"Afterward I walked him home, just to make sure he was okay, and we got caught in the rain. It was a mess, and it was late, so he let me stay over."

Patton nodded, noting the fact that Emile was wearing one of Virgil's shirts. The basketball shorts were probably his too.

Emile opened the bottle of seltzer on the counter and began to mix the eggs again, adding some seltzer to them.

"What are you making?"

"They don't really have a name, I don't think so anyway. My dad used to make them a lot and he called them egg-cakes." Emile shrugged. "If you add some seltzer to your eggs they get super fluffy, watch."

He finished mixing and picked the bowl up, pouring some into the empty pan.

Patton watched in fascination as the eggs fluffed up like a pancake would. "That's amazing!"

Emile laughed. "It used to be one of my favorite things to watch."

Patton looked up as the front door clicked.

"Morning, Pat." Roman called, sounding tired.

"Hi boys, how was the hospital?" He went to meet his roommates.

"I'm exhausted and I slept horribly." Roman complained.

"But we have antibiotics and a strict rest schedule." Logan added, holding up a bag. "How was your flight?"

"Pretty good, actually. I sat next to a little boy who was very interested in my hair." Patton grinned.

Roman paused, sniffing. "It smells amazing, what are you cooking?"

"It's not me." Patton smiled, pulling the two of them close and dropping his voice. "Virgil has someone over."

Roman's eyes nearly popped out of his head, and Logan slapped a hand over his mouth before he could shout.

"A friend or..." The theorist trailed off.

"I don't know the whole thing, but they definitely bridged the gap between acquaintances and close friends very quickly. I think they're almost at something more."

Logan nodded and slowly took his hand off of Roman's mouth. "Keep it to yourself, darling." He told his boyfriend before shifting his grip on the bag. "I'm going to go put these in the medicine cabinet."

Patton and Roman went to the kitchen, the beauty vlogger bouncing a bit excitedly.

"Hi! You're Roman, right?" Emile smiled as he flipped an egg-cake.

"Yeah! And you are?"

"Emile. I'd shake your hand but..." Emile looked down at his messy hands and laughed.

"No no, that's completely alright." Roman plopped into a chair with a grin.

Patton heard a door close in the hallway and leaned back, looking to see who it was (even though he already knew).

Virgil yawned widely as he walked into the kitchen. "Morning loser, Patton, Emmy."

"How dare you, I am ill." Roman looked affronted.

"But clearly not dead." Virgil shrugged, wandering around the counter to where Emile was. "How'd you sleep, Robin?"

Emile blushed and giggled, looking up at him. "Robin? I played one round last night, how is that what you focused on?"

"Hey, at least you tried. Corbin just straight up refused. And you managed to get one up on Kai in that round, that was impressive." Virgil kissed his temple and slipped away to grab a mug of coffee.

Roman looked like he was going to explode. He bounced up and down in his seat, biting on his thumb. Patton smacked his arm a couple times, equally excited but keeping silent.

"You didn't answer my question, Robin." Virgil commented as he poured his coffee. "How'd you sleep?"

"Not great, but I never sleep well the first time I'm in a new place." Emile shrugged and poured another egg-cake.

"Aww, I'm sorry. You could have come in by me." Virgil leaned on the counter next to the stove. "I'm the reason you didn't make it to the hotel anyway."

"Good morning, Virgil." Logan commented as he came into the kitchen. "Roman, take this."

"I was perfectly fine on the couch." Emile told Virgil as Roman whined about taking the pill Logan set in front of him. Patton beamed at the four of them.

What a perfect morning.

{oh what a beautiful mornin'

oh what a beautiful day

I've got a wonderful feelin'

everythin's goin' my way}