The PUR-fect Curse

23

"Roman?" Roman didn't waste a single second before jumping up onto Patton's couch and laying over the back of it, leg danging down into the cushions as he sighed. "Oh. Roman." Patton chuckled a bit as the prince just stared up at the ceiling. "What's wrong?"

"That's what I don't know." Roman whined as he shook his head. "Patton... Something is wrong with me and I don't know what it is."

"Care to explain?" Roman's eyes narrowed as he looked over to see the father figure sitting on his bed with a smile. "Did something happen with Anxiety?"

"No." Roman hissed protectively making Patton chuckle more. "I said with my not my..." Roman paled as he groaned gestured loosely to himself. "That... That right there is the problem. I don't understand what going on with me."

"You need to be a bit more specific kiddo. I don't really see what your talking about."

"I'm a cat." Patton frowned as Roman growled slightly at himself. "Not... physically not anymore but... mentally... I'm STILL King, and I don't know why. Patton..." Roman held his arm up letting the sleeve fall to reveal the collar he never took off and Patton's eyes narrowed. "I'm still wearing the collar. I haven't taken it off. I... I can't take it off. I even still see myself as King. I don't get it. A dragon witches curse is supposed to be temporary. Devinora was never supposed to give long-lasting effects so... Why? Why and I STILL King? I don't... I don't get it."

"Roman..."

"You don't... understand Patton." Roman rolled until he was sitting up on the back of the couch with this sad look. "Part of me is relieved that I'm human again. Obviously... Being stuck as a cat is ridiculous. All the things I couldn't do because I wasn't human anymore..."

"But?" Roman's eyes darkened as he whined as he held his wrist close to his chest as his eyes seemed to flash a bit making Patton falter and start to worry. "Roman?"

"I can't stand being human, Patton." Patton's eyes went wide as Roman smiled sadly. "I can't stand not being able to go in and have Anx hold me... and pet me. I miss those nicknames. MY CASTLE! Patton, I miss my castle. I had the best best best castle." Roman giggled as he rolled off the back of the couch kicking his feet as he just beamed. "Anxiety made me the best castle, with towers and walkways where I could just lounge and be. I loved it. He had all these toys... and I slept with him every night. Now..." Roman frowned as he hugged himself a bit. "Now I just can't seem to sleep at all. I miss it, Patton. And that's not even the worse part of it all... Patton. I was literally sitting ontop of the fridge this morning."

"Wait, what?" Roman nodded as he looked away and sighed. "But... wasn't Logan..."

"Yeah. Logan was looking for me. He literally walked into the kitchen calling me. I was on the fridge." Patton frowned as Roman let out a broken laugh. "I mean... there wasn't even any reason. I was making myself breakfast but... didn't want to sit at the table... I looked up and saw the empty spot on the fridge and before I couldn't even think about it... I was up there. Logan didn't even bother looking up. He just walked in and then walked right out."

"How did you even get up there?"

"I climbed." Patton paled as Roman smirked playfully.

"How did you get down?" Roman laughed as he quirked a brow at him making Patton's shock only grow. 

"I jumped."

"Roman!"

"What?" Roman yelled as he jumped up to his feet with this look in his eyes that took Patton by surprise. "I can't help it. I just... I told you. I'm STILL King. I'm still a fucking cat. I don't understand what's going on with me. It's hard enough keeping myself in check with Anxiety, when my skin literally crawls the second he's out of sight!" Patton seemed to relax as his face softened a bit. Roman was trying really hard not to cry. "I still have all those feline urges. They never went away when I changed back. I'm scared, Patton. What if... What if they don't ever go away?"

"Well... then we learn to live with them." Roman's eyes narrowed slightly as Patton just gave him a smile. "It's going to be ok, Roman. So things are different. That doesn't mean we can't get learn to move on or to live with it. Roman... This isn't the first time you've had to learn to live with something changing about you." Roman paled as Patton just sighed sadly. 

"I wasn't... I wasn't that bad back then, was I?" 

"Oh, Roman. You weren't bad at all." Roman frowned as Patton tried to give him a reassuring smile. "Roman... When you were King Creativity you were a force to be reckoned with but you were NEVER bad. I'm sorry you ever felt like you were."

"When he started calling me King... it felt weird." Patton smiled with a look of understanding. "I kept saying I wasn't a king, I was a prince. I know he couldn't hear me and... he didn't know it was me so... he didn't understand exactly what he was saying when he named the cat version of me that but..."

"It had been a while hadn't it."

"I haven't been King since Thomas was young. I wasn't even aware Anxiety even knew about that. He... I wonder if he knows just WHAT King Creativity was... and why I'm not him anymore." Patton frowned as he shook his head. He pushed himself up and walked himself over making Roman jump as he held his shoulders and making the younger look him in the eyes. 

"Roman, You are still King Creativity. Just as much as you are still the prince... and you are the cat. You have this mentality that when things change you cease being what you were. Do YOU know what King Creativity was?"

"Of course, I do, Patton. I AM King Cre..." Roman faltered as Patton just smiled. "I mean..."

"No. You were right. You ARE King, Roman. In both senses of the sentence. That dragon witch or... whatever you called her, didn't have any long-lasting effects. King creativity simply latched onto that form as he does with everything." Roman flinched as Patton just chuckled a bit. "Look. You may have created Remus to push all of what you thought was bad out... but that doesn't mean you've lost your habit of taking things in and becoming them. It's what caused the split and you know this."

"I don't want to be..." Roman groaned as he raked his hands through his hair. "That's a lie. I do want to be king... the... the cat king. But I also don't Patton. It's confusion and it's driving me crazy."

"Well... you could always just shift back into a cat." Roman's eyes widened as Patton smiled. "You literally have that power Roman... We all do."

"No." Patton shot him this confused look as Roman shook his head. "I'm not doing that to Anx. It was bad enough when the cursed forced me to turn back. I can't just give him king back and take it all away again. He's already in pain over it all. Besides... I haven't done that since... before the split. Not that anyway. Ironically... I always chose a lion... now that I think about it."

"Well, they are the kings of the jungle."

"They're also large cats, Patton." Roman frowned in confusion as he started to think everything through. "I... I never... I never chose anything except that. No wonder she always called me a kitten. I..." Roman snapped over, the sound of knocking drawing his attention in instantly making Patton chuckle over the look Roman had. He looked like a kitten who just randomly spotted a bug flying by him. "Someone's knocking."

"Your door or..."

"Mine. I think." Roman's eyes narrowed as he focused in to hear it better. This soft smiled filled his face as he just lit up. "Anxiety. I got to go, Patton. Anx is looking for me."