Jumping in Leaves
My first fic for Sanders Spook month!
Pairing: romantic royality dads w/kid!virgil Trigger warnings: none! mild angst but very very fluffy ending Prompt: leaf piles Word count: ~1k
The child’s screams cut through the brisk fall wind. “Cwunchy!” “Yes, Virgil,” Roman said through laughter, “when the leaves fall in the fall, they get crunchy and make the most delightful sounds when you step on them!”
Virgil continued running down the street of their quaint cul-de-sac neighborhood, jumping into piles of leaves on the side of the road and squealing with glee at each resounding crunch. Roman made sure to keep a close watch on him as they meandered towards the park at the end of the lane. Something caught his attention out of the corner of his eye, and he turned to see his adorable husband giggling. His ever-present smile pulled at years worth of laugh lines, each of which Roman loved just as much as the man himself. “Leaves are falling in the fall,” Patton started to sing, trying to make his voice as low as possible and letting the baritone ring. Roman couldn’t help but throw his head back in full-on laughter. It wasn’t really that funny or original a song, but being extra was his thing! Roman had forced everyone into matching thick wool sweaters that morning, even though it wasn’t nearly chilly enough out. Which of course had been after several embarrassing attempts to make pumpkin flavored pancakes on his own until Patton had come downstairs and helped him save just enough for breakfast.
Roman reached out to wrap his gloved fingers around Patton’s cat-themed mittens. “Are you enjoying our walk, love?”
Patton giggled, lifting his free hand and flexing his fingers inside the mitten. “It’s paw-sitively wonderful!”
Just as Roman was about to burst into another fit of laughter, they heard a fearful shriek.
Their heads snapped forward, eyes searching frantically for the source of the noise.
Of course, you dunce, Roman berated himself, you got distracted! Where the heck is Virge?! “Virgie!!” Patton yelled, rushing towards a pile of leaves on the other side of the road where Roman could now see said child, sitting with tears pouring down his face.
Sobbing and hiccupping, Virgil made grabby hands at Patton until the man finally reached him and scooped him up. Pat balanced him on his hip, trying to hold him with one arm so that he could inspect his body with the other. This, however, was impossible, as Virgil squirmed and struggled, almost falling out of his grip at one point.
By the time Roman made it over to the pair, Patton had re-adjusted his grip and now had the poor baby wrapped firmly in embrace, tiny little hands digging into the soft wool of his sweater.
“What is wrong, my princeling?” Roman asked, voice soft as he pulled off a glove. He rested his warm palm on Virgil’s face, brushing off still-flowing tears with the pad of his thumb.
Virgil was still breathing in great whooping gasps, and so Patton gently taped out a steady rhythm with his pointer finger against Virgil’s little chest. After a few minutes, his breathing returned to normal and his tears slowed then stopped.
Eventually, he managed to untangle his hands from their death grip and show them to his fathers, scrunching his eyes shut as if he couldn’t even look at the damage.
Thankfully, it was minimal, and Roman huffed out a huge sigh of relief. Virgil must have jumped in a pile of leaves with sticks in it and scraped the hell out of his palms. Poor kiddo!
“Oh, darling, don’t worry, that’s not – ”
“Nothing a kiss can’t fix!” Patton interrupted, slowly leaning his head forward and booping Virgil’s nose with his.
When Patton pulled back, he shot a quick glance Roman that said “get in on this! Help!” Roman gently took one of Virgil’s hands, careful not to touch the scraped parts, and brought it to his mouth to kiss. Then, he took the other hand and lightly pressed it against Patton’s mouth.
Patton made sure to make an exaggerated smacking sound so that Virgil would know his hands were finally fixed. “There you go, kiddo! Do you feel better?”
Virgil giggled as he drew his hands back into himself. Roman noticed the five-year-old had started to shiver and decided they should probably head inside for lunch.
“Patton, my dear,” Roman said, running his felt fingers through sandy hair, “my sunshine, agua de mi fuente, my one and only, I think it’s time we go inside. How does hot chocolate and Steven Universe sound?”
Patton laughed and shook his head, shoving off Roman’s hand and leaving a staticy mess behind.
“I don’t know, I think that would be autumn-ness! What do you think, Virge?”
Virgil’s eyes had gone wide as saucers, the appeal indescribable, but he seemed hesitant to go back inside.
Patton brushed his mitten paw against the child’s cold and reddened cheek. “Still wanna play? The leaves will still be here this afternoon, maybe we can come back out later!”
Virgil humfed, only mildly satisfied. “Wanna cwunch!”
Roman was more than ready to just lead Virgil back to their house a little down the lane when suddenly Patton’s eyes lit up with an idea. He slowly placed Virgil on the ground and took his right hand, motioning for Roman to take his left. That was when Roman caught on, his face lighting up with glee as a grin split his face.
Screams broke through the air again but quickly turned to squeals of pure joy. Roman and Patton swung Virgil through wind and as many piles of leaves as they could see, making sure to support his weight and not pull his shoulders while avoiding any sticks or rocks hidden in the piles.
They spent the afternoon wrapped up in their cozy sweaters, drinking hot chocolate and watching as many fall cartoons and movies as they could find. And if Virgil fell asleep nested between Patton and Roman, snuggling without a care in the world and making them all miss lunch, then so be it.
