Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Virgil and his spouses are in no rush to leave the house, something he appreciates immensely. While they are planning on leaving soon, no one is in a rush to leave as soon as possible, considering they have the whole day together. A few extra minutes of getting ready is okay if it means that everyone will be in a better mood and less stressed.

They leave seventeen minutes later than they planned. Beyond a simple notice of the time, no one cares much. There is no rush, only contentment.

When they all get into the car, Roman quickly steals Trixie, cooing at her and giving her pets as Virgil gets Kit settled, making sure the small puppy won’t go flying as the car starts. Kit is used to the car by now, but he’s still working on keeping his balance when the car switches between reverse and forward, and Virgil always feels awful when he goes skidding across the seat with a yelp.

The car starts moving forward, and with the palpable energy of excitement in the air, Kit chooses to participate, letting out a small yap.

“No barking,” Virgil tells him. Kit falls silent and sits down on the middle seat, partially on top of Trixie. Trixie just turns to give him a look of disinterest before putting half her body on Roman and demanding more love.

It isn’t a long drive, and while all of them are excited for the destination, no one really minds the journey. It’s part of the experience. It’s part of this small family tradition they’ve created.

It hits Virgil all of a sudden. This is a tradition. This is a family tradition.

Virgil forgets sometimes. He forgets that he has a whole life now. A life with three incredible partners and two lovely dogs, with his dad, and friends, and so much to live for.

Virgil and his spouses have created this little tradition together. They hadn’t even talked about if they were going this year, just when.

He thinks that’s beautiful.

“What are you smiling about?” Roman asks as Logan parks the car.

Virgil turns to him with a dopey grin.

“Just how much I love you,” he admits.

Roman blushes and Patton coos from the front.

“You can’t just do that,” Roman complains.

“Just did,” Virgil responds, and unbuckles his seatbelt and opens the car door. Roman sputters behind him and moves to get out of the car himself.

Virgil helps Kit down, worried about the jump on the puppy's tiny legs. Trixie follows Roman out. Roman opens the back of the car and then they switch.

Roman gets Kit on his leash and his tiny puppy vest. Virgil holds Trixie’s vest and allows her to slip into it. Logan hands him a few of her things from the side and he easily clips them on before calling for Trixie to bound off the car.

Now prepared, the four of them turn towards the entrance.

A pumpkin patch is sort of a silly thing to care so much about, Virgil thinks. For some reason, he’s okay with that.

They’re actually here to buy pumpkins, but they all know that will only be a small piece of their trip today. This is quickly proven correct when Roman drags them in the direction of the giant corn maze, away from the pumpkins.

Kit starts to race towards the stalks, excited by all the scents and new atmosphere.

“Heel,” Logan chides gently from where he’s holding Kit’s leash.

Kit slows down, settling for a more acceptable place right at Logan’s side.

Logan clicks the clicker and gives him a small treat. Before Kit, Virgil had never clicker trained, but Kit has struggled with getting a few of the commands down, and Virgil thought it best to try a variety of methods. So far the clicker seemed to be working, and they were slowly giving Kit less and less treats and simply just a click in reward.

They arrive at the entrance to the corn maze, Roman saying something dramatic about this being the start of a glorious quest before Logan pushes him forward and he goes stumbling in with a squak of protest.

About four feet in the come to their first debate.

“Left,” Roman insists.

“We stay right,” Logan argues.

“You always say that,” Roman protests.

“If we follow the right wall the entire way, we’ll get back to the entrance without being lost,” Logan explains, “We’ll have solved the maze.”

“But… What about dead ends?” Patton asks.

“We’ll run into those,” Logan agrees, “but if we keep following the right wall, it will work. We’ll end up wrapping around the dead ends.”

“But that’s no fun,” Roman complains, “Sure we’ll make it to the finish without being lost, but part of the adventure is figuring it out yourself. We don’t solve anything by following the right wall.”

“The purpose of a maze is to get to the finish as quickly as possible without getting lost. Following the right path keeps us from getting lost. Due to dead ends and such, it might take longer than we hope, but it’s most certainly quicker than wandering aimlessly.”

“Logan-” Roman tries.

“We have to do it this way,” Logan interrupts, looking down and tapping a hand against his chest before scratching at his shirt with a nail.

“Why?” Roman asks, “I’m- This seems important to you Logan. I don’t want to devalue that. At the same time, I’m also lost and confused as to why we have to do it your way. Could you explain?”

“It’s how you solve a maze,” Logan insisted.

“I get that,” Roman agrees in clarification, “I’m wondering why solving the maze is so important to you?”

“It’s the right way,” Logan answers immediately, and then realizing that doesn’t explain much, takes to tapping his foot with a concentrated frown, “I’m not quite sure how to explain it,” he admits quitely, “But it feels like it has to be this way. It’s the right way. It would upset me greatly if we didn’t do it, because it is the right way.”

He looks up, meeting Roman’s eyes for a fraction of a section.

“But I also understand that as a group I need to be willing to compromise and be accommodating. I am willing to do that.”

“But you don’t want to.”

It’s not a question.

“No,” Logan admits, “No I do not. And it’s not that I am unwilling to hear your perspective or that I am trying to force you to do something. I don’t want to- It’s. I’m autistic. And I think it’s just one of those things.”

“Okay,” Roman responds, “I appreciate you explaining. I’d also like to point out that you’re right, compromising and accommodating each other is an important part of our relationship. Which means that we are also willing to compromise and accommodate you. And considering I want to explore and you feel an inner need to do it a certain way that’s directly tied to being autistic, I’m more than willing to do it your way. Maybe we can solve it first and then explore? Would that be alright?”

“Yes,” Logan is quick to agree, eyes lighting up for a minute, “That would be… uh… appreciated.”

“You’re allowed to be excited about solving the maze,” Roman offers. Logan lets a smile slip lose and bounces on his toes twice.

He then turns to Virgil and Patton.

“Is that alright with the two of you?” Logan asks.

“Yup,” Virgil agrees.

“It’ sounds like a fine plan to me,” Patton adds, “Though I would like to ask if there’s benches or places to sit anywhere. I’m not sure how long we’ll be walking and my hips aren’t doing the best today.”

Issue resolved, they go to find someone to ask about benches.

Apparently there are benches, so they all wander in, sticking firm to the right hand side. They chat and giggle and kiss in the corn stalks (or next to them actually, considering Logan hates the texture) and Kit and Trixie both love the adventure.

People pass by them in all different directions and kids and their families go shrieking toward the center where there’s apparently some kind of attraction. They’ll go there next.

It’s a goal of theirs to go to a different pumpkin patch every year, to explore. Virgil can’t help but think that if they keep doing this, they’ll eventually have to be repeats. He likes that idea.

They find their way out on Logan’s instruction, and Roman cheers as they exit the twisting maze. He turns to take his “genius husband” to which Logan denies even as Roman peppers him with kisses and Patton laughs behind them. Virgil rolls his eyes fondly, and doesn’t protest when Roman moves from Logan, to Patton, and then to him for a kiss.

He does keep an eye on their surroundings. Just in case. But no one seems to be paying them any attention.

Something inside of Virgil starts to worm around though, sitting awkwardly in his insides. It- It wasn’t the kiss but- wow there’s a lot of people here aren't there? A lot of them. And- and screaming kids run past. Are they alright? Is- are the kids okay?

A paw scratches as his pants and he settles a hand in Trixie’s fur to calm his rising anxiety. Deep breath in, hold, out. Carry on. He’s safe. Everyone’s safe.

They reenter the corn maze, this time for wandering rather than solving. They follow the crowds for the most part, coming across pumpkin statues and corn sculptures. And, in the very center of the maze, are stacks of hay for climbing.

Roman’s eyes gleam as he looks ahead.

“So…” he turns to the three of them. “How do you feel about climbing?”

Logan and Patton both sit out, but Virgil lets Roman drag him towards the structure, leaving Trixie with Patton and Logan. They quickly make it to the top, their larger adult bodies much better suited for tackling the hay then the children surrounding them. Roman stands up victorious at the top.

“Don’t fall,” Patton calls up at him, “We don’t want another concussion.”

Roman gasps, hand going to his heart as the hay bale wobbles slightly under him. He eyes it, and slowly gets off.

“First off, that was Virgil’s fault,” he claims, stepping further down, “Second off, I’m not in college anymore.”

He gets close to the bottom before one of the hay bales twists before him and Roman takes a tumbling step off, catching himself before he can fall.

“See?” he grins brightly as he brushes his clothes off, “No falling.”

Patton offers an unamused smile and Trixie races over to him, tail wagging, as she makes sure he’s okay. Virgil snorts and follows Roman’s way down, choosing his steps much more carefully.

Trixie turns to greet Virgil once he rejoins the small group and Virgil gives her a few pets and ear scratches. He stands back up and she slides back to work mode. Kit is wriggling in Pat’s arms, struggling to get to Roman, so Patton passes him over gently and the puppy gives Roman kisses before being set down.

They wander around a bit more before Virgil gets an idea.

“How long do you think it would take Trixie to find me if I hid?” he asks.

“Around a minute,” Logan answers without hesitation.

“No clue,” Roman says a second after.

“Oh are we playing hide and seek?” Patton asks.

“Okay,” Virgil agrees, “Logan I’ll take that bet, I think she can do it in thirty seconds.”

“On average, hiding anywhere throughout the entire maze- one minute. Choose numerous spots. Different distances. We’ll time them and then average out.”

“Deal.”

Virgi leaves Trixie and Kit with Logan and Roman and takes Patton to wander further into the maze. They go forward and backtrack, turning around a corner and finding a bench to sit on. They settle into wait.

“I love these trips,” Patton says after a moment of silence.

Virgil turns to give him a soft smile.

“Yeah,” he admits, “Me too. I uh- I like doing things with you. I like, I like creating traditions. It’s nice.”

It’s something Virgil’s never really had in a good way before. He had traditions- rituals- in his life once. But they weren’t the good kind. After, he, well his father had tried and they did have small traditions. They would always go out to ice cream to celebrate together. But for the most part, Virgil never had that chance, never had the chance to create small little traditions with his family.

Suddenly slightly overwhelmed, he takes one of Patton’s hands, brushing his thumb against the back of it and then giving it a firm squeeze. Patton gives a squeeze back and looks at Virgil. His hand relaxes, but neither lets go.

“Yeah,” Patton agrees, “It is nice. You know I’m sentimental, and just, these things with you- I really enjoy them.”

Virgil continues to smile at him as Patton takes his hand and gives a soft kiss on his cheek.

“Do you really think Trixie can find you in thirty seconds?”

Virgil shrugs, “We didn't go that far. Though the backtracking could make it longer. How many times do you think Logan’s going to make us do this to get a fair data set?”

“Quite a bit,” Patton, “I wouldn’t be surprised if he does the math.”

Which is fair. Virgil wouldn’t be surprised either.

Trixie finds him a moment later, racing around a bend in frantic excitement. She catches sight of him and lights up, tail wagging rapidly. Virgil laughs and meets her halfway to give her an abundance of kisses.

Kit whines at Trixie’s side for attention so Patton takes him to coo over him. He soaks up the spotlight.

“30 more times,” Logan says in front of them.

Yup. He did the math.

Virgil and Patton hide 30 more times, Trixie finding them quickly each time. The question then is, how quick.

“54.25 seconds on average,” Logan claims, shoving his phone back in his pocket when he finishes the math, “I win.”

Virgil turns to Trixie with a gasp.

“Trix? You let him win? How dare you. This is utter betrayal.”

Trixie just flops onto her side at his light teasing, tongue lolling out as she begs for pets. Virgil leans down and complies with her demands.

“And because I won the bet, I’m pretty sure I get a prize,” Logan comments.

“We didn’t bet on anything.”

“Maybe not verbally.”

There’s a fleeting second of panic. Because Logan’s right, he won the bet which means Virgil owes him. Logan holds a position of power and that’s terrifying because what is he going to make Virgil do?

But the panic cuts off quickly.

Because it’s Logan.

And Virgil trusts Logan.

Trixie still nudges him softly for support.

“And what do I owe you?” Virgil teases back.

“A kiss.”

“A kiss?” Of course. “Sounds doable.”

Logan hums and Virgil gives him a quick peck on the lips, all smiles. Logan even allows a few flaps of one of his hands before taking to tapping his leg instead.

“This corn is pretty darn a-maize-ing,” Patton comments.

They all fall silent.

“Was that- is that a double pun?” Roman asks.

Patton grins proudly and Virgil lets out a muffled snort.

“Oh and uh- does anyone know the way out?” Patton asks after a moment, “Because I definitely forgot.”

Virgil, Logan, and Roman turn to each other, equal look of panics across their faces.

Chapter Text

It’s Kit who sees the pony first, just as they finally escape from the maze. His ears go on end and his nose points towards it, attention singularly focused on the mysterious animal.

“Kit,” Roman chides, not realizing yet what had caught his attention.

Kit turns back to Roman, focus waving between him and the pony, obviously wanting to behave but being distracted by the new animal and scents.

“He sees the pony,” Virgil comments, following Kit’s line of sight.

Roman turns, and his eyes light up.

“He hasn’t seen a pony before,” Logan notes from next to them. Virgil nods, and they walk towards the small animal pens.

Kit goes with them, enthusiastic but cautious. His ears are pricked up and his nose is sniffing like crazy, trying to decipher all the smells.

When they reach the fence, Kit goes right up to it, sniffing at the pony. The pony looks down at him in equal interest and leans down to meet Kit. The pony gives a wide snort, nostrils flaring, and Kit darts back a few paces before cautiously coming forward. He reaches through the fence and wacks the pony’s nose.

“Kit!” Virgil says unsure whether to laugh or admonish the pup. The pony sees fine and there’s no harm done, but Kit also can’t go around batting animals. Though to be fair, the pony is also something he has never seen before.

Virgil just settles for shaking his head, not bothering to correct it unless it happens again. He’ll keep an eye out, that’s enough for now.

“Look, there’s ducklings,” Patton says, pointing over to one of the enclosures. The follow his lead to the new fenced off area where a few ducks and numerous ducklings lie. Starting there, they go down the line, cooing at all the animals that are particularly cute. They get to the pigs later, and Logan reads out the names for them on the plaque.

Virgil doesn’t pay much attention, eyes locked on the critters, but the last name makes him pause.

“Wait what did you say the pig was named?” Virgil asked.

“Waddles,” Logan said.

“That’s from a thing. I don’t know what thing. But it’s from a thing. What’s it from?”

His spouses give him shrugs so Virgil pulls out his phone to check. He knows it’s from something, and it’ll bug him all day if he doesn't check now.

“Gravity Falls,” he says outloud, “It’s from Gravity Falls.”

“Oh yeah!” Patton says, “Yeah it’s Mabel’s pig.”

“Who’s Mabel?” Virgil asks.

“You know Waddles but not Mabel?”

“No,” Virgil shakes his head and tries to figure it out, “Like- I recognize both names. But I don’t know from what.”

He searches up Mabel from Gravity Falls, and he suddenly knows where he’s seen the cute animation style before.

“Picani,” he realizes, “Picani has a poster in his office.”

Well- Picani has many posters in his office. But there’s definitely a Gravity Falls one now that Virgil thinks about it. With a boy and a girl in the center with a pig and somewhere in the background there’s a floating triangle with an eye. Oh and a weird uncle.

“Hmm,” Patton hums, “We should watch it. It’s a good show. Cute. About these two twins who go spend the summer with their great uncle where a bunch of weird supernatural stuff happens. I think there would definitely be triggers for you though. We can check ‘Does the Dog Die?.’”

“Oh I think my sister’s seen this show!” Roman chimes in, “Wait is one of the twins trans? I’m like 90% sure she said one of them was trans. Or both. Was it both?”

“...Technically neither of them are trans?” Patton admits, “But they’re both trans now. Because I’m trans and I say so.”

“Valid,” Virgil says.

He’s quickly followed by Roman’s, “Mood.”

“Did Esther like the show?” Logan asks.

“Hmm? Oh uh- I think so?” Roman replies, face scrunching up into an adorable frown, “I can ask.”

“Is there actually any queer representation in it?”

“I think so,” Patton says, “There was something and I know it was a big deal but I don’t remember exactly.”

Logan hums and turns back to the pigs.

“Which one’s Waddles?” Logan asks.

“I think that one?” Roman says, pointing at the one in the far corner. “It has the same spots as the picture.”

Logan nods, and they stare at the pigs a bit longer before moving on.

The goats are last and by far the most fun. They seemed to almost play with each other, bleating and jumping around. They also engage in a bit of staring and bouncing with Kit and Trixie. The goats seem fascinated and entertained by the pups, and the pups seem equally fascinated and entertained in return.

In fact, they got so caught up in watching the goats and dogs tease each other, that they completely missed the last goat.

“Ow!” Roman yelps, falling back from the fence.

“What?!” Virgil responds instantly, narrowing in on Roman for any signs of harm or injury.

“It bit me!” Roman complains loudly.

“What?”

“The goat! It bit me!”

“Are you okay?” Virgil presses, still worried.

“Oh yeah I’m fine,” Roman easily dismisses. “But hey! It bit me! And it chewed through my jeans!”

He turns to face the tree of them, pointing out the chewed away fabric near his knee.

Patton stifles a giggle, leaning into Virgil’s side at the sight as Roman continues to look highly offended.

Roman ignores them, and instead struts right back over to the goats.

“That wasn’t nice,” he says directly to the goat that bit him, “That wasn’t nice at all. You’re mean.”

“The goat doesn’t understand you,” Logan inputs, “In addition I very much doubt it has the capacity to consciously make a choice to be mean or unkind or to feel similar complex emotions and intend to perform actions that follow through with those complex emotions. But I’m unsure. I don’t know much about goats. But it is a goat Roman.”

“I don’t care!” Roman says loudly.

Logan shrinks ever so minutely. Roman still isn’t facing them.

“I don’t care,” Roma repeats, and carries on, “Your goat facts are very interesting Logan, thanks for sharing.” Logan straightens a bit, and bounces on his toes. “But I’m human and I’m going to project my goddamn emotions on these evil goats if I so please.”

Patton continues to snort into Virgil’s side. Virgil wraps an arm around him and watches the entertaining interaction.

“As long as you’re aware that you’re projecting your emotions onto the goat,” Logan supports.

“Heck yeah. They’re mean goats. I’m doing the healthy anger projection thing. What’s that called?”

“You’re generally discouraged from projecting in therapy,” Patton adds, the same time Virgil adds, “Equine Therapy.”

“Oh yeah, animal-assisted therapies are a good example,” Patton agrees, “Cause sometimes we need to project. But projecting onto actual people can hurt them and hurt our relationships with them. Projecting onto animals can create a healthy release for certain emotions when done in a proper setting. Equine therapy is a great example of that.”

Roman nods, still glaring at the tiny goat in front of him.

“I’m calling this mad-at-goats therapy,” he declares, before giving one last piercing stare at the ‘evil’ goat, before his face softens. “He’s kinda cute though. Now I feel bad for him. I’m sorry goat.” He reaches his hand back over the fence and the goat sniffs it gently. “Hey can we get a pet goat?”

A quick flip from hating goats to loving them isn’t exactly something Virgil would expect from most people, but from Roman it’s hardly a surprise.

“I’m vetoing goats,” Virgil informs him.

Roman grumbles, faux annoyed.

“We all agreed when moving in with Virgil that he got veto rights on any pets,” Logan mentions at Roman’s grumbling.

At the comment, Roman finally turns back to face them at all.

“I know,” Roman sas, “I was teasing. I don’t actually want a goat, and I’m not mad at Virgil for vetoing the goat even if I did want one. It was very kind of you to gently but firmly remind me of a preestablished agreement we had come to.”

Roman rejoins them, and they continue to stand in eyesight of the goat enclosure, while still being out of reach and out of the way of all the other people who want to check them out.

“Oh. Okay. I don’t want a goat either. I suspect they would need exercise, but seem very difficult to walk,” Logan muses.

They all glance over at the leaping animals.

“Yeah,” Virgil agrees, “We can barely manage a puppy as is.”

Patton gasps.

“Don’t talk about my son that way!” Patton insists, glancing down at Kit at his feet. He looks back at Virgill. “Can you pick him up for me?” Virgil nods and reaches down to pick up the small pup before trading the puppy for Patton’s cane so Patton can hold his small body in two hands.

“Don’t listen to them Kit,” Patton coos, “They’re just mean. You’re a lovely perfect darling who could never do anything wrong.”

“Hey! I thought I was the lovely perfect darling who could never do anything wrong!” Roman protests.

“No love. You’re the darling who decides it’s a smart idea to stand up on your desk during college to debate with a classmate and then fall off it and get a concussion.”

“Okay, that was once!” Roman argues, “And come on, it’s not fair using that against me twice in one day.”

Patton’s eyebrows knit together.

“I mentioned that earlier?”

The sentence is much more of a question than a statement.

“Yeah. I almost fell off the hay bales in the corn maze,” Roman reminds.

“Ah right,” Patton nods, “I remember the hay bales. You almost fell off?”

“I mean yes but nope. Completely fine. No near falls or misses or anything like that. But yes I almost fell.”

“He almost face planted,” Virgil supports.

“But I didn’t!” Roman says, voice rising at the end.

“You need to be more careful,” Patton chides. A shifts on his feet a bit and grimaces slightly, “We don’t need someone splitting open their head at the pumpkin patch.”

A searing picture burns through Virgil’s mind. One of human skull and brain matter. Of blood and bones and-

Trixie presses against his leg. Virgil shakes the past from his mind and takes an even breath.

“Virge?”

“Hm?” Virgil responds, turning his gaze back to Patton as Trixie stays at his side. Patton watches him carefully.

“Oh, I’m good,” Virgil says, soothing Patton’s concern.

Patton nods and shifts again. Kit squirms lightly in his hands.

“Want to trade back?” Patton asks, nodding at his cane.

They switch again, and Kit gets transferred to Roman’s arms after Virgil instead of back to the ground. Roman holds him close and gives small cooing noises as Kit squirms enthusiastically at the attention.

“Can we sit?” Patton asks, “My hip’s hurting.”

The group quickly agrees and they find an open bench nearby. They take a minute, just sitting, taking in the scenery. The pumpkin patch is large, and the actual pumpkin patch part of the pumpkin patch is even larger. The fields stretch off into one direction, quite a few people wandering around them to pick their own pumpkins.

“We should get funnel cake,” Roman says abruptly.

“Oh yes.”

“I’ve actually never had funnel cake,” Virgil admits.

“What?” Roman says, whipping to catch Virgil’s gaze and mouth hanging slightly opened, “You’ve never had funnel cake? Ever?”

Virgil’s told his spouses a lot of weird, fucked up things over the years. But of course this simple detail about a dessert he has yet to try would be one of the things that managed to shock Roman completely.

“We didn’t exactly get dessert in a doomsday cult,” Virgil explains, voice light.

“Okay, first off, you weren’t in a doomsday cult just fucked up weird religious shit. Second of all, You had what…” Roman takes a moment to fumble over the dates, “fifteen-ish years since then. And you still haven’t had funnel cake.”

Of course Roman’s going to focus on the funnel cake.

Virgil shrugs in response.

“Unacceptable, we’re definitely going to get funnel cake now. You have to try it.”

“Don’t make him try it,” Logan immediately jumps in.

Roman turns to him, seemingly a bit lost for words.

“...Why not?”

Logan taps his foot on the ground. Patton reaches up to settle a hand on his shoulder before thinking better and dropping it.

“It should be Virgil’s choice. Don’t make him.”

Logan’s gaze is downcast and his hands wring together in what Virgil knows is an anxious stim. Roman seems to recognize the stim for what it is as well, and his face and body relax.

“Oh of course,” Roman agrees, switching from light teasing to pure honesty, “Sorry I was probably a bit unclear. I meant that I suggest Virgil tries it, and I encourage him to, but if he really doesn’t want to, I’m not going to force him.”

Logan nods, but frowns. He starts rocking slightly.

“Lo? You alright?” Virgil asks.

“I think-” Logan hesitates, “I think I’m overstimulated. I feel- not bad… but not good. It’s- static, but not static? Buzzing perhaps. I think I’ll stay with Patton if you’re going to get funnel cake.”

“Would you like a firm hug? For a pressure stim? Or touching in a different way?” Patton asks.

“Don’t touch me,” Logan responds immediately.

Patton nods, and listens.

“Apologies,” Logan says after a minute, “That was rude. I meant-”

Logan doesn’t finish and scrunches his shoulders in towards his body, face still downcast.

“Are words hard right now Logan?”

Logan hesitates before nodding.

“Okay,” Patton replies, “Well I don’t need an apology. I think ‘don’t touch me’ is a perfectly fine way of communicating you wouldn’t like touch. It was direct, and some people may take it as rude, but I know that wasn’t your intention and that communicating is hard right. It was a fine way to say that.”

“Okay,” Logan agrees.

“Do we still want funnel cake?” Roman asks for a moment, looking at the group.

Virgil considers, “Yeah why not try it?”

“Heck yes,” Roman says, “that’s the type of attitude I like.”

Roman pulls Virgil away to go get funnel cake, giving Patton and Logan a bit of space in the meantime. It seems to help somewhat, because when the return with treat in hand, Logan looks much calmer and less overwhelmed.

Roman presents the funnel cake dramatically, causing Patton to giggle and Virgil to elbow him gently. They pass around forks and dig in.

Virgil has to admit it’s not half bad. He wouldn’t want it every day- the flavor and taste being much too overwhelming for everyday consumption. But the treat seems to fit in perfectly with today, and Virgil can appreciate that. Some foods are just made for certain occasions. Like latkes during Hanukkah.

They finish the treat, throwing away the trash before settling on a bench all together to make a decision on their next move.

“Pumpkins?” Patton asks.

There’s no objections, and as such, they all start moving towards the field of orange.

Chapter Text

Knowing them- well more- knowing Roman, they got detoured once more. They were headed towards the actual pumpkin patch, but suddenly, Roman had them staring out at a bath of yellow, filled with kids screeching as they threw corn in the air.

“What… is it?” Logan asked, “I mean. It’s a pit with corn. But- what is it?”

“It’s a corn pit!” Roman says, spinning to gesture at the pit as if that explains it all. Logan frowns slightly.

“Yes.”

“It’s a pit! Of corn!” He says with the same excitement, practically bouncing in place.

“Yes. It is.”

“You play in it!”

Logan looks towards the pit with assorted people playing in it, creating corn angels and sinking into the yellow substance.

“...Why?”

Roman frowns, and seems to take a moment to actually think about instead of bounding to conclusions for once.

“...Because it’s fun?” He says uncertainty, as if Logan’s question was a trick.

“But it’s...corn,” Logan observes, still looking at the substance.

“Yup.”

“You don’t play in corn,” Logan states, as if it is a simple fact. Which fair- Virgil can get behind that. He’s a big supporter of the idea that corn is generally better eaten than played in. Especially as popcorn/

“Other people are,” Roman points out, gesturing as the groups of people playing in the kernels.

“Kids are,” Logan acknowledges, “We aren’t kids.”

“So? There’s no rule saying that we can’t.”,” Roman challenges.

Logan shifts, and seems to consider.

“There isn’t an explicitly stated rule, no,” he admits while still not giving way to the activity. Roman offers a shrug in response.

“Okay. Well I’m going to jump into the pit once. Because it’s fun. If kinda gross. You can if you want or you don’t have to.”

And with that, Roman shoves Kit in Virgil’s arm and leaps into the pit. Corn goes flying, and Roman starts to gently sink, comically slow. He lays out on his back as he slowly becomes covered, before sitting up suddenly before his head can disappear, and shaking the corn out of his hair.

Logan observes Roman, and Virgil and Patton observe Logan. Trixie observes Virgil. Kit observes the scents nearby.

Eventually, Logan seems to make a decision, and after looking around once more, he gives a firm nod, and enters the pit of corn. Roman brightens up at the sight and wades through corn towards him.

Logan’s face morphs from hesitant, to surprised, to curious. He threads his finger through the corn, letting it spill through his fingers and back into the pit. When all the corn drops he flaps one of his hands once before grabbing more corn and letting it run through his hands again.

“I like it,” Logan tells Roman, who’s obviously waiting for an evaluation. “The corn feels nice.”

Logan stares, transfixed by the corn as he continues to stim by running his hands through it. Kit wiggles in Virgil’s arms, and Virgil lets him down, watching as Roman and Logan play in the corn pit.

With his attention on his husbands, Virgil doesn’t notice Kit charging for Logan, directly into the corn pit.

Kit whines at the side, trying to figure out how to enter, and Virgil is just about to call him back over, heart already hammering in his chest as he realizes what Kit’s going to try.

But he freezes, and a millisecond is all Kit needs to make a decision and leap into the pit.

“Kit!” Virgil yelps. Patton gasps at his side.

Kit struggles towards Logan, making a bit of headway before starting to sink in the corn. When he realizes what’s happening he starts to cry, and scrambles to reach the top, but his desperate attempts only make him sink further in.

It’s barely a second later before Logan’s grabbing him, and scooping the pup up into his arms, murmuring words of comfort. Kit clings to him desperately.

Virgil’s heart is pounding and his breath comes out in wheezes. His mind is filled with worry for Kit. Kit almost- he almost drowned in corn. What the fuck. He could get hurt so easily, Virgil hadn’t even noticed-

His cut out of his spiralling by a familiar nose nudging his hand. He has enough sense to follow Trixie’s lead, sitting heavily on a free bench behind them. Trixie jumps up, settling in his lap, and Virgil takes some deep breaths as she performs the grounding exercise.

Seconds later, he notices Patton at his side and leans into him, still a little out of breath and suddenly exhausted at the startling wave of panic.

He takes a deep breath and looks for Kit.

“Kit’s fine,” Patton soothes at his side.

Virgil nods, as he watches his pup continue to cling onto a Logan that’s trying to get out of a corn pit with a puppy attached to him.

Kit is fine. He definitely seems a bit startled and is firmly latched onto Logan, but Logan and Roman are both giving him so much comfort and keeping a careful eye on him. Kit is fine.

Did Virgil really almost have a panic attack about his puppy falling into a pile of corn?

Well, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s panicked over his dogs getting hurt. He never thought it would involve corn, but hey, Kit’s always been a bit more chaotic then his two previous dogs.

Kit is fine. But then Logan’s face twists into something more resembling distress than comfort.

Virgil directs Trixie off him and races over, trying to figure out what’s wrong.

But he can’t find anything wrong, Kit looks fine. Logan doesn’t even seem to be paying as much attention anymore.

“Is Kit hurt, is he okay?” Virgil demands, still lost. Logan shakes his head and hands over Kit. Virgil quickly takes him in his arms scooping him close. Kit whines a bit, and scrabbles at his arms trying to get back to Logan, still shaken up. But Virgil isn’t ready to let him go, and he brings him close, hugging him tight. Trixie presses up against his side.

Virgil’s paying so much attention to Kit, he doesn’t take notice of Logan starting to stim by flapping his arms. The motion does catch his attention after a moment, especially considering Logan is generally uncomfortable stimming so visibly in public.

Virgil smiles at him, happy to see his husband feeling free to stim visibly, until he takes note of the fact that the flaps Logan is doing don’t seem to be happy at all. Instead of joyful and waving, their desperate and hard, and Logan’s face twists into something uncomfortable.

Roman also seems to notice, and takes a step closer to Logan, who jerks away and shakes his head and biting his lip, hands still flapping.

“Hey Lo,” Patton said, “You seem upset. Is that right?”

Logan gives a firm nod.

“Okay. That's good to know. Are you overstimulated?”

Logan nods once more and continues flapping. He pulls his head up and starts looking around.

“Are you emotionally overstimulated?” Patton asks, considering the recent corn-drowning encounter with Kit.

Logan shakes his head.

“Physically overstimulated?”

A nod.

“Okay. I’m going to run through the senses and we’ll try to figure this out.”

Logan nods. He brings his arms in tight to his chest, and start rubbing at his forearm and hand with his other hand, twisting his hand around the limb as he continues to look around. The motion doesn’t escape them.

“Touch?” Patton asks.

Logan nods fiercely, and continues to rub at his arms.

“Film. Dust. Get off,” Logan states.

“From the corn?” Patton asks.

Logan nods.

“Okay, well I know there were bathrooms somewhere around here. Do you want to try washing your hands and arms?”

Logan nods.

Roman darts away to find where the bathrooms are located, and when he returns, the four of them wake their way over.

Logan vigorously washes his hands in the sink for a few minutes, eyebrows scrunching in and mouth tight as he scrubs up and down his arms and hands.

Eventually, he seems to be satisfied, and turns the water off, looking much calmer. He’s stopped stimming as anxiously and his features are no longer tight.

“Sorry,” he mutters to the three of them.

“You don’t need to be sorry,” Virgil says.

Logan nods in acknowledgment.

“You’re right,” Logan says, “I’m not sorry. I say that I am but that’s not- I’m not sorry. I don’t like bad textures.”

Kit squirms in Virgil’s arms.

“I think someone was worried about you,” Virgil comments, “want him back?”

Logan nods in agreement and Virgil passes over the puppy who instantly curls up in Logan's arms, leaning into his chest. Logan smiles at him and gives him a small kiss on the forehead.

“He’s babey,” Roman declares, causing Virgil to snort in laughter and Patton to smile and coo at Kit.

“Pumpkins?” Virgil suggests.

The group agrees, and slowly but surely they finally make their way to the pumpkin patch.

The field stretches out to agree in front of them. Virgil can only imagine that it goes for miles, stretching past the horizon. Green leaves on brown ground with bright orange spheres sitting throughout them cover the field.

They could have grabbed pre-picked pumpkins near the front, but this is much more fun.

They begin together, but Roman is quickly gone, looking for “the best pumpkin ever.”

His definition of best usually involves picking the largest pumpkin he can reasonably carry back to the car. And while Roman isn’t partially strong, he has his height going for him. The pumpkin is going to be big.

Virgil follows Logan and Patton instead. Logan is much more hands on with pumpkins, sitting them up and frowning at them, checking to see if they stand without falling over, and if there would be a good surface for carving.

Patton is much more visual, pointing out all the different pumpkins in ranging shapes and sizes. Eventually, he lets out a gasp as he sees a yellow one and immediately announces that’s the pumpkin he’s going to get.

“Check it over first,” Logan suggests even as Patton is already on the ground and reaching for the stem to break it off. Luckily enough, the pumpkin seems to be fine, and it’s only slightly lopsided when sitting up.

Logan takes the pumpkin as Virgil helps Patton up off the ground and they continue on.

Logan finds one that he’s satisfied with soon enough. It’s perfectly round and sits nicely on the ground. Virgil’s pretty sure this is the pumpkin they use in promotional pictures it seems so well put together. Virgil’s surprised plants can even grow things like that.

They carry on, Roman rejoining them with an absolutely massive pumpkin as Virgil is taking the stem off a long narrow one he found. It’s an odd shape, but should work well with the idea he has for carving.

They wander away from the pumpkin patch as a group, heading towards the front to pay.
As they leave the patch and enter the area of pre-picked pumpkins, Virgil quickly selects two mini ones. He carries one himself before holding the other out to Trixie.

“Take it nice. Gentle,” he tells her, and she carefully takes the pumpkin in her mouth, carrying it herself to the register. Kit looks curiously over from where he’s still wrapped up in Logan’s arms.

“You get one too Kit,” Logan tells him, “You can have yours at home, as long as you don’t eat it. Alright?”

Kit snuffles and buries further into Logan while letting out a large yawn. Virgil can’t help but agree with his actions completely. The outing has been fun, but Virgil’s social meter is running low.

They purchase the pumpkins, and leave the pumpkin patch, travelling towards their car when Logan stops. The three of them halt around him.

Virgil turns to him, about to ask why he stopped when he sees the sight in his arms.

Kit, in Logan’s arms, lying on his back, completely splayed out with head and limbs flailing, completely fast asleep.

“Awww,” Patton coos.

“He’s so small,” Roman marvels, “And oh! Look at his little toes.”

Virgil does, seeing the little beans flail a bit as Kit most likely dreams. It’s the cutest little movement.

“He’s tired,” Logan says, “It’s been a long day.”

Yeah. Yeah it has. A long day, but a good one.

“Let’s go home,” Virgil says.

He gets three versions of agreement, and they carry on, together.