Patton woke up to the soft sound of Virgil's breathing from the corner of his room, which he instantly felt bad about, because that was creepy. He looked over and saw Virgil curled up on the bean bag he'd fallen asleep on. Smiling slightly, Patton pushed aside his blankets and left the room, grabbing his wand on the way. He'd surprisingly been awake for much longer than Virgil had, unable to fall asleep. He didn't bother to suppress his powers when just Virgil was in the room, as there weren't enough emotions to make his head go haywire. He'd felt the shifts in his emotion as he slept, going from terrified and conflicted to almost at peace. Key word being almost.

Patton walked into the kitchen and grabbed himself some cereal. He quickly cast a soundproofing spell on the room in an attempt to encourage Virgil to sleep for a little longer. Patton knew how messed up Virgil's sleep schedule was, and he also knew that he wasn't intentionally messing up his sleep schedule. It was just an unfortunate side effect of everything he had to go through.

Patton ate quickly, wanting to get to work before the streets got busy. It was incredibly fortunate that Logan hadn't hit him the other day, but if he happened to find himself in the same situation again there was a good chance he wouldn't be so lucky. Better to just avoid the traffic altogether.

Finishing his breakfast quickly, Patton slipped back into his room and grabbed his clothes, careful not to wake Virgil. He could use a bathroom other than his own for once if it meant Virgil got a bit more sleep.

Patton got ready in no time and headed for the door, taking his soundproofing charms down as he went. He regretted not leaving Virgil a note like he usually would, but last night he'd told him where he'd be and could text him during the day. Patton stepped out the door, locking it behind him. He could swear the house made a sad noise like a dog being left behind as he walked away.

It was much easier to get to work today. There were fewer cars out, as it was a weekend and the city was sleeping in. Patton could even walk the entire way to work, not having to stop and duck behind some shrubbery to teleport as he usually did. It was refreshing. No one ever really appreciated the mornings, especially in cities like this one. Everyone was too busy getting to where they needed to be or sleeping in, taking the time to rest. Not that there was anything wrong with sleeping in late, of course. It was just that people didn't stop to take in the morning the same way they did in the evening.

It took a mere half-hour to walk to work, which could have been an all-time record. The parking lot had very few cars; only a couple of other therapists and a secretary were here so early.

"Morning Mr. Hart," the secretary greeted him as he stepped in. She was a young woman around Patton's age named Kylie. She had a contagious smile and amicable attitude and was just generally nice to be around.

"Good morning, Kylie. And haven't I said to call me Patton? We're all friends here," he smiled back, stopping on his way into his office to grab a glass of water. They had a water jug and recyclable cups on a table in the corner, an addition that had been Kylie's idea.

"Sorry, Patton. Some of the others are so insistent on people being respectful, I just forget that you prefer a more casual relationship," she apologized awkwardly. Patton found her extensive vocabulary endearing, today more than usual. The two got along very well, seeing as their personalities were quite similar. Some of the others in the office referred to the pair as the living embodiment of sunshine.

"How was your Friday night? Happy to be here so early?"

"Can't say I am," Kylie laughed. "Yesterday evening was boring. Nothing out of the ordinary. What about you? You seem to be positively radiant."

"I'm actually okay with waking up this early. And as for yesterday, remember the guy I mentioned? The one who nearly hit me?"

"Yeah. Did the getting-coffee-situation go well?"

"It did! Turns out his cousin was on a date with my best friend, and we all had dinner and a movie together."

"Double date, then, eh?"

"No, no! We're just friends," Patton reassured her, though he felt his face heating up. "I mean, Lo and I are. Roman and Virgil, well, there's definitely a spark."

Kylie laughed. "Sorry, I don't mean to assume or interfere in your private life, but you already call him Lo?"

"I mean- I didn't mean to. It's just that his cousin did, and now it's what I think of him as, and-"

"It's alright, Patton, you don't need to justify yourself to me. And before I forget, Emile said he wouldn't be stopping by today as he'd planned. Something came up." Kylie leaned back against her chair, sighing, and Patton frowned. He'd been looking forward to seeing Emile. "Sorry to cut the conversation short, but your first client is coming by in fifteen minutes. You might want to get set up."

"Oh, snickerdoodle!" Patton exclaimed, rushing from the room. "Thanks, Kylie! See ya later!"

"Did you really just say oh snickerdoodle?" He heard Kylie's infectious laughter echo down the hallway, making him smile. He quickly made it to his office, a bright blue and yellow room covered in posters and positive messages. His smile grew, as it always did when he entered the room. This office was like a second home to him. It was always comforting to step into such a colourful place and be greeted with overwhelming positivity. The paint on the wall was a blue base with big yellow circles, some of which had been turned into smiley faces. In one circle, he chose to put some of the cards he'd gotten from previous clients. He'd only been working as a therapist for a year, but he'd already impacted an unexpected number of people. He got many thank-you cards, some from clients leaving therapy and some for holidays.

Plopping down in his chair at the dull brown desk in the back corner of the room, Patton quickly organized his things. He pulled a file from the desk drawer, one with this particular client's information. They hadn't met in a month or so, but the client had been doing rather well when he last saw them. Patton skimmed over the pages for a quick refresher, not wanting to accidentally say or do anything wrong. He didn't have too many clients at the moment, but he had enough that he got confused on occasion.

Hard as he tried to focus, Patton kept finding his mind drifting off. The words on the page just seemed to swim in front of him, as though they'd been enchanted to be unreadable. At least his head wasn't pounding and his ears weren't ringing. In that case, he'd have had to take the morning off, which he couldn't afford at the moment. Even though he was physically alright, he just couldn't bring himself to pay attention to what he was reading. There were just more pertinent things, or rather, people, that he'd prefer to think about.

An alarm went off on his phone, shocking him out of his half-focused state. He quickly stopped the ringing and headed out of his room to greet the client. He found them perched awkwardly on the edge of a chair, shoulders hunched and hair mused. Their leg bounced rapidly, fingers tapping a frantic rhythm on the arm of their chair. They looked almost stuffed into clothes that didn't seem to suit them which, quite frankly, they looked to be forced into.

"Dr. Hart?" They asked almost desperately, looking up.

"That's my name, don't wear it out!" Patton smiled brightly. "How ya doin, kiddo?"

"I'm great, can we go into your office?" They asked, the words tumbling from their mouth. Patton frowned, concerned about the strange behaviour, but relented.

"After you," he said, waving an arm in front of him. The kid, whose file said he was around the same age as Virgil, hurried from the room and down the hallway. Patton followed, closing his door behind him for privacy.

"Sorry to rush out of there, it's just my mom," the kid groaned, collapsing onto a couch as the words spilled from their mouth like a waterfall. "She's so overbearing, and she would've spent half an hour having a conversation with you if she were given the chance, and-"

"It's alright, kiddo, I get it," Patton smiled, sitting across from them.

"Thanks, Dr. Hart."

"Please, call me Patton! I understand it's been a while since we last met, but that doesn't mean we have to go back to formalities unless you'd prefer that."

"I don't like being formal," they admitted.

"Alright then. Just as a refresher, what would you prefer to be called? First name, last name, nickname. . ."

"Remus is fine."

"Alrighty, Remus, let's get started."