Prompt 2: dreams

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Patton woke up slowly, remnants of his dream still in his mind, slowly fading. He stretched his limbs, blinking his eyes open and reaching for his phone to check the time. He slowly got up, making himself a cup of tea and a sandwich. 

He seated himself on his couch by the window, watching the rain that poured down outside, pelting against the window and the street and the trees outside. He sipped his tea, trying not to burn his tongue and thinking back to his dream. He didn’t remember much except for the part just before he woke up, it was always hard to remember most dreams. 

But there was one thing he always remembered from these kinds of dreams, a person. Never the same dream, always the same person. 

This time, a man wearing boxer shorts and a big disney t-shirt that hung off of him, dancing in a kitchen and using a whisk as a pretend microphone, grinning so widely as he sang and reached his hand out to pull Patton with him into his dance. He remembered smiling so hard it hurt, letting himself be pulled in by the man, laughing as they danced together. 

His soulmate. He had always been dreaming about him, because that was just how it worked. Everyone had a soulmate, or several. Someone supposed to be their perfect match, that made them better and who would always be by their side. 

The dreams were like glimpses of the future, which was incredibly motivating as no matter how awful the present sometimes was, the future always looked so very bright. 

Sure, from what Patton could remember from his dreams it wouldn’t all be dancing in the kitchen with the early morning sun shining in through the windows, there would still be bad days, for the both of them, but that really didn’t seem like it would matter much when there was also so much to look forward to. 

Patton couldn’t wait to meet his soulmate, no matter what the future would hold for them. 

He set his empty cup and plate down on the coffee table, giving the rainy outside one more glance before getting up from his couch. 

“Right, time for productiveness and adulting.” Patton said to no one in particular, clapping his hands together, leaving his dirty dishes for later as he went back into his bedroom and got dressed, pocketing his phone before finding his rain boots and his cat umbrella, which matched his cat hoodie. 

The rain was best enjoyed inside, but Patton didn’t have much choice, what with work and having to go shopping for groceries now and then. He soon stepped outside, opening up his umbrella and trying to ready himself for work.

It only took about twenty minutes of work for Patton to desperately long to go home and take a nap, hopefully getting to see more of his soulmate. 

He felt exhausted by the end of his shift and loathed the fact that he had to go to the store instead of going home and curling up on the couch with his softest and fluffiest blanket and another cup of tea, window cracked open so he could listen to the still falling rain while She-Ra and the Princesses of Power played on his tv.

But nope, he was on his way home to get his wallet, because of course he had forgotten it at home. At least the store was close to his apartment so it was not too much of a hassle.

Despite his umbrella he was beginning to become cold and wet. The wind had picked up while he was at work and now it seemed like there might be a storm on its way. At least after going to the store he could bundle up on the couch in his pajamas and have a cozy evening in front of the tv. Or take that nap.

He hurried down the road, regretting that he walked to and from work instead of taking public transport as a strong gust of wind almost ripped his cat umbrella right from his hand, which left him vulnerable to the rain for long enough to feel like he had walked through a shower.

The wind was really making it inconvenient to have an umbrella, but when it was raining this hard he really didn’t want to put his umbrella away, he was going to be soaked within minutes! When he got home he would definitely change into his raincoat instead and hope to stay somewhat dry.

He held the umbrella low, hunching slightly, as if it would protect him from the weather more. Which it did, for about five minutes until another gust of wind took him by surprise and ripped the umbrella from his hands, sending it rolling along the sidewalk away from him.

“Oh no!” Patton exclaimed, hurrying after his umbrella, afraid it would blow into traffic and get run over by a car. He couldn’t let that happen to Mr Whiskers! 

(So what if he had named his umbrella?)

Before that had the chance to happen someone else managed to catch his umbrella, and Patton ran up to them, sighing in relief just as the other turned around to look for whoever had lost their umbrella.

“Thank you so much! I was afraid that was the last I would see of my…” Patton trailed off, eyes falling on the face of the person in front of him, noticing his neat brown hair, kind eyes, and confident smile that he knew so well despite never having seen it when he was awake.

“It’s you!” Patton blurted, watching his soulmate's eyes widen and his mouth form into a small ‘o’.

“Oh my-! I’ve finally found you!” The man exclaimed, smiling so brightly that Patton couldn’t help throwing himself at him, wrapping his arms tightly around him and not caring in the least about the rain that was already soaking through his hoodie.

His soulmate hugged him back, as well as he could when holding Patton’s umbrella and they just stood there hugging for a while in the rain, until Patton realized he was beginning to shiver. This really was not the ideal weather to be out and about in.

He took a step back, his soulmate taking his hands and still looking in disbelief and shock at seeing him, and Patton definitely felt the same way. Everything felt so surreal.

“I can’t believe I’ve finally found you…” Patton breathed, in complete awe over the fact that his soulmate was really standing there right in front of him. Rain soaked but just as beautiful as in any dream Patton had ever had, his eyes were shining with so much joy.

A car sped by, driving through a large puddle that splashed over the sidewalk, showering them in dirty water, ruining the moment somewhat, but Patton didn’t think it was possible for anything to dampen his mood right now.

“Oh dear,” Patton giggled a little, wiping his glasses on his hoodie sleeve, which didn’t help much as it was pretty soaked too, but that didn’t stop him from reaching out and wiping some muddy water from his soulmates cheek, “would you like to come to my apartment, change into some dry clothes? I live just a minute away.”

“Yes, yes that sounds lovely.” He said, wiping his wet hair from his face but still holding onto one of Patton’s hands. “I’m Roman, by the way.”

“Hi, Roman, I’m Patton.” Patton said and pulled Roman with him, neither of them bothering to use Patton’s umbrella as they walked the short bit to Patton’s apartment, already too soaked for it to matter and too busy talking to care.

They stepped inside Patton’s apartment, dripping rainwater onto the hallway floor. They glanced at each other, breaking out into giggles. Patton couldn’t help it, here he was, meeting his soulmate for the first time while absolutely drenched in rain, it felt so silly.

“I’ll get us some towels.” He said, leaving small puddles on the floor as he made his way to the bathroom and back, returning with an armful of towels.

“Thank you.” Roman said, accepting a towel and wiping his face and his hair, making it a mess, reminding Patton of how he had looked in his latest dream. Gosh, he could barely wait to get to know Roman.

“Do you want to stay for dinner?” He blurted, flustering slightly at his own eagerness, but Roman lit up, “We might have to order food, though.”

“I’d love to.” Roman said, taking his jacket off and wiping his arms dry.

“Great! Oh, hang on, I’ll get you those dry clothes.” Patton said, remembering his earlier promise. They could change into dry clothes and he could make that second cup of tea that he had been longing for all day, and maybe they could watch a movie, or just sit and talk and… There was so much he wanted to do now that his soulmate was finally with him.

He could go to the store tomorrow.

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Written: 29th & 30th August 2021
Published: 4th September 2021
Words: 1514