Warnings: roman is sick (a cold w like sore throat  fever, headache, etc) but otherwise no, its roman loving hours

Prompt 16: free (shared pain)

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When Patton woke up he knew immediately that something was wrong. His throat hurt, and he had a headache, and it felt as if his whole body kind of ached, the way it would when you had a fever, except Patton didn't feel feverish.

He swallowed, preparing for the pain that was sure to come, but when it didn't get worse he opened his eyes, sitting up slightly and noting that the movement did not make his head hurt worse either. He tried clearing his throat too, shaking his head. It dawned on him a second later.

Oh. It wasn't his pain.

He pushed his covers off, yawning as he looked around the bedroom. It was fairly dark, the navy blue curtains still covering the window, and it was quiet and calm.

Half of the bed was empty and he vaguely remembered kisses on his forehead that must have been left by Logan and Virgil when they had gotten out of bed earlier, and the thought made him smile. He loved their little habit of giving anyone left in bed a little kiss before leaving, it was one of hundreds of little things that just made him feel all full of love.

He reached out towards the body next to him, wrapping an arm around Roman and leaning over him to press his lips to his cheek. The little whine that escaped from between Roman's lips alerted Patton which one of his three soulmates it was that was in pain. Patton sat back up again, gently threading his fingers through Roman's mussed hair, cooing a little in sympathy.

"How are you feeling, love?" He asked quietly as to not make his headache worse and Roman simply groaned into the pillow.

"Not great, huh?" He continued playing with Roman's hair, massaging his scalp and trying not to accidentally tug on his hair. Now it made sense how tired and clingy Roman had been last night, falling asleep in the middle of the movie they had been watching after dinner. They should have seen it coming.

"I'll get you something for your head and your throat." He said, quickly leaving a kiss on his soulmate's brow before getting out of bed and pulling a sweatshirt on, liking to be wearing something more than only his underwear now that winter was on its way and it was starting to get a bit chilly.

He went down the stairs and glanced into the study and the living room on his way to the kitchen. The house was empty except for him and Roman, unless his two other soulmates were hiding away in one of the bathrooms or some closet or in a room upstairs.

Although, to be fair it wouldn't be the first time they had snuck off together, but as the shopping list they had put together over the week was gone from its usual spot under the dog magnet on the fridge he assumed the two of them weren't getting handsy together.

He sent Virgil a quick text, asking them to also buy tissues, the ingredients to Roman's favorite chicken noodle soup that he knew they had run out of, cough drops, and ibuprofen as he knew they only had a few left. Virgil texted back a minute later that they were already on their way back but had bought everything Patton had asked for, and some more stuff.

He smiled at his phone, sending a thumbs up and a blue heart before pocketing it and filling the water boiler with water enough for two cups. He opened a cupboard and easily found the lavender tea that had been Roman's favorite ever since Virgil had made him take a sip from his cup many, many years ago, before they realized they were soulmates.

He put the tea in two teabags, leaving one in Roman's red and glittery cup and one in his own one with you're my cup of tea printed on it (an old gift from Virgil) before turning the radio on, wiggling a little along to the music as he waited for the water to boil.

Then his stomach rumbled and he realized with a glance up at the clock above the kitchen table that it was almost noon! He wouldn't have thought they had slept that long, especially with how Roman was feeling.

He made three toasts, putting orange marmalade on two of them and munching on them as he poured the hot water into their cups. Then he spread crofters onto the third one and put them on a plate, also pouring a glass of cold apple juice as he waited for the tea to get done. He winced as the headache felt worse for a moment, throwing the tea bags in the trash before placing everything for Roman on a tray.

Then he hurried to the bathroom to find those few ibuprofen they had left, squeezing one out of the packaging and being careful not to drop it and lose it because that would be such a waste.

Stepping out of the bathroom he looked up to see Roman slowly making his way down the stairs, dressed in pajamas and fuzzy socks, wrapped up in his big red blanket but still seeming to shiver. He looked exhausted, his nose a bit red and runny and his hair sticking up in weird places.

"Hi, honey, you sure you don't wanna stay in bed?" Patton wondered, reminding himself that he should add honey to Roman's tea.

His soulmate shook his head and made his way to the bottom of the stairs, letting Patton put an arm around him and lead him into the kitchen where Patton left Roman on a chair by the table. He left the pill next to the juice glass, then moved the tray over to the table which Roman was leaning over, looking all miserable.

"Here you go. Take the pill for your headache." He said and Roman reluctantly did as he was told, the both of them wincing as Roman had to swallow. Sore throats were the worst. Patton loved that their soulmate bond showed that they belonged together, but it wasn't much fun actually feeling each other's pains.

He rummaged through the tea cupboard again, moving boxes of tea around to find the jar of honey that always ended up behind them, then putting two spoonfuls (teaspoons, mind you) in Roman's tea.

He didn't know if honey actually had any effect on a sore throat, but Logan and Roman both claimed that tea or hot water with honey helped them feel better, and who was he to argue? As long as Roman felt better he could have all the honey he'd like.

Roman slowly stirred his tea with the spoon, his other hand wrapped loosely around the cup. Patton left a kiss on the top of his head, then snapping his head up with a grin as he heard the front door being unlocked. He heard shuffling and a bit of swearing as Virgil seemed to stumble over something (probably someone's pair of shoes) and he left Roman's side momentarily to poke his head into the hallway.

"Hello there." He said, melting just a little as Virgil looked up and immediately smiled a little.

"Hi. L's getting the last bags and locking the car." He said, leaving the door wide open, and Patton moved to the side as Virgil carried the three bags he was holding towards the kitchen, although he did stop on his way to give Patton a chaste kiss.

"Didn't know which one of you was the miserable one so we got some sick Roman stuff and sick Patton stuff. Probably for the best to have lying around, who knows when you'll get sick next." Virgil said with a grin as he placed the bags on the floor by the fridge.

Patton couldn't argue with that, he was the one out of the four of them that got sick most often. It wasn't very strange, with him working with kids and all.

Patton started unpacking one of the bags, setting anything Roman might need onto the counter instead of putting it away in cupboards or the fridge. Virgil was making his way over to Roman who was already reaching out for him.

"Hi there, hot stuff." Virgil said teasingly before pressing the back of his hand to Roman's forehead. Roman just huffed, clearly not having the energy to care if Virgil was trying to gently bully him, which in itself was a clear sign that Roman wasn't feeling his best.

Normally such a greeting would have resulted in a smirk and definitely some flirty remarks that would make Virgil blush. Now he simply leaned into Virgil, seeming to just want to be held.

He heard the front door shut and soon Logan appeared in the doorway, putting two more bags down next to the three that Virgil had left before looking around the room, frowning slightly as his eyes fell on Roman.

"Good morning, Lolo." Patton said, grasping his tie and carefully pulling him in for a kiss. That did get a smile out of Logan before he began to assist Patton in unpacking all the groceries. It was done in just a few minutes and Logan folded their reusable bags, putting them away in a drawer in the hallway.

Patton turned back to Virgil, who seemed to be pretty much holding Roman up as he was slumped against him, pressing kisses into his hair as Roman was mumbling something that Patton definitely could not hear despite not being particularly far away.

"Sure thing." Virgil, who apparently had heard him, said.

"Come on now, you big oaf, let us nurse you back to health, yeah?" Virgil said. Then he coaxed Roman to stand up and, with him still leaning against him, walked him into the living room. Patton followed them with the tray, setting it down on the low table by the couch as Roman was laying down, hugging one of the decorative pillows.

Logan stopped in the doorway and picked up the red blanket that had slipped from Roman's shoulders, then stepped into the room to join the rest of them.

"Did you lock the car?" Virgil wondered, taking a step back as Logan draped the blanket over Roman.

"Yes I did, and I double checked." Logan said, which earned him a grateful kiss from Virgil before he disappeared back into the kitchen.

Logan kneeled next to Roman, mumbling something surely reassuring and sappy, taking one of his hands and kissing his knuckles. Roman sighed and nodded, letting go of the pillow he was clutching and sitting up, allowing Logan to press the cup of tea into his hands.

He kissed Roman's forehead before standing up again, making their sick soulmate smile just a little, which was comforting to see. Roman always claimed fully seriously that kisses made him feel better than anything else, and Patton was noticing that Roman's headache was going away. Now, if that was because of all the kisses or the ibuprofen could be debated, he supposed.

Logan stopped in front of Patton, pulling him from his thoughts and he tilted his head a little to the side in a silent question of what Logan wanted.

"You always look so cute in my clothes." Logan commented, hands appreciatively running down Patton's chest before chastely kissing him.

Patton looked down at the sweater he had grabbed, realizing it was one of Logan's. He grinned up at his soulmate, wrapping his arms around his neck.

"Mhm, your sweaters are comfy. You should get some hoodies too." Patton said, which made Logan scoff.

"I have owned a hoodie. Long ago. If you want to know what happened to that hoodie you have to ask Virgil because he kept stealing it." He said, which Patton remembered now that Logan mentioned it.

Their whole relationship they had all been stealing each other's clothes, and it just so happened that as Logan was the tallest of them and enjoyed baggier sweaters and hoodies that his were the best and the comfiest to steal. Patton remembered stealing the mentioned hoodie too, both from Logan and Virgil.

"L, you should know what happened to it, I wear it to bed all the time in the winter. Or do you not pay as much attention to me as you should?" Virgil called from the kitchen, and it was obvious in his voice that he was fake pouting, which had Logan rolling his eyes.

"I need attention. You said something about nursing me back to health?" Roman whined, making grabby hands towards the general direction of them all.

"Gimme a minute, Ro. I'm making you your soup." Virgil shouted again.

Roman seemed to find that a good enough reason to not be showered in affection and leaned back, sipping his tea which momentarily soothed the pain in his throat, which they were all probably thankful for.

Patton left a little kiss on the corner of Logan's mouth, relishing in how it made Logan's lips curl into a smile. His focus on Logan's pretty smile was interrupted by a suffering sigh from Roman who was staring at them.

"Homophobia that I can't get any proper kisses." Roman mumbled with a pout, a statement that meant he was hopefully beginning to feel a bit better. Having the energy to joke was a good sign.

Logan's eyes softened as he looked at Roman and he let go of Patton in favour of seating himself next to Roman and pulling him into his lap, carefully as to not make him spill any tea.

"Don't worry, my prince, I've got plenty of kisses for you, just none on the lips until you are better. For obvious reasons." He promised and Roman continued mumbling about homophobia, though he looked pretty content sitting with Logan and being showered in kisses on the top of his head and his temple and his cheeks and the back of his hands.

Patton walked back into the kitchen to see how Virgil was doing with the soup as Logan was coaxing Roman into taking some bites out of the toast with crofters on it.

"Hi, Pat." Virgil said as Patton walked up behind him and slid his arms around his waist. Virgil abandoned the cooking for a moment to turn around in Patton's arms, placing his hands on Patton's waist but then letting them slip beneath the hem of the shirt and up, Virgil's constantly chilly hands warming themselves against Patton's stomach.

For just a second he considered pulling Virgil upstairs for some alone time, but the sound of Roman coughing in the living room and the pain that brought made him realize that was not the best idea, not right this moment.

"Aren't you cold? You should get dressed." Virgil said, hands slipping lower, feeling warm against his bare thighs. He hadn't even realized he was getting chilly and he had kind of forgotten that he had no pants on.

"Right. Good idea." Patton detached himself from Virgil, climbing up the stairs to their bedroom, rummaging through a drawer until he found his favorite pair of sweatpants, light gray with a black paw print on each knee. Those always fit together nicely with his cat hoodie, but he wasn't sure which one of his boyfriends had stolen that last.

Now wearing pants too he rejoined Virgil in the kitchen again, standing behind him with his arms wrapped around him as he cooked, sipping on his own cup of tea, then watching him pour the finished chicken noodle soup into four bowls. He helped Virgil carry them out to the living room, then joined Logan and Roman on the couch as Virgil disappeared somewhere.

"How's it going, Ro?" Patton wondered, watching Logan slowly rub circles into Roman's back where his blanket had slipped down a bit. Sleeping more would probably do Roman good, but it would also be good if they could get some more food into him too.

"Tired. And I'm still cold." He mumbled, nuzzling more into Logan. Well, that was less of a good sign. Being cold meant his fever might be rising.

Luckily Virgil chose that moment to appear with an armful of blankets, so after a bit of shuffling they had maneuvered Roman to sit between him and Logan and Virgil draped several blankets over them before sliding onto Logan's lap and reaching for one of the bowls of soup. He tried handing the bowl to Roman, but he just kept his hands under the blankets, not moving from where he was leaning against Patton's shoulder.

"What, can't even eat by yourself?" Virgil said and tutted a little, but also looking so fond as he brought a spoonful of soup up to Roman's lips.

"Guess I could, but what's the use in being sick and miserable if I can't also be doted on and taken care of." Roman mumbled with a tired smile before obliging Virgil and opening his mouth for the spoon.

Logan reached for the remote to turn the tv on, finding a Disney movie on Disney+ that he knew Roman wanted to watch (simply because there were some movies Roman was always up to watching). The movie played as Virgil managed to make Roman eat half the bowl of soup until he leaned his head back against Patton again and almost immediately fell asleep.

The three of them shared fond glances, Logan lowering the already low volume on the tv as Patton ever so carefully put an arm around Roman.

Hopefully Roman would be feeling better soon, but until then (and any other time too, let's be honest) the three of them would be there for him with cuddles, kisses, food, and anything else Roman might need.

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Written: 14th September 2021
Published: 15th September 2021
Words: 2969

Roman just really deserves three soulmates that will shower him in love and affection okay