Warnings: brief mention of injuries to an animal, but the animal is perfectly fine and happy!!

To be honest if I don't know a lot about a thing I'm probably just going to go with what I've seen of it off of shows? So forgive me if it doesn't make any sense, I'm trying my best lol. Hope you like the chapter though! Also, sorry this is late. Had some things come up, hopefully I'll stick to schedule from now on! And it means two chapters for today, so I hope you like them!

"So, what's the plan for today?" Roman strode over to where Patton was getting out of his car, grin on his lips.

"Oh, hey Roman!" Patton waved awkwardly as he stepped out, frowning. "I actually forgot to mention, I uh... I don't actually have any Christmas related plans for today. I didn't really know if you'd want to tag along with me, so I meant to tell you ahead of time."

"Well, what're our plans?"

"Our..? I haven't even said what it is yet! How do you know you want to go?" Patton asked worriedly.

"Well, as long as you want me along I'm happy to come. I don't know how you haven't realized this yet but I just like hanging out with my best friend." Roman grinned wider, following when Patton beckoned him inside with him. "I don't mind what we're doing, it's just fun being around you Pat."

"O-oh," Patton muttered, hand covering his red cheeks as they went into his house. "That's very sweet of you, Roman. I love spending time with you too!"

"Who wouldn't?" Roman joked, making Patton shake his head affectionately. "But really, what've you got planned? I'd love to tag along if you'll have me."

"I'd love for you to come. I was planning to visit the animal shelter nearby, actually. I have some things I bought from their wishlist to donate to the animals." Patton explained, leading Roman into the kitchen where an assortment of pet beds, bowls, food, and toys sat on his table. "Mind helping me get it all to the car? I was hoping to leave here soon."

"Of course not," Roman said, already lifting what looked to be the heaviest item first, a bag of dog food, grunting as he lifted it from the table. "It's very nice of you to think of donating to the shelter."

"Thanks," Patton smiled, grabbing another thing from the table and leading the way back to his car again. "I'm really just trying to help in any way I can."

****

"Thanks," Roman said as Patton held the door open for him to bring the bag of pet food inside of the animal shelter doors, taking it where Patton had told him to.

"Hey, Patton!" The lady sat behind a desk called, doing a two finger salute in his direction. She was dressed up in a lot of black and wore a lot of piercings in her ears, as well as one on her nose and lip. She seemed to have a very dark demeanor and overall she didn't seem to be someone who would be friends with Patton, Roman thought. However he was friends with Virgil too, so maybe he shouldn't be so surprised at Patton's ability to bring out the best in everyone. "Who's this?"

"Hey Axel," Patton smiled warmly at her, waving. "This is my friend Roman! He decided to come with me today while I dropped off some stuff for the shelter and then went to see some of the animals."

"Oh, so you're the one Patton talks about all the time." Axel grinned a little wickedly, making Patton blush brightly and Roman raise an eyebrow in intrigue.

"Oh? You talk about me a lot, do you?" He looked towards Patton who refused to meet his eyes.

"I-I talk a lot about all of my friends.  Obviously other people are gonna hear about my best friend a lot too..." Patton tried to explain himself, turning back to the door. "Anyways I'm gonna keep bringing stuff in!"

He rushed out of the door, leaving Roman inside to hold it open for when he came back with more stuff. Roman turned back towards Axel who was snickering behind her hand as Patton left. "So, you and Patton seem to know each other pretty well?"

"What, are you jealous?" Axel raised an eyebrow and Roman shook his head quickly, scrambling to defend himself. Axel just laughed louder. "I'm kidding, chill. Patton donates and volunteers here a lot with me, so we're kind of friends. We talk pretty often, which is how I heard about you. He rambles off about you and all of his friends a lot. But don't let him lie to you, it's mostly about you. Don't tell him I said that to you either."

"Your secret's safe with me," Roman promised, making a zipping motion over his mouth. He didn't say much else to Axel after that, thinking over what she said. He was flattered to know that Patton talked about him a lot. He also found it very sweet to find out that Patton volunteered and donated so often to the shelter. Patton was such a kind and generous person, it was no wonder that everyone wanted to be his friend. It was a wonder that he didn't have a boyfriend by now with how sweet he was. Roman wasn't sure how every man, woman, or person in between didn't fall in love with him immediately after meeting him.

He was quick to push those thoughts aside when Patton set down a dog bed full of toys, turning on his heel to face Roman and Axel with a smile. "That's all of it!"

"Wow Patton, that's a really nice donation." Axel commented, looking at the pile of things he had brought in.

"You think so? I'd normally try and get more, but with Christmas around the corner..." He scratched at his neck awkwardly, smile dim. "I did what I could!"

"Dude, this is plenty. It's nice of you to spend any money on the animals here when you could be spending it on Christmas stuff! Don't beat yourself up over whether you think it's enough or not, that's stupid." Axel rolled her eyes, and Patton smiled a little wider.

"Thanks Ax." Patton's only response from Axel was a wave of her hand as she turned to focus on work instead, seeming to brush him off but Roman caught the glance she sent Patton's way to make sure he was okay. Patton turned to Roman instead of continuing to talk to her, gesturing towards a pair of doors. "Wanna go see some of the animals?"

"Who could possibly turn down that offer?" Roman said, gesturing for Patton to lead the way. Patton had a bounce in his step as he led Roman through the doors, leading him back down a hallway for a while.

"I wanna show you some of the more exotic pets first, then we can look at puppies and kitties!"

"Aren't you allergic to cats?" Roman questioned as he followed behind Patton, soon reaching the end of the hall and approaching another door.

"Anyways, this room has reptiles in it." Patton said, pointedly ignoring Roman's question. Roman didn't bother to ask again, instead following Patton in and looking around at each of the animals in the room. They had bearded dragons, geckos, snakes, all kinds of animals. Roman has hardly ever even heard of anything other than dogs and cats being in shelters, so seeing all of these animals was surprising. He was fascinated as he looked around at all of them, and still when Patton led him to different areas of the building. They had horses and pigs, chinchillas, ferrets, even parrots of all kinds(Roman was especially fond of the scarlet macaw which was, as he put it, "full rainbow all of the time, just like me").

After venturing around and looking at all of the other animals the pair found themselves surrounded by cats. Patton was cooing at all of them, petting them and enjoying every moment despite his allergies already beginning to settle in. He was only sniffling at first, doing his best to hide it from Roman so he could stay with the cats for longer. It was when he sneezed four times in a row that Roman finally decided they had enough, taking Patton's hand and leading him away from the cats.

"That's enough for that room. I like you better when you can breathe," Roman said as he pulled a protesting Patton out.

"But they're so cute! I'm willing to suffer for all of them." He whined, looking solemnly towards the room of cats they had left.

"Don't they have dogs?" Roman asked, stopping and getting Patton's attention. "You aren't allergic to those. Let's go pet some puppies instead!"

Patton seemed to brighten up at that, leading the way once more to where the dogs were. As they entered there was a huge increase in the number of dogs barking. Roman was pretty sure that number was all of them at this point. It took a few minutes of them standing inside before most of them seemed to quiet down, some curling back up to nap in their beds, others sitting and watching the new people who had come inside, tails sweeping across the floor lazily. Some didn't quite calm down even if they stopped barking, front paws against the doors of their cage, mouths hanging open and tongues lolling out, tails looking like they could knock someone to the ground.

Patton made sure to pay each and every one of the dogs attention, introducing Roman to the ones whose names he remembered, letting him pet them too. There were all different kinds of dogs in all different sizes, chihuahuas, dachshunds, pit bulls, mastiffs, and an old Irish wolfhound who was the biggest dog Roman had ever seen. Plenty of them were of no discernable breed as well, but there was one thing they all had in common; Patton loved them.

Roman enjoyed watching Patton interact with all of the animals. His eyes grew wide in wonder and excitement, lips stretched into a grin wider than Roman thought possible. It was even more obvious with the dogs, though. Patton was bouncing in place as he stopped to play with the dogs, talking to them in a soft, adorable voice, laughing at the cute things they would do. Roman couldn't help the warmth that settled into his chest as he watched the other man, the way his own lips spread into a happy grin. A comfortable feeling settled over him as he watched Patton, and it took him a few moments to realize he was regarding Patton in a similar way as Patton was regarding the cute dogs.

He felt his cheeks turning pink at this thought, quickly occupying himself by playing with the only dog they hadn't yet played with. It was a golden retriever he recognized, and when he called to gain the dogs attention its tail started thumping against the floor, head turning towards Roman. He was surprised to find the dog was missing an eye, and a part of its ear looked torn. He placed a hand at the door where the dog could reach, frowning. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, that's Winnie," Patton stepped over beside of Roman, watching as Winnie sniffed at Roman's hand for a second. After deeming him safe a tongue farted out to kiss his hand, pushing through the bars of the door a bit to ask for pets. Roman obliged. "She's been here for a while, poor girl... this will be her second Christmas here."

"Poor girl," Roman muttered, scratching the top of her head. Winnie leaned into his hand, eye closing and tail wagging slowly. "I hope she gets adopted soon."

"Me too... I want her to have a happy home, but at the same time I hate to see her go." Patton smiled a bit sadly, reaching out as well to pet her. Winnie's tail wagged a bit faster at the recognizable touch of Patton, leaning even closer to him than Roman.

Roman withdrew his hand, watching the pair interact with each other. They both seemed very fond of each other, and it was obvious Winnie was comfortable around him. He gazed at Patton fondly himself, smile on his lips. "Have you ever considered adopting her yourself?"

"Me?" Patron asked, hand pausing in petting Winnie as he stared ahead of himself, thinking. "I... well, I'd love to, but..."

"But what?" Roman raised an eyebrow, watching as Patton shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know... I'd love to adopt every dog I ever meet, so of course I'd love to have her, and I'd take care of her. Just... maybe she won't be happy with me. What if we don't fit? She's a good dog, I want her to go home with the perfect person."

"Oh come on, Pat." Roman encouraged, smiling wider. "You'd be the perfect owner for any dog. You clearly care so much for her, and for all of them. She obviously likes you, too. She would have a great home with you."

Patton was silent for a few moments, petting Winnie again as he thought. His lips stretched into a wider smile, thinking of bringing home Winnie. As much as he enjoyed caring for animals at the shelter, he would love to have a dog of his very own at home to care for.

"Maybe..." he mumbled, looking towards Roman. "I guess... if she doesn't have a home by the end of Christmas Eve I'll start looking into adopting her."

Almost as if understanding his words Winnie yipped happily, nudging Patton's hand with her nose and licking his fingers. Both Patton and Roman laughed at her antics, both giving her attention once more. Roman nudged Patton's shoulder with his own, smiling over at him. "I think you'll be great for Winnie."

"It's not Christmas Eve yet, Roman." Patton laughed and shook his head. He pet Winnie for a few moments longer before speaking again. "I really hope so..."