TW: Eavesdropping(?),A little bit of caps, Self-depreciation/self-doubt

He smiled at the memory, then put it back into the pack. He placed it next to him on the floor, and finally fell asleep.

Roman's first thought when he woke up was "Are my clothes wrinkled?" (A knight has got to slay!) He sat up and looked at them. By some miracle, they were not.

The next thought was "Where am I?" but that was quickly erased as he remembered the events from the previous night.

The Dragon-Witch flame

Leaving

Being chased

And finally, ending up here in Patton's cottage.

He sat up, and realized that he had no idea what to do now. The start of his plan depended on Patton's friends... and Roman had no idea when he could meet them.

Suddenly, his stomach grumbled. He let out a soft chuckle, and decided to head downstairs to see if there was anything to eat.

As he walked downstairs, he started to shield his eyes. It was much more cheerful in the day, but also much brighter. When he got downstairs, he looked around, finding Patton nowhere in the area.

He assumed (and hoped) that he had just gone out, so he went over to a cabinet, and opened it up. There wasn't much, just an apple, but it was food, so he took a bite out of it.

Just then, he heard the front door open. Something in his gut told him to get out of sight, so he ducked behind a taller cabinet that stuck out front the rest of the kitchen. He took a peek, and smirked at what he saw.

There were two men he assumed to be Dragon-Witches standing with Patton around the dining table.

The first one was a bit taller than Patton. He was about 5'9", and had light skin. Roman could see that he had darker brown hair, his dark blue eyes that were surrounded by square frames, and his stoic expression. He was wearing dark blue pants, a black shirt, and a scarf with multiple colors of blue in it.

The second man was more interesting. Something about him drew the knight to him, and he took notice of him. He was maybe 5'11, and he had very pale skin. His dark hair was tinged with purple, and his black eyes had bags under them, like he didn't get enough sleep. His shoulders were slumped, and he looked like the sort of person who honestly couldn't care less. He was wearing a black robe with purple patches sewn onto it.

Roman tried to listen in on their conversation, hoping to hear something about the village, or something that would help him win them over.

The man with the purple hair spoke up. "So, today I was talking to Remy."

Roman's heart jumped. This man knew the guard? (He assumed it was the guard, Remy seemed like a nickname for Remington.) Would he have said something that would destroy his chances of getting in the village?

Apparently not.

"Percy asked Andy on a date." 

Patton squealed. "FINALLY! Oh my gosh Virge, I've been waiting for this forever!" He smiled, then paused.

"Wait. You said asked— did Andy say yes?"

The man with purple hair—Virge— smirked. "Yep."

Patton squealed again. "Oh my gosh! Ok, ok, where is it..." he said, walking towards the kitchen. Roman's eyes grew wide, then pretended to look like he was just casually eating an apple instead of eavesdropping on his host.

The man with the scarf looked at him quizzically. "Where is what?" Patton looked over at him.

"My cookie recipe! I have to bake them something!" The man with the scarf rolled his eyes.

"Patton, Virgil has stated that they were simply going on their first date. There is no indication that they will get together, or even go on another date." Patton looked back at him, his shoulders sagging. The scarfed man's eyes widened, and he realized what he had done.

"That's not to say it won't be! I'm simply stating that their relationship might not work, or it may, it's honestly hard to know... In any case, there's nothing stopping you from making those cookies!"

Patton smiled, and continued his walk to the kitchen, where he found Roman, who was trying to casually lean against the counter. "Hey Roman! How long have you been here?"

"Just a few minutes," he said. "Did I hear someone else here?"

Patton's face lit up. "Oh, yeah!" He pulled Roman out from behind the cabinet, placing him in front of the tow men. "Roman, meet Logan," he said, pointed to the man with the scarf, "and Virgil", he said, pointed to the purple-haired man. Logan waved, and Virgil gave a small salute.

"Lo, Virge, this is Roman, the human that showed up last night."

And in an instant, everything changed.

Virgil's "couldn't-care-less" expression turned to rage. His shoulders un-slumped, and he put his hands in front of him as balls of purple light formed in the palms. Logan put his hands around him, trying to stop him, but the Cicieran could see that he didn't really want to, that he wouldn't care if Virgil fired.

Patton ran in front of Roman, trying to protect him from whatever Virgil looked like he was about to do. "Virgil, stop."

Virgil laughed. "Yes, Pat. I won't attack the human in your home. It's not like he's dangerous or anything!"

Patton looked at him. "He's not! He's good, I promise." Virgil rolled his eyes.

"Patton, you said he came in last night? How can you know if he's good?"

"Trust me Virge. Trust me."

The purple-haired man didn't respond, and looked to Roman instead. "What are your intentions, human?" he spat out. Roman gulped, this one was scary.

"I'm simply trying to get into the village."

"WHAT?"

Here, Patton interjected, and explained what Roman told him last night. Virgil was not convinced. "A piece of paper? Really? And why would someone give you directions to Draconison?"

Roman looked him straight in the eyes. "I don't know. The point is, I need to get in. I know you have no reason to trust me—"

"See! Even the human says I can't trust him!" Virgil yelled. Roman tried to contain his anger, he was getting on his nerves.

"If you would let me finish, I would have told you that even though you have no reason, at least give me a chance. You can't trust me if you never try to build the trust."

Virgil didn't say anything, but kept glaring at him. Finally, after a few moments of silence, he spoke.

"Come on Logan, we're leaving." Logan shot a look at Patton which seemed apologetic, and went along with Virgil. After they left, Roman sunk down to the floor, and put his head in his hands.

"They hate me," he said. "I'll never earn their trust." Patton kneeled down so that he was at eye level with the man in white. He gave him a soft smile.

"Roman, it's ok. They don't hate you—" Roman interrupted him.

"Then what was that?"

Patton sighed, and started again. "They don't hate you in particular, it's just that a lot of Dragon-Witches have bad feelings towards humans. Some gather in groups to hunt us, and, well, you can't really say you approve of a species that does that, can you?"

Roman nodded, feeling a twinge of guilt.

"Hey, why don't we play Patton-cake?" 

Roman looked at him. "What's that?"

Patton laughed, and smirked. "You'll see. Now, go dip all of your fingers in candle wax."

⇼

Logan and Virgil walked back towards Draconison in silence. After about ten minutes, Virgil sighed. "You can't really trust him, can you?" Logan looked towards the taller Dragon-Witch.

"Of course not." he said. "And I don't like him either. But Patton does, and that's what matters."

Virgil rolled his eyes. "Lo, it's Patton. He'll believe anyone."

"Well, yes," Logan said, "But Patton said that Roman is good. And while he is quite naïve, he's very good at determining someone's moral character. If Patton says he's good, then he is."

Virgil thought about this. "I still don't trust him."

Logan let out a soft—and rare— chuckle as they reached the gates. "Of course you don't."

uh.

there you go.

Let me know if you've found any errors, and let me know your general feedback!

Have a great day/night

-Pencil