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vinbee631 · 1 year ago

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What Our Parents Didn't Teach Us

heyy so it's trans sides week, so I decided to write a lil something fun for that! still not used to posting fics on tumblr but the ao3 post is also available if you are interested!

without further ado, here's chapter 1! the prompt was pink / blue / white, and my interpretation was a little silly to fit the vision but it's ok

summary: Patton didn't think adopting his nephew was supposed to come with this many surprises.

But his nephew is Remus, and he's going to bring along just as many surprises as he can fit in the twenty pockets of his cargo pants, bringing a sort of enjoyable chaos that exasperates Roman and Patton to no end.

(Don't let anyone convince you that exasperation isn't fond, though. Remus' uncles are far too sappy to stay mad at him.)

The sunset shifted before Patton’s eyes, slipping from shades of bright orange to soft, pale pinks.

He didn’t normally find himself outside for the sunsets, but not for lack of trying. There was a public park just a five-minute walk from his house, with a big, open field typically occupied by at least three picnics and five or more dogs on any given day.

Unfortunately, Patton was not the average dog owner, nor a part of a young, spry couple that had ample time to plan picnic dates or walks in the park. He was well past middle age now, and with his full-time job, husband, two dogs, and permanent teenage houseguest keeping him occupied, there was not a ton of room for special activities.

That last one was the most recent addition to their slowly growing family. His husband’s nephew, Remus, had moved in just a few months earlier. The boy still attempted to insist that the arrangement was temporary, expressing a desire to support himself when he had the means to, not burdening his uncle and husband for any longer than was strictly necessary, or something along those lines.

And yet, every time Patton overheard said desire, his heart clenched a little. Remus was only fifteen, with a set of parents that didn’t even bother to call Roman after months of their child being gone for months.

He was fifteen, and emotionally prepared to take care of himself and get his own job and pay for his gender-affirming care by himself, and Patton couldn’t stand the feeling of him doing all that, by himself when he wasn’t even done with high school yet.

So, of course, he and Roman had spent the next few months making sure he was comfortable, safe, and reassured that he was absolutely not going anywhere until he was at least eighteen and truly prepared to support himself.

Remus had cried, one time Patton had enthusiastically repeated his feelings on the matter, and Patton cried along with him as they hugged each other. After that, he definitely wasn’t going anywhere.

It hadn’t been easy, not with Remus’ somewhat chaotic tendencies and his uncles’ lack of experience on the parenting front. But, the first few weeks turned into the first month, and before they knew it, winter break was over, Patton’s job was back in full swing, and they settled into a new routine.

And then, the arguments started.

Remus had his bad days, even with his uncles, and they understood that. When he snapped at them, they didn’t fall for the bait like his parents apparently used to. They talked it out instead, and typically, their nephew was able to calm down and apologize, simple enough.

For instance, when Remus had picked a fight about wanting to start back in school. After Roman pointed out they would need his parents to confirm the paperwork that would allow him to switch, he admitted the anger had been misplaced loneliness and accepted the hugs Patton offered him.

That kind of thing was easy enough to manage, and Remus was a very reasonable kid. He was usually willing to talk about whatever was bothering him with his uncles, and even occasionally offered the same to them.

It would have been far too easy if all the fights were that way.

Remus was… very enthusiastic. Passionate, that was a good word, passionate about his interests and beliefs. For the most part, that was a good thing, and it was an attribute, Patton found, that made him quite smart for his age.

It was also what led him to start sneaking out to spend time with some... less-than-stellar influences.

Don’t get them wrong, Remus was allowed to leave the house on his own. In fact, his uncles encouraged him to, considering he wasn’t getting the normal socializing time he would be in school, and the two of them could only make up for so much of that social need.

More often than not, they would offer to drive him to meet his new friends, whenever he asked to go out. Sometimes he would accept easily, sometimes he had someone picking him up, depending on the day.

His uncles were actually quite pleased about his new friends, and how he had fit in with them so easily despite just moving into the area and not attending the local school.

They were not as pleased about the graffiti, but that was something they could handle if it made Remus happy.

The destruction of public property was even less ideal, but it was technically a largely immoral corporate-based organization, so they supposed it wasn’t... the worst thing he could be doing. A little more begrudgingly, they let that slide, too.

…And then two weeks after that initial destruction- incident, Remus got arrested.

So, that was a pretty big problem.

Roman had given him most of the lecture on the way home from bailing him out, and Patton was a bit grateful he didn’t have to attempt to gather his thoughts on the matter. Mostly because he was so angry he could barely speak, but he didn’t want Remus to worry about that.

Except, maybe he should have been worrying about that because he got freaking arrested.

But, when the two of them got home, Remus had stormed up to his room, not quite slamming the door behind him, but closing it decisively enough that he knew now was not the time for another discussion.

“Did he tell you what happened?” Patton asked casually, settling on the couch next to his husband, who was currently slumped with his head in his hands.

“He didn’t, but the cops did,” Roman sighed. “The guy I talked to was involved with the backup call. I guess the group of them got caught up with a homophobe and it got heated. The one cop that patrols the area wasn’t enough to ‘get them to settle,’ so they called in more.”

“According to Remus and the others, the first cop was on the side of the guy getting his ass handed to him, which I’m not sure if I believe or not, but regardless, they all got arrested, only because one of Remus’ group punched that cop.”

“Was that-” Patton’s eyes widened in near horror before Roman was able to elaborate. “No, no, it was one of his- friends. Apparently, Remus didn’t actually throw any punches, but I know what scuffed-up knuckles look like, so the lying didn’t quite work out for him,” Roman scoffed.

Patton sighed quietly, settling his head against Roman’s shoulder. “Well, he’s alright. Obviously, we’ll have to figure out a- consequence of some kind, even if I suppose the anger was well-placed.”

Roman snorted. “I know, right? I would be having a genuinely hard time being mad at him if baling him out hadn’t cost actual money.”

The two of them had sat with that for a while, and even after Patton had inevitably stood on complaining knees to start dinner, it took quite a while for Remus to be ready to start talking.

And when he was it was… messy.

He was angry, rightfully so, and his uncles were angry, also for rightful reasons. There was an unfortunate amount of yelling, even more so when his uncles explained that he was still going to face consequences for what happened.

“But I didn’t fucking do anything wrong!” Remus snarled, pushing himself out of his chair to stand as he yelled.

“We understand that,” Patton began gently, “but if you and your friends got in enough trouble that you were arrested, something that will be on your record forever, even if it was just for the afternoon, Roman and I certainly aren’t going to congratulate you.”

Remus scoffed, folding his arms defensively. “Well, maybe the fucking pigs that did it were the ones in the wrong.”

“So, you’re saying you shouldn’t be arrested for punching an officer?”

“Not if the ‘officer’s’ a fucking bigot, no. And I didn’t even punch the cop! I punched the other guy, and he fucking deserved it.”

“Okay,” Patton continued, attempting to stop any useless bickering between Roman and Remus. The two of them had done enough of that in the car ride. “Explain to me then, since I wasn’t there: why did the other guy deserve it?”

“He was being a transphobic piece of shit, and just generally a piece of shit, actually,” Remus explained grumpily. “He was… he started flirting with Virgil. Cuz… I guess with the long hair and the tits, people still mistake him for a female.”

Patton winced at that. “I’m sorry to hear that. I don’t know that violence was the best option there, but… well, that’s not the worst thing you could punch someone about, I guess.”

Roman stared at him incredulously, but before he could voice his disagreement, Remus shook his head. “We didn’t hit first though! That’s a dumbass move. No, he hit Vee first.”

His uncles bristled in unison. “You… you didn’t tell me that in the car,” Roman stuttered.

“Would you have believed me in the car?”

Roman was forced to, honestly, shake his head. “I… I guess not.”

“Alrighty, then.” Patton stood, ushering Remus over, who accepted the hug he was offered soon after. “I suppose… as long as this isn’t a repeat incident, we can- hold off on the grounding business. I just… we would really like it if you were more careful, hun. I know bigotry is kind of impossible to avoid, but lately, it seems like you boys have just been looking for trouble.”

“I… yeah, okay. Thanks.” Despite the fact that Remus was now an inch taller than him, he felt so much smaller, curled up tightly in Patton’s arms.

He wasn’t sure when he’d become so soft for this boy, but he knew it wasn’t going away anytime soon. Not when he’d just daydreamed that entire conversation as he watched the sunset, Remus sleeping soundly in his lap.

It was much closer to dusk now. The sun was fading beyond the trees, where it would eventually taper out beyond the unseeable horizon. Stars were starting to peek out among the dark blue-ish sky, white pinpricks that managed to prick their light through the atmosphere from millions of miles away. A beautiful miracle, and all of a sudden Patton was thinking of his family again.

But, that was far too poetic to be sapping about so late at night, he decided.

“Enjoying yourself?” Patton blinked as he refocused on the park, and his husband, smiling at his question. From the way Roman smiled softly back, eyebrows furrowed just slightly, he could sense his curiosity, the lingering question of what he had been so focused on moments ago.

Instead of bothering with the long answer, Patton reached over with his free hand to squeeze Roman’s, the other busy combing through Remus' hair. He met Roman’s nervous smile with a reassuring one of his own.

“It’s absolutely perfect.”

#transsidesweek2023 #sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #patton sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #virgil sanders mention #tw cops #remus being a public nuisance #and getting arrested for it #but his uncles love the chaos so it's fine <3 #tw transfobia #transphobia

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