Chapter Text
"Movie night!!"
Patton's mother had laughed, just finishing the popcorn for Patton and his imirage. It was still in a bit of flux, a late bloomer. Tonight it looked like an anthropomorphic dragon in a witch's costume?
Patton grabbed at the popcorn, taking it into the living room and going to pick out movies. "Imy, you should build a pillow fort!"
The nameless imirage nodded and started putting it together. "Okay!" it said in a feminine voice, then, "Can I get the blankets from your room?" in a voice that sounded a lot like Patton's dad.
Patton giggled. "Sure!" He thought it was funny how the imirage was constantly changing. For example, when it came back with the pillows, its hair had gone from brown to red. It started building the fort, exactly how Patton pictured it. Patton picked up a stack of movies. "Let's watch these ones Mama!"
His mother looked through the stack. Well, she had promised they could stay up really late, just this once. It's what he would have been doing tonight anyway, if anyone had accepted his birthday party invitations. They all settled down in the fort as the first movie began to play.
Patton snuggled up to his imirage as Cinderella began to play. He giggled when the imirage offered him a rose at the end of Beauty and the Beast.
He started to cry at the beginning of Sleeping Beauty.
Patton's mother immediately pulled Patton into her arms, rocking him. "Patton, sweetheart, what's wrong?"
"N-no one showed up! I invited the whole class and no one showed up!" Oh. The ball for the princess's birthday had upset him. The movie played in the background, forgotten, as his mother gently comforted him, rubbing circles into her newly six-year-old son.
The imirage watched the two of them. It could feel Patton's pain. It... it hurt! He didn't want Patton to feel that! But Patton was starting to feel better, because Mama was there to protect him. But what about when he wasn't with Mama...?
Hmm...
...
"Fear not, your highness!"
Patton looked up, confused. His imirage was standing next to him, smiling. His brown hair was a slightly darker brown than Patton's. His clothes looked like the ones that Cinderella's prince had been wearing, but they were white and red and gold like the colors in Beauty and the Beast. He had a play sword attached to his hip and a cape draped over his shoulders. It- no, he- smiled at Patton, brushing his cape back and bowing for dramatic effect. "Do not cry! For tomorrow, we will make all of your classmates jealous of how much fun our party was! And by next year's time, we will have more friends than anyone in the world! I swear to help you on my honor as a prince!"
Patton couldn't help smiling a little. "You're a prince?"
"Yes! Prince... um..." The imirage thought for a moment, hand on his hips. "Prince... Remus? No, that's a gross name... I like the 'rrrrr' sound though... Reee.... Ro... Roman!" He smiled brightly. "Prince Roman, at your service!" He bowed again. "I swear my allegiance to you, King Patton. On my honor, I vow to protect you from whatever evil crosses our path!"
Patton's smile brightened. "Prince Roman! My protector!" He jumped up and hugged him, giggling.
Roman protected Patton from total heartbreak that night. And he promised himself that he would protect Patton from it for the rest of his life.