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“Jeez, this place is crowded.” Remus mused as they pushed Patton into his favorite little coffee shop. He had been excited to show it to his partner the place ever since Janus had taken him last week. Remus insisted you couldn’t call a place you’ve visited once your favorite, but Patton begged to differ.
“Do you want to leave?” Patton asked, reaching a hand back to rest it in Remus’s. He wouldn’t mind going home if his partner’s anxiety was high. Large crowds didn’t tend to freak them out, but everyone had their limits. But Remus just laughed and shook their head.
“Nope. You promised me caffeine. And I want to be sure I make you regret that promise.” They teased. Patton chuckled and let his hand fall back to the armrests. He wasn’t worried about Remus’ empty threats. Remus pushed him over to the end of the line. It was probably so busy because the place was new. But there were lots of other things to love about it. The baristas had been so friendly, and he liked that there were bookshelves full of books for people to grab from and read while they stayed. It was cozy, and Patton had been dying to find that ‘third space’ everyone was talking about online. Patton had been feeling a little down on himself recently, feeling trapped at work, and then going home, just to dread going to work again. It didn’t help that he was feeling like a burden on his loved ones when he needed help getting to those places. Having something to look forward to to get him out of the house, even if it was just once a week, he felt like it would benefit him a lot.
“Do you wanna wait in line with me, or see if you can snag us a table?” Remus asked, leaning close so no one else could hear. Patton looked around the room a bit. It did seem like most of the tables were full, but in the corner he could see a couple standing up, getting ready to leave.
“I’ll go get a table, get me something sweet.” Patton asked.
“No promises.” His partner teased back, before pressing a kiss into Patton’s cheek. Patton smiled and leaned into the kiss for a second, before pulling away.
“Love you!” Was the last thing he said before he rolled himself over to the corner. He watched people pull their bags under tables or off the floor as he approached, which he appreciated. At least they were courteous enough to notice. Patton couldn’t keep track of the amount of times he’d had to ask people to move their things out of the way.
The table he had managed to get was pushed against a wall, a bookshelf within reaching distance of them. It still had a bit of spilled cream on it, since the previous customers had only just left and no one had come to wipe it down. He took a couple of napkins from the dispenser and wiped away the mess. He was sitting on the complete opposite side of the shop from when he and Janus had visited, so he got to admire the pictures and newspaper clippings that adorned the wall.
When he’d visited last Janus had suggested he get a chai tea, which Patton had absolutely loved. He wanted to come and try something different every single time if he could, which is why he didn’t give Remus a specific order. He was just fascinated by everything in the little shop. And his curiosity did not stop as he scanned the titles that were on the bookshelf he had stopped himself at. He didn’t recognize most of them, though the one that he definitely did recognize was Remus’s novel! Patton stared at it in proud awe. Remus had published the story two years ago, right around their two-year anniversary. It hadn’t been the smash hit that Patton thought it ought to have been, but it had sold in local bookshops pretty well. Patton had never found it in the wild before though!
Patton turned his head to see where Remus was, and it looked like it hadn’t moved at all. His eyes trailed up the line to see if there was a reason why, and he could immediately tell what was wrong. A customer seemed to be giving the cashier a hard time for some reason. He frowned a bit at the display, and everyone at the front looked rather uncomfortable. But he could see someone coming out from the back, so hopefully, it was going to be resolved soon. But since it was going to still be a bit before Remus would be joining him, he knew he couldn't wait until his partner came back to show them the display! So Patton pulled out his phone to take a picture.
He snapped the pic and started to text Remus, wanting to type out “Look what I found!”
Patton only managed to type “Look” before he accidentally sent the text at the jolt of his chair being moved.
He gasped as he fumbled with his phone, turning around to see a stranger pulling him backward. “What are you doing?” He demanded to know. At the same time, he instinctively reached for his brake to try and stop himself from being pulled backward anymore, but when Patton squeezed it, and he continued to be pulled and then suddenly pushed, the break that had already given him and Remus problems in the past when they were being as gentle as possible, failed, and Patton found himself being pushed away from the table.
“I know what I'm doing, Janet.” The stranger said to someone behind him, ignoring Patton’s yell immediately. Patton was pretty used to being ignored by strangers. Sometimes they would talk directly to Remus instead of him, or treat him and his chair like furniture. It was the unfortunate reality of being disabled. But this was beyond anything Patton had experienced yet. A complete dismissal of his humanity on display in a crowded coffee shop. And no one had blinked an eye yet. Except maybe ‘Janet’, but she sure wasn't doing anything to stop it.
“Sorry to bother you, we really needed a table to do our meeting. And you can see how busy this place is.”
The man spoke to Patton casually as if he wasn't directly assaulting him.
“You need to stop, now!” Patton considered reaching down and grabbing the wheels to stop the movement, but if the man had felt the resistance of the brake and didn't stop, he highly doubted he was going to stop if Patton put himself in harm's way.
“We need a place to sit for our meeting, and you've got a built-in seat! I wish I was as lucky as you.” The man said before finally letting go of Patton’s wheelchair. He had been pushed into a corner, and didn't have any room to turn around yet until the vile man moved. Patton had never felt so morbidly mortified in his life. And on top of all the ableism and assault, the man also had the nerve to tell Patton he should feel lucky?!
“EXCUSE YOU.” A familiar yell came from behind Patton. He turned around as best he could in order to see Remus storming through the crowd, barreling towards the man. Patton didn't bother to give him the courtesy to know how badly he had messed up.
The man only had a second to fully turn around and assess the situation until Remus raised their dark, studded boot upwards, before they slammed it down with as much force as they could muster right onto the stranger's foot.
He let out a yell as he backed into Patton, pushing him further into the wall. Patton yelped and moved his arms out against the wall, but the intrusion didn't last long as Remus grabbed the man by his collar and pulled him away.
“You fuck with his mobility, I'm gonna fuck with yours.” The cursed, and Patton knew they were winding up to follow through with that promise on the man's other foot, until they were interrupted by only one other person. Patton looked around, and noticed everyone seemed to either be looking away, or waiting to see what would happen next. But no one still bothered to help.
Except for the worker who had come out from the back earlier.
“You're still causing problems?” The worker asked incredulously. Patton glanced down at the name tag, and saw it said “Manager” and beneath that “Remy, They/them.”
“He just broke my toes!” The man complained, his voice an octave higher than when he'd been addressing just Patton. Remy glanced over at Remus.
“He pushed Patton.” Was all Remus said to the manager, who nodded with understanding.
“You and your colleagues need to leave. Right now. Enjoy your being our first permanent ban.” Remy started to wave their hands in a shooing motion, and finally, Remus let him go. The man seemed to grow flustered, before shaking his head.
“Absolutely not! He just assaulted me! I'm calling the cops!” He yelled, patting his pants, presumably looking for his phone.
“You assaulted me first, jerk. And you broke my wheelchair!” Patton chimed in. The man looked down at him, and for the first time during their brief but heinous interaction, the man seemed to regard Patton with the humanity he hadn't afforded him earlier. And the realization that he might not be protected from his own consequences this time fully set in.
“We'll leave, we'll leave. This didn't have to be that big a deal.” He grumbled and started to sidestep away. But Remus moved with him, blocking his path.
“You still broke his chair. Maybe I wanna call the cops.” They threatened. Patton knew It was an empty one. The last thing Remus would ever want to do was get cops involved. Just meant more danger for everyone involved really. But the man didn't know that, and what he thought was a real threat, Patton was okay with letting him believe.
“Or you and your lot can leave and no cops can get involved. It's your choice.” Remy added on. The man seemed to think over his options for only a second, before finally slinking away from Remus's reach and moving towards the exit. The two people who had been with him put up no fight and offered no apology, just quietly walked out with him.
Finally, Patton managed to roll himself back out of the corner and get turned back around. As soon as the man was out of sight, Remus hurried to Patton’s side, bending down and pulling him into a hug.
“What the fuck was that!” Remus laughed, a nervous, bewildered laugh. Patton held on to his partner fiercely, just relieved for it all to be over. Slowly he noticed eyes turning back to their own work or conversation, and he'd never been more relieved to be ignored in his life.
“I've never had someone move me like that before! That was insane!” Patton shared in Remus’s shock. He wasn't sure it was fully processing. And it probably wouldn't until they got home and he wasn't feeling so exposed.
“Totally insane. I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Remus saw what was going on and texted me.” Remy explained, and Patton was extremely grateful. Except…
“You know Remus?” Patton asked, and Remy looked offended.
“Yeah! Do you not know me?” They asked. Patton turned pale, wondering if he was somehow making more of a fool of himself in front of someone he supposedly should know, but Remus was quick to clarify.
“This is SleepSlut29. I bet you recognize that name.” Remus explained, finally standing up to their full height, though kept a hand on Patton’s shoulder, both probably needing the physical contact.
“Oh, you’re Remus’s online friend! It's nice to meet you! I wish it had been under better circumstances.” Patton said with a small but mostly humerous laugh. In fact, Patton really wished he could have had any other first time meeting Remus’s friend. It made sense why their book had been on the shelves now!
“Thank you Remy. Did you get weirdos like that at your old store?” Remus asked.
“All day everyday.” They said with a sigh. “Let me go make you two some drinks to go. You're more than welcome to stay, but figure you might not want to given, ya know, everyone.” Remy raised their voice at the end and gestured around, glaring at everyone nearby. At least some of them bothered to look ashamed about it.
“Yeah. I think I want to go home.” Patton said, and Remus squeezed his shoulder.
“Me too. I can't wait to cuddle the fuck out of you.” Remus said with a wicked smile before they bent down and kissed Patton on the cheek. Patton laughed and blushed, and would definitely not be turning down cuddles.
“Ew, affection. I'm gonna go make those drinks then send y'all out of here. Do you want me to walk you to your van when I'm done?” They offered.
“Nah, I'm enough of a bodyguard. I've got us covered.” Remus assured, and Patton believed them 100%.
“I love you.” Patton said when Remy was finally out of earshot, waiting for them to be gone before he started being ‘ew, affectionate’ again.
“I love you too. I'm glad you're safe and with me.” Remus said, and Patton was too.