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The trial is the last straw. Before Deceit's even made it back into his room, he can feel his mind regressing, can feel his thoughts turning soft and childish. What's more alarming is the fact that his body seems to be shrinking to match. And that's never happened before, not that he can remember (not that it's easy for him to remember when he's like this). He lands on his bed with a thump that nearly knocks the breath from him, fat tears welling up in his human eye and dripping down his cheek.
A soft knock sounds at the door, and he turns to stare at it with wide eyes. If Remus walks in on him like this-
"Dee?" Patton's voice echoes through the door. "Are you in there? I- I just wanted to apologize."
"Go away!" He shouts before he thinks better of it. There is a shocked pause from the other side of the door, before he hears it creak open.
"Dee?" Patton whispers. "Are you- oh."
"Go 'way," Deceit repeats, holding his stuffed snake plushie to him for dear life.
"No," Patton says. "I'm sorry, kiddo, but I can't just leave you like this. You could get hurt."
"Then close the door," Deceit grumbles. Patton looks confused, but does so, anyway, before coming and sitting on the edge of the bed, next to Deceit.
"I'm sorry about today, Dee," Patton says. "I hope we can talk about it when you're bigger." Resentment glitters in Deceit's mismatched eyes for a second before he blinks it away and nods.
"Would you like to color?" Patton asks. That perks Deceit up. He nods eagerly, making his stuffed snake nod, too. Patton smiles in relief, going to Deceit's closet and fishing out the box of regression supplies carefully hidden there. There are several coloring books, packs of crayons and markers, a drawing pad, a snake-patterned pacifier, a snake onesie (that Patton notices has shrunk to match Deceit's new tiny stature), an extra snake plushie (that Deceit eagerly winds around his neck), and a sippy cup. Patton concentrates, filling the sippy cup with apple juice, before handing it over.
"Thank you," Deceit says carefully, lying on his stomach on the floor and kicking his legs behind him in contentment. The stress of the trial falls away as he selects a snake coloring book, lining up his favorite crayons like little soldiers in front of him.
"You're doing great, kiddo," Patton praises. Deceit preens under it, even his scales seeming to glow brighter under the soft lights of his room.
"Look," Deceit says insistently after several minutes. He points to a spare corner of the coloring page, where he's drawn a stick figure with a grey cardigan round his shoulders and black square-framed glasses, holding the hand of a shorter stick figure with a black hat and a yellow-lined cape. "It's us."
"I love it!" Patton says, instantly starry-eyed. "It looks great, Dee, you did such a good job."
Deceit smiles bashfully up at him. Later, they will have a serious discussion about the trial. The misunderstandings. Patton will apologize for his part and Deceit will apologize for forcing the scenario, as well as benching Logan.
But for now, his tongue sticks out in a happy blep as he returns to his coloring, Patton tousling his hair in the soft, gentle way he likes.