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If there was one thing that Logan wasn’t afraid of, it was being perceived as a nerd. He understood it, not everybody had the intellectual capacity to enjoy spending their free time reading or taking the time out of their day to thoroughly research any kind of idea that interested them. It took a special type of person and, while it was unfortunate that the term nerd had almost negative connotations attached to it, Logan was more than okay with being associated with the term. In fact, he was almost proud of it, though he wouldn't admit out loud. Another thing that he wouldn’t admit out loud was that he wasn’t simply a nerd. He was a geek. How was that any different from being a nerd? Well, that was simple, actually. While Logan’s hobbies of reading and studying simply meant that he was interested in gathering knowledge, as was part of his function as Thomas’s logical side, his geeky tendencies insinuated to the other sides that he actually had a personality and feelings that came with that personality and that was simply something that the other sides could not know about.
So, as he sat down in the living room of the mind palace, he sat comfortably on the couch, reading as usual. Most of the time, none of the other sides cared to ask what he was reading about, so he figured it was safe enough to read one of his personal books, the first book in the series of the comic book rendition of The Adventure Zone, of course hidden behind a false cover. For a while, he was simply left alone to read as the others socialized in another part in the room. It was nice.
Sure, the isolation wasn’t always exactly idea, but he was just a figment of Thomas’s imagination. He wasn’t human and, therefore, it wasn’t like he needed interaction to live. And it was better than the alternative of letting the rest of the sides pick on him. After all, the one time that he slipped and accidentally let them see him in his favorite unicorn onesie, he didn’t hear the end of it for weeks. This was better and, besides, he liked the quiet in his personal bubble. It made it easier to read and focus on the silly jokes that dominated this part of the story that began what would eventually become an incredibly rich and well paved story of battles and fantasy, something so illogical and yet so-
“Whatcha got there?” Virgil asked as he seemed to randomly appear behind Logan, prompting the other side to slam his book shut, with his thumb marking his place, of course.
It wasn’t like he needed it, he’d read the book enough times to know exactly what page he’d stopped on, but it did make it a bit easier to continue reading once Virgil inevitably left. “I’m just reading,” Logan responded without so much as a crack in his voice. “You certainly enjoy appearing out of thin air, don’t you?”
“Was that a comic book?” Virgil asked, ignoring Logan’s question completely. “I didn’t know you were that into those.”
“I’m not,” Logan answered, almost defensively before clearing his throat. “I’m sure you saw wrong. This is a purely educational book for purposes of gaining knowledge, which I’m sure would bore you to death, as you’ve put it before.”
Virgil shrugged and hopped over the back of the couch. “I can’t speak for Roman, but you know I’m just messing around when I say stuff like that, right? Besides, I know what you’re reading because I have the exact same book in my room.” He took a quick glance around before turning back to Logan, feeling pretty sire that he wouldn’t appreciate his secret spreading like that. “The Adventure Zone? I'm guessing the first book?”
Logan looked at him, quizzically. “You... You know this series? It’s not particularly angsty, at least not anywhere near the beginning.”
Virgil shrugged. “Remus tried to get me into Dungeons and Dragons. I didn’t like playing, so he suggested it to me. I kind of got hooked onto it more than he did, so... Yeah. I know what you’re reading.”
Logan sighed, knowing that there was no lying his way out of this one. Or, if there was, that it would take a deceptive mastermind like Janus to see it. “Alright. You caught me, I’m as much of a geek as I am a nerd. I suppose you’ll be telling the other sides now?” Sure, Virgil has made sure that the others weren’t around to hear him confirming what he was reading, but who was to say that he’d done that for more than just to make sure that the other sides don’t know that Virgil himself was into anything less than tragic?
“Why would I do that? I mean, I’m dating Remus, I can keep a secret if you want. I think it’s a pretty cool series anyways and I can’t let Remus know that because he’ll blab before I get the chance to finish my first sentence. It’ll be nice having someone to talk to it about.”
Logan wasn’t sure why, but he kind of trusted Virgil on that. Maybe it was because of how badly Virgil hated Janus and the lying that he so often used to his advantage or maybe it was because he also felt that it would be nice to have someone to talk to about the series, but either way, he believed him. “Have you listened to the entire podcast?”
“Of course I have,” Virgil said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. “I kind of binged it as soon as I got into it. Have you?”
“I’m not sure that that’s even much of a question at this point. I listened to it and immediately conjured up the books as soon as they were each released. This is my favorite of the arcs that have been released, though I must say, I’m particularly looking forward to Crystal Kingdom.”
“Yeah, I don’t think it comes as any kind of surprise that I’m looking forward to The Suffering Game,” Virgil chuckled, crossing his legs in front of him. “So... Who’s your favorite character?”
And between Virgil’s promise that he wouldn’t talk to anybody else about Logan’s interest in the podcast and how long Logan had been waiting for somebody to hear those words, it was nearly impossible to stop him as he and Virgil went on for hours about the show.
Of course, there were a few close calls where it seemed that Roman or Patton would’ve gotten too close to not hear what they were talking about, but it was easy to hold them off by Logan going off topic and talking about anything remotely intellectual. And it was easy to keep them from asking Virgil about it by claiming that they were talking about the different ways that Logan could help Thomas be more efficiently anxious or whatever combination of words it took to be left alone. It wasn’t hard and it was more than worth it for the two of them to just get to be non-edgy geeks for a little bit.
It was nice, getting to just be a different part of themselves from what everyone else expected them to be. And it was always so peaceful and calm, no matter how passionate either of them got on their opinions. Virgil in particular really loved it. Of course, he loved Remus too, but hanging out with Logan was just so...
Virgil cut himself off as he realized that Remus was staring at him. Of course, he wasn’t just staring at him. He was giving him one of those looks that made Virgil nervous, especially when it was a response to Virgil rambling about his train of thought. “I don’t like that look.”
Remus snickered before sitting up, crossing his legs in front of him. “You like him, don’t you?”
That seemed... Way too simple of a question. “Of course I like Logan, he’s one of us.”
Remus’s mischievous grin grew wider on his face. “That’s not what I meant.”
No, it very clearly wasn’t and Virgil would’ve realized that, had this not been his boyfriend suggesting it.
“Look, I’m already dating Janus, I’m not going to get mad if you want to see someone else too.”
“You know dating is a two way street, right? I mean, I guess I like him, you kind of clocked me there, but I doubt he likes me like that. I’m totally not losing the only cool friend I have over you thinking I should ask him out.”
Remus shrugged. “Alright. I won’t force you, but if you don’t tell him that you like him, you’re just going to spiral over it and we both know you won’t love that.”
That was true, Virgil hated spiraling over nothing, probably more than he hated whenever Remus was right.
“Plus, it isn’t really logical to give up spending time with someone just because they have a little crush and Logan is.... Well, he’s logic. He’s not going to stop being your friend. Your only other option is giving up and just talking to me about the things you guys talk about.”
Virgil hopped to his feet. “He’s probably down in the kitchen,” he muttered before heading out of the room. Again, it wasn’t that he didn’t like talking to Remus, of course he did, that’s why they were dating. Remus just couldn’t keep a secret for the life of him and the idea of Virgil liking something anything less than edgy was definitely something that he wanted to keep a secret.
As expected, Logan was down in the kitchen, drenching a slice of toast in Crofters and nodding as he saw Virgil enter the room.
“Hi, Virgil.”
“Hey, Logan... Would you mind if we, like... Talked for a second? I have to tell you something,” he said, fidgeting and looking around the room a bit to make sure none of the other sides would just pop out of nowhere.
Ordinarily, Logan would’ve preferred any talking to happen after he’d finished his snack, but something about Virgil’s tense body language said that this was important, so he took his toast and his jar of jelly with him. “Of course I don’t mind.”
Virgil nodded and pulled the both of them down into the mind palace library, a place that all of the sides went to, though Logan was the one who spent the most time there. It wasn’t as cozy as hanging out in the living room, but it was nice and quiet and Virgil was certain that none of the other sides were there.
“What did you need to speak about?” Logan asked, taking a bite out of his toast as he sat down at one of the tables with Virgil. “You seem distressed. More so than usual.”
Virgil shrugged. “I guess I am... Um... So, like, you totally don’t have to do anything, I’m seriously cool with just being friends and I’ll understand if you don’t really want to talk to me after this, but you’ve just been so cool when we talked and it’s been so nice to be able to just chill with you and I think I kind of like you now, which is crazy, totally weird, I know, but Remus kind of blackmailed me into saying it, I mean, I’m seriously good just being friends or not even that if you don’t want to-”
“Virgil,” Logan said, effectively cutting him off. “It’s okay, you don’t need to panic. Um... You said you like me?..”
“Yeah...” Virgil said slowly. “Yeah, I do... Again, totally cool if it’s not reciprocated or if you think it’ll make things too weird between us, but... Yeah. Remus kind of blackmailed me into telling you.”
Logan nodded. “Remus always is getting up to mischief. Of course, it’s not always bad mischief, like in this case.”
That time, Virgil somewhat caught the implications of Logan’s words, but it wasn’t all that easy to believe them. “What do you mean?” he asked instead, definitely not wanting to assume in this situation.
“Um...” As eloquent as he usually was, Logan did always struggle with expressing his emotions. “I mean that, as much time as we spend together and as much as I like our conversations, I also think that I’ve started to have feelings for you.”
Even as clear as Logan’s words were, Virgil struggled to believe him. This had to be some stupid prank that Remus put together. Sure, Remus was his boyfriend and probably wouldn’t do anything too mean spirited to him, but that didn’t mean that Virgil didn’t think that was what was happening right now. “Do you, like... Mean that?” he asked cautiously. “I mean, it’s me we’re talking about. I know it’s been a while, but there kind of was a time where you all said that I just kind of brought everything down. Are you sure you’d like to be with me based on a few good conversations?”
Logan would’ve smiled, amused if the situation if it wasn’t almost upsetting. “Virgil... You do realize you already have a boyfriend, yes?”
“No, I know. He’s a nuisance sometimes, but I know.”
“Exactly, so if you already have a boyfriend who adores you, then why would it be so unbelievable to think that somebody else could also have feelings for you?”
Virgil shrugged. He knew that it didn’t make sense, but he wasn’t logic, he was anxiety. Sure, he was Thomas’s anxiety, but that didn’t mean he had a bunch of worries of his own. “But you’re, like... Cool. Remus is Remus.” Virgil loved him, sure, but Remus had a pretty low standard of everything that Virgil just assumed he was no exception to.
Logan felt himself light up, a small smile making its way into his face as he heard Virgil call him cool, but this wasn’t really his moment. It was his time to reassure Virgil. “Sure, you think I’m cool, but I also think that you’re very cool. You’re very cool to talk to and, you’re a little harsh sometimes, but it’s not excessive and it’s just part of your nature as Thomas’s anxiety. I like you and it’s not as hard to believe as you may think. If its alright with you, I would very much like to go on a date with you to better explore our romantic compatibility.”
Virgil felt a smile sneak onto his face. “You’re serious... I mean, that’s not a question, you’re you and you’re always serious, I just... I don’t know, I guess it’s still kind of weird to believe. I kind of had the same thing with Remus, but that’s Remus. You’re... Not. Obviously, I don’t mean it literally, but... Yeah. If that makes sense.”
Logan took a minute to think of what Virgil was insinuating before nodding. “I think I understand. But I do like you and I would like to go out with you. Would you like to go out with me?”
“Of course I would,” Virgil responded, almost embarrassingly fast. “I mean... Yeah.”
“It sounds like a plan.”
A great plan, as a result of one of Remus’s rare good ideas. Virgil owed him, but for now, he had to go cheer about his upcoming first date.