Chapter Text
"Welcome to Marvin's Marvelous Mechanical Museum, known coast to coast like butter and toast. From headlines to bread lines, from school rooms to pool rooms, No other place in the contiguous United States, or other environments of the world.
Welcome."
As people streamed in from every possible entrance, Thomas couldn't help but smile. As odd of a place this was, he had heard about it way too much to miss going before it closed.
Logan, Patton, and Roman followed his every move, sometimes to the point where if they were real people, he would have tripped over their feet multiple times. Roman was just as ecstatic as he always is, seeing any crowd of people, not really realizing that if any of them recognised Thomas, most of them only knew him as 'the storytime guy, from Vine." Logan was surveying the situation as they walked, making sure they knew where they were going, and mostly so Thomas didn't ram into anyone or anything. Patton wasn't as excited as Roman, but still happy to be there nonetheless, seeing the plethora of games he could get Thomas to play.
"So Nerd-brain, what's the plan?" Roman looked at Logan expectantly. Roman never really paid much attention to what they were actually supposed to do, but he knew better than to go against Logan when at somewhere like this.
"Well, we've got to meet with someone later, but for now... I think we have some free time." Logan almost looked surprised; Thomas had a whole hour to himself, to do whatever he wanted. "Pat, you've been awful quiet. Anything you want to do?'
"Not really. I just like being here, ya know? Seeing so many people in one place." Patton looked out to the crowd of people walking in, some doing a double take at Thomas; they were still fairly close to the door. "Moving into the actual main part of the place wouldn't be a bad idea, though. I'd like to meet some people, if we could."
Logan glanced to the side, a bit taken by Patton's words. "Right. Good idea, Patton. Let's go." He tried to nudge Thomas, taking his eyes away from the phone he was staring into as they were talking. Taking the hint, Thomas started to walk farther into the museum.
It was a pretty normal place by the looks of it, but something just felt... off. He kept walking, assuming it was nothing. Thinking it's probably his anxiety acting up, (he'll have to talk to Virgil later, he knows better) Thomas lingered close to a wall in hopes that he wouldn't be in anyone's way.
"Thomas."
He saw Logan looking at him, a mix of confusion and concern on his face.
"What?" He whispered back, in hopes no one would see a lunatic talking to himself.
Logan pointed across the hall.
"Do you... see them?"
"See what?" His eyes glanced over, and a shock overtook him.
Across from him and his Sides, were four, very similar looking people. Except, three of them were very much not human.
They were Sides. For a different person.
At least, they looked like it.
"...Oh."
He looked away to collect his thoughts without staring down a complete stranger. Roman and Patton were chatting about something, yet his mind was racing too much to want to figure out what it was. How could he see someone else's Sides?
As much as he wanted to tell himself they were an odd bunch of quadruplets, Sides don't exactly look human. To a recording they might, but seeing them in real life, you can tell they aren't real people. And those three?
It's arguably more obvious than his.
Roman and Patton have noticed now. Roman made a gesture for Thomas to put his phone to his ear. After a while of being able to see the sides, they worked out a way to talk in public without looking weird; holding his phone to his ear, Thomas looked like he was just taking a call.
Roman was fully facing him now. "You can see them too? This is AWESOME! There's more of us! What do we do?" As excited as he sounded, Thomas could tell there was a tinge of panic in his voice.
However, Patton was unfazed, pure joy seeping from him. "Oh. My. GOSH! Let's go say hi!!" He made a run for it, only for Logan to grab his hand.
Thomas looked at him, keeping his phone up to his ear so he isn't talking into space. "I mean, we don't even know that guy at all, Pat. And what am I supposed to say to him? 'Hey, I noticed you've got three parts of your brain following you around, me too?' I don't even have any clue what to do, I don't even think I should be able to see them."
Roman made the face he always makes when he has an idea."Well... No one said you had to go talk. How 'bout us three go up to them? Those guys can probably see us, and if they can't, you won't come off as weird. "
"...Hey guys?" Patton was struck down immediately.
Thomas did what he usually did when one of Roman's ideas sounded actually sound; he turned to Logan.
"For once, Roman has a point. It wouldn't hurt for us to try and start a conversation. If they even can see us. For all we know, we saw a group of vaguely unhuman-looking brothers and figuratively 'jumped the gun'." He seemed proud of his correct use of a metaphor.
"Guys." Patton nudged both of them, nodding his head towards the hall. "I don't think we have to worry about them not seeing us."
Sure enough, in a quick glance Thomas made to the four similar-looking people, the human-looking one was still looking down at their phone...
And the three others were staring straight at him.
Thomas kept his head down.
"...so should we go say something?" Roman whispered to Logan. He thought for a minute.
"... Pat, do you maybe want to introduce us?" Logan nudged him, hoping the friendliest of the three would let them get off to a good start. In reality, he was just as shaken as the other person's Sides looked.
Roman and Logan watched as Patton took a few steps forward, phasing through some people walking through the crowd, throwing off the three new... acquaintances. Guess it finally proved to them that the Sides were anything but human.
Logan stayed near Thomas. "Let's just hope he makes a good impression."
Roman nodded, and watched as Pat struck up a conversation.