Chapter Text
Logan sunk back into his room after a long day of unproductivity with Thomas. His room was extremely organized, a bed in the corner, three bookshelves, and a filing cabinet filled with everything Thomas had ever learned. However the centerpiece of the room was a wide desk, with an organizer full of stationary and Logan’s passion project hanging on the wall above it: Thomas’ daily schedule.
Logan admired the schedule for a moment before moving the chores that were supposed to be completed today to various days throughout the week.
He had spent months working on perfecting the timing, order, and task distribution of the schedule for maximum efficiency. Each day had different chores, followed by activities that would help to recharge Thomas so he would awake the next day revitalized and excited rather than dreading the day (as had become the norm recently). Any task that involved a specific side was also indicated with their respective color. Logan had even spared 30 minutes a day for Thomas’ never-ending cycle of dilemmas that would inevitably appear. Nevertheless, when the time came to actually implement the schedule…Remus had to ruin it all.
“Am I really the one you want to yell that at?”
Remus’ question rang in Logan’s head (he never did like unanswered questions) as he tried to prioritize the chore list. Thomas was nearly out of clean dishes and clothes, but the constant clutter in the apartment would distress him, causing further complications in the schedule…
“The chores can be a Tomorrow Thomas problem”
But tomorrow Roman has booked for shooting a music video, Logan thought.
“So your little factoids are optional this time?!”
They aren’t ‘factoids’ they are pertinent evidence for the discussion at hand, Logan swapped one of his indicators for the ‘Decluttering’ marker on Tuesday’s schedule.
“Logan, can you stop. Please?”
I am an integral part of Thomas’ … reasoning, but reason seemed to be getting further away with each passing day.
First the puppets…
Then the courtroom…
Thomas was paying less and less attention to what he had to say. Logan took down a deep blue marker for educational reading and replaced it with washing the dishes.
“You’d think the smart side would know when to mind his own business.”
I tried that, and all it did was hurt Thomas and Patton, Logan replaced his crossword marker with the laundry marker.
With the schedule reorganized, Logan took a step back to commend his efforts. The week’s tasks were all accounted for, the schedule decorated with plenty of red, purple, yellow, light blue, and even one or two green markers…
“You’re the least popular character”
Logan looked at his discarded deep blue markers on the desk, there was nowhere left in the schedule for them…and no other tasks he could help with…
“Thomas doesn’t... need me anymore,” Logan got dizzy with that realization. If he wasn’t useful to Thomas, then why was he here? What was his purpose? To be a walking textbook for the others to use at their convenience?
Before he had time to process the myriad of questions, Logan found himself on the floor. He was gasping for air, his vision getting blurry as the colors on the schedule merged together into a mirage of colors.
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After the initial panic subsided, Logan remembered the grounding techniques he always reminded Thomas of (how could he have forgotten them so easily??).
Ok 3 things you can see:
The schedule (missing his color entirely)
His blue time markers (when did they end up on the floor?)
The constellations he had on his ceiling (he had never seen them from this angle)
2 things you can touch:
His glasses (when did they get covered in tears?)
The hardwood floor (maybe he should change to carpet if this becomes regular)
1 thing you can hear:
The other sides discussing Thomas’ date that day (they were all in agreement that it was the right call)
Logan took a deep breath before shakily standing up from the floor. He had to use his bookshelves as support for a second, as his legs were still weak from the panic attack.
“A panic attack? I thought Virgil was the only one that got those…” This was a very disconcerting development indeed. If Logan himself, the embodiment of rationality, could have a panic attack… there was something undoubtedly wrong with him. And if he was already useless to Thomas at full functionality… he would become a burden like this…
Logan had no time to waste.
He packed up the finished schedule, careful not to dislodge any of the markers from their locations, and slipped out of his room.
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Logan was cautious as he moved towards the common area of the mindscape, lest the others discover just how broken he had become. Luckily for him, everyone seemed to be off in the Imagination to watch Roman’s newest daydream about Thomas’ next date.
Perfect, that should keep them busy for a while, Logan thought.
He arranged his stunning schedule on an empty wall in the living room, making sure that it would catch the eyes of any side entering the space. He couldn’t let all his hard work go to waste.
He gave the mindscape one last tidying up (he couldn’t leave any place unnecessarily dirty), then rescinded back to his room. Logan couldn’t burden Thomas with his issues, that would be counterproductive. It was time for Logan to duck out.