#nothing groundbreaking but i needed to grab a pen again or i was gonna go insane

[vonlipvig]

i'm DRAWIN'

[sonicrainicorn]

Made of Love, Chapter 14

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Table of Contents

Ship(s): Logicality, (platonic) Prinxiety

All Characters: Thomas, Virgil, Roman, Logan, Patton, Dr. Picani, Joan, Talyn, and Deceit

Synopsis: Humans Roman and Virgil get wrapped up in some serious magic business without meaning to. Their other companions aren’t exactly as they seem, either. Together they all must defeat a great threat for the safety of humanity.

Chapter Desc.: Sometimes things get a little more complicated before they get any better. Virgil is still waiting for the complicated parts to stop.

TW: Minor violence, body horror

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Virgil stared at the pile of sticks on the ground for a while. Part of him wanted to go back inside and grab someone, but the other part convinced him that wasn’t necessary. It would be a short test. If it came out negative, then he was just a crazy person. If it came out positive, then oh well. Maybe he’d end up with a few scratches at most. Honestly, he didn’t know what he preferred out of those two options.

“Start up.”

He took a few steps back as the pile sprung to life. The two dummies took form and stood there, waiting for Virgil to do something. Well, now or never. He clicked his pens. As soon as he lifted his arm, the dummy he aimed for blocked his movement. Then, almost like a whisper in the back of his mind, something told him to use his other hand. So Virgil listened to it. He swung his dagger into the side of the dummy and it stuck with surprising ease. It took a moment -- as if it needed to register what happened -- before falling back into a pile.

Alright. That didn’t prove much either way, but alright. The pile climbed its way back to life. Round two.

Virgil went after it again, and again, following the hints that the universe seemed to whisper to him. Anytime he followed them, it ended in his favor. Anytime he didn’t, he lost. Wherever it was coming from, it knew what it was doing. It saw every weak point and every opportunity. Still, that didn’t give him exact proof. He needed to hear words. Not intuitive hints or suggestions.

On complete accident, he brushed against the stationary dummy. Taking this as a challenge, it raised its sword. Oh boy. Patton did say they were sensitive.

“Step to the side.”

Roman’s voice was not something Virgil expected to hear. He almost jumped right out of his skin. Instead, he ended up tripping over his own feet. Because of course he did. He dropped his daggers to catch his fall, and it was like someone ripped off his headphones. Sounds that were previously muffled without his knowledge came back full force. The wind, and the birds, and the rustling of leaves. He didn’t know how he couldn’t notice them missing.

But that wasn’t his main concern. He fell on his back. Hard -- even with the aid of his arms. And suddenly he had two wooden sticks pointed at his throat. That by itself wouldn’t have been intimidating, except that those sticks weaved into the rest of the dummies’ swords.

“Objective complete,” Virgil groaned out. He let his arms drop as the dummies disassembled.

Part of him expected Roman to walk into his line of sight to make fun of him, but he didn’t show up. A swift glance around the perimeter proved that he wasn’t even down here. So then what the hell? Was he actually going crazy? He expected to hear Logan’s voice again, not Roman’s. Why was it Roman’s this time?

“Virgil?”

Virgil turned his head to see Patton walking into the clearing. Barefoot for some reason. Ninety percent of the time, Patton didn’t have shoes on. Virgil had no idea why. What madman walked outside with no shoes?

“What are you doing?” He took one look at the scene before him and raised a brow. “Did you… do okay?”

“I know this looks bad,” Virgil held up a hand, “but trust me, this is the outcome of like five rounds.”

Patton frowned. “Why did you do so many? And why by yourself?”

Virgil sat himself up with another groan. He needed to stop falling on his back. “I was trying to figure something out.” The daggers stared up at him. “I’m honestly still not sure what to make of it.”

“Well, what’s up?” He took a seat beside Virgil.

“I, uh,” how was he supposed to word this without sounding insane? “Yesterday I kind of heard something when we ran into that Figment.” He spared a glance at Patton. “It kind of -- it was, um -- it sounded like Logan. A little bit. Like, he yelled at me.”

Patton furrowed his brows. “Logan?”

“Yeah, and right now I heard Roman, but --” He gestured around -- “he isn’t exactly here.”

“What did they say?”

“Advice, I guess. Just what I should so next.”

Patton frowned in thought. “Well, I know for a fact that Logan wouldn’t have been there yesterday --” Virgil snorted -- “Oh, hush. And I just saw Roman before I came out. So something else has to be imitating them.” His eyes landed on the daggers. “Can I see these for a second?”

Virgil shrugged. “Go ahead.”

He picked them up and examined them. They looked the same as the first time Virgil ever saw them. Nothing about them was different. Nothing was off. “You might wanna move back.”

No need to tell Virgil twice. He scooted himself away, ignoring the pain that spread from the back of his arms. Patton commanded the dummies to spring back to life, and Virgil watched him fight. It was interesting, to say the least. He had never seen Patton fight with daggers before. Instruct him, yes, but never fight. He didn't like to. Virgil always assumed that was just because he fought from a distance rather than close up. It didn't seem as if that was entirely correct.

He handled the daggers like he had done so his whole life, moving them as if they were just another appendage of his body. He was deadly. Scary, almost. His movements were clear and precise -- aiming only at vital parts of the body. Places that could kill a human if hit. Maybe that’s what was so scary about it. He aimed to kill, not to maim. Not how Roman and Virgil were shown. And certainly not how Logan fought when given the chance.

“I don’t see anything wrong with them.” Patton didn’t spare a second glance at the dummy as it crumpled to pieces. “They’re just normal, old daggers. I didn’t even hear anything.” He handed them back to Virgil.

Virgil took them back, somewhat cautiously. “I must be going crazy, then.”

“Or…” The dummy sprung to life behind him. He didn’t even flinch. “One more round. I have an idea.” He stepped off to the side so Virgil could take his place.

“Uh, okay.” Virgil picked himself up, wincing, to walk over to it. It looked the same as it always did. No matter how many times it was hit, cut, or stabbed, it returned to the same state in pristine condition. Almost like magic.

He took aim at the dummy and the cycle started anew. The little whispers aided him if he seemed to be stuck, but no prominent voice called out to him. This time, however, he noticed how the surrounding sound was muffled to him. Not the same kind of muffled as a stuffy ear or being underwater, but like headphones with no music playing. Which was an odd feeling since headphones weren’t actually on his head. Why would that be happening? Maybe it was --

“Swing behind you.”

Without so much as a second thought, Virgil did as he was told. His arm stopped mid-motion. With the dagger mere inches from his face, Patton held onto Virgil's forearm. He smirked at Virgil’s wide eyes.

“Objective complete.” His voice sounded distant despite being so close. Virgil faintly registered the dummies falling back into stick piles. “Who’d you hear that time?” He let go of Virgil’s arm.

Virgil tried to gain some semblance of composure so he could answer. He didn’t know how to handle almost stabbing Patton in the face and him not being fazed by it in the least. “Logan again.” Even his own voice sounded far away.

“They respond to you.” Patton grinned. “That’s their magical property -- they take the voices of people you trust so you’ll listen to their advice.”

Virgil tapped the ends and sound returned back to him. “Do you have an explanation for why they make everything else sound muffled, then?”

“Well, that's an interesting side effect, but magic always comes with a price. That’s how things stay balanced. It’s most common with magical objects, but magic types also have their limits.” He looked up at the rustling leaves. “Like, I can’t stray too far from nature for too long or else things get a little… bad. So no big city dwelling for me.” He turned back to Virgil with a smile.

“Seems a little annoying.”

“It’s just kind of life." He shrugged. "Do you wanna head back inside now? I'm gonna start working on lunch.”

“Sure.”

They both followed the worn down path back to the house. Virgil spotted Roman at the dining table and walked over to him while Patton went off to the kitchen.

Virgil didn't even get the chance to sit down before Roman spoke to him, “Do you ever realize how much closer Picani is to Patton than he is to Logan?” He didn't spare a glance up from his laptop.

“Well, hello to you too,” Virgil muttered sarcastically. He plopped himself in a chair and messed around with one of the pens. “What are you even talking about, by the way?”

“I've been thinking --”

“That's groundbreaking.”

Roman stopped his deep concentration to glare at Virgil. “So I've been thinking, and it's something I couldn't help but notice, but Patton is the happy bubbly one, right?”

“Sure.”

“And Logan's like the exact opposite. He's mean, and cold, and arrogant, and a huge downer, and he shuts down  all of my ideas --”

“Yeah, I get it. Go on.”

“So why is Picani such a happy, excitable guy?”

“I get the feeling you're about to tell me.”

“I do have a bit of a theory.” Roman grinned. He pushed the laptop to the side so he could lean over the table. It allowed Virgil to see part of the photo he was editing. “I've been working on it for a bit, and I think I get it. Logan doesn't dull down Patton's energy like it seems he should. He focuses all that energy. He makes it less chaotic and uses it for a specific thing. It allows him to get out all his nerdiness in ways that are fun.”

Virgil glanced over to the kitchen where Patton and Logan were working on lunch. “So what I’m getting from this is that Logan’s just as big a dork as Patton, but he keeps it all inside and lets it out with Picani.”

“Exactly! Just like how all of Pearl’s fusions are show-offy in some way.”

“Why is this one of the things on your mind?”

“I don’t know. It’s been like two months.” He fell back against the chair and moved his laptop closer. “I need something to think about other than impending doom.”

Two months… It really has been that long, hasn’t it? Neither Roman nor Virgil had gone back to their apartments after their previous trip. The keyboard sat in the closet of Virgil’s room. Untouched since that day. It felt like such a long time ago already. How have they been at this for two months?

“For once, I think I agree with you.”

Virgil continued to sit at the table with Roman. They didn’t talk all that much more, which was fine. Roman had four possible moods while editing photos: one, which was rare, “don’t talk to me, don’t look at me, don’t breathe in my direction”. Two, “wait, were you talking to me?”. Three, “I can only answer yes or no questions”. And four, “I can and will have an in-depth discussion with you whether you're listening or not”. So it was safe to say that Virgil didn’t mind the silence.

Logan and Patton were over in the kitchen, anyway, so there was at least background noise. Like their soft chatter, or the bustling of kitchenware. They were familiar sounds and ones that Virgil had long since gotten used to.

“I’m gonna go check on Thomas real quick. Don’t burn anything.” Patton winked before leaving.

Logan rolled his eyes.

Virgil’s attention was drawn back to the table as Roman shut his laptop with a heavy sigh. “Oh, how I loathe the editing process, but it is a necessary evil I must bear.” He placed a hand on his chest and looked off into the distance. “I can only hope that by the end of it all, I leave these pictures looking as extravagant as they deserve.”

Virgil stopped twirling his pen to make sure his unamused look came across well. “Who are you trying to impress?”

“Oh, I don’t need to try to impress.” He paused his theatrics to simper at Virgil.

Their interaction was cut short by the sharp gasp coming from the kitchen. They looked over to see Logan fall to the floor. Virgil rushed over in an instant, followed closely by Roman.

Logan curled up against the cabinet with his left arm pressed to his chest. From what Virgil could see, it was the same thing that happened last time. But this instance was more… intense. The black waves underneath his skin were farther -- taking up part of his bicep where previously it was only up to his forearm. The sharp flashes of smoke occurred all throughout it with no real pattern. Every new flash caused Logan to grit his teeth and claw uselessly at the tile. At one point, the entirety of Logan’s hand had disappeared into a smoky cloud. Twitching and moving like the mass Virgil and Roman saw over two months ago.

Slowly, the flashes stopped. The ink beneath his skin crawled over to his wrist, where a thick black band formed, then faded once again. Like nothing ever happened. Except this time Logan didn’t get up right away. He didn’t try to brush it off like no big deal. He stayed on the floor, staring hard at his hand. It trembled violently.

“I want to ask if you’re okay, but that was so obviously not healthy,” Roman muttered. He eyed Logan with concern.

As did Virgil. “You have to tell Patton.”

“No,” came Logan’s immediate reaction. He lifted himself up with the aid of the counter. His face twisted in a contorted grimace. “I’m fine.”

“Uh, none of that seemed very fine,” Roman added.

Logan frowned. “I have it under control. Patton doesn’t need to know yet.”

“Right. And how many times has it happened since we found out?” Virgil crossed his arms.

“That’s not important.”

Virgil was going to have a stroke or something. This man had a death wish. “Logan, if this keeps happening to you then you’re going to have to tell him. It’s only going to get worse the longer you keep this from him. It's already gotten worse.”

“I can’t.” Logan looked back down to his trembling hand. He seemed worn out. “He doesn’t need to know.”

“Who doesn’t need to know?”

The three jumped and turned to see Patton enter the kitchen again. Logan hid his hand behind his back and tried to look casual.

"Nothing. No one. Everything's fine."

Patton didn't appear convinced in the slightest. He stared at Logan with his expression caught between amusement and confusion. "Logan, honey, the stove's still on."

"What?" Logan's right hand was pressed against the stove top. "Oh. It seems it is." He removed his hand and turned off the flame without so much as a flinch.

Virgil tried to ignore the disaster of a cover-up happening right now.

Patton shook his head and approached Logan, holding out his hands. He didn't need to ask for Logan to put his hand there. "Well, no burns. So you still have that much going for you." He swept Logan's bangs out of his face with a smile. "But I'd recommend not pushing your luck." He paused, placing his hand on Logan's cheek and furrowing his brows. "Are you okay?"

Logan blinked. "Yeah. Fine."

He didn't look fine. Even Virgil could tell that. It looked like a strong gust of wind could blow him over. "I don't know, Logan, you seem a little iffy to me."

Logan sent him a glare when Patton's back was turned.

"Almost like something happened," Roman added.

"Did something happen?" Patton turned back to Logan, who dropped the glare.

"No. Roman just likes to be dramatic. You know how he is."

"It kind of seems like he has a point," Virgil continued. "It looks like something happened. But if it did, you'd obviously tell Patton, right?"

"Stop it," Logan growled.

"Lo?" Patton placed his other hand on Logan's cheek to cup his face. "Nothing's wrong, is it? You're okay?"

"I, um," Logan seemed at a loss of words for once. Virgil could almost see the gears spinning in his head.

Patton frowned. "Maybe you should go lie down. You don't look too good."

“I’m fine.” He brushed off Patton’s hands and side-stepped around him. As he did so, he moved his hand to keep it out of Patton’s sight. “I just -- I’m fine. Nothing happened to me. I’m perfectly okay.”

“You’ve never been very good at lying.”

Logan stopped. He sighed and closed his eyes. For a moment, Virgil thought he would say the truth. He should have known better than to hope for that. “Let’s just continue with lunch. We don’t need to stop for any false alarms.”

Then that was that. Logan once again kept a dangerous secret from the one person that could possibly help him. Patton didn’t buy it in the least. He knew something was up, as any person would, but he didn’t say anything. He did what Logan wanted and dropped the subject -- continued with lunch like no big deal. Not even Roman tried to bring it up again.

Well, Virgil didn’t know how much longer he could stay silent.

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