Some brainstorming sessions ended well. Others, not so much. And Virgil was the most likely of all of them to leave a meeting in a bad state of mind.
On one particularly bad day, Logan gave Virgil a simple but questioning look on their way out. Virgil shook his head, and Logan put an understanding hand on his shoulder. They rushed into Logan's room, and quickly closed the door. Logan knelt down and pulled out the pale green box that was hidden under his bed. He pulled out the needles and yarn, as well as the scarf that Virgil had been working on, and placed both in the latter's lap. Virgil didn't budge.
"Hey," Logan said gently. "You've got this. C'mon, you know how this works."
"H-hands," Virgil responded, holding up his trembling hands. Logan shook his head and guided Virgil into the right position, beginning the first couple stitches for him.
"See? There you go. You're fine."
But Virgil kept looking towards the door. "Roman could still come in here any minute," he hissed.
"The door is closed," Logan pointed out. "For all of Roman's flaws, I don't think he's the type to barge into a room that's closed."
Finally Virgil calmed down a bit, and before long he was back into the swing of things. Logan smiled, and got out his own project from his desk drawer.
"So, rough brainstorming session, huh?" Logan began after a few minutes of silence.
"Yeah, it was," Virgil admitted. "It's just, how many new things can we possibly do? Almost every single episode has had something new in some way. Roman is just gonna push everyone towards burnout."
"I definitely get that," Logan replied. "But we're not the only ones who are doing the thinking. We have Joan, too. They're a perfect example of two heads being better than one."
"Yeah...that they are," Virgil admitted. "Fair enough. Thanks."
"Anytime!" Logan replied without looking up.
Two weeks later, it was thundering outside. Virgil sat on his bed and buried his head in his pillows, but he couldn't block out the sound, nor could he get rid of the sinking feeling in his stomach. After trying to take deep breaths for a few minutes, he finally gave up and went over to Logan's room.
When he got there, he found Logan standing outside his open door, the green box in hand.
"Oh, hello!" Logan said. "I was just about to invite you over. Come on in!"
Virgil smiled and ducked his head as the two went inside Logan's room. Logan shut the door behind them.
Virgil pulled out the scarf, now much longer, and tried to make the next few stitches. But they didn't look right, and the yarn just got tangled, and finally Virgil threw it on the bed in frustration. He sat down on the floor and covered his ears.
Logan glanced towards the window, and looked down at Virgil sympathetically. He got up and closed his curtains, and pulled out his phone. Turning the volume up all the way, he scrolled through all his music until he found some Mozart. He pressed play, and slowly Virgil uncovered his ears.
"I know it's not exactly MCR," Logan began, "but it might help you regain a sense of peace."
"No, no, I like it. Thanks." Virgil smiled and got up again, picking up the scarf from the bed. Now that the sound was blocked out, he was able to focus on untangling the yarn and getting back on track.
"I really like where I'm going with this," Virgil said after ten minutes or so of silence. He smiled up at Logan shyly.
Logan smiled back, looking up from his own scarf. "I do, too! You really do have a great eye for color."
Virgil tilted his head. "Really? You think? I...I didn't really think that was exactly my forte...if you catch my drift."
"Well, maybe he's rubbing off on you! You two really aren't as different as you think, you know."
Virgil frowned and looked towards the door. "Do you think he's-"
"I am about 95% sure that Roman is fast asleep right now, yes."
"But he has to know that something's up by now, doesn't he? I mean, what does he think we do in here all the time?"
Logan blushed a little, and Virgil snickered. "Okay, sorry, that came out wrong. I didn't mean it like that." The two erupted into nervous giggles, which, if anything, lightened the mood.
"But really though," Virgil said after they had calmed down, "He's got to find out sometime, right?"
"Well, would that necessarily be a bad thing?" Logan questioned him.
Virgil jumped back. "Um, yes, it would be! What, you want him to start making needling jokes? Because you know he will." He threw the scarf down on the bed again.
Logan got up and put a hand on Virgil's shoulder. "Hey, just hear me out here, alright? Maybe it might not end well if he finds out by accident. But if you take it upon yourself to tell him, then you would have more control over the situation."
"What do you mean...?" Virgil asked warily.
Logan picked up the scarf from the bed again. "You know, now that I think of it, this scarf of yours is just about done. You want me to show you how to finish it?"
"Um, sure, I guess, but I don't see what that has to do with-"
"I think it would look great on Roman, in fact," Logan said as he tied it off. "If you're comfortable with that, of course," he added.
Virgil shrunk back a little. "No, you're right, I get what you're trying to say. I'm just not really crazy about getting laughed out of the Mind Palace."
"I think you should have a little faith in him," Logan insisted, shoving the scarf back into his hands. "Trust me. Okay?"
Virgil looked down at the floor. Logan put his hand back on the other's shoulder and gave it a little shake. "Okay?"
"Okay," Virgil said, looking up at Logan with a watery smile.
"Good," Logan replied, giving Virgil a side hug. "You should probably get to bed now. We'll talk more tomorrow." He gently shoved Virgil out of the room and closed the door.
The next morning, Virgil woke up and lazed around for a bit, having completely forgotten the conversation from last night. But when Logan knocked on his door at around 10:00, it all came back to him.
"Oh...hey," Virgil said quietly. He rubbed his arm. "What's up?"
"Not much! But, um, hey, I don't think Roman's doing anything right now. How about we get this over with, maybe?"
Virgil looked over at the scarf, which was laying on his desk, and picked it up. "Yeah...maybe."
"Well, let's go then!" Logan said, slinging an arm against Virgil's shoulder and shoving him out of the room. Virgil followed Logan reluctantly, and the two walked a few steps down the hall until they stood in front of Roman's closed door.
Virgil stared almost blankly at the door and looked back at Logan, who gave him a nod. He lifted his hand, poised to knock, but then lowered it and pressed his ear to the door. Logan let this go on for a few moments before pulling Virgil back and knocking on the door for him.
They heard rustling from the other side, and Virgil tensed up again. But Logan just squeezed his arm and waved before dashing off.
Before Virgil could object, Roman opened the door. Virgil spun back around to face him and then held out the scarf like a hot potato, looking off to the side.
"Here, I made this for you," he said quickly. He was about to run back to his room when Roman put his hand up.
"You made something for me?" Roman asked softly.
"Well, yeah..." Virgil said. "Logan's been teaching me how to knit, which is why I'm always in his room every time I'm freaking out, 'cause it makes me feel calmer, and I've been making this over the past few weeks and I'm kinda proud of it and I thought maybe you'd like it. I'm sorry though, it's stupid, I'll just-"
"You made something for me?" Roman said again, clearly having barely heard any of Virgil's rant.
"I...I guess I did, yeah."
"No one's ever made anything for me before." Roman looked down at the scarf in awe.
"So...you don't think it's weird?" Virgil asked cautiously.
"No, of course not! I love it. Why would I think it's weird?" Roman asked, now caressing the scarf.
"I mean, it's not exactly...like me to do that," Virgil began. "It's not exactly a tough guy thing to do."
Roman shrugged. "Well, what does that matter? If it helps you feel better, I'm not gonna get in the way of that."
"Aren't you going to start calling me things like, 'Negative Knitter' now?"
Virgil winced as soon as he said that, cursing himself for giving him new ideas, but Roman just frowned slightly. "Not if you don't want me to, no."
Virgil looked up. He'd never heard Roman say anything to that effect before.
Roman continued staring at Virgil with a concerned gaze, and they stood like that for another few moments before snapping himself out of it.
"Um, wait, what am I thinking, do you wanna come in?" Roman asked, stepping to the side.
"In your room?" Virgil asked.
"Yeah!" Roman said with a grin. "I have something I want to show you."
Virgil shrugged and followed Roman inside. Roman put the scarf down on his desk, and pulled open the bottom drawer. He pulled out a ball of deep, purple yarn and handed it to him.
Virgil looked down at the ball in his hands. Roman smiled at him. "You like it?" he asked. "I don't know what colors you have, but I thought you might like this one." He rubbed his own arm.
Virgil looked back up at him. "Yeah, I do! Thanks."
For the first time that either of them could remember, they smiled at each other fully.
Maybe Logan was right. Maybe he just needed to have a little faith. Hey