Roman collapsed on the bed with a tired groan, the silky sheets wrinkling around him as he sank into the mattress. Blue perched itself on the frame of the bed and chirped, curiously tilting its head at the prince.

"Not now, buddy…" Roman mumbled weakly into the blanket. Blue hopped down next to him and chirped some more, and Roman rolled over onto his back with a sigh.

"When duty calls, a prince must answer." he said plainly, which prompted more chirping, and Roman breathed out a laugh. "You and Joan would get along splendidly."

He groaned again, throwing an arm over his eyes to shield them from the rays of sunshine that had begun creeping through the dark red curtains. The sun was just rising over the horizon, which meant the rest of the kingdom was likely still asleep; apart from a few selected people that had been forced to spend the night chasing around fire breathing lizards through the dungeons, because some incapable guard had left the sewer gates open. Roman had had enough around two hours earlier and had sent Leo, Joan and Talyn to bed, because Leo had run into three doors in the span of fifteen minutes and Talyn had fallen asleep standing up.

The lizard-creatures were officially gone —he hoped— and even though Roman had managed to handle it, the satisfaction of success had paled in comparison to the utter exhaustion he felt all over his body.

Blue ruffled its feathers, climbed up his arm and pecked his forehead.

""Ow- hey, cut it out!" Roman tried, lazily waving it off with his hand. "Just let me rest my eyes for a few moments…"

The bird huffed and started pulling oh his hair.

"Ow, ow— ugh— what?!" Roman sat up, glaring at his companion who grabbed him by the sleeve, trying to pull him towards the door on the opposite end of the room; the one that led out of his world and into Thomas' mind palace. Roman frowned.

"But that isn't until… wait, what day is it?" he pulled out his phone to check the date and shot to his feet so fast he startled the poor bird. "By Poseidon's trident—"

Friday.

"THE BRAINSTORMING SESSION!"

He flung his closet doors open and dashed inside, throwing on some clothes and hurriedly running a hand through his hair to comb it through.

"Logan will have my head.." he muttered under his breath, tossing his sword and dagger to the side, and it was during times like these that he questioned why he had ever thought it would be a good idea to make his world in a different timezone.

"I owe you one, my feathery friend!" he quickly waved a small thanks to Blue, who gave him a little chirp in response, before yanking the door open. There was a flash of light and then he was gone, leaving the blue bird to wonder how he'd ever get anything done without it.

"Roman."

Roman's head shot up so fast he swore he'd gotten whiplash, blinking away the drowsiness that had suddenly crept up on him. Logan lowered his hand, putting his notes over to the side. He had a look of near-concern on his face, which was completely different from the stoicism that Roman had gotten accustomed to seeing on him.
He noticed his lips were moving… was he talking?

"Uh, pardon?" the prince asked when he realised he hadn't heard a word, and Logan frowned.

"This is the fourth time you have 'spaced out' since we began our brainstorming activity." Logan repeated himself, apparently, and Roman shifted under his scrutinizing gaze, making a conscious effort not to look away. "You are acting highly... unusual, and your body language is indicating signs of exhaustion which I can only guess are due to a lack of sleep."
Roman sighed heavily, reaching up to rub the bridge of his nose.

"I'm just dandy, teach, don't go getting all emotional on me."

"What were we talking about before you got distracted?" Logan pushed as if he hadn't heard him, patiently folding his hands over his lap. Roman opened his mouth to answer, already preparing an offended retort, but closed it shut when he realised he was completely clueless as to what they were supposed to be discussing… what was it they were doing again?

"I thought so. When was the last time you slept?"

"I…" he tried again, but his mind drew a blank. Not even one excuse? It was surprising even to him, since he was supposed to be the creative side... what time was it again?
Okay, maybe he was a little bit tired.

"Okay, maybe I am a little bit tired…" he started, only to have his sentence interrupted by a very unwelcome yawn and he could've sworn on his honor the corner of Logan's mouth twitched into a smile. Emotionless bastard his royal bottom.

"I suggest we move this activity to another day, for when you will be better rested." Logan said in a tone that clearly allowed no protest, as he stood up from the chair and adjusted his tie. "Am I correct in my assumption that you skipped your 'beauty sleep' last night?"

Roman did not blush, thank you very much, and let out a very unprincely noise.

"Good God, did Virgil tell you to say that?"

"Yes." Logan replied, grabbing his papers and leaving before the prince could figure out if he was being serious or not. All the notes from their brainstorming sessions were kept in the library on Logan's side of the mind palace, but the logical side insisted on taking them over to his room every time they indulged in anything that required them, for whatever reason.

"Roman had come up with the idea that maybe the room just brought him comfort, but Logan would never admit to such a thing, so Roman had just let it be.

He yawned again, rolling over and nestling straight into the first pillow he could find. The couch wasn't as soft as his bed, certainly less fancy, and he was definitely feeling the absence of stuffed animals, but in that moment, Roman had never felt more comfortable.

Whether he'd passed out or fallen asleep neither would know, but by the time Logan came back he'd found him out like a light, and if any of his fellow sides knew anything about him it was that he was a heavy sleeper; once he was gone there was no waking him up.

Considering the fact that Roman had been visibly exhausted, Logan had done the sensible thing and decided that it would be in both of their interests to let him rest, so that they would be able to return to their previous activity as soon as possible and maximize productivity.

He definitely didn't shake his head and that had not been a smile, much less a fond one. He'd only tucked him in because it was cold and he hadn't chosen grading tests over working on his laptop because it would be less noisy, and when Patton had come in to bring him coffee later in the day he definitely hadn't squealed nor taken a picture to show Virgil, and Logan most certainly hasn't kept that picture, tucked away under some documents in one of his drawers.

That would be illogical.