Logan's dream was odd. Not just because they remembered it, though that was strange, too. It was what happened in it. It started black, a dead silence filling the space around them for what felt like an eternity. Their ears rang because the silence was loud, though they never understood that phrase. Then lights started to appear, each specific a color. No. Not lights. Figures. Familiar figures. First, a red one. It started at the top of the figure, it spread like a fire over the rest. A larger, lighter red figure appeared around it. The fact that the fire-like substance covered his body made Logan doubt that it was who they thought it was. They tried to speak the figure's name, feeling as if their vocal cords were restrained. Gone. No sound came out. They frowned, seeing another color start to appear next to the fire figure. It was a light blue, starting at what Logan guessed were hands.
Patton.
Logan noticed a thin blue shield appear around the figure. It was made out of shining light, almost like a small star up close. Logan looked over to the right as a purple spread over the next figure. The color moved around a spiral that started in the center and continued to grow with the purple. It took the color white. Logan knew this was Virgil. There was nobody else it could have been. But, from what Logan knew, Virgil's portals took the colors purple and pink. What was the white for? They noticed another light behind them. They turned, seeing a yellow figure appear, for once, a distinguishing trait developing with the initial yellow. They were scales in a darker shade of yellow on what looked like their face. Logan stared at the figure. They didn't know this person. The person, by the theme of this, had abilities. Green started flashing next to the yellow figure. The figure arrived suddenly, like an explosion.
Logan paused as they realized what these two other figures meant. There were others with abilities like the other three and themselves, at least the ones they knew personally, had more than just the initial powers they all thought they had. A noise started echoing through the area. A beeping sound. It started out quiet and steadily getting louder. The colors of the figures started spinning together, mixing as the rest of the black world around them twisted. Logan covered their ears, noticing a dark blue coming of themselves. The sound made it past their hands, screeching into their ears. Everything around them a blur of color, and if Logan didn't know better, it seemed like the sound was blending into everything, too.
They shot up, their breathing slightly labored. They were in their bed, sitting in their room. No colored figures. No black skies. No spinning. The beeping remained. Nothing out of the ordinary. They sat there for a little bit, thoughts running a million miles a minute. There were others. Someone with what looked like an animal ability and one with abilities Logan couldn't guess. And the others. The others and differing side-effects to their abilities. They sat there for a while, letting their mind settle down before they attempted to do anything.
When they felt as though they weren't going insane, they sighed, grabbing their glasses from atop their alarm clock. They got out of bed, aware that they'd have to collect themselves a bit more before they would be able to hold a steady conversation. That wouldn't be too hard, would it? They just had to hide it from someone who could sense distressed energy for 5 miles away and a very caring empath. They sighed again, quickly putting on their clothes, a grey NASA shirt, a blue button collared over-shirt, and jeans, and exiting their room. They hurriedly brushed their hair and teeth. They took a deep breath, taking off their glasses and pinching the bridge of their nose. A headache was starting to form. They walked toward the hall doorway, pausing at their door. It wouldn't hurt to grab a notebook in case they got an idea.
They smirked, their eyes lighting up and going dark again as their door opened. It was much more efficient than Roman's method of scribbling something on his hand or, in rare cases, the cuffs of his pants. Their eyes lit up again, the notebook settling into their hand. The door closed. They felt their headache grow a bit. That probably was a sign that they shouldn't use their powers. They tucked the journal under their arm and pushed their glasses up, trudging to the hall entryway. They stopped there, looked down, and closed their eyes, feeling their headache grow more noticeable. They took a deep breath and ignored it, looking up again and noticing a dark purple, black, and grey blob halfway on the couch. They smirked and shook their head, walking into the living room and grabbing a blanket. They moved Virgil fully onto the couch, putting their notebook down and then placing the blanket on him. They grabbed their notebook from the table, a muffled grunt coming from Virgil.
"Thanks..."
Logan hummed in response to the half-asleep Virgil and walked to the kitchen. They grabbed a cup and looked at the kettle, debating whether or not they should make tea the right way or get hot water and microwave it. Their head throbbed simultaneously to the debate, making them pick the easier option. They turned the sink on, glaring at the water stream as it took 3 minutes to warm up. Filling the cup with water, they grabbed a peppermint tea bag from their personal hoard of tea. They placed the teabag into the water, then setting the cup on the counter. They quietly groaned, trying to stop their now migraine, from expanding over their entire head. They looked out one of the living room windows.
The sky was still dark, but just light enough to where they could see the clouds, a lake of a calming ash grey and blue. Their migraine subsided a bit. The city buildings tall enough to reach the four's apartment took on darkened versions of the colors they had. They all looked like giants among the streets of light. The colors were simple. Orange turned to a rust color. Pink turned to rosewood. Grey turned to lead. White turning to flint. Brown to umber. Red to mahogany. Green to pine.
Logan's brow furrowed, thoughts slipping away from the morning sky and back to their dream. What could the other's secondary powers be? Patton's was a protective one, given that, in the dream, there was a shield around his figure. Roman seemed to have something to make him more intimating. Or perhaps something like a large set of armor. They tried to have their vision focus on something outside. They turned away from the window, the sky's growing light sending a flash of pain through their head. They grabbed the counter, steadying themselves against it. Virgil had to have an additive to his powers. Maybe...some sort of "second" version of his portals. But what would those portals do? No, that wouldn't make sense. If Virgil had any secondary portal system, it would be able to match his primary portals. A blue and green perhaps. Not a white and whatever the other color would be set of portals. Would the weather be an additive? It would have some correlation to Virgil's eyes, which had a way of matching with the weather. But to portals, it wouldn't make much sense. Perhaps dimensional abilities. No, that would still include portals or some sort of denominational rift.
They took off their glasses. And what about the two other figures? What would they mean by this? Would the two even meet them and the other three? What were their powers? And what did they have? They were already a powerful mind mage. What else could they have? They had tested so many things as a child. Increased intelligence, psychokinesis, telepathy. If they tried hard enough, they were able to teleport themselves. All of these things they'd figured out. What else could there be? What else?
Logan stood there, gripping the counter as they felt their migraine get worse. They were sure that if they tried to grab their tea, they'd knock it over. They heard a shuffle in the background.
"Logan?"
They groaned in response to the noise, another splitting burst of pain going through their head.
Another shuffle. Steps. The slight shake of a pill bottle. They attempted to see where it was coming from, only seeing a dark purple and black blur in the doorway of Roman and Virgil's rooms. It started moving toward them.
"Vir...gil...what...whater you..."
They groaned again. They couldn't hear their own voice. That didn't make much sense. They could hear everything else. Very loud and clear, too. Did they even make a sound? Virgil now stood next to Logan, his body in a tense posture. He placed his finger on their shoulder and started tapping.
One tap. Three taps. Three taps. Three taps. Three taps. He paused. Three taps. One tap. Three taps. Three taps. Three taps. Three taps. Three taps. One tap. One tap. Three taps. Another pause. One tap. Three taps. Three taps. One tap. Three taps. Three taps. One tap. Three taps. Pause. One tap. One tap. One tap. Three taps. Three taps. Three taps. Three taps. Three taps. One tap. Pause. One tap. Three taps. Three taps. One tap. One tap. One tap. One tap. One tap. Three taps. One tap. One tap. One tap. Three taps. One tap. One tap.
Do you want some Advil?
Logan slightly nodded. There was more shuffling. They saw Virgil's hand grab the cup of tea, taking the cup away. There was a slight heavy dropping noise. Virgil lightly grabbed Logan's hand and set two tablets of Advil in it. The cup of tea was set in front of them. Logan popped the two pills in their mouth, head disagreeing with the movement, and grabbed the cup, taking a swing. They noticed Virgil's finger on their shoulder again.
Three taps. One tap. Three taps. One tap. Three taps. Three taps. Three taps. One tap. One tap. Three taps. Three taps. One tap. Three taps. One tap. One tap. One tap. One tap. One tap.
Couch?
Logan shook their head. They heard Virgil hum in response, his presence was still noticeable next to them. Virgil moved behind them, quietly grabbing a cup, most likely his Nightmare Before Christmas mug. He moved next to Logan, turning on the sink and turning it to cold water, filling his cup. He moved away, a couple seconds after, grunting. They looked over to Virgil, who was sitting on the counter with his mug in both hands. They looked away, their vision slightly less blurry.
The two sat in silence for 20 minutes, Logan's mind regaining its usual posture. They grabbed their glasses, putting them on and looking over at Virgil. His hood was up.
"Thank you, Virgil."
Virgil tensed before he responded.
"No problem."
Logan stared at Virgil, squinting suspiciously. He had a strain to his voice.
"Although I'm not quite good with emotions, you seem...off."
Virgil hummed.
"Yoo bounced back quickly."
He took a sip of his water, setting his mug down onto the counter next to him afterward. Logan gave him an annoyed look.
"You're avoiding the topic."
Virgil shifted, looking down at his sleeves, and tugged at them.
"What topic?"
"Virge."
"What?"
Virgil moved his hood a bit back making eye contact with Logan. They glanced at Virgil over, noticing multiple lines of inconsistent red on his chin. Their eyebrows furrowed. They sighed, shaking their head.
"You're lip,"
Virgil tensed as he realized he hadn't covered it up, moving his hood back over his face.
"What aboot it?"
Logan loosely crossed their arms.
"You always seem to have a scab on your lip."
Virgil sighed, turning to Logan with a sarcastic look.
"Brilliant observation, Sherlock. Let's see if yoo can crack the case this time."
Logan gave him an annoyed look.
"For one, Sherlock always solves the case he is on. Two, may I ask a question?"
Virgil sighed and took his hood off, body completely turned to Logan. They glanced at his lip, the wound somewhat deep, the skin's separation scarily obvious. Logan took his silence as a yes to the question.
"Do you..." They paused, regarding the question they were about to ask with caution. "Do you do that on purpose?"
Virgil's eyes widened. He turned his head away.
"It doesn't matter."
Logan gave him a worried look.
"If it's a matter of self-harm-"
"I don't think you know what a "matter of self-harm," is," Virgil's eyes flashed dangerously, his voice a low growl.
Logan paused.
"It's when someone harms themselves."
Virgil shook his head, eyebrows furrowed.
"Why?"
"Virgil-"
"No, I want yoo to answer the question. Why?"
Logan paused, sighing. He really didn't think Logan knew about it. Why someone would do it to themselves.
"Because someone feels something has gone wrong," Logan looked at Virgil, avoiding eye-contact. "Or that they are a burden or problem or aren't deserving of something that they are. A matter of self-harm could be a release or maybe it's a form of attention because the person is neglected or maybe it's to make fun of people that use it so they don't end up doing something worse. Perhaps it's even a chameleon effect off another person. In any case, it's an unhealthy habit of getting rid of bottled up emotions and thoughts and it's incredibly hard to break. It leaves scars, mental, as well as externally and/or internally."
Virgil sat quietly on the counter, staring blankly at Logan. They glanced over to their cup of cold tea, grabbing the mug and swishing it around. The two sat in silence for a couple minutes both reaching for a different topic.
"I'm…" Logan looked up to Virgil's voice. He stared at the fridge handle, rubbing his right arm. "I'm soory. That, eh, that may have been uncalled for."
Logan shook their head with a tired smile.
"It's fine. And I don't think it was uncalled for. I brought it up, and you responded. That's a completely normal reaction."
Virgil pulled his knees up, hugging them into his chest.
"Yeah…I guess."
"Virgil."
He hummed, looking lazily over at Logan.
"It really is fine."
He nodded, giving a small, reassuring smile. Logan nodded back and turned back to their tea, swishing it a bit more before they took a sip. Virgil huffed, scratching his leg.
"Hey, Logan,"
Logan looked up again.
"If yoo don't mind me asking, why, uh, why did you get yoor migraine?"
"I just had a surreal dream that made me think too much, that's all."
Virgil nodded, moving his bangs back in front of his eye.
"What aboot?"
Logan hummed thoughtfully, swishing their cup of tea again and frowning at it.
"Our abilities."
Logan looked at Virgil, who wore a confused look.
"As in, like, theories, or a weird amalgamation of all of us together?"
"More like...I don't know, a slight prediction of something? It was mostly colors and figures."
"So like, Clairvoyance?"
Virgil raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
Virgil smirked, a spark of excitement in his eyes.
"It's kind of like a form of seeing the future. For example, someone with chronokinesis coold physically go to the period and interact with the people there, past, present, or future. A clairvoyant gets cryptic visions of the past, present, or future, kind of like an oracle. Now, a lot of chronokinetic people in books and media have clairvoyance, so the two are usually interconnected, or mixed as the same thing, but from what we know, you have no connection to chronokinesis."
Logan stared at him for a minute, a surprised and confused look on their face. Virgil's face earned a slight pink tint.
"What? I read a lot of comic books as a kid."
Logan shook their head.
"Why do you think that I might be clairvoyant?"
Virgil hopped down from the counter, stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"Well, there are a couple things clairvoyants get. Most things aboot clairvoyants are creatively inclined-"
"So, logically speaking, I wouldn't be one."
Virgil paused for a couple seconds, returning to what he was saying.
"But, there's more than just creative stuff."
"Like," Logan pushed up their glasses, after, crossing their arms.
"Working throogh problems by talking to yoorself. A need for quiet. Easy visualization when something's described to yoo, even if it's a graph or something mathematically inclined. And, as I afterward, the dreams tend to be really weird and unclear."
Logan regarded Virgil with a contemplative look. Was that what they were missing? A simple thing they didn't even know existed.
"The dream was awfully...vague, I suppose."
Logan continued to revert into their thoughts, quietly muttering to themselves. Virgil watched them, quietly trying to figure out what Logan's dream had been. A few minutes passed by, Logan still engrossed in their thoughts and Virgil playing a tycoon game on his phone. They turned to the counter and picked up their notebook, grabbing a pen from their shirt pocket. Virgil watched them scribble something down, walking out of the kitchen and to their room. He gave a confused look.
"Bye?"
Logan stared at their page of notes, most of it scribbles of ideas and illegible handwriting. It was about 5:34 in the afternoon. Everyone was still in the house, though Logan had opted out of some of the activities Patton had come into their room with. They had too many ideas running through their head. They sighed and leaned back in their chair. Maybe stressing over this wasn't necessary. It wasn't like their entire life revolved around this. Like they would need to use them for any real reason any time soon. Logan crossed their arms, their brows furrowing. A thought planted itself in their mind. A memory. When they actually had to use their abilities, just to keep their sanity intact.
That damned house. The damned people. Preaching about how God said that it was wrong. That there were only male and female. Adam and Eve. Their complete disregard of the non-existent line in the Bible that said it was a sin. The glares. The yelling. The odd looks from everyone else in school. How many times had they corrected their parents just for them to emphasize 'he' afterward? How many times had anyone asked their pronouns just out of respect? They could think of one off the top of their head. They felt the spark in their mind. Nothing but their dream flashed through their mind.
There was a knock on the door. Logan looked at it for a minute, sighing and looking away. It was probably Patton. He always had some connection to the three's emotions, whether or not he was aware of it.
"It's open," They said.
The door opened, Patton's face appearing in the crack of the doorway.
"Can I come in?"
Logan nodded, looking back at their notes.
Patton entered Logan's room, closing the door behind him. He walked over to Logan's bed and sat down.
"I assume you are here because of your empathy?"
Patton stopped trying to fix Logan's blankets, chuckling.
"No, Virgil and I were talking and he said that you had a migraine this morning because of a dream you had. And I don't have my empathic abilities 'on' for everyone else at the moment. The only person I keep on 24/7 is Virge, and he's fine."
"Virgil and I," Logan sat up, turning their body to Patton. "I wasn't aware you could, quote on quote, stop that ability."
Patton smiled, nodding.
"Yeah, It's actually super helpful. Otherwise, I'd be feeling everybody else's feeling all the time, which, trust me, is not fun."
Patton chuckled nervously.
Logan nodded.
"Anyways," Patton perked up. "You'd made a comment that you thought I'd come here because of my empathy. Why?"
Logan froze, their hand subconsciously going to their watch.
"No reason."
Patton frowned, a spark appearing in his eyes for a second. The two sat in silence for a minute, Logan keeping their stare on Patton. He sighed, looking away with an annoyed look. He turned back with one slightly less annoyed.
"I hope you know that I don't believe you."
Logan nodded.
"I wouldn't believe me either."
Patton scooted back on Logan's bed, crossing his legs.
"Even if you aren't going to talk about it now, you will eventually."
Patton glared. Logan simply shook their head with a small smile.
"You look like a kitten."
Patton paused, glare disappearing.
"I guess I'm gonna have to ask Virgil to show me," Patton looked down and then up at Logan, whose mood seemed to be better than what it was when Patton had entered. "What was your dream about? Virgil was talking about how it was something with our abilities, though he kinda lost me halfway. He started talking about the specifics of our powers and I tuned out. Roman called him a nerd and Virgil tackled him. That's why I came back here, besides the fact that you've been in your room all day."
"Yes, it did have the general idea of our powers."
Logan turned to their notebook, eyebrows knitting. Patton leaned toward them, attempting to see their notes.
"But?"
"But," Logan said, picking up their notebook. "I'm still trying to figure out what it meant."
"Ah."
Patton waited for Logan to continue to talk, maybe explain what they were talking about exactly. They continued to mutter to themselves. Patton looked around the room, noticing the bare walls, save for a bunch of colored sticky notes above Logan's desk, all of them reminders or random math equations. His eyes moved to the bookshelf next to Logan's wardrobe. It was full of astrology books and true crime books. The top shelf had about 20-25 journals, age showing in each one. Patton frowned, feeling the pent up rage and emotion radiate off that shelf. He looked back to Logan, reaching deep into their feelings. He felt an entire wave of fear and anger wash over him, almost enough for him to hit something. He pulled away, letting out a quiet, worried sigh. He looked at the page Logan was writing on. At the top was a light blue underline under a name. Patton shook his head, putting the anger topic on his back-burner.
Patton glanced at the page again, an idea forming. He lit up.
"Logan," Patton said.
They didn't look up.
"Logan," Patton said again, a bit more enthusiastically. Logan hummed, lifting the pen and evaluating the page.
"Logan," Patton's voice went flat, a bit of annoyance showing. "Ok, well, if you aren't going to respond, I'll just go and eat some of that Crofters that's been sitting in the fridge."
Logan shot up, their face stern.
"You will not."
Patton smirked.
"I wasn't going to. But it did get your attention, didn't it?"
Logan sighed.
"What is it?"
"I have an idea."
Logan stared at Patton, silently edging him to continue.
"Ok, one, can I see your journal?"
Logan nodded, handing Patton the notebook.
"There are only 4 pages with power notes on them. Yours is the first, then it's Roman's, Virgil's, and lastly mine. They're all underlined."
Patton nodded, looking down at his page:
Patton-
Known Abilities:
-Empathy(can turn "on" and "off")
-Healing
Suggested Abilities:
-Protective(such as shields)
Weaknesses:
-The ability to turn the empathic ability on and off could prove unhelpful in a drastic event
-The healing, in theory, could be used too much, and be "empty" at a time of need
-Shields- Same as healing
Color(s) in Dream: Light Blue
Reason: Unknown(perhaps a significant color such as a favorite or a personal tie)
Patton flipped the page it Roman's page:
Roman-
Known Abilities:
-Pyrokinesis*(manipulation and creation of fire)
Suggested Abilities:
-Creation of items per fire
-Armour creation per fire(for self)
Weaknesses:
-Water or most liquids
Color(s) in Dream: Red
Reason: Confirmed favorite color, perhaps for the symbolic "anger/passion" red is associated with
*Usually caused by anger or passion
Then to Virgil's:
Virgil-
Known Abilities:
-Portals*(from place to place)
Suggested Abilities:
-Weather(guess)
-Interdimensional travel(to, perhaps, a world where the Titanic didn't sink)(guess)
-Chronokinesis through portals(guess)
Weaknesses:
-Anxiety and unwillingness to use said abilities
Color(s) in Dream: Purple and white
Reason: Purple is a portal color and(probably) favorite color, white is unknown
*Only on Earth. It seems that he can only go places, accurately, if he's been there.
Lastly, he turned to Logan's page:
Logan-
Known Abilities:
-Enhanced Intelligence
-Psychokinesis
-Telepathy
-Teleportation on rare occasions
Suggested Abilities:
-Clairvoyance*(seeing the future, present, and past)
Weaknesses:
-Mental connection can be interrupted
-Virgil's mind wall
Color(s) in Dream: Dark blue
Reason: Favorite color, seen as a color of intelligence
*Suggested by Virgil
Patton looked up, Logan's expression contemplative. They stared at a spot in front of Patton on the bed. They spoke, still looking at the spot.
"What was the second thing, Patton?"
Patton smiled.
"We could test these."
Logan looked up, surprise in their eyes. It turned into curiosity.
"Where? Our powers, especially Roman's, aren't great for the indoors."
"We always have the roof."
Logan shook their head.
"Our downstairs neighbors use the roof on Sundays."
Patton gave Logan their notebook back and stood.
"Leave that to me."
He smiled and left the room. Logan stared at the door for a bit, then at their journal. What was Patton going to do?
Logan learned that all Patton did was ask the neighbors to do the party somewhere else that night. He had also told the other two the basics of what Logan was thinking.
"Sooo... what you're saying is, we get to use our powers, on the roof, because Logan had a really bizarre idea from a surreal dream," Roman looked at Patton with a smile. "Count me in."
Virgil tucked his notebook under his arm, which he'd been drawing in before Patton came in. He smirked.
"I'll go too. But I don't think I'll really experiment with my powers. Besides, seeing how badly Roman does sounds more fun."
"Rude."
"Yoo were making fun of me earlier and I didn't say anything."
"Yeah, but that's because it was warranted. That was not."
"Whatever, Sir-Sing-Too-Much."
"Existential Crisis."
"Prince Underarm Stink."
"Count Woelof."
"Captain Sparkle."
"Sally Dragdown."
"Frog Prince."
"Hot Topic."
"Aww, yoo think I'm hot."
"I do not!"
"Why did yoo call me 'hot' then, eh?"
"You know very well that that was just a nickname."
"Mhm, shore. I totally believe yoo."
"I will torch you."
"That's murder."
"Not if you don't get caught."
"Two witnesses."
Roman paused, a smirk growing on his face. Virgil started picking at his nails.
"Fine," Roman said, creeping up behind Virgil. He waited.
"Boo."
Virgil shrieked, punching Roman in the stomach.
"Ah! Fuck! Ow!...why?"
"What we learn?"
"How are you so strong? You're, like, a twig."
"I'll punch yoo again."
"Ah. I-I see the light."
"Stop being so dramatic."
"So...close. So...bright..."
"Really?"
"And thus, I die."
"Why are yoo like this, eh?"
Logan entered the room, journal in their hands. Virgil helped Roman up, who rubbed his stomach.
"But seriously Virge, how do you punch that hard?"
"Magic."
"Oo-k."
Roman looked over at Logan.
"When'll we be doing this?"
"Preferably soon."
"So, tonight?"
Logan nodded. They turned to Virgil.
"Are you positive-"
"Yeah, I'm positive," Virgil stuffed his hands into his pockets. "One, I'm gonna guess that yoo aren't going to do anything with yoor powers, which doesn't seem too fair. Two, I don't like being tested on like a lab rat."
Logan glanced in between Virgil and a spot on the carpet. They cleared their throat.
"That's a fair assessment."
The room was quiet for a while, Roman and Patton sharing glances now and again. Logan regained their composure.
"Shall we?"
Patton, Roman, and Virgil nodded. The four made their way up to the roof, Roman rushing up the set of stairs and almost face-planting.
"Seriously, Ro, you need to slow the fuck down."
"Language! You ok, Roman?"
"I'm fine, thanks for asking. And a new nickname, Virge?"
"Shut up."
They made it to the roof, Patton immediately frowning at the red plastic cups scattered everywhere.
"Those kids really don't know how to pick things up."
Roman and Virgil started picking up the cups, friendly banter going between them as they did so.
Logan walked over to the table, setting down their journal on it. Patton collected the cups on it, stacking them together. He set the stack on the table, looking at Logan.
"You look bummed."
Logan looked up from their journal, quietly sighing.
"Virgil's abilities are the ones I'm most curious about, mostly because the image of him in the dream was the vaguest. But, he obviously doesn't want to participate in figuring anything out. It makes me wonder why."
"Well," Patton sat down and patted the spot next to him. Logan joined him. "Why do you think?"
Logan let out a breath.
"Personally, if I had the level of anxiety he has, I would like to figure them out so I knew what would trigger my anxiety for them, and I would have a better grasp so they wouldn't go out of control."
Patton nodded, looking over at Virgil and Roman, who were throwing cups at each other.
"It is his decision."
Logan nodded, looking where Patton was.
"Guys," Virgil and Roman looked up at Patton. "We gotta do the thing!"
Roman smiled, throwing his last cup at Virgil. Virgil caught it and started actually picking the cups up.
"Is it alright if I-"
"Yeah, go ahead."
"Cool."
Roman walked over, putting his hands on his hips.
"Who'll we be doing first?"
Logan opened their journal to a blank page.
"You, since you left Virgil to clean the rest of the cups."
Roman nodded, awaiting instructions.
Logan stood, grabbing the stacked cups and stacking them in a castle formation.
"What I gathered from my dream was you could, most likely, can create objects out of fire. Do you know how to use any weapons, safely?"
Roman looked contemplative before smiling.
"A sword. Learned because of fencing."
"Good. I need you to try and attempt to conjure a fire sword."
Roman smirked.
"So, a less powerful lightsaber?"
Logan gave Roman an annoyed look.
"I suppose, yes."
Roman looked at his hands, a small flame popping up in his palm. His eyebrows furrowed, the flame slowly starting to take the shape of a hilt. Then a blade. After 10 minutes, it was a full sword. Roman looked at Logan, tiredness showing.
"Now what?"
Logan stopped writing, looking up at the sword with joyful curiosity. They rolled their over- shirt sleeves up.
"Cut the cups in half, if you can."
Roman nodded, moving his arm a little bit. He grabbed it with his other hand, moving the fire sword in an arch. It went through the bottom 3 cups before it disappeared. Roman stumbled back, Virgil stopping him from collapsing. Logan stopped writing again, their brow furrowing.
"Are you alright, Princey?"
"Yeah, kiddo, you alright?"
Roman groaned.
"I think. I got really tired all of the sudden and couldn't keep the sword there," He turned to Virgil. "Thanks, Virge."
Virgil nodded, walking a small bit away.
"It's fine if you couldn't keep the sword going. I'm assuming that was the first time you've ever done something like that, so it makes sense that you couldn't keep it there."
Patton stood up and helped Roman fully stabilize.
"Why don't you sit down, kiddo."
Roman nodded, shuffling over to the table bench. He slumped down with force, letting out a breath. Virgil joined him with a little less force. Logan scribbled something down in their journal, turning to Patton, who was standing over Roman.
"Would you like to try something, Patton?"
Patton looked over at Logan, hesitantly nodding.
"I think after this we shouldn't try to do anything else though. Roman looks just about ready to pass out."
Logan nodded, turned to their journal.
"Sure."
They bit their cheek.
"You know what I have written, so, since we saw what overextending yourself with something big looks like, could you try on something small?"
Patton nodded.
"Like what? Personally, a cup might be too big."
Virgil looked under him, picking up a small rock.
"Yoo coold use this."
Virgil placed the rock on the table, Patton staring at it with wariness. He took a deep breath.
"Ok," He said quietly.
He stuck his hands out around the rock. Nothing happened. He shut his eyes tight. When he opened them again, the rock still sat normally. Logan stared at the rock. Patton looked over to Logan.
"Maybe I'm not ready or something."
"Or," Logan said, glancing down at their journal. "You don't have the right motivation."
Patton turned his head sideways, confusion on his face.
"Ok, Patton. Imagine it's an injured creature of some sort. You don't want to hurt it more or to have it hurt more, so you have to make a shield to pick it up."
Patton frowned.
"Why does that have to be my motivation? I don't like imagining a creature hurt at all."
Logan placed the tip of their pen on the page.
"It was the only thing I could think of that might motivate you."
Patton sighed. He stared at the rock and closed his eyes. Slowly, a small light blue shield went around the rock.
The other three stared at the shielded rock, one with fascination, one in surprise, and one in tired intrigue. Logan started scribbling on the page, 6 words a second. Roman set his head down on his arms, closing his eyes. Virgil bit his lip, which was now healed because of Patton.
Patton opened his eyes, the shield disappearing before he saw it.
"Wow. I feel like I went an entire day without a cookie," he looked around at the other three. "Did it work?"
Logan tapped their pen on their chin.
"Didn't see it...hmm..."
They scribbled another note into the journal.
Virgil glared at the journal. He turned to Patton.
"Yeah. There was a tiny, hollow, light blue ball around it."
Patton nodded, a smile on his face.
"Yay," he looked at Logan. "Let's go inside, it's, what, 6 something? We should start dinner."
Logan continued to stare at the journal, reading over what they wrote. Patton's smile lessened.
"Logan?"
They still stared at their notes. Patton frowned.
"Logan. Come on. Let's go inside."
They hummed.
"Logan," Patton's voice became more firm. "Come. on. Let's. Go. Inside."
Patton sighed, looking at the setting sun.
Virgil watched, his glare at the journal growing each time Patton said 'Logan'.
Patton turned back to Logan.
"Logan!"
They didn't respond.
Virgil stood up, grabbing the journal.
They looked up with a glare of their own.
"Bloody hell, Virgil. What are you doing? Give it back to me."
Virgil continued to hold it.
"No," he said, his left eye going purple. A portal appeared under where the book was. "Patton said yoor name, what, 4-5 times, and yoo completely blew him off. Yoo also said that we'd go back inside after Patton did something for yoor notes and he did. Yoo know what yoo did instead? Yoo ignored him and kept looking at yoor notes like there weren't other people."
Logan stared at the journal and then at Virgil, guilt starting to flood their eyes.
"This, Logan, is why I said 'no' to testing anything. Because, like every scientist, yoo don't have any regard for the people or animals that are being tested on-"
Alright, kiddo, I-I think they get it."
"Like, yoo didn't even ask if Roman was okay when the sword went out and he almost fell onto the concrete."
Roman lightly touched Virgil's arm.
"Emo Nightmare."
"Furthermore, Patton didn't have to imagine anything to try to make a shield. But yoo were so keen on finding out if he coold do it."
Logan stood, eyes lighting up. The journal flew into their hand. Their eyes went back to dark blue.
"Yes, Virgil. I will admit that I completely ignored Patton and didn't ask if Roman was okay. But I really don't think scolding me and taking my journal with the threat of dropping it somewhere is necessary."
Virgil paused, portal, and eye color flickering.
"Also, Virgil, you ignored both Patton and Roman when they told you to stop just now."
Virgil sucked in a breath, portal disappearing. Logan turned to Patton.
"I apologize, Patton."
Patton nodded, sighing.
"Why don't we all just-"
Virgil was already halfway across the roof, nearing the door by the second.
"Virgil," Patton said, voice lined with worry.
He opened the door and entered, letting it slam behind him. Logan, Patton, and Roman looked at the door. Logan sighed, brows furrowed.
"He's angry when he is also at fault."
Roman stood up, worry creasing his face.
"More like he blames himself for the entire thing that just happened, harshly."
Logan looked at Roman.
"How-"
"I've known a lot of people who judge themselves harshly like that," Roman bit his cheek. "I'm going to follow him, make sure-" Roman cut himself off, contemplating on what to say instead. "-make sure he's okay."
Roman left, quickly opening and closing the door. Patton turned to Logan, a sympathetic smile on his face.
"Let's go inside, alright? I'll check Virgil's emotion thoroughly when we get inside and then we'll figure out what to do next."
Logan nodded, tucking their pen into the pocket of their over-shirt. The two made their way to the door, Patton opening it and keeping it open for Logan, who entered with a mumbled thank you. Patton entered as well, both Logan and him hearing the slam of a door and then an opening.