The world felt like it was moving in double time compared to Virgil. His thoughts were painfully sluggish from his exhaustion. Thankfully, he was too tired to worry about anything. Or maybe that was his medication kicking in. His hands felt steadier and that's all that mattered.

He successfully tattooed his first customer of the day, falling into a daze as he focused on the artwork and skin. After they left, he had an hour opening until his next appointment. He shuffled into the backroom, rubbing his eyes as he went.

"Nice look, man," Elliot said, ruffling his hair as he passed. Virgil tiredly swatted at them, falling into his desk chair. His body sagged and he tilted his head back, eyes closed. He heard Elliot step closer to him. "Rough night?"

"Didn't sleep. New place. First night syndrome." Virgil said. If he weren't so tired, he'd smile at the memory of Logic giving an impromptu sleeping speech.

Elliot sounded amused, "What?"

"I dunno." This time Virgil did smile, a laugh fumbling out of him. "My Logic is just-" He sighed and opened his eyes. Elliot had their arms crossed and a knowing grin. Virgil rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Shut up. Where's your shadow?"

Elliot nodded to the door, "She should be coming in later. She drove Expression to daycare today."

"Wow, I didn't realize they were accepting feral gremlins at daycares now, Spunk must be so proud." Virgil said, already prepared for the beating he'll get when Spunk learns he said that.

Elliot burst into laughter; they covered their mouth with their hand. With wide eyes they said, "I'm telling!"

"Noooo…" Virgil closed his eyes again, his head falling forward. His eyes hurt from being open, and his mind was too slow to come up with a better defense.

Because the universe hates him, Spunk walked through the front door. The little bell jingled with her arrival. Virgil shot Elliot a small glare, and they only grinned wider.

"Punk! Virge called Express a gremlin!" Elliot said, waving her into the backroom. Spunk frowned, glancing between them.

"What?" She said.
"Okay, so I told him that you're dropping Expression to daycare and then Virge said- what was it?" While Elliot spoke, they latched onto Spunk's arm like they wanted to fuse. They were a cute couple, even if they were annoying as hell. Virgil blinked slowly, realizing they were waiting for him to speak.

He lifted his head from its resting spot against his palm. "Do you want to come to game night?"

"That wasn't the line." Elliot sighed, deflating playfully.

Spunk walked further into the room, Elliot in tow. She frowned at Virgil's smudged makeup and pulled out baby wipes from her purse. He didn't complain when she rubbed the makeup away, mostly because it felt really nice.

"Your Sides let you leave the house like this?" She asked, tilting his head to the side as she worked.

"I think they thought it was intentional." Virgil said slowly, keeping his eyes closed as she worked on his eyeshadow. "They don't know my look yet."

"So, game night?" Spunk asked when she finally stepped back. She tossed the used baby wipes away and looked at him expectantly. He took a second to admire the feeling of clean skin, even if the rest of him wanted to fall apart.

"Yeah," He said, glancing at himself in the mirror. Mistake. Without his makeup he was identical to his Sides, and that concept felt too scary at the moment. At least he still had his purple hair to stand out. Ah, but now he just remembered standing out is scary as well.

"Virge?"

He blinked, realizing he was zoning out, staring at his own face. "Right, sorry, tired. Uh, game night is this weekend. Friday? I think?"

"At your new place?" Elliot asked, leaning against the back of Virgil's chair now. He looked at them over his shoulder and nodded. Elliot smiled, "That'll be cool."

"All the others are bringing friends, too." Virgil groaned. He looked to Spunk, annoyed at her amusement, "It's going to be a whole 'thing'."

Spunk snorted and shook her head, "Yeah, I think we can make it to your 'thing'."

"Don't worry, bud." Elliot slapped his shoulders, startling him. "You're gonna survive game night, even if it kills you."

Virgil sat up straight, his eyes turning to Spunk. She lowered her hand in a calming gesture, "No one will die at game night."

She glared at Elliot, who shrugged. Virgil sighed and asked, "Can I just sit here forever?"

"I think it'd get uncomfy after a while." Spunk said, tilting her head at him. "But you can sit there until your next appointment. And once you're done with your gigs you can clean up and leave early."

Virgil peaked an eye open at her. It was getting more and more difficult to keep his eyes open. "Really?"

"Yeah, we don't need you falling asleep at the needle." Elliot said, with sympathy in their voice,"If someone comes in, we'll just schedule them for later."

Virgil gave them his best thumbs up, a tiny smile spreading across his sleepy lips. "I owe you both."

"You owe us both twice." Elliot said, holding up two fingers, "Once for now, and another for game night."

"Game night will be fun." Spunk said, waving them off. "Of course we'll go."

Virgil smiled at Spunk, watching her as he said, "Pat is going to invite Expression."

Spunk's cheeks dusted pink and she grinned. She turned to Elliot and said airly, "Oh, did you hear that? How lovely, we can carpool."
Elliot failed at holding back a giggle. "Good for the environment."

"Indeed." Spunk pulled out her phone, presumably to text Expression.

The front door opened as she did, and Elliot moved to speak with the customer. Virgil closed his eyes and listened to the quiet conversation. Spunk was wearing chains that hung off her belt loops today. It wasn't her usual fashion, definitely stolen from Expression, and they jingled when she swayed. The customer wanted their ears pierced. Virge silently hoped that all the customers today would want a piercing and he would be left alone.

His goal for today was to just stay awake.

He was failing.

He failed.

Spunk shook him awake ten minutes before his next appointment, handing him a water bottle and a scowl. He was lucky she was the one in charge around here, and even luckier that she liked him. Before Virgil got this gig, he jumped from job to job with little space between. He sucked at retail; panicked in the food industry; and refused call center work. Mangers hated him. They'd hired him for "diversity" and then didn't anticipate his trait acting up. He usually quit before they could fire him.

He walked into the tattoo parlor one day, hoping to spend his last check on something cool. Back then the store was called Bold Designs before Spunk took over and named it Spunk'd. When he walked in, Spunk told him their tattoo artist just quit, and they only do piercings now.

"Do you know where I can get a portable gun?" Virge asked, not willing to return to the only other tattoo parlor in town after an awkward experience. "I can probably just do it myself."

Spunk snorted, "Are you an Artistic trait?"

"Well, no. But you don't have to be Artistic to be good at art." Virgil said, glancing at Elliot, who hung off Spunk's arm even back then.

"Do you have a portfolio?" Spunk asked, seeming more interested now. Virgil wasn't expecting that, he shook his head slowly.

"No, I uh, just draw for stress relief." He looked at the designs on the walls from the previous artist. He was sure he could do most of those. Although he'd never held a tattoo gun before; it must feel different than a pencil.

"Stress?" Elliot pipped, frowning.

"No no," Virgil waved his hands, his eyes falling wide, "Not Stress! Just stress! Small 's'- Oh, fuck it."

He figured he was already embarrassed enough now, they might as well see his crappy drawings. He dug his phone out of his pocket and opened his gallery. He picked a doodle he was confident in and showed it to them.

"Like this," He said, watching them look at the phone. It was a little drawing of a spider with a top hat and cane, doing a little dance. He drew it while he was bored one day and was surprised by how good it came out.

Spunk tilted her head this way and that, clearly thinking. Finally she said, "Do you want a job?"

"What? No, a tattoo- what?" Virgil glanced at Elliot, who was smirking.

"If I get you trained and certified, would you want to be a tattoo artist here?" Spunk said slowly like she was talking to a child. Virgil's thoughts flew by, but most of them seemed to settle on 'fuck it, can't be worse than the last place'.

"Okay."

Spunk didn't put up with anything, and could be a hard ass. But she was also the most understanding boss Virgil had ever had. She made his and Elliot's health a priority and would fight customers for them, no questions asked. It actually wasn't hard for Virgil to stick around for years.

But getting through this one work day was going to kill him. He managed to tattoo the second client, thankful it was just a line art. He wasn't sure he could color something right now. He stayed awake for the rest of the day, barely listening to Elliot and Spunk's conversations.

His last client didn't show, and Virgil was never happier. Spunk let him leave a half hour after his appointment was; once they were sure the client wasn't coming. With a promise he'd drive safely, he left as fast as his tired legs would carry him.

Virgil went to his room immediately and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. How long was he awake? Thirty-two hours? He didn't count his nap at work. It didn't matter. He was literally too tired to care anymore.


Despite his exhaustion, Virgil jumped awake only two hours later at the sound of laughter. For a panicked second, he forgot he had roommates now. 'Who's in my apartment?!' And 'Intruder Alert!' Sounded off in his head.

"Mrrw?" Shadow blinked at him, pressed against his side. Virgil relaxed and slowly petted him. He started purring.

"It's ok, m'ok." Virgil told the cat, rubbing his eye and yawning. Shadow laid his head back down and closed his eyes. Virge wished he could do the same.

Now that he was awake again he felt restless and fidgety. He crawled out of his bed and grabbed his jacket. It's soft and heavy weight calmed him enough to go downstairs. His Sides were gathered in the living room, pizza boxes on the coffee table. Virgil silently walked up and inspected the pizzas before grabbing a pepperoni slice.

"How'd you sleep?" Patton asked, making everyone look at him.

Virgil chewed slowly, giving his mind time to process the question. "I slept?"

"Not nearly enough." Logic said, although he didn't sound mad. "We were planning on exempting you from the fusion study tonight, so you could continue your rest."

Virgil blinked, having to open his eyes again with effort. "Okay."

"Come here, honey, come sit by me." Patton patted the open spot on the couch next to him. Virgil shuffled across the floor and settled against Patton's side. He let Patton wrap an arm around him and he rested his head on his shoulder. Virgil quietly ate his pizza, almost falling asleep between bites.

"As you were saying, Roman?" Logic said.

Roman stood and spoke directly to Logic, his voice earnest. "You said learning about my fusions can help find my trait. I want to fuse tonight!"
"Very well. We've already spoken to Innovative, although there's certainly more to learn about him. Patton, would you like to fuse?" Logic asked. Virgil felt Patton move above him and he looked up enough to see him shaking his head.

"Not this time," Patton said, squeezing Virgil closer. Virgil yawned. "I want to make sure this one's ok."

"Fuc'off, m'fine." Virge mumbled, although no one seemed to hear it. Everyone was looking at Deceit. He was sitting alone, away from everyone else. He was playing on his phone, and he frowned at the silence.

He looked up at them and said, "What?"

"Do you want to fuse with me?" Roman asked, holding his hand out to Deceit. Maybe Virgil was imagining the blush that crept up Deceit's neck. He was sleep deprived after all. 'Sleep deprived' is what Remy calls his ex boyfriends. Does that make Virgil sleep deprived? Yes, yes he was. ...What was he thinking about?

Roman and Deceit were standing close together now. Deceit adjusted his beanie nervously, his eyes locked on Roman's face. Virgil chewed on his pizza crust.

"Whenever you're ready." Logic said, standing on the other side of Patton. Roman held his hands up in a dancey position, Deceit slowly mimicked him. Then, he shook his head, and slid his hands up Roman's chest, settling on cupping his face and neck.

He leaned in and whispered something to Roman, earning a blush and a shiver. Virgil felt like he was watching a silent play, his sleepy mind providing dialogue and music.

Roman mumbled something that sounded like, "What?"

And then Deceit leaned up on his toes and kissed him. Virgil dropped his pizza, his mouth hanging open. Did he imagine that? No, they're definitely making out now. Patton covered Virgil's eyes with his fingers, and Virge really had to think for a second about why it was dark.

There was a flash of light behind the fingers and then Virge was allowed to see again. He frowned at the fusion before him.

"Jason." Virgil grumbled, cuddling closer to Patton.

"Yeah, dude! That's me!" Jason waved at them, a wide smile on his face. "Hi!"

"Hello!" Patton smiled and waved back. Virgil closed his eyes and tried to sleep. He didn't need to know anything more about Jason.

Logic began asking questions, but all of Jason's answers were useless. To the point where Virgil couldn't help but listen to them.

"And your biggest ambition?" Logic asked, studiously taking notes.

"Good one, good one," Jason had gotten a stool and was sitting on it, kicking his feet as he thought. He nodded and kept nodding as he repeated, "Good question, yeah."

"Jason, an ambition is a goal you'd like to reach." Logic said, sounding a little pained.

"Oh, there's this doorway in the student center- it's like seven feet high! My bro always tried to reach it, and he almost got there once, I bet I could-" Jason stood up and jumped, attempting to reach the ceiling, "I could totally-"

They watched him jump for a while.

"Just a little higher, hold on-"

Virgil looked to Logic and said, "We're going to be so, so stupid. Established stupid."

Logic exhaled out his nose, long and tired. Patton patted Logic's hand comfortingly before he turned his attention back to Jason's jumps.

"Almost got it!"

"Jason, what would you say is your diagnosis?" Logic asked, irritation growing in his voice. "What does Janus and Roman create?"

Jason looked between Logic and the ceiling, like he was trying to choose which to focus on. Finally, he sighed and turned to Logic. "I dunno, dude. I'm just here to be me."

Logic leaned against the side of the couch. He crossed his arms and clicked his tongue. "Okay."

Jason interrupts before he can be asked anything else, "Here's what I know, bros. My bros are both so cool, so I'm," He points both his thumbs at himself, "super cool. And that's all that matters my dude."

Logic tapped his chin with his pen, watching as Jason grabbed two slices of pizza. He shoved one in his mouth, managing to eat half of it in one bite. Logic said, mostly to himself, "Perhaps he's a type of Ego?"

"I think he's, um, the opposite of you, Logic." Patton said. It took Virgil too long to realize he meant 'stupid'.

He snorted and mumbled, "Dumbo. No, wait, himbo."

"Yes, it does appear like Roman and Janus' ignorance is amplified within Jason. What could be the cause of that?" Logic frowned as Jason threw the rest of his pizza in the air and tried to catch it in his mouth like a grape. The pizza landed, pepperoni-down, squarely on Jason's face. He didn't move for several seconds, with a pizza face.

"Maybe it's Janus?" Patton asked. He didn't sound accusatory, more like genuinely curious. "Maybe he's holding back information? Like he did with me."

Virgil couldn't help the snort that slipped out of him. Patton and Logic looked at him, clearly wanting to know what he was thinking. Virgil pushed himself up, keeping a hand on Patton's shoulder for support.

"No, it's not on purpose." Virgil swayed slightly as he spoke, smiling more than he meant to. "It's cuz he's a Negative."

"Virgil-" Logic said, frowning.

"No, no, listen," Virgil said, flicking the forgotten pizza crust off his lap. It landed on the carpet between the couch and the table. "Negative traits are called that cuz they negatively impact fusions."

Logic was watching him closely, his brows still pinched. "Right…"

"But both Ro and Jan are full of themselves, so he can't ruin their ego." Virgil leaned back against Patton and watched Jason, who was now looking at the paintings Patton hung on the wall. "So the trait that gets altered is their intelligence. It's not something they both share, so it's up for grabs."

"You believe Negative traits have some conscious influence over how their fusions turn out?" Logic asked, now following his gaze to watch Jason.

Virgil shook his head, "It's not con- c- on purpose. It's like, uh," He frowned, then shrugged. He was getting an exhaustion headache again. He shrugged again, closing his eyes. He lowered himself back against Pat. Virgil could hear his heartbeat under him. "It's an accident. But a preference. A preferred accident."

"Interesting hypothesis." Logic said after a few moments of silence. He was watching Virgil closely.

Virgil yawned. He wasn't thinking as he said, "It's jus' how we are."

Suddenly, Patton jerked under him; jostling Virge awake. Patton was standing, and Virgil had to rub his eyes to blink up at him.

"Okay! I think you should go back to bed!" Patton said, his voice too loud for Virgil's ears. He held out his hands and yanked Virgil to his feet. Virge swayed and leaned against Patton again, letting his eyes fall shut. Patton laughed nervously and said, "We don't need anything else from Jason, right?"

"I heard my name!" Jason announced before jogging over to them. He smiled at each of them until he noticed Virgil falling asleep standing up. He stage whispered, "What's wrong with the little dude?"

"He's tired, we were just about to take him to his room." Patton explained, coaxing Virgil to take a step forward. He stumbled and groaned at the effort.

"Oh!" Jason's eyes lit up in excitement, "I can do it!"

"Uh, you don't have to-" Patton started to say, but he stopped when Logic placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait," He said, "I want to see this."

"Me too." Virgil said, blinking his eyes open. They fluttered several times before focusing on his bare feet. He should paint his toenails.

Jason's hands were on him a second later, then he watched his feet lift up off the carpet. He felt a solid warmth press against his side, and he couldn't resist curling further into it. Then they were moving. Virgil was able to focus enough to understand Jason was carrying him up the stairs. For a fusion, it would be an easy task.

Virgil tilted his head back, feeling it roll against Jason's shoulder. He stared at Jason's jawline. He had small marks on his cheek; a reminder of Patton and Janus' night together. Maybe he shouldn't tell Patton he thinks the scars look kinda cool.

The next thing he knows, Jason is lowering him down. Virgil yawns again; the blankets pulling him deeper into slumber. The last thing he hears makes his lips quirk in a teeny tiny smile.

"Mrrw?"

"Whoa! This dude's pillow talks!"


Tell me what you think!