It has been three days since Roman was broken up with. Logic wouldn't think this event would be significant enough to keep track of, but unfortunately for Logic, Roman's distress infected the very air around them (metaphorically). On Monday, Roman skipped all his classes, to which Logic lectured him not to do, no matter how sad he was. Roman left the house on Tuesday and Wednesday, but without his backpack. Logic wasn't sure he even went to his classes, but getting him out of the house was a victory in its own right.

When Roman came home, he'd always silently stalk up to his room, barely even glancing at the others. It was clear his morose mood was upsetting Patton, who kept asking Logic how he could help.

"I'm not adept in the ways of mending a broken heart." Logic said. "Roman will have to learn to heal on his own."

Which apparently meant blasting sad song after sad song in his room. Logic didn't know most of the artists, but Virgil's expression grew worse with each new addition to the playlist.

When the music began turning loud and angry, Virgil shook his head and told Logic, "Now it's starting to sound like its me up there. The last two ones were, like, my favorites."

Interestingly, Janus is the one who goes to Roman's aid. Whenever Roman gets home, Janus - if he's downstairs - will hop up and trail after him up the stairs. A few times Logic heard him say something along the lines of, "Oh, dearest," and, "Would you like a shower?"

And then they wouldn't see or hear from either of them until Janus dragged them down to eat dinner. Roman was not his usual, peppy self. Typically during dinner time, Roman ruled the conversation, discussing everything he did that day. Now, he barely spoke as he pushed his food around the plate. Logic wasn't the type to force people to eat if they didn't want to, but he was growing concerned by Roman's lack of appetite.

He brought the topic up to Janus, who nodded seriously and responded, "I'll see what I can do."

After that, whenever he became Roman's shadow, he'd grab a little snack before trotting upstairs. Logic wanted to thank Janus for taking such good care of their boyfriend when Logic felt unable to. But he wasn't sure just yet what to say.

On Thursday, Logic became enlightened to how, exactly, Janus was helping Roman. The four of them were in the kitchen, simply enjoying their afternoon, when Roman came home from his dance class. He walked into the kitchen and glanced around at them, his eyes landing on Janus.

"Hey Jan." Roman's voice sounded hoarse, and even from a distance Logic could see the red in his eyes. Roman hiked his thumb behind him and said with a hesitant smile, "Want a shower?"

Janus hopped up immediately and led Roman out of the room, hand in hand. As they left, Patton turned to look at Logic, frowning.

"They've been taking a lot of showers lately." Patton said. "Have you noticed?"

Logic had not, but now that he was reviewing the past few days, he realized Patton was correct. The amount of time they spent showering has increased immensely. Logic shrugged, thinking.

"Sharing a shower could reduce water waste by about twenty gallons, per shower." He said, taking a small sip of his coffee. "As well as having the benefits of lowering stress and reducing the risk of heart disease."

"Oh, that's nice." Patton smiled.

Virgil groaned, rolling his eyes. "Guys, they don't care about water waste. They're having sex."

Logic felt himself go still. His gaze met Patton's wide eyes first, then Virgil's amused expression. He sputtered, "I beg your pardon?"

"Come on, you haven't heard them?" Virgil scoffed. His smile widened at Patton's bright red face. "They're in the water, yeah, but they're getting dirty, not clean."
"But-" Logic was confused. He hadn't even considered - but wouldn't Janus tell him? No, of course he wouldn't. As he thought more about it, the evidence began to pile up. Janus has been sleeping in Roman's room recently. Whenever the two were in the presence of the rest of them, they were far more touchy than usual. Janus always holding Roman's hand, or Roman playing with Janus' golden curls.

Patton covered his face with his hands for a long moment, when he emerged, his smile was wide and forced. "That's great for them! That's- that's definitely … very nice."

Virgil snickered and took Patton's hand from across the table. "How very open minded of you, Patty."
Patton took his hand away and rubbed his cheeks. He sounded distraught as he said, "No, really, it's- so fun. Sides should definitely, definitely do that."

Logic licked his lips, focusing on the part of the conversation he was most comfortable with; Patton's religion. "You would prefer if we participated in abstinence until marriage, correct?"

"No, really, I'm okay- I'm okay with this." He said, sounding very much not okay. When Logic and Virgil simply continued to stare at him, Patton sighed heavily, and said, "Or at least until we're Established? It - that - isn't for Sides."

"We're not kids." Virgil said, which made Patton squirm. "And - ignoring the fact that we're all men - Sides are infertile. So what's the big problem?"

"It's not right. It's dirty." Patton said, his face growing pink again.

Logic frowned, "Sex is natural, Patton. You're only here because of sex."
"I know!" Patton said, "That's what it's for! Making little baby Sides!"
Both Logic and Virgil pulled a face, which Logic tried to school. Patton sighed and shifted uncomfortably, looking away from him. Finally, Virgil took Patton's hand again.

His voice was soft, calming, as he said, "Hey, no one's going to make you have sex. No one expects that from you."

Patton let out a shuddering breath. He squeezed Virgil's hand and stood up. Running a hand through his own hair, Patton said, "I think I'm gonna-" He hesitated, glancing at the ceiling. From here they could hear the water running, and nothing else. Patton's cheeks flushed again, and he muttered, "I'm gonna go on a walk."

"Would you like company?" Logic asked, moving to stand as well.

"No! But- thanks." Patton gave them a weak smile and left without another word. Logic forced himself to sit back in his chair again. He knew Puritans were not fond of sex, or fusion, or really anything. A part of Logic was worried for Patton, aware of how disturbing it can be to learn that others function outside of your own rules and expectations. But their little neighborhood was safe enough, and Patton was responsible enough to return home if trouble arised.

It was quiet for a moment, after the front door closed. Logic glanced at Virgil, who was now playing on his phone. He wasn't afraid of Virgil, almost the opposite. Now that he had time to calm down, Logic kept replaying their fusion over and over. It was incredibly different than any other fusion he'd been in. Logic wanted to do it again, even if the results were the same, with him getting overwhelmed by the emotions. He wanted to study the sensations. He wanted-

Virgil looked up at him, a slight frown on his lips. "Do Logics fuck?"

Startled by the question, Logic took a moment to compose himself. "Some do. We're not a hivemind."
"Says you." Virgil said with a snort.
Logic ignored him, continuing, "Some are Ace, some are Allo, some are Aro, some are … the prefix is still Allo. Just like everyone else."

Virgil nodded, quiet for a moment. Then he asked, with a small, curling smile, "And what about you?"

"Well…" Logic hesitated. "It clearly upsets Patton."

"I'm not asking about Patton." Virgil said, maintaining eye contact. Logic felt his cheeks heat under Virgil's gaze. Virgil asked, "Never got hot and bothered with a high school boyfriend before?"

Logic had to look away. Embarrassed, he muttered, "I've never had a partner before. Sexual or otherwise."
Virgil blinked, surprised. "Oh."

Logic stood and began clearing the table of his and Patton's few dishes. He tried to not wonder why Virgil wanted to know so badly. He focused on washing the dishes as he said, "I'm not opposed to sex in the same way Patton is."

"But… you are opposed to it?"

"No." Logic glanced up long enough to see Virgil's confused pout. "I'm not adverse to it at all. The act of sex is … foreign to me, but not unwanted. I admit, if I knew our housemates were … so keen on it, I might have…"

"Yeah?"

Logic sighed, not looking up from the sink. Lg"I suppose they wouldn't assume I'd be interested. Logics, afterall, are not ones for having fun."

Virgil interrupted, "I think you're fun."
"Yes, but you enjoy sitting in silence on your phone for hours." Logic said without thinking. When he looked up at Virgil, the other one was looking down at his blank phone, his head tilted. Logic realized he might've sounded rude, he awkwardly added, "Sorry. Thank you. I, uh, think you're fun, too."
Slowly, Virgil turned his head and asked, "Do you … want to be up there? With them?"

Logic's face grew very hot. Virgil barked out a laugh, and Logic had to turn away. Virgil said, "Don't worry, I won't say anything! But- maybe you should?"
"I- I don't think that's necessary." Logic shook his head. "If they wanted to include me…"

He couldn't finish the sentence. He shook his head, thinking of their still new relationship. Virgil was quiet, and Logic could feel his eyes on him.

He shrugged, attempting to sound nonchalant, "It is no problem. I'm simply glad Roman has … a support system. For his troubling times."
The shower turned off upstairs, and Logic thought about going up there and - what? Spending the night with them? Logic knew he didn't offer much to the group, but it still felt painful to be excluded so easily.

Perhaps he was being silly. Their relationship was still new; and they had plenty of time before they became Established. There would be other opportunities, surely, to be seen as attractive to his boyfriends. He would simply have to wait. There was no need to get emotional over a little intercourse. He was a Logic afterall.

Unfortunately, at that moment, a deep moan rang out from upstairs. While the noise of the running water drowned out most of their activities, this particular moan was easy to hear. Logic and Virgil glanced at each other, expressions a near identical mix of embarrassment and amusement.

Virgil nodded to the livingroom. "Want to turn on a gorey crime show?"

Logic forced himself to relax, the moan still echoing in his head. He gave Virgil a small smile and said, "I'd like that."


Logic sat back against his chair, taking off his glasses and rubbing his nose. He was working on yet another paper, this time for a history class. He didn't take too many of those, his personal interests leaning more towards chemistry, but he needed the credits and any knowledge was welcomed. They were currently learning about the steam train industry in the early 1800's. How the invention allowed massive amounts of people to spread across the country for the first time. This expansion meant that more people found their Sides, and was credited as being the first invention to help Sides connect. Now it seemed equal parts easier and harder. They had the internet, certainly, but you still had to look through 7 billion people to find them. Logic understands he's a small percentage.

Many of the older generations, those who had been drafted decades prior, will never be Established. Research has shown that the number of Sides reaching Establishment has been decreasing in America more than anywhere else. Logic had heard rhetoric discussing the possibility… could the American government be purposefully-?

"Ow! Hey! I told you, my head is sensitive!"

Logic stood and walked to his door. He glanced out and found the door to the shared bathroom open, light spilling out into the hall.

Deciding a distraction was inevitable, Logic approached the doorway.

He saw Roman first, sitting on the edge of the bathtub, shirtless and grinning. Logic felt a weight lift off his shoulders at the sight. Roman had been in such a terrible mood lately, either on the verge of tears or obviously furious and sulking. But here his smile lit up the entire room, metaphorically. His gaze was on something behind the door that Logic couldn't see.

"Everything about you is sensitive." A raspy voice said. Logic recognized Kai as he walked up to Roman. He was mixing a something in a small bowl.

"Be nice to me." Roman whined, turning to fully face Kai. He stretched his arms out and Kai walked into them, still focused on the mixture. Roman settled his legs on either side of Kai and placed his hands on the other's hips. Logic briefly wondered if the two shared a history, then decided it didn't matter. They were comfortable, Roman was happy, who cared about the rest.

Kai tapped his chin as an obvious, over exaggerated signal. "Hmm. No." Then he plopped a giant glob of goo from the bowl onto Roman's scalp.

Roman squealed, gripping Kai's shirt. "It's cold!"

"You can handle it, you're a big boy." Kai said as he began spreading the goo with what looked like a paint brush.

"You'd be a great nurse, you know?" Roman said, looking up at Kai. He pushed his head back down with a gloved hand. Roman giggled, "So kind and gentle with your sick and dying patients."

"You're not dying." Kai said simply, focusing on smoothing the goo on every piece of hair. "You're not sick."

"My soul is dying!" Roman said, shaking Kai a little for effect. "My heart is sick!"

Logic considered leaving, as he realized he was watching. But he wasn't ever good at stopping when his curiosity peaked.

"Honestly, I didn't really like Remy." Kai said, "He was kind of a prick."

Roman's smile dropped. He shook his head slightly. "Don't say that. I love him."

"Loved. Past tense." Kai said, "Now we can move on. Bigger and better dicks to sit on and all that."

"Wow, Kai. I see where your priorities are." Roman said, but it made him laugh and he no longer sounded like he was going to cry.

Kai laughed too. "Ugh, sorry. Crude keeps hanging out at our - uh - Vogue's place. They like to pester Elliot I think. I guess they're a bad influence on me."

Logic spoke then. "I imagine Crude would be a bad influence on everyone."

Roman screamed. Kai dropped the paint brush. It landed on the tile with a SPLAT. The red goo looked like a blood splatter across the white tile. Kai grumbled as he got a wad of toilet paper to clean up the mess. Roman had a hand on his chest, fingers barely brushing the crown above his 'K'.

He glared at Logic. "Welcome to the bathroom."

"Thank you. What are you doing?" Logic asked, looking at Kai as he stood up from cleaning on the floor.

"Dying Ro's hair. Basic break up protocol." Kai said.

"Is it?" Logic frowned, having never heard of such a thing.

Roman nodded as Kai continued. "Oh, yeah. Any time something like this happens. Break up, family death, a failed test- get the scissors, time to snip snip."

Logic thought about this for a moment. Then he asked Kai, "So you get broken up with very often, then?"

This caused Roman to laugh. Kai scowls and points the paint brush at him.

"Now you've got a lot of audacity to come into my Salon-slash-Hospital -"

"This is a bathroom."

"And start insinuating I don't get chicks. I get plenty chicks."

Roman giggled. "Kai, I've never seen you with a partner. Have you ever-?"

"If you don't stop, this is becoming pink." Kai said, and Roman laughed again.

Logic truly hoped his good mood would last, and they have seen the end of Roman's heartbreak. He was, unfortunately, very wrong.


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