Logic woke to a soft shaking, snapping him out of a dreamless sleep. He groaned and rubbed his face on his arms. As he opened his eyes, his surroundings became clear. He was resting on his desk, still wearing yesterday's clothes. His laptop screen displayed the research paper he was reading last night. Under his arms, the pages of his textbook were creasing from his pressure. He sat up slowly, his back aching from sleeping hunched over his homework.

His homework- by Jove he hadn't finished his homework!

"Logan?" Patton's voice startled him. Logic looked up at him, correcting his glasses. Patton asked, "Are you alright?"

Logic shook his head, his thoughts gathering. "I- my alarm?"

Patton looked around. He let out a sudden giggle as he bent down and said, "Oh, I think I found the culprit!"

Logic followed his movement to find Shadow, Virgil's cat, rubbing her head on his phone. Patton began to reward this behavior, petting her exposed belly. Logic grit his teeth.

He slept in because of the cat? The cat is why he didn't complete his homework? His morning routine? What professor would believe a Logic failed to complete their homework because of a pet?

"Look how cute she is!" Patton said, picking up the purring villain. Logic glared at the cat.

He spoke as calmly as he could. "Please take the cat away so I can get ready."

Patton raised one of the cat's paws and said in a high pitched voice, "I think you look purrfect as yo-"

"Patton!" Logic snapped. Patton flinched, and Logic realized what he had done. He took a short breath and said, "Sorry. I'm… sorry."

"We'll show ourselves me-out." Patton said nervously, backing out of the room. "There's leftover breakfast downstairs."

"Thank you, Patton." Logic said quietly, staring down at his crumpled textbook page. He began thinking of when or how he could complete the required homework before his classes. Was any of it due today? Tomorrow? How deeply did he fuck up?

Logic has been getting distracted lately. He knew it was his hormones. It had to be. His body was telling him to focus on his Sides instead of his studies. He was going to fall behind if he didn't pay attention.

Logic couldn't help but get frustrated by his own thoughts of Roman, Virgil, Patton- he needed to be thinking about chemistry. About history. About anything that could help them when they're Established. He had to learn as much as he could now. That was his job.

But God did it feel nice when Patton laid his hand on Logic's shoulder. His brain stopped planning his day and started mapping out Patton's freckles.

Logic took a deep, shaking breath and forced himself to find fresh clothes.

Instead of eating lunch, Logic focused on completing his assignments. This was seen as very unusual to Sandra and Structure.

"Is this for today?" Sandra asked.

"Are you sick?" Structure added.

"No, of course not." Logic huffed, not wanting to be distracted anymore than he was. "I can take care of myself."

Sandra said, "Yet you're scrambling to throw down answers like a Procrastination!"

Structure snorted. They asked, "Do you want my answers?"

"I can do it myself, thank you." Logic glared down at the papers, but the words started swimming. Finally, he pushed the textbook away with a growing headache.

In the quiet, Logic could practically hear Sandra and Structure glance at each other. Finally, Sandra asked, "Are you alright?"

Logic shook his head. For a moment their table was still, a bubble of silence in the busy cafeteria.

"How long did it take you to get diagnosed?" Logic asked instead of answering. "What tests did you do?"

With an odd look, Sandra spoke first. "It only took the doctors six minutes for me." She listed off on her fingers, "They gave me three tests at two minutes each, covering history, science, and arithmetic. After I said the tests were too easy they informed my parents that I am a full Logical trait and given title as a Logic Side."

"There was no debate?" Logic asked, already knowing the answer. "They didn't make you wait for the results?"

Sandra shook her head. "It was the same for you, wasn't it?"

Logic nodded.

Structure and Planning spoke, "Oh not at all! My testing took forever!"

Surprised, Logic said, "Really? What did it include?"

"The whole thing lasted twenty-seven minutes." Structure said, sounding a tad distressed. "First they asked me to sort various candy and toys. Then they left me in the most disorganized room and watched as I fixed it."

Logic asked, "And was there any doubt of your diagnosis?"

Structure sounded a tad offended as they answered, "No. Why would they?"

That was the thing though. Why wouldn't they? Understanding what something is not is just as important as discovering what something is. If Logic had two members of his pod that had some kind of diagnosing doubt, what did that mean for the system?

How many Sides were out there, labeled as something their not?

Exhausted, Logic came home late at night. He stayed in the library to make up for lost time. Luckily, he thinks he won't fall behind on his studies yet. His brain felt swampy from all the stress he was under. He was thankful that the livingroom was dark when he entered the house.

The silence told him the rest had already retreated to their rooms for the night. He welcomed the night like an old friend. Dropping his backpack and shucking off his shoes, Logic wanted nothing more than to sleep. But his stomach had other plans. The slight twist of hunger made him walk past the stairs and into the shadows of the livingroom.

His socked foot stepped on something that crumpled under his weight. He stopped and picked it up, squinting in the low light.

He could barely make out the scribbles to be rejected words. But for what purpose?

A distant muttering from the kitchen drew Logic out of the darkness. Logic blinked and rubbed his eyes and he stepped into the light. Pacing around the table, wearing baggy red pajamas, Virgil muttered to himself. He held a small notepad and pen, scratching at the paper with a vengeance. His newly re-dyed hair looked so soft in the light.

"Stupid, that's stupid." Virgil hissed, tearing the page out and smashing it in his fist.

Logic watched as he threw the ball of paper onto the floor. On the table and by their feet, several more rejected papers lay forgotten.

Logic cleared his throat. Virgil dropped low, as if Logic had just thrown a projectile at him. He recovered quickly, straightening back up with a confused, "Logic?"

"Do you require assistance?" Logic asked, although he hoped Virgil declined.

"No." Virgil said, shaking his head. He looked out the window at the night. Then he looked at the clock. "It's late. You missed dinner."

Logic felt exhaustion settle under his eyes. "I'm aware. I had a granola bar at the library."

Virgil squinted at him. "And?"

"And now I'm home?" Logic wasn't in the mood for riddles for once.

"No, I mean what else did you eat? Did you have any dinner?" Virgil asked.

Logic couldn't supply an acceptable answer. He knew he should eat, but he was more tired than hungry, and would like for the day to be over.

"Hold on." Virgil said, setting his notebook and pen down on the table. "Patton made all this food, let me heat something up."

Logic tilted his head, surprised, as Virgil went to the fridge and began to pull out containers. He said slowly, "I can reheat leftovers on my own."

"Shut up and let me help you." Virgil said. "You like beans, right?"

Logic shrugged. "They're high in fiber."

Virgil snorted as he began filling a plate for Logic. Softness formed in Logic's chest as he watched Virgil work. The microwave light turned on as it began to heat up rice and beans. Virgil watched it turn in a circle.

Looking down at the paper still crumpled in his hand. He asked, "What are you writing?"

"What?" Virgil twisted to look at him. His eyes landed on the paper, and he darted across the room. Logic blinked and his hand was now clutched in Virgil's as he took the paper back with a distraught, "Don't look at that!"

"Is it important?" Logic asked.

"Yes! No! I-" Virgil's face was beginning to turn the same shade as his ruby pajamas. "It's not ready yet!"

Logic let go of the paper and Virgil shoved it in his mouth. The action was enough to startle Logic out of his sour mood. He covered his laugh with his hand.

"Is that what you wanted to do?" Logic asked, feeling his abs tighten from laughter.

Virgil's nose scrunched up. He shifted his jaw. Slowly, with much embarrassment, Virgil pulled the wet paper back out of his mouth. Logic laughed even harder.

"Ew, puh…ugh." Virgil said as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Tasted like ink."

Logic smiled and said, "Whatever you're working on, it will certainly be worth the wait."

The microwave beeped.

"Thank you for the assistance." Logic said quietly. The soft feeling was back in his chest. He wanted to express his appreciation for the other, but the best he could provide was, "I promise I'll eat the meal you reheated."

Virgil looked down at his feet. When he looked up again, his cheeks were pink once more. He said, "See you in the morn."

"You will, yes." Logic said.

He bowed.

Why did he bow?

Virgil bowed back.

They stared at each other, both embarrassed by their actions. Logic resisted the urge to bow again. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Goodnight." They said at the same time.

Virgil grabbed his things from the table. He bent down and picked up the handfuls of his discarded paper balls. With arms full, he gave Logic one more bow and ran out of the room.

Logic smiled to himself. He picked up another crumpled ball and flattened it out the best he could. The words were scribbled out once more, but Logic could make out a few letters. The length of each line was short, and Logic quickly deduced it was a poem of some kind.

Logic glanced over his shoulder at the empty doorway Virgil ran through. What sort of poetry was the tattoo artist a fan of? Logic wasn't even aware Virgil was interested in poetry.

With a shrug, Logic dropped the paper into the trash and turned back to the microwave. He smelled the food and his hunger finally made itself known.

Logic would have to thank Virgil again when he sees him in the morning. He knows if he didn't run into Virge, he would've gone to sleep hungry. Logic pushed thoughts of their interaction aside as he brought his food and utensils to the table.

Whatever poetry business was bothering Virgil would simply have to wait.