Patton giggled as Virgil closed the door. He told the others, "Don't worry, he's probably just tired from looking at people shirtless all day."

Roman gasped and then leaned close to Pat, practically singing, "Ooh, scandalous!"

Patton felt a flush rush up his spine at the warm press of Roman's chest against him. He laughed and pushed Roman's face away, "Not like that!"

Roman chuckled and said, "I know, I know. I've actually been under his gun."

Patton twisted around and looked at the small tattoo on Roman's pec. The simple crown floated over a K like Cosmo and Wanda's. He poked it, before Roman could stop him.

"Boop!"

"Hey!"

Roman retaliated by grabbing Patton's sides, pulling him close, and tickling him. Patton squealed, trying to escape. Everything felt warm like a soft blanket covered them. Then, suddenly, Roman jerked away with a groan.

Patton twisted to look at him again. Roman was now slumped against Logic as he worked out a knot on his shoulder. Logic's focused gaze didn't lift from Roman's skin once. Roman made another deep noise, then tilted his head to look at Logic.

"Logan, honey, if you keep doing that, I'm going to have to kick Patton out of his own room."

Patton blinked. "Huh?"

Logic reluctantly moved to a different spot, explaining, "Your Supraspinatus muscle in your rotator cuff is irritated."

Roman flinched at Logic's next hand movement, biting his lip. Roman scowled and said, "Hey, uh, that doesn't feel great."

Logic didn't respond, moving his hand up to Roman's neck. Patton saw the moment he pressed down into Roman's skin.

Roman jerked forward, fully separating himself from Logic's grip. He glared at him over his shoulder, "Ow!"

"Apologizes." Logic sighed, lowering his hands. His fingers fidgeted in his lap. His eyes were on the door.

"Are you ok, Lo?" Patton asked, turning around to fully face them. Roman settled beside him, resting his head on Patton's shoulder.

"Yes, I am simply … distracted." He ran a hand through his hair, messing up his usually neat bangs. They fell over his forehead and suddenly Logic looked just like the rest of them: stupid and lost. Patton glanced between him and Roman, with glasses being their only obvious difference. He forced his gaze to the floor, feeling strange in his chest.

Logic spoke carefully. "The both of you… do you still want to partake in my study?"

Patton blinked in surprise. "Yes, of course! I don't mind helping!"

Roman nodded against his shoulder, mumbling "Sure."

Logic relaxed slightly and said, "I'll have to recalculate how many fusions remain. Of course I don't have to study everyone, but the larger sample size would be preferable."

"How many could be left? Haven't most of us fused?" Roman asked.

"I believe there are only two simple fusions to be studied, given our restrictions. That being of course, you fusing with … the two of us." He said to Patton, a little shy. "At your convenience."

"Oh." Patton felt his cheeks warm. He glanced at Roman, who was watching him with a sweet smile. His cheeks grew hotter. "O-oh."
"After that, the only remaining combinations would be Virgil and, well, complex fusions." Logic said. Something about that sounded odd to Patton, but he wasn't sure what.

Roman frowned, tilting his head. "What's a complex fusion?"
"It's what us Logics call 'three people' and STRESS fusions." Logic said, rolling his eyes slightly. "I thought from context it was obvious."

"Wait- STRESS?" Patton bit his lip. "We're not going to make a STRESS, right? For your study?"

Logic shook his head firmly, "Of course not, that would be highly irresponsible."

Roman sounded dazed as he said, "I totally forgot we can make three people fusions."

Patton rubbed his neck nervously, "It sounds a little intense."
"I assure you, it's very similar to simple fusion." Logic said, "You'll become a bit bigger, but there's no danger to adding one more side to a simple fusion."
"It's like, a whole new world of fusions." Roman said, still in awe. He looked up at Logic and asked, "You mean this whole time; you, me, and Jan could've…?"

Logic nodded and shrugged at the same time, like he thought this conclusion was obvious. "The option was always on the table."

"What?" Roman put his face in his hands. Patton couldn't tell what his next words were, but they came out in a long groan.

Logic said, briefly touching Patton's knee. "Of course, you will still be exempt from fusing with Janus, Patton."

"Er, right. Thanks."

Roman composed himself and waved a dismissive hand, "Ok, so we lost some puzzle pieces. So what if we'll be missing a fifth of the chart? When has incomplete data ever caused problems?"

"Would you like to know-?" Logic asked.

"No." Roman interrupted.

Patton sat up straight, knocking Roman off his perch. "Wait- did something happen?"

Logic and Roman shared a glance.

"We thought Virgil would've told you-" Roman said, scratching his neck.

Patton's stomach dropped. "Did something happen to Virgey?"

Logic shook his head, but couldn't seem to find the words to speak. It was a strange sight, a Logic being unable to explain himself. Patton's desperate gaze fell to Roman.

He shrugged and pointed at Logic and the door, "They did the thing. And then-"

"Oh, you scared him!" Patton turned a pout to Logic.

Logic crossed his arms, "I did not! He scared me!"

Roman snorted, earning a sharp glare from Logic. Before they could argue, Patton got Logic's attention by pressing a hand on his knee.

"How?" He asked simply.

Logic looked away, shuddering. He chewed his lip for a moment before he sighed and said, "As a Logic, emotion comes unnaturally to me. And, for many years as a child, I had to learn how to… feel them?"

He wasn't making eye contact, and that alone was strange for Logic. His shoulders shrunk in and his hands fiddled uselessly in his lap.

"It's better now, of course." Logic said, scratching his wrist. "And I'm satisfied with how I react to information. But. Well."

He looked up at Patton, looking deep into his eyes. He was desperate for something, maybe for Patton to tell him he understands. Pat's own throat felt tight. Logic glanced briefly at Roman before he spoke, quietly.

"Virgil is different. He's emotional. You all are, but, um." Logic shrugged. "I knew the information he was discovering. But when I learned it myself, it was simply another fact. Virgil reacts to the facts. He feels something more than scientific curiosity when he learns unpleasant things. When we were fused, I felt what he did. And for the first time I felt…"

Logic swallowed, looking down at his own hands. "Horrified."

Roman and Patton shared concerned looks.

"Why don't I care like he does?" Logic asked, although it didn't sound directed to them.

Roman shook his head. "Well I for one, wouldn't want to out-worry a Side like that. Look, it's fine that you aren't the one freaked out by the world ending. We need you to be focused, not freaked."

Logic was silent to that.

Patton scooted closer to sit beside him. He wrapped his arm around Logic's shoulders and mumbled, "This ok?"

Logic nodded, but didn't relax further.

"Being with Virgil can be tough. It's a lot at once, especially the first time something super scary happens." Patton rubbed Logic's shoulder, trying to forget about the feeling that Empathy got sometimes. The terrified thought that he won't be able to catch his breath.

"But he has the kindest soul." Patton continued, ignoring Roman's snort of disbelief. "And it's not his fault his trait causes him to worry too much."

"I'm aware." Logic shifted slightly and Patton let his arm drop to simply lean against him. "It's the new sensations I wasn't expecting. And." He glanced up at each of them before continuing hesitantly. "And I have concerns about the future. Concerning our Establishment. If I was so easily overpowered with just one of you."

"Careful, tiger. Starting to sound like you don't trust us to listen to you." Roman said, his tone cheerful, even as his brows pinched.

"Do we need to listen to you all the time?" Patton asked, which didn't seem to be the right question. He continued anyway, "I mean, aren't we all supposed to be Established together?"

Logic sighed, "Certainly, but-"

"Then there's nothing to worry about!" Roman interrupted.

Patton gave Logic a kind smile. "I've spoken to the kiddos at the daycare about stuff like this. They teach about inter-Side communication on some children's shows. Like-"

"Steven Universe?" Roman asked, sounding excited. "Have you seen Steven Universe?"

Patton's smile grew wider. "Exactly! One of the reasons Rebecca Sugar made it was to help children understand their bodies better. Of course, they took some creative liberties. We're definitely not aliens, and everyone can do it instead of just one little boy, but-"

Roman leaned closer and began to whisper. Patton briefly got distracted by the tiny freckles that were barely noticeable on Roman's cheeks. They definitely wouldn't be keeping those, as faint as they are. Patton wanted to touch them. He forced himself to focus. His brain has been so weird ever since going to his parent's house. He was getting distracted too easily.

"But have you seen all of it?" Roman asked, "Like, have you gotten to-"

"Oh, yes!" Patton giggled, "and when they find out-"

Roman made a noise between a squeal and a gasp. He asked Patton a million questions about the show, which made something warm grow in his chest. He smiled at Roman, excited for the opportunity to bond with him.

As they gossiped and giggled, Patton didn't notice how Logic sat back, silently watching. They didn't go back to the massages, but Patton didn't mind. He fell into the easy conversation, none the wiser to Logic's somber expression.

At the daycare, Patton tried to get back into his routine, pushing thoughts of the past weekend out of his mind. Expression sat down beside him after successfully wrestling a pair of grown-up scissors away from a toddler.

"Now that that's settled," They said, setting the scissors on the table, a little more forcefully than necessary. "How was your weekend? I haven't seen you in a while. Kyler was here last week."

Patton sighed. So much for not thinking about it. He shrugged and said, "Well, I visited my family."

"Ugh, that sucks. Your family is garbage." Expression said. "No offense."

"No, you're, um, you're right." Patton said quietly. He watched some kiddos across the room, trying to work on a puzzle. "It's been a long time since I saw them. Gosh, maybe since last year's reunion." He sighed, his hands tightening on his knees. "I'd almost forgotten what it was like, being there."

"Well? Did you have to fall back into Perfect Morality Mode?" Expression's, well, expression turned teasing for a moment. "Remember what you were like when we first met?"

Patton hid his face in his hands, groaning. "Don't remind me."

Expression said in their best mockery of Patton's voice, "'Miss Expression, it is sinful to allow the children a second nap time!'"

"Stooooop!" Patton whined.

"Did Janus end up going with you?" Expression asked. "How'd that go?"

Patton shrugged, "Well. Good, actually. He- he surprised me."

"Patty. You're blushing." Expression poked his cheek.

Patton's cheeks grew hotter. "It doesn't matter. He was lying the entire time. It was all a ruse."

"A ruse to fool your shithead parents."

"Right."

"So why do you look sad?"

Patton looked up at them, surprised. He shrugged, thinking about the weight in his chest and the buzzing in his head. "I guess it was just … confusing for me."

Expression watched him for a long moment. Finally they asked, "But it went well?"

Patton nodded.

"Then that's all that matters." They patted his arm comfortingly, then leaned closer and pulled out their phone. "Check out this video we convinced Kai to make."

Patton was thankful for the change of topic. A part of him wanted to sort through his conflicting thoughts, but the concept felt too scary. Why was he suddenly doubting everything he was told?

"It's a private video. He doesn't want his face on Vogue's socials, which is totally fine. But we managed to get him to agree to do this one, if we don't post it." They explained as the video loaded. Patton watched as Vogue appeared on the screen.

"If I like it," they said, "I'll just get it in a different color."

The next shot was of Expression on their own. Vogue's voice continued, "If there's a different color, and I like it, I'll get it."

Then a shot of Spunk on her own with a similar color-themed quote. Then of Kai, who looked a little awkward on camera. The last shot was the three of them together, and only then did Patton understand the joke.

"You all have different dyed hair!" He said, a little too loud.

Expression snorted, "Yeah, Elliot calls us the Rainbow Squad. We gotta coordinate our next colors. Should we match or keep up these 'catch them all' vibes?"

Patton wasn't listening. "Vogue's showed me this app before. What's it called again?"

"Shine. It's really popular."

"How do I download it?" Patton asked. "I want to follow Vogue."

"You're sweet, I'm sure they appreciate it." Expression said, before their sincerity dropped and they said in a meaner tone, "How do you not know how to download an app?"

"I don't know? Is it online?"

Expression sighed. "Go to the app store."

"Which…?"

"That one."

Patton tried his best to navigate his phone, but he was never that great with technology.

"Mr. Kyler?" A little one asked as he approached.

"Oh, no, I'm Mr. Morality right now." Patton said, looking up. "Mr. Kyler isn't here."

The kid stared at him like he didn't believe him. "Okay."

"What do you need, buddy?"

"I frew up in the play house."

Patton and Expression looked over to the plastic toy house in the corner of the room. It was big enough for the kiddos to go in, but Patton and Expression had to crawl. Some kiddos were looking in the play house, before coming back out and making gagging noises. They better clean it up before they get a domino effect of baby barf.

"I got it." Patton muttered, tossing Expression his phone.

"Thanks." Expression said, leaning back in their seat and crossing their legs. They began expertly swiping through his phone to download the app off the internet for him. "You're a good man."

Patton sighed, standing up. He really hoped so.

Tell me what you think!