Assistance Required

Another Deal

TW anxiety

Wed Oct 21

Patton sighed as he watched Logan walk away for his next meeting with Hannah. Virgil couldn't help but feel bad for him. Both of them. He felt bad for Logan having to work with someone who obviously wasn't interested in the project and he felt bad for Patton since he had to watch Logan deal with a flirtatious girl. It would be so much easier to just tell them both they liked each other, but they might just think he's just trying to set them up. And if anything happened or changed before they actually got together, he didn't want to be accused of being a liar.

He hated having this knowledge and not being able to do anything about it. Patton didn't even want to consider it until after midterms. He kept shutting him and Roman down every time they tried to bring it up. Roman still wanted to get Thomas and Joan involved, but it didn't feel right to share secrets without his permission. He had made a deal with Logan. Maybe he could figure out a deal with Patton? But Logan's deal depended on Patton making the first move. What kind of deal could he make to get Patton to confess his feelings? He decided to talk to Roman about it at dinner.

Logan returned an hour later. He was in a better mood than last time. Apparently, Hannah participated more this time around. Virgil hoped she was giving up and not trying to impress him, not that it really mattered in Logan's case. He wasn't easily impressed. They all decided it was a good time to head off for dinner. Virgil insisted Roman help him grab a plate again today "as payback for this morning."

"What do you want this time, Emo?" Roman asked.

"I need help coming up with some kind of deal with Patton," Virgil said.

"A deal?" Roman asked.

"Yeah, Patton said he doesn't want to talk about Logan until after the break. Maybe we can make some sort of deal with him so that he actually confesses after the break!"

"So, we need to come up with some kind of incentive for confessing his feelings?" Roman asked.

Virgil nodded.

"Yeah, something like that. I don't know if words of encouragement are going to be enough."

"Well, do you have a crush on someone?" Roman asked.

Virgil was taken aback by the question.

"What?!"

Roman blushed.

"I-I just mean. If you did, you could agree to confess at the same time. That way he wouldn't feel alone."

"Oh, no. I don't have a crush on anyone. I kind of gave up on dating a long time ago."

"Why?"

Virgil raised an eyebrow.

"Just look at me. I'm a constant mess and I look like a Hot Topic threw up on me. Besides, I'm already anxious enough about most of my life, I don't need the stress of how I could screw up a relationship."

Roman silently loaded the plate for a minute while he thought over what Virgil had said.

"What about just a date?" Roman asked.

"Excuse me?"

"What if someone asked you on a date? It doesn't mean a relationship. It could go anywhere. Just one date to get to know you better and spend time with you?"

Virgil thought about it.

"I... I guess it depends."

"On?"

"Who it was. What we were doing."

"Say it was me?"

"You?" Virgil laughed.