When He Sees Me | Logicality

1. Our Love Is God

The lights blazed, bathing the stage in a radiant glow, leaving the two solitary figures gleaming in the spotlights. Soft music starts and the young woman starts to cry, covering her face with her hands.

It is quiet for a moment, except for her soft sobs. Not far from her is a young man of the same age, lying on the ground, blood streaming from his face.

Seeing the girl's tears, the boy turns to her and begins to sing. "They made you cry, but that will end tonight. You are the only thing that's right about this broken world. Go on and cry," he says softly, cradling her head and pulling her closer to him. His soothing voice fills the theatre as they rock slowly back and forth, no longer two separate persons but a single entity, united in emotion. "But when the morning comes, we'll burn it down and then we'll build the world again."

"Our love is God."

--

From behind the curtain, the stage manager is whispering to someone on his mic set, his arms crossed haughtily across his body. "This entire production is ludicrous. 'Our love is God.' What does that even mean, Virgil?"

He looks out onto the stage and notices something, saying again, "Oh, and dim the lights just a touch. The stage directions say ominous." 

A string of tinned curse words come from the mic as the lights on the stage go down slightly, to which the manager pays no attention to, merely focuses his energy on what is happening before him. "It is expressly stated in the opening number that Veronica has applied to many prestigious schools, yet she cannot see through this thinly veiled deception? And ich luge bullets, I mean, come on! One would have to be incredibly dense not to see through that fabrication."

"Logan, man," came the tired reply, tinned from being carried through wires, "we've been through this. She wants to believe that JD is telling her the truth because she loves him."

"Love is a fool's errand, Virgil," Logan replied crisply, nodding at the stagehands nearest to him. On his mark, they'd lower the curtain and Act One of "Heathers: The Musical" dress rehearsal would be complete, and Logan could go home and grade physics papers. "And curtain... now."

As the applause slowly died, a man with a bright shock of purple hair, dark eyeliner and multiple piercings came up behind Logan. "And you know so much about that, don't you," he said, before pressing on to meet the man who played JD, giving him a quick pat on the back.

"I know that it makes both you and Roman act like idiots or fools, therefore it is a fool's errand. Is the logic too complex for you, Virgil, because I could draw a diagram if that would be profitable. Perhaps I can scrounge up some crayons?"

JD winces. "Ouch, Logan, what happened? Wake up on the wrong side of the coffin?" he fires back, an arm coiling its way around Virgil's waist.

Taking in a breath for another jab, Logan is interrupted by Virgil. "Roman, no. Something's been bothering Logan, and we're his friends. So you need to get rid of that chip on your shoulder and help me figure this out. I call it, 'A Study in Blue.'"

Roman rolls his eyes, but concedes. "Only because of the Legally Blonde reference."

"Guys, I am fine. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have papers to grade," Logan says crisply, effectively ending the discussion. When he walks away, though, it is at nearly three times his normal speed. Something was definitely off about the stage manager, and the whole cast and crew could see it.