A Series of Sanders

Logicality- TLC

Logan heard a crash from across the mind palace, followed by a distant yelp. He looked up from the periodical he was reading, checking to see if any of the other sides had heard it or were intending to act upon it. When no one exited their rooms, Logan sighed, figuring that (as always) he had to go be the responsible one and check that everyone was alright. 

He stood, and with only a moment's hesitation headed towards Roman's room. If anyone here was going to be a huge doofus and injure themselves, it would be Roman. He knocked on his door, not expecting a response and rolling his eyes when he didn't receive one. If he was injured, of course, he would be unable to come to the door. The only thing that is larger than his possible injury is his ego. 

"Roman?" Logan called, knocking again. He heard a shuffling from within, and called out again, asking, "Are you..." But Roman opened the door before he could finish his sentence. Roman also answered the door shirtless. Logan stood there blinking for a minute, trying to figure out whether or not it was worth asking about. He decided, instead, to finish his earlier question. "Physically injured?" He said awkwardly, staring at Roman vexedly. 

"No?" Roman responded, confused. He was blocking the doorway with his body, not letting Logan see into his room. 

"Okay... Didn't you hear something?" 

"Hear something? Why? Was there something to hear, did you hear something?" Roman asked all of these questions in quick succession, looking at Logan with wide-eyed panic. 

"Are you alright, Roman?" Logan asked a more direct question this time, hoping to just get on with it and check on the other sides. 

"Yes, we're fine- I MEAN I'M FINE BECAUSE I'M THE ONLY ONE AROUND HERE IN MY ROOM, WHERE I'M COMPLETELY ALONE!" Roman corrected himself quickly, saying urgently, "Alright, thanks for dropping by Logan, okay, bye!" He slammed the door in Logan's face, leaving him standing in confusion. 

Alright, Logan thought to himself, determining that there was no way to explain what that was about right now, and he should just continue on to see if he could provide any assistance if necessary. He knocked on the next door- his boyfriends. 

Logan debated just walking inside as he had done before, knowing that he was always welcome as Patton had informed him many times. Something about Roman's weird behaviour made him knock though- as if all the sides had suddenly and simultaneously lost the desire to wear shirts but Logan had somehow missed the memo. 

Then again... Logan weighed the pros versus consequences of walking in on Patton without a shirt for a brief second before immediately walking right through the doorway. 

Inside, Logan was surprised to see Patton sitting on the floor by his bed, with a broken picture frame and a hammer beside him. Logan was going to question what on earth Patton thought he was doing, but he discovered that he was already crouching on the broken glass beside Patton and asking him, "Hey, Patton, you okay?" 

"Fine and dandy!" Patton replied cheerfully, even though he followed the statement with a wince. 

"Uh-huh," Logan replied doubtfully. He carefully and quickly helped Patton up out of the broken glass and onto his bed with a gentle, "Come on." Logan looked over Patton briefly to ensure that there were no gaping wounds before conjuring a small first aid kit and joining Patton on his bed. 

"Lo, I'm fine," Patton said quickly, moving his hands out of Logan's reach. Logan gave his boyfriend a doubtful look before gently taking hold of one of his hands. Turning it over, he found a series of small cuts on Patton's palms- nothing serious, just bothersome like papercuts. 

Still, in order to avoid infection, sanitation would be the best course of action. He reached over to the first aid kit and saw Patton give him a puzzled look. 

"What?" He asked, searching for the alcohol swabs and adhesive strips. 

"What'cha doing?" 

"I'm trying to find the isopropyl wipes so I can disinfect-" 

"Logan, I am fine," Patton said a bit more adamantly, "You know that,"

"You're not fine, you're clearly injured-"

"Sticks and stones," Patton cut Logan off again, speaking sweetly, "You think a few scrapes are going to harm a mental projection of Thomas's morals?" 

Logan looked at his boyfriend sceptically, "You're sure you're alright?"

"I'm not alright; I'm Patton!" He replied almost instantly. Logan couldn't help it- he laughed. He got off of the bed and conjured a broom to clean up the broken glass. 

"What were you doing anyway, Pat?" Logan asked, looking at the mess he was sweeping up. 

"Oh, that-" Patton replied, sounding embarrassed, "That's just a silly little project I was trying to..." He trailed off as Logan picked up a glossy piece of paper from the ground. He flipped it over and felt his heart skip a beat. 

"What... what is this?" Logan looked at Patton, blinking rapidly to control the swell of feelings he was experiencing. 

"It's the only good photo I have of you," Patton replied sheepishly, playing with the sleeves of the sweater that were draped over his shoulders. "I wanted to hang it up so I could look at it more often." 

Logan looked down at the photo and back up at his boyfriend. He was experiencing too many emotions; like he wanted to cry and laugh at the same time.

He remembered Patton taking this photo- they had been lying in bed together and Patton had made Logan laugh. He couldn't remember why he was laughing, all he knew was that he had been feeling happy, and so laughing had come easily. All of a sudden, Patton had thrown his arm around Logan and shouted 'Smile!'. Logan had been too startled to regain his composure, and what had resulted was the photo he held in his hands. 

Logan looked at Patton in amazement. He leaned over to give him a kiss but stopped halfway. Quickly, Logan conjured another picture frame and placed it on the nail Patton had successfully implanted in the wall before the frame had supposedly slipped off of it, shattering on the ground as Patton also lost his balance, landing among the shattered glass gracelessly. 

After checking to confirm that the photo was indeed secured parallel to the ground, Logan turned and walked over to where Patton was sitting on his bed. He leaned close, connecting their lips gently before climbing on the bed and kissing him more aggressively. Patton pulled away after a minute, pressing his fingers against Logan's face and looking at them. They were wet. 

"Lo?" Patton asked, "What's wrong?" 

Logan hid a smile. "Oh, nothing," He said, kissing Patton again. "I'm just feeling... things," 

"What things?" Patton asked, sounding concerned. 

This time, Logan couldn't conceal the smile that lit up his face as he kissed his boyfriend. "Love," He replied, moving closer into Patton's warm embrace. 

~