Soulmates at 21

The evening pt.2

6:00 pm

"It has surprised me, how well Roman has avoided burning the food."

Roman laughed, "That's easy, Lo, I prepare everything, then just stay far away from the stove!"

"Giving me all the cooking to do, that's fine," Virgil said sarcastically.

"Hey, I do all the washing afterwards," Roman said reassuringly, "And it's much easier to scrub plates without burnt food on it."

"True," Virgil nodded as he flipped another pancake. Why they were making pancakes at dinnertime, Logan did not know.

Roman seemed to understand the disconcertion that flitted over Logan's face, "It's for our midnight snack later. It's a weekly thing, especially since we got the Switchover happening."

"More like nightly, with all this insomnia."

"Virge! We're working on it, it's fine."

"Pancakes won't solve everything Ro."

"...And definitely not insomnia. You're not meant to eat just before bed, there's indigestion with that too."

"Well... no more midnight pancake," Roman shrugged.

"Noooo," Virgil groaned, "This stack's now wasted!"

"I'm sure you guys can reheat it for tomorrow morning's breakfast," Logan said dryly.

"Logan always has the solution to everything," Virgil sighed in relief.

"A true lifesaver, I tell you," Roman cheered, gently bumping his fist into Logan's shoulder.

Logan smiled. He has missed this energy, amplified by the way Roman loved Virgil.

Will he move in with them? To live with Roman again? With Virgil in addition, and Patton, his soulmate? Gosh... It's enough to make a TV show.

7:00 pm

"So will you come here? Or will you stay over there?"

"I don't know, Remy!" Patton laughed nervously, "I'd really have to talk to Logan first!"

"Yeah duh," Remy swirled his wine, "But I want to hear what you want first."

"Well, I still don't know. Logan's wishes will influence mine heavily! I think that's a bad habit of mine to fix."

Patton put down his fork and knife, surprised at himself, "Wow, that's new. Picking up my own habits. Emile's tips really helped!"

Remy chuckled, "Emile's just great, isn't he? But back to the question. Here or home?"

"Home is where the heart is!" Patton said, "And my heart holds Virgil quite dearly. Don't get me wrong, but I always have a need to father him. He doesn't exactly have much of a family..."

"I see... So back to Florida then."

"Yup. But... I'm not sure how that will turn out either. I know I'm happy to live with Virgil and Roman, but with Logan as well... that's a big house. We'll have to see whether our landlord will allow that."

"That's the big question, what if you guys can't stay together?"

"I guess we'll have to split up, but finding a new place won't be easy. Virge and I moved in together after a long and exhausting search for accommodation! That was well over a year ago now, and I can't imagine that it'll be any easier today."

"I have a friend who works in real estate, but since they're based here in California, they may not be too useful..."

"It should be fine, Remy," Patton said, shaking the fear off, "But thank you for offering!"

8:00 pm

Logan couldn't really make out the winner or the loser from either side of the screen, as both Roman and Virgil's characters experienced many explosions and colourful blasts that filled Logan's vision with stars. The characters also had stars around their heads, signifying daze.

"How could you stoop so low! After all this time!" Roman gasped dramatically as he frantically punched more buttons on the poor controller.

"Muahahaha," Virgil cackled, "All's fair in love and war--!"

"Take that! And that!" Roman's character quickly sped past Virgil's, having sent a thunderous blue shell and leaving a banana in its wake.

Virgil scowled, "That is totally unfair!" as he lost more coins from the banana peel Roman left directly in front of him.

"All's fair in love and war!" Roman said in a sing-song voice as he crossed the finish line, causing the gold and glorious "1st place" title to pop up.

"Ughhhhh," Virgil groaned, his character narrowly achieving 2nd place after Roman.

Logan hesitated before asking, "Can I try the game?"

Virgil tossed the controller to him, "Beat Ro-Ro for me, please. Or else we will never hear the end of it."

Roman grinned, pushing through the menu of race tracks, "Bring it on, Lo! How 'bout you choose the map this time?"

Logan pushed up his glasses, and Virgil swore it flashed cunningly.

"Rainbow Road."

It was as if the god of Mario Kart possessed Patton's body instead of Logan, as the character zipped through the racecourse and continuously attacked Roman's character. Roman fell into the void several times, causing much smoking heat to come from both the virtual kart and Roman himself.

"Come on Logan! You don't have to hit me off while you're a whole lap ahead of me!"

"Sorry Roman, I just need to cement your 8th place position."

The results listed dubiously, entirely different to the close match before. Roman could only gape at the screen, while Logan stared indifferently.

Virgil cheered, "Hooray for Logan! The saviour of our souls! Oh, I can't wait for you to move in and get Ro off his high horse."

"But how did you win so easily?" Roman whined, "How did I lose so badly?"

"It was simple," Logan smiled, "I studied your character's behaviour. It was easy after that."

"Of course you did," Roman groaned as Virgil snickered.

10:00 pm

The credits rolled for yet another Disney movie, Logan had stopped counting an hour ago. But this one featured a mermaid-to-human transformation, which kept Logan occupied over the technicalities of such biology.

"-But her family! Her friends! Her freaking fish friends! So much better than a town of ungratefuls!"

"Yes, but isn't that boring?? You'd have no one else to talk to other than a fish and a lobster that nags you all the time!" 

"That's much better than having to live in a palace, surrounded by all these people that I can't even communicate with!" Virgil shuddered, "My social anxiety would go through the roof."

Roman huffed, "What about the prince you would save? Such heroism! Such bravery! The sacrifice for love! Wouldn't you risk it all for some romance in your life?"

"No, I wouldn't actually," Virgil muttered, "because familiarity won't lead to heartbreak. Plus, she very nearly died! It was only her dad's love that saved her, then risked the whole marine ecosystem due to the greedy octopus lady."

"That's true," Roman nodded, "but I'm sure it can't go that wrong."

"On the contrary, Roman," Logan glanced over, "with you, it could be way worse."

"Hey!" Roman shouted in disbelief, whilst Virgil stifled his laughter.