#ts character

With his hands steeped in front of him, Virgil sat on the armrest of the couch with his feet on the cushions, facing Thomas who stared back silently. Virgil would randomly tap his fingers together as he was lost in his thoughts he kept to himself. Thomas looked over to Patton who was sat on the floor in front of the couch and looking in between the two periodically. He shrugged and Thomas silently huffed before turning back to Virgil. “Maybe-”

“Shhh,” Virgil laced his fingers together and leaned on his knees, squinting at Thomas a bit. Thomas wrinkled his nose and leaned away, unsure how to take Virgil’s strange behavior. Eventually, Virgil nodded to himself and slid down onto the cushions and crossed his legs on the couch. Patton was the empath but it didn’t take one to be able to see how unsure Thomas was. He was putting up a front, obviously. The nervous energy rolled off of him so much, Virgil was almost unsure of how own plan. “Okay,” holding out his hand, Virgil smirked a bit to himself. “Shake my hand.” “What? No!” Thomas pulled away and stared at Virgil’s hand as if it would lash out at any moment. “We’ve been over this when we met, Virgil! I’m not just gonna shake your hand like that!” “Oh come on!” Virgil didn’t actually seem upset as he let his hand fall into his lap. “This is completely different and you know it.” “How is this any different?” “Because you’re not going to hurt me this time.” Thomas made no attempt to move as he stared skeptically at Virgil’s hand. “You won’t. You know what your powers do now, Thomas. You don’t want to hurt me, so you won’t.” Thomas reached up slowly and kept his eyes locked onto Virgil’s. “I dunno…” With a nod of encouragement, Thomas finally grabbed his hand firmly and slowly started to shake it. He tried to pull away and Virgil whispered a soft encouragement to him, holding onto his hand tighter. “You got this, Thomas,” Patton whispered from his spot on the floor. “We believe in you!”

Looking back to Virgil, Thomas seemed a bit unsure of himself, squeezing his grip tighter. “I just… I don’t want to hurt you.” Their hands suddenly felt warm, too warm, too hot, and both pulled back, the familiar feeling of Thomas taking energy recognizable to both of them at this point. “You had it, what happened?” Thomas was sure Virgil was going to be upset with him for failing when he did have control, but Virgil seemed concerned as he rubbed his hand. “I… I dunno. I’m not used to this! I’ve never had to use my powers, I don’t know what I’m doing.” “Yes, you do. Are you really that dense?” Virgil leaned back into the couch and sighed. “Come on, Thomas!” Patton perked up from his spot on the floor. “We believe in you! You said you were ready, right? You got this!” “Well, maybe I…” Virgil groaned and leaned forward and rested his arms on his legs as he spoke. “Thomas, you’ve had these powers your whole life. It was just never apparent until now. That means you’ve been using them the whole time! My portals weren’t always so wobbly. They probably weren’t even portals at first, but that’s what they grew to be. The same thing goes for you, you just need to be open to the idea.” “Yeah!” Patton perked up and leaned onto the couch, smiling up at him. “I wasn’t an empath at first, it just grew like that!” “So… Do you think I didn’t just take energy at first? That’s kinda what Logan thought, but...” Thomas looked from Patton who nodded before staring down at the palms of his hands. “I don’t think that’s how mine worked. I mean, how can I use them if you were the first superpowered people I met?” “You’re not thinking about this the right way.” Virgil leaned back in closer as he perked up, excited to explain himself. “What if you don’t take powers? What if you take energy instead?” “Energy?” Thomas shook his head. “Wait, I’m confused. Where did that idea come from?” “Me. Just now. Or like, ten minutes ago, doesn’t matter. Think about it!” Virgil started waving his arms around as he spoke excitedly. “We are throwing things at the wall here to see what sticks! So, we have to question everything until we can find the right answer. We haven’t questioned if you worked with energy yet! We need to at least test the theory to see if it’s true, but it makes sense if you think about it.” “How so?” Patton tilted his head and rested his arms on the couch. “If he hadn’t noticed things before, how would we know?” “Yeah, I never even had the idea I could do anything until I met you guys.” Virgil turned to Thomas and smiled. “I don’t like that look,” he mumbled, leaning away from Virgil once more. “They could have been things that you could write off as normal. Have you ever gotten excited around others? Just… a sudden burst of energy?” Thomas raised a brow at Virgil’s question. “Or perhaps you feel exhausted when around too many people?” “That doesn’t explain anything, Virge. That just makes me an introvert.” “Humor me. Have you been with others and suddenly felt tired? You could have been passing around energy and never known it.” “Wait…” Thomas mumbled as his brain started to understand where Virgil was coming from. “Like, when I’m performing. Could I get energy from others and the audience? Or, during a scene, give it out unknowingly?” He looked down at Patton for a moment. “I passed out after a scene once while still on stage. That could explain it, couldn’t it?” “I think it could! It’s worth testing out anyway!” Patton smiled and stood up from the floor. “How about you stop thinking about your ability as taking power and think of it more and sharing energy like Virgil said?” Patton held out a hand and Thomas smiled. “I think that could work. I’m willing to give it a shot, anyway.” Despite his words, Thomas hesitated and Virgil frowned. “Promise to do something if this doesn’t work?” “It will work, Thomas. You’re ready for this.” Virgil’s words didn’t seem to encourage him, but he nodded and reached forward, taking Patton’s hand. “Now, let’s start slow.” ---

Logan was literally pushed out the front door the second he had hesitated in the doorframe. They had told him Thomas was going to come over for training on the rare day he had work at the bookstore. The bakery? He could call and explain and his aunt and uncle would be fine with that. But the bookstore? He had perfect attendance and had never been late and no matter how much he thought about doing it just the once, Patton had pushed him out the door and promised he’d take care of everything. It did ease Logan’s worries a little bit, perhaps Patton could get through to Thomas where he could not. He was so close, he knew it, but something held Thomas back every time. At least working at the bookstore wasn’t the worst thing he could be doing instead. The best thing about it was how the shifts seemed to fly by for Logan. He could easily get lost in the sorting and organization of the small local shop and business was usually slow except for the college students buying second-hand books cheaper there than most college recommended sites. Still, the mornings were calm and quiet where Logan could usually pick up the slack that was left behind at closing. He wasn’t the most sociable person but he usually was so organized the owners looked past that. Social skills weren’t as important for a shop tucked away on the side, it never really became too busy. He started his days off like he always does, at the community board. Anyone was allowed to put up fliers for events as long as they were appropriate and it was his job to take down old ones that may have passed. One or two fliers that had been up for far too long and that usually was the most he ever took down, but he would also organize it so there was plenty of space for others. Then came organizing the books that had been shipped in. Ones people requested or new releases they managed to get a hold of. There was never any rush during the quiet mornings and Logan usually hummed softly to himself as he prepared the store for the rest of the day. One or two people came in, but otherwise, it was a quiet day. It also felt incredibly, painstakingly slow. Knowing Thomas was over at the apartment while he could be there to assist caused him to be very aware of every passing moment. While he knew Patton and Virgil could take care of things, there was nothing more than he wanted to do besides be there. There was more on the line for Logan than Thomas himself had realized. Thomas was learning to control his abilities and he was doing so well! They were so close! Logan could basically feel it each time, Thomas would get it any day and who said that day couldn’t be today? The bell above the door chimed as a customer walked in, earning a quick greeting from Logan. It was almost a reflex for him to speak whenever he heard the bell these days. The customer had headed straight for the community board with a paper in hand. Logan made a note to inspect the flier to make sure it was appropriate before they left before returning to his work sorting books. The way they marched in with the board set as their destination didn’t seem out of the ordinary but something told Logan to be safe, just in case.

“Hello? Do you work here?” Logan turned and put on his best customer service smile. “I was looking for the non-fiction section?” “Come right this way, I can show you where that is. Was there anything in particular you were looking for?” The poor college student was content being brought to the right place and Logan was not envious of the panic that crossed their face as they inspected their options. He thought back to his days in libraries and research papers. It certainly was something he didn’t miss. He was almost to the front of the store when he heard a tearing noise of paper in the shop. A few big strides brought him back to the community board where a man was tearing a sheet of paper in half, his back to Logan. “Excuse me, sir?” He approached the guy who didn’t seem to care he was being addressed. “Are you the one that put the flier up?” “What does it matter?” He took the paper he had hidden under his arm and pinned it in the previously empty spot. “Just making room. It was an old flier.” “I see.” He eyed the scraps of paper the man had bunched in his fist. “Next time, our policy is to inform us and not remove it yourself. That being said, I do appreciate it. I can take the old paper and recycle it for you if you’d like.” The man scoffed and handed the paper over before quickly heading for the exit. “Just one moment,” Logan turned around, waving the scraps of paper to the man. “This was not an old flier.” “It’s a stupid one you didn’t need hanging up, you’re welcome.” Logan looked down at the Princey Fan Club advertisement he had recognized before turning back to face the board. “He’s a menace anyways.” “I see, and the new anti-prince poster in its spot has nothing to do with that?” Logan reached over and pulled down on the paper, tearing it from the push pin that was keeping it in place. “Hey!” The man squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest, probably in an attempt to appear more threatening. Unfortunately for him, Logan couldn’t care less about how tough the man tried to look. If need be, he could have him out of the building in an instant without moving a finger. “If you can not respect the rules that are in place, I’m afraid I’ll have to decline your poster as well.” “You can’t just do that!” The man marched up to Logan as he turned red in the face. “That stupid prince is pretending he’s better than the cops, running around with a taser! Someone’s going to get hurt.” “So we have a mutual agreement, needless violence is unneccessary.” Crumpling up his paper with the shredded poster, Logan never took his eyes off of the man. “Simply follow the posted rules next time and your flier can stay. Have a nice day, sir.” The man was angry but chose to huff and walk off instead. He slammed the door behind him and marched off down the street and away from view. Once he was gone, Logan let out a sigh and tossed the paper in a bin. It was going to be a longer day than he thought. He had to talk to the others when he got home.

---

“Okay, go ahead.” Thomas reached out and grabbed Virgil’s hand like he had done before and took in a slow breath. They waited a moment before Virgil’s hand grew warm, but he gripped the hand tighter. “You’ve got this.” Thomas nodded, focusing more and finally let out the breath slowly. He felt his own hand turn cold this time and kept the grip as his shoulders tensed. “It’s cold.” “I think you did it.” Virgil hesitated before he let go. “I think you gave me energy that time. Not much, but you did it!” “I did… I did it!” He laughed and threw himself at Virgil, wrapping his arms around him. “I did it, oh my goodness gracious! That’s so cool! I got it!” Virgil was frozen stiff as Thomas giggled gleefully, hugging him and rocking back and forth. “Yeah, whoo…” He was entirely unenthusiastic as he slowly raised an arm and gave him a pat on the back. “Knew you could do it.” “You did!” Thomas let go and sat up, turning to Patton. “You both did! Gosh, I needed something like that. Logan was being a bit pushy.” “What do you mean?” Patton smiled but his face showed concern. “Was Logan being too rough?” “More like he made it seem like… Like I had to do it! That I was going to.” Thomas slumped over at the thought. “Like I needed to, not that he believed I could.” Patton grew more concerned when Virgil sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “W-well, I’m sure he was just so excited! He gets really into these things,” Patton tried reassuring Thomas. “You should have seen him when we first met him! He’s gotten better.” Virgil shook his head and mumbled to himself. “I’m not so sure.” He looked over at Thomas and smirked. “Doesn’t matter, you got it! Just a bit of practice and you’ll be doing it like it’s nothing.” Thomas couldn’t stop his smile from dropping at that. “Oh, yeah, great.” “Are you okay?” Patton immediately switched to his overprotective mode. “Are you feeling alright? Is something wrong?” “It’s just…” Running a hand through his hair, Thomas gathered his thoughts before he shook his head. “I’m glad I’m able to figure all this out, but I’m still a little overwhelmed. Like, okay.” He held out his hands as he spoke. “I still don’t remember a lot of things and I know using my powers can help me but… I dunno. I feel like I woke up one day with half my life completely gone and everyone’s been telling me who I am! I want to learn who I am myself, you know? No looking at photo albums and hearing stories. I want to go out and experience things and relearn myself. I know I said I wanted to learn my powers but I’m more than just my powers, aren’t I?” “Well, of course,” Patton smiled and reached over to Thomas, rubbing his arm reassuringly. “We don’t want to force you into anything you don’t want to, we just want to help!” “Yeah. I mean, it sucks for us, but it’s worse for you right now,” Virgil shrugged at the look Thomas and Patton both sent him. “What? I’m being honest. We can handle Logan, I know he’s really been pushing you about this. You go hang out with Joan and Talyn and all your friends and go have fun. We’ll always be here when you’re actually ready. You don’t have to force yourself for us.” “Really? Are you sure? Because I know that this could be helpful and I do want to learn eventually!” “Thomas,” Patton smiled and reached over, rubbing his arm reassuringly. “You matter to us more than your powers. We’re you’re friends too!”

Reluctantly, he had agreed to let it go. They were happy he wanted to learn but forcing himself for their sake wasn’t healthy. Thomas thanked them again for helping him so far with his powers before venturing off back across the city. Patton sighed when he was out of sight before shutting his door and turning to Virgil. “We’re doing the right thing, aren’t we?” “Of course, now come on. I’m energized and hungry, let’s go get a bite to eat.”

--- Pacing the living room until Logan came home became the worst thing Patton could do. He was nervous about this conversation with Logan but he wasn’t even entirely sure why. Logan would understand Thomas’ decision! He had to, he was so sweet and kind, he just needed to explain it all first. Virgil was tired after his little boost of energy from Thomas wore out and had decided to take a nap. Patton originally protested, stating that taking one so late in the day would through off his whole internal clock. Virgil simply replied ‘I don’t obey the laws of time, I don’t need to listen to clocks.’ It was a silly point from Virgil but Patton couldn’t argue with it, he wasn’t wrong after all. To kill some time, he had finished an entire puzzle with Two and Three and watched dozens of animal videos on his phone. While he was laying on his bed, he was zoned out for a while before he heard the front door creak open. He paused the video and leaned to peek out his bedroom door he left wide open, but he was sure the quiet entry was made by Logan. Roman usually announced his appearances one way or another but it was still too early for him to be home from work. Once he saw Logan, he jumped up in excitement, momentarily pushing back the conversation he was dreading having for the flutter that appeared in his gut at the sight of his boyfriend. “Logan!” Patton perked up and reached out, carefully tugging Logan’s arm into the apartment. “You’re finally home!” “Please don’t tell me you sat here waiting for me.” Despite his tone, he smiled as Patton shrugged, bringing him to the couch. “Have you had an eventful day?” “Oh, not really. Virgil and I went out for lunch but now he’s taking a nap! Roman’s not home yet, so it’s just you and me!” “Ah, I see.” Clearing his throat, he adjusted his glasses and tried to appear uninterested. “And how was Thomas? He was over earlier, was he not?” Patton’s smile became a bit strained as he nodded. “Yeah, we made progress! I need to talk to you about that, though.” “Progress?” Patton didn’t like the way Logan perked up eagerly at the news. “What sorts of progress?” “Well, uh, it seems we managed to get Thomas to use his powers to give energy to Virgil willingly. He had-” “He did?!” Logan jumped up from the couch with a grin stretching from ear to ear. “This is wonderful! Goodness, this is the best thing I’ve heard all day! Perhaps all week! I should contact him immediately and-” Patton reached up and grabbed Logan’s hands, tugging on them to get his attention. He took a moment to breathe and tried letting a wave of calm wash over both of them as best he could. He felt so anxious and he wasn’t entirely sure why. Virgil had asked him to wait until they were both there to talk since he didn’t know everything that his boyfriend went through. He knew he was missing something important, something that caused Logan to push Thomas a bit too hard. He recalled Logan saying his parents kicked him out and not elaborating further, but Virgil must have known and it must have been the missing link between Logan’s parents and Thomas somehow. Patton tugged on Logan’s hands once more, causing him to sit back down on the couch slowly. “We need to talk about that.” “Did it go okay? Were you injured? Is Thomas okay? And Virgil?” The smile that grew on Patton’s face as Logan started to worry was undeniable. “No, no. Not that. Everyone is fine. It’s just…” Licking his lips, he prepared for how he was going to be able to explain this clearly. “Thomas is thankful he’s managed to control his powers a bit, but he wants to take a step back. I think things are still too much for him and he kept pushing through for our sake.” Logan didn’t react at all which caused Patton to panic a bit. “Not forever! He just wants to try and fill some things himself before we give all his memories back! It’s just too much happening at once for him. I don’t think all of us have fully recovered from that monster.” Logan opened his mouth before hesitating, calculating his words exactly. “I can bring his memories back if he can boost my abilities. He realizes that, does he not?” “Well, yes! But he’s more than his lost memories, Logan. He just wants-” “He just said he wanted to learn to control his powers.” Logan tugged his hands out of Patton’s and stood up tall. “What happened today? Why did he change his mind?” “I told you, Lo. It’s okay, he just wants to take it slow!” Patton held up his hands defensively. “We were pushing him too much, he needs more time. We need to respect that.” “No, I don’t…” Logan’s eyes started to glow and Patton winced at the sight. “He said he would, he can’t change his mind like that! Doesn’t he see how important this is?” “To you or to him? Why do you care so much?” Patton frowned before gripping onto the couch as it shook. “Please, I want to help but I don’t understand!” Logan shook his head as small objects took to the air, his eyes glowing brighter. “We have to get his memories back! We need to get them back!” “Or what?” Logan blinked in surprise as Patton finally glared, his anger flaring wildly enough that Logan could start to feel it mix with his own. “Would you force him to? Huh?” Logan blinked as the anger melted away, turning into something else… “Would you make him do what you want? Just take a moment and poof! You can have him totally agree to do whatever! Is it worth that? Would you do that to him?” Shaking his head, Logan’s eyes dimmed and flitted out, his normal brown eyes staring back scared. Panicked. “I wouldn’t, you know that. I said I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.” “Well then, Logan, you need to calm down and think about what Thomas wants.” “I just…” Logan ran a hand through his hair nervously. “He said himself, he wanted to learn. I wasn’t trying to be overbearing, I simply wanted to help Thomas help himself!” Logan started growing desperate in his explanation once more. “Don’t you see? This isn’t about me!” “Logan-” “No! No, you don’t get it, I have to do this! I have to make everything right!” Patton stood and tried chasing after Logan who quickly retreated to his room. He was only a few feet behind when the door slammed shut in his face, barring him from going any further. Patton sighed and wrapped his arms around himself, rubbing his arms up and down to help generate warmth. He slowly made his way back to the living room and sat on the couch, replaying the argument in his head over and over. He sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to figure out where he had gone wrong. Even more important, how he could apologize and make it right. A knock on the door brought him back to reality. Patton only hesitated a moment before deciding to answer it. As he opened to door, he was surprised to find Clyde sheepishly standing on the other side. “Hello? Clyde?” “Hi, Patton. I, uh…” Clyde seemed unsure as he looked at Patton and eyed the door to his own apartment with his aunt. “I heard yelling and I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Patton honestly thought about waving it off and turning him away. He also debated pouring his heart out to his neighbor. True, Clyde couldn’t be completely trusted, but he did deserve a second chance. Patton didn’t know all the pieces of the story anyway, so there wasn’t much to tell him. Closing the door behind him, Patton nodded and headed for the stairs of the porch, sitting down and facing the road. Clyde took the hint and followed, sitting right next to him. “So, how much did you hear?” “Not really anything. It was muffled. It was you and Logan again, right?” Patton nodded and sighed, his shoulders falling as he slumped over. Patton thought of a million places to start before he shook his head and bit his lower lip nervously. “It’s like someone hit a reset button on him. He said he wouldn’t do this again but he fell back into his old habits at the first sign and he doesn’t even realize it!” Patton waved his arms around, talking passionately as he did so. “He’s started clinging to that book again and only thinking about what he can learn and not about how we feel! I don’t know what happened and he doesn’t want to talk about it but…” Patton stopped and his arms fell, defeated. “I’m not going to sit by and watch him go down that path again! He was getting better, but without forcing him to talk, I don’t know what to do.” Clyde slowly reached an arm over Patton’s shoulders and awkwardly pulled him in closer. Patton was more than happy to take the invitation as he attempted to rest his head on Clyde’s shoulder. “It’s okay, Patton. You’ll figure it out. I’ll help you any way I can.” Patton hummed and wrapped his arms around the younger man. “Thank you, Clyde.” He hesitated before returning the gesture and hugging him back. “Of course, Patton. It’s my pleasure.”