Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Logan never thought he’d be the one having trouble sleeping, but there he was, getting out of bed at almost 6 in the morning after another late night, thanks to Thomas. He’d have to talk to him about that later, but for now, his priority was getting his own rest. 

He pulled on his glasses and quietly stepped out of his room, not wanting to make noise and wake the other sides as he made his way down to the kitchen. Surely, a glass of water or maybe even some warm milk would help him fall asleep more easily. 

As he made his way down, though, he was surprised to see a figure sleeping on the couch. 

At first, he thought it was Patton again - the moral side had a tendency to sleep wherever he landed on late nights such as that one - but he was quickly proven wrong by the sleep mask that he could barely make out in the dim light. It wasn’t like Patton to wear such a thing, nor was it like him to properly prepare to sleep on those late nights. So, Logan went and turned on a lamp, hoping that it would allow him to see without waking up the side. His eyebrows raised in surprise as he saw that it was Deceit lying there, sleeping less than peacefully. 

Even in the light side, it was known that Deceit was not the type to even think about sleeping anywhere less than the best. So, Logan carefully shook him awake. 

“Huh?..” Deceit muttered as he slowly woke up, looking up at Logan. 

“I was just wondering why you were here,” Logan explained. “It’s not like you to sleep just anywhere and, even if it was, surely there were other options between here and your room, which means you have to have chosen here on purpose. Did something drive you away?”

Deceit tutted and sat up, stretching his back. “Remus.. He’s been particularly active after his run in with Thomas, particularly in the imagination. Before, I could keep him under control, but now it isn’t so easy. I managed to get him into bed, but tonight, he had the brilliant idea of storming into my room and waking me with some weird dream of his,” Deceit grumbled, hardly audible over the chorus of pops from his poor spine. “I might not be comfortable, but at least I’m able to sleep.” 

Logan nodded and thought for a second. “Well.. It definitely can’t be pleasant for you here..” All of the sides wandered the Mind Palace in long sleeve clothing, so Virgil kept it cold, surely an unpleasant environment for someone as, literally, cold-blooded as Deceit. “Perhaps you can rest in my room. I can attempt to calm Remus down in the morning.” 

Deceit gave him a look of surprise. Logan wanted to help him?.. “Um.. No. I wouldn’t want to put you through his antics again.”

“It’ll be fine. I got him to stop bothering Thomas so badly and I’m sure it won’t be much harder to get him to let you at least sleep in your own room. Follow me upstairs. My room is warmer than this one and my bed is more comfortable than this couch,” he reminded him, walking back towards the stairs. He stopped at the first step and looked back at Deceit, glad to see him following. 

Deceit did his best to stay silent, not wanting to wake up one of the other sides and cause a scene, especially not with Logan being so nice. 

When the two reached the logical side’s room, Logan looked at Deceit and gestured towards his bed. “I hope you don’t mind sharing for the night." 

"No, its fine. As long as you don’t mind,” Deceit reassured. 

“Of course I don’t.” Logan got back into bed with a small sigh, feeling the mattress shift as Deceit joined him. “Goodnight, Deceit." 

"Goodnight, Logan.” For the first time in a long time, Deceit fell easily into a deep sleep. 

In the morning, Logan was thankful to wake up feeling well-rested and began to sit up, feeling something tugging at his waist. He grabbed his glasses and looked down, surprised to see Deceit practically coiled around him. There was a split second of confusion as Logan’s mind properly woke up with him before the events of last night came back to him and everything clicked. 

Of course. Deceit was at least part snake. Even with the warmth of the blanket, it only made sense that he’d be most attracted to and feel most comfortable in the warmest part of the bed, which was right with Logan, sharing his body heat.

He smiled to himself and decided to stay put for the time being, letting Deceit get the full night of sleep that he deserved. 

And slept, he did. Even on his warming rock, Deceit couldn’t remember the last time he had such an amazing night of sleep. No sleep mask over his eyes, no heat lamp, and practically suffocating himself in Logan’s waist, Deceit still managed to feel amazing. He was more than reluctant to say his goodbyes with such a comforting sleep, but Logan already gave up his own space for him. Then again… A few more minutes couldn’t hurt, right? 

Logan sighed as he watched Deceit fall back into his deep sleep, hoping the other would sleep just as peacefully after he left. Logan carefully got up, wrapping the blanket tightly around Deceit before going to the Dark Side. Deceit shouldn’t have to escape to get a good night’s sleep. 

When Deceit’s body finally did let him wake up, he was greeted by a note on the attached to the pillow that he was tightly hugging. 

[Deceit, 

I hope you were able to enjoy your sleep and I apologize for leaving you without a secondary heat source. As I mentioned last night, there should be no excuse for Remus leaving you unable to sleep and I have decided to try and fix this issue myself. As such, I will be gone for the entire day, as to not cause confusion amongst the light sides and I will need you to disguise yourself as me. You’re welcome to stay hidden in my room throughout the day and, if anybody asks, your best option is to make up a simple fabrication, such as that I’m making a new planning system for Thomas. Most of the time, they will immediately leave you alone. I will be back once everyone has gone to sleep. 

Good luck, 

Logan] 

Disguising himself as Logan was, honestly, about as easy as it had been described. Deceit had spent the day reading a few books that he found around the room and only left when he was called down for meals. Nobody questioned his silence during those times, nor his isolation throughout the rest of the day. In fact, only Patton even attempted to get him out of there and only once. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to help me in the garden?” he asked, sometime soon after lunch. 

Deceit, in his disguise, of course, stuck his head out of the door to respond. “No, thank you. I believe I’m on the right track to find a way to make Thomas more productive and I wouldn’t like to stifle my current progress unless it’s for something as important as my daily meals.” 

Patton furrowed his eyebrows a bit. “On the right track?.. Are you making a train or something?”

Deceit sighed. “As I’ve previously mentioned, Patton, I do know the meaning of some idioms. Clearly, I meant a figurative track.” 

“Oh! Of course you did, kiddo. I’ll see you at lunch.” Patton smiled and left without giving their interaction so much as a second thought. It felt almost too easy. 

But Deceit didn’t worry about that for too long. He trusted Logan when he said that the others were easy to mislead, so he spent the entire day on Logan’s bed, reading book after book until sometime after dinner, when he heard the door suddenly open. 

Petrified, Deceit jumped up and quickly disguised himself as Logan, already in costume and only missing the glasses. 

Luckily, he didn’t need them to see that it was only Logan walking in.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you so badly,” Logan said, visibly tired, but with a victorious aura about him. “I think you’ll be pleased to know that Remus won’t be disturbing your sleep anymore.” 

Deceit let the surprise show in his expression. Remus had been impossible to talk to ever since Logan put him in his place the first time, especially since it had been in front of Thomas. “How did you..?”

“It’s a bit too complex to get into at the moment,” Logan said as he checked his watch. “For now, I believe it’s time for you to get back to your room. Thomas is asleep surprisingly early tonight.” 

Surprisingly early, but it was still almost midnight, Deceit finally realized. 

“You’re right.. I should get back. Um…” Deceit put the book down and stood up, walking towards Logan and holding his hand out. “Thank you. I know you didn’t have to do this for me.. Any of this..” 

“You don’t have to thank me. Sleep is vital for proper function and all of us are vital for Thomas to be… Well.. Thomas.” 

Deceit nodded a bit. He knew that, it was some of the other light sides who needed to hear it. But now wasn’t the time for squabbling or pointing fingers. Deceit began making his way out of the room, stopping only a few steps before the door as he felt a cool hand on his cheek. Completely red in the face, Deceit let the hand turn him to face its owner, Logan. 

“I was right. Your scales aren’t slimy. In fact, they have a rather nice, smooth texture." 

Deceit nodded. "Y… Yeah.. Um…” Nobody ever really touched Deceit, not as gently as Logan was. If he wasn’t flustered before, that simple comment rendered him absolutely speechless. 

“I’m sorry. I should’ve asked first, I just wasn’t sure when I’d have another chance to check for myself." 

Somehow, Deceit managed to choke out a response. "Its quite alright. I was just surprised..” Deceit turned so the red half of his face wasn’t visible. “If that was all, I’ll be going now.”

Without another word, Deceit made his way back to his room, back to the Dark Side, and was more than surprised to find that Logan was truly as successful as he’d hoped. Remus didn’t even try to bother him that night. For the first time in a long time, Deceit was able to enjoy a nice, silent night. All thanks to Logan.

Chapter Text

Ever since he got Logan’s help, Deceit had the perfect sleep environment. Darkness besides the soft glow from his heat lamp - no more bright hallway light from Remus barging in. Pure, peaceful silence - no more high pitched screeching at five in the morning or whenever Remus felt it necessary. However... 

Something was missing. Deceit couldn’t sleep, not nearly as well as he did... As he did in Logan’s room. 

Oh, god... Well, if that’s what it took to get a decent night’s sleep, who was he to let something as childish as embarrassment stop him? And he was Deceit, he couldn’t lie to himself nearly as easily as the average person, so if he needed to go sleep with Logan, the least he could do was admit it. And act on it. 

Deceit hopped out of bed and made his way down to the light side,  

He carefully turned Logan's bedroom doorknob and stepped inside, quiet as he closed the door and walked to Logan's bed. He settled into the mattress as slowly as he can, not wanting to wake up Logan. 

But Logan was a rather light sleeper. 

The logical side immediately woke up and turned around, confused as he stared down at a blushing Deceit. 

"Why are you in here? Is Remus acting up again?" 

Sure, Deceit wanted to be shamelessly honest, but... 

"Yes.. Sorry, I tried not to wake you." 

Logan began getting out of bed. "I'll go talk to him, he should really-" 

Deceit sprung forward and grabbed his wrist. "No! I mean..." He slowly let go and thought for a split second. "I'm sure he's just having an off night.. I wouldn't want you to waste your energy." 

"Well... If you're sure," Logan muttered before laying back down. "It wouldn't have been much trouble."

"I wouldn't be so sure. Remus is always one to surprise.." 

"I suppose he is.. Goodnight, Deceit." 

"Goodnight, Logan." 

And as much as he hated to admit it, Deceit found himself once again having the deepest, most peaceful sleep that he could remember. 

In fact, even Logan could see just how peacefully Deceit had been sleeping when he woke up in the morning. There was such a calmness and almost an innocence that definitely wasn’t usually there. It was odd, but far from unpleasant. Logan smiled to himself, a rare feeling, and gently ran his fingers through Deceit’s hair. Poor Deceit had to deal with so much on a regular basis, especially with Remus, it was nice to see him relaxed for once. And so freely.. Any time they called Deceit at night, he came with a face mask and in a thick, plush robe and a terrible attitude, not that anyone could blame him. So for him to just sleep in what looked like an old black shirt and warm pajama pants, it was definitely odd, but in a very good way. 

It was about an hour before Deceit actually woke up, though it felt like just a few minutes to Logan, and when he realized that it meant having to leave soon, Deceit groaned and buried his face further into Logan's side. As impossible as he found it to admit out loud, the last thing he wanted to do was actually leave the comfort of Logan’s bed. Especially not with those relaxing fingers in his hair. 

But, eventually, he had to leave and Deceit knew eventually would always be too soon. He let himself enjoy the feeling for a bit longer before sitting up, sighing a bit. “You won’t tell anyone you saw me without my hat, right? I have an air of mystery to keep up, but you were nice to me.” 

Logan’s eyebrows raised a bit at that. Those seemed like such low standards for what Deceit treated like a big secret. Then again, Deceit treated a lot like a big secret, so perhaps it was just part of his personality. “Of course I won’t. Besides, I’m sure that Patton or even Virgil would be quite upset if they found out you were here.” 

There was no “even,” of course Virgil would be upset. But that wasn’t the point. “Thank you.” He got out of the bed and went back to his room, finding Remus already waiting at the door. 

As he saw Deceit approaching, Remus looked confusedly up at him. 

“How did you get out there?! I’ve been waiting for you forever!” But Remus being remus, he quickly switched to his signature Cheshire grin. “I had the most amazing idea for bothering those jerky light sides! You know how Patton loves puppies?” 

Deceit didn’t mind listening to Remus’s schemes during the day - he actually managed to come up with some good ones once in a while - it was when he was disturbing personal time, sleep time, that made Deceit testy. But whatever Logan had done, Remus didn’t bother trying. 

Deceit thought about that the next time he spent the night with Logan. 

And the time after that. 

And the time after that. 

And- 

“I’m sorry, I just have to ask.” 

Deceit’s blood ran cold, despite having just gotten warm in Logan’s blankets. “Look, if you want me to go, you can just ask, there’s no need to draw it out with niceties,” he said, sitting up in preparation to be kicked out. 

However, Logan seemed more surprised by what Deceit assumed than Deceit was when he assumed it. He grabbed Deceit’s wrist and pulled him back down a bit. “That’s not what I was going to say at all.. I was just wondering if you only came here because of my body heat. At first, I thought about perhaps adding a heated part to my bed and extending it so that you can have your own space, but,” Logan took a quick pause as he shifted to sit up himself. “Then I realized that, if you wanted to, you could do that for yourself in your room. It wasn’t soon after that that I finally remembered that body heat is the best, most efficient way for one to heat up, even for humans.”

“Oh..” Deceit muttered. He almost felt bad for assuming the worst, but it wasn’t like anyone could blame him. “Yes..” he found himself saying. “I guess I never quite realized it myself, but that does seem to be the most logical answer. I don’t know, I knew there was something about being here that made it so much easier to sleep.” And Deceit felt extremely relieved that it was something logical, like a better way to heat up, than anything irrational, anything embarrassing. 

“I knew it,” Logan said, that rare smile gracing his features once again for just a split second before he realized it and stopped himself. “Um.. Would you mind if I write this down? You see, imaginary or not, you’re quite an extraordinary mix between a snake and a human and, for obvious reasons, I’ve never seen anything quite like you..”

I’ve never seen anything quite like you. For some reason, those words made Deceit feel something he’d never felt before. His heart seemed to beat a bit faster and his stomach almost hurt. And for some reason, he wanted for Logan to never find out. “Sure, you can write it. You’re the one who figured it out, anyways.” 

Logan practically flew off of his bed and to the other side of his room to his desk, opening a drawer and searching for one of many notebooks that were filed in it. When he finally found it, he opened to a specific tab and wrote something down, presumably what Deceit had told him. 

“Is... Is that whole notebook dedicated to things you see about me?..”

“Hm?..” Logan seemed to space out as he wrote, springing back to life a second later. “Oh! No, just a few of these tabs here. I’m sorry, but as I said, you are a remarkable case..” 

Again, it felt like Deceit’s entire autonomic system was thrown out of whack and, again, it seemed so unexplainable. “Thank you..” he squeaked out. “Um... Perhaps, since I am taking up your space here, I can answer whatever questions you may have about me?..” 

Logan’s eyes went wide and he forgot about the fact that Deceit being there was absolutely no trouble. “Can I?”

Since that night, Deceit felt a lot better about staying in Logan’s room. He wasn’t just staying there, he was helping Logan figure out how exactly an imaginary half snake worked. So, he didn’t let it bother him when he found himself holding Logan just a little bit tighter through the nights when he just couldn’t get warm or when he found himself burying his face a little deeper into Logan’s side because he rather enjoyed the way he smelled like ink and fruit, as odd of a combination as it was. 

Similarly, Logan found himself feeling less and less guilty about enjoying Deceit’s nightly company. It was nice to have some contact that didn’t involve sudden, squeezing hugs or strong claps on his back. With Deceit, there was a constant: a tight, cool embrace and a face pressed against his side, so... Logan found it a lot easier to enjoy. And with Deceit answering what questions he had, it seemed like he was winning twice as much. And Deceit was so calm about it all. 

Of course Deceit was calm. His days may have been hectic, but his nights were perfect. 

That is... until the night Remus decided to go looking for him.

Chapter Text

Remus promised that he wouldn’t bother old Deceit at night, sure, but on that particular night, he’d had quite the dream! In fact, it was one of the rare dreams that he knew he’d have to keep far away from Thomas, almost enough to scare Remus himself! Of course he wanted Deceit to hear all about it! 

“Dee!” Remus sang out as he wandered the halls of the Dark Side, knocking on Deceit’s door. He waited there for a few minutes, rocking back and forth on his feet, before knocking again. 

“Deceit! I have something wonderfully disgusting to share with you! Open the door before I smash it down!” he threatened, though it came out as more of a whine. 

Before long, Remus let out a frustrated huff as he realized that, once again, Deceit wasn't in his room. Most nights, he'd just let it go and talk to his friend in the morning, but that night's dream had been so particularly horrifying and he just wanted to let him know all about it! So, Remus headed out to the light side. After all, if Deceit had been anywhere in the Dark Side, he definitely would’ve come out before, even if just to yell at him about the time. 

He let himself in to each of their rooms, keeping note of the fact that they, of course, all trusted each other enough to not have to lock their doors at night, until he found Deceit in Logan’s room, all cuddled up against the nerd like a deadly teddy bear. 

Remus hummed joyously as he walked over, not stopping as he saw Logan wake up. 

“What are you doing?” Logan asked, surprisingly clearly for that time of night. 

“Well, I had this horrible dream and I wanted to tell Deceit all about it!” He climbed onto Logan’s bed and reached out to wake his friend, only stopped by the logical side grabbing his wrist. 

“Deceit’s asleep, as you can see, and I’m sure he wouldn’t appreciate if you were to wake him up,” Logan pointed out. “I’ve already woken up, why don’t you just tell me about it?” 

Remus laughed at that. “Like you can handle what I have to say.” 

“Well, it’s not like you’ve cared before,” Logan said as he reached for his glasses with his free hand, sensing that this was not going to be a very quick conversation. “Besides, seeing how deeply asleep Deceit is, I doubt he’d be able to give you his undivided attention if you woke him up. I, on the other hand, could and will do that for you right now.”

Remus laughed at that. 

“Did I say something that you found entertaining?”

“Oh, please!” Remus practically screeched through his laughter, the late hour being the last thing on his mind. “‘Undivided attention’? Nobody ever gives me that, especially when it comes to these kinds of dreams. If you’re going to exaggerate to try and convince me, you should at least say something believable.” 

"Oh...” Logan's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and surprise, though someone looking a little closer might’ve seen an empathetic spark. “Well... I guess I'll be the first. I have no reason to lie and no reason not to pay attention." He shrugged and patted the space in the bed beside him, partially hoping to get Remus away from Deceit and partially because, of course, he wanted to hear him better. 

Remus’s eyes immediately lit up and he jumped over to Logan's side of the bed, almost like an excited dog as he sat on Logan’s legs with a wide grin. Simply put, Remus knew that Logan had no reason to lie. Even if he was, it would’ve at least been nice to pretend he was listening. "It started with this cute little kitten." 

It was at least a half hour before Remus finished his story and, despite the late hour, the creative side was still high on the moment, having never found someone who just... willingly listened to what he had to say. Nor had he found someone who didn't interrupt him out of fear or, more likely, disgust, and here was someone who did both! Logan even added on his own comments on how completely plausible or almost realistic the events of the dream were or how much they weren't. 

Remus felt electrified by the experience and didn't feel a single effect of the late hour until he was reaching the horrifying end of his story, yawning through it and letting his head rest in Logan’s lap, allowing the logical side to run his fingers through his hair. 

“But those are one of the dreams I don’t show Thomas for a reason... After all, he’d never go near a stray cat again and you know how much he loves cats,” Remus muttered as he finished his story, crawling under the blankets and sprawling out beneath them, his head on Logan’s chest. 

“True, but perhaps a dream like that would get him to actually stop purposefully aggravating his allergies, since Patton is typically the one he actually listens to on the matter.”

Remus chuckled and looked up at Logan. “Was that a joke? Are you making jokes now, you little nerd-smith?”

Logan thought for a second before nodding. “Yes.. Yes, I suppose I am.” 

“Well, it was an adorable little first try,” Remus hummed as he leaned up and kissed Logan’s nose. 

Logan felt his face heat up, but did his best to hide the reaction, not wanting to give Remus any sort of metaphorical ammo to tease him with. “We should get to sleep,” he commented instead. “Unless there was something else you needed before you were able to-” Logan cut himself off as he jumped a bit, startled by Remus’s sudden collapse against him. Before he could check to see if the other was okay, though, Remus began softly snoring. Logan allowed himself to give the smallest smile before leaning back against the headboard, seeing as Remus didn’t exactly leave him room to lay back down, and falling asleep. 

Deceit was the first one to wake up in the morning, and only because of the added weight pressing against his face. His eyes snapped open and he attempted to sit up, stopped by the same weight laying over his arm. Remus’s weight, he quickly realized. Adding his presence to the way Logan was sleeping upright, it was no mystery what had happened, Deceit realized, feeling his stomach sink. 

Remus could never just sleep after certain creative outbursts and Deceit was always the one who he went to to talk about them. Just the thought of Remus harassing Logan because of course the logical side was too polite - or, rather, too smart - to turn him away made Deceit shudder. It didn’t take a genius to realize that Remus only came to find Deceit. What if Logan decided this was too much trouble? What if he made Deceit go back to his room every night? What if he told the rest of the sides about his sleeping troubles? What if-

“Deceit?” 

Deceit was snapped out of his trance by that familiarly calm and almost worried voice. 

“You seemed to be in your own metaphorical world for a second there. And you look worried. What’s wrong?”

What was wrong? Surely that was some sort of test. “I just... I’m really sorry about Remus coming, I didn’t think he’d actually come looking for me like this, you shouldn’t have had to deal with him and-”

“Deceit?”

“I swear I put a padlock on his door, but sometimes, nothing can stop him from-”

“Deceit,” Logan repeated, his voice a bit more emphatic as he attempted to calm down the panicked side. Luckily, it seemed to work, Deceit looking up at him with a hint of fear in his eyes. Logan sighed and gently patted the top of Deceit’s head, hoping to calm him further. “I’m not upset about Remus coming here.”

Deceit opened his mouth to question him before stopping. He could usually hear a lie like a dissonant chord, but, in that sentence... He couldn’t sense anything. “You... You mean that?..”

“Of course I do. Remus needed to be heard and you needed to sleep. I merely gave a simple solution to the issue,” Logan explained, once again absentmindedly running his fingers through Remus’s hair. It was a bit rough, but Logan rather enjoyed feeling that texture. “Besides, it was somewhat... Interesting. Hearing what goes through his head. Of course, I know he’d never make Thomas act out on these thoughts, so I don’t see the harm in allowing him to just talk about them with me.” 

Of course, Deceit had thought about that before, he never meant to particularly hurt his friend, but guts and gore just wasn’t his cup of tea. “Well, I’m... I’m glad he didn’t upset you..”

“Not in the slightest. Of course, I do wish it had been a more convenient time, but it’s not like he can particularly control these creative outbursts.”

Deceit let out a sigh of disbelief. He’d never heard anybody saying that they didn’t mind hearing Remus’s... “Ideas,” much less that they didn’t mind being woken up in the middle of the night and doing so, just to keep another side from having to go through the same thing. He really was incredibly lucky to have gotten closer to Logan... 

Pretending to sleep and staying as still as he could, Remus listened in. It was almost impossible to hide his grin as he heard Logan talking about him. Logan thought his dreams were interesting... Logan didn’t think Remus was annoying... Of course, Remus did make an effort to be annoying at times - he wouldn’t exactly be very intrusive if he didn’t - but he could only take so much ridicule and looks of disgust and ignoring, god, he hated the ignoring. But things were different here. Logan listened to him... Remus smiled to himself and held Logan a bit tighter. After all, Remus had a bit more in common with Roman than just being creativity. Remus’s feelings grew fast and he wasn’t nearly as nervous as Deceit about showing it.

Chapter Text

Day after day - or, rather, night after night - Logan found what little empty space his bed had being consistently occupied by Deceit with Remus joining an increasing amount of the time. And, contrary to what most would believe, he rather enjoyed their company. The pressure of Deceit’s arms around his waist was extremely comforting and Remus’s dreams were oddly entertaining. Being woken up in the middle of the night wasn’t exactly ideal, but-

“Then I’ll figure out a way to tell you all about my dreams without waking you up at night,” Remus promised as Logan brought it up one night. “I mean, if I can think of all of that, surely I can think of a way to get this done.”

Logan smiled softly, feeling a lot more free to do so around those two, though, technically, Deceit was fast asleep, arms wrapped securely around Logan’s waist. “Really?”

“Of course! You’re the only one who’s ever actually wanted to listen to me. If the only problem you have with it is me waking you up, I’ll stop waking you up.”

Logan nodded, thinking for a second. “Thank you. If I may, I might have a suggestion..” 

The next night, Logan had a gift wrapped and waiting just for the creative side as he popped into the room the next night, holding it over his own head to protect it as Remus jumped onto the bed, as per usual. 

“Whatcha got there, octo-pie?” Remus practically purred as he reached for the box. “A little something for me?”

“As a matter of fact, it is,” Logan confirmed, giving him the box. “Just something that might help us both get the most out of this.” 

Remus looked at him quizzically for a split second before tearing open the wrapping paper, gasping at what he found inside. “Oh, it’s wonderful!” He picked up the notebook, running his fingers over the painted octopus on the front cover before flipping it to admire the green sword on the back. 

Logan smiled a bit, proud of his work. He wasn’t the most artistic side, but stencils were extremely helpful and painting that sword was simply a matter of using proportions to copy it. “Thank you. Now, instead of waking me, you can simply write down your dreams when you have them and tell me all about them as soon as I wake up.”

Remus practically threw himself at Logan, wrapping his arms tightly around him. “You are just the best, my little nerd!” 

Logan smiled and slowly put his arms back around Remus, hoping he knew how to give him a proper hug. “It was no trouble at all.” 

Properly prepared to sleep, Deceit finally let himself into the room, freezing at the sight before him. He’d be lying if he said that jealousy wasn’t coursing through his veins like ice, so he did everything he could to hide it. 

“What’s going on here?” he managed to ask after a few seconds, doing his best to keep the venom out of his voice. 

Remus turned to face him, but continued straddling Logan’s lap, grinning deviously as he held up his new present. “My little octo-pie gave me this wonderful little notebook to keep all of my dreams in! That way I don’t have to wake him up.” He gave Deceit a knowing, mischievous look. “Maybe if you’d thought of this sooner, we wouldn’t be here.” 

In other words, if Deceit had been smart enough to think of making Remus use a notebook for his dreams, they wouldn’t be practically sharing Logan. 

Deceit ground his teeth for a second before faking a smile and simply sliding into bed, wrapping his arms around Logan like he did every night. “Great. Now, we can all get a proper night’s sleep,” he muttered, defensively pressing his face into Logan’s side. 

Logan ran a hand over his hair, letting his other arm stay around Remus in his awkward embrace. “Well… If we’re all speaking our truths,” he began, “I’m rather glad that this all occurred. I’ve enjoyed getting closer to both of you and I find your presence more than welcome.” 

Which, to the other two sides, sounded like Logan speak for something a little more romantic than friendship. But who exactly was that extra bit of affection aimed at? The one who he happily cuddled every night or the one who he gave up sleep to listen to? Neither side knew and, naturally, both side swore to fight to make it himself. 

From then on, their routine changed ever so slightly. As the rest of the sides began preparing for bed or settled onto the couch for an extra long night, Deceit silently made his way up to Logan’s room, always lucky enough to find that Remus was nowhere to be found. 

“Deceit? What are you doing here so early?” Logan had asked the first time that it happened, quickly accepting it as a nightly occurrence. 

“Well, you did say you wanted to learn a bit more about me. I figured simple questions wouldn’t get you all of the information you wanted. It’s not much, but now we have at least a little more time for you to know what you want to know.”

It scared Deceit that first night to see Logan almost faint, but, considering that the side did everything in his power to hide his emotions, it was no surprise that it was rather easy to overwhelm him like that. 

Within the next hour or however long Thomas stayed up, Deceit allowed Logan to do whatever his heart desired, whether it be to closely inspect his scales - Logan practically cried whenever Deceit brought him scales that he’d already shed - or to take a sample of his blood from his snake side versus his human half - both halves of him being cold blooded, oddly enough - and Deceit enjoyed every second that he shared with Logan, drinking up the look of amazement that graced his features with every new discovery and memorizing the way his eyebrows scrunched up when he was particularly focused and feeling his heart flutter whenever Logan was so lost in thought that he couldn’t hear a thing that Deceit said. 

Of course, Remus knew what they were doing every night. He saw the way Logan would sometimes leave out his microscope or how Deceit was far more careful about preserving his fallen scales during shedding - though, of course, he did still let Remus use the actual skin to decorate his room as he always had, minus a couple of times - and he knew he had to respect it. Not because Deceit would kill him if he sabotaged his time with Logan, but because Deceit had never done that to him. 

Every morning, Remus would sit in Logan’s lap and wait for him to wake up, adoring the way he looked when he slept and fighting the urge to lick the peaceful look off of his face. He’d wait with Logan’s glasses in hand, carefully pushing them onto his face the second he began stirring. 

“Oh, good, you’re awake!” Remus would say every morning before snatching his journal off of the dresser. And, the second that Logan gave that tiniest nod of approval, Remus would start reciting every detail that he’d written as well as any extras that he could recall, glancing up at him every once in a while to properly enjoy the fact that someone was listening to him. Someone was sitting and paying attention to the things that went on in Remus’s mind without any sort of look of disgust. 

And Deceit was silently awake through that. Sure, sometimes Deceit was able to block out every single word that Remus said and just lose himself in the wonderful heat that Logan was radiating and the clean, calm scent that he always managed to have. But other nights, Deceit couldn’t help but hear every single disgusting word that Remus had to say. Remus might not have ever known, if it weren’t for the fact that, unlike Logan, Deceit was clearly disturbed by a lot of what Remus had to say. While Logan was focused on every word that Remus had to say, Remus could never stop himself from catching the slightest glance of Deceit’s face twisting into a plethora of expressions, though he never had that pure look of interest that Logan gave him. 

So Remus respected Deceit’s Logan time and Deceit respected Remus’s. It was a fair competition for the logical side’s affections and it was made so much sweeter by the fact that nobody else knew about them, the fact that it was an arrangement that only the three of them knew about. 

Until they weren’t.

Chapter Text

Remus had just finished up with his dream the morning that things began to change for them. He’d just put down his notebook and looked up at Logan for his feedback, staring expectantly. 

Logan hummed in thought as he finished processing what he’d heard, then opened his mouth to respond, interrupted by his door opening. 

“Hey, Logan, do you have an extra pair of-” Patton stopped where he was in Logan’s doorway, staring up at the extra guests on Logan’s bed. He might not have been able to see much, but he could very easily make out the yellow of Deceit’s pajamas and the green on Remus. “N.. Nevermind…” 

Somewhere outside, Virgil spotted Patton’s spooked expression and appeared beside him. “What? Did he steal my tarantula ag-” Virgil froze as he saw what Patton saw, being able to clearly see Deceit practically wrapped around Logan and Remus sitting in his friend’s lap in his usual black muscle shirt and a green pair of what should are legally not long enough to be called shorts.  

“What are we staring at? I want to see what’s turning everyone’s skin as white as snow,” Roman announced as he approached, humming in thought as he saw the two guests in Logan’s room. “Well, I can’t say I didn’t see this coming for Remus, not after I heard about the throwing star, but Deceit?”

“It’s too early for this..” Deceit grumbled as he wrapped himself more tightly around Logan. Part of him wished he could just go back to sleep, while the rest of him just hoped that this wouldn’t end in disaster. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he was afraid. Deceit was afraid of losing his safe space there with Logan, of losing Logan as even a friend, just because his ways of helping Thomas got him labeled as bad. 

And of course Remus felt the same. Sure, he was disappointed by the loss of attention caused by Logan’s tearing him apart, but Logan was the one who proved that he was no monster, that he couldn’t hurt Thomas with his words, even if the only way he could get any attention was scaring people. He was latching on just as tightly as Deceit. 

Logan felt it, too. He felt Remus’s strong grip on his shoulders and Deceit’s tight hold on his waist and he could tell how scared they were of losing his presence. And he didn’t want to lose theirs either. As the rest of his friends stood silent in his doorway, Logan subtly put one hand on Deceit’s shoulder and the other on Remus’s leg, squeezing tightly to show that he wasn’t going to let them leave so easily either. 

But… It seemed that the worrying wasn’t for much. 

“So, which one are you dating?” Roman asked in an attempt to break the tension, a knowing smile on his face. He was a romantic, he could practically see the romantic tension in the air and he wasn’t going to tear it apart for something as silly as a label that he made up for dramatic effect. 

Logan let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding before glancing between the two sides in his bed and looking back at Roman, shrugging a bit. “We’ve never discussed such a thing, this is a purely platonic situation.”

Purely… 

Platonic? 

Don’t get things wrong, if Logan had said that he wasn’t interested in a romantic relationship with them, Deceit and Remus would’ve respected that. However, Deceit cuddled up against Logan every night after letting him experiment on him. Remus wrote down his dreams, despite how badly he wanted to discuss them as soon as he woke up, and literally straddled Logan as he talked about them. Were they not obvious enough or was Logan really that oblivious to their feelings? 

Either way, it was clear that their friendly competition needed to be taken another step forward. Or eight. 

And who better to take advice from than Roman? 

Once it was time for the two sides to take their leave from the logical side’s room, they both stormed over to the princely side’s room, glad to see that he was quick to answer his door, practically glowing from all of the romantic energy in the air. 

“Let me guess: You need help romantically seducing your nerdy prince?”

Deceit nodded quickly. “Yes, and-”

“And you’re not allowed to help Dee! You’re my brother, help me get laid!”

“Wow, because my intentions are as blunt as to get laid,” Deceit said with a roll of his eyes. 

Remus tutted. “Oh, you know what I mean!”

“Wait, wait, wait- Are you guys saying only one of you can date him?.. Or is this little argument just for funsies?” Roman asked, a confused, but almost amused look on his face. 

“No, Roman, neither of us are actually interested in being in a couple with Logan,” Deceit snapped, now irritated at both brothers. “Since you’re clearly not the so-called ‘expert’ at this that you want everyone to believe you are, I’ll just-” 

“No, wait!” Roman interrupted, grabbing Deceit’s arm before he could leave. “I just meant that you aren’t necessarily limited to being a couple…”

Remus grinned. “Oh! Why didn’t I think of that?” 

“We’re not having a threesome,” Deceit deadpanned. 

“Not like that, Dee! You’ll like this idea.” 

Deceit highly doubted it, sure, but he was quickly proven wrong. The three quickly formed a plan and it all began with Roman’s help. 

The princely side strutted into Logan’s room one day, mere minutes after dinner and soon before Deceit would typically arrive. As such, Roman found his friend carefully preparing microscope slides for samples and was careful himself to not startle him, letting his footsteps be heard. 

“What is it, Roman?” Logan asked without so much as looking up. 

“I need your help with something. I’m trying to memorize a monologue, but I’m not quite sure how I should interpret it. Seeing as you did such a great job last time as our drama tu- dramaturg, perhaps you could give me some direction.” 

To be frank, Logan was surprised. Roman hardly ever asked him for help with anything, much less something dealing with acting. “Um… Yes, I suppose I can help.” 

“Great!” He dragged Logan back over to his room, the logical side unaware of the pair of eyes watching them. 

From around the corner, Deceit snuck over to Logan’s room, Remus following close behind him. “And you’re sure this is going to work?..”

“Oh, please! My brother is a literal prince charming, if anyone knows we should do, it’s him.” 

As nervous as Deceit was, he figured there was no harm in trusting Roman’s advice. At least if they failed, they tried. 

Logan was exhausted by the time he came back, unaware of how hard Roman had worked to keep him busy for so long. He’d almost forgotten about- Logan’s head snapped up as he realized that he’d never gotten the chance to let Deceit know about him leaving. Oh, he must’ve been waiting awkwardly for hours. 

He groaned in his head and walked a bit faster down the hall, expecting to find Deceit awkwardly sitting on his bed, as he often was whenever Logan had to leave during their time alone. He swung open his door and began apologizing. “Deceit, I-” 

Logan was interrupted by pure surprise as he saw the sight that awaited him. 

Remus and Deceit were sitting on his bed, waiting with gifts in their hands and the sentence “Date us?” spelled out in what looked like typical red rose petals. But, knowing Remus, Logan had a feeling that they weren’t so typical. 

“Hey there, octo-pi,” the creative side greeted. “Deceit’s to shy to say it, but we like you and want to date you.” 

Logan felt his face go bright red and attempted to hide it behind his hand, to no avail. 

“You don’t have to hide your blushing.. I’m not,” Deceit admitted, his human half just as rosy. “Remus is right… And we got you gifts just like you’ve given us because, even if you’re not interested in a relationship, you’ve been incredibly nice to us both…” 

“Yeah, no pressure, but wouldn’t it be awkward if you said ‘no’?” Remus pointed out, hiding the fact that he was voicing his fear. 

“I… I suppose it would be..” Logan began, taking a few tiny steps forward. “But… You don’t have to worry about that. I would be interested in a romantic relationship with you both.. Actually..” he paused for a second, not knowing how the two would react to this next piece of information. “I actually thought that we were already in a relationship.. I simply said that we weren’t because I didn’t want to overwhelm the others with such information.”

Remus looked over at Deceit. “You owe Roman a dollar.” 

“Roman was in on this?” Logan asked, only half surprised. “That explains his keeping me busy…” 

“Well, we needed some time to get this ready!” Remus pointed out. “Plus, I needed more time to dye the petals.” 

“Dye them?..” Logan knew they weren’t typical, but did Remus really go through the trouble of dyeing roses? 

“Yeah! You know, like how Aphrodite’s blood created the first red roses?” 

Logan couldn’t help but smile at that. Of course Remus dyed them in blood. “I’m assuming it’s your blood?..”

“Deceit was too chicken to give his up.” 

Deceit rolled his eyes at that. For Logan, he’d give up blood, just as he had in experiments - he was just a figment of Thomas’s imagination, so it wasn’t like it’d harm him - but to give Remus the chance to have his blood? No way. 

“I don’t mind that. Deceit doesn’t have to do the same things as you for me to know that his feelings are genuine..”

Deceit felt his blush darken. “We do have presents, if you’d like to open them,” he said suddenly, hating how embarrassed he felt. 

“Of course..” Logan went over and joined them on the bed, sitting in front of them with his legs crossed as Deceit pushed his present towards him. It was shaped like some sort of book, which already clued Logan in to the fact that he might like it. He carefully pulled the wrapping paper open, finding what looked like a regular notebook. 

At first, Logan was a bit confused, Deceit knew that Logan had a surplus of empty notebooks. It wasn’t until he opened it that he truly realized what it was. Inside, Logan read a table of contents, labeled with the different things that Logan had asked about or tested as well as some things that Logan had felt Deceit might be a bit more weirded out by, such as scale patterns and how they’d spread over Deceit’s growth. 

“I know you have fun doing your own experiments, so.. I thought I’d give it a go. Maybe, if I did anything in there right, I can help you from now on… Save you some time…” In Deceit’s mind, he was showing Logan that he treasured their science time together so much that he couldn’t help but to gain an interest, to try the thing that made Logan so happy. 

And the way Deceit worded that made his point completely obvious. Logan fought back a completely goofy smile and instead, leaned forward to hug Deceit, ever so quickly kissing his cheek. One thing he’d learned outside of his experimentation was how much Deceit wanted affection, yet how awkward he felt when he actually received it. So, Logan could start small with him. 

“My turn!” Remus called out, giving his box to Logan. 

“How could I forget?” Logan asked as he grabbed the box. With absolutely no idea what could be waiting for him inside, he didn’t hesitate to open it up, gasping a bit at what he saw. “Is this real?”

“I conjured it myself! It goes with your love of Shakespeare and science.” 

Logan smiled as he held up his new human skull. “Whose was it?” 

Remus shrugged. “I made Thomas imagine reciting the skull monologue from Hamlet and it just appeared.” 

Logan nodded, too excited to ask about Remus doing such a thing to Thomas. “These are both amazing gifts..” He leaned forward once more and pulled Remus into a tight hug, knowing that he wouldn’t mind in the least. 

Remus smiled and returned the affection. “Anything for our little nerd.” 

Logan sighed contently as he felt Deceit’s hand on his back, smiling into Remus’s shoulder. He typically wasn’t one for emotions, especially not those as complicated as love, but with those two… With those two, it felt nothing short of perfect.