Chapter Text
“Five minutes ‘til we leave!”, Logan yells out from the living room. He looks at his navy blue and black checkered suitcase, mentally checking the items inside. Then walks over to the mirror in the corner.
“The temperature for tomorrow in the Mindscape will be a freezing 28°F. Remember to bundle up and look out for icy roads!”, a nearby radio chimes. Logan straightens out his navy collared sweater meticulously. He stops, and looks back up the staircase, waiting for someone to appear, to no avail. His mind starts to run through every worst-case scenario before he could utter out a falsehood. He takes a deep breath and walks up the stairs.
Knocking on Patton’s door first. No answer. Slowly clicking open the door, he reveals a mess of clothes, and no sign of Patton. He looks around the room, finding his suitcase nowhere to be found. Next, he knocks on Virgil’s door, starting to panic.
After finding no one behind door number two, he briskly walks over to Roman’s door. Kicking in the door open with no effort, he finds no one to protest the broken door.
“Y’know Princey is going to be quite distressed that he’s been relieved of a door”, a voice comments from behind. Logan whips around, finding Deceit standing in front of the stairs with his gloved hands on his hips.
“Do you know where the others are?”, Logan questions.
“They came here about an hour ago”, Deceit replies, nodding. Logan goes to dash down the stairs but is blocked by Deceit.
“Wait. Can I come with you?”, he asks, void of lies.
“Okay, but you get to come up with an excuse of why we were left behind”, Logan agrees, sighing.
“Sweetheart, you're asking Deceit themself to lie for you. Of course I’ve got that covered”, Deceit replies with a smirk.
Standing near the door, Deceit shrugs on a long ebony cloak with golden trim. Logan sighs.
“Are you done?”, he questions impatiently. Deceit nods.
“I’m driving”, the boy in navy replies quickly as he walks out the door.
---
Logan drives the dark car through a forest of frozen dew drops. Focusing on the road, knowing that if he paid attention to the galaxy-like decor, he would most certainly end up in the hospital.
“They’re going to love me, aren’t they? I mean, I am the embodiment of Thomas’ lies”, Deceit admits, sighing worriedly.
“They won’t hate you, Deceit. They will probably feel more surprised than dislike upon our arrival”, Logan replies.
“You of all people know how much they love the ones who disagree with crazy antics”, Deceit scoffs. It was Logan’s turn to sigh.
“They may be upset with how you present yourself currently, although you can change their particular viewpoints on your behavior by acting less like a villain”
Deceit scoffs again, “You’re basically saying to not be who I am in order for the others to like me. That’s rich coming from Logic themself”
“Well, I mean that in the most affectionate way possible. I am just getting to a conclusion that will most likely make the others to be more friendly towards you”
“So basically I should put on a more . . . heroic persona?”
“Not exactly. That is Roman’s job. Or at least he thinks it is. Just try to be more open and welcoming and you’ll soon partake of the rewards”
“‘Partake of the rewards?’ Ok, fine. Even though I completely know what you’re talking about, I’ll try it. Take the next exit and we’ll be halfway there”
---
“What do you mean that Logan isn’t here?”, Patton asks, wheeling their suitcase inside the cabin.
“I mean, he isn’t here. I thought he was in the back reading or something!”, Roman replies, wondering if he actually saw Logan get ready.
“This is why Princey shouldn’t be in charge of the checklist”, Virgil mutters as he tries to take out a large backpack.
“Hey! I heard that, Edward Sullen”, Roman teases. Virgil smirks.
“Yeah yeah, now help me with these”, Virgil replies. Roman stands next to Virgil, looking at the mess of bags.
“Which ones do you need help with?”, Roman asks.
“Just the ones that are yours”
“Which ones are mine?”
“Most of it. Good luck”
Roman takes a deep breath as he starts to get out several bags. Virgil walks into the cabin to see what’s keeping Patton. He sees a silver car in the garage.
“Hey, Roman?”, he asks.
“Yeah?”, Roman manages to get out while he scrambles to stop an avalanche of bags.
“We’re the only ones who rented the cabin, right?”, Virgil asks.
“Probably. Logan has the receipt”, Roman adds before he safely puts all the bags down. Virgil looks at the car suspiciously before he enters the cabin. He hears several people talking.
---
“We have our receipt, but it’s with Logan”, Patton defends. He stands in front of two other people. The taller one has sunglasses, a leather jacket paired with ripped jeans, and a sassy attitude that anyone could sense. The shorter one had a beige sweater vest on, glasses that reminded Virgil of Logan and Patton, and a feeling that you could tell them anything, and they would give you amazing advice. In other words, they were almost complete opposites besides their similar facial features and hair.
“How many of you even are there? Nevermind. We had this place booked four weeks in advance so if you and your little Scooby Gang could skedaddle, we would be gucci”, the taller one snaps.
“Pardon him, he’s just a little annoyed that there isn’t a coffee shop within a five mile radius. I’m sure we can all get this all sorted out”, the shorter one apologizes. Virgil walks over to Patton.
“What’s going on here?”, he asks. Patton looks back at Virgil.
“Oh! Hey Virge, we’re just talking about the cabin. Can you call Logan for me?”, Patton greets. Virgil nods, and calls up Logan. It rings several times before someone picks up.
“Welcome to Chili’s”, a voice greets from the other line. Virgil rolls his eyes.
“Where’s Logan, Deceit?”, he questions.
“Logan’s a little preoccupied right now. Come back later”, Deceit chimes. Virgil sighs.
“I need to talk to him. It’s about the cabin. And why on earth did you answer Logan’s phone?”, Virgil questions once more. He can hear Deceit grudgingly hand the phone over to Logan.
“What is it, Virgil?”, Logan promptly answers.
“Patton wants to talk to you”
“Well . . . okay fine. I’m driving, just so you know. I cannot be on the phone for a long period of time”
Virgil walks back into the house and hands the phone to Patton. He takes the phone from Virgil and walks into the kitchen.
“Hey Lolo!”, Patton chimes.
“Salutations. Is this all you were calling me for? I remember asking you to try not to call my personal cell for such frivolous matters”, Logan sighs. “But I digress. What is . . . up? I left my notecards in my jacket pocket. My apologies”
“Oh, it’s okay, kiddo. I know you’ve got to do some things, but by any chance, do you have the receipt for the cabin?”
Deceit takes the phone.
“Hey, Pat. Logan’s driving right now, and there’s some ice on the road, so he just threw the phone at me”
“Falsehood. I merely handed the phone to him because the driving conditions are too hazardous to proceed while distracted”
“Yeah, yeah. It’s been a long drive. So, I’ve got the receipt here, what’re you looking for?”
“Can you see if anywhere it says that we’re the only ones who rented the cabin”
“Nope. It says it’s a split house, meaning that we did sign up to share the cabin with whoever else is there”
“Oh ok. Thanks, Dee”
“Wait. Logan wants me to tell you we’ll be there in a few minutes”
“Yay! I can’t wait to see you two. Bye!”
Patton hangs up and walks back into the house.
“So, we ended up sharing this cabin with you”, Patton says, nervously. He hands the phone back to Virgil. The taller one sighs.
“We checked ours, too. I guess we’re roomies. Oh, by the way, my name is Dr. Emile Picani”, the shorter one replies. They look at the taller one.
“I’m Remy or Sleep. You can basically call me anything, just don’t call me late for dinner”, the taller one greets. Patton chuckles and holds out his hand to Emile.
“I’m Patton”, he pauses, shaking Emile’s hand. He motions to Virgil. “This is Virgil. Roman is outside unpacking his things. And Logan and Deceit are almost over here. We’re a big group”
Emile smiles at Patton.
“Well, I hope we can all get along”, Emile replies.