Pairing(s): Logicality and implied Prinxiety (I'm sorry, I had to)
Warnings: Dehydration
Note: The ending of this might be a bit rushed because it's almost 5AM and my eyes have gone blurry- wow, I can barely see the screen, oops. Hope you still enjoy!
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Autumn is by far the most aesthetically pleasing season.
Patton grins as he sits down on a bench situated just outside his campus building. To most people, the campus grounds would look rather boring since it's beginning to remind them of the work and enormous amounts of student debt they're going to have to deal with. However, those associated with Patton Montgomery are already aware of his seemingly unending optimism, so none are surprised to hear that he adores how the campus looks. Faded scarlet stone pathways curling like a snoozing worm around the university grounds, leading students to classrooms and lecture halls. Along with trees speckled beside the buildings and outlining the paths, spilling warm leaves until the pathways are almost hidden. And he has an almost overwhelming love for how the university building makes those gigantic trees look so small. He just can't get enough!
Once he's found the perfect angle, he takes out his camera from his bag and switches it on. He kneels on the ground and tilts the camera up slightly, turning it onto the mode he likes best before holding it up to his eye, holding as still as he possibly can, and snapping a picture.
With a quiet grunt of effort, he leans back against the bench and moves to stand up, checking the picture as he does so. The wooden bench is cold beneath him as he sits back down, biting the inside of his cheek anxiously as he analyses his photo. Already, he can see moiré in the bottom left corner and some unwanted blurring of the building on the right side. He sighs, disappointed.
Honestly, he should probably save up to buy a new camera or at least use a university camera, but he's so afraid of falling in love with one of them and losing the motivation to use his own that he just doesn't. 'At least the lighting is nice,' he thinks with a weak smile.
"Excuse me," a modulated voice speaks to him, causing him to flinch and snap his head in the disembodied voice's direction. "I understand that this may seem inappropriate since I'm a complete stranger to you, but my friend is severely dehydrated, would you happen to have a drink of any kind with you?"
It's another student. He's stressfully brushing his fingers through dark hair, successfully pushing it up and away from his forehead. When Patton finally processes his question, he rummages around in his backpack and pulls out a bottle of water, handing it to the student beside him. A sigh of relief slips through his lips and he thanks Patton before hurrying away. Patton watches his curiously and is extremely worried when he realises that the dehydrated friend is Virgil Rhodes, a boy in his photography class. The shorter student is slumped against another unfamiliar student, weakly allowing Logan to lift the bottle of water to his lips. Goodness, can't he even move?
Instead of concerning himself more with his camera, he places it back in his bag and speed-walks over to where the three other students are resting. They don't seem to notice him until he's close enough for them to hear his footsteps. Virgil's eyes don't even open as he leans limply against another man's shoulder, taking deep breathes and squeezing his knees lightly. The student from earlier seems too focused on his friend to greet him, but the one next to Virgil on the bench looks up and smiles politely at him. "Thanks for the water."
Patton smiles nervously back at him and nods towards Virgil, who is gaining a little more colour back to his face. "Is he going to be okay?"
"Yeah, Virgil was just a stupid person and forgot to actually eat or drink anything this morning," the student replies, rubbing Virgil's shoulder gently and then turning his head back up to look at him, "what's your name? I'm Remy and that's Logan."
A friendlier smile lights up Patton's face as he gives the three of them his name. Remy grins right back at him and invites him to hang out with them until his and Virgil's photography lesson begins. He makes himself comfortable on the ground in front of them and notices Logan's gaze flicker to him before concentrating on Virgil once again. Eventually, Virgil snickers weakly and opens his eyes, wincing at the sudden light before smirking again. "L, you're worrying about me more than usual. That's really gay."
Remy snorts and nods in agreement. "Yeah, dude. You're being really gay, right now."
For a second, Patton has to withhold a grimace and starts coming up with a reason to leave the group early. Luckily, Logan's reply allows him to relax; he rolls his eyes and sarcastically suggests, "Maybe that's because I am."
"Wait what?!" Remy feigns horror and slides the sunglasses placed atop his head back over his eyes, sniffing dramatically. "You're disowned. Now, sashay... away."
Virgil smirks a little wider. "Don't become a 'King', Rem."
"Don't even."
Beside him, Logan mumbles something about being nice to their friend, but before either of them can question him or retort, a voice Patton would kindly compare to the volume of a foghorn calls to them. "Oh, don't act like you don't adore me!"
A student dressed up in a blindingly clean red varsity jacket skips up behind the two sitting on the bench and presses a very overdramatised kiss to each of their cheeks. Remy groans and rolls his eyes, whilst Virgil vigorously rubs at his cheek with the sleeve of his jacket. The newcomer simply chuckles teasingly and shakes his head, shoving the two of them along so he can sit beside them on Virgil's side. "See, if you do that," he presses another kiss to Virgil's cheek, "I'm just going to do it again."
Remy winks at the photography student and grins. "Maybe that's why he did it."
Immediately after saying this, he lets out a pained grunt as Virgil elbows him roughly in the stomach, saying absolutely nothing, but letting his actions speak for him. Remy hisses out a 'thank you for not going any lower' and curls his arms around his stomach. It's very obvious that this has happened before. Before Patton can ask any questions, the animated student sitting in front of him finally notices his presence. "Greetings! I'm sorry I didn't notice you there. I'm Roman."
"Oh- it's fine! I'm Patton and I think Virgil likes Roman too."
Shock mixes with amusement as Remy bursts out laughing, not even watching as Virgil flushes to the roots of his hair, Roman glows pink with a smug grin, and Logan arches an eyebrow with a smirk. This time, Virgil doesn't even react, simply slouching down lower in his seat and avoiding the eyes of everybody around him. Logan claps slowly and nods in approval. "Nice one."
Patton tilts his head and smiles sheepishly. "I know I shouldn't really say that, so sorry if I've embarrassed you, Virgil."
The younger man shrugs and mumbles something incoherent before shoving his headphones on, taking out his phone and actively ignoring everyone. Logan rolls his eyes and turns to Patton with a somewhat reassuring expression. "Don't worry too much, Patton. He usually does that anyway."
Giggling, Patton assures him that he won't and waves to Virgil sweetly when they make eye contact. This time, Virgil can't help but wave back shyly, a smile twitching at the corners of his lips. Roman grins and comments on how Patton's laugh is 'absolutely adorable', but is cut off by Remy, who scolds him for flirting with someone else in front of his unofficial boyfriend. Instantly, Roman feigns surprise and cries out an 'of course' before wrapping his arm around Virgil's shoulders. Virgil flinches, startled, before glaring at the taller student and relaxing in his hold.
Logan rolls his eyes ones again. "Yes, don't scare this one off please. He actually seems like a decent person."
"Aw, thanks, Logan!"
As they chat about anything and everything for an hour or two, Patton can't help but admire Logan more and more. His voice being so clear and articulate sets Patton's nerves of meeting new people aside, though he can't fully explain why; his hazel brown eyes were bright, even when his expression was one of indifference, and Patton felt like he could trip and bump into him without him batting an eye. He doesn't quite understand why he finds Logan's calm composure attractive. Perhaps it's because it is so much different compared to himself.
Unfortunately, the time for his and Virgil's photography class arrives and he pouts sadly, tapping Virgil's knee lightly and waking up from where he had fallen half asleep on Roman's shoulder. He groans irritably and sighs, standing up and stretching. Patton turns to the rest of them and claps once, successfully getting their attention. "Okay! Who likes hugs here and who doesn't?"
Roman grins widely and holds his arms out, making Patton giggle and run into them, returning the embrace tightly. Next to him, Remy rolls his eyes fondly and offers a hug, which Patton gladly takes. Goodness, Patton hopes Logan likes hugs because despite the short amount of time they've spent together, he can already feel his stomach fluttering as he turns to him. "Hug? Or no?"
"Sure." Logan smiles and draws him for an embrace so surprisingly warm, Patton wonders whether this is actually happening.
Distantly, he can hear Roman 'oo'ing and the other two snickering. "Microsoft Nerd! You're never usually the most affectionate person, so I'm guessing you've taken quite a liking to our sweet new friend?"
God, Patton hopes so.
Logan merely clicks his tongue and flips his friend off. "Quiet."
Well, that definitely wasn't a no.
Patton mumbles this fact to him, earning a flustered squawk and blabbering nonsense for a moment. The others are clearly enjoying the show. Eventually, he chuckles and squeezes the astronomy student once before letting go, then turning to Virgil and suggesting that they leave to get to class.
Now, he's never usually so flirty, but with someone as adorably inexperienced with feelings as Logan, he simply can't help himself.
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A few months later and Patton has an assignment due for class, he has to take photos connecting to one subject and do a bunch of other stuff he wasn't too worried about. But he had to take pictures with his low quality camera. Great.
As usual, he meets with Logan, Virgil, Roman, and Remy out at the back of the campus grounds. And with the stress on his shoulders, he has never been more happy to see them. When he sits down, he immediately let's himself collapse onto Logan's shoulder. Since this has become a somewhat common occurance, the younger man continues to read through the last few pages of his book and reaches up to pat the top of his head. "Salutations, Patton. What do I owe a beating for having you so stressed today?"
Knowing his friend would never even think about using violence against another person, Patton huffs out a laugh and cuddles closer to him, feeling his heart hammer away in his chest when he hears Logan's breathing hitch. "Assignment. Have to use bad camera. Poo."
Remy smirks in his usual shades. "Too much info, Patton."
The only reply he receives is a loud groan of frustration. After a few seconds of silence, Virgil instructs Patton to sit up so they can actually see his face properly. He does so reluctantly and brushes his hair away from his face. "Sorry, I'm being selfish. How are you guys today?"
Four fond smiles shine back at him and he feels a tug in his chest. Roman shakes his head and glances over at the other three nervously. "No, we simply... want to give you an early birthday present."
"My birthday isn't until March?"
"Patton, shush."
At Virgil's demand, he snaps his mouth shut and watches as Logan takes a box wrapped in suspiciously Christmassy wrapping paper out of his bag. Once it's in his hands, Patton can feel that it's actually quite heavy, which means it could be expensive. Oh no.
Remy tuts impatiently. "Are you going to open it or not?"
Laughing lightly at his friend's comment, Patton apologises and tears the paper off the gift, eyes narrowing in confusion at the brown shoebox that's in his hands. He's never been too interested in shoes, but he'd be grateful for whatever they've bought for him, of course!
Quickly, he slides the lid off the box and gasps loudly at what's inside. It's a new camera. A Nikon D850 to be exact.
It's only when Roman calls his name that he realises he hasn't said anything yet. "This- You guys..." he pauses for a moment to think of the correct words to say, "These retail for over two-thousand dollars! How on Earth?! You didn't need to do this, you absolute sweethearts!"
Logan speaks up from behind him, his voice flat. "Oh, don't worry, we got it cheaper at-"
"Logan, don't say that!"
At Roman's scolding, the man behind him clears his throat and apologises. "Well, it wasn't that much cheaper-"
Roman's voice cries angrily again. "Logan!"
"Okay, you are sending very mixed messages right now!"
Before their arguing can continue however, Patton carefully places his gift aside and throws his arms around the three friend sitting in front of him, pressing merciless kisses to their cheeks as they laugh and return his hug. Logan smirks. "Have a smidgen of mercy, would you?"
Patton shouts his reply from where he is, smothered between three of his closest friends. "Don't you get all smug, it's your turn next!"
A pause. "Oh dear."
Soon enough, Patton releases his three friends and almost immediately launches himself at the astronomy student now sitting across from him. Though Logan does desperately try to balance the two of them, his efforts are in vain and they topple backwards with Patton pressing kisses to every inch of his face he can reach. With limits, of course.
Luckily, Logan simply chuckles and allows the attack to happen for a few moments, with only a few playful yells of 'alright, I get it'! The other three laugh and wolf whistle as they sit back up with flushed faces, that is, until Logan rips up the grass and throws it at them, causing Roman to let out a rather melodramatic cry. "I have hay-fever!"
"I know."
An indignant babble slips through Roman's lips as the others snicker at his expense. Patton grins and kisses Logan's cheek again before properly checking out his new gadget. "This is so cool! You guys are the best humans on Earth."
Virgil tucks some hair behind his ear and shrugs, gesturing to Roman. "I'm still waiting for the DNA results."
As they all, with the exception of Roman, giggle and laugh at his joke, Virgil sips his Mountain Dew and the theatre student backfires his friend's joke, folding his arms. "What, are we going to have a 'Shape of Water' situation here, hot-topic?"
Instantly, Virgil chokes on his drink and coughs loudly, not enjoying how the others laugh even louder at Roman's attempt at teasing him. Although there is a light warmth spreading through his cheeks, Virgil regains his composure and smirks over at him. "Aw, you think I'm hot."
"Well, yeah. How long is it going to take for you to actually believe me?"
And suddenly, the atmosphere is serious. Virgil inhales sharply and opens his mouth to retort, but the words die on his tongue and he shuts it again. Remy clicks his tongue and hums curtly. "That escalated quickly."
Virgil sighs heavily and packs up his things, throwing his bag on his back as he stands up. "I'm heading to class."
With a worried frown, Patton looks up at his friend, trying to keep his voice soft, but not too sympathetic (or patronising, as Virgil would say). "We don't have class for another thirty minutes."
Instead of replying, Virgil merely begins hurrying away from them and towards the photography and arts building. Roman frowns sadly and watches him leave, brows furrowing and teeth gnawing on his bottom lip. This time, a sympathetic smile does tug at Patton's lips. "Follow him."
Roman makes a few uncertain noises before nodding resolutely and standing up. He then grabs his bag, pecks Patton on the forehead, and jogs after the darkly dressed man getting further and further away from them.
After a minute of silence, Remy clears his throat and admits that he still needs to hand in an essay that was due two days earlier. Only God knows how he got the extension.
He jumps to his feet and ruffles both of his friend's' hair, snorting at the horrified squawk of Logan and stifling a fond smile at the sweet grin he receives. Then, the two of them are by themselves.
After an awkward few seconds of silence, Logan asks if Patton would like to try out his new camera, which is obviously met with an instant vigorous nod of the head. Logan smiles in amusement and stands up, waiting for Patton to do the same before leading him off to the gates around the side of the university.
Suddenly, Patton feels trapped. Like a caged lion at the zoo. Or, honestly, more like a penguin because he doesn't have the grace nor the aggression to be a lion.
They quickly find the exit and Logan glances back to ensure that his friend is still keeping up with him. He is. And he's sending him a braking smile as he's doing so, forcing a nearly unknown warmth to flood his chest.
Once they've left the university grounds, Logan guides Patton quite a walk away and to a dip in the grass, revealing a tall hill that looks over, not only the university, but far beyond that. Those trees speckled across the university now look more like a small forest, and the building beside it looks so small from here.
It's a goldmine for photography!
Patton feels his heart burst as he begins fumbling for his new camera, hearing Logan chuckle fondly next to him. When he's finally got the camera working, he looks up to see that his friend is already sitting with his head stuck in another Agatha Christie novel.
The lighting is just too perfect. And Logan is possibly one of the most beautiful humans Patton has ever seen, so why miss the perfect first shot?
Finding the best angle, he ensures that the side of Logan's face is in the picture, along with the pages of his book and the blurred scenery in front of him. Click!
When he leans back to look at his picture, he can actually pinpoint the moment when his heart stops. It's the best photo he's ever taken and he wants to cry just looking at it. He glances back up at Logan and grins. "I think I know what I want the subject of my assignment to be."
"Oh?" Logan doesn't look up at him, but he has a soft tone when he replies. "Tell me."
Patton barely resists the urge to say 'you' and smiles wider. "I want it to be 'In The Moment'."
At this, the astronomy studnrt finally lifts his head to meet his eyes and once again, Patton believes his lungs have forgotten how to function. Instead of a simply hazel brown, Logan's right eye has the reflection of icy blue. Blue...? "Logan, do you wear contacts?"
Instantly, Logan's eyes widen and he pulls out his phone to look into the front facing camera. He curses under his breathe and sighs heavily as he takes the contacts out to reveal that one eye is the colour of the sky on a calm day, whilst the other is the beautiful hazel brown from before. Patton can hardly breathe as he shifts to sit in front of the man, heart aching at the humiliated blush on his cheeks.
The words slip before he can stop them. "God, you're absolutely gorgeous."
Logan's gaze snaps to meet his, shock melting away the embarrassment and making way for a whole new kind of embarrassnent. He makes a few noises in the back of his throat that sound like they're supposed to be words, but soon gives up and flushes crimson, dropping his gaze to the ground. "Not... Not really."
"C'mon, Lo, you're smart. You can't tell me you don't see it."
"I..." Logan's voice dies and Patton immediately goes to show him the first picture he took.
When it's on the screen, he flips it round so that Logan can see it. He smiles adoringly and explains that that picture is what gave him his subject idea. "I mean, if I was allowed to have a person as my subject, I would choose you, but..."
He trails off, but Logan has already got the gist. "I... I've never seen myself in that light before."
Because it had to be the lighting. There was absolutely no way that Logan could be the one making that picture look so aesthetically pleasing. Patton shakes his head and moves just a tiny bit closer. "Sometimes... Sometimes you just have to look at yourself from a different perspective."
It's wonderfully quiet for a minute, until Logan brushes his fingers over Patton's hand. "Can I kiss you?"
Woah. Just as forward as he had always been, but Patton doesn't quite know how to speak louder than the pounding of his heart in his ears. So he just smiles shyly and nods. The pounding in his ears increases in volume until the gap between them is closed, and all he can hear is the sharp intake of breath from the man in front of him.
Patton receives an 'A' on his assignment. Not that he really cares now that he has something worth much more.