The Voice Of Reason ~ Part 1

The Voice of Reason ~ Part 1

Synopsis: Logan is growing more and more frustrated about being ignored. But fortunately, a certain rat affiliated Duke knows how to help. ;)

*Disclaimer for alcohol use

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"It happened again," Logan muttered to himself, sitting at his desk piled with scrapped schedules and forgotten papers. Next to him sat a tall bottle of wine; he had stopped seeing the purpose in pouring it into a glass. He said it again, this time in disbelief,

"It happened again."

Earlier that day, Thomas had the supposed fortune of winning two tickets to a Broadway performance of, "The Lion King," an apparent honor that brought him great joy. Logan didn't care much about it. Theatre was never his thing. But everyone else ecstatic. Patton happily listed all the friends Thomas could possibly bring with him, while Janus suggested he forget about the second ticket and use this as a chance to please himself. Even Virgil seemed slightly cheerful about the situation. All this joy ceased however when Roman proposed the idea of bringing Nico.

Roman, being the hopeless romantic he is, thought that it would be the perfect opportunity for Thomas to confess his feelings to Nico. Janus and Patton however, were not too thrilled of that idea, and believed that Thomas should be focusing on himself. Roman argued that the companionship of Nico would improve his mental health, which would be beneficial to everyone. But Janus and Patton wouldn't listen, and refused to let Thomas bring Nico. Virgil quickly sided with Roman (a huge shock to everyone), claiming that they may not have a better opportunity, and that Thomas has a habit of letting good things slip away from him.

And so, a huge fight broke out. To Logan, this situation was blown way out of proportions for no good reason. He argued that Thomas could bring Nico without having to make romantic advances towards him. But they ignored him, only acknowledging him when he was able to give information that supported their own point of view. Eventually, Logan got tired of their extremism and left. As far as he was aware, no one noticed or even cared.

A situation like this would leave anyone agitated. But there was one thing that made it truly upsetting to Logan: This has happened before. Several times before.

In several occasions before this one, the sides have gotten into many arguments over situations that really weren't that serious. Logan would try to point out the absurdity in the situation, only to be ignored, and only to be heard when providing exposition. Example, once the sides created a court setting to decide if Thomas should go to a callback or to his friend's wedding. Thomas could have easily explained the situation to his friends, and they would have likely been understanding. But Logan didn't have time to mention this, for after being questioned by Janus, he was benched for the rest of the trial. No one protested. When Remus introduced himself, the sides panicked, seeing Remus as a threat. Logan of course knew he wasn't, and he was actually able to tell them that, but only after the sides saw no other option. When Thomas went to the wedding, he felt like he missed out on a huge opportunity, leading to Patton sharing his flawed ideas of selflessness. Logan tried to point the absurdity in Patton's thinking. But Patton didn't like that, and he was literally pulled away from the scene. No one cared.

But the most frustrating instance of this, to him, was when he tried to convince Thomas to clean. Thomas' apartment was a figurative wreck, so Logan created a schedule for Thomas to clean it. He was so excited when Thomas went along with it. But then Remus showed up, and filled Thomas' head with thoughts that kept him distracted. Thus, Logan had to put aside his schedule for Thomas' sake. And he was fine with that. He thought that if he was able to deal with Remus, he would still be able to get most of his activities completed. He would be able to get something done. But he wouldn't go away. And he wouldn't listen. Eventually Nico called, offering a chance to hang out. Thomas immediately accepted, leaving behind the schedule he didn't even start. He still had not cleaned his apartment.

And now he was being ignored again. And he didn't know what else to do. He did everything he could think of, and they still wouldn't listen. And so he sat at his small messy desk, drinking a whole bottle of wine as he vented to the only person who would listen: Himself.

"They never listen to me. Never! It doesn't make any sense. I'm the voice of reason, I know what's best!..." he lamented, taking a large sip of wine while doing so, "I may not be the most empathetic or friendly side, but I've gotten better. I've been trying to do better! I've made an effort to understand Roman and Patton's passionate ways. I've tried to be less invasive in their eccentric activities. And I've compromised my wants and goals for the sake of theirs. But they never do the same for me! Why can't they do the same for me?"

Hours passed as he ranted to himself. One bottle of wine turned into two and a half. His anger had grown and gown and at this point he was practically yelling.

"I do so much for them! I try to help by giving my point of view, but they don't want it. For why would they want my opinions? They only need me for exposition! All I can do is spout information! Not all of it is necessary though. No. They only bother to hear when they know it benefits them! In any other case, I should keep my mouth shut!" He took another large gulp of wine. "I can do so much more than what they want from me! I'm literally the voice of reason! But at this point, they listen to Janus more than me. And they barely know him! It's like they- it's like-... It's like he's..."

Before he could finish his figurative train of thought, he heard a sudden rustling behind him, accompanied by an obnoxious giggle. Logan turned around in shock, readjusting his tie. As he scanned the room, he noticed two black boots poking out from under his bed. He sighed in agitation, immediately recognizing them.

"Remus, is there a particular reason you've decided to lay under my bed?" Logan asked. Remus slid out in a pout.

"Damnit! You caught me!" Remus whined, "I was gonna choke you in your sleep when you decided to go to bed!"

Logan rolled his eyes. This behavior was typical of the Duke. And ever since he revealed himself to Thomas, he was especially eager to bother Logan. Logan tried to hide the empty bottles of wine, and made a feeble attempt to organize the piles of papers scattered on his desk.

"Is there any other reason he came to visit?" Logan asked, hoping he would leave now that he had been caught.

"Oh yeah, actually. I was only under your bed for shits and giggles. I'm really here to catch you up on Thomas' recent little dilemma, since you decided to abandon us halfway through."

"Oh?" Why would Remus want to tell him what happened? Surely he had no good intentions. But Logan supposed that what Remus had to say couldn't be that bad. And he would like to know how their conversation went after he left.

"Alright Remus," Logan inquired, "what happened while I was gone?" Remus snickered, eager to tell Logan what he missed out on.

"Well, to make a reeeeeeeeeeally long story short, Daddy Patty and Janny were making some good points, and that got Virgil real mad, so he blurted out that he would rather have Thomas lose Nico than lose everyone else because of Janus. Yeah, turns out he didn't believe in Roman's point AT ALL, and was only using it as an excuse to keep Thomas from listening to Janus. After that, they had this super juicy confrontation about it, and Pat-Pat was able to convince Virgil to join their side. But Roman WAS NOT DEALING WITH THAT. Ha! Yeah, he got suuuuuuuuuper upset and kicked all of us sides out of his room! Guess he got insecure or something. But after like- I dunno- thirty minutes? We went back to his room and had this SUPER lame conversation about how, 'We love him unconditionally,' and how, 'Roman's sooooooo important somehow.' Ugh! Yeah it was dumb. And they even made me apologize for killing him! Not actually sorry though. Hee hee! But yeah, that's what happened." Remus then stared at Logan with a cheeky grin, waiting to hear Logan's response to his 'wonderful' summary.

"Well..." Logan replied in uncertainty, "how did it end?"

"End?" Remus questioned him with a laugh, "I've already told you, we all apologized to Roman. I'm starting to think that alcohol you're bad at hiding is starting to mess with your head."

"No, how did the debate end? What was Thomas's final decision?"

"The final decision?..." Remus paused for a moment. Then a mischievous smile grew on his face, "Oh, it was a lame conclusion honestly. No one even won! Thomas decided that he would bring Nico along without confessing; a compromise! I hate compromises! they're so boring!"

...

What?

Logan stood there for a moment, trying to process Remus' answer. Then he responded, almost with a laugh, "Remus, is this some form of jesting? It won't work on me."

"Are you calling me a liar?" Remus barked, feigning offense, "Listen, I don't hide the facts, and the fact is, they came to a compromise!"

"Wha- But that doesn't make any sense," Logan chuckled in disbelief, "that was what I was telling them to do, and they didn't listen to me. Why would they ignore my suggestions only to come to the same conclusion later on?"

"I don't know..." Remus said with too much innocence, "Have you ever considered that you're not relevant anymore?"

And as quick as Remus said that, Logan's attempt to keep his composure collapsed.

The Voice of Reason ~ Part Two (And the Final Part)

Synopsis: Logan is getting more and more frustrated about being ignored. But fortunately, a certain rat affiliated Duke knows how to help. ;)

As you can tell from the title, this is the second part. Go read the first part so you can understand what's going on!

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"Wha- But that doesn't make any sense," Logan chuckled in disbelief, "that was what I was telling them to do, and they didn't listen to me. Why would they ignore my suggestions only to come to the same conclusion later on?"

"I don't know..." Remus said with too much innocence, "Have you ever considered that you're not relevant anymore?"

And as quick as Remus said that, Logan's attempt to keep his composure collapsed.

"Get out of my room!" Logan threw a book at Remus, hitting him in the face.

"Why do you even bother telling me these things?" Logan snapped, "Do you find that much pleasure in making my day worse? Everyday I get up and I work as hard as I possibly can to ensure that Thomas--and by association, all of us--can live a happy, healthy lifestyle! You think it's 'fun' to laugh at that effort? You have no idea how much work that is! I make plan after plan and schedule after schedule. I keep the other sides from making reckless mistakes. I keep Thomas from making reckless mistakes. Everyday I put in so much effort! And on top of all that, most of these efforts aren't wanted by them. They don't care about my efforts!.. They ignore my efforts... They- they-"

Logan stopped rambling, realizing how irrational he was acting. He also saw that he wasn't proving anything to Remus anyways, for all his actions did was send Remus into a maniacal fit laughter. Along with that, he began to notice a cold and strange tingling sensation run down his face. He lifted his hand to his cheek to feel what it was... Logan was crying.

How could this be possible? Logan didn't cry. Logan couldn't cry. Crying was a response to pain. Logan wasn't in pain, he was physically fine. That could only mean the pain is emotional. But that was impossible. Logan didn't have emotions. Logan was logic. And logic can't feel emotions. Logic is reasonable. But before he could ask himself anymore questions, he began speak out to Remus, his words spilling out before he could process what he was even saying.

"Oh no," he wept, "oh no, Remus you're right. I'm not relevant anymore! I was never the most exciting side, or the nicest, or the most pleasant, but they were able to deal with me. They dealt with me because I was important. I was able to make decisions they couldn't. I was the voice of reason. And so I was one of them. But things are changing, Remus. The questions Thomas has, the choices he has to make, they aren't rooted in logic anymore. I can't answer them. And now that I can't there's no purpose in the others dealing with me--I'm not the voice of reason anymore. I thought if I tried to be kinder they would still at least want me, but it seems that I'm not nice enough to hide that I'm essentially useless now..."

At this point Remus had stopped cackling and just stood there in silence, completely stunned and unsure of what to do. He knew when he arrived that he would upset Logan--that was his goal--but he had no idea that Logan would start crying over it.

"They're going to replace me Remus, I'm going to be replaced!" Logan continued, still sobbing, "They're already replacing me! Janus is taking my place! He's so clever, so well put together, but most of all, he's reasonable! He understands the questions Thomas has now. He can answer his questions. Thomas and Patton have already started to warm up to him, it's only matter of time before they all accept him. And then he will be the voice of reason! And all I will be able to offer is exposition... He'll do a better job anyways, he actually knows what he's doing! I make so many mistakes--I can't even think rationally enough to not cry!"

His sobs grew louder and louder as he lost the ability to speak. Remus was still standing there, now even more unsure of what to do. Should he tell someone? Surely at least one of them cared about him enough to comfort him, and he definitely wasn't qualified to do it himself... Wait--why did he care? He didn't like Logan. He didn't like him at all! Logan was an arrogant know-it-all, and he always got in the way of his plans. He came here because he wanted Logan to get upset! So should he go? He got what he wanted, so there was no point in staying... No... Remus had no reason to care, but for some reason--for some strange reason--he couldn't help but feel extreme pity seeing the man who showed nothing but indifference and agitation towards his antics act so depressingly pathetic.

"Hey don't cry," Remus whispered as comfortingly as he knew how, "there's nothing wrong with being a little useless. People love useless characters!"

That had the opposite effect. Logan began crying even more violently.

"Well there's no point in crying about it if you know it's inevitable!" Remus blurted out, "Either accept your new purpose in life or find a way to keep the one you had!" Then Remus got an sudden idea. An idea with no flaws in his eyes. The only thing that could go wrong was if Logan refused.

"Hey, hey, stop crying," he whispered again, though with more energy, "I know how you can become the voice of reason again."

That caught Logan's attention.

Remus would help him keep his place? How? And why? Logan thought to himself for a moment. There was a remarkably low chance Remus' plan would actually work, and an even lower chance he had good intentions... But at this point, any solution was worth hearing out. He tried to cease his sobs.

"Well, if you really have a possible solution," Logan sniveled, "then tell me how I can maintain my position as the voice of reason." Remus grinned eagerly.

"You know how you earlier you said they kept you around despite not being nice or exciting?"

"Yes?..."

"And you know how you tried to be nice when you stopped knowing all the answers?"

"Of course, how couldn't I?"

"And you know how that failed?"

"Where are you going with this?"

"Well you said you weren't nice or exciting. You tried to be nice, and that didn't work. So have you considered being more exciting?"

Logan was perplexed. He didn't really think of that. The others were always agitated when he spoke up, so he decided to speak less. But what if he spoke more?

"See, your problem is that you don't stand out enough," Remus explained, "The other sides have such extreme opinions that yours get kicked to the curb. If you want them to listen, you've gotta be as drastic as they are."

"And how exactly do I do that?"

"Well, the other sides do several extreme things. And you're a pansy, so I know you won't do that. So instead of doing several small things, you should one great thing..." Remus' grin grew larger and more mischievous.

"You have reasoned with me long enough, just tell me what to do!"

Knock. Knock.

Out of completely nowhere, the two of them suddenly heard knocking at Logan's door. After a ominously long moment of silence, his door began to slowly creak open. An orange mist started to fill the room. Logan's eyes stayed fixated on the door, contemplating what could possibly be happening right now. Remus' smile grew wider; he knew what was to come. When the door was completely opened, the haze started to fade, revealing who it was at the door.

"Hey, I heard that you're 'friends' have a problem with ignoring you," he said, "I can help with that..."

Husk: Aw man, I can't believe I lost my soul to Alastor!

Husk: Well... It could be worse... At least I still have my clothes.

Alastor: : D

Guys.

What if when the Orange Side reveals himself, he berates Virgil for leaving the Dark Sides because they used to be very close and he felt betrayed and abandoned when he left?

Yep. All the sides are autistic.

headcanon that roman is autistic and has a disney special interest. (hes just like me.)

I'm always a hoe for Logan angst.

AND NO ONE TAKES YOU SERIOUSLY.

/nf