BIRDS OF A FEATHER* @locknteagues - Tumblr Blog

Character Intro

never did agnes imagine she would feel empathy towards someone from underland. it just reminded agnes it was unfair for her to make snap judgements like that. not everyone from underland was evil or was on board with what hades and the hell barons were doing. "that's -" agnes couldn't even muster a sarcastic comment.

"you're absolutely right, though." she was glad that the topic of the conversation shifted a little. "chaos, fear, anger. you're right it made people hate him and look where that got him." but agnes also considered... weren't there people would also used hate as a form of control? agnes could only hope that she wouldn't be controlled by any of these things.

logan's statement made agnes pause that all she could do was tilt her head. "are you not trying to save the place?" she asked point blank. if she were to think about it, logan did have a point. could snake eyes even be saved, considering how deep the operations have run for the past few years? as much as logan could make changes, it wasn't like he could truly transform and renew the place. when something is rotten, can you truly save it? can you reverse what happened and undo its rottenness?

"well, what do you even plan on doing with the place?"

locknteagues

Logan was quiet for a moment after Agnes asked the question. The truth was he didn't have some grand vision. Not like Orion had. A slow drag from his cigarette filled the silence before he finally spoke. "I don't know." The admission came without shame. Logan had never been the type to pretend he had answers he didn't possess. "A few months ago, I wasn't planning on running a casino. I wasn't planning on being a Baron either." The corner of his mouth twitched faintly. "Most days I'm still surprised this is my office."

His gaze lingered on a blackjack table where a group of patrons were arguing good-naturedly amongst themselves. "Snake Eyes was never really mine. I inherited it. The territory. The employees. The problems." He shrugged one shoulder. "I'm figuring it out as I go." Agnes' question wasn't unfair. If anyone looked at the changes he'd made since taking over, they might assume he was trying to save the place. Maybe part of him was. Just not in the way people expected.

"I don't think places like this get saved," he admitted after a moment. "The Underland is still the Underland. People come here to gamble. To make deals. To disappear for a while. That's not going to change because I own the building now." His cigarette glowed faintly between his fingers as he leaned against the railing. "But I can make sure people get paid. I can make sure my employees go home at the end of the night. I can make sure nobody gets hurt because some asshole in charge thinks suffering builds character."

For a while Logan had spent his life surviving beneath people who enjoyed making others miserable. Orion. His father. Hades, on his worse days. He knew what that looked like. He had no interest in becoming another version of them. "Maybe that's not enough for some people," he continued. "But I'm not interested in fixing the entire city. I'm not a hero, Agnes. Never wanted to be one. Never even had the thought about it. I guess I just want to do the best I can."

#t h r e a d ✧ ⎨agnes h.⎬

shegonen

Semra and Drakken had gotten a crash course on the who's who in the Underland. A crash course would be a generous term given they were simply offered names and brief photos. Everything else she had learned about the Hell Barons or the Underland itself was through her own investigations. Word of mouth traveled far. Information was currency. The more you knew, the more valuable you could be. If people knew who you rubbed shoulders with, and you could be the richest person in the Underland. Being Hades adjacent got you far, even for a 'sidekick'.

"Is that not how people get ahead here? Force and intimidation?" Semra questioned the ridiculously tall man. The neon lights above cascaded over his figure. Semra had to shield her eyes from the bright fluorescent lights to get a better look at him. Her neck would surely be sore from how far she had to crane it up. When he stepped out of the way, Semra made hers closer to the bar.

"You're observant." She remarked, annoyed that her 'new in town' title stuck to her like a bad stench. "What a shame. Not even a welcome drink. Well, businessman. If it's such a bad investment, how should I go about greeting my fellow outcasts?"

locknteagues

Logan watched her for a moment through the haze of cigarette smoke. "Sometimes." The answer came easily enough. Force. Intimidation. Violence. They all worked...until they didn't. His gaze drifted across Inferno before settling back on her. "You can usually tell who's new by how hard they try."

At the mention of the welcome drink, the corner of his mouth twitched faintly. "No such thing as free around here." Logan shifted slightly, making room for a bartender carrying a tray through the crowd.

Her next question earned a quiet hum. How should she greet people? "Depends who you're talking to." A drag from his cigarette. "But threatening strangers usually isn't my first choice." His eyes flicked toward her again. There was confidence there. Plenty of it. Maybe too much. Or maybe it was covering something else. Hard to tell.

Logan wasn't in the habit of digging unless he had a reason. "You'll figure it out." The music pounded around them while neon lights painted shifting colors across the bar. Finally, he nodded toward her drink. "Welcome isn't a thing around here." Not exactly warm. But not unfriendly either. For Logan, it was practically hospitality.

#t h r e a d ✧ ⎨semra g.⎬

––– ❛ closed starter for; @chessmorrigan

Snake Eyes had changed a lot in the last few months. The lights were still bright. The drinks were still overpriced. People still lost money they couldn't afford to gamble away. But the tension was different now. Logan preferred it that way. From his spot overlooking the casino floor, he watched patrons move between tables while dealers called bets and slot machines chimed endlessly in the background. The balcony offered him the perfect vantage point to monitor the floor without actually having to talk to anyone. A perk he fully intended to abuse.

His cigarette burned lazily between his fingers as he scanned the crowd below. Then he spotted Chess. Immediately, Logan understood why several employees had complained. Not because Chess was causing problems. Actually, he wasn't causing any problems. He was just surprisingly good at whatever Logan showed him and the other employees were starting to get jealous.

He didn't really understand why he'd hired the odd being. He wasn't fully convinced Chess was human. He's grown up in a town of many 'mythical' creatures so his instincts tended to be right. None of it mattered, if he was honest. Chess was good at the job and Logan may have a soft spot for the outsider. He found himself standing behind the other who he'd positioned at blackjack tonight. "How's it going?"

#t h r e a d ✧ ⎨chess m.⎬

––– ❛ closed starter for; @mavisvaduva

The penthouse was quiet when Logan finally got home. Not silent but quiet enough that he could hear the distant hum of traffic below and the soft crackle of rain against the windows. Snake Eyes had drained him tonight. Too many meetings. Too many problems. Too many people expecting him to have answers simply because he sat in Orion’s old chair now. Baron. The title still sat strangely on him. Logan loosened the knot of his tie as he stepped through the apartment door, shoulders aching beneath his coat. The lights were low, warm against the dark interior, and for the first time all day his guard loosened by a fraction. Because she was here.

His eyes found Mavis almost immediately, and something inside him softened so fast it nearly hurt. There she is. The thought came instinctively now. Every time. He shut the door behind him quietly before crossing the apartment without much ceremony, exhaustion visible in the heaviness of his movements. Logan wasn’t dramatic about his feelings. Never had been. Most people only got indifference or sarcasm out of him on a good day. Mavis got what was underneath it. By the time he reached her, his hands were already finding her waist, pulling her gently against him like muscle memory.

Logan lowered his head immediately, burying his face against her shoulder with a long exhale that sounded suspiciously close to relief. “Hey,” he murmured quietly. Just that single word muffled against her skin while his arms wrapped tighter around her. Like he needed the contact to remind himself he’d made it back. The city demanded pieces of him every day now. Hades demanded more. Snake Eyes demanded the version of Logan who could make hard decisions without blinking.

This was the only place he didn’t have to perform. His grip tightened slightly before he finally pulled back enough to look at her properly, tired eyes softer than they ever were anywhere else. “You awake waiting for me,” he asked quietly, thumb brushing absentmindedly against her side, “or did I interrupt your daily meditation?”

#t h r e a d ✧ ⎨mavis v.⎬#a silly lovesick pup

violetheroism

open starter

location: main street bakery (old elias)

sat at one of the outdoor tables, violet held the beautiful invitation in her hand. somehow a few crumbs from her spongecake had fallen on it, so she brushed them off with her fingers. but not even a sprinkle of sugar revealed the paper to be anything more than just —

"paper. it's just...paper," she frowned. "but, of course, it's just paper. evil, red herring paper."

violet's frown was set. when a ray of sunlight made her squint, she had the brilliant idea of holding it up to the sun, thinking the paper might undergo somekind of chemical reaction and reveal invisible ink, but all that happened was her accidentally whacking someone with it.

"—sorry!"

locknteagues

Logan had been enjoying the rare five minutes of relative silence before the universe decided to physically assault him with stationery. The paper smacked against the side of his head with all the force of an aggressively polite greeting. He blinked once. Then his eyes shifted toward Violet, who looked approximately one second away from dissolving into embarrassment. “Hm,” Logan muttered, plucking the invitation from where it had half-folded against his shoulder. “I’ve definitely had worse things thrown at me.”

His gaze dropped briefly to the paper itself, eyes skimming over the elaborate design before flicking back toward her. The sunlight caught faintly against the small horns curling through his dark hair as he leaned back slightly in his chair. “Although,” he added dryly, “calling something ‘evil red herring paper’ immediately makes me want to know what’s wrong with it.”

Logan held the invitation up toward the light experimentally like he fully intended to help investigate now that he’d been involuntarily recruited into whatever this was. He handed it back to her between two fingers before glancing toward the half-destroyed spongecake nearby. “You’re either solving a mystery,” he observed, “or having a very intense disagreement with arts and crafts.”

#t h r e a d ✧ ⎨violet p.⎬

thecoloristinparis

Jacob Elordi.

#* // 𝖗𝖊𝖋𝖑𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓 → ⸢ 𝕔𝕦𝕣𝕣𝕖𝕟𝕥 ⸥

1nquirer

"you sound so surprised." she tried her best to stop the statement from sounding too much like a question. she understood where he was coming from. being nice in the underland is unheard of.

she tried changing the subject. "spreadsheets, huh?" agnes grinned. "i cannot imagine orion sitting down with spreadsheets." but those spreadsheets... agnes wondered if there were gaps in them, and if there were, what can she do about it? she made a mental note to ask logan about it someday. not today. "perhaps, the dramatic criminal empire was never a part of this, only something that exists because of orion and his desire for power."

the way logan was talking about the employees gave agnes confidence. there was chance that snake eyes could become a legitimate place of business—instead of some stupid place where horrifying deals are made in.

"definitely," agnes said. "they appreciate that their new boss is actually looking out for their wellbeing. i don't understand why people down here employ fear as their motivation tactic when we wall know camaraderie works better." she clenched and unclenched her fists. "you're at a position to make a change here. you shouldn't throw that away."

locknteagues

Logan let out a quiet huff through his nose that almost resembled a laugh at her first comment. “I am surprised,” he admitted plainly. “Most people don’t come down to the Underland to ask emotionally vulnerable questions. Usually they’re threatening me, lying to me, or trying to sell me something illegal.” His cigarette glowed faintly between his fingers as his gaze drifted back over the casino floor below them.

“Orion liked chaos because it made people easier to control,” Logan said after a moment. “Hard to notice someone’s stealing from you when everything’s already on fire.” His tone stayed detached, observational more than emotional. “He thought fear made him untouchable.” A shrug lifted one shoulder lazily. “Mostly it just made everyone hate him.”

The music below thumped steadily beneath their feet while Logan watched one of the dealers laugh about something with a cocktail waitress near the roulette tables. Small things. Tiny shifts in atmosphere he’d started noticing more lately. “You say that like I’m trying to save the place,” he remarked dryly. Snake Eyes was still a casino in the Underland. Deals still happened here. Criminals still filtered through its doors every night looking for money, leverage, distractions, somewhere to disappear for a few hours.

Logan knew exactly what kind of place he was running. “I just don’t see the point in making people miserable for fun,” he admitted after a pause. “Fear keeps people obedient for a while. Then eventually they either turn on you or stop caring if they survive. I'm not hero. I'm not interested in being one either. I'm just trying to survive and I need employees to do that."

#t h r e a d ✧ ⎨agnes h.⎬

shegonen

#𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗋𝗍𝖾𝗋 ›› ft. semra gonen location: inferno status: 0/5

——— in truth, semra didn't know what to expect when dr. d had proposed they move their operations to a new city. middleton had grown stale after a while. any crimes they had tried to commit had been thwarted by a goodie-toes teenager and her bumbling sidekick. there was a part of semra that had miss the fight. the routine of a nemesis and having someone to push her to be, well, evil. the underland provided that opportunity. however, there was no little miss kimberly to try and stop her this time. it was a delicious thought knowing anything went here. there were no rules, no restrictions. just pure chaos. she was excited to see how she got her hands dirty. the only downside to the underland was the scenery. or better yet the lack thereof. at least in middleton there were some damn trees. still, she had decided to familiarize herself with the city. inferno seemed like the best place to dip her feet in. she would be able to let loose but also scope out the city and the people who lived here. she made her way to the bar, ready to give the bartender her order when another body stepped in front of her. "are you going to buy me a drink or get out of my way?" she asked abruptly. there was a sickeningly sweet smile on her face but no sugar in her words whatsoever. "because if it's the latter you have two seconds to move before i move you myself."

locknteagues

Logan didn’t move, not immediately anyway. He stood at the bar like he belonged there, which, technically, he did. One elbow rested lazily against the counter while the low red lighting of Inferno carved sharp shadows across his features. The music pounding through the club should’ve drowned the conversation out, but her voice cut through it cleanly enough to catch his attention.

Logan took a drag from his cigarette before finally speaking. “Bit aggressive for someone trying to get free alcohol,” he remarked dryly. Still, he stepped aside just enough to clear space at the bar. Not intimidated, just far too tired to start a fight with some random woman. His gaze stayed on her another moment longer, curious in that detached sort of way he had when trying to figure someone out.

“You’re new,” he observed bluntly. “I’m not buying you a drink. You probably shouldn't threaten anyone within the first thirty seconds if that's what you really want. Feels like a bad investment."

#t h r e a d ✧ ⎨semra g.⎬

1nquirer

why was she here, really? it's not like orion was on good terms with her; she couldn't stand the man, but there was an implicit understanding between them that he could help her find out the truth about her parents. by gods, she was about to strike a deal with him. however, with him gone, there was no point. answers slipped through her fingers and agnes kept telling herself that she was mourning that, rather than the death of orion, of all people.

maybe she was better off with him gone. who knew what kind of nasty loopholes he would include in that deal.

nonetheless, snake eyes had fallen into logan's hands, and agnes wondered if there was a way to appeal to this new management. she hoped there was some goodness in him she could appeal to, but if not, she had some new training that she wouldn't mind putting to use.

"not really a favour, just wanted to talk to you." agnes answered. "we've never really spoken in this context — with you owning snake eyes. i want to know how... well, how you're doing."

locknteagues

Logan looked at her for a second like he was trying to decide if the question was genuine. That alone already made this conversation stranger than most he had in Snake Eyes. People usually came to him wanting something now. Territory access. Information. Protection. Money. Threats disguised as negotiations. The list could go on. Nobody really stopped by the Underland to ask a man running a casino built on crime how he was feeling.

Agnes had apparently decided to be the first. “Huh,” he muttered softly, cigarette balanced between his fingers. “That’s… weirdly nice.” His gaze drifted back over the casino floor below them, lights reflecting faintly in his eyes as he leaned more of his weight against the railing.

“I’m alright,” he answered after a moment. “Busy. Turns out running a place like this involves significantly more spreadsheets than I thought.” A pause. “Little disappointing honestly. I was promised dramatic criminal empire vibes.”

“People aren’t constantly looking over their shoulders waiting for him to snap anymore. Makes management easier.” His mouth twitched faintly, though the expression never fully became a smile. “Funny what productivity improves when employees aren’t psychologically tortured for sport.”

#t h r e a d ✧ ⎨agnes h.⎬

skellingtonisms

snake eyes was one of the few places in this world that jasper had marked off as forbidden territory. it would have been masochistic of him to be there right in the palm of orion's hand. their unwilling game of cat and mouse had gone on for so many years that jasper had just grown used to the discomfort. the moment a semblance of peace came into his life, it had been pulled away by the boogie man himself. for so long, jasper had been orion's obsession.

for the first time in his life, he finally felt free.

in truth, he didn't know what to do with himself now. there was a small part of him that still held the irrational fear that orion would dig himself from his grave and come back to haunt him, but jasper was tired of letting his fears get the better of him. he was tired of orion causing him anxiety even from beyond the grave.

how does the master of fright conquer his irrational fears? head on. it's how he found himself walking into snake eyes. a chill ran up his spine as he took in the decor of the casino. it's exactly how he imagined it would have been. soul sucking. the skeleton maneuvered himself through the crowd of patrons. the loud music blasting in his ears didn't bug him anymore. he was now used to high levels after being dragged to many raves by donnie. still, he hated crowds. there would never come a time when it didn't feel suffocating. eventually, his eyes landed on a familiar face.

"none of the above. i simply came to see if .. it was true."

locknteagues

Logan studied him for a moment without saying anything.Not startled. Not defensive. Just… observant. He had to admit that this was unexpected. Jasper looked out of place in Snake Eyes. Too refined for the noise, too composed for the desperation dripping from the casino floor beneath them. Even surrounded by flashing lights and drunken laughter, there was still something distinctly other about him. Like the room itself knew he didn’t belong there.

His cigarette glowed faintly between his fingers as he leaned back against the railing again, gaze drifting briefly over the crowd below before returning to Jasper. “Mm,” he hummed quietly. “Guess that depends on what rumor you heard.”

There wasn’t pride in his voice. If anything, Logan sounded mildly inconvenienced by the entire situation. He’d noticed the way people reacted now. The whispers when he walked through the Underland.

“You picked an interesting time to finally visit,” he added after a beat, smoke curling from his mouth as he spoke. “Most people avoid places after somebody gets murdered in them.” Logan’s eyes flicked over Jasper again, sharper this time. Curious in a detached sort of way.

#t h r e a d ✧ ⎨jasper s.⎬

Logan took another drag before exhaling smoke toward the neon haze hanging near the ceiling. His suit jacket was slung over his shoulder rather than worn properly, sleeves rolled to his elbows, dark curls slightly damp from the rain outside. The small horns beginning to curl through his hair were more visible tonight beneath the casino lights, though he’d stopped trying to hide them weeks ago.

People stared sometimes. He stared back harder. Movement near the staircase finally pulled his attention away from the floor below. Logan glanced over, expression unreadable at first before one side of his mouth tugged upward faintly.

“Lemme guess,” he said dryly, voice carrying easily over the music. “You’re either here to ask me for a favor, threaten me, or complain about the new management. Hopefully not the third one. I’m really trying to keep morale up around here.”

#wastarter

𝕄 𝕌 𝕋 𝕀 ℕ 𝕐 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕠; 𝕒 𝕤𝕖𝕝𝕗-𝕡𝕒𝕣𝕒

** Just a little backstory before reading. This is something for the readers and not something the characters will know unless Logan discloses it. However, this felt important to write to let everyone know how Logan took over Snake Eyes and why he is now a Hell Baron.

#tw: death #tw: violence #This is like subtle but there is blood #｟ LOGAN T. ｠ ⸻ self-para ▻ 𝕞𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕪 𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕚𝕟𝕠

mavisvaduva

mavis let out a slow breath, eyes fixed somewhere past the window like she was measuring the distance between who she had been and who she was now.

her fingers curled tighter around his, leaning into him.

“i know you did this for the better,” she said quietly. “i know you did. and maybe you're right. i’m just adjusting.” her mouth twitched faintly. “i went from thinking i’d be banished forever... lost and waiting to be saved for the rest of my life... to this.” her gaze flicked around the apartment. “it’s so nice it almost doesn’t feel real. like i’m going to break something just by breathing.”

she leaned into him more fully then. “i’m thankful. i am. and i love you." her eyes drifted upward as she pulled back slightly, studying his face... and then she stilled.

“…logan?”

her hand lifted hesitantly, hovering near his head. two small ridges pressed faintly beneath the skin at his hairline.

“are those…” she swallowed, not afraid... just startled. “you’ve got little horns?"

locknteagues

Logan was happy she was holding his hand. It seemed like a small gesture but to him it meant the world. His Mavis was here with him and she wasn't letting go. "I never wanted better for me but I want the best for you." He kept his tone soft. "Yeah, I can get that. This is a lot. I wasn't sure about it but this is good too. Gives us our own space, don't you think? And you can change anything you want here."

Logan didn’t pull away. He could have. He could’ve brushed it off. Made a joke. Shifted his head just enough that her fingers wouldn’t find the ridges beneath his hairline. But he didn’t.

Her hand hovering there did something to him that no contract ever had. He let out a quiet breath through his nose, almost a huff of reluctant amusement. “Yeah,” he said, softer than usual. “Seems I do.” He tilted his head slightly so she could feel them properly if she wanted to. “They started as pressure headaches,” he added dryly. “I thought it was stress. Turns out it’s… growth.”

His hand tightened around hers, grounding himself in her warmth. “I was going to tell you,” he continued, voice steady but quieter now. “Didn’t want you thinking I was sprouting extra parts overnight without warning. But apparently, the demon in me wants out.”

#t h r e a d ✧ ⎨mavis v.⎬

plutoundertaking

——— the high that hades was riding was one he never wanted to come down from. it had felt like a millennium since he found his way on top. if you asked him, it's where he rightfully belonged. the stars had aligned, the cosmos was in his favor, and all the pieces were coming together one by one. sure, maleficent had laid the groundwork, but now hades was finishing what they had started.

it had been some time since he had a competent sidekick. pain and panic were more brawns than brains. as for megara? she was collateral at this point. he didn't trust her in the slightest but kept her chains tight. logan had been a breath of fresh air. which, hades knew he would be. he had been eyeing orion's lackey for quite a while. he knew that the boogeyman didn't utilize his people. there was nothing hades hated more than wasted potential. there was no room for it in his domain. not from him or anyone who worked for him.

the god was looking through the latest revenue tracking from the hell barons. the papers were scratched up with bright red ink, marking their failures and highs. he didn't bother to look up from his papers as he heard logan speak. glasses still on the bridge of his nose as he marked diligently. "oh, those," hades hummed, as if they weren't an obvious part of demon anatomy.

"you're the most you that you have ever been." he finally looked up, the look on his face smug, as if he held a secret that logan didn't know. which, to some extent, he did. "you are a child of two worlds, logan. forbidden if i'm being honest, but that's neither here nor there. your human side holds back your potential. now that we have you leaning into your powers, demon features start to take shape." he took his glasses off and sat them down so he could give logan his full attention. "you're home. that's why you're changing."

locknteagues

Logan didn’t reach for the horns. His fingers had twitched but he kept them flat on the arm of the chair Hades had conjured for him. Like he belonged there. He let Hades finish. Let him savor the reveal. “You say that like it’s a compliment,” Logan replied evenly. There was no panic in his voice. No visible discomfort. He always tried to keep his cool in front of the god.

“Leaning into my powers,” he repeated, gaze flicking briefly to the reflection in the dark window behind Hades’ desk. He could see them faintly now. “My human side,” he continued calmly, “is the only reason I haven’t burned this city down on impulse more than once...and it’s the only reason I’m useful to you.” He sighed, “If this is what ‘home’ looks like then I’ll adapt.” He tilted his head slightly, almost thoughtful. “If the horns are a side effect of being me, fine. I can work with that.” A faint, sharp smile ghosted across his mouth. “Intimidation is good for collections.”

He simply held the god’s gaze. “You said I’m the most ‘me’ I’ve ever been. I guess that's a good thing. I'm not gonna grow fangs, am I? My canines are already sharp." Logan straightened, smooth and composed, eyes flicking back to the revenue sheets marked in red. "It can't possibly get any worse for me."

#t h r e a d ✧ ⎨hades v.⎬

mavisvaduva

mavis stayed curled where she was, knees drawn up. the apartment glowed around them... all glass and clean lines and a quiet that felt borrowed... and she hated herself a little for how much it unsettled her. it was beautiful. it was safe. it didn’t feel earned.

her eyes lingered on the flowers for a second too long. white. calm. not daisies. she swallowed. “they’re… beautiful,” she said, and meant it, even if the word felt thin in her mouth. “peaceful’s good. i think i forgot what that’s supposed to feel like.”

she shifted when he sat beside her, not away, just enough to remind herself she was still here. still in her body. still with him. “i know you’re trying,” she murmured, voice soft, uneven. “and i love you. gods, i love you. that part didn’t get taken. it’s just...” her thumb rubbed at the edge of the mug, back and forth, back and forth. “before… we were doing things. grinding. working. fighting for everything. and now it’s like i blinked and i’m supposed to fit into this life where everything’s already done.”

her gaze lifted to him then, searching, confused. “i don’t know how to be in a cage, logan. that's what my father did back home... to protect me, i know. but, i don’t know who i am if i'm stuck here... i don't want it to be like it was before elias... before i met you.” the word came out quieter than the rest.

she leaned her head against his shoulder at last, exhaustion winning over pride. “i promise i'll get better.” she whispered. “i just need time to figure out how to exist again. in this place. in this version of us. and i’m scared that if i say that out loud, it’ll sound like i’m ungrateful. or like i’m pushing you away.” her fingers curled into his, tight. “i’m not. i’m just… lost.”

locknteagues

Logan didn’t interrupt her. Didn’t rush to fill the quiet. He’d learned that the hard way, sometimes love wasn’t fixing, wasn’t shielding, wasn’t burning the world down to make it right. Sometimes it was just sitting still while someone you loved tried to put language to something broken. His hand settled over hers where it worried the edge of the mug, stilling the repetitive motion gently, not forcing, just grounding. “You don’t sound ungrateful,” he said quietly. No defensiveness. No edge. Just truth. “You sound like someone who had the ground ripped out from under her and got dropped somewhere soft without being asked.”

His thumb brushed against her knuckles, slow and steady. “This doesn’t have to be a cage,” he continued. “And it’s not permanent walls. It’s just… space. While you catch your breath.” He leaned his temple lightly against her hair when she rested on his shoulder, breathing her in like he needed proof she was really there. Because some days, it still felt unreal. Like she could disappear again if he blinked wrong.

“I don’t need you to ‘get better,’” Logan murmured. “I don’t need you to be cheerful. Or adjusted. Or grateful.” He sighed softly, “I just need you here.” His fingers tightened around hers when she did. “You’re not stuck,” he added softly. “If you want to work, we’ll find something that feels like yours. If you want to leave the apartment more, we will. If you want to sit in silence for a week, I’ll sit with you.”

“I made this deal so you’d have a future,” he said carefully. “Not so you’d feel trapped inside it.” His voice lowered, steadier now. “You don’t owe this place anything. You don’t owe me a version of yourself that makes it easier to look at. We figure it out together. Slow. Messy. However it needs to be.”

He pressed a quiet kiss to her temple. “You’re not lost,” Logan said gently. “You’re healing, which I'm told can feel the same. I'm not good at this stuff, baby. But I love you and I'd do anything for you. Even leave you alone if that's what you want.”

#t h r e a d ✧ ⎨mavis v.⎬

violetheroism

Their first meeting had been set in such a different atmosphere that Violet almost doubted it was Logan. Looking at him from a distance reminded her of a popular turn of phrase — of a shadow passing over someone's face, and she felt like she'd never seen that captured so well until this moment. Only it seemed like the shadow wasn't passing but making a home there.

She'd already felt some kind of similarity with him before — maybe just a quiet person to quiet person kind of thing — but seeing the way he held himself reminded her of what it felt like after she'd returned from...wherever the hell she'd been. Like there was something left over inside that hadn't left. Still hadn't left, even now. Had he been taken in the storm too?

The decision didn't take much time.

She walked up to him from the side, trying to see what his eyes were looking for in the crowd. "Hey..." Violet began. "so...you...look like...you need sleep," she decided on saying, an apologetic smile on her lips from how lame that sounded. "Or a really, really good coffee. Are you waiting for someone?" Without waiting for an invititation, she sat on the bench next to him, a respectful distance away.

locknteagues

Logan didn’t startle but he did shift, just slightly. His eyes tracked the crowd for another second before finally settling on Violet, pale and tired but attentive. That alone earned her more honesty than most. He let out a breath through his nose at her assessment. A quiet huff. Not quite a laugh.

“Sleep’s… overrated,” he said dryly. “So I’m told.” His voice was low, rough around the edges, like he hadn’t used it much for anything casual lately. “Coffee too. I’ve tried drowning myself in it. Turns out it doesn’t fix whatever this is.”

Her sitting beside him didn’t make him pull away. He kept his hands folded loosely, fingers worrying at nothing, gaze drifting back toward the street. “Yeah,” he answered after a beat. “I’m waiting for someone. Or something.” He looked away from her. “It’s one of those situations where you don’t really know which until it happens.”

He glanced sideways at her then, really looked. Noticed the careful distance, the way she’d approached without demanding anything from him. The familiar quiet in her posture. All things that made him see her as non-threatening. "What are you doing around here?"

#t h r e a d ✧ ⎨violet p.⎬

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