Check and Mate, Ch. 1: Glasses and Gloves: Opening Moves
Caught up in their own days, their own patterns, and their own troubles, it takes an extraordinary event to force Logan and Janus to change the game and try a new gambit to find happiness.
They might even find it in each other.
Written for @loceit-week, Day 1: Chess (and Gloves and Glasses) - WC: 706 - Rated: T
CW: mild angst? We're just gettin' started here
Glasses and Gloves: Opening Moves - Next - Masterpost - [ AO3 ]
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Morning came too soon to the Mindscape.
Logan lay in his bed for several seconds as his alarm grew steadily louder. Just before the trill reached 38.9 decibels on his watch's sound pressure level meter, he threw back the covers and tapped his phone to halt its noisy progression.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and made his bed before dressing. A few loose pages from last night's notes scattered to the floor and he stacked them on the corner of his desk. Taking work to bed wasn't necessarily the most healthy way to address a bout of insomnia but at least it left him feeling somewhat productive. Glancing at the first few lines of last night's epiphany, now he only hoped he might be able to make out his own handwriting.
A brief morning ablution followed his tidying and he emerged in the hallway at a quarter past five, tie neat, hair combed, face and teeth scrubbed and shiny. He quietly closed his door behind himself and adjusted his glasses.
Time for his day to begin.
Patton's door across the hall sat half-open, the dim room barely bright enough to reveal his baby blue blanket still neatly tucked into place. A quick flick of Logan's eyes revealed a brighter than usual glow spilling out from beneath Roman's door, the concession of extra nightlights telling Logan precisely where Patton had spent the night.
Dim silvery light flickered beneath Virgil's door, the soft buzz of some short video played on a loop a near-certain sign he had finally succumbed to sleep. Soft enough to ensure he would not wake them with his touch, Logan brushed his fingers against each door then headed downstairs to prepare a fresh pot of coffee. A morning meal would follow after the other woke; in the meantime, Logan would make his own company from a hot brew in a warm cup.
~
Janus shivered as he woke, the timer on his electric blanket practically stealing the warmth from his hands even as tugged it closer. He knew that wasn't how an electric blanket actually worked, though, to be fair, he wouldn't put it past Remus to have designed the thing.
He had asked Remus to ensure the blanket wouldn't leave him too tempted to linger in bed each morning. A timer that siphoned off his body heat the longer he stayed in bed would be effective. If rather cruel.
He dressed, layering on his yellow button up over a long-sleeved undershirt before buttoning a vest and capelet that matched his heavy wool slacks. Thick knit socks tucked inside lined oxfords, he topped it all off with his bowler hat and gloves. Bracing himself for the chill of his corner of the Mindscape's hallway, he opened the door and stepped through.
Breath puffing in little white clouds, Janus walked quickly past Virgil's old door, the purple and grey trim fading a bit more each time he looked at it. Lucas and Remus' doors were closed, dark and quiet. Janus considered checking on them when he heard muffled laughter from downstairs.
Slinking down the steps, the creaking third step alerted the others to his arrival and they looked up over the back of the couch, faces flushed and guilty. "Oh, hey there, Jannie!" Remus grinned, fumbling blinding at one end of the couch. "Got a hankering for a midnight snack?"
Janus sighed, one eyebrow raised as he stared out at the sunlight seeping through the dirty grey patio window.
Lucas followed Janus' gaze. "We mighta lost track of time there, Jan." He looked down and the zzzzzzip of his trousers was unmistakable. "C'mon, Re, let's head upstairs."
"But I'm not tired, we were just getting to—"
Janus moved to the kitchen and turned on the sink to be sure he absolutely couldn't hear Lucas' words whispered between his teeth.
"Ohhhh…" Remus cackled and followed Lucas toward the stairs. "See ya in a couple hours, Jannie!"
Washing his hands as he wondered whether disinfecting the couch in bleach would be worth the stench and equally certain that, even if it did, the couple would likely find new ways to contaminate their shared living space, Janus called back with another sigh, "See you then, gentlemen."
