To The Stars Who Listened (Sanders Sides Fallen Star AU)
Nearly done writing the second chapter, so I figured I’d go ahead and post the first one! Hopefully you guys enjoy it! (Hopefully I’ll have chapter 2 done soon along with the first chapter for an Analogical soulmate fic I’ve been planning and bouncing ideas for with a friend on the side)
Pairings: Logicality and Prinxiety (so far)
Summary: After drunkenly making a wish on a shooting star, Logan Sanders got more than he was expecting when the star fell from the sky and into his living room. Now in human form, the star by the name of Patton claims he is there to help grant Logan’s wish.
Word Count (for this chapter): 4,691
Warnings: Drinking, getting drunk, mention of an implied death (I think that’s it, but please let me know if I missed anything so I can add it!)
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[Chapter 1]
Logan Sanders never believed in wishes. They were pointless to make in his opinion. There was no science behind it at all. Not even a study had been done to see the likeliness of a wish being granted, so even if a wish did come true, it was more likely than not a coincidence than anything else...However...If wishes could be granted, what would he even wish for?
Logan had had another dream last night, the same one as the one he had the night prior. It’s been a pretty recurrent one, and nothing in the dream changes, much to his dismay. The dream always seems to show him the same things every time. He stands on his balcony and stares at the stars before making a wish of some sort that he can never really seem to remember. It didn’t really matter though since he would end up waking up with a start after a star from the sky started heading towards him.
The dream starts the same way and ends the same way, but Logan had no idea what it meant. Maybe that’s why he had called up his longtime friend? Either way, he was surely regretting his decision now.
“Please! Pretty please with a maraschino cherry on top!” The whining voice on the other end of the phone begged, making Logan groan in annoyance. He was already struggling to open the door to his apartment having his arms filled with groceries while trying to maintain pinching his phone between his ear and his shoulder. Having his best friend complain into his ear made the task all the more irritating regardless of how much he cared for his friend. This wasn’t even the reason why he had called him, but it seems that it didn’t really matter at the moment to his friend so his question would have to be shelved for another time.
“For the last time Roman, I refuse to go drinking with you. I have work to attend to in the morning tomorrow and my alcohol tolerance is low. The last thing I require is to be suffering from a hangover on the job.” He replied sternly, thanking whatever deity above as he finally managed to get the door open and stepped in with the groceries. He was thinking of every excuse in the book, but his eccentric friend was clearly not receiving the message.
“But I’m in desperate need of something to get my creative juices flowing-!”
“Please don’t ever use that particular word phrasing again-” Logan attempted to interrupt the desperate man’s rant, but failed.
“Just the other day I was tossing stories out left and right and now I feel as though I’m a hollow, shriveled up shell of the writer I once was. Have you no pity? Besides, even if you were to end up with a nasty hangover, you work at a library!” Roman took a moment to feign a yawn before continuing. “What a snoozefest as always, but you won’t have any noise to bother you! Come on, it’ll be fun!”
Logan took in a deep breath after setting the groceries down to hold the phone properly. With a heavy sigh, he finally responded.
“Roman, as dear as you are to me it appears that tomorrow’s date must have slipped your mind…” Logan allowed his voice to trail off as he shut his eyes for a moment, waiting for his friend’s response.
“Tomorrow’s date? Tomorrow’s July-!...17th...Oh…” Roman’s voice went quiet, and the two were silent for a moment before Roman continued to speak. “I’m sorry Lo, it completely slipped my mind.” He said, apologizing sincerely.
“You have nothing to worry about Roman. It’s a simple mistake. Besides, you’ve been so occupied trying to write your next best seller that you haven’t even noticed you’ve been stuck in your house for more than a week and that the milk in your fridge I had told you to finish off is most likely spoiled by now.”
“Wait, what?” Logan heard shuffling on the other end of the phone and the faint sound of a fridge opening as well as a mumbled cursing beneath Roman’s breath. “I’m calling witchcraft here. How do you manage to do that every time?” Logan chuckled for a moment at his forgetful friend.
“Perhaps it’s because we normally go grocery shopping together and the items in my fridge expire around the same time as yours?”
“Wait, so what did you do with your milk?” Roman asked, confused. Logan rolled his eyes at his friend’s ditzy behavior. The man clearly had a severe case of cabin fever and has been living on autopilot (and probably hasn’t changed out of his Mickey Mouse pajamas) for the past few weeks since his creative block hit him.
“I drank it, Roman. I finished it off a couple of days before it expired. I also took the opportunity to buy some more today. Maybe instead of going out drinking because of how unproductive you’ve been with your writing, you should do something else productive like getting groceries. Have you even been eating?”
“Pfft- Of course I have!” Roman exclaimed, fake offense lining his voice.
“Allow me to rephrase my question. Have you been eating things besides pizza and Chinese takeout?” The silence Logan was met with spoke volumes. “Do yourself a grand favor and go buy some groceries. Perhaps cooking yourself a fancy meal can pull you out of the slump you’re in?”
“Yeesh, alright left-brain, I’ll go buy some food. Who knows? You may be right about that fancy meal thing. I guess I’ll talk to you later for now, and-Oh! Hey, Lo?” Roman’s voice suddenly got serious.
“Yes, Roman?”
“If you need someone to be with you tomorrow so you’re not by yourself, or even if you need a distraction, feel free to give me a call okay?”
“I’ll be sure to, Roman. Thank you.” Logan replied, a small, sad smile gracing his face.
“Alrighty, well, talk to you soon! Love ya!” Roman exclaimed before blowing a loud, obnoxious smooch into the receiver, making Logan roll his eyes.
“Alright. Take care, Roman. And buy eggs!” He said before they hung up.
Logan sighed while putting down the phone. Now that the phone call had ended, his apartment felt a lot more empty without Roman’s booming voice distracting him. His apartment was small, only having two rooms, and has ended up looking rather empty throughout the years since he had moved here. He would normally put whatever he wasn’t using in storage or even donate things at least once a month when he deep cleaned his little living space.
Logan looked down at the groceries before groaning. Putting groceries away was not something he wanted to do right now, but what did he even want to do? Not just at this moment, but in general? He was 29 years old, has a degree in astronomy (which is essentially useless to him since he wasn’t going to become an astronomer anytime soon), and he hasn’t been in a relationship since the 11th grade (if you could even call dating for a week a relationship). Not only that, but he’s been plagued by the same dream for the past week and a half and he still has no idea what it could mean! With a soft sigh Logan accepted his current situation since the groceries were obviously not going to put themselves away.
Once Logan was done he sat down at the dining table he owned and opened his laptop to do a quick search for dream interpretations until he stumbled upon an online dream dictionary. Not necessarily a reliable source, but it’ll have to do. Maybe it could point him in the right direction at least?
“Making a wish.” He typed in and searched, but nothing appeared. Maybe he should shorten it?
“Wish.” Ah, there it was. According to the website, the first part of his dream meant there was something he was longing for or missing in his life (as if he wasn’t already aware of that aspect). Moving on then.
“Stargazing.” Nothing. Logan groaned and shortened his search.
“Stars.” Symbolizes excellence, success, aspirations or high ideals? Also that he was supposedly putting some decision into the hands of fate? That was quite the opposite of his current situation, but what else was he supposed to expect from a non-reliable site? Next one to end this nonsense. There’s no way to shorten ‘falling star’, so he really hoped something would turn up in the search.
“Meteor?” That wasn’t quite what he was looking for, but he read the meaning regardless. It apparently had something to do with realizing goals and desires or signifying romantic thoughts. One more search, just to be sure.
“Shooting star.” Self-fulfillment. Advancement. Symbolic of a new birth and big changes in his life? That’s it. Dreams are just as ridiculous as wishes. Logan frowned as he could practically hear Roman’s response to that being, “A dream is a wish your heart makes, so quit pushing it aside!”. Afterall, it was because of Roman’s constant nagging that he started questioning the meanings behind his dreams. Still though, why was it about stars? He hated stargazing.
Logan sighed at the thought. Of course it wasn’t entirely true, but he wasn’t ready to go stargazing again just yet. It was far too painful. When he was younger that’s all he would do however. He could list constellations, names of stars, tell you coordinates for each glowing light in the sky without a second thought. His mother would say that someone should hire him to polish the stars. His mother really did love Shel Silverstein. The thought brought back a memory of when he and Roman were younger and sitting in his mother’s living room...
“What are you boys up to?” She had asked, her lovely dark brown curls framing her face. Everyone always said that Logan resembled her a lot. Aside from the fact that he normally slicked back his hair which made his curly hair appear straighter, the dark brown hair and green eyes definitely gave away that he was her son.
She had brought them a tray of snacks that Logan was going to be sure Roman ate most of. He’d often forget to eat during his creative blocks. It appears neither of them had really changed much since the 10th grade.
“I can’t seem to figure out how to get the characters in my story from point A to point B and Logan is not helping at all.” Roman had said with a pout.
“Perhaps if you were to stop wasting your time complaining you’d get somewhere with your story by now.” Logan had replied, not even looking up from his book. Roman gasped.
“You don’t get it! Stories are adventures!” He exclaimed, flailing his arms around to emphasize his shock towards the boy with the glasses, a wave of light brown hair falling into his face. He had always been eccentric and had taken his role in the school’s story teller’s club just as seriously as he treated his role in theatre class.
“Hmm, I believe I might know just what you need then Little Prince.” Logan’s mother spoke up, interrupting their small quarrel. Roman’s hazel eyes widened in excitement and hope.
“Really?! What is it?!” He asked happily.
“You need to send out an invitation.” She simply stated with a shrug.
“A...huh? Wait, why? And to who?” The young teen was utterly confused.
“Well, of course the dreamer, the wisher, and the liar. Then there’s the hope-er, the pray-er, and the magic bean buyer. However, to send the invitation there’s something you need to do.” She informed him.
“And what’s that?” He asked, wide-eyed in amazement. It wasn’t a shock that he believed every word that was coming out of her mouth. He still believed in Santa Clause (and wouldn’t know the truth until his first year in college).
“Well, if you want to invite them, you need to light a candle. Lucky for you, Little Prince, I happen to have a few on hand.” She had said with a smile and a giggle at Roman’s look of amazement. She dashed away to the kitchen and came back with a matchbox and a little clear box of handmade candles she had made. Logan had to expect nothing less from his mother who was constantly finding new hobbies to enjoy in her free time when she wasn’t working or raising him on her own.
After setting the candle in a holder for Roman, Logan’s mother lit it with a match. Roman watched the candle in awe for a few moments. Even Logan had peeked from behind the book he was reading.
“Now then, they should receive the invitation soon, so you’d better get back to work.”
“How will I know when to start writing?” Roman asked, still feeling a little off by how he couldn’t seem to get the story onto paper.
“Let’s wait a moment, and then you tell me.” She said with a knowing smile.
The three of them waited, looking at the fire (Roman being a little too close to it in his eagerness). When Roman jumped back from the fire with a large grin on his face, he didn’t so much as utter a word before getting back to his writing and working nonstop. Logan had wondered at that time what had gotten Roman so inspired, but then the scent had floated over to the couch he was on. Lavender and roses.
Later that evening when it was time for Roman to head home, he couldn’t thank Logan’s mother enough.
“Are you sure I can keep the box of candles?” He asked in surprise.
“Of course, Little Prince! They’re for when you need to invite those who are needed.” She said. Her smile had wavered for a moment and she started to cough. She had been having coughing fits, but her doctor said it was just a cold that didn’t seem to want to go away. That was when the memory became too painful for Logan to relive.
Now focused on the present, Logan got up and opened his fridge, his eyes falling onto the pack of beers he had bought in case Roman ever came over. One wouldn’t hurt, so he pulled a bottle from the pack and sat down on his couch. Oh how things have changed from when he was younger.
He opened the beer and just as he was about to bring it to his lips, a thought crossed Logan’s mind and he sent Roman a quick text which he hoped would inspire him. Surely he’d remember and knew what he meant by ‘She would have told you to light a candle’. He’d always been one to feed into hopes, dreams, and wishes even if Logan didn’t. “Someone has to” he’d say to that. Of course, he had been the one to help Logan cling to hope back then.
Logan took a swing of the beverage in his hand at the painful thought. He never would allow himself to make this a habit, but maybe tonight it would be okay. He would drink one beer, eat a light snack, and then go to bed. Simple, right?
One beer turned into two which turned into three. The more he thought about his life and his past, the more frustrated he became, because what if wishes could make a difference? What if he had wished more? Prayed more? Hoped more? Would anything have changed? All these thoughts brought him back to his dream.
Logan stood up from his couch and swayed a little as he made his way to the fridge for his fourth beer. He groaned knowing he’d regret this later since his tolerance for this stuff was so low, but regardless he opened the bottle and made his way onto his balcony.
The area he lived in had little to no light pollution since that was something important to him at the time that he chose out his apartment, so it was no surprise to him when he was able to see the stars so clearly on this night. He looked at the chair in the corner, wanting to sit on it, but he hadn’t been out here in a long time so he decided against doing so since it was most likely filthy from the time it’s been outside. Instead he chose to lean against the railing and look up at the stars.
Upon looking up, Logan spotted a particularly bright star that he recognized as Polaris. He smiled, admiring it, but the smile quickly faded as memories washed over him.
“I must really~ be ridiculous, huh?” Logan slurred out. “I studied astronomy of all things and ended up working at a library because I can’t stand to look at another star.” He continued, looking down at the beer in his hand before looking back up at the star.
“No offense. It’s nothing personal.” He chuckled dryly. “It’s more a ‘me’ problem than anything as Roman would say. It’s a ‘me’ problem in the sense that I am a grown man who-who is going nowhere in life because of my own choices.”
“I was the top of my class, had gotten Valedictorian in high school, received a full scholarship to the college of my dreams and even graduated with high honors, and now? Now look at me. I’m shelving books for a living and talking to a star-or technically to myself because I’m drunk and thinking of a dream I’ve been having.” Logan said bitterly.
“I don’t even know if I’m sure of what I want to do with my life anymore. It seems like all I do is live in the past if today is any sign of that.”
Logan took a swing of his beer before looking back up at the sky. It was beautiful. It’s no wonder people believed the stars could grant wishes.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a shooting star darted across the sky. Suddenly, it was clear what Logan would wish for if given the opportunity, but he knew it was against the ‘wishing rules’ his mother had told him about. He knew it was time to move on and think of his future...His future? What future? That was it!
“I wish…” Logan started, unsure of exactly where he was going with this. “I wish something in my life would change for the better. I’m not entirely sure what, but I need a good change. Could-could you do that? Please?” Yep, Logan was definitely not a person who would make wishes, but either way he waited a moment, expecting something to happen. Nothing felt different, so he must still be the same drunk man standing on his balcony talking to stars that are farther away than anyone could possibly fathom.
“I truly am ridiculous...Maybe even desperate, huh?” He chuckled dryly once again, standing back from leaning on the railing. He looked up at the night sky once again, but this time with a sad smile on his face and a pain in his heart. Something odd, however, caught his attention. He squinted his eyes to try to make sense of it. If he didn’t remember that he was drunk right now, he would have thought that he saw a star’s brightness increasing by the second, almost as if it were heading right towards him. He was drunk though, so that couldn’t possibly-....Oh...Oh no...It’s definitely heading right towards him.
“Shit!” He exclaimed, throwing open the balcony door, trying to make it inside just as the ball of light came right for him. He hadn’t realized how close the light was until he felt it crash right into his back, causing him and whatever it was to tumble into the apartment living room.
“Ugh-” Logan groaned in pain, feeling the warmth and faintly seeing the light fade as he opened his eyes. He blinked a few times, confused as to how the light was gone, but there was still a heaviness on him from whatever crashed into him.
“Wow~! So this is what a human’s dwelling space looks like! Oh, but where’s the-? Oh my goodness! I’m so sorry, I seemed to have landed on you!”
Now, normally thoughts like these didn’t cross Logan’s mind very often, but it seemed pretty justifiable for him to wonder, ‘Did an alien just crash into my living room?’. I mean, given the situation, it was the only rational thought in his drunken mind.
“Could-Ow-Could you perhaps remove yourself from my back?” Logan asked politely, not wanting to offend whatever had made its way into his home.
“Oh! Yes! So sorry about that. I’ve always been a clumsy fly-er!” The voice said with a giggle as it got up off Logan’s back. It then held onto Logan’s arm and assisted him up, so it must come in peace.
“There you go!” It exclaimed cheerfully.
“Thank you very-” Logan’s words were cut off when he turned his head and found himself face to face with the loveliest man he had ever seen. The man had curly, dirty blond hair and bright blue eyes. “Much…” He barely managed to continue his sentence due to how distracted he was.
“It’s no problem, really! It’s my fault you ended up on the floor anyway.” The man said bashfully, his cheeks and nose tinting into shades of blues and yellows where a normal red blush should have appeared. The man also seemed to have freckles that almost appeared to glow in the shape of some constellations Logan had recognized as Orion and perhaps one of the Ursas. How peculiar.
As if realizing he had forgotten something, the strange man’s eyes widened and he lifted his head in alarm.
“Oh geez! Here I am crashing into you and I haven’t even told you my name. I’m Patton! You must be Logan, right? I mean, you must be considering you were the one who wished on my star.” The man-Patton laughed.
Wished on his what? Did he say star? Well, this was an odd way to sober up, but it certainly did the trick for Logan.
“Well Patton, it’s very nice to meet you, however, I am utterly confused by what you have just said. When you referenced my earlier wish, what did you mean by ‘your star’?”
“Well Logan, I distinctly remember you standing outside and talking, so I decided to get closer so I could hear what you were saying-I love hearing what humans talk about-and that’s when you wished on me-or technically my star form! Now I’m here to grant your wish.” Patton said cheerfully.
Logan watched for a moment in silence as Patton shifted his weight from one foot to the other with a bright grin on his face, and after an additional minute of thinking he realized and processed two things. One, based on what Patton has told him, he appears to be the shooting star he had made a wish on, and two-Patton was very much nude.
Having now processed the second fact of the matter, Logan felt his face heat up immediately.
“Good god, Patton! Wait right here!” He exclaimed, quickly dashing to his room to search for something that could fit, but most of all, cover up the naked man in his living room. He quickly threw open his drawer where he kept all the oversized sweaters Roman would get him every year for Christmas before moving onto the drawer where he had his pajama bottoms. He also thanked the heavens that he still had that unopened pack of underwear that Roman had gotten and left here in case he forgot to bring a pair when he slept over.
Logan got up from his position on the floor in front of his bedroom dresser and brought the clothing that he had picked at random to the living room. He held the items of clothing towards the man and cleared his throat slightly. Patton looked at the clothing in awe.
“Patton, these are-are yours.” Logan stuttered out. His mind must be too busy sorting out this entire situation to help him speak properly.
“No, silly, these are your human garments!” The man?-star?-Patton giggled.
“Well-well, yes technically they do belong to me however I am gifting them to you.” Logan wondered if he could have sounded anymore awkward.
“Oh! Well, thank you so much, Logan, but I don’t need them. I’m a star after...all?” Patton said as he looked down at himself and his body as if seeing it for the first time.
“Logan...I can’t believe this...I’m-I’m…”
“Nude-?”
“In human form!” Patton exclaimed cheerfully. “Isn’t this wonderful, Logan?! I look just like you-well, kinda like you. You’re a little taller than me, but that’s fine-Oo! Did you know that you have the prettiest green eyes?! What color are my eyes? Tell me! Tell me, please~?” Patton in his excitement hopped closer to Logan and brought his face closer so the other man could examine his eye color better. Logan had never been in this situation before, but even with his mind at work and busy with sorting out facts, his mind went silent and he just stared into the eyes of the man in front of him.
“Bl-Blue. You have blue eyes, Patton.” He stuttered out his nervous response. His embarrassment seemed to snap him out of his trance as he shoved the clothes into Patton’s arms before taking a step back, leaving him slightly confused.
“Take these clothes and go to the bathroom to put them on. You should be able to find it right down there.” Logan said after clearing his throat and proceeded to point towards the short hallway that lead to the bathroom, his bedroom, and his study.
“Could I ask you a few somethings?” Patton said, tilting his head slightly, reminding Logan of a puppy.
“As soon as you are fully dressed I’d be more than happy to-to answer any questions you may have. Like I said, the bathroom is right down there and it should be rather easy to find.” Logan replied, crossing his arms. Never had he felt so awkward and embarrassed in his life, though he’s sure Roman would beg to differ. Roman! That’s who he needed to call!
“Now, if you wouldn’t mind, I’ll be making a quick phone call while you dress.”
“But Logan, are you sure I can’t ask you just a teeny tiny few somethings?” Patton pleaded. Normally Logan would jump to correct his grammar, but he figured this was a special case, and besides he had other important things to do like make this phone call.
“I can assure you that I’ll be right out here waiting for your return, and I promise to answer everything then, alright?”
“But Logan, these things are important for me to ask and I really really need your help!” Patton exclaimed with a worried look on his face. Logan looked at the man then back at his phone. He dropped his head and sighed in defeated.
“Alright Patton,” he began lifting his head up and ensuring that he was looking the man in the eye. “what would you like to know?” Patton’s smile gleamed as the excitement made him glow...As in, the man was physically glowing. Logan had to admit that he was somewhat ‘on the edge of his seat’ to find out what was so important.
“So...What’s a bathroom and how do I put these garments on?” Patton asked curiously as his light started to dim.
Oh...Oh for the love of-of course he wouldn’t understand Logan’s instructions! The man wasn’t even human! Logan now found himself with a lot on his hands, but there were two pros and cons that he was at least sure of at this very moment. The pro being that he was no longer drunk and was in fact very sober, but the con was that the hangover headache was kicking in. Either way, he now had a lot of things to deal with so this was going to be a very long night….
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Hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter!
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