The Melting Pot Complex

Chapter Eleven ~ Logan

{I'm giving y'all an extra upload day with this book bc it's SO D*MN LONG ALREADY... well, this week anyway. I'll see what happens in the future. Have some Logan :)

Also I'm about to throw hands with M*rk Z*ck*rb*rg himself if he doesn't fix his servers

Possible trigger warnings: swearing, mention of blood, the k word that Wattpad hates, mention of an argument

If I miss something, I apologize and please let me know}

The lights Logan used for his videos were bright to the point of being obnoxious, so setting up in the office space of the apartment allowed him to barricade them behind closed doors to avoid bothering the others.

He checked his tripod as he got ready to record, purely out of habit. Since no one else used the room, nothing was ever moved, but Logan found it beneficial to assure himself regardless. On the off chance that it had been moved, he would notice the issue before he began.

As he adjusted the lights and did a brightness check, Logan heard a clatter from the kitchen, followed by muffled swearing. He frowned and went over to the door, opening it and peering out into the apartment.

"F*ck f*ck f*ck Roman's gonna kill me-"

"Virgil?"

His quiet roommate jumped about a foot in the air. "Oh my god!"

"My apologies." Logan stepped into the kitchen. "I heard a crash...?"

Virgil sighed and dragged a hand across his face. "I knocked over one of Roman's mugs that was drying... I think it was custom made. He's gonna be pissed."

"You're bleeding." Logan crossed the room carefully and offered Virgil a few paper towels ripped from the roll. "I'm sure Roman will understand it was an accident."

"Sure." Virgil rolled his eyes. "I'm like, 90% sure he's out to get me."

"No need for dramatics." Logan crossed his arms, thinking. "I'm sure there is a way we can remedy the situation, Virgil... why don't you go get cleaned up and I will think about it while I collect the pieces."

Virgil grunted and shuffled out of the room. Logan went to the broom closet.

The pieces he cleaned off the floor were all fairly large. An idea began to take root in his mind and he filed it away to research when he had time.

"What makes you think Roman is out to get you?" He asked when Virgil came back into the kitchen.

Virgil sighed. "It's a long story."

Logan glanced down at the pieces of pottery he was slowly piecing back together, casting Virgil a significant look.

"Oh fine."

The gamer plopped down in one of the island chairs, fiddling with his hoodie sleeves. "I don't think Roman even remembers this, he definitely wouldn't know it was me, but everyone knows who he is and I recognized him immediately."

"This has to do with your YouTube channel?" Logan asked, holding a piece of the mug in place while he reached for another.

"Yep." Virgil popped the 'p' loudly. "The good old Princey-Storm brawl."

Logan glanced at him, but didn't say anything. Now that he knew it, the pieces all clicked together immediately.

Virgil was AmethystHailstorm, a gaming YouTuber near-notorious for his refusal to show his face or give people any information about his life. He would occasionally disappear for weeks at a time, never offering a proper explanation. He was one of the largest in his category of creator, of the ones who didn't show their faces.

"I don't know if you ever got into that," Virgil continued, staring at the kitchen counter. "It was a mess."

"It was... You believe Roman is after you because of that?"

Virgil hesitated. "Well... not really. He doesn't know who I am. But I think he knows that he makes me mad, even if he doesn't know why, so he capitalizes on that because he thinks it's funny."

"That is... not completely in character for him." Logan commented as he carefully set the final piece of the mug back in place. He eyed it calmly, thinking as he spoke. "From what I understand, he believes he is merely returning your attitude. Putting the ball back in your court, as they say."

"You seem like the last person to be making sports analogies." A small smirk flickered over Virgil's features.

"And you seem like the last person to be the face behind a nearly six million subscriber gaming account." Logan raised an eyebrow at him.

"Fair enough... what are you doing with that?"

They both looked down at the mug again. Logan delicately plucked a piece off the top and held it up, peering at the edges.

"I believe I have a solution to your problem with this."

Virgil sat up quickly. "Really?"

"Yes. There is a Japanese method, Kintsugi or Kintsukuroi, where a broken piece of pottery is repaired with gold or a lacquer mixed with powdered gold. I believe the philosophy behind it is that breakage and repair are part of the piece's life-span, and should be documented physically."

Virgil nodded slowly and Logan looked over at him.

"I believe there is a shop downtown that uses this method. I will find the number for you."

"No you don't have to." He shook his head quickly, scrambling to his feet. "I've bothered you enough already- you were clearly doing something."

Logan waved him off. "I was simply getting ready to record a video. I have all day to do so."

Virgil paused. "Oh... okay. Well I guess if we both look we'll find it quicker, then I can get there to see what they can do."

"I'll start searching, you find a box to put the pieces in." Logan set the piece he was looking at down and pulled out his phone. "I doubt they will be able to do it in a day, so I will print out a page explaining the process as well as information from the store's site that you can give Roman to explain."

Virgil made a face and Logan shrugged. "You have to apologize somehow. If it works better you could just write him a note and leave it in his room."

"I'll think about it... okay, right- box."

Logan shook his head as his roommate wandered out of the kitchen again. He searched 'Kintsugi nearby' and began to scroll.

Finding the store quickly, he took a screenshot of the process explanation and their location, sending both from his phone to the printer in the office. He heard it whir to life through the partially open door.

"What did you say you're doing in there?" Virgil asked as he came back with a small cardboard box. "Looks like you're trying to create a new sun or something."

"My video setup requires quite a bit of light, the room is rather dark and unfriendly otherwise."

{So... Roman and Virgil... these two have history! Any thoughts as to what happened?}