Chapter Text
“Knock knock.” Roman said, knocking on Logan’s door.
“You don’t have to say ‘knock knock’, I heard you perfectly fine.” Logan didn’t look up from his desk.
“Are you ready to go?” Roman asked, ignoring the logical sides’ comment. “C’mon, I can’t go to the party alone.”
“Yes, Thomas is wise to not let you control his mind out in public after that last incident.” Logan thought back to it and shuddered.
“It’s not my fault the paint didn’t wash out!” Roman objected. “Besides, Joan’s table looks much better that way.”
“I’m not sure they agree.” Logan stood up with a sigh. Though he loathed to leave his work, it would be better for everyone if he simply left and kept an eye on Roman. “And I still don’t agree with this party business, either. Thomas should be inside studying tonight; his exam is only-”
“We get it, talking textbook.” Roman inspected his nails with a bored expression. “I’m tons of fun, and you’re no fun at all.”
Logan paused, standing next to Roman. An observation he had just made changed Logan’s entire course of thought. “Roman. Are you...shorter?”
“What? What’re you…” Roman’s sentence trailed off as he actually looked up at Logan. “Hold on, did you get taller?”
The idea was ridiculous, of course. All the sides were the exact same height as their host: 5’10”. But one look at the two of them made it obvious that some sort of anomaly was occurring.
“This way.” Logan grabbed Roman by the wrist, eliciting a ‘hey!’ of protest from the creative side. Logan quickly pushed Roman against the wall, drawing a line just above the top of Roman’s head. Then Logan grabbed a ruler, measuring it against the marking on the wall.
“Five feet, eight inches.” Logan said breathlessly.
“What? No!” Roman was indignant. “No, that’s not possible, it’s you that’s changing.”
“Ridiculous.” Logan held up the ruler as evidence. “The evidence doesn't lie: it's you.”
“No, it’s not fair!” Roman stomped his foot. “You must be cheating, this is your room. Everything’s just growing with you.”
“Now you’re just being absurd.” Logan rolled his eyes. “But if you require further evidence, I’ll gladly repeat this experiment in your room.”
“Yes, I would like that very much, you giant oaf.” Roman quickly headed out the doorway towards his room. Logan followed, only to pause as he nearly hit his head on the frame of Roman’s doorway.
...had Roman’s doorway always been so low?
“Here, try again.” Roman handed over another ruler. Logan repeated the procedure, eyes widening at the results. “What? What is it?”
“Roman…” Logan wasn’t sure how to put this. “You seem to have shrunk even further.”
“What?!” Roman looked at the ruler: 5’7”.
“...measure yourself!” Roman said frantically, now biting at his nails to try and keep from panicking. If only to appease him, Logan did so.
6’1”.
“Now this is odd.” Logan frowned. “I… do seem to have grown.”
“HA!” Roman exclaimed. “You see? I was right! In your face, you Brobdingnagian!”
“Don’t bring Jonathan Swift into this.” Logan scolded, beginning to pace. “I think what’s most odd is the fact that the rate at which you seem to be shrinking seems to be the rate at which I am, well, growing. If we all are usually Thomas’ height, perhaps there is only a certain amount of height to go around.”
“If one of us gets taller, another must get smaller.” Roman realized.
“Precisely.” Logan nodded, stopping in place to face the shorter side.
“Well that’s all well and good, but that still doesn’t explain why this is happening!” Roman protested.
“Did you do anything before you came knocking at my door?” Logan asked.
“No!” Roman snapped. “I think I’d have mentioned it if I had drunk a shrinking potion or something. Like “oh hey Logan, this strange thing is happening. Maybe it’s because I drank from an unidentified flask on the counter!””
“Roman. Focus.” Logan put his hands on Roman’s shoulders, and Roman tried not to think about how his palms now completely engulfed his shoulder blades.
“Okay, ah….” Roman rubbed at his temples, looking down at his feet. “Well, I was with Thomas and Virgil getting into a heated argument about whether going out tonight was a good idea. Of course I said yes, but Virgil…” Roman gave a sad sigh. “Mr. Dark and gloomy over there seemed to up the antics tonight, which I’m man enough to admit sent… unpleasant butterflies about in my stomach.”
Logan’s eyes widened. At the mention of Virgil, Logan could literally feel Roman’s shoulders sinking beneath his grasp.
“What exactly did he say?” Logan pressed.
“He, well,” Roman was hesitant, “he may have... said some unpleasant things in the heat of the moment, that may or may not have been equivalent to ‘you’re the least important side’. Which he apologized for, but-”
“No.” Logan said forcefully, trying to test a hypothesis. “He was right. Thomas doesn’t need you. You're useless.” Roman’s face fell in betrayal.
And then, all hell broke loose.
Logan’s height shot up, causing the logical side to painfully hit his head on the ceiling. Logan ducked, clutching his head and falling backwards as he lost balance onto a few abandoned art projects littering the floor. Roman was thrown against the wall in the chaos, causing him to groan as he began to reach the average size of an American Girl Doll.
“What was that for?!” Roman yelled angrily, feeling himself grow an inch or two with rage. He looked around, taking in the hole now present in his ceiling. It completely ruined the mural he had painted up there several years ago.
“I was testing something.” Logan groaned, one hand still cradling his skull. “It seems that your height is directly linked to your ego. “When Virgil fed into your insecurities, your shrinking process began. And when I reinforced those ideas, it accelerated.” Logan winced. “A bit more rapidly than expected, I’ll admit.”
“W-what?” Roman laughed awkwardly. “I’m not insecure!” Roman shrunk another inch.
“Uh huh.” Logan sounded unconvinced.
“Well, fine, what about you then?” Roman asked, still looking annoyed.
“I suspect it’s mostly to do with preservation of mass and me being the closest target.” Logan theorized. “After all, if there is indeed a normal amount of height to be distributed amongst us all, then it stands to reason as you lost some height, equilibrium was thrown off balance. Although it is also possible that my own growth is also affected by my own ego, as I certainly feel confident in my own abilities when my theories are proven correct.”
“How dare you take pleasure in my lowest hour.” Roman glared up at Logan. He looked past the giant side at the state of his room, furious to see his newest work was destroyed. “And stop crushing my projects!”
“Roman, there is no where else for me to sit.” Logan said irritably, feeling himself shrink slightly at Roman's outburst. “Your room is a mess. And, thanks to you, I am now unable to even exit this room.”
“...oh.” Roman looked between Logan and his doorway, suddenly realizing the problem. “Well, we can fix this, right?”
“Absolutely.” Logan nodded. “I noticed some fluctuations in the opposite direction when you got passionate. Perhaps if you focused on those emotions than you would be able to reverse this.”
“Alright.” Roman began thinking about his strong desire to punch Logan in the face right now, and how it’d be ever so nice to be back to his normal self. Roman felt himself growing slightly, focusing on the things he was passionate about: Disney. Following dreams. His desire to prove himself.
“Just make sure not to focus on any emotions that may trigger your insecurities again.”
“WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!” Roman yelled exasperatedly, feeling himself shrinking back down to square one.