Warnings: nah <3

Ayrn_Insomniac challenged me to write only 500 words per part, which was definitely difficult ugh lol

5+1 fic, 5 times they used their tapping system to say 'i love you' and 1 time they said it with words, yes this is another 5+1 fic about them saying ily cuz i can

--

[1]

Logan was not good with feelings. If there was anything they all knew it was that. He wasn't good at recognizing his feelings, and he was even worse at voicing them. And years of repressing his feelings had certainly not helped.

So, that's why, when Virgil became his boyfriend, it had taken them several months to get to the whole 'saying I love you' thing. It was not unsurprising, with how reluctant they both were to be all touchy-feely.

If both of them were honest they would admit they had no idea how they managed to get together, and even less how they had managed to end up in a relationship that worked so well for the both of them despite their lacking emotional vulnerability.

But, surprisingly, Virgil was the one to take that first big step in their relationship. Maybe not in the conventional way, but in a way that was very them.

They had been sitting on Logan's couch together, Logan with a book and Virgil curled up against him with a blanket and his phone. Then Logan's phone had chimed and he had fumbled it out of his pocket to unlock it.

Virgil had reached over for him, placing his hand on Logan's wrist and letting his finger tap against the back of his hand three times before pulling back and clutching his phone instead.

Logan hadn't thought too much of it, disregarded it as slightly strange but nothing too out of character of Virgil who could, generally, be a bit strange. Logan had somewhat accepted that everything that Virgil did didn't make sense.

He had had a message on his phone, from Virgil, and when he checked it was a link to a tumblr post. Of course he then read it, a post made by someone with the username brighteyedbadwolf (Logan appreciated the Doctor Who reference). It was about saying 'I love you', but nonverbally.

Apparently the person who made the post had been telling their husband they loved him a lot more than their husband had and it had made them insecure. Until they had let it slip that as a kid three squeezes to someone's hand meant 'I love you'. And then, constantly, there had been three taps to their hand or shoulder or any other body part, nonverbally communicating his love.

Logan had read the post twice and then glanced between Virgil and his hand where he had been tapped, and he understood, warmth blooming in his chest. Virgil had been very obviously waiting for his reaction, barely breathing and tense where he sat tucked into Logan's side.

He had only hesitated for a second to reach into his blanket and find his hand to return those three taps.

And Virgil had exhaled and relaxed again, returning to his mindless scrolling, Logan continuing where he had left off in his book. Neither had said a thing during that whole exchange, but the meaning of the gesture was as clear as it could be.

--

[2]

It had become a fairly regular thing for the two of them. Saying the words out loud was a challenge that neither of them could face just yet, even if they knew the other loved them.

The words just got stuck in Logan's throat, meanwhile reaching out for Virgil and lightly tapping his hand against the top of his head three times? It was easy, and it made a small but wonderful smile appear on Virgil's face each time, and then he would have Virgil tapping him right back.

He never would have thought that three little taps against his body would have him feeling so many things. Then again, he would have never thought Virgil could make him feel all these ways a year ago.

And there he was, cuddling a sleeping Virgil, in Virgil's bed, having spent the past forty five minutes holding Virgil and thinking about how much he loved him instead of falling back asleep for another hour until his alarm rang.

He sighed into Virgil's messy hair, light and delighted, feeling as if he had found exactly his place in the universe. That was awfully sappy of him, he was fully aware, but he never felt more right than when with Virgil. It was one of the reasons why he had decided to give being his boyfriend a chance despite how sure he had been that he would manage to mess it up somehow.

At least the two of them had had fairly similar worries and anxieties when it came to their relationship, which had meant that they could understand each other easily. At this point there were many things they had figured out, such as how to show affection, which they had been very wary about at first.

Clearly it was not a problem any longer, Logan mused, slowly running his hand up and down Virgil's arm.

Unfortunately his alarm soon quietly rang, startling Virgil awake like every other day at ten. They needed an alarm or they would end up sleeping well past lunch time. Virgil groaned and rolled over to face Logan.

"Morning." He mumbled, cuddling close to Logan's chest and nuzzling his face against his neck.

"Good morning." Logan let his hand run down along Virgil's spine, settling on his lower back and he felt Virgil's lips brush his collarbone. He pressed his face into Virgil's soft hair again, inhaling the smell of his lavender shampoo and kissing the top of his head.

He let his fingers tap three times against Virgil's lower back and his boyfriend shifted in his arms, looking up at him and smiling, one hand cupping his face as he leaned in and kissed him. He felt the soft pad of one of Virgil's fingers leaving three taps against his jaw.

They parted from their lingering kiss and Virgil let out a content hum, letting his eyes slip shut.

"I'm not getting out of bed yet." He said, which Logan knew was terribly hard to argue against.

--

[3]

"We're not having Crofters for lunch, L." Virgil argued, sitting on the same podium he had been by during his and Logan's very first debate so long ago.

The Debate Room didn't go unused, the two of them often ending up in there to debate over Virgil's anxiety, Logan's tendency to overwork, whatever tv show they should watch next, or other self care related things that they could bully each other into performing.

At the moment? Virgil's turn to try and keep Logan from eating only jam for a meal as he, for whatever reason, thought Logan shouldn't. (Of course he did know why, but he really wanted to eat Crofters, so any health aspects did not matter much to him.)

"Having one unhealthy meal now and then will not be harmful in the long run." Logan argued, having a multitude of articles to back up his claim and not above using them.

"No, no. Better argument," Logan said as Virgil opened his mouth, shaking his head, "we are literally faucets of a personality, even if I had Crofters for every meal for weeks I would be feeling fine. Thomas could be the one eating Crofters for lunch and it would not damage him."

"Uh huh, then why do I feel like shit after only eating ramen noodles for a week straight? Then why won't you let Patton eat cookies or ice cream or cake for dinner every day?" Virgil countered, resting his chin in his hands, elbows on his knees.

"Well, the answer to that first question is that we are all aware of how, like your example, eating only noodles for a week, makes Thomas feel and therefore we think that is how we should feel when eating similarly. I, being aware of this, know there is no reason for my body to feel bad since we are imaginary, and because of that it will have no effect on me. Similarly to Remus embedding a throwing star in my face not harming me." Logan explained, thinking that that was a foolproof explanation that Virgil couldn't argue against.

"And my other argument?" Virgil urged, looking entirely too pleased about himself. Logan opened his mouth, then shut it again, and a smirk slowly formed on Virgil's face, pairing with the triumphant glint in his eyes.

"Hypocrite." He said and folded his arms over his chest, laughter in his voice and Logan just stood there all stunned for a moment and as always thinking that a confident Virgil was an unreasonably attractive Virgil.

Logan left his spot behind his podium, walking right up to Virgil and standing on the tips of his toes to kiss him, hands resting on his knees and tap-tap-tapping to his knee. Virgil rested their foreheads together, sighing.

"Damn it, L. Just go get your stupid crofters." He said and Logan felt him tapping thrice to his side where Virgil's hands had come to rest.

"But at least put some of it on toast." He said firmly.

--

[4]

"Hand me the tomatoes, please." Logan said, reaching his hand out towards the general direction of his boyfriend as he read through the recipe (which was mostly for Virgil's sake, as he got nervous if there were no directions to follow), feeling the weight of a box being placed in his hand.

He put the box of cherry tomatoes on the counter next to the avocados and cucumbers and the rest of the ingredients.

"Got the croutons." Virgil said, hopping onto the counter and setting the bag down next to where he was sitting.

Logan emptied the box of cherry tomatoes onto the cutting board, reaching for a knife. Virgil swatted at his arm before he had the chance to cut the first tiny tomato into halves.

"Wear the anti-cut gloves." He insisted, grabbing them from where they hung on a hook under the counter. Knowing how upset Virgil would be if he managed to hurt himself, even if it had no meaning since they were imaginary, he put the gloves on.

Virgil looked to the side to occasionally stir the pasta they were boiling as Logan cut all the tomatoes in halves, then diced cucumber and other vegetables and added them all together in a bowl. Virgil added the pasta when boiled and strained, and the bits of bacon that they had fried.

"Okay, we gotta keep the corn in a separate bowl, Janus absolutely hates corn. And we can't forget the deodorant bowl, it's the only way we will get Remus to eat vegetables. Trust me." Virgil said, pulling out a small bowl with cut up deodorant from the fridge, scrunching his nose in distaste.

"How are we tricking Roman and Patton into eating the salad?" Virgil wondered, putting the bowl on the table and then joining Logan's side to open and pour the bag of croutons into the salad bowl.

"Well, there's ice cream and fresh berries for dessert." Logan said. He had a stock of unhealthy and healthy snacks in a mini fridge and mini freezer in his room for when the other sides needed to be bribed. If he did not keep them hidden the others would eat them all.

"Smart thinking." Virgil said, putting the salad dressing on the table and then passing Logan, hand coming up to lightly tap between his shoulder blades three times before bending down and opening a drawer.

Logan put the knife down, reaching out to tap back against his boyfriend's neck before reaching for the two cans of corn that he opened, looking up a moment later as Virgil straightened himself up, realizing he had tapped back without even thinking.

"What?" Virgil wondered.

"Nothing." Logan gave up resisting his smile and Virgil ducked his head, not before Logan saw him smile too.

He never would have thought that showing his love for Virgil could be so easy, so uncomplicated. He had thought it would be difficult, even with their three taps system. But loving Virgil was so effortless.

--

[5]

"You should try to relax, Verge." Logan said, having put an arm around his boyfriend's shoulders and felt how incredibly tense he was just a moment earlier. Virgil turned to look at him, looking uncertain.

"L, do you even know who you're dating?" He wondered, gesturing to himself and the very prominent black eyeshadow under his eyes that had been growing darker all day. Logan pulled his arm back, worming his hand in under Virgil's hoodie and t-shirt to rub circles into his back.

Virgil sighed, leaning into the touch ever so slightly. Logan ransacked his mind for a topic he knew he had read about a few months earlier, thinking that this was the perfect time to put his knowledge to a test.

"Would you like a massage?" He asked, met with a few moments of silence. Virgil turned towards him, considering his words.

"I have done some research on the subject, and I know it can be used to combat stress and anxiety, and I have lavender scented massage oil." Logan said and Virgil blinked, nodded.

"That sounds nice." He said, even if slightly hesitantly, but Logan didn't count on Virgil being fully onboard with anything other than panicking when his anxiety was heightened.

"Lovely, could you remove your hoodie and your shirt?" He said, conjuring up the massage oil as Virgil pulled his hoodie and his t-shirt off, throwing them right on Logan's floor. Then he flopped down onto his stomach on the bed they were sitting on.

Logan was hardly an expert, but he had read enough about the subject to feel fairly certain in himself, having done specific research on how to help someone calm down with the help of a massage. He straddled Virgil and poured some massage oil onto his hands, not sure how much he should use but deciding that it was a trial and error kind of question.

He pressed his oiled up hands to Virgil's skin, spreading it out over his back, then gently but firmly stroking Virgil's back in soothing circle movements that he had researched, one hand atop the other. Soon enough he had Virgil relaxing beneath him, going pilant against the sheets and taking proper deep breaths, and Logan couldn't be feeling happier with himself.

He would definitely do this more often, and research more about different techniques until he could find exactly what helped Virgil the most, even if the results seemed to be incredibly positive already.

Logan delighted in being able to help, few things made him happier than being allowed to use his expertise to make his loved ones feel better.

Virgil reached for him, his hand finding Logan's thigh and using a knuckle to tap against him three times. Logan felt his lips curl into an unseen smile and he bent down, gently pressing three kisses to the nape of Virgil's neck.

"Sap." Virgil said, but Logan could hear in the tone of his voice that he was smiling.

"Only for you, Virgil."

--

[+1]

Logan got to the end of the research article he had been reading for the past... well, he didn't know how long it had been, but the article was rather long.

He glanced back, then spun around in his chair as he realized his room was empty. A mandala coloring cook was left open on his floor, surrounded by a bunch of scattered pens and Virgil's phone and headphones, evidence that he had been there just a moment ago but somehow left without alerting Logan.

Virgil would never leave his phone behind if he was gone for long and therefore Logan decided not to worry, turning back towards his laptop.

There was lots to do in preparation for the new video, as always, but Logan did not mind. He took pride in the work he did and he found the learning opportunities rewarding.

He pulled up the next article that had been waiting for him but barely got absorbed by the text before registering the unmistakable sounds of Virgil's quiet steps against the floor. The reason for Virgil's absence did not concern Logan and he kept working even as his ears picked up on the sound of something being placed on the floor.

Then a few moments later a hand was placed on his shoulder and he could not avoid looking up at Virgil who was standing behind him.

"Hello there." Logan greeted and Virgil motioned backwards towards his spot on the floor where a tray with two cups of tea and a plate of cut up fruits was left.

"Break time. You've been at it all day." Virgil said, one finger hooking around the collar of Logan's shirt and tugging lightly at it as if to urge him.

"May I finish reading first?" Logan wondered and Virgil leaned in, pressing a kiss just below his ear.

"Nope."

He spun Logan's chair around and pulled him up and Logan willingly followed him and sat with him on the floor.

"Decaf tea." Virgil said, pushing one of Logan's favorite cups towards him before reaching for a piece of pineapple and eating it. The plate had all of Logan's favorite fruits, pineapple, mango, kiwi and more, and the tea was the one he liked the most.

"This is very thoughtful, ...I love you." Logan said and Virgil looked up at him with slight surprise and smiled.

"I love you too." He said, and Logan was fairly sure neither of them remembered why they had been hesitant about expressing that out loud. Though...

"You know, I think I prefer our tapping thing, actually. It's... kinda special. Very us." Virgil said, which was very bold of him but Logan was thankful as he felt exactly the same.

"Me too, I have grown very fond of our way of communicating." He said, seeing no reason to hide how dear he held those three taps he would receive from his boyfriend.

They drank their tea and ate their fruit and neither of them would stop smiling.

--

Written: 31st March & 1st April 2022
Published: 3rd April
Words: 3000

Wanted to write using this three taps prompt for a looong while cuz u know virgil and logan would absolutely use this lol

Also love these kinds of fics cuz u just get to write about several cute little moments and <3<3