Rise and Shine!

If Logan wasn't replying to his texts and calls, it wasn't because he'd been asleep. It was because his siblings were a fucking nightmare. Gracie would not stop badgering him about being taken along to campaign events and having him vouch for her so she could hang out with Dorian, and it got even worse once she heard he was coming to pick him up today. In terms of the other two menaces, Faith kept throwing around running herself and trying to peek in his notes to screw with him, and Gideon was humoring the concept that perhaps, Logan, have you considered your friend is simply not appropriate to spend so much time around, and are you quite certain you should skip church for elections, and--

He wanted to kill each and every one of the little cockroaches. They were like a swarm of filthy bugs, and he couldn't use pesticide on them, wasn't allowed, don't touch the perfect angels, don't talk to your brother and sisters like that! He had to run out the door after yanking his planner from Faith's hands, getting a passing 'don't disappoint the Delacroix reputation by losing' comment from Adam, and slamming the door in Gideon's face.

He checked his phone, heart pounding, and melted a bit at his missed messages. Oh, Dorian. A tiny face popped up next to the screen and he nearly dropped his phone, juggling it for a moment, biting his tongue to muffle a shriek. "Gracie! No! I told you no today, yesterday, and the day before that!" he seethed. "Back inside. Please!"

One minute he saw thirteen year old ginger in his line of sight, the next, nothing, though a "But he's here, Logan! He's here already!" and a fit of giggles gave him hint enough to where she'd poofed to. Mortified, Logan cringed, spun around, and followed at her heels to Dorian's car, obviously feather ruffled.

"Mister Dorian sir! I saw all your fancy election events! I'm going to be voting for you!" Gracie chattered. "What're your next plans? Will there be more dancers? Does Lolo get you coffee? Don't you think you'd look dashing on a beautiful white horse, dressed up like a prince? My brother says you might be inappropriate but I bet he's jealous, because girls never ever like him, but they really like you and Lolo."

Logan shrank. And shrank. And shrank, as she rambled on. No. Please no. His face turned red. Not the baby nickname she'd never stopped using. He hadn't wanted him to know about that. "Dorian, this is Gracie," he squeaked, voice nearly cracking. She did a little pose he thought she might've learned from watching the idol club. Embarrassing.

In the end, Logan was just happy this wasn't Gideon Dorian was meeting. Gracie was his least hated sibling. Their fights could be fully as nasty as those he had with any of his other live-in family members, but at times, he could actually enjoy being around her, not only tolerate it. A miracle.

Gracie squealed a little at the wink, beamed, and tugged at Logan's sleeve. She covered her mouth with a hand, tiny gasp. "Lolo! Oh my gooosh. He's so… he's so British!" she stage whispered, clapping her hands in delight.

"Says the French child," Logan pointed out in return, switching languages and rolling his eyes. "You are no American teenage girl, you should not be acting this way." He swatted her back a little. "And stand up straight!" He puffed out his chest and gave her the right example. Perfect, as always. She watched him, then stiffened up like a pole, exaggerating it to be uncanny, before laughing and following along correctly.

She focused back on Dorian in the next second, zooming in at the talk of horses. Always the fucking horses. Logan genuinely thanked the Lord she'd stopped asking when he was going to turn into a horse and let her use him to ride to school. "I'll go! I love horses!" she declared with, frankly, the intensity of an future furry. "I'm half unicorn, after all! I love them and they love me. Every single one. Except Lolo, because he isn't a real horse." She suddenly grabbed Logan's tail, causing him to yelp. "He has this though…" She gave it a pet. Logan deadpanned and took it back, holding it to his chest protectively.

She seemed increasingly excited with every answer given and new campaign event presented, like she was on a sugar rush, vibrating on her feet. She took a break to explain. "No, no, it isn't that he doesn't try. His face just looks like a pug's, and he doesn't know about any popular stuff girls like to talk about. He tries to tell my friends about church stuff when we aren't even there or in front of dad. I call him Pugsworth when I don't like him." She grinned big, and shook Dorian's hand. "I call him Pugsworth all the time."

Logan's cheeks burned. "She couldn't pronounce my name as a toddler, and said that instead. Then, she never stopped. Why are you calling her cute? She won't leave us alone now, you know! She's been nonstop begging me to let her follow me, and you, around for the campaign. I don't want to babysit!"

"Don't tell him not to call me cute! And you're a baby too, baby! He never told me if you fetch his coffee, so I'm gonna assume it's true, gofer! You don't want me to come 'cause then I'll find out you're a gofer, not a vice-prez." She stuck her tongue out at him and jabbed all of her pointy, pink painted nails into his side. "Lolo the lowly gofer!"

Logan smacked his sisters hands away from him. He was about ready to threaten to kick her, if she tried to fingernail shank him again. He watched as Dorian bribed Gracie with cake pops then advertised to her, and as she completely bought it. He didn't want to see her invading their event, but he supposed she would've known about it anyway, with all the fliers and hype.

Gracie tried to poke him once more, gushing about being called cute by Dorian Crawford in French before giggling excessively. Logan sidestepped, and she left him alone, deciding taking the cake pops was a more worthwhile venture than brother annoyance. She gave Dorian two thumbs up, shoving all of the cake pops in her mouth at once to do so. A muffled, but excitable "À tout à l’heure!" could be heard before she made a run for the house.

Logan rubbed his eyes and slid into the car-- buckling his seatbelt before saying anything, safety first. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't see her scramble out with me, I was escaping from the other little monsters. Definitely don't want to piss off Mr. Antoinette, especially since I'm an intern. All sorts of bad impressions would be involved there. I'm more than ready to get the hell out of here." He peeked at the food, mouth watering at the smell. He picked up a burger and sank his teeth into it, moaning. "Mm, Dorian, I haven't eaten yet, this is godsend."

Logan frowned and lightly shrugged his shoulders, looking back at the house. "Honestly? I think I'd find her cuter if she didn't call me her bastard brother so casually, just to see the face I make when I hear it."

He relaxed in his seat a little when Dorian clarified the urgency was merely a little sister banishing strategy. "Ah. That makes more sense." When his boyfriend paused and took off his sunglasses, however, he squinted. Then, realization dawned. "Wow. You're ridiculous." He grinned, shaking his head, and reached over to pinch his cheek. "Absolutely absurd." Logan took pictures of Dorian while he was in the call, sending them to Clarence over Snapchat with silly filters and captions, feeling very pleased with himself. He innocently slipped his phone back in his pocket once it finished.

As Dorian spoke and grew frustrated, Logan finished his burger. Then, he stuffed fries in his mouth, and waved some at Dorian's direction. "I got the email. Eat, Dorian, you'll feel better. We can't do a lot about the traffic, other than-- actually, hey, I'm a local. Want me to give you directions for some of the less used backroads? We could sneak around this mess."

This was why Logan didn't like introducing people he was close with to his siblings. It always seemed to go the same way. Oh, they're so cute! Wait, they throw abuse at you on a regular basis? Oops! Pitying looks and awkward cringing all around. "I don't want to spend more time with my family than needed," he said, sighing. "I don't want you to… hear that kind of thing. It's nicer having you not know me like they know me, because it changes people's behavior. When people get used to it, it's… all over for me."

Logan muffled a laugh. "So you were blind, but protected from the sun, I see." He squirmed and giggled at the swatting, doing it right back. "I'm not 'memeing'! God, I hate it whenever you two use that dumb word! Clarence definitely thinks you're a huge meme, though. Maybe he'll screenshot what I sent to him and post it on twitter!"

Dorian's phone vibrated, and Logan glanced at the name with him. Then, he scooted far, far to his side of the car, squished against the side to escape more swatting while he grinned from ear to ear. "I'm sure the court will rule in our favor, because we have evidence of you deserving being 'memed on'. Anyway, leave me out of the suing wars. I'm nowhere near as rich as you and Crowther, just well off. You two need to leave my money alone, thank you very much."

Logan paused as Dorian made a french fry mess and was distracted for a moment. Then, he rattled off a few directions to start him with before going back to their conversation. What were they talking about again? Internship, how was internship with Julian goin-- he choked on his milkshake and had a small coughing fit, cheeks coloring. He composed himself again, clearing his throat, and put the milkshake back down. "It's a lovely job, I like working with him and we aren't unfriendly. He's just professional, you know?" Professional. Ha. The things they did weren't always professional, but Logan still respected Antoinette a great deal. "Do I ever get what impression, exactly, Dorian?"