#Emile's took me a bit to figure out what I wanted to do. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

creativia10 · 2 years ago

Text

Emile in the Garden

Emile didn't have much choice in running from the village he had always lived on the streets of. However, he did not expect to stumble into a fae garden in the woods in his haste. Nothing about this goes the way he would have expected. For once, that might not be a bad thing though.

Pairings: Emile and Everyone, Emile/Remy, can be platonic or romantic you decide

Warnings: One line implying attempted sexual assault (can be skipped), implied past neglect, mistreatment, threats of violence, Let me know if I'm missing anything.

Word Count: 7389

Notes: (Title may change.)I found myself wondering how Virgil would react to a desperate human stumbling into a fae garden the way he had. Now that he is one of the fae.

I might end up writing a similar version to this that is more from Virgil's perspective. I had less of Virgil in this than I initially thought I would. Inspired by @a-small-batch-of-dragons Unwanted fic series

Emile ran through the woods as fast as he could. He tried to avoid the branches, but that was harder than he thought. He laughed as he ran, which was unusual for him. It had been a while since he’d laughed like this. It was not exactly an expected reaction for someone running from something. Remy had suggested turning it into a game though. And well, it certainly made the action more fun after they went for it.

Emile reveled a bit in the fact that he was so much faster than Remy. He figured the other wasn’t that far behind.

It wasn’t that long ago that Emile caught the fellow street dweller in an arm lock. Remy had been attempting to steal some bread from Emile.

“All you had had to do was ask,” Emile had said. Remy gave him a bewildered look which stayed there while Emile broke the loaf and shared it with them.

“It’s hard enough getting by on your own. Might as well help each other when we can.”

Emile wasn’t sure if Remy had agreed with that statement at the time.

Yet now they were both running from the same people. Those who wanted to run street dwellers like themselves out of town. He supposes he should have expected as much would happen eventually. Especially since it was hard to get Remy to follow the laws while in the position they were in. Maybe that acceptance made it easier for him to let Remy try to make something else out of their fleeing.

He didn’t blame Remy, not really. Emile hadn’t done too well on his own. Neither of them had. It was easier to deal with this way of life, as little choice as they had in the matter when you weren’t alone. So, maybe Emile had cared more about companionship and not wanted to risk losing Remy. So he didn't insist that they kept from stealing.

No matter how often Emile had to beg or dig through trash and abandoned items, it was still humiliating. Not to mention inconsistent with fruitfulness. Also, Emile knew how often Remy had to flee towns before they met. So he suspected this could end up being the case eventually. Not that Emile had any attachments to the town anyways despite how long he had been there. People could be mean.

It may be for the best in Emile’s case to be farther ahead in the forest despite the many trees. His pink hair didn’t exactly blend in well. It was better to not be anywhere close where a pursuer could point it out.

So yes, his focus was on trying to get as far as he could. Remy would want him to do so anyway. He could just only hope they’d be able to reconvene once they got far enough away. Then maybe they could come up with a plan on what to do next. Emile didn’t really know how to start over after all.

Emile could have been paying attention more. But despite his laughter from their attempt at a race, his flight instincts had kicked in. He barely took in his surroundings and panted. A continuing chant of Run. Run. Run, going through his head.

The sudden lack of any barrier after so much dodging around branches has him gasp. Tripping over his own feet, his momentum pitches him forward. Well, that wasn’t good. Why would they just disappear though? Emile had seen enough of the forest ahead to know he was nowhere near close to the end.

Emile took in a breath and struggled as he stood up again. When he looked forward again he winced at the sudden brightness. How strange. He squinted and shaded his eyes with a hand to see better. He was in a clearing?

He looked around the area, a bit thrown off. He should probably keep going, but he wanted to get his bearings. Something was off about where he was.

This area seemed almost unnaturally gorgeous. The plants have a soft glow. Overall the colors around there are vibrant. These features struck Emile as familiar to stories he may have overheard in the village. He wished he could recall more details about it, as it seemed important now.

Another reason to despise the type of life he had grown up in. Surely children safe in homes with parents to care for them heard such cautionary tales of the woods. They would know better not to let themselves get into such a situation as he may have been in then.

Something told Emile he had to get out of there. But he was running away, so was there a way to go around? Emile started to look around for a way to distinguish the outline of the garden.

“Oh, what’s this?”

Emile gasped and spun around in the direction of the voice. A figure leaned against a tree. He had an other-worldly style of clothes and snake scales covering half of his face. This man, his human half almost too perfect looking, had to be connected to what was off with this garden. This strange place and strange man.

The figure smirked at him and languidly pushed off the tree to walk toward Emile. It took Emile too long to get himself to take a shaky step back. But then the figure practically wooshes forward so he’s right in front of Emile now.

“Careful now,” An arm catches Emile around the side of his waist.

“You look like you’re about to fall over,” The creature now holding him drawled out.

The term from what Emile thought this figure may be was at the tip of his tongue. Fae?

Emile made a muted sound much to his embarrassment.

The Fae chuckled.

“What’s the matter, dear?”

Emile was finding it hard to do much of anything right then. This was too much. A lot to process. He was in some sort of magical garden with a too pretty-man who had to be a fae. Emile did not know how to deal with that.

The fae hums.

“For a moment, I thought you might be another fae,”

Oh, shoot.

The fae brings one of his gloved hands up to stroke through Emile’s hair. Emile gasps at that.

“This isn’t exactly a typical hair color I see among mortals. But your reaction to me is all human,” He said and twisted Emile’s hair through his fingers.

It’s not like Emile knew why he had such an unusual hair color. He didn’t know enough about where he came from to get any more of a clear idea about it. It hadn’t exactly been great when he was already in a vulnerable position as someone living off the streets. Not when village people were known to be superstitious and paranoid.

He wouldn’t have even minded the color if it weren’t for the negative attention it got him. It’s certainly possible he got some sort of magical blessing once as a child. But knowing Emile’s luck though, it was unlikely. Closer to a curse more than anything

“So what do I do with this?” The Fae continued.

Emile whimpers and trembles slightly.

“Now, let’s hope there’s no need for that. Are you able to tell me why you’re here?”

He wants to. Gosh does he want to now. The last thing he needed was for this fae to think he was challenging him just by showing up in their territory. Emile starts to open his mouth, but he’s still too overwhelmed by the fae’s presence to be able to respond. Not to mention it was hard enough not to stare at a pretty guy even when they weren’t magical.

The fae before him tsks.

“I really don’t expect such adorable creatures to stumble into my garden,”

“Mmm,” and now Emile was blushing. Of course. It was inevitable.

The fae laughs. “Well it’s true. I would certainly not lay on the charm so thick if I knew it would make getting answers out of you harder. No matter. I have other ways of finding out.”

Wait what?

“Don’t worry.” The fae cups Emile’s chin.

How was he able to do that? Emile still felt the hands on his waist and head. With the hand cupping Emile’s chin, he tilts his head up to look up. A branch snaps nearby. The fae then pauses and sighs. He lets go.

“There is certainly no need for anyone else to be over here,” The fae says out loud. It would seem towards someone else. Emile wouldn’t think it was Remy, because when Emile’s friend got protective, there was no way he was quiet.

“Especially not given some people’s history when there is a stranger among us.”

It was quiet for a moment then another rustle.

“Ah yes, you are certainly one for subtly my dear. Just head on back. I got this.”

Despite the scaled fae’s words, the other came towards them. The first fae narrowed his eyes at the other.

The second figure, who wore dark-colored pants and purple tunics, shuffled in place.

“I was just curious.”

“Oh? You’ve never been curious enough to risk yourself before.”

The other looked up then with a pout. Oh, this one had to be fae too. His eyes were purple.

“I’m not really risking myself with you here.”

“Oh, how flattering.”

“Besides, you had already pretty much said that I was here. There was no point. And I’m getting better at handling myself now.”

“Mhm. Anyways, you really don’t need to be here. This shouldn’t take long.”

Oh, Emile didn’t like the sound of that.

The scaled fae cupped his chin again and brought it up to gaze at his eyes.

“Pay the other no mind, my dear. Just look into my eyes.”

Oh. There was something mesmerizing about the mismatched eyes. He feels himself mentally sink into somewhere. He inhales sharply as he’s thrust into memories.

The streets. Dirty. Looking down. Trying to keep away from anyone who looks scary or dangerous despite being unable to hide his fear.

A distant voice he barely recognizes anymore warning him of how to stay safe while stuck in this way of life.

Being shoved. Ignored. The grossness he hated and had to deal with. Begging and being met with cruelty. Barely being able to struggle with stronger figures who wanted his body. Trying desperately to get a job and not even being given the time of day. Cold.

Rough hands grabbing, pulling at his hair. Dodging the scissors thrust towards his hair without consent. The scowls and doubts of his status as a street dweller due to his physical appearance. Developing light sleeping patterns to protect against surprise attacks on his hair. For when they tried to catch him unawares.

Remy. Seeing Remy steal. Authorities pointing at them. A promise to look out for each other. And then just so much running. Fearing it will never stop. Not knowing what will come of them. So much fear.

Emile’s breath hitches as he is released suddenly from the memories, going limp. The scaled fae before him catches him. The fae’s mouth is twisted, but then he gives Emile a softer look.

“Oh, you poor thing.”

And he then…hugs Emile? With multiple sets of arms. Emile blinks, not sure how to respond.

The purple-eyed fae looks at the two of them with wide eyes.

“What? What happened? J, is he alright?”

J hm?

Something twitches behind the purple-eyed fae, but it’s hard for Emile to tell what it is.

J hisses and looks up back at the other fae.

“I do so love how you’re calling me that in front of a stranger.”

The purple-eyed fae looked down and shuffled in place.

“…sorry. But still, is he ok?”

J hmmed.

“That is to be determined.”

J pulled away enough to look at Emile again, arms still wrapped around him.

J looked over Emile then back to the other fae.

“Did you want to see?”

The other fae’s eyebrows rose and then he fidgeted in place. This time the movement behind said fae is a little easier for Emile to see.

Were those some sort of black appendages coming from that fae’s back?

“I uh, well, is it okay for me to see that?”

J hmmed.

“I suppose we didn’t exactly give you that choice, did we? Then again, we barely got you to speak at all, the scared thing that you were.”

Wait what?

The spider-like fae frowned and looked down.

“It’s okay, my dear. You know we don’t blame you for that. It could be scary.”

Emile was just confused and starting to feel like he might as well not be there. Should he try to leave now? Moving still seemed like a challenge.

More steps came over.

“Why is a mortal still here? Oo, is he another cute one? And why is our dear V here?”

And now there were three here.

V, apparently, crossed his arms.

“I was just curious about what was going on. I haven’t really been on this side of this situation, after all.”

The new fae threw his head back and laughed. Oh, he was quite handsome. They all were really. As to be expected from what little Emile knows of these too-perfect creatures.

This new one wore a getup like a prince from a fairytale.

Emile makes a muted sound when he sees him. The prince gives him a winning smile and makes his way over.

“Oh? Another stunnable one, hmm?”

He puts his hands on Emile’s shoulders.

“Can I see?” The Prince asks. J sighs and turns Emile around.

“Maybe I wanted to hug him,” The prince whines a little. But that doesn’t stop him from lightly tapping along Emile’s shoulders. The prince continues to caress along Emile's sides and up around his face. Drawing forth all kinds of embarrassing flustered noises. People don’t really touch him, okay? Remy was physically affectionate. But it had still been years before of Emile not really being touched much by anyone. Not in any gentle way. And even when Remy did, it wasn’t like this.

The prince cooed at him.

“Oh, you’re so adorable.”

V’s lips purse, his face unreadable. The prince glances to the spider-like one.

“Don’t tell me you’re jealous? I can fluster you anytime.”

V sputters and huffs. Crossing his arms and looking away. The prince tsks.

“Did you want to come over and try?”

Wait what?

V looks back at Prince with an eyebrow raise.

“I still want to know what caused snakey over here to hug him so soon.”

Prince hmmed.

“I’m curious now too. Why didn’t he just share it already?”

J sighs.

“I was getting mixed messages.”

Prince narrowed his eyes at J in confusion.

“I dunno, okay,” V said.

This was a strange conversation. Not what Emile would have expected from these creatures. He was beginning to feel like he had been still too long though.

“Clearly his intentions aren’t a concern if he is still here with our snake here,” A new voice said as he joined them.

Really? Another?

The other fae turned to him.

“I’m surprised you’ve come over. We usually have it handled,” J said.

This new fae, who wore a dark blue suit and glasses similar to Emile’s own, hmmed and gestured to V.

“I could feel his concern through our connection.”

Their what now?

The other fae turned to V. V was now blushing and looking away.

“Gosh, it’s not like a big deal or anything. We don’t need to freak the poor guy out. Besides, L is right. Although I wasn’t trying to bring him over.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” L said with a wave.

“As we learned from last time, Prince and the snake can get distracted from questioning the mortal.”

The two L mentioned both scoffed at that, but L paid them no mind. L walked over to Emile and shot him a small smile before looking at J still holding him.

“May I?”

J huffs.

“In my defense, he was about to fall over.”

“I don’t doubt it,” L said. “Just stand behind him. We’ll catch him.”

J nods. Then he slowly releases Emile carefully.

Emile still wobbles a bit in place, but he doesn’t fall over. L comes closer.

“Shh, it’s alright.”

Emile had realized it by this point, but every time a new fae came over he woe-ed at their attractiveness.

“May I touch you?”

He was actually asking this time? Emile opened his mouth to respond, but somehow still found it difficult. L nodded.

“That’s alright, I will refrain for now. Can you speak?”

Emile worked his mouth, and then let out a strangled,

“…yes.”

L nodded again.

“Good. Good, now, how did you get here?”

Emile immediately stiffened and his chest tightened. A reminder that he really shouldn’t have stayed still. He didn’t know how he was supposed to keep going when he ended up here though.

“I uh, I don’t know. I was running through the forest a-and I wasn’t looking where I was going when I stumbled into here. I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean to intrude.”

The other fae behind L exchanged looks with each other.

“It’s quite alright. It happens,” Prince said.

“Why were you running in the forest?” L asked.

Emile hesitated. He certainly didn’t know anything about where fae stood ethically. Would they care that his companion had been caught stealing?

“Is it easier for me to show them?” J asked. Emile gave him wide eyes.

“It’s ok,” V said then, coming over to them. “They’re not going to hurt you.”

“I’m surprised you’re saying so,” L said to V. V shrugged.

“As you said, I trust J’s judgment.”

Apparently, that was all J needed. He reached for Emile’s hand. Emile looked at him and didn’t fight it, not really knowing what the other was doing anyways. Then J opens Emile’s hand and presses the palm side against L’s chest. L feels cool but in a nice way. J holds Emile’s hand there for a moment. All the other fae around them inhale sharply and then exhale. Emile looks around in confusion. What was happening?

“Oh, you poor thing,” Prince coos. And now Prince was hugging him. Whoa, he was very warm. And it actually felt really nice. Emile melted against him, eyes drooping. Prince continued to coo over him and rubbed circles against Emile’s back.

“Wha,”

“J shared with us the memories he saw from you earlier,” V said and stepped closer without crowding him.

“Looked rough.”

“I’ve never understood how some mortals could treat their fellow man so horribly,” Prince said. He continued to rub Emile's back and then leaned his head against Emile’s.

“I don’t suppose you know how far off your pursuers were?” L asked. “We can likely help you. Perhaps stay here for a bit until we know they’re gone if it won’t be long.”

Emile wasn’t sure about that offer, as nice as it sounded. Before he could answer, they heard fast rustling coming from outside the garden. The Fae who weren’t holding Emile immediately stood at attention. Prince stood back with him, probably not wanting to let go yet. V had stepped back as well, almost hiding behind a tree again.

A familiar fella stumbled into the garden, his arms flying around to regain his balance. Emile smiled in relief when he saw who it was. Emile tapped Prince’s arm and then walked away from him to go to Remy. Once he had regained his balance, Remy looked up and his eyes widened.

“Emile!?”

Emile ran to him and immediately crushed his friend in a hug. Remy oofed but then hugged him back just as hard.

“It’s good to see you’re alright. But wait, I thought you should be way ahead of me.”

Emile laughed a little nervously.

“Yeah, stumbling into here kind of threw me off.”

“What do you mean?” Remy looked around and immediately furrowed his brows. “And who are they?”

Remy stepped protectively in front of Emile.

“Stay back! Something ain’t right about them. I don’t know what you lot were trying to pull here with us, but it ain’t gonna fly.”

Then Remy pulled out a knife that Emile didn’t even know Remy had. Although he supposed it made sense. Emile gasped and touched Remy’s arm. Remy just nudged him back again.

“R-“

“Don’t say my name, around them. I know you’ve heard the stories about fae and names.”

“-Rem, put that thing away. It’s not necessary. In fact, they were just offering to help.”

Remy frowned and scoffed.

“Yeah, I’m sure. We stumble in here and all they want to do is help? I don’t buy it. Look you lot, you can just let us go and no one gets hurt, kay?”

Emile makes a distressed noise at that. Well, the fae were certainly much tenser now.

“Your friend is right. We wish you no harm,” L said.

Remy took a step back with Emile.

“Right. So I’m really expected to believe you’ll just let us go, no strings attached.”

“Of course.”

Just then an unnerving cackle came from behind the other fae in the garden.

“Oh, but they didn’t make any promises about me.”

“Duke, no!”

It happened fast. A man in green, who seemed to resemble the prince, came from out of nowhere and rushed forward. He got held back by Prince and another fae Emile hadn’t met yet. The Duke fought to keep going with a snarl.

Remy and Emile had both taken quick steps back, but Emile tripped backward and fell over. Except someone caught him. Emile looked up to see L helping him and Remy back up.

“O-okay,” The new fae, also wearing glasses like Emile’s, croaked out.

“I think everyone needs to calm down, a bit, alright?”

The duke continued to snarl. Emile jumped as his eyes were covered.

“Sorry,” V said. “I’ve been told Duke can be blinding when he goes feral.”

“When he goes, what?” Emile asked.

“Yeah, I had trouble with that too. It’s kinda hard to explain?”

“It is caused by an extreme state of protectiveness,” L said.

“…oh-ok,” Emile got out.

“No need to worry. It is not directed at you,” L continued.

“Bitch, uncover my eyes!”

Emile heard Remy exclaim from next to him.

“It is for your own protection,” L said.

Remy scoffed.

“Yeah right. And what the hell happened to my knife!?”

“I nabbed a hold of it,” J said.

Emile heard Remy shuffle back but there was someone behind him stopping him from going far. Remy cursed.

“Easy now. We will uncover your eyes as soon as the duke calms down.”

Remy huffed, and Emile could still hear the rustling from Remy struggling.

“It just occurred to me, we didn’t get what we should call you,” J said.

“Don’t tell them shit, Em!” Remy yelled.

“Em hm?” J said.

Remy cursed again.

“Is this your companion from the memories, Em?” L asked.

“Wait what?” Remy asked. “Did they poke around in your head or something?” The rustling increased.

“You bastards don’t get to poke around in our heads!”

“Rem, it’s ok,” Emile said.

“Yeah right, it is,” Remy said.

“I had just stumbled into their territory, and I was too stunned to speak. It’s only fair to want to know why I was there to assess whether I was a threat.”

“Gurl, I know you ain’t trying to defend these magic fae prodding into your head without consent. Unless you want to tell me you gave them permission to do so.”

“…Well, no,” Emile admitted.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“I’m sorry for us doing so,” L said, “Justifications aside, it was a breach of privacy.”

Emile could see in his mind’s eye how Remy probably narrowed his eyes at them.

“We will refrain from doing so anymore,” L said. Somehow, Emile could imagine him giving the other fae a stern look at that. Or maybe it was just for the one who prodded initially.

“That doesn’t take away from doing so in the first place,” Remy continued. “I mean, if yall are all-powerful fae, what threat could one human possibly be to ya.”

There was a pause.

“You might be surprised,” Prince said.

“Besides,” J then added. “From first appearance, even that wasn’t clear.”

Remy didn’t respond to that, but Emile figured out what his friend must be thinking. About what Emile had to deal with from his unusual hair color. Emile felt fingertips brush against his arm, which startled him.

“…it’s just me, Em,” Remy said. Emile nodded. L let Emile free up one of his arms to be able to hold Remy’s hand back.

“We don’t know why he looks like that,” Remy said, a bit softer this time, “But he has never been a threat to anybody. No matter what idiots think.”

“I believe you,” J said, “And there is nothing wrong with his hair being like that. I’m sorry other humans have ruined that for you.”

“Duke,” The new fae called gently, “It’s ok to calm down now. These new humans aren’t a threat. And they’re not going to do any harm to V.”

Duke scoffed.

“Yeah right. Do you see the second human right now? Who knows what he would be doing if J hadn’t nabbed his knife.”

Remy growled at that.

“We are much stronger than them, though,” J said.

“Besides,” V said, “The first one, Em, is certainly not a threat. And they seem to be a pair. The second just wants to keep them safe. Something I can understand, the survival instinct. I feel safe enough with you all here. Plus, I can tell there is a big difference between these two and the humans who have hurt me before. So it’s okay to calm down a bit. It will be alright.”

There was quiet for a moment except for Duke’s ragged breathing. Then he let out a stuttered exhale.

“Alright. I trust you, V,” Duke said.

“Are they good now?” V asked.

After a moment, “Yes, I believe so,” L said.

Emile blinked as his sight returned. Remy, who hadn’t really stopped moving, stumbled a bit when his eyes were uncovered. L reached to help steady him but Remy pulled away.

“Stop touching me!”

L stepped back and held his hands up in surrender.

“Apologies.”

Remy stepped sideways, closer to Emile, and wrapped an arm around him.

“Now can I have my knife back?” Remy asked.

“Hmm, no,” J said.

“Ex-squeeze me?” Remy demanded.

“Perhaps if I may,” L cut in. “Let’s put the weapon away from either of us while both parties are still here and tensions remain.”

Remy huffed, but J followed L’s instruction.

“So,” the latest fae who shared Emile’s glasses started. He wore a pastel blue cloak.

“What should we call you?” He asked.

Remy raised an eyebrow. “Now I know you don’t think I’m going to fall for that. And we don’t exactly have time for an introduction circle.”

L hmmed. “Yes, that does seem to be the case. We were just offering to help keep Em safe from your pursuers when you happened to stumble in. After all, it is on us that you’ve been still so long.”

Remy huffed and put his free hand on his hip.

“Oh yeah? And what was this so-called, ‘help’?”

“…well, we hadn’t gotten there yet. But I was suggesting you stay here until the pursuers have passed.”

“Yeah, and stay in a fae territory longer than we need to? That doesn’t sound like a good idea.”

“…very well. Was there something else we could-“

“No. Not interested in making a deal, thanks. I like my ten toes exactly where they are.”

L blinked and tilted his head. “I’m not sure I follow what the location of your toes has to do with an offer to assist.”

V sighed and went over to whisper something in his ear.

“Oh. Of course, we wouldn’t ask for anything ridiculous from you,” L said.

“Mhmm. Sure. We definitely have a reason to believe you. Right now, I just want to get our cute butts outta here. Without adding any more complications to our situation.”

“Rem-“ Emile started but paused. Quick footsteps came their way. Oh, shoot. Emile immediately turned to speed on out of there, but someone stopped him with gentle hands. Why would they do that? There was stillness next to Emile as well. One of the fae must have stopped Remy as well.

They were coming too close for comfort. Emile was starting to freeze up. Unfortunate when he knew that wouldn’t do him any good. He had the strange desire to hide behind these faes though. V was hiding behind a tree, Emile noticed. Duke stood by it and glared out towards where the sound was coming from.

“Rotten thief.”

“Street trash.”

“Whoa, wait!”

The steps came to a stumbling halt.

“The hell, what!?”

“I think that’s a fae garden. Best not to go in there.”

“Shit.”

“The way they were running, bastards probably went straight on in. Unless they were smarter than we thought.”

“That’s unlikely.”

“We seriously came all this way chasing those brats just to stop now!?”

“Did you want to deal with upsetting some fae?”

“You know what, yeah. That’s not worth it.”

“We could try and go around?”

“Yeah, I’m not chancing being anywhere near here.”

“We already wasted so much time chasing the lowlifes. They ain’t worth putting in more effort for.”

“Especially if they could be dead or worse.”

“Good riddance to them.”

Emile stayed quiet until well after the steps had walked away. Their previous pursuers grumbled all the while. When it felt safe to, Emile let out a breath of relief.

“Well, that answers that then,” L said. Emile glanced at L with a confused look. But then he turned back to Remy who hadn’t reacted since hearing their pursuers. Remy was still frozen, his expression hard to read. The sunglasses didn’t help, even if Emile was used to seeing the other wear them by now.

Then Remy burst from the other’s arms and caught Emile in a crushing hug. Remy was casual with physical affection, but he didn’t usually initiate hugs the way Emile did. Emile returned the hug back.

They stayed like that for a moment, reassuring each other that they were okay. They were away from their pursuers for now. Not thinking about the uncertainty of their situation around the fae for the moment. But alas, they would have to face the music eventually. And neither was comfortable enough to just stay embraced like that. Not while they were still in such an unknown situation.

Emile suspected Remy was more used to adapting to changes than he was himself. But Remy likely hadn’t encountered the magical kind like this before.

The two of them continued to hold hands as they looked back at the fae present.

“Did they hurt you?” The latest fae with the glasses asked.

Emile looked to Remy to see, who shook his head.

“Not yet,” Remy said.

Patton nodded.

“We’re not keeping them,” L said looking over some of the other faes there.

Wait what?

Prince pouted.

Duke hmmed.

“Keeping us?” Emile asked, his voice shaking a little.

“Not like that,” V said, hands raised. “It’s like, I was a human once. I also ran away from people who wished me harm. They gave me a place among them to stay because I had nowhere else to go.”

“But it is not something we try to get in the habit of,” L said, “We’re not really meant to. V’s situation was different of course. Not that we are unsympathetic to your situation.”

“Oh,” Emile said, understanding now. “Oh, that’s not necessary. Honestly, just being safe here temporarily was enough. We really appreciate it.”

“Although,” Remy started, “It should be noted that in no way did we officially agree to such a thing,”

Emile almost gave Remy a stern look. But he could tell by the way they held Emile’s hand tighter that Remy was still pretty freaked.

J nodded. “Of course. No official deal was necessary. If you are worried about owing us, there is no need.”

“Yeah,” The new glasses one said. “We would have helped ya out anyways.”

Emile had a feeling that Remy still didn’t trust it. Not that he blamed his friend.

“Well anyways,” Emile said, “We very much appreciate it.”

“What would have happened if they caught you?” L asked.

Emile and Remy shared a look. Emile wasn’t entirely sure but he had a feeling Remy knew. Remy swallowed and shook his head.

“They probably would have punished us for being brats,” Remy said.

The new fae frowned.

“Punished?” L asked.

Remy waved a hand.

“Oh you know, however they treat crooks not deemed to garner any respect. Not like anyone would care what happens to us after all.”

Emile frowns and looks down at that. Remy wraps his arm around Emile again and squeezes Emile’s side for comfort.

Prince frowns.

“I will never understand how humans can treat their fellows so awful,” He said.

Remy scoffed. “That’s just the way it is.”

J hmmed, “It doesn’t have to be. We can always make things better.”

Remy narrowed his brows and took a step back again.

“What do you mean?”

“J,” L said, “I hope you’re not saying-“

“I don’t know what I’m saying yet,” J said, still looking at Emile and Remy.

“Do you have a place to stay?” The prince asked.

Emile tilted his head. “Well, we hadn’t figured that part out yet.”

Remy gave him a look as though to say, ‘why would you tell them that?’

“What do you mean?” L asked.

“Well,” Emile continued. “Our first goal had just been to outrun our pursuers. Until either they tired or we found a good enough hiding spot far enough ahead of them. Ideally in another village.”

“Oh, you won’t find another village for a while,” J said.

“There used to be a closer one,” The duke spoke up, “But well…it’s not there anymore.”

“So,” J continued, “Unless you were prepared to camp out in the woods for a while, that’s quite an inconvenient stay.”

Emile had not known the former village was no longer there. He had a feeling Remy didn’t either.

“What do you mean it’s no longer there?” Remy asked. Remus cackled maniacally at that. Emile was pretty sure Remy was ready to bolt soon after that, not that he blamed them.

“Would we be able to find the former location of that village?”

J shrugged, “Possibly. There’s not much left there that would be any good.”

Emile’s eyes widened at that. V sighed.

“For context,” He began, “The villagers were cruel to me, and were going to keep coming after me. Having believed I was a demon of some sort due to their own ignorance.”

“Even though you never did anything to them,” The new fae added bitterly.

V nodded. “Exactly. I don’t know where they fled to, but it’s for the best that they are no longer where they were.”

Emile wasn’t sure about that, more for their own survival. Even if those villagers sounded worse than the ones from Remy and his most recent village.

“So, how is it just not there anymore?” Emile found himself asking anyways. It was a habit for the pair of them to work with what they had, so Emile needed to know exactly how little was left.

“Because we burned it to the ground,” Remus said with an unhinged smile.

“That made absolutely sure they couldn’t stick around,” J said.

Emile sighed. Things did not look good for the two of them going forward. The fae being nicer than expected didn’t do anything for what the pair of them would have to deal with next.

“We can still help you,” Prince said.

“How?” Emile asked.

Prince smiled and wiggled his fingers with red sparks.

“My brother and I are good at creating things with our magic. Perhaps we can create a home for you to replace the former village location.”

Emile’s eyes widened. That was almost too nice. He certainly wouldn’t have expected an actual home to stay in. Emile didn’t know if he’d ever really lived in an actual house as long as he could remember. That was aside from the times he had to sneak into rarely occupied buildings. During particularly brutal winters, for the sake of surviving.

Remy pursed his lips. Emile was sure even his friend knew it was a good offer.

“Why would you do that for us?”

Prince shrugged. “You seem worth helping. We’re not going to just kick you out in the cold to fend for yourselves against other would-be cruel pursuers.”

“That’s nothing we’re not used to though,” Remy said.

“That doesn’t mean you have to just keep doing so if we can do anything to help,” L said.

Honestly, Emile was willing to take up such an offer. He was just so tired. He knew Remy was valid with their reservations. But his friend was likely tired too. They didn’t have a lot of good options.

“Can we at least see where and what you had in mind?” Remy asked. The fae nodded. Prince clapped his hands in excitement.

“Oh!” The new fae with the glasses exclaimed. “I just realized I didn’t introduce myself!”

He held out a hand in front of them.

“You may call me Pat!”

Emile smiled hesitantly and shook his hand. Remy was more reluctant, but from the enthusiastic handshake, Emile had a feeling his friend was warming up to the bubbly fellow.

“Now let’s get to it!” Prince exclaimed.

Wow. Emile looked at the large expanse free of trees, aside from some that were growing in. There really wasn’t anything left.

Most of the fae from the garden went over there with them. Even though the prince and the duke were the ones creating this for Emile and Remy.

“Okay!” Prince clapped his hands and waved over for them to look.

“I was thinking- Duke if you would?”

Duke nodded and cleared the space with a wave of his arm where Prince gestured.

“A house around here, big enough for the two of you. Unless you wanted your own houses.”

“Not that’s fine-“

“We don’t need two-“

Emile and Remy said at the same time. They paused and looked at each other.

“I mean, if that’s fine with you?”

“Not to impose, but if that’s what you want?”

They said at the same time again.

Pat giggled at them. Remy and Emile both cleared their throats and looked away from each other.

“…so, one house the size for two is fine?” Prince asked.

Remy and Emile both nodded enthusiastically.

Prince and the Duke shared a look before they both brought their hands forward and slowly lifted them up. A house began to appear level by level, rising up with their raised hands. When the twins were done, Emile could see that the house looked similar to the ones he had seen in the village. Except this one was bigger.

“Would you like to take a look inside?” Pat asked.

“We can add in anything else you’d like,” Prince added.

Emile looked to Remy. Remy had his arms crossed.

“You don’t need my permission to look at it Em,” He said.

Emile frowned.

“Don’t you want to see it though?”

Remy sighed. “Yeah, I do. And I ain’t letting you go in alone with some fae anyways.”

Emile nodded. Prince threw open the door with a grand gesture.

The room they entered had a good amount of space, with beds in the far corner. There were walls and doors that sectioned off a kitchen area and a room for cleaning. Both were currently open to show the rooms.

“Wow…” Emile said, walking in almost in a daze. There was a fireplace not far from the door. The house didn’t even have a whole lot, Emile would imagine. But it felt like so much. It was cozy and it felt safe.

He walked over and touched the bricks of the fireplace. That alone would mean so much for the Winter, which was usually so rough and uncomfortable. That was always the scariest season with the way he lived before.

“I think you know by now where we are,” Prince said, “So let us know if you ever need anything else.”

Emile nodded.

“We don’t have the same easy access to your cabinet as we do to V’s,” Pat said,

“but on occasion, we should be able to send some food your way if you need it.”

Emile turned around to him with wide eyes.

“Really?” He asked.

Pat nodded, “It’s the least we can do. It sure seems like getting food could be difficult. Without a proper existing village around.”

“Food from the fae?” Remy asked.

Emile wouldn’t be surprised if Remy was asking such things more because he thought he had to at this point. Always the protector he was.

“We can help you get food from around here,” Prince added with a scoff. “It’s just an option. You can even consider it us owing you from stopping your flight away from your pursuers. So we wouldn’t make any claims if we were making it up to you.”

Remy hmmed.

Emile almost collapsed but arms caught him. He was gently guided over to the closest bed where he could sit more comfortably. His savior came into view to reveal it was V, who was looking at him with concerned purple eyes. Remy quickly made his way over with wide eyes.

“Em! What happened? Are you ok?”

Remy immediately started fluttering his hands around Emile and felt his forehead. Emile started to laugh hysterically, much to the others’ confusion. Emile nodded, tears starting to leak from his eyes.

“I’m more than okay. But I don’t know what I am.”

“You’re not used to receiving so many good things, are you?” said V quietly. Remy looked to V in slight surprise and then back to Emile. Curiosity and understanding in his own look.

Emile nodded again, the tears coming down.

“I don’t know what to do with this. I have never been given anything. Always had to fight for it. Even my friendship with Rem.”

“Em-!“

Emile shook his head and reached to grab Remy’s hand. Remy immediately gripped back.

“No, it’s ok Rem. I don’t blame you. And I wouldn’t change it, because that’s how I got you in my life.”

Remy shook his head, but he was smiling.

“Em, you incredible sap.”

“I know I am,” Emile said with a watery laugh, “I’m allowed to be. I just got gifted a house for the first time, by some really nice fae.”

Remy sighed.

“Yeah, I guess you have that right.”

Emile giggled and pulled on Remy’s hand to get him to join Emile on the bed. It wasn’t made for two people, but Emile figured when they pushed their two beds together there would be more room.

When Remy was sitting, Emile leaned into him and looked around at the others in the room.

“I appreciate all of this, so much.”

The others smiled at him, even the Duke.

“We’re glad to help, kiddo,” Pat said.

“I definitely understand what you’ve been through,” V said. V hesitated and then sat on the other side of Emile. Emile smiled up at him.

“I hope we can all be friends still even though we’re not in your realm?”

Remy huffed but didn’t protest. The fae around them smiled and nodded.

“Of course!” Prince exclaimed, “We may not be keeping you, but you can be just as much our humans!”

The others nodded.

“I’m sure L and J would agree as well,” Duke said. Those two were the ones who had gone back to the fae garden realm.

“Oh?” Emile asked. They nodded.

V leaned into Emile and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. Emile’s eyes fluttered and he melted slightly into the spidery fae. V huffed out a small laugh and lightly rubbed against Emile’s side.

For once, Emile truly did believe that everything would turn out alright.

#sanders sides #fic #emile picani #janus sanders #virgil sanders #remy sleep #fae

1 note · View note

lovelivingmydreams · 2 years ago

Text

Oooh someones figurifigure no some stuff out. But what?

In the middle of a joke about a little conspiracy corner claiming Poetry Prince came from the DisneyVerse that had Roman shaking with laughter, Virgil suddenly got a faraway look in his eyes and fell silent. Roman looked up. “Is it happening?” he wondered. His answer came from a knock at the door. Virgil sighed. “This time, I think I know what its about,” he muttered as he got up and went to open the door. There stood Remy and Logan. “Virgil,” the vet assistant nodded, relaxing once he saw Virgil standing in front of him unharmed. Roman noticed he had freckles on his cheeks. Had he just not realized last time? “BB, I got your… Oh… You have your hoodie back I see,” Remy muttered. Virgil nodded. “Yeah. Prince went and got it for me after I told him that guy took it from me,” Virgil explained as he let his brother and his friend in. “Hi Remy. Hi Logan. We got a bit too much Chinese. Want some dumplings?” he offered. Logan observed the spread. “You have ordered every single one of Virgil’s preferred options and then some,” he noted. Roman shrugged. “I figured he’d like his pick,” he explained.

Remy pursed his lips but didn’t comment, eyeing Virgil’s hoodie instead. Roman meanwhile had spotted the fabric in Remy’s hands. “What you got there Detective?” he asked. “Virgil’s old comfort hoodie. I had it repaired and washed and kept it around in case of emergency. Apparently he didn’t need it today,” Remy stated. “That’s sweet,” Roman told him. He assumed that the old hoodie got damaged in the stabbing incident. It was sweet that Remy held onto it just in case the new hoodie got lost or damaged. “It is,” Virgil agreed, crossing his arms as he took in Remy slowly. “You’re not contemplating dream stalking a hero are you?” Virgil guessed. “It’s not like I can actually do it,” Remy countered. “Don’t know where he lives or who he is for that matter.” “Oh my god Remy! He literally saved my life 4 times in one week! At this rate I will be single for the rest of my life. Is that what you want?” Virgil accused. “No! Of course not! I just want to make sure. With all the creeps I see at work… No one ever sees it coming. I can. I can know for sure.” That declaration left the whole room speechless. “It might be time to ask Emil to refer you to a therapist specializing in PTSD,” Logan suggested as he knelt down to pet a very playful Nox. Remy’s head snapped to Logan. “Well if you say so,” the animal speaker concluded. “Nox thinks Virgil is doing quite well. If anything Roman has been more tense. He went out in a hurry before the screens got taken over,” Logan surmized. Virgil looked up. “You went to look for me?” he asked baffled. Roman flushed. Verry relieved he hadn’t put on his disguise in front of Nox. “I… Had to do something. Sitting still would’ve driven me mad,” he explained.

Remy stared at him long and hard. “Hm…” was all he said. Virgil let out a sigh and gestured to the couch. “If you’re gonna stay then help yourself to some food. Roman’s right, we have way too much for the two off us,” he stated. They sat back down around the filled coffee table and ate their fill as conversation started to flow. Roman learned Remy was about four years older than them and had taken after their father in his chosen profession. Though their dad was a cop while Remy struggled too much with authority to make it in the corps. Remy happily shared stories of Virgil’s obsessions. Like how he liked to make snails sit on his hands from age four through six. “I grew out of that,” Virgil insisted. Roman chuckled. “Remus didn’t. Don’t ever tell him you used to like it too. He will try to convince you to try it again. He can be very stubborn,” Roman advised. Virgil nodded appreciatively. “Virgil really loved all things that had to do with the rain. From the slimy little critters that came out when it poured to his cute little rainboots. He was so upset when he outgrew them. He was inconsolable until mom got the exact same type in a larger size. I think the original pair was a gift from your mom Lo,” Remy recalled, receiving a nod from the bespectacled man. “Indeed. She got us matching pairs. I was not as attached to mine,” he stated simply.

Roman noticed Virgil felt embarrassed about these things and tried to offer some comfort. “I remember this blanket I used to drag everywhere with me. When I started getting looks I wore it as a cape and played pretend at being a superhero. Remus would switch between playing a villain or being a hero with me depending on the mood he was in,” he recalled. “Sounds like you two had lots of fun as kids,” Virgil pointed out, happily taking the opportunity to not talk about himself anymore. Roman didn’t mind. “Oh yeah. We would give each other tattoos and stuff. Mom hid the permanent markers when she saw us covered in fingerpaint,” he chuckled. “I can kind of see that… What made you want to do journalism anyway?” Virgil wondered. Roman leaned back against the couch as he thought back on the long road that led to that decision. “That’s a bit more complicated than you’d think. The first thing I ever wanted to be when I grew up was a mermaid. For like, two whole years I did everything I could think off to just magically turn into one. I was very grumpy whenever we returned from a beach trip and I still had legs,” he chuckled. “Once my parents managed to convince me that living in the ocean wasn’t that great anyway I bounced from idea to idea. Superhero often came back. Sometimes I wanted to be a fairytale prince. Anything remotely realistic lasted a week or two. When I was 16 I needed a more serious answer. And… What I loved more than anything, was telling stories. But I needed something stable to fall back on. And on a job fair, I realized that journalists are like storytellers. And that’s why I picked that as my career,” he explained.

“A professional storyteller,” Virgil surmised with a smirk Roman knew was because story telling was what Virgil did in his spare time too. Roman nodded. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Remy, it has gotten late. We have both managed to confirm that Virgil is receiving the needed support. Tomorrow however is Monday so Virgil will have classes, I personally have a morning shift at the veterinarian and afternoon classes. I am sure you are expected at your job too. I suggest we call it a night,” Logan offered. Remy sighed. “I suppose. Good night you two,” he said as he got up. “Night Rem,” Virgil smiled. “Thanks. For caring,” he offered. “Of course BB. Anytime,” Remy assured his little brother with a ruffle off his hair. “Goodnight Virgil, hopefully next time we meet, it will be in less stressful context,” Logan offered. “I’ll try. But it’s not like I plan these things in,” Virgil pointed out. “I’m aware,” Logan assured him. “Goodnight,” he added before leaving with Remy. “I’ll clean up. I don’t have an early morning class, but you do,” Roman pointed out. “Hmmm,” Virgil groaned as he checked the time. It was past ten and he had to be in his first class at 8 sharp. “Fine,” he sighed. “Thanks Roman…” he said as he got up and headed to his room. “Night.” “Night,” Roman echoed before the door closed. “Meow?” Roman looked down and found Nox. “Didn’t forget about you darling. You’d think you got your fill of attention between the four of us,” Roman teased as he collected the containers, assembled the leftovers in Tupperware, threw out the empty containers, cleaned out Nox’ litterbox and made sure zi had enough to eat and drink. “Let’s hope tomorrow is a calmer day,” Roman whispered as he stroked their cat in goodbye and headed to his own room.

Apparently the universe thought they deserved a break because it was a normal day. During his afternoon patrol he got a lot of people waving at him and calling out his hero name and some encouragements. It seemed his name got out there after yesterday. It didn’t quite feel fair. He’d have to make sure to mention the contributions of his fellow heroes in his article about the whole situation. Speaking off, he had to doge a journalist on his way home. And when he finally entered the dorm, he found not just Virgil, but also Logan sitting in the living room. Virgil looked very bored but Logan seemed very focused, scribbling in a notebook. Virgil glanced up, his hair hanging over half his face as if to underline his sour mood. “Hello Logan. Are you having dinner with us?” Roman wondered. “No. I should be on my way soon, we are wrapping up today’s experiments in a moment,” Logan muttered. “Wait, you wanna do this more than once!?” Virgil whined. “Yes of course. There is no point to doing this if we don’t get a substantial sample size,” his friend explained. “Experiments?” Roman wondered as he put down the groceries he grabbed on the way.

“Logan thinks he can teach me to use my gift to sense what it is my power is warning me about. So I can react before the thing happens if it’s bad,” Virgil explained. “That sounds useful,” Roman offered. “Logan has been trying to run these experiments on and off ever since I figured out what my power was. It’s never worked. And this time is not going to be any different,” Virgil deadpanned. Roman hummed. That sounded frustrating to deal with. But Roman understood why Logan might feel the need to try again. “Tea?” he offered Virgil. “After today? I need coffee,” Virgil huffed. “Are you a pumpkin spice man? Because they had a deal on these starbucks type coffees at the store and I figured,” Roman offered bringing up the premade coffees. “Latte?” Virgil wondered. Roman checked the cup. “Yep,” he confirmed. “Can you warm it up and add some caramel… And sprinkles if we have any?” Virgil asked a little carefully. Roman nodded. “Gotta love a man who knows what he likes,” he stated as he put Virgil’s coffee in their microwave and pulled out the caramel and sprinkles from the cabinet. He’d gotten them for ice cream and now he was glad he did. “Your opinion on the matter is noted Virgil. Just let me try a few more times this week. After that you won’t hear about it from me ever again,” Logan promised. “You say that every time… and every time you get all worked up about it not working… But fine,” Virgil sighed. “Thank you,” Logan bid. He rose to his feet and turned to Roman. “Until next time Roman,” he offered. "See you later Logan," Roman replied. Noting that the freckles seemed gone again. “Oh, and Nox likes poultry better than other meats. She hasn’t tried fish yet so they couldn’t tell me xir opinion on that one yet,” he informed them. Roman and Virgil nodded in acknowledgement. “Thanks Lo,” Virgil offered. Logan nodded and left.

“Here you go,” Roman offered as he handed Virgil his coffee. “Hope it’s to taste.” Virgil took a sip. “Perfect sprinkle to caramel to coffee ration,” he declared seriously. Roman couldn’t help a snort at his sagely tone. “Hey on a serious tone. I got a call and they want to push the release of the website. So… You’re done with classes for today right?” Roman nodded and retrieved his laptop and dug his camera out of his bag. He was glad he remembered to snap a bust pick of Poetry Prince before heading home. He reached out on his Billy Baker Instagram and had found someone who had a good action picture of him assisting last week. On top of that the footage of the fight yesterday was freely available all over. He finished a few articles, and sent them along with the pictures to Virgil. Virgil looked everything over, nodding. “That’s a good biography pic,” he told him in passing as his fingers were flying over his mousepad and tapping a few keys. “Alright. The PoetryPrinceParlor goes live in 5…4…3…2…1…” and with a firm ‘click’ it was official. “Well… a watched website won’t perform. So let’s talk dinner?” Virgil suggested. Running a hand through his hair. Roman was about to simply agree but then he noticed something as the bangs were temporarily brushed away from Virgil’s eye. “Wow!” Roman gasped in surprise. “Is that… How did I not notice you have heterochromia?” he asked. Virgil froze, blushing. “I um… I usually hide it or I wear a brown contact in that eye. But I lost one and the other tore this morning and I didn’t have a spare set so…” he confessed. Brushing his hair back in place, covering the blue eye. “Oh… Well. You don’t have to. I mean if you like it better that’s fine. But I think it’s really cool. I won’t stare I promise.” Roman wasn’t sure if he could. But he’d try to ask permission to stare at the very least. Virgil smirked, slowly brushing his hair back out of his eye. “Okay… Dinner?” he offered.

Roman nodded. It was kinda up to the city to promote the website now. It might take a while before they’d notice any real activity no matter how much more known Prince had gotten. The rest of the evening was a blissfully uneventful affair. And so was the rest of the week. At least for Virgil. Roman had to fight a few more villains under the much more watchful eye of the citizens. And on Thursday he was confronted with Logan in his livingroom. Not running tests on Virgil’s power but standing in front of a big board with red threads and pictures of Poetry Prince. “What is this?” He asked. “Our website blew up. And Logan found a new hyperfixation,” Virgil summarized amused. “Our… He… What?” Roman asked baffled. “Since this morning the website has apparently been promoted by the right influencer with a crush on prince and now we have like a thousand registered members,” Virgil clarified. Thousand? Okay, he’d have to look into that later. “And this is…?” Roman pointed out gesturing to the board again. “It occurred to me that we could use the information shared on the website to discover Prince’s real identity,” Logan stated, something behind him flicking… “Is that a tail?” Roman asked baffled. Logan looked behind him and let out something that sounded like a curse, but Roman couldn’t quite make it out. “Yes please ignore it. Side effect not uncommon with animal related abilities,” Logan stated as the black tail wrapped around his leg. “Okay… Why are we disrespecting a hero’s privacy?” Roman wondered. Virgil shifted a bit uncomfortable. “Logan doesn’t mean any harm. He rarely gets around to really guessing an identity. It’s more like white hat hacking. If he can figure it out, then so can a villain…” he tried to defend though he didn’t seem too convinced of his own argument. Anonymity was a gift from the people to their protectors. Revealing an identity was very close to outing a queer person. “It’s an exercise in deductive reasoning. The odds of me discovering an identity are very very low,” Logan nodded in agreement. “Infintesimal?” Virgil offered with a smirk getting a marker thrown at him.

“Hmmm. Well. If it is white hat hacking… I should call in reinforcements,” Roman muttered as he sent out an SOS to his brother and Patton. They’d sworn themselves to be the protectors of his secret identity. Seconds later Remus crawled out of their television screen, having been here before he managed to find it. Roman wasn’t entirely sure what the rules of this trick were. He did know that Logan Knocked over his conspiracy board when the girl from the ring seemed to be crawling out of the screen only to turn into Remus. Virgil didn’t even flinch. Which was impressive. Most people needed far more time to get used to Remus’ entrances. Then again… Virgil knew Roman would probably call his brother and his power would alert him to something happening so he’d be ready for it before Remus started and know what to expect somewhat. “What’s up!?” Remus wondered as he looked around the room and found Logan trying to get back on his feet. “Oooh, he’s cute,” Remus concluded making Virgil snicker. “I am most certainly not. Ahem. Logan Berry. Pleasure to meet you,” Logan offered as he brushed himself off and offered a hand. “Remus Reston, pleasure,” Remus replied wagging his eyebrows which only got Logan to raise his confused, making Virgil snort. “Pat’ll be here when he can get here. But I’m sure Remus will be more than happy to help you out with the project. Two heads better than one and all,” Roman offered as he sat down and opened the website on his phone. Indeed the membership counter was over a thousand.

People had added fanart, links to fics, pictures taken with their cellphones and statements about times he’d saved them. Roman would have to confirm they were all legit but… Wow. His articles got some comments too. He got credit for also giving a spotlight to the other heroes, there was a small essay on how these kind of publicity stunts tended to ignore other heroes and pit them against each other and whatnot and just… Wow. They were making an impact. “Meow!” Roman looked down and saw a verry displeased Nox looking up. “You wanna come and join us on the couch darling?” Roman cooed. Nox just stared at the couch, repositioned herself, wiggled his behind and made a leap for the couch. “Woah! Did you just do that all by yourself?” Roman wondered as he held his hands ready to catch her if they should loose their grip as they got to more steady ground. “Naturally. Nox is almost seven weeks old. Now that they are on a consistent and nurturing diet their strength should have built up enough to get them back on a normal developmental curve,” Logan informed him from his spot on the floor, conspiracy board pretty much forgotten. “Blah blah, kittens are cute, tell me more about that octopus!” Remus insisted. “Roman,” Virgil whispered. “Why did you bring your brother into this? He seems cool and all, but, is he really going to be helpful?” Virgil wondered. “Does it matter? You said it wasn’t anything serious right? And I’ve been hoping for an excuse to introduce them. I think this might be the start of a strange and hilarious friendship,” Roman shrugged. Virgil observed the duo who had gotten distracted by yet another topic Logan was babbling on about now, his tail flicking left and right, Remus was listening so attentively that he didn’t even notice. “You might be right,” Virgil concluded.

“Fair warning about Patton, he’s a bit… Enthusiastic when it comes to meeting new people. Just so you know, if he triggers your power, it’s probably because he’s going to get swept up in his excitement. Also we might want to open a window. He can warm up the room very quickly.” Virgil frowned in confusion, but before he could ask he got that look again. Assuming it was Patton Roman got up and headed for the door soon hearing a confirming knock. “Can someone get Nox out of the room? Alergies,” he warned. Behind him he heard Virgil get up and walk away with a protesting kitten. Once he heard a door close he let Patton in. “Hya Roman! Wow you were fast! Now where are those new friends… Oooh!!!! Hiiii!” Roman held out an arm and kept Patton from rushing to greet his new friends with all his enthusiasm. “New people protocol Pat,” Roman reminded him. Patton giggled. “Okay. Okay you can let go,” he assured him. Roman did and allowed Patton to right himself and wave to Virgil and Logan who were now both looking at him expectantly. Virgil pausing on his way to the couch, Logan still on the floor, tucking in his tail quickly. “Hello. I’m Patton Pikani and I like warm hugs!” Patton giggled. “But if you are not a hugger that is alright,” he added. Virgil chuckled as he settled down and Logan nodded. “Logan Berry. I appreciate your preemptive warning of your tendency towards physical affection. I am willing to indulge in such greetings if issued a warning on the nature of the contact. I know Virgil will likely greet me with an affectionate bump to my body and have accepted these terms. If you prefer a hug may I request not to linger too long?” Logan asked. Virgil spoke up. “Logan is very uncomfortable with touching strangers. So best tone it down to a handshake or something small like that if it’s the same to you,” he clarified. “As for me… Virgil Grimm. Thanks for asking ahead of time. Maybe not on a first meeting?” he stated.

“Yay! More hugs from daddy for me!” Remus cackled. Patton smiled and walked over to Remus to give him a long firm hug. “That’s hot,” Remus joked. Patton gave Remus a playfully reprimanding poke and proceeded to shake Logan and Virgil’s hand. “Pikani… Not related to Emil Pikani?” Virgil wondered. Patton nodded. “My big brother,” he announced proudly. “Huh. What are the odds,” Virgil muttered. Patton just smiled and didn’t pry further. He was used to patients of his brother recognizing the name. He knew not to push for more. “What are we doing?” Patton wondered. “Logan is explaining something to Remus and I am trying to figure out how to make sure the fan contribution corner of our website doesn’t get flooded with fake sightings. Bad intentioned people could damage Prince’s reputation if they post fake bad experiences,” Roman answered vaguely. It would be too bad if Remus just succeeded in distracting Logan to put him back on the original intent of his visit. Virgil shot up at that. “I didn’t think of that,” he realized as he got up to go get his laptop. “No Nox, not here for you,” he muttered as he tried to get in his room without letting Nox escape. Roman felt a little bad about causing him distress but it was a genuine concern. It also would make Logan less likely to take the information in the fan corner serious.

“Kitty,” Patton coed longingly. “Depending on their severity I would request you not do anything that risks aggravating your allergies,” Logan said as he got off the ground and put his conspiracy board back up, observing it critically. “I’d have to crossreference different statements for inconsistencies, if multiple statements make the same claim within a timeframe that shouldn’t allow for copying…” “If I was friends with Prince and I knew his identity I’d probably murk up the evidence,” Remus butted in. Logan looked up. “What do you mean?” he wondered. “Well, say Virgil had a secret. Like he was secretly a drag performer and didn’t want anyone else to know, but Roman likes going to drag shows and just has to know who that killer queen is. Wouldn’t you do your best to throw Roman or any rando of Virgil’s trail? Fake alibies, allergies, injuries, whatever it would take to convince people that Virgil is not moonlighting as a queen,” Remus pointed out. “Yeah. And that is just Prince’s allies. Prince might use all this to hide who he is himself,” Patton pointed out. Logan frowned. “Indeed. If I know what is public knowledge of him, he does too. He can start faking a fear of heights considering he is seen flying and running on buildings so much… That is much to consider,” Logan mused. “Sorry Lo,” Virgil offered. “I know you were excited about a puzzle to crack,” Virgil offered as he settled down again and started doing his IT thing. “Hmmm. We’ll revisit the subject later… In the meantime,” he turned to Remus.

“What is it you do?” he asked, curiosity clear in his eyes. “Oh, I call my trick jumpscare. I can basically crawl between all kinds of devices and do whatever creepy stuff you might come up with. I work in the escape rooms. There’s a spooky one for hardcore horror fans I get to add my own spin to. I really get to stretch my stuff.” Logan nodded. “Fascinating,” he muttered before turning to Patton. “And you? I noticed your temperature was elevated. Judging by the jokes about heat the twins insisted on making when talking about you I assume this is natural and not some sign that the cathair in the house is setting off your allergies,” Logan reasoned. Patton shook his head. “My tolerance is pretty okay when the kitten is not in the room,” he promised. Then he created a small controlled fireball in his hand. “It’s useful in a bakery. My buns are always up to perfection,” he smiled before snuffing it out. “I’ll say,” Remus joked. An insistent yowling from Virgil’s room got Patton’s attention. “Hmmmmm. Can I pet just once?” he pleaded. “No Patton. I’m not driving you to the hospital,” Roman stated sternly. “But the kitty wants pets!” Patton insisted. “They are just upset at being locked inside. I’ll go talk to them,” Logan offered, already making his way to the door.

Patton’s eyes widened as he watched Logan crouch down and have a full on conversation with Nox through the door. “Yes indeed. It would be very uncomfortable for our guest if you were in the room. I’m sure I can convince your parents to give you some treats and extra playtime in compensation. Now go take a nap, you’ll be let out by the time you wake up,” he assured the kitten. When he got back Patton looked at him like he’d seen god. “You can talk to animals?” Patton whispered in awe. “Yes. It comes in handy as a veterinarian in training,” Logan confirms. “That is so cool!!!” Patton exclaims. Remus nods with a grin. “Apparently pets love to gossip,” he giggled. “They do. And I assure you Patton, it is a lot less ‘cool’ when you hear ants seize your food… Spring is the worst,” the animal speaker shudders. It took Roman a second but when he realized what Logan meant he shared in his horror. Remus just let out a cackling laugh. “Oh this guy is a riot!” he announced. “I gotta go though. I have a bachelor party I need to spice up!” Remus announced as he headed back to the tv. “See ya!” “Wait!” Everyone looked at Logan. “If… If ShockWave were to take over the screens again the way he did last week. Would you be able to reach him?” Logan wondered, glancing at Virgil so quick Roman was sure no one was meant to see it. “I mean yeah. But once I leave the screen I’m just a regular dude. Not much I can do except maybe see where he’s at,” Remus shrugged as he started stepping into the tv. “Would love to chat more but I kinda need to pay some bills. Ro can give you my number if you want bye!” And with that he was gone. “I warn you. If you call him he will likely posses your phone rather than answer normally,” Roman smiled as he went through his contacts only to curse under his breath.

“Remus,” he grumbled as he started typing away. “What’s wrong?” Virgil asked. “He changed my contacts. Again,” Roman grumbled. Most were funny and obvious of course. But Virgil had been changed to ‘<3my big crush<3’ and he couldn’t let Virgil see that ever. “And he gave himself the stupid long title of ‘king of ass’,” Roman huffed as he changed that back as well. It wasn’t the first time Remus had done it. Roman wasn’t sure on the how though. Could he change things in his phone while possessing it? “He’s always been a prankster that one. Well it was lovely. But I’ll be going too. Then you can set the sweet prince free,” Patton announced with a wave. “Nice to meet you Virgil. You too Logan,” he bid before heading out. “By Padre,” Roman called after him as he headed to Virgil’s door to let Nox out. The kitten was indeed napping or didn’t feel like getting out right away so Roman left the door slightly ajar. “Well, I suppose I shall take my leave as well. It was interesting to meet your brother and your friend Roman. Until next time Virgil,” Logan bid. “See ya Lo,” Virgil bid. “Goodbye Logan,” Roman added. And then it was just them and a conspiracy board that still got Roman nervous. “Okay… I think I have written a mod bot that should be able to flag potential hate comments and false claims so we can sort through them by hand. That should take of a decent load for us,” Virgil decided. “Excellent,” Roman smiled. “Dinner?” he offered. “Yes please,” Virgil sighed in relief.

Very soon the weekend came and Virgil reminded Roman that he’d need to record that day. Roman almost decided to go somewhere else to listen and do a patrol after. But he’d already told Virgil he’d be staying until lunch so changing plans now would probably seem weird. So he sat there on his bed. Earbuds in, watching the countdown, knowing that Virgil was right in the other room about to say the things he’d be listening to. Was this weird? The countdown reached zero and Roman stopped worrying. “Hello darlings,” his rich smooth deep voice almost whispered in Roman’s ears. “I am RavenKnight, welcome to my murder. So today I told you to send me some links and we're going to read what you guys want. I already looked this up and…” Virgil’s voice changed. Went deeper, sinister and dangerous. "You horny people want me to read you your dirty fanfics.” Roman’s eyes widened. “Holly fuck!” he exclaimed, clamping his hand in front of his mouth. He hadn’t expected that. He should have. He’d read Virgil’s comment section before. He wasn’t the only one who thought the voice was attractive. Virgil spoke again, out of character. “Oh sorry. That was my roommate. I told him I will be recording today. He will try to be quiet, but no promises.” Roman barely dared to breathe. Was this for real? The comment section was playfully scolding him not knowing that he was indeed reading this. Virgil went back to his character of RavenKnight. “Shall we? This first one is called: Fangs in the citty. Hmmm, I love vampires.” How does a grown ass man purr? Virgil managed to do it. Holly frick. Roman listened to Virgil reading out the short vampire fic and Roman’s gay panic did not get any better. He had to keep reminding himself that Virgil had consented to letting people listen to this. But he still kind of felt like he was walking in on something he shouldn’t have. Suddenly Virgil stopped, a little chuckle tickling Roman’s ear. “Should I do the moans?” He wondered. Before Roman could overthink it his comment joined the many requests to do just that. He was down so bad for this man. Virgil chuckled once again in that sinister voice that had Roman’s nerves on edge. “You filthy little sinners. You want me to moan? Oh I will, Darling~” Not the darling. God why did he have to get that pet name involved? “Just remember this, my wandering soul…” And like a could shower, Virgil’s normal speaking voice cut through the built up tension. “I fucking suck at this, ok? I've never done this before!” he warned. Virgil continued though. And while he was a bit unsure at first, he quickly got into the normal rhythm of things. A story or two later Roman was pretty sure he was going to pass out from how hard he was blushing. And then… “Hmmm. I still have time for one more… I’ll leave it to you my little ravens. Shall I do an undertale fic? Or would you like a little fic about a certain hero going by the name of Poetry Prince?” Roman’s breath caught. Surely… Surely not right? But the votes came in and apparently there were quite a few fans of his in the comments as well. “Well, if you insist. This is a story called, Sonnet of Sorrow. Don’t worry though, it has a happy ending,” Virgil quipped. It did indeed. Virgil did a decent job mimicking Roman’s prince voice. He was impressed.

Finally Virgil wrapped up the stream and bid his fans a good rest of their day. Shortly after Roman heard a knock on his door. “Hey Charming. Thanks for that. You can come out now,” he announced. “Hm? Oh yeah,” Roman said as he got up and left his room, stretching out. “I’m going to take a walk I think. Too long in the same position,” he reasoned. “Kay. I got a meeting with my professor about the website. I’ll be back in time for dinner though.” Roman nodded and waved Virgil goodbye as he headed out. He needed a patrol and he needed to not think about that stream. Especially the last part. There was a robbery and a few car accidents he prevented but other than that it was a slow day. When he got home, he was alone. He recalled Virgil saying a new regular video should’ve gone online not too long after the stream. He glanced at the clock. Virgil would be gone for a while still. He settled on the couch and pulled out his phone. The video was a whodunit and had Roman on the edge of his seat. So much so that he was caught completely of guard when the video ended and he heard a voice to his left. “Enjoyed that darling?” Roman jumped up and tossed a pillow at the intruder at full force, realizing too late who it was. “Aw, not happy to see me doll?” Virgil teased with a knowing smirk. He was busted.

Raven poetry

Chapter 6: Busted

Coming soon

First chapter | Previous

71 notes · View notes

naminethewriter · 1 month ago

Note

What story do you have backstory that no-one seems to ask about? I want to hear it all!

Oh Edu, that's a can of worms you're attempting to open 😂 I basically never get asked about backstories to my stuff, so I'll see what I've published so far and what I remember of those. I might have talked about some of these things before but for most of them it's been so long, I don't really remember 😅

Let's start with my first Sanders Sides Gift X-Change story His Brother's Wedding. It's a Romile story, my first and only for that ship, and I had a lot more ideas for the AU then I got around to, both because of procrastination and other story ideas. Coincidentally, as I saw in my notes, I did plan to add Lilith to this one as well! Emile is in town to help his grandmother with her flower shop and he's taking a break from his psychology degree to do so. Roman on the other hand is working in Remus' tattoo parlor, though he actually wanted to be an actor and was in Los Angeles for a year or two trying to get into the industry but he failed. He hasn't given up on his dream yet though! As for the other sides that weren't mentioned in the fic, Patton is Emile's cousin who lives in town and is otherwise the one who checks in on Granny Maggie the most. Virgil is his best friend. Janus is Remus' best friend from their school days and he'll be Logan's best man since Roman will be Remus'. Lilith is a distant relative of Remus' landlords, an elderly couple that adore him and see him as their son to a degree. Lilith is spending her summer vacation in town and bonds with Remus, even becoming the flower girl at his wedding.

I might still return to this AU someday, but it's not very high on my priority list...

Second, let's return to Between Two Lives, which I wrote for Intrulogical Week 2 years ago. I don't actually have a lot of extra info about my future plans for that AU written down, but from what I remember some background stuff that might come up is that Janus always has been a demon and he is the reason why Remus became one too. Roman arrived in the afterlife after Remus and while Remus couldn't be there to greet him as soon as he died, he visited him as soon as he could. Roman did think about reincarnating for a bit but decided against it in the end, becoming an angel instead. Patton is one of the first soul to ever become an angel, as in human souls transformed to be an angel. Virgil is a spirit of death that guides souls to the afterlife.

The one one shot I wrote for a ship week that I'm really proud of and that didn't get much attention is Cursed Woods. I really like the vibe I created with it and while I don't have the backstory for it entirely figured out, I can say that Janus is not trapped in there maliciously. In fact he made that choice himself, even if he doesn't remember it. Roman on the other hand was betrayed by someone he trusted and banished. It will be a struggle for him to rebuild his position once he gets back.

Lastly (for now), let's talk about the story I gifted to you: You're Not Alone. As is very clear in the story, Logan was raised by a single mother, but Janus and Remus both have loving parents who all made it their mission to give Logan all the parental love he missed out on. Remus and Roman's parents are immigrants from Germany and they were with the twins on their Christmas trip though they stayed longer and will only come back in the new year. Janus' parents live a state or two away but they will come around before the year ends. They're a bit hippy like and like traveling a lot. Patton, Roman and Virgil are in a QPR, though only Roman is aromantic so Patton and Virgil are dating.

That's all I have right now and a lot of this is more me making up stuff on the spot than actual notes I made but all of these stories have a place in my heart and I could spin more out of them if I wanted to. But there are other projects I feel more connected to. For now at least 😉

Thank you for the ask, even if it took me a bit to get to it 🤭

#ask game #ask answered #edupunkn00b #backstories #His Brother's Wedding #Between Two Lives #Cursed Woods #You're Not Alone #additional tidbits

5 notes · View notes

im-an-anxious-wreck · 2 years ago

Text

Inspire

AO3 link

Summary: King Roman had never thought himself the fatherly type. He hadn't had the best example growing up, his father had been… negligent at best.

And while everyone had always praised Roman's father for being a good king, a good father, they did not.

But somehow, despite never expecting to be any sort of fatherly figure or even a mentor, Roman takes a young magical boy in as his ward. What was Roman supposed to do? Just leave Patton in the hands of the awful person who was misusing him for his magic? Hah, Roman thought not.

Will Roman be able to help Patton fit in? Or will he end up just like his father?

Warnings: cursing, kissing, very mild injury, poison/poisoning (doesn't go into gorey detail), some child abuse in the beginning that will probably be referenced later (all sides are sympathetic though)

Universe: Magic/royal au

Perspective/main character: Roman

Side/secondary characters: Patton, Janus, Logan

Appear: Virgil, Remus, Remy, Emile

Romantic relationships: Roceit, background established Dukexiety

Platonic relationships: Roman and Patton, Janus and Logan, Roman and Logan, Janus and Patton

Word Count: 17,458

Link to my collection of TSS fanworks

Any historical inaccuracies are sponsored by this is a fantasy world and I do what I want

This is my second fic for @ts-storytime's big bang challenge!

You can find the adorable art by @thebestworstidea here!!

Thanks to @threecrowsinatrenchcoat for beta-ing!

Roman had never thought himself the best person, nor a particularly great king, but he tried. He did what he could, he did his best, and hoped it was enough. It'd… he'd have to be enough.

He couldn't do everything, and what he did do had to be within the confines of the law, but he couldn't stand by and do nothing. Not when Logan had broken into the castle just to see the library before he died of starvation, and not when he heard a blacksmith yelling at a kid for letting the fire get too low.

And it was no wonder it had gotten so low, the kid looked absolutely exhausted and was— by Remus' morning star, the kid was using fire magic! Why the kid couldn't have been more than ten, and yet he'd clearly been doing sustained fire magic. Even Roman would be exhausted from doing that all day.

The kid wimped and the flames jumped a bit higher, only fueling the fire raging in Roman's gut on the kid's behalf.

"Deep breath," Roman's adviser, Janus whispered. "Pause, remember your intentions, then act."

Roman's chest expanded and contracted with air as he set his intention. Get the kid to safety and try not to don't start a fight. Easy.

Maybe he shouldn't have gone out in disguise today; his usual crown locked away back at the castle and a plain tunic and breeches underneath his red traveling cloak.

Well, there was no point thinking about that now.

Roman walked up to the man, the clacking of his boots on the cobblestone echoing in his ears, and his form strengthened with far more confidence than he actually had. The man barely glanced up at Roman before continuing to ignore him so Roman pursed his lips and said, "Excuse me."

The blacksmith sighed in annoyance before finally looking up at Roman. "What?"

"Is that child yours?"

"Oh, Merlin's balls, what's he done now?"

"Well, nothing. It's actually—"

"Good, then fuck off."

"I— excuse me?"

"You heard me, Buckethead. Fuck. Off."

"Buckethead! I'm not even wearing my hel—"

Roman took another deep breath.

Get the child to safety.

"Sir, you're under arrest."

"What?!" The man squawked indignity. "What for? You can't do that!"

Roman paused for a moment. "Alright. Fair enough. Virgil!"

Virgil practically appeared out of nowhere next to Roman's shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Might I recommend that you arrest him for child abuse?"

"You most certainly can." Virgil's eyes narrowed at the blacksmith, looking at him with deep disgust. "Sir, you are under arrest for the mistreatment and abuse of a child under your care, as well as violating the Worker Safety and Protection Act."

Virgil made a small gesture and two knights down the busy street left their posts and put the man in iron cuffs.

The man turned towards Roman, glaring at him as he roared, "Who do you think you are?! Getting me arrested by the damn captain of the guard for him," He snarled, jerking his head back to the shop briefly, "For him doing magic!"

"Ah, sorry. I suppose I did forget to introduce myself. I'm Roman. King Roman Sanders."

A man just spluttered dumbfoundedly.

Roman resisted the urge to roll his eyes, instead continuing, "Also the problem really isn't with magic, it's with you mistreating him. Good day."

The man tried to argue more —seriously, does he not have any self-preservation?— but Roman had already walked around him to where the young boy was watching the whole ordeal from the corner of the blacksmith shop.

Roman crouched down a little ways away from the child, not wanting him to feel trapped. "Hello."

The boy stared at him for a moment before softly saying, "Hi."

Roman smiled gently at him. "It's nice to meet you. My name's Roman."

"Yeah… I heard."

"Ah, I see. What's your name?"

"...Patton."

Roman had planned to take Patton to an orphanage, but something about how he held himself, something about how he was curled into a tight ball, eyes glittering with equal parts fear and curiosity, it made him think of when he'd found Virgil in his early twenties. Virgil was only five years younger than Roman, and, despite being a teenager at the time, he'd looked so young and small; a symptom from being in one of the neighboring kingdoms' children army.

Patton glanced up at Roman and then down again before finally settling on his hands, and Roman knew, he knew that he'd be taking another person into his small but apparently ever-growing family. Only if Patton wanted him to though, of course.

Roman's knees started to ache so he gently sat down, careful not to make any sudden moves. "How would you like to live with me in the castle?"

"...I don't have any money."

"Ah, no, you wouldn't have to pay."

"Oh… what would you want me to do then? Maybe my magic could be useful to you in some way?"

Roman could practically feel his heart sink in his chest. "I'm not taking you in to be useful, young one."

"Oh…" Patton frowned, considering Roman's words, and Roman let him. "Can— may I ask why you're taking me in then?"

"That's a good question… one that I don't completely know the answer to. But I do know that you didn't deserve to suffer, and I want you to be taken care of. And I'm going to personally make sure that you always have somewhere to stay and be safe, okay?"

"Okay, I— thank you. If you ever change your mind though, I understand."

"I'm quite sure that I won't. Even if you didn't want to live in the castle anymore, I'd still make sure that you have a safe place to live."

"Oh, well that… thank you, sir."

"Now how about we pack anything of yours and then you can meet my two friends, alright?"

"Alright. I'll be very quick, sir."

"That's fine. I'm not in a rush though."

…

After they grabbed Patton's small amount of clothing, they met up with Virgil and Janus, both seeming to take to the child well.

Virgil's guard's had taken the blacksmith away and so the four of them walked to the point where they were to meet the carriage to take them back to the castle.

Roman looked at the child, mind already whirring with all the things he'd need. Patton would definitely need clothes and tutors, a room… there were a few in the royal wing that he might potentially like.

"Patton?"

Patton's eyes snapped to Roman. "Yes?"

"Do you have a favourite colour?"

"Mm… yeah."

"Well, mine's red."

Patton still didn't say his so Virgil declared, "Bet you can't guess mine!" As they made a show of adjusting his purple cape.

Patton almost seemed to be holding back a small smile. "Purple?"

Virgil lightly gasped. "You got it right! What about your favourite colour, Jan?"

"My favourite is definitely the colour of vomit."

Virgil rolled his eyes, and pretended to scold Janus, saying, "Janus Hierophant, your favourite colour is definitely not vomit."

"Alright, fine, Virgil Storm, it's whatever the ugliest colour you can think of is then."

"No, it's yellow!" Patton added, eyes bright as his lips curled upwards ever so slightly.

They all stopped walking and stared at Patton, whose face instantly fell, shoulders hunched.

"Sorry," Patton mumbled.

"You're fine… and right. I'm not sure how you knew that as I'm wearing all black today… but you're right."

"Um… I don't really know either. Sometimes I just know stuff," Patton said as they all continued walking.

"Ah, I see. You might have some intuition-based magic then. What's my favourite animal?"

"...You say it's snakes, but it's actually honey badgers."

Virgil whistled low. "Damn, lying to us, Jan? How dare you."

Virgil said it in such an obviously joking tone that Roman didn't even realise how it might come across to Patton until he heard a small sniffle behind him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get Mr. Hierophant in trouble!"

Janus' demeanor shifted instantly. "You're fine, I'm not in trouble. They were just teasing me."

"...Okay. 'M still sorry."

"It's alright," Janus soothed. "No one's mad."

Patton nodded, eyes still darting around like someone was suddenly going to be angry.

Roman decided to change the conversation, hoping that that might help ease Patton's fear. "Oh, I never got the chance to ask you, Patton, what's your favourite colour?" Technically he'd only asked if Patton had a favorite color, so since the child had taken it so literally, Roman needed to be more specific.

"...Blue, like the sky."

"Ooh, that's a very nice colour."

Patton nodded hesitantly.

Perfect, Roman knew exactly which room to give Patton. It couldn't be more suited for him unless Roman had magically known his tastes and decorated it accordingly.

Patton was absolutely going to love the blue walls with white clouds painted on them. It looked just like the sky and Roman could hardly wait for Patton to see it.

They stopped to get some food for lunch and pretty quickly after they'd paid for it, the carriage arrived.

As Patton ate his bread, looking out the window thoughtfully, Roman couldn't help but feel very grateful that he'd listened to Janus' apprentice. Not only was Logan very smart and learnt quickly, but he sometimes had visions.

That had been the entire reason for Roman's visit from his castle overlooking the valley to the town nestled down in the valley. Logan had said that the bear spirit of children and mistreated workers, Osha had come to him in a dream and told him that Roman needed to make a trip to town. She hadn't told Logan why, just that Roman would know what to do.

And although Roman hadn't realised it at the time, he really had known what to do.

Logan had only been at the castle for a few months, but had settled in quite well, quickly learning a lot from the many books he read and from being under Janus' care.

His dark brown eyes shone with the glitter of knowledge and curiosity, and Logan's curls were a lot healthier after the court physician and herbalist, Emile, had shown Logan some hair care that Logan hadn't had access to when he lived on the streets.

Actually getting the nutrients Logan needed had also helped him flourish, his frame no longer so thin and boney.

It was almost hard to believe that it'd only been a few months, but at the same time it almost seemed like longer; Logan fit right in.

Roman sat down in his room by the roaring fireplace.

Roman's recent meeting of Patton had made him think of when Janus had taken Logan in…

Roman was looking over some information about his kingdom in his private study when his adviser, Janus came in, escorting a boy about fifteen. They both walked to the middle of the room.

"Your majesty," Janus said curtly with a nod.

Roman set down the documents, now fully turning to face the both of them, taking in the boy's mismatched, worn, ill-fitting —albeit clean— clothes and cracked glasses. The boy's hair was in rather loose, uneven corn rows, it looked like he'd most likely done them himself and without the aid of a mirror.

"Yes?" Roman asked.

"I… I'd like you to hear me out before you cast your judgment."

Roman furrowed his brow, glancing at the boy again. "I always try to, but I will make extra sure that I do this time. What happened?"

"This young man broke into the castle—"

"I didn't break in. Nothing was broken."

"...Alright." Janus conceited, despite usually being no-nonsense and absolutely hating being interrupted. "He snuck into the castle without permission, and into our main library without being detected."

"Well, it seemed like he was detected at some point."

"I— yes. I found him in there reading a book, but that's not the point."

"Then what is the point? I presume that there's more to the story, otherwise you would've dealt with it yourself."

"Of course. I'd never waste your time like that. He's an orphan and wanted to see the great library before he died of hunger," Janus said, voice even more emotionless than usual.

"Alright… So, wh—" Then it hit Roman.

Janus was standing slightly in front of the boy; right arm slightly out, not to keep the boy back, but to keep the boy from Roman; Janus' face and voice had been professional at best, and purposely flat at the worst. Janus… cared about the boy, but was trying not to show it. Hmm…

"Ah, I see."

"...You do?" Janus asked, almost apprehensively.

"Yes, I do. Do what you see fit and let me know if you need something, anything from me."

"Oh… I mean, yes, alright. Thank you." Janus finally dropped the arm he'd been half holding in from of the boy, clearly no longer concerned that the boy's wellbeing was in danger.

Roman looked at the boy. "So, you really wanted to see our library before you died?"

The boy's eyes looked slightly afraid, but he hid it about as well as Janus did. "Yes, sire. I figured if I was going to die, I might as well have seen the most magnificent library in the kingdom, or die trying."

"How would you feel about being an apprentice instead of that death you seem to be so sure is going to happen soon?"

"An apprenticeship?"

"With me," Janus cut in. "If you'd like." Janus turned to look at the boy easier. "You'd learn all sorts of things. An advisor must be knowledgeable in a lot of different subjects after all. But you absolutely can say no. There'd be no consequences for doing so as I'd simply just find a good orphanage for you to live in. And I understand if you need some time to think it ov—"

"Yes," The boy said, almost desperately, interrupting Janus for the second time.

But Janus didn't seem to mind, only looking at the boy in surprise. "...Yes, you'd like more time to think it over, or yes, you'd like to be my apprentice?"

"Yes, I'd like to be your apprentice… please."

"Oh, right. I— great. Um… would you like me to find public housing for you, or would you rather stay here in the castle? I believe there's some quarters near mine, you know, that way if you needed anything, I'd be right there."

"In the castle would be preferable, thank you."

"Right… and of course we'll need to stop by the seamstress… perhaps after you bathe though. Oh, and you'll need new glasses. Do you want a haircut?"

"Yes, please."

"So the barber as well…"

"Well," Roman said, clapping his hands together gently. "I don't suppose I'm needed for this part, and besides, Janus has been quite firm that I need to memorize all twenty of these pages before my meeting tomorrow, so I should really be getting back to them."

Janus rolled his eyes. "I definitely most did not tell you to memorize them. Just a run-through is fine."

"Well, no matter. I have pages to read, and Janus needs to show you to your quarters and take care of your other necessities. Ah, and perhaps a visit to the physician and then subsequently the kitchen."

"Oh, of course. Good idea."

Roman felt a bit bad just calling the boy… well, 'the boy' all the time. "What's your name?"

"My name is Logan, sire."

"Well, as you might know, I'm Roman." Roman held his hand out and shook the bo— Logan's hand.

"I… am aware."

"Well, let me formally welcome you to the castle. I hope you enjoy your time here and don't hesitate to let me or Janus know if you need anything. Oh, and you should know, now that you're the royal advisor's apprentice, you'll have access to the very exclusive Royal Library as well as the one that's open to all people who live here. We call it the Grand Library."

Logan's eyes widened in shock. "Really? I can visit not only the Grand Library, but the Royal Library as well?"

"That's right."

"Wow… oh, er, thank you."

"You're welcome, Logan. I know you'll appreciate and take care of the books."

"Yes, I will, sir."

Roman smiled at Logan before turning to Janus. "I expect him to shadow you for at least a week before he's left on his own outside of his room."

Janus inclined his head. "Of course, your majesty."

Roman smiled to himself.

He'd been a little unsure about Logan but his magic hadn't felt anything off and if anything had actually pulled Roman to Logan. Roman suspected that Janus had felt that same magical pull, especially seeing how protective of Logan he was, and how quickly he grew to care for the boy.

It was easier to recognise that pull Janus had to Logan now as Roman had felt it towards Patton just that morning.

Roman sighed and began pacing again.

Logan knew what it felt like to be new to the castle and from a bad situation, maybe he'd have some advice for Roman. He really felt out of his depth here.

Janus had been the one to arrange for everything that Logan had needed, so Roman really didn't know what to do. Despite taking in several people, he still didn't feel very good at it.

Maybe he should ask Janus as well.

Roman walked through the halls, his red, detachable cape billowing out behind him as castle workers moved out of his way and bowed their heads in respect.

It was late afternoon and Roman suspected that Janus and Logan were probably either in the Royal Library or in Janus' office. However, the library was a bit more likely at the moment.

Roman nodded to the guard outside the door and flung both doors open a bit more dramatically than perhaps was necessary. The guard closed them behind Roman.

Logan looked up from his book from where he sat in an armchair, Janus in the other one, and Roman could practically feel Janus' eye roll.

"Good day, sire," Logan greeted as he stood and bowed. "Mr. Hierophant filled me in with what transpired this morning, I'm glad my prophecy was useful."

Roman gestured for Logan to sit as he said, "And I as well. That's what I wished to discuss actually. I'd imagine that the castle took some getting used to when you had first arrived, and so I was hoping you might have some advice to make Patton feel more welcome. Also, that Janus might have something as well. I know he orchestrated a lot of your care."

"Well," Janus said, drawing out the word in his elongated speech pattern, "That doesn't sound like it could be a long conversation, don't sit down." Janus summoned a chair close to his and Logan's. "I can tell when you're feeling awkward while standing after all."

After Roman sat down he laughed lightly. "True, you did teach me how to hide it somewhat though."

"May I ask how long the both of you have known each other?"

"Of course, Logan. I don't pretend to speak for Janus, but unless I am otherwise occupied with royal duties, you may always ask me questions. If I don't have the answer or want to answer, I'll just state as such."

"I believe I've told you something similar about questions relating to knowledge," Janus said. "But I shall extend it to the length that our king has."

"Ah, but to answer your question," —Roman briefly glanced at Janus for permission to share, catching the small squint of approval which was most likely unnoticed by Logan (despite his wonderful observant skills), before Roman continued— "We've known each other about… well, since my coronation at eighteen, he was only fifteen so I waited a few years to let him learn more and get more experience and exposure to other cultures.

"Everyone tried to get me to take an older adviser, and I did assemble a small council of elders for some matters of advice and to keep me in check, I especially needed their advice while Janus was traveling and learning, but I just knew that Janus was supposed to be my personal and the head advisor. Even though he was only nineteen when I made his position official, he was and still is wise beyond his years."

"My my, getting sappy on me, my king?" Janus jested.

"Always," Roman joked, affection for his adviser and friend warming his chest.

There was a small pause before Logan said, "Ah, I got us off topic with my question, I believe you were asking about things you could do to make Patton feel more comfortable?"

Roman finally looked away from Janus. "Yes, that's correct."

"Well, I'd imagine— er…" Logan exhaled. "From experience, I know that since he's most likely dealt with food scarcity, it's important to make sure that he has a good relationship with food, even if it takes a while to get there. I'd recommend making a plan with Dr. Picani."

"Mm, good idea."

"Perhaps we could give him some non-perishable snacks that he could keep in his room," Janus suggested. "That way he can hide them wherever he wants and doesn't have to worry about them being taken away."

"Yes, that's a good idea as well. I'll talk to Emile about getting the nutrition he needs as well as the head chef about non-perishable snacks. Thank you both for the help."

Roman stood and Logan hastened to do the same before bowing.

"You're welcome, sire."

Roman inclined his head. Even though he'd told Logan that he didn't have to stand and bow every time Roman came and went —especially in close company—, he still seemed to feel the need to anyway.

"See you later, my king," Janus said in that sly tone that suggested that he knew something the other person didn't, although Roman couldn't think what, so it was most likely that Janus was just messing with him.

"Have a good rest of your day."

As Roman went back to his kingly duties, he couldn't get Janus' soft smirk out of his head.

…Well, Janus did have a rather nice face.

In hindsight, maybe Roman should have realised that throwing a big party to announce and introduce his ward wasn't the best idea for a traumatised kid.

He felt bad but it was why he was all the more grateful that Logan had told him to give Patton somewhere to go to if he was feeling overwhelmed.

Roman wasn't sure if Patton would want company, but he'd at least check on him while Janus distracted some of the guests. Janus could be quite crafty and easily turned people's attention away from disappearing royal members. His charm seemed to naturally come to him in an almost genuine way, and if Roman hadn't seen him without it, hadn't seen his snide, passive aggressiveness, and sarcastic nature behind closed doors, he'd have no idea that wasn't Janus' genuine personality.

Roman sighed. He really didn't get out to the maze often enough, he was pretty sure that he was pretty lost and wasn't quite sure how to fix that problem. Fire magic was certainly out of the question, the gardener —an older, pleasant enough woman— would not be happy about a path carved through, even if Roman kept it contained and didn't burn down the whole maze. She loved plants and took pride in her work, besides, it just seemed like a shame to mess up part of the maze like that just because Roman was bad when it came to outdoor directions.

Ah, what was it that Janus had said? Stick to the left wall and as long as the maze itself doesn't change, that even if it takes longer, eventually you'll find the exit. Or in this case, the center.

Roman walked along the left hedge wall with his hand running along it for a minute before a sudden pain blossomed between his first finger and thumb.

"Ah!" Roman frowned at the bleeding cut. While he was proficient in some kinds of magic, healing magic was certainly not his forte.

Roman pulled out his red handkerchief and wrapped it around the wound —he could always deal with it later, right now he needed to check on Patton—, and continued walking.

It was several minutes before he came out into the large, open garden that was nicknamed 'The Jewel Of The Maze'.

The fireflies glittered about, echoing the stars above as both were reflected in the water of the large fountain in the very center of the garden.

Patton and Logan sat side by side on a bench that faced the fountain and it sounded like they were talking quietly but any conversation died down as Roman approached them.

Logan inclined his head towards Roman. "Greetings."

"Hello, Logan. Hello, Patton."

Patton didn't say anything, just looked at his twisting fingers in his lap.

Roman walked closer and sat on the edge of the fountain wall directly in front of Patton and Logan. "I'm sorry, Patton."

"...What for? I'm the one who ran away for no reason."

"It didn't seem like no reason to me."

"He's right, Patton. You were overwhelmed and needed a break. There's nothing wrong with that."

"I completely understand getting overwhelmed, we may have gone a bit overboard with the guest list." Roman huffed. "Actually, I'd disappear from parties and events frequently. Fortunately, Janus is good at keeping a crowd entertained, and sometimes even from noticing key guests' absences or at the very least explaining where they've gone that's an acceptable excuse for the public. So take all the time you need."

"Okay, thank you."

"Of course. Really that was bad planning on my part, but I'll do better next time."

"Still, I should've been able to handle it."

"I don't see how you healthily could've," Logan said not unkindly. "I presume it was your first event of that magnitude?"

"...Yeah."

"Also, it was a lot of people and noise, and a lot of focus on you. You'd never been to an event like that before, so it's quite understandable that you needed a break. You handled it quite well, and I'm glad you recognised that you needed to leave and then did so before you were really overwhelmed and possibly had an anxiety attack or began crying. You did well under the circumstances."

"Oh, I— thanks, Logan."

Logan gave Patton a small smile. "You're welcome."

Patton looked back at Roman before saying, "Oh! What happened to your hand?"

Roman looked down at his handkerchief-wrapped hand to see if maybe he'd bled through it, but he hadn't. "Ah, I cut it on a branch in the maze."

Patton frowned before standing up and walking over. "May I see it please?"

"I… suppose so?"

Patton carefully unwrapped Roman's hand and examined it, turning it this way and that. "Hmm."

A little ball of floating light appaired a few feet above them and Roman belatedly realised that Patton must've summoned it with his magic.

"So, what's the diagnosis, physician?" Roman joked.

"Oh, it's just a small cut, the blood around it just makes it seem bigger than it is, but we don't want it to get sick so—"

"Sick?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, when it's all extra painful, and it's all pink."

"Ah, there's a word for that: infection. So it'd be 'we don't want it to get infected'."

"Oh, okay. You're so smart, Logan!"

Logan smiled softly. "Thank you."

"You don't have to worry about me, Patton. I'll take it to Emile in a bit."

"Yeah, you could. Or… well, I could just heal it."

"You can do that?"

"Yeah, isn't… isn't it the easiest kind of magic?"

Roman smiled. "Well, it depends. Magicians tend to have a category or two of magic that comes easier to them. Healing magic is pretty much impossible for me, but it could certainly be the kind of magic that you excel in."

"Oh, that's cool. Um, is it okay if I heal it?"

"If you want to. I really don't mind taking it to Emile though."

"Okie dokie." Patton focused on the wound and raised his hand just above it.

Roman blinked and the cut was gone, even the blood that'd been drying around it had vanished. "Exemplary!" He flexed his hand experimentally. It didn't even ache.

"That was most impressive," Logan complimented.

"Oh." Patton beamed under their praise. "Thanks."

Roman patted the fountain wall next to him and Patton sat down next to him.

"What other types of magic do you know?" Logan asked.

"Well, I…" Patton's shoulders drooped a bit. "Um, I guess I can sustain fire magic for hours at a time, I don't really like to though."

"Ah, of course. Apologies, I didn't mean to—"

"No, it's okay!" Patton winced. "Ach, wait, sorry. Sometimes I just interrupt without thinking."

Roman assured, "It's alright, Patton. We know it wasn't on purpose. You were just trying to assure Logan."

"Yeah."

"Oh, hey, Patton? Would you like for me to show some more magic?"

Patton's eyes widened. "Really?! Uh, I mean… if you want to, I'd really like that."

"I want to. Here, hold your hand out like this." Roman held his palm out towards the starry sky and Patton copied him. Roman pushed a bit of his magic to the center of his hand and up, forming a red butterfly.

"Oh! Cool! Can I try?"

"Of course! There's some magic that might be a bit more tricky or even dangerous that you wouldn't want to do without the proper precautions, but a simple energy construct

is perfectly harmless."

"Okay." Patton focused on his hand and after a few seconds a small, sky-blue butterfly appeared, it was slightly translucent and quite sparkly as beginner magicians' constructs tended to be. Patton gasped excitedly. "I did it!"

"You sure did!"

"Hm, that's interesting," Logan said absentmindedly.

"What's interesting?"

"Ah, just that your magic is red which seems to be at least one of your favourite colours, and Patton's is a light blue which is his. In addition, I've seen Janus' magic glow yellow which seems to be his as it's the only colour other than black that he wears."

"Very astute observation, Logan. When making constructs with one's magic it's the favourite colour of the person… well, or at least one they like a lot. Not everyone necessarily only has one favourite colour. But anyway, you're right. Another magician you know would be Remus, his favourite colour is green, hence why he wears it a lot."

"That's coo—" Patton lost concentration and the butterfly disappeared. "Oops, sorry." He put his hand down again.

"It's alright. It's easy to do! I was impressed that you held it as long as you did, and especially after you'd made the butterfly on the first try after having only seen me do it once." Roman dropped his hand and his butterfly vanished as well. "Do you think you're ready to go back to the party, or shall we call it a night and go to bed?"

"Um…"

"Either is a perfectly acceptable option."

"Okay… I think I wanna try the party again. I'm a bit more ready since I know what to expect this time."

"Alright. Oh, I do want to apologise again for not preparing you properly. I should've warned you better and tried to do something to make it not as overwhelming. Like for one thing, the guest list was far too long. I should've kept it smaller."

"Well… it is what it is. It's easy to say 'oh I should've done this or that' but you didn't know then what you know now."

"That's very true, Patton."

"You're quite emotionally intelligent."

"Thanks, Logan."

"What about a background blocker? I don't know how to do it, but I know that Janus does."

"Hmm, what does it do exactly?"

"It just muffles the background noise so that it's not as overwhelming. You can still have conversations and notice if someone's yelling for whatever reason, but other people's chatter isn't as loud."

"That sounds good… oh, well, as long as it's not too difficult."

"I don't think it would be for him, but we can ask." Roman turned to Logan. "Did you want to go with us, Logan?"

"Sure. I might retire a bit early though, I'd like to finish my book on Sir Charles the third before I sleep."

"Sounds good." Roman stood up, Patton and Logan following him to an opening into the maze. "Uh… you wouldn't happen to know the way, would you Logan?"

"No, sire."

"Hmm…"

"I think I do," Patton piped up. "I knew which way to go before getting here."

"Ah, your intuition magic must've kicked in— Wait, then how did Logan get through it?"

"I followed Patton."

"Well, then." Roman bowed with one hand on his chest and the other one out, gesturing to the opening in the maze. "After you, oh great guide."

"Patton!" Roman cried out, feeling his blood go cold and stomach drop as Patton collapsed.

Janus was only just able to catch Patton before he fell to the stone floor.

Roman rushed over. "Is he okay?"

"...Yes, for now. He's breathing and his pulse is a bit erratic, yet somehow slow, but it's there."

Virgil all but ran up, eyes darting around in suspicion. "Give him here, we need to get him to Emile. Remy! Damnit, where are yo—"

"Here! Right here." Remy's usual smirk was nowhere to be found, a serious and focused look on his face instead.

"Okay, lock it down. I'm taking Patton to the infirmary."

"Yes, sir."

Logan smelled the cup that Patton had been drinking from and frowned. "Mr. Hierophant, would you please come smell this?"

Janus carefully tucked Patton in Virgil's arms before taking the goblet from Logan, and after smelling it, his expression also soured. "It's poisoned."

"That's what it seemed like to me as well."

Roman glanced around the dining hall before he bit his lip momentarily and said, "Okay. Janus, can you help the guards lock everything down? You're so much better with smoothing things over."

"Of course. Logan, come with me."

"Yes, sire."

Roman was just about to rush after Patton but quickly turned back to Janus. "Oh, wait, give me the goblet. I'll take it with me for Emile to identify."

…

This was all Roman's fault.

Who would poison Patton? He was just a kid, and an extremely sweet one at that.

Had that cup been intended for Roman? Or had someone just wanted to get at Roman by poisoning his ward?

Roman sighed and looked over at the unconscious Patton, wishing he was just sleeping instead.

Emile was currently in his office examining the poison and Roman just hoped he could make a cure from it.

It'd only been a short while since he'd arrived in the infirmary, but Roman's worry seemed to stretch the time far, far longer.

Eventually, Emile came out of his office, a solemn frown on his face.

Roman rushed to stand, almost knocking his chair over in the process. "What news have you?"

"Well, it's curable."

"That's—" Roman cut himself off. "I'm sensing a 'but'."

Emile nodded as he pushed up his glasses. "But the cure is quite a ways away."

"Of course it is," Roman said bitterly. "Where and how far away exactly?"

"The cure can be made from the flowers of the moondrop plant, but the dragon witch hordes all the known plants."

"Right. Will…" Roman gently looked at Patton. "Will you stay with him while I hold council?"

"Of course, Roman. I won't leave this room."

"Alright. Thank you, Emile."

…

Roman sat in the smaller of his two council rooms, around a round table with Virgil and Janus on his left and right respectively. Remus' and Emile's chairs stood empty as Remus was out of town and Emile was with Patton. Logan stood behind Janus' chair.

"Logan, you may as well sit in Emile's chair as he's watching over Patton under my request."

"Yes, sire." Logan sat down on Janus' other side.

"How is he?" Virgil asked.

"Emile's got him stable enough for now, but he needs the cure sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, the dragon witch is the only known person who has moondrops."

Janus pursed his lips. "Ah, that's at least a two-day journey. I'd like permission to be the one to get it."

"Granted."

"Sire, if I may." Logan adjusted his glasses.

"Of course, Logan. What is it?"

"I'd like permission to go as well."

"You're still rather young…" Roman thought back to all the adventures he and Remus had gone on when they were Logan's age and even younger. "But you've proven yourself quite adaptive, smart, and your self-defence fighting has come a long way. So, I will let Janus decide whether or not you'll go as he's the one leading this mission."

Janus nodded before he turned to Logan and considered him for a moment. "Alright. You may come, but if it gets too dangerous I want you to hide, and if you feel in over your head you tell me immediately. Those are my terms."

"Thank you. I accept your terms, sir."

Roman nodded once. "Good, now that we have that settled…" He turned to Virgil. "Virgil, do we know who's responsible for this disgusting act?"

"I believe so, yes. One Sir Richard Huxley."

His magic and anger burned in his stomach as Roman tried not to outright demand, "Why would be want to poison Patton? Is he planning a larger attack and this is just the start?"

"We suspect that the poisoned goblet was intended for you but got mixed up and Patton got it instead. I don't think he had a plan beyond this, but the castle is still on high alert in case anyone affiliated with him or opportunists want to try anything. Remy's talking with him right now, so we'll see what he can get out of him in regards to his plans."

Roman exhaled, letting some of the anger and tension leave his body. It wouldn't help Patton if his mind was clouded with anger. "Alright. Janus, Logan, start preparing for your departure as soon as possible, and may Osha guide you." Roman turned to Virgil. "Keep me informed, Virgil. I want to know as soon as you have more information. If anyone needs me, I'll be in the infirmary." The 'with Patton' went unsaid, but still was present as if it had been.

…

Roman was exhausted, a weariness settled deep into his bones, but he wouldn't, couldn't go to bed. He… he needed to be there in case something happened. It just didn't feel right to leave Patton here, even if the first mate of the guard, Remy, was standing watch just outside the infirmary doors.

Emile had long since gone to bed, but perhaps he could stay with Patton for a few hours the next morning while Roman got a bit of rest.

Roman sighed as he scrubbed his face with his hands.

He'd only do that if he really needed to. Sure, Emile would be here anyway, and Roman trusted Emile with his life —and had on several occasions before— but he couldn't help but feel that something bad would happen if he left Patton's side.

He just… needed to be here.

The door opened, startling Roman. All sleepiness left him as his senses went sharp and alert. His sword wasn't quite in arm's reach but it could be in a sec— Roman's shoulders sagged in relief when he saw that it was just Remus.

Remus looked almost a bit sheepish. "Hey, didn't mean to make you jump."

"It's fine."

"Burning the midnight oil, huh?"

"Yeah." Roman looked at Patton's sickly pale face, guilt twisting in his gut.

What was the point of all his wealth and power if he couldn't prevent someone under his care from getting poisoned?

Roman looked back at Remus. "Didn't know you were back."

"Yeah, got the messenger fox and hightailed it back. Knew you'd need me here."

"Thanks." Roman pulled the blanket a bit higher on Patton.

Remus hummed before dragging a chair over by Roman's, not caring in the slightest as it made a screeching noise against the stone floor.

Roman huffed almost lightly. "You know how much Emile doesn't like it when you do that."

Remus smirked. "Why do you think I do it?"

Roman shook his head fondly. "He's going to make you remove the gouges and marks again."

"Well, that's just fine. 'S not like I'm gonna run out of magic."

Roman looked away to hide his small smile, but it easily fell when he saw Patton.

"He's gonna get better," Remus said, unusually solemn.

"...I hope so."

"He will," Remus assured. "Janny and little Lo are gonna get the moondrop and Emile is gonna make the cure and he's gonna be okay. It'll just take a few days."

"What— what if he doesn't have a few days?"

"Well… I— he's strong, Ro. He'd have to be to survive the initial first wave. Obviously the poison is still in his veins and has attached itself to him, but the first hour is the most critical. Now it's just a matter of waiting 'till Janny gets back."

Roman sighed. "Right, I just— am worried."

"Which is perfectly understandable. I… I am too, but I think that Pat's strong enough. I mean, fuck, he took a big swig of a fatal to adults dose of poison, and has survived the afternoon and evening with a good prospect. What other nine-year-olds can say that?"

Roman hummed. "True. And I… I know that, it's just… hard." He sniffed.

"Aww, hey, he's gonna be okay, you both are. …It's gonna be a rough few days, huh?"

Roman nodded, not trusting his voice.

Remus scooted his chair closer and guided Roman's head onto chaos' shoulder, one arm wrapped around him and the other patting his hair.

"Yeah, just let it all out, Ro-bro. Let that fear and worries out. I'm right here."

Roman nodded and buried his nose into Remus' fabric, taking a shaky breath as he began to cry.

They stayed like that for several minutes as Roman cried his eyes out. He still felt shitty, but a bit better as he finally pulled away and wiped his red-rimmed eyes.

"How ya doin'?" Remus asked, speaking quietly so as not to break the fragile silence.

"...A bit better, I think. It's… I'm still extremely worried."

"Which is okay and to be expected."

"But it's not quite as overwhelming as it was."

"Well, good. Oh!" Remus pulled a brown paper sack out of one of his magically large pockets. "I brought you some food by the way."

"It's not poisoned, is it?" Roman tried to joke but winced as he glanced at Patton. "That was both poor timing and a poor joke."

Remus snorted. "Just my type of humour! But no, I 100% made it myself 'n everything. Not poisoned. Besides, I only poisoned you that one time!"

"It was twice."

"Oh, shit, really? When was the other time? Ohh! Oh, yeah. I'd forgotten about the summersnow moss I'd put in your apple mint pie." Remus shook chaos' head. "Man, that was so long ago."

"Hah, yeah. It sure was."

Remus hummed before handing Roman the brown paper sack. "Anyway, here ya go."

"Thanks." Roman took out the sandwich and had eaten a fourth of it before he realised and tried to slow down a bit.

"I figured you'd probably skipped supper 'cuz of the adrenaline and all the worry, besides, who doesn't love a midnight snack?"

"Strangely enough, Logan."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah, he read in a book somewhere that it was bad for you and can cause indigestion if you eat too close to bedtime."

Remus laughed. "Mr. Know-it-all's got it all figured out, huh?"

"Mm, not really."

"Yeah, he's got a lot to learn. I mean, he's already learned so much, and quickly, but he's still got a ways to go. Well, not that learning is ever done… but anyway, there's still a ways 'till he's as ready for adulthood as he can be."

"Hah, true. Is anyone ever actually ready for adulthood? I know we sure weren't."

"Eh, maybe that's just a part of it. Part of learning to be ready for adulthood is the random shit that life throws at you while you're an adult."

"That is… surprisingly insightful of you."

"Well, you know me, full of surprises… and something else."

"Shit and hot air."

"Yep, bingo!"

Roman just rolled his eyes. Remus never got tired of that joke.

Roman finished his sandwich and put the bag on the nightstand near the infirmary bed before smoothing back Patton's hair and sitting down.

"I—" Roman frowned. "Wait, Patton has really great intuition, like, he told Janus that he may say his favourite animal is a snake, but that Patton knew that it was actually a honey badger."

"...Okay?"

"But then why didn't it go off when he was about to drink the poison? Does it not work for danger somehow? Because if that's the case, that'd be quite bad. That's when it'd be the most helpful."

"Oh, hmm… I would think it goes off for danger too, but then why… maybe— hm, yeah maybe…"

"Maybe what?"

"Okay, this may be one of my two good thoughts this year, but… maybe his intuition told him to drink it?"

"What? Why! Remus, that makes absolutely no sense."

"No, no, hear me out! From what I've heard, intuition can be frustratingly vague, but if it told him to take that one, he would, right?"

"...Yeah? I still don't see where you're going with this though."

"Well, maybe it knew that you wouldn't be able to handle that much and that volatile of a poison, but that Patton would. His internal healing powers are the only thing that kept him from death's door, right? Like I said, it would've been a fatal dose for an adult."

"I— you don't really think…" Roman exhaled deeply. "That certainly sounds like Patton. I could see his intuition guiding him to be poisoned to save my life, even if Patton didn't exactly understand all that at the time."

Remus hummed in agreement and they sat there, Roman watching Patton and Remus watching Roman.

"You need sleep," Remus finally said.

"...Yeah. I just— can't leave him, you know? How am I supposed to sleep when he's here, unconscious and sick?"

Remus exhaled before gently saying, "There's not anything you can do for him right now, nothing except take care of yourself."

"I… I should be here with him."

"And you have been, but he'd want you to take care of yourself. How are you gonna be awake enough to talk to him when he wakes after Emile gives him the cure if you haven't gotten much sleep? Sure, you'll accidentally fall asleep at some point, but you need proper rest."

"Well…" Roman blinked tiredly.

"Come on, Ro. I'll stay here all night… and may knock you out with my morning star if you say no," Remus teased in a sing-song tone. "So, let me spend some time with my basically-nephew. Okay?"

Roman's shoulders slumped and he knew that Remus was right. "Okay." Bed did sound particularly good right then, his achy muscles agreeing. "Just… keep him safe, okay?"

Remus nodded solemnly. "Of course, always."

"Alright…" Roman stood up and looked at Patton. "I'll see you both tomorrow."

"See you later! Can't believe you're making me be all responsible and shit," Remus joked.

Roman huffed. "Actually you volunteered— no, worse, threatened me, so it's only on you."

"Darn," Remus said sarcastically.

"Goodnight."

" 'Night!"

Roman walked to the double doors and opened one, slipping through. He looked back at Remus and Patton one last time, smiling softly as Remus began to read a storybook to Patton's sleeping form, and quietly shut the door.

Roman said 'goodnight' to Remy, put a small charm on the doors and went to bed.

It was going to be a long few days.

Roman almost cried in relief when Janus and Logan returned with Patton's cure, and did actually cry a bit when Patton woke up, wiping his damp eyes as he greeted Patton.

"Hey, Pat. How are you feeling?"

"Mm, throat hurts." Patton furrowed his brow and closed his eyes. "Head too."

Roman hadn't even opened his mouth to ask someone to get some water when Janus appeared by his elbow handing him a half-full glass.

Roman helped Patton drink and afterward, to settle back against the pillows. He set the cup on the bedside table in case Patton wanted more later.

There was so much he wanted to say to Patton; he wanted to say how very glad he was that he was okay, he wanted to thank him —and perhaps scold him just a bit— for drinking the poison that was meant for Roman… but instead, he just said, "Glad to see you awake. Um, Emile's making you some tea, by the way. I believe he said that it should help with the headache and sore throat that he figured you'd have. Uh, he also said that he can do some yarrow compresses for any aching muscles, but I'm getting ahead of myself."

Patton nodded before looking around the infirmary room, eyes landing on Janus and Logan who were hanging back to give them some space. "Hi," Patton said tiredly, but clearly glad to see them.

They came a bit closer as Logan said, "Hello, Patton. I'm glad to see that you're awake now."

"Glad to be awake. Is everyone okay?"

"Yes," Janus answered. "Everyone's okay. Virgil and Remy locked things down quickly and found the person who," Roman noticed the briefest hesitation, although he doubted that it was noticeable to the children, "Poisoned you."

"Oh, good. Was he working alone?"

"Fortunately, yes."

"Well, all's well that ends well."

Roman laughed. "I suppose you're right.

…

Patton soon fell asleep after that, but that was to be expected as he desperately needed the rest.

Logan sat on the bed next to Patton, claiming that it was so Patton wouldn't feel alone as he slept, but Roman knew that Logan was also sitting there to assure himself that Patton was indeed okay.

After Logan's eyes started drooping, Janus pulled himself up a chair next to Roman's and by the time he looked up, Logan was laying next to Patton, almost curled around him, and asleep as well.

"He had a big day," Janus murmured.

"Mm, we all did. I'd imagine that your quest was quite strenuous."

"It was, but he was quite remarkable," Janus murmured softly, nothing but pride in his voice.

"I have no doubt."

"I would tell you about it, but I believe he wanted to. It's pretty late though, and we had a long day." Janus gave a short quiet laugh. "Well, we all did. But I highly doubt that he'll wake up anytime soon, so it'll have to be tomorrow."

"Speaking of being late, you should go to sleep."

"So should you," Janus pointed out knowingly.

"Hey, I slept some…"

"I presume under threat by Remus?"

"...Yeah."

"That's what I thought, so now I'm the one threatening you," Janus said, voice light.

"Oh, really? And what are you going to do?"

"I'm going to squeeze you like a python."

"...So you're going to give me a hug? And here I thought it was going to be something I wouldn't like. Maybe I shouldn't go then."

"Okay, while that's an excellent point, you should still sleep."

"As should you. You've been traveling all day."

"And you've been watching over Patton all day. Go to bed."

"I will later. You go."

"I will later. You go," Janus mimicked.

"W—"

The door quietly opened and Virgil peered in before quietly shuffling in and closing the door behind himself. "Hey," Virgil whispered. "What's going on?"

"Roman won't go to sleep," Janus said.

Roman said at the same time, "Janus won't go to sleep."

Virgil huffed and seemed to be repressing a laugh. "Well, it's a good thing that I'm here to watch over Patton then." They glance at Logan's sleeping face. "And Logan now too."

"Oh, thank you."

"Sounds like a compromise to me," Janus said. "See you gents in the morning?"

Virgil gave a two-finger salute. "Of course, Jan."

"Goodnight," Roman said, accidentally sounding wearier than he meant.

Hopefully Patton would be a lot more awake and aware, and on the mend the next day.

…

The next day, Patton was well enough to get around with a cane, as long as someone was with him in case he fell, and if he took a few breaks. Fortunately, there were more than just a few benches throughout the castle, some even with a magnificent view of the surrounding rolling hills and autumn leaves.

It was a nice day and Emile had said that some sunshine would be good for Patton, so Roman decided that it'd be nice if they had a picnic lunch in the courtyard.

After they ate, Logan and Janus told of their quest to get the Moondrop plant for Patton.

"—And then after we'd gone through the tunnels in the mountain," Logan was saying, "There was a large dragon in an even larger cavern. Her scales glittered like silver and gold and smoke curled out of her nose. She seemed quite angry to be disturbed so Janus went into a fighting stance but we hadn't even tried any diplomacy yet. She was just angry because she'd rather be left alone and every so often people will try to fight her for her treasure, but once I explained our situation and that we didn't want to fight or her treasure, we had no problem getting along."

"We have a new ally now," Roman said.

"A new friend," Logan corrected. "She just wants to be left alone for the most part. Malcana —oh, that's her name by the way— said that we could visit though."

"That's really cool, Logan! You're so brave. Were you scared to face the big dragon?" Patton asked.

"Yes, but being brave is doing the right thing despite being scared, and I knew that Janus would get us out of there if it went wrong."

"Well, I'm glad I have your confidence," Janus said, a small and gentle smile on his face.

Roman was so glad that they were all okay, that his… his family was okay. Gratitude filled his heart as he looked from Patton to Logan to Janus.

They were going to be okay.

Roman had never felt such hot rage and betrayal in his life. In fact, the only time he'd ever been anywhere near this mad before was at the person who'd poisoned Patton.

Things had been going well, a little too well, in fact. So, Roman had expected something bad to happen… but this, this went beyond even Virgil's worrying and doomsday scenarios.

Janus, the man who'd been by his side for over a decade, had been playing the long game, and who knows how much longer it would've gone on if a servant that'd worked for Janus' father —before he'd died eleven years prior—, hadn't come forward with the information that Janus' father had instructed Janus to get close to Roman and corrupt or overthrow him.

Roman almost didn't believe it, couldn't really. He'd thought, surely this person was lying, but he couldn't help but wonder… couldn't help but doubt.

So, he'd gone to talk to Janus about it, but it'd quickly gotten out of hand, Roman full-on accusing him of everything he'd heard.

But that hadn't been the worst part, Roman would've felt bad enough if Janus had been offended that he'd even suggested that, but he wasn't, he didn't deny it at all. And that was worse, way worse.

Janus just looked at the ground, something heavy and almost sad in his eyes. "I'm sorry—"

"I don't want your— your bullshit apologies. We've known each other for… fuck, for fourteen years and this entire time, you've been plotting behind my back! I have absolutely no idea to the extent of all the terrible, horrible things you've done, and what was done in my name. I just— I don't even know what to think, what even is the appropriate reaction and punishment for— for this!"

"If I could—"

"No, you can't! Be quiet," Roman growled.

Janus quieted instantly and Roman would've felt bad if Janus hadn't just utterly betrayed him.

Roman rambled on, "After all these years, after I've trusted you for over a decade, only to find that you have betrayed me in this way. Do you know how many times I have stood up for you! What great conquests and burdens I had taken on for you at my own expense! It didn't really seem consequential at the time as I did it out of a place of love, but after…" Roman growled, low and frustrated. "You really are the snake they all claim you to be. Did you even poison Patton just to 'cure' him??"

This got Janus' attention as he jerked his head up. "Of course not—"

"How can I trust that you're telling the truth?! I can't help but wonder if you recruited Logan and forced him to work for you or face staying on the streets to starve to death!"

"No! I care for Logan dearly! Just— just let me explain myself, please!" Janus asked, practically begged, but Roman won't have it.

"I—" Roman sighed deeply. "I'm too angry for this right now, but I'll consider it and… and what you've done later when I've calmed down."

"...Yes, sire."

Roman briefly considered putting Janus in jail, but that'd cause a scene and he really didn't want this to get out unless Roman chose to tell people.

Besides, Janus was such a skilled magician and had been the one to fortify it so there'd really be no point anyway. If he wanted to escape, Roman had no doubt that he could. He just hoped that he'd cooperate.

"I will escort you to your room where there will be a constant guard outside your door, and I'll be very pissed if you leave."

"I wouldn't," Janus said softly, and Roman almost believed him, until he remembered that he'd been lying to Roman since they'd first met years and years ago.

"I should hope you'd know well enough to stay, yes."

Roman opened the door to Janus' study without another word and led Janus through the halls they were both homely familiar with, closely keeping track of him, lest he disappear.

Maybe he shouldn't have put the figurative backstabber in a position where he could be a literal backstabber, but Roman had thought it'd be awkward if he was hearding Janus along from behind, but now he wasn't sure. It was kind of too late anyway, it'd just seem like he had no idea what he was doing if he changed their positions now… although he really didn't know what he was doing, and Janus knew him so well that he no doubt knew that as well.

Roman had thought that he'd known Janus as well… but clearly not.

"...Where are we going?" Janus asked quietly like he knew how volatile Roman was because of course he did.

It was rather disturbing how well Janus knew him, and even more so that Roman had no idea what he knew about Janus. What had been truth and what had just been a fabrication?

"I thought I told you earlier," Roman almost winced at his snappish tone. "You're bound to your quarters."

"That's what I thought. Unless you moved them, my quarters are nowhere near here." Janus was still talking in that annoyingly gentle and careful tone. At least if he had been using his manipulating, honey-sweet voice Roman would feel more justified in being a jerk, but no, Janus had to be considerate sounding.

Maybe that was how he was trying to manipulate Roman? He would be more likely to know how to get on Roman's good side after all. Or maybe that's just how he was talking and Roman was putting stuff on him that wasn't there. It was practically impossible to tell and that really bothered Roman.

"Well… that's because we have a stop first." Roman took stock of where they were, trying to think of something. Oh! The guard's house was near here. Perfect. "I've got to get Virgil or Remy to guard your room."

"Mm, I see. Quick thinking."

Roman almost snapped at him, but he couldn't even tell if Janus was being sarcastic or not so he let it go.

The garrison was reasonably full for the time of early evening when Roman and Janus arrived; the change of the guard was fairly soon after all.

"Oh, hey, how can I help you gents?" Remy said after he took a big sip of his coffee.

"I need to talk to you and Virgil… in your office."

Remy's expression turned serious. "Of course. Cap Virgil's not here right now, he went to go check on the wallies —you know how they think they can get away with more just because they're all the way out on the castle wall—, but I can get someone to go get him if you want."

Roman resisted the urge to sigh. "...No, that's alright. I'll tell you and we can leave a note for when he returns. I just need one of you right now anyway."

They went into the office that Virgil and Remy shared and Remy shut the door behind them.

"Okay, so what's up? Something of national security I presume?"

"Yes, I— I'm not exactly sure how to say this but… Janus has been compromised and will need to subtly be confined to quarters."

Remy's eyebrows raised above his sunglasses. "Janus?"

"Yes."

"Okay, but… Janus? The Janus that's been here longer than I have? The Janus that's been here longer than even Cap Virgil? Your adviser Janus Hierophant? That Janus?"

"Yes," Roman said tightly. "That Janus."

"Unfortunately," Janus muttered and Roman wasn't sure if he was supposed to hear that so he ignored it.

Besides, it was just easier to ignore Janus, lest Roman actually lose his temper and say something he shouldn't.

"...Right, okay." Remy pushed his glasses up his nose and seemed to gather himself. "So, what's the plan exactly?"

"I want either you or Virgil right outside his door at all times. You can split up the time however you'd like, but you two are the only guards I trust for this. No one else is to know about this and if they ask it's for Janus' safety."

Remy scoffed quietly. "Janus is the most powerful sorcerer I know so I don't know how believable that is, but will do."

"Well, just…" Roman sighed. "I don't know. It's just an 'extra level of security' or something. Talk to Virgil about it when he relieves you or at least comes to talk to you later. I'm… I know I'm not the most prepared for this, and I know it shows, but just…"

"Yeah, I get it, your majesty."

"I just never thought—" Roman cut himself off as he realised that Janus was still in the same room. He was good at fading into the background when he wanted to or even on accident when he was quiet. Virgil also had the same… problem? Skill, perhaps? Roman supposed it just depended on what they were using it for.

"Well, if there's nothing else, I've got it from here. I'll leave a note for Cap Virgil then take Janus to his room. Besides, if you don't mind me saying, you look like you could use some rest or at least some time to yourself."

"I— yes. And… thank you."

"Of course, have a good evening, your majesty."

"I really am sorry," Janus murmured as Roman passed by, some emotion in his voice that Roman just couldn't quite get a grasp on.

Roman left with only one glance back, something indescribable in Janus' eyes that made Roman's heart drop and stomach twist at the same time. It was almost soft and quite a bit of hurt, but that didn't quite seem right. Maybe it was best to just leave it at indescribable.

He just… felt so betrayed. He'd really thought that he knew Janus, but now…

But now it was painfully clear that he didn't.

Roman sniffed softly as he walked down the empty halls, trying to focus on the tapestry along the walls instead of the urge to cry that was quickly welling up inside of him.

It was just a lot and… it was certainly something to sleep on.

Despite thinking that he'd sleep on it, he didn't get much sleep.

There had been —and really still was— just so much to think about that it'd been difficult to quiet down his thoughts enough to fall asleep for several hours, and on top of all that he'd woken up early and absolutely exhausted.

Roman allowed himself to lay in bed for longer than he usually did, but eventually, the thoughts in his head were too much, so he got up, got dressed, and went to the throne room.

Virgil was there, frowning at something on a piece of paper before he looked up. "Oh, hey, Roman." He paused for a second, probably considering how he wanted to word his next words. "...Are you wanting a status report?"

"I… sure, yeah. Yes, thank you." Roman sat on the ornate red and gold throne as Virgil approached, stepping up the few steps to the small stage-like platform that the throne was on.

Virgil adjusted his armour before speaking, "Okay, I saw Remy's note and he'd marked the switch-off times so I kept watch from ten to three in the morning. Then Remy took over again and I'll go relieve him at eight. The night was quiet enough, but that's just because Janus chose to stay. To be honest, I highly doubt that we could've stopped him if he'd actually wanted to escape."

"Yeah, I… I kind of knew that. Just felt better with someone I could trust watching him."

"...May I ask what happened?"

"He— he's a traitor to the kingdom. An old servant of Janus' late father came forward with the information just yesterday. I… I'm not really sure what to do," Roman quietly admitted.

"He's not—" Virgil cut himself off with a sigh. "What'd Janus say?"

"Oh, well… I may have been too angry and told him to shut up… yeah. But I'm planning on talking to him tod—"

"I don't think he's guilty!"

"What do you mean?"

"Well… I mean, I don't think he's guilty… at least anymore."

"Okay, now I'm even more confused."

"Janus and I knew each other before… before you knew and recruited us."

Roman raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"...Yeah."

"Since when?!"

"Since always? What do you mean 'since when'?"

"I— okay, point taken. But, why didn't either of you tell me?"

"Well… not only was it not relevant, but Janus wanted to keep his background clear, and being a teenager who was put over child soldiers isn't exactly the best job reference when trying to get close to a crowned prince, ya know?"

"Oh, so he… he really was planning this from the beginning."

"Well, no. He didn't. His father on the other hand… okay, listen, Janus' father was a very… let's say controlling man, and if he wanted something to get done, then it would happen, one way or another. So, while that was what Janus had been there to do, and planned on doing for a while, it's not a reflection of who he is today. He doesn't want any harm to come to you, Roman, and has actually prevented you from getting hurt many different times.

"Multiple times now, he's come with me with some threat or plot against you that someone was trying to carry out and we stopped it without you ever knowing.

"Sure, he's cunning and certainly the type who could play out the long game, but not with you. Not anymore. I've known him since we were kids and…

"Anyway, you didn't see him when he decided that he didn't want to try and corrupt or overthrow you anymore. I've never seen him so distraught before. Just— just the amount of remorse… he swore himself to you that day and I was his witness. He cares about you and… and I probably shouldn't tell you this but I'm pretty sure I heard him crying last night."

"...Crying?"

"Yeah, and you know how frequently he does that."

"I've… I've, uh, never seen him cry before."

"Exactly. He just doesn't! But this, possibly losing you, that's striking him to his core." Virgil paused, but as Roman didn't say anything, he continued, "Look, I'm not saying all is forgiven or that this solves everything, but just… talk to him, let him talk, and hear him out. Maybe he's changed, okay? Just don't lose him because of your pride."

Roman nodded, something heavy in his stomach. "Alright. I… I'll talk to him."

"That's all I ask. Just let him explain."

"Right. My anger has settled considerably since yesterday and with everything you've said… well, there's a lot to consider."

…

Roman was walking through the castle halls aimlessly, considering Virgil's words when Patton and Logan approached him.

Logan's brow was furrowed as he said, "Apologies for bothering you, sire, but Janus wasn't at breakfast and when we went to go see him," Logan looked around to check that no one was there, "Sir Remy said he couldn't let us in as Janus needed extra security. Is there a threat? And is there anything we can do to assist you?"

"Oh, that. Um…"

"I don't want him to get hurt like I did," Patton said softly. "So if there's something we can do to help…"

"That's really sweet of you both, but I can't really think of an— oh, well…" Roman glanced around before continuing, "There is one thing. Has either of you seen anything suspicious? Or like, has anyone made you uncomfortable?"

"Nope." Patton shook his head for emphasis.

"What kind of suspicious?" Logan asked, instantly attentive.

"Oh, just like, I don't know, someone lurking around, or looking like they're not supposed to be there." Those wouldn't apply to Janus but Roman was pretending that it wasn't him. Plus, it's not like it was bad things to ask about in general. He had full confidence in Virgil's security, but it didn't hurt to check. "Or maybe someone telling you not to tell anyone about something they did or said. Just, that type of thing."

"Hmm, I haven't seen anyone who fits that description, but I'll keep an eye out."

"Right, well, I just wanted to check, but…" Roman made a split-second decision. "We believe the danger's actually over now, so I just wanted to make sure that no one had said or done anything like that, or maybe even bribed you. Just stuff like that."

"Ah, well, no one's bribed me—"

"Same," Patton interjected.

"But even if they did I would've let you or Janus kn… oh."

Roman winced as the revelation dawned on Logan's face. Logan was very smart and had clearly put two and two together. Roman just hoped that he would be sensible enough not to discuss it in front of Patton.

"I see, well… have a good visit with Janus, and I'm glad the danger passed."

It was rather amazing that he even had deduced that in the first place. Janus was definitely the person that Logan trusted the most, so to even think that he had been the danger…

"Yes, I am as well. Virgil was a big help to the investigation."

"Ah, sir Virgil is quite good at his job."

"Yeah, he's super cool!" Patton agreed.

"Well, I will let you go let Janus know that the danger has passed. Patton and I might go read some then. He's been learning at a good rate."

"Yeah! Yesterday I recognized the word strawberry!"

"Oh, well, good job, Patton! And thank you, Logan, for helping Janus teach him to read."

"Of course. Have a good rest of your morning."

"You two as well."

"Bye!" Patton waved as they left and Roman waved in return.

…

"Good morning, Remy," Roman greeted as he stopped outside Janus' door.

"Good morning. How's… it going?"

"Good, really good actually. The danger's passed."

Roman could see it in Remy's eyes and his shoulders as his relief washed over him. "Oh, good. I'm glad. I presume I can…" Remy pointed with his thumb down the hallway.

"Oh, yes. Yeah, have a good day, Remy, and thank you for keeping an eye on things."

"Of course! Have a good one."

After Remy left, Roman took a deep breath and opened Janus' door.

Janus set his book down and quickly stood, but didn't say anything.

Roman shut the door behind himself and walked into the room, still allowing Janus space though.

"So…" Roman started, but faded out as he wasn't sure where to go from there.

"So?" Janus asked, worry evident in his tone.

"So, I'm not so mad and am ready to talk. Virgil filled me in on some stuff, but I'd still like to hear some of it from you."

"Alright. What do you want to know?"

"Well…" Questions swirled in Roman's head, so he decided to start on an easier one. "How did you meet Virgil?"

"Virgil was a child soldier and I was over his unit, but before that, I was in the nanny ward taking care of children not even half my age. I've known Virgil since he was little. Literally."

"Oh… um, what was your relationship with your father?"

Janus' expression went sour. "That scumbag? I tried to do everything he wanted, including… trying to get close to you to kill, overthrow, or manipulate you, but I realised… I didn't have to do that anymore. There were other people out there who cared about people. Up until then, Virgil was the only person who wasn't an utter dick. But you showed me that people can be good. However, I couldn't quite find it in me to defy my father, so I didn't— couldn't do anything while he was alive.

"Fortunately, he'd had a lot of enemies and was assassinated soon enough. So after he died and I was free, I asked for time to better myself before becoming your advisor, and I did, by dismantling the child army and finding either their families if they were forcibly taken, or good orphanages if their parents had given them up for misbehaving or a price."

"Wait, that was you! You did that?"

A bit of the tension fell from Janus' shoulders. "Yes, but I didn't want the publicity, and especially not on the traumatised kids, so I kept it to myself. I think Virgil suspects though."

So far, Janus' story matched up with Virgil's in all the important ways… but he had to be sure that Janus had changed.

"Are you a danger to me, the kingdom, or the kids?"

"Well, of course I'd say I'm not, but since you're not sure you can trust me, that doesn't do much good, so… I'm afraid only you can answer that question."

Damn, Janus was —as usual— right.

Roman stepped closer and stared into Janus' eyes, one light brown and one dark brown eye staring back. "I'd like to hear your answer anyway. Are you a danger?"

"No." There was fear hidden in some deep part of Janus' eyes, but Roman could tell that it wasn't a fear of being caught for lying, it was a fear of loss, of losing Logan and Patton, of losing Roman.

"Okay."

A bit of hope flittered in. "Okay?"

"Okay," Roman confirmed. "I believe you. It may take a bit to be able to fully trust you again, but… I believe you."

Janus let out a shaky breath, relief and disbelief evident as he all but collapsed into his singular armchair by the fireplace. "I understand it'll take time, but I thank you for the opportunity to prove myself to you again."

"And I'm… glad you want to. I'd… I'd be lost without you, Janus."

"I'd be lost without you as well, my king," Janus softly admitted.

Roman smiled to himself, full of pride, as he looked out the carriage window and recalled the events that'd taken place that day.

Logan and Patton had started a program together to help kids in situations like the ones they'd come from. It'd been in place for a month now —and about as much time since Roman had started trusting Janus again—, and once a week they would go to check on the progress in person.

Everything was going well in the program and Roman couldn't be prouder of Logan and Patton for their work in it. He'd seen how much work and effort they'd put into it, even if he'd only just seen the work they did from the castle.

This was Roman's first time going with them as he was usually too busy when they went to check on everything and help with things in person. Instead, Janus would take them, but this week, Roman had a lighter load and worked a bit harder yesterday to have the entire day free.

There was one week where Remus had taken them when Janus had too many meetings and not enough time, but that had gone about as well as Roman would've expected, especially as Remus didn't have Virgil with him and hadn't told Roman that he was taking them beforehand. Roman was ninety-five percent sure that Remus taught them several different ways to commit arson that day.

"King Roman?"

Roman blinked out of his thoughts and looked over. "Yes, Logan?"

"We're here."

Roman glanced out of the window before smiling. "Ah, so we are!"

They could've made the trip back to the castle that day, but they'd spent all day working and were already tired enough as it was, so Janus suggested that they stop at the inn in town for the evening.

Janus and Logan went inside to check in while Roman and Patton grabbed their bags. Roman hadn't exactly expected not to get home that day, but he was always prepared and had a few changes of clothes for everyone.

"Wait, did you hear that?"

Roman paused. "...No?"

"Hmm." Patton put his bag back and took off to the alleyway next to The Crumbling Knight Inn.

"Pat— and he's gone." Roman sighed and hastily copied Patton.

Patton was sitting rather far into the alley and was looking intently at some sort of animal across the alley from him.

"Oh, you found a dog," Roman murmured as he quietly walked back and peered around the alley corner.

The muddy dog carefully crept towards Patton and sniffed his outstretched hand before allowing him to pet her.

"Aww, aren't you sweet!" Patton cooed as he glanced at Roman with fleeting, pleading eyes.

…Roman guessed they may very well have a dog soon.

Roman stepped around the corner and the dog eyed him suspiciously.

"She said she has no family. Can we keep her?"

"...The dog said that?"

"Well, not exactly 'said'… but I know what she means."

"I— alright, if you'll help take care of her, then sure. You absolutely may."

"Oh, I will! I'll take very good care of her!"

"Then we should give her some water and a snack and start a bath, then we can give her some more food if the other stays down."

"...She says she doesn't like baths, but she hates being covered in dried mud more, so she'll allow it this one time. Also, I think the promise of food helped."

"Well, then we only need to convince Janus and bribe the innkeeper."

…

As it turned out, the innkeeper needed more convincing than Janus, but after the extra money was laid down and Patton gave puppy dog eyes and even promised to clean up after the dog, she agreed.

All four of them sat at one of the tables in the inn's dining room, and the dog sat next to Patton —albeit on the floor, much to Patton's disappointment—.

"I'm very glad your program is going well, Logan and Patton," Roman said after they'd eaten most of their food.

"Thank you. I was quite pleased with the progress as well."

"Yeah!" Patton exclaimed as he took the last biscuit from the now empty basket. "It's already helped quite a few kids." He took a big bite and rested his hand against his thigh before gasping. "Hey! That was my biscuit!"

The dog didn't pay Patton any mind though as she wolfed it down.

Janus pursed his lips ever so slightly and Roman instantly recognised that he was trying not to laugh. He seemed to recover quickly though and kindly said, "Here, Patton. I didn't end up eating my biscuit so you may have it."

"Oh, thanks! I'll be sure to hold it over my plate this time."

"Probably wise."

"...Oh hey! I know what we should name her now."

Roman raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Biscuit!"

"That does seem like a logical enough name for a dog," Logan agreed.

"...She says that's a good name, especially if she gets more biscuits sometime."

Roman laughed. "Well, we'll have to see about that."

Roman never would've been able to imagine that it was possible to care for so many people this much. His brother, Remus; Captain of the guard, Virgil; Logan Hierophant; Roman's ward, Patton; and Roman's adviser, Janus.

His care for them seemed to only be multiplying every day, and Roman was quite content to let it.

But lately his care for Janus was almost… changing? Not diminishing in any way, just… it was a bit different now.

Roman got up from the desk in his room and began pacing.

He wanted to be more physical with Janus for one thing, and while he liked some physical affection in general, this still felt different. He wanted to be near Janus more than he'd ever thought about. There was just something in Roman that pulled him to Janus.

He wanted to hold Janus' hand, to hug him, and to… wake up next to each other?

He… he wanted to run his fingers through Janus' long, beautiful hair, to brush and braid his golden hair. Wanted to cup his cheek and lean in and—

Kiss Janus??

Oh.

Oh, wow. How had Roman not seen that before, hadn't seen that coming?

Roman sat down on his bed, legs feeling almost shaky under him as he laid back.

But now that he thought about it… it almost made sense.

Sure, one could think that one's friends were pretty, and one could want to be physically affectionate with them, but there was some feeling in Roman's gut that told him that this was different, something that told him that it wasn't strictly platonic.

…Now what?

Roman sat up.

Did he want to tell Janus? Or maybe wait?

He wasn't sure what he'd be waiting on but he also didn't want to just rush into anything. How was he supposed to know what to do? He'd never been… been in love before.

Roman almost rolled his eyes at how obvious it was. Who did he know that would have some experience with romance? Remus and Virgil, of course. They were married after all.

Roman found Remus and Virgil quick enough, both relaxing in their shared quarters as they cuddled on one of their couches.

"Hey, Ro-bro! Wanna come on in and tell us what's on your mind?"

Roman shut the door behind himself. "That obvious, huh?"

Remus rolled chaos' eyes. "Of course. There's clearly something on your mind, so what has your brain going in circles?"

"Yeah, we're here to listen and help if we can," Virgil agreed.

"Well…" Roman sat down on the couch opposite Remus and Virgil. "I realised that I may… like Janus romantically?"

Remus snorted loudly as Virgil pursed his lips, probably to not do what Remus did.

"Did you only just learn that?" Remus asked, voice full of amusement.

Roman huffed. "Yes. Was it that obvious?"

"Oh, definitely. I thought you were just taking your sweet time asking him, but you didn't… man, talk about King Oblivious."

Roman huffed, pretending to be offended. "Wow, if I'd known that I'd just get insulted for my trouble—"

Virgil laughed. "No, we'll— well, I'll help at least. No guarantee for Remus though."

"Hey! I can be helpful too!"

"Sure."

"I— okay fair." Remus looked back at Roman. "So, what's the problem exactly?"

"Well, I think I'd like to tell him, but like…"

"You don't wanna fuck it up?"

"I wouldn't put it quite like that, but yes. I just— I really care about him and in one way it wasn't really all that long ago that I thought I might… might lose him. I just don't want to worry about possibly losing him again."

"I really don't think you'll lose him," Virgil said. "I…" They hesitated. "Even if he didn't like you back, he's not one for abandoning his friends."

Roman sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I'm just… nervous I guess."

Remus seemed to be taking this more seriously now. "Yeah, that's understandable. I was super nervous about asking Virgil, and waited so long that he ended up asking me." Remus laughed. "And he was probably more nervous than I was!"

"Oh, definitely. I was so anxious that I almost threw up."

…

After a bit more assurance from Virgil and some —light-hearted— badgering from Remus, Roman decided that he'd tell Janus soon, but especially as he'd only discovered his romantic feelings that day, he would give it some thought as to how he would ask Janus out.

Maybe he could do a big gesture first? Like a picnic perhaps? No, it was winter and far too cold.

Should Roman just tell him? There wasn't much romance in that though… but maybe he was just overcomplicating things?

Roman's nerves had only doubled and he was still no closer to figuring out how to ask Janus out.

Roman sighed as he wandered through the hallways, lost in thought.

What if he got so worked up that he got too nervous to ask Janus at all? Maybe… maybe he should just ask now before his brain blew it out of proportion.

Before Roman quite realised what he was doing, he was walking towards Janus' room.

Roman took a deep breath and knocked on the door before he could chicken out.

"Come in," Janus called.

Roman opened the door and shut it behind himself. "Hello, Janus."

"Hello, Roman." Janus smiled before putting a bookmark in the book he'd been reading and setting it on the small side table next to the armchair. The fire crackled merrily in the hearth. Janus gestured Roman over. "I won't bite," He teased.

Roman huffed. "I know that."

"Then why do you look so nervous?" Janus raised an eyebrow.

Roman stopped by Janus' chair and almost wished that he'd thought to wear his regal attire or at the very least his crown. He really needed the confidence.

"Just… am?" Roman tried.

"Right," Janus said sarcastically, clearly not believing him. He seemed to realise how put upon Roman felt though as he suggested, "Why don't you sit down?"

"But there's not— oh!" Roman did his best not to squeak as a warm arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him down into Janus' lap.

"There, now you're closer to the fire. You're cold, you need to keep warm."

"I—" Roman was quite sure his cheeks were flushing. "Right, um. Yeah."

Fortunately, the chair was large enough for both of them, Roman sitting sideways in between Janus' legs with the backs of his knees on the armrest, feet dangling over the side. Janus' arm was still around Roman's waist, fingers splayed over his stomach.

Roman wasn't really sure where to put his arm that was closer to Janus, and since it was a bit too late to put it in between himself and Janus as Janus had already pulled them pretty close together, Roman decided to put his arm around Janus' shoulders.

Janus laid his hand that was not wrapped around Roman on Roman's knee. "So, how'd you sleep last night?"

"Uh, pretty good. What about you?"

"...I should've expected you to ask me back."

Roman laughed. "I mean, that's kind of how small talk works usually."

"Hah, fair enough." Janus stared at the fire and Roman finally saw that it wasn't just shadow from the flame under Janus' eyes making him look tired. His shoulders were a bit heavy looking as well.

"So, how'd you really sleep?" Roman finally asked.

"Well, not very well. I don't know why. It's not like there was really anything to affect or disturb my sleep like that… anyway, I'll just try to get better rest tonight."

"Well, why don't you just take a nap?"

"Hmm, I might. I usually struggle with falling asleep in the middle of the day when… anyway."

"When what?"

Janus sighed. "When I'm alone. I used to have people near when I was in charge of… the nanny ward and then later with the… well, not really soldiers, but the point is I never slept alone growing up. It doesn't really matter though, I'll just wait until—"

"I'll sleep with you!"

Janus coughed. "What?"

Roman felt his face warm as he shifted awkwardly, but that just made it worse as it just reminded Roman just how much they were touching. "Okay, that sounded… but what I meant was we could… take a nap together?" Oh, dramdach, that didn't sound much better.

"I— yes. That… yes."

Roman didn't think he'd ever seen Janus so not put together. Maybe his sleep problem had been going on for longer than he'd said.

Roman didn't have any more time to ponder such things, however, as Janus moved his hand from on top of his knees to under, and his other hand to support the rest of Roman as he stood and carried Roman over to Janus' bed.

Janus set the still stunned Roman down. "Well?"

"Uh, well what?" Since when was Janus so strong??

Janus huffed in amusement. "Are you going to scoot over so I can get in as well?"

"Huh, oh! Oh, yeah." Roman moved over as Janus slid in next to him and pulled the blankets over them.

"Here, you can scoot a bit closer. It's pretty chilly today and the bed's rather cold."

Despite the warmth in Roman's face, the bed was indeed cold.

"Okay," Roman murmured as he shuffled closer, choosing to sleep on his side.

Janus was behind Roman as he'd hoped that he'd be less awkward, but Janus must've also been on his side as threw an arm over Roman's waist and buried his nose in Roman's shoulder.

Well, this was certainly different than what Roman had expected when he'd gone to Janus to tell him that he loved Janus. He hadn't even gotten that far before Janus was sharing a bed with him.

Life was weird sometimes.

…

Roman woke up warm so he hummed and snugged even closer to the warmth before frowning. Wait, what was warm?

Roman's eyes flew open and he realised that he was sleeping on… on Janus' chest! He scrambled back and tried to sit up.

"Well, good evening. Where are you going in such a hurry?" Janus asked, lazily watching him from where he was half sitting up against the headboard.

"Oh, I— I was— just… surprised, that's all."

"Fair enough. I'm sure it'd be a bit surprising to wake up next to —or rather on, in this case— someone when you're not used to it."

"But you are? Even now, and even with me?"

Janus considered him for a moment. "Yes."

Roman looked away, not even quite sure why. "Oh."

Janus started at Roman for a moment longer before he broke whatever that was and said, "So, it's about suppertime. How about we go find the whole crew and eat together."

"Yeah, absolutely. That sounds great."

They got out of bed and fixed their bedheads and slightly skewed clothes.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Janus said as he put his hat back on. Roman hadn't even noticed that he'd taken it off. "I had something I wanted to talk to you about earlier."

"Oh?"

Janus' eyes ran over Roman before he looked away. "I— nevermind."

"...Are you sure?"

"Yes. Let's go eat."

…

They all gathered for supper and ate amid chatter and teasing.

"So," Logan began seriously as he set down his fork. "I read about something in the library today and I was wondering if everyone has birthdays or just a select few."

"Oh, everyone does," Janus said. "Some people may choose not to celebrate or may not know what day exactly they were born on —I presume you don't—, but most people celebrate their birthday, or at least know when it is."

A bit of sadness crossed Logan's face. "Ah, I see."

"We could choose a day to be your birthday though," Roman suggested.

"Really? We can do that?"

"Absolutely! We can pick a date and then throw a little party that day to celebrate you."

"What about tomorrow?" Logan asked.

"Well, let's have enough time to at least plan it."

"How about this Saturday?" Janus offered.

Logan considered it for a moment. "...That would be acceptable."

"Good," Janus said before turning to Patton. "And you will, of course, get one as well."

Patton almost dropped his fork in surprise, eyes widening. "What? Really? I get a birthday too?"

"Of course, Patton," Roman assured. "You're no less a part of this family than anyone else."

"Oh."

Roman decided not to dwell on that too much right now. He did, however, make a mental note to himself to be sure that Patton always knew that he was part of the family. "Do you know when your birthday is?"

"...No."

"Well, that's just fine. We can pick a date for or with you sometime after Logan's birthday party, okay?"

"Okay!"

Janus asked Logan, "Would you like to help plan the party, like perhaps after supper, or would you rather it be a surprise and we plan it for you?"

"I'd like to be involved with the planning, please. I'm not very fond of surprises."

"That's understandable," Remus said around a mouth full of food. "One time I tried to throw a surprise party and Roman screamed!"

"In my defense, you jumped out of nowhere with what looked like a mound of some weird red stuff! It looked bloody!"

"Okay, listen, it's not my fault I don't know how to bake!"

Today definitely hadn't gone how Roman had expected but, all in all, it was —albeit weird— still a good day.

Today was Logan's new birthday and as excited as Logan seemed to be, he also was at least that much nervous, stressing over every little detail and clearly tense and on edge.

"No, a bit lower… now to the left… not that left, go to the right a bit. That's too high, can you—"

"Logan, I don't think we'll get this exactly right at this rate," Janus said a bit exasperatedly.

"...Oh, right. Apologies, right there is adequate… well, maybe just a bit to the—"

"Logan!"

"Oh, right, right."

"Why don't you use magic to get it just right?" Patton asked.

"... Because we didn't think of that," Janus admitted.

"That's a really good idea," Roman praised.

Janus let go of his side of the banner and it stayed in place with a bit of gold glittering around it; a sign of his magic. He gestured for Roman to do the same thing and he did, his side also staying with the same golden glitter.

They both climbed down their respective ladders, and Janus made rulers out of his magic on each of the four sides of the banner to get it perfectly centered. Finally it was secured, and Janus went back to blowing up balloons with his magic, some dark blue sparkly confetti in each one.

"I've got the cake!" Virgil exclaimed as he entered the event hall.

"And I've got the ice cream! …Mostly because Virgil doesn't trust me with the cake."

"I saw the flips you were doing with the ice cream bucket!" Virgil and Remus set their loads down on the table.

"Well, obviously I wouldn't've done that with the cake!"

"Well, it's hard to know with you.“

Remus huffed as chaos made a cold bubble around the ice cream so it wouldn't melt, but conceited, "...Okay, that's fair."

Roman walked over to Logan. "Hey, you seem a bit stressed. I know that this is a lot, but it doesn't have to be perfect, okay? We want you to have fun, not be stressed out of your mind."

"Ah, yes. You're right, of course. I just… want this to go well. I'm afraid I've rather so-called 'built' it up in my mind to be this big important thing, so I'm worried about it not going perfectly."

"Oh, I know what you mean. I've definitely done that before. Trying to get every little detail perfect, even when I wasn't sure what getting it perfect would look like. It's called 'perfectionism'."

"Oh, there's a name for that? I didn't realise it was such a common thing."

"Yes, but there's ways to help with it, like letting yourself know that it's okay to make mistakes, or that it doesn't have to be absolutely perfect. It's not going to be perfect but that's okay! I know letting it go is easier said than done, but just know that I'm here for you, Logan."

"Thanks, I appreciate it. I just… I suppose I just want to be good enough. I've been given such a wonderful opportunity here and I don't want anyone to think that I'm squandering it." Logan dropped his voice, "I just don't want you to regret letting Janus take me in."

"Oh, Logan, I don't regret Janus taking you in at all! Short of some very, very bad stuff, I'd never regret that. I'm so glad you're here, and I want you to be here, okay?"

Logan nodded as he seemed to be fighting back tears. "Okay. Thank you."

"Of course. Anytime."

Roman patted Logan's shoulder and they shared a small smile.

…

After Logan was able to relax, things went smoother and Roman was quite sure that he was enjoying everything.

Remus was standing next to Virgil, each had an arm wrapped around the other's waist, and Remus was using his free hand to make a ball of magic that Logan, Patton, and Biscuit were running around, chasing. Occasionally, something would happen —like almost running into each other, or the bundle of magic would jump just out of reach— and Logan and Patton would laugh, Biscuit barking with them.

Roman stood off to the side with Janus, who was watching everyone's antics in amusement.

Roman wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but ever since he'd realised that he liked Janus romantically, there kept being… little things. Roman wasn't even sure what to call them.

While they hadn't shared a bed again after the nap they'd shared, they still were in close proximity more often than ever. Janus would put an arm around Roman's shoulders as he showed Roman something out of his book, or would press their knees together under the dinner table. Just little things like that, things that Roman still couldn't quite get his head around.

Was it just his feelings for Janus misinterpreting things? Or… well, he didn't even dare to hope.

Janus also seemed to be spending more time with Roman, even if he said something about it being a coincidence that they were in the same room. Roman… wasn't sure if he believed Janus.

Despite all that, Roman couldn't help but worry that he'd missed his chance. Sure, he probably hadn't, but his worry didn't seem to care about that.

What if he never told Janus? He knew he'd regret it if he never told him though, he just hoped that if… —when?— he told Janus, that he wouldn't come to regret that too.

He still felt no closer to knowing how or when to tell Janus, but he supposed that he probably wasn't in that much of a rush. The only people Janus talked to outside of their little family, were all in a professional setting, so Roman doubted that Janus would just suddenly have a partner… hopefully he wouldn't anyway.

Remus yanked the ball higher and Patton jumped, trying to catch it, but it bounced off of the tips of his fingers, and he laughed merrily as he slowly drifted down, having used a slow-fall spell that Janus had taught him recently.

Roman heard a gentle laugh from beside him, so he looked over at Janus, whose smile was softer now, sunlight hitting his face just right, and hair sparkling golden in the light.

And before Roman realised, "You're the most beautiful person I've ever had the honour of meeting," Tumbled out of his mouth.

Janus broke his vision away and looked at Roman in shock. "Wh— what?"

Oops. Well, it was out there now. "Oh, well… I wasn't planning on saying this right now, but I really have been meaning to tell you so… I like you."

"...Like romantically?"

"Yes, like… like romantically."

Janus smirked before he stated matter-a-factly,

"About time."

"What?"

"I've been flirting with you for a while now! I was starting to wonder if you'd ever like me back."

"Wait, really?"

Janus nodded. "You're an idiot."

Roman laughed abruptly. "Wow, thanks."

"But you're a very lovable idiot."

"Oh, thanks." Roman's face warmed a bit as Janus stepped a bit closer.

Janus gazed into Roman's eyes and he gazed back, the striking contrast of Janus' eyes all but mesmerising. He cupped Janus' face in his hands, running a thumb across his soft cheek before running his other thumb over Janus' scarred cheek, gently tracing a few of the raised lines.

"You're beautiful," Roman said, voice full of wonder.

"I— you're not so bad yourself."

Roman took a little step forward. "Why, thank you." He let his right hand fall a bit until it rested on Janus' shoulder, and Janus reached up with his left hand to grasp at Roman's sleeve. "I really like you," Roman murmured.

"I really like you as well," Janus said back, voice just as soft.

"So, wh—"

"Hey, Roman!" Patton exclaimed before he stopped next to them.

Roman pulled back from Janus to see a sheepish Patton.

"Oops, sorry. Didn't quite figure out what my intuition was telling me in time."

Roman laughed. "It's alright, what's up?"

Patton held up a light blue balloon that had been folded and twisted into the shape of a dog. "Uncle Remus is making balloon animals!"

"Uncle?"

"Oh, um, well, he and uncle Virgil said it was okay… but I can—"

"No, that's perfectly fine. I was just surprised, that's all."

Patton paused, no doubt seeing if Roman would suddenly change his mind and get mad, but, of course, Roman didn't. "...Okay."

Janus seemed to notice the need for a subject change as he asked, "Do you think he could make me something?"

"Hmm, I think a honey badger would be too complicated, but I bet he could make you a snake!"

"Sounds perfect."

Patton ran off to no doubt ask Remus about the snake.

Janus shook his head fondly. "I'll never understand how children can have so much energy."

"Right! They're so small and yet they just zoom around."

Janus paused before looking back at Roman. "Well, we should probably go see what everyone wants to do next."

"Yeah, that sounds good… can I hold your hand?" Roman blurted out, startling a laugh out of Janus.

"Yes." Janus held his hand out and Roman took it.

Roman wasn't quite sure what this meant for them yet, but it seemed like it would only be for the better.

As they all sang 'happy birthday' to Logan around his birthday cake, Roman couldn't help but wonder at how he'd gotten such an amazing family.

And he couldn't wait to spend the rest of his life with them.

~The End~

No reposting, likes are nice, and reblogs are very much appreciated! | Taglist (ask to be added or removed): @someoneiwasnt

36 notes · View notes

snowdice · 3 years ago

Text

Finding the Time to Study Fic 2 [Day 118]

Here is my starting post for today’s study break stories session. I will reblog this post with the story as I write them today. Feel free to send in asks about anything at any point, even if it’s not for the part of the story I’m currently on.

If you aren’t interested and don’t want all of these posts clogging your dash, please feel free to block the tag “study break stories” as all posts and voting about it will go there. You can still see the finished product of the story even if you are blocking that tag as I will not tag the edited chapters with “study break stories” but with the tag “folds in paper.”

See the Folds in Time Universe Master Post for edited chapters. Not yet edited chapters are under the cut. I also have a playlist on youtube for this story.

I’m suspicious that I’m not in the right frame of mind for studying, so we shall see how it goes. I’m probably going to take breaks and/or not go too long

Chapter 39

Janus knew the moment he woke up. It was hard to pinpoint what sense was picking up the difference, but he could almost taste something new but also familiar in the air. It was like how some people could feel a thunderstorm rolling in by the ache in their joints. He could sense the strum of time as little pieces of it twisted and folded in on themselves, a striking contrast to the way it had been like a solid, linear, stone road the past couple of months.

He glanced at the timepiece on his wrist. It was still off except for the message about unstable conditions that still flashed every few seconds, but Janus knew it was only a matter of time before it turned back on.

He could tell that Patton must have felt it too since he also looked at his timepiece as soon as he woke. They glanced at each other. “I guess we don’t have to figure out fish jerky.”

“I guess not,” Janus agreed.

“Should we still, uh, go to the river?” Patton asked. They’d done so almost every morning barring rain since landing here to check for fish, get water, or search for edible plants.

Janus’s throat felt a bit tight for some reason. With his luck he was getting sick and would die from some horrible pathogen now of all times. “Yeah,” he said. “We should. We can at least get water just in case.”

“Okay,” Patton agreed. They walked the familiar path to the small river. Patton snuck his hand over to twine their fingers together. Janus allowed it.

Usually, they came with the idea of a task more than just filling up a container with water, which meant they really didn’t know what to do when they arrived. After a bit of hesitation, Patton sat on the bank near the fishing weir. He took off his ruined by this point socks and shoes to stick his feet in the water.

He laid back to look up at Janus who was still standing.

“Tell me your deepest darkest secret,” he requested.

“I’m pretty sure I already told you that,” Janus pointed out.

“No, no, not like that,” he said, and Janus raised an eyebrow, “like ones you’d tell at slumber parties to cement your bond with the other kids there forever.”

“I’m not sure what you mean to be honest,” Janus said.

“Hmm, like when I was about 10, I really didn’t like the book that my teacher assigned us to read, so I buried it in the yard and said it went missing. My mom had known it was on the kitchen table and she and Dad looked for it all day but couldn’t find it. It’s still there.”

“What book was it?” Janus asked.

Patton thought for a moment. “You know. I have no idea,” he admitted, “but I stand by my opinion.”

Janus bent to take a seat next to him. “I once got mad at Emile and switched out the top of all of his markers, so he didn’t know what color they were. I’m not sure if that’s a secret. He probably figured me out, but he never managed to prove it enough to tell Mom.”

“Psychological warfare,” Patton said grimly. “I think that’s a war crime in some countries.”

“It’s definitely a war crime in some countries,” Janus agreed.

Patton shot him a smile. “Is that a sense of humor I hear.”

“No,” Janus said dryly, and Patton laughed.

“Remember when you fell in the water on the first day?” Patton asked, eyes full of mocking humor.

“I remember it was your fault.”

“I remember things differently.”

“Your memory’s shit.”

“I could shove you in on purpose right now and we could compare experiences to see,” he offered sweetly.

“You’ve almost made it out of this situation alive. It would be a shame if I murdered you in cold blood today.”

Patton just grinned at the death threat, sitting up slowly.

He put his hand into the water.

“Do not,” Janus ordered.

Patton flicked water at him. It wasn’t a large amount at all, but Janus still glared at him as though he’d committed treason. He leaned forward and sent a small wave of water back in his direction. This, predictably only encouraged him.

They ended up swimming, of course, because Patton was Patton and Janus was weak. By the time they were finished, it was already past lunch, and they grabbed the container of water they had come for before heading back home. Janus noticed on the way back that the timepiece on his wrist was no longer flashing an error message in red. It must have powered back on while they were distracted in the river. Janus didn’t say a word.

They ate lunch and while Patton didn’t say a word about them not being stuck either, Janus could tell he knew.

“We should probably pack up anything that could be confusing to archeologists,” Patton said when they were finished eating. “The dugout is fine. It’s just dirt and leaves, but the stone and clay can’t stay or any of our clothes.”

Someone from the TPI would definitely be coming back here and making sure everything was cleaned up, but Janus didn’t mention that. He just helped Patton gather up everything they��d brought and everything they’d made since being here.

“Do you want the pot?” Janus offered. “I don’t really have any use for it.”

“I would love to take the pot,” Patton said, his expression warm.

“Okay,” Janus said. “Then… that’s everything.”

“Yeah,” Patton agreed.

“So, dinner?”

“Sure,” Patton said. The food they had left wasn’t anything particularly substantial and they’d already put out the fire, so they couldn’t cook anything. Instead, they just finished up the small store of berries and vegetables they had. It was really more of a snack than a dinner. Patton leaned against him so their shoulders touched once he finished his share of the food. “It’s going to be getting dark soon.”

“Yeah,” Janus said.

Patton sighed. “We do have to go.”

Janus immediately felt a pang when the words were finally said out loud. The feeling was almost akin to grief. Patton drew away from his side, but only to turn a bit so he was facing him.

“We do,” Patton said as though Janus had argued. He reached up to touch Janus’s cheek. “It’s time to go home.”

“I don’t think I have a home,” Janus admitted.

Patton smiled sadly. “You do,” he said. “You just have to go find it again.”

“I…”

“Go home,” Patton said, voice gentle, but stern. “Go talk to your brother. Get help. Then come find me, yeah?” He grinned, almost cheekily and bopped him on the nose. “Or maybe I’ll find you.”

“With the way things are going, we’ll probably find each other.”

“Exactly!”

He got to his feet and Janus stood as well while he gathered up the things he was taking with him.

“I…” Janus said. “Goodbye, I guess.”

“Ah, that’s a little final, don’t you think?” Patton said. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other soon. It’s only a matter of time.”

Janus rolled his eyes. “Must you?”

“I must,” he said with a smile. He leaned forward to kiss Janus’s cheek softly. Then he drew back. “I’ll be seeing you,” he said. Then he was gone.

The moment he disappeared, Janus had the thought that maybe Patton was right to think he was too fucked up to have a relationship with him right now. He was pretty sure someone leaving your side temporarily wasn’t supposed to make you want to collapse onto the ground, curl up into a ball, and die.

Yeah, no, that was probably not okay. He’d been aware, of course, already that he was not okay, but between actually talking about the root problem for the first time and Patton’s gentle pushing towards doing something about it, plus his insistence that Janus deserved to do something about it, made it hit differently. He did not curl up into a ball and die. Instead, he reached for the things he was taking, mostly trash, but some of it things he’d made of stone that he might keep. He pulled up the display on his timepiece and selected the return coordinates that would spit him out in decon. Lord knew he needed it.

The feeling of traveling through time was almost strange after the two months of being stuck. It may have taken a moment longer than it usually did as it scraped against the edge of the time flare, but he landed back at the TPI without any major issues a little before 6pm.

Considering that most missions shut down around 5pm, the fact that he came in then certainly drew immediate attention. Not that he expected to be gone for 2 months and then not draw scrutiny. By the time he stepped out of the decontamination room, there was already a small crowd.

Khalid was there at the front staring him down with something between shock, worry, and maybe anger in her eyes. He basically ignored her. “Janus,” she said. “What the hell happened?”

“Give me a minute,” he said pushing past her. “Before I lose my nerve.”

“…What?” she asked. She was probably following him, but he didn’t bother to check. Instead, he walked straight down the hall past Costuming and Rhi’s office and the hallway that would lead to his own office. He walked all the way to the AMO and pushed open the door without a glance at his own last name on the outside of it. The people inside the office stopped and looked at him when he walked inside, likely because the office was closed by now except for emergencies.

The only person he cared about though, was Emile who had been talking to the receptionist at the front desk, his coat already in his hands to go home for the night.

“Janus?” he asked, and Janus just about chickened out, but the expression on Emile’s face was one of abject relief indicating that he had to have been worried for Janus in the time Janus had been gone despite everything Janus had done to him. That expression drew him forward towards him.

“I…” he said, and hesitated. “I’m back, and I’m okay physically, but…”

Emile looked at him intensely for a few seconds before putting a steadying hand on his shoulder: calm and real and alive.

“Help,” Janus said. “Help me,” and he fell into his brother’s arms.

Intermission Arc: An Analogical Interlude

Chapter 40

Patton was a fan of the summer months which was why he was a little unhappy that he’d be missing a good chunk of them. Though, he guessed, he didn’t so much miss them as misplace them. He had stopped by to tell Roman and Logan what had happened with getting trapped in pre-history with Janus and why he’d be missing for a good chunk of time over the next few months to make up for it. He was staying with his now technically younger roommates for a week or two to recuperate before hopping forward a bit. He’d duck in for his mom’s birthday and his grandpa’s yearly fishing trip (Though Patton was of the opinion that he did not really want to eat fresh fish for a least a little while yet.) but would mostly be skipping forward a whole two months.

He’d land in early August which was still summer, but he’d miss most of June and July, and that was sad, but at least apples would be fresh around that time. Plus, fall was his second favorite season anyway.

Yet, for now, he got to relax a little bit back in late May. Logan had finished poking and prodding him to make sure he wasn’t sick with any really bad ancient disease yesterday, so he was officially allowed to leave the apartment. Since it was Saturday, he and Roman had decided to go grab some stuff from the recently opened Farmers Market.

Roman had gotten bored with the vegetable shopping and had split off to go look at the arts and crafts (and, knowing him, probably pastries) that the market had to offer, leaving Patton to finish up getting fresh ingredients for the week. He may have also been grabbing a little bit extra so he could make frozen meals at some point this week. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Roman and Logan to feed themselves in his absence, (Okay, well, he did not trust Logan and Roman often got distracted.) but he did want to leave something nice for them while he was away. He knew he’d missed them while he’d been gone.

He wandered down the main path through the market. Most days this was a side street off Main, but on Saturdays in the summer, it was blocked off to cars and hosted a large number of stands selling different things, mostly produce. In a small park off to one side, there was a live band set up and down the way a bit there were food trucks selling prepared food to people who got peckish while wandering the stands. He mostly tried to stay away from those because they almost exclusively sold unhealthy and overpriced food.

But gosh was it good food.

And Logan wasn’t here to stop him…

Well, it wouldn’t hurt to go have a look at what they had this morning. He turned away from the vegetable stands he was supposed to be shopping at and walked towards the parking lot lined with food trucks. It was, as predicted, mostly food that was horribly bad for you. Most of the things there were sweets, though some had actual meal food such as walking tacos and grilled cheeses. One was even serving pancakes with fresh berries with a sign telling you where you could buy the same berries elsewhere in the market. Patton’s eyes though, went straight past anything most people would consider actual food and landed on small stand with the words “Fresh Donuts and Fried Oreos for Sale.”

Now, he knew for a fact that he could only eat one, maybe two if he stretched it, fried Oreos at a time before he got sick to his stomach. They were just so sweet and greasy, but they sold them in packs of three. Hmm…

He looked around. “Would you like one?” he asked an older man with hair just starting to grey who’d been walking between the stands.

The man stopped, seemingly surprised at being addressed. He blinked at him in surprise. “What?” he asked.

“A fried Oreo,” Patton explained. “I love them but eating more than two makes me sick to my stomach.”

“Just… don’t eat the last one,” the man suggested. He was shifting back and forth on his feet.

“You obviously don’t know me,” Patton said. “Anyway. Free fried Oreo?”

“I…uh… yeah, sure whatever.”

“Great!” Patton said, turning back to the employee waiting. “3 please!” They had already been dunked in hot oil while the employee had been waiting for Patton, so they were out within seconds, hot and fresh. Patton thanked her and turned towards the man. He grabbed a napkin to pick one of the Oreos out of the packet and handed it to him. “Here you go!”

“Thanks,” he said with an awkward half smile.

“No problem!” Patton replied.

“Well anyway, I’m really in the middle of something, so I ought to be going now.”

“Oh, okay, bye!” Patton said, but he was already gone. Patton shrugged and reached into his bag of fried Oreos as he started walking in the opposite direction from the one the man took towards the park and the live music there. He’d go take a quick walk around the little park listening to the music to maybe work off the Oreos he was eating and then go back to his shopping.

He was about halfway between the food trucks and the makeshift stage when there was a loud screeching sound which he at first attributed to mic feedback, until he felt a kind of swoopy feeling in his gut like after eating two corndogs before going on a rollercoaster even though Logan had told him not to. Someone was time traveling and not your gentle popping here or there safe time travel. No, something was wrong.

There were popping sounds like those little mini popping firecrackers that kids threw at each other’s feet on the Fourth of July. People near the stage jerked away with little startled shrieks, attributing the sounds to something going wrong with the equipment, but it wasn’t actually coming from the stage, not exactly.

It was coming from somewhere behind the stage. Patton made note of the fact that it was so close to the musical equipment almost as though whatever was happening was intentionally set up to make people think it was an electrical problem. He picked up his pace a bit, but not too much as he didn’t want anyone to notice him doing so.

By the time he made it there, the noises had stopped, and the feeling of wrong time travel had settled into an annoying hum. The people around and on the stage were starting to settle, though clearly the musicians were confused.

Patton was confused too. What was that? Was it over? Why did something still feel off? He couldn’t scan the area to check what was wrong. He hadn’t brought the timepiece to walk to the local farmer’s market. He usually didn’t wear it about his own time for fear carrying it around frivolously may lead to disaster. Pickpockets snatching time travel devices off of the unaware had caused enough undue trauma, thank you very much.

So, he had only his own eyes and ears to work with. Yet, despite his experience, he didn’t see anything particularly amiss. He kept his eyes out for an object that might have caused the disturbance or clothing that didn’t quite match the times, but he saw nothing.

After a few minutes of slipping his way through the crowds, he finally decided to give up for now. He’d go back to the apartment and tell Logan something had happened. He should be able to figure out something. He weaved his way out of the crowd of people and back onto the sidewalk that surrounded the little concert area. Yet, as he was about to turn away, he heard an unfamiliar voice call out to him.

“Pat!” it called, and Patton turned to look at a man speed walking towards him in an inconspicuous black hoody and blue jeans. “You’re Pat,” he said when he was closer, his tone somewhere between a statement and a question.

Patton tilted his head at the stranger with a frown. “Do you know me?” he asked.

“Not really,” he replied, “but I remembered your face.”

“What?” Patton asked.

He raised an arm and let the hoody sleeve slip down just a touch. Patton could detect a bit of panic in his eyes, and he figured out why when a timepiece much like Janus’s but not quite as fancy was revealed. “It’s broken. Please help.”

Chapter 41

Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay.

This was fine. It was fine. This was fine. There weren’t any problems with this. Nope. No reason to panic. No reason to have a panic attack. Nope. That would be unproductive. It’s fine.

It was just a little bit of turbulence. He wasn’t even dead. Did time devices even have turbulence? He didn’t remember the classes he took about this ever saying anything about it, but maybe he’d just forgotten.

Virgil would not have forgotten something like that because he would have known he’d panic about it if it ever happened and would need to mentally prep himself for the possibility.

The sounds of people talking filtered to him as though through the wall. He couldn’t make out the words, but just the cadence of slight panic and concern. There were yelps, but no prolonged screaming, so that was a good sign. He could also tell it was dark wherever he was even though his eyes were closed.

He should probably open his eyes.

He wasn’t a child. He was well aware the ‘If I don’t see it, it doesn’t exist,’ claim his mind was trying to tell him was a lie.

…

Virgil, he thought to himself. Open your eyes.

He took a deep breath. He needed to open his eyes because he knew himself, and the world he was making up in his head was probably a lot scarier than the one he was avoiding.

Opening his eyes honestly did very little because it was mostly dark, though he could see a bit of light near the ground a couple of feet, lighting up a patch of short green grass that had been recently cut. It was at the earliest the 1900s then, maybe the later 1800s.

Well… guess he had no choice but to go towards the light…

He crawled over to where he saw the light coming from and reached out to touch the wall. It gave a bit under his hand: a tarp then, not a wall. He peered through the gap to look for any nearby feet or legs and upon not seeing any, pulled up the tarp and quickly rolled out from under it.

He looked around himself quickly. There were people within sight, but he didn’t think any of them were looking his way to see him rolling out from underneath what seemed to be a temporary stage of some sort. He was lucky he’d rolled out from under the back and not the front.

He cautiously got to his feet and moved away from the edge of the stage and off towards a sidewalk, hunching into the hoodie he was wearing as much as he could. He could see more people milling around once he got there and was relieved to see that his clothing fit in well enough. Maybe he was lucky and he’d only been knocked off course spatially.

He was supposed to be going to New York in 2005, and he was supposed to land in the bedroom of the apartment he’d rented for his research trip. Everything had seemed perfectly fine when he left. There hadn’t been any alerts or concerns out that would have kept him back. Most civilian time travel, what little of it there was, was almost ridiculously safe most of the time because it was so regulated, and destinations were quadruple checked. So, Virgil hadn’t been more than slightly anxious when he’d been given the go ahead to push the correct buttons on the time piece he’d been given.

Everything had been fine for half a second before it had felt like he’d suddenly hit a brick wall and gotten tossed a few meters. The timepiece had sparked and shocked him as he’d landed on his back. A cursory glance at his wrist now confirmed what he already knew: the display was blacked out without even a warning message flashing on it. Which was… not good.

He covered the device again with his sleeve and walked a little closer to the crowds, eyes searching for clues about where and when he was exactly. It was summer and the conversations he overheard were English speaking mostly with American accents, but more towards the Midwest than he’d have liked considering he’d hoped to be in New York.

Luckily, plenty of people were using their cell phones which was one of Virgil’s specialties. Unfortunately, many of them were iPhones. Virgil cursed to himself. Definitely not 2005. In fact, the latest model he could identify was an iPhone 8. So, it was 2017 or later. Judging by the large amount of people and the fact that it was the summer, it was either 2018 or 2019.

So, he had a wallet with $200 cash in $20 bills, a New York driver’s license that has been expired for a decade, and a flip phone that was probably not supported by any current networks.

What the hell was he supposed to do? Would anyone even be able to find him in this time to rescue? God, he really did not want to be here for 2020.

Yet, just before he was about to tip over into an absolute freak out, he noticed a man make his way out of the crowd in front of the stage and onto the sidewalk Virgil was on. It took him a moment to realize where he recognized him from.

“Pat!” he called as the man was about to turn and walk away. He did his best not to run at him, as the man turned around at his name. Relief crashed over Virgil despite the confusion pinching at the man’s brow. “You’re Pat,” he said. Technically, Pat could be considered an enemy taking into account how closely Virgil worked with the TPI, but he also had access to time travel, so Virgil didn’t give one shit.

“Do you know me?” he asked with a frown on his face.

Probably not, and the one ominous conversation he’d had with Pat a couple of weeks ago suddenly made a lot more sense. He’d have to thank him somehow once all of this was over. “Not really, but I remembered your face.”

“…What?” he asked.

He glanced around them to make sure no one was watching (though people from this time would probably just assume it was a smart watch) before pulling back his sleeve and showing him the timepiece. Recognition flared immediately. “It’s broken. Please help,” he begged.

Pat nodded. “Alright,” he said, “come with me.” He turned to start walking towards the street and Virgil followed close behind. They didn’t speak except for Pat to give him directions until they were away from the dense crowd that had been around what was apparently a farmers’ market. “So, what’s your name,” Pat asked once they were away from most of the people.

“Virgil,” Virgil replied.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Virgil,” Pat said with a genuine smile. “Though I am sorry about the circumstances.”

“Yeah, uh, thanks,” Virgil replied. “Er, thanks for helping me.”

“Of course,” Pat said.

“Are you a time agent then?” he asked. There wasn’t any malice that Virgil could sense behind the question despite the fact that he knew his and Janus’s relationship was… something.

Still, he was glad he could truthfully say, “No, I’m a professor of anthropology. I was supposed to be on a research trip to 2005, but something happened.”

“They let anthropologists go on research trips to the past?” Pat asked curiously. Strange, Virgil would have thought he’d know that.

“Only certain ones with a lot of training and tests,” Virgil said.

“Interesting!” he said, turning a corner.

“Where are we going?” Virgil asked.

He hesitated subtlety enough that it could almost be ignored, but Virgil was nothing if not a paranoid bastard and noticed. “I have a contact that lives in this time period,” he said. “I’m taking you to his apartment. It’s not too far from here.”

Virgil narrowed his eyes at him, taking note of the reusable bags half filled with vegetables from the Farmers Market they’d just been at, but he continued to let himself be led to an apartment building a few blocks away from the market.

He saw the man’s hand twitch towards his pocket before he seemed to think better of it, instead closing said hand into a fist to knock at the door.

The door was opened after a few moments by a man wearing a dark blue long sleeved night shirt and fuzzy nebula patterned pajama pants. He looked like he’d probably only gotten up recently by the way his hair stuck up on one side and his eyes looked sleepy behind the glasses perched on his nose. He looked at Pat seeming confused for a moment before opening his mouth.

Pat cut him off before he was able to say anything. “Hi Dr. Hartnell,” Pat said pleasantly. “Good to see you again. May we come in?”

He blinked at Pat and then looked at Virgil.

This man, Virgil thought, is not a good liar. His face was unknown to Virgil, but he so clearly recognized Virgil that it was almost comical. He shoved away his surprise after a couple of moments. “Ah,” he said. “Hello, I’m…”

“Let me guess,” Virgil interrupted. “First name William?” He just got a blink of surprise. “I studied pop culture from the 20th and 21st century. I know Doctor Who.”

“Of course.”

“I’m not an idiot.”

He smiled slightly. “I am well aware,” he replied in a tone that was familiar by this point even though his voice sounded slightly different in person verses over the phone. That in combination with the look on his face felt like a punch to the gut. “It is nice to see you Professor Eran. Would you like to come in?”

Chapter 42

“Would you… like some tea?” Logan asked once Virgil and Patton shuffled into the apartment.

“Uh, yeah, sure,” Virgil replied, appearing to be nervous by the way his fingers were playing with his hoodie sleeve. It was interesting. His clothing was probably more in line with a standard 21st century adult than Logan or either of his roommates. Logan could imagine meeting him at a local grocery store: a tired college professor hoping that if he wore unprofessional clothing on the weekends maybe his students would not recognize him.

Thinking of unprofessional clothing. “I should probably go change,” he said suddenly flustered. “Pat-” and he barely kept himself from completing the name. “Could you put the kettle on?”

Patton was giving him a suspicious look, but Logan chose to ignore it as he dashed out of the living room to his room to get dressed and brush his hair. By the time he’d returned, Patton had already managed to herd Virgil into a chair and put a plate with a cookie on it in front of him.

“So,” Logan said, feeling at least a bit more put together now that he’d had a minute to process. “May I ask what is going on?”

“I was going on that summer trip to 2005,” Virgil answered, “and my timepiece broke, but I ran into Pat and recognized him.”

“Ah,” Logan said. “May I see it?”

“Sure,” Virgil said, taking it off of his wrist and handing it over.

Logan studied the watch like device for a few moments. He tried tapping the display and pushing different buttons, but the device didn’t respond.

“Can you fix it?” Virgil asked after he fiddled around with it for about a minute with no results.

“Hmm?” Logan asked, having gotten slightly distracted. “Oh. No, absolutely not.”

“What do you mean no?” Virgil asked.

“I have no idea how this is supposed to work. Perhaps I could eventually figure it out, but the technology involved in this is doubtlessly incredibly unfamiliar to me.”

“B-but you’re time travelers, aren’t you? And you’re a tech person. You don’t know how to fix your own gear?”

“Oh,” Logan said. “I could fix Patton’s time piece with the use of one arm in a dark room with no tools, but that does not translate to being able to even turn this on. At least not outright. We’ve found it’s a completely different pedigree.”

Virgil looked at him, his brow pinched, and Logan realized belatedly that he might have already said too much. They had agreed as a group to not let people from the future know what century they were traveling from or that they had a completely differently developed form of time travel. It was likely to cause more problems than it was worth, especially considering the first interaction they’d had with the TPI, and Virgil did work with them.

“Great,” Virgil muttered. “He can hack into a highly secured database with an iPhone 5 to rearrange my tv show files, but he can’t turn on a fancy watch.”

“It is a bit more than a fancy watch, Virgil,” Logan said with a frown.

“So…” Patton said. He had taken a seat and leaned his chin on his fist. “Do you two… know each other?”

“He is the person who plugged my device into his computer when Janus stole it from you,” Logan said.

“Mhmm?” Patton said with that lilt that said he thought Logan was leaving something out intentionally or not. He was correct of course in this case, but it still made Logan scowl at him.

“So,” Patton continued. “Virgil Eran, as in Janus’s ex-roommate who burned down the apartment.”

“Oh, he fucking would!” Virgil seethed immediately. His eyes lit up in full blown anger which was a new expression on his face that Logan had not been privy to before now. “I did not burn down the apartment. If anything it was his fault! Towel with cooking oil my ass.”

“Well,” Patton said seemingly unconcerned with the outburst. “At least we have a general idea of when you’re from in case we can’t fix your timepiece and have to drop you off.”

Virgil’s face paled a bit. “Oh god, I would be in so much trouble for illegal time travel.”

Patton laughed. “To be fair. I’d be the one doing the ‘illegal’ time traveling. You’d just be a passenger.”

“Ugh. I don’t know if they’ll see it that way,” Virgil groaned.

“Well, I can at least attempt to fix it,” Logan said.

Patton gave him a look, but it was Virgil who accused, “You just want to know how it works.” Patton was then giving Virgil a look and then after a few seconds he was looking at Logan once again even more skeptically.

“Yes, well,” Logan coughed. “It would be mutually beneficial.”

“Also, I’m pretty sure something caused him to crash,” Patton provided, “so we really ought to make sure we don’t get caught up in whatever that was if we do take him back I would rather not have another jungle adventure if I can help it.”

“You think it was sabotage?” Logan asked.

“It was too convenient,” Patton replied. “He ended up near a music stage during a concert. The crowd just thought the noise the crash made was an issue with the equipment. That seems like a planned cover up for it.”

“Not to mention he happened to land in a time period where we are based,” Logan added. “That is suspicious as well.”

“I am not a spy!” Virgil interjected.

Logan quirked a lip. “I know, Virgil,” he said, and Patton was looking at him again.

“I would be way too anxious to be a spy.”

“I know, Virgil.”

“Why would someone target me?” Virgil asked.

“Well, you do work with the TPI,” Logan pointed out. “In particular, Janus, who has been investigating some of the time distortions with unknown sources. We’ve been running into those as well.” He paused to think for a moment. “Perhaps we have a common enemy we are not aware of.”

Virgil groaned and put his head on the table. “But I don’t want to be all mixed up in time politics bullshit. I want to go to a Panic! at the Disco concert and observe the beginning of YouTube.”

Logan chuckled fondly. ��Unfortunately, you seem to already be mixed up in it.”

“This is the worst timeline.”

“You could have gotten stuck in pre-history for 2 months,” Patton pointed out.

“Did that happen to you?” Virgil asked, sounding a bit horrified.

“It’s why I’m tanner than usual,” Patton said as though Virgil knew how tan he normally was. “You can ask Janus whenever he gets back from it.”

“And I get back from this.”

“That too.”

‘Wait, so, Janus was stuck in pre-history?” Virgil asked.

Patton hummed. “I do have to thank you for dragging him to learn to make clay pots. It was very helpful.”

It was clear they were about to continue their conversation, but before they could, they were interrupted by the sound of the apartment door opening. “I’m back!” the voice of their third roommate called. “I know you said to get whole wheat bread, but you’re boring as hell, so I made the executive decision to buy Asiago cheese instead, and there was a buy one get one 50% off deal, so I bought 6.”

Roman wondered into the kitchen with his bags of far too many loafs of bread that Logan did not at all ask for (and likely some other bakery items that Logan also did not ask for). He paused in the entry way visibly confused as to why a stranger was sitting at their kitchen table. Virgil also appeared confused by his presence.

“Remus?” he asked.

Roman froze and his mouth popped open at the sound of his twin brother’s name and, in fact, Patton and Logan froze too.

Now, that out of all of the surprises of the day was the most unexpected.

Chapter 43

Virgil wasn’t sure why everyone in the room was suddenly looking at him like he’d just revealed that he was alien in a human suit.

Pat was the first one who recovered from whatever had come over them all. “You know someone named Remus?” Pat asked. “Who looks like him.”

“Yes…” Virgil said. “Is he not Remus.”

Pat shook his head. “No. That’s Roman. Who has a twin brother named Remus.”

“Oh,” Virgil said with a frown. “I didn’t think Remus had any family.”

“Well,” Lo said. “That would make sense.”

The Remus lookalike, Roman apparently, who had been staring blankly at Virgil since he’d said Remus’s name finally closed his mouth. “Who are you?” he asked. “Why are you in my kitchen? Where are you from? How do you know my brother?”

To be completely honest, Virgil didn’t really like his tone. Or for that matter, his bread choices.

“This is Virgil Eran,” Lo answered for him. “He’s a professor of anthropology who was supposed to be on a research trip to 2005 from the future, but something went wrong with his timepiece and Patton brought him here so we could help.” Patton, huh? Lo turned to him. “However, I would also very much like to know how you know his brother.”

“Remus works for the TPI,” Virgil said. He looked at Patton. “I’m surprised you haven’t ran into him. He’s Janus’s partner.”

Patton thought for a long moment. “Gr-green paint guy?” he asked.

“What?”

“There was a man with Janus in 2999 who was covered in green neon paint,” Patton said. “Could that have been him?”

“That honestly sounds like something he’d wear, yeah,” Virgil said.

“Huh.”

Virgil felt like he was missing something, so he turned to Lo. “What’s going on?” he asked.

“Remus and Roman were separated a long time ago,” Lo replied. “We have been looking for him ever since.”

“Oh,” said Virgil.

“Since we were 8 in particular,” Roman said. He’d seemed to recover from his shock at least a bit (and it must, actually be quite the shock). He moved to put the sacks of bread on the counter.

“I assume you can put us in contact with Remus once we sort out the current issues of getting you back to your time.”

Virgil eyed Roman who seemed to not quite have absorbed what was going on. “Sure,” he said. “It’d be easy enough. I’ll just send him an email.”

“An email?” Roman said, something funny in his tone. Virgil couldn’t imagine what was going through his head. He was pretty sure he didn’t understand the half of whatever was going on here.

Patton at least seemed to have some idea what to do because he stood up. “Hey, Ro,” he said. “Why don’t we go into the other room and talk?”

Patton nudged him towards the door to the kitchen and Virgil looked at Lo once they were out of sight. “Do you want to…?” he asked.

“From experience I am aware that Pat is more adept at helping in these situations,” Lo said. “I will… take them tea when the water finishes boiling.”

“Ah,” said Virgil. “Also, you already let a Patton slip.”

Lo winced. “I did?” he asked, but then he sighed. “Well, we were already aware the TPI would eventually know our names anyway.”

Virgil tilted his head. “Do I get to know your name then?” he asked.

Lo looked at him for a long moment and Virgil could swear he could see math equations in his eyes as he contemplated his response. He pressed his thumb to his lip briefly as he thought. “Logan,” he finally said.

“Well, it’s nice to actually meet you, Logan,” Virgil said, sticking out a hand.

“Likewise,” Logan replied, shaking his hand with a smile.

It fell silent then. It was a slightly awkward silence, but not enough to stress Virgil out too much. That, or he was just too emotionally exhausted from the last hour or so to register this new stressor.

He spent the time trying to connect the stranger’s face in front of him to the person he knew fairly well through emails and a few phone calls. At least, the person he thought he knew fairly well, after all, there was a chance that he was completely different in person. He seemed relatively calm for the situation, though his brow was a bit pinched, and he’d tap the table with his fingertips every so often. Yet, for the most part he was still and steady unlike Virgil who couldn’t stop himself from fidgeting in his nervousness.

The water for the tea finished boiling finally, and Logan rose from the table.

“You’d prefer peppermint over peach green tea or chamomile if I remember correctly,” Logan said. Was it strange for him to know that Virgil wondered? They had never exactly sat down and had a cup of tea together, but Virgil did know he’d mentioned drinking peppermint flavored things often enough. Was it weird that he remembered or sweet?

“Yeah,” Virgil confirmed.

Logan nodded and plopped a bag of peppermint tea into two of the mugs, a bag of peach into another, and chamomile into the third. He must know the tea preferences of his roommates as well. It was sweet, Virgil decided when he plopped the two peppermint teas down on the table and turned to grab the other two mugs. “I’ll be right back,” he said.

He took the teas off through the door the other two had left through a few minutes before. Virgil could hear a brief mumbled conversation from down the hall and Logan returned without the teas.

“That going okay?” Virgil asked awkwardly.

“Roman is resilient to an idiotic degree much of the time,” Logan waved him off. “He’ll be perfectly fine given some time to absorb the new information and confront his feelings about it.”

“Can I ask what happened or is that invasive?”

Logan considered it as he took his seat. “They were separated by a dysfunctional timepiece as far as we can tell,” he answered. “Though Roman didn’t have the timepiece on him when he arrived.”

“We’re not exactly sure what the conditions were that caused the issue. Roman was confused and 8, not to mention there was a language barrier where he landed. We’ve done our best to piece together what happened over the years and where his brother could have landed, but between not precisely knowing their time and place of origin nor knowing even the baseline conditions of the timepiece used to travel, let alone the corrupted ones, we haven’t gotten very far.” He paused. “Well, perhaps not ‘very far’ is not giving ourselves enough credit all things considered, but still, the goal of our project seemed out of reach.”

“The goal of your project,” Virgil repeated. “As in the goal of your time agency?”

“Are we considered an agency?” he asked with an amused note to his tone.

Virgil shrugged. “Probably more like a band of time pirates,” he admitted, “but that’s what you guys have been trying to do?”

“Well,” Logan said. “I do have to admit we often get thrown off course by the TPI and Patton’s moral compass doesn’t allow him to leave a situation he stumbles upon when he is aware it could cause harm, but yes, that has been the driving force behind our actions.”

That was honestly not the image Virgil had had of them, though to be fair, his information had been filtered through what Logan let slip in emails and Janus who was not an unbiased party. “I guess you’re almost done with that goal,” he said.

“Yes,” Logan agreed. “We’ll start working on fixing your timepiece and figuring out what caused your crash, so we can get you home soon. For now, we’ll need to figure out sleeping arrangements and clothing as you’ll be staying here. I do hope you enjoy Asiago cheese bread.”

“I fucking hate it,” Virgil said. “Your roommate is the devil and I hate him on principle.”

Logan sighed, but ended up cracking a smile. “Then this will be interesting.”

Chapter 44

Logan was woken up earlier than he would have liked the next morning by chaos in the kitchen. He’d stayed up late on his laptop running through various programs he’d designed to track time travel related metrics and synthesizing the data from the last 48 hours. At some point he didn’t remember, he’d fallen asleep on the couch since he’d given up his bed to Virgil. Of course, both of his roommates tended to rise with the sun and were incapable of being quiet ever, so Logan had gotten a maximum of 3 hours of sleep depending on when he’d actually fallen asleep.

Logan glared at Patton as he shuffled into the kitchen to get a cup of tea, but he didn’t notice. He was too busy trying to figure out the right flavor profile for making asiago cheese bread into French toast. Roman was hovering over him making loud, and likely inane suggestions while also vehemently defending his choices in bread. Patton was agreeing wholeheartedly with everything he said and adding his own ridiculous suggestions about how to make the French toast edible while blatantly not doing any of them. Logan pushed past Roman to get to the tea shelf without a word.

“Oh no, he’s grumpy,” Roman said.

“I haven’t even said a word,” Logan replied, swatting him away as he began picking at Logan’s sweatshirt to remove a couple of fabric pills near the shoulder.

“Exactly,” Roman replied. “You didn’t sleep last night.”

“I did,” Logan replied.

“And for how long?”

Logan didn’t respond.

“You know, sleeping can be helpful.”

“So can keeping your mouth shut,” Logan grumbled back.

“I’ll have you know, people love when I talk. You’re just being a grouchy old man. Isn’t that right Patton?”

Patton hummed. “Yes, your voice is great, sweetie,” he replied.

“See,” Roman said. “Two against one.”

“Two against two actually,” a voice even more tired sounding than Logan’s own spoke up from the door to the kitchen, “and since you’re the subject of the statement, your opinion doesn’t count.” Virgil was standing in the doorway looking as though he had never heard of the concept of mornings and did not like the information he was being given right now. He was leaning against the doorframe as though at any moment he might slump over and fall back asleep standing. The yellow bottom of the slightly too wide nightshirt Patton had given him the night before stuck out from beneath the black hoodie he’d came here in.

Roman was sputtering immediately. “Excuse me?!” he squawked.

“My point exactly,” Virgil muttered.

“You’re rude!” Roman said. He turned to Patton. “Patton he’s being rude to me!”

“You woke me up,” was Virgil’s response.

“It’s seven am!”

Virgil glared at him.

Patton and Logan shared a look. Patton frowned scoldingly at Logan’s amused smirk as though he wasn’t also finding this argument amusing. “Well,” he interrupted the two’s staring match. “I’m making French toast for breakfast Virgil, but it’ll be a few minutes yet. I’m sure Logan has something to show you on his computer since he was working on stuff so late last night.”

He didn’t actually have much to show anyone yet. It was all just numbers at the moment, but the look in Patton’s eyes said, ‘We’re separating the children.’ Logan half wanted to shrug him off and just see where it went because the look on Roman’s face was amusing, but then Logan looked at the tea bags in his hand, the disaster in the making that was the French toast, and the man tiredly rubbing his eyes.

“Of course,” Logan said, evenly. “We will just be in the living room.” He walked over and shoved Virgil gently through the door. “Go get dressed,” he said under his breath.

“Wha?” Virgil asked with a squint.

“We’re fleeing the morning people.”

Virgil gave him a confused look.

“Unless you want to be forced to eat French toast made out of asiago cheese bread. We aren’t escaping it elsewise.”

Virgil’s expression darkened and he nodded, turning towards Logan’s bedroom. Logan had grabbed nightclothes and an outfit for the morning before Virgil had gone to bed the night before (not that he’d actually changed into the nightclothes). He grabbed the outfit and changed quickly in the bathroom. Virgil was already waiting in the living room when he finished. He’d changed into one of Logan’s own hoodies that Logan had offered him the day before as he rarely wore it and blue jeans from an unknown source (they had appeared in the laundry one day and everyone refused to claim them) that were just a touch too large and thus held up by a belt.

Virgil raised an eyebrow at him without saying a word. Logan gestured with his head towards the front door, grabbing his keys and wallet off of the table near the entrance, careful not to let the keys hit each other and make noise.

He carefully unlocked and opened the door before gesturing for Virgil to go through. He went making less noise than Logan even thought was possible, but then again, his only experience with sneaking out of anywhere was with one or two of the loudest people that had ever existed.

“Where exactly are we going?” Virgil asked once the door was closed behind Logan.

“We’re going to go get coffee,” Logan said.

“And we can’t just tell your roommates about that?” Virgil asked.

“I am not allowed anything more caffeinated than tea since the incident of 2011.”

“Do I want to know?” Virgil asked, lips quirked up into a half smile.

Logan hummed. “Did you notice the hamster cage in our apartment?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“I was sleep deprived and accidently invented a device that turns things invisible,” Logan told him. “It’s temporary on plants and inanimate objects, but it’s seemingly permanent on animals or perhaps just rodents. We haven’t tested it on any other animals.”

“What the actual hell, Lo?”

“To be fair, I thought I was making the rocks and flowers I’d tested it on time travel a few seconds.”

“How do you accidently invent an invisibility ray or whatever while trying to invent time travel?”

“It’s a spray, and I missed a negative sign.” Logan told him. They’d been walking side by side but needed to make a sharp left turn to get to their destination and Logan found himself grabbing Virgil’s upper arm in order to guide him.

“Uh,” Virgil said which is when Logan realized it might be odd for a practical stranger to grab someone like that. “Er, where is the coffee shop?”

It’s just a couple of blocks north,” Logan answered, letting him go after he finished the turn and flashing him a small smile. Virgil smiled back. “It’s a smaller place, but gets fewer actual college students, not that it matters since it’s summer break for them.”

“So, do you frequently perform coffee acquiring heists?” Virgil asked.

“Sometimes I drink tea there,” Logan replied, “but yes. How else am I meant to get my work done?”

Virgil laughed. “That’s probably not healthy. I don’t disagree, but it’s probably not healthy.”

Logan found himself chuckling as well as he led him down the path to the shop.

Chapter 45

Logan did end up ordering himself more caffeine than a man who was banded from caffeine probably should have, but honestly, who was Virgil to judge. They also ordered pastries to eat for breakfast which Virgil could already tell were way too sweet, but he wasn’t complaining.

Logan got a text from one of his roommates as they were waiting for their drinks to be finished. He probably didn’t notice the fond smile he sent the phone as he answered.

“I told them I’m showing you the town a bit,” he informed Virgil. “Which isn’t technically a lie.”

“Not, technically, no,” Virgil replied. He took a bite of the cinnamon roll in front of him and grimaced slightly. “Your time has a thing for artificial sweeteners,” he said, keeping his voice down. They were in a far back corner and it wasn’t busy at this hour, so he didn’t see too much of an issue.

“Apologizes, would you like something else?” Logan asked.

Virgil waved him off. “I’ll acclimate. If I could get used to 1950s post war, society is getting used to instant gelatin, recipes during my post-doc, I can figure out how to stomach an overly sweet pastry or two.

“You spent time in the 1950s?”

“Mmm, not my favorite, but seeing the direct results of World War II are important.”

“In the United States?”

“For a bit, but I hopped around a lot and also went to the 60s and 70s. I was basically tracing the evolution of different social issues in the wake of World War II for both the Axis and Allied Powers.”

“An interesting topic,” Logan replied. “I imagine even in the 21st century, I would not have perspective especially on different countries.”

“Oh, you definitely don’t,” Virgil confirmed.

“Perhaps I’ll take a look at your work sometime.”

“Oh, uh,” Virgil said, and he really shouldn’t be flustered about that. He’s gone to conferences and presented his work before. “Yeah, if you want.”

The barista called their drink names then, and Logan got up to go grab them. Get it together, Virgil, he begged himself while shoving another piece of too sweet pastry into his mouth.

Logan set the coffees down on the table in front of them and Virgil took his with a closed mouth smile of thanks, while still chewing on his cinnamon roll.

“So,” Logan began. “More than just escaping the disaster breakfast my roommates had in mind, I would like to perhaps return to the location you arrived at and see if there is anything there physically that wasn’t picked up on my devices. Do you think you’ll be able to find the location if I get you in the general vicinity of the farmer’s market?”

“I don’t always have the best memory,” Virgil said, “but I’ve had a deep-seated fear of being kidnapped since I was a small child, so I could probably lead you to the farmers market, let alone to where I came from.

“Ah.”

“My mom let me watch a horror movie when I was too young about a boy my age being kidnapped and taken out to the middle of the desert to be hunted like an animal, and he had no idea how to get back home. So, then I would spend any ride in any vehicle trying to memorize the path we took with my eyes closed.”

“I see.”

“And I’m really oversharing for having met you in person less than 24 hours ago, aren’t I?”

Logan crinkled his eyebrows. “Are you?” he asked.

“Uh, yeah, I think so,” Virgil said. “Traumatic childhood memories might be a bit much this soon.”

“I have never been the best at knowing social norms,” Logan said. “Would you like me to share a traumatic childhood memory with you, so we are even?”

“I…” Virgil said. “Can’t tell if you’re joking.”

“I am a bit,” Logan said with a small smile, “but if it would make you feel more comfortable, I am willing. We might not have known each other in person for very long, but we aren’t exactly strangers.”

And that was true. Lo had been emailing him for months at this point. They’d argued about the correct order to watch a television show in, they’d watched videos together with Lo logging onto his desktop (promising not to dive into his search history and private files), and Lo had somehow attended all of his publicly streamed lectures without getting caught by the university’s firewall. He’d even managed to make Virgil feel better when he’d had one of his bad days by ranting for hours about airplanes.

He hadn’t known Logan’s face for long, but they did know each other pretty well in spite of that.

“I got distracted on a fieldtrip once,” Logan said, and oops, Virgil had taken too long to say ‘you don’t have to be emotionally vulnerable in a coffee shop to make me feel better’ and now it was too late.

“Somehow, despite the fact that my teacher really should have been taking attendance before allowing the bus to leave the orchard we were visiting, they managed to overlook my absence. I had no friends in the class, and I was so quiet at that age no one noticed me not being there. I couldn’t find my way back to the entrance or find any workers. No one was aware I was gone until my parents came to pick me up and no one could find me. My parents were very unhappy with the teacher once they managed to find me.”

“That experience along with others in my formative years gave me a dislike of being ignored, which combined with my innate desire to have time alone has made friendships difficult to sustain.”

“Oh,” Virgil said, unsure how to respond. “Er, well, that sucks.”

“Luckily Patton is hyperempathetic and Roman cannot be removed from a person he deems his friend with a crowbar,” he said, “which helped me at a younger age. As an adult, I am aware of the issue and am able to work through it with logic most of the time.”

“What do you think about someone who is so anxious he can’t ignore anything, especially a person?”

“I think that would be someone worth knowing,” Logan said. He paused. “Though I would not wish social anxiety onto a person to be clear.”

“Thanks for the clarification,” said Virgil, amused.

They lapsed into silence for a few minutes then. It was still a bit awkward but not completely uncomfortable.

Logan took a bite of his pastry and spoke once he’d swallowed it. “Tell me more about what your plans were with your research before they were disrupted,” he requested, breaking the silence. “Why 2005 in particular? What had you planned to do? How long were you going to stay?”

Virgil smiled and drank his coffee as he did a short rundown of what his plans had been before they were interrupted by time travel. Logan listened careful and even though it sucked that he’d been stranded in a time he hadn’t even meant to visit, he wasn’t all too upset about it for the moment.

Chapter 46

Virgil was correct about his ability to find the location of the farmer’s market. After they ate and finished their coffee, they set out to investigate the location of the time anomaly. “I ended up under the stage,” Virgil informed him. The stage had already been taken down, but it was easy to see where it had once been based on the depressions on the ground.

Logan had brought a few of his tools when they had left that morning and he pulled out a modified iPad.

“You hide your time travel tech as an iPad?” Virgil asked curiously.

Logan glanced at him and said nothing.

“…You made your time travel tech out of an iPad!” Virgil exclaimed.

“It is one of the most easily accessible technologies of this time that is also portable,” Logan shrugged. “I use what I can get.”

“How did you manage to invent time travel with 21st century technology?” Virgil asked.

“It took me a couple of decades,” Logan replied.

“It took them literal centuries.”

“Well, I knew it could happen, so I simply made it happen.”

“You’re terrifying,” Virgil stated.

Logan just hummed and set the iPad scrolling through its diagnostic programs. It scanned the area around them for anything that might indicate time travel.

“Well,” Logan said. “There is definitely an anomaly, but we already knew that. It’s a strange one, however.”

“What do you mean?” Virgil asked.

“I’d assumed whatever had caused you to end up here had dragged you here, but what I’m finding doesn’t seem to be remnants of something to cause time travel. On the contrary, it seems to be similar readings to what stopped Janus time travel to stop working in previous circumstances. I don’t know a lot about the time travel technology from your time, but I have noted they tend to briefly ping off of times near to your destination in order to recalibrate when going a certain amount of time. Perhaps your device did a brief landing here at the wrong time and then was deactivated much like TPI devices have been deactivated beforehand and you got stuck.”

“What does that mean for me?”

“Well, it means your device isn’t broken,” Logan said.

“Then why isn’t it working?” Virgil asked.

“Because,” Logan said. “whatever is deactivating it is still here.”

Virgil looked at his feet as though expecting to see the device sitting on the ground somewhere.

“Not here here,” Logan clarified, “but close by. They have a limited range from what I understand, though I don’t know precisely how far. It’s definitely in this time however. But it’s strange,” Logan tapped out a few things on his device, double checking that he hadn’t missed anything with his regular monitoring.

“It’s not causing any other problems.” Logan continued. “We’ve only ran into them once or twice before and we’ve never managed to get our hands on one too actually study it, but each time we’ve seen them, they created some sort of issue in the environment, but there are no obvious time abnormalities or weather problems. In fact, if I wasn’t looking for it, I wouldn’t have noticed.”

“Okay, well then, can’t we just find it and shut it off?” Virgil asked. “That’s what I know Janus did when he ran into them.”

“It is,” Logan confirmed. “The only issue is without the obvious environmental clues I have no idea where it actually is to turn it off.”

“How the hell do we find it then?” Virgil asked.

“I’m not sure,” Logan said. “It definitely was here when it switched on, but it’s definitely not here anymore.” He looked around. “Perhaps it was attached to the stage or put in the musician’s instrument cases. Then again, by that logic, it could have been put in anyone’s bags or in a since emptied trashcan.”

“So, it could basically be anywhere?”

“Basically,” Logan agreed. “We will check the easiest possibilities to track down and if that produces no results, I’ll… figure out something.”

Virgil grimaced. “That sounds promising.”

“I will do my best,” Logan promised. “I just wish I knew more about these things.”

Virgil seemed to hesitate. “How would you go about learning more about it?”

“Well,” Logan said, “if I can get my hands on a similar device, I could probably figure out a more reliable way to track it.”

“You do,” Virgil said.

“I do what?”

“You do have one.”

Logan frowned. “I assure you, I do not.”

“But you do,” Virgil said. “Eventually.”

“…Oh, I see.” Logan replied. “Do you perhaps know where we do eventually find it?”

Virgil pressed his lips together. “I think I might already be saying too much,” he said. “It’s stuff you shouldn’t know about yet in your personal future. People aren’t supposed to…”

“Time is not nearly as sensitive as the TPI seems to believe,” Logan said with an eyeroll. “In fact, most of Janus and Patton’s interactions so far involve accidently giving more information than necessary.”

“I don’t know…”

“I’m a time traveler from the 21st century who lives with a French man from the 1800s,” Logan said. “I’m not asking for a run down of every part of the event, just a time and place to point us in the correct direction.”

Virgil still didn’t seem convinced.

“It would really only be a time saver,” Logan argued. “I could just blindly look for time distortions, but it’d take a while…”

“Fine,” Virgil said after a moment. “This is probably entirely stupid, but fine. Give me a moment to think about what exactly I can tell you, so I don’t mess everything up.”

Logan smiled slightly at his overly cautious behavior but waited patiently.

“Janus met Pat once in Cuba. There was a time distortion during Camaguey Carnival of 1755. Pat took the device that had been causing the disturbance and left before Janus could catch him.”

“Camaguey 1755,” Logan repeated. “Got it. I’ll look into it, and we can see what we can do. It’ll still take a few days to prep however.”

Logan would need to find exact coordinates and he’d have to talk to Patton considering he’d just recently gotten back from an unwillingly long trip to pre-history. He’d probably be willing to go, but he’d mentioned Logan making him a “time survival pack” before he was willing to go back into the timestream. They’d need to talk about what exactly that entailed and get the supplies for it. His mind was already making plans about what he needed to do.

Virgil nodded. “Should we head back to the apartment then?” he asked, interrupting Logan’s thoughts. Logan glanced at him. He had actually planned to show the man around a bit today instead of spending all of their time thinking about time travel.

“I cannot be sure that my roommates will have cleaned up their French toast nonsense by now,” he said. “We should likely wait to return until at least the lunch hour. It is not as though we could do anything about it today. We will need to plan.”

“Okay,” said Virgil, “then what are we going to do for the next 3-4 hours?”

“Well,” Logan said. “Perhaps I can show you around the town a bit more so as to not make more of a liar of myself than I already have.”

“Sure,” Virgil agreed with a smile. “What will you be showing me.”

“I was thinking we could visit the local museum. We can compare notes about how wildly inaccurate the exhibits present history.”

Virgil rolled his eyes at Logan, but there was something warm underneath his expression. “Fine,” he said, “but I bet I know more than you.”

Chapter 47

The museum was interesting, not because it taught him any more about the events behind the exhibits on display, but more that learning what people in the 21st century cared about and how they presented past events was an anthropological lesson in its own right. Their conversation became a game of not only finding the mistakes made in the exhibits, but also Virgil hypothesizing why those mistakes were made: prejudice, missing information, and unreliable secondary sources all contributed, and Virgil spent a lot of time talking through the possibilities.

They spent a few hours there before heading back to Logan’s apartment.

Not without stopping at a small, hole in the wall, bar inhabited only by day drinkers. When Virgil gave Logan a weird look, he explained, “I have to bring back a peace offering for running off this morning if I want Patton to agree to a time travel mission for me.”

“…And Patton likes… vodka?” he guessed.

“No,” Logan replied, amused. “This establishment serves cheeseburgers which are apparently the ‘best in the city.’ They do not, however, cook anything else. Not even fries.”

When Logan handed him an unlabeled brown paper bag that looked as though it had been dipped in hot oil instead of just it’s contents, Virgil shot him a raised eyebrow. “Ah, yes,” he said, “the quintessential 21st century American meal.”

“You once ate only bagged pepperoni meant for pizzas for breakfast for a week once.”

“I told you that in confidence,” Virgil said, smacking him lightly with the bag of grease.

“And I have told no one,” Logan responded. “Therefore, I have not violated any part of our agreement.”

“You’re making fun of me. That’s definitely a part of the agreement,” Virgil said.

“I don’t remember there being any clause like that in our verbal contract,” Logan replied with a slight smirk. Virgil rolled his eyes. “Besides, I’m not truly making fun of you. The decision to fuel your body solely with pepperoni is, while not the best strategy and one that would certainly prove detrimental in the long run, it is better to eat that then nothing.”

“Oh,” Virgil said. “Uh, good.”

“I’m simply citing another example where not as healthy food in the long term can be good in the short term.”

“But in this case instead of depression eating to stay alive, the purpose is bribery.”

“Exactly,” Logan said. “Bribery to end the time distortion and get you back to the proper time.”

“Alright, fair enough.”

“You don’t have to eat any if you don’t want to.”

“Oh, no, I’m going to.”

“Then why are you complaining?” Logan asked amused.

“I just thought you should know your time has way too greasy food,” Virgil said.

“Thank you for the information,” Logan said dryly. They’d made it back to the apartment by then, and Logan stuffed the bag he was carrying under his arm to unlock the door.

“And where have the two of you been?” Patton asked when they walked into the kitchen.

“I have cheeseburgers for you,” was how Logan answered.

Patton rolled his eyes as Logan set the bag down in front of him. He was sitting at the kitchen table typing on a laptop. “The French toast wasn’t that bad,” he said.

“I will take your word for it,” Logan said pleasantly.

Patton just shook his head and reached into the bag for a cheeseburger. Logan kept looking at him, and that obviously meant something Virgil didn’t know, because Patton glanced up at him after eating a couple of bites. “What?” he asked suspiciously.

“Virgil and I went back to where he arrived,” Logan said. “There are signs that one of the devices that cause time distortions is present.”

“There aren’t any weather disturbances though,” Patton pointed out.

“It seems to be a more advanced version,” Logan answered. “Which will make much more difficult to track.”

“Okay,” Patton said, “then what are we going to do?”

“Well,” Logan said, “if we could get our hands on an older version, we could probably use it to narrow down the current one’s location.”

“And how exactly are we going to get an older version?” Patton asked, eyebrow raised.

“I understand that you have only been back from your last trip for a little over a week and that your last trip through time was a bit difficult, but,” he nodded towards Virgil, “we do know of the time and place one exists that you would have a good chance of being able to find, deactivate, and bring home.”

Patton groaned. “And judging by the source of this information, steal off of the TPI.”

“Yes.”

“Excellent.”

“At least, in this case, you will go into it knowing there will be no major disasters.”

…

Should Virgil… say something. It’d be rude not to mention the whole time shredding almost drowning bullshit, wouldn’t it? Then again… giving him foreknowledge could be a danger to the timestream. He debated with himself whether general social courtesy should outrank the possible destruction of time or not.

…

Maybe he’d just suggest a boat if they didn’t plan to take one? Just in case?

“Fine,” Patton said, “but you’re finishing your tech updates and making me a survival pack before I make any jump. I’m not making the same mistake again.”

Logan nodded. “I can do that,” he agreed. “Just tell me what you want in your survival pack.”

“I’ve already been working on a list,” Patton said. “I’ll email it to you.” He turned back to the computer he’d been working on and typed a few things. “You can add to it if you think of anything.”

Logan looked at his phone as it dinged. “…Do you really need all of this?”

“Yes,” Patton said, taking another bite of his cheeseburger.

“…I’ll do my best?”

“You’ll do it,” Patton returned.

“Right.”

“I’ll start researching Cuba in the 1700’s,” he said.

Virgil saw him pull up google on his computer. He looked at the 21st century computer and then back to Patton. He couldn’t help but think of the museum he and Logan had been to earlier that day. “Do you want help?”

Chapter 48

It took a little over two weeks to get everything set up. Logan had already been in the process of updating their equipment for quite some time, and this situation only spurned him on. He also then had to figure out a way to meet all of Patton’s demands for his new survival kit. His list had already been quite long before he’d started to add to it. He’d even slipped in a request for a boat at some point despite Logan’s protests that Camaguey Cuba was nowhere near the sea.

Thankfully, Virgil didn’t seem to mind the delays too much.

In fact, he may have had a hand in the delays as his natural inclination towards anxiety seemed to infect Patton and cause him to add and add to his list of safeguards for Logan to make. He and Patton were spending a good amount of time together, actually. Patton was fairly good at researching the places he planned to go at this point, but Virgil was undeniably more experienced with that sort of thing considering he worked with the TPI. Patton seemed to appreciate his input.

Roman, on the other hand, decidedly did not. The two of them were prone to arguments about clothing which had gone beyond talking about Cuban clothing to arguments about clothing from pretty much all of time.

Logan could not tell if they were friendly debates or not. He’d even asked Patton who had claimed he also could not tell. Neither Roman nor Virgil’s responses when asked directly about the nature of their relationship were helpful either. Logan did notice that Roman changed the fabric of the outfit he made for Patton after one of their conversations.

Virgil was not much help to Logan unless you counted the intel, he’d given that helped Logan choose the correct time and place. At least, not in the sense that he was able to help with the mathematics and physics Logan was dealing with.

He was, however, good for company. Especially as his sleep schedule much more closely resembled Logan’s own in those weeks. Typically Roman and Patton went to sleep at a much earlier hour than he did himself and Logan would work alone in the living room, but with Virgil living in the apartment, there was constant companionship while he worked, and less volatile company than he was used to working with (assuming, of course, Roman had gone to sleep by that time). It was nice.

He seemed to fit into their little group in a way Logan had not anticipated. Or at least, socially he did. Physically, there were simply not enough beds and Logan had been sleeping on the couch for two weeks.

Eventually, with all of their combined efforts, everything was ready to go. Patton had three different time appropriate outfits, a good amount of knowledge about the festivities he was about to attend, new time travel equipment, and a survival pack that could help him survive an apocalypse. Patton was planning to arrive in Cuba two days earlier than the TPI protocol would send agents like Janus. That way, he would have time to set up and get acclimated before the TPI sent in their surveillance and touchdown agents.

“This is cool,” Patton said, flexing his fingers to see the hidden screen on his palms light up with a map of the area.

“It’s organized the same as your previous device, except for, of course, the control panel to control the cloaking technology and the access to the survival kit.

“Looks great, Lo,” Patton said, still fiddling with it. He changed it to its default state of a metal band projecting the screen and then back to the time appropriate bracelet Roman had designed. There weren’t many possibilities programed for hiding the device yet, but more could be designed in the future. For now, it only had the default band, the bracelet, and a wristwatch.

“I’ve already tested it a good number of times, but you should familiarize yourself with it anyway before leaving.”

Patton nodded, flicked his fingers and disappeared for a moment before reappearing in the same place. Then, he did it again and reappeared directly next to where he’d been standing. He did similar things a few times before predictably getting bored and starting to do ‘tricks’ which mostly involved landing in ridiculous poses and also accidently jump scaring everyone in the apartment at least twice. Eventually, Logan confiscated it for the evening so they could have dinner in peace.

Patton went to bed early, planning on leaving the next day. Roman quickly retired to his room shortly after leaving Logan and Virgil alone in the living room.

Despite knowing already his calculations were perfect, Logan still sat on the couch checking over them one more time just to make sure. Virgil sat on the floor with his back against the couch watching videos on Logan’s cell phone with headphones borrowed from Patton’s collection.

He glanced up when Logan shifted positions and Logan flashed him a smile.

Virgil removed the headphones to speak. “Thanks by the way,” he said, “I already said it to Patton and will again in the morning, but thanks for helping me out with all of this.”

“It wouldn’t have been particularly kind of us to leave you stranded,” Logan pointed out.

“Yeah, but still, you’ve all been working really hard. Right now you’re up at 3am working on it.”

Logan shrugged. “I’d likely be up working at 3am on something anyway,” he said.

“Sure,” Virgil said, “but this time it’s for me so, yeah, thanks.”

“You’re welcome then,” Logan said. “Any time.”

Virgil tilted his head back to grin at him. “Was that a time travel pun.”

Logan scowled. “No.”

“It sounded like a time travel pun.”

“It was not intentional. I will never intentionally say a pun.”

“You’re telling me you live with Patton and never make puns?” Virgil asked.

“I, unlike my roommates, am a responsible adult,” Logan insisted.

Virgil seemed skeptical. “Is that why you’re drinking forbidden coffee out of an orange juice carton at 3am.”

“Not so loud,” he hissed, leaning forward to put Virgil’s mouth and glancing back towards the hallway to see if anyone was about to come storming into the living room with another intervention.

His hand was bit.

“Ow!” Logan exclaimed, taking his hand back. “How do you know?” he hissed. The ruse had been working on Roman and Patton for years because neither liked orange juice.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “I can smell it,” he said. “I’m not dumb.”

“It’s worked on everyone else.”

“No,” Virgil said. “It’s worked on one dramatic idiot and one man who trusts people not to lie to him way too much. I, however, am a paranoid asshole with a doctorate. You can’t fool me.”

Logan couldn’t help but smiled. “I suppose I have met my match,” he said.

He tilted his head all the way back, so his skull rested on the couch cushion and he was staring straight up at Logan with his piercing hazel eyes. “Heck yeah you have,” Virgil said, and Logan was not much more sentimentality, especially not romantic sentimentality, but there was something about the shadows making the room seem cozier and the almost golden glint in his eyes from the lit lamp beside Logan that made it more difficult to breath.

68261

He was relaxed here in Logan’s apartment at 3 in the morning, looking up at him with warm eyes. He fit, slotting into place with an ease Logan had not expect. He’d found Professor Virgil Eran interesting from the moment he’d first heard him speak and had glanced through his university profile for information on whoever had plugged his virus into their computer. He had found him endearing when they’d corresponded through emails and occasionally one sided video chats. It was different with him right in front of Logan, within arm’s reach. He could reach down barely a few inches and brush his slightly unruly hair out of his eyes.

“You good man?” Virgil asked.

“I am perfectly well,” Logan said, clearing his throat. He glanced away from Virgil. “I think perhaps my roommates have a bit of a point when it comes to caffeine.”

“Maybe at 3am,” Virgil said in good humor. “You’re not a college kid.”

Logan glanced at the college professor on his living room floor. “Well, thank goodness for that,” he mumbled

“I think your calculations are fine anyway,” Virgil said, gently taking the papers out of his grip. “Why don’t we do something else?”

“Like sleep?” Logan asked.

“You think you’ll be sleeping anytime soon?” Virgil inquired with a raised eyebrow.

“Fair point.”

Virgil grabbed the television remote from side table. “Why don’t we watch a bit of that time inappropriate copy of the Epithet File I know you have.”

“Sure,” Logan agreed. “You can come onto the couch if you would like.”

“Nah. You can come to the floor.”

“…Fine.”

Chapter 49

Patton left in the morning and from there it was just a waiting game. Which, was Virgil’s least favorite type of game. He tried to keep his anxiety on the down low considering it was Logan and Roman’s lifelong friend who was running around some other century, and they were both obviously nervous as well, since the last trip had ended in disaster.

…

This trip was going to end in disaster a little bit too, but Virgil was going to ignore that. At least he wouldn’t be gone for months.

The point was, Roman was constantly going to the gym which was, reportedly not normal behavior and Logan spent his days re-checking calculations that were too late to correct and had worked considering Patton had been in contact occasionally.

Yet, despite the fact that he was clearly an anxious wreck as well, Logan eventually forced himself to put his lined notebook paper away for a bit. Roman was out once again when he did so and Virgil was doom scrolling on his phone.

“We should go out to dinner,” he declared suddenly.

Virgil glanced at the pile of take-out containers stacked near the kitchen trashcan. “Sure,” he agreed.

Which was why Virgil was leaving the apartment for the first time in the last three or so days. Logan had asked him if he wanted anything in particular, but he didn’t care and also didn’t know what restaurants were around, so he was just letting Logan lead him wherever he wanted.

He should not have trusted him.

He glared at Logan, but the man only seemed entertained by his ire. “Really?” Virgil asked.

“I wanted to see for myself if you were really that bad with chopsticks.”

“I’m not,” Virgil said, crossing his arms. “It was just the anxiety about the social situation, and I resent this.”

Logan just laughed, knowing well enough that Virgil wasn’t actually irritated. Honestly, he felt fonder than anything that Logan had chosen to take him here. “It’s actually pretty good sushi.”

“21st century American Midwest sushi,” Virgil drawled. “I’m simply quivering with anticipation for that authenticity.”

“It’s unanimously considered the best sushi in town by my friend group,” Logan said as if the fact that Mr. Asiago Cheese Bread For French Toast and Mr. Went Along With Cooking Asiago Cheese Bread French Toast approved of the restaurant would inspire any confidence in Virgil. If he could even call the place a ‘restaurant.’

“It’s. In. A. Mall.”

“So?” Logan asked.

“It’s a sushi stand in a mall. There isn’t even seating.”

“There is seating,” Logan argued nodding at the five chairs sitting in front of the counter. The seating was completely empty which could be because their eating schedule was off and they were eating dinner at 3pm, but more likely meant everyone else in the time had more sense than the man in front of him.

“Where is your sense of adventure for trying new things?” Logan asked. “Are you not an anthropologist. Don’t you want to experience the culture of the time first hand.”

Virgil glared at him.

“Please try it,” Logan said sill amused. “It really is good.”

“If I get food poisoning, I’m blaming you,” he warned.

“Noted,” Logan said, inclining his head. Then, Virgil reluctantly allowed him to lead him over to the sushi stand from where they’d been hiding behind a trash can so as not to be in the direct line of sight of the man standing behind the counter.

The man greeted them as they approached. He obviously recognized Logan and even asked about Patton and Roman as they took a seat. Virgil did have to admit, despite his instinctual misgivings about mall sushi, what he could glimpse of his set up seemed legit. It looked like a real sushi bar if a bit smaller than usual. Where they had sat, there was a glass case in front of them with chilled fish on display and Virgil could see a large rice cooker behind the man along with a normal refrigerator.

Laminated menus were handed to them. They were only one page front and back, but honestly that was probably a good thing. If it had a bunch of complicated or fancy stuff, Virgil might have been worried.

Well, he was still worried, but he wasn’t running screaming. At least his setup looked like it probably wouldn’t give him too much food poisoning. Logan suggested a rainbow and a snake roll and they got some different types of nigiri.

The chef was nice, and he assembled the sushi fully in Virgil’s view which made him a whole lot less leery about the meal. He seemed to know what he was doing at least. Of course, the fish was not as fresh as it would have been in a coastal area, but it was clearly properly handled. When he was finished, he handed it to them all on one big plate.

He had to admit, when correcting for ingredient availability, it was actually pretty good sushi. He would not say it was the best sushi he’d ever had, but it was worlds better than he’d expected. Logan could obviously tell what his opinion was and was overly smug about it.

“Yeah, yeah,” Virgil said when they were finished. “You’re good at picking restaurants.”

“I’m sure you are also when in a place you are familiar with.”

“I’m not actually,” Virgil said with a laugh. “I always panic choose the worst option.”

“Well, I tend to be quite decisive about such things,” Logan said. “I guess we make a good match.”

“Yeah,” Virgil said. “Uh, what are we going to do when we get home? Because sitting there drowning in anxiety like we have been for the past couple of days isn’t the greatest.”

“Do you have anything in mind?”

“You guys have Blockbuster still?”

“No,” Logan said. He paused. “We do have a Family Video store I think.”

“Is it close? Let’s go there.”

“And why are we not just using a streaming service?” Logan asked. “Or using my… library of movies.”

Virgil shrugged. “It’s the charm of it,” he said.

“The charm of a business already made obsolete and on the brink of collapse?”

“Exactly,” said Virgil with a smile.

“Very well,” Logan said. “If that is what you’d like to do I will look up its location on my phone.”

They were in a building that would look abandoned if there wasn’t a light on inside within 15 minutes. The video rental store had clearly seen better days. Its carpet’s pattern was clearly from another decade and had been trampled over so often it was basically like walking on the linoleum beneath. There was a door on the sign asking patrons to close it behind them because the spring used to close it had long since ceased working.

There was only one person working, a guy in his 30s who glanced at them briefly and then went back to looking at his phone. Ah, yes, Virgil’s favorite type of employee.

“What movie would you like to watch?” Logan asked. He glanced at one small, but still surprisingly present section filled with DVDs.

“I don’t know,” Virgil said. “Isn’t that the point? Stop by a movie rental place on a Friday night, grab a more than likely crappy movie and some Milk Duds and proceed to sit and watch the stupid thing anyway because you already paid for it.”

“Virgil, I grew up in the 90s. This isn’t exactly exciting for me. There is a reason streaming sites took over the market,” Logan replied. “Also, it is Tuesday.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Just panic choose a movie with me, nerd.”

“I don’t ‘panic choose’ anything,” Logan said. “I-”

“You do today,” Virgil interrupted.

“I…”

“Choose a letter.”

“…S?”

“Great!” Virgil dragged him off in the direction of the movies that started with ‘S’.

“This is just… gross,” Virgil said a little under an hour and a half later and about an hour into the film.”

“It is a random romantic comedy from 2002,” Logan responded. “What did you expect?”

“Yeah, but there’s weird sex jokes and actors that are probably from Mars and then there’s actual on screen physical abuse between the romantic couple.”

“I will concede that point,” Logan said, “but I will remind that this could have all been avoided if you had allowed me to do proper investigation of the movie choices before renting it.”

“Ugh, yeah, yeah,” Vigil replied, leaning back to stare at the ceiling. “Just turn it off.”

Logan complied, reaching over to eject the DVD from his computer. The three roommates didn’t actually have a DVD player connected to their TV, so they’d chosen to use the desktop computer in Logan’s room.

Virgil was laying on Logan’s bed with Logan sat propped up against the headboard. Logan leaned over to peer down at him. “Thanks for helping distract me,” he said. “Despite the fact that we now know more about what we’re doing, I still get worried about sending Patton through time. His last time travel experience didn’t improve my confidence. I have been… rather nervous.”

“Well, I’m glad I could help, at least a little,” Virgil replied.

“You did,” Logan replied. “A lot.” His hand reached down to touch pat his shoulder, but then lingered there for a moment too long.

Virgil sat up suddenly and Logan had to jerk back to keep their heads from colliding. “I…” Virgil choked out once he was sitting up. “Um…”

Logan’s mouth curled into a half smile. He offered a hand and Virgil took it.

Virgil glanced at the hand. “I, uh, I am an anthropologist.”

“I am aware,” Logan said with a raised eyebrow.

“And, uh, you were born in this time, so technically I’m studying you…”

“I’m a time traveler, Virgil,” he said amused. “I doubt I am a pure specimen for any studies you may be doing.”

“Right,” Virgil said. “That’s a good point. You’re right.”

70210

There was a pause. “So then,” Virgil said. “No moral quandaries. Just two people sharing a bed and watching a romance movie.”

“It was a bad one.”

“It really, really was,” Virgil said with a grin and then Logan was leaning forward and Virgil’s hand was on Logan’s shoulder.

And then the door was flinging open. “I’m home!” Roman declared as Virgil scrambled back, banging his head on the bed’s headboard.

“Fuck,” Virgil hissed.

“Roman! You need to knock!”

“Since when?” Roman asked, plopping down on Logan’s bed between them.

“Since we have a guest,” Logan said meaningfully. Virgil hid his reddening face in his hands, curling into as tight of a ball as he could.

“You were both in here, it’s not like one of you were naked,” Roman said flippantly. Virgil debated the merits of staying curled up in a ball for the rest of his life. There was a second of silence, and Virgil was glad he couldn’t see the expressions on their faces from his ball when Roman said, “Oh my god!”

Chapter 50

The breakfast table was silent the next morning. Though if one could call it a breakfast table when Logan was only drinking a cup of tea, Roman was chewing on a slice of unbuttered, untoasted bread, and Virgil was still either asleep or avoiding them both in Logan’s bedroom was debatable.

“…Look,” Roman said.

“We aren’t talking about it.”

“How was I supposed to know the two of you were getting it on?! Put a sock on the door next time or something. It’s common courtesy!”

“We weren’t having sex,” Logan hissed. Roman opened his mouth. “Shut up and learn to knock,” Logan said, pointing his spoon at him threateningly.

Yet, still, because it was Roman, the other man opened his mouth again. Luckily, before he could say anything else on the matter, there was a loud crack from the living room.

“I’m going to need a towel please!” Patton called.

“I’ve got it,” Roman said instantly, jumping to his feet, leaving Logan to walk to the living room.

“Why are you wet?” Logan asked immediately upon taking in the sight of his roommate. He was soaked, water dripping from his form like he’d just gotten out of a pool seconds before.

“There was an ocean in the church,” Patton said.

“What?” Logan asked.

Patton pushed his sopping wet hair out of his eyes. “The time distortions were a lot more intense than ones we’ve seen before,” he said. He held out a small innocuous appearing device whose only mechanism appeared to be a switch to him. “Be really careful with that. It’s unstable and we might have damaged it getting out.” Patton winced and removed his timepiece. “Actually, speaking of that. This might need a checkup too.”

“Were there issues with the tech?” Logan asked taking both devices in his hand.

“…No,” Patton said looking a bit sheepish. “We just… may have turned off all of the safety protocols.”

“Patton I just made this for you!” Logan said, horrified.

“And you did a really good job!” was Patton’s reply, “but we didn’t really want to drown in a church.”

Logan took a slow breath. “I’ll make sure it wasn’t damaged,” he said.

“Thanks, Lo!”

Roman entered the living room then, bright blue towel in hand. “I have returned bearing gifts!” he declared.

“My hero,” Patton said with a laugh, taking the towel and using it to wipe off his face and then start to dry his hair.

“So, an ocean in a church?” Logan asked.

Patton nodded. “I’ll have to thank Virgil for suggesting the inflatable raft.”

He paused as he finished running the towel through his hair and started to dab at his clothing. “I saw Remus,” he said.

Roman froze. “You did?”

“Uh huh,” Patton replied. “He was with Janus. I didn’t think I should say anything to him since that trip was way out of sync though, sorry.”

“Yeah, no, that make sense. That’s fine.” Roman hesitated. “How was he?”

“He seemed good,” Patton said. He flashed them a smile. “Happy. He’s quite the character actually. He and Janus seem like they’re good friends.”

“Oh,” Roman said. “That’s… that’s good.”

Patton’s face screwed up slightly. “He did flirt with me though, so that was weird.”

“He what?!” Roman practically screeched.

“It wasn’t particularly innocent flirting either,” Patton said, grimacing.

Roman took a moment to think about it before pulling a face that one would expect to see on a small child trying a lemon for the first time. “That’s disgusting! That’s like… that’s like my brother flirting with my brother. Gross!”

“It was… it was weird,” Patton said.

“What did he even say?” Roman asked.

“Mostly it was comments on my…” he made a motion with his head that apparently Roman could interpret.

“He talked about your butt!”

“…Well, he didn’t exactly use that word.”

“That sounds about like Remus,” Virgil said, poking his head into the hall.

“Oh, you’ve finally decided to join the land of the living, Emo?” Roman asked.

“Shut up,” both Logan and Virgil said at the same time.

Of course, he did not. “You know, Pat-pat, speaking of posteriors…”

“One more word out of you and I will actually kill you,” Virgil threatened.

“Um, what’s going on?” Patton asked.

“I’ll tell you later,” Roman promised.

“You will not,” Logan said. “Keep your gossiping tendencies under control.”

“Okay, but now I want to know,” Patton said with a pout.

“You go take a shower,” Logan ordered.

Patton shared a look with Roman that told Logan there was no way he wouldn’t have the whole story along with a good number of embellishments by the end of the night. Then he shrugged. “Yes, boss,” he said. Logan rolled his eyes as he turned towards the bathroom, the towel still on his shoulders. He was dry enough that he wasn’t dripping anymore, and he slipped off his waterlogged shoes and socks so he wouldn’t track water to the bathroom.

“Put that in the biohazard hamper,” Logan called after him.

“I know!” he called back.

“And you,” Logan said to Roman, “clean up all of the water he got on the carpet in the off chance there are any pathogens in it.”

“Why do I have to do it?!”

“Because you’ve annoyed me,” Logan said, “and I need to insure these two devices do not explode.”

“Ugh, fiiiine,” Roman said, dipping back into the hall.

Virgil glanced over at him, the picture of awkwardness. “Uh,” he said. “Hey.”

“Hi,” Logan said.

“…Are those things really at risk of exploding right now?” he asked.

Logan glanced at him. “Technically they are always at least slightly at risk of exploding, but admittedly the chance is further from 0 than I would like it to be at this point.”

“Great,” Virgil said. “One more thing to be anxious about.”

“You don’t need to be anxious about it, Virgil,” Logan said.

“Uh, I think I do need to be anxious about the maybe bomb in your hands.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know,” Virgil said with a sigh.

“We are two mutually consenting adults. There isn’t any shame to it.”

“Can we please talk about our very embarrassingly interrupted kiss after you’ve dealt with the explosives?”

“Very well,” Logan said. He walked to the other side of the room to grab a statis chamber from a cabinet drawer.

“What’s that?” Virgil asked as the cube shaped device popped up.

“It’s a stasis cube,” Logan said as he put the two devices in his hand into it and activated. “It will allow them to cool down completely from their earlier use in a safe environment. It will be less dangerous to work with them later.”

“If it just takes 5 seconds to deal with them, why are you making Roman clean up?” Virgil asked amused.

“Like I said,” Logan said. “He annoyed me. Speaking of,” he glanced into the hallway where Roman currently was. “How do you feel about leaving before he gets back to get coffee.”

Virgil smiled at him. “Sure,” he said. “Escape the apartment for coffee part two.”

Chapter 51

It took a few days after Patton got home for Logan to first make sure the timepiece and the distortion device were not at a risk of exploding and then to study the distortion device.

“It’s similar to what little we’ve seen of TPI technology,” Logan had mused, sitting on the couch while studying the information he’d managed to get off of it. “It’s definitely derived from the same technology unlike my time travel device, but it looks a bit different, and this version at least is rather shoddily made. Of course, creating disorder and almost ripping apart time is easier than seamlessly moving through it.”

“So, they’re probably from my time then?” Virgil asked.

“Most likely,” Logan agreed. “Though it could always be a Remus situation where they were from another time originally but accidently ended up in the TPI time. Either way, the origin of their purposeful time travel was certainly around your time.”

Virgil glanced at the device he’d set on the table in front of them all. It looked innocent sitting there, but it had the power to destroy so much, and they didn’t even know why. “Do you think whoever made this trapped me here on purpose?” Virgil asked.

“It would be a big coincidence if you in particular got trapped in this time in particular,” Roman said.

“I was thinking the same thing actually,” Logan said. “You do work with the TPI and with Janus, a time agent who both often is caught in the middle of devices similar to this being used and who runs into Patton frequently. Plus you know Remus, Roman’s brother even if we didn’t know that connection before you were trapped here and we already had a correspondence before you landed here. It would be strange for you to have ended up here on accident.”

“But why?” Virgil asked. “I am somehow connected to all of you, but I’m still not a time agent myself.”

“All I am to the TPI is a walking history book. I’m not actually involved.”

“Well,” Logan said. “Perhaps someone knows something we don’t.”

“Or maybe it’s just a happy accident!” Patton said. Virgil highly doubted that and it made anxiety churn in his gut.

“Well,” Logan said, “accident or not, we do now have a solution to the issue. I’ve managed to use this device to recalibrate my calculations and we’ve gotten a ping. I know where the signal blocking Virgil’s time device is coming from.”

“Where?” Roman asked.

“It looks like a local trash dump,” Logan replied. “It must have just ended up in a trashcan that day and was emptied before we checked.”

“Well, that should be easy enough to get,” Patton said. “Give Roman and I the exact coordinates and we can go and get it now.”

“Wait, why are we the only ones who have to dig through a garbage dump?” Roman asked.

Patton gave him a look.

“Oh,” Roman said, eyes lighting up. “Oh right!” Then, he scowled remembering he was going to be going through a garbage dump. “Fine,” he sighed.

“Think of it as an adventure!” Patton said.

“We’re time travelers. We have so many more exciting adventuring opportunities than dumpster diving, Pat-Pat,” he whined, but he still got up. “I’ll go get changed.”

Patton stood up and handed Logan his phone, so Logan could program the location of the distortion device into it while he changed as well. “We’ll text you when we’re heading back! I’ll give you a 15- and 5-minute warning,” Patton said with a wink. Virgil immediately hid his face in his hands.

“Do you think the TPI is hiring?” Logan asked as the door closed. “I’d love to move to a different century without those two.”

“Time agents don’t usually live in 4500s,” Virgil said, face still hidden behind his hands. “They’d probably still place you in this century, especially since you’re comfortable here.”

“No escaping them then,” Logan sighed.

“Mmm,” was Virgil’s response.

He felt Logan shift on the couch next to him and a warm palm touched his wrist, gently tugging his hand away from his face in a way that Virgil could resist if he really wanted. Virgil let the hand fall with a sigh. Logan smiled at him when he could see his face and Virgil smiled back despite how he could still feel heat in his cheeks.

“You will be going home this evening, I’d imagine,” Logan said.

“Yeah,” Virgil agreed softly.

“I would like to give you a gift before you go, if you’ll allow it.”

“Uh, okay,” Virgil agreed.

Logan nodded and leaned back to grab something out of the pocket of a jacket that was currently hanging over the side of the couch. “Ah,” he said when he found whatever he was looking for. He glanced at Virgil. “It is a ring, by the way, but this is not a proposal.”

“Well, I’d certainly hope not,” said Virgil dryly. “An impulse elopement would be a little off brand for us both.”

Logan smiled at him. “Very true,” he agreed. Then, he opened his palm revealing a small ring.

“So, then, what is it?” Virgil asked.

72530

“It is an emergency time travel device,” Logan explained. “It’s not particularly complex. It can only take you here to this room between 2 weeks and one year from now, but if you ever need something from me, you can use it.”

He offered the ring and Virgil opened his palm to let him put it in his hand. He studied the ring for a moment. It was a rose gold and very light.

“It also has some security measures,” Logan said. “It wouldn’t do to make an emergency time travel device that someone else might easily try to take from you. It’ll disappear when you put it on. You’ll still be able to feel it and take it off whenever you wish. It’ll become visible again if you take it off.”

“An invisible ring?” Virgil asked, curious.

“Yes,” Logan said with a smile. “It is designed to store your space time coordinates for up to 48 hours just so you’re aware, but as I said you can take it off whenever you wish and… I won’t use it against you.”

Virgil looked at him. “Okay,” he said. “Can I put it on?” Logan nodded, and Virgil slipped it on his finger. As promised it disappeared from view as soon as he did. He could still feel the weight of it on his finger though.

“You turn it three times counterclockwise to activate it,” Logan said, making Virgil look up from the seemingly empty space on his finger he’d been staring at.

“It would drop you right about where you are sitting.”

“Thanks,” Virgil said. It wasn’t nearly enough to say how much he appreciated the gift, but he hoped his tone said enough.

“Don’t use it against me?” Logan asked with a half-smile, and Virgil realized just how much trust was being put onto him by giving him a device that was directly linked to their base of operations despite knowing Virgil worked with the TPI.

Virgil shook his head. “I won’t,” he said. Deciding to throw out his nervousness and embarrassment over last time he shot forward to kiss Logan quickly on the lips. They bumped noses and Logan’s glasses ended up askew in the process, but Logan didn’t seem to mind judging by his delighted laugh when they parted.

“Thank you,” Virgil said again.

“Of course,” Logan replied.

Virgil could still feel the ring on his finger even after Patton and Roman got back from the dump with the device that had caused this whole mess. He could still feel it when Logan turned it off and his time piece reactivated. He could still feel it there when he made it home and gave an excuse as to why he’d left his trip early. He could still feel it when he got an email from an unknown sender making sure he got home okay.

Arc IV: (To Be Named)

Chapter 52

“What’s this?” Janus asked when a giant bowl was set on the coffee table in front of him.

“We’re eating on the couch tonight,” Emile said cheerfully.

Janus raised an eyebrow and switched off the tablet he’d been using to look at him. “Why?” he asked.

Emile shrugged and set a second huge bowl down next to Janus’s. “For fun,” Emile said. He turned back towards the kitchen and Janus leaned forward to look in the bowl. It was spaghetti with some sort of creamy sauce and a few different vegetables mixed in along with some shrimp.

“I made green tea,” Emile said, coming back into the room with two mugs.

“Thanks,” Janus said, taking one of the mugs with a small smile.

“What were you doing?” Emile asked as he took a seat beside Janus. He nodded at the deactivated screen now sitting on the end table.

“Just doing some puzzle games,” Janus said.

“That sounds fun,” Emile said with a smile.

“Head doctor said they might be a good thing to do to pass the time when I told him to fuck off after suggesting reading.”

Emile sighed. “Dr. Figueroa is my colleague. You could try to be polite.”

“I thought I was supposed to be my authentic self in therapy,” Janus replied.

Emile just huffed and rolled his eyes. Janus couldn’t help but smile as he picked up his mug of green tea.

The last few months had been…different. In a lot of ways, Janus’s life had become harder than it had been before. It had been easy to do nothing but eat pre-prepared meals, go to work, and pass out in his empty house every day. It wasn’t good for him. He’d known it even then, but it had been easy. This was not.

Emile had offered, insisted really, that Janus move into his house for a bit just to get back on his feet.

He’d taken time off of the TPI which would have been given to him anyway since he’d spent so trapped in the past. He’d had to give a report of what had happened, and he’d mentioned Patton, but he hadn’t mentioned everything. They’d offered him a shrink when he’d asked.

Janus had told Emile he needed to tell him something about why he’d been distant, so he wouldn’t end up chickening out, but he’d asked for a bit of time to figure out what to say. He’d finally worked up the courage to talk about it with Dr. Figueroa two weeks ago. Much like with Patton, it was easier to talk to someone who hadn’t been involved in Janus’s mistake, but it still wasn’t easy.

He was running up on the deadline he’d given for having that talk with him. It had to happen soon, and they both knew it, but Emile was just patiently waiting for him to suck it up. It felt… wrong to use his kindness without him knowing, but it was also nice to get to spend time with his brother. He didn’t even dare to hope that he’d still have the chance once he told him.

He was moving back into his own house in less than a week. He’d tell him then so if Emile ended up kicking him out of his life, he wouldn’t have to kick him out of his home too.

For now, though everything was fine. Harder, more complicated, and in threat of exploding at any moment, but fine. Fine wasn’t something he’d really felt in a long time. Or at least, fine while in his own time wasn’t something he’d felt in a long time. There’d been a few moments with Patton sitting next to the fire outside the hole in the ground they’d slept in for those few months where the man would turn to look at him and he’d felt fine. Yet, Patton had been right. Those moments were unsustainable with how Janus was actually feeling deep down.

“This is good,” Janus said, after taking a couple of bites of the pasta in front of him.

“Well, I always was the only one in the house that could cook,” Emile said, and that was true. “It was either learn to defend for myself or eat a cheeseburger for every meal.”

“Hey, I had a good burger seasoning.”

“Not for every meal, Janus.”

“Meat, dairy, bread. What more could you want?”

“Vegetables, Janus.”

“You could have put pickles on!”

“I don’t like pickles.”

“That sounds like your problem, not mine,” Janus argued.

Emile shook his head, turning his eyes to the ceiling. “How have you been surviving on your own?”

“Well, I mean,” Janus said. “Badly.”

“Right…” Emile said. He leaned over to bump their shoulders together. Janus flashed him a smile.

“Speaking of,” said Janus. “Could you physically force me to pack tonight? I meant to do it today and instead I ended up playing puzzles games.”

Emile chucked. “Sure, I’ll help you after dinner.”

“You don’t have to help me,” said Janus. “Just make me do it.”

“Maybe I want to help,” said Emile.

“Oh, yes, packing. The most entertaining of Thursday night activities.”

Emile hummed and then glanced at him. “Remember when you helped me pack for college?” he asked.

“Mmm, I do,” Janus replied.

“I was so stressed about going somewhere new,” Emile said, “that I avoided packing for weeks. Every time Mom would ask me how packing was going, I’d tell her it was going fine but in reality, I hadn’t even started. You’d come home two days before I had to leave because you were going to help me move into my dorm. It’s like you could sense no packing had been done the moment you stepped through the front door.”

“You were doing your ‘hiding the broken horse statue from mom’ shuffle,” Janus said with a smirk.

“Well, you walked me straight to my room and we packed everything up in those two days,” Emile said. “You made it so much easier.”

“Yeah, because I hovered over you until you did it and did half of it for you,” Janus snorted.

“It wasn’t just that,” Emile said. “You also found the music streaming station run by the university and put that on and talked about what your freshman year was like. You also had tips on what things I should and shouldn’t pack when moving into the dorm.”

“You still took all of the cartoon stuffed animals despite my advice.”

“I thought there’d be more space on the bed,” Emile frowned.

Janus snorted.

“But anyway, just having someone else around made me happier. It wasn’t just about the workload being halved either. You being there made me feel less lonely and reminded me I’d always have someone to come back to.”

Janus internally winced. He was sure Emile hadn’t meant to make him feel guilty in any way. In fact, he probably was trying to do the opposite, but him saying that just reminded Janus that it hadn’t been true. Janus had abandoned him for literal years and hadn’t been someone he could always come back to.

Emile had proven himself to be at least close to who he was before Janus messed with time the few last months. There were a couple of differences here and there, and Janus could not be sure if they were from him changing time or from him avoiding his brother for the past three years and him naturally changing. Most memories they shared that Janus cautiously brought up or Emile mentioned on his own were consistent with what Janus remembered, but he hadn’t pushed too hard or dug too deep. It just made him feel more guilty about avoiding the man for so long.

It made him want to ignore the man more, because it seemed every choice Janus ever made only hurt him.

…

Well, perhaps not the college radio station when helping an anxious 18-year-old pack up his childhood bedroom.

He should probably tell Emile that his words made him feel guilty because that was obviously not the intention and he’d want to know. He should probably apologize properly for leaving him alone for three years without an explanation. He should probably provide an explanation for those three years.

He should probably go see the head doctor again soon.

(He should probably stop calling Emile’s colleague who was in the same field as him a head doctor derogatorily in his head.)

74430

For now, he just glanced at Emile. “You’re trying to bully me into letting you help pack with logic, aren’t you?”

“I am,” Emile confirmed without remorse.

“Fine,” Janus sighed, “but only if you let me do the dishes for you.”

Emile took a long moment to consider the offer. “You drive a hard bargain,” he said, “but okay.”

“And no doing anything sneaky like getting bags ready for me on your own while I’m doing it or the deal is off,” Janus said.

“You always think of all possible loopholes, Janus,” Emile sighed.

There was a long silence.

“Agree, you prick,” said Janus.

“No promises,” Emile replied cheekily with laughter in his eyes, and things were good for a moment more.

Chapter 53

Today Janus was moving into his house in 24th century for the second time in his life, and honestly, the house wasn’t going to look much different than it had when he’d first moved in. Janus had unpacked his things more at Emile’s house in the past almost 6 months than he had in the two and a half years he’d liven in his house. His house held clothes, bare bone furniture, and exactly one skillet from when he’d decided to be daring and tried to cook himself an egg. All he’d really customized for himself was the setting on the LXC device which controlled the lights, media across the home, and prepackaged food ordering and prepare.

He almost felt embarrassed that his house was so empty. Emile, of course, knew that his mental health had been fucked, but the blankness of his house was a physical reminder of this fact especially considering how he used to keep house before all of this. He’d warned Emile about the fact that his house was empty, and he had said he understood, but still.

They gathered all of the luggage in a pile in Emile’s guest room. They’d had to get permissions from the TPI to allow Emile to travel to his house, and Janus went ahead and filed to give him permanent permission to travel there.

The decision felt far too hopeful for someone who hadn’t had that conversation with his brother yet, but it had made Emile smile in the moment.

Emile took three of the bags and Janus took the rest. He waved his arm and selected the third saved location on the device. In a moment, he was standing in the living room of his dark, empty house.

…

His supposed to be dark and empty house. More of the lights were on than Janus had ever switched on himself, and half of the windows were open. (He didn’t even know some of those windows opened.)

They were letting in the sounds of birds that made the lakeside their home as well as cool late fall breeze. There was also a racket coming from the kitchen. Emile was beside him a second after he himself had appeared. He looked around for a moment. “Did you leave it like this?”

“No,” Janus replied.

“Do you have squatters?” He had a security system from 2 millennia in the future on his house. He highly doubted it.

“I’m going to go check the kitchen,” Janus said, moving towards the noises coming from the other room.

He stopped in the doorway to his kitchen only to see Patton standing at his kitchen counter cutting up a carrot on a cutting board Janus didn’t think he owned, and if he did, it was buried in a box somewhere.

“What are you doing?” Janus asked.

“Cooking!” was the immediate reply.

“In my house?” Janus asked. “How do you even know where my house is?”

“I may be just a little bit ahead of you,” Patton said with a wink while tapping the side of his nose.

Janus sputtered. “This is my house!”

“I know!” He said it so cheerfully while being a purposefully obtuse asshole that Janus could help but crack a smile and shake his head. He’d missed him after spending so long alone with him though he wasn’t go to admit that to him when he’d broken into Janus’s house to…

“Again, what are you doing?”

“I’m making you soup.”

“Why?” Janus asked.

“Well,” Patton said. “I know it’s a bit of a rough time for you, so I thought I’d give you a nice welcome home present and what better present than food!” He smiled at him widely.

Janus looked closer at what he was making. “You’re trying to prove to me you can cook.” Patton frowned at him. “Have you considered I have had enough fish stew for a lifetime?”

“Nope!” he said. “It’s entirely different this time anyway. I have carrots!”

“I don’t like carrots,” Janus lied blandly.

“Liar!” Patton declared.

“No, I’m not,” Janus continued to lie.

“I mean, that was definitely a lie,” Emile interjected from behind Janus. He was looking at them curiously. “Er, hello, who are you?”

“This is Pat,” Janus said.

“The illegal time traveler you’ve been tracking?” Emile asked with a questioning lilt to his tone.

“Ah, yes, well,” Janus said with a cough. “We came to an understanding when stuck in pre-history.”

“And now he is cooking you soup in your house?” Emile asked.

“I’ve long since stopped trying to make sense of him,” Janus grumbled.

“Well,” Emile said. “Hello Pat.”

“You can call me Patton,” he said easily. “I hope it’s nice to meet me, because I’ve already met you.”

“We haven’t been meeting in the correct order,” Janus informed Emile. “So, he’s apparently already met you which will happen in your future. It is also something he shouldn’t be talking about,” he scolded. Patton took that with a shrug.

“I hate time travel,” Emile said, his nose scrunching up. “Isn’t life already confusing enough.”

Janus winced, not relishing the upcoming conversation with him about how confusing his life was now because of time travel.

“Don’t you work with the TPI too?” Patton asked.

“That doesn’t mean I like time travel,” Emile said. “I’m a stationary agent and I like that just fine.”

“Time travel can be a bit complicated sometimes,” Patton acknowledged, “but I don’t think it’s all bad.” He finished chopping up the carrot and turned to put it in the self-regulating soup pot. Janus squinted at it. It was certainly not something Patton had in the 21st century. So, the question was. Had he gone out and bought time appropriate cookware before breaking into Janus’s house or had he gone through Janus’s storage to find it?

“You’re a free agent time traveler, right?” Emile asked.

“Depends on what you mean by free agent,” Patton said. “I have always worked with a group of people, and we have rules and procedures. It’s basically a time agency itself, just not the TPI.”

“And you’ve met me before?”

“I have,” Patton confirmed, “but Janus is right in that I can’t say much more than that about it. In fact,” he said wiping off his hands on a towel hanging from his apron. (The apron was covered in cartoon squirrels and totted the phrase ‘I’m a nut for baking.’) “I should probably be getting out of here.”

“You’ve never been worried about us meeting out of order before,” Janus pointed out with a frown. He didn’t particularly want Patton to go even though the man had broken into his house and possibly went through his boxes of kitchen equipment.

“Well,” Patton said. “There’s meeting wildly out of order, there’s meeting in order, and then there’s what I’m doing.”

“What are you doing?” Janus asked alarmed.

Patton just shrugged with a smile.

“No, Patton, what are you doing?”

“Soup should be done in about an hour, but you can leave it on all day. I got a pot that’s fridge safe, so just shut it off and stick it in there before going to sleep.”

“Patton.”

“See you later! Bye!” He said and disappeared into thin air.

Janus sighed and rubbed the bridge of his brow. “Why is he like this?”

“Janus,” Emile asked. “Why did your self-declared mortal enemy make you soup?”

“Because he’s an asshole, that’s why.”

“Uh huh,” Emile said, looking at him oddly.

“What?” Janus asked.

“What exactly happened when you were stuck in the past?” Emile asked.

Janus sighed. “A lot happened. A lot.” He glanced at the soup pot happily performing its function on his kitchen counter. ‘I hope it’s nice to meet me, because I’ve already met you,’ rang in his ears. Fucking Patton with his little hints about the future. It gave Janus just a bit of courage though knowing that Emile at least didn’t flee the continent after the conversation they had to have. He was at least around enough to meet Patton. “In fact,” Janus said. “It’s probably time I told you what happened. Everything that happened.”

Chapter 54

They sat down in the living room. Janus let Emile have the couch and sat on one of the matching armchairs. There was a squeaky sound when he sat. The plastic covering the chair had been delivered in was still on it.

Emile had a pleasant, open but curious expression on his face and Janus suddenly had an idea what it felt like to be his patient.

“I,” Janus began after a moment, shifting uncomfortably on the squeaky chair. “I don’t know how to start this conversation. I talked about what I wanted to say and possible ways to say it with Dr. Figueroa, but I… I still don’t know.”

“I guess I should start by saying that I did something horrible that I need to apologize for and I’m not sure if apologizing will even be enough. The problem is you don’t even know what that horrible thing is.” Janus stared at his feet. “So, first, I should probably explain what I did. I just don’t know where to start.”

“Maybe start with what happened before it,” Emile suggested. “Just lead up to it. It might help explain why whatever it was happened too.”

Janus took a breath. “Okay,” he said. “That day was just like most that I remember. We both woke up early. I was going to the TPI and you were going to where you worked your residency. We ate leftover pizza for breakfast because both of us were exhausted. You because it sucks to be a resident and me because I’d been working on a big case.”

“I was getting frustrated with the case. That was my first mistake: being impatient and angry. It was just a thief, but a slippery one. She’d stolen a half-broken time piece and was using it to rob banks within about a 50-year time frame. I had an idea of where she might go, but no one would listen to me. Or at least,” Janus quirked a half smile, “that’s how I interpreted it. They said they’d look into my idea, but they were being extra cautious because of how close in the timestream her actions were to most of the agents’ lives.”

“I was so tired of the case and so egotistical. I decided to check it out on my own without being cleared by the TPI. I went back in time without thinking of the consequences and that was the worst thing I’ve ever done.” Janus took a breath. “I’m not sure how, but somewhere in the course of my self-appointed mission…” He trailed off. He didn’t know how to say it. He really didn’t.

“What happened?” Emile asked when he didn’t continue.

“I…” and his next words probably sounded like crackly nonsense to Emile’s ears because he couldn’t get his thoughts straight and his tongue wouldn’t make the words right.

“I don’t even remember living in that town or the fact that Mom used to work at that bank,” he choked out. “I didn’t think and I didn’t check and…” There was a long silence. “I erased you,” he finally managed to say in a whisper, but in the quiet of his barely lived in house, the words were loud.

There was more silence. “But I…” Emile said after a moment.

“I went back and fixed it,” Janus said, “but I… didn’t do a perfect job. I don’t even know how much I messed things up. It would have been one thing if it’d just been me. If it had just impacted my life, but I did it to you and I don’t even know how to start to apologize.”

Nothing was said for a long moment. Janus didn’t look at him.

“…Huh,” Emile finally said.

Janus risked a glance at him. He didn’t look irate, but he did still look confused which was probably the reason for that.

“I’m sorry,” Janus said. It was really the only thing he could say at this point.

Emile tilted his head to the side. He took off his glasses and cleaned them with the edge of his shirt with slow circles. Since he was 15, Emile only cleaned his glasses with specially designed wipes, but he’d held onto the habit of cleaning his glasses with his shirt anytime he needed a moment to think. Janus wasn’t sure if Emile even realized he was doing it, but he knew it was a signal for Janus to be quiet for a few seconds.

The glasses were perched back on Emile’s nose after a few seconds. “I think I remember that,” he said contemplatively.

“…What?” Janus asked, and he was no longer avoiding looking at Emile. He was now blatantly staring at him.

“Well, I didn’t know what it was,” Emile said, “but I did have a very odd dream on the day you mentioned and suspiciously I had said dream in the middle of the day and woke standing up.”

“A dream?” Janus asked.

“A very vivid dream,” Emile said. “I don’t believe you actually erased me completely from existence. My life was simply shifted slightly. I was working as a social worker for about 5 hours and then I was back in my appropriate place.”

76874

“Why didn’t you tell me about that?” Janus asked, but then immediately wince at his own hypocrisy. “Er… never mind.”

“I didn’t know it was possibly real,” Emile said. “Honestly, I thought I was just really tired. I’d been overworking myself a lot. I took the rest of the day off after that.”

“You shifted reality for a few hours, and you didn’t realize it?” Janus asked.

“Like I said, I was really tired and nothing seemed to be wrong…”

“Wait, but things were different,” Janus said. “Didn’t you notice things were different.”

“Not… really,” Emile said. “Like what?”

“Like…” Janus said. “Like a whole bunch of things!”

“Like…?”

“Like you had a different job title and you worked different hours.”

“I thought I’d fallen asleep standing up or had a vivid audio-visual hallucination at work from stress. I asked for a switch a couple of weeks later.”

“You used to hate time travel, but then you took a job at the TPI.”

Emile gave him a drawl look. “I still hate time travel,” he said. “I literally just said that not 5 minutes ago.”

“Well then why would you work for the TPI.”

“Because time travel is so confusing and distressing that people doing it on a regular basis as a career need psychological support.”

“Plus, Lia asked for my consultation when developing the mental health part of the Agent Management Office,” Emile continued. “Considering I already knew quite a bit about time travel from being around you, she knew me personally, and I’d finished my residency, she decided to give me a job offer when my advice panned out.”

“W-well,” Janus said. “You were allergic to pineapples.”

“You mean my childhood allergy?” Emile asked. “That has since resolved itself in my adult life?”

“It has?” Janus asked.

“Janus have you considered,” Emile said, “that some if not all of the inconsistencies you were seeing in my life have to do with the fact that you hadn’t spoken to me in 3 years?”

“I… uh… hadn’t considered that,” Janus admitted honestly.

“You were looking for information to support your incorrect world view,” Emile said sounding very much like a head doctor and not like a brother, “and you found some.” He sighed. “It makes sense after having faced a traumatic event where you effectively thought you’d killed a loved one that you weren’t thinking clearly.” The head doctor analysis voice slipped just a bit. “I just wish you’d talked about it with someone.”

“Sorry,” Janus said, because no matter which way this conversation had gone and no matter the revelations, the point was an apology. “I’m sorry.”

Emile sighed. “I would have forgiven you even if you had erased me,” Emile said. “You didn’t mean to, and you did your best to fix it. You did fix it even if you were an idiot about it.”

“What about for being an idiot and not talking to you for three years?” Janus asked.

“I already did forgive you for that Janus,” Emile said pointedly. “What did you think the last 6 months were?”

“Pity?”

Emile gave him his disappointed and exasperated head shake. “Promise to never do anything like that to me again,” he said, “and I’ll forgive you.”

“I promise,” Janus said immediately.

“And in the future, you’ll talk to me if you have any issue even if you think it’s horrible.”

“I think I’ve learned by lesson on that one.”

“And that goes for other people too,” Emile said. “If anything goes wrong with someone, you talk to them or if that’s too hard you talk to someone so they can convince you to talk to that person.”

Janus nodded.

“Great!” Emile said. “Then you’re officially forgiven for everything. Though I expect you to go to therapy and keep working on making yourself feel better, so these things don’t happen again.”

And Janus… didn’t know how to feel about that. He should probably feel happy and thankful or at least relieved, but if he was being honest, he just felt kind of empty in that moment like an old well that had finally run dry. Fuck his head doctor and fuck Patton. Wasn’t this supposed to make him feel better? Everything was fine. He hadn’t actually erased Emile permanently from the timeline, in fact, he’d apparently still existed in some form in the alternate timeline Janus had temporarily made. Emile had forgiven him both for erasing him and ignoring him even though that was far more than Janus deserved. This was something he’d never even dared dream would happen, but it had been exactly what he’d wanted.

Yet, he still didn’t feel good, not really, not like how he remembered feeling before all of this happened.

Though was that really a surprise? Things were not like how they were before. He and Emile were no longer close. There was love and affection there, but they didn’t really know each other. The last six months had been nice. He’d been able to pretend for a bit that everything was back to normal, but in the moments he hadn’t been able to pretend that, it’d been a bit stilted and awkward speaking to his brother especially at the start.

Beyond that, Janus was just used to misery at this point. It was his default state. Not being miserable took effort and energy he didn’t always have. He felt himself slipping into sadness or numbness even during times he should be feeling good. He’d noticed himself experiencing a sense of desolation when Emile cooked his favorite meal or in the middle of watching a ballet performance Emile had suggested they go to and he’d been looking forward to in the days before or even now when he should be so happy, so ecstatic. Everything should be okay, but it wasn’t.

“You doing alright over there?” Emile asked, and Janus didn’t know how long he’d been silent.

Instinct said to say yes and force himself to move on, but he wasn’t going to break his promise that fast. “Not really, no,” he admitted.

“That’s okay,” Emile said. “Anything I can do to help?”

“I really don’t know.”

“Why don’t we go taste the soup your arch nemesis,” there was a light teasing tone to his voice, “made for you. Some of the vegetables won’t be completely cooked yet, but I’m sure it’s already good.”

“Yeah,” Janus agreed. “Yeah, okay,” he got to his feet, the chair making that plastic squeaking sound again. “Maybe we could unwrap the furniture in here before you go home.”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Emile said with a smile.

Chapter 55

Somehow, the strangest thing about his life right now was a picture on the wall. It was one that he’d gotten after college when he moved into his first actual house. It wasn’t anything special. It was just something that had caught his eye when he was specifically looking for something classier to put on his wall than the posters he’d hung in his college dorm and apartment with Virgil. It was a tall painting of a tree, but segmented into four parts, each representing the state of a tree in different seasons. In the top left, the three had small leaves and little buds, on the top right it had full leaves bathed in sunlight, in the bottom left the leaves had changed colors and started to fall off, and in the bottom right the tree was devest of leaves but covered in snow.

It was on the wall near Janus’s bed. It was one of the first things he saw when he opened his eyes in the morning and was usually what reminded him that everything was different now when he woke.

The picture had been in a box in the houses garage up until the Saturday before the last. Saturdays had become his and Emile’s unofficial unpacking Janus’s house day. They would usually pick one or maybe two boxes that had been sitting untouched for years, unpack it, talk, and eat dinner together.

Notably, dinner was usually not provided by either of them.

Patton had gotten into the habit of breaking into Janus’s house. Janus would sometimes catch him doing it briefly, but often Patton managed to avoid him. This was quite the feat considering Janus was not currently working and thus stayed at home a lot of the time. Patton had repeatedly reprogrammed Janus’s kitchen taking away the option for pop tarts entirely and replacing the option with real food. Janus’s kitchen was constantly stocked with something to eat that wasn’t trash. He also liked to leave around different smelling hand soaps, flowers, and paper cranes. Janus had an entire drawer in his nightstand dedicated to storing paper cranes now.

The newest one was still on his nightstand from the night before, sitting cheerfully in the way of his view of the tree paining when his alarm woke up that morning. He sighed. He had not missed getting up early for work.

He was finally going back to working at the TPI this morning. His therapist had signed off on it last week, saying his was fit for duty. Considering they were apparently still understaffed at the TPI and Janus was a senior agent, this was met with much relief. Janus himself still wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

He turned off the alarm and stood. Dr. Figueroa had him write out a morning schedule to follow when he’d expressed his struggle to get the day started. Either Patton or Emile had taken it upon themselves to copy the schedule on virtual sticky notes that appeared in every location necessary for getting ready in the morning.

First, he took a shower. He threw his nightclothes in the laundry chute. There were currently dozens of different scented soaps in his shower all in small bottles that had about 2 or 3 uses. Janus presumed they were curtesy of Patton. He decided to use one at random and it ended up being cotton candy scented.

Next, he got dressed. That was easy enough since he always wore the same outfit to work every day. It didn’t matter what he wore much since missions would force him to redress anyway.

Then he went to his kitchen and sat down at the counter. He pushed the pop tart button. As expected at this point, he did not get a pop tart for breakfast. Instead, he got two eggs, toast, a sliced apple, and a few cherry tomatoes with green tea. He ate his breakfast while finishing one of the puzzles he’d been working on the night before.

Once he finished, it was time to finally face going back to the office. He sighed, stood up and pulled up the screen on his timepiece. He selected his office as his destination and was off.

The first thing that happened upon appearing in his office was he got a face full of… something.

He sputtered, smacking the things fluttering about his face out of the air. “What is wrong with you?” was the first thing out of his mouth before he’d even really confirmed that the culprit of this attack was who he’d automatically assumed he was.

Remus, as anticipated was standing not 2 feet away from him.

Remus had apparently gotten into the prop department again because he had some type of softly glowing glittery confetti was no all over Janus as well as their entire office.

“Remus, I told you no!” Lena snapped. “You know it’s impossible to clean up 3150s sparkle nukes.”

“Welcome back!” Remus crowed.

“I hate you,” Janus replied. “I just took a shower.”

“You’re fine,” Remus said with an eye roll.

“This shit doesn’t come off in decontamination,” Janus spat. “If my first mission back sends me to a time where I’ll be tried as a witch for glowing, I’m blaming you.”

“We’re going to 2510,” Remus informed him. “You’ll fit right in.”

Janus grimaced. “Ugh, that decade.”

“It’s my favorite decade!” Remus exclaimed.

“Of course, it is,” Lena grumbled. “Just don’t bring anything gross back this time.”

“No promises,” Remus replied.

Janus chose to disengage from the conversation as Remus and Lena argued about was and what wasn’t allowed to be brought back to their shared office from what was well known as the least tasteful decade in history. It was also one of the least turbulent decades in history. The population was too busy making shitty ice cream flavors to wage war.

At least they were giving him an easier assignment for his first time back. He turned to his desk and pulled up the files on his next mission, glancing through them. It was just a small blip that the TPI had noticed in a small town in 2510. It probably wasn’t much of anything, but they had no record of what had caused it, so they were going to send someone to look. Honestly, they’d usually just send in a surveillance agent and be done with it, but they’d probably handpicked this one for Janus in particular. He’d be insulted if he didn’t honestly still feel a bit off kilter being in the office.

To his surprise, he didn’t have a scheduled meeting with Rhi. It wasn’t particularly important to see a mission coordinator for something this small, but it still wasn’t the usual protocol. Instead, he was just instructed to pick up his costume at the costuming department and leave in about an hour.

“Do we really not have an appointment with Rhi?” Janus asked.

“Senior agents haven’t really been meeting with Rhi unless it’s a high priority mission,” Lena told him. “We have too many newbies running around and there’s not time.

“That’s concerning…” Janus said.

“It’s better than trying to rush the inexperienced ones through. We at least have a general idea of what we’re doing. They’re trying to train up more mission coordinators, but that’s taking a while.”

Janus still frowned, but he glanced back at the mission instructions. He’d have to make sure he thoroughly understood what was being asked of him before leaving if he wasn’t meeting with Rhi. “We should go get changed,” he told Remus. “2510s clothing is notoriously difficult to put on.”

“Five minutes back and he’s already dying to get my clothes off,” Remus said cheekily.

“I would rather tear my own eyeballs out of my socket than see you without your pants on again.”

Remus just wiggled his eyebrows.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” said Lena when Janus looked at her in exasperation. “He’s finally not Fred’s and my problem anymore.”

Chapter 56

Getting ready for the mission was a bit of a mess honestly. The costume department barely even spared them a glance before sending them on their way. Remy at least was still there to give them one last debrief before sending them off into 2510, though he looked exhausted.

“Are you sleeping?” asked Janus.

“I’m drinking coffee,” was the reply as he shooed them out onto the streets.

The timeline disturbance that had been picked up was somewhere in one of the shops on that street.

“Do you want the bakery or the karaoke/stripper bar?” Remus asked.

Janus raised an eyebrow at him, and Remus clapped him on the back.

“This is why we’re partners,” he said.

He plodded off towards the building to their right, and Janus turned to the building on the left. It was a small bakery and coffee shop painted in bright colors and sporting the Brazilian and Albanian flags.

There was a soft tinkling bell sound when he entered the shop, and the person behind the counter glanced over at him briefly before finishing putting a pastry in bag for a customer.

Unfortunately, their attention meant Janus wasn’t going to get away with snooping around the store without buying anything. He glanced around the interior of the shop as he walked up to the till.

He glanced into the bakery display case the worker was standing behind. Oh… oh that all looked disgusting. He was not depressed enough anymore to willingly eat any of that.

“Uh,” Janus said when the worker looked at him. He glanced up at the wide selection of drinks over their head and winced at the ways the letters moved on the screen. He was pretty sure his dyslexia wasn’t quite that bad. Why did anyone choose to make letters move around and shake on purpose? As someone who had to deal with that on a daily basis, it wasn’t exactly entertaining.

“Is it possible to get a banana and chocolate potato chip smoothie, but without the potato chip part?” he asked.

“Sure,” the worker replied. “Anything else?”

Janus shook his head.

“Can I have a name for that?”

“Jay,” Janus replied.

“Alright. It’ll be out in a minute.”

Janus nodded and turned, able to take in the rest of the establishment now that there weren’t eyes on him. It was as colorful on the inside as it was on the outside and seemed to have a retro cowboy-space theme mixed with posters from a contemporary werewolf romance movie. Janus had actually seen that movie one. It was surprisingly tolerable.

The seats at least looked comfortable. There were a good number of tables and three couches. All of them were mix-matched. A few of the tables were outfitted with holographic chess and checkers, but most were normal tables. There were even a few physical boardgames and some bookshelves full of books, though he thought some of the bookshelves might just be there for decoration. He wasn’t sure which were and which weren’t.

He pretended to be very interested in the decorations as he waited on his drink, using that as an excuse to look around the entire shop. He was turned away when the door chimed again.

“Hello,” a familiar voice said, making Janus turn around instantly. Janus could immediately tell that the man hesitantly lingering in front of the bakery display was not the Patton that he’d spent months holed up with or who had broken into Janus’s house repeatedly to replace his soaps and cook him meals. He seemed out of place which was saying something in 2510. He had the air about him that he was an 80-year-old grandpa trying to embrace youth culture, but not quite getting it. He also spoke in an accent that people around him would probably assume was him just not being fluent in Spanish but was actually him not being completely comfortable speaking Spanish from half a century ago.

“Uh…” said Patton looking at the menu, a crease between his eyes.

“I’d suggest the banana and chocolate potato chip smoothie without the potato chips,” Janus said. Patton startled, whipping around to face him in surprise. “That’s what I got, though I would leave out the potato chips.”

Patton’s eyes narrowed on him. It was not, of course, the first time that Patton hadn’t been thrilled to see him, but it was the first time Janus had been happy to see him and he hadn’t been happy to see him in turn. Janus had gotten used to a Patton that liked him and he found himself not quite prepared for the way he pursed his lips in annoyance at the sight of Janus.

“I’ll do the banana and chocolate potato chip smoothie, but with the potato chips,” he said in a way that made it sound like he thought he was getting one up on Janus for some reason.

“What flavor of chips?” the worker asked.

“Er, what flavors do you have?”

“Uh, I think drywall, oak wood, and limestone.”

Janus almost laughed at his expression. “Uh, do you have any naturally edible flavors?” he asked.

“We might have grass.”

Patton squinted as the worker bent to look under the cabinet. “Oh, wait, no, it’s glass. Is that alright?”

“…Maybe just no on the chips.”

Janus did his best to school his features, so it wasn’t obvious he was laughing at him. He didn’t think he did a very good job considering Patton was glaring at him after turning around. That or he was just already pissed at Janus by default. It could go either way honestly.

“So,” Janus said when the worker turned away to start making Patton’s drink. “What are you doing here.”

“It’s none of your business,” Patton said with narrowed eyes.

“I mean, we could both be here for the same reason,” Janus pointed out. “We could share intel.”

“I doubt we’re here for the same reason.”

“How would you know?” asked Janus.

Patton just looked away from him. He immediately looked confused at the movie poster his eyes landed on.

“Unless,” Janus said curiously, you aren’t here for a reason, reason.” Patton said nothing. “It was a pretty small disturbance, so it would make sense that your equipment might not pick up on it.” At least at this point. “Acting the tourist, Pat?”

“I’m just doing research,” Patton said, crossing his arms.

“Research?” Janus asked.

“I’ve never been here before,” Patton admitted. “I wanted to get a feel for it and other places just in case there ever was an issue.”

“You just did France, didn’t you?” Janus asked.

Patton frowned and Janus smiled slightly. “It was recent,” he admitted.

“Well,” Janus said. “If you want some advice. I’d start with figuring out accents when you’re in different times.”

“I don’t need your advice,” Patton said and then smugly, “Janus.”

It took a bit for Janus to scan back through his memories and remember that Patton hadn’t known Janus’s name in France. He would have only figured it out after his friend Lo hacked into Silver Mountains University’s system and figured out Virgil had an appointment with him. Janus raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that, Patton?”

He frowned, pouting like whenever Janus told him he wasn’t allowed to try to catch a bird and make it their pet. It was strange to meet a version of Patton who had not lived in a hole in the ground with him for months when Janus had already done that. Patton was on the back foot for once throughout this conversation. Every time before this, he’d managed to somehow twist it around even when he’d been younger than he was right now. When Janus had arrested him at the University, he’d managed to figure out his equipment wouldn’t be stopped by the TPI’s despite having no idea what the TPI was.

In France, even when Janus had thought he’d been winning by taking his phone, he ended up getting access to a University in Janus’s time with information on the TPI, a situation that still had not been resolved.

Today, however, Janus knew far more about Patton than Patton expected. He still didn’t know exactly what his agency or whatever it should actually be called did, but he knew some things about it. He knew Patton was from the 21st century which explained the anachronisms in his speech in different times.

“You could help me look if you’d like,” Janus offered casually.

“Why?” Patton asked suspiciously.

Janus shrugged. It was not because he missed him, he insisted to himself. It wasn’t because after spending so much time with him, not getting to talk with him all day was strange. It had nothing to do with the fact that the few times he’d ran into a farther along version of Patton since he’d moved back home, their interactions had been brief and tinged with something. No, the only reason Janus was inviting him along was so he could teach this younger version a few things, so he hopefully didn’t go about messing up time. “We worked well together in France, didn’t we?” he asked. “Besides, it’s just a small mission without much danger to the timeline.”

“Pat,” the person at the counter called. Patton turned to him to go grab his smoothie, thanking the worker before turning back around and walking over to Janus.

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll help, but you have to answer my questions.”

“I’ll answer the questions that won’t endanger any timelines or secrets of my agency.”

Patton considered it for a moment, taking a sip of his drink. “Fine,” he agreed.

“Good,” Janus replied. “We’ll start by looking around the coffee shop for anything unusual. Did you have any questions now. It’d look more natural to be walking around if we were having a conversation.”

“Does the glitter in your hair have to do with the style of the time or…?”

Janus sighed.

#not writing #study break stories

17 notes · View notes