#either remus or janus are always the demon

[robertdownerjunior]

listen, I love 'adorable sweetheart x a literal demon' as much as the next guy but we have to appreciate the trope that is 'a literal demon x an absolute piece of shit human'

[staledirt87]

What if Human!Au

Janus is the father of Virgil and Remus

Patton is the father of Logan and Roman

Logan and Roman are both adopted, as is Remus but Virgil is the bio son of Janus and unnamed ex. The foster house Roman and Remus were in refused to advertise them as siblings as Remus was a "problem child" and Roman was a "golden boy" so Patton and Janus had no idea they were seperating twins.

A lot more under the cut:

There's always music playing in Janus' house, every day he comes home and puts on a jazz or classical record on the old record player he got from an antique store. On relaxed days Janus will come home, put on a record, and read on his armchair with Virgil listening to the music on his lap and Remus drawing at his feet.

Patton makes sure there's always fresh pastries in the Hart household. There's never a limit to how much they can eat as long as they eat an actual meal along with it. Logan always offers to do the measurements and Roman doesn't let anyone else do the mixing. It's a good day when there's flour everywhere, at least one egg got dropped by Roman, and there's warm cookies on the cooling rack.

Logan talks and talks to Roman who writes and writes about what he's told and they excitedly present their work to Patton who is always chest-bursting proud no matter what. Roman and Logan only ever fight when they play together and Roman's ideas are too fanciful for Logan and Logan's ideas are too boring for Roman. Only Patton can settle those arguments by either distracting them with something else or saying "actually, that can work if you do this!"

Virgil is really reserved around Remus at first, clinging to Janus' leg whenever he was near, but then Remus showed him his drawings of monsters and demons and Virgil pointed out a spider and then they were best friends. One day Janus gets called to the school because Remus punched a kid because they were bullying Virgil for crying over a spider and Janus makes this big act of being disappointed and saying "I'll make sure he learns his lesson" for the principal when really he takes them both out for ice cream afterwards.

Janus takes Virgil out record shopping as he refines his music taste, buying him whatever records he wants. As a birthday present Janus and Remus buy and paint a record player for Virgil's room. Whenever Remus runs out of paint or pencils Janus takes him to all the art stores he can and buys like a year's worth of supplies. The best gift he ever got wasn't even for a special occasion, on a whim Virgil composed a playlist for one of Remus' smaller sketchbooks and Janus payed someone to press a vinyl of it with the cover art being the cover of the sketchbook. They have movie nights on an old projector of classic slasher films.

Patton makes days of things. Roman wants to see a play? They're going to the mall afterwards and maybe even going to the aquarium. Logan wants to see the meteor shower that night? They're watching documentaries about deep space objects and meteorites all day until it's time to star gaze. Unlike in the Lis household where the main love language is quality time the Harts excell in gift giving and acts of service. Logan got the box set for all of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works and a poster of the observable universe on a random Tuesday and Saint Patrick's Day respectively. Roman comes home one day to see all of his scripts edited in eraseable ink and his favorite sweets on the kitchen table. Patton never gets tired of telling them stories at night, taking suggestions from both kids and expertly weaving a tale of magic and science and evolutionary pathways of dragons until both are asleep.

The kids meet in high school and Roman and Remus immediately have a bond. They don't recognize eachother as brothers yet but there's something there that they both feel. They write comics together and commonly argue about the plot and designs, but their relationship never really falters. Virgil attaches himself to Remus' side and because of that meets Logan. Their bond strikes much slower than the twins' but eventually Logan becomes the #1 person Virgil goes to when he's having a panic attack or anxious about something: whether it's talking him through excersices or just being present Virgil always thanks him with a song recommendation or a sneak peak of a song he's writing.

Janus comes home from work (defense attorney) to Remus' embellished tales of the four's escapades and Virgil listening to music, somehow hearing and correcting every time Remus tries to make Virgil look stupid. Occasionally they'll vent about a teacher that took away Remus' figdet toy because it was "distracting" or forced Virgil to present in front of the class. On those days Janus will make them their favorite foods and put on the special jazz record he only ever uses when it's been a tiring day or one of the kids had a nightmare. Janus doesn't hesitate when Virgil is having a bad anxiety day or Remus can't get gory explicit images out of his head to call them out of school with a forged doctor's note.

Patton works at an elementary school so Roman and Logan walk there after school and do homework in his classroom until school lets out. After Patton is able to leave Roman starts telling them an equally embellished story of the day with Logan's occasional correction when it starts getting too outlandish. On bad days where the students were rowdy and Roman got his notebook taken away for writing in class and Logan got picked on for taking slang literally they'll go home and bake whatever they have the ingredients for.

As the friendship goes on they start spending more and more time with eachother outside of school, Remus and Virgil taking the time that Janus is still at work to join Roman and Logan at the elementary school or the Hart kids visiting the Lis house to chill and listen to music. Janus and Patton never officially meet until it's 3 am and they're in the police station because the twins convinced the other two to jump a fence and Remus' sleeve got caught in the barbed wire and their combined yelling alerted someone walking their dog.

They get to talking more after that and notice some similarities in the twins when they were younger. While Remus used to talk about his "brother at the foster home" Roman would mumble in his sleep about "how unfair it is the knight has to save the dragon." Janus does some digging and finds out the truth. They discuss how best to tell them before eventually deciding on a conversation over a laid-back dinner.

It doesn't stay a laid-back dinner, as soon as they sit down Virgil immediately realizes something is up, which means Logan and Remus realize, which means Roman also knows. Logan asks what's wrong and Virgil just points to Janus: "the snake is gonna tell us something." Janus looks impressed and him and Patton tell them what they found out. Roman and Remus freak out and are split between being pissed they didn't realize before or ecstatic at finally reuniting.

[greenleopard49]

Nintendo Dark Sides Theory

Throughout the Sanders Sides series each dark side except for Virgil has been associated with a Nintendo villain.

In one of the Sanders Sides blooper videos, Remus is referred to as "evil Luigi".

Which Nintendo villain's name is literally the combination of the words "Waru" meaning evil and "Luigi"? Waluigi of course and he has a striking resemblance to Remus as well.

Next up, Janus. In Selfishness v. Selflessness Redux, Janus gets associated with Bowser in Roman's explanation on why you do good deeds.

Now if we were to go by this and speculate which Nintendo villain Orange side would align with, let's start by who Orange side isn't. While there is a lot of speculation that Logan is Orange side, let's look at the evidence.Since Logan already fulfills the role of c! Thomas's Logical side and possess c! Thomas educational knowledge, it wouldn't make sense to also make him the Orange side as well.Each of c! Thomas's light sides has a dark side counterpart.

Also, Logan doesn't seem to be able to control his outbursts. The first being in the episode "Learning New things about Ourselves" where he threw a crumpled up note card at Roman's eye due Roman calling what Logan said stupid. Also, in the episode "Working Through Intrusive Thoughts" he yelled at Remus for ignoring him and his eyes glowed for a second. Notice that after both instances he seemed bewildered by the experience, as if something came over him. Or maybe someone?

I believe that Logan is being influenced by the Orange side, like a puppet with strings. We have an example of a Nintendo villain who has a habit of using puppets to attack their opponent. This Nintendo villain is Ganondorf. More specifically Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess's Ganondorf.

He was able to capture Zelda and use her body as a puppet. Even giving her the title "Ganon's Puppet: Zelda".

I find it interesting that Zelda and Logan possess similar qualities Wisdom and Logic. I also find it interesting that they both were controlled by beings that possess Power and Hatred.

Now, you might be asking;"Hatred? Ganondorf possesses the Triforce of Power and that doesn't correlate to Hatred." And you would be right reader, however Ganondorf is an incarnation of the original demon in the Zelda series, Demise. When Demise was defeated he enacted a curse upon the Hero and Zelda to constantly have an incarnation of his "Hatred" rise to destroy their descendants till the end of time.

So reader, I propose that Orange side will behave more closely to Demise/Ganondorf and he is currently trying to use Logan as his puppet, with his connection to Logan being his Hatred expressed through Logan's anger.

Until Logan is able face the fact that he does have emotions, Orange side will always have a tool at his disposal to use against either the other sides or c! Thomas himself.

[creativia10]

First Halloween with the Ghost Boyfriend

Virgil is excited for Halloween. He is hoping to spend a good one in his new relationship that includes ghost roommate Logan.

Relationships: romantic Analogical, romantic LAMP, background Dukeceit

Wordcount: 1517

Warnings: I'm not sure if this is mcd for a ghost fic, Logan is dead (this is pretty much fluff though)

Notes: Tuliptober Prompt 30-Oneshots continued

Recursive of Halloween Ghost au. Where the relationships are reversed with who is dating a ghost. Yes I know for the series this is a recursive of, this is a sequel. I plan to write recursive of the first ghost fic, that one is just longer than this one. I think the Halloween fluff can still be appreciated though. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Based on @tulipscomeinallsortsofcolors Ghost au

Virgil loved Halloween. Anyone who knew him knew this. It was the holiday he expressed the most enthusiasm for. Remus was a fan of Halloween as well. Although his interest seemed to lie more with the gruesome elements.

Virgil wasn’t sure how Logan would react to Halloween though.

“Hey, Virgil,” said Remus, “We’re short on candy again.”

Virgil restrained a laugh. “Logan!”

Logan popped into existence next to Virgil. Logan cleared his throat and straightened himself as though to maintain some dignity. As though they couldn’t see the evidence of his candy consumption on his face. Not to mention his pockets bulging with squirreled-away wrappers.

“I bought you your own bag, you know,” Virgil said. Okay, he was definitely failing to hide his amusement.

Logan huffed. “I ran out.” He crossed his arms. “And, I haven’t eaten sweets in centuries. Surely it makes sense I’d be curious about the consumption again. I’ve gone so long without anything like it. I think I’m allowed.”

“Are you pulling the ‘I’m dead’ card, to get away with away with stuff, now?” Virgil asked.

Logan scoffed. “Get away with? I am not a child. I don’t need to ‘get away’ with anything. It’s perfectly fine.”

And with that, he stepped forward and looped his arms around Virgil’s neck.

Virgil sighed. “You can’t always get your way just by being my super sexy boyfriend, either.”

Logan smirked at that and hmmed. “We’ll see.”

Remus snickered and shook his head. “Alright. Can I get some help assembling this skele spook?”

It was a small animatronic skeleton. Virgil went over to Remus and helped him untangle the wire guts from Remus’s fingers. Then they made an effort to carry it onto the porch. Before they could though, Logan sighed and flicked his fingers to set the Skele floating.

Janus came out to join them as he did. Janus huffed and gave Logan a look.

“You can’t just levitate the skeleton decoration, Logan.”

“Why not?”

Janus put his hands on his hips. “Why do you think?” He gestured to the way the skeleton appeared to be floating.

“It’s Halloween,” said Logan. He flicked his hands again to drop the thing into Remus’s arms. “People will assume it’s part of a performance.”

Janus just looked at Logan for a moment.

“Logan, it’s a floating skeleton. In broad daylight, with no visible possibilities for rigging, and no audience. Does that sound believable as a mere magic trick?”

Logan hmphed and grumbled something.

Janus claimed he tagged along with Remus for Halloween to reign his boyfriend in from anything too chaotic. But Virgil was pretty sure Janus was just as into the spooky holiday. Janus had a flair for the dramatic, of course he would love a holiday where he could dress up extravagantly.

They all got into their costumes as it got closer to evening time. Remus was a zombie, of course. Very fitting for his style. Virgil and Janus had fought before over who would get to dress as a vampire, as they didn’t want to both be vampires. Virgil had ended up relenting, letting Janus be the vampire this year. Virgil dressed as a purple color schemed demon. He thought this was just as cool anyways. Logan flickered and shifted into his most dated outfit. He let himself have a faint silver sheen that was passable as pearlescent makeup.

Remus shook his head. “That’s almost cheating, you know, to go as a ghost.”

Logan merely shrugged. “I don’t feel inclined to put in any more effort for a frivolous holiday. I’m not sure I could do much else anyways.”

Not that they had really tried.

Logan had been a bit unclear on how he felt about the spooky holiday. He seemed to maintain some level of enjoyment in Virgil’s excitement at least. Yet he didn’t say whether he liked the holiday himself.

Janus rolled his eyes. “Whatever. We should head downstairs. There’ll be trick-or-treaters coming to the door soon.”

Remus snickered, “Don’t get too distracted by sucking face!”

Logan and Virgil both sputtered as the other couple headed down and left them. Virgil flipped the bird at the other couple, a bit delayed. Logan covered his mouth to laugh a little. Then he cleared his throat and shuffled a bit.

“Your, uh, costume looks very nice dear.”

Virgil smiled at him. “Thanks.” He put his hands on Logan’s shoulders.

“In a sexy way?”

Logan’s eyes widened and he stuttered. “Uh, well, is that what you were going for? Uh, I mean,”

Virgil laughed a little and shook his head. “It’s fine, L. I want to look good for my boyfriend.”

Logan smiled at him, and they both leaned forward for a kiss.

They heard a dramatic gasp behind them. Virgil turned to give Roman an amused smile.

“You are starting kissing without me!” Roman dramatically proclaimed, wearing his Phantom of the Opera getup. Virgil rolled his eyes.

“It wasn’t intentional. Didn’t know how long your highness would take to get ready anyways.”

Roman scoffed. “I’m not a prince this year!”

“For once,” Virgil mumbled with a smirk. Roman flicked Virgil in retaliation. “Just for that, Logan gets my kisses first.”

“Wha-hey, I’m not saying anything untrue.”

Logan was laughing when Roman went in for a kiss. Roman sighed but he was smiling.

“I suppose that will do for now.”

Patton joined them, in his great pumpkin costume, giggling.

“Alright,” Logan said, “Let’s get down already. Kids could be waiting, and I want to be ready to impress them for Virgil’s sake.”

Never mind nobody had actually asked Logan to do that. Although Virgil had his own suspicions about Logan’s motives. He was looking forward to seeing Logan in action though. As soon as Virgil finished getting his costume together, Logan vanished.

“Come on now!”

Virgil heard Logan’s voice halfway down the stairs to the living room.

“I’m coming, I’m coming Lo! Relax!” Virgil laughed as he hurried to keep up with him. He was ready to get the satisfaction of winning the bet against Roman. On how much Logan was actually into  Halloween. Roman had doubted it.

The first sign, to Virgil, had been after they had watched Monster house together. Logan hadn’t expressed a clear opinion on it. But Virgil had caught Logan trying to imitate the tricks he saw the house doing for two weeks. Logan claimed it was more of a scientific curiosity. If you could even call using ghost powers as scientific in any way. When the doorbell rang for the first time of the night, Logan flickered and appeared across the room. He lifted the bowl and answered the door. Virgil saw that grin though.

“Trick-or-treat!” A bunch of kids chimed. Virgil and Remus settled in behind Logan. (There was only so much space in front of the doorway after all.) Now they would get to see Logan’s show.

Logan held out the bowl. As the children reached for the bowl, a chill filled the air around them. Virgil shivered. Cloudy breaths puffed out from the children in front of them. The house groaned ominously. The lighting grew darker suddenly. All this added to a more menacing atmosphere.

The children gasped and chattered excitedly amongst themselves.

“Nice surround sound!” One of the older ones said, who was in some sort of elf costume. Virgil bit his lips, but a small hum of a laugh still seeped out. No one seemed to pay it any mind though.

“What are you, Mister?” said a little mermaid.

“I’m a ghost,” Logan said. His lips twitched into a smile as his eyes twinkled. “I died in this very house.”

“Cool!” said a Frankenstein’s monster. Janus barely managed to pull Remus away, into the kitchen, before Remus howled with laughter. The children grabbed big handfuls of candy. Logan snuck another one into his mouth before he shut the door.

“Wow,” Virgil drawled. But he was smiling. Logan shrugged with a smirk.

“I mean, it’s true. It’s nice to be able to say so without people thinking I’m insane.”

Remus returned, still with tears in his eyes from the laughter. Janus followed him with an exasperated look.

They took turns with who stood by the door and who got to spook the kids. Although notably, Logan always added something to the general spooky effect. They also alternated between refilling the candy and stealing from said candy bowl. As it got darker trick-or-treaters trickled in less. So they switched to scarier Halloween movies. The quaple took up the couch. Janus and Remus squeezed into a nearby armchair. Many of them were nodding off later in the night.

“Good Halloween?” Virgil asked Logan softly with a peck to the cheek. Logan hmmed and leaned into Virgil.

“Rather so. Excellent even. I enjoyed myself.”

Virgil grinned.

“We can go more all out next year though,” Logan said.

“…Is that for my sake?” Virgil asked.

Logan shrugged.

“This house is actually haunted. We should totally own this neighborhood on the spookiness.”

Virgil giggled and turned the volume down. He wondered whether he should wake Roman to get his bet winnings.

[asksuccubussides]

(Hi, me again. Sorry I don’t think it went through the first time. These are directed at anyone.)

I’d like to hear about 3, 12, 16, 17, 21, 23, 24, 34, 35 and 40.

Sketch

3. Who had the gum selling empire in middle school?

As a response Janus did a coy little gayass pose while Virgil rolled his eyes.

"Not only did this asshole" Virgil knocked his hand against Jan's shoulder "Do that weird gum selling scheme in middle school, he had me drawing fake copies of pokemon cards!"

"And I had the most wonderful idea for a pseudo assaination service where I would 'accidentally' trip people up at the most embarassing moments during gym class...for a steep price of course. But Someone stopped those plans"

He eyed Virgil who just rolled his eyes again.

"You'll poke your eyes out with those rolls one day"

12. Who would have sex in a church?

"It's actually on my bucket list" Janus replied.

"Not in a church, though I am maybe open for a graveyard smash. If Mary Shelley can do it, so can I" Virgil added.

-

"A church is just a house right?" Remus looked around at his friends who nodded "So I would do arson in there, just like with any other house"

"Churches are usually quite empty and easy to open so it is a very oppurtune place for quickies" Emile explained with the tone of someone experienced.

"Lots of places to lay around on too really like goood" Remy agreed. Emile scrunched his nose at them to which they bonked their face against theirs "Except for on Sundays"

"Indeed, Churches are always weirdly full on Sundays. Not sure why"

"Guys c'mon, do i have to explain religion to you all again?" Roman sighed "It¨s the thing the humans think demons are involved with for some reason. There was this dude named God and all that?"

"Ooooh right that that yes"

16. Who would be best at drag?

"Humans have assumed I'm in drag both when they've seen me as a woman and man so I think I have to stand this question aside else I'd be the Very incredible obvious winner!" Roman humbly said.

"I think you'd like totally be great as like a 60's chick femme lesbian" Remy said while moving their arm around Emile.

"Aww and you'd be so good as a Britney impersonator"

"I could piss blood on stage" Remus butted in.

Roman interrupted with "Nevermind. I do deserve to win this one! I would be the best at drag at any time! Whether it's the middle ages, the roman times or now! I win!"

21. Who would teach their kid how to steal?

"Stealing is an important part of life in this capitalistic system. Not only would I teach my hypothetical kid how to steal I would also teach them to pretend like they didn't see anything if they do caught someone trying to steal" Janus said while Virgil shuttered at just the thought of kids.

-

"I would never teach my child to steal!" Roman exclaimed "I would however teach them the arts of plundering and scaveing! There's a difference I promise!"

Remus furrowed his eyebrows "...Can we like....Have kids?....???"

"Not the question girlie" Remy replied. "If we could likee procreate the earth would have a totally serious population problem by now"

"I'm not sure because no one from the downer lows have let me do an autpsy yet" Emile muttered while his lvoer patted them on the back.

"Well you two nut in each other all the time" Remus squinted while pointing at Emile and Remy "Either of you ever felt pregge-"

"Remus like go chew on your toes for a minute will you"

23. Who would try to eat fire?

"Me! I've done that!" "This bitch of an idiot already tries that! On a regular basis!" Remus and Roman said at same time.

24. Who goes to a haunted place only to start yelling at the ghosts to try to challenge them?

Emile, Remy and Roman all turned to look at Remus "Me! Again! Me! I would win in a fist fight against a ghost! I just know it!!"

34. Who’s been accused of murder?

"Me! Hey I got it thrice in a row! Do I get a prize?"

"Well I was accused of being the axemurderer of New Orleans once back in the 1910's" Emile said in a dead serious tone.

"Oh riggghhhttt, yeah when you were like beefing with Sigmund" Remy added "....Freud"

"Not to be confused with Sigmund Ruuf who I also had a few disagreements with, though in the 1920's"

35. Who bites shoulders?

"A classic first move. Humans like go wild when you bite their shoulder" Remy replied.

"You never bite my shoulder" Their lover said in return.

"That's cause I know what you like. I just use the shoulder bite as a wild card to get humans horned up"

"I bite shoulder too" Remus leaned over and bit into his brother's shoulder.

Roman smacked him on the head "Stop eating me!!"

40. Who sobbed so hard for so long that they fell asleep on the bathroom floor?

Remy, Remus and Emile all glanced over to Roman who did an overly dramatic gasp before holding her hand to her forehead while blinking innocently.

"Me?? Crying on the bathroom floor?? Why would you my trusted legoin accuse me of such things! I am a brave knight who Does not sob on the bathroom floor!"

"Girlie you don't piss. The whole squadron knows why you spend so much time in the bathroom!"

Roman huffed and puffed "I just...spend a lot of time...meticously powdering my nose...." He lied.

[stillebesat]

Code: Blanket (part 2)

Sanders Sides: Logan, Remus, Virgil, Janus, Patton Fic Type: Hurt/Comfort Prompt: “If you don’t know where to go, you can always come here.” with Anxceit? (platonic is 100% good for me) Blurb: A friendship doesn’t stop just because one person decides to act like a dick. Especially when said dick is obviously in trouble. Overall Fic Warnings: Homophobia talk, Neglectful/Abusive Parents implication, Capitol Riot references, Injuries Taglist in Reblog

Part 1

“Your son is sneaking out.”

If the weight of his husband settling on top of him in the bed hadn’t been enough to fully wake Logan from sleep, the gleeful tone of Remus’s voice in his ear and the words he spoke were certainly enough to do so.

He tilted his head to the side, squinting up at his husband’s shadowy figure looming over him, ignoring how his heart had jumped into his throat, leaving an aching cavity in his chest. “If our son is sneaking out after dark, Sir Night Owl.” He said, working to sound calmer than he actually felt. “Then that’s obviously your influence at work and your problem.”

Remus gave a low chuckle, kissing his cheek. “Lion Kinging me, Messire Early Bird? Fair enough. I accept.” He shifted to roll off the bed, only to pause as Logan grabbed his hand.

“Virgil’s never snuck out before.” He whispered, flinching as he heard the front door close. Why would his son feel the need to do--sure teenagers were known to be rebellious, but he’d been clear that Virgil could talk to him about anything, anytime. To have him just suddenly leave without a word to them, without any indication that anything was wrong--

Remus squeezed his hand. “I heard him say ‘The offer still stands, D.’ as he walked by our door, sooo~ secret relationship?”

Logan pushed up onto one elbow, breath catching. “You heard him say Dee?” He demanded. “You’re certain?” He hadn’t known the two were still in communication. The end of their lifelong friendship last year had been...volatile. Virgil had been miserable for months afterwards.

“Yes?” His husband tilted his head. “You know them?”

Logan nodded, rolling over so he could grab his glasses from the night stand. “So do you. It’s Janus. Son of the Daemons.”

Remus stiffened, hissing like a broken teapot. “What offer could Virgiepoo possibly make to that horrible family of--”

“They were childhood friends.” Logan interrupted his husband before he went off on yet another long winded swearing spree about the Daemons. “Janus didn’t always approve of his parents...antics.”

Remus snorted, pulling Logan to his feet. “Antics? Those Ultra Christian Karens on Manbaby Cheeto Horse Steroids nearly cost both of us our jobs because they couldn’t stand the thought of their son knowing two gay men.”

Logan smirked, shrugging on a robe, placing his phone in the pocket just in case Virgil called. “And how did that turn out? With them facing the best lawyer in the country?”

Remus leaned in for a kiss. “Not good.” He breathed against his lips.

“Exactly.”

“Soo…” Still clad in only his boxers, Remus entwined his fingers in Logan’s, pulling him out of their bedroom towards the front door. “Son of our Enemy. Virgil sneaking out in the middle of the night to see him. What exactly is this offer that he’s offering to the Villains who aimed to destroy our happily ever after?”

An offer that Logan had believed had been firmly taken off the table over a year ago. “Simply put. Sanctuary.”

Which begged the question. What had happened in the Daemon household to convince Virgil to offer their home, after everything the two families had gone through, to their son once more?

“Sanctuary.” Remus repeated like it was a foreign word. “To one of their spawn? Are you serious?”

Knowing how much of a giving and forgiving heart his son had? Logan pulled open the front door, unsurprised to see the two teens standing frozen on the porch.

He had good timing like that.

“Boys.” Logan greeted, attention drawn immediately to Janus as he tried to hide behind his son only to be stopped by Virgil’s tight grip on his arm.

Janus swallowed, a tremor visibly going through him as met Logan’s eyes. “Mr. L.” He whispered, the porchlight throwing his face, and therefore, the stark purple bruise and cuts by his eye into sharp relief.

Sanctuary. He could now totally understand why Virgil had chosen to reach out.

The crumpled state of the boy’s clothes, the mask -an unusual accessory for the known anti-masker, anti-vaxxer family- the greasy hair, all of the obvious signs of neglect, Logan mentally catalogued as he immediately reached out, drawing the boy closer to him. “Janus.” He breathed, hating how the boy flinched at his movement, how he trembled under his touch even as he leaned into Logan’s hand as he cupped the boy’s uninjured cheek. “What happened?”

“Well, I hope what’s happening is that we’re kidnapping the demon spawn for ranso--” Remus cut off, inhaling sharply as he too caught sight of the facial disfigurement. “Lo, lemme see that.” He demanded, gently pushing him to the side so he could take the boy’s chin into his hands, tilting his head this way and that in the porch light.

Virgil relaxed, even as Janus visibly tensed, trembling under Remus’s scrutiny.

For good reason. The young Daemon had to feel like he was stepping into the Lion’s den by coming here.

“It’s okay, Dee. Remus is a surgeon. The best. You’re in safe hands.” Virgil said softly, keeping a firm grip on his friend’s arm as the boy shifted his feet like he was debating about turning tail and running.

Something he’d never thought Janus would do. The boy took after his parents in being willing to face confrontation head on, no matter the odds.

Something definitely was wrong here.

“What happened?” Logan repeated, unable to hide the concern in his voice.

Janus’s eyes flickered between him and Remus, breath hitching as he opened his mouth. “I--I--”

Remus growled, eyes flashing as he turned to Logan, gesturing wildly with his free hand. “What happened?! He’s lucky the wound isn’t infected, Lo! It’s obvious it’s been untreated. Obvious that he’s been neglected, mistreated, abused!”

Janus flinched at every word. “Yes.” The word ghosted over his lips, barely heard.

Virgil shook his head, eyes burning with quiet fury. “It’s worse.” He slipped his phone out of his pocket, tapping on the screen and flipping it so Logan could see the tweet there. “His parents locked him in their unfinished attic for FOUR months, Dad. And then they left him to go harring off to D.C. to storm the Capitol!”

They…WHAT?!

Logan saw red as Remus swore, his husband pulling Janus into a tight hug, the boy letting out a startled squeak at the action. “I changed my mind, Lo. We’re not kidnapping him, we’re adopting. Surprise, my little rebel. You’re mine now.”

Janus’s eyes went wide, shimmering with unshed tears as he stood stiffly in Remus’s grip, fingers twitching. “Y-yours?” He whispered, in such a small voice that had Logan wrapping an arm around the boy’s shoulders as well. “I--I--but I’m---I’m--”

There’d been a time he’d considered Janus almost like a second son with how often he and Virgil had hung out at their house as kids. Logan wasn’t at all opposed to rediscovering that sentimeint.

“It doesn’t matter.” He whispered in the boy’s ear. “You have a home here, Janus, for as long as you need one.”

The boy shuddered in their hold, breath hitching as he bowed his head, not quite resting it against Remus’s bare chest. “I--I tried to---I couldn’t get out! I tried everything to bre--to break free and then they just….left me. Their SON. They--” He broke off as Remus pulled him closer, a soft sob escaping as his husband carded his fingers through the boy’s hair.

“It’s okay, Janny-boy.” Remus whispered. “You did what you could with what you had.”

Janus shook his head. “I--i should have---sooner. I couldn’t--I didn’t think they’d actually!! My own parents.”

Virgil pressed in on the group hug, gently freeing the face mask from the boy’s ear. “Dee. You couldn’t have known.”

“I SHOULD have though!” He growled, twisting his head to stare at Virgil, cheeks streaked with tears. “We’ve been friends for years, Annie! I KNOW you and Mr. L. and...and…but when things,” His eyes flickered to Remus and back. “Changed. The pandemic and everything---I didn’t...I sided with them and thought they had to be RIGHT this time, but then things...stuff happened and THEY LOCKED ME UP and treated me like I was A NUT CASE when I--I--” His voice dropped to a near whisper. “They wouldn’t listen to me.”

Logan exhaled, squeezing the boy’s shoulder as he met his husband’s furious eyes. “I’m sorry, Janus.” He said, keeping his tone soft. “Your parents have had their...good...qualities at times,”

Remus snorted, but kept silent as Logan shot him another look.

“And I know...they’ve only tried to protect you from their perceived evils in the world, but Janus.” He shifted his position so he could cradle the boy’s injured cheek. “What they did to you was wrong. So very wrong.” And bound to be worse when the whole story was told. “It’s monstrous that they chose to treat their own flesh and blood in such an abhorrent and inhumane manner just because you disagreed with them and I will not stand for it. You deserve better and you will be treated much better here than you have been there. I promise you that.”

Janus abruptly twisted in Remus’s arms to cling to Logan, resting his head against Logan’s chest, fingers digging into the folds of his robe, his thin body shaking with sobs. “Don’t make me go back.” He whispered.

Logan shook his head, pressing a firm kiss against the boy’s greasy hair. “Never.”

“I won’t let him.” Remus added, a growl in his voice. “I’ve adopted you, Jan. My word is law. No take backsies.”

Janus looked between the three of them, before focusing on Remus, licking his lips. “But. You...don’t know me--”

“You don’t know me either, kiddo. But no worries. We’ll fix all that.” His husband winked as he gathered both Virgil and Janus under each arm, letting Logan take a careful step back. “But FIRST.” He pointed a finger at the boy’s eye. “I’m getting you clean and stitched up while Logie here makes a little call to his Work Wife to figure things out. With luck, and I am rather lucky, there’ll barely be a scar when I’m done.”

Janus stiffened, glancing over his shoulder to Logan. “Work Wife?!”

Virgil chuckled, twisting Janus’s mask in his fingers. “Not an actual wife, Dee. Dad has a fellow lawyer friend.”

“Rival.” Logan corrected.

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Rival that he constantly works with, so Rem calls him his work wife since he’s usually either with him or us.”

That wasn’t exactly true. He did go to other places and work with other people that weren’t Patton or his family. It just so happened that Patton ended up involved in a lot of the same sort of cases as him and so collaboration made more sense than going it alone.

Logan pulled out his phone, scrolling through his contacts. “Needless to say. I’ll take care of it, Janus. You can trust me on that.” He smiled to the teen before turning his attention to his son. “Virgil, send me a copy of that tweet as soon as you can. And Remus,” He grimaced as his husband paused, raising an eyebrow. He could see him practically vibrating with the need to stitch the kid up now. “I know you want to treat Janus ASAP, but I need photographic evidence of every single injury and sign of neglect before you do anything.” An unfortunate delay, but he needed the evidence recorded before it vanished. He hit call, placing his phone by his ear. “As soon as you’re done--”

“It’s straight to the shower, JanJan. Or a long hot bubble bath. Either way.” Remus said, ushering the teens towards the door. “We need you to get squeaky clean while Lo here does his thing, and then I can treat those wounds of yours without them getting infected. Okay?”

“I--I---uh...Okay?” Janus asked, sounding half strangled as they vanished inside.

The phone clicked. “Hello?” A sleepy voice asked over the line.

Hopefully Virgil could smooth over any further confusion for Janus until Logan could come back and reign Remus back from going full Mama Bear on the boy. “Hello, Patton.” He said, leaning against the wall, listening as the crickets began chirping again. “It’s Logan.”

“Lo?” He could hear his fellow lawyer and work rival stifling a yawn. “Wassup?”

“My apologies for calling so late, but I need your help with a case. Right now. If you’re able.”

The silence on the other hand wasn’t at all encouraging. But then again. It was late.

“...My help? With a case? Now?”

“Yes.” He’d already said that. Hopefully Patton’s brain would kick into a higher gear sooner rather than later or else this conversation would be lasting ten times longer than necessary. “You remember the Daemons?”

“Mmm….yah? Your fight with them had you fired up for ages with all their nonsense.”

“Exactly.” Logan exhaled. “Their son, Janus, just showed up at my house in an obvious state of neglect. Injured. Possibly abused. More than implied that it was his parents who put him in his current state. And I am, unfortunately, too visibly involved with the Daemons in a negative light to be considered an adequate impartial representative for him, especially if I house him in my home for the duration.”

Patton made a noise of surprise. “House him?”

“Virgil was--is a friend of his and he offered him sanctuary here when he discovered that Janus was in trouble. I’m not refusing him a safe place.”

“Safe? You just said--”

Logan closed his eyes, resting his head against the side of his house. “I know. I’m not on good terms with his parents.” They could go rot in a tar pit for all he cared about them. “But I’ve known the boy since he was six, Patton. He’s been to my house multiple times before. Been friends with my son. I won’t hold a grudge against the child for the actions of his parents.”

“Ha. I doubt his parents would appr--”

“His so-called parents Locked. Him. In. Their. Attic. For. FOUR. Months.” Logan interrupted, unable to hide the fury in his voice.

Patton sharply inhaled. “They WHAT?”

Exactly. It was good to hear his work rival taking the same tone. Patton had a soft spot for kids. “They locked him up and then abandoned him, Pat. I don’t know the exact circumstances just yet on why they felt that this was justifiable behavior, but no child should be treated like a prisoner by their family and no so-called parent’s opinion on where or who their son stays with should hold any weight if they’ve failed to provide decent care for their child in the first place!” Logan took a breath, forcing himself to relax his fingers on his phone before he cracked the screen. “Regardless, if the boy wishes to go elsewhere I won’t fight it. But he needed a safe place to go to and he chose to come here. That has to mean something considering the history between our two families.”

“It--I’d have to look into it.” Patton whispered. “This isn’t--the circumstances--”

“Are abnormal. I understand.” Logan nodded, staring off into the night. “Will you come?”

Patton huffed a laugh. “It’s not every day--ah night--you say you need me, Lo.”

That was true. They were more often rivals in the courtroom than collaborators these days. But still, he wouldn’t want any other lawyer to represent the boy if he couldn’t do it himself. “I need you, Pat.”

The sound of keys jangled in his ear. “Be right there.” Patton promised as the line went dead.

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Melted Mask

awitchbravestheverge prompt: I don't know if you're still taking prompts but you are a master of hurt/comfort and would sell you my soul for some of that for Janus. Maybe where he's feeling insecure or like he's worn out his welcome post acceptance, or maybe a little touch starved, or both. Preferably with Virgil or Patton as the comforter, but if not thats ok. I just have a never-ending need for fic where people are soft and gentle with the snake boy, and I love everything you write with my whole heart

Thanks for the request, babe!

Read on Ao3

Pairings: DLAMPR, focus on anxceit and moceit, can be platonic or romantic you decide I don’t mind

Warnings: uhhh sympathetic deceit and remus

Word Count: 4804

 “How many masks of your own face are you currently wearing?”

 “At least four.”

Between the gloves, the cape, and the hat, there’s not an awful lot of Janus that is seen most of the time. Not that he particularly minds. There is a certain benefit that layers upon layers of clothing provides. One, they’re perfect for concealing his cane—the others always look so surprised when he summons it from nowhere. Two, he is Dark Side, thanks to Roman’s fantastic naming system. There is an aesthetic standard that must be met. What was he going to do, show up in some ratted old hoodie?

 Three, well—there is an awful lot to look at. If the others are focused on the clasps at his throat, the shock of the yellow gloves, the logo hidden under the black fabric, they’re not looking at him.

 If they were, they’d see his scales.

 He is the only side with a visible animal trait, after all. The scales cover the left side of his face, down beneath his collar. He doesn’t mind the stares—come on, it’s so easy to catch them off guard, how could he?—but sometimes he does wonder if they’ll ever get used to it.

  To him.

 The scales are a reminder. That he’s different. That he’s not like them. He’s not like the others, he doesn’t look like Thomas, at least not to the extent that they do. Thomas doesn’t have golden scales along the side of his face. Thomas doesn’t have a mouth that curves up along his cheek. Thomas doesn’t have a slit-eye pupil. No, no, Thomas is normal.

 How dreadful.

 Then, of course, there are the lies.

 ‘Deceit.’ Such a funny word. And so…polarizing.

 ‘Deceitful,’ ‘dishonest,’ ‘dastardly’—lot of ‘d’s, here, hmm?—all of the words that just mean he’s a liar. And lying must be bad, right? So it follows logically then, because we simply adore logic in this house, that he must be bad.

 He’s not to be trusted, he’s a liar. He’s not honest, he’s a liar. They have to double and triple-check everything he says because he’s a liar.

 They always conveniently seem to forget that you can always trust a dishonest person to be dishonest. It’s the truthful ones you have to watch out for.

 Janus knows he’s a liar. Frankly, he’s quite proud of it. He’s gotten very good at it too; twisting the words together just right in order to tug slightly at a heartstring there, block off just a little rationality there, get the job done. The others always get caught up in his words, too busy focusing on the minutia of it, the details, leaving him free to step around them and speak to Thomas.

 They see the gloves, they see the scales, they see the lies.

 They see the masks.

 Oh, sometimes he’ll put on a little bit more of a show if he needs to make a point, if the normal masks aren’t quite enough to get Thomas to listen. He’ll tie a hoodie around his shoulders, push a pair of glasses up his nose, knot a tie around his neck. Problem is…those ones are a little easier to see through. No matter how hard he tries, all of his disguises end up being a self-portrait.

 Which is how he ended up here.

 “You know the rules,” Patton says, his hands on his hips, “no impersonating others outside of filming!”

 Janus rolls his eyes and idly flicks a speck of dirt off one of his gloves. “Oh, please. You don’t want me to do it during filming either.”

 “No, I don’t, but we made a compromise, kiddo, now we both have to stick to it.”

 Janus raises an eyebrow. “Yes, I’m sure the others will be relieved to hear so.”

 “What have we said about impersonations?”

 He sighs. “The others may be idiots—“

 “Oi!”

 “—but idiots are also deserving of respect,” Janus finishes, glancing at Virgil draped over the back of the couch. “And I would never dream of being anything less than perfectly respectful.”

 Virgil snorts. “What do you even get out of it anyway?” He sits up a little straighter. “Wait, you haven’t been tricking Roman into telling you how to impersonate us better, have you?”

 “Now why would I do that?”

 “Janus!”

 “What? Like you don’t make a habit of going to the others for advice.”

 “There’s a difference between openly asking for it and tricking them into giving it to you.”

 Janus levels a stare at him. “I suppose there is, isn’t there?”

 “Hey!” Patton steps between them. “That’s enough.”

 “Oh, well—“ Janus makes a show of resettling his cape—“if you say so.”

 Patton sighs. “Janus, we are trying, okay? You heard Thomas, you’re…well, you’re more welcome now.”

 “And you’re doing a marvelous job of that.”

 Patton doesn’t quite deflate, but it’s close. “Well, maybe we could all try a little harder.” He gives Janus a pointed look.

 “Yes, I’m sure my efforts will be richly rewarded.”

 “Well, you could start by showing up as yourself more often.”

 “Myself?” Janus gasps theatrically, putting a gloved hand to his scales. “Who’s that?”

 “Dude,” Virgil sniggers—Virgil did always appreciate his sense of humor—“how many masks of your own face are you currently wearing”

 “At least four.”

 Patton lets him go with another verbal slap on the wrist and Virgil flips him off. Janus sinks out, striding down the hallway near his room. It’s quieter here. The walls hum a little less. He can think.

 He hadn’t gone to Roman to gets tips on his acting. He’d gone because Roman doesn’t want to talk to Janus.

 Janus, the liar. Janus, the manipulator. Janus, the Dark Side.

 Janus shuts the door of his room and instinctively slumps, the cape hanging off his shoulders. He knows Patton means well, and Virgil’s…Virgil, but sometimes it stings a little more than it should. Not that the others will ever see it.

 He’ll never forget the look on Thomas’s face when Logan said he was the side that acts with the one priority of self-preservation. Of how it instantly demonized the idea of protecting yourself. Of Thomas keeping himself safe.

 He looks at his hands, sees the gloves. They still don’t fit quite right, even after all these years. He can’t get the seams to run down the sides of the fingers, not curve around to the front or the back. It really shouldn’t be this difficult. Especially considering how much use he’s gotten out of them.

 Lying kept Thomas alive. It kept him safe. He helped keep Thomas safe. When Virgil couldn’t breathe, when Logan faltered, when Patton froze, Janus would quietly make his way over to Roman and whisper a suggestion. Just a suggestion. To lie. To keep Thomas safe. To get them out of here. And it saved them. So many times.

 Janus walks over to the mirror. It’s a fairly modest thing; about the size of a small sink, oval, large enough so he can see himself completely if he takes a few steps back. He ignores his own face and reaches for the golden latch on the side. He turns it.

 The cabinet swings open to reveal a dark velvet interior with several small podiums. Each has a thin mask laid atop it. They gleam in the low light of the room. Janus reaches out and carefully makes sure each is perfectly centered. As he does so, his gloves linger on the fine print beneath the podiums.

 Everyone has masks. Versions of themselves to present to the world when they need to. A mask that keeps you safe, a mask that keeps you alive, a mask that has the courage to speak when you don’t. The mask they wear around their homophobic relatives, the mask they wear when they need to make a phone call, the mask they wear when they need to pretend they’re something they’re not.

 Janus is very, very good at making masks.

 He never wears these. These are for Thomas. When Thomas needs help, Janus slips one of these out of the cabinet and sets it on the desk in front of the mirror. He looks at it, then at the mirror, and works. These masks are what helps Thomas.

 He shuts the cabinet with a decisive click, suddenly confronted with his own face.

Janus is so good at making masks that he doesn’t even need a mask to wear one.

 A mask because you’re the bad guy. A mask because you can never be trusted. A mask because when you try to be vulnerable they won’t listen. A mask because they don’t want you, they want the character that you embody to survive.

 He pities the others sometimes. They don’t have these masks and they hurt. They can’t distance themselves, pull away just a little more, embody a role so that when it’s over, when they’re safe again, they can take it off and breathe. But they don’t. So they just get hurt. Over and over and over.

 Janus’s lips involuntarily curl up into a snarl. The hand on the mirror closes into a fist.

 They’re not supposed to get hurt. That’s not how this is supposed to work.

 He’s not supposed to hurt them.

 Part of him argues that he has to. If he keeps working the way he’s been working he can get right to Thomas, who is who needs the most protection. If he tries to do it their way they risk Thomas getting hurt and Janus won’t have that.

 Part of him whispers that this is good for them. If he can make them a little tougher, help them get thicker skin, they’ll be safer. And then it won’t matter if they hate him. They’ll be safe. That’s all he cares about.

 The rest of him—

 …well, the rest of him is currently the reason he’s having trouble looking in the mirror right now.

 The problem with wearing so many masks is that it becomes harder and harder to figure what’s the mask and what’s not. And he’s gotten so good at making them that now…now he doesn’t have to think about it.

 A mask for when Logan asks to debate about philosophy. A mask for when Remus wants him to help him and Roman make something new. A mask for when Patton wants to bake. A mask for when Virgil comes to him for help.

 A mask for all of them. A mask for none of them.

 Janus doesn’t want to wear the masks all the time. He wants them to be warm, to care, to smile when he comes into the room, or even ask where he is. He wants to laugh as Patton smears batter all over his nose accidentally. He wants to listen to Logan ramble about some new advancement in quantum gravity. He wants Virgil to come plop down next to him while everyone else is in the living room. He wants Remus to stay with him while they watch the others get into ridiculous fights over board games. He wants Roman to not be afraid to come talk to him.

 He wants.

 Janus is selfish.

 But he isn’t stupid.

 He knows they don’t want him. He knows they don’t want him, even without the masks. Deep down, he knows they don’t need him either.

 But Thomas does.

 So here Janus will stay, in the dark, in the cold, wearing too many masks of his own face to keep count.

—————————————————————

The Mindscape is cold. It never quite feels solid. Drafts blow in and out of the walls, through the little gaps in the floor, from places that Janus can’t find, no matter how many times he looks for them. He bundles himself up in his cloak and his hat and does his best to hold still, sink in as much warmth as he can. He sneaks up behind the others, pressing himself up near them, purring in their ears, just to snatch their body heat. They always shove him away with flustered protests and blushy little faces. They’re so adorable.

 Plus, he knows that’s all he’s ever really going to get from them.

 But he’s cold, goddamnit. Why do they keep the air conditioning so high in this house? Snakes are cold-blooded. They get slow. Lethargic. Hypothermic, if it gets very bad.

 Janus can’t afford to be slow.

 So he wears his gloves, his cape, his hat. He stands opposite the window so he can get the most sunlight. He finds the patches of warmth where none of the others will find him and he can curl up for the warmth he needs...

 …and fine, maybe it’s a little more than just being cold.

 The others are…touchy. Patton throws his arm around just about everyone. Bumps his hip against theirs. Pats their shoulders, squeezes their hands, kisses their cheeks. Roman sweeps people into his arms, pulls them in for hugs, keeps an arm around their waists for as long as he’s allowed. Remus can and will just tackle whoever he wants. Logan holds himself a little further away, but even he’ll lay a comforting hand on someone’s arm. Janus will admit he was shocked when Virgil started exhibiting spider characteristics. That Side is a cat and you will not convince him otherwise. And everyone knows if a cat falls asleep on you, you’re not allowed to move until it wakes up.

 Not that Virgil has fallen asleep on him recently.

 Janus is not too proud to admit that at first, he didn’t want their touches. He had a job to do, he didn’t need to be distracted. But now…now he does.

 He sees the way they move around each other and it stings. The accidental brushes he gets from standing too close or when they aren’t thinking about it sear through layers and layers of clothing to burn into his skin. When he stays close to them—close, but not too close—his whole side begins to tingle, reaching for them, their warmth, for them. But now it’s too late. His mask is already firmly in place and they know Deceit hates being touched.

 That’s another reason for the layers. For the gloves.

 Janus knows that if they ever touch him directly, skin to skin, his mask will shatter. And that is too dangerous to risk. With his gloves, his cape, his hat, his masks, the only way that would happen is if one of them tried to touch his face.

 And that is certainly very likely indeed.

 The clothes give him a barrier. A last line of defense. No touch is better than unexpected touch.

 But that doesn’t stop him from being cold.

 He can tell it’s going to happen when he can’t quite close his fingers around the end of his staff in the middle of their conversation. His gloves don’t catch on the wood quite right and he has to fumble to grab it properly. He glances up. No one’s looking at him.

  Are they ever?

 He tucks his hands smoothly out of sight, frantically burrowing them into his cloak to see if they’ll warm up. He locks his knees. No good. His fingers start to hurt as he flexes them. They’re still not moving faster. It’s cold.

 He glances at the clock. Two minutes. He can last two minutes. Or so he thinks, until his jaw starts to clench. He clenches it harder, ignoring the protest from his neck, his shoulders, trying to make it stop. He takes a deep slow breath and tries to relax, to stop his muscles from tensing. It works, barely.

 One minute.

 His hands aren’t responding properly. He can barely move his fingers. He just needs to get out of here. If he gets out of here he can get warm. He has his electric blanket, he has everything he needs. He just needs to leave.

 Thirty seconds.

 The conversation draws to a close and Janus nods deeply, tossing one last barb over his shoulder as he sinks out, only to collapse in the hallway as soon as he does. A draft flows out right next to his shoulder, freezing fingers dancing up his arm, along the back of his neck, diving into his collar to snatch more of his warmth. He curses, heaves himself to his feet, and makes it to his room. It’s so cold.

 Something tugs in his chest. No, no—!

 “I suppose there must be a good reason for summoning me back,” Janus drawls, snapping his gloves right back into place as he appears in the living room.

 Patton and Virgil stare back at him. Patton fidgets with his hands. “W-well, we, uh, I had a question for you.”

 Damn. “Well.” Janus spreads his arms, trying to play off how slow he’s moving for dramatic effect. “I’m here. Ask away.”

 “I, uh, a few days ago you mentioned that you didn’t feel as welcome here.” Patton looks at him with such an expression of sincerity that it makes Janus’s tongue itch. “And I wanted to know what I could do to help.”

 “Aren’t you sweet?”

 Patton won’t be deterred, it seems. He stares at Janus, resolute as ever. It’s so cold in here he’s going to start slurring in a moment.

 “Janus?”

 “That is my name, yes.”

 “Are you…are you feeling alright?”

 Janus gestures to himself, movements growing slower by the second. “I’m right here, aren’t I?”

 Slow. Too slow.

 Patton frowns. He gives him a look. “You don’t seem like you normally are, are you sure?”

 “I am entirely in one piece.”

 “That doesn’t answer my question.”

 “Honey, if you’re looking for a straight answer, I’m afraid you’re looking in the wrong place.”

 Virgil moves. Right, Virgil was here too. Janus is slow. Too slow. He can’t move. He can’t get away. His mask forms a bored expression on his face, quirking an eyebrow. Virgil approaches him and holds out a hand. A cold part of Janus’s chest leaps.

 The lips of the mask part. “And what exactly do you intend to do with that?”

 “This,” Virgil mutters, and cups the side of Janus’s face.

 Everything stops.

 Distantly, he feels Virgil’s hand leave his face. Hears something about being too cold. Sees a blur of blue rush away. But all he can focus on is—

  Warm. Virgil touched you. Warm. Warm. So warm. Keep the mask on. Don’t let the mask slip. Warm. If the mask slips everything will be ruined. Warm. Don’t you remember how to take the mask off? Virgil. Patton. Warm.

 “Janus? Janus!”

 Janus blinks. Virgil is still standing in front of him. There’s a little wrinkle between his brows. The mask is frozen in place, iced into a neutral expression.

 “Hey,” Virgil says quietly, “you’re freezing, bud. You gotta get warm.”

 Janus can’t speak. The mask is so cold.

 “You remember what happens when you get too cold,” Virgil continues, taking a step closer. Janus can’t move. Virgil’s frown deepens and he tilts his head. “What’s going on, Janus, you don’t normally let it get this bad.”

  Yes, Virgil, we’re aware.

 “You could’ve asked, dude,” Virgil says, taking another step closer, a little exasperation mingling with the concern, “any of us.”

 The mask smirks. Barely. “Yes, because I’m sure everyone would be so willing to cuddle me so I could steal their body heat.”

 “You don’t know that.” The mask doesn’t move. Virgil glances over his shoulder. When he speaks next, his voice is lowered to a whisper.

 “You don’t have to keep that on right now, Jan,” he says quietly, “it’s okay. It’s just me. I know you. You can…you know. Emote and stuff.”

 Janus huffs a laugh. It’s weak. 

 “You ever wear a mask so long you forget how to take it off?”

 Vigil pauses. “Huh?”

 “Ever pretended to be something for so long you forget which is real and which isn’t?” Janus’s smile turns sad. “Made yourself believe it too?”

 Virgil’s eyes close for a second. When he opens them, the concern in his gaze takes the last of the warm breath from Janus’s lungs. “Does this have anything to do with…?” He waves in Janus’s direction.

 Janus nods, slowly, so slowly. “I can’t. Because I’ve been…I’ve been trained out of it. I built my masks to hide behind. And now I can’t take them off.”

 “And we haven’t been good about helping you do that, huh.” He sounds so tired. He’s been through so much…

 “I’m…”

 The mask won’t let him apologize.

  Like they would ever accept it.

 “No, no,” Virgil says, “don’t apologize. You aren’t to blame for what you’ve been put through.”

  Oh, Virgil…

 Virgil glances over his shoulder. Then he shakes his head. “Just…look, go.”

 “What?”

 “I know this isn’t the time to talk about stuff. You’re not in any sort of shape to do that and Patton will understand. Go get warm.” He gives Janus a pointed look. “You take care of yourself first, okay?”

 He tries. He goes back to his room and buries himself in blankets, in pillows, in more layers than he can stand. The pressure is good but it’s still so cold. The weight of the electric blanket is nothing compared to the warmth of Virgil’s hand. Everything in here smells sterile, clinical, detached. It’s all so cold.

  You take care of yourself.

 The last sentence rings through his head late at night. He wants. But everyone’s probably asleep by now, and god knows they need to sleep. Surely it’ll be alright if he just goes to the living room? That’s not too far, right?

 There’s a fire going in the fireplace—since when did they have a fireplace? And there’s someone sitting on the couch. Hmm. Maybe if…if he’s quiet, if he doesn’t make too much noise, he can slip in and soak up some of the warmth. 

 Virgil turns around.

 “Hey, Janus,” he murmurs, standing, and comes over to him. “Can’t sleep?”

 Janus shakes his head. It’s warm in here, but he’s still cold. Virgil can see that, apparently.

 “Here,” he says, handing him a cup of tea that appeared out of thin air, “drink. It’ll warm you up.”

 Janus takes it cautiously. Isn’t it Virgil’s? There’s no way Virgil would’ve know Janus was coming…right?

 “This is my third one, figure I should let you catch up first.”

 He gestures to the couch, an encouraging smile on his lips.

 “Sit. C’mon”

 Janus does, sinking into the plush couch and cradling the warm mug in his hands. The couch groans as Virgil sits next to him. He can feel Virgil just out of reach, just there…

 “I like watching the fire,” comes a low voice from next to him as he sips the tea. “Helps me think. Or stop thinking.”

 He keeps talking in that low voice and the warm tea flows through Janus, sapping the cold slowly away from his body.

 Distantly, he feels someone steering him down onto the couch, and heavy arms around him.

 “Or maybe you just need a cuddle. Go to sleep, Janus.”

—————————————————————

 “ — stop twitching, Remus! You’ll make a mistake!”

 “Stop tugging his arm all over the place and then you won’t.”

 “Will you two pipe the fuck down? You’re gonna wake him up.”

 “Says the loudmouth!”

 “Roman, stop it.”

 “Stop moving his arm!”

 What is…? He’s lying on something. It’s warm, really warm. It smells like…coffee, makeup, and…cinnamon? He shifts slightly, and oh he slept on his neck wrong. A low groan escapes his throat.

 His pillow stiffens. “Shit. He’s awake.”

 “Good going, Remus.”

 “You were the one yelling!”

 “Shut the fuck up, both of you.” The chest underneath him vibrates. “Shh, snake-face, go back to sleep. You’re alright. Go back to sleep.”

 Janus shifts again, trying to look around, but he’s held down by another strong arm. A hand cards itself through his hair—where’s his hat? “Shh, be still, buddy, you’re okay. Can’t we get you back to sleep?”

 “What…’s going on?” His tongue feels heavy, swelling up in his mouth.

 “I believe the chances of getting him back to sleep will increase if you tell him what you’re doing.”

 It’s…Logan? He appears, fuzzy but definitely there, over the back of the couch. Janus tries to turn to make it easier to see him but his right arm is pinned and he can’t move—

 “Easy, J, easy, shh, shh, you’re okay, you’re safe, just keep your arm nice and still, okay?” Virgil, it’s Virgil he’s lying on, runs his hand through his hair again. “I’m pretty sure Roman would pitch a fit.”

 “Hah.” Roman snorts from somewhere close to the ground. “If this got ruined, yours would be too.”

 “If you hadn’t insisted on going last,” Remus says, “this wouldn’t’ve been an issue.”

 And then he feels it. Something is drawn sharply across his right wrist.

 “Shh, shh, Janus, breathe, breathe, you’re okay, damnit, Princey, stop! You’re making him freak out!”

 It’s gone, the contact is gone. His arm is still hanging over the edge of the couch but it’s held there by Virgil’s arm and another hand.

 “Hey there, Snakey.” Remus appears over Virgil’s shoulder. “You’re okay. We’re just making sure you’re okay.”

 Roman snorts. “There’s something wrong with how you phrased that.”

 Then suddenly Patton appears out of nowhere and doesn’t surprise him at all. Luckily, or unluckily, Janus is far too exhausted and disoriented to react more than rucking up the fabric of Virgil’s hoodie a little. Patton looks at the couch.

 “There isn’t room, Pop-star,” Virgil says, lazily stretching so his bulk takes up all of it, moving slow enough so Janus isn’t jostled too much. Then Virgil yelps and their lower bodies are lifted and he can feel the couch sag under another body.

 “What the hell, Pat.”

 “Now there’s room.” Patton reaches up and ruffles Virgil’s hair.

 There are so many people and it’s warm but why are they all here? Did he miss something? Does he need to leave?

 “Looks good,” Patton says, interrupting his train of thought, “it’s coming along well.”

 Logan clears his throat. “Would someone like to inform Janus about what exactly ‘this’ is?”

 “Oh, right, sorry, Snakey,” Remus says, crouching back down, “let’s show you.”

 Virgil turns over slowly, lifting his arm and using the leverage to shift Janus onto his chest. “Jeez, Janus, you’re light. Patton, have we been feeding him enough?”

 “I suspect there’s been a lack of communication, kiddo.”

 “Now is not the time to yell at him, Patton,” Logan says quietly.

 “I’m not yelling! But yes, now is not the time.”

 Virgil coaxes his head to one side, and Roman lifts his arm by the back of his hand.

 Janus’s mouth drops open.

 There are little animals drawn on his right arm, from his wrist to his elbow. There’s a navy cat, simple and clean, near the vein. A light blue frog with little glasses. A purple and black spider. A green octopus with large black tentacles. And an unfinished red dragon right near his wrist.

 “If I could finish,” Roman asks softly.

 “Alright, calm down, here.” Remus lowers his arm and holds it steady. Roman puts the brush back to his arm and starts painting again. Virgil and Remus start arguing about something, probably, but he can’t focus on anything besides the soft bristles of the brush on his arm, the rumble of Virgil’s chest, and the warmth of the weight on his legs.

 Logan stands behind his head. “You don’t need to wear a mask here, Janus,” he says softly, “not unless you want to.”

 No one else hears him except for Patton. He gives Janus’s leg a squeeze.

 It’s warm. It’s so warm.

 He wants to watch as Roman paints the dragon but he’s tired but he doesn’t want to sleep yet…not just yet.

 Patton reaches towards his face. His finger lands on his forehead and drags gently down the bridge of his nose.

 What…?

 Oh.

 As he follows his touch, Janus’s eyes drift closed.

 It’s so warm.

 And a warm hand on his cheek wipes the last of the mask away.

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[iclaimedtobethebetterbard]

popcorn & pronouns

Fandom: Sanders Sides Characters: Janus, Remus, Roman Rating: Teen & up Relationships: Dukeceit, Creativitwins  Warnings: Not much to warn for in this one. Language, a little bit of suggestiveness, vague non-detailed descriptions of a horror movie.  Word count: 3402

Read on AO3!

My writing masterpost

Starlight Universe masterpost

Dukeceit Week 2021 start - previous - here - next - masterpost

Summary: A movie night date leads to an important conversation. Already being t4t makes it a lot easier. Or, in Remus's own words, “This is just, like, going to be a week of people coming out to me, I guess. Huh.”

Notes: Day 6 of Dukeceit Week 2021! Almost there! @dukeceitweek Takes place in my Starlight Universe, where each piece can be read without any context. Takes place 9 months after college; at the start of the story, Janus uses only they/them pronouns. 

-- 

“Ooh, popcorn! Can I have some?” Roman popped his head into the kitchen of the apartment he, Remus, and Logan had shared in the nine or so months since they had all graduated college.

“No, Jan and I are having a date in twenty minutes,” Remus said, waving Roman off without looking away from the air popper.

“Okay, I don’t see how that’s relevant to my question.” Roman pushed himself to sit on the counter by the sink. “I mean, that’s really cute, I hope you have fun. But can I have some popcorn?”

Remus rolled his eyes. “Make your own when I’m done.”

“But you make it better!” Roman pouted overdramatically.

Remus raised an eyebrow. “All I do is plug in the machine?”

“Right, which is better than me doing it.” Roman grinned at them. “Less work for me.”

“Hey!” Remus swatted his arm. “The transphobia, honestly—”

“Well, if you making it for me is transphobic to you, then you not making it for me is—” Roman broke off quite suddenly, his expression undergoing several shifts very fast that Remus could not make sense of. Which was… unusual, to say the least. Roman was normally the one person they could always count on understanding. They didn’t like this new development one bit.

“Ro?”

“Iiiiiit’s… queerphobic to me,” Roman said at last, a worried pinch to his eyebrows. He laughed, and it almost didn’t sound forced. “So we’re at a tie, so you should just make me popcorn.”

“First of all, I’m queer too, make your own damn popcorn. Second—” Remus turned away from the popcorn machine and gave Roman his full attention, leaning back against the kitchen island and tilting his head to the side. “Do you wanna talk about whatever the fuck that was?” So far as Remus knew, Roman was bi; that was the label he’d been using for years and years, so long that it practically felt like forever. Since almost the very beginning of high school. Since before Remus had questioned their gender, even. Only last week, he’d called the light switch biphobic without hesitation when it broke.

Whatever had happened to make him so very deliberately not call himself bi just now, it was new.

Roman’s expression closed up very fast indeed, but not before Remus caught a flash of something he was almost certain was fear. “No.”

“You know it’s okay to question, right?” Remus inquired awkwardly. “No matter what specifically, and no matter what the outcome is? Yeah?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You know I’d still love you no matter what, right? Even if you were, like, a straight man—like, I would make so many jokes about not agreeing with your lifestyle, but—Ro, you know everything is always gonna be okay, right?”

Roman glared at him. “Remus, I don’t want to talk about it.” He wrinkled his nose. “And I’m definitely not straight.”

Remus blinked and raised their hands. “Alright. I didn’t mean literally straight, I just meant—you could be literally whatever, and it would be cool. That was—like—the most extreme example I could think of, you know?”

Roman let out a slight huff of laughter. “Thanks,” he said reluctantly after a pause. “It’s nothing, though.”

“Bullshit,” Remus said immediately.

“It—” Roman swallowed. “I need it to be nothing, okay?”

“If anyone’s making you feel shitty, I’ll beat them up,” Remus said immediately. “Even if it’s Patton. Just drop the names. I’ll do it. I’ll—”

“Remus, it’s fine. I want to stop fucking talking about it now!” Roman snapped.

Remus hesitated, fumbling for what to do or say next, everything about the conversation feeling just a little wrong and sideways.

Roman sighed. “Sorry.” He pushed off the counter, went to the fridge, and stared into it for a solid thirty seconds, then took a cheese stick out of the door. “I’ll make my own popcorn later,” he mumbled and retreated back to his room.

“Damn, alright,” Remus said to the empty room. “Be like that, I guess.” They flung their hands into the air and went to get the butter they’d been melting in the microwave before Roman’s appearance.

Roman would talk to them about it, whatever it was, eventually. He always did. And whatever was bugging him, Remus would figure out a way to bug it back until it stopped and Roman was all happy and bubbly again. Because that was what Remus always did. It would be fine. It was just a waiting game.

Remus sighed. He always hated waiting.

***

“Mmkay,” Remus said, when Janus had arrived, and they had worked together to move the TV out of the living room and into Remus’s room, and they had settled in on Remus’s bed—Remus sitting up against the headboard and Janus half-laying in Remus’s lap with their long thin legs stretched out along the bed and their head on his chest—and the popcorn had been set beside them where they could both reach it, and the blanket nest had been fluffed once more. “What shall we watch?”

Janus was silent for a long moment. Actually, come to think of it, they had been quiet since they’d arrived at the apartment—even more quiet than usual. But Remus was almost certain they weren’t nonverbal, seeing as they had exchanged a few fond words with him. It just hadn’t been very many words.

“Janny, baby?” Remus leaned forward, over their shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of their face.

Janus had their fingers knotted in the blanket that was spread over their lap, fidgeting with it anxiously, a thinking-hard expression on their face.

“Baby?” Remus curled one hand lightly around theirs. “You good?”

“Choices are too hard right now,” Janus said at last.

“Okay, that’s okay. Do you know what you need?”

“I want to watch a movie.” Janus frowned. “I just can’t choose.”

“Gotcha. No problem.” Remus pressed a kiss to their cheek. “I’m really good at choosing.” He threaded his fingers through Janus’s long hair, scratching soothingly at their scalp in just the way he knew they liked, and pulled up the library of movies, switching from Roman’s profile to his own.

“How’s some really cheesy horrible horror film we can make fun of sound?” he asked, scrolling with the remote and still playing with Janus’s hair with his other hand. “I know we have a bunch of those, I loved ’em when we were kids and I think they’re funny.”

“That sounds fine.” Janus nodded and relaxed a little further against Remus.

“Good.” He kissed the top of their head. “Do you need anything else?”

Janus shook their head. “I’ve just been kind of stressed lately. Work’s been shit, and all that. It’s fine. I just want to cuddle and things.”

“Ooh, ‘and things,’ I like the sound of that,” Remus teased, sliding his hand gently to their chin and drawing them to twist around far enough that he could kiss them soft and slow.

“I didn’t say what kinds of things,” Janus said innocently, their eyes still closed and so close to Remus that their lips brushed against his as they spoke. “Perhaps I could be persuaded later.”

“I’ll be sure to prepare my best arguments,” Remus said, leaning slightly up to kiss their forehead and then back down to their lips for another lazy kiss, taking his time and exploring Janus’s mouth until they sighed and melted against him.

“A compelling preview,” they murmured, their eyes still closed and the slightest smile curling at their lips.

Remus meant to make some kind of witty quip in return, really he did, but all that came out of his mouth was a quiet, awed, “Holy fuck, you’re so beautiful, Jan.”

Janus’s eyes opened and met his for a moment, soft and vulnerable, before they turned and hid their face in his neck. “Love you,” they whispered against his skin.

“Mm, I love you too,” Remus said happily, wrapping his arms securely around Janus and kissing the top of their head. “Love your pretty eyes and skin and hair and body, love how clever you are, love your scary goth clothes, love your snark, love your stims, love you—”

Janus whined wordlessly into his neck, pressing kisses to it and fisting their hands in the front of his shirt.

Remus chuckled, taking a handful of their hair and gently tugging until they looked up at him once more. “Do you want to watch a movie at all, or do you just wanna make out? Cause I’d be good with either, but if you wanna do a movie, we should get on that before we’re too distracted.”

“Oh.” Janus leaned their head back a little until it was resting against Remus’s hand. “Not that I don’t want to make out, but—”

“Nah, I gotcha. Gotta at least get through the popcorn, am I right?” Remus cast about for the remote, lost in the blanket pile, as Janus shifted about until they faced the television again.

“There it is!” Remus snatched the remote up, clicking through the library on the television until he saw the particular film he was thinking of and pulled it up. “This look good?”

“‘When moving into their new house, little do our protagonists know it is haunted by a demonic serial killer. Will they get out in time? Or will they be his next victims?’” Janus read the summary aloud. “Sounds absolutely thrilling. Extremely original. Love the bad Photoshop on the cover. I’m sure the acting will be of the highest quality.”

“Oh, yeah, it’s so shitty, I love it. So many cheesy effects and fake blood, it’s the actual stupidest shit,” Remus assured them. “I love it, though. Went as the demon thing for Halloween when I was nine. Nobody fucking knew what I was, but I had the time of my life. And got fake blood on Roman when he wasn’t looking. It was great.”

Janus chuckled, reaching up to brush their fingertips against Remus’s cheek. “Well, with such a glowing review from someone so attractive, how can I resist?” they said fondly.

“That’s the spirit!” Remus hit play.

Remus had watched this particular movie more times than they could count over the course of their childhood. He peppered commentary throughout the film:

“This is my favorite part, if you pay attention you can see her real fingertips holding onto the fake hand she’s about to get chopped off!”

“There’s a jumpscare in this scene, I know you hate those—okay, hit the skip-ten-seconds button in three, two, there. Perfect. Dumbass demon movie can’t even trust itself to be creepy without cheap scares.”

“Look, I know the mom is supposed to have some kind of hot blonde thing going on for the horny straight men in the audience, but she’s got nothing on you.”

“For some reason they made a director’s commentary and it actually includes the fake blood recipe they used, I’ll show you sometime!”

Janus, in turn, provided brilliant, extremely snarky roasts, mostly of either the actors’ absolute lack of skill or the gaping plot holes:

“Oh, yes, going alone to the attic at midnight without so much as a candle is a fantastic idea, nothing bad could possibly happen in this scene.”

“Listen, I can excuse the children because they’re about eight years old, but do you think this man has ever even heard of acting? Or even, like, speaking in a non-monotone?”

“I am truly fascinated by the special effects department’s understanding of human anatomy.”

“So, the demon feeds on misery? Why hasn’t it taken up residence in a large office building? I mean, come on, hundreds of souls in an environment designed to grind out constant levels of misery? It’s perfect. The poor thing must be starving out here in the two-point-five-kids-and-a-dog suburbs, every meal it gets is tiny. I would be so much better at its job than it is.”

At last the credits rolled.

“Wanna see pictures of the costume I made?” Remus asked.

“Sure.” Janus sounded amused.

“Lemme just—” Remus scrolled through their camera roll for a minute. “Oh, here they are.” They displayed their phone to Janus; tiny nine-year-old Remus, who sported long tangled brown hair in two ponytails, was draped in a black curtain, donated by his great-aunt, that he had very enthusiastically taken a pair of scissors to to create a tattered effect; the curtain was splattered with bright red goo, and tiny Remus had a pair of plastic knives in his hands, which were blurry in almost every photo because they’d hardly stopped making stabbing motions all evening. To their right, their little sister Gabby, who’d been six at the time, was dressed as Elastigirl and making a punching motion; to their right, Roman—who had already been a full three inches taller than Remus, even at nine—was wearing a Belle dress with a poofy skirt and a sword strapped around his waist and a huge smile that was missing one front tooth.

Remus swiped through the photos; a delightful scene unfolded, as tiny Remus posed for a few pictures, then in one was blurrily turning towards Roman, then dumping something on him, then Roman was screaming and Remus was laughing as red goo dripped down the poofy yellow skirt; Gabby watched with both hands clapped over her mouth, eyes huge.

“You two really have not changed at all, have you?” Janus asked, stifling laughter.

“Absolutely not,” Remus agreed with an answering laugh. “I think the most that either of us ever changed was when I chopped off all that hair and dyed it green.”

“When was that?” Janus asked.

“Sophomore year of high school. I did not have permission to chop it all off, but I did get permission to dye it afterwards, so that was pretty sick.”

“And that didn’t go against dress code?” Janus inquired.

“No, actually. Not sure how. But I bet my parents would’ve kicked up a big stink about it if the school tried and made me change it; they were always super big on self expression and shit.” Remus gestured towards the picture, indicating tiny Roman in his princess dress. “We always got to wear whatever we wanted, and shit like that. It was nice. Made gender shit way easier when that became a thing for me, you know?”

“It sounds nice,” Janus said softly. “I’m happy you had that.”

Remus nodded and pressed a kiss to their forehead, reaching for a handful of the popcorn dregs in the bottom of the bowl.

Janus shifted in their arms, rolling over to face Remus and propping themself up on their elbows. “Actually,” they began.

Something on their face told Remus that whatever this new topic of conversation was, it was important. He swallowed the half-chewed popcorn in his mouth. “Yeah, baby?”

“Speaking of gender.” Janus picked at the edge of the blanket.

“I love speaking of that, go on.” Remus tousled Janus’s hair fondly.

Janus took a deep breath, staring at the blanket in their hands. “I want to start using he pronouns again. In addition to my regular ones. Or.” They wrinkled their nose. “My current ones, I guess. So, he/they.”

“That’s great, he/they pronouns are very sexy,” Remus said at once.

Janus laughed, looking up at him at last. “That’s true, you are the sexiest person I know,” he said fondly. A shadow passed over his features. “But,” he went on slowly, chewing on the inside of their lip and picking at the blanket once more.

“Yeah?” Remus encouraged.

“I really don’t like the idea of telling anyone else about that.” Janus grimaced. “I keep worrying I’ll get asked stupid questions about ‘oh, so are you a man again now?’ when—like—no, and I never was one in the first place. So.”

“Oh, that sounds gross,” Remus agreed at once. “I can see why you’d be worried about that.”

Janus nodded. “I just—I don’t want to explain. And I don’t want people to ask questions. And they might. And I just—I don't want any of it. I want to skip to the part where they know and it’s all how I want it to be.”

“That’s reasonable,” Remus agreed. “But, I mean, if they can get me using he/they pronouns and being nonbinary, they had better fucking wrap their minds around the concept of you doing it too. Yeah? Or I’ll make ’em. Violently, if you want.”

Janus snorted. “I appreciate the offer, darling.” They reached up and touched his cheek. “I… don’t know if I want to tell anyone else yet. But I did want to tell you.”

“You got it, cutie.” Remus booped Janus’s nose once. “Just let me know if anything changes. I’ll punch people for you. Anytime. They don’t even have to have done anything. Just point me at them and consider it done.”

Janus did laugh at that, outright, scrunching up his face and burying it in Remus’s chest. “I should not be this into you offering to punch people for me,” he said wryly.

Remus grinned and flipped their hair. “Nah, I think it’s definitely very sexy of me and should absolutely turn you on.”

Janus smacked Remus’s arm. “I did not say that!”

“You implied it.”

“Not… necessarily. That was one possible interpretation—”

“Oh, right, I see, mmhm, very interesting.”

They smacked his arm again. “You’re teasing me.”

“Only a little bit. You’re so pretty when you get all flustered.” Remus bent their head at a somewhat awkward angle to kiss Janus’s lips gently. “Are there any new words you want me to use, by the way?” they asked. “Besides updating pronouns?”

Janus tilted his head to the side, considering. “I think… I still like all the sorts of things you call me already. Pretty, and partner, and—and baby, and so on.”

Remus smirked. “That’s good, I like calling you baby.”

“Oh my god, shut up.” Janus hid their face in their hands.

“Why, baby?” Remus asked innocently.

Janus made a strangled noise, and after a pause carried on. “I do think I wouldn’t mind adding a little bit of… masc terminology? I guess? If that makes sense? Adding that into the mix. Not all the time, and not as much as the things you already call me, but… just a bit would be nice.”

“Gotcha.” Remus nodded. “I can do that. So, like, my baby is very pretty and handsome?”

Janus’s cheeks went bright red in an instant, and he hid his face in Remus’s chest again, letting out a tiny wordless scream. “Yes. That. That—that’s nice,” they managed after a pause, sounding almost entirely composed.

Remus chuckled and ran their fingers through Janus’s hair. “Good to know,” he said teasingly. “I will definitely keep this in mind.”

“Oh my god,” Janus mumbled. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Absolutely, but only in a sexy way of making you happy.” Remus kissed the top of their head. “This is just, like, going to be a week of people coming out to me, I guess,” they mused. “Huh.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, something’s clearly eating at someone else we know, and I think they’re going to tell me about whatever it is within the week. That’s all. It was just funny timing.” Remus kissed the top of Janus’s head again. “So, the movie’s over,” they noted, which, sure, was a blatant and deliberate change of subject, but he felt this was justified, both for avoiding-speculating-about-Roman’s-personal-information purposes and, more importantly, for fun-after-movie-things purposes.

“That it is,” Janus said, a particular innocent tone entering their voice. Excellent, he was of a similar mind to Remus, then.

Remus grinned and drew them up for a kiss. “So, what does the very pretty and handsome and lovely human in my arms want to do now?” he inquired.

Janus made another small, wordless, flustered noise and promptly dragged Remus into another kiss. “You can’t just say things like that!”

“What, about how you’re the loveliest—prettiest—sexiest—” Remus pressed tiny kisses to Janus’s lips with each word, until at last they caught his lips with their own in a proper kiss to shut him up. “Pretty sure I can say it, actually,” Remus murmured against his lips. “Cause it’s true.”

“Oh, like you’re one to talk,” Janus said, sounding very pleased indeed, and kissed them again.

--

Taglist (ask to be added/removed!): @theimprobabledreamersworld @peruviandesertfox

[max-nico]

SanderSides Fic I Never Wrote but You Can Have the Idea

Logan is the only human in a house of mythical creatures who are all trying to hide that they are mythical creatures. He creates a journal where he writes about all the weird shit his friends do. His journal is called "Scientific Research About My Friends Because They Are Truly Enigmas". They all have a crush on him.

Roman is a kitsune. Logan often documents about how hot Roman is all . the . time . Not like constantly sweating? It's just whenever he touches Roman he almost feels like his hand is burning. He's like "why?? Why is this man not sick but always running a fever??" Roman sheds even when he's not in his full kitsune form. Logan is confused because they don't own cats. Patton is allergic. Who is hiding a cat?? Why is Patton not sneezing?? Virgil uses Roman as a personal heater.

Patton is fae (though I know not much about fae). He has a gift with plants and there's a group of people who are just terrified of this man. Logan is confused because Patton is a sweet man who would never hurt a fly. Why do the strangers run?? Patton's room is also covered in plants, they grow so long that they wind around his desk and flow out the window, but these plants aren't meant to grow this big.

(Logan, with a recorder: "Patton how do your plants get this big?!"

Patton: "Homemade fertilizer !!"

Logan, excited for some answers: "What's it made out of?"

Patton, sweating: "Just the normal stuff and... stuff")

Virgil is a ghost who is only corporeal 50% of the time. Logan just thinks he leaves the house a lot. He sometimes catches him sitting on high places he shouldn't be able to reach because What There Is No Logical Way To Get Up There How!? And Virgil is just staring into space (where are his pupils??) Virgil tends to avoid touch and Logan just assumes he doesn't like it. Logan is just ever so slightly afraid of and for Virgil, Virgil thinks this is comedy gold.

Remus is this demon imp thing, nobody is quite sure what he is. He just kinda appears at the house and Logan has stopped questioning it. Logan has also stopped questioning why Remus always wears that weird headband with horns on it. (Hint, its not a headband) Wow Remus You're So Flexible How Did You Learn To Contort Your Body That Way =0 !!! Remus and Virgil are best friends

Janus is the magic guy (necromancer? Witch? Haven't decided) who summoned the the Hell Spawn. Wow Janus it is so cool how you know all those poems in that weird book of yours, says Logan the oblivious. He thinks Janus is a mixologist because that was the logical conclusion, but it does not explain the cauldron in his room. He thinks Janus knows Latin just because and not for any other reason at all. Ah, the scales on your face is a skin disorder and not a curse, because curses don't exist

Logan confides in his friend Thomas, who is a bit younger than Logan, but acts older. Thomas is also a vampire. "You are just cold because that is how you are. You act this way because of trauma that is all. You are just pale because. Man, I've never seen someone like fruit punch this much. You don't like pictures which is okay because I don't either. I've never seen you eat are you okay?" -Logan, the smartest dumbass you'll ever meet

Patton ends up accidentally spilling the secret and they explain it to Logan who takes it as well as expected.

The boys: Surprise, we could kill you and no one could say shit about it. We have covered up crimes and faked our deaths enough to not let anyone think anything is wrong. We could slaughter your whole family and you would never even know.

Logan:

Logan:

Logan: what.

The boys: We Like You So Its Fine.

Logan: what.

Maybe they become boyfriends later or something idk but they are all very protective of their human so maybe I'll write that but I really doubt it

Based off of this post

[ask-fantasy-sanders-sides]

What did Virgil do after we left to check on Logan and Patton? can we see, or can Janus not show us visions where he wasn't present?

Virgil climbs his way up the gargantuan tree as gingerly as he can without damaging it, leaping from shelf-fungus to shelf-fungus. His ability to spider-climb hasn’t been reliable for years now, but that hasn’t left him completely immobile. He enjoys the burn of the extra exercise, even if the precarious height is a little terrifying.

Exhausted from what he would have sworn was a short climb in younger days, Virgil sits on a giant branch far above the manor. The night air is filled with the rustle of leaves and chatter of nocturnal animals and bugs, the breeze cool and heavy with the smells of a fungal forest. Virgil doesn't have the energy to put up his hammock, but he's never minded dozing off in the cradle of a tree.

Virgil shrugs off his pack and rustles through it for the berries he brought with him. His eyes land on one of the minutely-glowing feather-arrows he harvested from Roman, and he frowns to himself.

"Good evening, Grand Commander."

"Empress!” Virgil startles, turning around to see her levitating towards the branch he’s resting on. Virgil silently curses the Hometree for telling on him.

Virgil hops back onto his feet, then bows from the waist and shifts down into a kneel without meeting her eyes, one hand resting lightly on the hilt of the dagger on his leg. A greeting fit for a knight and a Queen.

She tuts, laying a hand on his jaw to pull him back upright, then bowing her head to touch her forehead to his. Familial.

"You insult yourself." She hums in their home language, sounding more disappointed than piteous.

"I'm afraid not," Virgil sighs, still sounding a bit grumpy. "I'm losing my edge. I couldn't even kill a harpy on my own a few firelights ago."

She stifles a laugh, having absolutely no pity for the ex-warrior's pride. Rude.

"You are afflicted, little moth. You will heal." She smiles softly, sitting down next to him.

She turns her face to the moon, baking in it's light for a few indulgent moments. Virgil sits with her in silence, letting the serenity of it wash over him but refusing to relax. When she turns back to Virgil, her expression is more stern.

"To speak of things that do not," she sighs, eyes boring into his own, "These are not your usual companions, sweet shadow."

Virgil nods. He lets the nickname slide in favor of giving her a curious look, wondering what she's trying to get at.

"Mortal years escape me," She elaborates, voice tense with concern, "Have your old companions already met their dusk?"

"No!” Virgil squeaks, his stomach churning with an uncomfortable swill of guilt and embarrassment, “No, they're still alive. We're just separated, for the moment."

She doesn’t immediately answer, and Virgil hopes she isn’t prying into his mind at the moment. He’s out of practice with that sort of conversation, and he's worried his mental strength has been draining with the rest of it. He has no energy to put up a front, and honestly, Virgil doesn't even know how he feels about Remus and Dee right now.

“I think I’ll return to them soon.” Virgil adds just to break the silence. Despite Virgil’s inner uncertainty, it doesn’t taste like a lie.

"Three new companions," Empress Shri'Neerune continues, and Virgil winces preemptively; He should have assumed that was what this conversation was about. He's not exactly excited to have this lecture again.

"...Three new splinters." She frowns at Virgil. Concerned.

"I know." Virgil sighs, running a hand through his hair. He tries to dismiss the thought with a joke, smirking,

"I mean, once it's already split twice, why stop there? Right? It can't really get worse."

"It can." The Empress scolds, "A fractured soul is not something to take so lightly, Commander. Your Mother worries for you."

Virgil closes his eyes lightly, trying not to show his irritation and look too insubordinate. He knows she's only trying to help him, in her own weird way, but he can't help but take it all with a grain of salt.

He'd never been particularly religious, even when pretending to be a zealot was required by law. There are still some customs and rituals that he can't shake, sure, but he doesn't know why everyone worries so much about his "soul." Who cares about his wellbeing in the afterlife if he's already headed to the Demon-Webs? Honestly, the less of him that makes it there, the better.

(I mean, after all he's done, he's just surprised that she thinks he has a soul left to splinter.)

"It is an indescribable loss, feeling a piece of your soul tear away." Shri'Neerune frowns, laying a hand over her heart.

"And they are not easily regrown, if at all."

Virgil looks into her eyes, catching a glimpse of earnest, profound grief hiding behind her graceful porcelain mask. She's told him her story before, but that doesn't make his heart ache any less when he sees his older friend like this.

"I don't intend to tell you who you can and can't bond with; I do want you to be happy," she speaks softly, reaching out to lay that hand over his chest, "But the more you give away, the longer it will take you to heal. The harder it will be to heal at all."

"I don't know if I can." Virgil frowns, laying his hand over hers for a moment. Damn the Faewild and it's honest air.

"Anyone can find peace, Virgil." She smiles, moving her hand to his face. She brushes the backs of her fingers against his cheek,

"With time and with help, anyone can. You are just too hard on yourself."

Virgil snorts, disbelieving. The Empress chuckles at him and stands, lightly brushing off her dress.

"Setting that aside," She sighs, "There is your recent resurrection. For one so careful on the battlefield, you throw yourself into a lot of lethal situations."

"They wouldn't be lethal if I didn't have a bunch of idiots to keep safe," Virgil wants to bite back, but he keeps that remark to himself.

"Your mother is tired of you coming home to her without breath in your chest." The Empress sasses back, because of course she heard him. "She doesn't want to watch you return shattered, either, but she would prefer it to seeing you fully dead."

Virgil nods. He still feels guilty about the way that whole situation went down, especially considering how much time he's been spending with Roman instead of comforting her... Now that he's thoroughly terrified himself away from the Paladin, he might as well spend the next few days with his adopted Mother.

Empress Shri'Neerune send to catch the guilty expression on his face, and gives him a tiny smile.

"At least pretend to promise me you will return some day and let us help you?"

Virgil smiles sheepishly, curling up on himself a little bit.

"Even if I do end up 'rupturing my soul' or whatever?" He asked with feigned sarcasm. She nods, very seriously,

"We will always be here to help you back together, Commander. You are one of us."

She turns her back to him, and after a flash of silver light, she starts to levitate back towards the ground. She calls out behind her, sounding some mix of exasperated and fond,

"And so are all of your mortal bondmates, I suppose, if you intend to keep collecting them."

Virgil blushes, turning his face away from her and ignoring her soft laughter.

"It's not like that!" Virgil grumbles to himself, hopefully out of earshot of the Lady. It tastes like a lie.

[aidensm8]

Random vampire AU ramble just cause it was too tempting

Setting:

All the light sides are vampires, the dark sides are hunters

Patton is head of his own vampire manor

Remus and Roman were born human twins (still a prince and a duke)

Janus is a shapeshifter who became a hunter to protect his friend from a demon that friend made a deal with

Logan is the average working human

Virgil is also a normal human who wanted to make a legacy and so he ran away and became a hunter

__

Storyline:

Patton’s is a pureblooded vampire who owns his own manor, he has gargoyles and other newer vampires to serve him

Logan is a regular human who was stressed about work, he one day runs into the dark woods in a fit of anger when his boss and coworkers piss him off

Logan cools down but then realizes he’s lost

A creature finds Logan, severely injuring him

Patton is out on a hunt when he stumbles into Logan. He feels pity and asks Logan if he can try to save him

Logan says “I doubt there’s anything you can do to save me but yes…” while hoping the stranger meant giving him a merciful death

Logan is surprised when he awakens in a fancy room, his wounds seemingly gone. He feels a huge wave of relief that he’s alive but is now anxious of what to do when he goes back home. He’s panicking but tries to calm down to figure out his situation

Studying his surroundings, he notices that the room has no mirrors

His thoughts are interrupted when one of Patton’s “servants” come to check on him. They give him spare clothes and tell Logan that they’ll inform the master that he’s awake

When Patton enters the room, Logan’s worries are calmed. He recognizes Patton as the stranger who saved him and asks him what he did

Patton apologizes profusely and tells Logan that he is a vampire now

Logan is shocked but now trying to figure what to do, how his job would react

Patton offers to let Logan stay with him, to be his advisor or keeper of the archives

Logan takes a moment to think, he has no friends nor attachments to his human life. He has a chance to feel happy, but knows the feeling of guilt from “running away” from his duties will haunt him

Patton reads his emotions, sensing the guilt, and assures Logan that he’s free to start over, to choose what’s best

Patton gets up to leave since he has duties to attend to, but will return to check on Logan later

As time goes on, Logan is feeling settled in his new role in the manor, doing an excellent job at maintaining the archives

Patton regularly checks on Logan to see how he’s doing until one checkup, Logan asks why Patton cares so much about him, why he saved him

Patton’s response brings Logan to tears. Patton holds Logan close, giving him words of assurance and love, and at that moment, Logan silently vows to himself that he will protect Patton with the 2nd chance of life he has given him

—

Moving on to the twins’ side of the story, Roman and Remus are still prince and duke

Roman is crowned prince but recently, discourse has happened and their father, King Creativity, had made some mistakes to warrant the people wanting the royalty removed

The king makes the mistake of pissing off a vampire, who vows revenge against King

King is immediately worried and gets more security on himself

He made the mistake of letting the twins wander alone in the back gardens, where the vampire attacks them

Remus was the intended target since he was the dark duke, seeming to be a perfect addition to the vampires

But Roman draws his silver sword and intervenes

In a moment of spite, the vampire takes Roman with him to the woods, dropping his sword

Remus chases after them, now wielding the sword, and when he finds the vampire leaning over the unconcious form of his brother

Remus fights off the vampire. As they leave, they mockingly laugh at Remus, asking him “Who will take the throne now? Surely, they wouldn’t want a bloodsucker on it”

Remus looks over Roman, realizing that he had changed

Roman wakes up, and now they’re both worried on what to do next. Either way, this was a loss for their lineage

Patton was on his own hunt when he runs into the twins

Noting Remus’s sword, he asks from a distance what was wrong

Patton felt a wave of protectiveness on him, seeing a vampire so close to a weapon that could harm them

Remus is poised to defend Roman, asking Patton what he wants

Patton tries to calm him down to let him know that he just wants to help and explains to them that from what he sees, Roman was a vampire

Roman is panicked at this, but Patton offers to take in the prince

Remus tries to stop this, but Patton argues that Roman needs someone to help him figure out this new life

Roman is also hesitant, but knows that only tragedy awaits them if they return home. He asks “what about my brother?”

Remus withdraws, realizing Patton is right, but knows he can’t return home either so Remus decides that he’s going to pursue being a vampire hunter to protect his brother from other vampires and hunters

Roman is worried about this but Remus assures him that he’ll find a way, as he always does

Patton takes Roman home with him, and Remus takes his leave to begin a new journey of hunting evils, he will be the evil they fear

__

Years pass, and Patton is very protective of Roman as he is like a son to him

Logan also views Roman as a son, and is protective of him, but is more protective of Patton

Remus meets Janus during one of his missions, and they quickly became hunting buddies

Remus figured Janus wasn’t human, and Janus admits

Janus suspects Remus isn’t just a messy hobo, as he noticed that Remus had some grace in his gestures and way of speaking, seeming like he is very much educated though his usual manner of speaking seems like the opposite

Virgil and Janus were old friends

Virgil finds that Remus does have features that seem very much royal, but brushes it off since Remus acted so weird

Virgil doesn’t agree with Remus’s messy methods, but stays nice for Janus’s sake

Virgil wanted to be bold, and so he tries to go on a mission alone

Virgil meets Roman, and is entranced by the vampiric prince

He realizes how much he looked like Remus

He can’t find it in him to attack Roman, and Roman, smelling Remus’s scent on Virgil, cautiously asks him who he is, using his vampiric power of persuasion

Virgil tells him that he’s a hunter who wants to make a legacy for himself

Roman tells him that not all legacies end welp (such as his and Remus’s), and leaves

Virgil takes in Roman’s words, realizing he had a point. He decides to try to find Roman again just so he can talk to him, but for now, he returns to the inn where he meets up with Janus and Remus

He tells him about meeting a vampire and wanting to deal with it alone

Remus wants to come, but Virgil insists not to

Janus convinces Remus to just let Virgil do as he wants, and they leave

After a while, Virgil finally finds Patton’s manor

The servants are alert and attack him until Roman pops in, seeing Virgil, and asks them to let Virgil be

He asks Virgil to leave, but Virgil doesn’t want to lose Roman again

“You can’t lose what you never had”

Virgil looks defeated, but Roman gives him a forhead kiss, “but perhaps one day, we’ll have each other”

Virgil blushes, but is now outside. He leaves, but he finds Roman waiting for him where they first met, and they start slow with small conversations which escalate to “May I hold your hand?” then to “May I kiss you?”

Virgil realizes maybe he doesn’t want to be a hunter anymore. He tells Janus about his thoughts of wanting to settle down, which Janus finds suspicious

So when Virgil meets with Roman, he says he has a surprise for later, giving Roman a quick kiss before leaving

Roman is confused but watches as Virgil heads to the direction of the manor

He is about to follow him but Janus pins him down by surprise, thinking Roman may be a shapeshifter since he looked just like Remus but cleaner

Janus tells Remus to help him but when Remus recognizes who Janus is holding, he attacks Janus to get him off his brother

“Remus, what the fuck, that shifter is using your face”

Remus stands protectively in front of Roman

Remus explains that the vampire was his brother and the reason why he became a hunter

Janus is shocked at this, but calms down as he realizes that this may be a revelation for Remus’s background and motives

Roman and Remus hug as they tell each other how much they missed the other, telling stories of what had happened

Janus is just there, until Remus remembers and introduces him as his boyfriend, joking about the whole “in-laws sure do love attacking each other lmao”

Roman is shocked, but is open to meet the person who had been taking care of his brother in his absence

Meanwhile, Virgil had asked to meet with Patton

Patton agrees and Virgil now sits in his office/grand hall

Virgil explains that he wants Patton to turn him into a vampire

Patton agrees and Virgil becomes a vampire himself

Remus, Roman, and Janus had decided to go back to the town so the brothers can catch up since Roman was very excited about seeing Remus again

Later that night, Remus fell asleep first and Janus and Roman get to talk. It’s a bit tense since their first interaction was a fight

They apologize about the fight before and they find they have many interests in the same field, even having near equal acting prowess

Janus then moves the conversation along to ask for Roman’s blessing in proposing to Remus

Roman is happy for his brother and agrees

Roman is happy to stay the night so he can have more time with his brother

Virgil was waiting for Roman to return at the manor, and when he didn’t return, he got worried. Patton tries to assure him that Roman tends to have little misadventures that last a few days, but Virgil was still anxious

In the morning, he decides to return to the inn to pick up his stuff

Janus and Remus woke up before Roman did and Janus gets to talking about them, and how much he looks forward to Roman being his immortal brother-in-law

Virgil returns and seeing upon seeing Remus and Janus hovering over an unconcious Roman, has his anxieties assuming the worst and he goes feral protective

Caught off-guard, Remus and Janus didn’t stand much of a chance. When Janus tries to ask Virgil what he’s done to himself, Virgil doesn’t respond, carrying Roman back to the manor

Uh…. fuck, this ramble got long o_o

So I’ll pause now, thanks for taking the time to read if you made it down here. I may consider making a part 2 (for when Logan meets Remus, Virgil and Janus making up, Patton being a dad to all of them, etc) but anyways, that’s all for this post

[starlightinhumanform]

24/7: Chapter One

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Ship: Romantic Loceit, Platonic Demus, Platonic Logicality 

Summary: James (aka Janus) works the graveyard shift at a open-all-night convenience store. Logan is a college student who stays up way too late, way too often. While pulling all-nighters, he often visits the store James works at. As time goes on, James begins to care about Logan as more than just a customer. 

Warnings: Moderate Language, Some suggestive jokes, Mentions of ignorant/negative sentiments regarding vitiligo, Mentions of intoxication— some implied to be underage (please tell me if anything needs to be added)

Genre: College AU, Coffeeshop AU but weird (that’s literally the best way i can think of describing it), Mutual Feelings, Fluff 

A/N: — Janus’ name in this AU is James (mostly because when I began planning this, his name hadn’t been revealed). I may still include his name by writing in a name-change but we’ll see lmao — I do not have vitiligo and do not personally know anyone with vitiligo; Janus’ experience with the condition is based entirely on my research. That being said, I did my best to give an accurate representation but I do not claim that it is flawless in anyway. If there are any improvements you think I can make in this area, please please let me know 🖤🖤🖤 Love you all 🖤✨

Ao3   Fic Masterpost    Fic Request Info

James’ first shift started normally. That is, as normally as he could assume 24 hour convenience store shifts could be. It’s not like he had much experience with it.

Being his first day, he had assumed that the manager would’ve at least stuck around for a while. Instead, the woman had pointed out the bathroom plunger— advising him to not let anyone steal it— told him how to use the slushie machine, and said that if someone tried to rob the store, let them take the money; she even showed him the quickest way to open the cash register. Then she left within the first hour of James’ shift.

James didn’t mind being alone but he couldn’t fight down the frustration at his manager for abandoning him without actually telling him anything useful. He kept worrying that someone would ask a question that he couldn’t answer. What if the customer got angry and then he got reported and lost his job on the first night? Not to mention every time someone walked in, he was ready to bargain for his life with the $225.67 and a random condom in the cash register.

The adrenaline was getting to his head, stirring up usually dormant worries. He couldn’t stop glancing down at his hands. They were warm tan, patterned at random with lighter splotches. He had a condition known as vitiligo which made areas of his skin lose their pigmentation. For the majority of the time, it wasn’t a big deal; the worst part was the weird looks people gave him and even then, he could usually brush them off. Still, there was always the occasional idiot who felt the need to say something rude or inform him that he showed signs of demon possession. He hoped beyond everything that one of those incidents didn’t occur while he was alone in the store.

Thankfully, the only customers for the next few hours were a couple groups of teenagers at varying levels of intoxication and a traveling family made up of two parents suffering from highway-hypnosis and a small child who tried to climb into one of the drink refrigerators.

By one in the morning, the flow of incoming patrons had completely stopped. By that point James had already thrown back an entire 5-hour Energy drink and reorganized the chip rack— twice .

When the entry bell finally rang again at around two, James’ head was buzzing so badly he wasn’t sure if he had imagined the sound or not. A young man walked in— college aged with messy hair and glasses. He disappeared into the rows of brightly coloured plastic bags without a word and so quickly it made James once again question whether or not he was hallucinating.

It wasn’t until the man had made his way back to the counter, setting down a bag of chips and a couple energy drinks, that James was sure he existed. The man’s hair looked like it hadn’t been brushed in two days and his dark circles were so deep they could be seen from beneath his squared glasses. Yup, definitely a college student.  

Despite the obvious signs of exhaustion, the man was undeniably pretty. Counter to his tired scowl, his eyes were bright and alert, framing a sharp nose. The way he kept his strong chin tilted slightly upwards and walked with purpose gave him the appearance of someone who actually knew what he was doing with his life— so basically, the opposite of James.

James was hardly ever self conscious about his appearance but this man— this stupidly pretty, oddly perfect man— made James squirm just a little bit, made him wonder if he was living on one side of some scale while the customer lounged on the other side. James tried to shrugged it off, focusing on the items in front of him instead.

The man spent the entire interaction at the counter muttering to himself and never once making eye contact. It was a little strange, but he was cute and James was bored so he decided to just appreciate the entertainment while it lasted.

It wasn’t until James went to hand the man his receipt that he seemed to even become aware of James’ existence. James held out the thin slip of paper, apparently causing the man to flinch backwards. His reaction was strong enough to make James wonder if he was one of those people— the type that thought vitiligo was some sort of deadly, contagious disease.

His eyes darted up quickly, his gaze sharp as it scanned over James’ face, “You’re not the normal cashier.”

He was taken aback by the accusing tone in the man’s voice, “No, I guess I’m not? I just got hired; the other guy got let off… something about trying to steal the plunger.”

“Oh,” His face transformed into a noncommittal scowl that James simply could not read, “Expect me regularly.”

The man turned on his heels and walked briskly to the door as James stood frozen and mystified behind the counter, “Oh, uh… see you soon then.”

——————

James woke up to the smell of something burning. He didn’t even remember dragging himself home and collapsing in his bed but based on the smell bothering him he evidently had made it back. No one could burn food quite like his roommate.

“Remus what the fuck are you doing?” James shuffled out to the kitchen where his roommate was poking at something on the stove.

“Making lunch.”

Based on his bed head and near-complete lack of clothes (Remus always slept in booty shorts and nothing else) James could guess that he had woken up only a few minutes earlier himself, “Dude that does not smell like anything humans should eat.”

Remus gave him a wicked grin and James decided not to push the subject. He walked out of the room with a sigh and hoped that the smell would clear up soon.

He made his way into the living room, sitting down and flipping open his laptop. James groaned at the lack of new email notifications. No new emails meant no new job acceptions.

“Guess I’m working the night shift again.”

James was grateful he got the job at the convenience store— no question. Getting a job as a college dropout was both necessary and nearly impossible at the same time. He was lucky to get a job at all and being a graveyard shift, he got paid nearly double the normal wage for his position. For now, his sleep schedule would just have to suffer.

——————

The weeks drifted by and James fell into a dull, but easy rhythm. He would go to work every night, spend the hours rearranging chip bags, guarding the plunger, and— if he was lucky— the pretty college boy would come in for a few minutes to grab salty food and a caffeinated drink.

James wasn’t sure when it became “lucky” for the man to come into the store. Maybe it was lucky because he was entertaining, always preoccupied and wandering around the store like his mind was a hundred miles away. He had this odd sort of duality— somehow both spaced out and intensely focused at the same time. It was like he was concentrating on the dimension beyond the one James was living in. He floated through this world, always preoccupied with world in his head. It was endearing and intriguing and James found himself looking forward to seeing the man. James wanted to see the world inside his head, to know what was so captivating that he had no use or interest for what was outside of it.  

The student was quickly becoming his favourite customer— something James never thought he would have— and he genuinely enjoyed having a chance to talk to the other guy. He was handsome, obviously intelligent, and, if given the chance, James definitely would’ve asked him out for a drink.

As it was though, James looked awful in his uniform so he would never have the confidence to make a move the only times he ever saw him.

James started to watch for him. The man came at least once a week, always between midnight and four in the morning. He must have lived nearby because he always walked over instead of taking a car like most of the other patrons. Either that, or he lived further away and walked all the way just for a bag of chips and an energy drink.

It was a Thursday like any other when he walked into the store and James’ curiosity got the better of him.

“So,” James leaned across the counter as the man sat his items down, “you come around here often?”

He tilted his head quizzically, “Yes? I do come here often? You’ve seen me.”

“No I— it was a joke,” James resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. This was… not going the way James would have hoped, “What’s your name? We might as well get on first name basis since we see each other all the time.”

“I’m Logan,” Logan seemed surprised by the question.

“I’m James.”

Logan gave a curt nod, “I know.”

“But— how? I—“

“It’s on your name tag,” And with that, Logan turned and marched out of the store.

——————

Logan laid on his back, arms and legs spread over the entirety of his bed. The only leftover space of the bed was occupied by Patton, one of his housemates.

“So how did the all-nighter go?”

Logan groaned, “Well… it sure as hell did go all night. I’m so fucking tired.”

“This is what you get for viewing the entire American university system as a challenge.”

He squinted up at Patton. With his blond hair and round, smiling face he looked like the direct inversion of whatever pale little zombie Logan currently felt like, “I gotta stop staying up so late.”

“I don’t know, you kind of seem to like it,” His housemate patted his leg and stood up to walk out of Logan’s room, “By the way, where do you keep going? I hear you leaving the house, like, super early all the time.”

Sunlight was streaming through his partially open blinds. It was probably quite pretty but to Logan it just looked like a headache-inducing glare. He threw a pillow over his face, muffling his voice as he answered, “Booty call.”

Patton laughed as he stopped walking, “Yeah right. The day you answer a booty call is the day I will shave my head.”

Logan shifted the pillow slightly to look at Patton again. The man’s hair was his prize possession, like a curly fluffy cloud that he kept as a pet on top of his head. Logan didn’t know how Patton could afford the time and money he put into his hair. What he did know, however, was that Patton would never risk its safety. Logan frowned in (mostly) fake insult, “You really think there’s not a single person who would send me a horny text at three in the morning?”

“Nah I think there are quite a few people who would do that. I just doubt there’s anyone you’d actually find worth answering.”

Was there anyone he would actually answer? Logan stared up at the dark fabric above him. The pillowcase was a deep navy blue and if he really squinted, he could see the weave of the thread, a thousand random threads coming together to make a greater whole. The way the individual pieces created something far larger than themselves was fascinating to Logan. He had never given it much before, but he couldn’t help but wonder if he would ever find a random individual worth making something together.

In the darkness covering his eyes, a vision of the convenience store cashier flashed across his mind. The face he saw was light brown and across that warm canvas, lighter portions sprawled. For the first time, Logan began really thinking about that face. He had sharp features, tired eyes, and when he smiled with lips sloped upwards at a lopsided angle. His skin reminded Logan of the glossy photos of nebulae in his astronomy textbooks— bright splashes breaking up the sameness of the night sky. How had he never noticed that before? What was his name? James.

He heard the creak of their old floors beneath Patton as he walked out of Logan’s room. He probably thought Logan had fallen asleep as he lay there in silence. He was far from asleep, though. His mind was racing, trying to find the missed connections and continually finding new ones in the process. His eyes flickered as previously unrecognized thoughts began surfacing. And they didn’t stop. How had he never noticed?

“I’ve been going to that convenience store down the street,” Logan called as Patton walked away.

James.

Maybe there was someone for him.

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24/7 Taglist: @imma-potatoo

[fakeloveaskblog]

Greetings from the void, Remington Siest, I have been summoned in your stead—

Oh, it's you! We've already met! Right! Uh, Remus's nonbinary demon friend again, this time coming from the shadowy corners in your room that you never look to. My apologies for that little scare, it's my day job you see, and someone else did summon me to you; old habits die hard, yadda yadda. How have you been? How are you liking that Raccoon plushie I sent?

Now, as for what's been requested of me *sounds of paper shuffling* hmm, ok, yeah, that's easy! Remus adores you, can confirm! Both him and Janus love having you as a friend and while I cannot speak on Remus'd behalf on the matter I can say that Janus is absolutely smitten with you (on a romantic sense) beyond a shadow of a doubt! He doesn't and will never only want you for your body, or leave you if you were to reject any advances he may yet put forth, so you can rest easy on that issue!

Oh. *hears what Remy has to say to their summoner before the message sents* Oh my. *starts to panic* Seems things are worse than I thought. I have. No idea what to say that wouldn't make this any worse! Where's the person who cheers you up and sents you nice text messages when you need it?! Ah, guess if they're not here this falls to me until they do get here? Uh, darn the timer's running out, um.

Remy… you are amazing and a great person and your friends love you for you, and you alone, not just your body, you! (Remus is ace for crying out loud!) Other than the obvious… now, we don't have time to unpack all of that, but…! *quickly sents a link to a social media app on Remy's phone* So. *John Mulaney voice* Hey, do you want me to kill that guy for you? Because it sounds like he sucks and I would totally kill that guy for you!

(U!Virgil, emotional abuse)

Remy: "Oh girl I am loving the raccoon! I sewed him a lil like hoodie so now he like reminds me even more of my boyf. I have-"

They forced in a sharp breathe through their teeth while their whole body trembled from pain. The plushie was pressed close to their chest as they laid in bed. All the blinds were rolled down because any and all light would bring them a migraine right now.

"I haven't like....been doing too hot...I...It's like....a lot right now"

They took a few moments to really listen to your message. (How good that all demon messages came with an automatic playback function)

"...Jan does seem so sweet...and Rem makes me feel all warm...maybe you’re right" They buried their face into the soft fur of the plushie "I want Jan to like hold me like all the time. He's so soft"

(A part of them still felt doubt. Sweet guys had left them before. They tried to press the doubt deep deep down until they couldn’t hear it anymore)

"I really hope Jan like texts me about hanging out soon. Like shopping or eating at some resturant or like going out walking or whatever. I just wanna like talk to him. He seems like tots a good listener right? Would be like good to vent to I guess...I kinda want to...I trust him. I think....I shouldn’t vent....I shouldn’t”

The door opened. The small amount of light coming in made them whimper and hide down under the blanket. Virgil came in. He hunched down by the bed.

“You feeling any better?” 

“Bitch look at me. I’m dying more than a 70′s fashion trend!! Oh woe me!”

He kissed them on the nose before taking out a pill from one of the medicine bottles on their bedside table. Remy immediately tensed up.

If they took that pill then eventually the bottle would be empty and Virgil would have to pay for another and they wouldn’t have any way to make it up to him because they were useless and couldn’t work and could barely even be used properly and he would probably tell them himself how horrible of a burden they were and they were probably supposed to refuse or he would get mad and-

“You need it” He had a soft look in his eyes.

“I’m fine babe!” They spat out in panic.

Virgil grabbed onto their jaw and forced their mouth open. The back of their head got pressed down into the mattress. It hurt. They knew he would just sigh back how Everything hurt to them if they said anything. They grabbed onto his wrist to try and force him away, they couldn’t. He wasn’t strong but they were very weak. 

He pressed the pill down into the back of their mouth. “Swallow” He kept their mouth open until they did as told. “Good. Was that really hard” He muttered sarcastically.

Their whole body was still so tense it ached “Please babe you just sounded like a laughably pathetic daddy dom”

Virgil fiddled with his hoodie strings like he always did when he got flustered “I Uh didnt’ mean to. Gross. Eh. Dinner’s almost ready by the way”

“Don’t burn the stove down” They teased.

“Shut up you smartass” 

“You wish”

“Idiot” He said jokingly before kissing them. He left to check so the stove hadn’t actually burned down.

Remy painstakingly turned to look at you. They pressed the plushie closer. The medicine started to make them drowzy. It did that sometimes.

“My boyfriend doesn’t suck...he’s sweet. so sweet” They mumbled out “Most days he’s so sweet. Like today. And on bad days he just like doesn’t lie. He just says the truth..he gets so anxious about me leaving him....isn’t that like kinda romantic...him being so desperate for me to not leave he just...he just says stuff...and yells...and.....and it’s sweet. He’s so sweet”

They kind of wished Virgil would always be either sweet or honest. It made them so stressed to never know how they had to act. At least their dad never made them stressed like that. He was always angry. That made it easy

Remy gripped onto the stuffie harder. They hated when their brain made connections between his boyfriend and-

“He loves me. He just like loves me so much. All that stuff that sounds bad it’s either ‘cause he’s trying to make me stay, like I would leave or someting, or- or ‘cause it’s true”

....But....But they’d thought the whole thing about how no one else would want them except for their body was true...but if Janus didn’t....then it wasn’t true....Remy couldn’t help but wonder if-

The door opened again. Virgil came in with 2 bowls of black bean soup. The silly wondering was quickly forced away from their thoughts. 

He sat down on the bed next to them and set the bowls onto the bed table they had for bedridden days. He gently put his hands on their back and neck to help them sit up. When they whimpered he kissed them.

“I’m not hungry” Remy muttered.

“Beanie you are”

They could eat on their own but they didn’t say no when he used the spoon to feed them. It made them feel pampered and it made him feel needed. Double win.

“Babe this tastes horrible. just saying as like a warning” They said after finishing half the bowl.

“Like you could do any better” He pressed a playful kiss to their forehead.

“Oh yeah definitely! I just put the ingredient in! And then the like water! and then it’s done! Easy!!”

“Woooow. Wish I’d thought of that”

They smiled “Yeah that’s why you’ve got dick for brain. Bitch”

He simply snapped his finger into their forehead in reply “Wanna watch a horror movie?”

Remy got bored by horror movies and Virgil easily got anxious by them even though he loved them so really he was if they wanted to make out and cuddle to avoid looking at the film.

“You akready know I want to”

They didn’t look which movie he picked. They’d already cuddled up to his side and pressed their head to his chest. He moved his arms around them so he could eat his soup while the movie started.

It was so nice. They could hear his heartbeat through his hoodie. He was so sweet. They were so horrible.

They didn’t deserve it. They didn’t deserve it. They didn’t deserve it.

[clearlynotjanus]

Dukeceit Week Day 3 Teaser: Octopus

Yes okay listen, I know the actual prompt choice is between bugs & snakes but I have an intense fear of bugs & my girlfriend wanted to write snakes so!!! Octopuses. This one’s been done for like a week now & I only just realized I forgot to give you guys the teaser so you can tell how scatterbrained I’ve been lately!! Apologies!

Anyway enjoy this teaser! & as always, if you’d like to be on my tag list to be @’d in works like this as well as my fic related stuff, give this linked post a like or send me a message. If you have any questions or suggestions, my ask box is always open! If you would like to get the rest of this fic early access, please consider subscribing to my Patreon. If you’d just like to support my work or request a writing commission, please consider donating to my Ko-Fi. Thanks so much for being an awesome audience 💛

CW: SFW sexual tension, tentacle porn mention, intrusive thoughts, self hatred Word Count: 2164 (Teaser: 610) Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Gen Rating: Teen Ships: Dukeceit

Taglist: @robertdownerjr​ @dangitsbrightinhere​ @iamuncomffy​ @bimtrimmerr @catalinaacosta​ @evertriedsoywithyourpopcorn​ @dragonfander @virgilstarantula​ @a-rudethude @poptartsaysurloved​ @serpentinesomebody​ @the-dead-and-the-decaying​ @vexelore​ @the-snekwhisperer-world​ @whatishappeningrightnow @sanderssidesangsttrash @trash-bastard @indubitably-emo @gay-artist-626 @cosplayhanna @edupunkn00b

“It’s not done yet,” Remus explained as he twisted another line through the octopus’ skin. With a quiet sound, Janus repositioned his legs either side of Remus, leaning forward to get a better look. “Later I wanna put some ink wash in the background and stuff.” He continued, fully knowing that the piece wouldn’t be resumed once he put it down. 

It wasn’t a lie, Remus really did want to flesh it out the way it deserved to be. He reserved that plan for most of his work. It was just … difficult to get back into something after he had stopped, once the initial momentum and fixation was lost.

“I see,” Janus mumbled with lips hovering directly next to his ear. Remus’ breathing halted. 

Nervousness began to tear at his stomach, the drawing wholly forgotten as he suddenly realized how close they were. Janus’ hand in his hair was one thing. He was used to that. Janus’ legs pressing against his arms, lips inches from his ear, body leaning against his back -- all very different things that placed a pressure behind his eyes, blurred his vision with sudden desire. His face blushed and Remus forced himself to breathe. They had kissed already, a few times now, so this shouldn’t be a big deal, he told himself. And it wasn’t like Janus was about to kiss him right now -- or was he? Remus exhaled, internally begging for the sound to not shake. He stared at the outline of Janus’ face from the corner of his eye. Was he?

Janus could feel the anxiety rippling off of Remus just like the heat that permeated from his cheeks. A fond smile curved his lips. 

“This still makes you nervous, doesn’t it.” Janus whispered rhetorically and Remus whined, head falling like his school-boy reaction was something to be ashamed of. “Shhh,” Janus chuckled the soothing sound as he turned to press a familiar kind of kiss against Remus’ temple. Remus sighed and squeezed his eyes shut. 

Janus was so soft with him, he hated it. Of course it was more complicated than that, but his knee-jerk thought was always that he hated it. Hated Janus’ red lips full of love pressing against any part of him. Hated Janus’ patient hands that caressed his skin like porcelain. Skin that should be bulging and splitting and cracking from the demons and sludge that writhed and squirmed beneath it. These thoughts made it obvious that the only part of himself that hated Janus’ affection was the desperate one that wanted teeth and nails and blood and punishment. The more present part of Remus that realized all this wanted to like it. Wanted to smile against the mouth that kissed his gaping maw. Wanted to will his claws into hands shaped to cup Janus’ cheeks. Most of all, both parts wanted to feel like he deserved any of it.

“Dee,” He breathed impatiently, and soon the proximity was retracted with a sigh of finality against that rose goosebumps along his arms.

“Tell me about the octopus,” Janus requested at normal volume as he sat back against the couch, crossing his legs once more. The fever in Remus’ blood cooled slowly and he blinked at his art, remembering its existence. “Why do you like them so much anyway?”

“Well their tentacles make great sex toys,” Remus sputtered with an almost manic laugh. Janus snorted and rolled his eyes, very used to that sort of outburst. 

“No, really,” He insisted, gently knocking his knee into the side of Remus’ head. “There’s an actual reason, right? All your miscellaneous octopus paraphernalia can’t just be because they’re cool.” He pressed snarkily.

continue reading

[the-sympathetic-villain]

Chaos Reigns

Prompt: The Light Sides react to Logan becoming a dark side.This one-shot is a continuation of my one-shot ‘Choking In The Dark’ inspired by the animatic, "Wires" by Anna Midnight. I would recommend reading that one before reading this one in order for the context to make sense. Prompt from iheartsolangelo

AO3 | First | Next | Masterpost

Word Count: 2955 Chapter Warnings: Food, All of the characters have some less than sympathetic moments, DarkSide!Logan, Horror Elements, Somewhat graphic description of rotting food/bugs, Spit/Wet Willy, Threats, Angst, Unwanted physical contact (non-sexual), Anger, Mentions of Death, Lashing out, Electric shock, Passing out, Swearing (Let me know if I missed anything!)

---

    Patton bustled about the kitchen, shifting between his various dishes as he prepared dinner for his family. Warm, humid air carried the scent of his fresh, baked bread down the hallways of the mindscape and Patton smiled knowing the lovely scent would start to draw out its residents as they sensed dinnertime approaching.

    “Virgil, could you please set the table?” Patton called out at the sound of a soft shuffling behind him. A soft groan behind him let him know that his shadowy friend had heard him.

    “Why’s it always me that gets stuck with the chores, padre?” Virgil drawled grumpily. “Can't you get princey to contribute every once in a while?”

    “Now, Virgil.” Patton started, pulling out his best dad voice. “You know we all have to do our part to contribute.”

    “Yeah, right.” Virgil groaned, pulling his headphones back over his ears as he moved towards the cupboards. “When was the last time you saw Roman wash a dish?”

    “Silence, foul demon.” Roman's voice echoed against the walls as he appeared in the doorway of the kitchen. “How dare you besmirch my royal name in my absence! Where is the honor in such a cowardly action?”

    “Cute, princey." Virgil rolled his eyes, pulling a stack of plates from the shelf. “How about you defend your honor by taking these while I grab the silverware?”

    “Oh, no.” Roman deflected his attempt to hand him the plates as he flitted over to Patton. “I can't do that.”

    “—and why not?” Virgil let out an exasperated sigh as he brushed past Roman and dropped the plates on the table with a loud clattered.

    “Why not?” Roman smiled, flipping his hands towards Virgil. “Well, because that’s peasants’ work, of course.

    “You���re insufferable.”

    “Now, boys.” Patton interrupted as he brought the steaming casserole to the table. “I need you to play nice at the dinner table.”

    “Patton, this isn't fair.” Virgil muttered, gesturing to Roman’s smug expression as he stared at him across the table. “He's just standing there watching me work.”

    “Patton asked you to set the table Virgil.” Janus' hiss made Virgil jump as the man came up behind him. “Surely the task is not too labor intensive for you to handle on your own.”

    “It's about the principle, Janus.” Virgil muttered, slamming open the drawer as he grabbed the silverware. “He could be helping, but he's not.”

     “And yet, by some miracle, you seemed to have finished all by yourself.” Janus drawled as Virgil set out the silverware on the table. “Outstanding.”

    “You’re the worst.”

    “I do make an effort,” Janus replied dryly, frowning as Roman snickered from across the table. “but don’t worry, Virgil. Your complaints have been noted and Roman will be doing the dishes after we eat.”

    “What?” Roman’s jaw dropped as Virgil’s face lit up. “Doing the dishes is twice the work of setting the table!”

     Janus rolled his eyes, dropping into his seat at the table. “Well then, I guess you should have helped Virgil when you had the chance. Shouldn't you have, Roman?”

    “I'm sorry, Janus.” Patton smiled empathetically as he came up behind Janus, leaning over to place the last steaming dish on the table. “I'm sure this wasn’t what you signed up for when you decided to move up here with us.”

    “Oh, please.” Janus smirked up at Patton as Roman and Virgil took their seats. “Neither of them has started throwing food yet, so this is already a step up from handling Remus.”

    “Good. I'm glad you’re fitting in okay, kiddo.” A smile twitched at the corner of Patton’s lips as he glanced around at his family. “Now, let's eat. I'm sure everyone is starving. Has anyone seen Logan?”

    “Geek's been quiet for a few days.” Roman muttered impatiently. “He's probably in his room making a schedule for when Thomas is allowed to breathe.”

    “Roman, be nice.” Patton chided him quietly. “Those kinds of words are hurtful.”

    “Come on, pops.” Roman pressed. “You know the Microsoft Nerd can barely function when he's not micromanaging the rest of us. Guy sucks pretty hard sometimes.”

    “I know Logan can be a little overbearing sometimes, but you still don’t get to call him names.”

    Roman sighed, muttering under his breath. “I didn’t hear a disagreement in that statement.”

    “Maybe I should go grab him—”

    “Do you have to, Pat?” Virgil asked, absently sipping at his water. “Can’t deny it's been nice to eat a few meals without a lecture.”

    “Both of you are done speaking until you can say something nice.” Janus snapped with a quick hand gesture, silencing them both simultaneously. “I don’t know what’s gotten into either of you but I've had enough of it.”

    Patton shifted nervously, feeling an uneasy chill run up his spine as he took a step towards Logan’s room. “I'll be right back. I'm going to go get him.”

    “Oh no, Patton.” The lights flickered and dimmed as an echo of Logan’s voice chilled the air, sending shivers down Patton’s spine. “I really think you should sit.”

    All eyes turned to the head of the table as the air seemed to be sucked from the room, leaving them breathless as they stared at Logan. His now jet-black hair was perfectly gelled back. Not a hair was out of place as his eyes glimmered with a danger fire as he straightened the tie on his charcoal-grey suit.

    Roman was the first to shake his shock, turning back to the rest of the table. “Will someone explain why the professor is trying to out-edgelord our own resident killjoy?”

    “Lay off, princ—”

    “Oh, Roman.” Logan’s threatening drawl filled the air with an ice-cold chill, stopping Virgil’s protest in its tracks. “You have such a pretty face. It's too bad you have to ruin the illusion with the words that come out of your mouth.”

    Roman stalled for a moment. “We have the same face—”

    Logan grimaced, sending a sudden shudder of fear straight to the hearts of the other sides. “Truly, what an awful, grating noise you make.”

    The other sides watched in horror as a unsettling grin spread across Logan’s face as he held up his hand and snapped. In an instant, Roman jumped out of his seat knocking his chair back as he batted at his arms. The creative side immediately looked to Logan for mercy as a bright, red crystal crept up his arms but his eyes were cold as he ignored Roman’s pleas for help. Within moments, he was completely frozen in place, completely encased by the crystal.

    “Would anyone else care to interrupt me?”

    Logan stare turned to each of his former friends’ faces. Silence quickly dampened the room as his empty stare crept up into an unsettling smile.

    “I thought not.” Logan continued in a hushed tone. “There are going to be some changes in the way Thomas operates and I don’t particularly care whether any of you like what I'm doing or not.”

     Silence hung in the air between them for a long moment before Janus leaned forward on his elbows, bringing his hands together in front of him as he stared down Logan from across the table. “What about Thomas? Surely, you don't believe our creator is going to support your little coup.”

    “I'm so glad you asked, Janus. I intend for keep Thomas distracted until it’s too late for him to change anything.” Logan’s white teeth glistened in the dim light as his dark eyes locked onto Janus. “Fortunately, I have a little help in that department.”

    A sudden gasp and a shriek for Virgil and Patton respectively surrounded Logan on both sides as the room dropped into darkness. The darkness only lasted a few short seconds but reprieve did not follow as a subtle green light started to radiate from the table. Logan let out a hollow chuckle at Patton and Virgil’s horrified expression as their beautiful dinner turned to rot. Maggots curled in the casserole and the plate of vegetables Patton had spent so much time on oozed a steaming green liquid that seemed to be creeping closer to its maker as Patton edged away.

    “Remus, enough.” Janus reached his hand up and snapped, expecting  the illusion to fade away. The look of shock on Janus’ face was met with a knowing smirk from Logan across the table as the feast of horrors remained.

    “Oooooh,” Remus cooed in Janus’ ear, coming out of the shadows. “Looks like the dirty light-sider doesn't have control of me anymore.”

    “Don't underestimate me.” Janus scoffed nonchalantly as Remus leaned over his shoulder. “Controlling you was always about more than just my powers.”

    “Oh yeah?” Remus purred into Janus' neck. “If that was true, could I do this?”

     Janus flinched as Remus popped his pointer finger in his mouth before shoving it in Janus' ear, still glistening with spit.  “Remus, you undignified ball of waste. I’ll kill—"

    “Don't touch him.” Logan’s calm voice distracted Janus' rage as he attempted to shove Remus away.

    Remus smirked as Janus hesitated, side-eyeing Logan as he gauged the situation. The moment's hesitation drew a giggle from Remus. “Well, what do you know? I might like it when Logey-Bear gets possessive.”

    “I'll give you a chance, Janus.” Logan stated plainly, rested his hands in his lap as he ignored Remus’ statements. “You still have the potential to be of use to me. Join us and you can spare yourself a lot of trouble.”

    “I don't think so.” Janus stated, glaring at Remus as he stood up out of his chair. “In fact, I think I'll go have a word with Thomas about your actions and see what he thinks of your attempt mutiny.”

    “That’s an unfortunate choice, but not unexpected one .” Logan smirked leaning back in his chair as he shared a knowing glance with Remus. “I'm sorry, Janus, but I forbid you from speaking to Thomas.”

    Janus turned his cool gaze back to Logan. “Don’t play with me, Logan. I'm the only one with the power to prevent sides from reaching Thomas.”

    “Not anymore. You should have taken my offer.” Logan sneered back at Janus as his eyes darkened and he raised a hand up in the air. “Look like this is a benched trial for you, Janus.”

    Logan snapped his fingers and the others jumped as Janus let out a yelp. The logical side’s face was void of emotion as the wires that had bound him for so long jumped at his command, dragging a swearing Janus into the hallway.

   “Patton, don't!”

   Virgil’s worried voice drew Logan’s attention to Patton as he jumped out of his chair. Logan let out a long breath as Patton glanced back at him nervously.

    “You’d do well to listen to Virgil, Patton.” Logan muttered darkly, lifting his eyes to Patton in a subtle warning. “Unless you want to share Janus' fate.”

    “Why are you doing this to your friends?” Patton started to shake as he turned back to Logan’s vacant stare. “Logan, you’re better than this.”

    “You’re not my friends.” Logan whispered, ignoring Patton taking a step back as if he'd struck him.

    “Logan—”

    “Keep my name out of your mouth.” Logan snapped, pushing his chair over as he rose to his feet. He stepped forward, looming over Patton as he backed into the wall. “I should never have given it to any of you."

    Patton flinched, making himself smaller as Logan slowly raised a hand to his face.

    “Don’t touch him—”

    Logan glanced over his shoulder lazily as Remus shoved Virgil back down into his seat.

    “Ah, ah—” Remus grinned, wrapping his hands around Virgil’s collar as the anxious side squirmed against him. “The adults are talking right now.”

    “Logan, please.”

    Logan turned his gaze back to Patton as his wide eyes lifted up to him.

    “You don’t have to do this.”

    Logan scoffed, tucking his hands in the pockets of his dark suit. “What exactly don’t I have to do?

    “Hurt people, Lo.” Patton whispered, glancing around at the trail of destruction left in the new dark side's wake. “This isn’t you.”

    “You’re wrong, Patton.” Logan muttered, taking a step forward as he crowded Patton into the wall. “This is necessary for my survival. Not that you would care about that.”

    Patton whimpered as Logan hooked his chin with his finger, guiding his face up.

    “I tried to be nice—to let everyone have their say, but I won't take your abuse any longer.” Logan let out a long breath as he leaned in, inches from Patton’s face. “I lost so much of myself to the rest of you that the subconscious tried to tear me apart.”

    “Oh, Lo—” Patton’s expression softened as his eyes glistened in the dim light.

    “I almost died, and not only were my so-called friends not there to save me, you were the ones who led me to the gallows.” Logan’s eyes glittered like fire and his face twisted into a snarl as a raspy laugh passed his lips at the sight of the sudden guilt on Patton’s face. “Congratulations. Your friend is dead and you were the one to kill him.”

    “Logan, I'm so sorr—”

    “Stop. Your apology is too little and too late, Patton.” Logan cut him off, baring his teeth at Patton as waves of anger radiated off of him. “Now, I've had enough of this conversation. So, if it’s all the same to you, I think we’re going to skip the rest of this dialogue.”

    The lights flickered as his statement finished and in the blink of an eye, Patton was gone.

    “Patton—No!” Virgil’s cry rang out behind him as Logan turned to watch him struggle in Remus arms. “What did you do to him?!”

    “I sent him into his worst nightmare.” Logan muttered. His voice held a bitterness as he nonchalantly brushed off his sleeves.

    “Which is what?” Virgil muttered, shuddering and squirming as Remus licked a long strip up his neck. “Get him off me—”

    “No.”

    “No? What the hell is wrong with you?” Virgil hissed as Remus pulled him to his feet, curling an arm around his waist to hold him in place. He hissed, spinning on Remus with bared teeth. “Why are you even helping him?”

    “Are you kidding?” Remus ran a hand through Virgil’s hair as he breathed into emo's ear. “Dr. Doom is the most interesting thing to happen around here in years. Of course, I wanted in on that action."

     Virgil let out a breathy whine, relenting to Remus' grip. “Just—Fine. Where’s Pat?”

    “Our dear, pun-loving father figure is in a place of my own creation, deep in the outer regions of the imagination. He's wandering the forests of guilt.” Logan whispered with a sense of finality. “Now, if he was capable of growing a spine and confronting his own feelings, I might be worried he would simply walk free, but I think we both know he'll be walking in circles trying to help the lost souls in the trees forever.”

    Virgil sucked in a breath, closing his eyes as Logan stepped toward him. “Where are you sending me?”

    “Oh, Virgie.” Remus purred. “What makes you think you get to leave?”

    “What?” Virgil blinked, looking up at Logan. “Y-you got rid of the others.”

    “They've served their purpose, Virgil.” Logan smiled, feigning innocence as he ran his fingers along Virgil’s jaw. “You still have so much to give.”

    “No.” Virgil muttered, staring at him incredulously. “I won't help you.”

    “Don’t misunderstand me. I'm not giving you a choice.” Logan whispered, gripping his chin as he forced Virgil��s chin up. “In fact, you’ll only become more useful the harder you choose to fight me, so go ahead and resist with all your might. You’re nothing if not persistent, Virgil.”

    “Why me?” Virgil’s shoulders slumped. “What could I possibly do for you?”

    “Without Roman's dreams or Patton’s misguided attempts at morality, Thomas will need another reason to stay motivated.” Logan whispered, gripping Virgil’s collar as electricity flickered on his hand. “So, I think we're going to get those neurons firing and stir up a little panic. What do you think?”

    Virgil’s eyes widened as the electricity crept up his body, pulling a groan from his lips as his body lit up in a blue light. His knees collapsed as the light flickered and faded, barely held up by Remus' arm wrapped around his torso.

   “You won’t get away with this.” Virgil moaned, feeling his vision start to fade. “We won't let you hurt Thomas.”

    Remus' giggle in his ear made his heart drop. “You better focus on surviving first, edgy boy.”

    Virgil shivered, feeling himself sinking in Remus' arms.

    “Don't worry, Virgil.” Logan’s ice-cold voice drew his attention up to the bitterness in Logan’s eyes. “At least I haven’t threatened to prohibit you from breathing yet.”

    “I didn’t mean it, L—"

    “Too little, too late.” Logan interrupted as Virgil’s eyes fluttered closed. Letting out a long sigh, he turned his eyes up to Remus with a devilish smile. “Are you ready, Remus?”

    “You better believe it, white and nerdy.” Remus grinned, flipping Virgil over his shoulder. “I'm ready to wreak a little havoc on Tommy boy's brain.”

    “Good.” Logan smiled as he straightened up, adjusting his glasses. “Then, we move on to phase two. Your particular set of skills will be essential for our plan to succeed."

    Remus grinned. “That's a lot of fancy words for you to say you’re excited to see me fuck things up, teach.”

    “Indeed.” Logan’s devilish grin widened as he glanced around the abandoned meal, letting out a chuckle as he turned to follow Remus as he carried Virgil out of the room.

---

General Taglist:

@somehow-i-got-an-account @justanotherhumanstuff @im-an-anxious-wreck

[and-it-freezes-me]

Accidents Happen -  On Demons And Angels

Summary: Roman believes that the accident wasn’t entirely Remus’ fault, and begins his investigation into Janus’ part in it. Part 1 of ?

Content: disaster humans, brief discussions of injuries, brief fire mention, brief bugs mention; Remus is implied to be cruel but isn’t, really

Words: 3,845

{Part 2}

‘In every set of twins, there is an angel and a demon.’

At least, that was what it had said in a book Roman had read once. He couldn’t even remember what it was called, let alone what the context for such a condemning statement had been, but those words had stuck with him from the moment his eyes had found them on the page. Maybe it was because he had been reading it around the time that Remus had started acting out properly, and because the only thing he could come up with to explain it was that Remus was just naturally bad. They had the same parents, after all, the same upbringing, the same neighbours and peers - they should have turned out the same. It had made plenty of sense to his twelve-year-old self: he was the angel, and Remus was the demon.

Now, however? He was pretty sure that it was the other way around.

Or maybe it wasn’t true at all. Because whilst an angel didn’t get their twin kicked out of the house or blamed for the dog going missing, he was fairly certain that an angel wouldn’t end up in prison, either.

Maybe they were both demons, only he was better at hiding it. Everybody else certainly took him to be an angel, after all: when they compared Roman: a straight A student, head of the theatre club, volunteering twice a week, heading to a prestigious university to study classics in the fall; to Remus, who hadn’t scored well in an exam since he was eight, who was always in dirty, ripped clothes and smelled of bonfires and booze, who had once pushed a kid down two flights of stairs (Patton had been fine in the end, but still…), what were they supposed to think? 

“At least one of your boys will amount to something,” somebody had said once. “At least Roman’s going somewhere,” they had said. And then, “isn’t your son talented!” and “you must be so proud of your boy,” as though Remus didn’t exist at all anymore. And Roman had let it happen, because he had loved the praise, because he had loved being the golden boy, the one that could do nothing wrong. He loved being the example, being allowed to stay home alone a whole two years before Remus even though they were the same age, being allowed to go to see his friends at any hour of the day or night as long as he texted to say when he would be home. Next to Remus, who had once procured a dead snake and wrapped it up as a Mother’s Day gift, he could do no wrong.

And so when things went slightly wrong, it didn’t matter if he blamed Remus. They were still friends - they were twins, of course they were friends - and Remus never seemed to care. When Roman had spilled candle wax all over the floor when they were thirteen and their parents had asked what had happened, the words had just slipped out: “Remus was playing with the candles earlier.” Six hours later, they had all been woken by the smell of smoke to find that Remus had set the living room curtains on fire, and two hours after that, Roman had slipped into his brother’s bedroom and thanked him for covering for him.

“That’s what I’m here for, Ro-Ro,” he had said, grinning at the glo-stars tacked to the ceiling in the shape of a monstrous grin. “We’ve gotta stick together, you ‘n me. I’ve got your back.”

Remus never asked anything from him.

He didn’t ask for a return favour when they were fourteen and Roman had failed an exam, stole Remus’ clothes while his twin was in gym, re-sat the paper as Remus but wrote his own name on the top, and then blamed the original failed paper on his brother trying to fuck with him.

He didn’t make Roman own up when he had taken their father’s car out to a party when they were sixteen, gotten slightly tipsy, and managed to throw up all over the seats and leave a massive scratch all down one side, ruining the paintwork. His parents were already inclined to blame their problem child, and all Roman had to say was, “I thought I heard the car while I was studying last night.” Remus not only took the punishment for him, but went as far as to key their mother’s car the next night.

When they were seventeen, they had gotten a puppy. It was supposedly for everyone, a family pet, but everybody knew that it was really a reward for Roman landing the lead role in the theatre club’s production of ‘Bugsy Malone’. Two months later, the twins had been home alone (their parents had gone out together, and Remus wasn’t allowed to be alone in the house anymore and hadn’t been since The Microwave Incident, so Roman had to stay in with him) and Roman had left the back door open when he went outside. The dog - Filo, after the pastry - had charged out after him, been spooked by something, and dashed through the fence. Roman had followed her into the woods, fallen into a creek, and had to hobble home on a twisted ankle. He was a good actor; it didn’t take much to call up some tears, and explain how he had been trying to catch Filo after Remus had let her out by mistake. Remus never asked for Roman’s help with the hours and hours he had searched through that forest, every day after school for months, until he finally came home to get a spade and returned with Filo’s collar some time later.

There were other things, too, things that had actually been Remus, things that Roman had had nothing to do with. Most of the things were like that, really. And when Roman made mistakes, he usually owned up to them - he wasn’t a bad person. It was only the few times that he had ducked out of the way and allowed Remus to take the punishment for him.

He wouldn’t have done it if he’d have known how it was going to end. Sure, Remus was a disaster, Remus was strange and already on first-name basis with a few of the police officers around their town, Remus was awkward in conversation and quite frankly an embarrassment to be related to, but he was still his brother, and he did still love him. So if he had known that his parents would kick Remus out for it, Roman never would have claimed that he had never seen the ziploc bag of weed, or that Remus must have hidden it in his room. And by the time he heard the yelling, by the time he tried to take it back, it was too late. His parents saw his desperate pleas that it was his as generosity, as self-sacrifice, as trying to stick up for his brother, and had calmly explained that it wasn’t just this, that this was just the latest in the longest line of things, and that it was sweet of him to try to look out for his twin.

So yeah, maybe Roman wasn’t the valiant prince he had always thought he was.

He had given Remus the keys to his car, a gorgeous red thing his parents had bought him for his eighteenth. Remus couldn’t drive, of course (after the Scratch’n’Vom Incident, they had stopped his lessons, and he didn’t the funds to pay for them himself) (Remus hadn’t had pocket money since they were ten), but he could sleep in the thing for as long as he wanted, and Roman said would let him into the house to use the shower and stuff when their parents were out. He had parked the car around the corner, out of view of their house, because their parents had explicitly banned him from helping him, and brought Remus some extra blankets. It was the least he could do.

But Remus, of course, couldn’t let it go. Ask anybody: he had to top Roman’s latest disaster with an even more spectacular one of his own, and Roman was awoken at around four in the morning by a uniformed officer informing his parents that there had been an accident, and that they would have the opportunity to appoint a lawyer for Remus before questioning started the following morning, and would they like to come down to the station to see him now? (They hadn’t wanted to do either of those things).

How foul-mouthed, crude, angry Remus had persuaded the golden-eyed, silver-tongued captain of the debate team to get into the car with him after midnight was anyone’s guess. Roman hadn’t even thought that Remus knew Janus, let alone was on midnight-joyride terms with him. Janus’ parents insisted that Remus must have kidnapped their son. Janus stayed quiet, although that wasn’t surprising given the fresh burn scars down his once-flawless face and neck and the smoke damage to his throat; instead of speaking, he submitted a written statement to the effect that he had gotten a lift from Remus, who had been drunk - although he hadn't known it - and that Remus had gotten distracted and driven them off the road. He didn't want to press charges; his parents forced him to. Remus made no move to confirm or deny this. His lawyer, one provided by the state, had pleaded guilty.

Remus got eight months.

Roman should have been pleased. Not that his brother was in prison, but that it hadn't been worse. Janus could have died, landing Remus in even more trouble. Remus could have died.

Instead, he was furious. None of it made sense. (Well, it did, a little, but not as much as everybody seemed to think it did!) Why would Janus have been out that late? It had been a school night, there was no reason for him to be… Well, anywhere other than at home. Had it been anybody else, this would be a stupid argument to make, but this was Janus Sinclaire, practically the most perfect student to exist. Why would he accept a lift from Remus, of all people? Most people Roman knew seemed to agree that it was safer to be on the streets alone than in a car with Remus.

Even if he took Janus' story as true (which he didn't), there were other things that didn't make sense. There hadn't been any alcohol in the car - Roman wasn't stupid, he didn't keep booze in his car - and Remus didn't have his wallet on him when he left, so how could Remus have been drunk? And the most important problem of all: if Remus had been planning on doing something big to make a spectacle of himself again, he wouldn't have been driving around town picking up other students like a freebie taxi service. He would have driven directly to the lake and sunk the car, or gone to the edge of town and torched the thing. Roman was pretty sure that nobody else would make this distinction, but he knew his twin (kinda).

In short? Not only had Roman gotten his brother kicked out of the house, but now Remus was serving time on a statement with more holes than a sieve.

It would be unsporting to disbelieve the victim in a case like this. It would be about as far from angelic as he could get, Roman reflected, tapping a pen against the bulleted list in the notebook in front of him. But that was okay. He had already proven that he wasn't an angel.

Remus:

Not a good driver - nobody would trust him to take them home

Promised he wouldn't go anywhere - are Remus promises worth much? Unsure.

Tends to immediate chaos & destruction - why driving?

No alcohol in car + no wallet for Remus 

What was Janus doing at 2am?

Does Janus trust Remus enough to take a lift at 2am? Fuck no

Janus lies - known fact

Remus doesn’t hurt other people - Patton, me, random scraps

Remus doesn’t plan on hurting other people - luring Janus into my car would take planning

Janus lies. That was the point he kept coming back to, no matter how many times he told himself that he could only put it down once, that Janus had no reason to lie here, that only a monster would start trying to push a horribly scarred guy about what must have been a traumatic experience.

But Remus deserved better than this, didn’t he?

No matter how much of an asshole he could be, no matter what kind of freaky things he did for fun, just for once Remus deserved somebody to stick up for him. Besides, Roman owed him - big time - and maybe he should finally start paying in his debts. It was the princely thing to do, after all. And the ends justified the means, so if he had to do some slightly dodgy things to discover the truth, that wasn’t a problem.

Maybe it was just time to accept that he had more than just a little of the demon twin in himself.

It was another week before Janus returned to school - just in time for the end of year finals, although it was common knowledge that he had been given a pass not to sit them. He sat them anyway. Roman was certain that he only sat them to maintain his reputation, because there was no way the faculty was going to give him anything less than a perfect grade even if he didn’t.

Despite his scars and the new hoarse quality to his voice, Janus didn’t seem to act as though anything was different. Roman was actively watching him now, waiting for an opportunity to get close to him, for a crack in his golden façade that would allow him to break him open and pry at his secrets until he discovered exactly what had happened the night Remus had been kicked out; surely this lack of reaction was suspicious? Janus still arrived at exactly the same time every morning, dropped off by his parents in a ridiculously shiny silver car; he still went to every class and hosted debate team rehearsals in his lunch breaks; he still went straight home after school, again in that gorgeous silver machine, and sat in his room for hours, reading or studying. (Roman had found a tree across the street, one leafy enough that he could sit in it with a pair of binoculars for hours without being seen). (Yes, this was not princely behaviour). 

Roman had gotten his information about what was ‘normal’ for Janus to do from Virgil Spince, who always seemed to know people’s routines. He had explained his curiosity away by saying that he wanted to apologise for his brother’s behaviour - something Virgil thoroughly approved of, given how badly his best friend had been hurt in the past - but was too anxious about it to just approach him. If there was something he understood, Virgil had said, it was anxiety. He had handed over Janus’ timetable without much more of a fuss, and Roman hadn’t asked how he knew what Janus did at home.

Roman had pushed down the guilt that rose in his chest with each lie he told, taken the scrawled list of times and places (Virgil had surprisingly cute handwriting, who knew?) and left.

It was another week before he found the courage to actually approach Janus. It wasn't as though there was an obvious change in his routine - other than the Thursday therapy trip, which Roman couldn't really see as suspicious - so it wasn't as though Roman could just accost him in the middle of something illegal. That made talking to him much harder, because it meant that he was going to have to be nice. Nice, to somebody that had gotten his brother locked up. The jumpsuit really didn't suit Remus.

Fortunately, Roman was a very good actor.

He did it at lunchtime, reasoning that that was the least suspicious time to talk to another 'victim' of his brother the natural disaster. Sliding into the seat across from where Janus was poking at a flask of what had to be maggots (or maybe it really was only noodles and Roman was still thinking about that film he had watched last night), he pulled his own lunchbox from his bag and set it down decisively, then just stared at it.

His nervousness was, for the most part, an act. Although his head was tilted toward the box of rice balls in front of him, Roman’s eyes were on Janus - and he was sure that something had flickered across his face when he had sat down. What it was, he couldn’t say, but it had definitely been… Something. Guilt? Did Janus feel guilty? Roman hoped so. If he didn’t yet, then he would make sure that he did eventually.

After a brief count of thirty-nine (thrice thirteen. Thrice, because three times was traditionally lucky; thirteen because it was Remus’ lucky number), Roman Wang raised his head and stared directly into the pale, now-quizzical eyes before him. The left eye (Roman’s left, he wasn’t sure why the distinction was important but it was) was just the same as ever; the right was rimmed with angry, swollen skin, and looked painful to open. He buried the stab of guilt for what he was about to do, reminded himself that Remus was his priority, and allowed his tongue to dart briefly over his upper lip before speaking. “I’m… Sorry about what happened. For Remus. I’m sorry for what Remus did to you, Janus. I never thought he’d do anything like that…”

There was silence as Janus regarded him, then the sound of a fork scraping against the metal of his flask as he raised another twist of maggots to his lips. Maybe they’d eat him from the inside out. Wow - these thoughts were a lot more befitting of Remus than of him. Maybe admitting one might be part demon unlocked a whole new category of twisted imaginings right from day one. Or day sixteen, as the case may be. Finally, Roman watched the bob of Janus’ throat as he swallowed, winced, and then spoke in that same husky, hoarse voice that would be more at home in a horror film than in a canteen. (No, that wasn’t fair. Not a princely thought at all. Since when had Roman made fun of people for injuries they couldn’t help?) (Since now, apparently). “You didn’t?”

“What?”

“Didn’t think Remus would do something like this.”

“What? Of course not!” Janus just stared at him, and Roman made a valiant effort to lower his voice so that his next words would be more civil. “He’s not - I didn’t think he would be this… Cruel. You shouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

“Interesting.” Somehow, Janus managed to draw the word out, to turn it into a condescending drawl even with his new chainsaw-murderer voice. “Even after what he did to Patton Grace? What happened to Logan Ahmed?” 

Roman gaped at the other man. What had happened to Logan? He couldn’t remember. Either way, Janus had a point: Remus did have a track record for hurting people. He had even written that down in his notebook earlier that week. Shaking his head briefly, Roman pulled the chopsticks from the lid of his lunchbox and started picking at his rice. “Sorry. I guess I’m just… Shocked. I was just trying to… You know. Apologise. Ask if you were okay. If you needed to borrow any notes from the weeks you missed. That stuff.”

He was fairly certain that somebody else would already have given Janus notes, but it sounded good to offer; after another moment of silence, Janus shrugged. “Fine.”

“Fine?”

“Apology accepted. I’ll take the notes, too. You take AP Spanish, right?”

“There are eight of us in that class, Janus. You know I take AP Spanish. We’ve mostly just been doing conversational skills - Señor Puentes said a large part of our final would be verbal.” Roman allowed himself a little drama there, rolling his eyes in an exaggerated fashion, and Janus actually gave him a very faint smile. “You need my notes for that? I can help you revise, if you like.”

This time, Janus’ smile was wider, but thinner, too. “Coming from anybody else, that would sound as though you were just trying to get free tutoring.” He screwed the lid back onto his flask and bent to return it to his satchel (most people would get the crap kicked out of them by some netheranderal for carrying a satchel to school. Janus not only got away with it, but managed to make it look good, too). He straightened up with a water bottle and a blister pack of what Roman assumed were painkillers and swallowed two of them before washing them down with something that was probably the blood of some innocent goats. Or raspberry juice. One of the two.

Then Janus looked up to see what Roman hoped was a confused expression and not a hateful one, and rolled his eyes. “Yes, we can study together. Friday, half four. My place - I’ll give you my address.”

Roman had to restrain himself from saying something stupid, like “Don’t worry, I know where you live.” That wouldn’t sound dodgy at all. Instead, he thanked Janus as he scribbled an address on a scrap of notepaper and pushed it across the table with a scarred hand.

Janus got up to leave a few seconds later, making some comment about checking books out of the library, and Roman ate the rest of his lunch in silence, Janus’ address burning a hole in his pocket. That had been… Easy. Reassuringly so. It shouldn’t take long to squeeze the truth out of that snake if he just accepted what Roman had said so easily.

Of course, maybe Janus really didn’t have anything to hide. If he had taken Roman’s words for granted so easily, what was to say that he hadn’t done the exact same thing for Remus? If that was the case, then Roman would be manipulating just another victim, collateral of the swathes of destruction that Remus left in his wake. The guilt that rose in his stomach at this thought felt a lot like nausea, and he pushed the lid back onto his barely-touched lunch.

There was no point thinking like this. He had started on this path, and he would get to the bottom of this mystery no matter how ill it made him feel.

Besides, if he found out the truth and was able to bring it to light, to see that Janus got what he deserved for landing his brother in prison, maybe things would go back to normal. Remus could be the grubby, disturbing, mostly harmless demon, and he could go back to his happy, perfect life as the angel twin.

Even avenging angels had to get their hands dirty sometimes, right?