#janus and virgil make up

[tssidesfics]

Mirror, Mirror, Scatter Me (Janus' Requiem)

This idea has been percolating for a while. I watch compilations of Sanders' Sides cosplays and I saw a really awesome video by @salem_orchid on Tiktok. I do not watch Tiktok on that accursed app. You could never pay me enough to go on that cursed app. So have the link directly to the video in the compilation I found it in. https://youtu.be/zfcY0lYix7I?t=42 (Sound from "Echo" English Cover by Jubphonic)

This is set in what is effectively an AU of the A Story of a Soul in All Its Stripes series, where the events of Morality Is Grey happened and basically nothing else because I wrote a hundred thousand words on the gradual degradation of Virgil's relationship with Janus and I cannot not be loyal to that interpretation. What am I gonna do? Write another slow-burn platonic dissolution of affection and trust? I'm busy. It is very angsty.

*

Janus is not woeful. Despite the void in his chest beside a porcupine heart of mirror shards, he does not grieve. He is a mastermind. He is whole despite the parts of him Virgil fled with without remorse. He is defiant and strong and he does not grieve. Grief is weak. He does not grieve.

Never mind how he clutches a hoodie that is not his to his chest and weeps.

Infiltration was slow, calculated, and scorched with wrong turns. Relying on Virgil to leave the door open for them had gone to shit, something Janus should have predicted--a coward cannot be trusted to remain loyal--and it had taken weeks before Janus found a new pathway, stumbled upon by accident. Behind a mask, Janus found himself in the glaring light of knownness, and from that place weaved a new plan: strategic, gradual capitalization, exploitation, and manipulation paving the road, a cobblestone at a time, for the others to claim their place among the bastards that had thrust them into twilight so long ago.

For so long, that had been his one goal. His only objective. Convince Thomas that he could not divide himself by arbitrary lines of right and wrong, reprogram the years of Catholic brainwashing, and build thrones for the others where traitors dwelt.

And in the end, he had succeeded. Now came the aftermath. It should have brought peace, relief.

But there is still a void beside a porcupine heart, mirror shards endlessly reflecting the faces of those around him. Janus' soul is a fun-house of mirrors without the fun, each Side distorting through them, just a piece at a time, copying over and shifting, reflecting over on itself ad infinitum. It had been an advantage for a long time.

Now it was a haunting.

"When are you going to drop the mysterious act?" Roman asked during breakfast one day, lacking tact but not friendliness. A loathsome sentiment to regard Janus with. "You won. We're all fine with you now. Let people actually get to know you."

Janus arched an eyebrow. "And what, pray tell, elicited this?"

Roman shrugged. "Nobody knows you. I mean, obviously Patton, Logan and I aren't running around hiding anything about ourselves. Virgil stopped being brooding and mysterious ages ago and now he's just brooding."

"I am not a YA love interest. All I am is tired of your bullshit."

"Nah, Logan claims that one."

"I am willing to share with Virgil. You are all exhausting."

"Shut up, Pocket Protector."

"It pleases me to notice that while you seem endlessly capable of creating new nicknames for Virgil, I remain so impossible for you to intelligently insult that you reuse the same tired nicknames every conversation we share."

Roman glared at him. "I will misspell every word in your filing system."

"Attempt it and you will cease to be an annoyance entirely."

"Kids..." Patton chided. "Play nice."

Roman and Logan both emphatically rolled their eyes, returning to their breakfasts--Roman, a heaping pile of pancakes marinating in butter and syrup; Logan, eggs and ham.

Janus allowed the conversation to derail without interjection from him, knowing such a thing would only redirect attention back to the original recipient. What Roman asked was simple enough. Janus had no more need to hide. Their place at Thomas' side was assured now.

But to be honest about himself with others required that he know something to be honest with.

Janus is not a stupid Side. He is among the best educated of them, bested only by Logan who he believes has never spent a single moment entertaining self-care or downtime, rather intent on burying himself seventeen feet deep in work. He understands philosophy well. He can argue it for hours and he will win most arguments he initiates on the subject, including with Logan (though Logan maintains an imbecilic distaste for the whole concept). He concocted multiple plans that inevitably paved the way for a more complete Thomas. He was not an idiot.

But that said nothing about his sense of his self, his identity.

He can name things affiliated with him. Deception, self-care, selfishness. A shapeshifter, duplicitous. Untrustworthy, manipulative. He maintains pride for those things (although as time reaches ever-forward certain traits among that list tint a darker and darker grey, some days appearing almost black). But associations, correlations are not definitions.

A lack of definition was easily used to one's advantage. When you lacked a cohesive sense of yourself, it was easy to slip into whatever skin best suited your objective. While not all faces were made equal and not all souls were easily emulated, nonetheless such adaptability, when it had brought them so much, Janus refused to slander.

For years Janus had gone without any name, dubbed only by a color that now drenches him in acid every time someone dares spite him with it. Something Virgil does frequently, having not yet forgiven Janus for the slights he'd imagined committed against him in their time as allies. Janus tires of it and such instances always escalate into impassioned, vitriolic arguments where no weakness is left unexploited. Every foul piece of laundry hung out to poison the air, every bystander horrified to shock.

"You've never been anything but whatever you needed to be to get what you wanted, Janus," Virgil spits. "You can't trust something that can't even decide what the hell it is long enough to give you an honest fucking answer."

Janus stares at him. The shards buried all around his heart reflect Virgil's hateful glare and plunge deeper. Without a word, Janus sinks out.

Within minutes there's a knock at his door. Janus stands in his bathroom, staring into the mirror, straight into it, which he never does. Even glimpsing it sends shards barreling toward him, but now he's standing at its mercy. There's no room left for the shards. Some are falling out to make room, others are making themselves at home past the external wall, deep into the inner valves. His heart tries to pump around them but fails. Janus' eyes burn, unblinking while dams hold back moisture.

"Janus?" Patton calls inside. "I'm...sorry about Virgil." He sounds like he usually does after such arguments: like he feels drawn to take a side but can't decide whose. "What he said was really mean. You said some mean things too, but obviously what he said really hurt you, so...do you want to talk about it?"

Janus opens his mouth to call back to him and his throat snaps closed. No sound escapes. He strains to push out air and fails, gripping his throat.

After a moment of struggling to no avail, Patton takes his silence as an answer. "Okay," he says. "We're here if you need anything. Virgil went back to his room, so the commons are open."

Janus hangs his head and his hands fall limp to grip the sink. He notices then that his hands not only lack their gloves but are decidedly paler than his natural, if faint, tan. Moreover, they are both human, no scales to be seen blemishing either. He frowns and lifts his eyes to the mirror, jolting.

Virgil's purple and brown eyes stare back at him.

Alarmed, Janus gropes his face. When did he shift? Why? It wasn't intentional. It was usually intentional, except for--times when he was emotionally compromised.

Shit. He willed himself back to his typical visage. It had no effect. He tried again. Still no effect. Worse yet, instead he shifted to look like Roman instead. Another attempt brought force Remus' visage, then Logan's and Patton's and back to Virgil and Rage's and endlessly he cycled through until it was happening at dizzying speeds.

Janus couldn't breathe. He had no control. It hurt, shifting so many times, over and over again, body warping, shifting, hunching, lengthening, shortening. He couldn't scream. He wouldn't call for help regardless. He wouldn't debase himself like that. Despite his pain and fear, he would never stoop so low.

Janus sinks to the floor, gripping his hair as it endlessly shifts in length and color. Finally his eyes moisten, weeping never mind the face he wears. He's exhausted, but while he continues to shift he can't sleep. He prays for mercy, knowing it won't come. He doesn't know how he'll help Thomas like this.

He doesn't suppose it matters. Thomas has united the discordant parts of himself. Janus' purpose has been fulfilled. There is no further need for a monster.

Hands grip his wrists. Janus lashes out but is easily restrained, gaze settling on Virgil. Janus stares.

Virgil's face is moist and streaky. He doesn't look hateful for once. He looks...regretful.

"Focus on your name," he tells him. "Just your name. Why you picked it. Focus on that."

Janus doesn't understand, but out of ideas, he obeys. He remembers searching for one, the never-ending frustration until he stumbled across the name for the two-faced god of choices. He is an existentialist, so it was fitting, especially his visage being what it was. As he always guarded the doorway to the forsaken, it couldn't fit much better.

The horrifying switching ends. Janus stares at his gloves, finally back on his hands.

Virgil smiles slightly and releases his wrists, resting back on the tile floor rather than crouching there. He crouches most places so he could certainly afford the strain, but Janus suspects it's his way of relaxing. Of acknowledging trust.

Janus stares.

Virgil stares back.

Janus shakes his head, searching for words. He finds none, not that he imagines they would have come if he had.

Virgil's face tangles in on itself and he averts his gaze. "I'm--" He strains for a moment. "I'm sorry. It--fuck."

Janus continues to stare.

"I know I fucked it up when I left," Virgil admits, forcing himself to look back at Janus although it seems like the eye contact hurts him. "It was a huge disgusting mess and we all said a lot of shitty things, but I'd been scared out of my mind for years. I was having constant panic attacks and it was affecting Thomas. I blamed it on all of you, but I never said shit. I didn't know how. I found out way too late after being here for long enough after a lecture from Logan that it's shitty and abusive to expect people to guess your boundaries when you won't fucking tell them what they are, but--fuck, I was hurt, and I don't deal with that well. It was a lot easier to hate you and use everything I'd ever loved about you against you and the others, especially you because you were the one who trained me to lie and I fucking hated doing that. I fucked it up. I fucked it up really badly and I should have just fucking owned up to it but I am very, very good at digging a deeper and deeper hole for myself. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you like that, it was shitty. I'm sorry."

Without words, Janus can't answer.

Virgil takes that as his answer and sinks out.

*

The next day, Virgil finds a piece of paper on his desk in his room.

Mirror, mirror, scatter me. Take my shards and bury me. I'm the apparition of nightmares realized, the incarnation of your shame. I haunt myself with all my failures. All I know is my own name.

Shards of you are buried deep, a jagged shield that shreds my soul. All I've left are memories and shames of what I can't control.

I spurned you and turned my gaze when you would die for mercy shown. I chased you off with defiant pride and in that pride I lie alone.

The fault lies not with you, dear Brutus, but with the man power claimed all. I plead with you, forgive me, brother, as I am left alone to fall.

Virgil comes to sit with him in silence, and eventually, Janus reenters the world. He still does not quite know himself, but we are reflections of each other; only in being known can we define our souls.

Forgiveness is a fountain. Have your drink.

[loganslowdown4]

Virgil: Cats have such simple yet effective instincts. Don’t like something? Smack it as far away from you as possible. Literally flawless reasoning.

Janus: *sighs and rubs his cheek*

[sanders-sides-uncorrect-quotes]

I keep rewatching the season 1 episodes and god the end of Am I Original? is so sad Logan calls Virgil a defeatist and he just looks away so dejected and then Roman is like "thanks everyone, well almost everyone" and glances and Virgil and he looks even sadder and just sinks down silently my god I need to draw Janus and Remus comforting him after that jfammwwmlw-

[riveatstoes]

i love when a new sanders sides video comes out, not because i just like getting more content (although that’s a benefit!), but because it forces me to come to terms with how far removed my versions of the characters are from their canon selves. it’s a very good come-down-to-earth moment for me that i wouldn’t trade for the world.

[destinyhasdialedback]

So I know the general consensus about the orange side is that 1. He’s Logan in a different form and 2. He represents anger/rage, but I haven’t seen anyone theorizing about what his name could be, and I wanted to offer my thoughts on it.

My first thought on the matter was that his name could end with an “us” sound to go along with Remus and Janus, like how Roman, Logan, and Patton’s names all end with the same sound. Of course, that would leave Virgil with a name that didn’t fit in with either the light or dark sides, but that would make narrative sense considering that he’s a redeemed dark side and is therefore more “in the middle” of light and dark, kind of like what we saw in the sanders sides anime intro:

So, the first name that came to mind for the orange side was Angus, since it would sound like “anger” and have the same ending sound as the other dark sides’ names, but then, I had a different theory.

I think the orange side is going to be named Brutus.

It sounds like “brutal” and has the same ending sound as the other dark sides’ names

The name Brutus is most associated with Marcus Brutus, who was one of the men who stabbed Julius Caesar despite being Caesar’s friend (hence Caesar's quote: “et tu, Brute?”). If Logan, one of the light sides, transformed into the orange side, it would make sense for him to then have a name that’s synonymous with “traitor”

Not only does the name Brutus phonetically fit in with the dark sides’ names, but it also fits in thematically. Brutus was a member of the Roman Empire (which ties into Roman’s name, obviously), Janus is named after a Roman god, and Roman & Remus are named after Romulus and Remus, twin brothers from Roman mythology.

That’s all :) thanks for reading

[where-are-the-spooky-gays-2]

I always have that one character that to me is just "if anyone in the canon story hates them ill go apeshit"

And to me it's virgil

This is sort of why i prefer janus hating orange more than vee tbh

V A L I D but to be fair Jan doesn't really show any hatred towards Vee (It's a little more the other way around and Jan's just a lil shit about their history together) But the Sassy Snake and Citrus man hating each other is always a fun concept

[pencilpat]

Shippy sketch dump! aka 'the Sides are a giant polycule' moment

I had to draw Sadtton and Joyman or else I would've died

Also am I the first person ever to ship Virgil x Patton x Remus. Surely there is someone else out there. Please.

[lily-janus]

What Once Was

Summary: Janus bumped into Virgil as he goes down a self-depricating spiral... which stirs up old feelings

Pairing: platonic Anxciet

Warnings: swearing, self-deprication

Word count: 1,052

My fic for day 6 Kiss & Make Up of @tss-anxceit-week

----------------------------

All Janus wanted to do was grab his wine from where he was hiding it from Remus, and watch some drama content where people hilariously overreact over everything and forget about everyday life.

But… of course that didn't end up to be what happened.

When he hid his wine in the light sides' kitchen, he thought himself pretty clever since Remus rarely ever comes near here. Something about their 'lameness' rubbing off on him.

And, when he does his pranks he usually prefers to use their rooms.

Now, however, he regretted every moment of that decision. Because, obviously someone had to pop up in the common room right next to the kitchen right when he was about to leave.

He was about to try to sneak away before whoever it was could notice him when-

"...Fucking stupid…"

That voice… that shaky voice…

Despite his better judgment, Janus risked a glance towards the common room to confirm his suspicion.

And, sure enough, he saw none other than the anxious side, pacing all over the area, probably trying to release some of that pant up anxious energy.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" he kept saying over and over again. "What the fuck was I thinking?"

Janus knew he should just disappear and forget what he saw, Virgil made his feelings towards him more than clear… not that Janus can blame him…

But… for some reason… he couldn't find it in him… Dammit he still cares about the traitor… despite everything.

"What are you doing here?"

The hate dripping from Virgil's words should be familiar to him by now, but they always feel like a punch to his gut, no matter how used to it he was getting.

Janus opened his mouth to answer when…

"Know what? I don't care, just get out, you shouldn't even be here. I can't… I can't deal with you right now."

And there it was again, that shake in his voice. He knew Virgil well enough to know that something was wrong.

He finally looked up to find Virgil frowning at him, "you're weirdly quiet…" he pointed out.

Sometimes… Janus forgets that Virgil knows him well enough too… or tries to forget anyway.

"What happened?" Janus finally managed to ask, raising a curious eyebrow at him.

Virgil huffed, "right, like you care… Why are you still here?"

Janus managed a smirk, "why do you think?"

But Virgil didn't rise to the bait, he just let out a long, tired sigh. "I don't have time for your stupid games…"

Janus shrugged, "not a game, you still didn't answer my question."

"That's because it's none of your business." Virgil shot back.

"I'm not leaving until you answer." Janus put his wine on the counter and crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Virgil expectantly.

"I can just go to my room." Virgil pointed out.

"Then why are you still here?" Janus used Virgil's earlier question.

"Because you're obviously up to something, so I'm not letting you out of my sight until you leave." He shot back with a glare.

Janus tutted, "you always were a terrible liar, honestly, Virgil." He rolled his eyes, "who do you think you're fooling? Certainly not me."

Virgil turned back to his anxious pacing, "I really can't deal with you right now…"

"Why?" Janus tried again, "is something… Wrong?" He paused for a bit before finishing to put emphasis on the last word. "Trouble in paradise?"

"Of course not." Virgil snapped, turning back to glare at Janus.

"Right… of course, nothing's ever wrong in Rainbows and Sunshine land." Janus rolled his eyes again.

"No…" Virgil agreed despite the obvious sarcasm, "the problem's always me…" he added quietly.

Ah, now they're getting somewhere.

"What do you mean?" Janus asked carefully and Virgil flushed when he realized he said it out loud.

"Nothing, forget it." He said quickly, too quickly.

It was Janus' turn to sigh, if he wanted Virgil to open up… he's gonna have to do the same.

"Fine, I'll admit it…" Janus took off his gloves, shivering from how exposed he felt without them, "I'm worried about you." He admitted when his hands were bare.

Virgil paused to stare at him for what felt like hours, before turning away. “Wow… just… wow..”

Janus frowned, putting back his gloves, “I’m telling the tru-”

“Are you?” Virgil cut him off sharply, “are you seriously telling me that after everything…” he flailed his arms, “you’re worried about me?”

“Yes.” Janus said simply, “don’t you feel the same about me?”

Virgil snorted, “of course not!”

Janus examined his hands, “still a terrible liar…”

Virgil returned to his pacing, “whatever, it’s still none of your business and our days of having heart-to-hearts are over, so piss off before I make you.”

Janus rolled his eyes, “woo I’m so scared… if you want me to leave just answer my question.” He repeated.

Virgil threw his arms in frustration, “same thing that always happens, okay?! I messed up and made everything worse. There, happy? Now scram.” There were tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

Janus didn’t say anything, but he didn’t leave either. He just watched as Virgil sat on the armrest of the couch, curling into a ball by hugging his knees to his chest and burying his head between them.

It’s not often that Janus doesn’t have anything to say, but in this moment, Janus could only stare.

Then, he was standing behind Virgil, not knowing when he even started moving towards him.

But, he hugged him from behind and whispered softly, “from my experience… you only make things better…” before finally disappearing.

And you can be sure he was not crying when he appeared back in his room, not even noticing he left his wine behind… it was just… dust in his eyes, he didn’t clean his room in ages.

Our days of having heart-to-hearts are over…

Janus looked over his yellow couch, remembering all those times where he and Virgil would just… talk, about anything that came to mind… talks that lasted for hours without either of them noticing.

But Virgil was right, those days are long gone, and Janus has no one to blame but himself.

Though maybe, one day… They could make up. Because Janus wasn’t lying… Virgil made everything better, for him at least.

[olliedollie1204]

also what do we think abt janus and remus rising up in WMTPG instead of just appearing- virgil just appeared bc of the adrenaline rush that came when logan announced the christmas gift exchange (aka he came involuntarily), but janus and remus rose up bc for once they were actually invited... much to think abt

[mountain-toes]

There's something so gut wrenching about so many people head cannoning Janus name as Dante, the man who followed Virgil through hell, before it was revealed

[ax3-e0ns]

Wait. If everyone in O+F=S has grey skin, why was the Santa pink?

okay so this is a really good question to ask. In context to the pink Santa thing... I legitimately just wasn't confident that the grey-skin approach to the design would've been well received or not so chickened out by making Santa have a more traditionally human skin coloration.

That really is just the short end of the issue there. However there are additional aspects to the au that just does not carry this excuse, at least no where near the same level.

Additional issues include:

Virgil's ears not being consistent

Janus's appearing and disappearing half-snake face attributes

switching the shade of grey that the sides are supposed to be/mixing up ear shapes between shots

And while on paper these don't sound like issues that should be frowned upon too harshly since it's a fan au so obviously stuff can get witched around over time, it equally only works so far in the face of the creator also trying to make certain details and attributes to convey a timeline.

Just as an example, in Remus's Cranium Baby I specifically give Janus pointed ears. But then in Baby Pictures I give current day Janus pointed ears while having Tot Virgil Janus rocking some rounded ears when based on the timeline and the characterization (at this point) that doesn't make a lick of sense to do. Like it isn't one of those things that ruins an AU but it is frustrating when in those same images I'm narratively trying to extend the viewers belief into having Remus birth Virgil from his face and make the connection that the father is Patton.

I do plan on fixing some of these issues (once I have the drive to, at least) and I'm having the idea to basically retcon some of the previous works for this AU (because newer ideas n all that) & I'll be sure to make note of when I do so to best avoid confusion.

[soysaucevictim]

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Intrulogical (platonic → QPP), Creativitwins (familial), Dukeceit (platonic), Intruroyality (platonic/paternal), Logicality (platonic) Characters: Remus and Logan-centric. Roman, Janus, and Patton mentioned.

Genres: Slice of Life, Fluff, Humor/Comedy

Additional Tags: Referenced Past Child Abuse, Alternating POV, One-Sided Enemies to Friends, Insomnia, Gender Dysphoria, Trans Remus, Nonbinary Remus, Trans Man Logan, Ace Remus, Aroace Logan, Autistic Logan, Neurodivergent Remus, Remus is a Mess

Summary:

Remus goes job hunting and meets a certain nerd in the process. Logan wasn’t ready for any of this.

(Gym Rat AU. One-shot.)

---

Remus was living with Roman, since they were kicked out by their dipshit of an uncle. Roman shut down any and all attempts at conversation about what happened, even while he was still in the sling.

The two of them managed to get GEDs after that shitshow. It was something admittedly easier for Remus than Roman. Roman also insisted he didn’t want to be “anymore of a leech than he already was” and was adamant about finding a job somewhere as soon as possible, afterwards.

Remus was glad that Janus pulled some strings and gave money for a security deposit and a few months’ expenses after. Remus knew his brother had too much pride, so he just claimed it was just a temp situation. Roman didn’t ask many questions about that.

Roman’s telemarketer job paid just barely enough for their bills and food. Roman didn’t outright say it, but Remus knew he needed to pull some of his own weight. It wasn’t for lack of trying, really. Remus was just a little too much for the interviewers and there wasn’t a lot out there that Remus could imagine standing for long.

He was also so, so incredibly bored, stuck at home. Yeah, Roman nagged him to clean up a little, at least. He’d rather roll around in the little midden made of empty cans of Monster and marathon the “Final Destination” movies than do chores.

The apartment’s laundry room had job postings, oftentimes buried under bulletins warning tenants to keep the place orderly and to make sure they don’t forget their effects for too long. Remus hated doing the laundry – the strong fragrances gave him a bit of a headache and made his skin itch a little.

It was a good idea to basically loiter there for your loads to run through, and sometimes Remus would just stare into the dryers' front load doors and zone out. He always visualized servers powered by hamsters as he watched them. For some reason he looked at the postings more closely one day, to see that Holden & Folden System Management needed some warm bodies as he loaded up his hamper with some dry clothes.

He took a slip with their contact information off the posting and pocketed it. He knew it was possible he was going to forget it in a future wash, probably. Remus shrugged, singing some off-key Bloodhound Gang (never mind how he was probably way too young to understand what the lyrics meant when he first heard their music):

Marinate the nether rod In the squish mitten

Power drill the yippee bog With the dude piston

When he returned to their unit, all he had the energy to do was dump all of Roman’s clothes onto his brother's bed.

He was later found by Roman, sleeping on the sofa in the most uncomfortable looking sprawl. Remus’s clothes sat in the half-emptied laundry basket nearby. The clothes inside were barely dry when they came out of the machine and felt somewhat damp again from lack of air.

At least Roman’s clothes got to dry out by the time his brother was off work that day. Roman secretly ran Remus’s load through the dryer again and put it up, before Remus woke up later.

-

Logan had a pretty good thing going at the [Holden & Folden System Management]. He had been working there for about three years. They were very accommodating for his need for space and quiet.

The pay was good and he felt like he was reasonably $appreciated by those above him. The place was a little out of the way and a very small franchise operation. But the word of mouth and mostly good reviews kept this place aloft.

There wasn’t a huge workforce on the premises, also a bonus.

But that did make some service availability strained when more than a couple specialists weren’t on hand. There was always some pressure to learn more skills, just in case. Logan was way more at home pruning code and cleaning up registries than messing with busted motherboards. He wasn’t a fan of all the extra heavy metal exposure and a lot of fluxes made him $nauseous, fume hoods be damned.

It was unfortunate that one of the hardware guys was set to retire soon, he was there probably a full decade before Logan got his position. Logan was fond of him, but then again, it was mostly just the familiarity talking. He was concerned about who would be filling @Joe’s shoes after.

Nothing and no one could have prepared him for what was to come.

-

Remus did, in fact, forget he put the stub of information in his pocket. He found it later as a gnarled wad of paper and blanking on what used to be on it.

He only bothered to dig into that pocket probably weeks after the last time he did the laundry.

They more-or-less alternated, Roman was more on top of doing the pocket checks when it came to it. If only relatively. They were kind of forced into this “learning to be actual men-adults” thing and they only had a year or two of that experience, at that point.

Both of them did have a tendency to be forgetful, usually about different sorts of things. Remus would whine a lot about the tasks that involved any sort of cleaning chemicals, it left him with stuff like smelly trash and boring mail duty.

It didn’t stop Remus from being bored out of his skull the majority of the time. He kind of wished he could move in a workbench and tinker with something. Last time he snuck in some soldering equipment, he tripped the smoke detectors so much, the neighbors complained to the manager.

Only reason why Remus stopped fucking around with that was the look of terror and stress in Roman’s everything about the idea of them getting evicted again. Roman was probably the only person in his life that made him want to “behave”.

Suddenly, that made him remember that job listing again. Mid-conversation with his brother about something, he just walked out of the unit and went back to the laundry bulletin board. He would address Pissy calling him rude for the bajillionth time later, he had to do this before he forgot, otherwise.

Remus was happy to find the post was still up. This time he held the slip in hand when he made his way back to a fuming brother.

“You know about the whole “getting a job” thing? Think I found something I wanna check out.”

Roman took a deep breath and then a second before he looked at it, blinked, and looked at Remus, “O-okay?”

The car they had access to was under Roman’s name. Since he was the one with the income stream to pay expenses on the thing and only barely. Remus had a knack for doing some of the maintenance, but wasn’t exactly swimming in moolah, space, or equipment to help much there. Also, Roman didn’t always trust him breaking out tools in any context. Which was fair enough.

It took Roman a moment to register what Remus was probably trying to ask, “Need a ride?”

-

There weren’t actually very many queries for the position, as they started sunsetting that specialist for his last days of uptime.

It was one of those not having nearly the same market share as the likes of [Geek Squad], sort of things. Most of the people who wanted to get into these lines of work went to those operations, or worked for [Apple], or something. Logan did have a couple stints working at those companies, but the culture wasn’t the most welcoming for someone like him.

Especially before he really started the medical part of his transition. And other unchangeable facts of his existence.

Anyways, working here was “nice” and the benefits were great. They were incredibly helpful and supportive of his own medical goals, too. 

He was often sequestered into the back offices and not customer-facing, but he did catch the occasional new face following HR into her office for an interview. Most dressed appropriately for such an arrangement. Professional.

Except for one of the very last applicants seeking the retiree’s spot.

They were loud and obnoxious the very moment they entered the vicinity.

-

Before Remus was corralled in for the interview, he caught a glimpse of a few of the people working there staring at him. He assumed it was mostly in irritation, a safe bet when it came to him.

He did catch at least one guy that stared at him the longest, with furrowed brow and clenched fists. He wasn’t sure what exactly crawled up in that guy’s access panel- Remus was on like day three of not sleeping, so he wasn’t firing all the cylinders.  He was too amped about this Herculean Labor, after he was told when to come in.

He didn’t have the best track record with this sort of stuff, he tried to minimize his expectations. He was so anxious and out of it that he wound up rushing out in whatever he could slap together (including a binder that was getting a little rank). He wasn’t even sure when he last showered so he sprayed himself with probably an excessive amount of deodorant. It was either that or run late, he missed several interviews that way, already. Roman got sick of it after a while.

So there he was, seated in front of the interviewer, who also looked at him funny. She had a name tag sticker, J. “Dorine” Whitaker. Her introduction was redundant and boring. “I’m the Human Resources Manager here and part of my job entails processing applicants. You shall call me Dorine. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Yeah, sure. Remus, Remus Sanchez.”

“What about our company and this position drew you in to apply?”

“Boredom. I guess? And I needed money, or else my brother wouldn’t let me hear the end of it. Oh-oh, and also I’m pretty good with my hands?”

Remus wasn’t sure what to make of her expression, already feeling like he was fucking up, as usual. “Care to elaborate on that last reason?”

“Look. I know I have pretty much non-existent employment history and only recently got my GED. But you could say I’m a tinkerer? I like figuring out how shit works. It’s fun.”

Before Remus realized it was happening, he wound up spilling about some of the stunts he pulled in high school. It all just flowed out unbidden, like AXE body spray in a school’s sprinkler system. Unlike a lot of interviewers, she didn’t cut him off and move to the next question. All of a sudden he felt self-conscious, “Lo siento. I just-”

“Believe it or not, you wound up answering a lot of the questions I was going to ask. Even if it was a bit… non-standard.”

Remus was already forgetting just how much he told her, “I-I did?”

She nodded, “However I do have a few more, before we can conclude, alright?”

“O-okay.”

“Are you on any drugs? … the recreational and/or illicit kind?”

Remus was more sure he wasn’t getting the job, “No? Unless you count pounding a fuckton of Monsters.”

Remus giggled about his own word choice, momentarily forgetting he was in the middle of an interview.

She took a deep breath, “When was the last time you slept?”

His speech slurred a bit, “Somewhere between turning in my application and when you guys called me in? Probably. I think?”

“Noted. I have a few more questions.”

The interview continued with more standard questions, stuff Remus looked up beforehand but halfway forgot by the time he was in the building. He may or may not have shared his entire life story upon being asked, “Tell me more about yourself?”

It took a moment before the two of them collected themselves after that nuclear bomb was dropped. He may or may not have been a snotty mess by the time he ran out of steam on that prompt. He may or may not have taken the offer for a hug from Dorine at some point, during.

Dorine finally asked, “Do you see yourself as a long-term team member at our company?”

“Why? I’m pretty sure I didn’t-”

“We believe in giving people chances and I think you might be a good fit around here.”

Remus’s brain basically blue-screened, “Huh?”

Dorine smiled at him, “When can you start working?”

The unholy squealing noise Remus made at that had to’ve been heard throughout the entire building.

(It wasn’t. The office had soundproofing installed, Remus would later find out, to his immense disappointment.)

-

That fool got the job.

Logan couldn’t believe it.

Not only that, but the first thing this person did after his orientation was fall asleep. At Logan’s very desk, INSTEAD of his own. The word “$upset” didn’t cut it, as he stood there listening to the unholy snoring and watching their disgusting drool get into his KEYBOARD.

He was $apoplectic.

After about ten minutes of standing there $seething, he grabbed his OWN chair and pulled it away from the desk and started violently shaking it side-to-side. It was only when the centrifugal force had @Remus sliding onto the floor did he respond, mumbling and bleary, “Did I pass out on the floor again? Oh well.��

Logan corrected him, “Your. Desk. Is. Over. There.”

@Remus slowly propped himself up, “Oh. Oops?”

Logan couldn’t suppress the whole body shudder over the very thought of coming into contact with anyone’s saliva, “Oops? Oops doesn’t even begin to cover it! Now I have to-to- replace my keyboard! Do you have ANY idea how hard it is going to be to find that model again!? And set it all up again!?”

@Remus blinked one eye at time before synchronizing and looking at the thing more closely, “Right.”

Logan had a very specific split set-up with custom key-binds, switches, key caps, and everything! It was a pain-staking effort to make the thing feel and sound perfect. And there goes @Remus, tainting it.

“What was your name again, Specs?”

“Logan. And I’ll have you know-”

@Remus fell back to sleep, on the floor.

@Dorine wanted to see Logan, ever since @Mr. Sanchez showed up in a business casual T-shirt.

The sheer $disbelief and abrupt and obvious change from the previous saint of an office neighbor was more than a little overwhelming. Logan insisted on seeing this new guy without consulting her.

He didn’t want to admit that that was probably a poor decision.

-

Remus didn’t know what Nerdy Wolverine’s deal was, but it was pretty funny pissing him off.

Sometimes, Remus would poke around on Logan’s desk, whenever the guy left it unattended. Remus noticed there were some neat looking toys on it. Like a Newton’s cradle and Rubik’s cube. He noticed similar knick knacks on the other coworkers’ desks, too.

He only did that between fulfilling service orders and naps, though. Remus was warned that he had to help with several months’ backlog, starting off. He was still surprised that he was even required to nap here. Many of the tickets were pretty easy to knock out, he wasn’t sure why they estimated it to take him longer.

He may or may not have taken Logan’s tirade about the keyboard to heart.

Did he actually want to smooth it over with the guy? Did he actually care about his work partner’s feelings ? Or did he just want to see if he could fool him with a perfect replica of the thing – without Remus’s spit all over it?

Either way, Logan seemed to be interesting, every time he caught a glimpse of the guy focusing so intensely on his coding that he unwittingly let the coffee at his desk get cold. Remus wasn’t too adept at programming, he could get a BASIC idea (he snorted to himself, thinking that). He had some experience with common languages, like C++. He mostly focused on low-level stuff like machine code and assembly – but that was just because of how often they’d be needed to make the hardware and equipment actually do shit.

Remus just liked having something physical to work with. He couldn’t resist shouting “It’s ALIVE” whenever he got his latest gadget online. Never mind whether it had any utility for anyone else. Having access to the company’s inventory and facilities made these little side projects all too tempting.

What Logan was doing may’ve been witchcraft, working in some seriously esoteric languages he’d never seen before. Cranking out and proofing thousands of lines of code at a speed he’d only seen in his brother’s creative writing spells (personal taste notwithstanding).

Remus may or may not have been caught staring at Logan working a few times.

When caught, it usually ended with an aggravated, “Don’t you have anything better to do?”

Remus was still under the probationary period, so he’d just go back to his own tasks after that. He found himself liking this job too much to fuck it all up too badly.

-

There was a [gym] a few blocks away from [H&FSM]. The owner, @Mr. Sanders, was doing a good job fostering a generally welcoming atmosphere.

Logan took advantage of it, especially after he recovered from his first major affirmative surgery. Before then, he was often not personally $comfortable with showing up without a binder. He knew it was ill-advised and made things $miserable and unsafe. He wouldn’t recommend that to anyone.

His recovery was difficult and left him $restless, so hitting the mat after medical clearance and feeling so much more $comfortable with himself was a source of incredible $joy. $Joy he oftentimes tamped down on, to focus on his purpose there and not draw too much attention.

He met @Patton there for the first time, a few weeks after he returned. Patton was a little too gregarious and effusive to be around all the time, but Logan still respected him and was on $friendly terms. When they first met, he learned @Patton was in the middle of training to be a primary school teacher.

@Patton would talk about his various “kiddos” brightly. Logan was never quite sure who he was talking about half the time. He did allude to a few of them being gym regulars, some new faces there, including a pair of twins he met. He didn’t really pay close attention to who @Patton interacted with, more focused on putting in his time and reps while there.

Logan had taken to the High Intensity Interval Training paradigm on the stationary bikes and treadmills there. He had a specific unit he preferred to use, because it was closest to the water fountain and restroom. It legitimately shaved the time he needed to spend there down, he $liked the efficiency and the routine.

One month and one week into @Sanchez’s employment, that machine had the impeccable sense of timing being out of order. Logan notified @Mr. Sanders about this a week prior, but it still wasn’t addressed. The display’s readout and the belt resistance were all wrong. Logan was $not-impressed by the unprofessional snorting coming from @Mr. Sanders over the mileage being stuck at 69.

He was already $annoyed by @Remus’s latest bullshit and having to deal with some customers questioning his credentials as a technician. He swore he was going to need a [Rage Room] or else he was going to get himself arrested, at that point.

Yes, he rationally knew the bike next to it was working and didn’t make a huge difference in the grand scheme. But he was not operating in that mode.

So when he overheard a conversation between Patton and Remus, talking about him standing there, he was just about ready to chew someone’s head off. Maybe not just figuratively.

-

Remus knew Patton from before he was employed at H&FSM. Roman introduced the guy to him at the gym. It was Roman who gave Remus the idea of going there too, though for the time being he had to lean on his brother or Patton footing his fee.

Pat seemed neat, Remus really wanted to pick that guy’s brain over his war stories. Probably the only bead of immediate interest Remus had for someone so saccharine in manner. He supposed it was nice knowing that the teddy bear cared about his brother so much, though.

Jump forward about a month since Remus started working and he was at the gym chatting with Patton again. Okay, Remus had to remind himself how long it had been based on the date of his first paycheck. Time was frisky like that.

Patton was asking him about his sleep. All Remus wanted to talk about was an exciting foreign horror film he recently watched. Remus didn’t expect to see Logan standing stock still with his hands on his hips glaring daggers into one of the exercise bikes. 

It was easy to just stop paying attention to ole Padre’s concerns to keep looking over at Logan. At that point, Remus was probably not firing the most cylinders, either.

Eventually Logan glared back at them, daring anyone to say something to him.

Remus was probably being foolish when he snapped back, “How much dead code is in YOUR back end!?”

Logan just angrily pointed at the bike, complete with eye twitching, “This is THE perfect spot. MY SPOT. And SOMEBODY around here is dragging their FEET!”

Patton seemed confused about what to say about this mess. Remus was of a few minds, fighting the flinch reflex he couldn’t fully unlearn from his Uncle, curiosity about what was wrong, and amusement in Logan losing his cool again.

The latter two won out.

“Alright, Nerdy Wolverine. Can I have a look?”

-

As @Remus approached it and studied the offending piece of machinery, Logan was getting $restless and $impatient.

“Well?”

“What’s more important? That spot or that specific bike?”

“Uh… the spot? But it’s the principle-!”

“Cool. I’m gonna go ask the staff a quick question and I’ll get right back to you.”

Logan furrowed his brow, he was the one who put in the complaint! What was-

The staff person gave him a shrug and a nod, and then @Remus walked over to @Patton to ask him something. Logan was getting kind of $annoyed with the secrecy.

That was until @Patton politely gestured Logan away, “If you’ll excuse me...”

Logan stood there watching as @Patton went in and swapped the broken bike with its functioning neighbor. It was clearly strength-demanding, but it was such a simple idea that it broke Logan’s brain a little bit. Logan stared at the bikes and back at the two of them, “Thanks? I-”

@Remus looked back at him and the replacement bike, looking $restless? Logan suddenly felt $awkward being stared at as he sat down on it and attempted to get his mind back on his routine. 

A few head shakes and just as Logan was about to start his warm-up, he watched as @Remus left for the [locker room], only saying, “¡Uno momento!”

@Remus was back carrying a giant tool box with him, practically in an instant. Logan was still going easy enough to hold a conversation, “W-why did you bring that in the gym?”

@Remus shrugged, “Never know when you want to fuck with something or someone.”

“@Mr. Sanders didn’t order our services?”

“Do I look like I care?”

With a loud thud, @Remus dropped the tools near the broken bike, still on the mat. @Remus was $surprisingly orderly looking it over, even though he seemed to be elsewhere while he was servicing the thing. Logan thought it was strange and deeply unprofessional how @Remus was still dressed in what could loosely be called typical workout wear, doing this.

@Remus pulled the little computer module out and noticed one of the batteries had corroded, as he pulled them out of the case and in a bag. He dabbed the crusted contacts with vinegar saturated cotton swabs. Remus stared at his watch for a little while and cleared the battery case out with a toothbrush and dry swabs. He set the component aside to dry further.

Logan was used to a lot more noise and $cheerful chaos coming from him, he was also $worried if Remus was going to worsen the state of the thing. $Worried about how this would reflect on [H&FSM]. @Remus was sitting on the floor, cross-legged during that process. Logan couldn’t make himself continue to look at @Remus’s face, so his gaze wandered to other features. @Remus glanced back at Logan, he was almost positive the tone was $flirtatious, “Enjoying the show?”

Logan cleared his throat, “To be determined.”

@Remus snorted and continued working. Logan looked at the fact @Remus was clearly wearing a barely hidden sports bra, and realized his coworker had been binding while clocked in. Logan wasn’t sure how to even broach the subject, but he felt $something about it. The dangling sensation of $kinship?

Logan shook his head some more and tried to focus on ramping things up to his first active interval. @Remus had moved on to replacing the batteries, checking the sensor wires connecting the computer with the machine and resistance cable. @Remus went on to check the tightness of all the nuts and bolts and tested the thing out.

Logan’s mind wandered to wanting to actually learn more about @Remus, to extend an olive branch, and to see more of what @Dorine clearly did in him.

Before long, it was working again! Logan was banking on it being on a wait list for ordered parts or otherwise languishing in the bottom of some competitor’s ticket queue. But if it was just going to be that simple and fast? Logan was back to being a little $annoyed over it.

It was like @Remus held the user manual in his head and it took him barely longer than it took Logan to finish his workout. @Remus looked $pleased with himself for a moment, and then passed out. 

@Patton went in to extract @Remus from the equipment, before he could hurt himself. It was then that Logan realized just how $tired @Remus looked.

-

Remus barely remembered the whole “unauthorized repair of gym equipment” thing. If he didn’t hear it from both Pat AND Lo, he’d think it was just a weird ass dream.

Then, he remembered Logan pointedly staring at his tits several times during it and flushed a little.

He was in front of Dorine reviewing what happened there.

“Let me get this straight. You just did free work because... you wanted Logan to not have a very public meltdown and, I quote, to like you?”

“And because I was bored. Don’t forget that. That part’s important.”

“Right. You do realize we’ll need a second party out there to make sure you didn’t leave that gym liable for any malfunction-related damages?”

Remus shrugged, “Sure? I don’t think I missed anything TOO important.”

Dorine sighed, “Let’s hope you’re right about that. Legal is trying to smooth this out with them, in the meantime. You’re lucky Mr. Sanders is a pretty understanding guy.”

“What now?”

“I want to think if this gets smoothed out, and it is a big IF, Mr. Sanders may actually contract us for their future maintenance requests. We’re honestly just crossing the Ts and dotting the Is, here.”

“… I did good?”

“You didn’t hear it from me. But, quite possibly.”

Remus chuckled, “Alright. I guess I oughta keep a condom on the pro-boner shit, huh?”

“I’m going to pretend I heard something other than that, but- please.”

Remus liked Dorine a whole lot more.

-

After what Logan assumed was a disciplinary meeting with @Dorine, he had to face @Remus looking at him funny more often.

Logan eventually snapped, “W-what!?”

“You were totally looking at the fun bags, mister. Didja like what you saw?”

Logan cleared his throat, “Okay. I’m not in the habit of asking this kind of personal question, but I need to know so I can respect your wishes going forward. But. Are you trans?”

@Remus gasped, “What’s it to you?”

Logan took a deep breath, “Because I am. And I felt like, maybe-”

“He/him and whatnot still, Lo?”

“Yes.”

“Cool, you can basically use anything but ‘she’ at me and we’ll get along swell, there.”

Logan felt himself flushing a bit, a strange $fondness forming underneath, one that really wanted to try to be friends with this very strange individual. Logan felt like a small child, thinking about such tender $emotions.

He grabbed his Rubik’s cube and was determined not to make anymore eye contact.

He heard @Remus chuckle, “Oh. And I may or may not have replaced that keyboard of yours at some point.”

“Y-you did what?!”

Logan didn’t notice at all, as he stared at it and back at @Remus. Logan had sworn @Remus $hated him from the jump – or at least just saw him as some kind of punching bag to embarrass. Which was a song and dance he had an intimate familiarity with growing up autistic.

“Yeah. I know I’m a disgusting slob. Kinda my brand, actually. Ask my brother!”

@Remus erupted into a cackle at that, Logan felt a little more $open to it.

“A-and yeah. I also want to dispel something first before we get back to our duties.”

“Hm?”

“I don’t wish to lead you on. I'm told I don’t exactly experience attraction like most people do. It’s nothing personal.”

“Y’know that sounds familiar. Not sure why?”

Logan gulped, trying not to get $emotional at this point, $furiously sliding the squares around on the cube, and simply nodded. He was not expecting all of this to come out all at once, this soon. It was like meeting each other properly for the first time. He had a newfound $appreciation in how honest @Remus appeared to be. He needed time to process it.

@Remus simply smiled widely back, “Neat!”

Logan’s mind was stuck echoing incessantly, “I made a new friend? A new friend? Friend?”

@Remus winked at him as he rolled himself back to his workbench.

Logan’s thoughts were interrupted with, “Okay. What the hell was that supposed to mean?”

Logan shook his head and just went back to work, himself.

He found himself actually wanting to see where things would go with Remus...

[loganslowdown4]

Janus: Can you pass the salt?

Virgil: Can you pass away?

Janus: Too much salt—

[the-aerispace]

This but nobody knows so it's a blank canvas to do whatever you want >:D

Anyone got any theories of why Virgil hates Janus so much? Do y'all think it stemmed from a fight they had when Virgil wanted to leave or something else or a combo of several things?

God I wanna know more about their backstory so badly

[aphroditesweets]

(The Sides get into trouble and have to be taken into the Mind Palace Police Department)

Officer: Alright, one at a time. Step on the x and hold up your plaques

Virgil: (quaking in his boot; the verge of a panic attack)

Patton: (looks at plaque) What’s this for?…(looks at camera) Oh, is this one of them selfie-things? Fun!

Logan: (about to lose his marbles) I hate being associated with you people

Roman: Make sure to get my good side!

Janus: (looks at plaque and raises his brow) Well this certainly is a first…

Officer: (looks to next person; sighs)…evening Remus, long time no see…

Remus: Hey bubba~, I’m glad to see your face again. (Sigh) It feels likes it’s only been yesterday since I was here (chuckled menacingly)

Janus: Because you were here yesterday